Vasana

   Vasana governs the life. This mortal life is all about 'vasana'. The term 'vasana' (Samsk.) has a hundred connotations! The jiva, living being is drawn, dragged, drowned in vasana. It is instinctive life for all animals. The same continues even when the humans live and work with the help of  inner instruments, antahkarana- buddhhi, manas, chitta and ahankara. There are desires, memory, dreams and aspirations that drive the jivas towards a whirlpool,  abysmal ignorance and the consequent misery! The jiva never understands this. It runs as dragged by the senses, vasana, trail left by traces of memories of past experiences? Ultimately, all these are not going to help the jiva. Each and every sense organ has traces of memories of experiences of all the previous births! For a simple example, we have tasted a delicious dish sometime long ago at a certain restaurant. The taste lingers in the memory and the taste buds crave for repaeated experience of that, but, als, all in vain! By the time we visit that restaurant again, neither the management is the same nor their preparations! We feel immensely disappointed! This happens even with regard to the smell, sight, sound, touch and we feel disappointed when we don't get what we desired! We will never realize or  understand how time (kaal) has devoured everything. Everything changes with time! With the movement of time, ageing process, everything deteriorates and we never notice this! 

   Is there a remedy? No. Yea, there is no remedy for this passing 'Time'. Time is a concept which can never be understood by us! Only a jnyani, a yogi, who transcends this magical element 'Time' will ever know this! Such a realized person will not be affected by Time and the worldly aspects governed by it! tasmaat yogirbhavaarjunaa | is the advise given by the Lord in the Gita.

   The Jiva should realize the fact that it is this 'vasana' that is causing eternal bondage and the repeated births and deaths. The firs task of the jiva is to erase these traces of vasana in order to get released from bondage. Each and every trace of the vasana is a seed for the next birth. How to erase the traces? Trace elements are beyond the control of the jivarashi and, hence the jiva suffers! The Grand Sire Bhishma pitamaha gives a very valuable advise in this regard. Utter the name of the Lord, a vasana is erased! A million utterances of the Lord will erase a million traces and thereby save the tormented jiva! Chant the name of the Lord. It is the only remedy for all the problems of the jiva. It is a panacea. Hence, great sages have taken to dhyana, japa and tapas to get themselves redeemed!