Nama and Prana - by HH Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamigal

"The greatest of all wonders is that if the air that goes out of the body does not re-enter, the body becomes dead. Isn't it!" If one says the nAmam, the roopam of the bhagavan will come automatically to the mind. AzhwAr tells this in the first pAsuram and in the second pAsuram describes the archAvatAra tirumEni - "pachai mAmalai pOl mEni pavazhavaI kamala chengan", these words are so beautiful to say and so sweet to the tongue. 

"The greatest of all wonders is that if the air that goes out of the body does not re-enter, the body becomes dead. Isn't it! Its the air which keeps going in and out of the body. How is it going? In vishnusahasranama there is a "vAyuvAhanAyaI namaHa”. " Lets say a man on a horse comes down to a village and sees a house. Thinking he wants to spend some time in this house and enjoy the greenery of the village, he will allow the horse to graze in the morning and tie it to the house in the evening and repeat this daily. He will stay like this until the day comes when he is ready to leave the house and go back the way he came. He will go the same way as he came. by mounting himself on the horse. Likewise the prAna is sitting on the body. Keeping the prAna as the vehicle the jeevan is living inside - vAyu vAhanan. Just as long as he decides to stay in this body, this prAna (like the horse mentioned in the above example) goes out to graze and comes back, goes out and comes back. When it thinks its sufficient, the vAyu goes out but does not come in but instead goes up and we then say the air has gone out from him. 

Azhwar looks at the Lord Sri Ranganathar and says "AdhalAl piravi vAEndAEn arangamAnagarullanAE" - we should not think azhwar is telling himself, he is in fact telling us!!! If we are born, we should do namakeerthanam, serve the lord but not just sleeping, making jokes or thinking about his disease. Then what is the use of being born? If such a life then its not worth having it. Thus in our life during the younger days, middle age and in the old age, much of time is gone in sleep and azhwar tells us to be wary of it. Radhe Radhe