Please share some tips for memorizing verses

From: Jayasree mataji

While reading the scriptures, we feel very inspired to memorize some inspiring slokas. Please suggest some valuable tips to memorize slokas.

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
for a devotee sadhaka.
Thank you. While reading the scriptures, we feel very inspired to memorize and inspire each yokas. Please suggest some valuable treats to memorize yokas.
Answer the three broad guidelines, repetition, revision, and utilization. Repetition refers to the phase when we are memorizing, and revision and utilization refers to the phase when we are recollecting. So, when we are memorizing, it is critical to repeat the verse, preferably aloud.
If we can recite in meter and if we have a musical sense, then the recitation in the meter helps us to also use the musical memory that we have in addition to the verbal memory. But even if we don’t have much of a musical sense and if we can’t memorize the tune, then just repeating the verse aloud helps it in entering the memory. So, generally the best way to memorize a verse is to recite one line five times or ten times, depending on our capacity, then recite the second line five or ten times and recite both lines five or ten times.
Then the third line and the fourth line five times, ten times each. Then third, fourth together five or ten times, and then the full verse five or ten times. This is time consuming, but in the long run, it is much more easy and effective to memorize verses.
Initially, we may have to do this ten times over a period of time. When we are memorizing a new verse, we’ll be able to do it within five times also. And after we have done this, almost any verse, no matter how complicated, can be memorized by this method of repeated recitation.
This is how traditionally long, long sections of scriptures would be memorized. Even today in South India and other places, Mishra Sahasranam is memorized in this way by repeated recitation. Now recitation and repetition give us a short-term memory, but for that short-term memory to become long-term, there has to be revision.
So revision can be done in various ways. We can ourselves make a list of the verses that we are planning to memorize, say, over the next week or the next month and keep a track of those verses and go back periodically to those verses and recollect them together. So if I memorize one verse in three days, then maybe at the end of the week I have two verses which I specifically go back and revise.
Another way is that the verses that we are memorizing, we spend some time memorizing them and then have a small pocket diary or flash card or even copy them in a cell phone as an e-book. And then whenever we get a few minutes, a few moments also, we can just look at the verse and try to revise it. The most relishable way to revise verses is by memorizing them with somebody else.
So if two devotees have a taste for memorizing verses and if they can come together and memorize a verse together, then the next time they meet, they can prompt each other, do you remember that verse? And both of them can recite it one by one. And that also, that not only becomes a relishable way of memorizing, but it also gives a spiritual substance to our devotional exchanges with other devotees. And beyond that, after we have memorized, this is utilization.
If we are not utilizing what we memorize, then over a period of time, our inspiration for memorization will be lost. So what are the ways we can utilize verses that you have memorized? We may often think of using them in our outreach when we are sharing Krishna Consciousness with others while giving classes or in informal discussions. That is fine.
That is a limited objective though. Beyond that, verses can be utilized for our own personal contemplation on Krishna. If we memorize some verses about Krishna’s beauty and Krishna’s qualities, then we can contemplate on them and they become a ready-made template for us to think of Krishna.
We know that we should think of Krishna, but how do we think of Krishna? You just think of his peacock feather and his beautiful complexion. It may be possible, but such visualization is not as evocative as it would be if it is accompanied by some recitation of corresponding verses that describe Krishna’s beauty. So the primary utilization of verses that we memorize is for our personal contemplation.
The memorized verses become like a ready-made template for us to think about Krishna. Whenever we are having a little free time with not so much time that we can do something tangible or when we are doing activities that involve mainly physical moving around without involving much mental or intellectual engagement, then it is very good to recite verses at such times so that we can be in Krishna consciousness. So if we open ourselves to this utilization of the memorized verses, then this is actually far far more enriching and far far more useful and far far less fruit you a motivation for memorizing verses.
If we just think that I’m memorizing so that I can speak to others about them, then often the motive of impressing others by our learning comes in. But if we are doing it just for the sake of our own absorption, then incidentally and whenever needed we may quote it to others, but it won’t be to so show our learning. It’ll just be to share a Krishna conscious point and to back it with a spiritual reference.
And one particularly devotional way of utilizing verses for our personal contemplation is to recite the verses when we take darshan of the deities. If we make a habit of say memorizing one verse or one one even one section of a verse one line or two lines of a verse every day or at whatever frequency we can and then whenever we take darshan we could have that memorized verse as an offering to Krishna at that time. So that is a way we can make our darshan of the deities whether it be in the temple or in our home or wherever else an experience that we look forward to an experience that Krishna will look forward to because we have something to offer to him every day when we take darshan.
So this works best if the verses that we are memorizing are prayers then when we take darshan we can offer prayers to Krishna. But there are several prayers for example in the Prilad Marath section which are actually not so much requests but they are just philosophical descriptions or philosophic analysis. So those verses are not making any request they’re not even glorifying Krishna they’re just analyzing material existence.
So that is a way a child is expressing the understanding of the subject that he has learned to his parents he or she has learned to his parents so her parents whatever. So basically the important point is that we try to memorize the verses and we can offer them in a prayerful mood even if they are not prayers and that will make our deity darshan a very devotionally enriching experience. And over a period of time if we have the taste for memorizing verses it is especially helpful to memorize a series of verses in some section because if you memorize a series of verses then they become a ready-made unit for us to utilize.
If you memorize random verses from one verse from Bhagavatam, one verse from Bhagavad Gita, one verse from Chetan Charita Amrit, one verse from Padma Puran. This is also helpful but then we need to keep track of the verses we have memorized so that we can revise and utilize as sometimes we may not do this although if we can that’s excellent. But on the other hand if you memorize a series of verses for example we take 10 verses from the prayers of Prahlad Maharaj or say 5 verses from the prayers of Vijendra and just memorize them then that becomes a more sustained substance for a more sustained prayerful session with Krishna and recite one verse after another and have that have those emotions slowly arise in our heart and experience a deeper connection with Krishna then would be if we just memorize one verse and of course if you memorize a series of verses then it becomes if we are giving classes or if we want to have informal discussions but we want those informal discussions to be more systematic and focused then having a memorized series of verses they become a ready-made template for us to launch into a focused discussion also.
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