When the tongue is non-living why does King Kulashekarha pray to the tongue in Mukunda Mala Stotra 26?
“My dear tongue, I stand before you with joined palms and beg you to recite the names of Lord Narayana. These names describing the Supreme Absolute Truth bring great pleasure, as if exuding honey.”
Transcript
This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
so Hare Krishna question when the tongue is a non-living object why does Kulashikar Maharaj in the Mukunda Mala Stotra pray to the tongue the verse here is tattvam brahmanani paramparastad madhuksharanti vamudha vahani pravartaya pranjalai rasmi jivhe namani narayana gaucharani so the translation is tattvam brahmanani paramparastad that which points to the supreme tattva that which is transcendental transcendence so brahman is transcendence and beyond that is Bhagavan so paramparastad and that which brings madhuksharanti vamudha vahani which brings the flow of nectar as if it is madhu honey so namani pravartaya pranjalai rasmi jivhe pravartaya so I offer obeisances unto the tongue pravartaya pranjalai rasmi jivhe namani narayana gaucharani I pray to you please chant the holy names so here actually two points have to be understood one is the point of poetry and the other is the point of devotion from the point of philosophy which is the perspective which you have asked in your question from the point of your philosophy it’s true that the tongue is non-living and the tongue cannot respond to our prayers but from the point of view of poetry there is a poetic device called as personification that means that which is non-living is treated as if it were a person for the sake of the for the sake of poetical beauty it’s called poetic ornament so it is very widely used in poetry in various languages it’s used in English it’s used in Sanskrit also so Kulshekhar Maharaj’s song is actually a poetry it’s Mukunda Mala Stotra it’s all verses which are poetic and this is a poetic ornament and so it adds to the beauty of the composition that Kulshekhar Maharaj is offering to the Lord as a mala and beyond that also another important point to understand is that the devotees mood is that the devotees so desperate to love and serve Krishna that the devotee wants to ask anyone and everyone whatever is there available to assist in the glorification of the Lord in the service of the Lord so we see this as a indication of the exalted level of devotion of the desperation of the pure desire to glorify the Lord that the devotee feels whatever can help let that help me in the glorification of the Lord so O Tongue I need you so that I can glorify the Lord so O Tongue please engage me in devotional service I beg you please engage me in devotional service so normally we should pray like that to the Lord but then yes we have to pray to the Lord but along with that we are using the tongue as a paraphernalia so it’s a devotional mood and that devotional mood is focused not just on factual truth but it is focused on the deep intense earnest desperate fervent desire of the devotee to somehow or the other engage in devotional service and taste the sweetness of love for Krishna so from these two perspectives first is the devotional perspective of poetic ornamentation and second is the point of devotional desperation we can understand this verse of why a devotee is praying to the Tongue to please engage in bhakti so the devotee is expressing the desperation so elsewhere Pulashekar Maharaj also prays to Krishna but here he is glorifying the holy name and then he is giving expression to his intense desire by saying that whatever can help me in my service to Krishna let that be used and so he is praying to the Tongue also in that context thank you