नाम स्मरण
Nama Smarana — Remembering the Name
nāma = name, smaraṇa = remembrance — keeping the name present
Beyond counting: the name running under the day like a river under a bridge.
In the simplest words
Pick a name of God you love and let it hum quietly in your head while you do normal things — brushing teeth, walking, waiting. Forgot it? No problem, no scolding — just start humming it again. That's the whole game.
What it is
The Narada Bhakti Sutra counts smarana — remembrance — among the limbs of devotion, and the bhakti saints made it their whole road: Namdev talking to Vitthala over chores, Tukaram's abhangas insisting the name needs no altar, Gandhi's lifelong 'Rama-Rama'. Where japa counts the name, smarana simply keeps it: while washing dishes, waiting for a bus, walking to class, the name is set running underneath like a tanpura drone. The practice is to notice when it has stopped and start it again, without scolding — a hundred gentle restarts a day IS the practice, and slowly the restarts need no effort.
Where it comes from: Bhakti tradition — Narada Bhakti Sutra's smarana; the sant parampara of Namdev, Tukaram and the nama movements.
Before you practise — health first
Fully gentle — with one honest note: during tasks needing complete attention (driving, labs, crossings), let the name rest; it will wait. Remembrance should soften the day, never split it.
How to practise
Choose the name that already feels warm to you — Rama, Krishna, Shiva, Ma — one, and stay with it.
Tie it to anchors: doorways, stairs, waiting moments, the first minute after waking.
Let it run silently under activity — no counting, no pausing life for it.
Each time you notice it has stopped, smile and set it going again. The noticing is the win.
Once a day, give it five undivided minutes with closed eyes, so the undercurrent has a spring.
Practise now
ॐ
Om chanting is counted like any jaap — open the Om mantra page and count your rounds on the mala there.
Open the Om jaap counterWhen & how long
All day, in fragments — that is its nature. The five quiet minutes daily keep the fragments connected.
What it is kept for
Carrying practice into a schedule with no free hours; the bhakti path's own answer to a scattered day; the bridge from counted japa to constant remembrance.