Meaning of "becoming Pure" by reciting a slokha

Question

Sloka:-

Om Apavitrah Pavitro Vaa Sarva-Avasthaam Gato-[A]pi Vaa |

Yah Smaret-Punnddariikaakssam Sa Baahya-Abhyantarah Shucih ||

Meaning:-

1: Om, if one is Apavitra (Impure) or Pavitra (Pure), or even in all other conditions, ...

2: ... He who remembers Pundarikaksha (Another name of Sri Vishnu, literally meaning Lotus-like Eyes), He becomes Pure outwardly as well as inwardly.

The above sloka says one who remembers Narayana gets pure, What does the word Pure signify does it signify "free from Karma" "free from Papa" or "free from Maya"? Because if we become pure, Why can't we attain Spiritual consciousness? Why can't we see Krishna if we become pure by remembering Pundarikaksha? What's the exact meaning or artha of the sloka? The sloka also mentions that this name could be remembered at any time so Why wouldn't people in the Maya get out of it by reciting the sloka once?

Answer 1

There are a bunch of questions here.

What does the work Pure signify does it signify "free from Karma" or "free from Papa" or "free from Maya"

The shloka means that reciting the mantra would free the mind from the impurities of sin and make it pure.

Mind causes both bondage and liberation.

It is the view of wise men that the mind is the cause of both the bondage and liberation of embodied beings. If the mind is attached to the Gunas of Prakriti and their products, it leads to bondage; but when it begins to feel delight and attraction for the Lord (Purusha), it leads to liberation. When the mind is freed from the impurities of lust and greed generated by the sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine’, it attains to purity and rests in equanimity, being unaffected by pleasure or pain. Then the Jiva, endowed with knowledge, renunciation and devotion, experiences in truth the Supreme Spirit transcending Nature (Prakriti) – Kevala (untouched by anything), eternal, self-effulgent, subtle, indivisible and unconcerned – as well as Prakriti with all its binding power destroyed.

Srimad Bhagavata Purana III.25.15-18

Because if we become pure Why can't we attain Spiritual consciousness? Why can't we see Krishna if we become pure by remembering Pundarikaksha? What's the exact meaning of the slokha? The slokha also mentions that this name could be remembered at any time so Why wouldn't people in the Maya get out of it by reciting the slokha once?

One can attain spiritual consciousness when the mind becomes pure.

Thus, ever engaged in making the mind steadfast in spiritual communion and having all the impurities of the mind effaced thereby, the Yogin easily engages the intense bliss of contact with Brahman.

Gita 6.28

Why doesn't the mind become pure after reciting the mantra once? The answer is that the mind of most people is in very bad state and it takes a long, sustained and determined effort to purify the mind. Gita has many verses that point out the great difficulty of overcoming maya.

My view is that Yoga is difficult of attainment by men of uncontrolled mind. But for those who have their minds under control, it is possible to attain, if they strive with the proper means.

Gita 6.36

My divine Maya (power) constituted of the three Gunas is difficult to overcome. Whoever takes refuge in Me alone, in utter devotion, overcomes it.

Gita 7.14

At the end of many births (of striving), the knowing one makes Me his refuge, realizing that Vasudeva is All. A great soul of that type is rare to find.

Gita 7.19

Answer 2

There can be several reasons for delay or absence of results that are mentioned by verses in scriptures.

For example, one of the key reasons can be lack of faith. It can be safely inferred from the following words of Krishna

O son of Pritha, whatever acts of sacrifice, charity, or penance are done without faith, are termed as “Asat.” They are useless both in this world and the next.

[28, 17, Bhagavad Gita]

If sadhaka lacks faith in either the verses on scriptures, guru, god, etc., then there are higher chances that the particular sadhana may become useless or results may get delayed.

An excellent story for this is present in Sri Parasara Samhitha.

A sage named Puskara initiated two persons: Dhwajadatta and Gala to the Hanuman mantra. Dhwajadatta was a Brahmin and has mastery over Vedas and several other scriptures. Gala was a kirata and committed many sins. Due to the differences in faith towards the guru pushkara, results also differed. Gala achieved results by reciting just 108 times but Dhwajadatta didn't attain results even after so many times recitations of the Hanuman mantra.

Please read the following words of Pushkara saying the reason for the delay of results in the case of Dhwajadatta. You can read the verses from 27 onwards

Having decided that Puskara said so to Dhwajadatta, `Oh! Brahmin! You do not have faith in the Guru. This lead to delay in achieving the result of the mantra, even though you recited it as stipulated. In case of a mantra, a holy water body, a Brahmin, God, an astrologer, a physician, a Guru; one gets result in proportion to one's attitude. Oh! Good Brahmin! You have faith in the mantra and in the God. But you have no faith in and devotion towards the Guru that taught you the mantra.

[28-30, 12: The Story Devotion to the Guru, Sri Parasara Samhitha]

Thus, even if the verses say the results, they presume all these qualities from sadhaka, which may not be present in sadhaka, and hence the results will get delayed.

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Note: After the discussion with OP, which you can read from the comments, I think the OP is asking for the reason for the delay in results that are mentioned by stotras. And the need for repetition. It is not restricted to the particular verses given by OP and hence I answered in a general sense.

Answer 3

As Pradip's and hanugm's answers pretty well answer your question from the traditional view point, I wanted to write an answer which points to a more contemporary and practical approach of thinking about it.

Sadhguru in his Mystic Musings addresses this shloka and compares the unnecessary mental clutter to the dirt.

Seeker: I think I am getting somewhere, but the moment I sit in front of you, Sadhguru, I feel I am simply deceiving myself. I’m right back to square one.

Sadhguru: It is good to know that you realize the deception is on. Once, while visiting a modern art museum, a lady turned to an attendant standing nearby. "This," she said, I suppose, is one of those hideous representations you call modern art?" "No, madam," replied the assistant, that one is called the mirror." So Deepika, don't think. Start looking. Don't use your stupid mind. It's the same nonsense. You can't think any other way than you have been trained to up until now. Don't think. Just look. The whole idea is to drop your stupid thinking. All this high and low, right and wrong, is only in your mind. When you simply look at everything, everything seems to be okay. If you stand here and just look ---the grass, the trees, the hill, the big mountain, the small mountain, are all just part of the scenery. Does the cloud look better than the mountain? Or does the sky look better than the mountain? Everything is just a part of one unit. If you stand here and think, "This is a mountain, that is a cloud," then everything seems separate. The moment you project like this, all your nonsense, lifetimes of karma confront you. If you are simply here, looking at everything as it is, you become a different kind of being altogether. You will mellow down to something totally different. Now, you said you're back to square one. Tell me, what is square one? You started projecting. The moment you project, you're back to square one, and where else can you be? There is nowhere else you can be, because that is the only place your mind can be. When you are in your mind, you don’t travel anywhere. You only hallucinate. The first stanza of the Guru Pooja [Invoking The Guru] is just that:

“Apavithra Pavithrova”
“Sarvavasthan Gatopiva”
“Yasmareth Poondari Kaksham” “Sabhayabhyantra Suchihe”

'Anyone --whether holy or unholy, whatsoever state he has reached--who meditates upon the lotus eyed lord, becomes sanctified both internally and externally.'

This means you are not involved in your own self-emancipation. You're not trying to improve yourself. You're not trying to purify yourself. You just contemplate on what you hold as the highest right now. Whatever is your highest, you just contemplate upon that. Your inner and outer purity will happen naturally. If you try to emancipate yourself, to improve yourself or to purify yourself, the more and more you do it, the more of a mess you will be. You simply contemplate on what you hold as the highest. Maybe God, maybe the Guru, or whatever you hold as the highest. Or just contemplate on the sky; it is enough. Simply be with it, don't project God or anything on it. It is simply smaran. Smaran means remembering or contemplating on the highest. Now, everything changes: inner and outer purity naturally happen. Why temples are not working for people is because they are projecting about God. If they shift from projecting about God to smaran, there will be a tremendous transformation in them. People cannot remember God. If you have to remember, you should have seen Him somewhere or in something. Maybe in a child's face, your wife's face, your lover's face, maybe in a flower, in the clouds, somewhere you could have seen at least a glimpse of God; only then can you remember them. Others can only think. Smaran means it has happened. In this smaran everything is purified. Now you don't have to work on how to correct this or that, how to make this okay. Don't worry about all that nonsense. You just remember the highest aspect of life that you have seen. Just go on remembering that. That's your God right now. Everything can change out of that.