Discourse on Sivananda Lahari
Day 10, August 7
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Ganesaya Namaha
Sri Saraswatyai Namaha
Sripada Vallabha
Narasimha Saraswati
Sri Guru Dattatreyaya Namaha
Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Sadgurubhyo Namaha
asato ma sadgamaya
tamaso ma jyotirgamaya
mrityor ma amrtam gamaya
Om Santissantissantihi
Please lead me from untruth to Truth, from darkness to light, from death to immortality. May there be peace.
Om Om Om Om Om Om
Bhajan: Om Om Om Gam Gam Gam
Verse 18:
Twameko lokānām parama phalado divya padavīm,
Vahantha stwanmulām punarapi bajanthe hari mukhāh
Kiyadwa dākshinyam tawa shiva madāśā ca kiyathī
Kadā vā mad rakshām vahasi karunā poorita drishā
In today’s stotra Sri Bhagavatpada says, I am very fortunate to obtain your darshan. But I am still unable to see your feet. All the celestials like Indra are blocking my view. They are all prostrating to you. The brilliance of their crowns is blinding my vision. I do not know if you are able to see me. I am beginning to doubt that. Please have these deities move aside so that I can view your feet.
I cannot claim that I have earned any merit to deserve your darshan and compassion. You alone are the one who grants the best fruits and the best comforts to everyone in the world. The highest fruit is liberation. My part in it is nothing.
We do not put in any effort unless we see a benefit from it. We plant trees expecting to enjoy the fruits. We have children expecting that they will serve us later. If there is no benefit for a certain action, we will not engage in that action. We always must weigh the pros and cons before attempting any task. If the result is going to be bad, we must avoid doing that task.
Harihi Om Tatsat. Om represents all three worlds. Tat – that action Sat – gives good result. I said that by my merit I have obtained this darshan. But now I realize that I have done nothing to deserve this. It is entirely your mercy that is granting me this grace. It is easy to earn your grace. I pray for that. For small results we work. But for liberation, which is the highest fruit, you alone are responsible, for inspiring us to yearn for it and to attempt to receive it.
The celestials live happily in heaven. They are free from disease, unhappiness, and fear. They do not even blink the way we do, to protect our eyes from dust. Although the deities are so happy in heaven, they still go to visit Kailasa to be in close proximity to you while you are immersed in meditation. It is like we sit in the shade of a tree for rest when we are exhausted. It is like children coming home after getting tired with their play.
The celestials enjoy the beauty of nature when they come to Kailasa. There are no trees and not even blades of grass. The oxygen levels are low there. What is there in Kailasa? Siva is there. If He is there, then everything is there. If Guru is there, what else is required?
After preparing a garland, when a pendant is added to it, it enhances its beauty. Our sadhana is the pendant in our life. Hindu women wear Mangalya, the sacred marriage thread. The pendant/Mangalya is the important feature in it, not the chain/thread.
We must seek liberation, which is the highest fruit. You grant us that if we put in the effort. Indra and other deities were also once human beings. They did an immense amount of good deeds and earned their positions. Nahusha had earned great merit and attained the position of Indra. God has granted us that opportunity to elevate ourselves. Indra and the others, who have obtained such great positions, still yearn for your darshan.
Indra is referred to here as Hari. Hari has many meanings. Also it means Hanuman (monkey).
We wish to visit a hill station to enjoy fresh air and cool weather. Indra and others likewise keep visiting Kailasa. What is there in Kailasa? Only a mountain with snow. It is surrounded by mountains. Ganga flows down from there. What is it that gives pleasure there? It is the presence of Lord Siva. Even a jungle becomes Vaikuntha if God is there. Our Mysore ashrama was once a jungle. Now in Guru Sannidhi it is Vaikuntha.
O Lord Siva, in your presence there is great happiness. Indra and others sit beside your feet. They wait for your darshan.
That same Lord Siva is present here in this Siva Lingam of Sri Sachchidanandeswara. Never regard it as a mere piece of stone.
Your compassion is immeasurable, Oh Lord Siva. My desire also is endless. You fulfill all my desires. When will you remove my burden, when will you come to my aid? I have no one but you. Please take responsibility for my welfare. My desire is that you should accept me as your own.
Siva is supposed to reside in the cave called the heart. Why cave? Caves give an echo if we make a sound. What should be our shout? ‘I am yours.’ If you shout that, the answer will come from God in the form of an echo, ‘I am yours’.
We do everything, knowing that you are listening and seeing everything. Please bless us with your compassionate glances. Not only satisfy our worldly desires but also grant us salvation.
How to describe your glory O Lord Siva?
Hari and Hara mean the same. They both are from the same source syllable. If you are adored adequately, if we have done to our best ability the Ekadashi Vrata, Guru Puja, and so on, then you give us the fruits.
Are more fruits and more abhishekam required to satisfy you? What is the benefit? Who is Siva? Why are we doing this? One must understand the principle behind all these actions. The Lord Himself is Liberation. It is not as if we reach a certain place called Liberation. God Himself is Liberation.
While worshiping, the noble souls do not ask for any boons. They simply adore for their own satisfaction. Pleased with such worship, He gifts Himself to them. We should reach that level.
Bhajan: Jyotirlingakara … (Bhimasankara)
Namassivaya Namassivaya Namassivaya
Why are all these celestials approaching you? They already have everything. Please protect me, since I am praying to you. I am expressing my grief because I cannot withhold it any more. We tell our children to aim big and achieve big to prevent them from getting into bad ways. But according to Vedanta all desire is undesirable. Selfishness should be given up.
Whether I am well or not, everyone else should be well, is how we should pray. But those with demonic traits wish that the entire world should perish, even if in the process they also get destroyed. Such evil desires should be shunned. To satisfy my evil desire I am degraded to the level of a street dog at the feet of an unworthy fellow. I keep getting chased away in disgust.
The climax of our life story should be good. A play or a serial, a book, a story may have a bad part in it at the beginning or in the middle. We patiently proceed to further view or read, hoping that the story will improve. If some interest is created and sustained, we continue to read. It should not have a bad ending.
Merely giving up the body is not ‘duranta’. Death due to disease, accident, or other strange reason may occur. You must not be satisfied simply by leaving the body. We must merge in God. That is the final good result that we should pray for. This body has become a house full of sins. I am like this now. This is my present situation. But I was once your ardent devotee. I had offered you sincere worship once. Is it not your duty to save me now? A true devotee has the right to demand like this. Have you forgotten my previous good worship? Please recollect, O Lord. I was a good devotee once upon a time.
Verse 19:
Dhuraśā bhūyishte dhuradhipa gruhadwāra ghatake
Durante samsāre durita-nilaye dukha janake
Madāyāsam kin na vyapanayasi kasyōpa krithaye
Vadeyam preethischeth tawa kritārthah khalu vayam
In the previous verses, he prays that whatever bad things destiny has ordained, should be erased. It is okay to have desires, it is said. There is selfishness. How to live unselfishly? It is not possible, many say. To wish for one’s own welfare is okay. To wish that only you should be well, is wrong. But to wish ill upon others whether or not you are well is totally wrong. If you engage in such thoughts, you will become a dog at the gate of those whose misfortune you pray for. If you do not respect yourself who else will?
We should seek and hold your feet O Lord. Instead, we hold the feet of the unworthy. Any story should have a happy ending. Our life should have a happy ending. Duranta .. Is what happens after we leave the body.
A worm goes up a grass blade. The grass blade bends with its weight as it reaches the tip. The worm then places a foot on the next blade and moves on to the next grass blade. In between a part of its body hangs in the air. O man, even a worm has the sense to take care of its future support before taking a leap.
A betel nut tree is climbed. A man throws the nuts down and then jumps to the next tree. He comes down only when all the nuts are picked and thrown down to the ground. O Man, do not quit until you have attained the highest fruit. You have no descent after that.
This life should not be a home of sorrows. It happens if you pursue the wrong type of persons and goals.
I was your devotee once. I had forgotten you. I went after undeserving people. All that I gained is exhaustion.
Dhoorjati is a great poet. He was offered a great boon to praise the king. He refused. He was determined to only praise God. There are many poets like that.
Please, O Lord, why are you not removing my pain? He is debating within himself. Please remove my pain.
Oh, now I understand the reason why you are disinterested in me, O Lord, Siva. Now I know the reason why you are not paying me attention.
You have kept my body, mind and soul in your control. Your appearance is frightful. But your actions are most pleasing. You are covered in ash. You wear animal skins. You have three eyes and you look very strange and dreadful. We should not run away seeing this appearance. Sadguru also creates fear in us sometimes. But when you properly approach him, you will find him to be soft as butter.
Are you ignoring me because you want to do a favor to Brahma? Brahma has given me a certain destiny. By erasing it you may be offending Brahma. You are fond of Brahma. Is that the reason for your negligence towards me? You are protecting Brahma since he is your devotee. I am also your devotee. Why do you not protect me also?
If you give him two spoons of Teertham, give me at least half a teaspoon of Teertham. We must always wait for our turn patiently. We must not demand a bucketful of Teertham when all others are receiving only a spoonful. If not today, at least tomorrow, your grace will be showered upon me.
Finally Sri Bhagavatpada gives his conclusion. Whatever Lord Siva does, is for our own benefit. We are fulfilled, no matter what comes our way. Everything is predetermined and well-planned. Everything happens only for our benefit. Just as Brahma is your devotee who wins your grace, I am also your devotee. I am confident that you will show me the same grace that you show towards other devotees of yours. What Brahma has given us is good. Even if what he has written is unpleasant, you will make it pleasant, O Lord Siva. If you erase Brahma’s writing, it will be an insult to your devotee, Brahma. We are immensely fulfilled, O Lord Siva. We have attained the full benefit that we deserve.
You have protected us from the bad consequences of all our commissions and omissions.
In the following verses, Sri Bhagavatpada gives us advice on how to give guidance to others. He is offering this advice in the form of his personal prayer. He has no need for such prayers just as Sri Swamiji has no need for singing bhajans. It is all only to benefit us.
Today is Sravana Ekadasi, a very auspicious day. We have performed abhishekam to Sri Lakshminarasimha this morning.
Bhajan: Ekadasi Ekadasi …
Ekadasi is the day to perform an all-night vigil, fasting, contemplation on Hari, and offering of lamp lights to God to earn the highest spiritual stage, Paramapada. On the following day, on Dwadasi, we end the fast and accept a feast. Ekadasi Vrata/austerity grants Sat, Chit, and Ananda.
Narayana Hari Narayana Hari Narayana Hari Narayana Hari
Srinivasa Govinda Venkatesa Govinda, Govinda Hari Govinda
Victory to the Lord.
Tomorrow, since it is Friday, the Yoga Vasishtha discourse will begin at 7:30 AM. It will be followed by Abhishekam to Lord Sri Datta Venkateswara. At 10 AM Sri Varalakshmi Vratam will be performed in the Prayer Hall.
Sri Guru Datta