Sri Guru Datta Vaibhavam
Day 3, August 3
Jaya Guru Datta !
Today we observed Sankata Hara Chaturthi vratham, a very special day. Every month, in dundigal ashram, this program is being conducted by our priest Sri Narasimha Murthy in a grand way. Few devotees showed these photos also. Very happy. Lord Ganapathi is very fond of this vratham. He has many names. Runa Vimochaka Ganapathi is one among them which means He clears all our debts. Every person is indebted which cannot be cleared. We are indebted to mother, father, Guru, the one who gave us education, the one who gave food and so on. This debt cannot never be cleared. Runa Vimochaka Ganapathi clears such debt also. To obtain His blessings, one must perform Sankashta Hara vratham. This is special about Him. This is considered as the most important of all Ganapathi vrathams. All of you perform this every month. There is one Sankata Mochana Hanuman. Anjaneya also is considered as the one who removes sankata – troubles. Ganapathi is know as Runa Vimochana and Sankashta Hara. Here, we have both Anjaneya and Ganapathi and dundigal ashram is fortunate to have them both. Here Ganapathi is Trimukha Ganapathi, who is in the form of Dattatreya also. There is no difference between Datta and this Trimukha Ganapathi.
We are tallking about Sri Guru Datta Vaibhavam. First let us pray Ganapathi and then enter into this story.
Sri Ganeshaya Namaha
Sri Saraswathyai Namaha
Sri Pada Vallabha Nrusimha Saraswathi
Sri Guru Dattatreyaya Namaha
Sri Ganapathi Sachchidananda Sadgurubhyo Namo Namaha !
Hayagreevam hamsaroopam
Vishnu murthi swaroopinam
Dattatreyam gurum vande
Sachchidananda roopinam
Prostrations to Dattatreya who is in the form of Hayagreeva, Hamsa, Vishnu and Sachchidananda.
Aabrahma stamba paryantham
paramaatma swarupinam
sthaavaram jangamam chaiva
pranamaami jagatgurum
Brahma is the oldest. He is bruhat. Hence He is called Brahma. There is a temple called Bruhadeeshwara swami temple in Tanjavur. There is a huge Shiva Linga. We would be surprised to see that. You may feel if the Linga is consecrated first and then the temple is built or vice versa. One litre of milk for abhishekam may not be sufficient even for one strand of His hair. Such huge is the shiva linga. Abhishekam is done only once a year to Him in a very grand scale. Such Bruhadeeshwara Swami represents Brahma. It is called Lingam, which means symbol for Paramatma. He is an indication for sthira paramatma, who is fixed and Sadguru is an indication for Chara Paramatma who moves around.
Aabrahma stamba paryantham
paramaatma swarupinam
From Brahma, who evolved from Narayana, the creation came into existence. If you search path for your birth, how you were born, from your mother & father, in the form of food in the father, that food that came through water, that water from sun’s rays and so on… you will finally end up at Brahma in the spiritual path. There is no one beyond Him. This is told as a story for us to understand the evolution of creation. Narayana will be in Yogic sleep, and from Him comes Chaturmukha Brahma who does His creation in four different ways. There are only four ways of creation even as per scientists. Parabrahma is an indicative form of this four ways of creation. He is called Hiranya Garbha. Starting from Him till a grass hay, everything is He Himself.
It is said Tvameva Pratyaksham Brahmasi in Ganapathi Atharva seersham. Ganapathi is Brahma. We worship Ganapathi with grass hay – durvayugmam pujayami, we say. This means that starting from Brahma till the grass hay, everything that comes in betweem belongs to Him. This is what we need to know. We offer grass hay and worship Him. For Him, this entire creation is equal to this grass hay. Grass is easily available. It grows road side also. But, our offerings should be with devotion. This means that for Him, feelings are important.
Pathram pushpam phalam thoyam
yo me bhaktya prayacchati
tad aham bhakty-upahrtam asnami prayatatmanah
Offer a leaf or a flower or a fruit or water but with love and devotion. The feeling is important. Without this, devotion does not yield result. When we offer grass, there are many meanings to it. Ganapathi is Gaja mukha – elephant headed. Elephant likes grass. There is nothing wrong in offering grass. As said, the feeling behind this is important. Such feeling should increase our devotion. Our feelings should not diminish the dignity of Sadguru and God. He doesn’t take the articles given by us. He takes our feelings and devoton.
You all know the story of Bhakta Kannappa. What did he offer to Siva ? He offered raw meat. He doesnt even know that it should be cooked. But he offered it with devotion. The lord accepted it. It doesnt mean He ate, but He accepted it. What did He accept ? We offer coconuts to lord. Did He ever ate a small piece of it ? It is we who made chutney out of it, sambar or sweet out of it and we ate. He never ate anything. Then why offer ? It is our devotion that He is taking.
Have you ever noticed while offering coconut to Lord ? It is like our head and the water inside is the nectar of our thoughts. When you break it remove the coir, you find 3 eyes. This indicates that we do have 3 eyes but are using only 2. So, we pray the lord to open our third eye too. This is the true meaning of offering a coconut. All these thougths should come to your mind, else it is not devotion.
Stavaram Jangamam chaiva
He is there in both movable and immovable. We must treat Sadguru with these feelings. Worship with such feelings gives immense merit. Mere puja also gives merit, but when done with devotion gives immeasurable merit. If we get what we have asked for, it is little. But, if He gives, that would be useful for all the births, at all the times. For such merit, we must worship with devotion.
Sadguru tattva is very difficult to understand. Upanishads says:
yasya deve para bhaktihi
yatha deve tatha gurau
tasyaite kathita hyarthah
prakaasante mahatmanaha
Who ever has para bhakti – the greatest bhakti on God, and the similar bhakti is also there on Sadguru, for such people knowledge is automatically revealed in their mind. Devotion has such power. You must also pray to the lord to give you compassion in your hrudayam.
Hrudayam is not your heart. Who can show where your manas is ? It can not be seen even when operated. Your manas is there where ever your feelings and thoughts are. It is everywhere. If you close your eyes and think of America, your manas is there. If you think Australia, it is there. If you think whether you locked your house or not, it is there. If you have to drive and reach that place, it takes time, but your manas goes there immediately.
Your heart is stuck in your activities and has become hard. It needs to be melted. How to melt it ? With devotion, when you pray the lord, He fills our heart with compassion and makes it melt. Then, bhaavam increases. The lord likes such hearts and accepts it fondly.
This process happens to each one of us unknowlingly. We cannot even make out that this is happening. What is the benefit of having a Guru ? What have you gained out of Him ? What has He done for you ? We talk so much about it and say, He has built ashramas, He makes us sing bhajans, Hanuman chalisa, built a huge Hanuman temple in Trinidad, in Mysore etc etc. Along with all these, you must also say that without our own knowledge, our life has reformed. He changed our hearts. This transformation is not easy. Because we have come with so many tendencies from previous births. Transformation of this life is possible only by Sadguru. You should be in such a way that every one praises your transformation. Then Sadguru feels proud of us. He feels happy and takes one more incarnation for us. This is very important. But, this is not completely in our hands. However, we must try. Transformation in human being is the greatest benefit of having a Sadguru. Many bad habits that doesnt leave us for births together walks out just by mere words of Sadguru. Such powerful are His words. One cannot get rid of these habits even after going to a de-addiction treatment. Such habits leave us just by a word from Sadguru.
Earlier, during Swamiji’s birthdays, when people ask Him as to what He wants, Swamiji asked them to leave their bad habits at His feet. Many people did this and got rid of their bad habits. Once you offer this, never get back with those habits again. Likewise, though there are many benefits of having a sadguru, transforming people is a primary one.
Yasyantham nadhi Madhyam na hi kara charanam nama gothram na suthram,
No jathir naiva varno na bhavathi purusho no napumsam na cha sthree
Naakaaram no vikaram na hi jani maranam nasthi punyam cha papam,
No athathvam thathwamekam sahaja samarasam sadgurum tham namami.
I salute my great Guru, Who does not have end, beginning or middle , Who does not have hand or feet , Who does not have name or clan or school of thought, Who does not have caste, colour, Who is not either man or woman or eunuch. Who does not have form or emotions, Who does not have either birth or death, Who does not have sin or good deeds, Who is beyond principles and is one principle, And who is friendly and tolerant.
He has no caste. caste here does not mean what we think. caste according to Upanishads is Human or Animal. He has no division of caste. Sadguru is beyond gender. He is not in any gender. He is seen as a form for our convenience. When you close your eyes, you can see yourself and that is the form you store in your heart. He is beyond life and death, the cycle of creation. There is no specific behaviour or attribute because He is beyond that also. He is beyond merit or demerit. Bhakthi is only one. There are no divisions. We should always look at Him as One. No duality. There is only One. No duality at all. He treats all equally. There is no differentiation for Guru. He treats everyone equally. At times, we think, why is Swamiji allowing such and such person etc. He only sees the soul. If everyone rejects such people, who will transform them ? How will society change ? Shouldn’t he change ? If such people in the society changes, it is good for us.
In Maharastra, Shani Shingnapur, no house locks their doors. It would be great if all the places become like this. it is said there are no thieves at all. It is believed that anything stolen from there is considered as taking Shani to their house. Guru always tries to transform. He never gives up like in family we do not give up to change a member who is wayward. Similarly, we should be able to think about the same in case of our enemies also. But we don’t because of jealousy. This jealousy ruins us.
We heard the word Guru Pada Seva. What does this mean ? It means that we must do what ever Guru feels happy about. It is to fulfill His sankalpas through what ever seva that we can do. It is to follow His words and walk on His path.
Guru’s words should be followed with no second thought. If you have offered everything to Him, why should there be a second thougth ? Such things should be done happily. Who ever has faith in His words will be benefitted instantly. You may know your future only for few days, but Guru knows it for many births to come. Since He advices you by knowing your future, His words have to be followed with utmost faith and with no second thought.
We often see many offeres like buy 1 get 1 free. These days it is like buy 1 get 4 free or 5 free. We run behind such offeres. But what is the best offer in life ? Guru’s word is the best offer. If you catch hold of this offer, you will be benefitted, since He advices according to shastras.
Who is Guru ? Why should we follow His words ? What is the use ? comes in Prashnottara Malika.
Guru is the one who aims at disciples welfare for all the births to come.
We spoke about bhaava – feelings in the beginning. There is a story that tells us how important devoton is. Once, a person did penance by chanting Vishnave Namaha. Another person did penance by chanting Vishnaya Namaha. Vishnave namaha is correct as per sanskrit grammer. Vishnaya namaha is an error. But God appeared to the person who was chanting Vishnaya Namaha. When asked, He replied that for Him, the feeling of devotion is important than grammer.
Many people say they can’t, when told to chant datta stava or hanuman chalisa. They will not be able to read. But still, you need to chant. It is ok if in the initial stages you chant with errors. But slowly you must improve and learn. But those who can read well should not chant with errors. They must learn and chant.
Devasuraa sangattasan
In vedas and puranas, we come across the fight between devatas and demons. This comes almost everywhere. Certain times even devataas were defeated. During such battle, when the demons were almost gaining victory, from no where Trimurthys or Mother Goddess appears, fights on behalf of Devathas, gives victory to them and leaves. Everytime this repeates. Demons were surprised why they lose everytime ? They too perform yagnas but why doesn’t Brahma, Vishnu or Shiva or Devi bother for them ? To know this reason, they sent a secret agent to Bruhaspathi, the Guru for Devathas. He was asked to learn secretly what Bruhaspathi preaches devathas, due to which they are gaining victory everytime.
Bruhaspathi was teaching devathas to do penance, perform good deeds, and Yagnas, but while doing this, they were told to do them with a feeling of devotion and for the welfare of the world. The secret agent who went there heard this and told the same to demons, except that it should be done with devotion. Demons also did penance and battle started again. This time too they lost the battle. They were surprised why it happened so. This time, they themselves went to Bruhaspathi and asked him. Bruhaspathi was their Guru earlier. But demons changed the Guru from Bruhaspathi to Shukracharya.
Guru should never be changed. It is a great mistake. You yourself have selected the Guru. Then why change Guru ? Some people go to a temple and perform puja. They expect instant result. Sometimes, it doesn’t happen. Then they go to another temple or another God. They say some other temple is famous. That is very wrong. There is nothing like famous temple or famous God. You must go with devotion. Will there be a famous and an unfamous God ? Never utter this word. You must actually go to a temple which is not famous and that will give you great result.
Once we went to Cambodia. It has huge temple spread across kilometers. But there is no single idol of God. It is maintained as national heritage center. There was one statue of Maha Vishnu, but the arms and other parts were destroyed in riots. We were feeling sad that there is no single Siva linga. Thinking so, we were just walking and suddenly Swamiji found one huge Siva Linga. We felt so happy. There was no water to perform abhishekam. We purchased mineral water bottles and performed abhishekam.
If such temples are there in your places, go and serve there. Clean such temples and maintain them. It gives immense benefit. You may also go to big temples but along with those, take care of these old ones too. Many times Swamiji said to take care of existing temples first before constructing new temples. Ignoring such existing temples is not good for that entire place.
So, here, demons also changed Guru and went to Sukracharya. They now, again came to Bruhaspathi and prayed and asked him to tell them the secret behind the victory of devathas. Bruhaspathi told them that they are doing everything equally but not with a feeling of devotion.
How does this feeling come ? It comes with Sadguru.
Bali chakravarthy held to the words of Bruhaspathi. Others didn’t. So, in the history, if there is someone who could win over devathas, it is Bali alone. This is because he held to the words of Sadguru. This is Guru Mahima. This is the power of Guru. When Vamana murthi came to receive donation from Bali, Shukracharya warned Him. But Bali was more focused on Bruhaspathy’s words. That is the power of Guru’s words. Since he followed Guru’s words, he was fortunate to hold the Lords feet on his head. Even Goddess Lakshmi didn’t have this fortune. Only Bali had the fortune of holding Maha Vishnu’s feet on his sahasrara. This is the power of Guru’s words.
Tomorrow, we will continue with a nice stotram regarding the feeling of devotion.
Jaya Guru Datta !