Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji on Ganapathy Festival – September 1, 2011 – Vijayawada
Jaya Guru Datta
“To perform any activity, we need to have knowledge. Even to eat rice, to lie down and sleep, to drink water, even to breathe, we need knowledge. Even breathing should be regular. We have nine openings in this human body. In addition to these, there is one more that is situated on top of the head, the Kapala or Sahasrara. This has to get punctured for the invisible, attribute-less soul to depart from the body. He travels from the Mooladhara to the Sahasrara and leaves out of that opening. That is why for the Realized ones, they break the skull so that he can easily depart. No one knows how he enters the body, before the child is born, while it is still in the womb. No one knows how he leaves. The body is called aTemplebecause this soul resides in it. When you go down on hands and knees, in fact the body looks like theTemplestructure, with the head as the Kalasha or the sacred pot that is on the top of the temple tower. There are many theories written about this in the scriptures. There is no time explain now.
All this relates to Ganapati. Ganapati is the one who gives this knowledge. He resides in the Mooladhara in the form of Sound. He is there with form and without form; with attributes and without attributes. He can be either Saguna or Nirguna or both. How can you describe the formless? What is the form of the formless, like the sky? Why do we even try to describe it? The sky itself is the form. We have form. We have to work with the form. We say, we are snapping our fingers; we are sitting, standing, or eating. For an individual like that, there are both the gross and the subtle aspects. The one that has no qualities is invisible. What is becoming invisible? How can that which has no qualities ‘become’ anything? We say Anda, Pinda, Brahmanda; like the egg/seed, the fully manifest, and the cosmic. Then the student will ask, ‘What is beyond the cosmos?’ Then you say that it is final. The student will ask, ‘what is beyond even that?’ Nothing. That is that, that is said to be everywhere. We sing, “Akkada unde Pandurangadu ikkada unnadu’, meaning ‘the One who is there is also here.’ The singer, the listener, and the singer are all one and the same. All are He. Then who are we? We have created our own beings; that is why we experience sorrow and joy. We should not have done that.
Sadasiva Brahmendra was a very great Avadhoota. He was not concerned about anyone or anything. People used to say that he was crazy. There are crazy people who talk all kinds of things about Swamiji. They even ask if his powers can be put to test. The greatness of this Avadhoota was talked about many who had their own experiences with him. But the Muslim ruler, the Nawab rejected all their claims. He believed that all Hindus were crazy. They say they see God in their dream; they see God when they wake up. They worship everyone saying everybody is God; they worship trees, mountains, and oceans. These people are mad, the Muslims thought. This Sadasiva Brahmendra is mad and the people who believe in him are also mad. They all need to be put in the mental hospital, the Nawab thought.
Whoever believed in the Avadhoota was called an insane person. It happens even today. In many households, those who talk about Swamiji are considered as lunatics. What do they know about our madness? When Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was walking along the road, many people used to heckle and shout at him, making fun and ridiculing that he was mad. Then one day a really insane fellow saw Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa approaching him. He at once got frightened and ran away, screaming,’mad man, mad man!’ If even the really mad fellow recognized the madness of him, then really Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa must have been ‘super mad’. Avadhootas appear as if they are mad. You have to understand their true nature. The same way Sadasiva Brahmendra was referred to by everyone as a mad man. One day out of curiosity the Nawab said that he would like to see this mad man. His wish actually came true. It happened that he really saw him one day.
The Nawab went on a picnic. Everyone knows what a picnic is; they may not know what ‘Brahma Jnana’ is; but picnic, everybody knows. Share market also everybody knows; marriage, children, house, about all these you all know more than I do; all these things you can teach me about. You will say, “Swamiji, you give us Brahma Jnana and we will teach you all these things.” Already you have given me this upadesham. The Internet upadesham I got only from you. My upadesham you do not grasp. But this upadesham I have learnt very well. This computer madness has caught me so strongly that night and day I sit and work on it, even if my eyes begin to water with the strain. You have infected me with your madness; but my madness you will never catch even after countless births. I lost hope that you will learn from me, so I have decided to follow your path, your madness, with the hope that by doing things your way, perhaps I will succeed in influencing you.
Once I went toDelhi, in 1976. This is a very interesting story. Please listen. That was a story that someone wrote about Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. This story really happened. I got down at the airport. There were 21 college girls there who had come to welcome to me. I actually counted. They accompanied some elders who had come, along with a professor. This professor was well placed and used to assist Smt. Indira Gandhi those days. They gave a grand welcome speech in English. Swamiji also spoke for a couple of minutes as per the custom.
(Great food flavor. Yes. It is time to serve the delicacies to those who want to leave early. Oh what aroma! It is a good thing these items were not brought here while I was singing; then my singing would have gone haywire; Oh the food smell really attracts everyone; but not my spiritual aroma. The salt, the tamarind, so enticing!; tastier than Swamiji’s words)
We all went for the college inaugural function. Swamiji also spoke for a few minutes. I told them that I did not know Hindi. They said they did not mind whichever language I chose; I spoke in a mixture of Hindi, English, and Telugu; my language used to be much worse those days; it is much improved now. Many of you know how strange my language used to be; so difficult to understand. I would speak as I wished; people would applaud; then I would run back; of course, there would be meaningful content. In the middle of my speech, one girl got up and asked that I speak in whatever Hindi I knew. So I started speaking in Hindi. It seemed like they all found some significant points in my speech. They liked it very much. They clapped; offered a garland; and appreciated the speech very much; the program was over. The next day, there was a program held at Prof. Krishan Kumar’s place. They built a tent and held the event there. Everybody came there to listen to the bhajan program. R.K. Swami, the harmonist was there; a Christian who served me for many years; now he is very old and cannot travel; he loves Swamiji and would be ready to give his life for him. There were Hindi bhajans, Telugu bhajans, and Sanskrit bhajans. All the 21 girls were there. They were very impressed. All 21 of them came back for the programs again the following day. Swamiji mingled with them and made some casual conversation. They felt comfortable and familiar and got closer to him. They are all much older now, many doctors and other professionals. They came again the next and the next. They wrote their exams very fast and rushed to attend the program in the evening. They were very much attracted to Swamiji and his programs. They took notes, they recorded on tape recorders which were huge as mountains. On the fifth day Swamiji was leaving forKashmir. He went to the airport. The flight got delayed. Swamiji was seated in the Manager’s office, waiting. All the 21 girls somehow managed to come inside there. Swamiji expressed surprised that not even one of them stayed back. They said that they all felt very much attracted to Swamiji and started crying that he was leaving. Swamiji is a Kilaadi (a naughty trickster). He then started doing his mantra procedure. He said, ‘Oh, anyway this flight is delayed. Tomorrow is Saturday and the day after is Sunday. I could have stayed back and had nice programs on both days with nice bhajans at Prof. Krishan Kumar’s place. I don’t know why I am being sent away like this to Kashmir now.”
Hearing this, Prof. Krishan Kumar got all excited. The one or two secretaries who were there were clueless as to what was going on. I told them, “I say different things to different people. Just don’t bother about it.” They said, “But it really would be nice if you stayed back.” Then I said I was having a problem; upon their further questioning, I said, I was having a problem because of these girls. The girls were shocked. They said, “Oh, Swamiji, what have we done wrong? How did we cause you problems? Please, please forgive us.” I told them, “You are all Indians. But look how you are dressed! Such scanty clothing you are wearing, both at the top and the bottom, although it is very colorful. (Daily they were coming like that). I feel so sorry for you. You have on such a small piece of cloth on the top and a similar small piece at the bottom. All the people in the audience who come to the programs are focusing more on you than on me. You are becoming more famous than me.” They felt very embarrassed. They kept pulling and stretching their minimal clothing. Will it suddenly stretch? Even what there is will come off. They said, “Why didn’t you tell us this before? We would have come all decked up with jewellery. ” “Oh, is that so?” I expressed surprise. Then an announcement was made that the flight was cancelled altogether. I was getting ready to spend the time in a hotel, but Prof. Krishan Kumar insisted that I stay at his house.
I said that I was feeling great that so many people were coming to see me, before I realized that they were all coming instead to see these girls. The girls exclaimed, “If you had told us on the day of your arrival itself, we would have dressed differently. Why did you not tell us then?” This incident got stamped in my mind; it got recorded. “Oh, is that so? If I had said something to you that same day, that you should cover your bodies properly, you people were so arrogant; you yourselves don’t know how egoistic you all are; you would have said very bad things about me. You would have said, “As soon as he arrived the first thing that that Sannyasi noticed was our clothes,” I said. They said, “But we are all changed now Swamiji. In these four days, we have completely changed.” “I tolerated your attire for four days, because I wanted to give you a chance to understand who this Swamiji is. That is why I endured it silently. Look at your dresses! I wanted to wait till you were ready to recognize and accept your mistake.” “No, Swamiji, You may hit us Swamiji, you have the right to insult us and punish us, Swamiji.” “That is what you are saying now. That is because now you have faith and affection towards me. That is why whatever I say or do now, you are ready to accept it,” I said.
The next day I deliberately held a bhajan program. R K. Swami had another program scheduled. I had him cancel it and forced him to perform with me. All the 21 girls came and in addition they brought another new group also. They were all decently dressed in salwar kameez. The Professor was so thrilled to see this change in the students. She said, “If we try to tell these students anything, they rebel against us. But you have been able to influence them.” Once faith is established, knowledge automatically comes. The name, and mere remembrance of Swamiji, mere devotion to the Guru is sufficient. Just listening to his words is itself Upadesham (initiation). It is not required that you have to take a special deeksha (austerity). There is no need to suffer. If anyone asks if your Guru has given you spiritual teaching, you should tell them proudly, “Constantly, through his singing of bhajans he teaches us great spiritual truths. By composing powerful bhajans with seed letters of different deities, and singing them, he drills them into our ears every day, he saturates us with spirituality. He makes us repeat these mantras all the time by making us sing along.” Just because I do not brand you with a hot iron, or do not whisper spells in your ears, you tell others that I have not given you initiation. What stupidity is this! What is initiation? Saint Ramanuja shouted out in public, standing high up on the temple tower, for everyone to hear, “Om Namo Narayanaya!” His guru chastized him saying, “I gave you a secret initiation in your ear, with instruction that if you shared it with others indiscriminately, your head will burst into pieces!” Ramanuja felt that only his one head would burst, but thousands will benefit by his public initiation, because everyone repeated the mantra after him. He went directly to his guru’s guru, the parama guru, handed him a sword and told him to cut off his head! The guru asked what he was doing. Ramanuja said, “I have disobeyed your instruction. I have revealed the mantra to the public against the guru’s injunction. I knew that all the thousand people will not benefit from the mantra. But if even a hundred of them benefit, it would be worthwhile.”
See? What is secret about uttering God’s name? But you don’t acknowledge. Just because I did not put a scar on your forehead, you say that your guru has not given you initiation. What is this? If I give a mantra in your ear and if you follow the instruction, will you not attain salvation? Does Swamiji’s word not carry any power and strength?
In Delhi, a transformation occurred like that, in those days. Swamiji does not abruptly tell you anything. He first gradually develops your faith, interest, devotion, and affection. Then, once you become amenable to being guided, then he will teach you extensively, even scorching you repeatedly if necessary. He does not do it the first day. At first he is very polite and civil. Admission procedure. He is full of pretense and drama. Even Lord Krishna is not a match for him. You would even think that he must be Krishna’s guru. He speaks so sweetly, so enticingly. But it is not pretense. It comes direct from his heart. I am just being humorous to make you laugh. A professional actor who does different roles every day, does not really feel the emotion. But a Guru is different. His feelings are genuine and come from the heart. Once you recognize the guru’s worth, then he will scold you severely, and you will take it all happily. Because, by then you would have understood. You want Appaji. Whatever happens, whatever the guru says, however much he may scold, they then take it as a blessing. They are just grateful to receive the attention. If called by name and insulted in public, they take it as an honor and will offer prostrations. They know that with the scolding all their misfortune has been driven away. All these people here are like that. They all have received extensive scolding, and they have received blows with flowers. Now they want it. Whether you scold us or beat us, we want only you, they say.
Because I explained to those girls then, that as Indians, they should dress decently, they understood. Now they are all doctors and professors. A couple of them are now in America. To this day, they have kept their vow of dressing decently and instilling the same values in their children and grandchildren. They proudly showed off their children to me, and spoke so happily of the change that occurred in their own value system. I was very happy.
Like this, I scold severely sometimes. If I scold one, the next one also will correct himself.
Coming back to Sadasiva Brahmendra – I will not leave that story. He found out that the Nawab wanted to see him and had sent word for him to come in his presence. Will he listen? Does he care? Nobody knows where he sits, where he eats, where he goes. He did not have any ashramas like this; ashramas, secretaries, cars, struggles, rocks, rubble, none of such concerns for him. The sky itself was his home.
That day the Nawab was at his picnic. They pitched tents; made all the arrangements. The Nawab was there. His friends were there. You know what kind of friends a Nawab has. You know all about picnics. I don’t have to tell you. Lots of friends were there. Some were dancing. Some were singing. Some were handing him liquids, you know what kind of liquids I mean, inside the tent. You know what kind of tent it was. There was a dim light inside. You know why the light was dim. I don’t have to tell you.
When all this was going on, Sadasiva Brahmendra was marching, like a military man. He went marching regally; with abandon. He never knows where he is going. We do not know the ways of Avadhootas. They don’t know where they will go when; or what they will do where; they are like super-mad people. How do they describe Dattatreya Swami? “Unmatta, Bala, Pishacha. ..and Anandadayaka in the end.” In the end, Sat- Chit- Ananda. We have to visualize those forms. Only then we will get liberation. Otherwise we cannot get it.
We have to see the Guru in all his different forms; in all the various moods and appearances we have to witness; and we have to revere and prostrate. A lover, when he is infatuated, even when the girl friend is angry, says, “My love, you look so beautiful when you are furious.” Does he or does he not? Have you not seen it, even in the movies? If one can feel like that about a girlfriend, then why can you not feel the same way about your Guru? The nine rasas, the nine types of emotion are in everyone.
So while Sadasiva Brahmendra was marching along rapidly with abandon, the Nawab was in a totally drunken state, drunk with ‘water’. Everyone there was fully dressed; you know, what I mean by ‘fully dressed’. While everyone and everything was in a state of disarray and every one was’ fully dressed’, Sadasiva Brahmendra came marching along. Once he was on the move, nobody could stop him. Nobody could match his speed at walking. Walking for him was like riding in a car. Walking itself was his car. Sometimes it would seem as if his feet were not even touching the ground, as he was striding along very fast. From the back, he would appear like ‘Devi’ the Mother Goddess. From the front, he would appear like Ganapati. His form would take different strange shapes all the time. All those visions we should imagine and feel within ourselves. But we don’t; we are always preoccupied with other thoughts.
Sadasiva Brahmendra kept marching, marching, taking long, brisk strides, he kept walking, walking, walking, and he strode straight into the tent where the Nawab and his friends were. There is no question of his stepping to a side or going around any object. Such things were out of the question for him. He just marched straight through. He put his foot right in the middle of gold tray that was filled with food, all delicacies. He just continued his march.
In the military, once they start marching, ‘left, right, left, right, left, right’, they just cannot stop till the captain orders them to stop; even if there is a wall in front of them; they have to go dash into the wall but they cannot stop; those are the rules. Whether there is a lake, a rampart, or fire, there is no question of stopping. They have to simply keep going. The captain is fully in control of the battalion. If he says,’Stop’, they stop; if not they have to keep marching, marching till he tells them to stop.
You know how our volunteers are; they would be in ‘attention’; they are supposed to remain like that till they are told to ‘stand at ease’; but you know that they never remain in ‘attention’. They yawn, they scratch themselves, they stretch their limbs; is this training? You have to have the discipline to remain in ‘attention’ until you are permitted to ‘stand at ease’. Even if an insect falls on you, you cannot move, or make any expression. That should be the system for the volunteers. We should grow up with such a system. There are certain procedures; we have to follow them.
This Sadasiva Brahmendra, as if he were in the military, simply marched straight in! Then the security staff, who were there guarding the tent with spears in hand got all rattled up; they tried to stop him; but he was a huge figure, this Sadasiva Brahmendra; His radiant face and eyes would remind one of Lord Sri Rama; from the back he looked like Siva; from the front, he looked like Rama; such a wondrous form he had! He was an Avadhoota!
He did not care about the security guards; he would not have cared even if they were holding guns; he kept marching, ‘pata, pata, pata, pata’. Then somebody alerted the Nawab that this was Sadasiva Brahmendra!
“Ha! Is this he? I thought he was some great person. What is this! He just came stomping in here like this! He has trampled over all the trays! He has torn up the place; he has destroyed the priceless possessions of mine that I have imported all the way from Arabia! He has spilt stuff everywhere! Ha! Where is he, where is he?”
Enraged, the Nawab grabbed his sword and chased after him to kill him. He caught up with Sadasiva Brahmendra and ‘phat, phat’; he cut off both of Sadasiva Brahmendra’s shoulders with his sword. Then he felt a little relieved.
Sadasiva Brahmendra kept striding on unconcerned; he was unaware of whatever happened; blood was streaming down; but he did not notice anything. Only then the Nawab, who had been angry till then, stopped and his jaw dropped with awe. He was stunned,“What is this? Even after I chopped off his two shoulders, and both his arms fell to the ground, he is still walking away as if nothing has happened!”
He rushed forward, a completely changed man. He grabbed Sadasiva Brahmendra and crying like a child, begged for forgiveness. Sadasiva Brahmendra was not conscious of his surroundings. After two or three people firmly grabbed his feet and stopped him forcibly from moving forward, then, finding that his path was obstructed, he stopped, and asked, “What? Who is blocking my way?”
Then the Nawab answered, “It is I, your servant, my Lord. These people call me Nawab, but I am your servant. Please, forgive me. I have cut off your arms.” Sadasiva Brahmendra asked, “Oh! Where are my arms?” Then they handed him the two cut off limbs. He said, “Okay. Just place them back.” They did, and they attached themselves immediately! Then he growled, “Get out of my way.” He walked away.
Nobody knows what his idea was, or why he went there. Even today, at his Samadhi that I visited recently, I saw his picture. He was a huge figure; but some fool pictured him as a small person. Sadasiva Brahmendra has composed beautiful poems and songs; wonderful teachings of spirituality, like the Avadhoota Gita; such Yoga! To attain such a Yoga, we have to worship Ganapati who resides in the Mooladhara.
Now I have come to the main subject; but there is no time to continue. Always it happens that by the time I come to the main point, time would be up. The subtle spirit moves up through the six Chakras starting from the Mooladhara leading up to the Sahasrara, to the final aperture. That invisible energy cannot be seen through any microscope or any other scope. That most subtle substance is Paramatma. They describe Him as ‘Angushtha Pramana’, of the size of a thumb, only to make us understand, by giving an example; that is all. He, not just the one who is occupying our body, but the one that occupies the entire Brahmanda, the entire Creation itself, is depicted as being most subtle, and as small as a thumb hidden somewhere. We wonder why they describe Him like that! There are theories and discussions about that. Let us not get into those.
Then the questions arise, as to why all these rituals, these Mangalaratis, and all these pujas. We have to do these. They are very essential. This is all Karma theory. You should not reject these. Through these procedures, we have to rise higher.
Because today is Ganapati festival, because He is Kshipra Ganapati, the one who bestows Jnana, spiritual knowledge, I had to speak about this topic. May He bless us with good knowledge, with good intuition, good education, good health, and prosperity. I do not mean money when I say prosperity. The moment we go to Him we pray for winning the lottery. Who wants that lottery money? That will get spent in this lifetime itself. Our quota will then be exhausted. We should only pray for spiritual knowledge; we must never pray for trivial things. You should only pray, “Please, while I am still alive, bless me with Jnana, with Chaitanya.” Let us not waste our quota by asking only for all small things. With each desire, you finish one part of your quota. Then finally you will be told that you have no more left in your quota. Save your quota. Do not ask for fulfillment of worldly desires. May Kshipra Ganapati at Patamata Ashram give us good insights, good knowledge; may He increase our devotion and faith towards the Guru; may He shield us from listening to abuse of the Guru; if by accident we have heard any such abuse, may He destroy that sin from us. As an atonement for that sin, Swamiji is making you all listen to the Shatashloki Ramayana. He is spreading those vibrations all over the sky. Please go to YouTube, click on the link http://youtu.be/DIqWedULU3g and listen to Shatashloki Ramayana as many times as possible each day. With each modem you may watch this video 300 times. You have that opportunity. Keep pressing the play button each time after you have finished watching. After you complete 300 views change your modem. Log in again and start viewing. Swamiji is not asking for money. Go to computer centers or rent computers and keep watching. If you watch it on YouTube alone, the count will be known to Swamiji. After each view, clear the history, delete the cookies and watch again; only then the views will be counted. Each syllable of the Shatashloki Ramayana counts for me. Please watch and listen on YouTube only. It is good for you, for your family, for your home, for your body, for your eyes, for your ears, and for all your sense organs. I want to get my count finished by Vijaya Dashami (300,000 views).
If by some misfortune, this count is not reached, then I will completely stop communicating through the Internet, through email; I will not write a single letter; I will not write any poetry; this is my VOW.
For each 1000 views, Swamiji is composing one new song. To this day, 36,000 views are completed; Swamiji has already composed 36 songs; indirect, but beautiful messages in each song. I will sing some songs tonight if possible. You must PROMISE to view the Shatashloki Ramayana.
Someone uploaded a video yesterday; two youngsters were complaining that ‘all the old folks, grandmothers, aunts, and grandfathers at home are now grabbing the computers because they want to watch some video on some ‘Tube’ and they want to add to the ‘count’. The same people who complained before that the children are spending too much on the computer, are now glued to every computer at home. Even the Internet Cafes are all full with people viewing the Shatashloki Ramayana on YouTube.’ It is a very nice presentation. If Swamiji approves and posts it, hundreds of thousands of people will see their beautiful, radiant faces on the screen.”
Sri Guru Datta
Courtesy: Smt. Hira Duvvuri