Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – Second day of Datta Jayanthi – December 12, 2016 – Mysore
Compiled by: Archana Penukonda
Jaya Guru Datta
Even though he had another occupation, he heard the Tavil and taught himself. Age, caste, and gender have nothing to do with learning music. Some say, “I am too old now, I cannot sing”. A standing example of someone who defied this is devotee Sethuraman in Kerala. He will sing for as long as necessary – three or four hours even. Our Prof. Krishna Kumar used to chew betel leaf and arecanut constantly. Every time he opened his mouth, you could see a lump of it resting on one side of his mouth. He used to be a professor and the Dean of a college. He heard Swamiji’s bhajans and learned them. He became so good that he made albums for Swamiji and even had the caliber to sing on television and radio.
I told our kids of playing age that they should learn the Bhagavad Gita in 3 months. Kids in the US are learning in 8 months, so I told them to learn in 3 months. They will demonstrate tomorrow. Tomorrow, they will chant, very clearly, very precisely and in accordance with the Vedas. Tomorrow at 4pm, let us all listen to them. Music can be learned just by listening. Mantras/hymns too can be learned just by listening. It is the same with Sanskrit – it can be learned just by listening. Language is so powerful. We can learn by listening. Some things are hard to learn even by doing. Even if we are born into it and try it, it will not easily come to us. Nothing we do can help. But music is something we can learn just by listening.
You just saw the person who just played the Tavil. He is a laborer. But by repeated listening, he gained the ability to sit amongst accomplished musicians and play. This is an example that there is no gender or class difference. Our children in the Ashrama are example enough. Some of these kids sing so beautifully, so melodiously. Kids in West Indies and kids in Malaysia sing so well. The kids in West Indies are all native to that country, they are not Indians. Same in Europe – there are European devotees, no Indians there. They sing so well. We just need dedication. Same with you. Listen. Just listening with dedication will help you sing. You can do it. People who think they cannot, can actually do it. Those who think they cannot do Pranayama, can do Pranayama. You think you cannot sing. You can. “I do not have a good voice”. You do. You always have a voice for good things. You can sing, you can talk. We can learn that mindset. We should all learn that mindset during this Datta Jayanti.
I am very happy with him (the Tavil artist). No amount of my appreciation for him (the Tavil artist) is satisfying to me. For him to teach himself and become Asthana Vidwan is amazing. See how much maya/illusion there is. There is so much Maya that today a business man who would lie his way through his business has become the President of the USA. A tea seller has become the Prime Minister (of India). Intelligence and luck have to go together. Intelligence can spring anywhere. A lotus is born in a marsh. So, we never know where it blooms and how it reaches the feet of the Lord. Learning with discipline is important along with good fortune.
Today, we witnessed a very big miracle with Vellangovan, the Tavil player. His occupation is different – he is a cleaner. But now he is Vidwan – accomplished music artist. So, in my opinion, gender is not a hindrance. Caste is not a hindrance. If you have interest, if your sadhana/practice is real, if your sadhana is very strong, then you can learn Nada, you can learn Yoga, you can learn everything. You can achieve. It depends on your interest and penance. Strong faith is very important. You must do strong sadhana. You must practice daily. With strong faith, strong practice, strong devotion, everything can be achieved. It is very easy to achieve. Very easy. This Tavil artist is proof. Jaya Guru Datta.
We will proceed to the temple of my beloved Hanumanta a little later. First we worshiped Guru (Dattatreya), then we worship Hanumanta – your Hanumanta. This Yuga is Hanuman Yuga. This year is Hanuman’s year. We like Hanuman very much. Unfortunately, the underground (Patala) Anjaneya is not ready yet. There is so much work to do inside. It is very difficult work. Perhaps by Shiva Ratri, we will have the Patala Anjaneya. That is a different temple and a different feeling. Everything is different inside. It is very small and very tiny, but different. We feel like we are going to a different Yuga. If we enter that temple, we feel like we are going to the Himalayas. You can go and see when it is ready.
On Dec 14th, the day after tomorrow, we will have Bhairav temple inauguration. This is also underground. This is very different from the Hanuman temple. The Bhairav temple is more than 200 years old. It is a very, very old temple. There was a tunnel to Chamundi Hill. It was a big tunnel. We were afraid. We closed it completely and made Bhairav temple inside. Do not miss going to the Bhairav temple and offering your worship. Bhairav is very important in our lives. Bhairva is the Lord for all parts of the body. If you have any broken parts, Bhairava is responsible. There are 8 Bhairavas in our body. If you listen to Ganapathy Kavacha, you will understand which side of the body (front, back and each side) is protected by each Bhairava. Each sense organ is protected by a Bhairava. That is why we worship Maha Bhairava or Kala Bhairava. If you have Darshan of Maha Bhairava, that is enough. There are 8 different directions and a Bhairava for each direction. The temple is also different. Bhairav temple is different from the Hanuman temple. These are two temples that will be a present for our devotees on the 75th birthday. This Bhairav temple is very old, it is not new. But we decorated it. It’s a very old temple. It is not known how old it really is. We are reinstalling and renovating the Bhairava temple.
Sri Guru Datta