Speech of HH Sri Datta Vijayananda Teertha Swamiji – morning – March 15, 2015 – Warangal
On behalf of all the devotees, I offer grateful prostrations to the divine lotus feet of our Sadguru Sri Swamiji for His gracious presence here. It is very fortunate that this unexpected visit has occurred. Is it because of the Siva Temple’s consecration, since Swamiji is none other than Lord Siva Himself? It is one of the important reasons. But it is not the most important reason. In many ashramas many times temples are constructed and are ready for consecration, but it is not always that Swamiji goes there at once. Sometimes the trustees wait for many months before Swamiji visits there. But what is significant here is that the moment the temple was ready, Swamiji has come. He is Siva. Siva has attracted Him to come. The moment Hanuman Chalisa mass chanting program was organized, He at once agreed to come. It was the attraction of Hanuman, who is of the aspect of Siva, who has brought Him here. In all the Hanuman temples established by Swamiji, the chanting program is being conducted successfully. In Trinidad where there are many Muslims and Christians, although there are also many Hindu, Swamiji has consecrated the 85 foot Hanuman statue. At the 70th Birthday of Swamiji, the 70 foot Hanuman stone image was consecrated in Mysore.
Swamiji has now launched the Maha Yajna of 133 crore chants of Hanuman Chalisa.
How did this Hanuman Chalisa get started in the Datta Peetham which is the place for Lord Dattatreya? Hanuman has always played a pivotal role in Swamiji’ s life.
Recently Swamiji disclosed a secret to me that when He was 3 years old, Swamiji was applied black collyrium (home-made paste used as eyeliner) all over His body by Sri Jayalakshmi Mata and with Lord Shaneeswara’s (Saturn) blessings, the child Satyanarayana was given the first initiation in the presence of Lord Hanuman at the Hanuman Temple.
Hanuman chalisa was recorded by Swamiji in Trinidad and was publicized along with Shatashloki Ramayana several years ago.
In recent times, in Tenali, (the town was Tenali but the whole town was (Janaale -packed with people) filled with an ocean of humanity.
In Tenali, a site was gifted to Swamiji. No conditions were placed. No one should serve food and force one to eat. The donor was happy to simply give the land. In 1997-98 Swamiji visited Tenali. But He commented that this was not a proper visit. He predicted that He would visit once again in His Universal Form, as if to go to Tenali to Tinaali – eat it up. With Maha Sankalpa, Siva Sankalpa, Sadguru sankalpa made about 20 years ago the great event occurred (on January 31 this year).
The Hanuman Seva Samiti approached Swamiji several times about arranging a mass chanting of Hanuman Chalisa in Tenali. In the Nada Mantapa, in the Universal Prayer Hall, when they spoke about it, Swamiji did not respond with any positive answer. Swamiji was finally approached while He was in the Shuka Vana and He was invited to attend a gathering of 50 thousand devotees who would be chanting the Hanuman Chalisa in unison. Swamiji said, why 50 thousand people? Do it with one lakh people. It will happen. It is not your desire. It is Swamiji’s decision.
It is not a joke to seat 100,000 people at one venue. Here the place is full with 1500 people. In the end, well over 2 lakh people attended. They aimed for 111,111 people only. But the media gave extensive publicity. And people just flowed in, in an endless stream. But the food prepared was sufficient to serve everyone. When Lord Sri Rama Himself came there, the human exodus could not be stopped.
The man who gave the huge field, all smooth and leveled, 60 acres of land, saw Swamiji as Lord Hanuman Himself. 40 acres of tent space was used. 2 acres of kitchen and 18 acres of dining hall. 6000 volunteers including 3000 of Datta Peetham SDHS volunteers, thousands of buses, tens of acres for parking. The stage was as huge as our ashram. Even a cricket stadium is not sufficient to accommodate that many people. 230,000 people in all gathered and chanted in unison, led by Swamiji.
The Guinness Book of World Records representative came from London. The Hanuman Chalisa CDs were distributed and each had a barcode on it. That helped the authorities to count how many people had attended. Once the count of 111,000 was reached, they were ready to give the certificate for setting the world record for the greatest number of persons gathering at one place to chant a prayer. By the previous night itself, the place was heavily occupied. During the 9th chant the target was met. The lady from Guinness Records got excited and went to the stage to offer the document/certificate to Swamiji. The governor of Tamil Nadu was also present there. Swamiji Himself received it, representing Sri Rama, Hanuman, and Datta. In all 27 times the Hanuman Chalisa was chanted.
3000 chefs and 2000 servers of food were there. This was Swamiji’s Universal Form. Satakantha Ravana had to be killed after the Dasakantha Ravana of Lanka and Mairavana of Patala were killed. Hanuman enlarged his body and using the hairs on his body as steps, the army of Rama and the army of monkeys climbed to reach the enemy up in the skies, to destroy him.
We like to boast about past events. But that is not the end. Sadguru at once made a bigger resolve. When everyone was complacent and was relaxing after the big Tenali event, this sudden announcement was made which stupefied everyone.
It is very important to put away the ritual materials properly after worship. One cannot carelessly leave things lying around. As soon as the event was wound up properly, that same day Swamiji made this announcement. 133 crore times He decided that Hanuman Chalisa had to be chanted. He determined that every single individual should benefit from this chanting. In all the countries, persons in all the fields, and including all living creatures should receive the benefit.
The number is enormous. He has not mentioned the time limit. We should not ask that question. We must keep chanting. We must keep spreading the word. In schools, businesses, jails, everywhere people are spreading the word and organizing group chanting. We must keep making our efforts.
An ordinary housewife …(break in webcast)
If everyone is highly disciplined, Swamiji will be very happy. Each one should be a volunteer. They are providing covers to keep the footwear so that you will not be distracted with thoughts about losing the footwear. Swamiji knows exactly what is in each one’s mind. Water is distributed. Swamiji will be worried about people getting thirsty. You made Swamiji’s trip to Warangal possible by your dedicated efforts. Lots of expenses will be incurred for this great event (one lakh or 100,000 devotees chanting together the Hanuman Chalisa in Warangal this evening at 6 PM – it will be shown live on http://new.livestream.com/YogaSangeeta3/march2015).
Everyone should participate in the arrangements and must share the financial responsibility. Even the committee members were made to chant the Hanuman Chalisa as a group when we had the meeting yesterday. That shows how important it is to Swamiji to gather the numbers.
Sri Sudhakar, the Post Master General is offering for release a postal stamp with the Audumbara tree of the ashrama. He is a silent worker and a dedicated devotee.
We now pray that Pujya Swamiji should bless us with His benedictory speech.
Sri Guru Datta