Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – May 19, 2018 – Mysore
Compiled by Parimala Eshwarla
This month is very special for Lord Narasimha. Engage in worshipping Narasimha. Those who know Narasimha mantras can chant them. It is said that all devotees of Vishnu must worship Narasimha. Some follow it while some don’t.
In every Yuga and in every incarnation, the Lord makes known certain specialities. He makes known the secrets in creation and the order of creation. There is a close connection between incarnations and the sequential order of creation. These incarnations were aimed at protecting Nature. While protecting Nature, He also punished those Devatas, demons and humans who were harming Nature.
In general, during His incarnations, He destroys those with demonic tendencies, curbs the arrogance in the Devatas while rectifying the defects in the human beings, teaching them the right lessons and blessing them with right knowledge. If need be He may even destroy the human being. He puts human beings as well as Devatas to test when needed thereby crushing their pride and thus blessing them. He puts the three attributes (guna) or the three energies to use. All actions happen simultaneously.
When Krishna lifted up the Govardhana mountain, He was simultaneously multi-tasking. He protected Prakriti (Nature), the cowherd families and other good devotees who worshipped Nature while simultaneously destroying the arrogance of Indra who created obstacle in Nature worship. At another time, when Brahma turned arrogant He subdued his pride as well.
To us, God is someone who needs to be respected. He is someone who remains invisible. We therefore have fear and reverence towards Him. There are some who worship the Lord out of fear. Some worship out of reverence and devotion. Some worship with faith. Some worship out of love coupled with a little fear (bhaya), devotion (bhakti), faith, dedication and reverence. We have cultivated such ideas about God. Even if someone proves otherwise, we refuse to believe. Even if it is proved that He exists, we refuse to accept. We want to stick to our rigid beliefs.
Now, there are people who show stubbornness in their beliefs and devotion towards the Lord. They refuse to bend. When God comes to their home they ask Him to wait saying they have to complete their idol worship. They want to worship the idol with mantras and tantras, perform abhisheka to that idol which is made of stone, metal or gold and then attend to God who is standing at their doorstep. In the first place, why did the person worship the stone/ metal idol? Why did he follow disciplines? To see God, isn’t it? Now when God is at the doorstep, he wants to continue adhering to his disciplines. This is stubbornness.
More often than not, we worship God out of fear. We can also worship Him out of extreme love. We can worship Him with selfish wants or selfish love. Among them all, worshipping the Lord out of pure love devoid of selfish desires is the best. A person who is filled with such selfless love says – ‘I worship God or Guru only out of love. I want to worship Him that’s all. I want my Guru. I don’t have any desires. Is there any rule that I should worship only with desires? My only desire is to worship Him’. Such is their devotion.
Such selfless love should fill our hearts when visiting temple. Concentrating upon the Lord is a must. However we turn fickle-minded when in temple premises. Routinely we chant, ‘Narayana, Govinda’ or mumble the prayers we have learnt. Even the priest who loudly chants the sankalpa noting down our names and nakshatras, at times mumbles the ashtottara while chanting it hurriedly. Meanwhile as he chants, our mind runs everywhere. Selfless love and devotion is lacking here. We have gone to the temple with some known or unknown desire. Only when we focus on the Lord and stand there with total concentration till the ashtottara is complete, our work will be accomplished, not otherwise. Instead we focus on who is entering the temple, what brand mobile she is holding, the type of sari she is wearing and the like. You set out from the house to focus on the Lord, but now your mind is running everywhere.
Upon completion of the worship, the priest gives prasada. However no prasadam gives as much joy as prasada that can be put into the mouth. Only then our senses are satisfied. Only then we consider our temple visit fruitful.
Assume you go to a temple. The priest brings Kumkum from the idol and gives. You are happy but then still seek more. He now gives vibhuti- you are happy but still wait there for some more prasada. He gives you flowers taken from the Lord Himself. You are thrilled but then continue to stand there hoping to get some more prasada. He now brings vastram draped on the Lord. You are supremely pleased but then wait for some more prasada. He then brings a spoonful of tamarind rice. You put in your mouth and then, in uncontrollable happiness, exclaim- ‘Aha, what wonderful darshan! It was divine visit. My body horripilates with this trip. This God is so powerful.’
In this instance, initially the Lord gave you indriya agocara prasada- that prasada which could not be experienced by all the senses. He gave you Kumkum, flowers, vibhuti etc. But you were not satisfied. He then gave you indriya gochara prasada- that prasada which can be experienced by all the senses. The moment the tongue tasted it, you were supremely satisfied. You then considered your temple trip fruitful. You were ecstatic. In reality, the prasadam which cannot be experienced by the senses (indriya agocara) is far superior to that which can be experienced (indriya gocara).
Thus, we understand that there are two types of prasada- one which can be experienced by the senses (indriya gocara) and one which remains invisible to the senses (indriya agocara). But we give importance to that which can be experienced by the senses. Even teertha (herbal water) is loved by us as it can be experienced by the senses however the same joy may or may not be experienced when basil leaf is put in the mouth.
Initially in Datta temple no prasada was given. But then devotees were dissatisfied. There were many complaints. They wanted prasada which their tongue could taste. Seeing their foolishness, I asked the temple priest to provide them with soaked gram as prasada. Likewise, there are devotees who are not satisfied until they touch Appaji’s feet personally. If Swamiji says that namaskaram from where you are seated will suffice, they remain dissatisfied. They seek that I should touch their oily head and personally bless them.
True blessing is transferred through drishti-pātam (eye gaze) of the Lord. We should look into the Lord’s eyes. His gaze should fall upon us. This is ultimate blessing. Similarly, the mantras chanted by the priest in the temple fall on the idol and reflect back upon us with doubled energy. This turns out to be a very powerful blessing. It showers good energy upon us.
Many waste the vastram, garland and other prasadam received from the Lord. It is a sin. What happened to Indra who carelessly discarded the garland received from Mahavishnu? He fell from his position. We should wear the garland or flowers at least for a while. Thereafter we should gently set it aside.
The construction of the temple is totally based on science. The temple tower, the flag pole, the yantra are equipment that allow movement of energy. The temple tower is the antenna. The prayers offered by us in the temple are carried by them to the destination.