Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji during Divya Nama Sankeerta – July 1, 2019 – Baton Rouge
Compiled by Archana Penukonda
śrī mahāganapate namaha
śrī sarasvtyai namaha
śrī pādavallabha narasimha sarasvati
śrī guru dattātreyāya namaha
Bhajan: sumukha gaṇapati dēdō sanmati
Everyone should open your mouth and sing the bhajans. Whether or not you get merit from singing, the bad breath will leave your mouth.
Bhajan: sakalādhārā rūpiṇi tum
Bhajan: datt kē guṇ tum gāvo bhāyī
Bhajan: sundara sundara śivā śivā
As soon as you wake up in the morning, look at your hands. You will see all the Gods – including the Trinity and the three forms of Mother Goddess. Each finger represents an element of nature. That is why seeing your hands first thing every morning is very good for you. Then, place the hands on your eyes, praying “I am up early in the morning. I have full faith and devotion in you. You carry me forward”. Do not wake up in sorrow and fight or rush to have coffee, tea, or watch TV. Even before you run to the bathroom, take two minutes on your bed to practice looking at your hands like this and praying. Your wishes will be fulfilled, and you will be healthy. If your health is not good, no amount of money can give happiness. Money and power may add something to your life, but they will not give you good health. If you have good health, you can offer service to God or Guru. You can study the scriptures. Develop faith in Guru, God, parents, lineage and good values. Give kids good spiritual training. That will give you peace in your household that is otherwise hard to get.
There are always sorrows. The body is made of the 5 elements so naturally, it will be unhealthy. That is God’s maya (creation/illusion). There is always sorrow in the house; forget all the sorrow and poor health. That is why, God has taught us an easy path through Bhagavatam, Puranas and Ramayana – the chanting of divine names. Sing the praises of God at home every day. Study the meaning of the bhajans. Each bhajan has a different meaning. Each Marathi abhang has a beautiful meaning. Jnandev Maharaj has revealed the essence of the Puranas and Srimad Ramayana in his compositions. So many great saints have composed so beautifully. Many spiritual lessons are possible through bhajans. That is why we should study these bhajans and participate in Satangs. Learn charity, not selfishness. Practice truth and you will be peaceful.
Many assume they will for 400 or 500 years. Our life span is very short. We are all headed towards the same destination. We keep meeting again and again. Why does Swamiji come here for us? There is all the happiness and comforts in India. But why is Swamiji coming running to us? We have a relationship from previous lives. It is my bad karma and your good karma that I am here for you. When I find a good soul, I feel lucky. But Swamiji will never reveal the supreme secret – how many souls he picked up, what the relationship is, how many times they met in past lives or will meet in the future. I am fulfilling my duty. Mother Goddess has given me a responsibility. That is why I am traveling as needed. I am not happy, but I am also very happy. I find a good soul and I am happy. Every place I go, I look for good souls. I have accountability towards Mother. I am fulfilling my responsibility. That is why, these are not bhajans as everything thinks. When I sing these bhajans, this is direct Upadesa. Each bhajan has a meaning and contains Upadesa for you. Swamiji is giving different kinds of Upadesa again and again. Swamiji sang bhajans on Lord Ganapati, Lord Datta, Lord Siva, Mother Goddess and so on. That is mantra Upadesa for you on the command of Mother Goddess. How many days I will do this, I do not know. It is only possible with Mother’s compassion. So, do not miss even a single opportunity. Come running to Swamiji and to these sessions. The time we have today is only due to God’s grace. Time is very precious. Do not miss. Run to Swamiji whenever you can. Keep trying. Do not worry about age, money, time etc. You will not have any of those later. Use the opportunity to be with Swamiji as much as possible. Make good use of these opportunities. It is a great misfortune if you cannot even come the small distance to see Swamiji who is coming from so far off. If God is appearing in front of your house, and you ask for some time to finish your coffee, God will not wait for you. You have to drop everything immediately and go.
After 14 years of exile, when Sri Rama returned to Ayodhya, people came running to see him. They forgot themselves, threw their infants at home and ran to see Sri Rama. They stopped midway while feeding their children even and ran. They did not take notice of any family member, but dropped everything and ran to have Darshan of their beloved Lord. This is described beautifully in Tulasidas Ramayan. We should have such staunch devotion. We were all there during Sri Rama’s and Sri Krishna’s incarnation. We do not have enough merit yet, so we are taking birth again and again. It takes time to connect with God. Everyone is asking for liberation in this birth. That is very difficult. Liberation is not like masala dosa or idli to get it whenever you want. Liberation needs many births of striving. Finally, in some birth, you will get God’s grace to go back to your source. You have just started serving Guru. Who knows how many births you need for liberation? Do not think it will be over in one birth. It is definitely not. If you keep pestering Swamiji for liberation, Swamiji may command you to take 2000 births to attain liberation. Game over! You will have no choice but to strive for 2000 births. Ask for devotion, not liberation. When you do sadhana (spiritual practice) with devotion, you will automatically gain liberation. First, practice devotion and faith. This bhajan is very good – datt kē guṇ tum gāvo bhāyī. Sing and listen to this bhajan repeatedly. You will learn what devotion is, how you need to conduct yourself, what our goal is, what the path is towards our goal, when the cycle of births ends etc. It has very strong meaning. Study these bhajans. Each bhajan is like Ramayan or Bhagavad Gita or Mahabharata. That is why after Sri Chakra Archana, Swamiji is singing one or two bhajans. It is my duty to sing. This is not a concert. This is worshipful offering to Mother Goddess.
Bhajan: hariyē ninna māye ariye
Bhajan: prasannān̄janēya! prasīda prasīda
kāyena vāca…