Message of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji in Bhakti TV Program telecast on April 22, 2020 – Mysore
Compiled by: Jaya Akkanapragada
Śrī Mahāgańapatayé namaha
Śrī Sarasvatyé namaha
Śrī Pādavallabha nrsimha Sarasvati
Śri Guru Dattātréyāya namaha
We are fighting a great battle against a huge demon. To win this war, we have to listen to what the doctors, policemen and leaders from state and central governments are telling us to do. We also have to learn from the experiences of other nations. We must keep in mind the difficulties they are facing and be a little afraid. We must be afraid at least for the sake of our children. Corona is now affecting children more according to the latest reports. Earlier, senior citizens were considered at great risk. In between, even 35-45 year olds were considered in the risk group. Because this virus is affecting so many people, I am again speaking about this to all of you.
Now if we have to go to a certain place of work, we have to wear the specified uniform. Until our duty is done, we must keep the uniform on. If we try to take off the uniform, they will ask us to get out. So we wear the uniform for those 8 hours. Similarly, now to fight this battle, they have given a certain uniform code for everyone to follow. I don’t want people thinking “Oh! Swamiji is also talking only about this.” Please do not take this lightly. We must be very careful.
The government is taking many precautions for our sake so we must follow their orders. Many people are not listening to the police and fighting with them. They are only here to protect us. We must not argue with them and say “I have to go out now.” We must not roam about unnecessarily now. In some other places, people are treating police officers with so much love and respect, and giving them food as well. Both cases exist right now. Only the latter should exist.
We must all follow self-imposed curfew. We must ensure that every family member stays put at home. Earlier 4-5 people used to live in a small house. Now there are enough rooms in the house for everyone. Do not let family members go out. If they get infected, they will put others at home at risk, and spread the infection.
All of you do some exercises every morning together as a family. Nearly everyone has a treadmill or exercise cycle or dumbells at home. Just pick up the weights and put them down. Clean your house nicely everyday and while sweeping, bend nicely and sweep. Each day do some prāńāyāmā-s and āsanā-s. keep your home very clean. This is the best time for many of you who want to lose weight. If you eat a healthy diet and practice yoga, you will definitely lose weight. Everyone wants to be slim and feel good. Well, if you want to be trim and smart, you have to spend some time. At least before you could say “ I don’t have time, I have to rush to the office.” But now, you all have so much time. Just exercise for 30 minutes. Okay, you don’t feel like exercising, at least play some music and dance to it. You have such a big music collection that you have spent so much time and money collecting. Dance however you feel like. Many people post dancing videos on tik-tok. You also dance and teach kids at home new steps. Make that one activity to do every day. You will get a workout.
At this time, avoid consuming very oily food. Eat healthy and nutritious food. Follow a diet. Get rid of all the unnecessary things at home. Keep only what you need and use. This is the best time to search the entire house for things which are simply lying around and throw them out. Do not say you do not have time. Set an alarm on your phone so that you remember it is time to complete one task. Don’t keep spending all your time looking at your phone. Teach your kids whatever you know. Teach them about one mechanical gadget every day. Take a clock apart and show them how it works. Do not use a very nice clock because if you do not know how to put it back together, you will get scoldings.
Teach kids about Indian traditions and tell them stories which they would enjoy listening to. I am so happy to see that they are playing Rāmāyańa, Mahābhārata and Sundarakānda on TV nowadays. Even they got bored telecasting movies. Now people need to see these things. 15-20 years ago, when Ramayana used to play on TV, people in villages would complete all their work in time, and gather around to watch the program. Once the program was done, they would all eat lunch together.
Teach children some important slokas in Bhagavad Gīta, Rāmāyańa and Hanumān Chālīsa. When everyone is chanting Hanumān Chālīsa with Swamiji, since you do not know it, you keep looking at the lyrics. Now is the best time to learn it by heart, and teach the children as well. You will have a small puja at home with some pictures of Gods. So every day spend time telling children one story about morals. Swamiji has written kathā sāgaram. Read one nice story daily from it and explain to the kids.
There are many nice magazines you can read. Those of you who want to improve your English, read old issues of Reader’s Digest. You can learn to read simple things in English, telugu and Hindi. 15 days is all it takes to learn the basics of a language. Teach the kids one new language. All of you can learn how to say “Come, sit and eat food.” Hindi is so useful to know. We think English alone is important, but it will not work when we visit villages. We must all learn Hindi which is widely spoken across India.
When you tell your kids a story, explain the moral behind it also. Tell them about difficulties you faced in your life and how you overcame them. Tell your story to them in great detail. Tell them what all you did not have while growing up. These will be great lessons for them. Tell them about your family tree and your native place. Most children these days do not know about life in villages. Share details about your hometown, the rivers and the lakes there, the wells, and the soil there. Tell them about your parents and siblings and your grandparents. Tell them all this in great detail while also teaching them about values and morals. They will develop so much love and affection for their paternal and maternal grandmothers. You should not speak ill about them to the kids.
When it is meal time, do not sit on a chair with your plate in your lap, or eat while walking around. It will spoil your health. When you sit down to eat, you should not place the plate on your lap, and eat while looking at the phone. You won’t know if a cockroach or lizard falls in your plate. Sometimes, if you are sitting next to another person, you might unmindfully even put your hand in their plate. Keep the phone aside, and make time for eating just like you make time for reading the newspaper. Do not eat like a blind person who can see! Enjoy what you are eating. All of you eat together as a family.
When you were rushing to work, you would hold the steering in one hand, and a sandwich in the other. Why don’t you just pull over to the side of the road, finish eating your sandwich and drink some water, and maybe even burp a little? Then you can start driving again. What if something happens while you are driving and eating? Sometimes you also look at your phone while driving. How do you focus on so many things at the same time!
Tell your children about how they were as infants. Recount stories of how many difficulties you faced because of their mischief, and how many people you had to fight with because of them. They will be very interested and want to know more. Tell them the truth. When they hear all this, they will look up to you as role models and grow up to good decent people. If they see you taking care of elders at home, then they will also take care of you when you are old. You should tell how you took care of your parents. Tell them about holy places you have visited, and your experiences with Mahātmās. Make them contemplate on the Divine. Teach them the importance of setting aside a part of your wealth for charity. When they see you taking care of someone who needs help, they will automatically develop qualities of dāna – sharing, charity and dayā – compassion. There are many people who may not have anything. Through your children, offer food or supplies to them. By doing so, they will make charity and compassion a habit. Teach them the importance of a healthy meal. You will be securing a very bright future for them by doing so.
How we have led our lives till Covid-19 is one chapter, and how we lead our lives now post Covid-19 is the next chapter. We have to make some serious changes to our lifestyle. Before, we could never imagine sitting in one place for so long. Now we have been staying home for more than 3 weeks. It may be difficult for many to change again. Even after this ends, you must learn to spend quality time with family members and friends. We must give up our bad habits, if not for ourselves at least for the sake of our family members. We must stop leading selfish lives, and start thinking about the community when we act. Be a role model for others by being the first to do so in your neighborhood. Change in lifestyle has to start at home. If you have to stay home ever again, your home must promote good health. After the lockdown ends, we may have to make structural changes to our homes. Make sure there is enough sunlight and fresh air coming into your homes. Many people do not have windows. Then you will have to make a window in the door, so that you can let fresh air in.
Instead of always depending on allopathy medicines, try to grow some of the medicinal plants mentioned in āyurvéda in your homes in small pots. The house should always be dry. Make sure you mop up water and leave the floor dry. Make sure your home is always neat and tidy. Sometimes people spill coffee, and do not even bother mopping the stains. Some people leave the coffee mug there waiting for their mother to come and pick it up. People in other countries do all the work at home on their own. We don’t even pick up our plate after eating, and keep it in the sink. If we let the plate we are eating in become dry, it will cause many diseases. They say you will not get food if you do this. Wash your plate and put it back in the drying rack.
If you can, try and keep the bathroom and wash area a little away from the rest of the house. if you cannot do this, make sure the bathrooms are always clean. You must always wash your hands properly with soap and water. This is not something you must do only now, but always. Make sure there is always handwash at home, and a sanitizer in your bag. Give up the habit of eating cold, refrigerated food. Eat freshly prepared hot food. Make it a habit to eat all kinds of vegetables and grains, which are good for you, and not just the ones which you find tasty. Give up drinking cold water from the refrigerator. This will only cause cold and cough. Eat fresh fruits and vegetables, include dry fruit and whole grain in your diet. Keep junk food away. Compared to junk food, healthy food is inexpensive. Make it a habit to drink warm water. If you still want to drink cold water, place the water in a mud pot and then drink it. We must do some exercise every day to keep the body fit and active. To make sure that every part of the body is fit, you must do yoga, prāńāyāma and dhyāna. If we take all these measures, the tiredness of the body will be completely gone, and we will be healthy so that if a difficulty like this arises again, we will be able to face it with ease.
Jaya Guru Datta. Sri Guru Datta.