Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – Sookti – March 29, 2020 – Mysore
Compiled by Parimala Eshwarla
Na hi eedŗśaṃ saṃvananaṃ triṣu lokēṣu vidyatē
Dayā, maitrī, ca bhūteṣu dānam ca, madhurā ca vāk
A person who has the following qualities- compassion towards all, friendly attitude towards everyone, offering charities to birds, animals and other living beings and talking sweetly, will be able to obtain total control over everything in the three worlds. In other words, all other entities will be submissive to him.
What does vaśhīkarana mean? It means, to have feelings of friendliness towards us accompanied by reverence and respect for us. Vaśīkarana should not be misconstrued to mean sorcery and other such techniques to keep women under sway.
The entire world consisting of animate and inanimate objects, offers services to the person whose heart overflows with compassion and the other four virtues. The society reveres and delights in every selfless task that we perform solely with the intent of benefitting others.
Among these qualities, compassion takes the first place. Compassion means to have feelings of universal love and affection i.e. love and affection towards every living entity in creation! All the animals, birds created by the Lord, spend their entire day searching for food. It is our duty therefore to offer a few grains to these animals and birds. Every day we come across cows moving about on the streets. A cow experiences great hunger. Every one who passes by the cow, bows in reverence to its tail, but hardly anyone bothers about feeding it a banana. As if to say, ‘please stop this obeisance and feed me. I am hungry’- the cow looks pleadingly at us. Sadly, we fail to grasp its feelings.
There are some extremely compassionate people who, outside their home, leave some dry grass or fodder for any cow that is passing by! They do not stop with this. They place drums filled with water for the usage of the cows. Every day hundreds of cows eat that fodder, drink that water and mentally shower blessings on that person before moving away. Even to this day, this practice continues to be abided by the people of Rajahmundry.
Pity is called ‘daya’. Selflessly offering them help is ‘dākshinya’.
The second quality is to have feelings of friendliness towards all forms of life. If, instead of condemning others, we praise or applaud them, then they will become friendly towards us. Not just humans, but also animals and birds will be drawn towards us. Daily, you must feed a fistful of grains to the birds and thereby develop friendship with them. habituated to this, the birds will, at the same time will arrive outside your home and call you out with their loud, cheerful chirps. They will thus become your friends.
The third quality is charity. Everyone must cultivate a charitable attitude. It is wrong to be laid back with the attitude, ‘only the rich must offer charities. This is not the task for the middle class or poor people’. Also remember that charities must never be given with haughty attitude. Self-pride, arrogance and feelings of supremacy must not exist when giving charities. Instead, one must feel ashamed of their inability to give more in charity. They must have the fear that they have not been able to do enough. Such feelings must rule the mind when giving charity. This is what Vedas teach us!
Soft and gentle speech is yet another quality to win over others. Harsh words do not denote intelligence. It denotes foolishness. When we speak sweetly and softly then, not only humans, but even animals will associate with us. For this reason, elders have said, ‘priya vākya pradānēna sarvē tuśyanti jantavaḥ’.
Thus, by developing the four qualities the person can win over everyone in creation and obtain reverence and respect from one and all.