Speeches of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – April 28, 2020
Sookti
Compiled by Parimala Eshwarla
Śrōtraṃ śrutēnaiva na kundalēna, dānēna pāṇiḥ na tu kankaṇēna
Vibhāti kāyaḥ karuṇāparāṇāṃ, parōpakāraiḥ na tu candanēna ǁ
Ears obtain beauty not by wearing golden earrings but by listening to Guru’s teachings. Hands obtain beauty not by wearing golden bracelets but due to performing charitable activities that benefit others. Body glows not due to the application of sandal paste but due to the compassionate heart that always cares for others.
Everybody wants to look beautiful. Towards this, they go to any extent. They wear a lot of jewellery to appear beautiful. Glittering earrings beautify the entire face. Therefore they wear golden glittering earrings. They search and obtain different types of earrings purely in order to enhance their looks.
However, all these rings are only for external beauty. Real beauty lies within. That beauty is in no way dependent upon external ornamentation. It emerges due to listening to good words. It emerges due to chanting divine names and due to listening to Sadguru’s words. The beauty that arises due to eternally listening to Vedic chants is permanent. The beauty that earrings provide is only fleeting.
Similarly, to beautify the hands, many types of bangles are worn. Some tattoo their hands while some wear diamonds. Remember that costly bangles do not give beauty but invite troubles. It is our imagination that we appear beautiful due to it. However it is far from true.
Real beauty comes to the hand only from giving charities. The hand that offers food to others is the real hand. The hands that perform meritorious, charitable deeds are the real hands. Our dharma shastras state that those hands that do not engage in good deeds, even if they are chopped off, no sin accrues. The merit obtained by giving charities goes equally to the forefathers both on the father as well as mother’s side.
Perfumes are extensively used by people. Despite spraying perfumes, the body tends to release bad smells. Even though the body is fed and sprayed with tasty substances, it expels impure, bad-smelling faecal matter. Therefore understand that body obtains beauty not from perfumes but from helping others. That is the real beauty.
Message in Bhakti TV Program telecast on April 28, 2020
Compiled by: Jaya Akkanapragada
Śrī Mahāgańapatayé namaha
Śrī Sarasvatyé namaha
Śrī Pādavallabha nrsimha Sarasvati
Śri Guru Dattātréyāya namaha
Jaya Guru Datta.
If puja is performed with utmost bhakti, then even the simple act of offering tulasi leaves or a few rice grains is enough to protect not just the person performing the puja but their family members and friends as well. Bhakti puja has so much significance because it is done with a sense of complete surrender to Bhagavān.
Prahlāda’s story is one of Bhakti. The Védās first teach about bhakti. Nārada Maharśi also teaches us about bhakti through His bhakti sūtrās. We must also learn about Śāndilya Maharśi’s bhakti sūtrās. The Purāńās praise God and say He is the one who creates, sustains and destroys. He created us, He is the One who satisfies our hunger, and the One who destroys our sins. This is why we worship Dattatreya Swami.
In our epics, while there are many stories and characters, the underlying theme is bhakti. We must recognize this. In the Ramayana there are many characters. Mahabharata has so many characters that it is sometimes difficult to remember all their names. At every instance when a new character is introduced, there is a reason for them being there, a connection they have from the past to the main characters and a lesson to be learnt. For uttamās who want complete gñāna, Mahabharata is very important. Many thousands of devotees have requested Swamiji to give a discourse on the complete Mahabharata. Right now, we are focusing on explaining the Bhagavad Gita. Once this is done, we will take up the Mahabharata.
In Ramayana, Anjaneya Swami declares himself a dāsa – servant of Rāma. Rāma introduces himself everywhere only as Daśarathā’s son. The various avatārās are known as Bhagavān or Bhāgavatā. Even today, there are people who roam around telling the stories of God and inspire people. They are known as Bhāgavatārs. There are many Bhāgavatārs across the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. Their style of narrating stories may differ, but they all spend all their time singing the praises of God.
In Karnataka there are a few hundred people who keep singing and telling stories of God while keeping rhythm. A few of them get married, but all of them keep roaming around from place to place. None of them have permanent homes. They keep traveling to different places and do not stay in any one place for more than ten days. Due to this lockdown, many of them were unable to earn any money to eat food. We have arranged for food to be distributed to them. We received a call from a local politician who is also a devotee asking if we could provide for these musicians. Similarly, there are many auto drivers who are unable to earn a livelihood. Every year, we donate clothes also to them – vastradāna. Now, we have decided to provide them a month’s worth of supplies as naivédyam.
Please do not think that these traveling musicians are illiterate. Many of them are well-educated with double degrees and can speak fluent English. You may wonder why they do not take up regular jobs in IT or some other field. They said they did not like that lifestyle, and so decided to be traveling musicians singing songs of God. One or two of them are married. Their wives and children also travel with them. They all have so much bhakti. At times like this, we must help them.
There are many people who quietly help others without advertising. There are others who provide a little help but make big announcements and put up huge posters with their photos and political party affliations. Feeding people at this time is a humanitarian act. This is not the time to promote yourselves. If at a community level, you want to socially unite people by including a Guru’s picture or God’s picture so that everyone develops bhakti, that is a different matter.
There are people who are donating 0.5 grams of sugar in a packet and advertising their name and photo. I saw this on TV! That much sugar is not enough even for two cups of tea. I did not like this at all. My devotees also send pictures, but that is to keep me informed of the good work being done. In the olden days, they used to publish the names of big donors to temples. This was done to motivate other wealthy people also to come forward and donate. There is a saying in telugu that ideally, the left hand should not know what the right hand is doing, because it may stop the right hand from donating. So when we donate, we must donate with our right hand, and keep our left hand tied behind our back.
The Bhāgavatārs not only live a life of bhakti, but every breath they take is also filled with bhakti. The sōham sounds like Krishna-Srihari for them.
prahlāda nārada parāśara pundarīkā
vyāsāmbarīśa śuka śaunaka bhīśmadāvyavān
rukmāngadārjuna vasiśta vibhīśanādi
puńyānivān parama bhāgavatān smarāmi
Just chanting this sloka every day and remembering these great devotees is enough to inspire devotion in us. Amongst all of them Prahlāda is mentioned first. From 1966-70, I used to tie a pair of ankle bells, and deliver discourses while standing for several hours. There was no TV or tape-recorder then. I feel bad that no one recorded all those moments. Sometimes these discourses would go on for 3-5 hours. So many devotees would gather to listen. Once there was a saptāham (discourse for 7 days) in a school ground. The crowd turnout was so high, the police had to ask people to stop blocking the roads. In a faraway place called Kesare, so many Kannada speaking devotees would gather as soon as they knew Swamiji was going to tell a story that day. Nowadays I speak more in Telugu for the benefit of the many Telugu speaking devotees.
This habit of telling stories I got from my elder grandfather – my grandfather’s eldest brother. He would tell Bhāgavatam, and once while talking about Sri Krishna niryāńam he just stood still while singing a bhajan. The musicians accompanying him thought maybe in a state of bhakti, he is standing like that in dhyāna. He had lost his life ten minutes ago after chanting Krishna’s name, but his body stood like that perfectly balanced. When My father used to tell Me about this grandfather, my eyes would well up with tears and my body would horripilate. Many family members would say “Grandfather has entered into Satyanarayana, that is why he is always telling stories like this.”
His name was Subramanya Shastri, and his brother Seshappa Shastri still lives near Sogala. Ever since I heard about this story, I do not talk about Krishna niryāńam. When I talk about Bhāgavatam, when I reach this point, I stop there because it reminds Me of Him. Maybe I am Him, and maybe he is Me. Who knows!
If Bhakti had to take a form, it would be Prahlāda. Dhruvā is also considered a devotee, but his devotion started with selfishness. But Prahlāda was not like that. He had many servants, and even though he was a small boy, he lived like a little king. His father had won over the entire Brahmāndam. The entire Universe was his kingdom. In spite of having everything, Prahlāda did not want any of these things. He did not value them. He just wanted to be with his God Nārāyańa.
At one point, many people in India decided they did not want the Vedās, Purāńās and Upaniśads. They threw everything away and just sat in meditation and performed austerities. The Germans who picked up all these great texts did a lot of research and are now propagating them. Our people had thrown them away in a state of detachment (vairāgya).
As Shankarbhagavadpādācharya said in bhaja govindam ‘nahi nahi rakśati dukran karańe’ – meaning O foolish one, you will not find Bhagavān in grammar and these scholarly works. Pray to Govinda and chant His name.
Many Vedās were thrown away. We still have some, but a lot of the great works written on copper plates was taken away by the Britishers who occupied India at the time. I have seen these scriptures and the books documenting their findings in museums on my visits to Germany.
Some of our people threw these scriptures away in a state of vairāgya, but now people in India have no interest in these scriptures. They do not even have the thought to try and get these back. They are more interested in instantaneous relief offered by modern day medicines and comforts, rather than the ancient wisdom of preparing cures from naturally occurring herbs.
Prahlāda gave up comforts and the kingdom because he realized that nothing except Paramātma is permanent. Even to this day, Prahlāda’s story can be seen in old movies and in plays. If you listen to the song ‘jīvamu nīvé kadā devā’ you will experience bhakti. The singer P. Susheela has also visited Shuka Vana.
Bhagavān takes an avatar to come and protect devotees. There are many reasons why an avatāra manifests. But Narasimha Swami’s is a unique avatāra. He came only to bless one devotee – Prahlāda, and give him jīvan mukti. In spite of knowing that Narasimha Swāmi came only for him, Prahlāda did not develop any pride or arrogance. When the Lord asked him what he wanted, Prahlāda said “Please do not leave me in this world alone. This is all unbearable for me. Please take me with you.”
The Lord asked “My child, are you not frightened seeing My form? I threw your father across my lap and tore out his intestines with my huge nails!”
Prahlāda replied “No Swāmi, I am not frightened. You are śāntamūrti – the very form of Peace. I am afraid of this world and its constant cycles of birth and rebirth. I cannot live in this world. That is my biggest fear.”
What a beautiful thought Prahlāda had. Narasimha Swami blessed Prahlāda and said “I have already granted jīvan mukti to your father. You may have only called out to Me when you needed help, but he constantly chanted my name saying where is Narayana! where is Narayana! Your father’s words and actions were constantly filled with a search for Narayana. Therefore, even before you, he has already gone to Vaikuntham.”
You must all listen to Bhāgavatam with utmost bhakti, especially during this time of Corona, then this disease will go away. Stay at home and offer whatever seva you can. Jaya Guru Datta. Sri Guru Datta.