Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji after Shiva-Parvati Kalyanam – November 22, 2021 – Uttara, Tirupati
Compiled by Archana Penukonda
We conducted Deepotsavam here on a small scale. It is tradition to light one crore lamps every day during the month of Kartika. Deepotsavam or offering lamp to the Lord signifies a prayer to remove our ignorance and bestow knowledge. We are journeying from ignorance to knowledge, from darkness to light, from sorrow and grave difficulties to tiding over them. We should light a lamp at home everyday, especially during this month. Lighting an electric lamp is different. But lighting a lamp with oil or cow’s ghee using three wicks is tradition. The three wicks have a special meaning – they represent the gross, subtle and causal bodies.
The gross body is visible, the subtle body can be seen with effort, but the causal body cannot be seen. There is a clear calculation for each of these three bodies. The sins committed with the physical body accrue to gross body. The sins committed mentally go to the subtle body. The sins over the various births, the sins committed along with our relatives, friends and family go to causal body. When we leave this body, we take on the causal body that looks identical to our gross body but is invisible to everyone except the Paramatman who punishes. That Lord will stand you up in the court there. No one else except the causal body sees everything including Yama’s abode.
Mental sins may be forgiven. But remember that sins committed intentionally with the physical body will not be forgiven. If we accidentally step on an insect, we may be forgiven albeit we may need to experience the fruit of that act as well. But if we intentionally torture and kill insects, we will certainly be punished. Sometimes, we wonder why we have so many difficulties when we have committed no sins at all. We speak as if we have great devotion, are protecting Dharma and are avowed to truth. All lies. We are so fickle, the mind is always flitting around.
Why did Sri Rama have a monkey as his servant? The monkey is normally very fickle and ruins everything. It does not eat, nor does it let others eat. It destroys the entire garden. It does not drink coconut juice, it instead just picks the coconuts and tosses them. It destroys flowers and fruits. The monkey is very stubborn. It will not stop until it throws the fruit on the tree to the ground. Kapi mushti – its hold with the fist is always very strong and impossible to release. Sri Rama made the monkey his servant. It was not just Hanuman or Jambavanta or Angada or Sugreeva, the Lord took along with Him all of the Vanara army. He enabled them to meditate steadfastly. He put them on the right path. In other words, the Lord put fickleness on the right path. So too, Guru teaches using love, punishment, cajoling, rewards, insults, food etc. He makes you laugh, he makes you cry and uses many ways to teach you and make you a better person.
Gold is heated and pounded on to make a beautiful ornament. We then safeguard that ornament in a safe place. No one wears an unshapely lump of gold around their neck as an ornament. The goldsmith heats and repeatedly pounds on the gold to make an exceedingly beautiful ornament that we call by various names based on the form – nose ring, earring, bangles, bracelets etc. It is the same gold but with different names and forms. No one eats a kilogram of sugar by itself, but there are numerous sweets made of sugar. Various combinations of other items are used to produce different kinds of sweets, but sugar is the main item. Without sugar, it would not be called a sweet. We call each sweet item by its name, we do not refer to it as just sugar. We call ornaments as earrings, bangles etc, we do not just refer to them as ‘gold’.
Similarly, each one’s karma is very different. Each one’s sins are different. There could also be sins committed collectively too sometimes. Mental sins may not be forgiven, even though physical sins may be forgiven. You wonder why you are suffering despite not committing any sin. Yes, you did not commit any sin with your body, but you sinned mentally. To get rid of sins of the causal body, we have to train and discipline the gross body. How do you do this? Doing circumambulation/Pradakshina around the Lord, offering prostrations to the Lord etc. are some of the ways. Men prostrate with all eight limbs, while women can do half a prostration. Each Pradakshina removes one sin. In some temples built by Swamiji, each person does 40 Pradakshinas around the temple. If you go to Bengaluru, you will have no room to stand even. People offer Poornaphala to the Karya Siddhi Hanuman there. Their wishes get fulfilled and prayers get answered when they offer their worship with utmost faith and devotion.
We have countless desires. We have so many new desires each day. We have so many that we forget our desires from last year. We should give up our desires. You should have the confidence that God will grant us what we need and do what He needs to. Then our sins will dimmish, if not they will keep increasing. We are committing sins with all three bodies. As said before, we are killing so many insects with or without intent. But there is punishment for them all. Since you claimed you sinned without intent, the attendants in hell will punish you also without intent. The attendant will punish you and then tell you he did not know he was punishing you. So, do not assume you are winning in this material world. God is observing everything; He is watching how you are conducting yourself, how you take care of family etc.
Everyone seeks security. Some feel secure and content once they get kids married off, or once they have a child, or once they win that prolonged court case. But we always want more. We are living this life by desires. So, in every instance, we should learn to be satisfied. We should leave it to God to give us what he wants. Then, with compassion, he will make sure we do not sin. We will not ask him for anything. He will take care of us. “I am learning this lesson due to the sins from a past life. I have no choice but to experience this suffering” you must keep telling yourself.
One day a king was looking out his upstairs window. There were no salons in those days, so barbers used to walk around with their kits. The king spotted a barber and then lifted his head, accidentally banging his head against the window head and bleeding. He blamed that on the barber and said he bled after he looked at the barber’s face. The king sentenced the barber to death. The executioner asked the barber what his final wish was. The barber asked why he was being sentenced to death. The king said that he was injured because he saw the barber’s face. The barber said – I saw the foolish king’s face due to which I am losing my life. The king saw my face and only had a slight injury, but I saw his face and am losing my life. The king realized his mistake and released the barber.
People keep blaming their karma and fortune. But karma is a result of your actions. Instead of testing your karma, try to not commit the sin again. If you want the snake to come out of the pit, you will try a few different things. You might have some snake-charmer play music. And then, you might try pouring water into the pit. And if that does not work, you may try pouring sand into the pit. The snake pit has many holes. When you pour mud from one hole, the snake issues out of another. So to remove the impurity from within us, practice goodness. The more goodness you invoke, the more wickedness leaves you. We lit a lamp here. Because the flame is on, the darkness has disappeared. The darkness is here, but lit up by the light. The lamp is proof that there is light in darkness. The Guru is proof that the sinful disciple has Jnana and light in him. It is due to the Guru that you are illumined. Guru did not remove your sins with yantras and mantras. But with his light and glance, our darkness is dispelled. If we let that glance of compassion fall on us, that darkness will be gone. Darkness turned into light when the lamp was lit. When the lamp is removed, the darkness stays in its place. The light did not run away. The light merged with the light. The darkness stayed where it is. So, to always be illumined, we should place the Sadguru’s compassion and grace in our body and intellect. Then, darkness will always turn into light.
Do not present the excuse of difficulties or lack of time for your inability to have Guru Darshana. You have been breathing every day for so many years. Why do you not give a break for a few minutes? Some say they are so busy they have no time to breathe. That means, you are dead. The breath is protecting your life.
Take Shiva Parvati Kalyanam for example. It seems like a puppet show to those without faith. Prakrti and Purusha are visible in the moortis. Now, when wind is blowing, can you see the wind? We do not see the wind in our town, I do not know about your town. But you know there is wind when you see the trees sway. During Covid, many died due to lack of air. There was air, but they could not take in enough oxygen. Why did that happen, someone asked. It is because they did not do Pranayama. You must learn Yoga and Pranayama. Only those who did not do Yoga were affected. Those who practiced Yoga did not succumb to the disease. We build homes where we get the land for cheap, there may be smelly, dirty water all around. Our lungs get affected and we die early. But when we come to a kshetra like this, we are breathing fresh. We should also eat good food. You eat canned food or food that has been refrigerated for 20 days. Many are lazy to cook fresh food everyday. They eat stale food from the fridge. The food has already lost its essence, it is like eating garbage. There is no Prana in such food. Food has prana for a few hours, or for a day at the most.
Anna/Food is our life. Sometimes, we are bored cooking and cleaning everyday. If the old mother-in-law is bored, the daughter-in-law will have to cook and vice versa. And if both are bored, the son will need to get some food from a hotel. If we do not eat for a day, we feel we are going to die. Food should be hygienic and delicious. The one who is serving food should serve wholeheartedly with love. The mother often serves food and starts scolding the child because that is the only time the child is home. The child cannot eat satisfactorily. A stubborn child will eat regardless, but a sensitive one will be hurt and humiliated. While eating, first offer naivedya to God.
We eat with shoes on, we drink and eat while standing, we place the plate on the bed. Goddess Lakshmi will run away if you place the food plate on the bed; those people will never be able to get good education and will suffer from ill health. You must eat food in its designated place. Do not let legs dangle when you eat unless you are disabled or unable to bend your legs. You must in fact sit on the floor and eat with clean hands. We eat with forks like birds and animals do with their claws. The hands are ours, we can use them to put food in our mouth. But the forks have been used by others. Sure, they have been washed, but they were in someone else’s mouth too. Our hands have only been in our mouth. The five fingers represent the five elements. We are mixing the food we eat with the five elements. That becomes nectar when we eat it. If you eat cursing and grieving and criticizing the food, that is not good. Offer food to God in gratitude for having given you food. All these are subtle practices that we should inculcate ourselves.
Everyone should download SGS Posts. It is a free app. Everyone needs it. The messages use very simple words. We watch movies, songs etc. but have no time for the short easy messages in SGS Posts. Each person should have at least ten other people download the app. That will be credit to you. You can then tell Swamiji that you had ten or twenty other people download the app. So, whatever Swamiji is teaching will be in SGS Posts in very small simple messages. That will enable knowledge to dawn in you. How fortunate are we to witness Shiva Parvati Kalyanam here in Uttara Tirupati. This is the union of mind and intellect. That is Yogam. It removes rogam (disease). This is not a puppet show. Every ritual here has a great meaning. If you realize the meaning and significance of every act in this ritual, you will want to do this every day at home.
I went to see Anagha mall as I was not present for its inauguration. Every item of clothing there has positive vibrations because they did not put too much focus on profits there. I walked around the mall and saw everything. That mall has all kinds of clothes. Saris made in various places are all available in one place. I found a spiritual subject in that example. The Sadguru gives each person the Upadesha the person needs. Every one of the 700 shlokas in the 18 chapters of the Bhagavad Gita gives each person the meaning they take from it. Right from children’s clothing to entire family wear, everything is available. I saw spirituality in it. I am not promoting the place. It is akin to how the Sadguru has the Upadesha each person needs.
Corona has taught us many lessons. We lost many friends and dear people. Those who listened to me survived. Some of course passed away due to old age. Comorbidities increase the risk of passing away due to Covid. Coronavirus is still around, do not think it has gone. Maintain physical distance. I am wearing a mask in my nose. This mask is sent from America and is not available in the market yet. But just to show you, I wear this external mask as well. When I take out the nasal mask every six hours, it would have turned black due to the dirt.
Corona curbed our spending. It contained our spending. It restricted unnecessary expenditures. We spent more time at home with family. We are all now coming out of our homes. Of course, we get bored staying home; it is a small house, how long can we stay indoors, how many movies can we see, how much TV can we watch? Our intellect gets perverse, and we cannot even eat properly. Try watching six movies in a row and then eat. You will definitely throw up. Of course, there are great people capable of watching that many movies in a row. Our expenses have gone down a lot. Corona has taught us many lessons. There will be more difficulties coming our way. May you all gain the strength to face them boldly. May happiness come to you soon. May you have firm faith in Guru. Work towards the progress of this Kshetra. This place will grow to be a great Kshetra in future. We want to build a big stage here. If you have money to contribute, do not hesitate. You can sponsor a shashvata puja. There should be hundreds of sevakartas for this puja, but there are only 60 of them. In a small village, they managed to put one or two crore rupees in fixed deposit. But Uttara Tirupati does not have that. That is embarrassing. If you do the needful within your means, Swamiji will come here often. You can set up fixed deposits and use the interest money for maintenance. I can of course get all this done with just one or two devotees, but I want everyone to be part of this. I came here for you. You all have a lot of devotion for Guru, God and Brahmana for a long time. I pray that Venkatarama Swamy, Mother Goddess, Datta, Hanuman, Ganapati – all consecrated here will all remove our sorrows and fulfill our wishes.