Speeches of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – Ugadi & Rama Navami festivities – April 12, 2024 – Dundigal Ashrama, Hyderabad
message in the morning after Sri Chakra Puja
Our breath is Chidagni Kunda – the fire pit. Mother is in our breath and is resplendent there invisibly. Why is She there? This body is a world, a universe by itself. The nerves and Nadis in the body are all various Lokas. The 9 Crore universes are in the body. The countless beings are in the body. Countless sounds emanate from the body. Countless fires live in the body. Such an incredible world is in the body. We, who have gained such an incredible world, are wallowing in ignorance due to Ajñāna and using this body for Kama and Krodha, thereby weakening the Nadis, and letting the mind be absorbed in the believing the body is the end and the goal.
We forget due to our previous birth’s Karma and use this body for vulgar and dirty Karma. Mother is in every Nadi. She is the primordial deity. She is invisible. Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshvara prayed to Mother. The Mother who is the Mukhya Prana can manifest as male or female. That is why She is also hailed as Narayana. She is the witness and the basis for this entire Creation. Shiva, Brahma, Narayana, Indra, the five gross elements, the 9 Crore universes, etc., come from Her.
We don’t know the expanse of this universe. Mother fills everything. The countless stars and planets and suns and moons, the oceans, the mountains – all these together make one universe. Each universe has countless celestial bodies, milky ways, galaxies etc. The light from Kalpas ago now reaches our Earth. So many light years away, long long ago, far far away, they were born, they existed and they vanished. If we try to find the star that we see the light of, it doesn’t exist there anymore.
This is so surprising. This same kind of thing exists in our body.
If the mind is dead, we become a vegetable too and there’s no guarantee we’ll come back to life. There is breath, but the existence or Sat is gone. The body merges back into the five gross elements – it goes back to its source.
If you slice a single hair vertically 1000 times, the one part is how big we are. It’s very hard to slice a single hair 1000 times. We won’t be able to see it. It’s a Shakti that’s invisible just like our Atman. Karma activates Buddhi, senses, prompts the body to do good and bad deeds, enables the body to give birth to children, incites love for body and lets you fall from grace due to the body. All this is in Lalita Sahasranama. You must listen to Lalita Sahasranama in Telugu. The pure Upanishad Vakya is Lalita Sahasranama.
Sometimes, when we hear some shocking news, we freeze, we are trapped in Maya, we are inert like a log of wood due to our excessive love and attachment for wealth, relatives, desires, etc. And then we fall into grief. If you listen to Lalita Sahasranama, you will freeze like this, you will be filled with wonder and also with fear due to the sin we are committing with the body. You will be surprised how much sin you are committing with the body believing it to be God and believing liberation comes with it. You will wonder how you can get real Liberation. All this is in Lalita Sahasranama. If you listen to Lalita Sahasranama, you will need no other scriptures.
I do not know when you will listen to Lalita Sahasranama in this hall. If you are lucky, if Swamiji has no other busy work keeping Him away, and this hall is ready, you will listen to Lalita Sahasranama in Telugu from Swamiji. It will take at least 15 days. You will need to come on time to the hall each day. You are always busy with traffic, phones, children, family, work commitments, etc. Our Karma doesn’t like to take you to Moksha. It keeps pulling you back.
When great sages do penance, Indra sometimes disturbs them. Indra is like our Karma. If nothing, the body interrupts. While meditating, the mind gets drawn to some distraction in the body, or money, or some other problem. We are born in the mire of problems and obstacles. From the cradle to the grave, we are surrounded by obstacles. It is the Karma that came with us. It keeps us from evolving. We are doing archana, but the mind is elsewhere. We cannot still the mind in one place. Before the nāmā is complete, the mind flies away. We cannot even chant one nāmā correctly. We keep moving, we feel like a fly is stinging. The mind runs home, or to the bus stand, or thinks about love for children or old people or is worried about them…it is running away at least for a second. It ruins your worship in a trice. Again, before you chant the next, it runs again. Like the fan, the mind keeps running. You keep scratching, you keep looking here and there, you keep chanting. What use is it?
We are listening to the jarring sounds of construction right now. Even after they stop the sound, the mind keeps hearing it because the mind has recorded that sound. Even the sound of AC or fan or wind ruins our concentration. Even the five gross elements ruin us because all of them are envious of our progress. They will keep pushing us down. That is our Karma. It’s very, very rare that even one in billion does real Sadhana and controls the mind. Until we die, we have to keep pulling the mind back. Pulling the mind back is our job. It doesn’t stay still. There is always business going on in our mind. Thirsty, hunger, sleep, laziness are all always lurking and waiting to take over. The mind is worried about the slippers left outside, the car, the scooter, the phone call you are waiting for from your spouse, etc.
You heard so much, but will you correct yourself? Impossible. You won’t. You want to feel like you have done something. “The program went very well, we donated some saris…”, What went well? What is the use of all these physical activities? It only is great for optics. How has it benefited you? What is the good that has come to you? What have you learned? When someone asks you how the program was, you’ll be so happy you got a front row seat. You praise about your Kasi trip because you didn’t have to wait in line at all, or that your room was right next to the temple. What was your improvement? Zero. “We go to Kasi every year!”. How have you benefited? How has your mind reformed? That is zero. You eat in the morning, in the afternoon, in the night. You are hungry and keep eating. You nourish the body, use if for wicked and vulgar purposes. There will be bad thoughts due to the bad Karma in previous lives. What must you do to get rid of it, to get the mind still?
You must keep doing all these good programs relentlessly, so that at some point unbeknownst to you, your mind will get still. One second here and one second there slowly adds up, and your mind slowly gets stronger and more still. We are doing all this to still the mind, not to get Punya. Once your mind is still, then you can think of Punya.
When there’s a festival, or even when Swamiji is visiting, we first think of the menu. Whether it’s a wedding, or an ancestral rite, we think about the food/menu, first. Where is your mind? Did you think good thoughts? You must first think about what is needed for Devata Archana. But you think about the food items, the cook, etc. first. No matter how hard you try, that is what will come to mind for you. We should focus on Naivedya for Mother first, not on our meals.
I am very desirous of narrating Lalita Sahasranama here. But it depends on your good fortune. In the morning, we’ll have to chant Trishsati and do other rituals.
Seshu Latha Ji sang bhajans so beautifully. All of you can get the album. She sang beautifully with feeling.
“Mother, we are trapped in samsara and suffering. We have this human birth, please protect us!” is the essence of these bhajans. She sang very melodiously. You all learn these Bhajans too.
message during Divya Nama Sankeertana in the evening
We have 3 new Ugadi songs for Krodhi Year. It is a good year, but there will be a few untimely events here and there…but we will live. We have to live.
Swamiji made the Sankalpa to consecrate Valli, Devasena moortis along with Subramanya Swamy. We will also have Utsava moortis (Idols that are taken out in a procession). This year, Subrahmanya Swamy and Hanuman should be specially worshiped, say the astrologers. It is in our tradition to worship anyway. This year is a little cruel. But there is nothing to fear. We have seen worse. We have even seen Covid; these are just kids in comparison! No reason to fear. Just be with devotion and concentration and with charity and compassion. A little compassion will take you a long way, say the scriptures. Sometimes, we have to abide by the scriptures, don’t just rely on Swamiji and act as you wish.
Priests must be respected, do not talk to them without respect, that is sinful. Normally, priests have a lot of difficulties. They have to do Agni Karya and Mantra and must follow the Guru’s dictum. But they bear children whenever they wish and sometimes take the sins of many people. If you hurt them or look down upon them, their sins will come to you. If you are unhappy with the priest, speak gently. You respect God, you must respect priests too. These days, it is hard to get priests and cooks. Because they can get a degree and earn more money. Some are continuing to do priestly duties because Swamiji told them to, and some are doing the duty as it is part of their family tradition.
Do not speak to the priests as you wish. Ganga turned black due to the sins of the people. Anasuya Mata then dipped in the river and poured all Her Punya into the river, so it recovered again. We do charity of various things to the priests, they accept it. Our sins are transferred to them. That is why they are poor and suffer, and only have girl children who may have mental/intellect issues. They also have desires to get their children well educated or at least get a vehicle for commute. You can get a lot of Veda Pandits, but it is hard to get priests. Veda Pandits do not do priestly duties because they know it brings a lot of difficulties. Some Veda scholars, who have no choice, do such duties. They do not do it for money, they do it to keep up Dharma. They will do the Mantra-chanting needed. They know what kind of difficulties come upon them due to the various events they officiate. So, they will do the required Mantras.
But the priests may not know this. They keep looking at phones, going for recreation with their wives; they have desire to own a vehicle, etc. So, make sure you are respectful to priests and take good care of them. It is not good to hurt them.
On one hand, we cannot do priestly duties because we eat meat, on the other hand, it’s hard to get priests. In North India, priests are treated so well. It is in South India that priests are not treated well.
Datta devotees – write this down. Give some Dakshina to the priests. Help their children’s education. Give them vegetables. Give them sweets for Deepavali. Give them new clothes for them or their family. Think of them as part of your family. They will bless you heartily. The more you give them, the more they bless you. Treat them with compassion.
Heed my word. Not respecting Brahmins and cows, indulging in cow slaughter, eating goats and poultry are all reasons
for our suffering.
I am telling you again and again, respect the priests/Archakas.
The priests too must follow their rules.
The message this new year: Respect the Brahmins.