Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – Navarātri Series – Day 7, Saptami – Goddess Sarasvati – Namasankeertana & discourse in the evening – October 21, 2023 – Mysore
Today is Goddess Sarasvati Puja day. We beg Mother to grant us the alms of Jnāna and knowledge. We need a lot of knowledge and patience. Patience is the most important. And you should always strive to be happy. Stay happy, do not get depressed, do not overthink. Always be happy. May Mother Goddess bless us all.
Bhajan ID 515: Ambā bhavāni śāradē
Today is Day 7. We worshiped Shāradā Māta. She gives us the letters and words and speech and musical notes as well as our breath. We are worshipping the Supreme Mother who is utterly pure.
kātyāyani mahāmāyē bhavāni bhuvaneśvari |
samsārasāgarē magnam mām uddhara kṛpāmayē ||
brahma viṣṇu śivārādhyē prasādaṃ jagadambikē |
manōbhilaṣitam dēvi varam dēhi namostutē ||
Chant this shloka everyday. Maya is extraordinary. It plays everyone. It’s very difficult to transcend. Only Yogis can know Maya, but they also sometimes fall into its trap. With Dhyana, Yoga, Tapas, and other austerities they constantly strive to cross it. That much sādhana (spiritual practice) and inner journey is required, otherwise, it’s not possible. For this to happen in this birth, we must give only a little time to worldly affairs, and the rest to our spiritual quest. Only then we may get past this Maya and realise Supreme Mother who is present in the form of Satya & Jnāna.
Today’s kīrtana: Tripurā Deviki Tiranga (Bhajan ID 8574)
Swamiji has included the word ‘Tiranga’ i.e Tricolor in this Bhajan. Jayam/victory to Tiranga or Tricolor says the lyric. Tripurā Māta has three colours (it also alludes to the Indian flag).
Online Saundarya Lahari classes are taking place. Everyone must join and memorise it. First complete memorising Saundarya Lahari, then we can move on to Sundarākānda. Many of you have memorised BhagavadGita, everyone must chant one chapter of Bhagavad Gita at home everyday. Take an oath that you will do this everyday one chapter. At any cost this MUST be done. Regardless of what problems occur around you, or to you, you must chant one chapter. If chanting is not possible, you must listen. If you listen everyday it’ll get memorised. Have children chant a chapter too – their education will be much better. A small chapter takes under 4 minutes to chant, and a big one takes barely 7 minutes. What critical tasks are you so busy with that you have no time for Bhagavad Gita chanting? We must chant every single day. If family members cooperate you can chant it aloud, if not chant it internally. Do not disturb others who are working from home by chanting aloud. After they finish their work, you can chant in their presence. Its better to not chant rather than disturbing others, that is not advisable. Don’t inconvenience others, chant internally, find a quiet corner at home and chant the Gita. I have 4-5 quiet corners in my house, how many do you have? It’s okay if you are out of sight for 5 minutes while chanting. Chant one chapter a day without missing.
Learn Saundarya Lahari, then take up Shivānanda Lahari and then Sundarā Kānda. America is getting ready to do Sahasragala of Saundarya Lahari. Why should America always be the leader in numbers? And we the laggards? Do we not have it in us to be the leader? How many will memorise, raise your hands? If you are educated you can learn online, and the ones who cannot read can memorise by listening over and over again.
If you can write, then start writing Saundarya Lahari, you will easily memorise it. How many have memorised Lalitā Sahasranāma? You must keep chanting it everyday. You can chant while traveling, without wasting time. When you keep the mind busy writing Lalita Sahasranāma, it stays put in one place. Your love for me makes your mind focus intensely. You will be very happy when you keep doing Japa – the mind will be at great peace forgetting all your troubles. If you do Japa for 4 straight days and happen to miss on the fifth, you will feel guilty and the void. Mind is peaceful when you do Japa and the day you missed it, you will feel disturbance, so you must keep doing. Come what may, keep doing it, like eating and breathing.
Maya is always shrouding us and playing us, it is no ordinary thing. It is very hard to transcend it. Yogis can sense Maya due to the power of their Dhyana, Japa, and Tapas. Hence they go past Maya and know Mother Goddess who is present in the form of Satya & Jnāna. But what can the ordinary people do? We are just involved in daily chores, eating, sleeping and getting through life, and we know nothing beyond that. Do we have no salvation? It takes a lot of time to transcend Maya. What is the way for the ordinary folk to quickly transcend Maya and have vision of Mother Goddess, asked Janamejaya?
We have been listening to this Upadesha for the past 3 days.
Janamejaya who was listening to Devi Bhāgavatam upadesha from Sage Vyasa had a question and asked the Sage: Shastras say truth is the root of all Dharma. But some great souls lie for their convenience and selfishness. If great souls are uttering lies, where can we find the one who is always truthful? Whom should we see as the benchmark for truth?
Sage Vyasa said: Trimurtis, Devatas and great sages and Rishis and all beings may appear renunciate, but experience mental fluctuations. Every being that is embodied is bound to experience fluctuations like hunger, thirst, anger, sorrow, comfort etc. just as the three doshas of the body – Vata, Pitta and Kapha cannot be escaped. Maya permeates all, Even Sri Rama, Sri Krishna and all Devatas had Maya envelop them. However, those who have attachment can go to any extent in wicked actions. Attachment is cause for our wicked actions. There is no action without a cause, just as no smoke without fire. The tendencies that are behind the cause will reflect in the action as well – I have told you this many times before. There is a cause for Brahma and other celestials taking birth again. Those causes manifest in their conduct. This cannot be escaped as long as we are embodied.
Everyone appears scholarly and flawless when they are preaching to others. Everyone deems themselves highly learned, while lecturing about Satya & Dharma. but they have their own share of woes. When difficulties & sorrows affect them, everyone slip in Dharma. The one who waxes eloquently about Satya & Dharma doesn’t observe them, he appears to be sagely but he is the first one to falter. His intellect that was active during his exposition goes absent when it comes to acting on it. That is why great sages observe silence. We all must constantly examine ourselves why our behaviour is flawed in this manner. You don’t need to consult others, you can introspect. Ask yourself, how many times have you lied in the day, how many times have you deceived yourself. Your mind will know, and if your mind knows, Mother knows.
When you examine closely, you’ll realise that all this is happening because of Moha – attachment. You’ll realise you’re erring because of Moha. Attachment comes right from birth. This entire Samsāra is filled with Moha. I cannot find anyone free from Kāma & Krodha. That is the nature of this creation, it has always been this way – a mixture of good and bad. We should not expect otherwise, it is happening so by Mother’s ordain. We do not have the right to question or criticise it. We should not speak great Vedanta saying ‘this is the way of creation – it is veiled in Maya. Everyone is shrouded in Maya, and everyone who took human birth must suffer and so on.’ We should not talk in this manner, it is wrong. We should just observe good behaviour and have fulfilment in our lives.
The Great Maha Vishnu Himself is diligently following Mother’s ordain without speaking a word. She asked Him to feed and sustain the entire creation made by Lord Brahma. Maha Vishnu’s charter is gigantic, He is always protecting us. He performs severe penance once, another time He does Yagas, at other times, fights demons, at other times, wander with Lakshmi. He even faces humiliation for the sake of universal welfare. Sri Krishna was greatly insulted, He was tied up, and even was called a thief (case of missing Samantaka Jewel) and faced all kinds of troubles. We feel pity for Him as He had go through everything, as He is Pūrna Avatār (complete incarnation). Rama faced little trouble in comparison. Sri Krishna was all powerful, He could’ve swallowed the creation, but he followed Mother’s orders and protected the world. He protected even those who insulted Him, as per Mother’s ordain. He sometimes deliberately lost battles, and then won some; He experienced ups and downs, joys & sorrows. Same is the case with Lord Shiva, Devatas and sages. They suffer because they are embodied. That is the consequence of the Samsāra.
Samsāra is not worldly activities or wife and children, it is the vices and attachment that envelop you. Vices – Moha, krodha, lobha, mada, matsarya make up Samsāra. We need to be free from these vices and attachment. We live as long as the lifespan given to us and then take birth again after death – it is the same even for these celestials. It is a cycle. kāma and krodha are naturally present in every being that has a body. Kāma and krodha remain attached to the body, and even after the body drops, they will be in us for sometime. There is no reason to be surprised at the actions of Devatas or sages. Do not question how can they do so? Maya has enveloped everyone. That is how the creation composed of kāma & krodha goes on eternally. So Janamejaya, do not give into such wonder beholding this creation. One must get freed from this kāma & krodha by knowing the Paramātma. But I have never seen anyone in this creation who got free in this manner.
We learnt that Samsāra is made up of the vices. Those who fall into the abyss of this Samsāra cannot get out of it. It is very hard to get out of it, there is no one who can rescue. It is very difficult for someone stuck in Samsāra to behold the gates of liberation. Then, what must a wise human being do? The wise should not get stuck in it. That doesn’t mean you give up your family right away as Swamiji said so. It means you should not get trapped by attachment. Samsāra is not the house, spouse, children etc..it is the attachment in you. You must make every effort to get rid of attachment. Strengthen your dispassion and realise that this Samsāra is devoid of essence. One who has developed such dispassion must worship Mother – Tripurā Māta whose Maya Shakti pervades this creation. So to get out of this Maya, we must worship Maha Maya – Tripurā Māta. Maha Maya is the Mother of Maya, she is the One who created Maya. So, She alone can free us from this Maya. No one else is able. There is no other way than to worship Mother. We have to worship Her until we receive Her grace. She has boundless compassion. So, when you Worship Mother with guileless devotion and pure heart, She will immediately shower blessings. She will remove grief, grant happiness and even bestow salvation.
So, those who do not worship Mother despite getting this extremely rare human birth are bound to have a downfall, no matter what their grand accomplishments may be. They will have a fall like slipping from the top rung of the ladder. They enjoy as much joy as the one who falls from the ladder would. What joy? He would break a leg or his back and would be bedridden for a few months enjoying that pain. All of us have climbed the ladder, each one of us did. Now if we do not worship Mother, we will have a fall and break our leg, or back or even our head. It’s like toppling from the top after summiting a mountain. That’ll be our state. Worship of Mother is the only way to transcend Maya and gain Mukti (liberation). There is no greater path than this. The wise must worship, serve and praise Mother, to gain Her grace and attain salvation.
This creation is filled with the three gunas (tendencies). It is permeated by Ahamkāra, yes, but it is also bound by Truth. So, if you do not serve Mother who is present as the Truth cannot be freed. She must be served. Truth is a form of the Mother, She is the eternal Truth. So, She is the benchmark, Her words must be absorbed as Upadesha, we must do as She ordains because She is beyond form, names and attributes. She needs no support, She has no Ahamkāra. Worldly happiness is momentary, Inner bliss alone is eternal. If you serve Mother, you will get that eternal bliss. May Mother grant you all that inner bliss.
On this seventh day, Mother Sarasvati gives us Jnāna and Vidya. Avidya in us must be removed. Avidya is nothing but Ahamkāra. This is where all spiritual understanding points to that Ahamkāra is the cause for this creation. Avidya is to feel that I know everything. This Avidya must be exterminated. You should come to a state ‘I know nothing’. You know, Tyagaraja Swami after all his accomplishments, ultimately felt he had not done enough. He said he hasn’t yet managed to merge the life note with the hum of Tambura. It means he felt, he still has a long way to go. We should never think we learned a lot, we should always be like a child who knows nothing. In this manner we must strive to know Mother. If we do so, we will not just be liberated from life but we’ll be freed by gaining Jnāna. When we get liberated with Jnāna, we will reach Mother. So let us all seek refuge in Mother by singing this next Bhajan.
Bhajan ID 8572 – Ambe ma ke sharan mein chalo
Tomorrow is Durga Ashtami, very special day. Tomorrow and day after, it is customary to do Ayudha Puja (worship of our tools & equipments) we should ideally try to rest the equipments we use. May be computers too can be given rest. If we give them rest they can cool down and get respite from strain. During these days Big machines are given rest too. Some greedy people do not, but those devoted to Mother shut down completely. It takes one day to restart big machinery so they shut them for one day and restart a day earlier so that by Dashami they are fully operational. The Dharmic ones follow this practice.
Reason being, It is said that Durga Māta resides in all equipment. Even the cars are given a rest on Navami day. Mother pervades all matter. How can we give rest to car? The ones who own the car can give rest and take a cab. Some people do not even start their car on Navami. Mother permeates all equipments, so they do not touch them that day. Even musical instruments are not touched. That day, instruments and equipment are rested after offering worship to Mother.
So tomorrow is an important day, take head bath like you did today. Ones with tonsured heads can easily do that. All of you drink only boiled water. Infections are around, so wear a mask and be careful. Some people booked themselves in Hotels, to avoid overcrowding in Ashrama, that is good.
To avoid such situation in future, there is plan to construct 100 more rooms behind Arka Ganapati Kuteera. The requisite permissions are obtained and the proposal is ready. This will fulfil the need in the future. A devotee came forward to construct a parking lot. He was ready to spend a $1Mn. I was very happy. I went after him till the bus stop…I adore such small sevas. Those who want to sponsor a new room can try to get the information early. The existing rooms here are getting old. Some of them might have to be discarded. As they are decades old, they need regular repair and maintenance. We are incurring huge expense on repairs. I wasn’t supposed to talk about this. It is the Ashrama management’s plan, not Appaji’s, but I wanted to pave the way for future, hence shared all this with you with the view that devotees in future stay comfortably for a day or two when they visit. You can enquire with Prasad and book a room. It will not be owned by you, it is only a donation/sponsorship. When you visit Ashrama it will be there for you to stay, but when you are not here, it will be given to others on rent. You might have to even contribute for maintenance. This is a small matter, I didn’t have to talk about it, Prasad would’ve done it. Prasad said he would do the announcement, he didn’t want me to go through the trouble, but I found a time when he is not here to give you a preview.
Bhajan ID 305 – Hārati