Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji after the Bhogipallu ceremony in the evening – summary – January 14, 2014
Jaya Guru Datta
Are you all doing fine? Have you eaten well? These are Regi pallu (elachi hannu, elanda pazham, Indian jujubes); these are eaten, Andhra people make flat bread (rotti), and wafers (vadiyalu) with these. When he was young, Prasad used to eat these in plenty. Many used to bring these fruits for Prasad to eat. One day I ate them and spent the rest of the day in the restroom. I asked him how he manages to eat them all the time. Why has it done this to me? Do you still make these treats with them? Has anyone brought some for me? (A devotee offered some in a box).
This fruit is good for health because it contains plenty of vitamin C. Those with the skin problem psoriasis, if they eat one fruit every day, it is very helpful. You have to spit out the seed. The pulp and the skin are good; it is sweet and sour.
In the Ramayana there is a monkey story about this monkey fruit. Why does it have this name? Rama’s coronation ceremony was over. All the thousands of monkey guests, the monkey leaders were seated for the feast. As per tradition, each guest was served one jujube fruit. One of the monkeys squeezed the fruit and the pit flew up high in the air. Then it thought, I am born as a monkey. You are only a fruit. Still, the pit inside has flown up so high. How much higher I should be able to jump! So, it jumped very high. Seeing this small monkey jump up so high, its neighbor also jumped. The food was served, but one after another all the monkeys began jumping higher and higher competing against one another. Then it was Anjaneya’s turn. Oh, you are reminding me again, he thought and he also jumped up high and descended. Lakshmana, who was watching this, said, regardless of how great you are as warriors, you are all just monkeys. Why are you all jumping like this? Lord Hanuman, why did you jump like that? Oh, Jambavan was seated next to me. Since he jumped, I too have jumped. Why did you jump? Oh, Angada jumped, so I too jumped. Sugreeva, and every single monkey had jumped and all the food that had been served, was all trampled upon and destroyed. Lakshmana continued his investigation and finally found the small monkey who started it all. When questioned, the monkey said, Oh, because the seed from this fruit jumped up, I too jumped.
This is happiness without a cause. One must not indulge in joy or sorrow for no reason. Sometimes you suddenly remember a joke told by Appaji and you begin laughing. The neighbors will think that you are laughing at them. Then you have to explain to them that the joke is so funny that you cannot sit still but have to burst out laughing.
Once, in a royal assembly, Lakshmana suddenly burst out laughing. Everyone was concerned why he laughed like that. Rama thought that He was being laughed at for His grief because of His wife. Suddenly He began to feel like an ordinary human being. Even Hanuman was concerned that Lakshmana was laughing at Him. He went ahead and asked Lakshmana the reason for his laughter. Lakshmana explained that his wife Urmila is continuing to sleep even through all these celebrations and commotion. Because she was a quarrelsome person, I gave her the boon that during my absence all she would do here in the palace would be to eat and sleep, and she continues to sleep even after my return and all this festivity, and snores so loudly that the sound is heard even here in the royal court.
Some people can even be seated in a large gathering and manage to sleep and snore, even during bhajan sessions. Of course, they won’t fall because the people are all packed together, like at Sivaratri.
Some people remember some incident from 40 years ago and begin crying. There won’t be any justification for such crying or such laughter. One should behave as appropriate for the circumstance. Then it is very nice and follows decorum. (Suddenly a balloon burst). See, for no reason it makes a noise. ‘Why do you do that? We’ll get alarmed. You think only you can make a noise? If you make a noise from up above, we will make a noise from down below. We too can make a sound’
We don’t know when we will weep or when we will laugh. We don’t know what is wrong and what we need. People don’t know why they are sad. If they are slapped, then they will know. Today, it is the occasion, and so we had this jujube fruit festival. Daily we cannot do this. Daily would you pour these fruits on the head? Because it is a small fruit, it is okay. What if pumpkins were to be showered on the head instead? It will thump on the head.
Festivals are special occasions and what requires to be done must be done. For every activity, for bath, for meals, for going to bed, for waking up, for every juncture, there is a prayer and God should be remembered. There are special prayers to be chanted for every activity. Swamiji has Himself recorded all the specific mantras to chant, to help the youngsters of this present generation; it will be released at Sivaratri. While bathing there is a mantra to chant, while waking up, while brushing teeth, while eating, while seeing father, while seeing mother, while seeing guru, there are specific mantras to chant, and specific deities to remember. Oh how will you memorize them all? There is a mantra to chant when you drink water and a mantra to chant when you let water out. What does that mean? Even when you clean the discharge from the eyes, there is a mantra to chant.
People quarrel and scream at each other too much. When people sit down to eat, they throw the plate, they make a huge noise and shout; you must give respect to food. You are alive today. You have food to eat. Food is for life force, for health, it is like nectar. If you show disrespect to food, you will starve one day without food. Some people cry while eating their meal. It is better not to eat at all than to eat while weeping and complaining about food.
Some people do not take bath properly. They do a very careless job of bathing that even their bad odor does not leave the body. Don’t waste a lot of soap, but use sufficient amount and thoroughly wash yourselves. Or, some go to the other extreme and use up all the water, empty the geyser of all hot water not leaving any for the rest of the family members. They keep pouring water. Water does not remain on the body. As it goes down the drain, they keep pouring more and more wastefully emptying all the stored water. Namassivaya they chant and keep pouring water on the head nonstop.
Some children come home and throw their bag in one direction, one shoe in one direction, and another shoe in another direction. The next morning they cry that their shoe cannot be found. Why do you behave like that? You must keep things in their assigned places. Then you don’t waste time looking for things. Who will teach you these things? If anyone over the age of 55 or 60 tells you things, you must listen. They have grown up with some rules and discipline. Those who are in their 30’s and 40’s and are recently married have had a different upbringing. They have not been properly taught. They are not qualified to teach others because they themselves do not know. The younger ones in their teens and 20’s do not have a clue about these rules of living. Experience itself is a mantra. Our proper behavior is a mantra. You can easily tell by the way a person walks, talks, sits, and behaves humbly and respectfully, what the personality of the person is like. You do not need any divine vision to know.
If you ever travel in a group, when you go on a tour, the true nature of your travel companions gets revealed. Some people are always selfish and look for freebies. They look for ways to have other people spend for them. They are not even willing to show any appreciation or gratitude. They simply take advantage. You will know whether a person is honest or deceitful. If you travel with others, you will know of their short temper, their generosity, their jealous nature, their covetousness, and their greed and manipulative nature. I would always insist that each one pay for himself; because, there are those who take advantage of others. Your bus or train companions and your car pool riders will reveal their nature. This is all general knowledge. Festival times also teach us general knowledge. These are not a waste of time. These are not just to eat and disperse. They teach us many lessons. Spouse and children teach us so many lessons. In life, every incident teaches lessons. My guru Lord Dattatreya had 24 gurus. If he had 24, should we not have at least a hundred gurus? We must learn from each and every individual that we come across.
After the milk abhishekam, when I went inside I had tears in my eyes. I felt very sad. I said, after such a ritual, why am I feeling grief? Do you know why? My tiny bird friend that I had raised carefully flew away and could not be found. This is the parrot called Flight, with a missing leg and excellent flying skills. It flies like an airplane. That is why I gave it that name. It is not an ordinary bird. It sweetly chants Rama and Datta. I felt very sad. Once before, it flew away and Lord Hanuman brought him back (he was found near the gigantic Hanuman Murti).
I inquired about the evening’s program. I was asked to come down for this Bhogipallu festival, since I am a child. I was asked to come and bless all the devotees. But I was sad about the missing parrot. I said, only if he comes back before I go down, I can enjoy the celebration. This time he was found resting at the Sri Datta Venkateswara Temple. They brought him back just before I came down. I felt very happy. I asked, “Where did you go?” It sweetly said, Rama, Datta. It did not want to receive any scolding. We do not trim its feathers. I dislike causing pain to the birds by cutting the feathers. It is a sin to give pain to the birds. Prasad said, Are you ready? I was not ready, I told him. Then they brought my baby back. So I came down for the celebration. Now I will go and pour Bhogipallu on the parrot.
Jaya Guru Datta