Discourse on Sivananda Lahari
Day 27, August 28
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Ganesaya Namaha
Sri Saraswatyai Namaha
Sripada Vallabha
Narasimha Saraswati
Sri Guru Dattatreyaya Namaha
Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Sadgurubhyo Namaha
asato ma sadgamaya
tamaso ma jyotirgamaya
mrityor ma amrtam gamaya
Om Santissantissantihi
Please lead me from untruth to Truth, from darkness to light, from death to immortality. We pray for peace.
Happy Swarna Gowri Vratam. Praying for the blessings of Mother Goddess. We will sing bhajans praising Mother Goddess and will also speak about Sivananda Lahari.
Bhajan: Sumukha Ganapati
O Lord Arka Ganapati, please bless us all with good minds and subtle intellects. You are all-pervasive. You rule over the Mooladhara Chakra. You have a huge belly because all the countless universes are contained with it. Your keen glances bless all devotees with your infinite compassion. Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva praise you as the remover of obstacles. Please bless us with the knowledge of the principle of Sachchidananda.
Victory to Lord Ganapati.
Bhajan: Ambam aadyamahameede
We offer our first prayers to Mother Goddess Gowri. You are both the beginning and the end. You are the supporter of all that exists. You enlighten us during contemplation. You are the manifestation of spiritual knowledge and all worldly knowledge as well. You are the consort of Siva, the destroyer of Kama/worldly passions. You transcend the three – knower, knowledge, and the known. You are my Sadguru, Sachchidananda Srimata. Victory to Mother Gowri. Victory to Mother Jayalakshmi.
Verse 54:
Sandhyā gharma dinātyayo harikarā gātha prabhootā naka
Dhvāno varida garjitam divisadām drishticchatas chanchala
Bhaktānām paritosha bāshpa vitatir vrishtir mayurī shivā
Yasminnujwala tāndavam vijayate tam neelakantam bhaje
Siva is praised as Neelakantha/one whose throat is blue due to the poison that he has swallowed; Neelakantha is also a male dancing peacock. The peacock’s neck is also blue. The male peacock dances to attract the female peacock. To the sound of thunder the peacock dances in fear, and it dances with joy at the sight of the dark rain clouds.
Siva dances joyfully like a peacock in this pleasant evening twilight time. The heat of the sun has diminished. The air is cool and refreshing. The dark clouds, the sound of thunder, the brilliant lightning are all described beautifully as Siva dances with Sri Hari Himself playing the mridangam/percussion instrument to keep rhythm.
Vishnu wished to witness Siva’s dance and so He arrived there carrying the drum. He began playing, producing sounds like thunder. As a peacock gets inspired to dance by such sounds of thunder, Siva also ecstatically began dancing to the sound of the divine drum. Sri Hari has the capacity and talent to play the same drum in different tones, and pitches, varying the sounds to please Siva.
The peacock, looking at the dancing lines of lightning, dances with excitement. The eager and radiant glances of the celestials are like streaks of lightning that envelop the atmosphere. The tears of joy shed by the celestials and the devotees at witnessing Siva’s dance, is the rain shower that exhilarates Siva.
We should also feel such joy and shed tears of joy at having darshan of Siva in the form of our Sadgurudeva. Tears of joy are said to be sweet. Such tears come from the outer edge of the eye. We cannot taste them. Salty tears that we taste are from sorrow.
Siva dances like a peacock to attract Mother Goddess who then becomes the female peacock. The female peacock does not dance. This radiant Tandava/dance of Siva blesses us with enlightenment.
I worship and praise Lord Siva holding Him with devotion in my heart, enjoying His Tandava dance that is as graceful and beautiful as the dance of a male peacock.
55th verse:
Aadyāyāmiti tejase sruthipader vedyāya sadhyāya te
Vidhyananda mayātmane trijagata ssamrakshanod yogine
Dhyeyakhila yogibhi ssuraganair geyāya māyāvine
Samyak tāndava sambramāya jatine seyam nathissambhave
Earlier, the Tandava dance was described as ecstatic. Now it is called wondrous and awe-inspiring. I prostrate to Siva who forgets himself and gets drowned in His own dance. He makes us also oblivious of our surroundings. We become spellbound at seeing His dance. Nataraja Swami dances on one foot or even on just His big toe. Those who devoutly worship Siva are always fond of imagining Him dancing. Every main Siva temple will have a dance hall built for Him. He comes there to perform His cosmic dance in the evening twilight time. In Tamil Nadu such temples are common.
Aadyaaya – you are the first and foremost in Creation. Siva even precedes Brahma.
Amita tejase – your radiance is blindingly beautiful. It is immeasurable and indescribable.
This entire Creation came into being merely by His intention, all in an instance.
Shrutipadairvedyaaya – The Vedas extol you as such.
Saadhyaaya – You are attainable through spiritual pursuit. He alone is to be known in this world.
Jnaana is your form. The bliss arising from spiritual wisdom is the fruit of your worship. He is in everyone as bliss. We need to make the effort to make it bubble up.
Trijagatsamrakshana – It is your job to protect all the three worlds. We think of you only once in a while when we feel like.
Dhyeyaaya- We must establish you in our hearts. We must only contemplate upon you. All yogis and deities meditate upon you constantly.
You have transcended Maya/illusion. You have created this universe through your power of illusion.
Maayaavi – He has illusion under His control.
Jatine – His matted locks are flying hither and thither.
Tandava dance is His most divine celebration.
Let this my prostration be yours to receive. Please grant me the fruit.
Sometimes when a dancer dances in ecstasy, the hair gets disheveled, the ankle bells come loose, but the dancer is unmindful. To such a divine dancer, Siva, I offer my reverentially blissful prostrations.
There is a particular procedure for offering prostration. Sa-ashtanga Namaskaram is to touch the eight parts of the body to the ground to offer salutation. For men the specifications are different than for women. Some people do not know the method. Instead of touching the feet, they touch the knees of the Lord or Guru, because they cannot bend down.
O Lord Siva, I do not even know how to prostrate to you properly. Please forgive me and accept my obeisance.
Many times Swamiji tells us not to touch His feet. Why? It is because some people do not know how to properly touch the feet of Guru. It is best to offer Namaskaram from afar.
56th verse:
Nityāya trigunātmane purajite kathyāyani śreyase
Sathyāyadi kutumbine munimanah pratyaksha chinmurtaye
Māyāsrushta jagatrayāya sakalāmnāyānta sanchāriṇe
Sāyam tāndava sambramāya jatine seyam nathissambhave
You are eternal. You are of the form of the Trinity. You are beyond all the ‘Threesomes’/Triputi, the destroyer of Tripurasura. He is beyond the sthula/gross, sukshma/subtle, and karana/causal bodies.
Katyana Maharshi’s daughter was Mother Goddess. Siva appeared before Her to her the fruit of Her penance. She obtained Siva through Her penance. Girls who have trouble getting married, perform the Katyayani Vrata. Siva is the ultimate Truth. Siva and Parvati, Lakshmi and Narayana, and Vagdevi/Saraswati and Brahma are the first three couples to exist in this world. Of them Siva and Parvati are the very first. They are the parents for the entire Creation. You appear as Consciousness within the hearts of the Munis/Sages. Our remembrance of God is itself Jnana. Even when Sadguru is in front of us, if our attention is not upon Him, it is equal to His non-existence.
Using the three Gunas you create all these three illusory worlds. You wander amongst the Upanishads.
Your evening time dance of ecstasy is performed by you, O Siva. You are the foremost in Creation. All other things in creation come and go but you remain forever. You are indestructible. You are the eternal Paramatma.
In three verses the Tandava dance has been described.
Bhajan: Nrityati Sambhu sikharagre
Namassivaya Namassivaya Namassivaya Namassivaya Namassivaya
What a wonderful bhajan this is! The Lord dances on top of the mountain. What is the mountain top for Siva? It is His father-in-law’s house. Does any son-in-law at his father-in-law’s house? He will sit majestically wearing a suit. Here there is another word. Sakshinyam tvayi hey Janani. His wife had a desire to see Siva’s dance. As she sat and watched Him, He danced. Have you ever heard of such a thing? You sit. I will sit. I will receive your services. This is generally the attitude of a son-in-law at his father-in-law’s house. Here, Mother requested Siva to dance because everyone in Her household wished to see His dance, and Siva obliged very gracefully. He danced while they witnessed. What a loving husband Lord Siva! Dakshinyam tvayi hey Janani means Siva is highly compassionate towards His consort. There are deep spiritual meanings in these concepts. But let us not go into them now.
He has great expertise in the art of dance. The audience are confused and cannot decide whether they should watch your feet, your hands, or your face. You dance is so glorious. They feel that as they look at one part of you, they are missing something else somewhere else. Your poses change with lightning quickness. His eyes are sparkling and expressive, and yet, his footwork outshines his facial expressions. It is as if Ganapati is waving his elephant’s trunk inviting everyone to come and witness this dance. Bhringi is wandering all over the world getting the stages ready for Siva’s dance in different places. This is no ordinary dance. It is the dance of Sat, Chit, Ananda.
57th verse
Nityam swodara poshanāya sakalān uddishya vittāśaya,
Vyartham paryatanam karomi bavath sevam na jāne Vibho,
Majjanmantara pushyapāka balata stvam sśarva sarvāntara
Sthishtisyeva hi tena vaa pasupate te rakshaniyō aasyaham
Sri Bhagavatpada speaks about a devotee who relished and cherished to his heart’s content the divine vision of the dance of Lord Siva at the cool and pleasant evening twilight time. After a good night’s sleep, and enjoying some good dreams, when he woke up, he took his bath, got ready, and he had to once again pursue his daily duties of earning a livelihood to feed himself and his family. He forgot all about God. Hankering after money, he went here and there even after having earned enough. He demeaned himself falling at the feet of unworthy persons. He deceived people as and when needed, to gain advantage over them. He paid no attention to God or worship of God.
Siva, you could have called me to remind me. Because of some merit earned long ago in some past life, I was able to find you; you are the destroyer of sins. You say to me why I am so greedy for money, and why I waste my time thus. I do not know any better. Some voice deep within me said that you are all-pervasive. You are in everyone and everything. You are the protector of us, even those of us with animal natures, O Pasupati. Therefore, you have to protect me. Please don’t be angry with me that I have forgotten you. Otherwise, what is the use of your being everywhere? If you do not wash away our sins, then who will? I am praying to you to prove yourself that you are the protector of all.
We forget even simple instructions given to us by our Sadguru Sri Swamiji. If he says Chant the Datta Stavam, we say Yes. We do not even hear the words properly. We reply: Yes. I am wearing the Datta Vastram.
One foreign devotee was asked by Swamiji to repeat Datta Stavam three times daily. After sometime the devotee came to visit Swamiji again. When asked if he was saying Datta Stavam daily, he said yes. When asked how long it him to do so, he said, oh barely two seconds. Swamiji was surprised to hear this. He said how do you say it so fast? The devotee said, “Datta Stavam, Datta Stavam, Datta Stavam.” Then Swamiji had to explain that the Datta Stavam consists of 9 stanzas. That chanting Datta Stavam means repeating all the 9 stanzas.
Bhajan: Enta bhagyame thalli
Jai Jai Mata Jai Srimata
58th verse:
Eko vārija bāndhawah kshithi nabho vyāptam tamo mandalam,
Bithwā lochana gocharapi bhavathi twam koti surya prabhah,
Vedha kinna bhavasyaho ghanataram kee drug bhaven mathama,
Statsarvam vyapaneeya me paupathe sākshat prasanno bhava
In this stotra Sri Bhagavatpada says, the Sun is the only Lord of this world. He is the friend of the lotus. The world is the lotus. For it to bloom, the sun has to rise. With sunrise, by the action of this one Surya/Sun God, the whole world fills with light and the darkness is removed.
O Siva, you are described as being as effulgent as one crore of suns. A million suns cannot outshine you. What should you do? The Vedas extol you like that, and yet, my inner darkness has not been dispelled yet. You must appear before me and remove my ignorance with your grace. Lord Siva, please reside in my heart and remove all my ignorance.
We must learn from the Sun, who always travels alone and yet, spreads his radiance joyfully that one should never feel that one is alone, but keep radiating joy and energy happily. This is the lesson that Lord Dattatreya taught to King Yadu as a lesson that he had learned from the sun. We must never feel that we are alone in this world. We must never suffer from loneliness.
My ignorance should have left me by now. But it has not. Please live up to your name and destroy the darkness of my ignorance, says Sri Bhagavatpada, addressing Siva as the sun.
We begin to wonder whether Sri Bhagavatpada is ordering the sun or praying to the sun to remove his ignorance. This is a prayer in the form of a demand. This is the liberty taken as a result of his exalted state as a devotee.
The darshan of God is not something that can be seen by the physical eye. We cannot see the sun directly with our eyes when he is bright. Only the inner eye can perceive the sun or perceive God. When Arjuna wanted to see God in His Universal Form, Krishna obliged and showed him the form. But Arjuna could not bear the frightening and awe-inspiring vision. He begged Krishna to withdraw the Universal Form and resume his normal form.
Bhajan: Suryadeva Pahi Pahi
Siva is addressed as the Sun. In the Rudra homa also Siva is worshiped as the brilliant sun. Today is a very good day to be offering prayers to the Sun God.
Victory to Sadgurudeva who is effulgent as the Sun.
59th verse:
Hamsa padmavanam samichchathi yathā neelambudham chātaka,
Kokah kokanada priyam prati dinam chandram cakorastatha,
Chetho vānchati māmakam pasupathe chinmārga mrugyam vibho,
Gowrinatha bhavath padābja yugalam kaivalya soukhya pradam
We are our mind because we are where our mind is. Our mind is our nature. Our minds entertain desires. Sri Bhagavatpada is reminding us of the birds in nature each of which has its own desires.
Sri Bhagavatpada says, the hamsa/swan desires to wander in a lotus pond; a Chataka prays for dark rain clouds and rain; the Chakravaka bird wishes for the sun: the Chakora waits for the moon to rise; and my mind, it desires you, O Siva. I wish to rest my mind forever at your lotus feet.
To see God, one has to search only along the path of Jnana/Knowledge. Bhakti is one part of Jnana. Devotion is the same as Jnana, and is a part of it. It is like breaking off a piece of Mysorepak dessert and setting it aside. Such is devotion compared to Knowledge. Praising the attributes of God with love is devotion. Please bless me with the constant remembrance of your lotus feet. We sing the bhajan: Na nambide Krishnana pada.
Sadguru is called Margabandhu/travel companion. He is our caring companion during this journey of ours through lifetimes. Once we begin our journey along the path of consciousness or spiritual wisdom, Sadguru at once will come to escort us and take care of our needs for us.
Bhajan: Gowri taye
Chakravakam is the name of this raga. We just mentioned the bird Chakravakam.
Slokam/verse: Yaa Devi sarvabhooteshu maatr roopena ..
Now we are rushing through this Sivananda Lahari a little bit, because the Chaturmasya is soon coming to an end.
Why should we worry about Time? We will proceed slowly. Time is not afraid of us. Why should we fear time?
We will pray tomorrow during the Ganapati Puja that success comes to all in all fields of study and work.
We will enjoy the music concert by Mysore Manjunath and Nagaraj.
Please do not pollute the waters of lakes, rivers, and ponds by immersing painted Ganapati idols in lakes and ponds. It will poison the waters.
The principle here is that Ganapati who is worshiped should go back to nature to merge in His Mother. If you make the murti with clay, then the clay dissolves and goes back to nature, which is how it should be. If you make it with plaster of Paris it will not dissolve, it will float. If you make painted idols, they will not dissolve. You are then going against nature. You are going against the teaching of the scriptures. You must follow the rules of the scriptures at least up to 99%. We do not follow even up to 50%. That is why our environment is not cooperating with us. You may keep permanent figures of Ganapati as decorative items. But after worshiping, the murti/images must be returned to nature. There is science in the rules of the scriptures to protect our environment and protect nature. The temperatures are soaring to 50 degrees. This is unnatural. It was not like this before. We at once reach for air conditioners. If we plant more trees, we will not need a/c s. Our temperatures will remain within natural limits.
There will be no discourse tomorrow on Yoga Vasishtha because we will have abhishekam to Lord Datta Venkateswara and then the Ganapati Puja. We will resume the discourses on Yoga Vasishtha the day after tomorrow.
Om Santissantissantihi.
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Guru Datta