Discourse on Sivananda Lahari
Day 12, August 9
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. May there be peace.
Bhajan: Siddhi doota buddhinatha ..
Verse 22:
Pralobhādyair arthāharana-para tantro dhani gruhe,
Pravesd yukthassan bramathi bahudha taskarapate,
Imam chetas choram katha miha sahe śankara vibho,
Tavadeenam kruthvā mayi niraparadhe kuru krupam
Yesterday Sri Bhagavatpada prayed that his mind should be taken charge of by Lord Siva. He invited the Lord to occupy his mind as His home with Mother Goddess and the entire entourage.
Today, on this Sravana Saturday, Sri Swamiji is giving darshan at the Sri Datta Venkateswara temple. In north India, Sravana Monday is celebrated as we celebrate Kartika Somavara.
This Sravana month is special both for Siva and Vishnu. On this special day today Sri Bhagavatpada is praying that he is innocent and that his mind is the culprit. He is praying to Siva to repair the mind.
I read in the newspaper that today we celebrate Organ Donation Day. Many ask whether organ donation is right. They say that the funeral rites performed for the dead body will not be complete if some organs are missing. Our scriptures accept organ donation after death. In my opinion it may be done. The example of Sage Dadheechi endorses this. He donated his entire body. He peeled off his skin and gave it. After immense penance, he made his spine strong as a diamond. He donated it for making the Vajrayudha. Science has discovered that from a human spine diamond can be extracted but it is prohibitively expensive to do so.
Some offer their eyes to be taken after death. Others gain eyesight by this generous donation. If you offer your eyes as donation, in your family in future generations no one will go blind, the scriptures declare.
One couple offered their entire bodies. The children demanded an explanation from the parents for their decision. How are the children supposed to do the funeral rites? With darbhas/sacred grass they should prepare dolls and offer the rites to them. That procedure is stipulated in the scriptures. Then the necessary benefits accrue to both the departed souls and the ones performing the rites. When people die in natural calamities or accidents where the body is not available for performing the funeral rites, this procedure is adopted.
There is no fault in organ donation. The body parts taken from the dead body help others to live by allowing them to replace their defective organs.
Only from a powerful sage’s spinal column the Vajrayudha could be fashioned that is powerful enough to destroy the demons. Dadheechi obliged the gods gladly when they made the request for such a donation from him. Kannappa in Sri Kalahasti gave away his eyes to Siva. He attained salvation. Organ donation does not prevent one from getting salvation.
This body is like a home that we occupy temporarily. There is no sin in giving it away to help others after we get separated from it.
My mind and heart I offer to you, Lord Siva, for your possession. My mind is the greatest and the most cunning thief which robs me of my power of discrimination. It tempts me to do all kinds of mistakes. This thief called Mind comes from nowhere and stealthily steals the gem called good intelligence and discretion. As the leader of thieves, you know exactly what this thief is up to. You please control this thief.
We are separate from our minds. This is a great science.
Money makes us commit great atrocities. In Venkatachala Mahatmya a secret is disclosed. Everyone requires money. God blesses Lakshmi that He is granting her the capacity to give wealth to all. The recipients will offer their wealth to me, the Lord says, so that I can utilize it well for Vedic education, annadanam, health care, and so on. In return to their charity I bless them with immense spiritual gain.
Many take to a wicked path under the influence of wealth. For earning wealth people follow wrong methods.
In today’s stotra/praise, Siva is addressed as the chief of thieves.
In Rudram also Taskaraanaam pataye namaha … is one of the descriptive names by which Siva is addressed and praised.
Taskara means – Tat karoti – does that which he likes to do. Some thieves take whatever they like, including food and murtis/idols of deities. People get different bad thoughts. What does Siva steal from us? What is it that we should make available for Him to take away from us?
On Lord of Thieves, Siva, the one who benefits all, please steal from me my mind, which is a huge trouble maker.
From the homes of the prosperous, how to takes away their money? By cheating, deception, false temptation, and flattery, people rob others of their wealth. People offer enormous interest rate and those who naively believe such stories lose their capital altogether. Pralobha – showing excessive temptation, people rob people of all their assets.
When to rob the house? They observe the times when the house is unoccupied. Such are the methods employed by thieves. There are many ways and strategies that are used. They make arrangements to overcome hurdles such as barbed wire, fences, locks, electric shocks, and so on.
Money enters into our minds and steals our discretion and judgment. It steals our good knowledge. How do I protect myself from this bandit?
The chief of the thieves merely sends his assistants. He himself does not go. He keeps tabs on the actions of his subordinates. Veda addresses you as the leader of thieves, O Siva.
Srinivasa and Sankara are not different. Navaneeta Chora/butter-thief is the name we give to Krishna. Krishna answers to that name. He steals our ever-new sins unbeknownst to us. You steal our bad ways, Siva. I am unable to bear the onslaught of these thieves called wicked thoughts that lead to wicked actions.
He, who does righteous things, is noble. Sadguru gives us his virtuous nature of doing good things. He does it to us forcibly.
Please send a message to this mind of mine not to engage in bad actions. I am innocent. It is my mind that is the criminal here. My heart is the thief, and I am getting blamed. I did not do it intentionally. This prayer will transform our life. What is mind? Who am I? The two are not the same. My past tendencies are making me do wrong. Please remove such bad tendencies from me, Lord Siva.
We are not our organs. We wear the organs. There is nothing wrong in giving away our possessions. Surgery is required. Okay, do surgery and remove the diseased organ. We readily agree. Would we agree if our organ is us? No. It is separate from us. Will this argument protect us at the police station if you say that you are innocent and your mind is the criminal? They will put you in a mental asylum. This truth applies only in the spiritual field. In worldly affairs, a different logic applies. Be careful.
In the kitchen, they keep scrubbing the vessel to remove the clinging odor. But you wash your hands after a meal and it gets clean. Like the vessel, my tendencies are stuck to me. Siva can wash away those. Think always that you are pure and innocent. You are Paramatma. Never belittle yourself thinking of yourself as useless and inferior. The fault lies in your mind.
His Guru asked Adi Sankara who are you? He did not say who he was. He said who he was not. I am not wind, fire, water or any of those. I am Siva.
Luggage is not us. We carry it. But when we reach our room/destination, we put in down. We do not continue to carry the weight. If there is a fire, you leave the luggage and run. You do not care about the luggage. You wish only to protect yourself. The mind is the luggage that we carry. Like a monkey the mind runs and runs us wild. We go to the temple to offer the mind at the feet of the Lord. You pray to Him to cleanse and purify it by taking possession of it.
Please show compassion on me, Lord Siva. Please uplift and protect me. I am scolding you and praying for your help. Normal psychology is to praise and ask for favors. Here Siva is accepting the title of Chief of Thieves and still protects us.
On a dying wick of a candle things like flying dust particles get stuck. Like that, we stick to God at the end of a Kalpa/eon.
The name is Yatana/suffering. But the person is happy.
Bhajan: Jyotirlingakara … (Viswanatha)
Namassivaya Namassivaya Namassivaya Namassivaya
Verse 23:
Karomi twatpoojām sapadi sukhado me bhava vibho
Vidhitwam Vishnutwam diśasi khalu tasyāh phalamiti
Punascha twām drastum dhivi bhuvi vahan pakshi mrugata
Madrushtwā tat khedam katha miha sahe Sankara Vibho
O Sankara, O Parameswara, I worship you. What is this worship? Once Swamiji sent a message explaining the significance of Puja. Puja removes the incidence of rebirth. At least for five minutes every day one must do puja.
Please grant me the fruit of my worship as quickly as possible. You are everywhere. You will perhaps grant me the status of Brahma or Vishnu, considering that my worship has earned for me such a state. I do not wish to attain such positions. Brahma became a Hamsa/swan to see your highest point. Vishnu became a boar and dug into the earth to see your bottom end when you became a vertical beam/pillar of light. Both of them failed to have your darshan.
Vishnu returned. The Hamsa saw the holy cow Surabhi/Gomata, and asked for an answer. The cow gave false witness. Hence, the cow received a curse that its face will never receive worship (worship to the cow is offered to other parts of its body, but not to the face). Brahma was cursed to never receive worship because he tried to deceive. Also once Brahma was seen worshiping himself out of arrogance that he was the supreme lord. The meaning in that is that you may worship Sadguru/God. But one must not worship oneself.
Both Sri Hari and Brahma were unhappy. I do not wish to take the place of Vishnu or Brahma who failed to get your darshan. I merely wish to be your devotee.
Why did Sri Hari take the form of a boar? What is the moral of this story?
Arguments as to who is greater amongst Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva are futile. Kalidasa, the great poet has beautifully explained that the one God has assumed all the three forms. That is why Dattatreya, the Adi Guru has assumed all the three forms. Many see Siva in Vishnu and Vishnu in Siva. Sankaranarayana is the combined form.
Front is one form, the back is another form, or each half is one form. Sakti also is joined with them. There is no superior of inferior amidst them. When one is at a higher position temporarily, the other two worship the third. The differentiations are wrong and illusory and only entertained by the ignorant.
There is a secret truth underlying here. The underlying Truth is Dattatreya. Only if you see the faces you can tell the difference. All the three are one and the same.
In Sri Hari’s/Vishnu’s stories the truth is revealed.
Brahma became egotistical once that he was the Creator. Ego should be looked upon with disgust, as Sri Rama exhorts us in the Yoga Vasishtha. An argument ensued between Vishnu and Brahma. Vishnu asked Brahma, who created you? He wanted to make Brahma realize his mistaken notion. Brahma was unable to do so. To make Brahma understand properly, Sri Hari decided to turn Himself into a huge beam of light. It had no beginning or end. A voice was heard from it. The one who finds my beginning or end first will be declared the winner. Vishnu asked Brahma if he wished to go up or down. In arrogance Brahma said he would fly up as a swan to find the upper limit of the beam of light. Vishnu wished to make Brahma learn that ego should be shunned.
We are all the children of Brahma. We seek our oldest ancestor and by exploring our roots, we reach Brahma. Then beyond Brahma we reach Vishnu. Beyond Vishnu, there is nothing higher. In Sravana month, on Saturday, having darshan of Narayana is highly beneficial.
Brahma had ego and the wish to win. He had tension and when he failed to find the top of the beam of light, he stooped to deception. Vishnu became a boar and went down and returned. He Himself was the beam of light. He had no reason to lie or deceive. He knew the Truth. This story shows that falsehood never wins. You incur sin and punishment if you try to deceive.
The cow lied. The fragrant flower lied and suffered the curse of not being eligible for being offered in worship. The tiny white flower that lacks fragrance is favored by Siva for its purity. Tummi flower/Leucas aspera flower. Garlands are made with it to be offered daily to Siva/Sadguru.
What is the use of becoming Brahma or Vishnu if your darshan is denied? What is the use of having all these limbs and organs if they are not used for your worship, your meditation, your songs of praise, or obtaining your proximity?
Please fill me with devotion. Use me for your service. Keep me close to you. That is my prayer, says Sri Bhagavatpada.
Bhajan: Palaya Govinda ..
Sri Guru Datta