Discourse on Sivananda Lahari
Day 1, July 27
Jaya Guru Datta
Parvati Parameswara, Lakshmi Narayana, Sita Rama – like this always the Mother’s name is mentioned first. The reverse will sound strange if you say Parameswara Parvati or Narayana Lakshmi and so on. Mother is always remembered first. Whom to pray first? It is wise to pray to them together. The Ardhanareeswara/half male and half female Tatva is envisioned here. In one bhajan Swamiji sings that it is not possible to slice into two what is one and eternally inseparable.
Bhajan: Amma kanna adhikulevaru
Who is more supreme than Mother in the world? Mother is by far the most supreme. Upon exploration I find that it is Mother alone who is everywhere.
Should I call the sculpture fashioned with hammer and chisel as Mother? Should I not first remember her heart that is soft as butter?
Should I refer to the burning flames of the lamp as Mother? Should I then ignore the coolness of her nature?
Should I refer to the endless sky as Mother? Should I attribute existence to what has no manifestation?
Should I refer to half the body of Siva as Mother? Should I thus slice into two the ever whole Supreme Energy?
Should I refer to me, you and he as Mother? Or, should I support my conviction in the fullness of Mother as Sachchidananda?
Some devotees have requested that I speak also in Tamil. I am afraid to do so. Because when I use so many languages, only words will remain. The substance will be lost. Those who are viewing this on Yoga Sangeeta are requested to provide translations in English and Tamil also.
Swamiji is very fond of this Sivananda Lahari. It is a great hymn that endows bliss. I will first offer prostration to the Lord, the poet, Sri Adi Sankara says. This is a great praise. Everyone should chant this prayer daily. Only when any effort is begun with a prayer, it bears fruit.
The composer, Sri Adi Sankara debated within himself. Who should receive my prayers first? Mother or Father? I will pray to them both. Hence, Guru begins his prayer with the 1st verse:
1st verse:
Kalābhyām choodālankrutha śaśi kalābhyām nija thapah
Phalābhyām bhaktheṡu prakatita phalābhyām bhavathu me
Shivābhyām asthoka tri bhuvana shivābhyām hridi punah
Bhavābhyam ānanda sphurad anubhavābhyām natiriyam
Very simple language. It is like small pieces of bite-size candies, not a huge cake.
Adi Sankara’s Soundarya Lahari begins with the word Siva … in the first verse, Sivassaktyayukto ..
Here Kala, the first word refers to Mother Goddess. ‘Ka’ has significance as the first syllable here. Kaadi Vidya in Mother’s worship is very significant. It consists of the 16 syllable mantra beginning with the syllable ‘ka’.
I offer my prayers to Mother and Father. Both are adorned with the crescent moon on their heads. They are both of the form of knowledge. Siva has ignored the flaws in the moon and has placed him on His head, just as God ignores our faults and accepts us into Himself.
This couple is together because each of them did great penance to obtain the other. Their marriage did not take place as a result of searching for a match in the Matrimonial column in the newspaper. Each pined and yearned to see and be with the other. Why are they united? To bless their devotees with the fruits of their karma/actions. Siva is a name, the utterance of which grants great boons to us. It has the power to remove our ignorance if we simply remember the name and chant it.
Om Namassivaya.
All our difficulties and sorrows vanish by the chanting of Siva’s name. Mother’s name is Sivaa. They are Siva and Sivaa. They are not separate from one another. They are not different from one another.
We require happiness and bliss. We desire it. We do not know whether we have done enough penance to obtain it. But you are like a bank, O divine couple, an evergreen wish-yielding tree filled with all types of fruits, mangos, apples, grapes, and bananas. It is a Kalpa Vriksha that is being described. Dattatreya is referred to as a Kalpa Vriksha because He does not differentiate amongst devotees but yields fruits to everyone. Even out of season, he grants fruits.
Why do we need Him to get fruits? Even when we have not done enough sadhana, even when we only partially give him gifts, by putting only half a rupee in the Hundi, keeping the other half for purchasing tea for ourselves, we pray for a promotion, recovery from illness, marriage, children, and so much more.
O Lord, you have given me the mind to sacrifice. Please grant me the fulfillment of my wishes.
Siva, Rama, Datta, Krishna, all such divine names with two syllables are most astonishing in their power. To experience the significance of these names, we have to have within us what the word that consists of two and a half syllables, Prema/Love or devotion conveys – it is said by a saint in Brij bhasha/ Brij language.
How does He grant us so much when we give so little? He simply does it.
What is Sivananda? What does Sivananda Lahari mean?
Not only for mankind but for all three worlds they grant protection – Parvati and Parameswara, the combined form of them as one.
The mind ever wanders like a monkey. You may control a small child but it is very tough to steady the mind. Arjuna concedes that he is unable to control his mind. Krishna assures him that with practice it can be done. In the heart God is born again and again. We visualize in the heart the divine form. But before we can enjoy the bliss of the presence, the image disappears. It is because the mind goes away wandering to the market. Like popping corn the picture keeps emerging inside the mind and disappearing. The divine couple keep coming and going. How does this happen? If we invite guests over and over again, would they come? After a few visits they will excuse themselves and say that they have other business to attend to. But this couple comes into our hearts every time we remember.
They appear in the same form. The reason is that they eternally reside inside us. It is only our mind that goes away. When the mind returns to them they appear again. I appears as if they are being born again and again in our hearts.
Guru’s heart is absorbed in dhyana of the divine couple. As a duty he is composing this poetic hymn. How great God is! Whoever has the intent to pray to God has God with him always. There is no need for such a one to have a temple even. The sun rises. If you do not see him, that means your eyes are closed.
How to experience their blissful presence within us? The experience of bliss is itself the proof. The only way to recognize their eternal presence is the experience of happiness every time you get their vision. Blissful experience is the only proof. Eating prasadam gives only a temporary happiness. The bliss of envisioning God permanently in the heart is eternal.
Om Namassivaya.
After praising Mother Goddess thus, we will sing.
Bhajan: Gowree taye
Mother Gowri, the consort of Sankara, with the radiance of a hundred suns, please protect us. Of an auspicious green hue that glows, you nourish the noble and punish the wicked. Your smile is enchanting. You give happiness. You distance inertial from us. O Mother of Ganapati, the giver of knowledge, you remove the fear of rebirth. You are pleased by our praises through the singing of bhajans.
2nd verse:
Galantī shambho twacharita-saritah kilbhisharajou
Daḷantī dhikulya-saraniśu patantī vijayatām
Diśanti samsāra-bramana paritāpopa-śamanam
Vasanti machetō hrida-bhuvi Shivananda Lahar
Sivananda Lahari – the phrase is used at the end. The flow, of waves of bliss of Siva is described here. Sambho is one who grants auspiciousness. The flow of bliss takes birth in the region where you wander about, O Lord. In one sloka so much of science is described. A dam is built across the river. The water overflows over the barricade and gushes forth. This flow of bliss gives us rest and solace. We are exhausted after our incessant revolutions through our journey through this world. Our heart is the lake. Our heart is the repository of the blissful flow. The Sahasrara is the source. The flow begins there and traveling through the Ida and Pingala Nadis enters into our heart as bliss. This is not a prayer. It is a description of the bliss that exists in the heart. The flow of bliss emerging from you destroys our sorrow. To stop the flow of the river a dam has been built. The mind is the wall, the dam that blocks the flow. Now, the waves of bliss overflow and enter the heart. This new energy comes to us through our practice of regulated inhalation and exhalation. The flow must stop at the heart and must not flow away from there. You must experience it there. You ask where is it? I do not find it. They give it. We must receive it. That is how this hymn begins. It is stated that this blissful wave of Siva rests in the heart. It means that everyone has the rightful possession of it. Anyone who has a heart is an owner of this bliss.
Guru came. The door was opened. In ancient times books had no name on the cover. The disciple brought a book upon the request of the Guru. It was Vishnu Sahasranama. Guru said, please bring the Lalitha Sahasranama. Three times the disciple went back and every time brought the Vishnu Sahasranama instead of Lalita Sahasranama. Guru felt that it was God’s will that he should write a commentary on Vishnu Sahasranama instead. That is how Sri Adi Sankara wrote the wonderful explanation of the one thousand names of Vishnu.
The disciples feel that we are at a loss now because Sri Adi Sankara has not written the commentary on Sri Lalita Sahasranama/ the one thousand names of Mother Goddess. Had he written it in his divine diction, Mother Goddess would directly descend into our hearts and reside there. He has composed the Soundarya Lahari in which he has described the glory of Mother Goddess Lalita, using some phrases taken directly from the Lalita Sahasranama. This work describes the immense beauty of Mother Goddess.
Sivananda Lahari was composed at Srisailam on Lord Siva. The first section is composed in a special poetic meter. In the Telugu speaking region this work was written. It is an amazing work.
Bhajan: Unnadi okade Sivudegaa
All that exists is Siva and Siva alone. Only Siva exists.
He, who resides in me and in you, is Siva. Siva exists as I, you, and everything else.
The life force that moves within me is the air that fills the atmosphere. That same air transforms into the life energy that enlivens all living beings.
The fire of digestion within me appears outside as light. That same outside light functions as the digestive fire in all creatures.
Earth, water, and sky exist inside me and outside me. When all the five elements are none other than Siva, how can anything other than Siva exist in me? Why say that Siva exists within me? Am I not Siva Himself?
Vishnu and Brahma are the same as Siva. So is Mother Goddess Sri Mata. Past and future are Siva. Siva is over and above Time itself. Siva is the knower of Truth. Siva is the goal of consciousness. Sat Chit Ananda is Siva and Siva alone.
To attain such a state, bhajan singing is the means.
Tomorrow it is the first Monday in the Sravana month. Early morning there is Ekadasa Rudra Abhishekam. Sri Swamiji is expected to arrive tonight.
Tomorrow there may not be a discourse on Yoga Vasishtha.
Now let us witness the Kakada Harati.