On 10th June 2009 Mysore District Level Dalit Civic Employees’ conference (DALITA SAMMELAN) was organized marking the67th Birthday of Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Swamiji at Nada Mantapa, Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Ashrama Mysore. Sri K.S. Ishwarappa, Hon’ble Minister for Energy, Karnataka State inaugurated the confefence by lighting the lamp. Chief Minister’s parliamentary Secretary sri S.A. Ramadas, Sri Narendra Swami, Hon’ble minister for Women and Child Welfare, Karnataka State, Sri Padmanabha Bhat, Chairman of Malnadu Development Committee, Sri Ramesh, Managing Director of CHESKOM, Former Mayor of Mysore Sri R. Narayan were the chief guests. His Holiness Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Swamiji and The Junior Pontiff of the Ashram, Sri Datta Vijayananda Teertha Swamiji graced the occasion. It as a historical meet. About 2000 members of Dalit community participated in the programme. About 10 good and sincere civic employees and Leaders of the various Dalit groups were honored on the occasion. Scholorships were awarded to about 150 school and college students.
On this historical occasion Parama Pujya Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji in His discourse spoke as follows:
Speech marking the 67th Birthday of Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – District Level Dalit Civic Employees’ conference (DALITA SAMMELAN) – June 10, 2009 – Mysore
Today’s programme is a very precious and historical event. Today is happy occasion. Generally a birthday means wearing new dress and cutting a cake and spending happy time with friends and relatives.
In a man’s life on two important events, many relatives and friends congregate. One is at the time of marriage and the other is at the time of death. These are the two auspicious and inauspicious occasions when friends and relatives meets together. On the birthday celebration members of the family and friends assemble. There are three important events in a man’s life. 1. Birthday, 2 Wedding day and 3. The day of death.
When a man takes birth on this birth, he has to learn many lessons in the life. As he grows he weds with a partner to have various experiences in life. In the event of death friends, relatives, wellwishers all assemble and pray for peace of the departed soul.
All our life actives can be classified under 3 heads. 1. Kama (desire) 2. Karma (action) 3. Avidya (ignorance). One may think how Kama, Karma and Avidya are related to Birth, Marriage and Death. If we begin to understand and analyze we will come to know the facts.
Action in life starts from Birth itself. As man grows Kama or desire develops in him- acquiring wealth, wedding, begetting children, building houses etc. take root in the mind. Here Avidya means forgetting the Lord Almighty (soul) residing in the body and mistaken the body for soul is Avidya.
In the midst of these three events in man’s life he should find time to serve the Nation, to help his fellow beings, and for welfare and progress of the state. We should be useful to others by sacrificing selfish motives. Acquiring personal property, building houses for the self, earning money for selfish motives are not the only ends in life. Helping others should be our goal.
Social service should be our motto. We are all inter-related. Sometimes we may have to be borne in others houses, other places, and in other countries. When we are born on this earth, we have to face many problems in life as we grow further. We do not know that we have taken innumerable births. We might have born even as plants and animals. Sometimes when we meet a stranger we feel that we have seen him earlier somewhere and we are closely acquainted with him. This implies that we were living together sometime ago in our previous births.
During travel by bus, in the train or by Air we become so acquainted with that stranger that we owe to the extent of exchanging phone numbers and addresses and even going to the extent of developing marriage alliances. During a very short interval of time, we become very familiar with one another and the very next moment the time comes, then we depart from one another. Attachment-non attachment, births-and deaths are continuously going on.
When 2 persons quarrel with each other, one becomes wild and says that “If I beget angry I will not be a man, I will act like a tiger or lion”. This shows that we were born as animals in our previous births.
We should try to achieve progress in the positive direction of our life. We should forget caste, color, inferiority complexes and the work that we do. All men are equal in the eyes of the God. No work is inferior, none is superior. We have to understand the dignity of labour. Having born as a human being is itself a God-given gift. All Vedas, Puranas and Upanishads proclaim that being born as a human being on earth is a very rare gift of God. Hence it is implied and bounded that we should put forth sincere efforts and do Sadhana (practice) for rising to a higher level. It is true that we should marry, beget children, acquire property, lead a happy and contented life. But at the same time, we should introspect and begin to think “WHO I AM, and what is the purpose of my life?”. We should begin to turn our mind inside and think why I am born? What is my goal in life? What should I do? What is the meaning of the life?
Getting married, begetting children, acquiring wealth – Is this all the aim of our life? When we see a corpse being carried to a burial ground, we feel that life is after all temporary. But after sometime we forget and began to involve aimlessly in life’s activities. So long as the soul resides in the body it is Shiva, the moment the soul departs from the body, it is Shava (dead body). After death all are equal. Whether he is a millionaire or a very poor man; whether he is high-born or low-born all become equal when life force leaves the body. No one prefers to have the dead body in the house for a longtime. Everyone will be eager to carry it away to the burial ground as quick as possible. Not only that we even go to the extent of removing all the ornaments on the body of a deceased person.
At the time of burying or burning it is said that there should be nothing covering the body. We tear off even the cloths. At the time of birth, body is bare. At the time of death we make it bare. So, while coming to this earth we have not brought anything with us. Similarly, while departing we do not take anything with us. All ambitions and desires are only within the period of birth and death. Hence, it is said that – It is but right that we give off all aspirations and submit and surrender totally at the feet Lord Almighty.
Life is purely impermanent. No man is immortal. Death is inevitable. No one can escape from it. So, we should think and feel that we should learn the qualities of sacrifice and dedication. Serving our fellowmen is serving God.
Some evolved souls wander from place to place with Tala and Tamburi in their hands proclaiming the greatness of God and the temporality of life. They are great Mahatmas who sing the glory of God and who help us to utter and repeat the names of God. (Nama sankeertana) Human life is sacred. We should not be covered by Maya or illusion. It is the duty of every human being to understand that the goal of life is self-realization. Individual self is a part of the Universal Self. They are not different, they are one and the same. To realize this truth great effort (Sadhana) is needed.
All comforts in life are only impermanent and illusory. Therefore, we should earnestly strive to realize the truth (Satyam). No one comes to our help at the time of risk. Our property, our friends and relatives cannot help us. All becomes helpless when death comes neigh to us. The truth that no one comes to our help at the time of death was narrated by Sri Swamiji through a story – There was a guru living in a forest. A disciple Siddhayya used to come to him daily. But he was not interested in listening to precepts of the Guru. The Guru adopted a technique to prove that none of his relatives or friends had a true love towards him. The Guru asked the disciple to pretend as if he were dead. The realities and friends begged the Guru to bring him back to life. The Guru told them that anyone should be prepared to give his life so that Siddhaya might become alive. No one came forwared. When siddhayya understood that all friends and relatives were selfish he developed the quality of renunciation and submitted at the feet of Guru and begged for throwing light on him regarding eternal truth and the goal of life.
Renunciation (Vairagya) should come on its own accord on account of experience. This cannot be learnt through books or discourses. Hence we say that – Experience is the greatest teacher. Of all the things on earth, it is only renunciation that takes us to Supreme Bliss.
So many of you are assembled here today not for any material reward but out of pure love and affection, which is the binding force between you and me.
We should clean our body both in and out, our clothes our premises and the surroundings. Cleanliness is Godliness. Clean mind in a clean body.
There is not much difference between Datta and Dalita. They are one and the same. You can understand the truth of this statement by reading Datta Charita, Sripada Vallabha Charitamruta and Narasimha Saraswati Charitra. Sri Swamiji placed before the audience that He was also born and brought up in the midst of tribal people in the forest area of Mekedatu (Sangama) near Kanakapura, Bangalore.
Nada Mantapa was full with the Dalit Civic employees and groups. Sri Swamiji felt very happy and told all of them they should continue this kind of good human relationships forever. Let Lord Datta bless all and let everyone lead a peaceful and happy life.
Jaya Guru Datta.