Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – March 19, 2011 – Sydney
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Ganeshaya Namah. Sri Saraswatyai Namah. Sripada vallabha Narasimha Saraswati Sri Guru Dattatreyaya Namah.
If you repeat (the above mantra) with Swamiji, you yourself will become like Swamiji in some janma. If you do not repeat, you will remain the same. If you don’t repeat after being asked to repeat, then you may even incur a curse upon yourselves.
Sri Ganeshaya Namah. Sri Saraswatyai Namah. Sripada vallabha Narasimha Saraswati Sri Guru Dattatreyaya Namah. (This time everyone repeated the phrases after Sri Swamiji)
Good. See scolding works. “Titlu are like atlu” – Scoldings are like hot dosas.
Don’t hesitate to repeat lines while singing bhajans. We are not musicians. We are devotees only. Don’t feel, “I am a great musician.” Don’t be shy. Don’t have ego. Without ego submit your devotion to Sadguru. You may do many different types of puja to Sadguru. But lastly it is very important to offer Gaana Pooja (a musical offering) to offer a prayer for forgiveness for any mistakes or omissions committed while performing the puja. May be the puja was wrong, the mantra was wrong, the time was wrong. I learnt something. But I do not know how to behave in front of God or Sadguru. I do not know the meaning of puja or worship. Somebody told me, gave me some information, my friend, my Guru, my father, my mother, my school teacher. They told me something. I learnt from books, some cinema. But I do not have proper training. No concentration. No training in meditation. No time for taking training. I criticize because of a lot of ego. I say that I do not believe all this. The mind becomes like a forest. That is not a good idea.
Hanumanta teaches devotion. After meditation, or following karma theory, the last karma is only ‘gaana’, singing, with the feeling, I am singing alone. Not with an audience. Not for appreciation from people. Not in front of a microphone. Inside myself, with my God, with my soul, with my Sadguru. See, the trees are also dancing. The stars are blinking with rhythm. My heart beats ‘thaddhim’ – how beautiful this nature is! My breath is like the shruti (the drone that sets the pitch). I am singing the words, your names,Krishna, Siva, Mother Goddess, Anjaneya – ‘Tameka devam Sharanam vrajaamah’ – the one God in all. Viswaroopa, in the universal form of God, you are also God. So are you and you and you. My Datta is capable of taking the form of a microphone, the devotees, animals, so many things. Such a miracle is Nature. It is a mystery. Now I am singing. My heartbeats are giving the rhythm. The Sun, the moon, the stars are all decorations for my Mother Nature’s body. In the simple language bhajan, ‘Devi Viraadroopavainatti neeku’ in 2 to 3 lines Swamiji has given the complete Vedanta and Devi Bhagavatam.
Now Swamiji is going to sing a modern keertana about Ganapati, sung in villages with kolattam, like ras gharba dance with sticks.
Bhajans: Modamodalu vandanamu Ganapayya, Kaali maa, Maanasa mandira, Datta ke gun tum gaao, Govinda kanna, Vallee vallabha, and Deha Javo.
Today it is a big festival in Tamil Nadu, especially in Nadupalani. Sri Bala Swamiji is there. I am very happy. It is Panguni Uttaram. One hundred thousand devotees have gathered there. The Tamil devotees are shouting for Swamiji to be there. Swamiji is here in Australia. Not even forty people are here. What to do.
This last bhajan is a very meaningful bhajan. Please simply listen. It is like a mantra giving spiritual advice. Saint Namadev says in this Marathi bhajan:
‘Whether I have a body, or do not have a body, with firm faith and devotion I sing only about You, Panduranga. If I close my eyes, I should see only Your feet, O Lord. I take a vow that I will not see anything else from today. I promise. Otherwise, I shall punish myself. My speech will ever be gentle. My words should never hurt anyone. There should never be any doubt in my mind about my Guru. I am always ready, whether He takes me to heaven or to hell. Even if He is sitting on a garbage heap, to me it is as if He is sitting on a throne. In whatever form He may appear, my Guru is my God. I should have no other thought except that of my Guru. Only Guru Smaran. I need Him always. Whatever He may be or He may say, He is always right. I would never criticize. I will never question.’
Kartaveeryarjuna, Parasurama, Pingala Naga – all of them succeeded in their devotion. They all saw Datta’s different forms. They never expressed a doubt. They never criticized. Datta drank dog’s milk. He danced naked. He appeared with terrible diseases. They never entertained any suspicion or doubt.
Sri Guru Datta