Discourse of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – January 14, 2012 – Vijayawada
Jaya Guru Datta
“Sri Maha Ganapathaye Namaha. Sri Saraswatyai Namaha. Sripada Vallabha Nrsimha Saraswati Sri Guru Dattatreyaya namaha.
Only foolish people who are slaves to earthly joys and pleasures, and lazy people desire to live longer and longer, and wish to prolong their lives by any manner. They desire to be born again and again. They waste their time in futile activities.
Time is very precious. No matter how much contemplation one does, how many times the 1000 names are chanted, even 10 million times if one chants, still it is not enough. One should not keep the mind idle. One should always fill the mind with good thoughts. There should be no rest given to the intellect. One should constantly remember and ponder over the words of the Guru. Only by such constant mental churning, butter emerges. That is the butter in the form of all the sins that come out, that the Lord takes away. That is the meaning of Lord Krishna stealing the butter. He removes all the sins of his friends, the true spiritual seekers. All disciples go to Guru Loka, the abode of the Guru, because he distributes his spiritual knowledge to them. All the people who surround Swamiji are all only his different forms. If you keep recapitulating on the words of the Guru, all the doubts will get cleared. Repetitive remembrance is very important.
The countdown has begun. Already 7 days are over of this nine day ritual. Mother Goddess is Mother Nature. She is present in every cell and in every atom of Creation. She has compassion towards all. She does not discriminate by showing love towards some and hatred towards some.
Devi Viradroopavainatti neeku – Bhajan
One who worships Nature automatically worships the Mother Goddess. Look at the beautiful scenes of nature. Look at the far away mountains. Get closer and look at the lush trees and other vegetation. Lie down under the open skies and look up at the starts, the clouds floating by, the rain drops gently coming down, or look at the flying birds in the evening time. They fly in groups, so gracefully. You are always only looking at your own children, family members, worried about your bags and belongings. Look at the river of people flowing out of a cinema theater. Look at the mass of crowds moving slowly. Sit for a moment and watch the flowing river. Listen to its sounds. Let the water from the faucet flow down to fill up a drum. Listen to that sound. If you observe Mother Nature and worship Her, She will bless you.
Suratha regained his kingdom by the blessings of the Mother Goddess. A devotee by name Samadhi prayed to her for release from the bondages of worldly existence. She made him go on a pilgrimage, and then made him a Jnani, an enlightened soul. Ekaavali and Ekavira who belong to the lineage of Kartaveeryarjuna were blessed by Mother Goddess. Ekavira was born in the aspect of Lakshmi Narayana. Ekaavali was born with divine blessings. She was abducted and taken away to Patala Loka where she was imprisoned, by a demon called Kaalaketu. Ekavira killed the demon, married the princess Ekaavali, and had the son, Kritaveerya. His son is Kartaveeryarjuna that you all know. Datta devotees have memorized the lines from the movie, Sri Datta Darshanam. They have seen it so many times.
Without the grace of the Mother Goddess, even the greatest of jnanis will fall into delusion. Samsara, this external universe and worldly life, is a frightening delusion. It is compared to a vile cobra, a volcano, a deep chasm, a raging fire. It is not your family, spouse and children that strangle you. You yourself fall into that mire. You get stuck. You cannot swim. You cannot reach the surface. It is Maha Maya, the greatest of all illusions.
Even Sage Narada got stuck once, Narada who is the greatest amongst all scholars, and exponent of the Vedas. Naara means knowledge, not fiber strings as you understand in Telugu. Da is one who grants. Because he distributes spiritual knowledge he got that name, Narada.
Once Narada went to Vaikuntha to have the darshan of Sri Hari. That is his address anyway. He saw Vishnu and Lakshmi enjoying intimate companionship, cuddling, and laughing. Narada felt disgusted. He thought they were romancing. Noticing his glances, Lakshmi felt shy and went away inside. Narada felt annoyed at his father (grandfather, being the father of Brahma, Narada’s father) Vishnu for engaging in such frivolous sport and for giggling with his wife. Grandmother Lakshmi also felt ashamed and left, he thought. Why was she acting as if she were a new bride? Are these old people still slaves of passion? With such thoughts Narada drowned in Maya, delusion. Vishnu smiled. He said, ‘Okay, Man! (addressed him as man, not as divine Narada, since he had now fallen in status due to his erroneous thoughts) Let us go out for a ride and talk.”
Narada, lost in his delusion, did not catch the sarcasm in Vishnu’s tone of voice or his choice of words. Vishnu was trying to remind Narada of his source of being a Manasa putra, a mind-born son of Brahma (vulnerable to mental aberrations). But Narada failed to take the hint. Vishnu decided to teach Narada a lesson for making fun of him, and for accusing him in his mind of suspicious and inappropriate intentions and behavior.
Vishnu took Narada for a ride on his Garuda, the eagle vehicle. He had him sit next to him. Even Garuda was surprised. Of course, later on Garuda himself will be taught a lesson by Vishnu when he shows off his arrogance. That story comes later.
They were flying over a beautiful lake. Narada felt overwhelmed by its beauty. Garuda perhaps sensed his emotions. Garuda is a trikalajna, a knower of the past, present, and future. Instinctively Garuda started his descent and landed by the lake. Narada left his veena and his water pot with Vishnu and got down. He walked towards the lake to take a dip. He plunged into the water and came up feeling blissful. He looked at Vishnu. Vishnu sat there smiling. Assured that Vishnu was still there, Narada took a second dip. He came out. Vishnu was there still, smiling. Narada now felt comfortable that he can take his time and enjoy a relaxing swim. He stretched his arms and legs to relax and went into the water again to freely frolic and swim. He took a leisurely third dip and came up to the surface.
Lo and behold! He had turned into a woman! What is this? He had a saree on, bangles, and even a braid with long hair. He became a very beautiful woman. He got alarmed and looked around. He looked at the shore. There was no Sri Hari. He had disappeared. Vanished. Gone. Na Garuda. No veena. No water pot. Everything was gone. There was nothing at all there. No one. He tried to say, “Narayana”. His voice was feeble and sweet, a woman’s voice. He felt disgusted. He anxiously touched his throat and tried to repeat the name. Still, it was a high pitched woman’s voice. He felt totally dismayed and helpless. He came up to the shore and stood beside a tree, very gracefully.
King Taladhwaja came there riding on his horse. He saw this beautiful woman standing alone and helpless and fell in love with her. She also said to him, “I love you.” The king asked, “O beautiful woman, who are you?” Shyly she answered, “I don’t know. I don’t know who my parents are, or where I am from.” She prettily blinked her eyes, shed some tears, twisted her braid, pulled her saree tight around her chest, and said, “I don’t know how I arrived here. I don’t remember anything. I got into this pool and when I came out, this happened. That is all I remember. I do not remember anything else.” She spoke in broken sentences, pinching herself, adjusting her nose ring, and fidgeting, and curving her body shyly. The king thought that he had never seen such beauty. He invited her to get on his horse. She readily obliged. He took her back to his kingdom, married her and had 12 children.
Naradi or Naradamma (since now it is a woman) forgot everything. No God. No Narayana. No Vishnu. No Vaikuntha. No singing of the Lord’s praises.
Life seemed full and her goal was fulfilled. She was fully drowned in samsara, totally involved with the spouse, the children, their marriages, the grandchildren. She was drowned in the joys of worldly life. She felt very proud and pleased with all that she had. She was swinging away in pleasures, singing romantically, “lahiri lahiri lahirilo oho jagame oogenugaa” and to the little ones she sang, “chandamama raave jabilli rave” and so on. It was a complete and total downfall into delusion.
One day there was an enemy attack. King Taladhwaja and all the 12 children perished in the battle. Life was completely ruined. The life’s ship got a gaping hole in it and the boat sank. Suddenly now there is no husband, and there are no children. Naradi went to the battleground to find the corpses of her husband and children. She wept bitterly and inconsolably. She swooned, recovered, and swooned again. An old brahmin came there, sprinkled some water on her face and revived her. He spoke the words of eternal wisdom, “Will the dead ones return? Why do you cry? What is the use of crying? There is no use. Don’t cry. Give up such infatuation. Don’t waste your time here. You need to get the last rites performed for them. Attend to your duty. There is a sacred lake nearby. Go take a dip in it first. I will give you a mantra. You chant it and take a dip in the holy waters.” The old man gave her a mantra. It sounded very new to her ears. “With this grief, I will perish,” she thought. Mechanically chanting the mantra, she went into the waters and took a dip.
Out came Narada, chanting, “Narayana!” He jumped up with a start, totally in surprise. The battlefield and the entire samsara were gone. Garuda, Vishnu, his veena, and the water pot were all there. Was this a dream? How long was this dream? It seemed like many years. Yet it seemed like an instant. Narada felt ashamed of himself. Hundreds of years of experience was given to him in one instant. “Hey grandson”, Vishnu called. Now do you realize the magnitude of the illusion of samsara? You are a great enlightened soul. But see what happened to you?
Narada prostrated at the lotus feet of Lord Vishnu and sought refuge. Vishnu told him, “The bondages of worldly life are difficult to escape. Only the grace of the Mother Goddess can protect one from them.” Vishnu smiled and said, “Come, let us go. Unless of course, you want to take another dip in the lake.” “Oh, No!” said Narada. They returned to Vaikuntha. On the way they both deeply meditated upon the Mother Goddess.
Ninu dhyaninchedano yamma – bhajan
I meditate upon you O Mother. Please give me your protection.
The tests administered by the Mother Goddess are strange, just like the tests of Datta. But Datta devotees have the strength to face such tests and to come out successfully. They have the ability to withstand any amount of grief. They may act grief-stricken to please society. But they know how to react to situations.
The story of Sukanya and Sage Chyavana is a good example.
King Sharyati had a beautiful daughter by name Sukanya. The king was looking for a suitable bridegroom for her. One day Sukanya and her friends accompanied the king on a hunt into the forest. The princess freely wandered off with her friends, away from the king and the entourage. She came across a huge anthill in the shape of a seated human being. Sukanya paused there for a while wonder struck, watching the activities of the ants.
Some children play pranks with cockroaches. They catch them and put them in matchboxes. They ties strings to them and have them fight one another. They also tie strings to frogs and lizards and play with them. Sometimes they drop them into the shirts of people and make them scream.
Like that, Sukanya became playful. She saw two shining objects in the anthill. She poked them repeatedly with a stick, to see if any insect would come out. She did not know what it was. Nothing came out. She left.
Some kids put their hands into snake pits and end up in the hospital.
After she left, Sage Chyavana, who was in deep samadhi and around whom the ants had built their home, became conscious. His eyes had been poked by the stick in the hands of Sukanya. He became blind as a result and began bleeding. He accepted his fate as a consequence of his past karma. He refrained from issuing a curse. He suffered silently. But, the king and his entourage began writhing with uncontrollable stomach pain and wondered as to what was the cause of this terrible curse. There must be a reason for this they believed, and carried out an investigation.
At the Jwala temple, the flames leap up every time one says, “Radhe Shyam.” King Akbar did not believe that there was any divinity associated with the place. He believed that a flammable gas was coming up from underground that kept the fire burning. He had the place sealed. Then his children became blind. He realized his sin and donated all his gold and silver articles of worship to the temple. He became a devotee. They are there on display still.
On Fridays, during the milk abhishekam to Mother Marakata Rajarajeswari and to the Manikya Sri Chakra, the colors that emanate are indescribable. It is not a stone. Even the reflection of those lights gives a glow to those who witness the abhishekam. Those who watch with faith and devotion reap the benefit by receiving the blessings of the Mother Goddess. But many devotees are too busy to notice this because they are engaged in arguments while pushing and shoving while waiting in line for the darshan. Their attention is elsewhere unfortunately.
Sukanya disclosed to her father her little adventure. The king rushed back to the spot and begged the sage to forgive the sin. The sage said, “O king, I am old. Now I am also blind. I am totally helpless. Let your daughter become my wife and serve me.” The king got frightened. His daughter was young and so beautiful. Giving her in marriage to this old, blind man would not be fair, he thought. But Sukanya, who was a devotee of the Mother Goddess, interrupted his thoughts and declared that she was ready to marry the sage. She said that it was a command that she received from the Mother Goddess. The king agreed and performed the marriage. He built a beautiful ashram there for the couple to live in. Sukanya served her husband faithfully and made him forget that he was blind. She kept praying to the Mother Goddess constantly.
One day as she was returning from the river after a bath, two beautiful males appeared in front of her. They were the Ashwini Gods, the celestial twins. They said to her, “Your husband is old. He is blind. Now leave him and marry one of us.” Sukanya prayed. “Mother, this is a test for me. Please help me.” She told the twins, “Yes, you are divine. But your speech is not right. Leave my presence before I curse you.” The Ashwini twins were relieved that she, out motherly compassion towards them had refrained from issuing a curse. But they knew that for their misbehavior Sage Chyavana would curse them. So they decided to offer her a boon. They said, “O Sukanya, you are very chaste and pure. We are celestial physicians. We will cure your husband of his blindness, and his old age. We will make him very handsome, just like us. But of the three of us who will be identical, you would have to choose one to be your husband.”
Sukanya was not tempted. She said, “I will ask my husband if he is interested in your boon.” The sage agreed to be cured. The Ashwini twins took the sage into the river and submerged him into the waters along with themselves. When the three of them surfaced, all three looked exactly the same. Sukanya was surprised and prayed to the Mother Goddess to give her victory. All the celestials were watching this scene with interest from the skies. The Mother Goddess blessed Sukanya with the skill to recognize her husband from amongst the three. Like a bee she hovered around Sukanya and then landed on Chyavana. That gave the hint to Sukanya to choose Chyavana. Mother Goddess was the witness. The celestials rained flowers upon the couple. Chyavana wanted to do a return favor to the Ashwini twins. He approached Indra and persuaded him to grant a Soma portion offered in yajnas to the Ashwini twins.
Ambanu kolichina chaalu – bhajan
It is enough if the Mother Goddess is worshipped. So much of prosperity and knowledge will be obtained that Vishnu and Brahma will feel jealous. So much of beauty will be attained that Cupid will come to quarrel. Longevity will increase so tremendously that the Lord of Death will cough uncomfortably. Radiance will overwhelm the Fire God. In the three worlds none will equal except Narada. The glory will surpass that of Indra. Speech will be perfect as a diamond, transcending language and feelings. All passions will be overcome. Shiva’s blessings will grant a permanent residence in Sat, Chit, and Ananda.
Mother Goddess has taken innumerable forms to protect her devotees.
A demon by name Durgama once got the wicked thought, that since the Vedas are the treasure house of knowledge for the entire Creation, if he stole them, then he could be in supreme control. He prayed and Brahma gave away the Vedas to him. All the sages and priests forgot the Vedas. There were no rituals, no sacrificial rites, no chanting, no worship, and no offerings to the gods. As a result there were no rains, and the earth was in severe drought, like a huge desert. Millions of living beings perished. Durgama, the sadist was happy. Sadists are not humans. They are devils born in human forms, just as good souls are divine beings born as humans. It is best to give up friendship and any association with sadists. Brahma knew that his boon had caused great peril. He prayed to Shiva and to the Mother Goddess. Mother Goddess turned her entire form into eyes and hands. She filled all her arms with plenty of fruits, vegetables and food grains. She became known as Kadambari and Shatalochani. Each organ in her body became a vegetable.
In Karnataka state there is a tradition where expert chefs carve different shapes out of different vegetables, to represent various living beings. They have a special talent for doing that. They place these vegetable sculptures as an offering to the Mother Goddess, on display, and on the following day distribute them as prasadam.
For nine days and nights it rained. The vegetation became lush. The people were happy. The celestials praised and sang about the Mother Goddess addressing her as Satakshi and Sakambari. That is the reason we prepare rice and vegetables and offer them as Naivedyam during worship.
Durgamasura became angry and came to fight against the Mother Goddess. She produced out of Herself different divine forms to fight him such as Kalika, Bhairavi, Bhagala, Ramaa, Tripura Sundari, Tulaja, and Mohini. The demon was killed. The powers then merged back into Her. The Trinity then praised Her. They addressed her as Shata Lochane! Durgamasura nashini!
When you eat vegetables, remember this. If she had not destroyed this demon we would have no vegetables today. Elephants eat only vegetation. See how strong they are!
The Mother Goddess declared, “I have removed your difficulties. That is why I am Durga. I remove your durgati. If you worship me, I will rescue you from the ocean of worldly illusion.
Sa Lakshmi Sa Durga – Bhajan
This bhajans describes her as the killer of Durgamasura. She removes cruelty from the hearts of beings and fills them with gentleness. She gives spiritual knowledge and grants Sat, Chit, and Ananda, pure existence, supreme consciousness, and eternal bliss.
Mother Goddess is everywhere. She is in every atom and cell. There are so many Shakti Peethams. 108 of them are famous. Of these 18 are very special. One should learn about them, visit them, and offer worship, to obtain the grace of the Mother Goddess. The shloka, Sanskrit verse,
“Lankaayaam Shankari Devi …” lists the eighteen energy centers of the Mother Goddess. Those who remember these shrines daily in the evening will be blessed with health, wealth, and spiritual knowledge. They will qualify to reside with the Mother Goddess in her Mani Dveepam. What if you are old and feeble and cannot travel to all those places? Remembering them with devotion equals visiting them.
Mother Goddess told Himavan, “Kasi is the greatest of all pilgrimage centers. If it is not possible to physically visit the holy place, then, with concentration, mentally make the pilgrimage. Do manasa puja, mental worship, with focus and detail. Remember to do it every day. Mother Goddess resides in the lotus inside the heart of every true devotee. If mental pilgrimage is conducted and mental worship is offered, it is possible to obtain her grace.” This greatest of all secrets she has revealed out of her infinite compassion. She showed her universal form to Himavan. All the celestials that were present enjoyed the vision as well and were blessed.”
Sri Guru Datta