Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji at Ganesh Chaturthi – DYCUK London – September 19, 2012
Jaya Guru Datta
Mother Goddess is asking so many questions in Guru Gita. Now in Kali Yuga also so many people are asking funny questions; confusion questions; atheist questions. Somebody is asking Swamiji some questions. I am laughing. I know that question already since so many years. That person is thinking that it is a new question. No. It is a very old question. When you go to Guru Gita you will recognize that, ‘this is my question, this is my question’. Swamiji is giving answers. No necessity for me to ask this question, you think. Swamiji has already given the answer in his lecture, in his way of action, or in Bhaktimala. “Any questions?” Swamiji asks. No, Swamiji, I had questions. My good Guru, my good friend, my relative, please give me strength only. You have already given me the answers.
If you go in the Vedantic way, there is confusion about the Upanishads and the Puranas, much confusion, it is a tough subject. Vedanta, you say is very easy. Good translations. Go to the library, and read the Puranas, and the Upanishads. They are very confusing. One Upanishad says there is God. One says there is no God. One says it is all your karma. What is this? I can’t understand. Stories are very good; Nachiketa’s conversation with death god. To lots of questions Yama gave answers. Kathopanishad. Kenopanishad. Yama says, with this you adjust. How can I adjust? Yama, please give me complete answer. Who are you? Yama says, You are asking who I am? Who are you? Okay Swami, I will think who I am. But who are you? It is not necessary to ask, who are you? People give the answer. My address is, I am death god, says Yama.
Who will give the correct answer? Only yourself. Myself am my own Guru? Yes. Myself is God. My self is plus, zero minus? Myself Guru?
Nachiketa says,
‘I want to go back. I want to see my father and mother’.
‘You want to go back or you want your body to go back? Okay. Keep your body here and go.’
‘How can I? I go back’.
‘Okay you go. Why do you take your body?’
‘This is your body? Who are you? You told this is my body’.
I don’t know. Think in bed, simply think, who I am, who I am, that is a big mantra. Not necessary the Omkara mantra or Hanuman mantra. Just think who I am. Definitely you will get the answer. I am body? No. Not body.
Amrita is tasteless. If you feel any taste, then it is not amrita (nectar of immortality). If you taste, there is somebody, taste, and a taster, an experiencer. Nirguna is akasa (space). Nothing. That nirguna is God. You are giving God a name and a form because you need; because of your body. Then you feel that your God is also like your body, you think He has my shape, my figure. Otherwise you don’t understand. All this is Guru Gita. Go (study) 2, 3, or 7 times, then you understand about God. In the middle Parvati is asking about Ganapati. Shiva gave different answers. 32 Ganapatis. Ganapati Phenomenon is very confusing. Mudgala Purana gives also different answers. 3 is one Vedantic way; 2 is a different Vedantic way 3+2 =5, the five elements, is a different Vedantic way. 3, 2, 1, 5 and 32 all have different meanings.
Ganapati’s phenomenon, Ganapati Tattva, His figure, his principle is entirely Vedantic. Mudgala Purana lists 32 principles of Ganapati. 3-2= 1 denotes His non-duality. Brahma Upadesha (initiation given during the sacred thread ceremony) is worship of Ganapati. From numbers also 3 plus 2 becomes 5, the five elements. 3minus 2 is 1, non-dual Brahman.
A different Vedantic system is given in Guru Gita. You read several times; then you understand.
We are preparing for Nada archana coming Saturday. Don’t miss. Then we have London holiday Ganapati puja, a special puja. Marriages are also held only on Saturday or Sunday only in London and in America. Good or bad, only on weekend, cheap to get halls. No muhurta. No auspicious time, in London and in America.
We are traveling in this boat. Please balance this boat. Otherwise it will topple. Travel in this ocean is very tough. You are sitting with Guru. Guru is manager and mechanic. All incarnations are our Guru. We are sitting in our Guru’s boat. If you go out after half an hour, first you want to eat, then the second thing, you want to sleep.
I bless once again. Big problems, health problems, money problems, visa problems. All will be fulfilled (resolved). I pray to Lord Ganapati. He gives good blessing. Now we go to Purnahuti, the conclusion to today’s program.
Sri Guru Datta
Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji during Bhajan program – DYCUK London – September 19, 2012
Jaya Guru Datta
I have seen so many of my relatives from different places. Welcome. Jet lag, some are hungry. Do not be upset. Control the sense organs. Your Swamiji is also traveling to so many places. I am not upset. This is not a concert. This is only bhajans. Name of God; chanting mantras; different shape of mantras; we call bhajans; to attain victory over Bhavasagar. No Janma. Bha means all kinds of problems. Like an ocean our life is. Samsara is sorrow always; unhappy; no satisfaction. That is an ocean. ‘Bha’.
Na ‘janana’, means no next birth; enough of births. ‘Ja’ means victory. Victory over sorrow and repeated births is bhajana. Cross this samsara, all falsehood, illusion. Not truth. No happiness. It looks like happiness with kama (desire) and karma (action); only temporary happiness. One laddoo (a sweet ball) gives happiness. Three laddoos also give happiness. After that you get unhappiness. Our stomach turns unhappy. That is why Sadguru says always, no unhappy; practice happiness. Have friendship and association with Sadguru and follow guru; he gives tricks to maintain happiness and to fight confusion; how to swim, he teaches. Sometimes we need tricks to cross and conquer this ocean. Sometimes escape. Some subjects you escape. Some subjects you adjust. Some matters you forget completely. Like that you win this ocean, this illusory worldly life. The cloth is very nicely decorated. First day, the saree or shirt, some people say is very nice. You feel proud and you show it off like an exhibition. Everyone asks, ‘what is this material’? May be you purchased in a sale. You are very happy. Afterwards something happens to the fabric. You become unhappy.
First laddoo. You are happy. Then you talk about laddoo and have a 5 minute discussion. 1, 2, 3, 4, laddos you eat like that. You are very happy. After half an hour, something, a strange sound, and then the boy is asking, ‘Papa, what is the sound coming from your stomach? Baby in your stomach? Because last year mama get baby. She tells (husband and her young son) ‘O baby is crying, kicking’, mama is saying last year. They are all very happy. They are hearing the sounds placing their ears on mama’s stomach. ‘Ah my sister, my brother is kicking’.
Now Papa is eating 4 laddoos. Papa, the boy is asking, your stomach also baby? That is suffering; illusion, Maya; for a few minutes only this temporary happiness. Then sorrow; after that only sorrow. Only Sadguru’s association, only spiritual activities give permanent happiness. In your illusion, in your plans, that happiness becomes unhappiness. You give a toy to your child. He keeps it, polishes it, and plays with it every day. After two days, he is not happy; give me a new toy. Something is broken. Arm is broken. Happiness is transferred to new things.
With bhajan you feel happy. You always remember; such a wonderful tune. You close your eyes and you hear the resounding sound. It gives permanent Happiness. Shankara Bhagavatpada said, please, my dear friends, do Divya Nama Sankeertana (sing the praises of God).
He is no. 1 Vedanta guru. I think you know. Such an Adi Shankara says, Bhaja Govindam, Govindam Bhaja. That is the only permanent Happiness. Before Maha Vishnu took incarnations as Rama and Krishna, Narada said, the world needs incarnations. Devils and demons are giving problems, with very strong minds. Only Maha Vishnu is capable of killing them. The troubled gods asked Brahma. Only Vishnu can help; protection is His job. I am the Creator. I create both good and bad. Only that is my job. I want to keep good karma and kill bad karma. A little bit of distribution. That is my duty, Creation. Afterwards bad karma souls also get liberation. That is Lord Shiva’s responsibility. So many people are asking about Siva’s decoration, wearing so many skulls as a garland. Europeans complain that it is not a good necklace. Shiva loves Rakshasas (demons) and wants to give salvation to them also. He likes them as his sons and daughters. That is why he wears the ashes. In India we burn dead bodies. Here you keep the bodies buried. We do not want this 5 elements body to remain. We want it completely destroyed. When Shiva (the soul) disappears, this body is like a shava, a dead body.
Go pray, Brahma said to the angels. Then, only ten angels prayed. Nothing happened. Then more celestials joined. Nothing happened. Vishnu did not appear. Then 333 billion angels joined together and prayed to Maha Vishnu. Then He appeared. That is how powerful bhajans are. Energy is not flowing if only 2 o3 people sing. The entire world must join the bhajans; then the energy is flowing. Like that, before Rama and Krishna avataras (incarnations), humans, sages, and angels all prayed together. Then Maha Vishnu appeared. He asked, “What do you want?” Ravana, Kamsa, and other big demons are tormenting us. Vishnu took births in different forms. He fought with the demons. These are Shiva’s children. Shiva gave the energy to Vishnu to destroy them.
If there is garbage without a bag for protection, what happens? It spreads and so many diseases spread because of the garbage. Siva ties up the bag of garbage. What good protection Shiva gives! The bag protects the others and He destroys the demons completely. Like a garbage bag that keeps the garbage together without spreading, Shiva controls the evil doers.
Join with Swamiji in singing the bhajans now. It is like upadesa (initiation). This is auspicious Ganesh Chaturthi Festival today.
Bhajans Gam Gam Ganapati, Hey Ganapa hey Natapa hey Tribhuvanabha, a wonderful bhajan, with a wonderful inner meaning about Ganapati. Now a new bhajan. Tomorrow we will play this raga in the concert. Herambha raga. Bhajans: Jai Ganesha Herambha vighna raja Ganapati (new), Lanka Shakari palaya mam. Lyrics are a problem, but it is easy to play and sing the tune, la la la la. Now this Telugu language bhajan the devotees like very much. They are asking, especially after the puja, we want to listen to the Ganapati story. Prasad explained it briefly, a very nice but difficult story. Telugu devotees asked for the story. Swamiji made a bhajan with the complete story. Whole of Ganapati’s glory is described in the bhajan; it has a very good tune and meaning. May be one day we will explain the meaning in Bhakti Mala or Puttu Gam, the English version. We already have it printed in bhajanayogam.org which has the lyrics and the English meaning.
Now the story begins. Mother Goddess made a ball and infused it with life. (Ganapati was born). Ganapati, you enchanted her. You obstructed Siva’s entry. He cut off your head. Mother wept bitterly. The three worlds went topsy-turvy. To console Mother, the Trinity gave you an elephant’s head. The celestials and the sages wanted a commander. You won in the race between your brother Subrahmanya riding the peacock and you riding the mouse. You looked funny with your big belly. From the top of Siva’s head, the Moon saw you and laughed at you. From the evil eye that he cast upon you, your belly burst. Parvati cried. Brahma and the others revived you. The serpent tied your belly up to secure it. Parvati cursed the Moon that whoever looked at the moon on the fourth day of the lunar phase will be falsely accused. On the fourth day of the Bhadrapada month, without seeing the Moon, the sages took care and protected themselves.
Krishna saw the moon’s reflection in the bucket of milk on such a fourth lunar day and suffered the false accusation of stealing the Shyamantaka gem that belonged to his cousin, King Satraajit.
Prasena, the king’s brother had borrowed the gem and had gone to the forest for hunting. A lion killed him and took the gem. Jambavan, the bear killed the lion and took the gem into his cave and tied it up as a toy in the cradle for his daughter Jambavati to play with. Krishna went looking for Prasena in the forest. He saw the dead cousin and the dead lion. Following the bear’s footprints, Krishna went to the cave. He fought with Jambavan. In the fight Jambavan got tired and felt faint. He discovered that Krishna is another incarnation of Vishnu, like Rama. He gave Jambavati to Krishna in marriage. Satraajit was given back the lost gem by Krishna. Satraajit regretted his mistake of accusing Krishna and gave his daughter Satyabhama to him as his bride.
In the Bhadrapada month, on the 4th day, if one does your worship, Ganesha, all bad reputation and bad luck will be destroyed. When you are worshiped with the special durva or garika grass, you will definitely bless and protect us. Victory to Ganesha. Please protect us Lord Ganesha. A Telugu Bhajan that tells a beautiful story. The last bhajan is Jai Kapeesha. Om Namo Hanumate Namaha.
Sri Guru Datta