Speeches by HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji on first day of Datta Jayanthi – December 15, 2013 – Mysore
Summary of speech in morning – UPH
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Mahaganapataye namaha
Sri Saraswatyai namaha
Sripada Vallabha
Narasimha Saraswati
Sri Guru Dattatreyaya namaha
We are all creatures of action (Karma jeevis). We perform actions and strive to attain spiritual knowledge. To succeed in action, without fail we must perform our required duties. The only exception is when we go on a pilgrimage. As long as we live as householders, we must make a note of the date, lunar phase, and star (as per the almanac) and must make our offerings to our forefathers. It must be practiced as a tradition. If you are aware of this tradition, then you must observe it. If the opportunity, convenience, and time are there, you must observe it. If any of these are lacking, at least offer your prostrations. You must remember your ancestors on the specific dates that are special to them. You must remember your forefathers, and the friends who have helped you. Lord Dattatreya has taught us this karma, this stipulated duty. Even elephants, when they see the bones or skeletons of their departed ancestors, or their family members, shed tears. Because we have descended from them we must always remember our ancestors. If for some reason you are unable to do the required rites for the ancestors, at least on those days you must go and see their photographs, or their place of residence, and remember them. The reason is that as you go back in time to trace your lineage you will reach Brahma as the actual source. Progeny began there. We originated from the rishis. Brahma is the father of the rishis. Vishnu is the father of Brahma. The play of karma of these two is controlled by Siva. Therefore, even if you fail to contemplate on Siva, you should contemplate on your forefathers. Even if you fail to contemplate on Vishnu, you should contemplate on your forefathers. You must remember them even if your ancestors were bad people in society, and even if they cheated you out of an inheritance. It does not matter. Those who are responsible for this body of yours must be remembered. It cannot be avoided. May be they are your enemies. It does not matter. May be you went to court against them. May be they were partial towards certain other family members. It does not matter. That should not be your concern. They are responsible for your birth. They gave you this body as a gift. You were born into a certain religious tradition. You must carefully preserve that tradition. You must adhere to that tradition alone. You must not change religion. It is a great sin to do so. It should never be done. It should not be done for the sake of food or clothing. If life is lost, so be it. God granted life. If it is lost, let it be. It is by God’s command that we have been born as Indians, and as members of our family and community. Hence, we respect and honor all religions. But, we must never sacrifice and give up our faith and principles. There is absolutely no merit in switching religions. Knowingly such a sin should never be committed. Out of anger against someone, be it against guru, religion, government, or parents, religious conversion should not be resorted to. It is a commandment. It is a commandment from Lord Siva, God. It is a most horrible sin to forget all your beliefs and to become a betrayer. You fall from yoga (union with God) because you forget your ancestry, your stipulated duties, your Sun God, and all your karmas. You simply eat and survive. If that is all that you are concerned about anyway, you might as well remain in your own faith. You qualify for forgiveness if you neglect to perform your duties and if you remain idle. But to join a different faith because you want to avoid the performance of your duties, or you want to gain money, food, and clothing, it is simply not acceptable. You must remember this always. If your children fall in love with persons of another religion, it is okay if they marry. But one should not change one’s mental makeup and habits. Many have come and have learned many of our ways. They learn enough to teach us our own traditions and put us to shame because we have forgotten them.
Datta’s principle teaches this: Wherever you may be, and whatever may be your ways, I will bless you. Just as the boatman tells you to maintain your balance and not rock or tip the boat, that the weight should be equally distributed on both sides, no matter if children and spouses are separated, he scolds that if you upset the balance, not just you, but everyone will drown. He simply will not allow any imbalance to occur, for the safety of all passengers. We must not run hither and thither. We must maintain the balance established by Time. We cannot take liberties. We must give respect to our ordained duties. We must participate in the actions. By the relationship from some past lifetimes, we have come to Guru now. From different parts of the world we have gathered here and we are following Guru. Regardless of our circumstance, our faith, and our philosophy, we are following Swamiji because our association is a continuation from many past lifetimes. Ours is a tight bond. Occasionally when there is anger or tension the bond may appear to loosen but it gets tight again. Because the chain has to be strong, Guru as the welder or blacksmith, or goldsmith will weld it tight again by fixing the link. He will apply great heat to melt the metal, hold it tight with tongs and will repair the link so that the chain is strong and firm. He will also polish the chain and make it appear new. There is no other option. Otherwise the chain will be broken and will become useless. You will no longer have your ornament. That is why Sadguru will brand you. He will pull you and stretch you with the tongs. You must not get angry or feel bad. You feel the pain and the pressure. He scolds or acts as if He is scolding. He insults. He tests. Whatever is most dear to you, that, He will exploit and manipulate. You cry out in agony. It hurts. But you must understand that He is purifying the gold. He is holding you tight. He is making a beautiful ornament out of you. When He is finished, you appreciate His wonderful skill. Then you are astonished to see the new ‘you’ and wish to offer Him a reward. That is why whenever the hook gets broken, Guru fixes it. To help Guru to fix it you must perform your ordained karma.
This is a very big subject, the ripening of karma. I am changing the subject. It occurs in Harischandra Upakhyana and it is related to Garuda Purana. Let us set it aside. I am now reducing my pace and fury and coming back to worldly topics.
Till now a list of names was read out. Who were those people? They are connected with the ashrama. They are persons who have rendered significant service to the ashrama. They are members of the Saswata Seva. Thousands of devotees have taken Saswata Seva memberships in the names of their ancestors, saying that it is not possible for them to offer the required services to the forefathers. Several people have sponsored this seva in the name of the ancestors of Swamiji, saying that if they are well, then Swamiji will be well, if Swamiji is well, then we will be well. When I tell people, already many people have paid in the name of my mother, they tell me it does not matter. Please allow us also to subscribe in Mother Jayalakshmi’s name. There are also many who have registered in the names of their own parents and grandparents. Some devotees sponsor for themselves also because they are not certain that their own children will offer them the proper rituals after they die. The children’s behavior cannot be predicted. So for one’s own soul once it is departed, people safeguard now itself by registering for Atma pinda (food for one’s own soul when it leaves the body). The list of names includes all those who have subscribed to the Saswata Seva (permanent service offered in their name once a year). Every year this ritual is done. The names of everyone on the list is read out inside and the Sankalpa is chanted by Swamiji. Only the names of those who have died since last year’s Datta Jayanti and before this year’s Datta Jayanti are read out loud here in public. The food offering is usually given to a cow to eat but now since we have birds, Swamiji is having the bird (a black parrot) eat it this time. It is all for a good purpose. Again a fresh list will be prepared from this Datta Jayanti to the next. Those souls need to be fed, because you neglect to do it. Those souls are hovering around here, seeking food. They need to be liberated from their bondage. If you are present here, certainly your ancestral spirits are present here. They will give their blessings to you. They are all rising to a higher plane to become demi-gods like Yaksha, Kinnara, Kimpurusha, Gandharva and so on. They keep urging their descendants to remain devout, to remain faithful to Guru and not to leave him because he has not satisfied all your desires about job, and other worldly concerns. “O my child, O my donkey son, do not leave your Guru”, like that they are pleading with you. When I scold someone calling them, O donkey, my son, they feel so happy and keep offering namaskarams to me and even offer me ten rupees. I used to wonder. Yes, if I had addressed them just as, O donkey’s son, they would have felt hurt. But when I call them, O donkey, my son, they say, O then you are the big donkey, my lord, that is why we are so happy. You are the big donkey, and you are saying that I am your son, so I am the small donkey. Usually Swamiji includes himself in the scolding. Since then, I have understood why they do not feel hurt when I scold like that. Now I am telling all of you, maintain your devotion to Guru. For the small subscription you pay for this Saswata seva, now do you realize how much Swamiji does for the ancestors? Every year Swamiji remembers all those who have taken membership in this ritual. In addition to including the names of your forefathers, you may include your own names also. That every year, in the presence of Lord Dattatreya these offerings are made to the ancestors is an extremely significant event. Is there any higher means of liberation for anyone? This is the ultimate. Once they are liberated, year after year there is really no need to make offerings to them. Within one year the required offering is made. The others who passed away in earlier years are remembered by Swamiji, but it is not necessary that solid food is offered to them in this manner year after year. They have all attained liberation at the hands of Lord Dattatreya. Today, Swamiji is urging everyone to perform their stipulated duties. Only by doing the required actions, devotion will develop. Without devotion, spiritual knowledge cannot be obtained. With spiritual knowledge comes Vairagya, dispassion, absolute bliss. Action is very important. You are eating, you are bathing, you are sleeping, and you are telling lies. Yes. When you engage in such actions, it is compulsory that you perform these other prescribed actions also (like offering food to departed souls). Only an Avadhoota, who goes roaming in the woods with no companions, and not even food, only such a one is exempt from karma. A totally mad person is not required to do karma. But you are not insane. You are all right. Anyone who is of a sane mind is required to perform the prescribed actions. Action leads to devotion. Devotion leads to knowledge. Knowledge leads to dispassion. That is why at Mysore ashrama Swamiji follows all the three paths. In small doses He feeds you Jnana, bhakti, and yoga by conducting Jna – Na- Bha conferences for you. These small doses in course of time lead to big improvements. Today Swamiji has remembered all the departed souls. He has blessed them with liberation and union with God. This ritual can be performed only by Lord Dattatreya and only on Datta Jayanti Day. The reason why it has to be performed in the presence of Dattatreya, you will understand if you read the story of Vishnu Datta in Sri Datta Darshanam. Lord Datta Himself came eagerly to Vishnu Datta’s home to receive the offerings made to the departed souls. This is the one and only Lord Dattatreya who is qualified to give,and who does give liberation to all those souls who are offered food in His presence. He is the only authority. He alone is authorized. I am very happy that the souls of our friends and relatives have received liberation. All those souls have come in the form of this bird and have received food here at the hands of Swamiji. I have given my special blessings. It is my duty to pray for all the Saswata Seva members.
Now Swamiji is going to perform Kumbhabhishekam to Lord Hanuman on the first anniversary of Karya Siddhi Hanuman Temple.
Victory to Lord Hanuman.
Victory to Lord Dattatreya.
Sri Guru Datta
Summary of speech – morning – Karya Siddhi Hanuman Temple
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Maha Ganapataye namaha
Sri Saraswatyai namaha
Sripada Vallabha
Narasimha Saraswati
Sri Guru Dattatreyaya namaha
When I begin like this, it is compulsory for everyone to repeat this mantra along with me. It is a rule. You think Swamiji is saying something to satisfy Himself when He begins His speech, and it does not concern any of us. When you say it along with me, innumerable times it becomes a (mantra) upadesa (initiation) for you. So many times it is as if you are directly receiving mantra initiation from Swamiji. You mistakenly think that it is not for you, and that He is just repeating the mantra prayer (Sri Maha Ganapataye namaha Sri Saraswatyai namaha Sripada Vallabha Narasimha Saraswati Sri Guru Dattatreyaya namaha) for Himself, for His own benefit. That is not so. It is not for me. It is meant for you. I have no benefit from uttering it. It is given as a blessing to you. It is for your benefit that I say this mantra.
So many countless programs Swamiji initiates. So many major projects that He plans and commences, they are tough projects. But these difficult projects are also taken up for your benefit only. Not for me. For you they appear as very troublesome projects. But they are not so for me. For your welfare, for your progress, for your strength, Swamiji does these things. Hanuman has done so much. He has not done anything for himself. When Sri Rama incarnated as a human being, it was Hanuman’s duty to serve the Lord. Lord Siva had promised Vishnu that when Vishnu incarnates as Rama, Siva would incarnate assuming the principle of Air (Vayu Tatva) to render Him service. He had given His word and to earn Vishnu’s grace He actually took an incarnation like that in His Universal Form. Hanuman is Himself the Supreme Soul (Parabrahman) and He is also the future Brahma (the Creator). Hanuman mantra granted Saint Tulasi Das a direct vision of Hanuman. Because of the vision he received, in mere 40 verses that he composed (Hanuman Chaleesa), he has infused the power that would grant enlightenment to a devotee by the mere remembrance of Rama and by the mere chanting of the name, Rama Rama Rama with intense concentration and devotion filling the heart.
In our Puranas, and in the different versions of Ramayana there are numerous small stories and incidents mentioned where great souls have endured immense trouble to help people. For the great incarnations themselves, it does not appear like trouble. It is simply leela (play) for them. Such is the leela of Hanuman, which is immeasurable. Hanuman has both the aspects of Siva and Vishnu within Himself. He is Himself Siva. He is Himself Brahma. That is why Lord Rama and Sita both have sanctified the name of Hanuman. Mother Sita has worshiped Hanuman. Each and every character in the Ramayana has familiarity and reverence towards Hanuman.
The devotees who are here at the Mysore ashram are immensely blessed and are most fortunate. There are billions of people, yet, not everyone has the opportunity to be here. The facility for travel is not there for everyone. So many hurdles are there for many people preventing them from traveling to come here, buses, trains, airlines all are suffering from setbacks, disruptions, and problems. People from Andhra Pradesh are unable to come because of riots and conflicts. It has become difficult to come here. In spite of all the difficulties, many devotees have come. They are most blessed. You are all very fortunate. At every possible opportunity one must feel the eagerness to come here to see Swamiji. Many people are lazy and keep postponing, saying, we will see Swamiji tomorrow, we will make the trip tomorrow, or later, Swamiji is very busy now. Swamiji is always busy. You must feel the love and devotion towards Swamiji to feel the urge to see him right now. Today. Your love must never become dim or diminish. Many Andhra devotees sacrifice promotions even, and get transferred to Mysore, or to Bangalore which is quite near, so that they can frequently have darshan of Swamiji. But many people from Mysore itself are negligent in coming to have darshan of Swamiji. They will realize their mistake when it is too late. Then Swamiji will not be available. Day by day Swamiji distances Himself farther and farther. An object that is close by is clearly visible. But as it gets removed farther and farther, it becomes less visible and after a certain distance it becomes invisible. Then it is likely to get forgotten. Certainly it will be forgotten. It is wrong to say, Swamiji is in my heart. Swamiji is at my altar. When you are here, born as a human being, for your sake, Swamiji has also taken birth as a human being, during this same time period. Therefore, it is imperative that you utilize this opportunity. For your sake, He has come. Don’t say, I have no time, I cannot take leave, and I have too much work. Forget that work also. To get liberation, to earn eternal bliss, you must come here. It is a different world here. It is a different atmosphere, Swamiji’s ashram, Swamiji’s programs, Swamiji’s principle, Swamiji’s activities; all these are of a different dimension. This is Brindavan. This is where you get bliss.
Critics and commentators say that some playfulness was going on in Brindavan and Mathura. It is only after going to Dwaraka that knowledge was obtained. But you must remember that it is the people in Mathura and Brindavan who actually obtained enlightenment. It was not playfulness. It was not Raas leela (dancing with girls). It was Ras Leela (play of the juice of enlightenment). All the residents of Brahma Loka had darshan of Vishnu there. That is why in Brindavan and Mathura the total experience of Vishnu was obtained. That is why while the playfulness is going on, the opportunity must be utilized. You are all like ignorant children, even those of you who are advanced in years. God is in your vicinity and you are unable to see Him. That is why you are like foolish children who are immersed in your own play. God is within your reach. Yet you are concerned that life is difficult and that there are health problems to deal with. There is so much of confusion in my life, you say. You must set aside all of those concerns and you must come to Swamiji to understand His divine principle. Now you have a chance to see Him. At once you must jump at the opportunity and make use of it and come to have Swamiji’s darshan. “Now itself we must go!” Such eagerness you must have. How many times can you actually come here? 200 times? 300 times? 600 times? No. Remember that you can count on your fingers the number of times that you can actually come here. Datta Jayanti is coming. 3 days of celebration will take place. At least one day we must attend. Such should be your stubborn determination. We must see Him, at least from a distance. We must not lose this great chance. Such should be your unstoppable zeal.
Chitragupta (Yama’s (Lord of Death ) accountant) keeps an account of how many times physically you have had darshan of your Sadguru, and how much of spiritual practice you have performed. Some people have the opportunity and yet they lose it and waste their chance to come. They give excuses. Later they may regret. What is the use? Whenever there is an occasion to be with Guru and to receive some instruction from Him, people should come running to avail of the opportunity. By having darshan spiritual knowledge is gained, liberation is attained. Simply by seeing Sadguru, and by listening to Sadguru or having a conversation with Him, one gets purified. Not once, not twice, but repeatedly I insist that when you get an opportunity, you should not miss even one single chance. Don’t waste your time. You are not going to live for 200 years. Perhaps you will for 80-90 years. After 80 years you become old, senile. You cannot recognize or see clearly. You will have the desire to come, but you cannot come on your own. Others will discourage you from going. They will not bring you usually if you are past the age of 85. By some chance if you are able to come here when you are approaching 90 years, you are the luckiest person alive. Many come here and leave their bodies. Such people go straight to the highest heaven. They will not be reborn. They do not even require funeral rites. Of course, you have to perform them because it is your duty to do so. But from their side, they have no requirements. Those who have given up their lives in the river Ganga have attained liberation. We perform rituals praying that their souls rest in peace. Great souls leave their bodies under water. One should not weep for them. Weeping for such great souls will bring sin upon you. They are fortunate souls. Those who remain behind and survive are the unlucky ones. What do you gain by living so long? Is there no limit? I would get bored. Those who live for a hundred years, if you ask them how they feel, will say that they are absolutely bored. Of course, we think they are great for living so long and we keep offering them prostrations. It is not up to us to take the body along. It requires to be served. It cannot hear what is being said in its proximity. People around will be laughing and the aged person cannot figure out the reason for their laughter. When they are shown their 3rd and 4th grandchild, they cannot even see the features properly. They hold someone else’s grandchild and think it is theirs. They hug a calf, cat or dog and begin cuddling it as if it is their great grandchild. Others have to tell them that it is a dog, or a cat. One by one all the sense organs will fail.
Now you are young. You are well. You should come when you are still young. The way you are able to come, your mother cannot come. She cannot travel. Your grandfather cannot travel. You live not too far away. What is stopping you from coming? Have you no sense? One chance if you miss, you think you will get another chance to find me? Impossible. I will be gone and will be out of your reach. Time keeps flying. It is not going to wait for you. Life speeds away. You keep running. Run, but run with Appaji. Otherwise, as you keep running, one day you will suddenly fall. Govinda, Govinda. I agree that you are busy and occupied, with studies, training, job, and so on. I agree that you cannot get leave easily. But when you do get a chance, weave your life along with Appaji’s life. Keep remembering Him and jog along with Him.
Om namo hanumate namaha, as you keep chanting, the rope (that binds us) will become strong. Without such remembrance, without its strength, if you fail to soak the yarn before spinning it into a rope, the rope will snap. It is the same rope, but only when it is soaked and braided it gains strength. Huge chariots it can pull effectively. In the olden days when they had no cranes or cables, it was only with these fiber ropes that they pulled mighty chariots. They have great fragrance also. That elephantine strength the rope gets only because of the repeated soaking. Such soaking is Sadguru’s darshan. The more and more you soak in such repeated darshan of Sadguru, so much stronger you will become. How you receive that strength is a mystery. You have not spoken with Him, nor have you touched Him. Yet, you feel the increase in your strength. Such energy Swamiji passes on to you. He has not hugged you or kissed you. How does it happen that you feel so energized? He has not spoken a blessing or touched you on the head. Still the energy is flowing. Where is it coming from? It is the result of the darshan.
So many fools let go of that chance also. If I ring up and ask why you have not come, you mumble that you did not get a ticket. To attend a wedding you get a ticket, when you have a headache you get a ticket. For all other events you get leave and time off, but for this alone you do not have time. You must make time. This is your home. Swamiji is living as your contemporary on this earth. In a short time this grand Kumbhabhishekam ritual will be over. Perhaps we will repeat it year after year for a hundred years. But we do not know if we will be able to attend the functions then. The time calculation does not repeat itself. Recently we celebrated 8-9-10-11-12-13. Will it repeat itself? Only in the next century it will recur. In this century it will not repeat. You were in the ashram itself but you did not know and you missed it. Some uncle or aunt has to come and invite you personally? You must make the effort to find out. Nobody is going to come to your home to invite you with offerings of gifts and money to come and have the darshan of Sadguru.
You must eagerly look forward to having the darshan of Sadguru. You must keep checking on the Internet, on Facebook, as to what programs are scheduled. If you cannot read, you must request your children to find the information for you. You must at once plan and come to attend. Some people will be right here in their rooms sleeping like buffaloes. They do not come to attend the programs. You arrive after the function is over and then inquire if Swamiji had already left. While you were still snoring the event has concluded. Is Swamiji going to wait for your snoring to finish? No, He is not. While on a pilgrimage, I cannot even sleep. You people sleep wherever and whenever. Even on the road you fall asleep. You fall over one another and sleep like logs, oblivious to the world. It should not happen. You must retain your awareness. Only then you can conquer this Maya, this illusion.
You must keep coming, and you must keep offering your prostrations. Don’t say that He (Guru) will get bored. I was born to receive your prostrations. I am here only to see you. There are many who say that they do not wish to cause Him inconvenience by approaching. They would rather remain far away. Will I get irritated? No. I may act as if I am irritated. But my business itself is to be approached by you. I am never irritated by you. I may scold to rid you of your karma. Your karma appears in front of me like a huge giant. I scold that. You wrongly interpret that I am scolding you. Why would I scold you? It is your karma that I am attacking. Not you. When I shout at your karma, it will run away. It will not remain. It will get cleaned. You are affectionate towards Swamiji. You are interested in doing spiritual practice. You have devotion. You have the inclination and that is why you have come here. But having come here, you create obstacles for yourselves. That is wrong, and that is what I am telling you. Many people do that. Please don’t do that. It is not anything great. It is degrading for you. It causes your downfall. I carry on like this. This is called scolding discourse.
Today we are all sitting close to Karya Siddhi Hanuman. May we be blessed with success, fame, wellbeing, long life, radiance, education, knowledge, good intellect, much strength, strong devotion, dispassion, and freedom from poverty. Just like the eight types of prosperity, there are eight types of poverty (ashta daridra) also. Let them all get destroyed and let everyone be granted the eight great spiritual accomplishments (ashta siddhis). We pray to Lord Hanuman.
Victory to Lord Hanuman!
Sri Guru Datta