Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji on Sri Narahari Teertha Swami Aradhana – August 4, 2014 – Mysore
Jaya Guru Datta
(Note translator: The audio quality was very poor during the first few minutes and hence, my guesses may be wrong. I apologize)
Pilgrimages, ancestral rites, you do not perform. Many people blame and abuse their mother. The feet of parents are not merely physical feet covered with skin, like those of goats or calves. People eat all types of food that should not be consumed, at inappropriate places. If proper food is not available outside, they should prepare it themselves. That is a discipline. One should follow Dharma with discipline.
People have no devotion. Out of 1 million who bathe in a sacred river only one attains salvation. All others lack faith and proper devotion. Outer dirt goes if you wash with soap. But the inner dirt does not go. If firm faith and devotion are absent no matter how many times you offer prostrations to Guru, you gain nothing. He loses nothing. Many consider it as a physical exercise to fall at or massage Guru’s feet. You gain nothing by touching Guru’s feet with your dirty hands.
When your mind is mature, only then prostrations offered to Guru’s feet are effective. At such a time there is nothing more fortunate than to do so. I never touched my father’s feet. I only did ordinary Namaskaram to him. One day after he took initiation into Sanyasa, he appeared to me like Maha Vishnu, like Siva. Then I prostrated to his feet. He recovered from the shock and admonished that I should not prostrate to him, but that he should prostrate to me.
I said: That is not true. You will incur a curse if you do so. A Guru should not prostrate to a disciple. It is wrong. You are not my father. You are my Guru. My Parama Guru is Mother. You have showed me the way in several respects. Unbeknownst to either of us it has happened. Before you took Deeksha, you used to pour the sacred water from your mantra chanting on my feet. I never protested then. I merely said, Sri Krishna arpanamastu/I offer this to Lord Krishna. Now you are a Yateeswara.
He commented: Now you seem to have acquired spiritual maturity.
Earlier he used to say that I was Maha Vishnu. Today he has changed his statement. It contains a deeper meaning. He has that greatness. We say that we should see Siva. We should see Vishnu in Saligrama. I have acquired that habit of seeing Mother/Father/God in Saligrama. That is why you might have observed that there are many Saligramas with me. Even though there is devotion for Siva, the Vishnu Saligramas are more important for us. I see Mother/Father/Vishnu in Saligrama. He is not my father. He is my Guru. I see him as Maha Vishnu and as Siva. He led an extraordinary life. He renounced everything. He had no desire for anything. Whatever he possessed, he wanted to give away. I have not seen anyone with such detachment. Many aged people express many concerns and dissatisfactions. I have missed this, and I have not had that, and so on.
Before his Deeksha and after his Deeksha, he was like that, ever disinterested. No interest in obtaining anything. He used to test me since childhood.
He would say: Before this evening you must get for me a steel trunk.
I would say: After the shops open in the morning I will get one for you.
No, I want it right now.
How? Do you want me to pull one out of thin air?
Yes. You have the power to do it. I want it now.
Many have witnessed this. He has the power.
I would look here and there and sure enough I would find a trunk.
I called him Appa then, meaning father. Later I began addressing him as Thatha. There is no higher address than that. Mistakenly you think that Thatha merely means grandfather or father.
Bhishma was called Thatha/Pitamaha. One who possesses Jnana/spiritual knowledge, Paurusha/valor, and Dharma/righteousness is Bhishma. Thatha means all those things. He was an Acharya/preceptor. Similar qualities were possessed by Thathagaru. Bhishma sacrificed his life for the protection of the kingdom. Everyone knows that. You have read about it, you might have seen it in plays. Thatha is a great word to use to address a person. When small children call me Thathaji, I feel thrilled. Not as a blood relative/grandfather. Now do not take this as a hint and everyone begin calling me Thathaji. You use whatever name you have always been using. No changes.
I originally thought about being there (Jayalakshmipuram) and have Sri Bala Swamiji conduct the program here. But since I have recently returned from a trip, and since I am too miserly to spend a huge amount of money on a helicopter (2-3 lakhs that could be given instead to the poor, although someone offered to sponsor it), and it takes too long to make a road trip, I decided to do it here to benefit this ashram. He has great fondness for this ashram. He stayed at his daughter’s house. If he were to stay here, there would be continuous referrals from him to me to solve this devotee’s problems or that devotee’s problems.
One early morning after finishing his anushthana/daily ritual, he sat in the lotus position and chanting Om Namassivaya, left his body. That is all. There was absolutely no illness. His daughter Varalakshmi called out Appa. But there was no answer. I had told her also to address him as Thatha but she was not agreeable. I did not insist.
He was very fond of Rava Laddu. I searched for Rava Laddu in the Naivedyam/food offering to be offered to him during the puja. I did not find it. If that were available, he would not have eaten anything else. If that is offered to him, it makes him very happy. Have you prepared it? No, don’t bring it now. I looked for it and did not find it here.
People have come from Bengaluru, Mysore, Nanjangud, and many other places in Karnataka. I am very happy. Bala Swamiji is very intelligent. He has invited many persons to visit our ashrama. I am very happy that you all have come. This is your ashrama. You must come and visit even without any special invitation.
Sri Guru Datta