Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – 22nd Veda Examination Valedictory Function – May 21, 2015 – Mysore
Sri Maha Ganapataye Namaha
Sri Saraswatyai Namaha
Sripada Vallabha
Narasimha Saraswati
Sri Guru Dattatreyaya Namaha
Those who listen with their ears to the chants of the Veda Mantras, those who regularly chant them, those who teach them, and those who study them to grasp their innate power, and those who absorb their sound vibrations, are all equal to gods. The sounds of Veda mantras are most favored and appreciated by God. By merely hearing the sounds uttered, He will know the mindset and the intentions of the persons enunciating them.
How the Vedas have originated, the meaning, the essence, the glory of the Vedas, and the process of Creation and the emergence of the Vedas with their presiding deities and subsidiary deities, the different components of the Vedas, has all been described in the Bhagavatam. The birth of the five elements has been explained. From formlessness, Vishnu gave Himself a form and initiated Creation as Yajna Narayana. He Created the Universe, and He Himself became the Universe. The two ways of Creation occurred. First He did it on His own. Creation happened on its own. Sounds emerged on their own. Then Creation continued through Brahma, then through the sages Sanaka, Sanandana, and others, and thereafter through other rishis, and then finally, humans have evolved.
Without that divine aspect coming through such a sacred lineage, no one can chant the Veda mantras. Knowingly, or unknowingly, a desire to learn the Vedas has sprouted in your hearts due to the past merit of individuals and of their parents, and is responsible for persons learning and practicing Vedas. In you, therefore, is present, an aspect of divinity which is the source of Creation. Such a spark of divinity is there no doubt, in every atom and in every creature, including even an ant.
But those who study the Vedas, practice them, and research them, and chant them, are practicing with a full awareness of its divine aspect. The expression of that divine aspect is visible more clearly and explicitly in the Vedic practitioners. it is up to you to preserve and protect this ancient heritage of ours, the Vedas. If we protect Dharma, Dharma will protect us. Only when the Vedas are protected, Veda Mata will protect us. Only when that is done, we receive help both here and in the hereafter. The benefit derived from the Vedas transcends earthly needs. We retain the divinity within us when we study and practice the Vedas. It is as if we are worshiping Mother Goddess. It is as if we are preserving Lord Vishnu within our soul. It is as if we are keeping Lord Siva within our body and our sense organs.
The study of Vedas which possess such greatness, has been sustained without a break here in our institution. For 22 years uninterruptedly we have carried out these Veda examinations at Datta Peetham. It is only because of Datta’s grace. I feel very happy that all of you come eagerly to Datta Peetham to present your expertise in front of Lord Datta. Do not think that you are expressing your knowledge just in front of the pundits and scholars. The pundits seated here are in the form of Datta. You are all expressing your knowledge and examining yourselves in the presence of Datta.
May you all be blessed with happiness, success, good health, and spiritual knowledge. May your memory and retentive power become stronger. May your power of recall be dependable and efficient. Often during exams, due to fear, one tends to forget the subjects that one studies every day. Even what one thoroughly knows gets forgotten due to panic. That is why it is said that the tongue should be taught to chant. The sense organs and the intellect should get saturated with the knowledge. Vedic sounds must be expressed as naturally as one’s breath. One need not have fear here like at other academic tests or exams, where test papers suddenly get changed. Whichever section of study they pick, to administer the test, the recall should be immediate and perfect.
In the past, IAS candidates had open book examinations. We feel happy to hear of it. The practice has now been discontinued. The candidates would be given the question paper along with a dozen books. But unless they know where to look, to find the answer in the book, they cannot benefit from having an access to the books. If they are unfamiliar with the books, unless they had previously studied them cover to cover, they would not know how to find the answers, although the answers may be contained there.
Unless the knowledge, memory, and training are thorough, one will not be able to detect the differences between syllables and half-syllables when asked to chant Veda mantras commencing at a specific point. Everyone has graduated this year. I am happy.
I wish success to all of you in life. Yes, you are studying the Vedas today. Later, you may enlist your services for Parayana for some remuneration. Earning a livelihood will not be a problem. You will marry, you will earn a living, you will have children, and you may train your children also in the Vedas. But what is the personal benefit for you? You complete Kramanta, Ghananta, you study Grammar, and you may publish books, earn awards, titles, lavish cash gifts, and win great recognition. You may give training to your sons and get your daughters married. Then you become old.
But what do you take with you eventually? You must do Agni Karyam (Fire worship), Sandhya Vandana, and Surya Namaskaras daily. Daily, without fail, you must chant the Gayatri mantra. Only this merit goes with you. The felicitations, plaques, fame, Ph. D degrees, praise, reputation, money, and children will not go with you. These things will not bear you any useful and enduring fruits.
The fruit of your efforts in this worldly life are those that rise above it and continue later. But you need devotion to earn them. Devotion is lacking in Veda pundits. In my 72 years of experience, 85% of Veda scholars lack devotion. It used to be 95% and earlier even 100%. Now some Chennai scholars have started to study the Bhagavatam and the Ramayana, and to develop devotion, after having suffered blows in their lives. As a result, I am happy to note that the percentage of those who totally lack devotion among Vedic scholars, has gone down.
There is arrogance that we have learned whatever there is to learn and we require nothing more. Many people ridicule the singing of bhajans. They speak disparagingly of those who practice music as musicians. They recognize no merit in their efforts. To speak of bhajans and bhakti as an ignorant way of life, is very unwise. Many falsely believe that developing devotion is as easy as learning ten stories from the Puranas and the Bhagavatam. They feel that such miniscule knowledge is enough for people to go about worthlessly giving Harikathas, rendering scriptural stories to the public.
Only Veda mantras are considered as important. I agree that Veda mantras are supreme. But they should be practiced hand-in-hand with devotion.
Even if devotion is absent in you, at least do your personal ritual worship daily – the Devatarchana. You do not need to go for priestly duties, because you believe that sin accrues to you if you do so. I accept. But you find it acceptable to go from house to house to collect Dakshina, cash gifts, but not to conduct Pujas.
Many leave off the worship of Saligramas and worship of deities. They think that chanting the Veda alone is sufficient. Without giving up the Gayatri Mantra Parayana, and Agni Karya three times a day, and doing the Sandhya Vandana three times a day, maintain your other required schedules. You must continue the family tradition coming to you through generations, of daily worship of the deities. Do not neglect your worship of the Saligramas. Only then you will break the cycle of rebirth. Without the above, you may still earn your titles, fame, become wealthy, and acquire large homes, but all that recognition, wealth, and all those titles will not help you.
Think seriously a little bit about yourselves. What will happen in the future to me and to my soul?
I am not going to speak about those who adhere to Fire Worship. I do not wish to touch that subject.
Earning a living is not the critical thing here. If nothing else works profession-wise, you can at least become a priest to earn a living. But first learn to develop devotion, and sincere respect for Guru.
Learn to respect your Guru who gave you knowledge. If you do not, for seven generations you will remain ignorant and dull-witted. You will forget everything that you have learned.
This is the first commandment. If you forget the Guru who has taught you knowledge, then you will be a Rakshasa for 7 lifetimes. For those who, out of arrogance, rebel against their Guru, such a fate is inescapable. I repeat this vehemently. This is the absolute Truth. It is Siva Sasana, an Ordinance of Lord Siva. I repeat. Remember this. Keep this in mind.
Do not forget your father who gave you the Gayatri Mantra (during spiritual initiation at the sacred thread ceremony), or your mother who gave you birth. These three are the most important persons in your life. It is the mother, who gave you birth, who teaches you to take steps and walk. The father gives you support and nourishes your growth.
Every Brahmin must maintain the daily Anushthana, performance of stipulated religious practices, and the daily chanting of the Gayatri Mantra. It is getting reduced day by day. People are giving up the Karma practices. They feel that they have no need for doing those things. Simply chanting the Veda is not enough. Being devout is of utmost importance.
Ponder over the cause behind this Creation. Why was I born? Why was I taught so many things? Think about the purpose of your birth. Perhaps I am speaking too much. It does not matter. I simply have to instruct you. Therefore, I am telling you.
Do not needlessly destroy yourselves. It is agonizing for me to see that happen. I cannot withstand such a sight. I witness all lokas, Naraka Loka (Hell), Satya Loka (the highest plane), and other Punya lokas. Remaining in space, I witness the travels of your souls. Not only in this lifetime, but in future lifetimes also, I will be keeping track of your movements between the different planes of existence.
At least from today, you must do your Karma Anushthana, and chant the Gayatri Mantra. Knowledge, and also spiritual enlightenment, by the grace of Goddess Saraswati, prosperity, and wellbeing will be yours then.
Instead of speaking about the Vedas, I have spoken about worldly matters. It does not matter.
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Guru Datta
Compiled by Smt Hira Duvvuri