Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – morning – April 14, 2016 – Chennai
Compiled by Smt Hira Duvvuri
Sri Mahaganapataye Namaha
Sri Saraswatyai Namaha
Sripada Vallabha Narasimha Saraswati
Sri Guru Dattatreyaya Namaha
The beginning is missing in the recorded video
That is your profession. That profession has a group name. People think that practicing the profession is not necessary. But the group name is important and those who belong to each group are characterized according to that group name. They are classified as high, low, untouchable, and unacceptable. You should not announce your profession or practice your trade. People get irritated when they are told that they should not touch or do this or that. This system is created by man, not God. When this group system is practiced strongly, they get stuck to that group. It is wrong to blame God. Man is to blame. The group of intelligent people, and the rulers of the day who initiated this are to blame. It will take time to change this system. May be 600 years. During calamities, people naturally bond together. During an emergency situation during a flight, everyone is frightened and concerned about saving their lives. Whoever offers help, it is received without reservation. Hunger, and thirst are satisfied by random people and help is accepted regardless of race and caste. The main thing at the time is to protect their own lives. The doctor may belong to any race. He may touch and give an injection, regardless of his low or high birth.
Protecting life is the Dharma at the time. The distinction of groups formed by the intelligentsia of olden days has still further sub groups. Do you know how many subsects are there amongst brahmins? Branches. No one knows their origin or authenticity. One who wears a sacred thread and chants mantras is accepted as a recognized Brahmin, regardless of where he came from. No one knows his origin. What you have studied based on your intelligence, such as medicine or engineer, has no bearing on your caste. Sage Viswamitra ate meat on one occasion when his life was threatened due to starvation. Protecting life was of utmost importance then. Once the threat passed, when he was offered water, he refused it because it was handed to him by a low caste person. At that time, his life was not in danger and he had to practice his dharma.
Once, when the sage was in a forest and was starved and on the point of death, he begged a cobbler to give him some food. All that was there with him was some pork. The sage accepted that food and protected his life. The cobbler was very happy. Then he thought he could also offer the sage some water. The sage cursed the man profusely for his audacity in offering a holy sage water from his dirty hands. Why did the sage behave like that? You think about it. Someone give me an answer.
Once his hunger was satisfied, how can he become egotistical? There is no question of ego here. If he had not eaten any food, he would have lost his life. He had to protect his life at any cost. The most important duty of man is to protect his life. Once the meat was eaten, Viswamitra became strong. He was ready to walk to the water body nearby to get a drink. He refused to accept water from the cobbler. He asked the cobbler to accompany him. He took him along. There was a small stream. The sage drank some water. Then he taught the man about Dharma of a human being.
If life is in danger, one may even tell a lie. It is not wrong. It is different when a person is ready to die for truth. Viswamitra had some duties remaining to be done by him. He had to remain alive to accomplish those. So now that the cobbler had saved his life, he blessed him that in the next life he would be born as a Vedantin, a noble Brahmin.
When we hear this story, what is it we learn from it? Once we are born, as long as life remains, we must perform our bounden duties. The last decision is left up to you, whether when life is in crisis, you protect your life at the cost of Dharma, or whether you sacrifice your life for the sake of Dharma. The Dharma Sastra does not stipulate the answer. One has to decide one’s own Dharma at that time of crisis. We ourselves have decided originally, the rules of Dharma to be followed by us. We ourselves have organized the several different groups, and made our choices as to where we wish to belong. That group life is Karma. We have decided what profession we wish to follow.
Once you are born into that group which follows the Karma which you have chosen to follow, that Karma you must perform. Rejecting that, and following what some other outside group is following, is wrong. You must avoid and shun doing that. You should not poke your nose there or rest your head there. You should not stick your hand in there. You must adhere to your own Dharma, your own faith. You must follow your own calling. The group which you had originally chosen, should be the group you cling to, and continue to follow. It must not be changed. You must not keep hopping from one group to another minute by minute. Your time will be wasted. You don’t have that kind of time to waste. Many people study some subject. Then if they change the field in the second year, they will never graduate. Complete what you have begun. It is okay if you earn ten different degrees in different subjects. Study the entire course and then join some other course. Otherwise you will waste a lot of time. Before you select your field, examine your taste, aptitude, and potential. Just because parents expect you to study a certain field and excel in it, a student must not forcibly study that. What is termed as God’s will is what one has determined for oneself as the right field of study. Stay with it. Why be in a hurry? This year, let everyone follow their own duties and their own Dharma. Do not entertain doubts. After having believed in God for so many years, suddenly do not begin questioning whether God exists or not. Spending a hundred years in such discussions is useless. Decide to begin with and stick with your decision. Otherwise you will earn only the name of a vagabond who flits about aimlessly. There is no answer.
Many people say they are searching for Truth. Is it something you can purchase in a store? You search for Dharma. Where will you find it? It is within you. Truth is within you. What you decide and determine is God. A system has been established for us. We must follow that system. Some group has developed a system of calendar keeping, and they determined to say: before Christ and after Christ. BC and AD. We follow that calendar system of January, February. Now our pundit has told us that 5000 years have passed since the Indian calendar has been set. A group follows that calendar. But it is not universally followed. Since it has not been globally publicized, we are not familiar with the Shalivahana Saka and we will fail if those dates are presented to us. We will think that these are some crazy numbers. The system that we have elected to follow, we must follow. If another system appeals to your heart, keep it in your heart, and write it down, but do not disclose to others. You have put in great effort in spiritual pursuit for many years. Now what is the use of suddenly declaring that there is no God? Both your efforts have gone to waste. You lose at both ends. The pious ones will not accept you, since you claim to be an atheist. Unknowingly you will be cast off into an alien group.
They say that this year there will good rains. But we do not wish for the type of rains Chennai residents suffered from during the previous year. Rains are not in our control. It is up to nature. It knows where and when to rain. If there is much vegetation, it will promote rains. It is very scientific. But we do not put it into practice. That is why I give a simple formula. God’s will. Where things are beyond our control, we attribute the events to God’s will. You had wished earlier to be born as a human being. That wish has now come true. What you wish for now, will come to you in the future, as I had mentioned yesterday.
Once again, I wish that this year should be a happy year. As soon as the results from the almanac are heard, everyone only calculates about income and expenditure. What will be left in the end? That is what is of concern. They have also mentioned what peace rituals should be conducted for those people born under certain specific stars.
Such advice people ignore. They expect rewards without putting in the required effort. How will that happen? You have to endure some pain. You have to wait in line. If everyone despises waiting in line, then what will happen? There will be chaos. The person in charge of distributing will run away. If you come in a systematic manner, at least some will receive the prasadam. Otherwise, no one will get.
When Garuda brought Amrita, the Nectar of Immortality to distribute, all the cousins fought for it. The pot fell down and all the nectar spilled on top of some darbha grass. All the serpents licked greedily the drops of nectar smeared on the sharp darbha grass, and their tongues got sliced in two. That is why serpents have split tongues.
But the second time it was brought, they did not know how to consume it. The mother of Garuda gave it all to devas, the gods.
If you fail to follow the system, you will be the losers.
Does the Tamil tradition have the custom of eating today the chutney with neem and jaggery? It has a different taste when I tasted it this morning. It tasted more like the side dish served with Pongal. I did not taste any neem in it. Neem flowers are very good for health.
Sri Guru Datta