Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – Anaghashtami Vratam – morning – January 2, 2016 – Mysore
Compiled by Smt Hira Duvvuri
Jai Anagha mata.
Anagha Swamiki Jai.
(Anaghashtami Vratam is very special and very powerful, taught to King Kartaveeryarjuna by Lord Dattatreya Himself. It has now been revived in the Kali Yuga on earth by Sri Swamiji.)
Anagha Mata is Yoga Mata. How can Datta have a wife, is a foolish question. Gods are not like humans. Datta is neither male nor female. It is the same with Anagha Mata. God has no visible form. He is Paramatma, the Supreme Soul, who is formless and nameless. All the incarnations and deities are described only for human understanding.
Relationship are mentioned to make it easy for child-like minds to grasp the subject. The ten incarnations of Vishnu, if you learn about them, they are very painful, what trouble God goes through to save and teach human beings. Rama and Krishna also have endured great suffering.
During the churning of the Ocean of Milk for getting the Amrita, the nectar of immortality, Vishnu took the form of a Turtle and bore the weight of Mound Mandara on his back. The turtle’s back suffered much pain with the heavy mountain on top. Similarly out of a steel pillar Lord Narasimha had to emerge. Devotees weep when they read or tell such stories from the Bhagavatam. Demons got such boons. Vamana also, has a similar story. God who has the entire Universe as His form had to take birth as a midget. To uplift beings, God suffers. Devotees cry. Why should God endure so much pain? Humans are so arrogant. Only to cleanse and make them into ornaments, like purifying gold by burning, God puts in so much strain. To make a sculpture, so much of torture the substance takes, and so much effort the sculptor has to put in. For a teacher to shape a student also takes so much effort, to give proper and strict training. So much effort and pain. It is unavoidable. But the result is beautiful. Both suffer, the student and the teacher, God and the devotee. We are fickle. He has to burn our fat, ego, and sins. He takes us close to Him. Sinners cannot go to heaven. Even for sins committed unknowingly one must pay the price. All the scriptural stories are for our sake.
Yoga Mata. She came as a woman in the company of Datta to teach the sages also, whose minds were fickle, when they served Lord Dattatreya. They misunderstood and some of them left. Gopikas were all saints and sages in their previous birth, who received a boon from God to be born as cowherd women so that they could get close to Krishna.
People misunderstand. Ignorant of the purpose of their birth and their previous boons, sinners blame God. Even cleansed souls become dirty again. They have to be taught again. Ego raises its head again. People who boast of devotion are like rotten bananas. Stinking. God has to ripen the minds of devotees with tests. Anagha Mata is Pure. Fools think of male and female regarding deities, comparing them to humans. Sinful thoughts. Anagha means destroyer of sins. Anagha Mata is an instrument to destroy sins. Praise her to be free of sins. Do this Vrata everywhere. In all cities and towns this must be publicized and taught. Uplift yourself by performing this Anagha Vrata and teach others to perform it.
Swamiji had no plan to be here now. He now leaves on the 4th on the Andhra tour. Visit Datta Kshetras. Navanatha Kshetras. Shodasha Datta temples.
(Instructions about Indian Prime Minister Mr. Modi’s visit)
No Jaikaras in the evening program. Be quiet. Seal your lips. If anyone says Jai, Swamiji will never see them again.
No bags. Mobiles. Footwear, or pens.
Datta’s home the Prime Minister visits. This is a private program. Not public program. Programs in the Nada Mantapam are public. Programs in the Poundareeka Rangasthala are semi-public. Programs in the Prayer Hall are private.
Do not wander. No offering of garlands. Chant Om internally.
Don’t make noise here. Sit quietly watching the program on the big screens in the Nada Mantapam.
Chant aloud Om only if asked to.
So strict. Better to see photo. Don’t create suspicion by roaming here and there unnecessarily. You will be sent out. Just eat and take a nap if you do not have an entry pass.
Sri Guru Datta