Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – Hanuman Jayanthi – May 31, 2016 – Mysore
Compiled by Smt Hira Duvvuri
Shloka:
vande vaanara naarasimha khagaraat krodaashwa vaktraanchitam naanaalankaranam tripancha nayanam dedeepyamaanam ruchaa hastaabhyairasi kheta pustaka sudhaakumbhaankushaadreem halam khatvaangam phani bhooruhoucha dadhatam sarvaari garvaapaham
With five faces, Lord Hanuman himself is the incarnation of Lord Narasimha and Lord Hayagreeva. All divine incarnations are He. As an eleventh incarnation, Lord Siva, as Hanuman, has appeared on earth in five forms, all-pervading, to uplift and protect devotees who surrender to Him, by destroying their ignorance.
People from different parts of India, and from some small islands elsewhere also celebrate Hanuman Jayanti. Hanuman is worshiped on different days in different locations. Hindus and people of other religions also believe in Hanuman and celebrate Hanuman Jayanti. Even forest dwellers worship Hanuman. This god is worshiped in various different forms. The Chinese people are celebrating this year as the year of the Monkey. Each year a specific creature is selected and worshiped. They respect that species and do not harm those designated animals. Far easterners have followed this custom. We will celebrate Hanuman Jayanti as many times as possible as observed in the different parts of the country, or the world. Some people are unduly worried about the occurrence of Hanuman Jayanti multiple times in a year. Why should you be worried? Witness the wonderful Puja, relish the Prasadam and receive the benefits. Never get tired of witnessing the Puja.
For how long, or how many times should one repeat the name of God? If you ask me, I say there is no limit or deadline. Only when you are dead, the chanting of God’s name should stop. As long as you are blessed with life and breath, continue to chant the mantra or the name of God. Don’t keep asking me again and again. Some people ask me whether they can stop their Mantra Japa or chanting of prayers once the task at hand is accomplished. There is no beginning or end for offering worship to God. How many times should you visit Swamiji during festival times? Until you die you must keep having darshan. Until your life merges in the Guru at the end of life, you must keep visiting, serving, contemplating, and constantly remembering Guru’s name and mantra. At a point the mind will become still, when all thoughts stop. Then when Satva Guna is at its peak, the life of the being will merge in God’s feet. That is the meaning of constant practice. What is Ajapa Japa, constant, uninterrupted Japa? What does it mean? It is physically seeing Swamiji, physically serving Swamiji, physically participating in all his celebrations and projects, serving in a small or a big way. As you keep continuing this activity, the mind’s focus gets established in Swamiji and in the end, you will become absorbed into His feet. Your own practice will grant you liberation. There is no need to make any special resolve or Sankalpa. No need for any special yantra or mantra.
If as long as you live, you remain on the spiritual path, then, on the day of death, your life will certainly merge into Him. This is the Truth. This is ordained by Siva. This is the unequivocal Truth. If you ask, how long you should practice, the answer is, till you die. Even on the day of death, you will do this. If it is not you, your life force will continue to do it. You become totally purified, and you become one with Guru.
By constant repetition of God’s name, with the name of Narayana on your lips if you give up life, then without question, you will merge in God. You need the help of no one. You need no Upadesa. Keep thinking only of God. Then you will merge in God. Do not ask, how much, how long, for how many days should I chant the mantra? Just to get you habituated to the repeated, natural chanting of the mantra, it is recommended at first to do the mantra japa as many hundred thousand times as there are syllables in the mantra. It is called Akshara laksha.
Japa should be as natural as breathing without any effort or prompting. That is the ultimate state one should aspire for. Once you complete the Akshara (syllable) Laksha (100,000) don’t ask Swamiji if you may stop now. No. What other occupation do you have, except to keep chanting the mantra? You think if you stop chanting the mantra, you will have time for doing other things? Such as what? For telling lies? For doing bad things? The most important thing in life is to still the mind, by the constant chanting of God’s name. That is why one should do Japa day and night. That is Ajapa Japa. Continuous chanting of the mantra given by Guru, or chanting the name of the chosen deity, if Guru has not given a mantra. When you do that, you become identified with your beloved deity or Guru. There is no limit to the number of times one should do Japa. It should be done incessantly. There is no limitation for puja, darshan, or Japa. Countless number of times you should come to the ashrama. Don’t ever say, I have been there last year. Make a fresh start again today. Don’t count what happened in the past, do not take into account all the past visits and darshans, and pujas. It is not good. Your merit will vanish. From today onwards you calculate. Each day make a fresh start. Every minute of your life is new and fresh. Practice anew each and every day of your life. Every day is a new day. Only he, who thinks like that is a true devotee. As many tomorrows as there are, each is a new tomorrow to begin anew. Today is finished. Dharma Sutra places this condition upon every human being. Today is the first day of your life. Yesterday’s mantra calculation is not applied to your account today. Do not count yesterday’s Japa or Charities. Just forget that. You prepare food every day. You eat every day. Why? Every day is new and different. Can you spit up what you ate the day before yesterday and show me that you have eaten that substance? Show me. I will not believe unless you show me. You say you have eaten so many sweets and so many dishes. I don’t believe you. Please show me. Where is the proof? Can you show me proof? Why do you lie then? Why do you lie that you had eaten laddu yesterday? If you cannot produce proof, then it is a lie. What you are eating now, is a fact. Only what is happening in the present is the truth. Yesterday’s events are not true.
I cannot predict about eating tomorrow. There is no guarantee that I will be alive tomorrow. How can you give assurance? You say, we will see tomorrow. Where is the assurance that you will be alive and you will do it? If you wish to do something good now, such as tying a Purna Phala, do it now. Do not delay. Don’t say, oh, I tied one yesterday. What you had eaten yesterday is gone. So is the coconut you tied yesterday. There is no proof of your tying it yesterday. Only what happens in this very instant is the truth. This mantra we are chanting now is true. If tomorrow if we are alive, then only what we do then will be true. This is my system. I do not know about your system. This is my stubborn system. Put into practice immediately, whatever good things you intend to do. What I speak is the truth, with Lord Hanuman as the witness. Never say, I gave before itself. Yesterday’s attire is yesterday’s. You do not wear the same clothes daily. Tomorrow I will wear different clothes. I am speaking now. You are listening now. This is a fac, the only factt.
Spiritual truths are very subtle and difficult to grasp. As Guru speaks, try to understand and assimilate. Follow the path of Hanuman. Do not take the example of the wicked and follow the wicked path. Do not tell lies just because the other person is telling lies. We must follow our own path based on the teachings of our Guru. Good devotees are uplifted and their tasks are successful by the grace of Lord Hanuman, who exhorts us to follow the pious path and ultimately He takes us into Himself. We are now celebrating Hanuman Jayanti. This should be in fact a daily celebration. Hanumad Vratam is a great ritual, which every devotee must perform.
There are several devotees, who have never stopped performing the Anagha Vratam Puja every day ever since they came to know about it. Whenever they perform the puja of my parents like that, like the eight sons, I go and stand witness there. I am present in their homes. Such true devotees may give up a meal even, but will never neglect performing the Anagha Vratam. So many families perform daily. Inform your relatives also. Get them familiar. If they do not respond, leave them alone and stick to your own path strictly. Do not worry about others. You should be so obstinate in the path of devotion. You are seeing the metal sheets around this temple for the past one year. No one even enquired about the opportunity of Seva in this regard. No one has bothered to ask why these sheets are still there. They are not concerned. Why should it concern me? That is how they think. It is not right to be indifferent like that. You should get involved and ask how you may help in this project. I desired to do it all in marble stone with a grand plan to have three forms of Anjaneya in three levels or tiers: in the nether world, on earth and in the air. You know the stories of Hanuman slaying the ten-headed Ravana on earth, killing Mairavana in Patala the nether world when he abducted the sleeping Rama and Lakshmana from the battlefield in Lanka while they were under the protection of Hanuman. This incident no one knew about. Hanuman also killed Sata Kantha or hundred-headed Ravana in the cosmos after Rama was crowned king. Here in this new temple, you can view all the three forms of Hanuman – Vishwa Rupa/Universal Form in the cosmos as shown to Mother Sita, the earthly form as it appeared in Lanka during the battle against ten-headed Ravana, and the form of Hanuman the size of a thumb in Patala. It is His Sankalpa.
We do not have the knowledge of what is destined for us for tomorrow. A devotee should be ready for every instruction given by Swamiji, even if it changes from the past instruction. Instead of giving suggestions to Swamiji, always be ready to receive his fresh instructions. Estimates were obtained for the construction of the Hanuman Temple in a grand manner using marble stone. The cost was too high. 4 crores. I asked Hanuman if it was his wish that we should spend so much. Following His response, it was decided that it is better to go for Andhra Pradesh’s Allagadda stone as it has been used for the temple of Sri Marakata Subrahmanya Swami Devasthanam here. That stone is generally used for temple construction and it endures beautifully for a long time without damage or discoloration, and is also less expensive. Marble stone may look attractive at first, but as time passes, it gets discolored and does not look as nice, as we have noticed at other marble temples.
It is Sri Swamiji’s wish that this Hanuman temple should be a solid stone structure enclosed entirely in stone. Earlier when we raised funds for this project, only 4 Lakhs was collected. Where is four lakhs and where is 4 crores? It is Swamiji’s wish always that the rich and the poor alike must participate in this temple construction. And you have a chance to become a participating member in this Yajna. The temple design will look like an ancient temple structure. You may donate and encourage others to be also a part of the Hanuman temple Project. Rupees 1 Lakh and Rupee 10,000 will be two categories of donors. You may pledge now if you are able to come up with the amount in the near future.
Sri Guru Datta