Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – Bhajan Session – April 15, 2017 – Mysore
Compiled by: Smt Hira Duvvuri
Sri Maha Ganapataye Namaha
Sri Saraswatyai Namaha
Sripada Vallabha Narasimha Saraswati
Sri Guru Dattatreyaya Namaha
Sloka: Namastubhyam Ganesaya
Harihi Om Tatsat. We are listening daily to Divyanama Sankeertana here, rendered by the children. Everyone is singing. I am happy. Divyanama Sankeertana should be a daily activity in our lives. We must make it our aim. In Kali Yuga, it is penance in itself. Everyone must remember that it is the path to Liberation for everyone.
Remembering God daily, and reading the Bhagavatam daily, should be an everyday event in our lives. It should be our goal. For those who are caught in the ordinary battles of life, this practice of singing the glories of God is an easy way out. It is common knowledge. Still, we do not do it. Why, I don’t know. We should have the interest and the dedication to do it regularly. We must make it a habit to do it. Once we get habituated to singing devotional songs, the interest will automatically develop for continuing to do so. Good habits give us benefit, just as bad habits result in creating health problems. Good practices develop in us, devotion and concentration. Every evening, in North India, they remember God before retiring for the night. They read the Bhagavatam. In recent times, that practice has started in South India. Reading the Bhagavatam, or listening to it, should become a daily habit. In Maharashtra, without remembering Vithala, they do not sleep. But in South India, people only remember coffee, cinema, and television serials. They cannot live without them. Their lives depend on them. The people would even break a coconut, apply Kumkum and turmeric to their television sets and offer them worship. Such is their devotion and dedication to television viewing. I shout a slogan of victory to such South Indians. They are addicted to TV, and fried snack foods. It does not happen in every home, but in most homes, it is true. This is their practice.
Only in rare households where the people are foolish and innocent, they sing the glories of God. They do not belong in this society. We must all get into that habit. There are some people who go to bed in the early evening itself. Such people are inviting poverty upon themselves. People should wake up before sunrise, at least fifteen minutes before. Then they will have good memory, and a sharp intellect. But one must never go to sleep at sunset time. No matter how inconvenient it may seem, one must stay awake at evening twilight time. Sleeping at that time invites the goddess of poverty into their homes. One must stay alert. The devils will be roaming about at that time. They will haunt the people who sleep at that time of transition between day and night. They need places to take a shelter. Everyone must form these good habits. One must not remain in bed past sunrise. It is possible. Swamiji has generously given you time to sleep till 6 am. He is not insisting that you wake up at 5 am. Be happy about that. Before the sun is up, we should be up. Then our lives will be comfortable.
Bhajan: Vedanada nayaka
Sloka: Jayanti Mangala
Bhajan: Rakachandira samavadane
Sloka: Pandurangam jatadharam
Bhajan: Datta bin har pal
Sloka: Namostu devadevaya
Bhajan: Umamaheshwara Omkara
Sloka: Namassamasta bhootanam
Bhajan: Hari hari hari hari yanaraa
Sloka: Mata Suvarchala Devi
Bhajan: Gurudhikkarapu papamu
Bhajan: Varayo varayo O Ugadi svagatam
Slokam: Sivassiveti
Stotram: Prabhum prananatham
Kakada Harati: Palaya mamiha
Sri Guru Datta