Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – Girija Kalyanam – February 23, 2017 – Mysore
Compiled by: Smt Hira Duvvuri
Jaya Guru Datta
Om Namah Shivaya
Om Rudra Devane Namaha
Rudra Devaya Namaha
Rudra Devaya Namaha
Shambhave Namaha
Sashishekaraya Gangadharaya Gauripate Namaha
Creation began from Parabrahman, Sri Narayana. Brahma who emerged from Him created all the living beings. They are innumerable. Why is Creation imperfect? It is His will. He can create as per His wish. As per Parabrahma’s will, Brahma creates. Brahma performed intense Tapas/penance to gain the capacity to do the process of Creation. The parent orders children to do different errands or chores. Children of the same parents are assigned different jobs. If one child is sent up to heaven to find the stars and another is sent to the depths of the ocean, they both do their exploration and come back with their reports. It is as if one person has done both the jobs. All are my parts and so when they do different jobs for me, it is actually I, who am doing all their jobs. Whether you do your job well or not so well, I am the one acting through you. Whether you are in my presence or at home, I am the one getting you to do things the way you do them. There is no separate entity as ‘you’, there. That is the principle of Parabrahma. The Bhagavatam explains this very clearly.
The subtlest, or actually, even unimaginably smaller than the smallest, is Parabrahma, who evolved out of Himself. He gives orders to Brahma, how to create and sustain the living beings. Brahma has filled the beings with the six inner enemies. He first created Avidya/ignorance. Only then progeny will occur. If he had first created Jnana/spiritual wisdom, creatures will not procreate. Only a tarnished item receives polish. Only a wrinkled cloth gets ironed. That is why Brahma first created ignorance. Why did Parabrahma assign the job of creation to Brahma? Why did He not do it Himself? It is His will. I tell the right hand to place an item here. I then tell the left hand to put it back in the original place. Both hands are mine. I can give orders as I choose.
All the people in the ashram act only as per Swamiji’s orders. If they disobey, they will be given treatment for cure. Either they are punished, or they are expelled. The part will be removed. If the limbs obey, they are retained. All the people working all around me are my own parts of the body. One must never retaliate. One must only acquiesce. One may explain a situation, but never speak against it. All are parts of Swamiji’s body, from a secretary to a volunteer, the intelligent ones, the foolish ones, all are parts of Swamiji’s body. They are his limbs and organs. All pundits and idiots. Once they take refuge in Guru, they must follow His orders. They become a part of me. They will lose their jobs here if they disobey. They may live in this wide world, anywhere else. Not here.
Bhagavatam explains this. Sriman Narayana, who is invisible, and perhaps visible also, gives orders to Brahma. Narayana is only a name given by us, for our convenience. We mark a page in a book for our remembrance, like that, we give a name to God, as a symbol, or a mark to make a note. It is like a bookmark. When we are ready to resume reading the book, we remove the bookmark. The bookmark is not important. It is not the book. You may even put a small twig to mark the page. Or a folded piece of paper. It is only a mark. You can place a leaf or a blade of grass.
One can speak for four days explaining about Paramatma. Just ‘Para’ is difficult to explain. He cannot be grasped. He is unfathomable. I will explain again tomorrow. It is difficult to understand it all at once. First He expressed Himself as Creation. He has no mother or father. Rudra asked Brahma to create the world. Lord Rudra in the meanwhile started Creation. He created innumerable Bhuta ganas, creatures.
Brahma saw this. Earth was still not there then. It was Yajna Varaha Swamy who rescued the earth. He wanted to have creation like a puppet show on earth. Brahma got scared of the Bhuta ganas. He felt, “Instead of creating various species, he created Bhuta Ganas”. He then created Sages Sanaka and Sananda. They refused to procreate. They took sanyasa instead. HE was angry. Unable to tolerate this, he created the Saptarshis or seven great sages from his body parts. We are all descendants of the Saptarshis. He created man as well as woman from his body. Thus creation started. We said that he created Avidya/ignorance. That ignorance enveloped the sage who then got married and started the process of procreation. This is how creation of living beings came about.
At that time, Brahma asked Rudra to enter this creation and protect the devotees from the Bhuta Ganas. And then a long story about Girijia/Sati Devi ensued. From that day on, we celebrate Girija Kalyanam (symbolic wedding between Shiva and Parvati). Performing Girija Kalyanam is a part of this creation. Every time we perform this ritual, it is for universal welfare. May there be good progeny. May the women be good caretakers of the house. May one get a good spouse. May households prosper. It does not matter if you are not married, or do not have children. We are performing this wedding ritual each year with the intent that all children born in this world have a noble disposition. There are many stories in the Shiva Purana in this regard. When this creation started, is when Girija Kalyanam started too. It did not start just yesterday. Eons are coming and going and the cycle keeps repeating. This is a great secret of Shiva Tantra. We should all gain knowledge. It is impossible to describe God’s creation. No amount of explanation is enough. Maha Vishnu alone can explain the way of Maya/illusion and the progression of creation, since He alone knows. He gave this history to Brahma. Brahma gave this history of creation to Narada along with some details. That is what Bhagavatam is. It is the most beautiful Bhagavatam. We are dedicating everything auspicious to the Lord on this occasion of Girija Kalyanam.
Sri Guru Datta