Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji in the evening – bhajan session – January 22, 2017 – Addanki
Compiled by: Smt Hira Duvvuri
Sri Maha Ganapataye Namaha
Sri Saraswatyai Namaha
Sripada Vallabha Narasimha Saraswati
Sri Guru Dattatreyaya Namaha
Sunday evening is a very special time. It is a time favored by the Sun God and Lord Ganapati. We are very fortunate to be having this Satsang at this auspicious time. Many are wasting their time in shopping centers, restaurants, watching television serials at home, or quarreling. Soon it will be 9 PM, they will eat and go to sleep. The evening is finished. The day is done.
The time it takes for us to take each breath is important. The duration of even the blinking of the eyelids is important. Rishi Nimi is responsible for our blinking. Nimisha means so many blinks. The rate of blinking varies person to person. Our breathing rate also varies. Dawn to dusk it is one count. Dusk to dawn it is another count. The number is pre-determined. We are allowed only so many breaths per life. No doctor can prolong life despite placing tubes. The heart beat also is pre-determined. The sounds inside the intestines also are bound by a calculation of God. All these are forms of God. They are His principle. We say Creation of God. Remember this.
You have seen tortoises. They live in ponds and wells. Some people have them as a pet, although one is not supposed to do so. What does the tortoise do? It has six sense organs, including its head and tail. It withdraws them. We must also control our six inner enemies and keep them subdued. We should not expose them. If we do, we will be harmed. They should be kept under our control. The six enemies are Kama, Krodha, Lobha, Moha, Mada, and Matsarya (lust, anger, greed, delusion, arrogance, and jealousy). They are within us. Only when we can control them, we are real human beings. If they are out of our control, then we are not human beings. Desire is very strong. It is greater than God. Greed is very dangerous.
Millions of people go in front of Swamiji, forming lines. It happens everywhere. They see me and proceed in front of me. This happens in all countries. I only look at you. I can see what is happening in your mind. It gets recorded in my mind, the moment I see you. Sometimes I smile. My smile gives you hope. You will say, “Swamiji, since yesterday I have been waiting. I will say, “Is that so?” You begin, “My elder son is appearing for an exam tomorrow.” I say, ok, he will do well. This begins a list of questions and appeals, about all the other children, and even wife’s relatives, and nieces and nephews and their distant relatives and neighbors. All their troubles are narrated. None of them are Swamiji’s devotees. They have not even Swamiji. How far greed takes away man! This type of greed and overambition is what this tortoise has in its limbs. We mentioned the six inner enemies. They correspond to the tortoise’s six limbs. Any time danger is imminent, the turtle, pulls in those organs under its shell. It shields itself tightly. Even a dog cannot touch it. God has given it such a hard shell. A dog will try its best to touch the body of the turtle. But it fails. After the dog leaves, the turtle overturns, then gets back on its feet again and slowly walks away. Again, when danger approaches, it repeats the exercise.
Humans even break its hard shell and eat its meat. There is nothing worse than that. Such cruelty is there in human. He is the cruelest of all beings. He is worse than a tiger, cheetah or a snake. Man has no mercy. He is filled with greed, lust, desire, and ambition. He is never contented. We see examples of this excessive greed.
sloka – vakra tunda maha kaya
Ganesa protects us from all obstacles. When we prostrate to Guru, he grants us spiritual knowledge. Mother Goddess Lakshmi gives us wealth. Mother Saraswati gives us knowledge. Siva gives Yoga. If Ganapati, who removes hurdles, himself causes impediments, there is nothing we can do. That is why we are praying to him. His trunk is Omkara. His form is OM. He is bigger than the world. His brilliance exceeds that of crores of suns. We pray to him to make all our efforts free of obstacles. If a thief prays to make his work successful, the Lord does not bless. Only worthy efforts are blessed by Him always. We must pray like that. Only then we will succeed in our efforts.
There is a procedure for praying just as for eating. We eat a morsel of rice and then drink some water. We do not place water in the mouth first and then put rice in the mouth. It will be difficult to swallow. Along with water, we swallow air. The five elements always protect us.
Bhajan: Om namaste Ganapataye
Swamiji has presented Ganapati in this bhajan as he is described in the Upanishads. He is compared to the Universe, the entire Creation. This one bhajan alone will take the commentators a whole day to explain. Every bhajan composed by Swamiji is very deep in meaning, teaching the very principle of our existence and daily life.
Behind me is a picture of the Gitopadesam. In the middle of the battlefield, in that tumultuous environment Krishna gave his teaching. It was unknown who would fight against whom, and who would kill whom. Who would win, lose, or survive, no one knew. Fear prevailed. The way the armies were arrayed appeared daunting.
Arjuna suddenly said, I do not want to fight this war. I do not care to win the kingdom. I do care about luxuries. I do not wish to kill all my relatives, old and young, and make so many respected women widows. Then they will become unchaste and their progeny will be wretched, without any culture preserved in them. There are gurus, uncles, and revered people here. By killing them I will be the one accumulating a lot of sin. I do not want to do it. The picture is depicting it. Krishna shows his universal form.
Krishna said, why, this is a righteous war. There is no injustice in it. He taught in 18 chapters his teaching. He said, fight, not for the kingdom, but because it is the right thing to do.
When some elder passes away in the family, it is a tradition to read the Garuda Purana. It makes the mind remain with the departed soul steadily. The mind, when in grief, absorbs the teaching better.
Arjuna’s confusion is cleared. He acknowledges that. But later on, he asks Krishna to repeat the teaching because on the day of the war, his heart was filled with fear and he could not focus and digest the teaching. When I saw your Universal form, I became frightened and could not speak to you properly, he said. Now mothers became widows and I need to give them proper guidance to reach higher planes of existence. We live in comfort now. Please repeat the teaching for me, he begged Krishna.
Initially, Arjuna was in familiar terms with Krishna, addressing him as cousin or brother-in-law. He had no fear. After the teaching of the Gita, he considered him as his guru. After the war, he developed dispassion, out of the fear experienced.
When a theft occurs, initially, there is grief. Thereafter, reconciliation occurs, and relief that only things were lost, but people were not harmed. By guru’s grace the person feels he was kept away from home at a satsang, or he might have been harmed or killed by the thief for the gold. Dispassion develops. But still, he hopes to retrieve the stolen goods. But would he think of sharing a part of the restored wealth with God who protected his life? No. I was looking at Swamiji’s photo when my life was saved, so I will give him half of the wealth if I retrieve it, is a thought that never occurs to him. A generous thought must come.
When Arjuna pleaded for a repeat lesson, Krishna obliged. But when he finished, Arjuna was surprised because his attention was diverted during the second teaching.
Uttara Gita is what this second uninterrupted teaching was called. Krishna kept teaching like an express train. Arjuna could not pay attention. He did not focus on the teaching. He was disturbed and interrupted by his duties as minister of the kingdom. One must concentrate.
The mind is elsewhere, on the street, at home, on food, or the television serial. The discourse is finished. Your body is here, but the mind is wandering.
On the battlefield, Arjuna paid attention. When a chance occurs, one must listen about God, about dispassion, and about philosophical truths. It is very good. It must be absorbed. Only when troubles come, you will listen, with dispassion. When enjoying comforts, the teaching will not penetrate. Once the pain is relieved, the helpers, and even God, are all forgotten.
In all states of mind, man must remain human and keep remembering God. Keep chanting God’s name. Say Sri Hari, Krishna, Govinda. Do not moo like a buffalo when groaning in pain. Neighbors and family members cannot study or sleep, with this irritating moaning sound. Instead of moaning, chant the name of God. The listeners will not get irritated. Think of Mother Goddess.
Sloka and Bhajan: Sarva svaroope sarvesi – Akhila jagati moola prakriti
Mother’s Universal form, and her way of protecting us and blessing us with her mere glance is described here. She is always smiling. Her radiance makes our sorrows evaporate. The heat of sorrow gets cooled down. A rose blooms naturally colorful. No one paints it after birth. Who gave it color and fragrance? It is Nature. Mother’s eyes are the sun and the moon. The rays of the sun cure diseases. Moon’s rays are cooling.
When we go to Tirupati and wait in line for hours, and are shoved, we should not look at the volunteers and other devotees. You must not bother or get angry when we get pushed. If we get distracted, we miss the darshan of the Lord. We must focus on our job of seeing the Lord. Make a mental imprint and recollect the image after returning home.
Her eyes are bright with consciousness. She is eternal and magnificent. Her energy fills every atom and subatomic particle. Immense energy is inherent in every atom. When we eat rice, we gain great energy. Many people are in an irritable mood during meal time. We must eat only Satvic food and remain in a good mood during meals. No non-veg food should be consumed. It is a sin. O Mother, you are in every cell. All qualities are yours. When dust rises, cover the nose and look at the dust particles and you will find strange forms. In clouds and smoke also you see forms. At the seashore, look at the waves. The moving clouds make all kinds of shapes. At Manasarovar, you will see many shapes of chosen deities in the clouds.
Your imagination makes you see many fond shapes. Devotees see Swamiji if the mind is pure and the vision is pure.
All virtues and talents are yours, O Mother. 24X64 are the number of virtues.
Listen to my words, Mother is making me speak now. Pay attention now. Later each of us go our separate ways.
You weave so many stories to teach us, O Mother. They are not for time pass or entertainment. In different forms, you teach us about yourself. You have brought about this astounding Creation in the most marvelous manner. As easily as you created, you also wipe it off. Children build sand castles effortlessly and as nonchalantly they stomp on them and destroy them.
Mother Goddess does the same. This is like a puppet show. She watches and entertains herself. We enjoy seeing the children playing, crawling, and taking baby steps. We decorate the child. Mother similarly plays with us. She is within us and outside us, and enjoys this sport. Parents watch from afar, the child’s play. If they come close, the child will become self-conscious and will stop her play.
Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva are your attendants. The 333 crore celestials serve you. Vasinya and other deities praise you. The siddhis like Anima as the deities, create desires in us, and fulfill those desires.
Our knowledge is as miniscule as half of a mustard seed. How to know you, O Mother, your unfathomable principle? Your worship rituals will grant us liberation.
When we return home from the temple, what should we bring back, in addition to Prasadam, flower garland, and kumkum? Would they give dosa, bajji, and vada? No. We must absorb the conscious energy. There may be a lot of noise there. People may feel like running away from there. We must ignore the noise. Mother has the entire Creation within Herself. Sometimes she allows it to emerge from Her.
With our limited knowledge, we boast that we know everything. We go to the temple or on a pilgrimage. Even to Manasarovar, Kasi, Rameswaram, and Tirupati. But what did you bring back? Laddu and rotti? We can prepare the same items here and offer to God. It is the same as Tirupati prasadam. We must create the atmosphere wherever we are.
Let us now sing a Datta bhajan.
Sloka and bhajan: Anasuya atri sambhoota – Datta datta anukundam
These are not ordinary songs. These are full of philosophical truths. 3-4 thousand of them, of which 2000 are most popular. Even white people sing Telugu bhajans so joyously. They sing in different languages. We do also. If we pay attention, we can follow the meaning.
Good devotees are here. I remember the concert held at this same venue. It poured that night, but you all stayed. You are very innocent devotees. 99 per cent are very pure souls. This is neither a village nor a city. I asked whether this tour included Addanki. They said yes. It has been many years since I traveled like this. I am traveling. Still 5-6 places to visit before I go to New Zealand. I am everywhere. All are my devotees and relatives. Wherever I am fondly invited, I go there. Mysuru is also like Addanki for me. Never blame God in times of grief. He protects us from danger, even during sleep.
Arjuna wondered why he did not understand the teaching of Krishna the first time. There was too much tumult. This morning it was too noisy and I could not listen to a devotee’s troubles in a calm frame of mind.
Watch the saptaha discourses.
Download SGS Posts. Listen to Bhagavatam. Good messages are sent daily. If you have a smart phone, you can read the messages. Many devotees visit Mysuru. Ashrama and temple are very neat and well maintained here. Continue to do so. I tell you again and again. We began the program late this evening. Still, you heard a few bhajan. Swamiji blesses you with health and happiness. You may arrange for a 3 day discourse here. Volunteers from Addanki give great service. May they be blessed with energy to serve more.
MANGALAM – Aruna kirana kanti maruti
Kayena vacha …
Sri Guru Datta