Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – Bhajan session – August 11, 2018 – Mysore
Compiled by Parimala Eshwarla
‘Tanu mana dalli vacana dalli’- This bhajan composed by Sri Swamiji is extremely dear to both Telugu and Kannada devotees. When the essence contained in it is grasped completely, we develop unwavering, firm devotion towards our Sadguru.
The present period in which we live is totally a turbulent one and hence it is of utmost importance to develop steady, unflinching devotion towards our Sadguru. Our devotion should be as steady as the stream of oil that flows during taila dhara. (In Taila dhara oil is poured into a container that has a small hole at its base. The flow of oil from such container is steady and uniform and appears like a pillar). Water that flows from such container does not maintain a uniform consistency. It varies depending upon the force of wind. More importantly, droplets of water falling from the container splash in all directions. Unlike this, the flow of oil is uniform, steady and stable throughout the period of flow.
The moment any devotee gets upset with his/her Guru, it is like an end. All the efforts put in during the many years of association would have been eroded that very instant. He/she has to re-start the efforts once again from the very first step.
‘Hunkāra’, criticizing Guru, trying to prove your point with your Sadguru or arguing with Him about the correctness of your actions throw you into the dreaded Rourava hell. ‘Why do you say this about me Swamiji? I am so and so..’- the person who argues thus with Sadguru will be allotted the first seat in the terrible hell. Remember this caution- speaking thus with your Sadguru is totally prohibited. You should, with determined practice, increase your levels of devotion and ensure that it is as steady as the taila dhara. It is extremely rare to find such good devotees. Perhaps one in a hundred may have such devotion.
By and large devotees are fickle-minded. All of a sudden they lose their temper, get upset with their Guru and the like. They are of the opinion that Swamiji is a mere human being. Their devotion is like a ‘trading devotion’- if I bow before God, He showers boons upon me; the more I serve the Lord the more He will shower me with boons. They have limited themselves to such devotion.
Immediately after the Srichakra puja in the morning, devotees in the prayer hall disperse in great urgency to join the prasadam queue even before Yoga session is complete. Even before the curtains are drawn they stand up. This is absolutely wrong! Henceforth until I permit, no one has the right to get up from the seat. You have to remain seated until the Yoga session is complete and the important announcements are done. Until your Guru commands, you have no right to get up for prasadam.
During Yoga session try to meditate. At that time disconnect with this external world and focus on mental meditation. With a single-pointed focus meditate internally. Remain unaffected by any external noises including chatter of other people around. This exercise helps the mind to remain steady at a point. The mind body and limbs are rendered pure with this exercise. You can mentally chant the verses from the Bhagavad Gita or any other shlokas, the Guru mantra or other mantras known to you with steady focus during such meditation.
Closing the eyes in meditation but focussing on the various other topics is incorrect. Focus only the mantra given to you. Focus on your favourite deity. Meditate upon the six inner chakras. All these is real yoga. Such Yoga is practiced immediately after the Srichakra puja in the prayer hall every morning.
This body is our home with which Lord Narayana resides (Narayana-nagara). Swamiji has composed a bhajan detailing this concept. In Bhagavad Gita it has been addressed as a Kshetra. Who is Narayana? Our inhalation and exhalation themselves are Narayana.
Obtaining a human birth is very rare and hence this body is precious. We must thus try to raise ourselves higher and higher within this human birth. We have no right whatsoever to get angry or upset with Swamiji/ Sadguru when He scolds us. Remember that one sin of yours has been washed out by Swamiji in this process of scolding you.
Any new cloth, however expensive it may be, needs to be washed after use. Else the stink will be repulsive. Can you excuse yourself from washing that dress merely because it is expensive? Can you get annoyed with people who scold you for not washing it? Can you say that you are a renowned personality and hence should not be blamed by others? Just as the best silks too need to be given for dry wash, like a washer man Sadguru washes you in order to cleanse you of your impurities. When the Sadguru is putting in efforts to cleanse you, is it right on your part to get upset that you have been insulted in front of a large audience?
In reality, the vast audience should remain invisible to you. Guru Geeta says that without any feelings of shyness you must prostrate upon seeing your Sadguru- Deergha dandam namaskŗtya nirlajjo Guru sannidhou.
There are many who feel ashamed to prostrate before their Guru. They are hesitant that others would be watching their movements. What is the necessity to feel ashamed? First and foremost, you would have lost a little bit of weight due to this exercise of falling on the ground. Knees get strengthened and belly fat is lost. Men should prostrate with all their limbs touching the ground.
You should remain unconcerned of the people around you. The people watching you have the same limbs/ body parts as you have. You are not exceptional in any way. Do you feel ashamed when you are being taken in a stretcher in the hospital? Do you feel ashamed when the hospital asks you to wear the gown supplied by them? Even Swamiji had to wear a gown when in hospital. Can a person feel ashamed to show the wound to the doctor merely because the wound is located in the thigh? Can a woman refuse to show her breast to the doctor when she seeks treatment for breast cancer? If she claims to be ashamed at that moment, can she survive? For hours we are willing to stand in queues- be in theatres, rail stations, malls etc. Why then do we feel shy to stand in the queue to meet Sadguru?
If your Sadguru scolds you, do not feel ashamed. Understand that some sin from the ancient past- perhaps from some past birth- has been plucked out by Him. You must be grateful that He has been merciful to you and must applaud yourself for that. Many true devotees eagerly await for that situation when their Sadguru would scold them. This is especially seen in the Sikh tradition. When slippers are hurled upon them by their Guru they are happy. They wipe the slippers of other devotees with the end of their sarees as this frees them from sin. We, on the other hand, hesitate to touch the slippers of others. In fact we despise touching slippers of other devotees as if it were some rotten faecal matter.
The dust from the feet of other devotees is truly sacred. In many temples we come across the names of people engraved on the flooring such that other devotees necessarily have to walk/ trample upon them during temple visits. People who engrave their name seek that the dust from the feet of other devotees should fall upon them so that their sins are eroded.
In previous eons the kings would pay and engage families entrusting them with the task of abusing/ scolding the king. These families would night and day find faults with the king and would scold him. They would spread lies about the king to the citizens who in turn would condemn the king believing this gossip. The king’s sins would transfer to such people who falsely gossiped about him. The sins of the sinner transfer to the person who gossips about him.
Therefore we should with great eagerness await that moment when our Sadguru will scold us. Trying to justify our actions, prove our correctness before Him are all wrong. ‘You scolded me in front of a large audience. I am not like that.. this was the truth… that was not right..’ through such arguments you are bringing Swamiji down to your level. You have reduced Him to human level. This being the case, where is the necessity to bow before Him? Why should you accept Him to be your spiritual Guru under such circumstances?
If you have kept Swamiji with great reverence, then unmindful of His scolding or abusing in public you must remain calm. If this is followed you will be drawn closer to Swamiji. On the contrary if you try to prove your correctness to Him, you will go distance from Him. Humbly accept your mistake. ‘Unknowingly I have committed the mistake. I was arrogant. Thank you for correcting me. This ego of mine needs to be shattered. Thank you for shattering it’- we should in fact be thankful every time we are scolded.
It is incorrect to remain focussed on our public status and public image. Social status is irrelevant in Sadguru’s presence. This is what Guru Geeta declares emphatically.
Now all of you make a promise that you will memorize the Guru Geeta and learn its meaning. Raise your hands and promise. When you understand Guru Geeta you will understand the significance of Guru. In its absence you can never ever understand the significance of Spiritual Guru despite singing limitless bhajans, despite limitless seva, despite sweeping the entire ashram premises regularly. You will never grasp Guru tattva. Understanding Guru Geeta is the only means to understand Guru tattva.
Towards helping you in this aspect, in the beginning itself, many decades ago I imparted the knowledge of Guru Geeta to you. I taught you the holy text and also many times explained the meaning in detail. It is imperative to understand the meaning of the Guru Geeta verses.
If you all memorise the Guru Geeta by the time Swamiji returns from His tour (Oct 1st) I shall, for three days, explain the meaning contained in some selected shlokas. By that date you must be able to chant from memory.
There was a hymn which I struggled to memorize as a child. I then tried to link up each phrase in the verse to its meaning and using this technique memorized the verse completely.
Shloka:
Vedān uddharate jaganti vahate bhu-golaṃ udbibhrate
daityam dārayate balim chalayate kshatra-kshayam kurvate
paulastyam jayate halam kalayate kārunyam ātanvate
mlecchān mūrchayate dashakriti-krite krishnāya tubhyaṃ namaḥ
Vedān uddharate- He who lifted up the Vedas. Who could this be- I thought? Who could have rescued the Vedas? It had to be the fish incarnation wherein He rescued the Vedas. With this clue I remembered the phrase. Rescuing Vedas meaning rescuing the scholars who protected the Vedas. Vedic knowledge had got submerged completely. The Lord lifted up such scholars.
jaganti vahate- He who held up the mountain. This was connected to the story of Kurma avatara wherein the Lord in the form of a tortoise lifted the mountain on His back. Using this technique I memorized this line.
bhu-golam udbibhrate- He lifted up Earth. I understood that this was the boar incarnation (varaha).
daityam dārayate- He destroyed demons. I thought- which was the first incarnation wherein He destroyed demons? With this clue I remembered the Narasimha incarnation and thus memorized this phrase.
balim chalayate- He tricked Bali. This had to be Vamana incarnation.
kshatra-kshayam kurvate- He destroyed the Kshatriyas. So this had to be the Parasurama incarnation.
paulastyam jayate- He conquered the lineage of Paulastya. I.e. Rama. The entire story of Rama came to memory.
halam kalayate- He who levelled the land using the plough i.e. Balarama.
kārunyam atanvate- Among all the incarnations, Krishna is the incarnation that overflowed with compassion. This was the only incarnation where compassion played a significant role. In all other incarnations, compassion was depicted only when necessary. It was more duty-bound. But as Krishna he was an epitome of compassion. As such this verse instantly brought to memory Krishna’s story.
Mlecchām moorchayate- He who rendered such mlecchas unconscious. So this had to be Kalki avatara. Mlecchas are those who abandon shastras, dharmas, humanity, who do not respect women and parents, who lack devotion towards God and who eat other living animals alive.
dashakriti-krite krishnāya tubhyam namaḥ- only this last verse contains reference to Krishna. from this it is evident that this hymn pertains to Krishna’s incarnations.
Using the last verse as the reference we can understand that the 10 main incarnations of the Lord are extolled in this hymn. Until I mapped the verses with their stories, I was struggling with his hymn. When I understood that it was the 10 main incarnations, I worked backwards. What were the 10 incarnations of Krishna – I figured it out and then understood the meaning. With this I could memorize the hymn completely.
Using such techniques memorize Guru Gita. It is a simple Gita with just 140 verses. Towards such memorization we must have absolute concentration. We must not become slaves to the mobile. We must not get distracted when the mobile rings. We must use it only in our spare time.
We should not give importance to our physical body. We should abandon the insults, accusations hurled upon the physical body. If someone were to laugh at us, we get offended. Let them laugh, what do we lose? If someone ridicules us, our sins transfer to them. On the other hand, where they laugh for a true joke, then no issues.
As you memorize the Guru Gita, your retention power increases. Your concentration levels increase. As it increases what we have learnt stays in memory. All of you have now promised to memorize Guru Gita. Please abide by your promise.