Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – Sri Rama Navami – March 25, 2018 – Hyderabad
Compiled by: Archana Penukonda
During Sri Rama’s time, there was abundant prosperity. No unrighteousness (adharma), no lies, deceit, no untimely death etc. in Sri Rama’s time. Untimely death, lies, cheating etc. are rampant in Kaliyuga. In Treta Yuga, there was no crime or inauspiciousness. People lived full lives for 120-130 years. Those with the power of penance lived up to a thousand years with no fear of disease. In Kaliyuga, even the youth are suffering from disease and signs of old age. The Lord says that in Kaliyuga, he will protect those who chant the divine names, see Him everywhere and serve Him with devotion. 60 years is considered a full life now.
Even if you live into old age, you must be strong and independent, otherwise, there is no use.
In Sri Rama’s time, people would lament of boredom if they lived longer than 1000 years. They had the ability to leave their body without much suffering. Everyone wants an easy death.
But, we need to earn that kind of health and good fortune. We need to cultivate that good behavior and sattva guna, without hurting others or coveting others wealth. Otherwise, the suffering of old age is immense. Very few have an easy old age. Even those who have an easy old age suffer from some physical ailments.
You must take care of health and eat in moderation. God grants good health, but you must take care of it. We can never chant the glories of Sri Rama’s name and share his stories enough number of times. It feels as if Sri Rama’s story just happened yesterday. Everyone remembers his story. We were all around in Treta Yuga. We kept taking births to get rid of our sins. We have taken birth in Kaliyuga now. We must invest our lives in the right things.
Some of you were around during Sri Rama’s time. You earned the grace of Sri Rama. Some of you were in the lineage of some of the kings, may be Lava and Kusha’s kingdom or Lakshmana’s kingdom. We want to be in this spiritual journey despite all the woes of worldly life. Even as we are sucked into the ocean of samsara, we should make an effort to swim across. There are billions of people on the planet. Only a fortunate few are gathered here in Satsang. We are so fortunate. It must be the merit of previous lives that is helping us travel this spiritual path.
Regardless of all difficulties and physical ailments, regardless of the terrible ocean of samsara, may be continue forward on this spiritual journey. We have the opportunity to read good books, follow a good guru, visit pilgrim places, serve the needy and feed the hungry. We are so blessed to escape all the Adharma and immoral happenings in Kaliyuga. We are escaping from the malefic effects of time. Sometimes, the resources and relatives and even our bodies do not cooperate with the service we want to do. Regardless, we should push forward with the service. Those who are used to spiritual practices, like we are, but are constrained by resources and other issues pine for undertaking spiritual activities.
We are all so blessed to gather here. We are singing his glory, we are thinking of him, we are gathered here in his temple. Datta is showing us the way. Hanuman is showing us the way. Hanuman will always show the way to sincere devotees. Despite our weaknesses and vices and sins, we fell into this spiritual path. We are singing his glory now like they used to sing in his time. We sing as if his story occurred just yesterday.
Bhajan: Ramudamma ramudu ramyamaina devudu
The entire Ramayana is in this composition. Ramayana has been summarized in one syllable, one word, one line, one verse, one poem and so on with great poetic skills by many scholars. Many continue to praise him even in Kaliyuga. Many are still interpreting and writing the Ramayana. Nothing wrong with that. There are so many versions of Ramayana and its interpretations. Brahma Ramayana, Narada Ramayana, Tulasi Ramayana, Valmiki Ramayana etc. existed even back then. The Lord gave them that capability to write. Hanuman himself helped them in a subtle form. Their life history is example enough for us. Each letter they wrote was a flower offering to the Lord. The Lord accepted those offerings and blessed them in return.
The Lord cares for your devotion, not your education. So many devotees keep offering me their poems. I never criticize them. I bless them with more wisdom and creativity. I bless them to sing the glories of God. Even now in Maharashtra, people even in important positions sing the glories of Vithala without inhibitions. They made that a habit. They light a lamp in the evening, sing bhajans in the evening and then go to bed. Despite all the difficulties and chaos at home, despite ailing family members, some devotees will never let go of Swamiji’s bhajans. They will keep listening and chanting. They listen to Chalisa and all bhajans of Swamiji. They light a lamp for the deities, including for Jayalakshmi Mata. They make the effort to come to the temple and have Darshan. They are beings from previous yugas who had to take birth in this Kaliyuga just to fulfill their karma. We have all earned such good fortune. Many Datta devotees patiently suffer through their difficulties and continue to sing the glories of God. The joy they experience in singing the bhajans is immeasurable.
Bhajan: Ram naam ki madhur malaayi
The bhajans you have been hearing are all Ramayana. Through songs today, we have heard the Ramayana. Offering our respects wholeheartedly to Sri Rama, we sing the Ramayana.
The Ramayana can be summarized in one word, one line, one verse or can be talked about for an entire life. It is not just a story. People think Ramayana is only about Rama, Sita, Ravana etc
All Vedanta, devotion, dispassion and wisdom is in the Ramayana. It is a guide for living our lives. We have to offer our prostrations to Sri Rama, do we not?
Bhajan: Dandaalu Dandaalu Ramayya
Every bhajan must be absorbed with devotion and seriousness, not with frivolousness. Do not be distracted, looking around at others and examining what they are doing. We are singing divine names. Each syllable bestows millions of blessings. These are not ordinary bhajans. You must be serious and focused. Do not sing distracted like children. Do not think of it as classical music either. You must not look around and laugh. Close your eyes and let a smile emerge internally. Enjoy it. The mind will get distracted if you look around. You will lose focus. You must close your eyes and see the Lord. See his beautiful face or see the Lord in yourself. Forget about your phone and other distractions. The 10,000 people in the healing session yesterday forgot all about their phones. For the first time, my devotees forgot all about their phones. Even when my devotees are asleep, they wake up just to check their phones. You can wait till the morning to respond to phone calls and messages. If you receive the news in the middle of the night that a relative is ill, can you get there immediately? Neither can you sleep peacefully, nor can you go see the ailing relative. You will likely receive news again the morning that the relative is fine. But what happened to you in the meanwhile? You lost your peace of mind. Of course, you must listen and be attentive to such news, but when it is time to sleep, you must sleep peacefully. We have many difficulties in life. Who does not have difficulties? We should not always dwell on them. We all have to take care of our health, our food, our peace and rest. You cannot go to them (those who are suffering) all the time. If you are able to go serve the ailing relatives physically or at least arrange for it, do it. But if you cannot, why are you ruining your peace and rest? I am not saying you should ignore or shun relatives. Let them stay with you if you wish. But you need the rest to recharge yourself and face the difficulties. If you give up food and rest to dwell on difficulties, you will also leave the world with those relatives. Sure, face the difficulties, cry and do what you need to. But be disciplined. Keep track of time. Grieve for an hour if you need to. Get back to life after.
Bhajan: Raghuvara Subhakara Sri Rama
What a wonderful composition this is. This was a song Swamiji sang in Ayodhya. Swamiji did a big Yajna there. Let me see the people that were in Ayodhya for the Yajna, please stand. You are so blessed. I am very happy you were there. That was a magnificent Yajna. If Swamiji is here sitting and singing, Ayodhya is the reason. I saw the magnificence of the Lord in Sarayu river. The deep waters had strong currents. If anyone falls into the water, it would be very hard to survive. You know what happened there. I am here today because you were all blessed to be part of this festival with me.
Bhajan: Rama Hare Jaya Shoure
As soon as you wake up in the morning, do Pranayama for 3-5 minutes in silence, right on the bed and then get on with your routine. If you want to drink water, sit down and drink. Some say you need to drink water before brushing your teeth. Not necessary. You can drink water after brushing. Drink at least two glasses of water. Your kidneys will get cleansed. Sit down when eating your meals. Sometimes in a buffet system it may be a hard to sit down as you socialize. Even when you are eating in the Ashram, sit down when possible. Keep a glass of water next to you when you eat, just in case you choke on the food.
Sleep on your left side, wake up on your right. If you want to sleep facing the ceiling, that is even better. That’s good for you. Do not sleep on your tummy. You can sleep on your left or right, either is okay. But wake up on your right. Do not get thinking once you lie down. Simply listen to the sound of your breath. You will fall asleep. Chant divine names or play (Swamiiji’s) healing music while listening to your breath and fall asleep. You will also feel that Swamiji is with you. Don’t worry about what others will think of this habit. They will slowly start adopting this practice too. Your kids will also learn this. It is very peaceful.
You all must subscribe to Bhaktimala. All the Bhaktimala issues are online as well. You do not even need physical books. How many do not have SGS Posts on their phones? Many of you do not know about SGS Posts. Volunteers must fix this. Volunteers must install SGS Posts for devotees that do not have it. What are the volunteers doing? You are approaching the ones that already have the app. You need a smart phone to get the app. Get the app. Show your children the messages. The messages can change your life. The messages are short and in the language of your choice. Swamiji keeps sending SGS Posts messages in the morning…that is what I work on in the morning.
I will sing one more bhajan before mangalam. I know I do not feel like ending the program either, but you have all been here since the morning.
Bhajan: Shrnuta shrnuta sundara rama gatha
On November 9, we will have Hanuman Chalisa Maha Yajna in Hyderabad’s Nizam college grounds, where there was a concert many, many years ago. Bring busloads of people. Let everyone be blessed. We spent Ugadi like the Devi Navaratris here. We were here for nine days. If you had asked for these nine days, I probably would not have done it. Watch Bhagavatam every day when it is on TV in the morning. You must listen to the Bhagavatam 7 times. Get Bhaktimala subscription and install SGS Posts on your phone. Participate in all programs in the Ashram. We have been blessed to participate and contribute. We should contribute without complaining. All volunteers have worked hard. You have helped the host committee members participate. They have been blessed to touch Swamiji’s feet. I wanted Hyderabad Ashram to clear out their loans. With these contributions, all your debt has been cleared. We do not have a single penny of debt anymore. All of you got together, like drops of water that make the ocean. When your Divya Nama comes together, it becomes devotion, which in turn leads to liberation. Everybody contributed varying amounts in line with their ability – from a few hundred rupees to lakhs of rupees. There are some that contributed Rs. 1000, some who contributed Rs. 300 for Ganapati Homa. I bless you all wholeheartedly. Swamiji gives you good health. Swamiji gives you the blessing to do more service. Come to Mysore whenever you can. Tulabharam is still going on, you can participate. Reminder again to get Bhaktimala and SGS Posts. Share your food on Tuesdays.
Today at Bengaluru’s cancer institute, Bengaluru devotees donated food to 1500 people. You can find places like that and donate food and clothing to the needy. Cover the homeless in the cold with a blanket. You can give away the old blankets and buy new blankets for yourself. You can donate new blankets too if possible. You will gain so much happiness with these small services. Offer one blanket, one meal, whatever little you can, you will gain so much joy.
The volunteers here are offering so much service. As older volunteers leave, new ones are joining. The outgoing volunteers who are now gainfully employed are sending funds to the Ashram. The volunteer uniform brings authority, pride and respect. It is like the attire in Indra’s kingdom. You are serving Lord Datta, you are serving mankind.
Become a host member each year. Do not wait for volunteers to remind you. The programs here need to take place. Your funds stay here, I do not take one penny with me, Hanuman is the witness. I can always get funds when I need. But I want your funds to support this place. This building here is very good. So many people lie down here after lunch. It is cooling. I am going to Nepal next week to have Darshan of Shiva and Vishnu. I am going to Mt. Everest after. You cannot go on that trip with me, although you can come as far as having Darshan of Vishnu and Shiva.