Speeches of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – April 15, 2020
Sookti
Compiled by Parimala Eshwarla
Jeevantōpi mŗtāḥ panca vyāsēna parikeertitāḥ
Daridrō vyādhitō mūrkhaḥ pravāsī nityasēvakaḥ ǁ
Maharishi Vyasa has declared that the following 5 types of people are as good as dead: those who are eternally penniless, who are eternally diseased, who are foolish and stupid, those who eternally are travelling to other lands and the labourers.
Pennilessness is a terrible state. That suffering is worse than death. A pauper does not get love and affection at home. The society does not respect him. Once he steps out of his home, at every step he faces insults. His wife does not obey him. On the contrary, she rebukes him and sneers at him. Even the basic respect she fails to have for him. Children do not follow the disciplines and tend to tilt towards evil ways. A man who is thus facing hardships on every front, considers death to be better than such wretched life. A person who does not obtain even a decent meal a day, who has no decent clothing and not even a small shelter to reside in- such a person even if living is as good as dead.
In life we come across many sick people. Unable to even sit, they are bedridden for entire lifetime. Unable to look after their needs, the people at home curse and use abusive words against them, which torment them terribly. Unable to do anything, they helplessly lie in bed. Even dear relatives fail to greet them. Even the richest person leads a miserable life once he is bedridden. He undergoes hellish sufferings. For this reason, our elders would always pray for a painless death without suffering and without being dependent upon others. But, a person who commits sins cannot even expect painless death, for, even the most virtuous persons rarely get it.
Our Scriptures declare that our own past sinful deeds trouble us in the form of diseases. For instance, the person who, for no reason, beat innocent animals with sticks lose their limbs in this birth. Those who, with their words and deeds, harm their newly wed daughter-in-law, suffer with paralysis. Those who condemn others needlessly, or abuse noble saints or virtuous people, are born as speech impaired or hearing impaired. It is thus evident that our own past sins manifest in the form of diseases in this birth. Take for instance the case of physically deformed children. Parents grieve that their child does not have a normal growth. Killing of Brahmins, killing newborn or undergoing abortions, suicide and killing women is responsible for the birth of such children. At times, such children are born due to this sin being committed by some ancestor of that lineage. Garuda Purana explains in detail about the causes for the diseases.
Garuda Purana would be read when there was a death at home. This was to act as a warning for the remaining relatives.
Fools who lack even the basic discriminatory intelligence, as well as those who are always travelling from one country to another on account of employment or otherwise can in real life never enjoy any happiness. They do not have much time to spend with children. They cannot relax and play freely with their children.
Next is labourers. Without a care for their wellbeing, their employers make them work night and day. Their entire lifetime goes in looking after the needs of their employer and his family members. As such, on their faces even a trace of joy cannot be found. It can be said that they are nothing more than living corpses.
For this reason, in this Sookti Maharishi Vyasa says that the paupers, fools, those who are constantly travelling, labourers and the diseased are nothing more than living corpses.
Message in Bhakti TV Program telecast on April 15, 2020
Compiled by: Jaya Akkanapragada
Śrī mahāgańapatayé namaha
Śrī sarasvatyé namaha
Śrī pādavallabha nrsimha sarasvati
Śrī Guru Dattātréyāya namaha
What does tīrtha mean? What is the significance of temples and gōpurā-s? I want to spend a little time talking about this today. Our Hindu sanātana tradition lays a lot of emphasis on the importance of temples and their gōpurā-s.
In India, there are so many temples in lanes. Every person must visit any one temple everyday. You should do this as religiously as your daily walk. Paramātma is our friend. We can share everything with Him including our troubles and worries. When we share our worries with Him, believing that He is listening to us, we will automatically feel lighter. There aren’t many people in this world who want to spend time listening to our problems.
When we visit the temple, we receive tīrtha offered by the priest there. We perform pradakśinā-s – circumambulations and offer whatever we have brought – either a coconut, or some agarbatti – incense sticks or at least some camphor. If we have nothing to offer, we pay for ārti ticket and ask the priest to perform ārti to the deity. The priest then offers tīrtha which is also known as carańōdakam or pādōdakam. This is because Ganga originated at the feet of Paramātma. So when we receive tīrtha, if we think of it as holy Ganga water, it will purify our speech, mind and body – trikarańa śuddhi. While receiving tīrtha, we should mentally chant the mantra
akāla mrutyu harańam
sarva vyādhi nivārańam
samasta duritō praśamanam
śrī viśnō pādōdakam pāvanam śubham
Since Ganga is said to have been born from Śri Viśnu’s feet, this holy water has the power to prevent untimely death and increase longevity. It also has the power to cure all diseases. It forgives and washes away our sins as well. tīrtha is considered so pure and auspicious. How did it get so much śakti? Certain mūlikā-s roots and herbs, and fragrance-giving ingredients are mixed and offered as abhiśeka to the Lord.
Different people prepare tīrtha in different ways. In Gānagāpuram, abhiśekam to Swami is done with attar – perfume. The area around is filled with the smell of that fragrance.
Similarly if we visit any Venkataramańa Swami temple, we can smell camphor. In Devi temples, you will get the smell of incense. How nice it is to be able to smell the kunkuma and Chandana – sandalwood paste. If we receive a saree or any other prasādam from such a temple, that fragrance will linger for a month. All these fragrances in a kśétra calm our minds and give us a lot of peace.
The way tīrtha is prepared in a Viśnu temple is different from how it is prepared in a Śiva temple. In temples to Mother Goddess, tīrtha is prepared in a completely different manner. Some prepare tīrtha only with mūlikā-s, some use only tulasi while some others use cardamom, cloves, camphor, saffron and tulasi to prepare tīrtha.
We prepare Ugādi pacchadi – to celebrate new year which includes all the 6 tastes. In Andhra Pradesh, people will add more tamarind and green mango. Neem flower will be barely noticeable in their preparation. They consume it like it is a juice to be relished in large quantities. That should not be done. One teaspoon is enough.
In our āśrama, we prepare tīrtha from 32 different mūlikā-s and offer it every day to Śri Cakra and to the pāncāyitāna dévatā-s as well as to the 12 very important sāligrāmā-s and navaratnā-s as abhiśekam and then distribute it as tīrtha to everyone. This is a very old tradition which we are following. As soon as this tīrtha falls on these sāligrāmās, navaratnā-s, silver and copper articles present, it reacts with them, and becomes energised. Already it is made from so many mūlikā-s, so it is now very powerful. That is why even a drop of this tīrtha is enough.
You cannot drink glasses and glasses of it like you would drink pānakam (drink made from jaggery) because the āśrama tīrtham is actually slightly bitter.
No matter how tīrtha is prepared, we believe that once it comes in contact with divine objects, it gets energised. In every ārōgya sūtra, this is clearly mentioned, so we must never forget it.
There are 2 ways of taking tīrtha. The first is receiving tīrtha thrice at one go, and then consuming it. The second is to receive it and consume it and repeat this a total of 3 times. There is a beautiful mantra to chant while receiving the tīrtha thrice.
prathamam kāya śuddhyartham – to be chanted while receiving the first time
dvitīyam dharma sādhanam – while receiving the second time
tritīyam mokša siddhyartham – while receiving the third time
évam tīrtham tridhā bhavét
With the first part received, the body gets purified. With the second part, dharma sādhana happens. and with the third part, liberation is granted. Thus three things are accomplished by taking tīrtha.
tīrtha comes from the root tri. There are 2 meanings for this dhātu. The first is paramanam- to fly and cross over. The second is taralam – to swim and cross over. Samsāram which is like a huge mountain or like the sea needs to be crossed over and that is why it is referred to as tīrtham. There is so much meaning behind this word. The great Masters have put so much thought into this tīrtham which has so much śakti. We simply go and receive it without thinking.
vāsudévéna tīrthéna dhāta gacchasya samśayam
hold onto the tīrtham named Vāsudéva and get rid of all your doubts and fears.
tīrtha sévana does not just refer to receiving and drinking holy water, but also bathing in holy water. Puńya kśétrā-s are also known as puńya tīrthā-s.
nadīdéva nighātréśu
tatākéśu sarassuca
snānam samācaré nityam
gyarta praśravané tu ca
nipānā dudhukam puńyam
tataha prasavanādikam
tatōpi sārasam puńyam
tatō nādéya mucyaté
tīrthatōyam tataha puńyam
gangātōyam tatōdhikam
We must always bathe In rivers, waterfalls, lakes and ponds or bathe in water drawn from a well, at a temple or from a small water body. We must completely immerse ourselves in the water. This is why we have the Saptarishi tīrtham in our peetham. I keep hoping someone will go and immerse themselves in the water, but no one goes there saying the water is very cold. You must go and immerse completely at least once. Then all your sins will be washed away.
There is a lot of puńyam – merit in drawing water from wells and using that water to bathe. You may think water from the borewell is anyways coming through the tap at home. It is not the same because there is a machine being employed to pump the water into your home. You must go and draw water from the well and pour it on yourself.
Bathing in waterfalls has even greater puńya than the water drawn from a well. But where will we get access to a waterfall everyday?
Bathing in sarōvara – lake has even greater puńyam than waterfall. But the puńyam of bathing in a river surpasses this. Even greater puńyam is obtained by bathing in a tīrtha kśétra. But there is no greater puńyam than immersing ourselves in the Ganga river – puńyāti puńyam. The Agni purāńam says there is no greater puńyam than this.
By such tīrthaséva, there is no difficulty which we cannot overcome.
akardamavidam tīrtham bharadwāja niśāmayā
ramayańīm prasannābu sanmanuśya manōvyathā
With this verse describing a tīrtha, the Vālmīki Rāmāyańam begins. From this we learn that tīrtha sévana has the power to transform an ordinary person into a scholar with great prowess.
tīrthā is such a great and powerful word that when a person takes up Sanyāsa āśrama, they incorporate it in their name. In my pūrvāśrama, My father took up sanyāsa āśrama. And His name became Narahari Tīrtha. Only if one takes tīrtha every day for many many janmā-s can they receive the blessing of sanyāsa āśrama. That is the greatness of tīrtham!
When a Brahmagñāni goes to a place, it becomes a tīrtha kśétram. That is why Bhāgavatam describes the greatness of Mahātmā-s.
tīrthi kurvanti tīrthāni
just seeing a Mahātma blesses us with as much suspiciousness as bathing in a tīrtha kśétram. These Jangama tīrthā-s with their words have the power to remove impurities and inflictions of the body and mind.
Satyam, manas śuddhi and indriya nigraham are known as mānasa tīrtham.
satyam tīrtham kšamā tīrtham
tīrtham indriya nigraha
sarvabhūta dayā tīrtham
sarvatrārjava méva ca
dānam tīrtham damas tīrtham
santōśastīrtham ucyaté
brahmacaryam param tīrtham
tīrthanca priyavāditā
gñānam tīrtham dhritis tīrtham
puñyam tīrtha mudāvrutam
All the above qualities are mentioned as tīrtha in the Brahma Purāńam.
yasya hastau ca pādau ca
manaścaiva susamyatam
vidyātapaśca tīrthanca
sa tīrtha phalamaśnutī
This verse says that
the one whose hands, feet and manas are clean,
who stays away from doing foolish and wrong things,
who is constantly gaining and searching for Vidya and performing tapas,
who constantly partakes of tīrtha séva
such a person will truly receive and be blessed with tīrtha phalam.
Befriending and following in the footsteps of such people is very beneficial for us. Even if we do any one of these things, we would be performing tīrthaséva.
Therefore we must visit a temple everyday and we must pray to the Lord there to bless us with at least one of these qualities, and then receive the tīrtham.
This is the secret in tīrtha and tīrtha séva.
Śrī Mahāviśnu is known as tīrthakarudu because in His various avatārs, He converted several places into tīrtha kśétrā-s. Jains refer to Paramātma as tīrthānkara.
As humans, we must always strive to be tīrthasévakā-s and not tīrthakākā-s. kāka or crow flies everywhere in search of food, so it does not know the significance of tīrtha. But humans must know. They must walk the right path and partake of the tīrtha originating at the Lord’s feet. Only then will such a person obtain bhukti and mukti.
If you cannot go to a temple everyday, you can perform abhiśékam to the sāligrāmam or Śivalinga or dévatā mūrti at home after cleansing them with pure water. That water from the abhiśékam can be taken as tīrtha. Never forget this. You must do what is possible by you to protect and carry these very important traditions forward.
We must all make it a habit of visiting a temple everyday. Once it becomes a habit, we will not be able to stay without visiting a temple everyday. At home also, keep a sāligrāma, or Datta pādukā-s and if you offer clean and pure water with the utmost bhakti, that is enough. You do not need to perform abhiśékam with milk or curd. With just pure water which is either boiled and cooled, or filtered drinking water offered with utmost devotion, you can perform abhiśékam to the pādukās or Śivalingam or sāligrāmam while chanting Datta Stavam or Hanuman Chālīsā or any other slokas which you know. If you do not know any sloka just chant
Guru Brahmā
Guru Viśnuhu
Gurur dévō Mahéśvaraha
Guru sākśāt Parabrahma
tasmayi Śrī Guravé namaha
Chant a sloka while offering abhiśékam and the akāla mrutyu harańam slōka while partaking the tīrtham. I cannot tell you how beneficial this is! You should also chant the very important Stuti
satyam tīrtham kšamā tīrtham (given above)
We must all keep amarakōša – sanskrit dictionary at home. so that we learn how pronounce these words properly and know their meanings.
Jaya Guru Datta. Sri Guru Datta.