Sookti and Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – Yugadi – March 25, 2020 – Mysore
Sookti
Compiled by: Parimala Eshwarla
Sā śriḥ yā na madaṃ kuryāt, sa sukhī tŗṣṇayōrjyutaḥ
Tanmitram yatra viśvāsaḥ, puruṣassaḥ jitendriyaḥǁ
That wealth, which fails to generate arrogance/ intoxication in the person is the real wealth. That is Lakshmi. Only he, who is able to abandon excessive desires, is a truly happy man. A true friend is he, who is totally trustworthy, faithful and friendly. Only he, who has conquered the sense organs, is a true man (purusha)!
‘śrīh’ means wealth. Wealth does not connote only material riches. Even health is wealth! Progeny is also wealth. Scholarliness, beauty, eloquence in speech, good character, and good family are all classified as wealth. In other words, all of them shower the person with happiness. Even if one among them is lacking it is poverty.
All the above-mentioned types of prosperity fill the person with arrogance, haughtiness and pride. Pride is an indicator of a person’s imminent fall. As such, that prosperity which does not cause arrogance in the person is itself auspicious. It bestows auspiciousness.
In humans, desires scale up to the skies. Desires go as deep as the oceans. An extremely hungry person can, probably appease his hunger through good, tasty, healthy foods. An extremely thirsty person can quench his thirst with sweet water. However, understand that it is impossible to quench the thirst called ‘desire’.
Desire is a terrible, dangerous disease hidden secretively in a person’s mind. There is no medicine that doctors can prescribe for it. It is a terrible noose that binds the person. Therefore, the person who is suffering with the disease called ‘insatiable desires’ or ‘unending desires’ can never experience happiness in life.
Who is a true friend? He who is totally trustworthy, on whom we can place complete faith, and who is friendly is alone to be considered a true friend.
Mēdyati iti mitrah- it is said. Even the treatise on grammar describes the person who has implicit faith and trust in all living beings as a true friend. A person who approaches us seeing our wealth, position or power- we must never consider him to be a true friend. We must immediately give up friendship with a person who is untrustworthy. If not, one day or the other, we are bound to fall into trouble due to him.
The word ‘purusha’ in this sookti does not refer to men. The word ‘purusha’ has many definitions per grammar rules. Puranteeti purushāh- the person who stands in front and leads others on the good/ right path is purusha.
This is not all! The person who has the ability to restrain the sense-organs, which at every second have the ability to retaliate, and who furthermore is able to direct these sense-organs on the path of his choice is a true ‘purusha’.
Syāllomaśaḥ puruśah- only the person who has hair all over his body ( more especially on his face) should not be only considered purusha. Only the person who has obtained total control over his senses must be considered a purusha.
Bhajan and Coronavirus related message
Compiled by: Archana Penukonda
śrī mahāganapate namaḥ
śrī sarasvatyai namaḥ
śrī pādavallabha narasimha sarasvati
śrī guru dattātreyāya namaḥ
Happy Ugadi to everyone. Happy Shaarvari Nama Samvatsara (lunar new year called Shaarvari). This big festival is observed by Telugu, Kannada, Marathi and a few other people. I bless everyone on this Ugadi day. It is okay that we are all home; we are celebrating Ugadi together. You may have heard the Ugadi song in the morning on Gemini TV, eTV and Bhakti TV. It is good that the Ugadi song was broadcast everywhere.
There is no doubt that what is happening is God’s will. 300 years ago, Brahmendra Yogi predicted in his Kala Jnana book this disease (called Coriyana in his work) where people will die like chicken. It is astonishing that he had this divine knowledge 300 years ago. There may be many other secrets hidden in his work. It gives us horripilation as well as fear that he predicted this and indicated the disease would come from the northeasterly direction. He even indicated how one could be safe from this disease, just as Swamiji is indicating now. Now, we understand how precious this God-given life is. We should protect this very carefully. That is why I always keep reminding you to protect your Hamsa – breath. In other words, protect your life.
I am happy you are all staying at home this Ugadi. It does not matter; you are all together, otherwise, you are always busy or on the phone. May Lord Dattatreya bless us. We will fight Coronavirus by staying home. We will also support the Government. I am very happy with the service mentality and the amazing work done by doctors, nurses, police, media, volunteers and especially the cleaners cleaning the public toilets. They have families too, but they are working to protect us. You must follow the rules and restrictions placed by the Government. The Government is promising to give us all facilities if we stay home. If we do not stay home, the infection will spread rampantly. Stay home and perform Anagha Vratam. It will be good if you can chant the mantra “Om Namo Narayana”, memorize Vishnu Sahasra Nama, Lalita Sahasra Nama. This is a great time to memorize the Bhagavad Gita. You will do it, won’t you? God has given us this precious life that we need to protect. To protect this human body and mankind in general, we should all take the right steps. May Lord Dattatreya bless and protect us all. We will fight this Coronavirus disease by sitting at home.
Devotees have been asking for this Bhajan
See how God’s form is…
vedān uddharate jagannivahate bhu-golam udbibhrate
daityam dārayate balim chalayate kṣatra-kṣayam kurvate
paulastyam jayate halam kalayate kāruṇyam ātanvate
mlecchān murchayate daśākr̥ti-kr̥te kr̥ṣṇāya tubhyam namaḥ
Bhajan: tandē tāyi pāṇḍuraṅga
Ugadi festial has been celebrated since time immemorial. It moved me to tears seeing children beautifully sing Swamiji’s Ugadi songs on eTV again. They sang the first stanza of all the songs that referred to Ugadi and that alone lasted 30 minutes. We will have this done by the Namarchana group as well. You can also sing a Bhajan or chant a Chapter of Bhagavad Gita without any errors. We will have a competition where you will need to chant with eyes closed and send us a video recording. We have 21 days of lockdown, we can use the time. Many of you learned many bhajans. This is a nice test. You can chant any Bhagavad Gita chapter with correct enunciation, with eyes closed. Your video should be clear with the recording device set on a stand (so it does not shake) and should show you chanting with eyes closed. You must chant in clear light, not in darkness. You can also sing a Bhajan. You must sing with the right melody, rhythm and key. You can simply record with your phone and send. If you happen to open your eyes while chanting, you can discard that recording and do a new one. You have such a golden opportunity. The instructions will be posted to Facebook. Do this sadhana while sitting at home. Everyone can send their videos. We will select the winners. We do not know what the prizes are, but we will have a surprise prize. Inform your friends and relatives about this live program happening daily. I know there are many time zones tuned into this broadcast. I know the times are tough. But we will conquer this. That is why I worshiped Shitali Devi today.