Sookti and Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – March 27, 2020 – Mysore
Sookti
Compiled by Parimala Eshwarla
Dadāti pratigŗhṇāti guhyamākhyāti pŗcchati
Bhunktē bhōjayatē caiva, ṣadvidham mitra (preeti) lakṣanam ǁ
The person with whom we share a mutual give and take, who shares secrets with us and who retains the secrets revealed by us to him; who feeds us and who allows to be fed by us, is our true friend.
A true friend has all the above 6 qualities. Mēdyati iti mitrah- this is how Shabda shastra describes the Sun-god. Only he who has feelings of love towards all living beings and who is totally trustworthy should be deemed a friend. A true friends whole-heartedly accepts whatever we offer to him. He will talk respectfully about us to others. He will never gossip about us.
Lovingly he enquires about our secrets and listens to them all. To all our problems, he offers valuable, righteous suggestions which enhance our reputation in the society. Under no circumstances will he reveal our secrets to others. During our difficulties, he stands by us all the time. Instead of abandoning us, he stays with us and happily shares our difficulties.
When hungry, instead of waiting for our approval, he will freely take what he wants and eats from us. When he realizes we are hungry, he immediately offers to us foods that are relished by us. If situations demand, then he will offer to us the food he is eating. Only the person who has all the above-mentioned qualities should be addressed as a friend.
An example of such friend can be found in Ramayana. Nowhere in Ramayana does it say that Guha visited Rama in Ayodhya. Guha was a vassal king in Dasharatha’s empire. His duty was to protect the forests and the inhabitants who lived there. He had to take care of the needs of the forest people. Rama however did not consider Guha as a mere vassal king but as his dearest friend. He embraced Guha and lovingly enquired into his wellbeing. He also informed Guha of all his troubles. When he revealed to Guha of how his father was bound by his righteous promise, Guha praised Dasharatha profusely.
The other example of true friendship is that of Krishna and Arjuna. Although they were relatives, they were more closely bound by friendship than by relationship. Whenever Arjuna was in difficulty, Krishna would protect and stand by him.
Another example of true friendship is that of Krishna and Kuchela.
Drupada and Drona were very close friends in school. Later on, due to pride, Drupada insulted Drona. As a result, Drupada lost his life in the battle.
Many examples of true friendship can be found in the Ramayana and Mahabharata.
Bhajan and Coronavirus related message
Compiled by: Archana Penukonda
śrī mahāganapate namaḥ
śrī sarasvatyai namaḥ
śrī pādavallabha narasimha sarasvati
śrī guru dattātreyāya namaḥ
Today 400 people correctly guessed the bhajan I was going to sing today. I was pleasantly surprised. I do not know how they knew this was the bhajan. May be the paper leaked (from my heart) to theirs. Swamiji calling out their names is itself the prize. That is a blessing. When you come to Swamiji next, you can mention that you participated in this contest.
Swamiji calls out the names of all devotees who guessed the Bhajan correctly.
So many people wished for this Bhajan – there must be so much power in this bhajan.
Bhajan: ambā bhavāni śāradē
We are all praying to Mother Goddess to forgive our ignorance. We grew up with so much freedom, how can we stay indoors for so long? If we go out, we can atleast see new faces on buses, in cars, at work etc., but now we have to see the same faces everyday in the same limited space. The pet dog is yelping to go out, but you cannot let it out. You are facing quite struggle. If you have a big home, you might just eat and gain more weight. Some of you may have more children. Some others might be cooking endlessly and feeding their husbands or boyfriends. The man can neither go out nor vomit the food. You are being asked to wash your hands frequently. Apparently, someone washed his hands so much that he could see the bones in his hands. What to do! We need to do what we are being asked to.
What will the poor do? What can I say about hunger! Today, a few district collectors called and some members of parliament came to visit. They prayed to Swamiji to help feed the poor. Many daily wage workers have no work anymore. Many poor and homeless cannot get food either. Food places are closed. They prayed to Swamiji to help with supplying them food. I made arrangements for it right away. That might cost about Rs. 15 lacs. I am also arranging to send rice grains. Our volunteers are mostly in Hyderabad, so the group will arrange for their own volunteers. We are sending rice and money. You can also join in to help because people are suffering from hunger. I was moved to tears when I was told that some people had no food to eat in the last few days. Yes, I know extreme hunger from my childhood. I used to beg for alms and feed the homeless sitting by the temple. I would not eat it. Aunt Venkamma used to make balls of Jowar (Sorghum) and would feed me the same. I used to take a bag to go beg for food. Hospet used to be full of Brahmin households. I used to bring the food they donated, mix it all up and give each recipient a big ball of food each. They were physically disabled and could not go around to beg for alms. I would feed them and then run to school in the morning. Only rarely would anything be left for me to eat. All this happened in Proddutur. So, I know hunger. Therefore, to remove that hunger, your Guru, your grandfather, your Swamiji, your father, your Appaji, your Tataji has made a sankalpa. There are many thousands that are hungry in Mysuru. You can also participate. I am trying to help them out. About 2000 of our volunteers are pooling their own money and feeding members of the Hyderabad police force. That is a wonderful thing to do. I was very happy to hear this. You are doing a very good thing. That is why we have “Share Your food” Tuesdays. Even in Akiveedu Ashram, we are donating food. If you are donating food, let us know or at least send us the photos.
I am telling you again to not be worried about Coronavirus. Stay clean. Today a doctor was giving us tips to say healthy and was saying some of the same things that Appaji had said. He said that the calf portion of our legs attract germs and so should always be covered. That means you should wear clothes that cover your body fully. I was so happy to hear that, that I jumped in joy. Also, he said that hair should not be left open. You can wear a bun or wear braids. You can do fancy braids if you wish, but do not leave your hair open. It should not openly fall over your shoulders. He advised against using different color lipsticks and recommended that you instead use one single color or just use ghee (clarified butter). He also said nail color was bad. When I heard those things, I was very happy. He said this was all based on his research. He went on to say that one should not bite their fingernails or put the fingers in their mouth. That is very dangerous. He said to leave shoes outside the house. You walk into the house with the shoes on and eat with the shoes on. Now, with Coronavirus, those who are engaged in chores or have come in from outside, should wash their hands frequently. You can in fact wash your hand with Dettol mixed in water. It kills the germs. When you are eating together, the saliva should not be contaminated with another’s (so avoid eating from the same plate and take other such precautions). If you follow this, we can get rid of coronavirus. Always keep a distance. Do not touch others. Do not shake hands. We have been repeat offenders when it comes to this behavior.
There is no need to wear a mask all the time. Only wear a mask when there are people around you. If you do not have a mask or a tissue/handkerchief, cough or sneeze into the crook of your elbow. When you are in an elevator, use a pen or your elbow or the left hand to press the buttons. Wash your hand at your earliest opportunity. Stair railings also have viruses and microbes. Handle them carefully. 99% of the infections come from there. Whenever you take off your watch, wipe it clean rather than leave the germs from your sweat on it.
Girls, do not wear too many ornaments. You are completely decked in rold gold ornaments. The fewer ornaments you wear, the better for you. Infections gather around metals. Bangles, bracelets and other ornaments made of metal should be avoided as much as possible. You can wear the mangalsutra (necklace signifying you are married) under your clothes and place it over your clothes when you go out, only to indicate you are married. So, wear minimal ornaments.
Same with shoes. Keep the shoes outside and clean them. Your socks stink. I used to talk about this before, but you thought I was being humorous. Now, you have no escape. You have to do it. Remember, I said all this before in large assembles and people laughed. Let me see now if you are laughing. Now, people are only crying. Some do not change their socks for years. The socks are so worn out that your toes are sticking out. The person thinks the socks were lucky for him because he got his job when wearing them. So, he is wearing them day in and day out. He has been carrying those germs all those years. Some people cannot afford new pairs of socks. Wash your socks. You only need two pairs of socks. You can wash one while you wear the other. Germs and bacteria accumulate in the socks that you are repeatedly putting back on your feet.
It is not good to drink refrigerated water. It will affect your throat. If you protect your throat and stomach, you can live over a hundred years without any ailment. Protect your throat. Instead, you eat recklessly, without discipline. You eat chill bajji (deep fried breaded chilli peppers). You love fried food and street food (varieties of chaat). The hawker dips the Panipuri in flavored water and serves them to you. Do you know the source of that water? There is no control over the cleanliness of water. It may even causes diseases in the long run. I am telling you all this to create awareness, not for humor.
Do not use saliva to wet your fingers while flipping pages in a book. That book may have been used by someone else or will later be used by someone else. Those germs then enter your mouth. Keep a little water with you if you need to wet your fingers.I am reminded of a story. There used to be a renowned poet who wrote about the entire creation, but never wrote about the Nawab of his kingdom. Once, the Nawab (king/ruler) sent for him. The poet refused to appear before him. The Nawab then ordered that the poet write about his glories. The poet refused again. The angry Nawab then ordered that the poet be beheaded. The poet was dragged to the king’s court for beheading. He was presented to the Nawab who asked him what his final wish was. The poet had brought a book with him and offered that to the king saying he wished that the king read the book as it talked about him in the end. The king was surprised that the poet had indeed written about him, but insisted that poet be beheaded since he defied his orders. The poet humbly submitted that that Nawab read the book regardless to find out what he wrote about the king. The king opened the book wet his fingers with his saliva to turn the pages that seemed stuck together. As the king continued flipping page after page using his saliva, searching for what the poet wrote about him, he eventually reached the last page where it said, “O fool! You will die”. The Nawab read that died immediately. The poet had laced each page with poison. Therefore, do not wet your fingers with saliva to turn pages. That is toxic. Books are printed a long time ago. You should also be careful about cleaning up after you clean the filth from your nose and ears. Otherwise, you are inviting germs into your body. How can you be called educated if you do all this? It is dangerous to repeatedly lick your finger in order to flip the pages in the book.
You also count currency using your saliva to wet your fingers. That is very toxic. Do you know where the notes came from, how many people touched them or which diseased person handled the notes? You should wear gloves while counting currency or use a machine instead. Just as you are asked to wash your hands for 20 seconds due to coronavirus, I would advise you wash your hands for 10 minutes after you handle currency. There is so much poison in those currency notes. Man is spending the money to cure his diseases, but on the other hand is inviting those diseases into him with such actions. These are small little mistakes we are always making.