Speeches of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – May 15, 2020
Sookti
Compiled by: Parimala Eshwarla
Rājapatnī gurōḥpatnī, bhŗātrapatnī tathaiva ca
Patnīmātā svamātā ca, pancaitē mātaraḥ smŗtāḥ ǁ
Meaning: The king’s wife, the teacher’s wife, elder brother’s wife, mother-in-law and own mother – all these five are in the position of a mother and are to be revered as such.
The words ‘māta’ and ‘amma’ are extremely sacred. Māta means mother. Uttering these words fill us with radiance and brightness. Janani is yet another synonymous word for mother. Along with the mother who has given us birth, the Lord has given us another 4 mothers. Earth, which permits the newborn to be placed on her soon upon birth, is addressed as Bhu-māta (Mother Earth).
The cow that supplies milk for the nourishment of the newborn is called Go-māta. The river that gives us water to drink thereby quenching our thirst is called Ganga-māta. For helping us lead a righteous life and giving clear directives about mandated duties and prohibited deeds, Vedas are called Veda-māta. We remain forever indebted to these four mothers who nourish and enrich our lives.
Māti paricaryām karōteeti mātā – as she tends to all the needs of the newborn she is called māta. This is the common meaning. As she carries the foetus in her womb for 9 months, she is māta- this is another meaning. As she measures the good and bad about her child, she is māta- this is the third meaning. The treatise on grammar offers 10 different meanings to the word māta’.
Although the mother is addressed as ‘amma’ or ‘māta’ a slight difference exists between the two words. ‘Māta’ is Sanskrit word while ‘amma’ is in Telugu, Kannada etc. Amma is also at times used in Sanskrit.
Amma is she who showers love and affection. She who, along with love and affection, also imparts training and discipline is māta. In our lives, 5 such mātas exist.
The king’s wife should be respected as a mother. She cannot be looked upon as a sister, sister-in-law, friend; she is in the position of mother. The one who protects and governs us is the Lord. The term king includes even the elected representatives. His wife is in the position of a mother. This is evident in the way we address the Goddesses. We say Mother Lakshmi, Mother Saraswati and Mother Parvati.
He who dispels ignorance in us is Guru (teacher). Through this good advice, Sadguru alone can destroy the impurities of this birth and the sins of the past births as well. He is the form of the Supreme. As such Guru’s wife is also a mother to us.
The word ‘bhrātra’ stands for elder brother. The elder brother is in the position of a father. He is the head of the family, after the father. He is the one who helps clear the indebtedness towards the father. As such, elder brother’s wife also takes the position of a mother.
Likewise, the mother-in-law (wife’s mother) should take the position of a mother. She was responsible for giving birth to his wife, who helped him in carrying forward his family lineage by giving birth to his progeny. For this reason, a man must treat his mother-in-law as his own mother.
The mother who has given him birth, who has shared her blood and flesh with him, is to him a supreme goddess. The Vedic statement na mātuḥ param daivatam- emphatically states this. Sri Shankara Bhagavadpada swami has said – kuputro jāyēta kvacidapi kumātā na bhavati- that there can be a bad son, but a wicked mother can never exist in creation.
Message in Bhakti TV Program telecast on May 15, 2020
Compiled by: Jaya Akkanapragada
Discourse on Nādam – part 3 (final)
Śrī mahāgańapatayé namaha
Śrī sarasvatyé namaha
Śrī pādavallabha narasimha sarasvati
Śri guru dattātréyāya namaha
It is from Sacchidananda – The state of eternal bliss that nādam was born. Let us understand what nādam is. Nādam is a path to help us understand God. From the nābhi (navel) till the brahmarandhra (fontanel at the top of the head), the entire body is filled with nādam. With nādōpāsana, prāńa (life energy) and prāńāgni (life force in the form of fire) grow. The Amritabindōpaniśad says that the one who understands Śabdabrahma will attain Parabrahma. In his Yōgatārāvali, Sri Shankarabhagavatpadacharya also emphasises the importance of Nādōpāsana. The musical trinity of Tyagaraja Swami, Muthuswamy Dikshitar and Shyama Shastri, the dāsa tradition composers and the literary scholars and poets of Tamil Nadu have extolled the greatness of nāda. In my childhood, it was from My Mother that I learnt about the greatness of nāda. Once my mother told me about an incident which happened in my childhood. Let us understand more about this incident related to nāda siddhi, and Swamiji’s association with nādam.
In those days in Mekedatu everybody had to draw water from a single well even though there was a river nearby. Since many people would not prefer drinking river water directly, potable drinking water would be drawn from the well. My grandmother Savitri Amma would take a pot and draw water from the well, and store the water in vessels at home. As a small infant I was lying in the cradle when somebody came to meet my grandmother at the door. She bid goodbye to the visitor and came inside the house carrying a full pot of water. The sound of the water swishing in the pot as she walked into the house caused the baby to start crying loudly. Now you may ask “Swamiji, do you remember this incident?” Well, who does not remember crying incidents? It is the happy ones that everyone forgets. Actually, we should always be happy and smiling.
Dismissing the cries of the baby as normal, My grandmother continued into the kitchen when the lady who had left came back again and called out to her. My grandmother immediately put down the pot of water and went to the main door. The baby immediately stopped crying. When two women get together, they can spend hours talking and discuss every topic under the sun! You can hear the latest stories from them. As my grandmother proceeded back into the house saying that it was getting quite late, she again picked up the pot of water and started walking, and the baby started crying again. Noticing that the baby was crying, my grandmother stopped at the door. Immediately, the baby stopped crying.
She did not understand why the baby was crying suddenly and becoming quiet again. She finished speaking to the visitors who were at the door, and sent them away. As she walked back in again with the pot of water, the baby started crying loudly again. My grandmother became worried and called for my mother. She said “I don’t know what is wrong with the baby. He suddenly starts crying and then becomes quiet again. If I walk out or walk back in, he starts crying, but if I stop moving, then he becomes quiet again.” My grandmother would not pick up the baby, but just observe from a distance that the baby was smiling. My mother and my aunt were watching the baby. Now that my mother had returned, my grandmother proceeded with the pot of water to the kitchen. So far, this pot of water had not yet made it to the kitchen. She had been carrying it up and down through the house. Something about this pot of water being carried bothered the child, and he started crying again. My mother, suspecting that ants were probably biting the baby, picked up the infant and started examining the cradle. My mother called out to my grandmother and asked her to explain exactly what happened, and why the baby was crying.
It seems my grandmother would be so engrossed in talking that she would not even realise that she was holding a pot of water on her head or in her arms. She would not even put it down while speaking. My grandmother narrated everything that had happened, And my mother thought about why I could be crying. She then asked my grandmother to go fetch the pot of water again. As my grandmother walked with the pot of water, the baby started crying again. They all concluded that the child was probably afraid of the pot. Suddenly my mother said “Amma, stop!” and immediately the child stopped crying. Mother instructed grandmother to walk towards her and stop again. It was as if the pot was a remote control which controlled the baby’s crying. Each time my grandmother stopped walking, the baby would stop crying.
Suddenly my mother understood everything. Looking at the baby lying in the cradle, and shedding tears of joy, she said “Amma, this is no ordinary child, He is ripe with nādōpāsana. As you are walking, the swishing sound of the water in the pot is not in tune. The pitch (śruti) is varying, and unable to bear that imperfect sound, He is crying. As soon as that out of tune sound ends, He stops crying.” If you fill a little bit of water in a pot, it will have a certain sound to it. If you fill the pot halfway, the sound will be different. If the same pot is now filled to 75% of its capacity, the sound will be very different. If the pot is now almost full, as the water swishes, the sound will be different, but if the pot is completely full, no sound will emerge from it. Mother exclaimed “Amma, He will be a great Nādayogi, who will mesmerize the entire world with His music.” In this way, My Mother proclaimed My nāda siddhi.
Nāda and nādōpāsana are extremely dear to Me, as are nāda upāsakās – aspirants on the path of nādōpāsana. This is why, at every given opportunity, I recognize and honour great musicians and nādōpāsakās. With the aid of the rāga rāgini vidyā, I offer whatever help I can to the world. Music or nāda has become this body.
The chapter titled Namō dundubhyāya in Rudrādhyāya details the various sounds present in nature, and instructs us to offer our prostrations to Shiva who is the very embodiment of nādam. Every Hindu deity is seen holding some musical instrument. They are constantly performing nādōpāsana. All the great and noble souls have also extolled the greatness of nādam. The other day you heard Tyagaraja Swami’s composition ‘nāda tanumaniśam śankaram.’ He also sang ‘śobillu saptasvara’ and ‘sangīta gñāna bhakti vinā sanmārgamu galadé’ in which he says that without knowledge of music (sangīta), one cannot attain liberation. Muthuswami Dikshitar praised Mother Goddess as ‘Sangīta vādya vinōdini’ and Shyama Shastri sang beautiful compositions such as ‘Sundara Murali mrudanga svara samśobhini’ ‘gāna vinodini gāna lōla hrudaya’. In the same vein, many great and noble souls realized and shared the greatness of nāda with the world. I have also followed a tradition of composing and singing bhajans, and make devotees sing them as well.
In the bhajan ‘Chandi chandāsura damani,’ (Bhajanmala ID 362), the phrase sarigama padani svarapushtā in verse 3 indicates that the Mother Goddess blesses those who are completely immersed in the saptasvaras (the seven notes). The children will now sing this beautiful bhajan which is much loved by everyone. This bhajan is usually rendered during Navaratri, and especially at times like this, we must invoke the Grace of Mother Goddess to protect and bless us. In Kolkata (in the east of India), in the 18 kshetras to Mother Goddess, and to Chamundeshwari Mata in Mysore, special puja is being offered now. Whenever great difficulties arise such as this Covid-19, we must pray to Her. Please see bhajanmala app. When you can download so many other apps on your phone, why can’t you download this one? Bhaktimala magazine has a readership of 32,000 people. You also subscribe, so that the magazine comes to your home.
Mother Goddess resides as nāda in the anāhata (heart) cakra. Blessed souls through their sadhana, turn their minds inward and with a pure heart attain this nāda. They experience Bliss which is Her very form. Therefore, you also make it a habit of listening to good music. You will also gain indescribable bliss. At least for a short while every day, cleanse your mind and keep it pure by listening to good music. Then, the Grace of Paramātma will definitely be upon you. Before going to sleep, listen to very soothing instrumental or vocal music of your choice. Do not listen to music which has very loud beats which make your heart race. Small children would go to sleep without any music in the olden days. The mother would just make some sounds while rocking the cradle, and the child would look unblinkingly at the mother and slowly doze off. Some people doze off with their eyes open, but deep and restful sleep only happens when the eyes are closed. Sometimes, when we are thinking good thoughts and making plans, we find ourselves falling asleep. If we think bad thoughts, no matter how hard we try, we cannot fall asleep.
If you do not have accompanists or an orchestra, you can just let the shruti (drone) play. There are many apps available on both android and iphone, so you can let the shruti play for 2 hours as you sleep. And then it will automatically switch off. When you go to sleep listening to shruti, you will never get negative thoughts. Many people watch horror movies before going to bed. It is very difficult to sleep after watching something scary. One will have nightmares also because of this. You must instead watch something pleasant and funny before sleeping. In the olden days, there would be a half hour comedy show at night. When you laugh, more oxygen is present in your body and you will have a restful sleep. If you sing a nice song, or listen to some nice music before sleeping, oxygen levels in the body will be high.
While traveling by bus, we must never think the sound is strange. The nādam of the moving bus and the rhythmic movement of the train helps us go to sleep. Many people fall asleep as soon as they lie down on the berth. The sound waves affect us, that is why I am saying again and again that you must listen to soothing music. Your Swamiji has filled the entire world with music. There is probably no auditorium left where thousands of people have not gathered and listened to this music. Swamiji has also played 600-700 new ragas that have manifested. Many people have heard these ragas, and found the music to be healing. Many doctors have also downloaded and used this music. Just the way, we recently had a huge concert in Hyderabad with great musicians accompanying Me, after this lockdown ends, we shall listen to such a concert or telecast it on Bhakti TV itself. Bhakti TV has given us this great opportunity to discuss nādam which is invaluable.
When I was first asked to share My life experiences, I felt very shy, but many people sent messages asking Me to narrate My life story. I have shared the meaning of the name Narayana, and the greatness of nāda with all of you. When this lockdown is lifted, please continue being careful and following all precautions and rules. This is not just for Datta devotees but for everyone. You are all My children and My friends as you all are devotees of Paramātma. I join my hands (in namaskara mudra) and ask you again to be very careful and take care of your health.
Jaya Guru Datta. Sri Guru Datta.