Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – USA Tour – August 11, 2022 – Allen Event Center, Dallas TX, USA
Compiled by Archana Penukonda
(Allen Event Center is the venue for Bhagavad Gita Sahasragala Parayana that took place August 13, 2022)
Jaya Guru Datta
kṛṣnam vande jagadgurum
Yesterday, I told you about the 18 names of the Bhagavad Gita.
Gita Ganga Gayatri Sita Satya Sarasvati Brahmavidya Brahmavalli Trisandhya Muktigehini Ardhamatra etc.
Even merely chanting the word “Ganga” is enough. While bathing, you can chant the name “Gita”. That grants good health, and alleviates skin problems. Many people suffer from skin problems. Put your hand in a bucket of water and chant “Gita Ganga Gayatri Sita Satya Saraswati”. And then use that water for bathing. That is very powerful. Other lotions and medicines will not be necessary; it gives strength to your skin. Also, when you take a head bath, chant the name “Ganga”. Consider all the water you are bathing with as Ganga. But you must bathe with intense devotion. It is good that many take a head bath everyday. You must take a head bath atleast once a week. Many do not do that; they wash their hair once in 2-3 weeks. That is not good. You must take a head bath once every 2-3 days. That is why Indians have short hair as they take head baths frequently. When you take a head bath with these chants, the sins of crores of births vanish.
Those who chant the Bhagavad Gita acquire a lot of power in their tongue. I will tell you a very important secret now. Do not be upset. Do not say bad words; please avoid such words because there is power in your tongue. Do you know the story of Kalidasa? Mother Goddess gave beejakshara to Kalidasa. He became a great poet. That is why you must chant the Bhagavad Gita daily. Your entire body will become crystal clear. Do not misuse this body. You are like crystal toys. We got so much power. Maintain that secret and sacred power. Do not tell anyone you have power and can curse other people. Keep it to yourself. That is your treasure, your bank balance. You have a good opportunity to chant the Bhagavad Gita.
Do you all know what Viswaroopa Darshana is? Please chant the 8th shloka of Chapter 11 of the Gita.
note Dattavani: BG 11-8
na tu māṁ śhakyase draṣhṭum anenaiva sva-chakṣhuṣhā
divyaṁ dadāmi te chakṣhuḥ paśhya me yogam aiśhwaram
In that shloka, Lord Krishna says to Arjuna – O Arjuna! You cannot see My cosmic form with your ordinary eye. I will give you special eyes, energy, and power with which you will see the Vishwaroopa (cosmic form). How do scientists explain the Vishwaroopa? It’s like a nuclear explosion. You cannot see with your naked eyes; that is how powerful Vishwaroopa is. Such a massive Vishwaroopa! It is hard to see with our biological eyes. Can someone tell me how villagers generally look at the solar eclipse? Not everyone has telescopes. They apply soot to glasses to view the eclipse. But Vishwaroopa is like countless suns together. Vishwaroopa is not just the culmination of a thousand suns. We cannot see this cosmic form with our naked eyes. It will burn our eyes if we tried to.
Can you stare at the sun in the sky? If not, how can you see God? Practice seeing a 1000 W bulb daily and tell me. You will not be able to see anymore. Vishnu has the splendor of countless suns. To see that Vishwaroopa, we need to see the Bhagavad Gita Parayana on Saturday evening. You are each one of the parts of the Vishwaroopa- Some are the nose, some eyes, some mouth, etc. That is the Vishwaroopa.
Everyone singing together as Dr. L. Subramaniam played Krishnum Vishnum, is Vishwaroopa. We all sang in one tune and one rhythm – that is Vishwaroopa! Can you recognize one voice when the group is singing? No. It is a collection of many different voices. That is Vishwaroopa.
It is an experience. If you eat ice cream and ask the person in front of you whether it tastes good, will he know? No. Only when he licks the ice cream will he know. Am I not right? At least, this is what we believe in my place; I don’t know if you all in Frisco believe the same. Tell me. Only experience gives us the taste.
So, I will show you Vishwaroopa the day after tomorrow (during Sahasragala Parayana). That is why, when the first nuclear explosion happened, what did that scientist say? Robert Oppenheimer who learned Sanskrit chanted the Gita shlokas, and spoke about the glory of the shlokas in Chapter 11. There is so much power in Vishwaroopa!
Dr. L. Subramaniam plays music beautifully. He played only for a short while because we did not have much time. We will have the full ice cream later. His music is like ice cream, and mine is like a savory mixture. Good luck to you. I bless you all. May the Parayana go well.
Keep healthy and go home and sleep well. Do not sleep here. Sleep only in your bedroom. You must chant the Bhagavad Gita with full alertness. Do not miss this opportunity. Everyone must come here and recite the Bhagavad Gita. I surely bless you. I am with you, chanting with you.
I bless all the organizers, especially your teacher Srikanth Challa. My dream has come true. I was 11 years old when I had this dream, and now this dream has come true. I wanted My children to do the Sahasragala, but we are now doing the Dvi-sahasragala. I am very happy.
When I was a child, my aunt would give me food only after I recited the Bhagavad Gita shlokas to her. If I made an error in chanting, she would not give me food. I did such austerity and penance with the Bhagavad Gita. I would draw water from the well while chanting the Bhagavad Gita. One day, I made a tiny error in chanting; she branded my neck with a hot rod. You can see the scar on my neck. She pierced a hot rod from one side of the neck, and the rod came out the other side. From that day on, I did not chant the Gita for five years. Without chanting a single shloka, I would narrate the meaning of any given shloka.
I am very happy today. You have all become my tongue and my mouth pieces. If you do not chant the Gita, the scar on the neck hurts. Everyone that has promised to chant the Gita has kept his/her promise. If anyone makes a promise and does not chant, even today, there is pain in my neck. I am revealing this secret for the first time. When a child promises to chant the Bhagavad Gita and does not keep the promise, I experience pain in the neck. When they resume practice, the pain goes away.
Swami Chinmayananda came to Mysuru Ashram and requested Swamiji to chant the Bhagavad Gita and said the entire world would chant the Gita if I did. Now, his words have come true. Namaskara to Swami Chinmayananda. I had gone to see him when he was in the hospital. I would always go visit him wherever he was.
Let us all chant the Bhagavad Gita tomorrow. May all the great souls bless this event. Let us also take the blessings of my aunt Venkamma. She is also here in this center now; she must have taken birth again.
Jaya Guru Datta