Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji during during Prathishtha Mahotsava – Ugadi & Rama Navami festivities – April 15, 2024 – Dundigal Ashrama, Hyderabad
The Lord emerged from the stone to give Darshana to devout Prahlada. Each incarnation appeared at the right time to the devotee. Indra and the others gods are devotees too. The devotees cried for the Lord and built temples right where the Lord emerged from. Some are Devata Prathishthas, some are Rishi Prathishttas.
The Sages/Rishis did Prathishthas while worshiping the Moorti.
The Moorti/Vigraha are made to develop Nigraha/restraint. The devout would experience bliss and merge into the Moorti. That is how much devotion we need, but lack. If Devatas had such devotion, would the sages not? The Rishis praised the Lord through several compositions that we today variously refer to as Indra Krta or Vyasa Krta, etc…meaning they were composed by Indra or Vyasa, and so on.
Many cry for Swamiji and talk to His photo. Swamiji talks to devotees, winks at them, comes out of photo, etc. Many offer food and coffee to Swamiji. But you seem to forget that Swamiji is looking when you are fighting at home. You must remember that Swamiji is always a witness. In the same way, Maharshis, Devatas, etc., when they saw Mother who subsequently became invisible, praised the Mother in so many ways. Adi Sankara did too. Ramanujacharya and Madhvacharya praised the Lord in so many ways. They wrote Puranas, Bhagavad Gita, etc. They wrote it for themselves, not for the public. We use those scriptures today.
Sri Sankara composed the hymn “Narasimha Karavalamba Stotra”, pleading for protection when the devotees set fire to his body believing he had passed away. The Lord protected him. The heads of the three schools of thought praised the Lord beholding Him in a certain form and that is the form we worship today.
There is also Manushya Prathishtha. Many kings have established temples. Some stand to this day, some have become dilapidated. If those people in authority ate 99% of the money and only put 1% in the temple, we are still grateful that we get to see that 1% of the temple.
Many Peethādhipathis too have built temples. Natural disasters, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, fires claim some temples. Since we need temples, we renovate some temples. Temples are not just physical structures, God is there, He talks to us. We establish the temple there to give us a foundation. Every street, every town, and every home should have a temple.
These days, people have a small shelf in the kitchen. That is wrong. You must have a separate room in the house for the temple. You must have good books there. You can close the door and pour your heart out there. The Lord listens wherever you pour your heart out to Him, but that should be a special place that marks the presence of the Lord.
We eat at the designated place in the house, we sleep at the right place, and bathe at the designated place too. So too, in this Dundigal Ashrama, in Datta Peettam, we renovated the impacted place and built a bigger temple. We have Ganapati, Datta with interesting forms, Shiva (we feel like just looking at this Shiva), Hanuman, Mother Goddess, Subramanya Sameta Naga Swamy.
We ate yesterday, but we eat again today. So too, we should take care of this temple all the time. Use this temple, do your big events here.
This place is so big, it has natural breeze and air conditioning. Support Annadana, support Pooja items, Naivedya, etc. Sometimes bring Pooja items, bring rice bags, bring coconuts, etc. Do your big events here, it’s good for you and the temple will benefit too. Never come here with empty hands. You can never repay the Guru, but do your best. There is Ammavodi here, take some good food for the residents of Ammavodi. They all used to live well before, but are here due to various reasons. You can help them too.
You can offer Poornaphala here.
Happy New Year.
Krodhi is a good year for us. We got a good temple here.
Kumbhabhishekam message.
O Jaganmata! Mother! In this Bhagyanagara, we consecrated you! You are resplendent here. You must be here till the sun and moon exist. Please bless the Devatas and devotees who sought refuge in You and grant them knowledge and prosperity. Again, bless them to come back to Your Loka, O Datta, O Sadashiva, O Hanumanta! O Anjaneya Swamy, O Datta, O Mother, O Nagarupa Subramanya Swamy, O Shiva, I beseech you! I pray to You again and again to give charitable nature and compassion and Dharma to all. Please give a good heart to all people and people’s leaders.
O Datta, You are wandering as Hanuman. Vighneshvara is leadnig the way, removing all obstacles.
Increasing Guru bhakti, Jnana, please grant steadfast devotion and charitable nature, I pray to you!