Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – Swagata Sabha – Guru Mahotsav Celebrations – Kurukshetra – December 24, 2024
Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum.
ādau dēvakidēvi garbhajananaṁ gōpī gr̥hēvardhanaṁ |
māyāpūtana jīvitāpaharaṇaṁ gōvardhanōddhāraṇam ||
kaṁsacchēdana kauravādi hananaṁ kuntīsutāpālanaṁ |
hyētadbhāgavataṁ purāṇakathitaṁ śrīkr̥ṣṇalīlāmr̥tam ||
We have all gathered here to worship Sri Krishna. We are very happy about this Bhagavad Gīta Pārāyaṇa. We have a three day program – today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, at this very important place in Kurukshetra.
We are all in the Māya of Kaliyuga. Some people are always given to fickleness. We are doing Bhagavad Gīta Pārāyaṇa, Pūja, Japam, we go to temple, we serve Guru, yet we are trapped in Māya.
That is why, the shloka says “māyāpūtana jīvitāpaharaṇaṁ”
The Māya in us is in the form of Pūtana. Pūtana Devi came in the guise of a mother. Māya too is in us like a Mother. It feels very soft and kind, but it is Māya. Māya’s quality (guna) is like Pūtana’s quality (guna). Krishna removed the jeeva (life force) of Pūtana. If we pray to Krishna through Bhagavad Gita, He removes the Māya in us.
We are all drenched in Karma. Karma haunts us life-time over life-time. There is Sanchita Karma that comes to us and Iccha karma that we weave ourselves. Krishna held up the Govardhana mountain to protect us from getting drenched in that rain of Sanchita karma.
Many have come from the United States and are jet lagged. They are hungry and sleepy. They do not know what is going on right now. Two days later, they will realize what happened here. Chanting with jet lag is very relaxing. It is like chanting with a tranquilizer injected. It feels good. If we are wide alert, we may get tired while chanting and your mind may also be distracted. But if you are jet lagged, you are not tired while chanting, your mind is sleepy and only focused on chanting, it does not go anywhere else.
In the ancient times, they used to do prayers 3-6am in the morning. That is also sleepy time, so other thoughts do not enter the mind. In that sleepy state, the mind goes towards Guru, towards Gīta, as the mind is not yet ready for distractions. That is why morning prayers are very effective. At that early hour of the morning, even a cold water bath will not wake us up completely. The only thing that wakes us up is coffee. However, we do not want to have coffee that early during Brahma Muhurtam. We wait till 7am or so for coffee. Coffee wakes us up as it has caffeine. So we do not want to drink coffee that early in the morning, we want to do prayers in that sleepy state. You must learn to practice the Gita early morning 3am or 5am.
Arjuna also appeared to be under the spell of a tranquilizer. He developed dispassion, he did not care for kingdom. Secondly, he was afraid about fighting the battle. Third, he had no faith in Krishna. Why? He was very near to Bhagavan. Distance increases devotion. When we are closer, we develop a little complacency. There is love, but devotion and fear are reduced. Arjuna made that mistake for that reason…he was very near Krishna.
māyāpūtana jīvitāpaharaṇaṁ gōvardhanōddhāraṇam
The rain that emerges from Maya is like a torrential storm. Krishna protects us from that storm like he did using Govardhana mountain.
The demon of ego in us is like Kamsa. “I know!”, “I am educated!”, “I have authority!”, “I have money!”, “I have two homes, three cars!”, “My salary is great”…, this ego is Kamsa. Krishna destroys the ego. Further, we are surrounded by friends within us – they recklessly take our mind and senses astray. There are 72,000 such enemies within us.
“kaṁsacchēdana kauravādi hananaṁ”.
The blood circulation combined with desire flow in the 72,000 nadis (energy channels) in the body. These are akin to the Kauravas. They do not let us be in peace for even a moment. Hunger, thirst, sleep are all the doings of Kauravas. They alone wanted to rule. The Pandavas were their foes. To slay Kauravas (the 72k nadis and their sub-nadis…there are as many as there were elements in the akshauhinis) came Krishna. Among them, there are 14 very saintly nādis. 5 of them are the Pandavas.
“kuntīsutāpālanaṁ“.
Krishna protects those naadis when we do Parayana.
If our Prana does not protect Vagus nerves, we cannot talk, sit, laugh, live or do anything. This is all Yoga. Bhagavad Gita is completely the science of the body. If you understand this shloka and its special commentary, you will fully understand the Bhagavad Gita. Slaying the Kauravas in so many of our Nadis, Krishna is protecting our vagus nadi in the form of breath. Otherwise, we cannot do any activities, nor can we live. Our breath is Krishna. He is destroying the Kaurvas that are in the 72,000 nādis and is protecting the Pandavas. So, this entire body is like Bhagavatam. This body is taking birth repeatedly…each birth is like Bhagavata Purana. This is the leela – transcendental play – of Sri Krishna in our body. We should recognize this.
Sure, we have memorized the entire Bhagavad Gita, we got a gold medal. This is all okay, but what is the purpose? What is the use of the Bhagavad Gita study? Why are you running with Datta Prabhu? Why are you running with Swamiji? Find out the secret. ]Why are we listening to Swamiji? Have we lost our mind? Are we mad? No. We are practicing unknowingly so we can ultimately know the truth. Swamiji has given us such grace. We will one day learn the truth. This learning and Pārāyaṇa might seem like a sport right now, like an achievement, like a project, like a pastime, like a lesson in life, an experience. All that is good. You get to travel with Swamiji, you talk to Swamiji and do Pārāyaṇa in His presence. All this is good. What is the final result? You will understand later on, not now. It will take time. But you must follow, you must not let it go or get complacent thinking it is all done. Getting a gold medal, going to Kurukshetra and doing Pārāyaṇa is not fulfillment in life. This is only sādhana. When you know your Self is when life is fulfilled. This happens through Bhagavad Gita and through Swamiji’s friendship.
This body is like Kurukshetra. I told you thus far. Krishna is playing in it. We spoke about Vagus nerve on one hand, we spoke about the 72,000 nadis that are akin to Kauravas on the other hand, we spoke about Pūtana being like Maya, we spoke about the rain that represents the 6 vices. God is protecting us from such rain. Krishna slew Pūtana, the demon. For whose sake? Where was he born? He was born in the womb of Devaki to an emperor. But He grew up with cowherds. He was born to one, but grew up with another. Of course, it is all the same for God, but that is a different matter. How interesting is this story!
The child was born in prison, the children were exchanged, Maya Devi came to the prison in his place and Krishna went go Gokulam. You all know this story, I am just giving you the outline. Krishna gave boons to Māya Devi who then appeared in a multitude of forms all across the world. She, the sibling of Lord Krishna, is present in the form of 52 Devatas all across the world. Krishna let Māya Devi manifest while also manifesting himself. Until then, he did not get captured by Kamsa. This is not a story at all. This is complete Vedanta based in science.
He had his christening ceremony stealthily done, even though he was the emperor’s heir. Why did he do all this? To protect this illusory world, the Lord suffered in that form. Rama too went through much hardship. He could not offer the last rites to his father, nor could he even see his father one last time (like we experienced during Covid when we could not see our dear ones that lost their lives). He undertook so much hardship and ruled for 12,000 years to uplift this world. All incarnations took on so much hardship. The Lord who was exceedingly beautiful even appeared as even Matsya (fish), Tortoise etc. He took on so much hardship for our sake.
Stay in the rooms you are allotted. Sleep well and be peaceful. The mind and the body are tired. I recorded the Bhagavad Gita relentlessly without a break in Hindi, for 3 days. I did not talk to anyone during this time. I barely slept. Of course, I do not sleep much. Mani Shankar stayed with me for 1 week and got the full recording of the English version done. When I go back, I will do the Tamil version. This is all for you.
Many know the Bhagavad Gita and its meaning, but those who follow Datta only want my word and Upadesha. Whatever I say is nectar for them. That is why, even though it was a lot of effort, I recorded. Whatever I chant, regardless of pronunciation, they love. Even if I chant incorrectly, grammar and meaning follows Appaji. The meanings evolve as they follow Appaji.
Once, I was singing a bhajan in a studio in Germany. I was singing “Rama Hare Jaya Shoure…”. I recorded the phrase “tava teere” as “tana teere”. The recording was done and publicized, so it could not be altered. Scholars struggled initially to understand what “tana teere” meant. They were finally able to explain its meaning as well. Like this, new meanings develop as Swamiji chants.