Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – Darshana – July 10, 2024 – Karya Siddhi Hanuman Temple, Frisco, TX, USA
Jai Veera Hanuman!
Sri Ram Jaya Ram!
Two, three days ago, I told Ravi Boggaram (devotee who trained participants to chant Soundarya Lahari), that Soundarya Lahari was memorized and presented beautifully. Sundara Kanda Paryana was also done. Many also know Lalita Sahasranama. Everyone should memorize Lalita Sahasranama, it is very easy. You must memorize Vishnu Sahasranama. Also memorize Guru Gita. Memorize Shatashloki Ramayana. Memorize Kanakadhara Stuti. Memorize Shivananda Lahari. Memorize Bhaja Govindam Shlokas.
All these teach us Advaita Siddhanta. Sri Sankara Bhagavadpada first taught us all this. All these hymns are very important for Advaita philosophy. Among the Prasthana Traya we learned Bhagavad Gita. Brahma Sutras are difficult to learn. Learn the Upanishads too. We are all in the Advaita school of philosophy. All Gods are one for us. You must teach children this philosophy so they can teach their children the same. If not, this knowledge will get destroyed and tomorrow they will believe God does not even exist. Kaliyuga is here. We have 5-6 births more in Kaliyuga. If we have devotion to God, we can survive them, if not we cannot survive them.
How many came to Kurukshetra? How many to Kasi? Ayodhya? These are all Moskha Puris. Haridwar? When you go to India, you can visit these Moksha Puris. Do not limit your visit to just family and food. You must visit good Kshetras every time you visit India. You must see all 16 Kshetras of Swamiji. Every time you visit, you must go to a couple of these Kshetras, as part of your travel plan.
The most important is Kasi Kshetra. In Bhagavatam, Kasi is described, it says that Kasi is held in place by Shiva’s trident even when the entire world is destroyed. So, Kasi is a very great place. Appaji’s small ashram is there too. A devotee’s father was almost breathing his last. He wanted to visit Kasi at the end of his life. He was in Hyderabad and intubated in the hospital. He was about to pass away. The doctors could not even move him from that place. The patient’s family asked Swamiji for permission and Swamiji gave them permission to take him to Kasi. They went on a special flight. The doctors were afraid to remove the tubes. With oxygen and one small tube for food, the father was taken to Kasi. Swamiji asked them to remove the oxygen supply in Kasi. Doctors warned he might die. The devotee family did as Swamiji said. All tubes were removed. He is now moving around in his wheel chair and talking happily.
Kasi has such greatness. Kasi is very dear to me right from the start. All Devatas are in Kasi. In Kedar Ghat, there is a small Ashrama of Swamiji. There is also a small Shiva Prathishtta. We did a big Yajna in Kasi. 7000-8000 people attended. We stayed for 9 days. Kasi is a wonderful Kshetra. Those who know of its greatness yearn to breathe their last there. They wish to at least visit that place once in their lifetime. Even Vaishnavas (devotees of Vishnu) wish to visit the place. Shiva Himself gives Upadesha of Rama Nama in that Kshetra for those who leave their body there.
I am telling you all this because we should all support the development of Kshtras. I am very happy that you are all learning the Bhagavad Gita. You are either reading or memorizing. Learn the meaning of Bhagavad Gita, that is enough. What the future holds and how we navigate this world is also described there. We should do Bhagavata Parayana once in a while. I wish to do Bhagavata Parayanam here in this Ashrama, but that will take a lot of time. We can do Bhagavata Sapataham. In northern states of India, every household does study of Bhagavatam. The Swamis who study the Bhagavatam there, have audience of thousands of people who sit for hours to listen. Even youngsters sit and listen with great interest. We cannot hear the stories of Krishna enough number of times.
Hanuman loves Bhagavatam Saptaham. He is always sitting and listening wherever it is recited. I can recite in Telugu and there can be live translation. We say there is only one God. “Unnadi okade Shivude ga!” Shiva too chants Rama’s name. That is why we pray to Rama as well. “Brahmam okkate” – “Brahman is the only one!” is a famous composition by singer saint Annamacharya.
They all sang in line with Advaita (non-dual) Siddhanta (philosophy). Everything boils down to this philosophy. I am listening to this on TV also. You must also hear the life story of Sri Sankara. Mother Jayalakshmi Mata passed to heavenly abode on Sankara Jayanti, so we observe the day with great devotion.
It will be wonderful if you all sing Bhaja Govindam Shlokas. It will make me as happy as hearing you sing Appaji’s bhajans. The other day, you sang Soundarya Lahari; the entire worship of Sri Chakra is in it. So, if you study Soundarya Lahari, it is at par with Sri Chakra Puja. Chanting Vishnu Sahasrnama is at par with Bhagavatam chanting. So, learn Soundarya Lahari, Vishnu Sahasranama, Kanakadhara Sthuti etc.
It will be very good if you teach this to children. This is all we can give to children really. These are Shlokas that teach Vairagya/dispassion. Small lines in the Shlokas teach Vairagya. Tyagaraja’s compositions are all full of this meaning. Same with Mira Bai’s or Muthuswamy Dikshithar’s, or Namadev’s compositions. They all sang Bhagavatam in their compositions. They sang praises of Krishna, Vittala, Srinatha, Jagannatha, etc – all these are Bhagavatam.
Shiva was the first one to narrate the Bhagvatam. Shiva and Vishnu are not different. Those who see the difference are foolish and sinners in Kaliyuga. They will be relegated to hell. Yama’s messengers came to Earth to delude people into believing that Shiva and Vishnu are different so that people do not go to heaven. They want to take people to Yama’s abode. We should never see a difference between the two.
Sri Sankara established the six Mathas (institutions). People in those days were all fighting that their god was greater. Foolish people. But Sri Sankara taught the essence and established the six institutions. Those foolish people criticized Ganapati, or Shiva, or Vishnu. They criticized other deities as much as they praised their own. Sri Sankara taught that, that was wrong. There were Ganapati, Shakteya, Vishanava, Shaiva, Surya Worshipers, etc. The Shakteyas worship Shakti and sacrifice living beings. Shaivas worship Shiva, but criticize Vishnu. Vaishnavas worship Vishnu and criticize Shiva. I think they lost jobs in hell and came here. Surya Upasakas worship Surya/sun god. It is very hard to bring all these sects together. In the midst of all this were also Jains and Buddhists, and Sikhs. It is good if they worship their Gods, but they criticize other’s Gods. That is wrong. Sri Sankara then traveled far and wide, and at a young age taught them unity and oneness. Sri Sankara was the only one who at a tender age did Tapas on the Himalayas. No one else.
He was an incarnation of Shiva. He was the first one who came and taught us wisdom. It is after that Ramanujacharya and others came. Bhagavad Gita, Bhagvatam, Brahma Sutras, Upanishads were all taught to us by Sri Sankara. We should revere him as much as we revere Datta or Shiva or Mother Goddess. Sri Sankara verily had Darshana of Mother Goddess. He gave us the Sri Chakra for worship. We cannot hear the wisdom taught by Sri Sankara enough number of times. He wandered the entire world before the age of 32 years. He removed the knots and the difficulties in understanding Vyasa’s works. He simplified them.
Today, we talk about Appaji’s Bhajans. The inspiration behind them all is Sri Sankara. Even the Bhajan “Pahi Pahi Gajanana” is the energy of Sri Sankara. Same with “Krishnam Vishnu Sridharam…” It is not Swamiji’s, Sri Sankara entered Swamiji and composed it. Since we all know Bhagavad Gita, we should remember and worship Sri Sankara. You can have his photo at home, do not think he is not connected with your belief system.
The great souls should propagate Advaita (non-duality). Some are doing it; some are creating differences. Devi used to lead Sri Sankara to various places, She was always with him. Sri Sankara established 4 Peethas. It is okay if you cannot see the Swamis there, but have Darshana of the Peetha.
I am very surprised that you got 3 more days here with Swamiji. There were so many plans, but your devotion bound me here. All of you come to Cave Concert, and also come to Varam Dehi concert the following day. Swamiji says to not miss the Cave Healing Concert on Saturday – Guru Guha, and on Sunday – Varam Dehi Raga Sagaras. If I were you, I would get tickets for my entire family. You are all my family. All the proceeds will go to Shuka Vana. You will be delighted to see the renovated Shuka Vana when it is completed.