Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – Sri Chakra Puja – July 24, 2024 – Jayalakshmi Datta Yoga Center, Washington D.C., USA
According to Sanatana Dharma… in this Ashrama prayer ‘śivēti śaurīti gajānanēti…’, Swamiji gave sarva dharma (all faiths) prayer that is accessible to everyone. If you sing this prayer, you will understand Swamiji’s intent.
Many new people inquire about Swamiji, about what He teaches, what Dharma he preaches etc. Nothing wrong in them asking. When they ask, you can tell them about the meaning of this prayer. Swamiji’s entire incarnation is in this prayer. This prayer was made way back in 1966 just as the Ashrama was taking birth. All faiths are equal…all faiths are mentioned in this prayer. And this prayer has been made easy for everyone to chant.
śivēti: Primarily Hindus worship Shiva (‘śivēti…). Shiva is formless. Linga is the form of the sky. Whatever side you view it from, it looks like the same Shiva Linga. So, the Lord is formless.
śaurīti – We all worship Vishnu ardently because He grants boons and protects us. Vishnu Sahasranama, Bhagavad Gita, Krishna Bhajans etc have all been chanted by Hindus for ages.
gajānanēti – We worship more importantly Ganapati who is the primordial deity with the trunk and removes all obstacles. The Lord too is said to be formless in Ganapati Upākhyāna. He also stands as Brahma. For poets, He is the primary Lord. He is the Lord of speech, of songs, of communication.
skandēti – Subramanya Swami protects us and our breath and gives it Nada. There is no Nada without the Lord. There is no breath without Him.
dēvīti – We cannot live without Mother Goddess. As Durga Parameshvari, Raja Rajeshvari, Tripura Sundari, Lalita Parameshvari is Mother.
ravīti – We cannot live without the sun, He grants us health.
vāyam – Hanuman is also an interpretation of this term. He is the form of Vayu (air).
These deities are considered part of the Panchāyatana. This can be considered Devi Archana or Shiva Archana or Vishnu Archana or Ganapati Archana or Skanda Archana or Surya Archana.
We should prostrate to the sun at least three times a day. Some faiths worship five times a day, some twice and some once a day. Some offer worship early in the morning, some in the middle of the night. Hindus must worship the sun three times a day. It bestows health and prosperity.
Many do not even chant the name of god. It is like their lips are stitched. Eventually they will die. You must compulsorily sing bhajans. All Datta Devotees must. It’s not a program, it is a mantra. It gives us life.
This Pānchāyatana is worshiped by Swamiji everyday. Swamiji worships the 5 elements and blesses the entire world with it.
The first stanza of this Ashrama prayer has all this essence embedded in it.
tamēkadēvaṁ śaraṇaṁ vrajāmaḥ – Swamiji has said a long time back that there is only one God. All these together make only one God. This god is breathing, walking, living, in our heart.
This prayer is a wonderful one. Everyone in the land of Bharat worship one of these five deities. We worship all five of them.
Someone asked why we always sing Ganapati bhajans first? Ganapati is the seed letter, the first letter. May he help us move our tongue, our mouth so we can sing and talk. Many do not even speak and they go into depression. Many people did not train their kids to sing bhajans or teach about Swamiji. You must sow the seed at an early age and teach them about Swamiji. Then they will never get into depression.
Some parents here are afraid that children will call the cops if the parents smack them. The parents must not be afraid. You must discipline the child. My words might sound harsh, but the parents that followed my instruction are now happy. We are all from another land, the child is our own. It is our tradition to correct children when they are wrong, if we do not teach the children our values, who will? We should keep children in control according to our rules. When the children grow up, they will be happy.
If you are lazy and have no faith or real devotion, that is a mistake. So, our guilt is absorbed by the children and they go astray. Why should you be guilty? You have a Guru, follow the Guru, do good deeds. The Guru needs nothing, He just keeps wandering. But when you follow the Guru’s words, it is good for you.
We now built an organization. We should vie with each other to grow this place. Then, you will all feel like this is your own place. This place is in the center of this country – it is near the capital of the country. Do not wait to be asked by the committee. This is our ashrama, it is not one person’s, you must take the first step and support and help. Someone told me that they would come forward to help if President of this center had called them. Who is she? She is also a devotee. It is our responsibility. Even if she says not to, you must say that you will work, it is your ashrama. Then, she will back off. But you are selfish and stingy. You must not hesitate. Only if you all come forward and work together will the dream be accomplished.
A few Devatas prayed to God, but Rama’s incarnation did not happen. A few more Devatas joined, but it still did not happen. Even Yakshas, Kimpurushas etc joined, but still it did not. Brahma asked everyone to come together. When everyone came together, they saw Sri Rama’s form. He asked them what they wanted and they said they wanted Sri Rama’s grace to kill Ravana who was destroying all the Sāttvic beings on the planet. Everyone wants Swamiji, remember that. I belong to everyone, not to one person. I will speak in favor of those who work with love, then I will move on from there to the next person. That is how Swamiji is.
Let us say Virginia folks come and ask for a temple, I will definitely do it faster than this place came bout. You must not delay. While Swamiji is traveling you must do all the work. You think Swamiji will take care of everything. No. Only if you work will I take care of everything. If you throw rice and water in the cooker, will it cook? You must light the fire. If you do not work for it, I will happily walk away. You must not be hasty, step by step make progress.
Bhajan ID 56
https://bhajanmala.com/nodes/56
We start everything by praying to Ganapati. Bhagavatam, Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, Mahabharata, Vedanta etc are all embarked on by first invoking Lord Ganapati.
Bhajan ID 431
There are many bhajans of Mother that are not even printed. There are over 6000 bhajans Swamiji has composed. I keep reminding the team here that it is not 2000 bhajans, but about 6000 bhajans.
Second, every time they refer to Swamiji, they say Sri Sri Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji. It is enough to just say Sri Swamiji or Ganapati Swamiji. I am tired of hearing the full name every single time.
The mind wandering here and there is not worship. That is only show business. Mind is somewhere else and the action is somewhere else. But when eating, our concentration is fully on the food. How strange is this! But while doing Puja, the mind is elsewhere. Many have time to sleep, drink coffee, fight, but no time for Puja. Some have the eligibility to do Gayatri mantra, but have no time for it. They have time to eat, drink, go to the bathroom, but no time for Puja. No one will say they have no time to eat. Doing puja barely takes 5-8 minutes.You can offer a nice flower wholeheartedly with tears of joy. O Lord you gave me birth. Show gratitude that you are alive one more day. You gave me one more day to do good work.
Many have no time at all. I told everyone that they must chant at least one chapter of Bhagavad Gita a day. Why are you not doing it? Raise your hand “I am lazy and foolish, I am not doing it”. Why do you come to Tataji unnecessarily? Tataji keeps you away because your punya or merit is decreasing. Sometimes, I draw someone close because their punya has ripened. Someone gets distant because your punya has diminished. The fuel is your dhyana/meditation and puja. Some feel, Swamiji has not even smiled at me. It means you are getting distant from Swamiji. Do you want to get distant from Swamiji? One day, you will get very far away from Swamij. You all have no time to chant Bhagavad Gita daily. You want Tataji, but no time to chant Bhagavad Gita. Have you no shame? Those who do not chant the Gita will get distant from me. You are ruining it all with your own hands. What is the use? Promise now that you will certainly do at least one chapter a day before you go to bed.
How does this profit me? It will profit you. It will benefit you. You will tell your children. You will be here for many more days, you should be here for a long time. I will not be here for a long time. Swamiji does not smile at you, you encounter difficulties, you encounter sorrows because you are not following Swamiji’s instructions.
Many are already booked for hell. Hell is overcrowded. You will not find accomplishment, your work will not get done, Swamiji will not come to you if you do not chant Bhagavad Gita, if you do not chant at least Lalita Sahasranama.
We are singing this bhajan because you are not doing what you are supposed to. This bhajan pleads with Mother Goddess.
kalimala nāśini kalyāṇi
nīgisu niśeyanu nikhilēśi: Niśe is inertia. This is bhajan Swamiji made for you.
Please keep me away from laziness and inertia. Please illuminate my mind, O Mother. Please forgive my sins (kalimala) O Bhadrani. This is a beautiful Bhajana. This is not a bhajan keertan alone. Great souls of yore did not sit like this with mics and do Upadesha. Namadev, Tukaram, Meerabai did not speak like this and did not feed everyone hot food after (like Swamiji does for you). But they would wander around with their tanpura and sing.
Bhajan ID 84
https://bhajanmala.com/nodes/84
Bhajan ID 934
https://bhajanmala.com/nodes/934
Namadev appeared in front of Appaji and requested him to sing his composition. That is why we included this in the Bhajanmala app. Sri Rama asked Tyagaraja to sing a song in praise of his devotees so the saint sang “Endaro mahanubhavulu”. Namadev appeared in front of Swamiji when Swamiji was very young and made this prayer.