Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – Sri Devi Navaratri Festival – Day 2 – Bhagyanagaram, Hyderabad – Dvitīya – October 4, 2024
Mother blessed us to witness this second day’s Puja. You have all fulfilled your life. I am very happy. Time does not wait for anyone; it is under Mother’s control alone. Paramatma is verily the Mother.
We should all walk within that time – birth, death, rebirth, samsara, problems are all normal. It keeps flowing. That is why enlightened souls want to stop this cycle somehow, without falling into this cycle of rebirth.
We keep falling into this cycle without wanting to. We eat food we don’t want to, we don’t want to curse, but we end up doing so. We keep saying we want to learn the Gita, but we don’t. This is Maya. To transcend Maya, we need Mother’s help. Mother will not help; we need to seek Her refuge. The more we seek Her refuge, the more She protects. We cannot demand, we have no right to ask. You can only do sadhana. Keep doing sadhana, life over life. Do not ask for cessation of rebirth, you keep doing sadhana.
There are many devotees of Swamiji in Telangana, but only you are here. For some reason, they are submerged in samsara. They may just be building a home, having guests at home, their child may be in labor or something else.
Navaratri will not wait for you. It will not come after your problems are solved. Time keeps running, we need to insert ourselves. Going after Sadguru, following His words is all sadhana.
But do not ask for fruit; when you do, you will lose the fruit you have! What is this? He will not give what you ask but you will lose what you have if you ask.
So, conserve energy. Do not expend Tapas and yoga frivolously. We must collect them like bank funds. They will protect us in emergencies. That emergency will not come, but we still save for it.
I always remember this story of Saint Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. One day, he had to cross River Ganga and the boatman said it would cost half a Paisa (less than a cent). He paid the amount and crossed the river with his disciple. A yogi crossed the river along with him, but walking on water.
The saint saluted the yogi and said he had great power to walk on water. The yogi belittled the saint and said he had no power. The saint said: I never claimed to have any power. Mother knows what I have. To belittle me, you walked on water. But now you cannot walk back since you expended all your power. I crossed the river too, but spent only half a Paisa. So, your good power was as good as just half a Paisa.
So, we should not frivolously use our power. We should only use it in dire situations and emergencies. So, every being should collect sadhana like funds in a bank.
Don’t ask what you’ll get from this puja. If you get that thought, all your effort will be in vain. Finished. We are doing our duty; Mother will bless us. We should not turn back and look for fruit.
You should be happy you have the opportunity to attend and witness Swamiji’s puja. Many used to attend every year, have transcended samsara and attained higher worlds. Despite many difficulties, many devotees keep coming to Swamiji. We should draw inspiration from such devotees and not degrade ourselves by thinking we are better than the non-believers.
Those who blame God, those who criticize our Puja rituals are all demons. They cannot take anything Sattvic. Their sadhana is different – wasting time, lusting, violence, incest, going after money, etc. They all have demonic nature, that is why they tend towards these things. Those who worship God despite various difficulties have divine nature in them. It is the good people that have divine nature in them.
We are surging forward in Mother’s devotion. All our sins and vices are falling off. A small invisible portion goes with us. All that we are grasping in this world haunts us.
This mantra is necessary for all of us.
Mother is shining with the moonlight, drawn to the divine radiance emanating from Her crown. We should behold all the decorations of Mother. The crown is displaying many leelas. The Mother has great adoration for Shiva. It is illuminating this world. Mother is overflowing with compassion all the time.
When we see a flow of water we should remember that it is flowing like Mother’s compassion.
(Swamiji is reminding people to cover their mouth when they yawn or sneeze, and jokes: Could someone throw something right into that mouth that yawns like a wide cave? One has to keep the mouth covered when yawning. Also when sneezing. Use your vastram or at least the kerchief of the person sitting next to you.)
Today, Sri Raja Rajeshwari Mata is teaching that worship is very important.
Samsara is not just family and relatives; it is the cycle of rebirths. We should escape this cycle. That is why great souls, when cursed to live on Earth, pray for not being on Earth since life on Earth is prone to sin and fickleness. Devatas, when cursed, and great saints take birth on Earth and suffer a lot.
Cessation of birth/death is Mukti. The being doesn’t care for Mukti, he cares about everything else – land, encroachments, etc. In Hyderabad, land that is encroached is hard to recover. You’ll lose your entire life trying to recover it. You must build a compound wall beforehand, if not, forget about it.
The jeevi keeps hankering after happiness. He does a lot of trickery for happiness, but will not worship God. He has no time for this, but has time for everything else. We should become real devotees of God. This is what we should really give time to.
At the end of our life, we will be unable to do anything. Then the jeevi grieves. Therefore, we should be cautious now. Therefore, everyone, awaken! Open your eyes. Get Jnana. Worship Mother. May your eyes open up to worship Mother. If not, danger will strike and suffering is inevitable.
Once a man was walking in the forest. This man had many difficulties. As he was walking, cruel beasts roared and this man ran to save his life. As he did, he ran into a lion. He got very worried and the lion was ready to hunt him down. The man ran, was bruised and bleeding, and ran only to fall into a well with thorns. He fell head long and hung upside down, stuck in the thorns. There was a snake at the bottom of the well, hissing at him and spitting venom. He wanted to somehow get out of the well, but the lion was roaring outside, waiting for him.
In the melee there, a small breeze blew and a wild beehive there shook due to the thorns moving. The bees attacked him. The honey oozed from the hive and fell on his nose. Some people have long noses. He tried to stick his tongue out to lick the honey. The man was eager to taste it. When he did he found that the honey was pure and he wanted to take some back for his family.
How strange is this? His life was in peril, yet he was thinking of taking some honey back for his wife and children. He did not even think of God.
This is Maya. If we think of God all the time, we will remember God in danger. This man still hoped for comfort and happiness. Man should never get stuck in such troubles. Your samsara is thornier than the shrub. If you pray to God, He will free you from misery.
If we think of God all the time, He will help us during the time of our final departure. We should practice thinking of God every day, then God will remind us when we are leaving, the time to leave. Gita talks about the Leaving Time. We do not know when we have to depart.
The wise man should make good use of time. No one should bring upon themselves such misery. Therefore, do japa, dana, tapa, etc. As long as you are living, do noble deeds. Have compassion. Do not hurt those who are already afflicted. There are some sadists who like to hurt them more. Some sadist husbands continue to hurt their wives.
We are not the owners of what we earn. Believe that Mother is the owner of such money. When we heartily feel that the money is Mother’s, not ours, Mother is happy.
On House Visits, some devotees keep saying their house is Swamiji’s, I ask them when they’ll sign the papers. You must really believe it when you say it.
When you pray to Mother, She grants pure devotion.