Tripura Rahasyam – Discourse of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – Sri Devi Navaratri Day 8 – Oct 8, 2016 – Mysore
Compiled by: Archana Penukonda
Every day we are saying Tripura Tripura. Today, the Mother’s Upadesa through Datta is wonderful. So, I couldn’t let it go this evening (Swamiji had earlier said there would be no bhajans this evening). This is not just a story. It is an Upadesa/spiritual teaching. The answers are given right after the questions are raised.
Tripura Devi is sitting on Lord Datta’s tongue. When I think of all this, I can see the scene where Datta is sitting and giving this discourse. Everybody wants knowledge of the Atman/Soul, but very few are ready to go through the rigorous steps required to reach that level. But with some curiosity and some desire from you, you may be able to follow Tripura Rahasyam to some extent. Will a ritual like lighting a lamp, like doing Arati, once it becomes a meaningless ritual, give you knowledge? Question yourself what this Arati is about and why you are lighting the lamp. It is this curiosity that will get you knowledge. When you listen to the dialog between Lord Datta and Parasurama, you have to become a part of that experience. You cannot be listening to it like it is a love story. You have to experience every word, every doubt that Parasurama expresses. Imagine you are Parasurama. Imagine you got into his skin and are asking these questions. Some of us may be able to follow quickly, some of us may take more time. But for Sadguru, all of us are the same. You may be a quick learner or a slow learner. But when you see certain actions of Sadguru, and feel that he is discriminating between people, if you are going to dwell on that thought, you have lost his blessing. It does not matter to Sadguru. If Sadguru appears to be discriminating or making distinctions between people, he has his reasons for it. He in fact never differentiates.
On the other hand, you must strive to become like that person. Suppose Swamiji says a person has learned very well. You must not feel jealous. Try to become like that person. Jealousy is a terrible eroding emotion. You know why? Even if you have gained some knowledge, it will vanish due to jealousy.
We have been talking about one subject each day – dedication, devotion, faith, Iswara Pranidhana/sincere worship of God, etc. Without devotion to Iswara/God, nothing can be accomplished. Like that, we gained some Yoga. Breathing is also good Yoga. We need dedication for this. We need the obstinacy to achieve this so we can concentrate more on this and reach our goal. That is dedication. The firm determination, “Only if I achieve this, will I achieve liberation from this bondage,” is devotion. This can be achieved only with devotion. Otherwise, the bondage will torment us and lead us to sin. Therefore, once we take on a project, we should complete it. You cannot wash your hands off and sit idle because it is too difficult. You must take up at least another similar project and finish it. It may be slightly easier. That is also dedication. So, when we can do all this, we can get Self-realization. Otherwise, we will not. Mother Goddess is in Parasurama too. She is in Lord Datta as well. When we learn all this, we realize the significance of the Datta Principle and his principle of testing devotees.
That is why in Saptashati, Devi bhagavatam etc., we often see the mantra: Ya devi sarva bhuteshu vidya rupena samsthita, namas tasyai namas tasyai namas tasyai namo namaha. (Mother Goddess is seen and worshiped in every creature, as Learning or the process of learning).
Today is the 8th day. You may wonder, Swamiji keeps saying “Tattva” repeatedly. How can we learn about Tattva? Even at home, parents sometimes say, “Can you not understand my Tattva?” They keep saying Tattva often. Sometimes, we also say, “I do not know, I cannot understand the Tattva” as if to say “I do not understand your nature or your attitude at all”. What is Tattva and how to understand it? What does it mean? How do we learn it? Let us think about it. We are talking about Tattva on this 8th day. Bhajan: Manase sada bhajasva Refrain: O Seeker! Always worship Mother Goddess Kali in your mind. She grants respect to you in society. She is the swan who is freely swimming in the pond-like mind of great sages.
Meaning of Stanza 1: She is the daughter of Himalaya. She is the owner of everything in the world. She is the embodiment of perfection and purity. She is the mother of Shanmukha/Subrahmanya. She dispels illusion. She bestows eternal happiness. She destroys the wicked. Worship Mother Kali who is herself the embodiment of Kasi.
Meaning of Stanza 2: One who is worshiped by the virtuous, one who has been worshiped by the devotee in Samadhi or one who can be attained only by Samadhi. One who is not attached to anything, one who is impartial, one whose philosophy is a deep secret, one who can be known through initiation from Guru, one who is known by the essence of Vedic chants, and one who bestows Sachchidananda – offer services to such Kalika Devi.
Mother Goddess Tripura Devi through Lord Datta is teaching us how to understand the phenomena or philosophy. Let us try to understand it. Mother’s Tattva is such that: Jaya devi jaganmatah – jaya devi paratpare Jaya kamesa vamakshi – jaya kamakshi sundari
Parasurama asked Lord Dattatreya, “O Lord, some scholars are performing actions strictly as prescribed in the scriptures at the stipulated time. Some are worshiping Gods through different methods”. This is in response to the question on what “Tattva” is. “Some are attaining Samadhi state through Yoga. Some are giving discourses to disciples. Some people are arguing in meetings. Some hate those entangled in worldly life. All of them are scholars. But their state of affairs and approach are different. How are they able to attain divine knowledge through these different paths? Some do worship, some do debates, some give discourses – all of them are going by the scriptures, but each one’s method is different. How do we know or believe that the ultimate divine knowledge all these people are gaining or reaching is one and the same? It is said that one must strictly follow the scriptures. Some others believe that portions of it are adequate.
Lord Datta said, “I am Atman”. You must believe that you are the Atman. There is no question of what Atman is then. Atman is everything. So, there is neither you nor I, we are not different. “If you contemplate on this state and experience it, you will understand divine knowledge (Paratattva). All those people about whom you inquired may seem to be taking different approaches, but they are in the state of “Aham Brahmasmi” (I am Brahman, I am Atman) and contemplating the same at all times. They are performing their actions unattached and for the benefit of the worlds. Though they appear to be acting differently you must understand that their state is one and the same. It is difficult for you understand. Let me explain this to you with a story.”
People who give discourses believe that there is nothing else. Everything in those teachings. Others believe there is nothing in the discourses and that everything is in Karma and worship. But all this is actually the same. So, the Lord is telling a story.
“In yester years, there was a righteous king by name Janaka who ruled over Videha”.
Many of us know about Janaka. He had no enemies at all. He had no opponents. “Once, he performed a great fire worship to please the Almighty. Several scholars attended the worship. At the same time Lord Varuna (God of Waters) also invited the same scholars stating that he was also performing a fire worship. “I am also performing a Yajna, please come to my Yajna”. He was a bit jealous and wanted to do the Yajna himself. “Why should I not do the Yajna? If Janaka can do it, why cannot I? I am a god”. But none of the scholars went to Varuna’s Yajna. Janaka was greater than Varuna. Janaka was very righteous. He was “Ajata Shatruvu” – he had no enemies whatsoever. Varuna lured the scholars saying he would give them plenty of charities and food”.
Nowadays it has come to the state that if you invite any priests to your home to officiate over ancestral rites and rituals, they ask “Are you preparing vadas?”, “I hope you are making boorelu. Please make sure you make them. Do not forget. Because I have to go to another house at 4pm and I asked them to cook something else. I will have my meals here and go there” (vada is a savory fried snack and boorelu are popular deep-fried sweet balls). How can our ancestors get liberation?
Even if the scholars are learned, there is another group that is very difficult to find, but when you find them, they will not go away easily. They look strange. They will finish a wedding at 7 am, they will officiate over ancestral rites at 9 am, they go to a burial ground at 10 am, officiate over a worship at 11am, and officiate over a wedding at night. There is only one priest in that town. He officiates over ancestral rites on one hand and over weddings and other auspicious events on the other. Some music troupes (traditionally associated with rituals and playing traditional, classical music), will perform at weddings as well as funeral rituals. They sound very monotonous. We have one such troupe in our town. They play the same tune when Swamiji arrives, or when there is a wedding or any other event. I told them the other day to learn something new, “I am tired of hearing the same tune. Everyone alive will die unnecessarily. Everyone dead will come alive to beat you for not leaving them alone even after their death. The ones that are alive will die unable to hear your music”. They laughed saying that is all they know to play. The music sounds like a child crying.
“None of the scholars went with Varuna. Then Varuna’s son thought he should do something and somehow bring all the scholars for the fire worship performed by his father. He assumed the form of a Brahmin and went to Janaka’s court and asked the king, “O King, your sacrificial fire place seems to be full of Crows and Eagles (a phrase used to denote incompetence). It seems like a lake full of crows and eagles. I do not see anyone else here”. He was insulting all the scholars. “I do not see any Hamsas/Swans here. I see no Paramahamsas (enlightened souls) here. Are there no scholars here at all?” All the scholars were taken aback. They were angry for being called crows and eagles. Enraged, they challenged Varuna’s son to a spiritual debate.
Nowadays people get into fist fights, but those days they would not even touch each other. They would sit at a distance from each other and just demonstrate their scholarliness to see who wins. How nice is that? Nowadays, we frequently get into brawls and punch each other. What is the use of that? We pull each other’s hair and break each other’s teeth. We get into big fights. What is the benefit of that? Here, they would not even touch each other, but fight with verbal combat.
Varuna’s son laid down a condition. If you lose in the argument, I will drown you all in the ocean. If I lose, you can drown me. He was full of arrogance. The scholars, unable to bear the insults, agreed to the condition. They were, however, defeated in the debate by Varuna”. What a twist in the story. “They were all drowned in the ocean. The servants of Varuna came and carried the scholars to Varuna’s fire worship. When the scholars were drowned in the ocean, they were taken to Varuna’s place of worship through a different water route. The scholars had no idea about this short cut. They were taken to Varuna’s place where Varuna offered all respects to the scholars and treated them with great respect. He was very happy that the scholars were there.
Amongst the scholars who lost to Varuna’s son was a sage called Kahola. Kahola was short-tempered like a green chili. His son is Ashtavakra. When Ashtavakra was still in the mother’s womb, he was a beautiful child. He heard his father chant the Vedas and mocked him for mis-pronouncing the chants. He pointed out a few mistakes, adding, “You are reading the Vedas without proper grammar”. He pointed out mistakes about 8 or 9 times. The father was furious and cursed the baby to be born as Ashtavakra (ashta=8, vakra=deformities). Ashtavakra has 8 deformities in his body.
You see people who have deformities and have difficulty walking. We cannot laugh at them. We get tears looking at them. They have no control over their movements. No treatment can fix them. Science fails when it comes to these treatments. Even several years of treatment cannot help them. It is only a waste of money. Doctors conduct their research and experiments on such people. So, if we have someone like Ashtavakra at home, we should take care of them, but not take them to the doctors who will use them for research. Some people are born like that. It is very difficult for the mothers to take care of such children. It is a lifelong karma.
Sage Ashtavakra learned that his father was drowned in the ocean. He came to the assembly and defeated Varuna’s son in a debate and ordered that he (Varuna’s son) be drowned in the ocean. Then Varuna’s son revealed his real form, and brought back from the ocean all the scholars who were previously drowned.
After that, Ashtavakra became egoistic. He thought, “I am a great scholar. I know everything”. He disrespected all the scholars. The scholars were unhappy with this attitude of Ashtavakra. They approached a great saintly lady with much sorrow. They felt that although he saved them, he was now insulting them. She came to the court of the king and defeated Ashtavakra in a spiritual debate. Ashtavakra had defeated everyone in the debate. He was scholarly. He had even mocked his father due to which he was born with deformities. He even mocked the scholars now. He had so much ego. Even though he was deformed, he had much arrogance. If he were fine, wonder how much more arrogant he would be. The saintly lady defeated Ashtavakra in a debate and said, “There was once a person who wore a pearl necklace around his neck. Not realizing it was around his neck, he searched for it everywhere. He finally thought it was stolen. Then, another person came and said to him, “Sir, the pearl necklace is not lost or stolen. It is around your neck”.
A lot of people carry their infant in their arms and search everywhere for the baby. They do not realize that the infant is right in their arms until someone points out. Some others carry the keys in their hand and search their entire body, their house and their entire town. They fight with everyone and give them grief. When someone points out that the keys are in their hands, they are sheepish. Who cares if they are sheepish after having others so much grief?
Until the time the person lifts the necklace and looks at it, for him it is practically not there. He had to look at it and confirm to himself. Similarly, though we know that our real form is the Atman, we have to, with a peaceful mind, analyze that it is so, for us to know our Atman. What we learn through this story is that Atman will not be revealed until we inquire and contemplate, “I am the Atman, this is my form”. What is Atman? Atman is one looking at oneself. How do we do that? Do we look in the mirror? Through this experience will we get it? Only when we can look inward can we understand Tattva. Swamiji used to say in his young age to look inward. Go inward, there will be no fights, no sorrow. You will get back what you have lost. What you lost are not ordinary things.
The pearl necklace was just an example. The pearl necklace was right there. It was not lost. But he had no awareness about it. The child was right in the arms. What they thought was lost was right with them, but the could not identify it. It was the same with the scholars here. Because Ashtavakra was filled with arrogance, it seemed like he became ignorant even though he was so intelligent. Atman is right there. If you remove the cover, you will see the Atman. Only when you remove desires and thoughts from the mind, the Atman will reveal itself. We have plenty of thoughts and desires in our mind. We should remove them. We should remove those illusions. Only when our contemplation gets deeper and deeper, away from the superficial thoughts reverberating in the mind, will we be able to realize the Atma Tattva. You can realize the non-visualizable Atman by contemplating like this. Saying so, the saintly lady disappeared. So, this is a story within a story.
“O Parasurama, though Janaka was engrossed in worldly affairs he was able to attain Self-realization. Even though Ashtavakra had spiritual knowledge and won the debate, he could not win over himself. He was unable to attain Self-realization. Later, with the blessings of the saintly lady he was able to achieve Self-realization. Whatever path you choose – meditation, devotion, yoga, service/karma etc, you must always be in a contemplative mood with your focus on the goal of Self-realization. Sankara Bhagvadpatada said, “Yoga ratova, bhoga ratova, sanga ratova, sanga viheenaha, yasya brahmani ramate chittam Nandati nandatyeva…” Only when the mind is firmly contemplating on and is established in the Atman, can you have the experience of Atman, whether you are austere, immersed in enjoyment, alone, or in the company of others. Until then, you cannot. You can do any activity, follow any karma, do whatever, but always keep saying you are the Atman. Don’t ask where your atman is, like you are searching the for pearl necklace or the infant or the keys. It is within you. It is covered with illusion. Remove the illusion. Be engaged in any activity, but keep experiencing Atma Jnana (knowledge of the Self) and keep experiencing bliss.
All the sages in ancient times used to be laughing to themselves. People usually think of them as lunatics. They are not. They are talking to themselves. They go through the normal course of life, but they are talking to themselves. They will respond to us, they will listen to us, we will talk to them and they look fine. But, suddenly, they act weird and then they are normal again. If you talk to Swamiji, he will respond normally. But he is established in Atma Jnana, he is full of bliss. He is seeing Atman in you too. When you talk, he sees that in you. He sees bliss in you. He experiences bliss through you. He is not using you. You are experiencing Atma by coming close to Swamiji. You are merging in him. When you do this, the consciousness shines and he experiences bliss and you experience it too. That is why you feel like when you see Swamiji, you forget everything else. It feels so good and relaxing. “Since this morning we were determined to ask questions, come what may, but after seeing Swamiji’s face – we are not afraid, why should we be afraid of him – but something happened, and we forgot all our questions”. It means you have merged in his bliss. Swamiji’s light fell on you. That untainted, crystal clear and pure light and bliss fell on you. There is no impurity in it at all.
Swamiji keeps forgetting what he has said. That is why I do not say anything, lest you think Swamiji is forgetful. You say to Swamiji, “Maybe you have forgotten Swamiji, I told you I would come”. “You did? Maybe you did”. I play more drama than you do. Some people describe something they are offering to Swamiji and when Swamiji shows interest, those people get even more excited in explaining the item being offered. See Swamiji is so sly, he says, “Oh, I am seeing this for the first time”. Swamiji will not say he knows all about it. He wants them to be happy. They bring something to Swamiji and talk about it so excitedly. I probably had that item for a long time, repaired it, retired it and when it died, put it away. They bring such an item to Swamiji telling him they just bought it for him. “Is it? I am very happy”. I am seeing and experiencing the happiness they feel from explaining to me, and the excitement they feel at seeing my surprise. That is itself God. I can tell them in a jiffy, “Go away, I saw this 10 years ago”. What would happen to that tender mind? Of course, he is grown up, but the mind is small and tender. He would feel disappointed about what Swamiji said. The mind will be sad. So, it is okay if 2 minutes are wasted. When I say, “Ohh, very nice. I am hearing this melody for the first time”, the musician is so happy thinking he played that tune for Swamiji. You have blessed me with the fortune of offering Sangeeta Seva (musical offering). What would I lose if I share happiness with them for two minutes? I just want to see that happiness. It is so good. They in turn feel very good seeing Swamiji’s happiness. Both are experiencing it. That is Atma Bhavana – that is the bliss of the soul, nothing else. It’s not different from this. I just gave a small example. This is what service is.
From the Vedantic perspective, the scholars come here and they put forth their arguments. I listen as if I am hearing for the first time. I tell them it is very nice. Lastly, they end up saying, “Swamiji, you already know everything”. I tell them it is okay. I don’t belittle them. You should not belittle anyone. You should not hurt another’s feelings. If a little child comes up to sing, we should listen and appreciate. A child once came to me with a drawing of Hanuman with an elongated neck. I saw it and said it was so good. I said, “You know, Hanuman looked like this when he expanded his form to reach the skies”. The child is so happy, “Mommy, Swamiji said, Hanuman’s neck elongated like this, like a crane when he had to reach Vaikuntha from here. That is what I thought when I was drawing, Mommy”. Maybe he did think that in his small, tender mind. Instead if I said, “What is this, looks like a monkey”, how hurt the child would be. Only God knows how much the child would be hurt. I know how hurt they will be. They feel like they should just die because Swamiji said so. Even if I don’t have time, even if it is time to board the flight, I will take the time to appreciate. God alone knows whether I heard it or not, but I appreciate it and tell I’ll see them later. That is enough. They send me a long email in response.
That happiness you experience upon meeting cannot be described. A big film star came once. I did not know he was a film star until Prasad told me. I was waiting at the airport. I was sitting with my eyes closed. He was telling others to keep quiet. He said, “Stay quiet. He is a great yogi. He is sitting with his eyes closed”. I myself do not know if I had just closed my eyes or if I was asleep. Maybe I was asleep, because I had not slept all night. I was either asleep or meditating. I was facing the direction of the aero planes and was sleeping. One who is sleeping tries to shut out all noise and have an eye mask on, but instead, I just sat facing the window. Therefore, he thought I was meditating. He acted as a volunteer himself, asking all the children to be quiet. When someone came to talk to him, he apparently yelled at that person. Slowly, he came up to me. I spoke to him for 2 minutes. He was so happy. What is his name? Harrison Ford. Is it a car? He is a big movie actor. He said he would come to Mysore Ashrama. He said he would definitely come see me. I do not know which birth he would see me in, may be in this birth who knows. He is one of the biggest actors in the world today.
Therefore, to understand the Atma Tattva (principle of the Atman) better, seek refuge with Sadguru. Follow the teachings of Sadguru and understand Atma Tattva better. Seek the grace of Sadguru. Follow the master. Attain Self-realization. Blessing you again and again that you attain eternal happiness by the grace of Tripura Devi. Jaya Guru Datta.
What time is it? 10pm? Okay, just a little bit more to go for day break.
Bhajan: Vani Vani
Sri Guru Datta