Summary of Sunday satsang of HH Sri Datta Vijayananda Teertha Swamiji, November 24, 2013 – Mysore
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Ganesaya Namaha
Sri Saraswatyai Namaha
Sripada Vallabha
Narasimha Saraswati
Sri Guru Dattatreyaya Namaha
Sri Sri Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Sadgurubhyo Namaha
Asato maa sadgamaya
Tamaso maa jyotirgamaya
Mrityormaa Amritamgamaya
Om Santissantissantihi
Bhajans: Om om om gam gam gam, Kamesi vamesi me, Om namo narayana krishna
Tomorrow is Kartika Somavara – Monday in the month of Kartika. This year since the month began on a Monday, we are fortunate to have five auspicious Mondays in this Kartika month. Tomorrow and one more after that. Whether you perform any puja/worship at the altar or not, it is very important to regularly light a lamp in the house every single day. Especially during this auspicious month it is very important to do so. You may argue that the fluorescent lights and other bulbs are lit in the home. They do not replace the light of the lamp at the altar or outside the doorway. These electric lights are in existence only in the recent decades, whereas the age old tradition of lighting lamps with oil or ghee has existed since ancient times. There is a great significance in lighting lamps using fat substances such as ghee or sesame/gingelly oil. The words used to describe the fuel is sneha which means grease. Friendship is described by that word. Friends are supposed to stick together tight like grease. We should hold onto God tight like grease. Sadguru is our true friend in this world. Many people are lucky to have friends. But some do not. God is everyone’s friend.
A lamp symbolizes devotion. The container is the mind or intellect. Three wicks are used (thought, word and deed). With ghee or oil used as fuel, the lamp is lit. To have light all these ingredients have to come together like a confluence of three rivers, the Sangama, before it merges with the ocean. Prior to the merging with the rivers Yamuna and the subterranean current Saraswati, the River Ganga joins with itself several tributaries like Mandakini, Bhageerathi, and so on. At Prayag, the three main rivers merge. It is a very holy place. Recently during the Kumbh Mela, Sri Swamiji, Sri Bala Swamiji and several devotees took a holy bath there.
Yoga is merging of the mind/intellect with God. Vahni/Fire helps in this process. Because of the light, the container, the wick, and the ghee gain value. Everyone should be shown the light. It should be shared. Light gives fulfillment to life. It removes the darkness of all the three worlds. The sun gives us light. When you offer light to God, you pray, “I offer this with love and devotion to You. Please accept it graciously. We see from the light that You provide us. This is merely a token of our gratitude.”
Even if you lack devotion, even if you are an atheist, still, even as simply a decoration, if you keep two lamps outside, it gives benefit. The ancestors are happy. This goes beyond science. Spirituality cannot be proven with scientific procedures. The Supreme Soul transcends science. We may think that we are happy and are good. But the deeds that we do here unknowingly or negligently may lead us to hell. Adi Sankara has prescribed the Panchayatana Puja – ritual worship with a grouping of five important deities. Lord Subrahmanya is the sixth, represented by the light of the lamp.
One should always offer a lamp to God. If ghee is not available you may use gingelly oil. If one is poor and cannot afford to purchase ghee or oil, at least use oil that is left over after frying food items. It is not wrong. Just make sure that it is not contaminated with saliva. Strain it and use it. Even impurities are removed when fire is burning it. In temples lots of oil lamps are lit. Sometimes used oil from the kitchen is used. When diseases are on the rise in this season, lighting lamps like this drives away disease-causing germs. It is important to have the darshan of these sacred lamps. If that is not possible, have darshan of Sadguru, who is the greatest of all lights. Seeing these sacred lamps increases devotion and grants peace of mind.
Nageswara Jyotirling shrine near Dwaraka was visited recently by Sri Swamiji’s grace.
Bhajans: Jyotirlingakara (Vaidyeswara)
It is our good fortune that Sri Swamiji’s trip to Australia got cancelled and He is with us now. Please witness tomorrow’s Abhishekam to Lord Sachchidanandeswara and the Deepotsava (festival of lamps). The auspicious month of Margasira is fast approaching. It is a month of festivals. Dhanvantari Jayanti, Subrahmanya Shasti, Gita Jayanti, Hanuman Jayanti, Datta Jayanti, and so on. We will get ready for the celebrations.
Bhajan: Anjaneya gativi neeva, Tvameva mata, Kakada harati, Dola.
Sri Guru Datta