VGBS 2008
Speeches of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji during Vidyarthi Gnana Bodha Sabha - December 22 and 23, 2008 - Hyderabad
Inaugural function speech on 24th morning
This year VGBS is being conducted on purpose in Hyderabad in order to save time and money and it is convenient to speak in Telugu for students. We must be good in all the languages we are supposed to know.
250 students were expected. But more than 450 students have assembled here. This is very typical of our Datta family. Our family is a very big one. It is like Nanda Gokulam. VGBS has expanded and even in the last minute children have registered just to spend time in the presence of Sri Swamiji. In the process of accommodating all these Datta devotees, the people of Prakruti Nivas have also joined our family.
We must not waste even one second. Every Hamsa should be used for the good. Children should not aim only at education but also acquire general knowledge. You must know, for example, Atma Rakshana. Learn Martial arts, also known as Malla Yudhdham, Musti Yudhdham in India.
In fact, every student should be aware of 64 Kalas except Chora Vidya. But Chora Vidya can be interpreted in a different way i.e., winning one’s heart as Sri Krishna won everybody’s heart.
Vidyarthis should reduce luxuries and should get up early morning by 5 or latest 6 am.
Speech on 24th afternoon
VGBS in Mysore Ashram and that in Hyderabad are different from each other. In Mysore, we have VIP treatment. From this we can understand how much effort Sri Swamiji puts in to make the stay comfortable for the Vidyarthis.
To acquire knowledge, Swamiji is giving some hints.
Students should not get used to luxury. This is the reason why nowadays students are kept in hostels. They may feel bad because they miss luxuries and especially watching TV. Some children come back home and again join another hostel and thus get disturbed and finally spoil their education. In order to avoid this one must concentrate on studies alone during student life. Concentration is very important for children.
The sons of Dasaratha, Sri Rama and his brothers were sent to Vasishtha Ashrama in their childhood. The king had sent all the luxurious things and even security for his children. But they were sent back by Vasishtha. They used to sleep on grass, wear Valka Vastras, their food was Kanda Moolika rich in proteins which improved their memory. These habits helped them to learn all Vidyas and this training helped them later in their Vanavasam. During Vanavasam, Rama and Lakshmana left the palace for forest. Bharata and Shatrughna also struggled by leaving the kingdom and their livelihood was similar to that of Rama. Thus, as a student if we avoid all luxuries and struggle and concentrate on studies, this will help us to live happily when we grow up and we can face any type of problems.
Read good books on Bala Bhaktas like Prahlada, Markandeya, Dhruva and Upamanya. People of other countries are reading these stories by translating into their languages. These stories help us to lead our lives properly and improve spiritual strength. These stories are narrated in our Bhakti Mala magazine since last 30 years in 6 languages. Sri Swamiji has given these stories to us and they will be useful for our next generations also.
Valuable tips to improve memory:
- Students should avoid the feeling that they will forget whatever they have studied and should not be scared.
- Students must develop the confidence that they can read and remember and can write.
- If we come across any difficult problem, we should not worry that it will be tough. Instead, we should feel it as very easy and face it.
- Swamiji also has improved his memory by reading Slokas 7 times from top to bottom and bottom to top again.
- Studying from 4:30 to 6:00 early in the morning will improve memory because it is a peaceful time to study. Sleep at least by 10:30 at night. 7 hrs of sleep is enough to improve memory.
- Parents should not make the mistake of making children read up to midnight and again wake them up early morning
- Stop eating food beyond 7:00 pm so that digestion becomes good.
- During exams, read the entire question paper and try to answer easy ones first and then think of the difficult questions and answer them
- Don’t read in the last minute. Try to relax before the exam
- Stop watching TV and even movies at least 15 days prior to exams
- Maintaining discipline in day-to-day life will improve our memory. Do not depend only on Mantras or Yantras.
All previous students of VGBS have settled well. Swamiji has immense love for children and that is why Swamiji has come all the way from Mysore in spite of the busy schedule. VGBS program is a wonderful experience. All of you must take Datta Deeksha from next year onwards from Padyami to Pournima before Datta Jayanti in order to get Lord Datta’s divine blessings.
Christmas celebration speech on 25th evening
On the evening of Christmas, Swamiji celebrated the birth of Christ with all the VGBS children and several devotees from abroad. Despite an extremely busy recording schedule, Swamiji spent a lot of time with the children, talking about the significance of Christmas, the importance of the suffering experienced by many great saints and about lessons to be learnt from the angels (foreign devotees). Summary of Swamiji’s Christmas message -
Christmas is a happy day like Krishna’s birthday, Sri Rama’s birthday and Shiva’s birthday. Christmas is the birthday of Jesus Christ and is celebrated by Christians all over the world. All great Mahatmas like Shankaracharya, Madhavacharya, Ramana Maharishi, Shirdi Sai Baba and others have struggled and undergone a lot of pain in their lives. Lord Rama struggled through his life and Lord Krishna also underwent a lot of suffering. Similarly Lord Jesus also had a miserable life. He was *** by people, resulting in a lot of bloodshed. In the end, He was crucified. In every Avataram of God, people have created problems. The inner meaning of the sufferings in all these Avatarams is that through their suffering they have taken away all the evil among people. Mahatma Gandhi also had to suffer a lot in his life.
This Christmas is being celebrated in Prakruthi Nivas by devotees who have come from America, the Netherlands (Holland), Denmark and Germany. They believe in Jesus as son of God and also as Avadhoota Dattatreya. Padma, an angel from Pittsburg donated land for construction of temple and the Datta Retreat Center. These devotees do Lalitha Parayana everyday along with the three Stavas and Ashrama Prarthana. All the students attending VGBS should learn this sense of discipline from the devotees. Students should also learn Bhajans in various languages.
Valedictory function speech on 26th evening
Germans have gained our knowledge and made space ships, which were done long back called Pushpaka Vimana in our country by Bharadwaja Maharshi. All the latest knowledge which is now being introduced was the technology which we have already had in our ancient times. For example, Narada, Nandi, Bhrungi etc are communicated wirelessly. Alongside learning in schools and colleges, one must derive inspiration from the genius of ancient Indian people.
Everyday, early in the morning sit in front of Swamiji photo and pray and then start your daily routine. Student life is valuable. These children are very lucky to attend this program and spend time with Sri Swamiji. These two days association with Swamiji is due to the association since numerous births. They will remember these memories when they grow up. Nearly 2000 students of VGBS are now software engineers in USA. These students are going to become scientists, poets, millionaires, etc.
Courtesy:Smt. D. Nagamani