April 21, 2013
Speech of HH Sri Datta Vijayananda Teertha Swamiji after Nagara Sankeertana - Hyderabad - April 21, 2013
Sri Ganeshaya Namah! Sri Saraswatyai Namah!
Sri Padavallabha Narasamha Saraswati Sri Guru Dattreyayanamah!
Sri Ganapathi Sachidananda Sadgurubhyo Namo Namah!
In the city of wealth, we got blessed. Today we completed Nagara Sankeerthana for a second consecutive year victoriously, gloriously, happily, with devotion and focus! Who in the world doesn’t want the blessings of God and Guru? Nobody. If such people exist, they would be the most ignorant beings that ever existed. Everybody needs Guru’s blessings. I pray that His blessings last forever.
We now reached the last part of Nagara Sankeeerthana programme. We started at one point, tried to cover as much distance as we can. Ofcourse, we would like to cover up entire city of Hyderabad but that would take us three days or so! We covered about 8 kilometer radius, praying that we get rid of the kinds of hardships and get the 8 sidhis. With Gods grace, may the worlds be prosperous, happy, peaceful and courageous. With this wish, we sang His name on the streets, reached the starting point. After this, we are supposed to sit down for a while here and pray to God. This set of events have been an ancient tradition. We just followed all the steps in this tradition. We also witnessed prayers to Lord Rama. Let’s now sing one song on Lord Rama. Our Guru Sri Ganapathy Sachidananda Swamiji has written and composed thousands of bhajans because in this Kali Yuga, singing God’s praise is the most effective spiritual practice. This was also true for other Yugas as well. Today as we were singing in the streets, it felt like we were transported to Krta Yuga. Only by following dharma and ethics can we reach such a happy state. Following that ancient dharma, we performed Nagara Sankeertana today. Let’s sing one of the thousands of Bhajans given to us by our Guru and then we will talk more about the importance of Nagara Sankeertana. Everyone should sing with me. Bhajan removes fear and re-birth. It removes our sins and sorrows from our past lives as well.
Song: Dandalu Dandalu Ramayya.
It has only been ten days since the year of Vijaya (victory). We just celebrated the first festival of this year, Sri Rama Navami. It is said that Rama and Sita got married in the year of Vijaya. So let’s say together:
Victory to Dharma!
Victory to Vedas!
Victory to ancient traditions!
Victory to India!
Victory to our Guru!
May victory also reach those who follow dharma. May the fruits of this Nagara Sankeertana reach all corners of the world. Our ancient teachings say that the prayer of one saves a hundred people. Prayer of one member in the family will save everyone, including atheists in the family. We are all children of Mother India. Let’s pray that india is prosperous and be a guiding light of spirituality to the entire world. Somebody asked me the benefits of of Nagara Sankeerthana. I told them to name a few effects that are not beneficial. I will tell you the benefits. Wise men achieved everything with merely chanting God’s name. We can earn all worldly assets but it is almost impossible to earn devotion, focus and belief. If we die without those, we will end up with a wasted life. We are witnessing all kinds of fearful and unstable events nowadays. There have been bomb blasts. Some strangers come, take away the lives of innocent people and leave. We don’t know why they kill innocent people. We don’t even know how they are benefitting from this. They are doing these with a blunt ignorance and arrogance. May all the souls who died in these circumstances rest in peace. I pay that Lord Rama put an end to terrorism in this world. May there be rains on time. May there be greenery and prosperity. May the rivers flow. Timely rains are the solution to all problems. It has been said that chanting God’s name brings timely rains. With timely rains, we won’t have to deal with electricity problems, food shortages etc. Let’s pray for that.
Most importantly, the primary reason of today’s Nagara Sankeerthana was to remember and continue to follow our ancient tradition; to pass it on to the future generations. Young people should learn our ancient traditions, follow them and recognize their responsibility of being born in India. We have seen the Nirbhaya incident in Delhi, my heart melted. Only two days earlier we heard the devastating news about the *** of a five year old. I wondered how they didn’t remember their mother or their sisters on seeing that little girl. It is both disappointing and frightening to know that such people exist in the same world as we do. I felt really bad for putting the little girl through that. May such events never be repeated. May the girl be blessed with good health and her family with strength to get through this. The main reason for this incident is the mental handicap of those who did it. Those without hands, limbs or eyes are not really handicapped. Those who do these wrongs are the real handicaps in the society. I pray to God that they be disciplined and get the right punishment and also that such incidents don’t ever repeat in our country or elsewhere in the world.
We are stuck in a fast paced life and don’t realize where we are going or why. Everybody needs education, wealth and victory. That is definitely necessary – however, we should never forget to follow our dharma and ethics. Only when the elders follow it and set an example to the youngsters will our country prosper. World peace is only possible through spirituality and by no other means. We are born in the country that taught spirituality to the world; the country that Vedas were born; the country that where great men were born; the country that our Sadguru lives in!
Everyone should perform Nagara sankeerthana every week in a temple or a place or a neighborhood. Tell your children the glory of chanting God’s name. The only thing we need to teach our children is devotion. They’re going to support cows, serve the country and walk the path of good. We need to initiate them in the path of devotion. The most important act of devotion is chanting God’s name. Make a determination today that you will teach your children this! Repeat after me: We will make our children perform Nagara sankeerthana! We shall walk the path of devotion! We shall respect the ancient tradition! There, you made your determination.
When we make a loud noise, it reverberates to a long distance. In the old world, they used to say that the sound of the bell on the hills of Tirupati used to be heard across the kingdom. The power of sound is such. This is a direct answer to those who wonder what good we are doing to the world by singing in the streets of Hyderabad. The waves of our sound reach far corners of the world and bring peace and happiness to the world. How much service can we do to the world? We have our human limitations. We can’t serve the world physically beyond those limitations. Only by singing God’s name with devotion, we can serve all the people in the world. This tradition has been followed by Lord Hanuman and other great men like Tumbura, Narada, Tyagaraja, MuthuSwami Deekshitulu, Shyama Shastry, Ramanujacharya, Madhvacharya and the like. Today, our Sadguru, the living incarnation of Datta Himself is promoting this tradition. This years Nagara Sankeerthana is the second. We did the first in the year of Nandana. We should do this every year, I pray God to make it possible.
I am happy that after last year’s event, devotees carried the tradition forward in small groups throughout the year, particularly Shatashloki Ramadandu group. Some have the initial motivation but that dies down soon. We celebrate weddings with grandeur because we want the relationship to be grand and long lasting. There is no reason for a grand wedding if the couple separate the next day! The motivation needs to live on. Nagara sankeerthana also develops good relationship between people. The effect of many people coming together is more peace to the world. We need to meet in groups every week and continue this tradition. May this tradition continue forever like the flow of river Ganga. I pray Lord Rama to make this happen. Many incarnations have come and gone. Lord Rama’s incarnation has always stayed with us. He is always with us, protecting Dahrma. We witnessed prayers to such Lord on Ramanavami day. Today, everyone should pray that dharma should be followed sincerely. May all live happily like a family. May all be blessed with energy to make India glorious.
Many people made this event a success. Our trustees, matru mandali and Hyderabad devotees. Many came from neighboring towns and cities. Some sponsored water, juices and eatables for the devotees. May they all be blessed. This venue was also given to us on priority, putting aside another event that was supposed to happen today; the management said that this event takes priority over all others. May they be blessed too.
Sri Swamiji called and said that His mind is here, He is only physically present in South Africa. What else can we ask for? Our Guru thinking about us is such a great blessing! When good deeds such as this one happen, we will always be showered with Guru’s grace. There is nothing greater than Guru’s grace. It is important that we do the seva that is dearest to our Guru. Our guru like Nama Sankeethana, so we did it today. Take this culture forward. This is easy and enjoyable spiritual practice. All the Gods are happy with this. The police department has also helped us a lot today. They took complete ownership of traffic control. While we should perform such good events, we should also make sure the city is not disturbed. Today some ambulance had to pass us by and our devotees made way for it. We have to co-operate with everyone. We should take care of the elderly and the children. Today the police department helped us with a lot of discipline. May they all be blessed by Lord Datta. The media also did great service by covering the event live so the distant devotees in other states who could not attend the event could see this and feel that they were a part of it. Good news should always be spread. We need breaking news, flash news and all that, but spreading of good word is also equally important. May all the channels be blessed.
Jai Guru Datta! Sri Guru Datta!
Jai bolo Sita Ramachandra prabhu ki Jai!
Jai bolo Sadgurunath Maharajki Jai!!