Aug 10, Sivananda
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Sivananda Lahari
Discourse on Sivananda Lahari
Day 13, August 10
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Ganesaya Namaha
Sri Saraswatyai Namaha
Sripada Vallabha
Narasimha Saraswati
Sri Guru Dattatreyaya Namaha
Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Sadgurubhyo Namaha
asato ma sadgamaya
tamaso ma jyotirgamaya
mrityor ma amrtam gamaya
Om Santissantissantihi
Please lead me from untruth to Truth, from darkness to light, from death to immortality. May there be peace.
Bhajan: Jai jai Ganapati
Yesterday we learned that Sri Bhagavatpada prayed that God should take possession of his mind that is like a monkey. You are the Chittachora, stealer of minds, O Siva.
Today Sri Bhagavatpada is praying for the continued presence of God in his life. How would we spend our time in the presence of God? Discussing politics and watching cinemas? No.
Verse 24:
Kada vā kailāse kanaka mani soudhe saha ganāih,
Rvasan Shambhoragre sphuta-ghatitha-baddhānjali-phutah
Vibho sāmba swāmin paramashiva pāheeti nigadan
Vidhātrunām kalpān kshanamiva vineshyāmi sukhatah
Whenever it may happen, I do not know when I will become eligible for it, but please make me a resident of Kailasa, to ever remain near you. The deities have all searched for Siva and finally they found Siva in Kailasa. Siva is here. That is why it is Kailasa. Because Ganga is born here, this is Kailasa. On Kailasa, the snowy mountain, where is Siva? He resides in a mansion built with gold and precious gems and it has a plastering of Amrita. Siva is surrounded by his entourage and devotees, ever engaged in praising God. I have come to your magnificent, brilliant home. I wish to ever remain amidst the pious souls who surround you and continuously praise you.
If we are good, those who are with us will also become good. If we are bad, we will contaminate those who come near us.
The senior serious devotees will have their powerful influence upon us. I wish to remain in your presence immersed in devotion, chanting your name always. We are in a bud state. Please make us bloom. I must get rid of my misunderstanding that you are only in front of me. I must have the realization that you are everywhere.
Please protect me, protect me.
In the Himalayas, during sunrise and sunset, it appears as if someone has built the mountain with gold or silver with a crown that is blindingly brilliant.
Yayati was a king who had to fall from heaven. His wish was to fall amidst a group of pious souls. That way he will quickly return to heaven or be happy amidst them as if he were in heaven.
I wish to be amidst Nandi and Bhringi, looking at you and being seen by you, prostrating to you with both my hands raised above my head.
Anjaliputa is Namaskara mudra, hands held in front of the chest, appearing like a not yet blown lotus. All ten fingers are joined. All 10 directions are in your control. You pervade all ten directions. This mudra destroys all our flaws. It earns your grace and gives us spiritual knowledge. Our vision goes upward as the fingers are pointed up in Baddhanjali. O Lord Siva, you are in the company of Mother Goddess. You are the Lord and ruler, the protector of us all. You take us into yourself. I pray to you. I wish to stand in front of you and I pray that I never again fall into ignorance.
These seven days flew by in an instant, we say, when we are extremely happy. We say this bad time is never-ending.
I wish to spend my time in bliss for the duration of innumerable Brahmas’ Kalpas. Not Brahma’s day or year, but the Kalpas of countless Brahmas is the duration of happiness Sri Bhagavatpada is praying for. That duration of time will fly by like an instant. Every moment I am near you I am immersed in bliss. I wish to be in your presence ever, praying to you.
In the sky, past the void, transcending gravity, Time and Light, there is no calculation of time like ours.
Srikar’s daughter Abdhija has brought a clock from NASA that works in space. It took me a long time to understand its functioning. It is very strange. Brahma’s time scale is extremely long. The calculation of the Yugas is mind-boggling. 311 trillion years and 41 billion is a small duration in Brahma’s life.
432,000 years is Kali Yuga. Our lifespan is most insignificant when you think of that.
It is bliss to be with you, Siva, praising you along with your other devotees. Such bliss is indescribable. Eons will pass in bliss as if it is a mere instant. May I be with you eternally. Your proximity is what I pray for. Saameepya/closeness and Saalokya/visibility are prayed for.
Please uplift me O Lord Siva. An excellent prayer offered to Siva in Kailasa.
A great thinker of the Universe is a title given to Bhartrhari. He has blessed us with grammar, the Science of Sound, and words of wisdom/Subhashitam. He has composed many works. He is a predecessor of Sri Bhagavatpada.
Bhartrhari says you are ever living in Kasi on the banks of Ganga, wearing a mere *** cloth, O Siva. I wish to pray to you with full-throated shouts of prayer to be uplifted and blessed.
When people see me praising you, they call me a mad man, sang Sri Swamiji. Bhartrhari was a king. He experienced the bliss of such wholehearted, full-throated prayer.
Sri Bhagavatpada has fixed in our minds the vision of Siva and has taught us how to lose ourselves in prayer. It is up to us to make this our personal experience. I wish to forget all my troubles, he says.
The more intense our prayer is, the sooner God’s grace will come to us.
After a trip to the Himalayas and Manasarovar, for many days and years that scene remains fixed in our hearts.
Bhajan: Jyotirlingakara … (Tryambakeswara)
Verse 25:
Sthavai rbrahmādeenām jaya-jaya-vachobhir-niryaminām
Gaṇanam kelībhir-madakala-mahokśasya kakudi
Sthitam neelagreevam trinayanam-umamślishta-vapusham
Katha twam paśyeyam kara drutha-mrugam kkhanda paraśum
I wish to spend eons like moments in your presence, was the previous prayer. Swamiji says, please come to the prayer hall and have darshan. When Swamiji may suddenly leave town, we never know. So he says do not miss a chance to have darshan.
I wish to hear your praises and shouts of victory made by the sages and saints. Amidst the shouts of victory that Siva enjoys I wish to remain. The entourage is busy playing all the different musical instruments that require no battery and have no expiry dates. There are five types of courts that Siva presides over and where He dances His Tandava dance. There was Tandava dance going on, and Sage Agastya was ordered to go to the Vindhya Mountain to quell its ego. Agastya was hesitant to miss the beautiful dance. Siva, to please Him, followed him and danced there in South India on the peak of a mountain. Beautiful descriptions of His divine dance are given in the scriptures. The drummer kept drumming on his own belly. Such frenzied dancing was in progress but no one was bumping into another.
Siva Mahatmya Stotra says, this vehicle, the Bull has become so old. Why do you not replace it? No. Vrishabha/Bull represents Dharma. It is eternal and unchangeable. You are sitting on the Bull next to its ***. The bull is making strange sounds.
Victory to you means victory to us. If the lawyer wins, our case wins. If God is victorious, we are going to be led in the path of Dharma. I wish to see you with the blue neck. I wish to see you being hugged by Parvati. When will I see you directly? Not just in photos. We say it is me you see in the photos. But we do not believe that in God’s photo who we see is actually God.
Swami Vivekananda was asked by a king once why people worship God’s pictures. Swami Vivekananda said to a guard, put that photo of the king on the ground and spit on it. The guard refused. Swami Vivekananda asked the king to spit on his own photo. The king got offended and refused. Swami Vivekananda said, so now you see yourself in your form depicted in the photo. He convinced the king that every picture of a saint, holy man or God is powerful and has a divine presence.
During Gajasuravadha/the killing of the demon Gajasura Siva’s weapon got slightly damaged. Siva was offered a new weapon. He refused. The damage proves and demonstrates that I am ever busy protecting my devotees, He said. A tall flag post, with trident, drum, and axe are displayed in many temples as proof that Siva is our protector from evil forces and ignorance.
Krishnappa (Sri Jayalakshmi Mata’s brother) was asked by Jayalakshmi Mata if he is ready to see God. He said, yes, I will see if He appears, but I do not believe that God exists. When Lord Dattatreya actually gave him darshan, Krishnappa who had agreed not to make a sound at the appearance of God, screamed and lost his faculty of speech temporarily.
Arjuna could not withstand the dazzling vision of the Universal Form of God shown to him by Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita. He prayed to Krishna to resume his normal form.
Your three eyes I wish to see. Kaivalya Upanishat gives this description. You grant us the eye of wisdom. You are keeping Uma as half of your body. You are holding the deer in your hand. Our mind is held in control by you in the form of the deer. You hold an axe to protect us, the same axe that got slightly damaged in the fight to protect your devotees. Your trident is held by you. Such a vision I wish to behold. I wish to justify having eyes that see.
Bhajan: Dhyayet Sambhum nagabharanam ..
Namassivaya Namassivaya Namassivaya Namassivaya
Raksha Bandhan today.
Bhajan: Raksha karo
Bhajan: Venkata Ramana sankata harana
Pavitrotsava is in progress. Please have darshan of Lord Sri Datta Venkateswara.
Tomorrow is Sravana Somavara/Monday – Ekadasha Rudrabhishekam takes place from 6:00 AM, followed by Maha Samprokshanam. Please have darshan.
Sri Guru Datta
Sri Ganesaya Namaha
Sri Saraswatyai Namaha
Sripada Vallabha
Narasimha Saraswati
Sri Guru Dattatreyaya Namaha
Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Sadgurubhyo Namaha
asato ma sadgamaya
tamaso ma jyotirgamaya
mrityor ma amrtam gamaya
Om Santissantissantihi
Please lead me from untruth to Truth, from darkness to light, from death to immortality. May there be peace.
Bhajan: Jai jai Ganapati
Yesterday we learned that Sri Bhagavatpada prayed that God should take possession of his mind that is like a monkey. You are the Chittachora, stealer of minds, O Siva.
Today Sri Bhagavatpada is praying for the continued presence of God in his life. How would we spend our time in the presence of God? Discussing politics and watching cinemas? No.
Verse 24:
Kada vā kailāse kanaka mani soudhe saha ganāih,
Rvasan Shambhoragre sphuta-ghatitha-baddhānjali-phutah
Vibho sāmba swāmin paramashiva pāheeti nigadan
Vidhātrunām kalpān kshanamiva vineshyāmi sukhatah
Whenever it may happen, I do not know when I will become eligible for it, but please make me a resident of Kailasa, to ever remain near you. The deities have all searched for Siva and finally they found Siva in Kailasa. Siva is here. That is why it is Kailasa. Because Ganga is born here, this is Kailasa. On Kailasa, the snowy mountain, where is Siva? He resides in a mansion built with gold and precious gems and it has a plastering of Amrita. Siva is surrounded by his entourage and devotees, ever engaged in praising God. I have come to your magnificent, brilliant home. I wish to ever remain amidst the pious souls who surround you and continuously praise you.
If we are good, those who are with us will also become good. If we are bad, we will contaminate those who come near us.
The senior serious devotees will have their powerful influence upon us. I wish to remain in your presence immersed in devotion, chanting your name always. We are in a bud state. Please make us bloom. I must get rid of my misunderstanding that you are only in front of me. I must have the realization that you are everywhere.
Please protect me, protect me.
In the Himalayas, during sunrise and sunset, it appears as if someone has built the mountain with gold or silver with a crown that is blindingly brilliant.
Yayati was a king who had to fall from heaven. His wish was to fall amidst a group of pious souls. That way he will quickly return to heaven or be happy amidst them as if he were in heaven.
I wish to be amidst Nandi and Bhringi, looking at you and being seen by you, prostrating to you with both my hands raised above my head.
Anjaliputa is Namaskara mudra, hands held in front of the chest, appearing like a not yet blown lotus. All ten fingers are joined. All 10 directions are in your control. You pervade all ten directions. This mudra destroys all our flaws. It earns your grace and gives us spiritual knowledge. Our vision goes upward as the fingers are pointed up in Baddhanjali. O Lord Siva, you are in the company of Mother Goddess. You are the Lord and ruler, the protector of us all. You take us into yourself. I pray to you. I wish to stand in front of you and I pray that I never again fall into ignorance.
These seven days flew by in an instant, we say, when we are extremely happy. We say this bad time is never-ending.
I wish to spend my time in bliss for the duration of innumerable Brahmas’ Kalpas. Not Brahma’s day or year, but the Kalpas of countless Brahmas is the duration of happiness Sri Bhagavatpada is praying for. That duration of time will fly by like an instant. Every moment I am near you I am immersed in bliss. I wish to be in your presence ever, praying to you.
In the sky, past the void, transcending gravity, Time and Light, there is no calculation of time like ours.
Srikar’s daughter Abdhija has brought a clock from NASA that works in space. It took me a long time to understand its functioning. It is very strange. Brahma’s time scale is extremely long. The calculation of the Yugas is mind-boggling. 311 trillion years and 41 billion is a small duration in Brahma’s life.
432,000 years is Kali Yuga. Our lifespan is most insignificant when you think of that.
It is bliss to be with you, Siva, praising you along with your other devotees. Such bliss is indescribable. Eons will pass in bliss as if it is a mere instant. May I be with you eternally. Your proximity is what I pray for. Saameepya/closeness and Saalokya/visibility are prayed for.
Please uplift me O Lord Siva. An excellent prayer offered to Siva in Kailasa.
A great thinker of the Universe is a title given to Bhartrhari. He has blessed us with grammar, the Science of Sound, and words of wisdom/Subhashitam. He has composed many works. He is a predecessor of Sri Bhagavatpada.
Bhartrhari says you are ever living in Kasi on the banks of Ganga, wearing a mere *** cloth, O Siva. I wish to pray to you with full-throated shouts of prayer to be uplifted and blessed.
When people see me praising you, they call me a mad man, sang Sri Swamiji. Bhartrhari was a king. He experienced the bliss of such wholehearted, full-throated prayer.
Sri Bhagavatpada has fixed in our minds the vision of Siva and has taught us how to lose ourselves in prayer. It is up to us to make this our personal experience. I wish to forget all my troubles, he says.
The more intense our prayer is, the sooner God’s grace will come to us.
After a trip to the Himalayas and Manasarovar, for many days and years that scene remains fixed in our hearts.
Bhajan: Jyotirlingakara … (Tryambakeswara)
Verse 25:
Sthavai rbrahmādeenām jaya-jaya-vachobhir-niryaminām
Gaṇanam kelībhir-madakala-mahokśasya kakudi
Sthitam neelagreevam trinayanam-umamślishta-vapusham
Katha twam paśyeyam kara drutha-mrugam kkhanda paraśum
I wish to spend eons like moments in your presence, was the previous prayer. Swamiji says, please come to the prayer hall and have darshan. When Swamiji may suddenly leave town, we never know. So he says do not miss a chance to have darshan.
I wish to hear your praises and shouts of victory made by the sages and saints. Amidst the shouts of victory that Siva enjoys I wish to remain. The entourage is busy playing all the different musical instruments that require no battery and have no expiry dates. There are five types of courts that Siva presides over and where He dances His Tandava dance. There was Tandava dance going on, and Sage Agastya was ordered to go to the Vindhya Mountain to quell its ego. Agastya was hesitant to miss the beautiful dance. Siva, to please Him, followed him and danced there in South India on the peak of a mountain. Beautiful descriptions of His divine dance are given in the scriptures. The drummer kept drumming on his own belly. Such frenzied dancing was in progress but no one was bumping into another.
Siva Mahatmya Stotra says, this vehicle, the Bull has become so old. Why do you not replace it? No. Vrishabha/Bull represents Dharma. It is eternal and unchangeable. You are sitting on the Bull next to its ***. The bull is making strange sounds.
Victory to you means victory to us. If the lawyer wins, our case wins. If God is victorious, we are going to be led in the path of Dharma. I wish to see you with the blue neck. I wish to see you being hugged by Parvati. When will I see you directly? Not just in photos. We say it is me you see in the photos. But we do not believe that in God’s photo who we see is actually God.
Swami Vivekananda was asked by a king once why people worship God’s pictures. Swami Vivekananda said to a guard, put that photo of the king on the ground and spit on it. The guard refused. Swami Vivekananda asked the king to spit on his own photo. The king got offended and refused. Swami Vivekananda said, so now you see yourself in your form depicted in the photo. He convinced the king that every picture of a saint, holy man or God is powerful and has a divine presence.
During Gajasuravadha/the killing of the demon Gajasura Siva’s weapon got slightly damaged. Siva was offered a new weapon. He refused. The damage proves and demonstrates that I am ever busy protecting my devotees, He said. A tall flag post, with trident, drum, and axe are displayed in many temples as proof that Siva is our protector from evil forces and ignorance.
Krishnappa (Sri Jayalakshmi Mata’s brother) was asked by Jayalakshmi Mata if he is ready to see God. He said, yes, I will see if He appears, but I do not believe that God exists. When Lord Dattatreya actually gave him darshan, Krishnappa who had agreed not to make a sound at the appearance of God, screamed and lost his faculty of speech temporarily.
Arjuna could not withstand the dazzling vision of the Universal Form of God shown to him by Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita. He prayed to Krishna to resume his normal form.
Your three eyes I wish to see. Kaivalya Upanishat gives this description. You grant us the eye of wisdom. You are keeping Uma as half of your body. You are holding the deer in your hand. Our mind is held in control by you in the form of the deer. You hold an axe to protect us, the same axe that got slightly damaged in the fight to protect your devotees. Your trident is held by you. Such a vision I wish to behold. I wish to justify having eyes that see.
Bhajan: Dhyayet Sambhum nagabharanam ..
Namassivaya Namassivaya Namassivaya Namassivaya
Raksha Bandhan today.
Bhajan: Raksha karo
Bhajan: Venkata Ramana sankata harana
Pavitrotsava is in progress. Please have darshan of Lord Sri Datta Venkateswara.
Tomorrow is Sravana Somavara/Monday – Ekadasha Rudrabhishekam takes place from 6:00 AM, followed by Maha Samprokshanam. Please have darshan.
Sri Guru Datta