Aug 11, Sivananda
Discourse on Sivananda Lahari
Day 14, August 11
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Ganesaya Namaha
Sri Saraswatyai Namaha
Sripada Vallabha
Narasimha Saraswati
Sri Guru Dattatreyaya Namaha
Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Sadgurubhyo Namaha
Bhajan: Pahi pahi gajanana
Verse 26:
Kadā vā twām drushtvā gireesha tava bhavayangri yugaḷam
Griheethvā hasthābhyām shirasi nayane vakshasi vahan
Samāslishyā grāhya sphuta-jalaja-gandhān parimalān
alabhyām brahmādhair muda-manu bavishyāmi hrudhaye
Yesterday we learned from Sri Bhagavatpada about praying for closeness and visibility (Sameepya and Salokya) of God. I wish to be near you and be seeing you and be seen by you always.
Today is Sravana Somavara, a very auspicious day.
After that how do we continue to develop our bhakti? Prema Bhakti, loving devotion is being taught to us by Sri Bhagavatpada. Sometimes in the presence of God we remain negligent, sloppy, sleepy, and preoccupied. We should be alert and attentive. In a temple, how to have darshan and derive the benefit from it?
After having darshan of God, people feel happy. Yes, we have been to Kedarnath. We had darshan. We also went to Srisailam, Sri Kalahasti. We went to Mysore ashrama. We know the place very well. All we know is that we stayed at Bharadwaja Kuteera and ate at Annapurna Mandiram. We cannot describe anything else about the ashram. We have not observed. People who go to Kedarnath cannot describe the Siva Linga there. They tell you that it is small. Then you know that either they have not gone there, or they were not paying any attention to the deity in the temple. You go there but you do not see Siva. Once having seen Siva, should you not grab Him tight? Should you simply return empty handed?
Those who have eyesight do not see the Lord. Those who are blind have the vision of God. Whose fault is it? Those who remained in the cave with Dattatreya did not have His proper darshan, it says in the Datta Darshanam.
What do we know about your trident, your three eyes, your axe, and your other attributes? Only when we hold the Lord tight in our hearts with deep love and devotion that we will begin to know Him intimately.
Yesterday we were told that we should have a vision of Siva where many Kalpas of Brahma will pass like an instant. Such bliss is there in that experience. How to stop Time? We are caught in this wheel of Time. How to transcend it?
If an auto rickshaw goes either too slow or too fast we get uncomfortable and uneasy. When we have a good friend to give us company, our journey will be smooth and happy. Keep Mantra always as your companion to make life’s journey smooth and at a convenient speed.
Once your darshan is obtained, do not rest satisfied with that. The Lord has half-closed eyes, reclining like Sri Ranganatha Swami. In Surutapalli, near Tirupati (a wonderful posture of repose of Siva; please visit and enjoy the unforgettable darshan) Siva rests on Parvati’s lap, exhausted after swallowing the poison Haalaahala. Siva asked if he should help with the churning of the ocean. They said no. You have already done an indescribable service by saving our lives. Please take some rest.
Once, when I was a small boy and still new to the ashram, Appaji told me that I should wake him up at 3:30 PM. He was tired and was going to rest for a while. I was eager to do a perfect job of the first task that was given to me. I was very excited at the chance of excelling at my responsibility and pleasing my Sadguru. I waited patiently watching the clock every minute. I knocked the door exactly at 3:30 PM. I was given a task for the first time. I did not want to make a mistake. I repeatedly knocked. Still, there was no answer. I then took advice from an elder devotee who told me to go inside the room slowly, and lifting the cover sheet, to touch Appaji’s feet gently and he will wake up. What happened?
Appaji gave me one hard kick. He got up and asked why I had disturbed His sleep. He said He was in a different country and was busy saving someone’s life. I did not know that what I had done was wrong. A senior devotee advised me wrongly. Guru’s sleep should never be disturbed like that. I learned my lesson.
Siva requires no sleep. He is always in the Tureeyaateeta stage. He is beyond the state of Tureeya. That is why He is called Gireesa.
When He is restfully reclining, the pair of feet (it should never be seen as two separate feet but as one entity as a pair) protect the entire Universe. I wish to touch your feet with your permission, beginning with the sole of the feet and then the big toe.
We must never touch Guru’s feet with contaminated hands. Never make that mistake. Only those who have the permission and authorization may touch the feet of the Lord and that too only once after completing the worship in a temple. Even the feet are given a shield. After the worship the garlands offered thereafter will only be placed on the Utsava Murtis.
Do not argue how God can become contaminated. Your heart should be absolutely pure; then, nothing contaminates. But our hearts are never that pure. Kannappa, the greatest devotee of Siva offered raw meat with blood dripping, to Siva with innocent love and devotion. God accepted it. Fire is ever pure. It never gets contaminated. But what happens if you touch Fire? It burns you. God is Fire. Guru is Fire. Medicine is taken with clean hands. Otherwise the germs on our hands will make us sicker. Similarly we approach God to get rid of our ill health and filth. We should not physically transfer these to Him. We commit three types of sins and we go to God to get rid of them.
Humbly receive the feet of the Lord in your clean hands and place them on your head. We pray that the enemy within us/ego should be pressed down into the netherworld and destroyed by His feet.
Siva reclines and rests on the Mountain Kailasa. He happily relaxes there. Our head is the Mountain. At the Sahasrara He resides. Girisa and Gireesa are both His names.
Bhavya is what is beyond Samsara, this worldly existence. The divine pair of feet is one entity. We have to receive the lotus feet of the Lord with love, devotion, and tenderness.
We do not know how to touch the feet of Guru. We touch with dirty hands without washing after we have eaten, touched our nostrils, or our eyes or hair, or with sharp nails. We transfer our germs to Guru. It is a sin. We must always wash our hands after eating. If saliva gets on the hands, it contaminates and transfers germs. We must all practice ‘Madi’, perfect cleanliness not just for rituals but at all times. We should not touch others unnecessarily. It is not our practice to shake hands. The British have introduced it to us. It spreads germs.
In Africa a dangerous epidemic is starting. We pray for it to subside.
First touch the soles of Guru’s feet. My hands may not deserve to hold your feet. But please place your feet in my hands, you must beg Guru. Once you have the feet, place them on the head. The flow of nectar will then flow on to you. Then touch them to the eyes and then to the heart. These three are the main centers in meditation. We should contemplate on those spots. The navel where sound originates should be meditated upon. Anahata nada is joined then at the heart region; then at the throat, where sound vibration is felt. Then naasaagra, the tip of the nose. Krishna says to Arjuna look at the tip of your nose with half-closed eyes. Then lift the attention to the area between the eyebrows. It is difficult to hold the attention there. One may get a headache. With practice it can be done. Then move to the Sahasrara. Do this entire exercise mentally in concentrated contemplation.
Here Sri Bhagavatpada begins with the head.
Inhalation and exhalation are spoken about in the Guru Gita. It also says place the feet of Guru on top of the head. When you place God’s feet in the heart you feel that He is very close to you. You may embrace the feet tightly in your contemplation. The fragrance of the feet should be inhaled. All our limbs are involved in the worship. The fragrance has the scent of a lotus. All the deities like Brahma also are denied such bliss as I experience through this procedure, says Sri Bhagavatpada. Brahma and others to this day continue their penance to attain such bliss as I experience by your grace. I wished to experience that bliss of inhaling that special fragrance. When will I have this blessing, O Lord Siva, prayed Sri Bhagavatpada.
The moment I strongly wished for it, O Lord Siva, you have granted me my wish.
The fragrance is felt in meditation; it is not physical smelling with the nose. This embrace occurs inside the heart. It is not outside in the physical sense. These are the subtle feet of God held tight in the heart. To obtain this experience, repeatedly practice this with Guru placed firmly in your heart. When abhishekam is performed, it is not the pouring of water that is important, but your unwavering devotion and undisturbed concentration.
It is a wonderful descriptive verse.
Rama embraced Hanuman. Rama whispered a secret in Hanuman’s ear. The secret whispered was: From today I am you and you are I. Hanuman, by shedding tears of joy washed away all His sins and mistakes and became perfectly pure.
Still, afterwards, Hanuman ever remained Rama’s servant, never showing any ego.
Bhajan: Jyotirlingakara .. (Vaidyeswara)
Namassivaya Namassivaya Namassivaya Namassivaya
Verse 27:
Karasthe hemādrou Gireesha nikatasthe dhana pathou
Gruhasthe sarvabuja amara surabhi chinthamanir gane
Shirasthe sheetāmsau charana-yugalsthe-akhila shubha
Kamartham dasyeham bhavathu bhavadartham mama manah
Earlier Sri Bhagavatpada had said, you have granted me the divine bliss denied even to Brahma and the other celestials. What can I give you in return?
Do these pillars and the sound equipment enjoy the bliss and consciousness that we enjoy? They don’t.
By whose radiance we glow, by whose bliss we feel joy, by whose existence we exist, this we must remember always – as explained in the Guru Gita. We have nothing at all in us for us to be filled with ego. Nothing is possible for us to do or achieve. Our joy is based upon Him. We are alive and we perceive this world because of Him. We felt certain happiness in mother’s ***, in birth, in growth, in eating. How can we blame God and deny Him because today we got a small problem with our computer? What is hope? Hope is bliss. We have it because of God. God has blessed us with bliss. You have placed your feet in my heart. You gave me the joy of ingesting the fragrance from your feet.
Some arrogantly ask what has Swamiji given me? He has given you joy. We must never remain indebted to God. We must pay back to our best ability.
What kind of things do we give others? What is most useless for us we pack it nicely and give it away with a sigh glad to be rid of it. It is very wrong. Give away what you value the most. Never give as a birthday or wedding gift some used, useless item, nicely giftwrapped. We must always give what the others will appreciate. We must give what we cherish the most. We sometimes ask what we may bring. Guru will say, just come. That is enough.
You bring from your town what is special from there; what is not available elsewhere.
You give your gifts to God in return for all that He has given you. God has everything. You take water water from the lake and return the water back to the lake.
Meru Parvata, Mountain of Gold became Siva’s Bow during a battle against the demons. On the Mountain you rest and reside. You have no wealth. May I offer you wealth? No. Kubera stands by God ever offering his services. Kubera is the Reserve Bank of the Universe, of all the worlds. O Lord Siva, you do not need this paper money and coins. Your home has the Kalpa Vrksha/the Wish-yielding Tree. I cannot bring you fruits; you have all the fruits of all the seasons, cherry, berry, apple, and banana. I cannot offer you milk. You have Surabhi with you/the Wish-yielding Cow, ever ready to give you milk and anything else that you wish. I wish to bring a novel item. You have Chintamani which will at once manifest anything that is thought about. You have many such invaluable items. You are a Yogi. You do not consume anything and everything. How to offer you food and water? I cannot give you cool breeze or any cool comfort. You have Ganga and the Moon keeping you cool and comfortable always. All the eight types of prosperity are with you. Everything you have. What object or gift can I offer you? What is it that I have that you do not possess?
The only thing you do not have is my heart/mind. It is still with me. I have not given it away to you as yet. How cleverly Sri Bhagavatpada speaks. Please accept this. May my mind and all my thoughts be of use to you and of help to you. I wish that they should completely belong to you as your own possessions.
Daily if you chant this hymn/stotra knowing the meaning and feeling it within your heart, I challenge that concentration will improve and the mind will get cleansed.
When such a mind is offered to God, He will happily accept and lovingly cherish this gift.
Please accept my mind as a gift from me. At least for a moment in this entire lifespan we should be willing to surrender our minds to God. For achieving that one moment of surrender we need all this constant sadhana/continuous spiritual practice. You must teach your children about this concept. God should acknowledge that our mind has been fully surrendered. For that, life-long practice is required. Ego may suddenly raise its head. It is like climbing the hill one more time. Hence, keep on climbing to have the darshan of God. I pray that God should grant you the ability to surrender your hearts and minds to Him. Our minds are like elephants and horses that will be kept under His control.
Unless God has created this transcendental bliss, we would not be praying for the removal of sorrow and the experience of such bliss. We must keep reminding ourselves of the joy that God has created.
It is in our thinking, our imagination, our feeling, that we must reciprocate for the help and gifts that we have received. We must always repay others. We must always be free from debt. It is impossible to pay you back for what you have given me, O Lord. All the kings are your followers. You receive the most precious gifts.
People may publicize the rare gifts of others to encourage others also to engage in charity and sacrifice. Never allow your gifts or charities to get to your head.
Siva encouraged Kubera to give a loan to Lord Venkateswara. Siva stood as surety with an Aswattha Tree as witness.
Bhajan: Sankaram sankaram
Namassivaya Namassivaya Namassivaya Namassivaya
Sri Guru Datta