AvadhootaDatta Peetham

Discourse on Sivananda Lahari

Day 26, August 27

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. We pray for peace.

The group from Kakinada under the tutelage of Mahalakshmi has performed dance beautifully. Dance Seva was offered to Mother Goddess on this last day of Lalita Sahasranama Parayana with Koti Kunkumarchana. Her son is autistic, and recently has suffered a serious injury. Yet, she has set aside everything and has come here. She has served the nectar called the art of dance to differently abled children. Her effort and dedication are highly commendable.

Tulasi Datta of SDHS has been requesting for a long time for this opportunity to perform dance seva here. Today that desire was fulfilled.

Bhajan: Isha pateesha Jagannivasa

Verse 52:
Karunyāmritha varshinaṃ ghanavipad-greeshmachiddhā-karmaṭham
Vidha-sasya-phalodayāya sumanah-samsevya-micchā krithim
Nrithyadbhakta mayūra madrinilayam chanchajjatā mandalaṃ
Shambho vānchati neelakandhara sadā twām me manas chātakah

Sri Bhagavatpada has blessed us with a divine verse here. Yesterday he explained to us how to develop devotion, how to turn our minds towards God and accomplish our goal.

He described Srisaila Mallikarjuna as the lord of bees and prayerfully invited Him to make his heart the garden where he would joyfully roam about.

Today, mind is compared to a Chataka/Pied-crested Cuckoo Pakshi/bird. It is a rare bird that swallows only fresh rain water. It does not drink any other water. It waits eagerly for it to rain. The Chataka bird waits with an upturned head with beak open to the sky, to drink rain drops falling directly from the sky.

We should not drink direct rain water. It is against Sastra. It should be gathered, boiled, and consumed, or it should be evaporated and condensed before we consume it. Our system cannot process it as its. Rain water contains some chemicals which our bodies cannot digest and absorb. Rain water must seep into the ground and we must draw it as ground water.

Our Sastras/scriptures tell us specifically how to harvest rain water and how to process it.
Carrying water, a dark cloud travels and hence, a dark cloud is neelakam-dhara/holder of dark water.

My mind is like the Chataka bird. Please bless me with the rain of your infinite compassion, billions and trillions of units of mercy that you are filled with and shower us with.

Chant Siva’s name and associate it with every single object you see in nature and offer prayers to purify your heart.

O Siva, you are just like the compassionate cloud that helps us to survive by supporting our harvests and comforting us during the scorching heat of the summer season.

These days the temperatures are approaching 50 degrees. The government has to declare a holiday if the temperature soars to 50 degrees, hence they do not announce it. They say 49.5.

O Siva, our troubles are like the scorching heat of the summer. Your rain of compassion gives us comfort.
With your compassionate rain showers we will sprout Jnana in our hearts just as with the showers of rain, the earth sprouts new vegetation.

We foolishly fail to pray for knowledge. We ask for everything else. Devotion, dispassion, and divine knowledge are the most important. What is the use of academic excellence when common sense and humility are lacking?

Because of the comfortable lives granted by clouds we send our children to school to gain knowledge.

Sumana=deity or farmer – One with a good heart
Farmer cannot sit in the market and sell his produce. He has to tend to his fields. Farmers Markets are established where middle men manage the stores and make profit. The troubles faced by farmers are indescribable. We happily receive the produce and enjoy our meals. We can only do one thing. We cannot help them in the fields, since we are busy otherwise. We can at least pray for timely rains, at least three times a month. At least let it rain during the rainy season.

O Siva, you can assume any form you choose, like water that assumes the form of the ***. We are all in so many forms. Siva is in every one of us. He is all-pervasive. Similarly, a cloud also takes different forms, like horses running, a parrot, like Mother Goddess, and so on. Nature should be observed and appreciated. We forget her existence. We neglect to appreciate it. We must recognize the five elements in nature. Mother Goddess is everywhere in nature.

O Siva, you reside in the mountains, like the clouds. When the clouds rain at the top of mountains, the rains are wonderful. Just as lightning is your matted hair. My mind, as the Chataka bird, is offering you prayers. Please listen to my prayers, and bless me. O Sambho, you are the source of all life.

Any prayer may be chosen. But one must exert one’s imagination and get drenched in the Bhava/emotion and feeling of the prayer.

We are to blame for this extreme heat. We must plant and protect trees. We are negligent.

Neelakantha is peacock. Neelakandhara is raincloud.
My mind is yearning for drops of your rain of compassion. I need nothing but the opportunity to chant your name and receive your mercy. O Siva, you benefit this entire universe without showing any distinction. You love everyone and are satisfied easily. We forget your blessings and are only preoccupied with our small offerings and demands.

Neelakantha/blue-throat and neelakandhara/blue-neck mean the same thing.
A dark cloud that rains and satisfies the Chataka bird is one meaning. Dark throated Siva from consuming poison is the other meaning.

Siva burned to ashes Manmatha, the god of desire. Mother Goddess prayed that he be revived. Siva gave Her the power to revive him but he had to be without form.

The rain called compassion is showered on us by Siva. We pray for timely rains. The prayer is addressed to rain clouds. This tradition is unique to Indian culture. Clouds are considered by many as lifeless objects. But we feel that clouds give us rains out of compassion. Great suffering occurs during the summer season when it is extremely hot to step outside. During such a season, rains give immense comfort. The fragrance from the moist soil that has just become wet from the rains smells extremely fragrant, reminding of Mother Goddess. Siva, you comfort our hearts that are parched with thirst. Rain brings harvests that feed our mouths. When the household is running comfortably, the children are sent to school to earn knowledge. Rain makes our hearts sprout with knowledge.

All the deities and farmers pray for rains. They work extremely hard to grow their crops to feed the population of the country. I have seen the hardship suffered by a farmer. At midnight he goes to the field to turn on the motor, risking the presence of snakes on the way. He returns home at 3 AM. Farmers have such compassionate and generous minds. Their minds are fixed on clouds, the sky, the sun, moon, rains, and the soil. They only look up at the sky waiting for rain. They look down at the earth, waiting for plants to grow. Just like the deities, their minds are pure. Farmers worship the clouds. Deities worship Siva. God may be worshiped in any form. God is capable of assuming any form.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna declares: No matter what your chosen deity may be, I will grant your desires, appearing to you in your chosen form. I will protect you. Our minds cannot focus without a form. Hence, we prepare an image of God and offer worship to it. We take the example of our sages and saints who have benefited by worshiping certain forms of God and so we adopt those same shapes and descriptions of God.

Clouds, like Siva, take different forms, like a chariot, like children playing, like a ship, so many different shapes as per your imagination. A peacock dances when dark clouds gather. Your devotees are like so many peacocks which dance at your approach. Our own head is Mount Kailas.

My mind as the Chataka bird is praying to you to give rain as your blessing. You are the cloud. I am the peacock.
While chanting Rudram if Siva is imagined as the giver of rains, it will bless us with rain.

Bhajan: Jyotirlingakara (Ghrishteeswara)

Namassivaya Namassivaya Namassivaya Namassivaya Namassivaya

Verse 53:
Aakaśena shikhī samastha phaninām netrā kalapi natā
Anugraahi pranavopadeśa ninadaih kekeeti yo geeyate
Syamām shaila samudbhavām ganaruchim drushtwa natantam muda
Vedantopavane vihāra rasikam tam neelakantham bhaje

Neelakantha/blue-throated is Siva and also a peacock. The blue throat of Siva is because of the poison. The dual meaning is employed here. The crown of the peacock is compared to Siva’s matted locks. The crown/sikhi of the peacock appears like the snake hood of Adi Sesha. Those who worship Siva see Him in their dream He even gives mantra initiation to some. After waking up, everything is forgotten. The mantra should be remembered from the dream and should be verified with guru. Siva, you initiate me in the Panchakshari or Pranava mantra in my dream.

You dance seeing Shyamala/dark-skinned Mother Goddess. Seeing the dark cloud, the peacock dances. You dance amidst Vedanta. Your name is Neelakantha.

100 km from Rishikesh is a cave called Vasishtha Guha, where Siva is said to have performed penance. He is said to have rested there after consuming the poison. I praise you as Neelakantha. Please remove the poison that is within me. Please prompt me to perform good deeds, O Lord Siva.

In the earlier verses, Sri Bhagavatpada asked Siva: How could you dare to consume such all destroying poison?
While grinding sandalwood paste, one must remember the poison-consuming Siva.

Once, as a child, I was in a village. I was swinging my leg sitting in a chair. Suddenly it felt like I had received an electric shock. At once my leg turned black and became immobile. Aswattha Narayana (a relative during my past ashrama) took some sandal paste with Bilva leaves, betel nut, and other substances mixed in it, and applied it where I got stung. A tarantula, not a scorpion, had stung me. He placed that paste on the place where I got stung. The poison came out of the wound with a bubbling action. This is like a second birth for me. I did not even realize that I was stung.

Even in Tirupati, they think of Siva when they make sandal paste. Mantra, Yantra, and Tantra must be combined. With all our actions, while doing mantra japa, the Bhava/remembrance of the glory of Siva who consumed and withstood the effect of the Halahala poison, should also be combined.

Peacock and Siva are the dual meanings for the word Neelakantha. Peacock has a blue throat. The sky is the form of a Siva Linga. Sky is also blue. Siva is all pervasive as the sky.

You have Adi Sesha’s snake hood as your decoration, O Siva.

Photographers will be waiting to photograph a peacock’s dance. The Discovery channel people put in extreme efforts to capture and present to us the beautiful and rare photographs and videos. We must remember, acknowledge, and appreciate their work, just as we remember the efforts of the farmers when we eat.

Siva, like you, the peacock dances. It says ‘keka’, that is its call. Keki means Brahma. Siva is ever merged in Brahman. Keki is a name for peacock.

Shyamala, Mother Goddess is dark like the dark clouds. You both dance inspired by the dark Mother Goddess, and the dark clouds, respectively.

You wander in the garden called Vedanta/Upanishads. Please remove the poison of ignorance and evil traits that is within me and shower your grace upon me, O Lord Siva.

Bhajan: Nee roopemiti Siva deva

What is your form O Lord Siva? Are you not our own Sadgurumurti? You say that your feet that roam in the cremation grounds, are smeared with ash. But isn’t what you call ash, really the pollen from the 7 lotuses of the Chakras of your disciples?

You say that you are draped in a *** elephant’s skin but is it not really the saffron robe that we are all familiar with?
Are skulls and snakes really the garlands in your neck? Are these not the substitutes for rudraksha beads and floral garlands?
You show the third eye on your forehead as the kumkum dot. I say that it is the eye of wisdom. If you show me the crescent moon on your crown, I will tell you that it is the inner light that glows.
My job is destruction you say. I declare it is the destruction of my wavering mind/ego.
You say that you are in the non-dual state. I declare that you are none other than Sachchidananda.

Namassivaya Namassivaya Sambho Sankara Samba Sadasiva.

A wonderful bhajan has been gifted to us by Swamiji. How do we know your form, Siva, how do we give you a name? You transcend both form and name. You say you wander in the cremation ground. You say that your jewels are snakes. I say that no, the snake is really the serpent Kundalini.

Tomorrow we will be performing the Mangala Gowri/Swarna Gowri Vratam. Friday is Ganapati Festival. After abhishekam to Lord Sri Datta Venkateswara, we will celebrate the function. I pray for blessings of Ganapati to be showered on everyone. Tomorrow we meet again at the Yoga Vasishtha discourse.

Om Santissantissantihi

Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Guru Datta