January 13, 2015
Speech by HH Sri Datta Vijayananda Teertha Swamiji in the morning after puja - January 13, 2015 - Vijayawada
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Ganesaya Namaha
Sri Saraswatyai namaha
Sripada vallabha
Narasimha Saraswati
Sri Guru Dattatreyaya Namaha
Sri Sri Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Sadgurubhyo Namo namaha
Jai bolo Sri Syamakamalalochana Dattatreya Swami ki Jai
Jai bolo Sri Marakata Rajarajeswari Mata ki Jai
Jai bolo Kshipra Ganapati Swami ki Jai
Jai bolo Gangadhareswara Swami ki Jai
Jai bolo Pavanasuta Hanuman ki Jai
This Vijayawada Patamata ashrama has a wonderful place in the history of Avadhoota Datta Peetham. Swamiji has mentioned many times that Vijayawada is a second Mysore. Swamiji feels ecstatic to see the devotees here. This ashrama is now celebrating the anniversary function. We are performing abhishekam to Sri Syamakamalalochana Dattatreya Swami. In the evening we will worship Mother Sri Marakata Rajarajeswari. Sankranti festival has fortunately coincided with this event. On this occasion it gives me great pleasure to see all of you and be in the midst of you.
Happy New Year and Happy Sankranti to all of you. During the New Year's Day celebration I could not be here with you. At Sri Datta Venkateswara Temple in Mysore, the line of devotees waiting for darshan extended for several kilometers. Till 11:30 in the night they were receiving darshan of the Lord. 2015 January 1st coincided with Vaikuntha Ekadasi. It is an indication that this year will be a very successful year. Please offer fervent prayers. The definite indication that this will be a great year is that after a lapse of 5 years, Sri Swamiji once again graced this ashram with His presence on January 1st of 2015. After it was decided that this city will be the new capital of Andhra Pradesh, Swamiji placed His foot here. If Guru comes to your town, that is the greatest boon. Many persons have narrated their experiences here.
Hot upma was prepared to distribute as prasadam to devotees who were coming in the cold weather to have darshan of Lord Sri Datta Venkateswara. In the end, one big container full was left. Whenever there is any function taking at Datta Peetham, our ashram always does annadanam at the Lepers colony across the street. Many are unaware of this program. Swamiji likes to do things in secret. Devotees should probe into the activities of the ashram and find out what service activities are taking place, similar to this, and bring them to light. They should let others know the greatness of Guru. It was 11:30 in the night and too late to send it over to the place. It would not be consumed hot. The ashram staff advised that since in the regular rava (semolina) also cracked whole wheat was mixed today, it would retain its warmth and flavorful taste till the morning and it could be served then. It was Ekadasi and so I could not taste it.
I offered a garland to Lord Ayyappa, and as I was leaving the temple, I had instructed the manager Mr. Nagaraj, that when Ayyappa devotees come to the temple, they must never be refused prasadam. They should always be served some food. They are traveling pilgrims and cannot wait because they might miss their bus or train for their ongoing journey.
I prayed to Swamiji that somehow this prasadam should not go waste. The following day was Friday and for the abhishekam to the Lord, which was scheduled a little later than usual, at 10 in the morning, I went to the temple. My first question was: what was done with the prasadam? Sri Madhavachari had tears of joy when he told me that while the curtain was closed due to the awaited abhishekam, 300 Ayyappa pilgrims arrived at the temple and spoke the truth that they were there, not for the Lord's darshan, but for receiving prasadam. There is nothing wrong in stating a fact. They were not sorry about not having the Lord's darshan. That prasadam from the previous night, which had been offered to God, was amply sufficient to serve all 300 devotees, who had fasted the previous day. They left very happily.
This is not a small matter. Those who do annadanam have their families well-fed for several generations for the merit earned thereby.
You have heard about what happened in Manginapudi the other day (the fire rescue operation by SDHS volunteers). At the back of the Anantapur ashrama we were all standing looking at the sun. Someone was walking towards me. I kept looking. I don't know why. Why should I care who it is, someone just walking by? But I felt like seeing who the person was. But I just could not see the person's face. The man kept walking towards me. A tree branch obstructed the view of his face. Only the body was seen. I kept looking patiently to see if I could see his face. In the meantime, the telephone rang. He was speaking over the phone. It sounded like GV's voice. I was surprised to hear that because he was not expected to be there. Anyway, when I was tying the poornaphala, he also brought a purnaphala to tie. I felt that he was sent here only for that purpose of tying a purnaphala. I told him to offer a sincere prayer and tie it. Then I asked him where Chandramohan was. He said, Chandramohan went somewhere and sent him instead to see me, because soon I would be going inside. He tied the purnaphala. Then we went to Kurnool. He got a telephone call that someone was in an accident. It was not known who was involved. It was a horrible accident but the person was safe. He had witnessed the Jayalakshmi Kalyanam in Jayalakshmipuram and had the darshan of Sadguru. Sadguru had protected him. Sadguru always is by our side giving us protection. In Manginapudi, although many homes were lost, there were no casualties. Our volunteers cannot be adequately praised for their wonderful services. The authorities of the town gave them great commendation. Now we have arrived in Vijayawada. Normally, today should have been Bhogi festival. But this year, it got postponed by a day. That is why this year Sankranti is on the 15th. For causing this one day's delay in the Sun's movement, we are experiencing such tremendous cold weather here. Vijayawada is now colder than Mysore. Machilipatnam was also very cold. For the first time in my life I had to use a blanket in Machilipatnam. Normally people complain that Andhra is very hot. I pray that the weather and people's minds should both be pleasant and cool.
When there are no rains, you pray for rains. Then clouds come and people dance with joy. But that is not enough. If wind blows, the clouds will disperse. The clouds must produce rain to fulfill their purpose. Taking birth is the arrival of clouds. Serving Guru is the rain that should result. What is required is rain, not just clouds. So many creatures are born. But lives must be fulfilled. In this life itself, one should get fulfilled. Service is the only means to fulfill one's life. Why are we born? We are born only to serve. This body has been granted the blessing of being able to serve Guru, society, and all of you. Even if it is just a drizzle, it still counts as rain. So, even small services are still meritorious. But clouds, regardless of how dark they are, if they do not produce rain, but simply float away, such clouds are of no purpose. This is my message for this Sankranti, to all of you. Are you going to come and disperse like a rainless cloud? Or, are you going to use your life for service, and be a rain-giving cloud? It is in your control.
Sadguru is an ocean. When is an ocean happy? When it rains. Whether it rains on a mountain, on a river, or a lake, or land or pond, eventually, the waters reach the ocean and make it happy. Therefore, since we are given bodies like clouds, if we produce rain, the ocean-like Sadguru will get filled and will be overjoyed. This is the relationship between Guru and disciple. I am the cloud. He is the ocean. As long as we all, as clouds, keep producing rain, the ocean will be very pleased. We must pray for Guru's grace that our lives should be filled with opportunities to serve. There are many people in various types of difficulties. We must render our services as the occasion demands. I pray that every one of us should be blessed with opportunities to serve more and more.
Jai bolo Sadgurunatha Maharaj ki Jai.
The children sang and danced very well. How fortunate they are, to be able to sing Sri Swamiji's songs, and dance to the voice of Sadguru Sri Swamiji. It is for this purpose, to inspire children like these that he sings such wonderful songs. It is a wonderful bhajan by Sri Swamiji -- Devi viraadroopa..
Please sing it now in unison (addressing the audience).
When you do Annadanam, the food, the serving spoon, and the hand should act in harmony. Your attention should be only on these three, treating all three as forms of Sadguru. As you serve Prasadam, you should do it as sadhana. See only Sadguru as the food, the serving spoon, and the recipient who receives the food. You must have the feeling that Sadguru Himself is receiving each serving. You should learn to see Sadguru in everyone and everything. It is a tight rope walk that can be achieved with practice. A tight rope walker who has perfected the art can do it with eyes closed also, and do it effortlessly. Nothing is impossible. It is not easy. It requires great effort. Can we do it? We cannot even walk steadily as we climb stairs. With practice everything is possible. We are born for that purpose. That is why we have a Sadguru. Viswaroopa Darshana is nothing but being able to see the presence of Sadguru in every single being and every single object, everywhere, all the time. We are born now. We are lucky. We have a Sadguru. We are lucky. See Sadguru in everyone, everything, everywhere. See Mother Goddess everywhere, similarly.
Do not worry about setting the world right. That job is not yours. There are others to take care of the world. Do not be concerned. Correct yourself. Do it at the personal level. Uplift yourself. We are not powerful like Sri Rama to uplift the people of the entire kingdom. Do not worry about others. As far as spirituality is concerned, you have to be selfish to the utmost. You do your sadhana concerned only about yourself and your improvement. Do not be perturbed about who is present and who is not present, and who is doing what. Regardless of others around, continue with your efforts at spirituality.
Regarding serving others, be most unselfish. You must be selfish when you give, as if you are giving to yourself, be most generous. Be unselfish when you receive, receiving very little. It is the total opposite of normal behavior. Change your perspective. Reverse it. To see the opposite way, to feel the opposite way, to experience it the opposite way to what you are accustomed to, is to have the darshan of the Universal Form of God. Tell yourself constantly that your way of looking at the world is wrong. You must change your outlook. Sadguru in every single subatomic particle in existence. This is the meaning of this song. Mother points out your father to you. She introduces your father to you. Mother worship, Srichakra Puja is most important. Mother is everything. It is very important to worship Mother. To experience the formless energy, the electricity generated in Srisailam, you cannot touch it. You cannot utilize it as is. You need help from Mother. Electricity cannot be seen. It requires a transformer, an equipment, a conduit for the flow of that energy. The Shakti, the energy is Sadguru. It is Parashakti. Only when it manifests, you see it as light or other energy.
Einstein's formula is nothing but this. He based it only on our Sastras. He stated in an understandable way. Energy may move or may not move. It becomes manifest only when atoms merge. That is Mother's grace. Mother Nature introduces the Divine Father to us, who is the source of Creation. The description of Nature given in this song is superb. Mother Nature should be envisioned as the visible sun, moon, stars, rivers, clouds, sky and other familiar things in the world. They are all cited here as examples in this song, the people, the birds, the trees, and so on.
We sit here and listen but at the end of a couple of hours, do not grasp anything. It should not be like that. Sadguru removes our sins by giving us a vision of the Universal Form of God by giving us Truth in easy to swallow pills. His grace removes our difficulties. The Universal Form of God is described in this song. This little girl Vasundhara did a wonderful dance recital for this song and has inspired me to speak so much about this song.
Tomorrow is a special day for Sun God. All the three days are important. Please chant the Aditya Hridayam. In Kurnool, a rare and very special temple for Sun God is being built to grant health to all Datta devotees. We pray for the good health of our Sadgurudeva. There are only a few temples for the Sun God, at Arasavilli, Konark, and so on. By Sri Swamiji's 75th birthday, we hope that it will be completed. Sun temples are rare and very few. Recently the construction has commenced. We wish to offer this temple as a birthday gift to Sri Swamiji. In these three days which are special for the Sun, and we celebrate the greatness of the Sun, take a resolve to participate in the construction project of this temple. This is the festival of the Sun. If you cannot take immediate action within these three days, at least by Ratha Saptami, which is due next month, make a pledge to help with the construction of the Sun Temple at Kurnool.
During these three days, January 14-15-16, chant the Aditya Hridayam as soon as you take bath, and listen to the Surya Kavacha chanted by Sri Swamiji. It is good to do these every single day. At least do it during these three days.
Happy Makara Sankranti to everyone.
Jaya guru Datta
Sri Guru Datta