Nov 30, 2015
Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji - November 30, 2015 - Hyderabad
Sri Maha Ganapataye Namaha
Sri Saraswatyai Namaha
Sripadavallabha Narasimha Saraswati
Sri Guru Dattatreyaya Namaha
The first thing we think of, when we think about Karteeka Masa (month) is Deepa Danam. We offer prayers for seven generations of ancestors and light a lamp for them so that they go to higher worlds like Kailasa. In every home, in the morning and evening, if a lamp is lit, Goddess Lakshmi will reside there happily. Good health will be granted. Unmarried girls will get married, even if with difficulties. All evil spirits will go away. These days people light electric lights. They will not give the same benefit. One must use oil lamps, different types of oils may be used, extracted from different flowers and seeds, including sesame seeds, each gives different benefit. Or, ghee lamps may be lit. Clay containers are the best.
Some offer to recipients, brass, silver or gold lamp holders. If no recipients are available, they offer them to ***. It is Fire worship to light lamps. Use a guard or a cover for safety, so that children don’t hurt themselves and no accidents occur. In Mysore there is an Akhanda Deepam, an eternal flame, it covers the wall with soot from the camphor or ghee that is used in the lamp. Once a year, a foot thick soot is scraped and a Siva Linga is prepared with it. Some wear it. It is smooth and hard. We cannot do this.
But you can at least light a lamp every morning and night. You use two teaspoons of ghee with your meals daily. Such a small quantity is sufficient to light lamps also or you may use sesame oil. If these are not available, use peanut oil or even castor oil. They use castor oil lamps in Hanuman temples. Such lamps burn very steadily and strongly, despite breeze. The benefit and power of lighting lamps cannot be described in a day. The glory of lighting lamps is immense. I have only mentioned the materials used in lighting lamps.
Worship with lamps lights our way to higher worlds.
Before Christ, there was a town where the Pandavas are supposed to have lived In Bhuj. I am proceeding there to see the place.
Here we have no proofs to say that our history dates back 5000 years. People do not believe our palm leaf documents. Several thousands of years ago, even before the time of the Pandavas, cities existed. Harappa and Mohenjodaru civilization is thousands of years old, it existed before the time of Pandavas. From Rama’s time also there are cities. They are not available to us. Krishna’s Dwaraka is now submerged in water. It cannot be lifted up.
In Peru, the excavations are great. The village unearthed in Bhuj is quite remarkable. Everyone must visit this place. The water distribution system was quite advanced then. They had lamp posts citywide lighting up the city.
Lights not only give radiance but also knowledge. It is our ancient tradition to light lamps for *** and Guru.
We have three factors here in each lamp. One is the container, the second is the oil, and the third is the wick. They represent the gross body, subtle body, and astral body. All the three bodies require Jnana. For that they require the touch of Fire. With three wicks also you may light the lamps, to represent these. They also represent the three Gunas and the three types of Karma. Agni is Jnana. It does not simply burn. The process does not end there. Agni Samskara is done both for children and for the departed souls. It is very powerful and pure. It may appear frightening. But it has the power to change lives. The entire Creation came out of ashes. Siva burned everything. Out of the ashes, the seed sprouted. But when Siva burnt everything down, from the ashes, new Creation sprouted.
Deepa Danam exhausts all sins, done knowingly and unknowingly. Even seeing the lamps is sufficient. This amount of light and this beauty is not there when you keep electric lights. Those electric bulbs used in weddings and festivities creating shapes and colors may look attractive, but they do not please the eyes or comfort the eyes, as these lamps do. Electric lights drive away darkness and burn for a long time, no doubt. These lamps will, also, if you add enough oil.
*** is inside each and every lamp. You are a light yourself. Light eternally burns inside us. Velugu deepam, it is the light of ***. *** is Light. Sri Thyagaraja Swami realized in his last days that Paramatma is Light (Paramatmudu velige mucchata baaga telusukore). Till then, he worshiped idols and wept over them. Then he realized that light is ***. *** ever glows within us as light. Paramatma is shining brightly within each one of us. When that light fades, the wind goes out. It is air that keeps the light alive. Our lives are dependent on air in the form of our breath. Before that light goes out, before breath stops, which fuels the flame, we must accomplish whatever we have to do. In life, we have many duties, marriage, children, doing rituals for them, building house, and performing funeral rites. This is our worldly life. We struggle with our lives. Those who wish to stay aloft, also fall. We get entangled in attachments and sorrows.
In any home, you see much sorrow. We feel helpless. Joy is fleeting, wherever you look. In the morning people laugh, by evening they weep. Many types of sorrow are unnecessary.
If a monkey ridicules you, you feel bad. It is the nature of a monkey to heckle. It does not shake your hand and praise you. People are also like that. There is no need to feel bad that someone laughed at you. Do not take it seriously if someone insults you or makes fun of you. Regard such people as monkeys. Swamiji has told you to regard people who hurt you as monkeys. They do not like what you are doing. They simply want to make you weep. At home and in the streets, there are numerous sadists who rejoice in the misery of others. You treat them or consider them as monkeys. You tell him so, the one who verbally abused you that he spoke hurtful words, and so he is a monkey. From that day onwards, he will be sleepless, and when he looks in the mirror, he will only see a monkey there as his reflection. You tell such people to their face that they are buffoon monkeys. Monkeys never stay in one place. Such monkeys are there in this world.
I will tell you one dirty story. I tell this story to children. You may call me also a monkey. That is okay. After all, I am Lord Hanuman.
A youngster was brought to India by his father, and the small boy expressed a liking for this country. Father said, you may come live here after you complete your education. The boy was growing up in the USA.
The boy wanted to visit a zoo garden. The father discouraged him. He said this system is different, it is not like in the USA. The place stinks and the animals are not treated properly. Sometimes they are overfed and sometimes the animals are starved. The animals behave strangely here. You will develop a bad impression about India and you will tell all your friends about it when you return. You are a student leader and you will publicize the negative aspects about India. I would rather avoid it.
The boy insisted and so he was taken to the zoo. The boy was disgusted at the uncleanliness and the disarray. The father said, I told you so. They finally went to a monkey’s cage or shelter. The boy wanted to feed the monkeys some peanuts. The father said, the sign says “Do not feed the monkeys”. The animals may get sick if you feed them. Let us just give some donation. The boy insisted on feeding the monkeys some peanuts.
The boy gave some peanuts to the monkey. The monkey took each peanut, put it in its *** and then ate it. The boy felt disgusted at this behavior of the monkey. He wanted to complain to the zoo official. The father said, I warned you. The boy complained to the zoo authorities. The zoo official said: yesterday, another boy like you brought peanuts from the USA. They were huge in size. The monkey ate those and it became constipated, because the peanuts were too big to excrete. They got stuck in the ***. It suffered a lot. That is why today it is checking the size of each peanut to see if it will come out easily the next day when it tries to expel them. It learned a lesson yesterday. That is why it is measuring the size of each peanut to see if it will come out the next day.
Anyway call sadists, monkeys in a zoo. Some women also are sadists. They cannot stand to see other people being happy. They are also morose. They have no faith in anyone. They have no trust.
I think I will build a good mental hospital for such sadists. A devotee offered to render some service. I told him to build a hospital for sadists. They must be forcefully expelled from their homes and admitted in the hospital. They do not enjoy life. They do not allow others to enjoy their lives. The husbands and wives make one another miserable. Before going to bed, they must succeed in making the other person feel terrible. How to live in fear of them constantly? I feel so bad because many of my devotees are sadists. They do this cruel activity deliberately. I feel like slapping them hard. How to put fear into them? I feel like breaking their teeth and placing their teeth in their hands. Before I die, I will certainly build a hospital and tie these people us and throw them in there. They want all others to be subservient. Their meek wives are always living in terror. They make the lives of girls, children, and the weak people miserable. What do they achieve by such behavior?
Why is Swamiji speaking like this? Why is he not giving Upadesa? Yes. He is giving a different Upadesa today.
The Mayans discovered this ailment. This disease is ancient. The Mayan king made all sadists carry heavy rocks to build homes. That cured them of that illness called ***.
Learn to be contented. So many people are so dissatisfied about all the things that they did not get. If there are two daughters, the mother wishes for sons and mistreats the two daughters lifelong. If you have one thing, you want something else. The children grow up ever feeling miserable and unwanted, and disrespect the mother.
To avoid all such troubles, light a lamp every day in your homes. Use three wicks to represent the three bodies. Have a touch of Fire. Get a touch of Jnana.
To learn that nothing exists in this world, and even this body is not mine, that knowledge is Jnana.
Yesterday, there were a lakh of people. They announced, Silence. Everybody obeyed. Did they ever before experience such silence in their lives? They were all blissful and wished it would last for at least five minutes. That is the power of group prayer. Krishna was offered prayers. When as a group everyone prayed, Krishna’s incarnation took place. That is penance. That is concentration on breath. When the breath stops, life ends. The light gets extinguished.
The light within us is Jnana. The one who realizes that, is the intelligent person, and he is the truly meritorious person. Let us all be happy in the presence of ***. Swamiji should have been elsewhere. But he is here with you. I am happy. Swamiji started somewhere and came somewhere else. You are all very fortunate. How many of you were there at the Koti Deepotsavam? I saw many Datta Vastrams. It made me happy to see them. If I see a lot of my own devotees, I feel relaxed and I feel free to speak naturally. I cannot speak in a controlled and restricted manner. I just see everyone as my own people and speak freely, wherever I may be.
What is the next program?
All of you are chanting the Hanuman Chalisa. How many of you are sending the count to sgshanumanchalisa@gmail.com? We have completed 800 crores. 100 crores more we require. The sooner we complete, the better for us. Many are sending. About 20,000 recordings have been done. We need 5000 more. Please contribute.
All of you come and attend Datta Jayanti in Mysuru. Come for Sivaratri also to Mysuru. Bhajan groups are invited. Are you participating? Just giving encouragement I have introduced this Bhajan competition.
Sri Guru Datta
Compiled by Smt Hira Duvvuri