Sep 18: Vamana Avatar & The Ganges
The Nama Sankirtan was led by Sankarji from California.
Generally the full-moon and half-moon days are considered very auspicious. On these days, the moon has a direct influence on the mind. It is said that in the Vedas that in the colossal [virat] form of the Lord, the mind of the Lord is made up of moon. Only on these days, it is always considered to be very auspicious. The avatara [incarnation] of Mahans are on the full-moon and half-moon days. Chaitanya mahaprabhu’s Jayanthi is on a full-moon day. The great Acharya, Sri Chandrasekharendra Bharathi Swamigal Aradhana is on a full-moon ammavasya day. The birth date of our beloved Guru Maharaj Sri Muralidhara Swamiji is on an ammavasya day.
The eighteenth of September happens to be an Ammavasya day. It is indeed a special one as it is known as Mahalaya Amavasya. It falls in Dakshanaya [the direction of sun is inclined to the south]. Amavasya is very sacred for the ancestors in the pitru Loka. Following this, is Navaratiri [nine day festival]. There are two Navaratris, Vasantha and Sharadha Navarathiri. Vasantha Navarathiri is in the spring season. Sharadha Navarathri is celebrated during the Autumn/Fall season. In Sharadha Navarathiri, the Divine Mother is worshipped in many different ways for nine days. It is celebrated as Golu in the southern part of India. In the north-eastern part of India, especially in West Bengal, the Mahalya Amavasya is celebrated in a very grand manner. The Durga deity is made with specific type of sand from a specific location in the banks of river Ganges. It is on this Mahalya Amavasya day that the eyes of the deity are carved out. The whole energy of the deity is brought out only when the eyes are carved out. The ‘Netronilanam’ starts on the morning of the mahalya Amavasya day. The Durga pooja is celebrated for seven days and culminates on the Saptami [Durga Saptami] . They celebrate the Durga Pooja on the seventh day.
Followed by introductions, Narayananji from Boston beautifully talked about the significance of Vamana Avatar and the Ganges.
The lord in Vaikunta is called as Paravasudeva [Lord Narayana]. He is in a standing posture with Goddess Lakshmi on his side. In Srirangam, one can find the Lord in Paravasudeva form on the tower [vimana] of the temple. This is said to be the form of the lord in Vaikunta. But he is not accessible in this form. In order to make Himself accessible for a chosen few [devas], he comes to Kshiraabdi, [the milky ocean] which is verily the Lord’s in-laws place. It is said that he is in a sleeping posture and even there he is not very accessible. He only speaks through the language of silence. In Srimad Bhagavatam, when Lord Brahma goes to Kshirabdi to meet the lord, “ Giram Samadhu Gaganae sameeritam”. It is only through the language of Samadhi that they communicate. In order to make Himself accessible to everyone, he took avatars and came into this world. He took innumerable avatars out of which Srimad Bhagavatam talks about twenty two avatars. The avatars of Lord Rama and Lord Krishna are known as complete [poorna] avatars.
Andal very beautifully shows these three forms of the Lord in her first three hymns. In her first hymn she says –
“Narayananae Nammakke Parai tharuvan”- in which she refers to the Paravasudeva, the supreme being in Vaikunta. In her second hymn, she refers to the lord in Kshirabdhi (‘payyathuiyindra paraman adi paadi’), where, Lordess Lakshmi is always caressing His feet. This is called the Vyuha Avataram. In her third verse, she goes to show an incarnation [avatar]. It is a known fact that the lord took ten avatars. Srimad Bhagavatam elucidates twenty two avatars and also talks about the innumerable [asankhyeya] incarnations. So we ideally expect Andal to talk about Lord Rama or Lord Krishna in her third hymn. But she talks about the Lord who came down to the earth as Vamana Avatar and who grew up as Trivikrama Avatar!
“Ongi ulagalandha uttaman perpadi”
“Naangal nam paavaiku satru neeradinal”
Andal says, Oh Vamana!, the Lord who extended himself to measure the three worlds [lokas]. let me sing his Divine Name. If we ponder as to what prompted Andal to choose Vamana avatar out of all the avatars, Periyavavachanpillai gives a beautiful elucidation. It is in this Vamana avatar that the qualities of a true Brahmin are expounded. A Brahmin should have a ‘mounji’, ‘mekala’, ‘dandam’ and should wear a ‘kaupeenam’. A Brahmin’s roopa-lakshanas are mentioned in this avatar and this why Andal says “Ongi ulagalandha uttaman perpadi”
In addition to this, the activities of a true Brahmin are clearly brought to light in this avatar. The six-fold activities of a Brahmin are mentioned in the Shastras. Of them, the act of taking Biksha is beautifully described in this avatar and so Andal sings – “Ongi ulagalandha uttaman perpadi”
The Vamana Avatar talks about the Guna lakshanas [the qualities of a Brahmin]. The first quality of a Brahmin is contentment. He should be satisfied with what he has. If he is not, then he will never be satisfied even if all the three worlds come to his feet. Bhagawan Vamana very lucidly conveys this message in Srimad Bhagvatam in Vamana Avatar. Satisfaction is important just not for a Brahmin but for everyone in this world. Hence Andal glorifies this avatar and sings, “Ongi ulagalandha uttaman perpadi”
Then comes the qualities of a king. A warrior [kshatriya] should possess three glorious qualities. He should be one who respects and celebrates brahmanas [brahmanya], should be truthful [sathyasanda] and should be a great charity giver [‘vadaanya’ - even ready to give his life]. The Vamana avatar brought to light these qualities of King Bali and hence Andal sings “Ongi ulagalandha uttaman perpadi”
The Vamana avatar also glorifies the significance of Guru. No matter what the circumstances may be, the guru should always show the Lord. When Vamana comes to the court of King Bali, Bali promised to Vamana that he would offer anything that Vamana asked. Then his Guru Sukracharya called Bali, “Oh Bali! Don’t get fooled by him. ‘Maya Manava Ko Harih’. This is a magician who is verily Lord Hari. This great fact about the Guru’s lakshana is shown in Vamana Avatar and hence Andal says “Ongi ulagalandha uttaman perpadi”
Anybody who wears a sacred thread cannot be called as a Brahmin. When Vamana entered the courtyard of King Bali, everybody implicitly stood up and prostrated to the little child. The lustrous divinity emanating from his little countenance awed everyone and made them salute him. This is merely because of the tejas of Vamana and to show that brahma tejas is the important asset of a Brahmana. Bhagawan descended to the earth as Vamana to show this very fact, and hence Andal sings “Ongi ulagalandha uttaman perpadi”
A Guru’s word will never go falsified. Bali’s Guru, Shukracharya, discouraged Bali from performing the act of charity by hinting that the guest was no ordinary boy. But despite this, Bali consented to honor the request. Shukracharya became angry and cursed Bali. “Oh Bali, you didn’t adhere to my words and hence you will lose all your wealth”. And that indeed became true. To show that a guru’s word cannot become erroneous, bhagawan took the avatar of Lord Vamana and hence Andal hails “Ongi ulagalandha uttaman perpadi”
Being a demon, one should ideally expect King Bali to possess all the demonic qualities. But in contrary he has immense bhakti for the Lord. To prove his devout nature, he adhered to bhagawan’s request for the three foot of land. To show the bhakti of Bali, Bhagawan incarnated as Lord Vamana. Vindyavali, the wife of King Bali was also a very pious woman. She was extremely devoted to her husband, Bali. Inspite of Sukracharya’s overwhelming words, she was ready with a pot [kamandalu] of water to give the three foot of land to Vamana. It is said the “Vindyavali patni jaalakamaalini” To lucidly show the devoutness of King Bali and Vindyavali’s respect for her husband, the lord took the avatar of Vamana and hence Andal glorifies this avatar and sings “Ongi ulagalandha uttaman perpadi”
Bali was a great learner. He learnt a great lesson from his great grandfather. At the instant of time, when the lord cornered Bali and said “Oh Bali! Now give me the third foot of the land, he was not foolish unlike his great-grandpa, Hiranyakashipu, who did not give up till the last moment even though he was at the brink of defeat and died a gory death in the presence of Lord Narasimha. Bali learnt from this incident and he stopped beyond a point when he clearly knew that he was not going to win anymore. He calls to his assistants “hey Viprachitae! hey Rahu! Hey Neme! Please stop fighting. We are at a point where we are subdued. There is no point fighting. This great management precept is shown by Bali in Vamana avatar and hence sings “Ongi ulagalandha uttaman perpadi”
Bhagawan Yogi Ramsurathkumar would say, “I don’t want your possessions. I only want the possessor”. The surrender is not surrendering your wealth and other worldly possessions, but the surrender of the Self. That wonderful golden thought was brought forth in Vamana avatar and hence Andas says “Ongi ulagalandha uttaman perpadi”
When Bali fell at the holy feet of the Bhagawan, Bhagawan says “Oh Bali! When I first want to take a soul [jiva] unto me, the first thing I do is to appropriate his wealth. This is the first sign that I am going to shower the grace on him”. This great truth was revealed to us in Vamana Avatar and hence Andal sings “Ongi ulagalandha uttaman perpadi”
The moment we surrender unto the Lord, the lord surrenders unto us. When King Bali surrendered to the Lord, the Lord told him that he would be his guard in the “Patalaloka” until the Saavarani Manmantra is completed. The Lord takes you onto his fold just for the sake of the fact that the fore-fathers have done Bhakti to the Lord. Just for the sake of Prahalada who was an ardent devotee of the lord, the lord took Bali unto his feet. If our fore-fathers have done Bhakti, then it is only because of the good merits accrued by them that we are blessed with satsang today. To bring this remembrance, the lord took the Vamana avatar and Andal sings “Ongi ulagalandha uttaman perpadi”
Above all there is a great quality that is shown by this avatar and not seen in any other avatar. If Bhagawan had decided otherwise, he could have killed King Bali. He wanted to correct him rather than slaughter him. Bali was stripped of ego and Bhagawan took him to His feet. It is certainly not the quality of Bhagwan. We only see killing in Lord Rama and Lord Krishna’s incarnations. It is only a guru who can take a disciple to the holy feet of the Lord. Vamana Avatar shows this great quality of a guru and hence Andal sings “Ongi ulagalandha uttaman perpadi”
Madhurakavi Azhwar sings the following verse when he talks about a guru.
“Payanandragilum paangalar agilum seyal nandraga thiruthi panikolvan”
In which he says “I am of no use to my guru. It is out of his sheer compassion that he takes me unto the holy feet of the Lord by correcting my wrong-doings and puts me unto the eternal service of Bhagawan”. Such is the glory of a Guru. In this context, Vamana comes in the guise of a guru and corrects King Bali and absolves his mistakes and throws him to the holy feet of the Lord. No wonder Andal sings “Ongi ulagalandha uttaman perpadi” as it is verily in this Avatar that this wonderful precept of guru is shown.
Beyond all these concepts, we have one tangible benefit out of this Avatara. We commit so many sins on a daily basis. There is a great thing that we have where we can wash away all our sins. But for Vamana avatar we would not have had this. It is verily the river Ganges. That is why Andal says “Ongi ulagalandha uttaman perpadi”. It is necessary to take bath in Ganges? Azhwar beautifully replies to this question “Gangai gangai endra vasagathalae”
By merely uttering the word Ganga, all our sins gets washed away. Such is the glory of river Ganga. Adi Shankara very beautifully sings an octet [ashtakam] on Mother Ganga. In one of the verses he sings how Mother Ganges was born and sings her history. Srimad Bhagavatham talks about the birth and history of Ganges in various places.
AdiShankara says “
Adavadi pithamahasya niyama vyapara patrejanam
Taschat pannaga shaayinah bhagavathah padokanam paavanam
Bhuya shambujataa vibushana mani janho maharishaeriyam
kanya kalmasha haarini bhagavatii bhageerathi paadumam”
When Bhagawan took the form of Trivikrama and started to measure the three worlds, his first foot reached Sathyaloka. The moment his foot touched sathyaloka, Lord Brahma saw the thumb finger of the left feet and he started to wash the lord’s feet with a pot [kamadalu] of water. [ niyama vyapara patre ]
“Padanaka neera janita jana pavana keshava druta vamana roopa” Sings Jayaadeva in his Ashtapadi. Lord Brahma started to wash the feet of the Lord and that water which started to wash the nails of the Lord’s left thumb finger became Ganges. But this Ganges was not prepared to come to earth. She was in Brahmalokha and there she was called as Vishnupadi since she washed the feet of Lord Vishnu himself. Later she started to flow to the Maharlokha, the dwelling place for Lord Dhruva. Lord Dhruva was a great Bhagavata. It is said that Lord Dhruva used to take bath in Ganges three times a day since it was his master’s water. Mother ganga then started to flow into the Saptrishi mandala [the abode of the seven rishis] who have all done immense tapas [penance]. So Ganges goes and washes their tufts [hair].
Ganges then goes to Swarga which is the holy abode of the Indra, Devas and the Devathas. They don’t have any dirt in them and so Ganges remains there and she flows in Swarga as Mandakini river.
In Surya Vamsa, there was a king called Sagara Chakravarti. In this lineage was Harishchandra, his son was Rohita and in the same lineage was a king by name Champa. Sagara did many Ashwamedha yagas and the moment he started to perform Ashwamedha Yaga, Lord Indra couldn’t take it and immediately started to trouble him. He took Sagara’s horse and hid it all the way in the Pathala loka where Lord Kapila Vasudeva was meditating. Sagara had sixty thousand sons and he sent all of them in different directions in search of his horse so that he could finish his Ashwamedha yaga. So the sons dig a hole on the underground and they find Kapilavasudeva meditating with the horse tied near to him. On seeing this site, they thought that it was he who had taken his horse and decided to kill him. Kapila Vasudeva is none other than the Lord himself. The very anger that made them rush to KapilaVasudeva burned them right there and all the sons died instantly at KapilaVasudeva’s ashram. The Ashwamedha yaga was not completed. Sagara’s son was Asamanjan. He was not a very smart kid. He was blessed with a son and he was Amshuman. He was a prodigy by birth. He owed to complete the Ashwamedha Yaga of his grandfather. He went to the patalalokha and prostrated to Kapilavasudeva, who said that it was Lord Indra who had hid the horse there. He gave back the horse and Amshuman successfully completed the Ashwamedha yaga. However, his sixty thousand uncles did not reach the proper lokas since they were burned in the fire [agni]. Kapilavasudeva adviced Amsuhman to sprinkle the Ganges water on his sixty thousand uncles and then they will be liberated. Amsuhman tried his level-best to bring the Ganges down, but was not successful. Lineages passed by and then finally it was Dilipa’s lineage. His son was Bhageeratha and he resolved to liberate his fore-fathers. He did penance to Lord Brahma for thousands of years and then finally Lord Brahma appeared in front of him. He requested Lord Brahma to have Ganges to flow down to the Earth. Ganges however did not want to come down to the earth as it is filled with so much of dirt and people in the earth have committed so many sins. Bhageeratha pleaded to Ganges that earth is blessed with Bhagavatas who are always immersed in the Divine Name chanting of the Lord and also told her that they will take bath in the Ganges. The moment she heard this, she decided to come to earth and she started to flow and was unable to control her force. Upon hearing this, Bhageeratha started to do penance on Lord Shiva and then Lord shiva came to help. Shiva told him that he is also a Bhagavatha and that he can take Ganges on to his head. He left a drop of Ganges on the earth and he took the remaining unto his head.
In Bhadrinath and Kedarnath, Ganges is called Alakananda and she is called as Ganga in Haridwar. Since Bhagiratha was the one who brought the Ganges down to the earth, river Ganges comes down as his daughter, Bhagirathi. She was a very mischievous girl. She once entered the ashram of a sage by name Janhu and started to play pranks at his abode. This angered him and he drank the Ganges. Bhagiratha found out that river Ganges was not flowing out anymore and realized that Janhu Maharishi drank the Ganges and pleaded with him to give back Ganges and told him that it was only with Ganges that he can liberate his fore-fathers. Hearing this, Janhu released a drop of water from his ears. Since Ganges is now a daughter of Janhu, she is also called as Janhavi. A mature and tame lady she came along with Bhagiratha and liberated all his fore-fathers. Such is the glory of Ganges and till date she has been purifying the souls not by a bath but my merely thinking of her and chanting her name “Ganga”.
It is very auspicious indeed to reminisce about Ganga on the holy day of Mahalaya Amavasya. We liberate all our ancestors by merely thinking of Ganga on Mahalya Amavasya day.
Azhwar says “Gangaium Punidhamaya kaveri naduvu pattu pongum neer paranthu payum poompozhil arangam thannul engal maal iraivan eesan kidandador kidangai kandu enganam marandu vazhven ezhaiyen ezhaeyanae”
Not only is river Ganga pure and pristine but also the river Cauvery is indeed one of the greatest rivers. Cauvery, Tamraparni and Kritamala brought forth lot of mahans who have shown the path of Bhagavatha Dharma.
The satsang ended with prayers with Namasankirtan.
Sep 11: Remembering Kanchi Mahaswamiji…
The Nama Sankirtan was performed by Nithyaji from Boston. Following this, Narayananji gave an introduction.
The Rohini Nakshatra falling in the tamil month of ‘Avani’ marks the birth of Avataras and Avatara Purushas. For one, it is the day of incarnation of Lord Krishna. And today happens to be that auspicous day of the year.
In the Vaishnavite tradition, the term ‘kovil’[temple] only refers to lord Ranganatha’s temple of Srirangam and the term “Perumal” is used only to denote Lord Ranganatha of Srirangam. Likewise the greatest of the Azhwars is Periyazhwar. Vishnu Chitta was his actual name, but because he had a special place among the Azhwars (with the Lord Himself being his son-in-law), he was called as Periyazhwar. Likewise, there are many scholars who have written different commentaries on the different scriptures of our Dharma. For instance, although there are more than a hundred upanishads, Adi Sankara and all other philosophers have taken up ten of them and written commentaries on them. The Vedas for the ‘Dravida Desam’ is the Nalayira Divya Prabandham. It is a collection of four thousand verses sung by twelve across in praise of the different deities of Lord Vishnu on this earth and beyond (called Divya Desams). These verses cannot be comprehended with ease by us in the form they are written. It definitely necessitates commentaries and expositions. While many have written such commentaries on Divya Prabandham, the work by Periyavachanpillai (1167 – 1265) is considered supreme. And so he gets the name ‘Periya’ ‘vaachaanpillai’ and ‘Vyakhyana Chakravarti’. Akin to Lord Krishna, he lived for one hundred and twenty five years.
The Rohini Nakshatra in Avani month marks his date of birth. He was born in a place called ‘Chenganur’ near Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, the original name of it being ‘Shankapuri’. The beautiful Srinivasa Perumal who is the presiding deity of this town was also installed on the same day. So it is indeed a glorious day today.
Following this introdution, Sri Narayanaswamyji from Seattle talked about some incidents from the life of Sri Kanchi Mahaperiyava – Sri Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swamiji of Kanchi.
“Human beings are indeed the blessed ones when compared to other living beings. They are blessed with a head to bow down to the lord, a mouth to sing his divine names, ears to listen to his glory.
Bhagavatam says that rather than going to a temple or embarking on a pilgrimage tour, having the darshan of a great Mahan would accrue more merits. The difference between “man” and “Mahan” is the letter “h”. The letter ‘h’ ascribes to the term holiness. A Mahan’s actions and thoughts are indeed holy and are always directed towards the Almighty. It is our fortune that numerous such Mahans have incarnated in the same timeframe as ours, and and we get an opportunity to interact with them. One such Mahan is Sri Chandrasekharendra Swamiji from Kanchi Mutt.
He was born in 1894 and became the Kanchi Saint in 1907 at the age of thirteen. He was born to a devout couple and they named him Swaminathan. One day his parents received a call from the mutt requesting them to come to the mutt along with Swaminathan ad it was an emergency. Immediately they set out to the mutt and it was requested that Swaminathan travel in a separate cart. The reason was not known, but the young Swaminathan kept chanting two words incessantly, all through his way – “Rama Rama” till he reached the mutt. Upon reaching the mutt, Swaminathan was told that he was going to be accorded sanyasa. Such is the glory of chanting the Divine Name! Swaminathan became the pontiff of Kanchi mutt in 1907 at the tender age of thirteen with the title Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swamigal. He was fondly called ‘Mahaperiyavaa’ by all his devotees.
One day a brahmin couple came to have the darshan of Mahaperiyavaa. After having the darshan, the couple handed over a suitcase full of money to Mahaperiyavaa. The couple humbly requested him to accept their donation. Mahaperiyavaa asked him for the source of his income. In reply, the couple mentioned to him that they hail from the neighboring village and he was into leather business. Mahaperiyavaa told him that a brahmin is not supposed to even touch leather and gently rejected the donation.
In another incident, Mahaperiyavaa decided to get the ‘Thadangam’ [ear-ring] of Lordess Akhilandewari of Thiruvanaikaval repaired. So Mahaperiyavaa requested some gold jewellery from his devotees. He had an overwhelming response and his devotees poured in a lot of jewellery. To everyone’s surprise, he accepted only about five sovereigns and gave back the remaining gold. Such was his greatness.
Mahaperiyavaa once visited Karaikudi. There was one great devotee of Lord Shiva in Karaikudi by name Ramanatha Chettiar. He used to perform Shiva pooja diligently for hours and only after the culmination of his pooja, he would even touch a morsel of rice. Such was his devotion. He was also a wealthy person and a great tamil pandit. When Mahaperiyavaa visited Karaikudi, He met with him a couple of times. He then asked Chettiar to accompany Him to a neighboring village. Chettiar also implicitly agreed to do so. The next day Mahaperiyavaa set out on a palanquin and upon reaching the destination he enquired with his close associates as to why chettiar didn’t come with them. Humbly chettiar came in front of him. He said “Mahaperiyavaa, I did accompany you. I was one among the palanquin bearers”. Upon hearing this, tears rolled over from Mahaperiyavaa’s cheeks. He said, “How could you do this? You are an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva.” Chettiar very politely replied, “Mahaperiyavaa, you are a re-incarnation of Lord Shiva and I am His servant!” This clearly shows how an affluent man was so humble and a simple life that he was living.
In another incident, Mahaperiyavaa was visiting a village. He camped there for some days with a few of his devotees. Suddenly he called out to all devotees who were in the kitchen and asked them to come out that very moment. To the last devotee who came out, he asked if everyone had vacated the kitchen. The devotee said yes and to this Mahaperiyavaa disagreed and said that one more person was in the kitchen. They went inside and found out that a cat was hiding behind the gas-stove and the cat was evacuated from the kitchen as well. After few seconds they heard a big thud and it was because the kitchen roof had collapsed. It was Mahaperiyavaa who had rescued and saved all his devotees who were in the kitchen.
In another incident, Mahaperiyavaa was visiting a village and was camping there for a few days. Devotees flocked Mahaperiyavaa and so in a few days all the groceries were used up and the manager panicked, wondering what he was going to do the next day for prasad. He went and confided this to Mahaperiyavaa and he replied “Lordess Kamatchi will take care”. But this did not convince the manager. After some time he again went to Mahaperiyavaa and repeated the same question. Mahaperiyavaa replied that he was going to fast from tomorrow and he went into meditation. This troubled his manager even more and he was started to spend a sleepless night. At about four in the morning, the manager heard the sound of bullock-carts and rushed out to see what it was. To his surprise, he saw fourteen bullock carts and they were all loaded with groceries. The landlord who had accompanied all these carts was a wealthy person and he stepped out from the first cart and told the manager that he wanted to have darshan of Mahaperiyavaa and he had brought the groceries to prepare prasad for all the devotees. The manager after witnessing this scene immediately rushed to Mahaperiyavaa and fell at his feet. Mahaperiyavaa told him that he was a responsible manager but had no faith on the Lord. It was Lordess Kamatchi who had sent all the groceries through this landlord.
At another instant of time, Mahaperiyavaa was visiting a village and upon his arrival, news spread about Mahaperiyavaa’s visit to all the nearby villages. All the scholars and other learned people came to have the darshan of Mahaperiyavaa. He had heard about one Vaishnavite scholar in that village and he was looking forward to meet him. But this scholar refused to meet Mahaperiyavaa. That scholar being a follower of Lord Vishnu did not want to meet Mahaperiyavaa. After three days, Mahaperiyavaa summoned his manager and asked him to go and meet the Vaishnavite scholar with vastram [dhoti], fruits etc. That is the tradition that is being followed till day to honor vedic scholars. On seeing this, tears poured from the scholar’s face and he immediately rushed to have the darshan of Mahaperiyavaa asked him for forgiveness. Mahaperiyavaa replied that he did not commit any mistake and that Shiva and Vishnu truly represent the Ultimate.
There once lived a dog in the Kanchi mutt. Whenever Mahaperiyavaa performed pooja, it would come and sit in front of Him and after the culmination of the pooja, it would eat the Prasad that was given to it by the mutt officials. It also travelled along with Mahaperiyavaa. Many people were wondering as to who this dog was. Only Mahaperiyavaa knew the true identity of the dog!
There is a place called Vadavambalam. It is in this place that Athma Bodendra Swamigal, who is the fifty eighth pontiff of Kanchi Mutt (and the Guru of Sri Bodendra Saraswati Swamigal)’s samadhi remains. No one knew the exact location of the Samadhi. Earlier, numerous devotees had tried to locate the exact location but were not quite successful. When Mahaperiyavaa visited Vadavambalam, he went around a particular spot many times and asked his attendants to dig that place and indeed, that was the exact spot where the Mahan’s samadhi was found. Mahaperiyavaa arranged for the creation of a Brindavan in Vadavambalam at that very spot.”
The satsang ended with prayers with Mahamantra Kirtan.
The little one’s diagnosis
On September 4th tele-satsang, Gayathriji from Boston shared her Nama Anubhava.
In the last week’s satsang, I participated and requested for a prayer for a friend of mine. She had just given birth to a baby boy. The baby boy was being diagnosed with a deadly skin disease right from birth – that which happens to one in a million kids and the little one is on painkillers all the time and that the little one had to survive with it through the rest of his life. I had requested prayers to our satsang that the detailed diagnosis should yield a negative result.
And indeed our Nama prayers are answered. The results turned negative and the disease was finally diagnosed as a common one, and curable.
Thanks to the Mahamantra and all the bhagavatas who chanted it with prayers that helped bring in divine grace of Krishna to the little one and hence, happiness in the face of the parents.
Sep 4: The Lord’s plan
The satsang started with Nama Sankirtan by Sri Thiagaraj and family from Dallas. Following this, a brief introduction was given by Sri Narayanan from Boston…
The first streak of Bhagavan’s grace falling on us in the form of a Satsang. Many a Mahan has talked about the glory of Satsang. Srimad Bhagavatam talks about the glory of Satsang in each story that it narrates – right from Narada’s story and Ajamila’s story, all the way until Rasa Lila, where the Gopis, after having lost Krishna amidst their dance, join as a satsang and sing His glories in order to get him back. Likewise, the greatest compilation of Azhwars – the Divya Prabandham talks about the glory of Satsang. Andal in her tiruppavai, does not go as a single person to do the ‘Paavai Nonbu’. She invites all her friends along, in order to gather a satsang. Most of the verses in Tiruppavai is such an invitation. She mentions ‘koodi irundhu kulirndhelorempaavaai’. Right at the beginning of the Prabandham, the first three Azhwars have shown us the glory of Satsang. It is only when there was a wonderful satsang consisting of the first three Azhwars – Poigai Azhwar, Boodathaazhwar, and Peyaazhwaar at Mrukandu Ashram in Tirukkovilur that the Lord appeared before them and it was only in such a satsang that we got the verses in Divya Prabandham. Such is the glory of a Satsang. Ours is one such satsang which has Nama Sankirtan and Katha Shravanam.
Following this, Sudhaji spoke about the glory of Bhakti and Nama Sankirtan.
na saadhayati maam yoga na saankhyam dharma uddhava
na svaadyaayah tapah tyagah yatA Bhaktir mamorjitA
Uddhava! Neither Yoga nor Sankhya, study of Vedas, austerities or renunciation captivates me as does intense devotion.
The Lord thinks of innumerable ideas to liberate the Jivas, and till date, his attempts have not been fully successful, as creation still takes place! Although Bhagavan may be omnipotent and omnipresent, our ignorance is so deep as to even outwit the Omnipotent Bhagavan! “Is there no way to bring these ‘jivas’ ashore?” We are an obstinate lot! We possess ‘intolerable’ stubbornness. We are very cautious and avoid being caught in the net spun and thrown by Bhagavan to liberate us. And Bhagavan possesses ‘intolerable’ compassion! In what “Try as he may I will not give up my effort to bring him ashore!” says Bhagavan and is relentlessly creating new ideas to attract us.
As the first effort Bhagavan gave the Vedas. All those who have learnt the Vedas are aware that the essence of the Vedas is Bhagavan. But merely giving the Vedas did not help the Lord in completing His sankalpa!
Then Bhagavan decided to incarnate Himself as Lord Rama. Periyavachhanpillai Swamy in His ‘vyakyana’ says, ‘Man kondu man pidiparpole’ – to catch a deer with the help of another (deer)’. A thorn has pricked the sole of a deer’s hoof. When we approach it to render help the deer runs away out of fear. The reason for this is we do not belong to its class/group (’swajathi’). While another deer would be able to easily approach this one. So, Bhagavan desires to be born as a man
Having incarnated on earth, if Bhagavan always remained in Bliss it would not serve the purpose; He could have remained in Vaikunta itself! Well! Having incarnated on earth if Bhagavan were to be immersed in sorrow like we do, this too, would not serve the purpose. We, jivas, here on earth are already drowned in sorrow. We do not need a Bhagavan to add up to this number! How then should an Avatara be?
He should always be in Bliss within but externally behave as if He, too, were affected deeply by the joys and sorrows of the world. Act like a human – ‘Kapatankiikrita manusha vesham’ – Wear the garb of a man and act like one. Behave like a man. And how should that man be?
A man should hold himself in such a position as to create awe in God and the Guru. This is the essence of Ramayana.
Sri Sri Swamiji says, ‘If you question, “Is it enough if I do not try to assimilate Rama’s qualities but just surrender to Him?” Well! The answer is simple. “Surrender to him. You will become one like Him. He will transform you!’ Ramavatara has been so great. ‘
But has Ramavatara served the purpose of the Lord’s incarnation? No. What is the reason for this? Till date actions of Rama in having hit Vali, hiding behind a tree and the like are being questioned. So Bhagavan decides to take an Avatara exhibiting his entire prowess. “Tam adbutam balakam ambujekshanam, chaturbujam, shankagadharyudayudam, srivatsalakshmam galashobikoustubam”.
Bhagavan took an Avatara that exhibited His divinity right from His birth. His birth itself is a marvel! Even as a babe Bhagavan destroyed asuras like Putana, Trinavarta, Sakatasura, etc. The entire Bhagavatam is filled with His wonderful divine lilas. One wonder after another! It is filled with His wonderful feats.
Well! Did this Avatara whence Bhagavan exhibited His entire glory fulfill His desire? The answer is a simple ‘No’ once again!
Bhagavan also shows His colossal form (‘Viswaroopa’) to Arjuna. Probably just for that moment Arjuna felt awed; wondering, “is this the One who has been so friendly with me?” but within a few days he is his old self again, having forgotten the colossal form. There is absolutely no sign of any transformation in Arjuna. He even wonders if it were some sort of a hallucination! So, in Krishavatara also Bhagavan’s wish was not fulfilled.
Neither the Vedas nor Rama-Krishnavataras fulfilled the wish of the Lord. Bhagavan, therefore, felt that He Himself should not come down to the earth.
“Kalau Khalu bhavishyanti Narayana parayanah”
“Tamraparni nadi yatra kritamala payasvini”
says the Bhagavatam
In this Kali Yuga innumerable Sadhus will come down to the earth, and being compassion incarnate, they liberate the Jivas by giving them the Divine Name of God. Once Perumal asked Bhagavat Ramanuja how he had so much of a following, while Perumal had very few people listening to what He said. Ramanujacharya replied, ‘Lord! You pointed them to yourself and said sing ME, sing ME! And they did not listen. Whereas, I point them to you and say ‘Sing HIM, sing HIM’ and they do listen!’
The sadhus and Mahans transform us into a beautiful golden flower and throw them at the Feet of Bhagavan, even without our knowledge.
When you attend a Nama Sankirtan, first you will be just sitting, then slowly you will start clapping, then you start singing and one point of time it will make you to dance too. That is the power of Sankirtan.
How did we acquire Ramayana? In Ayodhya, having sacrificed Sita, Ramachandra Prabhu is in silence and solitude. He, therefore, appears majestic. After attending to His royal duties he gets back to His room. He shows a deaf ear to anyone who speaks about Sita to Him. He behaves as if he is in no way connected to Sita! But in the solitude of His room he sheds tears thinking of Sita. Filled with love (‘prema’) within He sports a rough exterior. Therefore, nobody is able to approach Rama. It is at this time that two young children sing the life of Rama on the streets of Ayodhya. In Ramayana, Valmiki says that Rama was an adept in Sangeetha Shastra (Music shastra). Valmiki explains that Rama knew the intricacies of music. These two children who went about singing the life of Rama on the streets of Ayodhya were very fine looking. Valmiki writes, “If Rama were to look at His own reflection in the mirror and call out to it and the reflection took a young form and came out how would that be? These two children seemed to possess such a form!”
Their melodious rendering of Ramayana was heard and enjoyed by Lakshmana, Bharata, Shatruguna and all the others. All of them desired Rama to hear this since it was the story of Rama. But none of them had the courage to approach Him with this request.
Once Rama was strolling around in His garden. The melodious singing of the two children reaches His ears. Rama at once enquires of Lakshmana, “Lakshmana, where does such melodious music come from? Who is singing so captivatingly?” Lakshmana informs Rama, “Brother! Two children have come to our Kingdom. They resemble you very much and are going about the Kingdom singing the story of our family. You should definitely listen to them.” Rama replies, “It would not be proper for me to invite them to the court and ask them to sing my life. Let them come to Naimeesaranya where a Yajna is to be held and sing there.” Rama is anxious to hear the two children not for the reason of listening to his life being depicted; instead to listen to how Lakshmana, Bharata, Shatruguna, Piratti (Sita) had all sacrificed their lives for His sake.
Rama invites the two children to Naimeesaranya and requests them to sing Ramayana. “Tapaswadhyayaniratam…….” – the children begin to sing. Totally engrossed in their singing, Rama slowly moves up to the children and with tears flowing from His eyes listens to the rendering of the ‘Divya Charitra’ (the divine life history). The glory of Ramayana lies in the fact that the very first rendering of Ramayana on stage (‘arangetram’) was heard by Lord Rama Himself! At close the children sing, “All the people of Ayodhya are content and comfortable. Rama is their protector. This is the reason for their well-being. Henceforth, anyone who reads or listens to Ramayana will enjoy all comforts.” “Vishnorbalam vardhate” — Even Vishnu receives His strength from this. But Rama’s family is suffering till date. Sita and Rama have been separated. The children are wandering about like orphans. The children explain that Rama was undergoing sufferings as He had no protector But since Ramayana has now come as His protector the sufferings of Rama’s family has at last come to an end!
So what has given Ramayana to the World? ‘Gana’ – music! Attracted by music Rama desired to listen to it. Therefore, music attracts Bhagavan.
In Bhagavatam, Bhagavan performs ‘rasa’ with the gopis. But, Bhagavan disappears since the gopis are seized with what is known as ’sowbhaga mada’. Gopis yearn to see Bhagavan again and play lila. They do not then perform dhyana or yoga or mantra japa or go on fast. ’ruruduh suswaram rajan’- they sing Gopika Geetham. As soon as they sing Gopika Geetham Bhagavan appears before them. So, it was music that attracted Bhagavan here. This is the reason that one finds ‘pancha geetam’ in Bhagavatam. Just as there are pancha ratna keertanas of Thiagaraja Swami the five ‘geetas’ in Bhagavatam are known as ‘pancha geetam’. Thus, music attracts Bhagavan.
The Azhwars, the Nayanmars, Thiagaraja Swami, Panduranga Bhaktas, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu have all shown that one CAN attain liberation through mere chanting of Nama.
The power of their (such Mahans’) Namasankirtan is known by the incident in Ramakrishna Paramahamsa’s life – He used to dance in ‘bhava’ on the banks of the Ganga (when no one was around) clapping his hands and singing the Maha Mantra ‘Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare! Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare!’ People who happened to witness this believed that he was none other than Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as it was the period immediately in succession to Mahaprabhu’s period. Totapuri used to mock at his clapping the hands for Namasankirtan as ‘preparing roti’! Once, Totapuri suffered from severe stomach ache. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa sat near him and sang ‘Hare Rama …’ and he was cured of it! This is found in the Gospel of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. They have all enjoyed Namasankirtan to this extent.
So, Mahans have shown two ‘margas’ in Kali. One ‘marga’ is ‘katha sravanam’ and the other is ‘kirtanam’. These are the only ways that will do ‘uddharana’ (liberate) of all the Jivas.
Even today we find Sadhus who have attained the highest state through mere chanting of Nama. This is the glory of ‘Nama Sankirtana’ — An absolutely easy, simple path.
As a final thought,
shRunvanti gAyanti gRuNantyabhIkshNasha: smaranti nandanti tavehitam janA:
ta eva pashyantyahireNa tAvakam bhava praVahoparamam padAmbujam.
The Meaning: Those people who listen to, sing, repeatedly narrate, often reminisce your story and derive joy out of it, are the only ones who attain, in no time, your lotus feet that terminated the cycle of births and deaths.
Gayathriji from Boston shared her Nama Anubhava.
The satsang ended with prayers with Mahamantra Kirtan.
Aug 28: Radhashtami Satsang
The Nama Sankirtan was performed by Narayanan and Sri Aravind’s family from Orlando, FL.
This was followed by the introduction…
‘In our Sanathana Dharma, there are numerous paths to reach Bhagavan. However for this Kali Yuga, it is said that Bhakti is the easiest path. In Padma Purana, it is said, ‘alam vrataih alam thirthaih alam yogaih alam makhaih alam jnanakathalabhaih…. Bhaktirekaiva muktida’. In this Kali Yuga, Vrata, Yoga, Pilgrimages, Vedanta – none of them can be performed perfectly and hence it is only Bhakti that leads us to Mukti. Bhakti is done for different reasons – one may do Bhakti in order for having his worldly miseries obliterated, or may do Bhakti for worldly pleasures or one might perform Bhakti for Moksha. All these are Sadhana Bhakti – that which use Bhakti as the means to attain a goal. But which among these kinds of Bhakti is the greatest? There is a Bhakti that is greater than all these – that is the Bhakti that is done for the sake of Bhakti. – Sadhya Bhakti – Bhakti being the means as well as the goal itself. Such a Bhakti doesn’t expect anything in return. Who is the authority for such a Sadhya Bhakti? Padma Purana says,
na tapobhir na vedaischa na jnaanenaapi karmana |
harirhi saadhyate bhaktyaa pramaanam tatra gopikaa ||
It is verily the Gopikas who are the epitome of Sadhya Bhakti. On this auspicious day of Radhashtami, let us pray that we get such a Bhakti too.
Following introductions, Gayathriji from Boston gave a wonderful discourse on Prema Bhakti.
We just saw that Bhakti is the easiest path in Kali Yuga. But what is Bhakti? Offering flowers? Performing Puja? Offering Naivedya to the Lord? What truly is Bhakti? Offering two drops of tears for the Lord – that is indeed Bhakti. In Bhakti Sampradaya, we often sing the Pundareeka – ‘Gopika Jeevana Smaranam – Govinda Govinda!’ – Does this itself not show us that Gopikas are the Gurus in Bhakti? Today, let us see how Gopikas excelled in their Bhakti.
Krishna rules the kingdom and his minister is Uddhava. Sri Shuka introduces Uddhava as ‘Sakshat Brihaspati Sishya’. Brihaspati is said to be the master of all knowledge and Uddhava is the direct disciple of Brihaspati! So one can imagine how shrewd and intelligent he would have been! No wonder he is Krishna’s minister! But what advice would he give for Krishna, who rules all the worlds and knows all? Uddhava simply stayed in the palace in order to get drenched in Krishna’s kataksha (grace pouring forth from his sight) – which, otherwise, would go waste. Being a friend of Krishna, he always used Krishna Prasadam, he wore all what Krishna wore and discarded – right from the Gopi Chandan, clothes , garland etc.
Sometimes, Krishna would go into solitude and shed tears. Uddhava came to know about it and was surprised. “What would make Krishna sad? Sad enough for him to shed tears”, he thought. ‘Krishna, why are you in tears. As a friend, it is my duty to annihilate your worries; go on!’
Krishna, ‘nothing Uddhava! I am just thinking about the wonderful time I had in Gokulam and Brindavan…. You know what a wonderful time I had there? We used to play ‘raas lila’ and dance day and night! I don’t think I will ever get back that life. This life is boring and listless.’
Uddhava said, ‘Krishna! Nothing is stable in life. Everything is fleeting. That is why, you have to realize the Brahman’.
Krishna, ‘Oh! By the way, what is Brahman, Uddhava?’
Uddhava, ‘Krishna, are you kidding? You are verily the Brahman!’
Krishna in all seriousness, said, ‘Oh ya! Our master Sandeepani taught us, ‘Aham Brahmasmi’. Now I remember… but guess what, Uddhava, I may convince myself by saying so. But you can never make the Gopis say this or observe this Mahavakya’
Uddhava, ‘Really? I think the gopis truly deserve a class from me, at least for the sake of the tears you shed for them. If you permit me, I shall go to Brindavan and teach them the import of ‘Aham Brahmasmi’ and ensure they are free from worries. After all, your happiness is my happiness, Krishna!’
Krishna said, ‘Go ahead Uddhava! But remember, if you succeed, I shall deem that your education has truly borne fruit!’
Uddhava rides on his chariot to Brindavan. All along, he plans in his mind on how his lectures should be designed, so that he could drive the truth of ‘Aham Brahmasmi’ into all the Gopis’ brains!
At Brindavan, Nanda and Yashoda welcome him, with a smiling face, but with emptiness in their heart, because they miss Krishna. Uddhava was fed and let to rest.
Yashoda Ma starts, ‘Uddhava, I switched off this stove the day Krishna left for Mathura. It has never been switched on since! Whenever I switched it on, Krishna ran around me asking for milk. The joy is simply inexplicable Uddhava! ’
‘This is the mortar in which I bound Krishna. This is the rope I used…. This is the dress I got him for Diwali last year…. Even when he slept, he wouldn’t let go of his flute.. see now he has left that back too… What is he doing in Mathura? Is he still grazing cattle?’
Nanda Baba interjected, ‘Are you mad? Why would he graze cattle when he has had his education? He must be a king now!’
Uddhava is spellbound by their love for Krishna. He strolled on the banks of Yamuna, and felt Yamuna shedding tears for Krishna too. On the streets of Brindavan, he heard Krishna Kirtan always. Does not Krishna’s lilas the constant subject of talk right from a 2 year old to a 90 year old? ‘Krishna stole butter’, ‘Krishna broke the pots’… this is the song every individual sings…
He gets to his job – meets the Gopis. All of us know the beautiful Bramara Geetham that Gopis sing, expressing their love for Krishna addressing the honey bee. Our Swamiji would say that all of Uddhava’s learnings under Brihaspati were deployed to decode the import of Bramara Geetam! Gopis become friendly with Uddhava and ask, ‘Uddhava, you are Krishna’s best friend. Does He ever talk about us to you? Does he ever remember us? Does he ever say, when I was in Brindavan, the Gopis used to do this kainkarya for me? Is Krishna thinking about us? Does he cry because he misses us? We are sure he does. But you know what Uddhava, we don’t want him to cry. We want him to be happy always.’
Uddhava is shell-shocked to hear the extent of the Gopis love for Krishna. He has never seen such a love. That moment, forgetting his age, learning (that he is a disciple of Brihaspati), gender (he being a male), position (that he is a Krishna Mantri), he falls right at their feet.
“Vande nandavraja streenaam padarenum abhiskhnasah
yaasaam harikathodgeetam punati bhuvanatrayam”
What a wonderful Satsang, thought Uddhava. He didn’t want to go back, for he thought, Krishna is not in Mathura anymore, he lives in every single house and heart in Brindavan! After a few days, he realizes that Krishna would miss his company – at least to cry out his woes. So let me return!
The return date is announced. That morning, when he was about to ascend his chariot, he was shocked to see that he didn’t have a place to sit! One gopi said, ‘I have stacked this corner with ‘murukku’ – Krishna’s favorite. Please give it to him.’ Another said, ‘I have kept butter in this big box. Krishna loves butter from my home’. Yet another, ‘Please give these savories to Krishna and tell Him that I made it especially for him!’ So many items, that he doesn’t have a place to sit. He falls at the feet of the Gopis yet again, and rolls in the sands of Brindavan and takes all the ‘rajas’ on his body, for, he knows how much Krishna would enjoy the ‘rajas’. On his way back, he recollected every single moment he spent in the company of Gopis and remembered their devotion.
Meanwhile, Krishna would peep at the window every now and then to see if Uddhava arrived. His impatience and anxiousness just kept growing with time. When he finally saw Uddhava coming, ‘Uddhava! Uddhava! How was your trip? How is everyone doing at Brindavan?’
Uddhava could not control his emotions anymore. He simply fell at Krishna’s lap and started weeping – so much that he could not answer Krishna. Krishna, ‘Uddhava, are you okay? Why are you weeping?’
‘Krishna, am I crying? Do you see tears in my eyes? Am I really crying? Alas! Times have changed Krishna. You used to weep and I would ask for the reason. Today, I am crying and you are asking me!’
‘Krishna, this is not because of any sorrow! It is because of Prema Bhakti. Oh Krishna! Did I also get Prema Bhakti? Oh Krishna! Did I also get Prema Bhakti?
If I ever got Prema Bhakti, then I deem my Brindavan trip as successful! Krishna, remember, don’t think that I got this Bhakti because of your satsanga. It is absolutely not because of your grace!’
Uddhava continued, ‘It is because one drop of devotion from the huge ocean of love (prema Sagara) that the gopis have for you, has fallen on me! That is why I am in this state, Oh! Krishna!’
Krishna asked, ‘How are the goips doing?’
In Ramayana, Valmiki says that Hanuman could narrate Ramayana but never ‘Seethayana’ He would simply be unable to narrate the glory of the Mother, albeit being an intelligent person and an orator like Uddhava. Uddhava says, ‘Ask me to lecture on Krishna Bhakti and I shall speak volumes, Oh Krishna! How can I ever tell what Gopi prema is?
Thus, the teacher of ‘Aham Brahmasmi’ eventually became a student of Prema Bhakti and obtained it from the Gopis!
When we wish to do meditation, we command everyone to be quiet and silent and lock ourselves up. But the gopis have tons of work every day, and in spite of all this, they don’t need a room for meditation; not even a silent environ. No one could take Krishna from their hearts!
Uddhava, a student of Brihaspati was with the Brahman, Lord Krishna all along, and yet did not get Prema Bhakti. Prema Bhakti cannot be attained without a Guru. Uddhava had to take tutelage from the Guru namely the Gopis in order to realize Prema Bhakti for Krishna.
Who is the Guru for prema Bhakti? Sri Sri Swamiji speaks about this in a beautiful Kirtan of His. This goes as a conversation between Radha Devi and Lalita, one of the Sakhis (friends).
Lalitha: “Mukti endraal enna Radhe! Radhe!” [Radhe! What is Mukti?]
Radha: “Krishnabhaktiye mukti Agum Lalithe! Lalithe!” [Krishna Bhakti is verily Mukti, Lalitha!]
Lalitha: “Krishna Bhakti edanaal valarum Radhe! Radhe!” [Radhe! How can one grow Krishna Bhakti?]
Radha: “Keerthanathinaal Valarum, Lailthe! Lalithe!”[Krishna Bhakti grows by performing Kirtan,Lalitha!]
Lalitha: “Keerthanam edhanaal valarum, Radhe! Radhe!” [Radhe! How does Kirtan grow?]
Radha: “Satsangathinaal valarum, Lalithe! Lalithe!” [Kirtan grows through Satsang, Lalitha!]
Lalitha: “Satsangam ethanaal valarum, Radhe! Radhe!” [Radhe! How does satsang grow?]
Radha: “Gurukripaiyinaal mattum kittum, Lalithe! Lalithe!” [Satsang happens only through Guru Krupa, Lalitha!]
Lalitha: “Gurukrupai yethanaal kittum Radhe! Radhe!” [Radhe! How does one acquire Guru Krupa?]
Radha: “Bathilarindum nee ketpatheno Lalithe! Lalithe! “[Why do you ask me knowing the answer well, Lalitha!]
Lalitha: “Un krupai irunthaal Krishnan sulabanaam Radhe! Radhe!” [Is it true that your compassion can bring Krishna easily?]
Radha: “Yen Krupaiyum Guru Krupaiyum ondre Lalithe Lalithe! [My Krupa and Guru Krupa are one and the same, Lalitha]
Lalitha: “Prema Ragasiyathai sonnai Radhe! Radhe! “[Radhe! You just revealed the secret of Prema.]
Radha: “ Muraliyai isaithavan solvathum idhuve Lalithe! Lalithe!” [This is what was said by the One who plays the flute too, Lalitha!]
Indeed Radha Devi is verily the Guru for Prema Bhakti. On this auspicious Radhashtami, let us pray to Radha Devi to grant us Prema Bhakti to the Lord.
The satsang ended with prayers with Mahamnatra Kirtan.
Aug 21: Ganesha Chaturti
The Namasankirtan was led by Sri Zivanji from Chicago.
Sri Narayanan from Boston provided the introduction.
This weekend is a special weekend – because the Sunday happens to be the day of Ganesh Chaturti. We often see Lord Ganesha who is to be propitiated to get rid of obstacles. ‘Vigna’ – obstacles, and hence he is Vigneshwara. In Vaishnava Sampradaya, Vishwaksena, the Lord with an Elephant head, removes obstacles, not just for the devotees, but for the Lord Himself. Before a procession, Vishwaksena goes on rounds and ensures that there are no obstacles for the Lord. He is also called ‘Senai Mudhaliyaar’.
Why is Ganesha so important to us? Not just because he removes all obstacles. Another reason, according to me, is, that, he is a great Bhagavata. Today, we have 10 major avatars for the Lord. But for Ganesha, we would have only 9 Avatars! Which Avatar is Ganesha responsible for?
Bhagavatam talks about Amrutha Mathanam (stirring the milky ocean). The Devas lose their wealth (aishwarya) and along with Brahma approach Lord Vishnu and praise Him. The Lord has a divine intention to play a Lila and uses Devas and Asuras as a cause. He advises the Devas that they could churn the milky ocean and obtain nectar, which would bring back their lost wealth and lost glories.
Bhagavatam introduces beautiful management concepts subtly, now, with the Lord as the mouthpiece!
The Lord says: you are undertaking a major task and the result of which is going to be life-saving. The only way to accomplish this is to get your enemies to help you. At a later point in time, you may part ways.’ Deadly enemies – snake and mouse can become friends in a box where both are trapped. The snake would befriend the mouse in order to get its help biting out the box, and the very moment both of them escape, the snake eyes to gobble the mouse and the mouse flees the snake.
Secondly, He says, ‘when you are undertaking such a noble task as churning an ocean, more can be accomplished by charity / donations in good faith rather than fighting.’ Give away to Asuras whatever they ask for. Don’t fight.
Thirdly, He says, ‘When you have a noble task on your shoulders, be devoid of any personal agendas and sinister desires. Don’t interest yourself in petty things that might come in your way and distract you. Eventually you will attain the good.’
Finally, the Devas and Asuras churn the ocean using Mandra mountain, and Vasuki snake and the Lord helped all along. In all the hectic activity, they had forgotten to perform Ganesha Puja. Ganesha, being a little upset, didn’t keep up his job of keeping obstacles away. So, thanks to him, the Mandara mountain started sinking into the ocean. The Lord realized that this is the play of Ganesha, and became a huge tortoise, eventually lifting the Mandara mountain. Thus the ‘Kachchapa Avatar’ is thanks to the great Bhagavata – Ganesha Maharaj.
Following this, Nishaji from Houston gave a nice talk on the glory of Ganesha.
It is only in our religion that we have so many paths and Gods. The reason is because the world is made of people of different tastes and preferences – both worldly and godly. So for varied Bhavas – there are varied Gods. Brave,humble and devoted can worship Hanuman. A lover of lilas worships Krishna. All these Gods are different forms of the same Supreme Being.
It is said, that a child and God are alike. The child is innocent, doesn’t appreciate distinctions – poor-rich, ugly-beautiful, good-bad etc. So God and Jnani are akin to a child. It is also said ‘kuzhandaiyum deivamum kondaadum edathile’ – a child and God go wherever one fondles them. Ganesha is such a God. – Bala Vinayaka – always a child.
In India, the floor in a home having a child can be seen spread with puffed rice because a child puts into its mouth anything it finds on the floor. Being a child-god, Ganesha ‘s favorite is puffed rice (‘pori’). He is a lover of foods and sweets – ‘modakas’. Adi Shankara, in his hymn sings Ganesha as ‘sadaa baalaroopaapi’ - ever a child.
Ganesha Pancharatnam composed by Adi Shankara (that goes as ‘mudakarata modakam sadavimukti saadakam… kalaadharavadamsakam vinaasiloka rakshakam…’) is set in ‘Chamara’ meter – signifying the movement of a hand fan / the ears of an elephant as our Ganesha is elephant God. This was composed in Tiruvanaikaval in the sanctum of Mother Akhilandeswari, when she was in a fiery (ugra) mood. How else could someone console an angry mother, other than singing the praise of her beloved son?
Parvati created Ganesha with the turmeric on her body and asked her to safeguard her palace against intruders. When Shiva came in, not knowing who he was, Ganesha blocked Shiva’s entrance. Out of anger, Shiva severed his head. Realizing that her wife would be enraged if she sees her son beheaded, Shiva through his ‘ganas’ (assistants)fixed an elephant’s head and makes him the head of his ganas – and hence he becomes ‘Ganapati’.
Arunagirinathar sings how Lord Subrahmanya left for Tripura Samhara without worshipping Ganesha, and how his chariot broke down. The same Subrahmanya seeks Ganesha’s help to win Valli’s hands.
There is a small town called Thirupangur close to Vaitheeswaran Kovil. It is the place where Nandi moved a little to let Nandanar have Shiva’s darshan. One day, Nandanaar gathered his people and wished to have Tirupangur Lord Shiva’s darshan. His employer laid down a condition, ‘you can leave for Tirupangur only the day harvest is done’. Nandanar was disappointed because it was only that day that they had sown the seeds!
That night, in his dream, Nandanaar saw that the grains had grown fully! He rushed to his fields to find that the grains had indeed grown! How did this happen overnight?
Once folks made fun of Ganesha that he had a pot belly and was idle all the time. So Ganesha, as a young boy, approached a farmer and offered his services. In return, he was given a handful of grains. Ganesha proudly took the earnings to his mother. Parvathi directs him to his father saying that it is only the father who is pleased with the son’s earnings. When Ganesha gave the rice-grains to Shiva, being a ‘pitha’ (lunatic) that Shiva is, he threw them on his head. Already Shiva’s head was filled with sand. How was this? Once Shiva helped an old devotee in the banks of Vaigai river by lifting sand on his head. Moreover, Shiva had Ganges on his head too. With sand and water, the grains sprouted on his head. And this happened in synch with Nandanar’s prayers and Shiva was more than happy to send those plants to Nandanar!
Various Sadhus have sung hymns in praise of deities – because the Lord loves praises – frank and truthful praises (‘nija stuti priyan’) unlike us! Lord Ganesha is sung as ‘mathala vaiyiran’ (stomach like a drum) and ‘muram pol kaadhu’ (ears as big as a sieve!) and yet He is happy to be sung so!
Once Kanchi Mahaperiyava was in a place called Thenambakkam, a few miles away from Kanchipuram. One evening, the sound of fireworks was heard. When enquired, He was told by His assistants that Kamakshi Devi was being taken in a procession in Kanchi and it was time for her return, and as is customary, fireworks are being displayed. The Acharya nourished a desire to have the Mother’s darshan. Disciples around Him said ‘But Periyava! If we were to walk to Kanchi to have the Mother’s darshan, the procession would be long gone.’ The Acharya was adamant. No amount of the disciple’s dissuasion could stop the Acharya. As he left the Tenampakkam camp, he stopped by the Ganesha who stood at the entrance and whispered something to Ganesha’s ear, and then continued His walk. Accompanied by His whining attendants, the Mahan strode towards Kanchi. When they eventually reached Kanchi, they found, to their surprise, that the Mother had not moved an inch from where she was about to return and the Acharya had a blissful darshan of the Divine Mother.
The Acharya’s attendants enquired as to how the Devi was still at the same spot! The temple priests said, ‘Soon after the fireworks, the elephant that led the procession would not move from where it stood and would get wild if the procession proceeded. It would remain silent if the procession wouldn’t move! We were confused about this strange behavior!’
Then Acharya, after having had His darshan to His heart’s fill, patted on the elephant and the elephant silently continued the procession! The attendants now understood the import of Mahaperiyava’s stop over at the Ganesha temple!
We all know about Avvayaar, who was a great devotee of Ganesha, since her childhood. When she was of marriageable age, she wished to escape the mundane household life, much against the wishes of her family. She prayed to Ganesha to turn her into an old woman so that no suitor would approach her, and Ganesha immediately granted her wishes. Avvayar was such a great devotee that once, when Avvayar was sitting in front of Shiva-Parvati, her legs stretched out pointing to Lord Shiva, Parvati took offense to it and requested her to point it elsewhere; and where ever Avvayar pointed her legs, Shiva moved there!
All of us know the anecdote of the ‘Knowledge Furit’ that Narada brought to Shiva’s family. When there was a predicament on who of their sons should be given the fruit, they were subject to a contest – ‘who can go around the world in the quickest time?’ – and the winner would receive the fruit. Karthikeya immediately jumps on his peacock and travels around the world while Ganesha, knowing well that his mouse is not as fast and cognizant of the fact that parents are verily the world, circumambulates them and wins the fruit! He shows us here the respect for our parents.
And Ganesha was the one who wrote Mahabharata. Veda Vyasa was looking out for someone who could scribe Mahabharata for him. Ganesha willingly offered his services, and even broke a tusk for this sake, but with a condition – Vyasa should recite the slokas continuously without leaving a hiatus! Vyasa had a counter-condition – that Ganesha should write a verse only if he understood the complete purport of the verse! Ganesha’s speed of penning down and the few complicated verses by Vyasa were a perfect match, and thus we have Mahabharata today!
Ganesha is a very colorful God, very approachable, even his form is easy to sculpt and draw. We make a small cone out of flour/ turmeric and install Him .. and lo! He is there! He is truly pervasive – in so many countries – in different forms – any and every form that we can imagine! He is also ubiquitous and simple. Years ago, He was found under every pepul tree by the pond in a village. Today, when humans have moved to cities, He has moved too! – He is found even in bus-stops, parks, dead ends, amidst smoke and dust – blessing anyone who rushes by him even without removing our footwear– unlike other Gods who warrant huge temples and ‘Praakaaras’!
It is indeed a great opportunity for us to have been remembering Ganesha during Ganesha Chaturti!
After Nishaji’s talk, Shaliniji from California narrated another nice story on Ganesha:
Once Kubera, the Lord of wealth is bloated with vanity of his affluence. He threw a party to all the devas and other gods to show off his wealth. When he came to Kailash to invite Shiva, Shiva knewing Kubera’s intent, said, ‘I am a like an ascetic, there is no point inviting me. I will send my little son, Ganesha, instead. He will be more than happy to attend the party!’
Ganesha is the first to arrive at the party. Kubera thought, ‘Ganesha is a little child! Why not feed him first, and not wait for others to arrive!’ So he opens his dinner for Ganesha. Ganesha ate his way through the kitchen. All the food was emptied and the guests have not arrived yet! The cooks are alarmed and notify Kubera! Tensed, Kubera rushes to Kailash and explained this to Shiva. ‘We are not able to appease Ganesha’s appetite! All our food is emptied, and the groceries are all empty too! Please save me!’ Shiva smiles and gives him a handful of puffed rice and asks him to offer it to Ganesha.
The moment Ganesha was offered the puffed rice given by Shiva, Ganesha felt very satisfied! Then Kubera understood – you don’t need great riches and grand offerings to please Ganesha. Even puffed rice, offered with love and devotion satisfies Him. A lord who loves to eat, but can yet be easily pleased!
And of course, Kubera’s ego was vanquished too!
The satsang ended with prayers with Mahamantra Kirtan.
Aug 14: Faith in Guru and Surrender to the Lord
The satsang started with Nama Sankirtan by Sriramji from Houston, Texas.
Sri Narayanan from Boston spoke in relation to the Janmashtami.
“We celebrate quite a few events – Janmashtami, Ganesh Chaturti, etc. Where in our scriptures is the authority or the authenticity of such celebrations? In Srimad Bhagavatam, in the 11th Canto, the Lord describes the qualities of a Bhakta to Uddhava. In that, He mentions, “It is the duty of my devotee to always worship my form, go on pilgrimages, celebrate my birth and festivals related to me, sings my divine names and my divine glories… “. So it is Lord Krishna Himself who is the authority for our celebrations.
This satsang happens in the context of the Janmashtami. And we are celebrating this great festival in our satsang through Nama Sankirtan and Katha Shravanam. Can there be a better way to celebrate Krishna’s birth?”
Following the introductions, Sri Narayanaswamy from Seattle spoke on Surrender and faith.
“We all celebrated Janmashtami. Lord Krishna was born and He visited all our residences! How could He visit all the houses at the same time? It is simply because He is a ‘Lila Lola’ (conjurer of divine plays). In Brindavan, He was found with each of the hundreds of Gopikas who were playing ‘raasa’ with the Lord. Likewise, He entered our houses, as well as our hearts! When we talk about Krishna, Mahabharata comes to our mind. – He has shown us two key principles – Surrender to the Lord and Faith in Guru.
The Kurukshetra battle was in the offing. Duryodhana rushes to Dwaraka to seek Krishna ‘s help, as also Arjuna from the Pandava’s side. Duryodhana was the first to come. He sat at the head of Lord Krishna who was asleep. Arjuna came later and sat by His foot. As soon as Krishna woke up, He saw Arjuna. He welcomed both of them. Duryodhana rushed and said, ‘Krishna! I came first. Entertain my request first!” Krishna said, “But I saw Arjuna first!” While Duryodhana was anxious about Arjuna’s request, Krishna said, ‘Two options – one: I will not touch arms, but will remain by your side. Two: I will offer all my gallantry’. Arjuna, unhesitatingly said, ‘Prabhu! You are the Jagadguru! Please be with us. That is all we want!’. Duryodhana heaved a sigh of relief and passed on the accepted all the military power of Krishna’s army. What happened eventually? All of us know that the Pandavas prevailed over the Kauravas in the battle. It was possible only due to the faith of Arjuna on his Guru, Lord Krishna. When Guru’s blessings are abundant, no harm can near, and victory is ours.
In another instance, we see that when the Kurukshetra battle was over and the Pandavas were seated around Krishna in a tent, when Draupadi said, ‘Krishna! I have a question to you! Everybody says you are ‘Aapat Bhaandava’. You rushed to Gajendra’s call. You rushed to Prahalada’s call. But, in my case, I shouted and cried for a long time, and you came in very late, when I was ill-treated in the court. What sin did I commit?’. Krishna smilingly replied, ‘Draupadi, when Duschadana wanted to remove your clothes, you did not call me first. You called your husband, the elders, the great warriors on the court, and all the brave men. Even after that, you trusted your own might and fought with Duschadana. Only at the end, when you ran out of options did you raise both your arms and called me. Did I not come then?’ Draupadi replied, ‘Krishna! I understand. I surrendered to you only as a last resort. Had I surrendered to you earlier, the story would have been different. Thus surrender to the Lord is important.”
Now, can we see Krishna? Kanchi Paramacharya says, it is not possible to see Him because Krishna denotes black. Our mind is filled with darkness. How can one see a black spot in darkness? Krishna says in Bhagavat Gita, ‘Hey Arjuna, you cannot see Me with your naked eye. I am granting you special sight to ‘see’ me’. So, its not possible to see Him with our eyes. However we can see Him in our heart. Having created the entire universe, He is hiding like a thief, nowhere else, but in our own hearts. So all we need to do is find him there – and that is Bhakti – make your heart white. This is possible only through a Guru’s blessings . ‘Gu’ denotes darkness and ‘Ru’ denotes removal. Thus Guru is indispensible to dispel the darkness.
What is the fundamental difference between Mahabharata and Ramayana, given that both Rama and Krishna are avatars of the Lord. Krishna’s avatar is a display of the Lilas, while Ramavatar is a human incarnation. It is simply impossible to impersonate Krishna, be it stealing butter, killing his demon-uncle or dancing on a snake. On the other hand, Rama lived as a truthful person, a honest husband (ekapatni vrata), obeyed his father’s word, protecting the surrenderer, being a best friend etc. Thus Krishna’s advices can be ‘heard’ and assimilated, where Rama’s life should be lived.
When Rama was informed that his coronation was being cancelled, he stood unmoved, with the same smile he sported on his face since morning – his expressions were unchanged even when he had to give up all grandeur and go to the forest. Sorrows may come but we should see them with equanimity and consider them as the grace of God.
In the Mahabharata war, no one could conquer Dronacharya. Krishna asks the Pandavas to utter a lie to fall him – and accosted Yudhishtra with this idea. Yudhishtra turns Him down, because he wouldn’t utter a lie. After Krishna’s convincing words, Yudhishtra shouts ‘Ashwattama hatah’ – in a high voice and ‘kunjarah’ in a low tone. Is it right for the Lord to be an accomplice in untruth?
Tiruvalluvar says, ‘poimaiyum vaimai idatha purai theerntha nanmai payakkum enin’ – it is okay to utter a lie if it is going to provide relief to a suffering person. A person bound to kill another, loses his target and asks you if you saw the target. You can lie there (by saying you didn’t know) because you are indeed saving a life.
Thus let us have faith in our Guru and surrender to the Lord and be thankful to our Guru for the satsangs we are enjoying.
The satsang ended with prayers with Mahamantra.
Aug 7: Bhagavata Dharma
The Namasankirtan was led by Shaliniji from CA.
This was followed by a satsang talk by Sri Narayanan from Boston.
“Dharmo rakshati rakshitah” – our Shastras say. What does that mean? If we continue to perform a dharma, that very dharma will save you. Our Sanathana Dharma – Hinduism is actually a way of life.
Generally, Dharma is misinterpreted to mean charity. But the right interpretation is that Dharma is a practice that we follow – a way of living.
The first word of an epic or scripture is supposed to be auspicious. When Pauranikas narrate puranas, they start their discourse with the word ‘Sriyahpati’ – (meaning the Lord) because that is an auspicious term. Ramayana starts with the term ‘tapah’. Srimad Bhagavatam starts with ‘Janmasyadya’. ‘Dharma’ is also a very auspicious term. Many a scripture starts with the word ‘Dharma’.; for one, Bhagavat Gita starts as ‘Dharamkshetre kurukshetre…’ it starts with ‘Dharma’.
In Bhagavatam, this Dharma is spoken of in the second sloka. ‘Dharamh projjita kaitavotra paramo…’. The first chapter of the first canto also ends with ‘dharma’. The last of the six questions that the sages put forth is: ‘dharmah kam sharanam gatah’. Whom did Dharma take refuge in? Does this not sound paradoxical, because, in the beginning, we said, that it is Dharma that protects us!
This statement really means that Dharma cannot stand by itself. There has to be a Maha Purusha or an Avatara who will rejuvenate and resurrect Dharma when Dharma is subject to a threat, as Bhagavan says in Gita – ‘yada yada hi dharmasya glaanir bhavati bharata.. abhyuktaanam adharmasya dadaatmaanam srujaamyaham’ – I will incarnate whenever there is a threat to Dharma. Just like a creeper needs a support, Dharma requires a Maha Purusha to sustain itself.
In Thiagaraja Swami’s life, we see that he took the Upadesha of the Narada Mantra and chanted it continuously, as a result of which Sage Narada, a great Jnani in Sangeetha Shastra, presented him with the musical treatise called ‘Swaraarnavam’. It is said that this particular text did not remain in the earth. The moment, Thiagaraja Swami digested its contents, this text disappeared from the earth. Likewise, many such divine texts cannot remain in the earthly plane. Vedas are a classical example. Yogiramsuratkumar would say that the Vedas are a lifeline not just of our country, but the entire world. There are innumerable branches of the Vedas (Vedas are called ‘anantha’- infinite), and today, only a handful of them are found. Thus the Vaideeka Dharma cannot live on itself especially on this Kali Yuga without the support of a Mahatma. Such an Avatara was Kanchi Mahaswamiji. If we are even able to listen to some Veda Parayana today, it is thanks to this great Acharya. Volumes can be written about his dedication to the Veda Samrakshana (protection). He would summon his devotees and instruct them to collect support – monetary and otherwise, from those who could afford – for the sake of Samrakshana. One such devotee came to Mahaswamiji one night – with a list of people who had contributed for the sake of Vedas. Acharya asked him to read the list. The devotee read out the names, only the top few. Acharya asked, ‘you seem to have a lengthy list. You did not read all of them! Why so?’. The disciple said, ‘Periyava! These are the top contributors. The rest of the contributors are trivial. I don’t want to waste Periyava’s time by reading out the entire list!’. Periyava quickly remarked, ‘Why are you depriving me of the Punya (merits) I would get by listening to the names of those who contributed for the Vedas!’
One can imagine the Humility and dedication of this great Acharya towards Veda Samrakshana.
No doubt the Vaideeka Dharma took refuge in Him.
There are other Dharmas too, that took refuge in Avatara Purushas. It is important to see, which dharma is being referred to in the sixth question in the first chapter of Srimad Bhagavatam.
The answer is being given by Vyasa in the second sloka – ‘Dharmah projjita kaitavo…’. He says, that I am going to talk about a particular Dharma – that supersedes all other dharmas – and the name of that dharma is Bhagavata Dharma. Why Bhagavata Dharma – because it is devoid of all kind of hypocrisy. Every other dharma has an expectation of the fruit. (eg. Feeding the poor fetches a punya), but Bhagavata Dharma does not expect any results – not even expectant of the supreme result called Moksha (according to Sridhara’s commentary). Such is the glory of Bhagavata Dharma.
What is Bhagavata Dharma? The Dharma shown by Srimad Bhagavatam. Right in the center of Srimad Bhagavatam, it is said that only 12 people know the import of this secret Dharma called Bhagavata Dharma – Brahma, Narada, Shiva, Sanatkumaras, Kapila, Manu, Prahlada, Janaka, Bheeshma, Bali, Vyasa, and Yama – and the narration of the Bhagavata Dharma by these 12 people is what Srimad Bhagavatam is all about. Bhishma speaks of Bhagavata Dharma in the first Canto. In the second chapter, Brahma speaks this. In the third chapter, Kapila speaks of Bhagavata Dharma his mother. In the sixth chapter, Yama speaks of Bhagavata Dharma. In the Seventh chapter, Prahalada speaks of Bhagavata Dharma. It is in the 11th canto, after listening to all these narrations, and even Lord Krishna’s story, Narada speaks of Bhagavata Dharma to Vasudeva, (Krishna’s father), in the form of Nava Yogi Upakhyana. It is here that Bhagavata Dharma is explained in great detail.
If this Dharma is so secretive, then it must mean, it is only for an elite few. But it is not so. Narada says, Bhagavata Dharama is said by verily the Lord, and is for those unintelligent, mundane people, who cannot follow other dharmas, as well as for the scholarly and the learned. Then we see that the glory of Bhagavata Dharma is in the fact that is most harmless!
If ‘Stree Dharma’ is not followed, it backfires. Mahabharata is a classical example. Likewise, any other dharma, if not followed properly, will backfire and harm the person. But, Bhagavata Dharma is the only dharma that will not cause any harm, even if one quits following it in due course, or follows it blindly without knowing the fruit.
Then, the eleventh canto speaks in four sloka, what Bhagavata Dharma is. It would be interesting that all of us are following Bhagavata Dharma when we truly mean it while chanting this very common sloka, which is indeed a sloka from Srimad Bhagavatam:
‘kayena vaacha manasendriyar vaa bhudyaatmanaava prakrutair svabhaavaat |
karoti yat yat sakalam parasmai narayanaayeti samarpayetat’
Offering anything done through intellect, body, mind and word to the Lord is the first characteristic of Bhagavata Dharma. ‘yat’’yat’ – One ‘yat’ denotes those acts that are permitted by the Shastras, the second ‘yat’ denotes those activities that are prohibited. Even if you commit a sin by mistake, offer it to Lord.
The second characteristic of Bhagavata Dharma is that due to the Maya, we think we are the body, and one has to get rid of this thought. It would be highly difficult to follow this Dharma, if this sloka were left here, for, we are not given a means for getting rid of this thought. Luckily for us, the sloka continues, ‘this will be shown by a Guru’. Fall unto the feet of a Guru and the Guru will make you experience the truth that you are the Atma. Until such a time, live cognizant of the fact that the Lord, Atma and Guru are one and the same, and meditate on Him.
‘Srunvan subhadraani rathaangapaane…’.
Listen to the glories of Bhagavan Sri Hari on and on and on… and perform Nama Sankirtan. When you blindly perfom this incessantly, what happens?
‘Evam vrattastat priya naama kirtya, jaataanuraga nija ucha shikshaihi..’
Slowly, one develops the desire for the Lord, and one gets into the blissful state of experiencing the Supreme state – the state of Mukti. Thus simply performing Nama Sankirtan will lead one to Mukti, and that is the essence of Bhagavata Dharma.
Eventually, a beautiful comparison is given. When a hungry man eats a morsel of food, what happens? The moment he takes a morsel, his hunger vanishes, he gets happiness and thirdly, he derives strength from the calories that he intakes. It is not that your breakfast appeases your hunger, lunch gives happiness and dinner provides you strength. All these happen at once – the moment you take in a morsel of food. Likewise, the moment you perform Nama Kirtan – three thinks happen – you are filled with Prema Bhakti (a form of devotion that is devoid of any kind of expectation and in a bhaava that the Lord is everything for you). Secondly, one attains ‘Self-realization’. Thirdly, one acquires dispassion – everything else but the Feet of the Lord becomes mundane and dispensable.
Such a lucid explanation of Bhagavata Dharma is found in the 11th canto (Chapter 2) of Srimad Bhagavatam.
The satsang ended with Prayers with Mahamantra Kirtan.
Jul 31: First Anniversary – Rukmini Kalyanam
For any activity to succeed, be it spiritual or otherwise, we need the grace of Lord. How do we know that our activity is being blessed by Lord? The Lord’s presence can be felt in various ways, like through pleasant showers or a great Mahan comes when we undertake the activity (like Vamana in Bali’s sacrifice), or unexpectedly anything auspicious happens.
Likewise, our Friday satsangs started on August 1, 2008 and today is the first-year completion of the satsang and it happens to be on an Ashada-Friday A Friday on Ashada (Aadi) month is considered auspicious, because it is special to Lakshmi Devi. What to say of today, when it is verily Varalakshmi Puja! It is indeed a blessing.
The grace of Mahalakshmi is required to attain the Lord. In Srirangam, only after Mother’s darshan and after a big Pradakshina around the temple, can we have Lord Ranganatha’s sanctum. By the time we reach the Lord’s sanctum, it is said, that the Mother quickly goes from her place to the Lord’s sanctum and apprises of our ensuing visit and places a recommendation on our behalf to show His compassion on us! In Tirupati, Lakshmi Devi resides in the heart of Lord Balaji. Everytime a devotee comes and falls at the Lord’s feet, Mother looks at us and then at the Lord to see if the Lord blesses him. First her divine sight (‘kataksha’) falls on us. In Vaishnava Sampradaya, Lakshmi Devi’s krupa only can reach us to the Lord. Even the fact that Varalakshmi Puja precedes Janmashtami by 2 weeks shows this very fact!
We sometimes mistake that Lakshmi is the goddess of monetary benefits alone. However, that is incorrect. There are 8 different Lakshmis. Even those who wish for Moksha have to pray to Moksha Lakshmi. Let us pray to Mahalakshmi and our Sadguru Maharaj that our satsang flourish in a grand manner, and more and more devotees get an opportunity to attend satsangs.
Signifying the fact that there are 8 forms of Lakshmi Devi, In Srimad Bhagavatam, the birth of Mahalakshmi is in the 8th Canto – 8th Chapter – 8th Sloka. During the churning of the milky ocean, she appears with enchanting beauty as a lightening.
Then it mentions how everyone wants to marry Lakshmi Devi, while the mother sees that everyone has a vice if he has a virtue. There was no one other than Lord Vishnu who did not have a vice, but only had virtues. And it was only the Lord who stood without any expectations. Hence she chose Lord Maha Vishnu as her match – ‘ramaa mukundam nirapeksham iipsitam’
Lakshmi Devi wishes to to be with the Lord in every of His avatars. Another wedding of Lakshmi Devi, this time in the form of Rukmini Devi, with her consort, Lord Krishna is described in great detail. Today we shall listen to “Rukmini Kalyanam” by Gayathriji from Boston.
Following this, Gayathriji gave a wonderful talk on Rukmini Kalyanam.
We talk a lot about the necessity and importance of Satsang. We all desire. The best desire is to desire for Lord – the more we listen to the glories of the Lord, our desires for the Lord increases. Rukmini’s wedding is an illustration of this very fact.
The Lord created Dwaaraka and he ruled it. The wedding of Balarama with Revathi was also over, and it was time to get Lord Krishna married.
Bhishmaka was the king of Vidharba. He had 5 sons – Rukmi, Rukmaratha, Rukmakesan, Rukmabaahu, Rukmamaali, and a little daughter – Rukmini. She gets a lot of satsang through Sadhus in the palace. They talk about the creation of the Universe, Matsya Kurma Avatars, Dhruva Charita, Prahlada Charita, and Rama Avatar. They say, the very valorous Lord Rama has now incarnated as Lord Krishna. They talk about the Lord’s birth, Puthana Moksha, Shakatasura Vadham, Navaneetha Lila, Brindavan Lilas, Vanabhojanam, Yagna Patni Uddharana, Kaliya Moksha, Govardhana Uddharana , Murali gana, Rasa Kreeda and Kamsa Vadam. The very same Lord is now ruling Dwaraka.
Rukmini would long to marry Krishna and look at her dad. Her dad knew his daughter’s heart. The 5 sons never had a chance to have satsang, so these stories do not interest them. Her dad would think, ‘Will I be fortunate to have Lord Krishna as my son-in-law?’ The next day, in court, he expresses this wish. Everyone but Rukmi is happy about the decision. He opposes it and says, ‘Dad! Are you a lunatic? Krishna’s status is no match to us! He is pitch dark, while our Rukmini is golden. He is a cowherd. He has no education! He went to school only for 64 days! His parents were in prison! He is hiding from his enemies and lives inside the seas!’
Bhishmaka stopped him short and said, ‘You talk so because you lack Satsang. You cannot bad mouth someone because you don’t know about him. Do whatever you like.’
Rukmi decided that Sishupala, his close friend and the son of Dhamagosha (king of Chedi) was the apt match to Rukmini and he sent invitations to everyone for the wedding. Rukmini was in the ‘kanya matam’ and when she learned of this news, she was depressed and broke down. ‘Who will meet my Gopala and convey my message to him! There is just one day to go’, she thought. ‘Can I send the cloud as the messenger? No! the cloud will be busy drinking the waters of the seas. Can I send the bee? No, it will be lost in the honey of the Lord’s Vyjayanthi Mala. How about my companions? No, its not possible in a day. Mind is the fastest! So why not send it? If my mind goes to Sri Krishna, how can it ever return?’
One should not go in search of a Guru. We donot have the intellect to judge a Guru. If our thirst for God is true, the Lord sends a Guru. That was when the Guru came in the form of a Bhagavata, singing ‘Kshemam kuru Gopaala…’. Consoled, she invited the Bhagavata and the girls, after paying respects, conveyed this information.
The Bhagavata said, ‘Lord Krishna would certainly be a great suit to you. Don’t worry, these invitations are only man-made. Don’t worry about it. I am on my way to Dwaraka, I will take your message.’ The Guru takes the message of the devotee to the Lord. Rukmini wrote 7 crisp, sweet slokas as her message for Krishna.
The Bhagavata appeared at Krishna’s court in Dwaraka in no time. The Lord paid his respects and inquired. ‘I am coming from Vidarbha and I have a message from Rukmini.’, said the Bhagavata. ‘Go on, read it yourself’, said the Lord.
He read it wonderfully, just as Rukmini would herself read it for Krishna.
Shrutvaa gunaan bhuvanasundara shrunvataam te
Nirvishya karna vivarair haratonga taapam’
Rukmini debates on how she would address the Lord.
“ ‘Swami’ ? No, he would think I am saint. How about ‘raaja raaja raaja..sri..’ No. it would seem like a citizen with a petition! How about ‘Prabhu’ ? no it would mean I am a beggar expecting money. How about ‘Prananatha’? No! Krishna may think, how dare this girl address me as her saviour even before marriage!”
Finally she picks the word ‘Bhuvanasundara’ – a word that describes the sum and substance of the Lord’s beauty and prods Krishna to read further.
The letter contained answers to all of Krishna’s questions if he read the letter.
Krishna, ‘Bhuvanasundara! Hmm! Are you entranced by my looks? Do you know about my character?’
She says, ‘Shrutvaa Gunaan!’ – I have heard all about your character.
Krishna, ‘What have you heard about me?
Rukmini, ‘Your character is such that all the worldly miseries are lost by merely listening to them. Only one misery(‘thaapa’) is left behind – and that thaapa is the longing to attain Your Feet. ‘
Krishna, ‘Now that you have heard about me, have you seen me?’
Rukmini, ‘Roopam – akilaartha laabam’ – Your form is the essence of the world. The more I listen to your glories, the more I get your form in my Dhyana and that is how I have seen you.
I am not an expressive girl. I am a shy person by nature. Now I overcome my shyness and write this letter. Please understand how desperate I am to reach you, Oh Krishna! Not only me, any one who listens to your glories and gets your form in Dhyana, will long to attain you!’
Krishna, ‘You desire to attain me! Have you done enough merits to attain me?’
Rukmini, ‘poorthe ishta datta dharma’. Yes Indeed I have done all the merits. But Krishna! You are not the one that can be reached by accruing merits, are you? How can you be reached? You can be reached only by ‘aatma samarpana’ (surrendering oneself to You). Here I surrender myself. Please accept me.’
Krishna, ‘Well, If I do accept you, you are going to be in the women’s harem and I am a king. How am I to meet you?’
Rukmini, ‘My marriage with Sishupala has been arranged. In our family custom, the bride will perform Gauri Pooja before the wedding and so I will be there and you can take me from there.’
Krishna, ‘Should I elope with you?’
Rukmini, ‘Nay! Only a coward does that. You are a man of courage and valor. Please bring your bow ‘saarnga’ and defeat anyone who opposes you and rightfully take me as kanyashulkam.’
Krishna, ‘Okay, If I don’t show up at the Gauri temple on the day of the wedding, are you going to marry Sishupala?’
Rukmini, ‘I will take hundreds of births to attain you. Not in one birth shall I get wedded to anyone other than you.’
Saying so, Rukmini signs ‘-Yours Rukmini Devi’.
The Lord is extremely pleased with this surrender of Rukmini Devi, gets his chariots ready and goes to Vidarbha desa followed by Balarama.
Rukmini is dressed like a bride in a magnificent silk saree with borders of swan-designs. Her hair is beautifully plaited and decked with ornaments and flowers. Her earrings are moving back and forth. She sports a beautiful ‘kasturi tilaka’ on her forehead and wears different kinds and sizes of ornaments on her neck. Her fingers shine with finger rings and wears a toe ring on her toe. Her head is bent down and she walks at the pace of a swan, holding a lotus on one hand and her friend’s hand with the other. She gets the blessings of all elderly women there.
Suddenly, she hears the sound of Panchajanya and senses the smell of Tulsi, which gives away the fact that the Lord has arrived there to take her. At that moment, she sees the Bhagavata – her eyes well with tears of gratitude and folds her hands in respect. After all, can we ever repay a Guru who takes us to the Lord?
The princes waiting to see Rukmini are blinded by the glitter on the gems in her finger-rings. As her head bends down in shyness, her curly hair falls on her forehead. In the pretext of setting it right, she raises her forehead and her eyes meet with that of the Lord. The moment their eyes meet, the Lord takes her on His chariot and rides her away in a flash. The enemies see with awe at the divine couple. One of them shouted, ‘Hey! Krishna has taken away the bride. Let’s chase him!’ the other, still unable to come out of the awe, ‘Oh! What a wonderful sight it was!’
When Shishupala hears the news that Rukmini has been taken by Krishna, he screams at Rukmi in anger, ‘I trusted that you will get me married to her. You betrayed me!’. Rukmi waged a war against Krishna and the Yadava, but eventually loses. Rukmi, out of shame, goes to a place called Bhojagatam.
Krishna brings Rukmini to his parents – Devaki and Vasudeva. On an auspicious day, when all the Mahans, Rishis, Sadhus, Bhagavatas Devas and other elders are present, the Divine Couple are united in a wedlock, as described by Sri Narayana Thirtha in his ‘Kalyana tharangam’.
“Acharya vachanaat sarvam akarotu yadunandhanah vaachaama gocharaatmaanam vasudevasva maayayaa
Dwaarakaa nagari madhye sahasrasthamba mantape
Rathna simhasanaaroodam sagalatram jagusurah
Alokaye rukmini kalyana gopalam….
Neelamegha nibhaakaaram baalaarka samaana chelam
nilambaranujam gopa baalakam neelalakandham ”
Nishaji added something that she listened to Sri Ramuji’s speech about this: ‘When Rukmini heard Govardhana Udharanam lila, she was pretty sure the Lord will accept her, for that Lila verily goes to show that the Lord does not forsake anyone who surrenders unto Him.’
Narayananji added, ‘Our Swamiji would say that all our Puranic stories have philosophies behind them but it is not necessary to look at philosophies when it comes to Bhagavatam, for the very stories are filled with Bhakti Bhaava. Still, if there is a dry-hearted person who wants to look at philosophy behind this particular episode, there is certainly one!
Rukmini Devi represents the Jivatma which longs to attain the Paramatma and Lord Krishna is the Paramatma. The 5 brothers of Rukmini represent the 5 senses. These five senses always try to get us into worldly matters and away from God. When the quest for God is true, the Guru comes by Himself and takes the message of the devotee to the Lord. If the message is delivered by the Guru, the Lord Himself comes. We usually imagine that it is we who who have to go to temples to see the Lord. But the fact is, the Lord Himself comes right to our place and takes.
‘Rukmini Kalyanam’ is indeed the merger of the Jivatma into the Paramatma.
The satsang ended with prayers with Mahamantra Kirtan.
Jul 24: Andaal
The Nama Sankirtan was lead by Ramaniji and his family.
Narayananji from Boston talked about the significance of ‘Shravana’ as expounded in Srimad Bhagavatam in the episode of King Prithu.
In Srimad Bhagavatam, the lineage of man is being described, where the creation first starts, with Svayambhuva Manu, and Shatarupa being the first couple for procreation. They had two sons – Priyavrata and Uttanapada and three daughters Akuti, Devahuti and Prasuti. The lineage of Uttanapada starts with his son Dhruva, who performed penance when he was five years old and saw the Lord face to face. The lineage of Dhurva is mentioned in a very elaborate manner. Anga was Dhruva’s son and Vena was Anga’s son. Vena was extremely sinful and hence the Rishis, not able to stand his atrocities, cursed him to death. As there was no ruler, the kingdom was filled with dacoity and hence the rishis decided to take Vena’s corpse and churn it. When his shoulders were churned a beautiful couple – Prithu who was verily the form of Mahavishnu and Archis (form of Maha Lakshmi Devi) emerged.
Prithu was a glorious ruler. It is thanks to him that we enjoy all the natural resources on earth – he was the one who showed the way to tap the natural resources from Mother Earth. Prithu happened to be a illustrious king and was praised by all his subjects. But Prithu says that it is only the Lord Almighty that is worthy of praise. Humans are in no way, praiseworthy.
Prithu also says that our biggest enemy that cannot be pardoned is the one who wastes our time. Any one who wastes our time from thinking about the Lord is our biggest enemy.
When granted a boon, Prithu says that he would ask for a thousand ears. Even with a thousand ears, one cannot get tired listening to the glories of the Lord.
Thus the more and more we listen to the glories of the Lord we acquire Bhakti to reach the glories of the Lord. Such is the glory of Sravanam.
Aravindji from Orlando gave a discourse on life and Bhakti of Andal given the next day was Aadi Puram, the birth star of Andaal.
When we go to a store and purchase some toys and gadgets we get an instruction booklet. Even though everyone knows how to use these things we are given an instruction booklet. But what is the instruction booklet for life? The instruction booklet for life is verily the scriptures – Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, etc. The whole purpose of the scriptures is to tell us the goal of life is God Realization. So the question arises that, if God-Realization is the goal of life then who is God? What does he look like? It is said that the Lord we see in the temple is same as the one we may see once we realize Him. But since God is an unknown factor for most of us, the saints have done a great benefit by bringing the god to a specific form, which is none other there what we see in the temples. What is the proof that God worshipped this way will lead to liberation? The proof is in the life of saints. Today we are going to see the life of one such saint – Andaal.
In the temple town of Srivilliputhur lived a pious Brahmin named Vishnuchitta. He was a great Bhagavata and all he loved doing pushpa-kainkarya (offering flowers) to Lord Vatapatrasayee of Srivilliputhur. He was very strict in making sure his pushpa service to the lord was immaculate.
His only desire that was not fulfilled was his longing to have a child. One fine day in the month of Aadi (Ashaada), he went to his garden and he heard a big noise that shattered the silence of the entire place. From this emerged the goddess who resides in the heart of Sri Ranganatha; the goddess who is the embodiment of compassion with a parrot in her hand. Once Sri Vishnuchitta emerged from the shock he noticed a very beautiful girl lying on the ground. Sri Vishnuchittar named the girl Kothai (Godha) since she had a beautiful locks of hair.
Children usually imitate their parents. Thus Kothai’s one and only enjoyment was Nama Sankirtan and playing with her toys as though they were verily Lord Krishna. Every day Sri Vishnuchitta used to narrate to Kothai about the lilas of Bhagavan. As Kothai grew up, her Bhaava also grew. She started composing pasurams at an early age. [Pasurams are devotional verses sung in the praise of the Lord, which are part of the Nalayara Divya Prabhandam]
Our Guru Maharaj says that if we think about only one mantra or any one thing constantly, it will arise from our consciousness automatically after a time. All around her house Kothai had written “Krishna” everywhere around her house. Sri Vishnuchitta started noticing these things and he praised her for her Bhakti. He started narrating to her the Shthala Puranas of the various deities. One of the deities captured Kothai as no other and that was Sri Ranganatha of Sri Rangam.
As a girl growing up, Kothai started telling her father that she would marry Sri Ranganatha when she grows up. However, hearing this everyone in the village started making fun of her. They also started spreading rumors that Kothai has gone mad without understanding her Bhaava. This started upsetting Sri Vishnuchitta a lot. He tried reasoning with Kothai about how it was not feasible for the Bhagavan to come and marry her. Being completely immersed in the thought of marrying Krishna, Kothai couldn’t bear to hear these words from her own father.
As she grew older, her Bhava started getting stronger. She would start rolling in the sand claiming that it was the same earth that was covered by the Lord during His Tiruvikrama Avatar. She would see a snake and pick it up thinking it was the snake on which the Lord was rests. She would embrace fire and feel as if she had embraced Lord Krishna.
Sri Vishnuchitta got very worried about these developments. So he called a doctor to diagnose her illness. When the doctor asked her hand to check a puilse, she rebuked him that he would never understand her disease, which was Krishna Viraha (pangs of separation from Lord Krishna). Every now and then, Kothai would start crying since she could not bear everyone making fun of her and she felt the Lord did not care enough about her to understand her pain.
One fine day when Sri Vishnuchitta was reading Srimad Bhagavatam when Kothai heard him recite a sloka about the Gopis praying to Godess Kathyayani during the month of Margazi and doing a vratha (fast) in order to attain Lord Krishna. This led Kothai to consider a similar path and the outcome of this was a collection of pasurams called Thirupaavai. During this time, she had a dream that Sri Ranganatha would come and marry her. Hearing this and having no other way to convince her otherwise, Sri Vishnuchittra told Kothai that if she had such dreams then Lord Ranganatha would definitely come in person and marry her.
We saw how Sri Vishnuchitta was known for the pushpa service of the Lord. Once he prepared the garland for the Lord but had to leave urgently for an errand. During this time, Kothai in her bhaava wore the garland. When Sri Vishnuchitta came back and saw his daughter wearing the garland, his patience ran out and he considered this a sacrilege. He chastised Kothai for her act but realized he had to make a new garland. So he hurried to the garden, prepared a new garland, and ran to the temple to hand it over to the priest right on time. When the priest placed the garland on the Lord, the garland fell. After repeated attempts both priest and Sri Vishnuchitta were shocked. Then the priest heard a voice, which told him to fetch the garland that Kothai wore. So Sri Vishuchitta ran back to the house to fetch the garland and told Kothai about the incident. Kothai’s joy grew leap and bounds hearing this and she was happy that the Lord actually accepted her.
Once a woman fortune-teller came to their house and told Kothai that Sri Ranganatha himself would come and marry her. This again increased Kothai’s happiness. When Kothai offered the fortune-teller a piece of cloth, she tied it on her head like a man. This puzzled Kothai. During this time, Sri Vishnuchitta woke from his sleep and told Kothai about a dream he had. When he explained his dream, it was absolutely similar to the real incident that Kothai had just experienced with the fortune-teller who visited her. Sri Vishnuchitta said that it was Lord Ranganatha himself who came as the fortune-teller thus explaining the reason why the fortune-teller tied the cloth as a turban like a man.
On an auspicious day, in the month of Panguni on the Uttara star, a huge procession came into the village. The villagers had never seen such a big procession and hence it caught everyone’s attention. In one of the palanquins was a very handsome man the town folks ever saw. Everyone followed the procession to see where it was headed. The procession stopped in front of Sri Vishnuchitta’s house. Once Sri Vishnuchitta saw the handsome man, he realized it was Sri Ranganatha himself. He informed this to Kothai. Since Kothai was waiting for this moment, she was not at all surprised. She took her time to dress up in the most beautiful bridal garment. Then, she accompanied the Lord and both went to Srivilliputur temple and got married. After this, everyone went to Sri Rangam.
Once in Sri Rangam temple, the Lord took Kothai’s hand and walked into the sanctum. Kothai merged with Lord Sri Ranganatha.
Sri Vishuchitta, though pleased with all these events, requested the Lord with to take care of Kothai well and blessed them. Because the Lord became his son-in-law, Sri Vishuchitta is called Periaazhwaar, meaning the great Alwar.
If one reads Thirupavai, Kothai repeatedly talks about the glories of the Lord and prescribes Nama Kirtan as the easiest way to reach Him. Since she captured everyone’s heart, Kothai is called Andal.
The satsang ended with prayers and Nama Sankirtan.
