Dec 26: Last session for the year…
This telecom satsang was the last satsang for the year 2008. Karthikji from Cincinnati lead the Namasankirtan. 13 families participated in the telecon satsang. Followed by the brief round of introductions, Aravindji from Orlando discoursed on the importance of Namasankirtan.
Why should we all perform NamaSankirtan? If we take any path for attaining the eternal bliss, it has to be specified in the Vedas and Shastras. Vedas and Shastras are the guiding light to attain god. So what does these scriptures talk about human life? There is a famous saying which goes “Jantu Nam Nara Janma Dhurlabam” which means, Out of all the living beings, the human birth is the rarest of the rarest. One of the Tamil poet says “Aridhu Aridhu manidarai pirappal aridhu” – Rare and rare indeed is the human birth. Why is human birth glorified that we have got now? It is the human birth that has the sense of ‘Viveka’(discrimination) to understand the purpose of life. With the discriminating power of human life, we can analyze the scriptures and get the essence out of it.
The scriptures say that the only purpose is to realize God. Every activity that we do in our lives is to attain happiness. Every single activity of ours is tied to happiness. And this happiness is always coupled with sorrow.
To substantiate this let us take an example, a person buys a car and is extremely happy about it. His happiness is however short-lived till he saw another brand new car that had more sophisticated features on the road. He then starts to work hard to get that new car. He works hard for a few years to get that new car and once he got that car, his mind now wanders on more luxurious car. It is only God realization that will give the rarest of the rarest happiness without an iota of sorrow. It is like a person who has lost his keys in the bushes on a dark night and was searching for it under the street light. There comes a friend who was passing by and asked him what he was searching for. The man replied that he had lost his keys in the bushes and was searching for it. The bushes were a few meters away from the street light. The friend who was puzzled by his reply, asked him as to what he was doing under the street light. This person replied that he could only search under the street light! Friends, we have lost the happiness under the bushes and we are searching it under the street light. This friend is none other than the scriptures, Mahans and Guru who are the guiding us with a torch-light till we find the lost keys.
So what does our Scriptures say about the path to the eternal happiness? These scriptures have been given to us for this KaliYuga by Sage Veda Vyasa. He gave us the 4 vedas, the BrahmaSutras and the 18 Puranas. As we all know after the seventeenth Purana, he was feeling a bit depressed and something was troubling him, till Sage Narada came to him and advised him to write the eighteenth Purana, Srimad Bhagavatam which is the gem of all the puranas.
The last verse in Srimad Bhagavatam says “
NAma Sankirtan yasya sarva pApa praNAshanam |
PraNAmo dukha shamana: tam namAmi harim param ||”Sage Veda Vyasa who has given us the four margas (Karma, Jnana, Raja, Yoga and Bhakti Margas) through Lord Krishna in Srimad Bhagavath Gita has also mentioned about Nama Sankirtan.
Why did he mention about Nama Sankirtan? If we look at the four yugas, each path has been specified as a specific remedy for that Yuga. In Tretha Yuga, life was very peaceful and who can do meditation for days in the forest just by eating berries. Similarly in Dwapar Yuga, everything was rich and pure but in Kaliyuga, everything is adulterated. There are many rules to do Pooja in order to reap its benefits. Foremost of them is that they have to be performed in the land of Bharatha. Secondly, every Akshara should be spelled correctly. But if take the path of Nama Sankirtan, it is one path that has no rules binding it. The chanting of Divine Names of the lord pose no rules and regulations and can be chanted during any part of the day irrespective of whatever work we do. To prove that it is indeed one of the easiest path, the Lord has sent Mahans after Mahans in this KaliYuga, who have followed and preached this path, and reached the ultimate.
Srimad Bhagavatam says
” kalau kalau bhavishyanti naaraayana paraayanah
tAmraparni nadi yatra kritamaala payasvini…”The Sadhus will incessantly keep incarnating in the banks of Tamraparni, Kritamala…in this Kali Yuga.
Every state had a Mahan who showed the path of NamaSankirtan, To name a few, we have Sri.Bhadrachalam Ramdas from Andhra Pradesh, Azhwars and Nayanmars from Tamil Nadu, Sri.Pappa Ramadas from Kerala, Sri.Chaitanya MahaPrabhu from Bengal, Sri.PurandaraDasa from Karnataka The great Marathi Saints (Saint Tukkaram, Sant Tulasidas, Sant Namadev, Sant Eknath), Bhakta Meera from Rajasthan, Saint Lalla Bhai from Kashmir, Saint Guru Gobind Singh from Punjab, Swami Sivananda from Uttar Pradesh and Sri Narsi Mehta from Gujarat.
Nama Sankirtan is like fire. It not only gives light but also gives heat. Similarly Nama Sankirtan will not only bestow one with worldly benefits, cure diseases and also take us to the path of eternal bliss.
Chaitanya MahaPrabhu, one of the greatest philosophers He was the master in the Upanishada, Vedas and Shastras. But he just gave us eight verses.
“Nam Nam Akari Bahudari NijaSarva Sakthi:”
Thatrar Pita Niyamita Smaranena Kalaha”Friend, There is absolutely no rules for following the path of chanting the Divine Names of the Lord.
Why is it called the Mahamantra? There is a scripture specifically mentioned for this Kaliyuga and it is called KaliSantara Upanishad. Sage Narada requests Lord Brahma to show him a path that can counteract the evil effects of this Kali. Lord Brahma told him the 16 verse
“Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare”
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare”It is the Vedic mantra. This mantra will guide one through the Kali Yuga.
Sri.Thiagaraja in one of his Kirtan mentioned the greatness of the name Rama. The word Rama is eternal. It is coined from the following two mantras ‘Om Namo Narayanaya’ – the ‘Ra’ is the key syllable in this Mantra. If we remove Ra, it becomes “Om Namo Nayana which means there is no path. In ‘Om Nama Shivaya’ ‘ma’ is the key syllable of this Mantra. On Na Shivaya means, No auspiciousness. Putting these two key syllables, together, we get ‘Rama’.
The maha mantra is reverberating in the cosmos and by chanting the Divine Name we will verily reach the feet of the Lord.
Sri. Narayananji then talked about the inception of Global Organization of Divinity (GOD) and the activities carried out by the organization in the past two years.
The satsang wrapped up with Nama Sankirtan.
Dec 19: What is the best prayer?
The telecon satsang was a very memorable one as it bid farewell to Poojya Poornimaji who was visiting the US for a period of three months for satsangs. She was leaving to India on the 23rd of December. About 16 families joined the teleconference. The Namasankirtan was led by the Houston Namadwaar and the satsang talk was delivered by Poojya Poornimaji.
By the benign grace of Lord Srihari and immense blessings of our beloved Sadguru Maharaj, US devotees are indeed blessed to have a satsang over the phone irrespective of their geographic locations and time-zone. A satsang is a divine communion where everyone is immersed in the joy of singing the Divine Names of the Lord, sharing the glories of the lord and the greatness of the Guru. It indeed happens only to the rarest of the rarest, which clearly shows the absolute grace of the Lord.
In Srimad Bhagavat Gita, Lord Sri Krishna says “Chaturvida Bhajante Maam Janaaha Sukurthino Arjuna”
He says “Oh Arjuna, all those people who come to me praying for anything, be it spiritual or worldly need only because they are blessed. But for some merits accrued in ones previous birth, this does not happen otherwise.”This is the perspective of Lord Krishna on his devotees. He treats each one of us as his devotees, who come to Him to quench their desires.
When god appears in front of us all of a sudden and asks for some wish, will one be in a position to ask him for anything? The answer is NO. That is the reality. Our Guru Maharaj often summons one of his devotees out of the blue and asks him to ask for something that he will grant. If one is clever he will not ask anything in front of the guru!
When we go to a temple, a satsang or to some worship place, to a satguru and we sit in front of him praying for some wish to come true with guru’s blessings, at times we are not sure if what we are asking is good for us or not. Often they are not right is reality. We end up asking something much less than what the Lord himself can actually bestow on us. For example, if the Lord wants to bless someone with thousand dollars, but he actually prays to the Lord for only hundred dollars, the lord then blesses him with only hundred dollars instead of a thousand dollars. That’s what happens to us at times.
The great sage of Kanchi by name Sri.Chandrasekharendra Swamigal was fondly referred to as MahaPerivaa. One of his devotees wrote a book on his experiences with MahaPerivaa. Let us see an incident from that book.
There was once a watchman (Gurkha) who happened to visit MahaPerivaa. This man didn’t know anything about the greatness of MahaPerivaa. He was passing by the Mutt and stopped by for darshan. When he was having the darshan of MahaPerivaa, he asked Him if He could give him Moksha. MahaPerivaa just smiled and did not say anything. The watchman left the mutt. And after the watchman had taken leave, MahaPerivaa turned to one of his close devotees who was serving Him and told him that having been in this mutt for so many years where He has met crores of people, people who worship Him as God and every now and then come and place invitations requesting Him to bless it. He said that he has never heard anyone asking for Moksha. The devotee who was serving MahaPerivaa could see tears in his eyes and he could see that he was happy. That is because the Lord is capable of bestowing one with so much.
Our Swamiji often says that it is very easy for Mahatmas and God to give moksha than bless one with worldly benefits. They are really capable of giving the highest and we don’t know the right thing to ask. At times instead of receiving His blessing we end up blocking it.
A devotee once came with a lemon to meet Bhagawan Yogiramsuratkumar. But He was already having an apple in His hand and he wanted to bless this person with it. When Bhagawan was trying to give the apple to bless Him, the devotee refused and instead insisted Him to take the lemon first. But Bhagawan kept on asking him to take the apple and the devotee kept on refusing it. Finally Bhagwan threw both the apple and the lemon. Once that devotee had left, He turned to another devotee and told him “My father wanted to bless him with an apple but he failed to understand that and instead trying to force his opinion on me!”
Are we really praying God for something that is just right for us?
This being the month of maargazhi (margairsa), the celebrated Azhwar in this month, the only lady among the 12 Azhwars and the gem of them is Sri.Andal. She has composed 30 beautiful verses called Thiruppavai. It is usually sung during the month of Margasirasa. And in one of the verses she beautifully tells the Lord “yaam vandha karyam araindhu arulelor empaaavai”
She requests the Lord to inspect the prayers that one is putting forth to the Lord, and requests him to grant the wish only if he thinks it is good and worthy for oneself. That is the prayer Sri Andal prays in front of the Lord and it is indeed the same path that all Mahatmas advocate.
Even if one sees the Lord in front of him, one should know what to ask him. In Srimad Bhagavatam, Lord Narasimha requests Sri Prahalad to ask for a boon. He requests the lord to bestow him with a boon to not have any desires to ask for any boon in all his life! Even though one cannot be like Prahalad, Sri Andal urged one and all to request for a boon at the lotus feet of the Lord and then leave it to the Almighty to grant the boon only if He thinks it is good for us. Sri Andal doesn’t stop here! In her later verse, she says -
“Chitram chiru Kaalai Vandunnai Sevithu
Un Potramaraai Adiyae Potrum Porul Kelaai”She says that she comes to the temple early in the morning to worship the lotus feet of the lord. When she worships him, she has a prayer in her heart and earnestly requests the lord to hear it.
“petram meyththu uNNum kulaththil piRandhu nee
Kutreval engalai KoLLamal Pogaadhu”Sri Andal made a wish to be in servitude of the lord forever and urged the lord to bestow her with the wealth of unstinted service. She pleads to the Lord that even if she had some other worldly desires, she asks him to annihilate them and direct them towards His service. That’s exactly what happens when we really decide to serve the Lord, even if we have some desires that would otherwise make us one to do something in the worldly plane, the very same desires will be directed towards serving the Lord. That munificent wish was what Sri Andal requested the Lord to grant her. She pleads him to confer this boon not for that particular birth but for all her future births.
And you have all been blessed with that service!
The best service that one can do for the Lord is to chant His Divine Names. hagwan Yogiramsuratkumar said, “If one has the wish to serve this beggar [He calls Himself as beggar], the best way is to chant the Divine Names of the Lord”
This satsang is indeed a rare one, and not even people in India get to meet every so often and chant the way you are doing. This is verily your service to the Lord and the Guru. Lord has blessed us to serve him and we have to chant the Divine Names of the Lord for the betterment of the world. We have to make our Sadguru’s vision come true. It is in our hands to spread the Nama Sankirtan throughout the world and therefore put everyone in the service of the Lord.
Poornimaji mentioned that a Namadwaar (a temple for the incessant chanting of the Divine Names) is planned at Houston and is taking shape very well. She requested all the US devotees to join hands to support in any little way for this noble cause. It is indeed a great opportunity for all of us to serve the Lord.
Sankarji and GBji from San Jose, Sri Thiagaraj from Dallas, Venkataprakashji from New Jersey, Narayan Daveji from Pearland, among others, thanked Poornimaji for the wonderful satsangs they had during this trip and all the members placed their prayers for more and more such satsangs at the feet of the Lord.
Ms.Sujatha announced the weekly satsang activities in the Bay Area.
The satsang wrapped with Nama Sankirtan.
Dec 12: Tiruppaan Azhwar, Tirumangai Azhwar and Nama Sankirtan
The Friday telecon began with Nama Sankirtan lead by Sankarji from San Jose. 13 families tuned into the satsang from different parts of the country. The agenda for the telecom satsang was outlined – . It is an hour-long satsang, which begins and ends with Namasankirtan. After the first 10 minutes of Nama Sankirtan, a quick round of introductions follows. Then one of the satsang members gives a short discourse for 15-20 minutes on any topic related to Sanatana Dharma. Upon the conclusion of the discourse, it is then opened to questions/discussions relating to that lecture. The last 10 minutes includes any satsang related announcements and is wrapped up with Nama Sankirtan.
Zenithaji from Houston gave this week’s satsang talk. She enthralled the devotees with a brisk talk on the importance of Nama Sankirtan.
“We have all been enjoying many satsangs and have also been doing Nama Sankirtan for a while. So by now, we would have realized the conspicuous blissful impact associated with Nama Sankirtan. How can one be so sure of this blissful impact? In general, people never do anything without really understanding the benefit of doing an action in some form or the other. Even if one is not able to explain the benefit of chanting the Nama, there is indeed a divine impact that can be proclaimed. Some may call it peace, while others call it as a sense of calmness.Even though there are many paths to attain the bliss, Nama Sankirtan is one of the easiest and infallible paths to reach the ultimate. There are no eligibility criteria to partake in chanting the Divine Name of the Lord.”
She substantiated this with our Guru Maharaj’s kirtan
“-
Bhagyam Ullore Varungal
Parandaman Pugazh PadaOur Guru Maharaj calls out to all the fortunate people to chant the Divine Names of the Lord.”
She beautifully told that one is fortunate to chant the Divine Names of the Lord because of the punya accrued in one’s previous birth.
“There was a guy who was walking down the street. He was immersed in thoughts that he was not aware of a nearby ditch. He fell into the ditch and made many futile efforts to get out of that ditch. A person passed by and seeing him in that state, offered him help. The guy who was in the ditch, instead of taking help from him, started to doubt the ability of the passer-by in helping him get out of the ditch. The passer-by just asked him to hold the rope and convinced that guy of his abilities to retrieve him from the ditch. The guy was now convinced on the passer-by’s ability but then started doubting the rope. He knew the fact that he couldn’t get out of the ditch by himself, he then harbored suspicion on the passer-by who offered help and lastly he doubted the tenacity of the rope!Friends, we are all in the same state as the guy in the ditch. We are drowned in the ocean of samsara and we fail to understand the compassionate nature of our Sadguru and the grace that he is showering on us by explaining the strength and power of Nama Sankirtan. The only favor our Sadhguru asks us is to chant the divine name and we question the power of it.
Our Guru Maharaj clears all our concerns by the singing the following lines “
Annai meera sendra vazhi edhuvae
Arumai guruvum seppu mozhi idhuvae
Tarunam idhai nazhuva vidadir
Hariin madiyil ammarthidalamae “He says that Nama Sankirtan is a proven path of success, which we can clearly see in the life history of Meerabhai, Sant Tukkaram, Sant Tulasidas and other great Bhaktas. He requests one and all to not miss this opportunity. By chanting the Divine Name of the Lord, He says, one is not only liberated from the ocean of samsara, but we also get to sit in the very lap of Lord.
Hari kirthanthuku nigarrillai kan
Parisramam illai avanai pada
Vedathin saram hariyin namam
Edhum aayam illai idhuvae thinnamHe says there is nothing more powerful than Chanting the Divine Names of the Lord. Our Guru Maharaj just requests one and all to hold on to the rope of Nama Sankirtan and he will free us from the ocean of samsara. He extols the power of Divine Name by equating it to the essence of Vedas.”
She lucidly explained the analogy between a boat and human being.
The physical form of every human being is just like a boat and every boat can float on the water. But can all the boat reach the shore? A boatman is essential to rove the boat to the shore. The boatman is our case, is none other than our beloved Sadguru. In addition to the boatman, the weather conditions should be favorable in order for the boat to reach the shore. Similarly, the divine grace along with our Sadguru’s compassion and Nama Sankirtan can get one to reach the shore for sure.The only vision of our sadguru is that every person in every nook and corner of the world should chant the divine names of the lord. He has beautifully sung “
Ore analiyil nam anaivarum koodi
Dharani thanil avan pugazh pada Kalamegamum ketu maguzha
Muralidharanum pannindu nindran “It says we should join as a team to spread the power of Nama and make everyone chant the Divine Name. ‘Kalamegam’, the deity of the Lord Perumal, which is a ‘Divyadesam’ is situated close to Madurai in Tamil Nadu. Thirumangai Azhwar has sung in praise of Kalamegam Perumal. 11th of December happens to be the thirunakshatram (birth star) of Thirumangai Azhwar. If one preaches the power of Divine Name to this world, then Kalamegam himself is very pleased. What more do we need to make the lord happy?
With our Guru Maharaj’s grace bestowed on all of us, we should all take a step ahead and go out and reach out to the world and spread the glory of Nama Sankirtan and thereby fulfill our Guru Maharaj’s vision.
After the lecture, Nama Chanting program on the New Years’ eve was brainstormed. An hour-long relay program over telephone where all the devotees across the country can join the Nama Sankirtan is currently in the works.
Aravindji from Orlando summarized the satsang activities in the Orlando area. They have Nama Sankirtan interspersed with our Guru Maharaj’s kirtans. Following this they have a satsang talk.
Narayananji mentioned the satsang activities in Nashua, New Hampshire on December 13th.
Poojya Poornimaji’s satsang programs in Houston were also announced – Sri Kamalesh’s residence on Gita on the 13th and the talk in Tamil on “Vidhiyum Karunaiyum” at Bharthi Tamil Mandram on the 14th instant.
Sri Thiagarajan from Dallas briefed on the satsang activities in their area.
Sujathaji from San Jose mentioned the auspiciousness of December 13th. It happened to be Narayaneeya Dhinam and is celebrated in Guruvayoor in a grand manner. Sriman Narayneeyam was written by Narayana Bhattatri. It consists of 100 dasakas and each one was written in a day and was completed in 100 days.
It is considered very holy to chant Narayaneeyam on that day. She requested all the satsang members to remember Lord Guruvayoorappan on this very auspicious day. In Guruvayoor, a Narayaneeyam saptaham is conducted for 7 days.
12th December also happened to be the birth star of Tiruppan Azhwar, whose 10 verses ‘Amala Adhiparaan’ glorifying Lord Ranganatha of Srirangam finds its place in Nalayira Divya Prabandham.
The satsang concluded with Nama Sankirtan for the last five minutes.
Dec 5: Glory of Pandharpur
It was yet another blissful Friday satsang, which everyone truly enjoyed. About 11 satsang families dialed in. The Boston namadwar team lead the nama kirtan. After a quick round of introductions, Narayananji from Boston, gave a satsang talk about the Stala Purana of Pandarpur on account of Kaisika Ekadasi. He started off with the dyana slokas – “
Namo Nama SadGuruByo SadGuruByo Namo Nama |Kalaye sundarAkAram sadaika priyadarshanam |
AgnAna nAshakam dEvam sadgurum muraLidharam ||MuraLi mandita karakamalam munijana mOhanam
Vyatyasta pAdam vanamAlA dhAriNam |
PrEma bhakta maNdala nitya kIrthitam
PrEmika varadam AsRayeham ||NAma sankIrtanam yasya sarva pApa praNAshanam |
PraNAmo dukha shamana: tam namAmi harim param ||SadgurunAtha maharaja ki! jai! “
The most unique aspect of Sanatana Dharma is that there are many deities and lots of ways of worship. Even though the final destination is the same – The ultimate Brahman, the paths to attain the destination is different.
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa says ‘Yatho math tatho path’ (as many beliefs, so many ways).
Every deity is associated with an unique way of worship. Lord Ganesha, the child like god, when prostrated with Modaks and different kinds of foods, is extremely pleased. Lord Karthikeya is very happy when one undertakes fasting(Vratha) to worship him. Lord Shiva is called Abhisheka Priya. He is in joyous mood when he is bathed with water all the time. In northern part of India, it is a common sight in the temples to see water dripping on the Shivalinga all the time.
Akin to these deities, there are different ways of worship for Lord Vishnu deities as well.
Lord Vishnu (Aalankara Priya), loves to be dressed very well. Our Guru Maharaj often says that Lord Guruvayyorappan is best worshipped with Srimad Bhagavatam. He, being the idol of Uddava, likes to hear Bhagavata parayam always. Lord Venkatachalapthi in Tirupathi is revered with wealth. Likewise, Lord Suryanarayana in Trichur is happy to hear the sound of fireworks. It is also known as “Vetu Vazhi Padu” in tamil. Lord Badrinarayana in badrinath is “Nara Barayana” and he is worshipped with pure tapas. Lord Jagannathar in Puri, is offered with different kinds of Prasad during the day. There is continuous cooking of food round the clock and Puri Prasad is considered to be “Brahman” itself. Srinathji in Dwaraka is offered only the richest of the richest and the best of the best.Just like how these gods are worshipped in their own way, Lord Panduranga of Pandarpur loves Nama Sankirtan. Lord Krishna, is usually perceived as “Vyatyasta Pada” – criss crossed legs with a flute(murali) in his hand. But in Pandarpur, the same Lord, who is the Dwarakadeesha, is depicted to be in “Sama Charana” – the lord standing on his still legs instead of criss cross legs. It is said that no sooner do the devotees of the lord start to tune their ‘tambura’ than the Lord is ready to jump and move around. So the Lord Vittala is usually portrayed with his feet on the ground and his arms around his hips.
There are a couple of things that makes a holy place (kshetra) very popular. Firstly, it is the historic story (stala purana) of that particular place and deity. Secondly, the devotees extol the glory of the place and sing beautiful songs on that deity.
Bhaktas from Pandarpur, have decorated the Lord Panduranga with beautiful Kirtans also known as Abhangs (Marati Kirtans). There are two things – Nama sankirtanam and Guru Bhakti that are very common to all these bhaktas of Pandarpur. The grace and glory of a guru is clearly outlined in all these Bhaktas life history. Their main advocacy was Nama Sankirtan, which is very transparent in their abhangs and their lives have been filled with Guru Bhakthi and Guru Mahima, be it the life of Namadev, Tukkaram, Jnaneshwar, or Ekanath.
In fact, the very ‘Sthala Purana’ of Pandharpur talks about Guru Krupa.
There was a devotee by name Pundalika who hailed from south. He intuitively listened to lot of discourses. One day when he was listening to a Katha, the lecturer (Pouranika), mentioned that a visit to Kasi (Varanasi) would accrue a lot of punya. The moment he heard this, he held a desire to visit Varanasi. He left for Varanasi along with his family. Since there was no transportation available then, the whole of the journey had to be covered by foot.It is said that when someone is in the quest of God, a Guru comes right on the way and shows him the way. That was exactly the case with Pundalika. When he was crossing the Bheema river, he came across the ashram of a maharishi called Kookoda Maharishi. He rested there to refresh for a while. Pundalika expressed his desire to visit Varanasi to the Maharishi. The Maharishi advised him that his foremost responsibility was to take care of his parents and by doing so, he told him that all the deities will come right to his house.
A path that a guru shows is always in accordance to Vedas and Shastras. The shastras say “Matru Devo Bhava Pitru Devo Bhava” – All the deities are equivalent to the act of serving one’s parents. The guru showed him the way and Pundalika immediately accepted his guru’s words.
Pundalika took excellent care of his parents from dawn to dusk and diligently performed chores to his parents. He took very good care of his parents, not for any desire for punya, but for his guru’s words.
The Lord was so pleased with Pundalika and wanted to grace him. The lord who was none other than Dwarakadeesha, decided to played a prank. He asked Narada if he knew anyone who was very truthfully serving his parents. Narada immediately mentioned about Pundalika on the banks of Bheema river. So the Lord along with Rukmini Devi set out for Pundalika’s house. They knocked his door and Pundalika opened the door. He was very sincerely taking care of his parents’ morning tasks and asked the Lord to wait in a brick till he finished serving his parents.
The lord patiently waited as well. Once he finished his work, Pundalika came to the Lord and firstly thanked them for waiting very patiently. The Lord being so pleased with him told Pundalika that he wished to grant him a boon. Pundalika denying that boon, said that he was very happy that his guru’s words came true. But the lord insisted that he ask for a boon. He then asked him to stay in his house forever, to prove the very fact that the Lord himself came to his house to take care of a devotee who took care of his parents. So the Lord immediately granted him that boon and that is how our Lord Dwarakadeeshan settled in Pandarpur as Lord Panduranga along with Rukmini as Vittobha and Rakumai.
Adi Shankara has mentioned Panduranga as verily Parabrahma (‘Parabrahma lingam bhaje Pandurangam’)– a culmination of all the deities.
Our Guru Maharaj spoke this beautifully in a kirtan in Tamil, mentioning the Sthala purana of Pandarpur. and also clearly elucidating the characteristics (amsa) of different deities.
The kirtan is as mentioned below – “
Pallavi
Pundalikanuku Andru Vandu Ninran
Pandariyil PandavadoothanCharanam
Chandrabhaga Karayil
Chandra Samana Mukha Azhagan
IndiradiSevitha rajadhi rajan
(Pundalikanuku)Bhaktivellathil Kulithu,
Keerthanai Aadai Aanindhu,
Sadhukalai Bhushanamai Kondu
Namamritam Undu
(Pundalikanuku)Our Guru Maharaj expounded Lord Panduranga, who stood in front of Pundalika. He says that the lord’s face is like the moon on the banks of the river, Chandrabaga, which is itself named so because it is cresent-shaped.
Speaking about the qualities of the Lord, He says that He is the king of the Kings – who has subdued Lord Indra’s ego, as we see in Bhagavatam.He then talks about the characteristics (amsa) of the different deities that the Lord Pandurangan possessed. He says that the lord takes bath in the ocean of bhakti/devotion, similar to Lord Shiva, the abhishekha priya. He compares him with Lord Vishnu (aalankara priyan), by saying that the abhangs and kirtans are his garments and his jewels are his Bhaktas. He keeps relishing food always, akin to Puri Jagannatha Swami. But the food here is the Nectarine Name of the Lord.
May that Panduranga bless all of us.
Sri Aravindji from Florida shared his joyful experiences of Srimad Bhagavata Sapthaham in Houston. The Satsang was wrapped up with Nama Sankirtan. We also prayed for the Mumbai victims who were killed during the terror attack.
