Jan 30: Glory of a Guru
The telecon satsang started with Nama Sankirtan which was led by Gayathriji from Boston. After a brief round of introductions, Ramyaji from San Jose, CA talked about the Glory of the Sadguru.
If God’s grace were to take a form, then that form is verily the Guru. The greatness of a Guru is that he always showers His grace on his devotees without expecting anything in return. It is said that a Guru has already attained the highest state. The scriptures say that it would be foolish on our part to return what a Guru does to us.
The word Guru is none other than the Brahman that swallows ‘ajnana’ (ignorance) ‘Gu’ means darkness; ‘ru’ means to remove it. As the Guru removes darkness he is known so.
The Guru is the one who stimulates the thirst for God. Once can read any number of books and gain spiritual knowledge but it will not have any impact on us as it does not stimulate the thirst for God. A Guru is one whose every word, every movement and every action triggers the great thirst for God in us. Every moment in his divine presence stimulates this great urge.To substantiate the Greatness of a Guru, Srimad Bhagavatam in quite a few place talks about this. The Mahatmyam which says, that while the celestial tree and the ‘Chintamani’ gem can bestow worldly comforts, it is indeed only the Sadguru’s compassion that can bestow ‘Vaikunta’!
In the 8th canto, 8 slokas specially glorify the Almighty and pray for the Supreme Being to come in the form of a Supreme Guru.anAdyavidyopahatAtma samvida: tanmUla samsAra parisramAturA: |
yadRucchayopasRutA yamApnuyurvimuktido na: paramo gururbhavAn || (8:24:46)Oh Lord! Who liberates the ones who attain you — those whose supreme Knowledge of the Aatman is being masked by the endless veil of ignorance and those who incidentally fall into the sea of Samsara and struggle with the miseries of this mundane world. Pray come in the form of a Supreme Guru and liberate us by cutting asunder the knot of ego-sense that binds us.
It is said that we need a teacher to acquire knowledge of even worldly affairs from making a pot to scientific matter. If matters such as these that are within the reach of the working of our limited brain needs a teacher then what to speak of high spiritual knowledge which is beyond the realm of the mind? The mind is always tuned to look externally in seeking happiness does not so easily turn inward. It is the Guru who is the friend, philosopher and guide in the true sense – who helps us first learn the purpose of life, shows the way to the goal, holds and leads us all through the way and finally sets us in our true nature.A poverty stricken man is crying and a Siddha Purusha who passes by enquires the reason for his grief. The poor man told him that he is drowned in poverty. The Siddha Purusha asks him to dig the ground below the cot on which he was sitting and promised that will find a pot filled with treasure!” Our situation is akin to this poor ignorant man. Not knowing that happiness is our very nature we are drowned in sorrow trying to seek it elsewhere. It is the Guru who points out to us our very nature that is Bliss. Just as a child who has no parents is called an orphan a spiritual aspirant who has no Guru to guide is also an orphan.
In one of Sri Tukkaram maharaj’s abhangs, he says There is no one other than the Sadguru who can liberate us from the ocean of ’samsAra’. He is not bound by time and just like a magnet converts a piece of iron into yet another magnet, He turns the disciple into verily a Jnaani like Himself.
It is said that even Bhagavan in both His Avatars as Krishna and Rama sought a Guru. Krishna’s Guru was Sandeepani and Rama’s Guru was Vasishta. When Kuchela visited Krishna, Lord Krishna says, “Kuchela! No one in the world enjoys peace – neither the rich nor the poor. Each envies the other imagining that the other is happy. You who is the personification of poverty and I who am Dwarakadeesa (the ruler of the wealthy Kingdom of Dwaraka) and Lakshmipati (Consort of Goddess of wealth Lakshmi) both enjoy peace. Kuchela does not suffer from the sorrows attached to poverty and Sri Kirshna from those attached to wealth. And it is because of the very fact that they enjoy the Grace of a Guru – their Guru Sandeepani!”
“GUROHO ANUGRAHENAIVA PUMAN PURNAH PRASHANTHAYE”—
One on whom guru ‘kataksha’(blessings) has fallen will suffers no grief, be he wealthy or poor.
Jagadguru Adi Sankara, the teacher of Advaita philosophy, has sung on the Glory of the Guru, He beautifully says that “One may possess a beautiful, healthy body; a charming wife; wealth as huge as a meru mountain and enjoy fame throughout the world but of what use are these if his mind is not set on the Lotus Feet of the Guru?
All great Mahatmas have sung on the glory of the Guru. “Kutramutrum aruthennai gunamai pannithal Guru uruvãiolir, Arunachala!”, sings Ramana Maharishi, calling upon Arunachala to be the Guru in annihilating his mind and taking him unto His fold!
“Guruvai varuvai arulvai Guhane!” sings Saint Arunagirinathar calling upon Lord Muruga to be his Guru! And what does the great Kabir say while speaking on his Guru Ramanand? “If God and Guru appear before me I will ignore God and prostrate to my Guru!” and what does Ekanath sing of his Guru Sri Janardhana Swami? “
Guru Mata! Guru Pita! Guru amuchi kuladevata!”
Gora patathAm sAnkatE| guru rakshi mAgEm putE ||
kAyavAchA ANImana| guru charaNIm arpaNa ||
EkA janArdhanim charaNA| guru Eka janArdhana ||The main essence of this beautiful Abhang is that
The Guru is my mother, Guru my father and Guru is my family Deity! When troubles approach, Guru stands in front and behind me protecting me always.
A Sadguru is like the mother and God like the father of a child. It is the mother who takes care of the child from its birth till he grows up. She handles the child with care and affection. She sits with the child day and night when he is sick and attends to his personal needs without a frown. Whereas, the father takes pride in the son only when he stands on his two feet and makes a name for himself in the world. Likewise, God is accessible only to the pure heart but the Guru takes on the ‘jiva’ only to cleanse him of his dirts (‘vasanas’) and liberates him.
Our Guru Maharaj in one his kirtans very lucidly conveys the meaning that without Guru’s grace, one cannot get the grace and compassion of Lord Sri Hari.“Guru Kripayi Illamal Hari Kripai Illai”
Hari Kripai Illamal Bhakthi Illai”A man with his inherent nature of successfully completing a task may perform japa or meditation with obstinacy. But what happens to such a one who performs intense spiritual practice without the guidance of a Guru? The net of Maya only tightens its hold by bestowing him with supernatural powers. He is able to learn the happenings that are beyond the reach of our mental faculties. He can cure diseases. The world too holds and looks upon him as verily Bhagavãn. But the truth is that he has not attained liberation but has been pulled deeper into the pit of Maya. By his own effort a ‘jiva’ cannot disentangle himself from the chains of Maya. It is only a Guru who can annihilate a person’s Ego, which is the only block in knowing and being his true Self.
A classic example of this is Sarngdev who was a Siddha Purusha had a huge following of wealthy powerful men. He could even revive the dead. Thus, he was sought after by one and all and there was always a long line of the dead and their relatives at his doorstep! Once Mukta Bai, who is the little sister of Saint Jnanadev, enquired about the long line of dead and on learning the reason the little girl said to the relatives of the dead, that she could also revive them to lift and she chanted the Nama ‘Vittala’! ‘Vittala’! in each one’s ear and the dead jumped back on ‘its’ feet and danced away singing the Nama ‘Vittala’! ‘Vittala’!
The belittled Sarngdev rode on a lion to accost Jnanadev whom he looked upon as his archenemy. Jnanadev who was poor and lived in a hut was repairing the broken wall of his hut. He saw Sarngdev ride arrogantly on a lion and only to teach him that ‘Siddhis’ were silly matters, sat on the wall and tapped it; and it moved up to Sarngdev! The astounded Sarngdev fell at the feet of Jnanadev as he realized his own folly and the emptiness of all around him. He sought knowledge from Jnanadev who blessed him with the Nama ‘Vittala’! Sarngdev gave up his wealth, relatives and followers immediately and took to incessant chanting of the Name of Vittala into which Jnanadev had initiated him. Very soon his ignorance was wiped out and he became a Jnani!
We all know that Lord Panduranga was easily available as a friend to Namdev. He enjoyed the company of Lord Panduranga day in and day out, since his childhood. He was called‘unbaked clay’ by Gora Kumbha (a potter saint). Angered by this, Namdev approached Lord Panduranga who also endorsed the view! Lord Panduranga told Namadev that “You do not have a Guru to correct you hence you are unbaked clay. It is only a Guru who can annihilate one’s ego and help find the real Self” and directed him to a Guru living in the nearby forest. Namdev sought refuge in this Guru who destroyed his ‘Ego’. With the death of the ‘Ego’ Namdev realized that everything was verily Brahman; that he himself was not apart from God. Everything was in God and God was in everything as the ‘antaratma’.
Sabari was born in a family of hunters. She was known for her Guru Bhakti. She lived in a forest killing animals and birds for food. Such a Sabari attained liberation through the grace of her Guru Mandanga Maharishi who blessed her with the darshan of Lord Rama! Bhagavan Himself came to her door in search of her and accepts her hospitality. Speaking to Lord Rama on the glory of her Guru she leaves her mortal body to join her Guru, with Lord Rama as the witness. It is very clearly shown here that this old lady from a hunter’s family attained liberation through the Grace of the Guru, with Bhagavan only as the witness to the event!
The working of Guru’s Grace is like the oil in a lamp. The wick, which is lit without oil in the lamp is quickly burnt out and the light, too, dies out. But if oil is poured into the lamp it not only protects the wick from burning out but also helps the lamp burn continuously. Likewise, one who does not enjoy the Grace of the Guru suffers from his ‘prarabda’ (the effect of his past merits and demerits). He is like the wick in a lamp bereft of oil. ‘Prarabda’ shudders at the prospect of even approaching a ‘jiva’ who enjoys the Grace of the Guru.
The Sadguru can in a snapping of fingers’ time bestow liberation on the disciple! There once lived a King by name Katvanga . He desired liberation and sought the Vedic Brahmins to help him. But the learned could not help him. It was then that a great Mahatma visited the Kingdom who bestowed the King with liberation within the snapping of fingers’ time!
In one of the kirtans, our Guru maharaj sings,
“tvamEva gatir mama hE! gurunAtha
iha lOkE paralOkE cha (tvamEva)”Translates to the very fact that the Guru is the only refugee in the worldly life and in the life beyond.
He further sings the following lines
“sumukhOham vA vimukhOham vA
puNyOham vA pApOham vA
paNDithOham vA mooDHOham vA
danikOham vA daridrOham vA (tvamEva)shaktOham vA ashaktOham vA
susheelOham vA dusheelOham vA
AshritOham vA anashritOham vA
niraparAdOham vA sAparAdOham vA (tvamEva)vignOham vA agnOham vA
viraktOham vA raktOham vA
vaiDikOham vA loukikOham vA
bhAgavatOham vA muralidharOham vA (tvamEva)”He says that whether one is cheerful or otherwise, irrespective of his merits and sins, one has committed, the guru is indeed the only refugee. Regardless of whether one is educated or not, whether one is affluent or poor he is indeed the only refugee. Lastly he says that even if one is a Vaideeka (one who follows the path prescribed in the Vedas) or even if one is Bhagavatha or Muralidhara, a Guru is the only refuge.
Sudhaji from Dallas mentioned that our Guru Maharaj requests everyone to chant the Divine Names of the Lord and it is the only Biksha that he needs from all of us. Such is the compassionate nature of our Guru Maharaj.
The satsang wrapped up with prayers with Nama Sankirtan.
Jan 23: The greatest devotee
About 14 families joined the satsang. Sri Arvindji and Smt Geethaji from Orlando lead the NamaSankirtan. We are indeed fortunate to allocate a little time every week to think and chant the Lord’s Names in spite of our tight schedule. The weekly satsangs are prayer meetings. Narayananji mentioned how we think of God only during tough times. When we are happy, we fail to realize that it because of the Lord’s compassion that we are indeed happy. To express gratitude to the lord is Bhakti. And the simplest and easiest path for showing gratitude is to chant the Divine Names of the Lord.
Sri Ramaniji from Los Angeles told a story illustrating the compassion of the Lord.
We all know that the greatest devotee is Lord Narada, who is also a great sage. One day, he was contemplating as to who was the great devotee of the Lord. He thought that he was indeed him as he was incessantly chanting the names of the Lord. In order to confirm this, he went to Lord Vishnu and put forth his question. He also mentioned that he knew who the great devotee was and happily told the Lord that it was indeed him. In reply to his question, Lord Vishnu and Lord Narada disguised as humans, descended to the earth.
They went to a small village. They saw a small hut which housed a big family. The breadwinner of the house saw these guests and invited them to his house. The guests happily accepted the invitation and went to his house. He was a farmer and all he knew was only farming. At that time his wife was preparing gruel and bread for dinner for her family. Since there was not too much food available, they first served the bread to the guests and retained the gruel for their kids. However Lord Vishnu, who was one of the guests, was not satiated after his dinner and so they gave the gruel as well to him. When they went to retire for the day, the farmer’s son asked him as to why he gave the gruel as well to the guests. In reply, the farmer mentioned that serving the guests is equal to serving the Lord Vishnu. The next day, the guests asked the farmer if they could also join him to the farm fields. He happily agreed and Lord Vishnu in the farm asked the farmer as to how many times he remembers the Lord in a day. The farmer was immediately humbled and said that he utters the Divine Names few times when he ploughs the land, when watering the plants etc. Hearing this Lord Narada was convinced that his initial statement still stood! The guests thanked the farmer and set out in another direction.
When they left, Lord Narada asked Lord Vishnu as to why they had come there. . Lord Vishnu bought a pot filled with oil and asked him to keep that pot on top of Narada’s head and requested him to go over the field without spilling it. Lord Narada accepted the challenge as he was confident he will be able to do it. He had that confidence because he was chanting the Divine Names of the Lord day in and out and thought that the Lord’s grace will help in win the challenge.
With utmost attention, Lord Narada went over the fields successfully without spilling the oil. On his successful completion, Lord Vishnu commended his job and asked Lord Narada as to how many times he chanted the Names of the Lord when he was going around the fields. Lord Narada replied that he didn’t chant His Name and that he was much focused not to spill the oil.
At this juncture, Lord Vishnu commented on how the life is coupled with sorrows and turmoil and how difficult it is to lead a life. In that crucial situation it is very difficult to utter the Name of the Lord. But the farmer who had so many children and who was in a very poor condition uttered the divine Names of the Lord in the morning and evening and whenever he got a breather.
Lord Narada then realized that it was very easy to chant the Divine Names sitting at one place and not doing any work, while it is very difficult to think of the Lord when one is born in this mundane world. He accepted his defeat and from then on he never came up with the question as to who was the great devotee of the Lord.
Following this lecture, Sri Aravindji shared some of his Nama Anubhava.
1. Grace in ways one can’t imagine
2. The banyan tree shade
Following this Sriramji from Houston gave a summary of the first Srimad Bhagavatam Study Circle that they conducted in Houston. Sri Sankarji from San Jose announced about the third Srimad Bhagavatam study circle.
The satsang wrapped up with Namasankirtan.
Jan 16: Bhadrachala Ramadas
Boomaji from Dallas lead the NamaSankirtan to start the satsang.. Sriramji from Houston delivered a beautiful lecture on Bhadrachalam Ramadasa. Here it goes:
This is what Sriramji had to say…
Our Guru Maharaj has very beautifully said that there is a very clear sign as to whether Bhagawan has answered our prayers or not. It is indeed a very simple test. It is also a first sign of the Lord’s grace falling on each one of us. We might have done a recitation of any sacred text, say, Narayaneeyam, Srimad Bhagavatam or Ramayanam. The Lord gets very pleased by these activities and bestows us with more and more satsangs.
What is a satsang? It is a divine communion with Sadhus. In order words, it is a relationship with a Mahatma. It is very difficult to even get a glimpse of satsangs. It is only by virtue of the merits accrued in the past births that one becomes the recipient of God’s grace. If a Guru takes one unto his feet and exposes him to a satsang, then that is a clear sign of God’s grace falling on him.
But as soon as we get into a satsang or get the grace of the Guru / God, we tend to think that we should be free of all problems! But it is not true. It is the demerits one has earned in the past births that leads us to undergo trials and tribulations. The Guru comes and helps us and makes it easy on us to go through the difficult times. To substantiate this, we can take our lives as an example. We can retrace our steps back to see how difficult our lives would have been, if we had not been in contact with the Sadguru. A guru comes and saves us from being traumatized during the trial and tribulations in one’s life.
In the text called ‘Bhagavan Nama Rasodayam’, Sri Bhodendra Swamigal very lucidly listed ten points that are considered as offenses (Nama Apachara) – Abuse of Sadhus, speaking about the glory of Nama to the wicked, differentiating between Siva and Vishnu, distrust in the Vedas and Shastras, disbelief in Guru’s words, doubt in the glory of Nama, committing sins on the glory of Naama, non-performance of one’s routine karmas on the strength of Naama, equating Naama Sankirtan with other Dharmas. Bhagavatas should not commit any of these sins and Nama Sankirtan is the only atonement that will remove the sin of Nama Apachara. It is also said that any type of these sins are wiped off when one does Nama Sankirtan on an auspicious day like Ekadasi.
Today let us discuss the life of the great saint, Bhadrachalam Ramadas who lived in Andhra Pradesh. The name given by his parents for Bhadrachalam Ramadas was Gopanna. He was born in a wealthy family. His father worked as a minister for the Nizam of Hyderabad. Gopanna’s father died when he was a very small boy. Before he died, he made sure that Gopanna’s maternal uncle (Appanagaru) was his successor to his job. So Gopaana was not able to secure his father’s job. Even as a child, Gopanna was much devoted to Lord Rama. His family deeply urged him to get married. To his luck, his wife was also a great devotee of Lord Rama. With all the riches they had, Gopanna and his wife celebrated the Rama Navami festival is a very great manner. All the Sadhus were invited and the whole town took on a festive look. There was Nama Kirtan round the clock. The only thing that made Gopanna very upset was when someone questioned his spending for the Rama Navami Utsav. After a few years he was reduced to penury and it was becoming very difficult for him to conduct the Rama Navami utsav. Gopanna Garu as he was fondly known, started to ponder on the impending utsav and the thought that he could not afford for a grand utsav made him very depressed. His wife who was a great Lord Rama devotee consoled him that Lord Rama will not allow this to happen and a thought suddenly struck her. She requested him to go and meet his maternal uncle Appanagaru was the then minister in the Nizam of Hyderabad. So Gopanna went to see his uncle. Since Gopanna’s father had named Appanagaru as his successor to his job, he was waiting to show his gratitude to Gopanna’s family. He asked him to perform the Rama Navami festival with its usual splendor and he assured him that he will take care of the finances. He also asked him to come and meet him after the utsav and that he will find a job for him with the Nizam of Hyderabad. Gopanna’s joy knew no bounds and he did all the arrangements for the Rama Navami utsav. During the utsav Gopanna’s wife wanted to serve the sadhus all by herself and she cooked all the food alone. At the end of the day, when the Nama Sankirtan was going on, she was putting her only son Raghava to sleep. When the boy went to sleep, she lighted a little oil lamp next to him and she moved to the room where the bhajans were going on in full swing. As there were some fierce winds blowing outside, they blew the lamp away and the boy woke up and since it was pitch dark, he was wandering inside the house, oblivious of the path he was heading to. As fate would have it, he fell in a boiling hot porridge which was prepared to serve the sadhus. The mother who heard some sounds coming from other room was going in search and found that her little boy was dead. She couldn’t really come to terms with the fate and was totally shaken. But she didn’t want to ruin the utsav that was happening in the front room and so she wrapped up the corpse of her little son with a towel and moved on. She went and served the sadhus and when the utsav ended, the sadhus enquired about Raghava to Gopanna. Gopanna asked his wife as to where Raghava was and then she pulled him over to her side and told him what had happened. He was grief stricken in seeing the dead body of his son. Even the sadhus grieved over the mishap. Gopanna consoled them by saying that it was Lord Rama who had blessed him with Raghava and now he himself has taken him to his holy feet. Hearing this, the sadhus denied it. They said that the people will scoff at his Lord Rama for bringing this upon him. So they all prayed together to Lord Rama and pleaded with him to restore the child to life. Just then an old man stopped by at the door and enquired in a in a demanding tone as to what was happening there. When he was informed of the child’s death, he said that he was not dead and he went and tapped the child. The child woke up. The old man quickly walked out. Gopanna slowly followed him and saw the form of Kothandapaani Rama before he disappeared from the sight. This incident only intensified Gopaana’s faith on Lord Rama.
As advised by his uncle, Gopanna visited him after the completion of the utsav. He got the post of a Thasildar in a hilly city called Bhadrachalam. There is a beautiful temple of Lord Rama in Bhadrachalam. The history (stala purana) of Bhadrachalam is that it is situated in the banks of river Godavari. Bhadra means Auspicious and Achalam means mountain. So the word Bhadrachalam means auspicious mountain. There was a great saint by name Bhadra who did tapas and obtained the darshan of Lord Rama and he requested to place his feet on top of his head. That is how the temple came to existence on the top of a hill. There is an incident exemplifying the glory (stala purana) of Bhadrachalam.
There was once a brahmin by name Kaalakalan. His guru cursed him because he did a grave sin of desiring his guru’s wife. He was inflicted with leprosy and was thrown out of the town. He repented greatly for his wicked deed and prayed to god to save him from this hell. No one offered him food. He heard from someone that even a worst sinner was offered food by way of “Anna Dhaana” in Bhadrachalam on the day of Sri Rama Navami festival. He somehow managed to reach the Kshetra. As he took a glimpse of the temple he fell down dead. When the aides of Yama (God of death) came down to take him, an analogy similar to Ajamila Charithra in Srimad Bhagavatham, he was stopped by Hanumanji, who was a great bhaktha of Lord Rama. He was sent there by Lord Rama. Lord Rama has proclaimed that one who has stepped into the holy city of Bhadrachalam are under his clutches and can never be touched by Yama irrespective of the sins committed. He thus took Kaalakalan unto his lotus feet. Such is the great glory of this kshetra.
Gopannagaru was very happy to hear that there was a Rama temple atop the hill and decided to go and see that temple. He was very depressed to see the dilapidated condition of the temple. His eyes were filled with tears to see the poor state of the temple with the deities not decorated. He decided to use all his wealth to refurbish the temple but that amount was just not enough. It was then that he decided to use the tax collected from the people to set things right in the temple. Instead of sending the funds to the King, he started diverting the funds for temple renovation. When he was planning for a grand utsav, one of the close associates of the king went and complained to the king for diverting the funds to temple renovation. The King accused Gopanna for misappropriating the government money and hence sent him to prison for twelve years.
Ramadasa wrote all the kirtans in that twelve years in the dark cell, oblivious of whether it was day or night. Prisoners in those days were tortured in many ways. In spite of all the sufferings he underwent in the prison he sang “Deena dayalo Deena dayalo Deena Para Deva Dayalo”
_ Lord Rama is a Bhagawan of compassion. And he says that he is unable to take his grace. He had unstinted devotion towards Lord Rama. He carved out Lord Rama , Sita Maata and Lakshmana in his prison cell with his fingers and worshipped them. Lord Rama and Sita sit in a very beautiful pose. SitaMaata sits in the lap of Lord Rama (in ekasimhasana) and Lakshmana on the side.In one of his kirtans, he teases Lord Rama and says that he glitters with all the jewels which are adorned on him and asks him as to who gave all these jewels. He continues further by saying that it was not given by Janaka, not by Lord Dasaratha. He then says that it was he who gave Lord Rama all the jewels and asks him as to why he is subjected to this cruel treatment in the prison. He urged Lord Rama to save him.
“Palukae Bangara Mayana Kothandapani” – He teases Lord Rama by asking him If the pearls that he is holding in his mouth would fall off if he opened his mouth. He then decided not to ask Lord Rama for help and goes to Sita Maata for help him. When Sita Maata requested Lord Rama to save him, he refused. He said to her that he didn’t ask him to renovate the temple. With continuous pleading of Sita Maata, Lord Rama told her that he will not be able to save Ramadasa until he was able to return the funds to the King that were used for temple renovation. Hearing this, Sita Maata who was none other than Mahalakshmi, poured gold coins. Lord Rama and Lakshmana wearing the garb of the servants (Thalaiyari) of Ramadas went to the Nizam. Seeing their ‘tejas’ and their beautiful face none decided to stop them and they knocked the king’s door. When the king opened the door he could not but wonder and admire at these two men who seemed so lustrous. They introduced themselves as the “Thalaiyaaris” to Ramadas and informed him that they had bought the money that was due. They gave the gold coins and asked him to release Ramadas. The King picked up his upper cloth and wrote the receipt for gold coing. Once Ramadas was released, he said to Lord Rama, “Hey Lord Rama is it because of the King’s money used in renovation of your temple, clothes and jewels adorning you that blessed him with your darshan”. This shows the great devotion that he had for Lord Rama. But for Ramadas the world would have not known Bhadrachalam.
After the wonderful speech, there was an announcement about the Srimad Bhagavatham study circle in Houston.
The satsang wrapped up with Namasankirtan.
Jan 09: Surest Path to Liberation
Blessed were those who attended this unique satsang which is conducted through the medium of telephone. About 18 families attended the satsang. The satsang began with Nama Sankirtan lead by Ramyaji from San Jose, CA. The lecture was given by Sri Narayananji from Boston, which was preceded by introductions.
He started with the Mahamantra
“Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Hare Krishna hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare
Kalaye sundarAkAram sadaika priyadarshanam |
AgnAna nAshakam dEvam sadgurum muraLidharam ||”
Narayananji spoke on the glory and compassion of the Lord and described one of the easiest paths to attain Him.
“One cannot measure the compassionate nature of the lord.
If we see the sky, we see the stars, the moon and the planets. What a wonderful creation of the Almighty.! They are so synchronous to each other. If we look at the plant kingdom, we see trees with leaves in many different shapes, colors and in innumerable sizes. If we delve into the animal world, we cannot help wondering wonder on His adept creation right from micro-organisms to sharks and dinosaurs. The Lord is a beautiful Rasika. He is known for his ‘Raasikya’ (connoisseur).If we ponder further on His creations, we can clearly see that no human is the same as the other. If we ask a painter to paint a picture, he can paint a unique painting. If we ask him to do another different painting, he does it. Perhaps after few paintings, he will tend to reuse the ideas of his previous paintings to create new one. That is the case with a novel author who may reuse his ideas in writing subsequent novels. When we take the case of human beings, God has created each one with not only a different facial identity but also with different taste buds, emotions, attitude and personality. The beauty of the Lord is that he possesses a shy nature and doesn’t want to show off His beautiful creation. He is omnipresent. He is present in the beautiful melody of the cuckoo, in the feathers of a peacock and in the beautiful sound emanating from the flute. The Lord is called “Paroksha Priya”. He likes to hide his great qualities. Such is the compassion and humility of the Lord Himself!
A great Sri Vaishnava Saint , Sri Vedanta Desika wrote a beautiful piece of literature called Daya Shatakam. It is a collection of hundred verses that extols the compassion of the Lord. In that, he goes to the extent of saying that the ‘Pralaya’ (the dissolution of the universe) is also an act of compassion of the Lord!
Let’s probe into this. If we are forced to work all the twenty four hours a day, without sleep, then it leads to total chaos, does it not? Can we imagine a world without the concept of sleep? ‘Pralaya Kaala’ is when everyone is in ‘laya’, just like a mother putting her baby to sleep and wakes it up again when the ‘Shrishti’ (Creation) begins. Is it not an act of compassion of the Lord?
But we as humans, fail to understand His very gracious nature. So the Lord to attempt again to shower His grace on us. So He gave us the Vedas. The Vedas are ‘Apaurusheya’. It is the only text that is not composed by a human. The moment a scripture is written by humans, it is subject to ‘Raga Dvesha’ and ‘Paksha Paata’ (prejudices of the human mind). The Vedas are the breath and the language of the Lord. It doesn’t contain any prejudice. The Lord showed us the means to attain him through the Vedas.
Our Swamiji beautifully says that we see many different deities in this universe. All these different forms of the lord have their own temples and have their own ways of worship. There is only one deity for whom worship is not prescribed at all. He is Lord Brahma. Why is this so? Our Swamiji gives a rational reason as to why it is so. Lord Brahma is Himself in the form of Vedas. The moment we give a form and temple to Him, we tend to ignore the Vedas and instead do processions and utsavs. Hence it is strictly prescribed that there is no temple for the Vedas and the Vedas verily are the Lord. What is the best way to worship Lord Brahma? The one who learns Vedas is verily worshipping him. Lord Brahma has 4 faces (Chaturmukha). The word ‘Mukha’ has two interpretations in Sanskrit. It means face as well as mouth. The right usage depends on the context. In this background, the word ‘Mukha’ means mouth. He chanted the four different Vedas through the ‘Chatur Mukha’. He gave the Vedas in which he showed two most important facts. The first of which is how one should lead a life and secondly, the means to attain the Lord’s lotus feet.
But then we human beings were not intelligent enough to understand this and we have been going in our own ways. It is said in Bhagavat Gita “Tasmaat Shaasthram Pramananthe Karyaakaarya vyavastitau”
Sri Veda Vyasa says that “Veda Shastram Param nasti” which means that the Vedas are the supreme Shastras and urged everyone to look into the Vedas to see how one should lead his life. So, the Lord out of his sheer compassion decided to show himself the path in addition to instructing the people through the Vedas. Hence He took the beautiful avatars of lord Rama and Lord Krishna. In Rama Avatar, he showed how a man should lead a life by following the path of Dharma. It is shown in Vedas “Dharmam Chara”. Coming in the human form, Rama showed how to lead a life. In Krishna Avatar, he clearly showed how to attain Him. By the virtue of the qualities of his devotees he showed the path to attain Him. All the Vrajavasis and Gopis in Brindavan showed the path to attain the ultimate feet of the Lord and that is ‘Sharanagati’. The Lord in Krishna Avatar shows how one needs to surrender unto Him. Our Guru Maharaj beautifully conveys this in his kirtan – “Kazhalai thookki thalaiyil vaithu gathi idhuvae endran” – Showing the path to Surrender, the path to Liberation.
That was an ideal example for all of us to follow. However the Lord’s nature was to punish the negative minded (‘asuras’ or demons). Taking exception to this act of the Lord, He Himself vowed not to look at any ‘asuric’ quality of humans.
And so he decided to take the form of Archavatara (form of a deity in the temple). Thus he promised not to look at negativities and will only keep showering His grace. But did this still show the compassion of the Lord?When we go to a temple (which is nothing but a wish-fulfilling tree ‘Kalpatharu’ / Chinthamani), they can bestow us with whatever we ask, but they don’t suggest the right thing that one should ask for. And since the Lord had taken a vow to not to open his mouth, this form was also becoming counter-productive as people became more and more mean and selfish.
The Lord again started to ponder on how to take the humans to His feet and that was when he decided to send the Sadhus down to the earth as Avatara Purushas to show His grace. These Mahans speak the glory of the Lord, but only the Lord knows the glory of these Mahans! And Alas! The Lord does not speak! So the glory of the Avatara Purushas goes unspoken. It can only be experienced!
The Lord has been a little thrifty on the number of such Avatara Purushas on earth! It is by mere compassion of the Lord that one can get attracted to these Jivan Muktas.
There are three things that take us ashore but they themselves remain as it is. Firstly, it is the ladder that takes one up but stands in the same place. Secondly it is the boat that helps one to cross a body of water body but it itself remains in the water. Thirdly, the citrus fruit (Elimichangai in tamil). It aids to alleviate indigestion. It helps to digest all the undigested food in the stomach but it itself doesn’t get digested.
The Mahans/ Jivan Muktas are very similar to this. They take us ashore and they themselves remain there. Such is the Lord’s compassion. Why is that they don’t get liberated? It is because, they are always in the state of Mukthi and they don’t need to attain a different state.
To get a darshan of such Sadhus is indeed very rare. In Srimad Bhagavatam, when Sri Suka was wandering in the forests, there were some womenfolk who were bathing in the river. When they saw Him coming, they immediately circumambulated and prostrated unto him. When they were asked as to why they didn’t even cover themselves properly before prostrating to the great sage, they replied that getting a glimpse of these Jivan Muktas is very rare and that they didn’t want to miss it! So precious is the darshan of Mahapurushas.
One has attained the feet of such a Jivan Mukta as a Guru. What next?
There are four things that one needs to follow. 1. Pilgrimage. There is no more a need to take a bath in Ganga and Yamuna and go to pilgrimages. Just by merely drinking the water from the feet of a Guru is equivalent to going on a pilgrimage. The reason for a pilgrimage tour is to attain ‘Chitta Shuddhi’ (cleansing our mind). When our mind is faced with lot of disturbances, the first thing that one needs to do is to come to a calm state. A pilgrimage is a place that can accomplish it. In Srimad Bhagavatham it is said,
“Swayam hi theerthaani punanti santha:” It says that the Jivan Muktas are truly the pilgrimages. The drops of water from the feet of the Guru are verily Ganga and Yamuna.Secondly one should stop worrying of his sins. A glimpse of his vision on us will wipe out all the sins. Sri Andal says “Theeyil thoosagum cheppaelor rembabvai”, which means that all the sins will be burnt to ashes the moment the Guru’s gracious vision falls on us. The moment when one’s sins are washed out, it is then we get the taste of the Lord. It is only then we get Bhakti.
Thirdly, one should partake the food left ofer by the Guru. (the Uchchishta). When we take in anything that is left over by our Guru’s consumption, it means to follow his Upadesa. Follow whatever he says verbatim. Never ask any questions. Chant the Divine Name that He has given as a Upadesa to you. That will give Bhakti.
And lastly, Surrender to His feet in order to attain liberation. Prostrating to him means that we are not only giving ourselves but also our family members and our possessions. It is under the supervision of the Guru that we take care of our family members and possessions but they essentially belong to him.
When we do the above mentioned four things in a repeated manner, then one is for sure to get his abundance grace.The beauty here is that one is not directly attaining the Lord by any one of these means, but the glory is if it were a true Guru then it will automatically lead you to the Lord.
A beautiful example to this is Sri MadhuraKavi Azhwar. He was a disciple of Sri Nammazhwar. Being a very learned scholar himself, Madurakavi Azhwar served His guru. He only sang praises of his Guru. He wrote ten ‘pasurams’(verses) in which he has sung praises of his Acharya Namazhwar and not the Lord. And without even his knowledge, he alluded to the Lord!
In his pasurams, he starts off by saying -
“Kanninum Siruthambinal Katum na pannirpaeruvai” He refers to Sri Krishna’s leela and says Oh! my Acharya who fell for Sri Krishna’s Damodhara Leela, unto that guru, I prostrate!When one prostrates to the Guru and follows the four steps as mentioned He is for sure to attain the feet of the Lord. We are all fortunate to be at the feet of our Sadguru Maharaj and for the Nama Sankirtan, which is a simple path that he has shown us. May the grace of Sadguru and the Lord be with all of us.
Sri Sankarji from San Jose mentioned about the second Bhagavatam Study Circle that was scheduled on 10th Jan at his residence.
The satsang was wrapped with Nama Sankirtan which was lead by Chitraji from San Jose, CA
Jan 02: New Year Satsang with Ram Nam
This marked the first telecon satsang for the new year 2009. Zivanji and Yaminiji from Chicago lead the NamaSankirtan. 16 families joined the satsang. Shri Narayan Daveji from Pearland, TX delivered the satsang talk. In less than 20 minutes, He beautifully outlined the glory of Rama Nama as mentioned in Sri Ramacharitamanas of Sri Tulsidasji.
He started with the Pundarika and the Dhyana Slokas.
By the immense grace of Lord SriHari and our beloved SadGuru Maharaj, we have gathered again to enjoy the first telecom satsang. The New Year 2009 began in the most auspicious way, AkandaNama Sankirtan. The Akanda Nama Sankirtan yielded fruit immediately and guess what? The devotees across the world were fortunate to listen to Our Guru Maharaj’s discourse which was brought live. His talk enthralled all the devotees. He discoursed on the importance of Sri Ramachandra Bhagwan’s name Rama Nam in which he talked about Sri Hanumanji Maharaj and Sri Tulsidasji Maharaj.
As we all know TulsiDasji was a great saint. Lord Rama himself had given darshan to Sri TulasiDas and this divine scene was witnessed by Lord Hanumanji.
Chitrakut ke ghat par Bhai Santan ki Bhir
Tulsidas Chandan Ghe-se, Tilak dait Raghuvir
One day, when he was performing the Pooja to the deity of Lord Rama, the Lord was getting impatient because Tulsidasji was making the sandalwood paste for so long and eventually appeared in front of him. Tulsiji was oblivious of this and Lord Rama Himself took the chandan and marked a tilak on Tulsidasji’sforehead and also marked a tilak on His own forehead! Such is the greatness of this great saint. His two great compositions are Sri Ramcharitmanas and the very famous Hanuman Chalisa.In Sri Ramcharitmanas, he has advocated the path of Divine Name chanting. In this composition, he acclaimed the power of Rama Nama in different Kandas.
This starts right from Bal Kand. Sri Tulsidasji clearly outlines that one should start chanting the Divine Name right from childhood. In Bal Kand, he prays that the Nama Sankirtan should be implanted firmly in one’s childhood and not during youth or old age.
He prayed to the name of Lord Rama by singing -
Bhandavun naam raam raghuvar ko | hetu krisaanu bhaanu himakar ko ||
Bhidihari haramaya bedha praana so | aguna anuupam guna nidhaana so ||
Mahamantra joyi japatu mahesu | kaasi mukuthi hetu upadesu ||
Mahimaa jaasu jaan janaraau | prathama poojiyata naama prabhaavu ||
Jaana aadhikavi naama prataapu | bhayavu suddha kari ulataajaapu ||
Sahasa naama sama suni siva baani | japi jeyi piya sanga bhavaani ||
Harashe hetu heri har hii ko | kiya bhushan tiya bhushan tii ko ||
Naama prabhaava jaana siva neeko | kaala koota phalu deenha ameeko || (Balkand: 19)
Ram Nam is verily the Mahamantra. Lord Siva constantly chants this Mahamantra in Varanasi and liberates all the souls. Being the sum and substance of the thousand names of the Lord, Shiva chanted the Mantra continuously and the result was that the very deadly poison of Kalkoot that he consumed turned into nectar!
There are two aspects of God .One is the formless (Nirgun) and the other, qualified (sagun) aspect. According to Tulasidasji, Nam is higher than both these aspects. In fact, Ram Nam and Ram were no different, says Tulsidasji. We can see this to be true in our daily life too. In logical sense, when we want to call somebody, we first call his/her name and the person follows. Similarly when the Lord (when incarnated in the human form), is called by His Name, He follows. This is true in Divine World too. Various Rishis and Munis have performed Tapas (penances) by chanting the Divine Names of the Lord, and Lord has appeared in front of them. In fact, that the Lord’s Name is the Master and the Lord Himself is the follower!
Tulasidasji says that that if one desires to get brightness in both worldly and spiritual world, then one should put the Rama Nam in one’s tongue. A light in the doorstep of a house, brightens both the inside and the outside. The mouth is verily the door and the tongue is the doorstep. By chanting the Ram Nam continuously, the Divine Light shines both inside and outside.
This fact is beautifully glorified in the following doha-
Naam mani deep dharu jeeha dehari dvaar |
Tulsi beetar baaharehu jau chaahasi ujiyaar || (Balkand: 21: D6)
It is very transparent from our scriptures that the chanting of the Divine Name has liberated the demon Ravan, Ahalya and Ajamila. The Name of the Lord has performed more feats thatn the Lord Himself!In the following Doha…
Raam naam nar kesari kanakakasipu kalikaal |
Jaapaka jana prahlaad paalihi dali sura saal ||
The Divine Name of Rama is akin to Lord Nrisimha in this Kali Yuga. Any one who chants the Divine Name is Prahlada and the Lord will destroy any one (the Kali – portrayed as Hiranyakashipu) that harms the one who chants the Divine Name.Tulasidasji was still not contented and finally understands his limitation. He tells
Lord Rama that for how long can he expound and glorify the Lord’s Name! He feels that Lord Rama Himself cannot explain the glory of His own Name!In Ayodhya Kaand, Dashrath Maharaj was suffering due to the separation from Rama who was asked to go to the forest for fourteen years. Dashrath Maharaj, who was known for his rigorous tapas in his previous birth, was blessed with Lord Rama as his son in his next birth. Such is the greatness of the Lord’s Lila. Dashrath Maharaj was a Jivan Mukta. When he was leaving his human body, he chanted the Divine Name six times. One should remember that in their last few moments, they should only think of the Lord and chant his Divine Names.
Raam raam kahi raam kahi raam raam kahi raam |
Tanu pari hari raghuvar viraham raau gayau surdhaam || (Ayodhyakand D155)
The First five times were to fill his five senses with Nam. The last Nama was atonement (Prayaschith) for all his errors that he did unknowingly. By chanting the Nama once, one can wash away all the sins accrued in one’s birth. Such is the greatness of Nama.There is an analogy to this very fact. How can one remember the Nama and the Lord during the time of death, when he has not chanted the Nama all along his life? When we meet somebody after many years, we are able to recognize them but their name doesn’t strike our mind that easily. Isn’t it?
Lord Rama knew for sure that Sri Hanumanji Maharaj will only be able to cross the ocean and will be able to Sita Maata. This is another episode of his leela. He called Sri Hanumanji and gave a Mudrika and it had his Divine name on it. We get the Lord’s Name solely by His grace.
Lord Hanumanji beautifully says –
‘Prabhu mudrika menu mukhmaayi
jaladhilaankikaye acharaj naahi ||
Sri Hanumanji placed the Lord’s Name in his mouth and crossed the ocean. Similarly if we do Nama Sankirtan we will surely cross the ocean of samsara and break the cycle of birth and deaths.When Lord Hanumanji was leaving for Lanka, Sri Tulasidasji in one of his chaupayi–
strong>
Baar baar raghuveer sambhaari
tarakeu pavana thanaya bala bhaari || (sundarkand)
<
Just as an arrow leaves Lord Rama’s bow, so was Hanuman leaving for Lanka. When He reached Lanka, He saw many strange faces. He felt very depressed. He was wandering in search of Sita Mata which Sri Tulasidasji sings–
Sayana kiye dekha kapi tehi | mandir mahum na dekhi vaidehi ||
Bhavan ek puni deek suhaavaa | har mandir taham bhinna banaavaa || (Sundarkand)
He saw a palace and a beautiful idol of Lord Vishnu. Here Tulsidasji shows that one should allocate a separate place for the Lord in their homes. And how should the divine room be decorated?
Raamaayudh ankit gruha sobhaa barani na jaay |
Nava tulsikaa brunda taham dekhi harash kapiraayi || (Sundarkand)
Sri Hanumanji, was wondering wondering who this great devotee was!
Lankaa nisichar nikar nivaasaa | ihaan kahaan sajjan kar baasaa ||
Man mahum tarak karai kapi laagaa | tehi samaya vibheeshanu jaagaa ||
Raam raam tehi sumiran keenha | hrudaya harash kapi sajjan cheenhaa ||
While he was wondering so and waiting, Vibheeshanji woke up remembering the Divine Ram Nam! It shows how devotees start their day with Divine Name on their lips.Later, he found Sita Maata and when he realized that she was suffering from the separation from Lord Rama, he dropped the ring which he secured it from Lord Rama. It had the Lord’s Name engraved on it. Sita Maata was so happy to see it. Anything that has the Lord’s name is very gorgeous.
Tab dekhi mudrikaa manohar | raam naam ankita ati sundar ||
When she was wondering as to how she got the ring, she immediately realized that it was through Lord’s grace. Lord Rama gave the ring to Hanumanji (who is the Saadguru in this context) and he in turn passed it on to her. He then consoled her by saying that Lord Rama will come to rescue her and all sorrows will be washed away.
When one is in difficult times, the greatest help that we all can do is to put the Divine Name in their mouth. It is this Mahamantra that can obliterate all the sorrows.
In the closing, he assured that God willing, he will continue with the rest of the Kandas in future.
Sri Chandrasekarji talked about the New Year mass prayer in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Arvindji from Orlando summarized the New Year Satsang events in Orlando area. They performed Akanda Nama sankirtan from six in the morning to six in the evening. They closed the Nama with PanchaGeetham. About six devotees joined the satsang.
The New Year satsang closed with Nama Sankirtan.
