Jun 26: The Mahamantra
The Nama Sankirtan was led by Sriramji and family from Tomball, TX.
Narayananji from Boston talked about the significance of Namasankirtan in Mahabharat.
In Mahabharata, all of us know of the ‘asat’ sabha when the Kauravas invited the Pandavas for the inauguration of their new palace. During that time, they invited Yudhishtra for gambling. As they lose each round, he loses his belongings – his kingdom, his 4 different armies, then his brothers, himself and his wife Draupadi finally. That is when Dhishtadyumna drags Draupadi into the court and ill-treats her. It is at this point that Draupadi calls out the Divine Name of God – ‘Govinda’.
It is said that the Lord was busy playing a game of dice with His spouse Sathyabama and, right at that moment, exclaimed ‘Akshayam’ that means – incessant (win). We are unaware if the Lord won the game of dice, but certainly blessed Draupadi with incessant clothing, of different colors. This is verily due to the fact that she surrendered herself to the Lord by chanting the Divine Name.
Our Guru Maharaj very beautifully compares this to the scenario today. The land of Bharat is decorated by great Mahans who descended on this earth to reinstate Dharma [like Bhishma, Krupacharya and Dhronacharya in the court in the Mahabharata]. Draupadi who emerged out of ‘Agni’, the fire from the sacrifice her father Yagnasena performed. The Lord usually manifests from the Agni. Hence Draupadi can be likened to God. Draupadi’s treatment in the court can simply be compared to the fact that God Himself is in trouble in the Kali Yuga, when even the greatest of Saints who have come to reinstate the Dharma are helpless and remain as silent spectators. It is only the Divine Name that can save even the Lord who is being tarnished and blemished in Kali Yuga.
When Draupathi called out the name “Govinda”, not only did she get the refuge at the Lord’s feet, but, the entire scenario in the court started to change. The mind of Dhridarashtra changed for the good. He was not only physically blinded, but also blinded by prejudice and cunningness. At every instance he asked his ministers as to what the Pandavas were betting, so on and so forth. The Divine Name inflicted change in his heart and he called out in an apologetic tone to Draupadi, “Oh! My dear daughter-in-law, I shall grant you three boons.” She took two boons and got back her husbands their possessions and restored their kingdom… and the story goes on….
Thus, clearly the Divine Name of the Lord changes the mindset of the people and bestows them with good thoughts. Such is the glory of surrender by singing the divine names of the lord [Vachika Sharanagathi].
Followed by introductions, Sri Narayan Daveji of Houston talked on the significance of Nama Sankirtan as the Guru Poornima was fast approaching.
dhyAyan krutE yajan yajnaihi trEtAyAm dwAparE archayan |
yadApnoti tadApnoti kalau sankIrtya kesavam ||
That supreme good which could be attained by the performance of meditation/dyana in the Age of Kruta, sacrifices in the Age of Treta and worship of the Lord in the Age of Dwapara can verily be attained, in the Age of Kali, by the mere chanting of the Divine Names of the Lord!
The lord’s first creation was Lord Brahma. When Lord Brahma was in meditation, the Lord came in front of Him and informed Him about the purpose of Creation. Thus ‘Dhyana’ or meditation signifies Krita (Satya) Yuga.
In Treta Yuga, we all very well know that fact King Dasaratha and Kausalya Mata were blessed with a child who is none other than the Lord Himself. Prior to that, they were not blessed with a child for long, and hence, a depressed Dasaratha sake his Guru’s advice to seek a remedy. Sage Vasishta having blessed King Dasaratha, invited a very learned sage, Shringi to perform Putra Kameshti Yagna. Following the yagna, Kausalya Maata gave birth to four sons, the eldest of them being Lord Rama, Lakshmana, Bharatha and Shatrugna. So Tretha yuga signifies the sacrifices and the Yagas.
In Dwapara Yuga, Lord Krishna performed so many Leelas and he showed the importance of archana in many ways. As a resident of Gokul he preached them to do archana for the Govardhana Hill, and lifted the very same Giriraj (hill) to protect everyone. However at the end of Dwapara Yuga and in the dawn of nascent of Kali Yuga, Sage Narada out of sheer compassion approached Lord Brahma to help people break the transmigration of births and deaths in the age of Kali. Lord Brahma chanted the Mahamantra
“Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare”
“Hare Krishna hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare”
People being skeptical and doubtful in the age of Kali were not adhering to the path of dharma and hence the lord incarnated as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to spread the Mahamantra.
The sixteen nodes of the Mahamantra represents the sixteen gunas and the sixteen kaalas– ‘Shraddha’, ‘Akasha’, ‘Vayu’, ‘Tejas’, ‘Jala’, ‘Pritvi’, ‘Indriya’, ‘Manas’, ‘Anna’, ‘Virya’, ‘Tapasya’, ‘Mantra’, ‘Karma’, ‘Loka’, ‘Naama’.
The Lord created Prana, and from Prana created Shraddha (Faith), Ether, Air, Fire, Water, Earth, the Indriyas, Mind, Food, Strength, Tapas (Penance), Vedas, Karmas (Sacrifices), different planes of Creation. And in this creation, the Lord is omnipresent as His Divine Names.
We must have heard of the Upachara Pooja. There are sixteen different Upacharas in performing a Pooja. It is said that the sixteen worded Mahamantra compensates this Upachara pooja. We also know that the number sixteen is the number for the ‘samskaras’ (rituals performed). The human beings have sixteen ‘samskaras’ in our lives.
It is seen that when Lord Rama incarnated in Treta yuga, the sacrifices that King Dasaratha and Kausalya mata performed a yaga which required very learned scholars and was very difficult to find such learned scholars. When it is the case in treta yuga, then what to talk about Yagas in the age of kali yuga? Since we cannot perform the sixteen ‘samskaras’ in the right way, the Lord in the form of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu bestowed the people of Kaliyuga with the Mahamantra which is equivalent of the sixteen ‘samskaras’.
The sixteen syllable Mahamantra has two ‘aksharas’ each. And for the sixteen nodes we hence have thrity-two gunas [characteristics].
Now let’s ponder on the meaning of Mahamantra. It contains three Divine Names – ‘Hare’, ‘Rama’ and ‘Krishna’. ‘Hare’ comes from ‘ha’ and ‘ra’ dhaatu (‘harana’ means to destroy)
He who does the haran of ’samsara’ (worldly existence) is Harinarayan.
He who does haran of ‘ajnana’ (ignorance) is Shiva.
He who does haran of ‘durgati’ (misfortune) is Durga.
He who does haran of ‘vighna’ (obstacle) is Ganesha.
He who does haran of ‘andhakara’ (darkness) is Surya.
Thus the term ‘hare’ applies to all the five types of upasaks (devotees of five principal sects): Shaiva (Shiva), Shakta (Devi), Ganapatya (Ganesh) , Saura (Surya) and Vaishnava.
The word Rama is ‘Parabrahma’. The word Rama came into existence even before the incarnation of lord Rama. When King Dasaratha and Kausalya were blessed with lord Rama, he approached Sage Vashista for naming ceremony.
Jo aanand sindhu sukhraasi | seekar te trailok supaasi ||
so sukh dhaam raam as naama | akhil lok daayak bisraamaa || (Ramcharitmanas: 196 C:3)
The word Rama is to bestow one with ‘suk’ [happiness] to all the three worlds. By uttering the word Rama, the mind is removed from all the stress and is filled with calmness.
The word Krishna means something that attracts our mind.
Thus, even if one chants the Maha Mantra with a worldly desire in mind, the power of Maha Mantra is that the Lord not only satiates that person’s worldly desire but also bestows Mukti. Such is the greatness of Mahamantra.
The satsang ended with prayers and Nama Sankirtan.
Jun 19: Guru – The Sorcerer’s Stone?
The Nama Sankirtan was led by Nainar Mohamed and family from Mountain View, California.
This was followed by a talk by Narayanan from Boston.
We have been starting our satsangs by talking about the glory of satsang over the past few weeks and hence I thought we will talk about that, today too.
In Srimad Ramayana we see people with different characteristics. One is Sugreeva who is terror stricken at the thought of his brother Vaali. His life is in danger as Vaali can kill him any moment and he hides to save himself. He had lost all his materialistic possessions [his share of the kingdom] On the other side of the spectrum is Ravana. He was one of the most learned person, adept in shastras and a very powerful ruler indeed. This is at the beginning of Ramayana. However at the end of Ramayana, we see that Sugreeva is the ruler of Kishkinda and he leads a happy life. On the other hand, Ravana dies a miserable death. The main difference to note is that Sugreeva had Hanuman has his pal and that bought all the fortune for him, whereas Ravana set fire to Hanuman’s tail, thereby insulting the Bhagavatottama. He got rid of all the satsangs that he had destroyed Vibishana’s kingdom. These acts verily lead to the downfall of Ravana. The company of Sadhus and taking a refuge in the holy feet of Sadguru and not insulting any Bhagavatottama will keep one happy in this life and beyond.
Then, who is a Guru? Anyone who shows us the Lord is verily the Guru. There are many different Gurus illustrated in our scriptures.
It would be surprising to note that even Kamsa and Sukracharya were Gurus? How? It was Kamsa who showed the place of Lord Krishna to Akrura and created an opportunity for Akrura to meet Lord Krishna, although his intent was to slay Krishna. That way, Kamsa becomes Akrura’s Guru. During Vamana Avatara, when Lord Vamana comes to the place of King Bali’s sacrifice, Sukracharya, the preceptor of King Mahabali, warns the King ‘Hey Vairochana! this young lad is none other than Hari. Beware!’. By showing the Lord to King Bali, Sukracharya becomes a Guru.
But who is a Uttama Guru? Some say that the Uttama Guru is like a sorcerer’s stone. A sorcerer’s stone is one that when brought into contact with any object turns that object into gold. But Mahans beg to differ. The object may turn into gold. However that very object cannot be used to turn other objects into gold. Whereas in the case of a Uttama Guru, by a mere touch, a Uttama Guru can turn his disciples into Jnanis and the chain does not stop there. The disciples can turn other disciples into Jnanis by their touch. Now, do we see why a Uttama Guru cannot be compared to a sorcerrer’s stone?
There was a pious brahmin couple who lived in the state of Andhra Pradesh, whose family had been continuously doing ‘Soma Yaga’ (Soma Yaga is a particular sacrifice that has been advocated in our scriptures for all brahmin householders). It was said that when he had completed a hundred soma yagas, the Lord Himself will be born to them.
This couple had shifted to Varanasi to earn their living, for he was a Vedic scholar and Varanasi was the seat of Vedic education during that time. It was the time of Muslim invasions in India and often dacoits and looters came in horses and scared the lives out of the residents. During one such attack, fearing for life, the couple moved into a forest. The wife was bearing the aforesaid god-child in her womb as they made their way into the forest. One night, in the middle of the forest, the wife gave birth to a beautiful boy. There was no help to reach out to, and it is said that the animals and other natural forces verily guarded the child after it was born. They named the child “Vaishvanara” (Vaishvanara is the name of Agni – the God of Fire, which was their primary deity worship).
Vaishvanara grew up to be a great scholar in his later life and came to be called by everyone as Sri Vallabhacharya. Sri Vallabhacharya has written commentaries on the Upanishads and various other scriptures. His commentary on Srimad Bhagavatam – called as “Subhodini” is till date, considered as one of the best commentaries of Srimad Bhagavatam till date. He propounded the path of worship known as “Pushti Marg” and had temple establishments in various places, including Allahabad and Brindavan.
Krishnadas was one of the disciples of Sri Vallabha. Sri Vallabha had appointed Krishnadas as the Manager of the Srinathji temple in Mathura he founded. Sri Vallabha instructed Krishnadas that only the best of the best products be offered to the deity. This, Krishnadas, took as the initiation of the Guru and followed it in word and spirit. Even today, the betel leaves for the deity come from Vellore in Tamilnadu (which is known to produce the best betel leaves in the country), water from the Yamuna is brought to this place daily and saffron from Kashmir is flown to the temple on a daily basis!
Once Krishnadas was going on a horse carriage to Mathura to get groceries for the temple when he heard a melodious music coming from somewhere. He was so much drawn to the music that he asked the carriage driver to halt. Later, he asked that the carriage be driven towards the source of the music and finally, he reached a place where a beautiful maiden was singing in a melodious voice and dancing in front of a few rich people.
Krishnadas sat mesmerized by the elegance of the maiden’s dance and the melody of her voice. He felt there could not be a greater vocalist and dancer than her in the whole world. He approached her after the dance and learned that her name was Ranjani.
He remembered his Guru’s instruction and told Ranjani, ‘Ranjani! will you dance in front of my Master?’
Ranjani immediately turned down Krishnadas’ request – ‘I don’t come outside to dance. Ask your Master to come here!’
‘My master wouldn’t come. But I assure you, you will be very satisfied after having danced in his presence.’
Ranjani, ‘Well! Will your master pay me enough? I demand a large sum when I perform outside.’
‘Don’t every worry about it. My Master is extremely affluent. No one in this world is as rich as him, so much so that, the Goddess of wealth herself is at his feet!’
Ranjani said, ‘I don’t dance in front of oldaged people. Is your master handsome enough?’
Krishnadas said, ‘My master is the most handsome person on earth! He is like a million cupids put together, and he is ever a young man in his sweet-sixteen.’
Ranjani asked, ‘Is your master a rasika (conneisseur)? I will be really upset if my audience cannot appreciate and enjoy my music and dance and hence will not perform if he is not a rasika.’
Krishnadas immedately said, ‘My master is the greatest conneisseur of music and dance. He is ‘akhilakalaadi guru’ – the master of all arts!
Having convinced Ranjani, Krishnadas took her along with him to the temple. When Ranjani asked him to take her to his master, Krishnadas pulled open the screen that kept the deity of Lord Krishna from her… and lo! Ranjani was speechless when she gazed at the divine beauty of the Lord.
She immediately started singing and dancing. Her performance for the ‘Master’ was extra-ordinary that particular day and went on for a long time. With bhaava filled in her dance and music, her performance reached a cresendo. Eventually, as she finished her performance, in a lightning flash, she went into the sanctum and merged into Lord Krishna.
Within a single performance in front of the Lord, that very state that Mirabai had attained, by merging into the Lord of Dwaraka; that very state that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had attained by merging into Lord Jagannath of Puri, Ranjani had attained, inspite of the fact that Ranjani did not even perform a fraction of the devotion that the Mirabai and Mahaprabhu had performed all their lives! – The only reason being the fact that she was shown the Lord by Krishnadas, who as the disciple at the feet of the Uttama Guru Sri Vallabhacharya.
Vallabhacharya had many such disciples who have delivered so many souls by their mere presence and touch.
Poojya Poornimaji surprised the satsang by her presence and talked about the path of complete surrender to god. She is currently visiting Australia for satsangs.
We all have numerous questions that we want to have cleared when we have our Guru Maharaj’s darshan, don’t we? I happened to read a nice incident in the life of Bhagavan Ramana in this connection, which I am happy to share in this satsang.
Muruganaar is the disciple of Ramana who, today, is the person behind bringing out all of Bhagavan Ramana’s works to light. Once, Muruganaar when in the presence of Bhagavan Ramana, put forth a bunch of questions to Bhagavan. ‘How come I have so many doubts’, asked Muruganaar. Bhagavan replied that it was common to have doubts even if one is in the abode of the Sadguru and that is because of the fact that one has not reached the point of complete surrender.
In this context, Bhagavan Ramana narrates the story of Sanatkumaras. This is slightly different from the one we find in Srimad Bhagavatam, but nevertheless, conveys the idea very well.
‘Once Sanatkumaras had numerous doubts which they wanted to get clarified. Firstly they reached Vaikunta, the abode of Vishnu. Seeing Vishnu along with His divine consort Lakshmi, they felt that being a householder, Vishnu would not be the right person to answer their questions. So they moved on and decided to meet Lord Shiva to pose their questions.
Knowing beforehand that the Kumaras would turn Him down if he was with Goddess Parvati, Shiva took the form of a young man and penance under a banyan tree. The Kumaras approached Dakshinamurthy and decided to stay there until their doubts were cleared. They sat in front of Lord Dakshinamurthy and started firing their questions. Patient as he was, Lord Dakshinamurthy answered their questions one by one, and this went on for about a year. Although time passed by, there was no sign of cessation of doubts and questions. Sanatkumaras kept volleying their doubts. A year passed and Lord Shiva decided, ‘There is not going to be an end for this. Let me go into meditation.’. Thinking so, He went into deep meditation and enquiry. This very dynamic silence created peace and bliss in the Sanatkumaras.!
When Bhagavan Ramana completed the anecdote, Muruganaar looked extremely addled. He said, ‘But Bhagavan, I have never heard of a story that Lord Dakshinamurthy spoke volumes to Sanatkumaras! I have heard of Lord Dakshinamurty as a guru in silence always! This story sounds so new to me!’
Bhagavan Ramana smiled at Muruganaar and exclaimed, ‘True! It is not found in the Puranas, But that is what happened!’
Having narrated this incident from Bhagavan Ramana’s life, Poornimaji added,
‘The very silence of the Guru explains it all. ‘Gurostu Maunam Vyaakhyaanam’. Seeing this in conjunction with the story in Srimad Bhagavatam reveals a very interesting fact…
What is the story in Bhagavatam? The Sanatkumaras long to cherish and behold the beauty and bliss of the Almighty Lord Vishnu and reach the gates of Vaikunta. At the entrance, they are stopped by the gatekeepers Jaya and Vijaya, and they are cursed. The story goes on…
Now, what do we see? Initially, when the Sanatkuamaras saw Lord Vishnu, although He was the Lord Almighty, they saw Him only as a householder!
Then after they acquired the supreme knowledge at the feet of their Guru Lord Dakshinamurthy and have been recipients of the Guru’s grace they longed to behold the beauty and cherish the bliss of the same Lord Vishnu, whom they considered a mere householder earlier!
Without the grace of the Guru, even if you meet God face to face, you will not realize the grace and Glory of the Lord. It is only with the Guru’s grace that you can realize God.
The satsang ended with prayers and Namasankirtan.
Jun 12: Bhagavatam and Mahans
The Namasankirtan was led by Sri Aravindji from Orlando, FL.
After introductions, Mukundji from Redding CA talked on Bhakti and Bhagavatam.
In Bhagavatam, Prahalada very beautifully mentions the types of Bhakti:
“Sravanam Kirtanam Vishnoh smaranam pada sevanam archanam vandamam dasyam sakhyam athma nivedanam”
Sravana ( is hearing about God’s Lilas , his virtues and stories),
Kirtana (singing of His divine glories),
Smarana (remembrance of His name and his charithra),
Padasevana (service of His feet),
Archana (worship of God). Our Guru Maharaj always says that one should do bhakti in a very soft way (lalitham). One should place the flowers at the Lord in a soft manner and instead not throw them/
Vandana (prayer and prostration to Lord),
Dasya (cultivating the servant sentiment with God),
Sakhya (cultivating the friend-Bhava) and
Atma-Nivedanam is complete surrender of the self to God.
Our Guru Maharaj often tells His devotees that there is no such thing called big or small when one performs service [kainkaryam] to the Lord. If one person gets to lift the deity using his shoulders and another carries the umbrella for the Lord, both the services are considered the same. This is Dasya Bhakti.
Sakhya Bhakti – one can confide their sufferings and troubles to the Lord. Doing so, the Lord will alleviate us from the sufferings or make the suffering not a burden on us. But on the other hand, if we whisper our sufferings and troubles to our friends, they will only mock at us instead of being any help!
It is a fact that mere reading of Srimad Bhagavatam leads to liberation. This is very lucidly seen in the case of Atmadeva’s Charithra where Gokarna performed Srimad Bhagavata Saptham for his brother Dundukari, who attained the Holy feet of the Lord by listening to Srimad Bhagavatam with rapt attention. Such is the greatness of Srimad Bhagavatam. Read about this story in detail here.
Let’s take another example that lucidly shows the importance of reading Srimad Bhagavatam. There was a great Mahan by name Poondhanam. He lived in Kerala and was an ardent devotee of Lord Guruvayurappan. He used to do Bhagavata Parayanam on a daily basis since he believed that Srimad Bhagavatam is verily Lord Krishna. When his family commitments increased and it was becoming difficult to read Bhagavatam in peace, he was on the look for a suitable place outside his house and he found a good place in his own garden. The spot was between two banana trees. Having found the place, he prepared a seat to keep the holy text and placed flowers on it everyday. He very much liked the third canto which describes the Vaikunta, the abode of Lord Vishnu.
He had a desire to visit Vaikunta. So he pleaded to the Lord, to show him the greatness of Vaikunta. So that very night, the Lord gave him a glimpse of Vaikunta. While he was going round Vaikunta, he saw two Vishnu Dhutas(aides of Lord Vishnu) approaching him and they immediately fell at his feet and got his blessings. This scene completely shook Poondanam and was wonder struck as to why they fell at his feet. Nervous as he was, with a little courage he went and asked them as to why they fell at his feet. They started to explain what had happened to them. They were the banana trees that were planted in Poondanam’s garden. Since they were fortunate to listen to Srimad Bhagavatam on a daily basis, they were blessed to become Vishnu Dhutas(aides of Lord Vishnu)! They were very grateful to Poondhanam because of whom they reached Vaikunta. After witnessing this scene in his dream, he woke up from his sleep and stepped outside his garden. He saw that the two banana trees had fallen.
Thus it is clearly seen that by performing Srimad Bhagavata Parayanam can certainly lead one to Mukti.
Narayananji from Boston shared some thoughts after the lecture.
In most Puranas, we often read many seemingly unrealistic stories. But incidents that we see in the life-history of Mahans very similar to these stories prove that they indeed are true. One example we can quickly think of is from Narada’s life-history. By consuming the Uchchishta( food left-overs) of the Sadhus, he gained Jnana. A very similar incident can be found in the life-history of Sri Bodendra Saraswathi Swamigal where Swamigal’s uchchishta made a deaf and dumb boy chant and dance in Bhakti. Read more about Sri Bondendral here.
Another example that one can quote is from Srimad Bhagavatam. Kubera had two sons, Nalakoobura and Manigriva. They are enjoying with some women unmindful of anything else near Mandakini river in Kailash and that instant, Sage Narada passed by and his eyes caught sight of this loathsome sight. Any other normal human-being would have become very angry on seeing this sight. The women, on seeing him, fled away. However the two siblings who were drunk, stood in front of him. But the sage, who was compassion personified, says, “Oh! My sons of Kubera, for this act, you shall be born as trees”. He further added that Lord Krishna will come and free them.
Sage Narada’s words came true and they were born as Arjuna trees in the back-yard of Lord Krishna’s house.
Yashoda Maiya tied Krishna in a rope to a mortar and Krishna goes through these two trees with the mortar. When he squeezed through the trees with the mortar tied around his waist, the trees break up and the two sons of Kubera came out and immediately prostrated unto the Lord’s feet. They sang a beautiful stuti singing the glories of the Lord. They say that the Lord gave ears only to listen to the glories of the Lord. He gaves us mouth and voice only to sing His glories and Divine Names.
Lord Krishna, having listened to the Sutti, spoke to the siblings on the glory of the mahatmas. He told them it is because of the will of Narada that he had come to deliver them. When a Mahans’ sight falls on us, then the darkness (sins) are vanquished and it is imminent that we reach the holy feet of the Lord. Srimad Bhagavatam is verily Lord Krishna. Akin to how the Lord relieved the two sons of Kubera, the Lord in the form of Srimad Bhagvatham liberated the two banana trees. There it was Sage Narada was instrumental for their liberation through Lord Krishna and here, its Poondhanam who was instrumental in the liberation of the banana trees through Srimad Bhagavatam.
Aravindji from Orlando mentioned about the significance of guru and divine names of the Lord. He briefly talked about Gajendra Moksha and also an incident from Yogiramsurathkumar’s life. One night Yogi in the middle of the sleep suddenly woke up and walked to a well. He found a horse lying deep inside the well. No sooner he started chanting the divine names of the Lord than the horse jumped from the well and ran away.
The satsang concluded with prayers and Namasankirtan.
June 5: Kagabhusundhi
The Nama Sankirtan was lead by the Gopas and Gopis of the Gopa Kuteeram in Houston.
June 6th marked the Aradhana of Sri Alangudi Periyava, a saint whose breath was verily Srimad Bhagavatam. June 7th was the Jayanti of Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swamigal of Kanchi. The same day is also the thiru nakshatra of Sri Nammazhwar. Swati Nakshatra that falls on June 5th is our Guru Maharaj’s Janma Nakshatra. This weekend is certainly very propitious to be in a Satsang and chant the Divine Names.
In Srimad Bhagavatam, Lord Prahalada, while counseling his fellow-students gives various advices on Bhagavata Dharma and Bhakti. In one such parley, he urges them to inculcate Bhakti at a very young age. Half of the 100 years that is destined for man is spent sleeping. A part of it is lost in young age, where we lack knowledge, and a part of the rest is spent in old-age where our body no more cooperates. We hardly get anytime to think about God. So Prahlada says that one should be inculcated into Bhakti at a young age.
Our Guru Maharaj also urges parents in our satsang to inculcate bhakti and good spiritual and moral values in the kids as early as possible. With that goal in mind, “Gopa Kuteeram” has come into inception. It is a retreat for kids in order for them to get exposed to Bhagavata Dharma. A 2-day program tightly packed with fun and spiritual activities for young minds. More about the retreat can be read here.
Following this, one of the Gopas from Houston – Shivam, talked on Shiva Bhakti and the significance of Guru, by quoting excerpts from the Uttara Kanda of Ramacharithmanas. He talked about the ill-effects incurred by disrespecting a guru, the extreme compassionate nature of a guru and also talked about Lord Shiva who is the Adi Guru. He talked about a great devotee of Lord Rama, by name Kagabhusundhi.
In his previous birth, Kagabhusundhi was born in the holy city of Ayodhya. Even though he was born in the birth place of Lord Rama, he was a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva and was hostile to all other forms, including Lord Rama. In the later years, he moved to Ujjain where he continued to worship Lord Shiva in a temple. In that temple he met a very devout Brahmin who was also a devotee of lord Shiva. Unlike Bhusundhi, the Brahmin was devoid of any arrogance. When he saw him showing disrespect to Lord Vishnu, he admonished him and advised him to worship both Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu.
“Siva seva kara phala suta soi, Abirala bhagati rama pada hoi
Ramahi bhajahi taata siva daata, nara pavara kei ketika baata”
There is only one path of devotion to Lord Shiva. That path is continued devotion to Lord Rama. Lord Shiva himself worships Lord Rama, then what to speak of ordinary human beings? It is said that Lord Shiva does incessant chanting of Rama Nama.
One day when Bhusundi was worshipping the Lord in the temple, his guru walked in. Having known his traits, he ignored his guru and did not seek his blessings. The Guru who was compassion-personified ignored his disrespect. However, Lord Shiva, being the AdiGuru could not stand this and he spoke vehemently through an asarira-vaak.
“Tadapi sapa satha daihahu tohi, niti birodha sohai nahi mohi
je satha guru san irisha karahi, raurava naraka koti juga parahi
baitha rahasi ajagara iva papi, sarpa hohi khala mala mati byapi”
Lord Shiva expressed his displeasure with Bhusundhi for the act of disrespecting his guru. He said a person who harbors ill-doings and disrespect to a guru will be thrown in hell for millions of years. And since he sat like a snake when his guru arrived, Lord shiva cursed Bhusundhi to take birth as a virulent snake. The guru however could not see this horrible thing happening to his disciple even though he deserved it.
Suni binati sarbagya siva dekhi bipra anuraga,
puni mandira nabhabani bhai dvijabara baru maga
Tava maya basa jiva jada santata phirai bhulana
tehi para krodha na karia prabhu krip sindhu bhagavana
Sankara dinadayala aba ehi para hou kripala
sapa anugraha hoi jehi natha thorehi kala
Bhusundi’s preceptor could not stand the curse on his disciple. This clearly shows his compassionate nature. He cried to Lord Shiva and he sang praises of Lord Shiva called Rudrashtakam to nullify the curse and instead turn this into a blessing.
In this Stuti, Lord Shiva is praised in many different forms. He is described as the ruler of the universe and as the Veda swaroopam (the manifestation of the Vedas). He is described as Bhakta Vatsala (an act of being gracious to his devotees). He is extolled as the lord of the mountains and the devourer of death and whose abode is beyond the universe. He is like the Himalayan snow and as beautiful as innumerable cupids and his head sparkles with Ganga with a crescent moon adorning him and with coiled snakes around his neck. It is said in the Stuti that if he is not worshipped there is no happiness, peace or freedom from suffering not just in the present birth but in all subsequent births.
After having listened to this wonderful Stuthi, Lord Shiva replied to the Brahmin, “Even though Bhusundhi had sinned, just because of your prayer, I shall be benevolent to him”. Bhusundhi will go through cycles of births and deaths but he will not feel the pain. The lord told the brahmin that,” Bhusundhi having been born in the holy land of Ayodhya, his devotion to me (Lord Shiva), and his association with a pious soul like you, Hari Bhakti will be born in his heart”. Having said this, he also gave a very important piece of advice to Bhusundhi. “Never insult a saint. Rather consider them equal to God.” Thus due to the Lord’s curse he took countless births and in the course of which he became a great devotee of Lord Rama. In his final birth, he was born as a crow. He was blessed by a saint to remain the favorite of Lord Rama. When Lord Shiva appeared on the earth, Kagabhusundhi was a playmate for Lord Rama and he also astounded Ramayana to Garuda, the celestial vehicle of Lord Vishnu. He became a great devotee of Lord Rama only because of the grace of a Guru.
Thus we can clearly see that no good can out by disrespecting a guru and that a mere association with Sadhus and being in a satsang can alleviate the Jivas.
The Satsang concluded with prayers with Nama Sankirtan.
