Mar 11: Uddhava Gita – 13
11 Mar 2011 Leave a Comment
in Telecon Satsangs Tags: 11th canto, satsang, uddhava gita
Srimad Bhagavatham is verily the rasa roopa and there is no part of Bhagavatham that can be thrown away. It is said that it is the quintessence of all Shastras, Vedas and Upanishads. While the Vedas and Upanishads and Scriptures of that order serve a purpose are verily the tree and roots of dharma, Srimad Bhagavatham is the fruit. The Vedas and Upanishads are akin to stem and main trunk of the tree and Bhagavatham is the fruit. For normal mortals reveling in the mundane world eagerly desire to taste the fruit when the eventual goal of planting a tree is to cherish the fruits of that tree and hence Srimad Bhagavatham has become the fruit.
When we do any work be it Vaidika, the one that conforms to the Shastras or be it in the mundane world, one ideally expects a fruit for performing the work. The scriptures have divided this fruit into four parts namely the four Purusharthas – Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha.
Whatever Dharma one performs should bestow one with more wealth so that one continues to do more and more dharma. Whatever act one does should increase the interest to do more and more dharma – ‘tat dharma evaatma ruche prajaayate’
The end of doing dharma is “samsiddhih haritoshanam [SB 1.2.13]” which connotes that the dharma that one does immensely pleases the Lord and hence he bestows one with Hari Bhakti and this ultimately leads us to Moksha. Srimad Bhagavatham elucidates the four Purusharthas in eighteen thousand slokas in twelve cantos and the ultimate Purushartha being the Lord himself. The dharma that Bhagavatham preaches is Bhagavatha Dharma, the Artha that is shows is the supreme wealth of Bhagavath Bhakti. The Kama which connotes desire is shown as the desire to be blessed with more and more Satsangs and Bhagavath Kainkarya. Srimad Bhagavatham shows the last Purushartha, Moksha which is verily attaining the holy feet of the Lord. The four Purusharthas are verily Lord Krishna himself. Bhagavatha Dharma is no different from Lord Krishna- “Bhagavatha Proktam Bhagavatam”. Bhakthi [Artha] is verily Lord Krishna Himself. Desire [Kama] to do more service to the Lord is no different from the desire for the Lord and liberation [Moksha] is eventually the Lord Himself.
In another perspective, Srimad Bhagavatham,the fruit is divided into four parts – Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha and it probably because of this precept that every canto in Srimad Bhagavatham represents a part of Lord Sri Krishna. The first cannot [Adikari Skanda] represents the feet of the Lord, the heart of the Lord being the sixth canto, which contains the episodes of Ajamila and Vrithrasura. The worst of the worst sinners Ajamila or the best of the best Devas like Indra were not spared by the compassion of the Lord. The tenth canto being the head of the Lord the Ashraya [shelter] and the eleventh canto is the crown of the Lord. When we come to the eleventh canto our Lord Krishna is verily the Dwarkadipathi and also since he was crowned the name ‘Govinda’ in Govindapatabishekam. The eleventh canto is considered as the crown of the Lord and has a lot of expensive and multifarious gems studded on it. These gems are the discourses given by Lord Krishna to Uddava. The Lord himself summoned Uddava and began talking about the great truths in greater detail which are paths to reach the holy feet of the Lord. There is no path that goes unexplained in the eleventh canto. He expounded on Kriya Yoga, Karma Yoga, Sankhya Yoga, Varnashrama Dharma. After expounding on all the different paths, he delineated on the path of Bhakti – the beautiful fruit of Bhagavatha Dharma.
Uddava has completely surrendered unto the Lord akin to how Arjuna’s complete surrender to the Lord. Arjuna refused to fight against his relatives and totally submitted unto the Lord. When Lord Krishna ordered him to fight against his relatives, he surrendered unto him but still hesitated to fight. Arjuna’s surrender is a conditional surrender and at the beginning when the Lord requested him to embrace the path of Sanyasa and instead asked him to take him along to Vaikunta. The Lord however denied his request and told him that at least one Bhagavatha needs to live on the earth. When one does not obey the Guru’s orders verbatim then it cannot be called as Sharanagathi – “Aanukulasya sankalpam prathakulasya varjanam”, it is said.
Here Uddava does not want to get separated from the Lord in spite of the Lord ordering him to embrace the path of Sanyasa and the entire Uddava Gita is the Upadesha given by the Lord to prepare Uddava to lead an ascetic life and in that transformation he imparted numerous nuggets of widsom.
The Lord blessed him saying that he would watch the acts of Uddava in the earth and when he is bored of the chores in the earth and turn unto the Lord, he mentioned that he would take it unto him then.
Mukti and being bound are only in Vyavahara. The true nature of one’s soul is the state of being unbounded.
The Lord explained the characteristics of a Jeevan Mukta, the qualities of a great devotee of the Lord. The devotee of the highest order offers the fruits of his karma to the Lord and abides verbatim to Vedas and Shastras. He knows the differences between Karma and Bhakti. The Lord is lenient for people adhering to the path of bhakti. It is absolutely fine for one to skip performing his karma on the pretext of doing bhakti. The devotees of the highest order sees Lord in everything be it an ant hill or a serpent and will never cause harm to them. The Lord then explains the path of bhakti and confides in Uddava that this path is indeed difficult since the negative energy in one can pull one away from the path of bhakti.
Na Rodayathi Mam yogo na sankhyam dharma yeva cha|
Na Svadhyayasthapsthyago neshtapoortham na dakshina||
Vrathani yagnachandamsi thirthaani niyama Yamaha|
yathavarundae satsangaha sarvasangapaho hi maam||
Satsangena hi daithaya yathudana mrugaha kagaha|
Gandharvaapsaro nagaha sidhascharanaaguhyakahaa||
Vidyadara manusyaeshu vaishyaha shoodraha striyonthyajahaa|
rajasthama prakruthayasthasmimthasmin yugaenaga||
Bahavo mathpadam praptaasthvashtakaayadavadayaha|
Vrushaparva balirvano mayaschata Vibishanaha||
Sugriva Hanumannruksho gajo grudhro vanikpathaha|
Vyadaha Kubja vrajae Gopyo yagnapathnyasthathaparae|| [Srimad Bhagavatham 11.12.1-6]
Nothing can pull me onto a devotee like satsang. He gives a list of paths like Yoga, Swadhyaya, meditation, fire sacrifices, social sacrifices, charities to Brahmanas, observing fast for hours, pilgrimage tours to name a few cannot easily entice the Lord to a devotee. The Lord having said this enlightens Uddava that it is satsang that can take him unto a devotee. A satsang is a divine communion [sath] with a Mahatma that can bestow the Lord’s darshan, compassion and grace. The Lord will come in front of a devotee if he is he in the shadow of a Mahatma - “Darshanad eva sadhavaha”.
Upadesa is the first or lowest level of transmission of grace and the highest level is by mere glance and by merely thinking about a devotee. Peace prevails in one’s mind when prostrates unto the holy feet of the Sadguru. Lord Krishna acknowledges that is indeed very difficult to be in divine communion of a great Mahatma. “Swayam hi thirtaani punanthi santhaha” – The very reason that Mahatmas travel from place to place is to provide sanctity to wherever they travel. Krishna talks about such a satsang with a great Mahatma, whose very glance can lead to the holy feet of the Lord. The Lord substantiates this precept with a huge list who were blessed to be in this type of satsang. This precept is not limited to humans, but it is also applicable for animals as well; Gajendra the elephant was bestowed with such a satsang. In his previous birth he was born as Indradyumna who was blessed to be in the satsang of Sage Dhurvasa. Jatayu was blessed to have that kind of a satsang from divine mother Sita and that finally lead Lord Rama unto him during his last moments and he finally got liberated. The divine mother did not give any Upadesa and it was a sheer glance on Jatayu and he was bestowed with Vaikunta. Gandarva Huhu was obliterated from the curse of Devala and that lead him to liberation. Kaliya got the benediction and satsang of Saubhari Maharishi and it lead to Lord Krishna himself to dance on his head. The Lord then goes to say that one can attain him irrespective of one’s clan be it a Brahmana, Shudhra or a Vysya. Lord talks about Sugriva who was afraid of his own life, was intimidated by his wife and dwelling in a house since he was gripped with fear on the very thought of his brother Vaali. Having said this, he tightly caught hold of satsang with Hanumanji took him to greatest heights and was crowned as the king of Kishkinda, making him the greatest of the greatest among the Vaanaras. Lord Rama made this possible since Hanumanji was the mediator who led to the divine friendship between Lord Rama and Sugreeva. Lord Rama slained Vaali and crowned Sugreeva as the king. Lord Rama regarded Sugreva in elevated state since he was a close friend of Hanumanji, who was the cohesive force between Lord Rama and Sugriva – “Sugrivo hanuman rikshaha”. Dharmavyada, a butcher and Kubja were liberated by satsang. The Gopis were in satsang eternally. The birds, animals, forests, river Yamuna all seemed to be satsang for them and that verily liberated them. Yagnapatnis were in satsang and that took them to Lord Krishna. The Lord confided in Uddava that all these Bhagavathas did not follow any path of Yoga, Sankhya, Vratha, Niyama and were not eligible to do any of these paths. They were in satsang and that led them to the highest state.
The Lord then reminisced the Gopis who had pure and pristine love for Lord Krishna who were unable to control their sorrow when he and Balarama departed to Mathura and felt bad for not reciprocating their true love and broke down on the thought of the Gopis.
Ramena Sardham madhuraam pranithae Svaaphalgina mayianuathachithaha|
Vigaadabhavena na mae viyoga thipradhayonyam dadrushuhu sukaaya||
[Srimad Bhagavatham 11.12.10]
Math kama ramanam jharam asvaroopa vidho balah|
brhamamam paramam prapuh sangah chatta sahasrashah|| [Srimad Bhagavatham 11.12.13]
There are hundreds of Gopis in Brindavan who never knew that Krishna was indeed the very “Poornam Brahmam Sanathanam” and showered all their love on him on the thought that he was a cowherd and that they have attained the highest state by merely thinking of Krishna.
Uddava when ordained by the Lord to visit the Gopis in Vrindavan learnt the exalted state of pure and pristine devotion for Lord Krishna of the Gopis and offered his obeisance’s to them.
vandae Nanda vrajas strinam pada renum abhikshnasaha|
yasaam harikathodh geetham punathi bhuvanthrayam|| [Srimad Bhagavatham 10.47.63]
‘Oh Uddhava!’, Krishna exclaimed. ‘What remains to be asked and what remains to be heard?’ ‘Nothing!’, ‘Simply Nothing!’ – the Lord said to Uddhava in an emotional tone. ‘Shun all your questions. Get over them! Do you have to even speak after witnessing this wonderful Bhakti of the Gopis? What more do I have to expound on?’ He said. ‘Fix your mind on Me like the Gopis’ and there will be questions no more!’, Krishna told Uddhava in an emotional tone.
Uddhava was moved by Krishna’s passionate words – spoken his true devotee, friend and wellwisher – ‘bruthyah, suhrut, sakhaah’!
Recognizing the sublime state of the Gopis and appreciating Krishna’s emotion and passion, Uddhava looked at Krishna, and started to speak up!
What he spoke, let’s see sometime soon…
The satsang ended with prayers and Namsankirtan.
Mar 19: Jivan Mukta and Liberation
19 Mar 2010 Leave a Comment
in Telecon Satsangs Tags: jivan mukti, satsang
The satsang lecture was delivered by Sri Narayananji from Boston.
It is said that when the Lord wants to shower his grace upon us, the first indication is that he bestows one with a good satsang. It is the invisible hand of Lord Sri Hari to shower the grace on us.
So now, who gets a satsang? It is verily for those who have a quest to see the Lord. But then satsang becomes a difficult task for everyone isn’t it? None of us have a quest to see the Lord. Most of us pray to the Lord to satiate our mundane needs and not everyone offers prayers for bestowing his darshan.
If you have a little bit of qualities of a Bhagavata in our heart then the Lord showers His grace by bestowing us with satsang. Let’s see how compassionate the Lord is. It is said that there is an eternal struggle between the devotee and the Lord. The devotee always tries to run away from the Lord and the Lord is determined to take the devotee unto himself. It is the struggle between the ignorance of the devotee and the compassion of the Lord. The compassion of the Lord is so much that, even if we chant His Name in mockery or as an insinuation, He grants us Moksha:
“Sanketyam parihasyam vaa stohham helanam eva va.” Goes the verse.
What is the clear indication for a great Mahan to be in constant communion with the Lord? It is verily from the life-history [charithra] of the Mahans.
When one possesses good qualities like ‘satyam’ [truthfulness], ‘dharma’ [righteousness], ‘daya’ [compassion/mercy] and ‘shanthi’ [peace of mind], then the Lord verily desires to reside in our heart and the first indication is to bestow one with a satsang.
This is clearly shown in the life-history of King Parikshit. He did not have the desire to attain the holy feet of Lord Krishna. That was not even in the wildest of his dreams. But he indeed possessed the qualities of compassion and repentance in his heart. He realized the mistake that he had committed by putting a dead snake on a great Bhagavatha. He prayed earnestly to the Lord to give him all the punishment for doing this grave act. Since King Parikshit repented for the sin that he had committed, Lord Krishna looked at his heart and decided to reside in him even though King PArikshit had only seven days to live. The very moment King Parikshit came to know of the curse from Shringi, he relinquished everything, crowned his son Janameyjaya and headed straight to Ganges. He took a vow in Ganges to Ganga Devi and prayed to the Lord to be born in the family of a Bhagavatha in his next birth and also not to do any Bhagavatha Apachara.
Having born in the lineage of Pandavas, who have been cherished and nurtured by Lord Krishna, he felt terrible for committing such a mistake. The moment he went and sat on the banks of river Ganges, great Rishis from different corners of the world started to assemble. All of them tired to advocate different paths and requested King Parikshit to follow in his last seven days of his life. But he decided to spend his last seven days by listening to the glories of the Lord [Katha Sravana] and when the idea of satsang gets clarified, then is when Lord Sri Krishna points that soul to an Uttama guru. Sage Sukha arrived on the banks of Ganges river.
Srimad Bhagavatham describes the beautiful form of Sage Sukha arriving there –
“alakshya lingo nija laabha thushto vrutascha baalai avadootha veshaha”
A satsang is a group of like-minded people who have at least a tinge of the qualities of a Bhagavata in them and who incessantly listen and sing the glories of the Lord. Satsang is in the divine communion of an enlightened soul [A jeevan muktha], who is a Jnani by himself and being in such a company will itself bestow Jnana.
Uddhava was always in the company of Lord Krishna. The way Sri Sukha ushers Uddhava is absolutely stunning –
“Shakshaat Brihaspati Shishyah Uddhavo buddhi satamah”
Uddhava is considered as the most intelligent of all and his intellece level was pretty high. He was the disciple of the great Sage Brihaspathi, who is the guru for all the Devas themselves. Uddhava became the minister in Lord Krishna’s ministry and he was the only one who remained alive after the entire Yadava clan was destroyed. Uddhava kept on asking Lord Krishna on various topics. He requested Lord Krishna to enlighten him by clarifying his questions related to satsang, bhakti, sankhya yoga and Vanashrama Yoga. So Lord Krishna looked at him and patiently answered all his questions. He looked at Uddhava and asked him whether his concerns were all clarified and in reply Uddhava says “Oh Lord Krishna, what is there to understand and decipher from you? I derive all the happiness that I need by merely being in your company. Uddhava told Lord Krishna that he feels so happy that cannot be expressed in words and so I really don’t have the need to know the answers for the questions that I just asked, Uddhava said. So Lord Krishna was puzzled and asked him as to why he then asked him all the questions. Uddhava said,
“When you talk to me, it is so great to see your eyes focused on me and your lips moving in a great synchronous fashion, the excitement in you when you talk about the glory of satsang and the choking of your throat when you reminisce the gopis and the criss-cross leg posture of yours when you talk is all what I am looking and admiring,” Uddhava added.
Satsang is merely being in the divine communion of a great Sadhu/Mahan who is an enlightened soul. So who is a Jeevan Mukta? A Jeevan Mukta behave likes a normal human being but he is very different. One cannot identify a Jeevan mukta using his intellect. It is verily Mahans and Jeevan Muktas who can verily identify themselves and not normal mortals like us.
Srimad Bhagavatham very beautifully describes how the realized souls [Jnanis/Mahans] come in the garb of human-beings and yet they are so different.
When Vidura and Uddhava meet, Uddhava says –
“Dhurbhago bhata lokoyam yadavo nitharamapi”
“yae samvasantho na vidhurharim meena ivodupam” [3:2:8 in Srimad Bhagavatham]
Uddhava says, the Yadava clan did not realize the greatness of the Lord and presumed him to be a normal being. The people in Brindavan however knew the greatness of the Lord.
It is said that “Harim meena ivodupam”. Just like a fish swimming in water, when looking at a big boat/ship in water and unable to get full sight of the ship, thinks that the ship is yet another big fish compared to itself. There is a marked difference between ship and fish. If we take the fish from the water, the fish is bound to die. The very purport of the ship is to bring the people ashore. The Yadavas presumed that Lord Krishna is yet another Yadava but is indeed a smarter one. Hence he is a minister and a king. They never looked him as the very Lord. Akin to the boat are the Jeevan muktas. They come in the human garb to takes the Jivas ashore.
The Devas in Srimad Bhagavatham beautifully explain as to how the Jnanis take everyone ashore.
“Swayam samutheerya sudustharam dyuman
Bhavaarnavam bhima madapra sowhrudhah
Bhavatpadamboruha nama matasaye
ihaniyatha sadanugraho bhavaan
The Devas address the Lord and say that the Jeevan Muktas not only liberate themselves, but also liberate everyone [syudustaram] who are with them. They liberate everyone by offering the burden to the holy feet of the Lord and by sheer blessings of the Lord.
Srimad Bhagavatham says –
“Yaenae aRavindaksha vimukta maninah
Tvai yacha bhaava avishuddha bhudayah
Aruhya krucrena param padam thathah
Patanthyadho na drutha yushmad anghrayah”
Hey Aravindhaksha! People think of themselves as Jeevan Muktas [vimukta maninaha] and practice the spiritual austerities without having devotion unto the Holy Feet of the Lord.” And if we ponder on their destiny, they merely fall from great heights [Patanthydho na drutha yushmadanghrayah]. The crux of the above sloka is that true Jeevan Mukta liberate the souls from the transmigration by showing the path of Bhagavatha Dharma which comprises of bhakti and devotion.
It is important for one to identify if one is a Jeevan Mukta not his treatises and discourses but only from his life-history.
Let’s take some of the life-history of some great Mahans to substantiate this.
Namazhwar was a great Jeevan Mukta. He didn’t consume a drop of water or food all his life. He used to take seat under a tamarind tree and do meditation. What did he preach to all of us? To sing the divine names of the Lord and listen to his glories. There may be lot of Azhwars but Namazhwar was very significant. It was because, he was a Jeevan Mukta and a realized soul amongst the twelve Azhwars. It is said that all the Lords from the hundred and eight Divyadesams came to Namazhwar to give him darshan and requested him to sing the glories of the Lord. Such is the glory of a Jeevan Mukta.
Another classic example is from Srimad Bhagavatham, in the life-history of Jatabaratha. He had three births. In his first birth, he was born as Bharatha. He practiced meditation, Jnana Yoga and he fell for a deer. So, in his second birth he was born as a deer. In his third birth he was born as Jadabharatha, a Jeevan Mukta. How do we know that he was a realized soul? Is it by the Upadesha that he rendered to Raghugana? It is not by his discourses but through his life-history.
One day, some blood savaged people who were devotees of Lord Kali were about to sever Jadabharatha’s head. It is a known precept that the realized souls do not identify themselves with their body. Jadabharatha was calm and composed as he would always be and never perturbed. He took that as the god’s will and proceeded along with them. Even though he was calm, Goddess Kali, for whom he was going to be given as a sacrifice became angry and she killed her devotees who were going to slaughter Jadabharatha. The take away point here is that even the Lord respects a great saint [mahan].
Adi Shankara Bhagavath Pada was a great saint. Everyone revered him as a great saint not because of his great treatises on the Dasopanishad and Bhagavath Gita, but it was solely due to the fact that he had the darshan of the Lord [Brahma Shatshatkara], which is clearly depicted in his life-history [charithra]. One day when he was in Kashmir, some devotees of Lordess Durga came and approached Adi Shankrara to give up his human body [shariram] which they can offer to their deity in order to acquire some supernatural power. Hearing this Adi Shankara was overjoyed. He said, “Till now I was thinking that this body was of no use to me. Please go ahead and take away my body”. He did not call out to the Lord to save him. One of the ardent devotees of Adi Shankara, Padmapadar who was witnessing this scene, became very agitated [infact Lord Narasimha merged into Padmapadar] and slaughtered all of them. At that instant of time, he composed verses called as Narasimha Karavalamba [stotras] on Lord Narasimha. Kara means ‘hand’ and avalamba means ‘catch’. In those verses, he didn’t praise the Lord for saving his life, instead he questioned the Lord as to why he saved him. The point to be noted is that Adi Shankara did not hesitate to give his human body.
There was another great saint, Sadasiva Brahmendra. He was in total communion with the Lord. He was the then pontiff of the Kanchi Mutt. He is also known as “Dikambara Sanyasi”. These sages don’t wear any clothes to cover their body. The four directions [east, west, north and south ] are indeed their clothing.
Sadasiva Brahmendra was once walking in the streets of a village. He was not clad in any clothing and this sight agitated many of the village folks. One villager went out and cut brahmendra’s hand. Brahmendra was oblivious to what was happening and he continued walking along the street. But the person who cut his hand on seeing Brahmendra, became petrified and told him that he had cut his hand. It was only then that Brahmendra saw that his hand out cut out. He immediately took his broken arm and placed it in its original spot and continued walking. This incident made the villagers realize that he was indeed a great saint and they all fell at his feet. This is another example to show the affinity great saints had for their human body.
A true realized soul can be easily identified only from his behavior and not through his discourses.
There is a mention about a great Yogeshwara called Sri Rishabha Yogeshwara in Srimad Bhagavatam. He was a complete renunciate – rid of all body consciousness and is often referred to as Avadhoota in the Scripture. The twenty-four Gurus that Bhagavatam shows, was an Upadesha of this great Jivan Mukta.
There is a great precept that all these Jeevan muktas show us. They spread the sweetness of Bhagavatha Dharma to everyone. We can clearly see that from Namazhwar where he preached everyone to sing the divine names of the Lord and hear his glories. Jadabharatha gave the same precept to Raghugana as well. He says to Raghugana “Nothing can lead you to the path of liberation except that of being in the divine communion with a Jeevan Mukta” [Vina mahat Pada Rajobhishekam].
Surrendering unto the Holy feet of a Realized soul and taking bath in the dust of his holy feet again and again will lead to liberation. Satsang is verily a place where there is incessant chanting of the divine names of the Lord and to reminisce on the divine glories of the Lord.
Lord Adi Shankara says “Bhaja Govindam Bhaja Govindam Muda matae”. He desires to be born in the banks of river Yamuna so that he perform prayers to Lord Krishna all the time.
Sadasiva Brahmendra sings “Pibarae Rama Rasam” which translates to keep chanting the names of Lord Rama.
“Manasa sanchararae Brahmani mathasikhi pincha alankrutha chikurae”.
In the above verse, he says, “Oh Mind please meditates on Lord Krishna and listen to his glories.”
Ramayana also advocates the path of Bhagavatha Dharma. Rama is the Lord. Lakshmana relinquished everything and was in the communion with him all the time. Bharatha was not able to be with Lord Rama all the time. But he followed all his orders and followed Lord Rama’s order. Shatrugna served Bharatha. In Valmiki Ramayana, it is said that Shatrugna was blemish less.
Govindaraja was a great Mahatma and has written various commentaries on Ramayana. He says that Shatrugna did not have the sin of Rama Bhakti. If we look into this, is devotion to Lord Rama a sin? This only refers to Shatrugna because for him, Bharatha was his world and he was his Guru and hence he was blemishless.
The crux of this is that whatever Shatrugna did is what all of us can do. Doing service and being in the vicinity of a Mahatma will lead to liberation.
If we take the life-history of Hanumanji from Ramayana, whether he was with Lord Rama or away from the Lord, he was incessantly chanting His Divine Names and always reminisce the glories of Lord Rama. That is the essence of Bhagavatha Dharma that Ramayana also advocates.
The beautiful satsang ended with prayers and Nama Sankirtan.
Mar 12: Satyavan & Savitri – Glory of Satsang
12 Mar 2010 Leave a Comment
in Telecon Satsangs Tags: karadayaan nonbu, mahabharata, satsang, satyavan, savitri
The satsang lecture was delivered by Sri Narayananji from Boston.
The term “sangam” refers to company and when that association becomes divine, then it is called as “Satsangam”. Why is satsang so important? The Lord says that it is indeed through satsang that one can reach Him. He has lucidly explained this in the greatest truths that he expounded in the eleventh canto in Srimad Bhagavatham. It is only through satsang that one can develop attraction towards the Lord. The Lord substantiated this beautiful precept with a huge list of people who attained the Lord by mere satsang.
There was a monkey by name Sugriva. He feared for all his materialistic possessions. But by sheer satsang, he attained the Lord himself to be his friend. By having a satsang with Hanumanji who was a great sadhu, Sugriva attained Lord Rama has his friend.
In Srimad Bhagavatam, the eleventh canto expounds on the Nava Yogi Charithra on the greatness of Bhagavatha Dharma. Vasudeva inquires on the greatest of truths to Sage Narada. Narada decided to enlist them through the nine Yogis who are the sons of Rishaba Yogiswara. The nine Yogis are great yogis and they expound on the Bhagavatha Dharma.
The nine yogis, Kavi, Hari, Anthariksha, Prabudha, Pippalayana, Aavirhotra, Durmila, Chamasa and Karabajana don’t confine themselves to one particular place and hence keep wandering. Once they reached Videha and he ruler of Videha, King Nimi, was performing a great sacrifice. On seeing the Nine Yogis, King Nimi prostrated and said
“Durlabho Manusho deho dehinam shana banguraha
thatrapi dhurlabham manyae vaikunta Priyadarshanam”
It is rare to be bestowed with a human birth. It is the rarest is to get the darshan of someone who is a Jeevan Muktha ,who is a devotee of Lord Krishna and who is forever engrossed in the Lord of the universe [vaikunta priyadarshanam]. And one should be immensely blessed to have the opportunity to serve a Mahatma in some way and it is indeed the rarest of the rarest.
Mahans however differ in the interpretation of “vaikunta priyadarshanam”. The phrase means that the devotees of the Lord who always hail the Lord of the universe. But Mahans beautifully interpret the phrase in another way. It refers to the devotees [premika rasika] whom the Lord of the universe loves a lot. Beautiful isn’t it! It is indeed very rare to have the glimpse and Darshan of those great devotees of the Lord whom the Lord likes very much.
“Atha athyanthikam ksemam pruchamo bhavthonagaha| Samsaraesmin Kshanardhopi satsangahat sevadhirnrunam||”
King Nimi further added. Being in this tormented world [bhava] where everything is so fugitive, please tell us what is the most concrete and eternal in this world?
If one is blessed with half a second of satsang [kshanardhopi], an association with great mahans and pious souls is a great blessing to the human beings who are entangled in the world of samsara. If one is associated with half a second of bad company then that is verily enough to pull the soul and this is very lucidly seen in the case of King Parikshit.
He had a satsang for a very short duration with Kali Purusa. He subdued him and gave his four places to dwell. But Kali was not very happy and so Parikshit gave him a fifth place as well and he thus established dharma. But the company of Kali for that short duration of time started to trouble King Parikshit.
King Parikshit was born in the lineage of King Yadu and Dharmaputra [the forebearer of dharma ], developed a negative thought in his heart and hence started to suspect a great Bhagavatha and a sage called Shamika. He went and threw a snake on Sahamika and thus became a candidate for Shringi’s [Sage Shamkia’s son] curse which eventually took his life.
In our Upanishads, it is said –
“Satyam vada dharmam chara”
Speak the truth and walk on the path of dharma and lead a dharmic life. It is not enough if one is conversant and knowledgeable on dharma. A bachelor [brahmachari] should lead the life of a brahmacahari by strictly adhering to the norms laid for a bachelor.
In Mahabharatha, it is said that by merely speaking about the glories of Satsang and Sadhus to a Bhagavatha, will greatly bestow one with good merits.
There once lived a great king Ashwapati in eastern India. He did not have any children. He prayed to the Lord by performing spiritual austerities and oblations and the Lord bestowed him with a beautiful baby girl and she was named as Savitri. This child was not a normal kid. She came out of the fire akin to Draupadi. She possessed great courage, brilliance and boldness that no one possessed in the kingdom. As years passed by, she became a beautiful maiden. Ashwapthi decided to get her married and he could not find a matching bride-groom that matched her valor, beauty and brilliance. It was decided that it would be a Swayamvara. There are two types of Swayamvara. In the first type, all the great kings are invited to the kingdom and a contest is held to decide on the bride-groom. On the other hand, the bride is allowed to go out and find the bride-groom for herself. So Savitri decided to go out to find her suitable groom.
Courageous as she was, she set out and visited many kings but she did like anybody. She then came to a forest, where she saw a blind couple. This bind couple had a son, Satyavan. This blind couple Dyumatsena and his wife was a king earlier and he had now lost all his wealth and was leading a life in exile in the forest. Satyavan was a wood-cutter. Savitiri decided to marry Satyavan and went and disclosed about her interest on Sathyavan to her father. At that moment, Sage Narada arrived and he was all smiling. When Ashwapathi told him about Savitri’s prospective bride, his face wore a dull look and was worried. Upon inquiry he told Savitri and her father that Satyavan was a person with excellent qualities and perfect in every way but was destined to die in a year from now. This really worried Ashwapathi and requested her to find another groom but Savitri was firm on her decision. She told her father that she has set her mind and heart on Satyavan.
Ashwapathy acquiesced and said “Dharmo rakshathi rakshithaha”. He said to Savitri “Oh Savitri, since you are strictly adhering to the Pativratha dharma, we shall get you married to Satyavan and that very dharma will bless and take care of you”. So she was wedded to Satyavan and she left all her wealth , her kingdom and went to live in the forest with her husband and in-laws. They led a beautiful life and every when every day dawns Savitri would keep counting the number of days left for Satyavan to be alive.
None other than Savitri knew about this. She did not reveal this to anyone. Months passed away and soon it dawned. The last day for Satyavan in this world and Satyavan would die the next day. As the sun dawned, Savitri went and prayed to him. He is the visible Lord since he comes out to give darshan everyday. SO that day she prayed to the Sun God to save her husband and she decided to undertake a vow of fasting and vigil to the sun god. So she stood on her feet with her hands raised above her head and observed the fast. Satyavan was puzzled at Savitri as she did not oblige to his request to not to observe the fast. He then enquired with her mother and then they both let her observe the fast for the whole day. The next day also dawned and Savitri knew that it was her husband’s last day on the earth. But she also had faith and believed that the Lord will save her husband. Sathyavan started off that day with his normal chores. Savitri insisted that she will accompany him to the forest. Satyavan first resisted to her request. He went and told this to his mother. She aptly replied that every act of Savitri has a meaning associated with it and she requested him to take her along to the forest.
So they set out to the forest and enjoyed the scenic route en route to the forest. They reached the forest and Satyavan started splitting the wood. He suddenly felt very dilapidated and he laid his head on Savitiri’s head. She knew what was coming and feared this moment. Satyavan started to face difficulty in breathing and was slowly dying. That moment Savitri saw King Yama arriving at that the scene. She saw the soul of Satyavan taking the shape of a thumb finger and King Yama took it. She was surprised to King Yama as no normal human could perceive him and she could see King Yama taking the soul of Satyavan. She immediately covered the body of Satyavan with leaves and started to run behind King Yama. He was surprised to see Savitri coming behind him. She requested him to restore the life of her husband but King Yama denied.
She started to demonstrate formulas of wisdom. She told him that she was blessed with the discerning power to see him carry the soul of her husband. King Yama replied that she could envision it because of the determination to save Satyavan and he proceeded. She told him that he was a great protector of dharma and that she had learnt a lot of slokas in her childhood. She requested him if she can recite them and King Yama was very happy to listen to slokas.
He agreed to her request and she started to recite –
“ Satam sakruthaha ipsitham param thatha param vipla vitipra shakshasae”
“Nacha palam stat purusena sangatham thatha satham santhavasae samagamae”
In the above sloka, She sings and hails the glories of a satsang. She says when one is in the vicinity of a sadhu then that creates bondage with the sadhu [mahan] which can never be separated. It will never leave you and will continuously pull us into satsang. Half a moment of satsang will never go waste. King Yama was overjoyed hearing the glories of satsang and told her it is this sloka is akin is to a person travelling in a desert with a parched throat and when he sees some water to drink, it gives him immense joy.
He offered her a boon except for the life of Sathyavan. Savitri was overjoyed. She said , ”I am the only child for my father and I am now married to my husband. There is no lineage for my father to take care of his kingdom. She asked for a son who can take care of my father’s kingdom”. He bestows her that boon and is on the move. Savitri ran behind him and pleaded to King Yama for allowing her to recite another sloka.
“Andoha sarva boothaeshu karmana manaso gira”
“Anugrahascha danamcha satam dharma sanaatanah”
In the earlier sloka she sang the glories of the satsang and in the above sloka she sings about the glories of sadhus [mahans].
A Sadhu never thinks of harm [Andoha sarva boothaeshu] to any being in this world, not by virtue of his actions or thoughts [karmana manaso gira] on both animate or inanimate beings in this world. The only dharma that Sadhus and Mahans adhere to is the path of Anugraham [bestowing blessing and showering of grace] and giving away whatever they possess that one requires.
King Yama was again very delighted on hearing the qualities of a sadhu. He again offered her a boon. She requested King Yama to restore the vision for her in-laws and King Yama promptly blessed her with that boon. She then requested him to allow her to recite one more sloka. He consented to her request and Savitri recited –
“Athman yapi viswasaha thatha bhavathi sachayuhu
Thasmat cha vivesena sarvam paranaya ichati
Sow suhuruthatha boothanam vishwasloka prajayathae
Thasmat cha vivesena vishwasam koruthae janaha”
She explained how the trustworthiness of sadhus. She says [athman yapi vishwasaha], that one cannot trust himself since one behaves unpredictably during different instances of time. But that is not the case with Sadhus. They are so truthful and unfailing that any animate or inanimate beings can completely trust their grace because their grace will never go waste.
King Yama was very excited. He is one among the twelve Bhagavathas who is conversant on Bhagavatha Dharma. The twelve Bhgavathas are Swayambu, Narada, Shambu, Kumara, Kapilo, Manuhu, Prahlado, Janako, Bheeshmaha, Balihi, Biyasaki and Yamaha. Bhagavatha Dharma is supposed to be a very secret dharma. It is secluded and sheltered because its greatness is often mistaken.
He again requested to ask him for a boon except for the life of Satyavan. She requested King Yama to restore the kingdom of her father-in-law which had been taken away by usurper. King Yama granted the boon and continued on his way.
Savitri told him that she had two more slokas and asked him if she can recite them. King Yama nodded and told her that he was always waiting to listen to her slokas.
She said –
“Sataam santha shasvath dharma vrudhihi santoha na sidanti nasavyadantihi
Sataam sada naaphala sangama satyo nanu vardanti santhaha
Santo vishasvena suryaha santo bhomin tapasa danayanti
Santo bhootha bhavyasa rajan santo matya nama sidanti santhaha”
She continued to talk about the glories of the Sadhus. Where ever the Sadhus reside, there is a growth of dharma [Sataam santha shasvath dharma vrudihi]. They are never a source of trouble to this world [santoha na seedanti nasavyadantihi]. Not a moment of satsang will go waste. The sadhus will not cause any fear and all fears will be completely destroyed in the presence of Sadhus. They are the very reason for the Sun-God to come ouy and give darshan to everybody everyday, for the Earth to revolve and the prime cause for the days and nights and just by sitting in one place they make sure that the entire cosmos is functioning properly and they radiate happiness by their mere presence. Nobody will have any troubles when they are amidst the Sadhus.
He was thrilled to hear the glories of the Sadhus. He again granted her a boon. Savitri was excited and told him that he had bestowed her with a son who will carry forward the lineage for both her father-in-law and her father. King Yama granted this boon too, and only later realized that Satyavaan had to be alive to make this boon come true! That’s when he realized how immersed he was in listening to Savitri’s slokas. He granted Satyavan’s life and blessed her with a dharmic life.
She then went to the spot where Satyavan was lying and she removed all the leaves that she had covered over him. Satyavan regained his life and puzzled as to what had happened to him and narrated his bad dream that some people were carrying him. When one tries to narrate the difficulties that one encountered to save the beloved one, then it cannot be called as true love. The husband is called ‘bharthaa’ (one who carries) because he carries (takes care of) his wife – ‘Bhaarya’ (one who is carried). She did not narrate whatever had happened and the sun was beginning to set and so they started to head back home. At home, everyone is worried about Satyavan and Savitri as they did not return home. As they go out to on search, they regain their eye-sight.
Meanwhile Dyumatsena’s friend restored the lost kingdom to Dyumatsena and all of them live happily ever after.
Savitri, the Pativratha, by her virtues and by elucidating the glories of satsang saved her husband, Satyavan.
This story was narrated by a great sage Brihadasva to Dharmaputra. Dharmaputra said to Brihadasva that it is indeed a husband who can protect his wife. He further added that in his case, Draupadi was married to a family where all the five husbands could protect her but it later turned to be the reverse. Is there any story where the wife has saved her husband? He narrated the story of Satyavan and Savitri in reply to Dharmaputra’s question.
During the cusp of the Tamil month of ‘Maasi’ and ‘Panguni’, womenfolk in India observe a fast praying to Savitri Devi to bestow longevity for their husbands.
After hearing to the holy episode, the satsang concluded with prayers and Namasankirtan.
Jul 24: Andaal
24 Jul 2009 Leave a Comment
in Telecon Satsangs Tags: adi pooram, andaal, bhagavatam, godha, kodhai, kothai, prithu, satsang
The Nama Sankirtan was lead by Ramaniji and his family.
Narayananji from Boston talked about the significance of ‘Shravana’ as expounded in Srimad Bhagavatam in the episode of King Prithu.
In Srimad Bhagavatam, the lineage of man is being described, where the creation first starts, with Svayambhuva Manu, and Shatarupa being the first couple for procreation. They had two sons – Priyavrata and Uttanapada and three daughters Akuti, Devahuti and Prasuti. The lineage of Uttanapada starts with his son Dhruva, who performed penance when he was five years old and saw the Lord face to face. The lineage of Dhurva is mentioned in a very elaborate manner. Anga was Dhruva’s son and Vena was Anga’s son. Vena was extremely sinful and hence the Rishis, not able to stand his atrocities, cursed him to death. As there was no ruler, the kingdom was filled with dacoity and hence the rishis decided to take Vena’s corpse and churn it. When his shoulders were churned a beautiful couple – Prithu who was verily the form of Mahavishnu and Archis (form of Maha Lakshmi Devi) emerged.
Prithu was a glorious ruler. It is thanks to him that we enjoy all the natural resources on earth – he was the one who showed the way to tap the natural resources from Mother Earth. Prithu happened to be a illustrious king and was praised by all his subjects. But Prithu says that it is only the Lord Almighty that is worthy of praise. Humans are in no way, praiseworthy.
Prithu also says that our biggest enemy that cannot be pardoned is the one who wastes our time. Any one who wastes our time from thinking about the Lord is our biggest enemy.
When granted a boon, Prithu says that he would ask for a thousand ears. Even with a thousand ears, one cannot get tired listening to the glories of the Lord.
Thus the more and more we listen to the glories of the Lord we acquire Bhakti to reach the glories of the Lord. Such is the glory of Sravanam.
Aravindji from Orlando gave a discourse on life and Bhakti of Andal given the next day was Aadi Puram, the birth star of Andaal.
When we go to a store and purchase some toys and gadgets we get an instruction booklet. Even though everyone knows how to use these things we are given an instruction booklet. But what is the instruction booklet for life? The instruction booklet for life is verily the scriptures – Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, etc. The whole purpose of the scriptures is to tell us the goal of life is God Realization. So the question arises that, if God-Realization is the goal of life then who is God? What does he look like? It is said that the Lord we see in the temple is same as the one we may see once we realize Him. But since God is an unknown factor for most of us, the saints have done a great benefit by bringing the god to a specific form, which is none other there what we see in the temples. What is the proof that God worshipped this way will lead to liberation? The proof is in the life of saints. Today we are going to see the life of one such saint – Andaal.
In the temple town of Srivilliputhur lived a pious Brahmin named Vishnuchitta. He was a great Bhagavata and all he loved doing pushpa-kainkarya (offering flowers) to Lord Vatapatrasayee of Srivilliputhur. He was very strict in making sure his pushpa service to the lord was immaculate.
His only desire that was not fulfilled was his longing to have a child. One fine day in the month of Aadi (Ashaada), he went to his garden and he heard a big noise that shattered the silence of the entire place. From this emerged the goddess who resides in the heart of Sri Ranganatha; the goddess who is the embodiment of compassion with a parrot in her hand. Once Sri Vishnuchitta emerged from the shock he noticed a very beautiful girl lying on the ground. Sri Vishnuchittar named the girl Kothai (Godha) since she had a beautiful locks of hair.
Children usually imitate their parents. Thus Kothai’s one and only enjoyment was Nama Sankirtan and playing with her toys as though they were verily Lord Krishna. Every day Sri Vishnuchitta used to narrate to Kothai about the lilas of Bhagavan. As Kothai grew up, her Bhaava also grew. She started composing pasurams at an early age. [Pasurams are devotional verses sung in the praise of the Lord, which are part of the Nalayara Divya Prabhandam]
Our Guru Maharaj says that if we think about only one mantra or any one thing constantly, it will arise from our consciousness automatically after a time. All around her house Kothai had written “Krishna” everywhere around her house. Sri Vishnuchitta started noticing these things and he praised her for her Bhakti. He started narrating to her the Shthala Puranas of the various deities. One of the deities captured Kothai as no other and that was Sri Ranganatha of Sri Rangam.
As a girl growing up, Kothai started telling her father that she would marry Sri Ranganatha when she grows up. However, hearing this everyone in the village started making fun of her. They also started spreading rumors that Kothai has gone mad without understanding her Bhaava. This started upsetting Sri Vishnuchitta a lot. He tried reasoning with Kothai about how it was not feasible for the Bhagavan to come and marry her. Being completely immersed in the thought of marrying Krishna, Kothai couldn’t bear to hear these words from her own father.
As she grew older, her Bhava started getting stronger. She would start rolling in the sand claiming that it was the same earth that was covered by the Lord during His Tiruvikrama Avatar. She would see a snake and pick it up thinking it was the snake on which the Lord was rests. She would embrace fire and feel as if she had embraced Lord Krishna.
Sri Vishnuchitta got very worried about these developments. So he called a doctor to diagnose her illness. When the doctor asked her hand to check a puilse, she rebuked him that he would never understand her disease, which was Krishna Viraha (pangs of separation from Lord Krishna). Every now and then, Kothai would start crying since she could not bear everyone making fun of her and she felt the Lord did not care enough about her to understand her pain.
One fine day when Sri Vishnuchitta was reading Srimad Bhagavatam when Kothai heard him recite a sloka about the Gopis praying to Godess Kathyayani during the month of Margazi and doing a vratha (fast) in order to attain Lord Krishna. This led Kothai to consider a similar path and the outcome of this was a collection of pasurams called Thirupaavai. During this time, she had a dream that Sri Ranganatha would come and marry her. Hearing this and having no other way to convince her otherwise, Sri Vishnuchittra told Kothai that if she had such dreams then Lord Ranganatha would definitely come in person and marry her.
We saw how Sri Vishnuchitta was known for the pushpa service of the Lord. Once he prepared the garland for the Lord but had to leave urgently for an errand. During this time, Kothai in her bhaava wore the garland. When Sri Vishnuchitta came back and saw his daughter wearing the garland, his patience ran out and he considered this a sacrilege. He chastised Kothai for her act but realized he had to make a new garland. So he hurried to the garden, prepared a new garland, and ran to the temple to hand it over to the priest right on time. When the priest placed the garland on the Lord, the garland fell. After repeated attempts both priest and Sri Vishnuchitta were shocked. Then the priest heard a voice, which told him to fetch the garland that Kothai wore. So Sri Vishuchitta ran back to the house to fetch the garland and told Kothai about the incident. Kothai’s joy grew leap and bounds hearing this and she was happy that the Lord actually accepted her.
Once a woman fortune-teller came to their house and told Kothai that Sri Ranganatha himself would come and marry her. This again increased Kothai’s happiness. When Kothai offered the fortune-teller a piece of cloth, she tied it on her head like a man. This puzzled Kothai. During this time, Sri Vishnuchitta woke from his sleep and told Kothai about a dream he had. When he explained his dream, it was absolutely similar to the real incident that Kothai had just experienced with the fortune-teller who visited her. Sri Vishnuchitta said that it was Lord Ranganatha himself who came as the fortune-teller thus explaining the reason why the fortune-teller tied the cloth as a turban like a man.
On an auspicious day, in the month of Panguni on the Uttara star, a huge procession came into the village. The villagers had never seen such a big procession and hence it caught everyone’s attention. In one of the palanquins was a very handsome man the town folks ever saw. Everyone followed the procession to see where it was headed. The procession stopped in front of Sri Vishnuchitta’s house. Once Sri Vishnuchitta saw the handsome man, he realized it was Sri Ranganatha himself. He informed this to Kothai. Since Kothai was waiting for this moment, she was not at all surprised. She took her time to dress up in the most beautiful bridal garment. Then, she accompanied the Lord and both went to Srivilliputur temple and got married. After this, everyone went to Sri Rangam.
Once in Sri Rangam temple, the Lord took Kothai’s hand and walked into the sanctum. Kothai merged with Lord Sri Ranganatha.
Sri Vishuchitta, though pleased with all these events, requested the Lord with to take care of Kothai well and blessed them. Because the Lord became his son-in-law, Sri Vishuchitta is called Periaazhwaar, meaning the great Alwar.
If one reads Thirupavai, Kothai repeatedly talks about the glories of the Lord and prescribes Nama Kirtan as the easiest way to reach Him. Since she captured everyone’s heart, Kothai is called Andal.
The satsang ended with prayers and Nama Sankirtan.
Jul 17: Pattinathar
17 Jul 2009 Leave a Comment
in Telecon Satsangs Tags: bhagavatam, muchukunda, pattinathar, satsang
The Nama Sankirtan was lead by Aravindji from Orlando.
Srimad Bhagavatam talks of the story of a king called Muchukunda from the Solar Dynasty. Once Lord Subramanya [Deva Senapathy] wanted to take some rest and so went on a vacation. In his absence, Lord Indra wanted to take care of his army and hence requested Muchukunda to take care of his army. Being an able king, he led many battles won many wars. From the earth, he went to the heaven to wage war to assist the Devas and against the Asuras. Lord Indra thanked Muchukunda his services and let him return to earth to rule the kingdom. When he descended to the earth, things were totally different, for, one day in Deva Loka is many thousand years on earth. Indra, looking at his predicament granted him any boon that he desired. Muchukunda told him that he needed rest as he was feeling very tired and wanted to sleep for ages together and anyone who disturbs him in the sleep will be burned to ashes. So, Muchukunda was asleep in a cave, and thousands of years passed.
Once, an Asura by name Kalayavana was chasing Lord Krishna in a battle and reached the cave in which Muchkunda was sleeping. Kalayavana thought that Muchukunda was Lord Krishna in disguise and so he went and kicked him, waking him up. The moment Muchukunda woke up and saw Kalayevan, the latter was burnt to ashes. At that moment the Lord gave darshan to Muchukunda. Muchukunda immediately recognized that it was Lord Krishna and sang the praises of the Lord. When asked to request for a boon, Muchukunda said, “I shall not be foolish to ask for any more worldly boons!” He says that when it is time for the people to attain the Holy Feet of the Lord, there are some indications -
“Bhavapavadh go bramato yata bhaveth janasya thasyath chuta satsamagama
Satsangamo yaryhi thadaiya satgathou paravaresyae thvayi jayathae mathihi”
If one is bestowed with satsang, then it is a clear indication that it is indeed his last birth. It is very lucid that the Lord’s compassion has fallen on him. The moment one is associated with satsang which is the divine association with a mahatma, they develop Bhakti and that will automatically take the individual to the holy feet of the lord. Such is the greatness of Satsang.
Sriramji, from Houston talked about Pattinathaar. He started off the lecture by explaining how the Guru relieves the fear of samsara.
“The Guru makes us enjoy samsara and the life beyond by inducing the fear of samsara and then dispels the fear by making the path very easy through Nama Sankirtan. In any holy text, the crux of the text can be found in the beginning, the end and in the middle of the text. In Srimad Bhagavatam, we start off with ‘Janmadyasa..’ and end with ‘Namasankirtanam…’. The heart of Srimad Bhagavatam is Ajamila Charithra in the sixth canto.
There are twenty eight infernal regions (hells). When King Parikshit starts to wonder about these infernal regions Sage Shuka says that these are very much true! ‘Why go that far, these very much exist in our daily lives!’. Our Guru Maharaj gives a very profound example of this hell. Bull is the beast of burden in Indian villages. When the new baby bull is born, the humans do a lot of cruel things to it. It is in the bull’s fate (karma) to undergo these sufferings. Nobody can actually escape bad times.
Our Guru Maharaj actually gave a different perspective about Gajendra moksham in Srimad Bhagavatham. The elephants were lead by Gajendra (the king of the elephant herd) and they were playing in the water. They were in a way destroying the plant habitat and other aquatic habitat when a crocodile catches his feet. This is described ‘deiva choditam’ (God-orchestrated). The moment this incident happened, the immediate relatives of Gajendra started to cry and after some time, they thought that it wouldn’t take much time for the crocodile to come and catch them and hence they stepped out of the pond and watched the scene from outside!
There is a lot of impermanence in this world. One classic example is money. Money can get one a very comfortable bed but can get it bring sleep? There is one thing that is permanent in life and it is none other than our Sadguru’s holy feet. Pattinatar very beautifully says –
“Sadguru Paadhathai notram vitte iru
vaazhvai kudam kavizh neer enre ninai
Suttrathai verum sandhai koodam entre iru
Madathe! Unakku upadesam idhuve!”
Take refuge in the Sadguru’s feet. Consider the life to be a as the water in a pot (it can topple anytime). Live as if family/friends are akin to the random people whom we see in a bazaar. Oh Mind! This is the teaching for you!
Pattinathaar was born in a place where Cauvery joins the ocean. In those days people used to trade with other countries through ships and to carry out such a trade, they traveled in groups. When his son was a little older, Pattinathar decided to send him to do business. He taught him the tricks of the trade.. His son soon set out on a trade-voyage and months passed by. It was time for his return. Pattinathaar eagerly waited for his son’s arrival but his son did not come. He enquired about his son to his friends who reached safely and they mentioned that they set out in different groups and that his son was not part of that group.
Days passed by and a storm was brewing in the ocean. This stressed Pattinatar even more. He went to Lord Shiva and begged him for the safe return of his son. “I can’t care lesser for money! Even if I have to live in a hut drinking porridge, that is okay. But Oh! Lord, please save my son! I need my son back” Lord Shiva answered his prayers and his son returned safely. Pattinathaar was in a state of ecstasy and his joy knew no bounds.
His son came home and relaxed for a while. Then Pattinathaar went to his son and asked him, “Oh my son! How did the trade go? Did you make any profit.?” In reply to this, he said, “Yes Father! the trade went fine and I have a small box that I wanted to show you”. When he opened the box, he was agitated to see the box being filled with cow-dung cakes. The furious Pattinathaar asked for the money and in reply his son replied, ‘Dad! Did you not pray to Lord Shiva that you don’t expect a dime out of the trade and you simply wanted me back alive? And now you ask for money/gold?”
“kaadhu arundha oosi varaadhu kadaivizhuthu kaal”
A useless needle that has lost its ears will not come with you in the last moments of one’s life. On hearing this, Pattinatar was greatly impacted. This led him to renounce all his wealth. He sat under a tree and kept on contemplating on the one-line advice of his son. The king who was close to Pattinatar saw him in this state walked him to him and asked him if he earned anything out of renunciation! “Ithanai panni enna kandeer?”
Pattinatar aptly replied, ‘Nee nirka nan amaara idhai kandom’
While as a king, all your subjects stand in front of you, now, you are standing in front of me while I am seated! This is owing to the renunciation.
All of Pattinathar’s compositions are full of Bhakti and Vedanta. Our Guru Maharaj conveys a very beautiful point. Only if you think of the non-permanence will one be bestowed with dispassion. Dispassion is a critical secret for attaining the Holy-Feet of the Lord. Pattinathar was once walking on the road when he came across a funeral. A typical funeral scene it was, as a lot of people were crying vehemently. Pattinathar started crying louder than those people!
When inquired if he was related to the dead, he said
“Setha pinathai sutri saaga pogum pinangal ellam koodi koodi azhuvadhai kandu azhugiren!”
I wail witnessing the state of all of you, who are corpses to-die and yet lament for the loss of a just-died corpse!
All of us often have this question in our lives, “Where will I go after I die?” Our Guru Maharaj explains what happens after death. In our dreams we see ourselves. We experience things. We have our manas [mind] and feelings associated with it. For example, we dream of going to a temple and do Pradakshina to the Lord. We have intellect in the dream state. But when the dream ends, the shooksma sharira is gone and we come back to our senses. Our Guru Maharaj compares this to the life after death.
In death, the gross /physical body dies. The sookshma sharira (subtle body) [that also experienced the dream] will go to teh Swarga / Naraka depending on the merits / sins accrued in that birth, and based on the karmas, is born again.
One takes an umbrella to take shelter during the monsoon. The Divine Name that we chant is verily the umbrella that can provide us shelter after death.
If we take to dhyana/yoga/tapas, we believe in our own ability to take us to the Holy Feet of the Lord, and we are likely to fall at any stage. In Bhakti Marga, we are not dependent on the individual’s ability but only on the sheer grace of the Lord, which translates to unlimited Guru Krupa.
Yama Dharma Raja refuses to touch those devotees who have chanted the Divine Names of the Lord. This was clearly seen in the case of Ajamila! Do we need any more assurance about the potency of Nama Kirtan, than verily the God of Death?”
The satsang ended with prayers and Namasankirtan.
May 15: Vrittrasura & Purandaradasa
15 May 2009 Leave a Comment
in Telecon Satsangs Tags: bhagavatam, purandaradasa, satsang, vritrasura
Nama Sankirtan was performed by Sri Nagarajan’s family and Sri Thiagarajan’s family from Dallas.
Narayananji from Boston talked about the significance of Satsang.
We all know that there are twelve cantos in Srimad Bhagavatam. The sixth canto talks about the glories of Divine Names of the Lord. But then we look at the Purana Lakshana (the characteristics of a Purana), the sixth canto talks about Poshana. Poshana refers to the compassion and mercy of the Lord. No matter how wicked, cruel, or ignorant or dirty we are, the Lord is so compassionate that he takes all of us unto his Feet by some means or the other. That’s the definition of Poshana. The episode of Vritrasura who is an asura, shows the love for the lord by a demon.
Virtrasura was born so, because of the mistakes done when chanting the Vedas when praying to bestow him with a strong person who can kill Indra. Instead of praying for this, they started praying “Oh Lord! Please bestow me with a strong person who can be killed by Lord Indra”. As a result of the prayer, Vritrasura was born and was indeed a very strong person. As expected Lord Indra was not able to confront Vritrasura by himself. He went to a great sage who was called as Dadichi and requested for his back-bone. Sages who are compassion-personified gave away his back-bone and with that Indra made a weapon called “Vajrayuda” and with this weapon he went to accost Vrithrasura. One should note the Viveka (discrimination) and knowledge that Virdhrasura possessed. On seeing Indra, he just laughed and said, “Oh Indra, Do you think I am a coward and will run away? Oh! Not at all. There is the Almighty who is very compassionate and he knows how to take our lives. It is destined that you will kill me and it will happen that way”. But, he requested Indra to wait as he had to complete his morning prayers. It was not a long drawn pooja routine. He had just four Slokas which he recited every morning. However, he did not disclose his prayers. Prayers done with love are not normally boasted about.
The four slokas are as mentioned below –
“Aham hare tava padaika moola dasanu daso bhavitaasmi bruthya:
Manah smaretaasu pater gunaamste grneeta vak karma karotu kaaya: || (6.11.24)
Na naga prushtam nacha parameshtyam nasarvabhaumam narasadhipathyam
Nayogi sidhir apunarbhavam samanjasatva virahaiya kaankshe || (6:11:25)
Ajatha pakshad iva maataram kaaga: stanyam yata vatsadhara sudhartha: |
Priyam priyaeva vyushitam vishanna Manoravindaasksha didrukshate tvaam” || (6:11:25)
Oh my lord, Let me always be in your service. If I am not able to be in your service then please bless to be in the service of your greatest devotees. If I am not fortunate enough to be in the association of your greatest devotees, then let me be in the divine satsang of their devotees (dasanudasa). When I am in the service of all your devotees, then I offer my body, mind and thoughts unto you.
And then in his second sloka, he says, let me always be in contact with you. If you offer me anything that removes the contact with you, then I don’t need it even if it is the greatest heaven. In his third sloka, he says, “Oh Lord, Take me unto you akin to how a small bird is being taken care by its mother bird, a calf craving for the love of its mother-cow and a fiancee waiting to join her fiance.
His fourth sloka has a very deeper meaning. He knows that it is not easy to get the divine company of the Lord. So he says,
“Mamottama sloka janeshu sakyam samsara chakre bramtah smakarmabi: |
Tvan maayayaatmatmaja daara geheshu asakta chityasa na naatha bhooyaat”
He says,”Oh Lord I know that I am caught deep inside the ocean of Samsara from which it is not very easy to be absolved. If at all you are an epitome of compassion then may I request you to do one thing? Please put me amidst a group of devotees in a satsang.
Make me friends with those devotees who are in a satsang and that way everything will fall into place. That is the greatest compassion and path that you can show and that way I will be freed from this samsara as well.
So what is a satsang? It is a divine association with a Jivan Mukta and who is ever chanting the Divine Names of the Lord and is in the eternal bliss.
This was followed by introductions and Nishaji from Houston discoursed on the life-history of Sri. Purandaradasa.
India is a land of Mahans. Akin to how certain type of soil is conducive to grow specific plants for example, southern India’s staple crop is rice whereas the northern part of India is fertile to grow wheat. Similarly the soil of India grows Mahans. Right from the time of great sages like Vashishta, Vishwamitra, India has been a home to enlightened souls.
In the life-histories of Mahans, we see that some incident usually triggered the spitritual quest and they did not stop that quest till the end. If we take the life-history of Sadasiva Brahmendra, he went and asked his mother for food. She told him that it would take some time and he thought that what is the use of this house when one cannot get food when he is hungry. He left home at that instant of time. Hunger brought a great change in his life.
Another classic example is Sri Tulasidas. He went in search of his wife who was at her parent’s place. He encountered many hardships to reach his in-law’s place. Upon reaching, his wife tells him that the earnestness with which he had to come to see her, if he had a quarter of it to see lord Rama, he would have had the darshan of Rama long ago. That comment totally changed Tulasidas’s life. Another great mahan whose life was totally changed was Sri Purandara Dasa. We all know him as the grandfather of carnatic music. Apart from this, we should all see the Bhakti he possessed towards the lord. He was never like that since birth. Let us see what changed him.
The earlier name of Purandara Dasa was Srinivasa Nayaka who was born to a devout couple, who were childless for a long time. They had begotten him after praying to Lord Srinivasa. Srinivasa Nayaka’s father, Varadappa Nayaka was an affluent person and was a pawn-broker by profession. He was very devout and did lot of charitable deeds. On the contrary, when Srinivasa Nayaka grew up, he was a miser. He took over his ancestral business but charity was not in his blood at all. When his father was ailing, he refused to spend for his medical treatment and this eventually led to the death of his father. This however did not disturb him at all. On the other hand, his wife was very generous and she always wanted to gift people. This was the situation when Lord Panduranga Vitala decided to make Srinivasa Nayaka his devotee.
He came to his shop in the guise of a poor Brahmin. He begged for alms for his son’s upanayanam. Srinivasa Nayaka in his customary style drove him away and asked him to come back the next day. The Lord came the next day as well and he kept sending him away. This happened for about six months and everyday the Brahmin came back in a persistent manner and Srinivasa Nayaka did not have the heart to give him a dime. After six months, Srinivasa Nayaka gave the Brahmin a fake coin which was given to him by his father when he was a child. The Brahmin very well knew that it was indeed a fake coin and he took that coin and went to his wife and he pretended that he didn’t know that Srinivasa Nayaka was her husband. He told her that some pawn broker had given him a fake coin after asking him to come for six months. She immediately knew that the pawn broker was none other than her husband and she felt very ashamed of her husband’s act.
So she gave away her nose ring. The Brahmin promptly took the nose ring and went to Srinivasa Nayaka’s shop and he requested him to pawn the nose-ring. As soon as he saw the nose ring, he recognized that it belonged to his wife. He immediately locked the nose ring in his shop and went to confront his wife. He asked her to show him the nose-ring. Unable to accost him, she prayed sincerely to the Lord and found the nose-ring in her home, miraculously. She immediately went to give it to her husband. He went back to the shop to see if the nose ring that he had kept inside was safe. But he was not able to find it.
This incident completely changed his life. He realized the futile life that he had been leading all along. He could vividly see that it was the Lord who had disguised himself as Brahmin. He renounced himself and along with his wife and four children he took to the streets and since then sang praises of Lord Vittala. His songs are popular even today.
One should note the Bhakti that Purandaradasa had for the Lord. An interesting point to note here is that, he was a great devotee of Sri Hari and he has composed several kirtans on Lord Krishna, before he found a guru. His guru was Vyasa Theertha. He was the one who conferred on him the name Puranadara Dasa. In one of his kirtans, he sings “My only refugee is the feet of Vyasa Theertha. I could understand Purandara Vittala only through his grace.” Purandara dasa was a great devotee of the Lord before he met his guru. After meeting his guru, he said that is when he understood the Lord himself.
See the humility in some one to whom Lord Panduranga himself appeared in person!
He is among the many Mahans who has sung the glories of Nama Kirtan.
In one of his kirtans, he pleads the Lord for his grace so that he can always remember the Lord’s name.
“nArAyaNA ninna nAmada smaraNeya sArAmrtavenna nAligege barali”
He says “Narayana, let the sweet nectar of the essence of your name come in my tongue”
Whatever situation I am in be it prosperity, poor let your name as Krishna Krishna be in me.
In the final verse he says “santata hari ninna sAsira nAmavu antarangada oLagirisi
entO purandara viTTala rAyane antya kAladalli cintisOhAgE”
He says “Oh Lord! Please place your hallowed names in the depths of my heart and Vittala please shower your grace on me so that I remember your name in my last moments of my life”.
Our Guru Maharaj emphasizes that the key thing in our lives is to remember the lord in one’s last moments. If we think of god during our final moments then we are saved. This fact is also emphasized in Ajamila Charitra in Srimad Bhagavatam.
In our last moments we will think of whatever we have been doing all our life. If we are not chanting the divine names of the lord in our lifetime then it is very difficult to think about the lord in our final moments. When the fear of death overpowers us, we fill try to find solace in whatever we have been doing all our lives. If there is no Namakirtan in our entire lives, then how will it come in our last moment? That the reason we have to chant the names of the Lord and that is a practice for us to think about the Lord in our last stages of life.
Our guru maharaj in one of his lectures mentioned that there is a test to see if one has reached the state to think Lord Narayana in his final moments. If one reminisces about the satsang and about the Lord when we come home after satsangs, then there is a chance that we think about the Lord in our last moments. If we delve into the materialistic chores and not think about the satsang that we just attended, then we are not there yet!
The satsang ended with Nama Sankirtan by the Dallas satsang members.
Apr-17: Ekadasi – Science & Scriptures
17 Apr 2009 1 Comment
in Telecon Satsangs Tags: ekadasi, ganesha, lunar, nasa, satsang, science
The Nama Sankirtan was lead by Nainar Mohammad from Mountain View, California.
We know the story that Rama and Sita who lived in Ayodhya and following Dasartha’s (Lord Rama’s father) orders, Rama went to forest for fourteen years. There he lost Sita Devi to Ravana and waged a war to get her back. During this journey, he met Hanuman, Vaali, Sugriva – many great devotees including Vibheeshana.
One way of looking at it is from a story perspective- the story of a great king of the Solar/Ikshvaku dynasty. The other way to look at it is from a philological perspective. All the stories in our Sanatana Dharma do have a philosophical view. Rama is the Paramatma and Sitadevi is the Jeevatma. Hanuman is verily the Guru. Sita Devi was separated from Rama for ten months. This ten months of separation that she underwent is akin to the ‘Garbha vasa’(the ten-month stay for the fetus in the mother’s womb) and then she gets united with Paramatma with a help of a guru called Hanuman.
Our Swamiji conveys a very interesting point. Sitadevi who is the Jeevaatma comes to meet Lord Rama who is the Paramatma when Rama broke the bow in Mithila. Here Sage Vishwamitra is the Guru. Vishwamitra is the friend of the world. A guru is supposed to be a friend of the world. A friend need not be a guru but a guru is most definitely a true friend! Here, Sage Vishwamitra is the guru and with his help, Jeevatma and Paramatma are united in wedlock. And from that point in time, it shows how a perfect ‘jiva’ should behave. Seetha being a Pativratha, had never looked at any other male. The moment Sitadevi married Rama, she was with Him always both during joyful and sorrowful times.
When Rama was ordered to go to the forest she was very adamant that she would also accompany him to the forest, as wherever Rama lived was her Ayodhya. That clearly outlines how a devotee should actually be. He should be in the company of the Lord. Now comes a twist. Let’s see what happens when a devotee is distracted from the company of the Lord. The moment she took her eyes from Lord Rama, and was attracted to a beautiful deer, misery befell her. At that point in time, there was something more beautiful to her than her husband. And that was that golden deer. In our scriptures, deer is equated with manas/maya/mind or the world. She got separated from het husband.
The key take away point from Ramayana is that one should always be in the divine company of the Lord. And the divine company is verily satsang.
Followed by introductions, Aravindji from Orlando gave a beautiful talk.
Every religion has a founder and the religion derives its name from the founder or from the holy book. For instance, the religion Christianity derives its name from the Jesus Christ. The word Buddhism, is deduced from Buddha and so on. When we take the religion Hindu, the word Hindu is neither the founder’s name nor is it present in the scriptures. Since there was only one religion present in the whole world, there wasn’t any need to give it a name.
Let’s take a step back and first define the word religion. It comes from the Latin word “religare” which binds each one of us to where we originate and that is none other than God. Any path that shows the route to get united back to the place from where we originated is called Religion.
Now let’s come back to the religion that was prevailing all throughout the world without a name. It did have a name but there was no need for it to be referenced by that name. That religion was Sanatana Dharma. Sanatana means eternal. And Dharma means righteousness. It was the only prevailing religion throughout the world, until the advent of new religions.
If we take the Mexican god, Quetzalcoatl, one can see that he is seated on snakes and is holding corn shells by his side, which precisely points to Lord Vishu from Sanatana Dharma. Let’s now take an example from southern hemisphere, the Aborigines of Australia. It is seen that on the day when the natives of India go over the holy hill of Arunachala praying to Lord Shiva, the Aborigines of Australia pull out a boy from the village and smear him with ashes all over his body and mark a tilak on his forehead signifying the third eye. They circumambulate around this boy and this boy for this festival is called Shiva. So, one can clearly see the presence of Sanatana Dharma in other religions as well.
As years passed by, more and more religions came into existence and hence people wanted to give Sanatana Dharma a new name. Since Indians were adept in trading and had expertise in dealing with merchants, they used to go all over the world and navigate by ship. If we step back and see how the word ‘navigate’ was coined, it came from the Sanskrit word, navgati, where the word ‘nav’ means boat. Indians were pioneers in navigation and since they extensively glob-trotted, Santana dharma thus spread worldwide.
The Indians did a lot of trading with the Persians and the Chinese. Since there was lot of religions which were coming into existence in the Persian world, the Persians decided to confer a new name to Sanatana Dharma. They initially wanted to name our religion as Sindhus, the people who come from the land of Sindhu, the land of Indus. They had difficulty in pronouncing the word Sindus and hence gave the name Hindu. The British people who came to India started to call us as Hindus. That’s how we got the word Hindu. And if we ponder as to who the founder of this religion was, the answer is no.
Hinduism is an experience of many saints and rishis. They did penance for many years and as a result of that they were blessed with Lord in the form of Vedas and gave it to the mankind. Are the Vedas really useful to this? Let’s take the sloka –
“Shuklambaradaram Vishum Sashi varnam chatur bhujam
Prasanna vadanam dyayeth sarva vignobhasanthayae”
It is interesting that in this sloka, dedicated to Lord Ganesha (who is an elephant God), they refer to him as ‘Sashi Varnam’ (color of the moon – which appears silvery white). It is strange because we have never heard of ‘silvery’ or ‘white’ colored elephants, have we? The only one that we know of from our scriptures is ‘Airavatha’. But Ganesha’s head was from a dead elephants, our scriptures say; so this is ruled out too!
All elephants are darkish grey in color. Then why did our Rishis call Lord Ganesha as ‘sashivarnam’?
The Rishis perceived the soil color of the moon because of their immense penance and this was later found to be true when the astronauts from NASA travelled to moon and when they picked the soil in moon they found it to be dark-grey in color. We can clearly see that religion can be proven by science.
In a similar manner, Rishis have clearly outlined the ways through which we can attain the lotus feet of the lord. One such path is ‘Ekadasi Vratha’. Ekadasi refers to the eleventh day of the fortnight belonging to lunar month. It is the eleventh day after the full-moon or the new-moon day.
On the day of ekadasi, one has to sincerely perform Upavasa. The word “Upa” means “Near” and “Vasa” means ”stay”. Ekadasi upavasa means staying near to the god all day. And the means to stay near god is verily through Nama Sankirtan, thinking about guru. But Vratha means fasting. So why should we fast on ekadasi day.
The science behind Ekadasi
If we take any particular system, the components of that system are governed by the laws of that system. We are part of solar system and what ever rules govern the solar system also imply to us. The earth is part of the solar system and we are part of the Earth/
On a full-moon day, the tidal waves in the ocean are very intense than any other normal day. It is because of the moon’s effect on the water. The moon’s effect is clearly seen on the water since water is liquid in nature, but the effect on earth is less perceivable. If we go to an asylum it is seen that the lunatics behave very strangely on a new-moon or a full-moon day because the moon has an effect on the mind akin to the sun which has an effect on the soul. The sun is called the atmakaraka. Atma means soul and karaka is the director. The word lunatic is derived from the word ‘lunar’ which translates to moon. It can be very clearly felt that during rainy days, one does not feel hungry whereas on a sunny day we feel extremely hungry. The mind works with the help of chakras. There are seven chakras and the mind uses these seven chakras in order to function. Just like how the same base (mud) is used to build a mirror and a pot but only the mirror reflects objects, in the same way whatever food we consume reflects our mind. Even though the mind travels through these seven chakras, there are only two chakras where the mind is at peace. They are the agnya chakra and anahata chakra. The agnya chakra is located right between the eyebrows and our rishis have strongly advised us to wear a tilak in the forehead because the mind at this focal point can be easily manipulated. The anahata chakra is located in the heart. On the eleventh day after the full-moon or the new moon, our rishis have proved that the mind is at home and hence comes to peace. On every other chakra the mind is very active and our minds cannot be controlled. The rishis have tuned their mind in such a way that the mind will abide to what the rishi’s desire to do and not the vice versa. The rishis have control over the mind and only when one has control over the mind, can one think about the lord. On the day of Ekadasi mind comes to rest and hence one should think about the lord in order to attain his lotus feet. So what does ekadasi got to do with fasting? When we eat more, the digestive system needs more oxygen and blood in order to digest the food. Hence the mind and other parts of the body are deprived of oxygen and that’s the reason we feel sluggish after eating. There are primary two reasons for fasting, the brain is not deprived of oxygen and secondly it is very beneficial for the body to rest the digestive system once a while in order for the body to function properly. We need a healthy body even for spirituality.
From our Puranas…
Let’s substantiate the significance of ekadasi from Srimad Bhagavatam. There was a great king called Rukmangada, and belonged to Ikshavaku dynasty akin to Lord Rama and ruled over Ayodhya. His wife was Sandhyavali and had a handsome son Dharmangada. One day he was taking a stroll in the patio and he saw some fairies (apsras) stealing some flowers from his garden. This sight caught his attention and he ran out to catch them. The fairies eyes caught sight of this and they started to flee in their celestial vehicle. Just as they were about to fly, Rukmangada caught hold of the celestial vehicle and it stopped moving. Since the celestial vehicle would stop at the very touch of a human, the fairies were in a state of confusion as to what to do next. Hearing this, an old day who has been observing Ekadasi fasting ever since her childhood came and touched it and the vehicle started to move. Rukmangada was surprised as to how an old lady can make the vehicle move and inquired about this. On enquiry he learned about the old lady’s Ekadasi vratha and from that day on, he started to observe Ekadasi fasting.
On the day of Ekadasi, he would fast and only think about God. The devas who were watching this wanted to test Rukmangada. One day, they sent a beautiful maid by name Mohini in front of Rukmangada in the forest where he was hunting and he instantly fell in love with her. He requested her to marry him and she agreed to it provided he satisfies her wishes. Rukmangada readily agreed to her conditions as she was smitten by her beauty and married her. One day, she requested him to have food. That day being Ekadasi, Rukmangada politely refused to that wish and pleaded with her to waive it. But Mohini wouldn’t listen and threatened him.
After numerous pleas from Rukmangada to ask for something else instead of making him break his Ekadasi vows, Mohini asked for the head of his son, Dharmangada and also ordered that not a single drop of water should come out of her eyes. The little boy readily agreed to be beheaded and so did the queen Sandhyavali, for, the whole family considered Ekadasi vows as the supreme.
Just as Rukmangada took his sword to behead his beloved son, Lord Vishnu was pleased with Rukmangada’s steadfastness on Ekadasi fast and Himself appeared in front of the King and amply blessed him.
Thus, it is very clear that Rukmangada was one of the very chosen devotees from this sloka
“Prahlada Narada Parasara Pundarika Vyasa Ambarisha Sukha Sounaka Bheesma Dhalbyan
Rukmangada vashishta vibishanadhin punyanimam parama bhagavathan smarami”
And such is the greatness of Ekadasi.
The satsang ended with Nama Sankirtan – prayers, by Nainar Mohamed.
Feb 20: Importance of Satsang
20 Feb 2009 Leave a Comment
in Telecon Satsangs Tags: anantazhwar, nama, nimi, poornimaji, ramanujacharya, satsang
Feb20’09 Telecon Satsang Blog-Roll
The telecon satsang started with NamaSankirtan led by Zivanji and Yaminiji from Boston. About 20 families dialed in for the teleconference. Followed by brief introductions, Poojya Poornimaji gave a blissful satsang talk.
“Being Ekadasi, it is the most fitting day to have satsang.
We have been hearing time and again that by singing the Divine names of the Lord on the auspicious days like Ekadasi and Dwadasi, the merits that we accrue are much more than what we would, on normal days. It is very rare to be in a satsang and it is rarer indeed to sustain a satsang.
There are two pishachas (demons), who stop or deter people from attending satsangs. They are specifically called as “karna oishachas”. They come and stand right next to our ears and start talking to us. One of them would start saying that we have been attending satsangs in a regular manner and it is okay to not attend a satsang to take care of some mundane affair. Whereas the other pishacha (devil) would say that “Oh My God, You have been attending satsangs for a long time. If you continue to attend so many satsangs, then your mind will get spoilt!!
The first one would ask us to postpone attending satsangs whereas the second one would just ask us to stop. It is to be said that people who have been attending this satsang as well the organizers of this satsang are oblivious of these two demons and the Friday satsangs are being conducted without fail. This clearly shows the grace of our Guru Maharaj. When we have Guru’s grace then nothing can stop us from attending satsangs.
One is called a devotee of Lord if he makes an effort to attend satsangs in spite of his tight schedule in his/her worldly life. That marks a difference between a devotee of a Lord and someone who is leading a normal mortal life. Our great saint Periyavachan Pillai Swami, in one of his commentaries says it is very easy to differentiate a person who is a devotee of the Lord and who is not. Both of them will have some worldly ties. It does not mean that a devotee of the Lord will not have any worldly ties. But the difference is that the moment a devotee of the Lord hears of an impending satsang, he will immediately adjust his/her worldly schedule in order to attend a satsang.
There are many things that are very rare and the rarest of rare is the birth as a human being. Every Mahatma has agreed to the fact that it is indeed a rare thing to be born as a human being. But the rarest of them is that we have to thank the Lord for bestowing us with a human body. “Dhanyoham Krishna tava krupa PAthroham”
Krishna, I can’t show my gratitude when I think of your immense compassion.
Tava Krupaya Krishna Manusha Dehavanaham
Tava Krupaya Krishna Anga Purnoham
It is out of your sheer compassion and grace that I have been blessed with a human birth and all my limbs being intact (‘Anga purnoham’). We need to thank the Lord every moment for what he has bestowed us with. Our Mahatmas don’t stop here. Rare indeed is to have a human birth and rarest is to be in a satsang.They say that it is not easy to be in a satsang. But there is something rarer than satsang. In Srimad Bhagavatham Videha Maharaja Nimi says,
“Durlabho Manusho deho dehinam shana banguraha
thatrapi dhurlabham manyae vaikunta Priyadarshanam”He says that rarest is to get the darshan of someone who is a Jeevan Muktha and who is a devotee of Lord Krishna. And one should be immensely blessed to have the opportunity to serve a Mahatma in some way and it is indeed the rarest of the rarest.
Mahatmas say “Koti Janma Punya sadhana sadhyam”
“Govinda Dasa Mandala dasyam”
It is not easy to get a chance to serve a great saint, who is a realized soul. They are purna be themselves. One should call himself/herself blessed if one’s service or offering is accepted by saints. We should not let pride settle in us once we start to render any service to Lord’s devotee. We should understand that we are fortunate to be chosen by the Lord and the Mahatma to be of some service to him. We should be grateful to them for accepting our service. The moment the mahatma accepts our service or offering, we instantly get associated with the Lord and this very association is enough for them to liberate us from the cycles of transmigration.In the life-history of the great Acharya Sri.Ramanuja, let us take one incident. He had visited Tirupathi. It was not an easy attempt to climb the hill to have the darshan of the Lord in those days. This dates back to about thousand years. While he was visiting Tiruapthi to have a darshan of Lord Balaji, he found that there was no body to offer flowers to the Lord. There was nothing adorning the Lord and this really pained him a lot. When he came back to his home town, he called all his disciples who were very loving to their guru, Sri Ramanujacharya. He asked if one of them would offer themselves to perform service to Lord of Thirupathi, by growing a garden to offer a garland of flowers to the Lord every day which should not stop for even a day. This clearly meant that devotee who was willing to do this service, needs to relocate to Tirupathi and this also means that he cannot have the darshan of his beloved Guru, Sri Ramanujacharya. None of them wanted to volunteer for this as they did not want to be separated from their guru. But suddenly Sri. Anantalwar stood up and volunteered to take up this task. He told his Guru that he was willing to take up this not to please Tirupathi Balaji but wanted to make his guru happy. When none of them volunteered to take up this, Sri Ramanujacharya was very upset and Sri Anantalwar could not really see his Guru in a depressed mood. He relocated to Tirumala with his wife who was also a great devotee of Sri Ramanujacharya. He made beautiful garlands for the Lord of Tirupathi in the morning and evening. He also started digging a pond for the Lord. Only he and his wife were working on digging the pond. His wife was in her late pregnancy and was solely helping her husband in moving the debris around. One day when they were so seriously working on digging the pond, a small boy stopped by and offered to help him. Sri.Anantazhwar politely turned down the request as he wanted to dig the pond for the Lord all by himself. But the boy persistently asked him that he wanted to be of some help to them. Sri.Anantazhwar started to lose patience and admonished him and the boy went away. The boy however didn’t lose hope and this time he approached his wife. She was kind enough to accept the boy’s offer to help them and both of them worked together in moving the debris around. When Sri.Aantazhwar caught sight of this, he went and hit the boy with a spade on his chin. His chin started to bleed and he ran away.
Later that evening, Sri.Anantahzwar went to the Balaji deity to offer his garland and he was shocked to see Lord of Tirupathi’s chin bleeding. The moment he saw this, he started crying and that was when he realized that it was indeed the Lord who came to offer him help, disguised in the form of a small boy. Lord loves those who serve his devotees. To substantiate this, when Sant Ekanath was serving his guru, the Lord of Dwaraka came running to serve Sant Ekanath. Lord is much more pleased with people who serve his devotees compared to people serving him. There was a great devotee of Pandarpur by name Sri.Senanayi. Even before Senanayi got the darshan of Lord Panduranga it was the King of Pandarupur who had employed Senanayi got the darshan of the Lord. It was because of the very fact that the Lord is happier with people who serve his devotees.
When Sri.Anantazhwar saw the bleeding chin of the Lord, he started crying, “Oh My Lord, What have I done and what can I do to make the bleeding stop.? “. In reply to his question, the Lord said that he was such a great devotee who had sacrificed all his desires and come out of his comfort zone only to serve him. He said that only the dust from the feet of such a Bhagavata will help stop His bleeding. Anantazhwar did not hesitate and immediately placed his “Pada Renu” on the Lord’s chin. Even today the piece of camphor placed in the chin of Lord Balaji signifies this very episode.
That is the greatness of serving a Guru. It should be seen that how Sri.Anantazhwar gave up all his whims and fancies only to serve his guru. This is akin to how Lord Bharatha opted to be away from Lord Rama only to serve him. When we have to serve the Lord, we have to take that extra mile and when we start doing that the extra mile will not be an extra mile anymore. The crux of this is that if we desire to attend satsangs in spite of our tight worldly affairs, the Lord will tune our worldly matters so that we will be attend to satsangs without fail. So let’s keep attending satsangs and continue to organize satsang related activites without procrastinating or totally stopping it in order to attend to our worldly issues.
The satsang wrapped up with prayers and Nama Sankirtan.
Week 2 : Olympics began, and so did our satsang!
08 Aug 2008 Leave a Comment
in Telecon Satsangs Tags: california, cerritos, houston, mahamantra, nama, olympics, satsang
Like the Olympics in Beijing, our Friday Satsang too started off on 8/8/8 very well.
But unlike the Miaoke scandal, there was no lip-sync/ voice substitution in our satsang! It was a 100% original one! Sriram and his family from Houston led the Mahamantra Kirtan at 9:30 pm ET and everyone who were already on the line and those who joined a little late chanted along!
In ten minutes, the Mahamantra Sankirtan came to a close and we had a round of introductions. It was exciting to see increased participation from Orlando, Dallas and California. We had about 23 people on the satsang that evening.
Then the young Tejas stepped up to give a 10 minute satsang on the greatness of Nama Sankirtan. In a twelve minute interval, Tejas wonderfully carved out the greatness of Nama Kirtan. A few excerpts from his talk is below:
“In this age of Kali Yuga, what can be more simple a way to attain the Almighty, than Nama Kirtan. One can do mechanically or otherwise. It produces the desired effect and also blesses us with the supreme state, just like a lantern that is lit for light also gives us heat.
In Bhagavat Gita, Lord Krishna shows four broad means of attaining Him – Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakti and Jnana Yoga. In this Kali Yuga, do human beings possess the time and capacity to practice any of these paths sincerely and devoutly? Certainly not! Then what is the means to attain Him in this Age? It is verily Nama Kirtan. No rules, no regulations, no stipulations, no special requirements, no expenditure is involved but then it gives the same fruit as any other path taken to attain Him.‘Om Nama Shivaya’ is the Panchakshara – the Supreme Mantra for the Shaivaites and ‘Om Namo Narayanaya’ is the Supreme Mantra for the Vaishnavites. When ‘ra’ , the life-giving word of the Ashtakshara and ‘Ma’ the auspiciousness-providing word of the Shiva Mantra are chanted as the ‘Rama’ Nama, it gives the effect of chanting both Panchakshara and Ashtakshara. While other forms of worship like meditation, yagna, and archana may be relevant in other Yugas, the scriptures clearly underline that the Nama Kirtan is the most appropriate path for Kali Yuga. Not only scriptures, but innumerable Mahans including Thiyagaraja, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu down to Sri Swamiji have shown this path.
As Guru Nanak says, when you start chanting the Mahamantra, you are already on the jurney on a ship that goes towards Mukti or liberation. The captain of the ship is Lord Krishna Himself, who belongs to the destination. So why worry when your lips chant?”
When Tejas completed his talk with “Hare Rama…”, it was hard to believe that 12 minutes had passed. One would wonder if the essence of Nama can be condensed into a 10 minute talk in a better fashion at all!
The forum was open for discussion when Ramani from Cerritos, CA gave a suggestion that we could bring out chanting boxes that keeps chanting Mahamantra day in and day out. Sankar announced that Nama Kirtan satsangs were regularly held at Freemont Hindu Temple every weekend and invited any members / friends of the satsang members to join.
Listing the US Nama Kirtan centers on the Nama Dwaar / Godivinity.org website was discussed.
An announcement was made that the Nama Dwaar e-newsletter was going to be released soon by the US Satsang bringing out the beauty of Sanathana Dharma, especially Bhagavata Dharma.
By then, we were already running out of time, and hence we started off seeking volunteers for the next week Nama Kirtan and satsang.
Ramani volunteered to lead the Nama Kirtan next week. Jagan, from Chicago, who was happy to take part in the Nama Kirtan and do Namaamruta Shravanam volunteered to speak about his experiences of Nama Kirtan during the special Independence Day satsang on coming Friday.
Madhura, Sriram, Nisha and Ms Suchitra (Nisha’s aunt) led the Nama Kirtan to mark the end of the satsang, and the week.
I am sure everyone felt the same as one of the new participants of the satsang: ‘I can’t believe we chanted for 10 minutes in the start! Time flew by and it felt as if it was only for 10 seconds!’
Lets meet again on 8/15 at 6:30 PT / 8:30 CT / 9:30 ET for yet another exhilarating satsang evening.
Satsang wired! Week-1
01 Aug 2008 1 Comment
in Telecon Satsangs Tags: eclipse, kabirdas, kamaal, nama, satsang
The telephone satsang on August 1st started off on a wonderful note.
At about 9:29 pm EST, an introduction to the satsang was given. Aravind and Geetha from Orlando started off the satsang on an auspicious note – aka. with Mahamantra.
All of them chanted along with Aravind and soon we heard him slow down and give the ‘Pundareekam’ – ‘Satguru nath maharaj ki! Jai!’ That was when we realized that 600 seconds had gone by!
Then it was introduction time. We found that about 18 satsang members representing different states viz. California, Florida, North Carolina, Chicago, Texas and Massachusetts were on the call. It was nice to get to know the names of all the satsang friends from the country.
Following this, Ms. Yamini from Chicago, gave a beautiful talk. The summary of the talk is below:
It is indeed rare to get the human birth. We are all fortunate to be blessed with this human birth. What is the purpose of our living? To seek eternal happiness, and this happiness is certainly not in bodily comforts. How fleeting is this human body? If we take a palm tree, right from the stem, leaves and to the shell, all of them are of utility value. But of what value is this human body after it stops breathing? So should we not strive to attain the ultimate purpose of life when we are still breathing?
How do we attain that ultimate goal? Our Guru Maharaj and various Mahans have shown the simple, yet great path of Nama Kirtan. All we should do is, catch the ‘Rama’ Nama and never let go of it.
Let me narrate a beautiful episode from Kabirdas’ life. Kabirdas loved Rama Nama above anything else. He loved to perform Rama Nama Kirtan as a congregation – satsang and often conducted such satsang, invited Sadhus and fed them. Being in state of abject penury, he did not have enough money to conduct one such satsang. That was when Kabirdas and his son Kamaal decided that they would break into a rich person’s house and steal, for the sake of conducting satsang. Unfortunately, when they were half-way stealing, the householders sensed the break-in. While Kabirdas escaped, his son was caught inside the house. Immediately Kamaal said, ‘Oh dad! The satsang should go on! And it should go on undisturbed. There is no way that I can escape from here. So cut my head off and take it with you, so that they don’t identify who I am.’ Kabir did as bid by his son, and the Rama Nama Satsang went on joyfully.
The torso of the dead Kamaal was hung on a tree by the river and there was no one to lay claim on it. A couple of days later, a group of Bhagavatas passed by performing Nama Kirtan. When they reached this tree, to their utter dismay, the headless torso clapped its hand blissfully to the Nama Kirtan!
The whole body was soaked in Rama Nama and hence, even a lifeless torso could clap and dance to Rama Nama.
So let’s keep chanting. We are certain to attain bliss and happiness.
It was really wonderful to listen to the talk. Such a strong and clear message delivered in a quick 12 minute succession!
August 1st was a day of Solar Eclipse in many eastern countries. Eclipse is a sign of auspiciousness. Mahaprabhu was born on a lunar eclipse day!
Its fun that we are starting this on such a day!!
Then there were some announcements:
- Yamini, Zivan and Kishori perform Nama Kirtan every Thursday. Recently, they had Nama Kirtan in one of their friend’s houses (a non-hindu) on the occasion of ‘Gruhapravesh’. ‘The Lord entering the house is indeed Gruhapravesh!’ it was told. And by chanting Mahamnatra, the Lord is very much present there. That is truly Gruhapravesh, is it not?
- Houston satsang briefed us about the 108 hanuman chalisa program to be performed on Saturday. They conduct Nama 2 hours every Sunday – 4-6 pm.
- Ramani from Los Angeles put forth a couple of interesting points: ‘Ramana Paatti’ is one elderly person who attends the Nama Kirtan satsang at his home in the Cerritos, LA area. The reason behind her name is that, she has seen and lived with Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi! A tidbit Ramani shared here – Ramana was very comfortable understanding Telugu, which was Paatti’s mother tongue. So she never had a reason to learn Tamil! Ramani assured that he will get pictures of Paatti and share more of her experiences in the subsequent satsangs. Ramani talked about the ‘Ninda Stuthi’ experience! - One in which he had Swamiji get the telephone connection to listen to satsangs on Guru Poornima day (which seemed close to impossible), by Nindha Stuthi! You should ask him for more details!
Sriram and Nisha from Texas volunteered to lead the next week’s Nama. While the slot for the satsang talk was still open, young Tejas volunteered.
We were running 5 minutes late, so we had to close (sadly!). We closed with Mahamantra Kirtan.
What a wonderful satsang it was! Hmmm.. How many hours to pass until the next Friday evening?
Until then…..
