Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – Sri Devi Navaratri Festival Mysore – Saptami – September 29, 2025
Om Ayim Hreem Shreem Shri Lalita Parameshvaryai Namaha.
Remember that you will not always get what you want at all times. You win some, you lose some. What we get, we should be happy with, not regret what we did not get. Swamiji is giving everyone what they need.
(New composition of the day) This was a song on Mother Saraswati. It is a Kannada composition with a beautiful meaning.
Same composition in Telugu language.
This bhajan was requested by my Veda children for the last three days.
Bhajan ID 640
Bhajan ID 515
People are crazy about this composition. 45 years ago in Labbipet, Vijayawada, Swamiji started singing this song. All the trucks on the road – about 100-200 trucks stopped. Traffic was blocked. I was not even on the main road. I was on a bylane. The grandchildren of those truck drivers are devotees even today.
Then, the police commissioner came to the scene, but none of the drivers were in the trucks. They all stood in the ashrama closing their eyes and singing. They lost all sense of having stalled their trucks on the road. The commissioner came to Swamiji and pleaded with Me to either ask the drivers to return, or to stop singing that song. I was just singing on My own. I requested them all to go back. They insisted that I promise I will sing that song every time they came. I told them I would.
President Shankar Dayal Sharma heard this composition and was also crazy about it like the folks in Vijayawada. He came to the Ashrama even when Swamiji was not there, and I asked for a small program to be organized for him.
Then, he invited Swamiji to Rashtrapati Bhavan (President’s residence) for a concert. He prayed to Swamiji to only play Amba Bhavani Sharade. I told him, playing that for the whole while would lower its efficacy and may even be boring. The great Vidwan T N Krishna was also present. He suggested to Swamiji that Swamiji play for 40 minutes and then he would play for 40 minutes. T N Krishna’s daughter also recently went to Dallas and donated a lot of money for Annadana. She and her husband had children with Swamiji’s blessings.
We played per the Vidwan’s suggestion because we knew the president would get bored. Finally, the President requested we play other tunes as well. The president was lost in the music.
Even when he was in the hospital, I went to see him, and even tied a raksha. He was such a devotee. President R Venkataraman, P V Narasimha Rao were like that. There are not many like that.
P V Narasimha Rao invited Swamiji home for Pada Puja. He asked why I was leaving India and traveling for 7 months. I told him it was to fund a school construction. He offered to give his personal money and was about to cut a check. He prayed that I travel for about a month and not go away for that long. I told him I would speak with him only if he took the check back.
He came to the Ashrama later, and his daughter Vani did too. Back then, we went straight to Germany after the Pada Puja. That German devotee was ready to write a check for Swamiji for a greater amount. Swamiji was just short of tearing the check apart.
You have no idea how many utensils are broken or dented because Swamiji used to be short-tempered back then and would throw these objects in anger or beat someone with them. Most of those items are melted away now, but we kept this silver glass, which still bears the sings of Swamiji’s temper in its dents. This glass came to Swamiji when Swamiji was 7 years old. This glass is proof of Swamiji’s temper.
Swamiji used to get angry often. If anyone offered to give money, I would get angry. Now, Swamiji has barely any anger. Only Bhola Shankara Sachchidananda.
This composition is also very much loved by the Veda students.