Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – Divya Nama Sankeertana – March 15, 2026 – Sri Karyasiddhi Panchamukha Anjaneya Temple, LIG, Ramachandrapuram, Hyderabad
Our body and breath is filled with Nada. Soham is the sound of our breath. Paramatma the giver of life is in the form of Vayu (air) in us. When Vayu goes away from our body, life ends. Vayu is Nada (air = sound). Lord Shiva is the presiding deity of Veda, Nada and Yoga.
Such a great Nada came from Lord Krishna in that incarnation.
Lord Krishna played the flute and gave us Nada.
With eyes like a blossomed lotus’ petals, shining beautifully with the complexion of rain-bearing clouds, defeating the beauty of a million Cupids, with a peacock feather on the head, playing the Venu so delightfully, that Vasudeva I prostrate to. This is a shloka from Brahma Samhita where the beautiful Krishna’s beautiful flute playing is praised.
In the Srimad Bhagavatam too is Venu Gita where the greatness of the Venu Nada is explained in detail. Everyone knows about this. Brahma Samhita and the Puranas too describe the greatness of Sri Krishna and the flute. Let us learn about some of them.
We are all born from āhata nāda. Does the sound of Lord Krishna’s flute originate from the same place? No, the flute that Krishna plays is born from anāhata nada, so its sweetness cannot be explained. That Nada is very great and the Venu (flute) is just as great.
The sound of the venu is as beautiful as Krishna’s form. That is why it is the most magnetic power in the world. The most accomplished Sages too used to get drawn to it when it fell on their ears.
Sri Krishna had various kinds of Venu(s) through which He fulfilled devotees’ wishes. He used to play flute as per the necessities of His devotees. He played them keeping in mind the devotees’ wishes and would do Shakti Pata (Nada Pata) through the flute. Do not think Krishna was just playing, He is God, He is doctor and a genius, He is healing. He used to send required energy to His devotees by playing Flute. He is the Paramatma, He did not just play.
The three kinds of flutes Krishna played –
One was called Venu – it was quite small. One could barely see the flute when Krishna played it, it was about 6 inches long, and barely crossed his cheeks, and still had 6 holes.
Second was Murali and was 18 inches long. This had only one hole at the end and 4 holes in the middle. Paramatma used to play this and it is said that the nonmoving turned into moving beings and the beings that could move stood motionless.
The third is Vamsi and is 15 inches long with 9 holes. Based on what the world needed, Krishna would pick the respective flute and play it. Lord used to play these flutes in morning, afternoon and night as per the requirements of devotees.
It is very hard to play such a long flute. Swamiji has a shankha venu, the right hand has to be fully extended to play it. The breath has to travel the entire length to play it.
Heart problems subside and some can even completely avoid heart issues when they play the flute.
A devotee joked – Perhaps Swamiji already knew the war was going to happen, and there would be gas shortage, so Swamiji is teaching us the flute so we can blow fire into wooden stoves.
There is a shortage of gas now, so many people are using firewood to cook. We are using firewood to cook now in the Ashrama.
Krishna had flutes made from bamboo to solve and cure various ailments and problems in the world. The Lord would speak (through the Nada) with that energy.
When I used to play Nada inside, people would think I am practicing. I was actually talking to gods; you do not understand.
Let’s talk about Krishna. When He played His first tune, Brahma and Shiva would forget their meditation. They would get so immersed in the song of the Venu. Ananta would sway His 1000 heads and enjoy the Venu.
With just the first note, all worlds would awaken. With the second note, river Yamuna would start flowing backwards, opposite to the flow of the waterfalls – in other words, the waters would rise instead of falling. With the third note, the boulders used to shudder. And the Moon in the sky used to freeze.
With the fourth note, the moon would become still. The cows in Gokula would run to Krishna and sit there and sway their heads with devotion.
When Paramatma played the fifth note, Gopis would leave everything and come have darshan of Krishna. They are not women, they are gosayis and mahatmas. They had prayed in the incarnation of Rama to touch Him, so they came as women to touch the Lord in this incarnation.
When the Lord played the sixth note, the stones would melt, then the residents of Gokula would step out in surprise to see if the monsoons had set in.
When the Lord played the seventh note, all seasons would appear at once in Gokula. That means, every second, they would cycle through each season immersing the residents in awe.
The Lord would even play the eight note to call Radha Rani. As soon as that note was heard, Radha (embodiment of devotion) would come from whichever world she was in and whatever work she was engaged in, as her Lord was calling her.
Krishna had a diamond flute Mahananda, a golden flute called Ākarshini, and other flutes. When Krishna played Mahananda, Radha would get into samadhi. So, she always liked this one. Krishna had plenty of other flutes. Madanajhankrti was another flute with 6 holes that represented the 6 chakras. When Krishna played this, Cupid would come running and get arrested with that music. No one but Mother Goddess could arrest Cupid, but he would get arrested by this flute.
When Paramatma played the flute called Sarala, Nature would be thrilled. Birds, animals would dance and sing in joy. Trees would sway their heads, mountains would let waterfalls flow, rivers flowed in dance this way and that way. Sarala was like the cuckoo’s song and so enthralling.
Sri Krishna is Nada Brahma, Nada is born from Him, He knows ragas that the world does not know.
Gowdi, Gurjeri ragas are very dear to Him. He had special flutes to play those ragas as it was not possible with ordinary flutes. Bhuvanamohini was another special flute.
When the Lord played, did everyone in the world hear it? Only the ones who benefit from it would hear it. The Nada would range from very subtle to the very loud and strident like the roar of the clouds.
That subtle sound can perhaps not be heard even with a mic. Swamiji has a special flute, you will not hear it even if there’s a mic. That is the sound from within the core of the body. Only when you listen in dhyana and with great concentration, you will hear it, that too, faintly.
Swamiji has said many times to play healing music when you go to bed for this reason. The music will heal you while you sleep, even if you don’t hear it.
Such greatness lay in Sri Krishna’s music. When He played music only for Gopis, they alone would hear it, their husbands or children would not. Music played for cows would only be heard by the cows, not even by the cowherds. Music for Kapila cows or for Girinar cows, or other breeds of cows would only be heard by those respective cows.
This skill is only possible for the real treasure of Nada – the Nada Nidhi, not for amateurs of music.
Krishna would thus play music as if talking to the karma jeeva in various beings. Swamiji’s bhajans too are like that, each bhajan is a different medicine.
The moment Gopis knew Krishna was calling them, they would drop everything and run to Krishna. Family members would be clueless as to why they are running. The Gopis would not stop no matter what, they would free themselves and run to Krishna.
The milk on stoves would have boiled over, half-cooked breads on the pan, wives missing from the kitchen all of a sudden – this was a common sight.
Further there was rasakreeda – where all the gopis would dance with Krishna. The husband would be told the wife was dancing with Krishna, but the husband would find the wife right at home.
Yashoda Mata had 9 lakh cows and Krishna took care of them. He grouped them into 108 groups and would take them out grazing. He made sure they ate to their full and were never lost. He would play special tunes so they all eat quickly and with contentment.
Normally, cows graze here and there slowly. They find greener pastures and keep moving there to graze. Krishna had to manage 9 lakhs (900,000 cows). He had a special sound/raga to call each cow. Each cow would come back when she heard the sound.
Chandrika cow would come running when she heard the sound for her. In the Ashrama, when we play a bell, cow Gowri comes running to Swamiji, no other cow moves.
Cow Dhavali would respond to another sound. Surabhi, Padmagandha, Manikastuni and others would each respond to their own Nada. Thus, the Lord demonstrated the power of Venu Nada and uplifted the beings.
To drink the nectar of Krishna’s lips, Rudra turned into Venu and fell into Krishna’s hands, says Krishna Upanishad.
Are only those people then the fortunate ones who heard the Nada? Are we not? We are also fortunate. We should have some worthiness to hear that sound. What is that?
We should have no klaibyam – cowardice, unmanliness, dilemma, doubt, incompetence, envy.
To have supreme devotion to Krishna, first give up cowardice and stinginess. This, the Gopis did and we should too. Instead of getting into doubts and problems and arguments, crying over problems, getting elated over victories, with full faith and devotion to God – many have finished the dawn and mid-day of their lives, many are in the dusk and in the evening times – we should not slip in devotion. We should keep our mind steadfast on God. The mind is very slippery, it changes with a small sound, a color, a song, sight. The mind is like a small child. We got the mind to this point, it should not be allowed to slip.
If we sleep in dhyana, we will hear the venu nada of Krishna for sure.
The second meaning of klaibyam – unmanliness. All of us have masculine and feminine aspects in us. Many are in a dilemma about whether to worship Devi or Swami and therefore Lord Shiva incarnated as the bamboo which is neutral gender and became Venu in the hands of Krishna.
Shiva took on the neutral gender to become a venu in the hands of Krishna.This is the greatness of the Venu in the hands of Krishna.
Shiva is yogi…6 holes represents the 6 chakras of the yogi. There are many other stories of greatness of the Venu. We should earn the worthiness to listen to Venu Nada. May you all earn the grace of Krishna.
Swamiji now has all kinds of Venu(s), about double the ones I have described now.
Swamiji has Venu(s) that can be found nowhere else in the world.
This is Karungali venu. (Karungali is a tree that destroys all sins. Very hard to drill as well). It is good for health and for vision. This was obtained from Chennai.
An artist came to Swamiji. I asked him if he could make a Venu with the Karungali. This was the staff in the hands of Mother Goddess moorti. He made the flute the same evening when I gave him the staff in the morning.
Bhajan ID 1930 – bālagōpālakō vijayatē
All the Kriya Yoga students took the Venu for the purpose of Pranayama.
This is not for you to do concerts, or play songs. This is for you to learn to do Pranayama. If you do very well, you can go to the next flute. Many of you are not doing pranayama. If you do Pranayama, your concentration will improve. You should not do pranayama for more than 40 minutes. Many do it for hours and suffer. Dhyana too should not be done for too long since we live in this world. The great souls who live in the Himalayas can do it for very long.
Meditation should not be done for more than 40 minutes. If you cannot do meditation, sing bhajans, that is also a yoga.
Everyone took this flute, what should you do with it? It is for all ailments in the body to be gone and for your breath to be long.
Follow the YouTube channel SGS Datta Venu. https://www.youtube.com/@SGSDattaVenu
You can like and subscribe and follow the lessons on the channel. The basics of how you must hold the flute and how you must make a sound with the flute are also taught.
There are 6 holes in the flute. Don’t worry about whether it is for Carnatic music or Hindustani music.
This flute is very hard to play; it is very thick.
The flute made of bamboo is best to play. It should be protected from moisture and heat. Just as we cover ourselves, we should cover the flute too. Venu is Krishna.
There are also flutes made from PVC – these are more resistant to heat and moisture and are good for beginners.
(Bhajans…)