Message of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji in Bhakti TV Program telecast on April 21, 2020 – Mysore
Compiled by: Jaya Akkanapragada
Śrī Mahāgańapatayé namaha
Śrī Sarasvatyé namaha
Śrī pādavallabha nrsimha Sarasvati
Śri Guru Dattātréyāya namaha
Dīpam should be lit either with sesame seed oil or cow ghee. On special occasions, when special puja is performed, pancha taila will be available. Pancha taila can also be used to perform dīpārādhana. This can be prepared at home as well. But care must be taken not to use any available oil for lighting the lamp. We also have a tradition of lighting a lamp with castor oil and showing to children to ward off evil eye. This oil must never be used to light a lamp for puja. Not only is it mentioned in the Śāstrās that this should not be used, but by doing so many health-related problems are also caused.
Take the case of diesel, petrol or kerosene. Notice the smoke emitted by a boat, bus or truck which runs on diesel. Not only is it harmful and cause damage to our lungs, it also harms other beings in nature. Many beings in nature perish from these emissions. The emissions from factories, trains and burning aviation fuel all contain pollutants which collect in the atmosphere. They mix with the clouds and when it rains, all these pollutants are brought down by the rain bearing clouds. This polluted water along with the chemical effluents released by factories all get mixed in the rivers. This water now gets used to grow crops. We end up consuming all the dirt and waste which we emit in the form of grains and vegetables. Such a big hue and cry is being made about eating organic food and avoiding pesticides and any medicine for crops. But what about these chemicals which we are ingesting? It may not show immediate effects on our bodies, but it works like a slow poison causing many diseases.
Recently someone suggested that if there are 20 factories in one city or town, each factory should be completely shut down for 2 hours, and in this way each factory should take turns to reduce emissions. A lot of programs have also been recommended by the government to curb pollution from vehicular traffic. But no matter what steps are suggested or taken, this world is very large, so these emissions and particles will go and collect in the upper layers of the atmosphere. Now that the entire world is on lockdown, if you look up at the sky, it is so clear. You can see the clouds and all the stars clearly now. We could never view Buddha and Śukra nakshatra (stars) before.
Now, on a full moon or new moon night, if you take a mat and go up on the terrace and lie down, you will be able to see all the stars. In these 3 weeks, full moon night will definitely come. (Tomorrow is new moon – amāvāsya) Now is the best time to go see the sky. You can see how beautiful creation is, and how beautifully Paramātma has created it all.
Now we do not have permission to go, but if you could go to the forest, the trees would be so beautiful. Trees are sprouting new leaves. With no pollution, you can see their real colour since there is no dust settling on them. All the animals and birds are freely roaming around in the forests now. We have been felling so many trees either to build new roads or to widen existing ones. With that, many creatures have lost their homes, and gone into hiding. Some are so confused, they keep coming into the cities. We have seen the videos of elephants, bears, lions and leopards coming into city limits. This is because their forest cover has decreased.
None of you would have imagined this day coming when you would have to sit at home like this for so many days. Imagine how it would have been if there was a flood! There would be no place to hide. We cannot even handle an earthquake – there is so much damage and loss in the aftermath. We cannot withstand tsunamis and very heavy rainfall. Power goes out, trees fall because of heavy incessant rains and the shelters built for animals also collapse. We must remember all these difficulties now and stay at home. You have seen many states like Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Orissa suffer due to extreme weather conditions. All this happens when we go against nature. This virus is also working against nature, so we must fight it. We must learn to manage if there is no electricity or milk for 10 days. We should learn to manage if we cannot get vegetables for 3 months. It will help us quickly learn survival skills. We will be able to adapt to adversities. I said all this because I had to explain the harmful effects of using all kinds of oil to light lamps.
Our elders told us long ago about the benefits and effects of various types of oil. They said which oils would spoil our health. If you try to light a lamp with mustard oil, you will not even be able to sit in that space for 5 minutes. The smell and smoke will be so harsh you will feel your lungs choking. Mustard oil is used as medicine to improve vision. Everything that is mentioned in the scriptures is for our own benefit. Just because we do not understand this, we are misinterpreting and looking at everything in an upside-down manner. Even cures for disease causing germs like Corona are mentioned in the Caraka samhiti. We have to go towards āyurvéda for answers. I feel such days will come soon. In Caraka samhiti sūtrās, it says that Dhanvantari Swami – who is an avatar of Vishnu, emerged with nectar and certain mūlikās. Sanjīvani which Ānjanéya Swāmi brought back to revive Rāmā and Lakshmańa was also a mūlika.
Many such mūlikās are mentioned in āyurvéda which scientists are also now agreeing about. They may take some time to take effect, but they are definitely effective. We also prepare many léhya – sticky preparations mentioned in āyurvéda such as chyawanprāsh. Chyawanprāsh is made mostly from gooseberry so if you have just one teaspoon a day, it will not only give you a lot of śakti, but it also has the power to kill germs which enter your body. We should make this a daily habit. There are many preparations made as per the scriptures, but we do not have any faith in them because we are always looking for instant results. With English medicine we can see how quickly it takes effect, and improves the condition. Many times we are all self-medicating.
The greatness of āyurvéda needs to be known. I wish they will be able to figure out a cure or vaccine for Covid 19 in āyurvéda. The solution is mentioned in the Charaka samhitii. If all āyurvédic doctors can get together and come up with a solution, then Indian medicine will be valued. Scientists will no doubt discover a cure as they have done for other infections, but since it has to be tested on humans, it may take time.
We should understand that the scriptures exist only for our benefit. Only when we follow the scriptures will we see good results. Otherwise we will start seeing negative effects and counter results.
tasmācchāstram pramāńam té
kāryākārya vyavasthitau
dñātvā śāstra vidhānōktam
karma kartu mihārhasi
– Bhagavad Gīta 16.24
For every action you perform, the śāstra should be the authority. The śāstrās help us understand what we should and should not do. When we are confused between what to do and what not to do, the śāstrās guide us. It is only by acting in accordance to the scriptures do we qualify to reap the fruit of the karma. Therefore we should not dismiss lighting the lamp as an insignificant act. When we understand the significance behind even a small act such as lighting the lamp, and do it with utmost care, we will receive immense benefits.
In āshāda month which comes in July – August, there is a lot of significance for the dīpārādhana done on amāvāsya. Dévī Bhāgavatam says that if the akhanda dīpa – eternal lamp is lit, and the 9 forms of Mother Goddess are worshipped during the Navarātri, 8 diffculties are removed and one is blessed with the 9 treasures – navanidhi.
There is no end to the countless benefits one receives by lighting a lamp during Kārtika māsa. The entire month, oil lamps are lit everywhere. If one lights or offers a lamp made from clay or pancha lōha – an alloy made from 5 metals, or depending on one’s financial wherewithal, if one lights a lamp made from silver or gold and donates it to someone deserving, they will receive many blessings.
Every year, Bhakti TV conducts an annual kōtidīpōtsavam – festival of crore lamps during kārtika māsa where lakhs of devotees participate. This is a very good practice. The smoke from all those oil lamps destroys many germs in the air. But most people who do not know this simply complain that the air filled with smoke. This does not even compare to the amount of pollution we all cause on a daily basis. This is not pollution. It has immense benefits. In fact, the smoke from this dīpam is equal to nectar.
There is an age-old tradition in temples of lighting a kārtīka dīpa in temples as ākāśa dīpa. This practice goes back all the way to tréta and dvāpara yuga since kārtika māsa is a time when it gets very dark in the evenings. The light from these lamps would help servants find their way home. Ships which were at sea would be able to see the shore. There is a belief that whoever lights an ākāśa dīpa, when they leave this body and travel to the other worlds, their path will be lit. Do not mistake it to mean that the light from the lamp they have lit now, will guide their path later. It means they will receive enlightenment.
Do not always take everything in the literal sense or look for logic or make fun. Why don’t you all question like this of science? We must first understand the foundation of everything. If they are creating a medicine, it first originated in the bark of a tree, or includes some minerals found at the depths of the earth. They are searching and searching and creating these things from the earth, trees and rocks. They are not creating these medicines from thin air! By extracting all these components from nature, and experimenting with various permutations and combinations, they have come up with a medicine and given it an English name. in āyurvéda also they do the same thing. But if they do deeper research, they will find nectar. If āyurvédic doctors also resort to taking and prescribing allopathy medicines, what is the use? We must try to prepare simple home remedies.
On deepāvali, we light lamps in rows so that it shows our ancestors the path home. On this day we invoke our pitrudévās – forefathers so that they may guide us on the path and bless us. This reminds me of the story of Guńanidhi. Guńanidhi was attempting to steal from a Śiva temple, but when he saw the lamp inside the temple about to go out, he quickly tore off a piece from the cloth he was wearing and created a wick so that the lamp stayed aflame. He did this so that he could see better. Even one of poor and wicked intellect like Guńanidhi was blessed with Kubéra janma because of the act of keeping the lamp lit. that is the greatness of lighting a lamp.
When a person dies, a lamp is lit and placed in the house so that the jīvātma joins the Paramātma who is in the form of light – jyōtisvarūpińi. We are born from light and our final journey is also guided by the light. If we light the lamp with utmost devotion, the dévatās will be pleased and bless us. Therefore, every day with bhakti and śraddha, all of you light the lamp twice a day at both sandhyā-s – dawn and dusk. Take part in dīpārādhana performed in temples and be worthy of Bhagavan’s blessings. May the dīpam in your home always be lit. I bless you.
Jaya Guru Datta.