Speeches of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – November 18, 2021
Compiled by Archana Penukonda
Speech in Bommerparthy
Bommerparthy devotees should teach children the Bhagavad Gita. There are Bhagavad Gita classes going on. This is a great time to teach the children. If they fully memorize the Bhagavad Gita, it will do them good. Also, teach them English. It will help them. Bommeparthy devotees should visit when possible and serve Mother. Sweep and mop the place. You must keep the place clean. Look at how clean Mekedatu is. Devotees walk from a couple different neighboring villages. I told them I was concerned about them returning home at dark walking through the forests, but they said they are used to it. Elders as well as youngsters serve there. Sometimes they sleep in the Ashram rather than walk back at night in the forest. Mekedatu is all wilderness. It is located at the confluence of Arkavati and Cauvery. There are lot of mountains. The place looks frightening after dark. But the four Ashrama inmates there live fearlessly. Sometimes elephants enter the Ashram. And on occasions they sleep in the Ashram too. They too are devotees. A cheetah too comes and sleeps in the Ashram sometimes. But the devotee couple serving there live without fear. That is due to their staunch devotion for Swamiji. They left their children in Mysuru Ashram with Swamiji. That is the kind of devotion we should inculcate.
Those who live nearby here should make it a point to serve in this Ashram. Your difficulties and diseases will vanish. When you serve Mother, you will experience incredible miracles. I like it when devotees clean and mop the floor. It removes the inner sin and impurities. I also clean the floor when there is no one around. Anybody can clean the place, but you must try to gain for yourself the good fortune of offering that physical service. Devotion alone is not enough; you must exert your body in service. If you have some outsiders clean up, the merit will go to them. You also need the merit. Second, you must not just say that Mother’s house is your house, you must show that in your actions. It becomes yours only when you offer service. We get the authority and right only when we eagerly fall over ourselves to serve.
The service you offer to Swamiji is the real love. Many in Mysuru grieve when their regular service is offered to someone else. So, I need to gently ask them to lend that opportunity to someone else for a few days. They do not want to give up the service since they attribute all their blessings and happiness at home to that service. You must offer whatever service you can – like the squirrels that helped build the bridge in Ramayana. You should want to be a part of Annadana Seva. I keep reminding you to strengthen your charitable nature. We do not realize the medicinal value of the tree in our backyard. We step on the plant, spit on it while brushing our teeth, and disregard it until we are told by some outsider that the plant has medicinal values. Doctors from some far-off places use that plant to make wonderful medicines that cure diseases. We do not realize the value of what is near us. We should make use of what we have and serve to the extent possible.
Satisfying others’ hunger is a big Seva. Offering a small morsel of food is big Seva. Money, clothes and other objects may not give satisfaction to the recipient, but when you offer food to a hungry person, he is satisfied when his hunger is removed. Therefore, offering food is the greatest Seva. If you remove hunger by offering food, your sins are removed. Mother taught me to first do Annadana. All 70-75 Ashramas perform Annadana. We are doing Annadana even in America. There is an Ashrama in a forest in the US where also we are doing Annadana. You do not know about it because Swamiji does not do these activities with fanfare and publicity. So, everyone join the Purnima Annadana. Please do not miss the opportunity. This is very powerful Seva. Enroll on Dattapeetham website and offer the Seva through JNS Gandluru Trust. There are so many Sevas besides the Pournima Annadana. You can find out for yourself and participate. I am very happy. Yesterday, about 4000 people received Annadana here. About 4000 people are receiving Annadana today as well. Due to the heavy rains here, the crowds are limited. Otherwise, there would be 9000 people here. All officers, electric department, police department offered tremendous Seva for this Yajna. Our volunteers and Anantapur devotees also have offered tremendous Seva. We can perform Annakoota every year. People in Tamilnadu do this every month. Some people were wondering if the Annakoota we did today was a new kind of Puja. It is in fact a very old Puja.
Annapurna idol has been brought here from Varanasi. I am very happy. It is not an idol. It is verily Mother. She is talking to me. You can watch the detailed Puja recording on Facebook from earlier today. Jwala Torana also took place on a small scale as it was raining. Every Kartika Purnima, we offer Annakoota Puja in Annapoorna Mandir. Everyone should participate. You can bring rice grains from home and offer it here. Or, you can buy rice bags and offer in the Ashram. When you offer rice grains to Mother, you will get food for seven births. Our children should not starve.
I know the value of food from my childhood. I experienced starvation. I was 10-11 years old and I begged for food. I did not want to take anything from my father, that was my rule. When I was studying in Proddutur, I used to beg at the homes of 10-11 scholars chanting “Bhiskhaam Dehi”. They would treat me like their little son. The mothers in those homes would weep when I would not visit them saying “Satya Sadhu” has not come today. I would not eat that food myself.
I would mix everything I received and would serve balls of food to the physically disabled, the visually disabled and the like, first. And I would eat one small ball of food if I had my Aunt’s permission that day. Some days, I would not have her permission. She would make me a flat bread sometimes. She was Guru to me like my mother was. I did all this during my school days. I did not roam about whiling away time. I studied well and was a dutiful student. Even today, the grandchildren of those mothers who gave me alms remember me and treat me very reverentially when I visit Proddutur. There is also a temple being built there for Mother Goddess. I need to go there and give them Darshana soon. My childhood was mostly spent in Proddutur. Once in two days, I would visit a nearby place where I would bathe and drink water from a natural spring. From there, I would take a bus to Jammalamadugu. I would never need a ticket for the bus ride as every bus driver would vie to have Swamiji on their bus. My paternal uncle used to live in Nusam. I used to visit him every week. His wife – my aunt – had no children. Swamiji was her child. I used to drink buffalo milk and curds there and that made me quite strong. I grew up a lot with the childless. Where the family had children, they considered me one of their own children. This body belongs to the public. My mother gave me away so I could grow up with the public while studying. I did go to school; I did not roam irresponsibly. I would always respect elders.
It is all a transcendental play. Any leaf on the tree I touch would turn sweet. Any tree I touched would have fruits. The children in Proddatur would enjoy these acts. Those children from then are now about 75-80 years old too. They used to enjoy those fruits. I need nothing. When I sat by the ocean, the sand would turn into food, I did not need anything. But my mother commanded that I never show my transcendental feats. However, for devotees that have faith, things become alright when I just say “It will be okay”, or when I just look at them or when the word of their problem falls on my ears at the right time. Prasad informs me that a devotee had an accident some place. If that news falls on my ears at the right time, that person will be saved. So many during Covid – about a dozen of them – who were in the ICU and had no hope of survival are now well again. Over the phone, I called these devotees who were connected to tubes in the ICU and challenged them to stand up again assuring them they would not die at that time. I chanted Om Namo Hanumate Namaha.
They are all fine now. But this only works for those with devotion. If the devotees try various other means and rituals and mantras and yantras and go to various places for help without faith in what Swamiji says, then, it will not work. I do not even scold them for it. If they are very close devotees, I might just gently chide them for wasting their time and money. Swamiji does not have to give detailed guidance. Swamiji will give guidance very subtly. We feel Swamiji is not listening to our problems. I do not need to listen. Who says I have to? I just need to say – Okay go. Or, Come to Mysuru. Or, Come and take Teerthan tomorrow. Or, Sleep in the ashram. That is enough. This is medicine, it is the remedy, it is the solution. The devotees must recognize the solution. You can very easily visit the Mysuru Ashram and sleep for one night. You only need to take one bus to get to Mysuru. The Hyderabad devotees keep coming to Mysuru every week. Now that there is a direct flight, they are visiting frequently. They do not need anything, they just want to have Darshana and leave. They have so many great experiences with Swamiji.
I speak and appear like a human being. I talk about pain and cold and heat and sweat and thirst. That is where people fall into the trap. You must offer the necessary Seva to Swamiji, but you must always recognize in your mind that Swamiji is the walking God. If you see him as human, as son of Narasimhayya, then, you are in the soup. There has to be a cause for my birth so I chose Mother in this birth. I will choose another in the next birth. I am here on a mission.
Wherever there is Dharma, whether that place has 20 people or 20,000 people or 20 lakh people, I go see them and let them offer their services. I give them the right guidance. Those devotees consider me their family member. Even in difficulties, they do not approach Swamiji. They do not want to inconvenience Me. They only pray for the strength to face suffering. They know that if they tell Swamiji about their suffering, Swamiji will take on that suffering. They do not want to subject Swamiji to that suffering because they feel they are not such exalted devotees. They consider Swamiji as the elder in their household and only relate all the important news and events – weddings, birth of a child etc. If you see Swamiji as God who is the elder in the household, that is how Swamiji will respond. But if you look at him as a human, that is how he will respond. Swamiji mirrors your faith. You should come to God feeling you will win.
Pray for faith, love, devotion, strength to serve and a charitable nature. Do not seek grief. Grief will come unasked, why ask for it? If you come crying to God, God will ask you to continue crying. But if you always smile while offering worship, God will say – this person is smiling despite all the difficulties – and will bless you to continue smiling. Some have learned this trick. Most do not know this trick. Those who know will smile in the presence of Swamiji since they know the trick. They will go home after they serve Swamiji and cry when there is nobody at home. If you cry, all you get is a headache. So, why cry? Keep smiling. If you cry, your lifespan will shrink, your body will also shrink, your stomach will hurt, you will have grief. You should never grieve. Be stubbornly courageous in the face of difficulties. That is when we will win. Take challenges head on.
God will give you untold tests. During Covid, Swamiji narrated the Mahabharata. Many fortunate people listened to the narration. This is now being broadcast on various television channels. Keep viewing over and over. Everyone feels that Swamiji is talking to them or teaching them a lesson through those discourses. That belief will do you good. If you think it is not for you, you will not gain from it.
Many served here even during Covid. Anantapur devotees should come and serve here. Let this place progress. Bommeparthy volunteers and mothers, are all serving here. A mother who I saw as a child came with a walking stick to see me. But I could not hear her talk due to the noise you are making. I am not able to meet many devotees due to your noise. You must be reverential and silent in the presence of Swamiji. It is enough if Swamiji is vexed with the noise you are making, that will become a curse on you. That is why, you must be totally silent
Speech during Annakuta – Jayalakshmi Puram
oṁ ayiṁ hrīṁ śrīṁ lalita parameshvaryai namaḥ
bālā tripura sundaryai namaḥ
rāja rājeśvaryai namaḥ
oṁ ayiṁ hrīṁ śrīṁ śiva rāma anagha dattāya namaḥ
māta annapurṇeshvari
Jaya Guru Datta
Today we performed Annakotami, also known as Annakotimi ritual. We pour koti-koti (crores and crores of) rice grains (anna) into a heap for worship. This Annakota worship is very prevalent in Tamil Nadu and is known as Annakutam. And this is also often done near Himalayan regions as well as in Kasi. Some families near Orissa do it. It is not practiced in Andhra, Telangana, Karnataka states. Based on Swamiji’s inspiration, this Pournima Annadaana has been inaugurated. Praying that everyone participating in Pournima Annadaana Seva have plenty of food for seven births, I start this Pournima Annadaana program. Annadana has been a tradition in our lineage for a long time. It slowed down a little in the last 50-60 years.
One week ago, Swamiji asked for the Annapoorna murti that the chief priest at Kasi Annapurna temple worshiped. The Kasi priests adore Swamiji. They want Swamiji to be with them in Kasi. Swamiji received that main moorti. The original Annapurna murti that was stolen from India in the 15th century was found in a museum in Canada and has been returned and also consecrated in place in the Annapurna temple. So, Mother Goddess is now back in Kasi. Swamiji insisted that the prevailing moorti of Annapurna be brought here. A devotee brough the murti by Mother’s grace. The devotees say it is Swamiji’s grace. Regardless, we have the beautiful ancient murti of Mother here. It is an incredible miracle that this murti is here.
The Lord has written invisibly on each grain of rice the name of the person who would eat it. When you leave out some food, it means your name is not on those food grains. That food has the name of some smaller creatures and insects on it. Annam – food – is Prana. There is no life without food. Food can take any form such as rice, chapati, puri, sankati etc. No being can live without food. Swamiji has been encouraging “Share Your Food” Tuesdays worldwide for the last ten years. Volunteers also share food in various places. I keep reminding them that Annadaana is not cooking food at home and inviting our dear ones to eat. That is called a party. Annadaana is giving food to the hungry and the needy. We are doing Annadaana now, but you will only get five percent of the merit from this. If you really want full merit of Annadaana, go out today and tell the hungry in your area that they will get food tomorrow. And go feed them tomorrow. 22-28% of the world population is dying due to starvation. I feel very bad. I do not know why they are not getting food. I do not know what sins they committed. I pray on this day that those people get food somehow.
Jayalakshmi Mata used to donate food generously all her life. She was verily Annapurneshvari. Swamiji has made the sankalpa to consecrate Annapurna Mata at a raised height behind Jayalakshmi Mata’s murti. Tatagaru (Sri Narahari Teertha Swamy) is yateeshvara, He is very present there. But this here is not Mother’s Brindavana. It is her murti made of clay. That is why, we decided to consecrate Annapurna Mata here. May the starving 22% also find food. They should not go hungry. Sometimes, when Swamiji has his meals (Bhiksha), I remember the poor who are starving and I cannot eat anymore. You may think they are paying for their sins but there is also a solution in us sharing our food with them. We can share a morsel with another when we eat. Swamiji made such a prayer today. Tatagaru’s shrine is beautifully made from stone.
Madhusudana Shastri ji and his disciples keep visiting here. He is like a mind-born son of Jayalakshmi Mata. Along with Amara Datta (the priest at Jayalakshmi Puram) is Chidambaram who grew up near Appaji. I gave him freedom to make his own living, he did not want to receive money from Swamiji for his livelihood. He studied in our Ashram and is also here helping out Amara Datta. The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh allocated some land to build a school here. Swamiji also intends that the children of nearby villages learn Sanskrit and English languages here. Swamiji made this Sankalpa here. This will certainly happen in due course.
Crores of rice grains are poured as a heap in Annakoota ritual. In Orissa, two quintals of soaked rice grains are poured over hot cooked rice; and over the soaked rice grains is again poured hot cooked rice. That way, all of the rice gets cooked from the heat. And then crores of people receive Annadaana. We started small today. I bless that everyone that participated in this Seva as well as their families be blessed with food for seven generations. Annadaana is rare and direct Seva because people are receiving and consuming the food. The recipient of your Vastra daanam might discard the clothes you donate after wearing them, but the food you donate mixes with the blood. Next to Annadaana is Vidya daanam. When Annadaana is done, that is when we can do Vidya dana, i.e., share knowledge. It is only when we are alive that we can gain knowledge. Man somehow manages to get clothes. The skin is the clothing given by God. Many Brahmins do not even wear many clothes. They consider their skin their robe. Therefore Vidya daanam is superior to Vastra daanam. And Annadaana is even more superior to Vidya danam. Everyone participate in Annadaana. All beings – humans, animals, birds etc. eat food. Swamiji will offer Bhiksha to Mother Goddess and will receive that as Bhiksha. I read the names of all the Seva kartas. All those who participated in the Seva will get four rice grains. Take it home and mix with your rice grains at home. Eat the Prasadam served here slowly and wholeheartedly. Yesterday up to 4000 people ate here. Do not worry that it is raining, eat to your heart’s content. Offer namaskaram to the rice on your plate and pray to Mother Goddess that everyone else in the world eat as you are eating. Your intent and strength of sankalpa will definitely have its influence.