Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji during Divya Nama Sankeertana – January 1, 2022 – Mysore
Compiled by Lakshmi Sindhuri
We do not have any happy new year today. Our new year is Yugadi. But I wish you all anyway. So keep my blessings. Today, we have Corona’s father, son and Pitamaha (grandfather) all around – so many family members of Covid!! They are doing their own seva to people. Thanks to grandfather, grandson and the small Omicron baby also. And, I bless them- ‘May you all will die soon. Go to moksha, for this world is not good for you. This world is full of evil and confusions. So go to your place for safety. This Kali Yuga and human planet is not good for you. They kill you all in different ways using vaccinations etc. I do not want to see you suffer. So go back to your world. You are now taking revenge on us. But enough of the revenge you took so far. Please go back to your country. Bye, bye to all of you – Black fungus, Delta, grandfather Corona and Omicron. We humans are very bad. If we attack you, then your story will end. So leave us gracefully. We will follow all the rules. We will do anything for that. We will close mouth, nose or anything. We will close all nine holes of our body with a piece of cloth if needed. We will get a tailor to stitch the cloth just to give you respect. This is first day of year. Is it possible to close all our nine holes? You will have to run away out of fear, if we do so. Therefore, be careful and run away”.
I cannot even identify if you are laughing, because you are always wearing a mask. We do not know whether one is laughing or crying when the mask is worn. My voice also sounds different when I wear a mask.
Bhajan Sarade Varade Ma: Mann me dole hamsavahini –
This means, Mother! Mind is the bed made of swans where Mother Sarada is swinging. Give me knowledge and Jnana, for Jnana alone is permanent. All we need is Jnana, birth after birth. We are wallowing in ignorance. We think Ajnana (ignorance) is everything and life. We think of Kama (desire), krodha (anger) as our samsara (world). We keep falling into it repeatedly. We are trapped in this. This is like a quagmire where the depth is unknown. We can neither swim nor float to the surface. We just keep sinking deep. We see the quagmire in forests usually covered with dried leaves etc. It’s neither water not mud. It’s not even dried mud. Its depth is not known. Some can have a depth of 200 feet also. Unknowingly, we step inside and get trapped. Elephants fall inside and never come up. Just imagine. Do you not get scared? Who will protect us then? In that forest, who will hold our hand and pull us up?
Anyone that tries to lend a hand also sinks due to weight and gravity. So, even the one who tries to rescue get trapped. This is like giving a loan that can never be recovered. You can touch one who has smeared fragrances. We cannot hug one who has smeared mud. The water remains stagnant inside such a quagmire for several years – 200 years or 600 years or even 1000 years. Moreover, it is in a forest which never sees sunshine. Imagine how many leaves or filth would have accumulated in that. It keeps getting filthy and hence becomes deeper and deeper year after year. We are caught in such a quagmire that is dark and filthy. This is the analogy given by Sri Sankara Bhagavadpaada. Paramaatma is our sole refuge.
Usually, one who knows swimming tries to protect one who does not know how to swim. But then, the former also gets trapped. Hence we must also learn to save someone while learning to swim. Only if we know how to smartly escape the trap must we offer to help. Else we must not offer any help.
Do not sign sureties for anyone because we will get ruined in the end. You may have a great bond with the other person. But, never sign a surety sign for any reason. Serve them food for a day or lend them some money without expectation. That is alright. So, for the one who is trapped in a similar manner, you must only try to prepare for the funeral rites. Know that his end is certain. Do not entertain such cases at all. Just take a selfie and forget about that person.
Nowadays, people are busy taking selfies for everything. They post those selfies on social media seeking public attention. They do not use cameras to capture something good. If someone is suffering or in trouble, they just take a selfie and post on Facebook. They feel that police will take care of the matter as though they have no social responsibility. They do not feel like offering help. They just want to take selfies and get thousands of likes on Facebook. They are ready to take a video when someone is about to die or when some accident happens around them. They do not try to help or get the victim’s address or try to get them to a hospital. Instead, they try to get the best possible angle for their video. On the contrary, when something good happens they say that they forgot to take the video or that their phone ran out of battery. A Kannada channel show called
‘Bisi bisi baath’ shows such matters and people eagerly watch such shows. There is no compassion, sympathy, or fear for Dharma in people. No one thinks about calling the police or the hospital during times of danger. Is this not the way of the world now?
I have seen the news about the stampede at Vaishnavi Devi temple. Why do you have to go to Vaishnavi temple at 12 midnight? In this new year, some twenty people died due to the stampede. Why cannot you stay in the queue and be disciplined to have Darshana of the deity? Where will the Vaishnavi Devi go? What is the need to get Darshana at 12 am in the first place? Is this our tradition to celebrate New year on 1st Jan? I felt so sad. What is the need to go? Already the place is so small inside the temple. But, lakhs of people thronged the place. No wonder the stampede happened. The Government announced ex-gratia for the people who died. It looks like people went there because their families would receive the ex-gratia. This is just like how the farmers commit suicide. We do not have permission to die once we surrender to Guru. You must seek his permission first if you do not wish to live. If the Guru does not give you permission, then you must live and struggle. So many people struggle in so many ways. But, they live somehow. Why cannot you simply breathe and live?
Did you ever enjoy divine names with your ears, did you enjoy the form of the Lord with your eyes? Did you take the Lord’s teertha into your mouth? Did you ever place vibhuti or kumkum on your forehead? All you do is cry and complain about not getting married, not bearing children, etc.
So many illiterates have learned the Bhagavad Gita and have received the certificate from Swamiji. Why do you not think that you can do the same? You can give salvation to your ancestors (Pitru Devatas) by listening to Bhagavad Gita or chanting it. What can we give back to our ancestors? They will be so satisfied and happy with Bhagavad Gita.
Are you doing good deeds at home? No! All you do is fight. Why can you not live peacefully at home? Wife and husband doubt each other. Parents doubt children and vice versa. You always are chasing money. You always scold either daughter or son. Of course, they also are equally to blame. You must do bhajans, do good activities etc. We have a family. We are together like this today. So, be happy always. We must be very happy to be together. All births have different origins. We have diverse backgrounds. Wife, husband, children are co-existing now. But all you do is fight all the time. You always say that you are running losses. We must try to be happy always. Who knows to what family or what country you belonged in the past? We do not know where will go after death. We have no fear of all this. This is called fear of Dharma.
We either end up in an accident or die somehow. We are alive only until there is life in us. When it is absent, what are we? Even Miss India or Miss Universe will be buried after death. Can we safeguard the dead body of a person as a mummy? Is there is any benefit in doing that? What is the use of a mummy that is kept for 600 years? That is just a show. Of what use is that? Once there is no life in us, all of us will part ways. Some of your spouses died already. Do you know where they left for? Did you call them and find out? You may end up as a mosquito that causes dengue or probably you will be born as a kind of Covid or Omicron baby virus. If you come in front of me, I can tell your future birth for sure. I am sure all of you will take such births. I am counting the births of the family of Covid. They are all old but they seem to be novel now.
You only pretend dispassion. But you must win something in this human birth. Do not waste this birth by eating mud, says Daasaru. This body is nothing. It is just made up of flesh. Imagine how you would look without a nose. You will have two holes, that is it. Imagine how you would look without eyes. You will have two holes, that is it. Imagine in this manner and tell me if you do not experience dispassion. The students aiming to become a Doctor will know this. They see the dead body hanging in their labs at college. Do you feel a dead body is beautiful? You just see the skeleton. Imagine a skeleton walking and talking. Will you call it a Sundarangi (beautiful female) or Sundaranga (beautiful male) Will you kiss? Will you offer idlis? If you do offer idlis to the skeleton, it will just fall down to the ground.
Once, we went to Peru. Kusumakka wanted to see the Deities of the Peru citizens. I did not want to see it because I know what it would look like. A devotee named Sherry also insisted that we go and offer puja to their deities. So, we went there and they brought the first deity. To everyone’s surprise, what they call a deity is a skeleton. Prasadi ran away seeing that. Kusumakka was trying to pacify Prasadi. Moreover, they also offered naivedya which was given to us. That also is made of skeletons. I laughed so much that day. They said they will bring another deity for us to see. It seems it is important to see all deities. I told Kusumakka that she will have dreams of all the deities for 40 days. The deities are the dead bodies of their parents, grandparents, etc. They worship their dead bodies. This is their tradition. Before showing their deities, they also offered us some corn. I refused for some reason but Kusumakka and others nicely ate. After seeing dead bodies as their deities, they felt sorry about accepting and eating the corn from their hands?
Do we want such a tradition here also? Do we worship dead bodies? We must attain the same dispassion when one is alive also. You have excessive love for each other. But remember that when two people are together, one must leave before the other. This was my Peru story. I only remember this incident so clearly out of all other incidents. I close my eyes and this incident is fresh in my memory even today.
Jaya Guru Datta!