Speech and Q&A Session of HH Sri Datta Vijayananda Teertha Swamiji – Corona Satsangam – April 26 , 2020 – Mysore
Compiled by Jaya Akkanapragada
Śrī Gańéśāya namaha
Śrī Sarasvatyé namaha
Śrī Pādavallabha nrsimha Sarasvati
Śri Guru Dattātréyāya namaha
Śri Gańapati Sacchidānanda Sadgurubhyō namaha
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Guru Datta
On this occasion of Akshaya tritīya, I pray that Sadguru’s grace always be upon all of us. Today we all witnessed the prakruti puja performed by Pujya Sri Swamiji. There is a very deep connection between nature and Akshaya tritīya.
According to the Nārada Purāńa, any good act done today will have manifold benefits. By performing prakruti puja today, may nature, interstellar space and the entire brahmāndam be at peace.
prithvi śāntihi antarikśagum śāntihi
yau śāntihi viśas śāntihi
Dāna plays a very important role on Akshaya tritīya. Akshaya means that which cannot be destroyed. By performing dāna karma today, the fruit of that act can never be destroyed. Every day we must do satkarma – good deeds. In this time of great difficulty because of the Corona outbreak, each day, Sri Swamiji enquires about the people who need help and who are hungry, and makes arrangements for them to receive cooked food or provisions to cook on their own. Across all the ashramas, devotees are conducting massive food drives to feed hungry people. There are animals in forests which do not have food, so today a truckload of vegetables was sent for them.
Today is also celebrated as Paraśurāma Jayanti and Balarāma Jayanti. I pray that you all have limitless Gurubhakti for Sadguru and may you all be blessed with the buddhi to do satkarma.
Akśaya tritīya is a festival which women especially love since they can purchase gold today. On this day, one must purchase gold in order to donate it. The Védās say that by donating gold, one gains immense benefits. Unlike other metals, gold has many benefits.
When Prajāpati was creating this world, first the asurās (demons) were born and then the dévatās were born. So the asurās are elder brothers to the dévatās. Along with the asurās, many metals also came into creation. God was not at all happy with these developments, and He started tapas. From that tapas emerged gold – suvarńa.
tasmāt suvarńa gumbhyam bhāryam
suvarńa ātmanā bhavati
Védās say that when the dévatās were born, gold also came into existence. Suvarńa means that which glitters and shines very brightly. The more it is polished, the brighter gold shines. It also has the quality of never becoming dull. This is why the védās also say everyone should wear a little gold either in the form of earrings, on the fingers or around the neck. Vidyārańya Swami in védabhāśyam (commentary on the védās) said that when gold comes in contact with the earlobes, it improves the grasping power and the ability to learn.
By donating gold today, one gains countless blessings. Many people are feeling bad that they are unable to visit Sri Swamiji today, and offer suvarńa dāna. Whenever you get to have Swamiji’s darśana next, you could offer whatever you planned to give at His lotus feet.
If we have any dōśās because we have neglected our ancestors, today by praying to them, they will be appeased. If your parents are alive, pray to them for their blessings today. If they are not alive, pray to Sadguru and Dattatreya Swami that they receive Sadgati.
It is okay to invest some money and buy a little gold so that you have something to fall back on, but one must not accumulate too much gold. Today is the day Kubéra swami is revered and worshipped as the lord of all metals and precious stones. Today is also the day Viśnu wed Goddess Lakshmi. This is why Lakshmi devi is worshipped as wealth in the form of gold. This is why we have a tradition of donating gold or whatever wealth we can on this day.
All of us know the story of Paraśurāma and the role he plays in the story of Dattatreya Swami. Even though Paraśurāma and Kārtavīryārjuna were sworn enemies, they both had the blessings of Dattatreya Swami. Today being Paraśurāma Jayanti, we must also remember and offer our prayers to Dattatreya Swami.
akśayambuga kāśi lōpala annapūrńa bhavānivai
sākśi gańapati kanna tallivi sadguńā kriti śāmbhavī
mōkša mosagedu kanakadurgavu mūlakārańa śaktivi
sikśa jétuvu ghōra bhavamula śrīgiri bhramarāmbikā
You all may have heard this famous verse from the Brahmarāmba ashtakam.
Hearing this may remind you of the bhajan – svāmi māruti lōkapālaka (ID 1040)
This very ancient tune has been used for the starting line of the bhajan, and was first sung by Appaji in Hyderabad.
Whenever we receive food, or we give food to someone, we should remember that Annapūrńa māta is the one giving us all food, and that we are offering it to Her. Sākši Gańapati temple is in the same lane as our ashram in Kāśi in Kedar ghat. Swamiji has mentioned that it is to this Sākśi Gańapati that He prayed in His childhood. We must remember that in Everything that we do, every act we perform, Annapurna dévi sees as a witness (sākśi) and She showers us with untold blessings.
Kanakadurga reminds us of our Patamata Marakata Rajarajeshwari devi temple in Vijayawada. Today we saw Mother Goddess as the Forest Goddess when Appaji was performing prakruti puja. Mother Goddess seems like She is testing and teaching us (sikśa) but She is actually protecting us (rakśa). O Mother, who grants us mōkša, please protect and bless us.
This verse from the Brahmarāmba ashtakam is chanted by Telugu people today. We have remembered this tradition as well.
Nārada Purāńa mentions the significance of each māsa (month), the day (tithi), what it is called, as well as the rituals to be performed. The following slokas are mentioned for Vaiśākha tritīya.
rādhā śukla trutīyāya sā akšayā parikīrtā
tithis trétā yugādyāsa krutas akśaya kārińi
dvéśuklé tathā kriśné yugādi kavayō viduhu
śuklé pūrvāńhiké grāhyé kriśné caiva tapas yathā
dvāparam hi kalir bhādré pravruttāni yugāni vai
tatra rādhā tritīyāyām śrī samétam jagadgurum
nārāyańam samabhyarcyét puśpa dhūpa vilépanai hi
yadvā gangām bhasih snātō mucyaté sarva kilbiśai hi
akśatai hi pūjayéd viśnum snāyād pyakśatér naraha
saktun sambhōjayéd viprān svayam abhyavaré ca tān
évam kruta vidhir vipra narō viśnu parāyanaha
viśnu déva sa vāpnōti sarva déva namaskrutaha
There are 4 significant months – āśādha, kārtika, māgha and vaiśākha. In the month of vaiśākha, on the full moon day (pūrńima), Viśākha nakshatra presides and is also known as rādha. This is a hot month with 2 dévatās – Indra and Agni presiding. You will notice that it is very hot and stifling, because after this, the rains have to come. There is heat present in us, as well as in the earth, and the sun’s rays are stronger now.
In this kalpa, during vaiśākha month, akśaya tritīya is celebrated. In another kalpa (period of time), during the bhādrapada tritīya, kaliyuga commenced. On that day, to mark the beginning of a new yuga, Lord Gańapati was first worshipped, and this is how the tradition of celebrating Vināyaka Chaviti began.
In Kanakadhāra stōtra, Śri Mahā Viśnu is called tribhuvana Guru. On this day, we must worship Him along with Mother Goddess Lakshmi as Jagadguru – lord of this world. This is why we also chant ‘Krishnam Vandé Jagadgurum’
On this day, bathing in the Ganga is very important. Right now, the Ganga is very clean and pure. Appaji said the other day that He feels like going and swimming there. If the Yamuna in Delhi has become clean, that is a great Corona sādhana! With all the factories closed, no effluents are being discharged into the rivers. The Ganga becoming clean and pure in Haridwar is not unimaginable since it is close to the mountains, but the Yamuna becoming clean in Delhi is really astonishing! Since we cannot and should not travel, and we cannot bathe in the Ganga, just turn the tap at home, and chant the prayer
Gangé jamuné kriśné gōdāvari sarasvatī narmadé sindhu kāvérī jalésmin sannidhim kuru |
May all the 7 rivers be present in this water. Praying thus, bathe in that water.
Today Viśnu should be worshipped with flowers and akshatā (raw rice mixed with turmeric)
Usually akshatā should not be offered to Viśnu sāligrāma. Kumkuma should also not be offered. Viśnu felt great remorse at separating Jalandhara and Brunda. He then blessed Brunda with the form of tulasi, and Jalandhara with the form of a conch (śankha) so that they may always be together when Sri Viśnu is worshipped. Dévī Bhāgavatam says that Viśnu should not be worshipped with akśatās except on this day.
We must carefully handpick each grain of rice making sure none of them are broken either at the ends or in the middle. These grains should then be mixed with turmeric and offered to Swami. There is also a tradition of using flattened rice flakes since even poor people can afford these grains. Kućéla gave Śrī Kriśna rice flakes. Akshatā represents unbreakable indestructible knowledge bestowed by Bhagavān. We pray to the Swami who is present at the beginning (ādi) and the end (anta) in the subtle form as well as in the middle (Madhya) in each rice grain, and offer the akśatās to Him.
Preparing something with flattened rice flakes or offering rice flakes to those who have learnt the védās is recommended today. Since you cannot invite anyone home in these circumstances, you can always do this at a later point of time. It is very important to donate to the poor today. One should also eat a preparation made with rice flakes on this day.
Since today is Paraśurāma Jayanti, let us also recollect the story narrated by Appaji to us during the consecration of the Daśāvatāra mūrti in Guntur. Everyone thinks of Paraśurāma as always being very angry. But he was a great tapasvī. He had performed many austerities. In each avatāra, Mahāviśnu had to undertake certain tasks. The tasks which He had to take up in the Paraśurāma avatāra required Him to be angry.
The daśāvatārās – 10 avatārās teach us about the journey of mankind.
matsya kūrmō varāhaś ca
nārasimhōtha vāmana ha |
rāmō rāmaś ca rāmaś ca
kriśnā kalki hi té namaha ||
Matsya (fish) explains the journey in the womb. As Kūrma (tortoise) He shows us how the senses should only be used as and when required. The rest of the time, they should retreat into the shell. Tortoises can be on land as well, but spend most of their time in water. Now that there are no people around, turtles can be seen in the thousands nesting on the shores of Orissa’s beaches. Even at the ashrama, we are able to see lifeforms we could never see before. The stray dogs on the roads must be thinking, “the municipal trucks came and took the people away even though we didn’t complain about them!”
As Varāha (boar) He has four legs and can be in water as well as on land. After rescuing Mother Earth, He emerged from the water, and set foot on land with four legs. Varāha means good day.
Nārasimha means na mrugam na mānuśam – in this form, the form of man was first seen. He was neither animal nor man. Paramātma was still on the quest to create man, and therefore the form is not complete yet. With the head of a lion, He represents violence. Paramātma was not content with this form.
Then He came as Vāmana – a miniature human to represent that no matter how small the form, one can scale great heights. But people said “O Swami, you can do great feats like this, but we are mere mortals.”
Then He came as a completely formed human as Paraśurāma. He is also known as Bhārgava Rāma. Rāma is the ancient name of Brahma. It is not a new name given to Paraśurāma. Appaji has reminded us on several occasions that sacchidānanda which appears in each bhajan is not His name, but a reminder of the form of Parabrahma. Paraśurāma was known as bhārgava rāma because he was born in the bhrugu clan.
His father Jamadagni Maharśi once ordered him to sever his mother’s head. None of his other children agreed to carry out the father’s orders, but Paraśurāma had faith in his father’s tapas, so he picked up an axe, and severed her head. Pleased with this, Jamadagni Maharśi blessed Paraśurāma and asked him for a boon. Paraśurāma knew the healing powers his father had, so he asked him “Please rescue Mother Réńukā devi.” Jamadagni Maharśi then brought her back to life and asked his son to ask for another boon. Paraśurāma said he wished to learn from Lord Śiva.
After learning from Śiva, Paraśurāma wished to offer Guru dakśina. Śiva said there is nothing one could offer to a mendicant, but Paraśurāma insisted. Then Śiva said “I have a devotee Rāvańa, who is being held by the mighty Kārtavīryārjuna. You please go and free him.”
Everybody who had gone before to rescue Rāvańa had been vanquished, and there was no one left in Lanka. Paraśurāma went and freed Rāvańa.
Grateful for being rescued, Rāvańa asked Paraśurāma to ask for a boon. Paraśurāma said “As a king, you will capture and hold many rival kings and their relatives as prisoners. When you do so, do not put them through the difficulties which you faced here.” This is why after kidnapping Sītāmāta, Rāvańa placed her in the aśōka forest since she was living the life of a forest dweller. This is a very important work which Paraśurāma avatāra undertook. He also teaches us about the importance of Gurudakśina – offering a gift to the teacher who bestows knowledge. We must always be indebted to our teacher.
You all know the story of how when Jamadagni Maharśi refused to part with the cows since he needed them for performing religious ceremonies, his head was chopped off. It is mentioned in the Purāńās that Kártavīryārjuna himself chopped off the Maharśi’s head. Enraged upon hearing this, Paraśurāma killed him. Since his mother Réńukā dévi called him 21 times, Paraśurāma went around the earth 21 times, and rid the earth of all the bad kings. Sparing kings like Daśaratha, who were on the path of dharma, Paraśurāma killed all the bad kings who were simply enjoying the riches of the kingdom but were not leading a life of dharma.
Many yugās ago, on this day, on his birthday, he gave up the entire world which was now under his control to véda pandits, poor people and anybody who needed land. Paraśurāma teaches us to give away gifts on our birthday. It is especially significant to donate on this day – akśaya tritīya.
Paraśurāmā’s axe was stained with the blood of all the slain kings, and try as he might, the blood could not be washed off. Dattatreya Swami appeared before him, and asked him to create pancāmalaka tirtha and wash the axe with it. When the axe started shining, Dattatreya Swami asked him to discard the axe, and pick up the japamāla, thus riding Paraśurāma of violence and blessing him with śānti. Since Kārtavīryārjuna had asked for the blessing of being killed at the hands of a great warrior so that he may go to Vaikuntha, he also received Dattatreya Swami’s blessings. Paraśurāma was blessed by Dattareya Swami with the knowledge of Tripurā rahasya as well on this day.
krōdhā véśa balāt
krōdhā véśavaśāt balāt vichalitu
brāhmyāt vathō janmajāt
kśātram mārga manuvratō katutaram
śānti kśayam cāpayaha
dattānugraha tō babhūva munirāt
tam bhārgavō pāhvayam
rāmā kāradharam namāmi manasā
saccit sukham śrī harim
saccit sukham śrī harim
The entire story of how Paraśurāma was born in a brahmin family, and because of his anger he killed kśatriyā kings, how Dattatreya Swami blessed him and gave him sānti and turned him into a muni like his father is told beautifully in these 10 verses given by Pujya Sri Appaji.
Jai bolo Paraśurāma svāmi ki jai! He was an upholder of dharma, if not for him, trétā yuga would have been very difficult.
Although he was born as a complete man, Paraśurāma was filled with anger. If anger can be controlled and used when needed, it is good. But to be angry all the time was not something Mahāviśnu was very happy about. He came next as Balarāma. Today is also Balarāma Jayanti.
yah kriśnāgraja divya bhavya
pada vīńāthōpi nityam hala
prōdyat svīya karō
babhūva ca kriśé he
prādhānyamāvédayan tam bhadram
bala bhadra nāma kalitam
svarńā bhadéhollasad
rāmākāra dharam namāmi manasā
saccit sukham śrī harim
saccit sukham śrī harim
Jai bolo Balarāma Svāmi ki Jai!
In this sloka Appaji is telling us that even though he was the elder brother of Sri Krishna, Balarāma walked around as an ordinary farmer with a plough in hand. This is to signify that without farmers, this world would not exist. How would we get our food, if not for the farmers?
Rāma was the complete man who could employ anger as and when he needed. But even with this, Mahāviśnu was not satisfied. Then he took the form of Krishna.
Śrī kriśnaha pūrńa svayam – with this avatāra, He gained pūrńatvam (completion), and bestowed Bhagavad Gīta. Only with gñāna, comes completion. Nothing else completes man like gñāna.
The daśāvatārās are nothing but the difficulties we face, and our journey towards fulfilment and completion.
May we all be blessed with akśaya (unending) guru bhakti, akśaya dāna buddhi and akśaya tyāga buddhi.
Q&A with Pujya Sri Bala Swamiji
Q 1: How come Rama who was a Kshatriya had no anger?
A : He had anger but he was in control. He had sātvika siddhi – great will-power which He could use to invite anger when needed, and use it. Everyone should lead a sātvika life. It does not matter what caste you belong to. Everyone should try to develop sātvika guńa.
Q 2: what is the difference between manas and buddhi? Many times, we know the difference between right and wrong. How should we practice discriminating between right and wrong?
A : Manas or mind is the cause for this janma. Buddhi or intellect helps us live this life. With buddhi, we can think and take definite decisions. Manas can only show us the options in front of us, but cannot decide for us. We can think with the buddhi which is on top and take decisions. If we use our buddhi, we will go up. If we think with our manas, we will go down. This is what the śāstrās say.
Manas or mind should not be confused with the heart. The heart is where emotions such as compassion and kindness reside. Manas is always in flux – cancalam. Whereas buddhi is always steadfast – sthiram. Therefore, we must think with our buddhi. We must use the buddhi to control manas.
We must always think with our buddhi. In any matter, including falling in love with someone, if you use your manas, you may jump off a cliff, but if you think with your buddhi, you will analyse who that person is, their background and the pros and cons of being with them. Many times, young people do not use their buddhi, not just in these matters, but in many matters, and end up suffering. Buddhi helps us understand what the consequences will be, and therefore what decision we must take. If buddhi was not important, why would Bhagavān give us buddhi yoga?
Q 3: In which Purāña is Buddha considered an incarnation of Viśnu?
A : In Śrīmad Bhāgavata, his name is arihā. Ari – means enemies. He is the one who destroys enemies. There were 2 deities who were not on the path of dharma, but because they followed védās and performed hōmās, they had certain śaktī-s or powers. To remove those powers, Buddha forces them to go against the védās and grabs their power.
Q 4: During Appaji’s visit to Guntur last year, He urged many devotees to give up eating meat. However, many doctors say that not eating meat causes vitamin B-12 and vitamin D deficiency. Many people would have started eating meat again. Please throw some light and provide some facts.
A : it is said in science that one will get Vitamin D and B-12 by eating non-vegetarian food. I agree. But how many more years are we going to live if we have a perfect B-12 and Vitamin D count? Are we going to live for 200-300 years? Certainly not.
Even I have B-12 and vitamin D deficiency. All vegetarians do. We should take some supplements to get rid of deficiencies. I feel people just want to give an excuse so they can taste non-vegetarian food. That is not correct. If you want to lead a life on the spiritual path, you have to avoid non-vegetarian food as Appaji said. I suggest giving up non-vegetarian food. Be on the path of ahimsa.
Q 5: There is a nandi in front of sacchidānandéśvara. But why is there no nandi in front of sarvadōśahara śivālaya?
A : We have a nandi mūrti for Sacchidānandéśvara, and one for Viśvéswara Swami. To receive the benefit of viewing all the 12 dvādaśa jyōtirlingās, Swamiji has consecrated the sarvadōśahara śivalingās. Since a nandi cannot be placed in front of each linga, a small cara nandi is placed there.
Q 6: How does man achieve pūrńatvam?
A : It can only be achieved with Guru kripa. The Guru’s grace bestows gñāna, which in turn helps one achieve completion.
Q 7: what is the difference between pūrńāvatāra and amśāvatāra?
A : We should not use the word amśāvatāra. I am against it. The śāstrās say there is no amśa or part to Paramātma. Some like Appaji are fully realized. Some other people are realized to some extent, and not realized to some extent. Keeping this in mind, amśāvatāra is used in the śāstrās. If the ocean is considered pūrńa (the whole), a spoonful of the ocean’s water would be amśa. There is no difference in taste, but we cannot call the water in the spoon pūrńa. Sri Krishna said
bahūni mé vyatītāni
janmāni tava cārjuna
tānyaham véda sarvāńi
na tvam véttha parantapa – Bhagavad Gita 4.5
I know all the births I have taken, I am realized. But you do not know how many births you have taken before this birth. You are not realized. Therefore, we consider Krishna as Pūrńāvatāra, and all others as amśāvatārā. They are complete, but according to our knowledge, they are not pūrńa.
Q 8: Who is Nimruji dévana in sandhyōvāji tarpańam?
A : It has been many days since I have done sandhyāvandanam, since I am not supposed to. Sanyāsās have a rule that they must forget these rituals, so I have forgotten them. In Devi Bhāgavatam, the procedure to perform gayatri mantra, the dévatās for each akśara, the number of times the mantra should be chanted, where the arghya dévatās – Saraswati, Gāyatri and Brāhmī originate – are all mentioned in the ékādaśa and dvādaśa skandā. Now when you have time during this lockdown, if you can go through, you will clearly understand.
Q 9: why did Lord Rama depend on animals such as monkeys and eagle to win against Rāvańa? What is the significance to the world?
A : To show the equality between all beings, Rama took the help of all animals including squirrel, monkeys, birds and everyone who came to help. He showed that He is realized and is Paramātma.
Q 10: what is sādhana catuśtayam?
A : this is a very big topic which we are discussing in Yoga Vāsiśtam. It is mentioned in the beginning of kriya yoga as a very important aspect.
sādhana catuśtayam śamādi śatka sampatti.
There are 4 very important components needed to become an authority in Yoga, which are known as sādhana catuśtayam. Since this is a very big topic, we will take it up in more detail another time. This is actually a very good question related to Satsanga. Since not answering a question which is asked would be a dōśa, I have tried to briefly answer here.
Today is Sunday, and for the past 5 days since Wednesday we have had this Satsanga. On behalf of all of you, I pray to Pujya Sri Swamiji to bless us with His Satsanga from tomorrow.
Once during a meeting Appaji ordered me to write books like Harshānanda Swami of Ramakrishna Mattham. Harshānanda Swami had written books on many different topics. That order of Appaji’s is a blessing which made me want to spend an hour each day and translate the great Sanskrit work Nīlakantha Vijayam into Telugu. You will find answers to many questions in these 5 chapters. This book will be released by Appaji. You can place your order online and download the e-book. It is my wish to offer the proceeds received from the sale of this e-book to the annadānam fund since Appaji is doing so much to benefit all those who are hungry and in need of help.
Jaya Guru Datta.