Speech of HH Sri Datta Vijayananda Teertha Swamiji – 2nd Day of Chandi Yaga – June 7, 2025 – Mysore
Pujya Appaji blessed us all with the release of the Sahasranama USB by Sri Malladi Shreeram Prasad. May Pujya Appaji’s blessings be on him and his family. He is a great musician, yet he comes to the ashrama as Appaji’s child, not as a virtuoso musician. He and his younger brother as well as father always come forward to join the musical programs of the Ashrama. May their entire family be blessed.
It is very hard to describe the greatness of Lalita Sahasranama. In the nāma,
śuddhavidyānkurākāra dvijapanktidvayojjvala – this entire phrase is a nāma comprising 16 asksharas. There are other nāmās which have 1, 4, 8 or 16 aksharas.
Sri Shatdarshanam Sharma of Prodattur wrote a book on Pujya Appaji’s smile. The smile which we all come running to the Ashrama for, which grants great peace of mind when we behold, that is the smile which Vashini and all the devatas also witnessed in Mother Goddess.
When the Devatas wished to describe Her smile, they also saw Her 32 teeth as she smiled. Unlike our human teeth which perish over time, Mother’s teeth are eternal. The 2 rows of 16 teeth each are described as every letter, syllable, word, hymn and text which describe śuddha vidya or the blemishless knowledge.
Dvijapankti – refers to that which is twice born. We lose our milk teeth in childhood, which give way to permanent teeth. Similarly, birds are also known as dvijā because they are born after breaking free of the egg shell.
Each devotee is also considered dvijā – born twice – once from the mother’s womb when the physical body is born and once with the Guru’s darshana, when the Hridaya or heart is born.
Thus, Mother goddess’ teeth encompass śuddha vidya, gnyana, birds, devotees as well as the Vedantic scholars.
Our society is like a building which has been established with a very strong foundation. Each individual has a role to play and no task or person is big or small. Upanītās are those chosen by God to spread Gnyana.
We see various names which begin with ‘tri’ in Lalita Saharanama. We must understand this concept of tripuṭī signified by the number 3.
In Datta Darshanam, Dattatreya is mentioned as having ananta mukha. The 3 faces represent infinite faces. How can 3 represent infinity? Appaji explains this in Datta Darshanam. If we understand the number 3 around which the entire world revolves, we will understand this Tattva.
The number 3 is important for Agni, Vedas and even Nada which begin with sa pa sa. In Telugu, the word for 3 is mooḍu. We must read good books given by Pujya Sadgurudeva to let go of mood swings. For those who say ‘life is boring’, I think there is only one resort – ‘death is entertaining.’ If you are bored, try to fix that state.
To understand Tattva, the number 3 is very helpful. Appaji released an album titled ‘Tripura’ which contains Navavarana Keertanas. Navavarana means 9 enclosures. When the album was ready, we asked Appaji what the album should be named. Appaji said Tripura.
Muthuswamy Deekshitar praised the Mother as Kamalamba. In this album which Appaji composed, the word Tripura occurs in all the songs.
In the Tiruvarur temple, where Sri Muthuswamy Deekshitar composed the songs on Kamalamba, Appaji went and offers prayers during the Kumbhabhishekam for the temple.
During the pandemic, Appaji wanted to keep us busy and give us courage. During this time, He gave us many discourses on the Sookti Manjari, Mahabharata, Bhagavatam, Ramayana and even Tripura Rahasyam. At that time, Swamiji also sang the composition ‘Tripura Rahasya Samvidite’.
Tripura Rahasya is the bhiksha bestowed on the world by Lord Datta through Parashurama. It details how one should worship Mother Goddess. Now, Pujya Appaji is blessing us all with the Tripura Rahasya in a book format. If Tripura Rahasyam parayana is done during this Sahasra Chandi Yagnya, it grants immense benefits.