Speech of Param Pujya Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji to devotees on Ugadi Day - April 13, 2021

  • 13 Apr 2021
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It is man’s nature to wish for victory, regardless of whether he is embarking on something noble or something sinful. Sometimes, man does not succeed despite good intent whereas someone with bad intent is seen to succeed. Man starts to doubt himself and wishes to emulate the sinful who seem to be winning. Slowly, his enthusiasm and his will to do good diminish. That man wonders why he is not victorious despite being truthful and honest. The Pandavas too felt that the wicked Kaurvas were winning while they themselves who were just and fair were not.

 

The Pandavas asked Guru Dhaumya: We do so much charity, we are austere and avowed to truth, yet we are in exile and suffering, while the wicked Kauravas who have usurped our wealth seem to be winning. We are even deprived of food and clothing. Guru Dhaumya said: You are now censuring God, but you do not recognize the Lord who is right with you.

 

Many do not recognize divinity. Are you burning incense at your shrine? Are you chanting the Bhagavad Gita shlokas? Are you sitting in prayer at your shrine? Are you feeding a crow at least? Are you recognizing that you have such a great Guru? You treat your Guru like an astrologer.

 

Guru Dhaumya said: You have Lord Krishna, whereas Kauravas only have their strength. They are winning purely owing to their strength. You are unable to recognize that you have God with you, that is why you are not winning. Pandavas wondered - we may have not recognized the presence of the Lord, but the Kauravas did not even have the Lord with them. How did they win? Guru Dhaumya said - You are only talking about winning and losing, but you are not recognizing that the Lord is with you. You are going so far as to even doubt the Lord's prowess. Hence, the Lord is testing you. Let unwavering devotion be entrenched in your nature. You are not recognizing the supreme Sri Krishna in your presence (just as you are not recognizing Pujya Swamiji in your presence).

 

We receive greater punishment when we do not recognize that the Lord is right with us. It is only after the Pandavas recognized Sri Krishna as the supreme Lord that they finally won. In the Ramayana, Sri Rama continued fighting Ravana for a long time instead of slaying Ravana in one fell swoop. Why did Sri Rama fight so hard?  Ravana dispatched all the demons to battle before he himself came out to fight. At Ravana's behest, demons came from all regions, caves, mountains and worlds. Had Ravana come to battle first, the demons would have been spared. So, Sri Rama did not kill Ravana until all the demons were slain first. Similarly, until all of Duryodhana's followers are destroyed, the Lord will give him victory. Finally, the Lord will destroy them all.

 

Guru Dhaumya indicated - Learn to recognize the Lord. He even offered to be your charioteer. He showed his cosmic form in the Kaurava assembly too, yet you thought Sri Krishna, the son of Nanda, was human. Your doubting intellect led to this situation, so you have to suffer. Draupadi was humiliated in the assembly due of your fault. You were overconfident about Sri Krishna being with you, but what merit did you earn to obtain his grace? Did you look upon him with devotion? Sri Krishna asked them why he should protect them? He assured his protection after all their sins are removed.

 

Therefore, realize you have certain power in you. Tap into that. Do Pranayama. Do atleast ten minutes of Dhyana/meditation. Have you no shame not chanting the Gayatri when you are eligible to chant it? You are not using that power. You must worship God at home. If you cannot worship for 1 hour, worship for 5-10 minutes. Chant some prayers. Do Guru Puja. Follow Guru even more steadfastly. Do not follow Guru as if He is a priest or a lawyer. You suffered through the coronavirus somehow, you managed, you did not come running to me. Do not keep running to me for every small thing. Come to Guru only for uplifting yourself. You must come to Guru only for knowledge, but take care of all trivial worldly hankerings yourself.

 

You have excessive ego and a doubting mentality and obstinacy. That is why you are getting defeated. You should learn to surrender to the Lord. Participate in every event in the Ashram. Why do you not participate? If you ask why you should participate, I will ask why I should protect you. Your participation is only a sign of your yearning to be on Swamiji's radar.

Lord Krishna incarnated in a physical form for the sake of devotees. If it were not for devotees, Lord Krishna would have remained in Dwaraka.

 

Wake up atleast now! You are foolish and selfish. You do not spend a penny to participate in the Puja. For a year and a half, Swamiji did live discourses every day. So many participated in the Pujas and established such a great relationship with Swamiji. I am alive for their sake. Those who are still not participating, wake up atleast now. You are lagging far behind. I wish for you and your future generations to live long. My time is drawing to a close. This is what Lord Krishna indicated indirectly. The Lord went through so much trouble to protect Uttara’s womb and save the Bharata dynasty. Why did Sri Krishna save them? It was due to some merit from their previous lives. We often find greater courage when someone accompanies us during travels or at night. In this case, God is right with you. You are even perceiving him with your senses, Guru Dhaumya indicated.

 

Why are we talking about this? People have abandoned customs and traditions. We have no time for waking up in the morning, showering/bathing and sitting in front of God to pray. We drink and eat while standing, because we have no time to sit. There is not a kind word exchanged; we are constantly in a hurry and running. So, we are neglecting those around us - our parents, spouse etc., since we are too busy to even take notice of them. We are hurting those around us – our friends and family, and those who work for us. We think throwing some money at the workers will do. We show them no love or affection. That is not good.

 

How many wake up early? Many wake up after 8am, and shower much later. But we eat to our fill on time. Datta devotees are not chanting Datta Stava at home. Pray to the Lord, at least offer salutations to the Lord before eating. Pray to the Lord when you wake up. What if we died before we woke up? It was the grace of the Lord that we woke up alive. We forget the One, the root cause that we should be grateful to. We have forgotten how to observe festivals. Instead, we wear new clothes and go out to watch a movie and cook up a feast and gorge on it. Is that what a festival is? We should offer food to God and then partake of it. We are not following traditions anymore, which is why our children do not either. The only vows we follow are to eat, sleep and wake up. There is not a fourth one.

 

That is why this coronavirus has gripped the world. We have committed many sins. Datta devotees too have neglected traditions. They do not even do surya namaskaras (sun salutations). God has given many of you the eligibility to do Gayatri mantra. That increases the power of our good deeds and drives away negativity. We keep fighting negativity in trivial ways, but we don't deal with the root cause.

 

I have been repeatedly reminding people to not touch anyone. The doctors are advising that you build greater immunity and be cautious about coronavirus, but you do not do that. Doctors ask you to build physical immunity; I keep reminding you to build spiritual immunity. For one year, I have held on to all devotees, but what can I do if devotees do not listen. Some devotees have left this world.

 

Plava (the name of the new year) – the word indicates the boat/basis with which to transcend difficulties. There are many means, we are not just making use of them. This year of Plava is said to be the year that helps us transcend these difficulties, this ocean. We pray to God that this year of Plava protect us somehow. That is what we mean when we say Happy New Year.

 

If I wished, I could just do whatever I wanted and not be here with you. Why does the priest come to the temple to do rituals on your behalf? He wishes you well. He chants hymns of blessings when you feed him. A tiny offering to the Lord brings us enormous blessing. A penny in the donation box brings you so much prosperity from the Lord, but we do not do that.

 

After the Pandavas heard this, they were transformed. This is what really happened with the Pandavas, I only changed a few names - I said "Swamiji" in place of “Sri Krishna”.