AvadhootaDatta Peetham

 

We have deities here in this temple representing the five elements - prithvi/earth, jala/water, akasha/sky, vayu/air and agni/fire. Lord Ganapati (jala and agni), Lord Subramanya (jala and agni), Lord Shiva (jala and agni), Mother Goddess (Prithvi and agni) with the center being akasha tattva. Akasha Tattva represents sarva devatas - all deities. All planets. This temple is a Pancha-bhoota Tattva temple - it represents all 5 elements. In the ancient times too, they worshiped different kinds of Gods. This set up here is Vishnu Panchāyatana. In the center is Vishnu. Akasha Tattva is everywhere in various forms. Those who meditate are meditating deeply on Akasha Tattva. Your meditation and silent prayer go to Akasha.

In our Upanishadic system, in Kaliyuga, we choose the path of Bhakti. Bhakti - devotion is Parama Prema - supreme love. Parama is the energy behind us. Prema is love. Parama means no second thought. Give up everything to God. You feel like puppets in His hands, that is the Parama - the Lord is everything, there is no second. We are all acting per our own karma. Regardless of how much Puja and Yajna you do, our destination is the same and our journey is always solo.

 

There are so many rivers...all of them eventually merge into the ocean. We cannot divide the ocean water into the individual river waters. All rivers mix in the ocean just as all practices merge in the one God. Everything mixes with Akasha. All Dharmas, all systems merge into Akasha. Do not be confused, you have the freedom to follow what your forefathers handed to you, what your Guru gave you, what the ancient scriptures say. We all finally mix in Akasha. After that there is no Dharma

 

The ocean has its own quality. The sweet river water does not make the ocean water sweet. The powerful Ganga river is big and bears huge energy; it took birth from Lord Shiva, but will also have to merge into the ocean and imbibe the quality of the ocean. “Oh, this is Cauvery river, Swamiji took birth in this river, so the water is sweet”...there is no such thing when it merges in the ocean. Cauvery water is sweet, Ganga has a different sweetness, Drona river, Himalaya rivers etc each have their own taste, but they all merge into the ocean. Like that, we all mix with God. That is compulsory, But you are practicing it your way, with your thoughts, your way of Puja, meditation etc. No problem, go ahead. So, all these deities will mix with Dahara Akasha that transcends the senses. Some people like Ganapati, some like Vishnu, some Mother goddess. But the root, the source is One. Tameka Devam Sharanam Vrajamaha.

 

We took birth as humans. You see different flavors of bread in the shop. You'll see various flavors of rice in the Indian restaurant, but the ingredients are the same. With sugar, you make so many different sweets. Sugar is the same, but different combinations with sugar make different sweets and give different tastes.All of you have that common source ingredient of "sugar". If we don't like the taste of idli, you somehow modify it and add sugar and eat it up. So, just as all rivers merge in the ocean, all tattvas merge in Dahara Akasha.

Dharma has no start or end. It's like the ball whose start and end point you cannot identify. All Dharmas merge into Him, finally. Remember the shloka in Bhagavad Gita -

sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja

ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ.

 

Lord Krishna says all Dharmas merge in Him. So, give up all Dharmas and just merge into the Lord. This means the Lord is all Dharmas. God has no gender. He's neither female nor male. We ascribe name and gender. We need some steps to climb up to Daharakasha. These temples, charitable deeds, Annadana are all steps. Not only Puja, but service is also steps to the ultimate. You serve people, He is happy. In God's eyes, you all are His children. The one giving and one receiving are both His children. So, the donor and the recipient are both happy. The society is also happy. This is so simple. The donor is happy God is helping him give, the recipient praises God for what he receives. That is why we pray to God - I surrender everything to You. You protect me.

 

We need Parama Prema toward the Lord. Bhajan, Puja, Meditation, studying Mahabharata, giving charity, service to the poor are all parts of sadhana. He likes all these very much. Each one may choose a different bhajan. We have no right to dictate to others. You can pick any sweet you like from the sweet shop. But remember that the ingredient in the sweet is sugar. So too whatever you choose, there is Paramatam in it.

We sing bhajans, we chant mantra, we chant Bhagavad Gita, we chant Sundarakanda, Kavacha Manjari, Vishnu Sahasranama, Lalita Sahasranama (which I like), we perform Shiva Abhishekam...I can do any of these that gives me satisfaction.

 

What Swamiji is saying is that you can follow any path in Kaliyuga without inconveniencing yourself or your family, and truthfully and peacefully reach God. The path of Bhakti is the greatest. I told you the entire Bhagavatam now.

 

It might seem like what I'm saying now is different, but the core is the same. The business that the shop does is the same, but the decorations and lighting may change and you think the business is different. Unless there are changes and attractions in the subject, children will not easily hold on to it to the subject. Swamiji follows many ways for Dharma Prachara. For example, when you listen to Bhajan Babies, you are already listening to Divya Nama Sankeertana.

 

The beginning of creation there was only Omkara. Ganapati's form is like the Omkara sign in Sanskrit. Ganapati is the first letter in this creation.Singing bhajans is very healthy. It gives good oxygen. Laughing too is very good for you. It gives you oxygen. I have seen many people sit glum. You must laugh. Some do not laugh at all even when you wish them. I do not know why. It i's so nice when you laugh. We need oxygen in our body, our heart needs oxygen. Laugh more. Prana is our invisible God. Vayu is protecting that invisible God. Without Prana, we do not exist. When Prana leaves, the body drops. So, we must protect Prana, Prana is itself God. There are so many different ways of protecting Prana and developing longevity. Do not always keep crying. You always sit on the sofa and grieve. Let whatever happens, happen. You must face everything bravely. Of course when someone dies, do not go to the grieving, and dismiss it as a natural occurrence. You must empathize with their sentiments. When you lose someone, you must pretend you are crying for the sake of the public. If not, they will curse you.

 

There are some non-translatables in Telugu...like the sound of laughter that is used to indicate how heartily one laughed. Some terms are non-translatable; if you keep repeating them over and over, the meaning changes. You must understand such things with the body language.

 

This upcoming bhajan is a vedanta bhajan with a beautiful meaning.

Bhajan ID 419: dāsapōṣā dōṣamōṣā dvēṣadūra kathā

Shiva form is only Bindu. Shiva has no form. Bindu is represented by Linga, like Salagram.

 

So, we sang Ganapati and Shiva bhajans. Now we sing Subramanya Swamy bhajan. There are 6 Subramanya Swamy pilgrim centers in India frequented by millions of devotees. This is a Tamil bhajan.

Bhajan ID 1363: murugā murugā muttukumāranē

Tamilnadu people like this bhajan.

 

Bhajan ID 8434: nā..gaśayana nārāyaṇa

This is only the second time Pujya Swamiji is singing this bhajan. Swamiji previously sang this in Tirupati