Benedictory Message by Parama Pujya Sri Swamiji after Sri Chakra Puja in SGS Ashrama, Vijayawada
The Bhajan group sang very well. Make the group bigger. Swamiji wishes that you sing even more. Get more male voices too, there are many male singers, they will be happy to sing. What greater fortune do we have than to sing Swamiji's beejakshara bhajans! You sang two new compositions of Swamiji. These are written for folk dancing. One of the songs - ‘Hare Krishna’ contains the entire story of Lord Krishna.
Keyboard and Tabla too provided good support. Practice even more, as these are new tunes and need more practice. You will easily pick them up if you know movie songs, but these compositions are different from movie songs. It is a new style Swamiji founded that flows in between traditional music and light music. So, it can be turned either way, or can be turned toward Nama Sankeertana.
The bhajans are getting swaras (music notes) included now. That will make it easy for the singers and those playing the instruments. Our bhajans usually have one refrain and a number of stanzas. It is easy to learn such bhajans. Learning these songs in the traditional music style may be daunting, but it is easy to sing the way Swamiji has been propagating it. Bhajan Babies is now known the world over. Some children go to bed only when they can listen to Bhajan Babies. Bhajan Babies is being done by children who like bhajans and who are now all grown up. So, subscribe Bhajan Babies on your phone. It becomes easy to sing Swamiji bhajans. We are trying to add meanings to those bhajans as well, in the app. Most bhajans are in Telugu and Sanskrit. About 80% are in Sanskrit. Sanskrit is an international language, everyone can pick it up. Everyone should sing bhajans.
What we are doing is Sankeertana. The term ‘Bhajan' usually refers only to the divine names being repeated over and over. That is also good, but that refers only to chanting the names. What we do is Sankeertana; we invite all the gods, the lyrics have meanings and rhythm. These lyrics touch our heart and we converse with God. They are mantras. In the past, Swamiji would recommend that patients listen to the music in a certain album to get healed. The doctors, who initially mocked the patients, came running later to Swamiji, seeing the miracle of the music. Our Sankeertana method is like medicine. It is also full of devotion. If you sing a bhajan heart-fully and close your eyes, you will surely see Swamiji in your heart.
This morning, Swamiji wrote a Kshipra Ganapathi bhajan and another on Marakata Raja Rajeshwari. You can hear it tonight or tomorrow. Participate in all the programs. Serve this Ashrama to the extent possible. Do not wait to get invited or be told. We will not TELL you. We will only DO. You must volunteer and get down to serving.
The coconuts are ready for Poornaphala offering. Pray for the well-being of the world. News these days is very aggravating. We do not feel like turning on the TV. There is no peace, it is chaos everywhere. There is famine and natural disasters. Libya has lost entire cities. Mountains are falling apart. There are floods in some other places. All this is due to our own mistakes. You can observe what those mistakes are, I do not have to tell you anymore. I have been telling you for 40 years.
How are we destroying the climate? We are destroying the forests and killing the animals. That makes Nature angry and it tries to adjust. But that is very hard and as it tries to balance itself, human lives are also lost in the process. Now, we can only pray to God to protect us. No scientist can do anything to protect us. No government can help. Finally, only beseeching God is all we can do.
We do not know how this Creation came about, where it is going, what is happening. We are going to the moon, spending crores of rupees - what do we get from it? We get some praise, but the ordinary person gains nothing from it. The person who is truly poor has no benefit from it. The Lord is the only savior. He protects the frog under the rock, he protects everyone. We cannot control desire and anger and therefore suffer and get diseases. We can neither control those vices, nor suffer the diseases. Do not blame others; examine your own faults. All of you come and participate in this festival. Everyone has a right to think about God.
There is more unnecessary stuff on TV. We hear of someone falling off from a bike in some remote country, but we are not aware of our son falling off the bike. We are getting sucked into the news and happenings of the world. We should consume news only as much as needed, whether through paper or TV. There is no need to read every newspaper from the first letter to the last. Just know the headlines - that is enough. We do not need the details, it spoils our mind, we cannot do anything about the bad news. It only makes for your chit-chats and conversations when you meet people. Instead, talk about progress rather than bad news and destruction. Discuss with your family members, budget your life. Then you can be happy.