April 2017 archive

Through listening to the stories of God repetitively, a person can cultivate excellent samskaras (good tendencies). That is why it becomes even more important to occasionally organize Bhagavad sabhas wherein glories of God are extolled. Encouraging children as well as the public to participate in it, leads to development of good tendencies within them all. In addition, good and healthy knowledge will sprout within them.

Children who are exposed to healthy stories will develop a desire to increase their stock of good traits. The term good traits do not refer merely to some merit that will be earned. Even to survive in this worldly life, possessing certain amount of good traits is essential. Children will imbibe such traits. Our scriptures (shastras) state that one should praise the good traits of even the enemy!

In Hanuman, good traits such as devotion towards the Lord (bhakti), attitude of sacrifice (tyaga, renunciation), adherence to the rules of righteousness (dharma), prowess and might (pratāpa), blessing others (anugraha) are in abundance. He possesses unlimited good traits. By glorifying His good traits the good traits within us begin to sprout. The beggar who begs from the rich man is sure to obtain some coins at least. If we go and beg a scholar he is sure to impart a little knowledge to us. Likewise if we sing glories of Hanuman some good traits of His will be imbibed by us! Just as the tiny worm imprisoned by the bumble transforms into a bumble bee, some of His qualities will be imbibed by us.

When we glorify the Lord, there is no further need to specifically pray to be blessed with good traits. It is automatically understood. With this intent, Sushena sought that in every birth he should be given a chance to ‘sing the glories of Hanuman’.

The third prayer of Sushena relates to Pāda seva i.e. offering service at the lotus feet of the Lord. One can offer service at the feet of the Lord only when the Lord permits. Without Hanuman’s grace and permission, it is impossible to even touch the feet of His idol. If so, then how difficult it will be to offer Him services?

Never underestimate an idol. An idol that has been properly consecrated breathes with life. It is wrong to treat it as a lifeless stone. We are able to concentrate and focus completely on that idol only because it is duly consecrated.

Our Lord Hanuman eternally serves the feet of Lord Rama. Hence He is not very keen that others should hold on to his feet when he himself is serving at Rama’s feet. As such not everyone can easily touch his feet. That is why Sushena explicitly begs for pāda seva in every birth of his. As this cannot happen without the Lord’s blessings He openly prays to the Lord to bless him with this chance in every birth.

Often, we say- O Lord, I offer obeisance at your feet. All these are in reality, mere verbal statements. We have not acquired the ability to hold on to the Lord’s feet. We should put in efforts and acquire this ability.

Om Namo Hanumate Namaha.

Ramayana, Mahabharata and Bhāgavatam are all holy texts which contains messages for persons belonging to every stage of life. They dispel all the doubts that emerge in the hearts of every person. Such are His compositions!

The Supreme Lord, out of his limitless mercy and compassion towards his devotees, composed such sacred texts. Due to our intense devotion we believe that He underwent a lot of hardships during every incarnation. But in His (Lord’s) opinion, there were no hardships or difficulties of any kind.

The Lord incarnated as a fish, as a boar, as a turtle and many more. In each of these incarnations, he suffered and struggled. To save his devotee Prahlāda, he took birth from a pillar in a half-man and half animal form. He experienced unbearable agony in that strange body. He killed the demon and saved his devotee. In every story He teaches a new lesson which dispels our doubts.

Creation itself is very strange. In every incarnation he willingly took on so much pain and troubles. Recollecting all of them will cause the true devotee to turn emotional. Out of devotion, if a devotee thinks that the Lord underwent troubles and hardships, there is nothing wrong.

Each incarnation of His teaches a different lesson. It clarifies the different doubts that different people entertain. A deep lesson will be hidden behind every story. That is why it is essential to listen to such stories. Everyone should organize gatherings wherein the stories of the Almighty are explained. These are known as Bhagavad sabhas. They should listen and give everyone else a chance to listen to such stories.

It is very important to introduce children to listen to such stories relating to God. Children should be encouraged to sing songs that extol the glories of the Lord. They should be given a chance to enact the roles of the Divine on stage plays. It could be a trivial role but yet it will have a great impact on the mind. It is the best treasure that we can ever give them. They should be trained to sit and listen to such stories.

By praising the divine qualities that the Lord possesses, the good qualities within us multiply. To inculcate good qualities and traits it is very important to think about them and to glorify them.

Very often we come across people who constantly complain- ‘Oh, I do not get the required concentration. I do not somehow get the proper devotion (bhakti)’. The focus here is on driving away the bad or negative traits. This is like trying to forcibly push away the darkness inside. They do not understand that where there is light, there can be no darkness. Where there is knowledge, there cannot be ignorance. So instead of concentrating on what they do not have, they should focus on getting the right knowledge (bringing in light).

The bad habits and traits have settled down very deeply inside. They have completely enveloped the mind. There is no use in fighting with them every minute- ‘O bad habit, leave me, go away, go away’. Instead sow a good habit. When the good habit increases its grip, the bad habit has no place to sit and rest. It will have to go away and make way for the good habit. This is the correct approach.

Instead of this, people say that until they are totally pure and have rid themselves of all bad qualities and traits, they will not enter the sacred precincts. This will never ever happen. It is akin to waiting for all the waves in the ocean to recede before bathing. The waves will never cease and hence the person can never bathe.

Now there is another class of devotees. They say, “Ah! Let this difficulty pass away. After that I will wholeheartedly offer service to Lord and Guru”. The difficulties/desires in life will never cease and they can never ever go for seva. “O Swamiji, let me just get through this difficulty, that’s all. After that I am ready”. Remember that after one difficulty, another will begin to raise its head. The person should be willing to snap the ties with the difficulties. Some desires he should sacrifice. Some others, he should willingly disown. After joining the Lord’s service, the person should never even slightly regret his decision. He should not encourage others to even raise the topic about it.

To summarize today’s teachings- only when we praise or glorify good habits and traits we can inculcate them!

Om Namo Hanumate Namaha.

All the stories contained in our epics and Puranas such as Ramayana, Mahabharata etc. have the capacity to dispel all the doubts and confusions of the human race in each of the 4 Yugas (eons). The power to convey the right message to people across all the eons rests in these epics. For this reason, they are recollected even today. Lord Brahma himself declared that Ramayana will be in people’s memory for as long as the mountains, oceans, stars, Sun, Moon and rivers exist on earth. In such an eternal Ramayana, the story of Hanuman appears.

To a true devotee, the story of his Lord is always like nectar. ‘O Rama, nee naamame yenta ruchira’ (O Rama, what a lovely taste exists in your name) sang saint Ramadasa. One who has enjoyed the inherent taste that exists in chanting divine names will never give it up. The taste (ruchi) multiplies as the recitation increases. ‘Rama, Rama, Rama’ or ‘Hanuman, Hanuman, Hanuman’ as one continuously recites his joy only multiplies. Those who recite the glories of God as well as those who listen to it, both lose track of the time spent in it. Enraptured in singing the names of Vitthala- Vithala, Vithala, Vithala, Vithala…, devotees are oblivious to the passage of time.

An erroneous misconception that people entertain is that the stories of the Lord are to be heard only in old age and that too only for the sake of earning some merit (punya). The truth is that every child should be introduced to them right from infancy! Lessons required for every stage of life are contained in these epics. They contain some stories that are suitable for children; stories that are apt for the youth and some other stories which are for the aged. Take for example, the Mahabharata. It contains stories that are suitable for people from all stages and phases of life. Be it a yogi (saint) or a rogi (diseased), a youth (yuvaka), a king, a pauper or a poet every one can draw lessons from it. The traits and the characteristics of every human being have been incorporated into the characters of this epic. Hence every being can draw suitable inference from this epic.

To summarize yesterday’s teachings-

1) Chanting divine names should be with concentration i.e. without allowing other thoughts to distract the mind.

2) Japa thus performed has the ability to favourably alter the surroundings, rendering it pure. The power contained in the nama japa is such that even the greatest anxieties and disturbances are simply blown away in fraction of second.

3) Where a person relentlessly undertakes nama japa, the environment (surroundings) automatically is rendered peaceful.

4) To any person, there is no mantra greater than the mantra of his/her favorite deity! For example, to a person who reveres the Guru, Guru mantra will be the supreme most mantra. To him, ‘Om namo Hanumate namaha’ or ‘Sri sadgurubhyo namaha’ is the highest mantra. That’s all.

This year Swamiji has given the mantra ‘Om Namo Hanumate namaha’ for the entire society at large. Millions of people are either reciting or writing this mantra worldwide. Many non-Hindus too are participating in this nama japa Yagna. So far this mantra has been recited many millions of times. Unimaginable positive changes are taking places in the lives of those who are reciting it. The fruits of this recitation are tremendous. Their life is taking a beautiful turn for the good. All of you (who are listening to the TV program) please keep reciting this mantra ‘Om namo Hanumate namaha’. It is a very simple mantra.

5) Nama smaran (recollecting/ reciting the names of God) takes one towards tyaga (renunciation, performing charity).

In a nutshell, everything can be achieved through japa. For this reason, Gandhamādana sought that eternally he should be blessed with the chance to chant Hanuman’s name.

Moving next in this Vānara Gita, Vānara Sushena praises Hanuman –

Ramabhakta charita kathāmṛtaṃ vayutanaya guṇānu keertanaṃ

Ramadasa! tava pāda sevanaṃ sambha vantu mama janma janmani.

In each and every birth of mine, I seek to taste the divine nectar called listening to the stories of Hanuman the ardent devotee of Lord Rama, to sing the praises of this son of wind and to serve the lotus feet of this Lord who is a servant of Lord Rama. May I be blessed thus!

There are many who do not seek re-birth. Yet, at the same time, there are many others who seek that even if they were to be re-born, devotion to God should reign most supreme in their lives. Great saints of Maharashtra have stated in their abhang- ‘Na lage mukti dhana sampada santa sanga dei sada’ – In every birth I seek to be associated with those who are devoted to you O Lord. Sushena belongs to this category of devotees, who seeks to serve the Lord in every birth of his.

We watch countless movies, listen to countless stories, yet none of them stay in our memory long enough. But when one listens to Ramayana, Mahabharata or Bhagavata, the stories linger in our memory. We tend to get deeper into the story and somewhere the story gets imprinted in our memory. Why is this so? This is because these stories are real and not fictional; they are eternal stories. It is important to realize that these were not fictitious stories that were penned down by some poets.

Om namo Hanumate namaha.

While bathing in River Ganga if the person is doubtful as to whether really it will wash away his sins or not, then take it for granted that the bathing is a sheer waste. Due to the doubt entertained, none of his sins will be destroyed. All the money, time and energy that were spent in travelling to reach the river will only go down the drain. The trip is fruitless.

The person should have immense faith. It is the mind which is at the root of all doubts and confusions. When river bath is undertaken with the absolute faith that all the sins will definitely be destroyed and that the mind will be rendered peaceful, then it will definitely happen!

Reciting the name of Hanuman endlessly has exactly the same effect, i.e. the mind will turn calm and peaceful. For this reason only Gandhamādana declared that reciting the name ‘Hanuman’ (nama japa) is a sacred bath!

When reciting or when writing the mantra ‘Om Namo Hanumate namaḥ’ continuously, say for about a thousand times, then somewhere, at some point of time, the mind will get absolute concentration (ekagrata) for a fraction of a second. That concentration enjoyed during that fraction of second is equivalent of having taken a holy bath in the Ganga. Hence, without any doubts and without heeding to the mental disturbances, the person should continue the Hanuman nama japa endlessly.

Engage in healthy discussions about good matters. There are many good topics, good movies, good songs and good books. Do not waste your time in useless gossip. Continuously reciting the divine names of the Lord automatically cleanses the surroundings and renders it pure. Even the greatest mental disturbances can be washed away in the least amount of time due to nama japa. It has the power to drive away even the greatest disappointments in a fraction of a second.

Nama japa becomes our Guru and begins to direct us in the right way forward. Hence it is of utmost importance that children should be introduced to this at their tender age itself.

Many parents leave their children in hostels. It is important that during their formative years they should be under the custody of parents. Only after they obtain the required mental maturity they can be sent to hostels. When they are sent to hostels at young age their affection towards parents reduces. They develop unnecessary friendships. They secure good marks but their mind would not have matured the right way. However after teaching them the right methods and when their intellect has ripened even if they are living in hostels, they will continue to tread the path taught at home.

Our mind is also very child-like. Until devotion is firmly established, until supreme knowledge is obtained or until the mind stabilizes at a particular point, divine names should endlessly be chanted. Always remember that the surroundings of the person who endlessly chants divine names are always peaceful!

Om namo Hanumate namaha.