5th August, 2001 - Sunday
Premika Bhavanam, Chennai

Sri Swamiji Speaks from Premika Bhavanam - Page 2

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Sri Swamigal has been rendering ‘Upanyãsam’ (discourses), in Tamizh. This is being brought to you here.

There may appear to be variations in the ‘tense’ of the language. This is due to the fact that great effort has been taken to maintain the original style of the ‘Upanyãsam’. Therefore, we request you to keep this in mind while reading the translated ‘words’ of Sri Swamigal.

Sri Swamiji,

" A Sadhak (one who practices spiritual discipline) should first choose the right path. You should know the various paths available viz. Jnana, Yoga, Bhakti. In Vedanta marga solitude is necessary: while in Bhakti marga company is sought. Bhaktãs get together. You must first of all understand that no marga is superior or inferior to other margãs. Once you have chosen the path and learnt the way to go about it, begin practicing it. Bhagavãn might just bestow liberation on anyone. This is very rare, though. This is akin to offering cooked food. There are some who await only Bhagavãn’s kripa (God’s grace). They are ever weeping and crying for His Grace, “Oh! Lord! When would you bestow me with Your Grace?” They have no other thought and practise no sadhana. Gopis belonged to this category. Just as the Chakora (bird that existed in days gone by) used to cry for ‘Chandra’ (the Moon) the Gopis awaited the arrival of Bhagavãn. The whole day the Chakora bird would look up at the sky awaiting the Moon. This is a very rare case indeed. Instead of cooked food, you may be provided with stove, rice, dhal, etc. to cook and eat. The sadhaks are like these who have to practise the sadhana taught to them. Bhagavan Ramana gave liberation to his mother, a cow, a crow, a dog. They did not do any sadhana. But it was not so in the case of others. There are people who come here regularly, morning and evening. Such people should practise their sadhana with concentration. There are many who come here seeking some solace or solution to their worldly problems. Well! The question of spiritual practise does not arise in their case. But the darshan of a Mahatma is not wasted on them! One day it will work in them, too. A boy sits with his book for an hour or two, under compulsion, due to fear of his father. He keeps leafing through the pages of his books without actually studying. The boy who spends two hours just leafing through the pages may as well study with concentration. This would do him a lot of good. Would it not? Similarly, those who come and spend their time here regularly may as well show more concentration in their Nama japa or chanting Hare Rama Hare Krishna or whatever path shown to them. Would it not help them progress spiritually? There is an incident in Shirdi Sai Baba’s life. A sanyasi (ascetic) who did not lead the life as befitting his ‘ashrama’ came to have Baba’s darshan. But Baba chased him away. Baba did not wish to even look at such a person. But this sanyasi kept sending messages to Baba of his deep desire to meet him. Finally, one day Baba sent for him and advised him to do Bhãgavata Pãrãyana. The sanyasi did the same and returned to Baba. Baba sent him back saying that it should be done with concentration. Once again the sanyasi did Bhãgavata Pãrãyana and returned to Baba. This time he had shown a little more concentration. Baba sent him back for rendering the Bhãgavatam with total concentration. This time the sanyasi did the pãrãyana with total concentration and returned to Baba. Baba called him to his side. The sanyasi went up and fell down dead on Baba’s lap! He had attained Moksha! Through concentrated effort one can attain Moksha. Did not the 16 disciples of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa attain the end goal? Did not disciples of Ramana Maharishi - Kãvyakanta Ganapati Muni, Muruganar, Viswanatha Swami, Yogi Ramaiah and many others attain? Have not Aurobindo’s disciples attain the goal?

Everyone is seeking only happiness through marriage, job, education, etc. But the only happiness is Self realization/Bhagavat Sãkshãtkãra. When I speak on a particular path I will speak very highly of that path. This does not mean that the path shown to another is low. One should have no ‘chalanam’ (restlessness of mind-doubt). This afternoon I visited a devotee who has been hospitalized. There I found innumerable people suffering from various kinds of diseases. But here we are endowed with normal faculties and enjoying good health. Even while all our faculties are under our control should we not do sadhana? What I generally find is that people do not have patience. They take to their sadhana in full vigor and practise for sometime. They soon begin to feel dejected and stop their sadhana. When they take it up again they have to start all over again. When we dig a well we first strike only at stones. To find water one has to go deep in. Instead if we stop at a certain level, out of despair, we shall have to start all over again. Is this not sheer waste of time? With steady digging one reaches the waterbed. Likewise, Sadhana should be steady. It will seem difficult in the initial stage but becomes easy as time passes. Be cheerful. Do not at any point of time feel lost or desperate. One should exercise patience. Do incessant Nama Japa. You will get experiences. These experiences are only to encourage you in the path and are not final. During his spiritual practise Papa Ramadas had vision of Jesus Christ. Janaki Mata had a vision of huge jothi in Sri Sailam. She wondered how could a small linga answer the prayers of devotees and went to Sri Sailam to have darshan of the linga of Mallikãrjuna. What she saw there was a huge column of jothi! On her visit to Tiruvannamalai, none less than Lord Muruga Himself took Ãndavan Pitchai round the temple. Lord Muruga appeared before her in her house in Chennai and threw peacock feathers all around the room floor. Goddess Karpagamabal gave her darshan in Mylapore, Chennai. Lord Muruga Himself taught and guided Thiruvalam Swamigal in his sadhanas.

Sadhana should be done with love for the fruit that is to be attained. A woodcutter labours hard all through the day. But the thought that at the end of the day he would be able to purchase food, sweetmeats for his children and flowers for his wife lessens the burden of his labour. Does it not? One should have the fruit of the sadhana in mind and that would help you perform it with ease and enthusiasm. No Nama is greater than another - Be it Dwãdasãkshari Mantra or Rama/Krishna Nama. It is traditional to speak highly of the one taken up by oneself. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, a great scholar that he was, threw away everything and took to incessant chanting of ‘eka nãma’ (One Name) ‘Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare! Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare!’ Occasionally he would recite a sloka from the Bhãgavatam. Likewise, in Anandashram only Sri Ram Jaya Ram Jaya Jaya Ram is being chanted. They go around a ‘kuttu villakku’ (lighted lamp) singing only this one Name of Rama as divya Nama kirtan. Mahatmas such as Bodendra Swami, Thiagaraja Swami, Yogiramsuratkumar, Papa Ramdas performed incessant chanting of Rama Nama. Did this not take them to the highest state?

Nama japa is very powerful. It brings in siddhis. There once lived an old lady known by all as ‘thukkiri pãtti’. She was a child widow who took to incessant chanting of Nama of the Lord. She did crores and crores of Nama japa. She had kept count of the Nãma by drawing lines on the walls of her room. When anyone approached her with problems she used to give him or her the Nãma, which helped him/her a great deal. If the rich approached her she asked them to invite Bhagavatãs home to get Nãma chanted and honour them. To the poor she gave the Nãma from her own tapas. God helps those who call on Him. So call on Him. Let the Name of the Lord play on your tongue always because only then will it come to you at the moment of crisis: Just as Draupadi called on Krishna.

One should be able to differentiate between hatred and dispassion (‘veruppu’ and ‘vairagya’). Dislike or hatred is common amongst all people. But dispassion is what comes from love for God: through penance and diverting the whole attention towards the goal, which is Bhagavan/Self-realisation, as the case may be.

Different Mahatmas may advocate different ways of conducting your sadhana. Papa Ramadas used to say that a sadhak should wander about. But we find Sivaprakasa Anandagiri Swami advocating remainig in one place. Do anything - roam around or stay in one place - but attain the purpose! Sivaprakasa Swami has said, “If you want to become a ‘crorepati’ well! I can make you one. Do you want to become a great scholar? Well! I can turn you into one. But do not ask me to make you a Jnãni! You have to exert effort and become one!

While describing a beautiful girl, her eyes are likened to a Lotus, cheeks to apple, etc. But do we really get to see one like that? It is only a description to say how beautiful the girl is. One may know the technique of cooking but will just the knowledge or just speaking about it satiate hunger? There is, therefore, no use of speaking of high things and doing nothing. You may keep speaking about Bhagavãn or Guru and not practise the sadhana taught. Of what use is this? Do your sadhana without strain. If done with strain, it will lead to headache; you will hear some sound in your ears, etc. So, do your sadhana with ease. It is not advisable to do it intensely even at the very initial stage. Do it ‘lalithama’ (softly with ease). But if your sadhana is chanting Hare Rama Hare Krishna or reading Bhagavatam or chanting a Nãma/Mantra it can be done incessantly; any number of times. If you are one who are doing Pãrãyana of Bhãgavatam and You look at the Holy Text as Bhagavãn it will definitely be so (Bhagavãn). Do not write in this Holy Text or handle the Holy Text disrespectfully. Handle it with care and respect. Place Bhãgavatam in your puja room and even offering flowers to it will suffice. It is, indeed, ‘swayam’ (in itself) Bhagavãn. Do pradakshina, some simple puja, prostrate before the Deity, do something. Try to judge your progress in your sadhana by gauging how far you have been able to win over anger, frustration, lust, jealousy and desires. You must be able to like yourself. You must be pleased with yourself. The greatest ‘ishwarya’ (wealth) is not holding crores of rupees but feeling pleased, happy with yourself!

One moves from tamas to rajas to satvic nature. It is only from rajas that satvic state is attained. This is the reason that one finds many kings had attained the state of Jivan mukta. Kings possess Rajasic nature. In those days the kings were highly learned in Shastras. The Kings never rest till they attain that on which their minds have been set. Say, a King learns that the best horse is found in a particular kingdom. If he has set his mind on possessing it he will not rest until the horse has been won over. Thus, when they learn about the real purpose of life and set their minds on it they do not rest till achieving the set goal. The whole rajasic nature is turned towards this achievement. Thus you find that Prahlada, Dhruva, Viswamitra, Katvanga, Jadabharata, Janaka who attained the high state were all Kings.

Great men (Saints) first set out with the goal of re-establishing Varnashrama dharma, revive the Vedas, Hindu Sãmrajya, etc. But what happens? When they attain the real purpose of life (Bhagavat/Atma sãkshãtkãra) they stay quiet for they realize that it is Bhagavãn who is running the affairs of the whole universe. Vasudeva Thatha, deeply disturbed about the ways of the world, cried to Bhagavãn. Lord Ranaganatha said to him, “I have kept it so. Kali Yuga will give birth to the wicked.” This Kali Yuga is a big ‘pravãham’ (mighty rush of a flooded river). None can change its course. An Individual should try to save himself.

Well! We have spoken of Jnãna and Bhakti marga. Taking up Yoga marga one can without hesitation point out that it is the most difficult marga. One can do Bhakti and even Vichãra well but Yoga is a very dangerous marga that should be handled properly. Any deviation or wrong adherence can lead to mental imbalance. In this marga one can attain the highest state through churning of the breath. But it is a very difficult marga, indeed.

One of the questions thrown by the Yaksha to Dharmaputra was, “What is the path?” The Yaksha did not mention what was the attainment but only asked the way! Dharmaputra very wisely answered, “The way of the Mahatmas!”

‘Who Am I’ of Ramana Maharishi contains everything. In this Ramana Maharishi says, “As far as possible do not interfere in others’ affairs. Whatever you give unto others is giving unto yourself. If one knew this truth would he hesitate to give? "

GOPIKA JEEVANASMARANAM!
GOVINDA! GOVINDA!”

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NOTE: Any discrepancy/lapse in the translated version of the Upanyasam is the sole responsibility of the person/s who translated the work from Tamizh into English.

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