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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 Swamigal,

"HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE
HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE"

" Life is a combination of both joy and sorrow. It is neither filled with only joy nor with only sorrow. It is so not only with ordinary people but also with 'Bhakthas'."

"People visit the seashore; enjoy the seaside, the moon, the children playing around, etc. So it is while attending a wedding. It is all joyful, meeting relatives and friends. But when you pay a visit to a relative at the hospital the atmosphere there is very depressing, what with the hospital filled with patients suffering from various ailments! And participating in a funeral is all the more saddening. For an ordinary man while weddings, parties, outing, clearing a highly competitive examination, getting good employment are all occasions for joy, being afflicted with diseases, not clearing an examination, being jobless, meeting death are all causes of sorrow."

"Now, Bhaktas, too, face joy and sorrow. But with a difference! Bhagavatham says even the 'gopis' (playmates of Krishna in Vrindavan whose love for Krishna is the ultimate in Bhakti) faced joy and sorrow The gopis were filled with joy while being with Krishna but were drowned in sorrow when He was not amidst them. The very thought that Krishna must be suffering being away from them saddened them further! (Sri Swamigal termed it as gopis' ajnana !) This is not so with just the 'gopis' but is the case with all the bhaktas of God. For the Bhaktas, joy is being with the Lord and sorrow is being away from Him."

"A person who does not know to swim gets drowned if he enters the ocean whereas one who knows to swim goes up to the mid-ocean and returns safely. Can the ocean be blamed for drowning one while sparing another? The ocean has no hand in either. It is the same towards both. But it is the capability of the one who enters the ocean that makes all the difference. One should know how to face life with all its joy and sorrow. "

"A Bhakta, equipped with 'devotion to the Lord' swims across the ocean of life totally unaware of all its ups and downs while an ordinary man is caught in the fetters of life. A wealthy man feels a misplaced sense of security in his wealth. But reality, however, is different! "

"Bhaktas like to keep their devotion locked up in their hearts and do not wish the world to know of their Bhakti. Yet, there are those who declare that everything occurs as per the Will of God and there are those who stand in front of the deity in a temple and lament loudly so that others will 'praise' their 'bhakti'. However, bhaktas like to maintain secrecy of their devotion to the Lord and do not wish to publicise it. They prefer to keep to themselves and avoid socializing. Those who are unable to understand his behaviour mock at him and call him ill tempered. If we have true yearning for God nothing can deter us from the chosen path. Let anyone speak ill about us. Harping on others' opinion about us is a wasteful exercise."

"'Theerada Kaadal'(unending love) is Bhakti. What is the use of 'shastras' or 'aachara anushtaanams? These are actually for attaining bhakti. They, in themselves, do not help you attain God. If a man reading 'shastras' keeps on reading the shastras it will only add to his pride of knowledge and mere book reading will not help him attain God. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa has said that by squeezing the 'panchangam', which forecasts rain, it will not rain! Conducting a puja to the Lord by just uttering the 'mantras' mechanically is just as good or bad as conducting an 'abhisheka' to a stone! Puja should be conducted with the feeling that it is being done for "my Lord"."

"THIS LIFE IS ONLY FOR ATTAINMENT OF GOD.
But we are all leading a meaningless life. Are we not? One is born, attends school, college, secures a job, gets married, begets children, brings them up until they are educated and married off. WHAT NEXT? What is the purpose of all these activities? At the fag end of his life, however, when the much adored children leave him to fend for himself he is dejected, disappointed and desperate. Nobody respects him but curse him and remind him of all his shortcomings. Having run about all his life in meaningless pursuits will the mind and body rest now, at an advanced age, to utter the name of the Lord? INDEED NOT! "

"This body is just a bag of bones and blood. If it is not bathed daily it will stink. Let alone others unable to take on the stink, it is disgusting even for us! 'Udal padaithathan payan Kadavulai kaanudal' (the body has been created for the attainment of God). So one should go to a 'Mahaan'- a Sadguru - and learn the purpose of life. A 'Sadguru' is one who knows 'ALL'. One does not go to Him to teach (Him) for there is nothing for Him to learn! It is only for you to learn from Him! Go to Him in all humility and learn. Unless you surrender to Him totally it is not possible to attain God. No partial surrender can help. Surrender and staunch abidance by the words of the Guru is the only way."

"If only we would look back and analyze we shall realize that many have been the occasions when our name could have been marred but had been saved by divine intervention."

"A 'sadhak' (one who is in pursuit of God and pracitising the chosen path) should abstain himself from other affairs. He should not be playful but practise in all seriousness and unceasingly the path as shown by the Guru. If the cultivator rests and fails to sow the seeds immediately after the land has been ploughed and prepared, grass and weeds will grow forcing him to start his work all over again. Similarly, through his 'sadhana' the 'sadhak' makes spiritual progress but he should not rest till the goal is reached, for, any laxity on his part will not only deter him on his path but will also force him to start all over again. While belonging to a Sadguru does instill a sense of pride in us, times are when we feel humbled reading the life histories of great devotees."

"Now, WHO IS A 'MAHAAN'?
Can a person be looked upon as a 'Mahaan' merely because he gives a patient hearing to all your problems physical and others and assures you of taking on the responsibility of solving these problems for you? Does he possess the ability to sort out your problems or cure your physical ailments? Or does a man become a 'Mahaan' because he sports a long thick grey beard? "

"A 'Mahaan' finds it difficult to step in and move in the world, for, his 'avasthai' (state/behaviour) is in total contrast to the ways of the world (prakrithi)?"

"Wearing an ochre robe (Sanyasa Ashrama) is for one to contain himself from giving in to his senses. It is difficult to check the mind's ways but when in an ochre robe it checks him even when a wrong thought occurs -it rings a warning bell in him, "I am in sanyasa ashrama, I cannot behave so." Moreover, others perceiving that he is in pursuit of a higher thing do not disturb him but instead keep away from him."

"It is very difficult to recognize a 'Mahaan' unless one has had a darshan of a real 'Mahaan'. Only if one has had the darshan of a real 'Mahan' will he be able to distinguish the real from the fake. One who has not seen a real gem cannot distinguish it from an ordinary piece of glass. One who has not seen gold cannot distinguish it from that which has only a gold-like covering. However, if one knows what a real gem looks like he will never mistake an ordinary piece of glass for a gem. And so it is with one who has knowledge about gold. He will not mistake gold covering for real gold. Likewise, one who has had the privilege/blessing of having seen a 'Mahaan' will be able to differentiate between the real 'Mahan' and a fake. While it is rare to get to see a 'Mahaan' it is rarer still to see an Avatara purusha (Incarnation of the Lord). An Avatara purusha comes at a time when the world is in turmoil and total anarchy prevails."

"An Avatara Purusha establishes a 'sath sampradayam' (School of thought which conforms to the 'Shastras') that stands the test of time as in the case of Adi Sankara Bhagavadhpaadaal's 'maarga' which has endured 2000 years, Sri Vallabha's maarga which has endured 1500 years, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's 'maarga' which has endured 700 years, Bodendral's 'maarga' which has endured 300 years, Sri Ramakrishana Paramahamsa's 'maarga',which has endured a century. "

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