HH Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamigal's Birth Anniversary Message (21st Oct '98)!

We are all really fortunate...

This world is so vast; millions live in this world. While their life is going on somehow, our life is a lot different from theirs. The reason?... Our Lord Sri Krishna has taken us all as his very own folk and that is the reason. So for us this divine company (Sath Sangam) is indeed a boon and good fortune. But can we just be complacent with this?

When we see someone without hands, we do feel, "Thank goodness, we are healthy and our hands are intact! We should take good care of this, else we may be reduced to his state." True, but over and above this, a intelligent person would also strive to use his healthy hands to do as much good deeds possible when it is still healthy. Right?

Similarly, realising that getting into a Sath Sangam (and a Sathguru, of course) is indeed a rare stroke of good fortune, one should strive to utilise this god' s gift wisely. But what is 'utilising' a Sath Sangam?

In spite of being a part of a Sath Sangam, if we still lead a life of lust, anger and laziness; if we still lead a life different from what is prescribed by the scriptures, what is the difference between a person in a Sath Sangam and one who hasn't had the good fortune of being a part of a Sath Sangam? We should lead a life that is a role model to others; a life, seeing which others should feel envious with blatant appreciation and wonder; and not a wanton life subject to world's mockery. When we tell others that we have taken refuge in a Sathguru or a Sath Sangam for so many years, we should reflect on our level of maturity to face this world, we should do some soul searching to find if we have really progressed spiritually. Our age is rolling on, but if we are still struggling without spiritual progress and mental peace, what is the use?

There are some who are "Giant Starters". He typically starts grandly in any field with such zeal and enthusiasm that could make others jealous. As the time passes, when he starts facing obstacles, his zeal and fire die slowly yet steadily, and ultimately he winds up the task he had embarked upon. If he builds a house, when it is new, he keeps everything spic and span, but as time rolls on his negligence towards the upkeep of the house increases and pretty soon his house would look like a dirty den with cobwebs hanging all around! Anything new attracts his attention and his interest deteriorates in due course of time.

Similarly, getting on to a Sadhana with seriousness at start, on reaching a Sath Sangam or on reading some books on spirituality or on hearing from someone, then abandoning the efforts after sometime is of no use. The zeal and intensity of a Sadhak while starting on a path should only grow more intense in the course of the Sadhana and should not wane till the goal is reached.

Mind, due to is very nature is ever-vacillating. Many a time we find that our senses, losing control pull us down. Those are the times when we shouldn't lose heart and accept failure; we should gird up loins and bravely wade through such difficult times. Whenever we find our mind going astray, we should pray with all our heart, earnestly. This gives good results. When we sit for meditation or Japam (silent Chanting of Lord's name), we find that our mind becomes one-pointed. Praying during such instances certainly yields the fruits. What I am driving at is that, if you know what is obstructing your way of spiritual progress, and if you sincerely pray to get the obstacle removed, your prayer shall be fulfilled. In a one-pointed mind, Bhakthi or Gnanam (divine wisdom) finds its place easily. We shouldn't talk much unnecessarily. Chatterboxes are certainly not the Champions of achievements. The minds of those who talk much would always be vacillating .

Our dress should be clean; our food should be clean and consumed in right quantities at the right time. We should be ever cheerful and brave; we should never get upset for anything; we should not worry over others' gossip and unjust reproach, we should take this as the "part of this game called life"; we should never get angry; we should be humble and show love towards one and all; we should be forgiving; we should never waste our precious time; we should see the good in all. Hurting others with our words is the worst kind of violence.

Now you may ask me, why we should live the way I have described above. If you want Sri Krishna, this is the only way. If we can live this way, we would have a pleasing and a bovine countenance of a beautiful deer or a peaceful cow. We should not look fearful and belligerant like a lion or a tiger!

We should never mock at or make fun of anybody. If we are always playful, without much seriousness, our life would also playfully pass by, fruitlessly. We should have some seriousness in any of our endeavors. We should ALWAYS THINK POSITIVELY, dismissing such dismal thoughts like "I am born unlucky" or 'I am a sinner' and the like. We should have courage and faith in ourselves and should always think that we can achieve everything we want to. We should never try to hide from problems; but act with faith and with a steady mind.

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Agacha Agacha sajjana sangam mAgacha mAgacha durjana sangam

"Agacha Agacha sajjana sangam

mAgacha mAgacha durjana sangam"

Satsangham is durlabham. Wherever Satsangham is happening even if it is far off, Bhagavatham says "dUrE harikatha" do walk far distances to be in Satsangham. In Srimad Bhagavatham, Sukar tells Parikshith that which leg has not gone to attend satsangham is a wooden leg;which hand has never offered a flower to bhagavan is equal to the hand of the dead;which ear has never listened to the greatness of the bhagavan is a snake den;which house (it does not matter whether it has been built upto 5000 sq.ft or 3000 sq.ft is not important), where atleast 3 bhagavathas have not stepped in, is not a home.

Do not go into durjana sangam. This mind has a character, think of it as a basket and in that basket some things fall via the ears, some via the eyes, some via the mouth. So whatever the mind takes in, it catches it and asks for it again. If shown once, it is enough for the mind. The behaviour is similar to that of a deer or the bird. The deer always goes about grazing with a large group and likes being close together, likewise the birds fly together as a group. If you see an ant it goes in a line one behind the other. Sugar has been spilt here and I will observe the ants, the ants will follow a line and I would think not one ant will overtake the other and observe traffic rule so well whilst the human does not follow. Just like the ants, birds and other life forms who like to be in company, so is man too. He won't shun company and being together is his behaviour. When he wants to go to a cinema, drama, discourse, he would usually ask a friend to accompany him and will not go if the friend does not come with him. So that is the association, Group behaviour. So for the man who likes this company, keep the good people as your company, keep company of those who often talk about the bhagavan only as your friends. Those who say bhagavan is kripalu, dayalu, chant namasankeerthanam, read bhagavatham, only keep them as your friends. Why, because we may not get this human birth again, you may not know after how many births you may be born as human again, you may not know how the world would have changed then, whether you will be born in india, whether you will know about satsangham nor know if you will have a Guru. Acharyal says "punarapi jananam punarapi maranam punarapi jananii jathare shayanam iha samsaare bahudustaare kripayaa apaare paahi muraare". "Janani" means mother, "Jatar" means stomach, where the child is sitting - "Janani jatarE sayanam". There is water all around the child. The child let's out its waste in the water around its foetus and small worms come as a result. These worms bite the child and the child suffers as a result. When the mother eats ice cream or drinks hot coffee, the child suffers from it. Inside the womb it suffers a lot. Therefore it has the "janmAnthara smrithi" thinking about how in previous janma "Guruji came to my house and told me to perform namasankeerthanam, but I did not listen then and fought about that, I got angry and left the place. As a result, in this janma I came to be born like this. In this janma atleast when I am born, will my mother hold my little hands and ask me to tell Krishna Rama Govinda Hare Rama Krishna Govinda" or tell me to go to America and earn money and come, I don't know". Therefore "Be in sadhu sangam always, don't leave the sadhu sangam at any cost". Radhe Radhe

"Agacha Agacha sajjana sangam

mAgacha mAgacha durjana sangam".

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Seeing GOD in everything

We are told to see God in everything around us, be it a tree, flower, nature i.e., in anything and everything. However Guruji says "When you are saying you are seeing GOD in everything, it should be like how the Mahans or Great saints saw GOD in everything around them. What do we really mean by that?

Seeing GOD in everything is not a thing to practice and be able to do that. For example you see a thing, identify it to be that thing and then think of it as GOD. For example, say you see a beautiful flower, you first identify that as a flower and then attribute it to be a GOD. This is not a practice being able to see GOD. This is not how the Mahans saw GOD. When they see the flower spontaneously, instantly they see the GOD, they don't see a flower but see GOD in the flower. Unless and until we get that feeling of being able to see GOD in the flower we cannot claim that we are seeing GOD in everything. Radhe Radhe

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Desire of the pure mind - HH Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamigal

Kaval il pulanai vaithu, apart from the above two types of namakeerthanam, there is a third meaning. Lets say there is a child in our house, we go outside to get some rations, we need to stand for a long time at the ration shop. If we bring the child and make it stand for long hours, it will be tired and be hungry. The child cannot be left alone in the house also. What we then do is that, we go to our known neighbor and leave the child in their care, telling them to take care of the child responsibly while we go and get the rations. What the neighbor will do, he will treat the child as its own, not allowing the child to slip or fall in a pit or gutter, not allowing it to touch anything and thus take care of the child safely until the child is returned back to her mother. So what is the third thing, you tried control of the mind, you tried allowing it go helter-skelter then there is this third thing. The Kaval (control) of the pulanghazh is at the lotus feet of Lord Sri Ranganatha. Is not the lord, the rishikesha, the chieftain of the indriyas "aham indriyo rishikesha twam yantri kEla keshava", as you are the chieftain. So my eye should not see wrong sights, ear should not hear wrong words, mouth should not eat wrong foods - all this is your responsibility. Put the responsibility on HIM - Kaval "il" pulanai vaithu - and you perform the namakeerthanam. Perumal will give all that you need automatically. We have already said that one who may have have jnana, vairagya may not get bhagavath darshanam but one who performs namakeerthanam certainly will. The Jnana, vairagya will come on its own. 

Sri Ramakrishnar will tell a beautiful story. There was a king and he had a servant. The servant was extremely fond of this king and loved him with his life. Being so fond of this king, he has a desire, one day to invite him to his home and treat him nicely. He will keep asking the king often to come to his home. But the king has his own protocol, he cannot sit at ordinary chair, visit ordinary places etc. He needs a throne, security arrangements setup, he may need fan, need serving as per royal arrangements but the servant was caught up in his love for the king. The King then asked his minister to make arrangements ready for his visit. Immediately 100 people went to the house, whitewashed it, put fans, AC, made security arrangements in all the neighboring houses, brought all gold cups and saucers, finally the king came. He stayed and made the servant happy but when he left, the king did not take anything with him as this was not a big thing for him. Likewise, just keep the desire that the bhagavan should come to you, that's enough. The yogyatha will come automatically from the bhagavan to you. The desire should not be an act or a drama it should be truthful. Keep on saying, "Ranganatha, please come to my heart, again and again keep calling!". Bhagavan will come to the pure heart. The bhagavan knowing the devotee's desire wants to take a place at the heart  of the devotee but he knows that if the devotee's chittam is not clean, how can he go and occupy the place. Radhe Radhe

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Perform Namakeerthanam you will perish not! - HH Sri Sri Muralidhara swamigal

We have been saying that the easiest way to attain the bhagavan is by namasankeerthanam, everyone will have a doubt how we can see God. But for the one performing namakeerthanam will be able to see GOD. One way is by being truthful, stand in dharma, have unflinching faith and the other way is by performing namakeerthanam. But say if the person who is performing namakeerthanam who will not possess any of the above mentioned gunams, he will not care for the jeevan by his side, not have even the basic humanitarian considerations, even such a person can see the bhagavan. But this is contrary to the fact that one can see the bhagavan only if he isa  suddhatma, possess the dharmic qualities, truthfullnes and drida bhakthi vairagyam vishwasam. How contrary this is? One is very slim, the other is fat, one is dark and the other is fair, one is tall, other is short like this. Even to Sakshath Naradar, the bhagavan has said that one should have the necessary qualities of vairagyam, dridanishtam - "Avipakka kashayanam durdarsha aham kuyoginam", but to those performing namakeerthanam such qualities are not found, how will these then attain the bhagavan. Not only that "name bhakthaha pranisyathi", the bhagavan says in the Gita as well. My devotee will never perish and those words also we need to keenly understand. "namE bhakthaHa pranishyathi" - my devotee will not perish, who? prahlada will not perish, ambarishan will not perish, why? if they will not perish then what is purpose of performing bhakthi? For prahlada to attain moksha, for ambarishar to attain moksha, Gopikas to attain moksha - all this is no thing to be debated at all. IT IS GAURANTEED FOR THEM, good gathi, paramapadam is sure for them. The reason for "namE bhaktha pranishyathi" is for the likes of Ajamila, being a durAcharan chants the nama will also be protected. This is the main thing. If you understand whose name is this, it is enough. "Jagatprabhum deva devam anantham purushottamam" - the name is of Jagadeeshwaran, eko vishnur mahatbhutam and its the name of the BHAGAVAN, not the name of kuppan or subbhan. The nama prabhavam is such. How will one get the darshanam of the bhagavan by performing bhagavannamakeerthanam is "Even is he is not fully filled with good qualities "gunapoornan", as he keeps doing this namakeerthanam all the sins in his mind will be cleared. As his sins get cleared, the sad buddhi "good thoughts" will develop and manifest  and as good thoughts develop, he will become a suddAtma, then once he has become a suddAtma he will develop the desire to see the bhagavan, the desire for Jnanam will come, vairagyam will come, bhakthi will come then he will see the bhagavan. Thats why, when "name bhakthaHa pranishyathi" was told by bhagavan in the Gita, bhagavan also told another, that if bhakthi for ME is present in the devotee, then "Kshipram bhavathi dharmAtma" - I WILL MAKE HIM A DHARMATMA VERY QUICKLY. I WILL CERTAINLY MAKE HIM A GOOD PERSON. Why, because he has developed love and concentration for me, he has developed a desire to tell my name always. So I will make him a good person, I will give him gnana, bhakthi, vairagyam as well as give my darshanam to him also.

THEREFORE FOR THOSE PERFORMING NAMAKEERTHANAM CAN NEVER PERISH! Radhe Radhe!!

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Travelling on the ship called Nama - HH Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamigal

The moment you have started chanting the Nama, you are already on this ship. The Nama is verily the propeller of the ship. The captain of this ship is none other than Sri Krishna Himself! The Nama Dwaar team members are your co-travelers. The destination is Vaikunta! The mundane matters of the life are the like munching during the journey which may have a variety of tastes, sweet, sour, salty, tangy, bitter and spicy.

The captain is and experienced navigator and belongs to the place where we go! So we can rest assured that our journey will be safe and sound! At times He does mischief, but he is not harmful at all! One has to be careful not to fall in love with Him, for, His form, His style, His language, His dress – all of them are unimaginably beautiful! ~ HH Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamigal

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Path shown by Azhwars is the basis! - By HH Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamigal

In the Srimad Bhagavatham it is said beautifully about a method described to attain the bhagavan. If you have not followed the method shown by the mahans and do whatever you think is the best method you liked, you may not attain the bhagavan but what will remain is just "sramam yevahi kEvalam", what remained is the difficulty you faced. There will be no fruit begot. All effort in vain. Because you did not follow the method shown by the mahans.

NAMAKEERTHANAM IS THE EASIEST WAY, THE BEST WAY, THE WAY THAT WILL YIELD GREATEST BENEFITS.

So one cannot ask questions on how this will give us this. why, did anyone tell you there is such a thing as moksham, did you see this? who said? Sastras have said. Mahans have said.

Mahans have said there is moksham, presence of another world, punyam, papam, presence of GOD and if we do such and such a thing we can attain God. Which means you can attain God only in the way dictated by them and not by going down your own path. So the sayings of mahans is the authority, they have shown the path and have said that path is namakeerthanam. If you go all around India you can find several bhakthas. In Karnataka we can find Purandaradasar, ashta dasar, Kanakadasar, Vijayadasar and  several such have sung glories of the Lord. If you go to Maharashtra (Marati desham) we can name Tukaram, Namadevar, Gnaneshwar, Janabai, Ekanathar several such bhakthars have sung the glories of the lord. In Uttar pradesh, Rajasthan, Swami haridas, Mirabai have sung in praise of the Lord. So many have sung and for all these mahans a path was shown. All these several bhakthas have followed, be it Swami Jayadevar, Mahaprabhu, be it Bhadrachala Ramadasar, Thyagarajar of Tamil Nadu, they all have followed the path shown by one. Who showed this path? They were the AZHWARS! The path shown by the 12 Azhwars were followed by all these several bhakthas to attain the bhagavan. What is that these 12 Azhwars showed?, what path all these bhakthars took? In India before all these bhakthas came, the foremost among them were the Azhwars. 

Do Namakeerthanam. That's the reason why all these bhakthars sang about bhagavan. If we fully read the 4000 Divya prabhandam again and again its about singing. Without doing namakeerthanam what's the use of reading the divya prabhandham. The full of prabhandam talks of singing the namakeerthanam. Since these 12 Azhwars told so, all the bhakthars from Maharastra, Purandaradasar, Jayadevar and Bhadrachala Ramadasar all mention the significance of the namakeerthanam. Radhe Radhe!

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