Darshan of His Holiness Jagadguru Shankaracharya -Sringeri

One fine evening, my grandfather who is an avid, regular reader of the newspaper exclaimed with an excited tone that Sringeri Mahaswamigal is coming to Chennai. For all of us in the house, joy knew no bounds. My father who had seen Acharya from a long distance 17years before at Sri Ananthapadmanabhaswamy temple described the Darshan as a life changing experience for him. He added that only the truly deserving and the fortunate get the glimpse of His Holiness. There is a saying in Tamil, 'Avan Arulal Avan Thaal Vanangi' which means he who seeks the Divine has already been chosen by the Divine. Even the mere glance of Jagadguru Mahaswamigal is enough for this lifetime and for many more lifetimes to come. On hearing this, I became pensive. 'Will I be the fortunate one? Will I at least get a view of him?' I prayed and aspired from the bottom of my heart, to Lord Ganesha and to Paramacharya (Kanchi Chandrasekara Mahaswamigal) whose photo is stuck on the refrigerator and who I often turn to whenever I am troubled. My prayers were not demanding. I just simply stood before him and prayed truly without expectations. And it happened....

On 20th June, I returned exhausted from college. I found that my parents and my sister had gone to Rathnagireeshwar temple- Besant Nagar as His Holiness was visiting there. They returned back worn-out and said they were crushed by the huge crowd and couldn't get a proper Darshan of Him. I felt bad and this time we all of us prayed strongly to at least get a small view of Him. 

On Thursday, 28th June, one of my sister's classmate's driver knocked and gave us a card. "Wow!! A personal invitation to visit Mahaswamigal!!". I became overjoyed. All of us couldn't contain ourselves. My mom went to the prayer room and did pranams exclaiming "Thank you God Thank you!!!". I was ecstatic. It was one of those days that God reminded me of His constant presence. Tears came out my eyes. 

Today, 1-7-12, being Pradosha has been a landmark day in my life. I had the golden opportunity to see Lord Siva himself in the form of Sringeri Jagadguru. I constantly repeated:

Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Guru Deivo Maheswaraha, Guru Sakshaath Para Brahma Thasmai Sri Guruvey Namaha!

The program at 6:05 pm started with an invocation by Smt. Sudha Raghunathan who sat right behind me the whole time. The place was huge. Many people had assembled. There was even a big screen arranged so that people seated far behind can have a good view of His Holiness. My mom, sister and I were asked to sit in the ladies section right beside guruji and just 10m away from Him. Mahaswamigal glanced at everyone in the audience. His very presence carried joy, peace, lustre and immense tranquillity. The moment His compassionate glance fell on me, it was a feeling as if my whole body, mind was dipped in pure amrithatheertha. I felt so peaceful, so rejuvenated. Nothing else was important to me. I was born for this. My whole life I had been wandering aimlessly swinging to and fro like a pendulum. His penetrating look steadied my nerves, refreshed me brought immense peace and happiness to my heart. 

I felt so contented and thought this was enough and was preparing to leave when my mom stopped me saying that His Holiness is about to speak. What? A double blessing? What have I done to receive all this? Such thoughts wandered my mind and then His Holiness started to speak. 

His Holiness' speech in brief:

A sanyasi should always adhere to non violence. Especially these four months being a rainy season, he must not wander out as he might disturb small living creatures under His feet. He said that this Chaturmasya Vrata, he would have simply loved to stay indoors at Sringeri and being an Ekanthapriya would not have mingled with the crowds. But, it is truly because of the devotion of the people residing in Chennai that has brought Him here. He knows how each and everyone struggle and fight in crowds and don't mind even waiting for hours in queue to have a Gurudarshan. He blessed  each and everyone present and said His only prayers are that each person should uphold the highest Dharma and Cling to Truth. On July 1st 1966, His Holiness had got introduced to His guru and he remembered that day and on this very same day year 2012 he feels immense pleasure to come to Chennai. 

His Holiness spoke just for 20 minutes and while he was leaving to perform Sri Sharada Chandramouliswara pooja, my father did pranams to Him and had a close glimpse of the Guru's Holy feet. Acharya swamigal smiled at my dad and retired inside. 

Most beautiful things ever heard- II

Part 1-Glimpses of God

1. Lord Rama...

For a long time this question had been churning my mind. Should one live life for one's own sake or for the sake of others? Srimath Ramayanam gives the clear cut answer to this. If I live life for my own sake, only I am happy and it won't last long because people around me are not going to be happy and it creates conflict. If I live my life entirely for other's sake, sacrificing my small petty desires for the larger good, I start to feel a strange sense of peace, security and happiness. Lord Rama has exactly demonstrated this principle. By taking the human birth the Lord has taught us how to lead our life. It is impossible to be 100% Rama but even if we try to be 0.01% we are through. That is the greatness of the Ramayana. Reading any other story- one tends to feel bored easily. Ramayana never makes us bored. It rejuvenates, recuperates and replenishes our hearts as many times as we read or hear. 

Lord Rama has done nothing for selfish purposes. If one notices, his actions have always been for his people's sake. As a prince of Ayodhya, his top priority was to obey his father's words. As a husband his priority was to rescue Sita. As a king/ruler his priority was to protect his people and take care of all their needs. Never has his actions deviated from Dharma. 

Also in the Ramayana we find the opposite. Soorpanaka wanted to possess Rama, her nose and ears got cut. Ravana wanted to possess Sita, he could not control his desires and did not let go even though he knew she was Rama's wife. Ravana was a tapasvi, a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva, the minute he lusted for someone else's wife, his power lost and he was doomed. 

*****

Another symbolism is that Lord Rama represents the Ultimate, the Purusha, the Lord of the universe and Sitadevi, the goddess of wealth, the Prakriti. All wealth, the entire universe belongs to the Lord. When one tries to possess wealth have an egoistic desire and greed towards it, one meets with downfall and sorrow. So 'Sri' must always be united with her Lord 'Rama'. Rama should never be seen separated from Sita and vice versa. How much the child suffers when its parents are not happily married together or divorced. Similarly, we the children of the Lord suffer when Sri is not with Rama. Who is behind the unison? Who helped reunite Rama and Sita? Anjaneya or Lord Hanuman!! He represents Sakhi-best friend or Sathguru. 

To accomplish any task we need human effort and the grace of the Lord. But most importantly we need motivation-either internal or external. Our best motivator is our teacher. If we are successful in our life today it is because of our teacher or guru who has guided us very well. Even a good friend is our teacher in one sense. I developed an interest in Biology and Maths because my teachers were my motivating factor and kindled my interest in the subjects. 

To attain the highest ideal namely unison with the Lord-(jivathma (Self/Sitadevi) to be united with the Paramathma(universal soul/Athman/Purusha/Lord Rama) one needs the help of the Guru. And that Guru is Lord Hanuman. Lord Rama himself tells Hanuman, "I am indebted to you forever, how am i ever going to repay you for what you have done to me! Whether people worship me or not, they will certainly worship you and celebrate you for ages to come!".

Buddhir balam yaso dhairyam

Nirbhayatvam arogata

Ajaadyam vaak patuthvam cha

Hanumath smaranaath bhaveth

Meaning:

You will be blessed with Wisdom, Strength, Fame, Valor, Fearlessness, Health, Determination, articulativeness (gift of the gab) by praying to Hanuman.

Anjaneya is immortal or Chiranjeevi and meditates in the Himalayas. Whenever, wherever hymns are sung in the praise of Lord Rama in Bhakthi or the Ramayanam is read he would be present there. He undoubtedly motivated me to write this post.

Most beautiful things ever heard

Introduction

In the next few posts, I would like to briefly relate the many beautiful things I have heard so far, which made me feel so happy, which cleansed my heart and motivated me in times of failure and depression. I want to document them and I found my blog the best place to do so. I hope you too as a reader get benefited by this and may it act as a medicine to all your sorrows. The source of this information is from lectures by Sri Krishna Premi Maharaj, Smt. Vishaka Hari, Amar Chitra Katha(IBH Publications) and my wonderful father who has instilled in me an interest in spirituality.

PART 1 Glimpses of God

1.  Lord Rama…

 King Dasharatha’s court was always filled with sages and yogis. It was no surprise. The king was always generous and hospitable to all guests, serving them the best of delicacies entertaining them with the best of dancers brought in from Indra’s court. (Indra, the Lord of the Devas was a good friend of Dasharatha. He used to ask his help to beat the Asuras). But for the sages and yogis, it seemed so immaterial and they did not crowd the king’s court for all this. They were neither interested in the affairs of the court nor the pomp and celebrations. They were only immersed in Rama nama japa. Their eyes closed, lips were always dry with the utterance of the sacred karna mantram ‘Om Jai SriRam!’

No splendour, no richness present in abundance in Dasharatha’s court would ever distract them, except for one thing. The king being extremely fond of his son Rama would often call him to sit by his side or on his lap. He would call out “Rama! Rama! my dear child please come here.” When Rama walks into the court, eyes like lotus and beautiful thick curly hair, the whole proceedings would come to a halt just to catch a glimpse of the young boy Rama along with his brother Lakshmana. The sages and yogis too would stop their utterance with their eyes fixed in admiration on Rama, their purpose of meditation now standing right in front of them.

*****

Sage Vishwamitra took Rama and Lakshmana to the forest to kill the Rakshasas who were spoiling his yagna and tormenting all the sages in the forest. Being an extremely tough, knowledgeable and disciplined sage himself, he knew that Rama was the incarnation of Lord Vishnu. He could not resist being attracted to the Lord and he felt a little sorry, that he had dragged a boy who was just “Oona Shodasha Varsham”(Rama had just completed 16 years at that time). He lay three beds of dharbha grass on the floor and asked Rama and Lakshmana to lie down and rest.

Lord Rama being extremely obedient lay down on the grass. But Sage Vishwamitra could not sleep that night. He kept on fanning the Lord and could not stop admiring His thick eyelashes, His curly hair, His face which resembled the full moon and exclaimed that only the Lord himself would see both the comforts of the palace and this terrible forest floor with equanimity. The next morning the sage woke Rama up by singing this beautiful verse

Kowsalya supraja Rama poorva sandhya pravarthathe!

Uthishta narasardoola karthavyam daivamahnikam

Sage Vishwamitra has taught the whole world how to wake up in the morning to the sound of these auspicious words or Suprabhatham.  His bhakthi and affection towards the child Rama was so intense that he wanted to make sure that Rama didn’t miss his mother Kausalya. He had taken moral responsibility for the boys and looked after them with the best possible care and concern.

*****

How well did Rama and Lakshmana guard the yagna performed by the sage? Should this be asked as a question? There is a beautiful comparison for this. Just like how well our eyelids guard our eyes from the dust. The upper eyelid is compared to Lord Rama and the lower eyelid- Lakshmana, the light that enters - the fire of the yagna and the dust - the Rakshas. The upper eyelid has thick eyelashes just like the curly hair of Lord Rama. It comes down and bats the lower eyelid often. Just like how Rama kept circling and often gave an encouraging pat- “Lakshmana, take care!” while Lakshmana kept a keen watch standing in the same place. This is quite true and it encourages us to repeat his name Rama as often as we would blink our eyes.

*****

Lord Vishnu had played his part so well as the human being Rama that even the goddess Parvati became doubtful of whether Rama was truly Lord Vishnu incarnate. Once the goddess asked her husband Lord Shiva on what he was meditating with so much concentration. Lord Shiva replied, “On who else, but the golden name of the Lord Rama of course!” The Goddess laughed, “Him! See how he roams the forest crying out for his lost wife Sita!”

The goddess wanted to keep a test. Sita was just kidnapped by Ravan and Rama screams out in pain and intense grief. He roams about just like any ordinary man and starts to ask the birds, the trees and the clouds whether they have seen Sita in deepest desperation. Just then Goddess Parvathi taking the form of Sita walks towards Lord Rama and says “My lord! I am here.” Lord Rama stops and looks at the goddess, does pranams to her and enquires about Lord Parameswara! The Goddess was taken aback and felt ashamed of having doubted her own brother Lord Vishnu.    

Look at the big picture

This is the latest sensational tag line that has been going on in my mind. I was in a data structures lecture class listening intently when my professor explained a concept and mentioned these words. Then he posed a question: "What is the philosophical meaning behind these words?". I immediately delved into deep thinking. Somehow though these words look attractive and catchy it just doesn't agree with all situations in life. Thats what I strongly feel.

Firstly I will briefly tell what you mean by "Look at the big picture!". It means one must not get bogged down by trivial and insignificant things in life. One's purpose in life is different. One must not forget the purpose or in other words the big picture. We must stick to our priorities. Everything else that happens to us, which makes us forget our purpose and distracts us from our course is to be omitted. It is what we call the 'neti' shastra in Upanishads. Neti means Na iti or 'not this'. One must repeatedly do a self analysis and ask oneself before doing something Is this my purpose? Is this what I am born for? Will this make me happy? How happy will this make me? Then one can eliminate most of the things in life as insignificant. No not this! No not this! This is not what I really want! My purpose is different. Thus by this we can eliminate all our desires and truly be at par with the Lord Buddha or a sanyaasi if we go to the extreme level. 

But looking at the big picture is only like a beginners level in the game of life. If you succeed in it you can proudly proclaim you have passed L.K.G. in school. This is a line mean't for those who are so deeply into materialism and money making to get the initial opening into spirituality.

In life, every aspect of nature, every teensy wheensy microscopic thing is important and is very much significant and has a beautiful part to play, in the general scheme of the whole universe. Nothing should be treated without due respect and shunned as insignificant. An ant, even bacteria in the curd or a mouse which munches up the kitchen stores is necessary and is not created without a purpose. The whole cycle of life is so wonderful and each is dependent on the other. Not a single part of nature is created and wasted.  

On our side, in spite of our busy schedules, we must treat our possessions, our friends, our family and all others with respect, care and consideration. The respect and care must not be egoistic and vain. We must care with all our hearts but not be too much attached. That is one must love unconditionally and not be affected whether the same is reciprocated to us or not. Krishna paramatma himself has mentioned in the Bhagavat Gita and it is mentioned as well in the 2nd shloka of Ishavaasya upanishad:

   Kuruvan Neiveha Karmaani, Jijivisheshatam Samaha
   Evam tvayi Naanyathetosti, Na Karma Lipyate Nare.

Actions do not bind to those who do them without expecting the fruits. So I would like to conclude by saying: "Look at the big picture but pay attention to the details!!"