Inspiring Talks of Gurudev Sivananda

                   Inspiring Talks of Gurudev Sivananda

12th March, 1949

AMSA AVATARAS

Dr. Brij Behari Lal’s letter had not been attended to promptly. To Siva that was an occasion for imparting a lesson to his children.

‘Even after such a long training our inmates have to learn more the art of service. The organisation is growing daily. And, everyone should work like a bee, tirelessly and with zeal. Someone who has run away from the Ashram and fallen into evil ways, it seems, remarked that I did not teach him any philosophy. Why? What need is there for all of you to be taught? The very work, if you do it sincerely and with all your heart and soul, is enough. Just see how I am working day and night. You will have to watch and learn for yourself. The talks and discourses that you listen to will not impress you so much as would an example.

‘Service, service—that should always be your motto. The moment I get an address, see how I serve. Immediately I will enter it in my register. I will send a copy of the magazine, a packet of leaflets, a book, Prasad and a letter, too. Thus, the Lord’s name and the Divine Life message have been taken to another household. This should be your motto, too. You should eagerly wait for every opportunity of service. I have every time to extract work from you. Some of you have yet to feel that every work is our own, that the whole Society is your own, and that it is all His Service.

‘Avataras will come in special times of stress and strife. Perhaps the birth of an Avatara is imminent. But, now, we should all take on the duties of an Avatara: in fact all the saints of today are Amsa-Avataras, and we are all their helpers. We should ourselves feel that the divine spark is in us and work hard. Each one of you should do what an Avatar will do. Then the divine spark in you will burst forth into a conflagration.

‘Can I not sit in a closed room and pursue the ‘Who am I?’ enquiry? But, the bliss that I get out of this service and untiring service of Sadhakas is, so to say, much greater than the bliss of meditation. The point is this: through this service people are benefited. There is infinite expansion of the heart. What great service did Lord Krishna do? That should be our idea. Serve, SERVE: feel that the divine spark (Amsa) is in you. Feel that you are preparing the ground for an Avatara to come.

‘I assure you: you will get Sadyo Mukthi if your body falls off while you are engaged in the service of humanity. If the body dies while you are carrying water to the temple, at the very moment you will attain Final Liberation. Fear not and serve.’

Blessed is today. For after a lapse of about three years I am again hearing such fiery words from the lips of Siva.

Similar were the discourses that Siva used to give during October-November 1945 when the presence of a large number of visiting-Sadhaks created a perpetual Sadhana Week atmosphere in the Ashram. And it was Siva’s fiery advocacy of Karma Yoga that made a proud Dhyana Yogi of violent temper to carry water for the Ashram kitchen, a very high official of an Indian State to remove cow-dung from the road. 

13th March, 1949

TO PLEASE ALL

A devotee brought a small packet. Only the wrapper and thread were visible from outside. The packet found its place on Siva’s table, as the devotee’s head sought the sage’s feet. Siva looked curiously at the packet.

‘Swamiji, it is a humble devotee’s token of reverence: a chaddar.’

‘Silk chaddar?’

‘Yes, Swamiji,’ replied the devotee at the same time opening the package.

Receiving the chaddar, Siva said: ‘I am a Sanyasin. I should not wear silk. People will not like it. They will criticise Sanyas itself.’

‘But, Swamiji, you cannot refuse my loving gift. Then you would have injured a loving devotee’s heart.’

This silenced Siva and he received the gift with the joy born of a recognition of devotion.

The World! It takes all sorts of people to make the world. And, the Creator alone can know His creation. Thus, you always find yourself in a tight corner if you try to satisfy all. Which way to go? You stand bewildered. See how Siva solves the problem. Cast the lot in favour of the one who would be spiritually benefited by the action. The other party can be ignored—in this case it is the one who would purposelessly criticise the dress of a sage, being unable to understand even a little of the sage’s inner nature.

 

18th March, 1949

EVER BUSY IN COMMONWEAL

Mr. Relton of the Theosophical Society, Adyar, has come. Siva greeted him cordially and enquired about his health, etc., and if he had had his morning coffee.

‘Yes, Swamiji: thanks very much.’

Siva presented him with a few of his (Siva’s) books.

‘Thank you very much, Swamiji: I shall read them with utmost interest.’

‘Is Henri van Zeyst at Adyar? Is he all right?’

‘Yes, Swamiji: he told me a lot about you and about your humanitarian activities here. He told me that you are ever busy….’

‘What busy! It is all His work,’ Siva said in all humility.

‘Yes, Swamiji: those who are engaged in doing good to humanity are ever busy. It is really a marvel how much work you turn out. It is our prayer that God may grant you many, many years of health and strength for the service of humanity.’ 

SOMADEVA SARMA

 

Hardly had Mr. Relton left the D.J. Hall, and hardly had Siva uttered the words ‘Today Sri Somadeva Sarma is coming?’’ than…. 

‘He has come, Swamiji,’ Jyotirmayanandaji ushered in Sri Srivatsa Somadeva Sarma and party.

Siva at once got up from his seat and with folded palms greeted the great saint and savant, who is very well versed in the Vedas and the Puranas.

S. offered Sashtanga Namaskara to Siva.

‘The rarest good fortune to which I have been longing for such a long time, of your Pada Sevanam or your holy Darshanam, I have got today. My eyes have today got the greatest feast. I am blessed, thrice blessed. Today is the greatest day of my life.’ So on….S. literally in ecstatic joy at the sight of Siva.

A few of Siva’s disciples ran hither and thither bringing coffee for the party, arranging for the rooms etc.

 

A CURE FOR LEUCODERMA

A young man, very seriously concerned about his own health, slipped into the office, along with his wife. 

Suffering—physical or mental—tramples on etiquette or decency! Neither prostration nor patience—the man went right up to Siva’s seat, and stood almost brushing his sleeves against Siva’s arm.

‘OM Namo Narayanaya!’ greeted Siva, unmindful of his own conversation with Sri Somadeva Sarma. 

The man placed his problem before Siva: ‘Swamiji, I have got this….(pointing to a white patch on his neck)….Please tell me what it is and how to get rid of it. I have consulted many doctors and each one says something: some doctor said it is….’ 

Seeing the young man hesitant, Siva volunteered ‘Leucoderma?’ 

‘Yes, Swamiji; that is what one doctor said and I got greatly upset. It has brought on great mental agony.’

‘No, my child: you should not give way to emotions like that and get upset. It is, after all, loss of pigment.’

‘Still, Swamiji, it will disfigure me. Oh, I am greatly worried about it. Please do something for me, Swamiji.’

‘Practise Sirasasan and Sarvangasan. Do Pranayama also. Use the prescription that I am giving you.’

Siva gave him a medical prescription also. And the young man prostrated before Siva, now greatly relieved, and left. 

SIVANANDA AVATARAM

Only a sharp, subtle intellect with a pure understanding of Truth will be able to perceive Divinity. In spite of obvious supernatural birth and Lilas, Lord Sri Krishna was recognised as God incarnate only by a few great souls.

Sri Somadeva Sarma, the profound scholar who could entertain learned audiences spell-bound with his eloquent and illuminating lectures on the Prasthanatraya, the Shastras and the Puranas, spoke during the evening Satsang. Here are a few salient points:

‘Whenever there is decay of righteousness and a seeming triumph of unrighteousness, the Lord Himself has assured us in the Gita that He incarnates on this earth and upholds Dharma. Again, He has said that anything that is divine and splendorous is His own Amsa. Our Lord Sivananda is surely an Avatara of Bhagavan. He has come to raise the fallen, to illumine the intellects of worldly-minded men and lead them all on the path of righteousness. Today, through Sivananda’s grace and divine influence, thousands of Nasthikas (atheists) have been converted into Asthikas (theists), thousands of utterly beastly men and women have been divinised—and they all sing God’s Name with great devotion. This I have seen with my own eyes. I have seen with my own eyes the impossible being achieved through the magic of Sivananda’s name and influence. It is due to him today that Dharma still holds its flag aloft. How many branches of the Society, carrying on what all divine activities! Truly, truly, Sivananda is an Avatara of Iswara Himself. His grace alone can guide South India, the land where today atheism is gaining strength, and lead that part of the land towards God.’

He sang several Sanskrit stanzas composed by him in praise of Siva and said: ‘In all our gatherings we start with these stanzas in order to invoke the blessings of our Guru and God, Swami Sivananda, on our undertaking.’

Oh, Siva! Such is thy glory. Who can comprehend it truly? 

25th March, 1949

ADVAITA SIDDHI

What is the difference between a man and a saint? I eat: he eats. I sleep: he sleeps. I wear clothes: so does he. I suffer from diseases: so, I see, does he!

But, I now understand that what I see apparently is wrong. For, when you and I suffer from a disease, we suffer: but, when a saint suffers from one, he does not actually suffer, but passes through it. Disease, as it were, is an ornament to him, or a natural state of health, a common thing as answering calls of nature.

Siva has scabies. The percentage of sugar in the urine is high. The frequent injection of insulin brought on its own reaction, scabies. For this, he used sulphur ointment, etc.: this had its reaction in fever. This chain of action-reaction would have been sufficient to make us fret and fume, swear and be scared.

Not a day did he miss at the office. ‘Now I think I should bring my ointment and brush daily to the office, as I bring my fountain pen and spectacles.’ Siva remarked one day. How lightly he treats it.

Siva has temperature today. Yet, he is there in the office. A young man came into the office and wanted to learn Pranayama. I would have given him a bit of my mind and turned him out: for, I would have expected the visitor to notice that when I had a blanket on in summer it was an indication that I was not well and so, should not be bothered. But, not so our Siva: he began to demonstrate to the visitor the various easy comfortable Pranayamas.

And, if a man writes the following poem in that state of health, do you call him man?

O Lord! Thou art the scabies. 

Thou art the parasite acari scabii 

That produces scabies or itching. 

Thou art the doctor who treats patients.

 

Thou art the medicine Ascabiol (M & B),

Sulphur ointment, talc and cuticura powder, 

Neem oil, neem soap and the paste or lepan

Made up of gerua, sandal and rose-water.

 

It is a great mystery, Oh Lord! 

Thou art hiding in all these forms

And playing the game of ‘hide and seek’. 

I have realised this great mystery.

I behold Thee in all these forms.

Glory unto Thee, O Adorable Lord!

Prostrations and adorations unto Thee,

Oh Secret of secrets!

PHILOSOPHY IN HUMOUR

In the evening, some of us were working with a petromax lantern in the office. Siva stepped in, on his way to the Bhajan Hall.

‘Come, try this.’ He invited each one of us in turn to a packet of ‘Sev’ (savoury prepared in his own Kutir.) Then he asked for the opinion of each one of us on the taste of the stuff.

‘Somehow, the bazaar Sev appears to taste better,’ said Siva, and asked Vishnuji to get a little of other bazaar stuff.

‘Now, taste both and tell me the difference.’

Each one said something. One liked a little chillie added to the Sev; another said it was not good, and so on.

Siva summed up: ‘Tastes differ.’

What profound truth!

ANIRVACHANIYA

And so the consumption of Sev went on. ‘Can anyone tell me what exactly is the taste of the Sev?’ Siva posed a question. We merely looked at each other in bewilderment.

Siva himself solved the difficulty. ‘I think it is quite impossible to make you understand how I feel about it. To each one of us the taste is essentially different. Each one’s experiences of the taste is different. You alone can know it; you experience it; you cannot express it. Such is the Atman, too. Therefore, realise It yourself.’

 

1st April, 1949

THE VIEW OF THE WORLD

A few visitors from Madras had, during their stay in the Ashram, accidentally chanced to come face to face with a young man who had renounced his family and come away to Uttarakhand for practising Tapasya.

When Siva was told of this identification, he fondly enquired about the status of the family to reassure himself that the young man’s disappearance would not starve the members of his family.

‘Swamiji, his father-in-law is a fairly rich man, so is his own father. It is about a year and a half since he left the house. So, perhaps even the anxiety that they felt about him and the sense or privation would have by now cooled down.’

‘But, the wife wants her husband! That is the trouble. She is not satisfied with money, parents and children. The woman is always after a husband,’ remarked Siva, in Shavian jest, full of hidden wisdom. 

RENUNCIATION NEEDS STRENGTH

‘Swamiji, may we inform the parents and parents-in-law that he is here? Perhaps, they will be relieved of their anxiety.’

‘Oh, yes, why not? And, even if they come here and start crying over his sleeves, it does not seriously matter. If he has the inner strength of conviction, then he will stay in spite of everything. He appears to be full of spiritual Samskaras. Else, his Vairagya would have faded away long ago and he would have returned to the house. 

Mind, he has led a very rigorous life, and undergone a good deal of suffering during the last one and a half years. 

Still he is adamant in his resolve. Renunciation is not an easy thing. It comes only out of strong Purva Samskaras.’ 

SWEPT OFF BY A TYPHOON

‘Swamiji, he used to read a lot of your works. In fact, we are sure that it is only because of that he left the world so suddenly, and in the face of the attraction of a young wife and child.’ 

‘Yes, yes. I also asked him: ‘If you were inclined spiritually, then why did you marry?’ He said, ‘It was only after the marriage I started reading your books.’ Such is the Lord’s will. Who can alter that?’

‘Your books, Swamiji Maharaj, are like the winds of a typhoon. They sweep men off their feet, only to plant them firmly on the spiritual path.’ After a pause, the visitor added: ‘I, too, read your books, Swamiji….’  

His wife who was also in the group, interrupted, ‘….And, Swamiji,….we have been anxiously watching him, lest he, too, should renounce the world and run away.’

‘But, Swamiji, I have never felt such an inclination….’

Siva interrupted: ‘Only when there is a spark can it be ignited!’

But the visitor was engrossed in his own line of thought. ‘Swamiji, I have always felt that it is possible to realise God through Grihasthasrama also. I do not feel that the family life is in any way an obstacle to spirituality.’

‘Yes, yes. It is possible to realise God in and through the world. You have to live like a lotus-leaf on water.’ 

WHAT IS WORLD?

A railway engineer came in. He had a doubt to be cleared.

‘Swamiji, you say we should avoid a worldly man’s company. But, Swamiji, aren’t we all worldly men? If I, too, am a worldly man, what do I get by labelling another as a worldly man and avoiding his company? I think this is possible only when I renounce the world and come here.’

‘What is here? Is this not the world? Is Rishikesh not part of the world? How can you renounce this world? Where will you go?’ These questions put the engineer in a very receptive and reflective mood. ‘What is meant,’ continued Siva, ‘by a worldly man’ is a man who is full of worldly nature. A man may live in the world, and yet be not of it. 

That is the secret. Never allow the evils of the world to get into your heart. Enthrone God in the heart.’ 

FROM MECHANICAL REPETITION TO BHAV

‘I do try to meditate on the Lord in the heart and to do Japa. I find it very difficult. My mind always wanders. It has no taste for Japa.’

‘Go on mechanically repeating the name as a parrot does. In course of time, the Mantra-Shakti will awaken in your heart a real love for the Lord and His Name, the real Bhavana which will lead you to Bhava Samadhi. Persistent effort is necessary.’ 

6th April, 1949

PUNCTUALITY: SIVA’S DEFINITION 

‘Where is Chidanandaswamiji? Where is Sivanarayanji?’  Siva was there on the Ganges bank: and the boys ran here and there collecting the Ashram group that would accompany Siva across to the Swarga Ashram.

Judge Saheb with a party of Swarg Ashram Sadhus had arrived at 7 a.m. to take Siva to Swarg Ashram. The party came singing ‘Sri Ram Jaya Ram Jay Jay Ram’ Kirtan.

At 7:30 Siva arrived at Sri Viswanath Ghat, ready to make a move. Within the fraction of a second he had checked up on all the things that had to be taken—fruits, money, books, magazines, pamphlets, etc. One or two of the Ashramites scheduled to accompany him were yet to come. 

‘Swamiji, we had been told to be ready at 8 a.m.’ 

‘That might be: but it is our duty to be well prepared half an hour ahead. That is punctuality. Then we would also avoid running about hither and thither at the last moment. Well, now let us go.’

For then Acharyaji had also come.

And, the boat sailed along, merrily, to the accompaniment of the Kirtan. 

UTSAV BHAVAN

We assembled on the open ground near the Swarg Ashram office. After the usual speeches, Sri Upadhyayaji requested Siva to open the new Utsav Bhavan, designed especially to house a small altar of God before which would go on Bhagavat Katha, etc.  Raghavacharyaji, the aged Shad-Darshanacharya, concurred, and said: ‘In my view, among those present today Sri Swamiji Maharaj is the foremost, a saint and seer, full of the divinity whose birth we have today assembled to celebrate. I am very happy when, soon after I went over to the other bank of the Ganga to the Muni-ki-reti, Swamiji also went there and established his Ashram where he preached Rama-Bhakti and Nama-Bhakti, from where arose mighty waves of devotion to the Lord that uplifted humanity. Indeed, he is a great Mahatma whose blessings should be sought by all of us.’

Siva stood beside the door of the Utsav Bhavan, and roared OM OM OM. Om is the seed of all auspiciousness and Siva never commences any function without it. Then his usual Kirtans ending up with the Maha Mantra Kirtan which has received a new life from Siva.

After a short speech wherein Siva eulogised the wonderful service that the founder of the Swarg Ashram had rendered to humanity, and with his own blessings ‘May this Utsav Bhavan be a haven of peace and godliness to which all devotees could resort, purify themselves, and become Jivanmuktas!’ he declared the Utsav Bhavan open. 

FILLED FOR AGES TO COME

When all had seated themselves within this Utsav Bhavan, Siva sang a few most inspiring Kirtan Dhwanis….and the Voice! Coming as it does from the very navel of this great Yogi, it rang out in sweet melody and indescribable power and filled the entire atmosphere. Siva’s single voice reached farther than that of the entire gathering combined. These powerful vibrations would last for ages.

And, our cup of bliss was filled. At the conclusion of the function Siva himself stood up and distributed the Prasad with his own divine hands….he went round here and there taking the utmost care to see that none, not even the meanest and most neglected members, not even the slumbering child on his mother’s lap, none was omitted. 

TWO DISTINCT THINGS: KNOWING AND DOING

And, so the function came to a close and we left the Utsav Bhavan. There was rush again….this time it was to touch Siva’s feet. This procession of men and women lasted for quite a few minutes, and others ran after Siva and took the dust of his feet.

‘You have made it a great success. All the glory for today’s grand function belongs to you,’ Siva said to Upadhyayaji.

‘No, Swamiji. It was all your grace only. Mahantji also had this idea. I got this idea also several years ago. It was through your grace only that it was fulfilled this year.’

‘It is one thing to have an idea and quite another thing to take the initiative to do it. It is one thing to know: quite another thing to do. We know so many things: but hardly do we dare to do them. The credit for taking this initiative should definitely go to you. May God bless you all.’

Upadhyayaji would not take this hint. He insisted on accompanying Siva till the very bank of the Ganges.

‘I hope,’ said Siva: ‘that this is only a beginning. In future you should arrange to celebrate all the festivals here. People will be benefited; Sadhus will be benefited and it will bring glory to the institution, too.

‘By your grace and blessings, Swamiji, I hope it will be so.’ 

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