Nama Dwaar Nibbles

Saint Namadev was one of the greatest saints of the Land of Bharat who hailed from the state of Maharashtra and showed the path of Nama Sankirtan. Here is an interesting incident in the life of Namadev -
Once Namadev was travelling to Gujarat where he was close to the temple town of Nageshwar.  This town houses the famous Shiva temple which is one of the 12 Jotirlinga Kshetras.  It was the auspicious day of Shivaratri and a huge number of people thronged to the temple to have darshan of Lord Shiva.  Surrounded by a host of devotees, Sant Namadev stood at the entrance of the temple and lost himself in Nama Sankirtan (singing the Divine Names of the Lord).  As the crowd swelled, the temple authorities tried to drive away Namadev and his devotees and objected to their Kirtan.  At once, Namadev abided by the words of the temple priests and stepped away from the entrance. However, how could they stop their Nama Sankirtan?   They moved towards the back side of the temple and continued with the Kirtan.

At that very moment, Lord Shiva turned Himself around in order to listen to Namadev’s Nama Sankirtan!  Even today, Shiva’s vehicle - Nandi - in that temple is located on the back side of the temple!

Ramakrishna Paramahamsa who lived near Calcutta and saint Thyagaraja who lived in Tamil Nadu were contemporaries but have never met each other.

‘Jataka Paarijatham’ is a Tamil Astrology book written by Shri Vedalingabhattar.
There is a verse as below:

ஈராறுக்குடையோன் வாக்கில் இருந்திட சசியும் கேதும்
ஓராறும் மூன்றில் சார்ந்திட கதிர்பார்க்க உதயம் தன்னைப்
பேரான பொண்ணன் நோக்க பெருஞானி ஜீவன் முக்தன்
நேரான சான்றோர் அன்று நிகழ்த்தினர் உணர்வாய் மாதே

Its meaning :

When the owner of the twelfth house is in the second house, Moon and Ketu together in the ninth house with Sun aspecting (seeing) them and Jupiter aspecting the ‘Lagna’ (ascendant), then that ‘Jatakan’ (person having the horoscope) shall live to be a great Jnani and Jivan Mukta!

As an exercise, if we observe Ramana Maharshi’s horoscope, we observe the following:

When we see all the characteristics of being a Jivan Mukta in the horoscope of a great Jivan Mukta - Sri Ramana Maharshi, does this only vindicate that Sri Ramana Maharshi is a jivan Mukta? Doesn’t it also vindicate the veracity of astrology itself?

In India, three places are very famous for Devi – Madurai Meenakshi, Kashi Visalakshi and Kanchi Kamakshi. Sri Seshadri Swamigal who came from Kamakshi’s Kanchi, Sri Ramana who came from Meenakshi’s Madurai and Yogi Ramsuratkumar who came from Visalakshi’s Kashi - all the three were accepted and absorbed by this great Arunachala –hill. So this Arunachaleswara is truly a ‘Maha’ Siva![Mentioned by Sri Sri Swamiji during one of His discourses in Bhagavan Yogiramsuratkumar Ashram in Tiruvannamalai between Nov 22 - Nov 30, 2010]

Bhagavan Yogiramsuratkumar used to chant Rama Nama every place and all times.  Whatever temple it may be, he used to chant only the Ram Nam. Once he was sitting in a Ganesha temple as His lips were reciting the Ram Nam.  A devotee said, “Bhagavan! You are sitting in a Ganesha temple and chanting Ram Nam!”

Bhagavan replied, “I am unable to perceive any Murti than Rama in any temple I go to.  To me theMurti looks as Rama alone. What can I do?”

In Srimad Ramayana, in the beginning we see Sugreeva, who is stripped of his share of the kingdom, his wife and children by his brother Vali.  He is in a state where he does not even get proper food clothes.  Above all, he is gripped by a fear of death – that at any moment, his brother could send someone and kill him.

On the other hand, we also see Ravana, the ruler of Lanka. Even Lord Hanuman is astounded by the opulence of Lanka and wonders if it were verily Kubera’s or Indra’s  wealth.

At the end of Ramayana, we see that Sugreeva is crowned and made the ruler of Kishkinta, whereas Ravana faces utter defeat and finally loses his life.

If we contemplate on what accomplished this change, we see that even in such an adversity, Sugreeva confided in Lord Hanuman, the Sadhu and Guru .  Whereas, Ravana ill-treated Lord Hanuman and set fire to his tail, subjecting himself to ‘apachaara’.
Ramayana thus shows us that one should always be in a satsang and in the shadow of his Guru.

[This was mentioned by Sri Swamiji in His lecture during the Bhagavata Saptaha at Sri Bhuvaneswari Amman Temple in Jafferkhanpet, Chennai between 7th & 13th June, 2009]

We go to Varanasi to take a dip in the Ganges.  On the way, we pass numerous small gutters filled with dirt and filth.  We are careful not to step into these gutters as we head for the river.

When in the Ganges, we take a holy dip, and also fill small vessels with water from the Ganges as it is holy.

Seldom do we realize that the gutters which we were careful not to step into indeed drain into the Ganges!

Likewise, we, mortals, commit numerous sins and are homes for all the bad qualities like greed, hatred, lust, anger and jealousy.  As long as we are alone, we stink. But the moment, we get the association of a Mahan, we lose all negative tendencies and inherit divine qualities.

That is the power of Sadhu-Sang (association with Mahans).

[This was mentioned by Sri Swamiji in His lecture during the Bhagavata Saptaha at Sri Bhuvaneswari Amman Temple in Jafferkhanpet, Chennai between 7th & 13th June, 2009]

Mother Meera, in one of her kirtans says,‘Apne mandir me bait baitkargeetha bhagavat vaachoongi’(click here to see the entire kirtan).

‘I shall sit in the temple of my beloved Lord and read Srimad Bhagavat Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam’.Sri Swamiji gives yet another  beautiful interpretation of this statement – ‘ I will sit in the temple of my Lordand read Srimad Bhagavatam which is verily a commentary on Bhagavat Gita!’.

Srimad Bhagavatam is verily a commentary of Bhagavat Gita.   Every sloka in the Bhagavat Gita is expounded and illustrated in Srimad Bhagavatam with a story!For instance…Bhagavat Gita says that if a person performs his sadhana, and at some point, dies, then in his next birth, he will resume from where he left.

Jadabharata’s story is verily an illustration of this point.

Bhagavat Gita says that even if a devotee offers me a small offering, I will protect him.

Ajamila Charitram in Srimad Bhagavatam is verily an illustration of this verse.

[This was mentioned by Sri Swamiji in His lecture during the Bhagavata Saptaha at Sri Bhuvaneswari Amman Temple in Jafferkhanpet, Chennai between 7th & 13th June, 2009]

During Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi’s time at the Ramanashram in Tiruvannamalai, a cow by name Lakshmi used to live in the Ashram.   Bhagavan Ramana’s mother also lived in the Ashram.

It is interesting to note that Bhagavan Ramana was present during the last breath of both His mother and cow Lakshmi, albeit at different periods.

Bhagavan came and sat next to cow Lakshmi about 6 hours before she breathed her last.  However,  He did not spend so much time with His mother during her last breath.

When a devotee later asked why Bhagavan spent more time with the cow than with His own mother, Bhagavan quipped, “The cow Lakshmi doesn’t know anyone else other than me!”

Swami Gnanananda Giri lived in Tapovanam, near a place called Tirukkovilur in Tamil Nadu.  Often, devotees used to come to him and share with him their problems, personal weaknesses and the sins they have committed.  Swamiji would listen to all of them patiently and bless them with a lot of goodness.
Once, a close aide of Swamiji asked him, ‘Swamiji, Why are you taking the sins and sufferings of the devotees and giving them ‘punya’ (merits) in return?’
With a smile, Swamiji  answered, ‘We often see in streets men who come door to door to collect waste paper, bottles and other trash from each house, don’t we?  The householders also collect the trash from their house at regular intervals and wait for the person to come and collect it.  When the person shows up, both are happy.  The householder is happy because he gets rid of the waste material in the house in return for some money.  The trash-man is happy because he got some trash for the day.
Likewise, saints come down on the earth to take the sins accumulated by humans at regular intervals and bless them with goodness in return.’