Final Registration Deadline for Navaratri in SPN - Friday, September 19th

September 18, 2014, 7:39 am

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Jai Gurudev,

We'd like to present a couple of important announcements about the upcoming Navaratri festivities at Shree Peetha Nilaya, Germany.

Final Registration Deadline

Due to the large number of guests attending Navaratri, there is a final registration deadline to be able to be in the tent during Navaratri:

!!! The deadline to register on our website is Friday, September 19th !!!

Because there are always more people coming to the events each year this means that we have worked out a rotating system for all the people that are registered for Navaratri.

1. You MUST register by Friday the 19th September LATEST!!!!

Here is the link - http://bookings.bhaktievent.de/

Anyone who has not registered by then will not be able to participate in the celebrations in the tent, and will be put on a waiting list. (They will have the opportunity to watch the events being streamed live in the darshan hall.)

(We had posted the registration deadline being for the 14th, but because of a technical error, the message did not get out in time to all of the different languages and communication channels. This will be the final notice.)

Sari Colors

For the Matajis who will be joining us, here is a list of the sari colors that match each day of the celebrations.

Day 1: Red
Day 2: White
Day 3: Orange
Day 4: Blue
Day 5: Yellow
Day 6: Peacock green/blue
Day 7: Black (dark)
Day 8: Light colour
Day 9: Red

We look forward to seeing you at Shree Peetha Nilaya!

much love,

your Bhakti Marga family

---

Spreading the Word about Love - Bhakti Sounds Concert Tour

September 23, 2014, 6:09 am

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Last week, the Bhakti Sounds band from Shree Peetha Nilaya went on a trip. Here's Tandav Krishna (in the photo below) giving a day by day account of the tour:

Left to Right: Nikhilananda, Mira, Tandav Krishna, Swami Kuru Bottom Center: Ratnamanjari

During the time when Guruji was traveling in South Africa and Kenya, the band of Bhakti Marga went with His Blessings for a tour in South Germany, spreading the message of love of our Satguru and singing the Holy Names. We went to four different cities during four days performing blissful concerts.

The first day was in a concert house in Kostanz, K9, in the beautiful region of the Bodensee, the biggest lake in Europe.

Devotees were there, some even came from Switzerland, but most of the audience was new (apart of some people that saw the band already in Friedrichshafen and in the Rainbow Festival in Munich, years ago). They enjoyed the music and asked for more bhajans at the end, what we happily offered to them. Swami Kuru and Nikhilananda gave small Satsangs that were very touching and inspiring.

The center White Horse in Orsingen, from Chudamani, received us for the second night.

With the house full of people and many devotees, we started playing after almost 2 hours Satsang, having altogether more than 4 hours of a blissful event.

At the end people form all ages were dancing while listening to Harinam, and all were very thankful to the experience.

The third concert happened in the Theaterzirkus Primero Passo, in Ravensburg. We were happy to see that some people were traveling to see us again from the concerts before, and even though this concert was not with a full house, we brought everybody close to us and they enjoyed our bhajans and kirtans also for more then two hours.

At the end everybody without exception was dancing and as in all the other events, many were very interested in visiting Shree Petha Nilaya and seeing our beautiful Swamiji soon.

The closing concert of the tour in Munich, at the Hari Om Temple, was an amazing experience. Many Indians were there and the venue was full. The beautiful Murtis were a blessing that inspired us, and the crowd enjoyed our bhajans and kirtans a lot.

Our hosts


Murtis at the Hari Om Mandir

Spontaneously it became a feast: they started cooking a lot of Prasad for after the concert, sang and danced with us at the end, and we even could do Arati with them, the perfect way of closing the tour.

Mr. Vijay Shankar, the elder president of the temple, spoke sweet words for everybody, saying thanks because we bring the Indian culture to the world and saying that we are always invited there for performing in the future. It was very blissful and sweet.

It is always lovely to share with the world the Love that Guruji constantly shower on us, and by doing it, His presence is even more strong to be felt, filling our hearts and making our Bhakti Marga family stronger.

We all say a big thank you for the warm welcoming and organisation from Anuprabha, Chudamani, Surabhi and Martin & Mahsa, and to everyone who came to the events.

If you are inspired and want to bring the Bhakti Marga band to your place, you can contact us at music@bhaktimarga.org.

- Tandav Krishna

Swamini Dayamati hard at work in Japan

September 23, 2014, 9:05 am

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Swamini Dayamati is very active in Japan, and is preparing the country for Swami Vishwananda's trip there next year.

Last week she gave a radio interview in a local station in Tokyo and talked about Mahavatar Babaji, about Swami Vishwananda, and about Atma Kriya Yoga.

The interview is scheduled to be published in October.

Attending the interview were Narayana, Lakshmi, and Bhu Devi :)

Anuprabha, who was in Tokyo for work, visited Swamini Dayamati and writes:

'Swamini Dayamati teaches another Atma Kriya Course in Tokyo. Really nice and open people. Was such fun! Now they wait for Guruji to come... Swamini prepared them.'

Just before this, Swamini had organized an Atma Kriya Yoga course in Nagano.

Regular updates from Bhakti Marga Japan and from Swamini Dayamati can be found on Facebook, here:

https://www.facebook.com/BhaktiMargaJapan (Japanese).

Navaratri and the Deep Meaning of Prayer

September 23, 2014, 11:00 pm

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At Shree Peetha Nilaya, the abode of Divine Mother, everything is getting ready for the Navaratri celebrations.

Every year, Sri Swami Vishwananda showers us with countless blessings helping each one to strengthen the inner connection with God, while praying for nine consecutive days, addressing our prayers to nine different forms of the Divine Mother.

Navaratri 2013 at Shree Peetha Nilaya

Through the years, Sri Swami Vishwananda has encouraged everybody saying, “When Divine Mother comes, She comes for all Her children, for everybody equally! And this is Her Motherly Love.”

“So during this time while we are praying, participate together! Call upon Her inside your heart! Participate with your spirit so that She may reveal Herself inside of you and remind you of how strong is this Love.”

“If you can think of God above everything, She will help you. She will awake inside of you this Love, so that you can reach your final goal, your final destination - God.”

Maha Kalash Abishekam, Navaratri 2013 at Shree Peetha Nilaya

In 2012 during a Satsang, Sri Swami Vishwananda further explained that along our journey to God, prayer itself takes different forms:

“There are different degrees of prayer, different ways of addressing one‘s prayers to God. But to be able to listen, one has to silence oneself. So let‘s put it like that: prayer is, firstly, silencing yourself, so that you can let the prayer speak!

In the first form of prayer one is like begging, annoying God, ‘Give me this, give me that.’ It‘s always based on the material level.

Second, you stand in front of God with your mind in your heart. In this form of prayer there is an intimate and personal relationship with God - not outside, but inside. There is still a demand, but it‘s less. The requests have already changed.

Third, you realise that you are an instrument of the Divine. Every action, it is not you who does it, but it is Him who does it. You share His action. Then we can say that the prayer is silent. Prayer is to hear the voice of the Prayer, Itself. In that point, all the doubts, all the questions - everything disappears.

This leads to the next form of prayer, which is the Revelation or the manifestation of the Divine within yourself: in the deepness of the heart, there is a point of complete stillness, which is not affected by anything; in this stage, from deep in that point, the Grace of God is revealed. You are still you! You are still doing all your actions in the world outside. But you are doing your actions with His grace. There you realise the unity with the Divine, in you. Then you realise that there is no point of always asking, asking and asking, because it is only Him who does everything.

From prayer, you become surrendered. From surrender, the Grace reveals itself. You become realised.

You see, the way of Realisation is not complicated, in reality, you are doing it every day. You just need to know that it is God doing it through you. Just this! But knowing, with complete sincerity, and a certitude, without any doubt!

In these four forms of prayer: the first two are what man does and the other two are what God is doing through you.”

Navaratri Day 1 - Shailaputri and the Reading of the Devi Mahatmyam

September 26, 2014, 8:50 am

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During Navaratri celebrations at Shree Peetha Nilaya, the reading of the Devi Mahatmyam is part of every night's ritual, performed to praise Divine Mother.

The Devi Mahatmyam is part of the Markandeya Purana and describes the victory of the goddess Durga over the demon Mahishasura, which represents “our ego our pride” as Sri Swami Vishwananda told us in previous years.

The Devi Mahatmyam is also known as the Durga Saptashati or simply Saptashati, because the text contains 700 verses (saptashata means ‘seven hundred’), arranged into 13 chapters. Yesterday, during the first night of Navaratri, the ritual reading of the Devi Mahatmyam started with the first chapter entitled ‘The slaying of Madhu and Kaitabha’.

Sri Swami Vishwananda has explained to us in previous years the meaning of this first chapter as follows:

“In the form of Shailaputri, She is destroying the pride of the Gods. Actually we are all part of these Gods. There is no difference.

In this form She destroyed our pride, the little God’s pride. In the first chapters of the Durga Saptashati we read how two demons came out from the ears of Maha Vishnu, while He was in deep samadhi. They were brothers with the names of Madhu and Kaitabha, representing our ‘too much’ and ‘too little’. When it’s too much we complain, when it’s too little we also complain, because we are never satisfied with anything. Because only the Lord Himself can satisfy us.

Abishekam for Mahamaya

From anything which we have in excess we will suffer and everything that we are lacking, where we have too little, we will also suffer. So in both these cases we see that we have to offer everything to the Lord; we have to become an instrument. And to become that instrument, we have to surrender.

What is meant with surrender is not that you have to leave everything and surrender to Him, but to trust that in whatever you are doing He or She is present.

So to kill these demons, Shailaputri, the daughter of the Himalayas, manifested. The Himalayas represent the purity and Ma Bhagavati, Devi Durga. She took that aspect to destroy our ‘too much’ and ‘too little’ and make us surrender to the Divine."

Journal from Swami Vishwananda's trip to South Africa

September 27, 2014, 1:00 am

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Last week Guruji traveled to South Africa for a week to visit his devotees. He brought a guest: Dr. Satya Narayana Dasa, his friend from Vrindavan.

Puja im Narashimha Tempel / SA

During the trip Swamiji performed a puja in the Jwala Narasimha temple, and gave many darshans.

Darshan in Johannesburg

Darshan in Johannesburg

Darshan in Durban

Darshan in Durban

Here is a journal of the trip from a devotee in South Africa.


KwaZulu-Natal

On Thursday the 18th September as Sri Swami Vishwananda stepped foot in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) at the airport there were many devotees who were patiently and eagerly waiting over an hour for our beloved Guruji. He arrived with Dr Satyanarayana Dasa and his initiated Swamis.

 Upon arrival at the Maha Shanta Narasimha temple, Guruji was welcomed with vibrant singing by all the devotees who were eagerly awaiting His arrival. Thereafter guru puja was lovingly offered by Swami Vishwachakradharananda.

Guruji lovingly introduced Dr Satyanarayana Dasa to us all. During the course of the day many devotees flocked to the temple to get a glimpse and hopefully an opportunity to speak with Guruji. Few were fortunate to do so. In the evening, Guruji and Dr Satyanarayana Dasa were interviewed by Sadhana tips and thereafter made their way to the Hall for the first Darshan evening in Stanger.

The Hall was full, a couple bus loads of excited devotees made their way to the hall from far as Gingingdlovu and Queensburgh. Once again devotees were mesmerized by Guruji’s singing and everyone began swaying their feet being engulfed in the divine vibration!

Thereafter Darshan commenced, and everyone that received Darshan spoke of some awakening in their heart and that they could feel Guruji’s love while receiving Darshan. During Darshan, we all had our ears glued to Dr Satyanarayana Dasa as he spoke with a witty sense of humour and truth. There was much that one could take away from the discourse.

 Devotees were treated to a sumptuous feast and looking forward to the next day’s activities.


On the 19th September, Guruji visited the Maha Kripalu Gayatri temple where he performed abhishekam for the Divine Mother,

 After the puja, and another discourse by Dr Satyanarayana Dasa, Guruji manifested a ring for a devotee, Karthigesan, as well as some vibhuti for some ladies who were curious to see Guruji. They almost fell down in disbelief and felt blessed to have received vibhuti from Guruji.

 On that evening, Darshan commenced as scheduled, and Guruji, once again took us all into another place with his singing and sweet voice. It was heartwarming to see that during Darshan, many devotees spoke of their experiences with Guruji and what transformations they have seen in their lives ever since meeting with Guruji.

 After Darshan, Guruji surprised us by not only singing, but also dancing with the devotees to some wonderful bhajans, and having us wish that that moment lasted forever! Everyone was ecstatic, and filled with Guruji’s divine love. The evening drew to a close, with supper being served at 2-3am the next morning.

 Despite having given Darshan for 5 hours, Guruji lovingly took some time to speak with many devotees personally. Guruji manifested yet another ring, and thereafter took rest before his morning flight at 5am. Having stayed up all night, many devotees decided to stay until then to see Guruji off at the airport.

This was a short yet truly memorable tour by Sri Swami Vishwananda. We look forward to the next visit by Guruji, and we pray that many more people have the opportunity to experience and receive Guruji’s love and blessings. Jai Gurudev!

Johannesburg
Early on the morning of Tuesday the 16th of September, a crowd of highly anxious devotees crowded at O R Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg South Africa (JHB) after what for many proved to be a sleepless night in anticipation of the arrival of their beloved Sat Guru.

For many of us it had been almost 17 months since last being in his physical presence, and there was no way of hiding the childlike expression of joy, love, and excitement on each of our faces. Finally, after what seemed as though an eternity the doors parted, and just as the first few rays of sunlight would break through dark clouds after a thunderstorm, Guruji's celestial smile beamed through the opening between the glass doors consuming an otherwise chaotic airport, and transforming it into a place of love and divinity just as his presence usually does!

After taking Guruji's blessing everybody together with Guruji and Dr Satyanarayan Dasa made their way to the Maha Jwala Narasimha Temple where after welcoming Guruji in the traditional manner, Guruji and Dr Satyanarayana Dasa took some time to rest and refresh after their long flight.

In the meanwhile, devotees gathered with in the Temple...some meditating, some chanting, and some just simply sitting by themselves enjoying and drinking of Guruji's vibrations. It was shortly after mid day when we all started singing Bhajans. Some time after which Guruji graced us with his divine presence once again, where he formally introduced Dr Satyanarayan Dasa as Babaji.

That same afternoon devotees from far and wide began descending at the Maha Jwala Narasimha Temple awaiting the arrival of their beloved Guruji. This would be the first of one of two Darshans given by Guruji in JHB. The temple had reached its maximum capacity long before 7PM and even the quickly dropping temperature wasn't nearly enough to deter devotees assembled outside patiently waiting to to catch a glimpse of their beloved.

We sang Bhajans as we awaited Gurujis arrival. When he finally did appear our hearts rejoiced , and when he had began to sing soon after, it was as if each of our hearts began to cry sweet tears of joy. We were all in awe as Guruji effortlessly switched between low and high notes, soothing every soul in the audible vicinity with his melodus voice. A Zulu praise singer from KZN had traveled to JHB to pay tribute to Guruji which had performed at this time.

Guruji soon after started giving Darshans while Babaji delivered a discourse and made attempts at trying to impart his vast knowledge of the Vedas. The nights event ended at around one in the morning with an Arti to our beloved Sat Guru.

The following day, Guruji had decided to visit the Duduzwane Homes and Family Shelter, where he delivered divine blessings to all present, after which he had departed for a private meeting and lunch. All people there were very happy to see Swami Vishwananda and there was much singing and dancing.

A new Christian chapel in Dudezwane

He was often here but this time it was a special visit, because he consecrated a small chapel.

Swamiji distributing gifts

Swamiji gave a talk at the new Chapel:

The happy dancing residents:

Swamiji planted the first rose bush for the new rose garden.

That same evening devotees met at the recently erected and aesthetically beautiful Eswara Kovil Temple in Lenasia South, JHB. This was to be the second and last Darshan that would be given by Guruji in JHB for this particular tour. We lovingly sang Bhajans in anticipation of Gurujis arrival. Upon which this time, he not only blessed us with his divine voice, but also made sure to allow every individual in the crowd the chance to open up their hearts and join him in singing. Before long the entire congregation were on their feet dancing and singing the divine names together with Guruji. The atmosphere was almost etheric.

The night ended shortly after half past one in the morning with Arti to our beloved Guruji. This was the second night of ecstacy we were blessed with by him and emotions were mixed as many preppared themselves to bid farewell to their beloved as this JHB leg of Gurujis South African tour grew to an end.

Navaratri Day 2 - Brahmacharini Ma

September 27, 2014, 10:03 am

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The second night of Navaratri, we celebrated Brahmacharini Devi.

Swamiji gave an explanation about the glory of this aspect of Devi, and what benefits one receives by worshiping her:

“Today is the second day of Navaratri, which is dedicated to Devi Brahmacharini. She is a great tapasyani, actually. She is Tapasyani Devi, who encourages one on the spiritual path.

Yesterday was Goddess Shailaputri and you have seen how She killed the two demons Madhu and Kaitabha. Shailaputri represents the Yogamaya of Mahavishnu. You see, the dormant aspect of Narayana that the Devi Saptashati talks about, is the dormant aspect which is present within oneself. Even if one is on the spiritual path, yet the deepness of spirituality stay always dormant. It can be awakened only when one receives the Grace of meeting the Guru, because only the Guru can really awaken this dormant part.

That's why Shailaputri represented as the Guru, She is the first. According to the story, by Her Maya She awakens Mahavishnu from His yoga nidra. This means that She is the One that gives the Shakti, the power to push your sadhana forward, to activate it inside of you. She is the blessing of the Master, which one receives when one goes on the spiritual path – if you are lucky to meet your Master in this life. She is the first blessing of sadhana-bhakti for you to start your spiritual path, to start your inward journey. On the inward journey, this blessing, is very important because it destroys the pride, the ego.

However, your part is also to strengthen it. It's like: when the seed is planted you have to water it. This is the path of Brahmacharini, where you take the sadhana; you take what the Guru told you, without any question, without any hesitation and you follow it. And Brahmacharini Devi is this second blessing in the form of sadhana.

You'll notice that She is holding a kamandalu and a japa mala – She is showing life in reality. What you really need in life is not all that you think you need. Life is very simply, in reality. If you take all the glamorous part of your life, you will see that in reality a person doesn't need much to be happy. Especially, if you are on the spiritual path, what do you need?

In Her left hand, She is holding the kamandalu, which symbolises purification, because on the spiritual path you are always going through purification; it symbolises also food, shelter and clothing. So, this means that if you are surrendered everything will be taken care. All your needs will be taken care as long as you are fully surrendered. But if you are surrendered, there should not be questions in your mind like, “Why is this and why is not that?” To surrender means that you count completely on the Grace of God. And of course you are doing your duty, but you trust that the Divine looks after you.

In Her right hand, She is holding the japa mala; this symbolises not just the daily japa kriya, but your spiritual sadhana. When you receive the blessing of the Guru, the mantra yoga is very important – the mantra kriya. That's why in Atma Kriya we emphasise that even if you don't do all the kriyas, at least you should do the Japa Kriya regularly. Because by chanting the name of God you start to reflect the Divine qualities and of course if you have your Guru mantra that will help you a lot. But if you don't have it, then chant OM Namo Narayanaya until one day you'll receive it.

As you know, a few months back I said that I don't give any Guru mantra anymore, because one has to deserve the Guru mantra. If somebody just plainly receives the Guru mantra and then later on they come, like today morning somebody said, “Oh, I forgot my Guru mantra.” You can forget about everything but the Guru mantra you should never forget about it! That's why it is said to keep it secret. That's why it is said to treasure it, not to say it loud. Because this is ‘manas’, the guru mantra has to be chanted only in the mind.

So, Brahmacharini Devi is emphasising that the sadhana is important. If you want to reach somewhere, you can't say, “Oh I don't need to do anything! God will do everything for me!” No. Your effort is needed but the blessing will always help you, giving you the strength to advance. That's why here Brahmacharini Devi is saying, “If you can't do anything, if you can't do any sadhana, any tapasya, the best of all is to do japa. Chant the Divine name. Chant the name, ‘OM Namo Narayanaya’. That will also free you.

Can you see how merciful God is? You don't need to do much! In the most simple way, He has given you His name, so that you can radiate what you are, in the deepness of yourself.”

Navaratri Day 3 - Chandraghanta Ma

September 28, 2014, 3:41 am

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Last night, Sri Swami Vishwananda said, “Today is the third day of Navaratri, when are celebrating Chandraghanta Devi. She received this name due to the crescent on her head.”

Navaratri 2014

According to the Devi Mahatmyam, when She was manifested, She was so beautiful that Mahishasur, a demon-king, wanted to have Her as his wife. Devi said: “Fine, if you want to be my husband, you have to be stronger than me.”  First he sent thousands of soldiers to take Devi with them. She just pronounced the word ‘sa’, and all of them became ash. Seeing that, Mahishasur rushed quickly towards Devi to fight with Her. Mahishasur had received the boon that no man could kill him, but he forgot to ask that no Mataji could kill him. He didn’t think that Devi was that powerful. He didn’t know the creative Shakti of God Himself. So Mahishasur went on fighting. He took different demon forms. At the end he took the aspect of a buffalo, and it was in this form that Devi killed him, receiving then Her name of Mahishasur Mardini.

Sri Swami Vishwananda said previously, “In that form of Devi, She removes all the sins from one's life, all the karma that we have created; She removes it and She blesses the devotee with some siddis, like the celestial fragrance. So, whenever the Divine is present, there is also this celestial fragrance all around, which is associated with Chandraghanta Mata. When I was 15, the Divine manifested Himself to show that it was time for me to start working for Him helping the people. So at our place in Mauritius, for 40 days, there was always a sweet fragrance and bees around. Through this sign, you know that the Divine is present.

Abishekam (left) and Yagna (right)

The next point with this form of Devi is that when you look at Her, She is spreading calmness and eternal peace all around Her, but to the wicked one She is terrifying.” So, “if you are negative towards yourself, you can't expect to see positive outside. If your mind is negative, all things around will be negative. But if your mind is clear, pure, calm all around you will be calm.”

Arati

“Mahishasur represents the great ego in men, the pride of thinking we know who we are. We are so much attached to our arrogance that it is very difficult to let go. We think that we are more special than anybody else. Of course each one is unique and each one is special in his own way, but Divine Mother wants to show us that it is only through humility that one will attain the Divine. What emerges first from that great pride are thousands of thoughts saying, ‘This has to be like this, this has to be like that’. We always say, ‘If it is not my way, it’s all wrong.’ But how do you know what is wrong and what is right? If you are not surrendered yet, how would you know that? So you can surrender to Mahadevi and attain Her Grace by asking, ‘Hey Maa, relieve me from this suffering, that I myself put on because I always think of myself being more special, of being different from anybody.’ Forgetting that what dwells deep within us is the same Shakti, is God Himself. So why do we let this mind take over? This mind, which is always opposing what comes from the heart, in one go, if you surrender, you will relieve it. The same way you can remove thousands of thoughts, only by surrendering.

Dancing for Devi

As a Mother, She wants you to sit on Her lap. She will look after you. Don’t let this mind trouble you. Even the thoughts that are created in the mind are Her power. But, She lets us have the freedom to choose whether we want to listen or not. So if we let pride take over, of course it will take a long time, but if you are humble, you will see how easy it is. You will attain the Grace of Maa. It’s not about how many mantras or how many prayers you do for Her, but about this Love that you have for Her. The only thing, that can really melt Her heart, is this simplicity of Love.”

---

Sri Swami Vishwananda gives commentary on the Guru Gita

September 28, 2014, 1:39 pm

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Sri Swami Vishwananda explains the Guru Gita

On the second night of Navaratri, Sri Swami Vishwananda surprised us all with the following announcement, “Tomorrow I will speak about the Guru Gita, because the nine days of Navaratri are also the nine days of your spiritual path.”

The Guru Gita (Song of the Guru) is part of the Skanda Purana, one of the 18 Puranas compiled by the sage Vyasa.

Sri Swami Vishwananda said, “Normally, there are 400 verses in the Guru Gita, but we will discuss only the main ones, which are 182. The Guru Gita was a discussion between Shankara and Parvati, where Goddess Parvati asked Shiva, ‘Who do you consider the greatest one on earth?’ And Lord Shiva Himself, in the form of Dakshinamurti, explained to Maha Devi saying, ‘The greatest form on earth is the form of the Master.’ And in the Gita Krishna said, ‘It is through My grace that the Guru appears on earth and it is through My grace that the disciples are guided to where they belong.’ So wherever one is, the Guru will search and will attract the disciple. The Guru Gita is one of most wonderful songs, because all that we are doing here, to please the Mother, is also possible only through the Grace of the Master.”

Yesterday night, during the Navaratri celebrations dedicated to Chandraghanta Ma, Sri Swami Vishwananda started his commentary of the first 20 verses of the Guru Gita. Below are some excerpts:

VERSE 1
Sūta uvāca:
Kailāsa-śikhare ramye
bhakti-sandhāna-nāyakam,
Pranamya pārvatī bhaktyā
śankaram paryaprcchata

“Here Shankara Bhagavan is enjoying His devotion for Lord Narayana, because He knows the secret behind that. That's why we can say that He Himself is the embodiment of the sadhana. He was seated on the beautiful Mount Kailash. Parvati bowed to Him with reverence and asked Him... here you have to see that the Mount Kailash stands also for the top most spiritual level. It's not just a place, a mountain, but it stands also for a high level of spirituality. Shankara Bhagavan is there together with Parvati, the two qualities, Shiva-Shakti, the form and the formless. Shiva is considered to be the formless and Shakti the manifested form; both go hand and hand, Purusha and Shakti. But Parvati (Prakriti) which is the manifestation of Shakti, with deep reverence, with humility asked Lord Shiva to explain the deepness which lies on Whom Lord Shiva is meditating and What aspect is That.”

VERSE 3
Kena mārgena bho svāmin
dehī brahmamayo bhavet,
Tvam krpām kuru me svāmin
namāmi caranau tava

“Here Bhagavati is asking about the secret of the Master and by which path a human being will be saved. Bhagavati is very concerned because She knows the creation, She knows that the mind of man is constantly creating karma; each breath, each thought, each action is creating karma. So as a Mother She is concerned about everybody, that's why She is asking the Absolute, ‘How can one attain the Lotus Feet of the Lord? How can one attain the Grace of the Lord?’ So seeing such devotion in Her and Her concern as a Mother for Her children, He said:”

VERSE 4
Īśvara uvāca:
Mamarūpāsi devi tvam
tvat-prītyartham vadāmyaham,
Lokopakārakah praśno
na kenāpi krtah purā

“Shankara Bhagavan said to Parvati, ‘There is no difference between you and Me. Even if we are separated into two forms, yet we are One. You are the very form of Myself, not only in the form, but even in the Self Itself.’ Shiva and Shakti are One. The same as Radha and Krishna are One. So, He said, ‘I will explain this mystery, I will explain what lies behind this secret of devotion, the secret of the Guru; not because you have asked me, but out of the Love that I have for you, I will explain the secret of devotion to you.’ Then He added, ‘No one in this universe has ever asked me this question. You are the first one who asked Me this question and by answering this question to You, through your understanding, all the lokas, the whole universe will benefit from this blessing.’”

VERSE 18
Gurumūrtim smarennityam
gurunāma sadā japet,
Gurorājñām prakurvīta
guror-anyanna bhāvayet

“Here Shankara Bhagavan is saying, ‘Meditate constantly, unceasingly on the form of the Master, with deep devotion and love.’ Not only to meditate, but He also said to chant continuously, to repeat, to do japa with the name of the Master, the Guru. Furthermore He said, ‘Carry out the order of the Guru. Carry out what He says without questioning; carry out what He asks with love and humility. Don't think of anything else than the Master.’”

Swamiji's Visit to Kenya

September 29, 2014, 7:58 am

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Guruji visited Kenya with Satyanarayan Das following their trip to South Africa, and met with many devotees. He gave darshan and satsang, and held a retreat where many devotees were able to come and spend time with him. Many had not had a chance to see him in person in a very long time, so every chance they got to be in his presence is dearly appreciated.

We asked a devotee who was a part of Swamiji's trip there to share a bit about how the trip went. Here's the story:

Day 1
On 20th September, beloved Guruji was to arrive in Kenya after 3 years. We were all waiting in anticipation at the Airport to have a glimpse of a Him. Finally He arrived accompanied by Babaji Satyanarayan Dasa. Our joy knew no bounds and it was a precious moment for all.

He was welcomed in a traditional way, showered with flowers as He walked, and welcomed at the door by devotees with Aarti, Mala and Tilak.

He introduced us to Babaji and then made His way to the temple.

He then allowed us to perform 'Pada-Pooja' on His Lotus Feet, and all devotees present got a chance to offer flowers at His Feet.

Swamiji then freshened up and sat with Lord Krishna on His lap and let us all have Darshan of His Beautiful Krishna.

As He was talking to us,He materialised a beautiful ring for a devotee and vibhuti for many of other devotees. The fragrance from vibhuti was breathtaking.
What a blessing!!!!!


Day 2: 21st September - Darshan
Swamiji arrived at Ram Mandir, the venue of a Darshan looking so Radiant and Beautiful in His Red Robe, that many people who were seeing Him for the first time admired and commented on His Beauty and Radiance.
We also welcomed Babaji with honour and love, and he took his seat next to Swami.

Swami then allowed us to offer Rose petals at His Lotus Feet as we sang the Guru Stotram.
Shortly after, He gave a short talk and sang in His most sweetly Divine voice. He encouraged all to sing but people were shy. :p

We introduced Babaji and he shared his knowledge and wisdom with all preset.

Darshan was attended by over more than 450 people and lasted for almost 5 hours.

Day 3: 22nd September
We all took a bus trip with Swami to a resort and Swami shared many stories with us on the 2 hour drive.

As He loves roasted Maize, we stopped in Rift Valley to enjoy some with Him. There, He let us talk pictures with Him, joked and laughed, and it felt like one big happy family.

After arriving at the resort, Guruji was welcomed warmly with a Garland and refreshments, after which we had lunch. He then accompanied went for a Game Drive accompanied by Babaji and a few devotees. They saw Giraffes, zebras, antelopes, warthogs with horns (varaha), wild buffaloes and many other animals in their natural habitat. Guruji loved it and had a splendid time.

After dinner, Guruji graciously gave a Satsang which went on till 2am. We also sang and heard lots of words of wisdom mainly from Babaji, and Guruji intervened and joined from time to time to share with us.
His love and honour for babaji showed us the way of Humility.

Day 4: 23rd September
At 8:30am, Guruji performed Abhishekam on Krishna at the Resort and we sang and danced, after which we visited Hanuman Mandir on the way back to Nairobi.

Later in the day, Guruji visited the Sanathan Dharma Mandir and Balaji temple. A special puja was done at the Lord Venkateshwara (Balaji) temple, where He was honored with a shawl.

Many devotees came to personally meet Him afterwards and He graciously met everyone, and blessed them with His Love and Guidance, ad for some He also materialised rings and vibhuti.
It was then time to say goodbye, tears flowed freely amidst promise of coming back soon to Kenya again.

We all cherish the Precious time Sri Swami Vishwananda spent with us, sharing His beautiful words of wisdom, and sweet unconditional Love.

Premavatara Satguru Sri Swami Vishwananda Mahaprabhu ki Jai!!!
~ Always at HIS Lotus Feet ~
♥ Much Love ♥

Shubhra

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More pictures will be published soon. Check out Bhakti Marga Kenya's flickr page for updates.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/bhaktimargakenya/sets/

Navaratri Day 4 - Kushmanda Ma

September 29, 2014, 8:15 am

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On the fourth day of Navaratri, we celebrate Kushmanda Ma. It is said that when there was darkness everywhere and there was no existence of the universe, She created the universe with a smile.

Kushmanda Devi

‘Kushmandam’ in Sanskrit means pumpkin. Among the sacrificial vegetables that are offered in the worship of the Goddess, pumpkin is the most important vegetable with which Kushmanda Devi is most pleased.

The pumpkin contains many seeds within it, and each seed has the capability within it to grow new pumpkins. How great this Devi is, that She was able to create this universe, with each soul inside of it able to grow in spirituality!

Sri Swami Vishwananda said, “Kushmanda Devi is the power by which this universe, this world was created. Of course, as you all know by now, all Goddesses, even if they have different forms, they are all One. The difference is that all the Goddesses existed either before or after creation, but Goddess Kushmanda appeared at the very moment of creation. She manifested Herself through creation, the moment the Universe was created.

"So the creative power at that moment was Kushmanda. We pray to the Goddess Kushmanda, that She showers Her blessing on each one. Whoever is remembering Her and whoever is not remembering Her, people who know about Her, people who don’t know about Her, may Her Love, Her Grace be upon all the people, so that they find true happiness and true joy.”

Coconut offering into the Yagna - purification of the heart of Man

“She is the Cosmic Shakti of Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara. She is Adi Devi, the feminine aspect of all the Purusha and it is said that She emerged from the body of Mahavishnu, Narayana and gave the Shakti to Brahma to create the universe, to create everything.

"In that aspect of Devi she shows that even if one sadhana is tough, one has to persevere into it; one has not to let go of it, saying it is too difficult and finish! If you ask Divine Mother to inspire you, if you ask Her to help you, She takes that form of Kushmanda, She comes in a way, showing that everything is inside of you.”

Sri Swami Vishwananda gives commentary on the Guru Gita - Part 2

September 29, 2014, 8:20 am

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Last night, Sri Swami Vishwananda gave the second part of his commentary on the Guru Gita, covering verses 21-40. Here is an excerpt of his  commentary.

VERSE 24
Gukaarah prathamo varno,
masszaadi guna bhaasakah;
Rukaaro dviteeyo brahma,
maayaa bhraanthi vinaashanam.

"The first syllable ‘Gu’ have the attribute of Maya, means also ignorance. So, here in this verse Bhagavan Shankara is saying that this first syllable ‘Gu’ stands for Maya Prakriti, Devi, the Shakti that binds and holds one to this reality. And the second  syllable ‘Ru’ stands for Purusha, stands for the Supreme Absolute which frees one from illusion.

"In the same word, ‘Guru’, you have both: you have Maya and you have the One who frees you from Maya. Thus, this shows that the Guru is the Master of Maya, Master of this reality, He knows how to free one from that reality and He knows also how to put one in that reality – both. To master it you have to know both ways. You can't master something, if you know only one way, then you have not mastered it. If you live in a very fancy reality or in a dream reality, you will not know what true happiness is. Only when you have mastered the other side, when you have mastered the lower quality, then you will truly know the higher qualities.

VERSE 37
Yasya sthityaa satyamidam,
yadbhaati bhaanuroopatah;
Priyam putraadi yet preetya,
tasmai sree gurave namah

"It is through the Grace of the Masters, through the Grace of the Guru that one perceives the Light of Love, True Love, not just plain love, but the deepness of Love. Through this Light of the Master all relationships become dear. In the Guru family everybody becomes dear, because the Guru unites all, no matter wherever you are, which means that in many lives all of you have been coming together.

"You come from Russian, from France, from Italy, from Spain, from America or Latin America, Brazil but it is only through the Grace of the Master that all of you come together. The Grace of the Master brings everybody into One dear family. The Guru becomes the magnet which attracts all and holds all tightly, making One big family. This happens only through the Love of the Guru. Without the Love of the Guru where would you be? Elsewhere, no?

"Priyam putraadi yet preetya, tasmai sree gurave namah, which means that it is like the love of the father and son, the parents, that's what brings all close to each another. The parents always try to unite the family, to keep the family together. Nowadays it is different but in a true family it is like this. So here Bhagavan Shankara is saying, ‘The Guru is like that. He unites the family together and brings all under one roof.’"

Having so many devotees from all over the world joining together during these nine days of Navaratri is such a huge blessing - there are so many people from all over the world here with Swami Vishwananda, joining together to celebrate this connection we all have to the Mother of the universe.

Navaratri Day 5 - Skanda Ma

September 30, 2014, 7:56 am

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Skanda Ma

On the fifth day of Navaratri we celebrate the Divine Mother in the form of Skanda Mata.

Sri Swami Vishwananda said in previous years, "The fifth form of the mother is known as Skanda Mata. As you all know, Shiva has two sons, one is Ganesha and the other one is Muruga. Other names for Muruga are ‘Skanda’ or Kartik. So as Devi Durga is the mother of Kartik, She is also referred to as ‘Skanda Mata’. In the Christian tradition, Muruga can be referred to as Archangel Michael, who is the leader of all the angels and archangels. The same as Muruga, who is the warrior God and the commander of the celestial armies. Here you see Goddess Bhagavati, Skanda Devi, holding Muruga in Her arm, showing that She is the Mother of all the power. She is the Mother of all the forces. She is the Mother who gives the power to vanquish all the negativity."

Yagna - purifying ritual

"She will also come to destroy your pride, even if She has to be strict – She has not taken the form of Kali yet – She is still soft. She will give you a certain warning, ‘Hey be careful! Watch out!’ But if this carries on, She will take the form of Maha Kali.

Skanda in this form, is representing all of you, each one of you, is not only him, but it is the whole humanity in Her hand. She is holding all. You also see Mother Mary always with Her hands open saying, ‘All the people in the world are my children.’ So, place yourself in Skanda's place, sitting on Her lap and pray to Her that all the pride and ego that you have may be removed in Her way, in a soft way, so that She can help you to awaken."

"The Divine Mother in this form also gives children to the world. So, people who don't have kids and wish to have children may they be blessed with children."
This year we had a special guest, the Hindu priest Raja Sekaragurukkal from the Shiva Mandir, Wembley, London.

Sri Swami Vishwananda welcoming the Hindu priest Raja Sekaragurukkal

Raja Sekaragurukkal performed the ritual chanting in Sanskrit of the 13 chapters (700 verses) of the Devi Mahatmyam. And, after the chanting of each chapter, a different form of Ma Chandika was venerated by the offering of prasad followed by a short arati.

Raja Sekaragurukkal chanting the Devi Mahatmyam

He was very impressed with the joyful bhakti expression of the Bhakti Marga family during this night's celebrations and said, "You have a very good Guru!"

During the chanting of Durga Chalisa

"First time I see this! When you started the bhajans, it was really amazing! I felt it! I feel it! You know, Ma place is Shree Peetham. In Shree Peetham, there is a bell, but in the bell there is no stick inside (clapper). So, how can the bell make noise? Whenever people sing bhajans, whenever people do the Mataji Naam then the sound will be automatically coming from the bell. Definitely, today here is Shree Peetham. Jai Mata!"

Sri Swami Vishwananda gives commentary on the Guru Gita - Part 3

October 1, 2014, 8:07 am

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Yesterday, Sri Swami Vishwananda continued his commentary on the Guru Gita covering verses 41-90. Here is an excerpt of his  commentary.

VERSE 62
Tadejati tannaijati,
Taddoore tatsameepake;
Tadantarasya sarvasya,
tadu sarvasya baahyatah

So here He is saying that there is no place where the Guru is not. Whether He moves or not move, He is ever-present. The Guru can appear far away, but in reality He is the nearest. And for some He can appear very near but yet He is far. You may see someone very close to a Guru, but the physical closeness doesn't mean much. The physical closeness is due to samskaras from the past. Due to that, the Guru has to keep somebody close or somebody far away.

The Guru is far as well as near means that He is far for the mind, He is far to be grasped, because the mind is looking at the Guru always from the outside, the mind rotates only into the outside, one sees only the outside. If you look towards the outside, you will see the distance and the farness. But if you look with the consciousness, when you look inside of your heart you will see that the Guru is the dearest and the nearest one. So once you have perceived the Guru inside, you will perceive the Guru everywhere.

VERSE 82
Yasmaat parataram naasti,
neti neteeti vai srutih;
Manasaa vachasaa chaiva,
nityam aaradhayed gurum

Here He said that your mind should not wander around when you are surrendered to the Guru. Your mind should be always focused on the Guru. Your speech, whatever you talk about should not be vain talk, it should always be concerning the Master.

The Guru is everything, so one can't put any limit to the Guru. One may perceive the Guru with the limited mind but yet He is beyond that. Even the Vedas say that the Guru is, ‘not this, not this’. Even if you say that you have understood the Guru the Guru will make you perceive that you had not understood him. Even if you think that you know the Guru, He will make you perceive that you don't really know Him. You know only what He wants you to see. You can only perceive Him in what He wants you to perceive. He can make you think that you know Him, but in reality you don't know Him. That's a quality of the true Guru. When you think that you know Him, next moment He will show you another aspect of Him which you don't know. When you think that you have mastered that aspect, He will make another aspect. The Guru is like... [someone in the audience says, ‘chameleon’] No. The chameleon will take only the appearance of what you put it on. If you put the chameleon on the red, it will become red. But if you put the Guru on the red, He will become green. [Audience laughs] So one can't grasp the Guru with the mind. But with Love one can perceive a certain reality.

VERSE 88
Sreemat parabrahma gurum smaraami,
Sreemat parabrahma gurum vadaami;
Sreemat parabrahma gurum namaami,
Sremat parabrahma gurum bhajaami

Here Bhagavan Shankara is saying, ‘I remember my Guru who is the Ultimate Transcendental Absolute God, Narayana Himself. I praise the Guru who is Parabrahma, I am constantly meditating on Him and His praises are constantly on my lips. I bow to my Guru who is Prabrahma, I offer my salutations to Him who is the Supreme Lord Himself. I serve my Guru who is Parabrahma.’ This is the mantra that a bhakta or somebody who is truly surrendered to the Feet of the Guru should chant, first thing in the morning even before going out of bed. By singing these four verses one reminds oneself of Who is the Guru. Lord Krishna Himself said, “I am Parabrahma.”

Guru Puja during Navaratri

Navaratri Day 6 - Katyayani Ma

October 1, 2014, 8:07 am

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Katyayani Ma

On the sixth day of Navaratri we celebrate Goddess Katyayani. Every year, Sri Swami Vishwananda asks all men to come to this particular night's celebration dressed in saris as women. Last night, he gave us the explanation written below. Sri Swami Vishwananda himself took the appearance of Divine Mother. An Abhishekam was performed to His/Her Lotus Feet and at the end everyone present was given the opportunity to offer flowers to His/Her Lotus Feet.

Abishekam to Sri Swami Vishwananda's Lotus Feet

“Today we are honouring this Cosmic Mother, honouring Maha Shakti, Yogamaya Herself. It's through Her that Brahma creates. You know very well that when Brahma was manifested through the Shakti of Mahavishnu, he could not understand why he had been created, why he was there, what was his purpose. Then, Gayatri Devi appeared and revealed him why Mahavishnu created him. So it is through this Shakti, through the Gayatri Mantra that everything got created. And today we are worshipping Katyayani Devi as Maha Gayatri Herself, as the power of creation, to remind ourselves that the whole universe was created through Her Shakti, through Her power; and also as a reminding that She is constantly doing the Will of the supreme Lord. So, the whole creation in itself it's the feminine energy. Everything is born out of the Mother.

“To attain Lord Krishna, the gopis prayed to Katyayani Devi. They prayed to the Mother so that they could receive Lord Krishna as their Husband. But who were these gopis? For sure, they were great yogis. They were the sons of Agnidev. They knew that the Ultimate, the only real male, the only man is Bhagavan. There is no other man than God. Because the whole creation is feminine. They did thousands and thousands of years of penance to be blessed with a human form so that they could be with Lord Krishna as gopis. So, every day during the Kartik month, the gopis fasted and their only prayer was, ‘Mother you, who is the Shakti, the sister of the Lord, please convince Him to marry us?’ The deepness of marrying the Lord, which the gopis enacted, is the Union between the Atma and Paramatma. You can only understand the sweetness of the deepest meaning of that Union when you go beyond the physical appearance.”

Divine Mother in the form of the Guru blesses us to transcend the darkness of separation into the Light of Union with the Divine

“Today during the Guru Gita commentary, I explained that the Guru is here to make you master of both shaktis, the male and the female; and to rise above that. It is very important to understand this, because very often in this world, the women fight for their rights and then become very feminists; on the other side the man say, ‘We are the powerful ones!’ And then they become very patriarchal. Like this, people forget that both aspects, male and female are inside of each person. This is the deeper meaning why on Katyayani's day one reminds oneself that the whole creation is the Mother, it is feminine, and the only aim for this feminine energy is - God. So, on Katyayani's day you all become gopis and you all long for Krishna.”

Sri Swami Vishwananda says, "Both aspects, male and female are inside of each person."

"On that day of the Ras, Bhagavan Krishna Himself appeared as a woman in front of Radharani, to show Her that there is no difference between them. The whole body of Krishna changed into Srimad Radharani. Of course, just the colour was different, Krishna was shyam and Radharani was gauri. This is just to remind that the concept of the body is only in the mind. The Consciousness of the soul is not bound by that. And only the unification with the Supreme Lord will bring one to the eternal, true happiness. During the Ras, Shiva Himself came as Gopeshwar Mahadeva because He also wanted to unite Himself with Krishna."

When Shiva realised that Parvati, dressed very nicely was rushing to go to the Ras with Lord Krishna, where only women were allowed, He also had a deep wish to go. So, He convinced Parvati to bring Him along with Her. In the video below, Sri Swami Vishwananda explains what happened afterwards..

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Navaratri Day 7 - Kalaratri Ma

October 2, 2014, 7:16 am

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Kalaratri Ma

On the seventh day of Navaratri we celebrate Goddess Kalaratri. Her complexion is as dark as the night. Her cascading hair is let loose and She wears a garland that radiates light as bright as lightning.

During Navaratri celebrations at Shree Peetha Nilaya, since last year, everybody is given the opportunity to offer rose water and oil to the Feet of Tara, which is another aspect of Kali or Goddess Kalaratri. These offerings are mixed together, blessed by the Mother and distributed back to people after being blessed.

Goddess Tara (left) and Oil offering to Her Feet (right)

Sri Swami Vishwananda said in previous years, “In this form of Ma Bhagavati She is the personification of the Ultimate, showing that everything comes from Her and everything eventually will merge into Her. She is ready to give anything you ask. She can appear as being very terrifying, but actually She is very innocent. She gives always. That’s why She is called Subhankari, which means the One who is always giving, who is always doing good for Her Devotees. And as a Mother She took this aspect to fight the demons, to kill and purify this world, to save the people, to save Her children. The same as a Mother who would do anything for Her child, even taking the aspect of Kalaratri or Kalika Devi. But She is not how we see Her. She is very soft in a fierceful way.”


“Don’t try to comprehend the Divine with your mind, because the Divine can appear soft and at the same time terrifying, can appear calm and at the same time very wild. Like Her, She is soft, look at Her face, how beautiful She is. Very soft, but yet She is wild, with a big tongue outside. So Maha Bhagavati takes all our negativities on Her, so that we can be free because She wants us to be free. She wants us to really surrender to the Divine and to be ourselves, who we really are. All the little demons that we create in our mind, they are all jumping. They are called Mahishasur, Raktabija, Sumbha and Nisumbha, Chandamunda. They are all jumping left and right. Ma in this form says, ‘Give them to me and I shall sort them out. One by one I shall devour them.’ So don’t have fear. Offer them to the Mother.

When you come to offer your obedience to Her, to offer your respect to Her, pray to the Mother saying, ‘Kalaratri, as you are dark, take all of these things. I offer all this negativity of myself to you. Hey Jagadamba, remove all this and make us bright like Katyayani, make us shine our true light. Whenever we are in distress, come to our rescue. You are the Mother, so why wait? Come! Take whatever form, in whatever way, but just come. Come and deliver us. Come and save us. Come and remove us from our afflictions.”

 

Prityangari Devi Yagna with Sri Swami Vishwananda

October 3, 2014, 3:58 am

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On the seventh day of Navaratri, Sri Swami Vishwananda performed a Sri Prityangira Devi Yagna.

The ceremony started with a Kalash Puja.

Kalash Puja to Sri Prityangira Devi

At the beginning of the Yagna, the participants were blessed with a meditation on the seven chakras guided by Sri Swami Vishwananda.

At the end of this meditation Sri Swami Vishwananda gave a final blessing saying, “The 21,600 times that you breathe a day, shall be a dedication to the Guru's Feet as samarpanam [offering] and Devi will give you the strength to do so.”

During the Prityangira Devi Yagna, dozens of kilos of chillies were offered into the Yagna kund.

Sri Swami Vishwananda said, “Prityangira Devi Yagna is one of the most powerful yagnas. We are doing lot of abbreviations of that Yagna due to our Sampradaya. In the Vaishnava tradition we don't offer meat to Devi, whereas in the Tantra they offer meat to Her. What we offer as sacrifice to Devi is our heart.”

Sri Swami Vishwananda told us the story of Prityangira Devi as follows:
“Prityangira Devi is linked to the manifestation of Narasimha but She is not His Shakti. Narasimha is a Purna Avatar. He is God incarnated. Narasimhi is the other name of Prityangira Devi. When Lord Narasimha appeared due to Prahlad Maharaj's prayer, after He had killed Hiranyakashipu, there was such a tremendous energy, that it created a chaos is the whole creation. This means that the whole universe was unbalanced.

"At that time, the devas approached Maha Lakshmi asking, ‘Please, even if the Lord is in this Ugra form of Narasimha, in another form He is also your husband. Maybe you can calm Him down.’ Maha Lakshmi Herself tried but She could not calm Him down. Shiva also tried but didn't succeed.

"Then they approached Maha Shakti, which is Goddess Parvati Herself saying, ‘Mother, you are the sister of Narayana, who has incarnated in such a terrifying form. Can you please calm Him down?’ So, She appeared as Prityangira Devi taken also the appearance of a lion. She has the head of a lion, not a lioness.

Ugra Narasimha's appearance during Narasimha Chaturti in Bhakti Marga's Narasimha temple in Feltham UK

"Here, again you see this dual quality of male and female, the combination of these two shaktis. She took the aspect of a male face and a female body and She is seated on a lion. She approached Lord Narasimha and tried to calm Him down but She also could not. So, She pray to Him, ‘Please, there is only one thing that I want from you, 'Give me the head of Hiranyakashipu.' So, She took the head of Hiranyakashipu.

"As all three of them, Lakshmi, Shiva and Parvati, who are dear to Him, could not stop Him, they said, ‘Let's combine ourselves!’ So Lord Shiva took another aspect, a lion form, Sarabeshwara. Devi became His head and Maha Lakshmi became His wings. The combination of these three became Sarabeshwara, which is an incarnation of Shiva. He also tried to calm Narasimha down but could not, because He is the primordial aspect of God, which is fully manifested.

"Then Brahma realised that it was due to Prahlad's devotion that the Lord had taken such a form. So he appeared to Prahlad and asked him, ‘You are the only one who can calm Narasimha down.’ And then, you know already the story when Prahlad went to Narasimha and could calm Him down.

"Prityangira Devi appeared to many sages. To one of these sages She appeared as Goddess Parvati saying that whoever prays to Her, whoever suffers calamities, whoever has lots of enemies, She will take that aspect of Prityangira Devi to finish them.

"Here you have to understand that She symbolises destruction, not destruction as your mind understand, but the destruction of the pride and ego. The head of Hiranyakashipu represents this spiritual pride. She manifested Herself to cut off this pride, that's why She took this head into Her care saying, ‘I shall hold your spiritual pride with Me and I shall look after it.’ She took the aspect of the thousand-headed Prityangira, which is the cosmic form of Prityangira Devi. She has a thousand heads and from each head there is fire coming out. This is called Maha Prityangira. She burns and annihilate everything.

After the yagna the swamis and swaminis made a puja to a young child representing Prityangira Devi

"However, even in this terrifying aspect of Devi, behind that aspect She is still a Mother. The terrifying aspect is only seen by the ego. If you have pride, of course, you will see the negative aspect of Her. But if you have love inside of you for Her, even if She looks terrible outside, inside She is pure. It is said that the more terrifying She looks, the more loving She is. This is the secret of Prityangira Devi.

"Though Mahavishnu orders, Devi was given the permission to guide everyone. As you know, in the Srimad Bhagavatam, Mahavishnu, Narayana said to Devi, 'People will pray to You as they pray to Me. Through You, they will come to Me. You are a Mother, You have been given to the world and in that form, You will be responsible to bring the people who are surrendered to Me.”

Navaratri Day 8 - Mahagauri

October 3, 2014, 6:00 am

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Mahagauri Ma

On the eighth day of Navaratri we celebrate Goddess Mahagauri. Her complexion is totally white. Her garments are also white. She is mounted on an ox and has four hands. Her top right hand is rendering fearlessness and the hand below holds a trident. The top left hand holds a ‘Damaru’ and the hand below is in a gesture of giving a boon.

To have Shiva as Her husband She went through a rigorous penance in the form of ‘Parvati’. As a result of this arduous meditation Her complexion turned dark. Lord Shiva, pleased with the devotion of Parvati, bathed Her in the holy water of the Ganges. As She bathed She turned fair. From then onwards She became known as ‘Mahagauri’.

Sri Swami Vishwananda said, “Mahagauri is the purity. The white that She is wearing symbolises us, our True Self, which is without any stain, without any impurity. Once we have attained our True Self through the Mother’s Grace, we attain the Divine. Once we have cleansed ourselves from all karmic things of the past, as well of the present and we surrender to Her, then Mahagauri can help us. She relieves the people and makes them attain ‘mukti’, salvation."

Abishekam to Sri Swami Vishwananda Padukas (left) and Devi (right)

"Mahagauri is different from Devi Kalaratri, who we celebrated yesterday. Yesterday She showed us all the animal qualities and how wild the animal qualities can be. But today She is showing that once one has renounced these animal qualities and transcended them, one attains purity. Once one lets go of the limitation that we put with our mind, one will see the greatness behind everything. One will see how great is Her creation and that She is present in everything. Mahagauri wants that we cross the barrier of limitation, so that we can realise that we are ever pure. We are ever free."

Yagna with Sri Swami Vishwananda

"Once a boy went to see God. On the way he met a great Sadhu standing on one leg with the hand up. The Sadhu said to him, ‘As you are going to meet God, I have one question: Ask God when will I attain liberation?’ So the boy met God and asked all the questions.

"On the way back he met the Sadhu, who asked him, ‘So… have you met God? What did God say?’ The boy told him that God said, ‘Well, the Sadhu still has some karmic things. He still has to take birth three times before attaining me.’ The Sadhu got very enraged and said, ‘All my tapasya, all my sadhana that I have been doing and still I have to take birth three times?!’ But the boy was very calm and joyful, so the Sadhu said, ‘Oh, I am sure that this is your last life here.’

"The boy said, ‘Oh, my dear Sadhuji, it’s not like that. Do you see this tamarind tree? I have to take as many births as there are leaves and then I will attain Him.’ The Sadhu looked at him, ‘Are you stupid? Why are you so happy?’ The boy said, “Well, it doesn’t matter. I know at the end I will attain Him.’ At that moment he heard a Divine voice saying, ‘All the lives of this boy with the pure heart are erased and he attains mukthi in this life.’

"This shows that it’s not how much one has done, but how one is doing it. Love has to be there. If you do things out of Love, the Divine will run to you. You just need to do one step with Love. Then She will do everything. But as long as there is not this one step from your side, it will be difficult. Mahagauri will help you to become like that, so that this one step can be done with a pure heart."

Sri Swami Vishwananda gives commentary on the Guru Gita - Part 4

October 3, 2014, 9:00 am

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Yesterday, Sri Swami Vishwananda continued his commentary on the Guru Gita covering verses 91-119. Here is an excerpt of his commentary.

VERSE 92
Shvetaambaram shveta vilepa pushpam,
mukta vibhoosham vibhoosham muditam dvinetram;
Vaamaanka peetha sthita divyashaktim,
mandasmitam saandra kripaa nidhaanam.

Here ‘Shvetaambaram’, the white robe, means that the Guru is always in purity. The Guru is never tarnished by anything of the world. The white paste, which the Guru is anointed with, symbolises that whatever He has, He can also transfer it to His bhakta. The flower and pearls in this verse mean the strength and purity.

"The Guru radiates joy, but His joy is not just a plain temporary joy. His joy is the eternal joy of the heart. When one recognises one's Guru, there is a different kind of joy which awakens within oneself and this joy which awakens inside is something eternal. Even if the bhaktas don't feel the same joy all the time due to their mind state or due to where they are in the world, but yet this joy that the soul felt when one meets one's Guru is eternal. It stays always within one's heart. And whenever the mind of that bhakta is turned inwardly into his heart, diving into there to meet the Guru, the same joy awakens itself again.

"In this verse Bhagavan Shankara is also saying that the Divine Mother Herself is seated on the left side of the Guru. Like yesterday, one of the verses was saying, the Mother is ever ready to fulfill the wishes of the one who is surrendered to the Guru.

"Here the scriptures say that the Guru is not bored, the Guru has always a smile. You see, Krishna is always smiling, you never see Krishna with a gloomy face, in a very miserable state - even in the middle of the battlefield, when He was talking to Arjuna, He had always a smile in His face, because He is always aware, ahead of what is coming. So Lord Shiva said, ‘The Guru has always a smile’, because the Guru is always forward. Bhagavan Shankara carried on saying that the Guru is the ocean of Grace, which means that His Grace is endless, so one should meditate on the Guru.

VERSE 98
Evam vidham gurum dhyaatvaa,
jnaanam utpadyate svayam;
Tat sadguru prasaadena,
muktohamiti bhaavayet.

“Here, Bhagavan Shankara is saying that service to the Guru is the meditation to attain the Grace of true knowledge, not book knowledge but inner knowledge. And this knowledge is only given by the Grace of the Satguru.

"When one has the Grace of the Satguru one realises oneself, one attains liberation and one attains the Lotus Feet of Shriman Narayana Himself. And this happens automatically. There is no formal initiation, but it happens through the dedication which the bhakta has towards the Guru. The more they are dedicated, the faster it happens.

"You see, the Guru will never go around telling you what you have to do all the time. You have also the take the responsibility of surrendering yourself to the Feet of the Master. Otherwise one can do sadhana for years and years and years and still doesn't receive anything. Whereas to the one who is completely surrendered, in a fraction of a second the Guru can give everything - a fraction of a second is even too much - the Guru can give realisation instantly!

"And the Grace of the Guru flows automatically from Him to His disciple, doesn't matter where he is, what he is doing, which place of the world the disciple is. The moment they have complete shraddha, faith and surrender to the Master, the Grace flows from the Master to the disciple. Here I am utilising the word ‘disciple’ because in this verse Bhagavan Shankara talks only about the disciple, not about the devotee.”

Sri Swami Vishwananda gives commentary on the Guru Gita - Part 5

October 5, 2014, 4:03 am

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On the eighth day of Navaratri, Sri Swami Vishwananda continued his commentary on the Guru Gita, covering verses 120-154. Here is an excerpt of his commentary.

VERSE 120
Pindam kim tu mahaadeva,
padam kim samudaahratam;
Roopaateetam cha roopam kim,
etadaakhyaahi shankara.

"Here Parvati is asking Lord Shiva to explain to Her what is ‘pindam’?

"‘Pindam’ has different meanings one of the meanings of ‘pindam’ is the seat. Another meaning of ‘pindam’ is shakti or it can also be ancestral. Then She asked for the meaning of ‘padam’. ‘Padam’ means the Feet. But, ‘pindam’ and ‘padam’ together mean the Guru Himself. So in this context, ‘pindam’ represents the flow of energy which is constantly flowing through the Feet of the Master. That's why when one bows down to the Master's Feet, one is touched with that energy.

"Parvati wants to know what is ‘roopam’. ‘Roopam’ means the form. What is this form? What mystery does this form hold? Because everybody sees with the physical eyes only the outside, the gross matter of the Master only. But that's not the reality.

"The Master is not just what one sees in the outside. There should be something greater than that, which the form of the Master hides. Parvati said, ‘Reveal to me what is this roopam. And reveal also to me the roopatitam. Reveal to me what is behind that actual form. What secret does this form of the Master hold, in the form and beyond the form? Which form lies behind the form of the Master? Who is He?’

"Here Parvati is saying, ‘O Shankara, tell this to me! Oh Devadi deva, You are the Lord of the demigods! You are the only one who can reveal that to me.”

VERSE 121
Shree Mahaadeva uvaacha:
Pindam kundalinee shaktih,
padam hamsamudaahritam;
Roopam bindu riti jneyam,
roopaateetam niranjanam.

"Here Mahadeva said that ‘pindam’ is Kundalini Shakti. All the Shakti is flowing constantly inside of the Guru. The Kundalini is fully awaken in the Guru, it is not in a dormant state. The Guru dwells always in an awaken state.

"The Shakti flows but for this flow to happen, prana is needed. So, in this context the ‘padam’ stands for the flow of prana, which constantly flows from the Feet of the Master and ‘hamsa’ stands for purity or for something that can't be grasped.

‘Roopam’ represents the Blue Pearl. You see, nowadays people have many blue pearls, but the real blue pearl is unique. I am not talking about the fake one, the manufactured one. It is said that in millions of pearls one may get one real blue pearl.

"So here Bhagavan Shankara is saying that the ‘roopam’, the form of the Master is like the blue pearl which is very rare. It's not always that the Guru incarnates in this world. There are many gurus, shiksha gurus but the Satguru is unique. Because the shiksha guru can not take you from the mundane world to the spiritual world, only the Satguru can do that.

VERSE 134
Shree Mahaadeva uvaacha:
Ananta phalamaapnoti,
guru geetaa japena tu;
Sarva papa prashmanam,
sarva daardrya naashanam.

"Here Bhagavan Shankara is saying that just by reading, chanting and meditating on the Guru, by chanting the glory of the Guru, as in the Guru Gita, one obtains endless merits. Everything that one desires is fulfilled. All the sins are put to an end. So, all that one really needs in one's life, just by surrendering to the Feet of the Master and by meditating on the Master one will automatically receive it all."