Hinduism 19
Full Transcript (Not Corrected)
Opening Prayer
ॐ सह नाववतु ।
सह नौ भुनक्तु ।
सह वीर्यं करवावहै ।
तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु ।
मा विद्विषावहै ।
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ।
हरिः ॐ ।
Transliteration (IAST):
Om Saha Nāvavatu
Saha Nau Bhunaktu
Saha Vīryaṃ Karavāvahai
Tejasvi Nāvadhītamastu
Mā Vidviṣāvahai
Om Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ
Hariḥ Om
Translation:
Om, may Brahman protect us both.
May Brahman bestow upon us both the fruit of knowledge.
May we both obtain the energy to acquire knowledge.
May what we both study reveal the truth.
May we cherish no ill feeling toward each other.
Om, peace, peace, peace be unto all.
Hindu Festivals: Their Spiritual Significance and Celebration
Introduction: The Festival Culture of Hinduism
Today I am going to speak on Hindu festivals. It is said that of all the people on this earth, Hindus are the most religious people. Everything is connected with religion.
So there is a saying in Bengali: Bhāro māsā they ropā—it means in 12 months there are 13 festivals. For Hindus—may not be every Hindu, but for most of the Hindus—every day there is a festival. This is something unique, a speciality of Hindus. There are festivals and festivals, celebrations. Every religion has festivals.
Without festivals, no religion would ever grow. Why is it that we want to celebrate festivals? There must be some reason for that. In the olden days, there were only holy days and normal days. So holy days have turned nowadays into holidays. This is the secular influence that has taken place. But for Hindus, every year that comes, more and more festivals are added.
Some great man is born, and his birthday and his ascension day, some special event in his day and his death day is added. Next year another great man is born. There is no end to it.
The Purpose of Festivals
The point is, celebrations are very good. So why are they done? How do they help us is what I am going to discuss today very briefly.
Seasonal and Natural Significance
First of all, there is a sociological meaning, then there is a natural meaning, there is a psychological meaning, and it is also connected with agriculture and with the change of seasons, etc. I will give you some examples.
First of all, it is what is called natural or seasonal changes. You know Saṅkrānti—Makara Saṅkrānti we call it. What Christians say Easter—it is purely a spring festival that occurs there. Then there is Dīvālī, that is a kind of natural event. Then Ekādaśī. You know when Ekādaśī takes place, what happens? There is a tremendous change in the whole of nature. Then whenever an eclipse takes place, there is also a festival. It is not a festival in a way; they celebrate in the form of fasting at that particular time and meditating or doing japa, etc.
These natural events, these changes of seasons, etc., are agricultural events. They are simply connected with religion. Especially Hindus are experts in connecting everything. A river connected to God, a tree connected to God, a leaf connected to God. Do you recall any example of leaves connected to God? Tulasī, Bilva, and Dūrvā, etc. These are all sacred things for pūjā, every pūjā, and these are not leaves—they are goddesses. Tulasī is the incarnation of Mahālakṣmī. She is the wife of Lord Nārāyaṇa.
So like this, everything is connected with God, so that even the most ordinary thing reminds us of God. Anyway, the mind is affected. Anyway, we are going to do something because of this change. Why not connect with God, with religion, and do it in a spiritual way? Spiritualize everything.
Psychological Significance
Why do we celebrate? Psychological change has to be. You know every day is a drab day. We get up, look at the same faces. It becomes dull, mechanical, and we want a change. So these festivals, celebrations provide us a change, a psychological change. You know we enjoy it. See, man wants change. Can't accept the same place, the same person—wants some change. We go on holidays. Sometimes it is not very pleasant, but because it is a change, everything appears to be new.
Give a talk every week—very few people come. But let a new Swami come—there will be lots of people. Why? It is just a change of face, a change of diet. So that is one significance.
Sociological Significance
Then sociologically, celebrations are very, very important because there is a binding force in these celebrations. Say you observe a festival—Ramakrishna's devotees come. They might quarrel on other days. Would they quarrel on that day? Normally you would not fight. So it has a great binding force. This is one of the most potent forces which bring people together and make them united, and religion is one of the most uniting forces on earth. So celebrations have a great significance in bringing people, uniting people.
The Highest Spiritual Purpose
But these are only minor issues. The most important point is what happens on a celebration day. We take bath early in the morning and we put on new clothes. Our whole attitude changes, and when we attend the festival, we are looking forward with a positive, joyous attitude.
If we can make any celebration a joyous event, this is a foretelling of what will happen to us if only we can go to God and stay near Him. See, every day is a joyous day. Everything becomes prasāda. Everything becomes an event of great happiness. All other things take a back seat. So this is just to indicate how wonderful spirituality is. If we are getting so much joy here with these mundane events, when we go to God, how much joy we can derive!
Sacred Days and Their Spiritual Significance
Vaikuṇṭha Ekādaśī
I mentioned about Ekādaśī, and there is one particular Ekādaśī in India that is called Vaikuṇṭha Ekādaśī. In South India it's very famous, and you know there is a very famous temple in South India called Bālājī temple, Tirupati. Now there are many doorways to go into the sanctum sanctorum, but there is one particular doorway which is called Vaikuṇṭha Dvāra. That would be opened only on that particular day which is called Vaikuṇṭha Ekādaśī. The belief is those who go to visit the Lord on that day and those who pass through that door, as it were, they are already entering into the presence of the Lord Viṣṇu. That is the idea.
Śivarātri
Similarly, think about Śivarātri. For Hindus, one of the most important festivals is Śivarātri. Whole day they fast, and then they go on thinking of Lord Śiva, hearing devotional songs or reading some sacred scriptures like Śiva Purāṇa, Liṅga, etc. At Belur Math, we observe it whole night. I think I have also shown you some of the videos, dancing, etc. So just imagine what happens if somebody dies on that day. It's a very sacred day.
Ratha Yātrā
Similarly, Hindus have got, as I told you—very religious people—a festival called chariot festival, very deeply significant. I am not speaking about chariot festivals which are observed practically in every temple. I am talking about Purī Jagannātha Ratha Yātrā. There is a particular day which we celebrate here in one devotee's house. Great pomp, the chariot is drawn. It has significance. We will come to that point later on.
The point is, many people in the past, at least, while pulling the heavy chariot, they used to die, and their belief is if they die on that day while pulling the chariot of the Lord, they will attain to the Lord's place. They will go to Vaikuṇṭha and they will enjoy eternal felicity. That is the idea.
Every Moment as Celebration
So a celebration day is a foretaste of what is to come if we can only make every day, every moment a celebration. Now tell me, if someone has realized God, is he with the Lord all the time or not? And if he is, then is not every moment the greatest moment of celebration?
In the presence of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, Swami Turiyānanda used to say we used to experience so much of joy. He said one visit to Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa would keep us in ecstasy for days together. Then he remarked that what joy we used to derive from the presence of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, mere presence—these days even through meditation we do not derive so much of joy.
Is he uttering this statement because of his great devotion to Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa? No, because our belief is Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is God himself, and when we go into the presence of God, can anybody remain sad, unhappy in the presence of such a great soul?
Similarly Caitanya Mahāprabhu, similarly Jesus Christ, similarly Buddha, Ramaṇa Maharṣi—take any example, any great soul, not to speak of these incarnations. Śrī Kṛṣṇa, everybody—even the animals, not to speak of human beings—they used to be in an ecstatic state.
The Attraction of Divine Presence
How do we know? Because you see, they have tremendous attraction, and what is attraction? Tell me, to what do you get attracted? To joyous things or to happiness, or to things which make you sad? When we are in the presence of God, there is no way but we will be attracted. Whether we understand or not, the mind will be uplifted.
There is an instance: Swami Brahmānanda, he went on a pilgrimage to South India, and Swami Prabhavānanda was narrating. He went to Kanyākumārī, and these people were there. As soon as Swami Brahmānanda entered into the sanctum sanctorum, he went into an ecstatic state. He was unconscious.
The effect of his presence in the temple was, as Swami Prabhavānanda was narrating, they all felt like laughing out in great joy. Of course, they could not laugh out in the temple—people would think otherwise—but they did not know why. They felt a great spirit moving inside them. They felt like laughing.
Then later on, Swami Brahmānanda solved the mystery. At that time he said, "I had, by Mother's grace, the vision of the Divine Mother Kanyākumārī. Great joy filled my heart, and I felt like laughing like a small baby." A baby—how much it laughs in the lap of the mother! That was what Swami Brahmānanda was experiencing. These people were experiencing some amount of joy, felt like laughing.
A Humorous Aside
It is not a peculiar thing—you go to a temple and you feel like laughing. For various reasons we feel like laughing, you know. There was once, I don't know whether I remember it, there was one humorous person called Tenāli Rāmakṛṣṇa, like Gopāla Bhaṭṭa. He went to Divine Mother's temple, and he saw she had ten heads and two hands. He started laughing.
Mother got very, very angry. She said, "Why are you laughing?"
He said, "Don't get angry. I will explain to you. See, when I catch cold, even though I have only one nose, even two hands are not enough. You have ten heads and two hands—how do you manage?"
The Purpose of Festivals: A Foretaste of Divine Joy
Festivals are there to create, to give a foretaste to us of the great joy that we are going to experience. That's what we should experience in our meditation. Why? What is meditation? There is a particular name in Sanskrit for what we call in English meditation. It is called upāsanā.
Upāsanā means what? Sitting or being in the presence of God. That is what we are supposed to do in meditation. If we are in the presence of God, is it not an occasion to be very joyful? So that is the whole purpose of celebration: to be able to enjoy the presence of the Lord.
Categories of Hindu Festivals
So Hinduism, as I said, plenty of festivals. Practically every day there is something. Is it full moon day? Is it new moon day? Is it the 11th day or the 12th day or 8th day or 4th day or 9th day? There is no day which is unfilled. So I will just briefly describe.
Before that, I also—celebrations, there are different categories. All connected with God, but there is an order.
1. Days Assigned to Gods
The first is certain days assigned to Gods like Viṣṇu, Śiva, Devī, etc. You know that Vaikuṇṭha Ekādaśī—that is associated with God. Then Śivarātri is associated with Lord Śiva, or you can even say Navarātri, etc. These are associated with different manifestations of God as Viṣṇu, as Śiva, as Kārtikeya, as Gaṇeśa, as Devī, etc.
2. Days Dedicated to the Guru
Then Hindus have special, very special days dedicated to our own Guru and the Guru of the whole universe. That's why we celebrate. What is the most popular festival dedicated to Guru? Guru Pūrṇimā. Then there is one of the greatest Guru of Gurus in human form for Hindus: Vyāsa Deva. That is the day—that is why it is called Vyāsa Pūrṇimā, Guru Pūrṇimā. I will tell you why.
3. Days for Scriptures
Then even scriptures—Gītā Jayantī. You know, Gītā Jayantī is celebrated because Bhagavad Gītā is the most important scripture in the world.
4. Days of Great Saints and Avatāras
These are the days specially connected with Guru, and then great saints, you know—Hanumān Jayantī, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa Jayantī, Vivekānanda Jayantī, or Ramaṇa Maharṣi's in the month of Kārtika, in December-January it comes.
These are great saints, scriptures as I said, and then days connected certainly with avatāras, you know. That is the speciality of India. India has produced, Hinduism has produced a lot of avatāras: Rāma, Kṛṣṇa, Buddha, Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Śaṅkarācārya, Rāmānujācārya. Though not as popular as Rāma or Kṛṣṇa, they are greatly venerated by their own followers.
So every one of them, each one of them, have their own special days assigned, and we know—we do it: Rāma Navamī, which had gone only on the third of this month, just two days before. And then Kṛṣṇa Janmāṣṭamī. These are dedicated to the specially incarnations of God. Then, you know, Caitanya Mahāprabhu's birthday is celebrated on which day? It's called Holī day or Dhol Pūrṇimā day, etc.
5. Days Connected with Seasons and Agriculture
Then there are certain days specially connected with change of seasons, agriculture, etc. One of the most important such is called Makara Saṅkrānti, or in Tamil Nadu it is called Poṅgal. It is connected specially with harvest—new harvest comes in, so new rice comes in, so they prepare a sweet out of the new rice. But though it is a natural seasonal event, it is all connected with God.
Why? Who gives this harvest to us? Who gives food to us? It is God. Therefore, this food, first food has to be offered to the Lord Himself. They make sweet, take it to the temples, offer it to the Lord, and take it, receive it as prasāda. This is a wonderful thing.
6. Special Days for Rāmakṛṣṇa Order
Of course, you know, we belong to the Rāmakṛṣṇa Order, and so we have special days. What are our special days? Very special days. This is not common to every Hindu, but every follower of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, everyone who is connected with Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, Rāmakṛṣṇa Order—all over the world, we have these special celebrations.
Of course, the birthdays of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, Holy Mother, Swami Vivekānanda and the direct disciples, then Mother Kālī, then there are two types of Kālī Pūjā, you know—Kālī Pūjā and then Phalaharinī Kālī Pūjā. But one of the most important days for the Rāmakṛṣṇa Order is the first of January of every year, called Kalpataru. The very meaning of Kalpataru is wish-fulfilling tree.
These are the most important. I have omitted lots and lots of other festivals, but these are the main things.
A Calendar of Hindu Festivals
Very briefly I would go through them according to the order, beginning with, let us say, from January, according to the new English calendar.
January: Makara Saṅkrānti
The first thing that comes is the month of January. I will come to Rāmakṛṣṇa Order special festivals in the end, but actually it should start on the first of every English calendar, first of January. I will come about it later on.
The first such festival, important festival that comes is called Makara Saṅkrānti. What is the significance? The sun, who has been away from us—especially over India, from India he goes to the south, it is called Dakṣiṇāyana, travelling to the south—then at some particular point he feels the attraction of the Hindus and says, "I am missing my children, I must come back."
So he starts coming back. That usually happens on the 14th of January. That particular event is a natural seasonal event, and that is when the spring starts actually in India, not here. It is celebrated in a most wonderful way. That is also the day when Poṅgal is offered to the Lord and then enjoyed.
Now what is the significance? The sun, symbolizing wisdom, divine knowledge, and spiritual light, which receded from you when you reveled in the darkness of ignorance, delusion, and sensuality, now joyously turns on its northward course and moves towards you to shed its light and warmth in greater abundance and to infuse into you more life and energy. That is the significance of Makara Saṅkrānti.
For Hindus, the sun holds the greatest place of reverence. That is why he is called Pratyakṣa Brahma—Brahman directly perceivable by our earthly eyes, human eyes. Without the sun, there would be no life, not to speak of no knowledge.
January-February: Sarasvatī Pūjā
Then comes Sarasvatī Pūjā. It is also called Vasanta Pañcamī. Vasanta is the spring season. Sarasvatī is the goddess of wisdom, knowledge, learning, and arts—especially of arts. Now those who want to sing, dance, play, etc., they pay special attention to Sarasvatī.
You know Swami Raṅganāthānandaji, he went to see, pay his respects to Swami Akhaṇḍānanda at Sargachi. And then Swami Akhaṇḍānanda asked him, "What do you want?" It's like a boon: "What do you want?"
And the Swami said, "My only goal in life is to preach Vedānta as interpreted by Swami Vivekānanda." By that time the Swami had read the complete works of Swami Vivekānanda many, many times over. He was a great follower, I would say, of Swami Vivekānanda, of the complete works of Swami Vivekānanda.
And you know, Swami Akhaṇḍānanda blessed him: "May Sarasvatī dwell on your tongue."
And Holy Mother blessed Swami Abhedānanda when he wrote that particular hymn which we sing on Saturdays, Prakṛtiṁ Paramām: "Sarasvatī will dwell on your tongue." He was a great preacher of Vedānta, a great spiritual person.
So this usually—end of January or sometime in the beginning of February—is Sarasvatī Pūjā, and all Hindus, irrespective of which deity they follow, they all worship because all of us want knowledge, wisdom, inner guidance.
February-March: Śivarātri
Then comes Śivarātri. It's such a holy festival, and this is one festival where you don't eat good food. On the contrary, you fast whole day, and then you worship the Lord the whole night. There is a symbolism in it.
Fasting, as I said you know, is that which takes us into the presence of God. The word fasting has two meanings there. One is that you fast to the sense organs—do not give any food, do not look, do not hear, do not touch anything, excepting directing all the sense organs towards the Lord. That is the meaning of fasting.
The second is, of course, be as near into the presence of God as possible, and then whole night you will only meditate upon the Lord. Because Lord Śiva is one who doesn't need any of your offerings. All that he needs is only, even if you have water or leaves of Bilva. Bilva is a kind of tree—it gives some fruits not tremendously desired by anyone particularly. Unless a person is very, very poor and doesn't get anything, Bilva is not wanted.
It is a great medicinal plant. It's a very good laxative, and also this is very good for diabetes, especially the leaves and roots of Bilva. Some people say about it like that.
So Śivarātri—this comes very near February-March, and it is the 13th or 14th of the dark half of Phālguna. This is according to the Indian calendar. The name means "the night of Śiva." The ceremonies take place chiefly at night. So Śiva is worshipped.
Every word, Sanskrit word has an etymological meaning. So the very word Śiva has a beautiful meaning. What does Śiva mean? Auspiciousness. May good befall you. May God bless you with infinite good. Good means even the English word "goods"—everything. That which is good for us in every way, let it come to us. That is the meaning of the word Śiva.
March: Holī
So very soon, even in India, the spring festival is there: Holī. Holī is a festival associated later on with Śrī Kṛṣṇa himself, because you see, in North India the cold is quite severe. India is a vast continent. Therefore, in South India there are only three seasons, as we say: hot, hotter, hottest. But in North India you get certain seasons. It is intensely cold. There is autumn. In summer, of course, intensely hot, and rainy season is also very severe. You can see clearly intensity of the seasons which you would not see in South India so much.
So this Holī is the beginning of the spring season, and when spring comes, you know what happens? All the plants and flowers and fruits—you see all the first-class mangoes, when do they start coming out? After the Holī, spring festival. Now is the time, April. In April until June, July, good mangoes do come.
So this is celebrated, but it is associated especially with Śrī Kṛṣṇa. So what do they do? Different colours. So here also it is equivalent to Easter. You know Easter coloured eggs—they will put, bury in different parts of the garden, and the children are sent to discover those. You know that there is a custom there.
On this particular day, Holī day, these people, they sprinkle, you know, what is called different colours, put on different coloured clothes. In joyous mood they visit the temples, offer colours to the God also. This is a very wonderful thing.
Here this also is considered as Dhol Pūrṇimā. Dhol means swing—a swing festival—and it is also associated with the birthday of Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
So there are different stories why this Holī has come. The word Holī—it is very unholy. Holikā was a demoness, and she created lot of problems to people. So Śrī Kṛṣṇa destroyed her and saved little children. She was eating up, gobbling up small children. That's why it is called Holī festival.
In South India another custom is there: the clay figure of Cupid—Cupid means is called Kāma Rāja, Madana—he is burnt on that day. This begins about 10 days before the full moon of the month of February-March, Phālguna we call it.
In North India, people play joyfully with coloured water. The uncle sprinkles coloured water on his nephew with lot of rupee notes, which is very welcome. Without that, it's not very welcome.
Then you know there is something very, very important. In India, among Hindus, there are different people of different languages, and all of them want to have New Year's Day. Telugu people have their own New Year's Day. Tamilians, Bengalis—practically on the same day it falls.
This is the difference: in Hindu calendar, the year actually starts with the first day of Caitra. So that is why Telugu people celebrated this 27th of last month, March. That was when the first day of Caitra had started, like 1st of January of English calendar—27th of March. Hindu calendar begins with the month of Caitra. That was very sacred day for Hindus, New Year's Day for Telugu people—only Telugu people. For Tamilians it would be in the month of April, almost a month later.
So Bengalis, we all celebrate New Year's Day. What is the idea? Let us bury the past. Even if we are unhappy, let us begin a new dedication to God.
On that day they get up, have special bath. It's called abhyañjana. What is special bath for Hindus? Do you know what is special bath? This is called head bath. So that day there is a kind of fruit. In India, this kumkudu we call it. You put it in water, it brings a kind of foam like soap. So it is considered to be antibacterial and all that. Nowadays, of course, you know there are so many antibacterial shampoos and other things available. In those days, these are all over the body.
The children are bathed, the husbands are bathed, the wives are bathed. Even people who do not bathe for a long time, they are also bathed. Head bath they will take, and then put on new clothes, go to the temples.
When we are having garlands—South India, there is something very special. Hindus—I am only talking about Hindus, mind it always—South Indian ladies, they like to decorate themselves with a lot of flowers which we do not usually see among the North Indian people, many of the North Indian people. A very decorative way they put. And that's why in South Indian temples, if you see the female deities, including male deities of course, most beautiful way they make such first-class garlands. It is an art, special art they have developed through habit.
Anyway, they put on garlands, they take garlands to the temple. It is a joyous day. Let us begin our life's journey in a new spirit. That is the Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Punjabi New Year's Day.
As I said, different regions have different New Year's Day. For example, for some people, Dīvālī is the New Year's Day. So like that it starts.
Then of course, this comes in March-April: Rāma Navamī. As I said, only two days back we had Rāma Navamī. This is the birthday dedicated to Lord Rāma. It is called Navamī because it always comes on the ninth day of the bright fortnight in the month of Caitra, March-April.
April-May: Akṣaya Tṛtīyā and Buddha Pūrṇimā
Then there is one important festival which is special for Bengalis and also for the Rāmakṛṣṇa Order. It is called Akṣaya Tṛtīyā. Tṛtīyā means the third day of a fortnight. Akṣaya means inexhaustible.
So there is a belief: whatever we do on that day, the result will be inexhaustible. So if you do japa, you will get inexhaustible result. You do little japa—it's like a something like a lottery, winning a lottery ticket like that. Guaranteed lottery ticket: Akṣaya Tṛtīyā.
For the Rāmakṛṣṇa Order it is very important because it was on that day Swami Śāradānanda dedicated the temple built for Holy Mother at Jayrāmbāṭi in 1923. It is a very important day of celebration for many of our devotees.
Then of course, though this is not directly connected with Hindus, Buddha Pūrṇimā, Vaiśākha Pūrṇimā. For many Hindus they celebrate because, though they are not Buddhists, they worship Buddha as one of the incarnations of God, and that is a thrice-blessed day. Why? Because that was the day on which Buddha was born. That was the day when he got illumination—bodhi. That was the day when he gave up his physical body—Mahāparinirvāṇa. So thrice-blessed day: Buddha Pūrṇimā.
But in Rāmakṛṣṇa Order we of course celebrate it—not here, though, in India—because Buddha was one of the greatest personalities. Swami Vivekānanda had a vision of Buddha when he was a young boy, and he was the greatest fan of Buddha because he said, "Such a gigantic intellect combined with the biggest heart in the world." Buddha is known for his compassion. You just look at the very image of Buddha. It invokes a mood of meditation. He is always depicted as completely merged in a peaceful samādhi.
July: Ratha Yātrā
Then comes Ratha Yātrā, chariot festival. This is very important. There is a holy place, and for the Rāmakṛṣṇa devotees it is the holiest of the holies. It is called Purī Jagannātha. As I mentioned last class, the prasāda of Lord Jagannātha is considered as Mahāprasāda by Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa.
So there, chariot festival takes place. The Lord is taken out. It has also utilitarian purpose. That is the time when the vast temple with all its complexes of kitchen and halls, etc., is thoroughly cleaned. What you call spring cleaning is done. This usually comes in July. So Ratha Yātrā is very important for us.
The significance of Ratha Yātrā—as I mentioned also, though I mentioned only Purī Jagannātha as the best of these chariot festivals, practically in every temple this chariot festival goes on. What is the significance of the chariot? Our human body is the chariot, and the Lord within, He is the rider, and our mind, our intellect, etc., are the instruments which make this chariot move. This is the imagery given in the Upaniṣads.
By celebrating this chariot festival, the spiritual impetus is given to us: do not forget that whenever you are moving, you are the chariot and you are taking the Lord with you. Do not ever forget this fact. You are the living moving chariot. We are all the chariots in that sense.
So this is the most important festival we are going to have, I think, in the month of July. We are going to have it in one of our devotees' houses.
July-August: Guru Pūrṇimā
Then comes, usually either in the month of July or in the month of August, Guru Pūrṇimā. Pūrṇimā means full moon day, specially dedicated to our Guru, and that day four things take place.
First, of course, we worship our own Guru specially, whoever he may be, doesn't matter. Secondly, we worship Vyāsa Deva, who is the Guru of Gurus. And then, the Veda Vyāsa—it is due to him we obtain these Vedas. That's why that day, the Veda scriptures—like Sikhs, they worship the Grantha Sāhib—we Hindus worship a special book called Vedas.
There is recently, somebody had brought out all the Vedas in a huge edition. It is as big as this table. So a limited edition of that book is distributed. Some of our centres have it. The idea is place it in the form of as a symbol of God and worship it.
Another symbolism is that is the day on which devotees start usually to go and visit Amarnāth, because that is the only time when one can safely travel.
Of course, there is—not very important, but connected with this day—it is also the beginning of the four-monthly stay of monks all over India. There is a tradition started by Buddha that those are the four months when there would be severe rains, and during rains, very difficult for monks to go and collect their alms, bhikṣā. And therefore Buddha had ordained that for four months, "O monks, do not go anywhere. Stay near some big village, and the villagers will provide you with your simple food, but you will provide them with spiritual food every day—discourses, etc."
Traditional āśramas and maṭhas, even today they observe it. For example, Śṛṅgeri Maṭha—he will come and stay either in Bangalore or somewhere. Four months there will be regular spiritual discourses. That is the only time usually when he is found stable in one place where people could go. This is the beginning of that particular day, Guru Pūrṇimā, until the rainy season is over.
And we know how important it is for us, Guru Pūrṇimā. All those who are initiated, they worship their own guru or they go to the nearest āśramas, but it has nothing to do with individual worship. For the devotees of Rāmakṛṣṇa, the only real guru is Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa himself, though manifested in the form of that particular human instrument through which they got the mantra or initiation.
So on that day we are specially advised to repeat these four Mahāvākyas, because many devotees are not aware of how to celebrate. They come and have our worship and take prasāda and all that, but these are the things—repeat after me. So briefly I will tell you what is the significance of this.
The Four Mahāvākyas
These are the first four sūtras from the scripture called Brahma Sūtras. Hinduism is based on triple scripture, called Prasthāna Traya. What are they? Upaniṣads, Brahma Sūtras, and Bhagavad Gītā. This goes by the name Prasthāna Traya.
Brahma Sūtras is the most important book composed by Vedavyāsa himself to make us understand the teachings of the Upaniṣads in a harmonious way. The first four sūtras give the very essence of the entire book.
The meaning of these four:
First: Now that you are a human being, start enquiring into spiritual life—means start your spiritual journey.
Second: What is spiritual journey? Is there a God? Yes. From whom this whole universe has come out. Who is that? God himself, Īśvara himself. Therefore, you could not have been here. This world could not have been here but for Him. So your journey should be to go back to Him from whom you have come.
Third: But you are saying that to me. How do I believe it? The Guru says, "I am not saying it to you. Our scriptures are telling." Because the scriptures alone are telling us we have all come from God. We have to go back to God. That is the meaning of this third sūtra.
Fourth: And how do we know that the scriptures are right? Because every scripture has only this purport. Go to Bible—it is a scripture. Bible is a Veda, Christian Veda. Tripiṭaka is the Buddhistic Veda, and Qur'ān is the Islamic Veda. Veda means that which gives us knowledge about God.
Say Bible—what is the purport of the Bible? God has created you. Go back to God. What does the Qur'ān say? Allah has created you. It is your duty to go to Allah. What does Buddha say? Buddha says you have come from Brahman, the eternal, the unborn. So you will have to go back to that eternal, unoriginating source of reality. Every scripture in this world is telling us this.
In modern scientific theory, you know we have all come from Big Bang. So we go back to—, exactly.
That is the meaning of these four. If we understand these four sūtras, teachings, spiritual life becomes very easy. You start your spiritual journey. This is the only duty of human being.
What does Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa say? What is the goal of human life? To realize God. And if you have to squeeze the essence of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's teachings, what is it? Go back to God. If you understand this much, you have understood the whole of Gospel of Rāmakṛṣṇa.
In his own words, he commented upon Gītā: What is the essence of Gītā? Renounce. Renounce this delusion that you have not come from God, you are a human being. That means go back to your source, your origin, which is God. Give up this māyā. That is the idea.
That is how we celebrate Guru day. Of course, we do singing, etc.—all to remind us that we have to go back to God.
August: Rakṣā Bandhana and Kṛṣṇa Janmāṣṭamī
Then there is a festival called Rakṣā Bandhana. It is very important. Rakṣā means protection. So what usually do? The sisters, you know, tie a small band around the brothers. That day, even if they are quarreling, for that day at least, you know, the sister is protected from the brother and the brother also is protected from the sister. The idea is very good. The essence is very good.
We are all sisters and brothers in spiritual—guru-bhāī is brother disciple, sister disciples. This is one point we have always to keep in mind, especially the devotees of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, whoever is initiated in the Rāmakṛṣṇa Order. We all belong to the family called Rāmakṛṣṇa. So who is your mother? Holy Mother. Who is your father? Rāmakṛṣṇa. Who is your eldest brother who protects you? Swami Vivekānanda. This is called the holy trio. This is the faith in the Rāmakṛṣṇa Order.
We may have our individual human differences, but if we do not bury these differences, if these differences become prominent, then there is some obstruction in our spiritual life. If we become saints, will there be differences? Who is a saint? Saint is one equal-sighted. Whether he is a theist, atheist, good man, evil man, none will be rejected, because goodness, evil—these are all apparently superficial differences.
Like in your dream, you get good people, you get evil people, you get good animals, evil animals. A tiger is about to devour you in your dream. When you wake up, will you take up a gun and go to the zoo and then shoot down the...? You won't do that, because you know it is only apparent difference. It is only your imagination.
So from the Vedāntic point of view, all these good and bad, these are all our ignorant imagination. There is no reality in this. This is Rakṣā Bandhana.
Then of course, Kṛṣṇa Janmāṣṭamī. I do not need to tell you how wonderful it is. We celebrate it here. It usually occurs mostly in the month of August. Aṣṭamī means the eighth day. So Kṛṣṇa Janmāṣṭamī. Rāma was born on Navamī day. Kṛṣṇa was born on the Aṣṭamī day.
Then the most important of all festivals, so far as the region Bengal is concerned and also Rāmakṛṣṇa Order is concerned—what is it? Navarātri, Durgā Pūjā. It is also called Navarātri. It is also called Daśarā. I will tell you why.
Mother Durgā is worshipped. Strictly speaking, she is not the only one who is worshipped. Navarātri means nine nights. Night has no meaning—it means the pūjā is done, worship is done only during the daytime, really, not unlike Kālī Pūjā. Durgā Pūjā takes place in the daytime. But nine days of festival starts with Prathamā, Dvitīyā, etc., and sixth day evening, awakening of the Mother. Seventh, eighth, ninth day.
So why nine nights? Because those who do this traditionally, they start from the first day, Prathamā. First three days they worship Mahākālī. The second set of three days, means from fourth, fifth, sixth days, they worship Mahālakṣmī. And in the last three days they worship Sarasvatī.
See, that is why we keep the images of all those three when we are worshipping Durgā Pūjā. Have you noticed it? That's why it is called nine. But they are all not different—they are all manifestations of the Divine Mother, and Divine Mother has nine names. In one South Indian tradition, the Divine Mother is worshipped all the nine days, every day with one different name.
It is also called Daśarā. Daśarā means Daśa. Daśa means ten. So the tenth day is called Vijayā Daśamī. Nine plus tenth day. Daśa means fate. Hara means one who destroys the fates.
This has a deep spiritual symbolism. We are all bound. That is called Daśā. You know Śani-graha Daśā and all that we call it. Daśā means our limited bound condition, and who can rescue us from this state? Only the Divine Mother. If we can worship the Divine Mother, by her grace, all these bondages will be completely removed.
So this is one of the most important atom festivals in India. Everywhere they do it.
Vijayā Daśamī and the Symbolism of Image Immersion
Vijayā Daśamī—of course I don't need to go through, but there are so many stories. But the most important thing is the worship of God in the form of the Divine Mother, and Divine Mother has three important manifestations. One is Mahākālī, one is Mahālakṣmī, one is Sarasvatī. Sarasvatī is associated with creation. Lakṣmī is associated with maintenance, and Kālī is associated with Sṛṣṭi, Sthiti, Laya. She who does this, she is the Divine Mother.
Every day we sing worship Divine Mother, because it is she who is the cause of your bondage, your maintenance. But if you can worship her, by her grace, you will attain ultimate knowledge.
On Vijayā Daśamī day, usually Mother is worshipped in an image most of the places. Some places when they can't afford, they will put just a photograph or a picture or a painting or icon sometimes, etc. But on the 10th day they do something—that is also called the day of immersion.
So what do we do? We take the image and throw it into the Gaṅgā. There is a very funny incident, you know. In Gospel it comes. There was a drunkard, and he had nice drink, and he went to see this Durgā Pūjā. Mother's image was most beautiful. She was decorated with all the saris and then all artificial cosmetic surgery and all has been done, and this drunkard was, "Ah, you look so nice. Well, let us wait for another nine days, and on the 10th day I will see what is going to happen to you."
What is the idea? The Mother was already there inside our hearts. We are unable to see her. Therefore she must be seen. The only way we can see, just as we can't see our own face, we need a mirror to see our face. So the Divine Mother has to be seen. She is seen in the image.
Once we do the worship properly, sincerely, then the Mother herself will give us the knowledge, and with that knowledge we do understand the Mother is already within us. And when it happens, we do not need this image any longer. So the idea of the immersion is, "I have no need." It is a scaffolding. Once the building is constructed, we don't need any more of this image because the Mother is now within.
An Incident from Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's Life
There is a very beautiful incident in the life of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. Madhur Babu was once celebrating Durgā Pūjā. Because of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's presence, everybody was enjoying such unimagined bliss. Madhur Babu was most fortunate—he was in ecstatic state, and he did not know how nine days have passed.
On the Vijayā Daśamī day, 10th day, the image immersion day has come, and everybody was waiting for him. He was shedding copious tears, and then somebody came and told him, "It is time for the image to be immersed."
He said, "What? Immersion? Let anybody touch the image of Mother—I'm going to cut off his head."
The priests were really afraid because he was capable—he proved that he was capable of doing that. They went to Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, and he understood. He came and casually touched him and told him, "Oh, this is what troubles you. What is there? All these days, Mother accepted your worship in the form of the image, but from now onwards, she is going to accept your worship from within your heart. The Mother comes into your heart."
As soon as he said that, Madhur Babu gave consent: "Okay." Because Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's touch gave him that knowledge that he could see the Mother in his own heart. Otherwise, he would not have left.
The Ultimate Goal: Seeing God Everywhere
So this is the symbolism of idol worship. How long do we need the idols? As long as we cannot see God within ourselves, we need the idols as aids, as helps. But once we start seeing, we do not need to worship.
I also mentioned, you know, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa started his spiritual life with worship in the Kālī temple—first in the Govinda temple, Kṛṣṇa temple, then finally very soon in the Mother's temple. He said, "One day I went out to collect flowers. Then I saw the whole universe is worshipping God. So I said, 'Why should I pluck flowers?'" And he said, "From that day, my formal external worship has come to an end. I will not be able to worship."
What is the idea? The image was needed, his garlands were needed, his system of worship was needed for him to come to that stage where he could see the Divine Lord everywhere. Once he could see that, then there is no need for him. He is seeing God everywhere. Seeing God everywhere is the ultimate goal. That is true worship.
In fact, in Sanskrit, there is a beautiful sentence: What is the purpose of pūjā? Who can really do the correct worship? So he said, only God can worship God. Devo bhūtvā devaṁ yajet—first you become God, then only you can worship God truly.
So the purpose of pūjā is to make us Gods. Once we become God, then only we worship. Whatever we do, that is real worship.
A mother worships the baby. You say, "What do I mean?" She brings flowers and sandal paste and puts all over? No. Her looking at the baby is the worship. Her feeding the baby is a worship. Mother Yaśodā is feeding Kṛṣṇa—is it worship? I will say, "It is 11:30 now. You fellow, you sleep here. I will go and worship God, and afterwards I will look after you." Do you think she will say that?
Worshipping Kṛṣṇa himself, or feeding Kṛṣṇa, playing with Kṛṣṇa, caressing Kṛṣṇa, dressing Kṛṣṇa, bathing Kṛṣṇa, putting him to sleep and fanning him—every act is a worship of God. But that needs that inner light.
That is why we show the light. Āratī time, you know, at the end of the pūjā we do āratī. What is the meaning? We take the lamp. Why? Because God is blind? He can't see? We are blind. So we need to see: this is not a photo. This is not an image. This is God himself.
When we have that jñāna-cakṣu, the eye of knowledge, then our pūjā will come to an end. In fact, that is the significance of all these festivals and other—to be able to perceive God every second, all the time, everywhere. Once we have that, every second is a festival time for us.
Conclusion
I will continue this topic next week.
Closing Prayer
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः
Om Śānti, Śānti, Śāntih.
Om, peace, peace, peace be unto all.