Vinayaka Chaturthi

It is an important custom in Bharat to prostrate in front of elders, teachers, parents, and God. The youth of today must prostrate before karma (duties) saying, "Tasmai namah karmane" so that all that they do transforms into selfless service and sacredness. It is karma that can lift a person to great heights, and it is karma that can pull one down to the abyss. A man becomes either noble or mean in accordance with his karma (deeds). So for good or bad, karma is the reason behind it all.

"The animal is born out of karma
It takes birth in karma, grows in karma
And goes into karma
Karma is the cause for happiness or sorrow
For humans, karma is God on earth"

Karma is the cause behind all sorrows and joys. God is the bestower of the fruits thereof. Man has the right to do karma, but he has no authority to reject the fruits thereof, given by God. Man is under the impression that he is the doer. In case he has controlling authority over karma, then why is he unable to achieve success in all that he does?

Krishna said in the Bhagawad Geeta, "Ma phaleshu," but not, "Na phaleshu," implying no right on the fruit of karma, but not "No fruit." One has to do karma, but should not lay right on the fruits thereof. But karma cannot be rejected totally. Whatever God gives must be taken as some fruit of karma. Happiness is a boon bestowed by God. Sorrow is also bestowed by Him. The doctor gives a bitter pill to a patient suffering from an infectious illness. We realize the good effect of medicine only after he is cured. Therefore, we must take whatever God gives us as meant for our good only. Your principal said that Vinayaka accompanies Swami along with siddhi and buddhi. We are not devoid of siddhi and buddhi. We do possess buddhi. But we must purify the buddhi (intellect). Then only we get siddhi (fulfillment).

Today is Vinayaka Chaturthi. Vinayaka is propitiated, saying, "Arka drona priyaya namah," "unmatta shekharaya namah," meaning "foremost among the mad." What do you get by worshipping such a person? Once, while Vinayaka was accompanying his mother Parvati, Chandra (moon) looked at him and laughed derisively thinking, "Parvati is walking along with her son whose body is a picture of peaks and valleys and whose belly is like a great pot." As the moon laughed at her son who was a God to be worshipped first and foremost, Parvati became angry and cursed, "whoever looks at the moon on the Vinayaka Chaturthi day will get the blame of some kind or the other."

Do Not Make Fun Of Others

That is the reason why we do not look at the moon on this day. This should not be treated as a mere story. Its inner meaning has spiritual significance. All are sons and daughters of Goddess Parvati. She will not tolerate if somebody abuses or belittles others. We should not make fun of others. In fact, Vinayaka is the embodiment of intellect. One day Parvati engaged Vinayaka and Subrahmanya in a contest. She said she would like to know who among them was faster, and to prove it they should go around the earth. Whoever returns first would be the winner. Then, Subrahmanya immediately dashed off on his peacock. Poor Vinayaka was at a loss, as he had a heavy body and was not capable of moving fast. At that moment, sage Narada approached him and wanted to know the reason for his sorrow. People call Narada, "kalahapriya" (lover of disputation). But, in fact, Narada is always engaged in acts that bestow knowledge and subdue ego. He told Vinayaka, "Dear, considering your heavy body and your tiny vehicle, it is not possible for you to go round the earth, let alone winning the race this way. So I suggest you walk around your parents which is equivalent to going around the earth." That was how Vinayaka achieved victory. Parvati and Parameshwar are embodiments of nature and Eashwar. The whole universe is running on the prop of these two powers. A violin has only four strings, but the whole gamut of songs is played with them.

Also, there are only 26 letters in the English alphabet. But, big volumes of texts are created making use of these 26 letters. Similarly, the entire creation runs on these two powers only. So, doing a circumambulation to such parents amounts to winning the whole world. Thus, Vinayaka earned the special status because of which he is worshipped first before any kind of worship is undertaken. We must pray to Vinayaka so that he puts hurdles for sinful acts and removes hurdles to meritorious deeds. Man finds salvation only when he loves God and fears sin. But, these days no one is afraid of sinful acts; with the result, there is no love for God. We worship Vinayaka with a resolve that we will not resort to sinful acts in the future. The tender hearts of youth will naturally behave like rudderless boats. They tend to fly out like kites. They are involved in wild imaginations and visions. Students of our college are potential future mothers who would be embodiments of motherhood. So they should not indulge in such thoughts because the child becomes good only when the mother is good. When the daughter-in-law is good, the entire family becomes good.

All of us must strive to foster good qualities. The education you are acquiring is not for earning money or jobs. It is for acquiring virtues. There is a seat only when there is virtue, otherwise, no seat. Therefore, before starting any work, big or small, we must prostrate to Vinayaka to ward off hurdles.

God Is Like A Postman

Man is habituated to blame God, saying, "Oh God, why all these difficulties for me? Why all these blames and blemishes? Why don't you do good to me?" But know that God is not wishing to give these troubles; it is our own karmas that are the cause of all the good or bad we experience. Our thoughts are responsible for our state of affairs. A postman can simply deliver a letter to you. He will not know its contents or who wrote it. Attraction or gravitation is the nature of the earth. Anything that is in its limits of attraction has to obey this law of nature. No one can deny or surpass this aspect.

Similarly, God hands over the fruits in accordance with our deeds or karmas. Once upon a time in the midst of Dhritarashtra’s royal court, Draupadi was dragged to the court by Dussasana holding her hair. Then Draupadi cried out, "Krishna! Krishna!" Before rushing to help, Krishna considered Draupadi’s past karmas. All of us must keep this aspect in view. When Krishna delved into her good deeds of the past, one act of Draupadi flashed in his mind. On a festival day, Bhogi, Krishna was in the midst of women like Gopikas, Radha, Draupadi, Rukmini, Sathyabhama, and others. Krishna was cutting a piece of sugar cane. His finger was cut and blood was dripping. Rukmini and Sathyabhama started looking around for servant maids to help Krishna. But Draupadi, without any hesitation, tore off a piece of cloth out of her sari and tied it on Krishna’s finger. That small piece of cloth had now turned into an endless sari. In another instance, Krishna was offered a morsel of parched rice by Kuchela, his friend of the younger days. In return, Krishna bestowed Kuchela with enormous riches. Even a small fruit, flower, or leaf offered in reverence, will suffice to merit His grace.

We pray to Ganapati, saying, "Shuklambaradharam," meaning the one wearing a white robe. "Vishnum" means He who is all-pervading. It is not the dictionary meaning of these words that we must look for. Their inner significance has to be grasped. "Shashi Varnam" means grey color. "Chaturbhujam" means He who has four hands. Of these four, two hands are stretched across the world and the other two are invisible. We too have two hands, no doubt. We use them to eke out our livelihood. We cannot protect others. We only crave selfishness, enjoyment, and happiness, spending all the time in this kind of pursuit. How can we make ourselves useful to others? But God’s hands are invisible and receptive. He holds time and sound in His two hands. The disc represents time, and the conch is a symbol of sound. "Shabda Brahman" means "sound is filled with Brahman or Paramatma." Prasanna Vadanam – Vinayaka is having a face that is ever Blissful. You will not find a castor oil face in Him at any time. He is ever smiling. Even an ordinary elephant is always joyful. This may be spoken of as a state of samadhi. Fits and hysteria do not come under the samadhi state. Therefore, ‘Prasanna Vadanam’ connotes "equanimity" and "samadhi". Sama dhi– In samadhi sorrow and happiness, hot and cold, are accepted with equal ease. "Dhyayet" means "I am contemplating on such a person." This is how believers think. But the cynics may interpret these epithets in a negative sense. One should never forget the truth "Eshwarah sarva bhutanam" (God is present in all beings). There is an interesting episode in Ekanath’s life. He had been to Kashi, and he brought Ganges water with the intention of pouring it over the Lord of Rameshwaram, the shivalingam. On the way to Rameshwaram, he came across a donkey that was craving water. Without any hesitation, Ekanath poured the Ganges water into its mouth. His disciple noticed this and wanted to know why he resorted to this sacrilege. Then Ekanath said, "Dear, it is better to sustain life with this sacred water than to pour it on a stone."

Humility Is The Basis Of Spirituality

The fact that God resides in all beings should never be forgotten. We propitiate Vinayaka with the epithet, "Arka drona priyaya namah." What is the significance of offering these good-for-nothing flowers? It is said, "Jnaani balonmatta pisachina." Jnaani, child, mad person, and haunting spirit all these four have similar states of mind. There cannot be sin in them, because they do not commit anything knowingly. The first one is mad who is not aware of anything. The second one is Jnaani who sees God in everybody. The third is a child who is innocent. And the fourth one is pisachi (haunting spirit) who has no body. But what is the point in worshipping Vinayaka the ‘unmatta shekhara’ (the greatest mad person)? To protect someone who is drowning in a quagmire, the saving person should remain out of the quagmire. Only then he is capable of saving. Only the sinless person can save a sinful one. Vighneshwara is selfless. We worship him so that we become selfless too. This is the first festival after which three festivals follow Navaratri, Sankranti, and Shivaratri. He came primarily for thwarting hurdles to these festivals. He exhorts us to sanctify these three festivals. He says, "I shall create hurdles for your bad deeds and I shall remove hurdles to your good deeds; therefore, worship me." You might have done bad deeds in the past, knowingly or unknowingly. But hereafter do not repeat them. This college is established with high ideals.

Students of this college must fill their hearts with the sacred essence of education and must conduct themselves with humility. From education, you get humility. From humility, you get eligibility. From eligibility, you get wealth. Out of wealth, you can perform charitable and virtuous deeds, because of which you will realize worldly as well as transcendental comforts. Draupadi is worthy of emulation. At a time when the Pandavas started their stint of forest life, Dharmaraja asked Draupadi to stay back in Hastinapura and to do necessary service to Gandhari, saying that Draupadi was tender and so could not bear the hardships of forest life. Then she said that she would not mind eating roots and fruits along with Pandavas; but could not afford to live without them. She said,

"Having been born as daughter of noble Drupada
Having been chosen as daughter-in-law of mighty Pandu
Having chosen Pandavas as husbands
Being the mother of valorous sons
How can I settle in servitude?"

You must imbibe such noble thoughts. She was "veerapatni" (wife of valorous husbands). She was "veeramata" (mother of valorous sons). By bringing fame to parents, she became "veeraputrika" (valorous daughter). Whenever bad thoughts enter your mind, you must think well and get rid of those thoughts. Only then can you achieve anything. You must conduct in a way that you get a good name inside as well as outside the college. Do not drop off what you learn here. You must sharpen and purify your intellect and learn to achieve success in what you take up as your duty. The good you do will always follow and protect you. You must pray, "Oh karma! Do not take me to a downward path. May I conduct myself in a right path. Tasmai namah karmane." Karma is the medium through which we become good or bad. I conclude My discourse with a blessing and hope that you learn the disciplined way of life in this college and that all of you derive lasting happiness.