Tenkasi: MAY 11-12, 2012
Remember the Lord and Dedicate Your Actions to Him
On 12th May evening, the residents of Tenkasi welcomed Jagadguru Shankaracharya Sri Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahaswamiji to the New Street in Tenkasi. After Dhuli Pada Puja and the reading out of the Swagata Patrikas, the Jagadguru blessed the gathering with an Anugraha Bhashanam. The Jagadguru said that the Lord has stated in the Bhagavad Gita:
यत्करोषि यदश्नासि यज्जुहोषि ददासि यत् ।
यत्तपस्यसि कौन्तेय तत्कुरुष्व मदर्पणम् ॥
Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer as a sacrifice, whatever you give away, whatever penance you do, offer it to Me.
It is along these lines that Sri Adi Shankaracharya has said:
आत्मा त्वं गिरिजा मतिः सहचराः प्राणाः शरीरं गृहं
पूजा ते विषयोपभोगरचना निद्रा समाधिस्थितिः ।
सञ्चारः पदयोः प्रदक्षिणविधिः स्तोत्राणि सर्वा गिरो
यद्यत्कर्म करोमि तत्तदखिलं शम्भो तवाराधनम् ॥
The Lord is the soul. The intellect is Parvati. The attendants of the Lord are the vital forces. The residence of the Lord is the body. Sleep is the state of Samadhi. Whenever I walk, I feel that to be a Pradakshina around You. Whatever I speak, I regard that to be your praise. I regard all that I do as your worship.
If a person has the attitude that “I am always with the Lord and the Lord is always with me”, how can he ever swerve from the right path? When we have a great person in front of us, we control ourselves and behave well in his presence. So if we realize the presence of the Lord constantly, no inappropriate action or word or thought will ensue out from us. Hence only good thoughts will arise if such an attitude of being in the Lord’s presence is developed and strengthened. We say the Lord is सर्वव्यापी – omnipresent. So does He not reside in us? When Prahlada was asked by his father, Hiranyakashipu where the Lord was, Prahlada replied that the Lord is all-pervading, and there is not a single place where He does not exist.
The Lord does not look at one’s status, wealth, scholarship but only responds to Bhakti. The Jagadguru recalled how Aryamba consoled Shivaguru and provided inspiration to worship the Lord with greater faith and devotion, that led to Sri Adi Shankara taking birth as their son.
If the Lord’s name can be chanted at the moment of death, the Lord’s Sayujya can be obtained. But we postpone practising the chanting of the Lord’s name and spend time in useless talk. How will you remember the Lord at the time of death if you do not practise now?
नमः शिवाय मन्त्रोऽयं वागेषा वशवर्तिनी ।
अहो मोहस्य माहात्म्यं नरकं येन पश्यति ॥
The Lord’s name can be chanted very easily. Yet wonder of wonders! Moha (delusion) is so powerful that people fail to chant the Lord’s name and are going to end up in hell.
Hence if we chant the names of the Lord, and offer everything to the Lord, bondage will not arise. Bondage refers to taking repeated births for experiencing the results of our actions. As long as we take birth, we cannot escape suffering. Hence having taken birth, it is essential to offer everything to the Lord. Otherwise it results in bondage. This is what the Lord said in the Gita – यज्ञार्थात्कर्मणोऽन्यत्र लोकोऽयं कर्मबन्धनः । When the actions are offered to the Lord, it frees from bondage – शुभाशुभफलैरेवं मोक्ष्यसे कर्मबन्धनैः ।
Thus Sri Adi Shankara Bhagavatpada has explained these facts of the Gita in simple terms by expressing the attitude of the devotee in the aforementioned verse.
The Jagadguru said that the wish of the devotees of Tenkasi to construct a new Sringeri Shankara Math in Tenkasi was very appropriate and said that by the Sankalpa of the Lord, it will come true. The Jagadguru then blessed the gathering and ended the Anugraha Bhashanam.
On 12th May morning, the Jagadguru had Darshan of Karpaga Vinayakar in South Masi Street (Vazhvankudil Gramam) in Tenkasi. The Jagadguru then proceeded to the ancient temple of Sri Kasi Viswanathar at Tenkasi. The Jagadguru was received with Poornakumbha and had Darshan of Sri Kasi Viswanathar, Ulagamman (Loka Nayaki) and Balamurugan. The Jagadguru then had Darshan of Varasiddhi Vinayakar and Yajneshwara Vighneshwarar temple and returned to the New Street in Tenkasi where He gave Darshan and blessed devotees with Mantrakshata.
In the evening, the Jagadguru started for Kadayanallur and en route, had Darshan of Alarmelmanga Padmavati Sameta Venkatachalapathy temple, Nainaragaram.
