The devotee, the Guru and the Lord

Om Sathguru Sri Seshadri Swamigal Thiruvadikkae

“To meet the Lord is easy, to discover His lover is difficult.”

This is not a truism, but a truth. When the soul proceeds with implicit faith in the Guru, – this automatically happens when the Guru shows to the devotee His real form, – then it reaches Home and merges itself in Divinity. Everything it sees there is its own. It dances in ecstasy when it sees its Lord. On one side stands the Guru and on the other it witnesses the Lord in full effulgence. In a dilemma it finds itself -

“On whose feet should I fall,

now that I see both the Lord and the Teacher before me?

All obeisance to the Guru,

who made me reach the Lord!”

 

And it falls on the feet of its Guru, unable to understand its own action and decision. The Lord smiles and clasps the soul to His bosom. It feels the warmth of the embrace. It revives from its slumber and tastes of the eternal life. This is life immortal which it now gets. The way is through the Guru, who imparts the knowledge of the ‘Sabda’. There is no other way in this age of Kali.

Prepare for His arrival; for, sooner or later, He is bound to come. You are to be equipped, not with the riches and the wealth of the world, but with a poor man’s heart, a heart that will burst forth into tears of joy at His Name, and in which the waves of love constantly rise, leaving no space for any other love besides that for the Holy One -

Narrow is the lane of love: it cannot contain two;

When enters the Lord, I cease to be:

where I am, the Lord enters not.

 

When this stage is reached, it is the stage of complete absorption in Him.

 

(Excerpts from The Story of Meera Bai, Gita Press

– The Doctrine of Shabda)

 

The devotee and his Guru

Om Sathguru Sri Seshadri Swamigal Thiruvadikkae

….Without ‘NAMA’, Meera incessantly repeated, you cannot reach Him. It is, in fact, the realization by man of his Divinity. But this, she repeated, could be possible only through the help of the GURU. And the Guru will come only when the aspirant lies ill, crying for beatific vision. He gives us the gift of the ‘NAMA’, and the path becomes accesible to the recipient.

I obtained the gift of “Nama”:

The Sathguru bestowed the invaluable article,

And by His kindness made me His own.

The love for the Guru must be unadulterated, unselfish and spontaneous. The Guru is He who will open the gate that guards the entrance to the Divine Throne. There must be implicit faith in Him. An honest heart wins Him over. How tenderly Meera loved her Guru and with what tenacity, is depicted in her beautiful lines, full of pathos and music and brimming with genuine feelings of affection and respect for the Teacher -

My mind cherishes the love of the Guru’s Feet

I like nothing but Them:

the world to me is but a dream.

The Ocean of metempsychosis is dried up for me:

no anxiety to cross it ails me.

My Lord is Giridhara Naagara:

My eyes have turned inward to obtain His vision.

How many are those honest people that have the stern faith and hope in the Teacher? It is very nice to sit philosophizing that the world is a dream. The Guru will open the devotee’s eyes and show him the hypocrisy of the world and its transient nature. Only then would the devotee turn his back from the world and realize that this was a dream! This hollowness will be shown to him as a stern reality as God was shown to Vivekananda by His Guru Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.

 

(Excerpts from The Story of Meera Bai, Gita Press – The Doctrine of Shabda)

How would Thy know the greatness of Thy name!

Om Sathguru Sri Seshadri Swamigal Thiruvadikkae

Our Beloved Guruji, His Holiness, His Grace, RajaRishi, Sathguru Sri Rajalinga Swamigal has been an epitome of Divine Love, Compassion and Sacrifice.

A Holy Saint, a Siddhapurusha, a Sathpurusha, a RajaRishi, our Guruji has been the Divine Incarnation of our Lord Sri SeshaNatha.

What has He lived for that He could speak of…except us and Mahaan…

Guruji has once said, (in His own words,) “To me, SeshaBhaktha Samaajam, and Sesha are the same…”

Avathar Sri Seshadri Bhaktha Samaajam pays homage to His Holiness, and dedicates this beautiful Abhang of Sant Tukaram at Guruji’s Lotus Feet…

Guruji is the flower whose fragrance, only we (His Samaajam) can realize. Not Him. What would He know of His Greatness?

 

Please listen to “Kamodini Kaya Jaane”

कमोदिनी काय् जाणॆ तो

परिमळ भ्रमर सकळ भॊगित सॆ

Kamodini kaaya jaaNe to

parimaLa Bhramara sakaLa bhogita se

It is the bee that appreciates the fragrance,

not the flower

कैसें तुज ठावॆं

नाही तुझॆं नाम्

आम्हीच तॆं प्रॆमसुख जाणॊं

kaise tuja ThaavEM

naahIM tujhEM nAm

AmhIcha tE premasukha jANOM

How would your realize the greatness of Thy name!

It is only us, who experience Your Loving Grace, know it….

मातॆ तृण बाळा

दुधाचि तॆ गॊडी

ज्याचि न यॆ जॊडी

त्यासी कामा

maatE truNa baaLaa

dudhaachI te gODI

jyaachi na ye jODI

thyaasI kaamaa

A cow eats grass and nourishes its calf with milk.

The one who possesses does not use it…!

तुका म्हणॆ मुक्ता फ़ळ

शिंपीपॊटीं

नाही त्याचि भॆटी भॊगती यॆ

tukaa mhaNe muktaa faLa

shiMpIpOTIM

naahIM tyaachi bheTI bhogathi ye

Tuka says, the shell does not need the pearl inside it.

it exists only for the enjoyment of others…!

 

சேஷ மஹானுக்கும், குருஜிக்கும்,

Om Sathguru Sri Seshadri Swamigal Thiruvadikkae

சேஷ மஹானுக்கும், குருஜிக்கும்,

தங்கள் கருணை என் மனச்சோர்வை போக்கியதே, ஸ்வாமி! தங்களின் ஆசீர்வாதம், ஹர்ஷாவை காப்பாற்றிக்கொண்டிருக்கும்போது,

நான் இனி கவலைப் பட மாட்டேன், ஸ்வாமி.

“கஷ்டத்தில் இருக்கும்போது,

கவலையின் அந்த ஒரு க்ஷணம், கஷ்டத்தை நினைக்காமல்,

முழுமையாய், உன் நினைவில் இருந்தால் மட்டும் போதுமே, ஜகத்குருவே!

- கவலையெல்லாம், கறைந்துவிடுமே, என் பரம்பொருளே!

நம்பிக்கை இருந்தால், கவலையேது?

உன் சரணாகதி அடைய எனக்கு அருள்புரிவாய், பேரொளியே!

சேஷ நாதா! குரு நாதா! என் தவருகளை மனித்துவிடுங்கள் ஸ்வாமி….”

- உன் பாத சேவை செய்ய விரும்பும் பக்தை,

வைஷ்ன்வி

24^th. December, 2009

Bangalore

Our Salutations to our Highly Revered Swamiji

Om Sathguru Sri Seshadri Swamigal Thiruvadikkae

Salutations to our Highly Revered Swamiji

There is no match for the yeoman service rendered by you.

Untiringly, you have translated all our experiences and offered

them as Priceless Gift to Sesha Bhaktha Sangam

and have made us revel in Blissful State.

Our heartfelt Gratitute to you, our Guru and Saviour.

We thank Thee in Absolute Faith, Mahan Seshadri Swamigal

for blessing us with the Person of our Dear Swamiji.

Om Sathguru Sri Seshadri Swamigal Thiruvadikkae!

To the Extent possible we will endeavour to write in Tamil and

experience the Ecstasy of Divinity!

Written with utter enjoyment of being in Mahaan’s Service,

Rajagopal Mahadevan, Mumbai