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Veda is the Greatest Guru Swami Gangeshwarananda Ji Maharaj, the world-famous scholar of the Vedas, visited our Ashram in Winterthur, Switzerland, in May 1975. Here is given the speech of Swami Gangeshwaranada Ji Maharj and also the speach of our beloved Gududeva Paramahamsa Swami Omkarananda Saraswati ji Maharaj. Speach of H.H. Swami Omkarananda Saraswati The Visit of Swami Gangeshvarananda from India in May 1975 – The Veda Veda Bhagavan, Veda Bhagavan, Veda Bhagavan paahi maam Veda Bhagavan, Veda Bhagavan, Veda Bhagavan raksha maam
The Veda is the eternal knowledge, the timeless, infinite, all-fulfilling and all-perfect knowledge. Veda is immanent in the inmost soul. Veda is resident in the whole cosmos. Veda is present everywhere. It reveals itself to the sages, it reveals itself to the saints, it reveals itself to those who are filled with devotion and grace of God. All the greatest scriptures of the world are tiny expressions of the Veda. The Veda itself is the Nada-Brahman. It is the Supreme Reality – in word-form, in the form of words. Word and God are one and the same, Truth and God are one and the same, Guru and God are one and the same. Christ and Truth are one and the same. Christ bears in himself the Veda. He is an embodiment of Veda. Veda is the supreme Knowledge, the supreme Light, the supreme Being. It is the greatest illuminator. It is a perpetual self-revelation. Veda purifies, uplifts, transforms, enlightens. Where the mantras are chanted, there is purity, prosperity, luminosity, grace of God, perfection of life, numberless insights into the divine Reality. Veda is the greatest illuminator. Veda is a living personality. Therefore our most adorable Mahamandaleshwara says, “Veda Bhagavan”. The Lord is resident in the Veda, reveals Himself through the Veda. Veda is identical with the Supreme Reality. There is nothing greater than Veda, nothing purer in knowledge than Veda, nothing [more] supreme in knowledge than Veda, nothing more powerful in all the world than Veda. It is everything. * Now, the Swami who is sitting before me is 95 years old, he has dedicated his whole life to the Veda, he has done miraculous works, he is in a way Veda in action. He is a personification of the Veda, a personality of the Veda. Now we will hear about him. * [A man who has come with Gangeshwarananda says:] “Harih Om Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya! — Oh Lord, lead me from darkness to Light. Mrityor ma amritam gamaya! — Lead me to the realisation of delight, from mortality to immortality... Dhaamnaasvena sadaa niras-tattvakam satyam param dhimahi — Let us worship and meditate upon that Truth of Light which dispels all doubts and darkness. My dear sisters and brothers on the path in the search of Divine Light! We have come from the animalhood, from the demonic condition to the manhood and now are on the path of the Divine. Danava Manava Deva, that is the meaning of this Divine Life Kendra. Today you are very very fortunate in having before you a person in whose eyes there is no light but who is self-illuminated. Here is a centenarian of 95 years, he lost the light of his eyes when he was just a child of five years. But before he lost his sight Bhagavan Sri Krishna had given him a vision and closed his eyes telling him, ‘Oh don’t look at the plight and all the difficulties of the human-kind, realise youself!’ He practised for 30 years, Vishnu Sahasranama, Shrimad Bhagavad Gita, then he practised the worship of Pancha-Maha-Devata, and then he studied and became a master of Yoga. At that age about 34 he was initiated by a very great man into the Sannyasa order which is considered to be the most sacred and pure in our Hindu - in our human philosophy. Complete renunciation – Udasina does not mean indifferent but detached from the world. He became the 182th Acharya of the Udasina Sampradaya which we hold to have started from Sanatkumara the Son of the Prime Creator of this universe. That is his life. Our holiness, Swamiji is perfectly right: Veda Purusha is pratyaksha, is in presence, person before you. He is the master of the Veda. Without going to school, without learning the alphabet he has mastered the Veda and he can cite any of the mantras. Do you know the volume of the Veda? There are four books, they contain more than 20,000 verses, spoken or sung by more than 400 great sages of whom over 25 were my sisters [i.e. women]. All that volume he has studied. 5000 years back a very great sage, Maharishi Vyasa – you have heard the name – compiled all these 20,000 verses, he collected them from different homes of the sages and put them in four sacred books; and assigned the task of perpetuating the memory and carrying and committing them to the present day, in different families. In India they preserved this heritage of 20,000 verses. Veda contains all sciences and arts of life, mathematics, astronomy, astrology, mineralogy, everything! Veda is considered to be the Vedokhilo-dharmulam - it is the fountain source of knowledge, wisdom, art and science. Veda contains Yajna. I was so delighted today. You see Bhagavan Veda said yajno vai bhuvanasya nahi, Yajna is the centre of the whole creation, and I am seeing here 24 years [continuous Yajna]. Maharshi Vyasa, 5000 years back he made those four sacred books, but now Vyasa in our mythology we consider to be immortal – of the [group of] seven persons who are considered not to be mortal Vyasa is one. He never dies. I should say that Vyasa has come before you in person, because our Gurudeva said, now that the world has become free, now that the world has become all irrespective of castes, communities, creeds, races, religions, countries, the world is one, sampurnam jagad-evananda-vanam – the world is just a good garden of so many flowers of humanity, now let this store of knowledge be given back to mankind. Because Vedas were inspired at a time when there were no religions, there were no divisions, no difference between humanity. There were [holy] people on the five continents, and our sages inspired the Vedas. Now what Vyasa did, collecting all the mantras together and then putting them into four sacred books, – our Gurudeva has put all those four sacred books into one big mammoth volume of one thousand pages, which has been presented to this our Ashrama the Divine Light Zentrum / Centre / Kendra. Centre is also Kendra, Sanskrit word. You have received the great heritage which mankind has inherited from the last ten thousand years. No man has left the shores of India in these last 2000 years for the distribution of knowledge and wisdom, no country has received any holy man. Before 2000 years India sent such great persons to all the quarters, but in the last 2000 years they did not go. And no country had received such a great saint, today. This our very great land – we are all related in language, in our ancestry, we lived together at one time. That is what philology tells us. We belong to the same roots. You have received the Veda from the hands of His Holiness Swami Gangeshwarananda, the 182nd Acharya. And the last word I will say: remember, as our Puja-Swamiji has said, Veda is the prime knowledge, supreme knowledge, perfect knowledge. It was for the preservation of this knowledge that in the Hindu mythology nine incarnations have taken place, – the God, the Almighty descended, the Divine descended upon this earth. As we say, in Jayadeva, Pralaya payodi jale dhrita vaanasi vedam vihita vahitra charitram akhedam jaya mina-rupa Jagadisha Hare Jagadisha Hare —from fish to the tortoise to the Varaha, Narasimha, right up to Buddha and Kalki who will come. All these Avataras, the Divine Beings descended – to: Vedanudharate jagan nivahate —to lift up the Veda so that mankind should go on the path of the Divine Life. With this introduction I sit down. And thank you, I am so delighted to see you in such a holy and sacred place. May you have the blessings of the great Veda and the Veda Purusha, Mahamandaleshwara.
[he arranged to have the German translation by Sundari done here in summary afterwards, not sentence by sentence] [Now the guest Swami speaks in Sanskrit/Hindi, see Titel 5 on the CD, for 1/2 hour:] Om ? utvata pitasinaha utavrato tanasaka seno jivatavekridi… oo aa ee da … comparative, superlative …
[Speech of a lady, reading from notes, parts as translation of Gangeshvarananda? >]
Revered Swamiji, Acharya Sri Krishnamurtiji, brothers and sisters, It is a matter of great pleasure and privilege for us to be in the Ashrama for Vedpratishtha, and I heartily congratulate Acharyaji on having brought us here. Actually in our programme we have to fly to Hamburg and Frankfurt, for presentation of the Vedas to the universities, but Veda Mata Gayatri drew us here to breathe the intoxicating Vedic atmosphere and to feel the divine touch of various Mantras. I have visited various Ashrams and Mandirs in India and abroad, but never have I experienced such a deep spiritual happiness combined with purity and simplicity. Swamiji’s Gurudev, Swami Shivanandaji, was a great friend of my Gurudev for over 40 years, and I was fortunate to have his Darshan in Rishikesh in 1954, when a Sarvadharma Samelan was arranged. He was a great scholar, a noted writer, and spiritual leader, who through the Divine Life Society publications had served both India and other foreign countries. Swami Omkaranandaji has dedicated his life to continue his Gurudev’s ideal mission of serving humanity through Vedic literature and culture. Working 22 hours a day is not an easy life. Selfless service to the world demands great personal sacrifice. Bhagavan Veda has chosen the most beautiful seat, where in the constant flow of Vedic Mantras, Omkar Anand is reflected. And his teenage sisters reciting Sri Suktas, Purush Suktas and Rudradhyaya Mantras, fluently in perfect original Sanskrit accents, is really remarkable and highly creditable. On behalf of Guru Gangeshwara Vedasthan and International Vedic Mission, I extend my hearty congratulations for the very spiritual activities and thank Swamji for giving us a cordial welcome and kind hospitality. I wish my teenagers, brothers and sisters, shatam…vena sharada a long life for both spiritual and material advancement, and to be the bright guiding stars of the Divine Light Centre.
[Speech by Mathur Krishnamurti:] I have translated the essence of what Swamiji (Gangeshwarananda) said. Swamiji explained in detail what the Vedas stand for and say. In the very word Veda we have got the Sun, the Vishnu, Shankara, Jaganmata, all these great Gods we find in the very word Veda. Va E means, Veda Mata Svarupa, Durgasvarupa is in the Veda. And also Ganapati, Vishnu and Bhagavan, they are all in the Vedas. Swamiji explained about the great Vedic literature, all that it contains. After I go there to the office I will record a summary of what Swamiji said.
Swamiji (Gangeshwarananda) particularly said, ‘I have visited many many places and established the Veda, today a big Vedic volume, but I have never had such an experience which I had here in the DLZ (Ashram). I had been there to 41 [the temple house], I heard the children reciting the Vedas, in India even the top class Brahmins cannot pronounce it so well, and here the children did it. I had one worry that I must spread this Veda Bhagavan, the book everywhere, now Swami Omkaranandaji has removed that worry – I am free from worry!’ ”
[Now Omkarananda again:]
[7,011] Now to be short the wonderful thing is we have before us a manifestation of God in the form of our most adorable 95 year-old Gangeshwaranandaji Maharaj.
Veda is understood by every heart of devotion. The grace of the Divine grants us insights into the meaning of the Vedas, even without having to read the Vedas. Vedas are timeless, they are eternal, they are part and parcel of infinite Reality. Even Sayana is criticised for his commentaries, the greatest commentator on Veda is much criticised. It is difficult for the greatest intelligence to understand the Veda. But the simple devotees understand the truths of the Veda, and express those truths in daily life. The most wonderful phenomenon of Veda is Swami Gangeshwaranandaji Maharaj. He is the manifestation of Veda, he is Veda in life. You have gained as much merit by looking at him as you would gain by reading the whole Veda. This is a grace. This is a great blessing, perhaps this is the result of your years of mantra-repetitions, perhaps also it is the result of many good actions that you have done life after life. You have not to go to India to see Veda in living personality, such a personality has come to you. You are blessed, treasure this blessing in the heart, increase your devotion to the Divine, continue your mantra repetitions, you will receive more of the Grace of the Divine – which is the same as the Grace of our Swami Gangeshwaranandaji Maharaj. He is a timeless Light, his eyes are closed but his divya chakshu, his divine vision is ever open. He is an all-witnessing Light, he is an all-knowing Presence, he is a manifestation of Vedavyasa. Adore him as such, your life will be more quickly purified, and you will acquire divine virtues, which are the basis for the attainment of Vedic revelations. Our adorations to him and may his Light remain in this body, in his body, for several more decades. He is not 95 years old but 95 years young, and may the Grace of the Divine flow through his personality. May the earth delight in bearing his feet upon its bosom. May we all offer our adorations to Vedapurusha for a long life, for our most adorable Mahamandaleshwara Swami Gangeshwaranandaji Maharaj. We will now recite the Mahamritjunjaya Mantra for the health and yet longer life of the wonderful personality. Om Tryambakam yajamahe…
[My deepest adorations to Swami Gangeshwaranandji Maharaj]. Where he is, there is Kashi, Kedarnath, Kalahasti, Chidambaram, Rameshwaram, all the holy places. God dwells in the holy personality. God we have not seen, but we have the grace to see holy men. By that we have delighted the heart of the Divine, and to see God now becomes very easy. Let us glorify the Divine, in all manner of ways, and above all seize every opportunity to adore the saints, the manifestations of God, the living expressions of God’s Love and Wisdom and Peace. Once again our heartfelt adorations to Mahamandaleshwara Swami Gangeshwaranandaji Maharaj. Now you repeat after me the mantra: Gangeshwarananda, Gangeshwarananda, Gangeshwarananda paahi maam Gangeshwarananda, Gangeshwarananda, Gangeshwarananda raksha maam
Now we glorify the Gangeshwarananda Sadguru, Jagadguru, Mahaguru, Devaguru, Manushya-guru, Guru everywhere. The Light, the timeless Light, the all-beneficent Light.
Guru-Brahma, Guru-Vishnu, Guru-Devo-Maheshvara.
All the Vedas are in one word Guru. |
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