ॐ नमो भगवते रामकृष्णाय कल्पतरवे

ll ॐ नमो भगवते रामकृष्णाय कल्पतरवे ll 

​

धर्म-हानि-हारकन्त्वधर्म-कर्म-वारकम् ,

लोक-धर्म-चारणञ्च   सर्व-धर्म-कोविदम् l

त्यागि-गेहि-सेव्य-नित्य-पावनाङ्घ्रि-पङ्कजम् ,

तन्नमामि   देव-देव-रामकृष्णमीश्वरम् ll

Dear Bhaktas,

If one were to seek from the Lord one's wish, which would have a guaranteed fulfilment, what would one choose? Actually, it is a boon we are talking about!

We would, of course, first want to be sure that it would be fulfilled, for it is too good a proposition, and thus, hard to be so sure of these days!

Which wish must take precedence over the others crowding up, would be difficult to say. I would have chosen something yesterday, which I would not do today, but would ask for something different now in the light of my present understanding! And I can scarcely predict what I would ask in future, may be, feeling also that I had asked for something not so worthwhile previously!

Does my mind clearly know what is the most prudent thing to ask? Perceptions seems to change , complicating  matters! Can I seek help and guidance in asking, or is desire more personal and individual, than can be generalized?

Bhagavan Himself declares something interesting, in the Geeta : 'I am desire itself, but that which is unopposed to Dharma.'धर्माविरुद्धो भूतेषु कामोsस्मि  भरतर्षभ !'

​Sri Ramakrishna came to establish and uphold dharma, not allowing it to slide down..., teaching jivas to desist from actions that are not in consonance with dharma. He set a personal example to the 'Dharmis' in order that there is never a compromise. Like Rama is celebrated as 'विग्रहवान् धर्मः ' (embodied dharma itself), in this Kaliyuga Sri Ramakrishna was the same, against odds!! Such amazing dharmanishtha, "if I dance sixteen steps, you will at least dance one!" he would say to all; Swamiji called him  'सर्व-धर्म-स्वरूपिन् ' in salutation.

If such is the Kalpataru, what should we be asking Him for? Well, we have the famous incident from the life of Swamiji, wherein Sri Ramakrishna sends him to ask from Mother Kali whatever he desired, and the Kali 'Kalpataru' would fulfill the same without a shade of doubt. We know how impossible it turned out for Swamiji to beg for anything material and menial, and that he could only ask for Jnana, Vairagya and Shuddha Bhakti - in the three attempts encountering the benevolent Divine Mother, even in dire penury. He set the standard, the ideal, of what should be sought from the Lord. You can not be as foolish as to ask for a brinjal when you meet the King, was Thakurji's point!!

So then, from Kalpataru Thakurji, should we ask for Jnana-Bhakti-Vairagya? Today, for most of us, they are not more than unassimilated words, with unclear meaning, and even really not something which is our heartfelt-need. Do we actually want them? What do we do then, if we are not to ask what we really want and are not sure we honestly want what should be asked for? 

Why not do something honest and sensible, by following what our most benevolent Rishis taught us... that most relevant of all possible prayers - the gift of Rishi Vishwamitra to humanity:

O Lord, धियो  नः प्रचोदयात् ! May you illumine our intellects, so that we can think correctly. Endowed with right thinking, we may even know what to ask of you. You - who are all-knowledge, all-power and is all-pervading!

हे कल्पतरो, श्री राम-कृष्ण भगवन् , नो धियः प्रचोदयताम् !!

​So sings the lone Kite perched on the Shikhara of Sri Thakurji's temple, on Kalpataru day.... yes the Kite we call mind!!

-- 

Swami Sheshadri

llॐ श्री मात्रे नमः ll Jagatkaarani Maa

llॐ श्री मात्रे नमः ll

ll ॐ नमो भगवते रामकृष्णाय ll

​Dear Devotees,

The face of Divinity and Innocence, Love and Simplicity, Purity and Compassion is but one - that of the Mother!

Where she is, there you are secure as a being, there you rest assured in peace, there you are enveloped in a causeless love... the raison d'être for life itself!

The Mother, whom we owe our existence to, of whom we are born even as whatever is born or manifest, is also Jaganmata, 'Jagatkarani'....

She is the cause of the Universe, She is the Upadana Karanam, the very material and fabric of this Jagat, and is really what you see as the Jagat itself in perception - non-different from Her - Shakti! The Jagat does not exist independent of Her. She is the Mother, in way impossible of even complete comprehension !

She smiles as the flowers, sways as the branches, stands erect as the Shrine​'s shikhara, and is the clarity of the sky! Inside and outside, Prakrti  (nature), is Her - all Matter is Her - as a matter of fact!

​She is the Dharma making whatever essentially itself. It is remarkable, that the offspring itself is nothing but the Mother, existing in Her alone - it is not just 'any Mother' - She is The Mother!

​Knowing Mother as what we are made of, does make a great deal of difference, the Mother abides in us as the cause, never away from us. And what a glory unfolds when that Shakti incarnates as condensed compassion - Sri Sri Ma - compassion without cause or limit!!

​As Guru Maharaj, She teaches Jivas, how to relate to Her. An abiding relationship, where the child can demand nourishment through knowledge.

May this Jayanti day be an Ode to Her, our dearest Maa...

​

-- 

Swami Sheshadri

Mother-Son

ll ॐ नमो भगवते रामकृष्णाय ll नमो कालिकायै ll

Dear Bhaktas,

Son and the Mother; Mother and Son; Mother is Son; Son is Mother!

Shyama, the Mother and Shyama-lal, the son. The Dark one,  is sung of in songs that send one to raptures, for they were sung to their beloved Mother by Her beloved sons...

​

निबिडो आन्धरे मा तोरो चमोके ओ रूपो राशी ..

ताहि जोगी ध्यैन धोरे होये  गिरि-गुहा-बाशी ...

 Yet, when Ramprosad sang this, he was 'lost' in the Mother. Deeper one's devotion gets, lesser one's identity expresses apart, and, greater is one's identity with the whole, that is the Lord! Ramprosad, Kamalakanto, Daasharathi....all merge into that one limitless Kali, enraptured....

​

In Sri Ramakrishna, where Ramprasad, Kamalakanto, Dasharathi, Sri Chaitanya all expressed and merged, one sees it all vividly, as if He were a screen set up by the Mother Herself... to reveal Herself!

​

In a devotional mood, one can indeed worship one's Ishta, even perform a Pooja in detail, with all the Upacharas, with, of course the awareness that one is worshiping the Divine Mother, even to one's heart's content, and feel the joy, the Ananda. Son and Mother, Mother and Son.

 What if the Mother becomes the Son and Son the Mother, in enraptured identity? Can we say who fed whom in that finale of worship? We have heard that, and a mesmerised Mathur Babu knew immediately that the question is difficult to answer, if it was his Baba (Sri Ramakrishna) who sat on the worshipper's seat when it began. Did Kali come to be Him, the Son, or did He become Bavatarini, the Mother? Who ate? The one who eats up all Brahmandas, having given birth to them?

When Kali Pooja was done, Sri Ramakrishna watched it from His lotus seat...

​

Or was it Kali who watched Her beloved son for hours, amidst the ongoing Pooja....and enrapturing Kali Keertan?

​We watched as they watched each other... this Amavasya night on this 'Jnana-deepawali'....

One is now amused to note that He had a son by name Abhedananda, who was also called Kali, and who also sang aloud...

प्रकृतिं परमां अभयां वरदाम् ..... to tell us the secret??

Say Ma, who are you, and why do you sport a beard sometimes?

-- 

Swami Sheshadri

Guru Poornima : Salutations to Sri Guru Maharaj!

ll ॐ नमो भगवते रामकृष्णाय गुरु-मूर्त्तये   ll

Dear Mumukshus,

He is called variously -  Sri Ramakrishna, Thakurji, Paramahamsa, Ramakrishnadeva, Avataravarishtha, Sarvadevadeviswaroopa, Ishtadeva and so on....each Bhakta at his/her own terms! 

He listens to all calls, whatever be the reason far calling upon be! "चतुर्विधा भजन्ते माम् " says Bhagavan Sri Krshna in the Geeta. When called upon, He comes to the aid of the one in distress ( आर्तः), grants material welfare to those who perceive its lack (अर्थार्थी ), and much more!

​

We wonder which of His names is more sweet than the other! What would He Himself like to hear, if there were entertained, such a choice and thought?

Tulasidasji adored Sri Rama and we have his 'Manas', the sweet and deep gift. He also prayed to Sri Hanuman, Rama's inseparable servant. In his 'Hanuman Chaleesa' he prays for the grace of Rama-dasa Sri Hanuman thus, "कृपा करहुं " but in his infinite wisdom, adds just how that grace be bestowed, "गुरुदेव कि नाईं " even as my Guru!!". He is so clear - bless me as my Guru, so that I may behold the Lord, the truth of myself, as you yourself do, and for which you are hailed as 'ज्ञानिनां अग्रगण्यम्' (the best among Jnanis). 

He has sung of Hanuman in the Sundara Kanda  'जिमि अमोघ रघुपति कर बाना , एंहि भांति चलेउ हनुमाना ' - Hanuman proceeded to find Sitadevi, even as the unfailing arrow shot from the hands of Sri Rama himself. Complete surrender unto Bhagavan Sri Rama and dissolution of his individual ego into Rama is implied. Rama alone guides his intellect, the aim is Rama's sankalpa, the force and direction of the arrow is all Rama's - Rama fills him - he knows Rama as his truth!

If one has a Spiritual Teacher, one will know, says the Shruti, " आचार्यवान् पुरुषो वेद ". Tulasi knew this so well!

Above all, hence, Sri Swami Vivekananda and the Parshadas all hailed Him as "Sri Guru Maharaj". Wasn't His entire life, a guide to seekers? His entire utterances 'Ishvara prapti upaaya'? 'Yoga Sahaaya' , is hence, another great name Swamiji used for Him in the Aratrikam.

Here is a prescription, a life of no compromises, if one is a Mumukshu. A staunch advocate of Teevra Mumukshuttva, we have seen 'अतिनिन्दित इन्द्रिय राग', 'त्यागीश्वरत्त्व ', the repeated refrain of 'काम-काञ्चन त्याग'  etc., in short, His only concern was to make one an 'उत्तम अधिकारी ' for Brahma Vidya.

Above all roles we see Him in, it is His role as an unfailing Guide to Ishvara that He Himself loved most!

Let us then, on this Guru Poornima celebrate Him as the Guide - Guru, the Lord Himself, descended upon earth, out of extreme compassion, as Guru!!

For, isn't the greatest compassion needed for solving the fundamental cause of all problems and freeing a Jeeva - Moksha, rather than solving every other problem and keeping one in Samsara for more?

​

Salutations to the compassionate Guru !

जय श्री गुरु महाराज जी की - जय !!

-- 

Swami Sheshadri