Titles
Titles
As in previous years, scholars from different fields of ancient Indian sciences and arts were honoured on the occasion of the birthday of Parama Poojya Sri Swamiji on 1st June, 1997. Sri Swamiji, seated on the decorated 'Oudumbara' throne, personally gave away the titles. The scholars were also blessed with gold medals, shawls, mala made of gem stones in addition to the cash awards.
| Veda Nidhi | Sri Rameshwara Avadhani Ghanapathi, Bangalore | |
| Nada Nidhi | Padmasri. Lalgudi G.Jayaraman (Violinist), Madras | |
| Shastra Nidhi | Sannidhanam Lakshminarayana Murthy Shastri, Tirupati | |
| Asthana Vidwan | Sri Madduri Venkateshwara Yaji, Vijayawada (Veda Pundit) | |
| Asthana Vidwan | Sri Gullapalli Venkata Narayana Ghanapathi, Machilipatnam (Veda Pundit) | |
| Asthana Vidwan | Sri R.Chandrashekharaiah, Mysore (Musician and Composer) | |
| Asthana Vidwan | Sri 'Bala Valmiki' U.Rama Murthy, Tamil Nadu for popularising Ramayanam | |
| Asthana Siddhanti | Sri. Telakapalli Venkataramana Siddhanti, Nandyala |
Titles awarded by Datta Peetham have recognition throughout India and therefore, the scholars consider it a privilege to be nominated for the awards.
Four
publications
were released immediately after the felicitation programme. They were :
| Title | Released by | |
| Advaita Vedanta |
Yoga Sadhane 'Asthana Vidvan' of Datta Peetham(Kannada) Sri.R.Chandrashekharaiah | |
| Austria vil Swamiji (Tamil) | 'Asthana Vidvan' of Datta Peetham Sri Bala Valmiki | |
| Sri Guru Panchashat (Sanskrit) | 'Shastra Nidhi' Sannidhanam Lakshminarayana Murthy Shastry | |
| Concept of Computer Technology Justice | Sri Prabha Shankar Mishrain Vedas and Shastras (Chief Justice, High Court, A.P.) |
After the release of various publications, Sri Swamiji gave the 'Birthday Message'.
"You
have all gathered here to witness my birthday. But I do not have a birth
day at all ! The day 'I' made a samkalpa itself is my birth day. In other
words, my birthday is the day on which the universe was created. It is something
which is beyond evidence. It has no date. Like creation, Pralaya too doesn't
have a date.
You say that this is the 55th birthday. 5+5 makes 10. Remove the zero and only 1 remains. Oneness. We are all trying to reach that 'oneness' (Ekatva). We are still in a stage we differentiate as 'I' and 'You'. Such differentiation should go. Only then our journey towards Ekatva will take us to the real end.
In order to reach that goal, we are following different means, different religions. But the purpose is the same - to reach the Almighty. There are innumerable varieties of sweet dishes. But the common factor is one - sugar. Because of different forms and shapes, they are called by different names.
A rich man may charter a plane. Others may travel by different means. One who can not afford to travel will sit and meditate and will visualise whatever is happening here. He will have reached here faster than everyone else. Those who are physically present here may, at one time or the other feel disappointed for Ë not being able to talk to Swamiji. One who has travelled in his meditation to reach here will not have such disappointments. Therefore, his happiness is more pure.
But, whenever it is possible, it is better to be present here physically. Because we have a physical body, we should use it as a medium to experience good things. Actually it is the mind which enjoys, not the body. It doesn't mean that experiencing in the meditational level is inferior of incomplete. In fact, some times, the physical experiences will never reach the soul. Such experiences are nothing but acts of deceit. Therefore, Yogis try to 'realise' all experiences. Just as a cow can eat tasteless fodder and still give milk, the Yogi can transform the materialistic experiences in to spiritual ones. Thus, a Yogi will achieve Atmananda even with the help of the so called physical experiences. But most of us eat nourishing food (exposure to good things) and still produce dirt.
Therefore, we must consume good food. We must speak good words. It is the tendency of human beings to find fault everywhere. The cause behind this tendency is that they themselves are full of faults. If the mind is flawless, the world also appears flawless. Therefore O ! Man ! Consume useful knowledge and acquire useful Mukti.
'Is there something called useless Mukti ?' one may ask. Yes. Ignorance itself is the useless mukti. Even nectar is of two types. One is with taste and the other is tasteless. The tasty ones cause disease. The tasteless nectar bestows immortality. It should be borne in mind that even venom can become amrita if your sankalpa is strong.
There was a king who was a great devotee of Mother Goddess. Once, a big army attacked his kingdom. Out of fear, he prayed the Mother Goddess. Parashakti appeared before him and blessed him with a sword. The king, instead of using that powerful sword, said 'O ! Mother, I can not fight'. Parashakti said, 'I will bless you with physical energy, go and fight'. The king still refused. Finally the Goddess said 'You are destined to die'. This is an example of turning nectar in to venom.
A good doctor will constantly study the condition of his patient and will modify the treatment accordingly. It does not mean that he is toying with his patient. The patient should display unflinching faith even though he himself is a doctor. Similarly you may be practising whatever you feel is right. But after you have found your Guru (or the Guru has found you), you should follow implicitly what the Guru says. The day on which this technique is taught is the real birthday. The day you meet your Guru is the real birthday. Cutting a cake or singing birthday songs does not make a birthday. Understand this hidden meaning of birthday and celebrate !
Jaya Guru Datta"
