“He is a living legend”, observed Smt. Prarthna Saran, president of Chinmaya Mission, New Delhi, while inaugurating H.H. Swami Brahmananda’s seven-day discourses on “The Song Celestial” on 29 October at Chinmaya Mission. Swamiji’s visit to Delhi, made possible due to the endearing persistence of Swamini Gurupriyananda and Swami Prakarshananda, was a divine outpouring of knowledge and devotion.
The text was Sri Ramana Maharshi’s invaluable Gita Saar, in which the Sage had selected 42 verses representing the very essence of the Bhagavad Gita. Commencing the talks with one or two of his famous, melodious bhajans, Swami Brahmananda explained the three terms, jiva, jagat and Ishwara. “Both jiva and jagat are creations of a disturbed mind,” he asserted. “Quieten the mind, go behind the intellect and you will be with Bhagavan!” Every evening’s discourse, delivered in a packed hall, was profound and reflective wherein Swamiji exhorted the audience, again and again, to see the unreal nature of the outer world; to withdraw within; to be aware of the six enemies of the mind; to approach a teacher, listen attentively and reflect on the teachings. “The Guru alone”, said Swamiji, “removes the jiva bhava of the seeker and introduces him to
him Self.”
Describing the lectures, a regular attendee said, “They were totally blissful.” Swamiji interspersed the talks with shlokas from the Upanishads, Bhaja Govindam, and other scriptures and took the listeners to the heights of meditation with his concise, thought-provoking and penetrating words: “Bondage is in your own mind and intellect. If you go and question bondage, you will realize you were never bound!” Indeed, as an absorbed, elderly devotee stated, “For me, it was not a transference of knowledge; it was a transmission of vision.”
