(rendered into English by Dr. Sista Shanta)
(Continued from the Previous Issue)
Mother! Oh my Mother!
In the early days three of us used to visit Mother frequently. We used to be addressed as ‘Raju trio’. One was Gangaraju Venkateswarlu the other was Gangaraju Srihari Rao. The third was myself – Mannava Buchiraju Sarma. Sri Venkateswarulu was a singer and a stage actor. He used to sing very melodiously “Apaduddharaka Ashtakam” Written by Bapatla Venkata Rao (Hundred verses that protect one from trials and tribulations). Once he said to me “You have been composing songs about your experiences with Mother and the essence of her philosophy. They are nice. Compose songs in the raga Kalyani and Bhairavi so that they could be sung during the worship of Mother”. He is the master of ragas (tunes) and I know nothing about music. During my childhood I heard my mother playing on the Harmonium and singing. So I did hear music and because of regular listening I could remember some tunes. On 28-5-1957 I composed my seventeenth song ‘Mother! Oh My Mother’ in the raag Bhairavi.
I always took refuge at your feet
Because you give protection to all those
who surrender to you
You are Goddess Bhuvaneswari who rules the earth
My responsibility is yours Oh Goddess Bhairavi
I wrote this song in the age-old Vedic traditional way with great devotion and the feeling of total surrender.
In this context one must remember one thing. “Everything is being done by divine power. “This is one message of Mother. Everyone should believe in the existence of God. When an individual stands in the witness box of a court or takes on the responsibility of a new post in the office, one must take an oath either in the name of God or oneself as a witness (Bhagavad saakshi or Atma saakshi). There is an important difference between a believer and a non-believer. The believer feels that there is someone who will support him in his difficulties and so lives like a free bird fearlessly. He considers the difficulties also as part of the grace of God and maintains equilibrium without being disturbed by troubles. This helps in maintaining physical as well as mental health. A little illustration to clarify this point. Two children after playing for some time get into a fight. The stronger of the two beats the other. That child as he cannot strike back says. “I shall tell my mother, I shall tell my father and see that you are beaten”. Whether the first child gets punished or not, the child who is a weakling has the backing of infinite power, support and strength. That power when it manifests itself as a human being as Mother, we wrap around her legs as she is the embodiment of love and affection. We experience bliss in her touch and go into ecstasy. About an atheist when he is happy – he thinks that happiness is achieved through his self effort and when he is grief stricken he blames himself. He does not maintain a balanced state of mind. Therefore Veda Vyasa said
Sakala bhuvana madhye nirdhanta step dhaayaha
Nivasati hridi yeshaam Sreehareer bhakti rekaaha
meaning he who has intense devotion towards Sri Hari, though a pauper, is truly a blessed one. In other words the blessed one is not he who has immense wealth but the one with deep faith in God.