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BHAGAVADGEETA KINCHIDADHEETAA
GANGAA-JALA-LAVA-KANIKAA PEETAA
SAKRIDAPI YASYA MURARI-SAMARCHAA
TASYA YAMAH KIM KURUTE CARCAM (Verse 20)

Recitation of even a small portion of the Gita, taking even a small quantity of the sacred water from the Ganges, performing the pooja of Hari even once, can make one so sacred that Yama, the Lord of Death, will have nothing to say or ask any questions of such person.

Divyatma Swarupas! One of Shankara's disciples, by name of Ananda, gave us this particular verse. Ananda was dull-minded individual and hence was called Giri by his associates. Giri means a dull-minded individual. He became Anandagiri from then onwards. This dull-minded Anandagiri wanted to be with the guru and serve him. This was his only aim. Other students were so attentive that they could learn by heart their lessons and recite them to the guru the same evening. Anandagiri was so dull that he could not recite anything. He made up for this by spending all his time in the service of the guru. Because he was serving the guru at all times, he received extraordinary grace on one occasion and he was able to compose a set of verses called the Totaka verses. Thereafter, he was called Totaka. It was implied in these verses that an understanding of the essence of our scriptures would lead one to apprehend the Atma. The other disciples read many books, and each one of them converted their heads into a book. Anandagiri was serving the guru in such a way that he turned himself into a bee, which could go and take the very honey from inside the flower of the heart of the guru. Study divorced from practice does not make the mind steady. Totaka thought that it is better to know only that part of knowledge, which would lead him to immortality. That is why Anandagiri said, in this verse, that it is sufficient if you read the Bhagavadgita even once, which contains the essence of Indian Culture.

A person who is hungry need not go and eat all the different kinds of foods that are produced in the world. It is sufficient if he eats what is required to satisfy him and relieve his hunger. It is enough to take one verse out of the Bhagavadgita and understand the true meaning of it. It is in this context that Anandagiri said that taking a small quantity of the Ganges water is sufficient. When you are thirsty, it is enough if you take a small quantity of water to quench your thirst. You do not have to drink up the entire Ganges. In the same manner Totaka believed that that one ray of God's grace is quite enough for him to demonstrate to the world, the nature of the Atma. It is because of the fact that this disciple enjoyed such confidence of the guru, that Shankara established a peetha, seat of learning at Badrinath and put him in charge of that Peetha.

There were four principal disciples of Shankara. They were Padmapad, Suresh, Totaka and Ashtanaka. These four disciples were chosen by Shankara, and he put them in charge of the four peethas or the principal seats of learning all over the four corners of the country. Suresh had also another name and that was Mandana Misra. Shankara had several arguments with him on various religious matters. At the end of these arguments, Shankara came out victorious. Thereafter, Shankara gave him sanyasa to Mandana Misra as he was a family man. His wife was Ubhaya Bharati. Mandana Misra was a learned man, in all Shastras and Vedas and in truth he was a jnani, the embodiment of all knowledge.

Teaching is of two kinds. One method is to teach by mouth. This can be accomplished by imparting information and knowledge, which helps and not hinders to change the outlook, but it does not necessarily transform the listener. Precept and practice remain distinct.

The second method of teaching consists of the guru himself setting an example by his behavior and actions for the disciples to follow. This method is more effective. Shankara used to thoroughly examine the intent and meaning of the verses composed by the disciples before accepting them. Shankara called Anandagiri and asked him on how reading a small portion out of seven hundred verses could be sufficient to give all the understanding of the shastras. Anandagiri gave a very sweet and attractive reply. He said that the prospect of having to read 18 chapters and 700 verses from the beginning to the end would scare away all dull minded people and they would in that context not even make a beginning. On the other hand they are asked to read one verse only, they would do so and then develop a taste for the rest of it. Then they may read the other verses day after day. It is similar to our efforts to feed a small baby. When it begins to eat, we do not in the first instance give salty and spicy food all at one time. We give a little quantity soft and sweet food first, so that it will develop proper taste. Thereafter, the child will want to eat plate full of foods. Similarly, if dull-minded people are given the taste of Bhagvadgita through one verse, thereafter they will desire to read more.

Then Shankara enquired as to what he meant by saying that taking a small quantity of Ganges water would be sufficient. Anandagiri replied that the Ganges is a sacred river and is in the position of a mother to our country and it has been responsible for our reputation and status. It is known that it comes from the Vishnupada and even if a drop is taken in, it will do a lot of good. Not only this, the Ganges flows in the three possible worlds in three different names and with three different qualities. In heaven it flows with the name Mandakini. On earth it flows with the name Bhageerathi. In the (netherland) patala, it flows with the name Bhogavati. The three gunas, Sathwa, Thamas, and Rajas, are all contained in the river. In the same manner, in three possible divisions of time, past, present and future, the same river is flowing. These are the extraordinary qualities of Ganges. Shankara was not fully satisfied with the meaning given and further questioned him with a view to go deeper asking what he meant by speaking about the three worlds. How man experiences these three worlds? Anandagiri gave the reply that he who recognizes the Atma in all beings is the same, he who recognizes this oneness in the universe and derives peace from such knowledge, should be considered to be living in heaven or Swarga. On the other hand, the person who makes the distinction between insects, animals and birds on one hand and human beings on the other, and thinks that the human is distinctive and superior entity, will be in mrityaloka or the earth where all human beings live. He then went on to say that is individuals forget the sacredness of human nature and become animal, exhibit qualities like selfishness, greed and ignore the contents of our scriptures like Sahstras and Vedas, all such individuals will be living in patala or the lower world. Just as our body exhibits depressions and elevations our ideas also are high and low. The three gunas, namely Satwa; Thamo and Rajo, are present in every one and what comes up to a point of time will be decided by the circumstances. Life is a mixture of all these three gunas. When a man is happy and is in good circumstances, his ideas too will be of Sathwic type. On the other hand when something goes wrong, he is immediately excited and the Rajoguna shows up. When he has eaten heavily, he will slowly go to sleep and the Tamoguna appears. This way all the three gunas co-exist in the same body and a mixture of them comes up according to the circumstances. Similarly the heaven, the earth and the lower world are all present in one and the same individual and each one shows up in accordance with one's state of mind. The same has been divided into the believing, the non-believing and the believing and non-believing. It is better to be a non-believer than being a believing non-believer. In this verse it has been suggested that you should never ride two horses. If you do not know how to ride a horse it is better not to do so. It is most dangerous to ride two horses at one time. In man's mind, the Atma is flowing like a clear stream as water flows in river Ganges. Indian culture has been flowing through time like the river Ganges has been flowing in a clean and clear manner. It does not get contaminated, it remains everlasting and it flows permanently. That is how Indian culture is in many respects like the Ganges. The verses that have been handed over to us by Shankara in the form of Bhaja Govindam are in the sense that there is no selfishness of any kind in them. The river Ganges, when it flows, does not make any attempt to enjoy the sweetness of its own water. The fruit tree, when it gives fruits, never enjoys, itself the taste of its fruits. Likewise in the same manner, all the great saints like Shakara have given all their strength and wisdom for the benefit of other. They never utilized it for their own benefit.

In the third line of the verse, Anandagiri said that if you perform the Vishnu pooja even once, you will attain a status where even Yama or the Lord of death cannot question you. Vishnu here means the omnipresence, and if you understand the significance of omnipresence even once, Yama cannot question you. The word Vishnu here does not refer to one bearing the insignia of Shankha, Chakra, Gada and Padma. Vishnu here stands for omnipresence, and has no particular form. The bliss we experience when we think of God is the aspect of Vishnu.

Although the sweets we prepare and eat have many different forms and names, the fact is that all of them contain one common thing and that is sugar. Just as we realize this truth, dear students, we must also realize that in this world, while there are so many individuals with different forms and names, the one common thing that is present in all of them is the Vishnutatwa or the omnipresent Atma. This realization will enable you to develop love for the entire humanity. It is necessary for every individual to recognize the presence of the Atma in everyone. You should realize this by your own effort or by listening to what elders tell you or by having darshan, sparsha and sambhashan that is by seeing, touching and hearing great people.

In another verse Anandagiri said, that we think so much about our families, our relations, our children and our grandchildren. We spend so much time and effort in thinking about the wealth that we have to amass, the methods by which to preserve this wealth and so on. If only we could spend a thousandth part of this time and effort in thinking about Krishna, the Nandanadan and in surrendering ourselves at his feet, all fears will go. Even the most fearful of all aspects, the aspect of death, will not bother those who develop this kind of thinking. They will live in happiness and bliss in this world. In this Kali Yuga, there are many people who do not realize the value of time. They spend so much time in fulfilling their worldly desires that they have very little time left to do good things. They are willing to spend days, weeks and even months on satisfying some foolish desire of theirs, but they say that they have no time for good things. If someone asks you to participate in satsang for half an hour or do abhishekam to a saligram with little water you say you have no time. Your misfortune is you do not hesitate to spend several hours in a club or use gallons of water cleaning a buffalo or some such animal. For good things you have neither time not energy. Man is not able to determine what is wrong and what is right. This is the reason why we have landed ourselves in this mess. Therefore, we must make sincere attempt to distinguish truth from untruth. We must realize the omnipresence of God. This will make our life happy and purposeful.

You must use your education for the purpose of developing faith in God and respect for your parents. Your life should rest on morality and truth. Your life may or may not go on well but you must base it on correct foundations. Money comes and goes but morality comes and grows. It is, a matter of great satisfaction if you are educated on the right lines, become an example to others and accept positions of responsibility. In all these things, always keep your heart straight and clear. Anandagiri an uneducated and foolish person became great scholar and could be the head of the seat of learning in Badri, just because he won the grace of his Guru and the Grace of God.