Gudi Padwa Puja, Palam Vihar, Gurgaon (India), 13 April 2002. (Hindi)

[Translation from Hindi to English]

The festival of Gudi Padwa that we are celebrating today,is also celebrated in other parts of India, even in the South. Everywhere this festival is celebrated. The ‘Samvat’ calendar year that was started (By King Vikramaditya) and the calendar year started by Shalivahanas, both start on the same day. That day is today. All over the country this day (New Year) is celebrated. All the important dates in the year are fixed on that basis especially the festivals. We people (Indians) follow the lunar calendar whereas the westerners follow the sun calendar. That’s why their festival dates do not change. Here (in India ) every festival is based on the position of the moon. And that’s why the dates keep changing and the same festival falls on different dates, in different years. The reason why we give importance to the moon and keep all our dates according to its position, is that the moon has an influence on human beings. The sun does not. Along with the moon, other planets also have influence on us. That is why we follow the lunar calendar and fix our festivals accordingly. There is one festival however, where the date is as per position of the sun. When the sun starts its movement from southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere, that date is celebrated as a festival (Sankranti).

In our country the science of astrology is also based on the positions of the moon. In astrology also the positions of the moon are taken into consideration.  The first calendar that was made here which is called as Shalivahana Shaka is based on the movements of the moon. That is why all the festivals are based on the position of the moon. Those people who are not aware of our (Indian) system of dates will not be able to understand why our festivals fall on different dates, in different years.

Whatever it is, we must think as to why we give so much importance to the moon. The reason is that we should remain vigilant about the effects that the moon has on us. The biggest effect that the moon has on us is because our left side is based on it. Very few people know about it. This left side of the body which is recognised and accepted so much in our country, has psychological effects on us. Effects on the left side are psychological and not intellectual, and we cannot control it. Whatever psychological problems we have, cannot be controlled. We cannot control the effect of the moon on us. That’s why the position of the moon is seen and lunar dates are observed. For example if it is a no-moon night (Amavasya) or a full moon night (Poornima) then the problem of a person, having epilepsy or any other psychological problem, will aggravate further. One can immediately see very clearly that such a person has been affected by the full moon or no-moon. That’s why we are very much sensitive towards the position of moon and date of lunar month. In our country detailed calculations are done on this, to know about the exact timings and position of the eclipse, and when it will end.. All this shows that in our country a lot of care is taken about the positions of the moon on the of lunar calendar and so much has been discussed and written about it.

Now we live in these modern times, where the dates and festivals are based on the position of the sun. But this is not correct. We must see the position of the moon- what is its position today, what will it be tomorrow, how it will affect us today. This is a very deep subject about which we all must know and it should be discussed in our country.So this day is celebrated because it’s a new year day and also because the new moon appears on this day. Its is called Gudi Padwa. On this day they put up a small pitcher on a stick with a small flag. The pitcher represents the Kundalini.Shalivahana Kings were worshippers of the Goddess and it is said that they used to present a Shawl to the Goddess. They were also called as Satvahanas in the beginning, because they recognised the seven chakras (Satvahana means seven chakras). That’s why they were earlier called as Satvahana but later it changed to Shalivahana. But the symbol of Shalivahana used to be Gudi, means a flag, and above that a pitcher of a particular shape, which represented the Kundalini. They were worshippers of Kundalini. They recognised and worshipped Kundalini. 

That is the reason that they have made it like this,  and all those, who accepted it, also put up a ‘Gudi’ in their houses. You can say they put up a flag. They (Shalivahans) wanted to welcome Kundalini on this day and that is why Kundalini (in the form of pitcher) was exhibited specially on that day. But people do not know why it is done like that. They just go on doing things like that. At least they should ask, why it is done like this? What is this thing? Because they were Satvahana and accepted the seven chakras, they used to worship and protect the Kundalini, so they started their new year like this. They celebrated their new year in which there was a small pitcher and below that a flag , called Gudi, was attached. Here (in Delhi/North India) people do not know about it. But Samvat Year and Vikram year, both started from this day. It may be that the year in which they started was different, but the date that both started was the same, i.e. today’s date. Both recognised the same no-moon night. In this way this Gudi Padwa is observed by both. Not on no-moon night, but  on the first day of the new fortnight (Prathama). This is why there is no moon in the sky tonight, and it is completely dark.

But we must know why it is celebrated in our country and what is its importance. Unless and until we know about our country, we will not be able to have respect and love for it. There are a lot of very deep and important things about our country but we do not know about them.We just say it is Kaliyuga. Why is it a Kaliyuga? How it came about? What is the meaning of it? We do not know all this. We just hear a few things and start talking about it. There is a big story about this Kaliyuga which took place in the times of King Parikshit. Nobody knows about it and no one reads about it. We keep reading useless things. At the most we sometimes read Ramayana. But what is the message behind it? What are the scriptures , nobody knows. Sahaja yogis must know how our civilisation has evolved and how we have arrived to this present state. Without knowing all this we develop an understanding like the western world,which has no depth, and only gives us ego. It is better to understand from where we have acquired all these things within us and what is their importance. Why we celebrate all these festivals. Just because everybody else is doing this so we also do the same. This kind of attitude is not all right. We must understand what we are doing. I want that all Sahaja Yogis should understand the significance of all these.

If I had the time, I would have written all this for you. But I do not have time. You can read and know all about it. There are so many books about it in Hindi language in India. Nobody reads them. They are all available here in Delhi. I bought them in Delhi only. So we must know all about it. In the mythology, a lot of useful things are mentioned which once understood, will tell us what is the foundation of India. Why we Indians are considered the most superior human beings. Not from the social point of view but culturally we people are considered supreme.Secondly we also must know how we should be established in our religion, what is religion? All these things are mentioned in depth in all these books. I want that all of you should study this and it will give you a new direction. The foreign languages or foreign knowledge are all very superficial. I purchased a lot of books from Satya Sahitya (name of bookshop) It is a good shop and I bought a lot of books from there. It does not cost much. It is very cheap. But you need time to read all that. We keep reading useless things, watch useless movies, read useless news items. Our study should be in depth and in subjects which we have been having since ages.Today it is a very auspicious day. I was not feeling well but I thought on this auspicious occasion I must have the Puja.Eternal Blessings to all of you.