Svāmi Omkārānanda's Lecture

Svāmi Omkārānanda

Recently I attended a lecture on the Gīta & Tirukkuraḷ by Svāmi Ōmkārānanda. It was quite an elevating experience. Before I go into the details of the lecture, a few words about Svāmiji. Svāmi Ōmkārānanda was born in a traditional vedic family. He learnt vēdās at a very early age. In his early twenties, greatly inspired by the teachings of Svāmi Vivekānanda, he joined Rāmakṛṣṇa Tapōvanam at Tirupparaiturai and was given Sanyāsa Dīksha by Svāmi Chidbhavānanda Maharāj in 1985.

He studied Vēdānta under Svāmi Paramārthānanda, disciple of Svāmi Dayānanda Sarasvati. On completion of his studies he founded the “Sri Svāmi Chidbhavānanda Ashramam” at Theni.

Sri Svāmiji has succeeded H.H. Sri Sri Sānthananda Svāmigaḷ of Sri Sri Judge Svāmigaḷ Adhiśtāṇam, popularly known as Sri Bhuvanēśvari Avadūta Vidyā Pīṭham, at Pudukōttai.

Svāmi Ōmkārānanda is an authority of the Vēdānta and is an erudite scholar of Sanskrit and Tamil. He quotes verses in Tamil and Sanskrit with remarkable accuracy and ease. He greatness lies in his ability to simplify even the most complex topics of Vēdānta. This, combined with his delicate sense of humour and wit make his lectures exceptional.

In the lecture, Svāmiji spoke about the Gīta and the Tirukkuraḷ – on the similarity of ideas & concepts contained in these 2 texts. The lecture itself was well –structured and was based on 3 key concepts –

1. “Definition” of God
2. Mode of worship and
3. The benefits that one would derive out of worship.

Svāmiji elaborated these concepts using references from the Tirukkural, Gīta, songs of Tāyumāṇavar, Bhārathiyār etc. Svāmiji defines God as the Absolute Being who has to be worshipped with total faith (as opposed to blind faith). He said that the result that the Bhaktā would derive is Self- confidence.

The lecture was interspersed with Svamigaḷ’s renowned wit and humour. For example he made a distinction between a Tattvam and Mahātattvam.

Tattvam – is when a concept is expounded by a speaker with understanding, but is not understood by the audience.

Mahātattvam – is when a concept is expounder by a speaker, but neither the speaker nor the audience understand it ☺

On the whole an enjoyable and thought provoking talk.