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Part 1: A Devotee's Recollections: Bhakti in Action Gurujī, it is a long night, and we have all been sitting for quite a few hours. This is the beginning of the first story. I was in Gurujī's sevā for a while. The first day I was with him—I apologize if you have heard this before, but many have not, so they can have their chance—the first day I went to Gurujī's sevā, we also had Gaṇeś Rājī with us. He was actually doing all the running here and there. I was just sitting and sitting and sitting from morning till evening, and I never ever felt such a pain in my knees. I thought it would be better to chop them off than to actually have to experience them anymore. At one stage, Gurujī got up to go to the toilet, and I was overjoyed because I could stand up. Then he came back far too quickly. That was my introduction to Gurujī's sevā. It was fantastic. I very quickly learned how to sit, and sit, and sit. Then after some time, when I got to do his sevā, like to run, that was a different thing, and a different training altogether. I wanted to start by singing one prayer. It is special to me just because of Gurujī, and it is related to Dīvālī, the day of Mahāprabhujī's birthday. There was one Dīvālī, and Gurujī was very sick, and he was in Jadān. He was sick to the point where, at one stage in the morning, he actually collapsed on the floor and was basically unconscious. I called... I didn't know what to do. There was no one else there at Dīvālī in Jadān, hardly anybody. The only place I could call was the kitchen, where Premdās, who you all know, was, and he came running up, and we managed to get Gurujī back up and sitting. Anyhow, in the evening, Gurujī was still really, really sick, and it came to prayer time. And much to my dismay, because I was really worried about how he was, he just got up for prayer, and he started singing this bhajan, or prayer, or whatever it is. I spent the whole time behind him, ready to catch him. As the topic of the lecture was supposed to be bhakti, and it is Gurujī's birthday, I don't think there is any greater example of bhakti than Gurujī was or is. For me, there is no greater example than that of what he was prepared to do, just because it was Mahāprabhujī's birthday and he wanted to sing a prayer to Mahāprabhujī. So I am going to sing it. I hope I manage. I get quite emotional when I sing this, so bear with me. Om Bole Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān Kī Jai, Śrī Śrī Devapurīṣī Mahādeva Kī Jai, Dharma Samrāṭ Paramahaṁsa Śrī Svāmī Madhavānanda Purī Jī Mahārāj Kī Jai, Viśvaguru Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Paramahaṁsa Śrī Svāmī Maheśvarānanda Purī Jī, Satguru Dev Kī Jai. In this book, it is on page 125 if you have it. Jaya Gurudeva Parabrahma Dīna Bandhu Vandana Paranamāśa Caraṇārjanita Śiṣyadhāre Sarvatīrtha Sananāsa Prabhu Sarvatīrtha Sananāsa Dharma Hita Avatāra Līno Bhakta Jana Uddhāra Prabhu Bhakta Jana Uddhāra Dhūpata Bhava Sindhu Mahi Haṁsa Vane Uddhāra Prabhu Haṁsa Vane Uddhāra. Jaya Gurudeva Parabrahma Dīna Bandhu Vandana Parāṇamāsa Prabhu Vandana Parāṇamāsa Caraṇarāja Nitya Śiṣya Dhare Sarve Tīrta Sananāsah Prabhu Sarve Tīrta Sananāsah Jaha Jale Jagamahi Āye Jīvana Ko Par Uthārasa Prabhu Jīvana Ko Par Uthārasa Svarūpa Ko Sattva Bhāva Anubhava Paras Diyā Dī Dārasa Prabhu Paras Diyā Dī Dārasa Jaya Gurudeva Parabrahma Dīna Bandhu Vandana Paranamāsa Prabhu Vandana Paranamāsa Charanarāja Nitya Śiṣyadāde Sarvathirata Sananāsa Prabhu, Sarvathirata Sananāsa Videhī Jīvana Mukta Kina Pāvīā Sudharśa Prabhu, Pāvīā Sudharśa Achala Pada Bhakṣiṣ Kino Dhanya Ho Pada Darśana Prabhu, Dhanya Ho Pada Darśana. Jaya Gurudeva Parabrahma Jina Bandhu Vandana Paranamasa Prabhu Vandana Paranamasa Charanaraja Nitya Shishyadhare Sarve Tirthasananasa Prabhu Sarve Tirthasananasa Arj Swamiji Pahari Sunalijiye Hazurasa Prabhu Sunalijiye Hazurasa. Āpa Jaisā Senā Dhātaṭino Lokam Nahe Hovesa Prabhī Ṭinom Lokam Nahovesa Jayā Gurudeva Parabrahma Dīna Bandhu Vandana Paranamāsa Prabhu Vandana Paranamāsa Charaṇarāja Nitya Śiṣyadhāre Sarve Tīrtha Sananāsa Prabhu Sarve Tīrtha Sananāsa Om Bole Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇ Bhagvāne Kī Jai, Śrī Śrī Dev Puruṣa Mahādeva Kī Jai, Dharma Samrāṭ Paramahaṁsī Svāmī Madhavānand Purī Jī Mahārāj Kī Jai, Viśvaguru Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Paramahaṁsī Svāmī Maheśvarānand Purī Jī, Satguru Deva Kī Jai Gurujī. It is just so special to think about him, and the fact that all of us, or most of us, got a chance to be with him at some stage or other. He was always ready for giving satsaṅg, every minute of every day, every minute—not every day, every night also, which sometimes could be quite tough if you were in his sevā, because there was no stopping. There were so many amazing experiences with him, and so many amazing journeys. I was telling the other night these little sayings which Swamījī also says: "Avetu Velkam, Niyavetu Biyutkam," which means if the people will come, they are welcome, and if they do not come, the crowd will be less. It is kind of a play on words in the Mahārāṣṭrī and in English. That was Gurujī. As we should be ready for every situation, it somehow comes in that statement. When people would come to Gurujī for satsaṅg, he was just ready to go. He was always ready, every minute. And when they were not there, then he was ready to do his mālā. It was like a win-win situation. But it was not that if he was doing his mālā, you know, if you are in your practice and you think, "Do not disturb me, I have to do my mālā," when something comes. But it was just okay, good. They came. He was ready, and then if they went, it was okay, good. And just, he was again ready. It is amazing. It is beautiful. Such a soul. And all that he was about was doing sevā, actually. It was bhakti and sevā, and teaching, and giving us what he had. I think we are also going to watch his video, are we not, this evening? Dharampuri? Are we going to watch a video this evening from Gurujī? Do we have some? We do? Yes, because I do not know where to start. I got to travel with Gurujī quite a lot. We went to Canada, and to America, and then to Europe, Purījī, Purījī... Gurujī, you are not well, you should go to the hospital. But no, no question. Where there was bhakti, Gurujī was getting in the car. We are lucky to be in that lineage. Swamiji is the same. You see, he just goes in program after program after program. And it is endless. Just to keep up, even when you are there for a few days, let alone to do it all the time. It is amazing. Gurujī was always teaching, as we were talking this morning and also yesterday, to wake up, to take the chance that we got this life, this human birth, and that we should use it. And at the same time, he was always praying that Mahāprabhujī should protect him. Take the shelter of the Guru and let him protect you. The teachings are all there from Gurujī. One of my favorite bhajans which Gurujī wrote is when he is writing in "Satguru Rākho Lāje Hamārī," and it is a part about Mīrā. And he says that she was protected by her guru, so that even the poison turned into amṛt for her because she was so pure. And then he says that sort of bhakta, you are always lifting up. And then the next line for me is the key to the bhajan: "Abhūker Merī Bārī." That is my turn. That is what he is saying: "What about me?" That is his bhakti. Just saying, hey Mahāprabhujī. Even though he already got it, do not forget, he never forgot where it was coming from. Sabhukujya Devadatta Deepadaya Abhuker Meri Bari. Now it is my turn. Now I want that. It is that same thing again, to believe and to want it. Do you want it? Do you want to have Swāmījī's blessing, that real blessing which he can give? It is up to us to open up and take it. That is bhakti. It is opening our hearts and then letting Gurujī do what he can do. From that side, the channel is open. It is just our side that we have to open. And it is just in that one line, abh ke merī pārī. Yes, sir, bhakti, ananta ubarya. Those people you are always lifting up. What about me? And Gurujī at the same time is saying, "Yes, open the door." It will come in. The light will come in. Gurujī, give me your protection. Does someone want to play this? Sorry about your mics. It is like four classic bhakti stories all together. I do not know if you know these stories, but Prahlād was the bhakta of, um, he was the son of a king who was quite evil. His name was Hiraṇyakaśipu, and he wanted that everybody worship him instead of worship God. And his son was a worshipper of God. And he tried many ways to convince him that he should do his worship to the king, but it did not work. Eventually, he decided that he would challenge him, that he would make one pillar, a hot iron pillar, and that he should go and embrace that as his God. And he also had one sister, and she was somehow in Hiraṇyakaśipu's favor, and she had a boon that she would not be burnt by fire, so she carried him in. Now when he came to that pillar, he had no hesitation to go, because he figured that God would protect him. That is the Bhajan "Satguru Rākulāja Hāman," protect him. And he went in, and he just found that although it was red, it was because it was just covered in little red ants. And the story goes on that he embraced that pillar, although it was red-hot iron. It did not burn him at all, and it exploded, and out of it came the avatāra of Viṣṇu, which is known as Narasiṃha. He was half human and half lion, and he was incarnated to get rid of that king, Hiraṇyakaśipu. So it was the bhakti of that boy which opened up the possibility for it all to occur, trust as well. The second one is about an elephant, and it is getting dragged down by a crocodile, and the elephant screams out to God to come and save it. And Viṣṇu sends down his vehicle, which is Garuḍa, the bird, to pull him out of the water. And when you think of the symbolism in that, there is an elephant in this cakra, you know, where the crocodile is. People are asking today what to do in meditation when you start to lose your concentration and thoughts start to go in other ways, into not-so-psychotic thoughts. And the answer is there. You know, it was here, and it was getting dragged down towards the Svādhiṣṭhāna Cakra and Mūlādhāra Cakra. And the answer was to call out God's name. And then he sends the rescue vehicle, let us say. It is like dialing the ambulance. It comes urgently and pulls you back up. So that is what that mantra is for; that is what our mantra is for. When disturbances come in meditation, we use them as a safety vehicle to pull us back out. The third one is the famous story of Draupadī. The wife of the Pāṇḍavas in the Mahābhārata, of Arjuna and of Bhīma, Yudhiṣṭhira and the two brothers. And the actual story is long, the relationship in this particular story. Draupadī is lost in a game of dice, like all of the brothers. And then they bring her to the court, and Duryodhana is the main villain. And his brother is Duśāsana. And Duśāsana tries to take off her sārī. But at that moment, she prays to Kṛṣṇa, and he just gives her the blessing that that sari never ends. And it does not, and it just ends up with a great big pile of cloth on the floor so that her honor is protected. But the story in the Mahābhārata goes back much further. There was one scene in the Mahābhārata. There was one character. Part 2: The Grace of Devotion and the Guru's Abundance In the Mahābhārata, Śiśupāla insulted Kṛṣṇa repeatedly. Kṛṣṇa had given a promise to Śiśupāla’s mother that he would not react unless the insults reached a hundred. In a great gathering, Śiśupāla kept insulting him. On the hundredth time, Kṛṣṇa took out his Sudarśana Cakra, and Śiśupāla’s head was gone. But when the Cakra returned, it actually cut Kṛṣṇa’s finger. At that moment, everyone was motionless except Draupadī. She immediately tore her sari and used the cloth to tie up his finger, to bind the cut. At that moment in the Mahābhārata, Kṛṣṇa said, "Your devotion will be rewarded thousands of times compared to this piece of cloth which you have given to me." What you give, you will get back so many more times, that one day you will see. This comes in that part of the story when Kṛṣṇa gives her a thousand times more cloth in the blessing to save her. Every act that we do, every act of karma yoga, every act of kindness, every act of devotion, it will come back with interest. Then there is the story of Mīrā. Mīrā was such a devotee of Kṛṣṇa that all her family thought she was quite mad. They tried many ways to stop her from her practice, even trying to poison her. They could not harm her because of her bhakti. That is the part of the bhajan where Gurujī is saying, "Now it’s our turn, now it’s our turn, now it’s our turn." Now it is our turn. Please, Bābājī, I am going to bless him. Please give us your blessing. That is what we were always praying for. That is what our bhakti is for: to be there to do seva, to be at our Guru’s feet, to just do our best to be ready when he wants to give to us. In the last śloka, now Gurujī is talking about Mahāprabhujī, that he is the divine incarnation, that he is the embodiment of God. And he is saying, "Please, Mahāprabhujī, please, Mahāprabhujī, hear my prayer, hear my prayer." Hear this which I request you: that you protect us, that you protect, protect our honor, protect us in our sādhanā, protect us in our life, so we try our best. Gurujī also taught that, and I have said this in Melbourne also, about kṛpā and the fact that we have to have our own kṛpā. Swāmījī can give us the blessings, Swāmījī can give us the mantra, and give us the road, and give us the rāsta, the way. But we have to practice, and we have to make the most of this chance which we have. We have to just take it and do the best we can with it. And that is the kṛpā which Gurujī called kuṭ kṛpā, the grace, the blessing towards yourself. Not to be too hard on yourself, to accept your faults, but not to accept that they are there forever. We are the lucky ones. We have got Gurujī as our, Swāmījī as our guru. It is your turn. It is everybody’s turn. It is all of Swāmījī’s disciples’ turns. Just have to open and let it flow in. And, if you can see, as Gurujī writes it in the bhajan, it is not demanding to ask that of Swāmījī. Because, as Gurujī knows about Mahāprabhujī, what he can give is endless. And what Swāmījī can give us is endless. I do not think that is greed. Then, when he gives something, to ask for more and more and more. It is just wise. It is nothing else. There are some things that are selfish, but I do not see that as selfish. It is not that you think, "Give it to me and do not give it to somebody else." Let us hope that it just rains on all of us, pours, and gets us completely wet. This reminds me of one thing. I got the most beautiful photo in the afternoon of the Jāḍaṇṭālap with water in it. Because it is pouring water inside at this present moment. And it is still running in from both sides. So, at least we were ready for that water. If only we had such a big talāb here. Now I am going to sing a bhajan. I know, Babsi, I have sung it all the time, sorry, but people are asking all day today that I sing this bhajan, so I will. And I will not call it a translation, but it is my interpretation of that bhajan, and it is what it means to me, because my translations are pretty boji. About that bhajan, it is a real village bhajan. I love the fact that it is so down to earth, and it is so our area where we live. It is written by Mahāprabhujī, and the chorus, the refrain, goes: Rāma Sandeśamoye Lāgere Suhavanā, Sattva Guru Sandeśamoye Lāgere Suhavanā. The words of the Guru and the words of Rāma, they just felt so good inside me. You know when you meet your Guru and it just vibrates there, it just is, and you know that that is it. So it was like that, and Mahāprabhujī is saying that about Devpurījī. Suhavanā is a word, and what I understand of it, it means something too beautiful to describe. There is a similar word in Urdu, and it is called Fudors, and it also means the same thing. Something that is so beautiful that it could only have been made by God. They describe things like the sound of really gentle rain. Or for me, it is the smell of the rain on the tarmac on a really hot day. When you smell it on the road, you know that the change has come. Or whatever it may be, for other people it will be all different. But it is one of those words that just means something super special. So the words of my Guru, they just got me so specially. They just, lāgere means to like hit you almost. It also has to influence you in that sort of way. Satguru Dev came down to this earth for us. He incarnated here. Gyānadāna Varṣālāī. He brought this rain of knowledge for us. Suta Hansaturta Jagai. He awakened that. He immediately awakened that sleeping swan. As we were talking this morning, that swan, which is the vehicle of Saraswati, is viveka. He immediately awakened that, and then we could, that vehicle was there for knowledge, and then we could get the knowledge. Ānanda Bhāvanā: To fill us with bliss. So he came on earth, he rained that knowledge on us, it awakened our viveka, it awakened our sādhanā, it awakened our consciousness, just to fill us with bliss, that is why he came. At the same time, the story of the bhajan is of the Satguru coming to the village, and this whole scene, if you have been in India with Swāmījī in a village, and the way they are greeting with the band, and with this cloth that is going in front... He is walking across the cloth, and the people are dancing with this small kalaśa on their head. The Ashoka leaves are coming out of it and everything. That whole scene is also inside. Then Gurujī is getting to the house. Physically, it is like the house in the village. And the house is decorated beautifully in preparation for him. Dhanamāna, Prāṇa, Varu. And the people there at the house, they are giving their body, they are giving their heart, and they are giving their prāṇa, everything they are offering to the guru when he comes. Pushpon kī varamālā peno, and then they are giving the flower garland. And they are preparing a place for him to sit, which is just made with lime. In the olden days, Mahāprabhujī, Karatā Mahāprabhujī, this is our house that we are preparing for Gurujī to come. And the place where he is going to sit is in our heart. So you are decorating it, you are cleaning it. How do we clean it? We do that through our sādhanā. And do we do it? We do it every day. Because you do not know when he is coming, and offerings are our offerings. As it says, we are offering our heart, our mind, our soul, our body, everything we offer. Yes, take it all and just give us that knowledge which is raining down. The flowers for me, when you are giving that flower mālā, that is representative of all of your beautiful thoughts or all of those things which you want to give. And then that floor, which is shining, which is ground, if you think about it when you are doing sādhanā and you are doing tapasyā, continuously you are doing the same thing. You are just grinding and grinding, slowly grinding away at yourself until you start to shine. That is why we have to do that sādhanā. To prepare ourselves for Gurujī to come and sit, for that knowledge to come and sit, for that bliss to come and sit. After that, the third śloka is a sweet, which is, if Gurujī is coming to the house, then there has to be lots of sweets. So you have lāḍū, ghevā, barfī, or perā. Lāḍū, everyone knows. Gewa is another form of sweet. Burfī, everybody knows burfī. And perā is another small sweet. Sīrā, purī or mevā, gerā. Sira is halwa. In Rajasthan, and Puri, everyone knows Puris, you know, Cira Puri, or Mewa Gera, Mewa is another sweet, and it is saying large amounts. It is not for you to eat, it is for you to prepare. Geri Gudali Kira Banal, and I will make a huge pot of kira, of milk rice. Super deep, Gera is deep. Prabhujī, Jī, Maunā, to feed to God. What are those sweets? That is our actions, our seva, those things which we do which are good. And all of them we offer to our Guru: selfless seva, trying to serve other people, trying to be nice to other people, and giving love. So, it may be a diabetes meal, but those are the things we give. And then you have to serve the meal. And I will serve that eating to my Guru on a golden plate, and my heart is just filled with joy. Just completely filled with joy, with celebration about the fact that I am getting this chance to give my seva to the Guru. Just to have the Āp Vahid, Āp Prasād Auroge, Pankhapoana Tulavana. So, Gurujī, while you are eating, while you are enjoying those fruits, I will stand there beside you with a small fan. There is a small fan that goes round and round and round in Rajasthan. When the electricity is off, you will know. And in the olden days, they used to stand beside the king or beside the important person who was there and just make that go around. One to stop the flies from coming, and the other one to keep them cool. But for me, that banka, that continuous flowing of that air, that is when we keep going with our breathing. When we keep going with our mantra and keep that moving up and down, and up and down, and keep the air, keep our mind, keep our thoughts, keep everything pure. Through our mantra, through our breath, and through our sādhanā. So, while we are offering those things, our service, we still try to keep ourselves pure, that we do not disturb those things which we are giving. And everything is just there, so we prepare that He can come. And then, Mahāprabhujī’s talking about His Guru, Parabrahma Puruṣottama Svāmī, Śrī Devpurīṣa Antaryāmī. The ultimate Lord is Śrī Devpurījī. He is my heart and soul, He is my Antaryāmī, He is everything for me. Śrī Svāmī Dīpak kā he āvā sajanam, hil milā maṅgala gāona. And then Mahāprabhujī is praying to everyone else, "Come and experience this." Āvā Sajanam, Sajanam means people, like good people, come, come.