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Many know the story of Lord Rāma. It is said that when Rāma went to Śrī Laṅkā, his entire army consisted of monkeys and bears. Why monkeys and bears? Why animals, and not humans? Did people not have an interest in supporting Rāma? Had everyone abandoned him? No. Before he went into exile in the forest for fourteen years, his stepmother Kaikeyī asked the king to fulfill her wishes. King Daśaratha had promised her. He had even asked, "How many desires do you have, that you ask me to fulfill them all?" She had sought to have certain desires fulfilled immediately, and some she had kept in reserve for later. "When the time comes, I will ask. Because you have said, 'Everything you desire, I will fulfill. No matter how many desires you have, I will fulfill them all.'" And now she expressed two wishes. "You are the king, the husband, and the father. You must keep your word. That is why I ask you to fulfill two wishes of mine." Her first wish was that her son Bharata be proclaimed king the next day, and not Rāma, the eldest son. King Daśaratha had decided to appoint Rāma as king, and everyone had prepared. The coronation ceremony of Rāma was supposed to take place the next morning. Yet during that day and night, everything changed. Ku-saṅgam. You know the whole story. Daśaratha had three queens: Kaikeyī, Kauśalyā, and Sumitrā. Kauśalyā was the mother of Rāma, Sumitrā was the mother of Lakṣmaṇa, and Kaikeyī was the mother of Bharata. Śatrughna was also the son of Sumitrā. The tradition, as it was in Europe, was that the heir is the eldest son. But she said, "No, my son will become king." Her other wish was that Rāma must spend fourteen years in the forest, outside the kingdom. The instruction was that he must not stay in any village for fourteen years, nor was he allowed to meet people. He must not organize any gathering. He was only permitted to go to āśramas for darśana. He was not permitted to meet with people or have people near him. That was the wish of his stepmother, and the king fulfilled it. His wife Sītā and brother Lakṣmaṇa followed him. Then, as you know, Rāvaṇa, the demon from Śrī Laṅkā, kidnapped Sītā. They had to go to Śrī Laṅkā, but between Śrī Laṅkā and India, there is an ocean. At that time, there were not many airplanes. Hanumānjī was the only one who could fly. At that time, there was only one airplane, and that was Rāvaṇa’s. That airplane was known as Puṣpaka Vimāna, and that was ten thousand years ago. That airplane was special; it could grow larger or smaller. It could be a single-seater, a two-seater, or it could become like a jumbo jet. That was the first airplane on this planet. When Rāvaṇa kidnapped Sītā, he came in that private airplane. He was a puṣpaka vāhana. He abducted her and flew back to Śrī Laṅkā. When Rāma’s army set out for Śrī Laṅkā to bring back Sītā, they did not know how to cross the ocean. They were sitting on the shore. Then Rāma made a śivaliṅgam in the sand and prayed to Lord Śiva. He prayed to the ocean to grant him passage, but the ocean did not comply. Rāma became angry. He took his bow and arrow, for he was a kṣatriya, a warrior. Kṣatriyas, warriors, or anyone else must uphold their dharma. Rāma was capable of drying up the entire ocean with a single arrow. But the Ocean appeared before Rāma and said, "Please do not do this. I am your ancient ancestor, but I will leave you a path. I will help you." Rāma prayed to Lord Śiva, and then Hanumānjī got an idea. He took a stone and wrote the name of Lord Rāma, "Rāma," on it. He said to the ocean, "If you want to endure, then let this stone float." He threw the stone into the ocean, and the stone floated. So the entire army of monkeys began throwing stones into the ocean—large stones. Then even Rāma threw a stone. But whenever Rāma threw a stone, it would always sink. Rāma thought, "Hanumān has more siddhis than I do." He asked Hanumānjī, "Have you seen? I hope people have not seen this. My stone sinks, and your stone floats on the surface. How is that a miracle?" Hanumānjī said, "There is no miracle here, my lord. Why? The one you reject, cast away, has no chance; he must sink. He will sink. If you throw someone out of your hand, they no longer have any chance. They go to hell, my lord. Therefore, I ask you, do not throw yourself away. Rest there, sit down. We will do the work." And so they built that bridge. When Rāma returned afterwards, he took that airplane, and all his entourage went with him. Hanumān and Jāmbavān and all the others, while the rest crossed the bridge again. When they crossed the bridge and all arrived back in India, Rāma blessed the bridge and said, "Śāntiḥ, śāntiḥ, śāntiḥ. Now you can sink." And then the entire bridge sank. It is written in the Rāmāyaṇa. People think it is a fairy tale, a wonderful story for children. But now they have discovered that bridge with the help of satellites. It was discovered by Indian scientists a few years before Western scientists uncovered it, but they did not reveal it. It was the Westerners who discovered it first. But when Indian scientists discovered it, they made it public. They said it was a rock. Then they tested it, and it is obvious that this was carved by man, that it is not a natural rock. Just that one example shows that the entire Rāmāyaṇa is true. That was ten thousand years ago. Two thousand years ago, Jesus lived. For some people, that would be a fairy tale, but it is not. There is much evidence. For those who believe, it is there. For those who do not believe, it does not exist. During the peaceful stay in Śrī Laṅkā, there has always been an unceasing battle between good and evil, always and forever. It was that war because Rāvaṇa had abducted Sītā. Rāma sent a message demanding that Sītā be returned with respect, but Rāvaṇa laughed at that. Truth is truth. Rāvaṇa had a great ego; he thought he was the most powerful and that the whole world was on his side. But truth prevails. During that battle, Lakṣmaṇa was struck by an arrow in the heart. He fell unconscious to the ground. That arrow was a special arrow that never returns, never misses; it always kills. It must kill. They had siddhi; they would recite the mantra and shoot the arrow, and the arrow flew to where they desired. They did not need to aim, nor did they require physical strength. They possessed mental strength. Lakṣmaṇa was struck by such an arrow. It was afternoon. The principle was that no one fights after sunset. The battle was fought only during daylight hours. At night, only demons and cockroaches fought. All were unconscious. The sūtra was: before sunrise, Lakṣmaṇa will die. No one could help. Not even Rāma could help. Everyone was sad. When Rāma left Ayodhyā for his fourteen-year exile, Lakṣmaṇa wanted to go with him. Rāma said, "Do not." But Lakṣmaṇa said, "No, brother, I cannot live without you, and I must go with you." Then Rāma promised Lakṣmaṇa’s mother that he would return her son as healthy as he was when he set off. Now Rāma was very sad. What will happen to Lakṣmaṇa? With what face can he return before Lakṣmaṇa’s mother? With what strength will he tell his mother, "I have returned without Lakṣmaṇa"? So Rāma was sad. They brought an Āyurvedic doctor. That is proof today. Even in the time of the Rāmāyaṇa, the science of Āyurveda already existed. The time of Rāma is approximately ten thousand years ago. Āyurveda was even older than that time. The Āyurvedic doctor came from Śrī Laṅkā. On the battlefield, the doctor must remain neutral. A doctor should not think about who is a friend and who is an enemy. The duty of a dharma doctor is to help everyone without distinction. The doctor examined Lakṣmaṇa’s nāḍīs and said, "When the sun rises, Lakṣmaṇa will die." Hanumān asked if there was any way to be saved. The doctor replied, "Yes, but that is impossible." Hanumān said, "Nothing is impossible for a bhakta. When the Lord is on the side of the bhakta, nothing is impossible. Do not waste our time; tell us what to do." The Vaidya said that in the Himalayas, on such and such a mountain, on such and such a hill, there is a certain herb. It is called Sañjīvanī. If you can bring that, Lakṣmaṇa’s life can be saved. That is about 4,000 kilometers away. Hanumānjī asked what that Sañjīvanī looks like. "Even if I go there, I will not know what it looks like." He said that in the darkness, the Sañjīvanī glimmers. "You see, today I received a Christmas plant that glimmers, and Sañjīvanī was just like that." This is an imitation of that story from the Rāmāyaṇa. So Hanumānjī said, "I will go for what is beyond possible." He drank his milk—there was neither coffee nor tea at that time—and then he chanted his mantra, "Jaya Śrī Rāma." He took off like a Concorde and flew there. But the demons, the Rākṣasas, also had their siddhis. They had already sent the message that Hanumān was coming and to prepare the māyā. Somehow, everything on that hill was shining. Hanumānjī landed there, and they were all shining with light. Now what? What to bring? Time was passing. Hanumānjī was very intelligent. He had a very powerful awakening and was highly intelligent and powerful. With his strength, he took the entire hill. All the plants were on the hill, and he flew carrying the entire hill. While flying from the Himalayas to Śrī Laṅkā, many seeds of plants fell down, and so many Āyurvedic plants grew throughout India. While he was flying from the Himalayas to Śrī Laṅkā, halfway there was the birthplace of Rāma, Ayodhyā. His younger brother Bharata, Rāma’s younger brother, was not at home at that time. He had already been somewhere with his mother’s parents. Kaikeyī was then somewhere in Afghanistan, in that region. Bharata was very angry with his mother. "How could she be so harsh?" He did not accept the kingdom. He placed Rāma’s sandals on the throne, symbolizing that Rāma was the king, and he sat in a lower place. Everything he did, he did as a secretary. When the secret police detected by radar that someone was flying over the area of Ayodhyā, they informed Bharata, who then mobilized the army. They discovered that a powerful giant was flying and carrying a mountain. It was concluded that he was a friend of Rāvaṇa, an enemy of Rāma, and that he was flying to fight against Rāma. Then Bharata shot an arrow with a mantra, and that arrow struck Hanumān in the leg. Hanumānjī fell. As he was falling, he chanted, "Śrī Rāma Jaya Rāma, Śrī Rāma Jaya Rāma." Then Bharata understood. He uttered the name of Śrī Rāma. "He must be a devotee of Rāma, not an enemy." And he went there. He spoke with Hanumānjī. That was their first meeting. Bharata was so sorry, and he realized what he had done. Bharata said, "Bad luck within good fortune, misfortune. I have bad luck within bad luck, misfortune within misfortune. But, brother Hanumān, you will be dearer to me than my very own brother. Rest here today and forgive me." Hanumānjī smiled and said, "No. Rāma is mine, what is the supreme Rāma? I am burdened. Until I complete the work for my God, for Rāma, I cannot rest. If I rest, it will be a great loss. A great loss. Why? What is happening?" Hanumān said, "I will not tell you that now. I will tell you when we meet next time. But I cannot rest. I must work. You rest." And again Hanumānjī said, "Jaya Śrī Rāma," and took flight once more. On the other hand, Rāma was very sad. The morning star appeared, the star Dhanuṣa. The moon was slowly descending. Rāma said, "Hanumān, when will you arrive? For as soon as the sun rises, Lakṣmaṇa will die." But as soon as the sound appeared, the sound of Hanumān arrived. With a great mountain—like this mountain around Śrī Laṅkā—a sound was heard as if five Concordes were flying. "Jaya Śrī Rāma!" Hanumān descended and said to the Āyurvedic doctor, "Quickly take Sañjīvanī. And you will not be the next one." The doctor took the right herb. He squeezed the juice, and that juice entered Lakṣmaṇa’s mouth. The tip of the arrow touched Lakṣmaṇa’s tongue. Through his body flowed life like an electric current. And even "Jaya Śrī Rāma!"—he rose as well. Hanumān was happy, Rāma was happy, and Lakṣmaṇa was happy, and the Vaidya was happy. Then the sun slowly appeared. "Mitrāya namaḥ, Hiraṇya-garbhāya namaḥ, Savitre namaḥ, Uṣṇe namaḥ." How many names does the sun have? Twelve names. Deva-puruṣa is Mahādeva, and from him, the sun appeared. That is the work of a bhakta. Do not wait, thinking someone else will do it. "That is not my duty. I have done enough. Why shouldn’t others do it? I will do it only for a certain time. Then I no longer want to do it." Such people leave you in the middle of the ocean. You know the story about the camel and the fox when they went to eat corn? Sitting on the camel in the middle of the river, the camel says to the fox, "I can’t go on any longer. I must dive into the water." That is not a friend. That is not a partner. That is not a disciple, neither a devotee, nor a friend, nor a relative. That is nothing. Who does not know what it means to say, "It is the custom"? A person is never tired until they have completed their work. And that work, that effort, must continue. If we all acted in this way, world peace would surely be here. Do you think I will be here with you forever? One day you will watch only the video and remember, "Yes." Neither you nor I will live here forever. But we must prepare for what comes next. You need to be an example of that. You need to be the highway for them. In Nemanjská, they say that order is a one-way street. When everything is in order, it is a one-way street. Build a highway without any obstacles. But if you change your mind—"That is no longer my duty; it is yours. What will you do with it?"—that is not good. Do not think that you are tired. Do not think that you have done enough—you have done nothing. Whatever you do, do it not for anyone else but only for yourself. Do not work for Mahāprabhujī, nor for Gurudeva, nor for Svāmījī. Neither for world peace nor for these people do you do anything; you do everything only for yourself, because the fruits will be yours. You will be rewarded, and that is it. You do it for yourself; you do not bind anyone. No, no, no. Do not think that you have bound anyone. If you think you have obligated someone to something, then immediately stop and go home. You will see on the third day, you will see the results, and you will return on your knees. "Please, give me a chance." You have a golden opportunity to do something for yourself. That is why it is called āśrama: "Ā" is welcome, and "śrama" is work. For you, for yourself. Do that. Do not limit, nor measure. Do not count what you have done. You have done nothing. And everything you have done, you have done only for yourself. When you start measuring it, you begin to lose it. As soon as you start measuring, it becomes selfish. As long as you do not calculate and measure, you remain selfless. Sakāma and niṣkāma karma. Be niṣkāma. Be humble.