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Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān kī jayā! Śrī Śrī Dev Puruṣa Mahādeva kī jayā! Dharmasamrāṭ Satguru Svāmī Madhavānandajī Bhagavān kī jayā! Satya Sanātana Dharma kī jayā! Blessed be, dear spiritual seekers, all the bhaktas and devotees of the spiritual spirit. Today is a very, very significant day for our planet, Earth. Often, people ask the question: what is an incarnation? It is clear for many, yet many do not know. Unfortunately, in many cultures or countries, people lack information or knowledge about incarnation. There are two kinds of incarnations. One is called Nitya and one is called Naimittika. The Nitya incarnation is constantly incarnating in the form of holy saints around the world. The Naimittika incarnation comes from time to time for a particular purpose or dharma. Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa said very clearly in the fourteenth chapter [of the Bhagavad Gītā]: "Whenever dharma declines and adharma increases, O Arjuna, I manifest myself through my yoga māyā, yoga śakti—the universal power or energy." Till now, it is known that there are twenty-four incarnations that have manifested. The twenty-fourth one should now be called the Kalī Avatāra, the incarnation in this Kali Yuga. So today is the holy day, and this holy festival is remembered and celebrated by spiritual seekers and bhaktas. I have a little story about that avatāra. Long ago, there was a king who performed tapasyā, as the story goes. He wished to be physically immortal. But it is a law of nature that no one can be physically immortal. This body belongs to nature, and nature is changing; that which changes is mortal. The immortal is one, and that is the Ātmā. Still, humans wish to be young and live forever. That is not possible; it is against the cosmic law, the law of nature. So there was a king. He went to the forest and performed tapasyā, standing on one leg for hours and hours, days and days, hanging himself with his legs up and head down, his leg crossed on the branch of a tree to get a blessing from God. Anyone who performs sādhanā intensively with great love and devotion to God will definitely have God appear. Brahmā came and said to the king, "I bless you." The king's name was Hiraṇyakaśipu. "What do you wish?" Hiraṇyakaśipu said, "I would like to be physically immortal forever and ever, so I may rule this planet." God said, "That is not possible. Even I myself have my period, and then I have to go back and change. Viṣṇu is not always that Viṣṇu. Śiva is not always that Śiva. Brahmā is not always that Brahmā." You can clearly read and look in the Vedic calendar about the yugas, the time of the yugas: how many days we count hours on this planet, and how many days of Brahmā, and how many days or years of the yugas, the manvantaras of Viṣṇu and Śiva. Then they will go again into the nirguṇa form forever. But then again, a new manifestation will come. It will always be like a creator, protector, and liberator. So God said, "No, it is not possible for you to be immortal." He was very disappointed—Hiraṇyakaśipu was very disappointed and very angry because he had the ambition to rule always, to be the head of all. Then he said, "God, please fulfill one wish for me." God said, "Tell me first what it is. If you do not bless me with physical immortality, then I request that I should not die in the daytime and I should not die at nighttime. Secondly, the cause of my death should not be an animal or a human. I should not be killed by any weapons, and natural death should not attack me." God said, "Agreed, I bless you." Now he became very proud. "I am forever king, because no one can kill me—neither animals nor humans. I will not die, day or night, night or day." He also asked that he should not be killed, or that death cannot take him away outside of his house or inside of his house. Clever. Humans think they are clever, but God is more than that. He began to propagate: "I am immortal. I am the only one. There is no God," for he was very angry that God did not bless him with immortality. "I am God. Whatever you wish, I will fulfill. No one should practice devotion, no bhakti, nothing, nothing, nothing. Only see my glory. Hiraṇyakaśipu, Hiraṇyakaśipu, Hiraṇyakaśipu." Well, people were not happy, but what could they do? Those who did not follow were victims of his rage. But now see how God is working. Hiraṇyakaśipu had a son, and that son's name was Bhakta Prahlāda. But Hiraṇyakaśipu's son was spiritual, and he was singing the glory of God. The father was very angry. He said, "No, I am God. Why haven't you seen any God?" The small child said, "No, father, you are not." He sent the child to school and told the teacher, "Teach him devotion to me." And what we say, the God tells him that I am that one. But the teacher could not be successful. And Prahlāda, he even taught the name of God to all the children. In Ākāśa, there is a mahāmantra, and that is a mahāmantra, and all children learn this mahāmantra: "Hari Om Tat Sat, Hari Om Tat Sat... Japakar Japakar, yahī Mahāmantra, Hari Om Tat Sat, Hari Om Tat Sat." Prahlāda said, "Hari is the God. That is the Om, eternal—the sound, the light, the universe. That is the God. Japa karo, japa karo, repeat this name of God. This is the mahāmantra." Now, all the children in the school and after school were dancing in the street and singing, "Hari Om Tat Sat." And the parents were so afraid. The parents said, "Oh God, do not do this. Hiraṇyakaśipu will kill you and us." The children said, "No." Children are children. "Our friend Prahlāda told us that my father is not a god. God is different, and that is God. Hari Om Tat Sat. What have you against this? It is a universal God. Tat is that, and Sat is the truth. Only that is the truth. Not this, not he, not me, and not you." Well, the teacher came to Hiraṇyakaśipu and said, "Sir, your highness, we failed. Your son does not listen to us. And not only this, he spread the message into the whole city and everywhere. All are thinking of this." Hiraṇyakaśipu was very, very angry. He called his soldiers and said, "Take Prahlāda for a picnic on that lake where there are so many crocodiles." They tried to put him in the middle of the lake. They took him, and he walked over the water. Wherever he put his feet, lotus flowers were coming out, so he was walking on the lotus flowers and saying, "Hari Om Tat Sat, Hari Om Tat Sat... Hari Om Tat Sat, japa kar, japa kar, yahī mahāmantra: Hari Om Tat Sat, Hari Om Tat Sat." So, the mahāmantra is that one: Tat is that, and Sat is the truth, and that is Hari, Viṣṇu, and Om is Śiva, the consciousness, not in the form. He came back. In the afternoon again, he was running and coming home. He said, "Father, father, Hari Om Tat Sat, I am here. Hari Om Tat Sat, Hari Om." The father was inside, angry. Then they told him, "People go with him on a picnic in the mountains, and somewhere on the peak of the mountain where the high rock is, they sit there and then just push him down." So he fell down, and they did it. There was beside one tree, a branch. As soon as they pushed, the branch came there and took him like this, like he is on a swing chair, and singing, "To whom God wants to protect, no one can kill him. Even they cannot harm one hair of his. And even if the whole world is against him, if God wants to protect, no one has any power to destroy him." Hiraṇyakaśipu was very sad. He felt inside fear. "There is someone born to destroy me." Again, Hiraṇyakaśipu called his people and said, "Go into the forest where there are many, many wild elephants, and just leave him somewhere and go away." So a small boy, a few years old, five years, they left him in the midst of hundreds of elephants and they went away. But all the elephants became like his friends. And he walked, singing, "Hari Om Tat Sat." When he saw the elephant, "Hari Om Tat Sat, Hari Om Tat Sat. Japakar, japakar, yahī mahāmantra: Hari Om Tat Sat." And the elephants put their trunks up, and they were dancing and following him. Can you imagine? Love can melt the rocks, and love can influence all creatures. A bird dares to sit on the head or on the leg of a tiger. But the bird does not dare to sit on the human shoulder because the radiance from the human is very aggressive. Animals feel it. Well, he came back. Hiraṇyakaśipu was very, very sad, full of fear. Hiraṇyakaśipu had one sister, and she had a siddhi also, that she could sit in the fire. It is said every day she was bathing in the fire. We take water and clean our body, and she was sitting on the fire, high flames, to clean all the body dirt—fire cleaning. And we even put a little finger near it, oh, and you have a blister here. He came to her and said, "Sister, I have a question. Please do one favor for me." She said, "What, brother? What can I do for you, my sister? This is my problem: I want to rule this earth forever. Brahmā did not give me the blessings to be immortal. But I asked him then different things, and he said, 'Yes, that I cannot die in the house, outside of the house. No human can kill me. No animal can kill me. No weapon can destroy me. No element can destroy me. Death should not attack me either inside the house, outside the house, nor in the daytime, nor in the night.' But this child is something as one who is going to take me away. So, best would be, my sister, if you do good to your brother, take him on your lap, and in the morning when you have fire bath, take him on your lap and go into the fire. So what will happen? He will be burned. Finished. No bamboo, no flute, no noise. Please, sister, do this favor for me. And if you do not do, I will chop your head away." The sister said, "I will do." So he sent Prahlāda to his sister. She took her nephew and played with him for a few days. And one day, she said, "Let us go and have a bath, a fire bath. You know how it is, fire bath?" He said, "I do not know, Auntie, how is that?" She said, "Oh, that is beautiful. It purifies everything." He said, "I want to be that. I want to have the fire bath." She said, "Are you not afraid?" He said, "No, I am not afraid. You are my aunt, you take me on your lap. I am safe, and God protects us, sister. Hari Om Tat Sat, let us come." So she made a big fire, she took him on her lap and sat, and he was sitting, "Hari Om Tat Sat, Hari Om Tat Sat, Hari Om Tat Sat. Japakar Japakar, yahī Mahāmantra, Hari Om Tat Sat, Hari Om Tat Sat." What was happening? She was burned. The fire burned her because she went against her dharma. And the palace, not even one hair of the palace was burned. And he said, "Oh, where is my aunt?" She became ashes. He came out of the fire and said, "Oh my God, it was a good bath, but I am sorry for my aunt." He came home. Now he was very anxious. This is the day, today, the Holikā will be burned. Now, what they are doing traditionally, Indians, they bring one tree and put it in the center of the village, the city square or the city center, and it stands there for one month. Beside it, there is one log also they put in the earth. So that log is a symbol of Prahlāda, and that tree is a symbol of Holikā. Now you see, this is the, when you see the Christmas tree, that is a Holikā. And in European culture, you will see, they call it the May tree. In the month of May, the first of May, they put one tree in the middle of the city and have different explanations or different names, but the original is coming from this Vedic culture from that time. He came back home, and Hiraṇyakaśipu was there. "There must be something extraordinary, some power in this child. I tried everything, and he did not..." Then one day, the king could not sleep, and he said, "I want to know in my kingdom if anyone is praying to God. Anyone remembers the God, or they only pray to me and remember me?" So he himself wanted to know. He took his horse and was riding village to village. It was midnight, midnight. He saw a fire burning, a little fire. He went there. There was sitting one elderly lady, and she was sitting, singing, "Hari Om Tat Sat, Hari Om Tat Sat... Japakar, Japakar, yahī mahāmantra, Hari Om Tat Sat, Hari Om Tat Sat." The Bhakta Prahlāda's message went that, at that time, there was no electronic media, no paper media, but it was a vocal media. In a small village, they are also singing this song. He saw this old lady. She was sitting, and there was a big fire. He got off the horseback and went there and said, "Old lady, why are you singing this? But this means..." She says, "Who are you?" He said, "I am Kaṁsa... not a Kaṁsa, Hiraṇyakaśipu." She said, "Oh, Hiraṇyakaśipu, Hiraṇyakaśipu... Āyegayā Hiraṇyakaśipu, Hiraṇyakaśipu, Hiraṇyakaśipu jāyegā. Hiraṇyakaśipu has come, and Hiraṇyakaśipu will go." He said, "This is the best mantra for you. Why did you sing that? I will burn you in this fire." Now she was praying inside more. "Why did you chant the name of God?" She said, "Sir, I am sorry. But I have a little profession. I am making pots out of clay. And when the pots are dried, then I put them in the fire and burn them so that they become solid. But you know, I made a mistake. I have one cat, and this cat gave little kids, five of them, in one pot. And I did not realize, and I put that pot also in the fire. Now the cat is running, meow, meow, round and round. I feel guilty, and I pray to God to save them, or please free me from this sin." He said, "Yes, now I see why. It means you believe that one. I sit here now until the fire becomes cool. Then I want to see if the cat babies are alive. Then I will leave you free. Otherwise, you will be in the fire." Now he is sitting there with the horse and sleeping, and then looking again, then again sleeping. And she was inwardly singing, "Guru Govind, God protect me, God protect me. You are everything for me. Oh Lord, you are my mother, you are my father, you are my friends and my relatives, you are my wealth. Oh Lord, you are everything, protect me." Dawn came, the fire was cooled down. In a case of standing there, he called his people, "Remove one by one pots." So they began to remove them. There were about fifty or sixty pots. There were two pots which were facing each other. And what they see, five of these cats may be jumping here and there, and these two pots were completely untouched by fire. Can you imagine the happiness of that old lady? And can you imagine the anger of that devil? His plan was not successful. He went away. And that her name was Chiriya Devī, Śrīya Devī, and that will also be declared, that was declared as a divine soul, holy. And then one festival will come after now, holy days, after a few weeks, and all will remember her. Now, Hiraṇyakaśipu is very sorrowful and thinking how to destroy Prahlāda. One day he decided himself that he would be the one who would kill him. So in his yard he had a big iron pillar made. In the pillar, he put the coal, and from below, he put the fire. So the pillar became so hot. At fifteen meters distance, you could not stand through, so hot, and it was a hot month. He is sitting in his yard on his chair and said, "Come here, my son, Prahlāda." He said, "Yes, father, I am here. What can I do for you?" He said, "You see, my son, it is good for us. We do not believe in God, and the kingdom is forever for you and for me. Do not believe in God." He said, "No, father, that is not true. God is God. You are my father. You are my king. It is okay. I respect you. God is God." He said, "No." He said, "Yes." Then he said, "Okay. Now, two options you have. Stand here, I will chop your head, or give up. Second, if you believe that you are God and you still want to believe in God, then go and hug the hot pillar." So he said, "Better to die in this fire of the hot pillar than to die from the hand of the devils." He said, "Father, I will hug the pillar." So he was dancing. "Hari Om Tat Sat, Hari Om Tat Sat, Japākar Japākar, Yahī Mahā Mantra, Hari Om Tat Sat, Hari Om Tat Sat." He was approaching the hot pillar, and then he was putting his hand like it was so hot. A small child, seven years old, thought, "Really, I will burn. It is such strong heat. It is the end of my life," he was thinking. At that minute, what he sees is many ants walking on the hot pillar. That is God's miracle. He said, "Oh, Prahlāda, when this little creature, an ant, cannot burn and die, how will you? Go and hug it." And he went to hug the pillar. What happened? The pillar broke into two parts. Out of the pillar came some form, and he had directly that form. That one took him by the arm and said, "My son, this will be the last for you. He was torturing you. Come." Hiraṇyakaśipu saw that form. First was the lion. From the navel up was the lion. Below was the human. Hiraṇyakaśipu stood up from his chair. He thought, "Now is my death. I will run to my house." So he ran. It was about twenty meters far, his door, and that form is called Narasiṁha. Narasiṁha means human, siṁha means the lion. He caught the Hiraṇyakaśipu. By going into the house, he pulled him down on the door. Half the body is inside the house, and half the body is outside of the house. And sat on him. He said, "Hiraṇyakaśipu, open your eyes." He said, "No, no... no." He said, "No, no, open your eyes. Open, please. Look, where are you, inside the house or outside the house?" He said, "Nor inside and nor outside." One. "Look, if it is night or day." It was just sunset. He said, "Neither night nor day." Okay. "Three, look to me. Am I human or animal?" He said, "I cannot understand. You are not human, not animal. Half lion and half human, what should I tell you? Who are you?" "Four, look at my clothes. Is there any weapon? There are not." "The fifth, there is no natural death here. Is there? My promise is fulfilled?" He said, "Yes, Lord, so your end has come." That was the Narasiṁhavatāra. Nar means human, siṁh means the lion. That is why Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa said in the Gītā: "Whenever dharma declines and adharma is coming up, and my devotees are suffering, O Arjuna, time to time, in every yuga, I come to destroy all devils and devil energy and protect my bhaktas." This is the day, the holy day, which is remembered with fullness of happiness, full of joy and love. Therefore, satyameva jayate, dharma will be protected always. Adharma cannot rule this forever. Dharma is in the entire universe. And so, this is the holy festival, the story of the holy festival, and today is evening time, exactly when the sun will be going down, and it is just neither night nor day. That time, they will fire the Holikā, and after the Holikā is burned, beside it, that log of the tree is a symbol of Prahlāda. It will remain. It will be untouched by the fire. So dharmo rakṣita rakṣitaḥ: when you protect the dharma, dharma will protect you. And that is why the naimittika avatāra is that kind of naimittika avatāra, which is the twenty-fourth. Now, the twenty-fourth one is Kālī Avatāra, and it is also said in śāstras when and how, in which way, Kālī will incarnate or will come. So today is the Holī... Tomorrow I will tell you then more about this, what people are then doing. So tomorrow we will again talk. My dear ones, all, I wish you a happy Holī, and this Holī should purify all negative energy from your house, from your gardens, from your surroundings. All the negative energies and negative thoughts should be purified from your body, from your mind, from your consciousness, as well as all. The illness should be burned. Illnesses are also the negative rākṣasas in our body, so we pray that this also will be burned. Through the fire, yoga agni karma dagdhani, through the fire of yoga, all karma can be burned. So, positive thinking. And let be born in your heart the Prahlāda, the bhakta Prahlāda. You are the incarnation of the bhakta Prahlāda in your heart. So, always repeat your mantra, practice, and prayer. God is the protector. He will protect all of us, and we are safe in his hands. But you know, till this day, till this evening, how much Prahlāda had to suffer? How much did he have to suffer? In school, the teachers were angry. They were beating him, then they threw him from the hills. Then they threw him between the crocodiles, hungry crocodiles. They threw him between the elephants, and so much. But finally, the bhakta does not matter what happened. The bhakta said, "God, you are in my heart. No one can touch me. My faith is eternal." And so, this is the glimpse of the holy festival you can read about in the Purāṇas, the beautiful stories of the... Narasiṁhāvatāra. And I wish you that God protect our whole planet. God protect us all and give us positive. Till tomorrow, 9:30 the same time. I wish you all the best and God's. Oṁ Namaḥ Śrī Prabhu Dīpanārāyaṇam. Oṁ Namaḥ Śrī Haṁsabhādas Prabhusaraṇ Parāyaṇam. Haṁsabhadāsa Prabhusaraṇaṁ Namaḥ Śrī Prabhu Dīpanārāyaṇaṁ. Oṁ Namaḥ Śrī Prabhu Dīpanārāyaṇaṁ. Hamsaśabdasa Prabhu Śaraṇapara Hose. Śrī Prabhudeva Hose. Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān Dev Purīṣa Mahādeva Satguru Svāmī Mādhāvanājī Bhagavān. Sanātana Dharma kī... a teacher...