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Greatness of His Name

Dharma is the essential law of existence, and adhering to it is the human purpose. All elements in creation follow their inherent nature, but humans alone can deviate from their dharma through ignorance. To protect dharma is to be protected by it. The divine principle manifests through service, which is deemed greater than liberation. The sacred name is a potent vehicle for crossing the ocean of worldly illusion. One who is guided by the Guru's word and the divine name is successful, while one guided solely by personal desire suffers. Time is the most precious commodity; it cannot be bought and waits for no one. Every action generates karma, the balancing force between righteousness and unrighteousness, and one's final thoughts reveal the accumulated state of the soul.

"Dharma rakṣata rakṣata. If you protect the dharma, then dharma will protect you."

"Satguru nām jahāj hai. The name of the Gurudev is the ferry or boat."

Filming location: Wellington, New Zealand

Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān Kī Jaya! Śrī Śrī Dev Purīṣa Mahādeva Kī Jaya! Satguru Swami Madhavānandjī Bhagavān Kī Jai! Satya Sanātan Dharma Kī Jaya! Blessings to all the dear bhaktas. It is a beautiful day and a beautiful time. Humans possess certain qualities that can turn negative or positive. There is a prayer: "O Lord, O God, O Prabhu, you are the giver of bliss. O Prabhu, give me the right knowledge, give me concentration and meditation, and give me that love so that I can renounce everything for the sake of all creatures." We all try to maintain, cultivate, and utilize the best part of our being through our actions and through our seva. Gurujī used to say in satsaṅg that once God wanted to know what is greater: mokṣa or sevā? So God put on a scale seva on one side and mokṣa on the other. Surprisingly, the seva was heavier than mokṣa. Therefore, God also decided to come to this earth. He creates his Vaikuṇṭha or Svarga, and he incarnates here to serve the dīna-dukhī. 'Deen' means the meek ones. 'Dukhi' are those who are troubled. It is for dharma kī rakṣā, adharma kā nāśa—to save the dharma and remove or destroy the adharma. God knows that all creatures and all animals follow their dharma, their nature. The four seasons follow their dharma: winter as winter, cool; summer as summer, warm, and so on. All the tattvas follow the dharma, and all animals follow their dharma by nature. But there is only one who, out of ignorance or certain circumstances, does not follow the dharma and goes out of it. That is a human. So it is said in the Vedas for humans: "Dharma rakṣata rakṣata." If you protect the dharma, then dharma will protect you. If you do not protect the dharma, dharma will not protect you. The dharma of fire is to give heat. If there is only fake fire, there is no warmth. It looks like fire, but it is not real fire. The dharma of our ears is to hear. If you cannot protect your ears, then your ears cannot protect you. The dharma of your eyes is to see. If you cannot protect your eyesight, your eyes cannot protect you. Similarly, in the entire universe and on this planet, everything has its dharma. If we go out of our dharma and do what we want, there are two kinds of persons described in the Guru Granth Sāhib's Sikh religion and also in Hinduism. The Sikh is a branch of the Hindu. They are Guru Mukhī and Man Mukhī. Guru Mukhī is one who has received initiation and a name. That name means the name of God, a mantra. In the Guru Granth Sāhib, the holy book, and in the Sikh religion of Punjab, they place great concentration on the point called Nām. Nāma, the name. The name means God's name. In one bhajan it is said: "Rām se baḍā hai Rām kā nām." The name of God is greater than God's form. There is a story from the Rāmāyaṇa. When God Rāma and all his bhaktas—monkeys, bears, and others—needed to go to Śrī Laṅkā, there was no way; there was no big boat or ferry. So Hanumānjī decided to build a bridge. This was over 10,000 years ago. Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa were sitting while others were working. God Rāma said to Lakṣmaṇa, "We should also work," so it would be done quickly. You see the faith, devotion, and seva of the Bhakta. Hanumanjī is known as the great buddhimān, having great intellect or viveka. Hanumanjī is also acknowledged as an incarnation of Lord Śiva. Hanumanjī and Gaṇeśa are both known as great thinkers with great power and very positive minds. Hanumanjī took a stone, wrote "Śrī Rām" on it, and threw it into the ocean. The stone floated. Hanumanjī then told all his friends—the dhārmic monkeys, bears, and many other creatures (not humans, because at that time God Rāma was in the forest for fourteen years and had vowed not to stay in villages or with humans)—to do the same. He followed his words. For humans to follow their words, a promise is a promise. "Raghu kula rīt sadā chalī āī, prāṇa jāī, par vachana na jāī." It is the tradition of the dynasty of Raghu, meaning Rāma and all humans. Once you give your saṅkalpa and your word, you will keep it even at the cost of your life; you will not change your word. So the people carried stones, wrote "Śrī Rām" on them, and threw them into the ocean. All the stones floated, forming a bridge. Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa also worked. Lakṣmaṇa wrote "Śrī Rām," threw a stone, and it floated. Then Rāma wrote "Śrī Rām," threw a stone, and it sank. Rāma thought, "They have more spiritual power than me." He tried again, and the stone sank again. Hanumanjī was carrying a big stone and looked at God Rāma, smiling gently—Hanumānjī had a gentle way of humor. God Rāma said, "Hanumānjī, come here. When you write Śrī Rāma and throw the stones, they float. When I throw, they sink." Hanumanjī said, "Yes, Lord, that is correct." Rāma asked, "Do you have more power?" Hanumanjī replied, "Yes, Lord, we have more power. But Lord, whom you throw away from your hands has no chance to survive or cross the ocean. It will go down. 'Down' means naraka. So please, do not throw it away; keep it with you. We have the power of your name. Your name is not only a name but is yourself. Therefore, with our devotion, this stone floats, and we are already building the bridge halfway; it is ready." When God Rāma later returned to take Sītā back from Rāvaṇa, Bhagavān Rāma blessed the bridge and it set down. That was called Rāma Setu. The original name of the bridge is Rām Setu. The whole bridge settled. Through satellites, pictures were taken, and they saw a link like a bridge between Śrī Laṅkā and India. Unfortunately, the government of India decided to make international transfers with large ferries and wanted to break that bridge. There was a protest around the whole world, not only by Hindus but by many others. They took pictures from the satellite again, and scientists said, "Yes, it is not a natural rock formation; it is something man-made." They named it Adam's Bridge, but its original name is Rāma Setu. When certain people come into power, they make decisions. They decided to break the bridge and brought a very expensive drilling machine with a big disc to cut it. Many thousands of people protested, but they proceeded. They went underwater, started the machine, and it broke. They brought a second, very expensive machine, and it also broke. A third machine broke as well. So now it is in a kind of state; by law, the government is thinking about it but waiting for certain decisions. When God lets something go from his hands or from his heart, it has no chance. "Jisko rakhe śaīyā, mar sake na koī." Whom God wants to protect, no one can kill. That bridge was made by God, and if someone tries to break it, no one can break it, even underwater at such depth. In the Guru Granth Sāhib, the holy book, it is said: "Satguru nām jahāj hai." The name of the Gurudev is the ferry or boat. "Chadesha utre par." Whoever sits in it will cross the ocean of this māyā or this saṃsāra. If, with confidence and faith, you sit inside, the Gurudev will definitely bring you to the other shore, to the mainland. That Gurudev is the captain of that boat. So trust that captain. But if you jump out of your own will, it is not the captain's mistake. Then, of course, there are many others waiting for you outside in the water—large white creatures with open mouths, about nine meters long, sharks. This means all the negative rakṣa vṛttis, the demonic energies that wait to take your vṛttis and you to lower and lower levels, the reptilian realms, and you will have to remain there for a long time. Therefore, in the Guru Granth Sahib, the Nām is very important. Nāma means mantra, God's name, Gurudev's name. There is a call: one is called Guru Mukhī. Guru Mukhī is one who has received initiation or a mantra, who has heard the mantra from the Gurudev. He or she will not decide by themselves; they will decide through that name, through the name of God. As we say, "I trust in the name of God." That will always be successful. The other is Manmukhī. Manmukhī means "Do what I want." They do not follow. Manmukhī will never be successful and will suffer. You may be temporarily happy, but finally the result is very bad. Yesterday I was invited to some meetings in parliament. There were many dignitaries. There was one elderly Sikh man with a long white beard. I said to him, "Sat Savikār." He said, "Swāmījī Mahārāj, I was waiting to talk to you, to come near you and speak." I told him two poems from the Guru Granth Sahib, and he said, "Yes, Swamiji, this is the main thing, the strength of our belief and our faith, that we survive around the whole world. We have our dharma, our name: Guru Nānak, Guru Gobind Singh, and all these." Therefore, the sādhanā a human does, and the energy a human has, should be utilized in such a beautiful way that the name of God is forever. The form of God is temporary because it is in this world, but the name will remain. Therefore, nāma means your mantra, your prayers. Through this, when a sādhaka, a practitioner, does something in this world and does sādhanā, they will be successful. So, have inner faith, inner decision, keep your words, keep your promise, and do your sādhanā. God will do the rest. He will always be with us and will always help. I have told a story many times. Kuntī, the mother of Arjuna, asked Kṛṣṇa for a blessing. She said she wanted troubles for the bhaktas and temporary happiness in the saṁsāra for those who are not bhaktas. Kṛṣṇa asked, "Why like this? Bhaktas should have no troubles." She said, "No." She explained: "Because when you are very happy, then you forget God." Yesterday, at the gathering, many people had alcohol or juice in their glasses, and everyone was looking at who was doing what. In that moment, I think there were very few vṛttis of God. But one man told me, "You are a guru, no?" I said, "Maybe." He said, "It's very interesting. Whenever I see you, I remember some spiritual things." When they saw me—hundreds of people, about 150 or 200—it didn't matter if they knew me or not, if they believed or not, but a vṛtti awoke in them. They sensed a person who is spiritual or has to do with God. Similarly, when you have in your heart the memory of your Gurudev, or the memory of God, or your mantra and your promise, then your vṛtti is connected and always brings happiness and spirituality. Otherwise, you are dancing, drinking, running, jumping, saying "hi, he, who, hey," not "Jai, jai, Hari Om." So Kuntī said to Kṛṣṇa, "If such happiness comes to bhaktas, they will forget you. And when they forget you, they will go to Naraka. When you have a lot of troubles and pain, you cannot enjoy. You will say, 'God, oh God.' Everyone is dancing on the beach, and someone with a lot of pain is sitting there saying, 'Oh God, I hope the ambulance comes quickly.'" Pain and troubles remind us of God. Therefore, Kuntī said, "Kṛṣṇa, I thought a lot about this, and I ask that You bless that those who have troubles will be the bhaktas, and those who have happiness are not the bhaktas, because they will forget in that happiness. We should not forget." Therefore, it is said in one verse: "Bhajan, Govinda merī yeh prathānā hai, ki bhūlunā mein nām kabhī tumhārā." O Kṛṣṇa, this is my prayer to Thee, that I never forget Your name. "Yeh naam tera din raat gaun." O Lord, this is Your name which I sing day and night. "Govinda, Dāmodara, Mādhava iti." O Krishna, Thy name day and night. Lord, I wish that at the end of this life, You are in front of me. You are standing in front of me, O Kṛṣṇa, playing Your sweet melody on the flute, and my citta vṛttis, my consciousness, merges in Your divine resonance, in the love of Your flute, and I become one with Thee, O Lord. So, in the last minutes of your life, which words will come out of your mouth? That decides how spiritual you are. Gandhījī's last words were "Hey Rām." After all he did and what happened, his last word was "Hey Rāma, O God Rāma." This means Gandhijī was a bhakta of God Rāma. He didn't say some other name. He was full of tolerance and prayed to every god, but his iṣṭadevatā, his mantra, was Rāma. So he said, "Hey Rama." In Delhi, India, there is Gandhījī's Samādhi. Every day, fresh flowers are placed with "Hey Rama" written on them. Many of you have been to India and seen Gandhiji's museum and samādhi; you should go see it. There are many people who, at the end, might say, "Oh, you devil," or curse, or anger comes out. This means it is still in your mind; you did not purify it. So at the end, judgment will come. God will judge. The final truth is in Brahman. "Brahma satyaṁ, jagan mithyā." So all our sādhanās, all our struggling with āsurī śaktis and devī śaktis—try your best to keep on the level of your spiritual work, spiritual thoughts, your mantras. Be sure your account will be higher on the spiritual side. At the end, the bank of your spirituality will be seen: which good karmas you have, how many bad words and good words you have, how many bad thoughts and good thoughts you have, how many bad karmas and good karmas you have. The balance is there. That's why they are called the dharmarāja. Dharmarāja and Yamarāja are the two kings. Dharmarāja is the king of justice for dharma. Yamarāja is the king of justice for adharma. Dharmarāja has his book of destiny. We always say, in the book of my destiny, which is in the office of the Dharmarāja, everything is recorded and will be judged. Then there is adharma, opposite to dharma. All this goes in the direction of adharma, to lower life. Who knows, according to which sin we may go even to the reptilian realm or lower. Or, through dharma, we can one day become Brahmā. One day Brahmā again changes position; it doesn't matter the time—billions, trillions of yugas—but it will come. The light of the soul is there. Therefore, those who have dharma will enter into Brahmā. Between dharma and adharma, the balancing factor is called karma, the karma principle. Some say, "I don't believe in karma." Okay, then go to your neighbor's house and break everything. The police will come and take you. You say, "I don't believe in karma." But you broke the house, so the police took you. Immediately, karma came back. If you say, "I don't believe in my karma," and you jump from the fifth floor, what will happen? When you jump, that is a karma. So karma means not only doing bad to others but also harming yourself. Therefore, do not neglect time. To neglect time, to not respect time, is a sin. As the wise man said, if you are not cautious about time, that is a sin. Time is the most precious thing. You can buy everything, but you cannot buy time. When Dharmarāja calls, and you say, "Please, God, give me five minutes till my wife comes so I can hand over my checkbooks or sign something," Yama Rāja will say, "No, finished." Like cutting cheese with a knife. Yama, or the angels, will come to take you. Both will say there is no time left for you. Finished. It is a quarter of a second. The last breath. You may want to say, "My dear one," but you cannot; your mouth remains open. There is no time left to close your lips again. So precious is human life, especially for humans. Your life or your time is like water dripping from your palm, or like fine sand: try to hold a handful, but it runs out. "Samay jā rahā hai." Time is passing. When Bhagavān Rāma was in Śrī Laṅkā, Lakṣmaṇa was struck by an arrow from Rāvaṇa's army and became unconscious. They called an Āyurveda doctor—this was 10,000 years ago. Some Āyurveda people today say Āyurveda is 5,000 years old. I said, "You are an Āyurveda doctor saying 5,000 years? Where is your brain? Who is the lord of Āyurveda?" He said, "Dhanvantari." When was he? In Satyuga. How many millions of years ago? People do not search for the roots, the reality from where it comes. The Vaidya came; he was from Rāvaṇa's kingdom. They said, "He is a doctor of Rāvaṇa; he will kill Lakṣmaṇa." They called him, and the doctor said no—as a doctor, in treatment you have no enemy. He said, "Lakṣmaṇa's life is finished. He has only a few hours more. When the sun rises, Lakṣmaṇa will die." Hanumanjī was standing there and said, "Tell me, is there anywhere in the universe, not only on earth, some medicine which can save his life?" He said, "Yes, in the Himalayas there is the Sanjivani herb." He described where in the Himalayas, on which hill, and how it looks: at night, it sparkles and shines. Hanumanjī said, "No problem, I will bring it." Rāma said, "Hanuman, the Himalayas are so far." Everyone said, "Hanuman jī, it's thousands of kilometers." He said, "No problem." A bhakta with siddhi, he left. Perhaps a rocket is not so quick as Hanumān jī. He landed there, but the Rākṣasas, through mental telepathy and magic power, made all the herbs and plants sparkle. Hanumanjī did not know which was the real Sanjīvanī and had no time. He took the whole hill and flew back. While Hanuman jī was deciding and thinking, a few minutes were delayed. God Rāma was standing and saying: "Śaśī ḍhal rahā, śame ṭal rahā, Lakṣmaṇ kī prāṇa jā rahā, Hanumān kab āogā, na mālum mere, kis janam kā karma phal rahā." "The moon is setting, time is passing. Hanuman, when will you come? Lakṣmaṇa's life is going. Hanuman, when will you come? Who knows from which life my karmas are now active?" So many lives' karma can suddenly come to you and make your buddhi bhrṣṭa, so everything becomes negative in your mind, or all distractions are there. Therefore, time is precious. So karma, karma pradhāna—between dharma and adharma, karma is here. And between life and death, time is there. Time does not wait for anyone, and karma does not let anyone out. But through wisdom, guru-vākyā, guru-bhakti, guru-sādhanā, the Gurudev can warn you, and you can divert your way, and your destiny is gone then, finished. A tiger is running behind you. You sit in an airplane and take off. The tiger cannot jump that high, and you take a nice photo of the tiger. That's how it is. This is the whole work of sādhakas in the name. That name of God is "Rāma." "I am Rāma." "Oṁ to Guha." Greater than God's armies is God's name. Therefore Kabīr Dās said: "Bhakti is the road." "Oṁ, I D G, you my guru." "The more car they were." "O Lord, give me bhakti, nothing else. You are the giver of everything. I don't need anything. Only one thing: give me bhakti. Bhaktiro dāna dātā dīje." Which one? The name. "Māre guru devam kā dev. O my guru dev, you are the lord of the lord for me. Janam dhar vishru nahi. Even I have many, many lives, but I am not separating from you. My devotion, my bhakti, be akhaṇḍ, unbreakable, to Thee, oh my Lord." That is the nature of the soul. I am not speaking; this is what Gurū Nānak Sāhib said, what Kabīr Dās said, what Bhagavān Rām said. These are the Guru's vākyas. The learning from them, if we follow, we will benefit. If we do not follow, then we are like thirsty people coming to a clean, nice water fountain. If you drink, drink it. If you go without drinking, go thirsty. You are not forced to do it, but you decide to do it in your favor. Dīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavānakī Om Namo Śrī Prabhu. Deepa Nārāyaṇam Om Namo Śrī Prabhu. Hama śabdasā Prabhu śaraṇa parāyaṇam. Māṃ śaraṇa parāyaṇam. Mausere Prabhu mausere. Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān kī jai, Śrī Śrī Dev Puruṣa Mahādev kī jai, Dharma Samrāṭ Satguru Svāmī Madhavānandjī Bhagavān Kī Jai, Satya Sanātana Dharma Kī Jai. Om Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ... Shanti, Shanti... Devā Kī Chāyā.

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:

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