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Om Śānti. Deep Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān Kī Jai. Deveśvara Mahādeva Kī Jai. Mādhav Kṛṣṇa Bhagavān Satya Sanātana Dharma Kṛṣṇan. Good evening and good morning. Some countries say morning, and some countries say evening. Today I received a phone call from Mauritius. They said, "Swāmījī, we are so happy, and we saw the lecture, and it was beautiful." So, around the world, there are many bhaktas who have benefited. For some it is good morning, for some it is good evening, and for some it is a very good night. This morning, we were receiving the blessing of Mahāprabhujī. What is prayer, and what is the power of prayer? I shared a poem yesterday: God himself begins to speak. The place, the seat that we are sitting on, from which one gives a lecture or a course, is spiritual. This has a particular name; you may call it a holy chair, a holy seat. We call it a Gāḍī. Gāḍī means that holy seat which goes traditionally from one successor to another. Only they have the right to sit on it. Just as in your White House, there is one seat only for the president. When the president goes into another room to eat and some people are standing there, they will not go and sit on that chair. They could sit, but by protocol, it is not correct. So we call it Gāḍī, and we also call it the āsana. Āsana means where you sit. Āsana means not only yoga postures, but you have your own āsana, your yoga mat. Whenever a holy person moves or travels, you carry an āsana with you for sitting. Also, āsana can be where you sleep. That is your āsana. This āsana, your particular seat, is where nobody else should sit, because the energy from others can transfer to you. All practitioners should carry their own āsana—your yoga mat, or a nice, clean cloth, white, green, blue, red, or yellow as you prefer. It should be about one meter by one meter, or 80 by 80 centimeters, depending on your size. That cloth is a very fine cotton cloth. When you sit, you put it down and sit on it. It can be made of cotton or wool. A more pure and effective āsana is called kuśāsana. Kuśāsana. Kuśa is a type of grass, so there is a particular mat made from that grass, beautifully crafted. Those who were with me in Nepal saw it. Many people, especially Europeans, transferred to Europe and some to Australia. At the border, they inspected it and tasted it, but it was fine, so she could take it with her. Now our Mukti, dear Mukti from Vienna, she carries her kuśāsana. How did you bring it over the border? This is the real kuśāsana, and it is very nice for meditation. It keeps your own energy and does not absorb energy from others. It is very, very nice. A cold floor does not affect you; a hot floor does not affect you. Negative radiance from the earth, perhaps from underground water flowing, or different kinds of radiance that can cause blocks—this āsana protects you. In case there is an electric shock and you are sitting in a room with an unnatural floor, everyone there might get a shock and go into samādhi, but we would need someone to help them. If you sit on this āsana, the electric shock will not come through. It holds your own energy. In America, there is also such grass. In the Guru Gītā, sitting on the kuśāsana is mentioned. It is very healthy and good. Your meditation becomes very, very good. We can import it, definitely. The American Agriculture Department would let it through after some tests to ensure there are no bugs, and then it is all right. This is a proper āsana. When you go to practice your meditation and yoga, if you bring a thin linen cloth and put it on your yoga mat, you do not know who was sitting there before or what kind of energy or vibrations they had. Whose socks were not clean for a few days, as I said yesterday. So on your yoga mat, you put a nice cloth, or have your own yoga mat with a cotton cover over it. From time to time, you wash it. That is perfect. This is the very good kuśāsana. Also, when I first spoke about karmakāṇḍa, yajñas, and pūjās, they sit on the kuśāsana and make a ring out of it for performing the yajña and havan. This particular grass is very pure, very holy, very divine. So this is kuśāsana. If you sit on this kuśāsana, you will feel very pure, very relaxed, and very good. It is also soft and nice, and you carry it with you like a yoga mat. This is your kuśāsana, so that you preserve your own spiritual energy and no other energy comes in. When you meditate and sit, others should not touch your body. Do not sit with your knee touching others' knees. Sometimes people lean on others, and that is okay. But to recharge your energy, that is very important on this āsana. Now, this āsana we also call the Vyāsa Gāḍī, Vyāsa Gāḍī. Bhagavān Vyāsa, the great saint, Ṛṣi Vyāsa, was the Trikāla Darśī, the knower of past, present, and future. Thanks to him, he dictated and wrote the Vedas. Before that, there was nothing written. Knowledge was only verbally given to disciples, and whatever disciples remembered, they passed on further. So Śrotriya. Satguru Dev is known as a Brahmaniṣṭha Śrotriya—a knower of Brahman who can inspire us and give us knowledge. Brahmaniṣṭha means one who knows the value of Brahman. Śrotriya means one who can speak, inspire us, and impart knowledge. So at that time, it was Brahmaniṣṭha Śrotriya, Satguru Dev. Śrotriya. Now, the Śrotriya who speaks shared the knowledge he received from his master. What he remembers is called Smṛti, the memory. So, Smṛti, Śrotriya (the speaker, the memory), and Śrotta (you who are listening). But time passed slowly, and many mantras were lost because people, lazy like us, did not remember and forgot them. They were selfish, lazy, and so on. So Vyāsa, Bhagavān Vyāsa thought that in Kali Yuga, this knowledge would be lost. The whole of mankind would be in darkness. He decided to dictate, but he could not write. He searched for someone who could write for him. But such persons are very rare. Bhagavān Vyāsa said, "When I begin to speak, do not ask me questions, please. Do not ask, 'What did you say?' No, my wisdom will just flow. It will not come back. So I need someone to whom I speak, and he writes perfectly, exactly, with no mistakes." It is said that Bhagavān Gaṇeśa, Gaṇeśajī Bhagavān, said, "Ṛṣi Vyāsa, I will do this for you." So Gaṇeśa, Vyāsa said to Gaṇeśa, "But there is a condition." Bhagavān Gaṇeśa said, "Yes, what is it?" "I will not repeat again what I have spoken." Gaṇeśa said, "Okay, I agree." But then Gaṇeśa also said, "But I also have my condition." Vyāsa said, "What is it?" "I will not stop writing for one second. So you must not overthink and then tell me to stop. My pencil, my pen will just flow without stopping." Vyāsa said, "Okay." And so continuously, the Vedas were written. That great Vyāsa was born on the full moon day. That full moon day is coming, not this one, but the next. That full moon day is acknowledged as Guru Pūrṇimā. The name of that Guru Pūrṇimā is also called Vyāsa Pūrṇimā. So Vyāsa was that Gurudev who spoke and wrote many, many literatures and Vedas. Where he was sitting, no one was allowed to sit except the successor. This is called the Vyāsa Gāḍī. You sit on this. This is your āsana of Bhagavān Vyāsa. When you sit on this Gāḍī, you should be physically, mentally, emotionally, and intellectually very pure. Otherwise, it can turn you into confusion. For so many ages, this Vyāsa Kathā has existed. Now in India, when someone gives a spiritual talk, whether reading the Rāmāyaṇa, the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, the Gītā, or other spiritual literatures, he sits there. That person is acknowledged as a Vyāsa himself. And that book should be placed higher than his seat because the book represents Vyāsa, the holy book, what they call Guru Grantha Saha. In the Sikh tradition or Sikh religion, the holy book, which contains the words of the Gurudev, is called Guru Vākya. Finally, it was written, and Guru Nānak said that in Kali Yuga, such a Guru would not be easily found. Therefore, they closed it. So all from Sikh traditions take that book as the Guru. They have a Guru Grantha. In that Guru Grantha, Guru Nanak writes, "Guru Granthako Janiye." O my devotees, disciples, know the Guru. Grantha means the book, the holy book. Know that holy book, Guru Grantha. "Pragyat Guran Ki De," that is not a book; it is the embodiment of the Gurudev, your Gurudev. That is not a book. In the heart is the truth, a devotion. They will see the embodiment of Gurudev in the book of the Gurudevs. So the book of the Gurudev is not a normal newspaper or something. Always adore bhajan books; we should always keep them elevated. In Mahāprabhujī himself, in Devpurījī, Holy Gurujī, Kabīr Rājī, Mīrā Bāī, Nānak Rājī—in all holy saints, to put this book down under your feet is a sin. Because through that, this light will reflect on you. And when you sit on this holy seat, do not think that you will talk. When you think that you will talk, then your talk will be confused. But if you become a medium, a channel of that Satguru's wisdom, then through this channel, the Guruvākya will transfer into your heart. And from your heart, Gurudev is speaking; you are only the medium. So become the channel of the divine wisdom, become a channel of the divine love. But if you take it as a selfish channel, the flow will block again. If you think that you will take it for yourself, there will be a blockage. It is said that what flows in you should flow further. And that is through words, through satsaṅg. When you give, it flows further. So whenever I speak, I think, "Nāhaṁ kartā, Prabhudeep kartā, Mahāprabhudeep kartā hi kevalam." He is only talking through me. Devapurījī is taking care. Holy Gurujī is guiding. There is all this trinity: Devapurījī, Mahāprabhujī, and Gurujī. They bless. And when I close my eyes, I see, from all sides, light comes from their palms or from their face. Gently, Gurujī tells me, "Yes, go ahead, speak." That is my experience. Whenever I speak, always some new wisdom comes. From where? You see, when I come from here to my room door, I do not have many books. I will sit and read and read, and then it will come: I have no time to read. When I come, there are many telephones, and now more, what we call the webcast. There are many castes, and one caste more is called the web caste. It was the broadcast, and now from broadcast is the webcast. And now, I do not know what will come next, caste. But it is He who speaks. "Aisā merā satguru andar bole," Mahāprabhujī said, like that my Gurudev speaks in me. So, āsana, gāḍī, seat, has to be kept clean and adored. When we go to Khattu, Mahāprabhujī's bed is there. Everyone goes and bows down and adores it. No one goes to sit on that bed. Even a person who does not know anything about it comes here automatically. The surrendering bhāva, feeling, comes. Or when we go to the Kailash ashram, where the Devapurījīs' Gāḍīs are, no one dares to sit on them. Similarly, in the Nepal ashram, Gurujī's seat, no one will dare to sit there. Automatically, that Vyāsa Gāḍī gives you energy and everything. So from there, "sab ghat mera sanya," in every heart is Lord. "Koigat?" No heart is empty without God's light. But my adoration, I surrender to that heart in which He himself appears and dwells, His presence there, and He speaks. Therefore, satsaṅgs are very important. Now, for example, when there is a satsaṅg and I am not here, someone should sit on this chair. This is your gurugāḍī, so you have no rights; only the successor will come and sit. If you do it, it is a sin. There will be negative energy that will come, and it will destroy your devotion and everything because you did not respect. But the principle is that in the satsaṅg, when someone speaks, they should sit in front of you on a chair. That person will automatically receive devotion and clarity. So try when I am not here. You should say, "Next satsaṅg, who will give?" And that person should come and sit on that chair. You can put an āsana, a white cloth, it does not matter, sitting here or there, or sit on the floor, but in the front. See the miracle of how it becomes. These fine feelings, this tradition—it is not a material tradition; it is spirituality. People got lost, and so, dry knowledge. You will make exercises, this and that, and, "Oh my God, but my yoga is very good." That is then a whole deal. Okay, your body is torturing you, and you are torturing the body. So the light of prayers throughout the whole world, in every tradition where humans exist, it does not matter which culture or language, there are prayers in their own way. Even people living in the forest, who were not so civilized, were praying. In Satyuga, be sure, they did not have nice cloth like you, the plastic, synthetic cloths. Sometimes they had the skins of animals, and mostly they had grass. But their meditation, their sādhanā, their prayers were verified. Now, if you cannot pray so much and have karma yoga, seva, that replaces your prayers. One day the time will come that you have to pray. There was what we call the time of the Mahābhārata, you know, the time of Kṛṣṇa, the Mahābhārata. Mahā means the great, biggest, and Bhārata also means the battlefield, the fight. It took place in Kurukṣetra in India. That was a fight between two brothers, driven by greed. The elder brother was a king. No, the younger brother was a king and the elder one was not a king. But the tradition is this: the elder one should become a king, but he was blind. So they said, "We do not want a blind king." So the younger one became king. But that blind king was married to someone. Her name was Gāndhārī. At that time, the place was what we now call Afghanistan. India extended till Turkey, the entire Middle East, and all the islands—Indonesia, Bali, Thailand, all of this. Thailand's king and kingdom were given by Rama's kingdom. Every king's successor is called Rāma. Well, the whole world belongs to God. Now there are political borders. Gāndhārī's brother wished very much that his brother-in-law, the husband of Gāndhārī, should become king. And if not, then at least the first child of Gāndhārī should become the next successor. You know the whole Mahābhārata. You can see that because of greed, brother becomes the greatest enemy to gain position, to have this. When parents die, you see how brothers and sisters fight over who will inherit what—who will take how much money, or land, or the house. There you see reactions between sister and brother. But it must not be all. There are many very good ones who say, "Brother, take what you like," or "Sister, you can have it." But they were brothers fighting. At the same time, before that, there was God Rāma. And his stepbrother Bharat. His mother asked that Rama should not become king, that her son should become king. But Bharat said, "Never, no, only Rama will be the king." You know the whole story. You should look at this Ramayana. You should look at this Mahābhārata. The Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata are within us. You will see it all. It is your quality. So it is very good. You should watch, once a week, one episode or two episodes. There are subtitles written in English. At that time, when God, Rāmakṛṣṇa was there, God said, "Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata." You know this mantra. "O Arjuna, from time to time I manifest myself from my yoga māyā. When dharma is suppressed and adharma rises, then I incarnate to destroy adharma and establish dharma again, to protect all spiritual people and devotees." Nitya avatāra and nimitta avatāra. Nitya avatāra is a saint, and nimitta avatāra is like God Rāma, Kṛṣṇa, and so on. There are 24 avatāras according to the counting of Vedic culture. So, at that time, when Krishna was there, there was one king, Śiśupāla. Śiśupāla turned away; he joined other negative societies, negative company or kudharma, not dharma. He turned against Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa. He began to shout at Kṛṣṇa, blame Kṛṣṇa, and made so many mistakes. It is said that God came to remove this rākṣasa energy, these rākṣasas. There was a meeting, an audience with many kings, and Kṛṣṇa and all the Pāṇḍavas were there. Śiśupāla began to speak very badly, shouting at Kṛṣṇa. They all said, "Kṛṣṇa, what are you waiting for? Remove this devil from here." Krishna said, "I am waiting till the pot is full, the poison pot." One more drop, and it will explode. Still missing, still his negative words. It was written in his destiny that he would make many mistakes, and then would come his end. Then Viṣṇu said, "I will overtake." Draupadī was there, you know, Draupadī in the Mahābhārata, and Arjuna, and Bhima, you know, all these. Śiśupāla was so wild and talking so negatively. Then Kṛṣṇa said, "Now, that was the last word. I was waiting till then." And Krishna made his index finger like this, and what appeared on his finger? The Sudarśana Cakra. When the Sudarśana Cakra comes into His hands, then there is no more chance. The Sudarśana Cakra went and severed the neck of Śiśupāla. The Sudarśana Cakra again disappeared. But when it went so quickly from His finger, from God Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa, blood came. It was a little hurt. Blood began to flow. Everybody said, "Oh God, Krishna's finger is hurt or injured. Oh, this..." Everybody said, "We should bring some medicine or something like this." But Draupadī was standing beside, and she quickly reacted. She acted quickly and took her beautiful, very precious sari, tore it, and wrapped it around the finger of Krishna. Everyone was sitting; everyone had some nice cloth, a turban or something, they could have done it too. But all were thinking, "Oh God, oh God." Like there is a story within a story. One disciple and master were living in a hut, and one day, Gurujī wanted to know if his disciple was really a disciple or selfish—if he really surrendered, if he loved him or not. Guruji said to the disciple, "I think this is my last day, beta. My son, this is the last day. I have such pain in my heart." He said, "Gurudev, what can I do? Tell me something: I can do everything to save your life." Guruji said, "I need a new heart. If anyone can give me a heart." He said, "Yes, Gurujī, please hold on. Just relax." He ran to the village and asked everybody. This has happened. Can someone give a heart for Gurujī? Everyone said, "No, well, I have children." He was disappointed and went back. Guruji said, "Did you bring my son the heart?" He said, "Gurudev, no one is ready to give a heart." Gurudev said, "But you have a heart; you could give me yours." Yes, that is it. Saibhādevī, you also have the heart. So, that is that. How far is the disciple? So Draupadi immediately acted and tore her own sari and put it, like a plaster, on Krishna's finger. What did Krishna do? He looked at Draupadī and smiled. He smiled and said, "Draupadī, tumne mujhe terā reṇī manā diyā." Now I became... "reṇī ko kyā gāo gayī?" No. "Now you owe, I owe you, oh Draupadī, Draupadī." One thread of this sari—how many threads are there? For each thread, I will give you back when you need it, billions of times when you will need it. Now, this is our karma yoga, this is our sādhanā. When we do, do not expect immediate karma fruits. Do not say, "Oh, I did so much work, and this and that, and people were not nice." To me, do not say who is not nice. Surrender, do your action. The fruits will be given by God. You have the right to do your karma; you are free to do it. But you have no right to choose what kind of karma you should get back as fruits. God sees, and He will give. Just go ahead. When you act selfishly, then you get doubt in your heart and clarity: "Why did it happen to me? Why my Gurudev?" He or she can be Gurujī too. Anyone can be Guru, male or female; there is no duality. But you have to achieve that. Now the story goes further. You know many things happened. The greed, and then, the Pāṇḍavas were suffering. The Kauravas were doing so many tricks. One weakness the Pāṇḍavas had was Yudhiṣṭhira. Yudhiṣṭhira was addicted to playing dice. In his playing, the uncle of Duryodhana played a trick, and Yudhiṣṭhira began to lose and lose. He played everything. Nothing remained. Then Duryodhana and his uncle Śakuni said, "But you still have..." They said, "What? Your brothers." So he played all his brothers. "But you have something more." "Who?" "Yourself." So he played himself. He lost. "Now you have nothing. Now, Draupadī is not yours because she is yours; she is ours." The story goes along in this way. Very terrible things happen. Now they want, because he lost more, and they want Draupadi to come to this playhouse, this gambling house, and they want to pull her sari away, her clothes away. No one could help her. The Pāṇḍavas are lost; they cannot get up. Bhishma, the mighty Bhishma, is sitting and holding a chair like this, but he cannot do anything. Duryodhana was very strong, but also Droṇācārya could not do anything, the Guru Droṇācārya, Kṛpācārya and all. And the blind king was sitting there and smiling. So Duryodhana said to his brother Duśāsana, "Go and bring her." She refused; she did not want to come. She closed the door, but they broke it. He held her hand and pulled her to the gambling stage. She was standing there. No one helped her. No one could help. Everyone was sorry and looking. And Śakuni and the Kauravas were laughing. Duryodhana said to his brother Duśāsana, "What are you looking for? What are you waiting for? Go and pull her sārī down." He went and touched her sari to pull it. When there is no one for you there, then only God. So she began to pray to Krishna. Within no time, cloth, the sari was supplied from nowhere, from the sky. Duryodhana was pulling and pulling, and the sari was endless; he was not able to make her body one centimeter naked. He pulled and pulled, and he was completely exhausted, sweating and tired. He fell down, but still Draupadi was completely dressed. The sari was supplied by whom? Krishna. She remembered. He had said, "Draupadi, for each thread of your sari, billions of times, I will pay you back." And so our good deeds, our selfless seva, our karma—God will never forget and will give you back millions of times. But just become a servant, just become a devotee, just become a helper. That means selfless service, that means volunteer, no? Volunteer, sevak. So you do a good thing, you enter into that divine, and that you will get, and you will become rich, life after life. So never say, "I am tired, I am old, I cannot, I do not do, people do not come and help me." After the satsaṅg, they all go home, and I am alone cleaning the kitchen. That is your great luck. Lucky are they who can go and do the seva, clean the kitchen. When Kṛṣṇa was in school, once his gurujī, Sandīpī Ṛṣi, gave a bhaṇḍāra to many, many sādhus. Sandeep Ṛṣi asked all the brahmacārīs, all the students, who would take which responsibilities: to bring the āsana for them, to bring the plate for eating, who would serve this, that, everything. At that time, they were serving food on banana leaves. Everyone took all these duties, but one duty no one took. Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa was looking, and Sandīpa Ṛṣi said, "Kṛṣṇa, why are you silent? What will you do? Which duty will you do?" He said, "I am waiting to see what remains for my brothers; I will do that." So Krishna said, "What will you do?" He said, "I will remove and clean the plates after they eat." You call it dirty, but we do not call the used ones dirty. No one was ready to clear all the plates that others had eaten from. Krishna said, "I will do it," you see. So there is ego and selfishness which should be given up. Therefore, our seva, our volunteer seva, our support—everything we do—God sees and it is recorded by Him. In spirituality, do not think... That I will only meditate? I have no time to meditate. I have no time to read. I am always working in the office and this and that, and at home and this. Yes, you are working well for your bread and cheese and bread. But you should also work for something, your nectar of immortality. That kind of seva. Whoever does not understand seva has doubt. Then it is sad. Then one looks for something different, or looks for a chance to go or disappear. Seva. "Janam janam kī sevā," life after life, I want to do seva. Therefore, God himself on a scale measured what is better or what is more: seva or mokṣa. He put on the scale, on one side seva, and on the other side mokṣa. And seva was far heavier than mokṣa. So God himself gave up all comfort of Satyaloka or Veṅkuṭaloka or Svarga, whatever you call it, and comes to this earth, to this planet, for seva. So lucky are they, blessed are they, who can do seva. And when you begin to say, "No, nobody is here, I do not like, I am tired, I cannot do," no, you have to awaken people to this consciousness, to what seva means. So, Seva is the greatest divine path, sādhanā. What can you do? That is all for today. I wish you all the best. There are many, many examples, not man-made stories, but real stories. Many, many like this, not only one. Therefore, when someone gave to Mahāprabhujī—some Gurujī used to come from his tour—and whatever he had, he surrendered all to Mahāprabhu. And when Gurujī was going somewhere, Mahāprabhujī said, "I give you some pocket money or something." Mahāprabhujī said, "Gurujī said, 'No, no, no, Guru Dev. Give it to me where I need it. Why should I carry it with me now? Give me when and where I will need it.'" And then Mahāprabhujī said, "Do not worry that you do not know where you will go and who will give you food. Even if you are sitting somewhere in the mountains where no human can reach you, and you are hungry at the time of your eating, I will personally bring you the food." That is a Gurudev. There is another beautiful story I will tell you tomorrow. There was an Empire Satrapati Shivaji, the king of the Maharashtra province of India, where Mumbai and all this belongs—a beautiful story that will be tomorrow in tomorrow evening's satsaṅg. Remind me, or I may forget and tell you other stories. So, Deep Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān, Devīśvara Mahādeva, Mādhav Kṛṣṇa Bhagavān, Sanātana Dharma. Om Śānti, Śānti, Śānti.