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Respect All Cultures And All Beings

A satsang reflecting on the spiritual significance of the Mahākumbh Melā and the nature of Sanātana Dharma.

"The Mahākumbh Melā is a long tradition... It was a meeting point of thousands of the ṛṣis there. Mostly to have discussions about the protection of the environment, protection of the wildlife, and protection of the human society."

"There was only one Dharma, one religion, Sanātana Dharma. A universal religion, not a man-made one, not from a particular incarnation or prophet."

The lecturer addresses the gathering after returning from the Mahākumbh Melā in India. He describes the Melā's ancient origins as a gathering of ṛṣis for spiritual discourse and environmental protection, explaining the concept of Sanātana Dharma as the eternal, unifying principle of the universe. He shares experiences from the pilgrimage, including the initiation of two disciples as Mahāmaṇḍaleśvars, and discusses themes of cultural respect, spiritual discipline, and the pitfalls of jealousy. The talk concludes with congratulations to the new Mahāmaṇḍaleśvar, Swami Vivek Puri, who offers a brief, grateful response.

Filming location: Vép, Hungary

Śikha, śikha, manna, manna, māyāve, Chennai pallabhar, nindanīyave, Chennai pallabhar, visargai, uttama, uttama, Jhaka Darshi Ek Barabha, Jhaka Darshi Ek Barabha, You are the one who has destroyed the world, you are the one who has destroyed the world, I sing, I sing... I sing, I sing. You are the one who destroyed the world... Japa tapati rata vrata sapa dhotha. You are the creator of the universe, You are the Creator of the universe, You are the creator of the universe, You are the creator of the universe, You are the creator of the universe, You are the creator of the universe. You are the destroyer of the world... Nāṁ sōhaṁ sumarāṇṇā nāhi mānu, nāṁ sōhaṁ sumirāṇṇā nāhi mānu. Nāhi sātuḥ prāṇayā nidāpingala sukhamannanai, nidāpingala sukhamannanai manahisivarunthai, manahisivarunthai namannasatnamannamai. Mahī āp alak vinā, Mahī āp alak vinā, Śikha dunyā śikha, Śikha manna manna, Śrī deva puresa, Brahmā hai manna mohana, Siddhipā Puriṣa Brahmā Hemanda Mohana Oṁ Andābhādeśya Oṁ Andābhādeśya Siddhipā Kahi Karankothi Vandana, Siddhipā Kahi Karankothi Vandana, śaraṇa kamalābhiṣāra-māryaṇa kamalābhiṣāra-māryaṇa... Mānaṁ sattva-mānaṁ apahī, āpa-ālaka-vīṇāsi, āpahī, āpa-ālaka-vīṇāsi kīyādunniyāsi. Good evening to everybody, and please continue distributing Prasad. Welcome, all of you, here. After a long time, we are here again, in a beautiful place. Blessings to all our dear ones around the whole world, those who are with us through the webcast. Many of you are here for the first time after my return from the Holy Land, Bhārat, and from the Mahākumbh Melā. This Mahākumbh Melā was very beautiful, very divine. The Mahākumbh Melā is a long tradition. Listen, at the time of the Satya Yuga, you know, there was a great Ṛṣi Bharadvāja, who comes from the Saptaṛṣis, the great Ṛṣi Yājñavalkya, and many other Brahma Ṛṣis. Brahma Ṛṣi means the knower of the Brahman. It was a meeting point of thousands of the ṛṣis there. Mostly to have discussions about the protection of the environment, protection of the wildlife, and protection of the human society. To give the ethical and spiritual instructions to maintain a happy, healthy, peaceful, and spiritual society. Therefore, they were meditating and having different kinds of yajñas. And there were many anuṣṭhānas, what they call the kalpavāsas. Kalapas is a very beautiful name, an ancient name in Sanskrit. It means all humans, men and women. Means without duality of the genders. They were going there on the bank of rivers: Gaṅgā, Yamunā and Sarasvatī. These three mighty rivers are flowing thousands of kilometers and bringing the holy dust from the holy Himalaya through the holy Bhārat, which was the land of the ṛṣis. There were many, many ṛṣis. They said that even the name Russia comes from Ṛṣis. There are many places, what you call the Hindu Kush, there are mountains, and what they call Tashkent, many are the tales in the Purāṇas. So it is not that now, for the first time, so many populations of humans exist. In the past, there were also many, but communication facilities were less. It was through walking. Maximum horse riding, elephant riding, ox carts, or telepathy. So the ṛṣis used to make a telepathy. That was the communication, and so the different ṛṣis got the message, and they were coming at a particular time together. Long distance, and somewhere staying the whole years. Some could come only once. It was a great meaning for them to be there on that spot where the three mighty rivers merge into oneness, and then flow, called Gaṅgā Sāgar, into the Indian Ocean. Because the Ganga flows in and merges there, it's also called Ganga Sagar. There was only one Dharma, one religion, Sanātana Dharma. A universal religion, not a man-made one, not from a particular incarnation or prophet. Now we have many, many dharmas, many, many, so, but the main real one is Sanātana Dharma. That Sanātana Dharma is called eternal, the principle of governing the entire universe. Means the stars, planets, suns, and moons, all the elements, visible and invisible forces in the universe, are balanced, harmonized, and united. That is the Sanātana Dharma. We all are connected to that one. We are a part of Sanātana Dharma. So as Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa said in the Bhagavad Gītā, in the 15th chapter, "I live in every," or "I dwell in every creature," and "Jīva Bhūta Sanātana," all or entire entity is my self. Sanātana means relatives, a part of it. So every atom, every particle in the universe is balanced and taken care of by that principle, which is called Sanātana Dharma. That is harmony, love, balance, etc. So the ṛṣis, they had thousands of years of life. Can you imagine? Thousands of years. Now you are 40 years old and say, "No, no..." Their prāṇa was different. They needed very little nourishment. They lived from prāṇa, and they could control the prāṇas. Five prāṇas and five upa prāṇas. And these ten prāṇas—five prāṇas, five upa prāṇas—these are the major channels of the energy into our body. The yogīs or the ṛṣis were able to manipulate them. Manipulating means regulating, keeping them in the best balance. Of course, the way of life, way of nourishment, and way of thinking, way of relation to the nature and to the animals, you take everybody yourself. And so, at that time, that life was, years were gone in meditation. That's why those who meditate, their life is counted only a little in time. For example, you have a hundred years of life, and if you meditate regularly for two hours, so how many hours in 200 years? Like that, your life is prolonged, and you don't feel like you are that old. But many people misunderstand. I told one of my disciples today, don't get old. So it said, "It means I should die now." I said, "No, no." Live long, but don't get old. That was the ṛṣi's vidyā, the ṛṣi's knowledge. We don't have that quality. It was made in a yogic way. That was made by discipline, principles. And now everything is made, which has no guarantee: use and throw. But where? That creates the pollution. So those ṛṣis, they were able to communicate. You can see sometimes in beautiful spiritual films made from India, that one yogī is sitting here and talking to another one who is sitting 2,000 kilometers far. Like this, the communication, that was the telepathy. Out of telepathy, the Hungarian developed the telephone. The inventor of the telephone was the Hungarian. So that's why in the Hungarian language they said, "Can you hear me?" It means hello. So hello, can you hear me? So the whole world speaks Hungarian now. So if you want to make your language more normal to all, then make something, invent something. Feel free. So, telepathy, and then it was the television. Dur darśan, that's called a dur darśan. And Indian television, national television is Doordarshan. Dur means the distance. Darśan means to see. To see everything from a distance. So now, with modern technology, they have made all this science, what we call televisions. Webcast, so there were many castes, but since we came in the wake, it becomes one caste more. So vape comes from Hungary, and caste comes from somewhere else. So there is a lot of development and progress, but it has its side effects, advantages, and disadvantages. But for that mental power, there was no disadvantage. But one thing was there: if you have not mastered your senses, if you have not mastered your ego, jealousy, and greed, then you will not get this power. And if you get it, you will be destroyed. All the negative āsurī śakti will awaken you. Because truth is not easy to digest. So if you have telepathy and television, and you see with your partner something is happening somewhere, you will be very jealous. And let him come home, or let her come home. So that's why God put our memories from past and future limited. Thanks to God, we don't remember what was in the past life. And thanks a million times to God, we don't know what will happen after one minute. So that we can live in peace, so still God helps us. That time, that human quality, it was something very disciplined. Those ṛṣis had great spiritual powers. And when a ṛṣi wanted to have a child, they would perform anuṣṭhāna for hundreds or thousands of years. Then, at a certain constellation, they would pray to be blessed with a child who would be like a light of God. That's it. How many days do you wait? How many days do you pray? And how many days do you take time to think if she will be this wife for you or not, or this husband? Like this. Now it's like that. Let's go, be like us, hurry home and go home. No, that was not like that. We lost discipline. We lost many, many spiritual qualities. So, in Kumbh Melā, the great learned people and great tapasvīs who were doing their stories, they come. Kalapavāsa, so going somewhere for anuṣṭhāna, ekāntavāsa, ekānta in one peaceful place, only prayers, very little food, and feeling themselves blessed in the dust at the bank of the river. These holy rivers were bringing the dust throughout the whole Himalayas and all of India. Where were many, many yajñas? There was a story about the nectar, and if it is a nectar, was, then nectar means immortality. Immortality means everlasting. That is called nectar. Amartva, amartva, amartattva, that you realize immortality. So it was in Satya Yuga time, millions of years gone, is that nectar is still there. If it was the nectar, then yes, that cannot be washed away, cannot dry, cannot be blown away with the wind. Immortality is immortality. That Ātmā is ever Ātmā, so that is spreading everywhere. And so, those who have a pure heart, a spiritual heart, they could feel it in that Kumbh Melā. Now there are possibilities, very good facilities and possibilities of transportation, and people from the whole world come, not only from India. You could see many, many people from different parts of the world. Only from Europe? Europe is not the whole world, so there are Africans, Chinese, Japanese, others from these islands like Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, and Mexico. Many, many. That people know this, but there are some people who come, they can't see anything, because you have to have inner feeling. Otherwise, it's like a spoon in the honey, but the spoon cannot have a taste of the honey. So you have been in Kumbh Melā, but you didn't taste that spirituality. Again, you were looking for the comfort. Again, you were making different commentaries. Looking at different cultures, India is a big country. A country, nearly a continent. And you know how many different cultures are there? We have 28 provinces. Thousands of kilometers long. 3,035 dialects. And around 45 official languages. Everyone has a different culture. You went to see Indian culture. You can't compare Indian culture only with Rajasthan. Or only with the Punjab, or with the Bangalore. To understand the Indias, you have to take 25 avatāras. So, every culture is beautiful. Someone likes to sleep like this, on the left side. Other likes to sleep on the right side. The third likes to sleep on the back. Fourth likes to sleep on the stomach. You like to sleep on the left side. And you force everyone to sleep on the left side. The poor people, they can't sleep all night. Or when they will sleep, automatically they will turn to the other side. In sleep, your reality comes out. Because in sleep you go to dream. And what do you dream? Four persons are sleeping in one room. One is dreaming of the Kumbh Melā, the second is dreaming at home, the fourth is dreaming of playing golf, and the fifth is dreaming of sitting on a train, going a long way. All were in one small room. Why the distances? That was your real longing inside, so we can't force someone. We have to accept them as they are. So those who criticize different cultures, it is now said to be discrimination. Therefore, by law, and according to international human rights, no one should discriminate against any culture. There are not only human rights; we have to fight for tree rights. Vegetation rights. You cut a tree; don't you think this tree has some rights to this spot? Because we lost that love and respect for the forest. This tree is existing as a Sanātana Dharma. The river is flowing as Sanātana Dharma. Food is growing for us, and growing as Sanātana Dharma. What we call God is helping everything. That God is Sanātana Dharma, no discrimination. Who are we? So that Kalapvāsī, they meditate, make anuṣṭhāna, like we have in summer seminar anuṣṭhāna. There, they do śauca and niyama regularly and with discipline. My dear, life is struggling. Life is not so easy. But understand life, why life is given to you. And we don't know if next time we will again have a chance to be a human being. Then again, it is our destiny; the karma will pull us into that life. Therefore, who has seen that you will be born again? And who has seen that you were in a past life? So, at least this you can see: you are alive now. But you know one thing, it's a bitter truth of this life. The bitter truth of this life is that finally, there is death. And we don't want to face that. We would like to get immortality. That immortality is the knowledge. Finally, that nectar which was coming, falling. That's called Guru Kṛpā. He gave a name: "Mokṣa Mūlaṁ Guru Kṛpā." The liberation, immortality, is through the mercy of Gurudeva. And we all search for that. It's not that you are elected. There is not a political election. That we will elect this one or this one. In spirituality, there is no election, but there is selection. So, are you elected or selected? This is it. When you go and see the diamonds, or some precious things, or some beautiful dress, you don't elect. You select, I like this. Why do you select that? From the quality. The quality doesn't have any compromise. Quality is quality, so we don't put the weight. Where there is a quantity, there is a selection. And where there is a quality, there is a selection, so we select it. So that is the way of the person, the way of the tree, the way of the fruits of the tree. We protect, we select, but we don't neglect others. Selection means that you don't neglect. Neglection is there where you elect; there you then reject. Election, selection, rejection. This is important. So there were in the Kumbh Mela the great ṛṣis were deciding which kind of yajña we should do now. All yajña is good. But according to the environment, in the astral level, which will sooner or later attack our earth in the form of rain, earthquake, or great disease, what we call plague, etc. And so, through the yajñas, this was protected. They were broadcasting, they were telling us what is going to happen, prepare yourself. After how many years, what will happen? Last year in this hall, you'd ask, the last two years constantly people were asking me the questions that December 2012 the whole world will finish, January the whole world will finish, Swāmījī, what is your opinion? And I said, we will talk in 2013. And people said, you know, our Swamiji's. He doesn't know anything. The whole world is talking. The whole media is talking. Many are saying an angel is coming and giving a message. And our Swamiji, even he doesn't take it seriously. But okay, we love it, it's our Swamiji, and finished. That's it. And now, what do you say? Perhaps you postponed it to 2014. So, as a Gurudevā speaks within you. If your heart is very pure. That's it. Last, sometimes, already, two, three, four years, Devapurījī shows me so many situations, individuals' lives, what, when, you have done. This is the divine third eye of Devapurījī, sometimes not always, don't worry, I concentrate, it's not a joke. So that was the decisions of the ṛṣis, what they see and what they could do, sometimes was not possible. Something even by Sanātan law is not possible to do it. Then they made a tapasyā, at least to be gentle. So, Kumbh Mela has a great dignity, great spirituality, great story, so it was great. And then, for us, it was great that we have again to Mom, and this was a summer, not dog. I said, "Is made kid who might have been the luckiest, not only." One last time was one, but this time was two, and you know our dear Swāmī Vivek Purī. He is a very faithful and very spiritual disciple from the age of 17 years. I have observed him since he was 17, and I saw how seriously he was practicing and had a great interest. So many of you know him, and his behavior, his character. And as a quality of his teachings, wisdom, and knowledge. So Devpurījī selected him. I tried to elect him. But Devapurījī said, "Let me select it. In the last Kumbh Melā in Haridwar, I told one of my Mahāmaṇḍaleśvaram, 'Next Kumbh Melā, 25 Mahāmaṇḍaleśvar, I will make it.'" But Devpurījī elected only two. Anyhow, it is not that you can become a Mahāmaṇḍaleśvar. It should be a certain life history, background, knowledge. Studies, everything. So I introduced, in our Kumbh Mela, to our Akhara, the intellectual society. They came together, and for 14 days they were observing him, as well as our dear Gyaneshwar Purī. Yes, they accepted. How the person inside is. And so finally we had two Mahāmaṇḍaleśvaras. Jealousy is everywhere, I told you. There are many, even many Swamis were jealous. Even they were Mahāmaṇḍaleśvaras, they were jealous. How towards me? Also, I said, "I have done nothing. Why are you jealous?" They said, one of the Mahāmaṇḍaleśwars said, "I am very jealous of you. We are here, 38–40 Mahāmaṇḍaleśwars, and no one has three." Disciples who are a mother and a son. That's why we are jealous. And some, they said, it's the foreigners and like this. So I said, "Who said foreigners?" On one side you said, the Vedas said, the whole world is one family. And now we speak like this. Rejected, you are rejected from here, I said, really. So even many of you are thinking day and night, "Balk, balk, God, God, what is our Swāmījī thinking? What is our Swāmījī doing?" Many of you are thinking. Many are happy, some have a problem, and it's... Understandable, I understand you. Even you have a problem to greet him in that way? No problem, you can hug him. He has now more kilos, I observed. When he became Mahāmaṇḍaleśvar, he was slim, and after Mahāmaṇḍaleśvar, he became really... Big. So it is your culture. You can hug, you can kiss here, you can kiss here, yes? Whenever I see the Croatian president, he kisses me. Yes. He holds me, and he makes this side and this side. Mangalpurī. Is the Mangalpurī here? Stand up. Is this true? Yes or no? Maybe you don't know. He said, "Yes, but Priyanka, you are the protocol." Huh? Every time. And did I kiss him back? Yes, yes. So you see, then I was in Ukraine, and I met the Patriarch. The Patriarch also held me and kissed three times, this side and this side. It's not bad. It is a culture, tradition, respect. Friendship. Now you have a new Pope. Now, a new Pope. So from one day to the next, he became the Pope. And still he was a pishpok, and then he opened and said he's a pope. So he was selected or elected, but he was not neglected. And now you will kiss his ring. So what is wrong? It's a culture, so where, what to do, and respect the culture, and purposely to respect international culture, intercultural. To make others more aware and jealous, in Kumbh Mela I put on my head a Mexican hat. Did you see that? And everybody would say, "What is this?" And mostly, the whole media came to me. I said, of course, our president from Mexico gave me. President of Yoga and Dead Life. So that was nice. Then, the second time, I didn't go with it. The second time, I went without, and all my mom, my colleagues, or my friends—my mom and sister said, "Where is your crown? Where is your crown?" So, respect other cultures. You can take a turban. Why not? When Vivek Purī takes a turban, he looks really like Swāmī Vivekānanda. And when he has no turban, then he looks like a Croatian. So he can have a Croatian tie. So respect the culture. And that is India, a big country. Europe, entire Europe, is a big... Every country has a different culture, we are thinking. So humans should learn to live together, and it takes time to understand. Now he got more duty. He has to be very careful. He should not be angry with someone, respect all yoga teachers and organizers, support every individual person, solve the conflict between them, give the satsaṅg, and show them that yes, he belongs to all of us. And that's why it was for me a great happiness that two Mahāmaṇḍaleśvaras from Europe, or especially from Croatia, are here. In Hinduism, in Sanātana Dharma, there are no dualities, no gender duality. It can also be, females can also be, women can be the Mahāmaṇḍaleśvar. But we need that knowledge, so who knows next time? They have to show, but I mean, you need not prepare especially. Vivek Purī did not know until two days ago. And when I, then we told him, I told him, he got nearly a heart attack. And then somebody said that he needed someone with him as an assistant. So, Umbapurī said, "Anyhow, Ānandī is all Āsandārī." Anandi said, "That was very clear to me." So, Ānandī, Vivekpūrī, they did a good job. They are doing good jobs. So, please, be kind and help him. And maybe he will travel more, so Zagreb people should know, Croatian people should know, that you have to carry on Zagreb ashrams and so on. So he's not only now for Zagreb, but for the whole of Croatia. And it's not only for all of Croatia, it's for the whole world. So I can retire slowly, slowly. So in this way, I'm very happy. Thanks to Mahāprabhujī, everything went well. There were hot discussions, but when I looked at them, they said, "No, no, Mama, everything is okay." I don't know why they looked. Dave Porici's look. Someone was telling something, I looked like this. He said, "Okay, it's okay, Swami Ji." So everything was very great, very nice. Indians respected it very much. Media is respected very much. Sadhus and Mahāmaṇḍaleśvaras were respected very much. Now, of course, they have to learn many things. That is clear. According to the Indian way, the mentality is always different. I have been here for 40 years. 43 years now, but still you think, ah, this is Indian mentality. So let's call it mother culture, mother language, and mother laptop. We have been all the time as a laptop of the mother, you know. With this, I wish you all the best, and tomorrow we will talk further. And we congratulate our new Mahāmaṇḍaleśvar Swāmī Vivek Purījī. Thank you. Om Śānti. And Gajaran Jī, Gajaran Jī gets Mahāmaṇḍaleśwar Jī's Mālā. You will say a few words? Yeah, and then tomorrow you can talk long, okay? I have to go. Five minutes. Oh, God. But anyhow, we got an Italian pope. Italian pope. Italian. Original from Italy. It's okay. I was thinking the African will be the one who won the Nobel Prize. Karatāṁ prabhudīpa, karatāṁ mahāprabhudīpa, karatāhi kevalam. Oṁ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ... Hariyom, dear brothers and sisters. Pranam, Gurudev. After what Swamiji said about Kumbh Melā and Mahāmaṇḍaleśvar, and that I become a Mahāmaṇḍaleśvar, he wants to say only that now I know why I'm losing a kilo. Because now I realize what I must do. First, Swamiji said that I must learn Hindi and Sanskrit words. What was for me almost mission impossible. But we know that in our life, everything is possible with the grace and mercy of Gurudev. And also, once, not only once but many times, I hear from Swamiji, and you also hear that everything Swamiji said, everything that he knows, he knows by the grace and from Guru Dev, from Mahāprabhujī, Gurujī Dev Purījī. And also, I know for me that when I started practicing yoga at 14, 15, 16 years, I don't know, but I met Swāmījī at 17. In that time, what I knew about yoga, what I knew about myself, and in which shape I was at that time. And now, it's a big, big difference. But that does not mean that I'm much clever, but it means that everything is possible with the grace of the Gurudev. And what to say? Only thank you. And Swamiji said something, that now he will have more free time, more free time, but I hope that he will not get more free time. And that we will have more, more, more nice satsaṅg with the Swamijī and seminars. And that I will only sit and listen to satsaṅg. Because it is his knowledge, and what he is giving us, his knowledge and mercy, is something that is necessary for our lives. It is the nectar, it is this amṛt that we search for at Kumbh Melā. And one thing is for us, I really feel that is the truth, that Kumbh Melā for us is there, where the Swāmījī is. And we know from bhajans that all the holy places are in the feet of Gurudevas. And going to Kumbh Melā is a great luck; it's a great thing. But to be on Kumbh Melā without Swāmījī, I will say it's nothing. We will be only a tourist. And Vapi or Surat or any other place where we have a seminar, it's really Kumbh Melā, and that nectar is not only flowing every 12 years, but it is flowing every time that we have a darśan and then we have a satsaṅg with the Swāmījī. And because of that, we will not be waiting 12 years for the next Kumbh Melā. We will have tomorrow morning the next Kumbh Mela. And because of that, thank you, Guru Dev, and we will all enjoy it with you in December, in December. Shana, some of you have to find your accommodation. Some of you have a really long journey because of the weather conditions. And sleep well.

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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