TV Channel

Part 1: Śukadeva’s Journey to Mithilā: The Dialogue on Bondage and Liberation Śvetāṅgaṃ śvetavastre śītakusumagane ujjitaṃ śvetagandhe jhirābdho ratnadīpe śūrṇāra tilakaṃ ratnasiṃhāsanastham. Boliye, Śraddhāguru Mahārāj Jī Kī Jai. In yesterday’s discourse you heard how Maharṣi Vedavyāsa jī was compelling his son Śukadeva jī to marry. And Śukadeva jī, while describing the sorrows that exist within marriage and householder life, declared, “I will not enter into the world.” Today, you will learn a truth that very few people know. Until we study the Devī Bhāgavata, reading only the Bhāgavata or other scriptures is like having a bulb in the house that is not yet on. Without the study of the Devī Bhāgavata, we may read other Purāṇas, but when we truly read and listen to the Devī Bhāgavata, the real light comes into our life. This is the dilemma of our generation. If a child does worldly things and suffers, there is pain; but if a son says, “Mein sannyāsa le lū̃gā,” the father experiences immense sorrow. It is a great pain if a son or daughter strays from the right path, but the deepest and most profound pain comes when our children are ready to quit this world. They want only meditation; they want to live with the master — “kī gurū ke sāth raheṅge.” If someone decides, “I will take sannyāsa,” all the family members become worried. Yet if you go to clubs and parties, to the beach, doing everything, they will only be a little worried. Why? Because society and family harbour a desire: that you become their follower. “Kyuki jise hum prem kehte hain, vastu ta vo prem nahi hain, adhikar hain, hum adhikar jatate hain.” What we call love is not love; it is possessiveness. So in the case of Śukadeva jī, Vyāsa jī’s feeling is not pure love but attachment — moha. And moha is the cause of sorrow. Attachment is the very region of sadness. The one who is sitting in the kitchen — to keep him in the fridge or bring him to the neighbour’s shop is very difficult. As for the Devī Bhāgavata, today we should have reached the Mahiṣāsur Pañcama Skanda, but we are still in the Prathama Skanda. Yet if we listen properly to even one thing, we can understand everything. We may run anywhere in life, but we shall not reach anywhere; what is to happen, Ṭhākura Jī has already decided. Śukadeva jī said, “Agar mujhe Rājā Janaka convince kar leṅge — if Rājā Janaka’s logic satisfies me, then I will be ready for marriage.” This is what Śukadeva jī was saying. Now how many of you know whether Śukadeva jī married or not? Tell me. This has become a very big question today. (Basant … The great artist in the Vyāsa assembly plays the flute during the discourse abroad.) So, did Śukadeva jī marry or not? You will find out in the next half hour. See, Śukadeva jī is going to Janakapura. This is the celebrated Janaka of Nepal — Sītā’s father, or perhaps another; there is some doubt, for many of his descendants also bore the title Videha. As we mentioned yesterday, which Videha and which Janaka, there is uncertainty. I have travelled on foot across the Himalayas to Mithilā. To go from here to there, we needed a car five times and a driver. There I asked a Grandsire, a Mahārāja, “How did you conquer death?” He replied, “I used to walk twenty kilometres every day. I never ate curd at night, and I considered all women as my mother. Because of these, I conquered death.” There are ten or twenty more practices like rising during Brahmāmuhūrta, but these three rules were never left out. Walking twenty kilometres was one of Girdhar Bābā’s daily rituals. One must do at least one ritual daily. Now, Śukadeva jī walked for two years; this is not unprecedented. Swāmī Rāmatīrtha came, travelled abroad, and walked extensively. And our most revered Sadguru Śaṅkarācārya Bhagavān walked across the whole of India at the age of seven. “Bharat kā paidal bhrahmaṇ kiyā.” By walking, the attachment in the mind diminishes and sins are washed away. Otherwise, you say, “Main Dillī jā ke āyū̃, subah jāo, sām ko vapis āyū̃, chār mahānagroṁ meṁ jā ke āyū̃.” You simply go and return. When we walk from this city to another city without the support of any vehicle — by foot alone — this experience grants a special light and purity to the heart. Birds fly from Siberia, and most animals live well; but since man has developed, he suffers from knee and other ailments because he stopped walking. Śukadeva jī reached and entered Mithilā. He saw people completely established in sadācāra, but the gatekeeper stopped him. “You are dumb, you are deaf — why are you not saying anything? Who do you want to meet? Tell me.” If you want to meet an important person, people will stop you along the way. Go to meet the chief minister or anyone — they will stop you. Śukadeva jī said, “The work for which I have come here will not be completed if you ask me.” He was standing not outside the king’s palace but outside the gate; he had not even entered the city. He had come to see Videha Nagara, but entry itself is rare for an ignorant one like him. This mistake happened: to meet the Mahārāja one must cross two mountains. He came there having crossed two Sumeru mountains. He said, “Bole yeh jo tum do dwārpālo, wo Pārvatī ho mere liye — these two gatekeepers are like mountains to me.” The gatekeeper should be as a mountain; you cannot cross them without their inquiry. He stood on my chest. He called me a mountain. This is a kind of abuse — you are a mountain, you stood like a mountain. Śukadeva jī is saying, “You did not call me that; my father also called me a mountain.” Father told me to go meet Rājā Janaka. “Arre, is sansār mein logon kā brahma karan kā uddeśa dhan upārjan hī hai, kintu mujhe uskī koī icchā nahīn, main to keval brahma vās hī yahān āgayā, pitā jī ne kah diyā ki rājā Janak se milo, aur tumhe kyā batāo main kyō āyā.” In this world, people perform Vedic actions only to acquire wealth, but I have no such desire. I came here solely for dwelling in Brahman; my father told me to meet Rājā Janaka, and how shall I tell you why I have come? “Kahan Sumeru Parvat aur kahan Mithilāpurī, main to paidal hī cal kar āyā hūṁ.” One is the Sumeru mountain, another is Mithilāpurī — I came here entirely on foot. How many mountains did the Mahārāja cross to reach Mithilāpurī, having crossed Sumeru? At that time, Vedavyāsa jī lived on Sumeru Parvata; later he moved to Badarīkāśrama near Sarasvatī. Oh! What do people think? Whenever someone goes to meet another, they must have come to take something. Śukadeva jī says it is their mistake to think so. Some love can come, some knowledge can also come; not all people come to take money. This is your mistake. There is no pilgrimage, no attainment of knowledge, for which my hard work has gone to waste. I had heard the name of Mahārāja Janaka and came here. I thought he was an alien — one who lives in this body yet does not live in it. Hearing this, I came. Saying this, Śukadeva jī became quiet. But now listen: Rājā Janaka’s gatekeeper is also not an ordinary person; he is now taking a test. “He Mahābhāga, Mukta Jono Ko To Chhamahi Kar Bal Hai, Aap Jara Bataye, Sukh Kya Hai, Dukh Kya Hai?” O fortunate one, those who are liberated have the power to forgive. Please tell me, what is happiness and what is sorrow? This gatekeeper is testing Śukadeva jī. If you ask a wise person, he will say, “Sukhanu Sai Rāga, Dukhanu Sai Dveṣha.” Happiness arises when the mind attains complete rāga, and when that same rāga is not complete, it is sorrow. Śukadeva jī replied, “In the world, one who has rāga is called a rāgī, and that rāgī experiences many kinds of happiness and sorrows.” See, such a doorkeeper, such police, such military — he also possesses spiritual knowledge. He knew about happiness and sorrow; they are matters of the mind. The people there had knowledge of the mind. Upon hearing Śukadeva jī’s words, he felt very good. Now the gatekeeper began asking, “Who is the enemy of a human being?” This dialogue is between Sadguru Śukadeva jī and Rājā Janaka’s gatekeeper. A guard is asking, the police are asking Śukadeva jī, “Who are the enemies?” Śukadeva jī smiled and said, “Main Ved Vyās Jī kā putra hoon, betā. Kām hī hain hamārā śatru.” I am Vedavyāsa’s son, child. Desire alone is our enemy. Lust, greed and anger are our enemies; nobody outside is our enemy. And they do not reside outside; they reside inside. “Achchā, chalo bhaiyā, ek bāt batā do, ādmī kā mitra kaun hai?” All right, tell me one thing: who is a human being’s friend? Śukadeva jī replied, “Contentment.” Contentment itself is happiness. So what is the characteristic of a content person? He does not ask anything from anyone; he is a giver. There is trust, faith. Faith gives birth to contentment, and the one without faith gets dissatisfaction. It is a very beautiful story: to have faith in God. A newly married couple sat on a boat going across the river. As they went, a storm arose in the river, the boat tossed, and the wife began to worry. But the groom had much satsaṅga within him; he was smiling, without any problem. The new bride asked, “Don’t you get scared?” He said, “I have accompanied the saints, so I don’t get scared.” She said, “What will happen with the company? It is falling; you will fall down now.” He then took out his sword and put it on his wife’s neck. Never feel fear if any storm comes in your life or any problem arises. Whenever Bhagavān is with us, whenever existence is with us, God is with us, there is no need to fear. This is the wisdom of the masters. “Yehi toh santon kā gyān hai.” Upon hearing Śukadeva jī’s words, the gatekeeper fell at his feet. And it is very wonderful — this Devī Bhāgavata. Śukadeva jī entered the city — “Sukhdevjī ne praveśa kiyā nagara meṁ.” He entered the city of Janaka. There were three types of people there: those who bought and sold. This is the story of all cities. Everywhere it is the same — either buyers or sellers. This is not the language of samādhi; otherwise, what is the point of writing that they saw those? Who bought and sold, saw those who resented, saw those who argued — it is the same. There are those who are jealous, those who argue, and those who buy and sell. Mahāprabhudīpa Karatā… So, in Jainism and Buddhism, meditating while standing and walking — Buddha walking, Vipassana walking, and Kāyotsarga in Jainism — is the tradition of Śukadeva jī and Ṛṣabhadeva jī. Śukadeva jī is standing and walking in samādhi. Here, a little meditation technique: Śukadeva jī meditates while standing. It is easy to meditate when walking or standing, but all actions will go very slow — walking with awakening. We will not go anywhere to arrive; we will go for meditation. Śukadeva jī is walking like this. When Śukadeva jī was walking in this manner, he became a fountain of energy. He slept at night. And thus, while everyone slept, he endured two praharas and woke up in the third prahara of the night, engaged in meditation, and became samādhiṣṭha again. From the very beginning, Śukadeva jī is samādhiṣṭha; he did not go for samādhi. We didn’t go to Gujarat; we went to ask whether we should go to Gujarat or not. Sukhdev Jī is already a Samādhiṣṭha — already enlightened. He had already attained samādhi, but his father ordered him to go and hold dialogues with Rājā Janaka. Perhaps Rājā Janaka would convince him for marriage. Sukhdev Jī bhole, Bīyās Jī ne mujhse kahā hai ki vivā karlo, guru rūp pitā kī āgyā ko bandhan mān karke maine svīkār nahīṁ kiyā, kyā āp batāye, gṛhasth āśram bandhan nahīṁ hai, batāye mujhe, mere pitā jī ne mujhe… Ka, kī Mahārāj Janak rājya karte ve bhī māyā ke jāl meṁ nahīṁ bante, aur tum banvāsī hote ve bhī kyoṁ bewith ho rahe ho? Upnīr prasesth Videh ko dekho, āpne man meṁ uṭhte ve moh kā tyāg karo. He Mahābhāg, vivā karlo, atvā jākar ke us rājā se samādhān pūcho. Śukadeva Jī ne yah sandeś apne pitā kā sunā diyā. Until now, we were considering Vedavyāsa jī as a weak father, but this perspective will change. Śukadeva jī’s ears perked up and he said, “What is this you said? The second step is to marry. He Śukadeva jī, Ved ke andar kul 48, 48 saṃskāra batāye gae hain.” In the Vedas, a total of 48 saṃskāras are prescribed: 40 for the gṛhastha, the householder, and 8 for the sannyāsī. For the seeker of liberation, eight saṃskāras are given — śama, dama, tapa, titikṣā, etc. — and for the householder, forty saṃskāras. “Sukhdev Jī, bhole chit mein vairāgya aur jñāna-vijñāna utpann ho jāne par, gṛhastha āśram mein rehnā chāhiye ki nahīṁ chāhiye?” Śukadeva jī, once dispassion and knowledge-wisdom arise in the pure mind, should one live in the household life or not? If a human being desires food, comfort, happiness, and a son, then what can he do being a sannyāsī? He is saying something very profound. And here, Rājā Janaka is great. This sannyāsī Vedavyāsa jī and sannyāsī Śukadeva jī are also great because they had a doubt on that matter, and to resolve it they came and sat near that householder. They are not arrogant, thinking, “Why should I go ask them?” It is a very beautiful thing. King Janaka said, “The fire of desires is very difficult to extinguish and does not die. A person who sleeps in a high place may fall down, but the one who sleeps low will never fall. A person may become corrupt…” “Chiti ko bhojan ārām se miltā hai, pakchī ko muskil se miltā hai. Man atyant prabal hai, ajit indriya hai. Jitnā baṛā muskil hai, gṛhasth āśram mein rehte bhi jo śānt hai, ātmā jñānī hai, to vah sanyāsī se bhi śreṣṭh hai. Agar koī sanyās mein ākar ke bhi lobh lālach mein paḍ jāe, aisā bol diyā.” For the ant, food comes easily; for the bird, with difficulty. The mind is extremely powerful, the senses are unconquered. Though it is very difficult, one who lives in the household yet remains peaceful and is a knower of the Self is superior even to a renunciant. If someone takes sannyāsa but falls into greed and temptation — that is what he said. Now, if there is a person, he has to do a lot to earn fame. To be free, you should first be a bandho. You are already free; first become bound, then only you will be free. Then only you will say, “I have left my house, left my wife and children” — otherwise, what will you say you have left? There must be something to leave. One Bābājī used to proclaim every time, “I have left lakhs and crores of rupees. I have taken sannyāsa today. I have left everything. I am sitting in the āśrama. I have left everything.” He was a devotee of Kaliyuga. When people investigated, they found that when he left, he had a loan of fifteen lakhs. He had nothing. These days people check: when he left, what did he have? He said, “I kicked him.” If he had really kicked, he would not have remembered. He did not kick; he kicked him properly — if he had kicked him properly, he would not have remembered. He left everything, but he did not really leave. “I left the world, I left the world” — he still remembers the world. So there are two kinds of people: one says, “I will have food, I will have food,” and the other says, “I will not have food.” Both are just roaming around. This Rājā Janaka is giving us knowledge. This is the wisdom of Sanātana, eternal Sanskritī. Here, three words we have to understand: Rāgī, Virāgī, and Vīta Rāgī. One with attachment, one with detachment, and one beyond attachment. “He Rajan, Ātmā anumān gamya hai aur kabhi pratyakṣa nahīṁ hotī. Ātmā kā to anumān hī lagāyā jā saktā hai.” O king, the Ātmā is knowable only through inference and never becomes perceptible. You can only infer it; you cannot touch or prove it. This is the soul. You can see a gross body, but no one has ever taken a picture of the Ātmā. It has been declared as anumān gamya by the saints. “Arre, sabhī tīrtho meṁ ghoomte ve, bār bār, snāna karte ve bhī, yadi mana nirmala nahīṁ huā, to sabha vyartha ho jātā hai, he paraṁtapa bandhana tathā mokṣa kā kāraṇa, nahīṁ ādhā hai, aura nahīṁ jīvātmā hai, aura nahīṁ indriya hai, apitu mana hai, manuṣya.” Even if one wanders to all pilgrimage places, bathes repeatedly, if the mind does not become pure, everything is futile. O scorcher of foes, the cause of bondage and liberation is not the body, nor the jīvātmā, nor the senses — it is the mind. “Ke Bandhan Mukti Kā Kāraṇ Bhi Man Hai.” So the reason for freedom from bondage is also our mind. Therefore, do not fight with the mind, do not fight with the senses, and do not fight with the soul, the jīvātmā. Do not even fight with the jīvātmā; just understand the simple mind. The Ātmā is always pure — “Ātmā to sadā śuddhi hai” — the soul is always pure. It never becomes anything else; nobody can bind it, nobody can control the Ātmā. “Ātmā ko koī bhī bāndh nahīṁ saktā.” Then why so much anxiety about bondage and liberation? “Wo mein yeh keh sakta hoon ki adhyātma kī atyadhik spiritual advance study hai, yeh jo Rāja Janak kī paddhati hai. Wo kehte hai, ‘Hī bhāiyā, tum to mukt hī ho.’” I can say that this is a very advanced spiritual study — the methodology of Rājā Janaka. He says, “O brother, you are already liberated. You are that already. Do not struggle for that state of consciousness. You are already there where you want to reach. You are already there.” That is why our saints say: if someone says, “I have lost God,” that person has gone mad. And if someone says, “I have found Him,” he is a liar. “Khoyā Pāyā Kuch Nahī, Āpahīme Bharapūr, Ar Na To Kho Sakte. Ho, nahīṁ pā sakte ho, usko to lekar ke paidā hī hue ho.” Nothing is lost or found; you are full in yourself, and you can never lose it. You cannot attain it — you were born carrying it. These are the words of King Janaka. You are bound with that truth. It is like money in your pocket that you have forgotten. You have many pockets, many bank accounts, so you just forget. Put your hand in your pocket and feel — oh, the money is there. So you are bound with that truth? You yourself have been born with that truth. Taking this up, what does Swami Ram Tirth say, and what do our Śaṅkarācāryas say? “Chidānanda rūpaḥ śivo’ham śivo’ham” has been said. “Mano buddhi ahaṅkāra cittāni nāham. Nāchaśrotrajīve, nāchagrananitre, tum to Śivarūp ho, tum to Śivarūp ho.” You are the form of Śiva. Therefore, the Ātmā is always pure. The Ātmā can never be bound. Enmity and friendship are all the play of the mind. So just try to understand what the mind is. The mind is like a staircase: you can go up, and you can go down. You can climb, and you can also fall. This is the mind. Therefore, “Isliye man ko jānlo bhai, man ko samajho.” Know the mind, brother; understand the mind. Part 2: Beyond Duality: Teachings on Non-Attachment and Self-Knowledge Maiṁ jīva sadāhi brahma hūṁ. Is viṣaya meṁ vicāra karane kī āvaśyakatā nahīṁ hai. Bheda buddhi to saṁsāra meṁ āsakta rahane para hotī hai. Bheda buddhi kā tyāga kara do. Kīrtana hī sundara bāta bodhi hai. What is this bheda buddhi? It is the sense of difference between oneself and another, between small and great, between poor and rich. All this is bheda buddhi. Āpa se āpakā koī satya chīna hī nahīṁ sakatā. No one can snatch away your truth. When you hear these things, you might feel, “Yaha to āma taura para hai.” This lamp is extinguished when you hear and listen to this truth: you are Śiva, beyond ego. Listen to the Gītā, listen to the Rāmāyaṇa, take sannyāsa, live in a household, go on pilgrimage—everything is accomplished. It is such a simple matter. And this is a very beautiful knowledge, the greatest knowledge. I myself was astonished, because many years ago in the Devī Bhāgavata, I came across a passage: “Pada, aba dubārā jā paḍā to, eka sannyāsī gṛhasthī ke chānon meṁ baiṭha kara ke, yaha jñāna le rahā hai, ki maiṁ vivāha karūṁ yā na karūṁ.” A sannyāsī was sitting in the shade of a householder’s roof, seeking this knowledge—whether he should marry or not. Mere pitā jī ne kahā, ki kara lo. And he, the composer of the Vedas, the Upaniṣads, the Purāṇas, was asking whether to marry or not. My father said, “Do it.” And he, the composer of the Vedas, the Upaniṣads… So just try to understand these three words. The word “virakta” is very beautiful in Hindi. Virakta means when blood (rakta) is absent; there is a “vi” before “rakta”—where there is no blood, there is virakta. And our desire is related to blood, because blood is related to the mind, and blood is related to food. So in a distressed person, what do people do to become distressed? They stop eating food. Reduce your intake of food, and you will simply fall down. Don’t eat sugar, don’t eat food, and you won’t have the strength to get up. So where will the desire to enjoy the world come from? All the blood’s power, its circulation, comes only when you eat roti. That is why sannyāsīs have gradually worked on their food. The work on food has been done by sannyāsīs so that whether they attain God or not, at least they do not become attracted to worldly things—so that their blood becomes a little diluted. That is why they worked on their food. And the one who wants everything is attracted. Anaśakta hai Rājā Janaka, anaśakta hai Śrī Kṛṣṇa, anaśakta hai Mahādeva; anaśakta bhāva kī kathā hai. King Janaka is non-attached, Śrī Kṛṣṇa is non-attached, Mahādeva is non-attached; this is the story of the state of non-attachment. Now, if attachment to the world is to be removed, how is it to be removed? Your neighbors will come and sit, waiting for you to say something. Śukadeva Jī declared, “I am more confused now.” Śukadeva Jī, the speaker of the Bhāgavata, said, “I am more confused now, O King Janaka.” Tell me, Śukadeva Jī is twelve years old—some say sixteen—Parīkṣit heard this later. Śukadeva Jī said, “You tell me: what you do will not be a sin. Marry, perform yajña. If you do yajña, you will get the result of yajña. If you do good work and leave bad work, you will get the result of bad work. I will do good work, but I will get the result of good work. Where will I escape from that result?” In the Vedas, there is much violence in yajña. In Sautrāmaṇī Yajña, there is much violence involving wine, and there are many problems. In ancient times, there was a king named Śaśabindu. He was a great dharmātmā and a speaker of truth. He was the protector of the bridge and a ruler of his people. He performed many great yajñas, and they became violent. There was so much violence against animals that a huge mountain was built from their skins. And when it rained at that time, the river became known as the Charmaṇvatī River, because of the immense number of animal skins. He rājā, bhī divaṅgata ho gaye, lekina unakī kīrti bhūmaṇḍala para acala ho gaī. Despite the king’s passing, his fame remained immovable on earth. When such descriptions of dharmas appear in the Vedas, he rājana, merī śraddhā buddhi una meṁ nahīṁ hai. Śukadeva Jī says, “I have no faith in such things.” Śukadeva Jī kahate, “Mujhe aisī cīzoṁ meṁ śraddhā nahīṁ hai. Mujhe aise karma meṁ interest nahīṁ hai, aura aise nāma kā bhī kyā fāyadā? Ye śloka prāyaḥ loga carcā nahīṁ karate aise.” Śukadeva Jī says, “To me, there is one more thing: location (fame) is a very bad thing. There are three types of things that are very sad for sannyāsīs and for people: location (lokeṣaṇā), vittaiṣaṇā (desire for wealth), and putraiṣaṇā (desire for a son). I got the happiness of this world. I got a son. I got money. It is said that people get rid of putraiṣaṇā and vittaiṣaṇā, but location—that is, the desire for one’s name to remain in the world—even great Mahātma Yogīs cannot escape from it. This is a matter of meditation; it is no joke. It is a very big thing. Even the greatest saints get stuck in the desire for fame.” He Rājā Janaka, tell me, if a person starts getting happiness in women and children, then how will he be free from life in such a state? Rājā Janaka responds, “What deeds you do does not mean this; it means how you do the deeds. What is the purpose of yajña? What is the purpose of war? And what is the purpose of being a householder? When a human being is born into a womb, they perform the karmas that arise in the home, in the family, in society, and whatever karmas come before them. But don’t become a doer. Don’t say, ‘I did this.’ As soon as you become egoistic, every karma becomes inescapable. When you do anything without ego, that karma is called Anāsakta Karma. And Anāsakta Karma is the step for Mokṣa. If you cannot do anāsakta, then do whatever you want.” O Śukadevajī, the violence in the yajña by the royal householders is violence. And the karma done by passionate householders for the sake of liberation is also violence. Śāstra bodha hī samartha ho sakatā hai, itanī cīje khāte ho, kevalaṁ śāstra bodha hī samartha ho sakatā hai. Only scriptural knowledge is capable; you consume so many things and yet say, “I have no taste.” Merā mana ghara, strī, ādi meṁ kabhī nahīṁ lagatā, isaliye akele hī niṣprabhāva se maiṁ akelā rahatā hūṁ. My mind never clings to home and wife, therefore I dwell alone free from influence. To mujhe samajha meṁ ātā hai, āpa to itanī strīyoṁ ke sātha. Then I understand—you are with so many women. Āpa kaise kaha sakate hai ki āpa niṣpṛha hai? How can you say you are desireless? In your lineage, there was a king named Nimi. He placed a curse on Vasiṣṭha Jī, and Vasiṣṭha Jī cursed him. He cursed his own name. Why would you curse your name? Janaka Jī says, “You are right.” Janaka Jī has realized. Janaka Jī says, “O Muni, you speak the truth. You are the son of Vyāsa Jī, and Vyāsa Jī is like a guru to me. Āpa, āpane upāsita kī ājñā māna karake gṛhastha dharma meṁ praveśa karo. Yahī merā āpako sujhāva hai.” Following the command of your deity, enter householder life—this is my counsel. Pṛthvī, jala, ādi mahābhūta sarvatra vidyamāna hai, aura tuma kahate ho, “Maiṁ niḥsaṅga kaise hūṁ?” Earth, water, and the great elements are present everywhere, and you ask how I can be detached? He Vipra, I eat with pleasure, I sleep with pleasure, but I am not bound. With this attitude, I always remain happy. Gūḍha abhimānī baddha, mukta abhimānī mukta. The hidden proud one is bound; the one proud of freedom is free. I don’t even think that I am free. This is a very great knowledge. Don’t even think that you are in bondage or sad. Rājā Janaka says he received this knowledge from Aṣṭāvakra Jī, that he doesn’t even have this pride—I don’t even have the concept that I am in bondage; I am free. The person who accepts… And now, mind scientists have done a lot of research on the mind. Someone made a movie, “The Secret.” This is the secret. He said, “Son, your situation is like this: once a lioness had a cub, and that cub, by mistake, got left behind in a herd of sheep. He started living with sheep and goats. Now the sheep and goats eat what they eat. He feels that he is also a sheep and a goat. He considers himself a sheep and a goat, and he just says, ‘I am, I am.’ Yet he is the child of a lion, but he mingled with the sheep and goats. So, what we are living in is the herd. The herd and the crowd—bheda chāla hai nā, melā hai, melā hai… Chalo, chalo, cricket match, cricket match... Chalo, are Kumbha hai, Kumbha hai, chalo, are Tīrtha hai, chalo, Tīrtha hai, chalo, are Parikramā karane, chalo, Parikramā karane, are Mandira, chalo, Mandira, chalo. When we see others and act accordingly, that is herd mentality. Jaba taka svabodhi se huma kucha nahīṁ karate, antara bodhi se nahīṁ karate, taba taka āpa siṁha nahīṁ ho. Until we act from our own inner understanding, we are not lions. Svāmī Vivekānanda says, Siṁha bano, amṛtasya putra—become lions, children of immortality. Tum amṛta ke putra ho. Now look: when that sheep-cub grew up, one day a lion came. The lion wanted to hunt the sheep. He said, “Today I will eat these sheep.” All the sheep ran away. Sheep are good at running, but the lion was not good at running, so the lion caught the sheep-lion. As soon as the lion saw him, he said, “What are you doing among these?” And the cub said, “I am, I am,” and pleaded, “Leave me.” Arata, usane apanā śīta hoke lagāyā, bhūkha hī miṭa gayī usakī. He pressed his cold nose, and his hunger vanished. “I am here to eat sheep. What is this lion doing among sheep?” He then dragged him by the neck to a pond and repeatedly showed him his reflection. To miyāṁ teve kare, mujhe ḍubo ke mata māro bhole, eka jhāpaḍa lagāī usake. Then the lion cub pleaded, “Don’t drown me, innocent one!” and received a slap. Because there is habit, and a person is not going to believe he is a lion in a day or two. He needs the eighteen Purāṇas, and then he will understand that he is a lion. Yes, we are more than a lion when we go to our own house. This lion is not to eat anyone, brother. This lion is so that you will know that you are free; you cannot be in bondage. This is all lāṭāṛā. What is this? Lāṭāṛā—this means it is nothing. This is a trap created by you; no one else set it. He Muni, Rājā Janaka kī bāta sunakara ke Śukadeva Jī ko romāñca aura ānanda ā gayā ki mere guru ne mujhe aisā jñāna karāyā thā. Jaya Jaya, Jaya Jaya... Jaya Jaya. And the second thing is that no one should be afraid of anyone—neither the king nor the subject. No one will be afraid of anyone. You have recognized yourself; you have connected with God. Then no one will be afraid of anyone. I will not take much time. The story is very long. Now see, we have reached the page. Now a lot of people have come, so Mahārāja jī, you go ahead. Bhagavān Bhūtanātha told Satguru Vyāsa Jī, “You should not grieve for your son.” There is a story that Veda Vyāsa Jī prepared his four disciples—Asita, Devala, Vaiśampāyana, and Jaimini. These disciples went and read such ślokas of Bhagavatī, of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s līlā and Rādhā Jī, that Śukadeva Jī, who was doing penance in space, came down. Bodhi, yaha Dvaipāyana, what are these līlās that are making my mind go crazy? There, Śukadeva Jī was then taught the Vedas through the Bhāgavata Mahāpurāṇa and Devī Bhāgavata. That is why we have to read all the scriptures. Śukadeva Jī narrated the story of Parīkṣita. He was re-established on this earth. And Śukadeva Jī is eternal. His shadow is in every story. That is why they are worshipped in the form of happiness. But as you know, this story is going on in Sūtra Jī and Śaunakādi. So they ask us to narrate the story of the Sarpasatra done by Janamejaya and Parīkṣita. So we keep on narrating, but it has not been narrated in the Purāṇas. The same story has been repeated many times. So here the story of Mahābhārata enters. Janamejaya and Veda Vyāsa Jī—Janamejaya is the son of Parīkṣita. Because in this Devī Bhāgavata, Janamejaya is being recited, and I will tell you this Devī Bhāgavata in detail. Why do we listen to Devī Bhāgavata? We listen to the Devī Bhāgavata to get rid of the temporary pain that has been created. This worship of the Devī is done in your life. At night, the children are sleeping in the middle of the room, the mother is sleeping here, and the father is sleeping there. If the child has peed, then the father will get angry and will sleep in the other room of the house. The mother will sleep in the wet room and will make the child sleep. So, the worship of the mother, the worship of Jagat Jannī, the worship of Parāmbhā—that worship is because we have not given any other name to that God but the mother. So, the worship of that mother—I have heard in her māhātmya that Lord Kṛṣṇa was displeased, so Vāsudeva Jī heard the worship of Parāmbhā Bhagavatī Bhuvaneśvarī from Devī Bhāgavata and Nārada Jī. And Vāsudeva Jī was a great devotee of Bhagavatī, of Parāmbhā. To free himself from Kāragraha and to prevent Kaṃsa from killing him in Kāragraha, he used to observe four Navarātris in a year of Bhagavatī. This is Vāsudeva Jī’s siddhi. And by the grace of that Parāmbhā, by the grace of that Bhagavatī, Veda Vyāsa Jī found his lost son back in his house. By the grace of that Bhagavatī, when all the Kauravas and Pāṇḍavas were dead, Veda Vyāsa Jī came and told them about Devī Bhāgavata, then all of them appeared. And everyone, sometimes our ancestors, go away from the world. Where did we go? Where did we come from? That vision comes from the Devī Bhāgavata. Some people are new today, so let me tell you this: that is why the Devī Bhāgavata is here. So whether wealth is lost or property is lost or a state is lost or is ruined, even the two or three people who have died—the knowledge of life has also come in the Devī Bhāgavata, in this skandha. So the Devī Bhāgavata is our lost power, our lost kingdom. Khoyī huī kisī riśte-nātedāra ko prāpta karane kā yaha eka upāya hai, aura khonā pānā to isa pṛthvī para sadā hī rahegā. Veda Vyāsa Jī jaisī mahāna hastī, jo ki svayaṁ avatāra hai Bhagavāna Viṣṇu ke—Veda Vyāsa Jī ke janma kī bhī abhī kathā āyegī. To unako bhī Devī Bhāgavata karanī paḍī, unako bhī Bhagavatī kā dhyāna karanā paḍā. We worship Mahākālī, Mahālakṣmī, and Mahāsarasvatī, the powers of action, knowledge, and prosperity. By bestowing grace upon these four sons and giving knowledge to Śukadeva Jī, Mother Jagadambā will proceed. Now see, here, Śaunaka and the other ṛṣis have asked about Śukadeva’s birth; they have asked about Śukadeva’s glory. So now, Bholā, I am going into a flashback. So now, how Vedavyāsa was born, that is being asked. So let me tell you once, when these incidents happened, then before that, let me take you inside Mahābhārata, where Vedavyāsa Jī’s son Śukadeva Jī has gone. This is Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa, the 28th Vyāsa. It is his talk; the Vyāsa before that is not. His mother remembered him—who is his mother? Matsyagandhā, Satyavatī, Yojanagandhā—this is her name—and Parāśara Jī’s son was born in the 28th Dvāpara. And before I tell you about the story of Matsyagandhā, I would like to remind you: after remembering his mother Satyavatī, Tejasvī went to his birthplace on the call of his mother. That was Dvīpa, a kind of island, where the Niṣādas told him that their mother was married to Rāja Śāntanu, who took her to Śāntanu. On the occasion of the Niṣāda Rāja, Veda Vyāsa Jī sat on the banks of the Sarasvatī river to celebrate his āśrama. And here, the Devī Bhāgavata tells us that Mahārāja Śāntanu is the mother of Lord Veda Vyāsa Jī. Veda Vyāsa Jī also passed away before the marriage. This is the mystery of the story. It is 8 o’clock now. This is also said about Jesus, this is also said about Kabīr, and Karṇa also happened like this. Mahāna Tejasvī and Śukadeva Jī’s wife’s name is also not known; that which was the wife, it was Gṛtācī Apsarā. Satyavati... Vicitra Vīrya, Citrāṅgadā ko eka Gandharva ne māra diyā, aura Vicitra Vīrya ko chaya roga ho gayā, usase mara gaye. Aba bacce hue nahīṁ, to mātā Satyavatī ne batāyā ki vaṁśa chalāne ke liye bacce cāhie, to Veda Vyāsa Jī ko bulāyā gayā. Hālāṅki Śāntanu ke eka beṭā aura bhī the, unakā nāma... Gaṅgā Putra Bhīṣma, aba inako sāta bacce hue, chaha bacce to Gaṅgā ne Gaṅgā ke andara hī ḍāla diye, aura sātaveṁ meṁ ye raha gayā, kyoṅki inako eka ṛṣi kā śrāpa hai. Because of that, he had to drown these seven demons in water and kill them so that they could go back to their own world. And the demon which had committed the real crime of the ṛṣi, that demon was Viśvapitāmaha. That is why he had to endure the Yadu for 100 years. In this story, I will take you. Bhīṣma made Citrāṅgada sit on the throne, and he did not rule himself. Now, why did Bhīṣma not rule? I will take you to this story. See, when he got married to Gaṅgā, Gaṅgā put six children in the water. When he started killing, Viṣṇu (Śāntanu) got angry. What was the condition of marriage? If you ask me who I am, where I am from, or what my name is, then I will leave you and go. At the end, Śāntanu got very angry. He said, “You are killing your own sons like a snake.” Śāntanu got angry, and she said, “I am Gaṅgā, and I am freeing you by giving birth to these children to do the work of the Gods, because they have become like this due to the curse of the sage. They are going to their world; they are not dying. And now he has stopped him. He will serve you for 100 years; do not worry.” And Gaṅgā was distracted. And Gaṅgā said, “I will return this child to you when he grows up a little.” Then, staying in the āśrama of Vasiṣṭha Jī, Bhīṣma Pitāmaha learned the same Dhanur Vidyā that Paraśurāma Jī learned. Part 3: The Mahābhārata’s Web: Stories Within Stories The mother said, “Son, you have the boon of a good death.” Viṣṇu Pita Mahā is the son, and Śantanu is the king, and there is no one in the house. One day, when they went to hunt, they saw Satyavati. From Satyavati’s body, there used to be a fragrance of a hundred yojanas, a hundred kośas, something like kastūrī. Satyavati is the daughter of a very great tapasvī, born from the womb of a fish. Now, Mahārāj jī, there are stories within stories, stories within those, then stories within those, and then stories within those. So let’s move forward. When Mahābāhu went to Śantanu to marry Satyavati, after his father Daśarāja said, on one condition, that you will make his elder son the king. So, he came and spoke in front of his son: “Many times, sons ask for rights from their father. How can I tell my son that I want to marry someone else?” Thus, Santanu spoke about two meanings in the meeting. Many times there have been such sons who have sacrificed for their father. Like Rāma went to the forest, Hariścandra’s son Rohita himself went to the yajña, a king named Sunaśepha also sold his son. Such stories have begun to circulate. Viśvapītāmā understood and said, “Father, if we have committed a crime, then tell us what we should do.” He could not say, for Raja Santanu was ashamed that he wanted to marry another woman, attracted to a woman who carries such a fragrance. This is the plan of the devatās. Some people say, Ved Vyāsa Jī has written the Mahābhārata. But Ved Vyāsa Jī is not just a writer, he is a director. All these Mahābhārata characters are the children of Vedavyāsa Jī. The one who fights in the Mahābhārata is the child of Vedavyāsa Jī. He is not only a writer, he is also the creator. Now see how he is the creator: Satyavati is the mother of Ved Vyāsa Jī. The same Satyavati gets married to Santanu, and Viśvāmitra has said that he will serve the state all his life and will never get married. They brought the mother of Satyavati, the mother of Vedavyāsa Jī, and they killed two of his children, Chitrāṅgada and Vichitravīrya. Chitrāṅgada was killed by a Gandharva. He grew up in the forest, and Vichitravīrya also could not father a child. They did not get a good boy to marry. Now, how did the boy meet? In the house, there was a young man of the quality of Bhīṣma Pitāmaha, and along with these two, he brought three girls of Kāśī Rāj—Ambā and Ambālikā, and three girls came from Kāśī Rāj. Bhishma Pitāmah was told, “You have become untouchable.” He was sent back. Now Bhīṣma Pitāmaha said, “I will not get married.” My brothers got married to Ambā and Ambālikā. In the next birth, this became the cause of Bhīṣma Pitāmaha’s death. Now see, this Mahābhārata is very big. It is happening in every house till now. It is happening, Mahārāj. We have heard this Mahābhārata so that we also rise above this Mahābhārata and attain knowledge. Now see, both the brothers are dead, there are no children in the house, so the mother Satyavatī said that you marry them, big brother, much has to be done. There is such a tradition; now much law and order has been done, but at that time there was a lot of laxity, Mahārāj. That is, today’s civil society, the one who is called civil, cannot even talk about it. There were such things too, and there were such precautions too, but now those things are over. Mahāprabhujī, Karatā... Upon seeing his radiance, her eyes closed, and thus the blind Dhṛtarāṣṭra was born. When she turned pale, King Pāṇḍu was born. The third time, in the third year, from the womb of a maid, Vidurjī Mahārāj was born. Two incarnations of Dharma appeared in the Mahābhārata: one is Yudhiṣṭhir and the other is Vidurjī. You may or may not know, but when Vidurjī died, 36 years after Lord Kṛṣṇa’s death, when Vidurjī left his body, he entered the face of Yudhiṣṭhira, because both are part of Dharma. Due to the curse of Maṇḍavya Ṛṣi, Vidurajī lived on earth for 100 years. There are a lot of stories, too many. So you want to listen; people want to listen to the story of Vidura also, of Māṇḍavya Ṛṣi. You must have heard that Māṇḍavya Ṛṣi was meditating in samādhi. I have made small content and narrated it to you. He was meditating. Mistaking Maṇḍavya Ṛṣi for a thief, the king’s men took him away and impaled him on a śūla. And when they impaled Maṇḍavya Ṛṣi on the śūla, people went and said, “How could you impale a ṛṣi? The king has done a great wrong.” What is a minister? An innocent minister does nothing, quietly sits, does nothing. The innocent one sits quietly, does not speak. And the one who speaks too much, his body becomes full of air. Bheem is the greatest speaker in the Mahābhārata. And in the Mahābhārata, when our Śyām Bābā was asked, Khaṭṭu Śyām was asked, “What did you see?” He said, “I saw a Sudarśana Cakra and a Mahāmāyā.” Who is that Mahāmāyā who gave this perception? Now, what is the story of Bhīma? Bheem did not leave even Yudhiṣṭhir. He used to fight with Lord Kṛṣṇa. Chitragupta said, “Mahārāj, in your childhood, at the age of five, you had pierced small ants and butterflies with a needle in their wings and cut their wings. That’s why you got a needle.” Maṇḍavya Ṛṣi, bearing a curse in his hand, gave him water and said, “You too, now climb on the needle.” You don’t know: if a child of five, six, or seven commits a crime, he gets punished in his dreams. This is the big punishment, you know what the truth is, what is right or wrong, and you will always see wrong. This is the ultimate pain, the ultimate punishment. Now see, these are Vidurajī, the form of Dharma. Because of the curse of Māṇḍavya ṛṣi, he remained for 100 years. I have told you the story of Vidūrajī in detail. So these three children were Rājā Pāṇḍu, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, and Vidurajī. Dhṛtarāṣṭra got married to Gāndhārī, and along with her, he brought his brother-in-law. And his brother-in-law has been opposed to dowry in our scriptures. He had a mantra with Kekai, and he had a Śakuni with Gāndhārī. That is why in the marriage of your son, you should avoid things that come from your in-laws. Because the things that come from there are dangerous. People think that I made my son a doctor, an engineer, an IAS; there will be some expense, but that expense is going to be very heavy. It is going to be very heavy, so be careful. Be careful of everything that comes from the side of the wife. This has been happening for centuries. Mantra came, and from Kandhar to Gandhar came Śakuni. There was one more marriage. Rājā Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s daughter Vaiśyā used to be a religious woman. She had 100 children. Rājā Pāṇḍu’s daughter Kuntī married the king of Sureshendesh. But when Pāṇḍu went to the forest, he killed a sage and his wife with an arrow. So he got a curse: if you go near your wife for a son, you will also die. He gave the curse. Now, when he got this curse, he went to the forest and started doing penance. He was good, had good qualities, started meditating and worshipping Bhagavān. And Dhṛtarāṣṭra became king. This is also a big story of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Mahārāj. Now, Mahārāja Pāṇḍu thought, “My children should be there.” So Mahārāj Pāṇḍu told his wife, “You will not be free without your child. You will be born in a different way, like us—not in the ordinary way, like your father. You also should not destroy my family by giving birth to a child from a Brahmin or someone else.” Kunti said, “Do not worry about this. When I was a maiden, I learned how to call the gods from Durvāsa Ṛṣi.” Now, one mistake had already happened before marriage: she had sent Karṇa away after giving birth to him. This is again a flashback story. So, she presented the gods in front of Mahārāj Pāṇḍu to prove his words. And from time to time, Yudhiṣṭhir was born through Dharma, Bhīmasena through Vāyu, Arjuna through Indra, and from Mādrī’s womb, Nakula and Sahadeva were born through the Aśvinīkumāras. This is the narrative of the Mahābhārata. Due to the sage’s curse, Pāṇḍu’s end occurred right there, and Mādrī also became satī with him. See, when these five Pāṇḍavas grow up, they enter the city along with Kuntī. Kuntī always tries to make society proud. In fact, we say, “Yā Devī Sarvabhūteṣu Mātṛrūpeṇa Saṃsthitā” — she is the incarnation of Devī herself. That is why Durvāsā gave her such knowledge. And if you see the way Durvāsā jī taught, you will be happy. As soon as Kuntī entered Hastināpur, people asked her, “Where did she bring five children from?” Kuntī introduced five Devatās: Dharma, Indra, Aśvinī Kumāras, Vāyu—all of them, her fathers, and those Devatās stood up and said, “These are our children.” Then people came to know that he is the son of the devatās, he is the son of God. When this knowledge came, everyone accepted him with great love. Here, it is said that Kuntī remembers how she lost her son. Kuntī wakes up in the night and cries and says the following verse: “Nādhyātaṁ Pāda Paṅkajaṁ Suga Karaṁ Devyā Śiva Yaścharīm.” I have never worshipped the lotus feet of the Devi that grant all ease, nor have I worshipped Bhagavatī Śiva. That is why my eldest son, Sūryaputra, will be in some unknown place. I have never taken refuge in that Parambhā Bhagavatī. Kuntī prays to Mahāmāyā and Bhuvaneśvarī to protect her son. Mahāprabhujī kī Karatā… Vṛddha Dhṛtarāṣṭra lives with his wife Gāndhārī, and Bhīma tells him harsh words every day. And what does he say? Will you listen to Bhīma’s speech? It is written in the Śāstra: the son of air in the body is not the quality of air, but the quality of sound. How does sound originate? Through fire and air. So Bhīma says a lot. Bhīma says, “I have never seen this wicked, blind man helpless. I even drank the blood of his son. And even now, this blind man is shameless and eats the food given by me like a dog. His life is useless.” Now, why does Bhīma say this? One day, blind Dhṛtarāṣṭra—now he was blind with his eyes, or from where he was blind, I don’t know, he was blind with his mind. In the Mahābhārata, one day—it is difficult to grow up—Bhīma is the younger brother of Yudhiṣṭhira. One day, when Yudhiṣṭhir was not at home, Dhṛtarāṣṭra says, “Bheem, come to me today. I have been deprived of all my children for so many days. You too are my children. Today, I feel like adoring Duryodhana. Why don’t I adorn you today? I will embrace you.” Lord Krishna understood, “What will he do by hugging?” He said that the grip of the blind is very strong. That’s why our grip is very strong on our own things. Now we will go out and wear our own slippers. If the slippers disappear, then we will forget the story. We will remember the slippers. That’s why we are all blind, because our grip is very strong. Our grip does not leave us, we know. Where and what to spend, the whole account is there. We have also put the price of God, that it is Rs. 1.25 or Rs. 5. Mahāprabhudīp Karatā… So Bhīma says that he is such a dirty man, but what does Dharma say? He is the elder brother of his father, so he is like a father. Yudhiṣṭhir is Dharma. He said, if you want to learn about Dharma, then learn from Yudhiṣṭhir. Yudhiṣṭhir’s chariot was nine inches above the earth because he believed in Dharma. He never lied. There is such a practice in our country: don’t do anything, just say Satya. What do you say? This is very difficult work. A Russian scientist has written that if a person speaks the truth for five minutes on this earth, then it will be the same as what happens in southern countries: they will throw mics, slippers, and shoes. Husband and wife will fight, neighbors will fight, relatives will fight. Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law will fight. The hospital will be full, and houses will be full. Guru and disciple will beat each other; there will be fights in schools if they speak the truth. And even here, the biggest problem is going to happen in the assembly. Why? Because the truth is inside, nothing is outside, as Mahārāj Jī just told us. The truth is always one. And let me tell you one thing: happiness and sorrow are of the same nature. Love and compassion are also of the same nature. Criticism and praise are also of the same nature. When there is praise, then there will be criticism too. Where there is attraction, there will be dissatisfaction too. Both sides go together, so never sit down to fight or quarrel. In Bhīma’s heart, somewhere there is more love for Yudhiṣṭhir than for Dhṛtarāṣṭra, because he thinks, “He is my father’s brother, like a father.” But this one has always created trouble, always trouble. Mahāprabhujī Karatā… If someone is born, it is okay. He said, “Satsaṅgat karo re bhai he mahābhāg, meṁ kaurav kā śrāddh karnā cāhtā hūṁ.” So, he called Bheem and said, “Salutations, Asura, no one follows Yudhiṣṭhir’s orders, but Bheem is used to it. Bheem is a big talker. Bheem loves his brother a lot. See, he is not able to understand Mahāmāyā’s līlā.” The air is bad in the body, right? One day, during the time of exile, these five brothers used to have a rule that on that day his wife would be with him. One day, without permission, Bhīmsenjī entered Yudhiṣṭhir Mahārāj’s room—his wife is Draupadī—and saw Yudhiṣṭhir pressing Draupadī’s feet. He said, “Jai Mātā Dī, all husbands should do this, only then they will become Dharmarāj. Press your wife’s feet.” I am telling the truth. If I laugh, it will be an insult to Bhagavatī and Parambhā. There is nothing wrong with that. See, Lakṣmījī was pressing the feet of Lord Viṣṇu, and Lord Viṣṇu was smiling. And she felt that someone else was smiling, and she cursed Lord Viṣṇu, and he had to cut off his throat—the face with which he smiled, he should cut off that throat. And Bhīmasena got angry thinking this was going wrong: my elder brother is pressing her feet in a religious manner. I will press her feet again when I become her husband. He got angry. When he got angry, he felt that Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa had come. If there is anger, if there is work, if there is vikāra, if Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa comes, then everything will be fine. Bhagavān said, “What is the matter, Bhīmasena? Why are you burning yourself with the fire of anger?” He said, “Draupadī did this.” He said, “Do this: go to the jungle for a while.” If there is a fight between husband and wife, if there is a fight at home, then go to the jungle for a while. Bhīma climbed a tree and watched, and within a short time Brahmā arrived, Mahādev arrived, Indra arrived, all the devatās came and sat upon their seats. The middle chair was still empty. Then Bhagavatī Parambabhū arrived, and Draupadī arrived. Bholenāth, Jai Mātā Dī. Draupadī came in great anger and said, “Tomorrow I will drink Bhīma’s blood.” Bhīma is sitting on top, shivering, and says, “What has happened? What are you doing, Mother?” She says, “No, he has insulted me. He has thought about me in his mind.” So, husband, think about your husband. She will drink his blood. All the wives, all the sisters, all the mothers—if you consider them laughing or crying, bow down to their feet. Hey, if you bow down to their feet, Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa did not give birth to grandfathers. There is no birth without a mother in this world. So, all the women are only mothers. But ladies and gentlemen, do not feel bad. You do not have to be egoistic about this. That mother is a mother because she does not have ego. It does not mean to increase someone’s ego or to insult someone. But for men, there is a message in the Bhagavad Gītā: there is no one who can understand the sacrifice of a husband. I have seen that if a wife dies somewhere, even her husband does not live in the house; he leaves without her. And sometimes even after the death of her husband, his wife lives. For whom? To take care of her. See the sacrifice of motherly power. Motherly power has been rising because of this world. Bheem said, “I will not tolerate this thing, that you give him money and he prays. I will not tolerate this thing at any cost.” Bheem went in anger. Along with Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva, they gave a lot of money to Dhṛtarāṣṭra. And Ambikā’s son Dhṛtarāṣṭra took the money and made his children pray by his Brahmins. Bhīma Sen Jī had already prayed to all of them in that battle. But he felt that Bhīma might have been a little angry. So Dhṛtarāṣṭra once again did this for his consolation. When Sanjay got the news that Dhṛtarāṣṭra was going to the forest, at that time, on the refusal of his sons, Mother Kuntī also left, so Bhīma started crying. Part 4: Visions of the Departed and the Wheels of Fate in the Mahābhārata Kuntī Mātā, Kuntī Mātā... Dhyāna, dhyāna... “Duryodhana ko āp mujhe dikhā dījīye, he Veda Vyāsa jī,” she pleaded. Then Kuntī Mātā spoke: “Maiṁ āpne putra Karṇa ko janma ke samay dekhā thā, āj maiṁ taḍap rahī hūṁ, mujhe Karṇa kā darśan karā dījīye.” And Subhadrā said, “Maiṁ Abhimanyu ko yuddha ke samay nahīṁ dekh pāī, maiṁ Abhimanyu se milnā cāhatī hūṁ.” Sūta Jī says that Vedavyāsa Jī listened to everyone’s prayers, performed prāṇāyāma, and meditated on Sanātanī Devī, Bhagavatī, Mahākālī, Jagadambā, Mahālakṣmī, Bhuvaneśvarī, and Sarasvatī, and said, “Jagadambī Mātā Kī.” All these people live or die in the lap of that Mother. They do not go anywhere; they sit in the lap of that Mother. Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śaṅkara, Indra, Varuṇa, Kubera—all of them came there to pray to that Mother, and the Mother herself, Bhuvaneśvarī Devī, appeared and called all the kings from heaven, making them stand before everyone. Then Jagadambā Māṭā Kī spoke, and it was as if an Indrajāl, a magic, unfolded, and everyone had darśana of all those souls. Tears came to everyone’s eyes. At that moment, Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa was also present there. Vyāsa Jī displayed such a līlā, and then he departed. After Vyāsa Jī left, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Gāndhārī, and Kuntī also abandoned their bodies when thirty-six years had passed after the destruction of the Kurus. After the thirty-six years of the Mahābhārata war, the Yādava dynasty was destroyed due to the curse of the brāhmaṇas, and Balarāma and Śrī Kṛṣṇa also returned to His own world. When Vasudevajī heard the news of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s bodily departure, he meditated on Bhuvaneśvarī Devī in his mind and sacrificed his holy life. Overcome with grief, Arjuna took the body of Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Prabhāsa Kṣetra to cremate it. But the body would not burn, for earlier Durvāsā Ṛṣi had given Him kheer, and His body had become like a vajra. Later, it was cast into the sea. That same body traveled through the ocean to Jagannāth Purī, where Viśvakarmā himself came and crafted it into the mūrti of the Lord. The rule was that if anyone saw the mūrti before it was finished, the maker would vanish; thus, the idol of Jagannāth Bhagavān—fashioned from the very body of Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa—remained without hands and feet because a king peeked midway. So now He is Jagannāth Bhagavān. Returning to the Mahābhārata: after searching for the body of Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna performed His dāha saṃskāra with the eight patranīs, and with Revatī he performed the dāha saṃskāra of Balarāmajī’s body. After Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s body was given up, Dvārakā also sank. As Arjuna was escorting the Lord’s other wives, thieves snatched everything from him—wealth and more. He then reached Indraprastha and later, when he had become weak, went to Vyāsa Jī and asked, “Mahārāj, what should we do to regain our power?” Vedavyāsa Jī replied, “Your power departed with the death of Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa.” After the death of Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa and the destruction of the Yādavas by the curse, Rāja Yudhiṣṭhira installed the 36-year-old Rāja Parīkṣit on the throne and journeyed to the Himalayas. In this way, after thirty-six years in Hastināpur, the sons of Draupadī also went to the Himalayas and gave up their lives, and Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja entered heaven with his entire body. One day, while searching for a dead animal with his arrow, Parīkṣit—son of Uttarā—placed a dead snake around the neck of a meditating sage. Seeing this, the sage’s son, Śṛṅgī, cursed him to die by a snake bite. Śukadeva Jī then recited the Kathā to him and departed. Afterwards, the ministers said, “Mahārāj, you have heard the Kathā, but it is your duty to protect your life.” The story is somewhat akin to the Bhagavad Gītā. “From tomorrow, you must recite the Kathā in the pure form of the Devī Mātā. The slaying of Mahiṣāsura and Niśumbha should have been done today; we will do it tomorrow.” So they built a lofty palace, so tall that no one—neither snake nor bird—could enter, in a desperate attempt to save Mahārāja Parīkṣit. But Takṣaka made his other Nāgas assume the guise of brāhmaṇas, and he himself entered a huge fruit in the form of a copper-colored insect. The king, astonished, took it as a sign of the Sūrya Stotra and said, “Now I have no fear of poison. I accept that serpent of the Brahman. Let this insect bite me.” Placing it on his neck, as the sun set, the insect transformed into the terrifying Kāla-svarūpa Takṣaka, coiled around him, and Rāja Parīkṣit departed, attaining supreme liberation. At that time, Janmejaya Mahārāja was very young. When he grew up and married, a brāhmaṇa named Uttaṅka came and said, “Mahārājan, the evil Takṣaka who killed your father—you have let those snakes go unpunished. You should destroy all the snakes on earth.” Janmejaya grew angry. Uttaṅka reminded him how Takṣaka had bribed a brāhmaṇa named Kāśyapa to prevent him from reaching his father. He also told the ancient story of Muni Ruru, whose wife was revived after being killed by a snake, and insisted, “A son who does not avenge his father’s wounds is dead even while alive.” Thus provoked, Janmejaya called the brāhmaṇas and commenced a blazing sacrifice to annihilate all snakes. When Uttaṅka Muni invoked Takṣaka, the serpent fled to Indra’s abode and drank nectar, believing he would not die. Indra then pleaded with the brāhmaṇa Āstīka, who came and stopped the snake destruction. The story is very beautiful. (Pause in the narrative: the speaker requests a brief stuti to the Divine Mother and announces that the next day, the Devī Bhāgavata will be recited for the birth, continuing after stopping the Sarpa Satra. They bow to Mahā Sarasvatī and schedule the next session.) Now, let us draw the threads together. The Purāṇas are all interconnected—one gigantic story difficult to follow in full, so it has been divided into smaller tales. Vedavyāsa is not only the author of the Mahābhārata but also a central actor, for he is the father of Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Pāṇḍu, and thus the grandfather of the main figures in the great war. In the Mahābhārata, many events unfold, and one of its notable characters is Vidura, the third son of Vedavyāsa, celebrated as a Dharmarāja in his own right; he also gave us the Vidura Nīti and other lawful scriptures. The story of Draupadī marrying the five sons of Pāṇḍu—Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīmasena, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva—is a profound līlā of the Divine Mother, for the female principle governs the whole universe. Draupadī was an incarnation of that principle. Such tales, though often exaggerated through bhakti, invite us to read repeatedly: we understand slowly, and what we do not grasp today may dawn on us tomorrow. The narrative then traces how Vedavyāsa was conceived and how the Mahābhārata began. A proud king once placed a dead snake on a meditating sage’s neck; the sage’s son cursed him, and despite building an unassailable tower, the king was killed by Takṣaka. The king’s son, consumed by grief, was urged by an ṛṣi with an old grudge against snakes to perform a yajña that would destroy all serpents in the three worlds. That sacrifice was stopped only when the king’s son was brought to listen to the Devī Bhāgavatam—and this, too, is one of the ways the Devī Bhāgavatam came to be known. There are at least five different accounts of how the Devī Bhāgavatam first appeared, varying with the different Vedavyāsas of different ages. But what matters is the power of this text: it can release ancestors from their self-created miseries, and it grants darśana of them so we may see how they are progressing. Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān Kī Jaya, Deśvara Mahādeva Kī Jaya, Kṛṣṇa Bhagavān Kī Jaya, Viśvaguru Mahāmaṇḍaleśvarānanda Purī Jī, Satya Gurudeva Kī Jaya, Jaya Mātā Kī Jaya.