TV Channel

Part 1: The Essence of Devotion and the Story of Indra's Sin O gaṇanātha bhūta-ghanādhi-sevitaṁ, gīta-jambū-phala-sāra-bhakṣaṇam | Asatāṁ śoka-vināśa-kārakaṁ, namāmi vighneśvara-pāda-paṅkajam || Dhyāna-mūlaṁ gurur mūrtiḥ, pūjā-mūlaṁ guroḥ padam | Mantra-mūlaṁ guror vākyaṁ, mokṣa-mūlaṁ guru-kṛpā || Namo 'stu te vyāsa viśāla-buddhe, phullāravinda-yata-patra-netra | Yena tvayā bhārata-taila-pūrṇaḥ, jvālito jñāna-mayaḥ pradīpaḥ || Yaṁ pravrajantam anupetam apeta-kṛtyaṁ, dvai-pāyano viraha-kātara ājuhāva | Putre 'ti-tanmayatayā taravo 'bhyaneduḥ, taṁ sarva-bhūta-hṛdayaṁ munim ānato 'smi || Ātmatvaṁ gīrjām ati-śaścaraṁ, prāṇa-śarīraṁ grahaṁ pūjate | Viṣayopabhoga-racanā-nidrā-samādhiṣṭhati | Saṁcāra-padyopadakṣiṇā-vidhiḥ stotrāṇi sarvāgirau | Yad yad karma karoti tattad akhilaṁ śambho tavārādhanam || Yā svayaṁ sukṛtināṁ bhavaneṣu lakṣmīḥ, pāpātmanāṁ kṛta-dhīyāṁ hṛdayeṣu buddhiḥ | Śraddhā satāṁ kula-jana-prabhavasya lajjā, taṁ tvāṁ natāḥ sma paripālayadevi viśvam || Atulita-bala-dhāmaṁ hema-śaila-samadeham, dānuja-vana-kṛśānuṁ jñāninām-agragaṇyam | Sakala-guṇa-nidhānaṁ vāṇarāṇa-madhyasthaṁ, raghupati-priya-bhaktaṁ vāta-jaṭaṁ namāmi || Śrī Rām, I know the whole world. I bow down to you, the Lord of the Universe. Boli Saccī Darbār Kī Jai. Boli Aṭal Chhatra Kī Jai. Boli Śrī Deveśvara Mahādeva Kī Jai. Boli Śrī Devapurīṣa Bhagavān Kī Jai. Boli Dīpanayana Mahāprabhu Bhagavān Kī Jai. Boli Hindū Dharma Samrāṭ Mādhavānanda Jī Mahārāj Kī Jai. Boli Paramahaṁsavāmī Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Mahiśvānanda Jī Mahārāj Kī Jai. Boli Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Svāmī Jñāneśvara Purī Jī Mahārāj Kī Jai. Sabhī Santoṁ Kī Jai. Satya Sanātana Dharma Kī Jai. Boli Śrī Govindadeva Jī Bhagavān Kī Jai. Sarvamaṅgala-maṅgalye śive sarvārtha-sādhike | Śaraṇye tryambake gaurī nārāyaṇi namo 'stu te || Come, while asking in the presence of God, offer your surrender. Offer all your wishes, which we are not able to do ourselves. Bharo jholī merī, bharo jholī merī, bharo jholī merī serāvālīye. Tere dar se na lūṭūṁ serāvālīye. Main musībat-dukhoṁ kī satāyī huī, sunke mahimā tere dvār āyī hūṁ. Satī ban ādi śakti jagā do. Tum ho vardhanī vardhane vālī, tere dar se na jāūṅgā khālī. Bharo jholī merī. Kavitālakha hama ko maiyā tum tarsāogī? Dīna-dukhī pe na tarsā khāogī, maiyā. Ṭūṭ jāegā bhaktōṁ kā viśvās, mā. Bas tumhīṁ se lagī hai bas āśā, bas tumhīṁ se lagī hai yah ek āśā. Hara samaya vipadā bhaktōṁ kī ṭālī. Bharo jholī merī serāvālī, tere dar se na jāūṅgā khālī. Jay Mātā, Jay Mātā, Jay Mātā, Ambē Mātā, Jay Mātā. Bharo jholī merī, bharo jholī merī serāvālī. Tere dar se na jāūṅgā khālī. Jay Mātā, Jay Mātā, Jay Mātā Ambē Mātā, Jay Mātā, Jay Mātā. Bholī Saccī Darbār Kī Jai. Bhūta, sūta, mahābhāga, miṣṭaṁ te varca nāmṛtaṁ na tṛptāsmo vijñāpitvā dvipāyana kratāṁ śubham. The sages who have been sitting here for a thousand years tell Sūtajī, "We are not satisfied; we want to listen to more stories." Which stories did Vedavyāsa Jī tell Janmajī? We should listen to such stories about those devotees—when and at what time people worshipped the Mother. Devī Bhāgavata means we should be told about those characters where devotion to the Mother has been performed by any king, brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, or any other being. And what is the devotion of the Mother? This is an amazing thing to understand. This is a very important point. Here, there are many characters. Śrīmad Bhāgavata has told of Manu Mahārāja. Devī Bhāgavata has also told of the children of Manu Mahārāja: Priyavrata and Uttānapāda. Uttānapāda’s sons Dhruva and Uttama, and in his line, Rāja Aṅga, etc. Similarly, Priyavrata’s sons Nābhāga, Agnīdhra, and others; his son Ṛṣabhadeva Jī; Ṛṣabhadeva Jī’s one hundred children; Bharata Jī Mahārāja. And Bharata Jī had three births. For the truth, he tried for three births. When his third birth took place, after the death of the body, his Rāma entered the root. That is, he was not worried about anyone. He neither hated anyone, nor respected anyone, nor worshipped anyone, nor committed any sin. Just like that, he continued to wander. There were many incidents in his life, but the glory of the Mother was such that the dacoits took him to sacrifice him. Before sacrificing him, the dacoits cleaned his body. Just as the groom is bathed for a wedding, he was also bathed. Whenever a sacrifice is made, the person is first lifted up. He is immediately lifted up. Then, to fall, the man does not have to do anything; he falls down. So the sacrifice was prepared. A little before the sacrifice, he was placed before Mātā Kālī wearing a flower garland, and his head was placed on the sacrificial altar. Mātā Kālī could not bear it. He did not pray in any way, did not call God in any way, but Mātā Kālī could not bear the pain. She broke the idol and stood up. And from her stance, all the dacoits—who considered themselves devotees—cut off their own heads and started playing with them. Now, Mahārāja Jī did not perform any worship here, did not observe any fast, and did not undertake any pilgrimage to Devī Mātā. This is also a devotion: when we leave ourselves in Her lap, when we are worried about our life, it means we are not allowing ourselves to exist, or we are not allowing God to think about us because we are worried for our life. We think we are the director of all parts of life. We will take a decision, but this is not true. A small story about King Bharata: he had one hundred brothers. They went to Taina, Tibet, and started the tradition of Navanātha, the Nātha paramparā, the Nātha tradition. And King Jadāvārata, for achieving the supreme goal, the final goal of consciousness, the final goal of life, tried for three lives. In the first, he was a king, and he was praying, but his mind was attached with compassion, and compassion with attachment. So in the first life, when he died, he thought of a deer. In the next life, he became a deer. In the third life, he was born in a brāhmaṇa family, but doing nothing, he lived in the brahma-bhāva. He was directly connected with the whole existence. Not performing any rituals, he was not taking a bath because he was already pure; no need for bath, almost enlightened. His mother died when he was in very early childhood. Once upon a time, some robbers, dacoits, kidnapped him and wanted to kill him. Before the sacrifice, Bali Dāna, and King Bharata: in this life, he was not a king; he was a brāhmaṇa. But he did not worship, nor did he call to Mātā, "Please save me." He did not even cry, "Help, help." He just supported the robbers. He just supported the robbers. Finally, this also happens: before the kill, they offer him many garlands, sweets, and clothes. It happened in this life before marriage. In India also, you can see the whole society, whole family, people offer a lot of cloth and jewelry. This is the tradition before Bali. It is called Bali’s goat. Bali’s goat is worshipped. And when one robber tries to kill him, Goddess Kālī comes and kills all the robbers. This small story gives this very pure and deep essence of devotion. What is the devotion of Mātā Kālī? What is the bhakti of Durgā? We are chanting, we are going on pilgrimage to the temple, but we do not believe in Her. We do not believe in the power of existence who was caring when we were in the womb, or who is caring when we are sleeping, who digests our food. So when we worry about our life, it means we do not believe in Her power. She is already caretaking; She is already very protective of us. This story tells us that the more we think about ourselves, that we should save ourselves, we will not be able to save ourselves. Jako rākhe sāiyā̃, mār sake na koī, bāḷe na bāka kar sake, jo chāha vairī hoī. And otherwise, the security people also die. Such incidents have happened in the world. And otherwise, I have heard that Hitler himself died. He himself committed suicide in the end. So there is no one else who can kill us; we are ready to kill ourselves. There is another beautiful story in Devī Bhāgavata. There is a brāhmaṇa named Triśiras. His name is Viśvarūpa, who gave the knowledge of Nārāyaṇa Kavaca to Indra. Once, Bṛhaspati Jī got angry and left. Now, when two people are together, one will be angry and the other will be happy. And when they are together, they will definitely be angry with each other. If they are not together, it means they are not together; they are physically together. And the closer it is, the angrier it can be. The father is the most angry with the son, and the son is the most angry with the father, because they are close. And where there is no anger, there is no relationship. He described the form of the universe because Bṛhaspati Jī was angry and hid away from the gods. The universe gave him knowledge, but he had doubts about the universe. Viśvarūpa used to meditate upside down. So Indra thought that he wanted to take away his position because he had enemies. My enemies are demons. So Asura’s wife was the daughter of demons. This is happening all the time. Indra also gave his daughter to Śukrācārya. Relationships keep on forming like this. Now he killed Triśiras, the three-headed one. This type of story you can find only in the Indian Purāṇas. Purāṇas tell of one who had ten thousand hands; this is the greed of human beings. We want, are not satisfied with one. This is another thing. Right now, the law is not allowed, otherwise bosses will put GPS systems in all servants, in housing, in him, swim, darling, sub-gender guy, and even they want to put it in the mind. And I heard, and I read in the newspaper, one person made a machine when Obama... I went there in Israel. People want to read other minds. Dūsre kā mana paḍh lūṁ, dūsre kī buddhi ko paḍh lūṁ. When we observe our own thought process, then the journey of spirituality starts. When your mind starts reading your intellect—what the other is thinking about me, what the other is good or bad about me—till then we will not enter the temple of dharma. Indra is the same. Indra is not a religious person; he is a selfish person, selfish. I will not even say selfish; there is a word below that. He is a politician, actually. He is not a spiritual person. Indra is a complete politician. The one who does this kind of deed becomes Indra. With Gautama’s wife also, he has become Gautama. That is why Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Maheśa, Bhuvaneśvarī, Jagadeśvarī, Bhagavatī do not do any politics, you see. That is why She is Bhagavatī. All the other gods are doing politics. They are deceiving. That is why Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Maheśa, Bhuvaneśvarī, Jagadeśvarī do not do politics, you see. That is why She is Bhagavatī. The rest of the gods are doing politics. Indra killed Triśiras by hiding behind his back. But he was blind and looked like he was alive. He looked like Brahmā, but he was the son of Tvaṣṭā. He had a lot of hatred. He had three faces. He used one face to read the Vedas, one face to drink honey (madhu), and the third face to see all four directions. He used to do this. Pañcāgni also used to pray. When he killed this good-doer, the monks around him said, "What have you done, Indra? You have lost your glory." So Indra made a lie here. To kill the dead Triśiras, he gave the woodcutter, who was sitting next to him, the task to cut his head. So he said, "Hi," to Indra. He said, "Indra, shame on you. You have such a sinful mind. You kill a person sitting on the throne." His name is Takṣa, the elder’s name is Takṣa. "I feel that in this world there is no one more sinful than you, Indra. Hey, I will never support you in this sin." Indra said, "If you do this work of mine, then I will give you a part of the money I get in the Yajña." A bribe, to get rid of this corruption. Indra will also have to pull his leg. Indra gives a bribe. Indra said to Ṛṣvadī Mahārāja Takṣa, "I will give you some part of my hour." Because I will give you some part of my power. Hearing this, Bhadra also became happy. And he cut off his three heads with his hammer. And when he cut his three heads, one of them became Gauraiyā. What is Gauraiyā, Mahanta Jī? Gauraiyā is a bird. Gauraiyā became the second one, Tittira. And the third one became Kapinjala. Three birds came out of three different faces. Three birds came out of their three faces. And the one who used to recite Vedas and drink Soma was Kapinjala. And the one who used to observe directions was Tittira. So Tittira will still observe directions here and there. And the one who used to drink honey was the Gauraiyā bird. These three birds came out. Now see, if we talk about a bird’s century, it will be long. Indra thought of going home after killing his great enemy. One thing is that even a sinner knows that he has committed a sin. Indra thinks that he has made a big mistake. He is not able to sleep at night. No matter how much a person does, he cannot hide anything from his wife. In this world, there is no spy greater than wives. This is the biggest spy. What comes to the husband, what goes, where does it come from, where did it go? They check in one minute. CBIB is spread in front of them, in front of the wives. In two minutes, they scan the whole thing. The wife is the best detector. She can detect what the husband is thinking. Or you can say, spy. They are very big spies. Spy. Now tell me the whole story. Now see, Śacī asked, "Why are you taking such deep breaths like normal people?" Some people speak in their sleep. Some people speak in their sleep. Some people speak in their sleep. Some people speak in their sleep. Here, when Tvaṣṭā Ṛṣi came to know about this, he did the meditation of Bhadrakālī and Mahākālī. And by doing the meditation of Jagadambā, he did not let the fire extinguish for eight nights. The fire continued to burn for eight nights. And from that burning fire, a huge man appeared. Tell us the story of this man in Śrīmad Bhāgavata also. This man was a king in his previous birth. Now see, Vṛtrāsura first stands up and goes straight to do penance. Vrata means his face. His face was as big as the sky and the earth. In his face, the entire human race used to move. He represented the demon army and took a boon from Brahmā Jī. He said, "O Brahmā Jī, I don’t want to die with any weapon, I don’t want to die with any deity, I don’t want to die with any wealth, just like everyone else." When Indra came to know that the son of Tvaṣṭā was coming to kill him, he thought, "Oh God, oh Gurujī, our Bṛhaspati Jī has come." So he started asking him, "What should I do? How should I destroy my enemy?" So Bṛhaspati Jī is giving us a lesson here. Through these stories and stories, we don’t have to choose any lesson or anything else. Bṛhaspati says, "Puṇya aura pāpa kā atyanta ugra phala śīghra hī ā jātā hai." If you do bad and nobody is a witness to your bad karma, don’t worry. Nature, it will come back. Bahutī jaldī iskā burā pranām milegā. Very fast you will suffer the result of your bad karma. Isliye aiśvarya kī icchā rakhnē vāloṁ ko vicāra pūrvaka kāma karanā cāhiye. If you need prosperity in your life, think before action. Don’t think after action. Dūsre ko kaṣṭa pahūcānā, ye karma to sadā prāṇī ko duḥkha detā hai. Jo vyakti bhī dūsre ko duḥkha dene kā karma kartā hai, uske jīvana mein kabhī śānti nahīṁ ātī hai, chāhe vaha koī bhī kyoṁ na ho. He Indra, you, under the influence of delusion and greed, became a ghost and committed brahma-hatyā (the killing of a brāhmaṇa). Now this Vṛtraśira will not leave you. And to defeat him is difficult, Mahārāja. Because he is a Brahmin’s son. To defeat the son of a Brahmin, if a Brahmin will argue with someone, then say, brother, it is difficult. Because you must have heard the name of Cāṇakya. You must have heard the name of Kapila Deva. You must have heard the name of Paraśurāma. And those who cursed the Yadu dynasty, they were also Brahmins. So it is said, to cheat the sacrifice, Viṣṇu also went in the form of a Brahmin. Kārkī gaye brāhmaṇa pīṭha paṭala calēō bali brāhmaṇa sātha hajāra ko jāre. Ke sātha hajāra logoṁ ko jalā diyā. Brāhmaṇa śoka liyō samudra ko, Agastya munī pī gaye sārā samudra. Brāhmaṇa śoka liyō. Samudra ko brahmā laṭ diye, Hari ke tana para brahmā kṣatriya hīna kīye. Pṛthvī ko brahmā Yādava vanśa ho jāre, aura brahmā se bhaī vaira mat karo. Indra brāhmaṇa se Parameśvara re. Bhaiyā, don’t think that you will win over him. First of all, you shouldn’t have made anyone your Guru. You killed him by making him your Guru. You did a very bad thing. Now, you won’t even be able to win over him with the influence of Brahmā’s murder. Indra was defeated. He cried and wept. He went to Lord Viṣṇu. Lord Viṣṇu said, "Now we will find a solution to this. Till then, you can fight with your enemy." Now see, after all, he was the son of a Brahmin, Vṛtrāsura, so he became a Sandhyā. This is the nature of a Brāhmaṇa. I will not tell you much about the nature of a Brahmin. I have given all the secrets of any caste in the Purāṇas. You can read it yourself and see what the secrets are. I have told you the secrets. Mahārāja, do you want to hit your feet with a hammer after telling the secrets? I have told you the secrets of everything in the scriptures. What is not there in the scriptures? This has been studied. First of all, you don’t have to pay a fee for admission to a school of... To be patient. And in this, all the mental knowledge is given, all the spiritual knowledge is given. This is told through stories and stories. So Indra has become his friend, and Indra cheats, deceives, deceives,... deceives. Deceives, deceives,... deceives, deceives,... Deceives, deceives... What is the definition of love? Love is beyond the skin, beyond the form, beyond any type of smell, beyond any type of taste. It is beyond taste, beyond form, beyond smell, and beyond any type of sound. It is beyond the sound as well. So the one whom you call love, that is not love; it is not near love. It is an incident thousands of kilometers away. Now see, Mahārāja, the father of Vṛtrāsura said to Vṛtrāsura, "Son, do not trust anyone, because Indra is your enemy and knows deceit." After reaching Gandhamādana Parvata and taking a bath in the divine river Gaṅgā, he became friends with Vṛtrāsura. Because Vṛtrāsura had snatched everything from Indra, Indra was defeated. Indra, along with Viṣṇu Bhagavān, planned to kill Vṛtrāsura. Vṛtrāsura had such knowledge that he could not kill Indra himself. In the Bhāgavata, it is said that he made Vajra from the bones of Dadhīci Ṛṣi. And because Indra had already lost, now while doing pūjā, meditation, and penance, he kills Vṛtrāsura by hitting him from behind with a hammer. This time, he dressed up as Brahmātyāsakṣad and ran to eat Indra as a three-faced woman. Indra changed his appearance and started meditating in the water under the lotus feet. With the inspiration of the gods, Nahuṣa was made the king of Indra at that time. And Indrāṇī was very beautiful, true. To get her, Nahuṣa felt good. So Indra’s wife here has worshipped Mother Bhagavatī. To tell you this, a story has been told. Indra’s wife has prayed. Indra had done sin, but it was not true. Today, with the grace of Bhagavatī Parāmbā, by the grace of God, the snake was made by the Brahmins to become a snake, and the trouble on the body was removed. Bṛhaspati has given us the knowledge that no person in this world is happy. He is always engrossed in greed. He is always jealous of everyone. He is always saddened by the happiness of others. So this is a very important message of Śrīmad Devī Bhāgavata. I would like to request Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Jī, please say something about this small story. Because if I speak too many stories, it’s hard to translate. Golī Jagadambī Mātā Kī Je, Devaśvara Mahādeva Kī Je, Hindudharma Samrāj Mātā Kṛṣṇa Bhagavān Kī Je, Viśvagurū Svāmī Maheśvara Nandī Sattva Gurudeva Kī Je. So this was Deva, two stories. Viśvakarmā wanted to have a son. Viśvakarmā? No, no. So he got one son with three heads, and then this son started to do tapasyā. And he was, because he was also from the Brahmin caste. The Brahmin caste is actually the part of society who is dedicated to the learning, who is dedicated to the saving of the knowledge. So, that’s why it’s always said that everybody should protect Brahmins. Not because they are so high and mighty, but because if they start and go to work and then earn the money to go and feed themselves, then who will learn? I think all around the world, this is the same problem for all the teachers. We want to have the best teacher for our children, but we don’t want to pay them. We don’t want to give them anything. We just want them to give the best school and everything. So, these are the Brahmins. They have so many powers, so that usually you don’t want to fight against Brahmins. Because it is said in these few stories that Vṛtrāsura, he was the son of one of the Brahmins. He was also a Brahmin, so he could open them out and just swallow whole armies. Another ṛṣi was able to drink the whole ocean. And then the curse of the Brahmin was enough to destroy the whole Kṣatriya clan. And we all know the story of Paraśurāma, who got angry at the Kṣatriyas, the warrior caste, because they started to abuse their power. So he was born, and then he finished the warrior class itself. But this, he was, because he was the half-demon. He had three heads, and he was also a Brahmin, so he was actually more introverted. He was such a nice personality. And with one head, he was reading the Vedas. With the second head, he was drinking the nectar. Of course, there are other things that you can translate. And with the third head, he was looking all around him. Now he was going more and more in, and he’s doing more and more tapasyā, more and more ascetic life, so that Indra, as you said, the current politician, dead-time politician, was getting worried about his place in the sky. So he decided, and one day he came and he killed him. No reason, there was no provocation, nothing, because he said, "If I let him live long enough, he will become too powerful. When he’s too powerful, I cannot do anything. So let’s finish it before he becomes too powerful." Now he killed him. He was lying dead, and still he looked like he was alive. So now Indra was thinking, what now? I’m not sure that he will not come back to life. So there was one person who was cutting the trees, and he called him, the woodworker, and he said, "Please cut the head of this demon." He said, "I’m not so stupid to do such a sin, because what you did was very wrong, but then this is completely even worse than what you’re trying to ask me to do. I don’t want to participate." Then, of course, Indra did what we all usually do. He said, "Okay, I will give you my power, I will give you money, I will give you this, I will give you that." And then, of course, he said, "Okay, I will close my eyes and I will do this thing." So he cut off the head of the demon, of the Rākṣasa, and Indra was happy for the moment, but he came back to his heaven, and he was very unhappy, because he actually did the greatest sin possible. He killed the Brahmin, he killed actually the teacher, which is like the highest possible sin that exists in the Purāṇas and Vedas. In the night, he could not sleep. His wife asked him what it was. He first didn’t want to say, but then he slept and told what had happened. And even she didn’t agree. When the father of this three-headed demon found out, he was so angry that he started to do pūjā, and from this pūjā, Vṛtrāsura came out. Part 2: The Tale of Indra and the Nature of Māyā Because he was so unhappy, he said, "Your name will be Vṛtāsura, the demon of the liberation of my anger, anxiety, and duḥkha—misery—that my son is killed." Immediately after being born—and he is born from fire—he had extra powers, and of course he was some king from a previous life. He then went to perform tapasyā. When Brahmā appeared, he asked for the usual boon: that nobody should be able to kill him, and so on. After receiving that boon from Brahmā, he was crowned as a king of demons. All the demons from Pātāloka and everywhere came out of hiding and joined him on his conquest of heaven. When they began their conquest, Indra asked his guru, "How can I fight them?" The guru said, "You committed such a great sin that it is very hard to do anything. The only thing you can do is basically run away." Of course, Indra did not listen. He went and fought. In the battle, first Vāyu went, then Varuṇa went, then Agni went. Finally, even Indra ran away. They went to Viṣṇu and were hiding here and there. Vṛtāsura took hold of the whole heaven, and with heaven, all the three Lokas, because Pātāla Loka was his territory, the earth he had already conquered, and heaven was the last stop. So he became the king of everything. Now, how to get rid of Vṛtāsura? Viṣṇu said, "First, now there is nothing else you can do. Go and befriend him. Then, in due time, we will see what we can do." So Indra went and told him, "Oh yes, you are great, I am nothing," and so on. After some time, even when his father and everyone were warning him, "Do not believe Indra; he is a cheating person, he has a double mentality," still he believed him. When he gained complete confidence—as they became like brothers, like best friends—at the right moment, Indra used a weapon. We remember from other stories: from the bones of the sage Dadhīci, a weapon was made. With this weapon, and with the power of Māṭājī and so on, Vṛtāsura was killed again from behind. Thus, Indra committed two Brahma-hatyās (the sin of killing a Brahmin). He killed two Brahmins in such a way that his fame declined greatly. Now, the demon Kali, which is called karma, is coming back to swallow him. Because he is a god of the heavens, there everything comes back very quickly as payback. Even nowadays, before you can go and do anything—steal anywhere or kill anybody—nothing will happen. Nowadays, we have so many police cameras here and there. Within one or two days, it is already known who did it and how. But in a god's world, everything is even quicker, and nobody forgets anything. Even we forget, but Dharmarāja and the karmas are always there. Of course, there is only one solution: it is Gurudev's mercy. So, Indra hid in a lake, in an ocean. While he was hiding, there was no king of the heavens. They put another person in his place to rule the kingdom, and he was very good. As we have the saying in English, and there is also a saying here: power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. So, of course, that new Indra—because 'Indra' is a position, not only a name; it is the position of the ruler of the whole universe—got corrupted. He said, "Everybody is bowing to me, but Indra's wife, who is very beautiful, Śacī, she does not like me." In the meantime, Indra was getting better and better. He did not want to come to heaven, but with the help of the Guru and all the other devas and devatās, Indra managed to get his power back. He managed to cleanse the sin of all these Brahma-hatyās and so on with the mercy of Devī. Now the point was: how to remove that new Indra? The old Indra said to his wife, "Do not worry. The ego will do completely whatever is necessary." He told her, "Just tell him that he should come to your palace, and all the seven ṛṣis should carry his palanquin." So now you can see the new Indra on the inner palanquin, a palanquin carried by seven ṛṣis—already an insult. At the same time, he was shouting at them, "Quickly, quickly, go quicker!" because when he saw Śacī, his passion rose double, triple, and so on. He became so obsessed he did not think where he was, and he was saying, "Quickly, quickly!" But he used a Sanskrit word which means "quickly" and also means "the snake." It is always difficult, very tricky, to use words which have a double meaning. He used a whip on the ṛṣis and hit the front ṛṣi, who was very famous for his anger. He said, "Quickly!" and then this ṛṣi just turned and said, "Yes, you should also become a snake." From that moment, that new Indra dropped down to Pātāloka and became a snake. The old Indra came back to his place and continued ruling the three worlds. Unfortunately, these two stories of the way he killed and cheated created huge negative public relations for his kingdom, which in future stories everyone will use against him. "Now you say that you are like this, but you did that and so on." It is very easy to go from bad to good: to be bad, and people know that you are bad, and then you become good. It is not easy, but when you become good, people are happy. But when you are good and then you do something bad and again become good, that black spot on the shirt will always be there. People will always remember, and it will take time to solve this problem. So the problem is, we have to be so careful, we have to be polite. Because once you lose your temper, once you start to curse somebody, then next time people will not believe you anymore. It does not matter if for five years you are doing tapasyā, and one day you are angry—you lose all these five years of tapasyā. Now we will continue with the next story. Śrī Deep Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān kī jaya. Janmai Jai Vachay Deve Satvam chasam prapya Bhrashtah sthan daso katham. Etat sarvam samachakshva Karanam karunanidhe. Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is made for liberation. How can a living being be liberated? And Devī Bhāgavatam is telling where she is trapped. She is trapped in bondage because she is trapped in Māyā. That is why she is for the father and son only. Janmejaya did not want salvation; she wanted to see her father's ultimate path. And Parīkṣit wanted salvation. That is why Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is the secret of love and līlā for salvation. And the Devī Bhāgavatam tells the story of those chains, those chains in which the consciousness of the human being is bound. Janmejaya says, "How can Indra become so powerful?" Deve satyam ca sampraapya bhrashta, deve shokar ke bhi bhrashta hai. Asthān daso katham. Arey, in the house, the father becomes corrupt. Of two children, one listens, one does not listen. We like the one who listens. Look, much thought and consideration; in the world, the affair of selfishness. The son earns and brings home, the mother shows love. And the sister says, "My dear brother." The wife says, "My life, my husband, I would go and bring a shawl." Look, much thought and consideration; in the world, the affair of selfishness. The world is full of selfishness. So why does this happen? Why do we feel selfish? This is because of Mahāmāyā. Mahāmāyā has tied us up. She has tied us up in such a way that we start seeing the difference between our sons and our brothers. There is a story of Marwāḍīs. Two brothers used to live in the same house. Both of them used to work in the same shop. One brother used to go to the farm. The other brother used to work in the shop. The brother brought sugarcane from the field and saw that his son and his brother's son came in front. His son was a little small, and his brother's son was a little older. The story says that the brother is looking from the shop, that his brother has come, and both children—his son and his brother's son—have gone to him to take sugarcane. There is one sugarcane, there are two to take, and the sugarcane was broken. On the side where there was a big stick of sugarcane, the brother's son came. And when he reached the small tent, his son was caught like this. The younger brother bowed down to his elder brother and said, "Brother, today it has happened. Today I feel that I have become an orphan. My parents have died. Because until you were there, I had not thought that my parents had died. But today a different feeling has arisen in your mind, in the mind of my elder brother. So this burden that you have taken in your hands should not have come in your mind. If the burden had come into your hands, it would have gone. So, forgive me, now stay separate. You are separate, I am separate." Because the actions of the body first arise in the mind, then come into the body. So, when the man is given a chance, who tied him up? Who held that man's hand here and there? He said, "This is a game of illusion." Here, the soul is doing this by being the embodiment of illusion. Otherwise, we will say that this is wrong. It is not wrong. He is the embodiment of illusion. Do not give him that, friend. She is a woman, a daughter, a daughter-in-law, but there is a difference. She is a descendant of Māyā; have mercy on her. This is why we worship Māyā, so that we can get out of Māyā, open our eyes, remove the veil, and see what the truth is. That is why it is said, "Open the veil." Now Indra could not remove the veil. It is said, why is Indra sad even after doing a hundred yajñas? Have you heard this? There is a saying in India; I do not know if it is said in English or in Nanyana. In the year 1999, a person at the age of 99 said, "When will Rs. 99 become Rs. 100?" The one who runs after money, in India it is said that he is in the age of 99. When will Rs. 99 become Rs. 100? It never becomes Rs. 100. There is always a shortage. There is a story of this too, and there is no shortage of stories in them. The one who tells you the story from outside. See, why is Indra sad even after doing one hundred Yajñas? We cannot do it alone. He did 100 yajñas, and now, if anyone will do 100 yajñas, then Indra will start to move his posture. Tell me, O Muni Śreṣṭha, why does this happen? So Vyāsajī said, "Son, listen to the reason for this. Tattva Jñānīs have told us about the three steps of karma through sanctified... Present and Prārabdha and Karma also have three types: Sāttvika, Rājasika, and Tāmasika. Sanctified, good, and bad karma of a long time have to be experienced as a sin or a virtue. And all the karmas that are done are called vartamāna karmas or kriyamāṇa karmas. All the good or bad karmas that are done are called vartamāna karmas or kriyamāṇa karmas. So, Mātaon, prārabdha karma should be known to those who suffer from it. And the living beings have to suffer Prārabdha Karma here. There is no doubt in this. O Rajendra, Devatā, Puruṣa, Asuras, Yakṣa, Gandharva, Kinnara, all of them have to suffer the fruits of the good deeds done in the past. O Rajendra, Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Rudra, etc., are the embodiment of all the karmas. They are the embodiment of Māyā Devī. They are the embodiment of all the karmas. See, Viṣṇu, the Lord of the universe, is being worshipped again and again. This was my mistake. So, Viṣṇu, the Lord of the universe, is being worshipped again and again. Shiva, the Lord of the universe, is being worshipped again and again. Brahmā, the Lord of the universe, is being worshipped again and again. And the one who is the most mischievous should be known as the God. And the one who is not a ṛṣi cannot write poetry. If someone is writing poetry, then he is a part of the ṛṣis. And the one who is not Rudra cannot recite Rudra. He will only worship Mahādev, who will be Mahādev. And the one who is not a part of Viṣṇu cannot become a king. And if there is no grace of Kubera, then there will be no prabhutva (abundance). From the parts of all these deities, our body is made. This is the place of all the Gods. Outside you worship Him and awaken the inner God. This is a great knowledge, Mahārāj; no one can understand it. And in the world, whoever is strong, fortunate, learned, he is called a deva. In that, there is a part of the Gods. O King, you yourself know that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna were a part of Nārāyaṇa and Nārāyaṇa. But see how they also did their work and how they had to do it. Dev went to the Pāṇḍava forest; what all did he not do? Arre, this is it, Nar and Nārāyaṇ, in Badarikāśram, in Kalyug also they keep doing severe tapasyā. In human incarnation, they did severe tapasyā in Badarikāśram, but in the form of Arjuna, he did not get the fruit of this tapasyā. Praniyo ke deh samandhi karmon ki gati atyant ghen hai. Look at the life of Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa itself: he was born in jail, in crisis, in a critical situation, and from there he was born and shifted to Gokul. He stayed there until the 11th. He took back Mathura. He killed the son of Ugrasena. After that, he freed his mother and father, who were in jail. And he had to go to Dvārakā due to the fear of the Mleccha king Kālayavana. See, he had to do all these deeds because of Māyā Devī and because of Yogamāyā. And you know that when Lord Rāma came, he did not keep any condition. When he came this time, he kept two conditions. You will see in the Bhāgavatam. He said, "Before I go, take the incarnation of Śeṣanāgī Balarāma and my beloved Devāṅganā Rādhā Ādi." God sent His power before me. He came first in the incarnation of Rāma, and his power and influence came later. In the incarnation of Kṛṣṇa, his Devāṅganā came first, and his power came first. So if the power came first, then what is the problem? Power should come first. Power will come later. That is, the arrangement is first. This is all an arrangement. Arrangement is not correct. And if a guest comes in the house first, it will be a mess. This arrangement is the arrangement of all the Mahāmāyās. And the real meaning of this Navratri is that we can open our eyes and see what this Mahāmāyā is. Otherwise, we cannot even see what the Mahāmāyā is. It also gives us the power to see it. So how can we... I have heard a story. Once, a president went to a jail. He told everyone, "You can ask for anything." If the President comes today, he will give you something or the other. One man was fond of smoking bidi. He said, "I will ask for a big bundle of Bidi." The other man was fond of eating gutkha. He asked for guṭhkā. Someone wanted tāsh leaves. He asked for tāsh leaves. Someone wanted a television. He asked for a television. One man said, "Mahārāj, take me out of here. I am asking for this." So how do we get satsaṅg in life? Without satsaṅg, there is no understanding of satsaṅg. And Rāma's grace is not easy. By the grace of Lord Rāma, there is satsaṅg. And if there is satsaṅg, there is understanding of satsaṅg. But in that satsaṅg, what will we ask from the Lord? O Lord, send me a pack, a pack of... A pack of 10 trucks full of saris, 10 tons of gold. O God, now see, if we ask God for our salvation, "O God, make us free," and who will be free? First tell me, the one who knows how to get out. Now, the one who is living inside, he does not know how to get out. Why did he go out? Because he was born in prison—the prison of karma, the prison of māyā. Now, if he wants to go out, how can he do it? I heard that a woman used to sell fish. By mistake, while he was taking fish, he went to that street where the itra (perfume) business used to take place. Mahārāj lost consciousness due to the fragrance of itra. He became unconscious and fell down. What is this? He was not able to get up till evening. He felt that this is a bad smell. And look, his son came in the evening. He called his father. He said, "Do not do anything. Bring heavy clothes. Bring more fish. Keep more dead fish on your nose. Keep fake fish water on your nose. It will be cured." And this is what he did. We have become habituated to live in captivity for many, many lifetimes. We have lived in captivity for many lifetimes. We have lived in darkness for many lifetimes. So we do not know about light. We do not like the one who tells us about light. If Mīrā talks about light, people will poison Mīrā. If Jesus talks about love, then Jesus will be released. If Kabir talks about love, then Kabir will be put under a mad elephant. If Mahāvīr talks about love, then Mahāvīr's ears will be broken. Lord Kṛṣṇa talked about love and truth. Did he sit comfortably? How much did he run? So the one who talks about true love, society does not accept him. Even we do not accept him. The one who speaks sweetly feels good. The one who speaks bitterly does not like anyone. If it is sugar, then doctors do not say eat sugar; they say eat bitter gourd, eat neem, eat fenugreek. They say like this. Because until now we have understood sweet things as nectar. This is the process of karma. What is the worship of the mother? What is mother? What am I? And where are we sitting? Think about this a little. This thought will not do. It is just mother, my mother, Jai Mātā Dī, Jai Mātā Dī,... tie the bandage. Go and get the ticket. Sit at home and do Mātā Dī. How can we recognize the power of the Supreme Mother around us? We are working with the same power, but we are using that power with our own will. Look, O Janmejaya, Lord Kṛṣṇa himself, by the order of the same Mahāmāyā, does many types of līlās on this earth. Lord Krishna's līlā is that Mahāmāyā. This is the power of Him, and today the mother of Kātyāyanī comes. Śāstāṃ kathāyanī means, "Who worships Kātyāyanī?" Who needs a good husband? Kātyāyanī Mahāmāyā, Mahāyoginī, Adhiśvarī, Nandagopakumāraṃ dehi patiṃ me kurute namaḥ. With this prayer, Kātyāyanī is worshipped. This same Kātyāyanī left Kaṃsa and went to Vindhyācal mountain, and when you study this, so it is. Also said that when the gods prayed to Bhagavatī to kill the demons, then Bhagavatī said, "I will come as the sister of Lord Kṛṣṇa." So, what will you make this mother? Will you make her a devotee? Will you make her a servant? Or your behavior, like you get on a scooter, get in a car, and go somewhere. If we have such a power, then we use or misuse that power. Now, here is a very good discussion from a different topic, of Rājā Janmejaya and Vyāsajī Mahārāj. Sometimes in our mind it is born that, "Mahārāj, this man is committing a very big sin." There is no difference to him how many people he is harming. Regarding this conversation, Vyāsajī is saying to Janmejaya, "Son, the effect of Yuga Dharma is very opposite, and everyone has to believe in Yuga Dharma, that what is the Dharma of the Yuga." Satyug mein jo dharm prāṇī hue, tum sūṣṭe vo kahāṁ gaye? Aur Tretā yug mein, Dvāpar yug mein jo dān aur vṛtt karne wāle log the, ve kahāṁ gaye? To suno betā, satya, dayā, dān aur ek patnī vṛtt, yeh sabhī prāṇiyoṁ mein adro bhāv, sabhī jīvoṁ mein sam bhāv rakhna, yeh Satyug kā dharm hai. Satya Yuga ke andar yeh logon kī ādat hotī hai. What is given? Truth, mercy, donation, one wife, the feeling of non-betrayal in all living beings, and the same feeling in all living beings. This is the common religion of Satyug. Similarly, in Satyug, people follow this religion; they follow it on their own and go to heaven. This is the situation in Tretā and Dvāpar as well. But in Kalyug, the sinful humans go to hell, and they live there until the change of the era. After that, they come back to earth as humans. When the end of Kalyug and Satyug starts, then virtuous people can be born again on earth from heaven. And when the end of Dvāpar and the beginning of Kaliyug starts, then all the sinful earths of hell are created in the form of humans. Hail Mother! And what do they do? In this way, according to the yuga, people are nurtured. And Kaliyuga is the main yuga. That is why there is a human being in it. The one who has a stick in his hand will take it. And sometimes in the birth of these living beings, Dev-Yoga becomes Vyati-Kram, i.e., it goes back and forth, here and there, here and there, here and there. Here it is said, listen carefully, think about your father. Your father was a great devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa, but due to the influence of Kalyug, he put a dead snake in the neck of a sage. Could anyone do such a thing? This was the influence of Kalyug. In Satyug, all Brahmins worship Vedas and Paraśakti. And they do Sandhyā three times. They stay in Praṇava and meditate on Gāyatrī Mātā. Gaitri japa parayan ek matra mayā beech mantra kā japa karne vāle, prateek gāon meṁ bhagavatī parambā kā mandir banā karte. Ache kyo bana te paramba ka mandir, taaki hai bhagwati, tu ganchakkar me amko mat daal na. Wohi to daal thi hai, daal ne wali koi praaf na kar lia. In Satyug, all people of every varṇa remain attached to the worship of the mother. In Dvāpar, those who were considered demons in previous yugas, they will become some brāhmins, some sages, some sages who are demons in Kaliyug. And they will be far away from the Vedas and dharma. And they will be clever in their behavior. They will be called good. Pandit is the same one who plays music. He will make fun and say that he is a very good Paṇḍit. He will make you laugh, make you laugh, make you a joker. People will consider him as a scholar. This is what he has said. And he will dance according to you. He will make your mind happy. He will say that he is a good Paṇḍit. And as the age of Kaliyuga increases, the truth and the religion will become better. O King, as the age of Kaliyuga increases, women and men will become corrupt. And he has told his husband and wives that Papacharl will accuse him of lies and wrongdoing and will be able to speak about the true religion. He will speak about the true religion and will be able to accuse. Papa mithyā vādinī, sadā kaleśa ratā, nirpa sva bhartu vaccha kā nityam dharmabhāṣin paṇḍita. Now you can see in the newspaper every day on the front page, the shortcomings of each other are being removed. He is given a newspaper as if a Bhagavad Gītā is coming in the morning. So, no news is good news. If you see in the newspaper, what is the first news? Negative. So this is the effect of Kalyug. Do not blame the people who run the newspaper. Kalyug is sitting in their head. They think they are that, and they are not. Kalyug is running their mind, and who is winning you from Kalyug? Tell me. Baba, I am telling you the truth. Only, only,... only the Guru's power takes you beyond all the yugas. Bholī Śraddhā Gurū Mahārāj kī, Gurū mein yeh śakti hai. Gurū merā jāve, jñāna batāve, pakaḍ hāse, hāth milāve, Brahmānanda rūp darśāve. Kab tak nijarūp chhipāve? Gurū se bachke kahān jāoge? To jīv Gurū kī śaraṇāgati meṁ calā jāye. Because guru is the one who has understood the cycle of this Mahāmāyā, who can explain it. Tell the truth, have you ever heard Devī Bhāgavatam for the first time? Have you ever thought like this, that the meaning of mother's devotion is to get out of this cycle? You are in this cycle, you are dreaming. You have made friends in the dream, you have made enemies in the dream. Now you are doing that worship in that dream. And in the dream, you are trying to give fruit to that enemy. You are trying to poison your friend. You are trying to poison your enemy. You are trying to give fruit to your friend. Everything is going on in the dream. Just dreaming. So these are the stories of dreams. These stories are to tell the people who are sleeping in dreams how they can wake up from their dreams. That is why it is said, "Jagat taraiya bhoor kī sahijo dhairat nāī, Sapnā yaha sansār." Ādi Guru Śaṅkarācārya says, "Jagat mithyā, Brahma satya." If you say mithyā, if you consider it to be true, then it is a lie. Even then, Śaṅkarācārya is worshiping his mother. Mārkaṇḍeya jī is worshiping his mother. People who have attained Brahma Bhāv, those who have Brahma Bhāv, they too are worshiping their mother. Why? So that they can tell you, brother, get out of this circle. The name of the world is circle. So this knowledge is given to us by the Sadgurū Mahārāj. See, it is a very beautiful verse. Ka bhanda phod diya, aisi kari Gurudev daya. Mere bharam ka bhanda phod diya, aisi kari Gurudev daya. Mere bharam ka panda todh diya. Śeṣa, Maheśa, Dineśa, ratey koi. Part 3: The Glory of the Guru "Pījat pīr pagambar ko koi / śeṣ maheś dīneś ratey koi." One worships pīrs and prophets by connecting one's mind with one's own ātmā. My Gurudeva, you have broken the bondage of my Brahma. You have broken the bondage of my Brahma. You have broken the bondage of my Brahma. Someone is searching for the city of Mathurā. Someone is going to make a place for himself. Someone is searching for the city of Mathurā. Someone is going to make a place for himself, vyāpaka rūpa dikhāna karke. I have broken the bondage of my dharma. I have broken the bondage of my dharma. I have broken the bondage of my dharma. "Taud raha din, raat sada mein. Jag ke sab kaaj viharan mein." By showing the world as if in a dream, He joined my ātma-tattva and subdued my restless mind. My Gurudeva showed such grace; He broke the bondage of my delusion. What can a man offer to his Guru? What meeting can we arrange? No object in the three worlds is suitable for Gurudeva. What object can I offer? No object is seen in the three worlds equal to Brahmanand, Brahmanand... When is Brahmanand obtained? Even if one gives wealth and honor in lakhs and crores... Such was the grace of my Gurudeva. He joined my very ātmā and subdued my restless mind. This is the glory of the Guru that we must give to the people of Uṇeśvarī. This is the glory of the Guru: He takes us to the world of God. That is why we should worship the Mother four times in the śāl, and I say, do it every moment. Otherwise, this māyā is very sharp. Māyā is very sharp. Māyā takes us to the temple. God looks good for one or two days. After two or three days, we see God’s clothes and jewellery. Then we see the temple, the walls of the temple. Then they start measuring. This is the effect of Māyā. Then they make a relationship with the priest. They forget God. Then they think, "Where is God? God does not exist." If you go to a temple, you go to count the walls of the temple, to measure how big or small the temple is, to ponder how the temple was built, why it was built, who made it, where the money came from. A person starts doing this; this is illusion. There is no difference between you and little children. In fact, little children are what they are. We are not what we are. If little children watch television, watch cartoons, there is no impurity in them because they are what they are. But we, who create big stories in our skulls—that is why God holds the skull; Mahādev Jī wears a garland of skulls. "Bring your skull. I will make a garland of your skull." Which skull? Who is the saddest person in the world? Who is the saddest person in the world? It does not look like a man. When a man’s hair turns white, he says, "Yes, I have matured." Now see, a man went to a king to beg. He said, "King, give me something." The king said, "What should I give?" The beggar said, "Just fill my vessel. Fill my vessel." The king said, "Just ask for this much? I will do this much." He asked, "Will you fill the vessel?" The king said, "Yes. I will fill your vessel with gold coins." Gold coins disappeared, then disappeared, disappeared, disappeared... By noon, the whole city was in a mess. A storm had come. A beggar had come to the palace. Who had made the king a beggar? Is the demand of women ever fulfilled? Today is Tuesday, a festival. Tomorrow is this, the day after tomorrow is that. Today is a marriage anniversary. Today is the child’s wedding. The demand of women is not fulfilled. That is why it is said: the bigger a woman is, the bigger her demands are. In India, demands are filled. "Fill my demands. Fulfill my demands." 'Demand' means to ask. And see, some people took a bowl of rice in their hands to fulfill their demands. The king said, "I will give you my kingdom. Just tell me one thing: what did you make this vessel from?" The beggar said, "I will tell you this in the jungle." The king got scared. He said, "I will take the soldiers with me and scare them." The beggar said, "The king is afraid; the beggar is never afraid, because the king is afraid of losing." Lock, key—how much security will you put? If you have more jewelry, you put it in the bank locker. If you have nothing, what will you do? And the thing we worry about so much—when we die, or when we are hurt in an accident—that thing does not worry about us. The house from which we worry, the house we never leave—when we are taken out of that house by four people, carried on their shoulders, that house does not cry that we have died. In fact, in 10–12 days, the room in which you and I used to live, its setting becomes, "Whose room is this now?" He said, "The place is empty, the crowd is empty." This is everyone’s story, brother. After that, the king said, "Let’s go, I am going." This fakir is thin and weak. What, will he kill me? I will handle him alone. He stationed his soldiers on the right and left for a few kilometers. Then he said, "Now tell me, what is this vessel made of?" The beggar said it is made from an ordinary man’s skull. From the body, a man’s head never grows. A man’s head grows, and the mind also grows a little. Sometimes the mind grows, sometimes it becomes complete. Just look at the face of the grandson. What will you do by looking at the face? Look at the face of the daughter-in-law: "My son gets a job, my child gets a little older, just this happens, just that happens, then, then..." Then, then... But who prays to get out of this illusion? Just tell me by raising your hand: have we tried to get out of this illusion? We say, "O God, put us in more illusion." Eat a hundred shoes and watch the drama. Eat a hundred shoes? How will we translate this? A hundred shoes, beaten by a hundred shoes. But see the drama of the family, come inside. Nobody prays to Maa Bhagavatī, saying, "I want to just quit this game." This is just drama, and we all are involved in it. And we are just thinking more and more and putting our own color on this drama. We don’t want to go outside, and this is the problem with man or woman or any human being. Whenever we are not agreed to surrender at the feet of the Guru, we cannot understand what māyā is. Māyā, the earth, batāyā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavata maker, the saskandh, my mā... Or, well, I don’t know here. Hey, no, you can hear about Māyā. Māyā means just dream, or I’m supplementing. "Allāha sarah māra"—there is enmity in dreams. There is a lot going on in dreams. This is called Yuga Dharma. Why was it called Yuga Dharma? If a person is doing good or bad to you by telling you about Yuga Dharma, then you should understand that it is Yuga Dharma. In Kalyug also, there will be people of Satyug. And in Satyug also, there will be some people of Kalyug. That is why those evil people were there in Kalyug. Now, it is said, who are the pure disciples in India? And see another story of Māyā further. The Āśram of Munis is also a place of virtue. The name of the best Āśram on earth is Badrī Āśram. It is said that Badrī is the biggest Āśram of God. Apart from this, where people do penance and attain samādhi, they also become tīrthas. It is the fruit of Tīrthas to follow Ahiṃsā, Satya, Asteya, Śauca, Indriya Nigraha, and your own dharma. If you lie at a Tīrtha, if you cheat at a Tīrtha, if you have not kept your senses in control, then you have spoiled the Tīrtha and yourself. And remember, it is a very big sin to go to a Tīrtha and commit a sin. Understand that you have fallen down on a mountain. If you had fallen at home, you would have fallen from two to five feet, but there you fall from a height. At a Tīrtha, in a temple, in an āśram, even if a bad thought comes, it is your saṃskāra bothering you again and again. To escape from these saṃskāras, we have to take dīkṣā. To purify the body, Gaṅgā Ādi Tīrtha is the best way. And if the satsaṅg of a Gyāna-Niṣṭha Puruṣa is done with the help of Yogī Dev Yog, then the internal dirt can also be purified. Because in Gaṅgājī, you will clean the outside, but as soon as you come out of Gaṅgājī, the sins will come back and stick to you. This is what they say: when someone bathes in Gaṅgājī, the sins start crying. But if you give them back, they will be blessed; they come out, the water dries up, and then they re-enter. And we do something or the other through our senses. Here, another Līlā of Māyā has been told. Rāja Janmājaya asked: The best penitent and most religious, Brahmājī’s son Vasiṣṭha, was a great penitent. Why did he fight with Viśvāmitra? Why did they curse each other? Both used to live on the banks of the Gaṅgā. The fight between them made them both birds. Both were cursed to become birds. Rāja Ṛṣi was childless, so he was performing a Yajña for Varuṇadeva’s happiness. He performed a Duṣkara Mahāyajña. In olden times, Triśaṅku’s son Hariścandra was the son of Rāmacandrajī Mahārāj. He was doing tapasyā, trying to please Varuṇadeva. The king’s wife, Rūpatī, took pride in Varuṇadeva’s grace. She said, "O God, give me a child, and I will give that child to you," to Varuṇa Dev. That is why you must have heard that when you go into the water or cross a river, you should not say, "I will throw you into the water." You should not say, "I will take you into the water." When you go into the river and your child is near you, or when you are near a river, you should not say you are near a river; you should not say you are near a sea; you should not say you are near a river. He is Varuṇa Dev. This is Varuṇa Dev’s special work: He takes away. The one who promises to Varuṇa, Varuṇa comes and takes him away. Sometimes people drown and die, and this should not be said as a joke—"I will drown you and kill you. You drown and die"—because Varuṇa says, "He promised me." Varuṇa takes him away. That is why Varuṇa is also a very powerful god. O King, the queen adopted the child. When the child was born in the house, Varuṇa came. Varuṇa said, "Bring Harichandra to me and give me my child." But the king could not even think of giving his child for sacrifice. The king said, "My wife is not even pure yet. Leave it for a month; let my wife be pure." You people call it Mahāśva in Marwari. She had not even bathed yet. Not even one month was completed. After a month, Varuṇa came in the form of a brāhmaṇa. He said, "Now give me this child." The king said, "Even now the son’s saṃskāra has not been done. I will perform a Yajña and complete his Saṃskāra." So Varuṇa said, "O Rājā, you are cheating me by increasing the time. It is difficult for me to leave your son because he is an unborn child. I know I am leaving after listening to your sweet words, but I will come back." Varuṇa said this again. The Rājā said, "O Jalādināth, I will perform the Samāvartan Saṃskāra and make the son a Yajña and complete his Saṃskāra." He started thinking like this. One day, when the child grew up and came to know, he left the house and ran away. And when the time came, Varuṇadev returned from the abode of the Yajña. He asked, "Where is that child?" The king said the child left the house and ran away. He ran away; you made him run away. I don’t want to go into the story. Now, after hearing this, Varuṇadev got very angry. The king’s ministers said, "Listen, do something." Varuṇadev had already cursed him. This led to Jalodhara disease in Harishchandra. What is the name of this disease in Kalyug? The stomach is filled with water—Jalodhara disease. Then the child is stuck in a cave. Whenever he wants to come, Indra stops him. Indra comes in the form of a Brahmin and says, "You will go. Your father will make you a sacrificial goat to save himself from his disease." In the olden days, Brahmins thought about it and came up with an excellent solution for the disease. They said that there are thirteen types of children in the scriptures. After listening to them, they made a poor Brahmin’s child their own. And he gave a lot of money to the brāhmaṇa. Now that child is crying, "Don’t kill me, don’t kill me." The small child is crying. If someone who makes your serial picks up this story, it will run for many days because it is the sacrifice of a child, but you have just six days. Tomorrow these two Maharaj ji, Basant ji and Navratan ji, will also go today. See, here we talk about saving that Brahmin by coming to Viśvāmitra. But Harichandra does not do this in the face of his life. The named child, Sunaśepa, was given to him. Viśvāmitrajī tied Sunaśepa there to die and gave him the title of Varuṇa Mantra. So Varuṇa Deva came and set that child free, and also set the Rājā free from the curse. Both were set free. Now, Viśvāmitra got very angry here. "You people were committing so many crimes, killing small children. You think there is a difference between your children and other children. O tyrant, you have cursed my Yajamāna, who is the greatest Yajamāna," said Viśvāmitra. So there was a fight between Vasiṣṭha jī and Viśvāmitra jī. Vasiṣṭha jī said to Viśvāmitra jī, "O tyrant, why did you put my Yajamāna in trouble? Go away from here." In this way, when Vasiṣṭha jī got angry at Viśvāmitra jī, he said, "You become a bird." Both of them became birds, and they are fighting each other. And this is true, Mahārāj. Say, Jai Mātā Dī. People of Padhali fight a lot. People of Padhali fight a lot. The more harm the scholars have done to this world, the more the illiterate have done to it. Why? Isn’t it? The man of Patañjali becomes very dangerous. He becomes dangerous. Don’t send the children to school from tomorrow because it becomes dangerous, and this is true. All the children are being born dangerous today. Parents don’t understand anything. They even beat up small children these days. And parents think that they will give all the knowledge. Earlier, a five-year-old girl would get married to an eight-year-old boy. And a five- to eight-year-old girl would do all the household chores and feed her father and children. These days, even a 16-year-old girl has to be fed with a spoon. "Eat, son. Drink a little soup with Maggi. Eat a little pastry." Why? To create such a culture. Are you collecting grains, or what are you collecting? Where are they going, for which they are collecting? They are getting scattered. Our heritage is getting scattered. I am telling the truth. That is why our ancestors left us, so that you can understand this circle of illusion by reading them. What are we doing? Now see, both are fighting. One is attacking the fan, and the other is attacking the fan. Both Munis and Śreṣṭhas are fighting each other. And how will they be free? This question was raised in Janmājaya. How will they be free, or will they keep on fighting? When they kept on fighting, then Brahmājī got angry at Haṃsa and came forward. And Viśvāmitra jī and Vasiṣṭha jī also got rid of those fights and attacked them. Brahmājī had to come in between, and he sent his āśrams. In all bodies and in the dharma-karmas of animals, there are three types of faith: Sāttvik, Rājasik, Tāmasik. And Sāttvika’s faith is always unique in the world. Even though there is ego in the true qualities, it is very unique. Gurus recognize people; they see them, they are like an aura. In Russia, a photograph was made, a Kirlian photograph. In that, a picture of an aura was also taken. And in Russia, there was such an experiment that, during the time of Mahābhārata, the sounds that were made during the war—Bhīma had given one or two in his hand, Hanumān jī had given strength in his left hand—so Bhīma picked up two or five elephants and threw them into space. All those scientists have experienced and recorded those sounds. I have read such a book. I am telling you with proof. So those sounds have been heard. So our aura, when we go, all that comes after us. There is a saying in Marwari, "Andho ne tu do jīmau." One man used to go to the ashram every day. Gurujī used to go from one āśram to another. There were many ashrams of Gurujī, so the disciple felt pity for him. He said, "This poor boy, he can’t even see with his eyes. So I will tell him to eat food at my place." Pity is the source of religion. Sin is the source of pride. So he came to eat food. He came alone to eat in the morning. He came in the evening and brought his small child. He said he can’t see at night. So now two people said, "No problem. If he eats, then his child will also eat," along with two people who were going to eat. On the second day, he also brought his wife, who is sick. And the wife has become a child. Now, Gurujī, it is a sin that I eat alone and not feed my wife. On the third day, he said, "Today, as a guest in my house, my daughter is coming." So the son, daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law. Now, the fun part is, the daughter was also lame. On the fourth day, along with his daughter, his blind wife also came. He called the Gurujī. "Gurujī, now the food for four people has been distributed." He said all of his family members are blind. Gurujī said, "You should have thought before giving the invitation. You should have thought before being merciful, what is going to happen now." That which we have put in one—in the lake, the stones are made into one structure, two, three, four—like this the structure of karma is made. You will help someone, you will help someone else, you will help someone else... you will. Now, Vasiṣṭha jī once cursed Rājā Nimi. This is also a part of karma. So, I will take you through this story. Why did Rājā Nimi curse Vasiṣṭha jī, and Vasiṣṭha jī curse Nimi? I will tell you the story in detail. Vasiṣṭha jī’s name is Vaitra Varuṇī. Vasiṣṭha jī’s wife’s name was Arundhatī. She was a great goddess, a mother of the world of education. So once, the king asked Vyāsajī, "Why did the king and the brāhmaṇa curse each other?" He said, "Listen, it is natural for the king to do dharma and to do penance, and the mind of all beings is bound by qualities." That is, it cannot be purified. All have qualities in the mind. Which qualities? Sattva, rajas. No one can be freed from these. No one can claim, "I have been freed from this." He will do penance, but still there will be qualities in it: Sattva qualities, Rajas qualities, Tamas qualities. And the king will rule the kingdom, but still there will be these three qualities in it. For this tri-quality purification, Dravya purification, Kriyā purification, and Mana purification should be done. How is Dravya purification done, Mahārāj? Dravya purification is done by investing money. Whatever you do, invest money in it with your mind. Investing money makes Dravya purified, and our scriptures say that Daśāṁśa should be applied. "Adatta dāna chabhāve daridra, daridra bhavati karoti pāpam. Pāpaṁ prabhavasya narkasya paryanti, punareva daridra, punareva pāpaṁ." In this world, the one who has not given donation is the worst. You should definitely donate, and there are many kinds of donations: Vidyādhan, Gyānadhan, Annadhan, Bhūrāśidhan, Gaudhan, Jameen kā dān, Swarnadhan. All these kinds of donations have been mentioned in the scriptures. And in the Gītā Press, there is a complete number of donations. Because if I tell you the number of donations, you will think, "What is this, Pandit jī? Have you taken out any new technique?" I have not taken out any new technique, mother. But you must have seen that our elders, the tradition of our homes is that if a person falls sick and does not get the medicine from the doctor, then they say, "Donate this for him." And he gets the medicine. I don’t know what kind of magic it is. And the one who does not donate does not get anything in return. This is certain. Everyone should donate. The one who takes the donation should also donate. The one who does not donate becomes sick. Just like you have built a door in your house, a door to go out, and there is no ventilation in the back, then you will be suffocated. Adat, just like there is ventilation, a donation is a ventilation. "Ādat dāna ca bhave daridra bhavati, karoti pāpam babhuk chitam naram. Kim pāpam na karoti?" Tell me, which sin does a hungry man not commit? A hungry man commits many sins, so it is said; the one who does not make a donation becomes a sinner. "Daridra bhavati karoti pāpam." He commits sin because of his poverty, and due to the effect of sin, he goes to hell. And he becomes a sinner again, and commits sin again. And you cannot be free from this cycle. That is why in our country there were so many great donors. Yudhiṣṭhira was a donor. Karṇa Rājā was a donor. Śrītyāvadī Hariścandra Rājā was a donor. Mahārāj Darśat donated his promise. That I will give this promise, so he sent his son according to his promise. So, "Vāchanam kim daridhram." Do not be afraid of promises. And be firm in your promises. So purify your dravya. Purify your dravya. O King! If there is purity in Dravya, then I will give you my promise. This is the science of the Bhagavad Gītā, not knowledge, but science. If the tree is pure, then the action will also be pure. The one whose tree is pure, his actions will also be pure. Because there are three elements of Lakṣmī: donation, enjoyment, and destruction. If you don’t donate, then you will enjoy. If you don’t enjoy, then it will be destroyed automatically. Those who have joined together have died. Those who have joined together have died. What will happen if you keep on collecting and collecting and collecting? No one will burn with you. He will remain here, so the best thing is donation. And in this world, there is no one who is poor. You listen to this. God is poor. First, tell me: poor does not give birth to poor. But a person has a habit. I have heard that there is a beggar in Vaiśālī. His son has a very big job package in Singapore. Still, he did not leave his work. He came in the newspaper. I was told this two to two and a half years ago by someone here. It is a habit of a person to ask. There is no need to ask anyone. It has become a habit to ask. And by asking, we get so little. Without asking, we get everything. Look at God, how kind He is. He has given us such eyes that breathe for 80 years, 90 years, 100 years without tax. He has given us such eyes that keep looking. He has given us such ears that can listen for 100 years. He has given us such ears that can enjoy so many kinds of pleasures. We have to change the system of our skull. There is a virus in our brain, I am telling you the truth. And this virus can be cured by listening to the story, if it is the grace of the mother. But otherwise, for this, it is like an operation of a person; they remove the cancer, just like that. A stick will come out after eating a stick. A stick in the form of yarn, otherwise it will not be cured. So as soon as Dravya is purified, the actions will be purified. The actions will also be good. And by purifying the actions, the mind will also be purified. But in this, it is said that this is a difficult task. It is a difficult task. Along with it, it is also written in the scriptures that this is difficult. So you say, "Yes, what to do? It is difficult." We need support. We need more support from the scriptures. And the one who is not listening to the story is not as clever as the one who listens to the story becomes clever. "Katha sunke aadmi aur tez ho jata hai. Arre, katha hum kyo sunte hai? Man kī śuddhi ke liye. Buddhi baḍhāne ke liye nahīn." In a Katha, there are not just two or four stories. There is no talk of mere stories. I bring the main message by marking it directly. The main point is not to be spoken; that point must be spoken. That is why this is written: Dravya śuddhi, kriyā śuddhi, and man śuddhi. Part 4: The Path Beyond the Guṇas and the Nature of True Sacrifice When this is achieved, one transcends the three guṇas—sattva, rajas, and tamas—and moves beyond the physical, subtle, and causal bodies. By doing so, we can be freed from all physical and spiritual problems. This is why, in the true sacrifice, God Himself becomes the doer. The very word "sacrifice" originates from the concept of sacrifice itself. Where else could it come from? The creation of sacrifice, or yajña, is linked to the battle between Indra and Vṛttāsura. Vṛttāsura held Indra in his mouth and slept peacefully, not harming him, much like one holds a betel leaf. At that time, the Devatās created Dadhīci. While Vṛttāsura slept, Dadhīci arrived, and Indra was able to emerge. You know this story of Dadhīci. In a similar way, the concept of bali (offering) emerged from the story of Bali. Now, regarding karma: some people perform many actions yet receive little. Others receive results proportionate to their actions. And some perform no actions yet receive a great deal. Why are there these three types of destinies (gāthīyā)? Our Śāstra explains that these destinies are set from the beginning of one's journey. When the opportunity for giving (dāna) arrives at your door—and such chances do not come constantly; you cannot simply pass by and decide to donate at a temple—these are the moments. Our pilgrimages, festivals, fasts, our satsaṅg, our gatherings, all are occasions for giving. For one who wishes to give, these are opportunities; for one who does not, they are not. Consider the story of Rājā Yudhiṣṭhira. A beggar came to him while he was performing worship. The king said, "I am engaged in pūjā now, I will give tomorrow." Bhīma, the son of Vāyu, was enraged and shattered the city gate. He asked, "What has happened?" It was declared, "Today my brother has conquered time." By saying, "Come tomorrow," he had assumed control over time. But who has seen tomorrow? Therefore, when the chance to give arises, one must give immediately, without a moment's delay. They speak of apātra (unworthy recipient), supātra (worthy recipient), and kupātra (misguided recipient), advising us not to judge who is worthy. I have heard stories of kings who gave with their eyes closed, feeling shy, asking, "Who am I to give?" This was the attitude of Rahimdās jī. When he gave, tears would come to his eyes. People would say, "I am giving. But what is truly mine that I am giving?" Tell me, what can you give? To whom can you give? What did you bring into this world that you can give away? What can a person truly give? We are merely mediators, guests sitting on the platform of life for a brief time. The person sitting on the platform with a plate does not know which train will come, where it will take him, or where it will go. Yet, human nature is often miserly. Because of this, if a person does not give when he can, what he has is snatched away. Therefore, the one who seizes the opportunity to give in life receives further opportunities. The one who does not donate when the chance arises—if you ask for ten rupees, he will give only eight—will only receive in his next birth according to his actions. And thirdly, those who do not ask for anything do not receive the fruits of their actions. This is a fact. Write this in the Bhagavad Gītā: you will get what you have given. You will not get what you have not given. Do what you must do. Now, why did Rājā Nimi and Vasiṣṭha fight? Indra had to perform 500 yajñas, and Rājā Nimi had to perform 5,000. The project grew larger, and so did Rājā Nimi's budget. But Vasiṣṭha jī had already promised Indra. Rājā Nimi, filled with ego, declared, "I am performing five thousand yajñas, and you are my kula-purohit (family priest)." It was Patañjali. "So you perform the yajña here." Vasiṣṭha jī explained with great love, "Listen, I have just completed 500 yajñas and have come here. If a Brahmin wishes, he can perform 500 or 5,000 in a moment. I said I would do 500 and come." But the king insisted, "I have collected all the materials for the yajña. I have gathered all the ṛṣis and munis. Until you come, where shall I keep them? All my guests have arrived." Guru Vasiṣṭha and Indra proceeded with their yajña, and the Rājā was saddened. He worshipped Gautam Ṛṣi and began performing a yajña by the sea. Why does a person perform a yajña? So that he may gain fame. When a person does any work for the sake of fame, it will not succeed. Just as Dakṣiṇa Prajāpati performed a yajña thinking, "I will not invite Lord Mahādeva; I will show him disrespect." There should never be any work in which we seek a name. The hunger for fame or wealth is only satisfied when the Mother is gracious to us. If the Mother is not gracious, that hunger remains unfulfilled. Some people suffer from the constipation of pride: "My name is in the newspaper. My photo is printed. Important people give me the Padma Vibhushan. Give me the Bharat Ratna." It is said these are diseases. These diseases existed even in great kings who boasted, "I performed one hundred and eight yajñas. I performed one thousand yajñas." Such was the feeling in those kings. They were human, after all. And what do they say? That even Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Maheśa could not be free from these tendencies (vṛttis). Only when the Mother blesses does the jīva attain separation (kaivalya). Separation means I no longer have to work for money. Consider this: place your hand on your heart and ask if the most worthless thing is not money. If Alexander had departed, both his hands would have been empty. His hands were empty, yet how much he did to conquer the world. In our Indian tradition, when we die, we scatter money behind us. That is why you leave it here. "Hey, don't take anything. Hey, take something. Throw it. At least take it. No, it will remain here." You come into this world with a closed fist, and you will leave with an open fist. This is the truth, brother. Yet, a person still performs karma thinking, "If I do not remain, at least my name will." But there is no success in such karmas. When Indra completed his yajña and came to Rājā Nimi with Vasiṣṭha jī, the king was sleeping. He asked the servants to inform him that Gurujī had arrived. They replied he could not be awakened; he was sleeping. Knowing the king would not come to him, Vasiṣṭha cursed the king: "Go, may your body fall." When Rājā Nimi's body fell, he too cursed Vasiṣṭha: "O Vasiṣṭha, may your body also fall." Both bodies fell. Some people go into a coma. Some have such a body but do nothing with it; they merely pass the days. "Today has passed; go to sleep." That body remains fallen. They do nothing, just pass the days. Government servants often do this, no offense meant. Only when the date arrives is it good to think. Singapore is so small, smaller than Jaipur. Its population is also smaller. And where is Singapore? Where is our Bhārat? Consider the immense problem in Japan. They even gave a loan to Bhārat, saying, "Take something..." On the day people were crying and burning, waiting for their wives and children who were going inside where the atom was... If they get stuck here, people would abandon the Devī Bhāgavat and run. If a mother-in-law is admitted to the hospital, the daughter-in-law goes. If there are four brothers, in our culture there will be four separate houses. This is the nature of human beings. If there is a slight fault in the wife, the husband says, "I will divorce you." If there is a fault in the husband, the wife says he is useless. The fault exists because you do not act rightly. If there is any problem around you, you must act rightly. You have come to satsaṅg. Where will you go after leaving? In the next life, the same karma will await you. It is very difficult to escape, Mahārāj. Where are those Japanese people now? What courage they had! They may not have heard of the Devī Bhāgavat, but they did their duty: to give money to other people of the earth. And what were we doing at that time? We were watching the ongoing World Cup cricket match. It was the month of April. Now two or three years will pass. We think, "Our neighbor's house is burning, let someone die there, we have no problem." Are we not all sitting in the same boat? Today he is drowning; tomorrow we will have to drown. This feeling—until we study our scriptures and internalize it... It is within us. How much purity do we live with? In our bodies, our caste, our money? If we give up this sense of purity, if we rise above it, only then will we become truly human. Even an animal does such work. Another dog comes, and the dogs in the lane start barking. We are humans. Being human is higher than being a God. God cannot become free. A human can become free. He can become a great human. The flower of God can blossom within this human. It is possible. Look, both cursed each other. The churning (manthan) of Vasiṣṭha jī's body produced, in his next birth, Agastya Ṛṣi, while Vasiṣṭha himself was born again. Two bodies emerged from the union with an Apsarā. Mitra and Varuṇa are his fathers, Vasiṣṭha jī's. And the body of Rājā Nimi was preserved. Rājā Nimi entered the nimiṣa (blink) of everyone's eyes—the blinking of the eyelid. In that, Rājā Nimi departed. Human eyes blink; the eyes of the Devatās do not blink. Remember this. The eyes of ghosts (bhūt) and spirits (prīt) also do not blink. Now, the body of Rājā Nimi, which had fallen, was churned. From it emerged the names Mithilā and Videha. From that very body, the king of Videha was born. And his children were called Janaka. The children of Rājā Nimi—thus this story was given. Agastya jī and Vasiṣṭha, in his next birth, became great ascetics from Varuṇa's lineage, and these people went on to become Ācāryas in the Ikṣvāku dynasty. By the grace of Bhagavatī, Nimi attained such a high position that people began to call those in his dynasty foreigners. The Rājā asks, "Tell me, Mahārāj, if these two were doing good deeds, why did they become angry with each other?" This is a human question. Vyāsa jī says, "The enemies—lust, anger, greed, and ego—are always present in the body, and everything is evil." There has never been a person in the world, nor can there be, who can defeat these enemies on his own. It is only by the grace of Bhagavatī that they are defeated. It is not as difficult to defeat Mahiṣāsura as it is to defeat these inner enemies. You can kill the biggest terrorist, but how will you kill the terrorist sitting inside? Lust, anger, greed, and ego. It is written of Kapila Muni that he was a great yogi, yet he destroyed Sāgara's sons. Durvāsā Ṛṣi was very knowledgeable, yet he was prone to anger. Mahādeva and Viṣṇu also became angry. He said that one who conquers this behavior rises above them. That is why the glory of the Guru is greatest. The Guru teaches us to transform anger into love. He teaches us to transform ego into surrender. This is the glory of the Guru. Karma is the same. What is the definition of karma? Karma is that which does not create bondage. And knowledge is that which gives liberation. Otherwise, everything is useless. We will sing a bhajan. Then I will request Mahāmaṇḍaleśvarjī that, O Mahāmāyā, please do us this favor: that we do not merely destroy our disease, but destroy the very root of our disease. Only then will we be happy in life. We will be happy because of this. Teri śaraṇ ambe, teri śaraṇ. Kar man veg bahaya hu ma, karman veg bahaya. Caraṇ maya, teri caraṇ har. We have been performing so many karmas for so many births. But what will you do in the river of karmas? This is the ocean of karmas. How many karmas will you perform? Bhaṅga, viṣaya, vikāra, chana bhaṅga ra viṣaya vikāra janam janam bhar māyā hu. Ambhe janam janam bhar māyā hu. Tairī Saran Prabhu, Tairī Saran, Tairī Saran Mein Ārumān, Tairī Saran Mein, Tairī Saran Prabhu, Tairī Saran. Das Dasānī Ko Brahmanandī Das Dasānī Ko Caraṇ Kamal Lepatāyā Hū Va Caraṇ Kamal Lepatāyā Hū. First, I congratulate you for still sitting here, for not running away. This is called penance (tapas). These days, in large programs like the Bhāgavatam, whatever happens here and there, there are many artists involved—singers, dancers. The whole show concludes. Sometimes the knowledge is this much, the show is that much. Or it is the reverse: the show is this much, but the knowledge is that much. What Ācāryajī is saying, everyone knows now. We all know. Still, we must listen because we do not take it for granted. It is called common sense in English. No one practices it. A mother says something to her son, and the son says something to his mother. Both are not ready to listen. If the mother is not ready to listen to her son, and the son is not ready to listen to his mother, then what should we tell these two guru-disciple pairs who have not yet heard our story? There is nothing special. One is a king, and he has a Guru. Both are great people. Among us small people, your penance—I bow to you, and I hope your whole life continues like this. Because penance—what do you call it? Going to a temple and wearing a garland? That is a different type of penance. You have not seen: if any demon undertakes penance, what do they say? In one step, one thousand years; in the second step, two thousand years; then ten thousand years; then how many lakhs? How many lakhs are there? Where are we? It has been 50 years. We have to die. Where will we live for 1,000 years? Will we do penance for 1,000? This is penance for us. "I will go home and drink tea. Okay, it will take half an hour more. Okay, I will drink from this time. Now I have to drink syrup; it is hot at home. Now I have to eat that." This is called penance: not now, eat later. Now again, I am in a difficult position. There were around twenty stories. Now, how to translate twenty stories in ten to twenty minutes? It is a little difficult. Speak about Dravya Śuddhi (purity of substance), Kriyā Śuddhi (purity of action), and Manu Śuddhi (purity of mind). The most interesting aspect of the Devī Bhāgavatam and our belief in the Divine Mother, our prayers to Her, is that we usually want something. Yesterday's story concluded with a king robbed by his own family and ministers, and a businessman robbed by his family. They met, meditated, and performed pūjā for years—three years, in fact. Finally, Mātājī appeared and asked, "What do you want?" The king said, "I want to conquer my enemies and regain my kingdom." The other person said, "I want to be free from Māyā. I do not wish to live in this saṃsāra anymore. I want freedom from all attachment." Ninety-nine percent of us pray for the first reason. Only one percent, or a few, pray for liberation. And Mahāmāyā, who sustains all this illusion, this dream—for God means Māyā, and Māyā means dream—all this can be transcended when you receive a blessing from the Divine Mother. When you get the blessing from this illusion—"Yes, I bless you to cross over me. Here is the guru, here is the path"—in the same way, when you go to a job and wish to be successful, you ask your wife, "Please bless me so I may be successful." And your wife, your mother, whoever says, "Yes, be successful. My blessing is with you." That is why Mahāmāyā is so important. That is why prayer to the Divine Mother is so important. There is a story we have heard many times about Hariścandra and his tests, how Viśvāmitra tested him so that he lost his entire kingdom, had to sell his wife and son into slavery, and then himself into slavery. But something was always missing: why, for the amusement of the gods to see who is the most pure, honest, and dharmic person, must one endure such great difficulty? Finally, in the Devī Bhāgavatam, the backstory is revealed. King Hariścandra had no son. He prayed to Varuṇa, the god of water: "Please, I need a son." Varuṇa came and said, "Yes, I will give you a son, but you must give him back to me." The wife became pregnant, and after the son was born, Varuṇa immediately said, "Okay, give me the son." That is why Mahārāj said it is not even a joke. In Europe, we have a saying: "I will drown you." In the West, there is a tendency—there are many cats and dogs, so what do people do? They put their four children in the river because otherwise it becomes too much, and people do not want to run away, so they put them in the river. It is considered a sin, but people still do it. Therefore, even in jest, you should not say, "I will give you to the water," because Varuṇa Dev is very quick. He says, "Okay, you offered me your son," and he will come to your house... "Give me your son." Somehow Hariścandra said, "No, okay, first month, no, he is only one month." Then after some time, he said he is this age, and after some time, that age. Varuṇa Deva became so angry he said, "Okay, now you will get a disease, something like diarrhea. The oil in your body... the water will come out; you will be very sick." And you know, it does not matter what anyone does or what doctors say—you cannot pass. Then, of course, our mind is very intelligent. We cannot sacrifice our own children. And even if you could, the child found out what was happening and ran away. Now you cannot find him. Now there is this trade: you go somewhere and say, "I want to buy your child." We have a lot of such trade in the world today, which is very bad, but it happens. If it is possible to stop, excellent. But even from that time it started: you come to somebody and say, "I need your child," and offer enough money or land. The child was crying because he was to be sacrificed. The sacrifice is called bali in Hindi. Bali charaṇa means to place your head. This also comes from the story when the Rakṣasa Bali ruled all three worlds and was so proud that he would give anything to anyone who came to his door. So when Viṣṇu, disguised as the dwarf Brahmin boy Vāmana, came to him and said, "I only want three steps of land," the king said, "Yeah, no problem." And of course, what happened? Vāmana, who is Viṣṇu, grew immense. With one step he covered the whole earth; with the second, all three worlds. He said, "Now you owe me the third step. What should I do with it?" Bali said, "Viṣṇu Bhagavān, place it on my head. I am yours." So Bali lost, but in losing, he won. For as soon as Viṣṇu placed His foot on his head, he was liberated. And Viṣṇu said, "Now you are the ruler of the entire Pātāloka." From that time, bali means to give your head. But what are we doing? We give someone else's head in all our sacrifices. The child was crying, and Viśvāmitra came and saw him. The child said, "I am supposed to be sacrificed to Varuṇadev." Viśvāmitra said, "This is the mantra of Varuṇa. Chant it, and Varuṇadev will be pleased." He chanted the mantra and was freed, and he even freed Hariścandra from that disease. Now, why is it so difficult? We are so attached to our children. Dhṛtarāṣṭra was blind—whether physically blind or blind to what his children were doing, we will never know, but we can guess. After this, the test of Hariścandra occurred, where he had to sell another child, his wife, and everything to keep his word, because when he was freed from the disease, his karma was uplifted and he became free of all desires. Similarly, it is interesting that King Nimi and Vasiṣṭha, both great beings, cursed each other, died, and from their essence many wonderful things emerged. But the point is: how is it that even great saints get angry? Even Śiva Himself gets angry. Viṣṇu gets angry. Because this anger is in our nature. The only question is, how long does it last? It is said that the anger of ordinary people is like a mark cut into stone. The anger of holy people is like a knife passing through water. As long as the water flows, everything becomes calm again. But our anger lasts for centuries. There are three things very difficult to give. We have to live to purify ourselves. In this world, it is difficult. How can we purify ourselves? We do not have thousands of years to meditate. We have nothing. But what do we have? We have money. We have something. We have food. We have this and that. So the point is: start giving. You can give your money. You can give help. You can give knowledge. There is an entire book written on what you can give. Giving is only limited by your desires. Again, there is a story. I will tell it briefly. We know it well. You give a finger, and people take your whole hand. You offer food for one day, and people come and live for a week, bringing their friends and everyone. Here in India, it is even more interesting because there are so many people. One house in India is like a railway station. There is not a single day without five different people there, and many times you do not even know who they are. If I go to Panditji's house and see four people sitting and eating, and I ask, "Who is this third person?" he says, "He is from the wife's side." Probably a relative, because you have brothers, daughters, sisters, friends, sons, nephews. These are the relatives allowed to come to your house. So the concept of "relative" here in India is very broad. Now you can imagine why it is so difficult in Europe. It is easy there because there is only one son, one daughter, or maybe two. Here, there are like ten in one house. All of them get married. All have families from both sides. Anyone can come anytime. It is not only about giving; it is also about the person receiving. He must think, "Maybe I am overdoing it. Maybe the person is missing this part." One part is giving, but the other is receiving. "Am I receiving too much? Can I offer something?" Because there are some people who just take. No matter how much you give, they are like the mind. No matter how much you put into the mind, desire is never finished. There is always room for more. Like a bottomless pit. You do not have to search for a bottomless pit anywhere on earth. It is right atop our body. Today is very interesting. There are three days more for the entire Devī Bhāgavatam discourse, which is from the Purāṇas. These stories we are listening to are actually happening in present-day life, but we cannot look at the present. We like to hear stories. Even if we do not like stories, we like stories about somebody else's family. We cannot look at ourselves. So these Purāṇas are for that: to go into the past so we can see the present clearly. With this, we will conclude today's session. We will begin the Āratī, and we will see you again tomorrow.