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Part 1: The Eternal Play of Consciousness: On Saints, Lakshmī, and the Nature of Truth Jaya! Jaya! Śyāvararāma Candra Bhagavān kī, Pavanasuta Hanumān kī, Umāpati Mahādeva kī, Satya Sanātana Dharma kī. Jaya! Blessed self, spiritual seekers, sisters and brothers here in this hall and around the world, the blessing of Holī is coming to you all from our ashram in Alexandria, America. Welcome, you all. The festival of Holi is very significant. This morning I told you the stories, the significance of the Sandhyā Brahmamuhūrta at the dawn time and Sandhyā at the sunset time. These two times are for prayers and meditations, not for bhoga, and not just for eating. One Mahātma said, "O men, even animals and birds, they are singing the name of God in their languages." You know, early morning, the birds are singing beautiful songs for us. All animals feel the presence of God. When the sun rises, before the sun, entire nature wakes up. And when the sun setting time comes, all go to sleep. It is said, every bird flies to its nest to be one with its family, or to spend a peaceful night with such a kind of tree or bush where they have a shelter for the night, a protection. God protects each and everyone. Only we humans have forgotten the law of nature. When do we go to sleep? Many people go at that time when there is a time to wake up. Tāmasa guṇa, āsurī śaktis, that is taking over, and we are all victims of the āsurī śaktis. From the beginning of this universe, the two śaktis have awoken, devī śakti and asurī śakti. There is a struggle between both, and you know, devas and asuras, like Indra, the king of the heaven, the king of the Veṅkuṇḍa, the king of the Svargaloka, and the Rākṣasas. Both were born. Their father was one, Kaśyapaṛṣi. The story I told you this morning, but finally it is satya meva jayate, where the truth, there is victory. That truth is known as Brahma satya, jagat mithyā. The final, eternal truth is Brahman. All these worldly activities are mithyā, temporary. It is just an illusion. It is just water bubbles. Our life, this is very short time we have life. This time, there is no time. Beyond time and space, that is the consciousness of the Brahman, the Supreme, the Highest. Time is created by humans. We are counting. The ṛṣis counted the time in the yugas, manvantaras, and kalpas—billions, trillions of years—which is the time for the awakening of the cosmic consciousness. And that is, this first one is called Swayambhū Śiva. He is the Sarjanhara; he is the creator. Svayambhu, Svayambhu, that he has manifested himself. There is no one who created him, no father, no mother. And Sva, Svayambhū, that is consciousness from which awakes the Nā, the Rūpa, Parabrahma, the sound. From the sound, Śivajyoti, the divine light of Śiva awakes, and then the creation begins. Then the yugas begin. After this again comes Mahāpralaya. Shiva only appears once, Swayambhu Shiva. At the end of the Mahāpralaya, again when the world or creation has to begin, then the Svayaṃbhu comes only once. Then, in the yuga, Shiva gives the order to Vishnu and Brahma. Vishnu, you are the sustainer, the protector of the entire creation on this earth. Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa said, therefore, yuge yuge sambhavāmi. Every yuga, I come, but Śiva comes. When Viṣṇu cannot control, everything is out of control, then Mahāpralaya, the destruction, comes. And then a new system comes, a new law comes, a new government comes. When there is a lot of civil war, all is out of control; people are burning the houses and the cars and this and that, then comes the military rule. And that military rule, that is the Śiva. So there is a Swayambhū. Then nimit avatāra. Nimit avatāra yuga yuga. In every yuga. After that, because Brahma said to Shiva, "Lord, it’s a long period. People are suffering. They are tortured. Creatures are suffering. Vishnu is coming only once, and that’s all. And he comes at the end of the yuga." Śiva said, "Nimitta avatāra and nitya avatāra." So Swayambhū, then Nimitāvatāra is like a Viṣṇu, and Nityāvatāra is a saint. Nārada asks Bhagavān Viṣṇu, "Lord, you are residing in the ocean of the nectar. Lakṣmījī is sitting with you. What’s happening there on the earth? And who are they all? They call themselves the saints." Bhagavān Viṣṇu said, "Nārada, you did not understand who they are. The story is very long." Mother of Nārada, she used to go to many, many ashrams, the ashrams of the ṛṣis, and she used to bring mahā-prasād. What is a mahāprasād? When the saints, the ṛṣis, had their meal, what remained, that she used to bring and feed to Nārada. So that’s why Nārada had that buddhi. Narada, only Narada had abilities. With his physical body, he could travel throughout the whole universe. Any time he can go and come, go and go. You know, now if you want to fly to New York, come back. You fly to Toronto, come back. You fly to India, there. But we need an aeroplane. He didn’t need any aeroplane. And Nārada had the blessings and the duty. He cannot stay longer than a few minutes anywhere. He has to go. It is said, as long as water will flow, it remains clean. Similarly, the sand will move everywhere. There will be no blame. Attachment. Attachment is that prison. You have to come back again. Attachment is that which creates the fear, or out of the fear, the attachment is there. So Nārada, he was a great bhakta of Viṣṇu. And what was his mahā-mantra? Śrīman Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa. Śrīman Nārāyaṇa, Śrīman Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa. Śrīman Nārāyaṇa, Śrīman Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa. Śrīman Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa. Lakṣmī Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa, Lakṣmī Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa,... Lakṣmī Nārāyaṇa Nārāyaṇa Satya Nārāyaṇa Nārāyaṇa Satya Nārāyaṇa Satya Nārāyaṇa Nārāyaṇa Nārāyaṇa Satya Nārāyaṇa Nārāyaṇa. So, Nārada had a mantra, the name of God. As soon as he said, "Śrīman Nārāyaṇa," his body was levitating. And with high speed, within no time, he appeared somewhere. That is a siddhi. Now we can appear too, through the webcast. Yes, now, omnipresent. You and I are omnipresent around the whole world; anywhere you can see. This is a technology, but another technology was such that no one could misuse it, and there no one could interfere with anything. That’s called svātantrya, freedom. Nārada was preaching. He was young, giving a lecture somewhere. So he spoke about ethics, spirituality, and morality. After the satsaṅg, someone said to Nārada, "Rishi Nārada, you are talking about all these rules and regulations, but what do you think about your mother? She is going to one ashram, to another ashram, to anywhere like this, and bringing a little prasāda." Narada said, "I will talk to my mother." Evening, he went home and came to his mother and said, "Mata Śrī, respected mother, now you are tired, getting older. No need to go anywhere, mother. Mother, the sādhus, the swāmīs, the saints, they will come to bless you and have a satsaṅg at home, so stay here." Mother was not stupid. Don’t think that you can make a trick towards your mother. Mother knows everything. Mother can immediately find out what is now going on in your eyes, what’s going on in your cheek vibrations. Mother, yes. Mother has entire controlling. Mother said, "Yes, Nārada. Someone told you in satsaṅg like this." He said, "Yes, Mother, but no matter what one tells you, stay here." Mother said, "Okay, Nārada." But the ability of Nārada to be like that was that Mahāprasād, the result of the Mahāprasād. Lucky are they who can get a Mahāprasād. Even one grain of rice, you get it from the plate of the saints. You never know what, which bhagya, which luck could awaken. Narada went straight to Vishnu, and he was chanting, Śrīman Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa. And Lakṣmījī was sitting, and Lakṣmī said to Bhagavān Viṣṇu, "My Lord, I hear Narada’s voice. Long time we didn’t hear. It’s boring when a Nārada is not coming. When Nārada comes, he brings the colorful atmosphere, and he brings..." and Viṣṇu said, "Yes, tell again, why did you stop? He brings an interesting message with the complications." He said, "Yes, Nārada comes." "Praṇām, my Lord. Praṇām, Divine Mother, Lakṣmījī." Bhagavān Viṣṇu tells Nārada, "For a long time, you didn’t come this time. What brought you here today? We were missing you." He said, "Lord, I am always at your holy feet. You are always in my heart. And I was longing, I was so homesick to come to you, Lord." But Vishnu said, "What is it, but? Tell, tell, what is it, but? I know you came for some questions." He said, "No, Lord, I would like to know who is this on this earth moving. They call sadhus or swāmīs or saints. Who are they?" Bhagavān, Viṣṇu, knew everything; he is antaryāmī. Now, of everything, each and every heartbeat and every movement of the cells of our body, Bhagavān God knows. That’s why He is Viṣṇu. Viśva ke aṇu-aṇu ke andar, in every atom of the universe which is existing, that light is the Viṣṇu. Bhagavān Viṣṇu was saying one song, but He said first one poem. One saint said in the poem, "Nārada, these all saints are my ātmā, my real self, which is the Viṣṇu. That ātmā, these are all the saints. They are my self. Sant hamārī ātmā mēṁ santan kī de." And whom you call the Viṣṇu, that is the embodiment of the saints, I am here only visible to you. Otherwise, in reality, I am manifesting in the sādhus because they are nityāvatāra. These are immortal words of the Lord Śiva. Śānt hamārī ātmā meṁ santān kī de, Rom Rom meṁ Rām rahe, jyaṁ badal meṁ me. Chants are dwelling in each and every hair of my body and in every cell of my body, like rain in the clouds. Good, no? Phenicity. Sounds good. Yeah. But he didn’t say, "like snow." Yes, next time I will tell Viṣṇu, "Please also make children happy with the snow." He understood. And then Bhagavān Viṣṇu said in a very nice bhajan, "Nārada mē re santāṁ mē yantar nai, Jo mē re santāṁ mē yantar māne, Jo mē re santāṁ mē yantar māne, O nara nara kaume jāi, Nārada me santa me yantara." Beautiful bhajana. Oh my God. In this bhajana is so much juice. You know what you call a honeycomb? Those who have bees at home on their farm, when they take the honey, the beehive is full of honey. You take it and take it in your mouth. Oh, my God. You enjoy, no? So it’s like that. Nārada mera santa me antara nahi. So when one can understand poetry, this then is immortality. Nārada, mere santa me antara nahi. O Nārada, there is no difference between me and my sense. Those who will see the dualities between me and the sense, sadhus, they will go straight into hell. Lakshmījī was sitting there. Lakshmījī said, "Prabhu, can I say something?" Bhagavān Viṣṇu said, "Yes, go ahead." Āto Lakṣmī ārja karat hai, mein santoṅ kī dāsī. Lakṣmījī said, "O Bhagavān Viṣṇu, I am a servant of the saints. Wherever my saints step on the earth, I put my palms under there. They are walking on my palms, Lakṣmī." Wherever a saint goes, Lakshmi’s hands are there. And that’s why people are inviting sadhus or saints, "Please, can you come to my house?" Because when the scent comes, what comes with it? Lakṣmī, prosperity, happiness. And they tell, "Please, can you take socks out, Swamijī?" I say, "It’s cold." And they put color in the plate. Pagliya karna. Kya kāte hai? Pagliya. What means? Free footprint. And then you walk through because Lakṣmī is a red color. It is Lakshmi’s palms where the saint steps, and it is not. There is Lakṣmījī walking through your house. Lakṣmī means happiness. Lakshmī means purity. Lakshmī means clarity. Lakshmī means honesty. Lakshmī means prosperity, and Lakshmī means divinity. And the Lakshmī in whose house they are, they are the liberated one. Bhagavān Viṣṇu was talking a little bit. He said, "I thought you are my bhakta, but now you are the bhakta of the sādhus." So, Lakṣmījī said, "Yes, you see, all are my bhaktas on the earth," to Viṣṇu. Narada went away. Narada comes and makes complications, then he disappears. Narāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa. Then they are fighting. Lakṣmījī said, "Prabhu, God, you see, all these rich people and business people and all others, they are my bhaktas. Bhakta." Vishṇu said, "No, no,... Lakṣmījī, it is your ignorance. You are mistaken. They are my Bhaktas. Let’s have a test, an examination. Who is whose bhakta?" So Lakṣmī said, "Okay, Lord, first you go and do your best to win your bhaktas." So Bhagavān Viṣṇu became a saint, a sādhu, orange dress, wooden sandals, mālā, water pot, "Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa,... Namah Śivāya, Om Namah Śivāya." Viṣṇu is a devotee of Śiva, and Śiva is a devotee of Viṣṇu. This is very hard to understand, but that is called oneness, where wife is devoted to husband and husband devoted to wife. That is a happy marriage. That is a marriage. Otherwise, dividing. Merge into oneness is a marriage. Well, Vishnu went, and he came to one very nice rich man who had a big, big supermarket, and he had two, three villas. So Bhagavān Viṣṇu came to that businessman and said, "Bhakta was very happy because he was a great devotee of God. For him, there was nothing else, only God." But Kali Yuga enters. I told you yesterday’s story about Kali Yuga, no? He sat on the head of the king as a golden crown in Kali Yuga. Sadhu Maharaj said, "Bhakta, for four months I would like to stay somewhere and make my sādhanā. At monsoon time, we don’t travel too much." Bhakta said, "What great luck! I am so fortunate. God is so gracious to me. You will stay four months in my house, please. There are four villas. Where do you want to stay?" He said, "Anywhere you show me the room, and in this room, there I will put my āsana. Four months, I will not move from there." "Don’t tell me that, Swamiji. Can you move to the next room? No." He said, "Swamijī, I will never say that. Move to the other room. It is reserved for you for your whole life." So there was a beautiful hall, a satsaṅg bhavan, and a beautiful wooden bed prepared for the sādhu. In the form of the sādhu, Viṣṇu himself, he said, "Should I put my āsana there now?" He said, "Yes, Lord, do it." "You will not ask me to move?" He said, "No. Even if you ask, I will not go." He said, "No, I will not ask. It’s your place. Okay." So he sat down and he said, "Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya, Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya, Oṁ... Namaḥ Śivāya, Oṁ... Namaḥ Śivāya." So that Swamiji is there and here. Part 2: The Test of Devotion A man asked, "What would you like to drink or eat?" The sādhu replied, "I eat only once during the monsoon, and I will eat at five o’clock in the afternoon." The businessman returned to his shop. Then Lakṣmījī went to Viṣṇu and said, "Lord, allow me, please. Now I will demonstrate my māyā. I will show you if he is your bhakta or my bhakta. Please, Lord, do not be angry with me." Viṣṇu said, "Yes, yes, Devī, Mahādevī, go and project your māyā." She also became a sādhu, wearing orange dress and a mala. She had golden sandals, a golden water pot, and a golden stick in her hand. She came to Nārāyaṇa, Śrīman Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa... for she is still faithful to Nārāyaṇa. She went to that businessman’s shop and sat there. He exclaimed, "Oh, what great luck, fortunate one! Two Swamis are here today. Welcome, welcome... Matajī, Mother, how are you? What can I do for you?" She said, "Let me rest a little. Well, I would like to stay somewhere here for four months." He said, "Yes, I am happy. I have four houses." She said, "Talk later. I am thirsty. Bring me some water to drink." He brought water in a nice glass. She said, "No, no... I have my own glass." She put her hand in her bag and brought out a half-kilo golden glass. She drank and threw it away. "More water, please." He gave her more water. Again, she put her hand out and brought out another golden glass. He poured water into it, she drank, and she threw it away. She said, "Bhakta, I would like to have one glass of milk." He said, "Yes." He ran and brought nice sweet milk. She took from her other bag a very nice golden bowl, drank, and threw it away. He said, "Gurudev, why do you throw these golden glasses and pots?" She said, "That is my speciality." "What does that mean? I do not understand." "Whatever I use once, I do not reuse it again. Use and throw." So Lakṣmī is guilty. Then he brought something for her to eat, a little bite. He prepared it, ran, and brought it on a nicely decorated plate. She said, "Now, wait a moment." She took a beautiful golden tray, about one and a half to two kilos heavy. He put the food on it, and she ate something. She gave him prasāda, saying, "Take it." They took the prasād and brought the plate, the tray, back. She said, "No, I do not touch what is used. Throw it. My time is over. I am to go somewhere, or do you have somewhere for me to make my āsana?" He said, "Please come with me. I will show you where you like." She went to see. "I do not like this, I do not like that. Other house, I do not like." She was searching for where Viṣṇu was. Then she came and said, "This is a very good hall for me. I will meditate and stay here for four months." He said, "There is one Swamiji already here, and I promised him he would stay here." She said, "Okay, no problem, I will go." "No, no, please stay, stay. I will tell Swamiji if he has to move." He came and said to the first sādhu, "Gurudev, you have been here for just one and a half hours. I have some other guests who would like very much to stay in this room. Can I arrange a very nice, air-conditioned, comfortable room for you, Gurudev? Can you sit there?" The sādhu replied, "But I told you, I asked you again and again, that once my āsana is here, I will not move for months." The businessman went away. Lakṣmījī was standing somewhere, chanting "Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa." He said to her, "Can I offer you a very nice room with marble and granite stones and golden bathrooms?" He said, "I do not care for gold or diamond. Look at my foot soles, my shoes; they are made of diamonds. You are making a temptation for me. I want to have that room." Then he said, "Please sit." Again, he went to pray. "Gurudev, saints are merciful, they listen to bhaktas. Mother and father listen to children. I request you, please move there." The sādhu said, "No, no, my saṅkalpa: 'Raghu-kula rīti sadā chalī āi, bachan na jāī me.' Once I give my word, it does not matter even if I have to chip my head off, I will not give up my word, my promise." So the businessman went to Lakṣmījī. "I am in dharma saṅkaṭ, I am in such a conflict. What can I do? Please, in five days I will build for you another new building." She said, "I do not need it. I will go." He said, "Please, please sit down, do not go, do not go." He went again to the Swamiji and said, "Hey Sadhu, Babaji, your father does not have a home. Otherwise, he would have been thrown out of the house. So sorry, my dialect language." He said, "It is not a house of your father. I gave you hospitality, I respect you as a sādhu." And then he said, "No, no, my servants will come and kick you out. Get out from here." Bhagavān Viṣṇu began to sweat. Bhagavān Viṣṇu took his kamaṇḍal, water pot, and his stick and left, chanting, "Om Namah Śivāya, Om Namah Śivāya... Om Namah Śivāya, Śaṅkar Bhagavān kī jai." Viṣṇu went away. Then the businessman went to Lakṣmījī. "Excuse me, excuse me, Matajī, Mother, Divine Mother. The room is ready for you. Where is that sādhu? It was some beggar. He came and he wanted to occupy my house. We kicked him out." Lakṣmījī said, "Greedy man, my golden pots have hypnotized you. You are not respecting me, and you are asking me again and again to stay here because you know that whatever I use will be golden, and every day I will throw it out, and you think that you will have tons of gold. You give me a place now, and someone will come and only start to bring diamonds. Then you will throw me out, no? So, Bhakta, I will not stay here." She also went away. Somewhere in the forest, Bhagavān Viṣṇu was sitting under a tree. It was very hot, and Lakṣmījī came. "Excuse me, my lord, excuse me. But I told you, my lord, they are my Bhakta, not your Bhakta." That is it. So, Nityāvatāra, you should know, and that is all the saints; they are the embodiment of Śiva. That is why orange is the color of the dawn. When dawn comes, the entire nature awakes, the consciousness awakes. And the sunrise, the sun color is that orange. When the sun is setting, the next color, consciousness, goes to retire. So when this Mahāpralaya comes, darkness comes, and again Śiva comes, and again it begins. The orange color is the color of the fire. Only that one element which can purify everything is fire. Therefore, when you want to take some saṅkalpa, there should be water and fire. And that which you promised remains in you for life. Otherwise, this fire will burn you. That is why when we have weddings, they go around the fire, and when you make prayers, you light the candles. Every altar, everywhere, fire, Agni Deva, Agni, because Agni is the form of Śiva. First, the Jyoti, Jyoti Agni, Jyoti came. When you make the yajña, you will see what it is. For the opening of our Shiva temple in Jardhan, the Dwādaś Jyotirliṅga, I spoke with our Chandrajī and Sukhwal, and he is very great and expert at making yajñas. So he took it on. He said to me, "You said yes, he will take everything, all responsibilities, organizing, doing this and 108 fireplaces, and not only for one day, but for how many days? One month he will do one." A big puja, oh, declare all buzz declare, so 108 kuṇḍī yajña in Jadan Ashram for the opening of the Shiva temple, Dvādaś Jyotirliṅg. And 108 means there will be more than 400, 500 pandits, at least, because it goes day and night. What a resonance! So he will take everything over his head. He will organize, he will finance, he will do everything. What a great Aum. When he saw the Aum, he will tell afterward what he felt, and what his friends all feel about Aum. People do not understand, but that time will be something like Divya Jyoti, Śiva Jyoti will prajvalita agni there. Very good, thank you. I congratulate you, and you will then tell, afterward, in the webcast, your saṅkalpa. So, there is what is called life. So, Nārada is bringing a message, and he just puts some complicated question and then he disappears. Sometimes he creates troubles, and sometimes he brings happiness. But generally, he brings troubles to solve the problems, you know. Sometimes he used to, he, Nārada was capable of creating a conflict between Śiva and Pārvatī. There can never be a conflict between Śiva and Pārvatī. Śiva went somewhere for a walk in the Himalayas, and Nārada came to Pārvatījī. "Mother, mother..." She said, "Oh, Nārada, you are here today." She said, "Where is my lord? Where is Śivjī? He went for a walk, he will come. Stay, he will come soon." "No, no, mother, you know, you know that I cannot stay anywhere. I have a curse that I can stay a maximum of a few minutes, not even minutes. But mother," she said, "What is... but I came to warn you." What a blackmailing. She said, "What? You know, Śiva drank the poison from the churning of the ocean. His whole body is full of poison, and every day you are giving him a bath. And I said, 'Be careful. He can poison you.' Do not touch him." She said, "Really? It is bitter and poisonous." "Mother, do not tell him. I will go. Śrīmān Nārāyaṇ Nārāyaṇ." He went away. He went to the other side of the hill. And where Śiva was walking, "Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa." And Nārada came. "My Lord, what great luck." He said, "Oh, Nārada, you appear, you came here." "I was going somewhere, Antarikṣ, in this space, and I saw my, my, my East Devatā Śiva. So, just came for your darśan." Śiva said, "Yes, come on, tell, what is it?" "Nothing, Lord, your darśan. But, yes, what is the but? I am taking the opportunity, occasion, and tell you something when you are alone. And now, thanks, Lord, to you, that you are alone and I can tell you something." He said, "What?" "I know, Lord, you love Pārvatī very much. She is a great, she is a divine. But be careful." I said, "What? My Devī, Mahādevī, Śakti?" "Yes. So, what do you mean by this, Lord? Always, when she is giving you a bath, she is searching for an opportunity to bite you, to eat you, really." Yes, and he told Parvati, "When you bathe him, take care that he does not notice. Take your tongue and touch his shoulder somewhere, see how bitter it is." Śivajī came. Śiva did not tell her, she did not tell him. Next morning, she brought nice water. And Shivaji was sitting, and she wanted to wash him, and he was sitting. But Śiva was warned by Nārada. So Śivjī was with his one eye, half eye was looking left and right. And Śiva was also searching for the chance that he was not looking at her. And what happened? Śiva was looking like this, Śivjī. And she took her tongue out to lick his shoulder. And Śiva saw he had a towel on him, he ran away. "She will kick, eat me now." And Pārvatī was wondering. She said, "Lord, why are you running? Why are you running?" After that, they smiled and laughed. Śiva said, "Yesterday, was Nārada with you?" She said, "Yes." "Did he meet you?" He said, "Yes." Now we know what happened. So then, once some people are too much gushing up, it is called Nārada, what do you call it? Nārada Vidyā. When I talk something and then you send SMS to somebody and then talking, talking, gossiping is called Nārada Vidyā. So do not do Nārada Vidyā. So on this day is the day of that divine where the Lord comes to help. Satyameva Jayate. Satyameva Jayate, Satyameva Jayate. Where there is truth, there is victory, and where there is victory, there is truth. And that is why, trust in God. So, the American dollars have written on it, "In God We Trust," and that is why we all like dollars, yes. So, if you put the dollars here, I have nothing against it. Nothing against, because you have to give Dakṣiṇā, you have to give the bait. Otherwise, you came empty-handed and you go empty-handed. So, this is Dīvālī. Then, after 8.4 million different creatures which are created here by Śiva on this earth—Svedas, Andes, Jarāyus, and Udbis—these are all four Khaṇḍas becoming. Out of them all, yalchar, thalchar, nabchar, and we humans have the last, ultimate chance to get liberation or continue again in this cycle of birth and death. And therefore, there are certain karmic obstacles. And these karmic obstacles are to be removed so that past karmas or destiny do not attack you in certain ways. Therefore, the ṛṣi said, "Research." The research is not a blind belief, not some fanaticism. Saṃskāras. Sixteen saṃskāras. What are saṃskāras? Education. Saṃskāra says, saṃskṛti bantī hai, saṃskṛti se dharma kī rakṣā hotī hai. Saṃskāra, ceremonies. You know, when you are born in Christianity, they also get what is called the baptizing. Jesus also was, for a long time, he did not get the mantra dīkṣā. Then, when he met his master, first he said, "First, come, get mantra dīkṣā, and then I will give you the knowledge." So, saṃskāras. Why sixteen? It is called ṣoḍaśa-kāla. Is it not? Whose solakala is it? Viṣṇu Bhagavān’s. And that solakala is the chandra-kalā. The chandra, the moon, has sixteen kalā days from dark moon to the full moon to the dark again. This is a kalā, and the moon is nectar, immortality. And so each saṃskāra, it does not matter boy or girl, all must have them. So girls also have the saṃskāras. And first saṁskāras, pahala, is when the child is born, the father with the golden or the silver little stick and with the honey should write on the tongue, "Om." You did for him? Yeah. And so the Upanishads say that on your tongue there should be sweetness like honey. Your words should be sweet. Your words should not be harsh, no hate, no jealousy, no cruelty. If you speak, speak sweet words, and then, after seven days or fourteen days, comes Sūrya Pūjā, and then after the Sūrya Pūjā and this, comes the Annapūjā, first eating. So there are the sixteen ceremonies that make this creature, which comes into the humans, and from human now he gets a passport for freedom to go to the Gurudev. The last saṃskāra, which is the last saṃskāra? Ah, anteṣṭi. Anteṣṭi saṃskāra. When you die, then either they bring you to the crematorium or under the earth. But generally, it is to the crematorium. That is called untasty. Untasty saṃskāras means the last worship, last ceremonies. My dear, it is a science. We do not know. This modern education has made the human roots rotten. Rotten. This is nothing. Only one gold, gold. Kali Yuga, gold. But lucky are you, blessed are they who have the inspiration, interest, but you also need someone who can perform and who can get mantra-nikṣā and go further. So today, on this divine day of the holy, I pray to Mahāprabhujī to bless all of us with good health, a healthy, happy, long life, and that we can get liberation in this life. That is very important. Oṁ Namaḥ Śrī Prabhu Dīpanārāya Oṁ Namaḥ Śrī Prabhu Dīpanārāya... Dev Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān kī Deveśvar Mahādev Dharma Saṁbharat Satguru Svāmī Madhavānandjī Bhagavān. Om Śānti