TV Channel

Hari Om. Bhakti is the best. Finally, after the judgment, the result is given in Kali‑yuga. This is Bhakti Yoga, which is the easiest. There is no discipline in Kali Yuga. People cannot do sādhanā, they cannot do tapasyā, they cannot follow yama and niyama. “Nyāyam Nyāyam” is mentioned in the books. And now the children don’t understand this. They think “nyam nyam” is something eating. So slowly, slowly, human culture is changing and becoming animal culture — which is not good news. Many are doing anuṣṭhāna. They are trying hard, but their vṛttis are not there. Their feelings are somewhere else. Everyone has torn themselves into many pieces. If you cannot keep yourself in oneness, how will you go further? That’s it. Thus, to perform the yajñas, ceremonies, fasts, silence, tapasyā, control over diet, control over feelings, control over the senses — all is lost. Only one hope remains, and when you miss this, the whole game is out, and we are lost. That is devotion, bhakti. But it is said that in Kali Yuga, Bhakti and Jñāna are suffering, and Mother Earth is crying. This mother has two children, Bhakti and Jñāna, and Bhakti and Jñāna are suffering. Like a very strong stomach-ache or headache — one is rolling here and there like a fish which has come out of the water. Bhakti has many, many forms. The very first bhakti is towards yourself. Do you love yourself? No, in my opinion, not. If you loved yourself… Today I was observing all the anuṣṭhānī people. Someone was thinking about going on holiday one day. Somewhere, someone was thinking about a new boyfriend. Someone was thinking about finding a job, and someone was afraid of getting a divorce. Mostly these problems were there; they were the fog of problems. And out of the room, I said, “Oh, oh… stinking, stinking, stinking.” It means you don’t love yourself. You are not with yourself. How can you calm yourself down? If you don’t love yourself, then why should others love you? You have no energy to endure anything. You can’t wait. Sometimes you have to wait many, many lives. That’s called loving yourself and faithfulness. So I think Tulsīdāsajī maybe made a mistake. He said: “Kaliyug keval nām ādhāra. Kaliyug bhakti pradhāna.” Bhakti is the major thing. But I think he knew that we would not be able to do it. Then comes mātṛ bhakti, towards the mothers. Pitṛ bhakti, towards the fathers. But you have no bhakti towards father and mother because they don’t have santāna bhakti, they don’t have putra bhakti. If you really love your child, you will be liberated yourself, but very soon you give your child into other hands. So mātṛ bhakti and putra bhakti. Pitṛ bhakti: pitṛ is father. Putrī bhakti is the girl, mother. Then we go further: bhrātṛ bhakti — sisters and brothers. If you read the Rāmāyaṇa, you see the love between God Rāma and his step‑brother Bharata. We said, if there is a brother, then he should be like Bharata. You know very well the story. We missed it; otherwise, every day we should have watched one episode of the Rāmāyaṇa. And you read the Mahābhārata. Look at the brothers, Duryodhana and Arjuna. It can be like that too. And if the son and father are like Bhagavān Rāma and Daśaratha — how much they love each other is a competition of who is loving more. And look in the Mahābhārata and in Kṛṣṇa’s story: Kāṃsa and his father. He put his father in prison. Can you imagine this bhakti? Rājā Ugrasena. So that is a Kali Yuga picture too. I think the day after tomorrow, or in two or three days, is Kṛṣṇa Janmāṣṭamī — the day of Kṛṣṇa’s incarnation. So both pictures are in front of us. And let’s see the mother and son, or the children’s bhakti. Like God Rāma, he loved all his three mothers equally. Then the friends’ love. God Rāma’s love for his friends — not only there, but for animals too. And then the bhakti towards the ācārya, Droṇācārya. How much the Pāṇḍavas loved Droṇācārya. But the Kauravas had a different love. And see the love of God Rāma and the Guru Vasiṣṭha Muni and Viśvāmitra. Then look at the love of the wife to the husband and the husband to the wife. You must have bhakti, devotion, towards your wife. Your wife is always a goddess — you call her Devī. Yes, on the day when you will lose that devotion… of course, it is not a devotion, but a devotion. And the bhakti of the wife towards the husband. Always in our Sanskrit word or Hindi we say Svāmī — means Lord. He said, “God is,” and He also said to her, “God is.” When such a thing is there, then touch the hand; otherwise, get out. That’s it. When such love is there, devotion, then touch the hand. Otherwise, get out. We are completely lost. Then comes bhakti to Gurudeva. And then bhakti furthers to any god or religion you believe in. But the foundation is bhakti towards thyself. If you don’t find someone, forget it. Do not become a beggar, and do not let yourself be tortured and unhappy. Therefore, for many, many yugas, you are waiting to find that partner, and that partner is waiting for you somewhere, and you are also waiting. Wait and see; the time will bring it. And when you spoil it, it’s gone. Why did God give us this human life? Then you have the bhakti towards other creatures. You see God in everyone. Yes, because the light of God is in everyone. Then, love towards nature. Many, many sādhus and many people, including Swāmī Vivekānanda — when someone came and offered Vivekānanda one flower, he was thinking a little bit. They said, “What are you thinking?” He said: “This flower, if it remains on the bush, on the plant, it will be happy for a long time. But you cut it off and brought it to me. I know I will not keep it the whole day. And the beauty of this flower is on its own plant.” So many, many good thoughts are there. That is the first definition of bhakti. And bhakti says, Bhagavān and bhakta, both are one. Bhagavān and bhakta, both are one. Both come to this world to play this beautiful theatre, to show the people this balance, equalness, the love. The bhakta is constantly thinking of Bhagavān, and Bhagavān is constantly thinking of the bhakta. Then is the bhakti that liberates us. Not like you today. The anuṣṭhānī was thinking, and I was very, very surprised. My car was driving at 120 kilometers, 30 kilometers — I was sitting behind, closing my eyes to check what you were doing. This little theatre is not enough. When bhakti awakes in your heart, you can melt rocks. There is one story about Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa’s līlā, Kṛṣṇa’s play — many don’t understand. Doesn’t matter if you understand or not; it’s His līlā. You can’t prohibit Him, you can’t force Him. They think that Kṛṣṇa liked butter very much, and to play with the butter. And He used to give to all His friends — they were called gop. A male disciple is a gop, and a female disciple is a gopī. So it does not mean that Kṛṣṇa married all the gopīs. No, they are married. Bhaktā and Bhagavān are married. That devotion is married means to merge both consciousnesses — not marriage like you, every day different. Thoughts, thoughts, thinking, everything is different. So, when the gopīs went to get water or something, the husband was going with the cows. And they had a butter lamp, hanging like this, because the cats would come and catch it. It was in a clay pot that is cool. And Kṛṣṇa came outside to the window and threw a stone at it. The clay pot broke and fell down. He told all his friends, “Come and enjoy the butter.” At that time, there was no ice cream, so that was their ice cream. And when the gopīs came, they ran away. So one day, they saw Kṛṣṇa with his friends taking butter down, and Kṛṣṇa was giving everybody full hands. So they decided to complain to His mother, stepmother Yaśodā. They went to complain, “Come and see what your son Kṛṣṇa is doing.” They enter to complain, and what is Kṛṣṇa doing? Sitting at a nice little eating table, eating. We just left it in our room there. And He’s here. How can we complain? If we tell her, she will say, “My son is sitting here.” So many, many times, they couldn’t catch Him. They went to the father’s room, the father of Kṛṣṇa — Nandbābā. They go there, Kṛṣṇa is sitting on the lap of Nandbābā. They look to the other side; He’s sitting there. They thought we are schizophrenic, hallucinating. But one gopī was thinking, “I will catch Him one day, so let Him be here.” They went quickly home, which was about 50 meters away. They saw He was eating — “I am eating, not ice cream, butter there.” Go to others, come and see what He’s doing. He was playing football with His friends. We call it a game ball, like a tennis ball. They had that time also, and there is the story of the game, the ball — they threw Him in the river, and Kṛṣṇa jumped there, and there was a great, big, big Rākṣasa as a snake under the water. You know the story. But she said, “I will catch Him.” She hid somewhere, but He knew, so I think it was purposely that He let her catch Him. So all the gopīs caught Him, but they see every gopī with one man — Kṛṣṇa. They said, “Your Māyā, Your līlā, we don’t want to accept. Today we will imprison you. We will tie Him to this pillar, and then we will tell Yaśodā, ‘Come and see your son.’” So He said, “Okay, do it.” So they tied Him with ropes. And the ropes break just like butter. No ropes or chains could tie Kṛṣṇa. All the gopīs run away, His friends. He’s standing, a little child, innocent. “Please, okay, tie me.” Try to tie? No, any rope or chains could tie Kṛṣṇa’s hands. And this one gopī, she was always very active. She said, “Wait a moment, I will bring some rope from my house.” That rope was so old and nearly rotten. She said, “With this, I will tie you. And you have no power to break this rope.” Another gopī said, “It’s impossible. Let Him be, let Him go.” She said, “No, I want to complain.” “But your rope is very weak, old, and rotten.” “No. This rope is a rope of love. And I tie Him with love. He can’t break.” So Kṛṣṇa remained like this. And they went to complain to Yaśodā, “Come and see your son.” And other boys came and said, “Kṛṣṇa, do it quickly, break it, break it. Break it. What are you doing? It’s just very weak. It’s clean, not a string. They are coming, don’t you see? With a mother. Maybe they bring the broom.” Kṛṣṇa said to His friends, “My dear friends, there is no power in the universe. In the universe, nothing exists in the universe which can stop Me, catch Me, or tie Me. But there is one thing I can’t break, and that is My weakness. Because of My promise, which I can’t break.” What is that? Can we help? He said, “Love cannot be helped. This string is a string of love. I can’t break that. Let Mother come, with a broom or with sticks. When they beat Me with the brooms, I will not feel anything. They will feel it on their own back.” So they were putting sticks on the buttocks of Kṛṣṇa, and they said, “Hmm, who is that?” Another came; she wanted to meet Kṛṣṇa, and she said, “Oh, who is behind me?” So, such are the līlās, tales of the Divine One. You don’t understand the līlā of the Divine. Why? How? We don’t understand any of this. But Bhagavān said, God said, “I can do all.” But I can’t defeat love. What is that love? Bhakti. So we have tied God. He will appear wherever you want. Because He is running behind us; we should not run behind Him. You have to become a small child. You are standing at the platform of a railway station. And the train is coming, and your child is running there towards the train. You are the father or mother. You will run to catch it. So we are the children of God. It doesn’t matter which direction we run; if we love Him, He will run behind us to catch us. Neither am I in the heart of the yogīs, nor am I in the forest or in Vaikuṇṭha. I am there, O Arjuna, where My bhaktas sing My name with love, with glory. So if you decide to love, don’t break. Then you cause pain on one side — you cause pain to yourself, and for many lives you have to pay this. When you do too much, then you don’t know what the next life will be. Maybe you will be a parrot in a cage. You know, about a week or four days ago, the children put on a nice theatre performance. And they bought a parrot, and they said, “This is very lovely, and a parrot learns what you speak.” So our parrot said, “Lovely, lovely, lovely.” Then she said, “Enough, enough, enough, enough. Te bol totā Rām Rām — O parrot, say Rām Rām.” So when the guest comes home, he greets them, “Rām Rām” — it will be Guru’s call. But that parrot is cased life‑long in that prison. And your dreams will not come true. You will dream sometimes from past lives, by free decisions. Your free decisions have brought you to this case. Therefore, Bhagavān and bhakta are one. That is our only chance to come out of this. Otherwise, śānti śuk — for some seconds or minutes of happiness, you will be sorry for many, many lives. Therefore, we are human. Understand human love and human life. So it means after all this, learn to love thyself. You will have already attained ātmā jñāna. Mahāprabhujī said very nicely in one poem: “Me merā nij āpu, tattva māsi nirmohī, kartā hū̃ vandanā merī mujhko hoī.” Clear, no? So you understand all. “Me merā nij āpu” — I am, myself, my own ātmā. I am the ātmā. “Me” means “I,” “merā” means “my,” “nij” means “belonging.” Me, merā, nij, ātmā, tattva masi nirmoj — I am above all the tattvas, and I have no moha, no attachment, no anger. Kartāhu me vandanā — I pray, I meditate, I serve. Kartāhu me vandanā, merī vandanā, my prayers. Merī vandanā mujhko hoī is to myself. So whatever you do, you are doing for yourself. So try to learn to love yourself. And don’t cheat yourself. Don’t cheat yourself because of your certain indriyās sukha — the joy of the senses. Taste, touch, hear, look — many things. What will affect our ātmā? Mahāprabhujī’s words. That’s it. Bhakti. There are many, many beautiful bhajans. Dījī, yo.