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Mahaprabhuji's Birthday Satsang

A spiritual discourse on Diwali, the lunar calendar, and the principle of the Guru.

"In Vedic culture, the heavens and astrology are correctly correlated according to the moon, not the sun."

"Guru is known as Nityāvatāra... 'Gu' means darkness, and 'ru' means light."

A spiritual teacher delivers a talk connecting the Diwali festival to lunar cycles and the nature of the mind. He explains the Vedic cosmological principles of Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva, and Śakti, culminating in the supreme role of the Guru (Gurur Brahmā, Gurur Viṣṇu...). He stresses the importance of the disciple's faith and obedience to the Guru's word (vākya) as the true path to liberation, illustrating points with stories of Bhagavān Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇa Mahāprabhujī and other masters.

Filming location: Jadan, Rajasthan, India

Śrī Rām Jaya Rām Jaya Rām, Śrī Rām Jaya Rām, Śrī Rām Jaya Rām, Jaya Jaya Rām, Śrī Rām Jaya Rām, Jaya Jaya Rām. Blessings to all spiritual seekers and bhaktas around the world. We wish you a happy Dīpāvalī, the light festival, which has been celebrated for thousands of years since the time of Bhagavān Śrī Rāma. In Vedic culture, the heavens and astrology are correctly correlated according to the moon, not the sun. The astrology counted by the moon is accurate because the moon is always changing according to the positions of the different planets, unlike the sun. The moon, the lord and principle of the mind, is always changing—from full moon to dark moon to full moon. Sometimes there are double full moon days; only the astrologer knows. Similarly, the human mind is always changing. We often say, "I change my mind." It is easy to change your mind. First change your body, and then change the mind, so it is very easy. But do not take it lightly. The dynasty of Bhagavān Rāma held the principle that even if you must give up your life, you never deny your word. A promise made to humans is final. Therefore, think carefully before saying yes or no. After that, you are bound to your promise. This means to think over the mind. The mind has the quality or energy of water, and water is emotion. Emotion is a movement. An earthquake is emotion. A windstorm is emotion. A hurricane is emotion. Everything is emotion: our thoughts, our feelings. Therefore, to control that emotion, you must follow the changes of the lunar constellations. Hence, the accurate Dīpāvalī festival is not counted according to the present Christian calendar dates of December. This year, Diwali was on the 23rd; next year it will be a different date. Why? Because of the moon. According to the moon, all seasons change: the time of rain, the crops, the fruits, the harvesting time—everything is according to the moon. Therefore, my dear ones, Dīpāvalī has different times. One year it can differ by a month because sometimes, within twelve months, there are thirteen full moons. That is called an extra month. Every third or fourth year, there are thirteen months. Besides this, today is the holy day of the divine incarnation of Bhagavān Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇa Mahāprabhujī. You all know around the world who Bhagavān Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇa Mahāprabhujī is—Prabhujī, our grandmaster, who incarnated in Harivasni, Rajasthan. The story is very interesting and peculiar. You know, every month, every week, there are some spiritual events. Similarly, along with Dīpāvalī, there is also Śivarātri, the night of Bhagavān Śiva. Śiva is Swayambhu. On the day of Śivarātri, Divine Mother Candan Devī Jī made a vow, a Saṅkalpa: "I will sit in samādhi, and I will only open my samādhi when Śiva appears." A pure heart, pure thoughts, pure visions, positive ambition—not negative—where there is no selfishness in quality, thoughts, heart, mind, action, or thoughts. Such a mother is known as Divine Mother, and there, that wish comes true. You know, out of 8.4 million different creatures, one is the divine human. But nowadays, humans have lost those human principles. Our visions, desires, wishes, relations, and aims are changing. Our mind, thoughts, and body become like a garbage bin; anyone comes and throws something in. That is a lost soul. What can you expect from that? When the soul comes to the human body, it is pure, very pure. That is why every baby is a very pure baby. Even a baby pig, cat, or rabbit is very innocent and pure. But then, through actions, impressions, and society’s habits that change, one begins to load the heaviness of those karmas, or one begins to maintain the purities of God’s light. To enter into God consciousness is not easy. I may say today, "Okay, I will come to Jordan and stay for two months." Then I come and say, "I don’t like this; there are mosquitoes, it is too hot." Where are your words? Where is your promise? "Mantra, Gurudev, I am here. I promise you, I will follow lifelong." Then month after month, I practice. After three months, nothing. "I got, I don’t know what to do." You know what kind of responsibility you had. You may change your thoughts, but the karma you cannot change is the impression. It is printed on your subconscious, conscious, and goes to the unconscious. That impression will be in front of you all the time. It is like when you have a green star in front of your eyes; it does not matter if your eyes are closed or open. You open your eyes, and wherever you look, that shadow is going. That has to be purified. For that purification, it is very important to have such a mother and father. They can give such an incarnation that the soul, whom we worship as God, is born. There are two kinds of God: one is nirguṇa and one is saguṇa—omnipresent and omniscient, impersonal God and personal God. In the 12th chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā, Arjuna asked Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa which is good to worship, saguṇa or nirguṇa. Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa said to Arjuna, both are good, but as a human in a physical body, your physical eyes and ears need visions and touch. Therefore, Sanatana Dharma has a beautiful tradition called Guru and Disciple. In the universe, there are four or five principles, and everyone has their work and duty. Brahmā is the creator. Viṣṇu is the protector. And Śiva is the liberator. Śiva is the highest principle. Bhagavān Śiva appears twice in completeness. He comes from time to time. He appears as a Jyotirliṅga and gives darśana. Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa also does this. But Śiva manifests. Śivajī is not incarnated; incarnation and manifestation are different. Incarnation is a birth; it has a father and a mother. But Śiva has no father and mother because Śivajī is the light of the entire universe that you cannot measure in little form. He can appear through his divine will or light. But Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa said in the Bhagavad Gītā, "Arjuna, from time to time I manifest myself through my yoga māyā." Śiva is the yogī. Śiva is yoga. Yoga has brought Bhagavān Śiva. So Śiva appears as a light, a beautiful light called the Śiva Jyoti. "Om Dīpa Jyoti Parabrahma." That is Parabrahma, the light. And in that jyoti, Bhagavān Śiva appears or manifests. So, at the beginning of the creation of any planet or this earth, Śiva comes first, as a manifestation. Swayambhū—only Śivajī is Swayambhū. Others are born; we use the good word 'incarnation'. Birth or incarnation is the same thing, but for a holy, divine incarnation, we normally say birth. The second time Śiva comes is when Mahāprabhujī... Between Śiva and Śiva, nothing interferes because it is given to Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śakti. Śakti is dwelling in and governing the entire universe. That Śakti is like space, and that light is like Śiva, the consciousness: Satyam, Śivam, Sundaram. During Mahāpralaya—when no one can control, when everything goes out of control—then Śivajī takes it in his hand. When in society such a great problem comes, everyone is fighting. When nothing can be done, a curfew is imposed. The president’s rules; the army comes; the police can arrest. When things cannot be controlled, when they are out of control, a curfew is imposed. In the same way, when things go wrong, as in this Kali Yuga, finally Śivajī had to open his third eye and look, and this world was finished. "Ye māyā, kadam." Then he knows why and when and how, and why he should not do it, yet he compromises. Still he waits, hoping maybe there is one hope, because again he has to work to create a new system. It is not easy; it is hard work. Building a house and destroying the house is difficult, but just to move into the house and live is easier. So, the principles are Śiva, Viṣṇu, Brahmā, and Śakti. The fourth principle is called Guru. The Guru is given the work, the duty, the principle of the Guru. Guru is known as Nityāvatāra. Nimitāvatāra is Viṣṇu. The Swayambhū Śiva and what we call Nityāvatāra—the time-to-time incarnation called the saint, sādhu, or guru. 'Gu' means darkness, and 'ru' means light. Therefore, it is said that finally, judgment has to decide the quality. It is not easy. Why do they say that Gaṇeśa should be worshipped first and the father should come after? Because they have been taught this for a long, long time. Similarly, Guru Brahmā: Gurudev is Brahmā, which means he creates, inspires, and motivates the disciple. Guru Brahmā, Guru Viṣṇu: Gurudev Viṣṇu brings positive thoughts and viveka, carefulness, which means protection—protecting against negative vṛttis and negative thoughts. But when negative thoughts begin to cultivate in the vṛttis of the disciple, then distraction begins for that disciple, leading to Mahāpralaya. It must not all go at once; this is an individual case, not general. Therefore, as soon as a negative thought appears in you towards your master, your guru, it means you have mixed lemon juice into the milk, and that milk will be spoiled. When the milk is spoiled, you cannot gain any more butter, but you can have cheese or paneer or tofu, as the Germans say. We do not know about butter, but we want to have butter because butter means liberation. Butter means that final state, but you lost the butter, my dear. Through what? Through your doubts, your thoughts, kuśaṅgas, blackmailings, etc. Guru Brahmā, Guru Viṣṇu—protection. Guru Devo Maheśvara: Mahā Īśvara. There is only one God, whom we call Mahādev. It does not mean anything else. Mahādev is Śiva. This is a title when all the gods and devas come together. Some are Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Hanumānjī, these, that, everything. But Mahādev is only Śiva. Guru Deva Maheśvara. Śiva is the creator in reality and the liberator, meaning destroying negative energy thoughts in the disciple. If the disciple becomes humble, realizes the mistakes, and prays for excuse, then that can be removed. Otherwise, "nārek mein chala jāyegā." When the mālā string is broken, all the pearls are lost. Two days were together; now I do not know where they have gone. So it is given in this creation, the principle: "Gurur Brahmā, Gurur Viṣṇu, Gurudev Maheśvara, Gurur Sākṣāt Parabrahm." Take Gurudev as the Supreme Parabrahma. "Tasmai Śrī Guruvāyi Namaḥ." Therefore, Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Maheś... "Tasmai Śrī Guruvāyi Namaḥ"—they also adore the Gurudev. What to do? "Dhyāna mūlama guru-mūrti." Therefore, dhyāna, concentration, realization, meditation, motivations, then following the instructions—what we call the vākya—all take that light in you. It does not matter if this light is from oil, petrol, ghee, electric light, coal light, or gas light. Do not look at what it is from. We are only looking at the light, and that light is the Guru. When a candle is lighted, all others who have candles in their hands can light their candle from that candle. But when that candle has lost confidence in Gurudev, when that candle is blown out by negativity, then you cannot light the candle further. Therefore, "Jyoti se Jyoti." So, what should I meditate on? The embodiment of the Gurudev. "Mantra Mūlaṁ Guru Vākya." The best mantra is to follow the instructions of the Gurudev. That is a mantra. If Gurudev tells you, "Do not go this side, go that side," and you say, "No, I am going to Pali. Why should I go to Zorja? I take my mantra. I repeat mantra, I am going to Pali," your mantra will not be successful. Understand Guru Vākya. Do what Guru says to do. Do not do what Gurudev does. If you imitate Gurudev, then it is dangerous. Gurudev may drink poison; will you drink it? If you drink it, then be careful. What should I receive? The lotus feet. In every religion, every tradition, they have put it on the wrong side. They said on the last day of the dinner, Jesus was washing the feet of his disciples? Change it. It was the disciples who washed the lotus feet of Jesus. The reality is that one, because many things have changed. Jesus was 18 years in India, and it is not in the Bible at all. There are books existing, written, that Jesus was in India. That is why Sanskrit is the final language. The highest, the best language is Sanskrit because you cannot manipulate it, you cannot change it. For example, the Bhagavad Gītā, 12 chapters. Till today, whether this Bhagavad Gītā is 5,000 years old or from the creation of Bhagavān Vyāsa Muni, no scholar, no scientist, no linguist has been able to change half a mātrā. It is such a perfect Sanskrit language, so many thousands of years old, that the Bhagavad Gītā cannot be changed by any scholar or paṇḍit. If someone changes a part of the Bhagavad Gītā, they will immediately say that someone has changed it. Sanskrit comes from there, and if we write another language, we can make a correction; we will write it and tell others what is written in Sanskrit—that is final. If there is a different kind of language and you write an article, you can manipulate it. You can change it, auditing. But there is no way to audit anymore; it is finally audited. That is why the Sanskrit language is known as a divine language. Devanāgarī is the language of the divine, a holy language. In old times, if you spoke Sanskrit, you were the vidvān, sitting here. If you spoke only some common languages, you sat on that side. This is the language of the wise one, the spiritual one. Therefore, many holy books have been manipulated and changed. That is not good. Do not change the holy books. Do not change the words and principles; change the people. Nowadays, people say, "No, well, we have to save our religion, and we should also act according to modern life, allowed this and allowed that." Why? No compromise. Why let them go into naraka? When the apple tree gets so many blossoms, do you think all blossoms will have apples? No. Similarly, so many humans are born. Do you think all will come to liberation? No. There is circulation constantly. Therefore: "Dhyāna-mūlaṁ guru-mūrti, pūjā-mūlaṁ guru-padaṁ, mantra-mūlaṁ guru-vākyaṁ, mokṣa-mūlaṁ guru-kṛpā." When Paramahaṁsa Rāmakṛṣṇa, the guru of Śrī Vivekānanda, was devoted to Kālī, the Divine Mother in Calcutta, he was crying, asking day and night, "Mother, when will you come? I want to see you." It happened that Māṭājī, that Mother, arrived and appeared in front of him because he had such a pure heart and longing. "We will come for some time. Gurujī, please do this for me. Gurujī, please do this for me. Gurujī, please do this for me." First, bow. "Gurujī, please give me strength and devotion. Gurujī, please give me strength and devotion..." Yes, "My mother Kālī came, my son, what can I do for you? What do you wish?" "Mokṣa." Kālī said, "Rāmakṛṣṇa, I can give you everything, but not mokṣa. For mokṣa, you go to your Gurudev, Totāpurī." Swami Vivekānanda is a Purī. Brahma Kṛṣṇa is Purī, and he was a disciple of Totāpurījī. So his liberation took place through Totāpurījī. The same was with Kabīr Dās. There are many, many examples. But a guru should be a guru. Guru. That I am sitting in the same room. Nowadays, how can one become a Guru? Everyone says, "I am the Guru, I am the Guru." Everyone plays their own title. The title Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara is only for a person named Sanyāsī who began in the Govinda Maṭha, in the Hari Adhyam, Manaras. And Chakrācārya, Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara, and the title of our Akhāḍā is only in Akhāḍā. Now go and write it as Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara; it will be discussed. But Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara was for that time when the people and religion were in danger. At that time, we had a Nāga army, Nāga Jamā’at, the laborers of Nāga Jamā’at, and in that, Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara—the one who commands the whole battalion is Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara. Anyhow, let us go further. "Dhyāna Mūlaṁ Guru Mūrti, Pūjā Mūlaṁ Guru Pādaṁ, Mantra Mūlaṁ Guru Vākya, Mokṣa Mūlaṁ Guru Kṛpā." That light of that Gurudev comes through that tradition or paramparā. They are chosen, they are sent, or they are coming by their own wish. They become one with the Brahman, but that Brahman manifests in them. And so that was our Bhagavān Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇa Mahāprabhujī. That is why we call Bhagavān, Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇa Viṣṇu, Mahāprabhujī. Mahā—the great Prabhu who incarnates on this earth to protect and liberate the bhaktas. Mahāprabhujī knew everything. Gurujī was sitting in Ahmedabad, and Mahāprabhujī was in the Khatu or in Balaguda Ashram. Mahāprabhujī sent a message to Holy Gurujī about each and every minute of the disciples, what is happening. But Gurudev will not tell you. When He opens that time, you will be uncomfortable. Therefore, Gurujī said, "Palpal, let’s sambhal. Mahāprabhujī every second takes care of me." Similarly, when I went to the western world, only one thing I was sure of: that Devapurījī or Mahāprabhujī or Holy Gurujī would take care of me, that is all. Whatever would happen, they would take care. These stories will come afterwards, sometimes. So, my dear, there is a Swayambhū manifestation, then incarnations. In these incarnations, there are two: Nitya incarnation and Nimit incarnation. Nimit—when everything goes very wrong, then the choice of Tārā, 24 incarnations, had come to solve the problems. When even that cannot solve it, then there is Mahāpralaya. Otherwise, the saint is here to protect each and every creature and liberate the human. My dear ones around the world, I wish you all the best and the divine blessing of Śrī Alak Puri Ji Siddha Pītā Paramparā, the mercy and blessing of Bhagavān Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇa Mahāprabhujī. To know more, read the holy book, Līlāmṛta. I wish you all the best and the divine blessing of Mahāprabhujī. Śānti, Śānti.

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:

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