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Oṁ Aśva Savitur Vareṇyaṁ Bhargo Devasya Dhīmahi Dhiyo Yonah Prachodayāt. Oṁ Tryambakaṁ Yajāmahe Sugandhiṁ Puṣṭi Vardhanam. Urvārukam Iva Bandhanān Mṛtyor Mukṣīya Mā’mṛtāt. Oṁ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ. Śrī Deep Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān Kī Jai. Śrī Śrī Deveśvara Mahādeva Kī Jai. Satguru Svāmī Mādhvānandjī Bhagavān Kī Jai. Satya Sanātana Dharma Kī Jai. Victory of the truth, victory of the wisdom—that means the master, and achievement of the higher consciousness, the glory. So glory to our spiritual lineage, Bhagavān Śrī Narendra Mahāprabhujī, Devapurījī, and Gurujī. Dear sisters and brothers, here in this ashram as well as in other parts of the world—thank you. There is a beautiful bhajan: "There is no fear, but the biggest fear you have is death." And death—sometimes people are not afraid of it, but of how it will be, how much one has to suffer. That is the fear. Liberation from birth and death is the aim of human life, the means to achieve immortality. Our ātmā within our self is immortal, but still we live in the body, and the body is mortal. Pain, pleasure, happiness—all are filling the body. After the soul goes out of the body, we will have the same feeling of happiness, unhappiness, pain, or pleasure that is in the astral body. No one sees us, no one can talk to us, no one can hear what we say. We are completely detached from this material world. All our dear ones sitting beside us when we pass away—they are sitting at home, but they cannot communicate with us. There is no telephone, no telegram, no communication. One thing is there: the attachment to this material world is somehow finished. Attachment towards house, properties, pets, friends, families. It takes some days to get separated from this attachment. Generally, we call it twelve days. It takes time to do all the rituals or ceremonies, fifteen or sixteen days, according to the moon's composition. But we see our mistakes more clearly, and we are afraid of those mistakes. Fear means ignorance. Where there is ignorance, there is fear. Where there is ignorance, there are mistakes. Where there is ignorance, there is no success. So, negative thinking is the cause of fear. Do not use any negative words. If we have some aim, a positive aim, then we should believe and we should not have doubts. As soon as doubts come, our own strength begins to become weaker. For achievement, we need certainty and sureness. If we think, "Will I reach or not?" that is uncertain. Then do not take steps. When we go to the driving school, our driving master, our driving guru, will say, "When you overtake a car, and you see the opposite cars are coming also, but you have a very slight doubt—probably you will not manage to overtake. Do not do it. Better wait." When you are uncertain, it will happen accidentally. But if you are sure of the distance and everything, you know, you will overtake. So first we should know our ability, capacity, and in this we should have a tolerance space, so that the tolerance space gives us certainty and sureness. Fear is when we are not sure, and when we are not sure, then we are in ignorance. It means we are in ignorance. So the Jīvātmā, this inner self, is praying to the Master: "Master, take me to that place where there is immortality. It doesn’t matter what the world thinks about me, I do not care about that. But I want to come to that immortal world where there is no death and no birth. There is no color and no light, but it is indescribable beauty. It is beautiful." A nice bhajan written by Mahāprabhujī: Adharkī viragan bes. So bhajans are the songs, spiritual songs. Bhajan, bhaja—bhaja means to pray, meditate, repeat, sing. Spiritual songs are a sādhanā, a practice that also belongs to yoga. These bhajans, which are written in particular rāgas according to cultural traditions, languages, or what we call folk songs, are for those people who are from that area; they will understand nicely. Bhajan gives us guidance, bhajans give us knowledge to wake up, and bhajans liberate us. It has meaning, it has teachings, it has devotion, and it has guidance, and it has practice. So, in every bhajan, when we sing, in every line there is a question, an answer, or there is something described—some beauty or divine—and an explanation of how to achieve it. This is the bhajans. We have all these books full of bhajans written by our three masters. Great, great. When I translate one bhajan, there is a lot, a lot inside. So, those bhajans remove our fear. They make certainty that yes, I will achieve the ultimate goal. This is my last birth in this world. And I would like to practice that spiritual knowledge, so that not only do I myself become liberated, but I would like to lead the path of liberation for all. A self-realized master can liberate animals also, not only humans. How? As a blessing. Blessing is for all, equal. Blessing does not say, "No, I will give blessing only to humans, not to animals." No. Then your power of the blessing is finished. It is only empty words and only moving hands up and down. That is all. Blessing is for the trees also. In the Upaniṣads it is written, and there are coming mantras from the Vedas: peace mantras. Peace on earth, peace in the water, peace in the soil, peace on the herbs, and peace in the universe, and peace in the supreme. And the same peace in me, O Lord, bless me. We bless the corn when we are harvesting. The farmers, they bless; they get the priest, a master, a paṇḍit to bless. And the devatā, these grains, whatever it is—rice or wheat or barley or corn, etc.—is our nourishment. In the corn seed, there is a jīvātmā. In every grain, there is a living life. Like in our body, we have a soul. Similarly, in those seeds of any vegetation, any trees or any, there is life. And that life will continue. It will sprout, it will grow, and it will produce many seeds, just as we do. We are also multiplying our families, generation to generation. Therefore, God said, "Respect all nicely and feel others’ comfort or discomfort." And therefore, I would request someone now to bring one chair, as sister is sitting and she has knee problems. Thank you. So it is the feelings towards all. So, who are we to destroy any life? Therefore, it is said, the grains, the food, is God, Divine Mother Annapūrṇā. When you go to Nepal, between Nepal and India and the Himalayas, there is a beautiful, big mountain called Annapurna Mountain. Beside that is Mount Everest, the highest peak. On the other side is Mount Kailash. So, Kailash, Annapurna, the Nīlakaṇṭha—all Himalayan hills, the peaks of the Himalaya, have holy names, very holy. That is because the Himalayas are holy mountains, and all incarnations, the twenty-four incarnations, they all incarnated in the Himalayas, or the valleys or foothills of the Himalayas. That mountain, the Himalayan range, is where the great, great saints are still, for thousands of years. When Westerners went to the Himalayas, their hobby was to take photos of the Himalayan hills, the glaciers, the snow, the hills, the rivers, fountains, springs, wells, and waterfalls. So he climbed up—a lot of snow, completely white, and glaciers. He took the photos. Then he went home, and then he developed the negative into the positive. Now he is immediately here. Negative and positive are all in one. To his surprise, he sees one human. A yogī sitting exactly in this posture, and you can see each and every bone, all his skin and veins, nerves, and his hair, completely sitting in lotus in meditation. He is surprised. He never saw this person. He was always taking photos with his camera. Then he asked some people. He went there, back. Because first he saw after which photo this photo came. So he followed everything, and then he went to the Himalayas and asked the people. People said, "We never saw this." So he went to the old monastery of the Śaṅkarācāryas and old, old ashrams where the yogīs are living in the caves. They have no fear. They have no fear. They are not even afraid or worried about eating. They said, "Who gave the peak will give the food. When God gave me life, He will give the food. And if not, then Divine Mother will give me the energy, the nourishment." Then they found that place is a holy place of one great saint. And then they told the story of that saint. That was in Satyuga, which was millions of years ago. In Satyuga, there was one ṛṣi. He was very good in astrology. In his kismet, destiny, there was no child. But he wanted to have a child. He was an old ṛṣi, several hundred years old, but he is praying to God, Shiva: "Please, Shiva, give me one son, give me one child, give me one child." So he got the child. And he was so happy. That old man was so happy. Now, he said, "Now I have a staircase to heaven, or to svargaloka." Unless we have any children, your way is blocked. You will be in the astral world only. As ancestors, they are hanging here and there. If we have not done proper funeral and proper ceremonies, they are not liberated, then it will create a problem in the house, in the family life, within marriage life, with the children, or with the work, money—many, many troubles, and you cannot understand why. But these are the disturbances from those ancestors who did not get their rites of certain pūjā, and they are hanging here and there. So, that one has to do for your parents. If you have no children, then you should ask someone to do the ceremony when you die. You can pay money before, but it should be done. So he was very happy. And then he went home, and the great saint Nārada came and said, "Now you are happy, you got a son." And he said, "Yes, in astrology there was not written at all any child, but one ṛṣi came and blessed me, and I got a child." Like Devpurījī, our great master—there was one couple, one family. They have no children near Kailash Ashram, not even one kilometer far. Villages nearby, and Devapurījī went there for food morning, seven o’clock. The house lady was just preparing the food, and Devapurījī said—and they were asking these. People go to many astrologers and many doctors, Ayurveda doctors. They said, "No, in your kismet, neither through your destiny nor from the viewpoint of the medicine, can you get children." Devapurījī went there, and he was asking for the food. He said, "One chapati, one son; two chapati, two sons; three chapati, three sons." And that lady who was making chapatis, she took four and she ran and gave Devpurījī. Devapurījī said, "Oh, now you will have four sons." And three of them are still living. When I go to Jaipur, they come to see me. We make praṇām. They are very devoted. And always they tell their stories about Devapurījī, how great he was and how he could do anything. All our wishes he could fulfill. That was the master. We are the disciple also. Sometimes, even we are not disciples. If you go to the Kailash ashram in Rajasthan, Devapurījī’s ashram, you should go there, and what people will tell you, you will think it is only a fairy tale. But it was true. He gave life to many dead people. So now one is still living, and others have passed away. So Devapurījī, similarly, he got—that ṛṣi got one son. And Nārada was happy, because the Ṛṣi Nārada, he always—he could go anywhere in the universe. Only Nārada had this blessing of Brahmā. And that ṛṣi was asking Nārada, "Can you ask God Viṣṇu if I will get children or not?" And Viṣṇu said to Nārada, "No way. In his destiny, there is no child at all." But someone, some ṛṣi came, some master guru came and said, "I bless you with..." one son, and the son was born. So the ṛṣi was very happy, very happy. And then, after one month or two months, he looked in his astrological calendar and he begins to cry. And he was so sad: the son has only seven years of life, then he will die. This is a big and holy book written in the Purāṇas, and then Nārada came to congratulate him for a son. The ṛṣi said, "I am so sad. Better would be that God does not give me the child. And now He gave me only seven years of life. Can you ask Vishnu, please, God Vishnu, if he can prolong his life a little bit?" So Vishnu said, "No. That is given time, and that is all." So he told Viṣṇu, "Nārada, Nārada, please, can you ask Viṣṇu? Then better now, he should die now." Vishnu said, "No way. It is fixed by Dharmarāja, and only seven years." Neither minus, plus, no. Then came again one saint and said, "What?" That saint said, "I will bless your son, and you should do what I tell you to do. Your son will not die." Now the ṛṣi was so happy. "Please tell me," he said. "Teach your son one technique. Anyone comes, young or old, he should go and touch their feet." So in our culture, when someone goes down to you humbly, then they will say, "Bless you, bless you." And blessing is not... they do not say just "bless you"—something you have to tell, and... That generally we say, "Long live, live long, long life." So this child was all touching feet, and everyone said, "Live long, live long, long life. Bless you for a long life." And seven years of life is only, so for six years and eleven months he should get blessings from all. And in the twelfth month, he should go to the Śiva temple and hold the Śivaliṅga like this. And pray all the time, "Namaḥ Śiva, Namaḥ Śiva." Do not leave the Śiva Mandir temple. Seven years completed. Yamarāja, the god of death, said to his messengers, or the soldiers, "Go and bring that young child immediately. Within one hour, he must be here." And the father is sitting and crying in his hut, and he sees how many minutes, seconds, his life is. But the Yama—Yama means the god of death. When one dies, they come and take him. And good karma, spiritual karma, then what we call the spiritual divine creatures come, angels. Now the yama came, but no yamas can enter in Shiva’s temple. No ghost can enter a Shiva temple. No negative energy can enter a Shiva temple. Now you have here the temple, so you should go and sit there. So the boy was holding, "Namaśivāya, Namaśivāya," and the messenger said, "Come, come here, come." He looks there, and he looks to the other side. They go to the other side and say, "Come, come quickly." He does not come. And Yama, the king of death. There is Yama, Yamarāja and Dharmarāja. There are two. Dharmarāja is the god of justice and especially for the truth, for the spiritual. Yamarāja is for them, for the sinners. They will be tortured. They did not come, and King Yamarāja was angry. "Bring quickly." Time is passing. They said he does not come out. So Yamarāja, he himself went right. Yama is riding on the water buffalo, and he came like a king of the day, decorated his buffaloes, and said, "Hey child, come out." And this child said, "No, I will not come." And he said, "I will..." kill you, catch you, and he throws the rope to catch him, and comes Śiva between him. Śiva said, "Yamarāja, he is my bhakta. Do not take him." So he said, "What should I do?" Yama said, "Say to him, ’Cirañjīvo, live, live life long, long.’" He did not give the limitation—100 years, 200 years, 1000 years—he said, "Long live." Now he is long living. He became a great saint, and still he is sitting in the Himālaya, in that area where the glaciers and the snow are. So that was the picture that came from one very good photographer, maybe from Germany or Britain or someone. This photo is very, very famous. A few years ago, the Vice President of India invited me for lunch, so I was there. And then I saw in his sitting room, and there was a picture. I said, "From whom is this picture?" Then he told me the story. So his name is Mārtaṇḍa Ṛṣi. Mārtaṇḍa Ṛṣi—the name of that boy was. Who has victory over death? And no more fear. Still, he is in meditation in the same mudrā. The body grows, his hair and everything is there. I will send you one picture. I have one picture, so I will get it for you via SMS tomorrow. So you can develop it. Yes, it is a true story. It comes in the holy book and in Purāṇas about Mārtaṇḍa Ṛṣi. So, blessing, blessing has a power. And our destiny is written on the forehead here. So when somebody gives this tilak, makes like this, it is a blessing so that negative energy goes away and positive energy develops. So everywhere there is life. So in every corn, every grain, every seed, there is life, the soul. Annapūrṇī, Sadāpūrṇī. So the God of the nourishment is the Divine Mother Annapūrṇā. Where also God Śiva goes for the food, for bhikṣā, to Annapūrṇā Mother. So there have been great, great saints ages before. Who are we to compare with them? But if we think of them and follow their teachings, our fear will disappear and inner certainty will come. Therefore, our Gurujī, our holy Gurujī—you see the picture, right side or left side first—smiling, nicely giving blessing. So Gurujī said: Nirvaira ho, niśaṅkabhī mat dharanā. Tum nirvaira, niśaṅkabhī nahīṁ dharanā. Terī Satguru rakhe lājā, Cintāmata karanā, Cintāmata nirvaira ho, niśaṅkabhī mat dharanā. O my dear, Gurudev will protect you. You should not worry, but you should have that trust, that belief. Never be afraid. Never have fear, and be like a hero. No doubts. If you have a doubt, then your energy will go down. A strong bodybuilder, a very strong man, and he is not afraid of anything. Now, he was going walking at night, and suddenly he came across a graveyard, and he said, "It does not..." matter graveyard is graveyard, so he was walking through, and suddenly, one—what we call, what they call, not a guy’s owl, an owl—an owl from the tree suddenly flew, and that man who was strong, still he was thinking in the graveyard, and when, when... He was frightened, and all the hair was standing, and he did not see anything. He goes to the middle, and another one is flying, and he cannot see again. His power went down till he came back to the door. His thighs were trembling. "There must be a ghost." So when a little fear appears in us, then we are lost. Our game, so one should not get the fear and thinking of uncertainty. Always be sure and certain. That is a training which is getting—if the champion of the football, that are skiing, and they are vegetarian. All the skiing, and this they have such a concentration and. One thing is taught: never think that you will not do. You can, and you will, and you have abilities. You have the strength, so God is there. We are not afraid. We should not be afraid. Niśaṅk, without doubt. If you have doubt, then you are out from the game. That is it. So that fear is the most terrible thing. Out of the fear, one becomes angry. Out of the fear, one begins to scream, and what not? And fear comes from the doubt. So Ādiguru Śaṅkarācārya said, "When you walk on the road, and far you see some wood lying there, and you say, ’Oh, there is a snake,’ or some rubber, you hold back. Then you see properly, ’Oh, there is only wood.’" So, you laugh, "Oh God, how stupid I am." So, from where did the snake come? From ignorance. And where did the snake disappear? Through the knowledge, and when the knowledge came, the fear disappears. So ignorance is the cause of all our weakness, our fear, uncertainty, etc., etc. So in yoga, we practice, and these bhajans we are learning. So always be sure that God is with us and we are with God. And what we do, we will achieve. And what we want to achieve is positive and good. So, I wish you all the best and many blessings.