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We are here together. This is called a melā—a Kumbha Melā or another kind of melā. Melā means coming together, a gathering. Melā means milnā, to meet each other. That is a melā. There is a story of one master who had a very nice disciple serving him all the time. One day, the disciple asked the master, "I would like to go to a melā," a local folk event. The master said, "What will you do there? It is not something very special." The disciple replied, "No, Master, I am always in the āśram. I would like to go and see the mela. There will be many people. I would like to see many humans." The master said, "Okay, tomorrow you can go. Come back quickly." The master gave him something to eat and also gave him one feather of a peacock. The disciple asked, "Master, what should I do with this peacock feather?" The master instructed, "When you reach the melā field, the area, go and sit where some humans are." The disciple said, "Master, I am going to the human melā, not an animal melā." The master replied, "I know that. But you will feel comfortable if you see some humans. Go." The disciple came near the melā. He then looked through the peacock feather. What did he see? Before, he saw people. But when he began to see through the peacock feather, he saw that all were animals—foxes, deer, scorpions, snakes, and many other wild animals, with half the body of a human and the head of an animal. The disciple was frightened. He took the feather away, and he saw only humans again. Then again, he looked through it, moving it like a camera. He saw under a beautiful tree about twenty people sitting. He took the feather away, and there were many people. So again, he looked through the feather, and in some other corner, he saw a few people. He decided to go and sit there, where he saw humans in these two places. He walked through the melā, through the crowd. Nobody said anything to him. No one said, "Hello, how are you? Good day." All were pushing, trying to go. When he came near where he had seen humans, they greeted him. They said, "Oh, my dear friend, how are you? You are serving the Master. Please come sit with us. Have some drink, have something to eat." They gave him such a beautiful, welcoming friendship. He sat there. Again, he tried to look through the feather. He saw many, many animals fighting, and where he was sitting, he saw a few people there. He came home, back to the āśram, and the master asked, "Now, my dear, how was the melā?" He had no answer. Gurujī said, "Did you eat something?" He replied, "Gurudev, it was an animal melā. The form was human, but the qualities, the habits, were like animals. In a few places, I saw some humans. They all had beautiful feelings. They welcomed me. All had some mālā, some holy sign, and we were talking all the time about God. Others were talking about business, money, days, and many other things." So it is said, in the world there are many humans, but few are they who have human quality. What makes us human? What makes us human is our inner positive quality. We spoke this morning about these qualities. There is a spiritual development. Many cannot see it. Even God is there, but you don’t see. One day, the great saint Tulsīdāsjī said he knew that God, Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa, were coming to the Melā every day, but he couldn’t see them. Tulsīdāsjī was a great, great devotee, though Bhagavān Rāma had passed away long ago. He was searching for Rāma. Tulsīdāsjī was searching for some people who could tell him the address of Rāma, how Rāma looks, who could lead him to Bhagavān Rāma. Some bhakta said, "There is only one person who is very close to Bhagavān Rām, and no day goes by without seeing him." This means God Rām sees him, and he also meets God Rāma. "Tulsīdāsī, go and search for that person who can answer and fulfill your wish." Who is that? Hanumanjī. Hanumanjī can tell us where you can find Bhagavān Rām. Bhagavān Rāma led a very simple life. It is he who followed the words, the promise. They say also in Europe, even if it costs your life, do not break your promise. When you got married, very happily, you promised her or him, "I will be with you in every aspect, in sorrows or happiness. What I have belongs to you, and what you have belongs to me. I give my word." First, they ask her if she accepts, and she said, "Yes." Then they asked the man. He looks down because he has a big company and a lot of money, and he said, "Yes." Now this "yes" is mostly spoken in front of a holy altar, a holy place, a holy fire. Nowadays, in the modern system, you have to go to the council. There was no marriage certificate. Their marriage certificate was that with those relatives and people you promised; that was the certificate. Paper can be destroyed, but love cannot be destroyed. That is a promise. Those who are getting divorced day by day did not understand what love is. If we understand what love is, then in your voice and others’ voice, you see God’s light. And that’s why it is said, God is love and love is God. So it doesn’t matter what happens, you will keep your words. Therein lies your success. So Bhagavān Rāma had no easy life. There were days when Bhagavān Rām cried. He was weeping for the sake of others’ pain. That’s why he is known as Maryādā Puruṣottam. Following that human discipline, a human life, he is a Maryadā Puruṣottam. The highest in the human form was Bhagavān God Rāma. He had to renounce his kingdom. His father, the king, announced that tomorrow Bhagavān Rāma would get the ceremony that he is getting as a successor, my successor as a king. Bhagavān Rāma had two stepmothers. King Daśaratha married because they did not get a child, but through the yajña. That yuga was for yagya. That time was called Rāmrājya, the kingdom of Rāma, Satyayuga. Then Dvāparayuga, and now Tretā Yuga, and now Kaliyuga. So, one yuga was for yajña. Tretā Yuga was the Satya, the truth, the study, wisdom, jñāna yoga. Kali Yuga is the yoga of devotion. Tulsīdāsjī, writing in the Rāmāyaṇa, says that in Kaliyuga, you can only cross the ocean of ignorance through your practice of your mantra. Well, I’m not going to tell you the whole Rāmāyaṇa. It takes one month, two months. If I hurry to tell you everything... Kṛṣṇa also had a very hard life. Likewise, every incarnation had a very hard life. The incarnation of the holy saints. Jesus didn’t have an easy life. We know very well. So those who are holy saints came on this earth, and people did not understand them. They tried to humiliate them, give them troubles, and even kill them. Because there are two kinds of energies: āsurī-śakti and daivī-śakti. Āsurī-śakti is called negative energy or satanic energy, and Devī Śakti is divine Śakti, the holy Śakti. In Kali Yuga, āsurī śakti is dominating, and it is the yuga of the asuras. Therefore, even religion has turned towards business and fighting. Bhagavān Rāma did not fight for the kingdom, nor did Bhagavān Rāma fight for money. They were happy to get renunciation. Āsurī Śakti is called animal culture, and Devī Śakti is called divine culture, the holy culture. This is the difference. It’s like what I told you in a story before. On the surface, we see all as human. But in whose mind and feelings, what kind of energy is there, that we don’t know. So it’s hard to know who is an Asura and who is a Deva. Asuras never come to satsaṅg. If they come, they come to destroy and disturb others. Immediately one can feel. And Devas come to satsaṅg; you feel a pleasant, holy atmosphere. In Kali Yuga, there are fewer holy people, that’s why there are fewer satsaṅgs. Satsaṅg, you see, is very much in India. Very much. Recently I was in Punjab, about ten days ago. Early morning in every house there is a satsaṅg, every house, every ashram. So, Haridwār, Ilāhābād, Ṛṣikeś, everywhere. But there are also many asuras. They don’t go to the satsaṅg. Kali Yuga is dominating. Bhagavān Rām removed the āsurī śaktis and created Devī śaktis. But Āsurī Śakti is not so easy to destroy. Until the last minute, they will try to destroy you. Well, that’s why Bhagavān Rām, whatever he said, promised, he fulfilled it. He was the perfect son, perfect brother, perfect friend, perfect husband, perfect student. Whatever he did, he did perfectly. That’s why he is known as Maryādā Puruṣottama. And the father of Sītā, the wife of Bhagavān Rāma—she was born in a place we call Nepal—her father was a Jīvanmukta, the king, the father of Sītā. Tulsīdāsī went to the place where Hanumānjī is. It is not easy to find Hanumanjī. He is jumping here and there. So someone said, when you see Hanumanjī sitting very peacefully—otherwise monkeys are restless—and where you see Hanumanjī sitting peacefully, it must be that God Rāma is coming. So you must look around to see if you can realize. So Tulsīdāsjī searched for Hanumānjī, and he met Hanumānjī. Tulsīdāsjī said, "My friend, my brother Hanumānjī, I have one request. Can you show me Bhagavān Rām, just a glimpse? My life will be successful just to see him for one second, and all the sin of my life is gone." That’s called darśan. It’s not easy to get God. There was a story of God Rāma. One bhakta was asking him, "Please come, please come." And so Bhagavān came. Now he is looking at Bhagavān. Bhagavān asks him, "Do you wish something? Why did you call me?" "To see you." "Now you saw me. Bless you." He said, "No, I’m going." The bhakta said, "No. Let me see you." God said, "But you have seen me already." He said, "Not enough. You promised me that you would come and I would see you. So let me see." After five minutes, God said, "OK, I go." He said, "No." Now you know how the devotee can catch God. That’s why God doesn’t come so easily. We humans are very greedy: one minute, two minutes, three minutes, five minutes. God said, "Let me go, otherwise it will be everywhere. The whole world will be in darkness. I have to be in many, many places. So, can I go?" Can you understand the situation of God? Yes, your train is going away, and someone keeps on holding you here. So, it was the bhakta who was saying, "Please, God, come. Please, God, come." It was the love. And now God says to the bhakta, "Please let me go, please let me go." So Mahāprabhujī said, "If you are mine, then I am yours. If I want to sell you, you should be sold. Then you can sell me, so be mine." So the Bhakta said, "Be mine." Bhagavān Rāma said, "Bhakta, please let me go. I promise that I will come, and I came." The Bhakta said, "In your promise, it’s only coming, not going." So in the protocol, there is nothing written about going. "And let me see you. I didn’t see you enough." Bhagavad Rām said, "Ask me anything, I will fulfill it, but let me go." So the Bhakta said, "In the next life, you become my son, so I will have you in my hands, in my lap, and I will all the time look at you. Promise me." Bhagavān Rāma said, "It shall be." And Bhagavān disappeared. So that bhakta became the king Daśaratha, and his son was Rāma. That is God’s or Master’s promise, which is called eternal truth. So, Hanumānjī is sitting there. Tulasīdāsjī is coming. And Tulsīdāsjī asked Hanumānjī, "Brother, can you show me Rāma?" Hanumanjī said, "I cannot show you directly, but I can show you indirectly." Tulsīdāsjī said, "It doesn’t matter, directly or indirectly. Please, please let me see the Lord." Hanumanjī said that around nine o’clock in the morning, between eight and nine, Bhagavān Rām and Lakṣmaṇ come to have a bath in this holy river at the Chitra Kūṭa, and just on this place, Rāma is coming every day. "I will disappear," Hanumanjī said. "I will sit at a distance." So Tulsīdāsjī said, "Now I am happy." Hanumanjī said, "Hey brother, Tulsīdāsjī, you know what God Rāma likes? After bathing, the sandalwood paste on his forehead, to make tilak. Tilak means three lokas, the three eyes, the third eye, fortune, blessings. So you may prepare the sandal paste. And after Bhagavān Rāma comes, you can make a tilak. Rāma will not go away until you give tilak. And you do slowly and make the tilak, and Rāma will hold like this. You can see him very close, just half a meter." Tulsīdāsjī said, "Thank you, my brother Hanumānjī." Tulsīdāsjī came with a log of sandalwood, and on the stone he was rubbing the sandalwood to make the paste. And Tulsīdāsī was happy singing God’s name: "Śrī Rām, Jaya Rām, Jaya Jaya Rām. Śrī Rām, Jaya Rām, Jaya Jaya Rām. Śrī Rām Jaya Rām Jaya Śrī Rām Jaya Rām Jaya Jaya." Bhagavān Rām is coming, and Lakṣmaṇ, and taking bath in the river Sarayū. And they dress again, and both brothers are looking if there is somewhere a sandal paste. And Lakshman said, "There is one bhakta who is making paste." So God Rāma went there and was looking, standing. Tulsīdāsī didn’t pay attention. "Śrī Rām, Jai Rām, Jai Jai Rām." So God waited a few minutes, then God himself took the pestle and put the tilak on himself. Hanumanjī said, "Unlucky Tulsīdās, look up, look up," but of course Hanumanjī doesn’t dare to go and say to Tulsīdās, "This is Bhagavān Rām." So Hanumānjī was shouting: "Chitrakūṭ ke ghāṭ par, Baisantan kī bheed, tulsī dāsa chandana gase, Tilak kare Raghuvīra Śrī Avala Rāmacandra kī. Chitrakūṭ ke ghāṭ par, baisantan kī bheed, tulsī dāsa chandana gase, Tilak kare Raghuvīra." Hanumanjī said, "Look up, look up." Again and again, Hanumanjī is singing: "On the beach of the river in Chitrakoot, by Santanki Beach, so many sādhus are there. Tulsīdās Chandan Gāzī. Okay, Tulsīdāsjī is making chandananöchöt késit. Tilak kare Raghubī, and Bhagavān is making tilak. Oh, Tulsīdāsjī, look up, come up." Bhagavān Rāma walked away, and Hanumānjī came and said, "Oh, you, my God, my brother, I was shouting and shouting, you didn’t look to me. If you would have looked to me, I would say, this, this, this is Bhagavān. But, my brother, at least God took the pestle from you. He knew that you are the bhakta. He waited a few minutes, but you didn’t look up, but he blessed you." Similarly, we don’t know when the Lord is standing in front of us, when in our life something will change. So, friends should be like Hanumānjī, and God should be like Rāma. He was waiting barefoot on the beach, where the stones were very hot, and Bhagavān Rāma’s toes kept going up and down because it was too hot, but he was waiting for the bhaktas, as promised. Therefore, at the last minutes of Rāma’s life, it became a very critical situation where he could not decide what to do. And so he went to his master. Bhagavān Rāma goes to his Gurujī. Who could be greater than God, Rāma and Kṛṣṇa? They are the Lord of the three worlds. Even they are the Lord of all three worlds, they obey the Satguru Dev. So Bhagavān Rāma goes and asks Guru Vasiṣṭhamuni, "Gurudev, my whole life my brother Lakṣmaṇa was loving me. Lakshman renounced his sleep. For 14 years, Lakshman did not sleep. All the time he was with me in the forest, many, many things. But today, what happened? That I had to give the death sentence to Lakṣmaṇa. Gurudev, why does this happen? All this that has happened?" Then the master said, "Bhavipravila, the destiny, the karma is mighty. Even Brahma, Viṣṇu, and Śiva, no one can deny the karma. No one can cross the karma. Viṣṇu also has to respect the karma. Time doesn’t wait for anyone, and karma doesn’t excuse anyone. That destiny will come." Vasiṣṭa Muni said, "A whole life you led a very hard life, and you kept your words, and in the last minutes now, because of love for your brother, you deny your promise, Rāma. You will lose everything." Tulsīdājī and Guru Vasiṣṭa Muni said about the word, "The culture of the dynasty of the Raghu, the principle, the law was this: even if they have to give their life, prāṇa goes, but they will not give up their promise." Raghu Kula. Raghu is the dynasty of the king Daśaratha or God Rāma. Here we meet again our relation to our ancestors. That we have a duty towards our ancestors, to free them from the Pitraloka. As long as you will not do that kind of ceremony and free them from Pitraloka, your ancestors, you will not be free, and it will disturb many things in your life: maybe business, marriage, family life, health—many things. So it doesn’t matter who you are, you are still a child of your parents. And you have the dharma towards your parents, and parents have dharma towards the children. So our dharma goes far into the past and into the future, so it’s very important that we keep our dynasty. But we say Alakpurījī Siddhāpīṭ Paramparā. Our spiritual dynasty is coming from Alakpurījī from Satya Yuga, on whose name is the holy river Alaknanda. So many, many saints were there, we don’t know. But we found a little stream, a little thread from Alakpurījī to us. This is our spiritual lineage. But you also have the energy of your parents’ blood relations. You can avoid everything. You can excuse everything. But you cannot deny or excuse your blood relation to your ancestors. So Guru Kṛpā, he gave a lot. Either through the Guru’s grace, you can overcome, or you make the pūjā, ceremony, yajña, as well as Guru Kṛpā. Then our life will be successful. Otherwise, you are again also hanging there. So, you know the bat, man? The bat is hanging head down and legs hooked in the trees. Look carefully. One of them must be your ancestor, or you will be there. Yes, and when you look at the bat, and especially he looks at you, there must be some relation. You make praṇām: "My great-great-grandfather. I promise I will lead the ceremonies to free you from these family attachments. I am your blood, and I will pay back." That’s it. So we have our destiny. The human life is not just like eat, drink, and sleep. Eating, drinking, and creating children—animals are also very expert. For what God gave us the human life, therefore, we said, think over. We will do. We will have some very expert ones. We will bring someone who will really do some good ceremonies. There are many astrologers and pundits coming, but more often, their aim is commercial. The interest is not there if your interest is hanging or not. You can’t see, so for us, we only have to believe, that’s all. Otherwise, it’s difficult. So there’s one little story about a pair of swans and a lawyer tomorrow.