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You are the luckiest ones, for you have not yet attained Self-Realization. After Realization, life is completely different. As Śaṅkarācārya wrote, upon realization, one must renounce many, many things. In my opinion, Self-Realization should come in the final moments of one's lifetime. We are composed of the pañca tattva, the five elements, the five jñāna-indriyas (senses of perception), and the five karma-indriyas (senses of action). All that we have in our life, body, mind, imagination, and feelings is part of this. We spoke of karma yesterday. Many understand it, many do not wish to understand it. It does not matter. Whether you understand it or not, it is. It is not within your power to avoid or delete it. There is a story of a great king who became a sādhu or sannyāsī. Why did he renounce? The story is long and somewhat frightening, so I turned the pages. But I will tell you later. When one becomes a sannyāsī, one must have vairāgya (dispassion). You should not have any ambition to become a sannyāsī, for if you want to become one, there is no true expectation, not even for mokṣa. It is a state beyond death and life, a very peculiar state of mind. It takes time, and you must have perfect vairāgya to endure all situations: no anger, no hate, no jealousy, no greed. This can happen. Yet, after a while, one's vairāgya can diminish, and this happens to many. Therefore, there is a bhajan from Mahāprabhujī: "Vairāgya nai ho vairé, bīnā satsaṅg vairāgya nai ho vairé." Without satsaṅg (holy company), there is no vairāgya. You cannot attain vairāgya without satsaṅg. Satsaṅg is a part of yoga, and it is one of the best, the highest yoga—the very essence and purpose of yoga. Creating realization through that yoga is called satsaṅg. It is following the path of truth: Brahma-satyaṁ, jagat-mithyā. This world is not everlasting; it is an illusion. Only Brahman is truth (brahma-satya). This world is only gasbap (gossip), quarreling, and torture. The jīva-ātmā in this body is still suffering. But when this jīvātmā comes into the Brahmaloka, there will be no more torture. To have vairāgya, you must renounce and go somewhere where you have no connection to anyone. That is why it is said one goes to the ṛṣi, a hermitage in the forest—a place hardly anyone can approach—or to mountains and caves. We are enjoying this worldly life, which means we have no vairāgya, as Śaṅkarācārya said. There are different kinds of vairāgya. One is called śmaśāna vairāgya, graveyard dispassion. What does it mean? When your dear one dies—a friend, neighbor, colleague, family member, father, grandfather, wife, husband, child, or even your horse, cow, or cat (though you do not carry your mosquito to the graveyard)—we humans perform ceremonies. In every tradition, belief, religion, and country, we conduct funerals. According to Hindu Dharma, you should perform the funeral as soon as possible, on the same day, but not after sunset. If done the next day, it is acceptable; otherwise, it is a sin. It is said that if delayed, ancestors or ghosts may enter the body, which then goes to the grave or crematorium. Therefore, do not keep the dead body for long. Similarly, when you build a house and complete it, you put a flag or a tree branch at its highest point. Why? Because it signifies completion, your territory. You have achieved it and offer it to God or your ancestors. After that, you must perform a pūjā. This is called graha praveśa in Vāstu Śāstra. It should be done as soon as possible. 'Graha' means house, and 'praveśa' means entering to live. Here, it is called a housewarming. What does housewarming mean? It is the first time you light a fire for cooking, the first flame pūjā, and the first meal cooked there. You should not cook any "dead body" there—meaning all kinds of meat and eggs. If you do, you will not enjoy that house, and your children will not be peaceful. You may build a beautiful house with rooms for grandparents, parents, siblings, and a guest. You plan for children, but soon a child may move out, or a husband may leave. A wife may say, "What a burden! I have to clean everything and lock all the windows and doors." This is distraction, family distraction—what we call family life. Do you have a family life? Thanks to God, in Europe we still do. But in many countries, parents tell their children, "Why don't you go out?" This can be the effect of a house or flat where the ceremony was not performed properly, where dead bodies (meat) and alcohol were introduced. That is why such distraction happens in life. For a housewarming, you invite friends and say a prayer. If you are Christian, you may call a priest to bless the house. If you have no paṇḍit or priest, you can do it yourself. We are not so stupid that we cannot light a dīpak. This is Graha Praveśa. The first thing you cook is very significant for Agni Deva, the fire god. We first worship Agni Deva, who resides in our navel as our digestive fire. If this fire does not function, you cannot digest. We offer to the different prāṇas: prāṇa, apāna, samāna, vyāna, etc. They all function in our body. We know we can inhale, but it may happen that we cannot inhale anymore. There can be an emergency with apāna; if it doesn't function, your intestines lack strength, and you cannot pass stool or urine. At that time, apāna śakti is missing. In the house pūjā, we offer to these five prāṇas. Similarly, if you build an ashram or a temple, you must soon perform the ceremony and install the deity for whom the temple was built. If you do not perform the worship, the prāṇapratiṣṭhā, then ghosts may enter. They are searching for a place. You will not complete it, or when you do, it will not be good. It is like a curse. I have observed one house for nearly 30 to 35 years, between Bratislava and Prague. On the highway, on the right side, is a house built by someone who lived in Canada. They made a beautiful house, but construction stopped, and it remains a ruin—frightening, with broken windows. Similarly, the human body... Animals perform their funerals quickly. Other creatures handle their ceremonies. But we cannot just throw a human body away. It is a law, a human law. If you find a dead body and no one claims it, out of respect for human life, the people of that country will perform a funeral. My dear, it is the same with the prāṇa in this body. We must worship and proceed further. The prāṇa in this body and all its organs have their functions. You cannot neglect them, even if you wish to. So vairāgya is not easy. And when you have it, you must maintain it. Otherwise, your sādhanā, your sannyāsa, will not be successful. There is a bhajan with an example: you should either extract all the oil from sesame seeds or leave them whole. If you only crush them, they are not useful—you get neither oil nor whole seeds. You are lost from both sides. So either do it completely, or do not do it at all. Either have complete Vairāgya and Sannyāsa, or be finished. Do what you like, for anyhow you will go somewhere. But Vairāgya and Sannyāsa lead to Brahmaloka. There should be no ambition, no thought of "I am the best" or "I will buy this and that." This is very important. Now, the story of the king and why he attained vairāgya. There was a king who loved his queen and his kingdom very much. She loved the king. But as I said yesterday, you never know who is thinking what. The king was great, honest, and loved by his people. He was like a father. In those days, people had discipline. In a forest lived a sādhu, a master, a saint, a vairāgī. One day, a beautiful fruit came into his hand, and the fruit spoke to him: "What I am in your hand, I am. You should eat me. You will become immortal." The sādhu was nirmohī—without attachment or ignorance (moha). He thought, "What will I do living forever? It is boring. I have my mokṣa. I should give this fruit to someone who can use it better." He decided the king was most deserving. The sādhu went to the king, who was overjoyed. He performed pūjā, washed the saint's feet, and asked, "Gurudev, what can I do for you?" The sādhu said, "King, I have this fruit of immortality. I have no more desires and have achieved my immortality. I give it to you. Please eat it." He then left. The king was very happy. He looked at the fruit and thought, "I love my queen so much. She should live forever, young and beautiful." In the evening, he told his queen the story and asked her to eat it. She promised she would. She said, "Let it stay in your room a while, so its energy of immortality influences you too." Unfortunately, the queen was in love with a horse boy. She wanted to give the fruit to him so he would be ever young and strong. She called him, told him everything, and gave him the fruit, making him promise to eat it. He took it but was not happy. He thought, "What will I do with this?" He was in love with a street lady, a prostitute. That evening, he went to her and said, "I have this fruit of immortality. I have enough cleaning horses. You should live healthy and everlasting. Please eat it." He left, telling her to wait for him. The woman was very sad. She thought, "What will I do living forever? I have had enough of this life. I only pray, 'God, let me die.'" She then thought of her king, who was like a father to the kingdom. She wished for him to live forever. She sent a message and was granted an audience. She told the king the whole story and offered him the fruit. The king, surprised, said, "Okay, thank you." He asked where she got it. She said, "From the horse boy." The king summoned the horse boy and asked, "Do you know this fruit?" The boy, knowing he would be punished if he lied, said, "Yes. The queen gave it to me." The king said, "Okay, thank you, my son. Go and enjoy." That evening, the queen arrived. They sat talking. The king asked, "Do you know this fruit?" She acted surprised, "Oh my God! From where did you get it, darling? I'm so happy we will both be immortal!" The king said, "Yes, I will be mortal now. But do you know where it comes from? The cowboy gave it." The queen looked stunned. The king, like Inspector Colombo, had researched everything. He said nothing more. He simply left and attained vairāgya. That dispassion was so strong it brought him to immortality. That disappointment was the very fruit of immortality that led him to immortality. So, renounce and enjoy. As long as you are attached and cause pain to others, it will come back. We are Agnya. There are different parts of yoga. One yoga is what we do: āsanas, prāṇāyāmas, relaxation to live healthy and long. But as we see, there is so much freedom in the world now, and this freedom has lost many things. Families are dissolved, though in some European and Eastern countries, good connections with parents remain. Practice vairāgya. Give up attachment. It is better to get rid of attachment now than to suffer in the last minutes of your life, worrying: "What will happen to my property, my house, my car, my money?" We die suffering. Or as soon as we lose our memories, we suffer. So why not attain renunciation, vairāgya? Slowly, slowly reduce. Otherwise, we travel the world, buy expensive souvenirs, smuggle them to avoid tax. Finally, we realize they are just dust collectors. Who will clean them? You don't want them broken or stolen. Mokṣa—give up. Finally, the king, Bāṛtharī, became a sannyāsī. He thought, "I will perform pūjā. I will pray." First, to the devas, to God. Then he thought, "But the devas are not free from karma. Why should I pray to God?" Then he thought, "Even Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śiva are bound to karma. Why should I go down to them?" He thought deeply and said, "Why should I not surrender to the karmas?" That's it. All karmas within you, you have to solve. All that makes you unhappy, that tortures you—make your life easier. We are unhappy and suffering because we are not free from the karma within us. Oh God, all the immortal fruits have flown away. I knew the wind would take them. I am sorry I cannot give you the immortal fruit, but I can give you immortal vairāgya. All right. Wish you a good appetite. All the best. Devpurījī Mahādeva, Satguru Svāmī Madhavānandajī Bhagavān, Satya Sanātana.