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Mahashivaratri satsang from Fiji

The grace of Mahāśivarātri is profound. We are blessed on this holy night. Lord Śiva declared this night as his worship for all ages. You have preserved Sanātana Dharma across generations; do not abandon this eternal path. It is the main highway, while other paths are like small sticks. Many saints and avatars have upheld this dharma. A temple for Lord Shiva is established here; offer simple water, fruits, or flowers. This place in Fiji is considered very divine, where many find peace and shed their stress through spiritual practice. Lord Śiva is Bholenāth, the innocent and compassionate one.

His grace is illustrated through stories. A thief, climbing a Śivaliṅga with muddy feet to steal, was instead blessed for his inadvertent offering. A poor hunter, whose water and Bilva leaves accidentally worshiped a liṅga, was shown mercy. He spared the honest deer that returned to him, and Śiva subsequently appeared, granting the hunter's family prosperity and liberating all. These acts define the great night.

"Sanātana Dharma is the highway, the main road. Other paths are like small sticks."

"You are such a great bhakta; you offer yourself to me. What can be a greater bhakta than you?"

Filming location: Fiji Islands

Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya. Oṁ Namaḥ. Oṁ Har Har Bholē Namaḥ. Oṁ Har Har Bholē Namaḥ Śivāya. Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya. Oṁ... Namah Om, Namah Har Har Gaṅgī. Namah Om, Har Har Gaṅgī. Namah Om, Har Har Gaṅgī.... Om Namah Śivāya, Om Namah Śivāya. Namah Śivāya, Om Namah Śivāya. Om Hara Hara Gaṅgā Nama Śaṅkar Bhagavān Kī Devādhi Dev, Deveśvar Mahādev Kī Satguru Svāmī Madhavānandjī Bhagavān Kī Alak Purī Jī Mahādev Kī Dīp Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān Kī Satya Sanātana Dharma Kī Syaāvara Rāmacandra Bhagavān Kī. We are all very fortunate. We are blessed by the great grace of Brahma Paramātmā, Devadideva, Devaīśvara Mahādeva, Śyāvara Rāmacandra Bhagavān, Pavan Śvetanumanjī, and Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa. On this holy day and night of Mahāśivarātri, we are especially fortunate. Lord Śiva has said, "To save this night from such a cruel creature, to save such a poor person, I have done a favor on it. So, this will be my worship for the rest of the ages, of Śivarātri." Today, on this auspicious day, I am here for the fourth or fifth time at this Dream View Resort. There are many resorts, but the workers here—the manager Jay Ram, Prakash, his brother, all his family, and the men who live here—have infinite devotion and love. They have great faith, just like in India. The owner of this Dream View, Sudhā Sāhib, is also a great devotee. I met him and have come here again and again due to the love I have for him. Reddy Sahib’s love, Reddy Sahib’s simplicity, truthfulness, his wife Lakshmi, his family... We feel that although Mr. Reddy is not here today due to special work, he is present in our hearts and in the webcast. All of you have come from different villages, but you are all from India. Your soul is there. You always say that you are inhabitants of the country where Gaṅgā flows, where Gāyā Mātā is. I am very proud that you have come here from so many generations but have not left your culture for so many years. You should not leave it, because there is no other religion like Sanātana Dharma. Sanātana Dharma is the highway, the main road. Other paths are like small sticks we walk on with our feet; they will leave you in the forest after some time. But Sanātana Dharma, our Hindu Dharma, has been a religion for a long time. You have come here, and on the basis of that Dharma, you have accomplished a lot. There are also difficulties, but still you have accepted Sanātana Dharma. Some people distort their own Dharma out of greed. But how many Mahāniśvarī Vibhūti have we had? How many Avatāras have we had? How many saints and Mahātmās have we had? How many good parents have we had? The power of parents, the love of parents... They stay at home and live so happily. I congratulate you a lot, and please keep coming. We have come from nearby. A temple has been established for Lord Shiva. So, whenever you get time, come and offer water to God. Lord Shiva does not want anything else. Give fruits, keep fruits, or some flowers. He is Bholā Bhakt, Bholā Bhagavān, Bholā Nāth. Now, after saying this much, I will speak in English, a different language. You all know English as well. So, fortunate ones, we are lucky, are we blessed? We have divine blessing, and especially we are on the top of Fiji. It is a very divine place; there are many miraculous things here. Especially, it is Bhagavān Śiva's, or Bhagavān Śiva's Śeṣanāg, Viṣṇu Bhagavān, sometimes Fiji. So this island is where Bhagavān Śiva mostly resides, either in Kailāśa Parvata or in Fiji. You can feel it. If not, then you should feel it. I think I am on my fifth time here, especially here at Dream View. There are many beautiful resorts in Fiji, one after another, all very beautiful. But the people taking care of this resort are very devoted, spiritual, and humble. That’s why my devotees are coming here from many different countries: Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Germany, Austria, Czech, Slovakia, Slovenia, New Zealand, Australia—the Sunshine Coast, the Gold Coast, Perth, everywhere. So many from America, they all came here to enjoy such peace and spirituality, sādhanā. There is one word people used to say, and this is one of the biggest problems in the world: stress. As soon as people came here to Fiji, their stress was gone. Of course, our yoga sādhanā, Yoga in Daily Life, is a scientific system for the harmony of body, mind, and soul. We had a special sādhanā with techniques that, without feeling or trying very hard, everyone got, and your stress is gone. Everyone is very happy and very nice. So lucky are you. Another most beautiful day is the day of Mahāśivarātri. That’s every day’s night, but the great night dedicated to Bhagavān Śiva is Mahā Śivarātri. You may or may not know the story. First, we call Bhagavān Śiva as Bholenāth. Bholenath is not innocent in a meaningless way, but in the sense that he is very happy and very innocent. There was a thief who went to a Śiva temple. He had no shoes on, and it was a muddy path. He went to the temple to steal money or something. He was a thief, but there was nothing there—only one water pot hanging there, a Jalārī, Jaladhārī. The thief thought, "Well, what to do?" He tried to reach that pot, but it was about 15 centimeters higher. He looked left and right, worried someone would see him. So what did he do? He climbed on the Śivaliṅga with his muddy feet. As he was taking the water pot out, Lord Śiva appeared. This man was so afraid and said, "Please, please!" Lord Śiva said, "No, no, my son, what can I give you? You see, when people come to my temple, they give me donations, fruits, flowers—they are donating. But you are such a great bhakta; you offer yourself to me. What can be a greater bhakta than you?" The thief said, "My Lord, I give my word that I will never do like this." Lord Śiva said, "No problem. I’m not angry." Like a little child climbs on the mother’s shoulders or the father’s head—innocent children. "You are innocent, my son, and I bless you for mokṣa." Nama Seva Om, Hara Hara Bode, Shankar Bhagavān Kī, Bholē Nāth Kī. There was a time when the human population was less. Many ṛṣis and others lived in the forest. Some people were poor and hunted animals; they did not know agriculture. One hunter went to get an animal to kill. The whole day, he didn't get any animal. He came home without bringing anything. He had two little hungry children. His wife had washed and cleaned the pot to cook something from the animal he would bring. He came empty-handed, and his wife was so angry! "Why did you come without anything? My children are so hungry!" The man was so unhappy. "My wife is not so good with me. I will go, and I will not come with empty hands." So he went again. He had a water bottle made from a big, thick bamboo. It happened that he got nothing. At sunset, he thought, "There are jungle animals. They can kill me." So he climbed a tree. As he climbed, the bamboo water bottle fell down. Below was a Śiva liṅga, and the water fell directly on it as an abhiṣeka. He waited and waited. He was tired from searching all day and from his wife's anger. From the tree, he took... some leaves fell slowly, and leaves kept falling on the Śiva Liṅgam. What kind of tree was that? It was a Bilva Patra tree, and Bilva leaves are very dear to Lord Śiva. Around 11 o’clock at night, a deer came. The man took his arrow and bow to shoot the deer. The deer saw him and said, "Please don’t kill me. I have a little child, and I came to bring some fresh leaves. I will feed my child, and I am sure I will come back." The hunter said, "I will not let you go." The deer pleaded, "Please." Then, before the female deer, a male deer came, and the hunter wanted to kill him. The second deer (the female) said, "Please, there is only one male in our group. We are a more modern generation. Please don’t kill him. Kill me. I am here." So the male deer went away, and he said, "Please kill me, don’t do this to the innocent female deer." The hunter sent him away. Then the female deer who had left came back and said to the hunter, "I have fed my child, gave the fresh leaves. Now you can kill me." He said, "I can’t kill you. You are so honest. I will not kill." And he went home. Then why did Śiva come? Śiva appeared. And Shiva said, "Bring your wife and your children." Shiva gave them everything. All the deer and male deer came and said, "We are all here. You can kill us all." He said, "No." Now Shiva is here. So Śiva liberated all the deer and liberated the hunter, and gave so much prosperity to the hunter’s wife and children. They had everything. So that night is called, today is the night, it’s called Mahāśivarātri. Namah Śivāya. Om Namah. Om Namah Śivāya. Om. Om Namah Śivāya. Om. Om Hara Hara Bodh. Namaḥ Śivāya. Om Hara Hara Bodh. Namaḥ.

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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