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Gurur Viṣṇu, Gurur Devo, Maheśvara, Gurur Sākṣāt, Parabrahma, Tasmai Śrī Gurave Namaḥ. Brahmanandam, Parama Sukhadam, Kevalam, Jñānam, Utratim, Dvandātītam, Gaganasadṛśam, Tasmai Śrīyadi Lakṣyam, Ekam Nityam Vimalam Achalam Sarvadhi Sākṣibhūtam. Bhavatītaṁ Trigunarahitaṁ Satgurutvaṁ Namāmyahaṁ. Oṁ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ... Hari Om. All dear ones, dear sisters, brothers, spiritual seekers, welcome. I wish you a happy, holy festival. There is a God, whether one believes or one doesn’t believe. God incarnates, and there are two kinds of God’s presence. One is called Nimitta. Nimitta means a particular situation incarnates God. The second is called Nityāvatāra, where from time to time the senses are incarnating. The sense represents that incarnation of God, and God represents the sense in that form. According to Indian mythology, till now there have been 24 incarnations. Twenty-three have been, and the 23rd one is coming. Everyone is looking forward, hoping that God, the Nimitta God, should arrive. There are ages: Satya Yuga, the age of truth; Dvāpara Yuga, Tretā Yuga, and now comes the fourth one. We are in the dark age, called the iron age. In humans, spiritual, ethical, and moral values are going down, down, and down. It is said that in this Kali Yuga, the dark age, the Avatar is called the Kali Avatar and should come. The past, what we call holy, spans several million years. There is one story from our literature about this. Long ago, there was a king who went to the forest to perform austerities to realize God. He wanted to ask something from God. He went to the forest, surviving on only a little water and some fruit. Bending on one leg, he prayed to God, prayed to God, prayed to God. That king was nasty, very negative. He wanted to have more and more power, thinking, "I am the ruler, only I and I." But still, he performed such intensive austerity that God had to come. God appeared in front of him, manifesting the divine form of Brahmā. "My son, what do you wish?" He said, "Fulfill my wish, please, Lord." God said, "What?" The king said, "Make me immortal, that I never die. I remain as young as I am." God said, "This is out of the law. Even Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva, they are also changing. I can give you long life, but not immortality. You can ask for anything you want. I will give you a blessing for that, but not immortality." Then the king said, "God, give me one blessing." "Say what?" "My wish is this: that normal death cannot kill me. Neither shall I die in the day, nor in the night. I should not die in the night, nor in the day. I should not die inside the house or outside of my house. No weapon or human or animal can kill me." God said, "That will be." God then disappeared. Now the king returned to his kingdom and called his people from everywhere on earth. He gave the message: "I am the God, Hiraṇyakaśipu. No more God from heaven or hell. There is only one God, and that is me. If anyone doesn’t believe me, kill them. Everyone should sing my glory: God Hiraṇyakaśipu, Hiraṇyakaśipu." That was the king's name. But it is said, in the house of God, no time will come when devotion is absent. One day, the king himself rode a horse at night to little villages to hear if someone was having satsaṅg, like we are talking, or singing God’s name. He was riding on the horse, and in a little village there was a little fire burning. One elderly woman was sitting there and chanting the name of God. The king came down from the horse and went to her. "Why are you chanting the name? Who? Which god? There is no god. I am." She was afraid and tried to explain. He said, "No, no..." She had been preparing a fire. Down was a little wood, and she had put a lot of wood on it. About fifty pots were inside. She put the fire to them, and when the fire became high, a cat came. The cat was meowing nervously and running about. The woman realized, "Oh God, that’s my cat." The cat had given birth to kittens in one of the pots, and that pot was now in the fire. She thought, "These cat babies will die." She asked for forgiveness, chanting the name of God. She told the king this. He said, "OK, I will stay here till the fire comes down. Then I will see if the kittens of this cat are alive. If they are, I will let you go. Otherwise, I will make a fire and put you alive in it." On one side was the cat, whose babies were in the fire. The mother cat was very, very sad. The woman thought, "Now he will kill me." Her heart was beating, and she remembered God, God, God. The next day, in the afternoon, about five o’clock, the fire had calmed down. She opened one pot after the other. There were two clay water pots. She looked and saw the cat babies, meowing, jumping from one pot to the other, playing. That pot was completely untouched by fire. She was so happy. The king said, "Ah, stupid. But I promise you, I will let you go." He went away. That lady is also taken as holy. On the seventh day, people will worship her also. She is such a holy saint. Now, Hiraṇyakaśipu had a beautiful son. When the son was about one and a half years old, he used to say, "God." His father said, "My son, I am God, Hiraṇyakaśipu." The son turned his face away. When he became two, three, four years old, he was singing the name of God: "Hari Om, Hari Om..." By chanting, chanting, this is the name. The great mantra: Hari Om Tat Sat. Hari Om Tat Sat. Hari Om Tat Sat. Hari hi Om. God is Om. Om is God. He is Hari. Hari means God. Repeat and repeat the name of God. That is a mahā mantra, the best mantra, the great mantra. King Hiraṇyakaśipu was so angry with his child. He put his son in school and told the teachers, "Teach him. Give him a lesson that he should not repeat the name of God, only me as God: Hiraṇyakaśipu, Hiraṇyakaśipu." Hiraṇyakaśipu’s son, Prahlāda, was singing so much that all the school children began chanting the mantra, "Hari Om Tat Sat. Hari Om Tat Sat." All going well at home: "Hari Om Tat Sat." The king was so angry. The teacher came to the king and said, "Lord, I cannot. I tried everything. No, I cannot. Okay." Indirectly, the king wanted to kill his son. The king’s sister also had siddhis—miracles, abilities. What she used to do every day was bathe, not in water, but in fire. She made a fire and sat in it. Not one hair of hers was burned. All impurities from her skin were cleansed without soap or water. Hiraṇyakaśipu went to his sister and said, "Sister, please do one good thing for me. Your nephew, Prahlāda, is chanting the name of God. And you know that God is only me, not anyone else. Sister, you have to help." She said, "Okay, brother, I will do it." "How should I do it?" he said. She said, "Take him in your lap." Since he was her nephew, she lit a fire. She was sitting and took the nephew in her lap, holding him. He was chanting: "Hari Om Tat Sat. Hari Om Tat Sat." Japakar, Japakar, yahi mahā-mantra: Hari Om Tat Sat. And this lady, his sister, began to burn. She burned to ashes. Prahlāda came out of the fire. He put a little ash down and came out unharmed. He remained, and she died. Her name was Holi. So yesterday was the day of Holi. Hiraṇyakaśipu then ordered his son to be killed, but the son remained. The son was God’s son. The next day, Prahlāda came, and people were so happy. Prahlāda was celebrating; everyone was putting color on each other. Happy days, happy days. The color of happiness, the color of joy. The devil had died. So this is the day. Yesterday they burned Holi. The holy boon protected the nephew, Hiraṇyakaśipu’s son, Prahlāda. The story is not over. The game began. Hiraṇyakaśipu said, "Send warriors, take this child, and throw him in a lake where there are many crocodiles." They threw him there. There were lotus flowers, and he stepped on them. While singing, he slowly came out and came home again. The king was nervous, but of course he didn’t want to say, "I want to kill my child." Then he gave an order to soldiers: "Where there is a bunch of elephants in that wild forest, throw him there and come quickly back." They threw him where many elephants were and left. He came back. The elephants did not do anything to him. Again, the king was very unhappy. He said, "Go into the mountains and from a high hill, kick him down." From the rocks, he would fall, his bones would break, and he would die. They did so. They threw him, and there was a tree with a branch there. He landed on the branch. He was singing, "Hari Om Tat Sat, Hari Om Tat Sat," and then slowly he came down and came home. It is said, whom God saves, no one can kill. Not even one hair can be damaged if God is the protector. Prahlāda kept growing. Hiraṇyakaśipu thought this was bad luck for his kingdom. In his palace yard, he made one big iron pillar. The iron pillar was hollow inside. He put a lot of coal on a fire inside it. It took two to three hours for the coal to start burning. The iron pillar, so thick, became hot. One could not sit within twenty or thirty meters of it, it was so hot. The king was sitting far away. He called his son and said, "Prahlāda, why are you doing so? You are my dear son. Why have you never seen God? I am your father, I am God. Can you give up this mantra? Hari Om Tat Sat, Hari Om Tat Sat." Prahlāda said, "I don’t give up. You are not God. God is different." Then the king said, "You have one choice: either give up this name, or, if there is a God, then go and hug the pillar. Then I will say, 'Yes, there is a God.' If not, then with my hand I will chop off your head." Prahlāda said, "Better to die in the fire than have such a father, a devil." Hari Om Tat Sat. What happens? Hari Om Tat Sat, Hari Om Tat Sat. Hari Om Tat Sat, Hari Om Tat Sat. While dancing, he was very surprised. His father came within about two meters. This little boy felt a little fear. He thought, "I will burn now." In that minute, what happens? He saw ants crawling on the pillar, which was hot red, but the ants were going up unharmed. He said, "Oh, little ants cannot burn. How can I burn?" He ran to hug the pillar, and the pillar fell into two parts. He was standing there, and one form came out: a lion from the navel up, a big lion, and a human below. This form hugged Prahlāda and took him in his lap. Who was that? That lion. That lion’s name is called Narasiṁha. 'Nara' means human, and 'Siṁha' means lion. King Hiraṇyakaśipu held his chair and trembled. He saw this symbol was not an animal and was not a human. He thought, "There must be something." He wanted to run into his house. Quickly, the Narasiṁha Avatāra jumped and caught the king in the middle of the doorway and sat on him. The Avatāra said, "King, where are you? Inside or outside your house?" Half the body was in the house, and half the body was outside. The Avatāra said, "It is not in and out." He then asked, "Look, is it night or day?" It was just sunset. "Is this my claw a weapon? Say no. Am I human? No. Am I an animal? No. Your time has come." He killed Hiraṇyakaśipu. That is their festival, which people worship for Prahlāda, and they burn the effigy of Hiraṇyakaśipu. Let’s sing. Om Tat Sat, Om Tat Sat,... Om Tat Sat. Om Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ...