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The path of happiness

A spiritual discourse on the two paths of upliftment and downfall, using parables and teachings.

"According to spirituality, and for a yogi, the counting of years does not matter. Counting time is created by the human brain. There is no time; it is beyond."

"You have in your hands only two paths... Utthāna, development, developing everything, achievement, until self-realization."

The lecturer addresses practitioners, explaining the concepts of uthāna (ascent) and patan (descent). He emphasizes that ultimate happiness and self-realization must come from within, not from others. To illustrate the power of destiny (karma) and the influence of company (satsaṅg or kuśaṅg), he narrates the story of Oedipus and a tale involving Ravana and a personified destiny. He concludes that while destiny is powerful, it can be influenced by inner work and the grace of a true Guru.

Filming location: Jadan, Rajasthan, India

Oṁ Namaḥ Śrī Śrīdeep Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān Kī, Satguru Svāmī Madhavānandajī Bhagavān Kī, Devādhi Dev Deveśvara Mahādeva Kī. Oṁ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ... Blessed self, all dear brothers, sisters, practitioners of Yoga in Daily Life, practitioners of yoga around the world, and spiritual seekers. The new year has begun. We are all looking forward to what this year will bring us. But according to spirituality, and for a yogi, the counting of years does not matter. Counting time is created by the human brain. There is no time; it is beyond. The Jīvātmā, the soul, which is temporary, is within us, in our body. And this body is also not forever. It is the five elements: space, fire, air, water, and earth. It is the miracle of the creator which gives that soul a temporary home on this living planet. It is for the development of the soul toward cosmic union. For that cosmic union, we need to purify the inner self. In this body, we have many different kinds of thoughts, different kinds of problems, and different complications in the physical body, the mental body, the subtle body, also our intellect, and also these five elements. But in all this, we can ask someone, but that one cannot help us. There is a physical body that we can somehow do something to do good for our body: good nourishment, good society, like a doctor, where we go to take some remedy. That is a limitation. Further, they can’t do, but there is within ourself, is our master. Like engineers of electricity working, or mechanics for car repairs, etc. Similarly, we have within ourselves to help ourselves fix everything that is not in order in our body. You think that you have problems, but who is going to solve your problems? If it is physical, we can do it. If you are hungry, we can give you food. Or thirsty? We can give you the water. But further, we cannot do. As far as a doctor can do with us, but that is also limited. Therefore, yoga is the science of the human being. The science of yoga, which our great saints, great ṛṣis, great masters, through their mental power, the mental mechanism, you can achieve what you would like to achieve, or you can lead your life happily. It is you who can make you happy. Other happiness, what you think, that someone is making you happy, but for how long? How long will someone make you happy? Even your mother or your father, your friend, brothers, or sisters, husband or the wife, how far can they make you happy? This is temporary. It is temporary. In this time you are happy, but very soon it will become unhappiness. So it is said that there are two principles, and that’s called uṭhān and patan. You have in your hands only two paths, Patañjali. Means disaster, distraction, unhappiness, etc. Utthāna, development, developing everything, achievement, until self-realization. Where is the self-realization? You cannot get self-realization from outside. Your master cannot give you self-realization from outside. He’s giving you some ideas, some techniques, some good words, or it can turn yourself to that path which will lead you to your destination. Become happy. You are happy, family happy. You have good work. You are healthy, and you are on the higher way. Your studies, you become, coming to the highest level, a great person. Even the president of the country cannot become immediately now. A child going to study in school, time, place, and slowly, slowly,... slowly. But if you remain on that same path, you will achieve. It’s like one seed, and we put the seed in the soil, and after some days this sprout comes out, and there’s two leaves only. There are two leaves: one is called Patañ and one. It is called Kuthan, but both are because both are from the one seed. It is one mother’s child, it is one father’s child, but what is happening? How are they changing? So that’s called path. One point, one seed, one parent: one becomes a saint, one becomes a great officer, one becomes a beggar. Why? Because the destination is going in a different direction, and it is the destiny, and destiny we cannot change. We have to respect, we have to understand, and we have to accept. But we can do one thing: we turn our path with good persons, good friends, good communities, or good satsaṅg. You come again to such a path that you will be coming upwards. The Uthāna begins there. But if you think, "I cannot, I cannot." Yes, that’s a weakness. I want, but I can’t. Yes, we can give you food. We can give you the cloth or some medicine. But to wake up, come to the, again, the right path, you have to work thyself. Therefore, it’s called tān, in the distraction, huthān, achievement, and the root, the cause is from the one point. Similarly, now we have to take care and sit down and meditate, what I want. But sometimes the destination is too strong. Jo tumhāra karm hai, jo tumhane kiyā hai, aur vo tumhāre saṁskār achchhe nahīṁ the. Saṃskāro se saṃskṛti bantī hai, aur wo saṃskṛti jo hai, tumhare ko udar idur lī jāyegā. There is one story, a wonderful story from the Western countries, from there, what is called, it is from the one child of one king. There was a child of a king, a boy, so someone called Jyotiṣ, and Jyotiṣ said that he will be very good, he is a very good boy, he is a very good prince, he is this, he is that, he is good to everyone. But it is written in his fate that he will marry his mother. The king said, "Those who run cattle, cattle, goats and goats," he said to those children, "In the mountains, in the jungle, where there are only stones and thorns, throw these children there." Or go and kill one of them. The servant of that king, Nāñcochandāyā, came. He was a small child, only five to ten days old. He was wrapped in clothes, and he went and left the broom under the broom. Now he said to God, "O prince, this is your fate." We can’t do anything. If we refuse, then the king will kill us. But God, whatever your saṃskāra is, it will be like that. It will be your karma. We leave it here. The story is like that. And I know, because you are from the Western countries. That one king got his son. And they brought him to the destinies, or to some astrologer. And he said, "What is the future of this, my son, the prince, the Jyotiṣī?" He said, "Everything is great, strong, beautiful, everything, but..." King said, "What means ’but’? Keda jat pat? But. Tell, tell, please." Pandājī, come on. Everything is good, but one thing is, but. But what? It is written in his kismet that he will marry his hook mother. Where was it? Greece. You know all this story. So some shepherds came. The king had told them that they should throw this child somewhere in the forest, in the rocks. They wanted to kill him or do something, so they just put him there. The child was very young, born about one week or something like this. The soldiers of the king went away. And some shepherd came, and he heard the crying of a little child. And he went there, and so he took it. He saw there is nowhere, no other humans. There is no woman, there is no man. There is nothing known from where or who brought it here. But the shepherd took this child with him to their home, gave him milk, and kept him with them. Now, that child, he became strong, about 15 years, 18 years—15, 16, 17 years, till 18. So, his... I don’t know how he ate. So, in Greece, there is one lady; it was. Sophia, Holy Sophia, and this boy, young man, went. All people were going there. She was the person who was talking, giving, what you call it, telling the future. What does one die for? One goes after someone else. So someone says this, someone says that. So that Sophie, that woman, people used to go there. I also went there. I also went to see that place. Why do people go there? She’s already gone. She died long ago. But people are going there in her place to see, and people took me there. We were driving, and there is a little rock and waterfall, and like this. So I was there. When the young boy was coming towards the Sufi, from far she said, "Don’t come to me." I don’t want to see your face. He came close. Please, please, what is happening? She said, "Your destiny is not good. I don’t want to see you." He said, "Please tell me. Otherwise, I will kill myself." So, what did she say? What she said? So what did she say? What happens when you are a Bhopanī? They say these days there are many people. There are many ghosts. There are many ghosts. She said, "In your destiny, it is written that you will marry your mother, and that’s why I don’t allow you to come here." So he said, "You would have become my mother, and you would have told me where my mother is so that I don’t commit this sin." So he said that you are the daughter of that king’s queen. So, he was sad that his parents had thrown him away from his birthplace. Where is he? Where is he? So, he said, "At least tell me, who is my mother? Where is my mother?" Where am I born? She said that, "I cannot tell you, but it is there by the queen and this and that." That’s all. So, what did this boy used to do? He used to close his eyes and move his hands like this. He used to move his hands like this and move his hands like this. So you know this story, yes? Yes. So he was rotting with closed eyes, turning and turning and turning. And then he opened his eyes and went in that direction. He is going one, two kilometers of distance or so. Again, he stops and says, "God, please help me." And again, he closed his eyes, and he is rotting and rotting. Again, when he opened his eyes, he goes in that direction. Day and night, it doesn’t feel good. Somewhere he comes to Rambai, he became a young man, strong, and so. He comes to some armies, and again he came to some kings, and so. And the king was fighting there; he became a great warrior. And Father Dā was killed there, and so on. And this young man, a soldier, was helping very, very much. And then the queen saw him. And the queen saw this is a strong man, a great person, this and that, and that is beautiful. And she wanted to marry him, and he married her. Then he finds out that it is his mother. This is the future, this is the destiny, and therefore we cannot do something ourselves, but we have to get some instructions. We cannot say, I would not say also, but he could have said, "I will not marry," that’s all. But destiny is there. Our destiny, our karma, what the Vedānta has written, what the Vedānta has done, no one can avoid it. But there is a way. If you go and control thyself, and you go within, inner, then you can change your destiny. Means you can change your inner techniques with your inner power. But otherwise, on the other side, there is another beautiful story. Oh, that is another beautiful story. It is said that the story is written in a good place. This is about Rāvaṇa. So Rāvaṇa was sitting in his kingdom in Śrī Laṅkā. What happened was that Rāvaṇa was sitting; it was evening, and a woman was coming. Ravana said, "Who are you? Where are you going without my order?" Who are you? Because everyone was afraid of Rāvaṇa. All the planets were afraid of him, so he said, "Who are you?" I am a Vedāntī. This Vedanta is going into my house, so he is going into my fort. Why? Because you are going to have a beautiful girl. A child is going to be born. I am going. So why? Because I am a Vedānta. I write everyone’s letters. So go, but write well for my daughter. So he said, "My hands are in the pen." If I do it with my thoughts, then I will definitely do it. But wherever my pen goes, it will go there. God says, "Rāvaṇa." So he said, "Okay, go inside. But what is written, tell me that." He said, "Yes, let me tell you this." She went. A girl was born. She wrote a letter. The wife came back and said, "What did you write for my daughter?" She said everything was written well, very beautiful, a lot of knowledge, of all kinds. Ha ha... ha, my daughter, very beautiful, ha ha ha. This, that, but, what? But what are you saying? What is it? Tell me that too. Your daughter’s husband will be of short legs, not of long legs. And open with your eyes, tear with your legs, bring that there. Hey, how are you saying this? That this is written by the writer, not me; my pen has written it. And Harijan’s son, oh, go away from here. And I will see, Vidhātā, that after my daughter’s wedding, I will catch you and take you away. Vidhāta, you roam around the entire Pramāṇḍa. I will finish you off. Forgive me, but what Vidhātā writes, that is what happens. Hari Om Tat Sat. So you can tell the story. It’s a beautiful story, no? Ravan was very powerful, you know that. And he had his golden palace, and he was a great personality. He had immense knowledge and everything, but his ego is too strong. Ego has destroyed him. So, one day, in the evening, after the sunset, Rāvaṇa is sitting there, and one lady is coming. Rāvaṇa is saying, "Who are you?" She said, "I am the destiny. Where are you going?" I am going to write the destiny for your daughter, because very soon your wife is giving birth to a daughter. "You will write the destiny for my daughter?" She said, "Yes." Then write something good. She said that I cannot do. It is only with my pain that I will write. My hand will move with her destiny, not my will, alright? But when you come, go back. Before going back, tell me what did you write, okay? That I can tell you. And when she came back, what was that? She said, "Everything is perfect." Oh, a beautiful child, a beautiful girl she will be, and everything she has, everything. She is a princess of this palace, you are, he said, ha ha... Very good, great. And she said yes, and but, but what means the but? But her husband will be a little bit physically not good. His one eye will go this side, otherwise his eye will go this side, and legs will go like this, and his back is a little bit not in proper. Shape, and of course he will be the son of the sweeper. I start her, the princess of this Lanka’s palace. Yes, I will kill you, but she disappears. Vedānta disappears. "May," he said, "I will see you in all the three worlds." If that comes true, I will see what you have done. She went. Now she became young, now mature, twenty, twenty-five years or something. And Rāvaṇa wanted to search for a nice husband for his daughter. And they were looking, and they were looking, people. He said, "Many, many messengers." But he said, "This I don’t like, this I don’t like, this I don’t like." They all became tired. So he said, "What kind of boy should be for the girl?" Beautiful, strong, this, that. They said, "Yes, but you know, she’s from the king." And this, yes, that is what I’m searching for. And what happened to that? That other boy was someone who got a bird, it was a sheep, and they threw it away in the box, in the case, a wooden case, in the ocean. Somewhere on the Yatik coast. And the case was fluttering and coming and coming and coming. And one queen in one other, what? No, no,... the one Tapu Island. So they went for swimming, husband and wife, or the king and queen. And they saw that there were some boxes floating and coming. So, husband, the king said, "Oh, it’s beautiful. Let’s bring it out." The king said, "This is mine." The king said, "It’s mine, okay." Then the queen said, "What is inside is mine," and that was this beautiful child. Children are beautiful, doesn’t matter, still you can’t see the destiny of that child. They said the messengers who brought, they said that the child is from the king, has a great island, and just everything is good, beautiful. But they only want to come immediately, and in the night they want to marry. It’s not in the daytime, but it’s beautiful. He said, okay. So they brought this boy. They had a wedding ceremony. The king is sitting there, the other king is sitting there, and the paṇḍits, they came, made the ceremonies, and said, "Our prince has to be carried nicely." So only a little face, and have a nice... what is that? The sunlight, sunglasses. The wedding is over, everything. And they took me to the princess. The princess still could not see exactly. And there was only an oil lamp. And when the marriage was finished, then with Rāvaṇa, he called the Vidhātā. Vedātā, my daughter Mary’s beautiful and beautiful princess is there. She said, "Yes, sir. Did you see your son-in-law?" What do you mean? Then better you go and see. And what is that? Then Vedātā says, "This is your son-in-law, your daughter-in-law, and your son-in-law." What did he tell Dharakṣitā? He told her that she had left. So they seek a destiny. It is a real story by Rāvaṇa. So destiny, what is happening? Who is writing from the past time? But there is a reek par meek. Gurudev can change, only that one, a great saint, he can change. We say it, rekha, means the line on the palm. And what is written on your palm, the astrologer, or they, can see and will say, "Oh, it’s beautiful," and so and so. If it’s not, even they will say, "Oh, it’s very good," but it will be changed, something like that. But on this line, the Master can put the nail inside. So it means your destiny will be changed, your path will be changed. Only Gurudev. Yes. And who is a guru? That one who will tell you, "Don’t do this, and do this." There are many, many stories, which are many things, and therefore, destiny. And so, is that what we call? The patan and uthān. And this can happen also, and that is called "jaisā kare saṅga vaisā lage raṅga." So what kind of people or society with whom you are, that can change you in that way. If you go to the alcoholic, you don’t drink alcohol, but they are all drinking. They will just drink a little and say, "No, no." But you are my friend. One day, two days, five days, one week. They say, "Come on, okay." You take one sip, then one sip. And then the next day, that one comes with the bottle because he needs it very much. That’s why jaisā kare saṅg vaisā lage raṅg. Or you have a good satsaṅg. So, dono kā jo seed, which I told you, that seed and this seed which we have, that is called Saṅg. What means the Saṅg? The living with some friends, there, that is one seed, and in this one is called one letter Ku. What? Ku. Ku Sang. Bad, bad, bad... Bad, or what is the second one that is written? Sat. So what is it? Satsaṅg. One and only seed which can create, one has the ku and the other has sat. If you are living in ku saṅga, you will be destroyed. And if you go to the satsaṅg, you can go. Satsaṅg you can do yourself at home. Sing some bhajan, read some book, everything, think good things. That’s also satsaṅg, or come with some people who are talking about good things. Now you see the kismet of the people. All day they are sitting and playing cards, all the time sitting, the people, playing cards, but no one there is making a mala. No one could read the holy book; they could tell some good things. But it is a kuśaṅg, and it is a satsaṅg. So by going to satsaṅg, man goes towards the Lord, and kuṣaṅg goes towards hell. Nārāyaṇa, Śrīman Nārāyaṇa, Śrīman Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa, Śrīman Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa, Śrīman Nārāya, Nārāya,... Nārāya. Satya Sanātan Dharmakī Māta Pitā Gurudevakī Om Śānti Śānti... Hari Om.

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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