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Keep your promises

A satsang discourse on the power of vows (saṅkalpa) and spiritual surrender, framed by the astrological influence of Saturn (Śani).

"Śani brings more darkness. One day, his Gurujī said to him, 'Śani, do not attack me.' Śani replied, 'Gurudev, I cannot change anything.'"

"When we make a promise, we have to follow it... Therefore, we should know, we should have our saṅkalpa."

Swami Ji narrates a traditional story where the planetary influence of Saturn causes a guru to be falsely accused, illustrating how unseen forces can affect life. He uses this to discuss the importance of making and keeping serious spiritual vows, such as giving up a specific food item for life, and connects this to the sacred promises made in marriage and to one's guru. The talk, given near Guru Purnima, emphasizes the disciple's act of surrendering all actions—good and bad—to the guru, culminating in a mantra chant.

Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic

Good morning, all dear sisters and brothers. Today is a beautiful day, Saturday. This day holds a very beautiful and powerful constellation; among all days, it is very powerful and closer to Earth. There are many stories and writings about this. It is very important for all of us. This constellation can be very good, but it can also be very hard or not good. In Jyotiṣa, the seven days are understood through constellations. There is a story. The graha, the deity of Saturday, is Śani (Saturn). When his energy comes, it can go to anyone, positive or negative. Śani brings more darkness. One day, his Gurujī said to him, "Śani, do not attack me." Śani replied, "Gurudev, I cannot change anything. Can my Guru, or can my father, change my nature?" Gurujī asked, "Then what will you do?" Śani said, "I will show you sometime." One day, Gurujī went to a village for bhikṣā (alms/food). He received a watermelon and began walking towards his āśram. At that moment, the constellation's influence was strong. It happened to be a day when someone had killed the king's son. People were searching for the culprit. They checked everyone and saw Gurujī. Of course, they thought Gurujī would not do anything, but he was carrying a bag. The guards asked, "Gurujī, what do you have in your bag?" He said, "I brought some fruits." When they looked, they saw the head of the prince. They said, "Gurujī, we did not know you could do this." He replied, "I have not done this. Maybe somebody put it in my bag." They took Gurujī and the bag to the king. Everyone knew it was the prince's head. Just before he reached the king, five minutes later, the constellation's influence passed. They showed the bag to the king. It now contained only a watermelon. Gurujī explained, "I went to take a watermelon and was going to my ashram. That is all." The king said, "Okay, thank you. But do you know what happened to my son?" The prince had been playing; it must have been something unfortunate. Gurujī returned to his ashram, sat down, and Śani appeared. Śani said, "I am Śrī Gurudev. I know, and I told you. But I tried as much as I could to make the constellation's effect a little less." Gurujī asked, "What should I do?" If you have Śani in your constellation, it means... there are many people who do not eat watermelon because of this. Many people say this. You may remember I once said you should give up something. Give up anything, whether it is easiest or very hard, but do it for life. Due to this Śani, what can we give up? The sugar melon (watermelon) is a symbol of our head. Do not take and cut the head, otherwise you will have problems. Is there anybody in the business of watermelons? We will not name the person, otherwise his business might be affected. It is like that. I have many disciples. We were once told, "Give up anything that you want." One disciple's wife said to her husband—they were both my disciples—"He eats too much chocolate. Swāmījī, can I give up chocolate? For me, it is very easy, but for you to give up chocolate... it must not even touch your lips." He gave it up. The next day he asked, "Should I give up chocolate? But can I eat other sweets?" Yes, you can eat sweet things, but not chocolate. He kept this vow for life, and his wife is still a disciple of many years. This is called saṅkalpa. Saṅkalpa means to take an oath. When men and women, girls and boys, are married—in a church, temple, under a tree, on a rock, in a forest—it does not matter where. There, you both say, "I will be yours for my whole life," and the other says, "I will be yours forever." Later, if one day you give it up, you might think, "I am happy I gave up this husband," or the girl might say, "I am very happy I gave up." But what about your promise? A promise is not just saying yes or no to something casually. It is not like walking or taking a step, or merely about eating. When we make a promise, we have to follow it. Perhaps you think you have made a different kind of promise. It could be for different things, and therefore we should be very careful. Otherwise, it will not bring good. For both, it will not be good. Therefore, we should know, we should have our saṅkalpa. For example, in the church—I speak of this because you know about it—what do you call them? Master, guru, priest. The priest gives you a wish, gives you peace and bliss. He says, "Follow what I say. What are you saying?" He tells the girl, "Will you do this, this, and this? Will you respect and accept this wish for your husband?" She says yes. Then he tells the man, "Now you are a husband. Will you respect this?" He says yes. But in the church, they will not say, "If you don't want to remain, then you can give up." They do not say, "Forgive us from this wish." The priest himself, who gave the wish or this permission, cannot take it back again. Nowadays, they may do things differently, but still, in the churches nearby, they will not readily say, "Okay, separate." This is not only in the church; it is everywhere. Then you have good children, and the children will also learn in that way. Similarly, if you get a promise about your mantra, Kriyā Yoga, and all these techniques, we have to go through with it. That is very important. Today is the day for Guru Pūrṇimā. It tells you the same thing I have told you now. What is said in the Bible, in the church, and so on? Then we humans would also have no war, no fighting. "Thou shalt not kill," and no weapons, nothing. But now they do not follow this. Why are they fighting? Why do they make weapons? We kill. And why do people not give their children more instructions? Nowadays, there are very few people who follow a promise. But there are some promises or wishes we can still give up. For example, I go to a shop to buy a jacket. I say, "I like this, can I put it on?" The shopkeeper says yes, and I say yes. But then I see another one and say, "I think this is too tight, can I have this one?" This is not a promise. Or you go for some fruit: you like this one, or you will take that one. These are choices. You might say, "Why did you promise to take this, and why did you say you will take another one?" That is not a promise. But what I am sitting here and telling you is also a wish, a promise. There are two people sitting here in New Zealand; they have been with me for half an hour. They both wanted the blessings of Swāmījī. Okay, all the best, yes? Very good. Blessings to everybody. They were listening for a long time; it is a good idea. Anyhow, a day came, and therefore, somehow, we promised, "I will not eat eggs." Perhaps we ate some egg in a cherry without knowing. We should not do it purposefully. Today is Guru Pūrṇimā. On Guru Pūrṇimā, it is said: I have done the whole year—all my sādhanā, my mālās, my mantras, everything for my Gurudeva. All I have done in the whole year, good things, and whether done properly or improperly, may I have done something? My Lord, I give you both good and bad. Please, take it and do what you will. I give it to you today. It is like this: you are a farmer, and you have grain in your field ready for harvest. After harvesting, you give everything for your business or whatever. And you say to the field, "Please relax for some months. Afterward, I will give you another seed, not wheat. We will give you pumpkin." What is that other one? Kukuruccha? So we change the crop. We have both. I give all my karmas, my practice, Gurudev, to you. And what mistakes I made, I also give to you. Please bless me and give me your blessing. Give me the oath of what I should do. So now I will practice. You give me mantras or any techniques, I will practice. I will not keep it with me. I will give all to you, O my Lord. In how many years, how many good things you did, and consciously or unconsciously, you definitely have done something. That also I give you. Now, in 25 years, I had more good things and less difficult things. So Gurudeva said, "I will give you again a good birth as a human. Go ahead and do good things." So again, we have to work. We have to give back; that is it. But sometimes it is said, "Gurudev, I give you everything, and I will do what you want." Then it is said, "I will give you everything. I will be there, and I will go there." So renew: I will give my good and my bad; all I give you. Then, Gurudeva or God, whatever you said, will bring you somewhere. And then we have a lot of good things. Then Gurudeva will say, "Come as a guru and work, do good things for all." So many of us are here. We did good, and we will do more good. We are lucky that we got our Parampāra Gurus, all our destinations, from Śiva until today, and you are inside there. That is very, very good. Tomorrow is Guru Pūrṇimā for us here. Therefore, I wish you, and all our bhaktas around the whole world, that you should offer everything to your Gurudeva. Every disciple should give to their guru. It does not matter if you have millions of gurus or ten gurus, or millions of disciples or only a few. That does not matter. Guru is guru. There are no two gurus. You have been given one mother, one birth. You cannot go to other ladies and say, "Now you also take me in your body and give me birth again," just like that. We can see everybody as good, as our brothers, sisters, or mothers, etc. But your mother is your mother, and your father is your father. You can call somebody a father, but it is not the father. When we have the seed of a mango, then that kind of mango fruit will come again. You can call the mango an apple, you can see it as an apple, but the taste and everything is different. Therefore, we all look for that Gurudeva, and we do everything. This is very, very good, and I wish you all the best. Now, everybody, we will chant mantras. We will chant all about Mahāprabhujī's mantra. Nirañjana śabad janai sima ho vayamana manjana, isi mantras vayamana manjana. Śrī dīpa nirañjana śabad uka bhan. Prabhu Dīpa Nirañjana Śabad dukha isi mantra se hove mana manjana, isi mantra hove mana manjana. Śrī Dīpā Nirañjanā Sabhā Dukha Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān kī Devādī Dev Devaiśvar Mahādeva kī Satguru Svāmī Mādhāvanājī Bhagavān kī Satya Sanātana Dharma kī. Oṁ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ... Hari Oṁ.

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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