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Roots of the Guru Parampara

True yoga proceeds only through grace and the guru paramparā, the unbroken lineage. One must have the roots of the guru, tracing back to the ancient Ṛṣis. This lineage continues until the final moment of a guru's life, when it must be passed to a follower. A true yogī is defined by this connection. While one may learn from many, primary allegiance must remain with one's own root guru. Changing this leads to being lost. Quality of connection matters, not quantity. The speaker's own lineage extends to Ālak Purījī, with associated sacred geography like the Alaknanda River. In this age, knowing your complete spiritual roots is essential.

"You should not merely have a guru; you should have the roots of the guru."

"A real master, a real guru, will ask, 'From where are you? Who is your guru?'"

Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic

Om. Obeisance to the Deep Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān, the God of Gods, Deveśvara Mahādeva. Obeisance to Harajyā Gurudev Svāmī Madhavānandajī Bhagavān. Obeisance to Ālak Purījī Mahādeva. Obeisance to the Satya Sanātana Dharma. Om Śāntiḥ, Om Śāntiḥ, Om Śāntiḥ. As we have been practicing and understanding over these weeks, we know that yoga is not merely āsanas and prāṇāyāma. Yoga has many, many parts. Ultimately, it always proceeds through kṛpā, grace, which means through the guru. We should not merely have a guru; we should have the roots of the guru. These roots are the Śabda Ṛṣis, the Sapta Ṛṣis—the seven stars—and all the Ṛṣis thereafter. These Ṛṣis have their disciples, and those disciples have disciples in turn. For example, in this country, the Czech Republic, those born here are Czech. Others are guests. If you go to Austria, those born there are Austrian; the rest are friends. Similarly, if we wish to reach Brahmaloka or Brahma, we must attain it. That attainment is through our guru paramparā, the lineage. This lineage continues until you are, let us say, the last living guru. Then you hold that place and are given all power. But even then, in the final minutes, seconds, or at most the last hour of life, when one says, "Now you have no physical powers," you are still the guru. At any minute you may depart, but one must pass it on to a follower. When you say, "I go," at that moment you are the pure guru. This is what we follow. We follow and must respect the living one. Thus, from ages and ages, the lineages of one guru continue. That is what a yogī truly is. Otherwise, what we commonly call yoga—Sarva Yoga, Sarvāsana, or any program named yoga—is just a name in daily life. This is the Sanātana Dharma. We sit here, so many of you, as my disciples. You are all disciples, yet you were not born from the same mother. You have different parents and children here. Yet, we are all on this path. Now, suppose disciples of other masters come—for instance, disciples of Swami Vivekānanda. They can come, listen, and learn something from us. They can be with us, but they remain disciples of Swami Vivekānanda. I will respect them. We can give knowledge and hold them in our hearts with respect, as we do our own disciples, but their allegiance is to Vivekānanda. It is like children here: we all love a little child, everyone says "hello," but the mother is one. How many women, mothers, children, and husbands are here? Yet we are all one. One should not change this allegiance. You cannot change it. If you do, you become lost. As it is said in a lecture, "Who knows Kṛṣṇa?" That is the Bhagavad Gītā. Kṛṣṇa knows what the Bhagavad Gītā is. The Bhagavad Gītā was written afterward; Kṛṣṇa was gone, yet we say, "Kṛṣṇa is telling this." Good, why not? Kṛṣṇa, Janamejaya, Gītā. A mother knows who the father is, yes or no? Similarly, you know who your guru is. You may go to other gurus and learn everything, be with everyone, but you are a disciple of that guru, not this one. That child may be very good, but ultimately, it belongs to that mother. A real master, a real guru, will ask, "From where are you? Who is your guru?" Then you will say, "My guru is that one." The guru beside whom you are sitting, what will he say to this disciple? He will give so much glory to that other guru. He will speak so highly of him that this disciple will feel as if my guru, who is already in the Lokas with me, is present. That is a real guru. If you wish to go, then go. But do not go left, right, left, slack, tick. That is nothing. Āsanas and prāṇāyāmas, a little something—it's okay, we gain something. But then they think, "I am meditation. I am a yogī." You have not understood, and it ends there. In the forest, when something approaches, all the deer run away. Similarly, those who have not yet 100,000% taken their guru into their heart, you should know they are still a disciple, not a master. We need quality, not quantity. When you have taken your mantra and initiation, you know where your guru is. You know what we are doing. For many years I too was searching, coming with my Gurujī. My Gurujī gave me love and knowledge. He told me where it is, and so it is. Finally, we found Ālakpurījī. It is like when your child is happy seeing the grandfather. The grandfather and grandmother love that child more than their own child, and the great-grandfather loves even more. We have that paramparā. I have seen other paths. This is not yoga, but another path—the path of my family roots, of Brahmins and others. My Brahmin lineage is connected. That literature is everywhere, from the Satyogīs, from the Dharmas. From there came others, and last year a very great person compiled all this, and my generation is there. So he too is our guru, like our Gurudev. So are our children. Now is the Kali Yuga. In Kali Yuga, your husband is with another woman, another woman with that husband, and families are mixed—from China, from Africa. We call this Ṛṣibhīṣī. If you miss it, you will be cast out, but what to do? The guru paramparā I have goes up to Ālak Purījī. There was the time of Śiva, but I do not know who was the guru of Ālak Purījī. I received Ālak Purījī from Satyuga. In the literature I am reading, a book came from Germany, from a very old library about 250,000 years old. The author of the publication... This is Kavi Kālidāsa, and it is in the German language. It takes me three minutes to read two letters. Other Germans can still read it. Whoever can read Hindi can read Sanskrit. There, Kāvīkālidāsa writes about Ālakpurījī. They call it Alakhpurī—this is a dialect. That Alakhpurī is in the Himalayas, about 20-30 kilometers distant. Where Ālagpurījī is, that is called the capital of Alkapuri. At that time, this was the kingdom of Ālagpurījī. Today, it is called the Alkapuri Glacier. These are mountains; many of you know about glaciers. Seventy percent of glaciers have melted. Every year when I go, I see them gone, gone, gone. But the river bears the name of Ālakpurījī. At that time, Ālakpurījī’s disciple was Nanda Devī. Nanda Devī was of Bhagavān Śiva. At the time when Bhagavān Rāma, Śiva, and Śiva’s Pārvatī wished to marry, there were two sisters: Gaṅgā and Pārvatī. Gaṅgā Devī, after her work, went to Brahmaloka. Pārvatī wanted to marry Śiva. Someone told Pārvatī, "You cannot get Śiva, but if you truly wish, there is a forest with a Śiva temple. Long ago, a Devī Śakti named Nandā Devī performed tapasyā there for Hanumān and Śiva." Nanda Devī is gone; she was a disciple of Ālak Purījī. But someone said, "There is Nanda Devī’s forest." When we go to the Himalayas, to Badrināth and so on, up to where Śaṅkarācārya is placed, for many years this has been Nanda Devī’s forest. The name remains. It was said that if you go to the Nanda Devī forest, where there is a Śiva Liṅga and temple, and perform tapasyā there, then Śiva will have to marry you. The Himalaya: Śiva was the king of the Himalaya. After Śiva, all who became king of the Himalaya always bore the name Śiva. Pārvatī wished to marry. I do not know for how many years she performed sādhanā. Then the king came to know Pārvatī was there and wanted to take her, but she said, "No, I will not. I will marry Śiva." The story is very long. Finally, Śiva had to marry Pārvatī. When Pārvatī was wedded to Śiva, again my family generation appears. He was the Brahmin who performed the wedding of Pārvatī and Śiva. Vṛgācārya did it. Vṛgācārya performed the ceremony. If you do not believe, go and read the books. You can read in the Bhagavān Śivapurāṇa. If we listen here, it is very long. If we read every day, it will come: Gṛgācārya. So the living Śiva there, and all the ṛṣis, said, "Gṛgācārya, please, you should perform the ceremonies of Pārvatī and Śiva." It is a very long story; we could read it here in continuation from that Śivapurāṇa. Indo-European. Yes, he did not come to India. Indo-European, not European-Indo. It is Indo-European, not European-Indian. I did not know; I did not read or learn there, but history tells. So Pārvatī was married, and whatever her problem, it is not my problem. I will not go further. That forest is called Nandadevi. Kavi Kālidāsa, who lived about 300 years before Christ, speaks of Nanda Devī at that time. He says Nanda Devī was with the cows; she was a shepherdess. One day, a tiger came. Nanda Devī was taking care of the cows. A very big tiger came; it would eat a cow, and she knew what was happening. She became a cow and went in front of the others. The tiger... I am not telling stories from Kripālu. That book which is there, written, is how many years old? 200 or something. The book is with me. If you do not wish to read or believe me, you can read my book here. Please open my book. If you do not understand, then you are like a woman. So we need two, one on this side and one on that side. A joke is always something, you know? You understand? But here the Austrians are sitting like this. You see, they do not understand. Austrians are always so. They are like this. Come on. Oh, God. When Austrians make like this, the Czechs do not want to do it. I am always in between. Om Namaḥ Śivāya, Om Namaḥ Śivāya, Om Namaḥ Śivāya... Tiger. At that time, tigers were big. That tiger at that time is now all like a cat. So all are cats now. Sale is sale, but now very few are sitting like here. Like a cat. Become like a tiger. Straight, please. Otherwise, I will put you in that posture in yoga and in life—the tiger posture. Have you or not? Yes. Then, are you a billy or a tiger? Tiger. Yes, this is the thing, sir. Of course, whether you like it or not. That was, and that is, and it is. Nanda Devī. I would say about 65 percent of the females are in the front. Yes, in every way. Great, they are Śakti. But now there is no Śakti. Yes, really. There are many better men, like Śakti. That is that. Yes, we are. We are, and are we? Okay? What is Nanda Devī? There was another cow, a male. And the other, also like a male cow, that big cow—what you call the bull—he put his tongue out and made the... But as Nanda Devī, the woman: when something happens in the house, the woman comes out and the dog opens and says, "What are you doing here? What do you want?" When something happens, it is the woman who opens the door and goes out to deal with it, while the man drinks alcohol at home. But that was. Now we are all one. One in all and all in one. You see, I am talking. At least you should not be talking. Then at least move this here, please. And those who have forgotten, go to your room, your sleeping room, and bring it. Pokoj a přineste si je, because one fish can spoil the whole. Thank you very much once more. Please, if you are... otherwise, women are best here. They will give you something, boys, okay? All right. You see, everything is good, but there is a tiger here. There is a tiger, and that tiger is unfortunately Corona, and it can do many bad things to anybody. So please, it is not me, nor our organizers. There is Mr.—what was his name?—Vasant. And you know, Vasant is like this beautiful forest. He said it is not for you, nor for others, but for all. Always, I would like to come close to you and sit there, and this is too little. So I have this all. So it goes that side and it goes this side. Please, we have to care for ourselves. The tiger was so powerful in attack. And Nanda Devī, she came as a cow and said to the tiger, "I know you, Tiger. I know why you have come. You will eat one cow, but I will not let my cows be eaten. Yet I will not let you go without, so eat me." The tiger said, "Who are you?" "I am Nanda Devī." The tiger said, "I will eat you." She said, "I came here thinking you would eat me, but I give two premises. First, on this place where I am standing, there should be one of my temples." Where we go to Badrinath, very near there, is Dr. Shanti’s house, and about 200 or 300 meters distant is Nanda Devī’s temple. When you go, you must go to this place. See, it is a great, great, great... The temple is a little nothing, but it is that. Śakti is that, power is that, mother is that, everything. "Second, my Gurujī’s river is on my Gurujī’s name. I would like to flow with my Gurujī. So please give me also my name with my Guru." It was the Alak River, but now it was given the name Alaknanda. So now that river is known as Alaknanda. The other is Bhagīratha, and Bhagīratha’s disciple was Gaṅgā. So Bhagīratha also said, "The name of this river will be Gaṅgā." So either the Ganga comes from there, Bhagīrathī, or the Alaknandā comes, and there both rivers come together, and that gives the Gaṅgā Devī, and then the real Gaṅgā river is from there. Of course, many, many are going and going. So, my dear, it does not matter where you are and where I am sitting. But on the day when this prāṇa leaves the body, then that jīva will come on that path. Therefore, do not go to this guru, that guru, no. We should know our complete root, from here to there. This is for us to understand, all our bhaktas, all of us, including myself, that we are searching and we are still searching to go further. So, who has been to the Alaknanda and Ālakpurī’s cave? Thank you. And who was not there? Thank you. This year we will not go; this corona problem is too much. But others, if we believe God does something, then you come there. Beyond Ālakpurījī is Devpurījī’s Kufa cave. Ālakpurījī had many, many caves. The ones I know, the shepherds there told me, "This is Ālakpurījī’s cave." I was there, and I tell you something. There are so many bhaktas here who feel hot in the sun. Please, come to this side, to my side; you will feel better. But keep distance. Okay, come here, you can come till here. Beautiful. Sad. This side also. Only these people, they do not want me to come close to you. Okay, nobody lets me come close. Okay, I will be alone here. The river begins where the glaciers of Ālakpurī are. It is said from there the connection is very close to our Śiva mountain, very high. What do we call it? Kailāśa. Kailāśa. When we look high up from an airplane, it is something like... let us say Brno is too far, but of course the hills are up and down and very hard. So one day we will come to Ālakpurī and feel that we are. I think I was there three or four times. Three or four times I had the darśan of Ālakpurījī—in different forms, different things. Dr. Shanti said she had visions two or three times. I had a vision in a waterfall: first, in the waterfall was the face of Ālakpurījī, and in the cave—not a cave, in a very big rock—there he appeared. Once he had a crown. So, two or three times I had darśan. I saw some people, but I could not catch them. Now, someone who is a very good artist... I looked with my eyes for a long time, and Ālak Purījī appeared. So that is what has been given. Very soon, I will show you and give it to you. When I am done, I will show it to you. Om hara hara śivāya, om hara hara śivāya. So we know, it does not matter where you are born or how you are, but you should know your roots. At that time, the guru paramparā was that. A stejné je to i tehdy, guru paramparā. And so we have this Ālagpurījī’s paramparā, and so you came to me because there is some kind of power inside. Like iron and magnet: when the magnet is there, iron comes automatically. So it is around the whole world. This is what I wanted to tell.

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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