TV Channel

As you know, today is the holy day of Dīvālī, the holy day of Bhagavān Śrī Rām, Sītā, Lakṣmaṇ, and Hanumānjī returning to their palace in Ayodhyā. This is the day commemorating Bhagavān Rāma’s return. You know that across the whole world, in many countries, there are very big temples dedicated to Bhagavān Rām. There are many beautiful depictions of Hanumānjī and the monkeys. From across the great ocean, all the way to Sri Lanka and beyond, the presence of God Rāma was felt everywhere. How this was, I cannot fully say. The journey of Bhagavān Rāma, Lakṣmaṇa, and Sītā was made on foot. Certain things happen because without them, other things would not come to pass. Bhagavān Rāma went into the forest. The story is very long and is found in a beautiful book, the Rāmāyaṇa. First, there is the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa. Then, there is the Tulsī Rāmāyaṇa. Tulsī Dāsjī was a great saint who translated it from the Sanskrit of Vālmīkijī into the local language. It is a very great and very accessible text. When God returned to Ayodhyā, and the message came that Bhagavān Rām was coming to his palace, people traveled from many thousands of kilometers to have darśana of Bhagavān Rāma. When Bhagavān Rām came, so many people were arriving that it was sunset and dark. All the people from the villages lit oil lamps so those walking would have a path to follow. Everyone came while dancing and singing beautiful bhajans, happy, playing many different instruments. No one was tired. People also hung fruits, food, and vegetables from the trees for others to eat. It is said that on that day, there were many, many trees decorated. In one book for little children, there is even mention of a cradle placed so children could watch, and parents would put them in that cradle. When night came, lights were lit everywhere. Someone put lights on the tops of trees so people would know there was light. People were so happy. That is the greatness of this day. Bhagavān Rām, Sītā, Lakṣmaṇ, and their brother Bharat all came together, embracing. When you hug someone, there is no duality. A spiritual and loving person—why not hug? At one time, Bhagavān Rām was also hugging, and he had tears. Why not? Hanuman was Bhagavān Rāma’s devotee and friend, and a message was coming from Sītā. When the message came, Bhagavān Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa were very happy. This is from such books. The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa is from how many years ago, I do not know, and is in Sanskrit. You can have that book. Bhagavān Rām is coming today. He meets first with his brother Bhārata, and then with the mothers, because Bhagavān Rām’s father had three wives. One gave birth to one brother, and the third gave birth to two brothers, making four brothers in total. It is a big story. But when you are the dearest of the dear ones, how happy we are! We run to hug each other because that is the love of the heart, from heart to heart. Do you know how they hug each other? How will you do it? Your heart and the other’s heart should meet, heart to heart. When you hug someone, you should know how. We go like this. Who is coming from this side goes that way. Our head goes to the right side, and the heart is on the left side. Maybe some don’t know this; they will know today. Which side will you hug? If you go to the other side, then it’s empty. It should be heart to heart, eyes to eyes, and breath to breath—not breathing in like this, but the breath that makes my heart and lungs expand. Sometimes it stops my breath. That must be my love for that one. We will go further into that next time. The people were coming and going. Everyone stood on the path in Ayodhyā, day and night, waiting for their guest. They gave whatever they had at the holy feet of Bhagavān Rām. Bhagavān Rām said, "It is all for Sītā." And Sītā is Lakṣmī. So, Lakṣmī, they are all giving in the presence of Lakṣmī. Then what? Because people will need cloth, food, medicine. We want to give them some gold. In that time, money was not used; it was silver and gold. When people were going back, others gave them a lot of sweets and other things. On that day, they give what we call money, because you will need it on the way. So when a sādhu comes, a śānta comes, they tell Lakṣmījī, and she gives something: food, some cloth, and some money. So on that day, the next day—tomorrow—when we meet each other, it is called "Rām Rām Sā. Śrī Rām Sā." Everyone will say, "Rām-Rām-Sā, Rām-Rām-Sā," and Lakṣmī Mātā keeps giving and giving. Even now, in families or among friends, they give something. They give the children some sweets and some money. Yes, today I have no bhaktas here with me; I am alone here talking. Otherwise, they would give me something also, and I would give further. So there is a heart. It is a heart. I give you my heart. I am thine, and I will always be thine. It is a friend. Bhagavān Rām said at that time, "I don’t tell you any other name because you became my friend." Brother or friend is the same. But it is said: the brother from the same mother, of course they are our brothers, but our friends—we have to take friends as real mother, real blood. There are other countries, like in Europe, what they called Yugoslavia. Some people told me that when they make a friend, it is like brother to brother—not a mother’s brother, our brother’s mother’s child—but if someone became my friend, then it is like my blood to blood. They told me that they took blood from their hand and mixed it, blood to blood. That was so. That is the brother, and it means I am his blood brother. That’s a friend. So Dīvālī is a day for giving all happiness. But some steal things; that is like an animal. Some crows take them and fly away, or dogs take them. But another thing: they are not happy to take, but if one doesn’t give, then that brother who made a blood-to-blood bond says, "You are not my blood brother." In India we say, when you eat food in my house, there is salt inside. So when I eat your salt in your house, then you are my brother, my friend. You will never do anything negative to me. When I came to Europe—maybe to Czechoslovakia, Hungary, not Hungary, but Yugoslavia, and many of these countries—when a guest comes home, a guest is different, and a friend and brother are different. What do they say? When someone comes as a good friend, they will offer bread or a chapati. There is bread, a complete bread, not half, or one complete chapati, not half. In one cup they give salt, and they offer it like this. They will take the bread, dip it in the salt, and you eat. Then they will say, "You are my friend," and they will hug heart to heart. So, my dear all, you are listening somewhere in the whole world. When you are hugging friend to friend or brother to brother, then it is heart to heart. Sometimes they do it on both sides, this side and that side, and that means it is both sides, as brother and sister, giving us the same thing. These are all from ancient times. It is said in the book, the Holy Bible, that Jesus said, "Thou art the salt." So we are the salt of the earth. We will again come and be in the earth. We came from the earth, and we go again to the earth. And the love, the faintness, the soul, the ātmā, becomes happy ātmā and jīva. So that is the ātmā, and we are the jīvātmā. Jīvātmā and Ātmā. That’s why in our bhajan, prayer, everything is in these three words. From the beginning, from that, the new year begins. This all is from that time also, with what we call Jyotiṣ. Also, Bhagavān Rāma said when he was in the forest where to go and when—he always knew by heart. He said, "Tomorrow, this time, the moon is that, the sun is right, we should go." So there are Māyā and Rāma and Dīvālī. Dīvālī, dīvo, dīpak. This is the light, and light in our heart—the light of our eyes, the light of our whole being. When we love them, what is love? Love is not different from love, but everything. Yes, we love you. And that is the light, happiness. Similarly, my dear, tomorrow we will say "Rām Rām," we will give each other something. And wherever you are, anywhere, you should take your money and put it at Gurudev’s feet. Give it to Gurudeva for you. Give, give, give. Don’t take, take, no. But it is said, there is one nice poem: "Chidia chanch bharle gayi, nadiyan gatiyani." That is it. A thirsty bird comes to a very big river. One little bird comes and drinks one drop of water. The river will not become less. Similarly, what can we give? Don’t think that my money will be less. "Chanach" means the mouth, so the beak. Tulsīdās is saying about this; these are great things. So today, the corona is behind, everything is again. Bhagavān Rām is there, Lakṣmaṇ and Sītā, all we are there. So tomorrow is that day, and you should be that: I am yours, thy self. I am thy self. Today we have our brother, our bhakta, our Swāmī. He is from the Czech Republic and has been in Omāśrama for many years. He will come again. I think he knows a little bit about Dīvālī and will tell something. He came today because I am here. For two or three days, he was coming for a test to see if it was positive or negative. So he was negative, not positive. He arrived. He’s my disciple, and I think he will tell something. Thank you, and listen, because my lecture on Swamiji Television is for the whole world. Wherever you have a telephone or this device, you can learn and listen. This is called Swamiji Television. So it is not that me and Niranjan Purī are in front of a hundred people. No. We are a few people living in the ashram, but now we are for the whole world. I think he will speak in Czech language, or will you speak in Hindi? Okay, so you will speak in Hindi and he will speak in Czech. What translation? Because it’s Hindi, you have to do both Czech and Hindi, please. English and Czech, or only Hindi? They mostly know around the world, yeah. And time to time, you can say Czech. It’s just one year that Dīvālī came back, and it’s a bit different this year, like Guru Pūrṇimā. But the essence is the same. May Gurudev be in India, may he be in the Czech Republic or Australia? Can you turn a little to my side, because you have half light only? So turn this side, with your… OK, good, still. The essence is that we are with Gurudev. Thanks to our global Gurukul, thanks to Swamījī TV, it is just to open the page and to be in eye contact with Śrī Gurudev. We did not have such an opportunity in our past lives. So we should be very thankful to modern technology that this is enabled for us. Of course, the darśana of Gurudev is available even without electronic devices. It is just to dive inside our heart and think of Gurudev, because he is the dīpak which we are lighting today. We may go through some waves up and down, but Gurudev is always the light, which is pure, and the love, the mercy. So the shortest way to satsaṅg, to sattva, is to think of Gurudev. Dīvālī is the festival of lights. It is symbolic because it comes on the Amāvasyā, the empty moon. In Jadana Āśrama, there are hundreds of dīpaks lit around. As Swamiji already said, the name Dīvālī comes from the full name, which is Dīpāvalī. In that, we can hear "dīp," which means the oil lamp, the light. That’s why we can see hundreds and thousands of dīpaks all around India—millions. If we remember the satsaṅgs, Dīvālī satsaṅgs from Jadana Āśrama for the past 15–20 years, it’s a very beautiful atmosphere. The dīpaks are all around the Bhakti Sāgara, Śiva Temple in Om Āśrama, in the hospital, at the school, all around the āśrama. The bhaktas, the Indian bhaktas, come to Gurudev to greet him. And Gurudev prepares gifts for the bhaktas and for all workers. Every year we count all the workers we have in the ashram, and before the day of Dīvālī, they get their Dīvālī gift. So it is similar to Christmas in Europe. Traditionally, these are practical things of daily use. For example, last year, all the workers got a beautiful carpet for their homes. Sometimes it is an eating set with thālī, katorī, and glass. Another year it was a beautiful dīpak for making the light. So the tradition of receiving or giving gifts is very typical for Dīvālī. It’s a family festival. People always decorate their houses, they clean them, they may paint them, and they make decorations. Often, in front of the houses, they make some paintings on the ground. It can be either white or in colors. It’s called Raṅgolī. It’s something like maṇḍalas—very colorful, very beautiful, creating a very positive atmosphere. People very much look forward to Dīvālī because it’s the most important Hindu family festival of the year. It takes about five days for the celebration, starting with Dhanteras, which was the day before yesterday. Dhanteras is the festival of Lord Dhanvantari, the Lord of Āyurveda. Viśvagurujī often mentions in his satsaṅgs what the principle behind it is. Then the next day is Naraka Caturdaśī, famous for the historical event when Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa killed the demon Narakāsura. The third day is actually Dīvālī, today, when we celebrate the return of Lord Rāma to Ayodhyā. Also, in the evening, people perform Lakṣmī Pūjā. The next day, a big part of India celebrates Govardhan Pūjā. The last, fifth day, is Bhai Dūj, the day of brothers and sisters, celebrating their close relationship. Dīvālī, like many other festivals, comes on Amāvasyā. Amāvasyā, as a new moon, is a day of introversion in spirituality. In the Hindu tradition, they would not make any important decisions or start any new businesses on Amāvasyā. Weddings and such ceremonies are never done on Amāvasyā. It is a day of purification, of introversion, of worship, of going to temples. If you look at the Hindu calendar, there are many important Amāvasyās through the year. If we relate it a little with the European calendar, we can understand how it comes chronologically. In the Hindu month of Māgha (approximately January-February), in the middle comes the Maunī Amāvasyā. In Prayāg, every year there is a Kumbh Melā which lasts one month, from the full moon of Pauṣa to the full moon of Māgha. After six years, it is called Ardh Kumbh Melā; after twelve years, it is Mahā Kumbh Melā. Every year on this Kumbh, there is the Maunī Amāvasyā, one of the most important bathing days during the Kumbh Melā. All the sādhus and saints try to be in Prayāgrāj on this day to take a bath at the Saṅgam of Gaṅgā, Yamunā, and Sarasvatī. Of course, those who cannot reach there try to do it as a Mānasik Pūjā, to dive within. Those who cannot come there physically try to do the bath internally. Then in the next month, Phālguna, comes Śivarātri. Śivarātri actually comes on the Trayodaśī or Caturdaśī, one or two days before Amāvasyā, but it is always linked with Amāvasyā. Śivarātri is connected to Amāvasyā. Then comes Caitra Amāvasyā, which marks the Navarātri, the spring Navarātri. On the Jyeṣṭha Amāvasyā (somewhere in May-June), there is the celebration of Śani, the birthday of Saturn. In the monsoon, we have the Hariyālī Amāvasyā, the Amāvasyā of the green. Then Āśvina Amāvasyā marks the autumn Navarātri. Finally comes the Kārtika Amāvasyā, which is Dīpāvalī. This is the most important for us because it is the birthday of Bhagavān Śrī Nārāyaṇa Mahāprabhujī. If you look in the Līlāmṛta, it is written that it was on Śivarātri when Śrī Devpurījī visited the Holy Mother Candraḍhecī, he announced that Bhagavān Śrī Nārāyaṇa Mahāprabhujī would be incarnated on Dīvālī. Also, there are other important dates of the yogī’s life connected to Amāvasyā. Viśvagurujī’s holy mother took Mahāsamādhi two days after the Amāvasyā of Āṣāḍha. Then, after two days after Hariyālī Amāvasyā, we celebrate Devpurījī’s Mahāsamādhi. And Viśvagurujī’s incarnation day, his avatāra divasa, is three days after the Hariyālī Amāvasyā. Holī Gurujī’s birthday is on Bhādrapada Amāvasyā. So there are many important days which show that Amāvasyā is a day of spirituality. If we take the message of Bhagavān Śrī Nārāyaṇa Mahāprabhujī, if we are able to follow the pure teachings which he brought to us, then our life will become successful, healthy, harmonious, pure, and spiritual. So it is a festival of light and a festival of spirituality. For now, push your gear out. Key child.