TV Channel

A story came to mind just now, one Swāmījī often used to tell. Sometimes when we practice seva, work, and karma yoga, we begin to think, “I am doing all this. If I weren’t here, who would do it?” Of course, we already know the difference between niṣkāma karma and sakāma karma—between action without expectations and action driven by desires. Yet the journey to simply doing, to just acting without attachment, is long. And once Swāmījī shared a story about an Indian family traveling with a cart. An ox pulled the trolley, and the entire family sat on it, loaded with their belongings. A little dog ran along behind them, and eventually he managed to slip under the trolley, into its shade. There he ran and ran, trotting beneath the cart, right behind the ox. But as he ran, anger and sorrow filled him. He thought, “They are all sitting on this trolley—the whole weight is theirs—and I, this tiny dog, have to carry them all.” Finally he decided, “Enough. They can do as they please. Without me, they’ll see how far they get. Nobody else will work for them.” And he sat down. What happened? The cart and the ox simply moved on. Without him. He sat there, watching them go. And I think this brought him a kind of enlightenment: everything goes on perfectly well without oneself. So whenever we do something for another and someone says, “Thank you,” our response—“It’s my pleasure”—is not just a polite phrase. It truly is our pleasure. We are genuinely happy to have the possibility to engage in karma yoga. It is not, as they say, self-evident. It is, in fact, our good karma that we receive the opportunity to perform karma yoga and to offer seva. Our beloved, respected Holy Gurujī always prays, and he often recounts that he had one wish from Mahāprabhujī: “Let me always, in every life, be your sevak and with devotion serve your lotus feet, your holy lotus feet.” If a call goes out in our āśram for help—“Please come, we need three or four people”—then truly we should vie for that place. We can do it. There is a bhajan by the holy saint Āchal Rāmjī. In it, he sings about what makes a human truly human. He states that without work, nothing is achieved in this world. Nothing will come to us unless we genuinely work for it. And those who do not work, yet mistakenly receive something, will lose it. As the German saying goes, “Wie gewonnen, so zerronnen”—easy come, easy go. The real name of God, he says, is hard work. Through such work, one attains perfection. All the saints, the ṛṣis, the Vedas and the scriptures declare the same. Therefore Śrī Āchal Rāmjī said: “Without effort, a woman is not truly a woman, nor a man truly a man.” Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān Kī Jaya, Śrī Śrī Devī Śvarma Deva Kī Jaya. When we listen to bhajans, the saints, yogīs, and avatāras impart immense knowledge through them. The whole wisdom about yoga, about God, about our own self lies hidden within the bhajans. Even if we do not understand—like me—sometimes Swāmījī would quickly translate or jot down notes to help us grasp just a little of the meaning. Sometimes we sing bhajans in praise of God, in glorification of Gurū Dev. At other times, a bhajan contains a description of how we should live. There are also bhajans filled with longing, with viraha, with the heart’s deep ache. Think of our holy saint Mīrābāī, singing bhajans to her beloved, to God Kṛṣṇa. In this bhajan, too, the Puruṣa, Śrī Ācārya Rāmse, speaks of four things we should reach in our human life. They are the four puruṣārthas. The first is dharma: to fulfill one’s own dharma—the dharma of a mother, of a father, the dharma towards society, the dharma of a daughter or a son, the dharma of a disciple, the dharma of a teacher. Every position we occupy in this life carries its own dharma. If we fail to fulfill it, that very failing becomes our karma. It is not always easy to fulfill this dharma, but through consistent effort we will manage. And always, our Gurudev gives us sound guidance on how to do so. The second puruṣārtha is artha. What does artha mean? It means to acquire in this life some form of wealth. It is something we should have not only to provide for our family and host guests, but also to give back to society. Such wealth enables us to be independent rather than dependent, while still being there for others. We should be financially, emotionally, and mentally independent, yet wholly available to support those around us. The third is kāma: the fulfillment of our emotional and relational desires. To create a family and find a measure of satisfaction is a legitimate aim. Without such inner satisfaction, jealousy and greed toward others tend to grow. But when contentment dwells within us, we can truly support others. And finally, of course, the highest aim of this human life is mukti, liberation. Here I can only say: it is the blessing of our Gurudev that grants us final release from all bondages. One Swāmījī illustrated this with an example: two cows are tied in a stable. One is bound with iron chains, the other with golden chains or a silk rope. If a great fire breaks out, it makes no difference whether a cow is bound with gold or iron—neither can escape. Likewise, our attachments and possessions, which Swāmījī spoke of yesterday, become the chains we boast about, the chains that refuse to let us go. It does not matter whether we cling to pleasantness or to suffering, whether the chain is golden or of iron—the bondage is the same. To be freed from all of this, the only way is niṣkāma karma and the blessing of Gurudev, which finally brings mokṣa. It is mūla guru kṛpā, the grace of the master. Thus, Āchal Rāmjī declared that to attain these four puruṣārthas in human life, it is possible only through hard work—in every aspect. Our life’s opportunity is so vast and indescribable that it demands tremendous effort, and time waits for no one. We know how swiftly time passes; as the years go by, it seems to accelerate. And if we dare to look back, we may ask, “What have we truly done in all these years?” It is a pity. Swāmījī says the greatest sin is to waste time. Use it or lose it. Thank you very much. I think it is slowly beginning to drizzle. Swāmījī, it’s starting to rain. Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān Kī Jaya, Śrī Śrī Deveśvarānanda Purī Jī, Śrī Alakhpurījī Mahādeva Kī Jaya, Śrī Svāmī Madhavānanda Purī Jī, Śrī Viśvaguru, Śrī Svāmī Maheśvarānanda Purī Jī, He Vakīche.