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A story came to my mind just now, one that Swāmījī would often tell. Sometimes, when we engage in seva, work, and karma yoga, we think, "I am doing this. If I were not here, who would do it?" We feel it is all up to us. We all know the difference between sakāma karma and niṣkāma karma—in one, we expect something; in the other, we simply act. Swāmījī once told a story about an Indian family. In front was an ox, and behind it was a trolley. They loaded everything onto this trolley, and the whole family was sitting on it as they traveled. A little dog was running behind them. Eventually, the dog managed to get under the trolley, into the shade, and continued running there. Under the trolley, he ran and ran behind the bull. He became both angry and sad, thinking, "They are all sitting on this trolley with the whole weight, and I, this little dog, have to carry them all." He saw this as a great injustice. In this way, he walked and walked, growing weaker and weaker under the imagined burden. Finally, he decided, "No, I do not want this. They can do what they want, but without me, they will see how they go any farther." He thought nobody would work for them if he stopped, so he sat down. What happened to the cart, the trolley, and the ox? They went farther. Without him. And he was just sitting there, looking after them. I think this was a kind of enlightenment for him: everything will go on also without oneself. Therefore, when we do something for someone and they say, "Thank you," our reply, "It's my pleasure," is not merely a comment. It is truly our pleasure. We are happy that we get the possibility to do some karma yoga, that we have the opportunity. And this is not self-verständlich—not obvious, not granted. It is also our good karma that we receive the possibility to do karma yoga and seva. That is why our beloved, respected Holy Gurujī always prays. He says 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." So, when there is a question in our ashram for help, a need—"Please help us, please come, we need three or four people"—we should truly fight for that place. We can do it. There is a bhajan by the holy saint Ācāla Rāmajī. He writes and sings about what makes a human a human. He says that without work, one does not accomplish everything in this world. One gets nothing. Nothing will come to us if we do not truly work for it. Those who do not work but mistakenly receive something will lose it. As we say in German, "Wie es kommt, so geht es"—as it comes, so it goes. Or in Czech: "Ten, kdo nepracuje tvrdě..." (Those who do not work hard...). The real name of God is hard work. Through this work, one becomes perfect. All the saints, the ṛṣis, the Vedas, and the scriptures say this. That is why Śrī Ācāla Rāmajī said: "Without effort, a woman is neither a woman, nor is a man a man." He sings: > Dvameva mātā japita dvameva, > dvameva bandhu jasaka dvameva, > dvameva vidyā draviṇam dvameva, > ameva sarva deva deva... > Uṣarat pīna nahī pāve. > Duniya me jite koi pina nahi pave, > duniya me jite koi dharma, artha, kama, > mokṣa, puruṣa tak ke koi. > Dharma, artha, kāma, mokṣa, puruṣārtha ke cār. > Nāi pāve, nāi pāve,... nāi pāve. > Usko sabko, ichchhākāre vāsoī, puruṣarūpīna nahīṁ pāve, dhanī aṁ chit koī. > Puruśāra pīnā nāhi pāve, Tundīyā me chīcha koi. > Dharmārya thakā mahāru mukti, Puruśāra karki hoi. ... > Puruśāra bina nahi pāvhe, Dhoniya me jīta koi. > Puruśāra bina nahi pāvhe. > Dhoniya me jeet koi puruṣa rahinā jo prāṇī harāchī che dekhā rohī. > Puruṣa rahinā jo prāṇī harāchī che dekhā rohī, > usko mil nahī kuch bhī. Agar mil toh dekhā koi. > Usko mil nahī kuch bhī, agar mil to dekha koī. > Purushār pīnā nahī pāve, duniyā me jeet koī. ... > Jauhe devā ke parose, morakā janamagamāī. ... > Devā nāmahe purushārat, karne se siddha hoī. > Deva nāmahe puruṣarat, karne se siddha hoī. > Puruṣarat binā nahīṁ pāve, dhanī ame chīche koī. > Porosharat bina nahi pave, Dhoni ame cheeche koi. > Puruṣa kā lakṣaṇa, puruṣa rat śruti santa kahe soi. ... > Acala, rama, utyogahīna, nara-narīvonadhoi. ... > Puruṣara pīna nahīṁ pāve, doniyā meṁ chiche koī. > Porushāra pīnā nahīṁ pāve, doniyā meṁ chiche koī. > dharmārtha kāmāra mukti puruṣārtha kārke hoi, > dharmārtha kāmāra mukti puruṣārtha kārke hoi. When we listen to the bhajans, the saints, yogis, and avatars give us so much knowledge through them. The whole knowledge, the whole wisdom about yoga, about God, and about our Self is inside the bhajans. Even if we do not understand—like me, I often do not understand; I would write down notes when Swāmījī translated quickly—even without that understanding, simply singing and listening has a great effect. We sing bhajans to the glory of God and Gurudev. Some contain instructions or descriptions of what we should do. Others contain longing, desire, viraha, the pain of the heart, like the bhajans of the holy saint Mīrābāī, who sang to her beloved God, Kṛṣṇa Svāmī—Milovanému Bohu Krišṇovi. In this bhajan, Śrī Ācārya Rāmajī speaks of the Puruṣārthas. He says there are four things we should reach in our life, the four Puruṣārthas. The first is dharma: to fulfill one's own dharma. Dharma is like a mother, a father; dharma towards our society; dharma as a daughter or son; dharma as a disciple or teacher. Every position we hold in this life has its own dharma. If we do not fulfill this dharma, it will become our karma. Of course, it is not always easy to fulfill this dharma, but by trying and trying, we will manage. Our Gurudev always gives us a good guideline for how to do it. The second Puruṣārtha is artha. What does artha mean? It means to attain something in this life, to have a kind of wealth. We should have something to give to our family, to invite people, to host guests. We must also give to society. It is a kind of wealth where we are not dependent on others but help others. We should be independent financially, emotionally, and mentally, yet be there for others. The next is kāma: to fulfill emotional desires, to create a family and attain a kind of satisfaction. If we lack this satisfaction, jealousy and greed towards others can arise. But if we have it, we can support others. And finally, of course, our aim in this human life is mukti, liberation. Here, I can say this is the blessing of our Gurudev, which gives us the final liberation from all bondages. It does not matter. One Swāmījī gave an example: there are two kinds of bondages. He spoke of a cow in a stable. One cow is bound with iron chains, and another with golden chains. If a great fire breaks out, both cows try to run away, but they cannot because they are bound. It does not matter if the chain is golden or iron; both are equally bound. In this way, these are our attachments and belongings, about which Swāmījī spoke so beautifully yesterday. A to je naše připoutanost—this is our attachment, which does not let us go. Včera o tom Swamiji krásně mluví. It does not matter if it is our pleasantness or our suffering. I když je to utrpení anebo naopak něco příjemného. Whether the chain is golden or iron, it is the same. To be rid of it all, the only way is through Niṣkāma Karma and the blessing of Gurudeva, which finally gives us Mokṣa. Mūlaṁ Guru Kṛpā—the root is the Guru's grace. Požehnání Gurudeva, díky kterému dosáhneme Mokṣy. Here, Ācārya Rāmajī says that to achieve these goals in life is possible only through hard work in all respects. Our phenomenon is so vast and incomprehensible, so it is a lot of work. Time does not wait for anybody. We know time passes so quickly, and the richer we become in years, the quicker it goes. If we dare to look back, we might say, "What have we 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 slowly, slowly it is beginning to drip. It is starting to rain.