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Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān Kī Jai, Devādidev Dev Purīṣa Mahādev Kī Jai, Satya Sanātana Dharma Kī Jai. It is our Gurujī’s, Mahāprabhujī’s, Holī Gurujī’s, Devpurījī’s, Alakhpurījī’s, and many others sent—many, many Gurus, many saints, and they also have their Gurus. Long ago, I once told you stories that Holī Gurujī often narrated. These are not mere tales; they come from a great ṛṣi of ancient times. The lives of many saints and ṛṣis have been recorded in books. In those days, those who wished to become Sannyāsīs or Swāmīs would go to the forest. They had āśrams, and they also had land. One ṛṣi owned about 200–300 cows and had 30–40 disciples. Each disciple had a specific duty: one brought fodder for the cows, another milked, another cleaned, another cooked, another conducted satsaṅg—everyone worked. These ṛṣis, in the evenings and mornings, would give discourses, just as we are sitting here. In a village about 50 kilometers away, a man had a young son, aged 10 or 14. From childhood, the boy said to his father, “Father, please, I want to go to a ṛṣi, a God-realized one, or a Swāmījī, whatever you call it. I want to go to that āśram.” The father brought the boy, and the ṛṣi said, “Take your child home and let him grow a little longer; later, when he is grown.” But the boy insisted, “Every day I will go to Gurudev.” What stirred within this child that he wanted only bhajan, satsaṅg, and Śiva? He wanted no marriage, no worldly life. He felt that something great must lie beyond the body. The ṛṣi or guru is like a pot. If the pot is genuine, it is whole. If you too are like that—pure, purified, clean within—then your pot is sound. But if one lacks that within, if the ātmā, the soul in the heart, is not there, then the pot is outwardly the same but something is broken inside. Same pot, same water, yet what is inside is either complete or shattered. When there is only a surface and nothing within… Gurujī was always testing. The boy said, “Father, please let me go to Gurujī.” The father was a little sad, but the child went. Immediately, that Guru said, “Take my cows out and bring them back in the evening.” So the boy went to and fro. In the āśram, Gurujī gave him no food, only the instruction to care for the cows. After a month, Gurujī asked, “I gave you no food. How are you surviving?” The boy replied, “Gurudev, I drink milk from the cows.” “That is not right; this milk is for the āśram and the calves. Do not take it.” Then the boy went to a nearby village and brought back a large shawl. Gurujī said, “Thank you, put it here, and go to the cows.” A few days later, Gurujī asked again, “What are you eating? You gave me food, I did not give you. Did you take from the villagers a second time? These are poor people; this is not good.” The boy replied, “Gurudev, I will not do this.” After some time, Gurujī asked once more, “What do you eat?” The boy said, “Gurudev, I do not take milk.” He explained, “When the calf drinks, a little foam comes out. That I eat.” Gurujī scolded, “That is also not good. The calves leave it for you? Do not take it.” Other disciples pleaded, “Gurujī, please do not be so hard on this boy.” But Gurujī said, “You don’t understand. I want to see if he is a real disciple. He will either stand before you or he will run away.” The boy then said, “Gurujī, I do not milk, I do not beg. I take leaves from the trees.” Gurujī retorted, “You take fresh leaves? The trees have just sprouted, and you break them all?” The boy said, “Gurudev, I will not do it.” Finally, he began eating only dry leaves that had fallen from the trees. One day, a heavy rain fell. The āśram had a reservoir, and water was escaping. At night, Gurujī told his bhaktas, “The water is flowing away; we will lose it. Please go and dam the flow.” One devotee said, “Gurujī, more water will come tomorrow. Now we are tired. We are sleeping.” But the boy heard Gurujī’s word and said, “Gurujī, may I go and dam the water?” Gurujī said, “You will not do it.” The boy insisted, “I will do it.” He went to where the water was escaping, placed sand to block it, and lay down in the breach, letting the earth cover him to stop the flow. It was very cold, but he lay there. In the morning, the cows returned, but the boy was missing. The disciples complained, “Gurujī, you torture this disciple so much!” But Gurujī said, “My disciple cannot be,” and went to find him. He said to the boy, “Why did you fall down?” The boy replied, “Gurujī, because I kept your water.” “Very well. Go with the cows, hurry home.” Another day, while eating leaves, the boy consumed some dead leaves that caused blindness. One evening, as he followed the cows, he became blind. There was a dry well, about three meters deep, with no water, and he fell in. The cows returned alone. Everyone asked, “Where is the cowherd? Where is my Abhimanyu?” His name was Abhimanyu. The disciples said, “Gurujī, you torture so much; we cannot bear it. He has run away.” But Gurujī said, “My Abhimanyu will not go. Let us go to where he is.” Someone reported, “A boy has fallen into the well.” Gurujī went and called, “Abhimanyu?” From the well, the boy said, “Gurujī, I am so sorry. Did the cows come home or not? I was hungry, I ate some leaves, and my eyes have gone. Gurudev, did the cows come home?” Gurujī answered, “Yes.” He said, “Abhimanyu, I give you food.” The boy replied, “Yes, Gurudev, but without your giving it, I will not eat.” At that moment, in that very well, God appeared. And He said, “Abhimanyu, I am God.” This is a very great story, for it was God Himself who was torturing Himself. He does not become hungry; yet God was hungry. God came there. Can you find this in any books? When God appeared before Abhimanyu, Abhimanyu wondered, “Whom shall I greet first, God or Gurudev?” In that instant, he realized that without Gurudev, he would never have seen God. So he first bowed to Gurudev, and then to God. That is why it is said: Guru Brahma, Guru Viṣṇu, Guru Maheśvara. And I think Viśvagurujī did not tell this part of the story because he is the one who leads us to God—he is teaching us, guiding us toward God. And who enables us to see God? That is why we can say that Gurudev is even higher than God. That is why I dared to interrupt Viśvagurujī. So to whom do we give first? It is said, first the Guru, because I did not know God before. Why did God not come to me earlier? But He was my God. And Abhimanyu himself became the God. And then Abhimanyu himself became the God. Alakh Purījī Mahādeva, Devādhideva, Devapurīṣa Mahādeva, Satguru Svāmī Mahāprabhujīdīp Kī, Mādhavānandajī Bhagavān Kī, Satya Sanātandarāma, and one more, Vivek Purījī Kī Jai, Vivek Purījī Kī Jai, Kī Jai Hari Om. So in this discourse, I gave you a story. It is not a story; it is reality. That God was inside that, and God Himself was suffering like that. But it means He was not suffering. He is the God in everything, and everything is His. Again, the pot: once more. Day and night. Day, night, and day, night, and day. Yes, that is something from Yogī Nānjī’s bhajan. And one more thing: when I am far, I am at a distance. You know that? How is that? Yes, it is beautiful because it is a story. And the story is that there was a Swāmījī, very importantly, Yogānandjī’s Gurujī. Yoganandjī later came to the western countries. Many people could not come, and many were jealous. Jealousy means burning. How long will it be? Oh, my God. When there is no oil in you, it will burn everything. So Swāmījī Yoganandjī traveled to different places, mostly in Australia and America. I was in his āśram, and I had his book—only that book. But good disciples make it grow inside; the book is big. So, jealousy. One day, someone told Gurujī, “Your Swāmījī is in America, enjoying this and that.” Well, sometimes he also had treasure in that. He was a great teacher, a great master, very learned. Some people told his Gurujī, “Gurujī, he is only enjoying in the Western countries, and he will not come back to you.” So he wrote a letter to his Gurujī, saying that such-and-such persons were saying these things. But his Gurujī replied, “You are my child, you are mine, you are mine. Do not worry. Even if I am not with you, I am always with you.” And how is that? Finally, he said that even if I die, look into me, I will be dead—farther than the stars. And if someone thinks outwardly, “Not this, not that,” “This one is good, that one is not,” that is outward burning. What is that? Jealousy. And there are two things: “jal” is water, and “jalas” is the fire. Water and fire cannot stay separate; they are together. Yes, good, come on. Paramahansa Swami Yogananda Jī, Mahārāj, Kī Jai. And everyone, from your heart, from your heart you should listen. I was giving another lecture today. I said very much, I will have this lecture today, and many techniques and this. But again, Mahāprabhujī put me.