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With the blessing of Gurudev everything is possible

A spiritual discourse featuring a parable about three daughters representing different yogic paths.

"Ten years back, I got Guru Dīkṣā, I met my master. And I got my mantra 10 years back, so I am 10 years old."

"When you do Seva, when we do Seva, when we help others, then we will never have any problems."

A speaker narrates an extended parable about three daughters—Gyānībāī (knowledge), Sevābāī (selfless service), and Bhaktībāī (devotion)—who each transform their new households through their spiritual qualities. The stories illustrate the power and integration of jñāna, karma, and bhakti yoga. The discourse concludes with reflections on building a strong spiritual foundation through the holistic practice of "Yoga in Daily Life."

Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic

Nāhaṁ kartā, prabhu-dīpa-kartā, mahāprabhu-dīpa-kartā hi kevalam. Om Śānti, Śānti,... Sadāśiva Samārambham, Śaṅkarācārya Madhyamam, Asmadācārya Paryantam, Vande Guru Paramparām, Guru Brahmā, Guru Viṣṇu, Guru Devo Maheśvara, Guru Sākṣāt Parabrahma, Tasmai Śrī Gurave Namaḥ. Mannātha Śrī Jagannātha, Madguru Śrī Jagadguru, Māmātmā Sarvabhūtātmā, Tasme Śrī Guruve Namaḥ. Salutations to the Cosmic Self. Salutations to Śrī Alak Purījī, Siddhārth Purījī... And good evening to all of you who are present here and who are watching throughout the world through Swamiji TV. I hope you had a wonderful day. In one household, one man had three daughters. Their names were Gyānībāī, the second one was Sevābāī, and the third one was Bhaktībāī. Bāī means Devī or a married woman. They three were from a well-off, nice household, but they had Guru Bhakti in them. They had that Bhakti Māyī atmosphere in their household. So when they got married, the three went to their respective new houses with their husbands. The first one, Gyānībāī, was married into a nice household. She knew a lot; she knew how to cook, how to take care of everyone, and she was keeping the household very happy. As we were talking, there is always a negative side and a positive side. When you are near people who have a positive aura, then we also get something from them. We also feel those energies around us, and we also feel the positivity, and we also become positive. So if we have Guru Bhakti within us, if we have that devotion towards the Master, then sooner or later, if our partner is not in spirituality or if our parents are not in spirituality, they will, because they see the changes within you. And even if they don’t feel it, even if they don’t see it, they will feel that energy that you emit. For those who attend satsaṅg, those who attend bhajans, kīrtans, they are always high in spirituality. They don’t need other substances to get high. That’s why we have Gurudeva. And that’s the beauty of satsaṅg, bhajans, and kīrtans. So when she was married, the household where she was wasn’t so spiritual, but slowly, slowly, with time, she managed to make some spiritual change. She managed to take her husband also to the Guru and to get initiated. Then, after the husband, slowly the mother-in-law came in the line. So the mother-in-law also became spiritual, but the father-in-law was a strong one. He didn’t want to change. He said, "I am who I am. It doesn’t matter, you come and go, but I am still the boss." So he was like, "You can’t change me." Then, when you have true bhakti within you and you pray for something, your wishes are fulfilled. But for that, we need a pure heart and we need pure devotion. So she, with her pure heart and pure devotion, prayed to God, "Oh God, please send some sādhu, some swāmī to my house, to maybe bring some spirituality to my father-in-law." God listened to her prayers, and a few days later, a swami came to the house. She was a person, because she was related to spirituality, who really appreciated and felt blessed when some swami came to their house. And she wanted to always feed them and keep them good, so she welcomed him in the house, and the sādhu saw the aura around her. When you have spirituality within you, then it is very obvious, and it is seen by those who know. So the sādhu thought inside, and he said, "If she is really spiritual and from a spiritual background, I need to test her." That’s what Gurudev is always doing with us, no? Testing us and seeing how far we are growing in our life. And when we go wrong somewhere, then he pulls us a little bit back and shows us the right path. And sometimes we need a little push, then that push might be obvious, or it will be inside, within you. And then he shows us the way, and we go on that way. So then the Gurujī said, "OK, when were you born? Or how old are you?" Gyānībāī said, "I am 10 years old, Gurudev." And the father-in-law was looking like, "What’s going on?" Then, "How old is your husband?" "My husband is two and a half years old, Gurudev." "How old is your mother-in-law?" "My mother-in-law is one year old." "And your father-in-law?" "He is not yet born." So then the father-in-law was looking at her and giving her that stare, that "I think she is a little bit cuckoo." Then Gurujī asked, "So do you eat warm food or cold food? Bāsī khānā." Bāsī khānā means... I wouldn’t say cold, but food which is cooked like one day before, old food. It’s not kaput, but it is still edible, but it’s one day old, or you eat freshly cooked meals which are cooked at the time. Gyānībāī said, "I eat old food, Gurudev." And then the furious father-in-law said, "Why are you lying so much?" Gurudev says, "Shh." But the father-in-law said, "Oh master, what are you? You don’t see that I’m from such a well-off family, I have such a big house. You think I will feed her old food? You think I can’t afford good food?" Then he told Gyānībāī, "Explain to him what you mean by that. You look slightly older than 10 years." So then Gyānībāī said, "Ten years back, I got Guru Dīkṣā, I met my master. And I got my mantra 10 years back, so I am 10 years old. And my husband got Guru Dīkṣā two years back. So that’s why he is two years old. And my mother-in-law, she got one year back, so she’s one year old. And the father-in-law doesn’t believe in spirituality, and he didn’t want a mantra, so he’s not yet born." Gurudev used to say, which means the human life is very precious. We should not waste it, and life can be very unpredictable. You never know who can go when. So, till you have the opportunity, till you have the strength in your body, till you have the mind, we should try, as much as possible, to follow the right path of spirituality. We are sitting here, after five minutes God knows what will happen. So, by not being born, it means he still didn’t get a mantra, or he still didn’t meet his guru. And by eating old food, I mean that we got this life, but we’re still not living it in spirituality. And in the household, there is still no spirituality. So we are still eating the old food. Then comes the second daughter, Sevā Bāī. Sevā Bāī always used to do a lot of sevā. She used to, it doesn’t matter how much they had to eat, but she always fed the poor people and the sādhus first. Rest, all qualities the family loved. She was a very caring person. Used to take care and do seva of the whole family. But even though that household where she was now was abundant with money, they didn’t have a shortage of anything. But they had the problem: "Why is she giving so much to the beggars? Why is she giving so much to the sādhus? Why can’t it just stay here?" This is again greediness. Learn how to let go. Again, I’m saying we came with nothing, and we’ll go with nothing. So it doesn’t matter how much you hold on to it. It’s not going to go with you. Let it be, and let it come and let it go. So that was the only part which they didn’t like, that she was doing so much for the poor people. So, mutually, the mother-in-law and father-in-law talked one day and they said, "We have had enough of this. We need to get her out of our house somehow." So then they made a plan and they said, "My dear poor one, my daughter-in-law, your father fell off the balcony yesterday and passed away, so I think you should go to your house for a while." But as she was a spiritual person, she could feel that there was something wrong in the air. And she could feel when someone was lying. But because she was so Seva Bhāvī, she always wanted to make people happy. She said, "OK, let them be happy, I will go." She packed all her bags, she packed all her suitcases, all the jewelry, all the clothes, and the next morning the father-in-law said, "OK, I will drop you outside of the village." And then from there you will find a different mode of transport. On the way in the morning, her husband was coming from somewhere, and he met her on the way, and he asked, "Where are you going, my dear?" His father said, "Oh, her father fell off the balcony yesterday and passed away, so now she’s going back to her village." The son, her husband, he said, "Can I talk to her for a few minutes before she leaves?" Then the father said, "Sure." And when they talked, he asked her, "Just think once. How in the world did the message that your father passed away yesterday come to you today?" At that time, there were no telephones, TVs, news, or anything, so the only mode of communication was writing letters. She said, "Don’t worry, I know it is all because I like to give to the poor, I like to feed people, and this your parents don’t like." So let them be happy, and I will peacefully go. Why do this? Then he told his father, "Father, this is not right. I know why you are doing this. You are doing it because you don’t like her doing seva." Then the father said, "How dare you talk back to me? Don’t ever show me your face again. A few sweet words from your wife, and you’re all in the Māyā with the wife, you know. So go with her and never come back." He said, "Yes, sure." And he left his parents and went with her. And the father told the driver to drop them outside the village, far away, so that they couldn’t walk back. After they were dropped in the middle of nowhere, they had nowhere to sleep because it was late at night already. So they somehow slept in some temple or in some place. And next morning she said, "I brought my jewelry with me, so I will sell that, and with that we will have some money to buy some food and to live for some days till you find some job for yourself." After selling the jewelry, they got 25,000 rupees. That’s approximately 270 euros. So they managed to survive for a few days until he found a job. But still, that seva bhāv which she had within her, that didn’t go. Doesn’t matter how much they had for eating, she first fed someone who was more needy than them. And then, if something remained, they both shared and ate. And because of that sevā bhāva, the result was always sweet and fruitful. So the next day at his work, he got 5,000 rupees. So then she started feeding not one, but two people who were in need. Then he got 20,000 the next few days. And as much as they were getting, they would first feed more people and do seva, and then eat. Slowly, as time passed, they had enough money to buy a big house, and they became one of the richest people in the whole area. So then they made one Annakṣetra. Annakṣetra means where they feed people. And that Annakṣetra was open for whoever was in need. And they also opened a place where they used to give medicines for the needy, and food and clothes, and all things which were needed for the poor people. And all the sādhus and all the people who were needed, they all came and ate there every day. But because the other family, the father-in-law and mother-in-law, kicked her out, the bad times started for them. Because there was no more spirituality in the house. So they slowly, slowly became bankrupt. Their factory suddenly caught on fire and burned to ashes, and they ended up on the streets. So someone told them that in that far distant village somewhere there in, let’s say, Brno, lives one very rich couple. And they have a really big Annakṣetra where they give food, clothes, and medicines to all the needy people. So you should go there, and you will get shelter. So the parents then slowly, slowly walked from Střílek to Brno. And when they reached, they went to the Annakṣetra and sat for dinner. And from the first floor comes Seva Bhavī, fully in jewelry, silk clothes, looking like a goddess. And she walked down through the way between the people, greeting everyone, welcoming everyone. And all the beggars and the less privileged people, they also all made praṇām, to thank you for all you do for us. And in that line were also sitting her in-laws. So in respect, she put down her ghuṅghaṭ. Ghuṅghaṭ is basically when you wear a sari, then the married woman, in front of any other man except her husband who is older than her, will put down the covering on her face. So she puts it down, and she bows down and makes praṇām to her in-laws. This is how we should be from inside. It doesn’t matter who does what to us; we are always in peace within. It doesn’t matter what happens in life; we know that we have Gurudev protecting us. And that’s why our life is peaceful. She made praṇām, and she whispered to them, saying, "Now, if you say that you are the parents of the husband’s name—whatever his name was—your son is the rich guy, and you are his parents, it will be a little bit shameful. So don’t say anything now. And in the night, we will send a car to pick you up, and you come to our house." Then, in the night, when the husband came back from work, she told him, "Your parents are here." He said, "After what they have done to you, why do you even remember and think of them?" And she said, "No, no, it doesn’t matter what they did, they are still your parents. And they are in town. They are bankrupt; they don’t have anything. So we need to help them. So can you send your driver to pick them up? Give them new clothes and put it in the newspaper that your parents are coming by the night train from the village, and they are very proud of you, and that’s why they are coming to visit you." And they respectfully brought the parents to their house, gave them a beautiful place to stay, beautiful food, and beautiful clothes. And so, with all the evidence, they got a beautiful place to sleep, and they hosted them. The next day, seeing this in the newspaper, many, many people from the surrounding villages, as well as many big, big people, came to meet the parents. And made praṇām to the parents and said, "What a great child you have. He did so much for us." A few days passed, and what happened? Again, the negative mind starts running. They again started thinking that our son earns so much money, and she is only spending it all on the poor people. So we need to tell our son to kick her out. So next morning they went to the son and they said, "We will not eat until you don’t kick her out." The son went to the wife and said, "You see, that’s why I didn’t want them here." Say, Baba, I said, "You know that we just bought this beautiful farmhouse 10 kilometers from here, and there’s a beautiful house there and a beautiful garden. So, give that place to them, give them a few servants, and let them live their life peacefully." And he managed to convince his parents that they don’t need to earn, they don’t need to do anything, they should peacefully live in that house, and all the food and everything will be provided. So this is the power of Seva. When you do Seva, when we do Seva, when we help others, then we will never have any problems. And the third daughter, Bhaktībāī, she always used to do her bhakti every morning. But all the other household people, they didn’t have anything to do with bhakti. Not our dear Bhakti Devī, who does Bharatanāṭyam. But I’m talking about the bhakti, the devotional bhakti. So, when she used to do bhakti, the parents told her, the in-laws told her, to stop this whole nonsense. Every morning, you waste 45 minutes on this. Instead of this, you could cook us breakfast a little bit earlier. So she knew what to do, and she said, "OK, I will stop all my bhakti, but do one whole night of Rātri Jagaraṇ, one whole night of beautiful satsaṅgs, bhajans, kīrtans. And I will do all my bhakti overnight, so that I don’t need to do it every day." So then they said, "Okay, it’s a good idea. I don’t like it, but it doesn’t matter. If that means that she won’t do this all in the morning anymore." So they organized a beautiful satsaṅg in the night. And they called beautiful singers who would sing bhajans, and they called all the villagers to come and attend the satsaṅg. And even the Kusangi people, who were not interested at all in satsaṅg, they were also surprised that in this house, where there is never any bhakti, where no one has anything to do with any spirituality, they are having a big satsaṅg, so we should also go to join. We will get some nice food, you know. After satsaṅg, what do we get? Prasāda. So, prasāda can be in any form. So prasāda can also be the food which is offered after the satsaṅg. So in the middle of the satsaṅg, they heard one crying baby. Or maybe not a baby, a little bit older, but a child. And it was coming from under the altar, so they lifted up the curtain to see who was crying, who was shouting there, and it was a faceless, dark baby, a child, and he was screaming, "Don’t beat me, don’t hurt me," and people asked, "Who was hurting you?" He said, "I’m a demon who is here, and I was supposed to destroy this whole livelihood, this whole neighborhood, in the next few days. But the sticks of bhakti and satsaṅg are hurting me a lot. And as there was no bhakti in this house, this was my residence." So then all the villagers made praṇām to the bhakti bāī and said, "Thank you for saving our village and thank you for saving all of us." And this is the power of bhakti, and this all leads to what? And what does it all lead to? You are my mother, you are my father, you are my brother, you are everything, you are everything to me, and you are the protector. So when we have the blessings of Gurudev, everything is possible. Śānti, śānti, the mantra chanting we will do in the morning. Om Śalāk Purījī Mahādeva Kī Jai, Devād Dev Devaśvara Mahādeva Kī Jai, Śadīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān Kī Jai, Hindu Dharma Samrāḍ Paramahaṃsvāmī Śrī Madhavānand Purījī Satgurudeva Bhagavān Kī Jai, Viśvaguru Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Paramahaṃsvāmī Śrī Maheśvaraṇanda Purījī Gurudeva Kī Jai. What to tell after this nice, nice three-story in the one? One family, and a really very rich family. And when we start with the yoga, usually, most of us, before 40-something years, ask Viśva Gurujī, Swāmijī, "Which yoga is this? What are we practicing?" And Swamiji always said, "Yoga in daily life." And he was thinking, "Yes, okay, I put the wrong question. Swamiji is not understanding what I am asking, but which yoga are we practicing?" But again, the answer was yoga in daily life. And slowly, slowly they came to our mind, because in that time there was always talk about bhakti yoga, jñāna yoga, kuṇḍalinī yoga, this and that yoga. Bhakti-yoge, kuṇḍalinī-yoge, and so on. But always, Swamijī said, "Yoga in daily life." And slowly we understand that in yoga in daily life, what we are practicing, what we get from Viśvagurujī, it is something like when you are building a pyramid. If you want to build only one part, one side, first it will not stand, and second, it is not a pyramid. But you need to build all four. And that is what is very important in our life, that we have bhakti, jñāna, karma, and rāja yoga. And of course, we now hear Aṣṭāṅga Yoga and all this stuff, but yes, that is the Rāja Yoga. And it is not meaning that the whole life we are standing only on the one part. But slowly, how we are growing, we also sometimes lean more on the one side. But it is important to build all four, and that story is so nice. It is not three different stories, but one, as Avatar Purī just said. We need to build all, and that is what we gain from Viśvagurujī. And during the singing of bhajans, one thought came to my mind, and it was about spirituality. What is really spirituality? Not to meditate half a meter above the ground, not to make some ashes. When many, many years ago, people usually asked Swamiji, "Do you have siddhi to make vibhūti?" Swamiji said, "In that time, no, no, I can take a brush and clean dust." That simple way, that pure way, with bhakti, with love, with simplicity. And just to be a better human, to be gentle, gentlemen and women. What does it mean? This kind, that is the spirituality. And we hear in the bhajans one very, very nice bhajan: "I will stay with Gurudev, and if this unity, this self-realization comes or not, it’s not important." But that feeling in the heart, that we don’t need anything else. When my hands touch his hands, or which hands I need more in my life. We know also that bhajan, and that is only what we need. Not to think about so many complicated things. We need that simplicity, what we learn from Vishwagurujī, that kindness, that big heart, and that means spirituality. And we need this in our life. If we have that, we will have everything. We hear from Viśwa Gurujī that Gurujī said, "If you manage one, you will get everything. But if you want to manage everything, you will lose everything." And that is this simplicity. We have this part, "Yoga in Daily Life." Inside is really everything. Like in the pyramid, you have many stone blocks. One is this yoga, one is that yoga: japa, kuṇḍalinī, this and that, but it is important to build a pyramid. Every stone block is very important. But without building all together, four sides, we will not have a ground. And when we have a base, a strong base, in that moment we are able to make a big, big building. You know the story about the three piglets? Yes. That is our European story about three piglets. One piglet was lazy, and he built the house from grass. The other was in the middle. You know the story about the three worms. That was made from the wood of the hut. But third was, everybody thinks, a little crazy. He dug first and put the house from the bricks. When I had the chance to go with Viśvagurujī around the world, his first sentence when we flew from Vienna, he said, "Now when you come in America, you will miss the building from Europe." And when we went to Australia, or New Zealand, I guess, I saw in one day the house was finished. Across the arch, because everything was this wooden, yes, and the isolation and wood. The house was finished in the afternoon. Put the façade, not façade, but tapete, like bricks, and you have a brick house. In one day, the house was finished, but when you look at the news, a big tornado comes and the whole city in half a minute is completely destroyed. And when the problem comes, that is the problem. Big, you know in Europe, always the problem is wolf, yes? Wolf, because in previous times there were so many wolves. Now we don’t know what this wolf looks like, and the wolf comes. And first visits this piglet, who built the house from the grass. And he asks for an open door to eat him. And he was thinking, "I am preserved, I have a house." But the wolf took a deep inhale and exhale, and the house was completely destroyed. And he ran to another brother, who had come from the wood, the same wolf. But now he needed two inhalations and two exhalations. And the house was destroyed. Two piglets ran to the crazy brother who built the house from bricks. And the wolf came, inhaled, exhaled, but he started to hyperventilate. And he fell down, and that story is yoga in daily life. Vishwa Gurujī taught us to build a strong foundation. Here in yoga and in daily life, we don’t have miracles so much. We are not levitated. We don’t have such... We are just like one of my friends said after the first Anuṣṭhāna. I realize that I don’t have chakras, but I have knees. My friend described it like that after the first Anuṣṭhāna. I realized that I don’t have chakras, but I have knees. And that is our reality, and always Swamījī said, without movements. And once, in my yoga class, during the short meditation, one lady was meditating in this position, and I said, "Without movements." As I said, it was not sleeping. Sleeping is... you know that I know this. But she was, and after I said, "Look, it will be good during the meditation not to have these movements." And she told me, yes, one yoga teacher told me that my crown, not Sahasrāra, crown chakra is open, and it is so strong, energy comes to the inside, that is a moving of my whole body. And I said, "Hmmm..." And immediately, you know, what is this? You will never hear such nonsense from Viśvagurujī. We learn here reality, not some crazy nonsense. Here we learn real spirituality. And for us, that is very important to preserve. For us, it’s very important to practice this. And maybe we are not having an open crown chakra. Maybe only we have pain in the knee. But really, we have progress in our spirit. And having the darśan, that is much, much better and more valuable than two hours of thinking all this time, not two hours of life. And thank you for that, Vishwagurujī. Thank you for this opportunity to teach us. Very simply, we are practicing yoga in daily life. For me, the best answer from Viśvagurujī was when a person asked, "On which side should I put my head when I sleep?" And Swamiji answered, "On the side which is the pillow." And that is common sense in your life. It is very important, that is the beauty of all this, to be normal, to be a better human, to be spiritual. That is me, and thank you for this, actually most. And it is about living a normal life, being a better person, and dedicating yourself to spirituality. Thank you, Viśwa Gurujī.

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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