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We have here a very precious thing: the Rāmāyaṇa, Śrī Rāmcharitmānas, which we are discussing all the time. Long ago, there was a farmer in a small village. About ten to fifteen people lived in his household. There was another large town, or big village, about fifty kilometers away. One morning, this farmer was going to that other village for shopping. Another farmer asked him, "Friend, where are you going?" He replied, "I am going to the town for shopping." The other farmer said, "Well, can you bring something for me? I have heard that in that village, one can buy a mirror. I have never seen a mirror. Can you get one for me?" The first farmer said, "Okay, I will buy one for you." The man went to the village. He did his shopping with his horse, cart, and coach, and in the evening he returned. The other farmer was waiting with great joy, thinking, "I will get a mirror today. Today I will get my mirror." The whole day he thought only about the mirror. "Now I can trim my beard nicely. I can see how I look." He imagined everything one expects from a mirror. The man returned in the evening. The other farmer was waiting in front of the village, sitting under a nice tree in the hot weather. He asked, "My friend, did you bring the mirror?" The traveler said, "Yes, I did." He put his hand in his pocket, in his bag—his bag of salt—and took out a nice, beautiful, small book: the holy book of the Rāmāyaṇa. He said, "Here is the mirror for you. Here you can see everything about how you look. In this mirror you can see beauty, or in this mirror you can see the ugly things. This mirror will show you how you are." Thus, the Rāmāyaṇa is the holy book that shows us our qualities. It shows our best qualities: our love, our devotion to God, God's miracles, and many things. And also, there are some Rākṣasas sitting inside, which are also aspects of ourselves. Recording location: Czech Republic, Strilky, Summer seminar