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Devotees, bhaktas, and practitioners of yoga around the world, after a long time, I am again with you through a webcast. I cannot see you, but you see me. Many blessings. This divine blessing comes to you from the Holy Land of India, the land of countless holy incarnations from the beginning of time—Swayambhū, Śiva, Viṣṇu, Brahmā—and of the many great sages who lived thousands of years, many ages past, in the periods of the yugas: Satyayuga, Dvāparayuga, Tretāyuga, Kaliyuga, and their repetitions through Mahāyugas and Manvantaras. Throughout all time in this holy land, miraculous things have happened. Many ṛṣis and great yogīs, whom you may call incarnations of Brahman itself, have lived here. It was the yogīs, the saints, and the hermits of India who researched, discovered, and gave us the knowledge about the entire universe. Yathā brahmāṇḍe tathā piṇḍe: what exists in the universe exists in the human body, and what is not in this body is not in the universe. The first Indian sages brought forth the science of astronomy, the knowledge of planets and galaxies. The Ananta Brahmāṇḍa Śāstra—the doctrine of the endless universe with its millions of solar systems—was declared for the first time by a great philosopher from India. Astrology, palmistry, spirituality, practice, and achievement also originated here. Some Western scientists propose tons of theories, but they are nothing compared to a single gram of practice. That practice comes from the Indian sages who demonstrated that reality through direct experience. It was those great yogīs who told us there is jīvā, the soul, the life. They revealed that the soul is individual and that its journey has continued from the beginning of creation, from Swayambhū Śiva, until today. They spoke of two kinds of life: life on the physical planet and life in the astral world. Through their meditation and astral travel, those yogīs researched and could follow the journey of the individual soul throughout this endless universe. They observed how the soul travels and develops, either toward the positive side or the negative side. Whether the soul dissolves into darkness or into light depends on your individual personal behavior. How you think will become a reality for you, not for others. What you speak and what you act—each and every thought will turn back to thyself. The yogīs followed and observed throughout the endless universe to see where the soul comes from, what it is doing here on this planet or on the astral planets, and how it comes again, taking form with the five elements in different life forms. For the first time, yogīs from the Holy Land of India could clearly see that there are 8.4 million different kinds of life on this planet. No one in all the ages of history could tell this knowledge before. They clearly declared that there are four different ways life comes onto this planet: through the bark of the tree (Uṣmā), through womb (Jarāyu), through egg (Aṇḍa), and through moisture (Svedaja). These manifest in three different levels: Jalatara (life in water), Sthalatara (life on earth), and Nabhastara (life in the air or space). The soul is a quality, not a quantity, that can enter even a tiny creature invisible to our physical eyes. That soul must suffer or enjoy the destiny created by its karmas. Destiny is created through your desires and your thinking. Ichchā hi duḥkha kā kāraṇa hai: desire is the cause of suffering. From desire comes craving, and through craving alone, human beings suffer. First comes your wish, then your desire. Desire is the cause of all your mental, physical, spiritual, emotional, intellectual, and social suffering. It is you who is responsible for this. Do not blame anyone. Who are you to blame? No one is responsible for your suffering or for what happens to you. You, and only you, are responsible. That is all. If you try to project your negative feelings or thinking onto someone else, you are only multiplying your own bad qualities. Then the ṛṣis discovered something beautiful. Where is the end of this journey? What is its purpose? All journeys are endless journeys throughout the universe. The purpose is to merge into the reality, the origin. That is called Īśvara, Parameśvara, the Self. That Self has no attributes. It is only and only the Self. That is called Ātmā. As individuals in duality, we exist as a jīva. As the universal, we exist as the Ātmā. It was those ṛṣis, those yogīs, who also declared what the Ātmā is and how one attains Self-realization. You can perform many sādhanās, chant many mantras, conduct many ceremonies, yajñas, prayers, and magical rites. You may gain some power, but you will not gain ātmā-jñāna (knowledge of the Self). Without that, there is no mokṣa (liberation). Therefore, mokṣa-mūlaṁ guru-kṛpā: the root of liberation is the grace of the Guru. Only through the blessing of Gurudeva can you attain ātmā-jñāna. There are different kinds of jñāna, many types of knowledge. That knowledge can only be received from the master, from the guru. Even to learn how to write A, A, A, E, E, you need a teacher, and that teacher is your guru. If you have feeling, love, devotion, and respect for your teacher, all his or her knowledge will come to you. If you only think and doubt, nothing will come. It is love which merges into oneness. Doubt and hate separate you. The ṛṣis, the yogīs, and the science of yoga constitute a universal science called Sanātana Dharma. Sanātana Dharma is not a man-made religion. Man-made religions are based on books written by or about divine incarnations. But Sanātana Dharma is the eternal principle balancing and governing the entire Ananta Brahmāṇḍa, the endless universe. It is that Sanātana Dharma through which the seasons function: spring, summer, autumn, winter. It is the Sanātana principle that causes steam to rise from the ocean, become clouds, and then turn back into water as rain. They observed how water from the ocean rises as steam. In reality, that steam is the ocean. But then we see a different duality begin: we see clouds, and then drops fall. As long as you hold this drop in your hand, it is a drop. When this drop falls into the ocean, it becomes the ocean. So this jīva which you are carrying in your consciousness, the jīva you carry in your astral form, is a drop. When this drop, through the grace of Gurudeva, becomes one and merges, then Jīva becomes Śiva. That is the ultimate purpose of human life, the purpose of all religions, prayers, and good deeds. These blessings are especially offered on the occasion of the holy festival. This holy festival, celebrated for many ages, symbolizes the victory of truth, the victory of love, the victory of the devotee, the victory of dharma over adharma, the victory of truth against falsehood, of satya against asatya. It is the holy day when finally the god Viṣṇu had to take form as the Narasiṃha Avatāra—half-human, from the navel down, and half-lion above. Nara means human, and Siṃha means lion. He took this form to kill the demon Hiraṇyakaśipu. Hiraṇyakaśipu had a sister, Holikā, who possessed a siddhi: she could sit in fire and bathe in flames without burning. Hiraṇyakaśipu instructed her, "Take your nephew Prahlāda on your lap and sit in the fire." But Satya and Dharma cannot be destroyed. Truth cannot be changed by any philosophy, religion, or politics. She took her nephew on her lap and sat in the fire. What happened? She burned, and he remained unharmed, even though she had a siddhi. Thus, the tradition in India is that one month before, a pillar called a Prahlād is erected in the center of the village. A long, holy tree is also prepared. After one month, this holy effigy is carried outside the village and placed in the fire. But Prahlāda remains in the village; he is not burnt. So this is the day she was burned. When I first came to Europe, I was surprised to find that in Europe they also celebrate the holy, but in a different way. Especially in Czechoslovakia at that time, under the Russian communist regime, and in every village in ex-Yugoslavia and Austria, there was a holy tree. They call it the May tree, the Maypole. Yes? So you see, all the festivals of the world originated from India. My India is the mother of all cultures and languages. India is the cradle of all cultures. This means all cultures were born here, cultivated, nurtured, and cared for in this cradle. From this wellspring, they grew and spread to far distant places. So, all dear brothers and sisters around the world, on the occasion of this holy festival, I bless you all and send you many, many good wishes. May your truth remain unshakable. May your faith remain unshakable. May your devotion and love remain without any doubt. And may all adharma and bad thoughts be destroyed today. This is the day to take a saṅkalpa, a sacred resolve. I look forward to seeing you again through the webcast. Unfortunately, at the Kumbha Melā, there are millions of people, many with emails and devices. Can you imagine on one spot, about 10 miles by 4 miles, with 8 million computers on? No server can survive. It is very hard. Otherwise, we would have a daily live program. I hope our video team will film something every day and send it to you from some hotels. They will do it. If they don't, it is their mistake, not mine. You know, at the last Kumbha Melā, on Śivarātri, a few days later on the 17th of February, our dear Swāmī Jasrāj Purījī received a very high title in Sannyāsa according to the Śaṅkarācārya tradition: the Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara initiation. Vidyās from around the world were there. Many questions and thousands of congratulations came from around the world. I was very happy, and thanks to Mahāprabhujī for giving his blessings so that our dear Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Swāmī Jasrāj Purījī attained this title. Now there are other sannyāsīs who are also preparing physically, mentally, and psychologically, like Śrī Śrī Aśok Purījī, originally from Australia. I wish you all the best and happiness. Holy, God bless you. Oṁ ākhaṇḍa-maṇḍalākāraṁ vyāptaṁ yena carācaram, tat-padaṁ darśitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ. Oṁ bole Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān Kī Jaya. Śrī Śrī Devapuruṣa Mahādeva Kī Jaya. Hindu Dharma Samrāṭ Paramahaṁsa Śrī Svāmī Mādhavānanda Purī Jī Mahārāj Kī Jaya. Viśvaguru, Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara, Paramahaṁsa, Śrī Svāmī Maheśvarānanda, Pūjya Gurudeva, Kī Jaya. Mātājī Kī Jaya. Mātājī Kī Jaya. Oṁ. He [Hiraṇyakaśipu] was the one who had faith in his own ego, who wanted everybody to worship him, much the same way as our ego wants us to take care of it and satisfy it. And Prahlāda was the ultimate bhakta, who had complete faith in God and remained steadfast in his prayers, even though he was so young. Even when it came to the point that he should go into the fire, and they asked him to embrace the metal pole in the middle of the fire that was red-hot, he still had faith and knew that nothing could happen to him because of his faith in God. What does this mean for us? Here we are, all sitting with Gurujī, doing our best to be the best bhaktas we can be. In Gurujī's seva, he asks us to step into the fire so that the God within us can come out. But it is not easy. Most of the time, it is more comfortable to sit on the side of the fire and just warm your hands. But God is realized when we step in. It will always be hard. It may at times be scary because you have to let go of so many things, but Gurujī is here, and he gives us again and again the chance to do sevā, to chant our mantra, to perform our sādhanā, so that we can come closer and closer to that goal we all have: to become one with Him, to become one with Mahāprabhujī, and to receive Their blessings. It is a special day because Prahlāda stands as an example that it can be done. It is incredible. And then the God that emerged, Narasiṁha, was half-lion and half-human. The lion is all instinct, and the human is intellect. But He was a perfect balance of the two. By balancing the two, He defeated the ego. So here we are. Every day we have a chance to do Gurujī's seva. Wherever we are in the world, in whichever way—by improving ourselves, by doing some work in the āśram, by doing our daily sādhanā—we should try and take the chance to receive Gurujī's blessing. It is incredible that we are so lucky, considering where we have all come from in different parts of the world, that we get to meet someone like Swāmījī. We are lucky to be here, and it is up to us now to make ourselves even more lucky by stepping into the fire. Oṁ Bole Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān Kī Jai. Śrī Siddha Puruṣa Mahādeva Kī Jai. Śrī Mādhav Kṛṣṇa Bhagavān Kī Jai. Viśvaguru Paramahaṁsa Śrī Svāmī Maheśvarānanda Puruṣa Gurudeva Kī Jai. This program will be again at 7:30 via webcast.