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O khaṇḍa maṇḍala kāraṇaṁ, vyāptaṁ yena charācharam, tatpadaṁ darśitaṁ yena, tasmai śrī gurve namaḥ. I am still not fully accustomed to being here, so I was contemplating what to speak about. I thought I might first share a little of my experience over these last ten or fifteen days—I have lost count, as time is moving so swiftly. Let me recount a few personal experiences from just yesterday. It was an amazing experience to change roles during that parade. I so enjoyed being down below and running, and then being on the other side. I had wondered what it would be like, and it was simply incredible. What was incredible was looking down and seeing the faces of the people. There were so many, and they were all so full of bhakti, hope, love, and faith. It just went on and on. There was no time to feel anything; it was just a joy to watch and to be a part of it. I don't know if everyone else saw it, but this is such a special time. This Melā is a special time. Beyond the astrological significance and beyond the fact that so many great saints are here for darśana, the fact that we get to be with Swāmījī—there is one energy that arises from it. I witnessed this energy in a temple in Rajasthan. We went there with Swāmījī. It is in Ranthambore National Park, a temple to Lord Gaṇeśa. It is a place in Rajasthan where everyone sends their first wedding invitation. There is a post office there in the middle of the jungle because every day thousands of letters arrive—invitations to weddings for Gaṇeśjī. It is amazing. We saw the pile. But the thing was, as I stood there watching while Swāmījī went inside to perform the pūjā (they normally don't allow people in), he went to have darśana of two white rats that never leave the place. No one knows where they come from or go. There is an open cage, but they never leave that Mandir; they are always with Gaṇeśjī. I was standing outside, watching and wondering why the place felt so incredible. I observed everyone coming, and you simply cannot surpass the energy of hope and belief that something good will come from doing something. That place was absolutely radiating with it. You arrived and immediately felt uplifted, thinking, "Yes, if I offer my prayer here, if I go to Gaṇeśjī, something will happen." And when you believe it will, then it does. It is the same here. Everyone comes here to receive something—blessings, the snāna, the amṛta, amṛta vāṇī (the nectar of the speeches), the caraṇāmṛta. When you think about it, when you bathe in the Gaṅgā after saints like Swāmījī and other mahātmās have bathed—especially if you manage to bathe just downstream—you are not only bathing in the Gaṅgā, not only bathing in the Brahmakuṇḍa (the supreme place to bathe at that time), but you are also bathing in their Caraṇāmṛta. They bathed in it, and that water then flows to you. You see how carefully the local people wash Swāmījī’s feet when we visit any house or function. The water that remains afterwards is special. Here, it flows especially on those three main bathing days. What we do with that water is take it home, and purification comes from it. Now we just have to keep going. Another experience so special for me at the moment in the Akhāṛā is the acceptance from all the other members. It is truly touching. The atmosphere in the āśrama, especially the day before yesterday before the bath, contained the most amazing energy of bonding and love between sādhus I have ever felt. I don't know if anyone else was there, but it was just amazing. Everyone was happy, everyone was laughing, and everyone was excited because these bathing days are special. We were even more fortunate; we actually went twice because we had the bath in the morning with Swāmījī, and then we got to go with him again. He has a bath for everybody. It is beyond special. I would also like to say how honored and touched I am that everyone else is so supportive. I do not know what Swāmījī’s līlā is. I only know that it is incredible. Every day is just a new day; we get up and see what happens. It is an absolutely amazing experience. I did not really know what else to say, so I wanted to sing one bhajan. Are you ready, Gaṅgāfī? It is my favourite bhajan. It is not actually in our English books, but the more I sing it and the more experiences I have, the more special it becomes to me. So I thought to sing it and also give my translation, which Swāmījī will probably complain about immensely later because it will not be very literal. But it is what it means to me, and it is what comes through. Mo ye lage re suhavana, lage re suhavana, Mere satguru deva pavana, lage re suhavana, Satguru deva pavana, Rām kā sandesh, mo ye lage re suhavana. It means that when I heard the words of God, the words of Lord Rām, and the words of my Satguru, it touched me inside and felt so beautiful. It touched me so much because I realized then that I had found my real Guru, my Satguru. Satguru Deva Aṅganī Āye, Satguru Deva Aṅganī Āye. Gyānadhana Varṣāl Āye, Gyānadhana Varṣāl Āye. Suta Haṁsa Turat Jagāye, Suta Haṁsa Turat Jagāye. Ānanda Baravana, Ānanda Baravana. Rāmakā Sundeśo, Muiye Lagere Suhāvanā. The Satguru came onto this earth. He set his feet upon the ground and brought with him the knowledge and the richness of knowledge. With that knowledge, he awakened the sleeping swan inside of me, and that filled me with bliss, with divine bliss. We see this so much in the bhajans—this theme of awakening the sleeping swan, and also the concept of Gurujī being the Pārasmaṇī, the philosopher's stone that can turn steel into gold, or turn other metals into gold. In the Akhāṛā, there are so many great mahātmās, but ones like Swāmījī are rare. I think there is one, and we have him. Now it is up to us. Swāmījī is there. He gives us the teaching and he can give us the blessing. But do we believe that we can actually pull it off personally, all of us? Can he truly awaken that swan inside of us? That is all that is left. We have to believe it, and it will happen because Swāmījī has that śakti, that knowledge, and he can give us that blessing. But if you start to believe it can happen to you, then all those other bhajans also make sense: "Wake up, do it quickly, start to practice more. Make it all day, make it part of every part of your daily life." Really take everything Swāmījī says inside and use it, because time is running. But when you truly believe you can do it, then there is no chance you will waste time, and you can awaken it immediately. "Turat" means like that—at one point he awakened it. This is a bhajan of Mahāprabhujī; he is singing about Devapurījī. "And then I was filled with bliss." Hingalyo dalya sehejasavaru Tannamanna pranavaru... "Hingilu Daliya" said... It is actually describing a scene many of you have been part of, when Swāmījī enters a village. There is a band, people banging drums, going in front of him announcing his arrival. I always visualize Mahāprabhujī going into a small village with the band in front. This bhajan was first sung to me by someone from a small village near Bologuda. He said his mother always sang it because she could relate to it so much—that is how it was. "My body, my heart, and my prāṇa are all also at Gurujī’s feet when he is coming as a bent, as a gift, as a donation, and then we put the flower mālā." Because Gurujī is coming to our village, our house, or our heart, and we place the mālā there: motī, a chalk, a puravāṇa. "Motī" is a pearl. There is an old system of making floors with chunā (lime). They would polish them so much they would shine like pearls. You can see it in Jodhpur fort in a room called the Motī Mahal, where all the walls are polished like that and remain in that condition. What I think it means is: we do sādhanā. We do it and do it, and slowly we become polished. Then it is ready for Gurujī to come inside. But it takes a long time. They used to say that process took years. First, they would grind this chunā for so long by hand with wood, grinding it into a fine powder like wheat. Then they would apply it to the walls and start polishing again. So we do sādhanā, and Swāmījī gives... as we say in Hindi, "repairing" (an English word very useful in Hindi). He repairs us, we do more, he fixes another gap, and again and again. But eventually, it starts to shine. Lādhu gevā barfiyo pera, lādhu gevā barfiyo pera, sīr purī or mevā gerā. Gehri gudali kirabhanam, Gehri gudali kirabhanam, Prabhujī jīmāvanam, Prabhujī jīmāvanam, Rāmakara sandeśa moye lāgeresuvāvanam, Satguru sandeśa moye lāgeresuvāvanam. This is the favourite part for our boys in the hostel because it talks about sweets. "Lāḍū gevā" is another sweet, big like this. Every time someone new sees it, they think it is pizza until they bite into it and discover it is very sweet and full of sugar. There are also forms of sweets. "Sīrā" is actually halwā, "purīs" everyone knows, and a very deep pot of kīr (a sweet rice dish). They prepare everything at the house because Gurujī is coming, in order to feed him. Sweet thoughts, love, compassion, caring for others—we prepare those. When Gurujī starts to sit in our heart, then he feeds on them, and that is his nourishment. It is not about sugar; it is about our emotions and what is inside us. Kanchan thala bhojan parasavu, Kanchan thala bhojan parasavu, Mer dilbara me harsavu, Aap hari parshad aroge, Aap hari parshad aroge... We feed the Guru on a thālī (plate) made of gold. On that golden thālī, he will have his meal, and I am so full of love and joy and happiness that he is going to eat from it. For me, that gold is what comes—the gold mentioned in bhajans about the Pārasmaṇī that turns any metal into gold. Parasmani Guru Namahe Shishadhatu Suvaranahoy. "Parasmani" is the name of the Guru. When it is inside the Śiṣya, then everything becomes gold. Because when you truly receive blessing from Swāmījī and are with him, then everything you do is a joy. Everything is special. It does not matter if it is hard or easy or emotionally enjoyable; it is good for you, so therefore it is gold. He may ask you to do the last thing you would like to do, but he gives it for a reason, so it is gold. It develops you, brings you forward, takes you on your path. When you feel that in your heart, truly feel it, then everything is a joy. The next line means he is starting to eat, and there is the old fan they used to have. You may have seen them in villages or in Jhadan—a stick with some wire around it; you move it like this and the fan goes. You just hold it. Previously in Jhadan, when there was no generator and the light would go off, Gurujī would always have one ready, and you would sit there fanning him. For me, if Gurujī is here, that fan is our breath and our consciousness of our breath going in and out, of keeping purity in our mind and thoughts. That is what is moving, and Gurujī is sitting there, so he is not disturbed while he is eating. Parabrahma Purushottama Swami, Parabrahma Purushottama Swami, Śrī Devapurīṣa Antarayāmī, Śrī Swami Deepa kahe avu sajno, Śrī Swami Deepa kahe avu sajno, hila-mila-maṅgala-gāvana, hila-mila-maṅgala-gāvana, rāṅka-sundeṣo moye lageresu āvana. Sata-guru-sundeṣo moye lageresu āvana. pāra-brahma-puruṣottama-svāmī śrī-dera-puruṣa-antarāyāmī... Mahāprabhujī is talking about Devapurījī, that he is all-knowing, that he is his antarayāmī, that he is his soul, that he is with him all the time. And Śrī Svāmī Dīpak (Mahāprabhujī) says to everyone from all the villages, from everywhere: "Come, come... listen. Come and be a part of it. Come and be a part of my Guru’s blessing. Come and get your share." That is it. We are the lucky ones; we are here. So we have the chance. But the chance is there, and we have to grab it. Gurujī once told me, when I was sitting with him, that there are four types of Kṛpā (grace). First is Devatā Kṛpā, the grace from the devas, which means we obtain a human birth, giving us a chance to move towards Mokṣa. Second is Śāstra Kṛpā, the grace of all the holy books and scriptures—whatever guides you and makes you interested in and committed to the spiritual path. The third is Guru Kṛpā. We all know that without Guru Kṛpā, nothing is possible. Without the Guru, we cannot do anything; without his grace, we cannot proceed on that path. The fourth, which Gurujī said, is Ātma Kṛpā or Svakīya Kṛpā, grace towards oneself. He explained that no matter what blessing Gurujī gives you, if you do not practice it to the best of your ability, it still cannot function. We have to come to Gurujī as often as we can. When we are here, we have to be here—not in the market or elsewhere. We are here to be with Gurujī, to receive his satsaṅga, and we should not miss the chance. These two together—Guru Kṛpā and our own kṛpā—are essential. Without Guru Kṛpā it is not possible, but without our own kṛpā, without loving ourselves, without truly believing we can do it, and without taking what Gurujī places in our hearts and working on it and polishing it, it still will not happen. So we are the lucky ones. We are here, and we have the chance. We are all Swāmījī’s disciples due to what great karmas from the past allowed us this opportunity—of all places to be, of all Gurus to be with, from all the countries we come from. In the bhajan, my brother writes about coming from every single village, but this is really from every village because we are from all over the world. Somehow Swāmījī has called us all together. We should take our chance. Rām kā sandeśo mohīye lāge re suhāvanā, Satguru sandeśo mohīye lāge re suhāvanā. Satguru deva angani aaye, Satguru deva angani aaye. Gyanadhan Varshalaye, Suta Hansa Turta Jagaye. Ananda Baravana Ramka Sundesho Moye Lageresu Aamana. Satguru Sundesho Muiye Lageresu Aamana. Motiya chokha puravana Lādhu gevā barfiyo perā, Sirpuri yor mevā kērā. Gheri gudali kīra banāu Prabhujī. Jī māvanā Rām kā sandeśo moiye lage re suhavanā. Satguru sandeśo moiye lage re suhavanā. Lage re suhavanā mere Satguru deva. Pavana lāge re suhavana Satguru deva, pavana Rām kā sandesho. Moīye lāge re suhavana Satguru sandesho, moīye lāge re suhavana. Kanchan thāl bhojan parsām, kanchan thāl bhojan parsām. Merā dil bhar me harṣām, āp harī parsād āroge. Rāparīpāriṣādāroke pāṅkapāvanadulāvanā, pāṅkapāvanadulāvanā. Rāṅkasandeśomoye lāgeresuvāvanā, Satguru-sandeśomoye lāgeresuvāvanā. Lāgere suhāvana mera sattgurudeva pāvana, Rāmakasandeśo moye lāgere suhavana. Parabrahma Puruṣottama Swāmī, Parabrahma Puruṣottama Swāmī, Śrīdeva Purīṣa Antaryāmī, Śrīswāmī Deepā Kahe Avu Sajno, Śrīswāmī Deepā Kahe Avu Sajno, Ilmīlā Maṅgala Gāvanā, Ilmīlā Maṅgala Gāvanā, Rāmakā Sandeśo Moye, Lāgere Suvana Satguru Sundeśomoye. Lagere Suavana, Lagere Suavana, Mera Satguru Deva Paavana. Lagere Suavana, Satguru Deva Paavana, Ramka Sundeshomoye.