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The king also have to follow the law

The Holy Rāmāyaṇa is a story of divine principles and human ethics. It centers on God Rāma, the ideal being who follows ethical principles and keeps his promises. The narrative includes the loyalty of his family. A teaching story is shared about a king of dharma, Dharmarāja, who declared himself above the law. A master then struck this king three times with a stick called Dharmadaṇḍa, demonstrating that dharma itself punishes those who stray from it. This stick represents the enforcement of principle. Dharmarāja is described as the king of dharma and liberation, who invites beings back. Yamarāja is described as the king of adharma and the dead, who forcibly takes beings away. The lesson is that ethical law applies to everyone.

"Daṇḍa means two things: punishment and punishment. Dharma will daṇḍa you; dharma will punish you."

"Dharmarāja comes to invite you... When Yamarāja comes, he does not say, 'You please, I'm begging you'; he pulls you."

Filming location: Vép, Hungary

All you know about the Holy Rāmāyaṇa—and if you do not know, you should read it. It is full of love, compassion, understanding, wisdom, and also the selfishness that people have. It is about God Rāma. The time of the Rāmāyaṇa is approximately 10,000 years ago. These are beautiful stories. At the last point of God's life, a certain situation arose. God Rāma is known as Maryādā Puruṣottama. Maryādā means the protector, the follower of ethics. Lord Rāma is known as Maryādā Puruṣottama; Maryādā means the one who follows ethical principles. He always respected others' feelings, and what he promised, he fulfilled. He kept his promise. Do you know the loyalty of his brother Lakṣmaṇa? He dedicated his entire life for his brother Rāma. We know about brother Bharata and about Sītā. A message came to Lord Rāma in the last minute of his life. Dharmarāja came—King Dharmarāja. Dharmarāja means the king of the dharmas. He was a king and he made some laws. He said, "I am the king, and this law does not apply to me. There is no one who can punish me. But I can punish you all, because I am the king." So the master came with a stick in his hand. With this stick, he hit three times on the king, saying, "Dharmadaṇḍa, Dharmadaṇḍa, Dharmadaṇḍa." Daṇḍa means two things: punishment and punishment. Dharma will daṇḍa you; dharma will punish you. Dharma and adharma—if you go towards adharma, which is not dharma, then you will get punishment. Here, dharma means rules, principles. The principle of the fire is to burn. The dharma of the ice should be cold. Since that time, every religious person, head of the religions, came with this stick in hand. This stick is called Dharmadaṇḍa. This stick is itself in that king Dharma, so that is called a Dharmadaṇḍa. So Dharmarāja is the king of the dharma. There are two kings: one is called Dharmarāja and one is called Yamarāja. The king of the dharma is Dharmarāja, and the king of adharma is Yamarāja. Yamarāja means the king of the dead, and Dharmarāja means the king of liberation. So one comes to take you away and one comes to invite you. Dharmarāja comes to invite you: "Please, you finish your mission here or you finish your duty, and now come again to the Dharmaloka, to the Brahmaloka." When Yamarāja comes, he does not say, "You please, I'm begging you"; he pulls you. As much as you say, "No," then, "Let's go." All this torturing is the punishment of Yamarāja. The punishment for all of this is the punishment of Yamarāja.

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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