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The Kumbha Melā is a very unique experience. The holy rivers Gaṅgā, Yamunā, and Sarasvatī are thousands, even millions of years old. This event is not only for humans but for the entire planet. It is not only for Hindus but for all humanity. At the time when the divine Gaṅgā and Yamunā appeared, none of the religions we know by name today existed. This means the festival is for everyone, but Hindus have preserved it. You see millions of pilgrims coming, and none of them is invited by these rivers. No particular organization invites all these millions of people. If you were to invite them, they would not come in such numbers. And among the millions of people there, none of them is hungry. It is a perfect organization, what we might call the work of humanitarian angels. Every 100 to 200 meters, there is free distribution of food and drink. People are free to get sustenance. Early in the morning, when they prepare hot tea, they announce through loudspeakers that tea and breakfast are ready, inviting people to come. It is all without any charge. Medical aid and first aid are available every 50 to 100 meters. There are toilet facilities for men and women. Everything is perfectly designed within a few kilometers on the riverbank, where there is only sand, no solid ground. The streets and roads are made with iron plates; you can even drive trucks on them, and there is electricity. You can imagine, with millions of people, many make an evening fire to warm themselves. Can you imagine how much smoke is there? It is like a fog. In the middle of the Kumbha Melā, if you go in the evening, your eyes are burning. But still, people are there. Definitely, there is something in this festival. Blessed are they who can be there. And you will realize there how much austerity people practice, their tapasyā. You saw in the pictures, people had very thin cloth, just one layer. In two to three degrees temperature, they sit on the bank of the river on the wet sand, waiting for the morning constellation to bathe. Many people traveled for months barefoot, carrying their little food with them. For example, we had a visit from Australia from Monsignor Father David. When he saw these people—how they were coming with their belongings wrapped in cloth, a weight on their shoulders, no shoes, one walking stick, very thin cloth in the cold—he said, "I see God now." You have to have confidence, faith, and whatever you have is enough. In old times, masters were not giving lectures. They would say, for example, "Tyāga," renouncing. Then they would explain what renunciation is, and you would go. You would come again only when you had perfectly realized and practiced renunciation, when you were not attached even to a little mosquito. Then you came and said, "Master, can you teach me further?" The Master would say, "Vairāgya," and explain what dispassion is. "Go and realize." So, it was the disciple's duty to realize and lead a life of Vairāgya. Then they came back and said, "Master, I have Vairāgya." Of course, the Master was testing them. Recording location: Hungary, Vep, Weekend seminar