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We begin with the Maṅgala Caraṇ and Svasti Vācan. Swāmī Avatārapurī will perform the opening ceremony with the Svasti Vācan, from the Vedas and Upanishads. [Chanting in Sanskrit] Yadayu sattam innu sarado antideva jatrāna-sakrāja-rāsaṁ tanu nām putrāso yatra-pitaro bhavanti māno madhyādhirikha-tayuraganto adhitira-dyoradhitira nantarikṣaṁ madhitira-mātā ca. Pitā ca putrā adhitira-pañca-jana madhitira-jāta madhitira-janitvaṁ. Oṁ Dho Śāntiḥ, Nāntarikṣaṁ Śāntiḥ, Pṛthivī Śāntiḥ, Rapa Śāntiḥ, Rokhada Śāntiḥ, Vanaspati Śāntiḥ, Viśvadevā Śāntiḥ, Brahma Śāntiḥ, Sarvakum Śāntiḥ, Oṁ Sama Śāntiḥ, Redhi, Oṁ Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ. Thank you, Avatārapurī Jī. So half of my work is done. Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ. Good evening, dear brothers and sisters. With the blessing of the Almighty, I would like to share with you a glimpse of the Kumbh Melā. I welcome all of you: the members of the parliament, the members of multicultural and religious organizations, the different NGO members, and from the security and dear media. It is a blessing to remember and recall the memory from the past, the ancient wisdom of India. A few minutes ago, we met in a small room with our dear professor of Indology, who teaches Sanskrit here at the University of Zagreb. Somehow we came to the Vedic wisdom. The problem is that we do not know the language. Sanskrit is the mother of many languages. Those ancient literatures were written by great saints or scholars. At that time, the language spoken was Sanskrit. The books exist, but very few scholars and people remain who can fully understand and tell us what is written in those manuscripts. Around eighteen years ago, a disciple of mine, a professor of languages in Salzburg, Austria, told me, "Swāmījī, there are certain languages which influence both our brain hemispheres." Nowadays, many languages influence only half the brain. For him, a perfect and scientific language is one that, during reading, thinking, singing, and speaking, keeps both hemispheres equally active. That language was Sanskrit, along with Old Greek and two or three languages from the Soviet Union at that time, like Persian. He said the language we speak is very important; using the whole brain for it can make one a great scholar, a great poet, develop more spirituality, and understand ancient wisdom. He also mentioned Latin. He told me three points that influence both hemispheres: speaking, singing, and reading. Thinking, however, becomes one-sided again. What I want to tell you is that India gave birth to languages, religions, spirituality, and education. If you go to a library and see the Vedic scriptures, you will feel you are in a big ocean, while until now we were only in a small pond. I am telling you this because the dear professor is sitting here. He is a Sanskrit professor and can tell you more than I can, for I did not study it; when the Sanskrit subject came, I ran away from school. But Avatārapurī is very brave; he is learning. This evening is about the Kumbh Melā. It is something very unique. Kumbh means a pot. Melā is a gathering. Time in Vedic mathematics is counted in yugas, kalpas, manvantaras, and so on. What we call a century is measured according to the yugas. We are living now in Kali Yuga. About five to six thousand years have passed, but we still have a lot of it left. We can talk about this perhaps next time. Satya Yuga is known as the golden era, the truth. Satya means the truth. It is the beginning again, the new creation. At that time, what we call Svayaṃbhū appears in the form of resonance—not a form, rūpa—Parabrahma. The form of the Supreme is resonance, and that resonance's very origin is Oṁ. Everything begins with Oṁ, that sound, and light. In that eternal cosmic sound appeared or manifested what is called Jyoti, light. That is called Śiva Jyoti. Śiva means liberation. Śiva means pure consciousness. Śiva means the blessing. Śiva means bliss. Śiva means that beauty. Śiva means the ultimate truth: Satyam, Śivaṁ, Sundaram. Satyam is the truth. Śivaṁ is that consciousness. Sundaram is the beauty. Śiva manifests himself in the endless universe, and it is Śiva who manifests Viṣṇu and Brahmā too. The duty or function given to Brahmā in the universe is to make a racanā—a creation, a play, a manifestation. Before that, through Śiva, blessing was given to Viṣṇu. He said, "Viṣṇu, make tapasyā (austerity)." You need water to reside in, and that was also created by Śiva. Fire needs to exist, the water. Agni in the Vedas or Sanskrit means not only the flame we have here. It is very hard to understand Agni. A strong, powerful Agni fire is in the water. So the creation begins from Brahmā. Brahmā is known as the holy father, the Pīṭha. The first disappointment in this creation was experienced by Brahmā himself. So if you are disappointed, no wonder; even the creator was disappointed. Through his prāṇa-śakti—prāṇa, apāna, samāna, udāna—he created his putra, his son. He asked his sons, "Go and start the human creation now." The first son said, "Sorry, Father, I have no interest. Bless me, I will go and make tapasyā (austerity)." The second said the same, and the third also, and Brahmā was... Likewise, he finally got a ṛṣi who said, "Yes, father, I will do as you wish." That ṛṣi had several children. From one wife, he got the quality of humans called devas (divine beings). He had thirteen wives, thank you very much—Avatārapurī said he had thirteen wives. Out of these, one mother was the mother of the devas. One did not follow the principles, the rules, the woman's dharma; she did not follow. Dharmo rakṣita rakṣitaḥ: if you protect dharma, dharma will protect you. If you do not protect dharma, dharma will not protect you. She had tāmasic vṛttis, aggressive tendencies. Her children became what you call asuras. The name Asura is translated in Holy Books or Bibles as Satan. Those who do not pray, who do not go to holy pilgrim places, who do not have mercy for all creatures, are asuras. Those who pray, meditate, go on holy pilgrimages, perform ceremonies, worship, respect father and mother, love all creatures, and have mercy, are devas. Between both, fighting began. Since that time, we have been working for peace. So, you know, from that time I am constantly working for peace. I have to come, and when I come, you have to come too. So you are here too. The majority were Asuras; Devas were fewer. The Asuras wanted to rule all three worlds and the kingdom of heaven. They needed more power and strength. The Devas had spiritual strength, but to get more strength and become immortal, they were suggested to churn the ocean—a milk ocean. I am coming back to this point. So Brahmā and Viṣṇu were involved in this. The Devas and Asuras were advised to churn the ocean. How? With a big mountain or rock, and the hundred-headed Vāsukī Nāga, a snake. They put the snake around the rock. One side was held by the devas, the other by the asuras, and they began churning. Out of that churning process came fourteen ratnas (jewels). There is a beautiful, very old painting of the churning of the ocean. What came first? Poison. So much poison that it would destroy the entire planet and pollute the whole universe. What to do? No one wants to take poison; if you take it, you die. Now I will make a comparison. This human body is a Satyuga. Svayambhū, the ātmā, is in this body. Manas, buddhi, and viveka are... what we call Śiva is the ātmā, and buddhi is Brahmā, and Viṣṇu is that emotion, manas—the love, the protection. All our indriyas (senses), if we are slaves to them, they become like asuras. If we get an injection of holy sense words, our indriyas will also become holy. To get the nectar of immortality—ātmā jñāna—mantan means manan, churning, which means overthinking, studying what the śāstras said using viveka (discrimination). There is constantly fighting within us. Calm the passion: kāma (lust), krodha (anger), moha (attachment), lobha (greed). Stop looking. You can sit there so you can correct me, okay, from there. Or you sit, turn, look this side. Yes: kāma, krodha, mada (pride), lobha, moha, and ahaṅkāra (ego). These are the asuras, the devils. So if you have your passion out of control, your anger out of control, attachment that makes you suffer, greed, anger, and jealousy dominating in you, then you are more towards the asuras. Who am I to judge you? I cannot judge you. Only you have to judge yourself. So, are you a member of the Asuras or Devas? Devas embody love, kindness, mercy, protection, oneness. If you have these qualities, you are among the devas. In every yuga and life, there is a battle between the devic śakti and the asuric śakti. We have to bring the nectar, not the poison. Yes, before coming to Zagreb, I was thinking: how can I give you a picture of the churning ocean and the poison Hālahala? I saw on television the drilling of an oil well in the Mexican ocean. Suddenly, the oil came, and no one could control it. That began a poison. How much sea life died, and the pollution... That sleeping snake is what we humans evoked. Why? Because of greed. Similarly, the poison of our anger, the poison of our jealousy, and the poison of our greed exist at a dormant, sleeping level. Then suddenly comes temptation, and with our mind, instead of thinking beautifully, we think something negative, and that poison awakens through your words, your thinking, and your behaviors. We can destroy the most loving relations within no time. So the meeting of all the senses—manas, buddhi, citta, ahaṅkāra, jīva, and ātmā—is in this Kumbha-melā. That vessel is our body. Ta posuda je naše tijelo. So, as a result of the churning, fourteen jewels came out. Dakle, kao rezultat bučkanja, izašlo je četrnaest dragulja. Jewels means not only stones, but something precious. Ne znači samo dragi kamen, nego nešto dragocjeno. A white elephant with seven trunks, Airavata, which was given to Brahmā. Whichever gives milk, and so on—there are many symbols inside. Finally, last, with the pot of nectar, God Viṣṇu appeared in the form of Dhanvantari. I always forget. You are my good video, not video, computer. Dhanvantari. Now, Dhanvantari was the god of Āyurveda. So Āyurveda, the science of medicine, began from the Satya Yuga time. Last year, I read in a newspaper in Croatia that there was an Āyurveda conference. They said, "Āyurveda is about 400 years old, or something like that, 500 years old." I said, "Are you a Vaidya, an Āyurvedic doctor?" He said, "No, no, I'm a professor at an Āyurveda university." So I said, "You are not a proper sir." A professor means a proper person who has all the knowledge. So, that sir is a professor. The deity or god of Āyurveda is Dhanvantari. Dhanvantari appeared with a kalaś. What was the name of the kalaś? Amṛta kalaś. Now they realized there was nectar. Out of these fourteen ratnas, alcohol also appeared. So do not think alcohol is a new technology in Europe. Alcohol came out of the churning of the ocean during the Satya Yuga. Professor, am I right? Thank you, because he is a scholar, a Sanskrit scholar. Now, the alcohol had a quality and was liked very much by the Asuras. And the nectar? Who likes it? The Devas. So a fight began. They wanted to have the nectar. God Viṣṇu took the form of Mohinī. They ran with the poison—no, sorry—with the nectar, fighting to steal it, to take it away. On four places of this planet, nectar fell: Haridwar, Ilāhābād (whose ancient name is Prayāgrāj, the king of all holy places), Nāsik, and the third one was Ujjain. While they were fighting, some nectar fell down. The nectar means immortality that will never get lost. That constellation, whoever will bathe or go in that area, will get the radiance of that nectar. It is said that a particular constellation which comes once in twelve years is called the Mahā Kumbha Melā. Mahā means great. Kumbha is that pot where nectar dropped, and melā is the gathering to take the nectar. It is very interesting why the nectar fell there, where the river is, on the bank of the river, so that it would again... slowly, slowly wash into the ocean over billions, trillions of years. That began the Kumbh Melā. There is also the Ardha Kumbh Melā, a mini or half Kumbh Melā. It also has a great effect, the same thing, and millions of people gather there. Today I was asked a question: why do we not have such a Melā festival somewhere in Western countries? Because there was no such event there. Do not think Kumbh Melā is only for Hindus. No. At that time, there was no word "Hindu." Am I right, professor? At that time, even in this Kali Yuga, there were no words for the Jewish religion, Christian religion, or Muslims. There was one religion, called the universal religion. That is the principle which keeps the entire universe balanced—all the creation of the stars and planets and thousands of solar systems. That is our nature, Sanātana Dharma. Sanātana means oneness. Sanātana means the eternal part of it. Sanātana means relative. Sanātana means that we are the essence of that universal one. So the son of the father is the same model, like a father or a mother. Similarly, what comes from the truth is the truth. There is one mantra I have forgotten. Thank you, very good. I have always forgotten the pūrṇa, the complete. What we take from pūrṇa is also pūrṇa, and what remains is also pūrṇa. In the egg of the peacock bird, you do not need to put color inside. Out of that egg will come that colorful baby. Similarly, our ātmā is that universal one; that is the Sanātana. In ātmā, you and me, we are not two, we are one. The space in this hall and the space in the corridor is the same; duality is the wall, and the wall is ignorance. But the soul is individual. Born and died, came and went—that is the soul. The victim of karma is the soul. The victim of destiny is the soul, and that is why we all have different problems, because we identify ourselves as the individual soul. Jīvātmā is a mixture of the ātmā and the body. But as Ātmā, we are all one. God Kṛṣṇa said in the Bhagavad Gītā: no weapons can kill it, fire cannot burn it, death cannot take it away. I am that immortal, everlasting ātmā. So the aim of the Kumbh Melā is to get that realization, ātmā jñāna. But slowly, slowly, we humans became very selfish, and we went more towards the āsurī śakti. The āsurī śakti likes more alcohol, meat, this. The devī śakti likes more sāttvik, pure milk products, honey, nuts, milk. People used to go to Jesus, and they said Jesus is a healer. Through his blessing, people were healed. One day he said, "You are ill because you do not eat what you should eat. You should eat the grains from the field, fruits and nuts from the trees, milk and honey. That is your nourishment. Those shall not kill anyhow." So, devas are very important in the Kumbh Melā. We humans began to create pollution. There are two kinds of pollution: physical pollution and mental pollution. The most dangerous pollution is mental pollution. That mental pollution we call pāpa, or sin. So again, then in Dvāpara Yuga, Tretā Yuga, and Kali Yuga, the pollution began, the sin. Mother Earth went to the Holy Father, to Brahmā: "Wash away the sin." What we call, "Lord, forgive my sin." Before this, there is also a very beautiful story of Mother Gaṅgā. Gaṅgā had her duty to remove the devil power. No one could do it, but she could. Gaṅgā was a sister of Pārvatī. Gaṅgā was a daughter of the king of the Himālaya. Brahmā sent her there after doing her duty. Gaṅgā said, "Father, I finished my duty. Where will you give me place? Brahmaloka?" Brahmaloka means the divine world. But again then this problem came with Asuras and this pollution. They went—Mother Earth and all—they went to Brahmā. "Please help us. Only Gaṅgā can do it, no one else." So Brahmā again called Gaṅgā from heaven, not this heaven as we think, but from Brahmaloka. Gaṅgā said, "Why are you always handing me over to such troubles?" He said, "My daughter, I trust in you. You have the abilities. You go and help the planet and the humans." All three—Śiva, Brahmā, and Viṣṇu—asked Gaṅgā to come. So from Brahmaloka, Gaṅgā is descending. There was a great sage, Bhagīratha, who performed tapasyā and went to Śiva. He said, "Merciful Lord, no one is mightier than you in the universe. The Mother Earth is trembling because the power, Śakti, of Gaṅgā is so strong that Earth will be destroyed." That was a sound. She was coming. What do people say now? Some big bang, or what do they say? Earthquake, no? Śiva is always the solution. With a little prayer, Śiva can bless you. Śiva said, "I am responsible for everything. No problem. Tell her to land on my head." To land on my head means we take responsibility. Gaṅgā said, "Father, how long will I stay there?" Unfortunately, Brahmā said, "In Kali Yuga, you will go back." And now you see, the holy river Gaṅgā is also polluted and disappearing. Many dams they build for power, electricity. So in the Kumbh Mela, the main subject was how to save and protect the Gaṅgā. There is a Gaumukh, from the Himalayas where the Gaṅgā begins, coming from Śiva's head. After a few kilometers, they made a beautiful temple. You should go there. What an environment. Beautiful. Would you like to go with me? Only four said yes. Thank you. It is easy to go. Then Gaṅgā is coming; that is the work of Bhagīratha, therefore the name is called Bhagīrathī. From the right side is coming Alaknandā, the river, because our spiritual lineage began from that Satyuga time when Alakapurī was there, and according to his name, they gave the name to the river called Alaknanda. Both merge together and come down to the Himalayan hills called Dev Priyāga. They meet together in Dev Priyāga. Dev means goddess, divine. Priyāg means meeting, saṅgam. Then it flows through the holy land, India, for thousands of kilometers. I think one of the biggest and longest rivers is the Gaṅgā, holy of course, no doubt. All who dip in that river will automatically have their sin washed away. But the fortunate ones are those who can take the chance to come to the Mahā Kumbh Melā. More important is to go to Allahabad, where three rivers meet: Gaṅgā, Yamunā, and Sarasvatī. Sarasvatī has now disappeared, only flowing underground. In that particular constellation, Saraswatī comes up in Ilāhābād. That is called Triveṇī Saṅgam. Tri means three, and Veṇī is river. Where the three rivers meet, on that particular constellation, when you bathe, one hundred thousand percent sure you will wash away the karmas. For a yogī, every day should be a washing there. That is symbolized in our body by the three nāḍīs: iḍā, piṅgalā, and suṣumṇā, meeting at the eyebrow center, where Avatārapurī has a tilak. I do not have one. Do I have one also? This is the symbol of the Saṅgam, the meeting of the three forces. So according to your yoga and daily life meditation, called self-inquiry meditation, you concentrate and get that nectar. Students who meditate every day and do not look too much at the internet till two o'clock in the night will pass their examination. Do not enter into the net; enter into the Brahmāṇḍa. But our students are entering the internet. The student who whole night looks at different kinds of films on the internet, there it is blocked. Saraswatī disappears, and all disappears. So Saraswatī is from Brahmā, Gaṅgā is from Śiva, and Yamunā is from Viṣṇu. This is the trinity taking care of the entire body. That is why the Kumbh Mela event—all holy incarnations took place within the territory of India. There are twenty-four incarnations in these four yugas for completion, and the last is now called the Kalkī Avatār. When he will come, then the Kali Yuga will be finished, but how, we do not know. It is written in the Vedas, in the Śāstras, and in the Purāṇas. Kalkī Avatār, where will he incarnate? How will it be? He will have a white horse. This word, I will tell everybody: secret. But still, there are some hundreds of years left. So, dear brothers and sisters, we can tell and talk about many things, but I gave you just glimpses. The yogīs, thanks to them, took care of it, but modern people are polluting the rivers. There is the protection and guidance of Mahāmaṇḍaleśvaras. There is one thing many people do not understand: Nāgā Bābā, naked Sādhus, Golī Sādhuī. Why? At that time, only they were the warriors. U to vreme, oni su zapravo bili kao ratnici. They did not care about their body. They did not care about anything, and they were fighting to protect the Dharma. This is a symbol of renunciation: renounce everything and jump into the Dharma, the river of Dharma. That is a symbol. So, in the Kumbh Melā tradition, the Nāgābābā is seen as very holy. But people who do not know are not satisfied. A European once asked me, "Swāmījī, why are there Nāgabābās here?" I said, "From which country do you come?" Of course, from Croatia. I said, "Yes, I am also asking why on the coast there is FKK." Yes, we have that also. So I say, you see, nothing is new. But the difference is, why is that different? When you were born, you did not have two centimeters of cloth over your body. But for dignity, for ethics, and respect for each other, humans are more developed. Now it is good to have a good dress, but nowadays people are very poor. Especially, men are very poor. They do not buy enough cloth for the ladies. The poor ladies have to run in miniskirts. So I would ask every man to be merciful and generous and buy some cloth for your wife. Thank you, dear brothers and sisters. Wish you all the best. If there was something you did not like, forgive me, please. The glory of India: India gave to the whole world something; it did not take anything. That is why I call it incredible India. Bless you all. Oṁ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ... Śāntiḥ, śāntiḥ... Śāntiḥ, śāntiḥ... Śāntiḥ Satya Sanātana Dharma Kī. Oṁ Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinaḥ Sarve Santu Nirāmayāḥ Sarve Bhadrāṇi Paśyantu Mā Kāścidduḥkhabhāg Bhavet. Oṁ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ... Hari Om.