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The king summoned his daughter and said, "O Nārada, O great seer, you know everything. Please tell me, what are the good qualities of my daughter, and which are the bad qualities of mine? Think in your heart and tell us from your heart." As soon as Nārada saw the girl, he was hypnotized by her beauty. He gazed at her continuously, performing tratak, and forgot his vairāgya. He forgot all that had transpired before. His heart was filled with happiness, and he became unable to recount her qualities or express his thoughts to her parents. He could tell her father nothing. Nārada contemplated her qualities, telling himself in his mind: "Whoever marries her will become immortal. He will be so strong that no one will be able to defeat him in battle. This humble and beautiful girl—to whomever she chooses as her husband, all creatures will serve him. He will be the king of all." He kept all her beautiful qualities and virtues in his heart and did not tell her parents. In his heart, Nārada held all this, but he told the king something different, only on the surface. "Yes, she is nice, good, everything is okay," he said, and then Nārada left. But in his mind was a different thought. Physically, he was departing, but mentally and emotionally, he remained there. Nārada left, and now he wondered what to do. Karo jai sohi jatan bichari, jehi prakar mohi bare kumari jap tap kasuna hoi, tehi kāla he vidhi milai. Kavan vidhi bala bala? Nārada jī was thinking, "What should I do now? Which technique should I employ? Which trick should I use so that she will choose me as her husband? What can I do? Is there some way?" He forgot his sādhanā. He could not do his japa. No japa, no tapa—only suffering. How to get her as a wife? "Oh, my destiny," Nārada said. "Vidhātā. Oh, my destiny. How, or in which way, will I obtain her?" This entire trick was from Kāmadeva. He had not yet left. Physically, Nārada had gone away, and this was the māyā of the Lord. To protect someone is not easy. Sometimes you must act very quickly and in a different way. There is a story. There was a man, a meat-eater, who liked to eat meat very much. His entire family was vegetarian, very pure and humble. Only he had some devilish karmas or dog karmas. If he did not get meat for his meal, he would become so angry with his wife that he nearly beat her. She was very afraid. He told her clearly, "If one meal is missing without meat, then be sure I will kill you and eat your flesh." One day, it happened that she could not find meat anywhere in the market, as the butchers had to operate secretly; there was no open meat shop. She went to the market, but they said, "Today we have no meat." She went to another shop, and they said, "Yes, we have meat, but it is dog meat." She said, "It doesn't matter, please give it to me." They had a child about five or six years old who saw that it was dog meat. It is said that to eat the meat of a pig or dog is a very low quality of human nature, the lowest of the low. The child thought, "I do not want my father to eat dog. If I tell my father it is dog meat, he will kill my mother. If I do not tell, then I will see with my own eyes my father eating something very base." What is dirtier or lower than pig and dog meat? Those who eat it take on the qualities of dogs and pigs. What to do? This is called dharmaśaṅkat. Śaṅkat means difficulties. Such dilemmas arise where you do not know how to escape. Dharma means obligation, duty. As a son, my duty is this: I must not let my father eat this lower creature's meat, the meat of a dog. But it is also the duty of a son toward his mother to ensure she is not killed or beaten by his father. It is my duty to protect her. I do not want to be the cause of this. If I tell my father it is dog meat, he will kill her. This six- or seven-year-old boy decided to protect both of them. When the father came and said, "Bring the food quickly, I am very hungry," the boy said, "Father, please, may I serve you today?" He went into the kitchen and said, "Mother, please, may I serve Father today?" She had filled the cooked food into a ceramic pot. He took the whole pot and said, "Father, I think you will enjoy today." As soon as he came near his father, he exclaimed, "Oh God, the pot is so hot!" and let it fall. Everything was destroyed. "Is it, Father? Sorry, sorry. My foot is burned." The father said, "Oh, my God, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." The mother was sorry, and he said, "Well, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter." He gathered it all in a basket and threw it in the garbage. He said, "It doesn't matter, bring me some vegetables." Thus, the child saved the situation. Something had to be destroyed in order to save. The father did not eat the dog meat, and the mother did not receive punishment. The boy had a little burn on his leg. "Oh, my destiny, tell. Please show me the way to get that girl. My Lord, this time I need only one thing: glory and beauty. If I am beautiful, then she will have no chance to escape with her flower garland. I must have such beauty that she will look at me and fall in love." How to achieve this? He wondered, should he go to a cosmetic shop? Should he get a makeover or a cosmetic massage? What to do? But all this does not make you beautiful. Your beauty is already there; you merely add some extra color. It does not matter how much you decorate a donkey; it remains a donkey. He had a desire, but he did not deserve it. This is the situation. Nevertheless, he continued to think. One thought came to his mind: only God can help me. God is almighty and merciful. God fulfills everyone's prayers and desires. God is like a loving mother and father who fulfills the wishes of their dear child. I shall ask the Lord, and the Lord loves me. Viṣṇu respects me, and I am sure he will fulfill my wish. I should ask him, "Lord, please bless me with beauty." He was not praying for mokṣa, not for bhakti, śakti, vairāgya, jñāna, no tapa, no svādhyāya, no sādhanā—only beauty. But God is very far away. To go there, ask him, obtain beauty, and return—perhaps it would be too late. Meanwhile, she may have already given the flower garland to someone else. Then what would he do alone with his beauty? These are the vṛttis of the mind. Then one's own beauty makes one more angry and unhappy. It would take time to go and return. But no one is his real well-wisher other than God, Hari Viṣṇu. Therefore, only He can help. Only God can save him. What is good for him, only He can do. Devu Prabhu ko tukki kripāla Prabhu viloki muni nayana judāne hoyahi kāju hiye harṣane. At that time, Nārada prayed to the Lord in many different ways. The player of the Divine Līlā, the Lord, appeared before him. Lord Viṣṇu suddenly materialized in front of Nārada. When Nārada saw Viṣṇu, out of happiness his eyes became completely wet; his eyeballs swam in tears of joy. Nārada was so happy in his heart, saying to himself, "Be sure now things are done. Oh, Nārada," he said to himself, "now the thing is done." He was very, very happy. With great humility and a feeling of poverty and weakness, he requested the Lord. He told God the entire story and prayed to Him, "Merciful Lord, be merciful to me. Bestow your mercy upon me. Help me, O Lord. Please, Lord, give me your beauty. Otherwise, I cannot get that girl, God Viṣṇu." He knew everything; of course, the Lord knows everything. Nārada said to Viṣṇu, "My Lord, you know everything. Do what is good for me." God knows Himself inside. He said, "I will do what is good for you. Do not worry." "Oh, Lord, whatever is my goodness, or my happiness, whatever is good for me, please do it immediately for me. I am your devotee, I am your bhakta, Lord Viṣṇu." So how strong is His Māyā? The Lord also said, "Māyā, you are also very strong." And He smiled within Himself, "My game is really beautiful, but I have to protect all." Nārada said, "Please, Lord, do quickly for me what is good for me." Lord Viṣṇu spoke: "O Nārada jī, in that thing or in that way which will be a great help for you and which is good for you, I will do that. I will do nothing other than what is good for you. And my words are always the truth, the reality. O Yogi, Muni, Nārada, if there is an ill person who is suffering greatly and has intense pain from a particular disease, and he asks the doctor for a particular medicine, the doctor will not give what he asks. The doctor will give the kind of medicine that is good for you and will heal you and make you healthy. If you are very ill with the liver because you are an alcoholic, and you are shouting, 'Please give me something to drink,' the doctor will not give it to you. The doctor knows how to cure the disease. A doctor will not give you something that will support and increase the disease, even if you ask. And Nārada, at that time, had this disease of desire. God must treat this now so that the infection does not spread further. Therefore, God said, 'If a person is ill and asks for some medicine, the doctor will not give it to him.' Therefore, O Yogi Nārada, I have also decided to help you in that way—what is good for you." And God dematerialized. Nārada stood there, very happy. Blinded by māyā, Nārada did not understand what God meant, though God had told him everything very clearly. Nārada immediately went to the audience where the princess would choose her husband. All the kings and princes were there, many having come with the hope that she would choose them. Nij nij āsana bethe rājā. Every king sat on his own āsana, accompanied by his people. Nārada also came and sat somewhere. He sat there smiling, looking at everyone present. Nārada said to himself, "No one looks like Viṣṇu, so beautiful." He thought, "I am so beautiful." Everyone was looking at Nārada, and he was still happy. He thought, "I am so beautiful. All are looking at me. I am sure she will choose me. She will give me the garland." But the merciful Lord, who wanted to do something good for Nārada and protect him, acted. Tulsīdāsjī said, "God gave him such an ugly form which I cannot express." He did not know how to describe it. Nobody knew this. Everyone recognized him as Nārada and greeted him. That much God had protected him. What is important is that the person should know this, that is all. There were two bhaktas of Śiva present. They knew everything that was going on and were dressed as priests, Brahmins. They were observing this entire līlā, enjoying it. They were also very jolly. Jaihi samaj bethe muni jai, hirdaya rūpaham iti adhikai. Tathā bethe maheś gandho, vipraveś gati lakha inakou. Nārada was sitting there with great pride and ego in his heart about his beauty. These two Śiva bhaktas, in the dress of Brahmins, went and sat near where Nārada was sitting. Nārada sat there thinking of his beauty and said, "How much beauty God has given me. God has given me such beauty." He was talking to them, saying, "God made me so beautiful. Do you think she will give me the garland?" He could not wait; he could not keep quiet. Like a little child who has received ice cream or a toy and shows everybody, "Look, my beautiful toy," it seemed Nārada was out of control. That is Māyā. That is temptation. That is distraction. Nārada was full of ignorance, full of moha, because his mind was no longer in his control; it was under the control of Māyā. The two bhaktas of Śiva sat there, laughing and enjoying. They talked about certain things and gave some signs, but Nārada could not understand what they meant. He thought, "Oh, they are speaking well of me. They are talking about how beautiful I am, praising me highly," because he was so blinded by his desires. Kahu na lakha so charita viśeṣa, Śoṣa rūp kṛpānayade nirpa kanyade kha. This special māyā of God, no one else could see it. Only that girl could see Nārada. She saw that Nārada had the face of a monkey, and his body was so ugly and dreadful. She was furious in her heart. "What does this stupid monkey think? Why is this monkey here?" The princess took the garland in her hand and began to proceed toward where all the kings were sitting, along with her girlfriends. She looked at everyone as she walked. Nārada jī sat there full of pride. Tulsīdāsjī said he was expanding with arrogance. But the girl did not even mistakenly glance in his direction. Nārada grew so restless that he made many noises and sounds to attract her attention. The two Śiva bhaktas enjoyed and laughed. Now you see how this Māyā was torturing him. Where was that beautiful ashram near the Gaṅgā where he used to sit and meditate? How peaceful and beautiful it was there. Even Kāmadeva had no chance against him then. Happy life, satsaṅgas, wisdom. And now? He was stuck in dirt and thorns. The god Viṣṇu also appeared in the form of a king, came, and sat there. The girl was very happy and gave the garland to Viṣṇu in the form of a king. He took her to Vaikuṇṭhaloka. All the other kings and princes were disappointed, but that was merely the Lord's Māyā. It was Lakṣmī. You know, the city of Māyā, 800 km long—it was just an illusion, and very soon it would dissolve. The 800 km from Mūlādhāra to Sahasrāra, the eight chakras. Manva dhire dhire chal, Gīgāṅgar chadnare bhai. Oh my mind, walk slowly, slowly. This is the most beautiful city, where God also resides inside. They were at the Saṅgharāḍā, the Komī Saṅgh, for a very long time. "Muni yati bhikala mohammati nāth nāthī, Maṇi giri gayī choṭī jānu gaṭhī, Tava harigana bole musukāī, Nijamukha mukhara viloka hujāī." Due to moha, Nārada lost his buddhi. When he saw that the girl was gone, he became very unhappy, like one who has lost a very expensive jewel from his pocket. He was so sorry for his loss. At that time, the Śiva-gaṇa bhaktas thought, "Now is the chance to tell him something," because Nārada was unhappy. He thought, "Why didn't she choose me? I am so beautiful. How could she choose another?" This was his problem now. They smiled and said, "Do not be sad. Go and look in the mirror at your face. Then you will know why she chose the other one." After saying this, both bhaktas of Śiva ran away from there, and the muni Nārada ran as well. He looked at his face in the water and became so angry. He said to both Śiva bhaktas, "I give you a curse." And now, what happens next? The most terrible and interesting thing. It is so interesting that you may have no more concentration to hear what Nārada is going to do. But he is speaking now. What will happen with Viṣṇu we will hear after.