From misunderstanding to understanding – Rama katha 4

ŚRī Rāma Mahāprabhu ki! Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Hare Kṛṣṇa So, I'm honoured to be here with all of you. And thank all of you for coming today. Tomorrow is Ram Navami, so I will discuss some practical lessons from Ram Navami.

I spoke last two days in the Central India Temple on the topic of from misunderstanding to understanding. How in our relationship with each other often misunderstandings emerge for certain reasons. And how we can go beyond those misunderstandings.

The Ramayana depicts God not in majestic isolation far above the world. The Ramayana depicts God right in the middle of the human world. In the vertex of various relationships.

And there it demonstrates sweet pastimes which attract our hearts towards them and ultimately beyond this world by their attraction. At the same time, while the Lord enacts His pastimes His ultimate purpose is to attract us beyond this world. Am I audible behind you? So, in 4.9 If you don't understand my pastimes how do I understand? They will not come back to this world.

They will attain my world. And this can happen in multiple ways. One way is that just by hearing the Lord's pastimes we become beautified.

We become attracted to Him. And by that attraction we attain Him. Another is that by hearing His pastimes we relearn at a practical level lessons in ethics.

How one should act, how one should not act. How things can go wrong and how things can be set right. How we make wrong choices and how we can make right choices.

So we let go the one pastime in the Ramayana from this perspective. In this particular pastime, Lord Rama is present more by His instruction than by His personal presence. In fact, the Sundarkand of the Ramayana is characterised by Rama's presence only in the beginning and the end.

In the beginning Rama gives an instruction to the Vanaras who are about to embark on a search for Sita. At the end, Hanuman comes back. At that time, Rama is delighted and embraces Hanuman.

So Rama is present in the Sundarkand primarily through His instructions. It is described that Ram Ram Jaya Sita Ram In the Naam Ramayana, it is described that the Vanaras, they were the king among the Vanaras. They were always remembering Rama.

And by that remembrance what happens? Whatever in their destination. Their destination was to serve Lord Rama, to find Sita for His service. In that gati, in progressing towards that, there were many vigilantes.

So the obstacles came. Lord Rama destroyed those obstacles. Now, sometimes the Lord acts miraculously by personally intervening.

So, in the Upanishads in India, the Lord intervened as an unlimited side. Other times, the Lord may intervene but not necessarily in such miraculous ways. He may just intervene through some extraordinary set of circumstances.

And a devotee sees that this actually is God acting. So, that's what happens in this particular instance. Now, Ram has been separated from Sita for a long time.

And when Vali is dethroned, Sugriva is enthroned. At that time, Ram wants Sugriva and the Vanaras to immediately search for Sita. But Vali is the son of Indra.

And Vali is killed, Indra becomes angry. And that monsoon season, Indra showers down an enormous amount of rains. And the rains are so torrential, that nobody can move out, nobody can search.

That's why for the 4 months of the rainy season, the Vanaras just can't move out in search of Sita. And eventually, initially Sugriva is a little carried away by all the allurement of royal pleasures after a long time. But eventually, Hanuman and Tara remind him of his duty.

And then he arranges for 4 divisions of monkeys to go in 4 different directions. And the monkey division led by towards the south is most likely to find Ram, find Sita. Because Ravana has been seen taking Sita southwards.

That's what Jetayu has told him. So now, Angada, Angada is being told by, Angada is made the leader of this particular group simply because Angada is the prince regent. And Hanuman, because Hanuman is also a resourceful guy, Hanuman is the first person that Ram has met among the Vanaras.

Hanuman was also sent in this group. And Ram has special affection for Hanuman, special regard for Hanuman. Although Hanuman till now has not done anything extraordinary.

Now Hanuman comes into his own form in terms of his heroic activities later in his past life, little later on. So Angada is the leader. There are 3 major monkeys.

That is Jambavan, that is Hanuman and Angada. And the theme we will discuss is that when we work in a team, often there are tensions that come up. And how those tensions occur and how they can resolve whenever we are working in any group project in some service.

So Angada is the official leader. Although Angada is much younger. Sometimes it happens that a younger person is made a leader while there are much elder people also in the team.

That itself creates certain level of tension. So then here, Jambavan is the oldest among them and he is given due respect. But because of his age, he is not as strong as he was earlier.

Hanuman is of course almost like a peer of Sugriva. So he is also older to Angada. So he should start off enthusiastically.

And Sugriva is told that all of you should come back within one month. Whether you find or don't find, come back within a month. And all of us keep pressing towards the south.

We keep going down and down. They face many dangers. Somehow they survive and they emerge stronger.

But one month is nearly past and they have found no sign of Sita. Normally, when things are going right, the mind tends to be happy. When things start going wrong, the mind starts taking small problems and you should then make it.

Sometimes, one thing goes wrong, second thing goes wrong, now small thing goes wrong also. I can't do it, I just give up. It's a small thing.

But that small thing is just the tip of the iceberg. There are many other things which have gone wrong, which have burdened the person and this last thing is just over with. So when we face problems, at that time the mind becomes negative.

And when the mind becomes negative, when small problems start becoming very big. So the mind deludes us in many ways. The Bhagavad Gita says that the mind is our enemy as long as it is not controlled.

As long as it is not controlled, it is our enemy. When it is controlled, it becomes our friend. So one of the ways in which the mind acts in a limited way is that it magnifies problems.

Small problems make it appear very big. So when the owner was not able to find Sita, at that time they started discussing what to do now. One month is over, so some of them say that let us press on and keep searching for Sita.

Some others say, no, Sugriva has told us that we should go back. We should go back to the gym. And then some others say that actually Sugriva will be upset with us because we have not found Sita and not even returned on time.

And this view is expressed by Angada. Angada is the son of Vali. And Vali is the younger brother of Sugriva.

And Angada is very powerful. He is still young. Angada is to some extent, his role is something similar to the role of Abhimanyu in the Mahabharata.

Of course Abhimanyu becomes a martyr. Angada lives on. But Angada is young.

Heroic, but at the same time he is infectious. So Angada says that we should not go back. Because if we go back to the kingdom, Sugriva will consider Redeemer as failure for not having found Sita.

And he will punish us for our delay and our failure. For our failure in finding and delay in returning. And he will have us disgraced in front of everyone.

And he will even have us executed. The other one says, what are you talking about? No. He says that actually, don't think that this is beyond Sugriva.

If a person can have his own brother killed, then for his own purposes, what else can he not do? If he could have the king killed, who are we in front of him? A person who, for the sake of kingdom, has his own brother killed can not be trusted. Hanuman is hearing this. Hanuman becomes very angry.

Because you see that Angada is the leader of the room. And he is showing resentment. You know, he is speaking against the king.

Normally, if somebody speaks against the head of the state or against the commander, it is a serious crime. And he is basically causing this particular division to work against the commander and his interests. Hanuman becomes self-righteous.

You are committing treason. You are instigating a coup. You are doing this, you are doing that.

You could have exploded. Some people, if they, they live for finding faults. As soon as this becomes false, he just pounds on it.

The Bhagavad Gita describes that a quality of the godly people is apankshinam. Apankshinam means aversion to fault finding. That actually, everybody has faults.

We also have faults. But if we all start pointing out each other's faults, the whole of life will be miserable. Sometimes faults have been pointed out.

But one does not delight in pointing out. I got you now. Some people actually take glee in pointing out faults.

And then, that's very unfortunate. So Hanuman, he sees the actions of Anuradha. He remembers that the actions are very dangerous.

At the same time, he sees beyond the actions to the heart. He says, Anuradha is just a young man. He has lost his father just now.

And it's hurting. It's hurting. On top of that, even after losing his father, he has been given a big responsibility.

He has been made the leader of a whole division of the army. And he has been entrusted with a big task. And it is not really his desire to foster an insurgency that is speaking over here.

It is just his young heart is burdened of it. Hurt and burdened. So, he doesn't get on to his case.

He says, he tries to pacify Anuradha. He says, on opiates, Sugriva is after all a Ramkar. He will never do such a thing.

And, he said, it was not that Sugriva wanted to kill Bali. I was there with Sugriva throughout the time he was in the forest. Time and time again, Sugriva tried to reconcile with Bali.

Sugriva tried to clarify. But Bali gave him no chance. Hanuman tries to explain why, unfortunately, at this particular point, all the explanation that Hanuman gives, Sugriva starts seeing that as proof that Hanuman was Sugriva's son.

And that's why he is defending. Hanuman also speaks and Hanuman also tries to explain. He says, actually, Bali was the person who had driven Sugriva away.

Bali was the person who had taken away all royal comforts and royal facilities from Sugriva. Bali was Sugriva's son and Sugriva's wife. So, while Sugriva, Bali left, Sugriva had no other chance to get back his family, to get back his protection in life.

Sugriva for many years was just fleeing, fleeing all over the globe, trying to hide. Find a place where he could hide from Bali. Initially, when the army was sent in the four directions, at that time, Sugriva tells, if you go in this direction, you'll come to this mountain.

And when crossing this mountain, you can find this cave. Or you can go to this side. He just did quite a detailed description of what the Vanaras will encounter in the four different directions.

So, after that, when Ram and Sugriva are talking, Ram tells Sugriva, was geography your favourite subject in school? He literally said that. Because he says, you know, the world surfaces very well. So, Sugriva replies, oh lord, I learnt this not because of interest, but because of necessity.

Why? Because all over the world, Bali was chasing me. And I need to know which way where to go to escape. So, the point is that Sugriva had to flee for his life all over.

And that's how he knew all this over. So, Hanuman is trying to tell Andalasi but all of us have an emotional side and a rational side. So, some of us have an emotional side which is stronger than the rational side.

Some of us, the rational side is even stronger than the emotional side. During the rains, the rational side is more. In the winter, the emotional side is more.

But importantly, all of us have this. And at a particular point when a particular side becomes too strong, when the emotional side becomes too strong, at that time using rationality often doesn't work. Although the points which I am making are reasonable, but the emotions create a blockage.

And there is nothing internal to that thing. Sometimes, we try to make people understand. But at that time, if the person is not in a rational mood or is not in a rational mood, at that time, they need to be understood.

We just need to feel that we are understanding what I am feeling. Sometimes what happens, when a person is expressing some concern, we have to solve the problem. But at that time, what they need is not a solution.

They need to understand. They need to feel understood. The point is, Hanuman tries to explain to Angada that Angada is expressing some concern.

And now the women are perplexed. At one level, Angada is the prince. In the prince's vision, he is going to become the next king.

On the other side, Hanuman is the close confidant of the present king. There is Sugriva. And these two are proposing two radically opposite course of action.

One is saying, let's not go back to the king, let's stay here. Another is saying, let's go back to the king. So, as they are having a dissension like this, one of the monkeys suggests, let's go and hide in the mountains.

We just stay over there and make our own home over here. Sugriva will never find out. And at that time, another monkey says, no, Sugriva, if we betray him, then he will come chasing after us.

Better let us go back to him. And that's how we admit what happened. We tried our best.

We are not leaking out. So, as this two-way debate is going on, finally Angada says, that I am not going anywhere. Rather than be dishonoured in front of our loved ones, rather than be disgraced in front of those who respected us, rather than be executed in front of them like common criminals, better that let us die over here.

And he decides to do, he decides to fast till death. So, traditionally this is a kind of, this is one way if a person wants to feel that they just don't want to go on with their ethical lives, fast to death. They start sitting down in a yogic posture and fast.

And sits down and as he sits there, some other monkeys also come. And there are a significant number of them, they are all sitting in a yogic posture, fast in death. And Hanuman becomes perplexed.

What's going on over here? But Hanuman's words are not being heard at all. And as they are sitting like that, he is looking at me and making the resolve to fast now, till the moment of death. So, it's called as prayodaka.

It's a kind of vow that people make sometimes. So then, at that time suddenly, a huge creature comes in. This creature is huge.

You see, he is towering, he is dragging up to them. Moving unsteadily. What is this? Is this some rakshasa or what is it? You see, this creature looks like a bird but it is not flying.

It is dragging along. And as they watch, they start thinking, what is this? Who is that creature? Tampadhi. Tampadhi is the death of his brother.

Now, he comes there and he says, Oh, he starts looking at his mother and he says, Oh, providence has arranged a big feast for me today. And he is a vulture. So, he doesn't attack and kill the mother.

He is waiting for them to pass to death. So, he sits next to them. You know, waiting for them to fall.

Now, it is one thing to pass to death but actually to think that one's body will be ripped apart and will become the flesh for someone else and such a scary prospect. So, many people actually sometimes decide, I am going to commit suicide. But actually, about suicide it is said, many people sometimes they decide to commit suicide and they, in India, they go and lie on their legs.

They lie on their legs and when they hear the sound of the legs, they get up next time. Because what happens, about suicide it is said, that the act is courageous but the action is cowardly. What that means is, to end one's life, it requires courage to contemplate that idea.

So, if a soldier goes and fights in a war and is ready to die, it is courageous act. But when one is doing that action because of frustration with life, because of inability to cope with the problems of life, that is cowardly. So, here, when the Vanaras, they decided, we are going to pass to death.

And when they actually start thinking, this vulture is going to eat us up, it was waiting for us to die, they become unnerved. And Angada turns towards, the monkeys are becoming, the resolve starts weakening. So, Angada went forward and he says, oh, how unfortunate we are.

It seems that we all are also meant to become martyrs in the service of the crown, just as that heroic Jatayu became a martyr. He tried valiantly, but he perished. It seems today, we also will perish like that.

And this incidental statement, oh, just like Jatayu perished, somebody was just walking beside them, and he freezes in his tracks. He was petrified. Oh, monkey, what did you speak just now? What am I hearing about Jatayu? Is Jatayu no more? Please tell me what happened? And then, at that particular time, Angada asks, you know Jatayu? Who are you? He says, I am Jatayu's elder brother.

I tell the story of how both of them had tried to ascend to the sun. And when they tried to ascend to the sun, because the heat was so much, Jatayu being the younger brother, the elder brother had a protective spirit. He tried to protect him with his wings.

His wings got burnt at that time. He fell down to the earth. And there, when he had fallen, a sage had told him, what is the use of my life if I don't have wings? Wow, what is the use of my life? Now, all of us, if we consider our life, there is something which is the centre of our life.

For some of us, it may be our looks. For some of us, it may be our particular skill. In ESR, the skill of the hands.

A software engineer's skill with the computer programmes. For somebody else, it may be, for a sports player, it may be their sporting expertise. And that is what, this is what I am living with.

I don't know what is taken away from me. It is a vast universe. What is the point of living? That's what he says.

For a bird, the wings are what enable it to fly. The wings are what enable it to search for food. And the wings are lost.

He says, what am I living for? He says, what is the need for a point of life? We are the sage. And the sage tells him that, actually, everything that happened as a bird, that you, although you had a wing that you flew across the world, in future, in your wingless state, you are destined to do a great service for the Lord. He says, although I can restore your wings now to you, but I will not.

Because, without those wings, you will be able to do a valuable service in future for God. And you are worried, why will you get food without the wings? He says, I will bless you that you will get food also. So, sometimes we, we hanker to serve the Lord.

We feel, I need this for serving the Lord. And because I don't have this, I can't serve the Lord. Then you go on to preach, I just can't speak well, so I can't serve the Lord.

No, I can't sing well, so I can't serve the Lord. I don't have this, so I can't serve the Lord. The Lord wants us as we are.

The Lord accepts us as we are. Now, whatever skills we have, use them to serve Him. And rationally, they give us more skills.

We don't have to think that, I need a particular thing for serving. Yes, with that thing, we may be able to serve better. But the point is, whatever is our strength, that strength can be used to serve the Lord, but that very strength can also become our substitute for the Lord.

That means, you think, I have this. And with this, I am good, I am great. What do I need, God? The very thing which is our strength, which can be very powerful used to serve the Lord, that can also become our excuse for not serving to the Lord.

We take shelter of that instead of taking shelter of the Lord. Now, whatever strengths we have, they are very valuable. We have speaking ability, we have singing ability, we have managing ability, we have artistic ability, whatever, they are very good.

But they need to be used to take shelter of the Lord. Not that we take shelter of anything. And sometimes, if we start taking shelter of that thing, instead of the shelter of the Lord, the Lord may take that in the wake of us.

And then, we are forced to take shelter of human loving. That's what happened to some people. They told him that, in this condition also, you will be able to serve the Lord.

And as he was trying, as he waited, so he told his whole story. Now, he was telling all his story to Angad. Angad had heard this.

So he said, oh, the Jatayus were there. And when Angad was hearing this, he said, that means, you flew all over the world. You flew all over the world.

That means, you must be knowing where is Lanka. Do you know where Lanka is? He said, yes. What do you want to know? And then, actually, he told him, what are you telling about Jatayus? What happened? He told the whole story about Jatayus.

And he shed tears. And he wanted to offer water to the Jatayus. But on the last rites, the Jatayus, they picked him up and took him.

The monkeys took him. Now, seeing there his grief, monkeys were moved. And they picked him up, took him to the nearby river.

He offered water on the last rites. And then afterwards, Angad said to the Jatayus brother, he says, do you know where is Lanka? Do you know where is Ram? As Sampatya had become completely desolate. He said, I just can't fly.

And also, now my brother, to say whom I lost my wings, he is also no more. What is the point of me? As soon as he said, do you know where is Lanka? He realised, this is my opportunity to serve the Lord. Yes, although I lost my wings, I have not lost my vision.

I can still see far. I can see the south, there is the ocean, and beyond the ocean, there is Lanka. And there, Sita is there.

I have seen her, I have seen Ram and Angad taking the damsel, taking the woman, who was crying in distress with him in the southern direction. Still in the ocean, and you will find Sita. Now, the monkeys, they all, their plan of triumph was lost.

They arrived and jumped up in joy, yes, we are going to find Sita. They were marching towards the ocean. Now, if you look at the story, actually you will see, there are four broad contours to what happened.

First is, there is a group of people, the four monkeys, they came together for a challenging cause. Finding Sita, finding one human being, somewhere in the whole world, it is very difficult. Now, you just go on Google and search if you want to find someone.

See if they can spot it. But they had to physically go and search at that time. It was a very difficult cause.

And then, when they started facing problems, when they failed, they started facing problems. And when, there were, when the problems started coming, just like, say, this mic, it appears strong, but when a lot of weight falls on it, at that time it comes to know how strong it is. There are cracks inside, and with a lot of weight, the cracks start emerging and it starts cracking.

So like that, people appear like a team, but when pressure comes, then the cracks start coming. And then, the differences start surfacing and they start falling apart, going apart. That's what happened.

When they faced a failure, at that time, they faced a problem, which seemed to be like a failure, they started going apart. And then, what happened? At that time, they faced a bigger problem. And that bigger problem, actually, sometimes, we take Krishna, and we say, I am facing this problem, please help me.

Sometimes, we get a bigger problem than this one. What's going on? When they were in the forest, at that time, there was a meeting. And there was a meeting.

How do you feel that? Krishna, please help. First thing, Krishna said, Oh, Draupadi, I am very hungry. Draupadi was shocked.

First, I could not feed the sages, now I am not able to feed my lord. It appears sometimes, when you pray to Krishna, for solving a problem, it seems that you get a bigger problem. Krishna, what is Krishna doing over here? Now, actually, what is happening? Actually, that bigger problem brought them together.

So, what happens is, we often function in the world at a materialistic level. So, we may be together for some purpose, but often, we are in competition. So, when we face a problem, we start being apart.

So, when we face a bigger problem, that bigger problem presents two options. Either we just completely get fragmented and we get crushed, or we come together and fight. And, suddenly, we are doing our best.

Hanuman was trying his best to put us together. Hanuman was being desperate. Hanuman was not able to help.

He was thinking, what is happening over here? I came to Pancitra and here, they had a dissension over here. He was trying his best. He was praying to Ram.

Nothing seemed to be happening. At that time, this bigger problem came. Still, they did not immediately unite.

But, help came from an entirely unexpected corner. One incidental word spoken by Hanuman, completely changed Samparthi from a predator to a benefactor. So, the way Krishna helps is something which we can't predict.

Sometimes, when we face problems, we try to mind-read Krishna. What is Krishna doing? We try to mind-read the Lord. His mind is far bigger than ours.

We can't do that. So, what we need to do is, simply try to keep searching. Somehow or the other, from where Krishna will help, we can't see.

Krishna has his own mysterious ways of helping. Krishna came to America. Because, he faced problem after problem after problem.

In India, he started giving out memories and he was driven out of there. He tried to work with his godbrother and his godbrother told him that he had to leave the material world. He tried to distribute magazines and a cow came and knocked him dead.

He finally got free passage to go on a ship and he had come to India. He came to America and he was living here but then he had to stay with a person who had a different philosophy and he would not allow Brahmapala to speak the philosophy of Brahmapala. Finally, he got his own place but at that place, the watchman only broke and stole the ring and other possessions.

And finally, Brahmapala got his own place and another place he got where there were some intrusive people coming. And he thought that this is the time to work out. He got a young man who said that he would become a devotee.

He wanted to commit suicide. And on that day, when he went high on drugs, he attacked Brahmapala. You see, Brahmapala's study, newer and bigger problems kept coming.

Then one day, Brahmapala, by that time, had no means to actually publicise. It requires a publicist. So Brahmapala, who was the cheapest and the oldest means of publicist, he would just go for long walks.

He was in an exotic dress in America. He would just go for long walks. So one day, he was going for a walk and there were Brahma and Kirtanand.

Bruce and Keith. They had actually gone to India and searched for Brahmapala. But they had faced a big problem.

Two problems actually. There seemed to be people who were very saintly but they didn't know any English. There were others who knew English but they did not look saintly at all.

They were just interested in money and power and prestige. So they came back disappointed. And Brahmapala was walking along the streets and actually, that day, both of them were going to other friend's place to take drugs.

But they had a normal way to go to take drugs. They said, let's go by this way. And they were going along that way and anywhere they were there, there was an Indian Swami over there.

And then a drug came by. They thought, have you already taken drugs? Will the Swami be there? Swami was there. And then another drug came.

And they wondered, what is this? Swami was still there. And they crossed over. Are you from India? And what about you? We are not from India.

We have been to India. And they started talking to each other and talking to Prabhupada. And then, Hyderabadites and he also met Prabhupada.

They had gone. So he said that actually, we realised that the best of India was here in lower east. So it was, how did it happen? Prabhupada couldn't be walking anywhere.

But Krishna arranged that they meet on the streets. So, how Krishna was, we can't predict. So our goal is, our purpose should be, let me just keep doing my best.

Let me just keep serving. And Krishna will work in his own ways. And here Krishna would just casually come and talk to us.

And then, Zapati turned. Zapati covered everything. So essentially, when we find that actually speaking, there is essentially nothing outside.

We are not able to, some people are not able to work together. We are not able to work with someone. That person is not able to work with us.

Whatever. You know, at one level, it can lead to a lot of accusations. You did like that.

You spoke like that. You did like that. It is going to get more of accusation, counter accusation, counter accusation, counter accusation.

This goes on and on and on. There is no end to that. In general, in every situation, it's never that one person is right and another person is wrong.

Everybody is at fault. Some people's fault may be more, some people's fault may be less. But, the difference between the way devotees resolve a conflict and the way Krishna people resolve a conflict is, that the devotee goes in the world's first.

Now, we, if we are united within, then we will be united without. United within means that inside us, we are the souls. And the soul, next to the soul is the person.

So, if we go within and put shelter of that person, seek his guidance, rather than trying to externally prove ourselves right. You are wrong. I am right.

Now, that kind of clarification, rectification is required. But, when that becomes the first thing that we do, then, what happens? If I try to prove you are wrong, even if I am right and you are wrong, still, if you try to prove that I am wrong and you are right, even if you are right, what happens is, whoever is wrong, then ego goes into the defensive. And once the ego goes into the defensive, even a nuclear bomb cannot explode anymore.

Yes, wrong. No matter what reasoning you give, I am right. The man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.

It just doesn't work. So, if you go within, take shelter of Krishna. Now, that guidance will enable us to resolve.

Now, all conflicts may not be resolved by everyone's satisfaction. But, many of the conflicts can be minimised rather than whenever there is a problem, our mind has a tendency to look for a way out, look for a solution. Because of you, this went wrong.

Because of you, that went wrong. There is a saying in English that, success has many parents, but failure is orphan. Whenever something is going wrong, nobody wants to claim this person.

Because of you, because of you, because of you. It's like an orphan child. Whose child is this? Not mine, not mine, not mine.

Everybody is saying like, not my child. So, it's like that. So, A, our goal in life is, yes, externally, we want to do services, we want to solve problems, we want to get things done.

But ultimately, our goal is to reach Krishna. Our goal is to reach Krishna. And Krishna is a hero who is within us.

If we are searching for the villain without, we can't find a hero within. Krishna is within us. If we are searching for a villain, because of you, things went wrong.

Yes, things may have gone wrong, but Krishna can set things apart. We need to connect with him. But as long as our focus is on finding out some scapegoat, some villain.

If we are searching for the villain without, we can't find the hero within. So, our goal should be, whatever is the situation, let me approach Krishna. Let me reach Krishna.

And if that comes, if that clarity, we can again unite. And then we can find the solution. तग्गति विघ्न भून सक्रे राम Although Ram was not present there, but whatever obstacles came in their path, Lord Ram helped them resolve it.

How? By various means. You see, Angadha also, he was not a bad person. Angadha, he also, when he spoke about Jatayu, how Jatayu laid down his life, he never laid down his life.

That means, although he was disheartened, he had not given up his intention to serve the Lord. Like him, he also said, what can you do? I am also going to die. And then, as soon as the opportunity presented itself, maybe Jatayu, maybe Sampatti might know about something.

Sampatti might know about something. So, that desire to serve was still there in his heart. And then, as soon as the opportunity came, he also manifested and he started acting properly.

Now, later on, Angadha never again expressed doubts about Jatayu. Later on, he fought heroically in the war that took place against Ramana's horse. He fought heroically and fell many monkey demons.

Angadha never expressed his suspicion against Subhriva. And nor did any of the monkeys make a big issue out of it against Subhriva. He tried to instigate prison against him.

No. They let the dead past burn in the sky. So, under pressure, we all do certain things sometimes.

So, once the issue is resolved, sometimes we just hold the past against the person. You know what happens? When we keep holding the past against the person, we don't let that person outgrow the past. Because whatever we have to do, we need energy.

Even if a person has done something wrong, for them to improve, they need energy. But if they are holding their past wrong against them, then their energy doesn't get directed towards improving themselves. Their energy gets dissipated in defending themselves.

The whole energy goes in defending themselves. Energy is not left for improving themselves. If somebody has done something in the past, just forget it.

No. We all have committed mistakes in the past. So, neither Subhriva nor Hanuman nor any of the monkeys, Subhrivas, ever held that against Angada.

In this way, we also, whenever somebody speaks something, somebody makes a mistake, we don't have to hold it against them. So, what has happened? It happened. What is over, is over.

So, life moves on, and we also move on. And when we move on like this, there will be obstacles in our life. If you become conscious of me, you will pass over all obstacles by my grace.

Our struggles won't last forever. But we will. We are eternal.

And struggles, no matter how big they seem, they are eternal. And if we remember the eternal, then whatever struggle we are facing, we will be able to see it. We will be able to tolerate them.

We will be able to transcend them. We will be able to grow through them. That is the ultimate mercy of the Lord.

Whatever problems we face, by His grace, we will be able to overcome the problems. He doesn't say problems will not come. He says, by remembering me, by my grace, we will overcome those problems.

That we will remove. Remove the obstacles on the path that He has removed us. And He, if we stay devoted to Him, He will also remove the obstacles on our path.

I will summarise. I spoke today about how, from misunderstanding, we can move towards understanding. The Lord's pastimes, they ultimately liberate us by directing us towards Him.

They also help us progress towards liberation by guiding us about how to choose wisely, how to act wisely. If I discuss the pastime of Angada, basically, Angada was going towards the south. And how Angada, although he was a junior, but because he was the principal, he was made the leader.

He was made the leader of that group. And just as a fragile object under pressure cracks, similarly, the team that was there, when they faced failure, when they couldn't find Sita within the time limit, their unity seemed to crack. And at that time, Angada's past fears started speaking.

Angada's heart was not having animosity towards Sugriva. His fears started speaking. He showed treason against Sugriva.

But Hanuman did not castigate him for that. Hanuman said, you are trying to make me misunderstand. However, when people are emotional, rational speech doesn't help.

When we are trying to make them understand, we often need to make them feel understood. So, when Hanuman was trying his best and nothing seemed to work, he was naturally praying to the lord. Sometimes, by solving a problem, the lord solves that problem to a bigger problem.

Sampatya appeared over there and said, we are going to devour all those monkeys. But at that time, Angada just referred to Jagannath. And that means Sampatya is no predator.

And then, he found a way to get rid of all those monkeys. Usually, when we come together to face a big challenge, but then, when we start finding this challenge is not too big to deal with, then we start falling apart. At that time, if we seek, if we are devoted, if we seek help, sometimes the help comes in the form of a bigger problem.

That either forces us to come together or causes us to crumble apart. And when we stick together somehow, at that time, help comes for that bigger problem and that smaller problem in a way that we can't even imagine. So, the way Sampatya helped the Vanaras, he used the thought of the Prabhupada, the help came for him.

Just like some people were walking around the street, they were spitting secrets. If we just stay open to Krishna's plan, faith does not necessarily lead to certainty all the time. We are not always sure how Krishna will be.

But faith, at the very least, needs to open us. Let me be open, however Krishna will help me. And if we just stay faithful to Krishna, then, in due course of time, in a lower inconceivable way, he will not only solve the problem, but actually help us to grow through that problem.

So, we all have certain external shelters, which we can take shelter of. And when we take away that shelter, we think, what am I living for? Sometimes that shelter has become a competitor of Krishna, and Krishna takes away that shelter. So, when externally there are problems, we need to go inwards.

If there is external disunity, we start internalising, unity with the Lord in our heart, to take the shelter of Him. And instead of just trying to tackle problems on a material level by clarification, accusation, the whole chain can go on. First go inwards, take shelter of Krishna, and then, in a prayerful, devoted mood, we will find a way to move ahead.

And through that internal unity, we can bring out external unity. The struggles of life can seem overwhelming. But, if we remember that we are eternal beings, and we can remember our eternality, we can get experience of our eternality by connecting with our eternal Lord in devotion.

And then, we will realise, our struggles are not forever, we are forever. And with the grace of our Lord, we will be able to go beyond whatever problems life may send our way. Thank you very much.

Are there any questions or comments? Yes. If they had seen Ravana going towards the south, if Ravana had been seen, why was Arjuna in all the four directions? See, it is logical that he had been seen going southwards, but the Rakshasas were known to be deceptive. Already, there had been a double deception.

Manicharya had come out of the form of a deer. He had called out the voice of Rama. And then, Ravana had also come in the form of a swan.

So, the Rakshasas were known to be deceptive. So, they were cautious that the initial going in a certain direction might just be to pull them off track. And afterwards, he might have gone in some other direction.

So, that's why, because they wanted to make sure that they find Sita. And the Rakshasas were known to be deceptive. So, they would send seekers, searchers, the search party in all four directions.

Any other questions? I think it is a problem. I don't want to take ownership of the problem. I think the issue is to become humble and take the first step of solving the problem.

Actually, We often have a great functional approach to things. This is a problem, this is a solution. You cause the problem and you fix the mess.

And that is the way in how we function in the world. If we have a more service-orientated approach, that means, if this problem is there, ideally, this problem is going to impede our service to the world. Who caused the problem is not as important as whether the problem gets fixed or not.

So, if we shift our vision from the specific problem and solution to the service of the world, that service is what is important. So, then, that itself uses a higher perspective. We all have to, in our life, choose our values.

There are too many things wrong in life. And if we just look at the news, we find hundreds of things that are wrong. How much of it can we correct? We all choose our values.

So, even in our spiritual life, we choose our values. The highest value is the most important value we apply to the world. We want to serve the world.

So, for the service to go on, sometimes we may decide to take a step back in a particular situation. So, if we keep the big picture in mind, then we will know, okay, this is not a good decision. And that's, you know, we may make your decision somewhere else.

Because, you know, like Arunachala said that the mind magnifies small problems. Basically, the general way in which the mind reviews us is by making us lose perspective. Making us lose our sense of perspective.

Sometimes, we may magnify small problems and sometimes we may trivialise the big problems. So, either way, the mind can make us lose our sense of perspective. So, if we haven't yet, you know, I have meditated my life in service of the Lord.

He is my God. And now, we just don't know. How much of it will be of my own experience? I may actually argue and prove that they are wrong and I am right.

But, how many minutes will it take? In the Ramayana, there is an example of who was that? Before Simhika, in the Lanka, first he meets, no, the first one, Simhika is, she comes, Mahindra Parvat comes, and after that, there is a demon who opens their mouth. Surasara. So, that is a good example of these four obstacles that Hanuman meets in the, there is Lanka, they represent various things.

So, Surasara, actually, she makes her mouth bigger. And Hanuman makes her mouth bigger. And she makes her mouth bigger.

And Hanuman makes himself bigger. Now, Hanuman could have meditated, you know, I could have meditated, I can become bigger than you. Hanuman says, my goal is, I have to meet Simhika.

So, what he does is, he says, her prediction is that whatever is going to stay has to enter her mouth. She has become very big. Hanuman suddenly becomes very small.

And enters into her mouth and comes out. He says, your blessing is on her. Let me go ahead.

She becomes pleased by that. She is very intelligent. The division between sons of the lord, she is going for that.

So, like that, sometimes, you know, the other person uses their arguments, we use our arguments, they use their arguments, we use our arguments. Sorry, I made a mistake. Let's move on now.

Let's close this chapter now. So, you know, our love, our love for Krishna, should arise from the necessity of being right in reality. The ego has that need to prove that I am right, this argument.

And, actually, when I say ego, it's not necessarily an arrogant thing, but we just have that need, I want to prove as a parameter. But, if our love for Krishna is strong, we understand that there are more important things than proving my rightness and other person's wrongness. That is not really the most important thing.

The important thing is to move on now. And if something is a regular pattern, and again and again the person is creating a problem and victimising us, troubling us, then we have to deal with this problem. It's not just a one-off incident.

There is no point in our purpose of serving Krishna, our love for Krishna, whenever we are proven wrong, or we are depicted as wrong, that creates an incident. Oh, people will think I am careless, people will think I am foolish, people will think like this about me, people will think like that about me. And that also makes us want to prove I am right, I am not wrong.

But, if we appreciate Krishna, Krishna knows our heart, we want to serve Him. And, okay, it's more than enough. So, that way, if we are devoted to Krishna, we are speedy people.

We don't need constantly in every situation the world to approve us. So, even if we are painted as wrong in some situations, it is not a very big thing. Just move on now.

So, that's the best of our love. We don't have to prove ourselves to the right. Indra was coming again and again and making a mess in Tutu Japa.

And, he was a trouble maker. But in Brahmaditya, Brahmaditya tells, Indra, if you want to do 100 sacrifices, just stop it. You know, Indra is wrong, Indra is wrong, why are you telling me to correct him? Tell him to stop.

But, he is not mature enough to stop. Actually, Brahman is not enough to tell him that. To find his fault.

Sometimes, other person will make a small issue into a big issue. We also make a small issue into a big issue and it becomes a very big issue. So, I think there is a right and wrong in a particular argument.

But there is a right in the ultimate sense of what is important. So in the sense of, he did not insist on proving his rightness in that situation. What was ultimately right was that he was a Guru.

He did preach. And when he did that, what happened afterwards? Lord Vishnu himself appeared. So normally if somebody performs a hundred yajnas also, then the proof that they get is they go to heavens.

And the Lord knew he would not appear. Why? Although he did not do the hundred yajnas, still the Lord appeared. The Lord appeared because he was ready to give up that egoistic pleasure, that sense of honour, oh I want a hundred yajnas.

He gave it up for a higher cause. So if you keep that higher cause of the Lord's service in the mind, I know that sometimes even in a particular argument we have gone wrong, it doesn't matter. Let's take the humble position and move on with our service.

If you have to tell somebody, people who are not devotees, that they should just let some things go and move on in their life, then they are not devotees, how can they understand? So actually even in material life, it helps to let small things stay small. For example, if we are going for an important meeting and then suddenly somebody comes across and cuts a break and stops, and that person just moves on. You fool, you are a jerk, what are you doing? I want to give you a piece of my mind, I will call the cops and I will have you punished.

Now we may go after that person and chase that person and then it becomes like a car chase on the road. And even if we catch them, even if we give them a piece of our mind, even if the police can arrive, the whole person may be late for some important meeting and even if he is there, we are so disturbed, we are not able to function at that time. So even in an ordinary life, having a sense of perspective helps.

This is a problem, this is a problem. But which is the bigger issue to solve? So that sense of perspective is valuable even in material life. And through examples from material life, we can convey this point of view.

At the same time, it is good if, this sense of perspective is very difficult to have in a person who is in a rajoguna at the moment. In a mode of passion or ignorance, we say, I have to do something. In a mode of passion, we want to get back that person.

Mode of passion means revenge. Mode of ignorance means self-pity. You know, everybody trembles on you.

You know, everybody does like this to you. You know, I am like a steamboat for everyone. It always happens like this to me also.

Just we feel sorry for ourselves. In a mode of goodness, we say, sometimes life gives us a bad deal. Just be more.

If we are honest with ourselves, sometimes life gives us a good deal also. Sometimes we do a right thing, but we get a bad result. So, in general, if people are very disturbed, it is just difficult to get them in a mode of goodness.

Just be calm, gentle, give them a break. Let them vent their emotions. When they vent their emotions, as long as the emotions are going round and round, you take it and hide it.

You keep them in a mode of passion or get them in a mode of ignorance. But once they vent their emotions out, calm them down, they come to a mode of goodness. Maybe, you know, have some prayer, a session of prayer with them, have some milk with them.

Just keep them in a mode of goodness. And after that, keep thinking. But in a state of closeness, you know, I have to keep thinking, I have to keep small things small.

Let's say, what is it saying in Hindi? Don't sweat the small stuff. So, like that. So, if you can get them in a mode of goodness, then also you will be able to see their sense of perspective.

Their sense of perspective becomes much clearer if you connect with Krishna. Very good goodness, sattva, samsara, there are also times. So, if there are obstacles and you cannot make advance, then are those obstacles coming by our past karma or are they actually coming by Krishna's plan? Actually, it's not that the two are exclusive.

No, Krishna's plan can also work to our karma. It means, certain problems may come because of our karma. But it is a shelter of the mind.

Krishna can bring good even out of the bad. Bad things will happen in life. That's the result of our past karma.

But Krishna can bring good out of the bad. So, for us, if we start getting too analytical over why this is happening, where this is coming from, when it is coming from past karma, when it is coming from Krishna's plan, we don't have to focus on that. Rather than focussing on where this is coming from, focus on where this is taking me.

Let me see how this can take me towards Krishna. In the Bhagavad Gita, we can't talk. In the start, there was this incident where Duryodhana speaks very harsh words to me.

He says, Duryodhana, we have maintained you, but you are a traitor. You are like a prostitute who just goes and works somewhere else. So, you are, while living with us, while being maintained by us, you are failing the Pandavas.

You are a traitor. Therefore, get out of here. The only thing you can take me is your bread.

So, normally, also this should be a big insult for a master to speak like this to a chakriya. And that too, for a junior to speak this to a senior. You know, Vidura is one generation ahead of everybody.

It's an egregious insult. And Vidura is. Naturally, even when you say somebody is pure, that is not purely moral.

Even when you say somebody is pure, that is not purely moral. But the stress of our emotion is not that we don't feel human emotions, but it is that we don't let those emotions alone determine our actions. We feel, as soon as possible, return back to our inner service to Krishna and think of how I can serve him.

So, like this and that, although Duryodhana spoke these words under the influence of external energy, under the influence of Mahamaya, out of his own greed for the kingdom, out of his own envy for the Pandavas, out of his own arrogance and his own strength, he spoke these words. But Vidura saw these words as the arrangement of the internal energy of the world. By these words, now, I can rule the kingdom.

I won't have to fight on the side of the cowherd boys. I won't have to fight for them, against the Pandavas. So, let me just go a little bit more and let me go a little bit more.

So, the point is that, as devotees, we need to see every situation as a way to go closer. Specifically, why that situation came, it's very, very difficult to do. If I am walking along the road, going out, and I slip and fall.

Whether I slip because of my past karma or whether I slip because somebody has spilled water over me. It can be anything. It can be both.

Whether it's because of a past karma that I fall, whether it's because of somebody's present mistake that the water has spilled over me. So, as we start analysing, it doesn't go hand in hand with karma and all. So, we have to see whatever has happened, how can I, what is the best thing I can do? How can I serve Krishna? And it is not that Krishna's plan is only for the devotees, only for the devotees.

Krishna is there in the hearts of everyone. He is there in the hearts of everyone. What is in there? There is nothing in the hearts of the devotees that is attractive about him.

But Krishna is there also. Why is he there? Because he cares for everyone. Krishna's love for us is not based on who we are.

It is based on who he is. He is the benefactor of all human beings. So, Bhagavad Gita says that he is the beneficiary of all human beings.

So, Krishna's love for us is based on who he is. He is the all-loving, all-merciful Lord of everyone. Of course, our experience of his love is based on who we are.

If we have to attach to multiple things, we won't perceive Krishna's love. Sun is always in light. If our eyes are closed, we can't see the sunlight.

If we are to attach, we can't perceive Krishna's love for us. But still, Krishna always loves us. So, we should not think that because I am not a serious devotee, Krishna doesn't care for me.

Krishna cares for everyone. But the more purer our devotion, the more we reciprocate positively with Krishna's love. But it is not that Krishna doesn't care for us.

He cares even for the humans. In Kulasekhar Maharaj's prayer, he says, He says, don't worry your mind that I am going to have so many sins and I am going to go through so much suffering because of that. Why do I worry? He says, because… He says that, He says, your Lord is the only one to save you.

He is the Lord of the Gods of fortune. He will bring fortune in your life. And he says, that he actually removes the problems of even ordinary people.

Millions of people come to the temples, the churches, the mosques. How many of them are pure devotees? And they still keep coming. Something must be working for them.

They must be getting some solution. That's why they keep coming. So, the Lord solves problems even of the people who are just, he is coming for, not relationship building, just for solving their problems.

He says, if the Lord is solving their problems also, why will he not solve the problems of those who are trying to devote their life to him? Just give up all these things. Give up doubt. Just devote yourself to the Lord.

If you devote yourself to him, he will take care of you. This is Shri Krishna Maharaj's prayer. So, Bhishma thinks that the Lord's love for us depends on the humility of our ego.

He always loves us. If you won't put up your emotions, then better be disciplined. But he always cares for us.

And whatever is happening for us, even if it becomes a pastime, the Lord's plan can act even to that. So, Krishna always wants to help us. And if we think, how can he save me in this situation? Then we let him help us.

Without our cooperation, he can't help us. So, why our submissive service attitude? Why are we sad? Krishna has to be saved in this situation. Open ourselves.

What is Naam Ramayana? Naam Ramayana is set of 100 names of Lord Ram. It is often sung in South India. It basically describes the whole life of Ram, Lord Ram since his appearance till his last pastimes.

Just like Ramayana is divided into Kandas, similarly this is also divided into various Kandas. So, every name ends with Ram. So, Ahi Mahi Rao, Mani Chaar, Ani Rama.

That is Lord Ram who destroyed Mahi Rao. Tamrut Dashmukha Rao, Ani Rama. One who killed the ten headed Rama.

That is Ram. So, that is Naam Ramayana. I think now… Yes.

Google can give us many things. Google can give us Krishna also. Google can give us knowledge about Krishna.

It is devotees who can give us Bhakti to Krishna. On my website, I have given a series of talks on Naam Ramayana. All the 100 names.

I am just going to send this out now. So, is it that if there is disunity, we just wait for Lord's mercy to restore unity or do we also try to do something to be united? Prabhupada told us, he showed us how to go about it. Yes, we see Hanuman did try.

Hanuman was trying his best but somehow his words didn't get So, we do try our best to maintain unity and sometimes things just don't work at our level. So, surrender to the Lord can often happen in multiple forms. Normally, when we think of surrender, we think of dropping, raising our hands, surrendering to Krishna.

But, if this is a Bhagavad Gita, it also ends with a call for surrender. Now, I am Krishna. That is 18.66, 18.72. But then how does Arjuna surrender? Arjuna also had to raise his hand.

Arjuna surrendered by raising his bow and readiness to fight. Sometimes, surrender means complete dependence on the Lord. Sometimes, surrender means complete readiness to do whatever it takes from the service of the Lord.

Including fighting for the service of the Lord. So, surrender can take many forms. So, definitely, when we have the opportunity, we can take proactive measures.

We can… If certain devotees are working together in a project, they come together, spend quality time together, share one another's hearts, understand each other better. Then, when we understand each other better, then when some problems come and somebody behaves in some unexpected way, we understand where this person is coming from. So, that way, we can, using our Godly intelligence, take steps to come together, to understand each other better, even in the normal course of life.

That's one thing we can do. Another thing we could do is also… The material and the spiritual are not competitive. They are complementary.

That means, at a material level, also, we may have to work practically. In our movement, we also have… It's called resolve. The devotees who are training in mediation, and if there are some devotees who are partaking, they come together and they help to resolve issues.

So, like that, there are practical measures which also can be taken. And that has… These practical measures have also helped. Sometimes, we may also have to learn a little bit skills for how to communicate in a non-aggressive way, in a non-violent way, in a more sensitive way.

So, Arjuna, when he fought Krishna, when he fought for Krishna, he was able to win the war. Now, how did he win the war? Was it by knowledge of Govinda? Or was it by the knowledge of Arjuna that he learned to fight? It was both. The knowledge of the Bhagavad Gita helped him to get the inspiration, the conviction to fight.

At the same time, he also needed the knowledge of Arjuna that he is going to work for Govinda. So, even for a pure devotee like Arjuna, the spiritual was not the substitute for the material. He did material skills to fight.

Yudhishthira was also a great devotee. Yudhishthira could not achieve inter-competence of Arjuna. Yudhishthira did not have material skills.

So, sometimes, some people may just not have the skills for communicating properly, negotiating properly. The skills alone are not the solution. But the skills may be part of the solution.

It is not necessary that just by chanting Hare Krishna alone all problems will be solved. By chanting Hare Krishna, yes, problems will be solved. But sometimes the problems will be solved by chanting Hare Krishna and giving the intelligence about what we need to do to solve the problems.

And one part of what we need to do may be that we need to learn some skills. So, generally speaking, if a group of devotees is working together on something important, then advance only we can anticipate that problems are going to come. It is best that we learn to come close to each other.

We try to create some mechanisms by which conflicts can be resolved. Narayan has a class on cooperation among equals. And having some policies in place for resolving potential conflicts is very important.

And, let me, it's a little jarring example. When the five Pandavas married properly, Narayani came to meet them. And what is Narayani going to do? Narayani told him a story of two demons, Sunda and Upasunda.

They were inseparable. They were brothers. And they had got a benediction that nobody would kill them except each other.

And they were creating havoc. So, what the gods did, they went to Brahma and they hired Brahma, Kashinath, Apsara, Tilottama. And Apsara, both of them saw her.

He said, she is my wife and your sister-in-law. Apsara said, no, she is my wife and your sister-in-law. And they fought with each other.

And they killed each other. Now, the Pandavas are all pure devotees. Narayani told this story to them and he said that now all of you married the same wife, it can lead to problems in life.

And he sat with them and they made a plan. You know, when one of them will not include the other. So, even though pure devotees, when there is potential source of conflict, there has to be planning to resolve it.

Even though, he will understand or she will understand. It doesn't work like that. No, understanding has to be established beforehand.

So, if we, you know, using our godly intelligence, we find out if these are areas which are likely to be areas of conflict. We will create some policies in advance to either minimise the conflict or to create a mechanism to avoid conflict. So, it's not that just we depend on Krishna's mercy.

No, Krishna's mercy can come also in the form of he will give us the intelligence of what we need to do to prevent problems or to minimise problems. So, surrender is good. So, when nothing, when everything that we have done, nothing is working, that time surrender means just raise your hands.

But, it is not that that is the only form of surrender. Before that also, all the sermons that we are doing, there is also surrender. So, when I first started giving classes, I was giving some, everybody gave me some guidelines for public speaking.

And the last guideline was, depend on Krishna. And in bracket, but only after we have prepared. So, if I don't prepare for the class, let's say I am depending on Krishna.

Well, the dependence of Krishna should have been not just when you sit with the Vyasa Siddhi, but before also. And before it should have been the power of preparation. So, we need to do whatever it takes to make our service conformance.

Is it understood? Thank you very much.