Nara-Narayana Rishi – Twins who teach tapasya – Hindi

[Bhagavatam class at ISKCON, Dwarka, Delhi, India]

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Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna! In the 37th Sankranti of we are discussing the relationship between Vidura and Uddhava. There is a lot of talk about it.
And here, the fifth aspect is that when Duryodhana insults Vidur a lot, he leaves the kingdom and goes on a pilgrimage. And when he is going there, he gives him Uddhav. So now, Uddhav is one generation younger than Vidur.
For example, Vidur is the same age as his father. But Uddhav is always with Krishna. And he is a devotee very close to Krishna.
So, in the last two chapters, it has been told that when Vidur asks about the happiness of Krishna and all the Dwarkavashis, then Uddhav leaves in the company of God with a divine bliss. And then, the description of God’s plays has come in the last two chapters. And now that God has left this world and gone to Bhagavad-gita, after giving a lot of painful information, what is he doing? Now, God has told him what to do.
Now, you go to Badrik Ashram. There is Narayana Rishi there. And there, what God had told Uddhavji, that whatever Uddhav-gita I have told you, go and tell those Rishis there, and you go with them.
So now, in this shloka, the Narayana Rishi who is living in Badrik Ashram, the description of him is coming. So, here, as Prabhupadaji says, even at that time, Badrik Ashram was a strange place. Badrik Ashram.
So, in this shloka, Badrik Ashram has not been mentioned clearly. Because, what is it? Here, everyone knows. If someone says that I had been to the capital of India, then, at the end of the year, we will understand that, if I am telling this to someone, then the one whom I am telling, he should know what is the capital of India.
Otherwise, he will take the name. So, if I am telling that I have been to the capital of India, then, perhaps, there was some work in the capital, that is why I went there. And, just by taking the name, what is the importance of that place, that is being told.
So, the name of Badrik Ashram is not being taken, but here, what is the speciality of Badrik Ashram, that is being told. And, with that speciality, it is being told about that place. So, if I say that, I have just come from that country, which is considered to be the superpower of the world today.
So, those who know, they will understand that I have come from America. So, in that way, it is being told indirectly here. Bhagwatam is a Kaavya, Kaavyatma Granth.
That is why, many times, this thing, that is being told, is being told indirectly, with the feeling of indication. And, with that, what happens? With that, when there is a conversation, in that, there is a special connection. That, the one, whose description I am making, you know that, we also know that.
And, if there is an outsider, then, who is he talking about? He will not understand. So, if there is a description, whose indication is there, in reality, there is no clear indication. What does that mean? Those people, who understand the indication, are there.
And, that is why, Prabhupadaji is telling indirectly, that, Badrika Ashram was famous, that, with the indication, the listeners, they are understanding, about whom they are describing. So, what is the speciality of this place? There are two people there. That is the speciality.
Ketra Narayana Devo, Narashtra Bhagavan Rishi. There, Nar Narayana. There, these two people live.
So, Nar Narayana, this, in Bhagavan’s different avatars, is a very special avatar. What are the specialities about them? First of all, the speciality is that, they are twins. They are considered twins.
They are two people, but, they look exactly alike. And, this is Bhagavan’s one avatar, but, it is in two forms. But, along with that, this is not all.
There is one more thing about them, that, sometimes, they are told about Bhagavan’s one avatar, that, avatar is told. But, sometimes, especially in Mahabharata, they are told, that, in reality, who are they? Krishna and Arjuna. It is told like this, in Mahabharata, that, the Krishna and Arjuna, who have come here, they were earlier, Narayana and Narada.
Now, Bhagavan and, now we say, Narayana is Bhagavan, Nar is, he is a human being. So, Bhagavan and human beings, how can they be twins? In reality, how are they? This is in the form of Bhagavan’s Leela. Bhagavan, in different ways, in different Leelas, wants to experience different tastes.
So, now, Bhagavan, when Krishna comes, he says, that, Bhai Balram. So, Bhagavan, sometimes, the taste of younger brother, sometimes, the taste of elder brother. So, the taste of elder brother? In the form of Ram and Lakshman.
So, then, he experiences, the taste of younger brother, in the form of Krishna. But, the taste of twin brother, is also different. So, the taste of twin brother, that taste, Bhagavan, experiences, in the form of Nar Narayan.
So, sometimes, there are two people, who are twins. So, in them, there is not only physical similarity, but, sometimes, there is also a genetic connection. That means, if one person is in danger, then, the other person also feels some fear.
They are scared. So, they understand, that there is some problem in this. So, now, how does this happen? Because, one person will be in one place, and the other person will be very far away.
But, in both of them, there is a connection. There is a connection. So, twin and connection, this word, so, they are twins.
But, in them, the connection, which is there, is not only, in physical similarity. In reality, both of them, what is there? That, they, completely, in their thinking, they are not one and the same. Everyone, has his own personality.
But, in them, there is a mystical connection. There is a wonderful connection. And, that is why, when Nara Narayan, sometimes, fights, so, they fight.
So, one time, one person will come, he will fight. So, now, their Leela, how do they, how do they use their twinness, this is told in Mahabharata Sundar Leela. There was a demon, whose name was Sahasra Kavach.
And, it is told that, this Sahasra Kavach, in reality, in the next birth, he was born as Karna. And, Karna, he had one Kavach. Sahasra Kavach, had Sahasra Kavach.
He had one thousand Kavach. And, his, his, his son, he had got such a son from the Gods, that, his Kavach, it was very difficult to break his Kavach. And, as soon as, to break his Kavach, a person has to a very long time, it is told in Shastras, has to fight for a thousand years.
But, as soon as that Kavach breaks, that person will fall dead. So, now, it was so difficult. First of all, it is difficult to break even if you kill him, then what will happen? That person will die.
And, the person who has to kill him, that person has to Tapobal. And, he has to for a thousand years. So, fight for a thousand years, for a thousand years, Tapobal.
And, after that, break one Kavach. So, like this, a thousand Kavach have to be broken. Who will be able to do this? Only one person can do this.
Actually, not one, but two people. Who were they? Narayana and Rishi. So, what did they do? When this Kavach had to be fought, first, Narayana and Rishi sat in Tapasya.
And, then, men started fighting. And, after a thousand years, as soon as his Kavach was broken, men started fighting. till then, Narayana and Rishi did Tapasya.
They Tapobal. And, with that Tapobal, they men back to life. And, then, they started fighting.
And, then, men started doing Tapasya for And, Narayana started fighting. And, as soon his Kavach was broken, Narayana started falling. And, Narayana started giving Tapobal to Narayana for a thousand rupees.
And, Narayana started giving Tapobal to Narayana for thousand rupees. And, Narayana started giving Tapobal for So the Kshatriyas had this feeling that if someone comes in their refuge, they should take refuge. Now, it was not necessary to do this every time.
Because there is a word for a rule and a purpose for a rule. There is the letter of the law and there is the spirit of the law. So many times it used to happen that if we are taking refuge, then what is the feeling? That not only am I asking for refuge from you, but I will work according to your will.
I will be your servant. Because in this world, as it is said in English, there are no free lunches in the world. We get anything for free.
These days, there is a lot of talk on the internet that it is free, free, free. So whenever any product is free, know that you are the product. So if you are getting anything for free, it means that they are catching you.
They are giving you free things and catching your mind, your consciousness. So you don’t get anything for free. So here the expectation is that if you are coming to a refuge, then they are giving you refuge.
So you should work according to the person to whom you have gone to refuge. So you should change your mentality. If there is an Asuri person, then he should leave the Asuri practise.
But many times the people of the Asuri practise, they misuse the element of refuge. And when they are in danger, they go to the refuge. And as soon as the danger goes away, they again go to work according to their Asuri practise.
So this is what Sahasrath Kavash did. Now Suryadev was not a fool. Suryadev understood that his feeling is that this is the Asuri practise.
And because he was in the refuge, so what could he do? So he took refuge. He took refuge. Then later when Kunti said the mantra that Durvasa Muni had said, that if you say this mantra, then you can call the deities and get a child from the deities.
So Kunti at that time was unmarried. And at that time Kunti said that mantra for the experiment, for the experience. Will it really be like this? If a small child does not know anyone, what will happen? Like a toy has given something, so if you do like this, it will happen.
Will it really happen like this? No one has seen a TV. If you press this button, then a big movie will start here. A movie will start.
Press and see what happens. Press and see. So Kunti’s feeling was like this.
What will happen with this mantra? So Suryadev came there. What did Suryadev want? Suryadev said that this person of Asuri Parvati, I don’t want to keep him with me. So he gave him to Kunti.
Kunti said, I don’t want him. I was just doing this experiment. You have called me for the experiment.
Now when the deities come, then it is necessary to give them a child. If you call the deities, and the deities do not give a child, then it is an insult to the deities. The deities are incapable of giving a child.
So because of this, Kunti got compassion. Then she took care of him. With a lot of prayers, in a river, in a wooden box, she put a lot of ornaments.
She was praying to the deities that he reaches safely. And there were ornaments, so that whoever sees him, they understand that he is an ordinary child, from a rich family, so they should take good care of him. But that story is different.
But here our story is about Narayana Rishi. So these twins, what do they do? They both, the God, the love of twins, they experience it. And those who work together, they do it.
So how to do that work, how to do contemplation, and how, sometimes there are two people, if they have a good relationship, then what happens, the person looks at the other person and understands how to do it. Sometimes it happens that the relationship between two people is not good, one person says, you do this, still the other person does not do it. But sometimes the relationship is good, the other person does not even feel it, he has said it with his eyes.
But their relationship is so good that they understand that this is how it should be done. So, those, those twins, what do they do? If there are twins, they are genetically synchronised. So what happens is, the genes that are in our body, according to which our physical qualities appear, they are similar in twins.
But some twins, they are not just genetically synchronised, they are also karmically synchronised. So their karma is also exactly the same. Of course, the personality is different.
But, the special attraction here, is experienced by the male. And, now, the male sages, they are a special avatar. How is it? Now, there are some avatars of God.
When they come, only then they come with their many parts. Like Ram, Krishna come, they come with their many parts. Narasimha Dev comes, he comes with his one part, which has already come.
Who is he? Prahlad. And later, Lakshmidevi and other deities come and pray to him. So, but this Nar Narayan, they always stay together.
And usually, with Nar Narayan, Lakshmidevi is never seen. Why? Because Nar Narayan Rishi, there, is playing a special role. And that role is of penance.
That in this world, it is necessary to do different types of work. And, one of them is penance. yajna, dana, tapa, karma, pavanani, manishnaha God says in the Bhagavad Gita that yajna, dana, tapa, these three things, everyone should do, so that we become pure.
So, all of us humans, there, in three types of chakras, in three types of areas, we are present. One area is our body, body and mind. The second area is society.
And the third area is nature. And towards these three areas, we get something from these three areas. We get power from the body.
We can do some work from the body. People help us from the society. We are social creatures.
We cannot live without people. And, the nature is very important to us. If we live in a very natural society, then our dependence on nature, we may not understand.
I was in America a few years ago. I was giving a lecture in a college there. After that, a professor was talking to me.
He said that people have become so unconscious after living in a natural society. Their consciousness has become very limited. A survey was done, 7-8-10 year old children were asked where milk comes from.
About 95% of the people said milk comes from the fridge. Now, no one knows So, the consciousness becomes very limited. It is said that water comes from a tap.
That’s fine, that’s right. But where does water come from in a tap? Our consciousness is that when we think about what we enjoy and what we enjoy, then, we don’t have much time to think. But all of us, whether our consciousness is awake or not, we are still dependent on nature.
So, from these three areas, we are dependent on peace. We cannot live without it. But from these three areas, we can also get sadness.
These three afflictions come from these three areas. Which affliction comes from the body and mind? Adhyatmik. The thing which gives us comfort in this material world, the same thing can make us helpless.
If a person’s whole body breaks, there are thousands of diseases which can cause diseases in the body. Asheesh Rujam Viroh. Allah says that this body is the place emergence of infinite diseases.
Like this. Asheesh Rujam Viroh. When I was in Canada, a devotee was telling me that he had such a disease that no one in the history of the world has had such a disease.
Really? He was telling me with pride. Pride comes in different ways. What disease did he have? He had hair on his ears.
Hair came inside his ears. Hair came inside his ears and came out from inside. Due to hair movement, his ears were damaged.
He had to undergo a very expensive surgery. The doctor told me that no one in the history of the world has had such a surgery. So, hair coming inside the ears and damaging the ears, what will the hair do? There are different ways of causing pain in the world.
So, it can cause pain to the body and to the people. A European philosopher was asked that do you believe in hell? He was an atheist. He did not believe in hell.
He said, yes, I believe in hell. Hell is definitely there. What is hell? Hell means other people.
What does hell mean? Other people. The person who has always been hurt by other people, thinks that hell means other people. Relationships are a very negative feeling.
Relationships are a very negative feeling. But sometimes people get hurt. So, this is the first physical problem.
And the third is the spiritual problem. It comes from the nature. So, what has been told in the Shastras? We should do something for the three areas in which we live.
So, we do penance for our body and mind. We do yajna for the nature. And we do charity for the living beings.
So, in this way, if we are taking something from someone, we should give them something. This is the rule of charity. So, penance is necessary for every person.
Now, the way someone does penance, that emotion can be different according to the person. But penance is important for human beings. We can understand what penance means.
Just sitting in a chair and fasting is not penance. It is a type of penance. But the essence of penance is to trade the present for the future.
We give up the present for the future. The essence of penance is to give up the present for the future. Now, all living beings work according to their physical needs and physical desires.
A few days ago, there was Ekadashi. On Ekadashi, if a cat looks at a mouse, the cat cannot say, Ekadashi, you should fast. No, because it is hungry, it will eat.
So, we work according to our physical needs. Humans do the same. But humans have the ability to do the same if they want to.
This ability is the defining difference between humans and animals is this capacity to give up the present. This is the defining difference between humans and animals. And in whichever field humans have progressed more than animals, whether it is art, we have made languages, we have written texts, we have received education.
If a student is doing education, what is he doing? He is doing penance. Because in the youth, people can enjoy in different ways. They decide, I want to study now because this will make my future better.
And if someone does not do penance, then what happens? Their future is not so bright. If we do not give up the present for the future, then we do not have what we want in the future. So, in a way, what is giving up? The present me is sacrificing for the future me.
Suppose, if we are stuck in an island and we have a limited amount of food, then we can eat that food right now, but if we eat all of it now, then there will be no food left in the future. But we decide, I will eat this much now and this will be in the future. So, in the same way, what are we doing? The present me is leaving something for the future me or is preparing something.
So, this penance is very important for every human being. In a way, to progress in the material world. The students who are in colleges, they also have two emotions.
One is, I want to be the enjoyer and the other is, I want to be the achiever. I want to enjoy, I want to achieve something. I want to get good marks, I want to get good grades, I want to become a servant.
So, if I want to become an achiever, then I have to give up So, in America, there are reservations in India in colleges that these people should be given quota, these people should be given quota. So, what happened? In America, American students do not study much. So, there is a lot of hunger.
So, that is why, in American universities, they think that if we give admission to students only on merit, then only the students of India and China will take over because the population is very high. So, to increase the population, there is a competition. And in that competition, to stay alive, it is necessary to work hard, to give up.
In the countries where there is a lot of comfort, there is no feeling of giving up. So, there is no progress. So, if you want to progress in any field, then it is necessary to do penance.
So, Nara Narayana Rishi teaches with his own example how to do penance. And if we have to do anything which is very difficult, then in a way, it is easy if we do it with someone. Why? Because we all have our mind inside us and our mind sometimes speaks against our desire or our intention.
If we are doing penance, we have to get up early in the morning or we have to fast for Ekadashi, or we have to go to a pilgrimage, or we have to do long Govardhan, or we have to do Vrindavan. It is very difficult. I am tired.
I am not going to do it. It is too much. I will not be able to do it.
So, the mind is constantly hiding and is constantly ready to give us a hiding. But, if we get up in the morning and say, I want to sleep, but everyone else has already got up, I should also get up. So, what happens? There is power in the whole.
So, what are these Nar Narayan Rishis doing? In doing penance, they are twin brothers but they do penance together. And when they do penance together, then there is a special taste because when our mind troubles us, then the other person inspires us. When their mind troubles them, then we can inspire them.
So, that is why if we do work with others, then it is also important So, Nar Narayan Rishis do penance. How we have to do penance with others, that is shown there. And here, there is a beautiful word.
What is it? It is called Mridu Teevram. They are doing penance. They are doing penance for a long time and they are doing penance for a long time.
But Mridu is very sweet. His feeling towards everyone is very loving. And here, the biggest challenge is that when we become strict in doing something, when we do it then only the other people who are not doing it we become judgemental We start looking down on them.
We start looking down on them. We start I had thought that some people look down on everyone. Whatever they see, they see a fault in it.
Some people are like this. If there is any problem, they find a solution to it. And some people are like this.
If there is any solution, they see a problem in it. So, now, suppose there is a person who always sees a fault. So, in a way, in seeing a fault, our ego is a little he gets a little happiness.
He gets a distorted happiness. See, I am so intelligent. Everyone is saying that it is good, but I can see a fault in it.
Actually, the Kalyug is full of faults. So, in the Kalyug, seeing a fault takes as much intelligence as a person who is lost in the ocean and he has to look for water. There is water everywhere.
If you want to find something, you can in the ocean. So, if you find a fault in the Kalyug, it is very easy because there is everywhere. But, if we do penance and we are in a higher level the we ego.
And, because of ego, we those who are not doing penance. And, because of penance, austerity often makes people hard-hearted. Those do penance sometimes make them hard-hearted.
Those who fast without or eating food, they say, you are not a serious devotee, you do not do penance. No, it is necessary. Yes, it is a fact that do penance fast or always is like doing the tapsa.
But, the is their bodies. Some have superior bodies, some delicate bodies Some According to Ayurveda, it is very easy for those who have Kapha in their body to do Tapasya. Those who have Vata body, especially Pitta body, it is difficult for them to do Tapasya.
Now, it is not like that if we are hungry and it is difficult to do Tapasya, we say that my body is of Vata and Pitta, so I will not do Tapasya. There is no such feeling. But, what we have to do, we have to look at others with the feeling of service.
Service means, suppose this person is on this side, sometimes we have to lift people up, sometimes we have to encourage people where they are, we have to give them assurance. Okay, you can do this much, do this much. So, we are doing our Tapasya very intensely, but we have to have the feeling of service towards others.
This is very difficult. And this is what Nar Narayan says, Be strict with yourselves, but be kind with others. Work with yourself with intensity, but work with others with humility and love.
Work with love. If we do it like that, then what happens is, we can attract others through it. And I will end with one point, that sometimes people feel that if we do a lot of Tapasya, if we have a lot of detachment, then they will not care about others.
That I have detachment, if I have detachment, then if I am in a family, then I will not care about the rest of the family. If I have detachment, then even if I am living with others, I will not care about others. So, if it is happening like that, then we do not understand the purpose of detachment.
Detachment is not absence of emotion. Detachment is absence of emotional dependence. When we have detachment, it does not mean that the detached person is emotionless.
The other person is in a lot of trouble, and this person is so detached, that he does not have any surveillance. No, he is not detached. What is detachment? A person is not emotionally dependent on another person.
Detachment is not absence of emotion. It is absence of emotional dependence. For example, there is a doctor, he has a small child, and he has to give a medicine to the child.
He has to give an injection. When he has to give an injection, the child says, No, no, no, this injection is very painful. I do not want to take it.
You are so cruel. You give me pain. I do not like you.
I have to go from here. And he starts screaming. He starts saying bad things to the doctor.
And the doctor thinks, This child is in so much pain. He is saying so bad things to me. Let us not give him the injection.
Let us not give him the injection. If you have such feelings, then he is a doctor. He will not be able to do the job of a doctor.
He will not be able to do the job of a doctor. So, a doctor should be detached here. Detached means, he should not depend on other people’s emotions.
Even if that person is going to be in pain, but if it is necessary, then he should give the injection. This person will say bad things to me. That is why I will not do this.
What will the other person think about me? What will the other person say about me? This is the only measurement according to which we work. So, what is that? That is emotional dependence. And that is not good.
Dhritarashtra has such emotional dependence on Duryodhana. He is never able to upset Duryodhana. Why is Duryodhana not doing any terrible thing? Dhritarashtra does not say no to him.
And what happens with this? Duryodhana goes to his destruction. He goes to his destruction. So, this emotional dependence on any person is not good for that person and also not good for the other person.
But not having emotions is also not good. I was 15-16 years ago. And for about a year, the doctors were not able to find out what the disease was.
So, they were doing different tests. So, no one was able to find out. So, many times my blood sample was done.
Blood testing was done. So, once a nurse had to do blood testing again. So, what happens is, at that time, she had to put the needle in the proper place.
But what happened was, both my hands were already full of needle holes. So much blood sample was done. So, where to put the needle? So, for about 7-8 minutes, the nurse was searching where to put the needle.
Now, she could say, if you get tested so many times, it is not my problem, it is your problem. But, the pain, putting the needle is a pain, but if it is already there, it can be more painful. So, sometimes it is necessary to give pain to the person.
But it does not mean that we do not care how much pain the person is in. So, if we have to do something, if the person is going to be in pain, then, the pain should be minimal. So, that sensitivity is necessary.
And when we are not dependent on that person emotionally, then, we can have emotions, but there is no emotional dependence on them. So, okay, if I say something to a person, he is going to feel bad. But, if I do not say it, he is going to do something bad.
And that will cause a lot of problems. So, okay, I will say it to him, but I will not say it in public. If I say it in public, everyone will think that I am insulting him.
So, I will tell him alone, that he is in a good mood, and I will first appreciate him. Sometimes, when you have to do a surgery, anaesthesia is given first. So, what happens? The person is going to be in pain, but not too much.
So, in that way, if we have to say something bad about someone, if we have to criticise them, if we have to tell them something wrong, then, we should tell them in such a way that they should feel the least amount of pain. There are some people, for example, it is summer, it is cold, so, every person’s body is different. Some people, even in cold, wear only one piece of clothing and go out.
Some people, when it is cold, they wear 2-3 pieces of clothing and still tremble. So, now, every body is different, every mind is different. So, we have to see from that person’s point of view, what is affecting that person.
So, if we judge others then, what are we doing? We are becoming judgemental. So, judgemental means that we judge others from our point of view. I can do this, why can’t you? But I am different, you are different.
So, when all the monkeys had to go in search of Sita, then what happened? All the monkeys came to Sagar, and all the monkeys were devotees of Lord Ram. All of them had a very strong desire to serve Lord Ram. And when all of them were going, all of them had given blessings to Lord Ram.
But still, all the monkeys could not go. And those who were not able to go, they said, that we cannot cross this Sagar. And then, all of them together turned towards Lord Hanuman.
And when Lord Hanuman went and came, Lord Hanuman was not proud that all of you are useless, I have come here. When he came together, he came together and told everyone that our team has become vicious. So, in this way, if we have to work in a team, in a group, in a community, then the feeling of Mrdu-teevra, that you yourself should be fierce, but you should not harm others, this feeling is very important for us to awaken.
And Narnarayan Rishi shows this. In this way, we can be fierce with ourselves, we can be strict, but we can be kind with others. We can be compassionate.
We can behave with them with compassion. So, this Narnarayan Rishi, he too is a great incarnation of God. And like the incarnation of God, Dharmasamsthapanarthaya, he too comes to establish Dharma.
And how to do Tapasya and how to be conscious while doing Tapasya, he teaches all of us. So, we can pray to Narnarayan Rishi that he too should give us the strength of penance, and while giving us the strength of penance, he should give us the capacity to be humble, to be compassionate, to be compassionate. This is Narnarayan Rishi’s advice.
So, in conclusion, how to discuss today, in this story, after meeting Vidur and Uddhav, Uddhav is telling that he is going to Narnarayan Rishi. Krishna, who has left, is telling me that you can go to Narnarayan Rishi with me and get it. And by telling my words there, you can experience my presence.
So, we saw how here it is told in the form of a sign. Because Badrikashtam is so famous that without telling the name of the place, just by telling its speciality, it is understood about whom it is telling. So, the speciality is about Narnarayan Rishi.
The speciality of Badrikashtam is that Narnarayan Rishi resides there. And he is also a symbol of God, because he is a twin. And God experiences the joy of being a younger brother or an elder brother in different forms with his extended limbs.
But the special joy of being a twin is that he experiences it in this avatar. And we see how he cooperates with Sahasrara Kavach. It is very difficult to kill it.
So, they work together and kill Sahasrara Kavach. And especially, as you saw, how we have to do Tapasya. How to do Tapasya? It is a separate part of Dharma.
We see that. So, the work of Tapasya is important. We live in three areas- body, society and nature.
And we take something from all three areas and we have to give something in return. So, we have to do Tapasya with the body. We have to give charity to the society.
And we have to do Yagya with nature. So, the power of doing Tapasya means that we sacrifice the present for the future. Here, all the living beings are the special characteristics of humanity.
And we have to do Tapasya to progress in the material world also. For example, students sacrifice the present for a bright future. And it is also important for spiritual progress.
So, when we do Tapasya, many times, we see others who are not able to do Tapasya as inferior. And what happens with that? Our ego increases and others move away from doing Tapasya. They also move away from the people who do Tapasya.
So, we can be strong with ourselves but we have to be weak with others. That is Naranarayan. When we do Tapasya together, by doing Tapasya together, one person becomes weak.
It is said that we need a group. If one person becomes weak, another person helps. If another person becomes weak, first person helps.
And when we are doing Tapasya like this, if we are judgemental, if we want to avoid other people, then we have to understand what is true Vairagya. Vairagya means not being dependent on emotions. For example, if a doctor has to give an injection to a child, even if the child cries, he has to give an injection.
But if the child has a wound, the injection should not be given there. It should be given somewhere else. So, sometimes, we have to hurt someone with our words, but we have to hurt them as little as possible.
And to do this, we have to understand that if we have to judge others, then we have to judge them from their point of view. In this environment, I am not feeling cold, but why are you feeling cold? But your body is different from mine. So, in this way, when we become weak, not only we will be able to progress spiritually, but we will also be able to inspire others in the path of spiritual progress and sacrifice.
Thank you very much. Hare Krishna Thank you Do we have time for questions? Yes So, do you have any questions? Thank you so much for such a enlightening lecture. I was wondering, when we make a wall, but we don’t maintain it, what happens to it when we do penance? When we do penance, we cannot maintain it for a long time.
So, the penance that we have to do, we have to divide it into small time units. We think that we will never do it again in our life. So, what happens? Our mind says, it is very difficult.
You will not be able to do it for a lifetime. How will you be able to live? You will not be able to do it. And we will do it the next day.
So, what happens? Make a finite resolution. I will not do this for a month or a week. Or I will do this thing.
And after that, if we decide that I will never do this thing for a lifetime, then what happens? There is no glory in that decision. There is only defeat. I will not do that thing for a year.
And after a year, if I do that thing, then what happens? There is no effort. So, that kind of decision sets us up for failure. In that, the possibility of failure increases a lot.
So, that is why finite resolutions. I will not do it for a month or a year. And after a month, if we are able to do it for a month, then after that we can pray to God and expect His blessings that we could not do it by His grace.
And then, not out of ego, but all of us need encouragement in this world. Sometimes we encourage others and if we are not able to encourage others, then we have to encourage ourselves. Then only you can write a letter congratulating yourself.
Not out of ego, but that I was able to do it at this time. And then, when we fail in the future, we say that I was able to do it at that time. And it is not like that sometimes our will power weakens.
Sometimes we become weak. But, see, I was able to do it at that time. So, what happens is that our mind is always weakening us.
So, when we encourage ourselves, it is not like we are doing it to increase our ego. But, by analysing our intellect, by the grace of God, we have got the power, we are giving ourselves the feeling and remembrance of it. And then later, when we become weak, we can read that, see, I was able to do it at that time.
If we remember it, we can forget that I was able to do it. But how was I able to do it? What did I do at that time? If we remember it, it is basically, I said sacrifice, when we sacrifice, we are keeping our intellect in a manifest form. We are keeping the product of our intelligence ready for future use in battling with the mind.
Why are you doing it? You won’t be able to do it. Only then you can read it. And then, in this way, if someone gives you a coconut to eat, he says, you open your mouth and eat the coconut.
You won’t be able to eat the coconut. You will have to cut the coconut. Similarly, if we want to take a big decision, we have to cut it into small units.
By doing this, whatever we can do, it will increase our self-confidence. And if we won’t be able to do it, it doesn’t mean that it is a complete failure. Okay, I couldn’t do it now.
I will get up again and do it again. So, we should see that we may fall down, but we should never fall away. Fall down means that we want to act in a certain way, but we can’t stay in that way, we fall down.
But fall away means that we become so exhausted that we stop worshipping. I won’t even try. Leave me alone.
Some people say that I have taken up detachment. I have taken up detachment from detachment. So, as it is, we should keep trying.
Even if we fall down, we should get up and try again. Okay? Yes, sir. Question from the audience If a person is dependent on his devotees at the emotional level and only at the emotional level, then what will happen? It’s not that bad.
We can come to God in any way. People usually come to God and who are sad. God says that people come to God who are inquisitive, who are knowledgeable, who are productive, and who are sad.
But in reality, if you are not sad, you won’t come to God. If you are inquisitive, then in today’s world, how much can you enquire Why will you enquire about God? Because if you are dissatisfied with this material world, then you will talk about it. So, in today’s society, at the emotional level, there is a lot of sadness, there is a lot of distress.
A lot of people feel lonely. They feel lonely. See, the worst loneliness is not when there is no one around you.
The worst loneliness is when there is no one around you who understands you. The biggest loneliness is not when we are stuck in a deep where there is no one around us. That is loneliness.
The biggest loneliness is that we have people around us and none of them understands us. What are we doing? Why are we doing? Where are we going? If no one understands us, then that loneliness is very painful. It is very painful.
So, like the body needs oxygen, the body needs air, similarly, our heart should understand it. It is very important and if it is not there, then it is very sad. Many times, people go to psychologists so that they can speak to someone.
If there is a lot of loneliness, then they go to speak to someone. If someone speaks, then they go to speak and if someone listens, then they go to listen. So, if someone is emotionally affected, then they come to the devotees.
So, if they get shelter from the devotees, then it is good. It is better that people go to the liquor shop with other alcoholics and say whatever they want to say. So, it is better that they come to the devotees.
But, along with that, if someone is emotionally affected, then we can give them whatever help they need. But, slowly, slowly, we have to tell them that we are not coming to the devotees only for emotional support. We are going for spiritual support.
If we come for any other purpose, then what will happen? There will come a time when there will be some devotees in the society who are insensitive. We will feel that they don’t care. Why are they doing this? Why did I come here? If they behave like this, then why did I come here? And then what will happen? There will be an earthquake I was in New Zealand.
I was in the Olympics. I was giving a class. Suddenly, I saw that everyone was shaking.
I was also shaking. It was a small earthquake. Suppose, there is a gate of a temple.
If there is an earthquake, it will affect me. But, it won’t affect me as much as if there is an earthquake below me. So, how is it? God is the centre.
And, all of us come to God for different reasons. Some people say that this is my culture. This is my culture.
I live alone. These devotees are good people. So, we come for different reasons.
So, if our centre is on emotional desire, then it is good that at least we are coming to God for that reason. येन केन प्रकारेन अकामह सर्वकामोवा We come to God for any reason. But, if we stay there, then someday there will be an earthquake.
What do you mean by earthquake? In the society of devotees, some devotee will behave like this. He will say bad things. How can devotees behave like this? So, when there is an earthquake, then only we have to choose whether to go here, away from Krishna or come closer to Krishna.
So, if someone is coming to Krishna, we can give him as much emotional support as we can. But, sometimes it happens that some people are clingy. They always say, we need time, do this, do that.
So, we can’t give that kind of support. So, when they won’t get it, then they say, I can get something from Krishna. When they will get it, then will they get God’s support? What does God’s support mean? It is not emotional dependence, it is spiritual dependence.
It is not emotional dependence, it is spiritual dependence. And when we reach that, then sometimes, even if we won’t get God’s support, we won’t leave God’s support. A good example of this is Draupadi and Pandavas.
Now, Draupadi naturally expected her husband to be a kind of protector. Now, Draupadi had five husbands. But, there came such a situation that none of them could protect her.
And then what happened? There was an earthquake in Draupadi’s life. And she was seeing her husbands who were being insulted. They were sitting peacefully.
But then what did they do? That earthquake brought them closer to God. Okay, if this is what I need and my husband is not able to give, then I am God’s support. So, that’s why, even if someone is getting emotional, we should try to teach them spiritual knowledge.
Through spiritual knowledge, we should teach them how to be God’s support. So, if they understand this, when the earthquake comes, they will come forward. Otherwise, when the earthquake comes, they will leave.
It’s not good if anyone goes away from God. But, if they are coming to God, to the devotees, and they are not interested in the main thing that the devotees will get, then they will not be able to stay here for a long time. So, that’s why we have to teach what we are actually getting here.
So, sometimes I say, the association of devotees is very good. Yes, it’s good. But, the devotees are also human and we all have our shortcomings and sometimes we all can behave inappropriately.
Once, I was taking a seminar on relationships. I asked, when we are doing bhakti, we have to bear a lot of things. So, what all do we have to bear? One devotee raised his hand very enthusiastically.
What? I said, we have to bear the devotees. So, I said, this is a good proof that even if we face problems with the devotees, we should still bear them. And, if you continue doing bhakti, if you progress, then you will understand that even the devotees are bearing you.
It’s not like that other devotees have their shortcomings and we are bearing them. We also have our shortcomings and they are also bearing us. So, if our aim is to go to God, then sometimes we bear others and sometimes others bear us.
Our mutual tolerance is the way to transcendence. By bearing each other, we can achieve transcendence and we can attain the divine level. Let’s see Bhagavad Gita Shloka 14th and 15th Shloka.
14th Shloka is ताम्दुःतिक्षसभार्द and 15th Shloka is यम्हीन वितयंतेते पुरुषं पुरुषर्षभा समदुःतिक्षसुखम्धीरम् सुम्रुतत्वाय अल्बत् The one who bears in this way attains the divine level. He can attain the divine level. Ok.
Do we have time? Ok. Last question. So, Narayana and Narayana are one and the same or are they different? So, in practical terms, they are two people.
And here, when we say Narayana, Namaskaram, Chaivan, Narottama, we are addressing two people, we are bowing to two people. This is clear. So now, God takes one avatar in two forms.
Does this mean one avatar or two avatars? It is one avatar. But, through the Leela of God, one part of them has been made equal. For example, Krishna and Arjuna, now Arjuna is Jeeva and Krishna is God.
Now, in a short span of time, God has a lot of power over the devotee. But, in the battle of Kurukshetra, God has decided that he will not fight. And God has become a servant of his devotee.
What did he do at that time? God has given a smaller role to his devotee and with the power of God, he has given a bigger role to his devotee than himself. For example, sometimes Krishna lifts up Nanda Maharaj’s slippers on his head. Now, we will say, what is this? Is this a blasphemy of religion? How can he lift up God’s slippers on his head? But, what is that? And Lakshman, Bharat, they lift up Ramachandra’s slippers on their heads.
But, with the will of God, God can give a devotee a higher position than himself. So, in the same way, God can give a devotee a higher position than himself. So, the man is not God.
He is Arjuna. He is a devotee of God. But, with the power of God, Narayana has given the man a higher position than himself.
And because he has given him such a position, because they both live together in a separate world, that is why they both bow to each other. For example, if we pray to Lord Ram, then sometimes we get a glimpse of Lord Ram. So, not only do we bow to Ramachandra, but we also bow to his slippers.
So, in this way, Narayana is God. The man is not God. But, because they have come together in this avatar, we bow to Narayana as well.
That is why we bow to Narayana. Because, in this avatar, they both have the same amount of power. Thank you very much.