BIHAR YOGA®

®
Bhakti Yoga Sagar

Bhakti Yoga Sagar

SATYANANDA YOGA
BIHAR YOGA

“Sat Chandi Mahayajna is conducted to invoke the blessings Swami Satyananda Saraswati
of Devi, the Cosmic Mother, and to ask her to protect
and nurture us.We have to connect ourselves with this cosmic
energy which is present in all forms of creation.”

Bhakti Yoga Sagar Volume 3 consists of satsangs given by Swami Sa-

tyananda Saraswati at the first Sat Chandi Mahayajna conducted at
Rikhiapeeth in November 1995. During the nine days of this unique
event, Sri Swamiji enlightened one and all on the significance of wor-
shipping the Divine Mother, the purpose of yajna, kanya kumari pooja,
the role of women in modern society, practical measures to uplift the
underprivileged villagers, shaktipat and the tantric initiation of Swami
Niranjanananda Saraswati. This book is a powerful message to open
the heart and see the underlying unity in all creation.

Swami Satyananda Saraswati

Includes 16 colour photographs.

[bar code here]

V o l u m e T h r e e
ISBN: 81-86336-44-3 3
Yoga Publications Trust, Munger, Bihar, India
 Bhakti Yoga
Sagar
Vo l u m e T h r e e

With kind regards,  and prem

Bhakti Yoga Sagar
(Ocean of the Yoga of Devotion)

Swami Satyananda Saraswati

Satsangs at Sri Panch Dashnam Paramahamsa Alakh Bara,

Rikhia, Deoghar, during theSat Chandi Maha Yajna,
from 23rd to 30th November 1995.

VOLUME THREE

Yoga Publications Trust, Munger, Bihar, India

© Sivananda Math 1997

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

transmitted or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any
means, without permission in writing from Yoga Publications Trust.
The terms Satyananda Yoga® and Bihar Yoga® are registered trademarks owned
by International Yoga Fellowship Movement (IYFM). The use of the same in this
book is with permission and should not in any way be taken as affecting the validity
of the marks.

Published by Sivananda Math

First edition 1997

Published by Yoga Publications Trust

Reprinted 2007, 2014

ISBN: 81-86336-44-3

Publisher and distributor: Yoga Publications Trust, Ganga Darshan,

Munger, Bihar, India.

Website: www.biharyoga.net
www.rikhiapeeth.net

Printed at Thomson Press (India) Limited, New Delhi, 110001

 Dedication
In humility we offer this dedication to
Swami Sivananda Saraswati, who initiated
Swami Satyananda Saraswati into the secrets of yoga.

0603 sivananda dedication.indd i 20/05/2012 11:14:04 AM

 Contents
Introduction ix
Tantric Worship 1
Instructions for the Yajna 9
Prasad 17
Role of Women in Modern Society 20
Upanayan Samskara 31
Mother India 35
Cultural Transition 45
Religion, Politics and Sannyasa Dharma 51
Emancipation of the Villages 57
Why Ganesha Drank Milk 64
Advice to the Young 75
Commitment to God 84
Manifest Form of God 88
Jewel of Faith 92
Changing Social Codes 95
The Story of Rama 100
God’s Name 112
Three Disciplines 120
Spirit of Compassion 125

vii
Pilgrimage Sites 129
Historical Fact and Tradition 134
Dance of Shiva 137
Christ Kutir 139
Disease Neurosis 143
Avadhoota Tradition 147
Living Experience 150
Gurubhais and Ashram Days 153
Diversity is Truth 159
Sanskrit Language 165
Sacrifice 167
Conch and Shaligram 170
Tantric Initiation 173
Sankalpa of Second Generation 181
Succession 183
Kumari Poojan 187
Initiation Ceremony 191
Impressions 195
Glossary 216
Index 230

viii
 Introduction
Salutations to the Mahadevi who is ever auspicious, who abides
in all beings in the form of Mother, who is welfare, prosperity and
success, who is at once most gentle and most terrible, who is the
primordial cause and the sustaining power, who pervades this entire
world in the form of consciousness.
Devi Mahatmyam

The Sat Chandi Maha Yajna was a totally new exposure for
most of the yoga aspirants, devotees, disciples and even the
sannyasins of Bihar School of Yoga. Until now we have been
involved with the yoga practices. However, the yajna was
a tantric ceremony, the meaning of which very few people
know about. The yajna also represented another step in the
life of an individual to understand or to communicate with
the higher nature. This yajna was held in Rikhia because
Swami Satyananda wished that the hitherto unknown aspects
of tantra should be slowly brought out. At present the science
of tantra is misunderstood by many people who regard it
as a means of magic or manipulation, rather than as an
evolutionary science.
The science of tantra is based on the three aspects of
mantra, yantra and mandala. When sadhana is performed
utilizing these three tools, the higher mental faculties are
awakened and the mind becomes powerful. The actual

ix
aim of tantric sadhana is not to utilize these powers for
personal motives or material gain, but to propitiate and
harmonize the energies which at present are unharnessed
and uncontrolled in the individual as well as in the external
nature and in the cosmos. Throughout the ten days of the
yajna, different mantras were chanted for the propitiation
of Devi or Chandi by a specially selected group of Brahmin
pandits who had come from such distant places as Madras,
Varanasi and Kanchipuram, and whose pronunciation, swara
and metre were a special experience to hear.
Just as the Bhagavad Gita has 700 slokas in which the
wisdom of yoga is transmitted by Sri Krishna to his cousin
and disciple Arjuna, similarly, Durga Saptashati, the text
which was chanted during each day of the yajna, contains
700 slokas about the Cosmic Mother. Durga Saptashati is a
very important tantric text which is traditionally chanted
twice every year during the period of Navaratri, the nine
days dedicated to the worship of the Cosmic Mother. It is
a dialogue between Sage Markandeya, one of the greatest
thinkers of the ancient spiritual tradition, and the warrior
King Surat. Markandeya tells Surat about the different
aspects of the Mother Goddess, her powers, omnipresence
and creation. The beeja, or seed, mantras contained within
these slokas awaken the energies within the individual as well
as the environment. The chanting of each verse is chorused
by a combination of three beeja mantras: Aim Hreem Kleem.
Aim is the beeja mantra of Saraswati, Hreem of Lakshmi,
and Kleem of Durga or Kali.
Mandalas and yantras were made on the tables inside the
yajna mandap, and on top of each mandala and yantra was
placed a symbolic image of the deity to be invoked. Deities
were invoked in each pillar, corner, mandala and yantra. The
pots on each side of the gate inside the yajna mandap were
the ten kshetrapals, or protectors, and inside them was water
brought from various rivers. The water that was used inside
the mandap was brought from Gangotri, the origin of the
Ganga, high in the Himalayas. On the last day of the yajna,

x
after the havan, all these deities were asked to leave, because
when you invoke a higher power, you also have to release it.
This was the concept of bringing down the cosmic forces to
be with us, and then releasing them after the work was over.
The success of a yajna such as this is not measured by the
expenditure incurred or the number of people who came to
participate in it. The success depends on each individual,
on how much each one has offered of body, mind and spirit.
Industrialists can spend millions organizing a beautiful
yajna, but if the feeling of devotion is not present, the
yajna will not be effective. The special aspect of this yajna
was the shraddha, the faith, and bhakti, the devotion, of the
devotees from all castes, creeds and religions who gathered
in Rikhia from all parts of the world. Although they could
not understand any of the rituals and chanting, they sat with
eyes closed from morning until evening and tuned into the
divine vibrations present in the environment.
The yajna was a unique and special event in many ways,
the main one being that a siddha saint was present as a
guiding force during every moment. The teaching that he
gave to all the participants through his personal example
was to see the divinity in everyone and everything around
you. Do not think of God as something far away. Do not be
afraid of God, rather, try to understand the divine nature,
the divine force which is inherent in each and everyone.
The absence of that force is death. God is present in each
and every aspect of creation. God is not formless. Maybe
one of the attributes of God is formlessness, but definitely
God has form. Each individual is a symbol of that form. The
recognition of that divine nature in each and everyone is the
sadhana which was given by Sri Swamiji during the yajna. It
is not only a recognition, but also a feeling of oneness with
other beings, identifying with their suffering and also with
their happiness. Let everyone take a sankalpa to preserve
this gift from Paramahamsaji for times to come.

Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati

xi
 Tantric Worship

T he word pooja means ‘worship’. In the texts it is

described as a systematic ritual. There is a method, a
specified procedure in pooja. The worship being done here
of Goddess Chandi is the tantric method of pooja. In this
ritual everything is very precisely specified. Prayers, lamps,
incense, flowers, everything down to the minutest detail has
an order. This sequence of rituals is prescribed differently
by various sects. For example, classical texts have their own
way; Shaivites and Vaishnavites have another way. Currently
only three sects exist. Previously there were five: Vaishnava,
Shaiva, Shakta, Saurya and Ganapatya, out of which two,
Saurya and Ganapatya, have become obsolete.
Ordinarily, how is Lord Shiva worshipped? The devotee
walks into the temple, lights the lamp, offers flowers, puts
marks on the forehead, bows down, rings the bell and walks
out. If he knows how to blow a conch, he can blow that as
well. The manner of worship is casual and, moreover, if
the ritual is done without devotion, it means nothing at all.
The tantric method of worship is not like this. The benefits
obtained by tantric devotion are not achieved by partaking of
meat, fish, sex and wine. That is a branch of tantra known as
the left-hand path. I am not talking about that. Tantra means
a method of pooja, a technique of worship, by which you can
awaken the divine forces.

1
Method of worship
This method involves mantras and kriyas. Here the
pronunciation of the mantras should be exact. This is
mentioned in the Vedas and you will also see for yourselves
during the nine days of chanting that a little difference in
resonance changes the pulse. If you understand physics, you
will acknowledge that this indeed does happen. Likewise,
a small mispronunciation can bring destruction instead of
protection. So one must learn the science of mantra before
attempting tantric worship. Everybody is free to choose a
form and method of worship. In Shakta Tantra there are the
ten mahavidyas; Shaivites and Vaishnavites have their own
forms. Each has different specifications about what colour
flowers will be used, whether tulsi leaves or bel leaves are
required and so on.
Different methods of worship have their own require­
ments, such as flowers, sandalwood paste, grains of rice, ashes,
red paste and so on. The Tantra Shastras explain that very
specific flowers and leaves are required for these rituals. This
tradition is very well-maintained in South India, and these
rituals are done with great precision there. In North India
these rituals are not so well-preserved, because the region
came under greater influence from foreign cultures due to
which all the rituals were gradually corrupted over a period of
time. However, this tradition was not broken in South India,
even during the periods of Muslim and British rule. Today we
find that temple worship in southern parts of India, as well
as Maharashtra, is still performed according to the rules and
regulations, but none of the temples in the North perform
pooja with accuracy and precision. Even the basic requirement
of correct pronunciation and intonation of mantras, whereby
the mantra becomes efficacious, is not fulfilled.
The method of worship by means of pooja is unique
to tantric and vedic culture. It does not exist in any other
religion. You can find detailed literature on it in the
Tantras and Vedas. Pooja is done to focus the mind for the
attainment of samadhi. The meaning of samadhi is to stop

2
the mind and enter the void. This state is not possible for all
to achieve directly. So, as a rule, daily worship of whatever
deity one chooses should be performed. This worship can
be done in many ways. There are specific poojas for Shakti,
Kali, Durga, Vishnu, Shiva, even pooja for the cosmos, for
creation, is described and there are definite procedures
for each one. This pooja can be of half an hour’s duration,
or as a special ritual it can go on for a few hours or even
the whole day. In the shastras there is a complete and
detailed description of which mantra is to be chanted,
where a specific procedure is to be undertaken, which kriyas
that ritual involves, and which method of pranayama is
performed with specific mantras.

Result of worship
What is the result of all this? When you do pooja daily for
an hour and a half with awareness and devotion, then your
mind begins to settle down. If you are chanting Hanuman
Chalisa and thinking of something else at the same time, then
what is the point? Only chanting Hanuman Chalisa will not
necessarily settle the mind. However, if you chant mantras,
do kriyas, practise pranayamas and perform a variety of
other activities, then your mind cannot dissipate beyond fifty
percent. Controlling fifty percent of the mental dissipation is a
great achievement, because it is very difficult to stop the mind.
What are you attempting in sadhana? You are trying
to control the mind. One who has attained total control
of the mind becomes a saint. Mind is a power that has to
be controlled and channelled. Control means purification,
getting rid of distractions and illusions. It is only this veil of
illusion which lies between God and man. When you control
the mind by kriyas and other practices, that brings you face
to face with God. Although God is sitting right here, He is
not seen because of the veil. The method for removing that
veil is not far away. You do not need to travel to Satya loka,
Brahma loka or any other astral plane. You do not even need
to travel to the Deoghar temple.

3
Path of worship
For the removal of that veil, you are told to do a little
sadhana or pooja. Only a little at a time is prescribed,
because once you get even a glimpse of God, and glimpses
do appear, then your life will be filled with bliss and bliss
alone. Every person has his ishta devata, or chosen deity.
That ishta devata is something which you have to decide
for yourself. You have to choose a form of the deity as your
ishta devata. The ishta devata has a specific mantra which is
called the ishta mantra. That ishta mantra must be obtained
from the guru. Once you obtain this mantra from the guru,
then it becomes your guru mantra. You have to build the
whole structure on these two pillars of ishta devata and guru
mantra.
Now how should you do this sadhana? It so happened
that once the goddess Parvati asked Shiva how sadhana
should be done and which sadhana is specific to each devata.
Lord Shiva said, “Listen, O Parvati, in this world there are
many paths by which you may reach a destination.” For
example, if you want to go from Deoghar to Munger, there
are many paths. Of those, you are led onto one path. When
you start this journey questions do arise, but you will find
the path for sure sooner or later. So first of all you have to
choose a path. Once your path is clear you then have to
attempt to know what its significant landmarks are. If you
want to know the way from Deoghar to Munger, you must ask
what the different stations and signposts are that fall on the
way. What I mean to say is that without making an enquiry,
without making an attempt, nobody can find the way.
Therefore, the path has to be discovered. It is not as
simple as just thinking about it and then hitting on it. Self-
discovery has never happened like that. The rishis and sages
knew that each individual has different interests, capabilities
and limitations. According to the limitations of each person
and the oddly unique circumstances which surround him, the
paths twist, turn and straighten. A river also passes through
many obstructions, twists and turns, but whichever path it

4
travels by, ultimately, it reaches the ocean. After reaching the
ocean, only a feeling or perception of the journey remains.

Rules and restrictions

There are certain rules for Devi pooja but not for Shiva.
This is natural. Even in ordinary life there is maryada, or a
code of conduct, with the mother, not with the father. You
can worship Shiva in any way. You can even do his pooja
with dirty hands, but sometimes with your mother you have
to follow rules. No rules work with the father, but there is
a code with the mother, even for her own son. This is the
first point. The second point is that anything which bears
fruit quickly requires greater restrictions and stricter rules.
When you go to the bank, there are restrictions. You get
a signature here, you put a signature there, you are given
a token and then you receive your money. The process of
worship is similar. All worship is coded under the title of
tantra. In tantra, the aspects of mantra, kriya and upachara
have to be accurate, because these processes influence the
mind, emotions and psyche. Therefore, if you are careless in
performing them, they will influence your psyche negatively.

Tribal worship
Devi belongs to Shakta Tantra. In Shakta Tantra the worship
of Devi is performed according to various designs, purely
vedic as well as purely tribal. There are many tribes in India
and in other parts of the world which have their own forms
of worship. They may not worship Devi strictly according
to the rituals of the Tantras or Vedas, but they still perform
ritual worship. Rikhia is the tribal area of the Santhalis and
they have their own forms of worship. Even in Europe and
America there are still many tribes with their own systems and
methods of worship, like the indigenous people in Bolivia,
Colombia and other Latin American countries. In North
America the indigenous tribal people are called Red Indians.
Their method of worship is called Animism; they worship the
forest, the tree gods, the mountain gods and the river gods.

5
 In India, the people do the same thing. We worship the
river goddesses – Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati; the tree
gods – Peepal and Bel; the mountain gods – Himalaya and
Vindhya. There are also different animal gods, and you will
find them anywhere in the world. These are called tribal
rituals, the tribal upachara, the tribal process. In this tribal
process, they have their own mantra uchcharana, or form of
incantation, and their own method, or kriya, which defines
how they do it. For example, they do havan and arati. I
have seen the type of worship done by the Native American
people. I stayed with a family there and they explained how
they worship. They believe there is an invisible power in
nature. Although you cannot see or hear that force, it can
see and hear you. However, that power can only hear you if
you make the correct sound. Similarly, if you say Aum Namah
Shivayah, Shiva will listen to you. So, by repeating certain
mantras you can pass on your message to that deity or
devata. You will find this tradition still exists everywhere, but
that invisible and mysterious divinity always remains secret.

Shakti worship
Therefore, in tantric worship, you should remember that
you are dealing with a power which is mysterious, which
is hidden, about which you know nothing. Shakti has
three forms: i) the benign, ii) the destructive and iii) the
creative. I am using the word Shakti, but you can also say
Devi, Goddess, Madre and so on. If you awaken her aspect
of destruction, you know what is going to happen. If you
play with your mother as you play with your wife, that is a
negative approach. Similarly, there is a negative approach
in Shakti worship and if you take that approach the Mother
will give you back a kick, and that kick can be anything. If an
elephant kicks you, you will be thrown fifty metres. If Shakti
gives you a kick, you will be cursed – Namo Narayana!
So, worship of Shakti has to be done only to awaken her
benign powers. You must love and respect your mother. You
can play with her, but not as you play with your wife. There

6
should be no abuse of the relationship. That is why the
rules are very similar in mantra, kriya and upachara. The
worship of Devi gives quick rewards. Just as you have fast
food, similarly there are fast blessings, then and there. I am
not telling you this from books, but from my experience.
Worship of the Mother gives quick results, so rules and
regulations must be observed. The rules are specified also
because there is a certain grace and dignity in worship of the
Mother goddess. One has to have respect for that. Although
there are many methods of worshipping Devi or Shakti,
worship performed with faith and devotion is best.
You cannot afford to misbehave with the Mother,
therefore, there are rules regarding all aspects of diet,
mantra, kriya and procedures of worship. Such methods
and procedures are necessary for any action, not just for
worship. When you build a house, you must first construct
the foundations and the pillars, then the roof. There are
specific methods for shaving the head or for wearing clothes.
If you want to learn music, cooking or political science,
there is a process, a system. There are systematic rules and
methods in everything. So why should there not be a process
of worship? When the correct procedure is followed, there
is no confusion; everything follows a specific order. Vedic
rituals may allow some leniency, but this is not the case in
tantric worship of Devi.

Creator is Mother
The three main branches of tantra are: Shaiva Tantra,
Shakta Tantra and Vaishnava Tantra. Of these, Shaiva Tantra
is a more philosophical one. There are several sects of
Shaivism, such as Kashmir Shaivism and Southern Shaivism.
For instance, Vijnana Bhairava Tantra is the philosophy of
Traitvad: ishwara, jiva and jagat; God, indiv­idual soul and
creation. So it is called a trinity, or Traitvad. Vijnana Bhairava
Tantra is one of the important texts of Shaivism. It forms part
of Rudrayamala Tantra. However, in Shakta Tantra there are
many systems for the worship of Shakti, the primal energy,

7
from which the creator as well as creation has come. If you
read the book Devi Bhagavatam carefully, that is the primary
hypothesis. Adi Shakti is the first Mother, the first energy.
The creator must have been born from someone. The
creator is not the original creator; he has also been created.
Who can the original creator be but the mother? The father
does not create; it is the mother who creates. Therefore,
in Shakta Tantra the Mother is considered to be the first
creator, although the Christians, Muslims, Zoroastrians and
Jews do not accept it. Many Hindus also do not accept it, but
we accept it. The first creator is the Mother, and that concept
is still found in most of the tribal traditions. Among the
indigenous tribes of North and South America, everywhere
there is worship of the Mother. All tribal communities have a
female deity. They worship some form of Mother according
to their own culture. Hindus follow the vedic culture, but that
too bifurcates into Vedachara and Lokachara.
The Sat Chandi Yajna is the worship of God as the
Mother or the Mother Goddess. Most of us think of God
as the Father. In a patriarchal society, God has to be like
a father, however, in a matriarchal society, God has to be
like a mother. Now the entire world is moving towards a
matriarchal system. Everywhere women have more freedom,
authority and respect. There is better education, more
opportunities and improved status for women. As we move
towards a matriarchal society, it is appropriate to worship
the Mother Goddess, so that she doesn’t become angry with
us. If she says, “You fellows have tortured me for such a long
time,” I’ll say, “No, I have been worshipping you for such a
long time. I called you here for Sat Chandi Yajna.”

8
 Instructions for the Yajna

T he yajna begins the day after tomorrow. All the

participants should shave and prepare themselves for
this event. Tomorrow everyone will receive a tilak on the
forehead. It is your fortune to have been called here. Those
people who have come to do the cleaning and kitchen
work have been specifically called by me for this purpose
and should remain in perfect health. The cleaning work is
reserved for sannyasins. Those people who have come to
participate should follow all the disciplines and austerities,
and study the pooja performance very closely.
Everybody cannot participate in the rituals because this is a
tantric pooja and, therefore, only specific people can take part
in it. Even I will not enter. The rules have already been made
and we will conduct ourselves accordingly. The pooja of Devi
is different to the pooja of Shiva. Shiva has an open court, but
Devi has her own grace, personality and way of working. There
are rules, disciplines and observances, and when you follow
them you will agree that the pooja of Devi is very powerful.
Therefore, the rules have to be maintained accordingly.
The pooja will be conducted according to all the rites and
rituals described in the tantric texts. It is not necessary to
participate in these, but it is important to hear the chanting,
walk around the ceremonial mandap and follow all the other
rules. The most important thing underlying all these rituals

9
is intense divine love. When you have that feeling within you,
only then can you sit patiently, listen to the chanting and
take prasad. The yajna will last for nine days and during this
period you should have only fruit for lunch and a normal
dinner when you return home.

To the sannyasins
With this tilak you have now all become official participants
in the Sri Yajna. You should eat the same food as the pandits
– phalahara, fruit, at noon and solid food only at night. There
should be no eating during the day. For nine days you will
follow the schedule of the pandits, and sing kirtan every
night for half an hour. You will have no personal life. Day
and night the yajna is most important. There is no fixed time
for sleeping and waking. You may have to work the whole
night, it doesn’t matter. Now you are an integral part of the
yajna, not of your own life.
There should be no sickness or exhaustion during this
period. If you are sick and exhausted, leave this place and
don’t even bother to inform us. There is no place for sick
and exhausted people in my life, because I have never
been sick. During the yajna there should be no personal
programs, no reading of newspapers or books for nine days
and nights. I am joining day with night and making it one,
so there is no difference between day and night.
There have been many great men in this world and
almost all of them were afflicted with some disease or
physical problem. Napoleon was epileptic, despite which
he became one of the world’s greatest military generals.
Julius Caesar suffered from epilepsy. Isaac Newton was
sick throughout his life. Adi Shankara suffered from severe
fistula. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa had cancer but still he
lived for eighty years. Swami Vivekananda had diabetes,
but he still shook the whole world and established his name
in the annals of great men. He has become immortal in
India. Many sadhus in India crave name and fame, but
Vivekananda didn’t know that his name would go down

10
in history. He often had attacks of depression. If you look
at his life and teachings from a spiritual viewpoint, then
he was an incarnation of God, but if you see him from a
scientific viewpoint, then you will think that he just went into
emotional fits and bouts of depression.
When you consider yourself to be sick then you are sick.
But if you do not consider yourself to be sick and think of
yourself as an artist, a musician, a scientist, a fighter, a saint, a
sevak, then the question of disease does not arise. This is why
I have never considered myself to be sick. I have mentioned
a few great people who have established their names in
this world, people whom history will remember for at least
a thousand years. They suffered from severe diseases but
did not allow the disease to become a barrier in their lives.
Ramakrishna could have said, “I have cancer,” and stopped
singing kirtans and bhajans, but he did not do so! Vivekananda
could have said, “I have diabetes so now I must rest and take
insulin,” but he did not. When you identify with a sickness or
disease then you suffer from disease neurosis twenty-four hours
of the day. Disease neurosis means your mind is engrossed in
sickness, so you are sick. But when your mind is engrossed
in spiritual life, or in a life of accomplishment and activity,
then the disease only follows behind like a tail. How does that
matter? You can let the disease follow behind you like a tail.
Just as a dog has a tail, your tail is called diabetes.

Maintain the proper spirit

You are all gathered here to participate in the Sat Chandi
Maha Yajna. I have told everyone not to eat during the day
for this period. If you have hyperacidity, drink some milk.
During these nine days fasting is very necessary, as well
as continuous repetition of Devi’s name as japa. We can
think about what the Muslims do in Mecca as an example
for ourselves. During Haj, Muslims from all over the
world gather in Mecca. There are many Muslim sects and
communities which belong to different countries and speak
different languages. When they reach Jeddah airport, they

11
are given a locker in which to keep all their belongings. They
take off all their clothes and wear only a single unstitched
cloth, or dhoti, around the waist and an upper cloth which is
also unstitched. The women also take off their veils. This is
the order of things there.
They then take a small mala, like a sumarini, and repeat
only one mantra during their pilgrimage of Haj, Allah-o-
Akbar, which means ‘God is great’. While there they continue
to repeat this mantra in the same way that we do japa. They
are all lodged in tents, and everyone from an ordinary man
right through to the king lives in the same manner. An
automobile mechanic and the Shah of Jordan stay in the
same place under a tent, because in Mecca there are no
large hotels. Hotels were constructed only nine or ten years
ago, before that there were none. There is no provision for
radio, TV or newspapers. No radio plays while the pooja is
going on, unlike here, as it is totally banned there. During
the period of Haj, radios and cameras are not allowed into
Mecca, but are held at Jeddah airport. Even passports are
held there and pilgrims are issued with an identity card.

Lighten the load

This is just an example of the prevailing spirit amongst the
Muslims who go for Haj. Christians don’t have such a strict
tradition. They have relaxed the rigidity of tradition a bit
recently and we Hindus have been doing this for a long
time. We don’t even care whether a bhajan or a movie song
is being played outside while we conduct rituals of worship.
During the next few days all those who have come to
attend the Devi pooja should at least discontinue their regular
habit of eating heavy food. A fruit diet with a little milk is
much better than a cereal based diet. Those items which are
cooked in heavy amounts of ghee should be stopped. You
should fast for the entire day, there is no harm in that. In the
evening, after the pooja, don’t have a heavy meal but take
sattwic food. Saying that you are a vegetarian is not enough,
because vegetarian food can also be rajasic. The sattwic type

12
of vegetarian food has no fat and spices, so it will be best if you
limit fat, protein and spices during these nine days.
How will doing this help? If you do this during the yajna
your vehicle will be relieved of the extra load. In order to
find a remedy for your physical problems, you need to find
a remedy for your soul, spirit, antah karana and mind. The
gross body you can all see, but within this body is also the
mind which thinks, and you do not have control over that
mind. You cannot control the thoughts which cross your
mind twenty-four hours a day. The thought process continues
incessantly; thoughts arise automatically, even if you do not
wish them to come. When you lighten the physical load, the
mental load is also lightened and the thoughts become more
sattwic and controlled. This is what you should experience
during the nine days of the yajna.

Divine Mother
Sat Chandi Yajna is performed according to the tantric form
of worship. In the various sampradaya, there are different
forms of yajna, such as Vishnu Yajna and Gayatri Yajna. In
this age the most powerful yajna is Sat Chandi Yajna. It is
said that the feminine divine power is the ultimate power, the
mother power. It is not the father but the mother who comes
first. Without the mother there can be no one. Jagatmata, the
Divine Mother, the world Mother, is the ultimate reality. From
her, all forms of god have sprung: Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh
and so on. They are all created by that Mother who is birthless
and beginningless, anadi. That is the concept of Mother in the
Shakta as well as in the Vedic tradition.
Later the social traditions relegated the Mother to the
background. Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and
many forms of Hinduism also did the same, but the main
factors responsible are not really spiritual but social. They
started with God as a masculine reality, such as Brahma,
Vishnu, Mahesh. So then Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati
became secondary realities, just counterparts of Brahma,
Vishnu and Shiva, and that situation continued for a long

13
period of time. Due to the Greek influence as well as
Christianity and Islam, the masculine concept of divinity
spread all over the globe and it was widely accepted that
God is supreme and nothing is beyond God. There was no
thought about the human rights of a female because in most
religions the feminine gender was considered to be very
inferior, but this was not so in the Shakta tradition.
In the Shaiva tradition, Shiva is on the right and Shakti
is on the left, but in the Shakta tradition Shakti stands with
one leg on Shiva who sleeps. Moreover, Shakti is seen as the
sole power in the body at mooladhara chakra. The Shakta
tradition believes that Shakti is at the bottom of everything
in creation, that she is the centre or nucleus of all matter. Not
only is Shakti the nucleus of all matter, she is also the nucleus
within you, not just of your mind or antah karana, but of your
soul or atma. Shakti is seen in the form of light, electricity,
dharma, beauty, anger, charm and unity. She is seen in every
teaching in many forms. In Durga Saptashati (5th Chapter), the
different forms of Shakti are described: Shakti roopena, shuddha
roopena, shanti roopena, tushti roopena, pushti roopena; the form
of energy, the form of purity, the form of peace, the form of
satisfaction, the form of nourishment. She is seen in many
forms, not just in the feminine form, in the form of electricity
or in the form of tantra. Sarva bhootena means that she exists
not only in human beings but in all forms of existence.

Purpose of the yajna

There are many forms of worship to awaken Shakti and one
of them is Sat Chandi Yajna, which is done according to
the tantric system. The mandap, place of fire, chatushkaran
and bhupura are some of the essential ritualistic elements of
tantric yajna. Now, the pandits will initiate the kriya, mantra
and uchcharana, which means recitation of the mantra.
Every item and its usage is specified: the flowers, lotus, rose,
jabapuspam, gandhapuspam, chandan, kumkum, the type of
wood and grain to be used. Although tantra is misunder­
stood everywhere in the world, this yajna is part of tantra.

14
 Tantra means a technique for awakening, and this tantric
yajna is being done for two purposes. Firstly, I wish to give
the villagers, my neighbours, the opportunity of taking part
in such a ceremony because they don’t have the means to
organize such a yajna in a village. In Deoghar or in Patna
it is possible, but here the people have no resources. They
can’t invite pandits or other such people. Secondly, it is only
the Divine Mother who will help them. Nobody else helps
them. These poor people make the government but then the
government forgets them. After the leading party has come
into power, there is a lot of talk in the capital but nothing
happens here, not even a hand pump arrives. I know because
I live here; I am the witness. When the cow comes into heat,
it has become cool by the time it reaches Deoghar. This is
not a small thing; it is a big loss for a villager and it happens
time and again. There is nobody to help these people except
for God. They are helpless and they say that the government
is doing nothing and it cannot do anything. Only the force
of God can help them, and it is with this hope that I am
organizing the Sat Chandi Yajna.
Sarve bhavantu sukhinah,
Sarve santu niramaya,
Sarve bhadrani pashyantu,
Maa kashchit dukha bhagabhavet.
May God make them prosperous,
May God make them disease free,
May God remove all the sickness and ills of their family,
And let them enjoy bliss, peace, happiness and health.

This is my sankalpa, and for this reason I am performing

this yajna. Until the villagers receive the grace of the Mother
Goddess, their sorrows will not be removed. They are very
good people who suffer from ignorance, illiteracy, helpless­
ness, disease and much more. I know the villagers for eight
to ten kilometres around, and they do everything here for
me. We have just had a transformer installed and they did

15
all the work on it themselves. They are very intelligent and
very skilled; they clean and service all the vehicles: tractors,
truck, cycles and motor cycles, even the UPS.

Propitious prosperity
These villagers have not yet gone to the cities, but if they do,
the village will be finished. Therefore, we want to provide the
necessary facilities for education in the village itself. Each
family should have a small house where they can cook their
two meals and their children can live safely. A few days ago
many houses collapsed during a storm and the people had to
live in relief camps. By the time aid comes, the second storm
will also have passed and they will still remain homeless.
So we have developed a new technology of mud houses
here. The house which I use is made totally of mud. Anybody
can live in such a house. They can have a separate kitchen
and living room. I live in one room, the other is my pooja
room and I sleep in the corridor. If every family is given a
house like this to live in, then that will be a divine blessing.
I don’t want these people to become so rich that they take
to wine, meat, prostitution and gambling, because that kind
of prosperity brings evil. If the money in the house brings
inauspicious things, then we don’t want it.
This is a very powerful yajna because I have chosen the
pandits, I have given them strict instructions, and all the
swamis are working day and night on the preparations. I have
received the water from seven rivers and the soil from every
country in the world for this occasion. My disciples come from
every continent, so I have not had any problems in this regard.
All that I want is for the water from every part of the globe
to stay here, and I will pray to God that all the participants
obtain happiness, at least as much as I have been given here.

16
 Prasad

W hen worship begins, we offer prasad to the people.

  We may give a bicycle, but that is not a donation. I
am strictly against donations, charity or alms. Begging for
alms is the duty of a sannyasin, not that of a grihastha, or
householder. A sannyasin has to beg, he cannot donate. A
grihastha does not beg, he offers things in charity. I cannot
make the river flow back upstream. By God’s grace, Ganga
is flowing in the right direction down here. I am not Ganga
or God, but there must be a medium of expression for God’s
grace. Therefore, we offer everything – rickshaws, bicycles,
tools, even cows and bulls – to God. These become offerings
just like flowers or sweets, and then we distribute them as
prasad. There is no stamp of donation on them; they are the
Lord’s prasad.
According to the scriptures, brahmins and shudras are
entitled to beg for alms but kshatriyas and vaishyas are not.
Brahmins were supposed to beg for alms and that is why they
were respected. It is not without reason that the brahmins
were considered to be the highest caste. Their lives were
not like those of ordinary people, because they were always
engaged in swadhyaya. They used to study and teach others,
conduct yajna, pooja and other sacred rituals, and in turn,
they would receive ample donations for their livelihood. The
brahmins lived very simple lives along with their wives and

17
children. Other castes were impressed by their austerity and
ideals and that is why the brahmins were considered to be
the highest caste.
When a saint or sage does rigorous austerities he is
respected, but when he craves for sensual pleasures he loses
that respect. Today the brahmins have lost their special
position of privilege and respect in society because they don’t
maintain the high ideals with which they were associated
in the past. In the same way, if saints and sages leave their
austerities, sadhana and renunciation, then they too will
meet the same end. In these changing times, brahmins
should be vessels of knowledge and the arts. They may own
land, but they should still maintain positive traditions and
samskaras in their families.
Bhartihari, who was a great poet king, has said that
those who behave like deer, just grazing on grass, although
they are born in the human body, are a burden to the
earth. Music, literature and art are the marks of a human
being. Without these one cannot be called human. In the
same way, the individual or caste cannot be identified by its
appearance, but by its behaviour and actions. What is the
identity of a sadhu? Nobody becomes a sadhu by wearing
geru cloth or by shaving his head. A sadhu is identified by
his actions. Similarly, nobody becomes a brahmin merely by
doing fire ceremonies, and nobody becomes a kshatriya by
keeping arms. Their actions identify them.

Sannyasins’ duty
Now, it is the duty of each and every sannyasin to fulfil their
obligations to society. They have to contribute something
to society, not to me. I don’t need anything. I have two
loincloths, and I only wear that for your sake! I can throw it
away as well. I eat once a day, only two chapatis, and anyone
in this village can give me that at any time. I don’t need to
get it from you. But all sannyasins, particularly those who
hold office, should give something to society. Householders,
even after marrying off their daughters, feeding their

18
children and paying their taxes, have brought things for
the poor. Why then should sannyasins come empty-handed?
Those who come without an offering show sheer ungrate­
fulness to the tradition.
Therefore, go to the market and purchase blankets, golden
rings or mangalasutra. After all, if you were married and had
daughters, what would you give them as a dowry? If a sadhu
or a sannyasin begins to live and earn for the ful­filment of his
own cravings, then a householder is much better than him. A
sannyasin has to repay his debt to society. There are different
kinds of debts: the debt to God, to ancestors, to guru and so
forth. These debts, which are called rin, have been clearly
enumerated in the scriptures, and you have to repay them.
Otherwise there is no salvation, no mukti. You will simply
die with your geru clothes on, that’s all. This applies to all
sannyasins, whether they are Indian or not.
I know who has brought offerings because I get a
computerized report everyday. A sannyasin should not go
to the guru empty-handed, particularly those who hold
prominent positions. If you don’t have anything to offer,
then beg or borrow something! But don’t expect anything
from me in return. Most of the sannyasins think, “Swami
Satyananda will help us establish our ashram, he will give us
plenty of money.” No, not a pie! I do not spend money on
myself. My only duty is to feel oneness, atmabhav, with my
neighbours. Atmabhav means to treat others like myself.

19
 Role of Women
in Modern Society
A woman is the way to Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth
and prosperity. When your wife comes to your home
after marriage she brings wealth and assets with her. She
saves your money and at times she earns as well. She brings
a dowry of money, ornaments, jewellery and gold. She has an
income from her job and she maintains the home economy by
saving money. Therefore, women should not be limited to the
kitchen alone. Of course, proper food is necessary, but these
days any maid can cook for a few hundred rupees a month.
If you pay one or two thousand you can get a very good cook.
Supposing you earn five to six thousand rupees per month
and pay two thousand to a maid, you will also be generating
employment. Therefore, I tell women not to sit at home.

Need for social interaction

There are many women in the villages who maintain the
home as well as work in the fields. That is self-employment
but it is not taken into account in the nation’s economy. It
doesn’t appear in the statistics because anyone can pick up
the cow dung or milk the cow, but not everyone can earn five
to six thousand rupees per month. Therefore, if educated
women sit at home and spend all their time in the kitchen,
it does not make sense. Women should remember that
wherever they work, the job they do not only earns money,

20
it also brings them into contact with society. This social
interaction is a very important aspect of growth.
Girls who stay at home remain simple like children; they
do not know how to move about in society. In Bombay, women
begin travelling around the city from 4 am and they continue
until midnight. They travel in trains late at night without
fear. The village women can be fearless too, but they are
afraid because they have no experience. Our female swamis
travel day and night, they are not afraid of anything. If you
tell Swami Satsangi to travel at any time in the night, she can
do it because the swamis have that training. However, the
village women are frightened of travelling because they lack
this experience, not because there is any risk involved. When
village women visit someone’s house, they take a young boy
along as their security guard. If a hefty, strong man were to
accompany them it would be understandable, but they do it for
psychological reasons only, in order to avoid social interaction.
Times are not so bad; virtue still rules the world. There
has been vice, accidents do occur here and there, but that
will continue even though the Lord of Virtue rules this
earth. The village girls can also move about. If a girl wishes
she can travel to Deoghar by bicycle at night, but she will
not dare. Why does this fear arise? Fear arises only when
one is not aware of the real circumstances. In Bombay, girls
travel day and night because they have been doing so from
a young age and they know nothing will happen. If they
think something will happen, then they will also feel fear.
This fear is psychological, due to lack of social exposure.
This society is not as bad as people imagine it to be; it is not
necessary to keep women trapped within four walls. Perhaps
this is not an ideal, sattwic society – it is a rajasic and tamasic
one. However, the restrictions imposed upon women are
inappropriate to the times.
Women should also start an enterprise or business. Their
minds will then be engaged and they will remain happy.
Why should they lose the opportunities which are being
offered in society today? Women may sit at home, weave

21
a carpet, stitch clothes or make something else, sell it and
earn ten to twenty thousand rupees. However, by employing
themselves in this way, they do not enter into social life.
By restricting their social exposure, they will not be able
to control the destiny of society. Every individual decides
the direction of society. It is only through social interaction
that control can be exercised in relation to whether laws are
made in favour of women or men, in relation to education,
marriage, crime, kidnapp­ing and rape. Only then will this
become an aggressive society.

Women’s rights
Whether it is a society of poor, backward classes or of rich,
educated classes, it is not enough to merely be an active society.
It should be an aggressive society as well. Why an aggressive
society? If there is an upheaval elsewhere in India, the entire
government and even the Prime Minister is shaken. However,
if anything happens in Deoghar, the government is not
bothered. Why? Because the people here are not aggressive. An
aggressive man can fight for his rights. Only the society which
is aggressive can obtain its rights. One has to seize one’s rights.
Rights are not given in charity, rights are seized.
Throughout the world people have fought for their
rights. In all the developed countries women have fought for
and seized their rights. Previously, the condition of women in
the West was the same as it is here. They had the same social
restrictions and now they have seized their legal, political,
professional and social rights. They have even seized the
right to change the marital laws. All the laws in this country
today are made with men in view, because a man knows his
circumstances and problems. But what about the problems
of women? Nobody makes laws for them because men don’t
understand women’s problems; only women can know their
own problems.
When it comes to solving women’s problems, to making
laws for their benefit, to obtaining their rights, women have
no social exposure or experience. They sit at home, making

22
incense sticks, soap and bidis, and think, “We have earned
money, let us enjoy it.” But earning money is not enough.
Money is also earned by theft. You can stab someone on the
road and make fifty thousand rupees. Money can be earned
by any means. Even sinners have wealth, even prostitutes
are rich. Obtaining wealth is fine, but the most important
thing is to obtain one’s rights. These rights will not be given
by donation or as charity and, therefore, every woman must
know how to seize her rights.
If uneducated women march in a procession to ask for
their rights, they won’t get anything. To obtain one’s rights
one must deserve them. Only marching for them and asking
for them won’t work. One must have the qualities which
deserve them, and those qualities are developed by social
interaction. Social interaction means mixing with men and
moving around. Only then will one come to know that there
are good as well as bad people in society. In any big city,
day and night, the women keep mixing and moving; they
go to the office, they work. In the villages moving around
and mixing is not done, so the women feel insecure. That is
why they are backward, and a backward class has backward
thinking. The economic and political situation is also
backward because the people are afraid.

Necessity of struggle
Only the race which knows how to struggle rises in the pages
of history. What is struggle? A boy makes a great effort to
find a job but fails; his pocket money is finished so he works
in somebody’s house; he has no place to live and walks
miles for food; meanwhile he catches malaria, then a letter
comes saying his mother is sick. This is struggle. The man
who survives these struggles becomes victorious, his society
becomes victorious. Societies can be victorious or lost. Indian
society is a lost society, not a victorious one. The people
here struggle because they have no choice. There must be
a feeling of pleasure in the struggle, then those struggles
remain as memorable events in life.

23
 Many years ago I went to Raipur. I had no money so I
could not afford to buy any dinner. I thought, “Let me go into
the city and I will find someone to help me.” I reached the
city in the morning and as I was walking I passed a wealthy-
looking man. I stopped and asked him for some alms. He
said, “You are a strong man, go and work somewhere. Why
are you begging?” So I said, “Okay”, and walked away. My
head was throbbing and I was reeling from hunger. I began
to walk towards Lakshmipur. While walking along the road, I
saw a priest sitting outside a hut by the roadside. I thought,
“Let me go in. He looks like a saintly man and he will surely
help me.” He was a friendly person and gave me a mat to sit
on. My head was throbbing and so painful that I didn’t even
feel like talking. Although the priest was a foreign missionary
he could speak Hindi. He asked me, “Where are you going?”
I replied, “I have no particular destination.” Then he asked,
“Will you have some tea or coffee?” I said, “Yes, I will,” and
so he brought some coffee and biscuits. Then he offered
me a cigar. The moment I smoked that cigar my headache
vanished. I can remember that experience even today. This is
not just a story of struggle but of memorable events in life.
One must face struggles while moving about in society.
If one goes out to a movie and gets a headache, this is not
struggle, but an experience of ordinary life. If one sits at
home and conducts one’s business from there in order to
avoid struggle, this is a very narrow approach to life. If
educated people do this, what can be expected from the
village people?

Pooja and chanting

Ladies should learn pooja and chanting of the Sanskrit stotras
and perform these rituals in their homes. In Maharashtra
there is a place called Shirdi and the establishment of Satya
Sai Baba is nearby. A saint named Upasani Maharaj lived in
the vicinity. He had a disciple whose name was Sati Godavari.
Girls used to live in that ashram, even young girls, and
they were taught vedic rituals and chanting of the Vedas.

24
Maharashtra is very orthodox and the people objected to
females chanting the Vedas, although there is not a single
point in favour of this opposition. Nowhere in the Smritis,
Kalpa shastras or any of the religious texts has it been said
that a woman cannot wear the sacred thread. In all the six
philosophies, four Vedas, one hundred and eight Upanishads,
eighteen Puranas and two epics, nowhere is it written that a
female cannot wear the sacred thread.
The second point raised in opposition is that women
should not conduct pooja and other rituals. This is also not
mentioned anywhere in the scriptures, yet it is the reason
why female priests are not found in the temples. This
restriction is only due to the Muslim and Christian influence
on our culture. In Islam and Christianity you do not find
female priests. It is only recently that some provision has
been made for female clergy in the Protestant church. When
the Protestants allowed women to become priests, many
people resigned their membership. They said it is written
in the Bible that women should not conduct rituals in the
church, but this is absolutely wrong.
Karmakanda refers to the precise rituals for the chanting
of mantras and the conduct of pooja. There is a correct
method for doing pooja, just as there is a correct method
for constructing a house, cooking a dish or stitching cloth
and making a shirt. Everything we do in the world has a
definite process and method. In the same way there is a
definite process for pooja and that is called vidhi. Women are
certainly qualified to learn the chanting of mantras and the
correct method of performing pooja. When women perform
these rituals in the home as well as in the temples and sacred
places, then society will benefit and the social atmosphere
will improve.

Female education
Since I have been here in Rikhia the percentage of girls
registering in the schools has increased. I have not asked
them to go to school, but they see the female sannyasins

25
driving cars, trucks and tractors, supervising construction
work and going to the market full of confidence and
courage. So they have imbibed this desire to learn and to
become something. I have only one principle: As long as the
machine is functioning at an optimal level, the product will
be of a high quality. These young girls are the manufacturing
machines of the future. Males are only the operators. After
all, we are all born from the womb of a female, they are
the manufacturing machines. So, whether the product
is good or bad depends on them. Therefore, we must
educate, encourage and inspire girls to create an aggressive
community, not a passive one.

Obligation to women
Kumari Poojan will be performed here at the end of the
Chandi Yajna and I have included worship of the daughter-
in-law. We have selected the girls for this pooja from Rikhia
itself. We try to help and promote the women, and I am
already famous or infamous for that. However, I don’t mind
what people say, because if saints and sages do not fulfil their
duty towards women, then who will? Most people are afraid
to be outspoken, but what have I to fear? Don’t we have a
duty and an obligation towards the woman whose womb we
have occupied for nine months? Yet we call a man whom we
haven’t even known ‘father’ and feel that we owe everything
to him! We have been closest to a woman because we have
lived in her womb for nine months. We emerged into this
world out of her body, so why should we feel different from
her? Why should we try to separate ourselves from her?
I don’t care what people say, it is my right to respect
women, to love women, to protect women and to give them
everything that I have to give. I will give whatever I can
to women. I can give love, respect and equality, and these
things must be given to women. This is our dharma, duty
and obligation because we are their children. A woman’s
nature is always that of a mother. Whether a woman is
your wife or daughter, her nature is that of a mother, and

26
the mother too was a woman once. My mother was also a
woman and I am very thankful to her for producing me.
The qualities which I have imbibed are not due to my father.
The credit for creating my life goes to my mother, not to my
father, because he was only a medium.

Only kisses, not education

The strange thing is that all the legal and social rights
belong to the man, not to the woman. When the wife
dies, the husband becomes a widower, but he does not
change his clothes, he does not wear white, he does not
stop participating in religious activities. Yet when the wife
becomes a widow, she must wear white clothes and remove
all her jewellery. She becomes an outcast, is considered to be
inauspicious and cannot participate in religious activities.
Such traditions are wrong but people are unable to remove
them because their mothers only gave them life and helped
them to grow; they did not educate their minds. Mothers
have given only kisses to their children, not education.
A child learns up to the age of seven years and that
knowledge is known as samskara. The child stops receiving
this knowledge after seven years so the education of a child
ends at that age. Thus the mother is the most important
factor in the child’s early life. After the age of seven, the
child begins his academic education in the school with the
teacher; this is intellectual or worldly education. The inner,
spiritual education which is received in the form of samskara
is completed by the seventh year. Theology and psychology
both accept this view. It is the ultimate conclusion of modern
psychology and it is also the conclusion of the Dharma
shastras, the religious scriptures and the Vedas. Therefore,
mothers should teach their children properly until the
seventh year.

In tune with the times

Women should learn to think differently. To begin with,
a woman should stop thinking like a servant. She is the

27
master of the house and she must think like that. Times
are changing very rapidly and she must think accordingly.
Today girls wear jeans, before that they wore mini skirts and
before that full Victorian dress. In my village, the uneducated
Santhali girls who work as labourers told Swami Satsangi,
“We want to wear jeans because we have difficulty working
in petticoats and saris.” So we gave them all jeans and now
the girls who come to work as labourers wear jeans and caps.
We have worshipped beauty from antiquity, but the
definition of beauty in modern culture is different from that
of ancient times. In the past long hair was the definition of
beauty; today short hair is considered beautiful. In the past
a heavy build was considered to be beautiful; today a slim
body is more attractive. In the past people wore ornaments
on many parts of the body, but today they wear only a few
selected ornaments, matching the overall apparel. There
are many books on the science of beauty. Rishi Vatsayan
wrote the Kama Sutra, which contains a chapter on how to
use herbs, oils, perfumes and diet in order to become more
beautiful.
The definition of beauty in the West is entirely different
to that of India. Here beauty is a balanced combination of
body contours, clothes and ornaments, whereas in western
culture, the clothing should be attractive, whether or not the
body is beautifully proportioned. Ornaments are not used to
attract attention, nor is hair considered to be an important
attraction; only the quality of the clothes and the body are
significant.

Desegregation
In the past, men and women were segregated as if they were
petrol and fire, but today this situation has changed. Boys
and girls can live together but not marry until they have
developed physical feelings for each other. They remain
together with pure, clean thoughts. This is possible because
the relationship between a man and a woman is not that
of petrol and fire. Physical interaction between boys and

28
girls will not take place until they develop the thoughts of a
man and a woman, of physical union. Until then there is no
harm if they live together. Just as a man lives with his sister,
mother or daughter, he can live with other women also with
the same purity of thought. When physical thoughts come,
then he may say, “Okay, let’s go to a temple or a church and
get married.” Then the couple will be registered as man and
wife and have social status.
It is because of segregation that women in our society
have not been able to uplift themselves. The mistake is ours
as well as theirs. Women cannot break out of the mould, the
limitations which have been imposed on them by society.
Restrictions were imposed on women in past ages due to
certain circumstances that were prevalent at that time. Of
course, there were reasons why women had to be protected,
but today the life and conditions are not what they were
then.

Adaptable culture
India can change because this is the inherent nature of
Indian culture. To adjust, change and adapt is the nature
of the vedic culture. The national environment can change;
the Indian constitution is flexible. If we think that the
culture of the West is very convenient, progressive and
enlightened, we can accept it. Similarly, if Europeans feel
that this vedic system, the philosophy of India, is the best
one for their spiritual lives, we can accept them also. Our
religious and social constitution must be flexible, and India
is very amenable to this. In many countries, women are not
allowed out of their homes not permitted to drive cars or
have normal interactions with outsiders. But in India women
are encouraged to be outgoing because they are intelligent.
In India, the people have respect for western culture
and there are many aspects which they accept, such as dress,
social interaction and education. However, it will take time
to implement these aspects. Indian culture has the quality
of adaptability, which enables society to change according

29
to the times and circumstances. It is also said that religion
is not weakened by these social changes. If your daughter
or sister decides to cut her hair, she has not become impure
or gone against any vedic tradition or thought. If she wears
jeans and a T-shirt, goes out and talks to this or that person,
she has not disobeyed any religious law. Religion is weakened
by human conduct, not by what one wears. The basis of all
religions is conduct: Acharah prathamah dharmah, “Conduct is
the first dharma”.
Any action which does not hurt or destroy dharma can
be performed and there is no harm in such actions. Society
must be progressive; only then can it get ahead in this
competitive age. If half of the population remains ignorant,
weak, fearful and insecure in this age of competition, society
cannot go forward or compete with the rest of the world.
People won’t be able to obtain the basic amenities for their
households, they won’t be able to earn an income and
nowadays everything is expensive.

30
 Upanayan Samskara

T he thread ceremony is named upanayan samskara.

During that rite the thread which the child puts on is
called yajnopavita, which means yajna plus upavita, ‘initiated
into education’. In the olden days, our culture regarded
education as a yajna. It was called yajna shreshtha karma,
meaning that education is the most superior action. Today
education is considered to be the most superior action as
well. So at the age of seven years, the samskara of upanayan
was performed. These days it might be called a ritual, but
then it used to be a scientific tradition done for purely
scientific reasons.
Modern psychologists are also consistent on one point:
that real education, which is at the level of samskara, is
completed at the age of seven years. This is a universally
accepted fact, and on this basis it is said that the mother
always remains a part of the child’s psyche. Until the
age of seven the father and child did not stay together
constantly. Therefore, the mother and not the father was
given the status of the first guru, mata prathamo guruh. Today,
unfortunately, mothers who qualify for the status of guru do
not exist, but they are being made now. Day and night we
say, “Educate the girls more than the boys.” We are pressing
this point in order to give more importance, more rights and
more freedom to girls than to boys.

31
In the past, we were doing it all wrong. I am saying this not
because I am a social reformer, but because we are poor
people. Labourers working in big cities can easily earn
fifteen hundred rupees a year but local labourers can hardly
earn four hundred. The labourer who works here can’t
even afford to go to Bhagalpur to visit his guru. How much
poverty prevails here! The cause of poverty is the deficiency
of Lakshmi, and women are Lakshmi, not men. In the first
mantra of Saundarya Lahari it is written: Shivah shaktya yukto
yadi bhavati shaktah prabhavitum, ‘Without Shakti, even Shiva
is ineffective’.
The manifest form of Shakti is the female, the girl, the
sister, the daughter, the wife, the mother, and we males have
made her a cripple. We have cut her wings because during
the middle ages another influence was thrust upon us. We
had to adjust ourselves to that political influence then, but
now the times have changed. We are living in a modern
civiliz­ation where our daughters can do an MA or an LLB,
stand up in the Supreme Court and argue a case, or run for
election and sit in Parliament. In today’s society girls can talk
freely with boys. Nobody infers that there must be something
cooking between them. That society has gone, and such a
society should go, otherwise your society cannot advance.
Until the age of seven years, the mother is the guru of
the child. She is responsible for the development of all the
desired qualities, such as love, compassion and intelligence.
Just as the gardener looks after a small plant, she too
provides for the total care and nutrition of the child. The
compost and manure are derived from her blood and bone
marrow. She is like the farmer who gives urea to the plant
when it is growing. Once the plant is fully grown, urea is no
longer useful. In the same way, giving nutrition to a baby is
the mother’s responsibility, and that nutrition does not mean
only feeding, it is all inclusive. How to manage and take care
of the child’s eyes, for example. If the eyes develop a squint
after birth then the mother can correct it, because the body
is amenable to change at that time.

32
So, the education which a child receives up to the age of
seven years is maternal, internal or emotional education.
When the training which the mother is supposed to impart
finishes, then the child is sent to the guru or acharya. The
rite which is conducted at that time is known as upanayan
samskara. The word upanayan comes from the root nayan,
which means the physical eye which perceives other forms,
objects, colours and everything in the external nature, be
it sky or earth. However, this physical eye does not help to
see the thoughts inside. Upa plus nayan means the second
eye which is needed to see the thoughts. Initiation into that
training is upanayan samskara.
When upanayan samskara is performed, the child is given
three threads. These three threads are the basis of his self-
restraint. After the age of seven years, the child has to live
under three kinds of self-restraint. Whether a householder,
a sadhu or a sannyasin, everybody has to observe these three
restraints. Similarly, a sadhu is supposed to have three staffs;
a staff signifies discipline. Today women do not wear the
thread, but initially both sexes were given the thread during
this samskara. Girls also went to the gurukula to study, wore
the thread and did Gayatri japa. Now the times have changed.
The men could see that if women sat for japa, no one would
make the bed, clean and wash, bring the tea, cook, or milk
the cows. So they decided that she had to become their maid
and thought, “Better we wear her thread as well.” So the male
became the bearer of six threads instead of three.
Upanayan is the name given to the ceremony conducted
when the child was sent to gurukula for further studies.
There he learnt to read and write. In addition, he learnt
business if he was the son of a businessman; how to fight if
he was the son of a warrior; chanting of the Vedas and the
fire rituals if he was the son of a brahmin. He also learnt
carpentry, stitching, shoe making and other skills if he
belonged to such a family. So students learnt many things in
those days, and that was the significance of upanayan. In the
same way there are many rites which have continued until

33
now. These days children go to school before their seventh
year. As soon as the child is conceived his admission to the
school is reserved. This registration before birth is also a new
kind of samskara.
If you examine the samskara of upanayan from a
scientific point of view, you will find that it was a ritual
designed to maintain the health and regeneration of
important cells in the human body, which ordinarily would
decay after the age of seven in a normal child. It is a normal
physiological phenomenon that different glands develop
and degenerate at every stage of development. The pineal
gland develops until the age of seven years, and thereafter
it degenerates. After the age of twelve years other endocrine
glands begin to develop. In this way at every stage of life
different glands develop and degenerate. These glands
are responsible not only for a man’s life but also for his
personality, thoughts, emotions, actions and psyche. The
most important gland is the pineal and then the thyroid,
not the pituitary, because a practitioner of yoga can develop
the pituitary at any time with the help of padmasana,
pranayama, meditation, worship of God, japa or whatever
method is adopted.
Along with formal education, children should also listen
to bhajans and God’s name because these things have
great value. If children begin to read Ramayana, they auto­
matically become literate. But the paradox is that by the time
our generation becomes literate, the next generation will
again have stopped reading. It has been said that the worst
weakness of democracy is that by the time you teach one
generation, the next generation of fools is born. Therefore,
educating people is important, but it is even better if
females are educated instead of males, because then the
next generation auto­matically becomes educated. However, a
father always prefers to educate the boys and he neglects the
girls, thinking, “When she marries she will go to someone
else’s house, so why should I waste my resources on her?”
The father does not think ahead but the mother does.

34
 Mother India

W omen are the main asset in the Indian family. When

the wife comes to her husband’s home, she does not
come empty-handed, but he goes to her house like a beggar
to fetch her. It is she who manages all the expenses of the
marriage. She comes to his house with a full set of pots,
suitcases, a cycle, a rickshaw, a scooter, a car, a TV, a video
set, an audio set, jewellery, and also a minimum of sixty to
seventy thousand rupees in cash. She comes as Lakshmi, the
goddess of wealth, and he keeps her there as his servant.
Even her son won’t clean the pots and utensils. Her children
leave their plates on the table after eating, so that she, the
mother, will clean up. The VIP who came to her husband’s
house and filled it with wealth is today the maidservant. This
is the biggest mistake of Indian society; it is like ploughing a
field with an elephant or killing a mosquito with a cannon.
People will have to rethink.
I have been a supporter of women and girls for many
years. Many people have also said that Swamiji keeps girls
with him. If not girls, then who shall I keep? Man wants to
keep beautiful flowers with him, not thorns. No one keeps
thorns in the house. My ashram thrived because I trained
females and gave them responsible posts. Women are very
sincere. They do not have the habit of smoking, drinking
wine, gambling or going to the cinema. The administration

35
of the Bihar School of Yoga was never in my hands because I
was mostly out travelling. I never saw the cheque books, pass
books, registers or accounts. Here Swami Satsangi manages
everything. It is not that the male swamis are redundant,
each one has his place, but I am talking about women here.
Women have no ambitions except to become stable.
Stability is their weakness as well as their quality. A woman
will try to become stable wherever she goes, whether it is
at her in-laws, in an office or in an ashram. A stable person
whose mind and body are focused is needed to manage any
institution. Today, if men try to run the household, they will
fail because they are not good managers. Let them try to look
after the kitchen, the children, the cleaning, the maintenance
– everything will collapse. In the evening, instead of sugar
there will be salt in the tea! Therefore, in the coming age the
women of India must become Mother India, and it is our
duty to see that this happens. Leave aside old ideas that men
and women become impure if they touch each other. The
touch of a woman, whether a mother, lover or wife, purifies
and sanctifies a man. Similarly, the touch of a man makes a
woman powerful. A woman touching a man and man touching
a woman, both are important and have their place.

Make them Chandi

A woman is shakti, energy, power, but today if someone teases
her on the road, she can’t do anything. She picks up her sandal
to defend herself, but no boy is afraid of that. When she tries
to hit the boy with her sandals or bag, it doesn’t put him off.
Therefore, girls should learn some skills for self-protection, like
karate, so if anyone teases them on the road they can just give
him a kick and reorganize his skeletal structure. Then no boy
will dare to look at a girl with bad intentions. Girls are not weak
and defenceless by nature; it is the male who has made them
that way in order to exploit them. A person who is weak can
always be exploited, but not one who is strong. If a girl becomes
strong then no one will be able to exploit her. Before a man can
even open his mouth, she will have told him to shut up.

36
 When a husband has a strong wife he cannot drink alcohol,
smoke cigarettes or have illicit relationships with other
women, because a strong wife will never allow it. She will tell
him, “If you want to live properly then do so, otherwise get
out and don’t come back.” A woman must have such authority,
such power, such rights, so that she can pull the man’s ears
and also keep a tight control on the keys. Here in the villages,
the man drinks toddy, gets drunk, comes home and beats up
his wife. The woman who has brought ten to twenty thousand
rupees, a cycle, sarees, suits, a scooter, audio equipment and so
on, is bashed up by her husband. This is a shameful act. The
screws are loose in the husband’s head and the wife does not
know how to tighten them up.
Deoghar is the cremation ground of Sati. Lord Shiva
roamed around the whole world, mad with despair at the
death of his consort Sati, carrying her dead body on his
shoulders. During the journey the different parts of her
body fell in different regions. The last part remaining on
his shoulder was her heart, which fell here. Therefore, this
is the seat of Devi’s heart. This is not the cremation ground
of Shiva, but of Sati, and it is also the birthplace of the new
Devi. The message for the awakening of woman will go out
from here. Therefore, give a proper education to the women
in your house, to your daughters, mothers and sisters, and
make them Chandi.

Importance of the genetic structure

The real nature of each male and female is not acquired
from society, but it is inherent in the genetic structure. The
DNA is the structure which determines the nature of human
beings through which the spirit expresses itself. The genetic
structure is different for males and females. Today, genetic
engineers have determined different groups of genes in the
male and female. A child is nothing but the genetic transfer
of his parents. So the basic nature of a man and a woman
definitely differs, yet when they live together under one roof,
there must be some compatibility between them. Both are

37
not plus; one is plus and the other minus, one positive and
the other negative, one time and the other space, and both
live at opposite poles.
In physics it is said that time and space stand at opposite
poles from each other. If time is in the north, space will be in
the south. Similarly, a man and a woman are poles apart, but
when they fall in love, then they move towards each other.
At this time they move in opposite directions; the north pole
moves towards the south and the south pole moves towards
the north. So when these two poles of positive and negative,
time and space, male and female, move towards each other,
their paths are opposite. Therefore, the elements of the
male and female natures are different from each other. The
bodies may be alike, but the elements are different and both
remain apart, like time and space. One is a bride, the other
a bridegroom, and when they come towards each other,
there must be some attraction. Ultimately, when they meet
at one point, which happens during male and female sexual
interaction, then something explodes.
When time and space meet in the centre, at the nucleus,
then there is an explosion. This explosion also takes place in
the consciousness during meditation when the two elements
meet together at one point, and that is called yoga. The
nuclear physicists call it fusion. There are two methods of
nuclear reaction: one is fission and the other is fusion. This
is the principle of the nuclear bomb. In fusion two particles
unite with each other, and in meditation the two elements
fuse together. These two elements are the individual soul,
jivatman, and the cosmic soul, paramatman. When you do
japa or meditation then there is a heavy fusion. This fusion
does not occur up here in the head, but down there at the
lowest point of the spine, because this human body is actually
a combination of the male and female elements. In the
Ardhanarishwara Stotram, both Shiva (the male aspect) and
Shivaa (the female aspect) are described as being integral
parts of the one form of Ardhanarishwara:

38
Devi
Sri Swamiji
Swami Niranjan
Sri Swamiji with Swami Satsangi
I bow to Shivaa and Shiva
in the form of Ardhanarishwara,
Whose body is half yellowish-white
like the champa flower,
Whose head has half the hair braided
and interwoven with flowers,
While the other half is white like camphor
and has matted hair.
I bow to Shivaa and Shiva,
Half of whose body is decorated with musk
and saffron, and appears affectionate,
While the other half is smeared with ashes
and has destroyed Cupid.
I bow to Shivaa and Shiva,
Whose feminine half is decorated with
tinkling ankle ornaments and gold bracelets,
And whose masculine half is decorated
with serpent anklets and bracelets.
I bow to Shivaa and Shiva,
Whose feminine half has large, lotus-like eyes with an
impartial look,
And whose masculine half has lotus-like eyes partially
closed, with a mysterious look.
I bow to Shivaa and Shiva,
Whose feminine half has locks of hair
decorated with garlands of Mandaar flowers,
And is wearing divine apparel,
And whose masculine half is decorated
with the garland of human skulls,
And is digambara, naked or sky-clad.
I bow to Shivaa and Shiva,
Whose feminine half has locks of hair
as black as the rain clouds,
And who has no master,

39
 And whose masculine half has glorious
copper-coloured matted hair,
And who is the Lord of the Universe.
I bow to Shivaa and Shiva,
Whose feminine half is exalted
with the inclination of illusory creation,
And is the supreme mother of the universe,
And whose masculine half destroys creation through the
Tandava dance,
And is the supreme father of the universe.
I bow to Shivaa and Shiva,
Whose feminine half is wearing
the earring of shining white gems,
And is accompanied by Shiva,
And whose masculine half is wearing
the ornaments of great hissing serpents,
And is accompanied by Shivaa.

We are all Ardhanarishwaras, half male and half

female; half ida and half pingala; half sympathetic and half
parasympathetic, half Ganga and half Jamuna, half Sun and
half Moon. When these two elements meet in the state of
meditation, there is an explosion of consciousness. The same
explosion occurs in sexual intercourse, but it is used mainly
to procreate children. In the scriptures it is said that the
purpose of sexual union is threefold: i) progeny, ii) pleasure
and (iii) awakening. For the purpose of reproduction, the
couple does not need any training, because that has already
been learnt from the animal incarnations; nobody needs to
be taught this. Sexual union for the purpose of pleasure also
needs no further elaboration. But how can one trigger off an
awakening and then attain the state of yoga?
For the purpose of awakening, one should understand
the two elements of Purusha and Prakriti. In the Bhagavad
Gita (ch.13:19) it is said: “Know that Prakriti and Purusha
are both beginningless, and also that all modifications

40
and qualities are born of Prakriti.” Purusha and Prakriti
are the two eternal realities. Who is Prakriti and who is
Purusha? The embodiment of Prakriti is the female and the
embodiment of Purusha is the male, just as ida is feminine
and pingala is masculine.

Females are always faithful

However, here it is important to understand that males may
still retain animal instincts, but females do not have these
qualities at all. For example, if the male says to the female,
“Let us not have any sexual relationship,” the female will
agree. But if the female says the same thing to the male, it
will be impossible for him to agree. This actually happens,
and it proves that there is no animal nature in the female.
The animal instinct exists in the male, and the female
compromises, surrenders and yields to it. If society permits,
the female can remain chaste and celibate but the male
cannot. This is his weakness because it is encoded in his
genetic structure. The Creator has embossed on the head of a
male that you are an animal, and on the female that you are
a goddess. This is the destiny of both the male and female.
There is definitely no animal instinct in the nature of
a female. Females find it easy to live the celibate life of an
ascetic, but males will say, “How can I manage?” A female
will say so only because she has one weakness; she wants
to settle somewhere and stabilize. A female cannot tolerate
instability. She has to settle somewhere and whether that
situation is good or bad does not matter. Her partner may
be a scoundrel of the worst order. He may be a fool or an
unintelligent person, but she will adjust to him. At least, she
will try her best to do so. No matter how dirty the husband
may be, how much he cheats her or deceives her, she will
try to cope and adjust. She reacts only when the situation
becomes impossible, and that too if she is educated, because
an educated woman can think and discriminate. Then she
may decide to divorce him, otherwise a female can never be
unfaithful. This is my own experience.

41
But Swamiji, Rama threw Sita out of his house and kingdom
after winning her back again from Ravana. Women have not
been permitted any rights in society since then.
Ever since Rama and Sita saw each other in the garden at
Mithila, they loved one another intensely. That love was of
the highest nature. While living in the world such events
do happen, but that doesn’t mean that there was some
shortcoming, discrepancy, difference or rejection in the
love of Sita and Rama. In certain situations, even between
a mother and son, husband and wife or brother and sister,
it may become necessary for one to tell the other to leave.
After all, Rama was a responsible person and accountable
for what was happening in his kingdom. However, he had
an agreement with Sita and the whole world knows it. As per
their agreement, if Sita and Rama lived apart, no one can
say anything about it.
The separation of Sita and Rama, Sita’s living in the
kingdom of Ravana, Rama’s trials in the forest, the killing
of Ravana to rescue Sita – all these events tell us different
things. They are not the continuation of one pattern, many
patterns are interwoven here. A husband and wife may live
separately for reasons which are not known to others. You
can’t blame either of them just because they live apart. You
may wonder what the reason was for such an arrangement.
What is wrong if Rama and Sita had an agreement to live
apart? Sita stayed in the ashram of a sage. There is nothing
wrong with a pregnant woman living in an ashram. Was it
wrong for Rama to send Sita to an ashram because of social
criticism? He did not take away any of her rights.
Why has the poet Tulsidas given low status to the
womenfolk in Ramacharitamanas? In Sundarakanda (Doha
58) he states that:
Dhol ganvaar sudra pasu naari;
Sakal taadnaa ke adheeraari:
‘Low castes, the ignorant, drums,
animals and women all require beating.’

42
Here the word taadnaa does not mean to beat. Taadnaa is
derived from the noun traataka and, therefore, should be
interpreted as “to watch intently or carefully”. This sentence
is an interpolation, perhaps added by people such as you.
Tulsidas was a saint, a knowledgeable person, a jnani. The
seers always propound that truth which is universal, uniform
and eternal. It is never limited to a particular time, place or
person. The most important thing, however, is not whether
Tulsidas considers that women deserve a beating. Whether
or not women deserve beating is immaterial because today
women are considered as deserving love. Your mind is
conditioned to old patterns of thinking. The nature of a
woman can never be like that of an animal, but the nature of
a man is like an animal.
Modern psychology propounds the same concept of
animal instincts. It says that animal instincts are more
predominant in the male nature than in the female nature.
Wisdom predominates in women, a woman is never animal-
like. The male body is more an expression of the animal
nature than the female body. Male eating habits, social
behaviour and sexuality are all animal-like. That is why men
are more prone to heart attacks than women.Women are
less prone to heart attacks because wisdom predominates in
them. Women can discriminate between right and wrong,
true and false. That is their nature. You do not have to
teach a woman anything. She will always be able to adjust
to reality in more efficient ways, because of her powers of
discrimination.
After marriage a woman does not live forever in the
house where she was born. She is transplanted to another
house which belongs to her husband. If males had to be
transplanted to the woman’s house and fields they would
probably create havoc, because they cannot adjust to reality
so efficiently. A man adjusts to reality by lifting a stick, but
a woman adjusts with her head bowed down. She thinks,
“In this world full of worries and sorrow, one’s desires are
constantly stifled. I may speak a little, I may say something

43
now and again, but this is an illusion which will only last
for a short time.” When the woman goes to her new home,
therefore, she continues to bear everything. If her mother-
in-law is hard on her, she tolerates it and somehow manages
the situation. But if the husband’s mother-in-law were ever
to speak harshly to him, he would immediately pick up his
gun and warn her never to speak like that again. This is not
a joke, it is the essence of modern psychology, the difference
between the male and female natures.

44
 Cultural Transition

C raftsmen belong to the line of Vishwakarma. They

number more than eighty percent of the population in
every country. In olden times the kings and emperors built
huge temples just to employ them. We have to support the
craftsmen. If they do not receive any support from society
and the government, there will be bloodshed, because
craftsmen are in the majority. They number in the millions.
If there is no employment or mechanical engagement
for these people, there will be a red revolution. Mahatma
Gandhi said that cottage industries should be maintained
everywhere. Along with technology and industry, there
should also be handicrafts. This will solve many problems
because cottage industries give employment to rural people.
They may not earn a lot, but at least they can fill their bellies.
Today, due to heavy industry, there is an economic
imbalance. One spinning wheel can earn thousands of
rupees for the family, therefore, handicrafts are the culture
of tomorrow. In the future a law will need to be made to shut
down all the industrial machines, otherwise there will be a
heavy strain on the electrical supply. We are already facing
power shortages and load shedding throughout the country.
Deoghar is in a good position, but Calcutta, Bangalore and
even Delhi are in a very bad position. Everywhere machines
are working to extract coal, to run the looms. Machines

45
mean electricity. The trend towards cottage industries has
already started in western countries. In Italy, England,
Australia and America, they are encouraging handicrafts and
these handmade goods sell well. Many of the swamis here are
very good at handicrafts.
During the great famine of Bengal, which was before my
time, the weavers became unemployed because all the raw
materials were being sent to factories in Birmingham and
Manchester. Millions of weavers became destitute and were
reduced to a hand to mouth existence. The main reason
for this famine was the stopping of looms. When textile
mills opened in Manchester and Birmingham, the weavers
lost their business. Similarly, the shoe makers went out of
business on account of shoe factories. When the timber
business started, carpenters died of hunger. In this way,
everybody left their professions and even the brahmins went
to join the government services.

Change in lifestyle
Brahmins were the most respected caste in our society. When
brahmins went to the court even the king had to stand up,
because despite being a respected scholar, a brahmin always
lived on alms like a beggar. But when brahmins started to join
the government service and earn money, then people said,
“We are better than them, although we may be shoemakers by
caste.” Prior to this, brahmins had earned a lot of respect, not
because of their caste, but because of their dedicated lifestyle.
A brahmin always lived on alms. The brahmins are a
minority in India, not a majority. They are bound by strict
rules: to perform yajna, pooja and samskara; to conduct
gurukula and teach various sciences. In return they were given
some sort of remuneration, such as cows, grain and clothing,
on which their family subsisted. The brahmin’s wife was very
simple and the number of his family members very limited;
moreover he had to be very learned. That is why Indian society
gave so much respect to the brahmins and sadhus, because
they were learned and yet lived a life of self-imposed poverty.

46
 However, if a sadhu starts living a five star life, he will not
be respected. If I were to become a professor in some college
or the editor of some magazine, which I’m capable of doing,
no one would care for me. Similarly, the brahmins have lost
their respected position because they have fallen short of
their dharma. Now they own land and factories. They have
become ironsmiths in TATA and shoemakers in BATA. If a
brahmin works in BATA, he is a shoemaker. So, they have left
their original duty and lifestyle.
Today the lifestyle has changed. In the olden days, during
wartime, the emperor and commander in chief used to be
first in line at the battle front; today they are last. The foot
soldiers used to be last and now they come first. The emperor
is somewhere in Delhi or Washington. He gives the orders but
is nowhere to be seen, although he is in charge of everything.
In the same way, every type of work requires specializ­
ation, expertise and qualifications. So, if you want to
become a cobbler, a tailor or an electrical engineer, you
have to become qualified. The present system is based on
qualifications, not on caste, and in every age the systems
change. In the caste system, the carpenter’s son became a
carpenter, and his son became a carpenter. Now it is not
necessary to follow this system. The father may be a doctor
and the son a farmer, according to his inclination, capacity
and the need of the times.

Where all the troubles start

Previously the social situation and needs changed every
fifty years, but in our age changes are taking place every
ten years. In fact, in western countries the rate of change
is much faster. A fashion which is prevalent today is not
seen tomorrow. The needs are changing and the mind is
changing. The last century saw research on matter: better
cars, generators, satellite systems, communication systems.
What form the society will take in the future is uncertain
because scientists who are now working with nuclear
energy in order to produce weapons, missiles, satellites

47
and electrical generators will refuse to do so in the next
century. I have spoken with many experts in Europe and in
India. They have said that now scientific research should be
diverted from matter to humanity because that is where all
the troubles begin.
All the wars in the world start here in the head. Fights
between brothers do not start from property disputes; they
start up here in the mind. As long as they are unable to
agree, the problem will not be solved. Unless man is able to
train and evolve the mind, he cannot change the social and
political systems. What the sages have said is not practical.
Buddha wanted social reform, but he couldn’t achieve it.
More than 2,500 years ago he talked about secularism and
destroying the caste barriers. The result was failure, because
these ideas originate from the same head which believes in
caste. Ideas from Buddha’s head cannot change things in
another’s head. Love starts from the head. Disputes start
from the head. Wars are not started in parliament buildings,
on battlefields or in army headquarters, but in the minds of
the people. As long as this mind is not treated, nobody can
stop the wars, fights, thefts, looting, cheating, prostitution,
gambling and so on. Special committees may be organized,
but these divisions and differences will not end.

Science of the future

How can we correct this mind? Scientists in the next century
will work in this direction. Research on the mind will start
later in India because the mental condition here is not so
bad, whereas in the West it is very poor. People will have to
think about these questions: What is the science by which
the mind behaves in a better way? What is that path through
which the mind moves on the right track? As long as man
does not move on that track, crime, looting, kidnapping and
murder will not stop. Nobody will stop drinking or lying.
Laws will be useless because they cannot put the human
mind in order. In many Muslim countries they chop off the
hands of thieves, but thefts still occur there because theft

48
is not stopped by cutting off the hands. It stops when you
tighten the screws up here in the head.
Now the question arises: How is this tightening to be
done? How can the mind be corrected? How can the antah
karana of man be purified? This is the science of the future.
In order to achieve this, research into human problems,
into the problems of an individual, is necessary. Today man
is sick and a sick man means a sick mind. A man with raga
and dwesha, attraction and repulsion, a man with attachment
and hatred is a sick man. How can a sick man be our leader?
Suppose someone in your family, say your father, brother or
son, becomes sick like that, what will happen in the house?
Quarrels, fights, murders! In our history many people have
been sick and even now most of the politicians are sick and
these people are our leaders! They land us in wars and
divide nations; there are murders and killings in which
millions are put to death. What do they lose? Nothing.
There is only one way to remain sane in the midst of this
chaos. The mind of man can be set on the right track only
by a determined resolve to reach God. No other way, no
drug or herb, can correct the mind. Man is born only for the
purpose of experiencing the divine. There is no purpose in
indulgence. Eating, drinking, sleeping, producing children
is all indulgence. These urges are in every species: dogs, cats,
elephants, horses, donkeys and pigs. The desire for food,
sleep and sex is in everyone.

Purpose of life
However, there is one special quality in man, only he can
sing God’s name, do japa and meditate on God. Does the
cow or the dog ever think about God? Do they ever go to
the temple to sing Jai Jagdish Hare? There are eighty-four
lakh species in this world and in all of them exist the four
instincts: desire for food, desire for sex, desire for sleep, and
fear of death, right from the smallest bacteria or insect to
the largest elephant. But apart from human beings, none
can ever think about God. Only human beings are capable of

49
talking about God, listening to stories about God, thinking
about God, offering their lives to God, and this is the highest
aim of human existence.
If I give you a knife to cut vegetables and you cut
somebody’s throat with it, that is a misuse of the knife.
Similarly, God gave you this life for the purpose of chanting
His name and you have misused it for sensory pleasures.
You have misused the body, so you have to bear the fruits of
your actions. The day you realize this, all your attachments,
hatred, sin and crookedness will slowly diminish like the
waning of the moon during the dark fortnight. The negative
qualities will automatically subside with this realization, but
before that nothing will help. You may go to psychologists,
psychotherapists, drink potions, eat herbs and take drugs,
but nothing will work.
All the saints, such as Mohammed, Christ, Guru Nanak,
have said the same thing. If a man wants to improve himself
then let him behave as a man and not as an animal. All
animals eat, sleep and procreate, so what is the difference
between a man and an animal? There is only one difference:
animals cannot discuss or understand God, although they
live by the grace of God. A man can talk about God and
think about Him and this is a very big difference.
So why misuse the body, why waste this incarnation?
Once it is realized that the main purpose, the main agenda
of life is divinity, the whole code changes, the entire
direction of the clock changes automatically. But nobody
wants to realize this for themselves. Everyone thinks, “If I
worry about God, then what will happen to my children?”
The maximum concern is for the children and family, not
for realizing God. Therefore, man is unable to deal with the
mind or to make positive use of his life.

50
 Religion, Politics
and Sannyasa Dharma
B uddha was not a Buddhist; Christ was not a Christian,
Roman Catholic or Protestant; and Mohammed was
not a Muslim. Similarly, supposing you start a religion in my
name after I die, that cannot be proclaimed as my religion
because I was not that. You may start a religion in my name,
but I never belonged to that religion, nor can I be the founder
of that religion. That is the case with all the prophets. It is a
misfortune that the philosophy and teachings of a saint later
become a religion and that saint is proclaimed to be the head
of that religion without his even knowing it. Later on, it strikes
us that Jesus Christ was not a Christian and Guru Nanak was
not a Sikh. Lord Rama and Lord Krishna were not Vaishnavas,
and Lord Shiva was not a Shaivite.
Who knows, maybe Lord Shiva used to put the vertical
mark of the Vaishnavas on his forehead, and maybe Lord
Rama used to put on the three striped tripundra of the
Shaivas. But there is no history of that. It is the devotees
who have imposed these icons on them. Nobody has
thought about it. Guru Nanak might have had a beard,
but just because he had a beard does not make him a Sikh.
I sometimes keep my beard and hair like a Sardar, but I
am not a Sikh. Suppose I keep my hair like that and later
my disciples start a religion in my name and proclaim
that all who follow that religion should keep beards! That

51
does not make it my religion. Paramahamsa is my title, not
my religion. My faith lies in the vedic dharma, but these
distortions take place later on, and that cannot be avoided.
The misfortune of all realized saints and mahatmas is
that the religion established by their disciples in their name,
later on takes political support and spreads. When religion
and politics shake hands, distortion takes place. When
religion goes into politics, scandals arise because an issue is
necessary to show up the opposition, and the religion will be
blamed for something or other.
When religion does not become involved with politics,
any criticism and blame which fall on it are not taken
seriously. But the moment religion is involved in politics, it
assumes a high profile and becomes vulnerable to sudden
collapse. Religion should be based on spiritual traditions
and the growth of a spiritual idea. Similarly, the growth of a
religious institution must depend only on its spiritual power.
A religious institution or tradition should never shake hands
with the political system. An individual may enter politics,
but not as a representative of a religious institution or
tradition. If the religious leader is involved in politics, then
the very traditions on which the institution is built will die
and the political system will become corrupt.
Religion should be based on spirituality alone, this is the
most important factor for the growth of religion. Saints and
sannyasins should be of a high spiritual calibre. Whenever
saints, gurus and sadhus are high-minded, then religion
prospers. But if the spiritual leaders become mean and
narrow-minded, and deviate from their path, then political
support is needed to carry the religion forward. Then a bill
must be passed in the parliament to promote the religion.
If sadhus and sannyasins also start saying things like, “Give
us a free ticket to travel by train or else we will not give you
a vote,” this will create a difficult situation. If a ticket is not
given, the sadhus will simply go without a ticket, or else they
will not travel anywhere. A sadhu should not fight for his
rights. A sadhu has duties only, not rights.

52
Dharma of sannyasins
Sannyasins must be aware of their duty only, their dharma.
Householders need to fight for their rights, otherwise they
will face many difficulties. But this is not necessary for
sannyasins because they can live with the bare minimum.
Sadhus and saints lead very simple lives. Although Swami
Vivekananda conquered the whole world, he lived a simple
life. Swami Sivananda, whose disciples you will find in every
continent, used to wear one dhoti. He was such a simple
man. He never took tea or coffee, he did not eat rice. He
was South Indian but never ate rasam, sambar, dosa or idli.
He took only three thin chapatis and one katori of mung dal.
What rights will a person of this nature fight for?
Sannyasins can walk barefoot for miles and they will
always get two rotis at any village where they stop. Food may
be offered to them with devotion or if not, they can ask for
bhiksha. When sadhus and sannyasins can exist without the
support of others, why should they fight for their rights? It
is not rights but duty which sustains sannyasins. A sadhu, a
saint or a sage has only one duty: to protect dharma by in­
corp­orating it into his life. Dharma is protected only when
it is implemented in one’s life. Sannyasins have no ashram.
There is no money for an ashram. Whatever money comes
to them goes out again, because all sadhus and sannyasins
are trustees. The word sannyasa comes from the root nyasa
which means ‘a trust’.
So all the sannyasins are trustees. Lakshmi, the goddess
of prosperity, told the sages and sannyasins, “You will be
my trustees and whatever wealth comes to you must not
be kept for yourselves. You are to live simply and eat only
once a day.” This is the dharma of a sannyasin. It is not the
dharma of a sannyasin to wear silk dhotis; to apply fragrant
sandalwood powder, oils and creams; to wear costly shoes
and keep a few thousand rupees in his pocket. Anyone can
wear geru and we cannot stop him, but the dharma of a
sannyasin is to live in poverty, to adopt self-imposed poverty.
If a sannyasin takes breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks in

53
between, then it is better to remain a householder and bear
the abuses of your wife. When the time comes to get your
daughter married, then see how your blood pressure shoots
up and what your diabetes feels like. If you adopt sannyasa
then live like a sannyasin. If you desire to wear nice clothes
then leave sannyasa.
Earlier, when I used to go abroad, I faced great problems.
I always travelled first class with my secretary. When I stayed
in hotels I couldn’t sleep on those soft mattresses, so I used
to make my bed on the floor and sleep there. Although I
could not follow the rules fully, still I used to think, “God,
you have given me so much luxury and comfort today,
but don’t make me their slave. One day I have to live like
a sannyasin.” So now that time has arrived and whatever
comes here is not for me, nor for Bihar School of Yoga, but
for helping the common man. Householders who have had
enough comfort and luxury in their lives should live like
sannyasins for some time. Sannyasa is not about getting rice,
chapatis and halwa, but about helping those who are in need.

Helping others
The idea of helping others is very easy to have, but when it
comes to implementing it, then the difficulties arise, despite
being a renunciate. Here, within three days my store was
full, but to distribute everything requires time and planning.
We have to make a list of every member of each household
in every village: who is the head, who is the son, who is the
daughter, who is getting married. This information is fed into
the computer, then bundles are made according to the list and
distributed by trucks, tractors and cars. Plenty of manpower
is required for this work. It takes more than three days to
prepare bundles for one village and that too is done with the
help of the local people. So, helping others is not an easy job.
It requires organizational skills and so many great qualities.
People think that I am going to create an infrastructure
here where they can stay, but I am not going to do that at all.
That is the mistake I made in Munger and I am not going

54
to make it again. You know the story of the sadhu who lived
in the forest. Once, while the sadhu’s loincloth was drying,
a rat came and gnawed it. So, to kill the rat he had to get a
cat. The cat needed to drink milk, so he brought a cow. The
cow needed shelter, so he constructed another hut and so
on. When his guru came he found a fully-fledged ashram in
the place of his little hut. This is what happens and I am not
going to get caught like that.
It is better to live in the villages and teach the local
people some skills that will help them to improve their
conditions. You can teach the women how to sew fashionable
clothes in the latest styles and then find a market for these
garments in the city, sell them there and send a money
order back to the village. This is not charity. Charity begets
poverty. In order to help people, you should make them
self-sufficient; give them an opportunity to build their
skills; give them auto-rickshaws and teach them to drive so
they can earn fourty or fifty rupees daily. That is more than
enough for them to live on. You can also build houses for the
villagers. First you have to get coal to make bricks, then bake
them and use them for construction. It takes two months
or more to build one house. A civil engineer is also needed
for the construction work, to decide on the area, how to
make the pillars, where to put the rods, the structure of the
foundations, the height of the plinth. All these things have
to be looked into.
To do good works requires great skill and expertise.
Thinking of others may be a very good quality but it hardly
requires any talent. “Let everyone be happy” – how long
does it take to think that? It takes no time or skill to feel
that. Your thoughts are very good and you have prayed for
everyone to be happy, but what have you actually done?
To implement that positive thought you should live like a
sannyasin for a few days. You will obtain two advantages from
this. One advantage is that others will benefit. The other is
that you will realize that one can live like a sannyasin as well
as manage the household, run the factory, industry or even

55
the government. You can do everything more efficiently
when you live like a sannyasin with the feeling of dedication
and non-attachment. Every action can be done in the spirit
of sannyasa. This is written in the Gita as well.
A sannyasin should abide by the dharma of a sannyasin,
otherwise it is useless to change the garb, name or sect.
Sannyasa has only one dharma: to work for the welfare of
others. Saints are born for the welfare of others and that is
their only work. Saints are not born for salvation, for gaining
knowledge or for mere worship. Saints are born to prepare
the ground for the arrival of God. If I am born for the Lord,
then I must complete the groundwork for him. If each saint
or sannyasin takes moral responsibility for the development
of one panchayat in India, there will be no need for a five
year plan anymore. We would require only a one year plan
because we have plenty of resources. Everything is possible
where there is goodwill.

56
 Emancipation of the Villages

I n Bihar, the public welfare activities and plans for

development have not been extended to the villages
at all. All the development has been restricted to big cities
like Patna, Jamshedpur and Ranchi. Those cities have good
buildings, schools, colleges, hospitals and nursing homes.
Good roads, bridges, parks and hotels are constructed there,
but the villages have nothing. The politicians have not forced
the government to reach out to the villages. Reaching out to
the villages means that no one in a village dies hungry, and
that when their cows come on heat they have the facilities for
quick insemination, and do not have to walk for ten or twelve
kilometres, dragging the cow along behind them.
Another neglected aspect is primary health care. I am not
talking about serious diseases like TB, just routine diseases. The
villagers don’t have proper drinking water; they get jaundice
from infected water. The women and children of the villages
have not yet understood that education is for their benefit.
In other states like Haryana, Maharasthra, Andra Pradesh
and Tamil Nadu, the rays of progress and development have
touched each and every village. The sun of progressive modern
culture has illum­ inated them. Adequate facilities to live a
decent life have reached the villages in these states.
The farmers of Haryana are much better off than here,
because there the basic commodities of water, seeds and

57
fertilizer have been provided and they have also been given
moral encouragement. Farmers are a struggling community
because five acres of land requires the same infrastructure
as fifteen, whether it be an irrigation pump, a tractor, or
a plough and bullocks. But the villagers here don’t have
these things. So what do they do? One farmer has a bull
and another farmer also has a bull, so they join the two and
plough their land in turn. Since arriving here, I have started
donating bullocks because farming cannot be done without
them, just as your crops cannot be grown without seeds.
Farmers who live in the villages are very poor and their
biggest need is not land, but facilities. The government has
given them land, but agriculture is not done by a land lease
alone; water, seeds and a plough are needed.
Government support was given to the production of
coal, steel and mica; the same support was not given to
agriculture. The farmer is the backbone of our country. A
family cannot eat coal and steel. For building construction
you need cement and iron, for fuel you need coal, but the
farmers, who are the backbone, the root and basis of our
society, have been deprived. I see this all around me and that
is the reason why Bihar has remained backward. As long as
the leaders ignore the basic needs of the poor villages, their
leadership will remain fruitless for themselves as well as for
society. It will have no positive or permanent consequences.
The most important thing for Indians is the villages.
The real emancipation of India will happen only with the
emancipation of the villages. The poverty is mainly in the
villages and since all the public utilities are concentrated in
the cities, the village people are migrating there. In the cities
there are schools and colleges, but the villages have nothing.
If a villager is posted to Deoghar or Patna, he calls his family
and children there and the village is left behind. All the
people who are weak, crippled and devoid of quality are left
behind. How can we bring back that quality? The educated,
capable, prosperous people have come from the villages; we
are the aggressive community. But now there is no aggressive

58
community in the villages and no facilities or resources are
available. What can be done to raise the standard of living so
that we can live there once again?
The needs of a village are basically those of a farmer. A
labourer has no special needs; he can go from place to place.
But how can a farmer leave his land and go away? Five bighas
of land is enough to support a family if it is properly utilized.
In Australia, the ashram had a farm of around five bighas
and the swamis did the farming there. They grew their own
vegetables and had a cold storage facility. Every morning the
swamis would harvest the vegetables and put them in cold
storage. People came to the ashram to practise asana and
pranayama and left carrying carrots and cauliflowers.

Patal Ganga
This village is pure both from the spiritual and the material
point of view. There is no air or noise pollution here like as
in Calcutta and other cities. This place is absolutely quiet.
Deep tube well bores should be the main source of water
supply here so that there is no need to depend on rains. I
feel that in this area there is a huge reservoir of underground
water. I have perceived this by observing the lightning. It
is a well-known fact that where there are frequent episodes
of thunder and lightning, there has to be a sizeable
underground water resource. The frequency and magnitude
of lightning episodes is far greater here than in Munger. At
times when there is lightning I feel as if it has struck right
above us. It is an incredible sight, like Star Wars.
If we could drill a bore well of ten or twelve inches in
diameter and distribute that water to nearby villages, it
would be a wonderful resource. These people would be very
happy not to need a pond because the cost of digging a
water pond and drilling a tube well is the same. Moreover,
to fill the pond you have to rely on rainwater, but the tube
well is a perennial source of water. The electricity supply here
is very efficient so we can fit a pump. We also have our own
transformer, so there is no problem.

59
 We are also trying to find out about the possibility of
confirming the presence of underground water by means
of satellite. We shall then be able to drill at the right point
These days you can confirm underground water and mineral
sources by satellite. Once we are successful then you can
come to see this Patal Ganga. If we are able to extract water
in large quantities we can then convey it to the neighbouring
fields as we already have long aluminium pipes which can
cover about one kilometre. Villagers can also come and bathe
in that water. In the early mornings people go to bathe in
rivers and ponds during the month of Kartika, so that can
also be done here. We will instal ten or twelve taps so that
the water can flow into the fields. Then people will have
safe, clean drinking water and the facility for a Kartika bath
at the same place. This is what I think, and if it is God’s wish
then it will be done, and that will bring great relief to this
impoverished area.

Necessity of ability
Housing is another problem which villagers face. A thousand
houses can be constructed here in a month, but manpower
is required to build a house. One person can construct one
house in one month and by that time the season is over.
To build a house, bricks must be made. One person has to
supervise the quality of the brick-making because if you leave
it to the local people it will be hopeless. Other swamis can
continue the tractor and truck loading and unloading with
everybody’s help.
Therefore, it is necessary that dedicated people work
for a period of time, offering their abilities as a form of
nishkama seva or karma yoga. They do not have to give all
their time, just a month or two whenever they are free from
their personal commitments. This can be called six months
seasonal sannyasa, but it is not applicable to everyone. To
help others you need to be qualified. When you think of
helping others, it is an emotion, kindness is an emotion. But
in order to actually do something emotions won’t work. It

60
is ability which works, and this ability must be an inherent
quality. One must know about construction, one must know
how to deal with human beings.
Emotion in itself is not sufficient, even money is not
sufficient. When it comes to actually doing something to help
others one must be very practical. Last year we received cows,
rickshaws, handcarts, sewing machines etc., in abundance.
However, these things have not all been disposed of even
now, because there are practical considerations. We have to
find the right recipient for every cow. We can’t just keep on
giving cows. We have to find out whether the recipient has
ever kept a cow and whether he has the means to keep the
cow. It takes almost one week to investigate one man.

Self-employment
Two things are very important: shelter and self-employment.
Education is secondary and it is not picking up here at the
pace it should, although in the last year, while I have been
talking to the people, I have noticed that education has
picked up a little. Parents are sending girls to school and
some have even given me a hint that they want to learn
English. Swami Satsangi speaks in English, so some of the
girls are now jealous. It is a good thing if jealousy can work
in a constructive way. This is a positive aspect of jealousy.
So some of the parents have said, “We want our children
to learn music and English,” but I have kept quiet because
I don’t think that it is as important as housing and self-
employment.
By self-employment I mean that the men can find work
like pedalling a rickshaw or pushing a handcart, and there
is sewing for the women. The villagers have started to make
things and sell them, particularly the widows. I have broken
the isolation of womanhood here, and now they go out.
Basically all the villagers, especially the womenfolk, desire
pleasure, prosperity and progeny. A better life, a better
house, prosperity and children are always in their minds.
Everyone wants a nice home. This floor on which we are

61
sitting was initially rough brickwork. The village ladies saw
it when they first came here to meet me. When they came
again some time later and saw marble flooring in place of
the bricks, they said, “Swamiji, you have made it beautiful.”
Similarly, they appreciate this whole place and say,
“Before this was a wild area, now you have made it auspic­
ious.” If they can appreciate my area, I pray to God, “May
they also have similar comforts and facilities in their area.”
I can manage that, but the biggest problem is who will share
the work? I don’t want a person who comes here in the
morning for eight hours duty and returns to his home in
the evening. I want a person who lives here for a minimum
of six months at a time. I need a civil engineer who knows
construction work and the basic tenets of civil engineering.
Once we constructed a house for Tetu. I gave the charge
of that building to a swami who is not here now. But he
didn’t construct it properly. I told him to give the roof a
slope of 37 degrees, as it helps to drain the water in the rainy
season, but he was careless and did not provide an adequate
slope for water drainage. Perhaps he thought, “A slope is a
slope, why bother about 37 degrees?” So he just gave the
slope which he felt would be sufficient to let the water flow.
Now the roof leaks the whole year round and I will have to
remake the entire roof. Isn’t that a waste?

Swamiji, how do you feel when the village people sell the
gifts you have given them?
Well, this doesn’t really happen but when and if it does, my
attitude is very simple. If I give a cycle rickshaw and the
recipient sells it and pockets the money, I won’t mind. This
is the philosophy of God. A social worker expects the person
whom he helps to be honest. I don’t expect that. I am a
realist, not an idealist. Has God put any conditions on what
He has given to all of us? No. If we misuse what He has given,
does He punish us? No. True generosity is giving without
conditions. Suppose you give someone a blanket worth one
hundred and fifty rupees, but he goes to the market and sells

62
it for a mere fifty rupees. Then you feel discouraged and
begin to think, I gave him a blanket and he sold it. Why did I
give it at all? If you feel like this about a blanket, imagine how
it would be if God were to have the same attitude about all the
things He has given to you. God has given us so many things,
but we have misused them. If we can misuse the things given
to us by God, then anybody can misuse the things given to
them by me. I am a mere human being.
Therefore, my philosophy is very clear on this point.
I give an apple to someone as prasad. He gives it to his
girlfriend. That girl has another boyfriend and so she gives
the apple to him. That boy is my disciple, so he offers the
same apple back to me! Whose fault is it if the apple returns
to me? How will I feel in that situation? I will be absol­utely
disturbed because I have an ego that says, “I am the one who
gives, who helps others.” So, the thought that I am helping
others is pure ego, therefore, I never think of it.

Swamiji, how does non-attachment come?

It comes by diverting your attachment. I also feel for these
villagers. Is that not attachment? What you feel for your
mother, father, wife and children is personal attachment.
Because she is your mother, he is your father, she is your
wife and he is your son, therefore, you have attachment. But
when I have attachment for you, although you do not belong
to me, that is considered as unselfish attachment. Then
that is no longer attachment. When the attachments are no
longer selfish, but are projected to benefit people who are in
no way related or connected to you, then that attachment no
longer has a binding force.
There can be no affection or service without attachment.
No great work can be done without attachment. All the great
acts of patriotism were performed due to attachment. What is
patriotism? What is love for one’s nation? It is another form
of attachment. Therefore, don’t try to fight against passion,
anger, greed and attachment unnecessarily by adopting a
wrong attitude; simply change its direction.

63
 Why Ganesha Drank Milk

F or those who believe that Ganesha did drink milk

there are no doubts or questions. However, for those
who believe that he did not, there is no answer. Therefore,
let us put aside this question of whether it happened or
not. The question should be: if it did happen, then what
is the purpose? Why did it happen? If it did not happen
there is nothing to discuss. But if it happened that Ganesha
drank milk in India, England, Italy, America, Australia and
many other countries, then there has to be a purpose for
such an event. If something happens in your family but not
elsewhere, that cannot be considered an event; that is your
personal experience. But if many people elsewhere have the
same experience as you are having, then it is not a personal
experience, it is an event. Similar events have taken place in
history. Two thousand years ago, the star of Bethlehem shone
and many people saw it and understood its significance.
Was it not an event? At that time the people must have
questioned whether or not it happened. But we know that
it happened because the evidence is there, and definitely a
higher hierarchy was involved.
Whether it is the star of Bethlehem or the star of David,
they are all powers of the higher hierarchy of devatas or
divinity. When Lord Buddha was born, lotuses started
blooming; that was an event. According to a story, Padma

64
Sambhava was born from a lotus. The word padma means
‘lotus’, sambhava means ‘blooming’. Similar things happened
when enlightened saints like Mohammed, Moses and
Krishna were born. Although Krishna was born in a prison
in Mathura, things started happening in Gokul where he
later shifted. The day Lord Rama entered the womb of
Queen Kausalya, all the people of the entire world were
encompassed by auspiciousness and beauty. It is written in
Balakanda of Ramayana that the day Lord Rama descended
into the womb, auspiciousness was spread everywhere.
What is auspiciousness? The air became pure and fragrant,
the trees and plants began to bloom, the cows began to give
milk, the sick became well again. This is auspiciousness. So,
whenever God has incarnated in this creation, auspiciousness
has manifested everywhere. A sign becomes apparent and
that is the evidence. Since there is historical evidence, you
can’t dismiss it. The event of Ganesha drinking milk should
also be understood in that light. It is a kind of proclamation
or announcement that a higher power is now on Earth. Either
a mother is bearing him or he has already been born. Who
might that fortunate mother be who is bearing God in her
womb, or has already given birth to him?

Birth of an incarnation
Why did Ganesha drink milk? He drank milk in Delhi,
Bombay, England, Australia and many other countries,
wherever people worship Lord Ganesha. People told me that
they offered him milk and he drank it. Now the question
arises, why did he drink the milk? Whenever an incarnation
of God descends on Earth, certain signs appear. There are
many great people in this world. Anybody can be a great
man. Gandhiji was a great man. However, the incarnation of
God is something entirely different. The incarnation of God
means the energy of God enters into a womb. This happens
whenever righteousness and dharma decline and demonic
forces increase. So, when righteousness is des­troyed, God
incarnates in a human body to relieve suffering.

65
 Is righteousness being destroyed today? Yes it is. Of
course, it is fine to have a job, money, a house, elec­tricity,
water, transport and other facilities. But does dharma exist
today or not? Are people with demonic tendencies being
born now or not? Today, there are many problems facing
mankind and they are increasing. The time is right for a
higher power to come and solve the problems of humanity,
because the political, social and spiritual leaders are unable
to do anything to relieve the situation. If this situation
continues for another decade or two or three, everything will
be worse. After all, the facilities which science is providing
us with have nothing to do with dharma. It is a person’s
thoughts and life which build a society of dharma. You may
have all the facilities, a lot of money and a very good job, but
that does not necessarily mean that you are following a life
of righteousness and virtue.

Prevalence of adharma
Dharma is life in God and in truth. Nowadays who can say,
“I am living for God and for truth”? People can only say, “I
am living for my family.” Today there is no dharma at all.
Do you move on the path of dharma? No, your life has only
one aim: eat, drink and be merry. A man is not born only to
earn and to eat, and this fact has been stated by all the sages
and saints. The Ramayana, Bhagavat, Bible and Koran, all the
religious scriptures state that the aim of human birth is to
attain God, to make efforts to realize God. How much time
do you give to the effort of attaining God? You don’t give any
time, you just go to the temple and pour water on the lingam
so that God is pleased and does not curse you. You do some
chanting on some auspicious occasions, say some prayers, ask
for some boons and you are finished.
What time do you give to developing your relationship
with God, to living that relationship? You don’t find time
for God. You get up thinking about your job and go to sleep
thinking about your job. The only truths in your life are
family, children, job and money, nothing else. That attitude

66
has resulted in an empty and undisciplined lifestyle. When you
want to drink, no one stops you. As long as you have money,
you can eat and drink anything you want. This is the path of
demons. Those who wish to walk on the path of dharma must
think before acting: Should I do this or not? Will it help or
hinder me on my path? But the demons don’t think of right
and wrong. As long as they have the money they do whatever
they wish. This means that there is no fear of God.
So, in this age, nobody is ready to talk about dharma.
Everyone is moving on the wrong track, not only in India
but throughout the world. The leaders misguide the people
for their own selfish motives. They tell lies to become
members of the Legislative Assembly or the Parliament. But
if someone tells them they are cheating they will shoot him
dead. All the politicians tell lies in all the capitals, but who
can raise a voice? Even sadhus deceive others, not to speak
of politicians. A sadhu should never cheat because he is an
embodiment of dharma, righteousness and compassion. If
even the sadhu, who is the protector and the embodiment
of dharma, moves away from his path, then what can be
expected from politicians and businessmen?
What is the aim of life today? To get your daughters
married before the age of fifteen years and despatch them
to their in-laws, and to earn money anyhow, by any means.
People have lost the spiritual aim in life, so nobody can correct
things now. The rate of inflation is rising higher and higher.
When we were children, the price of ghee was six kilos per
rupee. Now the rate is one hundred and twenty five rupees
per kilo! If a man does not resort to cheating, how will he
survive? It is difficult to provide a full meal for the family.
Many things show that man has moved away from his path
and there is no one to bring him back. Even if I explain the
situation and you understand it, still you won’t be able to do
anything about it because everywhere these conditions exist.
The Earth, which is already fifty billion years old, has
increased its weight. In Ramayana the story goes that in this
same predicament Earth once went to Brahma and said,

67
“Lord, I cannot bear this weight anymore.” The weight on
Earth is being increased by billions of people over billions of
years. If fifty billion people urinate and defecate three times
a day, if they throw out tons of rubbish everyday, if they open
factories which emit toxic gases and wastes, how will the
Earth bear this weight? We are polluting the Earth and she
is not able to manage it. This Earth, which we call Mother
Earth, is not inert matter. If it were inert then how could it
produce so much? Grains and fruits all come from the Earth.
Even insects and microbes are born from the Earth. Earth is
not inert, Earth is energy.

God comes incognito

The incident of Ganesha drinking milk is just to let people
know that the incarnation of God has been born, or is about
to be born. He has descended either into the womb or onto
the Earth. When God descends, He does so in a very humble
way. He doesn’t come like a leader, prime minister, president,
king or monarch. He comes in a very humble way. All the
great prophets were born incognito. Krishna, Christ, Moses
and Mohammed were born incognito, so nobody would
know. They all came secretly. Today we know that Lord
Krishna was born, but during his childhood nobody knew
whether he was born or not, or even who he was. Kansa was
searching for him but could not find him. Even in Gokul,
Nand and Yashodha, the ones who raised him, did not know
who he was. Only the saints knew where God was born.
When Mohammed was born, no one knew who he was.
He worked in a wayside inn where the camel caravans
stopped, bringing water and fodder for the camels, helping
the travellers put up their tents and arranging for their food.
The whole day he worked as a servant, and in the middle
of the night he would go with his black blanket up on the
mountain to meditate. He would meditate and fast in secret,
so nobody knew he was a great man. Yet today the Muslim
religion which he founded is the largest in the world and it
is very strong.

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 Jesus Christ was born amongst bundles of hay in a stable
where oxen and cows were kept. His mother nursed him
there amidst the hay and then she had to flee. The father of
Jesus was a simple carpenter. Christ also appeared to be so
ordinary that later, when the Roman soldiers captured him,
he had to be identified. They did not know who Christ was,
and somebody had to say, “This is Christ”. Although he was
very popular among the masses, still the authorities did not
know his face. Somebody had to identify him by touching his
feet or kissing him, indicating that he was Christ, and in this
way he was arrested. Now, of course, he is the king of kings
and his religion dominates the globe.
However, Christ was not a Christian by birth; he was born
a Jew. Similarly, Buddha was not a Buddhist; he was born
a Hindu. The founders of every religion did not belong to
that religion from birth. They were born into some other
religion. So, just as Krishna, Christ and Mohammed were
born, the incarnation of Lord Ganesha will be born into the
family of some poor, suffering person. He won’t be born
into the family of a rich man. The day Ganesha drank milk,
the telephone began to ring here from early morning. Two
hundred telephone calls came throughout the day! They
wanted to know what was happening, but it was during
Chaturmas and I was not available. I had to stay in my
sadhana place, guarded by Bholenath, and nobody could
come there.

Why the question arises

What is difficult to understand is why people question this
event? Whatever occurs is by His grace. Faith belongs to the
heart; it doesn’t arise from hearing someone’s explanations.
Faith and trust represent the internal purity and simplicity
of the heart. Whoever is pure and innocent at heart has faith
and trust. Then what is the need to ask somebody else? If
you want to talk about miracles then the entire creation is a
miracle. The miracle of Lord Ganesha drinking milk is just
one of them. If you observe well and meditate with an open

69
mind, you will find that you are the greatest miracle. If a
millionth part of you is seen under a microscope, that is also
a miracle and the greatest miracle is that every part of you is
functioning automatically. You think that you are thinking,
but actually you don’t know how to think. There is a force
which makes you think, which digests your food, which keeps
you alive with every breath, and keeps you for nine months
in the mother’s womb. Isn’t this a great miracle?

Global event
The meaning of Ganesha drinking milk is that an incarnation
of Ganesha has taken place. Ganesha drinking milk is not an
experience, it is an event. An experience can be subjective;
you may see it and I may not. Ganesha drinking milk is not an
experience, it is a global event. It happened in USA, England,
Germany, Australia and Africa and the people there, the
journalists who were covering the news, had to admit, “Yes, I
saw it.” When Ganesha drank milk, the news was publicized
throughout the world. In the West there are many non-
believers, especially amongst news reporters, but even they said,
“This is happening and it has happened in many countries.”
Therefore, Ganesha drinking milk is a global event. It is an
announcement to everybody about the incarnation of God.
The fact that this phenomenon occurred in many places
simultaneously means that the incarnation of that divine
power will not confine himself to one country. The event
of Ganesha drinking milk is not an Indian event, it is a
global event and we cannot ignore it. There have been many
sceptics throughout history. Kansa was told, “Be careful,
Krishna is coming to assassinate you,” but he was a sceptic.
Ravana was a sceptic. You will always find sceptics and non-
believers. In this age it is the non-believers who control the
media as well as the bureaucracy, education, parliament and
the legislature. Generally, newspapers mock such events. If
something extraordinary takes place they make a mockery of
it and many innocent people read the reports. However, the
coverage of this event was different.

70
Ganesha syndrome
One thing should be remembered: Shiva is an ascetic but
Ganesha is not. Ganesha is tip-top and he belongs to the
younger generation who want to enjoy all the good things in
life: good food, dress, education, home, society. That is why
Ganesha began to drink milk, to tell you all, “I am coming.”
That was an announcement. Ganesha drinking milk was not a
miracle, it was a global event. Shiva does not announce when
he is coming because nobody wants to wear a langoti. Today
people want to wear safari suits because this is Ganesha’s
culture. Ganesha was a scholar, a vidvan. When Vedavyasa was
inspired to write the epic Mahabharata, he requested Ganesha
to be the scribe because Ganesha was a scholar.
Ganesha dresses well and lives in a comfortable, clean
place. He doesn’t live like Shiva, sleeping and eating
anywhere. Shiva doesn’t mind living with dogs, bulls and
cats. Ganesha says, “No, everything has to be proper.” He
eats ladoos. So, when people ask, “Why Ganesha?” I reply
that Shiva will never ask for milk. He will say, “Give me
anything.” If Shiva comes this is what he will say. If I come to
your door I will say, “Give me whatever you can.” Ganesha
will say, “I want milk.” Therefore, Shiva represents the state
of asceticism and that is the culmination point of modern
culture. Why are people from the West eager to accept,
appreciate and follow spiritual life? Because they have
experienced a life of luxury, prosperity and plenty, and so
they are fulfilled. After attaining fulfilment in life, the Shiva
syndrome becomes operative.
Now the Ganesha syndrome is operating. Everyone wants
to wear good clothes, eat good food and live a comfortable
life, like Lord Ganesha. Today you can travel anywhere in the
world. Nobody travels with a cloth bag, they carry suitcases.
Nobody wants to live like Lord Shiva. Nobody sleeps in
their underwear, they sleep in a nightgown. The Ganesha
syndrome is the samskara of modern times. When Ganesha
drank milk it was a way of telling people, “Don’t worry, I
am coming.” The first news about Ganesha drinking milk

71
was announced from a village near Bhatinda in Punjab. The
voice was first heard in that village from the statue of Lord
Ganesha, who said to a villager, “I want to drink milk.” This
event started there and it did not happen in India alone, it
was a global event.
You are well aware of the concept of God as Father. Now
you need to develop the concept of God as Mother, because
in the future our society is going to be ruled by women.
Of course, they have always ruled us, but from every point
of view the future is Ganesha and Devi. Kali Yuga, the age
in which we are now, belongs to Ganesha and Devi. Kalau
Chandi Vinayakau is the mantra which tells us about the
future. You can see the Ganesha syndrome and the Chandi
syndrome with your own eyes. Everyone wants to live well,
to have a proper education, a good house, nice things. That
is the Ganesha syndrome. Girls want to look beautiful, to
wear cosmetics, lipstick, jewellery and dress in the highest
fashion. That is the Chandi syndrome. When you worship
Chandi, you give her sindoor, scent, jewellery, cosmetics and
beautiful clothes. Prasad is offered every day, kheer, halwa
and all types of good food. This is the tradition which we are
now entering. The West has already been inflicted with the
Chandi and Ganesha syndrome. Now it is the turn of India,
and that is why Ganesha started drinking milk.

Bring the child to India

Why did Ganesha drink milk? He was saying, “I am coming.
I am coming.” The incarnation of Divine Shakti on the
earthly plane has already arrived. Divine Shakti has already
incarnated and is either in the womb of a mother or outside
the womb. The Divine Shakti will not be born in an affluent
place. He will be born in the house of the poor. He will
come where there is sorrow, misery, pain and struggle, he
will come crying. History tells us that Christ was born in a
manger, Krishna was born in a prison, and Moses was born
amongst the slaves of an Egyptian pharaoh. You can search
everywhere for this incarnation of the Divine, but he will be

72
born in the house of the poor. In this age the incarnation
of God will take place in very humble circumstances, as it
has done before. The birth can take place anywhere in the
world, not necessarily in India, but only if the child is born in
India will he survive. Otherwise he will be crucified, because
elsewhere saints have always been crucified, and later the
scientists will be.
Therefore, if any of you bears a child with extraordinary
qualities, bring him to India and I will look after him. In
Indian culture the people accept saintly qualities. A saint or
a sadhu is respected in this society; even if he is born with a
few lapses, we don’t mind. Pandit Jasraj, whom you have just
heard singing, is a guru of music, so we only see his music
and we overlook anything else in him. I am a sadhu, so the
devotees only see what they expect of me. They don’t notice
whether Swamiji smokes or not. In Indian culture the quality
of a person is appreciated. So, any time, anywhere, in any
part of the world, if any child with extraordinary behaviour is
born, don’t announce it, but bring him to India. Indians will
respect him, because here we know the truth, that the world
survives on saintly personalities and on goodness.
In India, we condone the lapses of saints and sages, but
the West will not condone them. They want a perfect God.
Of course, God is perfect, but when He is born in a human
body, there are certain lapses. When divinity manifests in
a human body, subject to the three gunas, to the limited
processes of nature, then he will be born, he will cry, he will
love, he will get angry, just as Christ got angry and cursed a
fig tree. But in India we overlook these discrepancies. So, if
you know of any such child, who is born in Europe, America
or Australia, bring him to me. It is not necessary that such
an incarnation of God will take birth in India, although when
Christ was born, the wise men in India came to know about
it directly. The four wise men brought him gifts because the
birth of Christ was a global event. It was not just confined
to Israel, it was global, and Christianity has become a global
religion.

73
 The event of Ganesha drinking milk has to be under­
stood in that perspective. So when such a child is born bring
him here. The signs of the Lord’s powers are altogether
different from ordinary signs. Talent is not the indication of
God. God is not born with talent, but with special qualities.
You will find talent in many people these days. Some
children are very sharp at the age of eight and you can call
them geniuses. You find many geniuses today, but God is not
a genius. He has vibhootis, special qualities. The Lord has said
in the Gita: “The vibhooti holder is born out of a fraction of
my own energy.” So if you have any such child in Europe or
anywhere else, don’t take a risk. Bring him here.

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 Advice to the Young

T he age of pens and notebooks is finished. This is the

age of computers; there is no question about it. Through
satellites the computer makes contact possible anywhere,
even in outer space. Whichever job or work you are doing
now is not an end in itself. Further possibilities to grow and
develop always exist. Additional research and improvements
can be made in any field. South India is far ahead of North
India in terms of mechanization and computer software
development. It has made great progress, not only in the
applied sciences, but also in the fundamental sciences. They
have large, well-managed industrial setups there. The people
are better educated, literacy rates are very high and the
political situation is also better. Here, in the North, people
produce a lot of children and don’t care about the size of
families, but there the population is well-controlled.
There are many possibilities for development, but proper
training should be given right from the beginning. The
culture of the future will be a computer culture. Computers
will play an important role in every sphere, so learn as much
as you can, especially the practical aspects. Now you do not
need to recite the mathematical tables. We used to remember
the tables on our fingertips, but you don’t need all that
anymore. You can do everything on a calculator. People who
are not familiar with calculators exclaimed in the beginning,

75
“Oh, what a brain this little thing has!” It speeds up the work
and makes it even more efficient. The greatest achievement
of the twentieth century is the computer.
The movie ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ showed how a com­­
p­uter lost its temper because it was jealous. The computer
had an emotion! A machine doesn’t have emotions, but
this computer did. Even a computer can fall sick, just like
you catch a virus or wood gets termites. In the same way,
a computer catches a disease and it spreads from one
computer to the next. Treatments are now being found for
these diseases. When we keep computers we have to employ
antivirus techniques. When the computer falls sick we screen
it with antivirus filters which diagnose the disease.
Your head thinks about many things such as earning,
cooking, washing, but machines do all that now. You just give
the machines an order as you would a servant. If you put
your clothes into a washing machine, it will wash them with
soap, then rinse and dry them. Just put your plates in the
dishwasher after your meal and it will wash them, dry them
and keep them in place. The microwave oven can even cook;
you just put the food in and take it out after a few minutes
ready to eat. In foreign countries women do not waste their
time in the kitchen. They put a chicken in the microwave,
take it out cooked fifteen minutes later, have it with coffee,
and walk out the front door.
These days computer programmers and engineers are in
great demand. All the computer programming and repair
work is done by them. In Vienna I met a young American
couple and gave them the spiritual names of Vashishtha and
Arundhati. He was a computer programmer and a Sanskrit
scholar. When he came to meet me, the first question he
asked was from Chatushpadi, a Sanskrit text which most
people have never heard of. Many Indians do not know of
this text, but he was familiar with it. Chatushpadi was written
here in Bihar by a great brahmin scholar, Vachaspati Mishra,
who was a resident of Mithila. His wife was named Bhamati.
Vachaspati was a very great Sanskrit scholar who was always

76
engaged in his studies. Bhamati was a simple housewife
and, like any other, she longed to have a child. When she
became desperate, she requested her husband, “Everybody
comments that I do not have a child. Please give me one.”
Vachaspati Mishra said, “If I give you a son born of flesh and
blood, there is no guarantee that he will bring a good name
to our family line. So, I will give you a son born of mind that
humanity will remember for ages to come.” At that time he
was writing a commentary on the Brahma Sutras, so he said,
“This composition will be named after you.” Thereafter, that
commentary was known as Bhamati Tika, which is also called
Chatushpadi, meaning composed of four verses.
Vashishtha came to see me in Vienna to ask about
Chatushpadi. I explained it to him and afterwards he wrote
his own commentary on the four sutras known as Bhamati
Tika. We became great friends and used to discuss many
philosophical topics. I found in him someone of a higher
calibre whom I could talk to. Vashishtha used to program
space shuttles and satellites. He was offered jobs by various
companies to program their satellites. After one contract he
would be called by another company in some other country,
and he would go there. Wherever he went, he carried his
library and computer along with him. He knew everything
about the Vedic religion, Shaivism and Vaishnavism, but he
never visited India. He said, “I have no time. You come here,
so my questions get answered.”

Progress or marriage
When you study a branch of knowledge, you should do so
with an aim and you should gain something from that aim.
Earning money is necessary, but the boys and girls of today’s
generation should think well before sacrificing themselves on
the altar of married life. I am saying this very emphat­ically,
because educated boys and girls who want to pursue a career
must keep their thoughts under tight control for a couple of
years. Today, in our society, on the one hand, all the means
of enjoyment and indulgence are readily avail­able, and on

77
the other, so are the opportunities for learning, training and
progress. Society can even offer the prospects of space travel.
So today’s generation has to make the correct choice. You
can get married anytime, in the next life as well, but this life
should be utilized properly.
Therefore you must have the attitude that progress in
life is on one side, and marriage, family and children are on
the other. This path of evolving in life is not for all. Those
who are weak have no other option, so they are tied into a
knot with a partner. But those who are strong, who have the
available means, should think carefully before committing
themselves. They should tie their knots with themselves,
with their own lives. It is the duty of every mother to tell her
daughters this and give them their freedom. If the girls want
to study, progress and earn their living, then their mothers
should not force them into marriage.
When I wanted to leave home, all the relatives said,
“What will you gain by leaving home? You want to find God,
but you can do that at home.” I said, “Show me one or two
fellows who have found God at home, then I will not have
to leave.” I did not see even one such example, instead I
saw good people, good devotees, crushed in the mill of
household responsibilities. In my home my father used to
say, “You should not follow this path. What can I do now? I
have children, I have commitments. I cannot leave, I have
to stay. I cannot take sannyasa now. Sannyasa is for mould­
ing. When the bamboo stick is still thin, green and flexible,
it can be moulded to any shape, but any attempt to bend a
dry, hard stick will break it. Now you are at a tender age and
you can still be moulded.”
In the same way, marriage is not a necessity of life, it
is a weakness of mankind. Man finds a support to cover
his weakness. Why not overcome this weakness in the first
place? There are many people who are addicted to their
weaknesses. When a drunkard stops drinking, he falls sick.
Many come to me saying, “When I don’t drink, my stomach
gets upset, I get diarrhoea, my head begins to reel. There is

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headache and nausea all the time, but when I have a drink
I feel better.” Alcohol is their weakness. So why don’t you
get over your weakness? You come from an educated family
and, therefore, you should see that your education leads
you to the highest pinnacle. Maybe you should go out of
the country and widen your perspective. Then you will see
that there is an alternative to marriage, that marriage is not
the ultimate aim of life, and then you will think twice about
getting married.

Solution to the marriage problem

Today is the age of computers. In foreign countries the
computer is the basis of their culture. It has invaded their
society and their homes. Even the window screens are
opened by computer. The computer is programmed for a
particular time and when the sun rises the window screen
open automatically. So, if you can, get out of the rut. You
can get a scholarship, earn and learn, but if you get married
you will get stuck. Then you will have two husbands, one a
computer and the other the one whom you married. It is not
good to live with two husbands. As far as desire is concerned,
the best way to control it is spiritual sadhana. There are
particular practices for this purpose. If your parents pressure
you, tell them sternly, “No. I do not want marriage now.”
Swami Vivekananda did not marry. Ramakrishna refused
to have marital relations. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu did not
marry. There are many people in the world who do not marry.
Why don’t they marry? Because they have a desire to advance
in life. They want to grow and evolve. There should be no
hurdles in their way, no obstacles and no breakdowns. Married
life is a great obstacle in life, and I don’t mind whether you
approve or disapprove of this statement. Marriage is a great
weakness for which society has never tried to find a solution.
The solution and treatment of this problem is spiritual
life. Spiritual life does not mean going to the temple of
Baidyanath Dham to pour water on the lingam. Spiritual
life means making an effort to take the mind inward. Learn

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how to worship, how to do asana, pranayama and mantra
japa, and practise daily for one or one and a half hours
every morning. You have seen thousands of people who
do this in the world. You have visited the ashram and seen
people learning and practising there. People who practise
yoga regularly do not have any problems. Ask any one of
them. They are all happy because they have a direction in
life. Some want to live the life of a sannyasin, others want to
live the life of a scientist or philosopher, others want to earn
money and become millionaires.
There is no harm in being a millionaire. Wealth is also
a form of the goddess Lakshmi. If you have the blessings
of Lakshmi, you can become a millionaire or a billionaire.
I have definitely received the blessings of Lakshmi in
my life. Maybe I wear a loincloth, but I am a billionaire
nevertheless. Each of my ashrams is worth millions. Wisdom
is Saraswati, wealth is Lakshmi and power is Durga. These
goddesses must be worshipped. The desire to earn money
is constructive, but the desire to acquire things out of
greed and to spend the money on heavy drinking and self-
indulgence is destructive. We do not use money properly, for
the right purpose; we use it for selfish reasons. All the rich
people have spoiled their children. The positive samskaras of
their children have been destroyed completely. This means
that the form of Lakshmi has been distorted.
Swami Niranjan knows a lot about computers. In our
ashram all the work is done on computers. The books we
print are put straight onto the computer. The computer
should become the basis of satsang. It is a good thing if your
mind becomes oriented to computers. It is better to have
a computer-oriented vritti than an object-oriented vritti.
Let the mind become engrossed wherever it goes. Just like
salt becomes one with water, and sugar become one with
milk when dissolved in it, in the same way, let the mind
dissolve wherever it goes. As far as the question of enjoying
the pleasures of the world, marriage, children and family is
concerned, leave it for the next life.

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Stripping of Nature
Science also has a negative aspect. In the next forty or fifty
years it may also create certain hazards. Scientists are trying
to reveal the mysteries of Nature, to strip her naked. They
are removing her clothing, skirt by skirt, right down to her
underwear. Just as Dushasana tried to strip Draupadi in the
Mahabharata, in the same way, the scientists are trying to
strip Nature. They have not yet been successful, because the
moment they remove a skirt, another one appears. Just as
when Dushasana removed one sari, another one appeared
underneath, and so he was unsuccessful, scientists too have
not been successful.
Here, Draupadi represents Nature. The five husbands
of Draupadi represent the five senses. Nature too has five
qualities, five senses, five tanmatras of speech, touch, vision,
taste and smell. So the five senses are five husbands who have
lost themselves in gambling. Today we too have bowed down
our heads to science. We have to respect science, so we have
lost the game of gambling. The five husbands are quiet and
the scientists continue stripping Nature. During this process
something is going to explode at some point, but nobody
knows when.
Science has this negative aspect. At any point of scientific
discovery, a great commercial or global disaster can take
place, because Nature has her own secrets. Scientists have
only understood some of her secrets, which they are applying
in their scientific experiments. Similarly, Nature has many
more secrets, she is full of secrets. If all the secrets of Nature
could be revealed, then what would happen?

Companionship not dependence

Marriage is not for strong people. Marriage is not the
path for those who wish to pursue something higher in
the spiritual field or in any other endeavour. Of course, if
you can adjust to marriage in such a way that it becomes
companionship, it is alright. However, in most marriages,
the relationship develops along the lines of dependence and

81
slavery. You depend on me and I depend on you, you are
committed to me and I am committed to you, you are tied
to me and I am tied to you. Marriage should be a bond of
friendship, not of dependence.
If two friends, a boy and a girl, want to live together like
husband and wife, that’s fine. However, this system where you
are my liability and I am yours, I dance on your head and
you dance on mine, is not good. If two people spend their
lives together like friends, then marriage can be a productive
relationship and the husband and wife can live together and
work together. When he goes to the office, she works on other
things. In the evening when they both come home, they can
sit down and have dinner, then read for some time, listen to
music and sing some kirtans and bhajans together.
However, instead of living together like friends, many
married couples try to control one another. The husband
says to his wife, “You should not go out. You should not
work in films. You should not sing. You should not talk
to that person. You should not wear clothes which expose
your body.” The wife goes on nagging her husband, “Who
was that girl? What were you saying to her? What is your
relationship with her?” All this is no good. No wife or
husband should have such rights over the other. This is why
the marital system has not worked. If it does not work then
we should throw it out and bring in a new system, so that we
can all live life peacefully.

Mentally conceived children

After marriage come children. When a child is born to you,
call it your disciple. I have many disciples whom I consider
to be my children. Swami Niranjan and Swami Satsangi can
be considered as my son and daughter, but they do not dance
on my head. These children do not demand any rights, and
if I die tomorrow I won’t have to leave them any inheritance.
They won’t get any money out of me at all, because I am a
vagabond and I will die a vagabond. When I die, what will
Swami Niranjan get out of me? Just one loincloth! These

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are my disciples, my mentally conceived children, just as
Vashishtha was the mentally conceived son of Lord Brahma.
One type of child is conceived in the womb and the other
in the soul. Christ was a mentally conceived son and that is
why he is said to be immaculate. A mentally conceived son
is one who is born without the union of fluids from the male
and female body. Christ was born from Mary, not through
her union with Joseph. Such a son is a mentally conceived
but the child born through physical union is not. So these
are my manas putre, my mentally conceived children.

Swamiji, what is the importance of conducting death

ceremonies and rituals? Do they affect the afterlife and
rebirth of the soul that has passed away?
As far as the conducting of death ceremonies and rituals
is concerned, people go on doing it. What will anyone do
for my death rituals? My karmas will conduct death rituals
for me. If you depart without doing any good karma and
your son does rituals thereafter, how is it going to liberate
you? For example, you can deliver good food to your son
in prison, but this cannot reform him or free him from the
sentence which has been passed. Similarly, when you die,
only your karmas are carried along with you. The karmas
that you earn in this world today will be carried along with
you. The benefits from donations made at the time of death
rituals are confined to the pandits and clergymen. In that
way rituals are good, at least someone benefits. But the
idea that if you don’t have a son you won’t be despatched
properly after death should be forsaken. People should try
and free themselves from such beliefs.

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 Commitment to God

W hen you say prayers for the fulfilment of a wish you

must not ask, “Should I wish for this or not?” It is only
on the basis of faith that prayers are made. So why ask the
question? It is better to keep quiet. You should not speak
about your wish to anyone before, during or after making
a resolve. It is a seed, a sankalpa, a resolve, arising from the
mind. If you sow that seed and dig it up again and again in
order to look at it, then the potential for growth is lost. Bury
the seed in the soil of your mind and then forget about it
totally.

A wish and a pledge

Many years ago I made a wish in Trayambakeshwar. At that
time there were many great scholars, swamis and charismatic
people. I didn’t think that I would be able to do anything
with my life so I made a wish there. It was a humble request
after which I also made a pledge, and then I forgot both
the request and the pledge. I sowed that seed so deep that I
forgot it. Later, the wish which I had made there was fulfilled
one hundred percent. Knowledge of the vedic culture moved
through foreign countries like a bulldozer.
That wish was only effective for a span of twenty years.
After making the wish I had pledged that within twenty
years my work would be completed, and then I would leave

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everything and surrender myself to Him. But I totally forgot
about this commitment. My work was completed in twenty
years. I was supposed to leave the ashram in 1983, but I did
not do so because I had forgotten my pledge completely.
Gradually, wherever I went for programs, I began to have
the acute feeling that the lectures I was giving were useless. I
now realize that God was responsible for that change in me.
He is responsible for everything, everywhere.
I am not a person to complain. I follow this principle in
life: to share my joys with others but to suffer alone. Then
one day I happened to be in Bombay. All at once I had the
feeling that as Trayambakeshwar was nearby, I should go there
for darshan, because my ishta devata is Lord Mrityunjaya and
the jyotirlingam was at Trayambakeshwar. I instructed Swami
Satsangi to hire a taxi and we drove there. The moment I
bowed down in front of the temple precincts I immediately
remembered my commitment, because it was there that I had
made it. I suddenly realized my mistake. I had asked Him to
do things for me and in return I had pledged that I would
leave everything. He had done the work for me and the
moment my forehead touched the ground in front of Him, I
immediately remembered everything.
I must have remained in that state for a minute or two. As
I realized my mistake, I was thinking, not praying: Now I have
to leave Munger; I must leave everything. So, I returned to
Bombay by car, then caught a plane to Munger. I immediately
telephoned Swami Niranjan, who was in New York at that
time, and told him to leave everything and return to Munger.
He returned, took charge and did everything after that.

Law of karma
So, prayer for the fufilment of a wish is a very powerful thing
if it is done properly. It has its own laws. Whatever you do
does not concern your parents, partner, or children; it is
yours and concerns you alone. Whatever you want to do,
you do by your own wish. You do not ask about it. If this
wish is made properly then it is like a bombshell. However,

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when you make a wish you must also pledge to renounce
something. If a lady wishes for a child, she has to pledge
something in return which is equivalent to the child. God
made me victorious globally and I pledged to return that.
Praying for the fulfilment of a wish is not a simple matter.
It has a very deep relationship with God. In your mind
there is sorrow and suffering; there is also desire and a few
unfulfilled wishes. You wish to fulfil them all, but you must
also give something in return because your destiny is fixed.
If you take ten rupees out of your pocket, you must replace
it with something. This is the law of karma. Everyone has
to follow these laws, whether it be Rama, Krishna, Asha or
Satyananda; nobody can erase them. Everyone is bound to
suffer throughout their destiny. You can alter the kriyaman
karma, that is, the actions not yet performed; you can
even alter sanchit karma, the stored actions, but you cannot
alter prarabdha karma, destined actions, by any ritual or
anushthana. For them, you have to make an adjustment. A
prayer for wish fulfilment is one such type of adjustment.
I was destined to live like a beggar, so I lived like one
despite having such large ashrams and so many luxuries.
Ultimately, I have gained nothing other than these two
loincloths. If I hadn’t been prepared to accept these two
pieces of cloth then I wouldn’t even have them. When God
has destined me to live like a beggar, then I will remain
a beggar. If I want to live luxuriously, then I will have to
renounce something. Therefore, such prayers are necessary.
Nothing is impossible to attain in the kingdom of God, but
God is a complicated element. You cannot handle Him easily.
There is only one way to handle God: make a prayer and
make a promise which even He does not know of. You and
only you know that promise, not even I need to know.

Blessings of God
The relationship between you and God is very personal.
My relationship with God is with Him alone. It is a direct
relationship. It has nothing to do with my relationship

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with friends, disciples and devotees. Two lovers meet only
in solitude, where no one else is around. The street of love
is too narrow to accommodate more than two people. The
relationship with God is like the street of love; there is only
you and Him. Your mother, father, children, husband, in-
laws, none of them come into the picture. The relationship
between you and God is absolutely private. The love between
Radha and Krishna was like that of the individual soul and
the cosmic soul, like Prakriti and Purusha. The relationship
between two lovers is unique, nobody else can come in
between. It is something from inside which is very secret, so
don’t even talk about it.
Even if somebody digs and asks, don’t say anything,
because the feelings of love will work in equal proportion to
the secrecy you maintain. The more hidden the seed is, the
stronger the plant will be. If you dig daily to look at the seed,
then it will lose its power. I had totally forgotten that I had
made promises to God. I was totally blissful in my fame and
success. I didn’t even remember that I had promised Him
anything. I had forgotten the promise despite receiving so
much from Him! There was never a single obstacle in the
development of my mission. When I travelled abroad, people
came from all over Europe to listen to me. All the hotels of
entire towns were booked out. People were so enthusiastic
that Swamiji was coming. Even the Pope and bishops heard
me. This was because whoever is blessed by God is a king in
himself.
So, nothing is difficult for one who is blessed by God,
but He is a complex element. It is not so easy to pull Him
by ropes or to pin him down. You must pledge some act
of renunciation, and you don’t have to ask anybody about
it; you have to decide it for yourself. Don’t consult your
mother and father. You give something to God and you take
something from Him. God knows how to give and how to
take as well. So, you will only receive what you are destined
to. I was given whatever was in my destiny. But no one can
stop you from praying. Go ahead.

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 Manifest Form of God

T he question is not whether God is sakara or nirakara,

but whether He assumes a form of His own or whether
every form is His form. Isn’t His form the universal
manifestation, everything that you perceive? Is God only
transcendent or is He immanent? God is immanent as
well as transcendent. When you say transcendent, it means
nirakara, without form. When you say immanent, it means
sakara, with form. Even if you say that God has no form, I
still need a form. The point is very simple. I require a form
and, therefore, it is my need. I must have a form of God for
myself towards which I feel intense attraction. This is the
meaning of the term ishta devata. The word ishta means
‘I like it’ and devata means ‘divine form’. So, ishta devata
means that divine form which I like.
I like Christ, I like Krishna, I like Rama. Some people
like Krishna because he was a mischievous chap, always
playing and troubling others. He used to create trouble
for his mother and for the community. Rama, on the other
hand, was very cultured and some people like that aspect.
For others, the ishta devata can be the form of Kali, Durga,
Devi or Mary. You may choose whatever aspect you like, but
the form has to be there. Even the cross is a form of God, not
because Christ was crucified on it, but because it represents
your inner, psychic body: ajna chakra, ida, pingala and

88
sushumna. So, the cross is a good form to meditate on. If you
concentrate on the cross, it does not make you a Christian; it
makes you a sadhaka and it helps you in your sadhana.

Ultimate form of God

The mind is power, but right now it is in a state of
dissipation. The sunlight illuminates everything that it
falls on. That same sunlight, if concentrated through a
magnifying glass, can even burn. Similarly, the dissipated
mind has to be channelled, concentrated and brought
into focus, then it becomes powerful. So, the discussion on
whether God has a form or not is meaningless. As long as
your mind is in a dissipated state it needs the form. However,
when you have concentrated your mind and entered the state
of savikalpa and nirvikalpa samadhi, where the mind is totally
one-pointed and all dualities cease to exist, then you can
transcend the form. You start with the form and, when it is
no longer required, you transcend it.
I must also add that the Ramayana doesn’t accept this
view, nor does the Srimad Bhagavata or the entire gamut
of vedic religion. In these texts it is said that the ultimate
form of God has form. Think about it; you do not have to
believe what I say. If the ultimate form of God is a form,
then what is that form? Vaishvanas say that it is Vishnu or
Narayana. The Shaktas say it is Devi or Goddess. Shaivites
say it is Shiva. This means that God has a form and He also
has innumerable or endless forms. We need not debate this
point. The Ramayana has talked about this from beginning
to end. It says that Rama incarnated, and that the form of
Rama is the same as the ultimate form.
So, don’t be confused or get into strife thinking about
whether God has a form or is formless. Only consider
whether you will be fulfilled by seeing Him with or without
form. If you are fulfilled by the formless divinity, that is
perfectly alright, or if you prefer to see His form, that too
is okay. The scriptures have said, “Alakh Niranjan”. The
word alakh means ‘that which can’t be seen’ and niranjan

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means ‘one without second’, ‘untainted’. However, you need
a form in order to focus your broken and dissipated mind.
If you don’t want to see God in a human form, then you
may seek Him in various other forms. Divine power has also
been revealed in the form of mantra, yantra and mandala.
In this yajna the form or vigraha of Devi is a mandala and
in the periphery there are yantric forms. Yantra, mantra
and mandala, are psychic forms. As such they are known
as yantrakara, mantrakara and mandalakara. Divinity is
represented in the form of yantra, mantra and mandala.

Living God
If your mind fixes itself on a human form of God, it is very
good because this is an important aspect of bhakti. How
can you feel God unless you consider Him to be close to
you? Your God does not eat, sleep or talk. If you want to
love God, you must have a concept. He is a living God and
a living God eats. Let us say that you have a child who does
not eat or talk. What kind of child is he? My child eats and
this is a particular concept. For instance, my Ganeshaji in
Ganesha Kutir changes his dress four times a year. In winter
he wears a warm dress. In the month of June and July, I will
take off all his warm clothes because he’ll be feeling hot! You
see, I have a special suitcase for Ganesha. Now he is feeling
cold! Should I not be sensitive to that? If I am not sensitive
enough when my God feels cold or suffers with cough, cold
and fever, then there is no connection between Him and me.
This is the concept.
The difference between you and God must go away.
There is a great difference between myself and the formless,
transcendental God. I can’t reach Him, and if I can’t reach
Him, He can’t reach me either! The unmanifest God is so far
away that He can’t reach me and I can’t reach Him. There
has to be a connection, a relationship with God, like your
relationship with your family members. If my son can get
sick, so can my God. Whether He gets sick or not, at least I
can feel that He is sick. If you can believe that God sleeps

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and eats and so His food should be prepared, then that is an
indication of your sensitivity. Until you become this sensitive,
His form does not materialize in you. It is for this reason that
vedic dharma talks about seeing God in human form, such
as Rama, Krishna, Vishnu, Shiva or Devi. These forms are
used for meditation and are also loved and worshipped by
the devotee.

Beauty of love
You have to clean your inner mirror. It is not necessary
to have a pure heart to find God, nor is it necessary to
follow satya, ahimsa or brahmacharya. But it is necessary
to have pure feelings and sensitivity towards Him, even
though you may be an idiot. You feed God, you put Him
to bed, you call a doctor when He is sick. It means that you
have become so sensitive that you can experience a living
consciousness in an inanimate object. How can He manifest
when this body, this creation is also inanimate. If you cannot
visualize consciousness in matter, if you cannot awaken the
consciousness, what can you do?
God will come in that form in which I think of Him. This
is love. In love everything looks beautiful; even an ugly girl
looks beautiful in the eyes of her lover. The lover says to his
beloved, “There is no one like you in the world.”
A person who is deeply in love talks about his beloved
as if she is the most beautiful in the world. That is the truth
for him. For me, you could be the most ugly person, but for
your lover you are everything. Such sensitivity arises out of
love. The same love that takes the form of passion and desire
takes the form of affection and devotion. The basic feeling
for passion and devotion is the same. With the same steel,
you can make a dagger to kill someone or a surgical knife
to save someone’s life. In the same way, the basic emotion of
passion and devotion is the same; it is one, not two. It is you
who creates the difference, the distinction; sometimes you
use that basic stuff as passion and desire, and sometimes as
devotion and bhakti.

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 Jewel of Faith

I n Ramacharitamanas it is said that the servant of Rama,

the servant of God, is greater than God Himself.
Knowledge of God is one aspect and faith in God is another.
Knowledge of God does not necessarily bring you closer or
guarantee communion with Him, but faith in God does.
Through knowledge alone you may or may not develop
communion; it is never a certainty. Therefore, faith is the
greatest asset. It is a valuable gem, like a rare diamond, pearl
or ruby. The most precious and valuable jewel is faith. If you
can attain this jewel then your path becomes clear. You will
travel at the highest speed, like a racing car on the super
highway with no traffic lights or crossings in your way. All the
obstacles that arise on this journey will disappear and that is
the highest path of bhakti.
You may say that God is my father or God is my mother,
but the best relationship of all is: You are the master and I
am the servant. That is our true relationship with Him. I
am not God although the Bible says, “My Father and I are
one”, and the Upanishads say, “Aham Brahmasmi”. But if
you feel that this is true, why are you unhappy? Why do you
cry? Why are you in ignorance? Why are you in avidya? Why
are you subject to tamas, rajas and sattwa? Finally, as far as I
am concerned my position today is – I am Thy servant and I
shall carry out all Thy wishes.

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You will discover that bhakti brings spontaneity into your life.
Even if you do not want to love God, you will love Him. Even
if you don’t want to surrender, you will have to. Even if you
don’t want anything from Him, He will give you everything.
Faith in God brings spontaneous blessings. You don’t have
to ask God for anything in a church, temple or prayer hall,
because you are the servant. Your duty is not to ask, your
duty is to serve. You are a servant so your duty is to act and
not to ask. All disciples should live like servants, but they live
like masters. They do what they want, not what I want, so
there is no spontaneity of relationship. I have a spontaneous
relationship with Swami Niranjan and I want to have this
relationship with everyone. Similarly, God wants spontaneity
in His relation­ship with us. When He gives you pain, accept
it. When you are in pain you say it is due to a curse or to bad
karma because you feel that only good things are the blessings
of God. Pain is a curse as well as a blessing of God.
Faith in God is a glorious, wish-fulfilling jewel. If your
heart is full of the valuable jewel of faith, then your mind
and heart will always be radiant. Throughout the day and
night there will be no darkness. This illumination does
not depend on any lamp or candle. Even if you are poor,
it doesn’t matter. In fact, one who has faith is never poor,
poverty never approaches. Remember that poverty has
nothing to do with money. There are people without money
who are very rich. There are very wealthly people who, in
fact, are poor. That is real poverty. Poverty means ignorance,
avidya. Faith dispels the overpowering gloom of ignorance
like sunlight dispels the clouds. Vanity and ignorance
automatically go away with the gem of faith. When faith and
will develop, illumination arises from within, just as the sun
rises and illumines the darkness.
Those of you who are Christian by background know
what faith means. Faith is the basis of Christian dharma.
I am teaching this not through the Bible, but through the
Ramayana. Faith is the basis of spiritual life and the only
thing you have to cultivate in life is faith. Even propensities

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like lust, anger and greed will never approach if that gem
resides in your heart. Poison is transformed into nectar
and enemies become friends. Those who are suffering from
mental afflictions will find that their pain disappears. He
in whose heart abides the jewel of faith in God cannot have
suffering, even in dreams. Those who strive for that jewel are
the wisest of people.
Of course, this jewel is manifest in the world, but no one
can find it without the grace of God. There are easy ways
to attain it, but luckless souls contemptuously reject it. The
scriptures are like holy mountains, and the stories related to
God in any form are like many glorious mines. The saints
are the expert mineralogists and penetrating intellect is
their pickaxe, while spiritual wisdom and detachment from
worldly affairs are their penetrating eyes. Any creature who
searches for Him with love finds the jewel. Faith is itself the
mine of every blessing, of every benediction.
I have in my heart this conviction: the servant of God is
greater than God. God is the ocean, and the good and the
steadfast are the rain clouds. We have to be the rain clouds
in order to fulfil him. Hari or God is the sandal tree and the
saints are the winds which carry the perfume from this end
to that. Firm faith in God is the reward of all spiritual efforts.
Whatever you practise, whether asana, pranayama, kundalini
yoga, raja yoga or rebirthing, the reward has to be faith. But
nobody has ever acquired this jewel of faith without the help
of saints.
So, no matter what sadhana you do, ultimately, you
have to come to a saint. Whosoever bears this in mind
and communes with the good finds devotion to God an
easy attainment. It is the saints who bring this wisdom to
people. That is faith which defends itself with the shield
of continence and slays the enemies of pride, ignorance
and greed through knowledge, and wins the victory.
Therefore, the ultimate of life, of all our ambitions, of all our
convictions, should be faith, or shraddha.

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 Changing Social Codes

I   have been asked over a thousand times to comment

on the verse in Ramacharitamanas in which it is written
that women and shudras need to be beaten. This verse
comes at the end of Sundarakanda, when Lord Rama first
prayed to the King of the ocean to give way. At that point it
is said: “Drums, villagers, shudras, animals and women, all
deserve beating.” It seems that this verse has been added
later. Tulsidas could not have written this. My mind does
not accept it. If you remove this verse, you will find that the
verses above and below match exactly. When I removed this
verse from the text and read it, I found absolute continuity.
In the ancient texts, superfluous things have been added
everywhere. There are many verses which are attributed
to Kabir, but they were never written by him. Superfluous
things exist in the Koran and in the Bible as well. I have seen
a Srimad Bhagavad Gita of 450 verses and also one of 1,500
verses. This Gita of 700 verses which we read is said to be the
only reliable Gita, but a Gita of 450 verses also exists.
This means that during the ages scriptures have passed
through several hands, and during reproduction, verses
have been lost or added. Therefore, it is the job of critics
to find these discrepancies and superfluous modifications.
In the Ramayana you can see the verses where shudras and
brahmins are criticized, and where brahmins and shudras

95
are praised. These are clearly demarcated. It is very clear
where brahmins deserve honour and where shudras deserve
honour. The tribal king of the Nishadas was a shudra.
Shabari also belonged to the same category. So this verse,
“Drums, villagers, shudras, animals and women, all deserve
beating”, looks out of place to me. When you read it again,
delete this verse and you will find continuity.
Let me tell you one more thing which deserves to be
understood. There is something called the code of justice
which has always been a part of human existence, right from
antiquity. The society of tribes also had a code of justice.
Slowly, as they evolved, became civilized and changed their
ways, so did their code of justice. It has existed in every age
and culture until now. If there is a flaw somewhere in the
codes of today, you won’t find it now; it will become apparent
after one or two hundred years. The question of humanity
has always been a neglected issue in all codes of justice right
from the beginning, whether the code belongs to Manu,
Islam or any judicial court, and everyone acknowledges this
today. These codes have been challenged by generations in
the past as well as the present.
People have said that justice should be decided on the
basis of the crime committed, not on the basis of caste.
Today, many facilities and provisions are awarded on the
basis of caste and we feel that this is justified. But what will
people say after two hundred years? Then they will question
why facilities and positions were awarded on the basis of
caste. Does it come under the code of human rights? No,
it does not, but codes are adjusted according to the times
and circumstances. The judicial system is dependent on
social concepts and political necessities. There are many
people at present who have been deprived of education and
no jobs are available for them. They are not sharp in their
studies and they don’t have any chance to move forward in
life. Theirs is not an aggressive, active or mobile society,
so we must provide some facilities for them. However, if
this privilege were to be seen from the perspective of two

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hundred years ago or four hundred years in the future, then
it could be questionable.
Just as the code of Manu is questionable today, in the
same way, any code of justice which developed for a society
existing in a particular age is only relevant for that age.
Justice is related to the values of right and wrong, existing
in the social conditions of the time. Today, some things are
considered to be justified and some things are unjustified
as well. If you marry more than one partner at a time, it
is unjustified today, but a few hundred years back it was
fully justified. Kings used to have many wives. So justice
and injustice are not eternal concepts; they are restricted
to a particular time, because those are the accepted values
according to the state of mental development of the people.
First, the intellectuals, thinkers and social reformers of the
day think, then they inform others and everybody accepts it.
There are national dialogues and debates by which a point
of conclusion is reached. Then the judiciary is told to change
the laws.
Consider, for example, the issue of women. Here in
India, women have always been neglected and designated
to an inferior class. Whether in property documents, wills
of succession or whatever, they have always been regarded
as second grade. A man may do whatever he likes and
nobody raises a finger. However, if a woman does anything,
fingers are raised. If a man is widowed he can remarry, but a
widowed woman cannot. This happens everywhere because
society thinks like this. Until now, nobody has challenged or
opposed this social code. Nobody has raised a question for
centuries, but today it has become a big social issue. Can a
woman leave home and make her own future independ­ently?
Can she decide about her education, her fortune and her
destiny? Yes, she can.
What would happen if every parliament passed such a
bill? Would all the courts issue judgements on that or not?
All codes of conduct have a basis. On the same basis, Manu
wrote down the code according to his social circumstances. It

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was correct then, but today it may seem hopeless. You cannot
think in those terms. How can you say that if a man of low
caste does this, then punish him in this way, but if a man of
high caste does the same then punish him in another way?
In this age, it appears to us that Manu was crazy, because
our beliefs, social codes and values have reached a different
point after centuries of evolution, but in those times his code
was justified. In Greece and some other countries, a widowed
woman was put under lock and key. If she happened to
meet a man secretly and was found out, then both of them
were stoned to death in public. This may still be happening
now, in the nineties! It was a common practice at the time
of Jesus. Mary Magdalene was about to be stoned to death
when Jesus saved her by saying, “Let he amongst you who is
without sin cast the first stone.”
So any code of justice is based on laws and regulations.
These are made by the people of that age. The most
powerful community, which is the most politically vocal, gets
the law passed and that law becomes the basis on which all
the courts give judgements, be it the Supreme Court, High
Court or Lower Court. That is the law of today; it can’t be the
law of tomorrow. Tomorrow our consciousness will change,
so we will raise a voice. There will be national debates and
dialogues and the laws will change again. Then the laws of
today will be outdated.
Recently a Nigerian writer and activist was executed. All
the nations of the world raised a voice against it, because
the code of justice today opposes punishment of death
by hanging. Nobody has the right to hang another. Only
He who has given life can take life. A man has no right to
take the life of another man. No government has the right
to execute anyone any more. Nobody has the right to kill
another, except God and nature. The government does
not have this right. This voice has been raised a number of
times in many countries over the last few years. It is raised
and suppressed, and each time it is raised again with a
stronger force. However, the time will come when execution

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is completely abolished around the world. After five hundred
years people will ask, “Why did the government execute that
man?” Historians will reply, “At that time it was the law, but
it is not now.”
Therefore, the legally constituted judiciary must be
dependent on political, institutional and social systems. It
is not an eternal process; it can always be changed. The
decisions of the Supreme Court which are made today will
not apply for all times to come. They will not be accepted
generation after generation. These things may change, but
I say the same thing again and again. Crime, quarrels and
wars all begin in the head; the rest is only an excuse. If you
fight with someone, you say that he did this or that, but it is
only an excuse. The root of all quarrels and fights, all sin and
merit, is in the head. If the nuts and bolts of this chamber
were tightened up, all wars would end. By sorting out the
head, the whole world would get sorted out.
UNESCO was established in 1945. At that time the
same idea was expressed which I am expressing now. The
first hypothesis on which UNESCO was founded was that
the seed of war, dissension and conflict exists in the human
mind and, therefore, it is the human mind which has to
be reformed. If you search for the root of all the quarrels
between family members, husband and wife, father and
son, brothers, friends, neighbours, you will find them in the
mind. If this head of yours is sorted out, then the whole mess
will be over. However, it is impossible to correct it, because
it always remains sick. If everyone became a sadhu, that
too would be a problem; everything in the world would be
disturbed.

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 The Story of Rama

A fter thoroughly studying the Vedas, the Upanishads,

the Bible, the Koran and many other spiritual books
which I have great respect for, I stopped my reading with
Ramacharitamanas. This one book paved the way in my life.
The greatest obstacle in my life was that I knew too much
about God. I could think so much about Him, but He only
remained within the precincts of my mind; I couldn’t go
beyond. This book took me out from the gravitational force
of mind and intellect. This is the only book I read now. I
don’t read letters or newspapers. What is the use of reading
them? They could not break the gravitational pull of my
mind, but Ramacharitamanas took me out.
Ramacharitamanas is the story of Rama as narrated
by Lord Shiva to Parvati. I had in mind to render it into
English. Until now all the renderings of this book into
English have been very poor because they are written by
scholars, teachers and lecturers, and not by someone who
can feel it. But I have not received the mandate yet. If I
receive the mandate, I will carry it out. Of course, I have also
given up writing. I don’t hold a pen in my hand now but if
I write a book at all by hand, as I have done in the past, it
will be the literal translation of Ramacharitamanas. It will not
need a commentary because the book itself is a commentary
on faith.

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Sakara concept of God
I have not seen a book like Ramacharitamanas. The Bhagavad
Gita contains knowledge, but Ramacharitamanas has the
sweetness of nectar. I am a man of that taste because my
whole life has been dry. I have never experienced sweetness.
I have always lived in solitude and quiet with no concern
for anyone. I have my own way of eating and sleeping.
So, Ramacharitamanas came into this dry life with the
sweetness of nectar. Since childhood I have also had a good
relationship with poetry and literature which I have studied
in depth, whether it be Hindi, Sanskrit, English or any other.
Ramacharitamanas complements that aspect of my nature, but
the biggest contribution it has made in my life has been to
establish a sakara concept of God.
Sakara is the one who has a shape, a form, and nirakara
is the formless one. If God is formless, you can call Him
nirakara, but how can you see the one who has no form?
How can you ever see a formless entity and how can you
name a nameless entity? How will you find the one who
does not live anywhere? I don’t want such a God. I want a
God who has a name and a form, who has a home and an
address. This makes things easy. Great yogis and saints can
find Him, but I want an easy way to locate His address, so
I have enshrined Him in Raghunath Kutir. Everyday I take
care of that room. I meditate and worship Him daily and I
can say truly that my God lives there. Why should I say that
God is everywhere? Maybe He is, I don’t deny it, but where
will I manage to keep hold of Him?
Water exists everywhere, but you drink it from your
own well. God is everywhere, but I have enshrined Lord
Raghunath in my room and He is mine. This I learned from
Ramacharitamanas. You have tried millions of ways to find
Him, but where did you find Him? Where will you worship
Him? Everybody is lost and confused. If you write a letter
and address it to God, c/o- Everywhere, how will the postman
find Him? To what address will your letter be delivered?
He will just drop it somewhere, but if you write to God, c/o-

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Raghunath Kutir, then He will receive your letter for sure.
From Ramacharitamanas I learned that God is everywhere,
but you have to hold Him at one place. The other thing I
learned is that this light which you see comes from the Sun,
but it is not the Sun. It has the warmth and brilliance of
the Sun, but it is not the Sun. In the same way I may have a
spark of divinity, but I am not the Divine. I may be a part of
Him, but I cannot be Him.

Teachings about life

So, this verse which we were talking about was not written
by Tulsidas. It does happen that people write to popularize
their sect, but he did not write from this point of view.
Ramacharitamanas is also called Tulsi Ramayana. It contains
many kinds of verses in different metres which tell the story
of Rama and Sita as it was narrated by Lord Shiva to goddess
Parvati. Lord Shiva tells the entire story of Rama, Ravana and
his brother, Kumbhakarna, who slept for six months of the
year. The story of Rama is one thing and the war between
Rama and Ravana is another. The story of Ramacharita­manas is
the skeleton structure, over which the teachings are delicately
woven. Just as while constructing a house, you erect a pillar of
iron bars, then fill it with concrete, lay bricks and finally plaster
it, in the same way, the story of Rama is only the skeleton.
The real instruction is the teachings about life. It contains
lessons on the philosophy of life, lessons on relationships,
be it love between brother and sister, between two brothers,
or between father and son, how these relationships should
be lived and how they get distorted. That is the speciality of
Ramacharitamanas, otherwise there are many picture books
of Rama’s story and other versions like Valmiki Ramayana,
Ananda Ramayana and Vikat Ramayana. These versions
may have some differences in the stories, but the tradition
remains unchanged. There was a time when the culture was
spiritually oriented. The modern scientific culture of today
is spreading all over the globe. Although we call it western
culture, because it originated from the West, in reality it is a

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Devi pooja
Audience at the program
Swami Satsangi with Swami Niranjan
Sri Swamiji
scientific culture. The previous cultures have been subdued
everywhere, because mankind has become desirous of the
comforts provided by scientific discoveries. However, there
was a time when people were desirous of knowledge and
righteousness.

Cultural influences
In every age the needs of man change. Today man needs
telephones, cars and electricity. In that age people wanted
liberation and they asked such questions as, “What is Dvaita,
Advaita and Vishistadvaita?” They wanted to know what was
written in the scriptures, what was said by Lord Buddha and
so on. For that reason the rishis, munis, kings, merchants
and warriors of this civilization spread their influence far
and wide. The whole of South East Asia: Burma, Malaysia,
Cambodia, Thailand, Java and Sumatra, was influenced, and
even today you find many archaeological remains there. At
that time the story of Rama had reached those countries.
The people there accepted the story and chose Rama, or
Hanuman as their ishta devata. So, their concepts slowly
became the same as ours.
Later on, there were vast upheavals in the states, empires,
cultures and religions, as happens everywhere. During this
chaos, the Indians could not maintain their influence. Just as
the British could not maintain their empire, in the same way,
Indians too could not keep their grip. So, at that time some
things remained and a lot of things were lost. After that the
story began to get distorted. Many new incidents were added
and facts were changed. Somewhere, Sita became Rama’s
sister, and many changes like that took place. Then, when
the Greeks invaded India, a new philosophy took root, led
by Buddhism and Jainism. In both these religions you find
the influence of Greek philosophy. They are shadowed by the
thinking patterns of Aristotle and Plato. The atheism of the
Buddhists and Jains is inspired by Greek philosophy.
You can read in the archives and stories of Plutarch
that when Alexander came to India, he wished to meet

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the scholars. At Takshashila, he was introduced to Jain
munis and he was even initiated by one. Alexander did not
come to India with a military force alone; he also brought
Greek philosophers with him. He came with commanders
as well as philosophers because he wanted to talk with the
Indian sages. The dialogues between Alexander, the Greek
philosophers and the Indian philosophers are all recorded.
You can read them in the archives. When he went from here,
he took Kalyan Muni back with him. In the Greek language
Kalyan became Kolynos. When Aristotle came to know that
Alexander was greatly influenced by Kalyan Muni, he wrote a
letter to him saying, “What are you doing? Instead of ruling
over them you have become their disciple!” This letter is still
preserved.

Distortions creep in
So, in this way, the culture spread from one place to another.
The Jains wrote books on Rama, but many of those stories
seem to be distortions because they do not conform to logical
thought. In ancient times wars were ideological, more like
philosophical arguments, based on shastrartha, philosophical
debates. In this era, however, the pattern of events has
changed, because things change from age to age. The wars of
today are of a different kind. In every age the values change.
So in those times, in order to subdue the tradition of Rama
and put a black mark on Rama’s story, they distorted it and
nobody objected. This is the weakness or the strength of
our culture. They said, “What does it matter? Let them say
whatever they want.”
Hindus are not reactionary. They do not react to criticism
of their beliefs. Call it their weakness or their strength. Let
them say Sita was Rama’s sister; she does not become that
merely by their saying so. And even if she was his sister, what
difference does that make? She existed in ancient times,
not now. This controversy arises because there was a time in
history when marriages took place in the same family. The
people said, “Let the brother and sister get married, then all

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the bother is over. Later, people said, “No, it is not right to
marry into the same family. If you marry into other families,
social interactions will grow.” Slowly, in the course of social
development, different concepts grew and changed. So you
can’t say with authority what happened in Rama’s time.

An advanced culture
Another point that you must remember is that Rama’s time
was the Treta Yuga. In those days civilization was highly
evolved. Moreover, the basis of our religion is the Vedas,
just like the Koran is the basis of Muslim religion. There
are actually three Vedas according to scriptures, but there
are said to be four when they are chanted. When Rigveda
is chanted, Samaveda emerges out of it. Then, to explain
these four Vedas, many texts were written like Grihya Sutras,
Kalpa Sutras and so on. They were called the ‘six shastras’. To
explain them, the eighteen Puranas were written along with
the stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata. People may not
understand them, but the Vedas are the basis of our religion
and the entire culture follows them in one way or another.
Whether it be idol worship, belief in rebirth or performance
of rituals, these are all aspects of the vedic religion. Whether
you wear the sacred thread, believe in idol worship, or
consider the gods and goddesses as many but still one, this
is all vedic religion.
The Vedas are written in verses with different chhanda or
metres. These metres were named: anustup, trishtup, gayatri,
jagati etc. An uncultured civilization cannot create such a
literature in different metres. Thousands of years ago, at the
time when the vedic literature was written, the civilization
was not primitive. On the contrary it was highly developed.
If the human race had remained in a primitive state until
just a few centuries ago, man would not be able to write
poetry now. In order to write poetry it is necessary to have a
knowledge of language, script, metre and an organized way
of presenting and expressing ideas. The civilization which
produced such brains would have had to make alphabets and

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then polish the script for thousands of years. They would
have had to create the different metres, and to think, read,
write and express many ideas. It must have taken thousands
of years to accomplish all this. How could such a civilization
think of marrying brothers and sisters? It is not possible to
conceive of such an idea.
Dogs mate to produce pups. Those pups grow up and
become mature in about two years, but the dog never
mates with its own daughter. Although there are no social
restrictions, still the dog avoids the daughter. He does
not know that she is his daughter or wife, two pups do not
understand the concept of being brother and sister, but still
they do not unite. This doesn’t happen in human society
either, because social relationships are formed on the basis
of natural relationships. What is that natural relation? It is
smell, which is a mark of the DNA structure. The members
of one family share a similar genetic formula. The mother
and sister share the same formula which a dog can smell.
Society labels this relation as brother and sister, but the dog
identifies it by smell. If a dog cannot go against the natural
identification marks, how can a human being do so? Man is
more than an animal.
So this story about Rama and Sita was only a distortion
of facts. A gentle person like Rama was so modest and self-
conscious that if someone offered him good food, he would
quietly refuse. Rama was not outspoken. Even with friends
he was gentle and controlled. He used to think carefully
before saying anything. This is a very great quality. He would
never blabber out whatever came to his mind. He was not a
fool. In Ramacharitamanas, Rama is mentioned as the king
among the clever. He was so wise, yet still he had a nature
of his own. You may be very clever, very understanding, and
able to know other people’s thoughts, but still you should be
self-conscious. Self-conscious means that you think before
you speak. Just like a tortoise pulls his limbs inside his shell
and takes them out very carefully, in the same way, you must
collect all your thoughts and express them carefully. In social

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life a person who speaks with forethought is least likely to
meet with an accident.

Vedic samksara
This is our culture and I am speaking of its greatness. Today
the entire world acknowledges the fact that the community,
the race, the civilization which created the Vedas, whenever
it existed, was a very great civilization whose literature,
grammar, poetry and thoughts were very highly evolved.
As far as rituals and rites are concerned, all religions have
them. Even in modern culture, when the mother conceives
a child, the doctor conducts a checkup and then prescribes
the proper diet and medicine. When the child is born, a
scientific process is performed. A scientific rite definitely
takes place, and religious rites take place as well among
Christians, Muslims and Buddhists everywhere. However, let
us say that you don’t believe in religion. Can you deny the
scientific event of childbirth?
When you name a child, you don’t do it haphazardly; you
think carefully beforehand. The child will bear the surname
of his father. When the procedure is thought about and
planned, then automatically it becomes a rite. Whether you
perform that rite in consultation with a priest, with mantras,
or plan it yourself, it doesn’t matter. So this naming rite
exists everywhere. The rite of marriage is also universal.
The rites of renunciation exist in every tradition, Muslim,
Christian, Buddhist, Jain, Vaishnava, Shakta or Shaiva; they
are universal. The death rituals also exist universally. So,
these sixteen rites which you call the vedic samskaras, exist
throughout the entire human race. Whether you are a theist
or an atheist, whether you believe in religion or not, even
then these samskaras take place in some secular or religious
form.
These rites are not only necessary, but they are also
compulsory, they have to happen. If you are born, you will
have to be addressed by some name, be it one, two, three,
or A, B, C. You must have some mark of identification. Even

107
in animals the identification process exists. When one dog
approaches another dog, he smells the mooladhara area
and comes to know of his identity. A dog has his name tag in
his anus. This is a surprising fact. Many scientists have been
working on this. It also means that if there are two hundred
cows in a herd, they are able to identify and know each other,
and they can also identify their keepers and their enemies. If
the cow knows what is good and what is bad, what is hot and
what is cold, then won’t she know which cow she is walking
along with every day? So, if cows can identify each other,
what is the basis of their knowledge and identification?

Three levels of intelligence

You identify someone by seeing a face or hearing a name,
but how does the cow do it? Among dogs, cows, horses
and other animals, the carnivorous or meat-eating animals
have a very strong sense of smell, for example, the cheetah,
tiger, lion, dog, wolf or wild cat. These are all carnivorous
and their sense of smell is very sharp. It is relatively much
sharper than that of herbivorous animals. Since the cow is a
domestic, herbivorous animal, its sense of smell is limited,
so it does not have as strong a sense of smell as a dog or
a leopard. Secondly, the senses are developed for specific
actions, for example, eyes for seeing, nose for smelling
and so on. By your nose you cannot smell whether I am a
sannyasi or a grihastha, a male or a female, but a dog can.
However, by the five senses, you can identify five kinds of
objects, and the master of the senses is the mind. The senses
feed the information to the mind. The senses conduct the
relevant information to the brain, whether it is black or
white, what sound it makes and so on, and then the mind
makes a decision.
That faculty is intelligence, so the cow has intelligence.
In our scriptures it is mentioned that the cow has buddhi.
We have read during our school days that the cow is an
intelligent animal. What is it that is known as buddhi? When
the material obtained by the senses is directed inside, it is

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analyzed and clarified. Whatever I am telling you is going
through your ears and you are registering, classifying,
understanding and interpreting it. The entire process is
happening within your brain. This process is called buddhi,
which after classification and interpretation understands,
and then accepts or rejects. Whatever I am saying may or
may not be acceptable to you. You may appreciate or criticize
it. Who does this? It is buddhi. This buddhi is developed in
some animals, but there are many animals who do not have
it, yet they still react correctly. They do not have intellect but
their reactions are correct. That is called instinct, which is the
name for a spontaneous drive.
So, we have three aspects before us now. In all beings
there are three levels of intelligence. First is the level of
instinct, second is the level of buddhi or intellect, and third
is intuition. Intuition is an extraordinary quality. You must
know the story of Isaac Newton. An apple fell from a tree,
something clicked in him and he realized the theory of
gravitation. Apples have fallen in front of your eyes many
times, but this idea has never clicked in you because you do
not have that quality which Newton had. Intuition is a higher
quality of intellect which illuminates any subject on which it
is focused, like a torchlight.
How did Archimedes make his observations? By watching
the rising water level in the bathtub? You sit in the bathtub
daily and the level of the water rises, but it never clicks!
The power of intuition brings everything under a special
kind of observation. So the most basic level is instinct. All
of the 8,400,000 kinds of species are guided by instinct,
which means they are automatically guided by nature. The
speciality of humans is only that they are guided by buddhi,
and some humans who are of a very high level are guided by
intuition. You may call them great or maha purushas.

I offer my salutations
At a certain point in his evolution, man realized that the
entire universe is permeated by Sita Ram, God and his

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maya. I salute, I offer my prayers with folded hands, to
everything in this universe. Because the entire reality, right
from Brahman, the cosmic being, to the minutest creature,
the entire reality is permeated by Him. Therefore, there is
a very important chant in Ramacharitamanas which everyone
knows: Siya Rama Maya Saba Jaga Jane – after having realized
that the entire universe is permeated by God and his Maya,
I offer my salutations with folded hands. Mangala Bhavana
Amangala Hari – He is the storehouse of auspiciousness
and the dispeller of inauspiciousness. The bestower of
auspiciousness and eliminator of inauspicious­ness is God’s
name.

Swamiji, can you shed some light on the actual political

circumstances which prevailed at the time of Sita’s
swayamvara?
In the Ramayana, in the episode about Rama’s marriage,
you will find that Rama was not formally invited to the
swayamvara of Sita because there were political disputes
between Ayodhya and Mithila. Therefore, Vishwamitra
quietly took Rama there with him, because he knew what
the plan of destiny was. The king of Mithila did not send
an official invitation to the king of Ayodhya, although he
was the chief of the Federal Government of India at that
time, just as the chief of the Indian Government lives in
Delhi today. So, Dasharatha was the chief and Janaka was
of a lower political rank, but despite that, considering
the lineage, caste, relations and everything else, he did
not send an invitation to Ayodhya. However, Vishwamitra
took Rama to Mithila. When nobody else but the Prince of
Ayodhya could lift the bow, and when he not only lifted it but
shattered it to pieces, then there was no other option. Then
the people of Mithila had to accept the victory of Rama
and this may have hurt their egos a bit. The king of Mithila
then had to send an invitation asking the marriage party of
Rama to come and participate in the ceremonies. Mithila was
forced to marry their daughter to Ayodhya.

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Please explain the significance of the discussion between
Garuda and Kakabhushundi in Ramacharitamanas?
In Ramacharitamanas there is a story about Garuda, the eagle
bird. Garuda was in doubt about the nature of God, so he
went to Brahma, the creator, then to Vishnu, the preserver,
then to Shiva, the destroyer. Shiva told him, “Look, I don’t
have time to answer your questions, I am very busy. Go to
Kakabhushundi and he will dispel your doubts.” Garuda was
directed to listen to the story of Rama from Kakabhushundi,
who was a crow. The interesting point to note is that Garuda
is the king of birds and the crow is a scavenger. This story is
like the butler instructing the master or lord of the house.
So, Kakabhushundi told Garuda the story of Rama.
It has been said that whenever the Lord takes birth,
Kakabhushundi comes to observe the infant form of God. It
is a very beautiful story. In reality Ramacharitamanas begins
with this story. The satsang by Kakabhushundi is incom­
parable. He tells his whole life story and the story of his
past lives. He used to sit with Sage Lomasha and discuss
the manifest and the unmanifest. Kakabhushundi became a
crow due to a curse. The point revolves on whether God has
a form or not. Is God only abstract? Is God just formless?
It means you are confining God to formlessness. After all,
formlessness is also a limitation, a confinement. When you
are able to describe God, then He is describable. If God is
indescribable then whatever you describe Him as is just one
aspect. God is formless and God has a form.

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 God’s Name

T his is not an alarm clock, it is my wake up clock. It is set

to ring every morning at 2 am It wakes me up and the
first thing I listen to is God’s name. It is programmed to
chant the name of God for forty minutes at a time. So I get
up from my bed and sit down to sing, Raghupati Raghava
Raja Ram Patita Pavana Sitaram, Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram
for forty minutes. Then I get up, wash myself and start
my japa. Oh God, when I sleep You should be the last one
whom I shall remember, and when I wake up Your name
should be the first thing that I hear. So I inaugurate and
close the day with God’s name. Anything which is begun
well, ends well.
However, when you open your eyes in the morning, the
first thing you see is this idiotic world. What is there to look
at? You look at the world the whole day because you have
to. But you should forget it, at least for forty minutes, and
listen to the Lord’s name. Start your day with the Lord’s
name. Don’t be fearful of God. God won’t be unhappy if you
don’t repeat His name. Even if you denounce Him, He won’t
punish you. You pray, not for God, but for yourself. Why take
the Lord’s name if you are afraid of Him? Even if you abuse
God, He will still shower His grace upon you. God does not
get angry at anyone, He does not punish anyone. When you
chant His name, you do it for yourself.

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 You can also remove yourself from this worldly business
for at least forty minutes and just listen to the Lord’s name.
Sugar is always sweet whether you put it in halwa or cake. In
the same way, God’s name is always sweet whether you sing
or chant it. It has its quality of madhuram. There is a song:
Adharam Madhuram, Nayanam Madhuram. He is sweetness
personified. When you get out of bed in the morning with
your eyes closed, half asleep, half awake, sing God’s name.
That is how the day should begin, with God’s name: Sri
Ram Jai Ram. This is a good start in the morning, then
you can take a bath and read the Bible, Ramayana, Srimad
Bhagavatam, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Bhakti Vedanta or
Swami Sivananda.

Long-term investment
When you rise in the morning, firstly sit down and sing
God’s name. Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram is one example.
However, you need not sing this, you can make up your own.
Go on singing the Lord’s name for thirty to forty minutes.
When you repeat God’s name you don’t spend time, you
gain time. It is a long-term investment. Repeat this process
again when you go to bed at night. Even if you return late at
night from a discotheque or a night club and you are a little
drunk, it doesn’t matter – that’s a part of life. You can still
sing God’s name.
Chanting of the Lord’s name does not mean that you
run away from the world. In the balance of life there are
four scales: artha, kama, dharma and moksha. These scales
balance each other. If only artha and kama persist, then
man becomes agitated. Therefore, artha and kama should
be counter­ balanced by dharma and moksha. In what
proportion? You do not mix one kilogram of sugar with one
kilogram of milk. In one kilogram of milk, you only put a
few spoonfuls of sugar. The same is true for the proportion
of salt that you put in vegetable dishes. Similarly, dharma
and moksha make the dish of life tasty. Therefore, chant
God’s name for some time, perhaps forty minutes in twenty-

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four hours. Forty minutes is hardly a fraction of one day, but
it is enough to make the dish tasty, to make household life
enjoyable.
You do not need to sing bhajans for eight to ten hours,
just twenty minutes in the morning and twenty minutes at
night. Then it doesn’t matter what you eat. If you want to
eat meat, eat it. If you want to drink wine, drink it. Whatever
you want to do, you can. Even thieves and dacoits whose
profession it is to plunder and loot should chant Sri Ram
Jaya Ram for just ten minutes. This is the truth, because
dacoits and criminals will always exist in the world. Even
God cannot eliminate them, so what can the government
do? No government can eliminate criminals; they have
never succeeded in doing so. Crime is the oldest profession.
Man first started to earn by thieving and looting, not by
hard work. Crime is a reality. I am not asking you to commit
crime. I am just saying that whatever you are, whether a
prostitute, a dacoit or a saint, a female or a male, high caste
or low caste, politician or executive, remember God’s name.
When you get up in the morning, sit down and chant
God’s name for forty minutes. Do it loudly. What is there to
hide? There should be no shame in singing the Lord’s name.
I do my pooja openly and regularly – every evening. At half
past five I worship Ganesha, Hanuman, Rama, Shiva and
Tulsi. People advise me to take a shortcut in doing pooja. I
say why take a shortcut? Why should people be ashamed of
worshipping the Lord? If people see me worshipping, they
will also go back home and worship.

Spiritual journey of man

You should not relate spiritual life with daily life, nor should
you have any complex about your nature, such as “Oh, I am
not a good man.” Yes, you are not a good man, and I am also
not a good man. You are a bad man eighty percent of the
time and I am a bad man ten percent of the time, but a bad
man I am. As long as you are in this human body, you can’t
be free from sins, from lapses, from the frailties of human

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life, because you are subject to the dharma of the body. You
are subject to the gunas: sattwa, rajas and tamas. Without the
integration and permutation of sattwa, rajas and tamas, there
is no creation. The total composition of creation is the three
gunas. When fusion takes place between the three gunas,
then creation comes into being, otherwise existence enters
into avyakta, the unmanifest dimension.
Therefore, you have to accept the reality as it is and
yourself as you are. So where do you start? If you start with
morality, you will have psychological problems. Ask any
psychologist and he will verify that. Goodness cannot be
imposed or cultivated. Goodness is your inner being which
is completely hidden, and you can only break through the
shell with God’s name. Although man has been born with
a body, he is controlled by nature, or Prakriti, which has
threefold qualities, trigunatmika. The body and mind each
have their own dharma. So, thinking that I am a bad person
is a worthless thought. The spiritual journey of a man does
not begin with satya, ahimsa and brahmacharya; these are the
culmination of human life.
The journey of man begins with faults, because man has
accumulated karmas from the past eighty-four lakh yonis
through which he has evolved. Craving, sleep, fear, sexual
instincts are what you have inherited from the animal level
of evolution. The human journey begins with an incomplete
nature. Do you complete your MA or MSc and then begin
primary school? When you start school, what do you know?
You know nothing. Similarly, life begins with weaknesses,
mistakes, incompleteness, impurities, desires, anger, greed,
animosity, attraction and repulsion. You can’t fight with these
things and you can’t go against them. You can’t say, “From
today I won’t tell a single lie. I will be truthful.” You can’t say,
“From today I won’t go to a single woman.” It is all hypocrisy.

Satyam, shivam, sundaram

Three things are your true form, your true nature: satyam,
truth; shivam, auspiciousness; and sundaram, beauty. You

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don’t have to bring purity from outside, it is within you.
You don’t have to adopt any good quality from outside. You
are already that. Therefore, the scriptures have said that
these three – satyam, shivam, sundaram, represent your real
nature, but are hidden. In order to manifest them, you have
to break the outer shell. There is only one way to do this, no
other method or way works. My model is 1923 and I have
been trying all my life. I have tried every method and left
it. I have tried to straighten the dog’s tail so many times,
but it always curls back again. Cut the tail and the stump is
straight. I realized that I was trying to save the tail and also
to make it straight. This is not possible. Either have a curled
tail or cut it off. So, I cut off my tail.
Life begins with incompleteness. If you want to take your
life towards completeness and perfection, then you should
begin with the mantra of wholeness. The only mantra of
wholeness and perfection is the Lord’s name. So life starts
with imperfection and this is natural. When you wish to
move towards perfection, you don’t have to take up a difficult
method or path at the outset. You can try any method, but an
important item in your life should be discipline. Just before
you go to sleep and when you wake up, repeat God’s name.
You have seen my clock. It is not an alarm clock, I call it the
Awakening Clock. This clock wakes you up with God’s name,
not an ear-piercing, nerve- shattering screech or tone. Keep
such a clock with you. Set the alarm for yourself and at the
right time the clock will sing kirtan.

God is One
Do not think of yourself as a devotee of Shiva, Rama,
Krishna, Devi, Christ or Buddha. Sects are always different,
but God is one. One father has ten sons and each son has
a separate family and home. However, that does not make
the father different in each family and home. In the same
way, sects are many and different but God is the same. A
variety of names does not mean that Rama, Vishnu, Krishna,
Shiva or Shakti are different. By sect I am a Shaiva, but if I

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worship Rama in Raghunath Kutir, do I become a Vaishnava?
If I worship the Mother, do I become a Shakta? If I worship
Jesus or Mother Mary, do I then become a Christian? These
are sects and traditions, but bhakti is not limited to a sect.
There is no harm if Shiva kirtan is sung in a Vaishnava
house, if Christian hymns are sung in a Hindu house or if
Rama or Krishna kirtan is sung in a Christian house. Five
star hotels keep a Bible in every room. Nowadays they have
also started to keep the Bhagavad Gita. I used to read the
Bible, Koran and Gita. What difference has this made to my
personality? Whether one is Christian, Muslim or Hindu,
what difference does it make? These are sects, and sects
are not the personalities of anyone. Essentially, we are not
Christians, Muslims, or Hindus. We are human beings, we
are all one. There is no special anger called Christian anger,
no special passion called Christian passion.
These are the ways, the paths, but basically we are all one.
Imperfections are almost the same in everyone. The qualities
of anger, greed, lust and passion are the same in each one of
us, throughout the world, whether we are from the East, West,
North or South. Similarly, the quality of goodness is the same
in everyone. Fundamentally we are one and the same. So it
doesn’t matter what name we repeat, Sri Rama, Om Namah
Shivayah, Hail Mary, Hail Jesus. Suppose you have come
from a Christian background and I give you this clock. You
say, “No, I don’t want it because I am a Christian.” This is a
foolish idea. Many Indians intermarry with men and women
from foreign countries, and many foreigners marry Indian
men and women. Yet we don’t see any difference in that, we
see the difference only in God’s name.
When we repeat the name, it will remind us of God.
Name is only a reminder. Sri Ram, Jaya Ram, Jai Jai Ram
is only a reminder. The idea which it invokes in us is that
of divinity, and divinity has no form. Divinity is total, all
comprehensive and universal. God’s name reminds us of
purity, divinity and greatness. We can take any name or read
any scripture, whether it is the Gita by Prabhupad, the works

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of Shankaracharya, the Upanishads, the Vedas, the Bible, the
Koran, the Guru Granth Sahib, the couplets of Kabir, Meera
or Raidas. They make no difference to our religious beliefs.
I have found the taste of salt to be the same in Europe, India
and China. I have found the same sweetness in the sugar
of Russia, the UK and the USA. I have never found any
difference in the taste anywhere. What I don’t understand
is how the difference in God’s name cropped up in the first
place. It must have been the work of mischief mongers.

Every form is God’s form

Everybody says that God has no form, but the best way to
depict Him is to say that every form is His form. It is easy
to say that God is without form, because no one has seen
His form. You are the witness of the things which you have
seen, and you cannot be the witness of the things that you
have not seen. How can you say that God is without form?
Have you seen Him? No. Whatever you have seen, you are
the witness of that. You have seen this universe which is the
manifestation of God. Places of pilgrimage or teerthasthanas
are the manifestations of God. Ganga and Yamuna are the
manifestations of God. I am also a manifest form of God.
There is a sloka which says:
The entire manifest universe, including time and space,
Inside and outside, everywhere, is pervaded by God.
In water, on land, on the mountain peak, in flaming fire,
God is universal, pervading the entire creation.
The entire universe is pervaded by one power. We call Him
God, Hari, Rama, Allah, Khuda, Om or Amin. Just as it
matters little whether we say soap or sabun, the name of God
doesn’t matter; it is the essence that is important.

Sing your way to Him

The scientists have said that there is energy within matter.
We say that beyond energy there is consciousness, beyond
consciousness there is the soul, and beyond the soul there is

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divinity. In the Bhagavad Gita it is also said that behind the
body are the senses, behind the senses is the mind, behind
the mind is the intellect, behind the intellect is the soul and
behind the soul is divinity. By behind, I mean its essence. In
the same way, God is the essence of everything. The essence
of milk is butter. The essence of butter is ghee. The essence
of ghee is fat. The essence of fat is calories and the essence
of calories is energy and heat, which is the basis of life. When
the heat diminishes, we die. Similarly, the ultimate essence
of matter is God, and matter is the manifestation of divinity.
We are all the manifestation of divinity. The panchatattwas,
five elements, are manifestations of divinity.
Therefore, just as sugar becomes one with milk, let the
mind melt in God. There is no use controlling the mind,
because there is no mind as such. Just sing His name until
you get out! Just sing and sing the name of God until your
mind melts. This was the path of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
and Meerabai. Narada continuously chanted Narayana,
Narayana, twenty-four hours a day. If you sing the name of
God with proper tune and pitch, rhythm and beat, you will
enjoy it. Good food, sweets, tea, coffee, even brandy do not
generate as much heat as the singing of God’s name. There
is a song:
Now I enjoy the life of a wandering ascetic.
The happiness I get from singing the Lord’s name
I did not find in all the richness of the earth.
We are the monarchs, the crownless monarchs.

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 Three Disciplines

P eople need different kinds of discipline in different

stages of life. Children need a discipline, young people
need a discipline and even in old age one needs a discipline.
There are three staffs, or tridanda, representing the three
disciplines of the body, mind and soul. The first staff is
the discipline of brahmacharya, or sexual control, which
is necessary for any student engaged in studies. After that,
in grihastha or household life, there is the discipline of the
mind, maintaining proper control over food and sleep.
Even when one reaches old age, and retires or renounces
everything, discipline is still necessary. But imposing
brahmacharya on an elderly person is useless. Spiritual
discipline is appropriate after middle age. The mind should
always be focused on God. After retirement one doesn’t stop
working. At that time the work is to concentrate the mind on
God and remain focused on Him. There should be nothing
else. The mind should not be allowed to run here and there.
This becomes the discipline of the soul.
Bodily discipline is necessary in youth. One should live
the life of a brahmachari, without wasting sexual energy.
Thoughts must be kept absolutely pure and directed
towards learning the things which will be necessary in life.
In grihastha ashrama, mental discipline is necessary because
during married life many complications arise. The biggest

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problem in married life is self-restraint. The foremost
restraint for a householder is management of anxiety. The
entire period of family life is full of anxiety. The farmer who
owns land is anxious about the crop. A wife who is pregnant
is anxious about the birth of her child.
Everybody has anxiety for one reason or another. The
prices in the market are rising and inflation causes anxiety.
Unemployment creates anxiety. Not getting a promotion
causes anxiety. Getting transferred causes anxiety. If the
daughter is not married there is anxiety. Whether the son
turns out to be competent or a rascal, there is anxiety. So,
anxiety is a universal truth in modern life and, therefore,
psychologists refer to it as an anxiety neurotic lifestyle.
Everybody has anxiety. If you start self-analysis from
tomorrow, you will feel that this life is twenty-four hours a
day suffering. Some suffer physically and some mentally.
Some have a mind full of worries. This anxiety which affects
the entire spectrum of life is the problem, and restraint of
anxiety is the foremost duty of a householder.
So, the first discipline is physical restraint, keeping the
sexual life healthy. If you misbehave with girls, thinking no
one is watching, this is wrong. Self-restraint in sexual life
is necessary. The race which does not value this restraint is
bound to be annihilated one day. Many different kinds of
diseases crop up unless there is physical restraint. The second
discipline is restraint of anxiety. If you don’t control anxiety,
you will develop heart problems, diabetes, prostate cancer
and many other diseases. Seventy-nine percent of all diseases
are caused by anxiety. This means that out of one hundred
diseases, seventy-nine originate from stress and tension. Stress
causes suppression of the secretion of the hormone insulin,
and when that happens, you will develop diabetes.
The third discipline comes after the age of fifty to fifty-
five years, when you retire and practise atma sanyam, or
self-moderation. There are two ways to practise this. One is
worship, singing bhajans and satsang. The other is to join a
spiritual organization and do social service. Institutions like

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the Ramakrishna Mission and Bharat Sevashram do a lot of
social work, so retired people can make themselves useful
in this way. In this country there is a great need for social
service organizations, and if they worked together, they could
be even more powerful than the government.

Social service in the villages

In the villages, people do not have proper housing or
even proper drinking water facilities. They have no other
alternative but to live a life of deprivation. When a cow is in
heat, by the time they reach Deoghar for insemination, it has
already gone cold. Illiteracy is the biggest problem. Illiterate,
uncultured people shit right in front of their own houses.
People sit in rows to defecate in front of Vasukinath temple.
It seems as if a large party is sitting for lunch!
There are many people in the villages who are blind,
disabled, widowed, and need help. So after retirement, at the
age of fifty years, you still have so much work to do that you
won’t even find time to die! Therefore, instead of retiring at
the age of fifty-five or sixty, it would be better to take voluntary
retirement at the age of fifty. Then you can run a social service
institution along with ten to fifteen other people. Don’t make
the plan on paper only. Implement it and keep it active in the
villages, not in the cities, because there are many facilities in
towns and cities, but none in the villages.
You may say the cities also need social services. However,
the cities have many facilities, like electricity, transport,
roads, telephones, but there is nothing in the villages. If
educated and resourceful people focus their minds on the
villages, this will in turn help the cities indirectly because it
will check population growth. When a good school opens in
the village, there will be no need to send children to town
to attend school. If there is a small health centre in the
village, no one will need to go to the big cities for treatment.
If there is a good barber, a good carpenter, a textile shop
and a few other small shops in the village, then no one will
go to the cities. The pressure building up in the cities will

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automatically be reduced. Now, sixty to eighty percent of
the urban population comes from the villages. If you can
motivate these people to go back to the villages, then the
cities will automatically become beautiful.
The people will go back to the villages only when they
have facilities for education and health care. This can only
happen when educated people who have some resources
of their own go to the villages to do social service. Such
people should never become a burden on the village. They
should go to the villages, because it is necessary for people to
return to a pure and natural way of life in order to find their
roots and to discover their real nature. This is happening
everywhere in all the developed countries such as America
and Australia. Nobody stays in the cities on holidays and
weekends. The roads are jammed with people travelling away
from the cities to the villages where the air is unpolluted, the
environment pure, the horizon wide and clear and the way
of living relaxed and tension free.
I have discussed two types of self-moderation or spiritual
discipline which can be undertaken in the later stage of
life. The third is service to the motherland. Wherever your
birthplace may be, no matter where your ancestors lived,
whether in Katihar, Rikhia or Deoghar, collect all your
resources and do service in that place. If you start serving in
your own birthplace with a sincere heart and true feeling, the
people of that place will definitely join in and help.

Selflessness, not selfishness

I came to Rikhia to retire and live quietly in solitude. I did
not want to meet anyone, and even now I do not want to
meet anyone. I realized that knowing the Self is necessary to
keep oneself disciplined, without any craving for name and
fame, or even for doing service and helping others. There is
a difference between the feeling of service and the feeling of
Self. The feeling of Self means atmabhava, the sentiment of
others being like one’s own Self. If I am hurt I feel pain, that
is natural, but do I also feel pain if you are hurt? Atmabhava

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means to feel the experience of others as my own experience.
The sorrow and sufferings of others, the death of somebody
unknown to me, the problems of families who are strangers
to me, are all felt as my own.
This is atmabhava, not charity. Seeing everyone in
oneself and oneself in everyone is the highest attainment
of Vedanta: Atmamani pashyanti bhutani, which means seeing
the Self in all and all in the Self as one Brahman. This has
been written in the Gita, Upanishads and Vedas and the
rishis and munis have said the same thing. The question is,
how do you experience this feeling of self and Brahman, that
Brahman which is eternal, constant, immortal, perfect and
formless? This doesn’t happen by speaking about it alone. If
you identify yourself with the pain of another, the problem
of that person becomes your problem. If your mother, sister,
daughter or wife is suffering in the house during the night,
then you won’t be able to sleep. But when the member of
another person’s household suffers, you don’t feel anything.
This is not atmabhava, this is selfishness.
We are all selfish, not selfless, and the path to God
proceeds from selflessness. Generosity doesn’t proceed
from selfishness. There is only one way traffic on this route.
Whatever spiritual path we follow, it must be a path of
selflessness, and this has been said in all the scriptures.

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 Spirit of Compassion

I    want to live here alone in a hut, and when I leave I

want to go away incognito. I came alone and I will go
alone. No one will follow me. So I want to remain incognito
and I hope God will fulfil my prayers. Visitors do not make
me happy. There is no permanent friend in this world. If
there were, then I would pray to God to keep me alive for
hundreds of years so that my friend and I could live together.
But there is nobody here who can give me that company.
Either you go before me or I go before you, so how can we
live together in this moving and perishable world?
Whose body is this? It is the body of Swami Satyananda.
I have rented this body in order to share my spiritual nature.
I am living in this body while I am alive, but I can leave this
body also. You may know me as Swami Satyananda but, in fact,
I may not be Swami Satyananda. For twenty years somebody
else, a realized soul whom I had invoked, was occupying
this body. When I was eighteen-years-old, I met a tantric
yogini who taught me, amongst other things, the science of
invocation, or avahan, which is part of the tantric system. She
knew that it was necessary to teach me this science so that I
could invoke this spirit in order to fulfil the order of my guru.
When and where I shall be born next is not a very
important matter. I can always rent this body or let it out to
someone else. Who is the owner of the body? The atma is the

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owner. It enters the body to fulfil the karma, the desires, to
live a life of passion and greed, or to live a spiritual life. The
body and the atma are not the same, they are two different
things, like the house and the householder or the house and
the tenant. I am the owner, so I can always give this house
to a tenant. As far as commitment to life is concerned, I
am as young as a boy. I am not retired, I just live like this
here because I like this kind of life. I don’t need anyone or
anything. What should I want?

Bodhisattwa
I have a choice to leave this body and migrate into the
room of the spirit of compassion. Lord Buddha was born in
different incarnations during his previous lives. He was born
in the family of animals, thereby influencing the yonis, the
incarnations to evolve. Without knowledge evolution is not
possible, so in many of his past lives Buddha was born as a
bull, then as an elephant, then as a snake. Why did he choose
to be born as a bull when he was enlightened? Because he
thought, If I am born in a family of bulls, then I will give
knowledge to another bull, because a bull can only understand
the language of a bull. An elephant does not understand my
language and if I try to teach him Gita he won’t understand
it. However, if an elephant knows Gita and teaches it to other
elephants, then it is possible for them to evolve.
In the same way, when I leave my body I will choose to
be born from the womb of a mother who is of a very inferior
caste. After being born in that family, I will teach dharma to
my father and mother as well as the labourers and sweepers
who live around me, so that they can also inculcate good
samskaras. This phenomenon is called boddhisattwa. As a
boddhisattwa, Lord Buddha took birth in many incarnations
in the families of animals and low caste people. He also took
birth in the houses of a businessman, a minister and a king,
and everywhere he taught dharma. Sadhus and mahatmas
should have this ideal. Everybody is prone to think, I will
be born in a high caste family and my fame will spread.

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Why should I think like them? Let me live with the poor,
downtrodden, dirty and illiterate people. If I can live in a
small hut, have a family and children, face the pleasures and
pains of life and yet still live like a sadhu while moving in the
cycle of worldliness, then that is something. Namdev lived
like this and he became immortal.

Karma not caste

Nobody becomes high or low by being born in a high or low
caste. It is not caste but karma, one’s thoughts and deeds,
that makes a person high or low. If you are born in a family
of high caste but your karmas are of the lowest order, then
how can you be considered as high? If you are born in the
house of a sweeper who carries buckets of shit on his head
everyday, but you have high thoughts, you will be considered
as high. God will consider you high because a man rises by
his thoughts. He who thinks high is high, he who thinks low
is low. When I leave my body, I am going to be born to you
village people, so that I can preach Ramayana and Gita to
your mother and to my mother. I will teach all the villagers
to think high.
Sadhus dream of living in a small hut; they don’t desire
to live in temples and ashrams. Villagers live in huts and
sadhu-mahatmas also live in huts, but villagers are not
sadhus because they cannot think like I do. If my thinking
becomes your thinking, then all is bliss. Then these torn
clothes that you are wearing will give you the same pleasure
as nicely stitched clothing. If your head is right, your life is
right, it is as simple as that. As far as the question of poverty
is concerned, poverty exists everywhere in the world. This
country may have material poverty, but poor people are
everywhere, fools and cheats are everywhere, quarrels and
fights are everywhere, not only here.
There is one thing you should all remember after leaving
this body: if Swami Satyananda is born in your family as
your son, then you will have problems. You may want a large
home, lots of money and a life of comfort and luxury, but I

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will say, “No mother, I will wear only a loincloth.” Then you
will begin to think, “Why have I produced such a son who
only wants to wear a loincloth?” I will teach Gita, Ramayana
and Srimad Bhagavatam. I will also teach the way to live and
the various skills required in life: how to raise cattle, cultivate
the fields, grow sugarcane, keep a pass book and a fixed
deposit. I will teach everything necessary for a better life.
Therefore, pray to God for a son who brings both yoga and
bhoga into your home. Yoga means high thinking, wisdom,
divine thinking, and bhoga means prosperity, progeny, good
food and comfort. Both are necessary for a full life.

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 Pilgrimage Sites

I n Kashmir there are many ancient pilgrimage places

of a very high order. For Hindus there are several impor­
tant Shiva temples, a Raghunath temple and a Gorakhnath
temple. Jwala Mukhi is also a sacred shrine. For Muslims
there is the renowned Hazrat Bal where the hair of Hazrat
Mohammed is enshrined. These great establishments are
visited by thousands of pilgrims from all parts of India.
Initially, Hindus and Muslims went together to Hazrat Bal
and other places of worship in Kashmir. Only now disputes
are being created; before there were none.
Climbing down from Joshi Math towards Vishnu Ganga,
on the route to Badrinath, you will find a new establishment
called Tapovanam developing now. Sadhus are gradually
moving from Badrinath, because it is getting very congested
with people, shops, eggs, chickens and the like. Sadhus don’t
like this. So they are moving towards Tapovanam, which has
hot water springs as well.
You have to walk fourteen miles to reach Gomukh from
Gangotri. On the way there is a small establishment of Lal
Baba. I visited it when I was in Rishikesh. In the night we
used to light a fire there and everybody sat around it, one
sadhu smoking bidis or ganja, another drinking, somebody
else singing. Nobody told anyone else to stop disturbing
him or prevented anyone from singing. Sadhus are trained

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to live with others. When ten or twelve sadhus share a room,
nobody is anybody’s slave or master and nobody listens to
anybody else. Someone sings, others laugh, smoke ganja or
drink. There are no restrictions for avadhootas; they can even
drink. For a person who sleeps in the cold, alcohol is nothing.
But for a man who lives in comfort and luxury with two extra
thick mattresses, alcohol is poison. The yogis of Juna Akhara
don’t need a roof over their heads. They find some sticks of
wood, light a fire, sit around it and smear ash on their bodies.
Whether it is raining or snowing doesn’t matter, they just cover
themselves with a towel. They never catch a cold, nor do they
suffer from pneumonia. Those sadhus are warriors.
Himkunda is another place on the way to Gangotri. It is
situated at a height of 14,000 feet and in order to reach it you
have to cross the river Ganga. Very good arrangements for
travellers have been made by the Sikhs who provide food, a
quilt and hot water for your bath. They have built a gurudwara
there, because Guru Nanak performed austerities at that site
in a past life. This is mentioned in Guru Granth Sahib and
many pilgrims go there. They sing bhajans and kirtan every
morning and evening at a height of 14,000 feet, where even
the frequency of sound changes. The people who maintain
this shrine are very well behaved and you feel very good there.

Be alert everywhere
It is good to visit places of pilgrimage, but you must
remember one thing: wherever you go you will always find
a mixture of the three gunas. Tamoguna, rajoguna and
sattoguna are everywhere in this creation. Therefore, don’t
go to any holy place thinking that it is a shrine for Lord
Vishnu and everybody there will behave like a Vaishnavite.
Evil grows in the shade of religion. The shadow of dharma
also gives shelter and opportunity for adharma to grow.
In India, for example, donning the white Gandhi cap has
become the mark of politicians. To every Indian this cap
is a symbol of everything that Mahatma Gandhi stood for,
but today you find both good and bad people wearing it.

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Everyone can find shelter under the shadow of a huge
banyan tree, be he a sadhu, a rich merchant or a thief. The
tree gives equal shade to them all.
The spirit of visiting pilgrimage sites is now catching on
in India, especially with females, which is a good sign. In
western countries it is absolutely normal for girls to travel
alone. It is necessary that our girls also begin travelling to
pilgrimage sites and tourist places on their own. You should
not think, “How can girls travel alone?” There are more
good people than bad in this world and there is no difficulty
in travelling. It is only a psychological fear that prevents girls
from travelling on their own.

Baidyanath Dham
Here in Deoghar, there is a temple called Baidyanath
Dham. The word baidya means ‘doctor’, nath means ‘chief ’.
Baba Baidyanath heals the ills of life. The pilgrims to Baba
Baidyanath start their journey from a place on the banks
of the river Ganga which is about ninety kilometres from
here. They cover the entire route on foot, reaching here in
four days, carrying pots of Ganga water with great care on
their shoulders. Some people also prostrate at every step of
the journey. Doing namaskara, they prostrate on the road
and pray with each step throughout the ninety kilometres
until they reach the temple. It takes a long time, maybe a
few months for them to reach here. People suffering from
incurable diseases take this observance. That is austerity, or
tapasya, perhaps it is like purgatory. Man has made so many
mistakes in his lifetime. In order to eliminate the karma, he
undertakes many forms of austerity and this is one of them.
This type of austerity, which is known as prayaschit, is a part
of the vedic dharma, and it is found in Christianity as well.

Monserrat
In 1982 I went to Barcelona. About sixty miles from there
is a mountain known as Monserrat. When the Turks of
the Ottoman Empire attacked Spain, a sadhu monk hid a

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wooden statue of the Madonna in a cave. He used to light a
fire there for food, warmth and protection from wild animals.
In the course of time, the statue became black from the
constant smoke which charred the wood. That statue appears
like Mother Kali and is known as the Black Madonna. I went
to that mountain for darshan of the Black Madonna. Prayers
are conducted daily in the church there. Tens of thousands
go to offer their prayers and plead for a remedy for their
afflictions. Some pray for a son, others for long life, just
as they pray here to Baba Baidyanath. Monserrat is a very
sacred and beautiful place, and well-managed. Many people
also climb the mountain, prostrating themselves at each step.
Some even carry a cross on their shoulders as penance.

Mecca
Mecca is a very sacred pilgrimage place and every Muslim
goes at least once in his lifetime. Non-Muslims are not
allowed inside. The only non-Muslim who was allowed to
see Mecca was Guru Nanak, the first guru of the Sikhs,
although he himself was not a Sikh. He went to Mecca and
upon reaching there lay down and went to sleep, as he was
very tired from the arduous journey. A man from a nearby
village happened to see him lying there and asked, “Who are
you?” Guru Nanak said, “I am an old traveller.” The villager
said, “But your legs are facing towards the sacred Mecca.”
Guru Nanak replied, “I am a tired, old man. You put my
legs where there is no Mecca.” So the villager moved his
feet, but then Mecca also moved. Whichever way he turned
Guru Nanak’s feet, there was the Kaba. Then they said, “This
is not an ordinary man,” and so he was allowed into the
sanctum sanctorum.
At the Kaba in Mecca there is a black stone, shaped
somewhat like a shivalingam. I have not been there, but
many years ago I saw it in America via satellite transmission
along with millions of other people. When pilgrims go to
Mecca, they land at Jeddah airport. There they deposit all
their clothing and belongings, including their passport,

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and then they receive an identity card. While they are in
Mecca they have to wear a dhoti and an upper cloth which
must be unstitched. There is no singing, television, radio,
newspapers, or any form of entertainment permitted in
Mecca. A pilgrim on Haj only has to chant Allah-o-Akbar,
forgetting the whole world. One must rise above, or go
beyond both joy and sorrow, but people make no effort in
this direction throughout their lives.
In Mecca discipline is observed in the strictest sense
and maintained far better than by the pilgrims here. When
people go to holy places in India, they listen to popular
cinema music. That music also includes songs for Shiva and
Devi, but they are very vulgar and distorted. The feeling
of devotion, the mood for worship, is distorted by those
cheap songs. Even here, Ramayana is played on this side and
cheap music is played on the other side. This means that we
are not a sensitive race of people. We have to be sensitive
in these matters. While boiling milk, for example, if salt
is added instead of sugar, the milk will curdle. We have to
be careful and sensitive. Petrol should not be kept near fire
because there can be an accident. This maxim is the same
everywhere. The race which is sensitive observes certain
principles, but our race has lost this sensitivity.
Previously, I had no inclination to settle in Rikhia. I
wanted to stay in one of the holy places along the Ganga.
However, all those teerthas have become very dirty and there
are shops everywhere. I had to cancel my plans to stay at
Rishikesh, Gangotri, Uttarkashi, Tapovan and many other
places, but I liked this place. We should be as sensitive about
spiritual matters as Muslims are, because in matters related
to God, religion, spiritual life and beliefs, purity must be
maintained. Baidyanath Dham is such a nice place. We can
go inside and see how great it is. But the moment we come
out, we see people sitting in queues openly defecating!
These holy shrines are places of worship and, therefore,
an atmosphere of purity, cleanliness and beauty should be
maintained all around them.

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 Historical Fact
and Tradition
H istorians have stated many facts about where the
great Mahabharata war occurred around five thous­
and years ago. This appears strange, because people are
not even clear about the history of the last two and a half
thousand years, not to speak of beyond that. They cannot
trace the history of Nalanda, of Ashoka and Chandragupta.
They are not able to trace the history of Adi Shankaracharya
dating back eight hundred to one thousand years. Somebody
says eight hundred years, another says eleven hundred,
someone else claims two thousand years, but historians have
discovered a few facts. For example, when Lord Krishna left
Mathura with all his clan, they came to an island known as
Vrihad Dwarika and settled there. There is no trace of this
island now and nobody knows about it anymore, but the
scientists and archaeologists have found stones and other
remnants below the sea.
In the same way, the land on which the Mahabharata
was fought is now in Afghanistan. Kurukshetra is not
here in what is known as present day India. If you closely
examine the kind of war the Mahabharata was, the kind of
personalities Bhimsen, Duryodhana or Draupadi were, you
will not be able to find these personality types in India today.
This is a passive community. It is family oriented, laying
too much emphasis on the family system. How can it fight?

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The Afghans, on the other hand, are a fighting community.
We think only of petty family affairs, but fighters have
different priorities. The priority of Draupadi, Bhimsen and
Duryodhana was revenge at any cost. Fighters have their own
individuality.
History says that the Mahabharata war ended near Kabul.
It was a kind of civil war but it became global due to the
involvement of many kingdoms. It was a very large war. We
cannot know everything about it, because there are only
little hints given about it in the ancient texts. Our country
does not have enough resources to excavate, find the ruins
and decipher the languages. In this regard, however, one
thing is definite: if any controversy arises over what is fact
and what is the accepted tradition, I will be the first victim,
because the cultural significance of the Mahabharata will be
finished in the minds of the people. The Lakshagriha (House
of Lakh) was situated in Varnavrat near Uttarkashi. There
is a traditional legend about that place, but people believe
something else.
Often the realities are entirely different to what we
believe. The fact is that when Chaitanya Mahaprabhu went
to Mathura and Vrindavan, he had inner visions about
where the Lord played, where he stole the clothes of the
gopis, where the prison was in which he was born. When
he expressed his realizations, the established views of the
people were shattered. Imagine how difficult this would
have become for him. Therefore, although the facts may
be misinformed, the ancient history which remains today
portrays certain images for us of Lord Rama, Lord Krishna,
where the Mahabharata war took place, and where Rama
and Ravana fought. However, if I were to give my views you
would not want to believe them. The views that prevail today
would contradict them.
Today, if archaeologists were to go to Afghanistan,
find those coins and ruins, and thus confirm the reality of
Kurukshetra, even then the majority of people would not
believe them. But there is an intellectual class of scientists

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and historians who would believe it. The special thing about
today’s culture is that whatever you say must be backed up
by data, hard facts and statistics. Historical facts like those
about Dwarika are now being gathered, although no data
has yet been found about Ayodhya. Lord Rama was born in
the Treta Yuga. Dwapar Yuga followed Treta, and Kali Yuga
followed Dwapar. It has been about five thousand years or
more since Kali Yuga began. Lord Krishna was born at the
end of Dwapar, and Rama was born at the end of Treta. After
so many thousands or millions of years, do you expect to
find those archaeological remains when metres of solar dust
and industrial dust have piled up and many landshifts and
landslides have occurred?

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 Dance of Shiva

I n the 1930s I learnt dance at the academy of Uday

Shankar. At that time he had just come back from Russia
and established his cultural institute at my home town,
Almora. Later, I gave dance performances in India right up
until 1967. I know Bharat Natyam and Kathak, but it would
not be decent on my part to dance at this age. Now, only the
Tandava Nritya would be fitting. When Lord Shiva became
old he changed the style of his dance. He thought that this
dhik, dhik, dhak would not do. So he started the Tandava
Nritya and it looked decent for his age, abdomen and waist.
Lord Shiva performed the dance of Nataraja when he was
young. There was a competition between Shiva and Parvati.
Whichever pose Lord Shiva adopted, Parvati immediately
copied it. Then Shiva thought, “Oh Lord, I’m going to lose
this competition.” So he took the pose of Nataraja with one
leg up in the air. Indian ladies have difficulties with one leg
up, but if Parvati had been from Europe she would not have
been defeated! Had Parvati belonged to the land of these
Gorang Mahaprabhus, Lord Shiva would have lost because
she would also have lifted one leg like him. But the poor
lady felt shy and said to herself, “If I lift my foot or leg, my
decorum will be lost. People will say, ‘What sort of Goddess
is she?’ and this story will trickle down from one generation
to another.” So Parvati felt embarrassed.

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 Lord Shiva did the Nataraja dance when he was young.
The word nat means ‘dance’ and raja means ‘king’, so
Nataraja is the king of dance. There is a kirtan: Nataraja
Nataraja Shiva Shiva Nataraja. But when Shiva became old,
he didn’t do the Nataraja dance any longer because it did
not suit him, so he composed the Tandava Nritya. Tandava
Nritya means foot anywhere, hand anywhere, body anyway,
but dance you must! Tandava Nritya actually means wherever
the foot falls, let it fall. It is immaterial whether it goes up or
down, to the left or right. Only the beat should be there, and
that too pretty fast, like Michael Jackson. Swami Niranjan
also dances like this, he is an expert. The dances that people
do in the West are all Shiva’s dance. Put your foot anywhere,
do anything, but it has to have rhythm, and that rhythm has
to be very fast. That is Tandava.
Tandava means out of control. It is the dance of
destruction, not destruction of life, but destruction of maya.
So the Tandava Nritya is the dance of destruction. Shiva
dances the Tandava to terminate the world, or samsara. But
samsara doesn’t mean the material objects of this world,
it means the manifest, material consciousness, the illusory
nature, the maya. Don’t think that by such a dance your
society, house, family and friends will all be destroyed.
Samsara means the worldly nature within man, the ignorance
inherent in worldliness, the hypocrisy. These are what
are destroyed. God only destroys illusion, ignorance, the
material nature of our thinking.
When the sun rises, what does it destroy? Darkness, not
light. In the same manner, when Shiva dances the Tandava,
it is said that he is enacting the dance of dissolution, pralaya.
What is pralaya? When mind dissolves in Self, that is
pralaya, the dissolution or merger of me and you. Laya, or
dissolution, doesn’t mean destruction, it is the merger of one
into another. It is the cosmic dance of Shiva, representing
destruction. This is not the destruction of reality or of light,
but of all the dark forces within the mind and consciousness.

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 Christ Kutir

G uru is a global tradition. Spiritually enlightened beings

are born everywhere, in every society, but it is in
India that they are patronized, respected, maintained and
heeded. Many religious traditions don’t have gurus because
they believe in the books. The Jews believe in the Torah,
Christians in the Bible, Muslims in the Koran and Sikhs
in the Guru Granth Sahib. All religions believe in books,
not in man, because books are a revelation from God. The
Koran was revealed by Him through Mohammed; the Bible
was revealed through various prophets and saints. Who was
Christ? Who was Mohammed? They did not sacrifice Christ,
but they crucified him because they wanted to get rid of this
man who was challenging what was written in the books. In
India we have many revealed books as well. We believe in
the Vedas, the Ramayana, but we also realize that we don’t
understand these ancient tenets.
There has to be somebody who understands them to
explain these texts. The person who can explain them is the
guru. There are many passages in the scriptures of every
religion which are not explained and cannot be understood.
It is only the guru who comes to explain them. Some
believers said, “No guru is required to explain; just follow
what is written there!” In India we know that the Vedas and
Upanishads are great, but we are not great. We are ordinary

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people who may not understand correctly, so we need an
explanation from a guru who has realized the truth. So, for
this reason, the guru is respected in India. Minor lapses of
the guru are forgotten. Gurus are awarded a sort of amnesty
here, but this is not the case abroad. Although guru is a
global tradition, you won’t find gurus arising from the West
or the Middle East. They may be born there, but they are
not allowed to survive. That is the reason why the tradition
of guru has started from India since time immemorial.

Christ in India
The ancestors of Jesus Christ had migrated to Israel from
Kashmir via Iraq. There is a history of this recorded in
books. You may not have read them, but I have. In the Dead
Sea Scrolls a monastic community is described called the
Essenes. Christ visited them and asked questions to which
they had no reply. So they told him to go to India in order
that his questions could be answered. Christ came to India
at an early age and stayed here for thirteen years. These are
the lost years which are not mentioned in the Bible. From
India, he went to Nepal, then to Benares and Puri, where
he participated in the Ratha Yatra. He also went to Kerala
in South India and to many other places, where there is
evidence of his visits. Many recorded texts are available.
During his travels in India, Christ made certain observ­
ations and then returned to Israel. When he returned, he
took two great philosophical influences with him: one was
Buddhism and the other was Vaishnavism. Buddhism is a
fixed code of conduct, morality, truth, non-violence, goodness,
non-stealing, etc. Vaishnavism is extreme devotion, surrender
to God, bhakti. However, when Christ started to teach these
things amongst his people, they did not like it. They said,
“What nonsense this man is talking!” Ultimately, Christ
became a political scapegoat and was crucified. However, he
did not die on the cross, although he was in a very weakened
condition. When he was removed from the cross, herbal
treatment was administered to him and he recovered.

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 After recovering, he was forced to flee from his own
land and he went to Europe and then to Iraq, where he
stayed for many years. So he was quite old by the time he
reached India; he was not young. He arrived at Srinagar,
Kashmir, a Himalayan valley, thirty years after the date of
his crucifixion with his mother Mary, whom we call Miriam,
and his girlfriend, Mary Magdalene, the same one he had
saved from being stoned. In Srinagar, there is the tomb of
Christ and Mary. The tomb of Christ is called Nabi Asaf and
Isu Asaf. The caretaker of that tomb is a Muslim, and he
has a complete scroll in which all these historical events are
recorded. Many great scholars from Europe come to see that
scroll and offer to pay him a lot of money, but he does not
show it to them. Although he looks after the tomb of Christ,
he is a Muslim, and Muslims are unshakeable in their faith
and religion.

Giving and receiving

These facts about Christ are not accepted by Christians
at all. I have told you all this because we have established
Christ Kutir here. I want to show that a Hindu can go to
a church or a mosque. I participate in namaz on Fridays.
I can teach you namaz because I know how to do it. I can
preach in a church because I know the Bible. In the same
way, why can’t a Christian or a Muslim pray according to the
vedic tradition? This can surely happen if disharmony is not
created by vested interests. But if it happens those vested
interests will become powerless because their primary aim
is to separate the religions into factions. That is why Christ
Kutir was made, and you must visit it. Offer some money and
prayers there and you never know, the blessings of Christ
may descend faster.
Receiving the blessings of Christ does not mean
becoming a Christian. You remain a follower of the religion
in which you have been born. Changing sects is one thing
and following a religion is a different thing. Changing
sects is a political process, a socio-political behaviour, but

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worshipping God and having devotion is an altogether
different thing. If you want to worship and chant in Arabic,
what does it matter? You can pray early in the morning, not
in Sanskrit but in Arabic. We find it odd because we don’t
know Arabic and we like classical prayers in Sanskrit because
we are familiar with the language. Anyway, whichever
language you pray in, you should go to Christ Kutir. Offer
some money, there is no harm in parting with little coins,
and, moreover, that money which you offer will come back to
you. I do not want any money. Where shall I keep it? I have
no pockets in my loincloth.

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 Disease Neurosis

P hysical diseases are present in each and everyone.

You are not the only sick person. You have a disease,
your father has a different disease and so on. Sickness of
one kind or another plagues each and everyone. But very
few people are able to live without the thought of disease
while they have a disease. Thoughts about disease constantly
circulate in the minds of most people. Recently, an elderly
man who has been acquainted with me for many years came
here to see me. He suffers from constipation and worries
about the toilet twenty-four hours a day. He is a rich man
and has tried every treatment: allopathy, naturopathy,
homeopathy, ayurveda, magnetotherapy and all the other
‘pathies’ which are popular. He has also been abroad for
some treatment but to no avail, and twenty-four hours of the
day the ghost of constipation is haunting him. For the last
twenty years I have been telling him that constipation is not
a disease, it is a mentality. He agrees but is unable to regulate
the switch.
The mind of man is made up of a metal which is
composed of two elements, raga and dwesha. The mind of
every human being, be it mine or yours, is afflicted by raga
and dwesha. Raga means ‘attachment’ and dwesha means
‘repulsion’. If you have a headache, the mind assumes the
corresponding pattern; tadakara vritti enters into it. The

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moment this vritti comes, the entire mentality assumes
the corresponding pattern. So you think, “Now I have a
headache. Is it due to a brain tumour?” and so on. Thoughts
of this kind begin to haunt the mind. If there is a pain in
the stomach, then you will think a thousand things. These
days modern science has given so much knowledge that you
know a stomach ache may mean renal colic, peptic ulcer, gall
bladder and so on. At least fifty diseases cross your mind,
including cancer.
How can the mind of man be freed from this neurosis?
Lord Buddha, Mahavir, all the saints and mahatmas have
said that everybody who is born in this world has to undergo
suffering. Nobody is free from disease. If you ask each and
everyone you will find that this is true. Nobody is free from
disease, suffering or faults. We are all beggars, therefore, we
have to suffer. Those who are without fault become liberated.
If you ask the way to become fault free, nirakara, then I can
lecture you for hours. But if you ask the way to be free from
suffering, disease and poverty, I cannot give any remedy,
nor does God have one. If God had the power to eliminate
suffering and poverty, today you would not see even a single
poor person in this world. If nature had this capacity, you
would not see so many crippled people and incongruities in
life.

Forget your suffering

So listen carefully, you will have to forget your suffering and
this is the truth. Even when Lord Rama was born, he still did
gardening, watering and hard work in the ashram of his guru
for twelve years. Another twelve years he spent in exile. He
spent twenty-six years of his life without Sita, whom he loved
very much. So what pleasures did Lord Rama enjoy in his life?
There is no documentary evidence of his falling sick, but I am
not ready to accept that he never did, because whenever the
soul is embodied as a human being it is bound to fall sick.
Take the example of Lord Krishna. His life was threat­ened
even before his birth. He was on the hit list of Kansa before he

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was conceived. What did he do all his life? As a boy he grazed
the cows. When he grew older he was admitted to school,
which he would never attend. He spent a great part of his life
in the capital of Hastinapur, trying to sort out the problems
of his cousins, the Pandavas. In the end he was assassinated!
No matter how good one’s karmas are, whether one is a great
person or one is born as a partial incarnation of God, still he
will have to bear the afflictions of the physical body.
There are six afflictions of the body from birth to death,
known as shasta vikara. One affliction is old age. Nobody
can remain young forever, whoever is born has to grow old.
Another affliction is disease. When you suffer from disease,
the only way out is to find some way by which your mind
can forget the suffering for sometime, be it for an hour,
ten hours, one day, one month or four months. You should
be able to forget the suffering for sometime, just as a man
forgets everything when he is sleeping. You don’t feel any
pain in sleep because your mind is temporarily in a state
of suspension. But when the mind is alert and awake, then
what is the solution? That solution has to be found by you
independently.

No one is untainted
Many great people in the world, such as Einstein, Max
Plank and Madame Curie have been afflicted by one
disease or another. One was paralyzed, another was blind,
another could not walk. If you read Isaac Newton’s life
story, you will discover that he was sick all his life. Many
great musicians, artists and writers have been afflicted with
disease and poverty. Kalidas died in the house of a prostitute.
There has never been any poet greater than Kalidas. He
composed poetry in Sanskrit, but where did his life end?
In a red light area! I wouldn’t call him corrupt, but he was
not an untainted person. No artist or scientist has been
untainted. Only a few great people in this world whom we
call mahatmas or great souls have been untainted. Their
numbers can be counted on the fingertips.

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 In the course of life, you may be afflicted with many
different kinds of suffering due to pain, disease, death,
poverty, wealth, loss of friends, ill-repute and so on. In
such situations you must find a way to absorb your mind
in another subject where it dissolves totally. Ramakrishna
Paramahamsa had cancer, Adiguru Shankaracharya had
fistula, Ramana Maharshi had piles and Swami Vivekananda
had diabetes. How did they all deal with these sufferings?
They identified themselves with God, Brahman or Atman,
and not with disease and suffering. Therefore, the wise ask
God only for those things which are appropriate for their
spiritual evolution, and not for the removal of suffering,
disease or pain.

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 Avadhoota Tradition

I n my early life I had all those experiences which were

normal for my family, village and caste. When I came to
the ashram, however, I followed the rules of the gurukula
tradition, because all the ashrams in India from North to
South, whether Shaiva, Vaishnava or any other sect, follow
them. In India it is understood that the ashram is a place
where Buddhists, Jains, Hindus, Muslims and people of all
faiths and castes can come. People who believe in caste and
untouchability as well as people who live a totally modern life
can come. The ashrams must be maintained in such a way
that nobody has any objection.
In the next ten years you will find that the ashrams in
India will be filled to capacity. The best place for foreigners
to live in India is the ashram. There they get work to do
and food to eat. They find a detached community and an
opportunity to do kirtan, bhajan and sadhana. Moreover,
there is no worry about income tax, property tax and so
on. This is already happening with great speed. Crowds are
gathering, therefore, the ashrams should be organized under
the framework of new rules. Earlier the rules were framed
with only Indian people in view. Now rules should be made
for a global society. The rules for a global society and for
Indian society are different. In Shringeri and other maths
of Jagadguru Shankaracharya, the rules are framed only for

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a Hindu society. However, the rules here in Parama­hamsa
Alakh Bara are for a global society.

Transcending barriers
I have no trouble here because paramahamsas transcend
all the rules of sannyasa life. I am free from all restrictions.
The restrictions which are imposed on a sannyasin are
redundant in my case. Sannyasa has four stages: kutichaka,
bahudaka, hamsa and paramahamsa. As long as a sannyasin is
in the first three stages, he has to operate within a certain
framework of regulations, but today I’m free from it. The
rules don’t apply to me at all. I don’t have to put on geru.
I live an independent life as I wish. The rules apply to all
sannyasins, but the tradition of avadhoota is different. The
word dhoota means ‘consciousness’ and ava means ‘no’, so
avadhoota means a person who has completely transcended
normal consciousness and whose behaviour does not follow
the normal patterns of living.
Avadhoota is a separate tradition and a state of
consciousness as well. It may be that we wear clothes or
don’t wear anything at all. We can eat anything and do
anything. The tradition of avadhoota is related to the state
of consciousness. When the consciousness does not reside
in worldly matters, when it is free from the games of the
world, from pain and pleasure, from involvement in any
relations, illusions or attachments, then one is an avadhoota.
The avadhoota considers nobody as son or daughter, as
male or female. For him, garlands of flowers and snakes are
the same; nobody is wise or stupid. One who lives as a fool
among fools, a youth among youth, is an avadhoota.

Beyond duality
An avadhoota is someone who does not see any difference.
Although difference is apparent, still he does not see it. The
differences have always existed and they will continue to exist.
But suppose your consciousness becomes like that of a child of
one and a half or two years, then what will you see? That is the

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state of an avadhoota, when you become like a child. When the
duality of mind is completely extinct, when you become like a
two-year-old infant, the perception or awareness is different. If
you don’t know what a snake or a flower garland is then there
is no difference between them. That is the state of avadhoota,
when the distinction of duality ceases. In the state of duality, I
am a big officer and you are a small man, I am a male and you
are a female, I am good and you are bad. Whenever you think
like this, duality exists. But when only oneness is experienced,
that is advaita, non-duality.
The state of non-duality is attained slowly through effort;
there is no urgency. When you reach that state, then you
have gone beyond all bondages. The avadhoota stage is
attained by only a few saints, and when they attain this state
their behaviour becomes just like that of a small child. When
their consciousness is like that of a small child, it becomes
necessary for someone to look after them. They should be
watched, otherwise they might drop their clothes and walk
away, fall into some pit or get lost somewhere. Therefore,
some sevak must be there to look after him, and in that way
he lives with his guru.
At present I can protect myself, wash myself, go to the
toilet, cook for myself, take my meals, open and close the
doors, and talk to people, so I am in the dual state. But
someday, by God’s grace, it may happen that my fuse will
blow, then the bulb of normal sensorial awareness will blow
too. If the light of worldliness blows out, then who will look
after me? Because at that time I would not think according to
dualistic worldliness. At that time the disciples would have to
look after me. This state is attained when a person performs
hard austerities with a pure heart. He does not desire name or
fame, disciples or institutions, attachments or illusions, wife or
long life. He does not even desire to be disease free. If there is
suffering, toil and pain, let it remain! If there is no food today
it doesn’t matter! He does not mind anything. This is a very
high state. Many rishis and munis have attained this state.
Jada Bharat was a rishi who attained this state.

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 Living Experience

T he word Atman is used synonymously with Brahman;

there is no difference. Atmavidya, Brahmavidya, Adhyatma­
vidya are the philosophies related with these terms. Anyone
can understand them by reading the books, but experience
is very difficult to obtain. As far as rational explanation
and understanding are concerned, anybody can explain
and anybody can understand these terms, but there is
something else called experience. What does experience
mean? Experience is not possible through the mind, senses or
intellect. It is called living experience which is the experience
of the soul. The path of living the experience is very difficult.
Only a few walk that way, and out of them one or two reach
half way; very rarely does someone make it to the end. It is a
state in which everything is seen right in front.
You may sit down and read an entire book about America,
Russia or the atom bomb, but you have not exper­ienced
it, you have not actually seen it. Similarly, the experience
of the soul is called Atmavidya or Brahmavidya. The same
experience has a hundred different names; it is called the
vision of God, self-realization, moksha, kaivalya, samadhi
and so on. One living exp­er­ience has many names, and the
people who have lived them have not been able to express
them ultimately, just as nobody has been able to describe
the taste of cyanide. There is a story about a man who took

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cyanide as an experiment in order to be able to describe its
taste. But before he could spell it out, he passed away. In the
same way Kabir has also said,

No one returns from beyond

To whom I could run
And learn of the path to God.
All depart from here
With load after load
Of accumulated baggage.
My master comes from beyond
With knowledge
Profound and pure;
He pilots the battered
Boat of seekers
And ferries them
To the opposite shore.

So the question remains, what is that state? The Upani­shads

say it is like fire, like an explosion, like space, like wind or
like infinity. They go on hypothesizing until in the end they
have to say, ‘Neti, neti’ – not this, not this.

Path of realization
So, one should move on that path because it is a special
path. The path of sannyasa, no matter how the world
interprets it, is the path to the knowledge of divinity, the
path of Brahmavidya. The aim of a sannyasin is Atmavidya,
realization of the Self, not by commentaries, thinking or
reflection, but by direct experience, aparoksha anubhuti. That
experience which is independent of the mind and senses is
called aparoksha anubhuti. It cannot be accomplished in one
life; one has to struggle for it life after life. First you have to
find the path and then you have to walk it. When you are
walking on the path, it is not that you don’t fall, you do fall.
After all, you will become tired after walking and walking,
fall ill and think of turning back and putting an end to that

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journey. That happens because the path is not straight nor
is it easy to follow.
As a sincere sadhaka I must make this clear to you. I
have fallen on this journey. However, my fall is not the
same fall that you experience. One man falls down while
climbing and the other jumps straight down without making
any effort to rise. My fall is a part of the spiritual journey,
whereas your fall is not. You fall because you have to, it is
your destiny. Everyone of you has to come to this path one
day or another, whether you wish it or not. So, if you find
someone who can give you the experience, then a start can
be made. This experience does not happen automatically;
you need someone to give it to you. As far as the experience
is concerned it is effortless, but to reach it requires effort and
you have to make the effort yourself. The experience itself is
transcendental, beyond logic, beyond mind. Therefore, the
Upanishads say, Na tatra vaacha agachchati na mano gachchati:
Neither speech nor mind can enter into that domain.

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Gurubhais and Ashram Days

D uring my travels in America, I met the renowned artist

  Peter Max whose work was used at the world summit
on the environment in Rio de Janeiro. He had the rare
ability to visualize extraordinary colour combinations and
reproduce them on canvas. Because of his unique colour
combinations, he became a very rich and famous artist.
Later, he connected with the swamis coming from India,
such as Swami Satchidananda, Swami Shivapremananda
and myself. He has written several books on art in which he
quotes the Vedas, Vedanta, the Upanishads, the Gita, Swami
Satchidananda and Swami Sivananda. He does not quote
anybody else. He is a very simple man.

Swami Ramamurti
I also met a good swami called Swami Ramamurti. He was
a medical doctor from Aligarh, India, who migrated to
the USA. Before sannyasa he was known as Dr Ramamurti
Mishra. He was a brahmin Sanskrit scholar and also a
neurosurgeon in the New York Hospital. After certain
miraculous experiences he gave up his job and started
teaching Vedanta and Sanskrit. He established a large
ashram in Munro, New York on 125 acres of land which
he named Ananda Ashram. He founded that ashram for
any sannyasin who had just come from India. I first met Dr

153
Ramamurti at a reception in London in 1967, and he invited
me to stay at Ananda Ashram when I visited America. So
when we arrived in America, we went straight to Ananda
Ashram. There we were given a room with a kitchen and
programs were organized for us.
It was Ramamurti Mishra who opened the channel there.
He was what we would call the reception centre for Indian
genius. His Ananda Ashram went very well. All the talented
swamis, artists and musicians went to Ananda ashram when
they first arrived in America and all these formative geniuses
were good friends.
New York is the place which receives all the sannyasins,
all the genius from India, and San Francisco is the place
which ultimately absorbs them. San Francisco is a very
spiritual city, like the Varanasi of India, because all the
sadhus and saints have their ashrams there. You can read in
the daily newspapers about lectures on Vedanta, Samkhya,
classical Indian musical recitals and so on. San Francisco is
the holy city of the USA. There were many families I met
there who remembered Rabindranath Tagore and other
eminent Indian personalities.

Swami Satchidananda
My gurubhai, Swami Satchidananda, who belongs to Jaffna
in Sri Lanka, also went to New York and Connecticut via
Ananda Ashram. He is a Tamil of Jaffna state. Between the
two of us it is only a matter of two or three years junior or
senior. I came first and then he arrived. When he came to
the ashram in Rishikesh he never shaved but always kept a
beard and moustache, right from the beginning. He used to
practise all the kriyas of hatha yoga.

Friend of none
Whenever I went to America, Europe or Italy, we used
to call Swami Satchidananda. We called him to India as
well. But we did not run after each other because, despite
being gurubhais, we believe that everyone comes into this

154
world alone, nobody comes with anybody else. Everybody
comes alone and everybody will go alone. So why keep this
attachment for anyone? Moreover, a sadhu is the friend of no
one; he takes a puff and then moves on. One should never
be anyone’s friend. Everybody has come with his karma.
Mother, father, sister, brother, everyone has come with and
lives with their own karmas, but by some mistaken notion we
think we should be dependent on each other.
This dependence on others is imbibed from childhood.
It is also taught in the study of social sciences that your
burden is on me and I am dependent on you. We call it
responsibility or accountability. However, in truth, there is
nothing like that. Every person has come into this world
with independent karma, which he has earned for himself
individually. He comes with his earnings and he departs
with his earnings. I agree that you are my sister, mother,
son or brother, but this is just a relationship for the sake of
convenience. It is just a belief and nothing else. Therefore,
sannyasins do not run after gurubhais.
Another of my gurubhais, Swami Shivapremananda,
lives in Chile. He is from a Bengali family which settled in
Bhagalpur. We met in 1956–57 and became good friends.
So my gurubhais are spread all over the globe on every
continent. Wherever I go I find sannyasins and gurubhais,
but I understand that I have come alone with my karma, and
my gurubhais have come with their karma.

My reign of terror
All my gurubhais have been gentlemen: Swami Chid­
ananda, Swami Satchidananda, Swami Shivapremananda,
but I was never a gentleman. It is only now that I have
become a gentleman. I was what you call a bully. Rishikesh
was under my reign of terror. I did not spare anyone who
made mischief in the ashram. You have such bullying types
of people in your cities. I was like that in Rishikesh and
everybody was afraid of me.

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 Since childhood, I have lived in that type of environ­ment.
I used to get upset with my guru as well. Once I even threw
the keys at him and said, “Run your ashram yourself by your
own rules.” Actually, what happened was that my guru had
made a rule that first the food would be offered upstairs
in the temple of Lord Vishwanath where the worship was
done. After that, the bell for meals would be rung and then
everybody would eat. One day Swamiji was visited by a guest,
Mr. Gangasharan, he was a very devoted man. At that time
I was the kitchen in charge and Swamiji said to me, “Serve
him some food.” I replied, “There is still some time before
the bell.” Swamiji said, “He is also a god.” I said, “Okay, then
take your keys and feed him yourself. I am going.” And I left
the kitchen.
So I used to get upset with my guru as well. However, it
never lasted long because my guru was a very nice person
and it is difficult to be angry with a nice person. He was
gentle, like a cow, totally calm and quiet. It is very difficult to
get agitated with such a person. It is very easy to fight with
a man who gets angry. If you speak loudly to me then my
shouting will be justified. But my guru never shouted, he
was always peaceful. His mind was totally tranquil, but still I
said to him, “Take your keys and run your own ashram. I am
going.” And I shut myself in my room. For three days I kept
myself locked up because of anger. I knew I should not have
said anything harsh to Gurudev, but my anger was so strong.
So, for three days I kept my door locked from the inside and
did not go outside, even for food, to the bathroom or the
toilet. Then, on the third day I began to feel restless. When
my stomach was empty, my mind cooled down a little.
My gurubhais used to say that all the signs of a saint were
present in them but absent in me. I had no saintly qualities.
A saint should be gentle, but I was never gentle. Only now
have I become a little mild. But despite this, I was always
the first to follow what my guru said. He said, “Spread the
message of yoga throughout the world and give it a scientific
outlook.” Nobody else could do this, but I did it. So, it is not

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only the good disciples that guru’s grace is showered upon.
The most offensive son proves to be useful at times.

A sannyasin’s cause
In 1947 I was in Lahore during the Indo-Pakistan partition
riot and I saw all the violence with my own eyes. I was
rescued from there by the army. When the partition of
the two countries was made, thousands of people were
slaughtered while crossing the borders. After that, the
Marwari Relief Society in Calcutta asked for some swamis
to help and my name was given. Fallen from the sky and
stuck in a palm tree – that was my situation. So, I was sent
to a refugee centre in Bangladesh. Everybody was running
for their lives. Some people were shooting, others were
cutting throats. The refugees lived in tents and there was a
big kitchen for them. I was in charge of the kitchen which
had to feed four to five thousand people daily. I had to take
responsibility as chief and get the work done. One day the
truckload of grain did not arrive. Rice and dal were to come
but nothing arrived. It was getting on for four o’clock and
I was wondering what was the matter. Then the news came
that the truck had been looted on the way. “Okay,” I said,
“tomorrow I will go with the truck.”
The next day we loaded the truck and I kept a rifle with
me. On the way some people tried to stop us, but I managed
to thwart them and they ran away. For one week we escorted
the truck in this way. Then one day someone saw me in the
truck and said, “That is the man who is stopping us from
plundering the truck, identify him.” That was it. I left the
refugee camp that very day and went to Calcutta. I resigned
from the Marwari Relief Society and cleared my account.
I said, “This is not the kind of work for a sannyasin. My
dharma is service, but a sannyasin lives for a higher purpose.
If I feed people at the risk of my life and one day someone
kills me, my service is of little value. I was not born to die
such a cheap death. If I have to die, I will die for a cause.”
So, I refused to work like that any more.

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Becoming soft
But by the grace of my guru I gradually became softer and
softer. Today, I have become so soft that I won’t move even
if these villagers come to kill me. I will not retaliate because
now I feel that one who expresses anger is a fool. I was a
foolish man. The wise remain quiet. Non-violence or non-
cruelty is the greatest quality of a human being. This is
the quality of learned men. Fighting, beating, abusing and
teasing are not the qualities of a saint, they are not even the
qualities of a human being. But this anger was my samskara.
When I was born, the first thing I touched was a rifle. So
you can imagine what the samskaras are of such a man. My
parents could have made me touch the Gita, Ramayana or
tulsi leaves, but they chose a rifle. I have heard that Swami
Vivekananda also used to get very angry. He was a partial
incarnation of Lord Shiva. When he got angry, people
poured water on his head to cool him down.

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 Diversity is Truth

T here was a great Vaishnava saint who used to say, “If

only mango trees grew on this earth and all the babool
trees vanished, how dull it would look! There should be
mango trees, but there should also be banyan trees, thorny
trees and other types of fruit and flowering trees also. All
the varieties should be there, only then can you say how
beautiful this earth is.” Beauty lies in diversity, monotony
is unpleasant. In this world variety has been created by
God. At the beginning of the Ramayana it is mentioned
that sin and merit, pleasure and pain, auspiciousness and
inauspiciousness, night and day, ascetics and criminals,
demons and devas, good and bad, everything has been
created by Lord Brahma, the creator, in order to make the
world beautiful.
First of all, God created two things: one was light and
the other was darkness, and the fun is that they are both
linked to each other. Can you imagine darkness without
light? So, darkness and light are interrelated. If you want
God to create only light and not darkness, He will say, “I
can’t do it. If there is light, there has to be darkness.” God
has created this world with variety. You can see variety and
diversity everywhere. Diversity exists within the house,
within the nation; you can see it everywhere. In the history
of India there have been many people who envisioned unity

159
in diversity, but their numbers are gradually decreasing. We
always wanted unity in diversity. If you look inside an orange
there are many slices, but from the outside it is one.

No two alike
In this world no two people are alike. Two brothers and two
sisters are not alike, even twins differ. It is also true that no two
fingerprints are the same. In order to prove the identity of a
person, the left thumbprint is taken, because no two people
in the world share the same print. Isn’t it a great wonder that
every person has a unique thumbprint? It is amazing how God
creates differences. He has extraordinary plans and strange
ways of thinking. It is a scientific fact that no two thumbprints
are alike. Therefore, even in modern countries where people
are literate, the thumbprint is used because this is the best
means of identification. No one can change it. Illiterate
people use it instead of a signature, but even educated
people have to put their thumbprint on legal documents and
property transfers so that they cannot be duplicated.
If no two thumbprints are alike, then no two people
are alike. So how can two minds be alike? That means your
thinking will not match mine and my thinking will not
match yours. However, this does not mean there should be
conflict between us. Two people can live happily together
despite having different ideas and thinking patterns. It
is not compulsory that a husband and wife should think
alike. The husband may drink and eat meat, while the wife
does not drink and is a pure vegetarian. The husband may
gamble, but the wife does not. The husband is extroverted
and always jokes with others, while the wife likes solitude.
It is fine to have different natures and this should not be a
reason to fight. It is not possible that the nature of husband
and wife are like carbon copies. If you think marriage can be
successful only if the husband and wife have similar natures,
then you are mistaken.
This mathematics operates on the principle of plus
and minus, not on plus and plus. That is why you find a

160
dichotomy in religions, and differences in opinions and
feelings. In English people say, “I don’t want anything”,
and in Spanish, “I don’t want nothing”. The difference is
in the grammar. So when differences exist in the language,
in the clothing, in the habits, and if difference is the cause
of conflict, then it will never end. However, the root cause
of conflict is not difference, but man’s own weakness; it is
his own creation. If the conflict between two societies is
considered to be within one’s own mind, that should be
corrected. Until you correct your own mind, you cannot
change yourself or anyone else, no matter how much you
explain. It is good to change the rural masses, but even Lord
Buddha failed in this. All the prejudices that he stood against
still prevail. Although his knowledge came from within, the
people to whom he explained these things could not change
themselves.

Social change
Nevertheless, many aspects have been reformed, such as
animal sacrifice and so forth. Mahatma Gandhi, myself
and many others contributed to the transformation, but
individual change does not bring about a change in society.
Social change takes place through mass reformation, but it is
impossible now, because probably the way we are explaining
things to the people is not appropriate. Mahatma Gandhi
tried to impress upon people that untouchability is not
good, yet despite all his efforts it still continues. Inter­caste
marriages are not accepted, and it is rare that a boy rebels
and goes against this system. Only then does intercaste
marriage take place, otherwise the parents could not even
dream of it. A person belonging to a so-called forward
caste won’t search for a girl for his son among the so-called
backward castes. If the boy himself chooses such a girl, that
is a different story.
Social change can only take place when circumstances
change. An example of educated people is NRIs (Non-
Resident Indians) living abroad, those who have been born

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and brought up there. These people come to India to choose
a partner because abroad there is no tradition of arranged
marriage, so they come here to search. There was a Sindhi
boy of my acquaintance. He used to go to Paris and there he
became very close friends with a Punjabi girl. The parents
panicked and the matter was presented to me. I said, “What
does it matter if they decide to marry? The boy and the girl
have chosen each other. She is not a bad person.” I knew the
girl was educated, earning well and independent. She lived
on her own and had a good character and conduct.
The parents said, “Swamiji, this is not permissible in our
society.” I said, “What do you mean by your society? After
all, they are both Indians.” They did not understand, but
the boy became adamant with a little support from me. I
said, “Go ahead and marry,” and they got married, so it was
an intercaste marriage. The parents have not been able to
reconcile themselves with it even today, and that is why the
prejudice in our society remains. This is a small example,
but the fact is that as long as there is no change in our mind,
nobody can transform us. However, it is a Catch 22 situation
because by the time our society reforms, its needs will have
changed further.

Culture of diversity
In reality, we don’t belong to one culture. Everyone in France
is not French, just as in India everyone is not Indian. Some
have come from Afghanistan, some from Iran and other
places. Everyone in America is not American. All the people
in Britain are not British. All the people in Saudi Arabia are
not Saudi. There is no homogeneity. Everywhere there is a
mixed culture, there is diversity, and diversity is the truth.
We say there is one culture because of political exigencies. A
garden can’t just be mangoes or just roses. In a garden there
are many flowers, many trees, and many varieties of plants.
When we say Indian, Russian or Italian, we are talking
about a pluralistic society, a culture of many varieties. People
have come from all parts of the globe to participate in this

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Sat Chandi Maha Yajna. They may follow different religions,
but still they are initiated into the vedic tradition. Whether
you are a follower of the vedic tradition or not, still you can
read the Vedas, Upanishads and so on. Different countries
have different religions, but one is still free to learn about
other traditions. At kirtan tonight, you will see people from
all religions and nationalities singing together and you will
not feel any difference between them. It will feel as if lost
brothers and sisters have met again at one place. Slowly,
more and more people are arriving here, of all ages, colours,
castes, religions and nationalities, and therefore, this yajna is
unique.

Good samskaras grow slowly

The priests are conducting this yajna according to the vedic
tradition, and all the rules are being followed as far as
possible, but there are some limitations. You cannot bring
Ganga water by hand every time you feel thirsty. We get
water from a deep bore well. We don’t have an official water
supply here like they have in the cities. The arrangements
for food are made by people from Calcutta. We get milk from
Bhagalpur and Barauni. Our driver brings fifty litres of milk
everyday. It is not easy. These days the local cows do not have
the capacity that you read of in the scriptures, where they
speak about rivers of milk flowing. These days many people
hardly even get to see milk. But we will change the picture of
the place in the next few years. If they don’t have cereal, they
will surely have milk. Last year we donated many cows to the
villagers. However, I don’t want these people to become rich,
because the moment wealth comes, bottles of wine enter the
house. Wealth moves people away from their path.
Good samskaras must come before wealth, and they
will come only when people work hard and struggle. A free
supply of goods doesn’t work. Education becomes unnec­
essary. Therefore, the samskaras are growing slowly here
and the chiefs of the different villages understand these
things. I don’t see these people very often. The best way for

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a sannyasin to contact the masses is not to meet them. He
should remain in seclusion, do his sadhana, chant the Lord’s
name and do pooja. For a few days in a year, he may meet
the people and tell them whatever has to be told. There is
no need to go to each house like a social worker and spend
hours talking to them; that doesn’t work. A dog’s tail cannot
be straightened that easily. All the prophets in the past have
failed to bring about social reformation. Buddha failed,
Christ failed, Kabir failed, Shankaracharya failed, Gandhi
failed, but I do not want to fail. I don’t care about the failure
of others, but I won’t fail. I don’t want to be defeated like my
predecessors.

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 Sanskrit Language

S ing the name of the Mother. Listen to God’s name

  because it is the sweetest of all sweets, much better
than rasgullas and chocolates. If you hear two bhajans daily,
then all the bitterness that persists in the heart will vanish.
I have set all the beautiful Sanskrit slokas to music. I used
to compose music and teach it as well. I was never a formal
music teacher, but I used to compose music and my notation
books are still kept. I composed Saundarya Lahari in Yaman
Kalyan, Pashupati Stotra in Bhupali raga, Shiva Tandava
Stotra in Bhupali and so on. In my family Sanskrit was the
spoken language, just as you speak the local language in
your homes. So, my first language is Sanskrit and I began
to speak it after I was born. Later I learnt English in third
grade and Arabic/Urdu in fourth grade. I learnt Sanskrit first
and, therefore, my love for it is that which one has for the
mother tongue.
Our culture is deeply related to the Sanskrit language. It
is our mother tongue, and it has the force of the maternal
link with this culture. Sanskrit is our mother language, but
not the official language. Hindi is our official home language
and English is our business language for routine work.
Everyone talks about Sanskrit and how it should be revived.
However, in today’s world the basis of language is utility. The
language which is not useful will not survive, no matter how

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much cultural identification it carries and no matter how
much effort you make to revive it. Muslims are trying very
hard to revive the Urdu language through Urdu schools and
Urdu systems, but it is not useful at all. Similarly, Hindus are
trying to revive Sanskrit, but nothing happens because it is
not useful. However, Sanskrit does have a bright horizon if
its utility in computer sciences is discovered.
Computers can operate in any language: Hindi,
Urdu, Arabic, Chinese or Japanese. All the languages
and scripts have their respective computer programs, but
languages based on phonetics are more suited to computer
programming than others. Sanskrit is such a language.
There is a relationship between phonetic sounds and
written letters. The sounds which I am producing have a
corresponding form, which is known as a letter, a script. The
speech and script are interrelated, but at times it happens
that the speech is entirely different from its script. For
example, ‘pa’ is a sound and it can be written down in any
script. In English you write just ‘p’, in Urdu you write ‘pe’.
When the vibration and the form of sound are uniform, it
is phonetic, but when only a mark is used to identify that
sound, it is syllabic. All the languages that exist in the world
today are syllabic. Sanskrit is the only language that is
phonetic, based on sounds.

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Sri Swamiji with Swami Niranjan
Swami Dharmashakti
Swami Atmananda
Swami Niranjan playing with Bholenath
 Sacrifice

T he tradition of sacrifice is universal and has come down

from antiquity. Sacrifice exists in every religion except
Buddhism and Jainism. It exists in Christianity, Islam,
Judaism and the vedic culture, The Vedas mention the
sacrifice of animals as well as humans. Narmedha and
Ashwamedha are two great sacrifices which were performed
in ancient times. The Jews celebrate Passover, and in the
Bible, Isaac was ordered by God to sacrifice his son. But
before he could complete the sacrifice, God said, “No, you
don’t have to sacrifice your son, sacrifice a lamb instead.”
This tradition is a very old one and it has penetrated
deeply into society.
In Sanskrit, the word for sacrifice is bali vaishvadevas,
and it is a very important aspect of tantric worship among
Shaktas. There are many forms of sacrifice in primitive
cultures. There are communities which sacrifice lambs,
pigeons, buffalos, goats and swine. Buddha questioned it,
the rishis and munis questioned it, but still this tradition
continues today, because it is the view of our people that
if a community believes in something, let them do it. I
don’t agree with it or accept it, either as a sannyasin or as a
follower of the vedic dharma, but if you want to do it I don’t
mind. This is the spirit of our religion: we do not denounce
the faith of any particular sect. Although I may not agree

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with your belief in sacrificing a lamb or a goat, I will not
object to it. You can go ahead, but I don’t believe in it.
I have read the sociological interpretations, but they are
also not correct. The tradition of sacrifice is definitely an
expression of spiritual faith in our society. There are many
people who are total vegetarians, yet even in their homes
sacrificial offerings are made. I have seen this and it is very
difficult to eradicate it. Since coming to this village, I have
found out that the people here perform sacrifices. I do not
oppose it, but I do not support it either, and the villagers
know this. If they want to make an offering, I say, “Go
ahead, what difference does it make?” But I never give my
affirmation on this matter because I do not accept it. They
have a particular faith, so why should I break it? They have
prayed for the fulfilment of a wish and then said, “If this
wish is fulfilled, then we will offer a goat.” I cannot break
their faith, but still I do not believe in it myself.
There have been many disputes about sacrifice; even the
rishis and munis fought with each other over this issue. Lord
Buddha very firmly opposed it. Earlier, animal sacrifices
were made at the end of each fire ceremony. This custom
has become almost obsolete now, but it still continues in
some parts. In the valley of Kumaon, to which I belong, a
big fair is celebrated each year for Nanda Devi. During this
occasion buffaloes and goats are sacrificed and prasad is sent
to every house. Goat meat is sold throughout the entire town
on that day. I know how these rituals are performed, because
sacrifices took place frequently in my own community. In my
family there was a tradition of sacrificing a male buffalo. The
elders of my family severed the head with a sword. The other
villagers used to sacrifice two to four goats at a time and the
prasad was sent to all the other houses, sometimes the head,
sometimes a leg.
Here the villagers offer bali during festivals. When
sacrificial offerings are made, and they are made very
frequently, for example, when a child is born, when a
marriage is taking place, on Holi and on Diwali, they always

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bring prasad for Bholenath. He has the prasad, I don’t take
it. Of course, I don’t mind, and if I were non-vegetarian I
would have been happy to take it, because it is prasad. In
fact, it is considered to be maha prasad, the great prasad, not
just prasad. So these people are vegetarians, but still they
perform family sacrifices.
Although I neither condone nor reject it, I don’t
understand why sacrifice is performed. Why is bloodshed
necessary to please God? I have read all the books of the
Muslim, Christian and Jewish traditions, I have read the
Vedas. I have read about the entire tradition of sacrifice, but
I still don’t understand the logic behind it. Can it ever be
that God becomes pleased and His heart melts on seeing
blood! I don’t think there is any purpose served by sacrificing
animals or humans. It is the ego which has to be sacrificed.
Ego is the animal which says, “Me, me, me” all the time. The
animal which has to be sacrificed is the goat named ego. The
actual sacrifice is the surrender of one’s ego. The sacrifice of
a goat or a lamb represents the ego. The sacrifice of ego is
most important, because that is the barrier between myself
and Himself. This is described in a verse as follows:
Maina, the bird that sings, “Not me, not me”, gets the reward;
While the goat that says, “Me, me, me”, gets slaughtered.

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 Conch and Shaligram

T he conch and the shaligram are both very dear to

Vaishnavites. Devotees of Vishnu do not eat meat or even
onion or garlic, but they put to their lips the bone of a snail
which is called a conch. It is a kind of animal which lives in
water and this stone is its internal skeleton. They dip a grass
resembling wild tulsi in the water and the creature comes
up, attracted by the smell. When it comes to the surface,
they catch it with a net, dry it and peel away the skin down
to the bone. The shaligram is the inner shell of another
aquatic animal. There are many varieties bearing such marks
as Vishnu, the conch, the lotus, the kundalini chakras. It is
found only in the bed of the Gandaki river at Muktinath in
Nepal. This place is situated at a very high altitude and you
have to cross difficult terrain to reach it.
Now a plane service for tourists has been started but I
went there by foot. At that time the government of Nepal
used to arrange food, fuel and chillum for the wandering
sadhus. It was a very high quality chillum. At night we would
make a dhuni and sing. As we smoked the chillum we felt
high and, from those heights, the world seemed to be left
far below. There is a government tax on the shaligram if you
bring it out of the country. The authentic shaligram has a
small golden ring which the customs officers remove before
giving it to you. Just as Shaivites worship the shivalingam,

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the shaligram is worshipped by followers of Vishnu. There
are many types and qualities of shaligram, but the authentic
shaligram has a ring of gold.
It is an irony that Vaishnavites never eat onion and garlic,
and do not even want to hear the word meat, yet the two
objects most highly revered amongst them are the bones of
snails: one which is called a conch and the other shaligram.
Why and how did this happen? This is the virtue of good
company. Since the conch is held in the hands of Lord
Vishnu, it became an object of worship for the Vaishnavites,
not because it is the bone of a snail. Whatever is held in
God’s hands becomes sacred. That means that through
satsang even the most inferior and most inauspicious people
become auspicious and fit to be worshipped. This is the
Vaishnava aspect, but in tantra the conch has another value.
The dakshinamukhi, south-faced or reverse coiled conch,
is important in tantra. Nobody can keep the dakshinamukhi
conch without the full ritual worship and without matching
the planetary constellations and zodiac signs, except
sannyasins. Sannyasins here means only paramahamsas, not
every person initiated into sannyasa. Therefore, I have many
such conches. People who find these conches cannot keep
them because of the astrological mismatch, so they give them
to me. They are used for tantric rituals, and the how and why
of these rituals is not to be disclosed. The people who have
them in their homes might have inherited them from their
forefathers who were tantric sadhakas. The tantric sadhakas
may be householders or sannyasins.
The sadhana of tantra is considered to be very secret.
Just like you keep your money and gold hidden and nobody
knows about it, in the same way, tantric sadhana is kept secret
and never disclosed to anyone. Sadhakas may worship, recite
mantra and offer water to the shivalingam in public, but the
real sadhana of tantra is secret. It may be any form of tantra,
but it is always kept very secret. This is also said in the Gita,
when Lord Krishna tells Arjuna, “Whatever I have told you
is not only secret, but the secret of secrets.” Think about it.

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What is the secret of the Gita? Everything is written clearly
in black and white, but only certain people can perceive the
hidden meaning; normal people cannot.
Every science has secret codes. For example, if you want
to access the information in my computer you must know
the secret code. Even the nuclear bomb has a secret code
and the president who is in power holds the key, the secret
code. That code is kept secret so that unqualified persons are
not able to use it. Similarly, the practices of tantra are not
for everyone. Some practices are for ordinary householders
and some are for special householders, because even among
householders you find special people. There are righteous
and crooked people, there are uncontrolled and self-
restrained people as well. Therefore, to avoid undeserving
people getting access to it, the practices are kept secret.

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 Tantric Initiation

T antra is always secret. The tradition and processes of

initiation are never written down on paper. The entire
tradition is oral. The guru informs his/her disciple orally
and then the knowledge is passed on to the next generation.
Books just mention peripheral details. They are mere essays,
you will not find any guidance in them. Not everybody is
accepted in the rite of tantric initiation. You may wish to
be accepted, and who doesn’t, but despite this you may not
get it, because the basis, the foundation of the sadhaka who
wishes to practise tantra must be very strong. If you want to
build a multistorey building, you need a strong foundation.
In the same way, if you want to go into the path of tantra,
you need a strong foundation. Just because you want to
practise tantra, that alone does not make you qualified.
What is meant by a strong foundation? It means that
body, mind, intellect, samskaras and everything should
be strong. If there is a fault in your car at any point, then
the vehicle will break down. Therefore, the path of tantra
is not for self-important people or for those who are frail
and fearful. It is not for people who lack self-restraint and
for­bearance. Those who want to practise tantra should not
search for a guru. First, they should strengthen themselves
physically, mentally and intellectually. Do you know the story
of the great yogi Milarepa? His guru’s guru was an acharya

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of Nalanda. Nalanda was a renowned university near Rajgir.
His relationship with his guru was a unique one. The stories
about Milarepa tell how hard his sadhana was and how much
pain he had to bear in order to become fit to practise tantra.
In the same way there are stories of many sadhakas like this.

Secret knowledge
In the Gita (18:63) Lord Krishna tells Arjuna: “Thus has
wisdom, more secret than secrecy itself, been declared to
you by me. Having reflected over it fully, then do as you
wish.” The knowledge of eighteen types of yoga was given
to Arjuna in the eighteen chapters of the Gita. It begins with
the yoga of depression, then comes samkhya yoga, karma
yoga and so on. At the end comes the yoga of liberation
through renunciation of action, moksha karma sannyasa
yoga, and what was secret about it is something which we
have to understand. Most interpretations of the Gita are
philosophical, but in the 18th chapter, almost at the end of
the Gita, Krishna says, “O Arjuna, so I have explained to you
the knowledge which is the secret of all secrets.” Why did he
use the words “secret of secrets”?
What is the definition of secret? Secret means not known
to anybody else. It is not sacred, it is secret, not known. If
I tell you something secretly, what does it mean? It means
that your wife doesn’t know about it. If I tell her something
secretly, that means you don’t know it. So, if Krishna tells
Arjuna the secret of secrets, it means nobody else knows.
He has particularly used the words, “secret of secrets”, top
secret. I am asking, what is that top secret in the Gita? By
explaining the Gita philo­sophically as Shankara, Ramanuja,
Radhakrishna, Swami Sivananda and other teachers have
explained it in hundreds of commentaries, you will find
nothing secret. Everything is open, which means the Gita has
an underground meaning.
Besides the philosophical interpretations, there is an
underground, secret meaning, a hidden interpretation, and
that is tantric. If you understand and accept that the Gita is a

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tantric text revealed to Arjuna in the middle of the battlefield,
then what is that tantric process? Then the Gita will have to
be reinterpreted in the light of tantra, not merely Dvaita,
Advaita or Vishishtadvaita. So far, no one has interpreted the
Gita along the lines of tantra. They have gone as far as yoga.
Bhupendra Nath Sanyal has explained it on the basis of yoga,
Shankara according to Advaita Vedanta, Ramanuja according
to Vishishtadvaita. They have all given their interpretations,
but no one has yet done a tantric interpretation.

Meaning of shaktipat
Sanjaya, the commentator on the Mahabharata war, obtained
divine vision from Sage Vyasa and thereby narrated the
whole story to Dhritarashtra, while sitting in his assembly.
In the same way, man has an inner eye in addition to these
two eyes, which is called the third eye. The inner eye is not
related to the body but to the consciousness. It means the
vision of the inner self which is obtained by the grace of
guru and God. Similarly, there are many strange terms in
the tantric tradition. One is shaktipat and the synonym for
that is anugraha. This is found in tantra shastra and it means
that the guru touches the disciple with his shakti, his energy.
The word pat means ‘transmission’. So the guru touches the
disciple in order to transmit his energy and this is called
shaktipat. It means, for example, that I illuminate you with
a torchlight and see you with my eyes.
Now how does the normal process of seeing happen?
The light reflected from your body enters my eyes and
reaches the brain which reconstructs your image. My eyes
did not go to you, neither did you come inside me, but I
saw you. What does that mean? Are you seen there or here,
outside or inside? In that process, you are really the object
of perception. Then is the perception taking place on the
object or is the perception taking place in the perceiver? It
is happening here in the perceiver. The perceiver is seeing
the object within him and obtaining its experience. What
happens in shaktipat is that the guru enters the disciple in

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the form of a vision inside him. There, the guru is not the
seer, but the disciple becomes the seer. He perceives the guru
inside himself and that is called shaktipat. I am telling you
this from my experience.

How it happens
The one who gave this experience to me did not tell me how it
happens, but it is something like strong hypnosis. I am using
the word hypnosis because I have no other word for it. The
disciple goes under a spell and the mind is taken away. After
that, the guru injects his experiences within the disciple or
stimulates the experiences of the disciple’s own personality.
Either the experiences are induced or they are stimulated.
At that time the disciple has experiences of the void, space,
colours, lights, or of fearsome beings with frightening faces
which are called demons or ghouls. All these things happen.
Many times there is fear and the sadhaka screams, he suffers
pain. This has been described by many saints in Christian
literature. One saint wrote that he experienced intense pain
in his body, he shouted and screamed, he felt intense fear,
intense burning, as if he was in flames. These experi­ences
are those at the level of soul. They come from the innermost
mind, from the core of antah karana.
I will tell you a true story as an example. There was a
young man in Munger. I had good relations with his family,
and they had considerable status in society. That man
was well-built, around thirty years of age. He used to say,
“Something is biting my ear.” “What?” I asked him, One
day he said to me, “Look, an insect is crawling up my ear
and biting me.” He was having an illusion, a hallucination.
I could not see the insect, but he was having the experience
and he could see it. You call that an hallucination. Isn’t
hallucination an inner experience? But what is the basis of
that experience? The inner mind, antah karana, is the basis
of that experience. If you don’t have a mind, then illusion or
hallucination cannot take place. With the mind as the basis,
the experience of an insect bite was happening.

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 This is a gross example of a symptom of psychosis, or
madness, but the same kind of experience can arise from
the depths of your psyche. For example, when Akrura went
for a bath in the river Yamuna on his way to Mathura he
experienced the presence of Lord Krishna. Similarly, when
Krishna’s mother, Yashoda, asked baby Krishna to open his
mouth to see if he was eating mud, she saw the entire cosmos
inside. What was that experience? Did it take place inside
Krishna’s mouth or inside Yashoda’s mind? This question
as to whether the experience of Yashoda was subjective or
objective is unanswerable, mysterious and indescribable. Was
that cosmic form in the mouth of Krishna or in the mind of
Yashoda? If that experience was in Yashoda’s mind, someone
must have infused or induced it.
In the same way the experience of Kaushalya, Rama’s
mother, is mentioned in Ramacharitamanas. She saw her son
everywhere. When Kaushalya entered the room, she saw her
son Rama sleeping in one place, then she looked around and
saw him sleeping in another place and then in another; she saw
him everywhere. At first she got scared, then she experienced
the cosmic form of Lord Vishnu. What was this experience?
Did Rama induce this experience in Kaushalya? Did Krishna
give it to Yashoda? What was the nature of this experience?
Was it subjective or objective? Here, while in a special state of
consciousness, when the ‘mirror’ is cleaned, a person sees the
real image in that mirror, the reflection of reality.

Cosmic experience
This consciousness of ours is enveloped in darkness.
Everywhere the curtains of ignorance are drawn. Similarly,
Kabir has said:
In this pitcher seven oceans exist,
Some are sweet, some are salty.
In this pitcher a million jewels exist,
Some are emeralds, some are diamonds
But everything is clouded in pitch black darkness.

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 All around there is a shell, inside that is the pitcher,
the space that exists within this pitcher is absolute void.
The people who try to reach this void fail most of the time.
Occasionally one finds a guru like Krishna, who tells Arjuna:
“I give you the divine eye; look at my divine form.” (Gita 11:8)
So, that experience was induced by Krishna, which means he
gave shaktipat to Arjuna. This experience is described in the
11th chapter of the Gita. The cosmic form of Lord Krishna
is described with thousands of faces and all the events of the
universe happening within them. That was an experience.
After having that experience, Arjuna got frightened.
There is intense fear during such experiences. When I was
given these experiences by my teacher, she said, “You shout
a lot.” I said, “I am a novice, I don’t understand anything.
I don’t shout unless I feel fear. I am afraid because I feel
someone is killing me.” Even in a dream, if somebody comes
to kill you with a knife, you shout. The impulse of suffering
that penetrates the consciousness raises a cry and the person
screams. Just like one screams in a bad dream, Arjuna
screamed, “No, no, I don’t want to see all this. Take it away!
I don’t want to see your thousands of mouths, thousands
of noses and thousands of arms. I want to see your form
which has four arms, beautiful face and eyes, necklaces and
ornaments of gold and silver, studded with diamonds.” We
are capable of seeing this form because it is beautiful. But
those forms with faces having one long tooth hanging, a
snake dangling down, on this side a dinosaur is moving, on
that side flames are rising, on one side a river is flowing, on
that side trees are burning – no, we don’t understand these
forms and we cannot bear to see them.
Arjuna implored Lord Krishna: “Having seen Thy
immeasurable form with many mouths and eyes, O mighty-
armed one, with many limbs, with many stomachs and
fearful with many teeth – the worlds are terrified and so am
I. On seeing Thy cosmic form touching the sky, shining in
many colours, with mouths wide open, with large fiery eyes,
I am terrified at heart and find neither courage nor peace, O

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Vishnu. Having seen Thy mouths, fearful with teeth blazing
like the fires of cosmic dissolution, I know not the four
quarters, nor do I find peace. Have mercy, O Lord of the
gods, O Abode of the universe. (Gita 11:23–25)
Arjuna said: “I am afraid, my body is shaking, I can’t
tolerate this experience. Lord, please take away this form,
please remove it. I love to see thy beautiful form. Whatever
I have said presumptuously, from carelessness or love,
addressing Thee as, ‘O Krishna! O Yadava! O Friend,’
regarding Thee merely as a friend, unknowing of this Thy
greatness, in whatever way I may have insulted Thee for the
sake of fun, while at play, resting, sitting, at meals, when
alone with Thee, O Krishna, or in company, that I implore
Thee, immeasurable one, to forgive. I am delighted, having
seen what has never been seen before, and yet my mind is
distressed with fear. Show me that previous form only. O
God, have mercy, O God of gods, O Abode of the universe.”
(Gita 11:41, 42, 45)
Then the Lord manifested his normal form in front
of Arjuna and he regained his breath. This is a very big
incidence of anugraha, grace. A similar event happens
between guru and disciple also. There have been saints, not
all, but a few, once in a while, who have received this grace.

Swamiji, who was Sanjaya? What was his character and role
in the Gita?
He was the chariot driver of the King of Hastinapur in the
court of Dhritarashtra. Before him, Karna’s foster father
was the charioteer of the king. After his retirement Sanjaya
became the charioteer. In those days the charioteer used
to be the permanent secretary of the king. He was very
knowledgeable, wise and understanding because he had to
drive the king into battle. He had to understand everything,
he had to be with the king all the time. If the charioteer
deceived the king, then he was gone forever. Therefore, he
was a person who was highly trusted. So Sanjaya was the
charioteer of the king.

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What is the tantric interpretation of the Gita?
I will tell you when I interpret the Gita in the light of tantra.
This doesn’t mean that what occurred was not history. We
accept that Lord Krishna and Arjuna were living figures
and that the Mahabharata was a reality. In that respect, a
few important things are to be noted: i) the battlefield of
Kurukshetra, ii) the relationship between the Kauravas and
the Pandavas who were cousins and iii) the chariot of Arjuna
which was pulled by white horses and commanded by Lord
Krishna. Hanuman was on the flag of Arjuna’s chariot. All
these are important factors which will have to be explained
first, before the tantric explanation can be given.

What are the pandits chanting?

The pandits are chanting mantras from the Vedas. The long
chantings were from Sama Veda, the Veda which has music.
This chanting is from Yajur Veda. The mantras with fast
pronunciation and fast chanting are from Rig Veda. The four
pandits or brahmins represent the four Vedas. Each one is a
scholar in Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Atharva Veda.
They have installed the mandala of Devi in the mandap.
First they took my permission and then they established
lokapals in the corners. It is strictly tantric worship, which
means that all these practices are done in order to awaken
the inner power, the inner shakti.

180
 Sankalpa of
Second Generation
Swami Niranjan: I would like to introduce you to Srikant
Goenka, your host at Rikhia, who has invited all of you here
to participate in the Sat Chandi Maha Yajna. He belongs to
the second generation. The first generation are all sitting
and the second generation are all standing.
Sri Swamiji: Swami Niranjan’s generation is the second,
mine is the first. All of us from the first generation have
retired. Swami Niranjan has retired us by talking nicely and
sweetly.
Swami Niranjan: The people of the second generation have
only one sankalpa: to go in whatever direction our Guruji
leads us without any thinking or headtrips. Our sankalpa
is to keep on walking, and Srikant is an inspiration to all
young people. You people complain a lot, “Our son is going
the wrong way, he is like this and that.” Srikant can be an
example for the new generation that they should not only
be proficient in their karma, but also proficient in their
dharma. Today in this Maha Yajna he is your host and you
are his guests.
Sri Swamiji: The Goenka family will be remembered as
the patrons of a great cause, like Maharana Pratap, who is
remembered in Indian history even today. They have been
with me right from the very beginning when Bihar School
of Yoga was born. And even today, when Bihar Yoga Bharati,

181
the first Yoga university, has been conceived by Swami
Niranjan, they are still with me. Bihar Yoga Bharati was
inaugurated at a very auspicious time in history. Therefore,
things happened automatically, and, in retrospect, we realize
that many great events have taken place on that date.
Swami Niranjan: The second generation of yoga is
functioning now. The first generation worked under the
directions of our guruji, Swami Satyananda. Now is the
time for the second generation to come into play. There is
a sankalpa which we have to take. It is a sugar-coated pill,
which will definitely guide us through our life. The sankalpa,
or resolve, of the members of the second generation is to
find their own way through their own efforts, and to offer
their services to the guru and to mankind. We need not
follow the footsteps of others. Footsteps are left behind by
donkeys, dogs, human beings and gods as well. How can
we differentiate and recognize which footstep belongs to
a donkey, a dog, a human being or a god? Our guruji has
given us an adesha, an order, and it is our dharma to obey it
until the end.
Therefore, having surrendered themselves completely at
the guru’s feet, this new generation will discover their own
way, make their own way by their own effort. I offer an open
invitation to whoever wants to join in this work of the new
generation to come forward and take a sankalpa during this
auspicious occasion of Sat Chandi Maha Yajna. The sankalpa
is to surrender to the guru and help in his mission, from the
depths of your heart, to apply your mental faculties fully for
spreading the guru’s light from door to door.
The tantric initiation which is being given here is a very
special initiation in the sense that the blessings of the Divine
Mother are being received and will be received by all of us in
different ways, in different forms. And tomorrow is the most
important part of the ceremony, kumari poojan or the worship
of nine virgins.

182
 Succession

S wami Niranjan has taken over all my spiritual res­

  ponsibilities. In 1983 he took over the institutional
responsibilities from me. To look after the spiritual life of the
-

disciples, it is not enough to be just a yoga teacher. Besides

teaching asana and pranayama, you also have to give them
some insight into spiritual life. For that one needs a very
solid background. Study of the scriptures and philosophy is
not enough; one must have something within him, and for
that the initiation has to be imparted.
Swami Niranjan first went through sannyasa initiation
when he was ten years old. Now he is undergoing the
tantric initiation and I am transferring what I have to him,
because what I have to transfer cannot be done through
verbal education. It is a tantric initiation, a transfer, and this
Chandi Yajna is intended for that purpose. Therefore, we
had to bring in these pandits who have been conducting this
yajna. Although tantric initiation is secret, it is not secret in
the sense that it is done in a closed room. When I say ‘secret’,
I mean that I am initiating Swami Niranjan but it is an open
secret! I am initiating him through a secret process but as all
of you are witness to it the secret is an open secret.
Tantric initiation doesn’t mean that you shut yourself
in the room with a wine bottle in your hand and drink.
That concept is something the scholars must get out of

183
their heads! Tantric initiation is a very pure initiation. Of
course, a student of tantra may drink or eat meat if he
likes, who cares! However, tantric initiation goes through
an indes­cribable process of pooja, mantra and kriya. Swami
Niranjan is now receiving the tantric initiation from me,
because what God and guru have given me was all received
by transmission. I received the blessings of my guru and
of God not by verbal exchange. I just got them through
transmission. Similarly, Swami Niranjan will get them and
then he becomes guru
So far he is only a teacher. There is a difference between
a guru and a teacher. Who can help you to remove the
covering of darkness? When you close your eyes there is
total darkness. When you go deep into your mind, the path
is uncharted. You don’t know which way your consciousness
will go, because nobody has any chart of that plane of
unconscious. There is only guru who can help. Swami
Niranjan is getting ready for this and then I become free.
Once I become free, I want to leave, because I have no
interest in living in this 1923 model. What is the fun of living
in this old model: wasting time, wasting food, wasting money.
If I have a new model, that will be nice. I’ll be born, I’ll grow
up, I’ll be educated.
However, if I am born my life will be for others and not
for myself! I don’t want to live for my wife and child or for
my parents, because there are millions of people all over
the world who need help. Governments and politicians
can’t help the needy. It is the people who have to help the
people, and one has to fulfil the obligations to the society
in which one lives. Everyone has a dharma to fulfil for the
society. A sannyasin has a duty to the society. Sannyasins
will have to help uplift the people. What comes to me is
not mine; I am a channel. I decided that this Sat Chandi
Maha Yajna should be organized because people have been
asking me for guidance. Although I have repeatedly said,
“Please do not come to me, I do not want to talk,” still
people keep asking. They write letters, they telephone and

184
leave messages. I do not want to guide anyone spiritually. I
do not want to talk, I do not want to explain. I just want to
enter into total silence.
Society, friendship and love mean nothing to me. I
have had enough of it. There is a time when a man should
not need them. Moreover, that is also the dharma of a
paramahamsa. I want to enter into deep silence and I have
come to this place for that. I have not created an ashram
here and I don’t want this place to develop into an ashram.
Therefore, Swami Niranjan has taken over the spiritual
charge from me and now he has to become a global man.
For that, knowledge of classical yoga is not enough. A guru
has to be able to impart spiritual power to his disciples. For
this he is undergoing initiation at this tantric ceremony of
Sat Chandi Maha Yajna.
The initiation which I am now imparting to Swami
Niranjan is not a verbal transmission; it is not instruction.
When love is transmitted between a boy and girl, when he
looks at her and she looks at him and they fall in love, what
happens between them? He has not spoken anything to her,
so what happens? That is transmission, psychic trans­mission,
devotional transmission, transmission of affection. Hatred
and jealousy are also transmitted in the same way. This
initiation is called psychic transmission and all the rituals
are intended for that purpose. This is shaktipat. It is very
easy for anyone to say, “Swamiji, give me shaktipat.” But
what have you done to deserve shaktipat? What about my
relationship with you? How do we vibrate together? I don’t
even know what your bank balance is, so how do I know what
is hidden in your heart?
If you can’t give me a blank cheque, how can you give me
your heart? You can’t give me a blank cheque because you
think that I will withdraw all your money. You can’t give me
your heart because you think I’ll misuse you, exploit you.
Therefore, those who seek shaktipat or transmission from
me should also know what they have to give me. They have
to give me everything. Niranjan has given me everything. He

185
has given me his youth, his future, his entire life. He came
to me at the age of four. He has no wife, no child, no bank
balance, no property, no ambition and no desire, except
service, seva. When you renounce everything and go to the
guru’s fold, then guru considers and cares about the disciple.
You have a bank account, but I don’t know how much is in it.
So how will I know about your heart? How will I know what
is in it?
I have made no other choice. I am clear on this matter.
There should be no confusion about my successor. Swami
Niranjan is my successor. I don’t want any confusion at all,
and we all wish that his sadhana becomes successful.

186
 Kumari Poojan

O ne thousand names of Lalita are chanted every after-

noon in the pooja mandap and different things are
offered to the Goddess. We chant one thousand times, “To
the dispeller of darkness I offer this; dispeller of ignorance,
salutations; giver of mercy and plenty, prostrations; oh Thou,
the light of all hearts, prostra­tions . . .” Everyday one type of
item is offered. Yesterday it was cardamom, the day before
yesterday it was almonds, before that black sesame seeds.
Today the offering will be hibiscus flowers, one thousand in
number. We say the name and attributes of Devi, “namah”, “I
prostrate”, and then make the offering one thousand times.
At that time I sit there.
In the evening special dishes are offered to Devi. The
plates are brought and served to her at night. After that, the
plates come to me, but I don’t eat in the evening; it is my
rule. So I just touch it and then Swami Niranjan takes it. For
nine days he is having royal dishes served on silver plates
with silver cup and glass.
The day after tomorrow will be the worship of kanya.
Just as you have the Virgin Mary in Christianity, we call her
Kanya Kumari. Cape Comorin, a place at the southern tip
of India, is also known as Kanya Kumari. Kanya Kumari is
the concept of Devi as a young girl before puberty. The day
after tomorrow will be the completion of Swami Niranjan’s

187
initiation into the tradition of tantra, when he will wash the
feet of the nine virgins and receive their blessings. Christ
received the blessings of the Virgin Mary. Swami Niranjan
will also receive the blessings of the Virgin Mary in nine
forms. That will be the completion of this tantric initiation.
After that, everybody can return home, remem­bering this
wonderful event.
On the last day of the Sat Chandi Maha Yajna there will
be havan, offering of oblations, and feeding of the nine
virgins, all nine years of age. In India we consider the official
age for virginity to be nine years. After nine years they
become girls and are called kanya, meaning ‘virgin’. These
nine virgins will be dressed and fed, and their feet will be
washed, superimposing the concept of Devi on them. I have
performed this worship at Kamakhya in Assam, which is
the foremost shaktipeetha in India. Before coming to Rikhia,
I performed kanya pooja, fed her and even washed her
feet. That is what we will be doing here. Along with kanya
pooja, this year I have added a new item, the worship of the
daughter-in-law, the married woman who is in the prime of
her youth.
The concept of kumari or virgin is also found in
Christianity. Mary was a virgin, and although she had a
child, still she was believed to be a virgin. According to vedic
astrology, there are thirty-six qualities of a girl. At the time
of marriage these qualities are matched with those of the
boy. Some of their qualities may match and others may not.
The most important quality is the structure of the yoni, the
reproductive system. Not every unmarried girl is a kanya.
Her yoni, or reproductive system, may not match this quality.
Mary was a virgin, even though she was a mother, because of
the basic quality of her yoni. There are particular qualities
in females that belong to a virgin. Even if she becomes a
mother, the quality of the reproductive system is still called
kanya.
Out of the thirty-six qualities of a female, one is the
quality of the yoni. The yoni is the place where generation

188
and birth takes place. In English, the word yoni is called
vagina, but in Sanskrit it is the place where generation takes
place. There must be a yoni, a place of generation, for the
whole universe also. The endless galaxies, millions and
trillions of stars, the infinite skies, everything has a place of
birth, a place where they emerge from the unmanifest. That
is called the yoni.
There are females who are virgin by nature, and it is they
who come for sannyasa. Not everybody thinks of sannyasa.
This is a subject of vedic astrology. In India, the matching of
a boy and girl takes place before marriage amongst Hindus.
While matching the qualities, they are very particular that
the girl has a proper yoni, so that she can be used for
reproduction. If the yoni of the girl is that of a sannyasin, she
will be useless for family life. Such a girl, whose yoni marks
her to be a sannyasin will be indifferent to household duties.
She will follow that life, but not with gusto, passion or heat.
If somehow she gets out of it, she will be happier.
In England a priest had raised certain questions about
the authenticity of the Virgin Mary, and the Christian
church was unable to give a proper reply. I was reading the
report where he asked how Mary could be a virgin and I
said, “These priests relate everything to sexual life. How
can virginity be related only to that?” Virginity is a natural
quality that belongs to one’s genetic structure. I am a celibate
because that is my nature. Even if I have had an interaction
with a woman, it doesn’t change my nature, my DNA
structure, which is my genetic personality. This also applies
to many others. This is the meaning of virginity, and one
should study that part of vedic astrology.
Therefore, every nine-year-old girl in the street cannot
be taken for worship as a kanya kumari. A young girl may
be a virgin in the sense that she has not menstruated or had
sexual interaction, but that alone is not virginity. Virginity
is a basic and special quality in relation to her reproductive
system. This basic quality of the yoni will have to be
explained. The basic quality of a yoni is its inherent quality

189
and that remains even if the girl is married and gives birth
to a child. Then, even after becoming a mother, she feels like
adopting sannyasa and living in solitude. This thought does
come to the minds of some women. So, this is actually called
kanya kumari, the real virgin.
Tomorrow the kanyas will be worshipped here and
they will bless Swami Niranjan. A virgin can always bless a
sannyasin and give him the touch of divinity, whether she be
Virgin Mary or any other virgin. In reality, she is a virgin who
has the basic quality of a virgin, who has the divine grace of a
virgin, and she can always give blessings. For this reason, she
is used in tantric ceremonies. Tomorrow Swami Niranjan’s
tantric initiation will come to a point of termination where
he will have to worship the kanyas, give them a bath, wash
their feet and feed them. So it is a very auspicious day.

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 Initiation Ceremony

N ow the havan is going to begin. Havan is the fire

ceremony which concludes the yajna. In order to light
the fire for the yajna, the mantras to revive Agni are being
chanted. Then by rubbing two wooden sticks together to
create friction, the fire will be lit. That is called agni manthan,
churning the fire sticks. Two sticks of wood are churned
along with the chanting of mantras and so the fire is created.
With that fire the yajna is about to start. You should not
forget to see Devi. She is reclining among one thousand lotus
flowers in yoga nidra. Isn’t she beautiful? I was smiling and
saying to her, “Look here, allow me to shampoo your feet.”
Two different aspects of mind, the higher and the lower,
are represented by the two sticks rubbing each other. When
you churn the mind, the fire of jnana is born. Dhyana is the
process of churning the two aspects of mind. Churn them
and then only the sins are burnt. The fire of jnana which is
created by the process of churning burns away all the sins of
the personality. The ceremonial fire has been lit. Whatever
is happening here is happening with His wish. This is not an
ordinary event. Many obstructions usually come in the way of
such ceremonies, but not even a single obstacle has come in
the way of this one. For three days clouds have hovered over
this place. I was prepared to protect the place from rains, but
all the clouds blew away towards the East.

191
 The exactitude needed in this type of worship is absol­
ute. Mantras and kriyas are used in this practice and both
require total accuracy. If a mantra is mispronounced, the
result might be a curse rather than a benediction. Therefore,
the pandits must have perfect pronunciation. I have studied
Sanskrit in South India, so I know the exact pronunciation,
and I can say that their pronunciation is very good. The
sound of Aim Hreem Kleem comes like the sound of a
humming bee. This is the law of chanting – that it should be
captivating. When someone chants vedic hymns, the listener
should feel hypnotized. To chant the mantra in a captivating
and hypnotizing manner is not easy. Special arrangements
have to be made for that.
So, today Swami Niranjan has received his initiation.
That initiation is now over. The Mother will be the witness
and so will all of you. I am handing over to Swami Niranjan
the two greatest assets of my tantric life, the sphatik mala
and sphatik lingam. I feel assured that he will lead you all
amidst the encircling gloom. Whenever there is darkness in
your life and you forget the way, he is the one who can tell
you where to go and what to do. Swami Niranjan began his
twelve years in 1983 and now he has completed them. He
has been with me since his birth, but in 1983 I handed over
my succession to him, and now it is 1995. Twelve years have
passed and he has proved himself. For those twelve years he
has led a hard and strict life.
Most of the new Munger sannyasins don’t know me. I
am as fierce as Bholenath. I am not and never have been a
sweet guru. Many disciples have failed because they thought,
“What kind of a guru is he? Guru should not get angry,
guru should not do this.” But Swami Niranjan accepted me
as I am. Unless a disciple accepts the guru as he is, there is
no salvation and no way for him. You should not want the
guru to adjust to your image. So, Swami Niranjan has come
through with flying colours. It is not after guiding him that
I nominated him. Before he was born, before his mother
conceived him, I told his father and mother, “My successor

192
will be born through you.” Swami Dharmashakti gave birth
to him and she is here today.
Today the Mother Goddess is the witness and all of you
are the witnesses that I have handed over the two priceless
treasures of my spiritual life to Swami Niranjan. One is
a crystal mala and the other is the crystal lingam. Swami
Niranjan has worked very hard. Generally, disciples want to
see the guru in their self-created image. If this is the case,
then the disciple becomes the guru and the guru becomes
the disciple. But he never tried to see me in his image.
He has always had the feeling, “Whatever you want me to
do, I will do.” I have always been a tough guru, but Swami
Niranjan accepted me as I was. If you really want to find
your guru, you have to accept him in his true form. Once
you have decided, “This person is my guru”, then you must
accept him as he is. Try and mould yourself in his form, and
do not mould him in your form.
It is very difficult to be a disciple. Nobody becomes a
disciple simply by getting initiated or by smoking the pipe of
the guru. When a carpenter wants to make something from a
piece of wood, he envisions what he will shape and fashions
it in his own way. The wood is cut, chiselled and filed, but it
does not question the carp­enter. Similarly, a piece of cloth
does not question the tailor. Leather does not question the
shoemaker. I appointed Swami Niranjan as my successor in
1983. Now his twelve years have been completed and I have
handed over the sphatik mala and lingam to him. I have full
faith that he will come as a divine light into your spiritual
lives, and that you will receive everything from him.
Now I just want to rest here in peace. I do not want
to meet people. This is a farewell party. There is no need
to cheer and shout. Here we chant only God’s name. By
shouting slogans, people raise the profile of gurus. I have
lived a long life without any effort to make a profile, either
high or low. I believe in having no profile. A true guru never
makes any profile. Everybody wants high status, nobody low
status. If you consider yourself to be the lowest of the low,

193
then you will rise to the greatest of heights. Nobody becomes
a guru by rising high in the eyes of the public. Guru is not a
social status.
Therefore, today we pray to Devi, to the Goddess, to
the Mother, that she may make you into a medium for her
expression, as she made me. I am now taking the con­nection
wire from here and putting it into you. Now you remain in
contact with the Mother and keep everybody else on the
right path. Do it in your own way, not in my way. My way was
the way of the staff. Guru and disciple both have their own
natures.

194
 Impressions
Swami Pragyamurti (England)
When the invitation to the yajna first arrived at Satyananda
Yoga Centre in London, my immediate reaction was one of
great joy at the prospect of seeing my beloved guru again.
And as I continued to read, I was delighted to discover that
this yajna was, in some way, celebrating the feminine, the
Divine in its female aspect. As I had been planning to take
six months away from the Centre, for myself, by myself,
and prepare for the next decade and my progress towards
‘Cronehood’ – a kind of Menopausal Vision Quest – this
invitation seemed to offer the perfect start to such a venture.
And I was not disappointed! However, it will take a long
time to fully digest this experience and to assess the subtle
yet powerful transformation that has surely taken place in all
of us who were there.
At the time of writing, my mind is full of a myriad colour­
ful images, dominated by red and pink and flowers and
more flowers. And amongst the flowers, my Beloved, moving
here and there; on one level aware of everything going on
around him, talking, laughing, gesticulating, dancing, giving
garlands, and on another level he was perhaps sitting on
Mount Kailash, a million miles from Rikhia, perfectly still
and at one with the universe. And when I looked at him and
experienced his Shiva aspect, it was more than I could bear

195
and I had to close my eyes, only to be filled to overflowing
with such intensity of feeling that I almost wished I could
close my heart as easily as my eyes. And each day he
continued to give me more and more and still more – I recall
the sound of his voice calling my name, kneeling before
him as he placed a garland of flowers around my neck,
his wonderful satsang on women, his tenderness with the
children as he drew them to him to join the dance, and on
another occasion asking the women to join him as he danced
the dance of Shiva, and, again his little conversations with
his neighbours as they came forward, rather shyly, to receive
their rickshaws, carts and bicycles – it was, and is, endless.
On many occasions I found myself wondering if the
extraordinary diversity of people and their activities was a
'normal' part of a yajna? Are the local drummers always invited
to add their heartbeat to the rather mechanical precision of
the pandits’ chanting? Are women and foreigners normally
allowed to participate in the arati? And as Sri Swamiji himself
explained, the presence of a young married woman at the
Kanya Kumari Pooja was breaking new ground, making a very
powerful statement to women in India and worldwide. What a
beautiful ceremony that was, with the enchanting little girls in
their colourful attire, their painted toes being tenderly washed
and dried by the long, slim fingers of Swami Niranjan, their
timidity gradually dissolving in the warmth of his smile, as he
fulfilled his role with perfect naturalness and humility.
It seems to me that the underlying message of the
yajna was that of oneness, unity in and through diversity.
Ultimately we are all one, and on a practical, everyday
level we can also function harmoniously together, treating
each other with respect and affection, whatever the more
orthodox folk may feel. And I pray that they will allow
themselves to be touched by this message, and open up to
the presence of the Divine in the whole human race, not just
as a theory, but as a living reality.
Before coming to Rikhia I had not realized that the
yajna was also an important initiation for Swami Niranjan,

196
and amongst the many powerful and touching memories
of him during those days, I would like to mention just two,
which I hope will stay with me forever. I was privileged to be
sitting nearby when Swami Niranjan did full pranam to his
mother, Swami Dharmashakti, and to Swami Atmananda,
in a gesture of such humility and tenderness that it took my
breath away. And this was preceded by what I felt was the
most beautiful, potent and extraordinary event of the whole
yajna – when my beloved Swamiji handed over the symbols
of his authority, the crystal ball and crystal mala, to my
beloved Crown Prince. At this moment I finally understood
that spiritually they are indeed one. And time stood still as a
few tears slowly trickled down Swami Niranjan’s cheeks, the
only visible movement between them.

Swami Muktimurti (Australia)

The most significant part of the yajna for me was being
in the presence of Sri Swamiji again. For many of us,
particularly from the West, having heard stories of his life
in seclusion and his concentration on his sadhana, it would
be easy to imagine him as having become withdrawn and
introspective. What I saw, however, was an incandescent
fireball, fairly crackling with energy! He is the very
embodiment of dynamism, still with his immense good
humour and attention to detail, and awareness of the
minutiae of our daily lives.
His energy seemed to affect everybody. Each morning, as
all the helpers went about their duties in preparation for the
day’s program, nobody seemed to walk. Everybody ran! And
not only that, they ran cheerfully!
Another source of inspiration was in watching Swami
Niranjan at work. As the chief performer of the yajna, he
was required to be present and active in all the many hours
of pooja and ceremony involved in the yajna rites, and as
well as that, he was working from before dawn to late at
night each day, overseeing all the arrangements, carrying
out his many duties, and acting as a Master of Ceremonies

197
in between parts of the program, providing bilingual
explanations on what was happening. And somehow he
seemed to find the time to also give personal attention to so
many people. Never before have I seen such giving.
I had a similar impression of Swami Satsangi. She was
everywhere at once, unfailing in her patience and care for
people, whatever their backgrounds or their demands,
tireless, friendly and always compassionate.
When the yajna was over and we had returned to Ganga
Darshan, I felt that something in me had been profoundly
changed, and when I looked at the faces of others who had
been there, people from all over the world and from all walks
of life, I could see that change reflected there too. It seems
to me that all of us who had come together for this time,
whether physically or in spirit, have been through a process
of diksha. Perhaps you could say we have been splashed with
the droplets from Swami Niranjan’s diksha! And that is a
transformative process which will manifest in some shape
or form in the lives of each and every one of us in our vast,
extended global family.

Swami Sureshwarananda (BSY)

History was made at Rikhia. A hundred years back Swami
Vivekananda did Kanya Pooja at Kanya Kumari in secrecy.
In this century it is the first time Kanya Pooja has been
held, and in the tantric tradition this is the first time it has
been held publicly. Vivekananda gave us the message of
Vedanta, Swami Sivananda gave us the message of yoga, and
Satyanandaji gave us the message of tantra. Vivekananda
gave us the goal which we have to reach, Sivanandaji showed
us the path which we have to walk, and now Sri Swamiji has
accelerated the process by opening up the tantric practices
to everyone. So history was made at Rikhia in the tantric
tradition, in the spiritual tradition.
I was allocated a job in the yajnashala and as I am from
South India, I was watching the pandits very closely. We have
to give them full marks. One hundred percent perfection

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View of the yajna venue
Kanya pooja
Sri Swamiji blessing the sphatik lingam and mala
Sri Swamiji transfers his spiritual powers and responsibilities to his successor Swami Niranjan
should be there and the pandits followed all the rules and
regulations meticulously. In South India the power of the
Brahmins is very strong. Knowledge gives power and this
power and authority can be misused. But the pandits who
conducted this ceremony had not only knowledge and
humility, but real wisdom.
In those few days I feel that Swami Satyanandaji gave
us two things. One is the goal we have to reach. By rubbing
two pieces of wood together, the fire is created with which
we burn all our sins and in that fire we surrender our
individuality. That is the real symbolism behind the yajna –
surrendering ourselves totally. For that he also gave us a very
simple sadhana: begin the day with ‘Sri Ram Jaya Ram’. It
looks very simple but it is most difficult.

Sannyasi Achyutananda (England)

We arrived at Deoghar listless and tired, from all over the
globe. None of us knew what we were coming to other than
the Sat Chandi Maha Yajna, whatever that was! The next
morning at seven-thirty we walked through the gates of the
Akhara and sat down to be bathed for the next seven days in
an incredible and unique experience.
In front of Ganesha Kutir another open-sided, thatched
roofed kutir has been erected, and in the centre, a firepit
or dhuni about five feet square, with the edge of the dhuni
adjacent to Ganesha Kutir having a large vulva shaped
carving on it. Opposite this, on the outside ‘wall’, is Chandi
Devi, the murti, garlanded, clothed and glowing inside her
own small house.
On the right of Chandi Devi sat the Brahmin priests,
white clothed, upright, with bright shiny eyes, and amongst
them the person being prepared to be the main poojari or
performer of the worship, Swami Niranjanji.
On the first day, we all sat as the priests chanted mantras
in perfect Sanskrit, and Swamiji performed rituals. This
whole day was preparation; preparation of both Swamiji
and the mandir. The next day we arrived at 8 am and sat

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down in front of Sri Swamiji at the back of the Akhara
for satsang until 10 am, when we left and did parikrama
or circumnambulation of the mandir. We then went to
Sivananda Math for darshan of Christ Kutir, a new kutir Sri
Swamiji had built. Once outside the Akhara we walked down
to where a large festival tent was erected and people were
selling everything from malas to bananas!
At 2 pm we returned to the Akhara where the pandits
continued chanting for an hour or so, followed by the divine
voice of Krishna Devi, a renowned Indian singer and story
teller. Kirtans from BSY swamis were sung until 5 pm when
arati was performed of both Chandi Devi and Sri Swamiji.
Each day was attended by thousands of Indian nationals
as well as at least 500 foreigners. Twenty-five litres of Ganga
water, collected from Gangotri, were used in the pooja. Every
morning fresh flowers were delivered from Calcutta by night
train. This was no small affair! The whole event had the air
of both a festival and a pooja, and that was only what we
mere mortals could perceive.
During the satsangs Sri Swamiji talked of many things,
such as the importance of bhakti – wake up with God’s name
and go to sleep with God’s name. (To aid waking up with
God’s name, Sri Swamiji has a wake-up clock, that sings Rama
kirtan!) He also talked of the phenomena of Ganesha drinking
milk, and said it was a sign that a saint would be born, the
saint of the next century. Just as Christ was born on the turn
of the century and Buddha before him, so there would be a
new saviour born. He talked of the importance of women and
how they are to be worshipped and respected and how this
whole pooja was for the Divine Mother. He spoke of how all
religions are one and we should stop our petty sectarianism;
it is of no importance if God is called Rama, Allah or Christ
– we should unify. He said how the Ramayana had shown him
bhakti – before, his understanding was just intellectual, but
this book had awakened bhakti in him.
There was one important announcement, which was that
Swami Niranjanananda is now receiving everything and

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taking over from Sri Swamiji, who says that he now wishes
to go into deep silence, not just for a week or a few months.
Swami Niranjanananda is now the guru and the ceremony
is a tantric ceremony to transfer the power to him. Just as
Swami Sivananda transferred the power to Sri Swamiji, so he
is transferring it to Swamiji.
This was the theme of the last day, where we fasted and
watched as Swamiji worshipped nine young virgins and
one newly-wed young woman; the pandits chanted and
performed havan and then Sri Swamiji crowned his successor
with his crystal mala and crystal shivalingam, which he had
received from his female tantric guru. He declared Swamiji
to have passed all the tests with flying colours and to be the
new guru. Now Swami Niranjan will take spiritual charge
and give people the inner guidance. Swamiji then prostrated
before Sri Swamiji and his mother, who was sitting close
by. This day ended with arati and prasad, with Sri Swamiji
coming over and eating with us all and chucking us out when
we had finished!
It is impossible to condense eight days of this calibre
of experience into a few paragraphs; visions of Sri Swamiji
dancing like Lord Shiva, local drummers joining in with the
high caste Brahmins, swamis dancing to kirtan or bowing
respectfully as they received garlands from Sri Swamiji, and
there is always more to add. All of us who were there will
have different memories, different images and hopefully this
will just be one of a myriad of reports that will paint a picture
for those unable to attend.

Sannyasi Rishiputra (Kolkata)

There were many memorable moments. One was the karma
yoga. For the first time I experienced a sense of timelessness
and desirelessness. By doing work for the guru to the best of
one’s ability, one can have this experience and feel blissful.
The classical vocal music on the first day was like a
triveni, with the music in praise of the Mother, the blessings
of the Mother and the blessings of Sri Swamiji. Pandit Jas

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Raj, the vocal maestro, wanted to continue singing bhajans,
and Swami Satsangi took us inside the Akhara. After some
time I came out and looked around. Sri Swamiji saw me
from a distance. I was standing in darkness, so he said, “Is
that Rishiputra? What are you doing there?” He was not
expecting me to be there in those quarters at that time. I
said, “Swamiji, we are singing bhajans here in the Akhara.”
He said, “You mean to say you are inside the Akhara?” “Yes,”
I replied, and Sri Swamiji said instantly, “So you people
have pacified my Akhara.” His love, his compassion and his
greatness are without any bounds, without any limits.

Swami Devanath (France)

The most remarkable event of the yajna for me was the total
presence of Sri Swamiji, my guru. For the last few years he has
been a little inaccessible and unfamiliar. But this time he was
absolutely, completely here with each one of us, no matter
how unimportant. Dipping into his memory he recalled an
anecdote, a name, a place. He had an ‘eye’ on everything
– a chair for an old lady, toilets, a seat for everyone – and
he supervised the whole ritual. I have seen my guru as a
conductor of the symphony of life. The amazing and complex
Devi worship unfolded like an ancient story, as if we were
being projected into the memory of humanity. The adoration
of the nine virgins was, for me, the shock between innocence
and knowledge, learning and surrender. Sri Swamiji was like
a firework exploding into a thousand stars, lively and joyful,
deep and mysterious. It was a unique show.

Swami Vedantananda (England)

I came to the yajna quite open and without expectation, not
having any idea what a Sat Chandi Maha Yajna would be
except that it was the worship of God as the Cosmic Mother.
It was a feast for all the senses, so much to see, hear, feel etc.,
and due to the absence of intellectual analysis, because for
the most part we didn’t know what was happening, there was
no mind, just the experience.

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 This experience is difficult to put into words as
intellectualizing it cannot capture the feeling. I know that
we were all privileged to be there and that we witnessed a
piece of history that has touched us all on a deep level and
will probably take years to ‘understand’.
As cultures ultimately reach their zenith and ultimately
destroy themselves, it is the female aspect which recreates
and renews. In our societies which have become dominated
by the male left brain technologies this is a refreshing, if not
a new thought and one that many of us will have become
more aware of from being at the yajna. I think we will
take back to our countries a more gentle approach to the
feminine aspect from a softness that is coming from within.
One humorous impression, with a serious message, I
take back is of Sri Swamiji first introducing us to his wake-
up clock. The message was that instead of waking up in the
morning and thinking, and I quote, “this bloody world”, we
should wake up to the sound of God’s name, sit up and chant
God’s name to start the day.
The second impression I take away is one of the most
stunning images I have ever seen. On the penultimate
evening at the end of the arati, Swamiji was standing behind
Sri Swamiji. The scene was lit up in the darkness because it
was being filmed. I have rarely seen them so physically close
together and as I looked from one to the other, standing and
sitting so still, so strong, with eyes closed, I felt there was no
separation between them.
And the third image, which I will never forget, was when
Sri Swamiji gave Swamiji the sphatik mala and shivalingam.
As Swamiji knelt in front of Sri Swamiji he had a look of
total one-pointed devotion and dedication and this for me
symbolized the essence of the guru-disciple relationship,
service and sannyasa. As Swamiji continued to focus on him
it felt as though he were seeing Sri Swamiji in more than just
his physical form and it reminded me of that moment in the
Bhagavad Gita when Krishna revealed himself to Arjuna in all
his splendour. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

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Swami Prakashananda (Germany)
Swamiji called us and many of us came, not having the
faintest idea what we were going to experience during the
eight intense days of the Sat Chandi Maha Yajna. We had
been told that transmission of something very great was
going to happen, but somehow I felt that there was much
more behind the whole event than I could perceive. At times
I feel that we have been witnesses of an event which will
influence history into the next millennium.
Many times old childhood samskaras came up. My
religious education was in a Protestant church and that
means: a simple, clear, white stone building, without any
decoration except the cross and white flowers; organ music
and chorales with music of Bach. No bells, no wall paintings
of saints, no Mary or other female beings, no processions. My
programming was that the Catholics were not so sophisticated
and needed that ‘tingle-tangle’, which was unnecessary for us.
Oh, how necessary it is to open the heart to the
incomprehensible. The happenings in Rikhia were so
completely opposite and today I can still recall many little
moments and hear the chanting very clearly, especially “Aim
Hreem Kleem, Aim Hreem Kleem”, the beeja mantras for
Saraswati, Lakshmi and Durga. However, to talk about these
impressions is impossible for me. I have to assimilate, let it
become one not only with my unconscious but with my whole
being, so that knowing and understanding can arise from
inside.
It was not only when the two great souls stood eye to
eye with each other, or when Swami Niranjanji was lying
flat in front of the virgins, or when my Guruji put beautiful
malas around my neck that tears were flowing. The water
taps opened many more times. Often I just stood up or
bowed down, not with my old and pain tortured body, but
internally, being ready to receive and fulfil whatever order
I was given, with a sankalpa on my lips. However, even the
word sankalpa obtained another meaning for me, reached
another dimension.

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 I am pondering if it could have been an often open, often
secretly repeated ancient ritual, which we, the people from
the West, are ready to experience again, after a long time
of ignorance? Have these rituals not also happened in our
own culture, only that we have forgotten all about them? Do
we have some role to play in the coming century, building a
bridge and being a messenger between East and West and
man and woman, between nations and races? These eight days
may have been necessary for people like me to experience
from the inside and not with the intellect. The whole process
is not yet finished and I wonder how it will be when I have
to resume my normal teaching with people who were not at
the yajna? For them it is important to know that all the items
which were brought from all over the world, from a small pen
or toy to a cow or a rickshaw, were beautifully and perfectly
organized and taken out into more than forty villages.
One picture will forever be in my heart and that is the last
moment, when Swami Niranjanji stood in the glowing light
behind Sri Swamiji, with the most beautiful mala all around,
shining in copper gold, like the sun and the golden moon,
the king of kings and the queen of queens.
And the question in my heart remains: Who are you? Two
in one or one in two?

Swami Yogavijay (BSY)

Sri Swamiji made me a film maker at Rikhia. The experiences
of a film maker are always subjective, never objective. Never
before have I seen three such beautiful faces. There is no
camera that can hold such pictures. There are no eyes that can
behold such beautiful faces. One is of Sri Swamiji. I have seen
every pore, every detail of his face, all the different expressions.
And I have seen Swamiji in some very intense moments. I
thought I also felt it sometimes. And the Devi – there was no
statue, but it looked so alive that I can never forget it.
On the day when Sri Swamiji was garlanding the acharyas
and senior swamis of the BSY family, he suddenly looked
back and said, “Hey, how did I forget you. Come, come,

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come.” Then he said to me, “Your heart is your camera and
your two eyes are your lens. Whatever pictures you take,
preserve them there.” It was a beautiful moment. He also
blessed me, keeping his hand on my head.
But the spectacular thing was the shivalingam and the
passing on of the crystal mala. Three years ago I had a dream
that an unknown sadhu, a giant figure with a beard and hair,
had passed on a similar lingam, a sphatik lingam with a tiny
jyoti inside. When I told Swamiji about that experience he
said, “You are lucky to have had the darshan of the Lord in
that form.” I was really lucky to witness it for the second time.
Sri Swamiji was saying so many things but my mind had
totally stopped. I had a similar experience in 1994 when I
was filming the satsangs at Alakh Bara for a month, three
feet away from Sri Swamiji, five hours a day, without moving
much. But when people asked me later what he had said, I
didn’t know. It really took a long time for me to come back.
Even now I think I am there, not here.
As for taking a resolve, I forgot that we had to do so.
I sat in front of the Devi every day, looking at her, getting
spun out. I never knew what was going to happen next but
something would prompt me to turn my head to the other
side. I would see something interesting happening and run
there with my camera.
We have been given a lot more than we could ever have
expected. I have never received so much love in my life and I
don’t know if I will ever receive it again. Irrespective of anyone’s
status, Sri Swamiji gave everything to everybody. He tried to
relate to everybody who came before him on their plane.

Swami Gyanprayag (Australia)

I think that everything I’ve experienced up to this point
in my life was a preparation for what I experienced at the
Chandi Yajna. It has changed my life and will probably
continue to do so as I carry on my ashram life – just seeing
Sri Swamiji in his relaxed fashion, Swami Niranjan going
about his duties, flowing with the cosmic vibrations, and

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everyone just melding in to form the whole event. We have
all been affected in different ways and our awareness has
been awakened to different levels. I feel privileged to be
a part of this wonderful global family. As Sri Swamiji says,
we’re moving on now, we’re in the second generation, we’re
looking for that new inspiration and drive. I feel that it’s
going to take a little time for me to come back to earth, settle
and then go on steadily towards the new century. I feel very
excited about this – we couldn’t be in better hands.

Swami Vigyanchaitanya (BSY)

I was part of the organizing gang and it was my privilege to
be working at close quarters with Sri Swamiji. While we were
working he would give instructions and advice too. Some
things really sank in. One day he said, “The aim is not to be
precise, but to be perfect.” I thought for some time about
what on earth he meant. So it was a continuous satsang for
us. I really don’t know how much I have under­stood, but
on a few occasions I could feel a thrill, especially when the
yajna fire was lit. I could see how the fire was built up just
by rubbing two pieces of wood together. The purity of that
really struck me. When the shivalingam was given to Swamiji
I felt a non-intellectual appreciation of what was happening.
I earnestly feel that this is the time when I should make a
sankalpa to make a change. I am a difficult person to change
but now I think something should happen.

Swami Yogasagar (Australia)

Many times I witnessed Swami Niranjan receiving instruc­
tions from Sri Swamiji. I was amazed at the direct and often
blunt way in which Gurudev spoke to Swamiji and very
impressed by Swamiji’s humility and willingness to serve.
The guru-disciple relationship was a living reality. This
impression also helped me to understand the directions and
interactions Sri Swamiji had with us during morning satsang.
His inclinations were very clear. Some senior swamis have
become masters and not disciples. He said that he wanted

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the same openness with us as he had with Swami Niranjan
but this was not possible because of our self-importance. Sri
Swamiji’s instructions to the old generation to be re-initiated
reflected his view that some swamis in senior positions were
in danger of losing the quality of discipleship altogether.
It came to me as an inspiration and as a heartfelt truth
that the symbolic structure of a yajna was in the form of a
yantra, arranged into a mandala and empowered by mantra.
I understood that as disciples and as an institution we are
all part of an intricate yantra resembling on a larger scale
the dimensions of a mandala. Every step in the yajna was of
equal importance and interdependent for its success, as are
we for our spiritual growth.
The Sat Chandi Maha Yajna created a reflective mood
and I have begun to realize that the relationship I have with
the Divine is very deep. The subtlety of awareness is more
and more. As a sannyasin I may have a role to play but more
important is that I remain fearless, humble and detached
from the world and life. The events of the yajna were for me
a deepening dedication to truth and dharma. May all of us
who were there quickly transcend any identification of self-
importance or seniority and re-engage ourselves in seva to
the divine life.

Sannyasi Srimukhananda (Jaipur)

It was indeed a rare opportunity to spend ten days at Sri
Panchdashnam Paramahamsa Alakh Bara, Rikhia, Deo­
ghar, during the Sat Chandi Maha Yajna from 23rd to 30th
November, 1995. Those who participated in this unique and
auspicious event from every nook and corner of India and
abroad were blessed human beings.
As students of Bihar Yoga Bharati’s pilot 4-month
Certificate Course, we were privileged to be the first to arrive
and the last to leave the venue of the Sat Chandi Maha Yajna
every day. Equally rewarding was the fact that we had open and
very close darshan of a Maharishi in the form of Paramahamsa
Satyanandaji from early morning until late in the evening.

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 On arrival at Alakh Bara on 22nd November at 3 pm, we
saw the final touches being given to the pooja mandapam
and the pandal under the direct guidance of Paramahamsa
Niranjanji (popularly known as Swamiji). As we entered
the main gate, Swamiji’s eagle eyes spotted us and we were
introduced to Sri Swamiji, who was giving an informal
satsang to devotees. He was his usual old self, frank, free and
fearless in his expression, very practical in his outlook and
approach to life and mixing readily and informally with the
gathering. There were no self-created barriers between him
and the devotees this time.
Throughout the yajna he could be seen and every­where,
wading through the crowd like a real avadhoota, in his
majestic style. This was a sudden departure from his previous
public appearances at Alakh Bara since 1989, but it was a
welcome sign, appreciated by one and all. As Sri Swamiji
himself says, “We sannyasins happen to be monarchs without
crowns”, and sure enough he is one such royal personality.
Of course, he is on a different and much higher plane now,
a step further in his spiritual attainments in the current
incarnation. We could see, feel and experience his closeness
to God Almighty. It goes without saying that he always was,
is and will ever remain a monarch in our hearts. I wish we
could tear open our hearts in the present Kaliyuga to prove
the point like Hanuman did during his era.
Swamiji quickly briefed us about our karma yoga duties
during this auspicious event. Sri Swamiji had already
given us an indication by explaining the significance of
looking after footwear, as Lord Krishna had done during
the Rajasooya Yajna performed by the Pandavas during the
Mahabharata period. Some of our duties were manning the
shoe stall, guarding entry/exit points and sensitive strategic
spots, and preparing and distributing prasad. Swamiji had
asked us to report for duty at 6 am every day, and with my
Forces background I ensured that as a well knit team, we
reported five minutes early, never letting down Swamiji’s
confidence in us. True to teaching, theory was put into

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practice and the first sutra of Sage Patanjali, ‘Atha yoga
anushasanam’, yoga is discipline, was maintained by all the
course students.
On D day, 23rd November 1995, the inaugural day,
Swamiji directed us to set things in motion as quickly as
possible. Greetings of ‘Hari Om’ learned at Ganga Darshan
were soon transformed into ‘Namo Narayana’ at Rikhia
Dham. Sri Swamiji’s darshan gave us a boost for the entire
day, and even Bholenath, in whom Sri Swamiji has invoked
Bhairava, obliged us with his darshan. One can’t take
chances with him!
Devotees started pouring in. First the sannyasins from
abroad, followed by those from ashrams and centres in
India, then karma sannyasins, jignasus, other devotees and
visitors. There were no VIP enclosures in the main pandal.
Only Sri Swamiji’s neighbours from Rikhia and nearby
villages were accorded VIP treatment; there was a separate
pandal for ladies and children and another for gents close
to Sri Swamiji’s raised platform, so the village folk could
have closer darshan of Sri Swamiji, whom they reverently
addressed as Babaji. He reminded us time and again that
they were his neighbours, his near and dear ones, and as
such deserved and were accorded real VIP treatment. We
took his command in the right spirit and went a step further,
raising their status from VIP to VVIP.
To compensate the foreign devotees in the main pandal,
a garden swing was provided for Sri Swamiji. He made a
point of satisfying everyone with his darshan, by positioning
himself either on the swing or the platform, moving around
the mandapam occasionally and even wading through the
crowd at times. He gave open darshan to one and all.
All the arrangements were simply flawless, magnificent,
considering the magnitude of the Maha Yajna. Swamiji’s
involvement could be felt everywhere, overseeing or
conducting each and every ritual/event with perfection,
despite being a Yajaman, chief performer of the yajna. And,
of course, Swami Satsangi was hovering around here, there

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and everywhere. One could see, feel and experience a real
Kali or Chandi form in her black robe, as she moved about
relentlessly, always on her toes, without any rest or relief.
What a capacity for karma yoga she has!
A full complement of eleven learned pandits from Varanasi
had been brought specifically to conduct the yajna. They were
knowledgeable, eminent, expert in their field, having mastery
over the tantric rituals pertaining to the special pooja required
for this Sat Chandi Maha Yajna. They sought permission from
Sri Swamiji to com­ mence the pooja and started chanting
the vedic mantras. Though the rituals were beyond our
understanding, yet the mere sound of mantra chanting
began working on everyone present. As the day progressed,
manifestation of the powerful mantras had invoked and
installed Lord Ganesha, the Divine Mother, along with other
gods and goddesses. Intermittent chanting of the principal
mantras ‘Aim Hreem Kleem’ created ripples in body, mind
and soul. The gathering was almost hypnotized.
On the opening day we were also fortunate to see and
hear the renowned vocal classical music maestro, Pandit Jas
Raj, who enthralled the audience with his masterpieces in
the afternoon. Around five p.m, arati, waving of lights to the
Cosmic Mother, was performed, followed by distribution of
prasad and flowers from the sacred pooja mandapam.
From the next day onwards Sri Swamiji gave morning
satsang. He put us wise about the significance of organizing
such a Maha Yajna: transferring his spiritual attainments to
Swami Niranjanji, declaring him to be his successor, and guru
to all of us on the global level; bringing gifts of all type for
further distribution to his neighbours, and other practical
aspects of life. Despite his total surrender to God as His
servant and only bhakti pouring from his lips, I wonder if
people can afford to look directly into his piercing, sparkling
and twinkling eyes. Maybe a very few close disciples dare to do
that. Sri Swamiji once again emphasized the need to perform
our sacred duty or dharma towards society, especially the
sannyasins, for the upliftment and wellbeing of the masses.

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 After performing parikrama of the pooja mandapam,
people had prasad, a flower each and tilak from the vibhooti
kalash brought from the sacred mandapam. In the afternoon
there were bhajans and kirtans, then Smt. Krishna Devi
entertained the gathering, narrating kathas or leelas from
Ramacharitamanas. The entire crowd was spellbound. Then
came the ceremonial arati, with all sanctity and devotion,
followed by distribution of prasad, and dispersal of the huge
crowd in an orderly manner.
By now the rhythm was set. Every day would commence
with early morning cleaning; setting up for Sri Swamiji’s
satsang; witnessing the sacred pooja; chanting of the
powerful mantras, especially the principal one ‘Aim Hreem
Kleem’; parikrama, prasad and rest for an hour. Afternoon
sessions would invariably consist of bhajan and kirtan,
followed by katha, arati, prasad and dispersal of the entire
gathering. Sri Swamiji spoke daily on various topics, such as
bhakti; Ganesha drinking milk; the role of females in yoga,
tantra and society; householders and spiritual life; God; guru
and disciple relationship, as well as giving lucid explanations
of each and every event taking place, relating to practical life
in a simple, straightforward, witty yet convincing manner,
without mincing any words.
Ammaji, Swami Dharmashakti, the proud mother of
Swami Niranjanji and the first disciple of Sri Swamiji, arrived
the very next day, and he offered her his raised platform. So
now behold, to my right is Sri Swamiji in his avadhoota state
as a Maharishi, to my left is Ammaji, true to her spiritual
name Dharmashakti, and right in front is poojya Swami
Niranjanji, the chief performer of the Sat Chandi Maha Yajna.
Do I seek any other boon from the Lord! All our wishes have
been fulfilled with the grace of God and blessings of the guru.
The concluding day, Poornahuti, commenced with dar-
shan, but there was something else in store for us today.
We were privileged to witness Sri Swamiji perform Tandava
Nritya, after having spoken about the dance competition
between Lord Shiva and his consort Parvati; why Shiva is

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known as Nataraj, the king of dancers; and why Parvati could
not match her Lord in his typical Nataraj posture and had
to finally surrender to the Supreme Consciousness in defeat.
Everyone present joined in Sri Swamiji’s Tandava and it was a
real sight to behold. I wondered if we were in some other loka!
As I stood guard at my allotted place, sweet and vivid
memories of the events of the past seven sacred days flashed
through my mind. Sri Swamiji’s satsangs conveyed his
concrete views on faith, shraddha, shakti, devotion, surrender,
maitri bhava, not having ill will against others; our attitude
towards women as the real form of Mother, Shakti and Guru
for the men; concepts of Shiva and Shakti, Purusha and
Prakriti, Ardhanarishwara, and many of his other teachings
were becoming clearer. I found myself wishing that Sri Swamiji
would receive the mandate from his ishta devata to translate
Ramacharitamanas into English as he had hinted.
Sri Swamiji and Swamiji explained the significance
of Kanya Pooja (worship of the virgins), Poornahuti and
connected events slated for the last day. Sri Swamiji again
honoured the acharyas from different ashrams and yoga
centres, his old disciples, eminent sannyasins and karma
sannyasins from all over the world. This time he allowed
the devotees to touch his feet. All these days we had been
dissuading people from doing this. I couldn’t help laughing
to myself. Do such great saints and sages need our security
and guarding! The answer is simply NO. On the contrary we
are fortunate enough to be under their security cover. Such
moments rarely come in our mundane lives.
As for the Kanya or Kumari Pooja, we might hear or read
about such things in fairy tales or see them at the movies
or on the small screen, but here it was right in front of our
naked eyes. Were we also provided with the divya drishti
(divine vision) to witness such an event on the divya loka
(Sri Swamiji’s tapobhoomi converted into an abode of the
Divine Mother and other cosmic powers)! All eyes were glued
to the raised stage where nine beautiful girls and a lady,
in their best possible attire, were being worshipped as per

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the vedic and tantric traditions by Swamiji himself, with Sri
Swamiji explaining the salient features. Swamiji performed
the sacred pooja, fed them to their hearts content and finally
sought their blessings. We were wonderstruck to see the
beautiful bride for Vadhu Poojan along with the nine virgins
for Kumari Poojan against the backdrop of the universal
symbol AUM. Probably this would have been the first time
that Vadhu Poojan and Kanya Poojan had been solemnized
simultaneously. Hats off to Sri Swamiji’s farsightedness.
Sri Swamiji’s handing over tantric cum spiritual charge
to Swami Niranjanji was another unique event of the day. He
wanted this to be an ‘open secret’ purposely, for he wished
all the old and new disciples, the Mahamandal­eshwaras, the
Acharyas, the sannyasins, karma sannyasins and jignasus,
and all the other devotees and aspirants the world over to
know that hereafter Swami Niranjanananda would be their
‘global guru’. He made this point crystal clear once again in
no uncertain terms, and it was a heart touching event for us to
watch Sri Swamiji honour Swamiji by handing over to him two
sphatik malas and a shivalingam. If we were all moved, what
were the sentiments and feelings of the closest disciple and
manas putra towards his guru and mentor! As mere spectators
we could just read the message they had for one another
through their moist eyes and the expressions on their well-
composed faces. Such are the sannyasa and tantric traditions!
At the end of the final day’s proceedings we realized that
we had neither eaten nor drunk anything throughout the
day, but were all cheerful, full of energy and enthusiasm even
after eight days of continuous karma yoga, twelve to fourteen
hours a day. We knew for certain that an extra­ ordinary
energy was flowing in our systems from the highly charged
and positive environment created at Alakh Bara, where the
cosmic powers were showering miracle after miracle.
Next morning, 1st December, after completing our
karma yoga, we assembled in front of Sri Swamiji for his
satsang and blessings. All the Certificate Course students
were very happy when he quoted from the Bhagavad Gita

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that whosoever comes to the yogafold never fails. So, now it
was Swami Niranjanji’s headache to find a strategy to pass
everyone somehow, thereby abiding by the wishes of his
guru. Sri Swamiji had very conveniently and coolly placed
the ball in his court.
As I write these memoirs of the Sat Chandi Maha Yajna,
my mind goes back to Sri Swamiji’s tapobhoomi again and
again. Many images come to mind: the humbleness, sobriety
and purity of the Goenkajis (senior and junior), the chief
sponsors of the yajna; Swami Yogavijay moving everywhere
with his video camera; Swami Tyagraj running around
making arrangements; Swami Satyabindu inside the yajna
mandap, catering for the needs of the pooja. I can see the
serenity on the face of Swami Atmanandaji, Sri Swamiji’s
first sannyasin disciple, sitting either on his left side or at
his feet. Though we heard not a word from her, yet her
quiet and ever peaceful face conveyed volumes on devotion,
dedication and renunciation. I can also see Swami Satsangi
almost everywhere, managing the entire show tirelessly.
I can clearly visualize the towering personality of Swami
Niranjanji in or around the yajna mandapam where he
performed the sacred pooja; at the feet of Sri Swamiji, his
great guru; with Bholenath on vigil and on guard duty;
conducting one event after another; talking to countless
numbers of people or groups from far and near; singing
his hit kirtan ‘Narayana, Narayana, Narayana, Om . . .’;
or overseeing the entire events for the conduct of the Sat
Chandi Maha Yajna.
I can vividly see Sri Swamiji speaking beautifully in his
morning satsangs; chanting the mantras; reciting Rama­
charitamanas; introducing and singing ‘Raghu Pati Raghava
Raja Ram . . .’ with the huge gatherings; singing bhajans
and kirtans; dancing merrily during sankirtans; performing
Tandava without any inhibition; moving about freely as an
accomplished Maharishi; and expressing his frank views
explicitly be it on Christianity or virginity. How many such
great and highly evolved saints do we have in the present era?

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 Glossary
Achara – conduct
Acharya – teacher
Aadesh – order; instruction
Adharma – contrary to dharma or the natural order
Adhyatmavidya – experience of the original reality
Advaita – not two; without a second
Advaita Vedanta – the philosophy of Vedanta which supports the
view that the Supreme Being (Brahman) is the only eternal,
unchanging reality
Agni – god of fire; element of fire
Agni manthan – producing fire by churning or quickly rubbing
two pieces of wood together
Aham Brahmasmi – literally ‘I am Brahman’; one of the great
sayings of Advaita Vedanta
Ahimsa – non violence on every level to all living beings
Aim Hreem Kleem – three beeja mantras repeated regularly
while chanting the invocation to Devi; mantras representing
Maha Saraswati, Maha Lakshmi and Maha Kali respectively
Aishwarya – supremacy; sovereignty; power; prosperity
Ajna chakra – the third eye; centre of command or inner intuition
located at the midbrain behind the eyebrow centre
Akhara – place where sannyasins perform higher austerities in
isolation; place for training in arms
Alakh – which cannot be seen; flame; inner illumination
Allah-o-Akbar – ‘God is great’ (in the Urdu language)

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Anadi – eternal; having no beginning
Ananda – bliss
Antah karana – inner instrument or tool constituted by mind,
ego, intellect and chitta
Anubhuti – experience; experience of subtle nature
Anugraha – grace; transmission of energy; blessings
Anushthana – a resolve to perform mantra sadhana with absolute
discipline for a requisite period of time
Aparoksha – indirect; not perceived directly
Arati – process of worship involving waving of lights with
reverence before a deity
Ardhanarishwar – the god represented by a single body in which
the right half is male and the left half female; an epithet of Shiva
Artha – accomplishment; attainment in all spheres of life
Ashram – place of spiritual retreat and inner growth through
internal and external labour
Ashrama – stage of life (includes brahmacharya, grihastha,
vanaprastha, sannyasa)
Ashwamedha Yajna – an auspicious fire ceremony involving the
sacrifice of a horse
Atma(n) – individual soul; spirit; self
Atmabhava – having the attitude of perceiving the soul in all;
seeing all as like myself
Atma sanyam – self-control, self-moderation
Atmavidya – experience of the soul
Avadhoota – one who is beyond duality; one who has transcended
normal consciousness; a tradition of sannyasa
Avahan – the tantric science of invocation
Avidya – ignorance
Avyakta – unmanifest
Bahudaka – supported by many; stage of sannyasa
Baidyanath – one of the names of Lord Shiva; the master of
healers
Baidyanath Dham – temple precincts of the jyotirlingam at
Deoghar, Bihar
Bali – sacrifice
Bali Vaishvadeva – form of tantric sacrifice
Bel – a sacred tree whose leaves are in triplets and are specially
offered to Shiva

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Bhairav – an epithet of Lord Shiva; signifying the state which
is beyond mundane consciousness
Bhajan – devotional song about various forms of God
Bhakti – pure, intense devotion; channelling of the intellect,
emotions and self towards a higher purpose; literally, divine
love
Bharat Natyam – a form of Indian classical dance
Bhiksha – alms
Bhoga – prosperity; enjoyment; sensory indulgence
Bhrumadhya – the energy centre triggering ajna chakra, related
to the eyebrow centre in the physical body
Bhupali – a classical raga form in Indian music
Bhupura – the outer protective force of a yantra which acts as
the entrance
Bhuta – beings; that which exists; subtle form of elements
Bigha –measure of land
Boddhisattwa – enlightened being; a name of Lord Buddha
Brahma – first of the Hindu trinity representing creation
Brahma loka – the abode of Lord Brahma
Brahmacharya – being immersed in the contemplation of
Brahman; abstinence
Brahman – the one Supreme Reality
Brahmin – member of the priestly caste; one whose consciousness
is immersed in Brahman
Burka – traditional garment worn by Muslim women
Chakra – energy centre relating to the evolution of man
Chamcham – sweet made from milk, served in sugar syrup
Chandan – sandalwood
Chapati – flat dry bread
Chaturmas – four months of the monsoon season when special
sadhana or anushthana is done by mendicants who remain
in one place for the duration
Chaupai – a form of poetic verse with four sections
Chhanda – poetic metre
Conch – large shell which is blown during rituals or war
Crore – ten million
Dakshina – an offering made to the guru or deity
Dal – nutrious soup made of lentils
Daliya – porridge made from wheat

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Darshan – inner vision, divine vision; glimpse of a saint or
divinity which confers grace; philosophy
Devata – god, divine power, deity; illumined being
Devi – Goddess, Divine Mother
Dharma – duty, natural law; right action
Dharma shastras – books which explain how mankind should
conduct life in accordance with dharma
Dhoti – unstitched length of cloth
Dhuni – fire which sadhus sit in front of for sadhana
Dhyana – meditation
Diksha – initiation
Diwali – festival of light celebrating Lord Rama’s return from
exile after vanquishing Ravana symbolising the victory of
good over evil
Dosa – thin savoury crepe, a speciality of South India
Durga – the divinity manifesting as a goddess symbolized as the
potent and powerful feminine force
Durga Saptashati – tantric text traditionally chanted twice every
year during the period of Navaratri, the nine days dedicated
to the worship of the cosmic Mother
Dvaita – philosophical school proposing two original realities:
Brahma and Maya
Dwesha – repulsion
Gandhapushpam – fragrance and flowers
Ganesha – elephant-headed, one tusked deity, son of Lord
Shiva and Parvati, scribe of the Mahabharata; symbol of
auspiciousness, wealth, knowledge, attainment and remover
of obstacles
Ganga – sacred river Ganges
Geru – earthen red powder; colour of a sannyasin’s robes
Grihastha – householder
Gunas – qualities inherent in all nature
Guru – light which dispels the darkness of avidya, or ignorance
Gurubhai – spiritual brother; disciples of the same guru
Gurudwara – the place of worship for Sikhs
Gurukula – school of the vedic tradition where children lived
and studied with their guru in his hermitage
Haj – the sacred pilgrimage of Muslims to Mecca
Halwa – a sweet made from flour, butter and sugar

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Hamsa – swan; third stage of sannyasa; a sannyasin who can
discriminate between reality and unreality
Hanuman Chalisa – hymn in praise of Lord Hanuman the
monkey god
Havan – fire ceremony, sacrifice, invocation
Ida nadi – major pranic channel which conducts the mental
energy, related to the moon, the feminine nature, the right
side of the brain and the left side of the body
Idli – light, white rice cakes
Indriya – sensory organ
Ishta devata – the form of God to which you are attracted; the
form of God which is realized within oneself
Ishwara – God, the indestructible or undecaying divine principle
Jabapushpam – hibiscus
Jagat – creation; world
Jagatmata – Divine Mother
Japa – repetition of a mantra or a name of God
Jiva – individual soul, man
Jnana – wisdom
Jnani – wise person
Jyotirlingam – self-existing oval shaped stone symbolizing Lord
Shiva; there are twelve such lingams in India
Kali – a goddess symbolizing the destructive female aspect of
divinity
Kalpa shastras – aphorisms on various rituals for a householder
belonging to the vedic dharma
Kama – emotional fulfillment
Kansa – a demon king who was destroyed by Krishna
Kanya – daughter; a girl between nine years and puberty
Kanya Kumari – Cape Coumarin, a place at the tip of South
India; a young virgin female
Karma – action which has a consequence related to its nature; the
consequence of some previous action; law of cause and effect
Karmakand – precise rituals connected with vedic sacrifices
and other religious activities; that portion of the Upanishads
detailing the instructions on behaviour
Kartik – lunar month which occurs in November/December in
the Hindu calendar
Kathak – a form of Indian classical dance

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Kathakar – a commentator who gives discourses on stories from
the epics
Katori – small bowl used as a food container while eating
Kauravas – the sons of Dritarashtra who were also the cousins
of the Pandavas in the Mahabharata epic
Kheer – sweet preparation made from rice, milk, sugar, dried
fruits, nuts and spices
Khichari – dish made from rice, pulse and ghee
Kirtan – chanting of simple mantras with music, rhythm, energy
and devotion
Krishna – avatar, manifestation of God in human form,
incarnation of Lord Vishnu
Kriya – action; a yogic practice involving higher techniques
Kriyaman karma – present or current actions
Kshatriya – second of the four divisions of the caste system in
India; warrior; one who protects others from injury
Kshetra – field; sphere of action
Kshetrapals – guardian spirits which are invoked to protect an
area
Kumari – unmarried girl
Kumkum – red powder used to make a dot at the eyebrow centre
during worship
Kutichaka – early stage of sannyasa; a sannyasin who lives in
an ashram
Kutir – small hut or dwelling place
Laddoo – sweet favoured by Lord Ganesha made in the form
of dry balls
Lakh – a hundred thousand
Lakshmi – the wife of Lord Vishnu manifesting as the goddess
of wealth and good fortune
Langoti – loin cloth
Laya – dissolution, merging
Loka – more subtle dimension of existence
Lokachara – branch of vedic culture which preaches righteousness
in interpersonal relationships
Lokapal – guardian spirit invoked to protect different
directions
Madhuram – sweetness
Maha – great

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Mahabharata – ancient epic about the war between the Pandavas
and Kauravas during which Lord Krishna revealed the
Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna
Mahatma – great soul
Mahavidya – doctrine of meditation
Mala – necklace, garland, rosary
Manas putra – mentally conceived child
Mandala – diagram representing divine knowledge or presence;
the abode of a god
Mandalakara – form expressed through mandala
Mandap – place for worship, pavilion
Mandapam – place for the fire ritual or sacrifice; same as mandap
Mangalasutra – traditional mala or necklace of black beads which
the husband gives to the wife during the marriage ceremony
Mantra – sound vibration relating to the structure of manifestation
composed of specific combinations of syllables
Mantrakara – form expressed through mantra
Marga – path
Maryada – code of conduct
Mata – mother
Math – a centre of the sannyasi tradition
Maya – creative power; power of illusion; counterpart of Brahman
Moksha – liberation
Mooladhara chakra – first energy centre in mankind’s scale of
evolution situated at the perineum in males and the cervix
in females
Mudra – attitude; a physical gesture designed to channel the
psychic enrgies
Mukhi – face
Mukti – salvation; freedom
Mullah – Muslim priest
Muni – one who contemplates or who has conquered the mind
Namah (namo) – salutation signifying bowing before the presence
Namaskara – salutation, traditionally performed by bowing with
the hands folded together as in prayer, or by prostrating the
body fully on the ground and then coming to the feet with
the hands folded as in prayer
Namaz – Muslim style of prayer which combines specific postures
with chantings in Arabic

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Narayana – name for Lord Vishnu; primordial manifes­tation of
that god whose abode is water; divinity manifesting as every
individual
Narmadeshwara lingam – an oval stone which is wor­shipped as
a symbol of Shiva, found only in the bed of the river Narmada
Narmedha Yajna – a ceremony concluding with human sacrifice
Nataraja – king of dance; a name given to Lord Shiva when he
dances to bring about the dissolution of the entire creation
Navaratri – nine nights; bi-annual festival focusing on the
worship of the goddess Durga and Sri Rama
Nayan – physical eye which allows vision of the external
world
Neti (na iti) – not this; a famous exclamation of the Upanishads
related to the impossibility of reducing divinity to any
explanation or definition
Nirakara – without form
Niranjan – one without second; untainted, stainless
Nirvikalpa – free from distinction, admitting of no alternative;
a state of samadhi
Nritya – dance
Nyasa – trust; a ritual involving the invocation of divine energies
in various parts of the body; offering oneself
Padma – lotus
Pancha – five
Panchamakara – the five ‘m’s of tantra: mudra, mansa, maithuna,
matsya, madhya (psychic attitude, flesh, physical union, fish,
wine)
Panchatattwa – the five elements of akasha, vayu, agni, apas,
prithvi (ether, air, fire, water and earth)
Panchayat – village council of elders or wise men of the village
Pandal – open sided tent
Pandavas – the five sons of Pandu: Yudhishthira, Arjuna,
Bheema, Nakul and Sahadeva in the Mahabharata epic
Pandit – learned, wise; one trained in performing priestly
functions; established in the perception of reality
Param – first, highest, beyond
Paramahamsa – supreme swan; highest stage of spiritual life; a
tradition of sannyasa
Paramatma(n) – supreme self; universal or cosmic soul

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Parikrama – walking around a sacred site or object or person
three times anti-clockwise as a form of worship
Parvati – consort of Lord Shiva in the aspect of daughter of the
mountains
Peetha – synonym for math
Pera – sweet made by boiling sweetened milk until it solidifies
Phalahara – food consisting only of fruit and vegetables; no
grains
Pie – one twentieth of a rupee; an outdated coin worth virtually
nothing
Pingala nadi – major pranic channel which conducts the dynamic
energy, prana shakti, relating to the sun, the masculine nature,
physical vitality, the left side of the brain and the right side
of the body
Pooja – worship, usually accompanied by precise ritual
Poornahuti – final oblation ceremony
Prakriti – the aspect of material manifestation in the Samkhya
philosophy
Pralaya – dissolution; dissolution of the entire creation
Pranayama – expansion of the range of vital energy; yogic
breathing techniques
Prarabdha karma – destined action; unalterable karma
Prasad – blessed object
Prayaschit – austerity, such as that undertaken by pilgrims
travelling on foot to Baidyanath Dham
Puranas – ancient texts containing the earliest mythology of the
tantric and vedic traditions
Purascharana – repetition of a mantra as many thousand times
as there are syllables in it within a specified period of time
Puri – deep fried batter
Purusha – the conscious aspect in the Samkhya system of
philosophy; indwelling spirit; man
Raga – attraction
Raghunath – family name of Lord Rama
Raja – king
Raja yoga – eightfold path classified by Patanjali in the Yoga
Sutras; system of yoga which awakens the psychic awareness
and faculties through meditation
Rajas – one of the three gunas; state of activity, creativity, dynanism

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Rajasuiya Yajna – yajna performed at the coronation of a king
Ramacharitamanas – the story of Lord Rama written by Goswami
Tulsidas as a poetic composition
Ramayana – an inspired book in verses describing the life of
Rama; the historical version is written by Valmiki in Sanskrit,
the devotional version by Tulsidas in a colloquial language,
Avadhi
Rasam – spicy, clear soup commonly eaten in South India
Rasgulla – sweet ball made of milk cake and sugar syrup
Ravana – a demon king of Lanka who abducted Sita and was
destroyed by Lord Rama
Rin – obligations which one is duty bound to repay to benefactors
Rishi – seer; realized sage; one who contemplates or meditates
on the self
Roopa (roopena) – form (in the form of)
Roti – flat unleavened bread
Rupee – unit of currency in India
Sabjee – vegetables
Sabun – soap
Sadhaka – spiritual aspirant; one who practises sadhana
Sadhana – spiritual practice done regularly for attainment of
experience and self-realization
Sadhu – one who performs practices for enlightenment regularly
over a long period of time, with faith and devotion; one who
is compassionate to all; a good person
Sahasrara – thousand petalled lotus; abode of Shiva or
superconsciousness; highest energy centre which symbolizes
the threshold between the psychic and spiritual realms,
located at the crown of the head
Sakara – with form
Samadhi – non-dual state of consciousness attained in the final
stage of raja yoga
Sambar – spicy vegetables
Sampradaya – tradition
Samsara – illusory world; unending cycle of birth and death
Samskara – education; impressions in the mind; past mental
impressions which set up impulses and trains of thought
Sanchit karma – stored, accumulated action; subconscious
impressions of past lives

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Sankalpa – resolve
Sannyasin – one who has renounced illusion; renunciate; trustee
Sanskrit – ancient language of the Indian/European continent
composed of bija mantras
Santhali – an ancient tribe found in Bihar
Sanyam – control
Saraswati – wife of Brahma manifesting as the goddess of
knowledge
Sardar – see Sikh
Sati – another name for Lord Shiva’s consort
Sattwa – one of the three gunas; quality of harmony, equilibrium,
purity and luminosity
Satya – truth, reality
Satya loka – higher plane of truth and reality
Saundarya Lahari – a devotional hymn to Devi written by Adi
Shankaracharya
Savikalpa – a state of samadhi where some distinction still exists
Seva – service
Sevak – servant; one who lives with a paramahamsa in order to
take care of necessary interactions with the realm of duality
Shaiva – worshipper of Lord Shiva
Shakta – one who worships the female aspect of God as the
ultimate form
Shakti – energy, power; female aspect
Shaktipat – direct transmission of energy from guru to disciple
Shaktipeetha – spiritual place dedicated to or indwelt by Shakti
Shaligram – bone of an aquatic creature found in the river
Gandaki in Nepal which is worshipped as a symbol of Lord
Vishnu
Shankara – another name for Lord Shiva
Shanti – peace
Shastrartha – philosophical argument based on the shastras
Shastra – scripture; authentic text
Shastra vikara – six afflictions of the body from birth to death
Shiva(m) – auspiciousness; consciousness; the first yogi; last
of the Hindu trinity representing the destructive or trans­
formative aspect
Shivalingam – an oval stone symbolizing Lord Shiva
Shraddha – faith

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Shuddha – pure
Shudra – labourer
Siddha – adept or perfected person; one who is able to control
the elements and nature
Sikh – a group originally formed by Guru Nanak in order to
protect the dharma
Sindoor – vermilion red colouring used as a marking along the
parting of the hair which signifies a married woman
Sita – an incarnation of Shakti as the wife of Lord Rama
Sitar – a stringed instrument especially used in Indian classical
music
Sloka – verse
Smriti – memory; sacred books, Vedas, revealed by the sages
from the primal source
Sri – epithet of respect; auspicious
Srimad Bhagavata – sacred book recounting the life of Lord
Krishna
Stotra – Sanskrit hymn
Sumirini – small hand mala of twenty-seven beads
Sundaram – beauty; beautiful
Sushumna – the major energy flow relating to the spinal cord
in the body and to transcendental awareness; activated when
ida and pingala are balanced
Swadhyaya – self-study, self-knowledge, self-awareness
Swayamvara – marriage ceremony where the bride chooses her
groom from amongst a gathering of desirous men
Tabla – pair of drums used especially for classical Indian music
Tadan – to beat; to pay attention
Tamas – one of the three gunas; quality of inertia, stillness,
stability
Tandava Nritya – dance of the destruction of illusion performed
by Lord Shiva
Tantra – most ancient universal culture which deals with the
trans­cendence of human nature; process of expansion of
mind and liberation of energy
Tapas (tapasya) – austerity (of austerity)
Tattwa – element
Teerthasthana – place of sacred value, holy place of pilgrimage
Traitvad – concept of trinity or three realities

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Tridanda – three staffs, a traditional staff of sannyasins made
of three woods entwined into a whole
Trigunatmika – being composed of three gunas or qualities
Tripundra – three horizontal stripes of ash on the forehead
denoting a member of the Shaivite tradition
Tripurari Sundari – one of the ten Mahavidyas
Tulsi – a sacred herb with medicinal properties
Tushti – satisfaction
Uchcharana – pronunciation
Upachara – process, treatment
Upanayan – inner eye allowing vision of the inner reality
Upanayan samskara – rite during which yajnopavita is
performed, traditionally at the age of seven, when the child
is taken to meet the guru for higher education
Upanishads – to sit and listen; final statements of the Vedas
Upavita – initiated
Vaishvana – one who worships Lord Vishnu and his incarnations
as the ultimate form of God
Vaishya – member of the business caste
Vajroli mudra – yogic practice involving controlled contraction
of the urinary/sexual organ inorder to rechannel sexual energy
for spiritual purposes
Vama – left, as in left hand
Vedas – ancient scriptures including Rig, Sama, Yajur, Atharva
revealed to sages and seers expressing the knowledge of the
whole universe
Vedachara – branch of vedic culture which preaches living and
acting according to vedic precepts
Vedanta – end of perceivable knowledge; final teachings of the
Vedas
Vibhooti – special quality of spiritual greatness; sacred ash
Vidhi – the correct process for pooja
Vidvan – learned person
Vidya – higher knowledge, vision
Vigraha – statue; form
Vinayaka – another name for Lord Ganesha
Vishishta Advaita – school of philosophy advocating qualified
monism
Vishnu – second of the Hindu trinity representing preservation

228
Vishwakarma – god of construction
Vritti – circle, pattern of the mind
Yajamana – one who takes the sankalpa of the yajna; host of the
sacred ceremony
Yajna – a sacred ceremony; offering oblations to the fire;
sacrifice for the upliftment of others, incorporating the three
components of worship, satsang and giving
Yajnashala – place where the yajna is conducted
Yajnopavita – sacred thread worn around the trunk by all
brahmins
Yantra – geometric symbol designed for concentration to unleash
the hidden potential within the consciousness; visual form of
mantra which holds the essence of manifestation; a symbol
of divinity
Yantrakara – form expressed through yantra
Yatra – journey
Yogi/yogini – adept in yoga
Yoni – source; place from where creation takes place; vagina
Yuga – epoch, the four being: Satya yuga, Treta yuga, Dwapar
yuga and Kali yuga

229
 Index
Acceptance 114–115 Computer culture 75–77, 70,
Anxiety 121 79–80
Ardhanarishwara 39–40 Conch 170–171
Ashram 147–148 Cottage industries 45, 46
Atmabhava 123–124 Creation 8
Attachment 63 Christ Kutir 139–142
Avadhoota tradition 147–149 Christ in India 140–141

Baidyanath Dham 131 Dakshinamukhi 171

Beauty 28 Death rituals 83
Beeja mantras x Desire 79
Begging for alms 17 Devi 5–9, 13–14
Bhagavad Gita x, 41,171–172, Devi Bhagavatam 7
174,179–180 Dharma 65–67
Bhakti xi, 10, 94, 117; relation­ Diet during yajna 10,12–13
ship with God 90–91, 92–94 Discipline 120–124
Black Madonna 131 Disease and sickness 10–11
Bodhisattwa 126–128 Disease neurosis 143–146
Brahmins 17,18,46,47 Diversity 159–163
Divine Mother 13, 15
Capital punishment 98 Durga Saptashati x,14
Caste 46, 47
Chandi 72 Earth 68
Children mentally conceived Education 27, 31–34, 61; of
82–83 girls 25–26,31,33,34,36–37;
in gurukul 33

230
Experience 150–52 Kakabhusundi 110–111
Explosion 38–40 Karma 83,127
Kumari pooja 187
Farming 58–59
Faith 69, 92–94,100 Lakshmi 35, 80
Lifestyle changes in India 46–47
Garuda 110–111 Love 91
Ganesha drinking milk 64–74
Ganesha and Shiva 71 Mahabharata 105, 134–135
Giving 62–63 Male, animal instincts of 41, 43
God xi, 3, 8, 15, 66, 72, 85–87, Marriage 77–82, 160
102, 109–110, 116, 118–119, Mecca 11–12, 132
124; forms of 88–91, 101, Mind, control of 3
111, 118; incarnation of 64, Miracles 69–70
68–74; and matter 119; names Monserrat 131
of 112–114, 116–119, 165; Mother, role of 32
relationship with 92
Goddess x, 8, 72 Niranjanananda, Swami; ini­
Greek influence in India 103– tiation of 183–185,187–190,
104 192–193
Guru-disciple relationship 192– Non-attachment 63
194
Guru mantra 4 Pilgrimage sites 129–133
Pooja (see also worship) 1–8
Havan 191 Poverty 32, 58
Handicrafts 45–46 Prakriti 41, 115
Heart 69 Prasad 17–19
Helping others 54–56, 60–61 Prayers 84–87
Historical fact and tradition Purpose of human life 49–50, 66
134–136 Purusha 41

Indian culture 29 Rama and Sita 42, 110

Instinct 109 Ramacharitamanas 42–43, 95–
Intelligence, three levels of 96, 100–102, 110
108–109 Religion 29–30, 51–52, 139,
Intuition 109 141–142
Ishta devata 4, 88 Repetition of God’s name 113
Rites and rituals 107
Journey, spiritual 114–115
Justice 96–99

231
Sadhana 3–4 Tantra ix, x, 1, 7–8, 13–15, 171;
Sati, cremation ground of 37 initiation 173, 183
Sacrifice 167–169 Tandava nritya 137
Sadhus 127–130
Saints, necessity of 94 Upanayan samskara 31–34
Sannaysa, path of 151
Sannyasins, duty of 18–19, Vedic literature and civilization
53–56,164 105, 107
Sanskrit 165–166 Villages 15–16, 57–63, 163–164;
Sat Chandi Yajna (see Yajna) farming 58–59; healthcare
Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram 57; housing 60,62; self-
115–116 employment 61; social services
Satyananda, Swami 125–128, for 122–123; water supply
153–158; commitment to God 59–60
84–87; gurubhais 153–158; Vijnana Bhairava Tantra 7
sankalpa of 15 Virginity 188–189
Science and nature 81
Science of the future 48–49 Wealth 80
Secret knowledge 174 Worship, tantric 1–8; method of
Sects 116–117,141–142 2; path of 4; result of 3; rules
Self-realization 150–152 and restrictions 5, 7; tribal 5–6
Sexual intercourse 38,40 Women 8; and worship 24–25; as
Shakti 5–8, 13–14 priests 25; bringers of wealth
Shaktipat 175–179 35; desegregation of 28–29;
Shaligram 170 education of 25–26, 31–32;
Shiva, dance of 137–138 nature of 26–27, 36–38, 41,43;
Shiva and Ganesha 71 obliga­tion to 26; rights of 22–
Sickness 10–11 23, 97, 131; role of 20–30, 35
Social change 46–48, 99, 161–164
Social service 122–123 Yajna ix, x, xi, 13–14; education
Society 22–24, 29–30 as 31; instructions for 9–13;
Spiritual life 79–80 purpose of 14–16
Struggle, necessity of 23–24 Yoni 188–189
Suffering 144–146

232
Swami Satyananda was born in
Almora (Uttaranchal) in 1923.
Drawn to spiritual life from an early
age, he left home at the age of
eighteen, and in 1943 surr­endered
himself to Swami Sivananda in
Rishikesh who initiated him into
Dashnami sannyasa in 1947. He
served his guru for twelve years,
perfecting every aspect of spiritual
life. Thereafter, he travelled through­­
out the Indian sub­continent as a
wandering ascetic.
Realizing the need of the times as scientific rendition of the ancient
system of yoga, he founded the International Yoga Fellowship in
1956 and the Bihar School of Yoga in 1963. During the next twenty
years, Swami Satyananda hoisted the flag of yoga in every corner of
the world, consolidated BSY into a foremost institution of yoga, and
authored over eighty major texts on yoga, tantra and spiritual life.
‘Satyananda Yoga’ became a tradition which combines classical
knowledge with experiential understanding and a modern outlook.
In 1984 he founded the Yoga Research Foundation to synchronize
scientific research and yoga, and Sivananda Math to assist the
underprivileged. In 1988, at the peak of his achievements, he
renounced everything and adopted kshetra sannyasa, living as a
paramahamsa ascetic. In 1989 Rikhia was revealed to him, where
he came to live and performed higher vedic sadhanas in seclusion.
Receiving the command to provide for his neighbours in 1991,
he allowed the ashram to help the underprivileged villages in the
region. From 1995 onwards, he performed a twelve-year Rajasooya
Yajna with the sankalpa of peace, plenty and prosperity for all, and
in 2007 he announced the establishment of Rikhiapeeth with its
mandate to ‘serve, love, give’.
Swami Satyananda attained mahasamadhi, a yogic accomplishment
of discarding the body at will to become one with the universal
consciousness, in 2009, in the presence of his disciples.
 BIHAR YOGA®

®
Bhakti Yoga Sagar

Bhakti Yoga Sagar

SATYANANDA YOGA
BIHAR YOGA

“Sat Chandi Mahayajna is conducted to invoke the blessings Swami Satyananda Saraswati
of Devi, the Cosmic Mother, and to ask her to protect
and nurture us.We have to connect ourselves with this cosmic
energy which is present in all forms of creation.”

Bhakti Yoga Sagar Volume 3 consists of satsangs given by Swami Sa-

tyananda Saraswati at the first Sat Chandi Mahayajna conducted at
Rikhiapeeth in November 1995. During the nine days of this unique
event, Sri Swamiji enlightened one and all on the significance of wor-
shipping the Divine Mother, the purpose of yajna, kanya kumari pooja,
the role of women in modern society, practical measures to uplift the
underprivileged villagers, shaktipat and the tantric initiation of Swami
Niranjanananda Saraswati. This book is a powerful message to open
the heart and see the underlying unity in all creation.

Swami Satyananda Saraswati

Includes 16 colour photographs.

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V o l u m e T h r e e
ISBN: 81-86336-44-3 3
Yoga Publications Trust, Munger, Bihar, India