(English translation of Hindi discourse given by P. P. Aniruddha Bapu on 10th August 2006 on
Radha Sahastranaam at New English High School, Bandra)
।। Hari Om ।।
।। Hari Om ।।
infer here that Bapu is creating a different kind of relationship. But
this name in the Sahastranaam - Shambukaantaayeh Namah
is for the one who is Lord Krishna’s sakhi - true mate, the one who
remains harmoniously absorbed in Shree Krishna, the one who is
Aalahadinhi and is perpetually playing the raas with Shree
Krishna, then how can she become Shambukanta? This means
that one may state Shiv or Param Shiv, Vishnu or Mahavishnu, all are one and that is
why this Dharmacharini is also sakhi. The meaning of word Shiv is pious, complete and
pure. The word Krishna means attraction, the one who can heave anything and has the
capacity to attract no matter what to its core, whether it is exceedingly heavy or
extremely light. Similarly the word Ram means the luminosity, which existed before
the beginning and will subsist even after the end i.e. Ram existed prior to the start of
this universe and would be real even after the ending of this universe. If we see at the
peripheral level these names look different but actually they are not.
The light that exists before the commencement of the universe and continues
right till the end is always pure and it is this very light, which is forever moving
continuously from one point to another. It does not require an agent or a medium and
is not dependent on anyone i.e. it is self sufficient (Swayambhu). It is the same light
Year #1 Issue #22
31st August 2006
Shree Hastamudra Poojan : From 26th July 2006 to 2nd November 2006
based on which we do experiments in school. We observe that when a plant is kept in
a box with a small window on one side for the light to come in, the plant grows in the
direction of the light i.e. it diverts itself towards the brightness or is attracted towards
the daylight. That illustrates that it is this light, which pulls or attracts all living beings
towards it, even if it is something as undemanding as a plant, it is only this light with
the help of which the plants produce food. Not only do humans consume this food but
the animals survive on these plants too. Hence it is this sunshine to which each person
is attracted.
Who moves on the way to darkness and who moves in the
direction of the light? The one who has to commit a sin will be
lured by the darkness, but the one wants to be away from the
shadows will move in the direction of the light only. It shows us
that the devil exists in the form of darkness and God is always in
the form of light. Pure light, God, Paramatma, Shiv, Vishnu,
Ram, Sai, Krishna and that is why all the three of them have the
same form. One form? You will ask but Bapu, if there exists only one form then they
should have maintained that one figure, why create such a state of confusion? Since
Shiv sits in this posture and has a different form, Krishna’s appearance is different.
Ram is different, Krishna is different. Sai is even more different. Why all these
different forms were placed before us? Why did it not happen that He just maintained
that one form for the sake of all the people? The answer has been given by the Vedas,
the Geeta has answered this, and Ramayana has provided the answers too. Sai
Satcharitra has also replied.
We find that each human being sees every event and every object from his own
perspective. I must have already cited this example a couple of times in past - the
example of a beautifully carved glass goblet. A very beautiful glass goblet; just
suppose that you gift this to a woman considering her your sister or your mother. So
what will the first woman say? Dear brother, this is very nice but I have a very young
child who is just one and a half year old and is quite immature. He may grab and
break it into small pieces and might also hurt himself so I will keep it safely in a
cupboard and not use it immediately. The second woman could possibly say that my
son is five years old and refuses to drink milk but if served in this attractive goblet, he
might drink it, so I accept this for my son. While one woman says that she will have
to hide it somewhere away from her son, the other will take it for her son. If there is
any third person or woman (in the current times) she might comment that she would
enjoy drinking alcohol in that goblet. Intoxicating alcohol, beautiful glass, and an
excellent combination. A fourth lady would remark brother my husband is passionate
about alcohol. If I keep the goblet in front of him it will tempt him even more to drink
the alcohol so I would prefer destroying it. It is the same goblet, made from a piece of
glass, same form, same colour, same shape, but four different people have completely
unique and different perceptions about the same object.
Now look at this everyday situation. A family has an eightnine
year old child and when its time for him to come home from
school the mother thinks that my dear child will soon be coming
home, he must be very hungry. It is time to prepare something
for his lunch/snack, so her total attention will be to keep a watch
on the time, as her child should be coming in any moment. She
keeps pondering why he has not come yet? Why he has not come
yet? Now look at the child, it is the same event, he is waiting to reach home, on
reaching home he will get to enjoy, he has been caged in the school for eight hours or
five hours or whatever the duration. He thinks that at home my mother must have
made some good lunch and he will enjoy once he reaches back there. He will get his
mother’s love and care. Both the son and mother are having similar feelings. The child
is coming home, from the external to the internal. For the mother the thoughts are
from the inside to the outside. In both the minds though there is only one thought and
it is about the same event.
Now look at another perspective, if the child is coming home with his report
card and has secured just ten marks out of fifty, now what will he think? My God! Once
I reach home - dhoom dhoom dhoom dishum is going to take place. At this point he
will not remember the lunch, the only thought will be that I have just secured just 10
marks, and a red line on the report card, what mother will do is ok but father will not
spare me. Mother on the other hand is also waiting for her son, that her darling child
will get his report card, how many marks will he have secured? She knows that he has
not put in sufficient effort and not studied hard enough and feels that he might not
score good marks. She decides in her mind that if he has not passed or has cleared
with a very low score she will have to scold him. She thinks though I have prepared
the food for him, I will not serve the food as soon as he comes. Now see it is the same
incident the child is coming home, the mother is as usual waiting for him, but both of
them have a different outlook. The child comes home, instead of showing his report
card to his mother he tells his mother that he is very hungry. Mother replies Yes! But
does not offer the food as usual, instead asks for the progress card.
The child starts crying, since children are quite good at acting, he starts
lamenting that his teacher is quite strict and has been a miser in giving marks to all
the children. The mother very well knows that it is only her child who has secured less
marks and he is for no reason blaming the poor teacher whoever she might be. She
asks for the report card, sees it and screams at her child and tells him that “Let your
father come he will beat you with a stick. You will not get any food today”. Though she
has made the food for him but does not serve it, the child cries, laments but she
becomes adamant. After the father comes he picks the stick and even thrashes the
child a couple of times but later the mother brings the child close to her and lovingly
pats his head and tells him. See I had told you that your father will get you anything
you want but only on one condition that you will behave properly, otherwise you will
get nothing. After some time she serves the food to him and asks him to eat it and
reminds him not to repeat this mistake again. From today onwards you will study hard.
The same child grows and joins a college. Has a girl
friend, now he wants to marry her, so while coming home, this is
again an examination for him. It is the same time at which he
returns daily, mother has no clue of the whole issue, but the
child thinks I will have to convince my mother, if I tell my father
I will have to listen to his abuses –whether you go to college to
study or to do all this?? So it is better to convince mother first.
The mother obviously knows nothing, the child comes home and says sweet words,
and then he moves to the main topic and tells his mother that there is a small
problem. Mother asks what is it my son? So the child very slowly tells her about the
girl in his life. The mother understands that her son has got involved with someone. So
she clearly mentions that without his father’s permission she will not do anything and
also remember that if your father refuses then I will never say yes.
The same mother was looking forward to see her son when he came from the
college everyday and she did not know anything but the child knew what would
happen when he would reach home. Such incidents happen repeatedly. The mother
continues daily to look forward to seeing her son return from school, college but
everyday it is different. The mother is the same, the child is the same but the mother’s
attitude and child’s attitude are different. Why is the mother’s nature different? Her
nature is dependent on her child’s nature. If the child comes home with good marks
her mood is good too and if he comes with low scores then the mood is poles apart. If
the child studies hard and gets good marks, good job then the situation is different. If
he does something wrong then the situation is dissimilar. If he does something good
the situation is altogether diverse. We can see this in a normal simple household,
whatever is the mother’s form she is always the mother, her love is forever the same.
But her attitude always varies as per her child’s attitude.
Her every day form is not the same but the four-year-old child, which we saw
initially, has no idea about this. When he is grown up and he starts realising the roles
of his mother but fully realizes this when he becomes a father himself and faces similar
problems as he had with his own father, his wife has with his mother and same
problems he faces with his son and his wife faces with her daughter in law. At that
point he truly comprehends what his mother had been through. Understanding these
subtle nuances in the initial stages is quite impossible for this child. To fully
understand the pains and joys of being a mother, every girl has to become a mother
herself. Not only by giving birth to a child but also by taking care of her children and
their spouses, the mother has to go through all these practices. Only after all this does
one truly realize what it means and takes to be a true mother. We can say that for an
ordinary being it takes an entire lifetime to understand a normal human mother, to
understand her different roles and responsibilities, it also takes us a lifetime to
appreciate them. This is precisely the reason why models are used in a science class
for demonstration. When we are studying biology we are shown models of a heart,
lungs and intestines, seeing these models one can visualize and comprehend our
internal organs.
It is very simple to understand the meaning of a Red Cross.
What is Red Cross? We all know that it is depicted on an
ambulance, blood banks, on a doctor’s car, it always implies to
something that is related to medicine, something related to a
medical cause. Now we see a skull, what does it represent?
Particularly when beneath it is also placed a cross, so we
understand that it signifies danger. Lets move ahead and now we
see a child who is 10 years old but who knows a lot. Has he become 25 years old or 50
years old or is he 80 years old? NO! But in front of him he has a 25 year old, 50-yearold
model and an 80-year-old model. He knows on observing how a young, middle
aged and an old man looks .All these models are before him and because of these he
understands what youth, middle age and old age is. So to understand our own human
body or any object or even to accept a thought we need to have a representative
model or some examples for us to grasp the subject better.
So the Rishis, the true sages, the learned ones, the munis who concentrated,
contemplated, and meditated on God realised the real essence of God, experienced the
quintessence of God and they structured this in the outward appearance, which
depicted these qualities of God. This form of God was activated due to the devotion,
purity and meditation of these rishis. They became siddh, this can be compared for
ease of understanding to buying of a TV that will not get activated till one works on
getting a connection for the same. What really activates that television and makes it
useful is the connection. Similarly the form originated due to the concentration and
meditation of the Rishis and the Munis on the qualities of God and this became
activated due to the penance of these sages. Hence this form became energetic, active
and functional and also the effectiveness of this form could be ascertained. That is the
reason what has been clearly stated in the Puranas. How is God?
When Rishis and Munis and great devotees invite him, chant his name and pray to him
“To Come” He comes.
The features and manifestation of God would depend on
the circumstances on earth at that particular time, the
description of God would depend on what is most needed at that
time on earth, would be the ones on which the devotees can
meditate. So to take a profile God has to cast himself accordingly
to reflect all those Gunas into one single form and one single
roop. During the Ramayana era the situation was different,
during the Mahabharata times the condition was changed, similarly during the point in
time of Sai Baba the circumstances were poles apart .As per the needs of the times
and as per the requirements of those times God takes a varied form, different shape,
every single time. That is why we see them in different roops and different forms. This
means that though there might be different forms, different shapes, establishment of
different characteristics but the maker of all these forms is KESHAV. Keshav means
the one who is beyond the body, who is beyond form, who is the beginning and who is
the end too. He is the only ONE Keshav.
Aakaashaat Pateetam Toyam Yathaa Gatchatee Saagaram
Sarv Dev Namaskaaram Keshvam Prati Gatchatee
To whatever form of his you might pay obeisance, it will ultimately reach the
Keshava. We see the idol of Vithal, Just now sometime back an abhang was being
sung here in which it was asked who is this Vithal, The king of Kailash has come in the
form of Pandurang. Now everyone knows that he is Bal Krishna, but the uniqueness of
this idol is that it has a Shivling on its head. Shivling on the head of Vithal!! Dear
brother this idol in itself depicts that He and I are not different. We are one and the
same.
It is quite clear that the present of this moment was the
future of this moment too some time earlier and will be the past of
this moment some time later i.e. the moment is the same, it will
remain the same but as per the situation we call it the past,
present or future. Means the instance was the same. When we
were born that moment was the present at that time. But one
moment before it, one day before what does the mother say,” just
see I think the due time has come, now within 24 hrs or two days this child will be
delivered.” The time of birth is still in future but when the actual birth is taking place it
is in the present. Once the birth has taken place this moment will become the past.
That means the moment is same.
Now understand 18th Nov 1956, morning 4:35 a.m. that moment is the same
but when it was in the future tense that time Mai was looking forward to that moment.
After yearning for so many years, 16 long years when the moment came it was
transformed from the future to the present and when Mai played with him in her lap
the moment had already transformed into the past tense. The moment was same but
it has got three names- the past present and future. Similarly we have different
Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. Mahabrahma, Mahavishnu and Paramshiv these three
forms are also the same. Though they are all one but as per our requirement, as per
the time as per our reaction, as per our pratisaad we have to take the help of these
different forms.
Many a times in our lives we are in a situation when comes a period of time
where we feel that, ahead of us, behind us, all around us everything is going on
perfectly fine. We have a good job, a good business whatever. These precious
moments are very important in our life, when we have no difficulty, no problem, life is
moving ahead peacefully. The moments of life when we are tension
free, remember that you have God’s unconditional grace on you.
Use these moments in understanding God and getting close to
Him. But the unfortunate part is that we utilize these moments to
actually move away from God. Till we do not have some sorrow, a
problem, a trouble we do not call out his name loudly. We recite
his name deafeningly when some misery befalls us. Remember
when everything was fine and your mind was at peace that was the right time to speak
His name loudly since the mind being at peace, could have been easily and fully
concentrated in his direction only. God also knows at that time that this person is not
doing devotion only for materialistic gains. Since he has everything he does not need
anything and is not praying to gain anything but is doing devotion with total love only
to get me. So dear brother remember that the moments when we do not need to ask
for anything, where we have no difficulty the prayers prove to be the most fruitful.
But now when there is a situation when there is difficulty, struggle, do not think
what a sinner I am. In my good days I did not remember his name so how will I call
him now? Definitely do take his name; taking his name will surely do its job. The
efforts taken and the devotion done during troubled days are not discarded by God but
are instead deposited in your bank. Due to our difficulties and problems if we take his
name and while we are trouble free also we still remember Him and take his name, is
what the basic dwandv is. This exists in every human being but how are these two
forms or two parts alike? One is Shiv roop. Due to the troubles and difficulties the
continuous name recital of God results into Vishnu coming in the form of Shiv in the
Rudra roop, he scares us and invokes in us the realization of recollecting God’s name
and He again in the Vishnu roop comes on a garuda and helps us. He only frightens us,
forces us to do the name recital, makes us practice devotion and after being pleased
with our devotion, sitting on the garuda brings solutions to our problems. It is He who
in the form of Rudra brings us on the right path; again He in the form of Garuda picks
us up from the wrong path, from the mud and the marsh. He comes in the form of
Vishnu sitting on his garuda.
You can observe in any mantra that has originated from
the soil of India, take Arthasheerv or Ganeshji what is said in it.
Tvam Brahma, Tvam Vishnu, Tvam Rudrastam, Rudrastam Agni.
The verse means you Ganapati are Vishnu, you are Rudra, you are
Shiv, you are Indra, you are Sun, You are the moon, and you are
everything. See in Vishnusahastranaam He is called Shiv,
Shambu. In Shivsahastraanaam he is called Ram, he is called
Laxmipati and here we see in Radhasahastranaam that Radha is called Shambukanta.
This means that the fight is not between the two forms of God but the fight is between
the devotees. My God has fought with your God. What we see in the stories, the fight
between Ram and Parshuram, between Shiv and Vishnu, what are these indicating?
These stories tell us that that within us, in us is the Kurukshetra, the battlefield, the
combat zone, this battle continuously takes place in our mind where the two forces
conflict, which force comes to our rescue? Both the forces in spite of being
contradictory to each other do not clash but are converted. Transformed! Nothing in
this universe is destroyed only transformation takes place. Today’s physics says that
there is only transformation. But India knew this more than 10,000 years back thus it
is written in Vedas and Upanishads that nothing in this world is destroyed but it is only
transformed. It never finishes, but just changes form. Let it be energy or a thing with
mass. That is precisely why this Shambu, this Shiv, this Vishnu, this Krishna, this Sai
all are one. Hence there was no reason for the Vaishnava and the Shaivists to fight.
Purans have very clearly said Shivasya Abhyantare Vishnu Vishnusya Abhyantare Shiv.
In the heart of Shiv lives Vishnu and in the heart of Vishnu lives Shiv. Not only
this, in the Puranas it has been very clearly mentioned that any Shiv bhakt who insults
Vishnu will suffer 21 hells for 21 times and similarly any Vishnu bhakt who insults Shiv
will face 21 hells for 21 times. That means the Purans that speak about these Gods
and explain about them clearly mention that they are just one. You should never
believe that my religion or my community is greater than the other. Religion was
made for the well being of the people. Later on there could have been problems
between their followers but that does not mean those religions or the founders are
wrong. Whatever form you believe in you can pray to the same form but you should
not speak wrong about the other forms or religions. Why do we need to spoil our
tongue, our mouth, we should not. We should walk on our path, and we know our
Bapu has told us so many times that every person has a different queue to reach him
so why do I need to go and stand in some one else’s queue? Now a question arises
before us that Bapu we abide by what you say but in our home we have an idol of
Ganeshji’s that we worship on a regular basis, Dattaguru’s statue, Saibaba’s deity our
Kul dev’s icon and our Kul devi’s idol, Annapurna devi’s statue, so what should we do?
Throw them all? You need not throw them. There is absolutely no need to do that. If
you have only one idol it is fine and if you have many then too it is good. But our belief
should be that the form, which we are attached to the most, if we love it the most and
do only its upasana, the other Gods, will neither be hurt nor insulted. First build this
firm belief within yourself. Sometimes some astrologer or some great dev rishi etc do
tell us that since you are praying to this God, the other God is upset with you. Do
understand that he is lying. If it is only one and the only one - Keshav and the rest are
only His forms then how can praying to one of his form antagonise his other form? He
will never be angry. So in my house how many ever idols I have, believe that they are
all my Sai only.
What does Hemandpant say in the very first chapter of
Sai Satcharitra? That Sai is Ganesha, Sai is Vishnu, Sai is
Sadashiv, and Sai is himself standing with the veena in the form
of goddess Saraswati. So does Saraswati get angry with him? If
she would have been angry then could he have written such an
immense manuscript? He could never have written the same. If
Annapurna had been angry with him then he would not have got
anything to eat. RIGHT! In Sai Satcharitra repeatedly Hemandpant has referred to Sai
as a saint, a question rises in the minds of many people that in the central Sai
Satcharitra Hemantpant refers to Sai Baba as sant shreshtha- the grand saint, sant
agraneeya, sant param and later on refers to him as Sadguru and the incarnation of
God. Does this mean that Hemandpant was confused? No, he very well knew that
Baba had come in the form of a saint so I should describe him as a saint. He has
mentioned this in one line that I think is in the eleventh chapter, that some say he is
Mahan bhakt and some say that he is maha bhagwat.
Amongst the bhaktas he is much above the top most Bhakta. He is Maha
manav. But for me he is God himself. He never told anyone that you call me God but
simply placed his views in front of all. He spoke about Megha who considered Him
Shiv, he writes about the Madrasi lady who considered him Ram and he talks about
Das Ganu for whom he was Vitthal. He kept everyone’ s beliefs and tales for the same
before the Bhaktas. He not only mentioned stories about people who used to consider
Sai as a sant but about those people too who considered Him as an asant. This implies
that he depicted Sai in various forms for us. Due to this and because of this in the
Radha Sahastranaam this name Om Shambukaantaayeh Namah is mentioned. This
does not mean that Radhaji divorced Krishna and married Shambu. If someone speaks
such a wrong thing then we should not even hear it as there is only one God in a
sweet form, and He has different forms. This Goddess is only one and this God is only
one, they only have different forms. For whom? For their children. For the good of
their children. They do not need any form. Remember this I am telling this truth from
the depths of my heart.
Many a times you declare that since I do regular Strotra
pathan, naam sumiran then this is the reason that God helps me.
We even advice others that continue taking His name and He will
help you. This is not true. Not at all true. God comes to facilitate
one and all. The atheists, the non-believers he comes to help
them as well. But the one who is not doing naam sumiran, not
doing bhakti, not walking on the right path then such a one is
incapable of accepting his aid. He becomes ineligible. We should know God does not
help us because we have recited some strotras, or because we come here and offered
some Udh to the sacred fire. We should know that GOD always helps us and hence
with due obligation we should recite his name, should do the pradakshina, prostrate in
front of Him, offer garlands to him, offer a flower wreath to him, perform abhishekh,
light scented incense sticks, candles, earthen lamps. Why do we need to do all this?
Not to invite his grace since that is omnipresent. I am a thoughtless being, I do not
have strength to receive fully, and my capacity is limited. To pilfer this grace from
Him, my hands should have the energy and strength to accept it and that is precisely
why I need to do all these practices.
Anyone who says since I ready Sai Satcharitra daily and I go to Shirdi every
month so that’s the reason why Sai’s grace is on me, just understand that person is
dishonest. When God made this whole universe what was there? Was your naam
sumiran there? Were your strotras present then? Your pradakshina existed? No! Was
the blazing of udh and dhoop readily available then? No! Still Sai created this Universe.
He created 84 lakh species, made food for all of them. Did these living beings pray for
this food? No! God does not need anything to create no matter what. And when he
needs to destroy this world at that time as well He does not need anything or anyone’s
help. We should know that he has created this world and made us a jeevatma, a
human and sent us here. Our only duty is to love HIM, support him in his deeds, and
completely surrender our trust at his feet for our benefit only. This is the only way to
bring happiness, peace and comfort in our lives. We call Shambuji bholenath;
everyone knows that Shambu is bholenath and whatever one asks for he simply
grants. Ravan once asked Shambuji to give him Parvati. Shivji gave him and Ravan
thought that is why shambuji is bhole. But he did not know that this Shambu in the
form of Vishnu, Ganesh would surely come in his way. So he takes Umaji with him. For
Umaji Sparsh or Asparsh does not matter.
While going Lord Ganesh appears before Ravan and asks
him, why are you carrying this ugly old woman with you? Is she
your grandmother? Ravan says “What an obtuse thing you are
saying, she is the most beautiful woman Uma. Ganeshji replied,
are you insane? The old lady you are carrying is a very unsightly
woman and all her teeth have fallen off. She is so hideous that
one cannot even look at her. Ravan thinks that this child is
playing a prank on me, but Ganeshji appears again and again in different forms in
front of Ravan At this point a thought emerges in Ravan’s mind, it seems this Shambu,
Bholenath has done some fraud with me. There has to be some problem since so many
people are referring to her as repulsive. Shivji while giving Uma had told Ravan that
just take care of one thing, this Uma is the daughter of the mountains so make sure
that her feet do not touch any mountain or hill other wise she will be taken into the
core of that mountain and I will not be able to help you.
But now Ravan wants to glimpse what she looks like. He then made Umaji
unconscious with the help of Mohini mantra and as she was quite heavy he could not
put her down and the road he had taken was full of mountains. If he would place her
down on the mountain then she would disappear. So he wondered what to do, he had
one experience in the past where when he was carrying the atmaling and he had put it
on the ground, it had remained there forever. So he thought that if on the way he sees
some lake he would place Umaji on the bank of that lake and then see her face.
Whether she is the beautiful Uma or an ugly hag and that is why he keeps on running
and flying in the air. He finds at one place that there are no mountains but a small lake
instead. Now he thinks that he can see her reflection in the water by keeping her face
upturned over the water. But at that moment it so happens that the clouds come inbetween
the sun and the earth, obstructing the light, since there is no light the
reflection cannot be seen in water. He himself had no power to get the light. Ravana
thinks that in case it becomes dark due to night he would spend the nighttime at this
place itself, so he sits but did not sleep. Because if he slept then her hand or foot could
touch the ground, but then he realises that he is not on a mountain, so he can keep
Umaji on the ground. Now the circumstance created for Ravana is” I can keep her
down, as there is no mountain here”. But she is herself the ‘mountain’s daughter,
Himalayas daughter, she is Parvati. So Ravana plans that I can make Parvati rest here,
and since there is no mountain I can do this very without doubt. The moment Umaji’s
feet touch the ground a volcano suddenly erupts, though there was no mountain, no
hill nothing was there, just nothing existed there.
Dears this is actually Uma’s touch, jagat amba ‘s touch that
where ever it will occur, fire will appear in the form of volcano
.The molten lava comes out giving augmentation to a mountain,
Ravan had kept the himastra with him so the fire from the volcano
could not harm him, but a mountain was formed and the moment
the mountain appeared over the ground Parvati ‘s feet touched it
and she departs for her destination through. Ravan stays there till
the volcano becomes still .Now he is left with nothing neither Uma, nor the penance,
the siddhi, the bhakti nothing is remaining now. In this condition we can understand
that this Shiv who is Bholenath is surely Bhola but for whom? The devotee who is
simple and innocent. But if the bhakta is deceiving then this bholenath who is bhola
and is the God of the bhola devotee cannot be cheated. We should understand the
meaning of the word bholenath - the one who is the God of the simple, the caretaker
of the straightforward, the one who supports them, and the one who helps them. He
himself is not plain or Bhola. He is bhola for those whose feelings are clean and pure
and that’s why Krishna is tricky because he understands all the types, who is right and
who is wrong and how to eliminate the wrong .He knows how to upgrade the good and
that is why he takes birth again and again and also bears all the anguish and distress.
We must observe all the incarnations of the Gods and Goddesses; do they live a
good and peaceful life? NO! Let it be Ram or Krishna or Sai or Ganapati or Shiva - in
all the forms they have been continuously fighting with the demons. But for whom?
For us! This we must fully realize that whatever form he comes in, he fights for us or if
he helps then whom does he help? Us. And the line that we read Vanar mala karave
deva, Nako narjanam kuda. Meena bhabi has recited this line that vanar mala karave
deva, nako narjanam kuda, she is saying vanar maj karave deva. Vanar means
monkey. Vanarsena is Ram’s. Vanar maj karave deva, she has pleaded that, Oh God!
Nako narjanam kuda. Kuda means bad, one with bad thoughts. Nako nar janam kuda
means let me not be born as a human, this form is full of wrong judgments, make me
a monkey. Whose monkey? Ram’s monkey. Make me Ram’s vanar Sainak.
Navhata vichar tyancha thayaee. Because in their minds there is never a
negative feeling or a wrong thought. Such are those vanaras, Vichar phakt Ramacha
Their minds only contemplate on Ram, so make me like those monkeys who just think
of Rama, who want to join his army and are ready to fight for
Him. That is why it is said that when Ram becomes the king and
Ram’s kingdom (Ram Rajya) is established, great saints
performed the coronation ceremony. At that time Rama
proclaimed that,” there will be no sorrow in the life of his vanar
sainaks.” Whosoever became a vanar sainak will never have any
trouble in his entire life. This was Rama’s promise. What did
Tulsidasji write about Rama? Rama is a satyasankalap God. Other than Ram all else
have a time bound reign, it is only this Lord Ram who is satya sankalapa (One whose
pledge is always true). Prabhu and his word always comes true. That is why we
should bind ourselves with his true pledge. We should join his army again and again.
We should become like those vanar sainaks. We should take an initiative to join his
army. If we just think and wait that Ram will come and ask us to join his Vanar sena,
let me tell you He has no need to be doing that. It is our requirement. Ram and
Lakshman could have easily killed Ravan by themselves. We read this in Sundarkand. I
do not know how many of you read the Sundarkand, I have been repeatedly been
asking you read it, it is very beautiful. In Sundarkand Sugreev, is sitting with Ram and
Laxman and a messenger comes to inform that Ravan’s younger brother Vibhishan has
arrived, what should we do? Ram asks Sugreev “since you are the king of the vanar
sena and a friend of mine, tell me what should we do”? Sugreev is a paragon of justice
and he says that as per the guidelines of how to rule the covetous form the answer
can come from various corners. He can be in any of his forms since he is a demon and
can change forms easily. He can come with a wrong intention or with a good intention
but at the end of the day he is full of covetousness and is master of impersonification.
So I think he should be held as a prisoner.
But Ram says “No”! Mam par sarnagat bhay haari. Then what is my oath? What is my
oath? That whoever comes to me for refuge I will free him of all fear. This is my
resolution. And tell me one thing that if he has come to me for refuge then it is my
religious duty to protect him. You see this Laxman he can in a moment destroy all the
demons single-handed. So what ever happens you please get Vibhishan before me.
That means that one Laxman was good enough to destroy the whole demon force but
still to destroy Ravana, Ram took a vanar sena with him. This was Ram’s grace on us.
Whenever we do some work for God we should think that He has given us a chance,
an opportunity to become a vanar sainak to lend a hand in his work. But if we think
that He will fight for us and we will sit back on the tree eating fruits, then we will
become just monkeys not His Vanar sainaks. If we have to become a vanar sainak
then we will have to stand ahead of Ram, behind Ram and we should be determined to
fight for him. And our ideals should be that Hanumanji, that Sugreev, that Jamwant,
that Neel, that Angad, that Anaal. Because of whom we know how the bridge was
built, the Ram naam was written and the war was fought. The war that is nondescribable.
No one can know how they fought it. Ravan also fought this war though
his army was made up of demons. The demons that were huge and much larger than
the vanars but still the vanars were not scared. The vanars fought with their weapons,
-nakh, aayuth, giri, baad badaari, chale gaagan mae ichachaari.
There were different types of Vanars, some could change
their shape and form as per their wish, means they could move on
air and land, and they were so grand. Some of the vanars were
very simple they did not even have a Gadha. They just had their
nails and gainiya but none of the vanars ever thought that they
were not very strong or as powerful as the other sturdy vanars.
They joined Ram’s army in small small groups and we must learn
from them and do that in our lives. Hey God! Keep me as your
soldier all my life because it is only this vanar sainak who remains happy throughout
his life. No one else can stay contented and Lord Rama himself during his rajya
abhishekh has said this. This Ram the one who always takes a true pledge, the Satya
Sankalp Prabhu. His word is never artificial. The one who becomes Ram’s soldier
always remains blissful. So if I need to be contented then I need to be his soldier.
Shambukaantaayeh namah: Let it be Shambu or Ram. As we see Rameshwar, it is a
well-known holy place, a pilgrimage, who established this Rameshwar, Lord Ram
established this place of lord Shiva, and who made Ram Raksha? Lord Shiva did. Who
wrote Shivmahima strotra? Ram did. That means Ramji’s best known verses
Ramrakshastrotra has been written by Shivji and lord Shiva’s Shivmahima has been
written by whom non other than Lord Rama, Not Shivmahima, it is Shivpanchashree.
It is considered the most important and the chief strotra of Shivji. It gives the detailed
meaning of the mantra Om Naamho Shivay. Who wrote this panchashree strotra? God
Rama Himself!
So dear friends now in our lives too we should stop the
conflict about different Gods, this God or that God, How many
ever forms of God exist, you can bow to all of them. But the
form, the shape that has made its place in your heart, it’s only
that form that will get interconnected with you. For your every
endeavour, for your every predicament, even before the start of
the difficulty He will stand there, has always been standing and will continue to stand
even in the future.
।। Hari Om ।।
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