Only strong sadhana canprotect us from a fall-downlike Ajamila’sVenue: GermanyBhagvat saptha (Ajamil Katha series – Forth session)Bhagvat recitation, this is our third session we are still inthe 1st chapter of the 6th canto, with this session, thismorning’s 1st session, we will complete the 1st chapter thatleaves us with two more chapters. So 2nd chapter we will dotoday between 2nd and the 3rd session of today, we willcomplete the 2nd chapter and remaining 3rd chapter we’llrelish here, study tomorrow.So, Yamadutas have arrived and Vishnudutas also. Yesterday weheard of the brief life sketch. So, brief life sketch and whowould study such a lifestyle. The husband is a prostitute’shusband. ‘dasi patir ajamilah’, he was named, he wasaddressed, introduced as ‘dasi patir ajamilah’. Then we havetravelled long distances with great expense and inconvenienceleaving asides so many important assignments we have come herejust to study the life of dasi pati, the husband of thisprostitute. Is it worth? Now you know what the topic is, youbetter go home, do something more important. So, there’s acontrast, there’s a lesson. Even dasi-pati was such a degradedperson, there’s hope for even such a person. That’s theinspiration that we get, that we are not as fallen or not thatbad like; we can’t match the style, lifestyle of Ajamila. Sosuch fallen person but he chants Narayan and 4 Vishnudutascome and 3 were already there, 3 Yamadutas and Vishnudutasnaturally want to stop the undertaking, the work and action byYamadutas. It was not necessary, it is irrelevant they werethinking, the Vishnudutas were thinking. This person haschanted the name of Narayan, that’s it. At the time of deathhe had done so helplessly he cried out ‘bhartur nama maharaja

sahasapatan’ (S.B. 6.1.30) when they heard name of theirswami, their master Narayan sahasa means suddenly theyappeared.You could see how swiftly they must have moved, not losingeven fraction of second. It is said that they are normallyhere; in the universe they are wandering, protectingVaishnavas, picking up Vaishnavas, taking Vaishnavas back homeback to Godhead, to Vaikuthloka. So, they were around theuniverse somewhere around the planet, somewhere and when theyheard the name, someone chanting name Narayan they allappeared and they looked so beautiful, effulgent, that theirappearance dissipated all the darkness and. So we went throughdescription of their clothing and ornaments and the weaponsthey were carrying and this was just contrary to the ‘vakra-tundan urdhva-romna’ (S.B. 6.1.28), crooked faces and hairwere standing on end and ‘ati-darunan’ very horrible looking.So, one coming from hell we could tell. Prabhupada wrote inone of the purports, just by looking at, before even foreigneris introduced, by his look or by his beauty, by his the way heis dressed, of course once he begins talking you would knowmore about him. He is just dressed or he is a fool no. 1 he isdressed like a gentleman you would find that out but not onlythey are good looking and well dressed but they are alsohighly intelligent, very wise persons. So when you would hearthem talk or Yamaraja’s hear them speaking, they just leftAjamila behind and they proceeded to abode of Yamaraja. So, wewere ‘sri-visnuduta ucuh’, so, Vishnudutas are challengingYamadutas and they think maybe they are not even therepresentatives of Yamaraja, if they were trulyrepresentatives of Yamaraja they wouldn’t even hear, “Did younot hear the name Narayan that this person chanted?”, “Yes, wedid”. “Still you are taking him to abode of Yamaraja? Doesn’tsound like you are Yamaraja’s representatives. You betterdouble check with Yamaraja, telephone him (laughter) what youare doing is right or wrong. We are confident that youshouldn’t be here. You have nothing to do with this case. Thisis beyond your jurisdiction. What are you doing here? And if

you truly are somebody from Yamaraja” then,“yuyam vai dharma-rajasya yadi nirdesa-karinahbruta dharmasya nas tattvam yac cadharmasya laksanam” (S.B.6.1.38)So, we would like you to bruta, bruta means say…say it, yuyamvai dharma-rajasya yadi, if you are truly Dharmaraj’s,Yamaraja’s nirdesa-karinah, the order carriers nirdesa,Yamaraja gives some order and you execute, if that is what youpeople are then, bruta-say, dharmasya tattvam- we want to hearthe truth about dharma. At the same time, yac cadharmasyalaksanam, dharmasya tattvam yac cadharmasya laksanam, dharma,adharma both you have to explain; what is dharma? And what isnot dharma? what is religion? What is not religion? Ok hurryup, say it. This enquiry by Vishnudutas to Yamadutas is mostimportant. Prabhupad writes in the purport, a servant mustknow the instructions of his master. The servants of Yamarajaclaimed to be carrying out his orders, and therefore theVisnudutas very intelligently asked them to explain thesymptoms of religious and irreligious principles. Thequestions posed by the Vishnudutas are very suitable. One whorepresents someone else must fully know that person’s mission.If you are representing Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, if you arerepresenting Srila Prabhupada, representing spiritual masters,then we have to know their mission, Prabhupada is pointing outhere. The devotee in Krishna Consciousness Movement thereforemust be fully aware of the mission of Krishna and LordChaitanya. Otherwise they will be considered foolish. Alldevotees, especially preachers must know the philosophy ofKrishna Consciousness so as not to be embarrassed and insultedwhen they preach. To avoid the embarrassing, insulting andother kinds of situation, one should equip oneself, especiallypreachers with the philosophy, with the mission of the masterauthority that they represent and the next.“katham svid dhriyate dandah kim vasya sthanam ipsitamdandyah kim karinah sarve aho svit katicin nrnam” (S.B.6.1.39)Translation- What is the process of punishing others?

Vishnudutas are enquiring, who are the actual candidates forpunishment? Are all karmis engaged in furtive activitiespunishable, or only some of them? So, no one knows, right?These things, so, this we could know. Vishnudutas haveenquired for our benefit. So the answer, we could be benefitedby the answer. The answer is coming up. Good to know, who iscandidate for punishment. So Yamadutas only punish Hindus’ orGermans’ also? One party, followers of buddha, they were partof their conversion campaign they were saying, “We don’tbelieve in this law of karma like Hindus do. So you shouldjoin our dharma. They are giving concession, our dharma isbetter. We don’t believe in law of karma. Come, please joinus. Those who believe they have to suffer; as you sow, soshall you reap. This is a law, law of karma. If someone wouldtell, no no we don’t believe, so you should join our religionis much easy and you know. So is that the way? If someonesays, no no we don’t believe in this law of karma, so is thatperson free from law of karma? Just because he says, oh! Wedon’t believe. So, in other words, Yamaduta’s Yamaraj has ajurisdiction over everybody. He’s coming up specially humanbeings for sure. So Prabhupad is pointing that out in thispurport but I just want you to think, may be this question didnot come up that Yamaraja and all these Yamadutas is only forHindus’ and you know Chinese people have nothing to do withthis. They have another, someone else, another Yamaraja oranother system infrastructure. No, the same thing, itsuniversal. One who has the power to punish others should notpunish everyone. Very wise statement Prabhupada is making, onewho has the power to punish others should not punish everyone,indiscriminately. There are innumerable living entities, themajority of whom are in the spiritual world and are nitya-mukta, everlastingly liberated. There is no question ofjudging these liberated living beings. This Yamadutas Yamarajahas no jurisdiction over all those living in the spiritualsky. Only a small fraction of the living entities, perhaps onefourth, are in the material world, right? tri paad vibhuti,one paad vibhuti spiritual sky is like a three forth of the

kingdom creation and one forth is material world. So,Prabhupada is saying, perhaps only one fourth of thepopulation, living entities are here. And the major portion ofthe living entities in the material world — 8,000,000 forms ofthe 8,400,000 forms of life — are lower than human beings.They are not punishable, for under the laws of material naturethey are automatically evolving. So nobody from the spiritualsky is punishable and then out of the 8,400,000, 8,000,000 areother species. So they are also not punishable. A dog is notpunished if he crosses when the red light is on, does policearrest the dog? He is just irresponsible. So he would neverteach any tricks anything to the dog. So like that, so that’sremaining only 400,000 human beings who are advanced inKrishna Consciousness are responsible but not all of them arepunishable. Those engaged in advanced pious activities arebeyond punishment. So Prabhupada is just trying to analyze andsay who are the only parties punishable. Only those who engagein sinful activities are punishable. Therefore the Visnudutasparticularly inquired about who is punishable and why Yamarajahas to be designated to discriminate between who is punishableand who is not. How is one to be judged? What is the basicprinciple of authority? These are the questions raised by theVisnudutas. So this is very advance knowledge. So good to knowthese things. ‘Yamaduta ucuh’ okay now is the turn…so thismorning we’ll just spend time listening to the Yamadutas(laughs) We have only time, that’s how the chapter ends the1st chapter. Now we begin talking with the text no. 40 to textno. 68, there are 29 verses these Yamaduta ucuh. Why ucuh?Many. If it was only one Yamadut, only one then uvach. Thenyou see sometimes ucuh means many are speaking. Ucuh uvach soplural number gets ucuh. Yamaduta ucuh. Now you know. So it’sdone. That ignorance is out. Now your knowledge, for rest ofyour life you know whenever there’s ucuh right? Next 30 40years you know ucuh means many persons are speaking. Easy,right? Just spend 1 minute or half minute to understandsomething and then you know once and for all.“veda-pranihito dharmo hy adharmas tad-viparyayah

vedo narayanah saksatsvayambhur iti susruma” (S.B. 6.1.40)So, they have defined it is veda-pranihito, the vedas. What isprescribed in the vedas or done things as per prescriptions ofvedas that is dharma. And tad-viparyayah just opposite of thatis adharma, irreligion. They are defining like this. Vedonarayanah saksat, vedas are sakshat Narayan, this is Sanskrit.We should be capable to understand this much. Vedas aresakshat narayan, ya directly Narayan. ‘Sakshat haritvensamasta shastrey’ we sing every day. Sakshat hari, sakshatmeans Himself directly. So vedas are sakshat Narayan.‘Svayambhur iti susruma’ and ya we have heard this. We haveheard this from Yamaraja.Purport – The servants of Yamaraja replied quite properly.Prabhupada is giving his judgment, Prabhupad is satisfied;Yamarajas’ replies quite properly. They did not manufactureprinciples of religion or irreligion, no manufacturing.Instead, they explained what they had heard from the authorityYamaraja. ‘Mahajano yena gatah sa panthah’: one should followthe Mahajana, the authorized person. Yamaraja is one of twelveauthorities. They said susruma, Prabhupada is writing. Theysaid right? This word susruma. They said we have heard this.But but we saying this to you that this vedo narayanah saksatiti susruma – we have heard this. Ofcourse we have heard thisfrom Yamaraja. Susruma, so this is the right way to acquireknowledge. Injunction of dharma emanate from breathing ofNarayan. And Srila Madhvacarya also makes a comment here, thetranscendental words of the Vedas emanated from the mouth ofthe Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore the Vedicprinciples should be understood to be Vaishnava principlesbecause Vishnu is the origin of the Vedas. The Vedas containnothing besides the instructions of Vishnu, and one whofollows the Vedic principles is a Vaishnava. So Vedas are alsoknown as ‘apaurushaya’ they call ‘apaurushaya’ means notspoken by a ordinary human being ‘apaurushaya’. Yamadutascontinue“yena sva-dhamny ami bhava rajah-sattva-tamomayahguna-nama-kriya-rupair vibhavyante yatha-tatham” (S.B. 6.1.41)

Yena sva-dhamny ami – this is Narayan. Narayan resides in Hisown abode, they say. And although He resides in His own abodethrough the agency of rajah-sattva-tamo, He is creating thiswhole existence which is full of guna that is qualities, namathat is names, kriya that is activities, rupair that is forms.This world full of forms, qualities, activities is a creationof Narayan which He creates with the help of sattva-rajah-tamo. Although He is not personally here, yena sva-dhamnyalthough in His own abode, He’s creating everything. All thesemanifestations are, thus Narayan is the cause of entire cosmicmanifestation. Is that correct also? These Yamarajas are theycorrect? Not correct? Getting good marks. He is able to remainin His own abode, Prabhupada is writing, He (i.e. Narayan) isable to remain in His own abode and without endeavor superviseand manipulate the entire cosmic manifestation through theinteraction of the three modes of material nature — sattva,rajo and tamo. These interactions create different forms,bodies, activities and changes, which all occur perfectly.This is Lord’s creation, everything’s perfect and having saidthat much now Yamadutas are going to list of witnesses. Sowhen one commit sin, before they are sent to carry out theorder whether he is to be punished or rewarded to which bodyhe gets next. This all has to depend on, you know, the actualfacts about that person’s dealings, activities. So there hasto be witnesses. Someone to witness the activity of thatperson. So they say, so please take note of the witnesses. Lotof times we just look around, there’s no one here, just me andthen we go. Just do it. You feel good, just do it, don’t eventhink. Just see no one around, ok no one around. But theYamadutas say“suryo gnih kham marud devah somah sandhyahani disahkam kuh svayam dharma iti hy ete daihyasya saksinah” (S.B.6.1.42)Sakshi Gopal, you know, Sakshi Gopal, witness Gopal. Gopal whowitnessed. So saksinah, daihyasya saksinah, daihi- we aredaihi, embodied. So of daihi that is daihyasya. Daihyasyasaksinah – these are the witnesses of the activities performed

by the conditioned soul. so who are they; surya-sun, agni-fire, kham-ether, shabdah khe, marud sound is in ether,shabdah khe, khe means ‘in’, so in ether there is sound that’sanother statement of Krishna from the 10th chapter of BhagvatGita. So marud-air, wherever you are there’s always air right?Could you go to somewhere where there’s no air? You could gobut not come back (laughter). So even air is a witness. Air isgiven, you think air is just passing by but air gathered allthe news (laughs) That air will go to Yamaraja and somehowpass the news on to him. Devah-demigod, somah-moon, sandhya-evening, sandhya-evening time sandhyakal, ahani-the day,dishah-directions, how many directions are there? 10; purva,pashchim, dakshin, uttar, agneya, nairrti, vayavya, ishanya,urdhva, adho. These are the ten names of ten directions. So,the ten directions, they are also witness. Kam i.e. water, kuhi.e. land, svayam dharma Yamaraja himself is also witness. Solike these are the witnesses.Now Prabhupada is writing the purport – once we had adiscussion with a learned Christian professor who argued thatalthough people are generally punished after the witnesses oftheir misdeeds are examined, after the witnesses of theirmisdeeds are examined, ok, witnesses are examined. Someonecommitted misdeed and then witnesses are there right? Yes Iwas there, I saw, I took the photograph also and recording, Iwas right there. So when all these witnesses are examined thenthere should be punishment. This was the argument of thisChristian gentleman who was talking with Prabhupada, arguingwith Prabhupada, where are the witnesses responsible for one’ssuffering reactions of past karma? Oh! Your Yamaraja punishespeople, Hindu people or all the people but you know where arethe witnesses are? We committed sin, may be in a cave, in asecluded place or here there wherever. So how they have toexamine the witnesses, gather correct facts then only thejudgement is going to be right otherwise it will go wrong.Understand the argument of this priest; if you understand theargument of the priest then you will understand the reply. Yaunderstood? His point was normally the judgment comes after

hearing the witnesses about someone’s misdeed. So many people,so many living entities they are punished but where are thewitnesses? So judgment is not going to be wrong. It is goingto be wrong according to him.Ok then Prabhupada is now, to such a person the answer by theYamadutas is given here. Prabhupada is not giving any answerhimself. The Yamadutas have given answer to the question orargument of this Christian professor, a conditioned soulthinks that he is working stealthily. Stealthily? Stealing youknow stealing like a thief. Stealthily is working withoutanybody noticing while any action is being performed. So soulthinks, conditioned soul thinks that he is working stealthilyand that no one can see his sinful activities, but we canunderstand from the sastras that there are many witnesses, wejust find out from sastras witness is like sun, fire, likethat, sky, air, moon and like that but doesn’t differentwitnesses. Where is the dearth of witnesses? The witnesses andthe Supreme Lord both exist, and therefore so many livingentities are elevated to higher planetary systems or degradedto lower planetary systems, including hellish planets. Thereare no discrepancies, for everything is arranged perfectly bythe management of the Supreme God (svabhaviki jnana-bala-kriyaca). See how the creation of God works. we get to know this.Ok, they continue“etair adharmo vijnatah sthanam dandasya yujyatesarve karmanurodhena dandam arhanti karinah” (S.B. 6.1.43)Translation – The candidates for punishment are those who areconfirmed by these many witnesses to have deviated from theirprescribed regulative duties. Everyone engaged in furtiveactivities is suitable to be subjected to punishment accordingto his sinful acts. Questions were raised, who are thecandidates for punishment? And Yamadutas say that everyoneengaged in furtive activities is going to be punishedaccording to the sinful acts. So the witnesses, the differentones, they say yes yes we know that this person deviated fromthe prescribed regulative duties. He is a brahmin and thisprescribed duty and he is kshatriya, he is a brahmachari,

here’s this, here’s that and each one has prescribed duty andall these personalities appointed to act as witnesses, theyhave been trained, they know what are the regulativeprinciples, what is dharma and what is not dharma and allthat. So through the eyes of the scriptures and keeping allthese prescribed duties, knowledge in forefront of their mind,they are looking at different personalities. And as soon asthey go against, they deviate from the prescribed duty,immediately who is sleeping there in middle of Bhagvatam thiswill be reported right? Speaker may not take notice but thereis, the witnesses are around. The news is all the time thecommunication is and for each one of us there is one file.Yamaraja has super computer and the data is all the timeupdated and plus minus because person may leave anytime soreport has to be ready (laughter). Not that he is dead andpending file and do review and do all calculations who knows.No as soon as the person is no more which could be anytime, sothe data has to be ever ready, perfect. Prabhupada just said,Lord’s management is perfect, no delays.“yena yavan yathadharmo dharmo veha samihitahsa eva tat-phalam bhunkte tatha tavad amutra vai” (S.B.6.1.45)‘Yena yavan yathadharmo dharmo veha samihitah’ so according tothe activities dharmic-religious or irreligious we performthen that persons gets the phalam-the fruit, either bitterfruit or sweeter sweet fruit, amutra vai-in the next lifeaccordingly he gets the body. ‘Karmana daiva netrena sat asatjanma yonishu’, karmana daiva netrena- the karma, they haveeyes, daiva netrena, sat asat janma yonishu- yoni means speciesat means higher specie, asat means lower specie. According toone’s karma, one gets higher body or lower body. In proportionto the extent of one’s religious actions in this life, onemust enjoy or suffer corresponding actions of this karma inthe next. Srila Prabhupada is quoting verse from Bhagvat Gita,“urdhvam gacchanti sattva-stha madhye tisthanti rajasahjaghanya guna vrtti-stha adho gacchanti tamasah” (Bhagavad-gita 14.18). Urdhvam gacchanti- upwards go, sattva-stha-

person situated in mode of goodness they go upwards. Thenmadhye- in the middle, tisthanti rajasah- persons in the modeof passion, they stay in the middle and adho gacchanti- adhomeans down gacchanti means go tamasah- people in mode ofignorance go down mode of passion stay? Where? Middle andGoodness upwards. So goodness means pious activity so they goto heaven, the tamasic sinful activity they go the hellishplanets and rajasah the passionate ones, they stay in themiddle, this planet, we know the planet system. So this is14th chapter 18th verse of Bhagvat Gita. So Prabhupada hasquoted that verse supporting Yamaduta’s statement. Like thatthey just as the spring time the omnipotent Yamaraja is asgood as Brahma they say, they talk about their masterYamaraja. For while situated in his own abode or in everyone’sheart like Paramatma, he mentally observes past activities ofa living entity and thus understands how living entity willact in future lives. Such is a power of Yamaraja, he couldjust think of his present and past activities and he couldimmediately visualize that he would act like this in futureand then accordingly he has given the bodies. One should notconsider Yamaraja an ordinary living being, he is as good asLord Brahma, he has competent, co-operation of Supreme Lordwho is situated in everyone’s heart and therefore by the graceof Supersoul, he can see the past, present and future of allliving beings from within, from within himself, he could seethis. The actual decisions concerning next lives of entitiesare made by Supersoul and they are carried out by Yamaraja. Sothere is a co-operation, they work as a team or Lord has afinal say, Supersoul has a final say in the matter thenYamaraja does the execution of the will of the Lord. We areskipping some verses here for some time constraints are there.So,“pancabhih kurute svarthan panca vedatha pancabhihekas tu sodasena trin svayam saptadaso ’snute” (S.B. 6.1.50)The living entity enjoys or suffer. They say conditioned soulhas five working senses, five objects of senses are there andfive knowledge acquiring senses i.e. fifteen; five, five, five

and then what is the sixteenth item is mind and seventeenth isa living entity himself. So like that, the seventeen togetherthey have connection with the subtle body and so according toknowledge acquired and particular kind of knowledge acquired,actions perform they enjoy or suffer differently. So someenjoy shoka that’s lamentation, harsha, bhaya, artidam (S.B.6.1.51). The subtle body is endowed with sixteen parts — thefive knowledge-acquiring senses, the five working senses, thefive objects of sense gratification, and the mind. This subtlebody is an effect of the three modes of material nature. It iscomposed of insurmountably strong desires, and therefore itcauses the living entity to transmigrate from one body toanother in human, animal life and life as a demigod.So, and there are few more verses, no, they are not many morebut few, just then replying to the questions raised byVishnudutas and towards the end now, last 10 verses.Vishnudutas are going to describe in more detail, giving somemore details of the life, sinful life of Ajamila, this dasi-pati Ajamila. And then in conclusion they say yes, this is thereason, this is the reason we want to bring him to Yamaloka.So they want to make their case. So they have given somereading through philosophical explanations and now lifehistory again. We are studying the life of this dasi-patirajamilah.“Ayam hi sruta-sampannah sila-vrtta-gunalayah” (S.B. 6.1.56)He was…ya, so pay attention, important details are there. Sodo not miss anything, Yes so they say he was sruta-sampannah-means he used to hear a lot from right sources ‘Sravanamkirtanam visnoh smaranam’ (SB 7.5.23). He was doing this,nityam Bhagvat sevaya, studying shastras, vedas, he was doingthis regularly. Sila-vrtta-gunalayah- he was well behaved, hehad a very bright character and he was full of so many goodqualities, dhrta-vrato- following so many vows, he used tofast on ekadashi and like that. We have also taken vrat, whatis our vrat? Katha vrat, katha-vrati, we have katha-vrati.Right now we are following vrat of katha, katha vrat. There isbrahmachari vrat, ekadashi vrat, different vratas. Right now

there is a month of ‘Purushottam mass’. You heard of that?‘Purushottam mas’ every after 3 years, one additional monthappears called Purushottam and lot of people if you go toVrindavan now, it’s so crowded. Started 3 weeks ago, 1 moreweek to go. So this month is considered very very auspiciousespecially for hearing and chanting. People drop their routinebusinesses and go to the holy places, stay there for wholemonth, following different vows, eating; they follow lot ofeating restrictions. If you don’t eat salt, you’ll have asweet voice and this and that, if you don’t drink milk, itgives benefit like that. So people follow lot of differentvows and minimize their bodily demands and increase thespiritual practices during this month. All the holy places arecrowded right now in India. Go to any and every holy place,people are coming in big numbers for darshan of the deitiesand taking holy dip, of course that’s the favorite pastime.Let’s take a holy dip, as soon as they come they want to findwhere have to take bath, bathing ghat, bathing ghat, snan,there’s a snan ghat, bathing ghat.So, different vratas. Purushottam mass follow, this is alsoanother vrat. So he was ‘dhrta-vrato’- he used to follow lotsof vows. And ‘mrdur’- he was very mild person. Now he wasarrogant but one time and ‘dantah’- he was sense and mindcontroller and he had mind and controlled his mind and sensesto great extent and ‘satya-van mantra-vic chucih’ (S.B.6.1.56)- yes he was very clean, always speaking truthfully,speaking truth, no lies, talking about the previous, beforecoming in contact with the prostitute, he was like that andthey have information about that. How are they saying this?How did Yamadutas came to know this? How? Supersoul?Witnesses, Yes, so many witnesses, good news also, they areinformed, not that only sinful activities, someone is doinggood, that is also reported, that is also on the computerscreen, that also appears. And he used to be very respectfuland he had service attitude. “Guru-agny-atithi-vrddh” (SB6.1.57) four parties mentioned he used to serve, berespectful, serving Gurus, fire, guests and old people and

other parties and these people respecting agni is what? Lightthe fire and do swaha swaha or use the fire for cooking forthe Lord i.e. worshipping, serving fire and guests should betreated as God, old people are wise people hence they areuseful people in Vedic culture. So they should be respected,looked after not because they have become old now, just killthem it’s useless you know; get a gun wipe them out, no…old isgold, they have so much experience and so they could just sitdown, they cannot run around so much but they can…they havebrain they have experience in Vedic times. So they have beenpracticing how they overcame different difficulties in theirlife, this obstacle that maya, this that so they are seasonedso they could share their knowledge. So that’s a wealth tohave such access. Sometimes we say in our KrishnaConsciousness movement, we don’t have grand old mothers, grandold fathers, mostly young people or just 1st generation or oneand half generation only but…so we are lacking to some extentand we have Prabhupada, the whole living experienced peoplegone through ups and downs and thick and thin of the life.Such people they help us, advice us, guide us, inspire us.So this Ajamila used to be very respectful. As soon as oldperson walks into the bus, young people should stand up andplease take the seat or some Sanyasi comes, now they don’tcare (Maharaj laughs) we keep standing they don’t know, theydon’t even know this is Sanyasi, they see he is carrying dand,they think he is also going for fishing (laughter) they don’tknow what he is carrying, fishing rod fishing rod. We say yesyes fishing. This is an ocean of material, this is ocean so wefish, fish out people of this ocean so fisherman. So theydon’t even know we are Sanyasi what to speak of respecting himor offering a seat or anything of service. So that’s the stateof affairs. So more of his qualities are mentioned here thathe was non envious- anasuyakah and mita-vag and there’s amita-bhuk, vag means speach mita-vag means just speaking onlywhen it is necessary. He was not just talkative, talkingtalking he was mita-vag. They say because God has given us twoears and how many mouths? One mouth. So hearing should be

twice compared to talk. Normally we do other way round. Wetalk more, hear less. We don’t want to hear, we only talk. Sothis person, he was mita-vag. Sarva-bhuta-suhrt – he was veryfriendly to all living entities and sadhur – was very gentleperson. So these are…that’s why he is said, described assruta-sampannah – he was sampanna, well educated in Vedicknowledge. So having described his good qualities during hisyouthful days, now comes, so then what happened, ekada (S.B.6.1.58) once upon a time he vanam yatah he was going into theforest garden pitr-sandesa-krd dvijah and he was going therebecause his father had sent him to do what? Adaya tataavrttah- to go and collect some phala- friuts puspa- flowersand grass samit then kusan there are two kinds of grassesrequired for the puja.So while he was out there on a mission of collecting flowersand fruits and special grass required for puja, somethinghappened. Dadarsa (S.B. 6.1.59) he saw “kaminam kancic shudramsaha bhujisyaya” he saw one shudra- person in company of aprostitute and the prostitute has been described here as a“pitva ca madhu maireyam madaghurnita-netraya” and she hadtaken, she had drunk so much vodka, vodka? Russia what do theydrink, vodka vodka or German bear she had taken so much “pitvaca madhu maireyam” that her eyes were rolling, she was justintoxicated like anything eyes were rolling. He was seeingthis; this person was seeing all this. “Mattaya vislathan-nivya vyapetam nirapatrapam” (S.B. 6.1.60) and as a result herbody was not…she was not even aware which part of her body iscovered with clothes which parts are naked and vyapetamnirapatrapam – she was shameless. So either under theinfluence of the intoxication, the drink she had drunk, shehad taken so much of that or purposely she was just notcovering herself properly and what else? Kridantam – she wasplayful and gayantam – she was singing glories of the sudra,this person, low class person, oh how beautiful how this howthat hasantam – laughing, anayantike – so together all theywere busy like that. Does that sound familiar? Yes, we don’thave to read in Bhagvatam. This is…just go down the street and

it is all there, worse than this. Prabhupada writes, whiletraveling along the public way, Ajamila came upon a fourth-class, not even third-class, fourth-class man and aprostitute, who are vividly described here. The drunkennesswas sometimes manifest even in bygone ages, although not veryfrequently. Previous ages some drunkenness would manifest. Inthis Age of Kali, however, such sin is to be seen everywhere,for people all over the world have become shameless.Long ago, when he saw the scene of the drunken sudra and theprostitute, Ajamila who was a perfect brahmacari, wasaffected. Nowadays such sin is visible in so many places, andwe must consider the position of a brahmacari student who seessuch behavior, Prabhupada is concerned. For such a brahmacarito remain steady is very difficult unless he is extremelystrong in following the regulative principles. Nevertheless,if one takes to Krishna consciousness very seriously, he canwithstand the provocation created by sin. In our Krishnaconsciousness movement we prohibit illicit sex, intoxication,meat-eating and gambling. In Kali-yuga, a drunk, half-nakedwoman embracing a drunken man is a very common sight,especially in the Western countries, and restraining oneselfafter seeing such things is very difficult. Nevertheless, ifby the grace of Krishna one adheres to the regulativeprinciples and chants the Hare Krishna mantra, Krishna willcertainly protect him. So, difficult but not impossible,Prabhupada is trying to…like that, things are difficult.“drstva tam kama-liptena bahuna parirambhitamjagama hrc-chaya-vasam sahasaiva vimohitah” (S.B. 6.1.61)So drstva tam kama – so first he was described what a niceperson he was full of so many qualities. The next thing isseen. He had to see this sudra and prostitute embracing thatscene. Drstva – by seeing this kama-liptena – full of kama,full of lust and parirambhitam i.e. hand, arms, they wereembracing each other jagama hrc-chaya-vasam – he followedthat, his thoughts went, he contemplated and he was taken overby this scene, the desire aroused within him and he becamebewildered. Thus see what more he is doing.

“stambhayann atmanatmanam yavat sattvam yatha-srutamna sasaka samadhatummano madana-vepitam” (S.B. 6.1.62)So he was trying to use his intelligence. What he was seeing,he was trying to stay transcendental. Atmanatmanam, atmanameans using his intelligence, he was trying to ‘uddharedatmanatmanam natmanam avasadayet’ (B.G 6.5) in 6th chapter ofBhagvat Gita Krishna advices that one should lift himself, notphysically but use of intelligence ‘atmanatmanam natmanamavasadayet’ – make sure you we don’t fall down. ‘Atmaiva hyatmano bandhur atmaiva ripur atmanah’ – the mind is one’s bestfriend or the mind could be best enemy, this is 6th chapterBhagvat Gita. So with the mind one should try to, with theintelligence try to keep oneself on higher level and make suremind is not degrading oneself ourself, this is Krishna’sadvice. So mind could be enemy, mind could be friend. So underthe circumstances he is trying he struggled used all hisspiritual strength. Yatha-srutam – because he was trained hewas told he had been hearing katha and all that. So all thetechniques, all the knowledge under the circumstances what todo he was trying to apply that to this particular situation.Na sasaka samadhatum – however he did not become successful,he fall prey to the strong maya situation and mano madana-vepitam – his mind started more hesitation, fluctuation and itbecame stronger than the intelligence. Intelligence stoppedfunctioning, mind took over madana i.e. lust, madana-vepitam,madanamohan. This kama the arrows pierced and he couldn’t takethem out and then,“tan-nimitta-smara-vyaja- graha-grasto vicetanahtam eva manasa dhyayan sva-dharmad virarama ha” (S.B. 6.1.63)So in the same way that the sun and moon are eclipsed by a lowplanet, the brahmana lost all his good sense. Taking advantageof this situation, he always thought of the prostitute, andwithin a short time he took her as a servant in his house.Haribol, done deal, deal closed. Means lot more happened, hecontemplated, he bewildered and then he took all the necessarysteps, all the actions and he took her into his house,abandoned all the regulative principles of a brahmana and as

prostitute entered his home, that was end of all thebrahmanical practices at home. By speaking this verse,Sukadeva Gosvami wants to impress upon the mind of the readerthat Ajamila’s exalted position as a brahmana was vanquishedby his association with the prostitute, so much so that heforgot all his brahmanical activities. At the end of his life,by chanting the four syllables of the name Narayana, he wassaved from the gravest danger of falling down. ‘Svalpam apyasya dharmasya trayate mahato bhayat’ (B.G 2.40) so onlybecause he had performed those activities, pious and somespiritual activities before coming in contact with prostitute.So that, some progress that he had made, he was saved. He wasable to chant and Lord saved him. So he has chanted, he haschanted Narayan few times, finished. I am going to do the samething, now I know; like that people give some ideas. In India,people say, ohh…so practice low then forget it all and thensay Narayan Narayan, when Yamadutas come, Narayan Narayan. Goback to Godhead. It may not work like that (laugh) that ischeating. That’s not the lesson this Bhagvatam is teaching us.Ok, few more verses. Thus Ajamila began spending whatevermoney he had inherited from his father to satisfy theprostitute with various material presentations so that shewould remain pleased with him. He gave up all his brahmanicalactivities to satisfy the prostitute. Pitryenarthena (S.B.6.1.64) – his father’s property, father’s money and he spendthat on his prostitute.“vipram sva-bharyam apraudham kule mahati lambhitamvisasarjacirat papah svairinyapanga-viddha-dhih” (S.B. 6.1.65)Now, so ya, he married. He was already married to a brahmana’sdaughter. So he threw her out, Brahmana’s daughter he threwher out and replaced her with the prostitute. This is whatYamadutas are saying this, that’s why we want to punish him.He even gave up the company of his very beautiful young wife,who came from a very respectable brahmana family. Althoughborn of a brahmana family, this rascal…this rascal, bereft ofintelligence because of the prostitute’s association, earnedmoney somehow or other, regardless of whether properly or

improperly, and used it to maintain the prostitute’s sons anddaughters. ‘Nyayato ’nyayato dhanam’ (S.B. 6.1.66) legalillegal means he earned money and spend it on. So they saythis brahmana irresponsibly spent his long lifetimetransgressing all the rules and regulations of the HolyScripture, living extravagantly and eating food prepared by aprostitute. Therefore he is full of sins. He is unclean and isaddicted to forbidden activities. (S.B. 6.1.67). Purport –Food prepared by an unclean, sinful man or woman, especially aprostitute, is extremely infectious. Ajamila ate such food,and therefore he was subject to be punished by Yamaraja. Andhere is the final statement and conclusion of proposal byYamadutas.“tata enam danda-paneh sakasam krta-kilbisamnesyamo ’krta-nirvesam yatra dandena suddhyati” (S.B. 6.1.68)We want to purify him, but how? Yama-danda, the stick ofYamaraja. When he gets all the beating, then he’ll come to thesenses. Want to straighten him out, that’s the only way hecould be cured and rectified. This man Ajamila did not undergoatonement. Therefore because of his sinful life, we must takehim into the presence of Yamaraja for punishment. There,according to the extent of his sinful acts, he will bepunished and thus purified. So they are sticking to theirproposal, they are convinced. This is what to be done withthis Ajamila. The Visnudutas had forbidden the Yamadutas totake Ajamila to Yamaraja, and therefore the Yamadutasexplained that taking such a man to Yamaraja was appropriate.Since Ajamila had not undergone atonement for his sinful acts,he was to be taken to Yamaraja to be purified. When a mancommits murder he becomes sinful, and therefore he also mustbe killed; otherwise after death he must suffer many sinfulreactions. Similarly, punishment by Yamaraja is a process ofpurification for the most abominable sinful persons. Thereforethe Yamadutas requested the Visnudutas not to obstruct theirtaking Ajamila to Yamaraja.Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Sixth Canto, FirstChapter, of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, entitled “The History of

the Life of Ajamila.”So take a break for one hour and then…so you could digest thismuch. Contemplate on the life of Ajamila and then when youcome back we will now listen to Vishnudutas. Vishnudutas aregoing to give befitting reply. Just see how they could sortthis out.

As we hear Ramayan Lord Ramaenters our heartVenue: New JerseyRam katha (First session)Thank you for coming, jai Sita Rama Laxman Hanuman ji ki……….jai.Thank you for also the opportunity to talk about Shri Rama notfor 9 days; normally that is how long they have Rama katha for9 days, Bhagvatam for 7 days Ramayan for 9 days. Navaanha theycall navaanha. You are happy that it is only for 3 days(laughter) lucky you are. And we also have Shri Rama herethere is also Shri Rama mandir Iskcon Shri Rama mandir our ownShri Rama mandir. Whenever we get to do Rama katha. Long timeago long long time ago 900,000 years ago almost 1 millionyears ago Lord Shri Rama was on the planet.“paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam dharma-samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge” (B.G 4.8). So that wastreta yuga Lord Shri Rama appeared. “ramadi-murtishu kala-niyamena tishthan nanavataram akarod bhuvaneshu kintu krishnahsvayam samabhavat paramaha puman yo”- nanavtar Bramahamentions name of one avatar ‘Ramadi-murtishu kala-niyamenatishthan’ niyame there is a niyam there is a schedule wholetime table who appears when and it was Shri Rama’s time Tretayuga. At the end of Treta yuga and between then and now

900,000 years have passed. Lord appeared to protect Hisdevotees “paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam dharma-samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge” and He also has tokill some demons it’s not all play but some work also.“Paritranaya sadhunam” that is his pleasure pastime and someduty also killing the demons which is not part of His nityaleela, nitya leela is only He is with His devotees. But thereis naimitik leela nimit is occasional occasionally He has todescend. And He appears in ayodhya then He also kills demonsso tons of demons lots of demons He kills and by doing sodharma samsthapanarthay. He establishes the principle ofreligion that’s the purpose of Lords descend whenever Heappears Lord Shri Rama is a very special expansion incarnationof Shri Krishna ‘chahe Krishna kaho ya Rama’ (singing) veryclose next to Krishna is Rama’s name although there are somany so many incarnation so many names so many forms but nextto Krishna is Shri Rama “Ramadi-murtishu kala-niyamnatishthan”.Other incarnations comes and go and they just have one lilakilling one demon temporarily they are here and they are goneand Krishna appears also from very janma Krishna janma to Histime for departure He was here for 125yrs Lord Shri Krishna somany many pastimes moving from one location to another toanother to another to another finally to Dwarka and out Hegoes. And then Shri Rama was here on this planet for yet muchlonger time 11,000 years He ruled. He was a ruler raja Ramafor 11,000yrs it’s pretty long time huh! 11000yrs He appearson navami Krishna appears on ashtami next day not the samemonth, not the same year, at-least according to tithi, asthamiShri Krishna appears and navami Rama what did I say ashtamiKrishna appears, navami Shri Rama appears. One appears middleof the night; mid night other appears mid day. One appears inthe Chandra vamsha Shri Krishna and other one Shri Ramaappears in surya vamsha.Like that these similarities are also there. Then Radha raniappears on Radhashtami and Sita rani appears on Sita navamihmm you knew that? krishnashtami krishnashtami radhashtami,

Rama navami Sita navami. These are no accidents these are allarrangements by their sweet will they appear. They are notforced “karmanadaiva netrena sat asat janmayonishu”. This isapplicable to us “karmanadaiva netrena” and what kind of karmayou perform “sat” ok you get superior body, “asat” karma thenyou also appear in lower form, lower species of life. You haveno choice it’s just your karma “as you sow so shall you reap”but Lord Shri Krishna Lord Shri Rama they do not perform karmathey perform akarma. They perform just a lila “janma karma came divyam evam yo vetti tattvatah tyaktva deham punar janmanaiti mam eti so arjuna” (B.G 4.9).Krishna says which is about Himself also about Shri Rama oh!My pastimes are janma, my appearance my karma my pastime myactivities are all transcendental. And those who come to Ramakatha Krishna katha and sit down like this not even mobilephone is allowed to ring here and you hear you understand myjanma my lila tattvataha. You understand the tattva thescience the context as they are lila as it is and what is theresult ‘tyaktva deham punar janma naiti mam eti’ no more birthno more death you come to me either you go to Golok, you go toSaket they are also. Here we are in Devi dhama then there isMahesh dhama there’s Hari dhama then there’s Saket dhama thenthere’s Golok dhama. That’s the order we are here, New Jerseyis devi dhama its a fort, durga’s fort durga. Very difficultto get out of here ‘dur-ga’ ga means going transcending goingout of this universe is dur difficult task. Durga is watchingso that’s where we are in a bigger prison house, lots of spaceto move around we don’t even see the walls of the prisonhouse. So we think we are free and the bonds are so subtle,made up of goodness, passion and ignorance, we don’t even feelso we are free. We are not arrested there are no shackles weare free, but you can’t get out of here out of this universeunless and until you do this “janma karmachame divyam”.You understand Lord Shri Rama’s pastimes are transcendentaland you understand them fully well with the help of thedevotees. “evam parama para praptam” (B.G 4.2) and all that,then ‘tyaktva deham punar janma eti’ then what happens “mam

eti” he comes to me mam eti mam eti he goes to me he comes towhere I am where Shri Rama is where Krishna is so that’s thethat’s also the purpose of recitation of this Ramayan.Not only we will have good time till the last breath becauseyour connection with Rama we will have araama. Arama comesfrom Rama no Rama is harama, harama khor (Laughs). So reliefis possible. One well isn’t not only getting out of thisuniverse is only way to become liberated become free fromshackles free from bonds and sufferings of this existence. Onecould be here but he is with Shri Rama he is hearing aboutShri Rama and chanting the holy names of Shri Rama he is nothere he is already there with him. Weather here or there’ jivova maro va’ no difference he is living here in this world inthis body maro va he is with Shri Rama no difference. “katharamayanasyapi nityam bhavati yad grhe tad grham tirtha-rupamhi vasatam papa-nasanam” this is Ramayan mahatmya there isbhagvat mahatmya thers is also Ramayan mahatmya 5 chapters wefind them in skandha purana skandha puran complied by ShrilaVyasa dev and he is glorifying Ramayan and throughout otherpuranas also there is a Ramayan Rama pastimes, Rama referenceseven in bhagvat puran Shrila Sukdev goswami reciting Ramayanbriefly in 2 chapters in the 9th canto of bhagvatam.When Shri Krishna use to hear Rama katha oh! you have to tellme story before going to sleep story please and then otherwiseKrishna doesn’t drink milk, doesn’t go to sleep he has to hearstory then Yashoda tells Shri Krishna tells Rama story youknow there was a king called Rama and very devoted wife Sita.Aah but one time she got kidnapped by a demon called Ravana.As Krishna hears this he jumps oh! Where is my sword? Where isthat demon? becomes furious He goes back into another age intreta yuga and He is in full Rama bhava. He has become Ramaand wants to kill where that Ravana is? So by hearing thepastimes of Shri Rama then one develops the qualities of ShriRama becomes a great hero person of a good character and whatnot. Every mother every father, brother, sisters had beentelling these stories for 900,000 years. Stories of Shri Ramathey only stopped few decades ago with advent of Amitabh

bachhan or something or the television doordarshan otherwisepeople use to work all day in their farm in their fields andcome back home take the remaining meals and go for Rama kathaor go for mahabharat katha or go for this katha that katha.In a small village 5-10, 20 places there is katha going on,singing is bhajan Rama bhajans krishna’s bhajans are going on.This is such a common experience we have seen I have seen in asmall village where I was born. But I go to same village nowthey are all absorb taking darshan of another hero they arejust zero in-fact. Then there is no more Rama katha, one getsto hear. “yat grihe nityam bhagavati katha ramayanasyapi” ifat home at village a town a country there is a katha Shri Ramakatha then ‘tat griham tirtha rupam’ tat graham that house,that place, that spot, that country is tirtha is a holy place.You have transformed your home into tirtha by reciting Ramayanby hearing by sharing Rama katha. “Dushtanam papa nashanam” byhearing this Rama katha we say that ‘Raghupati Raghav RajaRama patit pavan Sita Rama’ so Raghupati Raghav that Raghavcoming in Raghu dynasty is patitpavan Sita Rama.Patit pavan not only 900,000yrs ago Shri Rama killed demonsand by doing so establish the principle of religion purifiedthe world but He is willing to do so He can do even now justassociate with him just give aural reception to him let Ramaenter you. And if you are patit you should be admitting.Honesty is best policy yes I am fallen then for every patitShri Rama will make that person a pavan purified person. Lordskatha is as power as the Lord because katha of the Lord is notdifferent from Lord or as He has promised where His devoteesget together ‘gayanti tatra tishtami narayan’ were my devoteesget together chant my katha recite, my katha chant my holyname I am there “tatra tishtami” I reside there. So Lordappears there where His katha, His pastimes are remembered arerecited. As Lord appears, He kills the all demons or demoniacnature in the heart in their consciousness. All the anarthasare removed. When there is a dasera time diwali-dasera youknow dasera in India in north India specially they make bigeffigy of Ravana 100 ft tall in a big maidan Rama -lila maidan

many cities have Rama-lila maidan, maidan dedicated where ondasera it’s a festival of killing, burning Ravana and 100s &1000s of devotees gather persons gather. The Benefit is as onewitnesses here is Ravana getting burned and if you are happythat Ravana is getting burn and if you are not happy what doesthat mean? you are close to Ravana. He is somebody for you.You have some soft corner for him.If you’re near and dear he is departing you won’t be happy butyou are happy you clap you clap you rejoice and jump we dothis. I am also from Delhi. One time I was in gully then Iwent to Delhi. So there we get to witness this so you arejubilant seeing Ravana getting burned that gives relief andgreat benefit because Ravana like mentality is there in theheart is getting burned as Ravana is getting burned and makingseat, clearing singhasan for Shri Rama. “tavat papa nidehasmin nivashanti tapodhana yavan shrunyate samyak ShrimadRamayanam narai”. “tavat papa ni dehas nivashanti” “papani” –the sins “ nivashanti” will reside “dehismin”- in the body inthe consciousness ‘yavancshrunyate samyak Shrimad Ramayanamnarai”. Up till only up till that time the papa vasana theseeds of sins or a desire to commit sin will stay until wehear Ramayan Rama katha. And as we hear Ramayan Rama entersthe heart Rama’s nama also enters the heart. So that is justbut the couple of verses from a bhagvatam not bhagvatamRamayan mahatmya .Ramayan begins with word tapah. “Om tapah svadhyay niratam”Today is also day for tapasya. Tapasya day tapodhana. We alsojust heard that address tapodhana Oh! tapodhana. For somepersons bramahins brahminically inclined the austerity is thewealth tapodhana austerities is the wealth. Or by performersof austerities one purifies themselves. “tapo divyam putrakayena sattvam yasmad suddhyed” one becomes shudha purified“brahma-saukhyam tv anantam” and there is ananta sukha onecould derive. So today is that opportunity also during theday. The day for real fasting, super fast not of the ordinarykind. Not fasting only from beans and grain but fasting fromeven water. We are lucky we could have some air. Dhruva

maharaj at one point even stopped breathing. So day like todayis called upavas meaning fasting but also meaning somethingmore, upa means near vas means residence upavas is that day,day of residing near of somebody or someone who do you thinkthat someone is? Yes the day to sit near Shri Rama the day tosit closer to Krishna.Shri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Upavas so fasting no eatinggrains and not drinking water is 1 part but that’s noteverything there is more to it than just fasting gettingcloser to him. So as we hear about Him as we hear about ShriRama we get closer to him we sit near Him so He comes closerto us, that is upavas so we have been doing fasting all dayand I am sure we are also chanting “Hare Krishna Hare KrishnaKrishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama HareHare” that some reading, hearing Ramayan or bhagvatam orCaitanya Caritamrita this brings us closer to us Shri Rama. Sowe have special opportunity today of being very close to ShriRama as we are hear Ramayan as I came and offered my obeisanceto Shri Rama here as I am feeling very close to Him or alsothinking of Shri Rama all day long then I had darshan and oh!This is the person that I was thinking about this is the oneso at the end of the day as one keeps hearing or chantingglories of Shri Rama you meet Him you be with Him. So everytime as we hear about Him we get closer to Him get closer somestep closer as we takes few step He takes quite a few steps.He takes 100 steps we take 1 step He takes 100 steps. BecauseHe is more eager to see us then we are to see Him. Childrenmay forget the parent that’s possible but parents forgettingchildren not possible. If such thing is possible then they arenot parents anymore by definition.As Shri Rama Shri Krishna is Supreme father. So how much morethey must be thinking multiplied by the father and mother alsothinks of a child say ‘x’ amount of thinking. So Shri Ramamultiplied by billion trillions of times more. Thought is onShri Rama’s mind He is always devising some plan some schemesomething so that the children would think of Him come closerto Him. Oh! This Rama katha is also that kind of arrangement

His arrangement I am sure ISKCON New Jersey gets the credit asthey have become instrument the cause, the organisers theinvitations went out Ramachandra & company Ramachandra prabhubut Shri Rama is cause of all causes. It’s because of Him weare here today. Otherwise we would be all over the planet. Buthere we are sitting at His lotus feet.So Om tapaha is how Ramayan begins Om tapaha is a day oftapashya and so this hearing is also tapashya. With this wepurify our minds. Tapashya is not only fasting so there istapashya there is austerity at the physical level at our vocallevel our mental level as Krishna explains this in Bhagavatgita also. So austerity at the physical level is necessary anduseful, beneficial but most benefit is derived as we areaustere in our speech. We think several times before we talk.We wait right – wrong, body- soul, heaven – hell like thisthen we speak. Speech purified speech and tapashya isperformed of the speech. Then better speech and of coursewhatever is on the mind that comes out of this speaker this isthe speaker we have. Then another speaker somewhere here rightthat’s the speaker. There is someone behind that’s speaking.So the mind is also there the mind is purified. Then bytapashya, so the tapashya of the mind and the speech and thebody is not limited to only body. Oh! I did fasting I fastedthat’s just part of it. So the tapashya the tapa of the mana(mind) and the speech is performed as we chant and hear aboutthe Lord. So we have opportunity to do tapa at a physicallevel we have opportunity to do tapashya at the speech or mindlevel. So at the very beginning this is Bala kanda, Narad Muniis a speaker of this sarga one adhyaya one chapter of thisbala kand. Where he is summarising the whole Ramayan, entireRamayan has been summarised in one chapter we are not doingthat exercise but I just for your information you may beinterested to do little summary study then you could just readthe bala kanda first sarga. There are 500 sargas or adhyayaschapters. The first chapter is summary of the entire Ramayan.And Narad Muni is speaker and Valmiki is a student. He is ashishya you remember, Valmiki one time was not valmiki he was

ratnakar and some other names also we hear of him. Valya kodi(laughs) if you are Marathi then you will have some othernames different part of India; also sastra has some differentnames of his life’s sketch and his names.So Ratnakar as he was, Narada muni stopped his sinfulactivities and had asked him to chant the names of, you chantyou just chant too much run around sit down sit down take iteasy sit down sit down. By run around you want not becomehappy, sit down you’ll be happy. Sit and chant Shri Rama andyou’ll be happy. More happy then all the running around youhave done to become happy. So he agreed to sit down and chantthe names of Shri Rama. And as we hear how sinful he was hehad hard time chanting the name of Rama properly so he wasdoing reverse. “Mara mara mara mara mara Ramaa Ramaa aa…….RamRam Ram” what happened he started with mara so then there isclearing stage as one chants there is clearing stage, theoffence less chanting. Initially there could be some offencesoffensive chanting and keep chanting keep chanting hearing.Oh! He did chant and for long time he chant Raaaaaam RaaaaaamRam and the sounds were coming out of the holes of valmik –anthill.For long long time ants ate all the flesh and muscles andtissues and everything and they made a hill anthill and inthose holes sounds were coming from those holes Ram…. So thisanthill is called Valmik the one who was in that valmik andattained his realisation and did tapashya hence he gets thename valmiki, from valmik anthill comes the name valmiki.That’s right revolution for you? It was work for me one time.So Narada muni is a spiritual master and valmiki is adisciple. So this is one occasion, they are together andvalmiki yes he is enquiring could you please tell me “NaradamMuni pungavam” you are the best of the munis. So I wish toknow something and could you please respond to this enquiry ashe was making. “konvasmin saampratam loke gunavaankashchaviirryavaan, dharmagyashcha kritagyashcha satyavaakyodridhavratah” at the present moment this time who is thatperson gunavan (full of all good qualities), viryavan (very

powerful) who is that person who is dharmagya who know theprinciple of dharma knower of dharma, kritagyashcha who isthat person who is very grateful, satyavakyaha who is thatperson right now on this planet who only speaks the truth? Anddradavrataha fixed simply fixed established no one could pushhim around. Don’t push me around, don’t push me around, do youhear that Americans all the time say don’t push me around.So who is that person whom no one could push him around? He’sjust like a rock “staveranam Himalaya” like a mountainHimalayan mountain ‘chaaritrena cha ko yuktah sarvabhuuteshhuko hitah’ and who is a person personality on this planet nowwho has the best character sarvabhuteshu kohitaha? And who isa well wisher of all the living entities vedvan kaha? And whois knowledgeable ka samarthaha? Who is capable “kashchaekapriyadarshanah” and who is also beautiful to look at atmavanko jitakrodho? Who is that one who has conquered the angerdhyutiman? And who is that effulgent person ko anasuyakaha”And who is that non envious? kasya bibhyati devaashchajaataroshhasya samyuge? And who is that person whose prayersmake even demigods tremble in the midst of the battle, ‘etadichchhaamyaham shrotum param kautuuhalam hi me’ I wish to knowwho is that person who fits this bill who matches all thisdescription? Who is it do you know I am very eager I am verycurious to know who that person is? ‘maharshhe tvam samarthoasi gyaatumevamvidham naram’ and o! maharshi! maha rushinarada rushi I know you are competent to tell me who thatperson is. So as disciple valmiki was very eager to know this“athato bramaha jigyasa”. He was very curious and also wasqualified to know the answer of this question. “Aristo vakyamabhravit naradah”. So Narada he was delighted jubilant to hearsuch enquiry. And he spoke “bahavo durlabhashcaiva ye tvayakirtita gunah” o! You know all the qualities which you havementioned these are very very rare qualities. And to find aperson with those qualities is rarest thing most rare thing.‘mune vakshyamyaham buddva tairyuktashruyatam narah’ but I‘llthink harder I’ll think harder, “budhva” not just top of myhead I’ll give a serious thought to what you have enquired.

And “aham vakshami” I will say and he thought for a while andNarada muni speaks ‘Ikshvaaku vansha prabhavo Ramo namajanaiha shrutaha’ o! That person that personality Shri Rama hehas appeared in Ikshvaku dynasty. And he is very popular“janai srutaha” people are talking about him ‘maha viryadyutiman vasi”. All the qualities that you mentioned are verymuch in Him or He is equipped, He is endowed with thosequalities. Mahavirya effulgent self controlled budhimannitiman, Shriman in other words He is bhagawan. Budhiman,gunavan and tyagvan and saundaryavan and these six things puttogether makes personality bhagawan “Krishnastu bhagawanswayam” Ramastu very close, maryada purushottam. Krishna hasno maryada unlimited He takes some mariyada and then heappears as Shri Rama bhagawan Shri Ram nitiman not onlybudhiman but nitiman it’s rare. Someone could be a brainyperson but not necessarily nitiman not necessarily followingthe principles of morality. That’s rare to have head and alsoheart. Some people have heart no head, some have head,heartless.Budhiman nitiman niti- all the feelings are there. Mahabahu heis powerful, His arms are kambugrivo His neck is like a couchshell. Ajanubahu He has long arms this is description of thatpersonality something more He has not even asked could youtell me that person who‘s arms are very long that was not partof the enquiry. All that was enquired was there in Shri Rama +much more. Bonus also there “suchiraha sulalataha”- Broadforehead, suvikramaha- heroic, vishalaksho- His eyes are bigeyes, lotus eyes blooming lotus eyes He has, “prajanam chahite ratah” – He is knower of the religion and protector ofHis citizens. “Yashasvi”- He is successful. Suchi- purifiedpure, dharmashya parrakshita- and He is protector of dharma,repuni sudanah- killer of the enemy and goes on and on and onand on. So some qualities and then gradually gets into thepastimes summary pastimes running through all the kandas kandaafter kanda.Bala kanda, ayodhya kanda, aranya kanda, kishkinda kanda thenhanuman’s kanda sundar kanda then yudha kanda, uttar kanda, so

there are seven kandas summary study of all this kandas orkhandas divisions of jai Shri Rama. So towards end of thatnarration by Narada muni ‘naradasya tu tadvakyam shrutvavaakyavisharadah, puujayamasa dharmatma sahashishhyomahamunih’ so he was worshipped by Valmiki muni along with hisdisciples and finally devarshri Narads jagamah-he departedchanting what Narayan Narayan. jai Shri Rama jai Shri Rama jaiShri Rama. Only Narad muni chanting you are not chanting ‘samuhurtam gate tasmin devalokam munistada jagama tamasatiiram’so after a while Narad muni departed and now there is Valmikiwith his disciples and he is there on the bank of a rivercalled Tamasa River and his description we see some trees herealso but beyond that there’s a concrete jungle sky scrapers.900,000 year old not that there were no towns yes there wascity Ayodhya, well planned city. One of the 7 cities a millionyears ago that’s pretty long time and well planned such citiescannot be planned anymore they are not being planned,wonderful beautiful complete cities with lakes and lotus andswans and squares and archers what not, beautiful architectureand beautiful people also with wonderful consciousness Krishnaconsciousness in their head. Wherever they walked alwayschanting jai Shri Rama jai Shri Rama jai Shri Rama as they getup in the morning Rama Rama-Rama Rama-Rama they do this.Best culture best architect best music best food besteverything. Millions years into the past cannot be matched NewYork how old? 200-300. Alright I was there in California fewyears ago and they were celebrating 250th anniversary of LosAngeles. And the Americans were hey! You know this is veryvery old city Los Angeles, not only old very old not very oldcity very oooooold city try to make it even older by sayingvery ooooold city. So when I enquired I did not know at thattime 250 years old you know 250 years pretty old. So 250 yearsverses 900,000 years. So towns and lots of wonderful countryside and Valmiki is there and he notices that there were 2birds’ two cranes as we see in the photograph of such birdsare they look like and they were together walking next to eachother and they were having good time and it was fun time for

them and they were enjoying each other’s company but that didnot last very long Valmiki was that was part of the scene.They were birds they were walking next to each other beaksinto beaks doing that.Valmiki had taken note of their pastimes and suddenly thearrow comes with a great speed and the male crane was droppeddead. So their good time the height of heights of the pleasurethere was deaths of this pair at-least for the surviving onethe she crane. When she saw the state of her husband the malebird she was in total despair distress and by seeing thatscene Valmiki had compassion towards that she crane and thenhe notices that oh! this is the act of this. This hunter hewas a nishad from some lower cast out hunting there. And whenhe (Valmiki) realises this act was his he immediately curses‘maa nishad partistham tvam gama sasvati samaha’ I curse you.You will never ever have peace of mind. “Yad crounchammithunadicam avadhi kama mohitam”- they were having their kamagood times and you disturbed and put full-stop to it. And soyou will be disturbed always, never peace of mind for you. Butthe words that he had uttered was not ordinary. They came outlike a like a poetry. His shoak or lamentation is what hadtransformed into sloka shoak became sholka. Lamentation becameinto beautiful poetry, and he had never composed any poetrybefore. For first time he uttered something and that was sucha beautiful thing sounding beautiful. It has a perfect meterand it had eight aksharas (letters) in each pad there werefour padas as in bhagvat gita and there is also throughoutRamaya.So he was surprise how did I utter this? How did I say thisshloka? At the same time he was also regretting Oh! why did Icurse. What right do I have to curse someone? Why did I cursethat person? Yet kind of mixed feelings why did I curse thatperson? So over whelmed by the thoughts like this and he alsorecited poetry and of course he had all those Rama pastimes onthe mind. And those Rama pastimes only were cause of thiscompassion that he had expressed and that poetry that he hadcomposed and uttered. So thinking of Rama pastimes which he

had heard from his spiritual master and this episode of thebird killing and him cursing so many thoughts and reflectionthat he was loaded with. He was returning to his ashramaBharadwaj Muni was following him they were also carryingwater. Water pots of that sacred waters of that river. Sofinally, that ashrama Valmiki’s ashrama, I visited thatashrama only last month just for your information I was onpilgrimage and I went to that ashrama of valmiki muni betweenPrayagraj and Varanasi it was inside of a road on the banks ofGanga. And I was also today is 7th? So on the 6th of May I wasin Ayodhya also. 5th & 6th of May in Ayodhya and 7th I was inMayapur and like that.So as Valmiki is back in his ashrama he is still thinking theevents just occurred and then something more amazing thinghappens he sees a swan descending and getting closer andcloser to him and it was a Brahma’s swan. His carriers swanand he goes forward receives him obeisance’s and invited inasan and greeting and worship and as they are both sitting nowValmiki is saying what is in his mind. Oh! This happened to meand I uttered this poetry and I also cursed that person and Idon’t know what is happening with me? What it is due to? AndBrahma says it was me. They were my words it just came out ofyour mouth. I was the speaker you just opened your mouth andsaid those words. I had empowered you to say those thatparticular shanda. And then comes instruction Brahma’sinstruction to Valmiki- ‘ramasya charitam krshnam kuru’ youshould compile the pastimes of Shri Rama. “dharmatmanobhagavato loke ramsya dhimatah”- That Rama who is bhagvanbhagavataha is dharmatmanah and dhimatah is established personHe is dhira- sober that Rama’s pastimes you should compile.“vrattam kathaya dhirasya yatha te naradashrutam”- and makethe base the foundation what Narada muni spoke to you thesummary of the pastimes of Shri Rama. Let that be the basebases let that be the beej mantras. Let those be the sutrasthe code. Language to help you, guide you in compiling Rama’spastimes. Giving this instruction Brahma returned to his ownabode. And the Valmiki begins his task of compilation of

Ramayan.“gangayashchapi santaram bharadvajasya darshanam bharadvajabhyanujnanach chitrakutasya darshanam vastukarmam niveshamcha bharatagamanam tatha prasadam cha ramasya pitushchasalilakriyam”. So in the beginning he is also doing in thesummary for. “padukangryabhishhekam cha nandigramanivasanam”-that is Bharat. “dandakaranyagamanam viradhasya vadham tathadarshanam sharabhangasya sutikshnena samagamamanasuyasamakhyamcha angaragasya charpanam darshanam chapiagastya dhanusho grahanam tatha, shurpanakhya cha samvadamvirupakaranam tatha” like that he goes on quite a few verse inthe beginning he is compiling again like a summary study andthen he has complied complete Ramayan with 24,000 verses. Asbhagvatam has 18000 verses, Bhagvat gita has 700 andMahabharata has 100,000 verses. So Ramayan has 24000 versesdivided in seven kandas and in 500 sargas or chapters.So as his Ramayan was complied it was ready the Valmiki wasthinking but well thats a good beginning I have compiledRamayan but it cannot just sit there with me, one copy withme. This has to go everywhere, who will propagate? Who’llspread this Ramayan katha everywhere? Every town everyvillage. And as valmiki was thinking who would do this? Whowould help me out with propagations of Shri Rama? Two littlebeautiful boys walk in they were Lava and Kush. They werearound for sometime as Sita was banished that’s another storywould be told later on maybe not by us not in 3 days. Valmikitells that story and so sita was staying in ashrama of Valmikiand that’s where she had given birth to this two beautifulboys Lava and Kush. They were growing in that ashramasurrounding at the bank of Ganga. As he thought who could dothis job? This two boys appeared offering theirs obeisance’sas if saying yes yes here we are we could do it. And Valmikihe taught them Ramayan. Lava and Kush were the first twostudents of Ramayan. And they were not only taught Ramayan butthey were taught how to recite, sing Ramayan. They’rewonderful singers’ sweet singers as if gandharva would sing.They are beautiful to look at as if they are replica of Shri

Rama. They are looking just like Shri Rama. And when theywould sing sweet like gandharva they would use differentinstruments veena and other instruments. So soon they hadbecome well versed they memorised all the 24000 shlokasverses. And they were not just doing they were not justkanthasta put in the throat. They were in the hearthridayangam they have been assimilated.They were Rama conscious fully Rama conscious so sweetsinging. So gradually they started wandering travelling towns’villages, and wherever they would go people would follow them.Hearing their Ramayan these two boys would walk and playdifferent instruments veena and sing this Ramayan sweet as itis. Their sweet voices and sweet music they’re playing but thereal sweetness of Ramayan is because of Shri Rama. The topicis Rama and He’s a sweet. And as they were singing sweetlythose sweet pastimes with spicing of the sweet music it wasintoxicating. As they would hear they would just be absorbed.Mantra mugdha forgetting everything else. They would performthis Ramayan performance recitation of sangeet Ramayan musicalRamayan. They would sit sometimes large gatherings, sages, andsaintly persons and dharmatmas and mahatmas and rishis andmunis would surround and listen to them with great attention.And as they would listen Lava and Kush reciting Ramayan theirbodies’ would be trembling and they would shade tears ofjubilation. And towards the end of such recitation they wouldcongratulate them. ‘Hei wonderful wonderful’ sadhu sadhu sadhusadhu wonderful wonderful well done’. They would give so manygifts to this Lava and Kush. Thank them please come backagain.When is the next time you would be singing this Ramayan wewould like to come. So travelling and travelling Lava and Kushthey reached Ayodhya. And now on the streets of Ayodhya theywere singing. They are walking nagar sankirtan and Ramayanrecitation. And the news reached Shri Rama that two beautifulkids they are telling they’re just small boys they beautifulto look at and they are singing wow! Rama wow! nothing likethis we have ever heard. So Shri Rama arranged concert, He

organised recitation of these two boys right in the assemblyhis assembly hall. He gathered everyone all the ministers allthe citizens’ important VVIPs and there was Shri Rama and Sitaand Laxman and Shatrughna Hanuman everybody sitting. And thisLava and Kush they are given microphone and as they recitedRamayan they never had such opportunity. This was very rarefor them other places when they would chant sing Ramayan‘chirnirvratamapi tad pratyaksham eva darshitam’ therecitation of Ramayan as those who listen to that recitationof Lava Kush reciting Ramayan the pastimes which took placesometime in the past they would stand before, before thoselisteners. Listeners’ would experience as if they are seeingthose pastimes. There was only audio arrangement was for onlyaudio listening but as they listened to that recitation therewere visuals also they were able to see those pastimes theyare so real made by the pure recitation of Lava and Kush andnow the Rama was there.And Rama’s glories Ramayan these children were reciting.‘Sachapi ramaha parishad gatahashanair vibhushayashaktamanababhuva’- Means Shri Rama its overwhelming experience forShri Rama, He was also thinking who are these children? Whoseson’s are these? Oh! they are dressed like sages those whostay in the forest but actually they couldn’t be Brahmins.They must be some kshatriya children Rama was thinking theymust be some kshatriya boys. The way they are well builtmuscles and all some other symptoms they must be kshatriyassome king’s children. So it was very special extra ordinarytreat for everybody assembled to listen to Ramayan thepastimes of Shri Rama in the presence of Shri Rama. Now it’sdifficult after talking of Lava and Kush singing if we had nottalked about that we could have done something or it would’vebeen easy job but now it’s difficult. Something fake that wasreal thing this is just a show.Maharaj singing Ayodhya vasi Rama…Rama was dear to everybody all the citizens loved Him. And asHe was leaving for forest van vas everyone was ready to gowith Him. Everyone was just running behind running after Shri

Rama. Those trees in Ayodhya are witnessing oh!Rama isleaving. Oh! So how fortunate these human being is as theycould go with Shri Rama but what about us? We can’t move. Eventhose trees were in great distressed in separation from ShriRama. Of course many attempts everyone tried to keep Him inayodhya but there was no way. His father had promised one ofthe queens kaikai yes you can have two boons I am so pleasewith you but not now in future at appropriate time I will askto choose these two boons. Kaikai had assisted Dasrath in onebig battle. She was accompanying him, the middle of the battlethe axel the wheel the middle of the wheel axel and thebarring ball barring that goes on top of the axel and thewheel moves. The axel broke while he was in the middle of theaction. Kaikai jumped down from the chariot she put her handright into the hole of that wheel and she held whatever shecould hold. Her hands was a axel and Dasarath continuedbattling. Going backwards and forwards and you turn and hereand there slow and fast and she was on the ground. Alsorunning backwards and forwards and you turns and slow and fastmovements. And Dashrath had won that battle. If it was notkaikai assisting him there the way she did he could have beenlong ago defeated.But there is victory kaikai because of you I am so happy askfor some boon. Not now, so Dashrath he was getting older oneday looking into the mirror ‘hye! some of his hair turnedgrey. They were there but not taken not noticed before but onefine morning ‘oh I am old’ time for vanaprastha retirement.You have seen in the mirror lately? (Laughter) Not just himbut there are some others also take a close look. Of courseyou could dye them. But grey hair means indication time to gotime to move on. No teeth means what? Time to drink soup. Notthat you get a new set and keep chewing. Can’t see? It’s timeto look within, seen enough around outside stop seeing nowlook inside within you. These are the indications nature’sindicators to do something differently. So dashrath thinkingthat I should retire. So he was preparing to enthrone hiseldest son Shri Rama. Preparations were on. And then comes

manthra ‘Hye! lady hye kaikai you wake up have you woken up’yes yes I am up. Whats the news? Oh! they are getting ready toenthrone Rama the coronation ceremonies are under preparation.Rama would be the next king. Get the sweets. kaikai wasthinking such good news you’ve brought to me I should respondby filling your mouth with sweets. I am so delighted to hearthis news. This was initial respond of kaikai she was notagainst Rama becoming the king. But Manthra kept doing gossip.And “atyahar prayashashy prajalpa” (NOI) she did lot ofprajalpa. Low talk, envious talk offensive statements. Andthat is where the things went wrong. Ok it’s time for me toask for the boon. Kaikai thought, she rushed to the palace andby one boon Bharat become the next king and Rama out into theforest vanvas for 14 years.So it was too much for Dashrath because Rama was so dear.Dearer than his own life and him going to the forest no no hewas hesitating reluctant not ready Rama hears new reaches himby now it had become talk of the town. Rama is ready to go tothe forest. Promise is a promise. My father has promised togive 2 boons its time has come so father should keep thepromise. And Rama was ready to leave. And Sita also gets readyso Laxman gets ready to go. And as the mounted the chariotbecause Dashrath had insisted Sumantra it’s too tough for myRama to walk in the forest He is just in a tender age. He hasnever walked there are thrones everywhere. Thrones Stonesrocks everywhere. The hot sun at-least you take Him in thechariot. It was Rama was not happy with this arrangementbecause He wanted to go in the forest as vanavasi. Vanavasi-who stay in van like vanavasi. Vanavasi doesn’t go around inthe chariot. So next 14 years Rama wanted to walk, only useHis feet. And He was not going to wear any stitched cloth oreat cooked food or stay in a building made up of concrete andsteel or bricks. He was going to stay in the forest likevanavasi. And that is what He did He did so.So that Rama had to because father was insisting no nosumanthra you take my children take Rama in the chariot intothe forest. So as they were in the chariots all the praja, all

the citizens, all the residents of ayodhya were in tears.Broken hearted and Rama was there life. So as life was goingthey were just being dragged and also going following ShriRama. They had no other thought but to go with Shri Rama‘wherever He go we’ll go with Him.’ What good is stay here inthe palaces without Shri Rama, just zero meaningless. So thatday they all followed Shri Rama Sita Laxman. They were in thechariot and everyone else walking running behind. So thatnight when there was night time chariot stopped it’s time totake rest. Everyone just rested under the trees everyone wastired walking running whole day. So they slept they knew Ramais here nothing to fear so in the middle of the night ShriRama gets up. And He wasn’t even sleepy. He did not want toagain what kind of vanavasi surrounded by near and dear onesso many of them. He wanted to go alone but He agreed to takeSita and Laxman no more. So He gets up Laxman Sita in thechariot and while everyone is fast asleep Rama moves on. Andas they get up in the morning only surprise to find no chariotno Rama. Where is Rama? And everyone gets up and start cryingRama Rama where is Rama? Where is Rama? But Rama verytactfully as He started His chariot He took chariot somedistance in the direction of Ayodhya. So when they get up andsoon they were seeing any indication sign of course oh!chariot is gone this way back to Ayodhya. They thought oh! Hehas gone back to Ayodhya. They all ran back to Ayodhya Ramahad gone elsewhere diversion. Then comes the bank of Ganga.Again was time to retire night time so from there Ramainstructed sumantra you please take chariot back to ayodhya Ido not need chariot I cannot use the chariot.The chariot driver goes back to ayodhya. The king of the areaShrungaverpur some town like that. He got the news that theprince Shri Rama He is in the area. He came with his mountedon a chariot came with his ministers to receive Shri Rama andinvites please come be my guest in my palace. No me in thepalace not possible. I am vanavasi but atleast eat some foodwe have some nice samosas for you (laughter). And nothingdoing no cooked food no staying in 5 star hotel, 5 star hotel

in the forest vanavas. No that’s not vanavas according to ShriRama stay like vanavasi in van in the forest. So Lord ShriRama slept on the bank of ganga underneath a tree Laxmanbought some bed some grass and some fruits Berries to eat,that’s it. And next day well next day its 9 o’clock so whathappened next day that’s tomorrow. So thank you for your keeninterest and full attention and oral reception to Ramayan thisevening. We will continue let’s see we have only few more dayswhatever we could cover. Rama is unlimited His katha isunlimited but we and our time is limited. But whatever wecould do could say whatever Shri Rama aspire us to say this isayodhya kanda we were just talking of ayodhya kanda that isRama’s exile begins and the aranya kand kidnapping of sitakishkinda kand searching for sita and sundar kand finding sitayudha kand fighting for sita and finally uttar kand returningto ayodhya and Rama is king again prince again and rules for11,000 years. Jai Shri rama thank you