In plain words
He went to lay his hand on the very head of Īśvara, who had given it. But there is no protecting in the principle of Īśvara. So Īśvara in turn went to Viṣṇu. The duty of protecting is his alone. There Viṣṇu set about protecting him. There too the protection had to be done in a way not contrary to Dharma. Viṣṇu acted out a drama. What a drama it was! He took shape as Mohinī, a lovely, beautiful woman. The moment he saw this Mohinī, Bhasmāsura's mind wavered. He went after that Mohinī. Mohinī spoke: ‘Only when you do just as I do will I take you for my husband,’ she said. ‘I am ready to do anything,’ he said. Why? He had no power of discernment. Bhasmāsura, without Viveka. Bhasmāsura, without gratitude. Bhasmāsura, the ungrateful, agreed to everything. Very well. This Mohinī danced. He danced just as she danced. She raised her hands and set them like this, on her head. He set his there too. He turned to ash. His own hand burnt him to ash. Here too the protection took place in a way not contrary to Dharma. On some occasions God stays calm and, gracious, waits until time, karma and cause come together. Merely because of that, we must not think that God has no power. Merely because of that, we must not think that God was unable to act. God can do anything. That He can do anything does not mean He may do everything. It has to go by the rules. He must do it Himself and pass it on to others. Like a drill teacher, God does it Himself and shows how. That is why: ‘My life is My message.’
To punish you is not God's work. To torment is not God's nature. Punishment and torment are only the fruit of your actions. For what you do, you yourself are the doer. One is oneself the bhoktā, the one to whom the fruit of actions is handed over. The one who hands over the fruit of action has no connection with it of any kind. There is the postman. He delivers one letter at one house. Another letter he delivers at another house. The people in the first house burst into wailing. The people in the second house burst out laughing. The postman is not the cause of the weeping or the laughing. What is in the letter is the cause of the grief and of the joy. He gave each one what came with that one's address. In the same way God is the Sākṣī. He hands each one his own results. If it should be painful, then when we pray in a way that wins God's favour, He Himself tells that department and has it averted. God has that freedom. Creation, sustenance and dissolution: these three are Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Maheśvara. There is a fourth one. It has been called tirodhāyaka. That means He stands as master over these three. He alone is God. A small example. There is medicine in a small bottle. On it they will have printed 1932. That means the medicine works until then. This medicine was in our house until 1945. The medicine is there, but it has expired. That means the medicine does not work. In the same way, though your karmas are there, God has the authority to make their power expire. He can make anything at all expire. That is the divine power of divinity. He can create what does not exist. He can sustain what He has created. He can dissolve what He has sustained. God has authority over these three. That is why generation, organisation, destruction: authority over these three belongs to divinity alone. To attain such divinity we must make Śaraṇāgati. Only when there is Śaraṇāgati is a direct bond with divinity formed.
As long as there is no Śaraṇāgati, the time spent going to these departments is wasted. Wasting time is not good. Time is the form of the Lord. Time itself is the form of God. It has been said that time swallows the body. To such a God we must come in Śaraṇāgati. When there is this Śaraṇāgati, a man falls into hardships according to time and circumstance, through the strength of a place, through the strength of a position. A small example. Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa were journeying through the Daṇḍaka forest in search of Sītā. They grew tired. They sat down under a tree. Lakṣmaṇa, sitting there, got up: ‘Brother! I will not submit to these hardships. I cannot bear these sufferings. At mealtimes we get neither food nor water. Without food and drink I am wasting my body away. I am going to Ayodhyā. I will not stay here even for a moment,’ he said. These evil feelings kept rising up in him. Rāma smiled. ‘Brother! Let us go. We will talk later,’ he said. Lakṣmaṇa had once thought, “Rāma alone is my father, Rāma's presence is my treasure, I cannot stay in Ayodhyā, I would give up even my mother and father but I cannot live having given up Rāma”: what was the reason for this evil thought arising in him? What was the reason for the delusion of the body coming over him? What was the reason for his attachment to the body growing? They went a little way off and sat down under a tree. At once repentance came over him. He clasped Rāma's feet tightly. ‘Brother! Forgive me. I do not know why this evil thought came into me. What was the reason?’ When he asked this, Rāma told him. ‘Lakṣmaṇa! That whole place is a place where Śūrpaṇakhā roamed. It is the spot where she would rest under the tree. Those evil qualities have mingled with the air there. Every sound stays fixed there as an electric vibration.