Ravana Falls

27 May 1996, Summer Course 1996, Brindavan

Published English.

1

2

3

4

Man indulges in finding fault with others, oblivious to his own flaws. The cause for this can be traced to his materialistic tendencies. Man is made of (Self) and (non-self), (body) and (embodied one), (field) and (knower of the field), and (permanent) and (ephemeral). You cannot find anything else in this Universe except these dualities.

5

The entire world is a play of the and the , the outward and inward. Body () and matter belong to the realm of whereas , consciousness, the embodied one, belongs to the realm of . Even the are subject to , since they have to assume a human body. was no exception to it. Though He was the Omnipotent and the Omniscient One, since He had assumed the human body, He had to behave as if He too was under the spell of illusion.

6

beheaded prepared himself to battle with . had lost everybody, including his son , his brother , and a host of others. Now, alone was left as a relic of . The battle between and lasted seven days and seven nights. who felt delighted that his enemy, , had been killed, sent his heavenly chariot equipped with the most powerful weapons, to the battlefield for ’s use. It was a sight to see the heavenly chariot driven by , shining splendourously, coming down to the earth. The (monkeys) mistook it to be one more trick of the demons. As the wheels of the chariot touched the earth, got down and said to with folded hands, “Oh Lord, has sent this chariot and is himself prepared to fight against .” displayed great practical sense and alertness while fighting on the battlefield. Some people ask why took recourse to war and why He caused the death of so many. The One who creates has also the right to punish. In fact, it is not God who punishes or protects. Your virtues protect you, and your vices punish you. Man cannot escape the consequences of his actions. had to face the consequences of his notorious deeds. The punishment may not come upon man immediately but it is bound to come for certain. The time had now come for to face the consequences of his evil deeds.

7

Once, his Queen, , tried to din sense into his head. She said, “Oh , you are indulging in heinous and lowly deeds. You are bringing untold suffering and misery to many pure and noble ladies. The heinous sins in which you are indulging will boomerang on you.” She continued, “You cannot escape the inexorable law of . I am plagued by all sorts of apprehensions about you and about us, though I am the daughter of a great emperor, my son an invincible hero, and you are my master. Be careful, for women are like fire. Do not insult women by evil looks, evil words, and evil deeds, for it is great sin.” did not take the words of seriously. On the other hand, he laughed at her.

8

The battle between and was fierce and terrible. released (serpent arrow). The entire space was covered by serpents. replied by discharging the (eagle arrow) which ate all the serpents in an instant. was surprised how a mere human, prowling in the forest, had such immense power and prowess. He now remembered the words of . had once said to him, “You are underestimating the power and prowess of , Oh ! is no ordinary human. He is verily the incarnation of Lord . Would it be possible for anyone to build a bridge across the ocean with the help of mere monkeys? You have abducted , the paragon of chastity and virtue. It is not too late. Go to . Return to Him, and seek His forgiveness.” had retorted at that time, “I may lose my life, but I will not seek ’s forgiveness.” On the seventh day of the battle, launched the which He had received from , and beheaded all the ten heads of . The great demon collapsed and fell.

9

Service to God: the vehicle for liberation The ten heads of signify the four and six . Though had mastered all these texts, he could not benefit from them. Practice is more important than mere mastery of the texts. A speaker who spoke earlier related to you how advised . , while searching for in , heard in the corner of a palace the chanting of . He immediately went into the room from which the sound of came. On entering, he found and exchanged pleasantries, for both of them were devotees of . said to , “Oh , though you met just a few months ago, you have advanced very high in the realm of the Spirit. And you are enjoying the sweet proximity of . But I have been chanting for so many years; yet, has not showered His Grace on me. I have not had the of even once.

10

To this replied, “Oh , it is not that you ought to participate in the mission of and serve his cause to obtain the full benefit of chanting . You must not only perform penance and do and meditation, but you must also participate in . Service is the very boat of life. It is not enough if you see a fruit. Your stomach will not be filled merely by looking at the fruit. You must eat the fruit and digest it.

11

There are three steps that lead to transformation: . means to experience. Consider a book. First you must know about the book. Then you should acquire it. Finally, you must read it; only then will you enjoy the book. Similarly, it is no use if you simply repeat the name of God. You have to translate the into actual life. mastered the but did not practice even a single word of it. The entire used to reverberate with the chanting of . Many demons were well versed in and used to recite them. But these people did not practice even an iota of what they repeated. Though all the proclaim HELP EVER HURT NEVER, did not practice the teaching.

12

13

14

The world today is marked by unrighteousness ,and we are defiling our time by indulging in falsehood. When we contaminate our mind with untruth, our life also becomes untruthful. Our sight, learning, and deeds also will be untruthful. What is in the mind comes out through eyes, ears, tongue, and deeds. What is inside alone can come outside. You must fasten yourself firmly to the scriptural commandment: . When you give your word to do a thing, you MUST do it. Failure on your part to do it is tantamount to falsehood. Such an act is not only untruthful but betrayal and deceitful too.

15

The second scriptural commandment is: (practice ). Many people say they do not know what is and what is . Swayed by self-interest and selfishness, man performs activities as he likes. Though he knows what to do and what not to do, he pretends as though he does not know anything. Though you have been listening to many good things, how many of them have you practised?

16

17

18

19

Did gain anything by mastering the sixty-four disciplines? Learning should lead to wisdom. But the educational system today merely prepares the students for a job. Man is the architect of his own misfortune. When collapsed on the battlefield, , his Queen, went to the dead body and lamented, “Oh ! What has happened to all your learning now? I was telling you very often to mend your ways. It is shameful for a great emperor like you to be troubled and tortured at the hands of monkeys. However, I am happy that you have died by ’s hands.” came at that juncture to see ’s body. At first, started scolding . Then, realising her mistake she said, “Oh , there is no use in scolding you. Very often, you counseled your brother well, but your advice did not enter his head.”

20

21

wanted to run to and seek her forgiveness. She then said to herself, “I ought to have gone to a long time back, what is the use of my going to her now?”

22

Nip evil in the bud died. It was a piteous scene. Men and women were weeping over the dead, and the women who were widowed were weeping over the corpses of their husbands. Likewise, the children who were orphaned in the battlefield were weeping over the bodies of their parents. Grief was writ large on the faces of everybody in . What was the cause for all this? It was ’s lust that was the cause for the calamity that befell . Even a single fly is enough to bring a catastrophe. A whole potful of milk turns into poison if you mix in it even a drop of poison. Although there were good people in his kingdom, contaminated it totally by his venomous behaviour. Even a small flaw can be fatal. The ants may be small, but they can kill a big serpent.

23

Similarly, the mistake may be minor, but it can be disastrous. The seed may be small, but it has the potentiality of growing into a gigantic tree. The seed has the capacity to grow into a tree, to yield fruits and thorns as well. Hence, caution should be exercised to sow only a seed that yields fruits and not thorns. Similarly, a flaw should be eliminated in the initial stage itself, since it is difficult to exterminate it when it assumes gigantic proportions. That is why the laid down:

24

- salutations to the work.

25

Why should we salute ? We should make our actions pure, sacred and pleasing to the Lord. The also laid down that all work must be performed only for the pleasure of the Lord. Actions performed for the pleasure of the Lord will protect us one day or the other.

26

Perform good actions only Speak the truth and perform good action. If you cannot speak the truth throughout the day, at least set apart a certain period during which you will compulsorily practice truth. We live in the age, which has the potentiality to compel even noble souls to tell a lie! What is the cause for this? Evil company. It is said, “Tell me your company and I shall tell you what you are.” You beget the qualities of the company in which you move.

27

28

You must always cultivate good company and severely shun bad company. Run away from bad company at any cost. Once you become aware that you are developing a bad quality, you must give up that bad quality immediately. One should not commit sin, when one is aware that it is a sin. This was the fatal flaw of . He committed sin, with the full knowledge of it. Action, if performed innocently, is not a sin.

29

Tell your mind, “Oh Mind! Contemplate on the name of in full awareness of it. The same substance can be used for mundane as well as sublime purposes. A boulder can be used as a stepping stone, as a building block, and also for carving an idol. The stepping stone is used for walking, the stone block for building a mansion, and the idol for worship. The stone is the same but is used for different purposes.

30

31

Adopt excellent behaviour, whether in the , school, college, or hostel. Students should behave so well that everybody is impressed.

32

For mind, mind is the testimony. For body, virtue is the testimony. For stupids, stupidity is the testimony. For everyone, is the testimony.

33

No evil accrues if good actions are performed. Therefore, go on performing only good actions. That kind of behaviour lends value to human life. A real man is one who has humanness in him. As soon as you get up in the morning, say to yourself, “I am a human, not an animal or demon.” Today, the entire world is steeped in untruth and unrighteousness, causing endless (want of peace). Truth and righteousness lead to , whereas untruth and unrighteousness cause . The combination of the brown betel, green leaf, and white lime gives rise to the red colour. The new colour arises due to the mixture of the three ingredients. Truth is purity, and is selflessness; the combination of the two leads to peace in the human heart. It is by this harmonious combination that can be harvested in the human heart. and are like the two wings of the bird; they are like two wheels of the cycle. It is not possible to ride a cycle with only one wheel. , instead of upholding and , followed and upheld only and . That is why his life was wrecked.

34

Both and were scholars. While mastered only thirty-two disciplines of learning, had mastered sixty-four disciplines. The difference between and lies in their practice. While practised whatever He learnt, did not practice even an iota of what he had learnt, resulting in distortions in his personality.

35

Inner significance of the The is not a mere compilation of incidents, like the abduction of , the fury of , the death of , etc. This is not the real . We must understand the spiritual undertone of the . Who was ? He was not merely the Emperor of the Kingdom. signifies the chariot of the human body, which has five organs of action and five organs of perception. is not a mere city, the capital of . signifies the impregnable fortress, i.e. the heart. The capital is in the centre surrounded by the ten organs. The three wives - , , and - signify the serene, (sathwic), dull (tamasic), and passionate (rajasic) respectively. The three Queens signifying three attributes gave birth to , , ,and , who symbolised righteousness (), wealth (), desire (), and liberation (). seeks . , who is the rmbodiment of , married , who was the embodiment of . , accompanied by (), went into the forest of ignorance (). There, the embodiment of evil () stole . This then led to coming into contact with , the embodiment of discrimination () and , the embodiment of indiscrimination (). befriended (discrimination), and killed indiscrimination.

36

Since He had to cross the ocean of (worldly attachments) He took the help of , the embodiment of courage (). After crossing the ocean of , He came face to face with , and , who were the embodiments of the serene, the passionate, and the dull temperaments respectively. destroyed () and () and crowned (). After crowning the sathwic temperament, He got back , the embodiment of (experienced knowledge). was ultimately transformed into . The transformation of into is real wisdom. One has to grow through trials and tribulations to achieve true education.

37

Since, we are in the world of , even a sathwic person can change into a rajasic person. Since (sathwic) was in the company of (rajasic) and (tamasic), he had to lament a lot. waited and waited for the hour of God. At last, that hour arrived, and he was crowned by God Himself.

38

also waited for a long time for God with unbearable agony. It was his intense yearning and agony, which lifted to his sublime nature. He waited for the vision of Mother until night, and when the night was about to pass, he lamented sadly “Oh! this day is also wasted, without seeing Mother.” Though in the same city of there lived great intellectuals like and , it is the name of that is more remembered in the hearts of people today. It is the intense faith of in Divinity that earned for him an immortal place in the hearts of people. It was the unshakeable faith of that lifted him to lofty heights. Since had no faith (), he plunged into abysmal depths. Even his (penance) turned into (dullness). should strengthen one’s faith, but this did not happen in the case of .

39

The unfolds the conflict and the clash between truth and untruth, justice and injustice, righteousness and unrighteousness, good and evil. This is an eternal clash, which rages continually in the human heart. Blessed is the one who transcends this clash and scores eternal victory. When such victory is achieved, will dawn on earth.