Evening Discourse

18 May 2002, Summer Course 2002, Brindavan

Published English.

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Today's discussion on the will be liked very much by the ladies. and , along with , reached . After broke Lord 's bow, sent an invitation to to come to . This meant that and had four days at their disposal. When only one day was left for the arrival of their parents and brothers, approached Sage and said, "Master, my parents and brothers will be arriving tomorrow. If you permit, on this last remaining day, we would like to see the city of ." Sage consented to the request.

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and soon walked along the streets of . Like a powerful magnet at work, the gaze of all citizens was attracted toward the two princes. Even the women working inside their houses came out to catch a glimpse of the two boys. Children at school also came rushing out. Everyone stared at the two brothers without batting an eyelid. They wondered, "Oh! What a heavenly beauty these boys have. They are resplendent like the sun and the moon. Where have they come from? What have they come for? Who are they?" Thus, they kept wondering among themselves, but none of them knew the answers.

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Finally, a young house wife appeared and explained to the women thus, "I was born in the city of . Since I am married into a family in , I now live here. These handsome boys are the sons of emperor . They are extremely handsome and bear the names and . Even in , wherever they appear, they would instantly attract everybody's attention." In this way the lady gave the other women all the details of the attractive princes.

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Meanwhile, though they were the center of intense attraction, and never raised their heads. They were enjoying their walk with their heads bowed down. Some women, in order to attract the attention of the princes, threw flowers on their path, hoping that at least then the princes would look at them. They made every attempt possible to catch the eyes of and . Some even waved the sacred . However, the princes remained unperturbed and would not look at anybody. The youth of those days had such sacred vision. At that young age, none of them ever looked at women.

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and finished their tour and returned to their palace. Meanwhile their parents and brothers had arrived. When the four brothers assembled, they shone like the moon amidst the stars. The citizens of were amazed by the beauty, gait, and looks of the four brothers. The following day, the bow of Lord was to be displayed. A big function was organised. came to the assembly along with his brothers. There were several other powerful kings and emperors in the hall. On seeing such a gathering, the wife of King , , while watching from behind the curtains, started thinking, "There are so many handsome and valiant young princes in this assembly. Will it not be better to select one of them, marry my daughters to them, and quickly discharge the responsibility? Why does the emperor need to complicate the issue by announcing that the one who bends the bow of Lord will be the eligible groom? Several heroic personalities have attempted in the past and have failed. Will these youngsters assembled here succeed? How will their tender bodies bear the burden of the heavy bow?" She was very much worried about the issue and was discussing it with her companions.

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Her fears came true when no one in the assembly could even lift the bow. Finally, Sage gave permission to lift the bow. went up to the box in which the bow was kept and opened the lid. The moment he did that a severe turbulence struck and shook everybody. got up and pressed down firmly on the earth with one foot. Even didn't know what was up to. He asked, ", what is happening? What are you doing?"

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humbly bowed the head and said, "This is the help I must render to my elder brother". What meant was that, when raised the bow, there was a sudden tilt in earth's balance leading to the turbulence. By pressing down on the earth, was balancing the shift.

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What love the brothers had for each other! When they were once playing together, came weeping and fell into 's lap. lovingly asked, "Child, why are you crying? Did your elder brother scold you? Did your brothers fight with you? In this way, she tried to find out the cause of 's grief.

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replied, "Mother, none of my brothers would dream of scolding me and fighting with me. They all love me very much. But in order to make me win, despite my best efforts, always keeps losing the game. He always wants me to win". The younger brothers should win and for that, would deliberately lose. That was always 's aim. Every brother followed this path and strove to make the other brothers win. knew that if his brothers won and were happy, he would be happy too. In this way, put himself to many troubles just to make sure that his younger brothers prospered.

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When lifted the sacred bow of Lord out of its box, strung the thread, and twanged the string, a peel of thunder set out. Everybody wondered how a boy of such a tender age could achieve such a stupendous task. The bow could not be lifted even if a thousand men were to try. Several elephants were required to pull the box into the hall. How could lift such a heavy bow? How could he manage to string it? News of this wonderful feat spread throughout and created a sensation.

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started making preparations for the wedding of his daughter to . was 's brother. He had two daughters, named and . King also had a second daughter . As the marriage preparations were going on, Sage approached and said, " O! King! Here are four resplendent youth shining like the very sun. They are all valiant and heroic. then consulted with and proposed that his two daughters be given in marriage to and . promptly agreed. shed tears of joy at the turn of events and was prepared to give his second daughter to .

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The brides and the grooms were then readied and brought to the stage. As they were all seated on the stage, they appeared to light up the entire city of . The ladies experienced unlimited thrill. They praised their good fortune at being able to witness the wedding of not just but all four princesses.

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I am narrating these incidents to you to highlight the high order of discipline and idealism entertained in those days. stood beside and prepared to give away the bride. He offered him 's hand and said, " , here is my daughter, ." But would not look at despite 's entreaties. This was because the custom of those days said that a woman would become a wife only when the sacred was tied around her neck. Until then, the bride and the groom were not expected to look at each other. This was a strict discipline exercised in those days. Such discipline will never appear either today or tomorrow. None can set or match the ideals that were established by the four brothers.

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The wedding took place. It was now time for the garlanding ceremony. The brides waited with garlands in their hands, as did the grooms. The three brothers would begin their tasks only after started it first. The parents waited behind the children. They went up to and bade him place the garland around the 's neck so that other remaining brothers could also do the same. did so, and all the brothers followed suit. It was now the turn of the brides. waited with the garland in her hands. Moments passed, but would not bend his head! His was a valour and dignity that raised, strung, and broke the mighty bow of Lord . Therefore, he refused to bend his head in order to protect His own honour. He kept standing.

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was tall, broad shouldered, and valiant. Though young of age all the brothers were tall and physically strong. The long break set people to start murmuring among themselves. They wondered why refused to bow His head. was also not keen to remain thus. He looked at and made an almost imperceptible signal. The four brothers were always sharp and alert. This was depicted in 's song.

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Would a monkey cross the ocean? Is it possible to tie you with a rope? Would the goddess worship you? Would willingly serve you? Would the highly intelligent offer his prostrations to you? Oh! How great indeed is Lord 's strength!

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was the incarnation of - the heavenly serpent that had the strength to bear the entire world on its coils. He caught 's signal and understood that wanted him to raise the portion of earth where was standing. With an equally slight shake of his head, he indicated that this plan would defy the laws of nature and was therefore not suitable. If was raised, so would everyone else! signaled back to to find some plan to break the deadlock. hit upon an idea. He abruptly ran and fell at 's feet and would not get up. was forced to bend down and raise from his feet. Grabbing this chance, at once placed her garland on 's neck. The moment garlanded , the other sisters proceeded to garland their grooms. This incident amply demonstrates the lofty, disciplined, and honourable style of functioning and behaviour of the brothers.

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The wedding was soon performed. The party returned to . They were received with much love and gaiety. What we need to look at is not merely the virtues of the four brothers. The characters of , , , and also need to be discussed and elaborated opn. They also were highly virtuous. They came from a highly reputed family. King was known to have mastered his senses. He was adept at . He was an acknowledged expert in . Daughters from such a family cannot be ordinary mortals.

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Only was given the order to go into exile. But would not agree to this idea. meanwhile went to his mother. She was shattered when she got the sad news of her son's exile in place of the joyous news of his coronation. "Son you are merely obeying your father's command and going away to the forests. What about your mother's wishes? I am your father's "" - his better half. What importance are you giving to the words of this half? I shall too come with you to the forest", she said.

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then preached to her, "Mother! Your husband is verily your God. There is no other deity beyond him. He is now aged. Added to that, this sad state of affairs has further crushed him. It is not proper for you to abandon him now, at this stage. You must serve and support him. Comfort him. Give him strength and courage to bear his pain". In this way, dissuaded his mother from following him to the forests.

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heard all this. When returned to the palace to wear ochre robes, she also started to wear them, indicating her desire to follow to the forest. strongly prohibited her. In soft tones, she reminded him, "Lord! Why is there one set of moral codes for your mother and another for me? Is the code of conduct not common to all married women? Is it not the responsibility of a good wife to make her husband happy? She is supposed to look after his welfare. Does it not become my responsibility as well to do the same? Therefore, I shall defy your prohibition and accompany you to the forest."

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was a great painter. She was in her room, painting the scene of and 's wedding, which she wanted to send to her father. At that moment, entered. He was in a very angry mood. was not agreeing to his pleas and was going ahead with obeying 's orders. He called out to and told her that he was going to the forests. Startled at the dramatic turn of events, got up in a hurry and in the process, accidentally toppled the canvas and spilled colours on it. She lamented, " Alas! This beautiful picture of 's wedding scene is totally spoilt now."

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said, " ! I am responsible for spoiling your painting. is responsible for ruining 's coronation as the emperor. Today, both of us have caused only damage to others. I am leaving now."

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's courage and strength of character now came to the fore. had already informed her that was also accompanying to the forest. was thrilled that her sister would accompany and serve him. But she did not insist on following . On the contrary, she told , "Lord! I know that you are going to the forest with the sole objective of serving and . May you succeed without any obstacles. You must spend your days and nights in steadfast service to and . You need not worry about my welfare or even think about me. Never be concerned that you are not present by my side at to look after me. Forget itself because, henceforth, the forest is your . This without you is the forest. Hence, don't give any scope for concerns about me. On my part, I shall happily contemplate on you and spend my time here."

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thus gave tremendous courage to her husband. She also foresaw the possibility of 's service to and being disturbed whenever he thought of her. Hence, she extracted a promise from her husband that he would not even think about her during the course of fourteen-year exile. She supposed," In the forest, will be your father and , your mother. Your primary concern should be to serve them faithfully. Hence, forget all of us here." This was the promise she took from and cheerfully sent to the forest. might have grieved a little, but not . This is the attribute of an ideal daughter-in-law. She must always encourage her husband by giving him strength and courage appropriately. A housewife is also called and . discharged her duty as a by encouraging to tread the path of righteousness.

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, , , and were absent when all this action was taking place. They were away on a holiday to the kingdom. Mother was highly distressed at the turn of events. At this juncture, 's noble qualities had a close inspection. As her name, so was her character. She was verily the good friend. She had a pure heart. She didn't weep at the turn of the events. Instead, with joy, she consoled , "Sister, why are you so sad? , who has incarnated for the emancipation of mankind, can never come to any harm. If you are concerned about his physical welfare, my son is anyway always going to be there with . He will be 's attendant and aide. You mustn't give any scope for fear or anxiety."

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Yet, was the womb that bore . Her pain at his exile was, therefore, immense. In this context, the noble and courageous counsel of to was much more laudable. However when dealing with the epic , hardly anyone discusses these noble attributes of . She further told , "this entire drama is the master plan of God. You and I cannot add or change anything in this. For the welfare of the world and the establishment of , God has enacted this mission. Hence, sister! Don't cry. Your tears at the time of departure of your sons will only prove inauspicious to them. With cheer and joy, bless them and send them." Thus did stand by and give her a great deal of courage. The princes and soon left.

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Meanwhile, regained consciousness and recalled everything. Utterly agitated, he rushed into the street, shouting," , are you going? No, no! Please wait!" was the charioteer. implored, "O ! Stop! Stay a moment! Let me glimpse my just once."

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neither asked to stop nor tell him to move on. He merely told him to discharge his duty. Several scholars have depicted at this point that had asked to utter a lie and say that he hadn't heard the king's plea to stop. On the contrary, he maintained silence. In such matters of principle and discipline, both and were very strict. They are the ideals to be emulated when it comes to attaining victory and obeying one's parents' commands.

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lived in the forests with and for fourteen years. Yet, not even once did he raise his head and observe 's face. On the mountain, when and met and talked, a bundle that contained all of 's jewellery was brought. She had hurled the bundle to the ground when was whisking her away by the aerial route to . had preserved the bundle, since he didn't know to whom the jewellery belonged. When was now engaged in a conversation with and , he had the parcel opened and showed the jewellery. He asked if they belonged to mother or if some demons had dropped them accidentally. examined everything but was at a loss to identify any of them. Nowadays, the entire list of the wife's jewellery, along with their appearance and shape is already available! passed the jewellery to and asked him to identify them. Of all of them, positively identified only the anklets as having belonged to . asked, "How could you say so?"

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replied, "Every day after my bath, I would offer salutations at my mother 's feet. Hence, I know these by sight." What noble ideals! For fourteen years they were together in the same hut; yet, never looked at 's face.

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Since they had such noble character, they were blessed with what has been described as . in Sanskrit means a great reputation. It is used as a mere name today. It actually means purity derived from strict discipline and character.

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This was the lofty standard of ideals established by and . Meanwhile, , unable to bear the agony of separation from , shed his mortal coils. There was now a dilemma as to who would perform his last rites. and were away in exile. and were in their maternal uncle's house at kingdom. It would take at least ten days for their arrival. Hence, , , and other sages decided that the body should be embalmed and preserved in oil. There was nothing like ice or morgue facilities in those days. And there remained 's body for fourteen days.

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and arrived. is another role model that the has to present. He matched in every way. While would always serve , engaged himself in service to Lord . Hence, the twins spent their life in serving their elder brothers. always relied on 's wisdom and sane counsel. True to his name, was one of tremendous strength and valour - one who destroyed his enemies. There was none to surpass him when it came to routing the enemies. It was his presence that enabled , , and to remain safe and secure. was one who never talked. Even would talk and sometimes argue, but not .

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Once, before the wedding episode, , and Sage was going to the sage's hermitage. They crossed the river in a boat and reached the other bank. There, they saw a beautiful or hermitage. was astounded and asked , "Brother, what is this place? It appears like a beautiful township."

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replied," Don't be in a hurry. I'll explain. This hermitage is not an ordinary one. It belongs to . He was supremely handsome. He could attract everyone to him. He developed his inner and external strengths and powers. However, he tried to influence Lord and was cursed by him to remain formless - . That is why this domain is called - the kingdom of Anga. It is a sacred spot because Lord traveled here. It is hence the gift of Lord and His very own place."

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They then rested for the night in the . At dawn, the residents of the made them board a boat and gave them a very warm send-off. They realised that the princes were the sons of emperor . Hence ,they were honoured accordingly and put on a well-decorated boat to proceed with their journey.

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Shortly, a terrific roar could be heard in the distance. A fearful forest, with full of wild beasts, came into view. asked Sage , "Master! Where is this loud sound coming from? What is the name of this eerie place?"

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The sage replied, "Son! The booming sound is the river merging into the mighty Ganges. The sacred Ganges is like a huge ocean into which this river is merging. This is causing this huge roar. This forest is infested with wild beasts and terrible demons."

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They soon stepped into the forest. In all directions wild beasts were seen, and eerie sounds were emanating from all directions. This was the domain of 's sister, the demoness , and a sense of fear was stuck in anyone who dared enter the forest, since every step was fraught with danger. Hence repeatedly blessed ," O ! May all auspiciousness be added on to you."

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Shortly, fell behind while and walked on. , who wanted to attend to his ablutions, moved a certain distance away. When he caught up with them again, his mind has totally changed. He suddenly burst out," Brother! What is all this trouble? Why are you, one who is supposed to enjoy every luxury, suffering here? Why am I supposed to suffer with you? I shall make remedies once we return. Let us go back to now. Why should we go further in this terrible forest? How are we expected to eat and foster ourselves?" This was the sudden burst of anger from .

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merely smiled and expressed no reaction. Instead, he took 's hand and led him away from the forest and out of the forest. The anger that erupted in stayed till they reached the borders of the forest. The instant led out of the forest, at once calmed down to his usual self. As let relax and calm down under a tree, he explained to the perplexed , "This is the kingdom of 's sister, . She roams freely in this area. You two had stepped into that area. Hence, the vibrations of that place - - affected you. 's evil qualities diffused into you and forced you to behave thus. We shall leave this place and go away."

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felt thoroughly ashamed of his earlier behaviour. "Alas! What a shame! How could I utter such rough and uncultured words? It is not in me to talk thus. This is definitely the vibration of demonic surroundings. They are not my true feelings." So, consoling himself, he asked 's pardon, and they proceeded on their journey.

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Shortly, they could experience the pleasant vibrations of . The cool breeze and the vedic chants, charged the place with holiness. then explained, "Sons! This is our . Lord was born here. Lord resided here for a few days."

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At , entrusted and with a job. He said, "Sons! You have come here to protect a (sacred ritual or sacrifice). You should undertake that responsibility. This was also the command of your father. From this moment onward, you are expected to desist from eating and resting. This itself is a big that you two shall perform. You should sanctify it and emerge successful." and were equal to the task. They never displayed any tiredness, difficulty ,or weakness.

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As the dawn broke, the great was started. The instant the were uttered, and went into high alert and patrolled the place. A huge roar could be heard. One of the sages told the brothers, "There come the demonic hordes. They will be lead by and . Be ready." They were without food or water or sleep. Yet, they successfully discharged their duty and killed the demons and saw to it that the was performed successfully.

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The total dedication of and to the task entrusted by can be understood from the following episode. As the concluded, a troop of soldiers came to the . They handed an invitation to Sage . This was a personal invitation from King of . He had sent similar invitations to all kings and princes to try and lift the bow of Lord and win the hand of his daughter, . In such an assembly, he prayed that the great sage too be present and shower his blessings. Sage was happy and, with great excitement, narrated to and the qualities of the great bow of Lord . He said, "Sons! You must come and see the bow. There cannot be another of its kind in this world. It is a gift from the heavens. This bow is not an ordinary one. It is worth going and seeing."

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and naturally developed a curiosity to take a look at the bow. However, gently reminded the sage, "Master! Our father had only asked us to come with you and protect the . We have no instructions to go to and see the bow. We cannot transgress our father's orders."

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For this replied, " Was it also not your father's command that you should obey my instructions? Hence, you must obey my orders!" The princes could only keep quite and make preparations to accompany the sage on the new journey.

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For the welfare of this country, you all need to minutely scrutinize how delicately, correctly, and righteously handled each situation. He killed all the demons and safeguarded the righteous. All these are actually small parts of a Divine master plan. It was willed that , , , and take birth so that they could cause the annihilation of the demons.

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, the guardian deity of , also made the prophecy of the doom of the demons. When asked to pray for a boon, the demon said, "My death should not be caused by the Gods, , demons, , or . Grant me this boon."

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had expertly detected the fatal flaw in this boon. The name of man was missing from the list! Since had made this omission, his death was certain at the hands of a man. Lord hence decided to incarnate in human form. Thus, prayed to , "'s death at my hands is certain. You must therefore propagate to one and all that is coming. He shall definitely kill ."

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In the entire creation, Divinity assumes the role of being the vital substance. belonged to the solar dynasty. The Sun God was their guardian deity. Without the sun's nourishing rays, life cannot thrive on earth. When creation first began, it took a few of years for light to dawn. It was all darkness until then. Similarly, after the birth of , the sun could not shine for fifteen days! Consequently, the moon also remained invisible. Both the sun and the moon lamented that they could not catch the glimpse of the divine incarnation of Lord . The Moon God performed a penance, praying to catch a glimpse of Lord . At that time, Lord appeared before the Moon God and said, "I know that you could not see me for the first fifteen days after my birth. I hereby grant you a boon. In my next incarnation, you shall have my first - even before anybody else can see me." And it so proved to be. When the next incarnation of took place, at the midnight hours, as carried the baby to the safety of 's house, it was the moon that had the first of the divine child.

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In this way, there are several intricate, secret, and profound teachings in the . There are no contradictions or confusions in this epic. The story of is eternal and eminently readable. No matter how many times it is heard, it still does not satiate the desire to hear it again and again. This sacred story can never be forgotten. 's divine actions can never be ignored. Everything that he did was steeped in righteousness. All that he spoke was only the truth. In such a sacred epic, several scholars have introduced distorted explanations and have painted an unholy hue about it. There can be no scope of perversions in the . There can be no place in it for even an iota of untruth and falsehood. The entire story, from start to end, is nothing but the truth - eternal, pure, and serene.

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Today, we shall stop with the events of . The nature of , , , and is quite unique and wonderful. Sage has described it as follows:

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They are wonderful; they are worshipped in all the three worlds; They are so close to one's heart, they are one's true friends; They are revered by the sages, men, animals and plants too; Such is the beauty of Lord 's deeds!

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It is only the ignoramuses that are blind to the inner significance of the Lord's deeds and misinterpret them. This causes confusion and deviates the mind of the true seeker from the sacred truth. The history of Lord is highly sacred. It is only when you hear the story fully that you can understand the holiness associated with it.