Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Lecture 028 on 02-February-2021

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

OM JANANIM SHARADAM DEVIM RAMAKRISHNAM JAGADGURUM PADAPADMETAYO SRIDHVA PRANAMAMI MUHURMUHUHU We have two questions. Before we start our regular session, I would like to deal with them. First, if all is happening as it should and happening as per divine will, when should one speak out or interfere in the business of another? Should one speak at all or leave it to divine will and karma to play themselves out? This is a very practical question. The straightforward answer is this. It is true that everything is happening by the will of God and we must always remember if we really mean what we say that everything is happening by the divine will. Two points we have to keep in our mind that first there is nothing I can do because it is divine will and second divine never wills anything that is painful or that is inauspicious that is damaging to oneself. All for the best that is the divine mother's will. So with this conviction we have to do. Let me give an example also. Once someone asks Sri Ramakrishna if someone is suffering and if it is God's will or that person's prarabdha then we should not do anything. Sorry it is not Sri Ramakrishna, it is Swami Vekananda. Immediately he said something so very important. He said if it is the will of God that another person should suffer, it is the will of God that you should help that person as much as possible otherwise it is pure hypocrisy, it is an escapism. So I need not to do anything, so I need not spend any money and I will be very selfish. That's a very wrong view. Even if we feel that someone is suffering that understanding is right but that understanding should bring sympathy and sympathy should not be lip deep. It must be translating itself into some concrete action, some concrete help according to one's capacity of course. So this is the first point we have to remember but the most important point we have to remember is we go on talking it is God's will, it is my prarabdha. How many of us with our whole heart really believe that it is God's will or it is my prarabdha? If I really believe and then here also something funny is there. When I am happy, I don't see that it is God's will. I worked hard, I deserved it so God doesn't come into the equation. Only when some suffering comes then we tend to question why is God doing it. So if somebody feels for the suffering of the other person, that very suffering, understanding that the other person is suffering, if it doesn't bring an appropriate response which Jesus calls good neighbor who is a good neighbor. I hope you know the story but it is a wonderful story. Jesus Christ always spoke in parables. A parable is something which has got deep meaning. So here is the parable. Once a priest, a rabbi was passing and he saw somebody unknown to him and he was suffering very much. So the man was traveling on a donkey and he saw the whole thing and if he goes anywhere near the suffering person, he would be obliged to do something. So as if he did not see, he pretended that way and ran away from the place as fast as possible. After some time, you know even in those days society was divided into the touchables and untouchables as what we call upper class and lower class etc. So there was a low caste person, young man, he was going, he saw this suffering person and he went immediately and put him on his own donkey and brought him to the next village and lodged him in an appropriate place and tended him, nursed him and gave some money to the inn keeper and said kindly look after this person. I will not be able to stay and then he went away. Now Jesus having narrated this parable, he puts a question to his listeners. Now who is a good Samaritan? Of course the disciples were not that foolish. He said the person who really helped, he is a good Samaritan, good neighbor, good person and that is the lesson we have to learn. The moment we cognize someone is suffering, instantaneously we must try to do something to help him. So here also can we really help him in the sense, can you do really something good to him? According to the theory of karma, it all depends upon that person's karma, if he is to be helped, if he is to be survived and if he is to become good healthy person or normal person, whatever that will happen. It has nothing to do with us. We are only just instruments. Second thing is irrespective of whatever that person becomes, we are by doing something good to the other person, we are helping ourselves. This is called self-help. It not only brings punya. Whenever we do any action, good or evil, remember four things happen at the same time, four things. I will give an example. Supposing you encounter a person who is very hungry and you feel sympathy, you provide that person with food, now four things will happen. The first thing is that person's hunger is removed, he feels satisfied. Second thing, you feel satisfied because you are able to help. Always this happens when we help somebody and we feel satisfied. Third thing that happens is the samskara, the impression that when we see someone in need, we should be able to help as much as possible. That samskara, as many times as we do good, every time it becomes stronger and stronger and stronger until it becomes a habit. Habit is second nature. That means after some time, we do not even need to think just as we do not need to think and brush our teeth. It has become a habit. This is the third thing. Fourth thing that happens is if we believe in our scripture, every good karma, immediately it brings some punya and that would be fructifying in future. So, even though everything is God's will, but we do not know. We are only what is called repeating it, copying it, plagiarizing it from the scriptures without even 100% believing in it. So, we should not keep quiet. Of course, it depends upon the situation. If somebody is so belligerent that I don't need your advice, keep quiet. But if it is someone whom you love and you think your doing something can help, do something without expecting anything and at the same time, you also have to be detached in a way, if they take your advice, that's fine. If they do not expect thankfulness, that way you will be spared regret, anger, frustration, hatred and etc. because that person did not express. So, this is the answer. Try to do if the other person, whether he is willing to accept it or not. But if it is absolutely belligerent, leave it. But if it is possible, give impartially. Then let God take over whatever happens to it. That is the first question. Second, what is the most effective oil to apply to one's hands before breaking open the jackfruit? Of course, this is a teaching of Sri Ramakrishna. Jackfruit has a sticky substance. As soon as you cut it, immediately if you are touching with a hand, I would say, why don't you use some gloves? Then the labor of washing of the oil later on also, that labor can be avoided. That's what I feel. Anyway, the point is oil is the right thing before touching anything sticky because sticky things cannot stick to oil etc. So, any oil will do. But the antarartha is here, that is, you do what you want to do. Just now, for the first question, if someone is open or it is your duty towards your children or known people, loved people, but many of them are like this jackfruit, there's very sticky substance comes and it is very hard for us to get rid of it. So, you put on the oil of detachment. That's what Sri Ramakrishna really meant. Okay. Now, we will go to our regular class. What are we talking in our last class? I hope all of you remember it's your duty as a good listener at least to get back to it and note down or recollect important points because scriptures need to be not heard once but billions of times until the essence sticks into our mind and reminds us when we are doing something unspiritual, we should not do it. And when we are lazy to do something spiritual, it should help us to move forward. So, here we are talking about Swami Vivekananda has taken some of these selected duties of every householder. But by implication, if a householder has a duties, a brahmachari also has duties, a vanaprastha, a retired person has duties, which I will deal in the future and a sannyasin has his own duties. So, what is the duty of a vanaprastha in brief? That he should try to slowly withdraw from all worldly duties and increase his spiritual duties and if he has done his householder duties properly, then he should try to become more detached of course without losing the love towards his family, his children, grandchildren, etc. We have so many duties which we will discuss right now in a few minutes time. But a retired person's main duty is not to go on poking his nose or poking his fingers into what doesn't concern. I explained earlier that supposing somebody has sufficient income to live a simple life, then if he does anything worldly, Sri Ramakrishna hates him. Not really, I'm just putting it in human language. That means God doesn't like a person. God wants us to go to Him as quickly as possible just as our mother or a grandmother is waiting for us to finish the play. As soon as the play is over, we have to run into the rush into the hands of our grandma or mother who will carry their waiting for us. So, God is even more eagerly waiting for us to turn our mind towards Him and to try to move towards Him, to be nearer to Him because the love of all parents together is condensed, combined, condensed and that is what God is. Just as you cannot do without seeing your children, God even more eagerly is waiting for us. So, to withdraw our mind from unnecessary things and focus on necessary things, that is the primary duty of a vanaprastha and many sannyasins nowadays in the name of Karma Yoga, especially of Swami Vivekananda and of course Sri Ramakrishna has always advocated a balance and what Swami Vivekananda preached was only Sri Ramakrishna. Why did Swami Vivekananda put so much of emphasis on karma? Many places he goes into ecstasy saying work, work, work. Why? Because at his time our country was deeply immersed in tamas and that is why he wanted to awaken us. Awakening means we have to be alert, we have to be active and that was the reason but I doubt whether he meant whole life let us do Karma Yoga but even somebody says that I am doing Karma Yoga, I am talking about real Karma Yoga, that means the man's 99% of his mind is I want to go to God and my karma is the instrument which will take me to God. If that is not the case, 99% mind on karma and 1% on God, if at all, that is self-pure self-deception. It is not to really Karma Yoga much less it is Karma Bhoga, it is Karma Roga what Eric Fromm had coined workaholic, workaholism. Work itself becomes a venue of escape for all of us. So what about Brahmacharis? They have tremendous duties especially when a Brahmachari is completing his studies and he has completed, is about to go home what we call convocation or valedictory function. The Guru calls all his disciples and he delivers a valedictory address which we find and rarely we find it in 99% of the scriptures and in the Taittiriya Upanishad in the very first chapter called Sikshavalli, 11th Anuvaka, 11th section, first chapter, 11th section gives more than 10 beautiful commandments and we have heard it, we can recollect when I tell a few of them, Sathyam Vadha, Dharmamchara, Swadhyayanma Pramadaha, most marvellous commandments for every youth who is stepping into the responsibility of a householder's life but here Swami Vivekananda is giving us this beautiful in brief duties that we have been talking about Swami Vivekananda's exposition which he had taken from Mahanirvana Tantra that a householder, a man's duty, husband's duty to his wife but I have to emphasize here not only husband's duty before I go into it I would like to tell you something, tell us something. Sri Ramakrishna, millions today consider him as an incarnation of God, the purpose of an avatara is upholding Dharma to re-establish the balance, Dharma, Dharma means right way of living, as somebody has said so beautifully life is a game and every game has rules and regulations, if there are no rules regulations a game becomes a ruffian's acting, it is not a game any longer, a game must be enjoyable but it must be skillfully followed through its rules, regulations etc. So what Hinduism is expounding the duties of the students or the householders or the retired people and the all renouncing monks, they are all the rules, the laws of the game how to play and if we play well we move what we call there is a holy game, I call it a very holy game and we all know about that it is consisting of 18 holes that's why I call it holy game, that is advancing from one hole to the another hole from a less holiness to more holiness, this is the purpose of life to manifest our potential divinity slowly by playing the game of life so that we can conquer nature external as well as internal means control the mind, gain more of the control over our body and mind and this can be done either through work or worship or psychic control or to intellect by one or more usually many all of them combined together. So here is a duty Swami Vivekananda was a Rishi, now interesting point is Swami Vivekananda in his past incarnation along with other Rishis have promulgated, formulated these these rules and regulations according to the stage of one's life, according to the caste one belongs, the word caste should not bring negative meanings into our mind, it simply means a particular state of consciousness, lowest state Shudra, little higher state Vaishya and much better state Kshatriya and pure Sattvika, play of Sattva is called a Brahmana, that's why it is said Brahma Janatithi Brahmanaha, we discussed these points also earlier and then in every caste person's life there is a childhood, there is a youth, then there is a advanced age and then towards the end when a person is completely almost helpless we say old age but spiritually put Brahmacharya Ashrama, Grihastha Ashrama, Vanaprastha Ashrama and Sanyasa Ashrama, so Swami Vivekananda was a Rishi a Rishi in his past birth and these Rishis promulgated that they were great students of life, they experimented with life and they squeezed the very essence of life and what they understood as I mentioned many many times Swami Vivekananda put in three sentences, each soul is potentially divine, you, me, everybody none other than that divine mother, we have come from the mother, she is divine mother, so we are also divine but at this moment we are not aware of it, so the goal of life is slowly to understand we are not body, we are not mind but we are something which enlivens, vitalizes, directs, controls and plays that pure consciousness that is to manifest that divinity through either Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga, Jnana Yoga by one, usually nobody practices only one because the mind cannot be divided, the moment we pull in one faculty all the other faculties also rush in there, so take hold of the faculties and that is how aptitude will come and then slowly progress means manifest divinity means less selfishness, more love, more concentration, more mind control and more and more appreciation of our relationship with God, this is called traveling from a lower state of consciousness to a higher state of consciousness, that's what we need to understand, so before we go further, every avatar demonstrates to humanity means to all of us through his life this varnashrama dharma whether you examine the life of Buddha, Rama, Krishna, Jesus or any of the incarnations, they practically demonstrate, why do they demonstrate? For two reasons, one reason is it is not that they are there only to demonstrate, it is their nature because they are wise people, they have body and mind that is called birth and so therefore they will naturally behave towards their parents, towards their brothers, sisters, wives or etc. etc. country, people and friends, enemies and any type of situations good or not so good, how we can squeeze the highest profit from life, so these rishis themselves have experimented, thought about it and experimented and they found out this is the way to move forward from a lower state of consciousness to a higher state of consciousness and that is what Swami Vivekananda in this incarnation, remember he was one of the saptarishis if we have to believe in Sri Ramakrishna, here I would like to insert a word about this faith, we think we are all really rational people, now there is a conflict sometimes between faith and reason which comes first according to modern thinkers, reason comes first and faith comes later on and according to Hinduism or every religion, faith comes first and reason comes second, naturally the question that comes is what is the relationship between faith and reason, there is a wonderful books have been written on this subject, one of the best books I have come across is Reason and Revelation by K. Sachidananda Murthy, a professor in our Vishakhapatnam, in those days it is called Voltaire University, Reason and Revelation, which is, can we do without revelation, can we do without reason, if both are needed then which comes first, reason or revelation and believe me, all the modern western philosophy is based upon reason and that is not, that helps only in the worldly matters where we already encounter certain facts as a matter of experience but then anything beyond the ken of the five sense organs such as whether there is life after, whether there are other worlds other than what we know here and whether God exists and whether we have past births or future births, these questions can never be solved, can never be obtained through the five sense organs because whatever five sense organs, their limit is only very very small and they can only reveal in the physical world, they can never know whether we had past birth, future birth, that's why the western psychology has declared every baby is born with a blank slate, tabula rasa they call it and western psychology is mostly based upon this foolish fact, not accepting there is something much deeper, goes beyond what we know, just now a baby is born, I would say supposing there are 100 babies in a maternity ward and they are all born practically at the same time in one day, they all react differently to certain phenomena, this has been experimented, for example somebody had made loud banging sounds, some babies who are sleeping and most of the time the babies are asleep only, the babies woke up with a start, some started crying, some just opened the eyes, blinked a little and immediately went back to sleep and some babies started laughing and of course who can explain why these different babies react so differently, is it something they are all born with tabula rasa and born on the same day practically, just a few hours difference and they were all kept in that nursery and the climate, environment, everything is practically same, why these diametrically opposed reactions come in them, they can never explain, so is it necessary that we have to accept this, yes because if someone is abnormal and a psychologist wants to help that person, if we do not accept that the differences come because of some unknown life led in the past, if we do not accept it, the cure will never be complete, there may be something, that's why once I asked a Canadian psychiatrist, one of our Indian Bengali devotees, what's your experience, you must have counseled and prescribed medicine for thousands of people because so many years you have been practicing, he was an old man when I met him, then he said that the outcome, Swami he said the outcome, if you are watching me, you can watch me like that, like that he draw a big zero, the outcome is this but the income, so I learnt a great lesson at that time there, now what are, what am I talking about that there are things beyond the can of the fives and sorghums and Indian psychology and what do I mean by that, Patanjali Yogashastra is Indian depth psychology, accepts all these past janma, future janma, everything and that is why it is much much more effective than anything, some of you might have heard about a gentleman in the west called, what is his name, I forgot just now, Casey I think and he has written a book, many mansions, he accepted so many past lives, whenever somebody came with some remedy, immediately he used to go back in his own consciousness, 5000 years back you did this evil, this wrong thing and that is why you have been, sorry I got the name now Edgar Casey, Edgar Casey, so 5000 years back you did this wrong and in this birth you are suffering as an effect of that what you have done and so what is the remedy, it is not medication, it is not mantra tantra that you correct your behaviour, you develop good samskaras, you help other people, you sacrifice your selfishness and become spiritual in essence, if you become spiritual that is the only remedy and every Indian school of philosophy says the only way to escape the evils of life is to become spiritual, that is what is called Moksha, Parama Purushartha, anyway all this long introduction I am giving because these duties are very important, why? Because it is by discharging our duties that we travel, we progress from a lower state of consciousness to a higher state of consciousness and many times we forget these duties, that's why God incarnates as a human being and upholds not only he himself practices in his own life but he will also inspire others to practice them, that is where I'll give a few examples because examples, every example is like a picture, a picture is equivalent to a thousand words, there is a saying like that in English, Sri Ramakrishna even as a baby was extraordinarily devoted to his parents, not to speak of Satyam, he was fearless, courageous but he was extraordinarily devoted, if mother says something that is absolutely he will believe, even if she happens to tell something unreasonable but he will accept it, of course he will think about it, so then his father, he keenly observed his father's life and he said my father never deviated from devotion to God, he had tremendous faith in God and he never deviated from following the path of truthfulness, Satyam Vada Dharmam Charah Swadhyayan Ma Pramadaha Matru Pitru Karyabhyam Na Pramaditaryam Matru Devo Bhava Pitru Devo Bhava Acharya Devo Bhava Aditi Devo Bhava, as a Brahmana, Shudhiram, an embodiment of all these special virtues dictated as a householder's duties and some of them we discussed and Sri Ramakrishna's love for his mother knew no bounds, of course his father passed away very early then he was equally devoted to his eldest brother Ram Kumar and Rameshwar but his mother lived for a long time even after realization of God, that's important point to keep in mind, Chandramani Devi started living at Nahabath and every day Sri Ramakrishna, mind you he was a Brahma Brahma Vittamaha, the greatest knower of Brahman, even if you do not accept him as an incarnation of God, he would go to his mother and make Sastang Pranams touching her lotus feet only when she puts her hand on his head he will get up and then his devotion knew no bounds, so I will tell you now one incident you may be thinking what is this Swami talking about, he is supposed to talk about the gospel of Sri Ramakrishna and he is bringing in all these things, don't mind this is what the gospel of Sri Ramakrishna is about, it is like Bhagavatam, Bhagavatam as you know the great Sridhar Acharya has written an elaborate commentary on Srimad Bhagavatam, Bhagavatam itself consists of more than 24,000 shlokas I think and even then they get commentary, many commentators were there and one of them was Sridhar Acharya, most marvellous commentator, so if this gospel of Sri Ramakrishna is authenticated by the life of Sri Ramakrishna and that is why I am taking all these examples, so what happened was Sri Ramakrishna once was taken on a pilgrimage to Varanasi, Devagarh, Varanasi and then finally to Brindavan, at Brindavan Sri Ramakrishna met one of the extraordinary devotees, a woman called Gangamayee and Sri Ramakrishna understood this lady had attained the highest spiritual consciousness, he used to compare her with Radha and as soon as that lady saw Sri Ramakrishna she started calling Sri Ramakrishna my Radha, my Dulal and then she was extraordinary devoted, Sri Ramakrishna remember he will be attracted only to spiritual people is a very peculiar thing just as a person with desires will be attracted towards worldly things, Sri Ramakrishna's whole personality is an embodiment of condensed spirituality, so he will be attracted and he will attract only spiritual people, worldly people will not be attracted to him neither he will be attracted towards worldly people and some of these spiritual people that came into contact with him were having great insight, this Gangamayee was one of them, as soon as she saw him she recognized this is my Radhu, my Dulali, Dulal and Sri Ramakrishna was so attached he almost decided that to live with Gangamayee she had a small cottage so they made plans your cot will be that side, my cot will be this side and we will be living together, of course Hridu was there with him and if without Sri Ramakrishna Hridu may not be able to retain his job so he had his own personal motive but he loved also his uncle, so the day came for them to depart and then Hridu was trying to pull Sri Ramakrishna by his hand, Gangamayee caught hold of another hand of Sri Ramakrishna, Gangamayee was pulling him towards him and Hridu was pulling Sri Ramakrishna towards him himself and then Sri Ramakrishna decided to live there almost, he could have done that then he was narrating, he was recollecting, reminiscing, suddenly I remembered my old mother is there, if I do not go and serve her all my spirituality will go to dogs, I will not be able to stay, even though earlier he did not think about it as soon as mother's thought came into his mind instantaneously he shook off Gangamayee's hand and said no I must return back, my old mother is there so long as I am alive it is my duty to look after, then he came back, now what is the important point let us remember by that time this event happened, Sri Ramakrishna was a monk, usually a sannyasin according to Hindu tradition has absolutely no attachments, no ties, no bondage towards his so-called purvashrama, former family, mother, father, wife, if at all he is married, children and friends, relatives, race, religion, everything he must give what we call tilangeli in shraddha when he does shraddha, every sannyasi by the way he must perform his own shraddha, the reason was that he will not be having anybody after renunciation after becoming a monk to perform him, therefore he himself performs to all his ancestors and he does it to himself also, this no householder is allowed to do, only sannyasins are allowed to do it, what does it mean it means or once a person becomes a sannyasi for all practical purposes he is like a ghost, like a bhuta, is like a dead person, of course we have to understand what is a dead person that means he will not have anything to do with the world, he will be totally detached like a stranger, that is called condition of a dead person, beautiful description has given in Jeevan Mukti Viveka Viget, who is a dead person, a dead person is one even when most delicious tasty food is brought near his tongue he feels it is virulent poison, if a most beautiful woman comes near him he will consider her as a decomposing dead body and emitting foul smell, even if he is offered the whole world he will consider that a person is beating him with thorns, thorned whip, so a person who feels this kind of idea about the world, even the best of the world like a dead body as you go on pouring milk, go on giving rasagullas or go on draping that person with golden saris, golden cloths, it will only spoil these things but it will not be aware of it, so even though aware but regards just as worthless things, dirty things, things one should run away from, such a mentality is called the mentality of a dead body and every monk is supposed to be that, Hiram Krishna describes about a monk who is running after a woman, name, fame, money etc., it is like spitting out one's bottom and again picking it out and then swallowing it, these are horrible words but I am telling, but even though sannyasin is not supposed to have any attachment then he considers his father and mother, so Ram Krishna is upholding, why? But not only he was having it, this is the guideline for all future monks, just because you are a monk it is no reason for you to neglect your family especially if parents are suffering, about others, yes you can afford to treat them as equal to anybody else but mother and father are very very special persons, if a monk is supposed to treat one's parents this way, does it need to repeat how a householder should consider his mother and father, so this is to set an example for all of us, then Hiram Krishna returned home, until his mother died, Hiram Krishna was looking after, every day he will go, towards the end of her life this Chandramani Devi that was the name of Ram Krishna's mother developed a kind of abnormality, her memory has gone, so she was not eating food, there was a funny incident near Dakshineshwar on the other side of the, towards the northern side of the Dakshineshwar temple there was a jute mill and from Monday to Saturday afternoon workers will come, in those days half Saturday also was a working day, so workers used to be, at 8 o'clock the siren will go, that is you must start work and then at about 12 o'clock or so another siren will go, that is for lunch break, after I don't know half an hour, 45 minutes, one hour another siren will go, that means you must have finished your lunch and come back and join, again in the evening another time the siren will go, that is you have completed your time and now you can, you are free to return home, every day this was going on, this Chandramani Devi developed a very peculiar idea that siren sound sounded like the blowing of a conch, so she connected it that she was able to, she was in Vaikuntha and at about 12.30 or so this, the Lord will be given his food, Naivedya, Anna Bhoga and before that to announce that event this conch will be blown and once Narayana finishes eating then another time the conch will be blown, they are telling everybody now you are free, all devotees you can also eat your own food because because the Lord had finished, first the Lord has to finish, so from Monday to Friday things go on well and at about after this siren goes at one o'clock or so then Chandramani Devi will eat a small quantity of food but on Saturday, so there is only once the conch will be blown at 12.30 or one o'clock that is signalling now your working period is over, after that there would be no siren, Sunday of course complete holiday, so on those days it became extremely difficult for anybody to feed the old lady because she says on Saturdays Narayana had not finished had not finished eating, until he finishes eating I will not be able to eat, look at the devotion even in this abnormality, she is only thinking of Narayana, he is only thinking of Vaikuntha, blessed be any person who can think like that, so there was this Hriday was there and he wanted to deceive his so-called grandma then he made a small pipe out of some bamboos and he used to be there outside her room and blow this pipe and then come inside and said grandma the siren is Lord has finished eating but she was even in she was saying even in those moments and say no no no you made up one small blow pipe and you are blowing it is not the same sound like the Vaikuntha sound, there is a method even in madness also, so those days Ram Krishna will go and remember he was a supreme actor, so he will sit there and then he will slowly start his childhood days and his poor mother used to forget everything it is Saturday because such was the mesmerizing power of Ram Krishna's play acting and then slowly slowly he will make her forget this Saturday the siren has not blown and feed her something, sometimes he was successful, a few times he was not successful but something used to go into her stomach, so that is how Saturday, Sunday was there every day and then at night also he will go and then see that mother is fed properly then he will message her feet so that she will be able to and go all the time go on recollecting so many incidents that happened which she could remember and he will lull her into sleep and make one more Sastang Pranam and come back until the lady passed away he did this, I cannot describe further how wonderful devotion he had then what happened a day had come and everybody understood this his mother was about to die then there is a belief in West Bengal that because Ganga flows there they will take the body into the Ganga and put the feet of the person in the Ganga, the belief is if one gives up one's prana by touching this holy Ganga all the sins will be removed by this Ganga and the person will have a very higher next birth will be higher life so Sairam Krishna was a believer in all those things remember God realization and these beliefs they are not opposite to each other so Sairam Krishna with the help of Hriday and others took her body and then saw that her feet were kept in the Ganga until she breathed her last he was repeating the name and making her hear the name of God and that is how he helped his mother to do by this example Sairam Krishna was also showing to other people these are not superstitious beliefs if you want your own good you must also do it of course if Ganga is not there it is possible to do it in other rivers but if it is not possible what should we do keep always a bottle of Ganga water you get it very easily and sprinkle some Ganges water and put some flowers and repeating the name of God whether it is mother father or some elderly relative that is how we can help them oh some Tulsi etc some Bilva etc we can do that one so this is how we did what happened after the funeral was over Sairam Krishna wanted to do Shraddha to her Tarpana to her so as a Sanyasi one is not allowed to do Tarpana and therefore he had he had to do it what he can do he can go into the Ganga take some water and then say some prayers and then on behalf of the dead person he could offer it so Sairam Krishna was re-establishing Dharma through emphasizing all these traditional rituals which we are supposed to do they must be done they have tremendous meaning they are highly effective and this is the only way for one to progress in spiritual life or even in material life I will say I will talk about it when the time comes now Sairam Krishna went into the Ganga he took water you know what happened all his fingers were stiffly standing completely separate from each other finger that means the ability to hold water has disappeared from Sairam Krishna. Sairam Krishna of course noticed it he started weeping oh ma I want to offer prayers to you but my mother is not allowing even to offer you some water as a Sanyasi then like a small child he ran to the manager and one Bholanath was there I think he was a bit learned person some scriptures he had studied he knew quite a lot of things he asked why is it I was unable to offer even water to my own mother then Bholanath has explained you see a person who has realized God his hands become Galithahasta Galitha means he won't be able to accumulate anything whether it is money or food or water or any liquid or anything just as from a broken vessel water or anything will flow out will not stay there in a similar manner a true Sanyasin's hands also will become like that Sairam Krishna said I wept and then said oh mother if my weeping is any good may you attain the highest state of liberation so these are some of the examples I have given you why because it is the householder's duty to honor his parents and what about his brothers and sisters and poor people towards temples towards rituals towards the guru towards the scriptures there are so many obligations are there they are not innumerable but they are all related as an integral sadhana so that we can progress in spiritual life so about these things in our future class I am going to talk about it through this what we need to understand is how a God when he is born as an incarnation is trying to establish this dharma and that is why as part of the spreading of the message of Sairam Krishna Swami Vekananda in his karma yoga he brings out all these things because we are also karma yogins or we are supposed to become karma yogins so this duties towards the husband towards the wife towards the children towards the parents towards the guru towards the neighbors towards the poor towards the rich towards friends towards enemies towards not only one's religion towards other religions other countries other people not only people but towards other creatures and towards the whole environment whether it is non-living like mountains rivers etc everything these great incarnations they set a tremendous example to all of us we will discuss further these things when the occasion comes from our next class onwards may Sairam Krishna holy mother and Swami Vekananda bless us all with bhakti until next class