View source for The Six Limbs of Sacred Music

= A Discourse on Devotional Singing and Spiritual Practice =
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== The Six Essential Elements of Music (Ṣaḍ-aṅgas) ==
The six limbs or elements of sacred music are:

# '''Bhāva''' (Expression of feeling)
# '''Sāhitya''' (Lyrics/poetry)
# '''Rāga''' (Melody)
# '''Śruti''' (Pitch/voice quality)
# '''Laya''' (Rhythm)
# '''Tāla''' (Time measure)

Let me explain shortly what each of these is.
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== 1. Bhāva: The Expression of Feeling ==
Bhāva means the expression of feeling. Saṅgīta, or music, must be an expression of feeling.

If it is good music, then—like we say—if one instrument is tuned perfectly and it affects the other instrument also... There is a theory (I don't know whether anyone has tested it): if there are ten instruments perfectly tuned and if one instrument is played upon, then all the other nine instruments also will echo that feeling. So this is what music does to us. If we are in a receptive mood, then that music will put us into that particular mood.

=== The Mūḍha and the Wise ===
If there is no music, he who is moody is called ''mūḍha''—a worldly person. According to us, all the moods have got only one aim.

=== The Nine Rasas (Nava-rasa) ===
That is why Indian aesthetics—the science of Indian aesthetics—divides every possible human feeling into how many categories? I want to test the musicians. How many categories?

Nine. Nava-rasa. Nine rasas.

Any experience of a human being can be classified into these nine. For example, you know:

* Romantic mood (Śṛṅgāra-rasa)
* Heroic mood (Vīra-rasa)
* Frightening mood (Bhayānaka-rasa)
* Humorous mood (Hāsya-rasa)
* And so on...

All these—even hāsya-rasa. Rasa means enjoyment.

=== Rasa as Brahman ===
Rasa is another name for Brahman. Where does it come from? ''Raso vai saḥ''—"He is rasa." And that is why South India is so great. No less than Brahman Himself: ''raso vai saḥ''.

So bhāva—every bhāva. After all, you know, what does Vedānta say? That the whole universe is created by Brahman. It is a manifestation of Brahman. And therefore, He is playing with Himself. Līlā—we call it līlā.

=== The Divine Play ===
With whom does He play? This līlā has got nine rasas—nava-rasa. Like, you know, you dream: you go to bed, you have a dream, and in this dream you can create all these feelings. Towards somebody you are very horrific; towards someone you are loving; you are in a romantic mood with regard to some people; you are in an angry mood with regard to some people; you are making fun of somebody else; you are trying to frighten somebody else. Like that—different moods.

When you wake up, who created all those moods and who enjoyed all those moods? Even to create the moods, you are responsible—are you not? And who is enjoying? You see, in your dream you are scolding somebody, and that somebody is feeling the pinch of it. But who is really feeling? Who is enjoying that rasa? How do you know that the other fellow is angry? Because it is you—you yourself made yourself into that form to enjoy all these things.

That is why we say Kṛṣṇa-līlā, rāsa-līlā. Rāsa-līlā is the only līlā. What about this Kurukṣetra-līlā? Between husband and wife, so many līlās go on. Kurukṣetra is a normal experience!

So bhāva—bhāva is the very heart of music, saṅgīta.
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== 2. Sāhitya: Appropriate Lyrics ==
What is the next thing? If we want to express any particular rasa, then it must be expressible, manifest in appropriate lyrics—padas. They must be absolutely wonderful padas.

=== An Example from Morning Worship ===
This morning we enjoyed "Kanakāmbara Kamalāsana." See:

''Smara-śāsana, sudhā-rāsana, laghu-bhañjana, Rāma''

You were not there in the morning. So this ''śāsana''—Manmatha-śāsana. Smara means Manmatha, romantic feeling. He who controls the progenitor of this romance itself—who is it called? Śiva. Śiva, who made Kāma, Manmatha, reduced into ashes. That's why ''smara-śāsana''.

''Sudhā-rāsana''—He has got that Śiva-dhanus (Śiva's bow). And who broke that dhanus? Rāma. How did he break it? Not with great effort. So ''avalīlā''—although it is just like a small thread, he just lifted it, and his breaking itself is a play for him.

=== The Story of Rāma and Paraśurāma ===
Even Viṣṇu's dhanus also. After that, when Rāma was going, Paraśurāma confronted him: "That old Śiva's bow—old, ancient, already it was broken, rusted and broke—this is nothing. But this is the latest product, unbreakable!" So Rāma also broke it. Because who made it? He Himself made it.

''Smara-śāsana, sudhā-rāsana, laghu-bhañjana, Rāma''

What a beautiful composition, you know!

''Kusuma-yudha-dhanus-sundara, karuṇā-rasa uru-nālaya''

=== The Importance of Appropriate Lyrics ===
What am I talking about? The lyrics must be appropriate lyrics to express that particular feeling. That is called sāhitya.
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== 3. Rāga: The Right Melody ==
But then the sāhitya has to be put to the right melody. Rāga is what we call rāga. If you don't put it to the proper rāga, then it becomes roga (disease)!

Not only that—in Bengali, rāga means anger. Not in Sanskrit. In Sanskrit, rāga means love, attachment. From rāga comes anurāga. "Anurāga Śrī Hare"—we are going to take up that song.

=== The Three Prerequisites ===
So what is the first thing? First, you must decide what is the feeling you want to express. And it should not be artificial. If you are angry, express anger. If you are happy, express happiness. If you are feeling sad, express sadness.

=== The Concept of Kopa-gṛha (The Anger Room) ===
And appropriately. In the olden days, what a beautiful concept in the Rāmāyaṇa! Kaikeyī became very angry. Then what did she do? She removed all her ornaments, carefully locked them up with a password, and entered into rāga-gṛha—a separate room for expressing anger. It's called kopa-gṛha. Yes, everywhere.

If you go and want to express your anger, it won't come. So you have to have a separate house where you have built up the vibrations. The moment you enter there, automatically—even if you are not angry—you will become angry. This is the theory of vibrations.

=== Time-Appropriate Rāgas ===
So, appropriate sāhitya and appropriate rāga should be there. That is why Indian music is so fantastic. Any real musician, he wants to play the appropriate rāga at appropriate times. You know, Bhairava, Māhīravī, Mālkauns—these rāgas should not be sung at daylight.

Bhīmapalāsī used to be sung... When you sing Mālkauns, you can sing, but it will not work properly. It won't be appropriate. Then, you know, this rainy season—particular sounds, Mallār. And then Vasanta. Vasanta rāga should be sung in spring.

One fellow was asked, "Who wrote Shakespeare's works?" He said, "I don't know." Like that—Vasanta rāga: in which season should it be sung? Vasanta rāga should be sung in... Vasanta! Vedamallār should be sung only at the appropriate time.

=== Living According to Nature ===
Why? Because when we are living according to nature, nature has got certain moods. So, daytime we are in certain moods. Evening we are... Dawn and dusk, we are in certain moods. Then at deep night, at midnight, we are in certain moods.

Then what is... Nowadays, so much of disco dancing is going on when? Midnight—only at midnight. That is why people are suffering from a lot of maladies.

=== Music as Medicine ===
Saṅgīta is also... Music is also curative, provided appropriate rāga is sung at appropriate times, in the appropriate mood. It is what is called mood creation. If you are not happy, you can create happiness. If you are sad, then it can also make you sad. If you are not sad, then you should be sad.

Like that cartoon, you know, I sent you? One husband—his wife died. So he went to his neighbor and said, "I feel like crying, but tears are not coming."

Then his friend said, "What is the problem? Imagine she has come back!"

[Laughter]
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== The Divine Nature of Music ==
So this is... Music is really divine. It becomes divine only when we know the mood. That's why all these bhajans, you know, we will take up some of the examples. The mood should be created.

=== The Great Saints and Their Music ===
So saṅgīta, or music—if we are not devotional, if we want to develop devotion, this is the method that has been adopted by saints throughout the whole world, especially in India. You know, in South India: Tyāgarāja, Purandara Dāsa, Kanaka Dāsa, Vijaya Dāsa, Muttusvāmi Dīkṣitar, Bhadrachala Rāmadāsa. In North India: Rāmprasād, Premānanda, Kamalākānta, etc. And then Tulasīdāsa, Sūradāsa, Mīrābāī, Janābāī, Kabīr Dāsa—all these innumerable saints, Guru Nānak—all these people, what did they do?

During their spiritual practice, these songs—appropriately expressing the desire, "Oh God, I want to have more devotion"—these outpourings, this is what we are all singing every day, so that we can create those feelings by singing those appropriate songs.

But after they had attained to perfection, then they used the same songs to teach others, to inspire others.

=== Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's Example ===
For example, Ṭhākur—one part of his main spiritual practice is singing all these devotional songs that have been composed by Rāmprasād and Kamalākānta and all those people. But after he had attained perfection, he has been encouraging, he has been singing, and he would encourage others.

So he told M, "You learn singing. You buy a music book, you know, all the songs." Then next time M comes, Ṭhākur finds out and says, "You learn some of these songs and you sing. When you are not in a mood for devotion, by singing those songs, the mood will slowly come."

=== William James's Discovery ===
You know, William James—one of his greatest rediscoveries in the 19th century: feelings always follow actions. He says actions always follow feelings. You feel thirsty, you go and drink water. You feel hungry, you go and take food.

But then, you can also produce the feelings, even though the feelings are not present, but you can produce those feelings by following the appropriate actions. For example, you sing a sad song, but sincerely, and after some time the mood will follow.

So this is how we develop that feeling. But all these feelings are directed towards only God.
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== 4. Śruti: The Voice Quality ==
Now, these first three we discussed: bhāva, sāhitya, and rāga. Then what are the next? Śruti.

Śruti means each person has got his appropriate voice box, you know. Some people are low, some people are high, some people are in the middle. These are all beautiful things.

=== Examples from Film Music ===
I think we discussed it. You know, some examples I have given. Even though all the singers would sing Tyāgarāja's songs in it, but to make this point clear, I will give cinema songs.

Talat Mahmood—you heard about Talat Mahmood? You know, such a sweet, that thrilling, you know, like that it comes. So he is so sweet, but his voice capacity is very, very severely limited. He can't go down, he can't go up. If he goes up, it will break down. We also will break down. Everybody is like that.

=== Two Limitations of Every Singer ===
Every singer has got two limitations:

# One is the voice limitation
# Another is the limitation of the capacity to express the feelings

For example, if you ask Kishore Kumar to sing a sad song: "These tears are not coming to my eyes. What shall I do?" [Mimics] "I know, I know what you mean. Don't think I don't know." There are a few songs, but his voice is not in general suited for... For yodeling songs, it comes like that.

Whereas Lata Mangeshkar's voice—very naturally, even if it is a joyous song—it is natural. You feel that somebody has died!

=== Natural Voice and Expression ===
So you see, natural voice—somebody's voice can express a certain feeling much better than another singer's. You can notice that. So these music composers, they recognize—they have the talent to recognize—and then they put the appropriate...

So we are talking about śruti. Śruti means the voice. The song must be composed within that vocal capacity. Then only you will be able to express it. That is called... Everyone's voice differs. And with age also it differs. Usually ladies' voices will be high-pitched.
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== 5. Laya: The Rhythm ==
What is the next thing? Laya.

Laya means there is a rhythm. Rhythm is one of the most important things. Whether you sing fast or you sing slow, a rhythm must be there.
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== 6. Tāla: The Time Measure ==
And rhythm bound by certain time limit is called tāla. But the rhythm, whether it is Tīn-tāla or Ek-tāla or Rūpak-tāla or whatever tāla it is—tāla is nothing but rhythm, but bound by certain... It is bound usually by the lyrics. The lyrics are like this, you know. You can only put it in that particular... Otherwise it will be stretching a lot.
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== The Perfection of All Six Limbs ==
So these are the six, what is called aṅgas, or limbs, that are perfect. When all these six limbs are perfect, that music becomes divine music.

But even then, the feeling must be directed towards God. That is what Tyāgarāja says. Otherwise it will be only just worldly.

=== The Evolution of Sacred Music ===
In the beginning, whether it is Gregorian music or Hindustani music or Karnataka music—everybody used to sing only about God. Later on, this Sufism has entered into it, and then this ghazal and all those things. There is also love between the devotee and God, but now we misinterpret it, you know, where it is between man and woman, like that.

So when we sing these songs, we should try to find out: what is the central mood that the person, the composer, wants us to experience?
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== Two Songs by Saint Tulasīdāsa ==
So we will take two examples. One song we all sing; the other one I am not sure. Both were composed by Saint Tulasīdāsa.

=== First Song: "Itanī Vinatī Raghunandana Se" ===
So one is: ''Itanī vinatī Raghunandana se''. You sing all those songs? ''Itanī vinatī Raghunandana se''.

This much—this is an appeal to Rāma, Śrī Rāma, by me. ''Itanī vinatī'' means my appeal, my prayer to you. What is that? "You destroy my feeling of this duality."

=== The Problem of Duality ===
We are all victims of duality: happiness and unhappiness, good and evil, life and death. But all these are only what is called in the realm of duality—māyā. What is māyā? There are not two realities. Reality is only one. But when it is expressed one way, it manifests in one way. And it is the same thing after some time: sukha becomes duḥkha, duḥkha becomes sukha.

=== The Sun God's Perspective ===
That is why, you see, if you go to the sun in the evening: "Hello, my friend, how was your day?"

He says, "I am all right, but I didn't understand that word 'day.' What do you mean by day?"

He doesn't know. "Oh, don't you understand? Do you understand what is night?"

"Oh, night—I never heard this word. First time I am hearing."

The sun god, if you ask before him, if you say "day" or "night," he feels puzzled. "What are you talking about?" Because he neither knows day nor knows night. If he wants to know one, he should also know the other.

=== Happiness and Unhappiness ===
So this reality: if you don't know what is happiness, you don't know what is unhappiness. If you don't know what is unhappiness, you will not know what is happiness.

So that is why in deep sleep, which one do you know? Are you happy, or are you unhappy? He says, "I do not know anything." Why? Because it is divine māyā. This māyā is created by whom? By God. So what is created by God, you cannot destroy.

=== The Prayer of the Swan ===
Then: "I want, you know, I want to enter into the stage of your lotus feet. My mind is like a haṁsa, like a swan. And where does the swan—where should the swan remain? In a lotus—your lotus feet.

"But I cannot make it go. The whole problem is, I desire to make it go, but it won't listen to me. So I have to pray to God: now you put this swan of my mind in the cage of your lotus feet.

"When I am going—I am at the last breath—where is the energy, where is the enthusiasm in me that I can think of you at the last moment? That is why, he Kṛṣṇa, let my haṁsa of my mind enter into the cage of your lotus feet just like a swan, just now."

=== The Last Moment ===
"How can I remember you? Because I remember every other thing. This is the truth." We think that, you know, last moment we can remember. "Whatever thought—with whatever thought a man gives up his body, then his next birth is decided." This was the teaching in the Gītā.

Swami Bhagyanandaji was teaching that. And then, you know, a Sardārjī—he was one of the audience. He came and said, "Swamiji Mahārāj, suppose I enjoy my whole life, and at the last moment I know—then I will be remembering God—and then I will shoot a pistol to my brain, and I will shoot myself. Will I attain to the lotus feet of God?"

Swamiji said, "Yes, if you remember God. But suppose, before doing, 'Whether this pistol is going to blow myself off or not? Whether it will only blow half my brains—I will still be alive?' If your mind is beset by these kind of doubts, then you will attain to the other state. You have to be absolutely sure you will be lost to the thoughts of God only. And if you don't practice from the beginning, that's not going to happen."

=== The Conclusion of the Prayer ===
"With folded hands, I beg you: what did you say? Please take me to the other shore of this saṁsāra. This much is my prayer. I am not asking for money, I am not asking for anything else—I am just asking for devotion, always.

"What good is it if I have everything else, except faith in the lotus feet of the guru?"

=== Understanding "Lotus Feet of the Guru" ===
So you say, "Don't misunderstand it. Lotus feet of the guru means what?" What is guru? Guru means scripture. Forget about all this Parabrahman and all those things. How do you know his guru is Parabrahman? Who tells you? The scripture tells. The guru only confirms the scriptural teaching. He proves the scriptural teaching.

You know, that's why somebody had classified Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa as a madcap: "No, no, he is not an incarnation of God. His devotees had made him an incarnation of God."

=== The Law of Giving ===
What is the appropriate answer to you? The appropriate answer is: first of all, there is a law. What is the law? If you are a rich man, then only you can donate money. If you are a singer, then only you can sing. If you are a happy person, then you make other persons happy. Otherwise you are an unhappy person telling others, "Be happy." You are like a comedian.

=== The Story of the Comedian ===
There was a comedian. You know, once there was a man who went to a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist asked him and said, "There is nothing—what is wrong with you? Why did you come?"

He said, "Doctor, I am such an unhappy man. I don't feel happiness at all. Can you cure me?"

So the doctor examined him thoroughly and said, "I don't see anything wrong. But you know, you have to make yourself happy. But how? You know, every Thursday on this BBC, this comedian comes—he makes everybody very happy by his play. You watch it; you will also become happy."

The man said, "But doctor, I am that comedian."

=== The Law Applied ===
Do you think a person who is not happy can make others happy? If we don't have happiness, what is the law? Simple law: if you don't have money, you can't give money. Similarly, if you don't have happiness, if you are not a happy person, you can never make the other person happy. It is impossible.

The same rule applies: if you are not angry, you can't make the other person angry. And that is why, when a saint scolds his devotees—because he has no anger—that is why the devotees also never get angry. Very soon they realize: "The guru is getting angry only for our good," because they know who is really angry and who is only pretending to be angry.

So that is why we have to learn so many of these things. This is the law.

=== Who Can Free Us? ===
Who can free us from the saṁsāra? Only God can do that. Guru can do that. And what is guru? He is nothing but scriptures. He proves the scriptures, because before he became a guru, what was he? He was a disciple. And he followed the scriptures, and he proved the fact that what the scriptures tell is really true.

=== The True Meaning of Guru-bhakti ===
What is guru-bhakti, then? Guru-bhakti means not becoming emotion-laden: "Oh, my guru has come, and I am a devoted disciple." That is not guru-bhakti. Guru-bhakti means to believe in the scriptures 100 percent—that ''satya-buddhi-avadhāraṇa śraddhā''.

What is the definition of śraddhā? ''Guru-śāstra-vākyeṣu satya-buddhi-avadhāraṇa''—"They are absolutely true." Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa had—every saint has—that faith in the scriptures, and they experienced the truths of the scriptures. Later on, they realized. It is called realization.

So these songs, when we listen, we have to have that faith that they are all true. Otherwise, they make no gain.

=== The Complete Text of the First Song ===
So this is one song:

''Itanī vinatī Raghunandana se''

''Duḥkha-dvandva hamārā miṭā o jī''

''Apane pāda-paṅkaja-piñjara me''

''Cetā-haṁsa hamārā paiṭhā o jī''

''Tulasī prakāśa kahe kara joḍī''

''Bhavasāgara pāra utārā o jī''

That sincere prayer.

=== Tulasīdāsa's Vision of Rāma ===
And that is why, when Tulasīdāsa prayed like this, Rāma Himself came and told him, "You want the vision of Rāma? Then go to Citrakūṭ."

You know that story? It's a beautiful story.

==== Tulasīdāsa's First Guru ====
Tulasīdāsa—his first, who was his first guru? His wife. His wife. He told him... No, she told him: "If you had one-millionth of love you have for me..." No wife will tell this to her husband, because if he really believes her and then goes after God, then she will be regretting her whole life: "Why did I tell this to him? How stupid I am," like that.

Tulasīdāsa's wife also regretted later on. In fact, then Tulasīdāsa—the transformation came, conversion came—and he left. And he was longing for the vision of God.

==== The Spirit in the Tree ====
And you see, he was living at Benares. Every day morning he would take a pot of water and go out for answering calls of nature. And then there would be some water left out, so he would pour it at the root of a tree.

So one day, when he poured the water at the root of a tree, suddenly a spirit appeared before him—a ''vṛkṣa'' (tree spirit). And it said, "I am so pleased with you. Every day you are feeding me this water. So I want to return the good act that you have been doing."

Then Tulasīdāsa said, "If you want to give me something, I have only one desire: I want to have the vision of Rāma."

Then the vṛkṣa said, "Not to speak of giving the vision of Rāma—even hearing the name of Rāma, vṛkṣas will run away! I cannot give you the vision of Rāma, but I can tell you how you can have the vision of Rāma. There is a temple here. You go there, and every day Hanumān, the devotee of Rāma, comes in the form of an old Brāhmaṇa." He would be looking like this. The vṛkṣa gave him these directions.

==== Meeting Hanumān ====
So Tulasīdāsa thanked the spirit and then was waiting in the temple. And the next morning, exactly as the vṛkṣa told—the spirit told—this one old man, a Brāhmaṇa, came there. He had just finished his devotions to Rāma, and he was returning.

And Tulasīdāsa followed him and got hold of his feet. The old man said, "What is this? Who are you? And why are you holding my feet?"

Tulasīdāsa said, "I know you are Hanumān. You are Hanumān."

Then, of course, it is all the grace of Hanumān. If he didn't want to appear, he would have changed his dress. Then he would have come in the form of a boy. But if he had taken the form of this, Tulasīdāsa would have recognized, "This is Hanumān."

So, Hanumān's grace—immediately he told him, "Okay, what do you want?"

"I want to have the darśana of Rāma."

"Okay. You go to Citrakūṭ, a place called Citrakūṭ, and there you will have the darśana of Rāma."

==== The Rāmalīlā at Citrakūṭ ====
Then Tulasīdāsa went there and was waiting. In those days, it was a very small village. So what happened? Every day Tulasīdāsa was singing Rāma's name and praying to him for his darśana.

Small village. One night, before Tulasīdāsa went to bed, suddenly he heard a lot of commotion outside. "What is this? What is happening?" He opened the door, and he saw all the villagers were running towards a spot in the forest. The whole village was surrounded by a huge forest. Even now, a big wooded area is there.

So Tulasīdāsa asked them, "Where are you all going? What is happening here?"

He said, "Don't you know? The Rāmalīlā is going to take place tonight. So we are all going to enjoy." Rāmalīlā is a kind of drama of the Rāmāyaṇa.

So Tulasīdāsa had nothing to do, you see. Rāmalīlā means Rāma's story. So he also happily, joyously went there. And the whole night it was such a marvelous drama. It was so realistic. So all the villagers returned. Tulasīdāsa also came back. And he had a nice, good night's sleep.

==== The Realization ====
And the next morning, he was in such a happy mood because he could witness such a beautiful Rāmalīlā performance. So he went to chat with his neighbors and said, "Oh, yesterday night's Rāmalīlā was fantastic."

They looked blank. "What do you mean by Rāmalīlā performance? What are you talking about?"

"Why? Yesterday night we all went."

"What do you mean by 'we'? We were all sleeping in our homes. Where did you see Rāmalīlā?"

He said, "The whole village went there. I saw the whole village going there."

He said, "None of us have ever known about Rāmalīlā. Who comes to this remote village to perform such fantastic Rāmalīlā?"

So he said, "Where did it take place?"

"Just here, outside the village."

"Where? Let us go." You know, some place would be cleared in the wood to perform that. Some place is needed.

He said, "I will show you where it happened."

So they all went and looked. What was there? Nothing was there. It was all full of jungle—trees and all those things.

Then he realized that Rāma had given him his vision in the form of Rāmalīlā.

==== The Command to Write ====
Then later on, Rāma appeared to him and said... Like this happened to Vālmīki—Nārada Mahārṣi comes and then performed the whole Rāmalīlā so that he could write the Rāmāyaṇa. This is the ''nāndī-mukha'' for ''Rāmacaritamānasa''.

So Rāma appeared and told, "You write my story in the local dialect, Avadhi language, so that all the local people could understand you."

=== The Nature of Reality ===
He was thinking he was witnessing Rāma. What is the difference? If you have a vision, that is also Rāma. If you are having a dream, that is also Rāma. If you are thinking that I am giving a talk to you, that is also Rāma only. It is your imagination, but good imagination.

If you are thinking that I am eating nice food, that is also imagination. If you are thinking "I am happy," that is also imagination only. Everything is an imagination.

So what is the difference? Why not have good imagination? Instead of imagining "I am suffering, I am mad, I am this or that," why not have good imagination?

From the Vedāntic point of view, everything is unreality. Līlā means what? Good imagination. That is all. Simple.
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== Second Song: "Kṛpā Jagavatī" ==
So let us very briefly take up one song. This is also composed by Tulasīdāsa himself. Very quickly we will go through it.

=== Verse-by-Verse Analysis ===
''Kṛpā''—grace. The grace of whom?

''Kaunu bigaḍa kare nara ke re''

Rāma is kind, compassionate towards you. Who can take away your happiness?

''So jānā keśatī kṛpā''

Only the grace of Rāma. What does it do?

''Jagāvatī''

It awakens you. We are all—all Indians have been awakened. By whom?

''Uttiṣṭhata, jāgrata, prāpya varān nibodhata''

"Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached." Swami Vivekananda aroused it.

Only Indians? What about Americans? This Parliament of Religions: "Children of immortal bliss!
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