Hinduism 23

Transcript (Not Corrected)

Opening Prayer

ॐ सह नाववतु ।

सह नौ भुनक्तु ।

सह वीर्यं करवावहै ।

तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु ।

मा विद्विषावहै ।

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ।

हरिः ॐ ।

Transliteration (IAST):

Om Saha Nāvavatu

Saha Nau Bhunaktu

Saha Vīryaṃ Karavāvahai

Tejasvi Nāvadhītamastu

Mā Vidviṣāvahai

Om Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ

Hariḥ Om

Translation:

Om, may Brahman protect us both.

May Brahman bestow upon us both the fruit of knowledge.

May we both obtain the energy to acquire knowledge.

May what we both study reveal the truth.

May we cherish no ill feeling toward each other.

Om, peace, peace, peace be unto all.

The Lives of Saints in Hinduism: A Discourse on Devotion and Divine Love

Introduction to the Āḻvārs of South India

We are discussing the lives of saints with regard to Hinduism. In South India, especially in Tamil Nadu, there is one particular type of devotee. They were known as Āḻvārs.

Āḻvār means "he who has gone or dived deep into the ocean of God." There is a Bengali song: "Ḍūb ḍūb ḍūb ḍūb sāgare ā-marmā"—"Dive deep, O mind, into the ocean of God's beauty."

These Āḻvārs were known, each one of them, to have dived to the very deepest. What happens when a person really dives deep? He will obtain an invaluable jewel called love. In Indian mythology, this diving deep and obtaining that ultimate expression of love is known as amṛta—immortality.

The Symbolism of Churning the Ocean

The legend tells of the milk ocean being churned. The gods and demons joined together and they churned the milk ocean—an Indian mythological story. Each one of us contains potentially that immortality nectar. That nectar is potentially there.

Our mind is the ocean. The various thoughts that occur in our minds—they are good and bad, the demons and the gods. But if we want to go to the very bottom and obtain that jewel of love, we will have to churn it.

You cannot simply go down, because there will be many things that will make you go up, not allow you to go down. Every saint, irrespective of what religion, goes deep down and obtains that invaluable jewel called prema-ratna-dhana. It is invaluable; it is nectar itself; it is bliss itself.

The Nature of Divine Love

Even in our day-to-day life, when we love something, we rejoice. And just imagine a love that never blinks, is never interrupted in any way, and never comes to an end. Such a person becomes an embodiment of love in himself or herself.

In Indian mythological symbology, Rādhā represents such love. Rādhā is always associated with Kṛṣṇa. Why? Because where there is uninterrupted love, there is Kṛṣṇa.

Interrupted love is the world. Another name for the world is what? Interrupted love, interrupted happiness. But unalloyed love, unalloyed bliss—that is Rādhā.

And where there is Rādhā, there is Kṛṣṇa. We also have Kṛṣṇa. Whenever we enjoy something, we have Kṛṣṇa. But it is very momentary.

There is nothing wrong. No scripture ever condemns us enjoying this world. What it says is: your bliss, your happiness, is always being interrupted by something or the other. Why don't you make it uninterrupted?

How do I do that? Well, you remove all the limitations from the object. When we remove all limitations from the object, then what is revealed? Only bliss, only God.

Remove nāma-rūpa—what remains? Pure consciousness. Remove your body, go beyond your body and mind—what remains? Nothing but pure consciousness alone remains. That is the meaning of religion: dive deep.

Understanding Mysticism

So these Āḻvārs are known as those who have dived deep. By that definition, not only South India, not only North India—there is Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Augustine, Saint Teresa of Avila. Innumerable saints in every religion, in every region, we find.

But twelve such people were very famous in South India. Among them, there was one woman called Āṇḍāḷ. I have recounted this story in my past talks.

There are different types of expressions of mysticism. You know the word "mysticism"? There are so many people who mistake what is true mysticism with false mysticism.

False Mysticism

For example, there is what is called medical or drug mysticism. What is that? You don't need to hear my talks—just take LSD. You will obtain that uninterrupted bliss for some time, until the reaction sets in.

Nature Mysticism

Then there is a little elevated type of mysticism called nature mysticism. You know many poets like Longfellow, Wordsworth, Shelley, Keats, Walt Whitman—these are all known as nature mystics. They see something so ennobling, something which is really divine, in nature.

But even though it is elevated—and Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa also was one of the nature mystics—you must always remember: When he was a small boy, one day he was walking across the fields. Suddenly he saw the whole sky was covered with thick dark clouds. Suddenly, a beautiful flock of white swans—you know swans fly in a beautiful formation—started flying against this background, and Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa had a look at it. Immediately he fell down unconscious.

You can call it natural mysticism. But he was not merely a natural mystic, because the difference is: a person who experiences God through nature doesn't stop with nature. He doesn't merely enjoy nature, however exalted it is. He goes to the very bottom of the mysteries, mystery of mysteries, and such a person becomes a God-realized soul.

There are many people who are quite happy enjoying a beautiful piece of music, beautiful painting, beautiful poetry, beautiful scenery. All these are beautiful, but they have limitations. Much better than what we ordinary people enjoy, but they are not really spiritual—though they can lead to spirituality.

Svāmī Vivekānanda's Experience

Svāmī Vivekānanda, in his life—I think once he was going to his father's workplace near Raipur, and the cart in which he was traveling, or his family was traveling, had to pass through some hilly areas. He was looking, and suddenly he found there was a mountain and there was a huge cavern, and there was a huge honeycomb—huge, probably immense. Maybe for centuries together, undisturbed, the bees had been living there. Seeing that, what flashed in his mind we do not know. He fell down unconscious. People thought he was going to die. It took him a long time to recover.

All the great direct disciples—in fact, all saints—enjoy nature as God's manifestation. Kālidāsa in Indian poetical works was well known. When Goethe had read the translation of Abhijñāna Śākuntalam, he almost felt ecstatic because he was a great poet himself. He could appreciate another man's mind.

But what we are reminded of is: nature mysticism by itself is not the end. It is something much deeper than that.

The Twelve Āḻvārs and Āṇḍāḷ

So these saints dive deep into the ocean of their own life, their own mind, and then they will discover ultimately that invaluable jewel called love of God, prema-ratna. It is an invaluable jewel, and then they get the title Āḻvār—those who have dived deep.

Bridal Mysticism

I was talking about different expressions of mysticism. There is one wonderful type of mysticism. We find parallels in Sufism also, in Christianity. For example, Saint Teresa, the Little Flower, Saint Teresa—she loved Jesus not as the Lord but as a lover, a beloved.

What about Rābi'ah? She also loved God as a beloved. All Sufi saints, in fact, are lovers of God, not merely servants of God.

Here, Āṇḍāḷ adopted an attitude: God is my husband. Mīrābāī, This is called bridal mysticism. Rādhā Devī represents bridal mysticism. She is the bride.

In this bridal mysticism, there are two varieties: svakīya and parakīya.

Svakīya means a loving wife, a legally married wife loving her husband. Example: Rukmiṇī loving Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Sītā loving Rāma.

Parakīya is another type, especially developed in West Bengal after Caitanya Mahāprabhu had been born. Parakīya-bhāva means a woman who is married to somebody else loves someone else. She has her own lover—but not to be mistaken in spiritual life. There is nothing physical there, nothing mental there even, for that matter of fact. It is purely spiritual.

So Rādhā represents the second type, parakīya-bhāva, because she was married to somebody else, but her whole heart—where is it? On Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

The Deeper Meaning of Parakīya-Bhāva

Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa also refers to this, you know, beautifully. One who can love God in that manner, that person alone can really reach the heights of spiritual experience—or the depths of spiritual experience, whichever way you want it.

And why is it necessary? Because, you see, it is very exemplary for people like us. We are all like Rādhās. What does it mean?

It means, you know, you have got husbands, you have got wives, and you are all married people, or you have houses and you have cars, you have property. That means you belong to somebody; something belongs to you. As it were, you are tied. But that need not keep you away from God.

You assume the attitude: yes, for whatever reason I am here, but my mind—where should it be? On the Divine Lord himself. This is called parakīya-bhāva. It has nothing to do with sex or gender.

Men also can love Kṛṣṇa. Women, of course, can love Kṛṣṇa, and it is much easier for women to love Kṛṣṇa than for men, because still men have that body consciousness: "I am a man; Kṛṣṇa is also a man."

According to this Vaiṣṇava religion, there is only one man. Puruṣa is only one; man is only one, which is the Ātman, the pure consciousness. Everybody else—all of us—are women.

Mīrābāī's Story

You know that beautiful example. Mīrābāī goes to see a saint in Vṛndāvan, and that saint unfortunately had the vow that he would not see the face of any woman. When Mīrābāī was given that answer, she expressed her greatest surprise: "I thought in Vṛndāvan there is only one man. Where has the second man come from?"

Meaning: she is not referring to gender. Every soul is a feminine being. It is only God, the Lord, who is there. It has nothing to do with man or woman. It is indicating the deep relationship, unbreakable relationship, inseparable relationship between the soul and God.

In our Upaniṣads also we get the parallels. There are two birds of golden plumage on the highest branches. There is this beautiful bird sitting calm, enjoying itself. Whereas the bird on the lower branches, sometimes it is eating bitter fruit, sometimes sweet fruits, and it is hopping from branch to branch, playing about, completely forgetful of its situation. But when it eats an exceptionally bitter fruit, suddenly it gets a shock. It looks up, and then it takes one jump forward.

That is why misery is a gift of God. Suffering is a gift of God.

Kulaśekhara Āḻvār

Anyway, there are twelve such Āḻvārs, and among them, all of them were famous, but I am only mentioning two. This woman Āṇḍāḷ, and there is one Kulaśekhara Āḻvār. He was a king, and he composed most heart-rending poems, songs on Kṛṣṇa in pure Sanskrit, mellifluous Sanskrit. One of them is called Mukundamālā, which some of you might have heard—I have quoted it in my private talks.

The Tamil Veda and Tiruppāvai

I can only discuss very briefly how fortunate India is to get waves of saints after saints in every century.

These Āḻvārs hymned upon the Lord. Wherever they went, they see the beautiful Lord. I cannot describe the beautiful way they expressed this.

One saint was forced to sit in some place, but his heart was attached to some particular temple in South India. Though physically he was unable to go to that temple, what bar is there mentally? So he sits in his place, opens his spiritual eye, and imagines: "Now I am standing in front of the temple. Now the doors are open." And then he sees the beautiful image of the Lord.

I am using the word "image of the Lord." For that saint, that was no image—that was the living God. And he is trying to describe from the toenail until his head.

Such beautiful, moving compositions are called Tamil Veda. 'Naalayira Divya Prabandham' Four thousand such verses have been composed by these great souls. Even today, if you go to South India, you will hear most of them.

Āṇḍāḷ's Tiruppāvai

And those who are Tamilians here, I think you can understand: there is a particular month, December–January, and this lady Āṇḍāḷ composed what is called Tiruppāvai. It is a praise of the Divine Lord.

As though she was imagining that she was a gopikā, she is telling the other gopikās, other friends: "Why are you still asleep? Let us get up, let us go to the river, let us bathe, then let us visit the Lord, and let us visit our beloved Śrī Kṛṣṇa."

Like this, there are thirty songs. Every day, even today, most famous singers like M. S. Subbulakṣmī, M. S. Śrīlā, etc.—one song in a most marvelous way, composed in classical South Indian style—they sing every day.

And the ladies—see the faith!—even though this lady was born nine centuries back, the influence of this lady: even now, Tamil girls get up, and especially unmarried girls hoping to get, you know, an IT man in the UK or whatever, they move from temple to temple, singing this particular song every day. They have that faith.

But the sentiments expressed therein—if you wish, you can go on the internet. Just type in Google "Tiruppāvai." You will get beautiful translations. You will get the audio renderings also. Of course, if you don't know the meaning, you will enjoy the melodies—beautiful melodies. This is just one example I'm giving.

The Saints of Maharashtra

Then we move on to the saints of Maharashtra. You know, Maharashtra produced innumerable saints, especially in the 15th and 16th centuries. You will see these great saints like Tukārāma, Nāmdeva, Eknātha, Jñānadeva, Muktābāī, and like that—a galaxy of saints.

Abhaṅgas and Devotional Songs

Some of these people have sung the divine praises of the Lord called abhaṅgas. Famous singers like Bhīmsen Joshi and others render these abhaṅgas. How wonderful it is when the devotees hear these compositions sung, even though by famous singers and all that.

See, I have to point out something very interesting here. This is something unique in India. Even these greatest singers render mostly these religious songs. Whereas here, you go there, most famous rock singer: "I love you, I don't love you, I'm going to die"—after ten years, he's singing the same song, "I'm going to die."

You know, this reflects the condition of the society. Whereas there, still, in different rāgas, melodies, they sing these beautiful compositions composed by these great saints—abhaṅgas.

Bhakta Gora Kumbhāra

Eknātha, Nāmdeva—I told you the story of Nāmdeva, how intimate he was with the Lord, and it produced pride. I won't go into the details, but the idea is how close they were to the Lord.

Then a devotee called Bhakta Gora Kumbhāra—I want to mention one incident. Kumbhāra means potter. So this man was called Bhakta Kumbhāra—devotee potter. His business, as usual: he will take the clay and knead it very nicely and make pots, then he will go and sell them.

And his wife, you know, was trying to make it a little bit practical: "All the time, don't sing God's name. Sing a little bit, you know—'I want money, I want a little wife, I want children.' You sing; other times you sing about God. But, you know, that doesn't work here."

So one day—and they had a son, a small baby—one day this man was kneading. While kneading, he started singing God's name, and he was ecstatic. He forgot everything.

Meanwhile, the mother was cooking, and the baby crawled slowly towards that room where the clay was being kneaded by his feet. The baby enters there; this man did not notice at all. And the baby and the clay and everything became completely one.

After some time, the mother noticed it. She came—she thought the baby was with the husband. Of course, the husband doesn't know whether the baby existed, the wife existed. For him, nothing exists.

And then she came. She saw traces of blood and other things. "What did you do?"

And he came to his senses. What can be done? Because he did not do it consciously; it was all in an ecstatic state. Of course, he prays to the Divine Lord, and the Lord restores the baby back to life.

Do not think these are all cock-and-bull stories. There are so many mysteries in life about which we know nothing.

Anyway, this is just one story to recount, but how much they have been forgetting the world, how ecstatic they must have been to forget everything.

The Marks on Lord Viṭṭhala

Maharashtra produced a lot of women saints. There was another woman saint—I forget her name—Sakku Bhai and she was a great devotee of Viṭṭhala. Her husband and mother-in-law were troubling her.

And one day, the mother-in-law made the husband give a huge quantity of grain to be pounded. Now, in those days, machines were not there—daughter-in-laws were there. So she was trying: "Kṛṣṇa, how can I do this? There is a limit for human endurance."

But, you know, Kṛṣṇa is the only God who will come to our rescue. She was singing. Meanwhile, Kṛṣṇa came, and then he did all the work. So much work—even in two days, no human being could finish it—he finished in a short time.

But the mother-in-law—the purpose of giving this work is so that if she can't complete, she can beat her. That is the real purpose; work is secondary.

Anyway, she found some excuse and made this woman's husband beat her. As he was whipping her and she was crying "Kṛṣṇa!" immediately the priests in the temple at Paṇḍharapura—there is a beautiful temple; all the saints were devoted to that aspect of God called Kṛṣṇa in Paṇḍharapura—they were bathing him.

Suddenly they saw these marks of welts—the skin rises like that—blood started coming out. They were stupefied, because they were only bathing, and nothing was there.

This is why: because the Lord is taking upon himself—if you think this is a cock-and-bull story, let me give parallels from Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's life.

Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's Identification with Suffering

So one day, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was there at Dakṣiṇeśvar, and there was a man who bought a bullock—bullock or horse, I don't remember exactly, probably it was a bullock. He was making it work, and it was not moving, so he was whipping it. Here Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, in his room, on his back, welts appeared.

This, probably some of you don't know, but the other story: two boatmen were quarreling, and one boatman gives a blow to the other boatman, and Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, who was watching it, cried out on the shore. Hṛdaya came out running. He said, "Mama, who hit you?"

Then he explained, "Nobody hit me. Somebody had beaten somebody else there, and this had appeared."

What can Hṛdaya do about it? You know, these are not cock-and-bull stories. Why these things happen, we just do not know.

And of course, we know this story: Why did Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa have cancer? Why did he suffer? It's because he has taken upon himself the sufferings of some of his devotees. That is what we all believe.

So Maharashtra had produced—and that is why the tradition of these saints singing their praises, recounting the incidents in their lives—this is also a way of slowly remembering God. That has influenced them so much.

The Saints of North India

Then we move on to some saints of North India. Who doesn't remember Tulsīdāsa, Kabīrdāsa, Sūrdāsa, Narasiṃha Mehta, Dādū Dayāla, Gorakhanātha, Saint Haridas? These are only just a few famous ones.

Gosvāmī Tulsīdāsa

You know Saint Tulsīdāsa. What a marvelous saint he was!

Mīrābāī, incidentally, once sought the help of Tulsīdāsa. Her husband was giving her so much trouble. Now there is a cultural conflict—a conflict between cultural habits and spiritual faith.

Her spiritual life says, "This husband is no husband at all. I must give him up and go." But the cultural tradition, you know—Hindu tradition—for every married woman, the husband is God himself.

So even though he was giving so much trouble—one version says he was really giving trouble; another version says he was a good soul but influenced by his sister, he was giving the trouble; whatever—she couldn't bear that trouble at home. So she was thinking of going, but the tradition was pulling her back. "How can I leave? What shall I do?"

Then it seems she had written a letter to Gosvāmī Tulsīdāsa: "What is your advice? What is my dharma? What shall I do under the circumstance?"

Then he sent a beautiful reply in the form of a song: "We, for whom Rāma, Sītā, and Lakṣmaṇa are not dear"—meaning those who are not devoted to the Lord, those who do not love God—"give up such a person as though that person is a billion billion enemies put together."

Then he gives a lot of examples. What did Prahlāda do? He gave up his father. What did the gopikās do? They gave up their husbands. What did Vibhīṣaṇa do? He gave up his elder brother.

Like this, so many examples he gave, quoting: he who is not devoted to God, that person should be immediately given up. Beautiful song.

The Rāmacaritamānasa

Tulsīdāsa's Rāmāyaṇa—you know how famous, how influential it is, even today. Not even Vālmīki's Rāmāyaṇa. When Murari Bapu takes Rāmacaritamānasa—you know Murari Bapu in Gujarat—one hundred thousand people will be present. One hundred thousand people!

Even in London, you know, they hold every year Murari Bapu. Thirty, forty thousand people sitting there for three to four hours. These Gujarati devotees, they hire a big hall somewhere on the maidan in summer season.

He is coming, I think, very soon. And when he starts singing this—this book is full of Rāma's story, Rāmāyaṇa—what is called Rāmacaritamānasa. Literally, when he starts singing that, even today, they close their eyes and become ecstatic. Such is the influence of this great soul. Even today, he is influential.

Kabīrdās

Kabīrdās—I already mentioned this story about Kabīrdās. His dohas, his songs, and all those things.

He says: "He who is not dear to you—that person, even if it is God, should be given up." Not God, but God means like Indra, Candra, and all those people should be given up.

Narasiṃha Mehta

Narasiṃha Mehta in Gujarat, 14th–15th century. He is especially to be remembered because Mahatma Gandhi was very fond of one particular song: "Vaiṣṇavajana to tene kahīye"—"He is a true devotee of God who knows the pain, who feels the pain of the other person."

And he outlines the characteristics of a saint. Even today, many times people go on hearing that song, "Vaiṣṇavajana to tene." Here also we had one—you know, that gentleman, one singer, Gujarati singer came—and Arpan. Arpan came, and he was there at that time.

Other Northern Saints

Dādū Dayāla, Gorakhanātha—a great yogi who taught Jñānadeva and others. Saint Haridas.

So these are some of the only few of the saints North India had produced.

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu of Bengal

Then we move to Bengal, in the 15th century: Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

What a revolution he created! Because of him, the name of God has become so popular. "Chant the name of God unceasingly every day." We chant it here this particular month.

And his influence is tremendous. He literally made people devotees of God. He was responsible—even though, funnily, he was a monk and he belonged to our order, Śaṅkarācārya's order, Daśanāmī Sampradāya. Caitanya Bhāratī. His guru was Keśava Bhāratī.

"Bhāratī," by tradition, is like your surname: Keśava Bhāratī, Caitanya Bhāratī. Like we are Purīs. Then Totāpurī, Rāmakṛṣṇa Purī, Vivekānanda Purī—like that, we belong to Śaṅkara's tradition.

The Hare Krishna Movement

Caitanya Mahāprabhu's influence is even now continuing. How? You can see, even in this country, in many countries, this Hare Krishna movement—whom are they propagating? Kṛṣṇa's name, as taught and directed by Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

And you will also see his greatest contribution is, according to Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's order, he was reborn as Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. This time, Gaura and Nitāi, these two, are born as one: Rāmakṛṣṇa. That's our faith.

Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's Recognition

Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is telling M, and, you know, M thought that he just came to Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa: "Oh, I am a devotee. I like Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. That's why I'm coming."

"No, my dear sir, the Divine Mother has brought you along with me to fulfill her mission. I saw you in Caitanya Mahāprabhu's singing party. Balaram—I saw Balaram. I saw you."

Of course, you know, we have to believe this thing. There is no way you can ask for a proof. There is no need. What is the proof? The proof is that his whole life has changed.

The Importance of Scribes

And we have to thank—before we thank Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, we have to thank M. You know, Hindus worship Gaṇeśa, the elephant, so-called elephant-faced god. You know why we worship Gaṇeśa? Do you know why? The real reason why we worship Gaṇeśa?

Because he is known as remover of the obstacles in our path. He will give us success in examination, in marriage, in divorce, and all those things. Have you ever thought about it? If you want to get married to somebody, worship Gaṇeśa. After some time, you want to get divorced—whom do you worship? Gaṇeśa!

That's not the real reason. The real reason, you know why? Because our real teacher, teacher of teachers, is Vedavyāsa. It is from him all the Hindu scriptures, the Vedas, have come down to us. These Purāṇas, mythologies, have come down to us. Brahma Sūtra has come down to us. Mahābhārata has come down to us. Bhāgavata has come down to us—because of Vedavyāsa.

But who took down all these things? It is Gaṇeśa. That is why, you know, he is only depicted in the popular pictures as having only one tusk. Elephants usually have two tusks, but he has only one. Why?

There is a story. We worship that Gaṇeśa who has one tusk. Even though for devotees he gives plenty of things, he has only one tusk—a play on the words. Why?

Because while he was taking down, suddenly the supply of ink got exhausted, or the quill had broken down. Now Vyāsa was talking so fast, and therefore he cannot go to the store. There were no superstores. The only thing he could do: he broke off his tusk immediately and then started noting down.

That is why we salute: whenever we read the Gospel of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, the first person we have to salute is M. Whenever we read Swami Vivekananda's Complete Works, the first person we should salute is J. J. Goodwin, because it is because of their grace, compassion, that all these things were made available to us.

Caitanya Mahāprabhu has contributed so much. We consider Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa as no other than Caitanya Mahāprabhu and his companion Nityānanda, as it were.

Jayadeva of Orissa

Then, you know, there was a great poet in Orissa. Even today, the hair stands on end if you recite his works. I am referring to Bhakta Jayadeva. His magnum opus: Gītagovinda.

All the praises of Lord Kṛṣṇa in Sanskrit. Even Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, you know—one day at Cossipore, one day he was waiting for Keśab Candra Sen. Keśab promised he would come and visit Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, but he was delaying, you know.

Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was becoming impatient. He was sending devotees. As soon as there is some kind of sound, immediately he will run out, you know, like children. They can't wait to get up on Christmas Eve, early on Christmas day. Just like that, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was rushing.

Every time they go: "No, sir, it is just wind, or some other person was passing that way."

Many times this happened. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was disappointed. Then he quotes this: "A leaf falls. Rādhā is waiting for Kṛṣṇa. A leaf falls. 'Oh, Kṛṣṇa has come!' Just the leaf is moving. 'Maybe Kṛṣṇa is coming.'"

You know, the mental condition of Rādhā while she was eagerly waiting for her beloved is described in this immemorial, melodious, mellifluous Sanskrit language. Beautiful language.

The most famous singers sing this Aṣṭapadī. Swami Vivekananda liked it so much. He said, "I don't like to read any other poetical works excepting Gītagovinda. This is the parakāṣṭhā—the very pinnacle of beautiful Sanskrit expression." Such was his admiration.

Though he was—Jayadeva was not that well known as a saint. He was more well known as a poet saint who had composed this beautiful Gītagovinda. And also we know we sing here Daśāvatāra Stotra: "Jaya Jagadīśa Hare." We do that. That is whose composition it is—so metrical, so melodious.

The Saints of South India

Then we move to South India. I had already mentioned that there are two streams. One stream is Śiva—those who worship Lord Śiva, Śiva-bhaktas, devotees of Śiva. And those who worship Lord Viṣṇu, Vaiṣṇavas, Dāsa Sampradāya.

And there is another sampradāya, worshipers of Śiva, called Liṅgāyats: Basavaṇṇa, Akka Mahādevī, etc.

So we see Purandara Dāsa, Kanaka Dāsa. Then in Andhra Pradesh, there is one greatest saint, and anybody who wants to learn South Indian music, they have to follow his lyrics. Tyāgarāja. There is no way they can escape.

So Tyāgarāja. Nāndanār, devotee of Śiva. Then there was one Rāmadāsa, Bhadrachalam Rāmadāsa. There is a place in Andhra Pradesh called Bhadrachalam, and there was one devotee called Rāmadāsa.

Bhadrachalam Rāmadāsa's Devotion

He influenced Telugu people through his beautiful songs composed mostly on Rāma. Just to give you a sample, you know: sometimes God doesn't listen to our prayers. I suspect not sometimes—most of the time he does not listen to our prayers.

So this devotee is longing for a vision of Rāma, and he is not listening at all, and he was imprisoned. Then he said, "Don't worry, I am a poet. I know how to teach you a lesson."

Then he composed: "I am just asking a little bit of money from you." Because he took the Nawab's money, constructed a temple instead of giving it back to the government. He was like a counselor. He collected all the taxes from us, and a beautiful Rāmakṛṣṇa temple he constructed. The council took him to court and put him in jail, like that.

So he is telling Rāma, "I spent all the money for you. Why don't you help me?"

Then he started composing this song: "You see, don't become too proud. All that beautiful earring that we see—who do you think gave it? Your mama, Sītā's father, had given it. You have nothing of your own to claim. It is all given by somebody else. And even to give a little bit of what you got from others, you are so miserly."

God is one of the most miserly fellows on earth. Why is God so miserly? See, Rāmakṛṣṇa is telling us: "You see, God is infinite, isn't it? Infinite minus infinite—how much? Infinite. Suppose God gives you a little bit. What does he lose? If he is infinite, what does he lose? But no, he will not give. First you give, then I will think whether I should give a little bit of what you gave me or not."

These funny things happen. So these Rāmadāsa, his songs are very famous in Andhra Pradesh. He did most marvelous things, and one of the greatest saints that came out of Andhra Pradesh.

Great Ācāryas and Saints

You know, there are one ācārya: Nimbārkācārya, Vallabhācārya. Both are from Andhra Pradesh.

Then one of the greatest saints that came out of Andhra Pradesh, and whom Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa admired, called him "the moving Śiva, moving Viśvanātha in Vārāṇasī": Triliṅga Swāmī.

Andhra Pradesh is known as Triliṅga Deśa because there are three Śiva temples there. Triliṅga Swāmī, he was from Andhra Pradesh.

It is said, at the age of sixty, his mother died, and he became a monk. Then he moved to Narmadā, and he did tapasyā for how many years, we don't know. By that time he moved to Vārāṇasī, he was practically two hundred years old. He lived another fifty years. Nearly two hundred fifty years he lived.

There is no doubt about it. Historically it is proved. The thing is, of course, we have become skeptics. We don't believe it. But it's possible that even a tree also lives more than—you know, there are olive trees which are more than two thousand years old. There are redwood trees in America, in California, which are four thousand years old.

I'm not talking about that kind of thing. A saint living for so many years, influencing so many people, and Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa met him, and so many direct disciples had met him. So he was a great soul.

Vidyāraṇya and Sadāśiva Brahmendra

This is some of them from South India. Then I have to mention Vidyāraṇya. There was a great kingdom, Vijayanagara kingdom, and Vidyāraṇya was one of the greatest people. He was in the 16th century, 15th–16th century, and he wrote such marvelous commentary on the Vedas—Vidyāraṇya. Later on, they say, he became one of the heads of the Śṛṅgeri Maṭha.

Then there is another great soul from Andhra Pradesh: Sadāśiva Brahmendra.

"Pibāre Rāmarasam, Khelati Brahmāṇḍe Bhagavān." All these beautiful songs. "Khelati Mamāhṛdaye Rāmaḥ."

Most mellifluous Sanskrit songs. Pure non-dualism, but we can sing them. This beautiful "Gāyati Vanamālī Madhuram"—all these songs are composed by Sadāśiva Brahmendra. Wonderful stories are there.

The Women Saints

Then some of these—specially I have to mention Mīrābāī, you know, 15th century. Jānakībāī, Muktābāī, Akka Mahādevī. Then Lallā Yogeśvarī, a saint from Kashmir, and she was devoted to the Lord. She composed a lot of beautiful things.

The Saints of Bengal

Moving to West Bengal, you see, great souls like Rāmprasād, Kamalākānta, Bhāmā Khyāpā, Premik. What great souls they were! How they worshiped the Divine Mother, and these are only just a few.

How they influenced Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. Rāmakṛṣṇa's sādhanā—part of his sādhanā was to sing songs composed by Rāmprasād and Kamalākānta and Premik, etc.

Then in the Vaiṣṇava literature, there are people like Caṇḍīdāsa, etc., whose songs even now reverberate throughout. Then there are so many Bāuls of whom we do not know.

So these are some of the saints there.

Contemporary Saints

Then we move to the contemporary period. It's coming, you know: Swami Rāma Tīrtha. Swami Vivekananda met him. He was a contemporary of, junior to, Swami Vivekananda—contemporary of Swami Vivekananda.

He was a professor at the Lahore University, and after meeting Swami Vivekananda, he renounced the world. His name was Tīrtharāma, and after he renounced the world, he became Rāma Tīrtha. Tīrtha is one of the names—Daśanāmī Sampradāya, Tīrtha is one of the names.

Rāma Tīrtha, and he was out-and-out non-dualist, and he went to America, he came to the UK, he visited many European places. He has quite a sizable following in North India. Though few of us know it, his most marvelous work: In the Woods of God-Realization—most purest Advaitic works.

Dayānanda Sarasvatī and Others

Then moving a little further in time, we get, you know, Dayānanda Sarasvatī, whom Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa had met. And we see Vijaya Kṛṣṇa Gosvāmī.

Specifically, I want to mention: come now to the tradition of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. In our order, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is like a billion-watt megastar. Nobody else will shine there. But if you remove him from the firmament, then you will see what marvelous saints will come!

Each one of his disciples is a saint. Each one of his householder disciples. What about Nāga Mahāśaya? What about M himself? What about Yogin-Mā? What about Golāp-Mā? What about Gopāler-Mā? What about Gaurī-Mā?

We say they are devotees of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. No, they are not merely devotees of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. They are realized saints. Had they been anywhere outside, they would have had a huge following.

What about Vijaya Kṛṣṇa Gosvāmī? How many people he had helped! So all these people we practically ignore.

Śrī Aurobindo and Ramaṇa Maharṣi

Then, after the direct disciples, after their passing away, came this galaxy of great devotees like Aurobindo.

Then, of all the saints, the South Indian saint for whom I have no words to describe: Ramaṇa Maharṣi was the brightest son in the whole firmament of India. Many people in the West know more about him than many Indians from North India. It is a tragedy, really.

What a life he led! What was the specialty? He was the greatest non-dualist. He was a greatest devotee. He was a greatest karma-yogi. He was a marvelous cook. He could make friends with anything—the animals just used to flock to him. He was such a marvelous personality.

He was a great walker, by the way, because all these jogging modern people—he was the founder of this jogging association! Every day he used to go into the hills, miles and miles and miles together, and roam. He knew every inch of that Tiruvaṇṇāmalai. Malai means hill; Tiru means Śrī—that great hill.

The Sacredness of Aruṇācala

That is not a hill for him. That is embodiment of Śiva. You know, Hindus believe any stone can be a Śiva, Śiva-liṅga. In Kedāranātha, if you go at the main deity, what is that? A huge rock. It is there. Somebody had erected a canopy and said, "This is Kedar Baba." Finished. All Hindus bowed down to him.

Yes, it is not merely faith. Somebody must have invoked the special presence of God in that particular rock.

Any image—after all, what is an image? Here you go and bow down every day, is it not? When you are before examinations, you bow down four, five times, in case you didn't notice it. What is it? A piece of paper, photograph. What is it?

But that is only looking from a materialistic point of view. But if you look deep into your heart, what is it? It's nothing but special manifestation of God in that particular form. This is what saves us.

It is not whether God exists or not. Whether God is real to you or not. If God is real to me, then my whole life will change. If a ghost is real to me, then my whole life will change.

The thing is, whatever you believe 100%, that will affect you and that will change your personality, how you respond. The same person, you may think as a god; some person as an enemy; some person as good; some as bad; some as beautiful; some as ugly. It has nothing to do with objective reality. It has everything to do with our perception.

So if a devotee can see in an image God, he has a right to see it.

Ramaṇa Maharṣi's Life

Ramaṇa Maharṣi—for Ramaṇa Maharṣi, Tiruvaṇṇāmalai was not a rocky place, not a hill, but it is the consciousness of Śiva embodied there. So he advocated that anybody who walks on that hill, that itself is a great spiritual practice.

He could speak with monkeys; he could speak with birds. He never used to address any animal, any bird, as "it." He used to address them with very respectable words, because he could see the image of God in everything, and they also used to respond exactly in the same way. You know, such a great soul.

He was an extraordinarily good cook. He was a karma-yogi. Day and night, he was there sitting, propagating thoughts, his beautiful pure thoughts, to the whole universe.

Somebody asked him, "Why don't you start a hospital? Why don't you start a school? Why don't you start preaching?"

He simply smiled and said, "What do you think I'm doing?"

For us, apparently it looks as though he's not doing anything. But what was he doing? He's constantly thinking about the highest thoughts: "I am He. I am God." Not consciously, not mechanically—naturally, because he was a realized soul.

And do you think those thoughts will not be helping us? Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa used to say thoughts or ideas are much more powerful than material things. A bomb is not that powerful, but an idea can be very, very powerful.

Read a book which will disturb your mind—all your hundred years of faith in God can vanish in a second. Or read a book—you might think you are an atheist, and immediately you might become a saint. One word can change your whole life. Such is the power of ideas.

So these saints, what do they do? They are broadcasting all the time such pure, powerful, holy thoughts. If we can only be in the right bandwidth, receptive stage, then we can receive those things.

Other Modern Saints

This Ramaṇa Maharṣi, Aurobindo—you know what beautiful essays he has written on the Gītā, etc. His āśrama, even today in Pondicherry, is an inspiration for so many people. Even now, these great people are doing—

Then I didn't mention Ānandamayī Mā in West Bengal. How many devotees she has! Such a loving soul, like Holy Mother.

Then there is a present living saint in South India: Amṛtānandamayī. You know, she is known on the internet as the "hugging saint." What a marvelous work she is doing!

She is a great devotee of Holy Mother and Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. Maybe Holy Mother is born in the fisherman's family for the upliftment of the lowest people. Thousands and thousands of devotees are there. She is doing so much good work.

Even if you don't recognize her saintliness, you recognize the social service she is doing. Hospitals for poor people—just come, get rid of your disease if possible, and get out. She provides food; she provides housing; she provides training. But she never herself does anything of this. She just sits there, talks about God. But the power emanating from her does all those things.

There are so many people like that. I have only mentioned those who are very, very popular. There are thousands and thousands, silently, heroically, unrecognized by society, that are struggling to lead a beautiful spiritual life.

In fact, I would say most of us are doing that. But we know our own worth; that's why we don't want to advertise that we are saints.

The point is, there are so many spiritual aspirants sincerely struggling to their own capacity. How are they sustained? By this stream of saints, East or West.

The Power of Ideas and Teachings

Even today, ideas are most powerful. Religions live only by ideas.

Christ, the physical Christ, was dead two thousand years back. Physical Buddha died twenty-five hundred years back. Rāma died thousands of years back. Kṛṣṇa died thousands of years back.

But the ideas, their names, their teachings, even today, they bring such an unbelievable transformation. They give so much hope to people. What else do you want?

Don't ask whether God exists, whether spirituality is true. It is true, but don't ask for proof. Ask: "How can it benefit me?"

That's what Buddha had emphasized. He said, "Don't ask what is the cause of my suffering, whether God exists. Don't even talk about God. Don't even talk about anything. Yes, are you suffering? There is a remedy. Follow the remedy."

What is the remedy? Be good and do good. This is the most practical thing at this level.

But a person who does good and who tries to be good—do you think the quest stops there? No. You go a little bit further, and something else opens up. You go a little bit further, something vaster expands, opens up. That is how we progress from a lower step to a higher step.

The Legacy of the Ramakrishna Order

The talks, last talk and this talk, have tried to focus very briefly on the effect of saints.

And lastly, I have to mention: Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa had established this Rāmakṛṣṇa Order. And the Rāmakṛṣṇa Order—I am not talking about the direct disciples, but the people, the senior swamis who became the presidents, later on. What gigantic souls!

For example: Swami Śuddhānanda, Swami Vīrājānanda, Swami Śaṅkarānanda, Swami Viśuddhānanda, Swami Mādhavānanda, Swami Vireśvarānanda, Swami Bhūteśānanda. Ordinary souls.

You know, you go there, anybody can go, meet them, make praṇāma. "How are you?" "I am fine, Mahārāj." "Will you eat a chocolate?" "Yes, I will definitely eat a chocolate, whether I get other benefit or not. Chocolate is a benefit—concrete, provable benefit."

What a life they had led! Whole life, eighty years, ninety years, practically one hundred years. Swami Raṅganāthānandajī—what did he do whole life? He never thought, "How will I be happy in this life?" He only thought, "How can I help the other person to be happy?"

Such detachment, you know. If he wanted to be selfish—I am just telling about Swami Raṅganāthānanda—he would have become a millionaire long back. Millionaire! Because his one talk would have fetched, you know, lakhs of rupees, because of the power of his oratory.

But what did he do? You know, simply—somebody comes, "I want to donate one hundred thousand rupees"—a lakh we call it. You know, that's one hundred thousand count is called in India, it is called lakh. Simply somebody comes, "I will give one lakh." "Okay, immediately—ah, that project is going on there. Okay, you directly give money there." Immediately. No question of saying, "How much shall I keep? Commission?" Nothing.

But as I said, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is like a megastar. We only look at Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, and after that Holy Mother, and after that Swami Vivekananda, after that the direct disciples, after that everybody is, as it were, covered.

What a galaxy of these great saints had lived their life in front of our very eyes! How much they suffered for our sake!

Conclusion: The Benefit of Saints

So how noble these souls are, what type of life they are leading, how much holy thought they are broadcasting, and how they are sustaining our faith in God—this is all invisible.

The only thing that we must have is faith: that my aim is right, my goal is absolutely right, and there is somebody who is looking after me, who will help me, who will help me to reach the goal of God-realization sooner or later. That's all we need to do, and do our best.

This is the real benefit of saints.

So to summarize: What is the benefit of a saint? A saint infuses faith—faith in God, faith in ourselves, faith in a higher life, faith in an everlasting blissful life. And that religion which succeeds in producing saints century after century, time after time, that religion becomes much more loving, much more effective, much more influential than other religions.

We will discuss further aspects of Hinduism in our future class.

Closing Prayer

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

Om Śānti, Śānti, Śāntih.

Om, peace, peace, peace be unto all.