guru20 13 15

GURU 20 - GheeGURU 20 - Ghee

278

THE LESSON LEARNT BY THE AVADHUTA BRAHMANA

Ghee in Sanskrit is called Snigdha which is derived from the word sneha. Sneha means attraction or affection for someone or for something. When you have affection or love someone it is natural for one to sacrifice for the person. Ghee by nature also has this quality. We see that it burns and gives light to the world. Similarly for one who has affection one is ready to sacrifice anything and everything.

The Theme – Sacrifi ce

SLOKA RECITATION Let us learn a sloka from the Niti Sastra which teaches us something about the above theme. Before teaching the present verse, the teacher should begin the class by chanting all the verses of the 24 Gurus with the children all together. Chant the 20th verse of the 24 Gurus again. Tell the children we will learn the eleventh verse and also understand it. Learn the 20th verse. (The teacher recites the sloka line by line and makes the children repeat and memorize the sloka)

Devotee’s compassion & sacrificeYadami dasanti dasana

Rasana tatsvadamanubhavatiPrkrtih stiyam vimatanamKlisyanti yadanyakaryesu

Whatever the gums & teeth take the trouble to bite & chew – only that can be tasted by the tongue.

Similarly pure hearted souls take trouble to allow others to enjoy. Eg. Jesus eg Krsna is pleased to give necessities because devotees do sankirtan

Because Pandavas were devotees, the whole of Hastinapur got darshan.

1/2 60 mins 120 mins

Let us learn a sloka from the Niti Sastra which teaches us something about the

Before teaching the present verse, the teacher should begin the class by chanting all the verses of the 24 Gurus with the children all together. Chant the 20th verse of the 24 Gurus again. Tell the children we will learn the

Learn the 20th verse. (The teacher recites the sloka line by line and makes the

GURU 20 - Ghee

279

GURU 20 - GheeLESSONS FROM GURU

LESSONS FROM RAMAYANA ON SACRIFICE

• Sacrifice of the Lord Rama and SitaIn the forest Rama and Sita practised severe austerities and followed the life of a vanprastha.

• Sacrifice of the other three wivesHowever Bharat and Shatrughna also sacrificed and so did their wives. The wives of the other three brothers (Laksman-Urmila; Bharat-Mandvi; Shatrugna-Srutakirti) also sacrificed. Bharat convinces Mandavi to serve Kaushalya because Sita was not there anymore. Mandvi agrees for the sacrifice.

• Sacrifice of BharatBharat puts on garments like Rama and sleeps on the hole in the ground (not even on the ground) this is because he felt Rama is sleeping on the floor and he should be at a level lower than Rama. Ramayana is full of sacrifices.Sarayu’s water is extremely cold. When a newly married girl’s husband dies and she is a widow she continues to stay at her in-law’s house. To take bath she goes earlier than others to the river bank. Because she doesn’t want to create inauspiciousness in the lives of others who may see her in the morning. But early morning, even before brahma muhurta when she goes the water is bitter cold. Bharat also feels like such a woman that his life too is inauspicious because he feels it’s bcoz of him that the Lord went to the forest. Therefore he would come much earlier than others to take bath but the water would be so cold that even birds and animals would go away. But bharat would take bath and the fire of separation that he was feeling and the fire of guilt would be relieved and drowned in the Sarayu river.

For teacher’s referenceThey would have sacrifi ced, had the Kauravas also been like Bharat. Bharat was as good as Rama. But Duryodhana was an irreligious person. If Bharat was not qualifi ed Rama wouldn’t have left. (The teacher can expand on the storyline and the atrocities committed by the Kauravas.)

If Bharat and Rama sacrificed the kingdom for each other why didn’t the Pandavas also set such an example. Why did they fight over property. They also should have left and sacrificed?

Q


280

GURU 20 - Ghee• Kaushalya’s sacrifice Kaushalya says woman has three relations - husband; children; and relatives of husband. She tells Dasharatha that for you Kaikeyi is everything and I am dead. For Rama I am no longer there. And I have no relatives also. I have been killed in all respects. She didn’t criticize her husband as a habit but expressed her intense feelings of separation from Rama. She didn’t hold grudges also against him and when he begged forgiveness, she easily forgave him.

• Sumitra’s sacrificeSumitra withstood difficulty and sacrifices- gave both her sons to serve the sons of her co-wives. Laksman to serve Rama and Shatrugna to assist Bharat. She was happy about it she tells Laksman ” You are born to serve Rama. Do not commit any mistakes in the service to Rama.”

Ramayana is full of sacrifices but modern people find it ridiculous because they want to enjoy like Ravana. But the mood of Lord Rama is of sacrifice.Laksman wanted to remove the thorns from Lord Rama’s feet. Rama said they have taken shelter of me, you can’t remove them. Similarly there are devotees who are like thorns at Lord’s feet and Lord being merciful gives them shelter.

Why sacrifice of Mandodari (loss of husband) was much greater than that of Kamsa’s wife or Gandhari?

Mandodari saw faults in Ravana (she is different from Kamsa’s wife and Gandhari also who saw Krishna’s fault and not their respective husbands). She also saw her own faults and glorified Rama and therefore could see the 4 handed form of Vishnu. She tells to the dead body of Ravana, “The tears of a chaste woman have caused your death.” She also says, “ I was proud of having a great father- Maya Danava. My husband was a great king, my son conquered Indra. All my problems of mine are due to this pride of mine that I am great and most fortunate.” She also blames herself for the sad plight of all the widows in Lanka. Her marriage failed but she didn’t fail. No fault of hers but still self assessment and accepted blame.

Ramayana is full of sacrifices but modern people find it ridiculous because they want to enjoy like Ravana. But the mood of Lord Rama is of sacrifice.Laksman wanted to remove the thorns from Lord Rama’s feet. Rama said they have taken shelter of me, you can’t remove them. Similarly there are devotees who are like thorns at Lord’s feet and Lord being merciful

281

GURU 20 - GheeSacifice of Laxman

In Panchavati, Sita and Rama appeared on the order of Agastya rishi, Rama asked Laxman to build an asrama as he desires, he also said to him, “Let it be pleasing to videhi, me and you, Laxman.” Hearing this Laksmana was hurt, he said to Rama, “My Lord do not say this, I am your dependent, I am here not to serve you for 14 years, I am here to serve you for ever, the relationship will never change. Your happiness is my happiness. I do not have separate happiness. You decide which is the best place for you to reside. By giving me independence you will take away my dependence on you. Please do not do this.”

It is explained for the sake of Sri Rama, Laxman gave up all kinds of pleasure and continued to serve his brother at all times, especially when Sri Rama and Sita were in the forest. He would stay up whole night guarding them, if one goes to Chitrakoot one will find the mountain where Laxman would reside and guard Sri Rama and mother Sita who were

residing on the other mountain. One poet has said, “Have you ever seen the lotus which blooms twenty fours a day, you will not but, here is the lotus the lotus eyes of Laxman which would never blink what to speak of closing,” When Rama heard Laxman’s speech, he was overwhelmed with happiness to see the quality of his brother. He embraced him and in that ecstasy he said,

Pritosmite mahat karma tvayaa krta midam prabhoPradayo yannimittam te parishvango maya krtahBhavajnena krtajnena dharmajnena ca LaxmanTvaya putrena dharmatma na sanvrattah pita mama aranya 15-28,29

“My dear Laxman, you are most capable, I am very happy with you, you have done this great task. I do not have any thing to offer you, I can simply offer my embrace to you. Laxman you have understood my heart (bhavajna), you are full of gratitude, full of dharma. In your quality and personality our father is still living.”

Show the pps of the four candles.


282

SLOKA RECITATION Let us learn a sloka from the Niti Sastra which teaches us something about the above theme. Before teaching the present verse, the teacher should begin the class by chanting all the verses of the 24 Gurus with the children all together. Chant the 20th verse of the 24 Gurus again. Learn the 20th verse. (The teacher recites the sloka line by line and makes the children repeat and memorize the sloka) Devotee’s compassion & sacrifice

Yadami dasanti dasanaRasana tatsvadamanubhavati

Prkrtih stiyam vimatanamKlisyanti yadanyakaryesu

Whatever the gums & teeth take the trouble to bite & chew – only that can be tasted by the tongue.

Similarly pure hearted souls take trouble to allow others to enjoy. Eg. Jesus eg Krsna is pleased to give necessities because devotees do sankirtan

Because Pandavas were devotees, the whole of Hastinapur got darshan.

What is sacrifice?

Sacrifice is combination of obstacles and struggles.

When one has to undergo a sacrifice for something then it becomes very dear to him.

Perhaps this is the reason Krishna gives labor pain to the mother before delivering the child.

Also we can say that Srila Prabhupada is very dear to our heart because of the various sacrifices and struggles he underwent during his lifetime.

It is the endeavour that gives everything value.

2/2 60 mins 120 mins

Let us learn a sloka from the Niti Sastra which teaches us something about the

Before teaching the present verse, the teacher should begin the class by chanting all the verses of the 24 Gurus with the children all together. Chant the 20th verse of the 24 Gurus again. Chant the 20th verse of the 24 Gurus again. Learn the 20th verse. (The teacher recites the sloka line by line and makes the

GURU 20 - Ghee

283

GURU 20 - GheeMORE LESSONS FROM GURU

1. Sacrifice or Real love doesn’t mean pampering the ego.2. Sacrifice means not holding back anything.3. Sacrifice leads to Gratitude4. Sacrifice means rising above competiiton5. Sacrifice - The Lord is the greatest 6. Pure love and affection leads to sacrifice.7. Sacrifice has the ability to transform.8. Sacrifice means putting personal agenda behind and be ready to undergo austerities to please someone.

1. Sacrifice or Real love doesn’t mean pampering the ego

One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful

heart in the whole valley. A large crowd gathered and they all admired his heart for it was perfect. There was not a mark or a flaw in it. Yes, they all agreed, it truly was the most beautiful heart they had ever seen. The young man was very proud and boasted more loudly about his beautiful heart. Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said, “Why your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine.” The crowd and the young

man looked at the old man’s heart. It was beating strongly, but full of scars, it had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces put in, but they didn’t fit quite right and there were several jagged edges. In fact, in some places there

were deep gouges where whole pieces were missing. The people stared - how can he say his heart is more beautiful, they thought? The young man looked at the old man’s heart and saw its state and laughed. “You must be joking,” he said. “Compare your heart with mine, mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars and tears.” “Yes,” said the old man, “Yours is perfect looking but I would never trade with you. You see, every scar represents a person to whom I have given my love - I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them, and often they give me a piece of their heart which fits into the empty place in my heart, but because the pieces aren’t exact, I have some rough edges, which I cherish, because they remind me of the love we shared. Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away, and the other person hasn’t returned a piece of his heart to me. These are the empty gouges -- giving love is taking a chance.Although these gouges are painful, they stay open,

STORY 1 - THE PERFECT HEART


284

reminding me of the love I have for these people too, and I hope someday they may return and fill the space I have waiting. So now do you see what true beauty is? “ The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks. He walked up to the old man, reached into his perfect young and beautiful heart, and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old man with trembling hands. The old man took his offering,

placed it in his heart and then took a piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in the wound in the young man’s heart.

It fit, but not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges. The young man looked at his heart, not perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever, since love from the old man’s heart flowed into his. They embraced and walked away side by side. How sad it must be to go through life with a whole untouched heart.

waiting. So now do you see what

MORAL - Just as the ghee lamp burns itself and provides light similarly the man with scars all over his heart indicates the sacrifices he has done for others.

2. Sacrifice means not holding back anything

Once while in Rajagriha Buddha allotted a day for collections for charity. Hesat under a tree and began receiving gifts. King

Bimbisara came and gave him deeds of lands, houses, and valuable properties. Then came Prince Ajata Shatru with rich and valuable gifts. Then came grandees and wealthy merchants. Buddha accepted all their gifts by extending his right hand in token thereof.Then came an old, shrivelled woman and said to him, “Lord, I heard about your appeal for charity only this morning. I am a poor old woman and have nothing. I was eating this pomegranate, and had eaten half when I heard the

news. I hadnothing else to give but this half pomegranate. So I brought it along. Please, Lord, accept this.”She looked at him appealingly. Buddha at once came down himself and accepted the gift with both hands, in deep gratitude.Bimbisara, Ajata Shatru, and all who were there were immensely surprised. “O Blessed one,” asked Bimbisara, “Why did you receive her gift with both hands,coming down yourself from your dais, when you took our gifts merely by extending your right hand?”“Because, King,” he replied, “She gave her all. The rest of you merely gave afraction of what you have.”

STORY 2 - THE OLD WOMAN AND HER HALF POMEGRANATE

MORAL - It is not important that you have sacrificed but it is more important to know how much you have sacrificed.

GURU 20 - Ghee

285

GURU 20 - GheeSTORY 3 - AN OLD VEGETABLE SELLER AND TIRUPATI BALAJI.

In Tirupati temple the hundi of the Lord is hung outside where people come and constantly keep putting some donations in the cloth. Once an old vegetable

seller came and had the darshan of the Lord and as a loving gesture she had got with herself a bag full of coins and notes to be meant to put

in the donation bag. She was pretty old with wrinkles over her face and wearing a simple saree. The jeeyar or sannyasi was standing near the hundi at that time and after placing her offering in the donation bag she took his blessings and left. After sometime when the bag was lowered and counted they found this

strange donation majorly consisting of coins in one big bag. When they totalled it the figure was close to one lakh rupees. The news was given to jeeyar sannyasi about this. He had tears in his eyes when he heard that the lady had given almost all her savings for the Lord. He was very happy and said that the Lord must definitely be pleased with this offering as she gave whatever all she had, not holding back much or anything. People do give in crores and millions but this one lakh was special as the Lord does not see how much you give but He sees how much has one held back.

3. Sacrifice leads to Gratitude

This teenager lived alone with his father, and the two of them had a very special relationship. Even though the son was always on the bench, his father was always in the stands

cheering. He never missed a game. This young man was still the smallest of the class when he entered high school. But his father continued to encourage him but also made it very clear that he did not have to play football if he didn’t want to. But the young man loved football and decided to hang in there. He was determined to try his best at every practice, and perhaps

he’d get to play when he became a senior. All through high school he never missed a practice nor a game, but remained a bench warmer all four years. His faithful father was always in the stands, always with words of encouragement for him. When the young man went to college, he decided to try out for the football team as a “walk-on”. Everyone was sure he could never make the cut, but he did. The coach admitted that he kept him on the roster because he always puts his heart and soul into every practice and, at the same time, provided the

other members with the spirit and hustle they badly needed. The news that he had survived the cut thrilled him so much that he rushed to the nearest phone and

STORY 4 - THE FATHER’S EYEST


286

called his father. His father shared his excitement and was sent season tickets for all the college games. This persistent young athlete never missed practice during his four years at college, but he never got to play in the game. It was the end of his senior football season, and as he trotted onto the practice field shortly before the big play off game, the coach met him with a telegram. The young man read the telegram and became deathly silent Swallowing hard, he mumbled to the

coach, “My father died this morning. Is it all right if I miss practice today?”

The coach put his arm gently around his shoulder and said, “Take the rest of the week off, son. And don’t even plan to come to the game on Saturday.” Saturday arrived, and the game was not going well. In the third quarter, when the team was ten points behind, a silent young man quietly slipped into the empty locker room and put on his football gear. As he ran onto the sidelines, the coach and his players were astounded to see their faithful teammate back so soon. “Coach, please let me play. I’ve just got to play today,” said the young man. The coach pretended not to hear him. There was no way he wanted his worst player in this close playoff game. But the young man persisted, and finally feeling sorry for

the kid, the coach gave in. “All right,” he said. “You can go in.” Before long, the coach, the players and everyone in the stands could not believe their eyes. This little unknown,

who had never played before was doing everything right. The opposing team could not stop him, He ran, he passed, blocked and tackled like a star. His team began to triumph. The score was soon tied. In the closing seconds of the game, the kid intercepted a pass and ran all the way for the winning touchdown. The fans broke loose. His teammates hoisted him onto their shoulders. Such cheering you’ve never heard! Finally, after the stands had emptied and the team had showered and left the locker room, the coach noticed that the young man was sitting quietly in the corner all alone. The coach came to him and said, “Kid, I can’t believe it. You were fantastic! Tell me what got into you? How did you do it?”He looked at the coach, with tears in his eyes, and said. “Well, you knew my dad died, but did you know that my dad was blind?” The young man swallowed hard and forced a smile, “Dad came to all my games, but today was the first time he could see me play, and I wanted to show him I could do it!”

dad died, but did you know that my dad

MORAL - Sacrifice leads to gratitude. The sacrifice the father did for the son by sitting through all the sons pracise matches and encouraging him paid off in the end when the crunch time came, thereby developing a sense of gratitude for all that his father had done for him.

GURU 20 - Ghee

287

GURU 20 - Ghee

STORY 5 - WHAT TRULY MATTERS IN THIS LIFE IS HELPING OTHERS WIN

bent down and kissed him and said, “This will make it better.”All nine linked arms and walked across the finish line together. Everyone in

the stadium stood, and the cheering went on for several minutes. People who were there are still telling the story. Why? Because deep down we know this one thing: what matters in this life is

more than winning for ourselves. What truly matters in this life is helping others win, even if it means slowing down and changing our course.

A few years ago at the Seattle Special Olympics, nine contestants, all physically or mentally disabled, assembled at the starting line for the 100-yard dash. At the gun, they all started out, not exactly in a dash, but with a relish to run the race to the finish and win. All, that is, except one boy who stumbled on the asphalt, tumbled over a couple of times and began to cry. The other eight heard the boy cry. They slowed down and looked back. They all turned around and went back. One girl with Down’s Syndrome

win. All, that is, except

4. Sacrifice means rising above competiiton

5. Sacrifice - The Lord is the greatest

really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it. “Lord, you said that

once I decided to follow You, You’d walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don’t understand why when I needed You most You would leave me.” The Lord replied,”My son, My precious child, I love you and would never leave you.

During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.”

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonging to him, and the other to the Lord. When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times of his life. This

STORY 6 - FOOTPRINTS


288

6. Pure love and affection leads to sacrifice

There were two warring tribes in the Andes, one that lived in the lowlands and the other high in the mountains. The mountain people invaded the lowlanders one day, and as part of their plundering of the people, they kidnapped a baby of one of the lowlander families and took the infant with them back up into the mountains. The lowlanders didn’t know how to climb the mountain. They didn’t know any of the trails that the mountain people used, and they didn’t know where to find the mountain people or

how to track them in the steep terrain. Even so, they sent out their best party of fighting men to climb the

mountain and bring the baby home.The men tried first one method of climbing and then another. They tried one trail and then another. After several

days of effort, however, they had climbed only several hundred feet.Feeling hopeless and helpless, the lowlander men decided that the cause was lost, and they prepared to return to their village below. As they were packing their gear for the descent, they saw the baby’s mother walking toward them. They realized that she was coming down the mountain that they hadn’t figured out how to climb. And then they saw that she had the baby strapped to her back. How could that be? One man greeted her and said, “We couldn’t climb this mountain. How did you do this when we, the strongest and most able men in the village, couldn’t do it?”She shrugged her shoulders and said, “It wasn’t your baby.”

STORY 7 - THE MOUNTAIN

her back. How could that

and said, “We couldn’t

the strongest and most

MORAL - When there is love and affection for someone then it becomes easy to climb up the mountain of sacrifice.

7. Sacrifice has the ability to transform

STORY 8 - A SPECIAL TEACHER

Years ago a John Hopkin’s professor gave a group of graduate students this assignment: Go to

the slums. Take 200 boys, between the ages of 12 and 16, and investigate their background and environment. Then predict their chances for the future. The students, after consulting social statistics, talking to the boys, and

compiling much data, concluded that 90 percent of the boys would spend some time in jail. Twenty-five years later another group of graduate students was given the job of testing the prediction. They went back to the same area. Some of the boys - by then men - were still there, a few had died, some had moved away, but they got in touch with 180 of the original 200. They found that

GURU 20 - Ghee

289

GURU 20 - Gheeonly four of the group had ever been sent to jail. Why was it that these men, who had lived in a breeding place of crime, had such a surprisingly good record? The researchers were continually told: “Well, there was a teacher...” They pressed further, and found that in 75 percent of the cases it was the same woman. The researchers went to this teacher, now living in a home for

retired teachers. How had she exerted this remarkable influence over that group of children? Could she give them any reason why these

boys should have remembered her?“No,” she said, “no I really couldn’t.” And then, thinking back over the years, she said musingly, more to herself than to her questioners: “I loved those boys....”

MORAL - Sacrifice can transform a piece of metal into shining gold.

8. Sacrifice means putting personal agenda behind and be ready to undergo austerities to please someone.

STORY 9 - SACRIFICE OF ANANTACHARYAOne day, Sripad Ramanujacarya was reading the prayers of Naam Alvar, describing the glories of Tirupati, which is Vaikuntha on earth, and how Lord Venkateshwara finds great pleasures being decorated with flowers, He asked his disciples, “Is there anyone amongst you who is willing to leave Sri Rangam and live the rest of your life in Tirupati cultivating a garden to offer flowers to Balaji? There was dead silence. Who wants to leave Sri Rangam where Gurumaharaj is living and speaking everyday? Who wants to leave the nice temperate climate to live on top of a mountain, where it’s very cold in winter? And in those days it was a thick dense forest with wild animals everywhere. Dead silence. Then one very simple and

humble devotee named Anantacharya raised his hand said, “Gurumaharaj, if it is your wish that I go to Tirupati with your blessings I will go and stay for the rest of my life.” Ramanujacarya was so happy. He got up and embraced Anantacharya, and said, “You are my life and soul. There is no one more dear to me than you because you are willing to make such sacrifice to assist me in the service of the Lord. You are the greatest amongst men.” And immediately Anantacharya with his wife made their residence on the top of the hill of Tirumala to worship Venkateshwara with flowers.

days it was a thick dense forest

such sacrifice to assist me in the service of


290

Which of the two is greater humility or sacrifice?

For teacher’s reference Of the two, Humility is anyday greater than sacrifi ce because sacrifi ce involves the factor of the individual’s false ego. In performing a sacrifi ce one may still have some kind of an ego eg I am so charitable.

Even in sacrifi ce sometimes the “I” factor is given undue importance.Like one may perform great tasks but the “My factor” becomes more important than the Krishna factor. Usually when it comes to protection there are preferences.

Preference of protection:a. 1st save oneselfb. Save one’s religious principlesc. Save ones possessions

However there are exceptions who have quite contrary to the above mentioned preferences performed the sacrifi ce of charity without any ego. Bali Maharaj when the time for giving the third step of land had come was actually left with no possessions or land. So he sacrifi ced his own life by offering his head to be placed underneath the lotus feet of the Lord as the third step of land . This act of Bali Maharaj signifi es the sacrifi cing of even his false ego.

STORY 10 - STORY OF LORD CAITANYA AND RAGHUPATI UPADYAYA

Lord Caitanya and Raghupati Upadyaya were studying in the same school. Both of them had written a book. While going in a boat, Lord Caitanya showed his book to his friend. After reading his book, his friend became upset. After reading your book, who will read my book. When Lord Caitanya saw that his friend was unhappy, he threw the book in the Ganges. Raghupati was shocked.

GURU 20 - Ghee

291

GURU 20 - GheeSTORY 11 - SACRIFICE OF VEDAVATI

Suparnaka, the sister of Ravana, informed her brother about the beauty of Sita, and just by hearing the description of Sita’s qualities, Ravana’s heart was burning with desire. He induced Marica to take the form of a magnificent deer and allure Ram and Luxman away. At that time, Ravana came to kidnap the consort of Sri Ram. But it is not possible for a demon like Ravana to touch Sita Devi. Agni Dev appeared and he replaced the original Sita with Vedavati. Vedavati looked identical to Sita. The Kurma Purana calls her the Maya Sita, the false Sita. She is actually an expansion of the Goddess of fortune but not the original Sita. So it was Ravana, he thought he stole Sita, but in truth he stole Vedavati. And it was this Vedavati, after thousands of years of tapasya, she still never even saw Ram. She came to the world and was immediately kidnapped by Ravana and she was screaming in the air, and she threw some jewels down to the monkeys, Sugriva and Hanuman, when she was flying over Kindakshetra and ultimately she was a prisoner of Sri Lanka, captive in the Ashoka groves of Ravana, where everyday she was tormented, she was emotionally tortured, she was threatened in so many ways. Ravana was coming with the finest perfumes, the most elegant gowns, with by his

mystic powers making himself the most handsome among men, well-groomed hair with

scented oils, promising her jewels, and gifts and pleasures and everything, just become my consort and she refused. He would threaten her and scream at her and roar at her. And other raksasas were tormenting her, and raksasis, ugly raksasis, horrible, demoniac beings were surrounding her practically day and night, trying to emotionally break her down to submission. And this went on for about 10 months. Vedavati performed all this tapasya and this is all she was getting. She did it all as a service to Sita Devi. Ravana would curse her; Ravana would threaten her, “If you do not submit to me I will chop your body in fine pieces and I will drink your blood and eat your flesh as my morning meal. These are your two alternatives; either live as the primary queen of all the universe as my queen or die a miserable death and be eaten by me”. Those were the two choices he gave. But Vedavati, so chaste, so absolutely pure, not even for one second ever deviated her mind from the loving remembrance of Sri Ramachandra. Lord Ram and Luxman crossed over the bridge to Sri Lanka with the soldiers of Sugriva of the Vanara race; there was a great war, ultimately Vedavati’s curse was fulfilled. All the sons, all the relatives, all the soldiers of Ravana were destroyed and ultimately Ravana fell to the ground dead. The raksasa race was exterminated of Ravana. Sita was brought back to Rameshwaram, where we will be going in a few days. It


292

Show video on sacrifice from love and cooperation clip of the mongooses and the Eagles

Conclusion

was Vedavati and after all this time, first time, Vedavati’s actually seeing Sri Ram and He rejects her. He says that, “How do I know you are perfectly chaste and pure? Living with such a great person as Ravana for 10 months, if even for one tenth of a second your mind went astray from thinking of Me then you are not pure, you’re not chaste, and I cannot have you. So you should be tested by fire”. He ordered Luxman to get big logs, big logs of trees and start it on fire, it was a blazing fire, and Vedavati, in the role of Sita, she had absolute confidence of her chastity and her purity, she walked right into the fire. It was at that time according to Kurma Purana that Agni

Deva appeared with the original Sita, Whom he had taken away and put in the care of Parvati for all of this time. And

Agni Deva explained to Sri Ram this is the original Sita, and this is Vedavati, the Maya Sita, who is taken by Ravana. Lord Sri Ramachandra accepted the real Sita as His wife. And Sita, Sita told Ram that,

Vedavati has performed such devotional service, such sacrifice under the torments of the prisonership of Ravana for all this time she did all for Me and You. So Rama said that in His next incarnation as Krishna (Balaji) she will be His consort as Padmavati in Tirumalla.

GURU 20 - Ghee

guru20 13 15

Education