1986-10-05 Navaratri, Shri Gauri Puja (Hindi/Marathi)

First, I will talk in Hindi and then in Marathi language. All of you should try to learn Hindi as it is our national language.

[Hindi Translation]

The name of Pune is famous in the Vedas, Puranas and many other such places. It is called as Punyapatnam. The river which flows in this place is called as Mula river. It has been flowing here for thousands of years and is making this place full of punyas.
We do not have a complete knowledge about punyas. Many people feel that if we give something to the poor, distribute some things, tell the truth or have certain desires then we get punyas. Maybe this collection of punyas takes place but it is like filling up a lake drop by drop. The meaning of punyas that is known is doing the work by which God is satisfied and becomes happy. We should do such works. A person who does this kind of work is really Punyavaan (one who has punyas) because when he pleases God, then God’s blessings fall upon him and he gets punyas. The powers of God which flow into such a person create something like a new consciousness or a new personality or a new status in him. This new status is such that when this person goes to any house, any country, any place, there the blessings of God start raining down. It is as if he has an umbrella and those who come under it are blessed by God. Wherever such a person lives, if there is an imminent problem in that place then it gets solved. If such people move about in cities or forests then any accidents that would have taken place don’t do so. So, those who have taken birth in Pune are special people with lot of punyas and now they have to earn more benefits through these punyas.
But when a person with punyas is born in Punya nagari, he starts comparing himself with others. He says that as I have done so many punyas I am born here but those people over here who have riches and money over here are different. They don’t know God, they don’t believe in God yet they are so rich and happy. So why am I unhappy if I have done punyas? Such thoughts come into his mind. Once these thoughts come into his mind either he says,’ So I have not understood this thing, but no problem’ and continues with his dharma or he changes himself. He changes himself by saying that making money and having material possessions is the greatest thing. So he starts running in this new race. At this point, all his punyas get destroyed.
It is very surprising to see that a person with punyas gets a desire for money. Anything can happen in Kaliyuga. It is surprising to see that in Kaliyuga, even if a Realized Soul is born then he can drink alcohol, take drugs or take to violence. It is astonishing that a Realised Soul who is full of punyas can do such things. This is a kind of a pull of Kaliyuga, its effect and its environment. Once a punyavaan person’s sees something, then his attention goes to that thing and develops a weakness for it. This is a great tyranny of the Kaliyuga upon us.
But there is a bright side to it also. If you ask that what was the need for this tyranny of Kaliyuga to come upon this earth? If Kaliyuga has come then it too must have a reason. On this matter there is something written in Damayanti Akhyaan. Once Kali came into the hands of Nala, Damayanti’s husband. Nala said,’ You separated me from my wife and caused me great pain so I am going to kill you now!’ Kali said,’ It is alright if you kill me but I too have some importance.’ Nala asked, ‘What importance can you have? You put everyone into illusions and people take to the wrong path because of you.’ Kali replied, ‘There is a great importance. When such a time comes then it will be an Agni Pariksha for man. Only then he will know who is true and who is false. This is the only way to judge how much punyas a person has. A person cannot be judged until he goes through this Agni Pariksha.’ It is also written in the Bible, that the person born in the Kaliyuga, his Last Judgement will take place. It will be seen how much punyas and apunyas he has. So, the importance of the Kali Yuga is that our Agni Pariksha takes place in this time. Apart from this Agni Pariksha, there is also a great blessing in this time. Nala was told that when this time comes, thousands of people will get their Realization, they will be emancipated, they will transform. Kali said,’ Those who are seeking God now in the hills and valleys, will ultimately find Him in Kaliyuga.’ This is the blessing.
In the middle of this time, we have come to this Punyapatnam where a person can understand the effect of punyas. But you may feel that here too the same Kaliyuga is present as everywhere else. It should be agreed upon that it is useless to talk about those things which are hidden and which are not seen. But now your awareness has opened up and when you use that awareness to know about things, then you will be surprised that in this Pune there have been works of such a depth as many saints have done penance and meditation over here. A great man like Tukaram came and lived near Pune. So this place attracts those people who seek punyas and who want to immerse themselves in punyas. It is not for those people who are seeking money or other material wealth. That is because when we collect money, power or fame, we are collecting it for ourselves. But punyas have an effect on others. For example if you have a lamp, you can polish it, make it out of gold or silver or anything else, but all that is useless if there is no flame in it. Only when the flame is lit, the lamp is useful. In the same way, man is useless, whatever he is, until the light of the Spirit is present in him. When the flame is lit in him, he becomes a punyavaan atma and the light emanating from him can enlighten thousands of lamps in the world. That’s why, the call for this puja in this punya nagari today is a very great thing.
When the Shakti is distributed through punyas, then punyas get multiplied by thousands and become extremely powerful. Punyas have many powers but if the Shakti Herself is distributed through punyas then what a great thing it is! Until now people have seen that those who are full of punyas, are troubled by others, they don’t have any wealth, they don’t have any form of protection, they are always oppressed by others, any person can take them away, any person can fool him. But when the Shakti is distributed through punyas, then a tremendous energy flows from these punyas that none can dare to touch a punyavaan person. If someone touches then he will know that there is some tremendous thing. In the same way, if a person feels that he can snatch money, cheat or trouble such a punyavaan person then he can’t do so. This is a very great blessing of Kaliyuga that this light can come and as soon as this light comes then no one can even touch you with the wrong intentions, no one can trouble you, no one can kill you, no one can snatch anything from you. You are completely protected. You will see that you will become so powerful that you can end any form of terror or problems just by standing up to it. So, the vehicle of today is the distribution of Shakti in punyas and this is what has to be achieved in today’s puja.

[Marathi Translation]

Now everyone would have understood what I have told in Hindi. Who didn’t understand? Among languages, Marathi is quite good because it does not have…. (speech unclear). Especially, I can explain Sahaja Yoga properly only in Marathi language. I told all those things in Hindi because, you will be surprised to know, Hindi people know quite less about our culture. It is not there in their language itself. They don’t know anything; they don’t know what punyas are. So, I talked a little in Hindi as you all know a lot about this. One thing I must say that the great teachings of the saints that we have got over here, is a very great blessing. Due to this blessing, we know what culture is, we know the meaning of punyas, we know what is good and what is bad, we know. We understand but do not recognize. Everyone understands that this is good and that is bad. We have done many punyas because of this. That’s why from those punyas, this punya nagari was born.
But when we see others we feel that we Pune people are not as rich as the Mumbai people. Then we feel that Delhi people are richer than Mumbai people. As Delhi is the capital, we see that the people are more respectable. But all this is on the outside. We feel that they are very great people in comparison to us. But you are Punyavaan.
However, I have seen many people in Pune who don’t believe in God. I have seen great intellectuals and vidvaans who don’t believe in God. These people have become so sophisticated and their minds are so spoilt that they say God does not exist. But if you have not seen God, you have not known Him, then how can you say so confidently that there is no God? First try to see. What are you going to lose? Nothing. So many people have talked about Him before you, were they all foolish and you are the only clever one? Without knowing Him, how can you conclude that He is not there?
It is alright if someone says, ‘If you can prove that God exists then I am ready to believe in Him.’ But if someone says, ‘I don’t believe in God at all!’ then it is very difficult to make him understand. Many people of this sort are present in this Pune city. Nowhere else there are so many people who deny God so openly. You have so many Ganpatis, so many Marutis (Hanuman) but these people are the Maha-Marutis sitting on top! Oversmart people! These people feel that whatever they say is correct and that they are extremely clever people. They think that they know all the Shaastras and they conclude that all of it is false and meaningless. So, where this punyas are spread like the fragrance of a lotus, there this ugliness has taken root. Due to this, people’s minds are full of illusions (Bhranti) in Pune.
The people who don’t understand whether Dharma exists or not, God exists or not call themselves great leaders over here. They eat money all the same and do all the wrong things. But they have an excuse. They say that if we don’t have faith in God and in dharma, why should we take to righteousness? We have become ‘modern.’ Such people are seen more in Pune than in Mumbai. There are many people here who make fun of God, who deny God’s existence and who ridicule the people who believe in God. Now, a boat drowns if there is just one hole but if there are so many holes like this then what will happen to Pune?
Some of the holes are caused by people who have a beggarly attitude. This beggarly attitude is seen in Sahaja Yoga also. Sometimes people are afraid of it. If Pune people have to be called then they say, ‘ Mataji, many people of this type will come, you see to it.’ They are afraid of this beggarly nature. I have experienced only this attitude. When we come here then people enjoy eating for free saying ‘Mother is doing everything, She is giving the money, why should we?’ This attitude shows that the heart is not rich. The reason for this is that those who teach about punyas, who ask us to do punyas, who give big lectures are themselves after money. So the rest of the people feel that this person is sitting here to teach me ‘BrahmAgnyaan’ but himself is beggarly by nature. So, all the citizens bear the results of both these things.
The first is that those people who talk about Dharma are eating your money. They ask, ‘What do you want? A boy? Alright, pay me 100 rupees. But if you give 50 rupees, then you will get a girl child!’ Then the ‘customer’ gives 108 rupees saying that he wants a boy. Why does he want a boy? That’s because tomorrow he will earn money. Nobody sees the contribution of the daughter-in-law. They want a son just to get more money. Actually, the poverty increases because of that and people become poor by nature.
Even then, now there are thousands of temples, and in every temple you have to give money to God? But does God understand money? Has He even seen money? The priests say, ‘give four rupees to this God’, ‘give one rupee to that God.’ ‘If you want to do Puja, then you bring a big coconut out of which we will give you this small piece and the rest goes into our stomach!’
By seeing these two sides, the faith in man’s mind, which should have depth, purity and trust, only has the feeling that ‘Oh now I have done this thing in the temple and that is enough. There’s nothing more to it.’ So because of this nature and this desire for money, man feels that it is alright to get money in any possible manner. Nobody thinks of self-respect. They think ‘what do we get out of self-respect? Why should we take to it?’
So because of this strange situation, we see from the nature of the people that in such a place full of punyas, we cannot see the saints. We cannot see the qualities of a saint. We cannot see a person living like a saint. A saint has so much respect! Even to invite a saint to your house needs your penance of lives together. Otherwise, he won’t even come to your door. But this is for a true saint and not for the false ones. In order for him to come to your door, you should have some punyas. But the so-called saints who are roaming in the streets nowadays do not have the sainthood. This Punya Nagari is not called so because of its temples but because of its people. How many people have the qualities of a saint here? So the punyas come here based on the qualities and character of the people living here.
So, if we earn the punyas of self-respect and self-realization and if we grow in it then there is no difficulty over here. The land in Pune is very fertile and there is no land like it in the entire universe. But if there is land then plastic trees won’t come up. What is the use of planting plastic seeds? It is a very fertile land. Also, the heads of people are very fertile! It is so fertile that you don’t know what has gone out of it and you have to be told about it. People say, ‘don’t believe in God’, ‘who is God?’ etc. All such extremely nonsensical things have come up over here. Some people make fun of God as if they are very great. They don’t have any respect for Him. The second kind of people is of those who have earned so much money in the name of dharma and who have misled so many people. I have seen many varieties of people over here.
The first time I came to Pune, there were many people and this woman was also there. A bhoot came into her and immediately she started shouting. Immediately, all the women ran to apply kumkum on her. It was the first time I saw ladies running to put kumkum on a woman in whom a bhoot had come. They then started falling at her feet. Luckily, the lights went out at that time and I came out from the back door. What could I have explained to them? So this is a greater stupidity than the other kinds. People see that something has come into her body and assume that it is the Devi. Let me ask you, is it so easy for the Devi to come into anyone’s body? It is extremely difficult. Is there any kind of body that can bear the Devi? They say that the Devi has come in her body and later if you see then this ‘devi’ is washing utensils, washing clothes and stealing money! How can Devi come into the body of such a person?
You can call this ignorance or innocence but I would call this extreme stupidity. Due to this, the people are not only misled but they are under an illusion. There are many people here in whose body the Devi comes and they faint when they come in front of Me. It had become difficult to conduct programs. I said,’ How did so many bhoots come into this Punya Nagari?’
(Recording ends abruptly)