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Diary Entry

by Sri Chinmoy
while in residence at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, India

9 June

Nolini-da said to Dikshit-bhai: “Ah, bonne fête à Dikshit-bhai. So how old are you? No! I must ask you how young you are.”

Dikshit said: “I am only 72.”

“Then you are younger than me by one year only.”

Dikshit-bhai said: “We want to remain young; therefore the Mother has kept us young! We are Her children.”

Nolini-da said: “You are right, absolutely right, Dikshit-bhai.”

Both of them exchanged soulful smiles.

Published in A Service-Flame and a Service-Sun

God’s Brightest Heaven and Man’s Surest Haven

A talk by Sri Chinmoy
in the Peace Room of the United Nations Church Centre

Of all the divine qualities, unfortunately Light is wanted the least, even though it is needed most by all. People want Love, Peace, Joy and Power, but very rarely they want Light. Unconsciously or consciously, they are afraid of Light. They feel that the effulgence of Light will uproot the ignorance-tree that they embody. They feel that the Divine Light will expose their imperfections, limitations and bondage. This is not true.

The Divine Light embraces the world in all its ignorance. Further, the Divine Light feels that it is its bounden duty to elevate the human consciousness into the plenitude of the Life Divine.

If the animal in us, if the human in us, really want a Divine Life on earth, then we have to cry, cry like a child for God's Compassion-Light, which is at once God's brightest Heaven and man's surest Haven.

Published in The Garland of Nation-Souls

On Patriotism

Answers by Sri Chinmoy
to questions asked by disciples on a bus trip from New York to Boston

Question: Is patriotism in a dictatorship as meaningful as patriotism in a freedom-loving country?

Sri Chinmoy: There is a great difference between patriotism in a dictatorship and in a freedom-loving country. Even though a dictator may have patriotic feelings for his country, there is always a sense of conscious ego inside him. He wants his country to follow him. He feels that he deserves the love of his countrymen more than anybody else does. He feels that he is the supreme authority on the country and the country’s welfare. The dictator does not love his country as such. He loves his own capacity to rule the country. In a country under a dictator, patriotism will be a forced love of country, commanded by a higher authority. One person’s love of his country in an authoritative manner will be executed in the minds and lives of many. The many have no choice of their own. They cannot express their love of country individually.

In order to give to the country one’s own inner and outer feelings unreservedly, one must always try to live in a country not controlled by a dictator. A freedom-loving country wants to liberate itself from human sovereignty. The country loves freedom because it feels that in a life of freedom it can achieve more light, more joy, more satisfaction. A sincerely freedom-loving country will not try to get freedom by hook or by crook, but by soul’s strength and inner cry so that it can offer its capacity, its achievement, to the comity of the world. The patriotism of a freedom-loving country is for the country’s sake, for the country’s benefit, not for the aggrandisement of someone’s ego in a clever or unconscious way. In a freedom-loving country patriotism is a conscious prayer, a conscious concentrative force to spread freedom so that the country can achieve and distribute love-light to each countryman and to the world at large.

Question: What can patriotism achieve for a country?

Sri Chinmoy: Patriotism can achieve for a country the message of oneness, the message of satisfaction, the message of human perfection and God-manifestation. The country is the mother. In order for the mother to be pleased and fulfilled, she has to be given the full opportunity to feed her children unreservedly. The mother gets this opportunity when the children want from her what she has: her love, her concern, her blessing, her compassion, her sympathy, her feeling of oneness. A patriot can offer his need to the mother country. When he tells his country what he needs, the country gets the opportunity to offer it to the individual.

Again, when a patriot becomes a real lover of his country, then his love enters into the country. First he cries for love from his country and then he gives it his own love. When he feels he has no love, he cries for the mother to give him love. When the mother gives love to him, he feels that he has abundant love and he offers it back to his country. When love of country and love from country are simultaneous, the message of oneness, the message of satisfaction, the message of human perfection and God-manifestation can dawn in a country.

Question: What is the best way to develop or cultivate a patriotic feeling towards one's country?

Sri Chinmoy: The country has to be taken as a mother. When we think of our mother, what do we think of? Her affection, her love, her sympathy, her sacrifice. The moment we think of her sacrifice, the moment we think of any good quality of hers, our heart becomes flooded with gratitude. When we have even an iota of gratitude for the one who has loved us and will love us always, we increase our capacity to please that person, to fulfil that person. By being aware of what our country has done for us or has given us or will give us, we develop and cultivate the capacity to love our country.

Question: How can the feeling of patriotism help one's spiritual life?

Sri Chinmoy: The real spiritual life is the life of acceptance. In order to be patriotic one has to accept one’s own country as one’s very own. I love my body, I love my vital, I love my mind, I love my heart, I love my soul, and I love my God. I have to feel that what I love is ultimately my love for my own existence, my own transcendence, my own perfection. I love God for my self-transcendence. I love a human being for my own expansion. I love a country for my own expansion, and my own perfection.

Love is oneness. Love is the completion of perfection. If I love my country, I have to know that the country also has a soul, the country has a body, the country has a reality. If I love the reality in anything, that means I am loving the source. The source is spirituality; the source is divinity. If I become one, inseparably one with something, that means I have established a higher, a deeper, a more meaningful reality within me. It is like this: if I really love the creation, then I have to love the Creator; if I really love the Creator, then I will definitely love the creation. God is the Creator and the country is the creation. We cannot separate the two. Even if the creation has millions of defects, just because we love the Creator, we love the creation.

The Creator is also bound to love his creation, and vice versa. If we identify ourselves with the Creator, we will definitely feel love for the creation. If we identify ourselves with the creation, then it is our bounden duty to love the Creator. A child may be born blind and deaf, but the mother feels he is the most beautiful child on earth. Why? Because the child is the mother’s own creation. The world will say that he is blind, he is deaf or he is ugly, but according to the mother he is most beautiful, he is most perfect. The mother’s sense of perfection or beauty does not depend on others’ judgement or others’ way of seeing the reality. The mother will see according to her own understanding, according to her own awakening, according to her own standard. She will love her child no matter what. In the case of a country, if we take God as the Creator and become identified with the Creator, then naturally what the Creator has created — our country — we will love. And if we love the country — the little child who is deaf and blind — then we will be able to go to the Source, God.

Either we appreciate the source and then learn to appreciate the creation of the source, or we appreciate the creation and then learn to appreciate the source. Our country is the creation and God is the Source. Either from the seed we go to the fruit or from the fruit we go to the seed. In this way if we develop love for our country, then spontaneously we shall develop love for our Source, the Supreme Creator.

Published in AUM – Vol. 2, No. 7, 27 July 1975

Sorrow and Joy

A talk by Sri Chinmoy
at the YMCA in Rome, Italy

I wish to give a short talk on sorrow and joy. Sorrow is an inner experience. From this experience we come to feel that life has no meaning and no purpose, that we are travelling along a road that has no goal.

Joy is also an inner experience. From this experience we come to feel that life at every moment has some special meaning, that life has joy as its goal right from the beginning. Early in the morning the sun dawns. As soon as we look at the sun, we get joy. Then we pray and meditate. From our prayer and meditation we also get joy. Then the members of the family meet together and sit to eat. Here they get joy from the union of the family. Then each human being enters into his respective work. Work is nothing but self-giving, and self-giving is the best kind of joy.

What does sorrow do? In the beginning sorrow breaks our heart; then it strengthens our heart. In the beginning sorrow darkens our mind; then it illumines our mind. In the beginning sorrow takes away all the life-energy from our vital; then it gives our vital a new hope, a new promise and a new light. It strengthens and inspires our vital with a new determination. Sorrow throws our body into a sea of helplessness; then it lifts our body up and teaches our body how to swim in the infinite sea of Light and Delight.

Joy, in the beginning, gives our heart infinite peace. Then it gives our heart continual confidence to do something higher, better and more divine. Joy, in the beginning, expands our mind, expands the vision of our mind. Then joy gives our mind the capacity to hold the whole world inside it. Joy, in the beginning, gives our vital the strength of a roaring lion. Then it looks around and inspires everyone who wants to lead a better life. Joy, in the beginning, gives our body the capacity to grow into something beautiful, luminous and fruitful. Then it gives our body the capacity to see, feel and talk to God inside itself.

We are living on this earth planet. The earth planet is full of sorrow. There are many reasons why our earth planet is full of sorrow. But the main reason is this: earth wants to realise the highest, the absolute highest, but it feels that it is simply impossible because there are millions and millions of people who do not want to lead a spiritual life.

Like the earth-consciousness, Heaven is also unhappy. Heaven wants to manifest itself on earth. It wants to manifest God’s Peace, God’s Light, God’s Beauty on earth. But earth is not receptive at all. Therefore, Heaven is also unhappy.

On very rare occasions, when earth sees even one person who wants to lead a pure life, a life of aspiration and dedication, at that time earth is happy. When one person wants to go up, when one of her children is going up, earth feels extremely happy. Similarly, on very rare occasions, when one person is receptive, Heaven becomes very happy, because that person makes a pathway for Heaven to descend and manifest something of God’s Light.

God has two aspects. One aspect is His human aspect, the other aspect is His divine aspect. God is inside each of us. When He uses His human aspect He feels sad, because He feels it will take man such a long time to reach his goal. When He uses His divine aspect, He does not feel sad. At that time He is dealing with eternal time.

Man also has two aspects. One aspect is his desiring self, the other aspect is his aspiring self. When man lives the life of desire, he finds only frustration; and frustration is the harbinger of destruction. When man lives the life of aspiration, he eventually gets everything that God has and is: infinite Light and infinite Delight.

Published in My Rose Petals, part 5

Victory

A lecture by Sri Chinmoy
at his apartment in Manhattan, New York

Everyone needs victory. An animal needs victory. A human being needs victory. The gods need victory. But what the true victory is, this we have to learn.

There are two kinds of victory. One is transient, transitory, like a mound of sand. The other is eternal, everlasting. When we gain victory by force, this victory does not last. But when we gain victory as the result of our soul's oneness with the Supreme and our soul's delight, this victory lasts for good.

A man who is by nature cowardly wants to conquer fear. If he can conquer fear, he feels that he will become his true self, his fearless, divine self. A poor man wants to be rich; he wants to become a multimillionaire. By amassing money, he feels that he will gain victory over his poverty. A spiritual man wants to conquer ignorance, limitation, bondage and death. By conquering ignorance, he feels that he can become one with Immortality.

In order to achieve victory, we must have patience, we must have endurance and, most important, we must have will-power. If there is no will-power, then it is useless to fight against anything or to try to transform anything. What we need most is will-power. This will power is the conviction of our soul. That is to say, it is our soul's will and determination.

The Indian seers used to sing that human beings want to achieve victory over everything and everyone except the members of their own family. A father does not have to win victory over his children; a spiritual Master does not have to win victory over his disciples. Otherwise, in all other fields one wants to achieve victory. But unfortunately, those golden days are no more. Now what do we see? Today parents often compete with their children. They feel jealous that their own children can do wonderful things which they themselves cannot do. In the States, I have seen many families where the parents are competing with the children. In India, however, most often we see that the parents identify themselves with the children. This is the right attitude. The parents should dream all the time of their children. It is their own dream that is going to be transformed into reality in their children. They must feel that their children are the continuity of their own life-energy, So all parents, instead of competing with their children, should encourage and inspire their children to go far, farther, farthest. They should all feel that their children's achievements are their own achievements. They should never separate themselves from their children's achievements and goals.

Unfortunately, there are spiritual teachers who practically act the same as ordinary human parents. They do not allow their disciples to go beyond them. They simply push them down. But, to be very honest with you, these teachers are never realised souls of the first order. They are only partially realised. If one is truly spiritually great, he will get the greatest joy if he sees his spiritual children surpassing him. I shall be full of pride the day I see any of you go beyond me. I will have infinitely more joy and pride than the one who is actually surpassing me because, at that very moment, I shall feel that I am breathing his life-breath. In his achievement, I am there. I can never be separated from my disciples' achievements, realisation and fulfilment.

So, the true spiritual Master, instead of hindering the disciples' progress, will always come forward to inspire, help, guide, push and pull the disciples to go beyond, beyond, beyond even his own achievements. That is because he has such oneness with his disciples that he feels that their progress is his own progress,

There are many cosmic gods with limited power who try to prevent great aspirants from achieving the highest spiritual height. These gods very often try to keep an advanced seeker from obtaining spiritual perfection. They bring forward innumerable obstacles, temptations and what-not. But the great seeker overcomes these obstacles and marches to his goal. When he reaches his goal, this is the highest victory, the victory of the Real in him. And this victory brings him Immortality.

I wish to tell you a personal experience. Perhaps all of you know that I used to be a good athlete. I used to stand always first in running, sprinting and so forth. Each time, after the race was over, the other competitors on the track used to observe my face. Right after the competition, they used to see a sense of satisfaction and joy dawning on my face; but the next moment they used to see something else in me. I used to enter into the consciousness of the runner who came in last in the competition. My achievement was over, but I used to enter into his failure and become totally one with him, so that I could taste how painful it is to be last in the competition. His sorrows I used to take as my own sorrows. And when I became part and parcel of his existence, of his suffering, only then did I feel that I had achieved the real victory. This identification was far from contempt or pride. It came from love and a feeling of oneness. I used to get infinitely more joy and delight from my identification with the one who stood last than I got from my original success. So I wish to tell all of you here, please try to identify with others in their suffering, in their joy, in their achievement, in their frustration and in their fulfilment. The moment you can identify with somebody else, you will see that you have expanded your mental and psychic horizon. And the more you expand, the greater shall be your joy and fulfilment. What is the greatest duty in human life? Self-conquest, the conquest of one's own self. That is to say, the conquest of the lowest self, the animal self, in us. We have two selves: the animal self and the divine Self. We have to conquer the animal in us and place this animal consciousness at the feet of the Divine, the Supreme.

Who actually wins the victory when we conquer the animal in ourselves? It is not us, but God the Supreme within us, who wins the victory. There is a significant story in the Upanishads. Once the gods won a victory over the demons and naturally their pride knew no bounds. They thought that they were fully responsible for their victory. They felt that it was their own strength and power that enabled them to defeat the demons. The Absolute Brahman wanted to smash their pride. So he disguised himself as a brahmin, an old man, an invalid, and approached the cosmic gods. They were a bit surprised and they asked him what he wanted. Then he said, "I do not want anything from you. I just wanted to know what you are boasting of." So they said "We have just won a victory over the demons with our strength and valour, so we are rejoicing." The old man said, "Well, just do me a favour. I am leaving a piece of straw right in front of you. I wish one of you could blow it away or do something with it." So the wind god came and tried to blow away the straw, but the straw did not budge an inch. Then the fire god, Agni, came and tried to burn the straw: but alas, fire could not devour it. Like this, it went on and on.

Finally, Indra, Lord of the gods, came in. When he came, the brahmin disappeared and in his place there was a goddess in a column of light. Indra asked the goddess about the mystery of this brahmin. The goddess said, "It was not a brahmin, it was the Absolute Brahman who wanted to show you the Truth. It was with His strength that you conquered the demons. You people have no power. It was the Brahman Absolute who wanted to humble your pride and teach you that it was not your strength that won the victory, but His strength.

So, whenever we achieve success or attain to some perfection, we must feel that it is the divine power that has enabled us to do so. We need the help, we need the blessings, of the Supreme. The Supreme wants us to be freed from the fetters of our ignorance. The day we are freed from ignorance, His joy will know no bounds. Right now, we have veiled the divinity inside us. With the blessings of the Supreme and the guidance and loving concern of a spiritual teacher, the pilot of our life-boat, we can easily unveil the divinity within us. At the same time, we can swim across the ocean of ignorance and enter into the ocean of Light. When we enter into the ocean of Light, what we see and feel and become is victory. And whose victory is it? It is the Victory of the Supreme.

Each human being is consciously or unconsciously aspiring for the Victory of the Supreme. But he who is consciously trying to achieve that Victory undoubtedly will reach his destined goal sooner. God's blessings are constantly being showered on us. Our aspiration is a mounting flame that must reach His Feet of Protection. In man's case, it is all hope. But in God's case, it is not hope; it is certainty. It is as true as the truth that today precedes tomorrow and tomorrow succeeds today. Forward, children, forward! On to Victory, on to Truth and Glory! Forward, children, forward!

Published in Warriors of the Inner World

The Statue of Termites

A story narrated by Sri Chinmoy
at Aspiration-Ground in Jamaica, New York

There was a very, very great sage. His name was Rishi Bhrigu. This story is about Bhrigu’s son, Chyavana.

Now, before the story starts, let me brag. Thousands and thousands of years ago, Bhrigu cast the horoscope of all Indians, believe it or not! For all Indians who have taken birth and shall take birth, he cast the horoscope. My eldest brother, Hriday, happened to be a very good astrologer who could cast horoscopes. In India, there are two ways to cast horoscopes. One is Bhrigu’s way, and then there is another way. My brother had tremendous admiration and adoration for Bhrigu because Bhrigu was a very great sage, so he cast my horoscope according to Bhrigu’s system. There it is written that my horoscope is the same as the horoscope of two spiritual Masters of the highest order. With one spiritual Master, I had eighteen “rooms” in common; with the other spiritual Master, I had twelve or thirteen. My brother could not believe it.

My brother also found that it is written in my horoscope, “At the age of twelve, he will meet his Guru and his fate will entirely depend on his Guru.” There it stopped. Bhrigu did not go on. And I became permanent at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram at the age of twelve! This was what appeared in Bhrigu’s system.

Bhrigu's wife’s name was Puloma, and they had a son named Chyavana. He also became a very great sage. He was the discoverer of Chyavana Prash, a kind of vitamin, which people still take today. If you take it, immediately you become stronger than the strongest!

At a very young age, Chyavana wanted to enter into the forest and pray and meditate. Because his parents were spiritual, they were so happy that at such a tender age their son wanted to devote himself to the spiritual life.

Chyavana went into the forest and found a very secret and sacred place to live. Nearby was a small pond where he used to bathe every day. He had told his parents not to bring him food because he wanted to depend only on the fruits that he found in the forest. Instead of being concerned or worried, his parents were very happy. They gave Chyavana full permission. They thought that if he went on praying and meditating with such intensity, he would definitely be able to realise God.

Chyavana meditated, self-absorbed, for years and years and years at that sacred place. His whole body became covered with termites, but he did not care. He was completely invisible inside the mound of termites. There were only two little holes, near his eyes, and from those two little holes, a little, little light was coming out.

Near the forest there was a small kingdom. One day the king of that kingdom went to the forest with his entourage to hunt and to enjoy a picnic. The king had a young daughter who was most beautiful, and she also accompanied her parents. Her name was Sukanya. They were all roaming, roaming in the forest and enjoying themselves.

When the young girl saw a kind of statue covered with termites, she experienced a certain curiosity. With malicious pleasure, she took a stick and poked it inside the two holes. Then more light was coming out, but at the same time she heard somebody inside full of agony, crying and crying. She immediately ran away when she heard the human voice.

Then, what happened? All of a sudden the king and the queen and all those who were with them became ill. They started suffering from various diseases. The restless girl saw that her parents and others were suffering, and she said to her parents, “Perhaps this is the result of my poking something into the eyes of somebody inside the termite mound.”

The parents came to the place where their daughter had found the termite mound. There they saw an old man covered with dust, holding his eyes. He said to them, “I came here as a young boy. I have been praying and meditating for years. Now I am an old man, and this is what your daughter has done! I am suffering so much. Still, I have not cursed her. I could have cursed her, and I could have killed her with my yogic power immediately. But I did not do that.”

Then the king and his wife begged for forgiveness, forgiveness, forgiveness. The sage said, “I will forgive you, but on one condition: your daughter has to marry me. Who will take care of me now? I am an old man. I cannot remain inside the termite mound any longer. Now I have realised God, but I am suffering so much.”

The king was ready to go on suffering rather than allow his daughter to marry this old man. But Sukanya said, “No, no, no! I will not allow you and my mother and our dear ones to suffer. I am ready to marry him, and I will give my life to serve him because I am the culprit. I did this, so I will marry him, and I shall be very, very devoted to him.”

The parents were helpless. Against their will, their beautiful daughter married this very old man. Then the old man and his wife went deeper into the forest to live. There they remained for a number of years. Sukanya kept her promise and she was extremely devoted to Chyavana.

One day, Sukanya was roaming around in the forest when she saw two young men. They were the physicians of the Cosmic Gods, named Ashwini Kumar. The Ashwini Kumar are two different persons, twins, but in Indian stories they are taken as one because they are so close.

These two physicians of the Cosmic Gods happened to be in the forest. They were so moved to see this young girl. They exclaimed, “You are so beautiful! Are you married?”

She said, “Yes, I am married.”

Then they asked, “Is your husband as beautiful as you are?”

Sukanya started to reply, “Why should my husband be…,” but before she could finish, they said, “Oh, you are married. We are sorry. Otherwise, we would have married you.”

Sukanya became furious. “I have been so faithful, so devoted to my husband!” she said. “I take care of him. If I have shown sincere devotion to my husband and if I have rendered him service for so many years, then definitely I have acquired some inner power. I will use my inner power and burn you two to ashes!”

At first the Ashwini Kumar were amused. Then, when they looked into her eyes, they got frightened. “O My God!” they said. “No, no, no! Please forgive us, forgive us. Can you take us to see your husband?”

Sukanya brought them to see Chyavana. When the Ashwini Kumar saw that he was so old, they were shocked. Inwardly, they thought, “How could such a beautiful young girl be married to such a shrivelled old man?”

Outwardly, they said, “We have the capacity to turn your husband into a handsome, young, strong man. Our medicine has that power.”

Sukanya said, “I do not want you to use your power. Even though my husband is old, I have such love for him, such devotion towards him. I do not want you to change anything. I will continue loving my husband as he is. I do not need him to be young and handsome.”

Then the sage spoke. He said, “I would like to see what happens if I am released from my old age and my youth is restored to me once more.”

Again Sukanya objected. “I love you so much! You do not have to be beautiful and strong.”

But her husband insisted. “Please allow me. I want to become beautiful and young and strong.”

The two physicians, Ashwini Kumar, said to the sage, “If we do this for you, will you do us a great favour?”

“Yes,” he answered, “I shall fulfil your desire if it is within my capacity.”

Hearing these words, Sukanya interrupted. “Your capacity? There is nothing that you cannot do! You can do anything. Let them make you young, since that is your wish, and you will easily fulfil their desire, whatever their desire is.”

Then the Ashwini Kumar explained their desire. These two physicians were not actually Cosmic Gods. The Cosmic Gods drink a special kind of nectar called soma rasa. For them it is like wine, but it is totally different from our earthly wine. You cannot describe it in words. Human beings cannot drink it, but spiritual Masters of the highest order can drink it. I myself was fortunate enough to drink this special kind of nectar in the inner world.

Since the Ashwini Kumar were not Cosmic Gods, they were not allowed to drink soma rasa, that very special nectar. They were excluded, so they were very miserable. Chyavana asked them how he could help them to drink it.

They replied, “You will perform a special sacrifice, a yajna. At the end, because you are such a great yogi, you will be able to produce that special nectar. Then the Cosmic Gods will come to drink it. And since you are the one who performed this yajna, this sacrifice, you will allow us to drink it.”

Chyavana immediately said, “Of course, of course I will allow you!”

Now the story takes another turn. Chyavana agreed to perform the special sacrifice, but he was not rich enough to execute it. For this particular sacrifice, a large amount of wealth was necessary. In the meantime, the physicians kept their promise and turned him into a most beautiful and powerful young man.

Many years had passed since the king and queen had seen their daughter. In their heart of hearts, they were still very sad that she had been compelled to marry such an old man. They said, “Perhaps, by this time, our son-in-law is dead. He was an old man when first we met him. Perhaps our daughter has also given up her life. Let us go into the forest and see if there is any trace of them.”

The king and queen and their entourage came to the forest. Soon they saw a young man meditating, with light radiating from his entire body. The king and queen were so miserable. Where had their beloved daughter gone? Perhaps she had also died at the same time as the old man. They decided to approach the young man and ask him.

Very respectfully, they went near him and said, “Many years ago, we left our daughter in the forest. We thought that we would find her here with her husband. He is a very, very old man.”

“I am that old man!” said Chyavana. “I am no longer old.”

“No, you cannot be the same one!” they cried. “We saw you with our own eyes. How old you were! Now how can you be so young, so strong and so virile?”

Chyavana assured them, “No, no, I am the same person.” Then the king and queen saw their daughter walking towards them. They were still stunned. “What has happened, what has happened? We cannot believe this is your husband.”

Sukanya smiled at them and said, “Yes, he is my husband.”

“How? How could you have married such an old man, and now — ?

“No, no, no, it is absolutely true.”

“Then who did it?”

Sukanya explained, “The Ashwini Kumar did it. Now they have asked us for a favour, so we need your help.”

Without even knowing what they were supposed to do, the king and queen said, “We shall help you. Now that you have such a young and handsome husband, we are so happy.” Sukanya told them how they could help her husband perform the special yajna to obtain the soma rasa. The king spent a very large amount of money and then Chyavana performed the sacrifice.

The time came when the soma rasa was produced. Then all the Cosmic Gods came to partake of it. Indra came first. The two brothers, the Ashwini Kumar, were watching.

Chyavana, the sage, said to them, “You drink.”

Indra became absolutely furious, because he knew those two brothers well. He knew they were not Cosmic Gods, so he wanted to kill them. How could they dare to drink the nectar that was meant for the Gods!

But Chyavana had tremendous occult power. From his forehead he brought out not a divine being, but a demon, and this demon was most, most powerful and most frightening. Chyavana gave it the name Mada. Mada immediately began chasing Indra. It was going to kill Indra, so Indra ran and ran for his life! Then Indra came back to the sage Chyavana and begged for forgiveness.

Chyavana said, “These two physicians, the Ashwini Kumar, I am now ranking as Cosmic Gods. From now on, they will be able to drink soma rasa like you.”

The Ashwini Kumar drank the nectar first, and then Indra was allowed to drink. All the other Cosmic Gods who had gathered saw the power of Chyavana. If they disagreed with him, then they, too, would be in serious trouble, so they all drank.

Then Chyavana granted to this demon, Mada, the boon that after the Cosmic Gods had finished drinking, he would also be able to drink the nectar. And this is what happened. Then the sacrifice was all over. The king and queen blessed their son-in-law and their daughter, and Chyavana and Sukanya returned to the forest. There they lived for many, many, many years.

Published in The Power of Kindness and Other Stories

An Experience at Dal Lake in Kashmir

A story by Sri Chinmoy
at his home in New York

Many years ago, after looking at Dal Lake while on a boat, I wrote a poem: Ei jibaner mahanander.

There were many boats. I chose the boat called New York. Some little children were sailing in the tinier than the tiniest dinghy. They were selling lotuses. They asked me for money, so I gave them money. Instead of giving me a lotus, they just disappeared in their tiny raft. This is deception!

A few days later I went to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. My two sisters, Lily and Arpita, were sitting on the floor. I sat on my cot and I sang this song for the first time. I got the inspiration and the words at Lake Kashmir, but I set the words to music in our family's house at the Ashram in Pondicherry. It is difficult, but it is a beautiful song!

Ei jibaner mahanander halo aji puta bhor 
Aloker sathe mitaii karechhi nahi ar ama ghor 
Asha sindhur parapare heri turiya dhamer tari 
Hriday gabhire arun charane bandini sharbari

Today the hallowed hour of Highest Delight has dawned in this life.
Today I have made friends with the Light of the Supreme.
Darkness no more, darkness nowhere.
Beyond the river of hope I see the
Boat of the Transcendental Realm.
The night of aeons is captured
And its surrender is made in the deepest
Depths of my heart,
At the feet of my inner sun.

Published in I Thank You