These 7 tirthas are

1). ‘Vidya teerthey vidvaano’ – When a scholar does an error, he rectifies it by seeking proper knowledge.

2). ‘Saadhavah Satya teerthey’ – A sage bathes himself in the river of ‘satya’ (Truth). Rather it is appropriate to say that one who lives constantly in truth is a sage. In Bhagwat – ‘satya’ is the ‘Almighty’.

3). ‘Ganga teerthey malin manaso’ – When the mind gets polluted, one goes to ganga, in the form of katha, to get purified.

4). ‘Yogino dhyaan teerthey’ – Ascetics’ faults are reformed in the tirtha of ‘dhyaan’ (Meditation).

5). ‘Dhara teerthey dharani patayo’ – Warriors’ tirtha is the battlefield. In Bhagwat, Parikshit’s (a kshatriya) battlefield was the ‘sharanagati’ (complete surrender) in the feet of Shukdevji.

6). ‘Daan teerthey dhanaaddhya’ – An affluent person gives charity and thus gets his money purified.

7). ‘Lajja teerthey kul yuvatayah’ – Young women are pure because of their demureness .

In Katha, one bathes in all the seven tirthas and gets free of the impurities.
Hare krishna hare Krishna……….

In Shrimad Bhagwat, there are 4 main geet.

1). Venu Geet - Its dominated by ‘Shrinagar’.
2). Yugal Geet - It highlights the ‘Satva tatva’.
3). Bhramar Geet - It is shadowed by tamoguna.
4). Gopi Geet - It’s a ‘Trigunaateet geet’ as it is a prem geet (full of divine love ) and as Naarad describes that Supreme love is ‘guna – rahitam’.

A true Song is the one which ends not in claps but in tears. There is no ‘vah-vah’ (congratulating tone), but ‘aah’ (pain and compassion). This song ends with the tears of Gopis and at that time their only craving was ‘Krishna – darshan’ (glimpse of their beloved). This aspiration was free of any demands and complaints.

What does ‘pranat’ mean? The most clear and apt meaning is ‘absolutely surrendered person’ (sharanagat). Pranat is the one whose allegiance (nishtha) is immovable. Even if the one to whom he surrenders is not perfect, his own strong belief carries him through and blesses him profusely. An aspirant always has to be careful about his own certainty and faith. There are some steps to become ‘pranat’ .

1st step :One who does pranaam (bows down) is a pranat. There are 3 types of pranaam.

Tamoguni – Raavan’s Pranaam to Sita Ji
Rajoguni – Sugreev’s Pranaam to Ram Ji
Satvaguni – Hanumanji’s pranaam to Ram Ji

Apart from these pranaam should be sincere (pramaanik).Sincerity is not complete without purity (pavitrata).

The common elements that make an individual impure are ego (ahankaar) and hypocrisy (Dambha).The worst kind of hypocrisy is that of simplicity (showing oneself to be very naïve). One can only get rid of such hypocrisy by doing satsang for a long time.

Ramcharitmanas says, that there are four origins of pain (Dukh)

1). ‘Kaal janya dukh’ – Pain that is inflicted by time e.g. – one gets older and suffers, sometimes there is drought or sometimes flood. One can only escape from such a pain by developing viveka (wisdom). The stronger wisdom, lesser, the pain.
2). ‘Karma janya dukh’ – The trouble comes because of one’s karma (deeds). To be free from this pain one has to learn to accept such situation with ‘tapa buddhi’ (taking the circumstances as an opportunity to do penance).
3). ‘Guna janya dukh’ – The three gunas (Rajas, tamas, satvas) dominate a person at some point of time, so one should not try to intermingle in two gunas at the same time. For e.g. If a person needs to sleep (tamoguna), he should not start working (rajoguna). If two gunas come together, they can create trouble.
4). ‘Suabhaav janya dukh’ – It is almost impossible to get rid of this pain as it is mostly self created. Only if satsang is done sincerely and then the sutras are tested on oneself, then there is slight possibility of removing this kind of pain.

2nd Step : The second step of being pranat is ‘pramaad – muktata (freedom from lethargy). The Gopis’ devotion does not bar them from doing their daily duties. They do all their daily chores on time. Laziness does not let a person to go towards complete surrender. One has to move ahead by obediently following the sutras of sadguru, only pranaam (1st step) is not enough. In the path of adhyatma,ideally,an aspirant has to remove ‘mala’ (impurities) and ‘Vikshepa(disturbing vibrations) and then sadguru takes away ‘aawaran’ (veil of maya).

3rd Step : The third step in being pranat is ‘joyfulness’ (prasannta). In every ceremony ‘prasaad’ comes in the end, which denotes that every move in adhyatma should end in joy. ‘Prasaadey sarva dukhaanam……’ Bhaktas like Chaitanya and meera have not only sung but danced in the joy of Harinaam. Krishna became ghunghuroo in the ecstatic dance. If an aspirant surrenderes to God’s will but without experiencing the joy in it, then it is a mere constraint. A pooja is only perfect when one comes out feeling the joy in the time spent in it. The journey of vibhishan towards Ramji is an example of an aspirant’s inner joy.

Yesterday three steps were discussed, one question on the first step of pranaam – How does a shishya know that the pranaam he does to his sadguru is truly sincere (pramaanik) ? The answer to this is that when one does pranaam, he should watch his guru’s charan and also watch his own feet so as to find out within oneself that to reach there what method has been used. Whether cleverness has been used or somebody has been overtaken or hurt by that? One has to look at oneself that the route to do pranaam should be free of all the faults. Pranaam should be done from ‘Pran’ (otherwise it can be considered mere exercise). Sometimes a Shishya forgets to do literal pranaam and lets his tears flow in front of sadguru, that means that pranaam reaches sadguru’s heart.
In Veda one Mahodev – a great deity , in the form of bull has been described, this deity is ‘pranat bhaav’ : let’s see what is he made up of.

This bull deity has seven hands, three of them were discussed yesterday (they were Pranaam , Freedom from tethargy and Joyfulness) now the rest.The fourth hand is
4)Trust in the Lord’s “Prachand karuna”(immesely strong grace): This karuna does not do anything just its presence makes up everything for the aspirant
5). Faith in the Lord’s “pralamb bahu” (supportive arms) : Gopis were extremely focussed on the Lord Krishna’s
a) Eyes, b) Feet, c) Arms – Arms in which one gave ‘Vardaan (boon) and the second gave ‘abhaya’ (fearlesness). To become Pranat, aspirant should have the faith that whenever I’ll fall He will hold me; whenever I will go far, he would touch me; whenever I will feel low, He would put his hand on my head.
‘ Pralamb Baahu vikramam (Aranya kand, Attri struti)
6) Complete faith on the words of ‘Ishta’ – Pranat has to have full trust on the ‘Sadguru vachan’. These days the problem is that everyone wants instant kripa but one has to understand that if our ‘hita’ (betterment) is not there, sadguru, will give some time (deri) and space (doori) to the matter.
7). Trust in the lords Supreme Power – To become pranat an aspirant should be sure of the Almighty’s supreme power and his all surrounding strength.
Now come the four horns of the bull deity. The ‘pranat bhaav’ (complete surrender) has four elements.

1). Shastra Nishtha – If one has complete trust on the ‘Shastra’, the shastra starts interacting with him.
2). Mantra Nishtha – Mantra, murti (deity) and mala (rosary) should never be changed.
3). Sadguru Nishtha – ‘Bharoso driddh inha charanha kero’ – Sadguru becomes fire, water, air, mud etc. to cleanse his shishya.
4). Atma Nishtha – An awareness is necessary that all the relations seem lovable because of atma.

The bull deity ‘pranat - bhaav’ has 3 legs, they are
1). Gyaan Yog
2). Karma Yog
3). Bhakti Yog

The bull’s 2 Heads are
1). Ashru (tears) and 2) Ashraya (shelter of the Lord)

An aspirant keeps crying, remembering the protection, love and grace of Almighty.

This ‘pranat bhaav’ is tied at the three places.
1). In the strong mind.
2). In the Weak / compassionate mind.
3). In the balanced (samyak) mind.

In this world, the more one tries to escape from pain, the trouble become more strong. And when one bravely faces any pain, the pain fades away quickly.

There can be no sourness between any two individuals when both decide to see only the positive points of the other. One should take a resolution that I would only see the positive traits of any person.

In Ramcharitmanas, Tulsidas Ji says that Samyak Kama Kroadh and lobh (balanced desire, anger, and greed) are ‘gunas’ (positive qualities). ‘ yeh guna a shadhan tein nahin hoi ……..’. The excess in these traits is not good but they are definitely necessary to some extent.

Ques. – How much time are you going to devote to the word ‘pranat’?
Ans. : There is a reason to discuss it in detail as it’s the basis of the shloka and its very important to understand it in its totality. Just like a Shiv Linga is full of offering and Shringar in the morning but is devoid of all that in the evening, only then its true form is seen. Therefore every sutra is presented in its all angled view.
Tomorrow we would see what are the desires of a ‘pranat’ or is it appropriate to say that pranat has any desires?

In RamCharitmanas, There are three types of ‘pranat’, they all have distinct desires as discussed in the concluding chhand of Sunder Kaand.

“Sukh bhavan sansaya saman davan bishaad Raghupati guna gana | Taji sakal aas bharose gaavahin sunahin santat satth mana ||”

1). Vishayi (Materialistic) pranat like Sugreev, only wishes to have luxuries (sukh) in life. Just like a bird which enters a room through an open window feels unnecessarily trapped inspite of the same route open to go out, a vishayi does not understand that the ‘jeeva’ has come from ‘sukhswaroop’ (Bhagwan) so he can only find peace by returning back to him. He wants ‘padaarth’ (worldly pleasures).

2). Saadhak (aspirant) pranat is already above luxuries but he wants to remove doubt and attachment in him. He wants the divine love. e.g. vibhishan.

3). Siddha (Seer) pranat wishes to have the prasaad (blessing of Almighty) by which he can experience the freedom from the pain of birth and death. He wants to realise God.

The Lord’s Lotus feet are such that they either fulfil all these desires or destroy them, provided one becomes a ‘pranat’.

In a Gujarati book ‘Amrit Kumbh’, there is a story. There is temple on a mountain, the deity in the temple is extremely attractive but the visitors to this temple pass through a strenuous trek in reaching there. Witnessing the large number of pilgrims everyday, the statue thought one day that inspite of being called a stone, people feel compelled to come here. At that moment, a voice came from the temple that don’t misinterpret the constant visit of the large numbers of pilgrims – they come not for you but the for worshipping underlying Truth in themselves. The statue asked, why do they come here for their own truth, the answer came that people are habituated with the custom to search their own truth elsewhere / far. Likewise, Laximiji (padmajaa) whose place is in the heart of the Lord, wishes to go down and serve is feet. Similarly Brahmaji (Padmaj) yearns to worship the Lord’s Lotus feet.

A habit is difficult to destroy but can definitely be changed. Krishna asked Laxmiji and Brahmaji that why do the covet his feet. Laxmiji’s answer was that all the signs of your feet are helpful to me. People call me ‘chapala’ (Restless) the ‘ankush’ (a goad) in your feet feet would control me, people who become proud by possessing me, Kulish (a weapon) would curtail their pride. The most suitable use of riches will be inspired by the ‘Dhwaja’(flag). And above all Laxmiji’s intention is to feel the sheetalata (soothing sweetness), Asangta (detachment) and Khushbu (fragrance) of the Lotus feet. Similarly Brahmaji says that after doing the number of recitations of different charan (parts) of vedas, he ultimately wanted to worship the Lord’s charan (feet). The Vajra ( a weapon) of Lord’s feet would control his ego as the creator. The ankush (a goad) would stop him from getting enticed by his own creation. Therefore both (laxmiji & Brahmaji) desire the service of Bhagwan’s lotus feet.

Gopis remember Krishna’s lotus feet and call for him to protect their “prem dharma”. An aspirant on the path of Supreme love, should keep the following things in mind and eventually put them into action ; as the sutra only pronounced and thought cannot ameliorate all the faults, the sutra has to be followed in life.

1). There are justified reasons to get involved in a struggle and to punish, still when one decides to forgive. This type of inclination is indication of true love.
2). One dedicates every moment of one’s life for the beloved.
3). There is only one True love i.e for Almighty (In Gita, Bhagwan Krishna says Mamekam Sharanam vraj….. ) one can serve the world but love only the divine.
4). Never, even by the mistake, feel proud of any special quality that god has bestowed.
5). The hope that the realization of god is absolutely possible, never dies. The eagerness should never fade.
6). After going through penance and long wait without response there should never be pessimistic attitude.
7). There is deep faith in the Holy name of God.
8). There is profound interest in the ‘guna – kirtan’ of paramatma.
9). There is complete faith in the divinity of the holy places.

4). Samaanta (Equality) : The earth does not differentiate amongst its creatures.

5). Udaarta (Generosity) – If one seed is cultivated in the ground, it gives rise to indefinite similar seeds.

6). Paropkarita (Benevolence) - The earth gives food for all but never asks for it.

7). Sajalta (wateriness) - No life is possible without water, it is the source of one’s existence.

8). All the elements that come from the earth are purifiers e.g. Mud.

9). Sarjanatmakta (Creativity) - The earth dwells in constant creativity.

Gopi says that all the nine character are embellished by the lotus feet by the Lord.

“Dhyeya maapadi” – Only these lotus feet are the subjects of our meditation (dhyaan) and only these can take away all over adversity. In Ramcharitmanas, in the turbulent times in Lanka, Jankiji’s only solace was the meditation of Ramji’s lotus feet. Gopis says that the charan which adorn this earth can definitely make their minds dainty.

It may be perhaps possible that the desires can be fulfilled by the world but the removal of all desires is only possible by ‘charan – aashraya’. If an aspirant finds it difficult to meditate, he can adopt one charan, one sutra from the shastra and carry on his spiritual journey.