Ram Katha is a cow of plenty in this age Kaliyug). It is a beutiful life-giving herb for the virtuous. It is a veritable river of nectar on the surface of this globe. It shatters the fear of birth & death and is a virtual snake for the frog of delusion.

1. Bhookh/bheekh - Hunger may lead to beggary, so every person should be provided with enough food.
2. Bhool - Wrong decisions by so-called gentlemen should not be repeated. Mistakes of some people may lead to misery of others.
3. Bhoomi - Land should not be exploited in a way that leads to barrenness and should not be divided unnecessarily.
4. Bhaya - Fear leads to mental terror; it should be removed at all costs.
5. Bhrum - An individual cannot grow with doubts, avoid disbelief.

RamKatha is the ‘Kaamdurga’ (holy cow that fulfills every wish) for aspirants of Kaliyuga. In fact, country’s every cow is a provider for its dependents. Ram Katha is the medicine for faults of decision-makers. RamKatha is like the life giving river to barren lands. RamKatha is the destroyer of doubts and fears of  aspirants.

Each of the seven kand of Shri Ramcharitmanas denotes a dominant Sutra.

An individual should neither aspire to become a deity or fall down to  become like a demon; he/she should try to become a good human being.

Question - Villagers may not understand your katha, so what can be about that?

Bapu’s answer - I don’t want to address the villagers, I would rather distribute love and affection to them! My address is for the urban people who can understand the sutras and reach out to those lying in backward villages and help them to better their livings.

Aashirwaad is not just giving blessings to others for comforts and fortunes; it actually means to have courage to take away the sufferings of those who bow down to you.

The scriptures are not just for ‘paatth-paarayan’ (study or recitation); they should be in fact revered and loved. Bapu says, ‘ I personally have a strong faith in paathh, but loving a scripture is more important. Saadhana also should not be done stressfully, so that you don’t forget to love people around you.’

In the last katha, Bapu mentioned the five vices (paap) of present times. He repeated them here for reminding the listeners once again. They are as follows:

• Naari ninda - Western cultures have witnessed ill treatment of women at many places. Whereas, Indian thought bows down to women in the first place - ‘Matru devo bhav’. Every woman should be treated with respect.
• Don’t ignore the common man; reach out to the last person. Never insult anyone- move yourself than removing others.
• Dwesh-drishti - abhorrence towards others is a vice. Bhagwad Gita says that the one who neither expects nor has hatred towards anyone is a sanyasi (ascetic).
• Asahaj jeevan - Live in your originality, don’t try to imitate others even in the spiritual field.
• Never create hurdles in the worship pattern of others. Do not disturb in anyone’s time of bhajan.

According to Vaartik-kaar, a Sadaguru has three kinds of knowledge:

• Smriti gyaan - he has realized the reality of self, so he can help the aspirant to go on the same path.
• Anubhav gyaan - he has experienced the knowledge of scriptures in his own life.
• Upeksha gyaan - he is free of duals like hatred/attachment,  appreciation/criticism etc.

An ideal action has three results:

• removal of faults
• attainment of qualities
• gaining of some profit.

Followers of religion may be of various types like following:

• Maanane wale - who believe.
• Jaanane wale - who know.
• Jaagane wale - who become aware/enlightened.
• Jeene wale - who practice/live the sutras.
• Peene wale - who absorb the good things from wherever possible.

Tulsidas jee equates Shri Ramcharitmanas with the ‘KaamDurga’ cow. So, it can be said that the four legs of Shri Ramcharitmanas (if seen in the form of a cow) are chaupais. Dohas come out of the process of milking it. Sorttha is the yogurt made by the milk. The yogurt (sorttha), when stirred by thoughts results in chhand. And the final product is ghee (Clarified Butter), it is in the form of Shlokas of Shri Ramcharitmanas.

Tulsidas jee also equates a cow with shradhha (faith) - ‘Saatwik shradhha dhenu suhaai | Jaun hari kripa hridaya bas aai||’. A person is known by his faith. J. Krishnamurthy said that faith is indispensable for a human being. But it is seen that faith may be of two types:

1. Aham-poorna (full of pride)
2. Aham-shoonya (free of pride).

If a person becomes self-righteous of his good deeds, then his faith might be egoistic. But if the person maintains a realization that he’s just a medium for doing the good deeds, his faith will remain free of ego.

The more a person is free of ego; more the Sadaguru enters his heart. Sadaguru’s samaadhi may be made on a piece of land, but he actually places himself in his shishya’s ego-free faith.

When a cow is milked, it gives four things: - dharma, arth, kama and moksha. In the literal sense, cow’s milk is used for religious purposes (dharma), if sold it fetches money (arth), engages a person in work (kama) and makes person free of worries (moksha).

According to Aadi Shankaracharya (in Vivek-chudamani), a person can be described as ‘Jeevan-mukta’ (human being who has attained salvation while being alive) if he does not carry the weight of regret of past mishaps and worries of future. He just lives in the present and makes the most of every moment in hand. He goes through the circumstances with a fair attitude (udaaseen) without getting stuck with positives and negatives. An aspirant who becomes spiritually aware lives beyond the constrains of paap-punya (vice-virtue). One should be careful about not getting involved in vices (paap), but if they do happen, then don’t even get scared. Vices don’t stand a chance in front of the grace of Sadaguru and power of Harinaam.

There was a set of questions for Bapu.

Question: Whom do you love next to Manas?
Bapu's Answer: My listeners who listen to Manas with respect.

Question: Why do you recite only RamKatha, why not Krishna katha?
Bapu's Answer: Both are one. In Bapu’s words, ‘my tongue speaks about Bhagwaan Ram and my tilak is about Bhagwaan Krishna.’

Question: Which is a greater scripture- Manas or BhagwadGita?
Bapu's Answer: Every scripture is great in its own way; there cannot be any comparison. Yoga is described in Bhagwad Gita, but its experiments (prayog) are done in Manas.

Question: Please explain the joy you feel by RamKatha?
Bapu's Answer: Joy can be felt, it cannot be explained. Joy may be in many forms, not just in one.

Question: People usually respect you. Have you ever experienced insult?
Bapu's Answer: Both, respect and insult, are waves that don’t carry any weight. For me, Love is supreme!

Question: Which religion impresses you most after Hinduism?
Bapu's Answer: Every religion that propagates satya (truth), prem (love) and karuna (compassion) is respectable for me.

Question: Do you practice Yoga, any favourite aasan?
Bapu's Answer: I did try this path in my initial years, but realized that it was not in accordance to my nature, so left it. Every kind of exercise happens effortlessly on my Vyas-peetth.

Question: What is the most significant incident of your life?
Bapu's Answer: Every katha is a new and significant incident of my life.

‘Vajan’ (body weight) and ‘Bhajan’ (worship), both should be balanced. The body should be taken care of as it is essential for life and worship is the basis of spiritual growth. Both can remain balanced if a person follows a natural way of life (sahaj jeevan).

Before you leave an addiction (vyasan), take steps to leave the pride of leaving the addiction!

It has always been the need of society and time that the eminent/influential personalities of every field, whether religious or political, should reach out to the last person. The union of both can be called as merger of ‘Shloka with Lok’. Bridges should be built amongst all the strata’s of society. Bapu says, ‘every day my katha begins with the verse Lokabhiraamam…sharanam prapadye. To choose this shloka for beginning was a sub-conscious thought then, but it seems very valid for today. The mantra starts with remembering the common man (lok) and ends with surrender (shloka).’

In the main chaupai of this katha- ‘Sujan sajeevani moori suhaai..’, Tulsidas jee mentions that RamKatha is a medicine for the decent people (sujan) who lie unconscious for some reason. A person can be described as ‘Sujan’ if he/she has following five qualities:

• Suvichaar - Noble thoughts.  An individual should try and analyze the positive and negative thoughts he/she had for others everyday. Transparent living encourages auspicious thoughts. Try not to cultivate any hatred towards anyone who holds enmity with you. Don’t ask the Almighty for fortunes; but ask for good thoughts!
• Suvachan - Good words. Speak truth, but not in a harsh a way.
• Sukaram - Do good deeds according to your capacity.
• Sudarshan - Positive viewpoint towards everything.
• Sushrawan - Listen to good and inspirational thoughts.

The practice of child abortion, especially of female foetus should be completely avoided. The doctors should not encourage or indulge in child abortion. If a girl child is killed in womb, it is like assassination of seven qualities (vibhooti) of Bhagwaan Krishna that are inherently present in a woman.  

The shrewdness of an individual prevents him/her from getting close  to the Lord. Just like devatas were not able to remain with Bhagwaan Shankar in his marriage due to their cunningness. In fact, innocent bhoot-pretas were seen close to him than them.

Question - In the main chaupai of this katha, it is said that RamKatha is like a remedy for the righteous people (sajjan) who have become disheartened due to some reason. But, the question is that why should a person be righteous (sajjan). What does an individual gain if he becomes sajjan?

Bapu’s answer - RamKatha is an energy booster for sajjan; it recharges the righteousness of an aspirant. So it is essential to be in touch of satsang. Youth should attend at least one katha in a year. As for the gains of being a sajjan, Aadi Shankaracharya jee describes the benefits in a shloka of Vivekchudamani - “Vishudhh satvasya gunah prasaadah aatmanubhootih paramaashantih trpitih praharshah parmaatma nishttha yayaa sdaanand rasam samrichhatti.’

When a person decides to walk on the path of righteousness, he attains following traits:

• Prasaad - Joyfulness of mind. A truthful person’s mind remains joyful, whereas a hateful person cannot experience true joy.

Question - I try to make people happy; others do get happy but not the family. I have been devoted to Bhagwaan Ram and Hanuman jee but fail to make family happy. What to do?

Bapu’s answer - It is easy to make outsiders happy but the test lies in making the own family happy. Continue to do your efforts sincerely and Lord may help you. But, still if they are not happy, then just understand that you’ve won and they’ve lost.

Bapu’s answer - Just study Manas with faith and devotion, a stage will come when chaupais will reveal their meanings themselves. Just be patient and faithful.

Bapu’s answer - Hanuman jee.

Bapu says, ‘If anyone asks me about what is my aim and I have to provide an answer, I would say that it is good that the knowledge (gyaan) of Manas spreads but I would be more happier if there would be more of recitation (gaan) of Manas in an individual’s life. Recitation ultimately leads to attaining happiness and gaining knowledge.’

Every individual should do efforts at own level to create harmony and peace amongst communities and sects. Do not worry about or wait for large-scale steps to be taken for creating unity; just start at your own level. Even if you fail, try at least!

Tulsidas jee equates bhakti with Ma Ganga (sudha-tarangini)..Like the flow of Ma Ganga, bhakti (devotion) should also flow continually and not become stagnant. Maintaining devoutness in the feet of the Lord or Sadaguru denotes that like feet represent movement, devotion should also progress with time.

Question - Can you please explain the ideology of Acharya Madhusudan Saraswati about the origin and development of devotion.

Bapu’s answer - The Acharya explains eight aspects of origin and development of bhakti in his ideology.

1. Nisargaja - the bhakti inclination comes through family tradition.
2. Sansargaja- when an aspirant creates a particular relationship with the Lord, bhakti starts flowing.
3. Opamyaja - when an aspirant finds someone who seems like the Lord to him, he gets devoted. A committed shishya has such devotion towards the Sadaguru, where Sadaguru becomes the God for him.
4. Adhyaatmaja - devotion comes from the nature of inner self. An aspirant should do spiritual efforts also according to one’s nature and not according to what others say and do. Don’t bind yourself in too many rules (niyam) as there arises a risk of becoming robotic in religious practices. Love and devotion should not be bound in rules.
5. Abhiyogaja - If some divine touch takes place, devotion starts automatically.
6. Samaprayogaja - when there’s a union of shishya and Sadaguru, Devotee and the Lord, devotion occurs spontaneously.
7. Abhimaanaja - An aspirant gets conscious of the fact that he has a Lord to take care of him; he/she becomes a devotee.
8. Samaarogaja - devotion is when one is eager to listen, touch, smell, see and feel the essence to the Lord.

Don’t let the doubts created by others enter your mind; these are borrowed doubts. Keep on self-analyzing yourself if you want to be really spiritual. Beware of every kind of doubt!

The Almighty is the combination of positives and negatives. One may see all kinds of extremes in the creation as everything runs in a balance here.

RamKatha is like the divine nectar (amrit) that brings dead alive and also does not let the living die. Even if the devotee dies physically, the amrit keeps alive his/her goodwill and qualities; just like the fragrance of a flower remains even if the flower is crushed. The flow of the nectar of RamKatha may seem culminating in the form of God, but still does not end literally; it just takes different forms and remains ever after-‘ Hari anant hari katha ananta…’

There are two poles of living- sansaar (worldliness) and sanyaas (asceticism). But for ordinary people, there is a middle path of ‘kutichak sanyaas’ where one can live an ascetic life in spite of living in the world. It refers to a person who lives with son or grandson (maintaining safe distance), eating the food without being demanding, gradually distancing oneself mentally without hurting the sentiments of family members and also not displaying your spiritual stage. Bapu calls this middle path as ‘samyak samajh’. There should not be any show of your spiritual state as the display reduces the amount of result that can be got from it. But, it is seen that people are more interested in showing off their spiritual efforts rather than experiencing the essence and joy of them. One should continuously do self-analysis, as it is a must for an aspirant. Even if an aspirant tries to get away with show off, his Sadaguru can make out his spiritual stage with just one glance.

Bapu says, ‘Kroadh bodh ka kalank hai, yaad rakhna!’ whenever you get angry, you are tarnishing the knowledge given by your Sadaguru, always remember that!

The whole creation is like a great scripture of which every page and chapter is filled by God. Vinoba jee used to say that every page of this book only explains that the whole creation is a form of the Almighty. But it so happens that an individual is not able to like the form of God that is close to him (paas ka ishwar janchata nahi) and neither is able to assimilate the form of God who seems far from him (door ka ishwar pachata nahi).

Question - Why do you give more importance to masti (joyfulness) than mukti (salvation)?

Bapu’s answer - Salvation is usually talked about, whereas everyone can experience joy.

RamKatha is so powerful that it creates fearlessness in an aspirant’s life from every angle. One can take shelter in four - RamKatha, Bhagwaan Ram, Ram naam and Ram doot (Hanuman jee). The four are different names but they are actually one element. If an aspirant holds on to any one of them also, he would be free of fear. Bapu says, “In fact, I can promise that you will be completely free of fear if you hold on to Ram naam. And even if you remove the first three and just keep Hanuman jee as your refuge, you’ll get the refuge of all the four, as Hanuman jee contains the rest three in himself.”

The points of fear can be following, but the aspirant who is constantly in the shelter of the Almighty, he/she will be free of every kind of fear:

1. King/Government - An aspirant would not be scared of politicians or leaders. In fact, sometimes the politicians would be afraid of him; his truth would keep them alert!
2. Enemy
3. Thief
4. Spouse - there would be cordiality with the spouse and not fearfulness
5. Death
6. Sadaguru - An aspirant becomes fearless in the shelter of Sadaguru. Aspirant should carry ‘samidh’ (wood sticks) that represent the various duals (pain-pleasure, respect-insult, sorrows of past-worries of future etc.). if an aspirant surrenders these duals, Sadaguru takes him to the stage where he grows beyond them and experiences true joy.

‘Bhaya bhanjani bhram bhek bhuangini..’- Tulsidas jee says that RamKatha is like a snake which eats up the frogs of doubts in a person’s life. Frogs are fidgety (fuss/uneasiness or restlessness) , so they don’t remain still; likewise is with doubts, they seem small but are very disturbing.

Doubts look for a chance to arise and develop into superstition. Try to be as away from them as possible.

Bapu says, ‘ I feel that an individual can become a saadhu spontaneously, if there is no doubt and no ego left in him.

Please take care that they (doubts) do not enter your mind. Anger, greed and desire are not as dangerous as doubt and ego! Sadaguru can help a lot as he eats up doubt and ego when a shishya surrenders. But if he’s in solitude, his food is Harinaam. Sadaguru becomes a mother for the aspirant, so provides solace to him.

Question - Prem can be two-way or one-way?

Bapu’s answer - In the initial stage of prem, one asks for prem from the other, in the middle stage, both experience prem for each other and in the highest stage, one gives more and more prem unconditionally without expecting from the other.

Question - Does a person become a ‘paapi’ with one mistake?

Bapu’s answer - Committing a mistake is not a ‘paap’, but not  admitting it and being hypocritical about it is a certainly a vice (paap)!

Question - Should we do spare 10% of our income for charity even if we are under debt?

Bapu’s answer - In that case, repay your debt first and then when you are done with that, then give 10% as charity. But, if there’s no debt, every individual should donate some part of his wealth for welfare of others.

Question - If you don’t consider anyone as your shishya, then whom do we accept as our sadaguru?

Bapu’s answer - I have no shishya nor any group; the whole world is my family as I believe in ‘Vasudhaiv kutumbkam”. If you really want a Sadaguru, you can accept Shri Ramcharitmanas or Hanuman jee as your Sadaguru. They would not ask for anything but will eliminate your fears and doubts. A Sadaguru works on the mind of an aspirant and washes away the faults; his work in not just about giving a rosary or deeksha.

Question - It is seen that you don’t force anyone for anything, there is no aagraha from you?

Bapu’s answer - I think forcing anyone for anything (keeping an aagraha) is a kind of mental violence. If asked, I would say here is that if you can keep your surroundings/environment clean (baahari swachhata) and inner-self pure (bheetari pavitrata). 

Every individual should be given freedom to grow with inherent qualities. Restrain yourself from finding faults with others. Never blame others for your problems. If you try to blame others or even exploit others for your good, then just understand that you have lost consciousness (behosh).

RamKatha never finishes; it actually finishes those who are committed to it! It destroys the faults and prejudices of the devotee. A story gets over with time but katha is eternal-‘ Hari anant hari katha ananta…’

“Ramahi sumiriya gaaiya ramahi | Santat suniya ram guna graamahi ||”

The chaupai prescribes the saadhan (efforts of spiritual field) for Kaliyuga, the present times.
Sumiriya - Remembrance of God is the best yagya.
Gaaiya - Reciting/singing the glory of the Almighty is a form of charity (daan). Singing out of devotion removes the pollution from the environment.
Suniya - Going for katha, managing in whatever resources is penance (tapa) for listeners.
The above three sutras also connote - satya, prem and karuna.

Remembrance of God is the ultimate truth/satya (Sata hari bhajan jagat sab sapna..), singing for God comes out of love/prem and listening to katha happens only with God’s grace/karuna.

Question - There have been various descriptions of ‘Ram’. Is Ram one or many?

Bapu’s answer - There’s only one Ram, the supreme power. But like one sun has different reflections in different containers, the projections of Ram takes place in every heart according to one’s nature and interest.

Question - How do we appease Hanuman jee?

Bapu’s answer - The best way to make Hanuman jee happy is to recite RamKatha for him with total faith and devotion.

“Paai na kehin gati patit paavan ram bhaji sunu satth manaa|

Ganika ajaamil byaadh geedh gajaadi khal taarey Ghana ||”- Tulsidas jee says that RamKatha worked for the most down-trodden people also. But, for people like us, we have the inclinations of such people, RamKatha can work for us in removing those negativities. ‘Ganika’ is our corrupt intellect, ‘Ajaamil’ is our unhealthy mind, ‘Byaadh’ is our egoistic hunting tendency, ‘Geedh’ is our hypocrisy when the show is of goodness and the thoughts are demeaning, ‘Gajaadi’ is our intoxicated state due to arrogance- all these inclinations are treated by RamKatha effectively.