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Devas and Asuras

The path of prāṇa leads to the nectar within. Prāṇāyāma consists of inhalation, exhalation, and breath retention. These practices affect the entire being. The story of the churned ocean reveals inner truths. Devas and asuras represent the qualities within us, churned by the mind. The nectar of immortality emerges from this inner struggle. This nectar is within the bindu cakra. The divine incarnations during the churning are metaphors for inner processes. One door awaits all: death. Your karma guides you beyond it. Therefore, never commit violence against yourself or others. All qualities sleep within; they awaken based on your actions. Search within, not outside. The final goal is pure prāṇa, leading to Brahmaloka. Practice diligently and purify your being.

"Everything is within us. That immortality, that nectar, is within us."

"Rājā raṅg fakīr, king, beggar, and saint, I have to go through one door."

Filming location: Vép, Hungary

Good morning—or rather, good noon. This is the second day of this seminar for this group, and we begin again with prāṇa and prāṇāyāma. I will not start from the very beginning, as many of you have instruments at home—computers, iPads, iPhones—where you can listen to the lecture on this topic. There are about four stations on Swamiji TV: one for Europe with two quality levels (high definition and medium definition), one for Pan-America, and another for Australia, Japan, and that part of the world. According to the different time zones, you can benefit anywhere there is an internet connection—on the lake, on an island, in the forest, anywhere. We are continuing with the subject of prāṇa, and generally we begin with prāṇāyāma. There are three different kinds of prāṇāyāma: Pūraka, Rechaka, and Kumbhaka. Pūraka means inhalation, Rechaka means exhalation, and Kumbhaka is retention of the breath. There are two kinds of Kumbhaka: Antar Kumbhaka and Bāhya Kumbhaka. Antar Kumbhaka means holding or retaining the breath inside, and Bāhya Kumbhaka is retaining the breath outside. These three prāṇāyāmas are the general categories. We also perform natural Kumbhaka all the time. When we inhale and then exhale, there is a little gap between inhalation and exhalation where we hold the breath. Similarly, when we exhale and then inhale, there is again a gap. In this way, we are doing natural, spontaneous Kumbhaka and Rechaka-Pūraka. So there are only these three prāṇāyāmas. For different purposes, there are different kinds of breath techniques. Every prāṇāyāma has a particular effect on the body, mind, emotion, intellect, and consciousness. One person is researching a particular prāṇāyāma called Śītalī, where you breathe with the tongue and teeth. He has written a lot about the benefits of Śītalī and Śītkārī prāṇāyāmas. Śītalī prāṇāyāma is performed by pressing the tongue towards the teeth and exhaling between the teeth—similar to how a cobra breathes. Śītkārī is done by turning the tongue back, rolling it into a pipe. It is not difficult; everyone can roll their tongue. When you are very thirsty and there is no water, you can quench your thirst through this prāṇāyāma. Every technique has its effect on our whole being. Once, at an international yoga day program in Vienna and New Delhi, a person said, "The kuṇḍalinī and cakras are not part of yoga; people created them later." The next speaker explained that, in fact, the cakras and kuṇḍalinī came first, and he explained it exactly. Sometimes people try to say, "Oh, kuṇḍalinī and cakras came afterward." Secondly, they said Āyurveda is 5,000 years old. I made a correction: "Please make the correction. You do not know how old Āyurveda is. When you do not know, do not give a limitation of years. The whole world knows how old Āyurveda is." Āyurveda is from the time in Satya Yuga when the ocean was churned and fourteen valuable things emerged. They are called the fourteen jewels—like precious stones or pearls—during the search for nectar. Finally, the nectar came. There was a dispute between the asuras and devas. Asuras, in the European way, you may call satanic or devils, and devas, the gods. They were fighting for the kingdom of Svargaloka, the most beautiful and best places. If you are very old and enter Svargaloka, you become 25 years old. Who would not want to go there? Then age does not change; you remain ever young. There is too much temptation, which is not good. In Islam, it is said that when you do certain things, you will come to heaven or Svargaloka or paradise. When you come there as a man, you immediately get seven women, virgins. Are there so many virgin girls there waiting? Are there few men? Who knows if you will get seven? Perhaps you get nothing. These seven represent some qualities, but if you do good karma, good things… Because to die by suicide is one of the most terrible karmas, a sin. God gave you this human body, which is very rare, so do not kill your body. The soul will not come to the good lokas; it will go to a lower life and begin again from reptilians. Never think to commit suicide—never do it. If you do, it is painful, and you come into darkness. It is not a good procession; you will suffer. You will be questioned on many things by Yamas. You broke the cosmic law. Just as you have to obey the law of your country—and anyone who enters your country’s territory must respect its laws—so too must you respect cosmic law. These things are not good: to commit suicide or to kill someone. Both karmas are very bad for you, so one should not do either—kill others or kill thyself. God has given a particular time; on that border, you will die. Everyone has to go through the same door, whether you are Hindu, Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, or of any religion; whether you are religious or not religious; whether you believe in God or not. At the end, there is only one door, and through this door you must go. That door is very famous, very beautiful, but nobody wants to go through it. It is death. This door means death; finally, everyone has to go through death. Rājā, Raṅg, Fakīr—these are three personalities. Rājā means king. Raṅg means common people or beggar. And fakīr is an Urdu word; they also call them Sufi. Fakīr means a saint—you can say priest, monk, sādhu, or fakīr. Mahāprabhujī wrote a nice fakīrī bhajan: "Rājā raṅg fakīr, king, beggar, and saint, I have to go through one door." One goes through that door riding on an elephant; one goes with hands tied; and one goes with free decision. A saint or fakīr has free decisions. A king goes with all his dignities. Others are sinners who did bad karma—bad karma means killing: killing physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, politically, economically, etc. There is one door, that is death. Then, where will you go? Who will guide you further? That is your karma. Therefore, to kill someone or to kill thyself both have very bad results. Never think of suicide, and never think to kill someone. That is called ahiṃsā—ahiṃsā towards thyself as well. Do not torture yourself through different kinds of drugs. Do not torture yourself with laziness, anger, hate, jealousy, etc. The devas and asuras are within us. They are all peacefully resting within us, but when something happens, they wake up. Anger wakes up, hate, jealousy, kāma, krodha, lobha, moha—oh, God—one after another, the devil wakes up. Or kindness, humbleness, understanding, sweet words spoken, dharma, helping, etc., may awaken. These are our vṛttis within us, and the ocean is our existence, our consciousness. The spinal column, or this kuṇḍalinī, is that snake. Our spinal column is like a mountain. Both qualities—our negative and positive qualities—are fighting, churning to gain something according to their taste and interest. Churning is our mind—what we call overthinking. We said manana: think over, think over, think over; research, research, research. Within thyself, you will get the result. Everything is within us. That immortality, that nectar, is within us. There are so many qualities sitting in us. It is said that you cannot hide from anyone. We can try to hide perfectly, but your Ātmā knows what you are doing, what you did, and God knows. This is our destiny, which will churn us for many ages through different lives—or liberation awakens the good qualities. Finally, the nectar comes out. That nectar means it can wake up a dead body into life. This whole forest is dying, drying, and suddenly rain comes. It is nectar; again life is blossoming. That nectar is with us too, in our bindu cakra. So manana, nididhyāsana, manana jyohay—think over, think over… Finally, Bhagavān Viṣṇu appears and brings that nectar. Viṣṇu has to take another incarnation. First, Viṣṇu becomes the turtle and goes under the ocean, supporting our spinal column. Brahmā here in Brahmāraṇḍra is balancing. Then Viṣṇu had to take a second incarnation at the same time: that is Dhanvantari, the god of Āyurveda. Dhanvantari brought the Amṛta Kalaśa. One day before Dīvālī, we worship Dhanvantari, who brought nectar. It is such a season where all of nature offers us all kinds of fruits, grains, nuts, etc. We worship God Dhanvantari on that day. The emblem, the principle, the God of Āyurveda is Dhanvantari, as Bhagavān Viṣṇu. Further, you know the whole story—the Kumbh Melā was also created because of this. One thing you should know: Viṣṇu comes once, and then his duty is finished. That is why in the 14th chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā, Kṛṣṇa said, "Time to time, yuga after yuga, every yuga, I incarnate." Now he came as Dhanvantari. The devas took the nectar, the asuras took it, and they took it and ran away—sorry, they took it too quickly. That was the legend, the stories in which the nectar fell. At the Kumbh Melā, there is still fighting. The devas want to have all—this is also selfish in some way. The rākṣasas are also right, but the devas do not want to give to the rākṣasas because they do not want to have any more. The rākṣasas also want to have a nectar, a big bite. Again, everything was against Dharma. So again, Viṣṇu incarnated. This time he incarnated as a woman. Many times, women can do the best work. You cannot solve it; they can solve it. If the husband follows the woman, the husband will be happy. But the ego of the husband does not allow him to follow his wife. Finally, he has to give in to the hand of the wife. She is a Lakṣmī, but there are again two qualities in women—I do not want to tell now—because there are also different qualities in men. The best one we call is a Lakṣmī: she is like a Lakṣmī, like a Sarasvatī, like a light, like a Gaṅgā, like a divine mother; she has many divine qualities. But at the same time, she is a ghost, she is this—I do not dare to repeat these names because then my heart starts racing. They are all sleeping inside, in all of us. You will find nowhere; do not search outside, search within thyself. A Sufi saint said: "Moku, where are you looking for me? I am with you. Oh, my friend, what are you searching for outside of me? I am within you. Moku, where are you looking for me? I am with you. My hut is outside of the city, but my residence is in your breath, ascending and descending breath. If you search for me, I will meet you immediately. Within one second, you will see me. But how will you search for me? That is a technique, and it is called complete surrender, unconditional devotion. You will get it." These are such good bhajans. They gave us the key. Now, if you can open the lock, you can open it. But be careful: there are two locks—one is the devil’s, and one is the devil’s. These two locks, two doors, are the two parts of the heart. Yes, both awake here. Or, in two hemispheres, fair. Everything is divided within us. So Viṣṇu came again. You will say that Swamījī forgets and goes on another path. I am not going another path; I am just looking, securing everything, and then walking on the same path. Bhagavān Viṣṇu knows in which situation how to act—that is it. These were the two, rākṣasas and devas. Of course, the women do not have such a game. The women say, "How stupid these men are." That is why the jail is full of men—prison. There are few women because women already have the jail: the household. She is imprisoned by her husband, even when she is working outside. When she comes home after work, the children say, "Mommy, mother, we are eating." And her husband comes home from work and says, "You did not prepare food." You know, if there were no women in this world, you know how it would look? But without men, the world would be dark. So you both are inside—day and night, day and night. Day and night, do not fight; alright, let it be. Have a good night. Bhagavān Viṣṇu thought, "If I come as a man, there will be a third war again." So he came as a very beautiful woman. Every woman is a very beautiful woman. Only men should have good eyes to see the heart of that person. That beauty is within, not with makeup. The reality is behind the makeup. That is why it is called Mālāvikā Śepa and Āvaraṇa. Women are behind the Āvaraṇa, behind the curtain. Their beauty, their kindness, their good qualities are behind that. The Upanishads say the first god is mother. Anyhow. Bhagavān Viṣṇu appeared as a Mohinī. Her name was Mohinī, meaning very attractive, so beautiful, so divine, so goddess—all kinds of the best qualities. Of course, it was Viṣṇu. Mohinī came and took the Amṛta Kalaśa. "Do not fight. I will give to everybody." Before she came, she was dancing—Viṣṇu was dancing because he learned from Śiva. It was such good dancing that the rākṣasas were hypnotized, and the devas were also smiling. Then she easily took the nectar pot in her hand; they did not even realize the pot was in her hand. Always, Viṣṇu does some māyā. Māyā means illusion; māyā means ignorance. So everybody is in ignorance. In one part, beautiful colors—Viṣṇu created between the wall inside. In 1975, the first thermos was manufactured so that people happily bought a thermos that had two parts inside. One side was coffee, and the other side was tea. The husband wants coffee, and the wife wants tea, and they press one button: from the same thermos comes coffee, and from the same comes tea. This was very well-known. Do you remember? Double thermos. There was also double cassette playing. I know; I have memories still a little bit. I am not… so what I am telling is not a story only, but reality. There were two more, but I… that I am not going to tell you. Otherwise, the lecture will become very new. You say, "Swamiji, where is your prāṇa?" But I am bringing prāṇa for you, to explain that. Mohinī said, "Devas, stand here, and asuras stand here. Do not fight. Keep your cups in your hand." Everybody had a cup in their hand, and now Mohinī is dancing. Mohinī is manipulating—that is Mohinī manipulated. She is dancing, coming, and going to the rākṣasas. She pours from that Kalaśa Amṛta, and the rākṣasas take it, thinking it is nectar, and they drink. What is that? Vodka! Anuchka! "G’day, my vodka!" And they become dizzy; they see one Mohinī in many, many forms. Wherever they look, they see only Mohinī. Then she goes to the devas and gives from the same pot into their cups. It is nectar. They drink nectar and say, "Ānandoham, Ānandoham." The asuras sing something different, and they are dizzy. One of the asuras thought there must be something wrong. In these dealings, there is something black. So the rākṣasa went behind Mohinī, and where she was giving to the devas, he also kept his hand like this. Mohinī put the nectar in the cup of the rākṣasa, and he drank quickly. Viṣṇu realized—Mohinī—ah, this was a rākṣasa. Again, my story, my game will not be successful. Ask Viṣṇu how many times he lost a game. Then Śiva comes and manages everything. Mohinī changed her form again into Viṣṇu and took the Sudarśana Cakra to kill that rākṣasa. But that rākṣasa said, "Oh tricky Viṣṇu, now your Sudarśana cannot do anything. The nectar is already in my navel. You can cut me into pieces, but I will not die." The head went away and became Rāhu, and the trunk of the body became Ketu. Now, if you know something about astrology: among all constellations, there are two—Rāhu and Ketu. When Sun, Moon, and Śukra—these four come together on your constellation, according to astrology, you will be in many troubles, or you will be dying. But I am not going that way. Rāhu is our friend; Ketu is our friend. When they come, we give them also prasāda—we give them real prasāda. It is said—Jādūl Janter Mahāprabhujī said—if you are positive and good, nothing happens to you. Rāhu said to Viṣṇu, "Whenever you want to do something good, I will come and destroy it." And so it happens every Kumbha. I am telling you, but nobody is listening to me. When there are a million sādhus and saints, why does tragedy happen every time in the Kumbh Melā? I told them it is Rāhu. They should make a Rāhu temple, and also, at the beginning of the Kumbh Melā, perform the pūjā for Rāhu. It will not happen anymore because he also asks for his right. This was that story in Satya Yuga. So Amṛta means Āyurveda. That Yuga was how many million years? Satya Yuga, Dvāpara Yuga, Tretā Yuga, Kali Yuga—four Yugas. How can they say Āyurveda is 4,000 years old? Make a correction and write a letter to Āyurveda, Āyush. Similarly, they say another thing is also so many years old, so I said, "Okay, if you do not believe the Satya Yuga, then when God Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa… He went to Sri Lanka, and Lakṣmaṇa got the arrow and died. Thanks to Hanumānjī, he flew immediately to the Himalaya and within half a night brought—what did he bring? Sanjīvanī, the herbs. This is Āyurvedic herbs. When was God Rāma? 10,000 years ago. So how can you make it only 5,000 years? We have to make a correction. We have evidence. Why not?" Now, this nectar is within us—through our Kriyā, what we are learning, our cakra balance, and our Bindu and Prāṇa. This is the science of yoga, and it is the blessing of Alak Purījī, even to Mahāprabhujī, Devpurījī, Mahāprabhujī, and Gurujī. Gurujī gave to all of us equally—to you and to me. You are lazy, you are sitting, and you gave me the duty to talk, so I am doing sevā. There were many signs when I went to Alak Purījī’s kingdom—yes, that kingdom is our kingdom. Alak Purījī showed me the path from that Vasudhārā; then he showed me—I told you too—many… It is like a very thin, big, long, long plastic—it means like a milky road. I was alone. Suddenly, all were with me, here and there, and I had to walk through the stones, up and down. I looked up, and that was connecting to me. This is a reality; I am not making a story. So Alak Purījī showed me again this path to Brahman. But my story is different. I will tell Alak Purījī: "I will go on this path, but not alone. All my bhaktas go with me. This is a condition." Okay? So now I have to deal with Alak Purījī. Do you agree? You got the protocol? Yes. Okay. So the prāṇa—all is a play of the prāṇas. These prāṇas will lead us till Brahmaloka, and Brahmaloka is a prāṇa: so pure, pure energy. The space, light, sound, and prāṇa—we are there. So just do your best, what you can. Practice, but if you have one negative thought towards me, it is not towards me. It is the Alak Purījī seed, so it goes through that. I am only a medium between—that is it. So prāṇa—the prāṇa, you see, each and every… Leaf stopped. What is Swamiji talking, yes? Who stopped these leaves, Alak Purījī? Not me, but it will come. So it means you are all sitting under the Dharma tree because you are all full of Dharma. So delete, kick out all your āsurī śaktis. Calm, crude, mad, lobha, moha, ahaṅkāra, rāga, dveṣa—all out. And be happy. Do not worry. Niśaṅkakabhimatā dhāraṇā tum nirvayoḥ, niśaṅkak sattva Gurujī. Sattva guru nāma se jā bhavatāraṇa nirpaya hari nirmukti paryāse milanā. God of God, God of God… God of God.

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:

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