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  1. Why is Vishad Yoga the name of the first chapter in The Bhagavad Gita? Is Vishad (misery) necessary to gain true knowledge? Does misery result in negative or positive progress?

    When a person goes through misery, it awakens him, and then leads him to experiences knowledge. This is why it is called Vishad. In Vishad, one keeps on seeing everything as not right. It is like a negative cloud that surrou ...
  2. Dearest Gurudev, are there any correlations between Kato Upanishad and Bardo Thodol of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, or are they two different ways to approach death?

    Kato Upanishad is an ancient text. And His Holiness Dalai Lama himself has said, "We consider Hinduism as the mother of Buddhism and it is through that that we have got our Tibetan Buddhism".So, it is from Hinduism that Buddhism has bran ...
  3. Did Lord Ram and Devi Sita really exist?

    Yes, I know that they did exist. It was seven and a half thousand years ago. Recently, scientists through some of their research have confirmed that it (Ramayana) really did happen. You know, any story which is a lie cannot stay for a very long t ...
  4. Gurudev, is Ashwatthama really alive or is it just a myth?

    Often, when someone dies, we say, ‘Long live so and so!' For example, we say, ‘Long live Indira Gandhi!’ So, chiranjeevi means one who lives in the hearts and memory of people forever. In that sense, if you read The Mahabhar ...
  5. Gurudev, many incidents or stories narrated in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata seem difficult to believe. For example, did Lord Hanuman really jump across the vast ocean? Are these real stories, a poet’s imagination or just literal metaphors indicating some deeper meaning? How do we understand this?

    See, even today you have people who are sailing around the world. Isn’t it? If people can sail around the world today, do you not think someone could have also done it in those ancient days? All possibilities exist.It is also said that Lord ...
  6. Gurudev, in the discourse on the Ishavasya Upanishad, you have mentioned that one can overcome and go beyond death through Avidya (deep knowledge of the material Creation through empirical or practical truths and observations). What does this mean?

    You should listen to the complete discourse on the Ishavasya Upanishad, where I have explained this in detail. I have not left out anything. See, when you fall ill then with the help of Ayurveda, you can take specific medicines and procedures to ...
  7. Gurudev, I am quite fascinated with the Ardhanareshwar (a composite form of the Hindu God Shiva and his companion Parvati) concept in India. Please explain this.

    Each one of you is made up of both the mother and the father element. It is through the father’s sperm and the mother’s egg that you come into existence. So in you there is half father and half mother, or half male and half female. That is w ...
  8. Gurudev, in the Ishavasya Upanishad, it is said that we can indulge in the material objects through sacrifice. How to bring this into experience?

    Ask this question to yourself before asking it to me. Every time you breathe in, you have to breathe out. Without breathing out, you cannot breathe in. You are able to indulge in anything because you leave it for short intervals in between. Is someone ...
  9. Gurudev, I am studying the Vedanta. Could you talk about the Nyaya Shastra (science of logic or reasoning)?

    Nyaya implies — the means of knowing; weather your knowledge and the means by which you gained the knowledge is correct or not. Again, it’s a great intellectual debate. There are sixteen principles of Nyaya ...
  10. Gurudev, how can I become like Bhakt Prahlada? Could it happen automatically or do I need to make an effort?

    It is like you are asking me, 'Gurudev, how I can like something? How can I like mangoes? How can I like bananas?'You have no way to like it, it simply happens. Your very desire that you want to be like Bhakt Prahlada, know that you are al ...