Sharanagati

(from a talk on man’s roles with Swami Tirtha, 13.08.2018, Ludashto)

(continues from the previous Friday)

Question: You mentioned that we have to serve the female principle. Can you elaborate on that?

Swami Tirtha: It is said that you cannot be successful in spiritual life without the blessings of Shrimati Radharani. That means the female principle is a key participant here. Krishna is compared to a hill, a huge mountain full of precious stones. We are living in the plains, down. And the connection between the mountain and the plains, this is the stream, and this is Radhika. The stream will bring these precious stones down from the mountain to us.

The female principle will promote the connection between people, it will unite and bring people together. Do you agree? Money is a female principle, right? If you have money, you will have many friends. Correct – it brings people together. As soon as you don’t have that money, your friends will disappear. Or love, for example – another female energy – it will unite people again. And many others; so the female principle unites. Therefore, if we see in our partner a representative of the female principle, then our vision is very close to spiritual. And in this way it’s easier to cope with the difficult moments.

It is said that a good wife is a goddess of fortune of the home – bringing all good success, health, wealth, happiness, improvement to the home. So if we serve the goddess of fortune, all the blessings will come to us. And the next question comes: ‘How to find the goddess of fortune? So far I have found only my wife and she doesn’t act as a goddess of fortune yet. Where is my health, where is my wealth?’ But where will you find the goddess of fortune, where is her residence? Next to Vishnu, close to God! So you have to become like-a-god in order for you to have like-a-goddess as your partner.

And it really works, they are always together, it really works. After a long time this beautiful deity of Vishnu came to us. He was waiting in a shop in Budapest for years until somebody told us and then we invited Him here. And when He arrived, next weekend an unknown friend entered Ludasto. I didn’t meet this person, but somebody told him that here is an ashram. So we invited him, guided him in and he said: “Wow, such a nice statue you have here. I also have something at home. Maybe it is better if I bring it here to your place.” I said: “All right, of course you can bring it.” He didn’t specify, I didn’t know. And strange enough he came back the next day and brought this little statue. We were not even at home and he entered and brought Lakshmi Devi, the goddess of fortune. Who is that fool who will expel from his home the goddess of fortune?! But then I understood, wait a minute, if Lord Vishnu comes to you, He cannot stay without the goddess of fortune, she also came. And then financial miracles started to happen.

So it works; if we unite the principles, miracles will start to happen. Because if you associate with an ordinary woman, then you are an ordinary man. But if you associate with the divine female principle, then it is very easy, very probable that you will also qualify as a divine male principle. One helps the other to grow. If you have a real partner, then you can act like a real man. Take it in the best sense.

So in that sense I feel that the female principle is very important. And husbands are allowed to embrace the female principle in the form of their wives. But what about the poor ascetics? They cannot embrace women, at least they are not supposed to embrace women. Then what will happen with them, what about their success in the spiritual life?

The ascetic should embrace the female principle. He should not embrace a woman, but he should embrace the female principle. Therefore for a real ascetic, radha-dasyam is developed as a realization.

But there is a clash between the principle, the tattva, and the person, the individual. ‘I’m very happy to associate with the goddess of fortune, but I only have my wife by my side. And with her it is very difficult.’ Because she is an individual, she is not a tattva. But in a similar manner, if we associate with our spiritual authorities, the same problem is there. Because the guru-tattva is represented by a person, an individual. And the human side is a human side. But the divine aspect is represented by a human person. So I think, in the same way, maybe it helps to associate with the human side of the female tattva in our home.

(to be continued)