Manas Ravan - A discourse listened from Morari Bapu and to the extent I understood..

The Vyaspeeth is a sadguru in itself. The person occupying the vyaspeeth is not.

Ramcharitmanas guides the person who speaks and to those who listen. The speaker is not giving any guidance.

Yagyavalkya should be considered as a karmpeeth - platform of action.

We should learn from Ravana, we should take inspiration from Ravana.

There is no need to be have much curiosity about Ahi Ravan and Mahi Ravan rather we should know the Sahi Ravan.

Ravan is sitting in the lanka of infatuation and he is there in all ripples rising in our mind.

Ravan is not the villain, he is the counter hero.

Ram is supreme comfort, Ravana is efforts full of labor.

Ravana selected the path of attaining supreme comfort through efforts full of labor.

Ravana labored a lot with his 20 hands and didn't give anything to others.

Those who readily offer others whatever they can, don't have any grievance against life.

When a person becomes Buddha his lineage has no significance for him.

We can reach light when we move away from darkness. So we can't reach Rama without understanding Ravana.

Ravana is very close to us, Rama is far away at a great height.

Ramayana is like a power-house, like a mother.

When we weep remembering God, we are doing worship.

Day 2

An event happens due to...

there comes the right time

needed action is done

mental setup of a person

the state of person during that moment - tamasik, rajasik, satavik.

Remembering God causes purification of the intellect.

A devotee should not be so wise that he stops remembering God.

Ravana has habit of doing what Vishnu does. He want to do what others have done, even though he doesn't have any worth. Whenever we behave like this and start imitating others we should know that Ravana has taken charge of our mind. Ravana is nothing but infatuation that we have in our mind.

Ravana tried to humble King Bali as the latter was humbled by Vishnu. Those who are devotees of God can't be humbled by Ravana. So when confrontation took place Bali defeated  Ravana very easily.

Sahasrarjuna has thousand hands and Ravana twenty. He tried to overpower Sahasrarjuna. Again this is common phenomenon. We out of jealousy try to overpower those who are more powerful and get defeated. So when we act out of jealousy we are under the influence of Ravana. Sahasrarjun on the advice of Sage Pulastya released Ravana. So those who remain under the influence of Sadguru defeat Ravana easily and also don't bother to show it off to the world unnecessarily.

Baali defeated Ravana and held him in his arms for 6 months. Here Bali symbolizes ego. Those who are egoistic, they always want to show their might to the world and they suffer on this account. So Bali carried burden of Ravana unnecessarily for 6 months.

Ved say that your hands are God.

Eyes mean enlightenment, the right thought, attaining the objective.

Surdas didn't see the world by his eyes but he saw that creator of the world.

Sadguru means a person with whom we don't have any distance, we are one with him.

When we start acknowledging that we have ego we begin our journey to God.

Ravana rejected his profile presented by Angad and talked about his accomplishments.

Shiva is the ego of the universe, head of Ravana represents his ego. He offered his ego to the ego of the universe and got it back.

So here Ravana teaches us that we should not reveal only dark side of a person while introducing him but we should reveal his bright side also.

The certificate that others give us don't do any good to us and don't work for us.

The brother of infatuation (Ravana) is ego (Kumbhakarna). The son of infatuation is lust (Meghnaad).

Please note that Kumbhakarna sleeps for 6 months and wakes up only for one day. He does terrific damage to all the three worlds in one day and again goes back to sleep. Similarly we think that we are free from ego, but our ego is sleeping. It rises after a long gap and for a while and does terrific damage in few moments. Ego ends when it is subdued by God. So without God there is no end to ego.

On the other hand lust doesn't sleep a lot and remains awake though it doesn't remain awake continuously.

One can gain knowledge through...

study, experience, power of discrimination, purifying one's mind, taking shelter at the feet of preceptor, good faith.

Remembering God causes purification of mind.

Day 3

Let us think about the cause behind Ravana's birth.

Rama is causeless but others are not. If we discuss we may attain the truth. If we see the cause given in Ram Charit Manas, we know that the basis of Ravana's birth is Vishnu's abode, Vaikuntha.

If there is no Vishnu's abode, there can't be Jaya and Vijaya, there can't be any instance of declining the permission, there can't be any curse leading to Ravana's birth. So Ravana's birth is ultimately rooted in Vishnu's abode.

Those who are sitting at great heights always bear risk of a great fall. They may commit a slight mistake and fall down.

Ravana is a person and Ravana is also a tendency of mind.

Kya rog laga baithe hai, Dil humko bhula baitha hia, Hum Dil ko bhula Baithe hai.

There are four stages through which a devotee sitting in a katha passes.

He adores God at the start of Katha, this is satya yug.

The very Katha is Treta Yug.

The puja, archan done during the Katha is Dwapar Yug.

Then Katha ends and the devotee enters the Kali Yug. Here he is protected as he remembers God.

The fits of lust and anger don't last long. But greed (lobha) is everlasting.

If someone scolds unnecessarily it should be assumed that Shishupal has taken his charge.

When ego rises it affects lower limbs (style of walking), pelvic region (loses balance) and head.

His eyes, ears and mouth seek gratification of ego.

Kubhakarni Vrutti (tendency of mind) is to get much without any assimilation. Kumbhakarna devours monkeys and monkeys come out through his nose and ears.

The devotee of God is always contented. Kevat refuses gift offered by Rama for ferrying him across Ganga....

Naath Aaj Mai Kah Na Pawa | Mite Dosh Dukh Darun Dawa ||

Don't go after ownership and possession, enjoy the existence. No vulgar interpretation please.

Mera Dil Na Khila Sari Bagiya Khili To Kya Hai

Those who carry taps with them can't get any water, similarly the real bliss comes from the blessings of the true preceptor. One has to pay for one's deeds but the sufferings are forgotten by the grace of the true preceptor.

To ask for something is not good.

The exceptions are - taking donation, gift, fees, prasad, recognition (if one commands it and is comfortable with it), alms.

Infatuation makes one lose the sense of time, location and worth.