Meditation Talk - 02 Aug 2016 - Morning

There Is No Age Criteria For Devotion – The Story Of Druv

SAINTS AND MAHATMAS often give examples of Druv and Prahlad who, at a very young age of five years, did the Simran of God. Age is no criteria for doing the devotion of Lord Almighty.

Often people feel that it is only at the later years, that is, in the fourth phase of life, people should be doing devotion of God. So, oftentimes, in Uttar Pradesh, after the age of sixty or sixty-five, people go to Benares and they take initiation there from pandas. So, they go and get ‘initiation’ there from the pundits there. And they leave, eating non-vegetarian food. But, that's all there is to it. And they feel that they are initiated. But, until you get the initiation from a True Master, there is no initiation.

You see the example of Dru. At a young age, he got into meditation and the devotion of God Almighty. His story is that his father was a king and he had two wives. So, he loved his younger wife more and, as a result, the elder wife got annoyed, and she went into the jungles to do the devotion of God there since she was more devoted to the Lord.

So, Dru grew up in that jungle and his mother would teach Dru there up to the age of five. And then he asked her as to who his father was. So, she told him, “The kingdom that you see, the fort that you see ahead, the king of that place is your father.”

So, at once Dru set out to meet his father. He went walking and he gradually reached the palace, and he went inside the palace. His father recognized that Dru was his elder son and he called him. He embraced his elder son and picked him up on his lap, and there he was lovingly taking care of him. When the younger queen came, and she was envious that, if the king starts liking his elder son, then perhaps her son will not get the throne. And she, in that envy, pulled away Dru from the lap of the king and told him, “You have no right to sit in the lap of the king and, if you wanted that right, you should have been born in my womb.”

So, crying, Dru went back to his mother. And then he asked his mother, “Please tell me, are you a maid of that palace, or are you a queen?”

Now the queen, his mother, thought to herself that he is quite saddened by this experience and what I tell him now will get deeply embedded into him. She was very devoted to God, so she told Dru, “Look, in my previous birth I had not done my Simran adequately. And, as a result, I did not get the benefit of this kingdom of which I am a queen. So, I am staying in this jungle.”

Then Dru asked her, “How do I get to rule this kingdom?”

So, she told him, “What is the point of ruling this kingdom? You'll only rule for a few days. But, instead, if you do the devotion of Lord Almighty, then you will get a permanent kingdom for yourself.”

This got deeply embedded in Dru and he left for doing his austerity.

When this news got to the king, he immediately went to stop Dru from going into the jungle. And he met Dru on the way and he told Dru, “Look, don't go into the jungle. There are lions and leopards and it is not safe to go into the jungle.”

But Dru did not get dissuaded by the king. He said, “I will go into the jungle and I am going to pray to Lord Almighty and do His devotion. And I want a permanent kingdom for myself.”

Then the king told him, “Look, this is not the age to do this devotion. The age of doing devotion is actually mine. So, why don't you come back?” And then he offered Dru half his kingdom. He said, “I'll give you half my kingdom. Why don't you come back?”

But, Dru did not listen and he did not agree to this and he continued on. Because he said, “I want this permanent kingdom from the Lord Almighty.” His mother's words were deeply embedded. Dru continued into the jungle to get devoted to Lord Almighty but, without a Master, there is no salvation.

And, therefore, Narad Muni came and he initiated Dru and he told him how to do his meditation. He told him to stand on one foot and do his devotion and meditation to the Lord Almighty. And that is how Dru continued to do his austerity. He grew almost half his age while doing this austerity. He stood continuously below a banyan tree and did this.

So then, after spending almost half his life in this austerity, Lord Narayan manifested. And he said he was pleased with his austerity and he granted him a boon.

So, Dru asked for that kingdom and he was granted that perennial kingdom. And Narayan also told him, “In your fate, you also have the rule of this kingdom of your father. So, you first go, in this lifetime, you finish that, and then you will get the perennial kingdom.”

So, then he went to rule the kingdom of his father and he became a great king also. In fact, to release his brother, he also attacked the gods from that kingdom. And, after his death, he was granted the perennial kingdom and he became the king of all the stars. So, he is the king of all the stars and, as long as this world is here, he will continue to rule that. He is the king of all the stars.

So, that is the strength of Simran. And, if you do your Simran with devotion, then the Lord Almighty, God Almighty, graces you and He also fulfills your desires.

So, it is morning time and we have all woken up and our mind is fresh. We should make the most of this time. So, we should close our eyes and sit for our meditation.