Meditation Talk 09 August 2017– Afternoon

Guru Nanak Sahib Redeems The Demon, Kauda Rakshasa

SAINTS HAVE BEEN COMING into this world periodically, and when They come They give salvation normally to sinners, but They have also given salvation to rakshasas, the demons, also.

In Guru Nanak Ji’s time, they used to walk from place to place because there weren’t too many modes of transport. So, once they were traveling and it took about three, four days, and they were going in a forestland. And they used to get water, but for food, they had to struggle. So, Mardana was the disciple of Guru Nanak Ji. He was getting restless. He told Guru Nanak Ji, "It is difficult for me to walk like this and I may not be able to keep up. So, I will go back home." But Guru Nanak Ji advised him to wait, so they could go to the next village and they would get food and shelter there. However, Mardana Ji was not in a position to listen and he started to leave.

Now, it so happened that the forest in which he was returning, there was a demon there called Kauda Rakshasa. And Kauda Rakshasa used to keep this large cauldron of oil and he would keep that boiling. And whenever he would find people passing in the forest, he would he would fry them and eat them.

So, when Mardana was passing through that forest, Kauda Rakshasa saw him and he started lighting the fire for the cauldron oil to get hot. Now, Mardana tried to flee from that area but Kauda Rakshasa caught him and then he tied him to the tree, waiting for that oil to come up to that temperature.

So, as the oil boiled, Kauda Rakshasa wanted to see if the temperature was right, so he put a leaf in that oil and it immediately got crisp and it got fried because the oil was all boiling and ready. And there, Mardana was perspiring and he was very scared and he was cursing himself that he had left from that place and now he was in the clutches of this demon. So, he started praying internally towards Master and he was apologetic to his Master and he was thinking to himself and cursing himself for having left there and praying to his Master to save him.

Bhai Bala was the other disciple of Guru Nanak Ji. There he was inquiring of Guru Nanak Ji as to what had happened to Mardana?

And here, Mardana was scared as he saw that leaf being fried in that oil. He felt that it was the end of him now and he was praying towards Master.

So there, Bhai Bala was asking Nanak Ji as to what happened to Mardana? Nanak Ji then told him, "He is currently tied up to a tree waiting to be fried by this demon!"

So, Bhai Bala requested and he prayed to Nanak Ji that He should help Mardana. He said, "Please forgive him for his ignorance and his restlessness. So, please forgive him."

Guru Nanak Ji told him, "Okay, he's almost going to get fried now. You close your eyes." And both of them sat for meditation and they got transported to this place where Mardana was about to get fried.

So, meanwhile, Kauda Rakshasa was untying Mardana for putting him in that cauldron and he saw that, suddenly, these two people had appeared. So, he was very delighted. "Now, I have got three people to fry!"

He picked Mardana first and he put him in that boiling oil. So, when he put him in that cauldron of boiling oil, Guru Nanak Sahib showered His Grace and, all of a sudden, that oil became very cool.

When Kauda Rakshasa saw this, he was very surprised. He felt, "Just now, I had fried one leaf and the oil was boiling to the right temperature, and when I put this person in, all of a sudden, this oil has become very cold." So, he was wondering, what happened? And he felt that it has got something to do with this person with his white beard who has come. So, he went to Nanak Sahib and he bowed before Him. He bowed down to Nanak Sahib and he told Him, "I have committed a lot of sin. I have killed a lot of people. So, please shower Your Grace on me also."

So, Nanak Sahib told him, "Okay, never mind. From now on, you have to leave all these things that you are doing and you should give water, and serve water, to the people who travel from this forest."

So, He initiated him also and He told him to do meditation. And He told him to do this seva of people so that his sins would get redeemed.

So, that way, with the Grace of the Master, this cannibal who used to eat people, he also got transformed. He started giving water and he started doing his meditation and he also became a Sadhu with the Grace of the Master.

So, therefore, Masters graced ordinary sinners, but also very great sinners and such, cannibals and people who have such bad karmas.

So, we are indeed fortunate to have been given initiation by the Masters, and if we keep this in mind and we do our meditation while we do our duty to the rest of the world, we will definitely be successful.

So, this time is good and we should make the most of it and we should close our eyes and sit for meditation now.