❤️Is Love Really What We Think It Is? | Dr.Gautham | VOM | Telugu Podcast #voiceofmogasala

❤️Is Love Really What We Think It Is? | Dr.Gautham | VOM | Telugu Podcast #voiceofmogasala

Author Name:VOM | Voice of Mogasala

Youtube Channel Url:https://www.youtube.com/@voiceofmogasala

Youtube Video URL:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7NckDpzWco



Transcript:
(00:00) One, two, three, four, four. Someone who knows nothing about love, trouble, or making money, even they give philosophy. I'll tell you what I think: I've done all this. Sir, when someone tells me, "I loved like this and suffered like that," I think to myself, "Man, did you love even better than I did? Your love stories are better than mine.
(00:24) " Where I felt jealous was when you mentioned the count. You said your wife knows everything, right? It’s about not breaking a relationship 200%. We should correct each other and maintain a healthy bond. A comment will immediately pop up saying, "What if both are fools? What to do then?" What else can we talk about with these egoistic people? That needs to be reduced.
(00:49) When we asked, "How much do you love your wife?", you wrote that it's an accidental love. You have 100 reasons to break up, but you need just as many reasons to stay together. I ask, "Why should I compromise?" Try compromising and see what happens. It feels good to compromise. To those whom you consider your whole world, you must surrender 200%. Oy, oy, oy, oy.
(01:11) I feel like getting married a little, just a little. Tell us your thoughts about Bhimavaram. People from Bhimavaram don't care if others are watching. His tone is a bit sarcastic; he's saying hi. Hi. So, if you're a son-in-law, you should be a son-in-law of Bhimavaram. If you are a son-in-law in that belt, they feed you really well.
(01:29) We went to someone’s doorstep; they say, "You haven't eaten? How can you not eat? Come in." They force-feed you. When my friends came, I brought them and said, "I’ve already eaten. Why are you idiots forcing us to eat?" They say, " All of you eat, it's fine." They keep pestering, "Eat, eat, you must be hungry.
(01:47) " I asked for a signature Bhimavaram style, a dialogue they use often there. For us, swear words are filler words. In our place, conversations always include them. Bhimavaram is like the Las Vegas of Andhra. Especially during Sankranti, we have a different vibration. Anyone who enjoys themselves to the point of being overwhelmed with joy just needs to visit Bhimavaram during Sankranti.
(02:13) For three or four days, they forget to sleep or eat—just drinking and gambling. They live in a different world. Once they come, they don't want to leave. What is that, sir? I feel like getting married a little. Daddy, daddy, daddy...no, seriously. Greetings, Gautam sir. Yeah, greetings. A doctor from Bhimavaram has come among the people today to talk about spirituality.
(02:53) I am listening to all these points, and I want to know how Gautam sir thought in his early days. When people change, they say many things in many ways, sir. Many people give messages like, "I changed this way, you change too," or " Do this, do that." If I had a billion in my account, I’d tell them. But somewhere... It’s not about all this.
(03:14) What is our existence? How are we, to begin with? How should the change process happen? So, all this in a fun way. Very chilled. Yeah. In a way my people understand. Exactly. Talking about it. Yeah, sure. Today, I sometimes feel—let's take most people, for instance. I loved today. If I say I love that girl very, very deeply.
(03:35) When she is with me today. I love her, I like her a lot. But once, if we separate a bit, having had a fight... The person I am in love with I start feeling hatred towards that same girl. Hmm. It’s the same for her too, when I am happy and with me 100%, she says things like, "You are super, you are a bumper.
(03:56) " When it comes to others, she says, "My man is very great." Hmm. But when detachment starts to grow, during the fights between us, I become the villain. I mean, why do two people in love become villains as soon as they grow a little distant? Why do I, such a good person, turn into a bad one? Why does such a nice girl appear bad to me? Actually, what happens is, even during the process of breaking up, we consider the flaws in us as faults, and whatever differences arise—now you have differences on a certain matter.
(04:31) Because you take those differences personally to your ego—meaning, because things aren't happening as you said, you start blaming her, or she thinks what she said isn't being implemented—once ego enters the middle, automatically, everything you did until then starts looking like villainy.
(04:58) Meaning, you start thinking, "You did all that just to impress me then," and we reach a stage where we forget all the love. These are all things everyone knows, but we must be able to control it at that time. For example, consider the movie*Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi*. In*Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi*, Prakash Raj has a goal, a place he wants to go, but he gets into family life unexpectedly.
(05:29) After that, he tells Jayasudha that he is unable to concentrate, and so on. He says that, but he never talks down to his wife. Even when saying that, he doesn't belittle her, but Jayasudha gets a bit angry, thinking, "Am I a hindrance? Are you saying this and that?" and out of self-respect, she decides to walk away. Even after leaving, she never forgets her responsibilities or her values.
(06:01) She keeps the same husband in her heart . She maintains that same devotion. If she hadn't misunderstood what he said at the time of breaking up, and instead taken a little space, saying "I will stay away for now and we can meet normally later," things would have been different.
(06:20) Instead of that, because she took it as "Have I become a hindrance?" , she ended up having to separate. If she had a bit of perspective there, she could have handled it, but later she took it positively, raised her son with those same values, and resolved to send her son back to his father. Even when she is dying, that is the last thing on her mind; she has a guilty feeling that maybe she left in a hurry, and she doesn't want her son to make that same mistake.
(06:54) She wants her son to grow up with his father, thinking her son must have a companion. He didn't mean it that way, but because of her perspective that his career was his main priority, she let him go. He didn't bother to fix things or give it another chance after she left, and simply went on to marry someone else. Coming back to the point, whether it's their mistakes, the son's influence, or how they handle things, the conflicts start, but eventually, it always ends in love.
(07:28) And to embrace that love, life presents us with various opportunities. When those opportunities arise, we shouldn't ruin our present situation by clinging to past memories. If you stay stuck in the past, you end up acting like a villain by bringing those old issues into your current conversations and moments of happiness. You shouldn't become that villain.
(07:54) What is the value of a memory, sir? Suppose I am sitting and talking with a girl, and let's say I am in love with her. While doing so, I would keep both of us together, pamper her, feed her, and tell her I want her to stay healthy; if you are by my side, things are better, and if I am with you, it's even better —when I express this with such courage......
(08:15) if that same girl is no longer in our lives, don't we even bother to check if she is doing well or not? We don't even check where she is or if she's even around, do we? So, what more is there to say with this ego? You must reduce that ego. If you think your questions are filled with negativity because of how you are acting, that's not the right way to handle it.
(08:41) I don't mean it like that, I am just speaking generally about how I am acting. What is the opposite of that? Don't act like that, don't be like that , don't do those things, that’s all! If you just stop doing those things, that’s enough. There are actually very simple solutions to your problems. It’s simply this: you realize you are hurting someone by doing that, so just stop doing it.
(08:57) It’s as simple as that ! There are no other complications. Conflict only arises when there is an ego that says, "I must have my way" or "I must win." If you can lower your ego , do it, it's fine; if the girl can do the same, that's also fine. After you let go, you pray to God for just one opportunity to fix things, and you make the best of it.
(09:23) Making the best of that opportunity isn't like making instant noodles for this generation; it might take six months, a year, two years, or three. Time will take you to a point where, after all that waiting, it gives you infinite joy all at once. Because it takes you to the very brink— whether it’s to help the man realize his mistake or the woman hers—it takes time for both to truly understand and realize things.
(09:53) We must wait for that time. The day we truly wait for that time, I guarantee our ending will be 200%wonderful. Lacking that patience , our pain becomes like those commercial movies that are huge hits. Whether it's in Andhra, Telangana, or India. But today, we are thinking much more deeply about relationship films. Previously, we used to learn about relationships from old movies. Yeah.
(10:19) Ah. Meena’s character even gives up on becoming a collector to come back for Venkatesh. She comes back, marries him, and even after he tells her "You have no value, get out," they eventually come together to start their lives. That is a perfect example of a good husband and wife relationship. Yes. Even when the son is sent away, he grows up while still respecting his father.
(10:40) Instead, if you say, "Look at what I've shown you," the son won't challenge you. Their son, too, might say, "I didn't study well, I didn't get this right, so that's why Grandfather treated me this way." In today's times, people ask, "Why should I learn all that?" and I tell them why. Learn it because it’s good; don't look for any other motive.
(11:00) Only when it’s like that will life be peaceful. We should choose to live such peaceful lives. Instead, we bring complications upon ourselves on purpose. By not bringing those complications, the wife accepted her husband’s humiliation. The husband took on the wife's noble ambition and worked hard to fulfill it. The parents who first misunderstood their greatness realized years later that they were truly noble people and admitted, "I was the one who misunderstood.
(11:30) " What did you see in all of this? Time, just time. In the way time flows, whatever stance you take— when deciding things like "I want that girl" or "I want that boy"—you must accept the mistakes within it. You must correct the mistakes you’ve accepted. After correcting them, you must ensure those mistakes aren't repeated.
(11:51) You must be able to embrace their weaknesses. Now, my wife has a weakness . How do I put it? She doesn't understand—what is it? I can understand. Then what happens? Since I can understand, I tend to understand more and endure more during my time. If I wanted to separate, there could be countless reasons for it.
(12:14) But we need just as many reasons to stay together, and the reason we need them is that all the beautiful memories between us belong only to us. I have no intention of spoiling any of them. Do you understand? I would go to any lengths to protect that. What does that give you? It gives you happiness.
(12:32) You shouldn't lose that. We shouldn't lose a person, no matter what. Because our life is temporary. In a life like this, when someone trusts you, depends on you , and thinks of you as their whole world, what’s wrong with swallowing your pride? Just let it go, nothing will happen. For those who think you are their world , you must surrender 200%.
(12:54) Don't talk about anything else. Even if they make mistakes, cause a mess, or drive you crazy, making you wonder, "Why even live like this?"—don't be arrogant. Endure it all, it will be better. It will be better if you endure. These are the kind of people—when I see examples of husbands, like when a husband passes away, the wife also...
(13:14) Like that immediately...you have watched the movie "Midhunam" well. Yeah, yeah, exactly. When I watch that movie, I feel the same way. My wife asked me the same thing after watching it. Once, when we were talking—no, no, my son asked. You know how it is, he asked, "Mom, if it comes to it, who do you want to go first?" My wife says, "Oh my! If my husband leaves, I can't stay, I will follow him," and all that.
(13:41) When they asked me, since I have some spiritual strength, I said, "I want you to go first." Just like in "Midhunam," I said , "I want you to go first," because I am my wife's strength. All that hype, and doing this and that, is all because it has the courage of me being behind it; I am its strength.
(14:04) If I were to pass away now, she wouldn't know how to survive. I don't know how everyone around will treat her tomorrow, or what will become of her, I just don't know. There is a tiny bit of fear inside me. That is why I will survive somehow, because if she dies first, I will take care of all her final rites and send her off—that would make me happy— but if I go first, she won't survive.
(14:26) This is love, isn't it? We can see it, and we have the chance to look at love in this way too, but we just have to wait; we have to wait and see. Tears are coming to my eyes. Getting married, getting married—you can do it lightly. I'm not saying you shouldn't; you can or you don't have to . It's about how you deal with things.
(14:52) Dad, Dad, it's not the mother, I'm not being serious, I'm just explaining the situation; please don't misunderstand. And Gautam sir, who says all this. Before becoming a major at 21. What is this love marriage, what are these love troubles, and what is creating such a big scene in Bhimavaram ? I mean, I'm not finding the point, I can't find it.
(15:18) It’s like, just because I said "I should be like this," there's no protocol that it has to be exactly that way, right? Things happened in my life, and that’s what I keep saying to everyone —why shouldn't I be the example? Someone who hasn't earned money, doesn't know how to do anything, doesn't know about love matters, knows nothing about girls, nothing about love marriages, nothing about conflicts, hasn't earned, and hasn't donated— even a guy like that gives philosophy.
(15:54) I say that I have done all these things ; I have been in love, and in the sense of girlfriends, I have had those kinds of relationships. Yes. At that age, how one should be—I have those experiences too. I opposed everything to have a love marriage, faced insults, recovered from them, and took those opportunities to grow.
(16:26) I turned all those things into weapons and put everything into the path of correcting my own life. In that way, I have been working through every single segment like this. I mean, from the stage where I used to think "earning this much a month is enough," I have reached a level where my single day's income today matches that monthly income.
(16:50) Today, I am able to provide for ten people and give them things. That is why I feel that someone like me has the right to speak. So, what I tell all the youth today—whenever someone working for me comes and says, "Sir, I fell in love like this and suffered so much," I think to myself, "Hey! Are you saying you loved more deeply than I did ? You! I have plenty of love stories of my own; you claim to have loved greater than me," is what I tell them.
(17:23) I want to tell him that you are suffering, but this is not it; there is much more to life. Take this from me as well. We can't always look up to great personalities to live our lives, can we ? It's not practical to say we should only learn from such legends. I lived just like a normal human being. I lived like that, so take my life as an example.
(17:48) Okay. I am not a legend; I was just as mischievous as you. I was like that. How I transformed, how I took all the bad things and turned them into something good, and how I am making my life meaningful today—think about that. If a guy like me could change, then you can change too, right? But where I felt jealous was...
(18:12) A sense of jealousy when counting. He said his wife knows all about this, right? The thing was, I’m talking about things from when I had girlfriends or was with anyone. I am pointing out the difference between the current generation and my generation of love stories. Maybe it will resonate with many people.
(18:35) I am saying this, but please don't take it the wrong way or think negatively about it. How should I put it? When I talk to girls, or when girls are in a relationship with me, how I act—I am answering why so many girls like me. It’s like, I never lowered a girl’s self-respect. How I didn't lower it is this: usually, when youth are out, they might sit on a bike with one leg on each side, holding on tightly, and just go.
(19:09) They get a thrill out of that kind of enjoyment. But what I used to do was, when a girl sat behind me, I made sure she didn't sit with one leg on each side; she had to sit sideways. And she shouldn't put her arms around me or anything like that. Some girls used to ask me why I insisted on them sitting carefully like that.
(19:31) When they asked, I thought about the typical rowdy gangs or people who are around. When a girl is out in public, doing things like hugging tightly in a traffic jam and acting all romantic—it creates a cheap atmosphere. They will engage in loose talk, and that loose talk is first directed at the girl. The guy loses nothing.
(20:01) Since it has been a long-standing habit to look down on women, they talk loosely about the girl , making inappropriate comments. If a guy can't uphold a girl's dignity while he is right there in front of her, then what is the point of him being a man? In my view, if a girl is traveling with me and I cannot protect her dignity, I don't have the right to live or be with her.
(20:27) That is why having them sit that way makes people see it as a brother-sister relationship. Otherwise, at least let's say she's a good girl, and people would just say, "Wow, she's such a great girl," and they won't talk about her in any other way. One might think, "If you're going to fall in love , you should love a girl like this.
(20:42) " I mean, at least 90%of people talk respectfully, right? At least I want to give that respect to that girl. That’s why I’m saying, all you youth out there, the little things you do—what girls actually want is a little respect, a little value—if you give that in a good way, they will automatically be so impressed and want to hold onto it dearly.
(21:13) Meaning, they’ll feel, "There should be boys like this," or "We should hold onto boys like this carefully and protect them." This feeling is also created in girls, right? Automatically, when I am being respected so much, there’s an equal give-and-take. Okay, so in the current generation, things are a certain way, but every generation gets a bit spoiled ; that happens with every generation.
(21:34) I’m saying, if a boy is spoiled, the girl should think, "He is spoiled, so let's correct the things that are spoiled in him and fix them." And if a girl is spoiled, the boy should do the same. That way, we can correct each other, take the bad things out of us, talk about them, move past them, and instead of hurting ourselves, we accept each other's changes and maintain a healthy relationship.
(22:13) Suddenly a comment will pop up: "What if both of them are idiots?" That's what they ask. Well, in that case, either someone experienced like me can give advice, or there are many elders, mentors, and revered people; you can take good advice from them on how to change yourselves. Relationships aren't meant to be broken 200%of the time.
(22:40) Instead of breaking them, you should look for reasons to stay together, just as you have 100 reasons to break up. We should look for reasons to be together and truly want to stay together. Doesn't that count as being together by force? How so? Like you said, I have 100 reasons to break up. Okay. If I have to search for reasons to stay together just to stay together, does that mean I'm being forced? My dear, you are forced on the first day, but not on the second or third day , right? By holding onto that one word
(23:10) "forced" without seeing the whole essence, you lose the true meaning. You lay the foundation by staying together even if it feels forced at first. At the second step, it starts to cool down . At the third step, it gets even better. At the fourth step, it gets even better than that. At first, just stay together.
(23:28) When I was doing the SOP , I asked, "How much do you love your wife?" and you wrote, "It's an accidental love." Tell us once, the whole team wants the answer to that question. What is it? Accidental love? Please tell us. I mean, it would be nice if you shared that. I mean, at that time, it was a bit crazy, and things were like that.
(23:54) What is this? Is it an accidental love story with all the twists and turns? It happened accidentally. The thing was , I'll explain it simply; let's get to the essence. In that essence, what I'm telling is—I think I said it somewhere in another podcast too—it's like, how I put it is, the qualities I wanted in a girl might mostly not be in my wife.
(24:22) And the qualities she wanted in a husband might mostly not be in me. But the thing is, why we are so happy and in a healthy relationship after 18 years of love marriage, is that not even a single thing is similar; there's nothing we both like. For me, it’s like, instead of doing what I like, I prefer doing what she likes; I like that even more.
(24:48) For her, she is always more ready to be the way I like, rather than doing what she likes. Because of that, I never do anything that would infringe upon her liberation or her justification, her freedom. Likewise, she doesn't do anything that would infringe upon my justification or my freedom.
(25:09) In that process, when she does what I like and I do what she likes, people ask, "Why are you living by adjusting?" We are adjusting to live. It’s not about living by adjusting; we should adjust in some places to live . Once we get that essence, there's no need for adjustments. Relationships start getting spoiled; they get spoiled right there, don't they? We cannot; we shouldn't spoil it like that.
(25:36) Now, my wife gets angry at me often. Okay, she sends long messages. She sends big messages, and if you read them, it feels like they might even get divorced the very next day. Then what I do is send a kiss emoji at the bottom; she cools down a bit, then scolds again , I send it again, she cools down, and after a certain time, she settles down.
(25:57) Then I think, "Okay, from her perspective, I might have made a mistake somewhere." It might have overlapped, and I might have forgotten it. Why hurt her? By not hurting her and correcting it to move forward, she is happy, and I am happy. Giving in is good; people ask, "Why should I give in?" Giving in is actually good.
(26:20) If you say it's good to give in, no one looks at that; they get stuck in the question, "Why should I give in?" Just try giving in and see what happens, then you will know. For such good relationships to exist and strengthen, there must be a strong belief somewhere . For some, this belief is in the form of God; for others, it's in a materialistic form.
(26:43) "I am happy because I have money," or "I am happy because there is a God"—it's different for different people. In your view, who is the real God? Who is the true God? Who is God? This God is nothing but stillness. One thing is, we should never mix our generalized, normal things with the God thing. The God thing is completely a different side; it’s a completely different side.
(27:13) Our lifestyle and our ways of living are all different. God has no involvement in these processes. Okay. God does not get involved in these matters; he doesn't take them as seriously as you do. Since you take them so seriously, God doesn't feel the need to take you that seriously. The thing is, I will tell you with an example.
(27:35) Now, suppose there is some temporary thing, things that are for temporary use. I mean, you take something temporarily and use it, do you take that seriously? Do you take temporary things seriously? God realizes that this body is not permanent, but you don't. That is why you take it seriously, and he doesn't. Is that okay? That is why he realizes that this is 200%not permanent and that it will not exist in general life.
(28:05) Because it was born like this—the body is born, it grows, it smells, it needs to be washed, it carries waste inside; it is just a septic tank that carries such things. The body keeps growing, then it gets weak, it gets diseases, it gets recognition, and eventually, this same body grows old and perishes.
(28:31) This is from God's perspective. In your version: this body came because of me, this body is mine, I am making it beautiful, I gave this body a good name, I am doing good things for it, and I am bringing fame to this body. All these things are in your version. That is why we should not mix up these types of karmic actions with God's things.
(28:57) As long as we don't mix them up, it will be good for us. It's very important for you, not for God. That is why I am briefly explaining who God is beforehand— because people ask, "Why can't I see God?""Why doesn't he come and do something for me?" Since these types of questions are always asked, I had to explain this first.
(29:19) Therefore, God does not interfere in anything. I will tell you a simple example, a story. There is a king. Every single day, the king performs all kinds of rituals, offerings, and uses all types of flowers. He brings various flowers and garlands to decorate. He keeps performing these rituals and carrying out all these tasks.
(29:45) This is the story of God's things, okay! After doing all this, he asks, "Oh God!""Why don't you appear to me?""Why don't you speak to me?""Why don't you come to me? Even though you exist as God, and I am doing all these things, why is there no reaction from you?""I am expecting a reaction from your side.""At least smile or say something!""You are getting all this done, you are watching all this, yet you remain without any reaction—who exactly are you?" What is the difference between you and me, huh? You say that God is human, and
(30:18) that human is God. You want me to become like you, is this what becoming means? Becoming like this? What should I actually do? Tell me, who are you, what do you do, and what is your job? ...he asked. Tell me what your job is, what is your job as the one who is called God? Then God appeared and said, "Alright, let's do one thing.
(30:39) From today, you are the God, and I am the human; I am the king, and you are the human, okay? For this one year, I will do everything to you that you have been doing since last year, okay? Now, the rule I set is this: just as I am, you must stay, without moving; you must remain still.
(31:03) Because now you are God, and you stay as you are. I will stay as I am. I mean, you will be like me, and I will be like you," and after saying that, he said, "Okay, fine then, you will know what my job is." Then, one day he puts a jasmine garland, one day an abhishekam with milk, another day with panchamrita, using different things, pouring, rubbing, doing everything.
(31:25) For the first two or three days, he thought, "Why is he doing all this? Why are they doing so much? Why are they pouring all this? What is this ? What is this?" He kept asking, but he said he shouldn't move. Okay, so for several days, whether it was incense, lamps, or anything else being offered, he learned to stay still regardless of what was happening.
(31:47) By the time that year ended, he understood what staying still meant—that God accepts whatever you do. If you want to become God, and if you have the courage and guts to accept whatever is happening as it happens, then you yourself become God; that is the final truth. Shiva takes it whether it's a jasmine garland or a garland of wild flowers; he takes it if you offer no abhishekam, and he takes it if I do; he takes it if you scold him, and he takes it if I shout; he takes it if you love him; he accepts everything. If you make it a
(32:28) habit to accept things like that, tell me, where is your pain? You are suffering because you don't accept things. Why would you feel pain now? It is only because we cannot accept; if you start accepting and make it a habit, where is the pain? There is no pain. Everything just blends together.
(32:51) This is a story about God in India for you. Babas are more famous than scientists here. I mean, if you have this power, and you do this for me, then I will believe you—this culture, this thought process, if a baba comes and produces vibhuti, or pulls something out of thin air, I will believe him. Because the thought is that my desires will be fulfilled by him.
(33:14) In reality, am I valuing my desires? Am I valuing God, or am I valuing the person sitting there? Suppose you knew that your desire was fulfilled by that person, I wouldn't even look at him twice. Exactly. So, whom am I valuing? I have become a slave to desires; you will just go wherever your desires are fulfilled.
(33:31) And that is when a baba comes along. As desires keep getting fulfilled, one temple appears, and then another keeps popping up everywhere. For instance, in our area recently, they talk about a place called Vadapally, and they mention Vadapally Venkateswara Swamy. He has become very famous.
(33:44) That temple has existed for a long time, but it only became famous recently. I say it became famous because people believe that if they visit for six or seven Saturdays, or if they visit every month and perform circumambulations there, something good will happen to them; it is that belief which made the deity famous.
(34:04) Okay? Asking God for desires is the first mistake. Because God does not involve Himself in the trivial tasks of fulfilling your desires. Why would He fulfill your desires? You have to work hard for your own karma, the things you do, and the ways you choose to live. At most, what can God do? He can give you a lift. And even that lift is something that can only be given through time.
(34:24) He does not give you a special, personal lift like that. It is more like, if you are drowning in the ocean somewhere, He might provide a boat, but you still have to swim or push your way through to get there. He won't perform magic spells where He just picks you up and places you there. And first of all, we should not hold God responsible for our desires.
(34:50) Why do I say you shouldn't? Suppose you have a girl, and with a desire to have a boy, you ask some spiritual guide to suggest a ritual, and you do exactly what he says, and luckily, you end up having a boy. Once he is born, you get stuck in the mindset that you had a son only because you performed that specific ritual. After that, when he grows up tomorrow, he might throw you out or perhaps commit some crime.
(35:18) Now, into whose account should you charge all those crimes? Should you put it in God's account? Whose account will you put it in? If someone is doing such things, will God take responsibility for that? If I were to ask Him, "Hey, why? You fulfilled that desire, didn't you? Because you caused him to be born, he is now doing all these sinful acts; does all the sin and merit belong to you?" Would God accept that? If He did, what need would He have for that? If you were given a lovely girl, perhaps God gave her to you because He knew
(35:49) that having a boy might be a danger to you someday, and He wanted the best for you based on your past karma. But your demonic cravings grew, and thinking in a demonic way, you weren't satisfied with what you had. You weren't content, and you were the one who asked for a boy; you asked nature, and nature provided—that is all.
(36:11) Nature and its elements do these things, but God has no involvement in it. Okay, when does God's involvement actually come in? It comes when you go beyond the layer of sin, merit, right, and wrong. Meaning, a peaceful life. A joyful life, a life where you see God in everyone, with the philosophy that " I am the same as you, and you are the same as me"—only when such traits exist does God intervene and show us all paths to merge into Him.
(36:43) It means offering 108 coconuts or carrying a camphor lamp in your hand will not fulfill your desires. How many people have actually had their desires fulfilled? No one, I tell you; those who go based on blind faith just keep going. Actually, such a theory or such a concept—I mean, I have listened to many great masters in several discourses.
(37:05) Listening to all of their discourses is what brought me to this point. Some things I don’t like are when people say, "Do it this way, and if things happen like this or fall that way, you will get God's grace"—that is very wrong. Because the moment you put a condition on God, there is no attachment between you and God. Divinity is a nature that is free from conditions.
(37:30) There are no conditions there. You start with worship. Why do we have rituals and offerings? It is to keep you disciplined. If you are disciplined without all this, then there is no problem; nothing will happen. You perform rituals and offerings to control all your emotions, to control your mind, to control your intellect, and to gain self-restraint.
(37:53) Why do we wear the 'Swami Mala' today? We wear it to gain control over all our senses. Exactly. If we want to control our senses, why do we call everyone 'Swami'? Why is everyone addressed as 'Swami'? I am God , and you are God. They speak of ' Bhiksha'(alms). What is Bhiksha? Do you know how the current practice of Bhiksha is modeled? People think they should eat whatever they receive as alms from whichever house they go to.
(38:16) Bhiksha doesn't mean eating everything you get, nor does it mean you shouldn't leave anything in the plate. What is Bhiksha? If someone gives you alms, how much do they give? Do they give a little, or do they give you heaps? You should be content with very little, whatever is offered in your plate. Sleep on the floor.
(38:34) Usually, bathing in a flowing river or a canal is a way to habituate a person to experience a Sattvic (pure) life. Meaning, you wake up early, don't use warm water or anything else, and wear only one garment. For all those days, you have only two sets of clothes; you wash one and wear the other. Do you understand? This is the rule to follow.
(38:57) You must bathe in a canal daily, wake up early, and be disciplined. Whether it's a driver, someone else, or anyone at all! If you call the driver by name and call only the wealthy 'Swami', will Lord Ayyappa come to you? Is Ayyappa that naive? Doesn't he know that? Whether it's a driver, a beggar, or anyone else , you must address them as 'Mata' or ' Swami'.
(39:20) He gave that call so that you might see the Divine in everyone. He said to eat only this much. Eat less— meaning be content with whatever you get—and sleep with very little. You must not use any foul language. By not doing such things and changing your life over the course of 41-42 days, goodness (Sattvic nature) should automatically arise in you.
(39:40) You say that this purity should last a lifetime , and bowing to Lord Ayyappa, you pray, "Lord, take away the burden of these desires, distance me from sensory pleasures, grant me the chance to live content with what I have, and remove the tendency to beg from others." You resolve, "I am ready today to get used to this simple life, and because I am preparing myself, accept me from this day on.
(40:13) " You wear the mala, perform the 42-day penance, carry the Irumudi, travel all the way to submit it, shed all your fears and sins at His feet, and return as a person reborn. Instead of that, as soon as you return, why would you ask, "Hey, arrange for a drink for us here"? Is that meant to be poured into the Ganges? Who are you insulting? You are insulting God.
(40:39) That is not right. Therefore, do not view God in this way. We shouldn't look at it in a way that reduces it to such simple, silly things. So, okay, everyone has karma and desires, right? I mean, have you ever heard of any craziest desire? Like, someone coming and saying, "Is this even a desire?" We wonder, that kind of thing.
(40:58) Yes, those exist too. For instance, in my clinic, there's another story—a man who was 105 or 106 years old. Okay. He came in slowly, holding onto support . His only wish was to eat goat head curry before he died. He wanted to eat goat head curry before dying. At home, they were giving him minced meat, but not the head curry.
(41:22) That’s because his teeth couldn't chew properly; whenever he tried, it would get stuck, and he couldn't bite into it. They only gave him soft food, fearing that biting down would cause him pain. He came to me and said, "Hey boy, I must eat goat head curry. I don't care how you do it.""These teeth here seem to be causing some trouble.
(41:37) "" Fix them so I can eat that head curry and die." I treated that 106-year-old man, and a week later, I called and asked, "Did you eat the head curry?" He said, "Yes, I did. Thank you, boy." He passed away sometime the following year . For some people, it's just like that. But what I mean is, if you have small things like that, fulfill them and keep your mind refreshed; we shouldn't lose the joy that is inside us.
(42:14) We shouldn't give up the immense joy that resides in our hearts. Spirituality doesn't mean giving everything up. I mentioned Buddha left; he realized there was something much greater than all this. That is why he felt all these things were nothing. He was a damn king! Buddha was a king. Whatever he said became the rule there.
(42:36) What did he lack ? He had everything—absolutely everything. Even with everything, he decided, "I don't find happiness here; I need something greater," and he left. Meaning, he didn't want sensory pleasures, he wanted something more... now, if someone truly had common sense, they would come back, right? He turns back saying "there's nothing there, man," because he found something far greater that made him stay; he must have found some greatness.
(43:01) In the same way, in our daily lives, I'm saying we must realize things—at some point, we must wake up. Once realized, we must take steps to change our lives; we should never become enslaved to sensory pleasures. Because without us knowing, it destroys our lives. Some people say living well means being virtuous, doing good deeds, and staying good.
(43:23) But can't you be good while doing all that? What's wrong with that? If you aren't conscious and aware, no matter how good you are, it all goes to waste. How does it go to waste? Let me give you a small example. I hear all these examples from Swami Vidyananda Prakash Giri; he speaks wonderfully.
(43:41) In a way, he is the reason for changing my life. Okay. I will tell you all the examples just as my guru told them. My guru says there is a fish. A fish that gets tossed out of the water. After it lands outside, a kind man, very gentle, someone who knows nothing but helping others, a very good man, appears. So what did he do? He quickly said, "Oh my God, poor fish! Why are you lying out here?" He quickly picked up the fish, took it home, laid it on a bed, and fanned it back and forth.
(44:14) He turned on the fan and fanned it. "Oh dear, maybe the fish is hungry," he thought, and he poured two drops of coffee into its mouth, and—pop—it died. Now, your virtue and your intentions were good, but you must act with understanding. If you hadn't brought it home without consciousness and just put it back in the water, it would have survived.
(44:39) He poured coffee in its mouth —did he have bad intentions? No, right? His intentions were actually good. So, intentions alone aren't enough. Whether you are acting with consciousness or not is very, very damn important. Without that, saying "I donated so much to these people" is useless before God. We see many examples from the Mahabharata.
(45:03) What can we learn from Krishna? What can we learn from Arjuna? What can we learn from Karna? What can we learn from Duryodhana, whom we view as the villain? Actually, the Mahabharata is an epic, and we tend to view it just as a story to learn from. We look at which parts are good and which are bad.
(45:26) The way I see the Mahabharata is—now, I have a mentor and guide, Shanti Kanna. The way she taught me the Bhagavad Gita and the stories she shared, she showed me that the Mahabharata isn't out there; it's within us. A Bharata war like that is something we fight within ourselves every single day. There is an Arjuna inside us.
(45:50) There is a Draupadi inside us, and there is a Dushasana inside us. All these characters are within us. When I say what those characters within us are, take Draupadi for example—she represents ego. Like, "This happened to me, so the same must happen to you." There is a nature like Kunti Devi's, which says, "I have nothing to do with this; I will surrender everything to God.
(46:14) I have no involvement; I offer everything to the Divine." That is one type of character within us. Then there is Arjuna, who represents the nature of giving in to emotions. He fights, but the warrior spirit is within us; yet, suddenly, due to an emotion or some situation, we become cowardly.
(46:38) Similarly, there is someone like Dushasana or Duryodhana, which reflects the feeling that "I must have everything," or acting recklessly driven by ego—these tendencies exist within us too. So, what is the essence of each of those characters? What is that character telling us? What is the quality of that character? Do we possess that quality of character ? Because, if you look at any character in the Mahabharata, we can take 200%of the essence of that character.
(47:13) Once we internalize such character traits, we must then wage a war against ourselves. That is why the entire war in the Mahabharata is about us refining our own character, overcoming obstacles, and moving forward beyond everything; that is how I view that story. Okay, I feel that when we take things from our Puranas or epics and look at certain characterizations, the thought that they were treated unfairly often comes to mind.
(47:41) Sometimes, take Arjuna for instance—he had Krishna by his side, the Pandavas by his side, and so many others. When it comes to Karna, when he was trying to come up, set his career, or move forward in his career, no one supported him. People supported him after he proved himself, but there was no one before that.
(48:03) In that case, isn't it fair to say he was treated unjustly? So, what can you learn from Karna now? Hmm. It means that no matter how many opportunities are closed to you, no matter how many paths are blocked, or how many obstacles come your way, you must learn to overcome all of them. Instead of you and me sitting here and trying to justify why Karna was the way he was, we shouldn't do that.
(48:29) Because the essence of that story is that Karna had all those struggles and all those issues. With all that in mind, if tomorrow I say, "I have so many struggles, I can't do this, someone stopped me, that's why I can't do it," then you should take Karna as an example. How many struggles did he have ? How many battles did he face? How far did he fight until he could go no further? I mean, he reached the point where he stood before God himself and challenged him to battle.
(48:56) We can take that kind of inspiration positively, can't we? That is also something we should translate into our own lives. Rather than sitting in the middle and questioning things, or acting as if we are showing off our intelligence, many people just criticize everyone in that way. If we look at it from a story perspective, since Karna was portrayed positively, there are both positive and negative angles in Karna.
(49:19) He faced some difficulties due to the negative aspects he had. He enjoyed all the positive things he deserved, but there were some things he achieved through other means. A friendship was added to that, and many things followed; from the friendship of Duryodhana and Karna, we can learn how a bad friendship can lead even a good person down the wrong path.
(49:42) Hmm. Without Karna, the great Mahabharata war wouldn't have happened. If Karna had just refused and said "no" immediately, it would have been over. The fact that it went that far and happened the way it did—wasn't it all because of a bad friendship? Karna should have asked, "Duryodhana, why are you doing this? You are such a good man , this injustice is wrong.
(50:08) We shouldn't gain a kingdom through such unfair means." He should have spoken up. But he didn't say anything because the friendship was flawed, and because you gave him everything, he agreed with whatever you said. We must learn not to be blinded by the intoxication of friendship. Karna is known as 'Dana Veera Sura Karna.
(50:32) ' This is a small story—not from the original Mahabharata, but often used as an example to illustrate why we perform acts of charity like 'annadanam'( donating food) to inspire people. Okay. So, the story goes that after Karna dies and goes to heaven, he feels an intense, unbearable hunger. He gets worried and wonders, "Why am I feeling such hunger? Why is this happening?" In that place, there shouldn't be any hunger or thirst, so why am I suffering like this? He tries to overcome it and asks others there, including Indra,
(51:12) about it. Even after they give him food , his hunger is not satisfied no matter how much he eats. He struggles and says , "I don't know what has happened to me ." Then, Narada Maharshi arrives. He asks, "What happened?" Karna replies, " I'm feeling such intense hunger; I can't bear it.
(51:31) " Narada asks, "You have done so many good deeds and charities on Earth; surely you must have earned some merit, right?" Karna replies, "You great people talk so highly, but do you know who I am on Earth?""Do you know what they call me?""They call me 'Dana Veera Sura Karna'.""I am that Karna.""I am such a legendary figure that I used to give away so much charity that my left hand wouldn't even know what my right hand had given.
(51:52) ""Isn't it strange for you to ask if I have done any charity?" Narada says, "Setting all that aside, have you ever fed anyone?" Karna replies, "Ah, I haven't. I gave away wealth and other things, but I never gave food to anyone." Narada says , "Is that so? Well then, take your index finger.""Put this finger into your mouth," he instructed.
(52:13) And so, Karna agreed and put his finger into his mouth as told. As soon as he put it in his mouth, his hunger was satisfied. "How was it satisfied like this? How can just putting a finger in the mouth satisfy hunger?" Meaning, "It's nothing ; one day when you were somewhere, two elderly people came and asked, 'Mother, please give us some food.
(52:30) ' You said, 'I don't have any food here, take my money if you want and get it somewhere else.' They replied, 'What are we to do with money? We need food now, we don't have the strength,' and so on. At that time, he was right there on the chariot. Looking ahead, he saw that a food donation (Annadanam) was happening somewhere nearby.
(52:46) Thinking that since food is being served there, he told them, 'Look, food is being served right over there, go and eat.' They went there, had their meal, and their stomachs were full. So, back then, he simply pointed towards where the food donation was taking place. By showing them that, his finger earned the merit (punyam).
(53:05) That is why, because that finger earned the merit, as soon as he put that same finger in his mouth, his hunger was satisfied. In the same way, in all matters of sin and merit, like in the act of feeding someone—I mentioned 'Dana Veera Sura Karna'— there are such examples." Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. When we hear about him and learn about his life story, our curiosity increases significantly.
(53:26) How could he do this? Can a person really do this? Can they be like this? Where is the root of all this? The root of all this is that he was a man of such great character; the strength he possessed to lead India as a unified nation came from his mother, Jijabai. She was a great warrior. Usually, we think of parental love as mostly selfish, because it’s 'my son, my child.
(53:59) ' But her love was immense—so much love , it is said that... He wasn't just her only son. She wanted her son to be useful to society and protect the Hindu tradition . She said that all the knowledge that gives wealth to humanity is contained within the Hindu tradition. From being separated from God, all the knowledge needed to reach God again is in this tradition.
(54:29) If this tradition disappears , then in the future, as other things take over, people will behave even more like demons. They will enter a state where they won't even be able to understand themselves. Therefore, with the intention that this Dharma, this Sanatana Dharma, must stand tall, she instilled courage in him from childhood , explaining why this Dharma is important.
(54:58) He didn't act foolishly by going out and killing everyone indiscriminately. Every time he fought a war, he respected the women who were there. He respected the wives of enemy soldiers, gave them gifts, and sent them away safely. All of his great personality traits came from the way Jijabai nurtured him since his childhood.
(55:19) Why should you stand on the side of Dharma? Why is this Dharma important to you? Do we gain any pride just by planting a red or an orange flag? No. The reason why our Dharma must stand firm is, as we say "Sarve Jana Sukhino Bhavantu", and "Loka Samastano Sukhino Bhavantu". Every animal, bird, mountain, stream, the earth, the sky, the soil—everything should remain uncorrupted and prosperous, and we should be healthy and all humans should be happy.
(55:52) This Dharma is very important. Therefore, you have a responsibility to protect this Dharma; if this Dharma weakens, humanity will weaken, so you don't even have to account for your life. We must move forward considering this Dharma as paramount. That is why he believed in the Hindu tradition and Dharma so much and took it forward to such an extent.
(56:12) If we take the Ramayana as a base, If we talk about Sri Rama's life, there wasn't a single day in his life when he was truly happy. He never saw anything in his life as a proper success. His life was one filled with sacrifices . Even though his life was like that, we start every task or do any work by saying the name "Jai Sri Ram".
(56:33) We will understand the examples clearly . Okay. So, what can we learn from his life? The reason I said Rama is great above all is that, first of all, setting aside the fact that he is God, he took on a human form. Even Ravana desired to be killed only by a human—not by any other powers—so, as a normal human being, he was born to inform all of us, and by the age of 16, he developed extreme detachment (Vairagya).
(57:16) He had such intense detachment that he felt everything he saw was destined to perish. He went into a perspective wondering why we are living like this and doing all these things. In that process, the Yoga Vashistha came to us. He believed in that Yoga Vashistha and his state of detachment very, very strongly.
(57:40) He kept translating that belief into everything he did. Meaning, he followed the path of staying under any circumstances on the two pillars of Dharma and Truth. He believed that such a state would be beneficial for the welfare of all people and humanity, and because society stands only when everyone performs their duty, he did not stray from Dharma; that Dharma is based on truth, so he stood firm without leaving behind truth or duty.
(58:13) I said this state came about because he developed the right kind of detachment. Because of that detachment, how did such a man turn into an extraordinary human being? How did a normal king turn into a great individual? It depends on his detachment. Since he was able to reach such heights in that state of detachment, by remembering him, we should attain that same state and be how we are supposed to be.
(58:40) I mean, for many people, what we need to learn from Rama is—if we talk about Rama, the first negative comment is that he abandoned his wife; at the very least, learn that you shouldn't abandon yours. Okay, he left her, but with what intention did he do it? What is it that you really need to learn from Lord Rama ? Excessive goodness is of no use.
(59:02) That is exactly what Lord Rama did, right! Excessive goodness means when goodness goes to an extreme; he stood only by righteousness and truth within that goodness. Because of that, considering what others might think, he did what a king is obligated to do according to Dharma.
(59:21) After doing it, who suffered? He himself suffered. He himself suffered so much after his wife, who he was devoted to, had to leave. He suffered so much that he had to do such a thing. All these are based on Dharma; that too , because of excessive goodness. That is the lesson we must learn from Rama. Now, when it comes to the Krishna avatar, the same blame was placed on Krishna.
(59:47) Regarding matters of theft and equity, he didn't just sit back like Rama; he fought, he gave everyone their due, he waged war, and he proved that he was not what they claimed. When it comes to Parashurama, we must learn courage. In the ways these gods showed us, there is what is right and what is wrong. When you need to fight, fight.
(1:00:11) Excessive goodness is of no use to you. They lived their lives and taught us how to be; just sitting here and questioning it won't give us anything. When you think about their lives and how you shouldn't be, notice this— lately, many have sarcastically said, " I don't want someone who leaves me for the sake of the world or for others.
(1:00:35) " Meaning, I don't want a hero who leaves me for the world, I want a villain who destroys everything for me. If you ask what kind of person I want, I’m okay with a villain who destroys everything for my sake, I will accept it. But I see many such taglines on Instagram saying one shouldn't leave someone just to be called a hero.
(1:00:56) Is the one who keeps you at a distance because he wants everyone to be well, a great person? Then what state of mind should you be in? It is a different wisdom to understand that maybe he kept me at a distance because he is a good person who wishes well for everyone. If you want a villain who destroys everything just for your own well-being, how demonic your mind must be! That is why it's about perception.
(1:01:23) That perception doesn't exist; I want such people, and who are you to judge? Om Namah Shivaya. Go ahead and want it, nothing happens; we can't achieve anything just by wishing. Wish for it, we can't say anything more than that. Sometimes we have to struggle with the very people we trust. Sometimes we have to blame the very people we trust.
(1:01:41) In such situations, at one point, with a person I liked so much... If I have to blame them directly or get into a fight with them... What is that situation like, sir? If you ask how to overcome that, I would say it can be overcome with love. When we have to fight with those we love dearly, when those we trust misunderstand us, we should surrender to them.
(1:02:12) If we surrender to them, they can't do anything. Okay. To give an example for this, there is a simple story called the "War of Rama and Anjaneya." Okay, between Rama and Anjaneya? Yes, the war between Rama and Anjaneya, the "War of Rama and Anjaneya"; there is a movie about it too. Okay. The movie is also very good; NT Rama Rao acted in it.
(1:02:31) In the war of Rama and Anjaneya, I don’t quite remember the king's name, but there is someone called Yethiraja or something. That king was also an intense devotee of Lord Rama. He was such a great devotee that to create a conflict between him and Lord Rama, an illusion was created, and that illusion caused the king to kill someone during a battle.
(1:03:04) When he killed that person, some innocent people also died unnecessarily. He didn’t pay attention to it and just went on his way. Those people took the matter to Lord Rama. By the time it reached Rama, he had a vast kingdom; he had given away the entire Indian subcontinent and the whole earth. He had divided all those kingdoms among others.
(1:03:26) The king in question belonged to one of those divided kingdoms. He was an extremely dear devotee. Of whom? That king was also an extremely dear devotee of Rama. However, Rama said, "I have given my word; whoever has done this, hang them, punish them, sentence them to death." When he was told who had done it, he hastily said something in a rush.
(1:03:48) The king felt deeply saddened and thought, "Oh, how could this be?""He would never do such a thing!""There must be some reason behind it; I don't know why this disaster happened.""Regardless, we have given our word, so first, go and arrest him and bring him here," he said. Then they both, Rama and Lakshmana, go and arrest him and bring him.
(1:04:07) During the process of bringing him, a storm or something occurred, and they got separated, forcing him to go to an ashram. Lakshmana goes to one side, and he goes to another side. After he leaves, he enters an ashram, which happens to be the ashram of Anjana Devi , the mother of Anjaneya Swami. He goes there.
(1:04:24) By the time he reaches the place where Anjaneya Swami is—well, he reaches that place. After reaching there, he feels a bit sad, thinking of her as a mother. She comes and asks, " What happened, my son?" He replies, " What can I tell you, Mother? The God I trusted, the God I surrendered to, did not understand me," and he explains the whole story.
(1:04:44) "Do not be afraid, my child.""Why are you worried about who I am or anything else?""Do not panic, I have a son, and my son will protect you .""No matter how powerful the person on the other side is"—he doesn't mention it is Rama. He just tells the story without revealing the identity. "No matter how powerful he is, it won't happen; there is no man in this world who can stand against him, you are just worried.
(1:05:07) ""You don't know about my son, I will send my son," she says, giving him her word. Having given her word, she says, "Look, why are you worried?"" I have given my word, I grant you protection," and she calls out, " Anjaneya!" He arrives immediately. After he arrives, he sees it is Anjaneya Swami! The king recognizes him immediately.
(1:05:22) "What are you doing here?" "You are a devotee of Rama, you are a devotee of Rama just like me." You, for someone like you to face such hardship, does any devotee of Rama ever face such trouble? Whoever it is that troubled you, I will take care of it, "If he says that, this man will die." Poor thing, Anjaneya keeps saying that until then.
(1:05:38) Thinking, "Wait a minute, just wait a minute," and his mother, "Look, I gave my word, you said you would protect him, I swear on my Rama as a mother's promise, whatever anyone says to us, I will take care of you, why worry," she says, and swears on Rama, she swears on Rama. "Why? Who wanted to do what to you? Tell me, tell me," and meanwhile, Sage Narada comes and says, "The one who wanted to kill him is Rama himself, my boy.
(1:06:01) ""Oh boy, where did this conflict come from," he thinks. Then Anjana Devi and everyone else bite their tongues, not knowing what to do. Okay, now, why do you need that accusation, all that, let's just say I told you everything. My reply, I will fall, I will leave, so I turned it on immediately. We must follow the Rama Dharma.
(1:06:19) Once a word comes out of our mouth, it is Rama's word. If I said that a word came out of my mouth that I would protect you, then it is an insult to my Lord Rama if I break that word. That is why I will protect you under any circumstances. Then Lakshmana comes and says I will not send him, then later he says I will send everyone but I won't send him, let Rama come directly.
(1:06:40) Rama comes, and after he arrives, words are exchanged between Rama and him, like calling him a monkey , and other things. Even if he thinks of waging a war, in his heart, he knows only Rama. In the end, it turns into a form of love; that situation changes, and the reason I am talking about this bonding is that when we have internal conflicts, loving them a little more makes it subside.
(1:07:09) He takes the existing trust and turns it into even greater trust, and by worshipping him intensely , he himself becomes enchanted. Rama himself becomes enchanted and takes a step back. That is why, when we have conflicts with those close to us, loving them a little more and looking at them in that way results in good for us.
(1:07:31) As part of this relationship If we want to talk about friendship, to talk about a true friend Is there any great example? I am saying that a true friend should be supportive, but must always point out your mistakes to you. A true friend always does this; for example, we are four or five friends, we are all there together.
(1:07:57) Among the four of us, first, we mock whichever mistake is made. "You shouldn't do that, you shouldn't be like this, you shouldn't do it like that," but our friendship never suffers because we first try to correct our mistakes, and we try to move forward happily sharing our sorrows together. But in the current generation, if one person points out a mistake to another, they end up fighting each other.
(1:08:20) To say that it is you Meaning, they are unable to even take a lighthearted remark in a lighthearted way. My father often gave an example of how to trust a friend. During his early struggles, he started by giving tuition . His first tuition fee was just one rupee. And so it went...later, he thought of starting a small school.
(1:08:46) After deciding that, he needed some money to build a small shed, buy four benches, a board, and set everything up. When he asked his father, he didn't help, saying there was no money available and that my father was just showing off. My father felt really hurt. He even asked his own father, "Grandpa has that gold necklace, could you lend it to me? I'll pledge it at the bank, get some money, and once I'm successful, I'll redeem it and give it back.
(1:09:10) " But he was told, " That's impossible, I can't give you anything," and was asked to leave. He tried various other things, but nothing worked. Back then, there was a man named Raju Garu, who lived in Bejawada. He believed in my father. He trusted my father, saying, "Murthy will reach a great position one day.
(1:09:31) " He took the gold necklace from his wife and gave it to my father, saying, "Here you go, Murthy Garu, we trust that you will reach a great position." That's how he helped him. With that encouragement, my father took the gold, got the money, and started the school. From being the son of a cart puller, he was able to reach one of the top positions in Bhimavaram.
(1:09:59) The support came because a friend believed in him. From then on, my father had such high regard for Raju Garu's family that whenever he brought something home, there would be one packet for us and one for Raju Garu. They used to share everything like that . That friendship lasted until they passed away; they maintained that same bond throughout their lives.
(1:10:22) Now, their children, like Ravi Garu, are just as close to me; we have a wonderful and strong relationship. It is a great bond between our two families. When I think about friendship, it feels like that's how people should understand each other —always standing by one another as a pillar of support.
(1:10:42) It's the best friendship I have ever seen. As far as I know, there are many people from the Bhimavaram belt, West Godavari, and East Godavari in the film industry, and many are interested in it. In this film industry, there are certain points—you could call it negativity or maybe propaganda, but still... They do exist.
(1:10:58) Some people say, "That person will suppress us," or "Chiranjeevi Garu suppressed ten people." Or they say a big hero suppressed a smaller hero. Or that a smaller hero died because a big hero suppressed them. There are so many such points, and these things really do happen in the film world. The thing is, for all these meme makers , whether it's about Chiranjeevi or other veteran heroes, they lack actual cinema knowledge.
(1:11:25) We traveled through those times; we are 80s and 90s kids, we saw Chiranjeevi without any bias and with it too. We saw him from both perspectives. Based on how they talk about him, if you push them, the person sharing those memes probably doesn't even know how many films the other actor did. I find those things quite bothersome.
(1:11:49) They are done intentionally , and since they are deliberate, I don't really feel like reacting to them much. But, the thing was, let's assume someone suppressed someone else. Now, you mentioned Uday Kiran; since he has passed away, there is no point in speaking ill of him in any way, because he was a good person.
(1:12:06) But the thing was , saying that this is the only reason it happened is completely wrong. I am telling you this; I have proper cinema knowledge. No matter how much we are doctors or whatever else, I have immense knowledge of cinema. We love movies. Let me tell you about his films ; Uday Kiran's first film was 'Chitram' .
(1:12:22) The second film was 'Nuvvu Nenu'. The third film was 'Manasantha Nuvve'. The second film, 'Nuvvu Nuvvu', ran for 175 days, 'Manasantha Nuvve' for 175 days, and 'Chitram' for more than 100 days. All three were super-duper hits, and because of these, his craze grew immensely.
(1:12:45) At that time, his popularity among girls, in particular, skyrocketed . Because of that, the subsequent films —whether it was 'Kalusukundam Raa', ' Holi', or 'Sriram'—rode that wave of craze because the songs were good, but otherwise, they all eventually failed. There was a film with Krishna Raju, and another with Trisha, 'Nee Manasu Naaku Telusu'; those films also flopped.
(1:13:09) During that time, his engagement happened, and some issues arose. Even after all that, 13 films of Uday Kiran were released after that incident. Yes, 13 films were released after that. You talk about Pan-India now, but Uday Kiran did Pan-India back then too, with whom? With K. Balachander. Oh. Balachander is such a legendary director; he made 'Abaddham', which was released here and there.
(1:13:37) Anyway, beyond all this, back then Chiranjeevi used to do the Navaratna Oil ad. He used to endorse Navaratna Oil. When he did that , there was a film where Uday Kiran acted with Srihari. In that film, there is a dialogue where he says, "Why did you bring this Navaratna Oil?" and he replies, "Our Megastar suggested it, so I brought it.
(1:13:56) If he says it, I have to use it." That was the dialogue in that film. Okay. If someone had truly suppressed him, why would he say such things about him so many years later? Maybe something was happening in his personal life or at his own level? Doesn't he have a family? To you, he might be the Megastar of the industry. But he is a father to a daughter, a head of a family; things might have happened in his home.
(1:14:21) Is it fair for us to just blame him like that? Thirteen films were released, you know. After that, it wasn't a hit, so who is to blame for that? Okay? No, along with that segment, Tarun also came during that same period; he was there at that time too. Why didn't Tarun click? And at that same time, why didn't the hero of the movie 'Anandam', Akash, click? Before that, maybe Vineeth or Abbas...
(1:14:43) back then, if you mentioned Abbas, they would talk about his hairstyle. After ' Premadesam' was released, I don't think there were as many photos of any other hairstyle as there were of Abbas. That was the level of his haircut; by then, Abbas had become a brand ambassador. If Abbas was like that, why didn't he click? There was also Venu, hero Venu was there too, maybe Vadde Naveen, and then Venu.
(1:15:09) Venu, as in ' Swayamvaram' and 'Chirunavvutho', that's him. Venu still does small characters now and then; he does them from time to time. So why didn't he click? They just shone in that segment at that time, they shone like that a couple of times, that's it. When they shine, what happens is that certain face cuts or styles click for a while, and to maintain that, they need to use their intelligence.
(1:15:33) Because they didn't follow that path, they faced difficulties by accepting every movie just because big banners came along and signing every film. Even big heroes have faced such difficulties. Before the movie 'Hitler', Chiranjeevi didn't have a hit for three years; he had no hits for three years, they were all flops.
(1:15:52) Why go that far, Chiranjeevi’s 'Rikshavodu' was released. At the same time, R. Narayana Murthy’s film 'Orey Rickshaw' was released. R. Narayana Murthy’s film was a super hit, and 'Rikshavodu' was an utter flop. Hmm. If he wanted to suppress others, then he should have been suppressed that day , right? Hmm. And how many small directors have come up? Who brought Brahmanandam into the industry today? Who gave Raghava Lawrence his first film chance? The first film chance was with 'Hitler'.
(1:16:19) Next is the movie 'Kotala Rayudu', Kodi Ramakrishna's first film, who was it? Who had their first film with Chiranjeevi? Kodi Ramakrishna. 'Intlo Ramayya Veedhilo Krishnayya' was his first, and the movie '365 Days' featured Chiranjeevi, directed by Kodi Ramakrishna. From the movie 'Gharana Mogudu', ask about Prabhu Deva today— who gave Prabhu Deva his chance? He was just a small kid, a 14-year-old boy; how could he do choreography? He didn't say, "Who are you to tell me what to do ?" right? If he wanted to suppress him,
(1:16:48) he should have suppressed him, right? Then why encourage his talent to the point where he became such a big choreographer today? Now, Prabhu Deva means dance; Prabhu Deva is an inspiration to everyone. Who was the first to encourage such an inspiration? Who did this for Brahmanandam, whom we use in memes today? But he never bragged about it, saying, "I gave him the chance.
(1:17:07) " Those who came made good use of the opportunity. Now, look at the sons of all the great legendary directors; have they all become heroes? There are plenty of hero sons too; have they all become superstars? They haven't, right? That is why the path we take matters; the films Chiranjeevi made at that time captured the pulse of the masses because he knew what the people wanted.
(1:17:32) Meaning, if I am among the people, how should I perceive what they want? He says in an interview that when he sits like this, somewhere, someone calls out , "Hey Basha." When they call, I turn back saying, "Who is that, man?" and he tells me, "Not that way, Basha, turn your face this way, take a left turn.
(1:17:49) " He meant "Who," and he kept that dialogue in his movie just like that. I am telling you how much presence of mind he has; such technicalities are always there. Hmm. Look at any hero in India, or Chiranjeevi Garu's movies. When dancing , usually a hero has no expressions for the heroine's lyrics, but he gives expressions even for someone else's lyrics. He keeps doing this and that.
(1:18:15) He enhances everything on the spot and takes care of all those things. Why else would he be a Megastar? Anyway, leaving all that aside, the ultimate point is, let's say I am a doctor, if I am a doctor, I have to rely on the people. Right? If you don't have to rely on people, then people have to decide whether I grow or not.
(1:18:39) It isn't about some...some...what do you call it ...it's not related to a company. If you are a CEO, you don't suppress others, and if you are a government officer, you don't suppress another office. If you are an MLA, you don't control the police below you to suppress them; this segment isn't about that.
(1:18:54) This is a movie; a movie is something 10 people should watch and appreciate. Has Chiranjeevi Garu gone to meet millions of people, gone to every house to shake hands, and begged them to make him a Megastar? Who made him a Megastar? The people did , and the people are moving forward. Why is it like that? Because he brought a vision, he brought an identity, but there were small failures in his life, which is a normal thing in everyone's life.
(1:19:25) Even in such a great man's life like Chiranjeevi's, there were ups and downs . He stood his ground and endured them. You should take inspiration from the fact that he is still like that at 70 years old. Whether it's troubles from his daughter or political issues, no matter how many problems came, all the brothers stayed together.
(1:19:43) A person should be like that. Do you see any brothers taking care of each other like that? Does anyone bring up their children like that? Show me one elder brother in India who does that. Show me one person in all of India who has married off his sisters, taken care of their families, provided them with assets, brought their children into films, given them a livelihood, treated them the same as his own children, and kept the whole family united under one roof for every festival.
(1:20:21) He is a truly great man. That is why I am a very, very big fan of Chiranjeevi. I am proud to say that. Some people, no matter how they frame it, just don't have knowledge of cinema. They all ask about Suman Garu. Suman Garu can speak, and he has given answers many times as if hitting the nail on the head.
(1:20:36) In every interview, it is my misfortune that even when he says it himself, won't they believe it even after hearing it from his own mouth? Who else is there to say it? If they don't believe it even after he says it himself and still continue to make comments, then there is no need for us to answer such useless fellows.
(1:20:55) I have also heard this . That is, when Chiranjeevi garu was doing a film at the start of his career , when asked to just stand in line, he had nothing to do. There was nothing in the scene; he just had to stand there, that’s all. But he thought deeply, thought ahead, put some straw on himself and got ready. It shows that even for a small person, even for a small role, he thinks about what he can contribute from his side; that is dedication.
(1:21:17) You know the song in the movie Indra, "Radhe Govinda". There is an expression near Sonali Bendre’s braid; actually, it is about the braid. He looks, realizing she doesn't have a braid there, and then watch Chiranjeevi's expression—he changes it on the spot. He is such an intelligent person. It's not like he is just appearing funny or doing something ; he is very much intelligent in movies . He is good at movies, that's it.
(1:21:44) He is a movie person, a good person, and a family man—aside from these three, poor Chiranjeevi garu shouldn't go anywhere else. If you take a place like Bhimavaram, when it comes to love and affection, for a guy from Rayalaseema like me, we often hear about it. Yes. We hear a lot about how their affection is, how their ways are, and how they live.
(1:22:06) Yes. Tell us your words about Bhimavaram. When you say Bhimavaram, it’s a vibe; even in the name Bhimavaram, there is a vibe. It is said that whatever the people of Bhimavaram do, others feel like watching it. Whatever we do, like how I am talking now, you will feel like listening to it.
(1:22:31) Hey, his way of speaking is a bit sarcastic; he is saying "Aaya" in the middle. That pronunciation is like a doctor's pronunciation. If I want to speak now, I can say "Ya Shiva," like this. I can adopt a pronunciation thinking, "I am telling him that is not it." But you will miss something! Hey, you have been enjoying it from the start because that is just my language! When sitting with a Bhimavaram guy, you will enjoy everything; whether it's the language or the vibe, they can give you that vibration. That is the beautiful thing
(1:23:04) that Bhimavaram fellows have; you know, even while talking, you will feel, " Yeah, this is our Bhimavaram style." Are these sweets very famous in Bhimavaram? Everything is famous; Bhimavaram itself is famous. Tell us about the famous Bhimavaram fish curry. Yeah, take Bhimavaram, for example; look at the Bhimavaram brand.
(1:23:27) Anywhere you go, there are names like Dindigul Thalappakatti Biryani, and so on. But when it comes to Bhimavaram, you will see it everywhere—Bhimavaram fish curry, Bhimavaram shrimp fry, Bhimavaram Raju’s biryani, and other biryanis—there are restaurants running just by using the Bhimavaram tag. Hmm. See, that tells you how much value that name and that brand carries.
(1:23:52) There's Bhimavaram Kaja too, right? Well, Bhimavaram Kaja doesn't really exist, but people call it Atreyapuram Pootharekulu. But when it comes to Bhimavaram, it's about the sweets, the pickles— especially the pickles—the Bajji mixture, or the Salapunugulu. If it's food in Bhimavaram, you can celebrate. I'm actually getting hungry.
(1:24:15) If you're a son-in-law in Bhimavaram, that's the place to be. They serve you great food. Yes. Exactly. And another thing is, when it comes to food, if you were given 100 crores, you'd ask, "How do I turn this into 150?" But with a meal, you say "that's enough ." It's the only time you say, "Uncle, that's enough, I'm full, I've had too much.
(1:24:45) " A person finds true satisfaction only when they are fed well. That's why , when you visit Bhimavaram, no matter whose house you go to—good person or bad—the first thing they do is feed you a full meal. They'll say, "What do you mean you haven't eaten?" and like my dad, they'll insist you eat. Even people like my dad, when my friends came over, he'd insist.
(1:25:09) I'd say, "I've already eaten, don't be silly," but he'd say, "What's wrong with you? Everyone eat, it's fine," and he'd keep serving more. Just like that, even now, if someone comes over and doesn't eat, my son would jokingly say he'd lock the doors. "Eat, you have to eat," he says. Since childhood, if you're in Bhimavaram, they'll feed you very nicely.
(1:25:32) Exactly, we'll come, sir, this is Bhimavaram. Come on, we really love our food. For sure, there's a sense of pride in Bhimavaram. If you go anywhere, for example...The main reason people stay in Bhimavaram is—my wife often says this, even when we lived in Chennai or the US—that there, if I wear a new shirt, ten people will greet me saying, "Doctor, that's a nice shirt, you look great.
(1:26:06) " In a city, even your neighbor wouldn't even look at you. Back home, everyone greets you no matter who you are. Tomorrow, if you go somewhere for a task, they’ll say, "Why are you here? You go home, we'll handle it and send it to you." Half our work gets done over the phone. If someone comes to my clinic and I need to help them, someone will call me .
(1:26:30) They'll say, "Doctor, our people are coming, please take care of it," and I just say, "Okay, send them over, I'll take care of everything." If I need anything, half the work is done just by making a phone call. Now, if people like you come and see our richness, you'll realize that in America, no matter where you go, you have to wash your own plates and do everything yourself.
(1:26:52) Oh, it’s not like that for us; there are ten people to serve, ten people to clear, and others to handle everything—we just show up at the table. If we want to go to a movie, we make a call, the tickets are booked, and we just go. If we are heading to a specific hotel, we call in advance, list the specials we want, and everything is arranged by the time we arrive. Okay.
(1:27:10) Everything has a setup like that; it’s there for everyone. The point is, things get done for everyone there. That is the VIP protocol. VIP protocol—if someone is from Bhimavaram, they are a VIP. If they are from Bhimavaram, they are a VIP; that’s why even if they aren't one themselves, they’ll have a VIP friend.
(1:27:36) They’ll say, "Don't worry, my guy is there, he'll take care of it." When people ask for a Bhimavaram signature style, there isn't really one catchphrase; for us, swear words are our catchphrases. Actually, in Telangana and Rayalaseema, for even the smallest swear words, people react by saying, "Hey, how can you bring up my mother?" Hey, that is very common for us! We generally use swear words even when we are speaking affectionately.
(1:28:01) People here use swear words with affection too. Why do people take it so seriously here? When I was studying, there was this guy from Telangana who used to hang out with me a lot. As we kept hanging out, some swear words just slipped out, and he got offended, saying, "Why are you talking about my mother?" I told him, "Hey, he wasn't talking about your mother," but he replied, "But he just said it, didn't he?" and I said, "He said it as a general expression.
(1:28:25) ""No sir, he was talking about my mother." Oh my God, I didn't know they take swearing so seriously! I realized then that he was just hanging out with Gautam sir and picked up that habit, so I said, "Hey, sorry man, I didn't know you'd feel hurt or take it like that." I apologized because, for us, there is affection even in the way we swear.
(1:28:46) That’s just how I’ve lived; it’s a vibe. Now look anywhere, at anyone. Bhimavaram is full of cinema lovers, isn't it? Very much so. Very much. Very much. If you look closely, the maximum number of people coming into the film industry are from this Bhimavaram belt. Bhimavaram, East and West Godavari are full of industry people; we all love cinema.
(1:29:08) In this film-loving region, which movie have you watched multiple times, and how many times? Tholi Prema. Tholi Prema, okay. 38 times. 38 times? 38 times for Tholi Prema. Not just in theaters, but counting CDs and everything, it must be around 300 to 400 times. Trust me. Once I watch a movie, I don’t watch it again.
(1:29:29) You don’t enjoy it, but I enjoy the movie. You treat watching a movie like a chore, but I go to enjoy it. No matter how many times I go, I get the same enjoyment. Okay. That's why I watch movies for enjoyment ; I love movies. That's the reason why my stories and examples are half filled with movies.
(1:29:49) My friends and I used to talk about them, and even when we were studying during the lockdown, my friend Abhiram and I...What we both did was, whenever we came from Bhimavaram, we had to go back. When returning to Vijayawada, we used to catch the train at 7:00 AM. It would reach there at 10:30. At 10:30, we would dump our luggage in the cloakroom.
(1:30:06) A movie at 10:00, a movie at 2:00, a movie at 6:00 , and again a movie at 9: 30—we would watch four shows in a row, and after the second show finished, we would automatically go back to the cloakroom, pick up our luggage, and leave. Our warden would ask, "Hey, are you guys coming back after watching movies?" We'd say, "No sir, we came on the last train," and we'd level with him.
(1:30:24) That’s how continuous our movie-watching was. We could watch movies, and even my elder brother, who was at IIT Madras...He wanted to see the movie 'Hitler,' so after his university exams, he went all the way from IIT Madras to the Andhra border just to watch it. From Mumbai, from
(1:30:44) Mumbai I...Even for the movie ' Magadheera,' with my university exams just two days away, while wondering if the movie would be a hit or a flop, I tried to control myself. But when it didn't release in Chennai, I called my friend and said, "Dude, this movie is something else..." I couldn't resist. I told my friend, "I can't take it anymore," and he said, "Let's go.
(1:31:01) " Since it hadn't released there, we heard it was in Sullurupeta, so we took our bikes, went to Sullurupeta, and watched the movie. Like that, I'm that crazy about movies. And what is special about Bhimavaram is Sankranti. Look anywhere now, Bhimavaram is the Las Vegas of Andhra. Even if you search " Bhimavaram" on Google, "Andhra Las Vegas" will come up.
(1:31:22) Meaning, whether it's bets or anything else, money is always circulating there. It means that in those three days alone, roughly 2,000 to 3,000 crores change hands back and forth. Two to three thousand crores. Two to three thousand crores change hands easily. Just Bhimavaram. Just Bhimavaram, and the surrounding belt.
(1:31:41) Nowadays, if there's a long holiday like Sankranti, anyone would think of going to some far-off country. But a Bhimavaram guy wouldn't go anywhere else. People from outside, from foreign countries, from everywhere —they all come to Bhimavaram. During that time, Bhimavaram feels very vibrant. During the Sankranti season, we are in a different vibration.
(1:32:01) From about three or four days before Sankranti, from January 1st until January 16th or 17th. All of Bhimavaram becomes vibrant. That vibration starts from Hyderabad; you can tell by the toll gates, how they get blocked, and how empty all of Hyderabad becomes. You won't even find traffic; I don't know if you've ever observed it, but you'll enjoy it immensely.
(1:32:25) Yeah, too much non-veg and all sorts of veg. Yeah, Bhimavaram, we enjoy everything, and all the sons-in-law of Bhimavaram too. Ah, they are famous. The special respect shown to sons-in-law after they arrive in Bhimavaram is on another level. Like that, it's not even about pride; everything depends on love.
(1:32:47) This is a way of expressing love, it’s not for showing off. There is greatness and there is pride, but it is pride with love. Bhimavaram people have everything . In what I think of Bhimavaram, pride is included with love. Look, sir, how the culture is. Sankranti, the cockfights, from cockfights to gambling—I mean, from card games, all the sons-in-law keep coming.
(1:33:14) From January 1st until January 18th, all of Bhimavaram goes crazy. I mean, it becomes very vibrant. Once the gambling starts, they go three or four days straight without sleep or food—just drinking and gambling, drinking and gambling; they are in their own world. Like that, the liquor, cockfights, and relatives, all mixed together.
(1:33:44) I mean, there is love, there is cinema, cinema celebrations, and cockfight celebrations. And then these little games, cousins meeting up, everyone playing various games together , rangoli competitions; those things— I mean, the way a person enjoys themselves until their heart is overwhelmed with joy, that’s all that happens if they just come to Bhimavaram for Sankranti.
(1:34:05) Just come, that’s it, sir, let's go. See what we have missed—that is what we are missing these days, right? This is the culture we are missing, this is the relationship we are missing . Poor people outside, for them, it's a three or four-day festival, but we in Bhimavaram stay in that same vibe for 365 days. That's true.
(1:34:28) Thank you, thank you so much. And what did you think of the 'Voice of Magasala ' team and the host? You recognized me! Like, "Aha! Is my slang pleasant to listen to?" That’s what I said. I understood only after you told me; I didn't know until then. Because of that , at least thinking, "Okay, his slang is different, why shouldn't we use his cinematic examples to convey something good to the youth in a better way?"— that intention of thought was why you approached me.
(1:35:04) And how you approached, even though I was busy in between and was avoiding it slightly, you didn't get discouraged anywhere. You kept to the goal you set for the public and the youth. 200%, these topics—the things you talked to me about are general, casual things—without complicating them, you are highlighting the normal things in a normal person's life, and I want to show that, sir, nothing more than that.
(1:35:32) To me, you are a normal person with a highlighted voice, and you want to change something. That is what you wanted to take forward, and the way you want to convey it to the youth, I liked all of that very much. That's why I said okay for you again and thanks for that. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much sir, and I mean, from day one, one thing was in my mind.
(1:35:53) I wanted to keep it like this, I really don't want to...when people are watching, most of the time what I learned from this point is that I've learned what I needed in 10 minutes while smiling. Half of the points we discussed here were actually the same ones we talked about last night and this morning, and that's why I tried.
(1:36:13) Exactly, exactly, the ones we talked about last night and this morning came up more.