Salvation in Kali Yuga. Swami Vankhandi Maharaj: Interviews, Satsangs, Teachings, Parables

And then Lord Krishna said to Bhima: «Why wash where your earth is pearls and diamonds? Why wash where your earth is all pure gold? But silver with black tarnish already needs to be cleaned. And earth teeming with worms needs to be washed off every day.» This was the teaching Lord Krishna gave to Bhima. And since then, the sages-munis have called the mountain where Markandeya lived Hiramoti (which means «Pearls and Diamonds»).

One whose body and mind are soaked in dirt needs to wash and clean off dirt constantly. But one whose mind is pure, holy and righteous can well do without ablutions. God, after all, looks into your heart; he doesn’t look at the body. When the mind and heart are pure, dirt on the body doesn’t play a big role.

Take Barahi Baba, who lived in our ashram. Did he wash? He didn’t wash at all. But his body never emitted a bad odor. A common person living here, if they don’t wash, will start to smell unpleasant after two or three days. But this didn’t apply to Barahi. Barahi didn’t even pay attention to what he was wearing.

God looks inside you, he sees your mind and its state. If the manas is pure and full of holiness, then God doesn’t care about your external appearance – God doesn’t pay attention to this. The body is temporary and transient. The heart should have purity, the mind should be calm, pure, and bright.

Barahi always pulled some rags over himself, but even these rags didn’t smell. And he didn’t smell of sweat. Yet, often it happens that someone sitting nearby smells of sweat. Barahi had a pure manas, and he didn’t pay attention to the external world. He was pure inside.

For saints in the Himalayas, the process of ablution happens differently. There’s crystal clear air and fresh wind there. It’s enough to open the door, go outside, breathe fresh air, and you’re already clean, as if after a bath. After all, you can wash in different ways. Some wash off the dirt accumulated during the day with water from a bucket or under a shower, while others, if there’s no running water nearby, make do with simple wiping. The body is cleaned with grass or a wet cloth.

In the Himalayas there’s a lot of snow and you can wash with snow. There’s such purity there that this is enough. The body doesn’t get dirty. If you approach a saint in the Himalayas, you can catch the aroma of roses or mountain flowers emanating from him. This is the natural smell of his body.

In samsara, people care a lot about body cleanliness but don’t monitor the cleanliness of thoughts in their head. They dress the body in beautiful clothes, pour perfumes over it and think they’ve gotten rid of dirt. But their mind and thoughts are full of impurities. But God doesn’t look at your body, he looks at the manas. The manas should be crystal clear. Lord Rama said, «I am with those who are pure in soul.»

So yes, I met Markandeya. He honored me with his grace. He gave me darshan and said: «Now go into the world, bring goodness to people in samsara. And do seva.»

He meets with few people. He walks the earth alone.

But other saints came here to our ashram. Vivekananda came here to our ashram. Although no one recognized him. While such people are among us, we might not suspect anything, and only later, when they leave, comes the realization of who it was. Information comes during meditation, dhyana. Vivekananda lived here with us for three days. He, like everyone else, did seva, cleaned paths of leaves, swept.

Swami Vankhandi in his young days, archive photo

How and why such darshans happen is a mystery. A mystery that’s not easy to uncover; it can’t be described in words. Such phenomena are beyond simple verbal descriptions. It’s beyond words. And if it can’t be expressed in words, what else can I tell?

The Gift of Fearlessness

There isn’t a shadow of fear in Vankhandi Maharaj. And this is a sure sign of a paramhamsa and maharaj who truly has nothing to fear because everything belongs to him, moreover – everything is him. The word «maharaj» translates from Hindi as «great king,» and Swami Vankhandi is indeed a maharaj: all his behavior is always regal and filled with the authority of inner strength, which is distinctly felt both when he, smiling like a child, jokes with devotees, and when he strictly gives them everyday instructions. And when he, illuminated only by rare flashes of fire, sits in the twilight by his dhuni, leaning on his staff and staring intently at the glowing coals, he resembles some king or rishi from ancient sacred Scriptures – perhaps even Indra, the king of gods himself.

Question: Maharaj ji, tell us about your life.

Vankhandi Maharaj: My life is before your eyes.

Question: Tell us the story of your life! What happened to you in the past?

Maharaj: I don’t even recall the past. I don’t remember it. What was has passed. What’s the point in digging through the past? Let the past go, and one should look to the future, feel it, and move forward. Of course, memories sometimes come flooding back, but I don’t hold onto them, don’t savor – what happened exactly where and when.

Vivekananda left behind memories, described his travels, life experiences. Rajneesh said that one who walks the path of yoga doesn’t look back, doesn’t get fixated on what happened in their past.

The life of yogis is so complex and difficult that not everyone can trace this path. For some, it’s completely inaccessible. It’s like climbing up a sheer cliff. After all, life’s story isn’t connected to just one of your births. A person’s life story can only be understood in combination with their other lives – like a link in the chain of many rebirths. Experience gained during one birth isn’t enough to grasp the entire meaning of one’s existence.

Rama said: «You will know God when God Himself manifests in you as Knowledge and the meaning of all that exists.» If the meaning of words and phenomena is inaccessible to you and you don’t see clarity, harmony and rhythm in them, turn directly to God, and by His grace He will manifest in your heart and reveal all meaning to you directly.

There are fruits that can be picked and eaten immediately, in their natural form, as nature created them. And you can process them, change their structure, and they will still be edible, but this will be a completely different, unnatural product, with different quality as a result of artificial intervention. So it is with knowledge. You can receive it directly from God. The road has been shown to you. Here it is. Go straight along it, don’t turn aside. And it will lead you to the goal. Or you can make yourself dependent on others, seek help from intermediaries, subject your consciousness to processing, but this will be a different experience, a different quality of knowledge.

People fear death most of all. People are ready to spend hundreds of thousands of rupees to extend their existence even for one day. They go abroad seeking treatment for what is incurable. But what is our life? Two days! One day we come, another day we go. And these days are predetermined. So what is there to fear! Nothing can be changed anyway. Neither the date of birth nor the date of death. Not even for a moment.

Those who fear death and die in fear are doomed to wander through various circles of hell, reaping the fruits of their karma. Those who don’t fear death are either reborn in a human body or go to heaven, enjoyably tasting the fruits of their righteous life.

A person gripped by fear can’t concentrate on anything. Fear blinds their eyes. They don’t even notice their children. The fear of approaching death paints terrible pictures before their eyes. Death, just before the end, appears to them as a frightening figure with a sword, in clouds of smoke and flame. Consciousness becomes clouded. A person in such a state can’t even recognize themselves. Their mind wanders in darkness.

Those without fear don’t see such pictures before death. After all, we create fear ourselves, it’s a product of our consciousness. Fear can make a person lose the gift of speech or lose the ability to recognize relatives.

A person leaves life with the baggage of values they formed during life – what they held onto, what they believed in, what they prayed to, that’s what you die with.

Mahatma Gandhi in childhood was afraid to be alone in a room, afraid to move from one room to another without a nanny’s accompaniment. Until he received wise advice: to constantly repeat God’s Name – Rama. One who constantly keeps their attention on the Divine Name fears nothing. Mahatma Gandhi followed this advice all his life, achieved perfection in this practice and lived to the end of his days with God’s Name. In the hour of death, «Ram-Ram» became the last thing that came from his lips.

Now, we live in a free country, and still, people grab firearms in moments of danger. Gandhi lived in times of colonial slavery and violence, yet he walked everywhere without any fear with just a staff. He went to England and spoke freely before the English, wearing only a dhoti. Fear forever left his life.

There was a time when Nathuram Godse threatened Gandhi with murder to his face. And Gandhi, who had a small child sitting on his lap at that moment, calmly responded to the threat: «Wait, let me remove the child from my lap, then shoot.» When the real hour of murder came four years later, and Godse put several bullets in his chest, Gandhi managed to say «Ram-Ram» and departed to the other world.

Maharaj in Russia, july 2024

Fearlessness is a great gift. An even greater gift is to free others from fear. And to live so that birds and animals aren’t afraid of you. This is a wonderful criterion. If birds and animals aren’t afraid to approach you, it means there is no fear in you. Only a coward emanates and instills fear. A person free from fear doesn’t transmit fear to others. One who threatens, frightens and inspires terror is deep down a coward themselves and full of fears. If you try to intimidate another, it means you can be just as easily intimidated.

If you turn off the power button, all devices stop. If you turn it back on, everything will work again. Humans also have such a switch. The button of dharma and adharma.

Everything in the world has its opposite. Truth-falsehood, dharma-adharma, sin-virtue. Each phenomenon is balanced by its opposite. If there is happiness, there is sorrow, if there is harm, there is benefit. That’s how the world is arranged. The pinnacle of dharma is kindness, love and compassion. Kindness is the foundation of dharma. It nourishes dharma. One should love everyone, even the smallest bug, ant, animals, birds. A mosquito shouldn’t be killed, it should be pitied and understood. How much harm can it do? It takes away a drop of your blood, that’s all…

The Ramayana says: «Whoever has come under my protection, even the biggest scoundrel, I will forgive him, not reject him. Even if he is a thief and robber, I will take him under my protection and responsibility. You cannot betray the trust of those who seek your protection.» If a bird, insect, forest creature has come to you for protection, they must be protected. Dharma is based on kindness and compassion. Sin is based on ego and self-love. And, without God’s help, a person can’t eradicate their ego. Only when you turn to God, bare your soul through concentration, repentance and love, and God penetrates your consciousness and becomes part of you, does enlightenment, purification and rejection of ego occur. Only God helps a person atone for sins planted by self-love. Only God can root out human ego, free His devotees from the burden of self-love and ignorance.

It was excessive ego and self-love that caused Ravana’s death. The King of Mathura, Kamsa, was also destroyed by ego and self-importance. Even in the recent past, the British had to leave India forever, and the reason for that was their immeasurable ego. After all, initially, when they governed the country sattvically, benevolently and fairly, no one resisted them. But as soon as their attitude changed and they began to lord overegotistically, harshly and contemptuously, they had to flee in fear. A country renowned throughout the world for its might was forced to leave India in disgrace…

Doing Good

The day starts at 3 AM in Vankhandi Maharaj’s ashram. Immediately after – cleaning the territory: devotees sweep the streets – clean up leaves fallen during the night and dust brought by the wind. Then – meditation or nama-japa (repetition of the Divine Name). Then aarti (collective service-glorification of the Lord). That’s how the day begins. The schedule is strict but natural. Throughout the day, no one sits idle. To an outsider, such strictness might at first seem like quite a heavy burden, but in reality, these are very simple rules derived from years of experience living in unity with the surrounding nature and based on the foundation of the Vedas. After all, one translation of the word «ashram» is «order.» The cornerstone on which ashram life is built is seva, selfless service.

Vankhandi Maharaj: I’ve sat under a tree for so long, and I can sit longer – the world doesn’t change at all. There’s still much idleness, selfishness and greed. People quarrel, argue, and begin to hate each other. This contradicts the very spirit of seva. One needs to learn to develop the attitude of a true sevak. In seva, some people have no superiority over others. In service, everyone is equal. If someone thinks they’re doing more and better than others, they’re no longer a sevak. If someone expects special treatment or encouragement, this is no longer service. Seva is done with love, from the whole heart. A sevak doesn’t choose what’s better to do today – clean the toilet or wash dishes. If you see dirt or disorder, clean it up. I myself had to wash dirty dishes left by people many times. If needed, I’ll do it now, too.

There’s great meaning in seva, it should be done by the heart’s calling. Without calculation, without greed. Seva is, first of all, a soul’s impulse to do good. And that’s its meaning. And that’s its reward. This is dharma. Bhakti might not give you what seva gives…

Now the attitude toward this has changed. Everyone tries to show off, proving that they work better than others. One shouldn’t talk; one should do. Simply do good.

The Ramayana speaks a lot about this. A true sevak doesn’t compare, doesn’t calculate results. They see that something needs to be done – and they do it. There’s never too little work. When I go down the mountain, I always, without thinking, pick up plastic bottles, garbage. I pick up discarded matchboxes, cigarette packages, and plastic bags. Now I walk little, age doesn’t allow it. But the point is that a sevak doesn’t look for reasons to do good.

There lived a sadhu who had a disciple from Gwalior. Once the disciple said to the sadhu: «Babaji, I want to serve, do useful work, I can take care of cows. Give me any work.» The sadhu replied to the disciple: «Good, here are ten cows for you, take them and care for them. When you have a hundred cows, come back.» The disciple took the ten cows, went with them into the forest and for twelve years cared for them, grazed them, looked after them, didn’t even drink the milk himself, gave it all to the calves. As a result, his herd grew to a hundred cows. And he brought the whole herd back to the sadhu. The sadhu said to his disciples: «Look, my disciple has returned, he has fully fulfilled his duty of service. Look how much light is in him, what radiance emanates from him. God lives in every cow, and all hundred gods have gifted him with their radiance, blessing, and gave him knowledge of all four Vedas.» Everyone greeted him with great respect. And the teacher said to that disciple: «Now you are free. There is so much light and knowledge in you, acquired through true service! For seva is an austerity that gives experience and knowledge.»

Seva should be done with joy, with a light heart, without thinking, and it will never seem difficult to you. Those who consider service their dharma don’t experience difficulties and pain. Household cleaning is also seva. Don’t make a mess. Create cleanliness everywhere with joy in your heart. And help others; helping others is also seva. After all, essentially, the concept of home already implies abundance and prosperity: a home should always be a full cup. India is a rich country, everything is in abundance here, and there is no place for poverty. Poverty comes from karma, from wrong thoughts and attitudes. If you are poor, it only speaks of your shortcomings. Poverty in the home means that you don’t take proper care of the home, don’t serve it. Everyone is looking for opportunities to get a job and make a career. That’s all they dream about. But you start serving your home properly, putting love and soul into it. You’ll see how everything suddenly starts falling into place by itself, prosperity will appear in the house. Live as if your home is a temple, a dwelling for gods. Keep it in order, beauty and cleanliness, love and worship it. And you won’t even notice how your home becomes ennobled, filled with everything necessary, and prosperity will come to it. Don’t be lazy. If you’re lazy, you’ll live in poverty; work, and you’ll have everything.

Look how much grows in our forest – cinnamon, reeds, batash, fruits – everything needed for prasad. We take care of this forest and receive so many gifts from it. People come to us from other ashrams, saying: we ran out of food in another ashram during bhandara. But with us – whoever comes, there’s always something to treat them with. The word ashram comes from «aasha» – hope. That’s why everyone comes here with hope. Even if someone comes in the middle of the night, we’ll feed them. We even used to leave milk for the mice in leaf cups at night. Mice would come at night, drink milk and leave. And we left grain for them. Now there aren’t as many mice here. But they still run around, finding food for themselves. There’s no damage from them, it doesn’t affect food supplies at all. Mice, they never devastate. In warehouses where grain is stored for ten years, mice live, but the grain doesn’t spoil and stays fresh. Ganeshji uses a mouse as transportation. And Ganesha is associated with buddhi (intellect), riddhi (success) and siddhi (prosperity). Mice should be loved, fed, they shouldn’t be killed. You cannot kill what you cannot resurrect. The right to kill belongs to one who gives life. If you can’t return life to the slain, you have no right to take their life.

Once, Raja Vikramaditya was hunting in the forest. He killed an antelope, approached to take his trophy, and saw a holy sadhu standing next to it. The raja said: «Step aside, this is my prey, I killed it.» The sadhu asked, «Where is it written that you have the right to this prey?» Vikramaditya exclaimed, «I am raja, I have the right!» Then the holy man asked: «Right to what – to give life or to kill? Can you resurrect this dead antelope?» The raja said, «No, of course not. Can you?» Then the sadhu killed a small creature before his eyes, went to the pond, put it in the water, took it out, and the creature came back to life. The raja humbly stepped back. And the sadhu said: «If you took someone’s life, but cannot give it back, then you have no right to kill.» Such saints lived in our land before.

Many holy people lived in India. When addressing God, they often asked for bhakti rather than mukti, liberation. They said: we are ready to be reborn again and again, with one purpose – to receive bhakti, satsang and sanskar [inclination, ability] to love you and receive your love, Lord. They didn’t ask for fame, wealth, or a career in life, only bhakti.

Some saints didn’t even ask for siddhi, supernatural abilities. Why do we need siddhi – for physical pleasures? God has already given us many joys in this physical world. And what is worldly joy? Just work and reap the fruits of your labors. You don’t even need to read mantras and practice tantra for this. Sadhana is needed only for one thing – for the love of God and for receiving love from God.

Everything that happens in this world happens by the will of the Supreme. We are merely instruments in Divine hands. Lord Krishna tells Arjuna in the «Bhagavad Gita»: «Everything that needs to be done will be done by Me. I do all this through you. You should only become a conductor of My energy, a means of implementing My plans.»

The Creator implements His designs. Whether we want it or not. Everything happens by itself, according to His discretion. Our spiritual task is to facilitate His desires and contribute to His Divine will. This is not for us. This is for Him. And for us, what? How much do we need? We made dhuni with our own hands, and built a temple with our own hands. We are free to go wherever we want. Still, you can’t escape yourself. Whether in hell or heaven.

In the «Gita», Krishna says: «Even if you have attained inner freedom, don’t rush to give up working for the benefit of society in this world. Continue to labor and work. Not for yourself, but for the common good. Contributing to Divine plans.»

Someone by Divine discretion will become a doctor, someone a warrior, someone an engineer, someone a teacher. After all, the whole world is God’s creation, and God creates it according to His design and preserves it for His purposes. Even in the deepest jungles, life is built in the most complex way. Everything is finely organized, coordinated, and balanced. Everything has its place and purpose. Nature is truly a Divine creation. Money won’t create such perfection. Some believe that money can do everything. But ultimately, everything is created by His will and His.

«True strength is in God’s want.» Hanuman performed yagna to get to heaven. But he had to descend into hell for some time. Learn to listen, heed and contribute to Divine plans. Act in unison with God. When a person relies only on their own desires, success doesn’t come to them. Yet, most often, it happens that people try to impose some of their personal desires on God. They ask Him, beg, almost demand: God, do this for me, give me that, arrange marriage, find a bride, give good work, help pass exams, and give grandchildren. And I’ll ring a bell for you. That’s the attitude people have.

An elderly woman approached Buddha: «God, I have no grandchildren. Make it so that I have grandchildren.» Then, Buddha gave her a bowl full of chickpeas and sent her to the well, saying: «You are tired and hungry. Go to the well, sit and eat.» She sat by the well and started eating chana, chickpeas. Children came running. God Himself created them through His maya. The children surrounded the old woman and started asking, «Grandmother, treat us to chana, give us at least one each.» But she just waved them away and didn’t give them a single pea. After eating, she washed her hands and came back to Buddha. And he said to her: «I sent so many grandchildren to you, and you didn’t even share one pea with them. And after this, how can you beg me for grandchildren? Who needs such a grandmother!»

When you turn to God, ask Him only for love, ask for nothing else. And if He gifts you with His Divine love, this is an enormous blessing for your whole life. This is the essence of bhakti-yoga. Its exponent was Ravidas – a medieval saint, poet and mystic. A true devotee. Kali Yuga knows many such great devotees. Kabirdas, Mirabai, Namdev, Gyaneshwar, Surdas. Their love for God was sincere, boundless, true and deep. These great people dedicated their entire lives to singing Divine gunas, through their love they gave people Divine knowledge. And none of them ever asked for anything for themselves. Didn’t beg for fulfillment of their desires.

Surdas didn’t ask for a dwelling for himself, but received it by God’s will. All his life he sang of Krishna’s deeds, communicating with Him directly in his heart, for he could see Him with his inner vision. He didn’t write poems on paper, they were written down by those who listened to him. Kabir also didn’t write anything down himself. He couldn’t even write. But he sang, and others reproduced it on paper. Thus their heritage was preserved, whole collections of works that once flowed from these poets’ lips. Now people sing what they once sang.