Vanquishing Demons

Shivabalayogi dropped his physical body so that he could complete his mission.  Many years earlier, Swamiji confided to close devotees that only when he would leave his body would his mission really become great.

In January of 1994, Shri Swamiji was answering the questions of devotees about a wide range of subjects.  At one point he turned the conversation around and said,

“Well I have answered all these questions for you.  Now answer my question.  Can you tell me why we all are here now?”

The devotees gave various answers such as they loved Swamiji, or they came for darshan, or they came for peace of mind, or they did not know where else to be, or they realized that such darshan was a privilege.  Then Swamiji answered his own question.

“There was Rama, Sita and Lakshman.  They had come to the forest.  Who was with them? They didn’t have anyone else with them.  Anjaneya Swami came.  Sugriva came.  Vibhishana came.  Some others came, and this way a group formed.  It became a big force and it killed a mighty man, Ravanasura.  They brought peace to the world.  That is it.  You all have come here from different directions to develop this.”

Shri Swamiji was referring to the beautiful story of the Ramayana which is well known to all Indians.  Lord Rama, heir to the throne, was unjustly banished from his father’s Kingdom of Ayodhya.  Only his wife Sita and brother Lakshman accompanied him to exile.  They spent many years traveling throughout South India and living in the forest.  The powerful king of Sri Lanka, Ravana asura (demon), kidnapped Sita and took her to his island fortress to have her as his wife.  Lord Rama formed an army of devotees with which he attacked Sri Lanka, rescued his wife, and killed Ravanna.  That army of devotees included Lord Hanuman (Anjaneya, the great and powerful god with the form of a monkey), Sugriva (the king of the monkeys), Jambavan (the king of the bears), and Vibhishana (the brother of Ravana).

Ravana was considered the most powerful king of his time and feared by all other kings and emperors.  Yet this great king with his powerful armies was vanquished not by a powerful lord supported by a great force of warriors, but by a banished young prince with the support of the simple animals who had gathered around him.

The suggestion is that although the group of people gathered for the mission may seem insignificant in the eyes of the world, they will still succeed.

“If you change the intellect of some people automatically the others will change.  We are now ten people sitting here.  If Swamiji changes the mind of a few, then there will be discussions among the people here.  So the minds of the other people also will change.  That’s what will happen.  That is the reason he keeps calling you here.  He is asking you to learn more, learn well.  That’s why he asks you to mix with the rest of the people.  You should be just one of them.  With that, the tension will come down.”

For a downloadable, printer-friendly copy of
The Living Yogi, Perspectives on the Shivabalayogi Mission Today
The Living Yogi HOME page │ PREVIOUS page │ NEXT page