Talks Excerpt 600. Swamiji gives examples of temptation.

From Mother Radha’s recordings of Swamiji.

If you study the Ramayana you will find that Mother Sita’s life was so very pure. Think about Mother Sita; she did not care for anything except her Rama; she did not give up her pure life for anything. And was Sri Rama any less than this? No. He was a king in his own right although for a time he was in a hermit’s garb in the forest.

Their characters were not lost by these experiences. Sri Rama’s own kingdom did not tempt him; the ‘kingdom’ offered by Ravana did not tempt Mother Sita; nor was she tempted by all the psychic powers [siddhis] which where offered to her. Ravana said, ‘Look, I control the moon, I control the stars, I even control death, O Sita. What is the beggar Rama compared to this? Marry me instead.’ She immediately refused.

How many of us get attached to a holy man who performs a few miracles? Remember that no matter how advanced a holy man is, your Atman is still holier.

Ultimately Sri Rama and Mother Sita themselves were the victors because character was not lost; they led a simple life.

Similarly, a sannyasi is not tempted by the wealth of all the three worlds. He may wear a hermit’s garb – like Sri Rama – but he knows he is a prince. He controls the ten senses. He is the son of God, Himself. That is how you and I should be.

Sister Nivedita had no miracles in her; but she had purity of heart. She could have done a lot of things with her beauty. But her purity in thought, word and deed became her all in all to serve her own guru, Swami Vivekananda. The thing that made her holy was devotion to her duty, devotion to her guru.

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These recordings or the excerpts from them, were made from the early 1970s onward, by Mother Radha, a close devotee of Swamiji’s and edited for uploading here by our gurubhai and her son, Brother Tim. Please be mindful that what Swamiji was saying may have been specific to an individual or a group of people with him, at the time.