Rameswaram

To us, Bharatavarsha, as we see it as mother, India or whatever, as a holy piece of contiguous geography, irrespective of occupation by several political people over a period of 5000 years, that did not disturb ours.

To us, the Kedarnath was as important as, say, Rameshwaram.

And from deep south, I can say the Kedarnath and the people are named as Kedarnath or Ramnath.

And up north, we have people who are named something from the south, Ankleshariya or whatever.

Now, one example I'll give you for you to understand.

Someone comes and says that, "I have a desire to go to Rameshwaram for a long period of time.

I have the desire to go to Rameshwaram, but I have not been able to materialize it yet." So remember one thing, huh? Desire has been there.

Materialization of the desire is only and only possible if that desire reaches the level of senses.

If the desire comes and sits in the senses.

From where it will come? It will come from the mind.

So I have a desire to go to Rameshwaram, but it's not been possible yet.

Till the time I have not physically gone to Rameshwaram, um, means what? My senses does not make me reach Rameshwaram, and my eyes are not able to see it physically that I'm in Rameshwaram, till that time, um, I will have this experience that my desire did not, uh, materialize yet.

He is the Ishwar of all the gods.

What is Rameshwaram? Ram ka Ishwar, Shiva.

So he is, as I said, the god of the gods.

And therefore, the Swayamdhu, therefore his marker, which is the phallus, becomes so important.

Mm.

Right? The story goes that, I don't know if Swami narrated it in one of the discourses in this series also, where, uh, Swami says that he wanted to do a particular pilgrimage where he was getting water from the Ganges and to offer it at Rameshwaram, do the abhishekham for the lingam at Rameshwaram.

And on the way, the disciples and, uh, Sant Eknath find that a donkey is about to die.

It's so thirsty, and it has fallen on the wayside, and he takes the Ganga water and quenches the thirst of the donkey.

And all his disciples are shocked because they know the amount of trouble it is, you know, they've gone through to, to get that water.

And he says, "What have you done? And I mean, we have to go to Rameshwaram and do this." And Eknath says, "My Lord is dying here in the form of a donkey.

What stupidity it is for me to take this and-"

Mm.

Yeah.

10 fishermen from Rameshwaram held by Sri Lankan Navy on charges of fishing beyond Katchatheevu Islet.

Uh, a senior official in the Tamil Nadu fisheries department has said that the arrested fishermen were taken to Talaimannar Naval Port and are likely to be produced in a court during the day.

Uh, we move on to Andhra Pradesh.