There are three places worth to be visualized.
- Lanka- Ravana preferred extorting things from others but never had any space for giving and forgiving. He kidnapped all the demigods, kept Yama and Kuber under his control, captured Pushpak Vimana from Kuber, and even kidnapped Mother Sita.
- Janakpura- King Janak gave everything. He even gave his daughter, Mother Sita to Rama as Kanya Daan. He was a great king who kept his one hand in the fire and the other on Mother Sunaina’s head; he was a Videh, the one free from restrictions of the gross body (deha). His daughter was called Vaidehi. Even the dwellers of Janakpura abused Rama, as he was their son-in-law, and they had enough rights to abuse their true son-in-law. They loved and abused Rama wholeheartedly. They gave everything, even abused Rama. The one who gives is the Guru. Mother Sita was the greatest Guru of Hanumana Ji who received the blessings of Ashtasiddhi and Navnidhi.
- Awadh or Ayodhya- It is the birthplace of Rama. The dwellers of Awadh received and gave equally. Rama received the throne the previous night and, then he was asked to return the throne the next day. Guru Vishwamitra took Rama with him and then brought him back as a married prince with Mother Sita.
Sri Krishna was narrating these points to the people. People asked him the way he responded in any kind of exchange based on give-and-take. He replied that he received and gave equally. He gave an example saying that he supplied cloth to Draupadi when she faced harassment in court. But, he didn’t have any cloth. He took the cloth from gopis during the Rasa.
Moral- At present, we are the dwellers of Lanka, prefer keeping everything for ourselves. There is a parable based on this. There was a man who was sinking in the river. There was also a man who saw him. He shouted and asked the person to stretch out his arm, so he could grab and pull him. But, the man behaved like a boulder sinking in a river. He didn’t stretch his arm. Several people assembled, hearing the chaos. People asked the person on the bank to ask the sinking person to grab the outstretched arm of the rescuer. The man did the same, and the man in the river grabbed the arm and finally reached the bank.
The sinking man was not aware of the concept of giving. He only knew the concept of receiving or grabbing. If we give our mind to the Lord, freedom shall descend. We do not have the right to give or receive any material benefits, but we can only surrender our minds. Giving and receiving in a balanced way is a stable state, but we can’t do it until we fix our mind on the soul. This state of constancy in giving and taking is the Brahman. One who gives off everything is the Guru. Giving the mind is the solution.