And those who have developed this, attained this, internal ocular power, internal ocular vision, see that their Lord lies coverted within their very “I” feeling, within their very existence. They needn’t go to temples, needn’t go to tiirthas [places of pilgrimage], in search of Parama Puruśa. Párvatii asked Lord Shiva: “O Lord, which one is the best tiirtha?”

You know, the meaning of tiirtha is tiirasthaḿ. Suppose on a river there is a waterline; that waterline, that waterline that touches the shore, that point, is called tiira. And above that, the slope of the river is called belá or belábhumi – “shore”, “bank”. But the tiira is not the bank. The tiira is the touching point where the water touches the land. This is the bank and this is the water. [gestures] This point is tiira.

So tiirasthaḿ means “situated on tiira”. If you go a step downward you will be in the water. A step upward, you will be on dry land. That point is called tiira, tiirasthaḿ.

Actually, tiirtha means that stance from where if you go a step deeper, a step inner, you will be in the land of bliss, and if you go a step cruder you will be within the realm of crude materiality, the crude world. So tiirasthaḿ. A man should always try to keep his mind, keep himself, in tiirtha. So as soon as he will sit in meditation, he will be in deep meditation; and as soon as he will start worldly work he will be starting worldly work. His position, his stance, should always be maintained. A man should always be in tiirtha. How can one be always in Varanasi or Rameshvaram [places of pilgrimage]? It is not possible. One will have to look after his hearth and home. So tiirtha is something internal, not external.

When Párvatii asked Lord Shiva, “O Lord, which one is the best tiirtha?” Lord Shiva’s reply was:

Idaḿ tiirtham idaḿ tiirthaḿ bhramanti támasáh janáh;
Átmatiirthaḿ na jánanti kathaḿ mokśa varánane.

[Here is one place of pilgrimage, there is another place. People of static nature wander from the one place to the other place. But without finding the real place of pilgrimage within themselves, how can they attain salvation?]

“O lady, támasik people, those who are guided by static ideas, move hither and thither – ‘This is the tiirtha, this is the kuńd́a [sacred pond], one should have a dip in it… this is the idol, this is that, this is that’ – and doing this they are simply wasting their valuable time, energy and money. These external tiirthas are actually no tiirtha. The actual tiirtha lies within, not without.”

Átmatiirthaḿ na jánanti – “They do not know this átmatiirtha [one’s own real tiirtha], where Parama Puruśa lies coverted.” Just now I told you Dharmasya tattvaḿ nihitaḿ guháyám [“The essence of dharma lies deep in the mind”]. That tiirtha is not known to them, that’s why they cannot get mokśa, they cannot attain salvation. One should always be in one’s own átmatiirtha.

Shubhamastu [Let it be auspicious].