Satsang at Gita Hall: At 8 a.m. Siva was at the Gita Hall in the Birla Mandir. Siva began to sing the Mahamantra and then followed it up by Mahavakya Kirtan, Gita Kirtan, and then the Song of Admonition:
Can you expect real shanti
If you waste your time
In scandal, backbiting?
"Generally people do not go about performing their own duties, ever intent on their own self-culture and cultivation of divine virtues; but they always poke their nose in others' business. This is a serious mistake, a Himalayan blunder.
You must constantly engage yourself in sadhana, selfless service and study. You should constantly reflect: 'How can I regenerate myself? How can I cultivate divine virtues?' You must go on rotating japa, kirtan, swadhyaya, meditation and service. Then there will be no time for scandal and backbiting and looking into the affairs of other people."
7 November 1950, Delhi. From Sivananda's Lectures, during All-India and Ceylon Tour – 1950, Chronicler Swami Venkatesananda