54.1 In the Samvat year 1880, in the afternoon on Jyeshth sud 7 [3rd June 1824], Swãmi Shree Sahajãnandji Mahãrãj arrived at Lakshmi-Vãdi on horseback from Dãdã Khãchar’s darbãr in Gadhadã. After riding the horse for quite some time, He sat down on a square platform. He was dressed entirely in white clothes. He had also tied a black-bordered cloth around His head. In addition to this, a garland of mogrã flowers was hanging from His neck, and His pãgh was decorated with a tassel of flowers. A sabhã of munis, as well as haribhaktas from various places, had gathered before Him.
54.2 Then, Shreeji Mahãrãj asked the munis, “In the twelfth chapter of the eleventh skandh of Shreemad Bhãgvat, Shree Krishna Bhagvãn has said to Uddhav, ‘I am not as pleased by ashtãng-yog, sãnkhya, tyãg, vrats, yagna, tap, and yãtrã, as I am pleased by satsang’. This is what Bhagvãn has said. This implies that of all spiritual activities, satsang is the greatest. However, what are the characteristics of a person who regards satsang as the greatest spiritual activity?”
54.3 The munis answered according to their understanding, but none could give a precise answer.
54.4 So, Shreeji Mahãrãj replied, “A person who regards satsang as the greatest spiritual activity is deeply attached only to the sant of Bhagvãn. For example, if a king who is childless receives a son in old age, then even if that son swears at the king or misbehaves, like by pulling his moustache, the king would not find faults in him. Even if the son hits another child or causes problems in the village, still the king would never attribute faults to his child. This is because the king is profoundly attached to his son. Likewise, only a person who develops such deep attachment for the bhaktas of Bhagvãn has realised satsang to be the most kalyãn-kãri of all spiritual activities. This fact has been described in the Shreemad Bhãgvat:
If a person regards the body to be his own self; regards his wife and children to be his own; regards the murtis of Bhagvãn made from earth to be respected; and regards water to be sacred like a place of pilgrimage, but does not regard the enlightened bhakta of Bhagvãn in this way, then he is the most disgraceful of all animals, a wild donkey.
“This verse has stated the fact appropriately.”
End of Vachanãmrut Gadhadã II || 54 || 185 ||