78.1 In the Samvat year 1876, on Ashãdh sud 3 [13th July, 1820], Swãmi Shree Sahajãnandji Mahãrãj was sitting on the veranda outside the west-facing rooms in front of the mandir of Shree Vãsudev-Nãrãyan in Dãdã Khãchar’s darbãr in Gadhadã. He was wearing a white khes, and had covered Himself with a white chãdar. He was also wearing a white pãgh on His head and a garland of white flowers around His neck. A sabhã of munis, as well as haribhaktas from various places, had gathered before Him.
78.2 Shreeji Mahãrãj then said, “All sant, please listen. I wish to ask a question.”
78.3 The sants responded, “Please ask, Mahãrãj.”
78.4 Shreeji Mahãrãj asked, “If the eight influences of desh, kãl, kriyã, sang, mantra, dhyãn, dikshã, and shãstras are pleasant, they purify a person’s mind. However, if these eight influences are unpleasant, they pollute a person’s mind. But, do the sanskãrs of the karmas performed in past lives have any influence on these eight factors?”
78.5 The munis answered, “It seems that the karmas of past lives do play a role. If a person’s past karmas are pleasant, he is born in a pleasant desh. However, if the past karmas are unpleasant, he is born in an unpleasant desh. In the same way, the other seven factors are also determined by past karmas. Therefore, past karmas appear to play a major role in all of them. The eight influences may be predominant in certain circumstances, but past karmas are predominant in all circumstances.”
78.6 Shreeji Mahãrãj then questioned, “From what principle in the shãstras do you claim that past karmas play the predominant role among all the eight influences? Please quote any reference from the shãstras. After all, only in the Jain shãstras, and not in any other, does a person find the predominance of only karmas. Other shãstras explain only the predominance of the sang of Bhagvãn and His bhaktas. Moreover, because you support the predominance of only past karmas, are you truly nãstiks superficially disguised as satsangis, or what? This is because no one except the nãstiks promote the predominance of karmas. They believe the Veds, the shãstras, the Purãns, and the Mahãbhãrat, and other historical shãstras, to be false. They only accept their own shãstras, written in the Mãgdhi dialect, as authentic. Therefore, it is only out of foolishness that they only promote past karmas.
78.7 “If the eight influences vary according to past karmas, then why has the hundred-feet-deep underground water not risen to the surface for the many religious kings who have been born in the region of Marvad? If the influence of desh was controlled by past karmas, then the water-table should rise for people who have performed good deeds, and fall for sinners. However, this is not the case, because in the region of Marvad, both sinners and religious people suffer from the problem of water being found deep underground. In reality, each desh does not lose its natural characteristics. Therefore, the eight influences do not vary according to past karmas.
78.8 “Therefore, a person who desires his own kalyãn should not uphold the predominance of karmas in the way that nãstiks do. If the eight influences are unpleasant, he should abandon them and seek only pleasant influences.
78.9 “Moreover, just as pleasant and unpleasant desh exist outside the body, a person’s body can also be a pleasant or unpleasant desh. If the desh (the body) is pleasant when the jeev resides within it, then kalyãn-kãri qualities such as nobility, contentment, compassion, and dharma, develop. However, if the desh (the body) is unpleasant when the jeev resides within it, then flaws such as kãm, krodh, lobh, moh, mad, and matsar develop instead.
78.10 “Also, pleasant and unpleasant sang should be distinguished as follows: When no distance remains between a person and the sang he keeps, this is known as true sang. Outwardly, even enemies embrace each other, yet their hearts are hundreds of thousands of miles apart. Such outward sang cannot be called sang. Only sang that is kept by thought, word, and deed, can be called sang. A person should keep such sang – by thought, word, and deed – only with Bhagvãn or His bhaktas, as it leads to the kalyãn of a person’s jeev. However, a person should never keep the sang of a sinner.”
78.11 Then, at midday, Shreeji Mahãrãj called all the young, student sãdhus and requested, “All of you student sãdhus, please ask me questions.”
78.12 Motã Shivãnand Swãmi then asked, “How can a person who has firm nishchay in Bhagvãn, be recognised?”
78.13 Shreeji Mahãrãj replied, “A person with firm nishchay in Bhagvãn regards all actions performed by Bhagvãn as kalyãn-kãri, whether they are good or bad. In fact, however many countless kinds of kriyã a faithful bhakta witnesses, whether Bhagvãn wins or loses or runs away, or whether He shows pleasure or grief, he says, ‘All kriyãs of Bhagvãn are for the sake of kalyãn’. If a bhakta speaks only in this way whenever he speaks, then he should be known to have absolute nishchay in Bhagvãn.”
78.14 Then, Nirmanãnand Swãmi asked, “How can a person prevent the development of a fault-finding attitude towards Bhagvãn and His sãdhus?”
78.15 Shreeji Mahãrãj answered, “If a person possesses the previously mentioned firm nishchay in Bhagvãn, then he never develops a fault-finding attitude towards Bhagvãn. Furthermore, when he thinks of the greatness of the dãs of such a great Bhagvãn, he never perceives faults in the bhaktas of Bhagvãn either.”
78.16 Then, Nirmanãnand Swãmi and Nãnã Pragnãnand Swãmi both asked, “How can a person see the murti of Bhagvãn in all the three mental states of jãgrat, svapna, and sushupti?”
78.17 Shreeji Mahãrãj replied, “If the pure sanskãrs from a person’s previous lives are powerful, then he can constantly see the murti of Bhagvãn in all three states. If a person, who continuously experiences fear, lust, or love for something, can see objects other than Bhagvãn constantly in all three states, then what is surprising about being able to see Bhagvãn constantly as well? He can definitely be seen.”
78.18 Nãnã Shivãnand Swãmi then asked, “How can a person with a stable foundation in satsang be recognised? That is the first question. The second question is: How can the enemies, like mãn, kãm, krodh, lobh, mad, matsar, and irshyã, be destroyed?”
78.19 Shreeji Mahãrãj explained, “A person who is absolutely loyal to satsang cannot at all tolerate someone speaking unkindly of satsang. For example, even though a person may have had a disagreement with a member of his family, he would be unable to tolerate anyone speaking unkindly of them. Therefore, just as a person is loyal to his relatives, if a person is similarly loyal to satsang, then his foundation in satsang is stable.
78.20 “The answer to the second question is as follows: If a person has such loyalty for satsang, how can he possibly hold mãn or irshyã towards sant or satsangis? Therefore, all the inner enemies, like mãn, mad, matsar, and irshyã, of a person who is loyal to satsang are destroyed. However, if a person does not have this loyalty for satsangis, and regards satsangis and kusangis as equal, then however highly he may be regarded in satsang, he is sure to become a vimukh.”
78.21 Then, Nãnã Ãtmãnand Swãmi asked, “Bhagvãn and His sant may boldly tell someone whatever needs to be said, with the belief, ‘Whether he is praised or lectured, he will not fall from satsang in any way’. How can a person earn this trust of Bhagvãn and His sant? That is one question. The second question is: How can a person win the love of all the sãdhus, just as he has won the love of the sãdhu he is presently staying with?”
78.22 Shreeji Mahãrãj replied, “As in the answer to Shivãnand Swãmi’s question, if a person is extremely loyal to satsang, Bhagvãn and His sant do not hesitate in lecturing him. They never lack faith in him, and they never feel, ‘If he is lectured, he will leave satsang’. Instead, they have firm faith and believe, ‘His satsang is firm, and so there is no danger in lecturing him’.
78.23 “The answer to the second question is: He may leave the person he was previously staying with because he was unable to get along with him, and subsequently go and stay with another person. Despite this, he is unable to tolerate others speaking unkindly of the person he originally stayed with. Therefore, all the sãdhus feel, ‘This person is not ungrateful. He is a very good sãdhu because he has not forgotten that he is thankful to the person from whom he has learnt even a little’. Realising this, all the sãdhus like him. On the other hand, if he speaks unkindly of the person he originally stayed with, all the sãdhus feel, ‘This person is ungrateful. In the future, if he does not get along with any of us, he will surely speak unkindly of us too’. As a result, no one likes him.”
78.24 Then, Daharãnand Swãmi asked, “Bhagvãn is greater than Akshar, mind and speech, and He is invisible to all. Then, why can everyone see Him as pratyaksha?”
78.25 Shreeji Mahãrãj replied, “Bhagvãn – who is beyond Akshar, mind and speech, and who is invisible – Himself, out of compassion, decides, ‘May all the enlightened and unenlightened people in Mrutyu-Lok see me’. Having decided this, Bhagvãn, who will always prevail, becomes visible to all people in Mrutyu-Lok out of compassion.”
78.26 Tyãgãnand Swãmi then asked, “How is Bhagvãn pleased?”
78.27 Shreeji Mahãrãj answered, “A person who wants to please Bhagvãn should not wish for bodily comforts. He should not even crave for the darshan of Bhagvãn. To do exactly as Bhagvãn commands, is the only way to please Bhagvãn.”
78.28 Then, Lakshmanãnand Swãmi asked, “With what understanding is a person able to feel the wonder of having attained the profound association of Bhagvãn and His sãdhus? Also, how can he feel joyful all day and night?”
78.29 Shreeji Mahãrãj replied, “A bhakta realises, ‘This Bhagvãn and these sãdhus all reside in Vaikunth, Golok, and Brahmpur. In fact, all of those dhãms are present wherever Bhagvãn and these sãdhus reside. Therefore, I am extremely fortunate in that I am able to stay in the presence of these sãdhus’. If he understands this, then he will experience happiness all day and night, and will sway in an ocean of bliss throughout the day.”
78.30 Paramãtmãnand Swãmi then asked, “How can a person acquire the thirty characteristics of a sãdhu described in the eleventh skandh of the Shreemad Bhãgvat?”
78.31 Shreeji Mahãrãj replied, “A person who regards a sant, who possesses the thirty characteristics, as a guru and as a dev, and associates with him by thought, word, and deed, acquires those thirty characteristics. In fact, all the shãstras state, ‘When a person serves a sant, he becomes like the sant’.”
78.32 Then, Shãntãnand Swãmi asked, “There is one bhakta who constantly maintains his vrutti on the svarup of Bhagvãn. There is another bhakta who engages in bhajan and smaran, and also listens to and engages in kathã and kirtans of Bhagvãn. Which bhakta of Bhagvãn is the better of the two?”
78.33 Shreeji Mahãrãj explained, “A person who experiences nirvikalp samãdhi and is not conscious of his body, is the better of the two, even if he does not engage in kathã and kirtans of Bhagvãn. Also, there may be someone who is conscious of his body and gets up from worship of his own accord to eat, drink, and perform all bodily activities, and still does not listen to or engage in the kathã and kirtans of Bhagvãn. In comparison to him, a person who does listen to kathãs and kirtans is better.”
78.34 Ãdhãrãnand Swãmi then asked, “How should we behave so that Bhagvãn and His sant become pleased?”
78.35 Shreeji Mahãrãj replied, “If we strictly follow the panch-vartmãn, and do not allow any sort of failure in following them, Bhagvãn and His sant will be pleased. There is not even the slightest doubt about this.”
78.36 Then, Vedãntãnand Swãmi asked, “If a person has previously behaved improperly, what can a person do to please Bhagvãn and His sant?”
78.37 Shreeji Mahãrãj answered, “Bhagvãn and His sant become displeased upon seeing impure svabhãvs within a person. When we develop a hate towards those svabhãvs, a sant also realises this. This is because whenever a person has hatred towards someone, the whole world knows. As a result of this, a sant, who himself is also an enemy of those svabhãvs, sides with us and imparts compassion upon us, showing us the way to conquer those svabhãvs by whichever means possible.
78.38 “Therefore, after developing a bitter hatred towards root svabhãvs that has led to a person’s disgrace, he should adopt a method that would totally remove it. When we behave in this way, Bhagvãn and His sant shower total compassion upon us. Whenever Bhagvãn and His sant shower their compassion, a person continues to experience extreme bliss within his heart. Also, a person’s ability to walk on the path of kalyãn increases, and the strength of his enemies, such as kãm, krodh and lobh, decreases. Therefore, Bhagvãn does help a person who keeps intense hatred towards that bitter enemy which causes distress within his heart, which is why it is necessary to have hatred for the enemies, like kãm and krodh. It is therefore very beneficial to develop hatred towards his enemies.”
78.39 Then, Bhagvadãnand Swãmi asked, “Mahãrãj, just as a person fears Bhagvãn when he is near Him, what understanding should a person have so that he fears Bhagvãn just as much when he is far from Him?”
78.40 Shreeji Mahãrãj explained, “Just as a person maintains the respect of Bhagvãn when He is near, the same respect remains when He is far if he thoroughly understands the greatness of Bhagvãn. The greatness should be understood as follows: ‘Purushottam Bhagvãn – who is greater than Akshar; by whose wish, countless millions of brahmãnds are created, and then supported by His powers; who is vyatirek, yet is present within everything as anvay, and while being anvay, is also vyatirek from everything; who dwells within each and every atom in His antaryãmi svarup just as He is in His pratyaksha svarup; without whose wish, not even a blade of grass is able to move; who is responsible for creating, sustaining, and destroying countless millions of brahmãnds; who administers pain and pleasure to the beings residing in these brahmãnds; who is the sole doer of all that happens – incarnates on this earth for the kalyãn of the jeevs.
78.41 “‘However, when that very Bhagvãn mounts a horse, it appears that the horse is carrying Him. But in reality, it is Bhagvãn who is the upholder of the horse. Furthermore, when Bhagvãn sits on the earth, it seems that the earth is supporting Bhagvãn, but in reality, it is Bhagvãn who supports the entire earth along with its sthãvar and jangam forms of life.
78.42 “‘At night, the light of the moon, an oil lamp, or a torch allows a person to have the darshan of Bhagvãn. During the day, the light of the sun allows a person to have the darshan of Bhagvãn. In reality, however, it is that Bhagvãn who provides light to the sun, the moon, and the flames of fire. These are the magnificent powers of Bhagvãn. Despite this, Bhagvãn has become like a human for the sake of the kalyãn of the jeevs, and He is giving darshan to me’. If a person understands the greatness of Bhagvãn in this way, then he can keep the same respect for Bhagvãn when he is far from Him as when he is near Him.”
78.43 Bhagvadãnand Swãmi then asked another question: “Nothing happens without Bhagvãn’s will. Everything that happens is all the work of Bhagvãn alone. So, when Bhagvãn or His bhaktas encounter difficulties, why does He not ease their distress? Why does He wish to increase their distress?”
78.44 Shreeji Mahãrãj explained, “When Bhagvãn assumes a human svarup, it is normal for Him to behave in absolutely the same way as humans do, and not reveal His alokik powers. This is how all the charitras of Bhagvãn are described in the shãstras. Therefore, a person may only have doubts when Bhagvãn exhibits new charitras. But, as long as the charitras of Bhagvãn are like those performed by the previous avatãrs, there should be no doubts in a person’s mind.”
78.45 Then, Nirmalãnand Swãmi asked, “What understanding is required to thoroughly realise the greatness of a sant of Bhagvãn?”
78.46 Shreeji Mahãrãj replied, “When a person thinks about the greatness of Matsya, Kurma, Varãh, Vãman, Parshurãm, Rãm, Krishna, and the countless avatãrs of Bhagvãn, and thinks, ‘Bhagvãn has freed countless jeevs through Rãm, Krishna, and other avatars, and I am extremely fortunate that I have attained the profound association of a sant of that very Bhagvãn’, he begins to thoroughly realise the greatness of the sant day by day.”
78.47 Then, Nãrãyanãnand Swãmi asked, “How is the jeev anvay with the three bodies of sthul, sukshma, and kãran, and how is it vyatirek from them?”
78.48 Shreeji Mahãrãj answered, “When the body encounters pleasures and pain, and the jeev takes on that pleasure and pain upon itself, the jeev is anvay with the three bodies. When it believes itself to be distinct from the pleasures and pain of the three bodies, then the jeev is vyatirek from them.”
78.49 Shunyãtitãnand Swãmi then asked, “When a person initially practices satsang, he has deep love for sant and satsangis. But, why does this love later decline?”
78.50 Shreeji Mahãrãj explained, “Initially, he holds very high respect for a sant. Later, when he perceives a minor avgun in the sant, he regards it as a minor avgun because of his own malicious mind. As a result, his vicious nature flourishes, and his respect for the sant declines. Then, if he thoughtfully eradicates this vicious nature, he becomes as pure as he was before. However, if he does not do so, he will ultimately become a vimukh.”
78.51 Prasãdãnand Swãmi then asked, “What is the cause of the jeev’s moksh?”
78.52 Shreeji Mahãrãj answered, “To do exactly as a sant says without having any doubts, is the only cause of the jeev’s moksh.”
78.53 Then, Trigunãtitãnand Swãmi asked, “What methods should a person adopt when faced with unpleasant desh, kãl, kriyã, and sang?”
78.54 Shreeji Mahãrãj explained, “The only way to overcome unpleasant desh, kãl, kriyã, and sang, is to escape from them by any means possible.”
78.55 Nãnã Nirvikãrãnand Swãmi then asked, “Despite having nishchay in Bhagvãn, why is a person’s vãsnã not eradicated?”
78.56 Shreeji Mahãrãj replied, “A person’s vãsnã is not eradicated because he has not fully realised the greatness of Bhagvãn.”
78.57 Then, Motã Yogãnand Swãmi asked, “Despite having perfect nishchay in Bhagvãn, why does a person still not develop love for Bhagvãn and the kathãs of Bhagvãn?”
78.58 Shreeji Mahãrãj explained, “It is because he has not yet realised the greatness of Bhagvãn as it is. If a person thoroughly realises the greatness of Bhagvãn, then he does not develop love for anything else besides Bhagvãn, even if he tries. In addition, he develops constant love only for Bhagvãn, His sant, and the kathãs and kirtans of Bhagvãn.”
78.59 Then, Pratoshãnand Swãmi asked, “How can a person’s bhakti towards Bhagvãn remain constant?”
78.60 Shreeji Mahãrãj replied, “If a person thoroughly understands the greatness of pratyaksha Shree Krishna Purushottam – who is the cause of the four avatãrs of Aniruddha, Pradyumna, Sankarshan, and Vãsudev, and who is the cause of the twenty-four avatãrs – then he remains steady in the nine types of bhakti towards Bhagvãn, like smaran and kirtan.”
78.61 After answering the questions of all the munis in this way, Shreeji Mahãrãj asked them all, “Kãm, krodh, and lobh are the three gateways to Narak. All of you please reveal if you have thoroughly conquered any of these.”
78.62 The munis then spoke about the ones they had conquered. Hearing this from the munis, Shreeji Mahãrãj became extremely pleased. After happily imprinting His holy feet on the chests of Ãtmãnand Swãmi, Yogãnand Swãmi, Bhagvadãnand Swãmi, and Shivãnand Swãmi, He added, “Just as Mahãnubhavãnand Swãmi and the others, are senior munis, these four munis should also be considered senior along with them. Therefore, do not allow anyone to insult them.”
78.63 Having advised Muktãnand Swãmi and the other senior sãdhus in this way, Shreeji Mahãrãj bid “Jay Sachidãnand” to everyone and returned to His residence for His meal.”
End of Vachanãmrut Gadhadã I || 78 || 78 ||
End of Shree Gadhadã Pratham Prakaran ||