39.1 In the Samvat year 1886, on Ashãdh vad 10 [25th July 1829], Shreeji Mahãrãj was sitting on the veranda outside the east-facing rooms of Dãdã Khãchar’s darbãr in Gadhadã. He was dressed entirely in white clothes. A sabhã of paramhans, as well as haribhaktas from various places, had gathered before Him.
39.2 Addressing all the paramhans and satsangis, Shreeji Mahãrãj said, “What is Bhagvãn’s mãyã? Well, mãyã is nothing but the sense of ‘I-ness’ towards the body and ‘my-ness’ towards anything related to the body. These should be eradicated. Anyone who eradicates mãyã can be said to have gone beyond mãyã. In fact, it is the principle of all the shãstras that a person should eradicate mãyã and develop love for Bhagvãn. This principle must be understood – either today or at some time in the future. Great bhaktas, such as Hanumãn, Nãrad, and Prahlãd, have also asked from Bhagvãn, ‘Protect us from mãyã in the form of ‘I-ness’ and ‘my-ness’, and may we develop love for you. May we also have the company of a sant who has gone beyond mãyã and has love for you; and may we develop affection and a sense of ‘my-ness’ towards him as well’. Therefore, we too should do the same and ask for the same, as well as do shravan, manan, and nididhyãs on this principle.”
39.3 Then continuing, Shreeji Mahãrãj said, “A bhakta of Bhagvãn requires the strength of two things: ãtmã-nishthã and the greatness of Bhagvãn. What is ãtmã-nishthã? It is to realise the ãtmã as being distinct from the body. If while staying among the sãdhus there happens to be a quarrel from some reason, or if the feelings of ‘I-ness’ and ‘my-ness’, or vicious natures such as mãn, krodh, svãd, lobh, kãm, matsar, and irshyã, prevail, then a person who does not regard himself as the ãtmã perceives avgun in the sãdhus. This would be extremely harmful for him. That is why a person should realise his true self as being the ãtmã, distinct from the body.
39.4 “That ãtmã is neither a brãhman, nor a kshatriya, nor a kanbi. It is no one’s son and no one’s father. It belongs to no varna. It is radiant like the sun and fire; but it is also full of chaitanya. The flames of fire and the rays of the sun are jad because they do not move when touched by a finger. However, when an ant is touched by a finger, it moves and turns back. This implies that the ãtmã is full of consciousness. It is said to be similar to the sun or to fire, but that is merely because its form is similar in radiance.
39.5 “The ãtmã has passed through countless life forms. In fact, it is said that a person has drank as much milk from his mothers as there is water in the ocean. In those lives, the ãtmã has experienced death in countless ways, yet it has not perished. It has remained as it is. So, if it did not perish in that state of ignorance when it regarded itself as the body, how shall it perish now that we have its gnãn? Therefore, we should realise that ãtmã as our true self.
39.6 “Furthermore, how should the greatness of Bhagvãn be understood? Well, Bhagvãn is the lord of the lords of countless brahmãnds. However, the brahmãnds of which He is the lord are insignificant compared to Him. Therefore, it is said:
Even the masters of the higher loks cannot understand your greatness, because it is endless. Neither can you yourself understand your own greatness. In your each and every hair, countless brahmãnds and their barriers (jad prakruti) fly simultaneously at immense speed – like specks of dust flying in the air. Even the Shrutis, ultimately perish in you, and fail to praise your glory.
39.7 “Within each brahmãnd there are Brahmã, Vishnu, and Shiv, as well as the pruthvi with its seven dvips, seven oceans, Meru, and Lokã-Lok, and other mountains. The brahmãnds also contain the fourteen loks, the eight barriers, and many other things. Bhagvãn is the lord of countless such brahmãnds. For example, person can realise the reputation of an emperor of the world, even though his villages can be counted. But, the reputation of Bhagvãn is much greater because even those countless brahmãnds are insignificant to Him. So then, of what significance can the beings of those brahmãnds be before Bhagvãn’s? They are of no significance at all; they are utterly insignificant.
39.8 “Furthermore, in those brahmãnds, what are the pleasures of the panch-vishays that Bhagvãn has given to the jeevs like? Well, those pleasures seem extremely rare; so much so, that many have given their heads for them. However, the bliss of Bhagvãn’s own murti and of His dhãm are indeed outstanding. The pleasures of the worldly vishays are dependent on other factors and must be experienced distinctly. In comparison, Bhagvãn is the reservoir of all forms of bliss. Moreover, the bliss of Bhagvãn is imperishable and extremely alokik. For this, consider the following analogy: An extremely wealthy man enjoys a great variety of food at home. Then, after finishing the meal, he throws a leftover piece of rotlo to a dog. In this case, the leftover piece of rotlo can be considered utterly inferior, and the various delicious foods that the wealthy man enjoys can be considered to be full of pleasure. In the same way, Bhagvãn has given the countless jeevs of the brahmãnds the pleasures of the panch-vishays; but they are inferior like the piece of rotlo thrown to the dog, whereas the bliss of Bhagvãn Himself is far greater.
39.9 “Even so, Bhagvãn grants a great deal of happiness to the jeev during the state of sushupti. During sushupti, a person is relieved of even severe pain, and instead, he experiences profound peace.
39.10 “Even the great bhaktas such as Brahmã, Shiv, Lakshmiji, Rãdhãji, Nãrad, Shukji, the Sanakãdik, and the nine Yogeshvars apply the dust of Bhagvãn’s holy feet upon their heads. They put aside all their self-importance and constantly offer bhakti to Him.
39.11 “Moreover, just look at the diverse creation created by Bhagvãn! What creativity He has used! Just see, a human is born of a human, and an animal from an animal; a tree from a tree, and an ant from an ant. Also, no matter how intelligent someone may be, no one is capable of replacing a destroyed part of someone’s body exactly as it was before. Bhagvãn possesses innumerable such skills. Therefore, by realising the greatness of Bhagvãn and realising Him to be blissful, a person develops vairãgya for all things, and develops love for Bhagvãn alone.
39.12 “If a person attains the gnãn of his jeevãtmã and the gnãn of Bhagvãn’s greatness as mentioned earlier, then even if he has somehow become attached to any sort of pleasures of the panch-vishays, he would not remain bound by them, but would break that bondage and withdraw from them. Then, how can a person who abandons the pleasures of the panch-vishays become attached? Therefore, having listened to these two types of gnãn, a person should apply them within his mind with great enthusiasm. For example, a brave and fierce man would be extremely angered if an enemy killed his father. If the enemy harassed him further by killing his son and brother, kidnapping his wife, passing on his mother to a Muslim, as well as stealing all his belongings, the man would become increasingly angered as he is harassed more and more. At all times then – while awake as well as in his dreams – he would be obsessed by only this. In the same way, only when a person is constantly obsessed by these two topics can that gnãn be realised. Then, that gnãn would assist him against any sort of difficulty that may occur. For example, when Hanumãnji brought the vishalya-karani herbal medicine for Rãmchandraji and gave it to Him to drink, all the arrows from Rãmchandraji’s body fell out by themselves. Similarly, all the ‘arrows’ in the form of the desires of the indriyas to indulge in the vishays are removed when these two points have been embedded in a person’s mind. The vruttis of his indriyas withdraw from the pleasures of the vishays and become rooted only in Bhagvãn. Only he is a satsangi, because only he who associates with his own satya ãtmã and satya Bhagvãn can be called a satsangi.
39.13 “If a religious person were to hear the talks of these two points, they would stir his heart and pervade every pore of his body. Conversely, if a demonic person were to hear them, they would not touch his heart at all; instead, they would exit from his ears, just as khir would not remain in a dog’s stomach because the dog would vomit it out. In actual fact, nothing can be said to be as delicious as khir, yet it does not remain in a dog’s stomach, let alone pervade its body. On the other hand, if a man were to eat khir, it would indeed pervade every pore of his body, and it would be extremely enjoyable. Likewise, these talks do not enter into the hearts of dog-like, demonic people; these talks enter and pervade totally only in the hearts of religious people.”
39.14 Shreeji Mahãrãj then added, “Only Bhagvãn is like Bhagvãn. Many have attained qualities similar to His by worshipping Him, yet they certainly do not become like Bhagvãn. If they did become like Bhagvãn, this would suggest the existence of several Bhagvãns. As a result, the control of the world would not remain organised. One Bhagvãn would say, ‘I will create the world’, while another Bhagvãn would say, ‘I will destroy the world’. One Bhagvãn would say, ‘I will make it rain’, while another would say, ‘I will not’. One Bhagvãn would say, ‘I will instil human instincts in animals’, while another would say, ‘I will instil animal instincts in humans’. A stable state would not be possible in this situation. But, see how organised everything functions in the world! There is not even the slightest irregularity. Therefore, the ruler of all activities and the lord of all is one Bhagvãn. Not only that, it seems that no one can ever challenge Him. Therefore, Bhagvãn is definitely one, and no one can become like Him.
39.15 “All these facts that I have revealed may be simple, but they include everything. However, only the wise can grasp their essence, but not others. Whoever understands these facts and thoroughly strengthens them has accomplished everything; he has nothing more to achieve. Having listened to these talks delivered by me, a person should keep the company of those bhaktas of Bhagvãn who have thoroughly absorbed them. This will lead to the day-by-day strengthening of those talks.”
39.16 In conclusion, Shreeji Mahãrãj revealed, “I deliver these talks to you not from any imagination of my mind, nor to display any sort of skill. I have experienced all that I have spoken about. In fact, I speak in accordance to what I practise. Outwardly, I may have a great deal of contact with women, wealth, and the panch-vishays. In fact, wherever I go – Surat, Amdãvãd, Vadodarã, Vadtãl – thousands of people gather; they obey me, honour me, and welcome me with great festivity; and I stay in luxurious places and receive rich clothes and vehicles. Despites all this, whenever I look towards my ãtmã and towards the greatness of Bhagvãn, it all seems absolutely worthless. I cannot become attached to any of it, and I become unaware of it all, just as a person is unaware of his past lives. The reason I can behave in such way is that I have thoroughly realised the two topics mentioned before. In fact, whoever realises them would also behave accordingly if ever he were somehow put in similar circumstances. Therefore, these two topics should be understood by all means.”
39.17 In this way, Shreeji Mahãrãj, out of great compassion, addressed others on the basis of His own behaviour. However, He is Shree Purushottam Nãrãyan.
End of Vachanãmrut Gadhadã || 39 || 273 ||