People think that this person is a believer and that person is an atheist. So, what is belief? What? One who has faith in the scriptures and the saints is called a believer. What is faith? Whatever they say is true. What is said in the scriptures is true, it happens accordingly. It is said in the scriptures that if one commits any sin, one will have to suffer for it after death. Whatever action a person performs, he must inevitably suffer the consequences. Whether he is a sadhu, a householder, does it publicly, does it secretly, or does it in his mind, he has to suffer for it. If this is firmly decided in his mind, then he is called a believer. We perform actions recklessly, don't we? We think, 'We will see when the time comes, we will see. We will see when it is needed.' So, that is called atheism. Whatever work a person does, whether he does it secretly or publicly, he knows that he will have to suffer its fruit with interest. And if this is believed beforehand, before doing it, then it is called belief. It is called belief in the scriptures. Maharaj has mentioned belief in three places. First, belief in the sadhu; second, belief in the murti murti 1) Sacred idol of Bhagvãn used to offer worship. There are eight types of murtis that can be worshipped: stone, wood, metal, earth, engraved or drawn, sand, gems, and mental. 2) The form of Bhagvãn. Tap to open in glossary → What is said in the scriptures happens accordingly, and everyone has to do it. He has to suffer the punishment as prescribed in the scriptures. Especially, it is about punishment. That whoever commits a sin has to suffer the punishment prescribed in the scriptures. No matter what he does, he cannot escape. One can escape from the laws of the state. If one has committed a crime, one can escape. But one cannot escape in the home of God. In the home of God, the scripture is so airtight that absolutely no one can escape. Neither can we escape, nor can anyone else escape. Even if it is God's son, he cannot escape. And God has said, 'Even I do not escape.' God has said so. God killed that Vali, so then Vali said, 'Why did you kill me without any fault?' So God said, 'Now you kill me. Now you kill me in another avatar,' God said so. So even God shows this. There is no karma karma Action. Deed. Any thought, word, or deed that will sooner or later reap its consequences. Karmas of a person are linked to their rewards (cause and effect). Bhagvãn is the giver of the rewards of the karmas; good deeds reap pleasant rewards, and bad deeds reap painful fruits. Karmas remain with a jeev until it has received its rewards. Tap to open in glossary → karma karma Action. Deed. Any thought, word, or deed that will sooner or later reap its consequences. Karmas of a person are linked to their rewards (cause and effect). Bhagvãn is the giver of the rewards of the karmas; good deeds reap pleasant rewards, and bad deeds reap painful fruits. Karmas remain with a jeev until it has received its rewards. Tap to open in glossary → No matter how sinful one is, God can free him. And no matter how powerful one is, he will have to suffer for what he does. There is only one window, and that is God who frees him. God alone frees us from karma karma Action. Deed. Any thought, word, or deed that will sooner or later reap its consequences. Karmas of a person are linked to their rewards (cause and effect). Bhagvãn is the giver of the rewards of the karmas; good deeds reap pleasant rewards, and bad deeds reap painful fruits. Karmas remain with a jeev until it has received its rewards. Tap to open in glossary → karma karma Action. Deed. Any thought, word, or deed that will sooner or later reap its consequences. Karmas of a person are linked to their rewards (cause and effect). Bhagvãn is the giver of the rewards of the karmas; good deeds reap pleasant rewards, and bad deeds reap painful fruits. Karmas remain with a jeev until it has received its rewards. Tap to open in glossary → And it is said in the scriptures... What should be called belief in the murti murti 1) Sacred idol of Bhagvãn used to offer worship. There are eight types of murtis that can be worshipped: stone, wood, metal, earth, engraved or drawn, sand, gems, and mental. 2) The form of Bhagvãn. Tap to open in glossary → Maharaj is seated, that He is present. He is present; if we offer thal, He eats. Does the one who offers have belief? The one who offers thal? What? Does the one who offers thal have belief? Others might have it, but the one who offers might not. Because he sees that not a single rotli has decreased from this. Even if the rotli does not decrease, if he gets self-satisfaction that today Maharaj ate to His heart's content, then it is called belief. Now, when the rotli does not decrease, how is he to bring this belief? This is a unique skill. We perform seva of Maharaj, we offer thal to Maharaj, we put Maharaj to sleep, we cover Maharaj, and in that, if he feels whether Maharaj is feeling cold or will not feel cold today, if he has such a feeling, then it is called belief in Maharaj. He does not get that feeling, which is why how is one told to perform seva of God? Just as one treats one's own body, so should one treat the deity. If we feel cold in the night and know how to find a quilt and cover ourselves, then he should also understand that if He feels cold at night, what will happen to Him? What happens if He feels cold at night? So, he got this belief, to maintain belief. And only then is its fruit obtained. Otherwise, this is a routine. Everyone, as soon as they become a sadhu, has to learn cooking, offer thal, especially the new sadhus. Others don't need to. And only he has to go, right. So, that is a routine, not belief. If belief comes, then the fruit is obtained. The routine does not yield much fruit, only a little bit. How is belief in a sadhu defined? Just because we bow to his feet every morning? We prostrate in the morning and bow to his feet, say Jai Swaminarayan, and when someone comes, when they come and go, we prostrate. So, is that called belief? What is it called? What is called belief? When whatever he says is believed. What? When whatever he says is believed. Whatever is said, brother, if there is a master and a servant, then it is believed. If there is power, then it is believed. If there is a boss and he tells his servant, commands him that you have to do this, then? So, is that called belief in the master? What is it called? What? To accept whatever he says as the word of God. God speaks through him. One believes that God has spoken through him. He is the medium of God. And if we accept what he says, then God's word is believed. If we surrender to him, we have surrendered to God. And if his seva is done, then God's seva is done. If the inner self agrees to this, then it is called belief. If his inner self agrees, then it is called belief. Routine is not called belief. We should think for ourselves whether we are doing it as a routine or with belief? If we are doing it as a routine, then only a little fruit is obtained. God is such that no matter what happens, even when that old lady fasted out of anger, God accepted it as Ekadashi. She had not eaten out of anger. Still, God accepted it. God is so merciful. If something is happening elsewhere, He takes credit for it if it is good. If it is bad, He does not take it. So God is so merciful, hence a little fruit is obtained. The fruit of belief is obtained only if it is believed in one's heart. So, it is believed that our liberation will happen through him. We were talking, weren't we, that in the Junagadh region, from the very beginning, from the time of Gunatitanand Swami, there was great mahima and great belief. And without belief, mahima does not come at all. Belief is its foundation, and then mahima comes. AI translation of the Gujarati transcript above, produced in the same pass that transcribed the audio, one English segment per Gujarati segment. Devotional and technical terms with no precise English equivalent (kirtan, satsang, vasana, samskara, and similar) are kept as their plain transliteration rather than force-translated. Not human-proofread., AI-translated, unverified · Source details