Om, salutations to the source of all incarnations, Lord Swaminarayan. Salutations to Shri Harikrishna. Salutations to Shri Purna Purushottam Purushottam God. Supreme being. Bhagvãn. He is unparalleled, omnipotent and the all-doer, omniscient, omnipresent, the ocean of all forms of bliss, does not have any attributes of Mãyã, divine, always taking birth on earth for Tap to open in glossary → Actually, if we look at it, we do not have any measure or estimate of our vasana. As desires arise from within, we keep fulfilling them at that time, or we keep trying to fulfill them. We do that too by being swept away in the flow of vasana. We do not have the intention, plan, or even the courage to go against it. We wander around miserably, completely subservient, just to fulfill it. Of vasana, I... I said to measure vasana in this way. Although it cannot be measured, but measure vasana in this way: is it more for God or for the world? It is more for the world. Are we... do we have more interest in listening to spiritual discourses, or do we have more interest in listening to other worldly gossip? Measure it in that way. And gradually, divert it like this. If one is being swept away in the world, then more interest in listening to God's discourses. If one spends the whole day just chattering away, is there more interest in that, or is there more interest in singing devotional songs of God? If it is this, then take from this and do like this. Then, on the phone, hours pass by in useless chatter. If something has come on the phone, some useless thing, and if you extract the essence of that one hour, there is nothing. That much bhajan bhajan Worship. Tap to open in glossary → bhajan bhajan Worship. Tap to open in glossary → So, keep comparing like that. So, keep measuring it. Is it more in this or more in this? Then it will decrease. Maharaj says that the jiva has a lot of wisdom, but it does not know about itself. Even to the extent of, 'How much vasana do I have?' It measures everyone else, but does not measure what is within itself. One who wants to rid oneself of one's vasana must diagnose one's desires. Just as when an illness occurs, a doctor diagnoses before treating, and only then treats it, i.e., takes measures to eradicate it. Diagnosis itself means to measure it, to see what stage it is in, how old it is, how strong it is, what caused its onset, etc. Then the treatment begins. Vasana is also a spiritual disease. Maharaj says that if the sense of hearing is as attracted to listening to talks of God as it is attracted to listening to talks of the world, then know that both are equal. Keep testing this. Similarly, keep contemplating and testing regarding touch, sight, taste, and smell, and whether the same diligence shown for the body is maintained for Maharaj or not? Whether one becomes as absorbed in doing what Maharaj likes as one becomes absorbed in doing what one's own mind likes or not? Keep testing this. They call it taste test or intellect test, don't they? Our taste test, in which part do we have more interest? Maharaj said in one place, 'How can that be known?' If it has not been tried yet. Then, if one observes the thoughts arising in one's own mind, one will know that from this, for me, if someone stops me, it will cause a lot of distress or it will not feel right. If they are young, they get distressed; if they are older, they snap. 'This is your job, this is your this.' If they are young, they get distressed. What to do in such a case? Then again, they remember home. This distress is such, isn't it? How far does distress take you? It takes you all the way back home. So, nothing is certain. So, those are forms of vasana. Those of vasana... completely, huh? If there is no contact with objects, vasana is determined based on thoughts. Measure it, measure it. Furthermore, Maharaj said to measure based on that thought: 'What happens if I am stopped from this thought? What happens if this of mine is not fulfilled?' So then, one will know. Even otherwise, in my mind, I wish to do as I please, and if this does not happen, what happens? So Maharaj says, one will know that this is so strong. So strong, that is vasana. If a good thought is fulfilled, then there is no problem. If we have a thought like, 'Brother, let me serve Maharaj in this way, let me do this much bhajan bhajan Worship. Tap to open in glossary → Regarding God and this. How much interest do we have in it? The interest we have in fulfilling that, and the eagerness we have to achieve it by any means, similarly, do we have the interest to achieve this by any means? If there is interest, Maharaj said that one who has that passion will achieve it by any means. One will definitely complete it and succeed. So, that passion does not develop. Worldly passion develops. Passion for God's path does not develop, so that talk of God is said to be less. Maharaj can measure it like that. And without measuring and without checking it, the world will not decrease, and one will not progress in God's path. Like that. How absorbed do we become in Maharaj's mission? In the Vachanamrut, it says that the nature of the mind is such that it contemplates whatever object comes before it. Is that called vasana? Of course. What is remembered in the mind is indeed called vasana. Doing things without any reason. A dog, a child, and the one playing with the child, doing things without any purpose is vasana. Then they say, 'That is called its nature.' It is nature, isn't it? What did we... we discussed yesterday, didn't we, that it is a form of vasana itself. If it has become deep vasana, then even if you make it sit in one place, it will not sit. It has no demand. Still, it will not sit. A child may have no demand, but if we say, 'Brother, sit still all day,' he will not sit. So, should we call it vasana or what should we call it? Eh? What to call it? Can't it be called vasana? It is called nature. Its nature is like that. So, that nature is counted in vasana itself. If it has become deep vasana, it has been going on since time immemorial and has become deep-rooted. Maharaj says that the actions that have become one with the jiva are called nature. And it is called vasana. So, if it is a little less... if there is a demand, it is called vasana. Vasana is identified by demand. Gunatitanand Swami showed the difference between nature and vasana: the desire for the five sensory objects is called vasana. We may not have the desire for the five sensory objects; we say that we don't realize the desire for the five sensory objects. The five sensory objects are for sustenance, they are also vasana, and they are also nature. So, one does not realize, but the desire for objects arises. The desire for objects arises only for the desire of the five sensory objects. It happens only to fulfill something, doesn't it? 'I want such a good mobile, I want such a good tablet, I want a good computer, I want this thing.' If we get all these desires, then in those desires, somewhere or other, our mind's preference or somewhere or other, a worldly part is filled. Then we may also have this excuse, or we may have the excuse of seva. Seva may also be happening, it's not that it's not happening, seva is done through that itself. Seva does not just happen on its own, it happens through that. But whether we honestly use it only in seva, or we wish to use it only in seva, that has to be verified. It has to be identified whether it is in that or not. And when we take it, or when we accept it or make a thought, it may be such a purified thought, but later it does not remain so. Then it starts being used everywhere. So Maharaj says, keep examining. Even afterwards, keep examining. Distress, sulking, those are all actions of vasana, action-reaction. Eh? So Maharaj has also told us to contemplate, hasn't he? How to contemplate? When distress occurs, how to contemplate? Maharaj said that if there is a nature, in Sarangpur 18, if there is a nature, a weak nature, then what does one do? Cries, fights, sleeps, meets, but does not let go of the nature. That means, does not let go of vasana. Does not let go of the weak desire within. One fights with someone; if one is a little distressed, one gets angry at someone. If the other person is weak, one gets angry. Otherwise, if the other person is strong, then one gets distressed, sleeps, goes to a corner. And if one finds someone like-minded, then that sympathetic one, then cries before them. Does not eat. These are all characteristics of nature's cover. These are characteristics of vasana's cover. Vasana, whether you call it nature or vasana, both are the same. That means, there are internal intentions to fulfill it. That's why they get distressed. What is the distress about? It is about not getting what the mind wants. Suppose they are distressed in this ashram ashram 1) Stage of life. There are four ãshrams in total, each with their duties and responsibilities – brahm-chãrya, grahastha, vãnprasth, and sannyãs. 2) Hermitage. Place where tyãgis live. Tap to open in glossary → It is about something not happening as the mind wanted. Or about the target they had set. If that is not the case, then what is it about? Right now, here the field is large. The home field is very narrow. This is like the whole world is open as a field for him. The whole sky is open. No distress should occur, but what is the distress about? He has made some assumption, and that is narrow. It is not large. And when that assumption is not fulfilled, then a person gets distressed. After getting distressed, he takes action, action-reaction, that is his in this. So Maharaj said in the 35th of the Last Chapter, when prakruti prakruti 1) Divine energy or instrument of Bhagvãn that initiates the creation process by being ‘impregnated’ by Purush – also called Mul-Purush, Mahã-Purush, or Akshar- Purush – and from which countless pairs of Pradhãn and Purush are ‘conceived’ for the creation and sustenance of each brahmãnd. Taken to be feminine in nature, she is composed of the three gun, is both jad and chaitanya, eternal, nirvishesh, and in her dormant state houses all jeevs and all elements. Also called Mul- Prakruti, Mul-Mãyã, and Mahã-Mãyã. 2) Also refers to Pradhãn-Prakruti. Tap to open in glossary → 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