As for losing conviction, it can also be lost based on one's own weakness. Based on one's own weakness? It happens that if one has a selfish motive and it is not fulfilled, then it is lost. If one has pride and does not receive respect, then it is lost. If one has some expectation and God does not fulfill it, then it is lost. And sometimes there is nothing like that, and if God performs unusual actions, and even then, if one has not done it based on the scriptures, then also it is lost. It certainly happens that it is lost due to God's actions. Maharaj removed Amba Sheth's conviction in Maharaj; it was not that Amba Sheth had any selfish motive. And yet it was lost; it was lost upon seeing Maharaj's actions. That is, without understanding, "If He is God, would He act like this?" Parikshit was sitting in the mouth of death. He was sitting right in the mouth of death, and he had no selfish motive, like, "Let's go, God has removed my selfish motive." If Jiva Khachar had some issue with Maharaj, then he had a selfish motive in it. That is, Maharaj favors Dada Khachar more, and the selfish motive regarding the land he believed in was not being fulfilled, so he felt that way. But King Parikshit had nothing of the sort. Upon seeing the actions, so that is one aspect. Regarding God's actions, he had assumed in his mind that God should only perform such actions and not others. The scriptures do not say so; his own mind says, "If He is God, He should act like this; if he is a Sadhu, he should act like this." If he focused on what the scriptures say, then it would not happen. Parvatiji thought in her mind, "If He is God, why would He cry?" If He is God, why would He cry? And why would He cry for his wife? And if He cries for his wife, can He be called God or not? So she had such a doubt. So she had to take another birth. As for Parvatiji, how great was her penance, how great was her moral conduct, where was there any flaw in her? She had a doubt upon seeing God, like this... So even if there is no flaw in oneself, it can be lost; such examples are seen in the scriptures. As for Garudji, he is called an eternal attendant of God, a constant attendant. Now, what flaw could there be in him? God had called him to seek help, saying, "He is bound by the serpent-noose, so Garudji should release Him." So seeing that, he had a doubt, look! So where does doubt arise? Maharaj has said in one place, hasn't He, that this jiva is like the moon of the dark night (Amavasya). When there is no connection with God, on Amavasya nothing is visible, and there is only darkness. It has absolutely no value, like trash. And from that, if he gains conviction in God, then like the crescent moon of the second day, it keeps growing and reaches the full moon; that is what happens. But if somehow he gets a doubt regarding God's actions, then again, decreasing gradually, he becomes like the moon of Amavasya. Nothing is understood; pitch darkness prevails. So Maharaj says there is also pride in one's own wisdom. Just because conviction in God is gained, it does not mean all of one's own wisdom goes away, like, "Why does He act like this?" "A Sadhu should not act like this"—how many are there who say such things? Many, the whole world. There is no certainty about what they themselves do. "Why do others act like this?" Such, that is called being overly wise. And from being overly wise, one falls; it throws one into the material world. 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