The propounded topic: Even the good qualities that hinder devotion should be made secondary. Main points: Do not do what God and His devotees do not like. Do as they like. Accept words of advice in a positive way. In this Vachanamrut, Shreeji Maharaj kindly tells the devotees that a devotee of God should never do what God and His devotees do not like. Do what they like, and do not keep as primary what hinders devotion; abandon it or make it secondary. Keep as primary what helps in devotion and accept it. If there are bad qualities, then abandon them. And if there are good qualities, then make them secondary. Good qualities often hinder devotion to God. They hinder in the devotee of God. If good qualities come in the way of becoming one with the devotee of God, then make them secondary. Keep the devotee of God as primary. And if they hinder in devotion, then make them secondary. Keep as primary what helps in devotion and accept it. Maharaj says that even if they are one's own relatives, if they hinder in worshiping God, they should be abandoned. This is the way and opinion of true devotees who have existed in the past. A good quality is not a good quality. But what is useful to the devotee of God is a good quality. A bad quality is not a bad quality. But what becomes a hindrance to the devotee of God is a bad quality. There is utilitarianism now, isn't there? Currently, consumerism. Maharaj has also kept the same vision, but for the sake of liberation. That we may have good qualities, such as others do not have, there is no specialty in that. They may be such as others do not have. Maharaj has said in the scriptures that demons had such good qualities. The deities did not have them to that extent. Demons were superior to the group of deities in good qualities in every way, in every way. Medical science, engineering science, technology, all of that, in that, the demons' work was superior, not the deities'. Not like that. But still, the deities are dear to God. And God comes to protect the deities. He comes to kill the demons. If they cross the limit a bit too much, He comes to kill them. As long as they are within limits, it is fine. Why is that? Because what is useful to God is a good quality. Then whether it is a good quality or not, and even if it is ordinary, it is fine. It must be useful to God. is a good quality. And what becomes a hindrance to God, to the devotee of God, is a bad quality. Even if it is the best, most excellent quality. Still, it is a bad quality. Hanumanji went to God, when Ramchandraji Bhagwan and he met for the first time, they asked for each other's introduction. "Who are you?" and the other said, "Who are you?" So He said, "We are princes. We are the princes of Dasharath, the princes of King Dasharath." So Hanumanji gave his introduction. "Maharaj, what introduction of myself can I give?" But he said, "I am dull-witted, the dullest of the dull, dull-witted." That is the introduction he gave. Ramchandraji Bhagwan appreciated his quality very much. "You are the son of the wind and you are slow, so you are very good." If the wind is gentle, it is useful to someone, but what if it is blowing violently? A gentle breeze is praised; it is praised as a good quality. And a fast wind is used as a bad quality. So the good quality, Hanumanji's good quality, even Hanumanji's weakness, is useful to God. Call it a weakness or whatever, he did not have a weakness, but still, a weakness. In the Bhagavat, it is written to the extent, that, "Gopyah kamad bhayat Kamsah" Even though the fear he felt is a bad quality, it became useful to him, it became useful for the liberation of his soul. The Gopis' lustful intellect became useful for the liberation of their souls. It must be useful to God. Then even if they are bad qualities, they become good qualities and turn out positive. And if those are good qualities, then they become bad qualities. How learned Nirvikalpanandji was. He was so learned that he could surpass Nityanand Swami. He debated on scriptures with Dinanath Bhatt for 18 days. And he defeated that great scholar; he was such a scholar. But he was of no use to Maharaj. He was of no use to Maharaj; the way Nityanand Swami was useful, he was not to Maharaj. He was Kidi Sakhi. Premanand Swami used to say, Prem Sakhi and likewise Kidi Sakhi. So Premanand Swami's singing art was useful to Maharaj, but Kidi Sakhi's was not. In music, he might have been even ahead of Premanand Swami, that is the point. But those good qualities did not remain good qualities. And they became bad qualities. Maharaj was traveling in Bhal. And it must have been exactly two o'clock in the afternoon. Maharaj might not have got anything; He must have been tired. So in Bhal, no other tree grows there. So of Bhal and the other, if there was a border, then Maharaj, the Kathi Darbars were with Maharaj, so they wanted to have lunch. "If we find shade, we can have lunch." On the way, a mango tree came. It is found towards Gujarat, otherwise, there are no mango trees in Bhal. But that mango tree came, so Maharaj, "Come on, this mango tree is coming, we will sit there and have lunch." But someone had spoiled it there; they had defecated. So then going there, saying "Yuck, yuck, yuck," all the Darbars came away, "We cannot sit here. We cannot sit to offer food to Thakorji." So Maharaj went ahead from there. Going ahead, in Bhal, a acacia tree came. And the acacia tree was by the roadside. There were thorns below, fallen below. So clearing those thorns a bit here and there, and everyone worked hard to make a sitting place, and Maharaj sat sat 1) True. Real. 2) Permanent, imperishable and unchanging. Is unbound by the past, the present, and the future. Tap to open in glossary → And everyone had lunch; they got some relief. There, an incident happened. A rabbit. And a dog chased it, a hunting dog. Both of them got into a life-and-death game. And the rabbit ran away, and the dog chased behind. In Bhal, there is no other thicket, so when it gets on the open path, the rabbit cannot escape. And slowly, slowly, the dog started reducing the distance. So it started coming close to the rabbit. The rabbit was running blindly. And Maharaj was sitting, so it went there and bumped into His lap. It bumped into His lap, so Maharaj shouted to scare the dog. So that dog went away. And then all these Darbars and others were there. So that rabbit had run so much for its life, that it collapsed right there. And it started gasping. Maharaj asked to bring water from the leather bag, and sprinkled it on it. So the rabbit, staring at Maharaj, died. Maharaj asked all the Darbars, "Did you understand anything from this?" "No Maharaj, we did not understand anything." Maharaj said, "That mango tree, the one who defecated under it was its enemy." "So he did not let us associate with it." "Otherwise, the mango tree was meant to give mangoes." "But he did not let it associate with Maharaj." "And this acacia tree, it must be from some past birth that one." "Because it had thorns, no one defecated there." "So it had that past impression." "And this dog was the greatest well-wisher of this rabbit." "It was not an enemy." "Because it chased and threw the rabbit into Maharaj's lap." "So it was its well-wisher, no relative is like it." "And the one who defecated under the mango tree, no enemy is like him." What is useful to Maharaj, is a good quality. What is of no use to Maharaj and the devotee of God, and takes away from Him, then even good qualities are its enemies. They are its bad qualities; enemies means they became its bad qualities. So Maharaj says if they hinder devotion to God, whether it is detachment, dharma dharma 1) Universal law or principle that 'sustains' or 'upholds' the entire world. Righteousness, morality, religion, Tap to open in glossary → And if they hinder with the devotee of God, then one's own natures, push them back. If they are one's own relatives, then abandon them. This is consumerism. It is today's consumerism, isn't it? If it is useful, then keep it. If it is not helpful, do not keep it. In today's times, there is consumerism, isn't there? If the old parents are of no use, leave them there. In an old age home. Do not do that, but in this, Maharaj spoke of consumerism. He spoke of consumerism in the path of one's own liberation. That which to God and the devotee of God is helpful, and not a hindrance, then keep it, otherwise abandon it. Even if they are one's own good qualities. As it is said, there is a very nice line in Raghuvansh. "Anguli iva uragakshata" Even if it is one's own limb, if bitten by a snake, cut it off. And even if the medicine is bitter, ingest it. "Anguli iva uragakshata," such is the justice. If the medicine is bitter, what is the problem? It is helpful, isn't it? It does good to you, to us, doesn't it? And even if that finger is one's own, what is the use? What is the use of it? It has to be cut off. If not cut off. If bitten by a snake. In this Vachanamrut, Shreeji Maharaj kindly tells the devotees that a devotee of God should never do what God and His devotees do not like. Do what they like, and do not keep as primary what hinders devotion; abandon it or make it secondary. In the world, everything is often opposite. A good quality is a good quality. What Maharaj did, Shree Shree 1) Name of Lakshmi. 2) Used before the names of Bhagvãn and devs to signify their high status. Tap to open in glossary → Krishna Krishna 1) An avatãr of Bhagvãn. He incarnated in the svarup of a cowherd. This is considered to be a greater avatãr than the others, as Shree Krishna possessed all of the powers of Bhagvãn, whereas other avatãrs possessed less power. Shree Krishna conveyed the message of love and humanity to the world. Also, He recited the epic poem, the Bhagvad Geetã, to Arjun in which He stated: ‘Whenever dharma declines and adharma increases, I shall incarnate myself as a human to save the holy, to destroy the sin of the sinner, and to establish dharma. I come into being from yug to yug’. 2) In the Vachanãmrut, Shreeji Mahãrãj also uses the name “Shree Krishna” to describe Bhagvãn Purushottam Nãrãyan. Tap to open in glossary → To Him, everything was like that. That a good quality is a good quality, nothing like that. What was useful. Where was Arjun so much of a good quality person compared to Karna and Bhishma Pitamah? He cannot be called so much of a good quality person in comparison to them; he was good. But not in comparison. Still, he was useful to God. God's hands and feet he became. So He placed him somewhere high. He placed him in the category of Nara-Narayana. 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