Shukmuni asked Shriji Maharaj, "O Maharaj, what are the characteristics of a Sadhu in whose heart God resides, whose betrayal is betrayal of God, and whose service is service of God? Please tell us." Then Shriji Maharaj, after thinking for a while, kindly said, "First, the main characteristic is that he never considers God to be formless." He always understands Him to have a divine, physical form. No matter how many Puranas, Upanishads, Vedas, and other scriptures he hears, even if he hears something that sounds like formlessness, he still believes that either we do not understand the meaning of that scripture, or why it was said that way, but God is always with form. And if he does not understand Him to have a form, then his Upasana cannot be said to be firm. And with form... And the feeling of being a servant cannot be said to be firm. Because if he understands Him to be formless, then whose service would he perform? Can the sky be served? Can we sweep it, let's clean the sky? If there is land, it can be served, like, let's clean this, brother. Because it has a form. The sky is formless, so it cannot be served. So, because there is no service, there is no Upasana. So, service was called Upasana, but serving by becoming Brahm-rup Brahm-rup 1) Like the form of Brahm. 2) Possessing qualities similar to those of Brahm. Same as akshar-rup. Tap to open in glossary → There is a conviction of Bhakti Bhakti Devotion to Bhagvãn. One of the four attributes of ekãntik dharma. There are nine types of bhakti: Tap to open in glossary → Once conviction is established, then Bhakti Bhakti Devotion to Bhagvãn. One of the four attributes of ekãntik dharma. There are nine types of bhakti: Tap to open in glossary → Bhakti Bhakti Devotion to Bhagvãn. One of the four attributes of ekãntik dharma. There are nine types of bhakti: Tap to open in glossary → And when that Bhakti Bhakti Devotion to Bhagvãn. One of the four attributes of ekãntik dharma. There are nine types of bhakti: Tap to open in glossary → Bhakti Bhakti Devotion to Bhagvãn. One of the four attributes of ekãntik dharma. There are nine types of bhakti: Tap to open in glossary → Just as I serve here, I have to serve even after death. And if he decides that he must do it, then it is called Upasana. So Maharaj said that if he does not believe in a form, whose service will he perform after death? So his Upasana is broken. And if he does not understand Him to have a form, Those who believe in the formless, like those of Shankaracharya, they believe all deities to be real, don't they? They believe in the incarnations of Ram and 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 → But going there, they believe they have come only temporarily, and then they merge into the formless. So then he does not need to perform any service after death. If he is a believer, he does it as long as he lives, so he performs Bhakti Bhakti Devotion to Bhagvãn. One of the four attributes of ekãntik dharma. There are nine types of bhakti: Tap to open in glossary → And if he does not understand Him to have a form, Currently, all the sanyasis in Haridwar, in those monasteries, they all have installed Lakshmi Lakshmi A devi (goddess) who is the wife of Vishnu. She is the devi of wealth. Therefore, money and gold is also called Lakshmi. She eternally remains in the sevã of Bhagvãn. Tap to open in glossary → Bhakti Bhakti Devotion to Bhagvãn. One of the four attributes of ekãntik dharma. There are nine types of bhakti: Tap to open in glossary → They must be performing Bhakti Bhakti Devotion to Bhagvãn. One of the four attributes of ekãntik dharma. There are nine types of bhakti: Tap to open in glossary → Bhakti Bhakti Devotion to Bhagvãn. One of the four attributes of ekãntik dharma. There are nine types of bhakti: Tap to open in glossary → But nothing after death. Because they believe in the formless, that's why. So Upasana does not remain; currently they perform Bhakti Bhakti Devotion to Bhagvãn. One of the four attributes of ekãntik dharma. There are nine types of bhakti: Tap to open in glossary → And if he does not understand Him to have a form, then his Upasana cannot be said to be firm. And if He does not have a form, then like the sky, He cannot be said to have doership, nor can He be said to reside in one place. In the Brahmasutra, God is called the creator of the universe, and that is said to be the characteristic of God. "Janmadyasya yatah" If that is not there, then there is no Godliness left in Him. So He cannot be said to have doership. And if He does not have a form, then like the sky, In reality, the glory is only from the action. Glory is from the action. No other glory of God... The basis of glory or its measure, measurement, is only from the action. That who performs what kind of action. No one else can perform actions like God. "Jagat vyapar varjyam" So no one comes close to Him. He does not even come close in actions, then how can He be in attributes? He cannot be in attributes. And if he does not understand Him to have a form, then his Upasana cannot be said to be firm. And if He does not have a form, then like the sky, He cannot be said to have doership, nor can He be said to reside in one place. Therefore, God is always with form and is the creator of the creation, sustenance, and dissolution of many universes, and always resides in His Akshardham, and is the King of kings, and He is this manifest one. Such an understanding should not waver in any way at any time, he should always understand it this way; that is one characteristic. When does that remain? When he performs Bhakti Bhakti Devotion to Bhagvãn. One of the four attributes of ekãntik dharma. There are nine types of bhakti: Tap to open in glossary → And those characteristics that Maharaj has mentioned, when pure Bhakti Bhakti Devotion to Bhagvãn. One of the four attributes of ekãntik dharma. There are nine types of bhakti: Tap to open in glossary → Bhakti Bhakti Devotion to Bhagvãn. One of the four attributes of ekãntik dharma. There are nine types of bhakti: Tap to open in glossary → Bhakti Bhakti Devotion to Bhagvãn. One of the four attributes of ekãntik dharma. There are nine types of bhakti: Tap to open in glossary → The talk of Bhakti Bhakti Devotion to Bhagvãn. One of the four attributes of ekãntik dharma. There are nine types of bhakti: Tap to open in glossary → Bhakti Bhakti Devotion to Bhagvãn. One of the four attributes of ekãntik dharma. There are nine types of bhakti: Tap to open in glossary → In the third characteristic, it is said that if his nature hinders him from staying among the devotees of God, he abandons his nature but does not abandon the devotees of God. In the fourth, it is said that if he gets a good object of his own, then... He feels happy by giving it to the devotees of God. And after that, he should have a simple nature; if he lives among the devotees of God, no one should feel in their mind, "What kind of person is he, his bottom is not visible?" There is no transparency, no openness, he is deceitful, that is what it means. So he should not be like that. And after that, it is said that even if he is quiet... Even if he is quiet, if Kusang Kusang The association of an evil person. Tap to open in glossary → They are derived from that. And this is the only characteristic about how he conducts himself with God. Whether he stands as a servant with God, whether he is a servant or not. Whether he has Upasana, whether he has Upasana of the feeling of being a servant, so that. And whether he has Upasana of the feeling of being a servant with God is known more from those five. It is not known from his performing Upasana of God. Is it not the same in the 26th Vachanamrut? What are the characteristics of a Sant Sant A sãdhu. A tyãgi. In the Vachanãmrut, sant refers to sat- purush. Tap to open in glossary → Such characteristics are mentioned there. And further in that, those of Dharma Dharma 1) Universal law or principle that 'sustains' or 'upholds' the entire world. Righteousness, morality, religion, Tap to open in glossary → Dharma Dharma 1) Universal law or principle that 'sustains' or 'upholds' the entire world. Righteousness, morality, religion, Tap to open in glossary → That he observes this as long as he remains in Satsang Satsang 1) True company. The practice of associating with Bhagvãn’s sant, other satsangis, the ãtmã, and the sacred shãstras, and also observing vartmãns and niyams. 2) Also refers to the sampradãy, which is the presence of good company. Tap to open in glossary → Satsang Satsang 1) True company. The practice of associating with Bhagvãn’s sant, other satsangis, the ãtmã, and the sacred shãstras, and also observing vartmãns and niyams. 2) Also refers to the sampradãy, which is the presence of good company. Tap to open in glossary → Dharma Dharma 1) Universal law or principle that 'sustains' or 'upholds' the entire world. Righteousness, morality, religion, Tap to open in glossary → Nishkulanand Swami Nishkulanand Swami Disciple of Sahajanand Swami (Swaminarayan Bhagwan) and author of the Bhaktachintamani, as stated in the scripture's own closing colophon at the end of every chapter. Tap to open in glossary → Dharma Dharma 1) Universal law or principle that 'sustains' or 'upholds' the entire world. Righteousness, morality, religion, Tap to open in glossary → Then there is public shame, and three or four things are mentioned. Those are all about his inner grip, the inner. And all these characteristics mentioned are outer characteristics. Both are mentioned as those fit to be served like God. 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