Home/Mahant Swami Katha/Satsang Chintan

What is sthiti? | P. Mahant Swami | Satsang Chintan

Read the whole text

Video

Reading

What is called 'sthiti' (state of being)?

What is called 'sthiti'?

What did Arjun Swami understand?

There is a Vachanamrut about sthiti.

A pot of water spilled.

And he attained sthiti.

No matter what the circumstances, if one cannot be swayed, that is called sthiti.

One cannot create perversion.

One cannot be swayed.

One cannot create perversion in it.

This tree does not get perverted.

So, is that called sthiti or not?

What is the meaning of sthiti?

Sthiti means cessation of movement.

To stand still.

To stand still is called sthiti.

For example, there is a small matter that I want to serve God in my life.

Kothari Swami told Manat Swami to serve.

Of the temple, of the sadhus.

At that time, there might not have been a Gurukul.

So, one has to serve.

Of satsang.

To serve satsang.

So Kothari Swami did that his whole life.

So, wouldn't the circumstances come to him or not?

They would come.

There are good and bad situations.

Sometimes no one values our service, no one takes note.

Kothari Swami used to experience that a lot.

When Kothari Swami went shopping, the storekeeper would make a face.

Why do you bring such vegetables?

He would make a face.

So, he wouldn't count it.

So, he would have done it with good intentions, but still, he wouldn't count it early.

That's a bit like disrespect, isn't it?

Still, he does it.

Then that is called sthiti.

Not to waver from service.

Not to waver from devotion.

Not to waver from Maharaj's devotion.

All that is called sthiti.

Sthiti can be attained from the cessation of movement.

This is an action.

It got its name from the action.

When does a name come into being?

When does a name come into being from an action?

Emotion.

Emotion.

What is called 'bhava' (emotion)?

It matures.

It matures when it is thoroughly churned.

Its essence becomes internalized.

When it becomes internalized, it is called 'bhava'.

Without doing any action, without practicing or performing any ritual.

He just keeps it as it is.

Then it is called sthiti.

Just as there is service.

So, when it becomes ingrained in his soul, then it is said that he has attained sthiti in service.

Maharaj says that one cannot live without doing it.

Similarly, one cannot live without doing it in that way.

What did Maharaj say? What example did he give?

An opium addict.

If someone is addicted to opium, they cannot live without consuming opium.

If he is addicted to opium, he will die if he doesn't get opium.

So, that is called sthiti, sthiti in opium.

It is said that he has attained sthiti in opium.

If he doesn't get it, he dies.

He truly dies.

So, he attained sthiti.

So, if one doesn't get service, does one die?

Maharaj said that if one is so addicted to satsang, service, devotion, and other such activities that one cannot live without them.

Maharaj explained it that way.

One cannot live without it.

Then Maharaj said that this one is just like that one.

He gave the Vachanamrut of five-five khachdas.

He attains the same kind of attainment as that one.

So, that is called sthiti.

So, attaining sthiti in God, Gunatitanand Swami or Gopalanand Swami or Swarupanand Swami, they said that it is in the murti of Maharaj.

The word 'sthiti' is relative.

Sthiti in what?

If sthiti has occurred, then in what has sthiti occurred?

So, 'in what' means that the locative case has two or three meanings.

Firstly, the locative of subject.

And in the object, it is said that the seventh case is the seventh case.

Desire for moksha, desire for the subject of moksha.

So, the question then arises as to in what sthiti occurred.

So, sthiti occurred in God.

Sthiti occurred in service.

Sthiti occurred in the present.

One does not waver from the present, so sthiti in the present occurred.

One does not waver from service, so sthiti in service occurred.

One does not waver from devotion, so sthiti in devotion occurred.

He does not forget Maharaj's murti.

He attained sthiti in Maharaj's murti.

Sthiti means cessation of movement.

Maharaj gave an example of the cessation of movement: just as a diamond nail is hammered into a diamond earth, then there is no question of it moving.

Similarly, according to one's nature, being bound to God through service, devotion, conduct, and rules, all that is called sthiti.

It is called sthiti in Kothari Swami's service.

To do the same thing for the whole life.

Two or three generations change.

So then how would he feel when younger people come, and Kothari Swami is from the generation of Swami, and he has to serve under him, and do as the storekeeper says, right?

The storekeeper says, 'Bring this,' and if he doesn't bring it, he gets angry at him.

And then not to put it down.

Sthiti means no wavering.

Maharaj gave the example of King Parikshit.

King Parikshit had a lot of affection.

In Shri Krishna.

He asked a question at the beginning of the tenth canto of the Bhagavat.

Shrutrabhiramam Bhavoshadhat Shrutrabhiramam.

Nivrutta Tarshaye Rupagiya Manat Bhavoshadhat Shrutra Manobhiramat.

Such is Lord Shri Krishna, how is he?

That he is sung by those whose thirst has ceased, and he is the medicine for worldly existence, pleasing to the ears and mind.

Tell me his divine deeds.

My grandfathers, in the battle, Maranjaye.

That my ancestors.

He took refuge in him.

They have won.

Tell me his divine deeds.

But then it didn't remain so.

Such great respect, the wavering did not remain after hearing the divine deeds of God.

So, the affection that was there diminished.

Doubt arose in his mind that if he is God, why would he do this?

He should not do that.

So, what does 'should not do' mean?

That I shouldn't have to show so much affection in it.

The enthusiasm he had at the beginning of the tenth canto of the Bhagavat did not remain.

And he felt in his mind that it seems like something has gone wrong here.

That thing did not happen to Uddhavji.

Uddhavji took God with him and stayed the night at Kubja's house.

That you have to stay here, you have to stay at the door.

So Uddhavji did not feel that he had made a mistake.

He did not feel that he had done something wrong.

This happened to him.

Parikshit's mind became wavering.

Then Sukdevji and everyone else resolved it.

But he himself became wavering in his mind.

Then that is not called sthiti.

So Maharaj gave him an example in this.

To remain steadfast.

Gunatitanand Swami said that it is superior to samadhi.

To remain steadfast, to remain in one state, to remain in one state means to remain in a good state.

One who is connected to God through service, through devotion, through the present.

The great saints who remembered God's murti were connected in that way.

There was no wavering in him then.

Your thread breaks, take it.

Gunatitanand Swami says that if one forgets God's murti, then one's thread breaks, the body falls.

Parikshit had a doubt.

So, it happened because there was no sthiti.

In what did he not have sthiti? Did he not have affection for God?

He had affection for God, but due to body-consciousness, his sthiti deteriorated, Maharaj said.

Maharaj told the whole story that the Vasudev Mahatmyam scripture is very good.

In it, it is shown how a devotee of God can attain sthiti.

The method of devotion is shown, so one has to attain sthiti.

Then Maharaj said that in Vasudev Mahatmyam, it is said so much, we don't know, we have read it, it is very old.

But Maharaj extracted from it that there are two types of devotees of God: one who worships God with body-consciousness, and one who worships God by transcending the three bodies.

If one worships God by transcending the three bodies, then no factor that can disrupt one's sthiti will come.

That was Maharaj's point.

And if one worships God with body-consciousness, then there is a possibility that one's sthiti in God will be disconnected.

Maharaj said that.

All the examples of this were given for this.

That Parikshit did not have such a state, so he had doubts.

Parikshit did not have such a state, so he had doubts.

Maharaj says that.

So, if it wasn't there, what does it mean that doubt arose?

That he imagined God with body-consciousness.

He imagined body-consciousness.

That if he is God, he should not do this, he should do this and not do that, that is for humans.

There is nothing for God.

And the five senses are for the jiva.

What are the five senses to God, or what is that?

Maharaj says that if God comes into maya, he makes maya itself brahmarup.

He has no fear that if he goes into maya, he will become impure or something will go wrong with him or he will change, that is not for God.

That is all for humans.

For everyone, then, what is more than humans, it is all for the jiva.

Then if one is liberated, it is fine for him.

It is not for God.

But as long as there was no atma-bhava, he would not attain this sthiti, Maharaj said.

That as long as one is in body-consciousness, one does not attain sthiti.

Because body-consciousness is such that a person cannot remain steadfast.

If one is connected to God by determining one's true self, then Maharaj says there is no problem.

We are not this body, the feelings of this world come and go, but still, one does not fall back from Maharaj.

Then that is called atma-satta.

Body.

This is the 23rd and 24th Vachanamrut.

Both are of sthiti.

Thus, Maharaj said in the 24th Vachanamrut.

That Arjuna was such a brave warrior, but he did not know his own soul, so his patience wavered.

Seeing the cosmic form.

So, when there is the fulfillment of both the soul's self-devotion and the greatness of the Supreme Soul, then one attains sthiti.

If there is one.

Then that sthiti should not be praised by anyone.

Those who seek kaivalya.

That Ashwatthama, who was in a state of self-realization, became brahmarup, so he is called a self-realized person, isn't he?

So, his sthiti cannot be praised.

That is called sthiti, but that sthiti, if it goes to the market, not even a single coin will come, like that.

Similarly, this sthiti, its value is not considered in the scriptures, only of self-realization.

The glory of God is with self-realization.

Sthiti, that's why we said that sthiti is a relative word, what is a relative word?

Everyone has sthiti, who has sthiti in selfishness? In selfishness, one remains steadfast for the whole life.

But that is not called sthiti.

A householder serves his wife and children throughout his life, always saying 'yes, sir' and spends his whole life like that.

So, is that called sthiti?

That is not called sthiti.

So, the question is, in what is sthiti?

Relative.

If sthiti is in God, then it is called sthiti.

Then anything related to God.

It could be service to God.

It could be affection for God.

Then it could be devotion to God.

Then all that is called sthiti.

Sthiti in service, or sthiti in God's form, or sthiti in conduct, these are all different types of sthiti.

Is there any order in it?

Difference.

Sthiti in God's murti is a very high state.

Sthiti in service, all those are means.

That is the goal.

The soul is to be seen with great effort.

That is the goal.

And sthiti in service, sthiti in devotion, sthiti in conduct, sthiti in the present, all those are means.

When sthiti occurs in the means, it is said to have occurred in the goal.

But still, it is called raw.

If wheat is sown, it is still called wheat, even if it is small.

It doesn't become bread, but it can be harvested.

It becomes bread when it ripens.

Similarly, this sthiti, the sthiti of service, or the sthiti of the present, the sthiti of affection for God, of devotion, all those sthitis are called instrumental sthiti.

And instrumental sthiti is not wrong.

If one maintains sthiti in this lifetime, one attains the goal, there is no doubt about that.

And there is eternal sthiti in God's murti, there is eternal remembrance of the murti.

That is called the goal.

Then Maharaj said that even if he is alive, he is liberated.

In Premanand Swami's Vachanamrut, it is said that Maharaj, in that way, one who remembers.

Then even with the body, he has attained the state of liberation, he does not have to die and go to God's abode to be liberated, even with the body, he has become a divine attendant of God.

That is called the final sthiti.

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