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 → Sadguru Sadguru A great sant. Tap to open in glossary → Swaminarayan Hare Swaminarayan Hare. Swami has said, "And when upasham begins to remain, the power of Vairat and others becomes visible." "But if one does not accept it and, disregarding it," "continues to worship Shri Hari Hari An avatãr of Bhagvãn. He incarnated in His four-armed svarup to save an elephant from being killed by a crocodile. He cut off the crocodile’s head with His chakra. Tap to open in glossary → "And it is the way of all avatars to make one renounce women and wealth," "and to protect the poor. If, by the strength of knowledge, vairagya, and bhakti bhakti Devotion to Bhagvãn. One of the four attributes of ekãntik dharma. There are nine types of bhakti: Tap to open in glossary → "someone despises a poor person, they cannot tolerate seeing it; such is their natural disposition." What was said? When the state of upasham is attained, it is equal to Virat. Even then, one should not accept it and should renounce it. What was said? Every avatar of God is for the protection of the poor and to free them from wealth and women. What do you remember? As one practices upasham, the power of vairagya and other virtues becomes apparent, but if one does not get caught up in that power, then ekantik state is attained. And all avatars of God manifest to protect against women and wealth, to protect the poor, and to free people from women and wealth. What is called upasham? It is mentioned in the Vachanamrut, right? What is called upasham? To withdraw all the senses from their respective objects and offer them internally at the feet of God. That is called concentration (ekagrata). Are concentration and upasham the same? Withdrawing all the senses and focusing them on the form of God, is that concentration or something else? Is it called upasham? What is called upasham? Desirelessness (nirvasanikpanu). Desirelessness—where has Maharaj defined desirelessness like that? Maharaj said to withdraw all the senses and thoughts and offer them to God. Maharaj says regarding those objects, if they were enjoyed in a past life and are not remembered, similarly, even in the presence of those objects, one's mind does not go toward them. They are forgotten just like in a past life. Then, he is said to have attained the state of upasham. It is mentioned in the third Vachanamrut of Amdavad. What is called upasham? And how is the state of upasham attained? Maharaj says that if one, remaining as the soul distinct from the senses and antahkaran, meditates on the form of God, then he attains the state of upasham. Then the sadhus asked, "Maharaj, that is very difficult. If there is an easier way, please tell us." Whom did Maharaj describe as having upasham? That if there is a man man Mind. One of the four antah-karans, with the function of (pronounced mun) generating thoughts and desires, and governing all of the indriyas. Tap to open in glossary → and they are made to walk a distance of twenty miles and kept awake for three nights, then they would not feel any pleasure in touching each other or anything else. They wouldn't even realize it. Those objects of sense wouldn't affect them at all. In the same way, in the waking state, if one's concentration on God has become intense, and he is absorbed, then the pleasures of the five sense objects will not affect him at all. Just as there is forgetfulness of past lives, of the objects enjoyed in past lives, and they are forgotten, similarly, if there is forgetfulness of the five sense objects in the waking state, then that is called the state of upasham. Why did Maharaj speak of this state of upasham? Because the five sense objects are the cause of birth and death. Whether one is a devotee of God or a non-devotee. God has no such relatives. Therefore, if the five sense objects are remembered, they become the cause of birth and death. The memory of them—the memory or attachment to the five sense objects— that is the cause of birth and death. The five sense objects themselves cannot be said to be the cause of birth and death. Even liberated souls (muktas) enjoy the five sense objects, Maharaj said so. Liberated souls like Narad and others remain in samadhi for a long time, and after waking from samadhi, they again enjoy the five sense objects. They enjoy them just like we do. So, there are two purposes of the five sense objects. One is sustenance (gujaran). The sustenance of this body depends on the five sense objects. And the other is attachment (raag). So, when one enjoys the five sense objects with attachment, they become the cause of birth and death. This applies even if one is a devotee of God, and also if one is a non-devotee. It happens even if one is not a devotee. Therefore, Maharaj said that if an entire banyan tree has fallen, but a single aerial root is still attached, it keeps the banyan tree alive. Similarly, even if one has renounced all the five sense objects, but a single thread of attachment remains somewhere, then the whole banyan tree remains alive. One might have renounced everything, but attachment to one's son remains. Attachment to money remains, attachment to family remains, or attachment to some other object remains. Then that will pull him back. Many years ago, during Shastriji Maharaj's time or perhaps after, we had a sadhu. He was a seeker (mumukshu mumukshu A person in search of moksh. Tap to open in glossary → He was very good. And he had great devotion, there was nothing else amiss. But he had come from the diamond business, and he must have made good earnings in diamonds, so he had kept some deposit reserved. And he had kept it in the bank. Similarly, another sadhu came, a seeker came, who had suffered losses in diamonds and had accumulated a lot of debt. He was in debt. Both of them came; these are two examples. But we want to focus on the one who had kept the deposit; later, that deposit must have kept coming to his mind. So, because of that deposit, he renounced his sadhu-hood and went back there. He is still there, he is a devotee, and he is good. So, Maharaj says that if a single aerial root, a single thread of attachment is connected somewhere, then it will pull him back even from samadhi. A single thread. Therefore, the five sense objects are the cause of birth and death. Remembering those five sense objects. Worldly activities, the five sense objects—all of that is considered part of the five sense objects. Luxury, enjoyment, people, places— wherever our jiva is attached, all of those are called objects of sense. And they will pull him back even from Akshardham. They will not let him remain there, even after reaching there. It is written in Gunatitanand Swami's talks that Vignandasji had attained samadhi of Akshardham, yet he had to take three more births. Birth after birth, birth after birth. If one goes to Akshardham, it is much better than this place. But there, one does not have a wife, or a husband. Neither of the two is there. So one thinks, "Instead of that, here we can have both the bliss of Akshardham and the pleasure of a spouse." Therefore, they come back here from there. They get pulled back. Therefore, the five sense objects are the cause of birth and death. 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