The rules of conduct that have been prescribed are only for managing external situations. Maharaj said that getting rid of thoughts is not in our hands. Yet, Maharaj has shown a solution for this. That is to practice self-reflection. To stop thoughts through self-reflection. But for those thoughts that have deeply entered the jiva to go away, Maharaj says that only if the great ones show grace, do those thoughts leave. But to observe external rules of conduct, do not put the responsibility on God. One has to observe them oneself. If one observes external rules of conduct and prays to Maharaj, then internal thoughts will decrease and eventually go away. In this, the management of pride is also done externally. No internal management has been done. Not to consider anyone as an equal. When one considers someone as an equal, then pride arises, doesn't it? Not to consider anyone as an equal. If we consider ourselves equal to someone, we are servants of God, so what should we do? Considering someone as an equal brings pride. That is exactly what Maharaj has said in the vow of humility. What management did He prescribe? That if pride is arising, then avoid it. Earlier, Maharaj said to run away from there, but that was because they were wandering, so... Now wandering has stopped. Everything has closed down. And those who have to wander are also not going to the villages. And they all sit in the temple. They take a car and collect the tithes in one day. From seven or eight villages. They finish it in one day. No one wanders. If there are these organizations, then there is no need to wander. So, to run away from pride means to avoid pride. In some way. Then, if pride feels sweet, to keep consuming it, meaning to keep accepting it, should not be done. Internal flaws are weakened. The inner self also becomes pure. Weakening of flaws means the inner self is purified. The fruit of austerity is the weakening of flaws. 'Tanu karanam' means 'tanu' is thin or weak. Among flaws, these flaws lie in the inner self, especially lust and others. Austerity is prescribed more for lust and such. Austerity is not prescribed for pride. For pride, reflection is prescribed. Maharaj asks, how does pride and jealousy go away? How does jealousy decrease? It happens to those who want to walk on the path of a sadhu. So jealousy is just a form of pride. It happens to those who want to walk on the path of a sadhu. If one does not want to walk, even if one performs austerity, it does not happen. Even if one performs austerity, it does not happen. So the fruit of austerity is the weakening of flaws. If flaws obstruct the observance of vows, then they will not obstruct. In reality, while performing austerity, this connection should be maintained. When we perform Chandrayana, or other vows and chants, then we should focus on ensuring that we can easily observe Maharaj's commands throughout the year. I believe Maharaj's command is to eat once a day, as Maharaj commanded the sadhus. So while performing Chandrayana, we complete it, even Rishi Chandrayana, but when we stop Chandrayana, if we keep the habit of eating twice, then it did not help us at all in observing this command. It did not help in observing the command. Suppose we only have to practice for a month, what else is there to do? Huh? What else do we do when we perform Chandrayana? That by restraining the mind, we practice. Practice of what? To remain within Maharaj's commands. If we cannot do it regularly, we can do this. Then, shouldn't we get some strength to do it regularly? So if you perform Rishi Chandrayana once, it means you remain as one. Yet, you have not even resolved to observe the regular commands as well. To observe the regular commands as well, if it is Maharaj's command to do this, then we do it. So there should be a benefit in it. And if there is no benefit, what was done does not go in vain, as this is the command of Chaturmas, so it is within the command, but there should be a long-term benefit in the command. That is the weakening of flaws. What is the proof that flaws have been weakened? Throughout the year, the senses and inner self do not obstruct us in the commands. In whatever commands there are, the senses and inner self do not obstruct, and our path becomes clear. That is called the weakening of flaws. Flaws are not completely erased. How are flaws completely erased? By eradicating the roots of flaws. By eradicating the roots of these flaws and praying to Maharaj, remaining within the vows and praying to Maharaj, it happens. Otherwise, if one tries to use force through one's own efforts, it does not happen. One should pray to Maharaj and not waver from the vows. Vows are to be observed as a form of prayer. 'O Maharaj, I am observing this command of Yours. Cleanse my inner self.' So the fruit of austerity is the weakening of flaws. Our internal flaws, past impressions, as Maharaj said, were put inside at some point. They were taken from outside and put inside, and they all obstruct us. For some, they obstruct as thoughts, and for some, physically. Those are all flaws. Maharaj says there are physical flaws and mental flaws. By restraining the mind, mental flaws are destroyed, and by restraining the body, physical flaws are destroyed. So this is physical restraint, and along with it, there is also restraint of the mind. It is very hard on the mind, isn't it? So that is restraint of the mind. Through austerity, mostly only one flaw is weakened, which is lust, lust, lust. But when the senses slow down, pride and greatness also recede a bit. If they have weakened, does enthusiasm remain? That enthusiasm. Taste, through austerity, taste and other things are reduced. When the mind itself weakens from within, it cannot run towards flaws. So everyone is affected. The effect is on everyone. When done with a pure motive, everyone is affected. If it is done with an internal motive, or only for pride and greatness, then it does not happen. Then if this weakens, that does not weaken. But we are doing it purely, accepting the command according to Maharaj's command, to please Maharaj, so all of them weaken. Maharaj says that regarding the origin of sense objects, care should taken that when they weaken, they should be brought under control. Otherwise, Maharaj says, if the strength of the senses and body increases again, they will increase again. So when they have weakened, one should ride over them. By riding over them, they should be brought within Maharaj's commands. Within Maharaj's five vows, or whatever small or big commands have been given, they should be brought within those commands. And slowly, slowly, doing so, it becomes weak. And vows are what Maharaj emphasized most for sadhus. Maharaj mentioned many characteristics of sadhus. But what did Maharaj say? 'Jetavyashchantarayah.' 'Jetavyashchantarayah'—conquering internal obstacles was said to be the main thing. How do we know if those internal enemies are conquered? Maharaj's commands are observed easily. Maharaj asks, when is one said to have attained complete 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 → Maharaj says that the origin of sense objects is through the external senses, but not from the inner self. Similarly, the origin of sense objects is also not from the jiva. Just as the cause of disease is not the body. Although the body may be the location of the disease, the cause is external. Diet, lifestyle, infectious Similarly, the location of all these mental illnesses is the inner self. Lust, anger, etc., arise in the inner self. That is why they awaken. But they awaken because they were put inside at some point. Just as we introduce disease inside through food, through water, through air, through contact. If one sits near someone with tuberculosis and stays with them for a few days, then tuberculosis affects this person too. So that is through contact, meaning air or any contact. Similarly, in this case too, it is the same. The five sense objects are introduced by us, sometimes filled in. Sometimes they also come through contact. If we become friends, then their characteristics come into us. Although the body may be the location of the disease, the cause is external. Disease enters the body through diet, lifestyle, infectious contact, or polluted air. Mostly it enters this way. Mostly through food, water, and air. Through these three, it enters inside. And the third, then, is through contact. If someone has had too much contact, then that also comes. In genetics, if it is in their blood through some lineage, then it exists. And that does not even go away. That remains for the whole life. If some medicine is taken for it, it weakens, but does not go away. So the diseases within us from eternity do not just go away because we perform austerity. If one performs austerity, all these senses and inner self weaken, and if they are controlled a bit, then it happens. After entering the body, it may increase or decrease, but its cause is not the body, it is external. Just as the origin of disease is not from the body, similarly, the origin of the five sense objects is also not from the inner self or from the jiva. Here, the accumulation of the five sense objects certainly occurs, but they have come from outside. Objects like women, wealth, family, or other objects that are centers of attachment, from which desires arise internally, actually exist in the external world, but are not originally inside. Them inside Based on the outside, suppose pride prevails, it prevails inside based on external actions. It does not just prevail inside directly. If it has entered inside, as you say that it originates from the inner self, Maharaj says that too entered from outside at some point. That is it. It has been made to enter inside. Therefore, Maharaj says that the five sense objects When a child is small, they are completely innocent. Now, if you make them a monitor somewhere, or if they have done good work and get the first rank, then it comes from that. Then, even if they do not get it, they feel, 'I am better than him.' All this is there from childhood. Therefore, Maharaj says that the cause of the five sense objects is the external senses. Just as extreme heat or cold first contacts the body externally, and then enters inside. Similarly, sense objects exist in the external world, and those that are remembered in the inner self or in the jiva, those that are remembered in the inner self or in the jiva, Maharaj says, are also filled only through the senses. They are filled from past births, but today or even before, sense objects did not originate from within; they were made to enter inside from outside through the senses. Maharaj says that the jiva resides within this body. Objects like women, wealth, sons, family, and objects of desire exist in the external world. The senses and inner self are attached to the jiva, and they are also attached to the five external sense objects. Then, due to ignorance, the jiva considers the senses and inner self as its own form and keeps accumulating sense objects. But in reality, the jiva is distinct from the senses and inner self, and the five sense objects are also separate from the inner self. Due to excessive habit and ignorance, they have become one. 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