The subject propounded: Conviction of Bhagwan along with His mahima. Key points: If one develops conviction in Bhagwan when He is in human form or in His human actions, then that jiva grows like the crescent moon of the second day of the fortnight. Conviction is to be developed there. When He is in human form, or in Bhagwan's human form, one should see that other form. One should see the form residing in the Dham. That realization should occur here. It should occur in the manifest form. If one develops conviction in Bhagwan when He is in human form or in His human actions, then that jiva grows like the crescent moon of the second day of the fortnight. If a thought of doubt arises towards Bhagwan, then that jiva becomes devoid of light. What is light? As the phases of the moon increase, as the light of the sun reflects, the moon becomes more luminous, and as it wanes, it becomes devoid of light. In this, what is light? [inaudible] One perceives the path to one's own liberation. Perceiving the path to one's own liberation is light. And not perceiving the path to one's own liberation, but perceiving everything else, is darkness. The path to one's own liberation, from where is it perceived? It is perceived through Bhagwan. If one appreciates His virtues. If one appreciates His virtues, and feels great reverence for His actions, then one perceives the path to liberation, even if one lacks intellect. And even if one has immense intellect, one still does not perceive it. One with perfect conviction experiences fulfillment and completeness. One with imperfect conviction harbors many doubts regarding his attainment. After contemplating for a long time, Maharaj looked at the devotees with a compassionate glance and said, "Today, I want to talk about conviction, so listen attentively." In that Akshardham, which is as luminous as infinite millions of suns, moons, and fires, Purushottam Purushottam God. Supreme being. Bhagvãn. He is unparalleled, omnipotent and the all-doer, omniscient, omnipresent, the ocean of all forms of bliss, does not have any attributes of Mãyã, divine, always taking birth on earth for Tap to open in glossary → That is, through the association of saints, when one realizes that the luminous form is indeed this manifest form, and firm conviction is established in his jiva, then his jiva grows day by day like the crescent moon of the second day of the fortnight. That is, the jiva had extremely weak, very little strength to detach its soul from the world and liberate it, but just as the sun's phases enter the moon of the dark fortnight, causing the moon to grow and reach its full state on the full moon day, similarly, the jiva also gains more and more strength for its own elevation through conviction, he is not left with just one means. At every step, he sees, 'Oh, if I do this, my liberation is assured, and if I do that, my liberation is assured.' He sees hundreds of means. And the other person sees none, thinking, 'Where should I begin?' It happens like that. Trying everywhere, he becomes disappointed everywhere. Thus, he sees no means anywhere. He feels, 'Oh, Maharaj, Swaminarayan Bhagwan has departed, the great saints have departed, now how will my liberation happen?' So what does that show? Their departure does not mean that they have returned here. What does it show? It shows his lack of conviction in Swaminarayan Bhagwan. If there is conviction in Swaminarayan Bhagwan, then His departure does not mean that others will just appear. But it shows his lack of conviction in Bhagwan; he lacks conviction. He has not developed the conviction that 'He is indeed the one'; it shows a lack of conviction. That is why he gets such thoughts. So are those thoughts wrong or what? If someone gets such a thought, 'Oh, Maharaj has departed, the great saints have departed, they have departed, Muktanand Swami has departed, Gopalanand Swami, Gunatitanand Swami have departed, Balmukund Swami, Narayandasji have departed,' is that wrong? Or is it right? It is not wrong, yes, but the intention is wrong. More than intention, he does not perceive it; he lacks conviction in Maharaj. He has not developed the conviction that 'the luminous form in Akshardham, as described by Maharaj, is indeed this form.' Even though we sing of His actions, he lacks the conviction that 'He is indeed the one.' Even if He is not in human form. And when He is in human form, if one sees flaws in His actions, it means he lacks the conviction that 'He is indeed the one, and the performer of these actions is He Himself.' He has not realized His oneness. And it is not accepted in his jiva. Otherwise, none of this would stand, no body-consciousness would stand. And Maharaj says, even if there is some flaw in oneself, still, the reverence in one's heart cannot be contained. He does not remain restless. In this world. And there is no sense of emptiness, like, 'Oh, now how can it happen in this?' Do internal enemies not trouble him? Then why does he feel, 'How will my liberation happen?' And does one who has firm conviction not get troubled by internal enemies? They certainly trouble him. They troubled even the great ones, so would they not trouble him? What is his standing? But still, he develops conviction, even by the influence of the other. My liberation will happen. My liberation will happen. Because the process of conviction that was meant to happen has occurred in his jiva; for this person, it is pending, it has not occurred. Similarly, just as the moon grows and reaches its full state on the full moon day, so naturally, for some, the force of internal enemies is less. Body-consciousness is less. But if there is no conviction, then he does not feel that reverence. And for some, due to past samskaras, the force of this is somewhat more. And if there is conviction, then he feels, 'My liberation will happen.' That thought which arises is related to the other. There is deficiency in that, which is why the thought arises. And there is no deficiency in that, which is why he feels reverence. Even if 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 → If there is no conviction? Still, it is possible that they lack conviction. Yes, it is possible, abundantly so. Conviction has nothing to do with completing a chandrayana penance, as if completing it means conviction is complete. Even if one completes ten chandrayanas, conviction is not completed. Even if they deliver discourses, even if they deliver excellent discourses on Maharaj Himself, still, it cannot be assumed that they have developed conviction. Conviction occurs in the jiva, whereas the discourse is delivered externally. To show off or for livelihood, everyone has to do something, something must be done. If you sit idle at home as a householder with a mala, who will feed you? Similarly, if one does nothing here, who will feed him? This is his business, occupation. Whether there is conviction or not, one has to see from within, one has to see for oneself. It becomes visible in actions from time to time. From time to time, if someone lives with him, they would know whether there is conviction or not. He lacks conviction; living together, one cannot know in just one day. When things happen according to our mind's desire, then we know. When things happen according to our mind's desire in Bhagwan, then we know; when things happen as desired or not, then we know what kind of conviction he has. When success or failure is met, then in actions, in every action, it is seen; a slight reflection of it is always cast. Similarly, the jiva also gains more and more strength for its own elevation, and by the influence of conviction, it also gains the strength to elevate other jivas. If a more proper conviction is developed, then the strength to elevate others also comes into him. He elevates others as well. Even if he is a devotee, he sends many on the path of Bhagwan. Thereafter, his senses, antahkarana, or any worldly force cannot shake him from his conviction. Even if Bhagwan performs any kind of human actions, still, he does not perceive flaws in Bhagwan. Thus, by realizing or having conviction in Paramatma along with His mahima, the jiva becomes fearless. On the contrary, if that very devotee, sometimes due to unfavorable place, time, association, scriptures, etc., or due to body-consciousness, or due to attachment to some internal enemy like lust, etc., doubts Bhagwan's actions or Bhagwan's character, and develops a dislike for Bhagwan, that is, causing obstacles, doubt arises in Bhagwan's actions, just as it happened to Parikshit. A dislike for His actions arises. As we mentioned, Amba Sheth or Jiva Khachar developed a dislike for Maharaj's actions. In what Maharaj does, either one's own self-interest is not met, or one's body-consciousness is hurt, or there is pride and ego, or lust and anger, meaning pride and ego, and Maharaj refutes that. Maharaj, as they say, Nirvikalpanandji and another saint, 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