Fidelity towards God and taking the side of a devotee. A devotee of God should have a supportive outlook towards God and other devotees. This Vachanamrut strengthens one's faith in Maharaj and firm commitment to 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 a devotee of God must, firstly, maintain unwavering fidelity towards Shriji Maharaj, that is, their Ishtadev, and secondly, show courage in maintaining their association with 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 → In a faithful wife, commitment is paramount, not the evaluation of qualities. Towards her husband... What was said? One... To be bound by commitment. Not to be bound by evaluation. Is a faithful wife bound to her husband by commitment or by evaluation? If bound by evaluation, what is that called? What is evaluation? Then? Then she does not remain a faithful wife. Then she does not remain a faithful wife. Before marriage, one should evaluate. With whom will it work and with whom will it not work. Who is good and who is weak? She should evaluate like that. In a swayamvar, everyone... like the ancient kings used to hold swayamvars, so what was in that? What is to be done in a swayamvar? In that, one must evaluate. They choose after evaluating everyone, right? But after being bound, one must maintain the commitment of a faithful wife, then no more evaluation. If she evaluates, her fidelity is lost. If she evaluates, then evaluation becomes her adversary. Good and weak points are bound to be in everyone. Not everyone is entirely good, and not everyone is entirely weak. So if one starts evaluating, the commitment of fidelity is lost. It is the same with God. A devotee of God must then maintain the commitment of fidelity towards God. In a faithful wife, commitment is paramount, not the evaluation of qualities. Towards her husband... Divine power does not come through evaluation. In faithful women, all this influence and divine power comes; if she curses someone, they burn to death. And whatever she wishes, happens. No demigods can surpass her. Such influence that comes is not due to evaluation. It comes from her commitment. And because it is prescribed in the scriptures, that commitment comes. It comes from commitment, it comes from the influence of the scriptures. In a faithful wife, commitment is paramount, not the evaluation of qualities. Through unwavering commitment towards her husband, divine power manifests in a faithful wife, not through her own cleverness. Maharaj spoke of a faithful wife, but what is the takeaway here? For us, what is in it? He gave the example of a faithful wife, that this happens to her, she becomes like this. So what was Maharaj's purpose in using that example? How to maintain the commitment of fidelity towards Maharaj. Just that. Fidelity in everything. Maintaining the commitment of fidelity in one's spiritual endeavors, in one's guru guru A teacher. He will guide you on the path of kalyãn. Tap to open in glossary → If one is performing spiritual endeavors and thinks, "Others are benefiting a lot, but I am not benefiting." Then it will not succeed. When a faithful wife starts evaluating, "If I keep this much commitment, I get this much influence, so if someone is better and I commit to them, then?" "Then I will get more influence, right?" One should not make such evaluations. By remaining faithful to that very one, the faithful wife crosses over, whereas the other... If he is capable of crossing, he will; otherwise, he won't. But the faithful wife will cross over. By the influence of the faithful wife, he too crosses over. By the influence of the faithful wife, he too crosses over. Great souls make a place holy; is it true that by going to a holy place, one becomes a great soul? If everyone goes to a holy place, do they become great souls? A great soul is the one who creates a holy place. All holy places combined cannot create a great soul. What? A faithful wife's commitment is strong. So to become a great soul, does going to holy places and living in good places make one a great soul? Living in a good place... if they live in a good place, does everyone become a great soul? 'Yatra sannihito' that 'nityam Vishnu Vishnu The dev of sustenance. Part of the trimurti. He lives in Vaikunth with his wife Lakshmi. Tap to open in glossary → 'Yatra sannihito nityam Vishnu Vishnu The dev of sustenance. Part of the trimurti. He lives in Vaikunth with his wife Lakshmi. Tap to open in glossary → In Kashi, the god of death does not come to fetch you. Everyone holds onto their respective holy places, right? In Sarangpur, even in the outskirts, the god of death does not enter. Then they can do whatever they want. The influence of Gadhada and the influence of Vadtal, and Maharaj said, "Gadhada is very dear to me." So if many reside in Gadhada, do all those who live there become dear to God and become great souls? If one lives in a great place, do they become a great soul? In a great place, we become according to how we live, right? Or does it not happen? No, no. In that, the great place has no contribution. A great soul, wherever they are to be, creates a great place; a great place does not create a great soul. What is it? Does a person's stature create a great place, or does a place create the stature? The person creates the place. A place being small or big is a matter of evaluation. So does the evaluation of a faithful wife bring about her influence, or does her commitment bring about her fidelity? Bring about her influence? It is her commitment and faith that bring about her fidelity. Similarly, faith in God brings about greatness. If one searches for places, "Is this good, or this, or this, or this?" then it will not happen. Even by living in a good place, one does not become a great soul. And if one wants to be a great soul, they do not seek a good place; wherever they are, they create it. So commitment is more important than evaluation. Spiritual effort is more important. In the path of God, spiritual effort holds greatness. And in the worldly path, that evaluation is needed. If it is the worldly path, evaluation is needed. That is why Maharaj said elsewhere in the Vachanamrut that if someone says, "For us, all sadhus are equal," he is called half-averse. Here Maharaj said that a sadhu must have equal vision, so it means the same. A sadhu must have equal vision. Then he is called half-averse. There, evaluation is needed. In commitment, do not evaluate too much. Whether keeping commitment towards God or towards spiritual effort, do not evaluate too much. If one keeps changing, "now this, now that, now this, now that," then no influence comes. There is no divine power in that. Even in performing spiritual endeavors for God, Maharaj... evaluation does not work much. If one keeps changing, "now this, now that," In the Gita, God has written a very beautiful verse. That all spiritual endeavors are like smoke, something like that is written. Sadosham api. Sadosham api, even if all have flaws. A beautiful verse is written. All spiritual endeavors have flaws; in all worldly actions, there is some shortcoming or another. So if, because of that shortcoming, one abandons their commitment and firm resolve, they do not become a great soul. And they do not reach God. Is there no flaw in dharma dharma 1) Universal law or principle that 'sustains' or 'upholds' the entire world. Righteousness, morality, religion, 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 → Is there no flaw in vairagya? So should one not commit to vairagya? Should one not commit to practicing dharma dharma 1) Universal law or principle that 'sustains' or 'upholds' the entire world. Righteousness, morality, religion, 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 → Does that make them a great soul or not? If their 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 faithful vairagya, then sadosham api makes them a great soul. Even if it has flaws. The influence of commitment, influence comes from commitment. A person's faith in it, commitment means faith. How strong they keep their faith in it. In a faithful wife, commitment is paramount, not the evaluation of qualities. Towards her husband... Then no influence came. Are the gopis considered faithful wives or not? Are the gopis considered faithful wives? Yes. Nowhere in the list of faithful wives do the gopis' names appear. Does it? It does not appear anywhere in the list of faithful wives. Nor is such influence like that of a faithful wife attributed to them. Did it ever happen that if the gopis said something, someone burned? Yet the scriptures praise them. The scriptures praise them, they are worshiped. By worshiping them, others become faithful wives. The gopis' names cannot be written in the list of faithful wives. Nor is their influence described as such. This is about influence. This is not about the liberation of the soul. For the liberation of the soul, one must find a worthy recipient through evaluation. One must find a worthy recipient. In that, one has to surrender. 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 being a faithful wife is a worldly influence. If there is fidelity and also God, and also a worthy recipient, if those combine, then it is a different matter altogether. That is why Maharaj said to maintain commitment towards one's Ishtadev. The gopis had both, right? For the gopis, we do not deny their fidelity, but it has not appeared anywhere in the list. And they had a worthy recipient too. Maharaj... Dharmadev, Bhaktimata's... Dharmadev's father, Balsharma... When Dharmadev got married, he gave blessings. "May you be like Ahilya, and like Shandili, and like Anasuya," but he did not say, "May you be like the gopis." 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