Maharaj says, "Our nature is not like that; Our nature is extremely compassionate." And Maharaj said that Bhagwan Ramchandraji and Arjun, their nature was also very compassionate. But Bhagwan Ramchandraji's nature was such that although he was compassionate and loving towards those who surrendered, even then, if someone was at fault, he would not tolerate it. Sitaji was extremely dear to him, yet when public criticism arose, he abandoned her; he abandoned Sitaji. Maharaj says, "For us..." There is this much difference in Maharaj's nature. Maharaj says, "Our nature is not like that." Muktanand Swami says Ramanand Swami's nature was like that; if someone was at fault, he would straighten them out a bit. Therefore, Maharaj says, "Our nature is not like that. Our nature is such that we never get angry with a devotee of Bhagwan, even if they are at fault." Even if they are at fault, we do not get angry with them; such is Our nature." Maharaj has called this Vachanamrut a lifeline. A lifeline... meaning a lifeline is something that if you get it, you live, and if you don't get it, you don't live, just as oxygen is called our lifeline. For a householder, money is the lifeline, because without money, the householder's life cannot function in any way. So that is called a lifeline. If it is there, there is all happiness, this whole atmosphere remains happy; if it is not there, everyone withers away. And in that, if oxygen is not available, then in just a short time, everyone is gone. So Maharaj has spoken of it like oxygen here. What did he call the lifeline in this, Prafulbhai? What did Maharaj say in this? What did you understand? Didn't understand anything? Then your attention has gone to moksha. Rohitbhai, what do you say? What did you understand? What is the lifeline? What did Maharaj say in this? You were all listening to the entire Vachanamrut with complete concentration, so there was no issue. To serve the devotees of Bhagwan and to please them, that is what Maharaj has called the lifeline. To please Maharaj, and to serve them [the devotees]. To Bhagwan... that is the lifeline. But that means, is this firmly established in our hearts or not? In our soul, Maharaj has indeed called it a lifeline, but Maharaj has spoken of His own experience. What does it mean to get the lifeline in one's hand? It means to grasp such a concept. If such a concept is grasped in our hearts, then we have grasped the lifeline. Just because we read it, it does not mean we have found the lifeline; or if we explain it and talk about it, that is not how the lifeline comes into our hands. For our liberation, in today's times they say 'concept', right? This concept is very good. So this concept, Maharaj's concept, whoever has grasped it in their heart, they have grasped the lifeline. And until then, they cannot be said to have grasped the lifeline. Just as Maharaj said, "Whose devotee am I?" "We are the devotees of the devotees of Bhagwan." Whose devotees are we? We are the devotees of Bhagwan. We are not the devotees of the devotees of Bhagwan. Huh? "That itself is our great virtue." So our great virtue is that we are devotees of Bhagwan. We are devotees of the great; Bhagwan is the devotee of the small. And we are devotees of the great; devotees of the great are great. And devotees of the small are small. So there remains this much difference between Maharaj's concept and our concept. Maharaj's concept is that "We are the devotees of the devotees of Bhagwan, and we perform devotion to the devotees of Bhagwan." And we are devotees of Bhagwan and we perform devotion to Bhagwan; that is not wrong either, ours is also correct. But we cannot be said to have grasped the lifeline. We cannot be said to have grasped the lifeline that Maharaj spoke of. That is why Maharaj said, on the other hand, that there should be service to the devotees of Bhagwan. And there is Bhagwan's pleasure; if one serves the devotees of Bhagwan, Bhagwan is pleased. Bhagwan and Bhagwan... if one serves the devotees of Bhagwan, Bhagwan is pleased. So if there is service to the devotees of Bhagwan, then even if we remain away from Bhagwan for a million years and a million miles away, even then there is no grief in the mind. And even if we are sitting right next to Bhagwan, but if we do not like the devotees of Bhagwan, then Maharaj says that is not very good. Swami, how should we understand this mahima that you spoke of? To become the servant of the servants of these devotees of Bhagwan... it is mentioned in the Vachanamrut that it happens if we understand their mahima. But Swami, the mahima is not understood at the right time. And secondly, Swami, as a householder, how should we serve? It is not said in this to understand the mahima. You might be understanding the mahima of someone else, and the devotees of Bhagwan might be understanding that of Bhagwan, or some might be understanding that of the devotees of Bhagwan. Maharaj has not called mahima the lifeline. He has called this concept the lifeline. So Swami, how should we serve as householders? We have the desire to serve, so how should we do it? Maharaj has spoken of this concept: wherever our inclination fits and wherever there is an opportunity, we should serve and fit in. Do you ever wonder in your mind how to earn money? Doesn't that happen? You are always searching for it, thinking 'I might get it from here, from here, from here.' So you search for it. One who is hungry searches for bread. One who is truly, intensely hungry, for them there is no question of where to do it. For them, there is no question of what to eat. Who has the question of what to eat? One who is full up to the throat. One who is full up to the throat has the question of what to eat, 'all this seems tasteless.' And 'all these things are made such that I don't like them.' But if there is a hunger of two days and one has fasted, then 'what to eat' is not the question; 'where is it available' is the question, 'where is it available?' Once it is in hand, it is done. So, the hunger for service, as Maharaj describes, has not been felt, which is why this question arises. If there is a hunger for service, then for them, 'what to eat' is not the question. For them, there is no such question; immediately, whatever is available, they just want to consume it. Because there is hunger, right? That is how it is for us. We, the sadhus, have a hunger for Bhagwan, and abandoning everything, we come here for service; and we, the devotees, abandoning everything, engage in the worship of Bhagwan—such hunger is felt. But after feeling the hunger, they get full, and then after feeling 'aho aho' [appreciation], how does 'khaho khaho' [irritation] come? Why does the hunger go away again? Maharaj said that some perform 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 → When it comes to one's own nature... so the problem is right there, there is no other problem. Getting satisfied... there should never be satisfaction in devotion to Bhagwan. Getting satisfied in devotion to Bhagwan is called a great blemish in the scriptures. This is called a blemish. For a devotee of Bhagwan, it is a blemish to feel 'now I have had enough,' when they get that feeling of satiety that 'I have done enough devotion and I have developed enough love for Bhagwan,' then that is called a blemish on their devotion. That should not happen. There is some internal issue, some flaw, some deficiency, which is why it happens. Otherwise, there is never satisfaction in devotion. There is simply no satisfaction in devotion to Bhagwan. Maharaj also said the same, that "We are not satisfied..." So, hunger should still be felt. It must increase. It must increase. Even if it remains constant, that is not enough. It must increase. The nature of devotion to Bhagwan is such that as one performs it, the hunger increases. If it is genuine, then their hunger must increase, and only if it increases is it correct. In the Narad Bhakti Bhakti Devotion to Bhagvãn. One of the four attributes of ekãntik dharma. There are nine types of bhakti: Tap to open in glossary → 'Susukshmam' [extremely subtle] and 'pratikshanam vardhamanam'. If the hunger we have right now remains exactly the same in the evening, then some problem has arisen somewhere. In the evening, it should be more. And tomorrow, it should be more than that; 'pratikshanam vardhamanam' is what he said. 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