Swaminarayan Hare Swaminarayan Hare. Swami has spoken, and when upasham begins to remain, the strength of vairagya and other virtues becomes apparent. But if one does not accept them, and disregarding them, while remaining in upasham, continues to worship Shri Hariji, then he becomes an ekantik bhakta bhakta Devotee of Bhagvãn. A follower of Bhagvãn. Tap to open in glossary → And it is the way of all avatars that, to make one renounce women and wealth, and to protect the poor. If someone, on the strength of knowledge, vairagya, and devotion, is insulting a poor person, then seeing that, he cannot tolerate it; such is his natural disposition. What was said? Even if the state of upasham has been attained, which is equal to Virat, still one does not accept it and renounces it. What was said? Every avatar of God is for the protection of the poor and to free one from wealth and women. What do you remember? As one practices upasham, the strength of vairagya and other virtues becomes apparent, but if one does not get caught up in that strength, then ekantik state is attained. And all avatars of God manifest to protect from women and wealth, and to protect the poor, and to free one from women and wealth. What is called upasham? There is something 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. Are concentration and upasham called the same? To withdraw all the senses and focus them on the form of God, is that called concentration or something else? Is it called upasham? What is called upasham? The state of being free from vasana. The state of being free from vasana, where has Maharaj said that the state of being free from vasana is upasham? Maharaj has said to withdraw all the senses and thoughts and offer them to God. Maharaj says, the sense objects enjoyed in past lives are not remembered, and even in the presence of sense objects, his mind does not go towards them, they are forgotten just like in past lives, then he is said to have attained the state of upasham. It is mentioned in the third Vachanamrut of Ahmedabad. What is called upasham? And how is the state of upasham attained? Maharaj says, if one remains as the soul, distinct from the senses and antahkaran, and meditates on the murti murti 1) Sacred idol of Bhagvãn used to offer worship. There are eight types of murtis that can be worshipped: stone, wood, metal, earth, engraved or drawn, sand, gems, and mental. 2) The form of Bhagvãn. Tap to open in glossary → Then the saints asked, "Maharaj, that is very difficult, tell us if there is an easier way than that." Whom did Maharaj call 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 → who have recently met, and they have been made to walk a distance of twenty gaus and kept awake for three nights, then they do not experience any pleasure from touching each other. They wouldn't even realize, as if no sense object touches them. In the same way, in the waking state, if concentration on God has increased, if he is immersed, then the pleasures of the five sense objects do not touch him at all. Just as there is forgetfulness of past lives, the sense objects enjoyed in past lives are forgotten, in the same way, if there is forgetfulness of the five sense objects in the waking state, then it is called the state of upasham. Why did Maharaj tell us to attain that state of upasham? Because, all the five sense objects are the cause of birth and death. Whether he is a devotee of God or a non-devotee, God does not have any such relatives. Therefore, if the five sense objects are remembered, then it is the cause of birth and death. The memory of them, the memory or attachment to the five sense objects, is the cause of birth and death. The five sense objects themselves cannot be said to be the cause of birth and death. The five sense objects are enjoyed even by the liberated souls, Maharaj said so. Liberated souls like Narad remain in samadhi for a long time, and after waking up from samadhi, they again enjoy the five sense objects, they enjoy them just like us. Therefore, there are two purposes of the five sense objects. One is sustenance; the sustenance of this body depends on the five sense objects. And the other is attachment. So when one enjoys the five sense objects with attachment, then they become the cause of birth and death, whether he is a devotee of God or a non-devotee, even if he is not a devotee. Therefore, Maharaj said that even if the entire banyan tree has fallen, if a single aerial root is attached, it keeps the banyan tree green. In the same way, even if all the five sense objects have been discarded, if a single thread is attached somewhere, then the whole banyan tree is green. Even if everything has been discarded, if love remains for the son, love remains for money, love remains for the family, or love remains for some other object, then it pulls him back. Many years ago, during Shastriji Maharaj's time or probably after, we had a saint, he was a seeker who became a saint. He was very good, and had all the devotion and there was nothing else. But he had come from the diamond business, and he had good earnings in diamonds, so he had kept some deposit. And had kept it in the bank. Similarly, another saint had come, a seeker had come, who must have suffered a loss in diamonds and had a huge deposit on his head, had run into debt, both of them had come, both are examples. We want to say about him that he had kept a deposit, then that deposit must have kept reminding him, so then he left that deposit, for that he renounced sainthood and went there, he is still there, he is a devotee, he is good. Therefore Maharaj says, if a single aerial root, a single thread is attached somewhere, then it brings him back even from samadhi. A single thread. Therefore, the five sense objects are the cause of birth and death. Remembering the five sense objects is itself that. 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