That we don't want to do anything. That is a kind of protection of body-consciousness. Therefore, he did not encourage it much. Otherwise, even if he is liberated and beyond Maya, he should be considered drowned in Maya. Do something for the sake of God, to please God. That is Atmanistha. Maharaj said, to become Atmarup and be absorbed, what does being absorbed mean? Not to care about anyone. Not to care about anyone, even Kal and Maya, what can they do to me? Not caring about anyone means becoming absorbed. If one does not care about any people, then he is said to be absorbed. Not to listen to anyone. Not caring means not listening to anyone. We are perfectly fine. So, one who has Atmanistha and believes that even if there is nothing in the world, it is fine, then he is said to be absorbed in Atmanistha. But being absorbed in Atmanistha is not its purpose. What is the purpose? That one develops a pure, fault-free understanding of God, that is the purpose of Atmanistha. If one maintains Atmanistha and has no personal needs, then he might think, 'If I have no needs, then why would God have any needs?' Therefore, He is absolutely fault-free. To do so is the purpose of Atmanistha. To reduce all demands or needs to zero is not the purpose of Atmanistha. To reduce needs to zero, a Kaivalyarthi already reduces needs to zero, saying, 'We don't need anything.' We are just complete in our own bliss. We are complete in our own bliss. Maharaj said that, to dig a well and draw water from within, in that, Atmanistha is described. To remain filled within and keep oneself complete with one's own bliss. But that is not complete. That is just to eradicate desires, saying, 'We don't need anything.' Then he has become a Kaivalyarthi. That you don't have any need. But use yourself somewhere for God. Then you are a devotee. Otherwise, a Kaivalyarthi says, 'We don't need anything, we don't need anyone else now, so go away, run away from us, all of you.' Not like that. I have a need. And what did Shukadevji say? Shukadevji was meditating on the Atma. He arose from that and... Adhyagan mahadakhyanam. Adhyagan mahadakhyanam. I studied the great Shrimad Bhagavatam, why? He has a need for other devotees of God. And keeping that need, Maharaj said, is called Bhakti Bhakti Devotion to Bhagvãn. One of the four attributes of ekãntik dharma. There are nine types of bhakti: Tap to open in glossary → He has no personal need, he has no requirement. So, that does not make him very great. It may not be called body-consciousness, but it is a kind of body-consciousness, it is just like body-consciousness, so Maharaj... Ramanujacharyaji said so about it. That such Atmanistha should not be there. In Atmanistha, there must be a spirit of service (Kainkarya). If he becomes a true servant (Kinkar) of God, then he is Atmanisth. Otherwise, 'I have no need, I don't need anyone.' Then does a stone ever need anyone? What is special in that? How was he of any use to God? He was of no use to God. So, being absorbed in Atmanistha means reducing one's needs and being absorbed. When one reduces needs, the dependency goes away. What dependency does a person have? Of demand. Huh? Of demand. Yes, of need. What if there was a back on both sides? Huh? Then how to bend? No one would bow. If you bend backward, how much can you bend? Just a little flexibility. And if there was a back on this side too, then? Then who would bow down? No one would bow down at all. Because a bend is created, that's why one can bow. It is because we can bend that we bow down. Otherwise, how would we bow? So, what if there was a back on both sides? Then no human would bow. So, there is no need, meaning because there is a need, we bow. But when there is no need and yet one bows, that is called Bhakti Bhakti Devotion to Bhagvãn. One of the four attributes of ekãntik dharma. There are nine types of bhakti: Tap to open in glossary → When there is no need, and after becoming Atmanisth and Brahmarup, then he has the right to Bhakti Bhakti Devotion to Bhagvãn. One of the four attributes of ekãntik dharma. There are nine types of bhakti: Tap to open in glossary → After becoming Brahmarup, then he is fit to 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 → This thread of desire for enjoyment, hiding in the heart, gets nourished under the pretext of Atmanistha or Bhakti Bhakti Devotion to Bhagvãn. One of the four attributes of ekãntik dharma. There are nine types of bhakti: Tap to open in glossary → That is a kind of enjoyment. Even if one attains Atmanistha and becomes Brahmarup, then not to do anything, that is a thread. And that is a worldly thread, even if it relates to the Atma, it is a worldly thread. To complete it, whatever needs to be done, Maharaj says, like Minaldevi, otherwise why would Maharaj bring the concept of being absorbed here in the context of Minaldevi Bhagat? But a desire. What is called a pure desire? That, please God. Please God. Whether you are in the form of the body or in the form of Brahman. So, truly, when one becomes Brahmarup, he becomes eligible to please God. But should one wait until then? No waiting. To please God, that is called pure Bhakti Bhakti Devotion to Bhagvãn. One of the four attributes of ekãntik dharma. There are nine types of bhakti: Tap to open in glossary → This thread of desire for enjoyment, hiding in the heart, gets nourished under the pretext of Atmanistha or Bhakti Bhakti Devotion to Bhagvãn. One of the four attributes of ekãntik dharma. There are nine types of bhakti: Tap to open in glossary → Maharaj says that the purpose of Atmanistha is also to develop a pure, fault-free understanding of God. And if that is not there, and one is merely absorbed in the Atma, a fault-free understanding of God is itself called Bhakti Bhakti Devotion to Bhagvãn. One of the four attributes of ekãntik dharma. There are nine types of bhakti: Tap to open in glossary → Maharaj calls it Bhakti Bhakti Devotion to Bhagvãn. One of the four attributes of ekãntik dharma. There are nine types of bhakti: Tap to open in glossary → In the 10th Vachanamrut of Madhya Chapter, Maharaj has described the Bhakti Bhakti Devotion to Bhagvãn. One of the four attributes of ekãntik dharma. There are nine types of bhakti: Tap to open in glossary → That Lakshmiji set out and looked everywhere. So, she saw only God as fault-free and the abode of all virtues. Then Maharaj gave the example of Lakshmiji and said, 'Whom do we call a devotee?' Maharaj described it there. No matter what actions God performs, one never perceives any fault in Him. Developing that fault-free understanding is Bhakti Bhakti Devotion to Bhagvãn. One of the four attributes of ekãntik dharma. There are nine types of bhakti: Tap to open in glossary → In God. And this is difficult. Acquiring too many virtues is not Bhakti Bhakti Devotion to Bhagvãn. One of the four attributes of ekãntik dharma. There are nine types of bhakti: Tap to open in glossary → What if we have more virtues and God has fewer? What if God is sitting in the dark, and light emanates from us, making God visible? Then what to do? Then it becomes a problem. Then reverence towards Him would not remain. If His work is running by our efforts, then how can reverence remain here? Garudji faced such a problem. When Ramachandraji was bound by the Nagpash, Garudji was remembered, so Garudji came, and all those serpents fled, thrashing their tails. The serpents fled, but Garudji got a stomach ache (doubt), while Ramachandraji was cured. In that, Garudji got a stomach ache (doubt) about everything. My goodness, if He is freed by me, then what can He do for me? In the world, everyone thinks, 'What about me?' What about us? We must stand somewhere, right? If we say so, and nothing stands, then? So, what about me? Garudji felt like that, 'What will He do for me?' Therefore, Garudji had to undertake a very long journey. He had to listen to the discourse from Kakbhushundiji. See how God cures as well. What? Garudji goes to a crow to listen to the discourse. And only if he listens, will his stomach ache (doubt) be cured, otherwise not; God arranged it so. That, 'Go anywhere else, even to a swan, it won't be cured there.' Lord Shiva was in the form of a swan. He is considered a swan. When Kakbhushundiji was narrating the discourse, Lord Shiva also went to listen, but what form did He take? The form of a swan. He went just because He enjoyed it, He didn't need a cure. He didn't have a stomach ache (doubt). And when Garudji came, he was the chief listener and the chief patient. Garudji had come in his original form. Lord Shiva had come as a swan. And some others might have come as starlings. Chirp, chirp, chirp, in the recess time in between, they would chirp. Maharaj told Dinanath Bhatt, 'Your Mayaram Bhatt,' He is capable of exorcising ghosts. So, when God cures, He does it in such a way, it is very difficult. Even if one doesn't like it and makes a face, one has to swallow it. Maharaj says that the purpose of Atmanistha is also to develop a pure, fault-free understanding of God. And if that is not there, and one is merely absorbed in the Atma, if it is so, then it is only a covered desire for enjoyment. That became a desire for enjoyment, it is self-enjoyment. Not the enjoyment of God. Because he did not have taste or bliss in 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 → That is indeed the evil feeling of his heart. Maharaj says, what is the Atma in its true state like? It is that which has no covering of Maya and its effects, namely the three Gunas, body, senses, and Antahkaran. What appears as a covering over the Atma is due to ignorance. What is ignorance? It is not a complete absence of knowledge. Because in a complete absence of knowledge, no action or intent is possible. Therefore, ignorance means incomplete knowledge, incomplete experience. Only in such incomplete knowledge is the nourishment of delusion or weakness possible. Even if there is contrary knowledge, it is ignorance, but here it means incomplete knowledge. Because if there was opposition, he would not come to God at all, he would not sit in the line of devotees. But it is incomplete knowledge. All this, 'I don't need anything, so why should I bow to God and why should I please God?' Who would please Him? One who has a need would do so, but what if I have no need? Where does need come from? From need. Does it come from the stomach or from the back? Because there is a void in the stomach, need arises. If there was a back on both sides, would need remain? Yes, so even if there is a back on both sides, to maintain need is very difficult. That, one has no personal need, and yet maintains a need for God, that is called Bhakti Bhakti Devotion to Bhagvãn. One of the four attributes of ekãntik dharma. There are nine types of bhakti: Tap to open in glossary → Yes. Because in a complete absence of knowledge, no action or intent is possible. And when does that happen? When one knows God. If one knows the greatness of God, then even if he has no personal need, he maintains a need for Him, God is such an entity. Itthambhuta-guno Harih. Atmaramashcha munayo nirgrantha apyurukrame. Nirgrantha means they had no need at all. They had no requirement or demand at all. Nirgrantha apyurukrame. Kurvantyahaitukim bhaktim. It was not that they did it because He would fulfill some demand or need, ahaitukim bhaktim. Then why did they do so? Because, itthambhuta-guno Harih. God Himself is such, if one knows Him, then need arises. Because one does not know Him, need does not remain. Because in a complete absence of knowledge, no action or intent is possible. Therefore, ignorance means incomplete knowledge, incomplete experience. Only in such incomplete knowledge is the nourishment of delusion or weakness possible. What should be known as right self-knowledge? That, 'I am indivisible, impenetrable, ageless, immortal,' that is self-knowledge. Indivisible, impenetrable, ageless, immortal means I am without need, without dependency, I have no requirement, none at all. To believe so is not complete Atmanistha, so the Acharyas of the path of Bhakti Bhakti Devotion to Bhagvãn. One of the four attributes of ekãntik dharma. There are nine types of bhakti: Tap to open in glossary → There, that very beautiful verse is there, yatha kirati karikumbhajatam... yo yasya vetti gunaprakarsham sa tam sada nindati natra chitram... yatha kirati karikumbhajatam muktam parityajya bibharti gunjam. Because they do not know God, need does not arise in them. And sa tam sada nindati natra chitram, he criticizes Him, or runs away from Him, or boasts before Him, shows ego, in that, there is no wonder. There is no surprise in that, he would do so. He does so because he does not know God. If he knew God, he would not do anything like that. Then it would be like that verse. Atmaramashcha munayo nirgrantha apyurukrame. What should be known as right self-knowledge? That, 'I am indivisible, impenetrable, ageless, immortal,' that is self-knowledge. But Shri Ramanujacharyaji has not called it right self-knowledge. He has called the realization of one's subservience (Sheshatva) as right self-knowledge. What is there in subservience (Sheshatva)? What is called subservience (Sheshatva)? 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