Having exclusive devotion is a path chosen by oneself, a path selected by oneself, that 'I have no other refuge but this.' And if it is exactly like that, it is a state of having no other alternative, where there is no other way for them, and all other doors are closed. All other doors are closed. What does all this exclusive devotion mean? In the olden days, when kings and emperors fought, and Kshatriyas fought, they would perform 'kesariya' (fight to the death). They would march forward with a dagger held to their stomach, meaning they would plunge the dagger into their own stomach. So what happened to them? All paths to live were closed, now only one path is open, which one? To kill the opponent. Only one path is open: to kill the opponent. Now, the more he kills, the better, 'I am already dead anyway.' He himself has closed his own paths. He is so desperate, a daredevil, he closes his own paths. If he keeps his paths open, it means he has not yet become a daredevil. On the path of God, he has only just become a daredevil, keeping his paths open to run away. If a crisis arises, he can escape from here, escape from there. Then, if he has gone far away and that door is too distant, there is another door too. So, he has kept his doors open. If he has kept them open, then he relies only on those doors, so why would God rely on him? Therefore, God does not protect him. Otherwise, God protects. And if there is no other door, God will lift him up directly from where there is no door, but He will not let any harm come to him. So, and having no other alternative is one's helplessness. He has no other place to go, so he is sitting there. If he had a way to go, he would not stay there. What kind of devotion is it in which there is no obstacle of any kind to the devotion of God? And what kind of devotion is it in which some obstacles do occur? What does 'gati' (movement/refuge) mean? Gati. Exclusive refuge and having no refuge, selfish refuge, egoistic refuge, like that. Absorption, like that. Gati, meaning when does movement come? Pushback, like that. Who gives him the pushback? Ananya means no other, no one else, only God. The momentum he has, the momentum he receives, is only by looking at Him, not by looking at others. So, the fueling he gets where does it come from? By seeing this. Even if he gets fueling from someone else, he does not want it. He wants fueling only from Him. Gati means momentum. Gati means movement. But movement here does not mean just any movement, but fast movement. On what does fast movement depend? It depends on the One, exclusive refuge. I consider a dog-eater (outcaste) who has surrendered his mind, words, actions, wealth, and life to the lotus feet of the lotus-navelled Lord to be far superior to a brahmin possessing twelve virtues but who is averse to the Lord's lotus feet. The former purifies his entire lineage, whereas the latter, filled with great pride, cannot even purify himself. Even if a brahmin possesses twelve virtues, if he is averse to the feet of God, then compared to him, even an outcaste who is surrendered to God in mind, deed, and speech is superior. An outcaste with exclusive devotion is better. If there is a brahmin with twelve virtues and he does not have exclusive devotion to God, then compared to him, this outcaste is superior. That is Prahalad's private opinion. Whether the scriptures say so or not, Prahalad believed so. 'If there is a choice for me, I would do this.' These general rules do not apply to everyone. The general rule—exclusive devotion is not for everyone, as if all of you have to go there. It is his private rule. That 'this is correct, yes.' Thus, Prahaladji believes. That outcaste also liberates his own lineage. He also believes that the other one will not even be able to liberate himself, despite having twelve virtues. Do virtues liberate, or who liberates? Huh? If you have good skills, a smart sadhu, now they even say so, right? Smart boy and smart sadhu. So, who liberates? Do the twelve virtues do it, or? Huh? The one who uses them, where he uses them, that liberates. The twelve virtues do not liberate. In whose favor he uses them, what that thing is like, that liberates him. While a brahmin averse to God cannot even liberate himself. Abundant wealth, a noble lineage, beautiful form, severe penance, excellent spiritual luster, brilliance, influence, strength, valor, sharp intellect, yoga, and other means also cannot please God if they are devoid of devotion. That is called exclusive devotion. What? This is called exclusive devotion. What is exclusive devotion? So, this is called exclusive devotion. In this, such exclusive devotion is described, that apart from God, other means also other means, if there are other means and they are dependent on God—one is dependent on God, and another performs many other means, then which one has exclusive devotion? We must have some selection, right? He must have such an inner belief, right? The inner belief, that shows his exclusive devotion. What do we do when our beliefs are put to the test? Prahalad says, 'If I am put to the test, I would do this.' And Prahalad was always in a crisis, wasn't he? Still, he says, 'I would do this, I would do nothing else.' Though devoid of all the aforementioned assets, God was pleased with Gajraj (the elephant king) solely due to his devotion. Even a single bow offered to Krishna Krishna 1) An avatãr of Bhagvãn. He incarnated in the svarup of a cowherd. This is considered to be a greater avatãr than the others, as Shree Krishna possessed all of the powers of Bhagvãn, whereas other avatãrs possessed less power. Shree Krishna conveyed the message of love and humanity to the world. Also, He recited the epic poem, the Bhagvad Geetã, to Arjun in which He stated: ‘Whenever dharma declines and adharma increases, I shall incarnate myself as a human to save the holy, to destroy the sin of the sinner, and to establish dharma. I come into being from yug to yug’. 2) In the Vachanãmrut, Shreeji Mahãrãj also uses the name “Shree Krishna” to describe Bhagvãn Purushottam Nãrãyan. Tap to open in glossary → Krishna Krishna 1) An avatãr of Bhagvãn. He incarnated in the svarup of a cowherd. This is considered to be a greater avatãr than the others, as Shree Krishna possessed all of the powers of Bhagvãn, whereas other avatãrs possessed less power. Shree Krishna conveyed the message of love and humanity to the world. Also, He recited the epic poem, the Bhagvad Geetã, to Arjun in which He stated: ‘Whenever dharma declines and adharma increases, I shall incarnate myself as a human to save the holy, to destroy the sin of the sinner, and to establish dharma. I come into being from yug to yug’. 2) In the Vachanãmrut, Shreeji Mahãrãj also uses the name “Shree Krishna” to describe Bhagvãn Purushottam Nãrãyan. Tap to open in glossary → If one offers a single prostration to God, it yields fruit equal to the fruit of ten Ashvamedha sacrifices. If one prostration is offered, then if one performs one service to God, how many Ashvamedhas does that equal? But do we believe so? Huh? We keep singing about the prostration, 'Even a single bow offered to Krishna Krishna 1) An avatãr of Bhagvãn. He incarnated in the svarup of a cowherd. This is considered to be a greater avatãr than the others, as Shree Krishna possessed all of the powers of Bhagvãn, whereas other avatãrs possessed less power. Shree Krishna conveyed the message of love and humanity to the world. Also, He recited the epic poem, the Bhagvad Geetã, to Arjun in which He stated: ‘Whenever dharma declines and adharma increases, I shall incarnate myself as a human to save the holy, to destroy the sin of the sinner, and to establish dharma. I come into being from yug to yug’. 2) In the Vachanãmrut, Shreeji Mahãrãj also uses the name “Shree Krishna” to describe Bhagvãn Purushottam Nãrãyan. Tap to open in glossary → What about obeying a single command of God? What about doing a single favor for God? So, only if he realizes its value will he receive His favor, otherwise how can he receive His favor? If one offers a single prostration to God, it yields fruit equal to the fruit of ten Ashvamedha sacrifices. If someone is doing business, and his servant runs away, does he close down his business? Why? If he has received real profit, that 'this business is very good,' then if the servant runs away? Huh? What if he doesn't find one during the peak season? He goes to find another, and if he doesn't find one during the peak season, what does he do? Huh? He himself does double duty. Because he is interested in it, and he believes in it, considers it his livelihood, his lifeline. Similarly, if this is considered a lifeline, then Maharaj says that he will never fall back from devotion, will not fall back due to obstacles. No matter what obstacles come, still devotion will not face obstacles. What kind of devotion is it in which there is no obstacle to devotion? 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