There is a difference between recognizing and knowing. What is the difference between knowing about a thief and recognizing a thief? One who steals is called a thief. To recognize that this person is a thief. When this thief comes, to recognize that this is a thief, that is called recognition. And he takes our things, takes them when we are not there, opens the lock and takes them, what is all that knowledge called? Knowledge. That is called knowledge. But this is such a person, he is the one written about in the theory. When one realizes that, it is called recognition. Similarly, if one recognizes that our eyes, ears, etc., are as Nishkulanand Swami Nishkulanand Swami Disciple of Sahajanand Swami (Swaminarayan Bhagwan) and author of the Bhaktachintamani, as stated in the scripture's own closing colophon at the end of every chapter. Tap to open in glossary → Until then, as long as it is written on the pages of the Vachanamrut, vairagya does not develop. We have all read the pages of the Vachanamrut. We have also read it in Swami's talks. Still, we do not develop vairagya. Because we do not recognize the real thief, we have just made a list of thieves: if he takes this, he is a thief; if he takes that, he is a thief; if he takes this, he is a thief. If he takes money, takes gold, takes jewelry, then he is a thief. We have just made such a list. But when he comes to take, we do not recognize him. Therefore, vairagya does not develop. Vairagya develops when one recognizes them all. What? Indifference and vairagya. Huh? Is there any difference between indifference and vairagya? Indifference, in fact, indifference itself is called vairagya in the Yoga Sutras. This object. But it means that disconnection is called vairagya. Indifference means disconnection. No interest in its good aspects and no interest in its bad aspects, that is called indifference. Even if it is good, not much interest in it, and even if it is bad, no interest. Interest in keeping away from it. No interest in good and no interest in bad, then interest in what? In disconnection. Interest in getting away from it in any way, that is called vairagya. Maharaj also said in the Shikshapatri, "Vairāgyam jñeyam aprītiḥ Śrī-Kṛṣṇetara-vastuṣu." That means one should get away from things other than Shri 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 → One cannot physically get away, where should one get away? It should happen in the mind. It should happen inside one's own jiva, that there is a distance of a hundred leagues between this and me. And if one develops dislike for it, then one gets away. If dislike does not develop, then one does not get away. "Asankalpāt jayet kāmaḥ," so the Lord said in the Gita, in the Bhagavat, and Maharaj also said in the Shikshapatri. So what is the meaning of asankalp? To stay away from it. What is the meaning of the prefix 'a'? Sankalp means resolve, and what should be the meaning of the prefix 'a'? Dislike. Dislike is the meaning. Opposite. "Asankalpāt jayet kāmaḥ" means if you have opposite thoughts about it, then you get away from it. Asankalp does not mean zero thoughts. Opposite contemplation happens, that all these are like this, this is a thief. Bhavatavi is mentioned, right? Bhavatavi. The description of Bhavatavi comes in the Bhagavat. Jadabharat has described Bhavatavi. So in that, how are all these relatives, senses, and antahkaran described? They are called thieves. They are all called thieves. Narad and others have said so. But where is that? Can anyone say that? Can it be said that all these are thieves? And in reality, they are thieves. In reality, they take away the wealth of this jiva. And they make us their slaves. A thief just takes away, he does not hold one's arm and take him to make him a slave. What do our senses and antahkaran make us do? They make us slaves. What does the body make us do? It makes us its slaves. Gunatitanand Swami said that it drags us to hell. But it does not let us meditate. If we sit to meditate, it says, "Get up." Or it makes us have thoughts while sitting. It makes us do all its work. If we have another emergency of work, and on the other hand it creates an emergency, do we have to run with a water pot or attend to the emergency? It makes us do all its work, all its slavery. So the biggest thieves are these. We do not recognize that. And then we brand others as thieves. When the jiva knows the 24 elements, then it is freed from their bondage and develops vairagya towards them. So those 24 elements are not external. Our own internal eyes, our ears, our intellect, do they seem like thieves to us? Whatever occurs to our intellect, is all of that gold or base metal? In that, those who have too much intellect have a very big problem. They think of many good things. They have a very big problem. What is the big problem for those who think of good things? They do not understand anything. Huh? They do not agree with anyone. Whatever others understand seems inferior to them, up to the knees, and theirs seems above the head. What we understand is like gold. And what others understand is all like mud and base metal. So the intellectual ones also face a very big problem. So they face difficulties sometimes. They do not even agree with God and God's devotee. They do not see any good, let alone agreeing. All these have become great, but because they were born earlier, what of it? If we had been born earlier, we would have engaged the seat. If we had been born earlier, we would have kept the seat engaged, so we would have no problem. And because they were born earlier, what can be done now? But their thinking is nothing like ours. They feel like that. It is written in Gunatitanand Swami's talks, the six systems of philosophy are obstacles. The knowledge of the six systems of philosophy becomes an obstacle, why? It increases ego, it does not let one agree with God's devotee. Even if it is true, it does not let one agree. Let alone if it is false. But even if it is true, even if it is for our benefit, it does not let us agree. If they tell us what is for our benefit, "If you do this, it will be very good for you, God will be pleased." But the six systems of philosophy come in the way. To him, the six systems of philosophy, "In this philosophy it is said like this, and this one says like this." In that philosophy, in Samkhya philosophy it is said like this, and in Yoga philosophy it is said like this. And in the Brahma Sutras it is said like this. And all these say like this. So that is an obstacle for him. So it is said here that if one understands the glory of God and self-realization, these two. And if one gets away from it, then it is called true vairagya. That is called vairagya born of knowledge. Maharaj has said in one place in the Vachanamrut, that is vairagya born of knowledge. Without vairagya born of knowledge, the other vairagya does not last long. All other vairagya may happen, but when our self-interest comes, it stops. If we feel in our mind, "No, this is very good," then that vairagya becomes like that. So if there is vairagya born of knowledge, it lasts long. The vairagya that arises from the maturity of the knowledge of glory and self-realization is said to arise from knowledge. And it is not destroyed by unfavorable place, time, etc., that vairagya. So even if we recognize all these, if there is a householder, and he has his own son and a neighbor's son. The neighbor's son is very virtuous and smart, and his own son is stubborn, then where does he feel affection? All this is going to blow the pipe from behind, then? If he is just going to blow the pipe, then what to do? Still, affection is felt there. So that is why it is said that when a thief comes, he does not see that this is a thief. When does he not see? When there is attachment. Huh? When there is possessiveness or attachment. If the thief is very close, he is not seen. If someone is completely unknown and he is acting a bit suspicious, then one says, "Why is he looking around like that?" If there is an unknown person and he is looking around suspiciously, we tell two or three people, "Go and check first, what is this?" So we recognize him beforehand. But what if one's own family members are thinking of ruining him? In that, those who are very affectionate, if they want to seize the position, "Brother, how to overthrow this position of yours?" Then does he see them as enemies? He does not see them as enemies. So it is said that vairagya develops then. If one recognizes the 24 elements, not all 24, even if one recognizes two or three, vairagya develops. There is no need to recognize all 24, just recognize two or three. Wherever our jiva is attached, if one recognizes them all, then one immediately develops vairagya. Otherwise, vairagya does not develop. If there are external thieves, suppose they are recognized, then it is easy to stay away from them. If the internal 24 elements are recognized, do their characteristics disappear? Do their characteristics disappear? If they are recognized, then they disappear. Suppose one's own senses and antahkaran, whatever their nature is, are recognized, then do they leave their nature of indulging in sensual pleasures? If they are seen as thieves, then they are recognized. Even the nature disappears. Nature is more mental than physical. Where are the roots of nature stronger? In beliefs. It is more mental. Maharaj says, no matter how good a friend is, if he kills one's brother, then what? He becomes an enemy. Then he becomes an enemy in just one day. Even if they have a friendship of 25 years and cannot swallow a morsel without each other, but if Maharaj says, he kills his brother, then see if there is any friendship left. One feels, "Who is this person?" And in turn, he kills him. So if he is recognized as an enemy, then past impressions do not come in the way. You might say, "Brother, the impressions that have been formed on this jiva, do those impressions disappear in one day?" One might say that by knowledge those impressions do not disappear, by knowledge nature does not disappear. But if they are recognized, they disappear. He is believed to be an enemy. So what has Maharaj said is the great way to overcome nature? Enmity. If one feels enmity towards it, then immediately it is believed. And immediately vairagya develops, there is nothing like that. We do not believe them to be enemies. They are all believed to be dear, not enemies. Even if we recognize our senses and antahkaran, what of it? That they are like this, we remember the words read from the scriptures. Their action is not recognized. A thief has actions, right? If we want to recognize a thief, is he recognized by his clothes? They are not recognized by clothes, they are recognized by their actions. And even in that, the action is a hidden action. A thief does not do that openly in public. But if someone knows his hidden action, then he recognizes that this is a thief. These foreign devotees run stores. We had gone there once. So the brother was sitting and doing something on the computer. And we were sitting at home. So he immediately made a phone call, where his store was running, to his manager, "Hey look, look at that person, he put it in his pocket." In all those stores, they keep watch with cameras. People cannot keep watch everywhere. So from the camera, he said, "Look at him, should I call the police?" He threatened him like that, so the person took it out and put it back. So is the one who came wearing a nice pant and shirt a thief, or is his action a thief? So did we ever check the actions of our senses and antahkaran? We do not check like that. So we never see them as thieves. Then how can other people be seen as such? Thieves are sitting inside our own house. So we cannot recognize them, therefore we do not get away from them. To get away in some way, that is called vairagya. Just knowing about it is not called vairagya. Knowing about it is called knowledge. Not recognition. Knowledge, recognition, and getting away. Does vairagya arise from knowledge, or does knowledge arise from vairagya? 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