Gadhadã I 63 · Vachanamrut · Swaminarayan Scriptures

Perfect Nishchay / The Greatness Of Bhagvãn

In the Samvat year 1876, on Fãgan vad 7 [7th March, 1820], Swãmi Shree Sahajãnandji Mahãrãj was sitting on a decorated bedstead on the platform outside the west-facing rooms in front of the mandir of Shree Vãsudev-Nãrãyan in Dãdã Khãchar’s darbãr in Gadhadã. He was wearing a white khes and had covered Himself with a white chãdar. He had also tied a white cloth, with a border of silken thread, around His head. Garlands of white flowers adorned His neck, and tassels of roses had been inserted in His pãgh. A sabhã of munis, as well as haribhaktas from various places, had gathered before Him.

Nrusinhãnand Swãmi then asked, “What kind of thoughts arise in a person who has a deficiency in his nishchay in Bhagvãn?”

Shreeji Mahãrãj replied, “A person with a deficiency in nishchay would become extremely overjoyed on seeing Bhagvãn displaying some of His powers. However, when he sees no such display of divine powers, he would become disheartened. Despite trying, if he is unable to eradicate impure thoughts from his heart, he then has a dislike towards Bhagvãn. He would feel, ‘I have bent over backwards practicing satsang for so long, yet Bhagvãn still has not eradicated my impure thoughts’. In this way, he perceives an avgun in Bhagvãn.

“Despite much effort, if he is unable to free his mind from the objects he cherishes, he then perceives that very same avgun in Bhagvãn. Specifically, he believes, ‘Just as I have vicious natures, such as kãm and krodh, Bhagvãn also has the same natures. The only difference is that Bhagvãn is regarded as being great’. A person who has such doubtful thoughts within his heart, should be known to have a deficiency in nishchay; his nishchay cannot be called perfect.”

Paramchaitanyãnand Swãmi then asked, “Mahãrãj, what are the thoughts of a person with perfect nishchay in Bhagvãn?”

Shreeji Mahãrãj replied, “A person with perfect nishchay feels within, ‘I have attained all there is to attain. Wherever pratyaksha Bhagvãn resides, that itself is the highest dhãm. All these sãdhus are like Nãrad and the Sanakãdik; all satsangis are like Uddhav, Akrur, Vidur, Sudãmã, and the cow-herds of Vrundãvan, and female haribhaktas are like the Gopis, Draupadi, Kuntãji, Sitã, Rukmani, Lakshmi, and Pãrvati. Now I have nothing more to achieve. I have attained Golok, Vaikunth, and Brahmpur’. A person with perfect nishchay has such thoughts and experiences extreme joy in his heart. A person who experiences such feelings should be known to have perfect nishchay.”

Shreeji Mahãrãj continued, “A person who has perfectly understood the svarup of Bhagvãn, has nothing left to realise. Please listen as I now explain the method of realising this. Hearing this, a person develops firm nishchay in Bhagvãn.

“Firstly, he should realise the greatness of Bhagvãn. To illustrate this, consider the analogy of a great king. If even his servants and maids stay in seven-storey mansions, and their gardens, horses, carriages, jewellery, and other luxuries make their houses appear as magnificent as Dev-Lok, then imagine how magnificent the darbãr and its luxuries of that king must be. Similarly, consider the loks of the devs of this brahmãnd – Brahmã and the other devs – who follow the ãgnãs of Shree Purushottam Bhagvãn. If there is no limit to those loks and their magnificence, then how can a person possibly comprehend the extent of the magnificence of Virãt-Purush, from whose navel Brahmã was produced? Furthermore, the master of countless millions of these Virãt-Purush is Purushottam Bhagvãn, whose dhãm is Akshar. Within that dhãm, countless millions of such brahmãnds float like mere atoms in each and every hair of Akshar. Such is the dhãm of Bhagvãn. In that dhãm, Purushottam Bhagvãn Himself resides eternally with a divya svarup. Moreover, countless divya objects exist in that dhãm. So, if this is the greatness of Akshar, then how can a person possibly comprehend the extent of Bhagvãn’s greatness? A person with nishchay understands Bhagvãn’s greatness in this way.

“Besides, that which is greater than another is more subtle than the other, and is also its cause. For example, jal is greater than pruthvi, is the cause of that pruthvi, and is more subtle than it as well. In turn, tej is greater than jal, vãyu is greater than tej, and ãkãsh is greater than vãyu. In the same way, Akshar, Prakruti-Purush, Pradhãn- Purush, maha-tattva, and ahankãr are all progressively greater than each other, the cause of each other and more subtle than each other. They also possess a svarup.

“In comparison, Bhagvãn’s Akshardhãm is extremely large. Countless millions of brahmãnds float like mere atoms in each of its hairs. Just as an ant moving on the body of a huge elephant appears insignificant, everything else appears insignificant before the greatness of that Akshar. For example, an ant appears large amidst small mosquitoes; a scorpion appears large amidst ants; a snake appears large amidst scorpions; a kite appears large amidst snakes; a bull appears large amidst kites; an elephant appears large amidst bulls; a mountain such as Girnãr appears large amidst elephants; and Mount Meru appears large amidst Girnãr. In turn, Mount Lokã-Lok appears extremely large amidst a mountain such as Meru. The pruthvi appears very large in comparison to Mount Lokã-Lok. In turn, jal, the cause of pruthvi, is larger than it and is more subtle than it. In the same way, tej is the cause of jal, vãyu is the cause of tej, ãkãsh is the cause of vãyu, ahankãr is the cause of ãkãsh, maha-tattva is the cause of ahankãr, Pradhãn-Purush are the cause of maha-tattva, and Mul-Prakruti and Brahm are the causes of Pradhãn-Purush. The cause of all of these is Akshar-Brahm, which is the dhãm of Purushottam Bhagvãn.

“That Akshar does not have any states of contraction or expansion; it forever remains in the same state. That Akshar also possesses a svarup, but because it is so vast, its svarup cannot be visualised. For example, the brahmãnd, which has evolved from the twenty-four tattvas, is known as Virãt-Purush. That Virãt-Purush possesses features like hands and feet, but because his murti is extremely vast, he is beyond visualisation. Brahmã walked for a hundred of his own years (one year of Brahmã is equivalent to 315,360,000 human years) on the stalk of the lotus that emerged from Virãt-Purush’s navel, but was still unable to reach its end. So, if the end of the lotus cannot be reached, how can Virãt-Purush possibly be measured? Therefore, the svarup of Virãt-Purush cannot be visualised. In the same way, despite having a definite svarup, Akshardhãm cannot be visualised. This is because countless brahmãnds float within its each and every hair.

“Itis within that Akshardhãm, that Purushottam Bhagvãn Himself resides eternally. By His antaryãmi powers, He resides in His anvay svarup in Akshardhãm, in the countless millions of brahmãnds, and also in the ishvars of those brahmãnds. Also in that Akshardhãm, countless millions of muktas, who have acquired qualities similar to those of Bhagvãn, remain in Bhagvãn’s sevã. Also, divine light, equivalent to that of millions and millions of suns, radiates from each and every hair of those sevaks of Bhagvãn. Therefore, if those sevaks are so great, how can the greatness of their master, Purushottam Bhagvãn, possibly be described?

“That extremely powerful Bhagvãn, enters Akshar and assumes the svarup of Akshar. He then assumes the svarup of Mul-Prakruti- Purush, and then the svarup of Pradhãn-Purush. Then, He enters the twenty-four tattvas produced from Pradhãn, and assumes that svarup. He then enters Virãt-Purush produced from those tattvas, and assumes that svarup. He then enters Brahmã, Vishnu, and Shiv, and assumes their svarups.

“In this way, that Bhagvãn, who is extremely powerful, extremely luminous, and extremely great, contains His own spiritual powers and divine light with Himself and becomes like a human being for the kalyãn of jeevs. He assumes a svarup that allows people to have His darshan, perform His sevã, and offer worship to Him. For example, a tiny thorn that has pricked an ant’s leg cannot be removed with a spear or a pin. It can only be removed using an extremely fine needle. In the same way, Bhagvãn limits His own greatness within Himself, and assumes an extremely modest svarup. Just as Agni constrains his own light and flames to assume a human svarup, similarly, Bhagvãn also suppresses His own powers and acts as a human for the kalyãn of jeevs. However, a foolish person thinks, ‘Why does Bhagvãn not manifest any powers?’ But, he does not realise that Bhagvãn deliberately conceals His powers for the sake of the kalyãn of jeevs. After all, if He were to manifest His own greatness, then even the brahmãnd would diminish into insignificance. Then, what can be said of jeevs?

“Kãl, karma, and Mãyã are incapable of binding a person who has developed such firm nishchay, coupled with an understanding of Bhagvãn’s greatness, in his heart. Therefore, he who understands Bhagvãn perfectly in this way, has nothing left to achieve.”

Then, Nityãnand Swãmi asked, “When Bhagvãn assumes a human svarup, does He always do so sequentially in the order described, or can He also assume a human svarup directly?”

Shreeji Mahãrãj replied, “For Bhagvãn, the sequential order is not necessary. For example, a person who takes a dives into a pond can emerge from wherever he wishes – either at the same entry point of the dive, or at the banks, or anywhere nearby. Similarly, if He so wishes, Purushottam Bhagvãn can take a ‘dive’ in His Akshardhãm and directly assume a human svarup, or if He wishes, He can assume a human svarup following the sequential order.”

Following this explanation, Shreeji Mahãrãj continued, “I shall now briefly explain the characteristics of a person with extremely firm nishchay, so please listen attentively. Firstly, a person with perfect nishchay will do anything asked of him on the path of pravrutti, without ever backing away, even if he has intense tyãg. Moreover, he does not do it reluctantly; he does it willingly. The second characteristic is that regardless of any svabhãv he may possess, even if it cannot be eradicated by a million ways, if he senses Bhagvãn’s insistence in abandoning that svabhãv, he abandons it immediately. The third characteristic is that despite his own avgun, he is unable to live without the talks, kirtans, and the sant of Bhagvãn, even for a moment. He finds avgun only within himself and thoroughly perceives the gun of a sant. He also understands the great glory of the talks and kirtans of Bhagvãn, as well as of the sant of Bhagvãn. A person with such understanding should be known to have perfect nishchay. Furthermore, if a person with this nishchay were to disobey the vartmãns due to prãrabdha, he would still not fall from the path of kalyãn. In comparison, regardless of how great a tyãgi a person may be, without this nishchay his kalyãn is not guaranteed.” || End of Vachanãmrut Gadhadã I || 63 || 63 ||