Gadhadã III 24 · Vachanamrut · Swaminarayan Scriptures

Sixteen Spiritual Activities / Vairãgya Due To Gnãn

In the Samvat year 1885, on Ãso vad 12 [4th November 1828], Shreeji Mahãrãj was sitting in the mandir of Shree Gopinãthji in Dãdã Khãchar’s darbãr in Gadhadã. He was dressed entirely in white clothes. A sabhã of sãdhus, as well as haribhaktas from various places, had gathered before Him.

Then, Muktãnand Swãmi asked Shreeji Mahãrãj, “The bhaktas remain in Bhagvãn’s sevã in Akshardhãm. What are the spiritual activities needed to earn such sevã?”

Shreeji Mahãrãj replied, “An ekãntik bhakta easily earns Bhagvãn’s sevã in Akshardhãm through sixteen spiritual activities: shraddhã; svadharma; vairãgya; total control over the indriyas; ahinsã; brahm- chãrya; keeping the company of sãdhus; ãtmã-nishthã; unwavering bhakti to Bhagvãn coupled with the knowledge of His greatness; happiness; honesty; compassion; penance; treating senior bhaktas with greater qualities as gurus and also maintaining deep respect for them; maintaining a feeling of friendship towards those bhaktas who are his equal; and treating those bhaktas who are junior to him as a shishya and acting for their benefit.”

Shuk Muni then asked, “All of our sãdhus observe vartmãns. But, what characteristic in a sãdhu would enable us to be sure that the sãdhu would never deviate from his dharma even in times of difficulty?”

Shreeji Mahãrãj answered, “A sãdhu whose attention is constantly focused on all of those ãgnãs given by Bhagvãn, whether they are major or minor; and who finds it extremely difficult to disobey any ãgnã; and who acts neither excessively nor in a careless way regarding those ãgnãs, should be known as a person who would not fall from his dharma despite difficult circumstances.”

Shreeji Mahãrãj then spoke out of compassion: “It is very difficult for a person to eradicate his svabhãv. Regardless of this, if he has realised that satsang fulfils his self-interest, then it is not difficult to do so. For example, the members of Dãdã Khãchar’s family have an interest in keeping me here, so they do not retain any svabhãv that I do not like. In this way, a person’s svabhãv can be eradicated due to self-interest. It can also be eradicated out of fear, although not totally. This is because a person may fear someone in his presence, but when that person is not present, he may no longer be fearful – just as a thief abandons his corrupt nature due to fear of the king.

“Furthermore, despite the fact that I have repeatedly fired harsh words and upset a person who possesses some svabhãv or another, if he is not disheartened in any way at all, then I have such love for that person that the love remains effortlessly as it is, in the jãgrat state and svapna state. Regardless of whatever happens, that love does not diminish.

“Moreover, of the various gun possessed by bhaktas, I shall now narrate one admirable gun in each bhakta. Dãdã Khãchar – gun of faith; Rãj-Bãi – gun of tyãg; Jeevu-Bã – gun of shraddhã, Lãdu-Bã – gun of desiring to please me; Nityãnand Swãmi – gun of desiring to please me; Brahmãnand Swãmi – gun of insisting that there should be no lapse at all in observing the niyams of satsang; Muktãnand Swãmi – gun of desiring to please me and having faith in me; Somlã Khãchar – gun of always behaving consistently; Chaitanyãnand Swãmi – gun of wishing to behave in such a way that pleases Mahãrãj in any way; Svayamprakãshãnand Swãmi – gun of nishchay in Bhagvãn and realising His greatness; Jhinã-Bhãi Thãkor – gun of having awareness, for fear that he becomes attached to any object other than Bhagvãn; and Motã Ãtmãnand Swãmi – gun of ensuring that none of my ãgnãs are disobeyed.” In this way, Shreeji Mahãrãj narrated the gun of many senior paramhans and other bhaktas.

He then continued, “The three senior ladies of this place (Rãj-Bãi, Jeevu-Bã, and Lãdu-Bã), and Gopãlãnand Swãmi, Brahmãnand Swãmi, Muktãnand Swãmi, Nityãnand Swãmi, Shuk Muni, Somlã Khãchar, and Dãdã Khãchar – all of you presently behave very well. However, if the four factors of desh, kãl, kriyã, and sang were to become unpleasant, then there is no doubt at all that your enthusiasm would not remain as it is now. However, if a person who has a great degree of gnãn were to be caught in the vishays, he would break free from that attachment. This gnãn is the understanding, ‘I, the jeev, am like this; the body is like this; the relations of the body are like this; the nature of Prakruti, Purush, virãt, sutrãtmã, and avyãkrut is like this; Bhagvãn is like this; and the dhãm of Bhagvãn is like this’, and so on. If a person has firm belief of this gnãn in his heart, then the vairãgya that results is true vairãgya. Apart from that, any other form of vairãgya only superficially appears to be vairãgya; in fact, there is no strength in it. For example, the flame of an oil lamp is extinguished by the wind, whereas the vadvãnal fire and fire of lightning in the clouds is not extinguished by water; despite remaining in water itself, it continues to burn. In the same way, vairãgya without gnãn does not last when it encounters the vishays. On the other hand, vairãgya produced from gnãn does not diminish despite encountering the vishays; it continues to burn like the vadvãnal fire.

“It is precisely for the purpose of somehow instilling this gnãn in your minds that I continuously deliver talks. If a talk eventually does truly inspire you, then this gnãn will become instilled in you. On the other hand, if a person does not understand this and instead has a sense of ‘I-ness’ and ‘my-ness’ by believing, ‘This is my varna, this is my mother, this is my father, these are my relatives’, then he should be known to be an extremely ignorant person with a worldly perception.”

Having said this, Shreeji Mahãrãj again spoke out of compassion: “What is the reason behind a mumukshu attaining noble qualities? Well, a person develops hatred for the world in proportion to the attachment he has for listening to the talks and kathãs of Bhagvãn. Also, vicious natures, such as kãm, krodh, lobh, and moh, are also destroyed to that extent. Conversely, if a person is lazy in listening to those talks and kathãs, then he should assume that he will not remember noble shãstras. In fact, out of the nine types of bhakti mentioned in the shãstras, the bhakti of listening to kathãs is considered to be the best. Therefore, a person who possesses that form of bhakti will attain all the various forms of bhakti up to the including profound, loving bhakti.” Shreeji Mahãrãj delivered the talk in this way.

At noon on that same day, when all the paramhans were seated for their meals in a line on the veranda outside the north-facing rooms of Dãdã Khãchar’s darbãr, Shreeji Mahãrãj was sitting on a decorated bedstead that had been placed under the neem tree.

Then, Shreeji Mahãrãj said to the paramhans, “A person should not understand the greatness of female bhaktas in excess. This is because under the excuse of realising their greatness, he may constantly think of them, leading to them appearing in his dreams. So, if a person does understand their greatness, he should understand it collectively, by thinking, ‘All of them are bhaktas of Bhagvãn’. However, he should not attempt to understand a particular bhakta as being greater and another bhakta being lesser. If he attempts to understand their greatness to a greater or lesser degree than this, then there is a great danger in that. Similarly, female bhaktas should also understand the greatness of male bhaktas collectively. If they do not realise this, then it is also a great danger for those females.” || End of Vachanãmrut Gadhadã || 24 || 258 ||