Jetalpur-3

Jetalpur-3

In the early morning of Chaitra sudi 5, Samvat 1882 [12 April 1826], Swāmi Shri Sahajānandji Mahārāj arrived in the garden on the western side of the mansion, the place of His residence, in Jetalpur. Under a large borsali tree within the garden, He was sitting facing east on a cushion with a cylindrical pillow placed on a decorated cot on a square platform. He was dressed entirely in white clothes. He was also wearing garlands of champā, borsali and guldāvadi flowers around His neck, and tassels of chameli and dolariyā flowers were hanging from His pāgh. Bunches of hajāri flowers had been placed upon His ears. In addition to this, He was playing with a pomegranate and a lemon with both hands. At that time, Muktānand Swāmi, Brahmānand Swāmi, and other munis as well as devotees from various places had gathered before Him in an assembly.

Shriji Mahārāj first thought for a while, and then said, “Everyone please listen; I wish to speak to you. For devotees of God, there is nothing worse than harboring impure desires. This is because devotees who have such impure desires, even if they stay near Me, cannot be happy. In fact, before engaging in the worship of God, they asked, ‘Mahārāj, please keep us near You.’ However, because they did not eradicate their impure desires, they are miserable.”

Thereupon Muktānand Swāmi asked, “Mahārāj, how are those impure desires eradicated?”

Shriji Mahārāj explained, “The method for eradicating impure desires is as follows: Firstly, whenever one entertains a thought which infringes the codes of dharma that have been laid down by Me, or whenever one thinks ill of a sādhu or a householder, one should repeatedly chant ‘Narnārāyan, Swāminārāyan’ aloud. Secondly, one should offer to God the nine types of bhakti coupled with knowledge of His greatness and the observance of dharma. As a result, God resides in one’s heart and destroys the impure desires. In fact, just as God freed the elephant from the crocodile’s mouth, in the same way, this method that I have just revealed to you will eradicate your impure desires.

“Now I shall now tell you another method which will benefit all of you, so please listen. One should never intentionally infringe the codes of dharma related to one’s five religious vows. If one does so unknowingly, one should immediately atone for the infringement.

“In addition, one should realize one’s own self to be the witness; i.e., ‘I am the ātmā, which is full of chaitanya; it transcends all thoughts and reason. This body, which is accompanied by the mind, is not actually my true form.’

“Furthermore, if God smiles at someone, or if God calls someone, or if He performs any other sort of action, one should never bear an aversion towards Him. One should imbibe this form of understanding. However, someone may feel, ‘I have worshipped Mahārāj a lot, and I have also served Him a great deal; still, Mahārāj does not talk to me. Instead, he talks to others a lot. So I might as well worship God while sitting at home.’ In this manner, he bears an aversion towards God. In that case, I could also believe, ‘What does this person have to do with Me?’ As a result, that person’s future would be uncertain. However, I Myself do not look at anyone’s flaws. In fact, My nature is such that I always look at people’s virtues only.

“Now I shall tell you how that devotee should imbibe virtues and eradicate flaws. If he thinks, ‘What was I like before I came into the Satsang fellowship? Well, I was the experiencer of kāl, karma, birth, death, and the cycle of births and deaths. So how can I bear an aversion towards God who has freed me from all of that, who has made me fearless, and who has helped me progress by bestowing noble virtues upon me? How can I ignore His wishes and do as I please?’ Only when that devotee stops bearing an aversion towards God by thinking in this manner does he become happy.

“In fact, with this body, nothing is greater than to do as God likes. That in itself is bhakti. In fact, only by doing this does one attain God. That is why egotism, jealousy, lust, anger, avarice, etc., are all obstacles on the path of liberation and should be discarded.

“Of those vicious natures, egotism is absolutely the worst of all. Just look, one who has a minor flaw in any other religious vow still manages to survive in Satsang, whereas those who had egotism have never been able to survive. Therefore, O sādhus! Never allow any lapse in the observance of non-egotism and other vows. Be extremely vigilant. Believe your self to be distinct from your body. Offer bhakti to Shri Purushottam, Shri Narnārāyan, diligently and scrupulously. Constantly engage in worship coupled with remembrance of God; its bliss will equal the bliss of actually having the darshan of God.

“Secondly, in our Satsang one who is well-versed in the scriptures is not necessarily great. Who should be considered great? Well, he who, through vairāgya, considers all 14 realms to be as insignificant as a blade of grass; he who, just as he has firm attachment for his body, has firm conviction of God, i.e., Purushottam, as He is; and he who is oblivious to the world in the waking state just as he is oblivious to the world in the state of deep sleep - such a person is great in our Satsang.”

In the early morning of Chaitra sudi 5, Samvat 1882 [12 April 1826], Swami Shri Sahajanandji Maharaj arrived in the garden on the western side of the mansion, the place of His residence, in Jetalpur. Under a large borsali tree within the garden, He was sitting facing east on a cushion with a cylindrical pillow placed on a decorated cot on a square platform. He was dressed entirely in white clothes. He was also wearing garlands of champa, borsali and guldavadi flowers around His neck, and tassels of chameli and dolariya flowers were hanging from His pagh. Bunches of hajari flowers had been placed upon His ears. In addition to this, He was playing with a pomegranate and a lemon with both hands. At that time, Muktanand Swami, Brahmanand Swami, and other munis as well as devotees from various places had gathered before Him in an assembly.

Shriji Maharaj first thought for a while, and then said, “Everyone please listen; I wish to speak to you. For devotees of God, there is nothing worse than harboring impure desires. This is because devotees who have such impure desires, even if they stay near Me, cannot be happy. In fact, before engaging in the worship of God, they asked, ‘Maharaj, please keep us near You.’ However, because they did not eradicate their impure desires, they are miserable.”

Thereupon Muktanand Swami asked, “Maharaj, how are those impure desires eradicated?”

Shriji Maharaj explained, “The method for eradicating impure desires is as follows: Firstly, whenever one entertains a thought which infringes the codes of dharma that have been laid down by Me, or whenever one thinks ill of a sadhu or a householder, one should repeatedly chant ‘Narnarayan, Swaminarayan’ aloud. Secondly, one should offer to God the nine types of bhakti coupled with knowledge of His greatness and the observance of dharma. As a result, God resides in one’s heart and destroys the impure desires. In fact, just as God freed the elephant from the crocodile’s mouth, in the same way, this method that I have just revealed to you will eradicate your impure desires.

“Now I shall now tell you another method which will benefit all of you, so please listen. One should never intentionally infringe the codes of dharma related to one’s five religious vows. If one does so unknowingly, one should immediately atone for the infringement.

“In addition, one should realize one’s own self to be the witness; i.e., ‘I am the atma, which is full of chaitanya; it transcends all thoughts and reason. This body, which is accompanied by the mind, is not actually my true form.’

“Furthermore, if God smiles at someone, or if God calls someone, or if He performs any other sort of action, one should never bear an aversion towards Him. One should imbibe this form of understanding. However, someone may feel, ‘I have worshipped Maharaj a lot, and I have also served Him a great deal; still, Maharaj does not talk to me. Instead, he talks to others a lot. So I might as well worship God while sitting at home.’ In this manner, he bears an aversion towards God. In that case, I could also believe, ‘What does this person have to do with Me?’ As a result, that person’s future would be uncertain. However, I Myself do not look at anyone’s flaws. In fact, My nature is such that I always look at people’s virtues only.

“Now I shall tell you how that devotee should imbibe virtues and eradicate flaws. If he thinks, ‘What was I like before I came into the Satsang fellowship? Well, I was the experiencer of kal, karma, birth, death, and the cycle of births and deaths. So how can I bear an aversion towards God who has freed me from all of that, who has made me fearless, and who has helped me progress by bestowing noble virtues upon me? How can I ignore His wishes and do as I please?’ Only when that devotee stops bearing an aversion towards God by thinking in this manner does he become happy.

“In fact, with this body, nothing is greater than to do as God likes. That in itself is bhakti. In fact, only by doing this does one attain God. That is why egotism, jealousy, lust, anger, avarice, etc., are all obstacles on the path of liberation and should be discarded.

“Of those vicious natures, egotism is absolutely the worst of all. Just look, one who has a minor flaw in any other religious vow still manages to survive in Satsang, whereas those who had egotism have never been able to survive. Therefore, O sadhus! Never allow any lapse in the observance of non-egotism and other vows. Be extremely vigilant. Believe your self to be distinct from your body. Offer bhakti to Shri Purushottam, Shri Narnarayan, diligently and scrupulously. Constantly engage in worship coupled with remembrance of God; its bliss will equal the bliss of actually having the darshan of God.

“Secondly, in our Satsang one who is well-versed in the scriptures is not necessarily great. Who should be considered great? Well, he who, through vairagya, considers all 14 realms to be as insignificant as a blade of grass; he who, just as he has firm attachment for his body, has firm conviction of God, i.e., Purushottam, as He is; and he who is oblivious to the world in the waking state just as he is oblivious to the world in the state of deep sleep - such a person is great in our Satsang.”