Gadhada II-14

Nirvikalp Samādhi

On Bhādarvā sudi 1, Samvat 1878 [28 August 1821], Swāmi Shri Sahajānandji Mahārāj was sitting on the veranda outside the north-facing rooms near the mandir of Shri Vāsudevnārāyan in Dādā Khāchar’s darbār in Gadhadā. He was wearing a white khes and had covered Himself with a white cotton cloth. Around His head He had tied a white feto in which a chhoglu of red karnikār flowers had been inserted. A beautiful, kumkum chāndlo also adorned His forehead. At that time, an assembly of munis as well as devotees from various places had gathered before Him.

Thereupon Muktānand Swāmi asked, “When a sādhu attains oneness with the form of God, does he attain it through samādhi, or can he also attain it through some other method?”

Shriji Mahārāj replied, “Once a person has known that this is a neem tree, he never harbors the doubt in his mind, ‘Is this a neem tree or not?’ Similarly, if one has total realization of God’s form as I described yesterday, and if one no longer harbors any doubts about it, and if one’s mind in no way causes one’s conviction of God to waver regardless of the type of company one may encounter or the type of scriptures one may hear, then such absolute conviction is what I call oneness.

“Such oneness is attained through profound association with an Ekāntik Bhakta of God, but not by samādhi alone. In fact, such oneness is itself nirvikalp samādhi. Moreover, the sādhu who has such nirvikalp samādhi is also called nirgun Brahma. Regardless of whether he follows the path of nivrutti or the path of pravrutti, the sādhu who has such an unshakeable conviction is still nirgun. For example, Nārad and the Sanakādik all followed the path of nivrutti, whereas the Saptarshi, King Janak and others all followed the path of pravrutti. However, due to their conviction of God, they should all be known to be nirgun.

“However, those who follow the path of nivrutti but do not have the conviction of God should be known to be sagun due to their māyik gunas. Furthermore, one should realize, ‘This person appears to be a staunch renunciant, but because he does not have the conviction of God, he is ignorant and will definitely go to narak.’

“On the other hand, a person who has such a conviction of God will not attain an ill fate - even if some small deficiency remains in him. In fact, ultimately, he will definitely attain the nirgun state. But a person without such a conviction of God - even if he is a sincere renunciant and is vigilantly striving to eradicate lust, anger, avarice, etc. - will not be able to eradicate those vicious natures by his efforts alone. Ultimately, he will become evil and go to narak.

“Therefore, whoever realizes such gnān of God, even if he has only a feeble intellect, should still be regarded as possessing much intellect. On the other hand, if he has not realized such gnān of God, then even if he has much intellect, he should still be known as having no intellect.”

On Bhadarva sudi 1, Samvat 1878 [28 August 1821], Swami Shri Sahajanandji Maharaj was sitting on the veranda outside the north-facing rooms near the mandir of Shri Vasudevnarayan in Dada Khachar’s darbar in Gadhada. He was wearing a white khes and had covered Himself with a white cotton cloth. Around His head He had tied a white feto in which a chhoglu of red karnikar flowers had been inserted. A beautiful, kumkum chandlo also adorned His forehead. At that time, an assembly of munis as well as devotees from various places had gathered before Him.

Thereupon Muktanand Swami asked, “When a sadhu attains oneness with the form of God, does he attain it through samadhi, or can he also attain it through some other method?”

Shriji Maharaj replied, “Once a person has known that this is a neem tree, he never harbors the doubt in his mind, ‘Is this a neem tree or not?’ Similarly, if one has total realization of God’s form as I described yesterday, and if one no longer harbors any doubts about it, and if one’s mind in no way causes one’s conviction of God to waver regardless of the type of company one may encounter or the type of scriptures one may hear, then such absolute conviction is what I call oneness.

“Such oneness is attained through profound association with an Ekantik Bhakta of God, but not by samadhi alone. In fact, such oneness is itself nirvikalp samadhi. Moreover, the sadhu who has such nirvikalp samadhi is also called nirgun Brahma. Regardless of whether he follows the path of nivrutti or the path of pravrutti, the sadhu who has such an unshakeable conviction is still nirgun. For example, Narad and the Sanakadik all followed the path of nivrutti, whereas the Saptarshi, King Janak and others all followed the path of pravrutti. However, due to their conviction of God, they should all be known to be nirgun.

“However, those who follow the path of nivrutti but do not have the conviction of God should be known to be sagun due to their mayik gunas. Furthermore, one should realize, ‘This person appears to be a staunch renunciant, but because he does not have the conviction of God, he is ignorant and will definitely go to narak.’

“On the other hand, a person who has such a conviction of God will not attain an ill fate - even if some small deficiency remains in him. In fact, ultimately, he will definitely attain the nirgun state. But a person without such a conviction of God - even if he is a sincere renunciant and is vigilantly striving to eradicate lust, anger, avarice, etc. - will not be able to eradicate those vicious natures by his efforts alone. Ultimately, he will become evil and go to narak.

“Therefore, whoever realizes such gnan of God, even if he has only a feeble intellect, should still be regarded as possessing much intellect. On the other hand, if he has not realized such gnan of God, then even if he has much intellect, he should still be known as having no intellect.”