ekantik vartalaap evam darshan #1278 · 27 mai 2026

At Shri Hit Radha Keli Kunj, Vrindavan, a private conversation with Pujya Shri Hit Premanand Govind Sharan Ji Maharaj. Sadhaks ask questions about their lives and sadhana, and Maharaj Ji answers them.

Full Discourse

Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha

Jai Shri Radha Vallabh Lal, jai to all saints and devotees of Hari, jai Shri Vrindavan Dham, jai Sadguru Bhagavan.

Pramod from Delhi: Radhe Radhe. Gurdev, we bow to your feet countless times. Gurdev, can we take a phone with us to the bathroom and listen to your Shri words on that phone? Can we keep it there in the bathroom?

Yes, you can keep it there. Or, if you are using the bathroom and bathing, and listening to satsang, you can keep the phone in a high, clean place, and then touch it after you have become pure. Because the phone is something that is used everywhere.

If you touch it while in that state, the phone becomes impure. It means if you pay a little attention to purity, then your intellect becomes very refined. Nowadays, people have lost the knowledge of purity. Yes, some people are even speaking while on the toilet—the phone stays right there on the stand. Yes, that is like this. It is fine. When you go, first place the phone there with what you want to listen to, then use the bathroom comfortably, bathe peacefully, and after becoming pure, pick up the phone and come out. There is no issue with doing this.

A devotee: Maharaj Ji, in my business we use a register in which we write the daily accounts and work records.

At the top of it, we write the name of Bhagavan first. Is this correct?

Now, if later on you burn that name and send it to the Yamuna or Ganga, or to a pure person—because such registers are kept for quite some time, two years, four years, five years—what happens after that? Now, what I mean is, you can burn it or tear it. Yes, you can do that. But is it the form of Bhagavan? No. This is because our prayer is that all of you remain vigilant. The names of Bhagavan, the forms of Bhagavan must not be dishonored. Like people get names printed, and then they lie scattered in the streets and alleys. Cards with the name of Bhagavan written on them, tossed in bags and sacks, and all of that becomes like scrap paper. If you have sold those same accounts, then it becomes dishonored, no? This is why you must respect the scripture, respect the form of Bhagavan, respect the images, respect the names. Because Bhagavan is watching, no? From this comes the welfare of all. May there be auspiciousness.

Here, we are seeing many careless acts: using images of Bhagavan in posters for making names famous, using the names of Bhagavan to run shops.

Even small items—food and drink items—they have names of Bhagavan on them, various types, so many names of Bhagavan being used. Handle it with care. It is a matter of our dharma. We must recognize our dharma. We must not think of our dharma as cheap. We ourselves must not dishonor our dharma. This is dishonoring dharma. Our images of Bhagavan put on posters—afterward, when the poster is torn down and removed, it falls, no? Now some people might see it as a form of Bhagavan, but not us. We must be very careful. The name of Bhagavan, the form of Bhagavan—we must hold these with reverence and in a spirit of worship, yes.

Harsh from Ahmedabad: Radhe Radhe. Guru Ji, sometimes our mind does not become absorbed in naam jap. So we ourselves start reciting the name loudly and forcefully, and then the mind becomes peaceful.

Maharaj Ji, our question is: we are the self, and the mind is not cooperating in bhajan. So which of the four aspects of the inner consciousness is performing the naam jap?

You see, you do not yet have knowledge of your own form—you have only heard about it. You do not yet have knowledge of the inner consciousness—you have only heard about it. Because when you turn inward into the inner consciousness and experience everything through all the senses, then you will know: this is the intellect, this is the mind, this is the individual consciousness, this is the ego. The recognition of each one comes.

As long as the inner consciousness is caught up in objects, the self, though unchanging, will be born and will die. Suffering, sorrow, worry, fear—all of this will persist. The self was there before, it is here now, and it will be in the future. We must refine the inner consciousness. The intellect must be resolved upon the Supreme Self alone. The mind must constantly contemplate upon the Supreme Self alone. The individual consciousness must constantly meditate upon the Supreme Self alone. The ego must completely surrender to the Supreme Self.

So as we have told you: clear water, focused water, still water—what becomes visible below? Similarly, in a clear and still inner consciousness, the vision of Bhagavan manifests. Self-knowledge of your own soul comes. Are you understanding? For now, do plenty of naam jap. Do it forcefully. The tongue should work first before the mind. This is the sense of speech. It should be purified. Speak pure words. Do naam jap. Never speak harsh or bitter words to anyone. Each sense must be purified. Through the eyes, see. See the Supreme Bhagavan. Through the ears, listen.

Listen to the discourse of Bhagavan, to auspicious qualities. Do not listen to slander, to sinfulness of others, listen to the naam. Gradually our senses will be purified. The inner consciousness will be purified. Then we ourselves will experience our own form. That is it—one becomes liberated. Just as Bhagavan dwells in the heart. But everyone is afflicted, suffering, and defeated by maya. Because there is no bhajan. If plenty of bhajan is done, then right now Bhagavan will become manifest in the heart. So as the sun exists—the sun exists now and the sun exists at night too. Just as it is night here, somewhere it is day.

So in this mortal world, there is surely a sun. All lands and countries are within this mortal world. So sometimes it is night here while the sun is rising elsewhere. Somewhere there is sunlight. The point is, the sun never sets. Is that not certain? The sun never sets. It continues to shine constantly. Darkness is before us. Similarly, before us is the darkness of sorrow, anxiety, grief, fear, and illusion. God pervades everywhere. God pervades everywhere. Now we must awaken Him through bhajan. When we awaken that dormant divine reality, then we will experience bliss.

You and the divine reality will not remain two. Through bhajan, today's satsang you have heard—constant, unbroken remembrance at all times is the greatest form of sadhana. Divine remembrance. Like the flow of oil, serving constantly while performing your duties and responsibilities—through divine remembrance you will gain experience. Then this bondage that has occurred is of the mind only. The soul was never bound, is not bound, and will never be bound. If we refine this mind, we will eternally be in the divine form, as we have always been and always will be. But if we cannot refine the mind, then we must endure birth and death, countless kinds of suffering, sorrow, worry, and wandering in various forms of life.

Do you understand? Rishikesh Das Ji from Gujarat offers daṇḍavat praṇām. Maharaj Ji, when reading and understanding any scripture and embodying it in life, what are the necessary things required to directly realize that scripture?

First is brahmacharya; second is firm refuge in the gurus; third is constant remembrance of God; fourth is humility and freedom from ego; fifth is complete dedication and study of divine scripture. I do not have the ability—you yourself, being self-illuminated, explain to us. If brahmacharya is not right, then the meaning of scriptures becomes distorted. In discourses, people speak wrongly, back and forth, because brahmacharya is not right, because firm refuge in the gurus is not there. They have made themselves gurus. Firm refuge in the gurus is not there. There is ego.

If there is ego about knowledge, then the meaning of scripture will only be understood wrongly. If there is ego of knowledge, form, family, wealth, youth, or importance, then these six great thorns prevent the queen of bhakti from entering. And until humility comes, the depth of scriptures will not be understood. For scriptures, after abandoning ego and brahmacharya, and for this, firm refuge in the gurus—we can understand any scripture only when we hear from wise and great souls. First, hear from the Bhāgavata, from the mouth of a devotee, the divine word. Those great souls who are divine forms, who have tasted every word of scriptures and realized them—when they speak, when we hear from their mouths, the mystery of scripture becomes illuminated in our hearts.

So, without ego, with humility, taking refuge in the gurus, studying scripture at that time regarding it as the divine form itself—then scripture, by sitting in your intellect, will give you its own experience. As long as there is no brahmacharya, no firm refuge in the gurus, no abandoning of ego, no humility, and no divine feeling in scriptures, then no. If you wish to see the divine feeling in scriptures, see how the guru vani is honored. Observe, my brothers, how the guru vani is honored. If you wish to see respect for scriptures, see there—how the guru vani is honored, waving the chauṛ with hands folded, they recite the guru vani with hands folded, standing upright. And when the guru vani is brought out, see how much celebration and joy there is. See how we regard our texts, our sacred words—observe with what respect. If the scripture is placed with such reverence, covered with cloth and given a place on a seat, then how will scripture flourish in that person's heart? How will the meaning of scripture flourish? Scripture is understood only then. Shri Sukhadeva Ji once—only from Lord Vyāsa Dev's reading—everything was remembered, because from childhood he was free from worldly attachment, celibate, and established in the divine form. So all scripture is divine form.

These days the errors that occur are for this reason alone. Loss of brahmacharya, firm refuge not taken in the gurus, not abandoning ego, no humility, not regarding scriptures as divine form. For these reasons, the secret of scripture.. Scripture is very secret. Scripture says, for instance, "Go toward the north." Now after that, which turn needs to be made—it won't say. The guru will say, "From the north, turn toward the west. Then go forward toward the east." Now if he just goes straight north, he won't arrive. The secret of scripture—it is like how kings formerly would create a labyrinth to hide their treasures, and after that would place the treasure.

Only the one who knows that path can traverse it. Otherwise, he will wander around. He will not reach the treasure. So these rasika texts, these divine-form texts—their ācārya and guru alone are the knowers. If you worship at their feet, then you will reach the treasure. You will experience the Word-Brahman. Otherwise, you will just keep speaking like this—you won't understand, and neither will others understand. They sit and listen and leave. You have spoken and explained, and the understanding didn't settle in you nor in the other person.

Because you haven't experienced it yourself. Experience comes when a saint chants in sorrow. When experience is expressed through words, then one should remain silent, not speak. When one does speak, it opens the knots of the heart. Only then is it considered that study of the scriptures has taken place. That happens only when we continuously contemplate God with humility and take shelter at the guru's feet - this refuge is very necessary. And nowadays, the greatest loss is happening because the shelter of the guru's feet is not being taken. Ego becomes so powerful that we quickly want to publicize ourselves and become accomplished.

This causes great harm. Without servitude to the guru's feet, it is not attained, it is not attained. Without a master, alone. Even to this extent, Bipin wrote: In Vrindavan dwells dispassion, the play of a child. If someone is living in Vrindavan, is a great ascetic, a great renunciate, but has not taken shelter at the feet of Swami Maharaj, has not taken shelter of the Acharya gurus, then it is not attained, not attained. It has not been attained and will not be attained further. Without a master. This is why the guru's feet.. Look at the Upanishads. For 12 years, only service was performed, and after that one word was spoken: You are not life, you are not mind. See in the Chhanda Upanishad. When contemplation occurred, why did he perform service for 12 years? Subordination to the guru. When subordination to the guru came, then the nature of the substance was revealed. Then the scriptures are understood only when the guru is pleased, when there is subordination to the guru. To this extent it has been described that even without being taught - all four Vedas were memorized. You must have read in the Mahabharata. Read and see. Such great souls have stories - the guru didn't even teach, and as many Vedas as there are - Rigveda, Yajurveda, Atharvaveda, Samaveda - these four Vedas manifested in his heart. Oh, the glory of the guru is very powerful! By taking shelter at the guru's feet, everything works out. Even ego is destroyed. Discipline and rules also come about. And the times that have come now are very harmful for celibacy. In these times, celibacy is suffering the greatest loss. And without control of the senses.. Then Narsi Mehta says: Kancha waacha man nishchal rakhe, dhann dhann janani teri re.

Loincloth firm, speech firm, and mind firm. Then one conquers maya. Kanch waacha man nishchal rakhe, dhann dhann janani teri re. So great is Narsi! Darshan is attained. He speaks thus: Such great fortune is to have darshan of one like this. Loincloth firm, speech firm, and mind firm - these are three things. This is a sannyasi - one who takes shelter in silence through words, who attains inactivity through the body, and is free from thoughts through the mind - he is the supreme sannyasi. Therefore, we should take shelter of the gurus and understand the meaning of the scriptures. Those scriptures will then come into our own experience. There will be direct realization. When we walk like this.. Are you understanding? Yes. Doctor Satya Saraswat from Agra. Radhe Radhe, Maharaj Ji. Infinite prostrations at your feet, Gurudev.

I have been following the path of meditation and yoga from 1997 to 2013. From 2013 to 2023, I walked on the path of knowledge yoga, and I kept trying to reach the original source, but didn't find success. In the past year, by following the naam jap that you have taught, I have received benefit. My question is that we are a part of the imperishable supreme God, who is Lord Shri Krishna himself, and the Lord's blissful power is Shri Ji. So sometimes we receive a feeling of bliss in naam jap. Is that the grace of Shri Ji?

You see, all beings are of the form of the supreme God. But how? Like a wave. The ocean is not like a wave. In the ocean there are countless, innumerable waves. The ocean manifests countless, innumerable waves, but one wave cannot manifest the ocean. We are like this. We are of the form of God, so being of the form of God means being part of God. We too are of the form of God. But we are such that we are of the form of God like a wave. The ocean is our Lord, and we are his waves.

If the defect of air is destroyed in us - if the defect of air in the wave is destroyed - then it has become the ocean, hasn't it? If the defect of maya is destroyed, then we have become of the form of God. But from the ocean, countless, innumerable waves will emerge. But a wave cannot manifest one ocean. Such is the difference between us and the supreme God, even though we are of the form of God. So this joy that we receive from chanting the Lord's name, from surrender to the Lord, from singing the glories of the Lord's leelas, from serving the Lord - this is true joy. This is special grace. And you yourself are experiencing that what you could not experience by relying on other paths, you are experiencing the joy from naam jap in a short time.

And we give you a guarantee that let alone the experience of joy - you will be completely immersed in the ocean of joy. If naam jap continues unbroken, with faith, if the vessel doesn't remain empty, then the knowledge you couldn't understand even with effort will awaken within you. The kundalini that didn't awaken even with meditation effort will awaken. You will continuously dwell in that meditation. The naam has great power. We are not just giving a discourse about this - we are telling you from our life. This business of naam that we speak of repeatedly - we have run about everywhere and tried all paths, and then sitting, we say: Brother, if you understand, then hold onto it.

Hari bhaj hari bhaj, chhaan na maan
Narthan ko mati, mache mati, mache til til dhal ko

The greatest work of life is hari bhaj, hari bhaj. If you haven't done hari bhajans, then all other means are not trustworthy. See it yourself. We give examples repeatedly. At the final moment, a son called out by the name Narayana attained God. And if you call out Narayana, Narayana by the name Narayana, and call out Hari as Hari, and know Radha as Radha, and call out - you will not attain God.

Putana mixed poison in milk to kill, but she attained God-realization. If you feed Thakur Ji with love, mixing sugar in milk—will Thakur Ji not give you God-realization? Through service, remembrance, self-study, leela, singing of the divine qualities—God-realization is certain to come. All of you, engage yourselves fully and attentively in this. It is the grace of Shri Ji that they have drawn you to themselves. Otherwise, life itself would be completely wasted.

God is saying: I am not brought under control by great vows, rules, restraint, pilgrimage, study of scriptures, and such things, the way I am brought under control through satsang.

What has happened? Satsang is heard, love for God's name arises. See the experience of bliss—and from this comes God-realization. If right now you speak "Radha," if right now your body were to fall away, you would attain God-realization right now. If you call "Shyama" with love, if you speak God's name—whatever name is dear to you—see, God-realization will come. Have firm faith in this. Have unwavering faith. And there is also the scriptural method: "In the age of truth, God is attained through meditation; in the age of sacrifice, through ritual; in the age of duality, through worship." But in the age of quarrel, the highest perfection, God-realization, comes through the repetition of God's name and through singing of God's names. Just practice this a little. Practice humility, listen with a humble heart. The secret is: whoever always gives honor to others, remains without ego themselves, considers themselves lowly, and becomes like a tree—tolerant and enduring.

Such a practitioner of naam-jap attains God-realization very quickly. But if someone is doing naam-jap and also criticizing saints, committing offense against Vaishnavas, harboring pride, engaged in worldly entanglements—then the cloth goes into the washing pot, the fault goes to the one who washes it. They say, "We are doing naam-jap, but we are not getting bliss. So there must be a leak somewhere, brother." Brother, your vessel must be right, then the milk will come into it. They say, "We are doing naam-jap but not getting bliss"—so somewhere there is a defect, brother. Close that defect and bliss will arise immediately.

Look at those five sense-organs along with the mind that are going toward pleasures—see if some impure conduct is happening. If there is impure conduct, stop it, and bliss will come. Just through naam-jap—this is the supreme thing we are telling you. We are telling you from the heart: there is nothing greater than the Name. Whoever has fixed their devotion on the Name has become perfected. Understand this: those who did not even know how to say "Ram"—they just died saying "mara, mara" (dying, dying)—they became perfected. So how can you not become perfected by saying "Ram, Ram"? How can you not become perfected by saying "Shyam, Shyam"? But there is no faith in this. The special thing is: people's minds go toward difficult practices, but very few are so blessed that they have faith in the easy, simple, bliss-giving naam. When faith comes, God-realization has come. It is clear: God-realization is certain through naam-jap. If you have done naam-jap one hundred times and have not attained God-realization for some reason, then the next time it will not start from ninety-nine—it will start from one hundred and above.

The Name is so supremely glorious. First, one who does naam-jap will not have misfortune. The Lord says: "The bhakta who does bhajan, I protect." But even if some mistake happens, bhajan will continue from where it stopped. Bhajan is never destroyed. You have done naam-jap for ten years. What is deposited in your spiritual account will give you the highest good and the highest state. There can be no loss. You can never have any misfortune in any way. The practitioner of naam-jap always attains supreme bliss. All the great accomplished masters that have existed became great through the mantra and name given by the guru.

"Yes, Maharaj Ji, by your grace I also study the vanis. Sometimes when reading the vani, especially in Shri Chaurasi, even when the meaning is not understood, the experience of bliss comes. Yes, it seems to us that we should not try to understand the meaning right now. Just as the vani of our eternal play in Vrindavan, which is in the holy text—while we still have body-consciousness, while we still have male-female consciousness, it seems to us we should sing it, not read its meaning, not contemplate its meaning. Because this is the playful sport of Consciousness-Bliss in divine love. In Consciousness-Bliss there are no five-element bodies, like we have five-element bodies; there are no male-female characteristics in Consciousness-Bliss.

If we look at the Consciousness-Bliss play thinking of it as five-element bodied male-female, it becomes a great fault. Therefore, just by singing the vanis, that state will be attained. Like Kemal Ji, Chaurasi Ji—these great masters, each vani that they composed, each word is capable of bestowing the attainment of the Beloved. But the meaning should not be read. When our feeling is not filled with the blessed feeling of the rasika masters—suppose they tasted the sweetness of the Beloved's play, the divine sport, and they are giving us that feeling, and then we, in the mood of a servant, in the mood of a companion—if we then read it this way, then the devotional feeling will diminish.

Therefore, do the reading. Read the meaning of the philosophy. Read the meaning of the philosophy itself. Some lilas are so simple that there is no harm in reading their meaning. The divine play of the Beloved should not be read, even if the meaning comes. Because to understand the divine play of the Beloved, first our male-female consciousness must disappear. Become like Lalita and the other companions. First let our male-female consciousness dissolve, and may our consciousness become attuned to the companionship of the teacher-form, the companion-forms of Lalita and others. Then through the mantra given by them, when our devotional consciousness is formed—a consciousness beyond the gross, subtle, and causal bodies, an immortal form of consciousness, in the form of a companion like Lalita, in the form of a companion—when that feeling comes, when our Beloved, when the matter of our Beloved comes up, then the surge of bliss arises immediately. What is happening? Our worldly intellect has been destroyed. The male-female consciousness is no longer—

It seems that singing the pads associated with the nectar of eternal divine play brings great auspiciousness. But in understanding, be careful that your intellect does not become earthly—let your intellect not become earthly. Because in Sach-chidanand, this kind of play does not exist, and an earthly-minded intellect will see earthly things even in Sach-chidanand, which can introduce defects. Because the nectar of eternal divine play is very subtle—this is the milk of a lioness, which Bhagavat-rasik Jis wrote about for those who taste eternal divine play: the milk of a lioness goes either into the child's belly or into gold. It speaks of the child's belly and the household. Either the child becomes a disciple of the Acharya, surrendered to them and following them, or there is no other way—that through the strength of practice alone one can attain the feelings of these great souls. Without surrendering to the great ones, without their grace and without the dust of their feet, these feelings are rare. For this reason, they can be counted on one's fingers. The crowd of rasiks is small.

There is no crowd of rasiks. So you see, they can be counted on one's fingers. So there is much grace in the fact that you are attentive to the teachings. But regarding understanding—if the understanding of play does not come across, then leave that. Sing the pads. Shri Ji will explain it further to you ahead. You can engage both the name of Radha and the name Radhavallabh Shri Harivansh together in the practice of naam jap. Yes, absolutely you can. Absolutely. Just as you are doing naam jap of Radhavallabh Shri Harivansh. If your mind is running away, then catch it with Radha, Radha, Radha, Radha, Radha. If it is still running away, then take up some pad and sing one of the pads of Chaturasi Ji. Then bring it back to Radhavallabh Shri. Some have grown bored with this already. The mind has grown clever. The clever worshipper knows how to catch this mind. When you put it in one place—Radha, Radha, Radha—it gets bored after a while. Now it is getting bored with Radha, Radha, Radha, so now engage it with a pad. When it gets bored with the pad, engage it with the mantra. When it gets bored with the mantra, engage it with Radhavallabh Shri Harivansh.

If nothing works, then you are doing kirtan. We need to catch the mind. "With practice united consciousness, not separated"—we must practice in such a way that our mind cannot be separated from the Lord. Sometimes you are singing the teachings, sometimes you are doing naam jap, sometimes you are doing mantra jap, and sometimes sit in the pride of devotion. I am the Lord's. I am Shri Ji's. If wonder arises from within, then this pride will come. Just as we have a pride. Our Shyama has a pride, a glory, a dignity.

We have a pride in our Acharya, we have a pride in our Guru, we have a pride in our beloved Shri Ji, we have a pride in Shyama Ji. There is such a pride. Is there? Yes, then this will come. Right now it is not, because the feeling of complete surrender has not yet come. Just as Meera Ji had the pride—my Girdhar Gopal is my only one. If such a pride comes for us—our beloved, our dear one, our dear one—then there is a glory. You Braj-dwellers and the lovers, look carefully with this view and you will find in all of them one thing: a glory. You will find it. Shyama, beloved, Kunj-bihari, Radhavallabh, Shri Hari—one pride will be found. One dignity will be found. Give them the dignity of their own chosen deity, of their own Acharya, of their own Guru. This very dignity—it is this that destroys all other dignities and brings one near to Shri Ji. Yes, just as Goswami Ji is saying: such dignity may the servant possess—I am the servant of Raghupati, my Lord. Let this feeling of dignity remain always, that I am the servant, my Lord is Shyama, Shyam is glorious. Keep up this glory. Shri Shravan Lal Gurjar Ji. Radhe Radhe. Radhe-Radhe. Maharaj Ji, Maharaj Ji. For a year I have been listening to your teachings through YouTube. Following what you say, I have been doing Ram naam jap.

In the morning and evening I also read the Hanuman Chalisa. Guru Ji, my question is: I am a singer and musician. I sing devotional bhajans and also, according to the times, folk songs and songs of love and romance. In these folk songs, the words I write do not exist in my real life. But through music, I sing them. Will I attain the Lord? Listen, attainment of the Lord does not come from folk songs. Attainment of the Lord comes from contemplation of the Lord. The contemplation of the Lord that happens within you—that is what brings attainment of the Lord.

So we may sing very beautifully, but our inner contemplation is not divine, and we are singing pads that are divine, but it is to please the world, to hear applause, to earn money. That is business, not sadhana for attaining the Lord. Do you understand what we are saying? If we are doing kirtan, singing pads, and taking not a single rupee, only with the intention that we are singing the name of the Lord, the glory of the Lord—then this is bhajan. But if you are keen for applause and money, then it is not bhajan. And for attaining the Lord, contemplate within, and do these worldly activities for making a living.

There is no problem. For a year—before that, for a year I was in the wrong company. I was with the wrong friends. Then I took an oath by Bajrangbali. I left everyone. I became alone. For six months I was alone from the field. Then I began to watch your teachings on YouTube. Then from there I started doing Ram naam jap again and left all company. Yes, now everything will improve. Do not worry. And now should I only sing devotional bhajans or should I stop this? Do not stop singing. Keep singing. Sing folk songs as well.

Because just as we need to live, we swing the spade. To live, we run a cloth shop. To live, we take a job. So to live, to sustain life, we need money. For the economy, we will not sit idle cowardly. Sing beautifully. Sing folk songs, sing bhajans. But that is for money. For attaining the Lord, do naam jap within. This naam that you are doing within will bring attainment of the Lord. Do naam jap within, because we take payment for that. We enjoy the benefit of that. We enjoy the pleasure of applause. We enjoy the pleasure of praise.

So that person is incapable of attaining God. The one who is capable—the one remembering Ram, Ram within—that very remembrance will bring you divine attainment. Whenever my mind changed even slightly on this path, I became the object of mockery. Among my friends, in my family, even my own children started joking: "Look, he'll be sitting alone with his meditation today." There was this discussion in the group behind me—the very question you are asking now—that brother, if you want to walk the path of God in this world, you will be mocked. You will be ridiculed. You will be slandered.

Just as you began the path of truth and now you see that family members, relatives, even your own son is ridiculing you. Now think, how would your heart feel? But no—you must understand: my bhakti is bearing fruit. If opposition arises in bhakti, then know that bhakti is bearing fruit. So your bhakti is bearing fruit. You should smile. Do not be sad. Yes, but if you fall from this, then you will fall again. You must become very courageous. Be very courageous. Great courage is needed for this. Do not lose heart. Your bhakti is bearing fruit—you should feel good. You should be happy. Why are you thinking negatively, that I am being mocked? No, no, no! This mockery is proof that your bhakti is bearing fruit. Look—if you act wrongly, no one will stop you. No one will mock you. But if you wear a rosary around your neck and start singing bhajans, worship God, then your own people will mock you. People call it being too much of a bhakt.

What kind is this, what kind is that—they will say all sorts of things. So do not stop because of what people say. God's path is the true path. It is the path of Satya, Chit, and Ananda—absolute reality, consciousness, and bliss. You need not lose hope at all. If such things were said to us, something inside would say: "Do not break, do not break." We remember one drunkard's teaching our whole lives. He would say: "A statue that has been carved bit by bit never breaks. You, Baba, become such a statue—never break." We were children then, but we have kept this teaching our whole lives. I have a daughter—she is studying somewhere from here. Please give her some such initiation so that she looks forward. But actually, we are not just praying for your daughter. We pray for all the daughters and sons that this poison of girlfriends and boyfriends that has spread today should be avoided.

The first thing is to keep your character pure. If your character is not pure, then your aspirations for progress will be obstructed. These days, finding a true friend is a matter of great fortune. Otherwise, there are hundreds ready to become friends just to satisfy their own desires. So we must choose our friends very carefully. Whoever desires to enjoy pleasures through us cannot be a friend. A true friend is one who sacrifices themselves to make the other person happy. One who erase themselves to adorn another—that is what a friend is.

But friends today want to erase the other person and make themselves happy. So we request our brothers and sisters, throughout all of India and the whole world: our tradition has been one of pure character. Let character not be defiled. And secondly, let no addiction enter our lives—whether for sons or daughters. Understand this completely. Every addiction will lead our lives toward destruction. Whatever is happening these days—children in schools are taking drugs, smoking, taking beedis and cigarettes—let no one develop any addiction.

Let no one act without character, and if they keep remembering God's name, then God will certainly grant them victory over this world and fulfill all their desires. When our intellect remains pure, our remembrance will remain pure. When remembrance is pure, whatever we study will be remembered. We will never fail. When we become immoral, when all kinds of vices enter, then our memory is destroyed. Kama sanjayte krodha, krodha smriti vibhramah, smriti bhramsat buddhi nah, buddhi nashat pranashyati—thus our life's purpose is not merely to do a job, earn money, enjoy pleasures, and die. Life's purpose is to attain God, to live spiritually. So keep your character pure. Do not take to any addiction. Worship God's name. Regard your parents as God and obey them, serve them. If you accept just this much, everything will be accomplished. Just this much is enough. And never be discouraged.

Be happy. If someone mocks you, smile and pray to God: "Give them wisdom too. Give them discernment too." We should not harbor ill will toward them. Even toward those who mock us, we should move forward smiling. We must prove how strong a bhakt of God is. How full of strength they are. We must prove it. We are God's servants, so we must prove: if they strike us, we will wish them well. If they curse us, we will wish them well. Karata je anasahan nindak, tinon pa anugrah—the one mocking us is trying to humiliate us, and we will fold our hands and speak to them. There is a difference between us and worldliness because we are of the path of the sadhu. We are travelers on God's path. So sadhu does not mean just by dress—it means by state. Therefore, be content. Happy.

Sudev Kumar from Faridabad. Radhe-Radhe, Maharaj Ji. Maharaj Ji, millions of bows at your feet. Maharaj Ji, I have been on the spiritual path for the past 40 years. I have preached the Gita for about 50 years. For 13-14 years I did satsang with great focus, Maharaj Ji. My question is this: despite continuous effort, body-consciousness remains at its peak, and it feels like the state I was in 40 years ago is the same even now.

In your private conversation, you mentioned that ego attachment is removed only by the guru's grace. Now I am in your shelter, Maharaj Ji. I see you as the guru, Maharaj Ji. My name chanting—the more intense the naam inside, the more sumiran will flow. But this false game of the body, the game of the world—as long as this keeps being spoken as truth, how can there be knowledge? How can there be bhakti? So there has been negligence in my naam jap. Listen, we are telling you—memorizing the Gita and preaching the Gita are two different things. And drinking the Gita, putting it into practice, walking like that—this is a different matter altogether.

The destruction of body-identification will come from drinking the Gita. If you will drink the nectar of the Gita, it is very difficult. It is easy to give others advice. It is easy to memorize and recite. But putting it into practice is very difficult. If we could just withdraw even one shloka into our being, we would attain God. The Lord is saying: ananya cheta satatam yo mam smarti nityasa tasya sulabha partha nityukt yogina ("One whose mind is always absorbed in Me, always devoted, will attain Me easily, O Partha"). Now forty years have passed, and your own experience is saying that body-identification has not melted. So Pujyapad Udia Baba Ji said: he whose body-identification has not melted has not yet found that in spirituality which, once found, leaves nothing more to find. Because the more body-identification melts, the more the color of bhakti shines forth.

The body-feeling itself is the cause of birth and death. So the body has a hold on us. We have a hold on the body. Like a monkey bound with a rope—just as a parrot grips a nali like that. If it would let go, it could fly. But understand what a nali is—it's the stick from which a fan is twirled. That hollow stick, if tied with a rope and coated with sticky paste—that paste that sticks—the parrot comes and sits on it, and as soon as it sits, it has turned around. Now it is completely stuck. Now it thinks: I have been caught. If I let go, I will die. But if it let go, it would fly. Just like that we are trapped: if body-feeling leaves, where will pleasure come from? Because pleasure comes from this body, isn't it? But pleasure comes from remembering God, not from body-consciousness. Those whose memory of the body is forgotten, in the memory of God—for instance, you keep eating and drinking throughout the day, doing whatever, but the pleasure you get in sleep, no one gets that anywhere else. If sleep doesn't come, even though you are eating well, you become disturbed. Two days, three days, four days without sleep—you see how it is—sleep's pleasure is supreme, isn't it? The pleasure in sleep is what? Forgetting the world. For five or six hours you forgot the world, and you became completely fresh.

Your senses became strong. You gained consciousness. But if in the waking state for just one hour you forget God and get absorbed in maya, there is such distress and unrest. And if for one hour you forget maya and get absorbed in God, you have entered samadhi. Brother, these are the two realms. Every moment our thinking is being dragged by maya. If we can turn this thinking and fix it in God, we are a bhakt. And if it is fixed in maya, we are worldly. That is the only difference. The essence of all scriptures is this: constant remembrance of God and forgetfulness of maya.

This is the essence of all scriptures. But see what remembrance is. Person, object, place, attachment, things, enjoyment—it is difficult for us to contemplate God. So time passing is not the fruit of God's worship. Like, if fifty years have passed, and in those fifty years there was even one hole, then all that we gathered flowed out. There was no real experience. But if we pour drop by drop and seal the hole, then one day it will fill, won't it? Just so, somewhere or other we have been making mistakes. The mistakes that happened—you know them honestly.

It is not that you don't know. Whoever makes a mistake, they know it. They may try to hide it with excuses, but when we have made a mistake in life, don't we know that we made an error at that place, made a mistake at that place? Everyone knows. If we were to stop those known mistakes, our ocean of joy would surge forth right now. But we know the mistake, and we know there is pleasure in that mistake. That is why we cannot stop it. Whether it is addiction, whether it is vice, whether it is some dirty thing, whether it is some dirty thinking.

This thinking that goes out into the world—its one root cause is pleasure. Pleasure will come. There is just one cause. Look. If these inner things are put right, read the entire Gita and see. Nowhere is there any demand. There is no demand anywhere. There is only one demand from God. He is not saying: build a temple for me. Do this for me. Do that for me. In the Gita, God is saying: mana adi mam buddim nivesha—God's demand is that you place your mind and intellect in Me. You will dwell in Me. Mana mana bhava mad bhakto—mam eva prapadyate. The Lord has described it circling around many places, saying: sarva dharman parityajya mam ekam sharanam gaccha. He is saying: devi sa guna mayi mama maya—muktara mam eva prapadyate. Nowhere has God spoken of even a rupee's worth.

God's attainment does not need money. Attaining spirituality does not need money. One who has attained spiritual happiness does not need money. Does not need worldly pleasures. We have gotten it backwards somehow. We think money is the cause of happiness. We think fame and glory are the cause of happiness. We think enjoyment is the cause of happiness somewhere. And we are talking about the Gita. So the feeling of the Gita will not come into us. One shloka of the Gita can grant the supreme abode. One shloka of the Gita.

One verse can lead you to God-realization. Make any one verse from the Bhagavad Gita your life principle — that we have taken hold of this verse. Just as when we move forward from childhood, we encounter difficulties in the world, don't we? Now, like wandering along the Ganges, sometimes we got food, sometimes we didn't — the world has such a strange nature. So we held two verses in our life with equanimity.

Matra sparshasthu kaunteya shitoshn sukh dukhdah agamapno anityas tans titikshvah bharat
The contacts of the senses with their objects give rise to fleeting experiences of happiness and distress; they come and go. Bear them patiently, O Bharata.

Yam hi na vyathayantyete purusham purush sukh dukhma samanu bhav
The person whom these do not disturb, who remains equanimous in happiness and sorrow..

And the verse that follows: the person who remains equanimous in happiness and sorrow, who is not shaken in adversity, who stands firm — such a steadfast person becomes worthy of immortality. Because wherever hardship comes, wherever adversity arises, two people move forward: one where the hardship lies, we begin to waver. Just bear it with equanimity —

Matra sparshe shito sukh dukhdah agamapno anit bharat
In sensory contact, in heat and cold, in happiness and sorrow..

Endure them, Arjun. These come and go. They are not permanent. They have come now, and they will go. Remain absorbed in remembrance of God, engrossed in God. Then it seems to us that whatever our defects are, we know them. The defects that we come to know — if we abandon those, then the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, the Bhagavata, and the saints will be illuminated in our hearts. But if the defects remain, it is like if we wash a cow in a leaky vessel — all the milk will run out.

It will not nourish the inside. That is why we must be careful ourselves. See, saints and great souls will point out the way to liberation. But you must walk it. If you don't walk, no one can liberate you. So look at the mistakes that have happened until now and set them aside, and come to one thing: continuous naam jap. Because at this stage of life, through continuous naam jap — the final breath, whatever it may be, the naam will be flowing — then God-realization will be certain. Just as we have spoken of Radha — if when our life departs, we have been practicing the naam, then God-realization is certain. Understand this firmly: when our final breath comes, if we have been continuously practicing naam, then the naam will be flowing, and we will achieve God-realization.

Whether body-identification remains or not — we don't care now. Now we must hold one thing: let not the naam slip away. And as long as there is remembrance in the naam, the body-identification that existed before will now fade away. The contemplation of the body alone nourishes body-identification, and the contemplation of God alone destroys body-identification. So now pay attention to your contemplation. Whatever naam is dear to you, continuously chant that naam.

This text is taken from the auto-generated captions of a video — it may contain errors in words. Please listen to the video for the authentic discourse.

Original video: Bhajan Marg (YouTube)