Character of Yamuna Bai Ji and a Great Lesson

From the blessed lips of Pujya Maharaj Ji - stories of devotees. Listen to the complete narrative in the video above.

The Complete Discourse

May sadhana be accomplished quickly. What measures should we take from our side? Firm faith in God. Firm shelter - the means for sadhana to be accomplished - the means to be free from all faults - firm faith in God. We eat from the mouth where we transgress God's command. Where we transgress the command of the scriptures. Understand this firmly. Gurudev Bhagwan used to say: even if you sing bhajan for 24 hours, if you transgress the command even for one minute, you will not be able to experience the joy of 24 hours of bhajan. Exactly as follows the line that is drawn - a dervish is one who follows the line that the guru has drawn, that one must walk on this path, just not this way, not that way. Even if you move by a mustard seed toward another direction, if your foot steps off the line by a mustard seed's breadth, there will be a difference in the dervish.

The dervish of the line - the guru and the scripture have drawn the line, you must walk on it. If you veer the carriage this way and that, it will overturn. Follow the GT Road that has been built. This sampradaya, this path, is the GT Road. It is the royal highway. You will not fall on it. Do not reduce your effort in your dedication. Do not have pride in your sadhana, and if you keep firm faith in God, then sadhana is quickly accomplished. Is it right to increase social interaction in sadhana? They are our friends. If they are devoted to our spiritual well-being, if they are bhajan devotees, there is no fault. But if there is even a little worldliness in them, it will make you fall.

Therefore, you should not make friends. In my life I have not made friends. Till now, I have no friends. God knows what lies ahead. Since I have had no friends till now, the question of enemies does not arise. When there are friends, there are also enemies. I have neither friends nor enemies. God has shown great grace. Till now, not one friend. Not even one. I have been living in Vrindavan for 27, 28 years. Not even one friend. In the past, my life was in renunciation, so the question of friends did not even arise. Even here, I have not one friend. Yes, I have the dust of the feet of all saints and abbots on my forehead, but I have no personal attachment - that I have affection for the abbot of such-and-such ashram. I have love for all. I bow to the dust of everyone's feet, but I have no personal friendship with anyone. In the path of spiritual practice, social interaction is absolutely not right. Deception can happen through social interaction. Yamuna Bai lived right here at Jugal Ghat. Aziz Beg, Akbar's nephew, came here on patrol. He saw, along with his soldiers, a brahmacharini wrapped in torn, old clothes, her radiance shining after bathing in the Yamuna. So he said to his soldiers, such a beautiful one should come into our service. They said, "Master, she is a renunciate, a sadhu." But seeing her in wet clothes, his mind became greedy. So he sent two courtesans who came in the guise of sadhus and spoke of God. They came for eight, ten days continuously, and she, out of respect for the sadhus, received them with honor. Now after they came continuously for ten days, social interaction increased - laughing, talking, sitting together. They did not come for two days. Then on the third day, the next day they came, so naturally she asked why they hadn't come for two days. They said, "We have a great saint visiting us. Will you not come to serve him and have his darshan?" She replied, "Through the grace of Harivansh Mahaprabhu, I have no such desire." They said, "You are refusing to go see the saint? Come on, he is a very good saint, you will find joy." She said, "Come, it is Mahaprabhu's command." Sri Hariv, Sri Hariv, Sri Hariv. A tiger suddenly appeared in the middle. It roared, and he soiled himself. He lost consciousness and was transported. See how, through the power of God, she did not have to run, did not have to open the door - she simply disappeared into her hut. Harivansh Mahaprabhu immediately brought him to her hut. When he opened his eyes, he still saw that same tiger. Then it came to his heart that he should go and bow at her feet. So by coming and bowing at her feet - this social interaction had brought her from Jugal Ghat to the mansion. It is possible that those whom you think are saints, whom you consider your spiritual friends, may trap you in the wrong place. Therefore, absolutely no social interaction - keep to your rules, keep to your daily routine, your practice. Do not let anyone come to your home, never go to anyone's home. Never keep this in your life. When someone as radiant as Yamuna Bai was trapped through social interaction and brought to the mansion, what great errors might anyone make in their own practice? Therefore, social interaction in sadhana is absolutely not right.

I am a man of non-attachment. I am unattached. I have no connection with anyone. The questioner is asking very beautiful questions. The way we are moving - from this it seems an entire life will pass. We will not meet God. [Maharaj] is giving an answer: No, you should not think that way. You should not think that way. Our pace is slow, but our Lord's pace is very fast. God's pace is very fast. God moves faster even than Garuda. Among the fastest-moving are the winds. Faster than the winds is the mind. And faster than the mind is Garuda.

And Shri Bhagwan is even faster than Garud Ji. We should not have trust in our own pace — we must have trust in Bhagwan. Do not think that our pace will allow the whole of life to pass. Bhagwan will surely be attained. No, our pace is slow, but my Master's pace is very swift. The day He graces us, He will meet us in an instant. You should not worry about meeting Him. You should contemplate, do naam jap. The day the call of naam reaches His ears, He will come in an instant and grant you His darshan.

Have faith in this: in this very life you will attain bhagavat darshan. Our pace is slow. We have not conquered the senses. But Bhagwan's grace is great. He, the great one, will surely meet us by gracing us. The rest of the discussion under the grace of Shri Radha Vallabh Lal.

This text is taken from the video's auto-generated captions — there may be errors in the words. To hear the authentic words, please listen to the video.

Original video: Bhajan Marg (YouTube)