Does one obtain God only by being born in India?

Complete Discourse

Vrinda from England, Radhe Radhe Maharaj Ji, Radhe Radhe. Maharaj Ji, Vrinda lives in England and is saying that she has been on the path of sadhana for the past 20 years and has been listening to you for the past 2 years, and many of her questions have been answered through you, and she continuously does naam jap of 84 and bhagavat naam. She is asking: is it necessary to be born in Vrindavan or India to attain God, or since we live outside, how should we do bhajan of the Lord? We have never spoken here about birth.

Now, if birth has to be in Braj then God will be attained. Yes, the glory of birth is sung — those born in Braj have blessed fortune, they are blessed. But that does not mean that no one else can attain God. Listen carefully to this verse: every soul, whether mobile or immobile, any being — focus on the words. Any being, all in all way worship Me, abandoning deception, Me they become most dear. Whether from England or America or Holland or anywhere else — whoever worships our God becomes His beloved child and will attain God. All are Mine, all are created by Me. But the spiritual atmosphere you will get in India like nowhere else in the world. The world is dominated by pleasure and indulgence.

See for yourselves in other countries. If you find a spiritual atmosphere anywhere in the world, it will be Indian people around. Because India's method is to bind indulgence and pleasure within dharma, to limit it and lead it towards dispassion. In other countries, indulgence itself is life. There is much talk of heaven and hell, but liberation, attaining God, divine love, the supreme abode — these discussions, if they happen repeatedly, are given through some Brahmarshi of India. Otherwise there is none. But someone outside India cannot attain God — this is not true.

They should take shelter of our Brahmrishis, should follow our principles, then they will attain God. There are thousands of Vaishnavas abroad, wearing the tuft and dhoti, doing naam jap with beads. They embody Vaishnavism more than us. That purity — Sri Krishna will surely be attained by them firmly. Now if our people take on the indulgence-driven things from foreign countries, ruin will not happen — definite ruin will happen. So wherever we are born, we are born on God's earth. Wherever we live, God is everywhere, so we are living with God.

And whoever we are, God is ours because God is everyone's, so God is ours too. The moment we remember God, wherever we will be, everything will become pure there. Attainment of God comes through bhajan. If you do not do bhajan, are there not pigs and dogs and other creatures in Vrindavan? So think about it — if you don't do bhajan, even though you may be born here, you will be born in those lower species. The joy that comes from being human and doing bhajan is not present in other species. Those are forgotten species. So wherever we live, do bhajan of God, believe that God is watching us.

God is with us and we will definitely attain God. Whether in America, whether on an island, wherever. We are telling you in completely simple language. Vamana extended one leg — did it not reach Brahma's realm? In the Vamana avatar. With the second leg he measured the entire Earth. Below, the netherworlds, the underworlds, all the lower realms were covered. God is not far — your thinking is far. Bring that thinking closer: wherever I am, God is there. The moment I am contemplating God, at that moment I am established in God. God is everyone's, so God is mine. God is everywhere, so here too, right now God is. Just then joy will come. It is not necessary that we were not born here therefore we cannot attain God. Nowhere is this written in the scriptures.

Whoever in this moving and unmoving world does bhajan of God will attain God. Do you understand? Roopaali from Jammu, Radhe Radhe Maharaj Ji, Radhe Radhe. Maharaj Ji, at your feet countless humble prostrations. Maharaj Ji, after a person's death, it is often said: may God, Ishwar, Ram give peace to their soul. So does saying this really bring peace to that being? No, we pray to God. Just saying this alone will not do it. For that, God has shown us the means.

We express good wishes toward them — that God may give peace to their soul. But that soul will receive peace only if we do naam jap and give it to them, if we have dharmic rituals performed for them, if we have the Bhagavat recited for them, if we do pilgrimage for them, then they will receive peace. We only express a good wish. May God give peace to their soul — just saying this alone will not do it. Just as if we say may God grant him God-realization, will that happen just by saying it? He will have to do the sadhana himself.

Now that soul has departed, so on their behalf, just as we can transfer our money in someone's name, similarly we can do our bhajan, we can do naam jap, two malas, ten malas, and God will give peace to their soul. That naam which now becomes an auspicious action for them. So just as we give pind daan for them, give cow charity, give food charity, we feed brahmrishis, sants on their behalf, so that a hundred people receive food, and after that the fruit of this will surely reach that soul. Surely it will reach. Because your deed, you can give it to whoever you wish.

So when you make a donation, the welfare of that soul is secured. Do you understand? It won't happen just by saying something. For example, if we said to you "your welfare will be secured" — that alone won't make it happen. If it could happen just by saying, then no sant would wish for anyone to suffer; everyone would be happy. Would everyone's welfare be secured just by the saints saying "Sarve bhavantu sukhinah"? No, it won't. Then what will? Your welfare will be secured through the sadhana taught by the sant. The sant wants everyone's welfare and happiness. But is everyone actually happy?

Has everyone's welfare been secured? It will be secured only for those who follow the guru's commands and practice sadhana. Understand this clearly. Our sincere wish is for everyone to be happy. But if you want to be happy and you perform actions that cause suffering, you will experience suffering. If you perform actions that bring happiness, you will experience happiness. Our sincere wish exists because it is our nature as a sant. So our sincere wish alone is not enough. When your sincere wish also supports our sincere wish, then welfare will be secured. Do you understand?

This text is taken from automatic captions of the video — there may be errors in the wording. Please listen to the video for the authentic teaching.

Original video: Bhajan Marg (YouTube)