Private Conversation and Darshan #1396

At Shri Hit Radha Keli Kunj, Vrindavan, a private conversation with Pujya Shri Hit Premanand Govind Sharan Ji Maharaj. Sadhaks put forward their questions about their life and sadhana, and Maharaj Ji provides solutions.

The Complete Discourse

Punita Ji from Chandigarh to Radha Vallabh, Shri Harivansh, Shri Harivansh Maharaj Ji. Maharaj Ji, I offer countless prostrations at your feet. Maharaj Ji, what should I do so that my meditation in naam jap deepens day by day? Sometimes my mind becomes very absorbed, and sometimes I have to force it.

In naam jap, thinking and considering, we take the path of the bhaktas, we take shelter at the feet of the bhaktas. Bhajan does not happen without sangha; without bhajan there is no love. Do not abandon bhajan; hold fast to this truth. Without the grace of saints, deep attachment in bhajan does not arise. And without deep attachment in bhajan, love does not arise. And without love, God is not found. It is the fundamental matter that through love He is revealed. The remembrance of bhaktas, the prostration to the bhaktas' feet, taking shelter of the bhaktas—Hari values the bhaktas' glory even more than His own. So you should regularly recite the bhakta namavali, the roster of bhaktas. Just as Dhruv Das Ji has written the bhakta namavali, and there is a bhakta namavali by Bhagavat Rishi Ji, and any other bhakta namavals—recite them.

When you read the bhakta namavali with your heart engaged, bhakti increases greatly and Hari becomes your helper. Deep feeling for God will arise. If you listen to the stories of the bhaktas, if you wear the dust from the bhaktas' feet on your head, and if you recite the bhakta namavali every day, you will see—the bhakta namavali is with you. Bhakta Namavali 42 was written by Dhruv Das Ji; you can get that. It will take you about thirty to forty minutes. Then you will see how your bhajan grows every day. And the food eaten by one who does bhajan should be sattvic, and the food should be offered to the Lord. Receive prasad only, not food that has not been offered. Understand this: food that has not been offered to the Lord is called that which has not been offered. And food that is offered and then received is called prasad. Receive only prasad offering; do not receive that which has not been offered. And maintain pure conduct and take shelter of the saints, then you will see—prema will arise in your naam jap.

First, naam jap will destroy sin. Whatever sins exist, whatever sinful tendencies exist, naam jap will destroy them. Then the experience of joy will come. And when joy begins to come in naam jap, then our mind will naturally become absorbed. If joy does not come, the mind goes toward worldly objects. And when naam jap is happening, it means the mind is still clouded. But wherever joy has come, this beautiful and sovereign mind will naturally come back from the world. In God's name there is abundant joy, an ocean of joy. God is like a fish—if it is in a small pond, it becomes anxious, worried that the water will dry up and it will die. But if it reaches the ocean, it plays and leaps with joy. In the same way, every joy of this world will be left behind.

Whomever you love, one day that person will die. One day this body will die. Every object here is dying. This is called the realm of death. Every person is dying every moment. Every object here is perishing. Everything is moving toward destruction. What should we do? Having received the human body, mrityu maa amritam gam—our direction should be from death in the realm of death toward the immortal. And here everyone is moving toward death. So we should not become attached to anyone here. Love the bhaktas, love the naam, listen to the Lord's leelas and qualities.

It will be very auspicious. Deep relish will arise in naam jap. If you worship and bow to the bhakta namavali.

Lord, what you are saying is about offering food. When we prepare an offering, some people say, "There is absolutely no need. See, the salt is fine, the sugar is fine. Put it in just as it is." We don't. We check it, don't we? Yes. First we take a little in a bowl and we taste it, because we want to know how it will be for Shri Ji. First we get a taste to see—it is very good. Then we do water purification, we wash our hands, then we offer the food.

We don't offer something first to Shri Ji without tasting. First we taste it ourselves. We check it. Like if there is some fruit, is it sour, what is it like? Is there too much salt in the dal, or too little? We check everything. And then, because they are our dear ones, we offer food only when we have verified it. If we like it, then we make the offering to our dear Lord and serve it. It is almost always the custom in this world to first offer whatever one has to God. But our Braj tradition is not like that. In Braj it is like this: we will taste first. If it is fine, then we will serve it to our Lord, otherwise we will not.

This is the custom here. But there is a belief in the world that it becomes false. It doesn't become false first. It is considered false only when we are keeping something for ourselves. We are tasting it to check—for the Lord—what kind of substance is in it. Yes, it is excellent. Now we have done water purification, we have washed our hands, and we are going to serve the Lord. This is our Braj custom. All the beloved ones of Braj who have lived have first verified it themselves. Yes, it is right. Then they offer food to the Lord. And it is not much either. Just a little—yes, only a small amount of food.

Yes, what do you mean, half a plate full and we have tasted and drunk it—that happens, doesn't it? A little in a bowl, just to check. Rajendra Kumar Agrawal Ji, Jai Shri Hari Om. Sadvi Priya Sharan Ji, Mother Ji. They are asking Maharaj Ji a question. One like this. Maharaj Ji, they are saying that Mother Ji is saying that at age nine, somewhere, some sant and God came to the house, and from there she received diksha. But when youth came, then from one place where she received instruction, she received the Gopal Mahamantra. Maharaj Ji. Maharaj Ji is now saying that this mantra has now made her somewhat aware—should she recite the first one or the new one?

Look now, my life is nearly complete. I haven't even set foot on the path yet. Standing at the crossroads, my life is already gone. I chant Maharaj's Gopal Maha Mantra continuously. But I have doubt—without doubt, how will I attain the perfected state? When we doubt the mantra—should I chant this one or that one, and I don't know if it will bear fruit or not—then all our sadhana is ruined. If we don't have faith in Guru's words, when we become detached, there is no world left behind. Yes, about that past mantra, it was said that you should do it. Now do what you have received now, leave all the past behind, and complete perfection resides in this alone. Chant the Gopal Mantra with great faith and purity. There is no time left now, no young body to continue sadhana. Quietly surrender to God. "O God, I am in your refuge. What I build will never be built even in crores of ages; what you build will be built in moments. O Lord, may I spend all the remaining breaths in your remembrance, and through your grace, may I attain welfare."

Yes, good. When the mind is absorbed in the mantra, then chant the mantra. If not in the mantra, then chant the naam. You have naam jap. I have received only the Gopal Maha Mantra from Guru—just one mantra that he has given. You have received the tilak of the sampradaya, so you also have the naam—Radhe Shyam, Radhe Shyam, Shyam Shyam, Radhe Radhe, Radhe Radhe Radhe Krishna, Radhe Krishna, Krishna Krishna Krishna, Radhe Radhe. So when you have interest in the mantra, chant the mantra, and chant the naam at all times. Very well, Maharaj Ji. This person also had the same experience. They were saying that when they first had a guru and were chanting the naam from that initiation, then once again they took diksha at someone's insistence, thinking that there can be many gurus. You can have fifty shiksha gurus, but you don't change your diksha guru. Dattatreya had 24 gurus—he made them all shiksha gurus, not diksha gurus. All the worthy ones among them he took as shiksha gurus. So we can receive teaching from 10,000 people. Someone said, "I liked one of your statements. You have become our shiksha guru." "I liked one thing you said. I accept your word." They learned about concentration from the arrow maker—just as the arrow maker was so absorbed in making arrows that the king's procession passed right by, and the arrow maker didn't even notice.

Such a sadhak should remain focused on their goal. The pigeon, attached to its family, gets trapped in a net and dies. From that we learn that we should not be so attached to family and our own body. A hawk was carrying a piece of meat. Many hawks pounced on it, so it dropped the meat. The hawks went after it and it became free. So a renunciate, a detached one, a sannyasi, a saint should not keep anything that would attract people's attention. If attention falls on it, one should abandon the thing. They learned from every single thing. But they did not take a second diksha. It is wrong when someone tells us, "Now take the guru mantra from this person," as if the guru mantra is a marketplace commodity. What we receive from Guru even once, we chant for our whole life. We can take shiksha from thousands. Why just from 24? We can go to thousands of places and listen to satsang. We can listen to the experiential teachings of thousands of saints. But the diksha guru should be only one.

Yes, Amarendra Singh Ji from Australia—Radhe Radhe, Maharaj Ji. Maharaj Ji, you are saying—what is the difference between moksha and atma-jnan, Maharaj Ji?

Only one who has atma-jnan attains moksha. Only one who has atma-jnan attains moksha. Do you understand? Do you know what atma-jnan means? Inner knowledge—knowledge of oneself. Who am I? The atma—the soul. So you don't love your body?

No, it's not that much about the body, Maharaj.

No, it isn't. After this physical body, there is another body—the subtle body.

Yes, sir.

After that, there is another body—the causal body.

There are three bodies. When all three bodies are abandoned and one realizes one's true nature, one is called a liberated being. Moksha is not a title. It is not a thing. We have been holding onto it. We let it go. It never held us. The inert body never held you. You held the inert body. "I am well. I am unwell." You are holding it, aren't you? You are holding my mind. The mind did not hold you. You held the mind. This holding of the gross body, the subtle body, and the causal body by me—this is what is called bondage. And when we separate from this and realize our true nature, that is it.

Not mere knowledge. Just having information about halwa won't make us healthy, nourished, or satisfied. We have to make the halwa and eat it. We may have complete knowledge of how to make halwa, but if we've never actually made it and eaten it, what use is that knowledge? If there is atma-jnan but no atma-bodh, no experience, then atma-jnan is of no use. Atma-bodh is when that knowledge becomes an experience, a direct realization. Just as when you make halwa and eat it, then you know. To others you say, "100 grams of water, 100 grams of sugar, this much ghee, do it this way, that way, this way," but if you've never tasted it—similarly, atma-jnan is described in the scriptures; we can learn it and speak about it, but if there is no experience, then no.

Atma pravraachain labhya—The soul cannot be attained through discourse.

This self-realization is not obtained even by one who gives discourses. Nor by much hearing—not even to one who listens much. It is not attained even by one of great intellect. Only to one who experiences it.

For experience, one needs dispassion for worldly pleasures, discrimination between the real and unreal, control of the senses, mastery of the mind, supreme faith in the feet of Gurudev, the bhajan given by him, the mind fixed on that goal, the longing for liberation, nothing seeming good except moksha—"I want to be liberated."

Then through the strength of sadhana, when understanding comes, the attachment to all three bodies falls away. We have held onto it. We have released it. This alone is called moksha. The falling away of this attachment is not anything else or any siddhi. To speak truthfully, there was no bondage at all. We had grasped it. No one grasped us. Whatever we keep releasing, we keep attaining moksha from it. Whatever we are still holding, we are bound by that much. Release everything and you are free. Do you understand? Maria Ji from America - Radhe Radhe - Radhe - Maharaj Ji, Maharaj Ji - whenever I sit down to meditate, sleep comes to me very much.

When your eyes suddenly open, keep cold water ready. Cold water - so the remedy is to get up. Start walking or keep cold water at hand. Because, whose is this? Yes. Because if sleep comes now, then what meditation will you do? Do you eat meat? No, no. Vegetarian. No, no, no - very beautiful, excellent. I don't know English, people understand - come with me. Okay, okay, yes - pure food and pure company. Don't see impurity, don't hear impurity, don't speak impurity, don't do impurity.

From this our heart becomes pure. And do you do naam jap, naam jap? When one speaks one name of God, when they say Radha, Radha - that Radha, that is Krishna. There are many names to speak, but it is one essence. So continuity - do you understand the meaning of continuity? Continuity - yes, my friend, English - well said, continue - that's the point, isn't it? We can't even say it properly, my friend - continuity. Yes, if we just keep saying Wahe Guru, Wahe Guru, Wahe Guru, Wahe Guru, Wahe Guru, Wahe Guru - then our thoughts of the world have fallen away and our thoughts are of Wahe Guru, and continuous thoughts of Wahe Guru, and when the meditation becomes intense, then we will enter into dhyan.

But it comes every day. I try, right? Crying comes very much when the eyes open - it happens to us too. It happens to us too. Its result is just this. When bliss comes within us, then crying comes. When God's bliss comes, the matter of joyful tears arises. Sometimes there are tears of separation for union with Him - when will you meet me? Sometimes there are tears of longing for meeting, and sometimes from His bliss, from His naam, from meditation on Him, the bliss that comes produces a flow of tears. This happens through God's grace. This is a good thing.

There is nothing bad about it. That's fine. Yes, a worldly person understands - I don't know why they are sad, why are they crying so much. Yes. If tears come in front of someone, they come on their own while you're talking. Yes, but if someone understands, that's good, isn't it? I don't want anyone to think I'm a bhakt. When we were in Hit Dham, we wanted - there was more solitude there. When crying came in a God-like state of mind, there were one or two mahatmas there. Hey, are you crying? I said yes, why? That one has a pain in their kidney. Never express to yourself that I am crying for God.

Make your body a witness by putting some point there. If you say it's for God, then your crying will stop. Then there will be a decrease in your love. You should hide your love. Love grows as much as it is hidden. Revealing it destroys it. If love is made public, love will gradually be suppressed. Maharaj Ji - the longing doesn't come. Crying comes on its own. Someone asks - what happened to you? Nothing. I'll tell you - my head hurts. My eyes burn. My mind is troubled, that's why I'm crying.

Now if we should tell the truth, we tell it. If we shouldn't, we don't tell it. And if someone asks, then it's necessary to answer. Otherwise, go quietly on your way in your own bliss.

Maharaj Ji - this Radha, Radha, Wahe Guru - is this what is called naam, or is it that by doing the jap of this, grace comes upon us? And does He give a naam within our mind?

That naam which comes from the guru's mouth - that naam manifests the state of siddhi within us. Just as, until the guru is found, the naam comes from some guru's mouth, doesn't it? Wahe Guru has come from someone's mouth, from the mouth of a great soul. Radha has come from some great soul's mouth. So we do the jap of those names. Then we attain the true guru. And what is attained through the true guru - if through the true guru we have attained Radha, then divinity will come. If through the true guru we have attained Wahe Guru, then divinity will come. All names are given through the guru.

From that, the state of siddhi is attained very quickly. Therefore there is the glory of being guru-oriented. You can follow the path of the mind, but completeness comes from following the guru. Do you understand? Yes, yes. Yes, yes.

Guru Ji - when you practice dhyan, even after the mind becomes disturbed, dhyan comes again and then it rises up. Yes, so keep practicing. Again and again it comes, again and again the restless mind goes - so if we keep practicing with a mind joined to yoga, slowly it will start to stay. Just as before it didn't stay, now slowly it's starting to stay. You're beginning to notice - it went, and where you thought it went, it will come back. You don't have to call it, you just have to know it's gone - the mind will come instantly. And when it comes - how long can you keep it stable? One second, two seconds, ten seconds, one minute, two minutes, half an hour, thirty minutes. When you start to maintain this for that duration, then the bliss of dhyan will come.

But what is the object of your meditation? Yes. So just keep the focus steady there. By repeatedly saying "Radha Radha," the mind won't get a chance to run away so much. Even if it does run away, bring it back. If you do this repeatedly, then the ground will become firm. That is, our meditation will become steady and established. Do you understand? Jaunsuri, Shaswat ji, Radha Vallabh, Shri Harivansh Mamta ji from Jaunpur — Maharaj ji, both of them have the same question. Maharaj ji, Mamta ji is saying: Maharaj ji, why did God create this house of sorrows at all? Seeing everyone's suffering and pain, it comes to mind — if this world was created by God, why is it the creation of God? Why has it been placed upon God? He is playing a game with himself. You yourself are that. You have forgotten yourself and are thinking yourself to be a woman.

You have forgotten yourself and are thinking yourself to be a child. You have forgotten yourself and are thinking yourself to be a man. That is your error. Come, see yourself in your true form. No game is happening. There is no house of sorrows. You are still in a dream, so you are seeing much suffering and pleasure. Awaken, and there is no pleasure, no suffering either. When you know, the world disappears.
Jeh jane jag jaye hirai.
When you are awake, just as the confusion of a dream vanishes.
Jaage jatha swapan bhram jai.
If you wish to come out of this confusion, you can. If you wish to remain trapped, you can. You have trapped yourself in your own snare. Free yourself from your own snare. Who are you? Whose question is this?

Who are you? You don't know. But if you can just know this, the question of the world will be solved. The individual soul is eternal consciousness, the embodiment of supreme joy. The world is a dream-like illusion. Being trapped in this illusion and forgetting one's true nature — that is suffering. Knowing one's true nature and the destruction of illusion — that is the ultimate reality. That is supreme perfection. Now, why did God create the world? Who are you? You are that.
Tattvam asi, tattvam asi — you are that.
You have forgotten yourself and are thinking yourself to be a woman or a man, taking the activities of the world as truth, taking pleasures as truth, and remaining confused about this.

That is why there is suffering. It is like someone's throat being cut in a dream — no matter how much force you use, you cannot save them. There is only one way to save them: awaken them. Why? Your throat is being cut in a dream. No matter how many bodyguards you arrange, no matter how many soldiers you deploy, can you save anyone? There is only one way: awaken them. Suppose in a dream someone is drowning in an ocean. Now even if you arrange hundreds of ships, deploy boats, send swimmers — you cannot save them. There is only one way: awaken them. In the same way, Uma, I tell you from my experience: the truth is Hari-bhajan. The world is all a dream, all a dream. You are thinking yourself to be a woman, thinking yourself to be a man, thinking yourself to be suffering, thinking yourself to be happy.

This is a dream. God has expanded himself into the form of the three gunas. The form of sattva, the form of rajas, the form of tamas — creation, sustenance, dissolution. He creates you from himself. He sustains you from himself. He destroys you from himself. You too are that. Know this, then:
Je jane jag jaye hirai.
When you know, the world will disappear, just as a dream disappears when you awaken. Now you are dreaming, so it seems true. God has been very merciful. Has He made anything bad? Tell us — He gave you eyes, so see well. He gave you a tongue, so speak well. He gave you ears, so hear well. He gave you hands, so do well. Now there is joy, there is joy — where is suffering? Now if you act according to your own whims, forgetting your true nature, then there is suffering indeed.

So God has created this play for himself. It is not created for you. Who are you? You are that.
Tattvam asi.
The play is finished. If you just know this, then life becomes liberated. This is the ultimate dissolution. What is moksha? Moksha — what does it mean? If you were never bound, what is moksha? It is illusion. The illusion has been destroyed. The matter has been understood. You are the Lord, O God. You are the Lord. Forgetting yourself, you are thinking yourself to be a woman. Forgetting yourself, you are thinking yourself to be a man. And you are taking this world as truth. You are taking pleasures as truth. All this is the night of delusion, all seeing this way.
Ye moh nisha sab so nihara, dekh swapan anek prakara.
This is an illusory form created by God's maya. What is yours — you yourself are that. There is no one else. When you know:
Jeh jane jag jaye hirai.
When you know, the importance of the world will end. Now the world has importance, the body has importance, that is why you cannot know.
Ek brahm dvitiy nast — there is only one Brahman, the second does not exist.
There is only one, but to you many appear — woman, man, matter, consciousness. It is like a dream where a whole marketplace appears. Even though it is true, as long as you don't awaken, the dream will seem true, and when you awaken, it will seem false.

In the same way, you are in delusion, so the world seems true. When you are in knowledge, there is nothing but the one Brahman.
Sarvam khalv idam brahm — everything is indeed Brahman.
Ek brahm dvitiy naste — one Brahman, the second does not exist.
There is no one else. There is no room for suffering at all. There is no suffering. There is only joy, only joy. Now you are in a dream, so you are experiencing suffering and pleasure. When there is realization of Brahman, the soul becomes joyful.
Brahm bhuta prasann atma — becoming Brahman, the self becomes joyful.
When there is the experience of Brahman, you will receive supreme devotion.
Sarveshv bhuteshu sumadbhakti labhte param.
That is why sadhana must be done. But now you are doing the sadhana of pleasures, the sadhana of sense objects, the sadhana of the world. The world gives mixed suffering and pleasure.

It is not that only suffering comes. Suffering will come, pleasure will come, both are false. Both suffering and pleasure are false, nothing is true. It is all one illusion. You say you have enjoyed so much pleasure. Do you have anything called pleasure such that it is fixed — "I received this pleasure"? Then again, then again — the same incompleteness, the same emptiness, the same loneliness, then again a search for new pleasure. So the pleasure your mind is searching for is your own joy. You are an eternal part of God, that is, you are of the form of God. That joy which is of the form of God — and you, forgetting your true nature, thinking yourself to be a woman, pursuing worldly pleasures — how will the question be solved?

The solution to the problem comes through sadhana. God has not created anything bad. God has created everything beautifully. Look at it — God created the sun, the moon. What a magnificent creation. God gave us eyes, nose, ears. Now if we misuse them, then we will have to suffer. If we use them properly, there is joy right now. You should convince yourself: God has created this creation with great grace, how blissful it is. You eat gulab jamun. Did God create it wrong? No. But if you eat fifty gulab jamun, it becomes wrong, does it not? Yes. So if we, with proper management, regard this world as God's garden and behave appropriately, then suffering will not remain.

Now tell me, if India's government did not have this system of punishment, would the government be incomplete or complete? How can any rule exist without a system of punishment? It is necessary, is it not? So that very thing is our protection. Right now if you ask them for protection, they will give it to you, and if you do wrong, they will beat you and put you inside. So God is also in our protection. When we do wrong, He comes in the form of suffering, and when we do right, He comes in the form of happiness. And when knowledge comes, there is neither suffering nor happiness — only unbroken bliss remains.

So rise up, do naam jap, listen to God's sacred stories, and live with restraint. Do not do any wrong thing — then see, joy will begin to come, your heart will become joyful. Maharaj Ji, in worldly games, there are players, and there is victory and defeat, and the winner receives a prize. So Maharaj Ji, in God's creation play, who is the player? What is victory? What is defeat? And the reward? You yourself are the game. You yourself are the player. You yourself are the victory. You yourself are the defeat. You yourself will become. You yourself will make. You yourself will dissolve. You yourself will cause to dissolve.

There is no second. There is no other. Now how to explain this? This thing can only be explained when there is sadhana. If there is no sadhana, how will understanding come? In this realm of ignorance, the words of Brahma knowledge, the words of God knowledge, are not easily understood. Now because it is a spiritual subject, when someone used to ask Radha Babuji a question, he would say: do one hundred thousand repetitions of the name every day, then after one month, two months, come and talk to us, then you will understand something. How can one understand spirituality without sadhana, Ji? Yashpal Singh Ji from Mathura — Radhe Radhe, Radhe Radhe — Maharaj Ji, countless prostrations at your feet. Maharaj Ji, sometimes such a doubt or confusion arises in the mind that I am somehow afflicted and I do government service.

Is there any chance that walking the spiritual path or the path of bhakti might create problems in fulfilling my family and government duties? That would be very good. Your position must be very small. Amareesh Ji was a Chakravarti Emperor. Read about it in the Bhagavat. Look, you might have the position of one province — he was a Chakravarti Emperor, king of kings, a great Maharaja, and among the great devotees of God he was most honored. This means that Durvasa Ji, such a powerful saint, failed before him. His tapasya failed before the glory of his bhakti. If bhakti distracted from one's duty, how could this have been possible? Bhakti strengthens you in your duty. It gives you proficiency.

We must understand this thing. We love our mother as our mother. But when we love with bhakti, we love our mother understanding her as God. We love our father as our father. And when the bhakti feeling comes, we will love our father understanding him as God. Right now we regard the government department as the government department and work it. Then you will regard it as the worship of God — that this duty of mine is worship, for God has given me this department. You are doing naam jap and properly fulfilling your duty with dharma and nourishing your family with the feeling of God.

That is very good bhakti. It teaches a very good way of living. Maharaj Ji, sometimes it feels — no, let it not happen somehow. So for this reason, understand that your family has two, four, ten people. Our family has a thousand, fifteen hundred people. There are two, four, ten children. Look here — hundreds of children have come from different homes. So for you it would be difficult to manage two children. If you tell one child, no mobile, he will disobey your order. And here, no mobile, and he will never touch it his whole life.

All are educated children, are they not? Well, how much responsibility do you have to manage? It is our responsibility over their minds. That this one's mind should not fail, that one's mind should not fail. We play on the mind. We play on everyone's mind. You play on external behavior and we play on your mind. From now on I will not do this. Now I will act this way. Babaji said this. Now I will act this way. These small matters — is this not the glory of bhakti? The one who does bhakti will be able to fulfill real duty. Just as if someone gives you one hundred rupees and says, do this work for me — if you are a bhakt, you will immediately come: no, God provides us our sustenance through the royal system. If your work is worth doing, I will do it anyway, and if it is not worth doing, even if you give me millions, I will not do it — that would be your stubbornness. If an officer wants to make you do something wrong, resign immediately. I will not do wrong, because I am God's bhakt. This means a different form of you will emerge.

Right now if a job is lost, how will I live? Then there will come inside you: I am God's person. I will not do wrong. Even if I have to beg for food, I will not do wrong. Bhakti will nourish you. It will make you fearless. Fearlessness, freedom from greed, duty fulfillment — bhakti is a very great virtue. Duty fulfillment — if God gave us duty, then we should regard you as God and speak to Him with love in so many forms, and answer whatever God calls us to do. To properly fulfill one's own duty — bhakti teaches this.

Bhakti does not make one abandon duty. Bhakti nourishes, and the children of bhakti are knowledge and detachment. These are indeed the children of bhakti. So God will give you as much knowledge as you need for your work, and as much detachment as you need for your bhakti to be nourished. Among householders, there have been one great bhagavata after another, one great bhagavata after another—great bhagavatas have arisen among householders. It seems to us that there have been greater bhagavatas among householders than among the renunciate. If one reads Bhaktamal, one sees that householders have attained a supreme state more than the renunciate have. But there is one bhakt with intense devotion to God in their heart, named Chir Chidani Ji, who appears in Bhaktamal.

So Pipa Ji and Sita Sacharji came to visit them. Hearing of the glory of their bhakti, their condition was such that as saints kept coming, everything was spent. There was nothing left to eat in the house. The doors and windows—they had uprooted and sold those too. They had served the saints. Now when Pipa Ji and Sita Sacharji were leaving, Cheedar Ji said to his wife Chidrani Ji, "Today the saint will go hungry, because no one will lend us anything and there is nothing in the house left to sell. If we fail to provide food, we will break our rule that no saint should ever leave our door hungry." And when such a great saint as Pipa Ji was leaving, what did his wife say? "They will not go hungry. We have one garment—it is presentable on the body, meaning it is reasonably decent." Because Cheedar Ji was wearing a torn Draupadi dhoti wrapped around the body. She removed her garment and said, "Sell it in the market. We will get some chickpeas and jaggery, something will come. By God's grace, they will not go hungry." It sold. So with that money they bought lentils and rice, cooked them, and when they were about to be placed before Pipa Ji in a clean vessel, a devotee came to attend to Sita Sacharji. "Shall we call them too?" they said. "No, no," Pipa Ji said. "No, I will call them myself." She went inside and saw Chidrani Ji sitting naked in the kitchen.

Tears were flowing from her eyes. The name of God was flowing from her mouth. Sita Sacharji understood upon seeing the condition of the house. And so she said, "Sister, why are you sitting naked?" Opening her eyes, Chidrani Ji looked and said, "We heard that you have had a vision of Dvarikadish. So you will speak of Dvarikadish. Why have you started speaking of this perishable body? One is born naked. When one dies, the body will be burned as it is. What point is there in discussing this? Speak of God!" What a great bhakt! Sita Sacharji returned and whispered in Pipa Ji's ear, "We thought she was a queen who had renounced her palace and everything, but compared to their renunciation, ours is nothing.

Food has come by selling the clothes off their own body. Bhakti means complete renunciation, complete sacrifice, and devotion. So if you faithfully fulfill the duties of your position, that is great worship of God. Whatever duty and work is given to you, perform it while chanting the name and support your family. This is what bhakti to God teaches. Bhakti to God does not teach one to abandon their duty. It teaches renunciation for the sake of duty. Even to give one's life for the fulfillment of one's duty—this is what bhakti teaches.

This text is taken from automatic captions of the video—there may be errors in words. To hear the authentic discourse, please listen to the video.

Original video: Bhajan Marg (YouTube)