ekantik vartalaap evam darshan #1430

A private conversation with Pujya Shri Hit Premanand Govind Sharan Ji Maharaj at Shri Hit Radha Keli Kunj, Vrindavan. Sadhaks bring their questions about their life and sadhana, and Maharaj Ji resolves them.

Full Discourse

Radhe Radhe. Maharaj Ji, Maharaj Ji, exactly two years ago today, while I was offering complete surrender at Bhagwan's feet, Bhagwat prapti happened to me by mistake. That is, I surrendered to Bhagwan and by mistake received Bhagwat sakshatkar, or attainment, whatever you choose to call it. It happened after I saw your reel, in which you spoke about the Krishnaya Vasudevaya mantra and said, "Chant this." I was amazed. You said, "Oh child, your whole life is ahead, go on, brother. Bhagwan Kripalu can bring himself before anyone at any moment. I bow to you, child." So what should one do? Child, you have already attained Bhagwat prapti. You have become complete.

There is no question. After Bhagwat prapti, questions do not remain. When one experiences Brahman, when one experiences Paramatma, as the verse says:

brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati
samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām

Brahma bhuta prasanna atma soti samate bhakti late param

Ksana .. One who has become one with Brahman, whose self is serene, neither grieves nor desires, and who sees all beings alike, attains supreme devotion to Me.

Within that person no question remains, no desire remains, no fear remains, no worry remains, no sorrow remains. That is why they laughed. Someone came and said, "I have had the darshan of Bhagwan." I asked, "Why are you telling me this? Is this something to announce?" He said, "Nobody believes me." In his vision, nobody believes it. That very vision shows that you are ignorant. You have not attained Bhagwat prapti. A person who attains Bhagwat prapti does not go around getting it printed, saying, "I have attained Bhagwat prapti."

What happened after that, Maharaj Ji? "For two months everything went very well. Everything was good." Child, this is nonsense. It was good for two months, then it went away. One who has had Bhagwat sakshatkar once should know what Bhagwat prapti means. Once someone has attained Bhagwat prapti, the world does not come into their vision again. It stays with them:

piya mūrat naina basai te ras rahā samāe
ye lakshan sun prem ke aur na kachhu suhāe
aur na kachhu suhāe, phire apne mad māto
kutumb deh te jāe chhūt sab hī vidhi nāto
jahān-jahān pī kī bāt sune, kho bhojat tin naina
hit dhruv chhin chhin le prem jal bhari bhari

The Beloved's form dwells in my eyes, and its essence pervades me. When one hears these signs of love, nothing else pleases. Nothing else pleases. Intoxicated with its pride, one wanders, leaving family, body and every bond in every way. Wherever one hears talk of the Beloved, there one drinks it in with the eyes. Hit Dhruv, moment by moment, is filled to the brim with the water of love.

That person stays absorbed in the bliss of the ocean of joy, which is Bhagwan. Once they have had sakshatkar, they wander intoxicated with that bliss. So what is Bhagwat prapti, after all? What does it mean? Bhagwat prapti means sakshatkar of Bhagwan, seeing him as we see each other, here and now. There is also tattva bodh, which happens from within. Bhagwat sakshatkar happens like this.

Once, at Hit Dham, ten or five people were with me, and there was a girl. Ten or five young men came to us and said, "Shri Ji has given darshan to them. They have come to us for darshan." I said, "Our Shri Ji Swamini has given her darshan. So we should go to her for darshan." Why would she need to come to us? Still, we said, "All right, call her." She came wearing garlands, and they had all staged a drama. She sat in front of us. I said, "Child, look into my eyes." I said, "Child, did you have Shri Ji's darshan, or not?" She said, "Maharaj Ji, it was in a dream." I said, "No, child. Did you have Shri Ji's darshan in a dream?" She said, "No." I said, "Child, why are you putting on a show? These ten people will lead you to hell. You are doing a meaningless act. Do bhajan. A human body has been given to you for real Bhagwat prapti, not to display this deception. Child, Bhagwat prapti is not a sweet you put in your mouth and eat. Maharaj Ji, it is a mistake that after that, you made a resolve to protect someone's honour and destroyed your bhajan strength."

After that, I said, "All right, all right. We accept that you attained Bhagwat prapti. Do naam jap and live a pure life. Be a good girl, and sooner or later you will attain it. Bhagwan will be attained." So we received a human birth, but this is not called Bhagwat prapti. The bhajan destroyed by your resolve: chant naam, chant naam, chant naam. Give everything up. Chant Radha Radha abundantly. Keep your character pure. Keep this female body of yours pure. Bhagwan Kripalu can give darshan at any time through his grace.

His glory is something else. Therefore, chant naam. Don't tell anyone that you have attained Bhagwat prapti. When you said "bodh tattva bodh," I think that was what you meant. Maharaj Ji, they don't realise it happened by mistake, do they? Brother, if such a mistake happened to all of us, it would be wonderful, wouldn't it? They perhaps cannot understand. They say, "It felt very good, and when I surrendered, it felt like this." Oh, these are sattvik pleasures. How would they know? A person who enjoys small pleasures is not qualified for the supreme bhūmā sukh. To attain that great bliss, one has to give up small pleasures. One gives up small experiences.

They did not accept that she appeared directly from the stream of the Ganga like that. Why are you sitting behind a veil? We are faqirs. We have come for you. We have wept for you. Until your veil is lifted, we will not accept all this magic and trickery. We will not accept your little bits of bliss. We are not won over by small joys or small miracles. We are won over by you. Come, talk to us. Be in this world, be with us, and let us experience it. You are you. We have set out for you.

The curtain opens from the outside. When the inner curtain is removed from both places, the outer one comes off immediately, and then one sees the same everywhere. Maharaj Ji, where does it come off first? In the heart. The heart is opened first. First there is understanding of the Truth in the heart, and then awareness of the Divine everywhere. Our spectacles will change, and then we will see. When our vision changed, we began to see everything.

Akshay Thakur ji from Delhi: Shri Harivansh Maharaj ji, Maharaj ji, I have heard from the saints that the Lord quickly meets people of a simple, guileless nature.

But Maharaj ji, I do not mean a foolish person by simplicity. Simplicity means humility without ego, even though one has all knowledge. It means having affection only for God. Simplicity does not mean a foolish person. No devotee is one who is without knowledge. Yes, there is a simplicity, a closeness to God: God is my mother, God is my father, God is my friend. That simplicity is of the highest, most pure kind. Foolishness is not called simplicity.

Maharaj ji, here is the question. He says that when we look at ourselves, we find that we are very clever. We even tell many lies, and in us deceit and cunning are visible. Yes, this is a very beautiful feeling. This feeling must be there. Because we see faults in ourselves, we receive the grace of God. How, then, do we receive the grace of the Lord? When we consider ourselves faulty and remain in God's refuge in that state, we receive God's grace.

When this understanding stays within us, that we are not worthy of the Lord, then it is by God's grace that He has accepted us. There are many faults in us, and through this we receive the grace of God. The living being becomes entitled to God's grace. This must definitely be there. Look, Hanuman ji Maharaj is a supremely wise great soul, and he says:

as main adham sakha sunu mohu par Raghuvirr
"I am such a lowly one, friend. Listen, O Raghuvir."

Even though I am this lowly, there is still God's grace on us. Shabari ji is a great speaker, and she says:

adham te adham adham a mati nari tama mein mati mand aghari
"The lowest of the low, the lowest of the low, a lowly woman, and among such, dull of understanding, O Destroyer of sins."

I am the lowest of the low women, a Bhilni by caste, and even lower than that. This is the feeling that devotees keep inside: that they are very lowly. Only then can they win over that great Supreme Being.

When there is a feeling of humility within, to consider oneself lower than everyone, the smallest of all, even humbler than:

tanadpi suneeche
"Lower than a blade of grass"

..to consider oneself lower even than a blade of grass. Do you understand, the good and the bad, the recognition of one's own nature?

Adarsh Vajpayee ji from Lucknow: Radhe Radhe, Radhe Radhe. Maharaj ji, you said that one should do as much naam jap as possible in one breath. Then in a private sitting you also said that one should chant in whatever way is most comfortable, and that this is better. So should a sadhak chant naam at ease, or should a beginner chant as much as possible? Different sadhaks are at different levels, aren't they? There are stages in bhajan, aren't there?

A beginning sadhak should only practise chanting the naam as much as possible in the beginning.

Then, when we begin to chant a lot, the mind runs away the first chance it gets. Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha. Now it has started its work. Now we have to stop its work and fix it on this. So again and again, wherever the mind runs, pull it back from there and fix it on the naam. Therefore, now we must adopt a slower pace. Radha, Radha, Radha. Now the Radha written in front of us is heard by our ears, and Radha is being spoken from within the heart. Now the mind gets no chance to run away. If the sadhak tries to rule the mind right at the beginning, the naam will be lost. So first practise the naam until it begins to dwell on the tongue. Then meditate on the naam, and listen to the naam. The mind must be dragged in. The naam and the mind are the cause of bondage and liberation. A mind occupied with worldly objects and thoughts is the cause of bondage, and a mind occupied with contemplation of God is the cause of liberation.

So in the initial stage we do not do this. When we advance and reach the stage where we chant for hours but the mind does not settle, where it keeps thinking of the world, then we drag it back. Wherever it goes, we pull it back from there and bring it to the mantra and the naam, and we bind the mind to the naam. Radha Radha Radha. Oh, Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha. The mind will keep up its old tricks now. It will show you the worries of past and future, the dirty impressions within, and all that will appear before you. It will tell you to abandon the naam and engage with those things. But we should not pay heed to what it says.

Gradually, we have to trap the mind. And when the mind becomes absorbed in God, one attains a joy that does not exist in any worldly object. Look, everything here is perishable. Everything will be left behind in a second. The moment our breath stops, the body is left behind, the bank balance is left behind, studies are left behind, position is left behind, friends and enemies, all of it will be left behind in a second. What will go with us? We will remain. The body will be left behind. We will remain. Now, if we do not have the strength of merit or the strength of bhajan, then we do not know whether we will be born as a prince or a dog or anything else. There are 84 lakh species. So in this life, after this life, this is found only in Bharat.

This is the research of the Brahma Rishis of the land of Bharat, and it is found nowhere else. Outside, it is eat, drink, earn, eat, enjoy, enjoy as much as you can. Then after death, heaven and hell, and nothing after that. Liberation, the supreme state, and love belong to the Brahma Rishis, to the Brahma Rishis of Bharat. So what are we doing about what comes after death? Our lifespan is 60 or 70 years. The twenty years of youth come as such storms that we cannot understand anything at all. The childhood behind us is a state of unconsciousness. In old age we cannot do anything. So when is the right time?

When we should do [something] for after our death. Think about it: half of our life goes in sleeping and entertainment. The other half goes in earning, eating and enjoying. When do we have time? If we are not careful, maya will waste our entire life, and in the next birth we will be born again in lowly species. We have not seen many years of this Kalikal. We have seen only 40 years, because consciousness awakens around the age of 10. We gain understanding of good and bad, of what is happening and what is not. At 13, Baba ji had already become a renunciate. So do you remember those 40 years? Such a huge change has happened in 40 years that filth keeps spreading, filth keeps spreading. Small children, very young children, are falling prey to such filthy habits as were never even imagined in a dream. New children are becoming full of such vile behaviour as there was never any room for. Marriage may happen at 14 or 15, but consummation used to happen at 20. There was great purity, chastity (pativrata dharma) and truthfulness. What is it now? A child from 13 to 20 has complete knowledge of the world, and is so devoted to adultery that 10 or 20 boyfriends keep changing. No, those adulterous men [have relations with] ten women. A 20-year-old with two girls, what is this? So in Kalyug there is now only a little opportunity left to do bhajan.

Ahead, such an opportunity will not come again. Where are bhajan, puja, swaha and svadha now? Where are the yajnas? Where has the right to perform the five daily yajnas gone, and the right to do trikal sandhya? Where has it gone? Everything is lost. Daily scriptural study, daily charity and merit, charity done with discipline. Where has all this gone, this disciplined giving to others? Somehow our desires get fulfilled. These tendencies keep running. So the opportunity to attain God is in this human life. We should walk very carefully and do good for others. Do not consume meat or liquor. Do not hold an adulterous mindset toward other people's mothers and sisters.

Let us do naam jap. Only a little over 5000 years of Kalyug have passed, and its total is 432,000 years. There will be an uproar. It has not yet reached 32 thousand years. It is still crawling on its knees. Let it grow up a little. Then you will see corruption everywhere in the world. Dharma will not be heard, not even by ear. A time will come when whoever speaks of God and dharma will be killed. Sins and wrongful conduct will increase. In 40 years we are seeing a big change. Small children know everything through their mobile phones.

They know everything. They search everything and know everything. Because of this, their intellect is drawn to natural maya, and they give up satsang right from the start. Telling lies from the start, watching unreal and vile pastimes from the start, playing dirty games from the start: this is being found in small children. So, if one can very carefully protect one's mind and engage it in the Lord, that life is blessed, most blessed. Otherwise, it is a wasted life. So if we gradually manage to catch the mind in naam, we will be victorious.

Otherwise, the tongue is chanting naam, the beads are moving in the fingers, and the mind is in the world. When all three become one mixture, what is in the fingers is in the tongue, and it is also in our mind. Then God is attained.

Sandeep Ji from Delhi: Radhe-Radhe, Radhe-Radhe. Maharaj Ji, Maharaj Ji. Many times, while doing naam during puja, a surge of lust and anger comes. Then I meditate on your image at that very moment, and it calms down. But Maharaj Ji, in the image on which I meditate, while I am doing naam, you are going around me with sticks (lath), and you are spinning them.

Maharaj Ji, Maharaj Ji, [he] says: is some offence not happening because of me, and is your health being ruined by it? It seems to me..

No, no, I am not wielding a stick now, [Maharaj Ji] said. You must get tired from spinning it so much. Look, this five-elemental body that you see is afflicted with kidney disease. We are not [standing] on its strength. We are on Shri Ji's strength. That strength has already run out. Daily dialysis, this trouble, that trouble: we do not stand on this strength. We are of divine strength. We are of Priyaji's strength.

Whatever discourse happens, whatever routine there is, and whoever is receiving auspicious benefit, all of it is received from Priyaji. Here, in front of you, sits this five-elemental body. There is no strength in it. Strength is in the Lord. By His strength alone will everyone's welfare come. By His strength, whoever thinks this way, as you think: if you meditate at the time of lust and anger, then

dhyan mulam guru murti puja mulam guru padam mantr mulam guru vakyam moksh mulam guru kripa

The root of meditation is the Guru's form, the root of worship is the Guru's feet, the root of mantra is the Guru's word, the root of liberation is the Guru's grace.

that divine principle itself, taking the form of the Guru, will protect you. Because where there is true love,

je kar satya sanehu so te mile na kachu sandehhu

He whose love is true, He surely meets, there is no doubt.

If this feeling develops in you, that the Supreme Brahman, the Supreme Soul, has assumed this form of the Guru in person, then your protection begins just as God's protection does.

gurur brahma gurur Vishnu gurur dev Maheshwara guru sakshat parbrahmma tasmai shri guruve namah

The Guru is Brahma, the Guru is Vishnu, the Guru is Maheshvara; the Guru is verily the Supreme Brahman. Salutations to that Shri Guru.

So the Supreme Brahman is pervasive everywhere. If you desire this form, then taking that very form, He will protect you from lust, anger, birth and death. Do plenty of naam jap, do plenty of contemplation on God. This body, made of five perishable elements, is here today and will not be here tomorrow. There is no assurance of it. There is no assurance of it. It is just breaths, a bubble of water. When will it burst? No matter how forcefully you hold water in your cupped hands, it will still slip out. Like this, it is a bridge of sand, and it will break.

There is no doubt about this. It is happening right now, so just take the benefit. Who knows whether there will be a tomorrow? But if you follow our words, there will be auspiciousness, and your welfare will be done.

Abhishek ji, from Gujarat. Maharaj Ji, you have a question.

Maharaj Ji, does someone who loves Priya Pritam become mad? Do we look mad to you? If we talk alone, people think, "What is this person talking about?" I mean, we do leela chintan. Look, if we do not do anything artificial, we are not mad. If we start doing something artificial, then we are mad.

On the path of Bhagwan, one should avoid pride, hypocrisy and artificiality.

How old are you? Oh, 18? Yes, very good. We thank you for being engaged on the path of Bhagwan. Engage well, but do not do any artificiality.

The cleverness of this path is that we are immersed in naam, as if the person in front of us is talking to us. Yes, and we are doing naam jap. We should not let the other person understand this by saying, "Friend, why do you disturb us?" We are immersed in naam jap. One should not show the bhajan doer that "I am immersed in bhajan."

For example, you were thinking a lot. "What were you thinking?" "Oh, it's nothing." So, think about it and tell me what you were thinking. That is how one speaks. It is not that one says, "We were in leela chintan, and you interrupted us. We were in naam chintan." This should not be told. If you tell this, the matter becomes tough.

Do plenty of bhajan and behave with discernment. A bhakt does not become mad. Name any bhakt who went mad. No bhakt is like that. He is very discerning.

What was Hanuman ji called?

gyani naam agraganyam buddhimtam varishtham vishvamitra mahammuni gyani Garun mahagyani gunrasi

Foremost among the wise, most excellent among the intelligent, the great sage Vishwamitra, the supremely wise Garuda, the treasure of all virtues.

Whether it is Garuda ji or any great devotee, if you look at one who is a devotee of Bhagwan, he is full of knowledge and wisdom, and discerning. He does not become mad. Yes, there is a mad state of love. Now he is weeping in his Prabhu. The other person cannot see anyone in front, so why is he weeping? Now he is talking to his Prabhu: "Nath, you have found me." So he seems to be muttering. What is he saying? So other people consider him mad.

He is not mad. He is supremely discerning. Second, because external physical movements are not visible, he is talking to his Bhagwan. He is dancing for Bhagwan. He is weeping for Bhagwan. The person in front sees that there is no one there, so he thinks, "Is this man mad?" If someone talks to another person like this when no one is in front of him, and dances like this, it won't seem mad. But the person in front thinks, "Friend, this fellow is mad," when in front of him Bhagwan is standing. He is talking to Bhagwan and making gestures to Bhagwan. So those around him begin to call that state madness.

He is not mad. He is a supremely discerning, wise great soul.

Sudha Gupta ji, from New Delhi. Radhe Radhe. Maharaj Ji, my question is about the four ashrams, one of which is described as Vanaprastha. We have heard that the average age of the four ashrams is 25 years. Maharaj Ji, we often hear about Brahmacharya, Grihastha and Sanyas, but Vanaprastha is never discussed. Yes, Vanaprastha is very difficult now. The Vanaprastha ashram is extremely difficult in Kalyug, because it is full of great tapasya.

For example, one path is Naishthik Brahmacharya and Sanyas, lifelong brahmacharya and sanyas. Another path is brahmacharya followed by Grihastha Ashram. Now, when Grihastha Ashram reaches 50 years of age, a human's lifespan is set at 100 years. By the time one reaches 70, the work is over. Nowadays it gets done around 60 to 70. Someone might reach 80, but rarely. Reaching 90 and 100 is very difficult. Now, what is the state of a man in Grihastha after 50 years? Because he has not kept brahmacharya for 25 years.

If you ask according to the ashram system, one should remain in brahmacharya for 25 years. After that, one should marry and remain in Grihastha Ashram for 25 years. Then comes Vanaprastha, and the trouble there is new. Where are the 25 years of brahmacharya? Girlfriend, boyfriend, that is brahmacharya? Where is brahmacharya being kept? So by the time they reach 50, they collapse.

Now they should go to the forest and spend their life in tapasya. Neither such forests remain, nor such ascetics remain, who after 50 years hand over their wife to their sons, and while living in solitude, sustain themselves on forest roots, tubers and fruits.

Wearing forest garments, like garments of leaves or bark garments. For Vanaprastha, there should be no protection at all from the three: heat, cold and rain. Bear the heat directly. No fan or electricity is to be used. Bear the cold directly, with no cold protection of any kind, bearing it directly on the limbs. Bear the rain fully. And if it seems that our body is no longer working, then one should give up one's life through tapasya.

Vanaprastha is very difficult. If it seems that our body can still do tapasya, then take Sanyas.

Then, through Sanyas, who remains a Vanaprastha now? Where are Vanaprasthis seen? A Vanaprasthi sleeps on the bare ground of a place of great tapasya and walks barefoot. It is a very hard, austere life.

Now, after 50 years, a person becomes so attached that where is the capacity left to pull away from family, worldly life and maya and go to the forest? And at 70 or 80, one needs support. One cannot even walk alone. One cannot manage one's daily routine alone. So how will Vanaprastha work? Vanaprastha is very difficult, and where is Vanaprastha seen now?

People go straight from household life to sannyas. They take sannyas directly from being householders and then keep wandering from ashram to ashram. Where are tapasya and hardship? Until tapasya and hardship are endured, the light of paramartha does not dawn. A life of tapa, a life of hardship for the sake of Bhagwan, is now only written in the scriptures. Perhaps some rare person is still walking that path, but very few are.

Now people say: if you do not do bhajan in youth, then in old age ask yourself how much bhajan you do. If bhajan has not been done in life, all kinds of worries arise, and the senses become weak.

The mind does not stay in bhajan. Will it suddenly stay in bhajan then? We say that even operating an ordinary machine takes practice. We have never fired a pistol, never even touched one. If you handed us a pistol now, could we fire it? Yet this is the operation of a natural instrument, the mind. If you have not practised fixing the mind on God, how will you fix it in old age? So it happens when we begin satsang and bhajan from youth. The first step in our Sanatan Dharma is brahmacharya, whether you then move toward sannyas or toward household life.

The first step is brahmacharya. Who is practising brahmacharya? Boys and girls of 13, 13 and 14 years are falling away from their dharma. Those who are still called children are falling from dharma. Many such children of 13 have come before us. We were astonished. This is the age for play, and yet you have such knowledge. How? Through the mobile phone, all knowledge is coming through the mobile. So the inclination towards filthy conduct is arising in children of 13 and 14. Then when will they remain brahmachari? When there is no brahmacharya, and when the first rung of the ladder is missing, who can climb the ascent of paramartha?

Then all of it remains mere nonsense. You hear the teaching, you give the teaching, but bringing it into conduct is very hard. If the teaching were brought into conduct, they would be mahatmas, and they would not be householders. Otherwise, bringing it into conduct is very hard. Small children smoke bidis, smoke cigarettes, smoke the hookah. When they become young they take drugs, get intoxicated, go to clubs, and have girlfriends and boyfriends. Look how much filth is spreading in society. Look how much dirtiness is spreading. So much filth is spreading that today no householder is at peace.

Ji, you just said that men left their wives and sons behind. So was the vanaprastha ashram made only for men? If a wife can give up attachment to her son, since it is a very hard path, then it is very hard for mothers and sisters to live this way. They find it hard to renounce their children. If she wishes to go along, she can go with him in vanaprastha. Otherwise it is very hard in any case. It is hard because of things like sleeping in the open in the forest, wearing bark garments, and eating roots, tubers and fruit.

Where are the roots and fruits now? Even someone who has a single ber tree will sell its fruit for money. You cannot drink water. You cannot drink water, because it is not fit to drink, and outside there is no well left and no hand pump left. How would vanaprastha work? Consider it. For living, there were the sacred waters of the Ganga and Yamuna, by merely drinking which all nourishment came by itself, because of the mountain and forest air. Now a huge sewer drain flows into the Ganga and Yamuna. You cannot live by drinking that water. Wells and hand pumps no longer exist. There are no ponds, rivers or lakes from which we could drink. And if there is no money, then touching money is already forbidden in vanaprastha.

Touching wealth is forbidden. In that case, one may build a thatched hut of straw and live in it. All of this is a facility. Maharaj Ji, there was one question in all this. The gurus and saints of that time built ashrams for a scriptural order and for human discipline. Maharaj Ji, in today's times you will not find the question that arises now. Straight from household life to sannyas, straight from brahmacharya to sannyas, and then living as a sannyasi in an ashram. So Maharaj Ji, in today's times how is it possible? Which path to attaining Bhagwan do we take? Vanaprastha gives only a little attainment of Bhagwan. Maharaj Ji, how should we proceed now?

Maharaj Ji, the verse says:

krityuge dhate Vishnu tretayam yajat makh Dvapar paricharyayam kalo ta keertanat

In Satya Yuga one meditates on Vishnu, in Treta one worships through sacrifice, in Dvapara through service, and in Kali through the kirtan of Hari.

So stay in your home. In the home, see the family as a form of Bhagwan. Live as a renunciant within the home. Eat light meals from what you have earned through hard work, and constantly contemplate Bhagwan.

Bhagwan says:

anannya chintno mam he jana parpasate

Those who contemplate Me without any other thought, and worship Me..

Those who contemplate Me without any other thought. Why would one become a vanaprastha for any other contemplation? One must contemplate Bhagwan. Such severe tapasya is no longer there. Our environment does not allow that kind of purity. So now we need toilets. That is simply the way in Kali Yuga. Stay in your home, cover your body with proper food and clothing, renounce attachment to the family, and live at home. Regard the family members as forms of Bhagwan, chant naam abundantly, and contemplate Bhagwan. In Kali Yuga, attainment of Bhagwan comes through contemplation of Bhagwan's naam alone.

If you consider the other sadhans, suppose your vanaprastha sadhan matures. Then you will attain Tapa Loka, and Bhagwat-prapti will be a little way off. You will get Tapa Loka. Maharloka, Tapaloka, Janaloka, Satyaloka and Brahmaloka all exist, don't they? Bhagwat-prapti comes through Bhagwat-chintan. If you become a vanaprastha but there is no Bhagwat-chintan, and only the rules of vanaprastha are followed, then you will attain Tapa Loka, not Bhagwat-prapti. Bhagwat-prapti comes only through Bhagwat-chintan. Those who, day and night, with tears flowing, contemplate within, chanting "Ram Ram, Krishna Krishna, Hari Hari, Radha Radha," attain Bhagwat-prapti. Maharaj Ji, as I did not marry and did not enter the grihastha ashram, but I fulfilled my worldly duties, my brahmacharya continues. So does vanaprastha have any significance after that? It means no significance remains. Now do naam jap, stay within the family, and don't think about going to an ashram outside the home.

Not at all. Stay in your own home, live on the earnings of your own hard work, and do plenty of naam jap. Contemplate Bhagwan, and don't be attached to the members of your family. That alone will be your sanyas. I am telling you the truth. Going to live in some ashram or behaving in that way is a very losing deal. A very losing deal. This is Kalyug, and a very losing bargain is going on. Faith keeps disappearing. Faith keeps disappearing. Our faith is wavering very much at this time, because, as it is said, in this world everyone is deceitful, crooked and Kalyugi. Such is the growing influence of the deceit of Kalyug.

In the sabha we are something else, and in solitude we are something else.

kapti kutila kalyugi tanchu to ae parlok sakal sukh pavat meri so bhaiya Krishna gun sun keval

Deceitful, crooked, Kalyugi people do not attain the happiness of the next world. I swear, brother, sing only the qualities and leelas of Krishna.

Sing only the leelas and qualities of Bhagwan, chant the naam of Bhagwan, and contemplate Bhagwan while staying in your own home. Bhagwat-prapti does not come by remaining naked and bare, nor by staying hungry, nor by wandering about. Bhagwat-prapti comes through chintan. It is the medicine, it is the food. The arrangement for sustaining the body is needed, because one cannot live without it, and without living one cannot do bhajan. So for both of these, you do not need to leave your home.

Living at home, keeping pure conduct, and free from attachment to the family, do bhajan. And through this, Bhagwat-prapti happens.

yah path video ke swachalit (auto-generated) upasheershkon se liya gaya hai — ismen shabdon ki trutiyan ho sakti hain. Pramanik vachan ke liye video avashya sunen.

This text is taken from the video's auto-generated subtitles, so it may contain word errors. For authentic words, be sure to listen to the video.

Original video: Bhajan Marg (YouTube)