Let go of worries about wealth and livelihood, and God will take care of everything

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

Complete Discourse

The great happiness that we have been searching for across endless lifetimes. In this life we have been given the opportunity to attain it. We have been shown the path. We have been given the capacity to walk the path. Now, with single-minded devotion, making a complete effort with every action and every breath, to the one who is the ocean of great happiness, supremely compassionate, and once whom there is nothing left to attain, where not even a trace of sorrow exists. Grief, despondency, anxiety and fear do not even enter there. That great happiness is attained by the devotee who depends on the Lord and whose constant contemplation is on the Lord.

That devotee never has to worry about livelihood in any way, nor does he have to desire the supreme state. Just as a son automatically gains right to his father's property, so too the devotee who depends on the Bhagavan, who contemplates him single-mindedly, who bears happiness and sorrow with equal feeling, becomes by himself the rightful heir to the supreme state. What is needed is what the Shri Bhagavan is saying: accept my shelter with single-minded devotion. Other-feeling is itself maya, and singleness of devotion is the form of bhakti. Almost everyone is a bhakt, because in our view there is no one apart from our Lord.

So everyone is doing bhakti. Some for objects of the senses, some for son and family, some for wealth, some for honour and prestige. My Lord is present in all these forms. But because we do not know this, by attributing other feelings we have fallen into misfortune. My Lord is seated in the heart. But because we do not accept his greatness and his glory with faith, our heart is not able to sink into the ocean of bliss. Various anxieties, afflictions, restlessness and lack keep troubling us, while the complete ocean of grace and the ocean of bliss is seated in our own heart.

So somewhere we are making a mistake. The servility that comes from sorrow, fear and despondency is not born of bhakti. It is the servility of lack, of the object. The servility that would be the servility of bhakti, the ultimate limit of feeling, is not this. Instead, out of servility for attaining objects and fulfilling desires, we wander, while the Lord who is all-powerful and the ocean of all happiness is near us. Why do we not experience him? When he is present in the middle of the ocean of bliss, why then do we search for bliss in objects? Because of ignorance, because of avidya, how will that ignorance and avidya be removed?

Mama prapadyate maya metam taranti: whoever comes into my refuge crosses over maya, avidya. Their ignorance is destroyed. So what is the form of surrender to the Lord? To please one's Lord with complete feeling. The Bhagavan describes it: ananyas chintayanto mam ye janah paryupasate, "My worship with complete feeling, through mind, speech, action, and every effort." The meaning of exclusive worship is to remain near one's Lord. Our feeling, our efforts, our senses should be connected to the Lord. Worship must be near one's own Lord. Whoever is truly engaged in worship, paryupasate, giving up other feelings, worships me with singleness of devotion.

They worship me well. Now they should have no concern or care for yogakshema, for security and provision. That worry and care belongs to those who do not depend on the Bhagavan. The Shri Bhagavan himself is saying: yogakshemam vahamy aham, whatever you need in this world and the next, I will provide. And what I have provided, I will protect. You should have no worry at all, neither about sadhana nor about worldly affairs. Ye tu sarvani karmani.. Look, such a great master is saying: kshemam, I will protect you. Yogam, what you need to obtain, I will make you obtain. Have absolutely no worry. Only by being in my refuge, depending on me, and contemplating me single-mindedly.

The topic under discussion was complete surrender. In the context of complete surrender, our people have heard some characteristics.

The first is that we have to prepare for surrender. Complete self-offering, the Lord himself takes care of. So the first characteristic of preparation for surrender is that one's bhajan of one's own Lord is constant and continuous. We are not worshipping anyone else. We are worshipping our own Lord. Only then does it become constant and continuous. Apart from my own Lord, there is no one who is mine. In this word "mine," no object, person, place, position or prestige should come in. Let your sense of belonging be reserved solely for the Lord. We make a mistake right here: we take someone or something as our own.

My wealth, my birth, my strength, my knowledge, my penance, my vow, my discipline. It is only a rare person who regards only the Lord as his own. When belonging is only to the Lord, then the matter is settled. Then, indeed, such divinity will come into life that you will experience it yourself. Learn this phrase by heart: belonging only to the Lord, let no other take the place of that belonging. This is our caution. But if we examine our heart, we find that belonging can be placed everywhere, but not in the Lord. So how is the heart examined, so that we may know whether our belonging is to the Lord or to some object or person?

Whatever, on its coming, makes us forget the Lord, that is held with greater attachment. Because we forget what has less attachment, and we remember what has more attachment. If, on gaining any person, object, position, prestige or place, we forget our beloved Lord, then we have not yet given our full belonging. The Lord has become small. His belonging has diminished, and worldly relations, objects of enjoyment, fame and prestige have become greater. Look within your heart: the Lord alone is like the Lord, and our belonging is for him alone.

This is a matter of very great and glorious surrender. The first is to constantly and continually do exclusive bhajan of your Lord. The second is to see the Lord, in the feeling of manifest form, as the whole universe. I have already explained these. The third is that all the activities you perform, you perform like a machine. The Lord who operates the machine is the Lord. I am doing nothing. Whatever the Lord is getting done through me, the Lord is getting done. Do not accept it in pieces; accept it in order. Otherwise you will fall into confusion. What confusion? You accepted this only with your intellect: that whatever is being done, the Lord is doing.

Then what remains of the question of vidhi and nishedha (injunction and prohibition)? Then whatever sinful conduct we engage in, whatever we enjoy, whatever violence we do, whatever we steal, whatever wrong we eat and drink, they would say, "You yourself said that whatever the Lord makes happen is happening, so it is happening." That means you have not understood the principle of surrender. You have grasped only a fragment, from the middle. That is why I say, be careful. When a person constantly and continually does bhajan of his Lord and regards the world as the form of his Lord, then by whom will sinful conduct be done? That is why the third quality is placed among the dispositions: he experiences that whatever is happening through him is being done by his worshipful deity.

Fourth, to experience the Lord as above all, as the one and only dear life-beloved, with no one else in the Lord's place. Fifth, complete faith in one's Lord. Sixth, conduct that is always and in every way in accordance with one's Lord. Perfected surrendered souls are in this state. The sadhak who is surrendering takes this as the ideal and proceeds, being favourable to Shri Krishna. He can never act contrary to his Lord. That is, to what the Lord has commanded in the Shrimad Bhagavatam, in the Gita, and in the words of the sants and the Gurudev, established in that, his conduct never becomes contrary to it.

Seventh, to consider everything as the Lord's and never ask anything from the Lord. Our surrender and our bhajan are not for getting something from the Lord. Do bhajan of the Lord to attain the Lord, not to fulfil one's desires through the Lord, even if that desire is for liberation (moksha). The desire for moksha is very praiseworthy. But this is being spoken of for supreme devoted lovers (premi mahabhagavats) who have renounced even moksha. Do bhajan of the Lord only for the Lord. Now, when our body, mind and life are dedicated to the Lord, then do bhajan for the very one to whom they are dedicated.

This is a life of dedication. Now nothing of ours remains outstanding. Whatever was our sense of "mine" has all been surrendered at the Lord's feet. Such a disposition remains in a siddha purush. But the sadhak has to hold this conception: consider everything as the Lord's, and do bhajan only for the Lord, asking nothing from the Lord. Then one will think, "Then what is the joy of bhajan?" Arre, you crazy one! The One who in a single nimesh (blink) created infinite universes, from the peak of a single drop of his ocean of bliss, now that you have found that ocean of bliss, what more do you want? No desire will remain in that state. So come, the eighth: to be supremely pleased in every dispensation of the Lord. Now this is its explanation. The surrender sutras spoken so far, which were discussed yesterday, are for such surrendered devotees who possess the above qualities.

They try to hold the above qualities. They understand that whatever dispensation of our Lord there is, it is very auspicious; it can never be inauspicious. Just as when the sun god is present, darkness cannot be found even when searched for, so if we tell the sun god, playfully, "If you have the power, create darkness and show it," he is unable to do so, because when he is before us, darkness cannot remain. In the same way, if we say to the Lord in a playful tone, "If you have the power, do something inauspicious," the Lord can never do anything inauspicious. He does not have that capacity. We do the inauspicious, and the Lord does the auspicious. How? When the Lord appears angry and slays someone, that person attains the supreme state that sages and seers seek through sadhana. What happened? Was there inauspiciousness? No, it became the greatest auspiciousness. So if we tell the Mangal-Bhavan (abode of auspiciousness) Lord, "If you have the power, show us inauspiciousness," then in a playful tone we can say that the Lord has no power to do inauspiciousness, because he is the abode of auspiciousness. Just as the sun has no power to show us darkness: if it goes away, darkness spreads, but as long as the sun is there, darkness will not spread. In the same way, in whose life the surrender to the Lord has descended, for him every dispensation is auspicious.

There was a minister who did bhajan of the Lord and understood the principle of surrender well. So whatever happened, he would say, "By the great grace of the Lord." One day the king goes out hunting, as kings do. Animals that are destroyers of the subjects, animals that are diseased and spread contagious illness, by slaying them the king keeps the subjects safe. Their hunting is not done for pleasure.

..is for the protection of the people. The minister was also with him, and while chasing some animal he became very agitated. Not being careful, his thumb was cut by the bowstring, and his minister's thumb was cut as well. He said, "God has done very well, this is great grace." These were his words, because he knew that every decree of God is supremely auspicious.

The king became very angry: "This wicked fellow! He is our minister, yet he is our enemy. Our thumb was cut, and he says God has done very well, what great grace. Let him be taken prisoner, and let him be kept in jail with severe punishment immediately." It was the king's order. "Great grace, Maharaj, God's great grace, very good, God has done well." [He said:] "This minister has gone mad! They are removing him from the post of minister and keeping him in jail," and he kept saying, "God has done very well, great grace."

After some days, the thumb was healed by the physician. By habit, he went hunting again and chased an animal. The royal soldiers who were with him fell behind in the forest lanes, and he went ahead. While he was chasing the animal, the attendants of a powerful king were searching for a man to offer as a sacrifice.

To please Bhadrakali, they had resolved to offer a human sacrifice. This one, the king, was found, and they took him away. After bathing him and so on, they brought him before the priest, where the sacrifice was to be given. The priest examined whether he was whole in every limb, and saw that his thumb was cut. He said, "A man with a deformed limb is not offered in sacrifice. Leave him." They let him go. Now he reflected that the minister's words were indeed right. If by God's grace his thumb had not been cut, today his neck would have been cut. The minister had spoken rightly. Every decree of God is auspicious.

He returned and respectfully summoned the minister, and said, "What you used to say, I have understood today. If my thumb had not been cut, my neck would have been cut. Tell me the whole matter." You used to say, "God's great grace, God has done well," and that much has become clear to me. But you are serving a harsh punishment in jail, having been removed from the post of minister. For this too you said, "God's great grace." What grace of God's auspicious decree did you see in this?

He said, "Maharaj, the soldiers may have been left behind, but wherever your horse was, mine would have been. You would have been taken captive, and I would have been taken captive. Your thumb was cut, so you were saved, but my life would have been offered as a sacrifice. Therefore God kept me in jail. God's great grace. Whoever is a devotee sees that in every decree there is hidden supreme grace. It seems to us, 'Why did God do this, why did He do this?' But in His decree there is supreme auspiciousness."

Many times [Maharaj Ji] has given the example of the character of Pratap Rai Ji, a very pure devotee householder of the Bhagwat tradition. In his family tradition, there was an occupation for livelihood: if you have some need, you deposit your ornaments and take money, and then you return the money with interest and take your ornaments back. Moneylenders used to do this in the past. From that alone he did service of Thakur Ji, service of saints, and bhajan, and he did no other work. He continued whatever the family tradition had been. He had great prestige in society, because he followed the path of truthfulness and dharma, and always sat with a mala engaged in bhajan. Whoever came to the gaddi, [vashish], ..

Now the qazi there followed a different faith, and some wicked people incited him: "His prestige is growing so much, his honour is so great, and wealth is coming in too." So they laid out their entire plan, with a resolve in their minds to humiliate him: if such-and-such is done, he will be disgraced in society, all his wealth will be seized, and he will be punished too. They won the qazi over. Three people became the principal ones in this. One went, bowed to Pratap Rai Ji, and said, "There is our daughter's wedding."

"We need ₹100." Then he said, "You will know our principle here." They said, "Yes, we know it already. These are some of our gold ornaments." He did not even look at them. There was a large box kept there. "Write your name on a slip and place it on it, put in the ornaments, and take ₹100 from his servant. When your work is done, return it with interest and take your ornaments back." He did not even look at what they were. A little later the second one came: "There is nothing even to eat in our house, we need money. Here are our gold ornaments. You, right away, ten thousand." Three people took money and left their ornaments like that, placing slips. After four or five days they came back, returned the ₹100 with interest, and the first one picked up his ornaments. "Look how theatrical this is! There is not a single ornament in it. It is full of stones. They had placed only stones." He did not even look. A devotee's life is full of trust; why would anyone commit deceit? With that feeling, after a while the second went, and after a while the third went. All three said, "Look, this is a drama! They removed our gold ornaments and filled the box with stones. We gave them money on interest." After a while, they summoned the qazi.

The qazi created a terror. Having the king sign the order, the entire family was taken captive by royal soldiers. He told his wife, "Take the Thakur Ji, take the ornaments, and escape through the back window. Some lila of God is taking place. We have made no mistake." They humiliated him greatly. The villagers understood that he had been doing hypocrisy, not devotion. "Oh, would one man lie? Along with three men, they were deceitful cheats indeed." This is how it happens. God's leela is very mysterious.

Sometimes truth is covered by a veil, and falsehood seems to prevail. But it does not last long. Pratap Rai was taken captive, and all his wealth was seized. Some people said that he had a wife, and that she had taken the ornaments of Thakur Ji and gone to her parents' home. Soldiers were sent there. She too was taken captive, and Thakur Ji was brought and placed in the treasury where all the gold ornaments are kept. When his wife was locked up nearby and he finally got some solitude, Pratap Rai began to weep. He said, "I am not troubled by the dishonour of being taken captive.

"Lord, I served you with devotion all eight watches, considering you a manifest presence. Yet you have been kept in the treasury like an ornament. I cannot bear this. How will I offer you food? How will I give you water? How will I put you to sleep? Lord, give whatever punishment you wish, but make me such that I weep for you with anguished feeling."

As soon as he began to weep, that very Priya-Pritam appeared before him in person, the Lord that great sages and seekers long for through their sadhana. The way the Lord comes may seem bitter, but the result is supreme auspiciousness. Immediately, the Lord inspired several trustworthy people and officials to see that this man was innocent. When an investigation was made, the qazi and the other two were found to be lying. By the Emperor's order they received punishment. Throughout the city, Pratap Rai was re-established with honour: his reputation, his dignity, his Thakur, and his property were restored. The king said, "From today onward, you will always have our support."

What happened? For a while the bitter ordeal was visible, but it became the occasion for the realisation of the Lord. A devotee gains the conviction that whatever happens from now on will be the auspicious plan of the Lord. There is one way of being, which is to endure: "What can we do? It is the Lord. Whatever he does, we must bear it." And there is another, which is to be delighted: "My Lord is doing this, and it is so very auspicious." Understand this much: in the Lord's treasury there is only joy upon joy. There is no sorrow there. There is only nectar upon nectar, and no poison at all. Have faith. In whatever way he works, you will feel the experience of nectar and bliss.

"Yadge vishm parinam amrutom": the beginning may seem like poison to you, but that dispensation will immerse you in nectar. Have faith. Grace takes many forms. Sometimes it appears in a very sweet form, sometimes very gentle, sometimes very blissful. Sometimes grace comes in a very terrible form, a very harsh form, a very dreadful form. But its result is always very auspicious. The worshipper does not distinguish between grace that is gentle, soft, and sweet, and grace that is harsh, dreadful, and painful. He sees only grace.

Yours is the grace. It is grace. The Lord is a great playful lover of leela, and only those who understand it, or to whom it is explained, can grasp it. In his Vamana form he went to ask for three steps of land. Measuring, with one step he covered the realm of Brahma, and with the second, the whole universe. Bali had been boasting of being a great giver. The Lord bound him with Varuna's noose and said, "Now tell me, from where shall I take the third step? Two steps have not covered everything." This is a very dreadful form of grace. All around stand the Lord's attendants, who have the power to dissolve, create, and sustain the entire creation. And the Lord, roaring, says, "You were so proud, saying you would give three steps of earth in charity and call yourself a giver. Now complete it." Bali smiled and said, "Prabhu, I have not even bowed to you yet. How can I bow, when you have me bound? I pray that the same feet which measured with the steps you asked for, having measured the wealth with two, now measure the one who possesses the wealth with the third. Place your feet upon my head."

Then the Lord was bound. He did not bind Bali; the ocean of compassion himself became bound, and he smiled. He said, "It does not suit you at all.." Prahlad Ji arrived and began to praise him, and his wife was also praising him. The Lord said, "From today onward, I will be the doorkeeper of you," and even today he stands as the doorkeeper of Bali. Tell me: did the Lord bind Bali, or did Bali bind the Lord? Yet the grace appeared so terrible that no sense of the auspicious plan could be seen. The Lord bound such a great devotee with Varuna's noose, which brings the pain of death at every moment.

Varuna's noose tightens at every moment, and the life-breath suffers terrible pain. So grace can be gentle, and it can be terrible. But the devotee does not see gentle or terrible. He sees only grace. And so, as a result, he experiences the ocean of grace in his heart, in his sight, in his breath, in his life, outwardly and inwardly, as nothing but grace.

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)