ekantik vartalaap evam darshan #1439

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

Full Discourse

Akshi ji from Jammu. Radhe Radhe, Guru ji. Maharaj Ji, when I see small children and people walking without footwear, I try to offer them sandals to protect them from the heat. Maharaj Ji, their point is this: some people say that only food items should be given, because whatever we give is what comes back to us. No, no, it is not like that. If you give shoes, you will get only shoes. Look, your main intention in that is that he should not get the heat, he should not get pebbles, he should not get a thorn pricked into him.

So this feeling of wanting to give comfort returns and comes back into your heart. May the heat not touch your heart. May no one say anything to you that would make your heart suffer. God will give you so much happiness and so much strength. If it were only that whoever gives shoes gets shoes, then whoever gives an umbrella would get only an umbrella. It is not so. It is the intention. It is the intention. The fruit comes from the intention; the shoes do not have the fruit. In it there is an intention: these are small children, these are poor people. Their feet will feel the heat, a pebble will prick them, and if they have sandals they will be comforted.

So the wish you made for their comfort is what returns and gives you comfort. When we want to give someone pain, our heart starts to burn even before we know whether they will suffer. And when we want to give someone happiness, our heart first begins to become happy. Look, a coolness comes, a joy comes. We say: eat a good meal one day and see, and on another day give your share of food to a hungry person and see. Then see in which of the two you find the taste. So when a hungry person eats to his fill, your heart will become cool.

Your heart will never feel what it feels when you feed a hungry person in the same way. Think of someone shivering in winter: if you take off your shawl and wrap him in it, your heart becomes great. A coolness comes, and a joy arises in your heart. So the principle that you get back only what you give is wrong; it is not the intention. In what you are giving, the intention is to wish happiness for the sick person, that his illness be removed and he become happy. That feeling returns to you and makes you happy.

The matter is like this. Suppose you give money to someone. The money will not simply be given; it will have a result. If we give money so that a yajna takes place, so that God's glory increases, or cow service happens, or saint service happens, then there will be a result. It is the inner intention that is seen, not external objects. Worldly people look at external objects, but God looks at the inner intention, and God fulfills that same intention. So the best thing is intention alone. Yes, intention. [sound of clearing throat] There is no object.

Yes, there is no object. Suppose you have an object and you give an object; or suppose there is no object, and your heart burns: "Oh, what hardship, these small children suffer." Your merit is done, and you will receive its benefit. Mental merit also happens: "Had I money, I would buy shoes for everyone." "Had I money, I would see everyone healthy, I would clothe everyone." All this merit will be obtained, and your benefit is formed from it. Your feeling becomes great, and you will get its result later. The benefit you get from giving, you will get even without giving.

Merely by the intention alone. Everything comes together through intention.

Yes. Shri Saurabh Sharma ji, Sarangpur. Radhe Radhe, Maharaj Ji. I offer my prostrations at your feet. Guru Dev, in the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita, Lord Shri Krishna says that lust, anger and greed are three gates to hell, and that the jivatma should renounce all three. Maharaj Ji, but while living in this material world, these things come into life on their own. So how does one get out of this hell?

Poison will come on its own, will you eat it? If poison comes on its own, will you eat it?

Discernment: this is poison, this is not food. So if enjoyments come to us on their own, we must see whether they are dharma-compliant or adharma-compliant. Just as God called lust a gate to hell, in another place He described lust as His own form among His glories. When the Lord describes the glories, He says: "I am the lust that is in accord with dharma." Like taking the hand of a dharmic wife, a wife accepted with scriptural honour. What is going on today, this licentious tendency, is not the dharmic family-tradition union that is scripturally authorized: taking the hand with Vedic mantras, with Agni as witness, and accepting for the purpose of begetting children. The enjoyment that comes from that union is of divine form. It is not sin, and it is not a fault for them. Similarly, for a woman, being intimate with her husband is dharma, and merely looking at other men with lustful eyes is sin.

But look at how the influence of the Kali Yuga is. Such filth is spreading more and more. Where purity should prevail, doubt is arising, doubt is arising. Such dirty things are entering pure relationships where the mind does not work. How can this happen? How much filth is spreading in society. How much filthy behaviour is taking place.

It is not being understood that this is dharma. Keeping the body pure is dharma. For a woman, keeping her body pure until marriage is her dharma. After marriage, offering herself purely to her husband and remaining under his authority for life is dharma. For a man, brahmacharya until marriage (pani grahan) is dharma. When his ardhangini (life partner) comes, he should love her as his very life, forgive her mistakes, fulfil her wishes, take her permission for dharma, and get through life in a natural, friendly spirit.

This householder dharma belongs to our Sanatan Dharma. Now what is happening today? What is happening today? Very dirty things are going on. You young children, understand this: because of it your lives will become full of trouble. Girls: one boyfriend, breakup; two boyfriends, breakup; three boyfriends, breakup. What is this going on? What is it called? What do they call the courtesan-like tendency of having relationships with many men? And a man who has relationships with many girls is called a vyabhichari (adulterer). So if you hold adulterous and courtesan tendencies within you, you will become a "good householder", will you?

When you get a wife, you will not be content with your wife. When a woman gets a husband, she will not be content with her husband, because adultery has become her nature. Therefore, a dharmic marriage, and the enjoyment (bhog) done for the sake of begetting children, is kaam in the form of God. So it is not that because every enjoyment comes before us, we should indulge in it. We have discernment (viveka). If an enjoyment is dharmic, we should enjoy it. If it is not dharmic, we should renounce it, or else we will have to go to hell. A woman who takes delight in another man, who abandons her husband and has intercourse with another man, suffers in hell for hundreds of kalpas.

This is written for such men. Go and read in the Shrimad Bhagwat, where the hells are described. A man who has sexual relations with another's wife is made in hell to embrace a woman heated in iron, and that same embrace is imposed on him. And there is no dying there. He is kept clinging to her for years. Be very conscious, very conscious. It is not that the fruit of karma is not received. When karma takes its own form, it punishes even the great ones. It punishes even great saints and mahatmas. It spares no one.

This has been seen in the lives of very great saints. So karma is very powerful. It is not destroyed; it is destroyed only by giving its punishment. Therefore, karma must be done with great care. God described three things as the gates of hell. Anger does not arise on its own; its origin is kaam (desire). When our desire arises and meets an obstacle, anger rises within us. Anger does not come by itself; it comes when desire is obstructed. For example, when we say, "You should treat us with gentleness," that is our desire.

And when you do not behave gently, anger comes, because we had a desire. If there were no desire, there would be no existence for anger. So anger manifests from desire. And greed comes from desire too: when desire is fulfilled there is greed, and when desire is not fulfilled there is anger. So the root is kaam. That is why God said in the Gita Ji, "This kaam is the greatest enemy; kill it, Arjun." Until nishkaam (freedom from desire) comes, there will be no peace, no bliss, and no sadgati (liberation). Therefore, chant the naam of God and conduct yourself well.

Judge by discernment all the enjoyments that come to you, whether they are dharmic or adharmic. It is not dharma that someone comes before you and says, "Enjoy me," so no. Which department of our dharma are you in, that we should touch you? No. This is sin; I will never do it. There should be such courage. But here, what is happening? People are knowingly jumping toward wrong conduct. Without spirituality there is an animal-like life. Therefore, one must certainly know spirituality through scripture, self-study and satsang. Today's young children do not know spirituality.

So spirituality is essential. We should act after thinking carefully. Our karma is very strong, and it will punish us. So do not perform any such karma; be very careful. Do the thoughts that keep coming into the mind, whatever they are, also incur sin? No. In the Kali Yuga there is a special grace which, in other ages, used to apply:

kalikar ek punit pratapa manas punya hoy nahi papa.

In the Kali age there is one sacred glory: the mind's merit comes into being, and the mind's sin does not.

Merit of the mind will accrue. For example, when it occurs to you that now we have money, tomorrow we will go and offer food to Bihari Ji and distribute it to everyone. And then tomorrow such a calamity comes that the money is gone and you too are unable to do it, you will still receive that merit. Yes, you will get that merit, the merit of the intention (bhavana). But if you thought, "Tomorrow I will kill these people," and you did not kill them, then no sin accrues. "kalikar ek punit pratapa, manas punya hoy nahi papa. " If mental sins were counted, then mountains of sin would pile up, because the mind keeps thinking sinful thoughts all the time. So in the Kali Yuga, mental sins are not counted.

Akhilesh Mishra Ji from Kashi. Shri Harivansh. Shri Harivansh Gurudev, crores of salutations at your feet. Maharaj Ji, when and how should preparation for returning (vapsi) be made? How and when will deha-abhimaan (identification with the body) be completely dissolved?

Look, the process of sense-objects (vishay) works like this. First, when we contemplate sense-objects, I am describing the means of dissolving deha-abhimaan, because being the doer and the enjoyer is itself deha-abhimaan. "I do" and "I enjoy." So the sense-object takes hold in the antahkaran, in the mind. The intellect (buddhi) decides on it, and the chitta contemplates it. If there is even a little affection for sense-objects, it becomes sankalpa (resolve). When there is affection for that sankalpa, it becomes kamana (desire). From kamana comes action. And in action there is a craving to enjoy pleasure.

So the sense of doer and enjoyer is bodily identification (deha-abhimana). Let us do bhajan in such a way that we destroy this impulse (sphurna) itself. Let this impulse not become a resolve (sankalp). Let the resolve not become a desire (kamna). Let the desire not be put into action (kriya). All sense pleasures are momentary; everything that is enjoyed is perishable. For sustaining the body, I am not the body. For sustaining the body, we only partake of sense objects, and the purpose for which we hold this body is attaining Bhagavat-prapti. Therefore, let not a single moment pass without a break in naam. Let naam keep flowing every moment, so that this impulse does not arise, the resolve does not arise, the desire does not arise, the action does not arise. Then our craving to enjoy pleasure and our feeling of doership, "I do this, I performed this action, and through it I enjoyed this pleasure," will fade.

As these two feelings grow weaker, the ego will progressively melt away. Chant naam constantly, do deep bhajan with full absorption, and eat only as much food as keeps the body's processes running. Food plays a very big role in sadhana. If we eat a lot of market food, rajas and tamas will remain, and sattva will not. If we eat sattvic food, rajas and tamas will be destroyed, the sattvic disposition will remain in our bhajan, and as much as the sattvic disposition remains in bhajan, bodily identification will melt away. Unreal conduct strengthens bodily identification. True conduct melts it.

The more the mind is impure, the more bodily identification is strengthened. The more the mind becomes pure, the more bodily identification melts. The more we associate with worldly people, the more bodily identification is strengthened. The more we associate with saintly people, the more it melts. We have to maintain these precautions and conduct ourselves in this way. Naam must flow like one unbroken thread. Let no impulse arise in the mind for the desire or action of sense objects. Let the impulse for action not arise, yet action must be done. Just as you are an officer, you have to do your work in your department.

Seeing the divine form in everyone, conducting yourself according to your duty, remaining completely unattached, you are doing, yet not doing; you are not doing, yet doing. Until we arrive at this state, bodily identification will not melt. Chant naam abundantly. Eat pure, light food. Do so much bhajan that no impulse of any desire arises, and know your duty: according to your position, what conduct is expected of you in society, and let no offence (aparadh) arise from it. Then, by Bhagavat's grace, bodily identification melts, and actions happen mechanically (yantravat). You are not the doer.

Just as the bodily actions of these people are happening and you do not consider yourself the doer, in the same way, the actions of this body are happening, so you do not consider yourself the doer. Just as you are not the recipient of their sin and merit, the akarta person, the samadarshi, the one who sees all equally, is not the recipient of the sin and merit of his body. He becomes liberated. If someone whose bodily identification has melted causes the killing of the entire world, no sin accrues. If a feast for the entire world takes place through him, no merit accrues. The true action performed through a great soul free of bodily identification happens mechanically, through Bhagavan.

The one whose bodily identification has melted becomes Bhagavat-svarupa. The process for this is: chant naam abundantly, and be mindful that sense impulses do not arise. If an impulse arises, let it not become a resolve. If it becomes a resolve, let it not become action. And if action happens, be alert, because action will entangle you. Once you have descended into action, the feeling of doership will trap you, and where there is doership, the feeling of enjoyment will automatically make you bear its consequences. The doer of auspicious and inauspicious karma will certainly reap the fruit; he will experience its happiness and sorrow.

Ego belongs to the deluded soul; in delusion there is ego. In knowledge there is no ego. So keep this knowledge and remain alert at all times. Chant naam abundantly. The key thing is naam japa. The more naam you chant, the more knowledge and wisdom will manifest, and the ego will progressively melt away. Are you able to understand?

Mohan Gupta ji, from Surat. Shri Harivansh. Shri Harivansh Maharaj Ji.

Maharaj Ji, we listen to the words of the scriptures with faith. We also try to practise whatever in a sadhak's life accords with pure bhakti: the glory of Shri Ram naam, the glory of prasad, dham, Hari katha.

But Maharaj Ji, we still experience that the mind is not pure, the mind is not focused, there is no absorption from within, and the desires that are anarthas are not being removed. Maharaj Ji, this is what remains within us. In such a state, what are we lacking? Mere listening is not enough. We have not spent our time in much reading and listening; we have spent it in doing. If we read one line of a book and then close that book, and reflect on it a hundred times, and try to bring it into our life, then this is attained by one who takes it to heart, not by one who merely listens to the discourse, nor by the very intelligent.

The one who embraces it attains it. Bring it into conduct. Chant naam abundantly, and all doubts will now be dispelled. The mind will become pure. Chant naam day and night while reflecting on naam, chant naam while contemplating naam. For example, if you chant the Mahamantra, the whole line of the Mahamantra should be written in your mind. Listen to that very thing, say that very thing. Suppose it is running constantly in your mind: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Hare, Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram. Hare Krishna, and you will start to weep. See, when you chant while contemplating, the heart will begin to become so pure that tears will start to flow during naam japa.

Now the mala is in the finger and the naam is on the tongue, but the mind is in the world, so the connection is not right. When the three become one, the mind, the tongue and the mala, then joy will start to come. Do a lot of jap. Don't stay idle for even a minute. We don't know which minute of our life will be the last, and we may be thinking about something else at that time. So we should engage in bhajan with care. When you engage in bhajan, doubt and impurity will all be destroyed. Joy will begin to be felt in the heart on its own. Gurus like Maharaj Ji instruct us to do 11 malas, or 16 malas, or 32. These numbers are only meant for beginning sadhaks, so that when someone who is not chanting at all has been given initiation, it is said that you must chant 11 malas, however busy you are.

But this is not the limit of bhajan. Bhajan is boundless. Boundless things cannot be counted. There is no counting for attaining Bhagavan. Bhagavan is not met at 11 malas or at 21 malas. He is attained when bhajan is done continuously and with love, when nothing else is remembered except Bhagavan, and only the longing for Bhagavan remains, when one feels "I am Bhagavan's and Bhagavan is mine."

Maharaj Ji, these are for the excellent sadhak, the excellent means to attain an excellent state. Maharaj Ji, there are many householders in the world who go to their jobs and do everything else. For them, Maharaj Ji, it becomes difficult when you say they must do this. So they drop even the number of naam jap. We keep meeting Maharaj Ji, and they say they have dropped it, and then they start again. The mind works well for a day or two. On the third day it throws you down again. Then the count is also lost, and the practice of naam goes away too.

Yes, we have said that the count of 11 malas is like this: if you have written one mala, then do the remaining 10 malas in the same way. Suppose your mind is focused on naam for 50 (repetitions) by writing, then complete the rest of the malas. Practise writing for 10 or 15 minutes, because not everyone's mind is focused. The mind is very restless. In a moment it runs off to sense objects. If we practise for 10 minutes with concentration, and complete the remaining count, and keep increasing it every day.

Suppose in order, for a month or fifteen days you do 10 minutes, then you start doing 15 minutes, then 20 minutes, but your count must still be 11. Maharaj Ji, someone who has been attached for six months, someone for a year, starts talking about the siddha state, that even this goes away. After some days they say, "Baba, no, the rule must still be completed." In the remaining time you should do this. For example, if you have done one mala with attention and ten malas with counting, then the guru's instruction has been followed.

Look, whether there is bhaav or not, whether the mind is not fixed on the naam, whether there is no shraddha and no joy, still if we chant the mantra, we will surely get its fruit. These are the words of those who have advanced toward attaining Bhagavan. But beginning sadhaks must go by counting. Otherwise, even that will be dropped, and the mind will not engage in bhajan. That is why beginning sadhaks are given a count: you must do 11 malas. So they must do it. Set aside 10 or 5 minutes separately in the 24 hours, and do the practice of the written naam, the likhni naam. Complete your 11 malas in the rest of the time.

When you narrate the glory of the naam, Maharaj Ji, many sadhaks say, "Baba, please give us a rule, that we will chant 50,000 Radha naams every day." They mean they will follow it by rule, and they will have it checked by you. So they do 50,000 for some days. Sometimes then comes a discourse of the very highest state, that in reality one must reach there, and that is how one will reach. Then they have only been at it six months, and they drop even the 50,000. So what should they do now? The 50,000 rule should be followed, and 5 or 10 minutes should be practised as well.

One must practise this. No one should give up their rule in order to do any other practice. If you have 10 extra minutes beyond the rule, then do the practice in that time. This is what should be done.

Siddhi Kabra Ji from Pune. Radhe Radhe. Radhe Radhe, Gurudev. Gurudev, countless obeisances at your feet. Gurudev, what is the best way to connect with Bhagavan, Maharaj Ji?

Surrender to Bhagavan. Take refuge in Bhagavan from within. When we are unconscious, we cannot do anything. When we are in great calamity and our intellect is confused, we cannot do anything. There are many painful situations in which we can do nothing. At that time, refuge works. Refuge in Bhagavan, and Bhagavan accepts that refuge immediately. For example, Sugriva Ji and Bali Ji were enemies. Bali Ji used to strike Sugriva Ji, and even tried to kill him. So Sugriva fled and stayed in a solitary place where, due to a curse, Bali could not go. Listen very carefully. From a distance, Sugriva saw two princes coming, and he became doubtful. He thought, "Bali cannot come here because of a sage's curse. Perhaps he has sent these princes." So he sent Hanuman Ji Maharaj. Hanuman Ji Maharaj went in the form of a brahmin, and when he asked their introduction, "Who are you?" they said, "We are Ram and Lakshman, sons of Dasharatha. Someone has abducted our wife, and we are searching for her." Then Hanuman Ji Maharaj fell at their feet, recognised his Lord, and carried them on his shoulders. Sugriva saw from afar and understood that they were on the friendly side, because they were being carried on the shoulders. Now, Sugriva Ji had not done any means of attaining Bhagavan until that day.

Hanuman Ji is uniting the Lord with Sugriva Ji. That is, through the devotee, the Lord's attitude of giving shelter is received.

To give Sugriva Ji confidence, the Lord made Agni the witness and said, "From today we accept you in the spirit of friendship. You are our friend." The Lord asked, "From what fear are you living here?" Sugriva replied, "My brother is my enemy. He is ready to kill me." The Lord said, "I will kill him with a single arrow. Do not worry."

Under the protection of the Lord's arm, Sugriva Ji obtained the kingdom of Kishkindha. The Lord killed Bali, and then stayed for four months on Pravarshan mountain.

Not a single day passed. Out of fear, he kept his life hidden on Rishyamukh mountain. By the Lord's shelter he became king of Kishkindha, yet he did not go for darshan even one day. Such was his devotion. Mere shelter is enough. When the Lord killed Bali, Bali asked:

main bairi Sugriva piyara karan kavan nath mohi mara?

"I was your enemy, and Sugriva is your beloved. Lord, what was the reason you killed me?"

Bali said, "I became your enemy and Sugriva became dear to you. Are we two brothers? You know how devoted to bhajan we both are. We have done no sadhana or bhajan, and neither has he. Why did you kill me? Why did you take his side?"

The Lord said, "He has taken refuge in me. The friend of one who has taken refuge is my friend, and the enemy of one who has taken refuge is my enemy. This is my vow." So, by shelter alone, one attains the Lord's love. Other sadhanas we can gradually do later, but once the heart begins to consider the Lord as one's own, the thought "O Lord, I am yours and you are mine; Lord, mine, and I belong to the Lord, and to no one else" must come into the heart. Then attaining the Lord becomes effortless. Yet this state of effortless surrender is very difficult, because until all attachments are gathered and tied to the Lord's feet, things do not work out.

Until one gathers all love and offers it to the Lord's feet alone, shelter does not become firm.

janani Janak bandhu sut dara tan dhan dham suhad parivara sabki mamta tag batore mam pad man hi bandhi bar dori

"Mother, father, brother, sons, wife, body, wealth, home, friends and family: gathering the threads of everyone's attachment, bind the mind to my feet with the strong cord."

The Lord is saying that whoever gathers all their love and attachment and offers it at my feet becomes my dependent, and no one in the three worlds can harm my dependent. Then, through the power of devotion to the Lord, pure knowledge arises in the heart. The dirt of maya is destroyed. The person becomes free and attains the Lord's love.

Subhra Soni ji from Bhopal asks Maharaj Ji: What is the line of contentment and restraint? How far should we keep contentment and restraint in our lives?

Maharaj Ji answers: Contentment is not something to be kept. It is a state. It means that no desire arises in you for anyone. You are content with whatever circumstance you are in. As the Lord keeps you, you are satisfied with that much. I cannot create desire toward any person. That is contentment. Restraint means that I cannot enjoy indulgence that is against dharma, even if I die.

For example, Shri Sadan Kasai ji was going on a pilgrimage to Jagannath Puri. He was a very great person, but he had been born into a family of butchers. He sold meat from animals, yet he lived by dharma and was a great devotee who chanted the Lord's name. Look, his dharma was tested. He was going to Jagannath Puri for darshan. On the way, he was begging for alms as a devotee. At one house he called out, "Please give alms." A young bride came out. Brahmacharya has a radiance, and those who do bhagwati bhajan have a light that is loved by everyone.

It seems that they should speak with us, look at us, and that they are very dear to us. Everyone feels this. Those who are true travelers on the path of bhajan feel like our own. One feels, "I wish I could stay in their company." The young bride saw him and was captivated. She said, "Please dine here." Now the saint, simple of heart and caring for the world's welfare, sat down. It was evening. Prasad came. The Lord's will does not remain in the hands of saints. Whether the Lord places them in palaces or in a hut, that is the Lord's will. The woman folded her hands and said, "Maharaj Ji, if you would stay here tonight and leave in the morning, that would be fine, since I have seen such devotion."

Now at night, when he was resting, she came and expressed her lustful desire. He said, "Devi, you have a husband. Why do you make such an attempt?" Her mind turned in the opposite direction, as if he were saying, "If the husband were not a husband.." And she killed her sleeping husband. Then she came back and said, "Now accept me." He said, "If I raise an alarm, your misfortune will happen right now." This was a test of restraint. He said, "I cannot act against dharma. I can accept death."

She raised an alarm. People gathered. She said, "He wanted to do wrong with me. My husband stopped him, and he killed my husband. Then he wanted to do wrong again, so I raised an alarm." Now Sadan ji said, "Jai Jagannath, jai Jagannath." You can see that the Lord has shown this. People beat him and took him prisoner. They took him to the king. When the king heard this, he had both of his hands cut off. He saw that this was a devotee, so he did not hang him. He let him go. There was not a single fault in him. But because of the past karma that made him a butcher, there must have been some sinful karma.

So both of his hands were cut off. There is no sin here at all. The sin is from the past. He passed the test of restraint, but the sin of past karma caused his hands to be cut off. Jai Jagannath, jai Jagannath. Sadan ji reached Jagannath. He said, "Lord, now I cannot even fold my hands, because they have been cut off." In this way, whatever was done, new hands appeared. It is written in the Bhaktamal. So restraint should be such that even when the moment of death comes, we do not turn away from our dharma. Contentment should be such that, whatever the circumstance, we never stretch out our hands to anyone.

Once Rahim Das ji was distributing gold and gems. He was very wealthy, so he was distributing them like this. People asked him, "Why are you distributing with your eyes lowered?" He said, "The giver is someone else." "Vo deta rahat din rain. Log bharam mo pai karen ki Rahim baant rahe hain. Isliye taat so neeche nain." So my eyes are lowered. Such restraint that under no circumstances should we go against dharma. Then our self-control and contentment will be considered successful.

This text is taken from the auto-generated subtitles of the video. There may be word errors in it. Please be sure to listen to the video for authentic words.

Original video: Bhajan Marg (YouTube)