In the Samvat year 1876, on the twelfth day of the dark half of the month of Magh in the evening, Shreeji Maharaj was seated on a wooden bedstead laid in the veranda in front of the hall facing the west near the temple of Shree Vasudev Narayan in the Durbar of Dada Khachar in Gadhada. He had put a white upper garment over His shoulder and covered His body with a rich saffron colored cloth interwoven with gold and silver threads. He had put a headdress made of an equally rich cloth on His head. Saints and devotees from various places had gathered before Him in an assembly. Having finished the chanting of the names of Narayan. the saints were singing devotional songs accompanied with musical instruments like midrange and zany.
Then Shreeji Maharaj asked the saints to stop singing and start questions and answers. He said, “Come, I will ask you a question. Bhagawan Shree Krishna has mentioned four kinds of devotees in Bhagawad Geeta. Out of the four, the gnani [man of knowledge] is said to be the best. Now if all the four are supposed to have equally firm faith in God, how can the gnani be said to be superior to the rest?” The saints tried to give an answer but could not give a satisfactory reply.
There upon Shreeji Maharaj said, ”The gnani behaves as if he is one with Brahm. He knows the greatness of God perfectly. He does not harbor any desire in his mind for anything else except for God. The other three kinds of devotees of course have an equally firm faith in God, but they do not know the greatness of God perfectly. Hence they are prone to desires for other things besides God. That is why they do not come up to the level of the gnani. It is a great mistake on the part of the devotee of God that he desires also for other things besides God.
A person may be free from all worldly desires, and may be intensely non-attached, but if he feels proud on that account and behaves haughtily, then it is also a great mistake on his part. Again he may possess the strength of self-realization, or the strength of unflinching devotion to God, but if he is proud of these virtues and does not pay due respect to a poor devotee and does not talk with him with humility then also it is a great mistake on his part. And because of this mistake his particular virtue will cease to grow.
Let me illustrate this point. While digging a well if the stone-cutter comes across a stone which sounds hollow, he will say, “There is plenty of water underneath.” But if the stone makes a ringing sound and emits sparks while cutting, he will say, “There is water underneath of course, but it is very limited in quantity.” In the same way a devotee who becomes proud on account of his knowledge, or non- attachment, or devotion may
be considered great by others, but he will not be able to develop the great virtues to be found in a modest devotee.
If one wants to please God he should not become proud on account of his virtues like knowledge, non-attachment, or devotion. Bhagavan Shree Krishna will be pleased and reveal Himself only in the hearts of such devotees.”
Then Muktanand Swami said. “Maharaj, you said that a man becomes proud on account of virtues like knowledge non-attachment and devotion. If it is so please show us the way to be free from such pride.”
Shreeji Maharaj replied. “One should know the greatness of the devotee of God, and pay him due respect by bowing, and rendering service unto him. If a tinge of pride creeps into his mind he must at once be conscious of it and must try to get rid of it by the power of his will. Then only he will be free from pride. Even if a person’s devotion is full of intense love for God, and even if God is fulfilling his good desires on account of his devotion, but if he feels proud of his devotion, it is a great blunder on his part. If one feels proud of his knowledge or nonattachment, his pride will intensify his feeling of one-ness of the soul with the body.
Therefore a devotee of God should never feel proud on any account. That is the only way to please God. If a devotee is capable of looking within and if he searches within his heart and finds even a tinge of pride he will see that the image of God within his heart looks at him with a stem eye. On the other hand if he finds that humility prevails in his heart, he will see that the image of God within his heart looks at him with a very pleasing eye. Therefore a devotee of God should develop a strong will power and never allow any idea of pride to enter his heart. Knowledge, non-attachment and devotion if tainted with pride are like adulteration of base metal with pure gold. The fineness of gold is reduced to the extent of adulteration. It is reduced more and more with more and more adulteration. In the same way the purity of knowledge, non-attachment and devotion decreases more and more if tainted more and more with pride. Knowledge, non-attachment and devotion without pride are like sterling gold. If they are tainted with pride they may look attractive outwardly, but inwardly they lose their intrinsic strength.
Let us take an illustration. The earth is five hundred million yojan (yojan=4 miles) in length as well as breadth. It supports the oceans and the mountains and all the creatures. So it looks immensely powerful. But water is much more powerful than earth. The earth floats on the surface of the water like a cake of cowdung. And light is more powerful than water. And air is more powerful than light. And outwardly though space does not look powerful at all, in fact space is more powerful than the other four elements, rather space sustains all the four.
Similarly knowledge, non-attachment and devotion of a devotee free from pride are immensely powerful like the space, but outwardly they look like possessing no power at all. But in fact an humble devotee is said to be the best devotee. Just as a child has no idea of pride, the saint will also have no pride, even if he is honored and respected very highly. Hence a devotee should be free from pride like an innocent child.”
Then again Muktanand Swami raised another question, ‘We have heard in our holy fellowship that the soul is different from the three kinds of bodies, and that the soul is different from the senses and the conscience and the pran the breath of life, and that the soul is unaffected by the three states of consciousness : wakeful, dreams and deep sleep, and we firmly believe this. But such a blissful soul associates himself with the senses and the conscience and the other elements, and invites miseries for himself. What is the reason?”
Shreeji Maharaj replied, “Some persons acquire superhuman powers, and others become omniscient. Some others attain the status of deities. People achieve greatness in
innumerable ways, and even achieve the highest position. But all their achievements are the result of the grace of God, earned through His upasana- devotion with firm faith in God. Nothing can be achieved without upasana.
One may think that he will be able to know the nature of Atma-Anatma i.e. soul and the soulless objects [animate and inanimate things] by the study of the scriptures, or from the talks of great saints. But none can know the nature of the animate and inanimate things this way. A person will be able to distinguish between the animate and the inanimate objects only to the extent of his faith in his beloved idol of worship. But
unless his beloved idol of worship bestows on him the power to discriminate, nothing can be achieved.
And one whose devotion to God is full of intense love like the cowherd damsels is supposed to have achieved everything. And one whose love is not so intense should try to know the greatness of God. He must know that God is the master of His divine abode known as Golok, Vaikunth, Shwetdweep and Brahm Mahol, He must know that God appears on this earth in the human form, only for the good of His devotees, but His
divine image is always there in His abode. Each one of His finger nails radiates with the luster of millions of suns. In this mortal world when human beings worship Him they light a lamp before Him. But He is the source of the light of the sun and the moon and everything that glows. He always resides in His divine abode like ‘Golok’, and His devotees like Radhika and Lakshmi eternally remain in His service there. And when
all these universes are dissolved, it is only He who remains. And again at the time of creation it is only He who creates the innumerable universes through Purush and Prakruti
One must know the greatness of God like this. That way only, one will be able to discriminate between the animate and the inanimate objects. Non-attachment will grow in his heart to the extent of His firm faith in God accompanied with the knowledge of His greatness. Hence one should depend only on the strength of upasana leaving aside all other means. Such a devotee knows that if a person chants the name of Swaminarayan at the last moment, he will be redeemed of all his sins and will reach Brahm Mahol [the divine abode of God] however great a sinner he may be. Then where is the doubt that the devotee of God who has sought His shelter will reach the divine abode of God? If one wants to understand the greatness of God like this, one should keep the company of saints and grow in the strength of upasana day by day.”
