Prema Vahini

Yama (God of Death) is as omnipresent as Shiva! Yama is associated with the deha or body; He cannot affect the jeeva. Shiva is associated with the jeevi; but, He will not allow the body to subsist for any length of time. The body is the essential vehicle for the jeevi to understand its real nature. Still, who knows when it becomes the target for the attention of Yama, the Master of the deha? Who knows when this body will get entrapped in the coils of Yama’s ropes? The jeevi, burdened with this easily-destructible body, must grasp the above-mentioned caution and be all eager to merge in Shiva, whatever the moment, that very moment! No single delayed moment that is passed by can be turned back. People usually delay doing some things, today’s till tomorrow, and yesterday’s till today. But, the tasks of sadhana are not of such a nature. For them, there is no yesterday and no tomorrow. This very moment is the moment! The minute that has elapsed is beyond your grasp; so too, the minute that is approaching, is not yours! It is only that jeevi which has engraved this understanding on its heart that can merge in Shiva. Without assimilating this truth in the heart, the jeevi is immersed in aims of today and tomorrow, based on the assumption that the body is all important. It thus lays the foundations for worldly attachments and desires and so, it is born again and again with body and continues to have the darsan of Yama! It is the right of the sadhaka to have Shiva-Darsan and not Yama-Darsan! He will not wish for it nor even contemplate it. Only those who have this relationship of the deha and the jeeva are men. And those who have realized this principle will not flag even to the slightest extent in their sadhana. These days, man is content with visualizing and experiencing evanescent worldly joys. He has no rest. Spending the nights in sleep and the days in eating and drinking, he grows and grows, until, in his old age, death pursues him. Then, he cannot decide where to go or what to do; all his senses have weakened; no one, nothing can rescue him; so, he ends as an obedient meat to the jaws of death!

How sad it is that this human life, precious as an invaluable diamond that cannot be priced at all, has been cheapened to the standard of a worn-out worthless coin! There is no use repenting, after wasting time without meditating on God, or practicing any sadhana to realize Him. What is the use in planning to dig a well, when the house has caught fire? When is it to be dug? When will water become available? When is the fire to be extinguished? It is an impossible task! If, at the very start, there was a well ready, how helpful it would be on such critical occasions! Beginning to contemplate on God during the last moments is like beginning to dig the well. So, if from now on, one equips himself by the contemplation of God incessantly, it will stand him in good stead when the end approaches. Start today the sadhana that has to be done tomorrow! Start now the sadhana that has to be done today! One does not know what is in store the next moment. Therefore, there should be no delay in engaging oneself in the sadhana that has to be done. Physical stamina is also necessary for this sadhana and so, the body has to be tended, though over-tending causes damage. To the degree that is essential, it should be looked after with great care.

Path for a Bhakta to Become a Mukta

This human birth is very difficult to attain. It cannot be obtained easily again and again. The body is as a caravanserai; the mind is its watchman; the jeevi is the pilgrim. And so, none of these has any kinship with the others. The pilgrim is bound to Salvation City, Mokshapuri. For a trouble-free journey, there is nothing so reliable as namasmarana, the remembrance of the name of the Lord. Once the sweetness of that name has been experienced, the person will not have exhaustion, unrest, or sloth. He will fulfill his pilgrimage of sadhana, joyfully, enthusiastically, and with deep conviction. Still, for achieving this sadhana, sadbhava (pure thoughts) is very important. Without fear of sin, sadbhava cannot originate; love of God, too, cannot develop. This fear produces bhakti; bhakti results in the worship of the Lord.

Stupidity is the root cause of man’s downfall. It is like sheepishness! When one rolls into a pit, all fall into the same pit. That is ruinous. Avoiding this, it is better to think about the good and the bad, the pros and cons of whatever is done and then jump. Death will not leave out anyone, whatever he be. It continues to threaten all, that, if it is another’s turn today, it is yours tomorrow. Look at the blossoms in the garden! When the gardener plucks the flowers, the buds exult that tomorrow is their turn to be gathered into his hands, and their faces are so full of joy when they unfold in that hope. Do they feel any sadness? Do their faces droop? Are they any less bright? No. The moment they know that the next day it is their turn, they make themselves ready with great gusto and excitement. So also, one must be ready on the path of sadhana, enthusiastically remembering the name of the Lord, without worrying and feeling sad, that one’s turn is tomorrow or so, because someone died today. The body is like a tube of glass. Inside it, the mind is ever changeful and restless. Seeing its antics, death keeps laughing. The bird jeevi is in the nine-holed pot. It is a wonder, how the bird has a body, how it came into the pot, and how it rises up and goes. The suras (devas, gods, angels), the munis (sages), and the naras (human beings) of the Nine Khandas (continents) and the seven Dwipas (islands) are all undergoing the sentence of carrying about with them the burden of the body. Now, of these, who are the friends and who, the enemies? When egoism dies out, all are friends; there are then no enemies. This lesson has to be remembered by all.

Man is experiencing joy and misery through the ear. Therefore, avoiding the cruel arrows of hard words, one should use words that are sweet, pleasant, and soft; and with that softness, add the sweetness of truth. To make the word soft, if falsehood is added, it would only clear the way for some more misery. A person who has become a sadhaka should use very soft, sweet, true, and pleasant words. Such persons can be recognized by their good qualities themselves. Thus, of those who have become sadhakas, the manas (mind) is Mathura, the hridayam (heart) is Dwaraka and the deha (body) is Kashi. In this abode of ten gates (human chamber), man must realize the paramjyoti, the supreme effulgence. All efforts are of no avail if the heart is not pure. Look at the fish! Living as it does perpetually in water, has it rid itself of its foul smell to any extent? No. The vasana (tendencies associated with cravings, attachments) of man will not disappear even if he is immersed in many heart-purifying sadhanas, so long as the heart is full of the illusion of egoism. Such a man, if he is desirous of getting rid of the feeling of “I” and “Mine,” must worship Hari. He must become a sadhaka, without any vikaras (maladies of the mind). Vikaras cannot co-exist in the same heart, with the sadhu nature. Light and darkness can never co-exist in the same place, at the same time, isn’t it? He whose heart is ruled by the arinashadvargas (group of six inner enemies - lust, anger, greed, attachment, arrogance, and jealousy) can have only ahankara (egoism), as his mantri (minister)! Those who have such a mantri are worse than foolish men, however great they claim to be as pandits, sadhus, or sanyasins.

“Can a donkey carrying perfume become an elephant?” Can an ass change into an elephant, simply by carrying a bundle of sandalwood? It can appreciate the weight and not the scent! But the elephant pays no regard to the weight; it inhales the sweet scent, isn’t it? So too, the sadhaka or the sanyasin or the bhakta will take in only the pure truth, the pure essence of good activities, of Godliness, and of the shastras, vedas, and upanishats. On the other hand, if for the sake of mere scholarship, learning, and disputation, one goes on arguing, he will know only the weight of logic, missing the scent of truth! The onlookers may praise them as the embodiments of the shastras and the vedas; but, where even the essentials are lacking, how can there be an embodiment? For those in search of the essence, the burden is no consideration. If mere reason is employed, nothing worthwhile is gained. Prema (love) is the one big instrument for the constant remembrance of the Lord. To keep that instrument safe and strong, the sadhaka needs no other appliance than the scabbard of viveka, discrimination.

There are many in the world who utilize their vast learning in disputations and believe that they are superior; this is a great mistake. If they are really so learned, there will not be so much disputation at all. They will assume silence as the honorable course, because those exalted in learning will have experienced the essence of the vedas, shastras, and upanishats. They will see that the nature of that essence, its core, the purity of the Godhead it proclaims, are all one, however one may realize it. They know that God appears in whatever form He is taken to have, and that He manifests in action to anyone, the feelings which he associates with Him.

Of these two, what is important is the acquisition of single-mindedness, equanimity, free from vikara, and not the acquisition of argumentativeness. Why have we all these sadhanas, japa (repetition of Lord’s name), dhyanam (meditation), bhajan, etc.? Is it not for acquiring single-mindedness, one-pointedness? Once that one-pointedness has been earned, human effort becomes unnecessary, its inner significance will then be revealed to him and will guide him. So, those eager to become sadhakas, to attain salvation, should not yield to arguments and counter-arguments. They should not be enticed by the wiles of bad feelings. They should see their own faults and not repeat them again. They should guard and protect the one-pointedness they have acquired, with their eyes fixed on the goal they are after, dismissing as trash whatever difficulties, defeats, and disturbances they might encounter on their path. One must dwell on such subjects as would give enthusiasm and joy, and not waste valuable time, building up doubts regarding all things, big and small. Whatever else is unimportant, these two have to be attended to as essential: (1) The conceit that “I know everything.” (2) Doubt, whether it is, or is not. These are the two chief enemies of the sadhaka. What does it matter who these enemies are? One should decide for oneself, that one is firmly fixed in one’s reality. If that is pure, everything is pure. If that is true, everything is true. If you wear blue eyeglasses, though Nature is resplendent with many colors, you see only the color you have worn, isn’t it? If the world appears to you as with differences, that is due to the fault in you only. If all appears as one prema, that too is your prema only. For both these, the feeling in you is the cause. It is only because one has faults within him, that he sees the world as faulty. When there is no knowledge of fault in oneself no fault can be found even by the search, for, should they not know which are the faults?

Now, a question may arise whether the Lord Himself has faults because He too searches for faults? But, how can it be said that the Lord is searching for faults? He searches for goodness only, not for faults and sins. Those are based on the standard of the gunas (qualities) of each. The Lord will not examine the wealth, the family, the gotra (lineage), the status, the learning, the strength, the reputation, or the gender. He sees only the sadbhava (pure thoughts). Those endowed with such bhava, He considers as deserving His grace, whoever they are, whatever they are.

Therefore, develop sadbhava. Live and act in joy and love. These two are sufficient; salvation can be attained without fail.