Reminiscences

A disciple had conducted ShriMaharaj to the inaugu­ral ceremony of the construction of his house. When that was over, he requested humbly, 'Maharaj, please be present to grace the house-warming too. Thereupon ShriMaharaj said, '1 will surely come if it is possible. But do bear in mind that wherever I go, I go to stay forever. I am always near him whom I have once called my own'.

Reminiscences

A very old gentleman started narrating his unfortu­nate tale with tears in his eyes. He said, "Maharaj, my wife died when I was young, leaving me three sons who were very young then. People urged me to marry again, but I did not, lest there be the risk of the children's being ill-treated by the step-mother. I raised them, paying per­sonal attention to their food, clothing, and education, even disregarding my own comforts. After the children had grown up, I opened independent businesses for them, supplying adequate capital to each. I got them married. The sons are doing well. But they and their spouses now say to me, 'Go away. We do not want you. Get away from here'. Somehow suppressing the sobs bursting forth while narrating this, he added, 'Maharaj, giving up all my hap­piness I discharged my duty in regard to my children so sincerely. Why should I obtain such an undeserved fruit?' The people around also felt sorry on hearing the tale of the suffering of the old man. ShriMaharaj said affection­ately, "Alas, it is quite wrong indeed for the sons to act thus; nor is it in their interest. But the question you asked in the end is not rational. Consider this: what is duty ? Whatever one is bound to do is termed 'duty'. Now if one is bound to do something, then where does the consider­ation as to how the other person behaves, crop up ? That is, the resultant fruit may not bear any relation to perfor­mance of duty. The fruit of any action is obtained in ac­cordance with one's accumulated lot. So be content that you have done your duty excellently; and realizing that the present condition has befallen in accordance with your accumulated lot, do not brood over it. Provide a diversion for your mind by engaging it in nama, and secure your real welfare."

Reminiscences

An officer who had retired after serving on a ship placed before ShriMaharaj his genuine difficulty. He said, 'Maharaj, I feel like chanting nama, but I cannot bear to sit still in one place; and if I do, I feel bored of nama.  What can be done about it ?' ShriMaharaj smiled and said, 'In what standard is your grandson studying ?' After replying, 'He is in the first standard', the man added, 'I do not know what to do, Maharaj, he plays truant. One has to get him to study by forcibly making him sit in one  place.' Upon this ShriMaharaj said, "That is also what I would say to you. Your mind plays truant. It just does not have the habit of remaining still. It should be made to  chant nama by the use of a little force. As the power of God is embodied in nama, chanting nama gradually di­minishes the awareness of the body, and nama takes root.'

Reminiscences

ShriMaharaj was engaged in a friendly discussion in the temple of Rama at Jalna. Just then an official accom­panied by his wife came for darshana. They requested that both be granted initiation. When asked what they wanted to achieve by receiving initiation, the official said, 'We want it so as to obtain love for Rama and His nama.' Upon this, addressing the gathering, ShriMaharaj said, 'How many years have passed since each one of you re­ceived initiation ?' Some said five years, some ten, some seventeen, and some said twenty-three years. After lis­tening to all that, ShriMaharaj asked, "In that case all of you must have developed love for nama; can you say, yes, to that ?" But no one would say 'yes'. Then ShriMaharaj said, "You all worship your guru every day, peruse reli­gious books, practise namasmarana a good deal; and yet you have not been able to develop love for nama. What is the reason? You do not feel that nama is everything in life. You do not live for nama. To develop love for nama, one should either chant it because one's guru likes it, or alternatively, one should chant it with a firm conviction that in chanting nama lies one's welfare. One can pre­sume that love for nama is born when one feels restless without nama. Then a person's mind will not get involved in anything else."

Reminiscences

A conscientious person commenced professional prac­tice of law. He did not like the jugglery between truth and falsehoods that has to be perpetrated in the profes­sion of a lawyer. He met ShriMaharaj and said, 'This profession cannot be run without juggling with falsehoods. What can one do about it ?' ShriMaharaj said to him, "Although to discover the truth is the aim of the law, in a court a case is decided upon the evidence presented; that is, if someone has committed a theft or a murder, but it is not established by evidence, then he is discharged as be­ing not guilty. On the other hand, if enough evidence is fabricated, even an innocent person may be convicted and sentenced. What this means is that everything depends on evidence. Therefore, there can. be no objection to doing such dishonesty as is required to establish the truth in the eyes of the law. That is necessary precisely for attain­ing the objective of the law. But one must first make sure what the truth is.

Reminiscences

Once, in a casual conversation, ShriMaharaj asked a doctor whom he knew, 'Doctor, how is the weather in the town nowadays ? How much illness is there ?' The doctor said, the weather is relatively good. But man eats more than is necessary, and thereby he falls ill. If man had the facility for ruminating like domestic cattle have, a great many illnesses would have been avoided.' Upon this ShriMaharaj said, "Doctor, God has granted only to man a unique capability for rumination, though not of food. Man can chew the cud of thoughts; it is called 'reflection'. This is an amazing facility. If it is put to use in attain­ment of God, man may attain divinity. Many people regu­larly listen to scriptures and religious treatises on attain­ment of God, but they do not reflect upon what they lis­ten to, and so it does not prove beneficial for them; it only leads to a swelling of pride. In spite of encounter with God being easily possible, man misses it because of lack of reflection and translation into action."

Reminiscences

A fruit-dealer said to ShriMaharaj, "An ordinary per­son immersed in domestic life, and saints leading domes­tic life, like Ekanath, both appear to be involved in worldly affairs. What then is the difference between the two?  ShriMaharaj quickly said, "Saints appear to be involved in worldly affairs, while an ordinary person is involved in worldly affairs. No matter how much a mango-stone is squeezed, a trace of juice keeps sticking to it. Likewise, a person in domestic life remains involved, if only a little bit, in some matter or other. But the seed of a chikoo comes out clean, with nothing sticking to it. Similarly, a saint in domestic life lives detachedly in worldly life. He seems to be involved in worldly affairs but is actually not."