Reminiscences

At ten o'clock one morning ShriMaharaj began to dig up the land behind the temple, with a pickaxe. While digging, he said, 'If this land were to be brought under cultivation, it will provide for usal* for breakfast for those in the temple.' Seeing ShriMaharaj himself digging up the land, many persons gathered around, and each began to help in some way or other. Wamanrao Jnyaneshwari held an umbrella over the head of ShriMaharaj. Pres­ently, Vishwanath, who had been to the fields, returned. Seeing ShriMaharaj himself toiling, he ran up and snatched away the pickaxe from the hands of ShriMaharaj. He said, 'Maharaj, why should you wield a pickaxe while I am here?' When ShriMaharaj returned to the temple after a short while, he said, "This is the difference be­tween the path of knowledge and the path of love. Intelli­gence held an umbrella over my head, while love snatched the pickaxe from my hands. In the path of intelligence, vairagya** must be absolutely unshakable. If it gets slack­ened, one faces ridicule to no end, and may reach a stage where one has gained progress neither in worldly affairs nor in the attainment of God. The path of love is practi­cable for all. To be born into a family of untainted moral character, to have been favoured by a sadguru by initia­tion and by inspiring you with love for Nama, and to practise Nama with loving devotion under these fortunate circumstances, you will not even notice when you will get' vairagya: You may apparently be absorbed in worldly affairs and yet, in reality, have attained complete liberation. This is the glory of the path of love. The love lor God and unification with Him are accomplished very quickly by it."

» usal (3*3) : a dish consisting of pulse boiled, well spiced, and fried up, with coriander, etc.

** Vairagya   {&OT) : abstention from all desire and pursuit except

Reminiscences

The Company of a Person is pleasing in proportion to his being bereft of Desires

A bonny baby crawled up to ShriMaharaj. Looking at it with loving admiration, he said, "There are desires in ungerminated form present in this baby, but it is not charged with desires at this moment. It does not yet have a consciousness of its own self, and therefore it has no volition or misgivings. Because of their absence, the response of its mind is wholesome; so everyone loves it, wants to pick it up. Thus, in spite of the presence of desires in a nascent form in it, one over and again desires a baby's company. If this is so, then why should it appear beyond the bounds of possibility if one were to say that the company of a person who, by the grace of God, has his desires completely eliminated, is joyful?"

Reminiscences

The Tumult of Thoughts and Fancies arising during Namasmarana is a sign of a 'Quit notice having reached the Six enemies of the Soul'
There was a well - to - do woman who practised chanting of Nama. She received a good monthly income from the rents for her property. She once asked ShriMaharaj, "When we perform a task relating to worldly affairs, our minds think about other things associated with that task. But when we set about chanting Nama,

the mind does not think about the things associated with Nama. A tumult of other thoughts unrelated with Nama arises in the mind. Chanting of Nama does not get genuine attention; it becomes merely a mechanical act. Consequently, Nama is not chanted with adequate zest, and one soon gets tired of it. Constant compulsion is generally needed to keep the mind occupied with Nama. What can be done in this situation ?" Upon this ShriMaharaj first praised her for her sincerity, and added, "He who practises Namasmarana is definitely fortunate. Not any Tom, Dick, and Harry will undertake the practice of Namasmarana. It is only he whose stock of past deeds is good and who has been accepted by the guru, whether in this birth or an earlier one, will under­take the practice of'Namasmarana. When one sets about chanting Nama, the six enemies of the soul * that tenant the body may be deemed to have received a 'quit' notice. These tenants realize that if this body sets about chanting Nama, they will have to vacate the premises sooner or later. You have been seeing how difficult it is in practice to evict a tenant who has a proper receipt for the rent. Even if the owner wants the premises for himself, on filing a suit, most often the verdict is in favour of the tenant. If this is one's experience in practice, then how is it possible that these six tenants, who hold rent -receipts given by us over several births, will meekly va­cate the premises ? When the notice reaches them, all the six tenants rise in mutiny to dissuade one from the chant­ing of Nama, so that they do not have to vacate the pre­mises. When one is performing the tasks relating to worldly affairs, they have no such fear, so they are quiet.

When all the six tenants get disturbed, naturally they raise a storm of protest. The remedy is that when a tu­mult of thoughts arises, one should treat it as a sign that all the six tenants have received the 'quit' notice, and are frightened at heart. With this realization our mind will gather courage. One should vigorously persist in chant­ing Nama. Later, in course of chanting Nama, the storm of thoughts naturally subsides, and the passions have to vacate the premises one day or another. As soon as they vacate the 'premises', God, Who is present just next to one'sSelf, becomes apparent. There is the realization of God within oneself, and one's task has been accomplished."

* ( Shadripoo y^Ky} : the six enemies of the soul, viz., lust, anger, covetousness, love or affection, pride, envy.

Reminiscences

One should ask Rama only for contentedness; That includes Everything.

A woman practising as a Sadhaka once came to see ShriMaharaj. ShriMaharaj said to her, "We make all this fuss so that God may be propitiated. Suppose He is pleased, and he stipulates that you ask of Him in only two words whatever you want, what will be your plea?" She said, "My plea will be, 'Bestow love for Your Nama'." ShriMaharaj said, "But these are five words; the stipulation is that the plea should be in only two words." The woman was nonplussed. ShriMaharaj smiled and said, "The plea should only say, 'Bestow contentedness'. One does not obtain contentedness without having obtained love for Nama, awareness of God, total surren­der, the experience of God. Therefore, when contented-ness is asked for, He can bestow it only after bestowing all these things."

Reminiscences

There is Nothing  of greater importance than meeting the Sadguru

ShriMaharaj once said to Bapusaheb Sathaye, "Bapusaheb, tell me what the main events in your life are." Bapusaheb narrated to ShriMaharaj all outstand­ing events up to his old age. After his narration ended, ShriMaharaj said to him, "In all these little and big events, is there no place for the fact that you happened to meet me?" It was then that Bapusaheb realized his mistake.

Reminiscences

One should attribute all doer-ship to Rama

The wife of a newly - married, devout young man once fell ill with typhoid. When he met ShriMaharaj and re­ported the matter, ShriMaharaj said, "Rama will cure her. You need not worry." Upon this he said, "Say ' I will cure her,; it is only then that I will be satisfied." On hear­ing this, ShriMaharaj said, "You are asking me to utter words with which I have not defiled my tongue in my entire life. Have no doubt that Rama will cure her."

reminiscences

Consider that which is ultimately beneficial as truly conductive to happiness

A young man who was considering marriage to some girl asked Shri Maharaj, "Will my family life be a happy one if I marry this girl?" ShriMaharaj replied, "All my life I have been saying that family life is basically never conducive to happiness. How then can I say that your family life will be a happy one? But it is for sure that if you were to marry this girl, your family life will be of help in attainment of God.