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."

Reminiscences

A lawyer by profession studied saints' writings as a hobby. He had a genuine desire for saints' society. He met Shri Maharaj and asked, 'Maharaj, the supreme im­portance of saints' company has been described every­where in religious books. But simultaneously it has also been said that one needs to be a saint to know a saint. How can we, ordinary humans, know a saint ? And how can fellowship with a saint result without having recog­nized one ?' In reply ShriMaharaj said, "There is a very simple feature useful for identifying a saint. He who does not grant one what one wants, but who is still wanted and sought after, must be a saint. His being is so full of contentment that one's mind finds contentment in his com­pany. One feels joyous in a saint's company without an apparent reason. Where worship of a concrete God is prac­tised uninterruptedly, where all callers are served food lovingly, and where namasmarana is practised sincerely, there, one should take for granted that a saint exists

Reminiscences

A teacher of Arithmetic met ShriMaharaj. ShriMaharaj said to him, "Worldly life, too, can be viewed in terms of arithmetic. Marriage should be looked upon as an addi­tion. To enjoy worldly pleasures except as a duty or a debt to the organs should be called subtraction. To have children is like multiplication, and dissipation of life that occurs with every breath should be looked upon as division. When the remainder reduces to zero with continu­ing division, one has to go, leaving worldly life. The con­summation of all this arithmetic is in one's recognizing of God. That recognition comes about by namasmarana. "

Reminiscences

A lady practising namasmarana regularly was very ca­pable but quick - tempered, and, once she became en­raged over an incident, her tongue set off on delivering a lashing. Just about then one day ShriMaharaj acciden­tally came  there. As soon as she saw him, not only was her tongue silenced, but tears welled up in her eyes. She said, "Maharaj, what can I do about this tem­per of mine ? This is how it lets me down." ShriMaharaj said, "Gangutai, seek the origin of anger and the six en­emies of the soul. Desire is their mother, and Pride is the father. The interesting thing is that, if one of them dies, the other automatically succumbs. There is no remedy like nama to eradicate Desire. There is no remedy like saying 'Rama is the doer' to eradicate Pride. To get hold of both, there is no means like surrendering to a sadguru. One should understand that in surrender lies the seed of eradication of the six enemies of the soul."