Reminiscences

The husband of a middle - aged lady died suddenly. She began neglecting herself and her children from grief. When she met ShriMaharaj, he said to her, "Madam, I have full understanding of your grief. With all that, I say, you should act with due discrimination. Discrimination is a great fac­ulty accorded to man. It is present in everyone. If man acts making due use of it, he will belong to God. Grief is bound to be present in domestic life, and, without discrimi­nation, its severity will not be reduced. To keep the fac­ulty of discrimination active, one should either make God one's witness, or chant his nama uninterruptedly. Be ab­sorbed in nama, and your sorrow will be lightened."

Reminiscences

A student of saints' works asked ShriMaharaj, 'On one hand saints say that fruition of one's lot is inescapable, and on the other they say that there is nothing that is unattainable by effort. Which of these is true ?' ShriMaharaj promptly said, "So long as one has ego, that is, so long as one feels that one is the doer, efficacy of effort appears real; and once ego vanishes, that is, when one begins to feel that Rama is the doer, effectiveness of destiny appears real. That endeavour has a place in life, there is no doubt. But only the effort which takes place under the guidance of saints, proves capable of yielding fruit. Besides, the starting point of effort is the intent. If the intent is one of attaining God only then destiny does not come in the way of that effort. No importance is to be attached to the pains and pleasures that the body suffers by fruition of one's accumulated lot, in the course of endeavours to attain God."

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Reminiscences

There is no doubt that morality and religiousness are regressing in Society. How should one who practises chant­ing of nama act during such times ? In course of telling about this, ShriMaharaj said, "What times are trying times? The times when it becomes difficult for a moral person to act morally should be considered trying times. Such times existed at the time of Ravana. Such times ex­isted at the time of Samartha. This is undeniable, but even then there existed Vibhishana in Ravana's kingdom.

Maruti went to Lanka to look for Sita. In almost every house he noticed a riot of sensuality. But while he was moving around, he suddenly heard the nama of Rama being chanted. That was Vibhishana's house. When he happened to meet Vibhishana, the latter  told him that he continued living under those circumstances sustained by nama of Rama. The same maxim applies to us. If we adhere to chanting of nama the bad external situation will not hurt us."

14A ...

Reminiscences

Once ShriMaharaj asked a teacher in an engineering college, 'Is it correct that your students are taught car­pentry, smithy, etc. ?' The teacher said, "Yes, we call it 'workshop practice'." Thereupon ShriMaharaj asked, "What price will the articles prepared by the students fetch if they are offered for sale in the market ?" The teacher said, "No one will purchase them even as scrap." ShriMaharaj asked again, "How much amount is spent on these articles?" The teacher replied, "A lot of expense is incurred. There is a lot of capital expense such as build­ings, machinery, etc.; besides, expenses are also incurred on special teaching staff, lighting, running the machines.

And including the cost of wood and steel actually used, the total expense incurred is huge." On hearing this, ShriMaharaj said, "Then is it not uneconomic to incur this unreasonable expense only to create utterly worth-less things ?" Upon this the teacher said, 'Maharaj, if this is looked upon as a business, it is all a dead loss. But it is necessary to incur this huge expense in order that the students, who are to be engineers in future, may some­what understand from experience what precautions to ex­ercise, what problems arise, what operations and skills are required.' ShriMaharaj said, "Likewise, in attainment of God, there is a definite necessity of worldly life, so that restraining of passions, maintaining equanimity, perform­ing duty eschewing attachment, putting up with honours and insults, praise and censure, may be practised. But if one lives worldly life with the idea of making a profit, that is, in the hope that happiness will result from worldly life, it will prove to be utterly wrong and loss - making,

14A ...

Reminiscences

There is in the Konkan a village with a temple dedi­cated to the deity Ganapati,* celebrated as responding to the devotee's supplication. During a visit to that temple, ShriMaharaj was asked, * What should one supplicate for, here?' The reply was," Ganapati* literally means 'Lord of the senses' and, by extension, of the tendencies which prompt them to action. These are both properly guided by namasmarana. So, we should pray Ganapati to grant us interest, pleasure, in chanting nama."

t) - from Gana - the senses + pati = lord,

Reminiscences

Bapusaheb Sathaye's fondness for his son Rajabhau was boundless, for Rajabhau was an only child, a weak­ling, of a delicate constitution, from his childhood. Later, when ShriMaharaj went on a pilgrimage to Kashi, Bapusaheb was among the persons accompanying him. Baburao Gadre had also accompanied the party with his parents. After the pilgrimage to the three main holy places-Prayag, Gaya, Kashi - ShriMaharaj said to him, 'Baburao, your parents have now made their pilgrimage to Kashi, now let them return. But you should remain with us for the sake of Bapusaheb.' Accordingly Baburao stayed on, with the journeying party.

By stages the party arrived at Harda. During the stay there, one day Bapusaheb got stricken with cholera. Baburao diligently tended to him, but the illness went on worsening. Then, sitting by his side, ShriMaharaj said to Bapusaheb, 'Bapusaheb, on the whole the condition ap­pears serious. Should Rajabhau be sent for by a telegram?' But at this last moment, Bapusaheb's attachment for physical matters had been completely eradicated. He said, 'No, Maharaj, it is good that he is not here. If he happens to be before me, who knows, my soul may not find release because of attachment for him.'

After a short while Bapusaheb's life came peacefully to an end.

Reminiscences

What is the best kind of life ? In answering this question ShriMaharaj said, 'It is good to lead a life of activity in worldly affairs, with the object of chanting nama. To live for doing nothing but chanting nama is better; and to live so that one remembers nothing else but nama, for­getting oneself in it, is the best.'