Bhagwan Shree Hari preaches to the saints and male and female devotees to observe the commands of the scriptures.
Bhagwan Shree Hari preaches to the saints and male and female devotees to observe the commands of the scriptures.
Narayan muni said:-
listen carefully to my words, you, my devotees! I am telling what is good for all. My adherents should never transgress limitations laid down in scriptures. 1.
All my devotees, be they male or female, house-holders or recluses, should observe their respective duties and seek the company of good men only. 2.
In this horrible era of Kali, only the virtuous men, having pure hearts are powerful enough to liberate living beings at the earliest, from the noose of transmigration of repeated birth. 3.
Such saintly persons should constantly be served, after discerning with their own intellect, the virtues and vices found in those saintly or wily persons, through special characteristics: 4.
In this world, numerous imposter-saints cheat and lost simple people. Hence, those desiring salvation should avoid them from afar, immediately after proper evaluation. 5.
Description of unrighteous Sadhus worthy to be abandoned.
These should be recognized as concealed forms of Kali himself, since they are deeply attached to enjoyment of women, wealth and tasty food, but misguide people by wearing the garb of a recluse. 6.
Especially one should never remain in the vicinity of evil womanizers who have killed their conscience and have become confounded animals, seeking sport with females. 7.
Know ye for sure, that, through undue involvement with women, a man becomes subject to such infatuation and bondage, as is not possible through association with any other object of enjoyment. 8.
In this era of Kali, there are many such so called saints, whose association is sure to destroy even the sprout of desire for deliverance from worldly bondage. 9.
And without doubt, inclination towards women, wealth and violence, the tripe door to hell, is indeed born in men thereafter. 10.
I say so because, by their very nature, men are prone to get attached to this triad. And due to company of such false saints, they get deeply involved in it. 11.
At the fall of the body, such saints and their male followers suffer scorching punishment in hell called Kumbhaka etc., as long as the sun and moon last. 12.
This has been directly narrated in Shrimad Bhagvata by Kapila muni and the same has been elaborated by Shri Krishna in his dialogue with Uddhava in twenty-sixth chapter of eleven Skand in Bhagavat Puran. 13.
Therefore, no one should ever be in the company of fake saints anywhere. Now I shall narrate to you the characteristics of true saints worth resorting to. 14.
Description of righteous Sadhus worthy to be cherished. They adhere strictly to the observance of celibacy, avoiding contact with women in eight forms including listening to a female voice. Similarly they give up contact with wealth in each and every form. 15.
Exercising control over their palate by giving up enjoyment of a wide variety of tastes, they never partake of anything, infatuating in solid or liquid form. 16.
They abstain from causing harm to others or to themselves by means of body, speech or mind. Freeing their hearts from all sorts of hankering, they have won their sense-organs. 17.
They harbor no love for the body or objects giving physical comfort. Free from addictions like gambling etc., they rely on Lord Krishna for all their needs and spiritual upliftment). 18.
These virtuous men, like Rishabha, the 1st Jain Tirthankara and his son Jada-Bharata are devoid of conceit; and all of them keep the distance of a bow away from women-folk while moving about or sitting. 19.
Also, they never do so singly anywhere, without the company of other saintly men. And, on falling from observance of their respective regulations, even unwittingly, they perform expiatoryrites as per prescription. Only such persons should be regarded as real saints. 20-21.
Moreover, such people are also acceptable to me as saints, who do not allow even a moment to pass futile, without listening to praises of Lord Krishna etc. 22.
Those people, who desire salvation from the snare noose of worldly existence, should always seek the company of such virtuous men, who are adherents of Shri Hari. 23.
Any other person around here, if he is found lacking with regard to the above characteristics and acting at his own sweet will, should be spurned from a distance, as would a low-born man be, even though presenting himself in an attire like that of a real saints. 24.
Suvrat said:-
Suvrata told the King further, immediately after hearing this sermon of the Lord Shri Hari, women folk began to sigh and to urge their wise relative males for asking about their spiritual welfare if saintly man are banned from having dialogue with them. 25.
O King, the intelligent men understood these intended queries of concerned women merely through the signs they made with eyes and hands without uttering aloud any words. Hence, they addressed Shri Hari. 26.
Devotees said:- O master, who are worthy of propitiation by all ? Have you delineated for us, rightly and properly, the distinction between the real and virtuous wily (saints), which should be recognized by seekers of salvation. 27.
However, you, the Lord of the virtuous and foremost among saints have prescribed renunciation of contact with women and wealth, without any distinction, for all categories of good men, whether aspirants for liberation or those already liberated. 28.
In that connection, we ask this question on behalf of the women folk, entreat you to listen to it today and give us a befitting reply. 29.
In this world, even saintly men are of two types: seekers of salvation and those who have already attained the goal, through perfection in yogic practices. The former are still trying to reach there. 30.
Thus a lot of difference prevails between these two types. How then can there be equality of the means viz., rules to be observed by both ? 31.
Indeed, contact with women can become a cause of bondage for aspirants of deliverance there from, since their vices like lust have not yet got fully burnt down. 32.
But liberated saints? They are called so, only after they have won their senses, mind, intellect and even breath. They have attained realization of the self through trance, in its pure form, which is identical with Brahma. That highest reality is constantly worshipped by them as Narayan, Whom they visualize every moment, in every worldly entity. Such liberated souls continue to live in their physical bodies by their own sweet will; since they alone are capable of delivering others, from snare of worldly existence. For such perfected souls, both men and women are equally insignificant. What then, is the harm if they sing of God’s glory before women and thereby provide them spiritual guidance? 33-36.
Some learned men, too, say that no blame or sin accrues to liberated celibates upon acting at will, even involving physical touch. In that case, what sin can accrue to them by talking the ladies ? 37-38.
Saints dedicated to firm in celibacy are like blazing fires; and those coming in their contact also become like them. 39.
And therefore, if they sit at a safe distance of at least one bow length ; away from women; and narrate to them the tales of Shri Krishna, what sin can they incur, O Lord ? 40.
If such saints also do not guide the women that way and protect them from evil ways, then what hope of liberation remains for them ? 41.
As it is, aspirants on the path to salvation will never do so, for fear of breach of their vows as per your orders. 42.
While, on the other hand, womanizers, fake saints, roaming in this world singly try to engage women by voluntary narrating tales before them. But our women alerted by you, do not go to listen even God’s stories from them ; because they know intuitively, that all those are cheats, intending to misuse women. 43 - 44.
Therefore, O Lord, have mercy on our females and permit at least the liberated saints to narrate tales of Krishna before them, so as to enhance their devotion towards him. 45.
Let the code of conduct for celibacy be sevenfold and not eightfold, at least for them as per your prescription. 46.
Suvrata then said -
to the King, upon being requested on those lines by the devotees, for the welfare of women-folk, Shri Hari who was fully conversant with secrets of true religion, laughed and spoke as follows: 47.
Narayan Muni Said:-
listen gentlemen, ladies and all you sages. I now disclose to you a remedy that will lead to female spiritual welfare. 48.
Just as women dedicated to Krishna do not listen to His tales, although favourable from the mouth of a fake Yogin, similarly, they should avoid doing so even from a liberated men independently, without being accompanied by a relative male person. 49-50.
For, if he narrates even Krishna’s tales before an exclusively female audience, he will immediately become guilty of breaching the code of a recluse. No doubt about that. 51.
And that lady, who hears those tales from the mouth of such a male fond of women, she too falls from her virtue and attains a lowly status. 52.
Thus, both parties shall become great sinners and be subjects to tremendous adversity. So was I told earlier by Shri Ramananda, who was the incarnation of Uddhava, the associate of Shri Krishna. 53.
The reason is that, a single female become the cause of sexual attraction and hence a soiled mind for a male in solitude; so certainly, does a lone male for a female. 54.
Many liberated men and women have indeed fallen to very low level in the past, due to each other’s company. 55.
That is why even a liberated man should never be in contact with females. In this context, I quote for you some verses from Bhagvat Purana, Skandha III. 56.
One who wishes to ascend to ultimate heights in Yoga, having attained unity with the supreme soul through devotional service to me, should avoid all contact with women, since they are said to be doors to hell for him. 57.
In the words of Muni Dattatreya,(Bhagvat XI), a confounded male gets infatuated by females, their ornaments, rich clothing and such other materials, all of them being created by Maya, the ensnaring cosmic illusion. Losing his vision of reality, he gets destroyed by the idea of enjoying them, like the moth covering around the glow of a lamp. 58.
The group of sensory and motor organs is so powerful that it exercises a pull even on a discerning learned man. Hence he should not sit in total solitude, even beside his own daughter, sister or mother. 59.
Therefore, I repeat, even a liberated man should never remain in contact with a woman, believing in constant servility of the mind that he has overpowered, nor should a female remain with a male near, liberated. 60.
Even if I issue such orders permitting male-female contact, those should not be followed by the liberated males or females. 61.
Oh devotees! you said that liberated men are like blazing fires, so their contact can lead women to salvation ; but that is not the view of great men at all. It has been criticized both in scriptures and in saying of wise men in the world; it goes against religious conduct of saint. 62-63.
This view, that contact of a liberated being is favourable for women’s deliverance, can be possible only in the case of Lord Shri Krishna, who eternally free, never becoming attached and bonded to any person or thing. 64.
A part from him whosoever transgressed this scriptural limit, such person has been ensured in religious texts and is being criticized in the world up to this very day. 65.
Brahma, Shankara, Indra, etc.; and the moon, Angiras, i.e. Brahaspati etc., all these great beings suffered defamation, upon transgressing scriptural limit out of lust. 66.
Leave aside contact, even the mere sight of a female can result in the fall of perfect yogis too. 67.
And those men, who say that acting at will is not cause of blame, for the virtuous, such men should be regarded as great sinners. 68.
Therefore no one should ever entertain even an inking of doubt, whether liberated men can act at will in any matter without suffering its dire consequences; because they are to be protectors of Virtue and therefore, provide set forth exemplary ideals of pure conduct. 69.
Hence I repeat once more, O devotees! despite being firmly rooted in the Atman with devotion, a liberated man, too, can fall from virtue through contact with a female. And, such a woman too can become defiled through the company of a male. 70.
Thus ends the fiftyninth chapter entitled, ‘Narration of prohibition of acting at will by liberated persons,’ in the third prakaran of Satsangi Jivan, the life story of Lord Narayan, also titled as Dharmashastra. (the rules of the code of conduct). 59