25.1 In the Samvat year 1876, on the morning of Posh sud 7 [23rd December, 1819], Shreeji Mahãrãj arrived at the residence of the paramhans in Dãdã Khãchar’s darbãr in Gadhadã. He was wearing a white khes and had covered Himself with a white chofãl. He had also tied a white feto around His head. He was sitting facing east on the western veranda. A sabhã of paramhans, as well as haribhaktas from various places, had gathered before Him.
25.2 Out of compassion, Shreeji Mahãrãj then said, “A bhakta of Bhagvãn, who follows only svadharma, does not feel completely fulfilled within his heart. That feeling of fulfilment can only be attained by ãtmã-nishthã and the knowledge of Bhagvãn’s greatness. Moreover, absence of these two qualities, determines the extent of the deficiency in this experience of fulfilment. Therefore, a bhakta of Bhagvãn should firmly develop these two qualities.
25.3 “The deficiency remaining in these two factors also determines the extent of the difficulty experienced during samãdhi. Recently, I granted samãdhi to a haribhakta in which she saw intense divine light. Seeing the light, she began to scream, and she shouted, ‘I’m burning!’ Therefore, even those who experience samãdhi, require knowledge of the ãtmã. If a person does not realise his own svarup to be the ãtmã, and instead believes his svarup to be the body, the deficiency will remain.
25.4 “I explained to that bhakta, ‘Your svarup is the ãtmã, not the body. You are not this Lãdkibai of the Bhãt sub-caste; instead, your svarup is the ãtmã, which is achhedhya and abhedhya’. I then placed her into samãdhi again and told her, ‘Go to the four-petalled kamal at the site of Ganpati, and look at your svarup there’.
25.5 “When a person in samãdhi enters the site of Ganpati, that person hears divine sounds and sees divine light. When he enters the higher place of Brahmã, he hears louder sounds and sees brighter light. When he enters the still higher place of Vishnu, he hears even louder sounds and sees even brighter light. In this way, as he enters higher and higher locations, he hears increasingly louder sounds and sees increasingly brighter light. As a result of the intense divine light seen in samãdhi, and the loud thunderous sounds that occur, even the most strong-minded become fearful.
25.6 “For example, despite being a bhakta of Bhagvãn and despite being extremely brave, Arjun was incapable of beholding Bhagvãn’s Vishvarup form. He therefore pleaded, ‘O Mahãrãj! I am incapable of beholding this svarup of yours. Please grant me darshan of your former svarup’. Similarly, in samãdhi, when thundering noises like those of an entire brahmãnd exploding are heard, and masses of intense light like overflowing oceans are seen, even the brave lose their patience. Therefore, a person should understand his own svarup to be distinct from the body.
25.7 “Samãdhi experienced in this way is achieved in two ways. One is by controlling the prãns through prãnãyam, whereby the chitt is also controlled. The other is by controlling the chitt, whereby the prãns are also controlled. When is control over the chitt achieved? It is achieved when a person’s vruttis are detached from everything else and focused only on Bhagvãn. However, these vruttis can be focused on Bhagvãn only when desires for everything else are overcome and only a singular desire for the svarup of Bhagvãn remains. Then, those vruttis will not be deflected from Bhagvãn’s svarup by any means whatsoever. For example, if twenty pails of water were drawn from a water-well, and the flow of water from each pail flowed in separate directions, then there would be little force in each flow. However, if the flows of all twenty pails of water are combined, then the resultant flow would become extremely powerful – like that of a river – and would not be able to be diverted by any means whatsoever. Similarly, when a person’s vruttis have become free of worldly desires, his chitt focuses only on Bhagvãn’s svarup.
25.8 “Conversely, when a person has desires in his chitt for the pleasures of the world, his vrutti is widely dispersed among thousands of different types of sounds heard via the ear; the vrutti of the skin is dispersed among thousands of different types of touch sensations that are felt; the vrutti of the eyes is dispersed among thousands of different types of things that are seen; the vrutti of the tongue is dispersed among thousands of different types of tastes; the vrutti of the nose is dispersed among countless types of smells. In the same way, the vruttis of his karma-indriyas are dispersed among their respective vishays in thousands of different ways. In this way, via the ten indriyas, his antah-karans are dispersed in thousands of different ways. Only when his chitt thinks about Bhagvãn, and his man generates thoughts of Bhagvãn, and his buddhi establishes the nishchay in the svarup of Bhagvãn, and his ahankãr thinks ‘I am the ãtmã, and a bhakta of Bhagvãn’, can his desire for Bhagvãn be known to have become singular.
25.9 “Alternatively, the control of the chitt by controlling the prãns is achieved by ashtãng-yog, which comprises of eight stages: yam, niyam, ãsan, prãnãyam, pratyãhãr, dhãran, dhyãn, and samãdhi. This ashtãng-yog is the method, and its gift is the nirvikalp samãdhi of Bhagvãn. When this nirvikalp samãdhi is achieved, the chitt is controlled by controlling the prãns. On the other hand, if the chitt focuses on Bhagvãn after becoming free of worldly desires, then the prãns are controlled by control of the chitt.
25.10 “Therefore, just as the chitt is controlled by mastering ashtãng-yog, similarly, the chitt can also be controlled by focusing on the svarup of Bhagvãn. A bhakta whose chitt’s vrutti becomes focused on the svarup of Bhagvãn, masters ashtãng–yog without even attempting to master it. Therefore, the spiritual activities of ãtmã–nishthã and the knowledge of Bhagvãn’s greatness that I have just described should be firmly practiced.
25.11 “Furthermore, a person’s vartmãn dharma – which are Bhagvãn’s ãgnã – should certainly be followed. For example, the dharma of a brãhman is to bathe, lead a pure life, and never drink even water from a shudra’s house. Similarly, a satsangi should never falter in following Bhagvãn’s ãgnã. This is because Bhagvãn will be pleased with him if he behaves accordingly.
25.12 “Moreover, a person should very firmly maintain both the knowledge of Bhagvãn’s greatness as well as the knowledge of the ãtmã coupled with vairãgya. He should also feel fulfilled by realising, ‘Now I have no deficiencies remaining’. With this understanding, he should constantly offer bhakti to Bhagvãn. Having said this, he should not get carried away in the joy of this understanding, and nor should he feel unfulfilled. If he does feel unfulfilled, then the blessings that have been showered upon him by Bhagvãn can be considered as not having germinated – like a seed sown in saline soil. Conversely, if he gets carried away and begins to behave disobediently, then that is like having thrown a seed into a fire, which burns it. Therefore, if a person understands as I have explained, then no form of deficiency will remain.”
25.13 After saying this, Shreeji Mahãrãj returned to His seat.
End of Vachanãmrut Gadhadã I || 25 || 25 ||