44.1 In the Samvat year 1876, on the morning of Mahã sud 8 [23rd January, 1820], Shreeji Mahãrãj was sitting facing west on a decorated bedstead on the platform under the neem tree in front of the mandir of Shree Vãsudev-Nãrãyan in Dãdã Khãchar’s darbãr in Gadhadã. He was wearing a white khes, and had covered Himself with a white chãdar. Also, He had tied a white feto around His head, and had tied a bokãni with one end of the feto. A garland of white flowers decorated the feto. A sabhã of munis, as well as haribhaktas from various places, had gathered before Him.
44.2 Shreeji Mahãrãj then asked, “What is the characteristic of having love towards Bhagvãn?”
44.3 Brahmãnand Swãmi attempted to describe the characteristic of love, but was unable to do so adequately.
44.4 Hearing his reply, Shreeji Mahãrãj commented, “You have not even come close to describing love. You say it is remaining detached from the body and the brahmãnd, but that is not the characteristic of love. That is the characteristic of vairãgya. In actual fact, love is constantly remembering Bhagvãn’s murti. That is called love.
44.5 “A bhakta with total love for Bhagvãn, never has any thoughts other than those of Bhagvãn. The extent to which he holds desires other than those of Bhagvãn, is the extent to which he lacks in his love. If, whether knowingly or unknowingly, some thoughts other than remembering Bhagvãn’s murti were to arise in a person who has true love for Bhagvãn, it would be as distressful for him as someone throwing a handful of pebbles and sand into a delicious meal he is eating, or as painful as being branded on his forehead by a red-hot branding iron. A person who feels this way should be known to have love for Bhagvãn. So now, if all of you examine your hearts, you will realise how much love you have for Bhagvãn.”
44.6 Brahmãnand Swãmi then asked, “By what means can a person develop such intense love for Bhagvãn?”
44.7 Shreeji Mahãrãj replied, “Only by keeping profound association with the sat-purush can a person develop intense love for Bhagvãn.”
44.8 At this point, Somlã Khãchar questioned, “But, we are intensely engaged in such profound association, yet why does such intense love not develop?”
44.9 Shreeji Mahãrãj explained, “It is true that you engage yourselves in such profound association, but as well as associating with me, you also associate with the world. As a result, intense love for Bhagvãn does not develop.”
44.10 Then, a brãhman named Vãlo Dhruv, from Vaso, asked a question. “Mahãrãj, how can the feelings of ‘I-ness’ and ‘my-ness’ towards the body and its relations, be eradicated?”
44.11 Shreeji Mahãrãj replied, “The jeev has a misconception that it does not believe itself to be the jeevãtmã, and distinct from the body. Instead, it believes itself to be the body. To illustrate how the body clings to the jeevãtmã, consider a person who wears a dagli after having it sewn by a tailor. That person then begins to believe, ‘The tailor is my father, and the tailor’s wife is my mother’. Such a person would be considered a fool. In the same way, the jeevãtmã is given a dagli in the form of this body. That body is born sometimes to a brãhman couple, or sometimes to a low-caste couple, or in any of the other 8.4 million life-forms. Therefore, a person who believes the body to be his true self and believes the parents of that body to be his own parents, is called a fool. He should be considered to be like an animal.
44.12 “Moreover, out of those 8.4 million life-forms previously undertaken, there is not a single mother, sister, daughter, or wife who keeps the pati vratã vow any longer. So, how can a person who believes these relations to be his true relations, ever overcome the feelings of ‘I-ness’ and ‘my-ness’? Therefore, without such understanding, to eradicate attachment for a person’s birthplace and native land, is very difficult indeed.
44.13 “Therefore, as long as a person believes the body to be his true self, his entire understanding is totally useless. As long as he continues to hold pride in his varna and ãshram, he will never see qualities of a sãdhu. So, after discarding the feelings of ‘I-ness’ and ‘my-ness’ for the body and its relations, believing the ãtmã to be brahm-rup, and after abandoning all worldly desires, if a person worships Bhagvãn while following svadharma, he should be known as a sãdhu. No distance remains between Purushottam Bhagvãn and a person who has acquired such qualities of a sãdhu. Everything else may be possible, but to acquire such qualities of a sãdhu is extremely difficult. In fact, I am such a sãdhu, because I do not have even the slightest pride in my varna and ãshram.”
44.14 Shreeji Mahãrãj spoke in this way for the purpose of enlightening His bhakta. In reality, He Himself is Purushottam Nãrãyan.
End of Vachanãmrut Gadhadã I || 44 || 44 ||