73.1 In the Samvat year 1876, on the night of Chaitra vad Amãs [12th April, 1820], Swãmi Shree Sahajãnandji Mahãrãj was sitting on the veranda outside the north-facing room of His residence in Dãdã Khãchar’s darbãr in Gadhadã. He was wearing a white khes and had covered Himself with a white chãdar. He had also tied a white feto around His head. At that time, four senior sãdhus, including Muktãnand Swãmi, and some fifty other haribhaktas, had gathered before Him.
73.2 Then, Gopãlãnand Swãmi asked, “What is the nature of lust?”
73.3 Shreeji Mahãrãj answered, “Semen alone is the nature of lust.”
73.4 Gopãlãnand Swãmi then raised a doubt, “Semen is one of the seven basic constituents of the body – the seven basic constituents of the body are: ras (bodily fluids), rakta (blood), mãns (muscle), med (fat), asthi (bones), majjã (marrow), and shukra (semen). Then, how can semen alone be called the nature of lust? Also, how exactly is that semen produced?”
73.5 Shreeji Mahãrãj explained, “The mind resides in the mano-vahã nãdi. Whenever a thought related to women arises in the mind, semen is churned from the body, and after collecting in the mano-vahã nãdi, it is discharged through the genitals – just as ghee surfaces from yoghurt when it is churned by a churning rod. A person whose semen is not discharged through the genitals is known as an urdhva-retã and a perfect brahm-chãri. When Shree Krishna Bhagvãn associated with the gopis during the rãs-leelã, he did not allow the discharge of semen. For this reason, he was known as an urdhva-retã brahm-chãri, and had therefore conquered lust. Therefore, semen alone is the nature of lust. A person who has conquered semen, has conquered lust.”
73.6 Gopãlãnand Swãmi asked again, “When the body is burnt after death, its seven constituents are burnt along with it. Therefore, if semen alone is the nature of lust, then by the burning of semen along with the body, lust should also be burnt. Why then, does lust arise when the jeev enters another body?”
73.7 Shreeji Mahãrãj replied, “Semen is retained in the sukshma body. Moreover, it is because of the sukshma body that the sthul body is produced. When a ghost, which is mainly composed of a sukshma body, enters into the sthul body of another man and associates with a woman, that woman conceives a child by that ghost. Therefore, semen is definitely retained in the sukshma body.”
73.8 Gopãlãnand Swãmi questioned further, “Shivji was an urdhva-retã, yet on seeing Mohini, semen was discharged. This implies that as long as there is semen in the body, it is sure to be discharged whenever a man associates with a woman in the jãgrat state or svapna state. So then, as long as there is semen in the body, how can a person be called a perfect brahm-chãri?”
73.9 Shreeji Mahãrãj explained, “That can be said to be a fault in Shivji’s yogic powers. A person whose semen is discharged in the jãgrat state or svapna state by the thought of a woman, cannot be called a true brahm-chãri. That is why in this whole world, Nar-Nãrãyan Rushi is the only one who has firm brahm-chãrya. Since we have accepted the refuge of that Nar-Nãrãyan Rushi, by his grace and by worshipping him, we shall also gradually become nishkãmi and perfect brahm-chãris like Him.
73.10 “Yogis try to burn the semen, which remains in the body, with great effort. However, Shree Krishna Bhagvãn maintained perfect brahm-chãrya, even in the midst of the company of women. Such powers are only present in Bhagvãn. No one else is capable of remaining uninfluenced in this way. Therefore, other yogis should make an effort to avoid thinking of women in both the jãgrat state and the svapna state.”
73.11 Shuk Muni then asked, “In Dvãrikã, Shree Krishna Bhagvãn had 16,108 wives. It is said that He had ten sons and one daughter by each wife. How should one understand this?”
73.12 Shreeji Mahãrãj clarified, “The incidents of Dvãrikã are one thing, and then incidents of Vraj are another. In Dvãrikã, Shree Krishna Bhagvãn had adopted the philosophy of Sãnkhya. A follower of the Sãnkhya philosophy believes his own self to be distinct from the mind, body, and indriyas. While performing all actions, he does not regard himself as being the doer of those actions, nor does he experience either joy or grief from those actions. That was the principle adopted by Shree Krishna Bhagvãn. Therefore, He was said to be uninfluenced. The Sãnkhya philosophy adopted by Shree Krishna Bhagvãn in Dvãrikã is the very same Sãnkhya philosophy followed by kings such as Janak, who worshipped Bhagvãn as grahasthas. In the same way, Shree Krishna Bhagvãn was also a grahastha, and was known as the king of Dvãrikã. Therefore, because He followed the Sãnkhya philosophy, he remained uninfluenced as well.
73.13 “However, in Vrundãvan Shree Krishna Bhagvãn had adopted the philosophy of Yog, by which He maintained His vow of perfect brahm-chãrya, despite associating with women. At that time, He displayed the powers of Nar-Nãrãyan Rushi within Himself. In the Shreemad Bhãgvat, Kapil-Dev explains to Devhuti, ‘No one, except Nar-Nãrãyan Rushi, is capable of overcoming my mãyã in the form of women’. However, Shree Krishna Bhagvãn conquered lust while associating with women.
73.14 “Now, consider the following incident: When Durvãsã Rushi came and Shree Krishna Bhagvãn began sending all the gopis with dishes filled with food for him, the gopis asked, ‘How shall we cross the Yamunãji River?’
73.15 “At that time, Shree Krishna Bhagvãn said, ‘Tell Yamunãji that if Shree Krishna is forever a brahm-chãri, then make way for us’. When the gopis said this to Yamunãji, she made way for them.
73.16 “After feeding Durvãsã Rushi, all the gopis asked him, ‘Yamunãji is in our way. How shall we return home?’
73.17 “Durvãsã Rushi then asked, ‘How did you come?’
73.18 “The gopis explained, ‘We told Yamunãji that if Shree Krishna is forever a brahm-chãri, then make way for us. So she made way for us. But how shall we return home now?’
73.19 “Durvãsã Rushi then said, ‘Tell Yamunãji that if Durvãsã Rushi is forever fasting, then make way for us’. When the gopis said this to Yamunãji, she made way for them. Seeing this, the gopis were extremely surprised. However, they were unable to realise the greatness of Shree Krishna Bhagvãn or Durvãsã Rushi.
73.20 “Shree Krishna Bhagvãn played with the gopis while maintaining His vow of perfect brahm-chãrya and was therefore still a brahm-chãri. Durvãsã Rushi also united his ãtmã with Shree Krishna Bhagvãn, the ãtmã of all, and although he ate all the food offered by the gopis, he was still forever fasting. This was because in reality, he had fed all the food to Bhagvãn. Therefore, the actions of the extremely great cannot be understood.
73.21 “If a person looks for followers of the Sãnkhya philosophy, he could find thousands. However, to be an urdhva-retã by way of yogic powers, is only possible for Nar-Nãrãyan. In addition, a true bhakta of Nar-Nãrãyan can also gradually develop firm brahm-chãrya by the power of his worship, but others cannot.
73.22 “Furthermore, if semen is discharged through the genitals in the jãgrat state or svapna state, a person cannot be called a brahm-chãri. Nevertheless, a person who follows the eight types of tyãg of women is walking on the path of brahm-chãrya. So with time, by the grace of Nar-Nãrãyan, he will gradually become a firm brahm-chãri.
73.23 “When I was young, I had heard that semen is also released through a person’s sweat. So in order to retain my semen, I learnt two types of jal-basti, and also kunjar-kriyã. In order to conquer lust, I learnt many yogic ãsans as well. When I slept at night, I slept in the posture of gorakh-ãsan to prevent the discharge of semen even in the svapna state. To conquer lust, I made such an effort that my body stopped sweating, and I no longer felt either the cold or the heat. Then, when I came to Rãmãnand Swãmi, he tried to make me sweat by pasting ãval leaves all over my body. Even then, my body would not sweat. Therefore, conquering lust is the most difficult of all spiritual activities. However, a person who has the firm strength of upãsanã of Bhagvãn’s svarup, has become absolutely free from desires for the five vishays, and is firm in remaining free of worldly desires, becomes free of lust by the grace of Bhagvãn.”
73.24 Nityãnand Swãmi then asked, “What is the method of becoming free of worldly desires? Is it listening to talks, or is it vairãgya?”
73.25 Shreeji Mahãrãj replied, “Vairãgya alone cannot last; it is eventually destroyed. Therefore, after developing knowledge of the ãtmã and complete gnãn of Bhagvãn’s svarup, a person should think, ‘I am the ãtmã and sachidãnand, whereas the body and the brahmãnd are mãyik and perishable. How can they compare to me? Moreover, my ishta-dev is Purushottam Bhagvãn, who is greater than even Akshar, and is the supporter of countless millions of brahmãnds. I have the firm refuge of that Bhagvãn’. Vairãgya developed from these thoughts, is said to be coupled with gnãn. It is this vairãgya that is never destroyed. For example, a burning flame is extinguished when water is poured over it. However, the vadvãnal fire, which rests in the ocean, cannot be extinguished even by the waters of the ocean itself. Similarly, vairãgya coupled with gnãn is like the vadvãnal fire and the fire of lightning – it cannot be extinguished. Without that gnãn, other forms of vairãgya cannot be trusted.
73.26 “My vairãgya is like that of the fire of lightning and the vadvãnal fire. This nature of mine is known by those who have stayed extremely close to me. However, those who remain far from me, are unable to realise my nature. Furthermore, this Mulji Brahm-Chãri may appear to be naïve, yet he thoroughly knows my nature, and understands, ‘Mahãrãj is as distant as ãkãsh. He has no prejudices against or in favour of anyone’. Also, because he knows my nature, he possesses qualities like those of Bhagvãn. Moreover, the antaryãmi Bhagvãn residing within all, explains to the minds of all men and women, ‘There is no fault whatsoever in this Brahm-Chari’.
73.27 “The means of acquiring such great qualities is as follows: Whoever believes a great sant to be absolutely free of flaws becomes totally flawless himself. However, if a person perceives flaws in a great sant, that person’s intellect becomes polluted, and inner enemies, like kãm and krodh, all come to dwell within his heart. As a result, the heart of that person who perceives faults in the sat-purush is greatly troubled by disturbing thoughts. Although he may practice satsang, he never stops being unhappy.
73.28 “Those who are wise, realise all my characteristics by staying close to me. They realise, ‘Mahãrãj has no affection for any object in this world that can awaken infatuation, such as wealth, women, jewellery, food, and drink. In fact, Mahãrãj remains distant from all these things. Also, when He allows someone to sit near Him or talks to him of gnãn, it is purely out of compassion for the kalyãn of the jeev’. On the other hand, those who are fools, whether they stay near or far, cannot understand my nature.
73.29 “These talks can only be understood by a person who has ãtmã-nishthã, who offers bhakti to Bhagvãn while holding His murti within the ãtmã, and who does not abandon the worship of Bhagvãn even after becoming brahm-rup. Therefore, after developing ãtmã-nishthã and understanding the greatness of Bhagvãn’s murti, no desire for any objects remains. Once worldly desires are eradicated, a person may experience pain and pleasure according to the prãrabdha of his body, but the indriyas no longer remain sharp.
73.30 “The indriyas are the jagged edges of the manomay chakra. They become blunt only by the complete understanding of brahm and Parbrahm. For example, if a person, whose teeth have become very sensitive as a result of sucking lemons, has to chew some chick-peas, he would never be able to chew them. If he was extremely hungry, he would at most swallow them, but he would be unable to chew them. Similarly, a person who has thoroughly understood the greatness of Bhagvãn and the ãtmã, feels no joy whatsoever in any of the pleasures of the vishays of any dhãm. While the prãrabdha of the body continues, he may indulge in food, drink, and other objects, but he would do so in the same way as the person with sensitised teeth, swallowing whole chick-peas.
73.31 “To eradicate worldly desires is indeed an extremely difficult task. In fact, they remain even after mastering samãdhi. After attaining samãdhi, there is no way a person can return back into his body from the svarup of brahm. If he does return, it is because of one of three reasons. Firstly, he returns to his body from samãdhi if he holds desires for worldly pleasures. Secondly, if someone is extremely powerful, he can enter into samãdhi and return to the body according to his own will. Lastly, if there is another person who is much more powerful, then that person can bring someone back into their body from samãdhi. These are the three ways of returning to the body from samãdhi.
73.32 “When samãdhi occurs, a person has the darshan of Brahm and sees the divine light of Brahm to be like that of countless millions of suns. At that time, if that person does not have much understanding, he regards the murti of pratyaksha Purushottam Bhagvãn to be inferior, and believes Brahm to be superior. This leads to committing a breach of upãsanã. That is why firm nishchay should be developed in the pratyaksha murti, because only then can all things be accomplished. I am also determined that I shall not allow any flaw whatsoever to remain in anyone who sincerely surrenders his mind to me. Therefore, I shall not allow even a little distance to remain between us.”
73.33 Then, Muktãnand Swãmi asked, “What are the characteristics of a person who has surrendered his mind, and what are the characteristics of a person who has not surrendered his mind?”
73.34 Shreeji Mahãrãj replied, “If a person, who has surrendered his mind to Bhagvãn, is unable to be present while the talks of Bhagvãn are going on, or for the darshan of Bhagvãn, he experiences intense regret in his heart. Whenever he listens to the talks of Bhagvãn and has the darshan of Bhagvãn, his love for Bhagvãn continually increases, but never does his mind recede from those talks and darshan. Moreover, when Bhagvãn gives an ãgnã to someone to stay far away, a person who has surrendered his mind would think to himself, ‘If that ãgnã was given to me, I would gladly go to Buranpur or Kãshi, or anywhere else for that matter’. A person, who remains happy living according to the wishes of Bhagvãn in this way, is near to me; even if he is a thousand miles away.
73.35 “On the other hand, a person who has not surrendered his mind in this way, is as good as being hundreds of thousands of miles away, even though he may be staying very close to me. In fact, I am afraid of even giving advice to a person who has not surrendered his mind to me, as I fear ‘Will he accept it positively or negatively?’ These are the characteristics of a person who has surrendered his mind and who has not surrendered his mind.”
End of Vachanãmrut Gadhadã I || 73 || 73 ||