This is the next line of "Sadhana Karu Pyare" series.
Continuing from the last issue...
ek din aihaiṁ,
ihai vishavās rākhahu pyāre
Shree Kripaluji
Maharaj further tells us what we have to do and what not to do in
devotion. Narad ji told us about the sign of devotion:
tadvismaraṇe
paramavyākulateti
Bhakti
(devotion) means, "To become immensely eager to meet God". The
one who practices devotion, constantly increases his longing to meet God.
He will be desperate to see God and think, "When will I have His Divine
vision? Here, Shree Kripaluji Maharaj tells us that we should make a
desire to meet God, but if He does not grant His vision at present, then we
should not get disappointed because a devotee cannot demand anything from
God. He cannot say, "O Shyamsundar! You have to give me Your darshan
(vision). A devotee can only request, "O God! It is my strong
desire to have your Divine vision." If God does not give His vision,
then the only reason is that our eagerness to meet Him has not reached that
level.
There is an
example of a poet who spoke about God. He said, "It is wrongly said
by someone that no one can find you. The truth is that we do not search
for you to the extent that is required to find you." It is not at
all impossible to attain God. The problem is that we don't try our level
best to attain Him. Hence, if God is not willing to give His vision at
present, then it is not His fault. It is our mistake. We have to
keep removing this shortcoming of ours and keep progressing on the spiritual
path. We should not get disappointed. If a devotee gets
disheartened, he says, "I have been shedding tears for so many
years. God has not given His darshan till now. If He does not care
for my wish and does not need me, I will also not care for Him. I do not
need Him anymore." This kind of disappointment is very dangerous, as
it leads to a devotee's spiritual downfall.
There is an
incident about Madhusudan Saraswati, who was a great scholar and a follower of
Shankaracharya. He used to visit various places to challenge others in
scriptural debates and defeat them. One day, he met a Saint. The
Saint said, "Madhusudan, when you win a scriptural debate, do you feel
happy?" He replied, "Yes, I fell happy when I win."
The Saint again asked, "And if by chance you lose, then do you feel
sad?" "Yes, I feel unhappy when I lose," replied
Madhusudan. The Saint replied, "You are still oscillating between
the states of happiness and sadness. You have not reached the state of
non-dualism. You talk about non-dualism, but you are still under the clutches
of the dualities of sorrow and happiness. By performing such debates
you are increasing your ego." Madhusudan was shocked at the Saint's
statement and thought, "The Saint has pointed out my fault." He
asked the Saint, "What should I do now? The Saint was an
elevated soul. He directed Madhusudan to practice devotion to Shree
Krishna. By doing so, the mind and intellect will get purified.
Shankaracharya said:
śhuddhayati hi
nāntarātmā kṛiṣhṇapadāmbhojabhaktimṛite
"It is
impossible to purify the mind without devotion to Shree Krishna."
The Saint
instructed Madhusudan to go to Vrindavan and while staying in Braj, practice
devotion to Shree Krishna. He was told to practice sadhana (devotion) to have
the Divine vision of Shree Krishna. Madhusudan went to Vrindavan and
practiced sadhana continuously for three years, but Shree Krishna never gave
His vision. Madhusudan got disappointed and said, "Everything is a
waste." He stopped practicing devotion, gave up, and started to go
back.
While
returning, he saw another Saint sitting near a tree. The Saint said to Madhusudan,
"You have lost hope so soon". Madhusudan replied, "How do
you know?" The Saint said, "I know many things. Nevertheless
what was your experience?" Madhusudan said, "I practiced so
much sadhana, still God did not give darshan, and that is why I got
disappointed." The Saint said, "Never mind. Before having
the Divine vision of God, I will introduce you to a ghost. I will teach
you how to practice devotion to meet a ghost. Will you practice it?"
Madhusudan answered, "I did not have God's vision. Let's see, I will
at least get the vision of a ghost".
He learnt to
practice the new devotion, and did it for one year. But even the ghost
did not give his vision. Again Madhusudan felt disheartened and decided
to return back. Again, he saw that same Saint under the tree. The
Saint asked Madhusudan, "What happened?" Madhusudan answered,
"Maharaj, The sadhana (devotion) that you taught me was not
fruitful. I did not see any ghost." The Saint called the
ghost. He asked the ghost, "Why did you not grant your darshan to
Madhusudan?" The ghost replied, "Maharaj, I wanted to come near
him, but his aura was so strong that I began to burn". I could not
go near him." Madhusudan thought, "There is some benefit in my sadhana
(devotion). I don't realize it, but the sadhana that I am practicing is
showing its effect." He became aware of the effects of devotion.
He again went
and continuously practiced devotion for three years in the place where the
Radha Govind Temple has been built. Finally, Shree Krishna gave His
Divine vision to him. When Shree Krishna came, a strange thing
happened. Madhusudan turned his face away and did not look at
God. Shree Krishna asked him, "Why are you
dejected?" Madhusudan asked, "What took you so long to give me
Your vision?" Shree Krishna showed him a mountain of his sins.
Shree Krishna said, "These are all your sanchit karm (deeds
performed in the past lives). All these sins got burnt and your mind got
completely purified. Then, I granted you My vision."
Therefore, it
takes time for devotion to show its result. If we get disappointed, then
we will not be able to reach our goal. We cannot demand God for His
vision. He is not our slave that we demand and He fulfills our wish. A
soul has only got the right to keep desiring for God's vision. And
whether He will give His darshan or not? When will He give darshan?
We should leave this decision to God.
In China, there
are two religions namely Taoism and Confucianism. There is a well known
saying in Tao religion: Even if the destination is hundred miles away, it
begins by taking a single step. The construction of a huge temple begins
by the laying of a single brick. In the same manner, we should not be worried
about reaching the destination of attaining God; rather, we should keep taking
one step after another and keep progressing in our spiritual journey.
Have this firm faith that one day we will definitely meet God. We are a
part of Him and He is our eternal father. It is not like that He does not
care for us and thinks, "Let the soul suffer in the miseries of the
world. He also cares and worries about us, "Since infinite
lifetimes, my son has been under the clutches of Maya." He also
thinks how to uplift the soul. So, have this strong belief that one day
God will surely meet us.
Once, a
disciple of Lord Chaitaniya Mahaprabhu ji asked him, "How much time is
left to achieve my goal of God-realization?" Mahaprabhu ji said,
"You have as many life times left as there are leaves on this
tree." The man thought, "After so many lifetimes, will I
actually be able to attain God?" He was happy and started jumping
with joy. He started to dance and chant, Hari bol Hari bol.
Mahaprabhu ji said, "No, No. You will attain God in this life
itself." He became even happier, and started jumping with greater
enthusiasm. Mahaprabhu ji saw his faith and devotion
increasing. He said, "Well, You can have God's vision at this very
moment."
Other devotees
objected and said, "Maharaj ji, how could you change your own words and
grant Him a vision?" Mahaprabhu ji said, "When I told him that
one day God will definitely meet him, his bhakti (devotion) increased
tremendously. When I told him that God will definitely meet him in this
lifetime itself, his faith and devotion increased even more."
So, when bhakti
increases, we can see that the faith that we will meet God also increases.
There is a firm belief that He will definitely grant His vision to us one
day. If not in this lifetime, He will come in some other life time.
But, He will definitely grant us His vision. That is the sign of true
devotion. By practicing this, we will progress in our daily sadhana.
This is what Shree Maharajji explains in these two lines of the keertan.
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