Without Means, It Is Impossible to Achieve the Objectives
The Lord has created two worlds: one is the world of spirituality, and the other is the materialistic world. The world that is visible to the human eye, known and can be seen, is the materialistic world. The world that is in total contrast to this is known as the world of spirituality. Our activities in the materialistic world, like wealth, affluence, respect, and stature, are limited to where they are and can never be anything more than that. If the jeeva were restricted to these things that never went forward, then the spiritual aspects would remain zero. One must accumulate something for the spiritualistic world. The aspects that fall under satsang—the supernatural, Parabrahma, Ishvara, Jyoti, or Brahma nirakara (formless) or sakara (with form)—need to be accumulated for the spiritualistic world. The bhaava with which a person accepts the Lord, he must also give sufficient time to the Lord. The time that people spend in satsang itself means that people are collecting something about the supernatural. Satsang is a means to unite with the supernatural. It is the means to know the supernatural, to unite with Him, and attain Him. To achieve this, we sit in satsang and attain our objectives. It is a fact that to achieve the objective, we need the means with which to achieve it. If we are unable to adopt the specified means, we will never be able to achieve the objectives, the aim, and the center of our spiritualistic world. If we do not reach that level, our birth in the human form of life is a mere waste! Hence, the birth in human form is known to be the ultimate. This also means that this human form of life is very much above the various 8.4 million forms of life. If we adopt the means, then we reach the highest place, and if we don’t, we will reach the bottom. The human form of life is known to be the highest, and this has been reiterated several times.
The great saint Tulasidas once said,
Saadhana dhaama moksha kari dvaaraa,
The human body is the abode for spiritual practice and the gateway to liberation; having attained it, one should not waste it in worldly affairs.
Paayi paraloch nahi sansaaraa.
Ramcharitmanas
this human body is known to be the means by which one attains his objectives, and without the means, it is impossible to achieve the objectives.
The 8.4 million various forms of life are just to enjoy the benefits of the world. But the body of the human form of life is the means by which one attains the supernatural. If we request goumaataa (the holy mother cow) to listen to the satsang, it will listen to the satsang, but it cannot work toward achieving it. It cannot perform karma as it is destined to enjoy the materialistic world. The Lord has bestowed the luck of the human form of life to man, where he is not only able to do his karma but also enjoy the materialistic world. But you are not free to enjoy the materialistic world; you are free to do your karma. The luck bestowed on man has not been given to any of the 8.4 million forms of life.
The supernatural has also blessed every form of life with knowledge. Every form of life knows that this person is his son, kith, or kin. The Lord has taken care to distribute this knowledge equally among all the living beings in this world, but has bestowed only man with the power of reasoning. He has not given this particular power of reasoning to the 8,399,999 forms of life. A man devoid of the power of reasoning is known to be an animal. He is just like the birds and animals. You must remember that the power of reasoning is not available in the market, is not available in the books, and has not been detailed in any of the epics but has been given by the kind and benevolent Lord:
Binu satsang bibek na hoyee
Without satsang (the company of the wise), one does not attain true wisdom (discernment), and without Lord Rama’s grace, that wisdom is not easily attained.
Raama kripa binu sulabha na hoyee
Ramcharitmanas
The viveka or the power of reasoning is just given by God. The jeeva that receives His kindness receives the power of reasoning too. When the Lord showers His kindness on a particular jeeva, faith, reverence, and trust are also kindled in the jeeva. Until there is faith and trust in the person, one just hears the satsang without deriving any benefit from it. I have spent a great part of my life imparting knowledge, and you have spent a great amount of time just listening to the same. If you had no faith and trust, then whatever has been said in the satsang goes to waste.
There is rain everywhere. Rain is never an enemy to anyone. It does not kindle enmity in anyone. It just showers everywhere with the same bhaava. But, the mountains, highlands, and hillocks cannot hold the rainwater, so the water gets collected in small potholes and slightly larger areas. These ponds or lakes have different names in different languages and dialects.
Water gets collected everywhere. But when does it get collected? Only when there is a crater in the place. A man is like the hillock when he says that all this satsang and bhajan make no sense to him. A person who asks questions like—Who is God? Where does He come from? When did He come? How did He come?—is like a mountain with a high peak. It is for sure that even a drop of the power of reasoning would not stay put at that place. Rain does not differentiate at all. It doesn’t really care as to who has collected it or who has allowed it to go its way.
Despite the fact that everyone hears the satsang, not everyone who hears it is able to draw the benefits from it. Everyone has heard it. A few, like the swan among the crowd, pick the pearls from the satsang. Many just take them to be big lakes and ponds and then walk away. A person who is aware of the spiritual and materialistic aspects of human existence is known to be a swan. People who have associated themselves with the Lord to a certain extent are able to pick up the pearls from the satsang. Every saint of every religion, every Guru, and saints of every religion have sung satsang in their respective languages.
Today, where the materialistic aspects of the world seem to be growing very fast, various disruptive forces create disturbances everywhere. The disappearing interest in spirituality is also one of the main reasons for such situations in the world. Whenever there has been a low interest in spirituality in the satyayuga, tretaayuga, and dvaaparaayuga, there have been instances of extremely difficult situations. In the satyayuga, a demon king named Hiranyaksha tried his best to eliminate spirituality from the world.
During the times of Lord Sri Rama, Raavana, Kumbhakarna, Meghanaada, etc., declared war against spiritualism, and the entire world is aware of what happened to them. During the times of Krishna too, Kansa, Jarasandha, Shishupaala, and Bakasura saw their end when they attempted to eliminate the spiritual aspects of the world. The Lord was called a thief, a pimp, and a coward, and the world knows what happened to those who called Him such names.
With the growing bounds of the materialistic aspects of the world, the spiritual aspects of the world seem to be slowly disappearing into oblivion. People say that the path of spiritualism, like reading the Ramayana, attending Satsang, and singing Bhajan, is expected to be in the fourth boat of human life and that these have nothing to do with youth. People seem to be spreading baseless rumors. There is a small story as to what exactly happens when there are wrong rumors. A king named Gandharvasena had gone to war. One day, a subordinate minister told the Chief Minister that the king was killed. The Chief Minister was deeply shocked and declared a state of mourning for three days. All the people in the kingdom began to wear clothes that indicated mourning. There was unhappiness and misery all over the kingdom.
Just then, King Gandharvasena entered the city only to see the entire city immersed in a state of mourning. On enquiring from the Chief Minister, the king was told that he was misinformed about the death of the king and that this information was given to him by the subordinate minister.
The subordinate minister said that he had received information from a group of people sitting at a particular place in the town. The group referred to a particular person, and that person referred to another, and so on and so forth. Finally, it reached a potter, and the potter was caught. He was hauled up and asked to explain why he indulged in spreading such a rumor. Crying, he fell at the feet of the king and said, “I have not committed any mistake, Oh Lord. The name of my donkey is Gandharvasena, he died, and I was crying.” The king asked, “Why did you name your donkey Gandharvasena as it is my name?” The potter said that he found his donkey in a jungle, and it spoke to him in the language of human beings and said, “I am Gandharvasena, the king of Gandharva Land. I was given the form of a donkey because of a curse. Please take me to your home. I shall give you whatever you ask.” The potter continued, “Oh, my king, when this donkey of mine was alive, I had given up the work of a potter and lived like a king. He died, and I was just taking his name. Please tell me how I am wrong.”
The point I am trying to make here is that fools who stay away from the supernatural do not recognize the Lord, do not make an effort to know Him, or even try to attain Him.
They learn the A, B, C, and D in their childhood. So they are able to acquire knowledge of the Lord very early. If they do not get to know the Lord and adopt Him in their lives at a very early age, can they study the alphabet at a later stage?
We had a great mathematician scholar known as Baraha Mihir Bhatt, who filled man’s life with the concept of mathematics with spiritualism. After 10 until 18, every number ends with the word ‘Rah,’ like in gyaarah, baarah, therah, etc. Oh, Man, from the age of 11 to 18, stay (or Rah) under the protection of your Guru. Today, we have schools, colleges, and universities. In ancient times, we had the gurukula system of education, where they would begin their education at the age of 10.
After 18 until 48, all the words that denote the numbers end with the word ‘Ees,’ like unnees, bees, ikkees…adtaalees. The words that denote numbers from unnees to adtaalees have been associated with the word ‘Isha,’ referring to the fact that Oh, Man, you have turned 18 now, and you are a young man. Do not forget the Lord. If you forget Him now, everything about you will come to a total stop. All the humane qualities in you will disappear. The knowledge that you have acquired in the Gurukula will come to an end. People say that all this bhajan, and keertan of the Lord must be done in the fourth stage of a man’s life, which is totally wrong. The bhajan keertan of the Lord must begin at the age of 18. At that age, you must place the Lord in your heart, and you must do this even before you receive the blessings of the Lord. You will never forget Him after the age of 18. Then you will again get a chance only at the age of 49 or 50. All words that denote the numbers between 49 and 50 end with the word ‘Asa.’ At this point in time, we must think about what we have gained and what we have lost, the mistakes that we have committed, and the efforts to rectify them. We must churn our souls at this point in time. From the age of 51 to 58, the words that denote the first three numbers end with the word ‘Pan,’ and the latter numbers end with the words ‘Van.’ These tell us now that after the age of 50, you enter into the vanaprastha ashrama (one of the four phases of life), and you are known as a vaanaprasthi, which means that you can remain a grihastha (a householder or a family man) but don’t totally immerse yourself in it. Just like the flower of the lotus remains in water but is never affected by water. The petals of a lotus flower do not associate themselves with water and maintain a distance from water. It is not attached to that water. It is at this point in time or phase in life one must make an effort to sing in praise of the Lord, do bhajan, and keertan in the name of the Lord. This is how you must lead your life at this age in your life.
This is being specifically mentioned to those who are of the opinion that satsang must be attended only in the fourth stage of a man’s life. In fact, it is only bhajan, keertan, and satsang in the fourth stage of a man’s life. But, one must make a beginning in one’s youth. It is at this young age when the sense organs remain in our control, and we are quite healthy in mind and body.
After this stage, the jeeva doesn’t agree to what the mind says, and the man totally immerses himself in the materialistic world. According to the numerical system, the words that denote numbers from 58 to 68 end with the word ‘Sath.’ ‘Sath’ also means a fool. The mathematician throws a challenge in the field of mathematics and says that he calls a jeeva a fool almost nine times in his life. Oh, Jeeva, you have wasted all your life. You have not taken the name of the Lord, so you are a fool. Even now, if the jeeva does not understand this, Sri Bhatt says, it’s ok. It doesn’t matter. Just forget about the mistakes that you have committed during your lifetime. Try to take the name of the Lord now and seek deliverance from this materialistic world. In the numbers from 69 to 78, the words end with ‘tar.’ Take the name of that ‘Taaranhaar’ or “the one who will help you cross this world.” Make use of this opportunity, and maybe you will never be able to get it again. Use satsang and the feet of the Guru as the means to cross this ocean of the materialistic world. If you still do not do it at this stage in your life, you are given a warning. The words that denote numbers from 79 to 89 end with the word ‘See.’ They tell us indirectly, see, see, and see. They are giving us a warning – accept it at least now. If a man ignores it even at this stage of his life, the number that falls next is 90 and is called ‘nabbe.’ The letter ‘bha’ denotes the earth, and the letter ‘na’ denotes ‘bending down.’ It means to say – your back is bent now. You were six feet and have reduced by two and a half feet. He bends and looks around, and people ask him, “Hello brother, what are you looking for? What have you lost?” He indirectly tells us – don’t lose what I have lost in this life. I have lost my youth. My sense organs have lost their power, and this piece of wood is my only support in life. This person did not take anyone’s advice since his childhood. Neither did he take the advice of his teacher nor that of the supernatural. He can never think of that supernatural now because he does not have the experience of it.
Now he just repeats I, I – because he has reached the age of 91 or the word that denotes it, ‘ikkyaanave.’ The words of numbers that denote from 91 to 99 end with the letter, ‘mai.’ He now spends his time telling his grandchildren how he was when he was young. I did this, I did that. I bought a car; I bought a house, and so on and so forth. I straightened this person. Basically, he is now just reflecting on what he has earned all his life. He just is showing the wrong direction to even his grandchildren. He teaches them mai mai or I I, a sound that goats make. Now we reach the number 100 or the time of the age 100. It is time for you to go to sleep now. You will not receive this human form of life again. Why is it that you will not be receiving this life once again? You have destroyed all the time you were given in the human life. You will have to go through the births of various other forms of life. Then he says, “Oh, Lord, I am a human being and I am above all of them. Why should I take birth in the other forms of life?” Why is it that you won’t go? Where is it written that a person who dies a man takes the birth of a human form of life once again? Tell me, which book gives you such a guarantee?
Whenever the supernatural showers His kindness on all the jeevas, He gives them the human form of life. Giving them this ultimate form of life, He tells them – you must do your karma. You will not be free; go and do good karma to evolve into a better person. You will know what good karma really means only when you take birth in the human form of life. Accept birth in the human form of life, adopt humane qualities, take the name of the Lord, do bhajan keertan, do service – all these are aspects of good karma. Many also say that these are the characteristics of old age. I tell such people; the sense organs do not work in your old age. What bhajan will you be able to do? So try and practice it now. You must just take the name of the Lord in your old age as you will not be able to do anything else. This doesn’t anywhere insist that you must do it because everyone is doing it. You must do it because you know you must do it. Try and change yourself. The flower that you will bloom into will spread the fragrance of the humane qualities in you.
Children too benefit from the knowledge of spiritualism. They grow as special enlightened individuals. There is a better environment in society and the country as a whole because of the presence of such evolved persons. The deva (Gods), daanava (Demons), and maanava (Human beings) have existed since time immemorial. They have always been there. We have devas (Gods) even today, there are daanava (Demons), and maanava (Human beings) too. There are no horns on the heads of daanavas or demons. Raavana, Kumbhakarna, and others didn’t have horns on their heads. They were beautiful people. Shurpanaka was a beautiful woman but was miserable because she was a raakshashi. Vibheeshana and Trijata also never had horns on their heads. Vibheeshana was known for his devotion to the Lord, and Trijata was quite a spiritually evolved person. All these people existed together in the city of Lanka.
Today, we have all the examples of the above existing in our society too. This can never be eliminated from the world at all. A person is known to be a daanava or a demon because of his speech, behavior, or language. Those who live their lives totally in contrast to the specifications of the shaastras, allege the saints, and work against the aspirations of the Lord are known to be demons. Raavana also once said that the saadhu was a fraud one. He also called himself God, but he wasn’t Lord Narayana. He said this, and he was known to be a nishachara or a raakshasha. Those who walk totally in the opposite direction, live a life in contrast to that ordained by the shaastras, and disrespect saints are known to be raakshashas.
Duryodhana too didn’t have any horns over his head. His actions in life were totally against the shaastras. He once told Sri Krishna, “Why do you always come and visit me? I will not even give you land that even measures the tip of a small needle.” He was against the norms of society.
Those who take the name of the Lord at the appropriate time, translate His name, imbibe humane qualities, seek the blessings of their Guru or teacher, and live an evolved life are known to be human beings. Those who read the shaastras, listen to them, and follow them are a part of the human form of life. People who adopt service, taking the name of the Lord or smarana, and cooperation, are known to be gems of humanity.
It is the duty of man to take the name of the Lord, do bhajan and keertan. It is the duty of man to be kind to all forms of life. He must participate in discussions on religion and duty and provide an environment where the humane qualities of life are established. He must put in efforts to establish righteousness or dharma and spread the dictum of spiritualism in society. This is the will of the Lord, and he must do this with the blessings of his teachers or Guru.
Summary
The text discusses the distinction between the materialistic world and the spiritual world, emphasizing the importance of spiritual practice (satsang) and the accumulation of spiritual wealth. The material world, with its focus on wealth, status, and other visible achievements, is contrasted with the spiritual world, which is the true goal of human life. The human form is unique among the 8.4 million forms of life because it offers the opportunity to engage in spiritual practices and achieve liberation. The text stresses the importance of starting spiritual practices early in life, particularly through satsang, bhajan, and keertan, to avoid the pitfalls of materialism and ensure a meaningful existence. It also highlights the importance of living according to the scriptures, respecting the teachings of saints, and embodying humane qualities.
Important Points
- Two Worlds: The materialistic world is visible and limited, while the spiritual world is the true goal, requiring accumulation of spiritual wealth through satsang and devotion.
- Human Life’s Uniqueness: The human form is the highest among the 8.4 million forms of life, offering the opportunity for spiritual growth and the pursuit of liberation.
- Importance of Satsang: Engaging in satsang is essential for connecting with the supernatural and achieving spiritual objectives.
- Starting Early: Spiritual practices should begin in youth, not be postponed to old age, to ensure their effectiveness and integration into life.
- Role of Bhajan and Keertan: Singing the Lord’s praises through bhajan and keertan is vital for spiritual growth and should be a consistent part of life.
- Power of Reasoning: The power of reasoning (viveka) is a divine gift that is essential for spiritual understanding and should be nurtured through satsang.
- Consequences of Materialism: Focusing solely on materialistic pursuits leads to a wasted life, as true fulfillment comes from spiritual achievements.
- Numerology and Life Stages: The text uses numerology to illustrate the stages of life, emphasizing the importance of spiritual practices at each stage.
- Role of the Guru: The Guru’s guidance is crucial for spiritual progress, and respecting the Guru is essential for receiving divine grace.
- Human Duties: It is the duty of humans to engage in spiritual practices, show kindness, and promote righteousness in society.
