God And Dharma Should Be The Two Wheels For The Chariot Of Your Life

May 1977, Summer Course 1977, Brindavan

Published English.

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It is not possible to make any noise with one hand only. In the same manner, if man wants to achieve something higher, without making an effort, it is not possible. If man wants to get the fruits without making any effort, this signifies weakness on his part. In order to achieve any result, some attempt has to be made. It is man’s duty to put in his best efforts and the success or failure will be decided by God. By making an effort, we will be able to achieve many things and good results. Creation and God are not two distinct things. In our ignorance, we regard what really is a projection of God’s as the world and material creation. It will appear as the manifestation of the spirit of the Divine if we act wisely and with knowledge. It is only when we can think of both and discriminate between them, will we see the difference.

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There is an example for this. Suppose we have learnt that, in the markets of , there are some very sweet and juicy mangoes. Just by listening to that statement can we get the experience of eating the mango? We should go to the market and see those mangoes. Merely by looking at the mangoes, the juice is not going to enter our mouth. In order to experience the sweetness of the juice, we will have to take it in. In the same manner, the first step is to understand. After understanding, we also have to go and see. After see-ing, we have to experience. As in this analogy, when we hear the words and God, it is only when we see it, go near it and experience it, can we understand their aspects. We should also recognise the truth that God, alone, cannot be separately existing without His own creation; and without creation, there is no God.

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By our external understanding, we call this a piece of cloth. But by some thought and understanding, we can call it a conglomeration of pieces of thread. Without the threads, we cannot get a cloth. Without the earth, we cannot have a pot. Without the gold, we cannot have any ornaments. Without , we cannot have any creation. Here we must recognise the inseparable connection between the creator on the one hand and creation on the other hand. We should try and understand, make an examination of the meaning of the words “I, World and God.” In the market of this world, we will be able to collect the fruit of . Our attempts should be to reach the market of the world and find the fruit of . In the aspect of , we should experience the or the God in it. You must recognise the oneness of the that is present in all of us. You may have many different vessels of different colours, of different forms and made up of different metals, but the reflection of the sun in all those vessels is of the same sun. In the same manner, we should recognise that what we find as reflection in all the is the reflection of only the one . By entertaining different ideas, which are incorrect, we are making our own life very artificial. We should make an attempt to recognise the oneness of all that is present in everyone. Here, in this group, we call out the name of and the one with that appropriate name will get up and respond saying, “I am .” One other name is called out as and another individual gets up and says, “I am .” While the names and forms of , , , and look dif-ferent, yet in all of them, when they say, I am so and so, I am so and so, the common thing is the I. This aspect of I, which is present in everyone, is the aspect of . When we ask the question, “who am I?” it will be right and appropriate to give the answer, “I am I.” This is the correct interpretation of . Contrary to this, even if we say “,” I a m , we see an amount of duality. In that statement, two things appear to us. One is the I and the other is . It is this dualistic concept in man that gives rise to several misinterpretations and several doubts.

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The knowledge of , the basic spiritual knowledge, is the one which enables us to recognise the oneness of all human beings. In human beings, there are four distinct varieties which are to be recognised. The best among them are those who can recognise the faults in themselves and the good in others. The second category are those who recognise only the good in themselves and the faults in others. Worse than these are the people who proclaim the good that does not exist in them and find faults which do not exist in others. There is the fourth category, worse than all the other three categories, of persons who will always talk about the non-existent good in themselves and will always praise themselves and do not recognise anything else. This can also be called praising one’s own self. When we talk of praising one’s own self, one can understand praising one’s own self where the praise is rightfully due; but if you talk of this with ego (), it is equal to blindness. was suffering not only from this ego but he had also other bad qualities like jealousy, anger, lust and had power based on wealth. was born to parents by name and . He had two brothers, with names and .

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Since the time of his birth, was a great devotee and was also habituated to perform . By continuous penance, he earned the grace of and secured boons from Him. On one occasion when he was engaged in deep penance, appeared before him and asked what boon he wanted. Then asked of to grant him a boon by which he will not be killed by any human being or animal. At that time, there lived a by name . He had built a beautiful city for himself. That city was more beautiful than the city of . The daughter of was . married . She had many good qualities like , kindness and and never had any one of them in him.

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This daughter of , , with all such good qualities, was married to . From the time of marriage, his wife tried her best to communicate her good qualities to and save him, but made no attempt to change his bad qualities. As a man reaches his end, his bad qualities will also go on increasing. So also ’s bad qualities began to increase. His brother also tried to teach him several good ideals. also knew all about good conduct and . What is the use of knowing what good conduct and are if it is not to put into practice?

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Whatever one may learn, it is no use unless one puts it into practice. was proficient in all the different branches of knowledge. What is the use of having all these things if he cannot use such knowledge to reach the Lord? If bad ideas enter one’s head, his wisdom and knowledge will dry up. In the end, lost his kingdom and ruined his entire family.

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’s brother, , was a great sathwik individual. From the time of his early child-hood, he was spending all his time in thinking of the name of the Lord. When was in penance, appeared and asked him what boon he wanted. , in turn, said that he only wanted to have his mind fixed at the lotus feet of the Lord. He prayed that he be given the strength by which he will always be at the feet of the Lord. Because had a sathwik mind and a sathwik heart, he could reach . gave up and broke his connections with his brother, his property and his wealth and reached the feet of . He decided that all his wealth and all that belonged to him could be sacrificed for the purpose of getting the grace of . If one has complete faith in God, one can achieve any difficult task.

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In our daily life, we follow so many different paths for the purpose of getting some happiness and pleasure. In this world, there are many rich people, there are many wealthy people, there are many strong people and there are educated people; but we do not find any amongst them who enjoy peace of mind. The had any amount of wealth, physical strength and weapons but still they never derived any benefit from all that. If man makes himself distant from God and from righteousness, in what manner can he get this peace of mind?

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The true strength which one can have is the strength which comes from God and righteousness. You should adopt the two wings, namely the aspect of God and . Our movements in this world should be on a chariot which has two wheels, the wheels of God and of . We should experience these two, God and , as ideals in our life. alone is like the heart of our life. Forgetting this sacred and taking to unjust behaviour will be ruining our own lives. We should pick out all the bad habits in us and abandon them. In their place, we should take the good from the characters in the and put them into practice. We should try and understand the good qualities of even . It is not as if there are no good qualities in . When he was fully immersed in the thought of God, he was prepared to sacrifice even his entire body. He was truly a follower of and protector of . The bad qualities of did not come as natural qualities to . All the bad qualities and bad thoughts came to because of a certain curse to which he was subjected at one time. For such a curse, his own was responsible. The kind of work and that we do will determine the consequences. The kind of seed that we put in will determine the tree and the fruit that we can get out of it. Unknowingly, and in some ignorance, we do some bad things. Whether we do such bad work either knowingly or unknowingly, the consequences are inevitable. This is the nature of .

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Here is a rose flower. There is a very nice fragrance coming from this rose flower. Whether this flower is held in the left hand or in the right hand, the fragrance that we get is exactly the same. This fragrance is being given not only to us but to all other people around us. If we hold in our hand a flower which gives a foul smell, that bad smell will be coming not only to us but to everyone near us. In the same manner, the bad qualities that were in were spreading and giving their evil results to the entire and they spread even to who was a sathwik person. When went to surrender to and seek his protection, people like , and others, who were with , asked whether , who was the brother of , would also not have the same bad qualities which were characteristic of his brother. The reason for this suspicion and for getting a bad name was the company in which lived. In this context, we should take great care in choosing our company. We should take care to see that we will absorb the good qualities from the society in which we live. If we join bad people and keep company with bad people, in a few days we will also get into bad habits. When we join good people and keep company with them, we will also absorb good qualities from them.

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Having been born in this sacred country of , calling yourselves sons of this sacred country and belonging to the religion, accepting Indian culture and Indian traditions, if you only talk of them and do not practice them, you will be doing great injustice to this sacred country. All the young people should accept these good ideas and communicate them to others by their practice. This is the proper time. Your age, at this point of time, is the correct age. If during this age of yours, you acquire sacred ideas, there will be no difficulty in putting them into practice, when you get into your age of adolescence and later.

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You are the future citizens of this country. You should show your good and sacred ideals not in words but in action. Instead of telling a hundred things, try and show by practice at least one thing. It is to enable you to see the importance of practice that we have organised this summer course. If, after experiencing this sacred opportunity for a whole month, you cannot use this opportunity in a good manner, you should call yourselves very unfortunate. Many elders and many experienced persons are teaching you every day about the good and sacred ideals. You should try to absorb the good ideas that are contained in all these teachings and put them into practice. You must be such that you will use this sacred opportunity in a sacred manner. Your capacity for digestion must be protected with great care. Many people are giving you a big feast. From this daily feast, you must try and digest at least a small portion and after digesting, you must get the strength therefrom into your body and put it into practice. After listening to these discourses here, when you go back to your lodging, you should not spend your time in unnecessary conversation. You should recapitulate and recollect what you have listened to. It is not as if you should only utter the words that are contained in the . Mere uttering the words and reading are not sufficient. You must try and recapitulate and digest it, every word and every sound of your . All people are manifestations of . When such a sacred opportunity has come your way, to misuse it is also a great misfortune.

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You may read many or many , but if you do not acquire the capacity to discriminate between right and wrong, all these things will become useless. In our daily life, we should conduct ourselves in an appropriate manner. We should promote a sacred life. We should establish true human nature. We should also absorb the nature of the Divine. It is for this reason that it has been said that of all things that are born, to be born as a human being is sacred. After being born as a human being, to conduct yourselves like animals is bringing disgrace to the human birth itself.

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