In plain words
When one says, ‘Tell us at least a little of it,’ he says, ‘It did not get into the head.’ Why go at all, then?
There was a devotee. He had been going to discourses for sixteen years. What was that discourse? The story of Rāma. Saptāhas were going on. In them there was much Vairāgya. The whole of life had become a prey to hardships. In this way the pandit kept on speaking to an extreme. He made a rule that those who came to the discourse must come every day. This one who gives the discourse. Because if they did not come, the crowd would go down. This pandit must get the honour that a great many people come. So no one must stay away. ‘Only then will the fruit of this discourse come to you,’ he said. One day this devotee had to go somewhere without fail. ‘Shall I send my son in my place?’ he asked the Śāstrī. All right; wanting the seat filled up, he said, ‘All right, send the son.’ He went home. He thought it over. ‘This pandit speaks of Vairāgya a great deal; if my son hears it, he will turn renunciant, leave everything and go,’ he feared. Thinking this, in the morning he went to the pandit. ‘Sir, your discourses are very good. If the young children of today leave house and home with this Vairāgya, what will become of me?’ he said. The pandit spoke so that it would take root in the heart. ‘Sir! You have been hearing my discourses for sixteen years. How much Vairāgya has come to you? If your son comes for one day, will Vairāgya come to him? Vairāgya is not something that comes so easily!’ Just so, today people come to lectures for years on end. Not even a little Vairāgya or para-Bhakti takes root in the people. While they are hearing, it is pleasant. It is joyful. The moment they cross this enclosure and go outside, it is back to the same old place. The same old state. The same old feeling. Hearing for however long, what use is it?
I keep on talking every day. For Me there is no strain, but for you it is a strain. Are you taking even one word into the heart? Still you say, ‘We want that, we want this.’ How is it to be done? How do you hope for the thing called Mokṣa? Have you no shame even to ask? Is there no disgrace in asking? How far are you following it? You must recognise that first of all. You have been listening for years. Our dealings have not lessened at all. They are growing day by day. Swami, do that; do this. Conduct yourselves without asking.