In plain words
Can we cut our heart into pieces? Can we cut it into pieces and give each person a little? It is not a stick of sugar cane. It is not a ball of laḍḍu, to be broken into pieces. It stays true for ever. If you put the nectar-sweet Ānanda on a worldly path and think this is the nectar itself, is that not mere fancy? We must withstand some hardships and losses and push on. Only he who withstands them, pushes through them and achieves is a devotee. Those who truly wish to reach God must take a hold and keep at the hold they have taken.
Whatever hold you have taken, you have taken it indeed; stay just so till the hold wins through; whatever you have desired, you have desired it indeed; keep worshipping till the desire is granted; whatever you have asked, you have asked it indeed; do not let go till what you asked is given; whatever you have thought of, you have thought of it indeed; do not move away till the thought is fulfilled; either He, unable to bear your pleading, must protect you, or you, lost to your body, must go on asking.
That alone is the way; but devotees try to deceive God with made-up words and made-up love. God never falls into the hands of such people.
However great the danger that comes, whatever hardships come, we must withstand them, push through and go forward. We gain God only in hardships. ‘Kaṣṭe phale,’ it has been said. Na sukhāt labhate sukham. Happiness does not come to us through happiness. We must regard these hardships as boons God has given. Accepting this, putting it into practice gladly, we must win this Ānanda.
Saralamma and Indulal Shah have withstood and pushed through many such hardships. Do you know where they are? They live in Bombay. Bombay is no ordinary place. Bombay is like a bomb. Standing in the middle of it, they have kept on achieving this. Do good, and it is trouble; do bad, and it is trouble. So whatever kinds of hardship come, we must withstand them, push through and achieve. They have harassed Indulal Shah in so many ways. But he has kept on achieving, with unshakeable Bhakti. To do even a small task, some grace is needed. One cannot do without relying on someone. So those who have entered into God's work, into God's tasks, must push through some hardships and losses. Indulal Shah is one who has achieved in this way. The hold on Sai, kept for forty years, is a very firm hold. He has travelled all over the world, teaching the principle of Sai. To the questions people put, he has kept giving fine answers. In everything, in the worldly, physical and spiritual paths, one must be ready. Toiling like that, he spent his body a great deal. I am telling you a small matter. Last month he came to Bangalore, saw Me and went back. He had set great hope and had courage as big as a mountain. He saw that Swami had fallen like this, as He lay on the bed. But he would not tell anyone. Within his mind he went on grieving deeply. He had set a mountain of hope, and this had happened to Swami: ‘What is this, what is this?’ So he went on agonising deep within.