← The Gospel of Swami RamdasHis talks, as recorded by Swami Satchidananda

1953-12-05

Chapter 37

Bhavnagar, December 5, 1953

351. The odd Bihari

In 1952 a friend from Bihar had come to Anandashram and stayed three weeks. He was a school teacher on long leave. He had a beard. Though Papa had first agreed to his staying in ashram for a month, he had to be asked to leave earlier as his behaviour was not satisfactory. He was highly emotional. One evening, during bhajan, he lay down on his back shouting 'Mataji, Mataji'. Papa knew that it was nothing but a mere pretence and, when the bhajan was over, gave him sound advice. He was so much ashamed that he could not raise his head. Next morning Papa advised him to leave the ashram. It was reported later that he behaved like a mad man at the railway station. At Erode he was knocked down by a railway engine and was taken by a Gujarati devotee to his house for treatment. He was later reported to have gone back to his house. He stayed there a few months and all found him to be out of his senses; he suddenly left the place without intimation to his people.

As soon as Papa alighted from the plane at Bhavnagar on the 3rd, he saw the Bihari in the crowd which had come to receive him. He was in dirty clothes and had a queer look. Papa recognised him immediately. It was later said that only recently he had come to Bhavnagar and was staying at the house of a devotee. He had told them that he was asked by Mataji to wander about. It appeared, during his short stay there, he made himself a nuisance. He created unpleasantness in Ramdas Ashram when Sai Baba's devotees were performing bhajan. He shouted why they should worship Sai Baba as Papa was all in all and they should worship none else. He had to be sent away by force from the ashram. Seeing his condition Papa advised him to go to Girnar and do sadhana.

When the morning bhajan was going on in the ashram, the Bihari started talking. Among various other things, he said, 'Papa is my Krishna, Rama and Shiva. Mataji is my Radha, Sita and Parvathi. I am a saguna upasaka and they are my gods. I had been to Anandashram where Papa scolded me and asked me to get away. In doing so, he has dishonoured his own devotee. Now Papa asks me to go to Girnar. Why should I go to Girnar leaving my ishta devata here? I am not a nirguna upasaka and have nothing to do with Dattatreya'.

Mataji, who was present, heard the talk and was wondering how Papa could tolerate such things. Seeing Mataji, the Bihari got up and came near her to do namaskar.

Mataji: Why do you talk like one gone off one's head?

Papa asked Sumatilal Kamdar to send him to Girnar with a blanket as it was rather cold there.

352. Devotees should consult Guru's convenience

At 9.30 a.m. Papa and party left Ramdas Ashram for the airport, emplaned at 10.15 a.m. and landed at Rajkot at 11 a.m.

In fact Papa's original plan was to visit no place in Saurashtra except Bhavnagar, where he could stay for two months so that all devotees from different parts of the state might come and meet him. At Cannanore railway station, Joshiji had made Papa promise that he would go over to Rajkot for the wedding of his daughter on the 7th December. Besides the preparations for the marriage function, Joshiji had made elaborate arrangements for bhajans to be held for two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening. A huge shamiana had been erected where thousands of people could comfortably sit during the bhajan.

Knowing that Papa was coming for the wedding on the 7th, Master Vasant took the opportunity to request him to stay on at Rajkot, so that he could be present on the occasion of the wedding of his adopted daughter to be celebrated on the 9th. Having planned to be there till the 8th, Papa agreed to continue till the 10th.

Narottam Shah was to celebrate the marriage of his son Champak on the 11th in Bombay. He pressed Papa to be kind enough to grace the occasion with his presence. He further suggested that Papa could fly from Rajkot to Bombay on the 10th and return to Bhavnagar on the 12th. Papa agreed.

Papa was received at the Rajkot aerodrome by Upendra Bhatt, Joshiji, the big party that had come with him from Cannanore, and a number of Rajkot devotees. Papa had decided to stay with Upendra Bhatt as on the earlier occasion.

A short time after Papa's arrival at Upendra Bhatt's he was apprised of the programmes of bhajan and talks during his stay at Rajkot, by Jivanlal Bhatt and Hiralal Pandya (Upendra Bhatt's father and uncle). Arjunbhai Patel and Madhavram Raval were also with them. While the talk was going on Arjunbhai and Madhavram got up, came to the room where Mataji was arranging things and said: "Mataji, Papa must spend two hours in the Bhajan-ashram. How can it be arranged?"

Mataji: You must ask Papa himself.

Arjunbhai: If you agree, only then we can ask Papa.

Mataji: I have nothing to say about the programme. Papa decides these things himself. You ask Papa. If he agrees, it is all right.

They then went to Papa again and Arjunbhai opened the topic.

Arjunbhai: Papa, kindly come any day to the Bhajan-ashram for two hours, so that we can have bhajan there and all those near about can have Papa's darshan.

Papa: No, Ramdas will not be able to go out anywhere on visits. You must excuse him. His health is not so good as to enable him to knock about as before.

Arjunbhai: You are not staying there as you did last time. At least spend two hours with us there.

Papa: You people do not seem to take into consideration the state of Ramdas' health at all. You are only interested in taking him here and there. If you have real love for Ramdas you would have said Ramdas should not be asked to go out anywhere and those who wanted darshan might come here. Last time when Ramdas decided to stay to Upendra Bhatt's place, instead of at the Bhajan-ashram, you got so wild that you spoke some hot words and did not even come to see Ramdas daily. This should not be the attitude of devotees. You should be happy to see that Ramdas is well looked after. You know what inconveniences he had while staying at the Bhajan-ashram climbing up and down and going to different buildings in the hot sun for meals, etc. You see, all conveniences are provided for him here. You should not get angry.

Arjunbhai: I am not angry.

Papa: You were angry last time.

Arjunbhai: Yes, I was. Now I am talking on behalf of other devotees who will have the chance of Papa's darshan there.

Papa: However, you should not get angry. Feel happy. Get all devotees here for meeting Ramdas. All conveniences are here.

Arjunbhai: All right, Papa.

In the evening, Chakubhai who is in charge of the Bhajan-ashram, came to meet Papa. He sat at Papa's feet and, in the course of the conversation, requested Papa to visit the Bhajan-ashram.

Chakubhai: Papa, what about visiting Bhajan-ashram for some time?

Papa: No, you must excuse Ramdas. He cannot go out as before. His health is not very good.

Chakubhai: Papa, if your health does not permit you to come, it does not matter. We are happy to have your darshan. I am satisfied, seeing your smiling face here.

Joshiji came to meet Papa in the afternoon. Referring to him later, Papa remarked to S: "Joshiji is so full of joy. He prattles like a child. His joy in having us here is so great that he moves about in ecstasy."

353. Bhajan in sleep

8.30 p.m. Papa was in the big hall at Upendra Bhatt's house and about fifty devotees sat in front of him.

One devotee: I do bhajan and kirtan during the day. I often do bhajan during sleep also. Is it good or is it a weakness of the mind? While doing bhajan in sleep, I even stand up and then suddenly come to consciousness.

Papa: How do you know that you do bhajan in sleep and sit up?

Devotee: I wake up and see myself sitting or standing and doing bhajan. Then I surmise that I must have been doing bhajan in sleep also.

Another devotee: He is repeating a lakh of Mantras everyday.

Papa: What Mantra are you repeating?

Devotee: Sitaram Ram Ram.

Papa: How do you count the Mantra?

Devotee: As three – Sitaram; Ram; Ram. I was repeating only the name 'Ram'. But somebody suggested that I should add 'Sita' also. So I am repeating this Mantra now.

Papa: Why add 'Sita' to the Mantra that you repeat? Valmiki repeated only 'Ram', that too in the reverse order.

354. Purity of mind essential

Devotee: In dream I get vision of saints. What does this mean?

Papa: You may get the vision of saints and avatars in dream. But what is the state of your mind? Is it free from vasanas? To attain any spiritual experience means, first to be in control of your mind. Ram Nam must destroy all the vasanas and make the mind pure. One may repeat the Name, dance, weep or jump in ecstasy and see visions, but unless one has mental purity, one has attained nothing. Vasanas must completely go or there should be signs of their leaving the mind, at least gradually. Without purity of mind one cannot attain God-realisation.

Another devotee: His mind is free from vikaras.

Papa: Why do you talk on his behalf? Are you his vakil? You cannot talk about his experiences. (To the devotee) Are your vasanas destroyed completely?

Devotee: Not completely, but their power is less.

Papa: Have you come up to the sattwa guna? Are you keeping a watch on your mind? The task of the sadhaka is to keep a strict watch over the movements of his mind, to find how far the mind is free of desires and what it runs after. While on the path, one may get this vision or that, but that is all nothing. The most important thing is purity of mind. There may be lurking within, desires to enjoy worldly things, desire for the other sex and for many such pleasures. Watch and see if these desires are getting less and less with your sadhana. What is the goal of your life? It must be nothing less than God-realisation.

Devotee: Yes, it is God-realisation.

355. Bhakti should be nishkama

Papa: By the purification of the mind alone you will be able to obtain higher spiritual experience. So, the fundamental thing is mental purity. Constant remembrance of God by the repetition of His name, and selfless service will enable you to attain purification. Do you keep the Mantra in your mind constantly? If your mind thinks of the world more than it does of God, pray to God in all humility to destroy the vasanas of the mind and make it absolutely pure. This is the purpose of sadhana.

Those who constantly repeat Ram Mantra automatically get the contact of saints; and proper meditation and everything else that is necessary for their spiritual progress ensue. Unflinching faith is an important condition for progress on the path, and secondly your bhakti should be nishkama (desireless). If you do sadhana of sakama bhakti (devotion in order to satisfy worldly desires), whatever you gain spiritually will be spent for the fulfilment of these desires and you will remain where you are.

In this connection Ramdas remembers a fine example given by Sri Ramakrishna. A farmer was watering his fields from a well. He worked for four or five hours, to find at last that his fields were as dry as ever before. Inspecting the connecting water channel, he noticed that there was a big hole in it made by rats and the water that was to flow to the fields was all drained away through this rat-hole. Our desires for worldly things are the rat-holes which swallow all the fruits of our sadhana. In other words, the power that is gained is used up for the fulfilment of worldly desires.

Now Ramdas has given you a touchstone. Test your experience and find out what state you have attained. You can find out what the state of your mind is. You can know for yourself where you stand.

356. Control emotions

Devotee: When I hear the ‘Ramayana’ read I am so moved that I find it difficult to sit there. I generally get up and walk away. Is it a weakness of the mind?

Papa: Pray to God not to make you absorbed in prem. Tell Him that you have to hear the ‘Ramayana’ and ask Him for strength not to be overpowered by emotion. What you describe is one of the eight bhavas. It is good. But it has to be controlled and got over. When you are not able to stop it, to pray to God is the only way. Do not allow yourself to be carried away by emotions. By these you may realise great joy and even have some experience of bhava-samadhi (a state of trance), but beware, when you come down you will be just as before.

357. External aids to sadhana

A devotee: Are we to keep a picture of God for concentration? If so, what form?

Papa: What is your ishta?

Devotee: Anandamayee.

Papa: Keep her picture before you and concentrate.

Devotee: How long are we to keep going to temples and other places of pilgrimage for spiritual progress?

Papa: As long as you are unable to go within yourself and see God there. You must see the inner light divine shining within you. Till then you may have to visit temples and so on. Even if you are asked not to go to temples, you will go because your God is only in temples and in places of pilgrimage. You must make a temple of yourself, enshrining God in your heart.

358. Ego, the greatest obstacle

As long as you have the sense of ego you cannot realise the presence of God within you. You must have heard the story of a bhakta who was praying to God to reveal Himself. After many years God appeared before him. The devotee was not satisfied with the external darshan. He prayed to the Lord to reveal Himself in his heart. The Lord then replied, 'I was trying to manifest Myself in your heart, but there is already one there – your 'I' or ego-sense. As soon as you turn him out I can enthrone Myself in your heart.' The ego-sense is the greatest obstacle which prevents one from seeing God in one's heart.

While talking about ego-sense or abhiman, Ramdas remembers the story of Hiranyakasipu as narrated by Shri Bindu Maharaj yesterday at the town hall in Bhavnagar. It seems Hiranyakasipu, proud of his great strength, went to Vaikuntha in order to defeat Vishnu in fight. Hiranyakasipu did not however see Vishnu anywhere and returned saying that he had defeated Vishnu. On the way, he met Rishi Narada and told him what he had done. Narada went to Vaikuntha and meeting Vishnu there asked Him where He had disappeared when Hiranyakasipu came to attack him. Vishnu replied He had hid Himself in Hiranyakasipu's heart. Hiranyakasipu's ego was so large that his head was always turned upward and would never bend down. So his heart was the safest place for Vishnu to hide in. The moral is: Unless one bends one's head down, one cannot see God in one's heart. Bending down means subdual of the ego and being humble.

359. Discontent with spiritual progress beneficial

A devotee: I have great discontentment and therefore I am always restless.

Papa: For spiritual progress or material things?

Devotee: For spiritual progress.

Papa: Discontentment for spiritual progress is all right and will enable you to move forward on the divine path. But you must have contentment in your material life. You must be satisfied with whatever God gives you. If you are contented with your spiritual progress before you reach the goal, you will stagnate.

Rajkot, December 6, 1953

360. Develop witness-consciousness

Upendra Bhatt's residence. On the way back from the bhajan at Saraswat Boarding at 10.45 a.m., Papa visited the house of Mr Shah (Chief Justice) who was in bed with heart trouble. He was very happy and cheerful when Papa went near his bed and asked, "How are you?"

Shah: Swamiji, I need you blessings.

Papa: Ramdas has come here only for giving you that. You will be all right by God's grace.

Shah: How long will you be staying in Bhavnagar?

Papa: Until the end of January.

Shah: I should like to come there.

Papa: You must get well and come there.

Shah: Swamiji, even when I am lying down I am not able to think of God. My mind is wandering and there is no concentration, as my body is ailing. What can I do?

Papa: When the mind is wandering, you must be a witness to it and watch its movements. When you say your mind is wandering, you are different from the mind. When you say, ‘This is my coat, this my shirt, this is my body', and so on, you assert that you are not the coat, shirt or the body or even the mind. So, develop this witness-consciousness. Your real nature is Absolute Bliss.

361. Do not neglect studies

Before Papa went to the hall for talks, he asked a young man, waiting for a private talk, to come in and asked others to wait outside for a while. The young man was a BCom student. He handed over to Papa a few question papers of the last examination and his answer papers. Papa glanced through them and found that the answer papers contained no answer to the questions but only ‘Om Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram’, and the marks given him were zero.

Papa: Why did you not answer the questions?

Student: I could not answer them. My mind is not in study. I want to dedicate my life to God. I want to repeat Ram Nam constantly.

Papa: You may repeat Ram Nam. What prevents you from answering the examination papers? Are you not doing all other things – eating, sleeping, bathing and so on? You must study well, appear for the next examination and pass. This is no good, neglecting your studies. Your parents may be spending a lot of money on your education. You must pass your examination. If you give up your studies, do you think you can repeat Ram Nam for the whole day? Your mind will be wandering here and there and you will take up some other work. So, continue your studies and repeat Ram Nam during all your leisure hours.

The student placed his head of Papa's feet, shed tears and left the place agreeing to follow the advice.

362. How to still the mind

3 to 4 p.m. There was a fairly large gathering for the talks.

One devotee: How to still the mind?

Papa: What do you gain by repeating Ram Nam? How does it help you in stilling the mind? By constant repetition of Ram Nam the mind gets purified and becomes one-pointed. By one-pointedness the Divine within is awakened and shines within. By the awakening of the Divine within you, wavering of the mind becomes less and less and thus it can be brought under perfect control. Till then it is the mind that controls you. The power necessary to gain mastery over the mind comes through Ram Nam. Now you are the servant of the mind. Ram Nam will make you master of the mind and servant of Ram. The best practice to stop the mind's fickleness is to disobey whatever the mind wants you to do.

Devotee: How can we get the power to disobey the mind's promptings?

Papa: It is gained by the repetition of Ram Nam and also by the help of the Divine that is awakened within you. Another method is to be a witness of the mind. Watch the mind and its movements. The mind will then become still.

363. Realise nirguna and saguna

Devotee: Should we realise the nirguna or saguna aspect of God?

Papa: Both.

Devotee: Nirguna and saguna are opposites. Are they not?

Papa: No, they are like the sun and its rays. The rays are not different from the sun. Nirguna is the changeless and formless Spirit and saguna is the manifestation; they are like sun and its rays. The nirguna is beyond the intellect to comprehend. That is why He is called achintyarupa. He is the purusha. He is also the prakriti. He is purusha and prakriti together and also beyond both, and is called Purushottama.

364. What is moksha?

Devotee: What is moksha or liberation?

Papa: It is freedom from the bondage of kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada and matsarya; and from birth and death.

Devotee: Does one who has attained moksha take birth later?

Papa: He has no rebirth. The seed of vasanas in him is completely burnt up.

365. The different kinds of samadhis

Devotee: What is savikalpa samadhi and what is nirvikalpa samadhi?

Papa: Savikalpa samadhi is that state when one sees the effulgent form of God, and enjoys divine ecstasy. Nirvikalpa samadhi is that state when you have transcended all names and forms and you lose your little self in the nameless, formless and changeless being of God. So, savikalpa samadhi is saguna sakshatkar and is within the three gunas. Nirvikalpa samadhi is nirguna sakshatkar and is beyond the gunas.

There is still a higher state in which you remain in the nirvikalpa samadhi and at the same time behold the whole universe as the form of God. One who is in this state, realising his oneness with the Eternal, lives and moves like a child seeing his beloved everywhere. This is called sahaja samadhi.

366. Follow the triune path

Devotee: Which of the paths is the best?

Papa: Man has intellect, heart and body. He should use the intellect for vichara, that is, he should discriminate between the real and the unreal so as to give up attachment to the unreal or the perishable things of the world, and meditate on the Real. In the heart he should develop love and devotion for God. With the body he must perform selfless work. Unselfish work will purify his mind, help his meditation and increase his devotion to God.

All these three practices must go together. This is called the triune path. There are people who take to any one of these and leave the other two. This is not good. It will be like exercising one part of the body and developing that part only to the exclusion of the rest. That would result in asymmetrical growth.

367. Sublimation, not suppression

A girl student: To control the indriyas, is suppression the only way?

Papa: No, transformation or sublimation is the way. Suppression will have dangerous effects. You must divinise all the vrittis (mental dynamics). Then the path is easy for you.

368. Purpose of fasting

A devotee: What importance are we to give to penances like fasting and so on?

Papa: Do observe the penance of fasting whenever necessary. Such a discipline helps you to keep the body clean, alert and free from disease. With a heavy stomach you cannot do meditation or bhajan. But certain people, while fasting, cannot but think of food. The purpose of fasting is to enable one to have proper meditation and bhajan. So, mere fasting for its own sake won't do. It must be observed for successful bhajan or meditation.

369. God realisation, a state of ineffable bliss

A devotee: What is the result of God-realization?

Papa: The result is constant joy. One who has realised God has no worries or anxieties. He sees his own Self everywhere and in everything and remains ever blissful. His 'I' and ‘mine’ have gone and he has equal vision. This is the highest state or realisation and none can describe the state of bliss he enjoys.

370. Do not worry about rebirth

A devotee: What do you think of rebirth?

Papa: Ramdas does not worry about rebirth and he asks others also to do likewise. Do whatever you have to do, now and today. Do not think about future birth and so on.

Devotee: Papa has reached a state in which he does not have to worry about rebirth. As we have not reached that state we have to know something about it.

Papa: Then you must try to reach that state in which you have not to worry about it. Think of the Eternal, live in the Eternal, move in the Eternal and be the Eternal; past, present and future are all false; so also yesterday, today and tomorrow. If a bird that is caught and put in a cage thinks: 'How did I come here? How many bars has this cage?' it will ever remain in the cage and there will be no escape from it. It has to struggle and find its way out. So, our business here is to work out our liberation and not to worry over past or future births. "

It is man's nature to regret the past, worry about the present and be afraid of the future. Give up the thought of the past, present and future. Dwell in the Eternal.

371. Atman is neither karta nor bhokta

Devotee: Is Atman karta or bhokta?

Papa: Atman is neither karta nor bhokta. Atman is a pure witness of prakriti which is His own manifestation. He is unaffected by the play of prakriti. He sanctions her play and witnesses it. Prakriti is active in the light of purusha or Atman. As soon as the purusha withdraws his sanction prakriti dissolves in purusha. You have seen, with the sanction of the Raja, groups of girls dance in his presence and he simply witnesses the dance. As soon as the Raja leaves his seat, the girls stop dancing and go away.

372. Prayer arises at the right time

Devotee: Many young people do not believe in prayer but scoff at those who pray.

Papa: They will pray when they are in trouble. Then they will cry: ‘O God, save me'.

Devotee: Should they not be compelled to pray?

Papa: No use compelling anybody. Mataji was studying in a school, second or third standard, and one day the teacher scolded her. She never more attended school. She flatly refused to go. Of course, she is none the worse for it. She says she would not have attained her present state had she continued her studies.

373. Value of satsang

A girl student: Sometimes I am for doing good acts. But next moment my mind is after lower pleasure. Why this conflict?

Papa: There are two minds: One is the higher and the other the lower. The higher mind prompts you to do good deeds and the lower mind drags you down. By satsang your higher mind always prevails and your desire for sense-pleasures disappears.

Devotee: How to get contact of saints?

Papa: By God's grace.

Devotee: Can we not force young men to go to saints?

Papa: No use at all. They must have the necessary thirst for God and then they will aspire for the contact of a saint and derive benefit. Sri Ramakrishna had a devotee going to him daily. The devotee was anxious that some of his friends also should have the benefit of Sri Ramakrishna's contact. The friends were not willing, but at his pressure two of them agreed to accompany him to Sri Ramakrishna. They sat before Sri Ramakrishna who talked to them of God. They listened for sometime with seeming interest but soon got tired of the talk and started poking the devotee from behind, whispering to him that they would like to get away. When the devotee did not heed them, they got up, told him they would wait for him outside, and went away and waited in the boat, gossiping about worldly things till the devotee left Sri Ramakrishna and joined them. This is what happens if you force satsang on those who do not want it.

374. Three types of people

There are three types of people. Some are like mudworms. The nature of mudworms is to live on dirt alone. If they are removed from dirt to a cleaner place they feel uncomfortable and struggle to get back to dirt. Another sort is like the houseflies. One moment houseflies sit on dirt and enjoy. Next moment they may sit on sweets and enjoy equally. The last type is like honey-bees which sit only on flowers, suck honey and never settle on dirt.

People who are like mudworms are always immersed in the worldly mire and are averse to satsang. If they come into contact with saints they feel restless and go away. The housefly type of people are happy when they enjoy sense-pleasures. They are also happy in the company of saints. The honey-bee type of persons are real devotees who like only satsang and do not desire worldly pleasures.

Ramdas remembers a humorous incident in this connection. When he was in Bombay many years ago, a Parsi girl used to visit him. The first day she came at 4 o'clock with her friends. Thereafter she used to come everyday alone exactly at 4 o'clock and sit near Ramdas to hear his talks. One day when she came as usual at 4 o'clock Ramdas told a story.

There was a sadhu living in a forest. He was given to the habit of taking opium. One day when he was taking opium a peacock came and peeped inside. The sadhu made a small pill of opium and gave it to the peacock, which it swallowed, got intoxicated and danced with joy. The next day at the same time it was there again looking for the pill. The sadhu gave it another pill. So everyday at that particular time the peacock came to the sadhu.

Ramdas told the Parsi girl that she was the peacock who got intoxicated by Ramdas’ talk on the first day and thereafter was coming everyday exactly at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. From that day, whenever she came, Ramdas would say, 'The peacock has come.'

Another day, when she was present, Ramdas spoke about the three types of minds – mudworm, housefly and honey-bee. As soon as Ramdas finished, this girl got up and said: 'I am like the housefly. Do you know why? I enjoyed your talks here on spiritual subjects. Now I am going to a film show.' Ramdas laughed and all those present there broke into a loud laugh.