KEEP A NIL BALANCE
Krishna Bhikshu, author of Bhagavan’s biography in Telugu, records that once an ardent devotee, in utter desolation, reverently approached Bhagavan and pleaded with him, “Bhagavan! I am a very great sinner. You alone can purify me. Hence, I surrender all my demerits and sins at your holy feet.” Bhagavan looked at him graciously and to the surprise of all said, “Surrender to me all your merits as well!”
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On another occasion, a very staunch devotee who was a wealthy merchant, stood before Bhagavan and said in all sincerity “Bhagavan! I surrender all my possessions at your holy feet.” With all love, Bhagavan smiled at him and said, “Surrender the possessor too!”
Is that not the true surrender?
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In arithmetic, if a man has one hundred cows, and if forty of them are sold to others, there will be a balance of sixty cows. The method of deduction is very simple. But, in accountancy, the presentation of numbers – credit and debit – is simultaneous and not deductible. If either one of them is more, the lesser number is not deducted immediately from it. In arithmetic, only the remaining balance is shown. But in accountancy both the numbers continue to be presented as they are!
Our life is more comparable to the mode of accountancy, than to the mode of arithmetic. For example, life is filled with punyam, merits, and paapam, demerits. It the amount of punyam is more than paapam, the lesser number of paapam does not get deducted and thus, annulled. The effects of both have to be experienced, either in this life or in the lives thereafter. There is no escaping from it. As long as they are there, rebirth is unavoidable, till both are exhausted, completely.
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Bhagavan’s path of wisdom assures us that our present birth can and should be made the last one. All we need to do is awaken ourselves to our nature that is the the Self within, through the practice of Self–enquiry. The key to liberation is to totally give up the ‘I am the body’ idea. The attainment of this, spontaneously and instantly, annuls the cycle of births and deaths. Moksha or liberation is assured here and now!
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Now, let’s take a fresh look at the above cited two profound statements of Bhagavan. “Surrender to me all your punyam as well” (in addition to surrendering your paapam). “Surrender the possessor, too” (in addition to surrendering your possessions). A nil balance of no punyam, no paapam –a totally empty state –can certainly be brought about through the grace of Bhagavan’s look, touch and word. Fortunate are we, who even now are assured of such a nil balance just by following his direct path of Self –enquiry.
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