Shri Sant Kathamrut by Shri Dasganu Maharaj - Chapter 57

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Shri.Ganeshayanamah. Oh Lord Lambodar your form is the Truth. Oh Generous One, you are the Origin. Please hold my hand and help me write. Oh Listeners, please listen to this Sant Kathamrut -a book comparable to spring. The stories of the saints are the mango trees here. They have the branches of miracles performed by the saints. The poetic arrangement is the foliage of the tender leaves and the advice given by the saints is the fruit. I beg you to become a cuckoo and enjoy the sweet juice of the fruit. This book is the Manas Sarovar.

The stories of the saints are the fully bloomed water lillies. The pure honey of advice is contained in them. Oh Listeners, enjoy this honey like humble bumble bees. I have narrated the life of Sainath of Shirdi in Chapter 31,32 and 33 of Bhakta Leelamrut. He is the Kalpatam (The Divine Tree). He is the ship to cross the ocean of the mundane world, he is very generous. He is the ocean of mercy. He loves his devotees.

Sai's devotees went to Shirdi at the time of Dhanu Sankraman in the month of Pausha. Listeners may think that the Dhanu Sankranti is not as important as the Makar Sankranti. Why should, then, the devotees choose a less important day for the Darshan? On Dhanu Sankranti. people offer the Naivedha to the Sun and take their meals at sunrise. A similar situation is here too. I shall try to explain it to you.

The worldly miseries froze the devotees with cold. They donned themselves with the warm clothing of devotion and rushed to see Baba -their Sadguru. Shirdi is the mountain from where rises Sai the Sun. Sai's grace is the dawn. The devotees bathed themselves in the Ganga of faith and went for his darshan. The Lord, then, offered them a meal prepared from Self realization. This is Dhanurmas in Shirdi and hence the devotees gathered in Shirdi in anticipation of the meal. Narayan, the son of Shri.Govind born in the family of Chandorkar Haripant, a pious devotee and a firm believer in the teachings of the Vedas. Beray, Nimonkar, Laxman Maruti and other great devotees gathered there.

All of them sat in the mosque and were as glad as the children are to see their mother. Chandorkar folded his hands in reverance and said, "I asked you a question. Baba: but you did not answer it then. Please tell me why you are annoyed with us and then, explain to us who the God is and where He lives.

Maharaj said. "Nana, anger does not stay in my heart. You are all my children. Whom do I get angry with? Of course, you have the right to show the false anger with me. Had Shri.Venkusa been around, I would also have had shown this kind of false anger expressed to him. Anyway. I have given two discourses to you earlier. You must remember the advice therein and listen to me. If you assimilate the knowledge I have given you earlier, it will equip you with four instruments. When a devotee is equipped thus, then only, the knowledge of Bramhan is related to him for self realization. The ways followed to procure the desired are known as the instruments here. Concentrate on my speech. I will relate those four instruments to you. Remember the subject is very deep.

The first one is the proper understanding of the real and the unreal. This is called Vivek, the reasoning. Second is Vairagya the asceticism. The third is the group of six consisting of Shama, Dama etc. The fourth is the desire for Absolution.

Listen to the definition of Reasoning. This deals with the permanent and temporary things. One must have realized that the world is an illusion and Bramhan is the truth. A lot of pure Chaitanya. The visible world is simply, an illusion. Oh Narayan, one cannot believe in it but one experiences its existence. There is no place in this universe devoid of this Chaitanya. One cannot find a single thing devoid of this. My son! It does not have any colour or form. Do not forget this, this is called Bramhan. It is worshipped by Gnanies who are called the realized ones in this world. The Chaitanya contains millions and millions of animals, plants and insects. It is the prime cause for the very existence of the universe and the shapes of these life forms. The Chaitanya envelopes everything. It is without pain. It is truth, knowledge and bliss embodied. We are also not different from it.'

Nana folded his hands and prayed, 'Baba, I have some difficulty in understanding, here. You said the Bramhan is devoid of pain and it envelopes everything. It is blissful too. My Mother, you said everything contains this Bramhan. I, however, find that the world is full of miseries and pain. It is also infinite. I do not see any properties of Chaitanya in it. How can a born-blind see beauty? How can Real Chaitanya live in an illusory thing? If the Soul itself is the life force, then its unity does not exist at all because there are many souls. The pleasure and pain of one soul do not affect others. How can we? Then say that all of them contain the same Chaitanya? Since the bodies are different I feel that the souls are also different."

Baba said, Nana,you make a mistake, here. Now listen to me with full concentration. If we mix red, white, black, yellow, blue, green, violet and crimson colours separately with water and keep these mixtures in different glasses, can the water be different? It gets red colour with red and yellow with yellow. If we separate the colour from the mixture, the colour of the water will not be visible again. In the same manner, after the union of the soul with heart, experience of miseries and pain are caused. Bodies of the animals are different but there is no difference in their souls. All of them have the same soul. Pleasure and pain are the properties of the heart (body). The body, however, is necessary for the soul. Understand this, My Child.

Now, I will analyze this topic so that you will understand it well. My child Narayan, the Chaitanya has three qualities. They are spiritual (Parmarthic), customary (Vyavaharic) and illusory (pratibhasic). They are similar to the three states of the body viz. childhood, youth and old age. The souls who have reached the state of spiritualism are considered as holymen. Those who understand the difference between the right and the wrong and follow" the Shastras are called customary. Those who consider illusion as the truth are called illusory. They are covered with nescience, Nana.

You see an emperor, his officers and his messengers. All of them are due to the existence of the empire. They are all different. The emperor enjoys elephants, palanqines, different vehicles etc. He controls others at his will. His officers have to act according to his orders. Their wishes are dependent on those of the emperor's. The messengers have to execute his orders. Their own will is limited here. The subjects are under the envelope of the power of the emperor.

Everything, the emperorship, messengership and also the subjecthood, are all dependent on this power. This power, however, is different from all of them. When the emperor dies, the power of the empire does not cease to be. We can easily understand the different aspects of this power. He who becomes one with the power becomes the emperor, though the power is independent, everything happens when one is supported by it. Nana, you sit in the chair (of the Secretary) due to the power of the empire. Your peon who swings the fan over your head does so due to the same power. Both of you are there (in the office) due to the same power but you perform different duties. The emperor fully enjoys this power. A part of it is enjoyed by the officers. The peon enjoys even a smaller part of it. The subjects, too, enjoy under its aegis. Thus, the spiritual souls become one with the Bramhan and enjoy complete bliss.

Upon this Nana asked very politely, How can one divide the formless power of the empire into different parts? Once we name the different parts, its nature of being formless vanishes (Hence it contradicts the assumption).

Baba said. “A very good question, Nana! I am very glad you asked it. The power of the empire, certainly, cannot be divided. We, however perceive its divisions (parts). Same is the case with the Chaitanya which appears to be infinite but one perceives its parts. Though one cannot divide it into parts the recipients enjoy it partially according to their abilities. The space occupies small and big pots, utensils and the sky. The containers may have different capacities to fill the space. Does it, then, mean that the space is divided? Nana, understand this. This is the case here too. This is how the soul is. I have explained to you the nature of the Soul.

Whatever we see around us is the trick of the Maya (illusion). This universe is formed by the union of the Maya and the Bramhan.”

Thereupon, Narayan asked, "Who is this Maya? Who created her? What is her nature? You have explained to me that the prime cause for the universe is the Chaitanya. The universe is not different from it. Where does then, this Maya come from?”

Maharaj replied to this. 'Listen to me carefully. I will explain to you how Maya came into being. The very power of the Chaitanya, She had adorned the Chaitanya entirely. You cannot separate them as sweetness cannot be separated from treacle (jaggery). One cannot separate the light from the Sun. The union of these two has created the Universe.

My son this is the case here too. The Sun makes itself known due to its radiance. This similarity exists between Maya and Bramhan. Maya, however is limited but Chaitanya is infinite. Both of them are permanently ancient. Maya is the primal matter and Chaitanya is the soul. Dnanraja (Dnaneshwar) has discussed the soul and Maya in the Amrutanubhav (The Dnaneshwari). I will therefore not repeat it. I will only introduce that spiritual cave to you.

Those who enter that cave stay in there for ever in lasting bliss. They do not come out of it. The soul is the root cause of everything. Maya is the effect. This Maya is very important, Oh Narayan! Maya gives rise to ego which makes one feel one's individuality. When Maya engulfs something one loses the sense of truth. Maya has two qualities. Maya covers everything that exists. What does not exists, Maya makes it appear as if it does. Those are the two things, Maya does. She, thus, confuses everybody. A labourer dreams that he has become a king. Here, his existence as a labourer is, first, covered by the Maya. Though there is no kingship, Maya creates the illusion. Thus, Maya covers the Bramhan and projects a different picture. In fact, this universe does not exist. There is only one true thing and that is the Chaitanya. However, due to the Maya, it appears as the universe. The properties of the universe appear to be true though the universe itself is all illusory. This is what causes inauspiciousness. Therefore you must remove the veil of the Maya and see the Chaitanya with the help of the knowledge. You will find that you are everything yourself. When water loses its turbidity, one sees clear water. Similarly, when the turbidity due to the Maya is removed, the Chaitanya will re-appear clearly. You must worship that reality, Oh Narayan! I have to tell this to everybody.

The soul is the reality. The main purpose of the spiritual knowledge is to explain this principle. You must realize this soul and achieve the absolution in this birth only.
On listening to this sermon, everybody was completely satisfied. They started prostrating before the Lord. Oh children, assimilate what Baba told lovingly to Vaidhya Sathe, Chandorkar, Berey, Nana, Nimonkar, Maruti Laxman and Noolkar. All the devotees said, "Amen' and prostrated before Baba again and again. How can there be the darkness of ignorance where the Sun of knowledge shines?

Oh Sai Maharaj! please accept this child. Please allow Das Ganu to sit by the cool shadow of your grace. Sai Maharaj -the cloud of knowledge showered this nectar in this Shri.Sant Kathamrut. Ganu is requesting you to enjoy this nectar. This is the end of the fifty seventh chapter.

The end of the 57th Chapter from Shri.Sant Kathamrut by Shri.Das Ganu.


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