(Hindi discourse given by P. P. Bapu on 29th June 2006 on Radha Sahastranaam at New English High School, Bandra)
HARI OM
It is this Radhaji who grants prosperity, glory, and grandeur to all beings. She keeps granting us strength and I ask why does She do this? She does this so that the Jiva can transform to a Jivatma, so that the Tamoguna and Rajoguna can get transformed to Sattvaguna, sadness can convert to happiness and restlessness into peace. She grants us five kinds of strengths. As we saw earlier, the first one was Survanabal, the second one was Raupyabal and the third one that we will see today is called the Mautikbal or Muktabal meaning a pearl. Like we understood earlier that the Suvarnabal does not mean Kanchanbal and Raupyabal does not mean the bal or strength from the element silver, similarly Muktabal does not mean the strength from a pearl.
Motibal is the strength to be free. It is not freedom as in getting salvation, but instead being free from oneself. This Bal frees us from our vices, it gives us freedom from internal enemies, and we get to be free of our sins, to be free from bondages of our previous births and also from our responsibilities. Being free from one’s responsibility is not to ignore it but instead to fulfill them to the best of one’s ability. The real strength that the Muktabal gives us is the power is to perform all our duties fully. This strength is given by Radhaji to all, it is with the support of this bal that each being finds the strength and is able to complete one’s responsibilities and duties. If a being has taken a human birth and does not fulfill his duties, that person should be not be considered a human being, but think that he has become an animal. This means that Muktabal is so important that it establishes the humanity of a human being and this Bal is the third most eminent strength given to us.
Radhaji is eager and restless to grant this third most significant boon to each and every being irrespective of however sinful or undeserving a person is. We only know that to be Mukta or get salvation means to lose everything. This is not that Bal, this strength instead frees you from your own vices, to be free from your own responsibilities. Motibal allows you to fulfill your duties to the best of your abilities. The strength that we need to perform all our duties and complete all our tasks is the strength that is Muktabal or Mautikbal.
We are all aware of how a pearl is formed. Now days there are artificial pearls being made, that is another matter. Some say that when a special drop of seawater enters the oyster shell a pearl is formed. This is not at all true and our ancient sages were also aware of this. The fact is that there is an insect that resides in the oyster shell and through its own natural secretion and particles creates a pearl. A human being, who in turn uses it as an ornament, then extracts this pearl.
Have we ever wondered how did our ancestors manage to extract pearls from underwater, as they did not have access to any naval boats, ships or any other advanced instruments that we have access to currently, nor did our sages have any equipments designed for underwater diving. How did they then get the pearls from the depths of the ocean? At least since the last seven eight thousand years, there has been a reference to the existence and use of pearls in our history. This goes to prove that man’s curiosity, his keen sense of discovery and invention, his capacity to research exists with him right from the beginning of his existence and is present till today. It is with this capacity and strength that man continues to progress in different spheres of life. Both in the spiritual field as well as worldly physical matters.
Man discovered the pearl and also understood the importance of the same, but it is only in India that the pearl was not utilized merely as a jewel, the same holds true for gold, silver and diamond too. It is only in our country that all these were seen to contribute in other fields too. Through out the world these elements are used as expensive material things, but India discovered the use of these in the field of ayurveda too. Those familiar with ayurveda will know that gold dust has an immense medicinal value, similarly silver and pearl dust too are of great importance in this field of medicine. In ayurveda all these are used to treat some rare and difficult diseases.
This shows that India’s contribution is in not seeing wealth as wealth alone but has always had the viewpoint to observe a given object in its totality and in all the aspects. Everything is seen in a holistic perspective. The other countries lacked this perspective and saw of gold and silver only as expensive elements and thus never realized the full potential and strength of these. This was actualized only by Indian culture and thus we gained from the medicinal values of gold, silver, and pearl dust. Along with this our sages and religious leaders also discovered other qualities of these various elements. They used pearls for making medicines and ornaments and they also discovered that the pearl had a strong connection with the moon.
Any discovery begins with first a hypothesis in the mind, based on which we start observing and studying. We keep doing research on this hypothesis and strive to gain all the information and knowledge on that subject.
When the sages and those conversant with scriptures found that there was a deep relation between the moon and the pearl, they also started pondering over the formation of a pearl. They found that the creature inside the oyster shell that creates the pearl also has some links with nighttime. They soon discovered that the quantity of pearls that were formed was more towards the full moon day, thus their hypothesis was confirmed that there is a deep connection between the two.
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Let us now see what is the moon? The moon was never considered to have its own light in Indian history. In western countries the realization of the same came about 400 years back. The moon reflects the light emitted by the sun. Our ancestral sages had known this truth since the Rigved Kal. When they understood that the moon is only reflecting the sun’s light, they also came to the conclusion thus that moonlight is very gentle, mild and not very intense. It is also beneficial.
The sages then discovered the close link between the moon and a human being’s mind. They learnt through experience that mental ailments wavered according to the waxing and waning of the moon. These were impacted most on full moon days and also on the darkest day of the fortnight. It is not true to believe that psychological or mental imbalance is linked to occult and mysticism. But it is true that the state of mind is linked to the positions of the moon. They concluded that since the moon and the state of mind of a human being are linked, then the pearl should also surely have some effect on the mind of a man and thus the sages started the use of pearl as a medicine. They agreed to use the pearl as it was mild and gentle and it helped to reduce the sharpness and intensity of heat in a human body. Pearl was then used to reduce acidity and other heat related ailments. Along with this they also discovered that wearing of a pearl led to reduction in anger.
For all the husbands sitting here today, if your wife has a short temper, bring her a pearl necklace and it will benefit in both ways. One because you got her a necklace, she will be pleased and also on wearing the necklace the effects of the pearl will cool her hot temperament. Also the wives here need to be doing the same if their dear husbands have an angry nature. They will of course not wear a necklace, so you will have to think of something else. I am of course just joking, but getting back to the topic our sages understood the definite connection between the pearl and the mind.
The pearl then started being used both as a jewel as well as for medicinal purposes. They also provided guidelines for the kind of person who should or should not be wearing a pearl. A person who is already very withdrawn or carries many fears should not be wearing a pearl was decided by our rishis. Instead a person who is very reckless or is very hot headed will surely benefit on wearing of a pearl. The rishis whilst researching kept giving different solutions and applications too and their research was not in isolation, they kept progressing with their research.
They did not research only in the fields of physics and chemistry, but also laid equal focus on the spiritual path. They then realized that in this universe there are two prime forces– fire and shom and the sun and the moon are symbolic of these two forces. They then came to know that the pearl, the mukta is the moon; it is symbolic of tranquility and gentleness and also of reducing and increasing. We know that the moon’s reduction and increase in size is from the shuklapaksha and pratipda till the full moon day when it keeps increasing in size and on poornima which is the full moon day when the moon is a complete circle. After which it again starts to decrease. Today we also know that this is due to the earth’s rotation, all this our rishis knew all along. Along with this now let us see the reduction and increase in the pearl.
For this we have to observe a natural pearl and not the ones which are produced artificially now a days and we also need for this observation absolutely acid and chemical free pure ganga water. Keep the pearl in such a way in the pure water that the moonlight at night directly falls on the pearl, we can then see that the glow in the pearl increases with the increasing size of the moon and after the full moon day as the reduction in the size of the moon begins the shine of the pearl starts reduces. You might argue saying that the above is true as the moon is bigger in size, its reflection will also be more and vice versa. This is not true, as I am not asking you to see the glow of the pearl during the night. You keep the pearl for atleast an hour in the moonlight and then see the same during the day, you will find that the glow of the pearl is proportionate to the size of the moon and the same pearl shines less during the day when the size of the moon is reducing. Thus it is definite that the pearl has some connection with the planetary position and qualities of the moon.
Along with the light of the moon, this talent also increased with spiritual contemplation and the sages realized that this rule is applicable to the entire universe or this is the law of the universe. The waxing and waning of the moon, the formation of pearls, sunrise, and sunset are all tied down to the laws of nature. This regulation is binding and obligatory. This was the supreme law! This was not a law of the Supreme Court; here no court can pass any judgement. The law that leads to the discovery of truth, the law that allows truth to reign, the law that helps those who are walking on the path of truth and good. This was called Vritta. It is called Rit in Hindi and Vritta in Sanskrit. They discovered that according to the Vritta, all the planets and stars in the universe are going about are performing their activities. Plants that are also living beings grow because of this law. Thus how can a human being be an exception to it? It was impossible! With this study they realized that a man should base his entire life only on the principles of this supreme cosmic law.
Please note that the pearl is such an object that is formed only after the compliance of this entire cycle of Vritta. They arrived at this conclusion only after a deep study of life sciences and then based on this realization and insight they placed a necklace of pearls around God’s neck and started the practice of offering it at His feet. Thus we all know that in India a necklace of pearls is preferred to a necklace of gold or silver when it is presented as an offering. The kings also always offered pearl necklaces and put pearls on their doorways. This is because a pearl is the only such element in the world that is created after it has completed all the rules of Vritta, it would not have been formed otherwise. There is also a fable given to tell us the importance of the pearl. How is the observation of the Vritta discipline done while a pearl is being created? Bhagwan Agasti narrates this tale. The very first sage of Bharat, He is our ultimate father, this is the story of that Agasti Rishi.
Agasti sage’s wife was Lopamudra, who was a royal princess but had self willingly done bhakti to become the wife of the great sage Agasti. She was a very great and pious woman and an ideal wife. One day a king and his chief queen came to meet the rishi and his wife Lopamudra. The chief queen was wearing a beautiful pearl ring on one of her fingers. When Lopamudra saw the ring she was reminded of all the beautiful pearls and other ornaments she had possessed. Just then Agasti muni who was aware of all that was happening asked her, “Lopa what are you thinking of? I think your mind is becoming desirous of a pearl. Lopa replied, “It is not desire or want but just memory of my pearl rings which is haunting me”. Agasti muni then told her to get rid of this memory immediately or else this would then soon convert into an intense desire. He continued by advising her that, “You are a rishi’s wife and the mother of all my students. For you all the students whether rich or poor should be equal. It should not matter if one is the son of a king and the other of the lowest caste. If you are reminded of your royal status then you may not be able to treat all in the same manner, so you must immediately free yourself of this memory and the thought of the pearl itself”.
Lopa was after all a young woman though she was like a mother to all the students in the ashram. She was married only since 3 years and she could not refrain from thinking of all her jewels, especially the pearl rings. Even in her dreams she saw herself adorned with all her necklaces and pearl rings.
Agasti was aware of everything that was happening but he never said anything about this awareness. He knew that his wife was very able and strong, but right now was just undergoing the pangs of desire through the rise of memory of past events. He also knew that this was not right for his wife and would come in her way of spiritual growth.
In the morning he saw that Lopa’s eyes were red and swollen, as she had not slept well. On enquiring Lopa confessed to her husband that though he had asked her to get free of the desire of the pearl, the more she tried to do that the more the same thought chased her. She said that, “I also dreamt of the pearls”. What should I do my Lord?
This question is true of every human being. Whatever we want to give up stays all the more with us. Which ever vice or fault you try to give up, they keep increasing in us. This question is not only Lopmudra’s but is true for all of us. Whatever I want to do away with of, be free from, that very thing keeps appearing before me all the time.
How do I get rid of that and here the issue was even graver as the freedom was from mukta, from the pearl! Then Agasti muni advises Lopa that” if you really want to be free of the thought of the pearl, then you have to arouse another thought in your mind which will replace the original thought of the pearl. Lopa wonders what that other thought or object could be as dear to her as the thought of her favourite pearl. She then suddenly remembers her mother Sulakshana Devi who was the greatest for her. She loved her mother dearly and thought that what is a mere pearl compared to my mother, I can shower crores of pearls over my mother. She now constantly started thinking of her mother instead of the pearl and wondered how she was. She had not met her since the last 3 years since she had got married; it was only natural for a daughter to miss her mother.
Lopa freed herself from the entanglement of the pearl, but was now lost in her mother’s memory. She kept performing all her daily chores and duties but was mentally lost all the time. She lacked concentration in the service of her husband and the children. The children referred here are not her biological children but the 100-150 students who lived in the ashram with them.
One night she dreamt of her mother. She was in conversation with her mother in the dream and on arousing in the morning said to her husband that, “You freed me of the thought of the pearl but now I can’t seem to get over the memory of my mother.” Agasti muni said that there was only one cure for this, either go and visit your mother or call her over here for a few days. Lopa said, ”Going from here is not a good idea, who will look after all my children? Their parents have trusted us and left them here under our care. Let me call my mother over for a few days instead. A message is then sent to her mother through one of the young students. Maharani Sulakshana was a very virtuous wife. She led a very simple and disciplined life. On receiving the message she thinks that my daughter must be really missing me, that’s why Agasti muni has sent his best student to give me the message. Sulakshana immediately leaves for her daughter’s house and arrives there adorned from head to toe with her finest ornaments and the most expensive clothes. Lopa is very surprised, as she had never seen her mother wear so much jewellery; she had always seen her mother as a very simply dressed woman. Lopa wonders why her mother is dressed like that. To top it Sulakshana Devi keeps commenting on Lopa’s state and her clothes and the lack of luxuries in the ashram. Just imagine a mother was giving a complex to her own daughter. She asks her daughter don’t you own anything? Look at me I have so much. This is not a bad or mean mother speaking; in fact this is the best mother who is talking like this.
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The daughter goes through this torture the entire day and then wonders at night that why did she call her mother in the first place? This is the same mother who has done my kanyadaan. She is very well aware of whom I have married and in what conditions I live. She knows that I do not have money or other riches, even then why is she taunting me? I was expecting some happiness and relief from my mother and am receiving misery instead. She could not sleep a wink that entire night.
In the morning Agasti muni asked, “What happened Lopa?” She replied”, Mother has come and tormented me and even at night has slept with all her ornaments on. Through the night I just kept admiring all the jewels that she has worn. Agasti enquired why did she do that? Lopa replied, “ I detest all those jewels, pearls that make a mother torment her own daughter, I abhor that wealth that makes a mother speak in such a manner with her child. A mother is making her own daughter a wayward. Agasti muni starts laughing. Mother Sulakshana just then enters from behind them. She says, my daughter, I am now very happy. Lopa sees that her mother is devoid of all her jewellery and finery and is now dressed like the simple mother that Lopa knew. Sulakshana hugs her daughter and says, “dear daughter our biggest jewel is our character, our peace of mind, our husband and sons. We have nothing to do with any other ornaments. The pearl that you speak about my child, let me tell you a secret today. My mother has given me a pearl and I want to gift that to you. The value of this pearl is more that that of all the precious gems in the world put together. There is a special chest that has been made and the pearl has been kept in that. She also cautions her daughter that, “till you don’t desperately need the pearl, don’t open the chest. Never ever even see this pearl”. The glow of this pearl is very powerful. Now the daughter has the pearl, and that too the most expensive one. More importantly her mother has gifted it to her and that too with some true advise along with it. The mother’s message was that the biggest splendour is one’s calm, character, students, husband, and sons. Our love is the most appropriate grandeur. This is how a real loving and caring mother is.
Sulakshana then went to pay respect to Agasti before leaving the ashram. Agasti muni tells her that you by dharma are my mother and it is not right for you to do pranam to me. Sulakshana devi replies to this by saying that,” one you are my son-in-law and that demands respect and courtesy, it is my duty and secondly there is nobody greater or knowledgable than you, thus doing pranam to you is every human being’s duty and thirdly you have become my guru.
Lopa was not aware of her mother making her husband a guru, so she calls her aside and asks how and when did this event tak place. Sulakshana explains to her daughter that how she has now realized that she as a mother had an inflated ego where she prided herself on the perfect upbringing of her daughter and the kind of values she had instilled in her daughter as a mother. She continued confessing that I secretly was proud of the fact that due to this upbringing you have been able to give up your royal lifestyle and accept a rishi as your husband and that too with so much love and affection. Your desire for pearls went to prove that I have not been successful in making you devoid of all material desires. This great man knew this and he brought me here to make me aware of this fact and teach me a lesson that will help in getting rid of my ego. She further disclosed that when you were sleeping at night, I went to Agasti muni and paying respect to him enquired why my daughter was in this restless state. I have thus come so well adorned to learn from you how we should rid ourselves of all these material desires, how do we get rid of our ego?
Agasti muni explained to me that like the milk instinctively starts flowing from a mother’s breast as soon as an infant’s mouth touches it, similarly till I don’t look at God’s holy feet and tears of love don’t start flowing instinctively from my eyes, till then this ego does not leave us. When these tears start flowing our pride just oozes out of us with this flow. We can be free of our flaws only when we experience pure joy and that is expressed in the form of tears when we see our lord, or think of him, or hear about Him. And these real tears from our eyes said Agasti muni is the true valuable pearls that we must seek. Like the pearl is formed between the two parts of a shell, similarly our tears emerge from between the two lids, which are also shaped like the shell. Thus this pearl which man owns is the most valuable one. When the tears flow out of sadness, agony, self pity they are not converted into pearls, its only when the pain is of separation from your God, when the tears are of virah, only then they are moti, mukta and mautik. These pearls wash away all pain, ego, and evil. You derive immense strength from these true pearls. When you don’t wear these pearls and lovingly offer it at your God’s feet, then these tear drops which have been formed between the two petals of your eyes and are formed either due to immense love for God or tearing pain of separation from God become tears of joy (Anandashru) or tears arising from the pain of separation (Virahashru) and keep granting you energy and strength for your progress and well being.
While we offer our all at the Lord’s feet, let us also experience God’s Virah actively when we can’t see His form, can’t meet Him, forget to take His name. With these experiences the tears flow and only this will help us to get rid of all our vices.
Here we must observe what kind of a mother, daughter, husband, rishi, and son-in-law they were, how they performed their various roles. All of them were on the path of purity. This tale of the pearl you are hearing now, you must have heard it earlier in keertans and may have only picked up the message that it is pious to offer pearls at God’s feet, which is a good learning in itself. What is of great importance though from this tale is that the true pearls, which God wants us to offer at His feet, are tears of love for Him or tears that emerge when we experience separation from Him.
The true pearls formed from within us as we saw give us strength, Muktabal and mauktikbal. What strength is this? Which pearls does it come from? This comes only from Radha as she has the Muktabal in the maximum capacity. Who has not heard of Radha’s pain and longing for her God in the form of various hymns and verses. How she longed to have just a glimpse of her Lord’s big toe. She would be filled with ecstatic joy just hearing the faint music of his flute even from distant places or having just a hazy glimpse of Him. Being in the state that Radha was is not comparable to the relationship between a husband and wife; this is a state of complete surrender. The firm belief that there is nobody other than you my Lord, all the relationships and bonds that I have of husband, brother, sister, enemy, friend, children – they are all given by you and come only after you. They are all no where near you, if I were to count them then from the number 1-99 it is only you dearest God and only then does somebody else figure in my life. This strong feeling was truly felt by Radha and barring this state I wish to be in no other state. Even birth and death are not mine, only you are.
We obviously cannot reach this state of being overnight but we must allow ourselves to reach there gradually, this state is called the mukta avastha. Only a disciple who has totally surrendered to his Lord experiences this feeling. This bhakta does not even desire salvation. This disciple prays for birth after birth according to his God’s wishes and only prays that he is allowed to remember his God, take His name, love Him, and serve Him. Wherever I am - whether after birth, on earth or in between two births or in heaven, wherever I must always be with you. Pray to Him to allow you to dance with Him in Vrindavan, this kind of bhakti is called Samarpanottar dasya and Samarpanottar Sakhya.
The greatest leaders and examples of this kind of bhakti are Hanumanji and Bharat. Both of them are the protectors who grant this feeling of friendship with God and eagerness to serve God to all those who surrender truly and completely.
Who will not want to be thick friends with God? But this friendship has to be earned and deserved. For this you need complete surrender and only after that can you wish for His friendship. This happens when you rise above the physical state and emotions. This is got not by doing mere physical service, which is also beneficial, but to be so alert that not one word of His should slip from my mind or action, not one emotion of his should be unheard. Whatever I possess should be used only for His service, according to His words only. I must be ready for any kind of hardship, I should be ready to disconnect with my life but never ever disconnect the connection between my God and me. This is the feeling that Radha owns and she gifted it to Hanumanji and Bharat and this pure feeling is the Muktabal.
This feeling is always present in our minds in a seed form and all these five strengths reside even in the most sinful being, only that such a person will not have the ability to receive these or utilize these strengths, which for a person on the path of bhakti keeps increasing, the power to use these for self development is also activated. Let us now ponder a little over where does this Muktabal reside within us? How does this appear in our life?
Just imagine you are in a village, it is midnight, and you are in a cemetery near the outskirts of the village. There are two lit pyres in the cemetery and there is no other light, it is absolutely pitch dark. It is also a very stormy night with strong blowing winds, heavy showers and deafening thunder and lightening flashing across the dark sky. You are absolutely alone here and suddenly the trees start swaying very vigorously due to the cyclonic winds, the shadows of the tree too start moving, while you are wondering if these are human shadows you hear the whining barks of a stray dog – what do you do? Whom do you remember at a moment like this? Only that one – your true friend –your God. Even an atheist remembers God in times of difficulty. The only thing that wants to do in this situation is to run away from it. Even to escape, to flee, you need strength from God and this can be obtained by calling out to any of His forms, Ram, Baba, and Krishna. Whichever name you call Him by that name will give you the required strength and you will be able to use this gift to go ahead. But an atheist will not be able to do so and will just collapse there due to fear. A bhakt is allowed to use the strength which is granted to him, is allowed to remember the God who gave him this gift while he is running away from the scary scene. When he finally reaches the village and sees an elderly man sitting there, he heaves a deep sigh of relief and join his hands and say “Thank God”. We thus can see that we can free ourselves from any difficult situation by just taking God’s name.
Let’s observe what happens when you are walking and suddenly hurt yourself and experience sharp pain, one immediately utters the word “mother”, be it in any language from Spanish to Marathi, Gujarati, Kannada, and Punjabi etc. Ponder over the fact that even a child who may have not seen his mother says the same spontaneously. This is because we have experienced since birth that our mother has the medicine to all our ailments and we never ever forget that throughout our lifetime. How do we then forget the Supreme Mother Radha? How do we then forget our God? Time and again via different experiences we are being given a message that it is only God who can deliver us from all our pains and difficult situations.
Let me cite another example here, Imagine yourself on any railway platform and a fast local train arrives and it is jam packed, you somehow manage to get in and as soon as you do that, you experience anxiety as you have to attend urgently to nature’s call, you have to immediately relieve your bowels. You can get off the train and to add to your misery it suddenly halts in the middle of nowhere for a couple of hours, you can very well imagine the agony that you would go through. Finally the train halts at your destination, you alight and running toward your home. What happens? As you near your place, you experience griping pains and find it increasingly difficult to now control yourself. Your mind registers the fact that you are nearing a place where you can relieve yourself and thus starts emitting strong signals to you. Remember any such a moment in your life that you must have surely experienced at some time or the other. When you are just relieving yourself and if even the most beautiful nymph comes and proposes to you, your immediate reaction will be negative and you will shun her and might address her as your mother or sister and ask her to come to tie you a rakhi on the full moon day.
The above example proves that it is important and necessary to excrete away the body waste. Radha also controls our body functions and gives us the knowledge of how important it is to throw out all that is not needed or is waste in the body and that too at the appropriate time and till we don’t do this we are not able to receive even the best that is offered to us, be it a beautiful nymph or a food delicacy of shrikhand puri.
Radhaji also teaches us that as the moment of discarding the dirt approaches our intensity to do so also increases. The eagerness to relieve oneself is weak when one is further away from the place where the action of relieving can be performed. From this we can thus infer that if we want to rid ourselves of our dirt, like the fasces, which is the waste of the body, then we must have the intense urge to do so and the Mahapran grants this. The Mahapran is above all the other five prans that we know of. There is one pran who is there to help us get rid of our wastes and that is Hanuman and presiding over him is Janaki mata, the Mahpragya, only with whose help you can do giving up of all your dirt and there is no other solution to this process.
People who suffer from constipation know the agony of not being able to discard bodily wastes on time and thus it is imperative to remove your mental dirt too as soon as necessary is the process set by the Supreme mother. Like if I eat today I have to excrete soon and not after a few days, if I have water today, I need to urinate today and not decide to do the same after four days. If I breathe in today, I cannot breathe out the next day. All these processes, which our supreme mother conducts in the form of kundalini, have to be followed precisely. You can call her Jagdamba, Radha, Uma,Janakimata, Siya, Gurukripa, call her by any name you please but it is only She who runs this entire system. She gives us this message that whatever you have taken in today, atleast excrete the waste within 24 hours, if you have had water remove it in a few hours and let your breath out immediately after inhaling it in, they have adverse effects if kept in the body for longer than necessary durations. Even when we take strong medicines and they accumulate in the system it leads to side effects like sometimes kidney or liver dysfunction. Even thought it is the intake of a medicine that we are talking of, something which is prescribed to heal, if it does not leave the system in the desired time frame its excess accumulation converts it to act like a poison for us. Thus Radha is constantly teaching us through different examples as to how it is imperative to relieve oneself of all wastes in the body, this is the most important step for our well-being. We do not need any other motivation to follow this discipline but just an intense urge like the one we saw earlier in the incident of a person wanting to relieve himself.
It is only this urge that should be the motive to remove all the dirt from our mind and who else but Radhaji is going to give us the required help and support. The pearl dust has the power to cure all problems arising due to the non-excretion of wastes from the human system. Like I had said all these natural elements have their individual properties, so does the pearl dust, but do not start experimenting by consuming this for common ailments like constipation etc. These are very strong drugs and only a medical practitioner will know and recommend the usage of these.
Like the Muktabal has the ability to rid my body of all its waste products and give it the strength to heal and grow, I need to know what will aid me to get rid of my mental waste, which is also my karmic burden. I need to own tears of separation (virahashru) and tears of joy (anandashru) to get rid of my mental wastes. It might take me some time to be in a state where I experience tears of Joy on seeing my God, but surely it is easier to experience the agony of separation form God. It is not important to have tears rolling down the cheeks, what is important is that the pangs of separation be felt strongly; we are addressing not only real tears here but also the emotional internal tears. When my heart longs to see Him and keeps counting each second, now its seven days since I saw Him, or three days or three hours and I have not seen Him, its then when you are creating virahashru, its your intense feeling of now at last I am going to see Him is what creates the pearl in between your eye lids. This is a not madness dear friend, this is true love for God.
When people write the Ramnaan book, they keep doing so day and night. I spoke to a few of them and so did Dada, all had similar experiences to share that when one sits to write even a single page one feels like writing another, yet another and so on, it is very difficult to stop writing the book. If one cannot write for some reason even for a day, that day seems incomplete. Somebody wrote a letter that he was woken up in the middle of the night by an unseen entity with a tap on his head and reminded to write the Ramnaam book. This is virah. Why does this happen because this bhakta has Virah. We must have this very Virah, this I repeat again is not insanity, and in fact it is the cure for it.
This definitely does not mean that you give up all your work and all other responsibilities and just write the Ramnaam book. It also does not mean that you ignore your duties and spend your entire time in just remembering God. Every possible moment while fulfilling our duties and daily routine one can keep remembering God, taking His name, thinking of Him with love, thanking Him is very important. If we see God’s photograph and treat it like one then it is absolutely incorrect. We should carry the firm belief that this is not just a photograph of my God but this is He. Only with this kind of a firm faith can you be relieved of all the consequences of your actions. When people take the Padukas home and regard them as just Padukas then the burden of performing all the rites and rituals in the prescribed manner remains on their head and they get engrossed in doing only what is said to be right. The ones who invite the Padukas as inviting God himself are engrossed in serving Him as in person and then it does not matter if the proper sequence of some ritual is not followed as their total attention in just looking after and serving the God who has come to their home as a guest. This emotion is exhibited in the manner in which the Padukas are held or felt. The feeling should not be that I am feeling or touching the Padukas but that I am actually caressing His holy feet.
In the Sundarkand it is seen that Vibhishan says only one sentence about Bharat when he is leaving to meet Ram. He says, “Jinha paaya ke padukani Bharat rahe mann laahi”.I am today going to meet the one, whose Padukas are the subject of Bharat’s contemplation. In a few moments I am going to see Bharat is serving the one who’s Padukas. Even though Ram is his own brother, but only His Padukas are in Bharat’s destiny. And here I am going today to see the one whose feet adorn those Padukas. Ram accepted Vibhishan as soon as He met him. Look at Vibhishan’s emotions. He is not condemning Bharat or his feelings. He is full of gratitude when he realizes that though Bharat is Ram’s own brother, even he had to be satisfied with only Ram’s Padukas for some time and look at me, I have been blessed with good fortune which allows me to actually see those holy feet, this was the only thought in Vibhishan’s mind when he crossed over the ocean to meet Ram. This feeling is of prime importance that His locket is not just a locket, His picture is not just a picture, this is the strong belief that must be embedded in our mind. Only this strong faith will help us overcome all our problems. I don’t have to worry about with which finger to apply fragrance to my God; he makes all the fingers. If you think that His photograph is just that, then you will have to follow all the prescribed rituals, but if when you see His photograph and experience the feeling that He is here and He is mine and He and only He and nobody else is mine then nothing else matters.
I will now narrate a small story here. I know it is 12.15 at night but I am enamoured and charmed by you all here. The story is about ‘Mai’, this is how I addressed my maternal grandmother’s mother. I spent my childhood and grew up in her house. She was very beautiful even in her senior years and had a very melodious voice. Every morning in a very peaceful manner she sang hymns written by Tukaram as she went about doing her daily household chores. She also read the Sai Satcharit and was always occupied.
Once a few of her distant relatives had come to stay over in our house, they were about 5-6 of them. In those days we children also had to get up early in the morning before sunrise, it was not like today when children are allowed to sleep late- sometimes eight, nine or even 10 am. We children were expected to rise early and finish our bathing rituals too as soon as we got up. All the children including the ones who were guests in our house were playing together in the courtyard of the house. Mai was very disciplined had a lot of rules in the house especially about touching and not touching certain things, but we all followed her do’s and don’ts not out of fear but love and respect for her. Also that her discipline and rules did not cause any discomfort to anybody. She did not eat or cook onions and garlic in the house, she did not mind us eating it outside the house, and in fact she would not have objected even if we ate it in the house. But all of did not do so because we did not want to give her any trouble, if she does not wish, then let us not cook the same in the house. One morning while the guests were there, Mai was going around the tulsi planter and silently singing Tukaram’s hymns. I noticed that on that day Mai was not as engrossed in the singing as she normally used to be everyday, something seemed to be troubling her. I asked her where her thoughts were and she said, yes Bapuraya, that is how she always addressed me, today my heart is not in the hymns but elsewhere. When I asked her what happened? She said that the little boy who is visiting our house is not well and his treatment compulsorily requires daily consumption of an egg. He is a little child who has to stay in the house and there is no other woman in the house right now as my maternal grandmother was also away in Pune. The other guests were three men. I do not cook non-vegetarian food in my kitchen, can’t tell anybody else, and can’t send the child away even though they were very distantly related just for namesake. I cannot even get the food from outside as the child is bed ridden and the outside food will not be good for his health and the doctor insists that the child must have an egg daily. So I am wondering what to do.
I suggested that ask the child’s father to cook the egg outside the house and then feed the child, she did not agree to this as she strongly felt that it was not proper to treat a guest in that manner. She further explained that all guest should be served with respect and it is our good fortune that we get an opportunity to do so. Suddenly after a couple of hours I see Mai singing the same hymn in her normal happy manner as I used to see everyday. She was back to her normal self. I asked What Mai, question solved? Mai said, yes! I asked what did you do? And she pointed out to some eggshells lying around. She said that, “I went to a shop and bought some eggs myself, boiled hem and fed the little child the same with my own hands”. After that I had a bath and resolved not to eat my lunch as a penance for using eggs and I will follow this till I am cooking eggs and feeding the child. Mai as it is did not eat dinner and now giving up lunch concerned all of us very much. How would she go on without eating both the meals? I told Mai just cook the egg but let somebody else feed the child, she said that she had to feed the child as he was only 2 ½ years old and as his mother was expecting she too was not here. A little child needs to be fed lovingly by a mother figure and all the more in his illness so she had to continue feeding the child herself. She said, “ Bapuraya, you don’t worry, nothing will happen to me”.
Suddenly at 2 in the afternoon on that very day, my maternal aunt Leelaji came home from Lucknow where her husband had been transferred. I exclaimed loudly, “Now mami has come, so Mai will be able to eat her lunch, now you make the eggs”. She was very surprised and was wondering what the egg story was. I quickly narrated the entire episode to her in front of Mai. When I turned and saw Mai I was shocked to see that Mai who always came forward to welcome her daughter –in –law was today standing in corner and weeping, tears just streamed down her cheeks. I asked what happened? And she quietly replied, “nothing” I sensed the situation and quietly slipped away from there leaving both of them alone to themselves.
Leelaji enquired, “Mother why are you crying? Have I done something wrong? Mai said, “No my daughter I am crying because see this Vithal of mine, I can bear my hunger but he cannot bear it, so He has sent you here to relieve me. Its not even two hours and He has called you. His miracles are incomparable. These tears are emerging from my eyes just realizing how much God takes care of His bhaktas. I made such a little sacrifice and in return my God has in two hours, just in two hours sent you here. How come you are here? Leelaji said that she was not scheduled to come to our house but was on her way to Pune to meet her mother. The ST bus by which we were travelling suddenly stopped working and we had to get down at Kalyan. We then decided to finish our scheduled work first and then later proceed to Pune to meet my mother. That’s how I am here.
The people in the house asked her how did she manage to reach the house all alone from Kalyan as in those days it was not common for women to travel alone and also that she was carrying a lot of luggage with her. She replied, “I have not come alone, I have been accompanied by the man you had sent to receive me”. Mai said”, How could I have sent somebody? I didn’t even know you were coming to Kalyan. My aunt narrated that when they were standing outside Kalyan station for a couple of hours a man came to receive them saying that Mai had sent him. Mai asked how did he look? Leelaji said that he was an ordinary looking man, who even carried all my five bags and dropped me right here till the doorstep.
Mai understood all that was to be understood. Mai said that when I was not remembering Him here, when I was busy thinking about the eggs and wondering how to get out of this situation that had come upon me, though I was singing Tukaram’s hymns and going around the holy Tulsi my mind and thoughts were elsewhere, they were not in the memory of my God. But even then my Vithal did not forget me, this is truly Vithal’s holy feet and this is his unlimited grace. Even though we forget Him, but He never ever forgets us.
But the truth here is that Mai had not forgotten Vithal even for a moment in the entire incident related above. She was serving one of his forms, his most pious form - the child form which had appeared as a 21/2-year-old ailing guest. For this child she was ready to bend her own rules, give up her religious beliefs, and change her entire way of thinking. She had flung everything into the river and had actually freed herself from ritualistic duties and responsibilities and immersed herself in the true love and service of her God. She became a mother for that child and was determined to look after him even if it meant that she would have to suffer or carry some sin. She saw only the child’s health and need for a mother figure as her duty at that point of time. This is being free, and how did she get this strength to be free? This came from the tears that were flowing from Mai’s eyes. She cried realizing the fact that Leelaji was sent there by her God just for her. She was overwhelmed with the feeling how much her beloved kept doing for her. God does everything for us and does all that is also appropriate for us.
I truly tell you that God is ready to do everything for you, but you need to be aware of the fact, that you are continuously receiving this Muktabal from Him. Whatever comes between you and your God, have the intense desire to get rid of that obstacle. You may want to overcome your vices, but what is important to fulfill that wish is the knowledge that for achieving that wish you have to free yourself of whatever comes between you and your God. This Muktabal, Radhaji will constantly provide Mautikbal to you.
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