Aptavani-1 Part 1

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Aptavani 1
- Dada Bhagwan
Originally Compiled in Gujarati by :
Dr. Niruben Amin

Publisher : Mr. Ajit C. Patel on behalf of
Dada Bhagwan Foundation
5, Mamatapark Society,
B/h. Navgujarat College,
Usmanpura, Ahmedabad-380014
Tel. : (079) 27540408
© : All Rights Reserved - Dr. Niruben Amin
Trimandir, Simandhar City, P.O.-Adalaj-382421,
Dist.:Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India
First Edition : 2000 copies, Year 2004
Second Edition : 2000 copies, Year 2007
Price : Ultimate Humility &
"I Don't Know Anything"
Rs. 50.00
Printer : Mahavideh Foundation
Basement, Parshwanath Chambers,
Nr. RBI, Income Tax Area,
Ahmedabad, Gujrat, India.
Tel. : (079) 27542964, 27540216

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Trimantra
(The Three Mantras)
Namo Arihantanam
I bow to the Lord who has annihilated all the inner
enemies of anger, pride, attachment and greed.
Namo Siddhanam
I bow to all the Lord who have attained final liberation.
Namo Aayariyanam
I bow to all the Self-realized masters who unfold the
path of liberation.
Namo Uvazzayanam
I bow to the Self-realized teachers of the path of
liberation.
Namo Loye Savva Saahunam
I bow to all who have attained the Self and are
progressing in this path in the universe.
Eso Pancha Namukkaro
These five salutations.
Saava Paavappanasano
Destroy all the sins.
Mangalanam cha Saavesim
Of all that is auspicious mantras.
Padhamam Havai Mangalam
This is the highest.
C
C
C
C
C Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya
I bow to the One who has become the Supreme Lord
from a human being.
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C
C
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C Namah Shivaaya
I bow to all auspicious beings of this universe who are
the instruments of salvation of the world.
Jai Sat Chit Anand
The Awareness Of The Eternal Is Bliss
™™™™™

Introduction to The Gnani
One June evening, in 1958 at around six o’clock,
Ambalal Muljibhai Patel, a family man, and a contractor by
profession, was sitting on a bench on the busy platform number
three at Surat’s train station. Surat is a city in south Gujarat, a
western state in India. What happened within the next forty-
eight minutes was phenomenal. Spontaneous Self-realization
occurred within Ambalal M. Patel. During this event, his ego
completely melted and from that moment onwards, he became
completely detached from all of Ambalal’s thoughts, speech,
and actions. He became the Lord’s living instrument for the
salvation of humankind, through the path of knowledge. He
called this Lord, ‘Dada Bhagwan.’ To everyone he met, he
would say, “This Lord, Dada Bhagwan is fully manifested within
me. He also resides within all living beings. The difference is
that within me He is completely expressed and in you, he has
yet to manifest.”
Who are we? What is God? Who runs this world? What
is karma? What is liberation? Etc. All the world’s spiritual
questions were answered during this event. Thus, nature offered
absolute vision to the world through the medium of Shree
Ambalal Muljibhai Patel.
Ambalal was born in Tarasali, a suburb of Baroda and
was later raised in Bhadran, Gujarat. His wife’s name was
Hiraba. Although he was a contractor by profession, his life at
home and his interactions with everyone around him were
exemplary, even prior to his Self-realization. After becoming
Self-realized and attaining the state of a Gnani, (The Awakened
One), his body became a ‘public charitable trust.’
Throughout his entire life, he lived by the principle that
there should not be any commerce in religion, and in all
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commerce, there must be religion. He also never took money
from anyone for his own use. He used the profits from his
business to take his devotees for pilgrimages to various parts of
India.
His words became the foundation for the new, direct,
and step-less path to Self-realization called Akram Vignan.
Through his divine original scientific experiment (The Gnan
Vidhi), he imparted this knowledge to others within two hours.
Thousands have received his grace through this process and
thousands continue to do so even now. ‘Akram’ means without
steps; an elevator path or a shortcut, whereas ‘Kram’ means
an orderly, step-by-step spiritual path. Akram is now recognized
as a direct shortcut to the bliss of the Self.
Who is Dada Bhagwan ?
When he explained to others who ‘Dada Bhagwan’ is, he
would say:
“What you see here is not ‘Dada Bhagwan.’ What you
see is ‘A. M. Patel.’ I am a Gnani Purush and ‘He’ that is
manifested within me, is ‘Dada Bhagwan’. He is the Lord
within. He is within you and everyone else. He has not yet
manifested within you, whereas within me he is fully manifested.
I myself am not a Bhagwan. I too bow down to Dada Bhagwan
within me.”
Current link for attaining the knowledge of Self-
realization (Atma Gnan)
“I am personally going to impart siddhis (special spiritual
powers) to a few people. After I leave, will there not be a need
for them? People of future generations will need this path, will
they not?”
~ Dadashri
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Param Pujya Dadashri used to go from town to town,
and country to country, to give satsang and impart the
knowledge of the Self as well as knowledge of harmonious
worldly interaction to all who came to see him. During his final
days, in the fall of 1987, he gave his blessing to Dr. Niruben
Amin and bestowed his special siddhis upon her, to continue
his work. “You will have to become a mother to this whole
world, Niruben” He told her as he blessed her. There was no
doubt in Dadashri’s mind that Niruben was destined to be just
that. She had served him with utmost devotion day and night
for over twenty years. Dadashri in turn had molded her and
prepared her to take on this monumental task.
From the time of Pujya Dadashri’s mortal departure on
January 2nd
1988 to her own mortal departure on March 19th
2006, Pujya Niruma as she lovingly came to be called by
thousands remained true to her promise to Dadashri to carry on
his mission of the world’s salvation. She became Dadashri’s
representative of Akram Vignan and became instrumental in
spreading the knowledge of Akram Vignan throughout the
world. She also became an exemplary of pure and unconditional
love. Thousands of people from all walks of life and from all
over the world have attained Self-realization through her and
are established in the experience of the pure Soul, while
carrying out their worldly duties and obligations. They experience
freedom here and now, while living their daily life.
The link of Akram Gnanis now continues with the current
spiritual master Pujya Deepakbhai Desai whom Pujya Dadashri
had also graced with special siddhis to continue to teach the
world about Atmagnan and Akram Vignan. He was further
molded and trained by Pujya Niruma who blessed him to
conduct Gnan Vidhi in 2003. Dadashri had said that Deepakbhai
will become the decorum that will add splendor to the Lord’s
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reign. Pujya Deepakbhai, in keeping with Dada’s and Niruma’s
tradition travels extensively within India and abroad, giving
satsangs and imparting the knowledge of the Self to all who
come seeking.
Powerful words in scriptures help the seeker in increasing
his desire for liberation. The knowledge of the Self is the final
goal of all one’s seeking. Without the knowledge of the Self
there is no liberation. This knowledge of the Self (Atma Gnan)
does not exist in books. It exists in the heart of a Gnani.
Hence, the knowledge of the Self can only be acquired by
meeting a Gnani. Through the scientific approach of Akram
Vignan, even today one can attain Atma Gnan, but it can only
occur by meeting a living Atma Gnani and receiving the Atma
Gnan. Only a lit candle can light another candle.
™™™™™
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PREFACE
This book is a compilation of the manifest form of
Goddess Saraswati (Goddess of speech) flowing through the
lips of the Omniscient – Dada Bhagwan. In His divine presence,
time, karma and illusionary grip of the world, ceases. It is no
wonder that his purest and penetrating utterances have established
the divine vision and right perception in countless aspirants.
Further more, this divine vision and perception will undoubtedly
be established in the aspirant who reads this book with an
ardent desire for acquiring the knowledge of the Absolute Truth
– ‘I seek the Truth … the Ultimate Truth’ – this prompting spirit
must be an integral part of his being. In fact this is the foremost
requirement and if he reserves some secret, discordant desire,
it would only be his meddlesome mental bias or insistence of
some preconceived notion. An ardent desire to know the
Absolute Truth and preconceived notions or insistence of
opinion is contradictory. Liberation can never be attained
through insistence of opinion; it is only when one becomes free
from all prejudices, partialities and non-insistence that one
becomes successful in his endeavors.
Liberation is only at the feet of the Gnani. If ever an
opportunity arises of meeting the Gnani and a connection be
established with Him, then Liberation is in the palm of your
hands. Many have been blessed with this ‘step-less’ path to
liberation – Akram Vignan – and that too, in just one hour!
Unprecedented, unique, unheard of before, and beyond credulity
is this fact and yet a proven verity through experience.
Liberation calls for no efforts if one is fortunate enough to
come in communion with a Gnani. However, extremely difficult
and rare is such a communion. Even more difficult, a thousand
times over, is one’s ability to recognize a Gnani.
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For the aspirant of the Absolute Truth, a description of
the Gnani can be invaluable in his cognition of Him. How are
we to recognize the Gnani? What attributes of his would
captivate us in spirit?
The first and foremost identifying mark of a Gnani is his
speech: It is Absolute and free from all attachment. There exists
no other mode or measure in our age. In the days gone by,
there were people so highly developed in their spirituality, that
by just a mere look into the eyes of the Gnani, they could
recognize his vitragta – his state void of any attachment towards
worldly thing, including his physical body. Not even for a split-
second is the Gnani bereft of vitragta.
The Gnani should be recognized through his outstanding
qualities. But how can an ordinary individual understand such
qualities? There are 1008 qualities of the Gnani, of which four
are exclusive in the Gnani.
1. The Gnani has the dazzling majesty of the Sun-God.
He is the symbol of the infinite luster and strength of the Pure
Self. This strength is visible in his eyes. Only on experience
does one feel the Divine energy behind it.
2. The Gnani has ‘the coolness’ of the Moon in his un-
surpassing love and compassion. Everyone in his presence feels
the bracing tranquility of this ‘coolness.’ It is so soothing that
one would not wish to be away from the Gnani even for a
moment. The power of His coolness is enough to ‘melt’ the
radiant heat of the sun - a person may come to Him, tormented
with rage and anger but with a mere glance into His eyes – the
splendor of serenity within will sooth and calm him.
Radiant splendor and soothing ‘coolness’ of compassion
- these two virtues exist simultaneously in the Gnani alone.
Some have the splendor of strength without ‘the cool’ of
compassion and some have ‘the cool’ without the ‘splendor’ of

the Pure Self. But the Gnani has the splendor in one eye and
coolness in the other.
3. The Gnani has the depth of serenity of the ocean. He
accepts and absorbs anything offered to him, regardless of its
quality and contents and blesses the giver.
4. His stillness and steadfastness is comparable to the
mountain of Meru. No external circumstances or events dare
shake his inner poise or steadfastness. His steadfastness must
not be mistaken for psychic or physical fortitude or stubbornness.
Many will hold their palm over a burning candle without
flinching - that is not steadfastness; it is stubbornness or
obstinacy- the expression of ego. But the Gnani is completely
free from ego. He is natural and spontaneous in his reflexes or
routine activities. Steadfastness has nothing to do with physical
fortitude or rigidity. The Gnani would not put his hand where
there is a possibility of getting burnt and if by chance he does,
he would immediately retract it. His physical being is quite
normal and natural but his omniscient inner poise is unparallel.
No events or circumstances would upset or affect even a single
atom of His inner harmony; that is real steadfastness.
Steadfastness is where the tranquility within is never perturbed
or never is there a hint of inner turmoil. The physical pain is a
natural property of the body and has nothing to do with the
equanimity or steadfastness of the inner Self.
An abode of infinite compassion, the Gnani does not
have a grain of pity. Pity is an egocentric virtue – it is a virtue
that exists in duality with its corresponding counterpart.
Presence of pity on one hand is balanced by cruelty on the
other hand. Only when it manifests, does one see the reality of
this duality. But the Gnani is above all duality. In the Gnani’s
eyes flows an endless stream of the elixir of love. Forever within
Him remains the spirit of comforting and saving, and liberating
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all the creatures of the world, suffering in agony the afflictions
of the worldly life.
There is a childlike innocence and guilelessness in the
Gnani. In a child however, it is ignorance that breeds innocence
but the Gnani’s innocence springs from the highest degree of
wisdom and knowledge. A vision that sees no fault or flaws
anywhere but finds and feels everything in order. Having
become free of faults Himself, he views the whole world, as it
stands, to be innocent and ‘in order’.
Not a single trace of stubbornness or obstinacy would be
there in the Gnani. Stubbornness is the expression of ego-
sense. Narrow is the path to liberation and the stubborn cannot
enter it. Only the simple and straightforward can get past it
without any difficulty. Obstinacy or stubbornness is the greatest
obstruction in the world. The Gnani remains unaffected or
unruffled even in the face of some one’s untoward gesture,
abasement or humiliation. He would pacify anyone’s tartness
with unsurpassed politeness. No instigation dare irritate him –
his vitragta can be evident upon provocation. What a wondrous
detachment to external factors and forces. He is anything but
the Gnani who, when piqued, is provoked to rage or wrath.
Not even a jot of stubborn insistence is to be found in a
Gnani. He is entirely aloof from ‘insistence’ or ‘stickiness’-
Insistence endangers dissent or conflict, and that comes in the
way of liberation.
God has asserted for one not to be a prey to any clinging
insistence except in seeking the Gnani, at whose lotus feet lies
Liberation. The grace and blessings of the Gnani would place
you right on the threshold of Liberation without any strain or
pain on your part.
The Gnani’s love is the purest love. It is a fountain of
divine love that puts out the fires of the worldly life. The Gnani
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has an ardent wish for the liberation of all caught in the
quagmire of the worldly life.
The most salient feature of the Gnani is his non-partiality.
He is neither dogmatic nor pragmatic. Partiality or prejudicial
approach implies blindness to other existing viewpoints. This is
being fanatic. Confinement to some creed or to compartmentalize
would come in the way of the Real or Truth. In order to realize
the ultimate Truth, one must be free from partiality, fanaticism
or bigotry. The Gnani is open to all viewpoints. He is non-
partial even towards his own mind, speech, and physique. On
account of this all comprehensive outlook and openness, he
exalts to the highest status of the Omniscient Manifest. The
Omniscient will never rigidly cleave to one viewpoint or
partiality. Despite various religious beliefs of those who sit in the
discourse of the Gnani, all experience a spirit of oneness within
and with Him. Each of them finds in the Gnani the most
trustworthy and authentic representative of his religion.
It is the ignorant that has infinite diversity of opinions,
whereas all Gnanis from all different sects come to a uniform
conclusion amidst myriad viewpoints!
The Gnani is omniscient as well as without intellect – not
a drop of intellectualism prevails in the Gnani. Where the
intellect sinks eternally into oblivion, spontaneously arises the
state of Omniscience in all its splendor and glory. This is the
natural law: Only the one who is free from the grips of intellect
can become the Omniscient.
Captivating are the speech, conduct and humbleness of
the Gnani. Unparallel are they - nowhere else to be seen! In
his speech there is due deference to the diversity of all
viewpoints and so it hurts no one nor does it offend. His words
penetrate right into the heart and the soul and would prompt
and point one to the right path at a crucial moment: The seed
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of Gnan inculcated by the Gnani will fructify into Liberation –
never will its fate be rendered futile. The spiritual prowess of his
words is beyond one’s imagination!
For the Gnani, the stage of ‘becoming’ is over. He is in
the supreme sate of ‘being’. Therefore he has nothing more to
know or perform in the world. No need to read books! No
standard to pass! No beads to count! There is nothing the
Gnani has yet to know or do. He is the Omniscient and he
moves about in complete liberation.
The Gnani is so intricate and inscrutable that he is beyond
the comprehension of a layperson. He has no need to establish
ashrams, no symbolic flags to fly! No sect or creed! No label!
No special attire of white or saffron! He is clad in a quite and
plain attire of a householder. How is one to recognize Him?
Even then, the Gnani can be identified through his description
given in the scriptures:
‘The Gnani lives in a state of ‘samadhi’- the active and
alert awareness of the Pure Self and the state of being the Pure
Self. His speech delivers experience. He has no worldly
desires, no pride nor internal worldly stagnation within. He is
not allured by anything- veneration or self-worship, objects of
senses, riches or disciples. The eternal light of Knowledge only
manifests within when all one’s needs and desires are completely
dissolved. ‘Being’ liberated, He is the liberator, the savior, and
the beacon light – living to lift and liberate others.
The Gnani has in him, the concurrence of many divine
circumstantial evidences. Beatific is his name, richly rewarding
the one who recites it. Credit regales in crowning deeds
performed through his blessings. His speech is spellbinding and
salutary. His status of spiritual placement is a status revered by
people. So many such evidences of this nature come together
to make the Gnani manifest in the world.
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The Gnani does not need to read scriptures or perform
any religious rituals. Before Him all distinction between a
devotee and God disappear. He himself is God. He is the
Omniscient Manifest. God is an adjective or attribute
applicable to the one who possesses divine virtues! The Gnani
is an incarnation of Divinity.
So long as one is prone to errors, there is God overhead
and as soon as one becomes free from all one’s errors, there
remains no authority of God overhead. The Gnani is beyond
all flaws, faults and errors and that is why he has no one of
authority over him nor does he exercise authority over others
(no underhand). He is completely free and independent.
Every action of the Gnani is divine; it never binds him.
The deeds of the relative world perpetuate bondage of life,
whereas the deeds of the Gnani only serve to liberate. He is
the Self-realized liberated Soul and so He is capable and
competent to liberate countless others.
The Gnani is free from all karmic knots or complexes and
conditionings. All the complexes dissolve and disappear in the
crucible of Self-Realization. He is the Absolute. For him,
therefore, there is no question of renunciation or non-renunciation,
abnegation or acceptance. God Himself has propounded this.
If renunciation were the yardstick of measure in the search for
the Gnani, how will one ever recognize the Gnani? The Gnani
does not require any novel ritualistic practices or penance to set
a new path. His ultimate state in which Self-Realization
manifested is the state that prevails everlastingly. His ‘being’ is
beyond the scanning of the laity. His state of being defies all
mental measures of the mortal beings.
Were one to assimilate in living, three divine virtues of the
Gnani, he would surely find the puzzle of life perishing. These
divine traits are: compressibility, flexibility and tensibility.
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Compressibility is His trait whereby no matter how great
the pressure may be, the Gnani would adjust, bear the burden
blithely and resume the original state as soon as the pressure is
gone. His flexibility is where He will not break down at any
time, no matter how much force is exerted. And tensibility is His
trait whereby He remains steadfast amidst tension, torment or
tribulations. These three traits would remove all hurdles and set
backs in the worldly life and lead one to liberation without any
obstruction.
The Gnani is both laghutam and gurutam. This means he
can be the lowest among the lowliest (laghutam) and he can
soar to the highest peak among those whose goal or ascent is
the highest (gurutam). This is a simultaneous blending of the
twin state: the macrocosmic and microcosmic. He is not only
the infinite but also the infinitesimal. If addressed to as a
donkey he would say, “I am that and still lowlier than that. I am
the lowliest. My smallness will defy all your measures”. And
adored as a preceptor, he would say, ‘Yes I am that. But if you
are desirous of knowing even more, then I am at an even higher
state than that. I am God in the human form.” What one gains
from the Gnani is in proportion to one’s openness and
receptivity. The Pure Self is neither laghu nor guru – immutable,
unchangeable, free from waxing or waning.
Only the Gnani is trustworthy in this world. You can place
your trust in the Gnani in all respect, not only in worldly matters
but also in your path of liberation, until you reach the ultimate
destination. So long as one has not realized or glimpsed the
Pure Self, the Gnani is his very manifest Soul; the guiding star
of his self. The Gnani is Liberation Incarnate. The Self within
will manifest upon having seen the Gnani. The Gnani is the gem
of parasmani – that which turns iron – a non-realized being into
gold, Self-Realized, provided one has lifted his inner curtain of
discord or dissent before Him. The Gnani has innumerable
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divine and dexterous devices for transmission of one’s awakening,
communication with the Self and enlightened intuitive intellect
for inspiration. One should take the utmost benefit of the Gnani
for the attainment of Liberation and make one’s existence on
this earth meaningful and fruitful.
One will have to come to the Gnani in order to realize the
Soul. The cherished object cannot be attained from the one
who is not familiar with that which one desires. To know the
Soul, you will have to approach the Gnani, who is perennially
in a state of meditation of the Soul – Nirvikalpa Samadhi - He
is completely free from any sense of ‘I-ness’ and ‘My-ness’.
The Gnani alone can place the Real in your hand. The Gnani
has the ability to do anything and yet he performs all tasks in
the spirit of being a mere instrument in the process. The Gnani
never becomes a ‘doer’ of anything.
All the scriptures proclaim unanimously, ‘If you desire to
realize the Pure Self, go to a Gnani.’ The lighted can kindle light
in others. The Gnani is the perfect Self-Realization in the human
form. He is therefore, the Liberator and the Saviour.
The Gnani lives in the present – not the past or the future.
There is a permanent prevalence of the present within Him. A
broken glass is the past and worries and anxieties about ‘What
will happen now?’ is the future. The Gnani ‘lives’ in the
minutest fraction of time, which is impossible to divide any
further. Being Self-Realized, he has traversed and seen each
and every atom of the cosmogony of the universe. Yet he
remains the Knower – Perceiver of all that is to be known.
Only the Gnani can reach to the level of the smallest indivisible
fraction of time (samay) and sub-atomic matter, which can no
longer be divided (parmanu).
There is no sorrow for that, which has past,
No yearning for that which is to come,
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Gnani is He that is forever poised in the present.
If one comes to the Gnani in perfect humility and a spirit
of ‘I know nothing’, one is sure to be lifted and liberated. Even
once, if one surrenders his all, at the lotus feet of the Gnani,
without any reservations, he will doubtlessly attain liberation –
what an awe-inspiring mystery of the modern age!
Never has ‘Dada Bhagwan’, inflicted any pain on any
living being. He has forever been in pursuit and presence of the
Pure Self. So anything good, done sincerely in the name of
Dada would certainly yield the right reward.
No language or words are apt to describe the Gnani.
The pen too is halted in its process.
The Gnani defies all worldly measures of worldly scales.
You should not gauge or judge him. The very effort of
attempting to gauge Him would proclaim your gross ignorance,
intellect penury and stubborn stagnation and create an obstruction
on the only available path to liberation. It is sheer impudence to
measure the Gnani with one’s own sense of what is of worth
and the one who does, does so in proving one’s impropriety by
such a wayward gesture. When one does not understand even
a word of what the Gnani utters, how is it possible to measure
Him? Ask yourself if you are qualified to judge a Gnani. The
Gnani is not to be measured with the intellect – on the contrary,
one should put aside all intellect before Him and go to Him with
utmost humility. The intellect will always flash distorted and
perverted mental images. Failure to understand the Gnani is
the echo of one’s egotistical and rigid stubbornness. And if by
chance that stubbornness is allowed to prevail before the Gnani,
then lost forever is the only opportunity for liberation. Listen
you fool! Liberation is only at the feet of the Gnani, and if even
here you insist on being stubborn, where else will you go for
liberation?

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There is a saying in Gujarati: ‘Even a witch would leave
out one home’. There must be at least one such a place where
one should not be awkward or stubborn – let that place be only
the place of the Gnani. Meddlesome interference elsewhere is
tolerable, but not at all before and with the Gnani. If you do,
you will create an indestructible obstacle in your path to
liberation. Never, ever be cross with Him if you wish to solve
the puzzle of your life.
You may honestly disagree with the Gnani, but you must
not disregard him. Candid difference of opinion is not
objectionable but beware of indifference or ineptitude. That
would entail the greatest obstacle or barrier on the path of self-
realization.
Being nonchalant towards or negating the Gnani is outright
disregard. The Gnani who awakens the Self within all, is a
reflection of that Self, thus disregard towards the Gnani is the
same as disregard towards one’s Self. Those for whom
stubbornness is an inherent trait need to be extremely cautious–
a single humiliating gesture towards the Gnani will result in an
eternal perdition in hell! If you do not relent your rigidity and
stubbornness before the One who has won over the Lords of all
three universes, where else will you relent? Only upon complete
surrender before the Gnani can one accomplish his task.
This divine book of Knowledge is primarily for elevated
thinkers, those with scientific minds and those seeking refuge in
the tranquility of the Soul from the fires of suffering of the
worldly life. It is my ardent prayer that the light of Knowledge
within this divine book renders in the reader, the experience of
the Soul’s tranquility – especially in this time cycle of immense
suffering – as was experienced by those who lived during
satyug - the first of the four ages characterized by virtue,
wisdom and morality.
- Dr. Niruben Amin

Contents
Page
1. Dharma–Religion;One’sDuty 1
2. Creation Of The World 3
3. TheWorldIsThePuzzleItself… 4
4. VyavasthitShakti 6
5. God’s Address 6
6. God As the Boss: Liberation? 8
7. RelativeReligionAndRealReligion 9
8. The Kramic And The Akram Path To Liberation 11
9. Commonsense 12
10. WorldlyRelationships 13
11. HappinessAndMisery 14
12. DestinyVersusEffort 14
13. Non-contradictory Dependence 18
14. The Self And The Non-self 19
15. LiberationThroughDivineEyes 20
16. Reincarnation 21
17. Mind, Body and Speech are All Effective 22
18. Sufferings:Mental,PhysicalAndExternallyInduced 24
19. TheWorldAndTheSelf 25
20. Possession by the Mind, Body and Speech 26
21. TheGnaniUnderstandsScriptures 27
22. Intake And Output 27
23. TrimantraRemovesObstaclesInlife 29
24. WorryandEgo 31
25. EnjoyWhatYouHave 34
26. MeditationAndAdverseMeditation 35
27. TransmigrationAccordingToMeditationandIntention 38
28. Acceptable Use Of Intellect 40
29. UniversallyAcceptableSpeech 41
30. The Gnani And The Nature Of Dharma 42
31. FlawlessVision 44
32. IntoxicatedEgoAndLiberation 45
19

33. Possesed By The Mind, Speech and Body 45
34. AspireForOnlyLiberation 46
35. TheWorldIsWithoutAnySubstance 49
36. Non-DependencyOfHumans 50
37. Natural Order And The Worldly Sciences 51
38. MaterialDevelopmentAndSpiritualDevelopment 53
39. Prakruti:NaturalAndDeviant 54
40. The State Of The Aspirant 56
41. Karma:MeritAndDemerit 56
42. I-ness And My-ness 61
43. Charge And Discharge Cause And Effect 61
44. The Self And The Non-self 62
45. The Prakruti And Its Three Attributes 63
46. TheSelf:WithAndWithoutAttributes 65
47. WorshippingPrakruti:WorshippingPurush 66
48. PrakrutiDharma:PurushDharma 67
49. The Garden Of Prakruti 68
50. Renunciation 69
51. Focused Awareness Of The self And Self 69
52. LayersOfSpiritualDevelopment 72
53. IllusionAndLiberation 72
54. Happiness:Bliss 73
55. Ignorance:Attachment-Abhorrence 74
56. The Science Of Speech 76
57. Silence: PhysicalAndForTheSelf 79
58. Antahkaran:InnerPsychicOrgan 80
59. What Is The Mind Like? What Are Thoughts? 82
60. InspirationOfActionIsThroughMind 84
61. RelationshipBetweenTheKnowerAndTheKnown 86
62. RideYourMind 87
63. WhereDoesGoddessLaxmi,GoddessOfWealth,Reside? 89
64. Mind:ExpansiveOrNarrow 90
65. EvilEffectsOfMind 91
66. The Nature Of The Mind 91
20

67. How Do The Tubers Of the Mind Dissolve? 93
68. TheMindIsPhysical 95
69. Mind:SubtleAndGross 96
70. The Mind - The Known: The Self - The Knows 97
71. TheLightOfTheIntellect:TheLightOfGnan 98
72. TypesOfIntellect 99
73. TheReceptacleOfIntellectLifeAfterLife 100
74. LordGanpati–TheDeityofIntellect 101
75. ExperienceThroughIntellect:ExperienceThroughGnan 102
76. WhyDoWeHaveDifferenceOfOpinions? 105
77. HonestyInBusiness 109
78. Why Is There AShortage Of Wealth? 110
79. FunctionOfTheIntellectAndFunctionOfGnan 111
80. DifferenceInIntellect:DifferenceOfOpinions 113
81. The Power Of Concentration 115
82. Chit:TheThirdComponentOfAntahkaran 117
83. OnlytheGnaniCanBestowThePureSelf(Shuddhatma) 119
84. The Joy Of The Chit 121
85. Ego 123
86. TheMostImportantThingToRenounce 124
87. Who Is The Enjoyer? 125
88. Squeeze The Juice Out Of The Ego 127
89. DrinkPoisonWithASmile 128
90. Penance:Invisible(Adeethhataap) 131
91. AccountOfRespect-Insult 132
92. The Poison Of Ego 134
93. SatisfyingTheEgo 135
94. SensitivenessAndAtkan:SpiritualRoadblock 136
95. Antahkaran:HowItFunctions 137
96. MandatoryVersusVoluntary 141
97. TheWorld’sFoundation 144
98. NishchetanChetan:LifelessLife 151
99. Man’sBirthrightToLiberation 154
100. Desire 156
21

101. WhatisBhaav? 159
102. Nobility–Wickedness 161
103. The Three Forms Of Body 162
104. ReleaseFromDehadhyas:‘IAmThisBody’ 167
105. Three Stages Of The Body 167
106. PurposeOfHumanLife 171
107. Thought,SpeechandAction 172
108. Motion,Emotion,ExtremeEmotion:Vega,Aavega,Udvega 174
109. Sleep 178
110. Dreams 179
111. Fear 182
112. Self-interest:RelativeAndReal 184
113. Life–Adjustments 186
114. Conflicts 187
115. Economy 188
116. Vishaya:SubjectofEnjoyment 190
117. RemoveTheAboveLinearLine 191
118. Vishaya:SexualIndulgena. 194
119. LoveandInfatuation 199
120. Fault Is Of The Sufferer 202
121. SeeingYourOwnFaults 206
122. Mistakes 211
123. Swacchand:FollwingYourOwnIntellectInSpiritualMatters 218
124. ObstinateEgo:InflexibleEgo:Aadai 221
125. Suspicion 223
126. InsistenceOfViewPoint 224
127. Fanaticism(DrashtiRaag,Exclusiveattachmenttoa
particularviewpoint) 225
128. AnimosityAndVengeance 226
129. VibrationsOfWorldlyLife 227
130. Conflicts 231
131. PleasureAndPain:TheirTrueNature 235
132. Fault-FindingVision 236
133. Memory 238
22

134. ComfortInDiscomfort 239
135. ChargeAndDischarge 241
136. Nature Of Moha 248
137. Maya 250
138. Anger 253
139. Greed 254
140. Deceit 256
141. TheFoodOfKashayas:Anger,Pride,Attachment,Greed 256
142. HomeDepartment:ForeignDepartment 258
143. Circumstances 259
144. TheCircumstanceOfThenon-Self 269
145. MeditationVersusConcentration 272
146. NirvikalpSamadhi:BlissofFreedomFromEgo 273
147. Meditation: The Link Between Object And Subject 275
148. Gurukilli:ThatWhichPreventsTheMasterFrom
Sinking 279
149. WorldlyInteractionOfAkramPathAndKramicPath 280
150. TheWandering:FourLifeFormWorlds 281
151. Pragna:TheDirectLightOfTheSelfAndThe
Force That Liberates 285
Note to the reader
The words ‘You’ or ‘Self’ when they begin with an initial
capital ‘Y’ or ‘S’ respectively, refers to the Soul or the real Self
ortheAtma.Otherwise,theyareusedforthenon-selfalsoreferred
to as the relative-self, ‘Chandulal’ or the prakruti.
WheneverDadashriusesthename‘Chandulal’orthename
of the person Dadashri is addressing, the reader should insert his
or her name for exact understanding.
The words Self and Soul are interchangeable. The Soul is
one’s real Self.
™™™™™
23

24
Note About This Translation
The Gnani Purush Ambalal M. Patel, also commonly
known as Dadashri or Dada, had said that it would be
impossible to translate his satsangs and the knowledge about
the Science of Self-realization verbatim into English because
some of the meanings would be lost in the process. Therefore,
in order to understand precisely the science of Akram Vignan
and Self-realization, He stressed the importance of learning
Gujarati.
Dadashri did however grant his blessings to translate his
words into English and other languages so that spiritual seekers
could benefit to a certain degree and later progress through
their own efforts.
This is a humble attempt to present to the world, the
essence of His Knowledge. This is not a literal translation but
great care has been taken to preserve His original words and
the essence of His message. For certain Gujarati words, several
English words or even sentences are needed to convey the
exact meaning; hence, many Gujarati words have been retained
within the English text for better reading flow.
A glossary of all the Gujarati words is provided at the
back of the book. For additional glossary, visit our website at:
www.dadabhagwan.org
Many people have worked diligently towards achieving
this goal and we thank them all. Please note that any errors
encountered in this translation are entirely those of the
translators.
™™™™™

Aptavani-1
Aptavani 1
Dharma – Religion; One’s Duty
‘What is dharma?’
It is anything that remains in and results in its own intrinsic
properties.
Dharma means one’s intrinsic nature and properties.
For example, when can you call gold, gold? It is only
when it exhibits the properties that are intrinsic to gold. Another
example is if these grapes are bitter, then you could say that it
does not exhibit its intrinsic property. Brass can look and shine
just like gold if it is polished enough. But if a goldsmith were to
test it, he would be able to tell that it is not gold from the
intrinsic properties of that metal.
There are two mangos in front of you. One mango has an
aroma and given time it will become a little dry, the skin will
shrivel and will eventually begin to rot. The other one looks
exactly like a mango, only it is made out of wood. It does not
have the aroma; it will not shrivel or rot. They are both mangos,
but one does not have the qualities of a real mango. The real
mango will exhibit its natural properties. It can only be called a
mango if it has and remains within its natural attributes.
Similarly you can say that a thing is in its innate nature,

2 Aptavani-1
goon dharma, if it exhibits its innate nature. The belief of ‘I am
the body’, or to believe the body, the non-self, to be your real
identity is par-dharma (dharma of another). To believe the Self
(Soul) as the Self is sva-dharma (own dharma). That is atma-
dharma, dharma of the Self.
Dadashri : Who Are You?
Questioner : I am Chandulal.
Dadashri : What is your name?
Questioner : My name is Chandulal.
Dadashri : Do you see a contradiction in the statements
‘I am Chandulal’ and ‘My name is Chandulal’? How can the
name and the entity it belongs to, be one and the same? When
a person dies, his name is taken away from him during his
funeral rites, is it not? It is even removed from the census
records.
Who does this hand belong to? Who does this leg belong
to?
Questioner : They are mine.
Dadashri : They are all parts of this body. What is yours
in all that? Who does the mind within you belong to?
Questioner : It is mine.
Dadashri : What about speech?
Questioner : It is mine.
Dadashri : Whose body is this?
Questioner : That is mine too.
Dadashri : When you say, ‘it is mine’, does it not occur
to you that the owner of these body parts is separate from the

Aptavani-1 3
body?
Questioner : Yes.
Dadashri : Then have you ever wondered who you really
are?
Questioner : No.
Dadashri : Before you purchased this watch or even the
clothes you are wearing, you checked to see if they were of
good quality. Even when you were looking for a wife, you
looked very closely to see what she was like before you married
her, did you not?
Questioner : Yes Dada.
Dadashri : So then have you ever inquired about your
own Self? Have you thought about what is temporary and what
is permanent? “All these are temporary adjustments.” When
You, the real Self who is permanent, mix it up with temporary
things, how can you find the answer? If your equation is wrong
to begin with, how will you find the correct answer?
Do you think it a trivial or a major error on your part that
you have not realized your Real Self?
Questioner : It is a huge mistake. It is a blunder Dada!
Creation Of The World
Dadashri : Who do you think created this world?
Questioner : ………
Dadashri : Say whatever is in your imagination. We are
not here to pass or fail anyone.
Questioner : God may have created it.
Dadashri : Why did God have a need to create this

4 Aptavani-1
world? Did he have any unmarried children he needed to marry?
Where does God live? What is his address? Is there such a
thing as liberation, moksha?
Questioner : Of course there is liberation.
Dadashri : If God is the creator of this world and if
there is such a thing as liberation, then there is an absolute
contradiction here.
Questioner : Dada, how is that a contradiction?
Dadashri : If God is the superior over you and he was
to grant you liberation, then you would have to do whatever he
tells you. That means that he can dictate what you do. So how
can you call that liberation? Liberation means complete freedom;
no superior over you and no subordinate under you.
The World Is The Puzzle Itself…
The Christians, the Muslims, the Hindus, say that God
created this world. They are correct by their viewpoints, but
according to facts, they are incorrect. If you want to know the
facts, I can give them to you.
Real knowledge (Gnan) accepts and incorporates the entire
360° (of viewpoints). I too accept the 360° and that is why I
am a Gnani. Those who accept all points of views are considered
Gnanis (the Enlightened ones, Self-realized beings). I am sitting
in the center and that is why I am able to show you the facts.
By fact God is not at all the creator of this world. This world
has not been created by anyone. So how did it come into
existence? “The world is the puzzle itself.” We call it a puzzle
because it has become puzzlesome. The world has formed itself.
I have seen this in my Gnan (absolute knowledge, absolute
vision and absolute experience). There is not a single atom in
this world that I have not traversed through. I am telling you this

Aptavani-1 5
by living in this world as well as living outside it.
The ones who can solve this puzzle are granted the degree
of the Supreme Soul (parmatma). And those who cannot, have
become dissolved within this puzzle. I have solved this puzzle
and acquired the status of the Supreme Soul. I see both the
animate (chetan – soul) and the inanimate (achetan – matter) as
separate. Those who cannot see the two as separate are
dissolved within the puzzle.
God is not the creator, never was, and never will be.
What does it mean to be a creator? Creator means a potter. It
means that God has to labor. Is God a laborer? When even the
wealthy factory owners of Ahemedabad do not toil and yet
enjoy the benefits of their factories in operation, then how can
God be toiling as a laborer? To toil is to be a laborer. God is
not like that. And if God were the creator, then everyone would
look the same. Just like the impressions from a mold. But it is
not so. Furthermore we say that God is impartial, then why
does one person sleep on the pavement from the day he is born
and another in a palace?
I can give you the answer in just one sentence as to how
everything works in this world. You can find the details yourself.
This world is run solely by scientific circumstantial evidences.
There is no one up there who has the time to run all this. I refer
to these scientific circumstantial evidences as vyavasthit shakti.
It keeps everything and everyone organized. Do you wake up
in the morning or are you awakened?
Questioner : I am the one who wakes up.
Dadashri : Are you sometimes unable to fall asleep even
when you want to? And when you have to get up at four in the
morning, why do you set the alarm? If you decide, before you
go to sleep, that you want to wake up at four in the morning,

6 Aptavani-1
then you should be able to wake up at that time. Does that
happen?
Vyavasthit Shakti
When one is not the doer and yet claims to be one, how
can you call that a principle? It is a contradiction. So who
wakes you up in the morning? It is a force called vyavasthit
shakti that wakes you up. This same force keeps the sun, the
moon, the stars and the entire universe in regulation. It is the
same force that clears away the pollution caused by these
industrial mills in Ahemdabad, otherwise people of Ahmedabad
would have suffocated to death a long time ago. When it rains,
who goes up there to make water for the rain? It is a natural
adjustment, when two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of
oxygen come together, along with some other evidences like air,
etc. water is formed and the rain falls. A scientist may claim to
create water but if you ask him whether he can do so with only
one atom of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen, he will tell you
that it is not possible. People are foolish to think that they are
the doers, when in reality they are just one of the many evidences
in a process. How can anyone be the maker? There is no
maker in this world; everyone is simply an ‘instrument’ (nimit)
in the process. Even God is not the maker or creator. If one
becomes the doer of anything then he also becomes the sufferer
of that action. God is just the knower and perceiver and in
eternal bliss. He is always immersed in his own infinite bliss- the
bliss of the Self.
God’s Address
Where does God live? What is his address? What if you
want to write to him some day, where would you address your
letter?
Questioner : That I do not know but people say that he

Aptavani-1 7
lives up there, above us.
Dadashri : So do you believe what others tell you?
Should you not question this for yourself? I will tell you the
correct address of God. God is in every creature, whether
visible or invisible. There are infinite life forms between you and
me, which are not visible even through a microscope, and God
resides in them too. God resides as energy in all living beings,
and within me, he is fully manifest. He is the effulgent light fully
manifest within me. He is the fully manifest Supreme Soul within.
There is tremendous light within. The person you see before
you is Ambalal Muljibhai Patel of Bhadran (a town in Gujarat),
who is a contractor by profession and that which has manifest
within A. M. Patel is Dada Bhagwan. This is a tremendous and
phenomenal surprise! But how are you to understand this? This
body is the outer packing and the One within is God. Similarly
your packing belongs to Chandulal and within resides God. The
outer packing of that animal is a donkey and God is within.
People are foolish when they curse a donkey if it crosses their
path, but they don’t realize that the God within takes note of
their condemnation, and consequently they will have to endure
one birth as a donkey themselves. The outer packing can be
anything. It can be that of a mango tree or anything else. What
do the merchants and shopkeepers pay importance to, the outer
package or the goods within?
Questioner : The goods within.
Dadashri : Yes, of what use is the packing anyway?
We are only concerned with the contents are we not? Some
packing may be rotten or torn but the content within is pure,
is it not?
From the time this Gnan manifested within me, I have not
identified myself with this body of Ambalal Muljibhai even for
a moment. I look upon him as my first neighbor.

8 Aptavani-1
God As the Boss : Liberation?
When I was thirteen, it occurred to me that there should
be no one in a position of authority over me. I did not want
even God to be my boss. I would not be able to tolerate that.
Such was the spiritual development I had brought with me. My
wishes of countless past lives finally came into fruition in this
lifetime. If God were in a position of power over us and if he
were to grant us liberation, then we would be obliged to obey
his commands. If I were sitting down and he asked me to get
up, I would have to follow his command. That would be
unacceptable. How can one call that liberation? Liberation means
complete freedom, no superior over us or no subordinates under
us either.
You can experience the bliss of liberation through self-
realization here while living. No worries or external problems
will affect you. Liberation is when your internal peace is not
disturbed even when you receive a letter of audit from the
income tax office. The final liberation will come later on, but first
you must experience liberation here and now.
I got married at the age of sixteen. During the wedding
ceremony, the turban on my head tipped slightly to one side. At
that time it occurred to me that it was inevitable that one of us
would become widowed.
Life after life man learns the same thing over and over
again and yet ignorance creates veils over it again. One need
not learn ignorance; ignorance comes naturally. It is Gnan (real
knowledge) that one has to learn. The veil of ignorance was
relatively less within me and that is why even at the young age
of thirteen I became (spiritually) aware. In my math class, the
teacher had asked the students to find the smallest indivisible
number, which is common to all other numbers (LCM = lowest
common multiple). From this search, I immediately discovered

Aptavani-1 9
God. We are all ‘numbers’ and God is within each one of us,
in an indivisible form.
The speech that emanates from me shatters the veils of
ignorance covering you and the enlightenment from within helps
you understand what I am saying. Otherwise you do not have
the capability to understand even a word I utter. Your intellect
(buddhi) will not work here. Some people are recognized as
intellectuals, but this belief is wrong. I am without intellect
(abuddha). I do not have any intellect. What is intellect? What
is Gnan? The knowledge of all subjects of the world falls in the
domain of the intellect and the knowledge of ‘Who am I?’ is
Gnan. Intellect is knowledge through the medium of the ego and
Gnan is knowledge without the ego. Knowledge of the Self is
real knowledge.
How can one remove conflicts and difference of opinion?
How should one live life? Even when one has all the wealth and
comforts, one still has conflicts, which create endless miseries.
Relative Religion And Real Religion
A circle has 360 degrees. Christians, Parsis, Muslims,
Hindus etc., all have different viewpoints. One is sitting at 80
degrees, one at 120 degrees, and one at 220 degrees. Everyone
sees through his or her own perspective and viewpoint. I am
sitting in the center, having completed 360 degrees, as a fully
enlightened being. AGnani Purush, sitting in the center, can see
and know things exactly as they are and can impart that
knowledge to others exactly as it is. All religions are correct but
they are relative religions. They are religions of viewpoints. But
if one wants to know the facts, then he will have to come to the
center. Only in the center will one find the Real religion (religion
of the Soul). Only the one in the center that can see all points
of view and therefore is without any prejudice or bias towards
any religion. That is why I say that I am Lord Mahavir of the

10 Aptavani-1
Jains, Lord Krishna of the Vaishnavas, Sahajanand of the
Swaminarayans, Christ of the Christians, Zarthustra of the Parsis
and Khuda of the Muslims. So anyone may come here and
receive whatever he wants. I am the God of all religions. So get
your work done here. I can bestow upon you the status of God
within an hour but you have to be ready for it. However, you
will not be able to digest all the Gnan that I give you, for even
I am stuck at 356 degrees. This is because of the current time
cycle. But I do bestow upon you the absolute Omniscient
Knowledge (Kevalgnan; 360 degrees).
A potato baking in a charcoal pit bakes from all sides.
Similarly the whole world is being roasted from all sides. I see
in my Gnan the whole world is being tormented in a blazing fire
of gasoline from all sides. My only concern is how people can
be liberated from all this. That is the very purpose for my birth.
Half the world will achieve salvation through me and the other
half through my followers. However, I am not the doer at all.
I am merely a nimit (an instrument) in all this.
The Germans are in search of Absolutism. They have
researched volumes and volumes of our scriptures for this. But
it is not that easy. Today I am manifest as the Absolute. The
whole world is immersed in the theory of relativity. All of my
mahatmas (those who have acquired Gnan of Self-Realization
from Dadashri) are in the theory of reality and I am in the theory
of Absolutism. Therefore when I go to Germany I will tell them
that I have come there personally and that they should take
whatever they want from me.
This (Dada) is the “cash Bank” of the world. I will give
you ‘cash’ (instant benefit) in just one hour. I will place you in
the Real state. Everywhere else they give you a ‘loan’ and you
have to make payments. Regrettably that is what you have done
for countless lives and yet there is no end in sight. You have not

Aptavani-1 11
received ‘cash’ in any of your past lives.
The Kramic And The Akram Path To Liberation
There are two paths of liberation : One is the common
and the main path, called the Kramik path, which is a step-by-
step path where there is a gradual spiritual evolution. In this
path, if you are fortunate enough and find the company of spiritual
people, you may climb up to five hundred steps. On the other
hand if you land amidst the company of non-spiritual people,
you may go down five thousand steps. It is a very arduous and
a grueling path. You have to do a lot of incantation of God’s
name, penance and renunciation in order to progress and even
then there is no telling when you will achieve liberation.
The other path is the Akram path, where you are not
required to climb any steps. It is a ‘lift’ (an elevator) path where
you can continue with all your daily mundane activities, fulfill all
your worldly responsibilities towards your wife and children,
and still achieve liberation! Nothing will hinder your progress
towards liberation. This is an exceptional path and one, which
comes around once every million years.
King Bharat was the only one who was given such Gnan.
Of his hundred sons, Lord Rushabhadev bestowed this Gnan
upon only King Bharat. Ninety-eight of his sons were initiated
into monk hood leaving behind their kingdom to Bahubaliji and
Bharat. Shortly afterwards Bahubaliji also renounced everything
and left the kingdom. Consequently the responsibility of the
whole empire fell on King Bharat. King Bharat had thirteen
hundred queens. Don’t men get tired of even one wife today?
King Bharat had grown tired of the varying temperaments of his
queens, fighting wars and the worries of ruling an empire. So he
asked Lord Rushabhadev if he could relinquish the kingdom to
someone else and be initiated into monk hood. He too wanted
liberation. Lord Rushabdev told King Bharat that he was the

12 Aptavani-1
nimit (instrument) for ruling the kingdom and if he were to forego
his duties, there would be utter chaos. He told King Bharat that
he would bestow upon him such a Gnan that none of his queens
or his kingdom or the wars would hinder his spiritual progress
towards liberation. This Akram Gnan is the very same Gnan,
which I give you now, in just one hour. King Bharat however,
had servants who would warn him every fifteen minutes to
maintain awareness of the Gnan by saying, ‘Bharat beware,
beware, beware! But in this kaliyug (current fifth era of the six
part half time cycle), where one is barely able to make ends
meet, so how can one employ someone to do the same for
him? That is why I place such awareness within you that it will
warn you every moment of the day.
Such an awe-inspiring Gnan has never been seen or heard
of before in any era. It is the eleventh wonder of the current
time cycle.
Commonsense
What is commonsense and how do you define it?
Commonsense means that which is applicable everywhere,
theoretically as well as practically.
Commonsense is very important. It becomes applicable
wherever it is needed. I have one hundred percent commonsense.
You do not have even one percent commonsense. Commonsense
is to disentangle a piece of thread which has become entangled,
without breaking it. Common sense is when you can resolve a
problem without causing any harm or damage. People instead,
in their attempt to solve one problem create five more. How
can they claim to have commonsense? The greatest of scholars
have education but lack commonsense. The Gnani is without
buddhi (intellect). I have no intellect whatsoever. Actually my
intellect is fully developed but in the presence of the light of my
Gnan, it is rendered powerless and remains in one corner. As

Aptavani-1 13
one acquires the state of abuddha (no intellect), there awaits the
state of Omniscience with open arms. I am without intellect and
I am omniscient.
Worldly Relationships
Is your relationship with your father, mother and wife
real?
Questioner : Of course it is real.
Dadashri : Then as a rule, should your father die; you
should die along with him. Now how many people would do
that? There exists a relation between father-mother, brother-
sister, wife-children, but it is not real. It is only a relative
relationship. If it were real, it could never be destroyed. If a son
were to tell his father, ‘You are an idiot’, their relationship would
end. His father would disown him and tell him that he does not
want to see his face for as long as he lives. You even believe
your wife to be yours, but what if she divorces you some day?
This is what the world is like. All these are temporary
adjustments. Even your own body is not yours; it too will let
you down some day. If you decide to do samayik (introspection),
your head may start aching or you may have a stomachache
and you will not be able to do the samayik. You (the real Self)
are permanent and everything else is temporary so how can
there be a resolution between the two? That is why the world
is trapped in such a state of confusion. As far as relatives are
concerned, you should act according to your relationship with
them. You should not be rigid or adamant about right and wrong
if you are to sustain that relationship. Rigidity will destroy the
relationship. When the other person is trying to destroy the
relation, you should mend it if you want to maintain that
relationship. These are all temporary relations. For example if
your wife says, ‘Tonight there is a full moon’ and you say, ‘No,
it is a moonless night’, then the bickering will start and it will last

14 Aptavani-1
all night. In the morning she will be sulking and you will know
that the argument is not over when she deliberately bangs the
cup of tea while serving you. Instead it is better if you understand
the situation when she becomes adamant. Gently turn the
argument around by pretending to consult a horoscope calendar
and then telling her she is right that there will be a full moon
tonight. If you don’t do this, the argument will get out of control
and then if you were to give in suddenly, she will fall harder and
you will have to bear the consequences. Instead it is better to
beware from the start and let go gently.
Happiness And Misery
Everyone is in search of happiness but without having
decided what happiness is. ‘Happiness should be such that it is
never followed by any misery.’ Go find one such happiness in
this world. Eternal happiness, bliss is within you. Your real Self
is an abode of bliss and yet you are looking for happiness in
temporary things. What is this search for worldly happiness
like? Let me give you an analogy. Avery tall man is sleeping on
the terrace on a cold winters night and he has a tiny blanket. If
he covers his feet, his head gets cold and if he covers his head,
his feet get cold. He spends the entire night tossing and turning.
That is what pursuit of worldly happiness is like. In reality there
is no such thing as misery in this world. It is merely a figment
of the imagination. If you believe that jalebi, (a sweetmeat)
tastes terrible, you will not enjoy it and if you believe it tastes
very good, you will enjoy it. Therefore it is not real. True
happiness should be the same for all. Everyone would accept
it. Truth must be universal. What you may believe gives you
happiness, others may find tremendously miserable. That is what
this world is like.
Destiny Versus Effort
People talk about fate and destiny versus independent

Aptavani-1 15
self-effort. They keep talking about the same thing over and
over again and yet make no progress. Some rely on destiny
alone whereas others rely on self-effort alone. But support of
both concepts are crippled and lame. What do all the factory
workers, who toil from morning to night, get for their efforts?
Do they get anything more than a meal on their table? What
would happen if the fatalists were to sit idle?
When people make a lot of money they take credit for
it and claim it was through their effort and hard work. If they
incur a loss they will say ‘What can I do?’ and blame their
horoscopes or bad luck or the God above. The fools! They
take credit for good things and claim to be helpless when things
go wrong. And sometimes they even blame God for their failures.
Their horoscopes or the stars do not hinder them in any way.
What hinders them is their own internal negative ‘stars’ – their
obstinacy, excessive obstinacy, insistence on being right, insistence
on relative truth etc. I am without obstinacy. Where there is
obstinacy there is conflict, so when I am not obstinate about
anything how can there be any conflict? When everything runs
systematically, success is the end result but when there is a
break in the systematic process, people blame God. The effort
to convert that, which is disorderly, into order, is defined by the
world as independent effort (purusharth). If a person were truly
capable of doing purusharth, he would never incur a loss.
Purusharth knows no failures. It is a contradiction. How can
you do purusharth, when you, yourself have not become a
Purush (Self-realized)? True purusharth is the one that is done
through the extraordinary effort of the self. People are foolish to
believe that they are the doers when in fact it is their prakruti
(the formed complex of thoughts, speech and acts which is a
result of past life karma) that makes them do things.
Lord Krishna has said, ‘Odhavji, what can the weak
attain?’ Even the most renowned Jain spiritual master,

16 Aptavani-1
Ananddhanji Maharaj, admits his weaknesses. One can only be
called a Purush when he has conquered his anger, pride,
attachment and greed. But here the weaknesses of anger, pride,
attachment and greed have conquered man. He is weak.
I have become a Purush. I am with my independent effort
(purushartha) and its extraordinary energy. Astrology and
purusharth are contradictory. Astrology has some scientific
foundation. However, what people believe to be purusharth is an
illusion. People foolishly go running to an astrologer when they
suffer a loss. Why not do your purusharth instead? This false
purusharth is what sows the seeds of karma for your next life.
The Alembic chemical factory here employs so many
workers. It takes all these workers to manufacture just a few
chemicals. The human body is made up of hundreds of such
chemical factories and yet it runs on its own. When you go to
sleep after a meal, do you ever check to see how much and
how many digestive juices and enzymes are released for
digestion? How attentive are you in these matters? By the morning
when you wake up, the body has already assimilated the food
you ate. All the nutrients are absorbed in the blood; the waste
products are transported for excretion and everything is to be
found in its right place. Did you have to do anything in running
this process? So don’t you think that just as the inner mechanism
works naturally, the outer mechanism does too? Why do you
believe that you are the doer? Everything will continue to run on
it’s own. During sleep, the body is in its natural state. It is you
who is not in your natural state. You claim that you are breathing.
You say that you breathe shallow or deep. Who does the
breathing when you are in deep sleep? Respiration that takes
place at night is a natural process and that is what aids the
digestion.
Every human being is nothing but a top (toy that spins).

Aptavani-1 17
I am a Gnani but this body of mine is a top. These ‘tops’
function because of respiration. The process of breathing is like
winding the string around the top, and as the breathing continues,
the top begins to spin. It may even lean over on one side as it
spins and it may seem like it will topple over, but then it comes
back up again and continues to spin. That is how life is.
Every leaf and branch of a Neem tree is bitter. It is bitter
through and through. What effort (purusharth) does the tree
have to make for that? Everything that is manifest in the tree has
come from its seed. Similarly human beings act according to
their innate nature (prakruti) but merely claim, ‘I am the doer’
and thus exercise their ego. What exactly does one do in all
this?
What people refer to, as purusharth in this world is really
a language of illusion. Things occur and materialize because of
your past karmas coming into effect, and to claim ‘I did it’ is
subtle pride (gaarva) and egoism. Real purusharth, true purusharth
begins only after one becomes the Purush (Self-realised). It is
only then your belief of ‘I am the doer’ is destroyed. It is the
state of absolute ‘non-doer ship’. All that is relative is prakruti
and the Purush (the Self) is real. What then is real purusharth?
Real purusharth is when You (the Self) remain the knower (gnata)
and the seer (drashta) when someone is cutting your hand.
Gnankriya (knowing) and darshankriya (seeing) are the only
activities of the Self. The Soul does not have any other activities.
True purusharth is when the Self remains in the state of the
knower and the seer.
Saint Kabir’s wife was expecting a baby. The mother’s
milk was ready even before the baby was born. The milk began
to flow after the birth of the baby. On seeing this Kabir sang :
‘Destiny (prarabdha) comes first, then forms the body
Kabir, it is a wonder, that the mind does not accept.’

18 Aptavani-1
Non-contradictory Dependence
You cannot just sit around claiming that everything is
destined (prarabdha). If you do, then you become completely
idle. The mind will become restless with such a dependency. If
this dependency on destiny is correct, then you should not have
any worries, but in fact you are a factory of worries. Therefore
even that dependency is lame. It is not real. It is not scientific.
People in India are miserable and suffer because they have
been given the support of such a dependency. That is why their
progress is obstructed. My search, over a million life times, has
brought me to the scientific fact that both destiny and independent
effort are lame supports. The only real support is vyavasthit.
What is vyavasthit? It is that which happens only through
scientific circumstantial evidences. That is called vyavasthit. The
knowledge of vyavasthit renders total satisfaction in every
situation. I will give you a simple example. If this glass in your
hand begins to slip out of your hand and you make every effort
to save it and it still breaks. Who broke the glass? You had no
intention of breaking it; on the contrary you made all efforts to
save it. Then, did the glass wish to break? No, that cannot be
so. No one else was present to break it either, so who broke
it? It was Vyavasthit; vyavasthit works under exact principles of
natural laws. It is not haphazard. If the glass were not to break
according to the principles of vyavasthit, then how would these
glass factories remain in business? Vyavasthit has to look at
your interest and also the interest of the glass factory and the
livelihood of thousands of its workers. Therefore the glass will
break according to this law and no one will be able to prevent
it from breaking. So many foolish people get agitated and restless
when things break. If a servant is serving tea to some guests
and breaks a cup, his master becomes furious from within. All
he can think of is how he will slap the servant a few times as
soon as his guests leave. And some people even do this. But

Aptavani-1 19
if he knows and understands that the servant did not break the
cup and that it was vyavasthit, then would he do anything?
Would he not remain absolutely unaffected? In reality the poor
servant is merely a nimit (instrumental in the process), and yet
these wealthy people assault their servants. You should never
attack a nimit; if you do, you are extremely foolish because you
do great harm to yourself. Instead why not find the root cause
behind it and then you will find your solution.
When I was young, I used to play a lot of pranks on
people. There was a wealthy businessman who used to play
with his puppy in his lap. I used to sneak in from behind and
squeeze the puppy’s tail. The dog could only see his own master
in front of him and so he would bite his owner. The owner
would yell back at the dog. This is what I call attacking the
instrument (nimit).
The Self And The Non-self
Are you convinced that there is a soul in your body?
Questioner : Yes I am.
Dadashri : In what form is this soul? Is it in the form of
a mixture or in the form of a compound?
Questioner : A compound.
Dadashri : If it were in a compound form, it would give
rise to a third substance with completely new properties. Then
the soul and the non-self would lose their innate properties and
neither could be separated and reverted back to their intrinsic
properties. Let me explain this fact to you. The soul and the
non-self are in a mixture form, with each maintaining its own
intrinsic properties and that is why it is possible to separate the
two. If copper, brass and silver were mixed with gold, a scientist
would be able to separate each metal based on its properties.

20 Aptavani-1
He could easily do so. Similarly a Gnani, who has infinite powers
and has thorough knowledge of the properties of the Soul and
the non-self, can analyze and separate the two. I am the greatest
scientist of this world. I analyze every atom of the Soul and
non-self, separate the two, and give you your pure Soul in your
hand, within an hour! The soul referred to in the Gnani’s
enlightened speech is the real Soul. Everywhere else when they
refer to the soul (atma), it is a soul in a mixed-form. It is not
pure. They are merely words.
The religions practiced everywhere are religions of the
non-self; they are not the religion of the pure Soul. How can
you adopt the religion of the Soul, (atmadharma) when you do
not even know of any properties of the Soul? You cannot practice
real religion until a Gnani Purush brings you out of the theory of
relativity and into reality. Our mahatmas (those who have
acquired Self-realization) can see and do darshan of the God
within you because I have given them divine eyes (divyachakshu).
What you currently have is charmachakshu (physical eyes) through
which you can only see the temporary and transient things. The
eternal God can only be seen through divine eyes.
Liberation Through Divine Eyes
During the war of Mahabharat, Lord Krishna blessed
Arjun with divine eyes. This lasted five minutes, so that he could
to get rid of his despondency towards worldly life and his duties.
Lord Krishna then took them back. Whereas I give you the
divine eyes permanently, so that where ever you look, you will
see God. You will see God in me, in him, in the trees around
you and even in the animals. You will see God in every living
thing. After that, can there be any problems?
Three hundred years ago, Anandghanji Maharaj, the
renowned Jain master said that divine eyes are definitely not
available in this era. This is why everyone has stopped making

Aptavani-1 21
any effort, because they feel all doors are closed. This phenomenal
Gnan of Akram Vignan has manifest naturally and that is why
it is easy to acquire the divine eyes within just one hour!
The Lord has said that it is extremely difficult to find the
path of liberation, but if one were to meet a Gnani Purush, then
it becomes even easier than making khichdee (dish made of rice
and lentils).
These words of mine will be accepted by your Soul
because I reside within you, provided you are not inflexible. I
do not see any difference between you and me. People say,
‘have faith, have faith’, but what is one to do when one simply
cannot have any faith? People attend so many lectures on religion
and spiritualism but they never leave with any lasting impression.
The minute they walk out, all is forgotten. Here, with me you
do not have to keep faith. If there is a Soul within you and
provided you are not inflexible, you are bound to attain faith.
This speech is the direct enlightened speech of a Gnani. It cuts
through all your veils of ignorance and reaches your Soul directly
and that is why your Soul has to accept it. You will understand
my words without fail.
There is a difference between talks of faith and talks that
bring understanding. A person would only believe the latter.
Reincarnation
I met a French microbiologist on my way from
Aurangabad. He told me that in his part of the world they do
not believe in reincarnation as Indians do. He asked me to
explain reincarnation. He even told me that he was prepared to
stay in India with me for ten years if he had to. I told him I did
not have that much time, he then suggested staying with me for
six months. I told him I had a lot of work to do and that I really
did not have any time. I am an instrument for the salvation of

22 Aptavani-1
this whole world. However, I told him, that by the time we land
at Santa Cruz Airport in one hour, he would become a believer
of reincarnation. I explained reincarnation to him and he
understood everything. By the time we landed he kept saying
‘Jai Sacchidanand, Jai Sacchidanand’. He even forgot about his
wife. He took some photographs of me and went his way.
Mind, Body and Speech are All Effective
The mind, body and speech are effective. They are effective
at birth. They are even effective in the womb. How are they
effective? If someone were to insult you in the morning, even at
nighttime you will not be able to sleep because of the effect on
you. The effect of speech is obvious. If you were to curse
someone, that person would react immediately. And lastly, this
body too is effective. It feels cold when it gets cold and hot
when it gets hot. It is effective from birth. A new born baby will
cry if it is cold and when you wrap it up in a blanket, it will stop.
If you put something sweet in its mouth, the baby will start
licking its lips and will grimace if you put something bitter in its
mouth. These are all simply effects. Even in the womb the baby
is effective. I have personally witnessed this.
This took place about fifty years ago (in the nineteen
twenties) in my village of Bhadaran. A cow attacked a lady
who was eight-months pregnant, piercing her uterus with its
horn. One of the fingers of the baby came out through the
wound. It became a challenge for even the missionary doctors
and the mother’s condition was getting serious. An eighty-year-
old lady heard about this. She came and asked everyone to
step aside, sit and pray and give her room. She heated a needle
and touched the baby’s finger with it; the baby immediately
pulled in the finger. The baby felt the effect.
If there is an effect, there has to be a cause. And if there
is a cause, there will be an effect. This way the cycle of cause

Aptavani-1 23
and effect, effect and cause continues.
There cannot be an effect without a cause and where
there is an effect there has to be a prior cause. Our present
body is the effect of the causes of our past life. At birth one is
born with both the gross body and the subtle body. But then the
‘effects’ of this body produces new causes through raag
(attachment) and dwesh (abhorrence) and these are the seeds
(of cause) for its next life. Upon death, the Atma (Soul) along
with the causal body (karan sharira) and the subtle body
(sookshama sharira) departs, leaving behind the physical body.
At that same moment the causal body finds another effective
body.
If there were no such thing as rebirth and if God had
created every one, then we would all be of the same mould and
identical. We would not have short and tall, thin and fat, black
and white, rich and poor beings. The differences you see are
results of different effects of the causes from past life. Everyone
has different causes and hence different effects. If there is no
rebirth, then show me even single evidence that proves it. What
do English-speaking people mean when they say lucky and
unlucky? Even the Muslims use words like takdir (good luck)
and tadbir (bad luck). What does it signify? Their language is
complete but their beliefs are not. These words are meaningful
only in regards to rebirth.
As are the causes, so are the effects. Good causes produce
good effects and bad causes produce bad effects. One cannot
be free from these effects until the causes stop. Causes will not
stop as long as long as ‘I am Chandubhai’ is engrained in your
belief and your knowledge. They will only stop when a Gnani
awakens you and makes you realize your true Self. I destroy
your causal body leaving you to take care of ‘Chandulal’s’
effects and while doing this, there will be no attachment or

24 Aptavani-1
abhorrence and therefore no new seeds will be sown. Yes, you
will have to experience the effects. Effects cannot be changed
by anyone. This is scientific. Any of the scientists will have to
accept what I am saying.
This extra ordinary Gnan has manifest in this kaliyug (the
fifth era of the time cycle). I am the Akram Gnani of this strange
era and that is why I have to personally declare and reveal the
value of this precious Gnan.
Sufferings : Mental, Physical And Externally Induced
(Aadhi = mental suffering. Vyadhi = physical suffering.
Upadhi= affliction from external source)
The world is suffering from three afflictions : mental,
physical and externally induced. Examples of physical suffering
are stomachache, eye pain, hunger pangs etc. Examples of mental
suffering are worries, doubts, fear etc. Externally induced affliction
is if someone throws a stone at us, while we are sitting here.
When someone summons us, it is externally induced suffering.
Whether one is a saint, a monk, a king or a beggar, the
whole world suffers from the fire of these three afflictions. Those
who have received Gnan from me will constantly experience
samadhi (one-ness with Pure Self, undisturbed by any non-self
reactions) in every situation, regardless of the type of affliction.
This is because they are simply the knower and seer of these
afflictions.
Let me give you an example. If you enter someone’s
home without his permission, would you not be uneasy and
nervous? You would be. You would be afraid that someone
would get upset with you and throw you out. But if you are in
your own home, would you have any worries or tension? You
would feel very comfortable and at peace in your own home.
Similarly ‘Chandulal’ is not ‘Your’ home. You are the knower

Aptavani-1 25
and seer but instead with your wrong belief of ‘I am Chandulal’,
you have become what you are not. You have become the
owner of something that is not yours and you have been deriving
pleasure and pain from it. That is why you are constantly
experiencing worries, affliction and agitation. You continue to
struggle hopelessly like a fish out of water. The wealthy people
have all the material comforts but have sleepless nights because
of worries.
The World And The Self
Dadashri : Is this world real or is it an illusion?
Questioner : An illusion.
Dadashri : No, it is not so. I will explain what an illusion
is. It is an illusion when you pull your pants up believing you are
standing in water but nothing gets wet. It is an illusion if you
touch what looks like fire but it does not burn you. People say
that the Self (Atma) is real and the world is an illusion. If that
is the case, then put your hand in a fire and find out whether it
is an illusion or not.
One can tell whether it is an illusion or not by looking at
the effects. For example, if you throw a brick on a wall, you will
not see any effect on the brick or the wall if the world were an
illusion. But it is not an illusion because you will see a red mark
on the wall and the brick too will be broken. Another example
is that if someone tells you, ‘You have no sense’ and his or her
statement has no effect on you, then it would prove that the
world is an illusion. But instead what happens is that the effect
of such a statement will be there even when you wake up in the
middle of the night and remember what was said to you. This
proves that the world is not an illusion.
I am saying that the world and the Soul (the Self) are
both true. The world is a relative truth and the Self is the real

26 Aptavani-1
truth. My words are eternal truth. There is no telling when the
relative truth of this world would become untrue. All these
relatives are temporary adjustments and the Self is the real
truth, it is eternal, it is permanent.
Possession by the Mind, Body and Speech
Three things possess every human being : mind, body
and speech and that is why one claims, ‘I am Chandulal, I am
a collector, I am her husband, I am his father.’ If you ask, ‘Are
you going to be a collector forever?’ No, he will reply, ‘I will
retire one day.’ This is another form of possession. If a drunk,
lying in the street claims to be a king, would we not know that
it is the intoxication of the alcohol saying so and not him. Similarly
the intoxication, the possessive influence of the mind, body and
speech makes people say ‘I am Chandubhai, I am a conductor,
I am a father…’
I will tell you a true story. There was a lady by the name
of Kashi who was a gossipmonger. She was gossiping with
some of the women when suddenly she began to shake her
head incessantly and roll her eyes round and round. This scared
all the women. One of the women felt that she was possessed
and asked her husband to fetch an exorcist. When the exorcist
came, he took one look at Kashi and immediately confirmed
that she was indeed possessed. The exorcist started to whip
Kashi and she began to scream. The exorcist asked her who
she was and why she had come. Kashi replied in English, “I am
Chanchal, and this Kashi has seduced my husband with her
looks.” The exorcist knew for a fact that Kashi did not know
even a letter of the English alphabet and upon further investigation
they were able to confirm that Chanchal spoke fluent English.
The exorcist continued with the exorcism and through coaxing
and convincing, managed to release Kashi from being possessed
by Chanchal’s ghost. This is how ghosts are. Chanchal left but

Aptavani-1 27
Kashi remained to suffer the pain of the scars left behind from
the beating.
I am the ‘exorcist’ of the ghosts of the mind, body and
speech that have possessed you. I free you from their possession
and oppression. You will however continue to experience their
effects as long as the ‘scars’ remain but you will be permanently
free from them.
If you simply understand that the mind, body and speech
are like the ghosts that take possession over you, you will have
learnt twenty-five of the forty-five Holy Scriptures.
There is no need for you to renounce your wife, children
and clothes. All you have to do is free yourself from the
possession by these three.
The Gnani Understands Scriptures
Scriptures cannot be read without the guidance of a Gnani
Purush. Only the Gnani can truly understand the scriptures. I
have the understanding of the scriptures. How is one that has
no understanding, understand the scriptures?
Intake And Output
You have to discover your real ‘I’. What do you refer to
every time you say ‘I’? Is it the body? Your body is just a
complex of intake (puran) and output (galan). The worldly life
goes up and down, up and down, that is its nature. People think
of accumulating wealth but that is nothing but intake and output.
Are there not two parts to a bank account : credit and debit?
Why don’t you just keep the part of credit on your account?
You cannot. It is a law that for every input, there is an output.
Eating is input and excretion is output. Drinking is input and
urination is output. Even the coming and going of thoughts is
intake and output.

28 Aptavani-1
The Gnani does not look at anything except the Pure
Soul, enjoyment of fruits of past karma and dissipation of past
karmas having enjoyed its fruits. Input and output and the Pure
Soul - these encompass everything.
Some people eat all the time and then have diarrhea.
What would happen if their intake were not allowed to be
excreted? They would become restless from distended bellies.
People are not aware that the same (principle) applies to wealth.
Show me one person who has not undergone output. The rivers
too have streams that flow into them and away. I have asked
many doctors why nails grow. They gave me all kinds of
explanations such as too much calcium etc. That is not so. It is
actually output of body’s waste. Food that is used by the body
for building bones is intake and output is taking place through
the growth of nails. As a rule what ever is of no use, is discarded.
Similarly there is a continuous inflow-outflow or charging-
discharging of atoms that takes place in this body. The atoms
that were present in the body at age five would no longer be
there at age twenty-five. There is a constant inflow of new
atoms and outflow of the old ones.
People charge demerit (paap) karmas, but when those
karmas come forth to give effect, they will be very sorry; they
will feel like they are on fire. And when they charge merit
karmas (punya), they will realize how sweet the rewards are
when those karmas give their effect. So think very hard and be
judicious before creating any kind of karma and beware of the
kind of effects your actions will render. Be very careful when
you are charging demerit karma, such as when you try to increase
your wealth by cheating others. Bear in mind that the
consequences of your actions are inevitable. Even if you put
your money in the bank, that money too will eventually go.
Whatever demerit karmas you create while trying to be rich, the
adverse negative meditation (raudra dhyan) that occurs in the

Aptavani-1 29
process, will also give its effect, and when it does, what will
become of you? Laxmi (money) is not something that you can
obstruct or prevent from leaving. Laxmi is the Lord’s consort
and you are obstructing and preventing her from leaving! What
becomes of a newly wed bride who is confined to her husband’s
house and prevented from going home to her parents? And yet
that is exactly what people do to Laxmiji! She is now tired of
these people. Whenever I come across Laxmiji at Baroda railway
station, I pay obeisance to her and give her my address in
Mamanipod. I tell her that she is free to come and go as and
when she pleases. She tells me that she is tired of all the wealthy
businessmen and that she will now visit the homes of all the
mahatmas (all Self-realized beings), because they garland her
whenever she goes to their homes and also garland her, even
when she leaves. She says that she will no longer go to the
homes that prevent her from leaving. She will not visit the homes
for lifetimes to come of those who have contempt towards
money. Money comes and goes. Money that is present today
will not be there in ten years time; it is constantly circulating.
Everyone in this entire world is caught up in turmoil.
Whether a person is an ascetic or married, no living being has
inner peace. Inner peace only comes when a person acquires
the knowledge of the Self. In the traditional kramic path, inner
peace is only acquired once the aspirant crosses the entire
ocean of the worldly life over to the other side. What an arduous
task! But in this Akram path, once I place my hand over your
head, eternal peace occurs spontaneously.
Trimantra Removes Obstacles In life
What is the true meaning of a mantra? Mantra means that
which stills the mind. The Lord gave us the Trimantra to help us
overcome obstacles in our devotional practices. The Trimantras
are :

30 Aptavani-1
1. The Navkar Mantra
2. Aum Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya
3. Aum Namah Shivaya
But the egotistical people, who have created new cults
and groups, have divided even this mantra. The Lord had
conceded that people could build separate temples and place of
worship for convenience but the three mantras should not be
separated. Nevertheless, people divided the Mantra. As if that
is not enough, they have even divided the ‘agiyaras’ (Observance
of the eleventh day of the moon cycle for fasting); the Shaivites
have their own and the Vaishnavas have their own. How can the
Lord be pleased with this? God will not be found wherever
there is any quarrel or differences of opinion. The Trimantra that
I am giving you is very powerful indeed! It will bestow upon
you whatever you desire. It will remove your worldly obstacles
and will significantly lessen any major difficulties you have to
face. This mantra pleases all the gods; it is a completely impartial
mantra.
Every morning if you recall my face and recite the Trimantra
five times, you will never fall spiritually and will gradually acquire
liberation. I am taking full responsibility for this.
I say that let all the misery of the world come to me. If
you are strong enough to surrender all your miseries at my feet
without any reservation, then do so. Thereafter, if you experience
any misery, come tell me. But alas in the current time cycle I
have even encountered people who claim that if they were to
surrender all their miseries to me, what would they be left with?
These poor unfortunate people do not understand that they
have within them an ocean of infinite bliss and by surrendering
their miseries, they would be left with nothing but bliss. But no
one knows how to surrender even his or her suffering.

Aptavani-1 31
The expression ‘deers in the human form’ is written
somewhere in the scriptures. The word ‘deer’ used here is a
euphemism. The one who merits a rank of thirty-two points is
born as a donkey, but just one additional point will merit him a
human body but his intrinsic tendencies and traits are still that
of a donkey. He may be a human being but his internal qualities
are animal-like and therefore he is an animal. I say it like it is
because I covet nothing and have no expectations. Your welfare
is my only concern. I speak the naked truth out of infinite
compassion for you. I am the only one in this world who speaks
the blatant truth.
Worry and Ego
Lord Krishna says :
“Oh mortal one, why do you worry ?
Krishna will do what needs to be done”.
In response to this do you know what some unfortunate
people say? They say that Lord Krishna can say whatever he
wants, but we are the ones who have to manage this worldly
life so how can we do so without worrying? People have created
factories of worries and yet they can’t sell their goods. How
can they? Wherever they go to sell their goods, they come
across factories that produce the same goods! Find me just one
man in this world who has no worries.
On the one hand they say ‘I take refuge at the lotus feet
of Shri Krishna’ and on the other they say ‘Krishna surrender
to me’ (do what I ask). If you take refuge at the feet of lord
Krishna, why should you have any worries? Lord Mahavir also
said that one should not worry. A single worry will result in a
life in the animal kingdom. Worrying is the greatest ego. ‘I am
running all this’; when you believe that you are the one running
everything, then naturally worries will be your reward.

32 Aptavani-1
A true devotee will even reprimand the Lord if he has any
worries, he would question the Lord why he has worries when
the Lord says that he should not. He who does not reprimand
the Lord is not a true devotee. Scold or reprimand the God
within you if you have worries. True love is when you reprimand
even God. One cannot find a true devotee these days. Everyone
is caught up in his or her own worldly needs and selfish plans.
When you go around believing, ‘I am the doer…I am the
doer’, worries will occur. Narsinh Mehta (a renowned spiritual
poet) says :
‘I am the doer, I am the doer, itself is ignorance
Like the dog, walking under a (ox-drawn) cart believes
‘I am pulling the oxcart’
The world runs automatically,
Rare is the One (yogi-yogeswar) who knows this.’
When all the yogis (worldly saints) read this, they were
flattered. These lines refer to atmayogi and atmayogeshwars
(those who have known the Soul). An atma yogeshwar is a rare
phenomenon, which comes about once in a million years. He
alone is the one who has traversed through every atom of the
entire universe. He lives within and outside the universe and
speaks from experience. He alone knows who created the world,
how it was created and how it functions. I am the atma
yogeshwar of this age. Make the most of this opportunity that
presents to you. I will take away all your worries in just one
hour and what is more, I give you my guarantee that should you
experience any worries, you can file a lawsuit against me. I have
granted this worry-free state to some fourteen hundred
mahatmas. Ask me for anything. Whatever you ask, I will grant
you, but ask for something worthwhile. Ask for something that
will remain with you forever. Do not ask for any temporary
things. Ask for eternal bliss.

Aptavani-1 33
Use of the authority of the non-self leads to worries.
What has been acquired in the foreign department (non-self)
will remain in the foreign realm. You have acquired a wealth of
cars, bungalow, factories, wife and children, which will have to
be left behind when you leave. At the final station no power can
save you. You will be allowed to carry forward only your merit
and de-merit karma. In other words whatever wrong you do
here will carry forward with you. The wealth you acquire through
your wrong doings will be left behind but your liability for those
actions will be carried forward. You will acquire a new body
based on your actions and you will have to start all over again
to repay your past life’s debts. So you unfortunate souls! Better
shape up from the start. There is so much bliss in your own
homeland but you haven’t seen it!
When, even the hair on your head does not remain loyal
to you, what else will? People keep grooming their hair with
their hands all day long. But would they still like to run their
fingers through the hair when it is cut off?
Worrying is an ego. Why does this child not have any
worries? It is because he knows that he does not run everything
and neither is he bothered about who does. People worry by
merely comparing themselves with their neighbors. The neighbors
have a car and we do not. The foolish man! How much does
he need for his livelihood? Decide just once what your
requirements are. For example, you need adequate food and
water, a house to live in and enough money to run that household.
This much you are bound to get. But you become jealous and
disturbed if you come to know that your neighbor has a bank
balance of ten thousand. This is how suffering starts. Foolish
people, they invite their miseries themselves.
A landlord came to me and asked me how much a person
needs to live life. He told me that he had a thousand acres of

34 Aptavani-1
land, a bungalow, two cars and a significant bank balance. He
asked me how much he should keep. I told him that everyone
should assess his or her needs based on what the circumstances
were when he or she was born. They can come to a decision
about how much they need for the rest of their life based on
whatever luxury they had at the time they were born. That is the
standard guideline. Everything that you have in excess is poison
and it will kill you.
Enjoy What You Have
Lord Krishna has said :
“Enjoy what you have,
do not worry about what you do not”.
One day I was visiting a wealthy businessman in
Ahmedabad. His wife had prepared a delicious meal. As the
man and I sat down to eat, his wife said to him ‘At least eat
well today’. I asked her why she made such a comment and
she replied that whenever her husband sat down to eat, it was
just his physical body sitting at the table but his mind was
always at his factory. He never enjoys his meals. Goodness you
foolish man! At the present moment you have a meal in front of
you, not your factory, why not enjoy your meal in peace? People
have become so foolish they worry about their daughter’s
marriage even when the daughter is only four. Some wretched
soul will be on his deathbed, gasping his last breath and all his
relatives would have lit the lamps for the final farewell and yet
he sobs worrying about his young daughter. His daughter tries
to console him and tells him to be at peace and not worry about
her anymore. He tells her that she would not understand such
matters and in his mind he believes that she is only saying things
to console him because she is not as clever as he. The foolish
man – his intellect is such that no one would pay even a nickel
for it!

Aptavani-1 35
One of the properties of the Soul is that whatever a
person contemplates, he will become that. A person can create
bondage of a new lifetime for each situation – this is how
everything is.
Meditation And Adverse Meditation
God has said that every human being is engaged in one
of the four types of meditative states : Artadhyan, raudradhyan,
dharmadhyan and shukladhyan
Arta-dhyana–internalized repressive or self-tormenting
contemplation or suffering. Raudra-dhhyana – evil contemplation
of perverse pleasure in causing injury to others; wrathful
meditation. Dharma-dhyana – Virtuous contemplation and
Shukla-dhyana – pure contemplation of the Self.
Dhyan-apdhyan is meditation that cannot be included in
the above four. In the past some people used to have apdhyana,
but nowadays even a peon has it. These people will tremble at
my words, if not today then after I leave. Apdhyan is even
worse than durdhyana (evil meditation). It exists only in this time
cycle and is not included in raudra, arta or dharma. And the
scriptures say that shukla-dhyana is nowhere to be found in this
day and age.
Apdhyana is the meditation that you failed to do
methodically in all activities related to your liberation. When a
person is doing samayik (introspective meditation), rather than
focusing on the meditation itself, he is preoccupied with how
much time he has left to complete his samayik. When a person
does samayik, his attention is on his doership, he even claims
that he did the samayik, but at the same time he is looking at
the hourglass. How can you call it meditation when his focus is
on the hourglass?
Raudra dhyan : What is raudra-dhyan? Say you are in

36 Aptavani-1
a fabric store, you inquire about a certain fabric and the cloth
merchant tells you it is terelene and that it is twenty rupees per
meter. You decide to buy it. But what do the cloth sellers do
when they measure the material? Have you seen them stretch it
this way and that way? Do you think they are exercising their
arms? That is raudra-dhyan. Raudra-dhyan is to sell the customer
short and cheat them out of their fair share. Here the merchant’s
intent is to hyper stretch the material while measuring it so that
he will end up giving you less than the amount you pay for.
Raudra-dhyan is to take more than needed. It is to cheat
customers when measuring or weighing their goods and selling
them short. Adulteration of food and other goods is also raudra-
dhyan. To covet other people’s belongings or to even think
about seizing other people’s happiness is raudra-dhyana. Decide
in advance what your profit margin needs to be. It is acceptable
for you to make fifteen to twenty percent profit in your business.
If in addition to this, you sell your customers short by stretching
the material when you measure, that is an offence. It is a serious
and grave offence. A true Jain will not have raudra-dhyana, and
should it occur, it would occur only once in a while, just like
accidents. Getting angry, cursing someone and quarrelling is
also raudra-dhyan. The fully enlightened Lords have said that a
Jain should utilize raudra-dhyan very sparingly and yet today it
is used the most. The spiritual leaders are committing raudra-
dhyan when they get angry with their less intelligent disciples.
Even internal annoyance is considered raudra-dhyan. These days
what can be said about people who use foul language directly
and frequently?
A life in hell is the consequence of raudra-dhyana.
Aarta-dhyan : Aarta-dhyan is meditation that causes
suffering to the soul (the person himself). A person who does
not hurt any living being but worries about his future is aarta-
dhyan. It is however, better than raudra-dhyan because he is

Aptavani-1 37
not hurting anyone. Aarta-dhyan does not hurt others. Anger,
pride, attachment or greed does not occur in aarta-dhyan. Aarta-
dhyan is not to be found in this day and age. Raudra-dhyan is by
far the most predominant meditation in this day and age whereas
there was very little of it in the satyug. It is aarta-dhyan when
parents worry about the marriage of their ten-year-old daughter.
It is aarta-dhyan when you are anxious for your unwanted guest
to leave. It is also aarta-dhyan to keep wishing that your guests
would not leave because you like them or you are attracted to
them. A guru, who is internally agitated with his disciple because
he does not serve him well, is also in aarta-dhyan.
What are the consequences of aarta-dhyan? It is a life in
the animal kingdom.
Dharma-dhyan is absence of worries and all internal
conflicts. Dharma-dhyan is the absence of any aarta-dhyan and
raudra-dhyan; it is to remain in that which is good for all. Such
a person is fearless, has patience, is worry-free and remains
steadfast in his opinion. God does not have any objection to
one being ignorant about one’s real Self, but one must always
remain free from both internal and external conflicts.
In the current time cycle of kaliyug, only a few people
have dharma-dhyaan. Only about two to five percent have
dharma-dhyan. In this kaliyug, it is not just the ordinary family
man who has to endure worries and externally induced miseries
but also the sadhu (male ascetics), sadhvis (female ascetics),
acharyas (spiritual preceptors) and mendicants. When there is
nothing to worry about, one will be annoyed with his disciples.
What are the consequences of dharma-dhyan? If there is
only dharma-dhyaan, then one will be born as a celestial being
(devgati), but if there is dharma-dhyaan along with any aarta-
dhyan, then one will be born as a human.
Shukla-dhyan : There are four stages of shukla-dhyan :

38 Aptavani-1
In the first stage, there is not a clear but a vague and indistinct
experience of the Soul. In the second stage there is a constant,
clear and distinct experience of the Soul. My state is the second
stage of shukla-dhyaan. The fully enlightened beings are in the
third stage of shukla-dhyaan. And the fourth stage is the final
liberation.
The clear and distinct experience of the Soul takes place
when one comes to know the Supreme Lord completely, but
does not have complete knowledge of all that is to be known.
And absolute and complete knowledge (Keval Gnan) is where
all and everything knowable is known.
An analogy of first stage with lack of clarity of the Self
is when you can sense the presence of ice in a dark room. Even
though you cannot see it, you can feel the coolness of the air
that flows over the ice throughout the room. And the direct
experience, the second stage of shukla-dhyan of the Soul, is the
experience of actually touching the ice itself.
I have not kept much difference between you, Kevli
Bhagwan (fully enlightened One) and myself. The current time
cycle has obstructed absolute knowledge for me; I am stuck at
three hundred and fifty-six degrees, short of four degrees required
to achieve Keval Gnan. But upon you I bestow Absolute
Knowledge.
What is the consequence of shukla-dhyan? Liberation.
I am considered a meddlesome vitarag (one without any
attachment); I am not a complete vitarag. I am absolutely
detached in all aspects except one : I meddle by telling people.
‘Come, I will grant you liberation’. I meddle all I can in order
to bestow liberation onto others.
Transmigration According To Meditation and Intention
What does the Lord say? The Lord says that he does not

Aptavani-1 39
look at your actions. Your actions are a result of your past life’s
karma. But what is noted is your dhyan and what it is engaged
in while you are doing a samayik or pratikraman (ritual of asking
for forgiveness). One may be doing samayik but his dhyan is on
the hourglass or he keeps getting irritated with his disciples and
then he claims that he did samayik.
An acharya maharaj was sitting before Lord Mahavir in
samayik. The acharya was given spiritual knowledge (Gnan) but
he did not have the knowledge of vyavasthit. Another enlightened
being asked the Lord about the acharya’s future life.
The Lord replied, “At this moment he would go to a
celestial life form.”
A little later someone again asked the Lord about the
acharyas’ future life and the Lord replied, “He is destined for
a life in hell.” Fifteen minutes later someone else asked the Lord
the same question and the Lord replied that the acharya would
attain liberation.
‘Lord how can this be when the acharya is so deep in
meditation?’ they asked the Lord and the Lord said, ‘you cannot
see what I can see and what you see, I regard irrelevant. Although
the acharya is seated in mediation, only I can see where his
dhyan is. At first his dhyan was such that it would have taken
him towards a celestial life. Later his dhyan became diverted
and it would have taken him to hell. Eventually his dhyan turned
positive and was worthy of acquiring liberation for him. It is
dhyan that determines the consequences for the next life. It is
the pudgal (the physical body – a complex of intake and output)
that creates images but if you identify yourself with those images
and become one with them by feeling, ‘this is happening to me’,
then you are endorsing them. If on the other hand, you remain
detached and do not become one with them and simply remain
the observer of them, then you are free from the consequences.

40 Aptavani-1
When a cloth merchant cheats his clients by stretching the
material as he measures it with the dhyan of, ‘how proficient I am
in my business, I am earning a lot of money’, he does not realize
that he is really binding karma for a life in hell. This is raudra-
dhyan. Another merchant cheats his customers in the same way
but while doing so, his dhyan is, ‘this is a wrongful act on my part.
A disciple of Lord Mahavir would never do such a thing’; if such
repentance exists in his dhyan, he will be born in the animal
kingdom. The actions of both the merchants are the same but the
difference in their dhyan binds different life form.
No one in the era of this time cycle has the knowledge
of the Self. If people at least understood dharma (relative worldly
religions), then dharma-dhyan would be possible or they would
be able to practice it. The religions of today are not based on
their original foundation and that is why people do not have
dharma-dhyan. They only have aarta-dhyan and raudra-dhyan.
People will praise a person who makes a donation of fifty
thousand rupees. The donor while making the donation feels
that had the mayor not coerced him into making the donation,
he would never have done so. Those who give against their will
are in raudra-dhyan and will therefore bind a life in hell. While
the person who has no money feels that he would make a big
donation if he had the money, binds for a higher life form without
even giving a dime. The other person, who donated fifty thousand
rupees, binds a life in hell.
Acceptable Use Of Intellect
People, who use their intellect to trick and deceive others
in order to make money, create grave liability for themselves.
Every such use of intellect, every trick is severe raudra-dhyan.
To use your higher intellect to take advantage of another with
lesser intellect is a trick.
Intellect binds one to the worldly life and will never allow

Aptavani-1 41
one to achieve liberation. Lord Krishna too has referred to
intellect as ‘vyabhicharani’ (licentious or seductive). The intellect
drowns one in the worldly life; it will never let a person come
out of it. It is totally detrimental to the self with reference to
liberation. As the intellect increases, so does one’s internal
suffering. Why does a twenty-year-old sibling have greater
sorrow than his two-year-old upon the death of their mother?
It is because the twenty-year old has more intellect.
The Lord has said that one does not need to use intellect
at all in the worldly life, but if there is a need to do so, then He
has set a limit. Just use enough intellect to free yourself from a
precarious situation and to ensure that you do not find yourself
in the same situation again. But these foolish people have started
to use their intellect to make money through devious means.
Not only that but people have learned to swindle others by
tricking them. A trick means to deceive the other person without
him knowing that he has been deceived. That is grave raudra-
dhyan and for that not even the seventh hell (the worst of the
seven stratum of hell) will accommodate them.
Universally Acceptable Speech
What is the definition of ‘syaadvaad’? Syaadvaad is to not
hurt anyone’s feelings or to say that their viewpoint is wrong. You
may find it wrong but it is the other person’s viewpoint. The one
who is syaadvaad will accept every viewpoint because he is
sitting in the center. I am syaadvaad. I am sitting in the center.
The Lord has said to do samayik, pratikraman (apology)
and pratyakhyan (inner resolve never to repeat the error), which
are the activities for the attainment of the Soul. These activities
are to be performed properly and in accordance with his
instructions.
From the perspective of only absolute knowledge,

42 Aptavani-1
everyone is innocent - no one is at fault; their circumstances are
adverse. I speak frankly and sometimes sternly; I do so purely
out of compassion, in order to rid people of their disease.
The Gnani And The Nature Of Dharma
Many people claim their daily life interactions (vyavahaar)
is their dharma (religion). But you cannot say that until you are
Self-realized (nischay dharma). How can you say that your
worldly life is your religion if you do not have the knowledge of
your (real) Self? The Gnani uses his infinite powers to create a
line of demarcation between the real (the Self) and the relative
(non-self), and after that it will always keep them separate.
Then they are eternally separate. Thereafter, your worldly
interactions become your relative religion and the activity of the
Self is your real religion. It is only then that you understand the
difference between the two. The Gnani will separate the territory
of the Real from the relative and you will inherently come to
understand what belongs to your real Self and what belongs to
your relative self. How can anyone claim vyavahaar dharma
(the worldly life) until he acquires nischay dharma (the real)?
Until then it is regarded as laukik dharma (worldly or relative
religion).
Worldly religion means religion believed by the worldly
people. Worldly religions teach people to get rid of bad habits
and develop good ones. They teach you to do merit karma and
avoid demerit karma. Such religions teach people not to steal
or lie and to conduct themselves in a way that will bring them
happiness and peace. According to the world, real religion is
doing good deeds, but I call that relative religion. With such
religions you are bound for a birth in one of following four life
forms : celestial, human, animal or hell.
Relative religion is to move from bad towards the good.
Real religion is to move from good to the absolutely pure. If you

Aptavani-1 43
want liberation you will have to embrace the real religion. In real
religion you become free from the good and the bad, the pleasant
and the unpleasant, the right and the wrong. The religion of the
Self is the only true religion. It is a non-worldly religion. All
other religions that focus on the physical body and its actions
are relative religions; they are the religions of the non-self, they
are worldly religions. There are no boundaries or sects in real
religion, no flags to fly, no conflicts of opinions, nothing to
renounce or accumulate. In the real religion there is no partiality
towards anything; liberation is never attainable through partiality.
People want liberation and yet they engage in conflicts
and difference of opinions, and take sides. By claiming you are
right, you automatically say that the other person is wrong. You
will never achieve liberation by saying anyone is wrong. You will
only attain the abode of the supreme Self, which is void of any
partiality, when you get rid of your differences of opinions,
discord, and sectarianism and come to the center. By taking
sides you strengthen the foundation of partiality and in doing so
you bind yourself to infinite worldly lives. Look here! Do you
want liberation or do you want to remain in sects? How many
factions and warring camps have been created from just one
religion? There is no liberation wherever there is any kashaya
(anger, pride, attachment and greed), and there is no kashaya
in religion. People resort to kashaya to strengthen their sects
and have reduced religion to a racecourse. They compete for
disciples. A man renounces his wife and children but takes on
disciples in their place. Then he spends the entire day in discord
and restlessness with his disciples. How can you call that a path
to liberation?
A Vitarag would never speak the harsh words that I do
but what can I do? In order to rid these people of their disease,
the speech that flows through this medium is full of compassion
and absolute detachment. People are not at fault; they too desire

44 Aptavani-1
liberation but because they lack understanding, they do
everything wrong. This era of the current time cycle is extremely
strange and everyone is caught up in its storm.
I have infinite compassion. In my eyes, everyone is innocent
because I do not see any faults in anyone. I have made my
vision flawless and see the entire world as being flawless.).
Flawless Vision
Aspiritual master was sitting in Lord Mahavir’s assembly
with other aspirants. He was overcome with a vain delusion that
he had a great deal of knowledge. He then asked Lord Mahavir
how much difference there was between the Lord and himself.
He also asked the Lord how many more lives he had to go
before liberation. He was under the impression that he would
attain liberation within three births. The Lord who is absolutely
detached understood the master’s inner state. The Lord’s reply
was that his question was a good one but since five other
beings’ merit karma had also come into fruition, they too should
be called forth. The Lord called for the mayor of the town, a
chaste woman, a prostitute, a pickpocket and a donkey who
happened to be standing close by. The Lord then went on to
tell the master that there was no difference between him the
Lord himself, the master, the mayor, the chaste woman, the
prostitute, the pickpocket and the donkey. ‘What are you saying
Lord? Is there no difference between you and us? There is so
much visible difference!’ exclaimed the master. The Lord
explained that the difference was in his perception. The Lord
went on to say, ‘Three lifetimes ago, I met a Gnani who
bestowed upon me a flawless vision, a vision that did not see
faults in anyone. I used that very vision for the two subsequent
lives and in this life I am flawless and have a complete flawless
vision. Having acquired such a perfect vision, in this lifetime, I
see everyone as completely flawless. With this vision, I am

Aptavani-1 45
telling you that there is no difference between you, all these
others and myself. The master still insisted that he could see a
lot of difference and that he could not understand and accept
how the Lord could consider a master, a mayor, a chaste woman,
a prostitute, a pickpocket and a donkey and Himself as equal.
The Lord went on ‘Look revered master! The inner content
(the Soul) within you, the mayor, the chaste woman, the
prostitute, the pickpocket, the donkey and me is the same. The
only difference is that in me the Self is fully manifest and in you,
it is veiled. I can see in my absolute knowledge that from all of
you, the donkey has the least number of lives left before liberation.
Because dear master, the mental load that you carry from having
studied voluminous scriptures will take many lifetimes to unload
whereas the donkey will meet a Gnani in his next life and be
liberated!’
Intoxicated Ego And Liberation
Mental burden is really intoxication of ego. The lesser the
intoxication, the sooner liberation will come.
Those who have intoxicated ego will never attain liberation.
The attitude and feeling of ‘I know something’ is heavy
intoxication; it is present even in sleep. Only those who do not
have such intoxication attain liberation. Do people read scriptures
and assimilate them for the purpose of acquiring liberation or is
it to increase their wandering for lifetimes to come, by increasing
their intoxication? Intoxication of a drunkard is easily removed
by splashing water over him but the intoxication one has of
having read the scriptures and ‘I know something’, can never
be destroyed.
Possesed By The Mind, Speech and Body
A person keeps looking in the mirror when he has a tiny
pimple on his face because he believes that he is indeed

46 Aptavani-1
‘Chandulal’. He has an ingrained belief that he is also the body
and that is why the poor fellow keeps gawking in the mirror.
But this body does not belong to you; it has taken possession
over you. It is really an unnecessary baggage that has latched
on to you. If a boy is loafing around with a girl, his father will
ask him. ‘How come you found this baggage?’ The son will
retort ‘what do you mean by baggage? She is not a baggage?
What do you know about such matters?’ It is only after some
time when his girlfriend quarrels with him and jilts him for another
boy that he will realize what his father meant by baggage. In the
same way this body has latched on to you. Once you know that
You are not the body, it’s possession and attachment over you
will be broken. Such baggage can never be without betrayal.
What kind of entrapment does this mind, speech and body have
over us and what do we mean by entrapment? It means that
you cannot free yourself from it, even when you want to.
Entrapment is the same thing as a baggage. A person will look
for a way out when he realizes that he is trapped by such a
baggage, but what if he happens to love it? Then it will cling to
him even more and trap him even deeper. Such entrapments are
based on attachment and abhorrence (raag-dwesh). I free you
from your attachment and abhorrence and then this entrapment
(of the body) will gradually disappear. Do you think you need
to get rid of this baggage by hitting it or punishing it? No, you
have to get rid of it through vitaragata (non-attachment) and
ahimsa (non-violence). Your mind, speech and body are an
entrapment. If you become the knower and observer of this
baggage, it will loosen its grip and fall away on its own.
Aspire For Only Liberation
Insist only on liberation. In all other circumstances and
situations maintain complacency. Nothing is poisonous, only your
insistence is poison. I am stating this very candidly : Any path
that requires you to make any effort is a worldly path and will

Aptavani-1 47
not liberate you. Have desire for liberation only. If you were to
desire liberation just once, then even after a hundred thousand
lifetimes, you would encounter a Gnani and you would achieve
liberation. Liberation means to be completely free, freedom from
all worldly miseries. Efforts are needed for the daily mundane
life but not for attaining liberation, because liberation is the very
nature of the Self. Water by nature is cool and one has to make
an effort to heat it but is any effort required to cool it? No, no
effort is required, it will cool on it’s own because that is its
nature. But how can you understand this? In reality you are free
but dense illusion and ignorance prevent you from knowing this.
This illusion can never be destroyed until you meet a Gnani
Purush. The Gnani Purush will destroy this illusion for you, so
look for a Gnani Purush. Look for a living Gnani Purush.
Look for the One who is liberated. Look for the One
who has crossed the ocean of life and has the power to help
countless others do the same. Find such a person and follow
him fearlessly. Only I am such a liberated one in this present
era. I am the astounding incarnation of Knowledge. I can bestow
liberation in just one hour. You do not have to do anything nor
do you have to give anything in return. I have no need or desire
for anything. God only manifests in those who become absolutely
desire-less. You will come across many ascetics who have no
desire for wealth, you may come across some that have no
sensual desires, but they will all have desire for respect, fame
or disciples. There will always be some deep-rooted desire of
one kind or another within them. Where there is absolute
desirelessness, only there will the Supreme Lord manifest. I
have no desire for wealth, sensual pleasures, disciples, fame or
anything thing else. There is nothing that I want. But if you want
anything from me, come to me and take it. However ask wisely
so that you never have to ask again.
All worldly happiness is a by-product and to realize the

48 Aptavani-1
Self is the main production. People have abandoned the
factory of main production and instead have started factories
of by-production, so when will they ever realize the Self?
The entire world wanders around in ignorance as a result of
not knowing the path to liberation and as a consequence,
they get lost wherever they go. If you want liberation,
ultimately you will have to go to the Gnani. Even when you
want to go to the Dadar Railway Station, you have to ask
someone who knows the way there. But this path to liberation
is narrow, complicated and like a labyrinth. If you attempt it
on your own, you are bound to get lost so look for a Gnani
and follow his footsteps exactly. I am the giver of liberation.
I am licensed to give liberation and can take you all the way.
I am an incarnation of Akram Gnan. I can bestow upon you
the status of Godhood within just one hour. You should be
completely ready for it.
When you come to me for liberation, come with only
these two requirements : First : the belief of ‘I do not know
anything’ and second, ‘utter humility’. The belief of ‘I know
something’isinfactintoxication.Realknowledgeisenlightenment.
It is a ‘light’ and where there is light, one does not stumble.
How can you say that you know when you keep stumbling
every step of the way? Have any of your worries gone away?
If you had real knowledge, you would not have any worries.
How can I fill your pot when your pot is half filled with your
belief of ‘I know something’? But if your pot were empty, then
I would fill it up with nectar. Then you can go wherever you
want, live your worldly life, get your children married but make
sure that you abide by my Agnas (Dadashri’s five precepts all
Self-Realized beings should observe).
This talk is unprecedented, never before has anyone read
or heard it. I am not a doer in all this. I am merely an instrument
for the salvation of the world.

Aptavani-1 49
The World Is Without Any Substance
This world is empty, without any substance. I am saying
this as I see it in my knowledge. If you think that this world has
any substance or any worth, then you are mistaken.
There was an ayurvedic doctor who prescribed a very
good medicine to his patient and instructed him not to eat any
chilies because his disease was a result of eating an excessive
amount of chilies. The doctor worked very hard to get his
patient the best of medicine and treatment. For several months
he tried various medicines and yet he could not see any progress
in his patient. One day the doctor decided to pay his patient a
visit at his home. On entering the house he saw the patient
having his dinner and on his plate were two large green chilies.
Upon seeing the chilies on the patient’s plate, the doctor was
overcome with such a rage that he suffered a heart attack and
died instantly. Now whom can you blame here? The poor unlucky
fellow! The patient may drink poison but why did he drink it
too? Everything is so empty and without any substance in this
world, you cannot afford to get stuck anywhere otherwise you
will be trapped. Here the patient was the one eating the chilies
but instead it was the doctor who was overcome with tension
and ruptured an artery. It is nothing but poison of knowledge.
If a person sees nasal mucous fall in his tea, he will not drink
it but if he had no knowledge of it, he would drink the tea with
pleasure. Ignorance is bliss. You only feel that something is
wrong if you come to know about it; you get scared when you
learn the truth but up until then, you have no fear of it. This is
the very meaning of hollow and empty.
A man used to visit me frequently. He had a daughter. I
had explained to him from the very beginning that the current
time of kaliyug has a negative influence even on the most well
meaning people. I cautioned him about such an influence on his

50 Aptavani-1
daughter. He understood what I meant and later when his
daughter eloped, he remembered me and came to me. He told
me that I was right and that had I not said anything to him, he
would have committed suicide. This is how the world is. It is
empty and without substance. You will have to accept whatever
happens. Is anything worth sacrificing your life for? Besides if
you do, people will call you foolish. People keep their reputation
intact by hiding everything and then claim to be noble and
honorable.
A Gnani Purush is very wise. He acts before the damage
is done. He cuts out the rot before it sets in. Do you think it is
easy to see this world as empty, shallow and superficial?
What does a shepherd do? He gathers his sheep and
lamb with his calls of ‘tihi, tihi’ and rounds them up in a fenced
compound so they cannot escape. The sheep think that he is
protecting them form the tigers and the shepherd even tells them
so. But little do they know that he is exploiting them by milking
them everyday, shearing off their wool which protects them
from the cold and eventually serve them as a meal to his guests!
This is called superficial and empty.
Non-Dependency Of Humans
All human beings of this time cycle are considered as
having no dependency or protection. The animals are regarded
as having dependency but the humans have no one to depend
on. Even if you find a person on whom you can depend, he
himself has no one to depend on, so how can he help you? Let
me explain to you what I mean by non-dependency :
A wealthy man, a priest and his dog set out on a journey.
They come across a dense forest and in the forest they meet
four robbers carrying guns and daggers. What effect does this
event have on each of them? The wealthy man has fear of what

Aptavani-1 51
will become of him if they take away his bundle of ten thousand
rupees. He also has fear of what will happen to him if they kill
him. The priest feels that he does not really have anything worth
losing except his drinking pot but he is worried about who will
take care of him if the robbers break his leg and if he becomes
lame for life. The dog on the other hand will bark at the robbers
and if one of them were to hit him, he will whine a few times
and then with wide eyes watch his master being beaten. The
dog does not worry about what is to become of him because
he has dependency and the other two unfortunate ones do not
have any dependency. What does the Lord say? As long as you
have not done the darshan of the enlightened One, you are non-
dependent. And darshan of an enlightened One will make you
dependent. The enlightened One becomes the one you can
depend on.
Once you are blessed with the realization of the Self from
a Gnani, you will never have to worry about what will become
of you under any external or internal circumstances.
The one who surrenders to me will have shelter and
protection after countless lifetimes of having no one to depend
on.
The one who has the Gnani as his shelter will never have
to worry about what is to become of him, regardless of the kind
of situations he may encounter, because my presence along with
my Gnan will prevail and give him protection in all situations.
Natural Order And The Worldly Sciences
Today, there is an excess of worldly science in the foreign
countries, it has become ‘above normal’; It needs to regain
normality. People will only find happiness if this happens. 97°
Fahrenheit is below normal fever and 99° Fahrenheit is above
normal fever. 98° is the normality. America and other countries

52 Aptavani-1
are trapped in the fever of ‘above normal’ (everything being in
excess) and India is trapped in below normal fever. In the
foreign countries, the discoveries they are making are above
normal and yet they cannot find what they are looking for. What
does this indicate? It shows that they are lost. Their technology
has become so advanced that they can pin point the location of
a car in trouble. You foolish men! Why don’t you look for
something that will be useful to the body? Men have to shave
everyday, look for something that stops the hair on their face
from growing altogether. The body has needs and those needs
have to be fulfilled. But what happens when there is an
overabundance of anything? What would happen if it rains non-
stop? It will create destruction everywhere. Destruction is
inevitable with an overabundance of anything. People complain
even when there is an increase in heat. I had a friend who kept
saying ‘its very hot today, its very hot today’. So I asked him
how much heat would he allow if he were in charge of regulating
the temperature. He said he would put out just the same amount
of heat. I asked him why then was he complaining. This is
nature and nature fulfills everyone’s needs whenever it arises.
But these foolish people create hindrances by cursing nature. A
well-dressed man will curse nature if it rains on his well-ironed
clothes. Many wish that it would not rain on their daughter’s
wedding day but the farmers anxiously wait for the rain. When
such contradictions arise, they obstruct nature. This cosmos
functions according to the adjustment between different phases
of your feelings and nature. So do not disturb the working of
nature. You will encounter everything naturally and spontaneously.
Do people ever worry about whether the sun is going to rise
tomorrow? And what would happen if they started to worry
about it? There is no end to interference. So do not interfere
with nature.
These scientists have become so advanced in their

discoveries that they have reached above normal proportion. A
time will come when people will say they do not want any
scientists. These are all preparations for a revolutionary change,
a transformation.
Whenever anything occurs in excess, it leads to its
exhaustion. You feel tired if you have to sit or sleep for too long.
Happiness and misery is relative. If a wealthy man is walking in
the heat, he will seek relief from even the sparse shade of a
thorny tree. But if you tell him to sit under the same tree for four
hours, he will not because he will tire from sitting too long.
A seven and a half feet tall person will be considered
very tall in India, and if Indians were to go to a country where
people are generally seven feet tall, they would be considered
short. Everything is relative in this way. A person appears tall
or short in comparison to another.
If a fifty-five year old person is still in school, people will
ask him when he will marry if he keeps going to school. That
is above normal and it is below normal for a child of two to be
married.
Material Development And Spiritual Development
Foreign countries look upon India as an under-developed
country. I say that they are the ones who are under-developed.
They are fully developed in material things but spiritually they
are under developed. India is materially under developed but
spiritually it is fully developed. I can transform even a pickpocket
of India into god in one hour. But elsewhere where the people
are spiritually under-developed, how can I make them
understand spirituality?
The anger, pride, attachment and greed of people
elsewhere in the world are still in the process of developing
whereas anger, pride, attachment and greed of people in India
Aptavani-1 53

are fully developed. They have reached the top limit.
People of foreign countries would be willing to drive you
somewhere, even if they had to drive fifty miles each way. Even
a casual acquaintance will drive you there and back and not
only that he will also pay for your meal. Whereas here, in India,
your own nephew will calculate how much it will cost him in
gas, oil, and wear and tear on his car. Then he will even lie to
you and tell you that he cannot take you because his boss is
going to be in town the next day.
Now what does this all mean? It means that in the
foreigners, greed is not as developed as it is in the Indians. In
Indians it is so highly developed that it will last for up to seven
generations. And what is the level of greed in foreigners? Their
greed is limited to their own needs. When their children turn
eighteen they want them to move out and live on their own. If
married couples have differences they will resort to a divorce,
whereas in Indians their attachment is fully developed. There
was a couple in their eighties who fought with each other their
entire married life. They would bicker with each other all day
long. When the old man died, the old lady was performing the
ritual of saravani, which is performed on the thirteenth day after
death. As she placed various items for offering in the rituals, she
would say, “This was your uncle’s favorite sweet, this is what
he liked…” When I asked her why she was doing all this when
she fought with him every day, she replied, “Things are always
so. However, I will never find a husband like him again. I want
him to be my husband in every life.” In Indians, attachment too
has reached to the top!
Prakruti : Natural And Deviant
Foreigners are spontaneous, impulsive and natural. Natural
and spontaneous means that if there is a docile cow, she will not
hurt anyone, even if a child were to grabs hold of her horns.
54 Aptavani-1

And if there is a foul-tempered cow, she will readily hurt anyone,
even if not provoked. These are natural traits. Foreigners are
very straightforward; they will say yes to you if they want to
help you and no if they don’t want to, but they will not lie to
you. They have a propensity towards both reactions. If they are
straightforward, they are completely so and if they are crooked,
they are completely crooked. People of India are not spontaneous
or natural. They used to be natural during satyug (First of the
four phases of the time cycle characterized by virtue, wisdom
and morality) to the point of ideality. In India there was a
classification of four major casts : the Brahmins - the priests,
scholars and thinkers, Kshatriya - the warriors; Vaishya - the
businessmen and Shudra - the working class, commonly referred
to as the ‘untouchables’. This classification was indicative of
different levels of development amongst people. Now this
development has reached its zenith. Even the sons of carpenters
are extremely intelligent. Spontaneity and naturalness in people
during the satyug was absolute and complete and it peaked to
such heights that it gradually started to decline. That is the law
of nature. People began to exploit the four classifications. They
became condescending and arrogant towards the untouchables
and insulted them. They misused their intellect to hurt others and
gradually became hostile and rude. India began to loose its
luster. People became so obstinate and despicable that their
conduct became demon-like. Alas! If they came across a
twenty-year-old widow, instead of consoling her they would
look upon her as a bad omen. The fools! A widow is considered
personification of the holy River Ganges, how can you call her
an ill omen? Then came the British to rule India. Their natural
disposition and spontaneity began to mingle with the unnatural,
obstinate and rude tendencies of the Indians and this brought
the Indians some relief.
This was all a result of an excess of everything here. Now
Aptavani-1 55

a new dawn is rising for India. Elsewhere there is dusk but in
India, this new dawn will lead to full light. Since 1942, I have
been saying that by the year 2005, India will become the center
of the world. Currently it is in the process of becoming one.
People from all over the world will come to India to learn the
art of living. They will come to learn what is normal. At the
moment everyone has become so above normal that they do
not know how to live anymore. Despite having so many material
comforts, they have to resort to taking sleeping pills. You are
taking poison! You have gone so far past the limits of what is
normal, that you have lost nature’s gift to mankind – the gift of
sleep. How can you call this living? Alas! You have gone all the
way to the moon but how did it benefit you? Has going to the
moon, eliminated the sleeping pills for you?
The State Of The Aspirant
Who can be called a sadhu (ascetic)? Anyone who attains
the Self is a sadhu. Asadhu’s conduct is always focused towards
liberation. However, the conduct of the sadhus of these times is
contradictory. It is focused on liberation but it also creates more
bondage. They earn one hundred merit points for their rituals of
samayik and pratikraman, but when they become aggravated
with their disciples, they lose a hundred and fifty points. One is
only able to work continuously towards one’s liberation after
having acquired the Self. A true sadhu means to progress
towards the state of absolute liberation. Nevertheless no one is
to be blamed; no one is at fault here. They are all trapped
because of ignorance; it is not their wish to bind new karma.
Karma : Merit And Demerit
There is only Soul and matter (parmanu - sub-atomic
matter) in this world. When you make someone happy or give
peace to them, atoms of merit karma (punya) are attracted and
when you cause misery to others, atoms of demerit karma (paap)
56 Aptavani-1

are attracted. This is the very thing that brings you misery.
When things go according to your wishes, it is because of your
merit karma and when things go against your wishes, it is because
of your demerit karma. There are two kinds of merit karma and
two kinds of demerit karma :
(1) Paapanubandhi paap (New demerit karma stemming
from past demerit karma) : A person binds new demerit karma
while experiencing the effects of demerit karma from his past
life. For example, when a person inflicts pain on somebody and
enjoys doing so.
(2) Punyanubandhi paap (New merit karma stemming
from past demerit karma) : A person is suffering as a result of
demerit karma from his past life, but he binds new merit karma
by leading a moral and ethical life.
(3) Paapanubandhi punya (New demerit karma stemming
from past merit karma) : A person enjoys happiness as a result
of merit karma from his past life but while doing so, he binds
tremendous demerit karma. Today, this type of karma is rampant
everywhere. A wealthy man is not even able to enjoy the
comforts of his huge mansion. He is out the entire day making
money, his wife is out shopping and running around looking for
beautiful clothes and his daughter is driving around in her car.
Only the servant is to be found at home and the entire bungalow
is uselessly wasted. He has acquired all his material comforts as
a result of his merit karma from his past life but despite this
merit karma he binds demerit karma as a result of his behavior.
He is consumed with immense greed and attachment and he is
not able to enjoy his wealth. Such people with paapanubandhi
punyas are always after sensual gratification.
(4) Punyanubandhi punya (New merit karma stemming
from past merit karma) : A person performs rituals and works
towards attainment of Self-Realization while enjoying the fruits
Aptavani-1 57

of his past merit karma. He accumulates more merit karma and
reaps the fruit of liberation.
All activities of rituals and austerities carried out with
obstinacy, inflexibility and staunchness bind papanubandhi punya,
whereas austerities and rituals performed with the proper
understanding of what is beneficial for one’s Soul and liberation
binds punyanubandhi punya. With such karma, the person will
one day meet a Gnani Purush and eventually achieve liberation.
Wealth does not come to you without merit karma.
Who in this world is considered one with the most merit
karma? It is the one who in a passing thought will desire
something and having decided on it will have his wishes fulfilled
for years to come without any efforts on his part.
Second come the ones who desire something and having
decided on it over and over again, will acquire it easily at the
end of the day.
Third come the ones who desire something, will make an
effort to acquire it and their wish will be fulfilled.
Fourth come those who work very hard towards fulfilling
their desire and eventually get what they want.
Fifth and final come those who desire something, work
very hard for it and still do not get what they want. These
laborers work very hard, in addition to their hard work they
face abuse at the hands of others and still they do not get any
money. And when they do get any money, there is no certainty
that they will have anything to eat at home. They work the
hardest and yet they are not rewarded for their labor.
Many people believe that demerit karma created
unknowingly or in ignorance bear no consequences. Why would
there be no consequences? Is there not a consequence to putting
58 Aptavani-1

your hand on a hot plate unknowingly? Demerit karma carried
out knowingly or unknowingly, carries the same weight. The
only difference between the two is that the consequences of the
deed carried out in ignorance will have to be experienced in an
unknowing state and the consequence of a deed carried out
deliberately will have to be experienced in a knowing state. For
example, there are two brothers; one is sixteen and the other is
two years old. Their mother dies. Both have to suffer the
consequence of their past demerit karma. The older one has to
suffer consciously and the younger in a state of unawareness.
Merit karma can also be carried out unknowingly. For
example, you stand in a line for four hours to buy sugar, on your
way home the sugar slowly leaks out through a tiny hole in the
bag. The ants reap the benefit from this and you created merit
karma without being aware of it, the consequence of which you
will enjoy without being aware of it.
Every human being is trapped in a labyrinth of merit karma-
demerit karma, demerit karma-merit karma and is subject to
endless wandering; there is no liberation from it. The most a
person gets from earning a lot of merit karma is a life as a
celestial being, but he never acquires liberation. Liberation is
only acquired upon meeting a Gnani Purush who will destroy
your demerit karma of endless lifetimes (through the fire of
spiritual knowledge) and gives you the Self (your Soul). Until
then you have to keep on wandering within the four life forms.
Every living being, starting from the single sensory life
form to the five-sensory life form experiences endless suffering,
just like a man confined to total darkness with only two meals
a day. Such are the dense layers, which cover the Soul. If
human beings with their five senses have to suffer so much, can
you imagine what suffering the living beings with lesser senses
have to endure? There is no living entity with six senses. The
Aptavani-1 59

trees and animals are life forms we refer to as ‘Tiryanch Gati’.
They are subject to severe imprisonment. The human life is
comparatively an easier form of imprisonment. But life in hell is
so excruciatingly painful that if I were to describe it exactly, a
human being would die from fear by just listening to me. It is
thousand times more painful than the pain of being boiled in
water. Those in hell are subject to the pain of near death
experience over and over again and yet death will elude them.
They are doomed to a life of suffering and that is why death will
not come to them. Their physical body is very much like liquid
mercury; their body parts and limbs are subject to being severed
and joined together again. They have no choice but endure pain
and suffering. Hell is life imprisonment.
The celestial beings (Devaloka) enjoy life in the celestial
world but under surveillance, they too cannot achieve liberation.
The atmosphere there is dazzling and intoxicating. Just like the
atmosphere at weddings where you can become completely
lost and absorbed with your surrounding. All your senses are
indulged. The food tastes great and is pleasing to the palate.
You hear music that is pleasing to the ears. Your eyes are
admiring the beauty of the bride and the groom. Your sense of
smell is filled with fragrant incense. All your senses are completely
occupied. Your mind is filled with different thoughts. You can
never remember your Soul at times like this; such is the happiness
enjoyed by the celestial beings. There is an abundance of
happiness there, which never ceases and that is why they are in
a state of intoxication. They do not even think of the Soul.
However, they too are subject to mental restlessness, jealousy
and other emotions that torment. They too get tired of too much
happiness. How can that be? Its like after feasting non-stop for
four days at a wedding, you will crave for something simple to
eat. In the same way, the celestial beings too wish for a birth
as a human being in this world, to a moral and a pious family,
60 Aptavani-1

so that they too can meet a Gnani Purush. Only after meeting
a Gnani Purush can one break free, otherwise one is doomed
to wander between the four different life forms.
I-ness And My-ness
Vikalp is ‘I-ness’ and sankalp is ‘My-ness’. I am
Chandubhai is I-ness and it is the biggest vikalp of all. Sankalp
is my-ness, the belief associated with the sense of ownership,
for example this is my wife, these are my children, this is my
house and my car etc.
Charge And Discharge : Cause And Effect
You are Brahma – the creator, and yet you sleep tucked
under the bed sheets. You make various plans (create new
causes). When you create new causes (charging new karma),
you become Brahma, the creator, but the discharge of these
causes (the effect) is not under your control. When these causes
begin to discharge (give effect), you are under illusion and become
confused and frustrated. When you create a cause, initially it is
just a fleeting thought but once you become completely engulfed
with it, a new cause is created, and when that cause materializes
into a tangible event, it is called an effect. No one, absolutely
no one, in this world can change the discharge (effect). If one
could, one would never allow unpleasant things to happen to
them, they would only let pleasant things occur. But discharge
is under the control of another entity. It is under the control of
vyavasthit (scientific circumstantial evidences). Vyavasthit rules
exclusively and no one has any control over it. So be cautious
when creating new causes. Once you acquire the Self, you will
never be deluded. Once you meet a Gnani Purush, he will take
your faith in the world and place it in the Supreme Soul in just
one hour, and once he does this, you will remain as the Self.
Once this happens, you will no longer be creating any new
causes and your physical body that remains, will continue to
Aptavani-1 61

discharge gradually.
Birth in the human form is the only one that creates causes.
The transmigration in to all the four life forms stems only from
the human form and it is also only from the human form that
liberation is possible.
The Self And The Non-self
The entire world is trapped in trying to understand prakruti,
the non-self. From time immemorial, people have been trying to
explore the Self and the non-self, but it is not something that is
easy to grasp. In the traditional kramic path, one is only able to
understand the Self after completely knowing the non-self. The
puzzle of the non-self and the Self is such that it cannot be
solved even after countless cycles of birth and death. Whereas
in the Akram path, when the Gnani Purush bestows his blessing
upon you, you become the Self and thereafter you are able to
completely know the non-self. What is more, the two will always
remain separate. Even the mightiest are trapped in the labyrinth
of the non-self; what can they do? How can you find a solution
when you try to understand the non-self through being a non-
self? The non-self is to be known after acquiring the Self. Only
then can it’s every facet be known.
What is non-self (prakruti)? Pra = excess and kruti=
action done. An action, which is done through not being in
one’s natural state but in having gone away from one’s natural
state, is prakruti. Action done out of one’s natural state is prakruti.
The non-self (prakruti) is female and the Self is male
(purush). Lord Krishna told Arjun, “Become free from the three
gunas of the prakruti”. The three gunas (inherent qualities) of the
non-self are sattwa, rajas and tamas. Become a liberated ‘purush’
by rising above the three gunas of the prakruti. If you remain in
these qualities of the prakruti, you become subservient and weak.
62 Aptavani-1

If you remain in the attributes of the Self, then you are a ‘purush’
(the Self – absolutely free).
‘Prakruti is like a top’ (spinning toy). What does that
mean? The winding of the string around the top is the cause, as
the string is pulled away the spinning of the top is prakruti.
There is skill and precision in the winding and there is also skill
and precision in the unwinding. Everything occurs exactly as it
was caused. Even when a child eats, does he put the food in
his ear instead of his mouth? If a serpent dies before its eggs
hatch, the baby serpent when born will know how to strike.
What is the reason behind this? That is the wonder of prakruti.
The precision with which prakruti functions, is a wonder in
itself. How far can prakruti go? There is a limit from the very
beginning as to how far it can go. Even when a top is spinning,
it spins within its boundary. For example, even the thoughts that
come to you have a limit. When you are overcome with illusionary
attachment, there is a limit to that too. Every living being has its
‘center’ in its navel. In the navel area the soul is completely free
from covering by any karmic matter. The pure light of knowledge
is to be found here. If prakruti were to go beyond it’s limit, then
this area would become obscured and that living being would
become inert, but this can never happen. No matter how intense
a person’s illusionary attachment becomes, it will reach its limit
and then begin to subside. All this occurs according to the laws
and limits of nature. Nothing ever occurs outside the boundaries
of nature.
The Prakruti And Its Three Attributes
The deities of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh represent the
three attributes of prakruti. These are sattwa, rajas and tamas
respectively. Those with tamas attributes worship Lord Mahadev,
those with sattwa attribute worship Brahma and those with Rajas
attribute will worship Lord Vishnu. You acquire the attributes of
Aptavani-1 63

those you worship. There is a predominance of rajas attributes
in people of India whereas the rest of the world is inclined
towards tamasic attributes. The three deities represent the three
attributes. They are not born but are symbolic representations.
Even the Vedas state that one should become free from these
three attributes and become the Self.
It is the prakruti that makes a person dance or do things
but people claim ‘I am dancing’ or ‘I am doing it’. It is
foolishness to think this way. Every human being is like a top,
what effort does he have to make when it is the prakruti that
is making him spin? When a man makes a lot of money, he
claims he is the one who earned it but does he accept
responsibility when he makes a loss? At that time he will claim
that it is God’s doing.
It is prakruti that dictates what you do, but you claim to
be the doer. Fasting, doing penance, meditating, giving alms,
being kind, speaking the truth, practicing ahimsa (non-violence)
are all attributes of the prakruti. Good habits or bad habits are
all qualities of the prakruti. However charming and graceful
one’s prakruti may be, one never knows when it will deceive
him or disgrace him. You may have a king who is very benevolent
and devout but if he were to get lost in the jungle and not eat
for days, would he be embarrassed to beg for food? Definitely
not! What happens to his imperial and monarchical qualities at
that time? Alas! His prakruti is crying out from within and he is
trapped in circumstances that reduce even a king to becoming
a beggar. If this can happen to a king then what chance does
a commoner have? It is the prakruti that makes you give alms
and it is the prakruti that makes you beg, so where is your effort
in that? A thief steals twenty rupees, goes to a restaurant and
orders a nice meal and enjoys himself. On his way out he gives
the remaining ten rupees to a leper, what is all that? This is all
a play of prakruti. It is incomprehensible.
64 Aptavani-1

A person will say, ‘today I did four samayiks and
pratikraman and read the scripture for two hours.’ The fool!
The prakruti makes him do it and he claims that he is doing it,
and if he truly is the one doing the samayik, let him try doing
it the next day. ‘I could not do samayik today’, he will say, ‘but
I did it yesterday.’ What a great contradiction between these
two statements! If you really are the doer, then you can never
say that ‘I can’t do it’. The very meaning of ‘I can’t do it’
proves that you are not the doer. The whole world is trapped
in this wrong belief. Prakruti makes a person renounce and it is
also prakruti that makes him acquire. Even the practice of
brahmacharya (celibacy) is forced upon one by one’s prakruti
and yet he claims he is practicing celibacy. What a contradiction.
Dualities such as attachment and abhorrence, kindness
and cruelty, greed and benevolence, truth and false are all qualities
of the prakruti, and the Self is beyond all duality.
The Self : With And Without Attributes
Many people say that God is without any attributes. You
foolish people! Why do you slander God in this way? They say
that a mad person has no attributes. Madness is an attribute of
one kind so how can one say that a mad person is without any
attributes? It means that by saying the Soul is without attributes,
is the same as saying the Soul is worse than a mad person; it
is like saying that the Soul is inanimate. The Self is neither
inanimate nor is it void of any attributes. It too has its inherent
qualities. By saying that God (Soul) has no qualities, people
embark on the wrong path. Come to me and I will give you the
correct understanding. ‘From the perspective of prakruti’s
attributes, the Self is without any attributes, and from its own
perspective, the Self is full of attributes.’ These attributes are
infinite : infinite knowledge, infinite vision, infinite energy and it
is also an abode of infinite bliss. How can it ever be referred
Aptavani-1 65

to as having no attributes? If you call it so, you will never
acquire the Self because the Self is not separate from its own
attributes. A thing has within it, its own intrinsic qualities, so in
order to know the thing, by knowing its qualities; you will come
to understand it. For example, if you want to know gold, then
if you know the qualities of gold, you will come to know it; gold
is never separate from its inherent qualities. A flower and its
fragrance can never be separate. You can recognize a flower
from its fragrance. In the same token, you can know the Self
only through its attributes. That is the only thing you need to
know - the Soul. You have come to know the attributes of the
prakruti for countless lifetimes but even then you have made no
progress and the puzzle remains unsolved. All the worldly
religions are considered religions of the prakruti; they are religions
of the body. The Supreme religion is the religion of the Self; that
is the Real religion.
Bathing the body, feeding it, pampering it, making it fast
is all religion of the prakruti. This religion has no substance and
you cannot depend on it because it is not under your control.
It is controlled by some other power. The prakruti is such that
one person will have diarrhea without taking a purgative and
another will have constipation without taking a medicine for
constipation. That is prakruti!
Worshipping Prakruti : Worshipping Purush
The worship that goes on in this world is worship of
attributes of prakruti. These attributes do not have any permanent
existence; these attributes are illusionary. The prakrutic attributes
are dependent on the three humors of the body : mucous, bile
and air (kapha, pitta and vatta respectively). The qualities or
attributes of the Self are independent whereas the attributes of
the prakruti are governed by other factors, but this only becomes
evident when one becomes delirious or demented. Everywhere
66 Aptavani-1

in the world we find only worship of the prakruti, not the purush.
I have not seen worship of the purush anywhere. The reward
of worshipping the prakruti is worldly wanderings and the reward
of worshipping the purush is liberation.
We as the Purush, as the Pure Self are completely
independent but we are in bondage because of the prakruti.
The prakruti and the ‘regulator of this world’ (vyavasthit shakti)
run this world. God does not meddle in it at all. Once you
become the Purush, your relationship with the prakruti comes to
an end. Whatever occurs is because of prakruti and the one
who has no attachment or abhorrence towards any event, is the
Pure Soul. This Gnan is so wonderful that even if you were to
get into a fight, you will not experience any attachment or
abhorrence.
Prakruti Dharma : Purush Dharma
Every belief of ‘I am this’ or ‘I am that’ (vikalp) falls in
the domain of the prakruti. The beliefs that have not occurred
will not come in the prakruti.
You can distinguish a Patel, a Vanik or a Muslim, through
their prakruti. The prakruti of the Vankik is thoughtful and prudent
in nature. The Patels are considered bold and fearless; their
prakruti is such that they will take off their opponent’s head or
sacrifice their own depending on the circumstances. The Muslim
prakruti has a tendency towards insurrection. Actually prakruti
differs form individual to individual. There is no limit to its
differences and variations.
The mind, speech and body are three components of the
prakruti. All three are effective. As they manifest effects of past
causes, because of prevailing illusion, new causes are created
and this binds new causal prakruti, the effect of which is the
effective prakruti, (manifest prakruti).
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68 Aptavani-1
As long as there are doubts about the Soul and the reality,
the worship of prakruti will continue. When one becomes free
from all doubts about the pure Soul, only then does one become
the Pure Soul. Only after that does new causal prakruti ceases
to form.
The Garden Of Prakruti
Whatever effect there is, whatever effective-prakruti there
is, it is irrevocable. It can never be changed. Every father wishes
that his son be exactly like him. Alas! Are you trying to turn
your home into a garden or a farm? Everyone has different
prakruti; they all bloom into different flowers. How is it possible
for other plants to grow the same flowers as your own? If there
were only roses in your home, would it be considered a garden?
No, it would be a rose farm! Just as you have a wheat farm,
you would have a rose farm. But here you have a jasmine, a
rose, a frangipani and thorns too- you have a garden. Prakruti
is a garden. People want roses but they do not like thorns. How
can you have a rose without thorns?
When people plant a lemon tree, how is it nurtured?
Through the elements of earth, air, light and sky. Do these
nourishing elements have a sour taste in them? Do they have tart
juices in them? No. But where did the tartness in the lemon
come from? And where did the bitterness in each and every leaf
and branch of the neem tree growing next to the lemon tree
come from? Both the trees are nourished by the same elements,
they both get equal amount of nourishment. Was the water
bitter? No, so where did the differences come from? The
bitterness and the tartness were inherent in the seed of each tree
and thus in their corresponding fruits. The seed of the banyan
tree is even smaller than a mustard seed and yet how vast is the
tree born from it. The entire banyan tree with its leaves, branches
and aerial roots exists as potential energy in a subtle form in its

seed. Vyavasthit shakti brings together the appropriate
environment and circumstances and the resulting banyan tree is
due to it’s own inherent prakrut attributes.
The knowledge of prakruti is amazing and immense! It is
easy to cross a river but you cannot cross the river of the
prakruti.
Renunciation
There are three forms of renunciation :
1) Renunciation precipitated through suffering :
People renounce their worldly life because of the suffering they
have to endure in it. A person will abandon his worldly life and
commitments at the expense of his family. He thinks that his
worldly problems can be solved by renunciation and that the
only suffering he will have to endure is to go around bare feet
begging for his meals, which he is willing to endure. What are
the consequences of such a renunciation? He will have to wander
for countless lifetimes.
2) Renunciation for the reward of worldly gains : A
person who renounces his worldly life and commitments in the
greed of gaining disciples, respect, fame, praise and worship.
He too will have to wander for countless lives.
3) Renunciation for acquiring Gnan : This is the true
form of renunciation. Rare is the person who will take
renunciation for the purpose of knowing the Self. But it is very
difficult to acquire this Gnan.
This knowledge can only be acquired through a Gnani,
after which true renunciation will begin through the light of that
knowledge.
Focused Awareness Of The self And Self
There are four types of upayog (focusing of the awareness
Aptavani-1 69

of the self or the Self) :
Ashuddha upayog : (Impure use). An example of this
would be if a person, without any reason or cause hunts and
kills a deer and then takes pleasure in it and proudly boasts
about his killing. Killing purely for pleasure, without any motive
or reason, is impure use of the soul. People who gloat and
derive pleasure from hurting others or causing destruction to
other people’s property, people with sadistic tendencies are all
third-class citizens and are headed for a life in hell.
Ashoobh upayog : (Inauspicious use) A man is forced
to kill a deer because there is nothing to eat at home. His wife
and children are starving and he has no choice. From within,
however, he is tormented by the killing and repents immensely
for his actions. This is inauspicious use of the soul. The outward
action for both impure and inauspicious use of the soul may be
the same. But the difference between the two is that in the
former the person takes pleasure in his actions and in the latter
he has tears of remorse. All beings that use their energies of the
soul in an impure way are considered second-class citizens and
are headed for a birth in the animal kingdom.
Shoobha upayog : (auspicious use) Even when everyone
at home is starving he feels he does not want to kill anything to
satisfy their hunger. This is auspicious awareness of the self.
Wishing well for others, doing well to others and being benevolent
towards others, keeping the heart truly moral are all good use
of the soul. Very rarely does a person remain solely in auspicious
use. Generally people vacillate between auspicious and
inauspicious awareness of the self. Nevertheless these people
are considered ‘first-class passengers’ and will be born as humans
again. Those with purely auspicious awareness are considered
as ‘luxury class passengers’ and will be born as celestial beings.
Shuddha upayog : (Pure awareness of the Self). A
70 Aptavani-1

person with shuddha upayog sees only the pure. He will disregard
the packing (the body) and sees only the contents (the pure
Soul within). To see with elemental vision (tattva drashti, to see
the Self as one of the six eternal elements) is shuddha upayog.
Shuddha upayog only begins after Self-realization. When this
awareness is absolute and continuous, it is called Keval Gnan
(the Absolute and Perfect State of Knowledge). The result of
shuddha upayog is liberation. I am in constant shuddha upayog.
One priest asked me, “You travel by car and so many
insects get crushed under your car, are you not responsible for
that sin?” I asked him “Dear Priest! What does your scriptures
say?”
‘The one with shuddha upayog, is poised in the Self
His Knowledge and meditation captivates the mind
Aloof he remains from the binding of karma,
Becomes he the Absolute (Shiv)’
I am always in shuddha upayog. Does a shuddha-upayogi
ever commit himsa? The priest answered no. I told him that I
do not bind karma but he does because according to his
knowledge, he has a constant belief of ‘I am a priest. These are
my feet and the insects are being crushed under my feet’. Alas!
This belief remains even as he sleeps and that is why he is liable
for his actions. I remain constantly aware of the Self. Not even
for of a moment do I feel that this body is mine. I have no sense
of ownership over this body and that is why I am not held liable
for the karma.
For example, say you sold a piece of land a week ago
to Mr. Lallubhai and you transfer the documents of ownership
to him. One day the police come to arrest you because they
found smuggled gold buried on that land. The police tell you
that you are responsible because the gold was found on your
land. You immediately breathe a sigh of relief and show them
Aptavani-1 71

the proof of sale of the land to Lallubhai. The police will accept
your explanation and apologize for their mistake and will go to
Lallubhai.
Such is my state. I am the Lord of this Universe and yet
I have no ownership of any ‘plot’ anywhere. I (the Pure Soul)
possess enough power to make this universe tremble, but Ambalal
Muljibhai (the physical body) does not have the strength to
break even a pappadum (lentil wafer)!
Layers Of Spiritual Development
A human being of this world has one million four hundred
thousand different layers. Of these only those in the top fifty
thousand layers are worthy of hearing this discourse. Spiritual
development of every human being is at a different level. This
results in different standards and for each standard there is a
God and its relevant scriptures. These standards are of worldly
relative religions.
Illusion And Liberation
‘Illusion (maaya) has long horns and reach,
They strike you from the front and kick you from behind’.
What does illusion (maaya - ignorance of one’s Real Self)
say? It says, “Even if you kill all my ‘sons’, they will resurrect
as long as my son, Maan (pride), is alive. Anger, Pride, Illusion,
Greed, Attachment and Abhorrence are my six ‘sons’ and I
make up a family of seven, which will remain evergreen.
This Maaya and her six ‘sons’ have created discord in
the world, so if anything needs to be destroyed, it is these
seven. (Translator’s comments : Maaya is the root cause of
the ignorance of the Self. From this stems two divisions,
attachment and abhorrence (raag and dwesh). Attachment
has two components : deceit and greed. Abhorrence also,
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Aptavani-1 73
has two components namely anger and pride). Drop an atom
bomb on them! Maaya is responsible for the discord and quarrels
in this world. It is also responsible for propagating and
perpetuating the worldly life. Of her six sons, Anger is guileless.
He frankly and unwittingly blurts out what is on his mind. People
can easily identify him and will ask, ‘Why are you getting angry?’
Pride (maan) is good too, although it is slightly inferior to Anger.
People will recognize it and will ask you why you walk around
arrogantly. Whereas Deceit and Attachment are very difficult to
detect, even the person in whom these quality reside, is oblivious
to them. Finally comes Greed and it is last on the list. Even God
gets tired of deceit, attachment and greed; these qualities will
not allow anyone to attain liberation. This family of Maaya is
very powerful indeed. In the traditional kramic path, Maaya
remains unconquerable even till the end. When godhood comes
finally to grace the aspirant, Maaya intervenes. One can only be
freed from this worldly life by meeting a Gnani Purush, only then
will Maaya and its progeny be destroyed. The Gnani does not
do anything, except eradicate Maaya and her eldest son Ego
(Anger and Pride), after which all five of Maaya’s remaining
sons along with ‘old lady’ Maaya will perish. This is how one
becomes free from bondage and achieves liberation. When I
give you the Gnan, I emancipate you from all bondage of illusion.
Happiness : Bliss
There are three kinds of happiness in this world :
1. Happiness related to the senses (indriya sookh)
2. Happiness not related to the senses. (nirindriya sookh)
3. Happiness beyond the senses (atiindriya sookh-of the Real
Self)
The happiness that one experiences through the medium
of the five senses is the happiness of the first kind. The person

who renounces sensorial pleasures but has not acquired the
happiness of Self is caught up in a bind; he is neither here nor
there. The happiness void of the senses is ego-inebriated; it is
merely donkey-pranks! The happiness that is beyond the senses
is the infinite bliss of the Self. This happiness cannot be acquired
without knowing the Self.
There are three travelers, one enjoys the pleasure of the
senses (indriya sookh), the second is given to ego-pleasures
(nirindriya sookh) and the third remains within the realms of his
pure Self, beyond the senses (atiindriya sookh). All three
happened to spend a night at a village inn. During the night it
snows and turns very cold. None of them have any blankets.
How do they spend the night? The first one keeps crying out,
‘It’s very cold, I am going to die from this cold’, and by the
morning, sure enough he is dead.
The second traveler keeps saying, ‘Darn! It’s so cold.
The heck with it, it does not affect me, it affects the body’. This
is how he spends his night and by the morning his entire body
becomes very cold but the fellow is still breathing very slowly.
The third traveler just withdraws within the cave of the
Self, the moment it starts snowing. He remains completely
detached from his body the entire night. He lives in the infinite
bliss of the Self and by the morning he is on his way.
The person who is given to ego-pleasures remains
intoxicated by the ego. People fuss over him, calling him ‘Bapji
(master)’ ‘Bapji’ and he remains intoxicated with pride.
Ignorance : Attachment-Abhorrence
The Vedanta says that liberation is acquired once impurity-
obstructed view and ignorance are gone. The Jain scriptures
say that liberation is acquired once attachment, abhorrence and
ignorance are gone.
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The impurities of the body can be removed through
purgation. But the impurities of the mind and the chit cannot be
removed by anything. As long as there is ignorance of one’s real
Self, all obstructions remain. People try to remove impurity and
obstruction for peace of mind. Once you acquire Gnan
(knowledge of the Real Self) what remains? Only impurity and
obstruction, and these will dispel when you come to satsang.
What causes bondage of the human soul? Ignorance. So
what will liberate it? The opposite of what binds it – knowledge.
‘I am Chandulal’, is the false imposition of your identity
and this results in attachment for Chandulal and therefore a
dislike for any other location. That means there is abhorrence
for the Self. If there is attachment on one side, then on the other
side there is definitely dislike or aversion. I awaken you to your
real Self and at that very moment you cecome ‘vitadwesh’
(void of abhorrence). As you progress from this level, you
gradually become vitarag (void of attachment). Vitarag means
knowledge and vision (darshan) of the Self. I bestow upon you
Absolute Knowledge and Absolute Vision. This Absolute Vision
remains intact but you are not able to digest the Absolute
Knowledge of complete 360°. This is due to the effect of the
current time cycle. Alas! I too was unable to digest the final 4°!
I give you the full Knowledge of 360° but you will not be able
to digest it and hence yours is a state of partial perfect-
Knowledge. By whatever degree the manifestation of the Self
increases, the degrees of your perfect-Knowledge will increase
correspondingly. When the Self becomes fully manifested,
concomitantly perfect-Knowledge will too.
In the traditional kramic path delusion is destroyed with
delusion. For example, we need soap to wash a dirty cloth, but
the soap will leave behind its residue and stain and so we need
‘Tinopal’ (bleaching soap) to remove that stain. Tinopal will
Aptavani-1 75

remove the soap stains, but leave behind stains of its own. In
this manner whatever tool is used, that tool will leave behind its
own stain and so one never becomes absolutely pure. Absolute
purity can be achieved only when one meets a Gnani Purush.
The Gnani Purush who is absolutely pure Himself, is the only
one who can separate each atom of the non-Self and destroy
all your sins and give you your pure Self. Only then the puzzle
(of life) will be solved and you will attain liberation. Otherwise,
you will continue to ‘wash the stains from your clothes’ for
endless life cycles, each time leaving behind the impurities of the
‘soap’ you utilize.
The Science Of Speech
A young woman named Chanchal silently suffers her
mother-in-law’s nagging from dawn to dusk. If the mother-in-
law uses abusive words non-stop for four hours and you ask
her to repeat the same words in the same manner, will she be
able to do so? No. Why? This is because the mother-in-law’s
speech is a ‘record’ that is playing. What if this record (Dada
pointing to a record on a record player) were to say, ‘Chanchal
has no sense, Chanchal has no sense?’ Will Chanchal retaliate
by saying, ‘You have no sense’, back to the record? I am the
only one who has revealed that speech is a form of a record.
Speech is inanimate; it is a record. When you play a tape, does
the tape not have to be recorded first? In the same way, the
tape of your entire life speech has already been recorded in the
past life and in this life it is playing. Just as a record starts
playing when the needle is placed on the record, so will the
record of your speech commence as soon as the appropriate
circumstances arise. But people claim that they are the ones
speaking. When a lawyer argues a case in the courts, he will
boast that he won because of his pleading, but what happens
to his ability to plead when he loses? He looks for excuses for
having lost the case. But all along it was a record that was
76 Aptavani-1

playing. He would not be able to articulate even a word, if he
were to meticulously prearrange it. Only that which has been
recorded will play.
Does it not often occur that even though you firmly make
up your mind that you do not want to talk back to your mother-
in-law or your husband, you end up doing so anyway? What is
it that spills out in the form of words? You had no desire to talk
back. Your husband had no desire to be verbally abused. Then
what makes you talk back? It is the prerecorded record that is
playing, and absolutely no one can change it once it has been
recorded.
There are times when you decide to confront and say
certain things to a person but when you see that person with
five other people, do you not return without uttering a word?
Even if you want to say something you will be tongue-tied, does
that not happen? If speech were under your control, you would
be able to say what you desire, but does that happen? How can
that happen? The speech of this Ambalal Muljibhai too is in the
form of a record, despite having a body in which the Supreme
Lord has completely manifested. I have no power or control
over my speech. All I do is know and observe the kind of
speech that is being uttered by Ambalal. Speech is completely
inanimate. But this speech first touches the Lord present within
before it flows outward and that is why it is spiritually alive. It
is Saraswati (Goddess of speech) herself. The Goddess
Saraswati you see in the pictures is an indirect form of Saraswati,
whereas my speech is direct Saraswati, and one which destroys
your sins of infinite lives.
My speech is completely vitarag, completely syaad-vaad
(does not hurt anyone). The easiest way to recognize a Vitarag
is through his speech. The value you place on this speech is
dependent upon the level of your expertise as a ‘jeweler’ (as
Aptavani-1 77

an aspirant seeking the real ‘gem’). But where can one find
such a jeweler in this day and age? The poor wretched souls
of today place a value of five rupees on a diamond worth five
billion! And so the diamond itself has to disclose its own value.
That is why today I myself have to say to you that I am God
(The Enlightened One). Not even that but I am above God. I
am completely vitarag. God, himself, has given me this status as
his superior. He said, ‘I was looking for a qualified person and
I see that in you. I am completely vitarag and liberated. I cannot
help anyone now. You are the omnipotent manifest form and
despite having a physical body you too are completely vitarag
and that is why I give you my power and make you my superior.’
Today, I am the superior of the Lord of the fourteen worlds.
This is the incarnation of Gnan with all the special powers. So
come and ‘kindle your lamp’ and move on. Don’t try to scrutinize
everything. How can you measure the worth of the Gnani Purush
who is immeasurable? How can you measure a Gnani Purush
when at home your wife scolds you and calls you senseless?
What qualifications do you have to assess a Gnani? Do you
have that expertise? If you try to assess me, your intellect will
become assessed instead. Instead, why don’t you bundle your
obstinacy and dispose it in a sewer and come to your senses.
Accept with humility that you do not know anything and ask to
be liberated from the wanderings of infinite lives. That is all you
need to ask for and I will solve your puzzle of life. A Gnani can
do whatever he chooses because he has the power to grant
liberation. How many Gnanis can you find in this world? Five,
ten? Alas! Gnanis are very rare indeed and a Gnani of the
Akram path comes about once every million years and that too
only in the peculiar time like the current cycle of Kaliyug! He
will directly take you up in an ‘elevator’ instead of you having
to climb steps and exhaust yourself. Thread your necklace with
this priceless pearl; since this flash of lightening (manifestation of
Akram Gnan) has occurred, thread this pearl in your necklace.
78 Aptavani-1

But the foolish ones go in search of a thread at a time like this.
Alas! What can one do? They fall short of merit karma.
Only the speech that is free of any attachment, can lead
you to liberation. My speech is sweet, melodious and has never
been heard before. It is a direct speech, which has never been
heard before whereas the speech found in the scriptures is
indirect. If you were to hear direct speech for just one hour, you
will become enlightened. My speech is syaadvad – speech that
does not hurt anyone’s feelings. It is one that accepts all doctrines.
It is one that accepts all viewpoints. This is because I am sitting
in the center. My speech is impartial. People of all religious
sects, Hindus, Moslems, Parsis and Khojas, listen to my speech
and they all accept me as an Aptapurush (absolutely trustworthy
person). I do not have any intellect that discriminates and divides.
I reside in everyone : I am the speaker and the listener too.
Vitarag speech is the only speech that is filled with the
intent of total spiritual salvation of others. That speech itself will
take one all the way to liberation.
Silence : Physical And For The Self
Although this ‘record’ of mine plays all day long, I am
silent. My speech is only used for that which is related to the
Self and nothing else. That is why I consider it silent. A muni
is the one who takes a vow of silence however these munis
observe physical or external silence, but from within they are
restless, so how can they be called a muni? I am the supreme
muni. I am completely silent. This silence is considered the
silence for the highest cause.
Speech that is beneficial, short and sweet is true speech,
all other speech is untrue. This rule is applicable for speech in
the worldly interactions.
Look here Natubhai! You are recording my speech but
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you will derive fifty-percent benefit from doing so and others
who read it will not derive even two percent of the benefit. As
long as this bubble (Dada’s body) has not burst, make the most
of this opportunity and make the connection with your Real
Self. Later on it will be of no use. I tell everyone not to display
any photographs or idols of me, after I am gone. Do you not
have pictures of Lord Mahavir and Lord Krishna? Display theirs,
not mine. They will be of no use to you later. I will leave behind
a ‘progeny’ of Gnanis. I will leave behind a Gnani who will
continue the Work. Thereafter the link of Gnanis will continue.
Therefore look for a living Gnani (sajeevan murti). There is no
salvation without one.
Antahkaran : Inner Psychic Organ
The science, which the whole world is in search of, is
being fully revealed here for the first time by me. It is very
difficult to understand the mind (mana). What is the mind? What
is buddhi? What is chit and what is ahamkar? I will explain each
of them exactly as they are.
The antahkaran has four components : mana (mind), buddhi
(intellect), chit (that which sees scenes, previously registered)
and ahamhkar (ego).
All four have a form and can be read. They are not
visible to the eyes but can be comprehended through Gnan.
They are completely physical. The Pure Soul (Shuddhatma) has
nothing to with the antahkaran; it is completely separate from it.
I am completely separate from it and that is why I am able to
describe it to you exactly.
Function : Each of the four components has its own
separate function but every action is carried out with the co-
operation of all four. The basis, on which the human body
functions, has two parts : The sthoola (tangible, gross) – The
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external division called baahyakaran (the external organ) and
sookshma (subtle body) – The internal division called antahkaran
(internal organ).
For any action that takes place, first a photograph is
created in the antahkaran (internal organ) and then it manifests
as physical action in the external organ and in the world.
The mind never leaves the body; it jumps around inside
only and shows you different cues and pamphlets. Wandering is
not an attribute of the mind. It is wrong when people say their
mind wanders. It is the chit that wanders. Only the chit can
leave the body and wander outside. It takes pictures of things
exactly as they are and one can see those images. The intellect
gives advice and makes decisions and the ego endorses them.
There is interplay between the mind, the intellect, and the chit
and the ego endorses whomever the intellect sides with, the
mind or the chit.
For example, you are sitting in Santa Cruz and your mind
shows you a ‘pamphlet’ that you want to go to Dadar. Your chit
will immediately go to Dadar and you will see exact images of
Dadar, while sitting in Santa Cruz. Then the mind will show you
another pamphlet that you want to travel by bus, and the chit
will show you the bus. Then the mind will show you a third
pamphlet of going by taxi and the fourth one of going by train.
Then the chit will keep showing you the image of a taxi. Finally
the intellect will then make a decision to go by taxi and the ego,
like the President of India, will endorse it. The work will then
be executed and you will find yourself waiting for a taxi. As
soon as the intellect makes a decision, the mind will cease to
show you any more pamphlets of that subject. It will then begin
to show you pamphlets about another topic. The ego will
endorse either the intellect and the chit or the intellect and the
mind. Intellect is the common factor in the two. Without it no
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decision regarding any work is arrived at and when the decision
is made, the ego endorses it and the work is executed. No
work can be executed without the ego; without the ego you
cannot even get up for a glass of water.
Thus the antahkaran is like a parliamentary system.
What Is The Mind Like? What Are Thoughts?
Now I will explain what the mind is and its nature.
The mind is like a rhizome. It is made up of many tubers
and is very subtle. It is neither a subatomic particle (parmanoo)
nor an atom but a stage between the two. When any situation
arises, it expresses attachment or abhorrence towards that
situation and it remains absorbed in that situation. Because of
this, a new causal-mind is created, the effect of which is brought
into fruition by vyavasthit (scientific circumstantial evidences),
and this effect manifests as ‘effective-mind’. Everyone’s mind is
different because his or her causal-mind is different. The longer
the mind remains caught up in a situation, the greater the number
of parmanoos accumulate and come together and it is this very
collection of parmanoos that creates a tuber. The mind is a
collection of tubers. When the circumstances and timing is right
in accordance to the principles of vyavasthit, the tuber sprouts
and that is what we refer to as thoughts. The nature of the mind
can be understood from the thoughts and the kind of tubers that
have been created. Thoughts can be read. You have attachment
towards pleasant thoughts and abhorrence towards unpleasant
ones and then you say you want to conquer the mind. The mind
can never be conquered, but it can be contained through Gnan,
just like water is contained in a pot. Conquering the mind is the
biggest contradiction. The Real You are sentient (chetan, with
life principle) and the mind is insentient (achetan, non-self, without
life), so how can the two be compatible? Only when the Self
does the ‘work’ of the Self and the mind does the ‘work’ of
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the mind, can the problem be solved. You should maintain
awareness not to interfere with the functioning of the mind or to
become absorbed or become one with the mind.
Let me explain what these tubers of the mind are like.
Say you visit your farm in the summer and find nothing growing
in it. You will think that the farm is clean but I tell you to wait
and see what happens after it rains. After a good rain you
will see all kinds of greenery on it, all kinds of creepers
everywhere. Where did these creepers come from? Each
creeper had a rhizome under the ground, which sprouted
with the first shower of rain. Then if you uproot all the
creepers, you’ll feel happy that your farm is completely clean.
I would tell you that you could only say it is clean, if it
remains free from any creepers after three years of rain.
Only then can you consider that your farm is free of any
tubers (nirgrantha). Similarly this mind is made up of tubers,
the bigger the tuber about a specific topic, the greater the
number of thoughts about that topic and the smaller the tuber,
the fewer the thoughts. For example, if you ask a young
Vanik (vegetarian sect) boy how many times he thinks about
eating meat, he would tell you that in all his twenty years he
has thought about it only a few times. This means that his
tuber of eating meat is a small one, the size of a beetle nut.
Now, if we were to ask a Muslim boy the same question, he
would tell you that he thinks about eating meat several times
a day. This means that his tuber of eating meat is very large,
the size of a large sweet potato. If you ask a Jain child, he
will tell you that the thought of eating meat never crosses his
mind, meaning he has no such tubers at all.
If you were to plot a graph about your thoughts and what
they are about, over a period of a month, a week and a day,
you would come to know the kind and the size of tubers you
have. You will have only about five or ten large ones and these
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are the ones, which create a problem. There is no problem with
the smaller ones. Do you think you can do this?
I do not have any tubers within me, thus I am considered
nirgranth (without tuber). Human beings are like a piece of
wood full of knots; one cannot even make any ‘furniture’ out of
them! When these knots become excessive, they express
themselves as tumors in or on the body.
The mind is quite separate from the Self and can never
become one with it. When you have pleasant thoughts, you are
deluded to believe that it is you who is doing the thinking and
your thoughts are good. And when the thoughts are unpleasant
you say that you have these thoughts even when you do not
want them. What does that suggest? When the thoughts are
pleasant you claim to be the thinker and when they are unpleasant
you say, “What can I do?” If you were the thinker and the
thoughts were under your control then you would only think
pleasant thoughts. Nobody would entertain unpleasant thoughts.
But that does not happen, does it? Both, the pleasant and
unpleasant thoughts will come.
Inspiration Of Action Is Through Mind
There are those who claim that the God within them
inspires them to steal. The fools! Do they mean to say that God
is the guilty one, while they are innocent? Would God ever give
such an inspiration? God neither inspires one to steal nor does
he inspire one not to steal. Why would he inspire one to steal
and become the thief Himself? The principle is that the one who
inspires to steal is the thief.
Do you think God meddles in this way? He is the Knower,
the Observer and is in permanent bliss. He sees and knows
everything. So then where does the inspiration come from? It is
when a person’s tuber to steal, sprouts from within that he will
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have thoughts about stealing. If this tuber is big, he will have
many thoughts and he may end up stealing. He will even boast
about his skills in stealing and by doing so he nourishes his tuber
of stealing, which in turn will continue to sow new seeds of
stealing, and his tuber to steal will grow bigger. Now there is
another man, who also steals, but while stealing he feels remorse
for what he is doing but he has no other means to feed his
family. He continues to repent sincerely and therefore his tuber
of stealing does not get any nourishment. By repenting he is also
sowing seeds of not stealing and so in his next life he will not
steal.
The mind brings forth, different thoughts and because of
a person’s ignorance about his real Self, he becomes entangled
with the thoughts. He believes the thoughts to be his, thereby
creating new images or ‘photographs’. These images are
recorded in the form of a negative and when they manifest into
a physical action, it is like watching a movie on the screen. The
movies you see in a theatre will last only a few hours, whereas
the movie of the mind is endless. Once it ends, a person will
achieve liberation. That is what Kavi sang during the opening
ceremony of a movie theatre in Aurangabad.
“A movie lasts three hours in the world,
But the end of the movie of the mind is liberation.”
People try to control their mind. When they see an
unpleasant ‘movie’, they try to censure it or cut it out. How can
they censure it or cut it after the fact? They should have been
more careful while making the movie. Mind is a movie. All you
have to do in a movie is to watch it and know it. You do not
have to become emotional in it. If someone is dying in a movie,
people start crying sitting in the audience, as if their own loved
one is dying! How foolish! It is only a movie and there is no
need for anyone to cry.
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Relationship Between The Knower (Gnata) And The
Known (Gneya)
I merely observe and know the movie of the mind. I
observe and know the kind of thoughts that come and go. My
friendship with these thoughts extends only as far as a handshake.
I do not marry them. Lord Mahavir did the same. He merely
observed the thoughts that came and went. He too had thoughts
till the very end (nirvana, liberation). You exist as long as you
have thoughts. Thoughts are gneya (object to be known) and
you are gnata (the knower). The relationship is that of the knower
and the object to be known. How can you be the knower if
there is nothing to be known? You will continue to see the
movie of the mind till the final moment of your liberation. When
it ends, there is perfect liberation – nirvana. If you are walking
alone in the dark and have thoughts about being robbed, you
can assume that if not on that day, some day you will be robbed.
If you do not have such thoughts, then you will not be robbed.
Thoughts are a forecast of things to come. The stock is already
within you and that is why it manifests in the form of a thought.
The kind of thoughts you have is one of the evidences. All
‘You’ (the Self) have to do is just remain the knower and the
observer and maintain extra awareness there. It is very important
to know the science of the mind. Everyone tries to destroy the
mind. The mind is not to be destroyed. A person would become
mad if his mind were destroyed. You should not expect only
good things to come to your mind; accept whatever comes
along. You should tell your mind that it could do whatever it
wants. It can blow a horn or play a flute. Who are we to stop
or change the ‘effect’ mind? No one can do that because it is
an effect. Why should you be afraid of it? What would we listen
to if the mind did not play any music? You are the one that
needs to make the adjustments. Tell your mind to play whatever
it wants because now you like all kinds of music. Before Gnan
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you only liked good music but now you have become adjustable
and so now you have neither likes nor dislikes.
Ride Your Mind
Even before Gnan I had the awareness of the thoughts
that arose in the mind and would know that they would not let
me sleep. So I would tell the mind, “Just keep on running. You
are the horse and I am the rider. You can run in whichever
direction you want. It is just you and I.” This would go on until
the morning. It is the law of the world that whatever you try to
control or restrict, will take control over you. When sugar is
rationed in the market, the price of sugar goes up. It is the same
with the mind; if you try to restrict the mind, it will run twice as
fast. So do not try to restrict it. There would be no problem in
restricting the mind if it were obedient. But if it does not listen
to you, then you should let it run till it gets exhausted. Why
should you worry? You have the reins in your hands. But instead
what do people do? They try to control the mind; they try to
suppress it so they can sleep. You should forget about sleeping
because such times present you with an opportunity to ride the
mind. When will you get such an opportunity again?
It is only after riding the mind over and over again that I
have acquired such perfect and non-contradictory Gnan.
The mind is a boat in the ocean of worldly interactions.
People try to destroy the mind to create a state of thoughtlessness
(nirvichar), but such a state cannot be achieved. If a person
were to achieve such a state he would be considered a stone.
What do people mean by a thoughtless state? If their mind
becomes restless in certain matters, they try to suppress it in
those matters but they don’t realize that it will become restless
in other matters. What is the real definition of a thoughtless
state? ‘The one who remains as the Self, completely separate
as the knower and the observer of thoughts that emerge with
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the passing of time – he is the one who has acquired the
thoughtless state in the Lord’s language.’
Many foolish men renounce everything; their home, wife
and children and wearing only a loincloth go off to conquer the
mind. They run away from people and go off to the forest to
look at the animals and the trees. But they don’t realize that the
mind they take with them will continue to behave the same. In
the forest, these men will keep a cow or a goat, grow plants,
and build a hut. The nature of the mind is such that it will create
a worldly life wherever it goes. It will create a worldly life even
in the Himalayas. Now how can you control such a mind?
Control of the mind is the greatest paradox. It is impossible to
control the nature of the mind. But there are certain yogis who
have brought with them such tubers from their past life that
makes them feel that their mind is under their control. But they
will realize it is not so once their mind starts to oppose them.
Those who practice yoga too will realize that their mind is not
under their control when someone tries to provoke them. They
practice yoga because of their tubers. Practicing yoga is in
one’s prakruti and yet one believes that he or she is the one
doing it. They believe that they have conquered their mind!
The mind surrenders to Gnan. The Gnani is able to dissolve
the tubers through Gnan thereby attaining a state free of tubers
(nirgranth).
Your mind is the image of your nobility. Understand the
mind and its nature completely.
What is a Khashtriya’s mind like? It is very generous and
noble. If he is in a temple, he will donate whatever money he
has in his pocket, he will not hesitate or stop to think about how
much he is giving. The mind of a person with Vanik intellect is
very narrow. Patidars, Patels are called Kashatriyas. They have
a very generous mind but they do not have the wisdom and the
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pragmatic approach to worldly interactions, as do the Vaniks.
No one has all the attributes.
Where Does Goddess Laxmi, Goddess Of Wealth,
Reside?
Goddess Laxmi, the Goddess of wealth says that she will
reside in a home of a person who is sincere to one hundred
persons. This means that such a home will have an abundance
of wealth. The other homes will be rewarded only proportionately
to their effort and hard work. What do we mean by sincerity?
It means that one should know one’s mind, how noble it is and
to what extent it is so?
Money does not come through hard work. It comes only
to those with open and generous minds. Do you think these
wealthy businessmen work? No, they all have a generous mind.
The businessmen enjoy their wealth but it is their staffs that do
all the work.
Mind should be divine. Divine mind means to help even
those who are ungrateful, to help even those who cheat you and
calls you a fool on top of that! When such people become
victim of circumstances, only the divine-minded will help them.
Those with divine minds bind a celestial life form in their coming
life.
What does the intellect of a Vanik do? If there is only one
blanket between you and him, he will grab it first and cover
himself from head to toe and pretend to be asleep. He knows
that you would ask for the blanket if he were awake. It is a
mind like this that causes one to suffer a lot. This whole world
is yours but you should know how to enjoy it with nobility.
Kabir was a very wise man, he said :
‘Eat, drink and be hospitable to others; thus do your duty,
For upon leaving this world, nothing will accompany you.”
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To do your duty means to make preparation for liberation.
It is the narrow mind that creates an obstacle to wealth. Why
else would wealth be obstructed? The intellect of the Vanik is
wise but it is very obstructive in the path of liberation.
Mind : Expansive Or Narrow
If the mind were to calculate and balance accounts every
day, the next day you would not be able to cook. Suppose you
don’t earn even a dime in your business, does that mean you
should not eat the next day? What is this mind like? Let me
explain. Suppose there is path five feet wide, you will catch
burs on your clothes from the bushes that grow in the path. The
same thing will happen on a two feet wide path and the same
will happen if a path is so narrow that only one person can pass
through at a time. The burs will sick to his clothes, but he will
still manage to squeeze through. The mind knows which holes
it has to escape through and it will squeeze its way through, no
matter what the situation. It can even pass through two wires.
That is why we say Oh fool! Do not turn a royal mind into that
of a beggar. If you do not have a flower to give, give even a
petal but do not let your mind become a beggar. Depending
upon circumstances, even a king may have to beg but does that
mean that his mind has become beggarly? It will still remain
noble and generous. The broader the mind, the greater is the
freedom. The narrower the mind, the greater is the confinement.
It is like this, the direction the mind drags a person to,
depends upon the kind of tubers his mind is made of. A miser
has a tuber of greed; a benevolent person will have a tuber of
benevolence. An ascetic will have a tuber of asceticism. A
person who renounces will have a tuber of renunciation; it is this
tuber that makes him renounce and yet he says, ‘I renounced’.
You unfortunate man! You just made your tuber larger! When
will this tuber ever dissolve? How will you get liberation? These
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tubers are to be seen and known. You are separate and the
tubers of your mind are separate. The fact that your mind is
separate from you is very evident because when you want to
fall asleep the mind will start all kinds of pranks and will not let
you sleep. You may have all the comforts for sleeping and yet
it will not let you sleep.
Foreigners come to India in search of peace of mind, but
is it that easy to find? The Jains too go for darshan of Shantinath
Bhagwan for shanti (peace) but Bhagwan says that while you
are doing my darshan, you are also doing darshan of your shoes
and your business. So how will you acquire peace?
Evil Effects Of Mind
In this age there is no harmony between a person’s mind,
speech and actions. For example, Chandu and his friend go
shopping. Chandu’s mind (what he thinks), speech and actions
are all different. In his mind he feels he wants to pay less money
for his purchases but he claims and his behaviour indicates that
he want to buy at a fair price. Whereas his friend maintains in
his mind, speech and behaviour that he will buy things at a fair
price. Chandu’s friend will attain a world of a higher life form,
whereas Chandu is destined for a world of a lower life form.
Why did he keep the mind separate from his speech and acts?
This is the very evil effect of the mind, which binds him. This
discord between the mind, speech and behaviour does not
escape God. This age of kaliyug means evil effects and these
evil effects are inherent when one is born, some to a lesser and
some to a higher degree
The Nature Of The Mind
What is the nature of the mind? If you show your mind
someone who is unhappier than you, then it will be happy and
will make you feel that you have more happiness. If you are
living in a two-room apartment, your mind may become restless
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for a bigger apartment. That is when you should ask your mind
how people manage to live in just one room? Some don’t even
have a chair to sit on, how do they manage? Then your mind
will become happy again. Sometimes when your mind becomes
idle it will ask for nourishment, so you should nurture your mind
in this way. This approach is for the one whose mind has become
weak. However with the Gnan that I give you, you will not need
anything else. The knowledge of vyavasthit is such that the mind
will not revolt and complain. Wherever the mind goes it will
always be at peace. Where the mind remains at peace in any
situation, there in lies true Gnan – that is true religion.
The nature of the mind is very strange. It is such that it
will steal five dollars from someone and give away two dollars
to someone else. The mind is very unpredictable; in no time it
can create dislike for a person you have always revered. So be
cautious, do not act according to the dictates of your mind.
What has Saint Kabir said?
‘The person who is dictated by his mind loses everything.’
The mind is very elusive; it will never let you become
aware that it has deceived you. If the powers of the self enter
the mind and become one with the mind, it can sabotage you.
It is like jumping into a lake then crying out for help. In this day
and age, people’s minds have become fractured. Such minds
can drive a person to jump into the ocean.
The mind is like a dancer. People say that it is the king
who makes the dancer dance. I say this is not so. It is the
dancer who makes the king dance. Similarly, your mind makes
you dance.
Two friends are out walking and one of them gets a whiff
of some meat cooking in a restaurant close by. Within him his
tuber for eating meat starts to erupt and tickles him from within.
He gets an intense desire to eat meat. He makes an excuse and
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tells his friend he has to meet someone and asks him to wait for
him. He lies to his friend in this way and goes and eats in the
restaurant. Alas! People even take a false oath in the name of
God. When the tubers erupt, they will start lying. This is what
God calls kashaya. The wretched man binds a tuber of deceit
and a tuber of lying and strengthens his tuber of eating meat.
When a tuber erupts in an ignorant person (person without Self-
realization), he will bind five more new ones. Instead if he were
to become flexible and straightforward when his tuber for eating
meat erupts, he will one day solve his problems. In his ignorant
state he will never become free from his tubers of eating meat but
by telling the truth that he is going to the restaurant to eat meat,
he can benefit greatly. If his friend comes form a virtuous family,
he may even try to free him from his meat-eating habit or may
show him a way out. His friend may help him understand and if
he continues to repent, he may break his habit in the end. But if
he does not soften and relent and goes away by lying and deceit,
then he will never become free because he will bind new tubers
of deceit and lies. That is why God has said for us to adopt a
principle of not stealing through the medium of the mind, speech
and acts. That way some day the tubers will dissolve.
There are all kinds of tubers in the mind : tubers of greed,
pride, deceit, and anger. There may be tubers of all of these
within. The tuber of pride is better than that of greed. The tuber
of greed is very bad; even the one who has it is not aware of
it. Whereas others can see the tuber of pride sprouting and
when someone asks him why he walks around being boastful
and arrogant, his tuber of pride will dissolve. The tuber of greed
may become evident some day but the tuber of deceit will
always remain hidden.
How Do The Tubers Of the Mind Dissolve?
The tubers of greed and anger will cause a lot of suffering
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to you as well as others. The Lord has said for the one with
greed to be charitable. Such people should gather some loose
change worth about twenty-five dollars and walk along scattering
the money and when their mind begins to fight back, they should
scatter more money. This way the mind will become quiet. But
the best way to dissolve the tuber of greed is through thinking
things through. Think about why and for whom you have gathered
your wealth and what kinds of happiness do you want from it.
You don’t achieve any happiness for yourself, you loose your
own happiness working for others and in addition, you incur the
liability of all the kashays committed in the process.
When a tuber erupts in the Gnani, He simply remains the
seer and the observer of that tuber. In accordance with the
Gnani’s instructions, if you look at the tubers of the mind from
a vantage point of the pure Self, then those tubers will gradually
dissolve. I have infinite powers within and that is why I am able
to dissolve your tubers; but as far as possible, I avoid using
these powers unnecessarily. I show you the way to do it. You
acquire experience when these tubers erupt and you get the
opportunity to watch the film of the mind. What will the ‘seer’
do if there is nothing to see? To the extent the mind unfolds, the
Self too will blossom. The knowing power of the Self will
increase in proportion with the increase in the number of objects
seen. The more the number of objects you see, the greater the
knowing power of the Self. Wherever the mind has become
defiled with dirt, you can clean it by using the soap of Gnan.
If the mind craves for some french fries, you should
instantly become aware whether it is vyavasthit prodding you or
whether you are being enticed by the rogues within. Be assured
that it is vyavasthit when it strikes three times. The mind and the
intellect will remain subdued if the body gets only just enough
for its nourishment. Nevertheless, in my Gnan, there is no need
to renounce or acquire. Vyavasthit will guide you.
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The mind constantly needs nourishment. It needs pressure.
It needs to remain busy. The mind will behave badly when you
are alone. Mahatmas who have acquired my Gnan remain
detached and unaffected in worldly life and experience solitude
of the Self in extreme congestion. The mind gets its food in
crowds and becomes engrossed in its own work and at that
time the Self is left alone to remain in bliss.
If someone’s mind becomes weak, even a person without
Self-Realization will ask ‘Why are you so preoccupied with
your thoughts, snap out of it!’ The mind will express anything.
Do you think people have thoughts about dying? Certainly
they do. Everyone thinks about dying but what do they do?
They shove such thoughts aside the moment they erupt. Why
not get rid of all your thoughts? But no, people would not do
that. They cling on to thoughts that please them. This Gnan of
ours is such that at the moment of death, the Self will manifest
fully. At that moment one will withdraw completely in the domain
of the Self. The mind, intellect, chit and ego will all become still
and at the moment of death, there will be absolute peace (samadhi
– deep meditation). All my mahatmas have samadhi at the time
of their death.
The Mind Is Physical
The mind is completely physical. It is mechanical. If a
man manufactures machines, at the time of the manufacturing he
becomes one with the machinery. And when that machine runs,
his ego will take credit for doing such a good job. And if he
were to accidentally stick his finger in the machine, will the
machine have any hesitation in cutting his finger? No it will not.
It will cut his finger in no time because the machine is physical
: insentient – in that the maker of the machine has no power.
The same is true of the mind.
There are atoms that are lighter than the atoms of the
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body. Speech is made of these atoms and the mind is made up
of atoms even lighter than these.
Mind : Subtle And Gross
There are two kinds of minds : gross and subtle. – The
subtle mind is also known as bhaav mun, intent or causal mind
or charge mind, and the gross mind is called dravya mun, the
effect mind. The causal mind is located at a depth of two and
a half inches from the center of the forehead at the eyebrow
level. The effect mind, also known as discharge mind, is in the
heart. It has petals. Many people say, ‘My heart does not
accept.’ In situations of sudden shock, the heart becomes very
agitated, that is physical mind- it is in the form of discharge,
whereas the causal mind creates new causes and therefore it
charges karma.
The causal mind has a purpose and that is why the seeds
of cause are sown. The causal mind can be recognized from
your intents. But you do not have the ability to see your deep
inner intents; you can only do so after you attain the Self.
Thereafter You are absolutely impartial and are able to see the
mind completely separate like a movie. Only then can you
understand what causal mind is. Only the omniscient can
recognize the causal mind. The Gnani, who is omniscient, seals
off your causal mind and so there is no charging of a new mind,
but only the discharging mind remains. Thereafter you only need
to see and know the effect or discharge.
What the foreigners refer to as conscious and subconscious
mind, is the physical or discharge mind. No one can grasp even
a single atom of the subtle causal mind. That is the task for only
the Gnani Purush because it can only be ascertained through
Gnan.
I have given you, the mahatmas, the knowledge of the
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Self and so you are completely separate from your mind. I have
put a stop to your charge mind and have made you the knower
and the observer of your discharge mind. Thus you can remain
undisturbed when you are faced with the infinite states of the
mind. That is Gnan. And those who become affected and
entangled in any state of the mind create new causes; the effect
of which is then brought forth by vyavasthit. They again become
affected (as the effect unfolds) and this gives rise to new causes
and thus the cycle of cause and effect continues.
The Mind - The Known : The Self - The Knower
The Self is steadfast and the thoughts fluctuate. Both are
separate. This is the only relationship between the Knower (Self)
and the known (thoughts).
That is why I tell everyone not to spoil his or her inner
intent under any circumstances. An unexpected guest may come
to visit you at an untimely hour, but do not spoil your inner
intent. Feed him or her a simple meal but do not spoil your inner
feelings. Do not let your mind become narrow and miserly.
Anger breaks the other person’s mind beyond
reconciliation. This will cause you to wander for many rebirths.
There is a saying that a mind, a pearl and a glass, once broken
can never be mended again.
‘Manahparyava gnan’ means to know thoughts taking
place in the mind of others before their echo is heard in your
own inner instrument (antahkaran). A person possessing
‘manahparyaya gnan’ can read, see and know those thoughts
slowly but clearly. In the language of the Vitarag – to see and
to know all the phases of your own mind is ‘manahparyaya
gnan’.
I am the doctor of the mind in this world. You will find
doctors of the body everywhere but go and find me a doctor
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of the mind. The diseases in the body arise from the diseases
of the mind. I stop all the diseases of the mind and stop any
new ones from occurring and help you maintain the newly
acquired healthy state. I separate you from your mind and give
you your pure Self. After that the mind will not disturb you.
Such a mind will help you towards liberation. This mind will
obey you completely.
The Light Of The Intellect : The Light Of Gnan
Knowledge of all the topics in this world is contained
within the intellect and ego less knowledge is in the Self.
One can have the knowledge of all the topics of the
world. This knowledge is associated with the ego and therefore
it is under the domain of the intellect (buddhi). Such knowledge
is not reliable; it is egoistic knowledge. Many highly intellectual
individuals, under certain circumstances become stupid. A man
with intellect is liable to lose it and become stupid.
Intellect (buddhi) is the indirect light of the Self. It comes
through the medium of the ego. It is like the sunlight coming in
through the window, which falls on the mirror, and that light is
then reflected in another room.
Gnan is the direct light of the Self. It is the full light. It
shows everything exactly as it is. Intellect is reflected light. It is
the original light reflected through the ego. It is not the light
itself, whereas Gnan is the light itself. It is self-illuminating and
also has enough energy to illuminate the entire universe. For
example, the sun is self-illuminating and also illuminates other
things whereas the light of the moon is the sun’s reflected light.
Comparing intellect (buddhi) with Gnan is like comparing
a candle to the sun. I have the full light of Gnan and that is why
I have absolutely no intelligence. I am without intellect.
Concomitant with the demise of the intellect, an omniscient state
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expressed within me. One can only become omniscient when
one becomes completely free from intelligence.
Types Of Intellect
There are two kinds of intellect : (1) Right intellect (samyak
buddhi). (2) Wrong intellect (viprit buddhi).
The right intellect is the intellect which is on the right path
and this intellect can only be acquired when one becomes Self-
realized. Thereafter this intellect will show what is right. It will
show things exactly as they are. Only rarely does one attain the
right intellect.
The wrong intellect is always to be found in the absence
of right intellect. Wrong intellect means it is wrong from the
perspective of attaining liberation. It is the nature of wrong
intellect to strengthen the foundation of worldly life and it will
never help one towards liberation. The intellect wanders around
only in the worldly life constantly assessing benefits and losses
for the worldly life, never for liberation.
As one’s intellect increases, so does one’s internal suffering.
If a mother of a two-year-old toddler is on her deathbed, he
will not be affected. He will still be laughing and playing, whereas
her twenty-year-old son will have so much internal suffering. As
the intellect increases, so does the internal suffering. These
laborers have no worries. They sleep soundly everyday, whereas
these wealthy businessmen worry constantly. They do not even
sleep soundly as night. Why? This is because they have greater
intellect. Internal suffering is proportional to the amount of the
intellect. The higher the intellect, the greater is the internal suffering.
Where there is intellect, there will always be the ego of
‘I am the doer’. That is precisely why one worries. It is the
intellect that keeps us separate from the Self.
Lord Krishna has referred to the intellect as vyabhicharini
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(perverted) and says that it makes one wander endlessly in the
worldly life.
Up to what point is the intellect necessary? The intellect
is necessary up to the point one attains Self-Realization. The
use of intellect should be limited to solving difficult life situations
and preventing such situations. The intellect should never be
used to earn money or to deceive others. There is grave danger
in doing so.
Wealth comes to you because of your merit karma and
not because of the use of your intelligence. The owners of these
big factories and mills have no intelligence and yet abundant
wealth comes their way. Their employees use a great deal of
intellect. They are the ones who deal with all the tax officers and
have to hear verbal insults of the tax officers, while the boss
sleeps soundly and leisurely.
The Receptacle Of Intellect Life After Life
Every man is happy in his own home. A person that lives
in a hut will not be happy in a bungalow and vice versa. The
reason behind this is the ‘receptacle’ of the intellect. A person
will only like whatever he has brought with him in the receptacle
of intellect. Whatever one fills in the receptacle of his intellect
in the past life, is divided into two categories : Fruits of merit
karma, and fruits of demerit karma. Everyone divides up this
receptacle of intellect. Of the total contents of this receptacle,
they use up most of the percentage to acquire material wealth,
nice home, a car and a family. This way they use up most of
their fruits of their merit karma, leaving behind only one or two
percent for spirituality and religion.
There are two thieves who steal. One gets caught and the
other escapes cleverly. What does that indicate? They have
brought with them intellect that prompts stealing, but for the one
who gets caught, his demerit karma has come into effect and
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therefore he is using up his demerit fruits while the other uses
up his merit karma in escaping. In this way everyone uses up
their merit and demerit karma according to what they have
brought in the receptacle of their intellect. If one comes into this
world with the intellect for becoming extremely wealthy, then his
merit karma will be used up for that. Another person has brought
the same kind of intellect in his receptacle, but for him instead
of fruits of merit karma he is faced with the fruit of his demerit
karma and so he never sees any money. So precise are people’s
accounts, life after life, that no one has any power over them.
And these fools believe, ‘I earned ten million rupees.’ Alas! He
has used up the fruits of his merit karma and on the wrong path
at that. Instead change what you fill in the receptacle of your
intellect. Your intent should be only for true religion and not for
transient material wealth of cars, bungalows, radios etc. Keep
the receptacle of your intellect purely for the purpose of attaining
the knowledge of the Self. Whatever you have right now, let it
be. From now on fill the receptacle of your intellect with that
which will liberate you.
My receptacle of intellect that I have brought forth for
this life is only for that which is for the real religion and for the
salvation of the world. I have not spent any of my merit karma
anywhere else - not for money, house, wife, children or anything
else.
Everyone who has come to me and taken this Gnan, have
been able to do so because they had allocated two to five
percent of their merit karma for liberation. Because I had
allocated a hundred percent for true religion, I have been given
a certificate of ‘No objection’ as far as religion is concerned.
Lord Ganpati – The Deity of Intellect
Lord Ganpati is the chief deity of all the deities representing
wisdom and intellect. He possesses the sole right to write
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scriptures. There is not a single place where his intellect does
not shine. There is no weakness in his intellect. That is exactly
why he is placed first and foremost among all deities. Even in
rituals of prayer worship, Lord Ganpati is placed first. The
intellect becomes humble and free from illusion by worshipping
him. If a person encounters a few difficulties in a month but
constantly lives in fear everyday, it is the result of wrong intellect.
Worship of Lord Ganpati converts wrong intellect to right. That
is why Lord Ganpati is always placed first in any worship, but
because people perform their rituals without the correct
understanding behind it, their worship does not prove fruitful. If
worship is performed with the correct understanding, it will
bring good results.
Ganpati has successfully passed through all the intricacies
and perplexities of the intellect. By worshipping him with an
understanding, the illusion of the intellect disappears and the
right intellect is attained.
Experience Through Intellect : Experience Through
Gnan
If a person who has never before tasted cardamom
flavored ice-cream were given the ice-cream in the dark, he will
begin to wonder whether the ice-cream is naturally cold; whether
the nature of milk and all the ingredients in the ice cream, such
as sugar, cream and cardamom, is also cold. Intellect has the
ability to discern and analyze the inherent qualities of the
ingredients in the ice cream and why it is so cold. One is able
to know and experience all this through his intellect. If the
intellect, the indirect light of the Self, can be so useful in mundane
worldly matters, imagine how powerful the direct light of the
Self can be.
I tell everyone to put their intellect (buddhi) on pension
after they acquire the light of the Self. The whole world needs
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intellect. They are dependent on it but the knowledge of the Self
is such that the intellect is not needed any more. I refer to the
intellect as a lying rogue. Never give any credence to it. You
should tell her, “Listen, Madam intellect, life after life you have
harassed me. Dear Madam now return to your own home. Go
to the ones who need you. I have no need for you anymore.”
Retire your intellect in this way. You do not have to insult it or
be contemptuous towards it, because as long as there is any
contempt or hatred within you, you will not attain liberation. So
try to appease it anyway you can and send her home. Pension
means consolation.
If you want liberation then you should not listen to your
intellect at all. The intellect is such that it will show you faults
even in a Gnani Purush. Oh unlucky one! You see faults even
in the one who can grant you liberation? Your liberation will go
away from you for infinite lives.
It is intellect that makes you clash in the worldly life. If
just by listening to your wife you encounter so much clash and
aggravation, just think what Madam Intellect will do to you! If
you listen to her, there is no telling where you will be thrown.
Even at two in the morning she will awaken you and mislead
you. Your encounters with your wife are not so many but this
Madam Intellect is always with you. She is such that she can
dethrone you from your seat.
There is a diamond worth five hundred million. If you
were to ask a hundred jewelers to appraise it, they will each
give you a different value, because they each are guided by their
own intellect. It is the same diamond and yet so many different
values, because everyone’s intellect is different. Therefore do
not try to measure the intellect of a Gnani Purush. It is not in
your capacity to do so.
You should not use your intellect (buddhi) before a Gnani,
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even by mistake. Every part of the Gnani and his divine karma
are worthy of worship. The intellect can never be used here.
This Gnani Purush has a physical body but within resides the
one who is eternally aware. What is visible to you is the physical
form of the Gnani Purush, which is purely for play-acting for
worldly interactions. It is completely dramatic (theatrical). For
the sake of worldly interactions, the part the Gnani Purush plays
is dramatic – outwardly he plays his role as Ambalal, but from
within he is completely detached. I have no intellect. Only through
the association with the one who is without intellect, can you
become the same.
The work of the people in this world is done by the
intellect and the work of the Gnani is done by vyavasthit, and
so there is no need to interfere at all.
What is intellect? It is your viewpoint from your past life.
If you are traveling on a highway, you look at the landscape
around you for four miles and you decide that it would be good
to have everything this way. The intellect endorses this and the
viewpoint of the four-mile becomes decided. In the next mile
the landscape changes and so does your viewpoint and the
intellect endorses this too, but the intellect does not disregard
the viewpoint of the past because of the new one. That is why
it presents itself to you, over and over again. If you were to
disregard the viewpoint of the past then there is no problem but
this is not possible. Your opinions always present themselves
before you – this I refer to as your past vision and knowledge
because the intellect has endorsed them and that is why there
is an on going conflict from within. Your intellect of today is the
viewpoint of your past and your viewpoint of today becomes
your intellect for the next life and this is how everything carries
on.
A thief steals because he has an opinion for stealing. It is
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the endorsement by his intellect from his past life and that is why
he steals in this life but if he were to associate with someone
noble, he may change his viewpoint. He may even decide that
it is wrong to steal, and so although he steals in his current life
because of his viewpoint of the past, his current opinion is
changing to one of “I should not steal’ and so in his next life he
will acquire the intellect which will not allow him to steal.
Why Do We Have Difference Of Opinions?
Why do we have difference of opinion with others? This
is because everyone has different viewpoints and that is why
they perceive things differently. To steal is a viewpoint of a thief;
he is not a thief forever. To say that someone’s viewpoint is
wrong is tantamount to calling his self wrong because that is his
belief; he believes his body to be his real self. He is correct in
his viewpoint. As long as there is ignorance of his real Self, his
viewpoint is his only support. After Gnan he comes to the
center and thereafter both ignorance and his viewpoint lose
support.
I never tell anyone, ‘You are wrong.’ I do not even tell
a thief that he is wrong because he is correct from his point of
view. Of course I would explain to him the consequences of his
actions.
Each and every human being is groping around in the
territory of good or evil intellect. Good intellect shows good
things and evil intellect will show wicked things. Ultimately both
kind of intellect will make a person wander around in the worldly
life and that is why I call it wrong intellect (viprit buddhi). Wrong
intellect hurts both the giver and the receiver. The right intellect
will help both the giver and the receiver.
Wrong intellect causes tremendous suffering. If someone
is ill in your home and your intellect points out to you, ‘What
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if he dies?’ then it will keep you up crying all night.
The Vaniks have a lot of intellect. But it also makes them
suffer a lot. The intellect of a Vanik can even become an obstacle
for liberation. Liberation is a feat for the brave; it is a feat for
the Kshatriyas (warrior class). The Self has nothing to do with
social divisions but the attributes of the prakruti, confuses it and
deludes it (self) in the ignorant state. Kshatriyas are very powerful
and determined. All the twenty-four Tirthankars were Kshatriyas.
When Kshatriyas desire liberation, they do not consider worldly
things of any value, whereas the Vaniks who desire liberation
will attach importance to the worldly things also. One has to be
cautious of the Vanik intellect. Beware of it, it causes a great
deal of confusion on the path of liberation.
The Vaniks have a very large tuber of greed. These tubers
are not easily evident to them. Whereas Kshatriyas are restless
by nature and they exhibit their aggressiveness everywhere.
Nevertheless they come to their senses quickly because they
also suffer in the process. But it is very difficult to bring a Vanik
to the level where he can see his weaknesses.
When a Kshatriya goes to the temple, he will put his hand
in his pocket and put all that comes out in his hand into the
donation chest. Whereas a Vanik decides how much he will
donate before he leaves home. On the way he will get enough
loose change so that he can donate a little at every temple he
visits. AVanik uses his intellect (buddhi) whenever an opportunity
presents to him to make a meaningful intent for his salvation.
What is wealth? It is puran-galan (input-output). For every
input, output is inevitable. That is the law of accounts. People
make matters worse by interfering through their intellect. They
waste their valuable energies in the natural process of input-
output. Money is your bank balance, it is your account of merit
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karma and it is predetermined. When a person uses his intellect
to make money, he ruins his dhyan. Instead of dharma dhyan he
is in raudra or arta dhyan. This ruins his next life.
And as if that is not enough, people have learned to use
tricks and deception. By this I mean they exploit those with
lesser intellect by using their own higher intellect. Thus they
deceive others of their wealth. Deceptive people are very smart,
and so are thieves. People who use deception bind for a birth
in the world of lower life forms (adhogati).
Vaniks create boundaries of defense around themselves
with their intellect to protect their own self-interest. They do not
care for the welfare of others around them. Why do they look
good in their worldly interactions? It is because of this ‘fence’
of their intellect. Their focus is only on themselves and they are
constantly looking after their own self-interest. If a Vanik were
asked to render judgment, he will first consider whether the
person concerned will be happy or unhappy. He would render
judgment, which will not hurt the other person. In order not to
hurt the other person, he would rather lie and render a wrong
judgment. But the God within takes notice that he is keeping
both sides covered. Why not say it exactly as it is. Tell the truth
in such a way that it is not hurtful. But instead they cover up the
truth with a wrong decision, and thereby take on a grave liability.
By proving a guilty man innocent, one takes on a grave liability.
One should say it as it is.
How have all these problems arisen? It is because these
people keep others in the dark in order to maintain their own
self-interest. They will cover this up until the point of discovery.
The shameless hoarding they do for their own worldly happiness
will make them suffer intensely on their path of liberation. It will
torture them and create a lot of misery for them. It will not allow
them to attain liberation easily.
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The Vanik’s intellect will not allow them to kill any insects,
nor will they steal from any one. They have stopped committing
overt, visible violence (i.e. practicing non-violence towards bugs,
insects, animals etc) as well as overt stealing. But they continue
to steal subtly on a large scale. Those who steal overtly will
improve some day but those who steal on a subtle level will
never improve. The people, who deceive others, work with so
much sophistication and shrewdness, that they reap profits while
sitting at home by working the farmers to death. The Lord calls
this subtle himsa. The Lord has said that there is a possibility of
salvation for those who kill with a gun but there is no hope for
those who use deceit and tricks. Those who kill with a gun will
go to hell, turn around and come back and search for a way to
liberation. But those who kill through deceit fall deeper and
deeper in the quagmire of the world. They will accumulate wealth
and then turn around and donate some of it. This will sow new
seeds and perpetuate their worldly life. This is considered
sophisticated deceit and trickery.
There is no trace of deceit or trick in a Gnani Purush. The
Vanik intellect functions on deceit. It would have been far better
not to know the art of deceit. Before acquiring this Gnan I used
to teach people how to use deception, but only out of
compassion for the person who became trapped in a situation.
Eventually I stopped that too. For me, there is no deceit
anymore. Everything is exactly as it should be. There should be
one-ness of mind, body and speech, there should be no division
between them.
If you paid ninety dollars for a watch and sell it for one
hundred and ten dollars, do not lie to the buyer that you paid
one hundred and ten dollars for it. Instead tell him you paid
ninety dollars for it but you are selling it for one hundred and
ten dollars. If the buyer wants it, he will buy it for that amount.
Vyavasthit is such that if you were to receive a hundred and ten
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for it, you will do so regardless of whether you deceive him or
tell the truth. When everything is so precise, why take on
unnecessary liability by using deceit? You take on tremendous
liability by using deceit, the consequence for which is a birth in
the world of lower life form.
What creates obstruction to the inflow of wealth? It is
continuous use of deceit and tricks. People have made a habit
of tricking others. Otherwise a Vanik is a trader and he conducts
his trade with honesty. He does not have to earn a living working
under others.
Honesty In Business
This is why I tell you what is for your absolute good.
Do not resort to deceit. Deal honestly. Be honest with your
customers and tell them that in your business, your profit margin
is fifteen percent. They can buy from you if they want to.
What has the Lord said? If you are destined to receive three
hundred dollars, you will get that amount whether you steal,
use deceit or deal honestly. You will not receive a penny more
or less. So then why are you being foolish and taking on the
liability of stealing and deceit? Try to do your business honestly
and legally for a few days and see what happens. At first you
will experience some difficulty for about six months to a year
but it will then run very smoothly. Even your clients will realize
that your business is honest and unadulterated. They will come
to you without you having to advertise. The vyavasthit that
brings customers to your shop is vyavasthit but the foolish
ones sit in their shops worrying and waiting for the customers
to show. They spoil their dhyan and enter into adverse
meditation.
If you decide that you want to conduct an honest business,
then it will happen for you. The Lord has said that there is grave
liability in adulterating food and gold.
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Kacchis (people of a special sect from western Gujarat)
too are infected with the dangerous disease of deceit. They are
worse than the Vaniks in the art of deceit.
The times are such that you have to live amidst deceitful
people. But still your intent and awareness should always be on
how to escape from all deceit. With this intent, you will be able
to escape from the greatest liability. If such intent exists then
with repentance you will encounter circumstances where you
will not have to be deceitful and your business will run well. On
the contrary people will commend your business.
If you want to attain liberation you must follow the words
of a Gnani and if you do not want liberation then follow the
times but in your mind you must feel that you do not want a
deceitful business. You will then find such a business. Your
business practices should be such that even when a child comes
to you, his parents will not have any fear of their child being
cheated.
Why Is There A Shortage Of Wealth?
Why is there a shortage of wealth? It is because of the
practice of stealing. Goddess of wealth graces her presence
where there is no deceit or stealing through the mind, the body
and speech. Wealth is obstructed by the practice of deceit.
Intellect is not to be used to make money. It is to be used
for the good of others.
With Gnan you can see clearly which of your actions
bring you happiness and which make you miserable. People
with intellect ruin things by tricking and deceiving others.
The word ‘trick’ should not even be in our dictionary.
Why have you been given the knowledge of vyavasthit?
Whatever is meant to be in vyavasthit, so let it be. If there is
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to be a profit of thousand dollars, let it be and if there is a loss
of a thousand dollars, let that be too. Accept both profit and
loss with equanimity. It is all under the control of vyavasthit and
not under your control. If it were under your control, you would
not allow your hair to turn gray. You will some how find a way
to keep them black.
A man without deceit looks simple and straightforward.
One feels good just looking at his face. Whereas the face of a
deceitful person looks laden, as if he has just swallowed some
castor oil. Once you become the Self (Self-Realized), will you
not have to clean up your old baggage? Will you not have to
repay all that you have taken? The baggage you have filled
through deceit will have to be paid back even through suffering.
That is why I say, “Honesty is the best policy and dishonesty
is the best foolishness.”
Function Of The Intellect And Function Of Gnan
To know what is impure (ashuddha), auspicious (shoobha)
and inauspicious (ashoobha) is the function of the intellect and
not Gnan. Gnan’s only function is to observe and know the pure
(shuddha). But the intellect makes you believe the known (gneya)
to be the knower (gnata). “I am Chandulal’ is that which is to
be known (gneya), but the intellect makes you believe it as the
knower (gnata). Such is the intellect, the ego is always mixed
with the intellect and it believes the known to be the knower.
How can you experience liberation when you believe the function
of the intellect to be the function of Gnan?
A great seeming closeness may be perceived by the
intellect but it is beyond the reach of intellect to perceive the
known as the known, and the knower as the knower because
the intellect itself is an object to be known and therefore it
cannot see the real truth.
This world has no beginning or an end. Even in this matter
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people have used their intellect and confused the issue. How do
you benefit from knowing whether this world has a beginning or
an end? This world has no beginning or an end; this analogy is
like a circle. How can there be a beginning or and end in a
circle? It is only when you go beyond the intellect and become
a Gnani that you will realize that the world has neither a beginning
nor an end.
Svachhanda (acting according to one’s own whim and
beliefs) is deluded intellect. People do terrible harm to themselves
through svachhhand. To act according to your own understanding
is called svachhanda, regardless of what you are doing, whether
you are doing something good, bad or reading the scriptures. A
single misunderstanding in reading the scripture will become the
cause behind endless rounds of rebirth for you. So beware of
svachaand.
From the moment your wrong intellect (vipreet buddhi)
begins, you are whole and sole responsible for it. God does not
take any responsibility in those situations. Wrong intellect brings
misery to both, the giver and the receiver.
There are two kinds of intellects : internal and external.
Indians have internal intellect and the foreigners have external
intellect. Those with internal intellect suffer more, because the
more developed the intellect, the greater the internal suffering.
The foreigners are natural and spontaneous by nature whereas
the Indians are natural in certain matters and deliberately difficult
in others. However for spirituality, only the internal intellect is
helpful.
The intellect that searches externally finds nothing but
‘prickly shrubs’. One would benefit only if one searches within.
People’s intellect wanders outside incessantly and consequently
gets exhausted. It is only when I bestow upon you the intellect
that wanders within, that your work for liberation will be done.
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You have wrong intellect that drives away happiness and invites
misery.
You are unable to understand the real nature of pleasure
and pain. Intellect will always show you the contrary; that which
is not in your real benefit. It derives only the transient happiness
from material things. There is no happiness in material things.
What would happen if someone were to scratch or dent your
new car? Whatever pleasure you derive through the intellect
ultimately results in misery. Drawn by the attraction of things,
the intellect superimposes happiness on them. There are infinite
things. In order to discover the bliss of the Self, each individual
non realized-soul tastes one thing after another and then decides
wherein lies this happiness. That is what humans are in search
of. First they decide that happiness lies in wealth but then they
become obsessed with money and suffer miserably. Then they
decide that happiness lies in a woman. So then they look for
sex in addition to wealth. They are convinced that happiness lies
only with these two. But when their wives retort rudely, it ignites
a fire within them. What happens when their wealth turns against
them? If the income tax department raids their homes, the same
wealth will become a source of their misery.
Difference In Intellect : Difference Of Opinions
In today’s world, there maybe only three people in a
household, but by the end of the day they will have thirty-three
different opinions. How is one to find a solution? Alas! Even a
guru and his disciple, will have difference of opinions by the
day’s end. Wherever there is intellect that divides (bhed buddhi)
there is bound to be difference of opinions. If intellect without
divisions (abhed buddhi) were to arise, then all the problems
would be solved. The one who becomes impartial can sit in the
center and see everyone as innocent. Whenever the intellect
shows you anything negative, you should immediately ask the
right (samyak) intellect to go find a solution, and it will.
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This world arose when the soul became deluded. When
the intellect (buddhi) becomes deluded, Gnan will manifest.
I do not look at anyone’s intellect; I look at his
understanding. The intellect can be skewed at three hundred
different places but there is not a problem if the understanding
is right. A person with intellect may rise higher through the use
of that intellect but he may fall too, whereas the one with right
understanding will go higher and higher, to the top and will
never fall. Intellect is a part of the non-Self and not the Self.
Right understanding and intuitive perception (darshan) is the
innate quality of the Self.
Those with pita (bilious) constitution have sharper intellect
and the ones with vata (air) constitution have deeper
understanding.
Everything has arisen out of the imagination of the intellect.
It is all worldly in nature. In every religion, whatever came into
the imagination of the people, came to be recorded in their
scriptures. A scripture is knowledge born of the intellect. Pure
consciousness (chetan) is never found in the scriptures. Gnan,
on the other hand, is self-illuminating and it can only be found
in the heart of a Gnani. The phases of intellect are full of
scams. The intellect tries to convince the owner that it is Gnan
that is operating. Therefore I tell you to beware of the intellect.
When the intellect shows you something, recall ‘Dada’ (the
Self) and say out loud, ‘I am Vitarag’, and the intellect will settle
down.
Gnan does not find fault with anyone whereas the intellect
finds faults in everyone. The intellect will find faults in even one’s
own brother whereas Gnan will not find fault even in a stepmother.
If a stepmother serves her stepchild burnt rice from the bottom
of the pot, the intellect will immediately rise and accuse the
stepmother of being unfair; it will cause the stepson grief. But
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if the child has acquired Gnan, that Gnan will immediately make
him aware that, ‘She is a pure Soul and I am a pure Soul and
whatever is happening is the interplay and discharge between
the two pudgals (non-Self), and that the karmic accounts are
being settled.’ The pudgal (the non-Self) is made up of mud and
the intellect is made up of light. It can give you light and at the
same time it can scorch you. That is why I call the intellect
sinful. It is necessary to become free from intellect (abudha).
Intellect can make a person above normal and it can also make
him below normal. There has to be normality in every thing in
the world. Normality can never be achieved without one
becoming free from the intellect.
I am sans intellect, free from obstinacy, open-minded and
in normality. Just one single strand of my hair contains the
knowledge of this entire world.
Those with lesser intellect have a soft and tender heart;
such a person, if he chooses to solve the puzzle of life, will go
all the way on the right path or if he does something wrong, he
may even go all the way on the wrong path. If a person were
to not use his intellect for just one day, he would accomplish his
spiritual work. If you want to sow seeds for a next life then use
your intellect. It is not under your control to increase the light
of the intellect but you do have the control to diminish it.
Therefore keep the intellect diminished. The intellect is not
universally beneficial whereas Gnan is.
The Power Of Concentration
A man with limited intellect will be prone to abhorrence.
A man with expansive intellect (worldly wisdom) does not exhibit
abhorrence. When you visit a museum, do you show any hatred
towards anything there? Koosung (company of anything or
anyone other than the Self) means repeated teasing of the
intellect, this way and that way.
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The power of concentration is limited and depends on the
power of intellect. Whatever a person has brought within his
receptacle of intellect is what is going to discharge in this life
and nothing more. The thieves in India are capable of
concentrating on as many as sixteen different things at the time
of stealing. The thieves go out to steal without eating a meal and
so their power of concentration is heightened. Where to steal?
At what point? At what time? Where will the policeman be?
Where is the purse? In which pocket? How to pick that pocket?
How to escape and from which door? Thieves in India can
concentrate on sixteen such things at a time. The power of
concentration arises completely out of intellect and not out of
Gnan. The power of concentration may increase but goes down
with a heavy meal. That is how strange all this is. If concentration
were result of Gnan, it would remain constant. It would not wax
or wane.
Questioner : Is intellect the same thing as illusion (maya)?
Dadashri : No, maya is ignorance of the Self. Ignorance
leaves as soon as you acquire Gnan, but the inner instrument
(antahkaran) remains. Intellect remains and incites one to
participate in things profitable in the worldly life and makes one
wander in the world. What is intellect? If someone was deceiving
your son, your intellect will compel you to interfere. In reality it
is vyavasthit that does everything but still the intellect interferes.
First the mind informs the intellect and then only the intellect can
interfere. The intellect interferes in everything. At night when
you are dreaming there is no interference by the intellect and
everything goes well. In the same token the worldly life is also
a dream in your wakeful state.
What would happen if a passenger sitting next to the
driver grabs hold of the driver’s hand, when there is a bus
coming directly at them? There would be an accident. But people
are smart, they would not do such a thing because they know
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that the steering wheel is in the hands of the driver and his job
is to steer the car; only he drives the car. You can comprehend
this obvious example of a car but how can you comprehend
what is happening within? Here you cannot refrain from interfering
and consequently confusion arises. There would be no confusion
if you were to leave everything to the ‘driver’ even in matters
within. you have brought the internal driver with you from the
past life.
The realization of ‘I am pure Soul’ is elemental intellect
(tattva buddhi). Once this realization occurs, the feeling of ‘I am
the body’ will disappear. The intellect that was focused towards
the body now focuses towards the Self. Elemental intellect means
the right (samyak) intellect. When the right knowledge begins,
real intellect is born. Wrong (vipreet) intellect always prevails in
the absence of right knowledge.
Chit : The Third Component Of Antahkaran
Chit is the third component of the inner psychic organ. Its
function is to wander and show images of things as they are. It
can project scenes of places in America exactly the way they
are, even while one is in India. The mind never leaves the body.
It is the impure chit that leaves the body and wanders. Pure chit
is the pure Soul (Shuddhatma).
Chit is Knowledge (Gnan) + Vision (darshan)
Impure Chit is Impure knowledge + Impure vision
Pure Chit is Pure Knowledge + Pure Vision
The mind shows a pamphlet and the chit shows a picture.
These two do the work and the intellect makes the decision, the
ego then endorses that decision and finally the action takes
place. The chit visualizes a situation. Impure chit comprises of
phases of impure knowledge and impure vision. Before the
intellect renders a decision, there is a struggle between the mind
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and the chit. That struggle stops as soon as the intellect makes
a decision between the two. If the intellect is set aside, the mind
and the chit do not cause any obstructions.
From time immemorial, the chit has been in search of its
home. It continues to wander. It sees all kinds of different things
and consequently all kinds of knowledge-perception (gnan-
darshan) accumulate within. The tendencies of The chit (chitvrutis)
collect whatever it sees, takes its stock, and when the time
comes, it shows it as it is in the form of a scene. If the chit
becomes absorbed in what it sees, it attracts atoms (of what it
sees), these atoms accumulate and form complex tubers, from
which the mind is formed. This mind projects a pamphlet when
the moment is right, the chit will see the image or a picture and
the intellect renders a decision.
These tendencies of your chit that wander outside cease
to do so once I draw them towards ‘me’ (the Self; the Gnan).
The tendencies of your chit thus become bound and that is
liberation.
These impure tendencies (vrutties) of the chit have been
wandering endlessly. When they keep going to a particular place
and if you try to retract them, they will revolt and go to the
same place again. The fact that these chitvrutis return to their
own home, the Self, after Gnan is a wonder in itself. Wherever
the chitvruti wanders, the body too will have to go there. In the
kramik path of liberation one has to cross-endless hurdles of
different phases of the mind and the chit before one reaches the
ego, which still needs to be purified. But for all of you, I have
made you leap over all these levels and placed you directly in
your own abode, your pure Self.
The chit keeps wandering in search of its home, the Self.
It seeks happiness. Wherever the chit becomes still, other parts
of the inner instrument (antahkaran) become still also and that
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Aptavani-1 119
is why it appears that there is happiness there. But how long will
this state of stillness remain? The chit will then go somewhere
else and project happiness there and the happiness it perceived
in the former situation turns into misery. This is because in the
final analysis all forms of external happiness result in unhappiness.
The intellect will not refrain from imposing its decision that there
is no happiness but misery in the last situation, and so the chit
wanders again. There is no end to this wandering. This wandering
ceases when the chit returns home, to the Self. When it
experiences real happiness, the bliss of the Self, all other
imaginary happiness automatically become bland. There after,
that which wanders is the impure chit and that, which observes
and knows the impure chit as it is, is the Pure Chit. The phases
of the impure chit then gradually decrease until they completely
cease to exist. Thereafter only the phases of the absolutely Pure
Chit remain and that is Keval Gnan (Absolute Knowledge).
The Gnani Purush does not touch the impure chit but
helps you taste your own eternal bliss, the root of endless bliss
that is within you. Consequently upon finding its own abode, the
Self is attained, which is none other than the Pure Chit. The
shuddha chit is shuddhatma, the pure Self. As this pure chit
goes on observing exclusively the pure in everybody, the impure
chitvruttis grow weaker and weaker until they are no more,
after which only the absolute pure chit remains. This is Absolute
Knowledge.
Only the Gnani Can Bestow The Pure Self
(Shuddhatma)
All the worldly religions are struggling to purify the impure
chit. This is like washing dirty laundry with soap. The soap will
remove the dirt from the clothes but will leave its own residue
behind. One will then use Tinopol (bleaching soap) to remove
the residue of the soap and the Tinopol in turn will leave its own
residue behind. In this manner each medium of stain remover

leaves its own residue behind. This is the plight of the relative
religions. Inevitably every process of purifying the chit ultimately
results in leaving a taint on it. Only the One who is absolutely
and completely pure Himself can attain absolute purification of
the chit. Therefore only a Gnani Purush can do this. That is why
all the scriptures ultimately say, “If you want to realize the pure
Self, go to a Gnani. Only He can bestow upon you your pure
Self. We have only the tainted and the impure soul, which is
worthless.”
On the path of liberation, nothing needs to be done to the
mind. It is the chit that has to be purified, only then can the
puzzle of life and of liberation be solved. Without understanding
this, many seekers become obsessed in trying to control the
mind. They are correct from their own viewpoint but if it is
liberation that they seek, then they will have to know the facts.
By facts they are completely wrong. Once the chit becomes
pure, you do not have to be concerned with the mind. The pure
chit will continue to see the ‘film’ of the mind.
There are many places in this world, which will still the
mind, but none to still the chit. What happiness is there in
playing cards? It is nothing but a tool for engaging the chit. But
to engage the chit in playing cards will cause one to slip
(spiritually), and one will continue to slip downwards. For how
long can one engage the chit? And ultimately, does it not lead
to unhappiness?
The chit will wander excessively to places it likes or fears.
If you had seen a snake in your bedroom during the day, you
will remember this even at bedtime. The chit will keep on going
there. Neither the sentient nor insentient, but a mixture of the
two (mishra chetan), the impure chit wanders in places it likes.
It wanders everywhere because it does not need a ticket. It
would have been better if it had to pay for it, then the chit
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would not wander!
The word chetan (sentient) is derived from chit. Pure
Knowledge (Gnan) + Pure Vision (darshan) = Pure Chetan
That which the chit has seen very frequently in the past
life will appear more often in this life. The chit will then become
deeply engrossed in it for hours and longer and this leads to
sow seeds of karma. As these phases become less intense, the
chit will no longer bind to them with the same intensity. It will
stick for a little while and then move away.
If you want to talk about gnan and darshan together, then
you have to call it chit. Chit will only show you transient things.
Whatever one’s vasna (the impression on the mind of past actions
whether good or evil which produces pleasure or pain), the chit
will go there. The chit shows two different things : darshan,
which is indistinct perception and Gnan, which is exact
perception.
While doing darshan of an idol in a temple, what the
worshipper sees, the darshan, is dependent upon the state of his
mind and his chitvruti. So his darshan in the first hour may be
different than the darshan in the second hour. Darshan depends
on the internal and the external evidences coming together.
Darshan of the idol with light coming from the front will be
different than that of the light coming in from the side. The face
of the Gnani is the same but according to the state of your mind
and the restless state of your chitvruti, your darshan will be
different. There is only one way to do the darshan of the Gnani.
The Joy Of The Chit
Ananddhanji Maharaj (a Gnani Purush) says that when
he does darshan of the deity of Lord Rishabhdev, who is free
from any likes and dislikes of the world, it appears to be smiling.
The eyes on the deity are made of glass. How come they
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appear to be smiling? It can appear that way because the
worshipper has focused his chittvruti, his own living energy, into
his darshan and that is why the Lord appears to be smiling to
him. This is called the joy of chit. Joy of chit prevails where all
element of deceit is gone. Joy of chit and deceit do not go
together.
Saint Kabir has said :
‘I think the Lord is far away, but in my heart He dwells
The veil of deceit obscures him, which is why I see him not’
The Lord cannot be seen because the veil of deceit
obstructs our vision. The chitvruti, which is devoid of any intent,
is pure. The joy of the chit will begin the moment mahatmas
become free from any wanderings of their chit. It is then that
they will be able to do the right bhakti (devotional worship).
People caught up and engulfed by their circumstances cannot
even enjoy worldly happiness. If the chit becomes focused in a
certain situation, it will remain in that mode and its burden will
be carried on to the next event or circumstances. For example
if your chit becomes engrossed in a situation, you will remain
preoccupied with it for hours, so even when the circumstances
unfolding in front of you are that for drinking tea, you drink your
tea preoccupied and under pressure. In the worldly dealings,
chit is consciousness (chetan), and so it is only of any worth if
it’s presence is established in the task at hand. If the chit is not
present while you are eating, of what use is your eating?
‘Absence of wandering of the chit is the religion of all
religions.’ If you attain this state, the cycle of rebirth will come
to an end.
Questioner : Dada, last night, in my sleep I saw a very
powerful light, like sunlight, for a long time. What could that be?
Dadashri : That is called chit chamatkar (miracle of the
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chit). There is tremendous power in chit chamatkar.
Questioner : Why do they have bells in the temples?
Dadashri : To focus the chit. When the drums are playing
and the bells are ringing, both the mind and the chit remain
focused there for a while; however perfect focus or concentration
is not possible until one acquires the Self.
Things that distract the chit are all vishays (topics or
subjects of enjoyment and attachment). In this world everything
that takes place on the outside, is a vishaya. Everything into
which the chit wanders is vishaya. Eating and enjoying fritters or
ice cream is not a problem but if the chit becomes glued there
and keeps reminding you of ice cream and fritters, then that is
considered vishaya. Everything outside of Gnan is vishaya.
Whenever the chit grazes or indulges in anything but the
Self, seeds for the next birth are sown.
The chit always takes photographs, sometimes clear and
sometimes blurry. Whatever the quality of photographs you take,
that is the quality of the film you create and you will have to see
that film, you will have to endure it. So take good pictures. Do
not waste your film.
Ego
The fourth and the last component of the inner psychic
organ is the ego. It is the ego, which finally endorses what the
intellect decided in agreement with the mind or the chit. As long
as the ego does not endorse the decision, no action will take
place. The intellect is the light of the Self that comes through the
medium of the ego and so when the intellect makes any decision,
the ego as a rule becomes involved and the action will take
place.
‘I am Chandulal’ is the greatest ego and the ultimate ego
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according to the Gnani. It is the basis of the world’s existence.
Liberation can only be achieved upon the demise of this ego.
The foundation of life exists on the belief of ‘I am’. ‘I am pure
Soul’ is the purity of the ego and it is the only instrument that
leads to liberation. All other forms of ego are instruments for
future births.
It is ego to impose the belief of ‘I am’ on the non-Self
(achetan - inanimate). It is not considered an ego to believe ‘I
am the pure Self’ (chetan - animate). ‘I am’, means there is
existence. Therefore you have a right to say, ‘I am’. But you do
not have the awareness of where you are and you do not have
the right to identify your existence with the non-Self. You have
absolutely no awareness of who you are. Once this realization
is acquired, salvation is yours.
No one has the power to do anything and yet the world
goes on functioning. It is merely an ego to claim that you are the
doer. Until you acquire the realization of the Self, you are just
like a wound up toy.
The Most Important Thing To Renounce
God has said that you need not renounce anything in
order to achieve liberation. Only the ego and attachment need
to be renounced, and when you do this, you will have done it
all. ‘I’ is the ego and ‘my’ is attachment. I make you renounce
both, the ‘I’ and the ‘my’, when I make you realize your pure
Self (Gnan). As I make you renounce, do you know what I
make you acquire? Your Pure Self. Thereafter the question of
renunciation-acquisition never arises. Any and all renunciation is
for the annihilation of the ego. I take away your ego so then
where is its existence? It is placed in the original location of its
existence. Its existence is only in one place and that is where I
place the ego.
If you resolve to wake up at five in the morning, you can
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certainly do it. To resolve firmly is egoism. What cannot be
achieved through egoism? One day the saint Sahajanand Swami
met a King, in the province of Kathiawad. The king told
Sahajanand Swami that a very impressive ascetic had come to
town. This ascetic had remained buried underground for two
weeks. Swami told the king to make the ascetic repeat this feat
in his presence. The ascetic, through his ego remained buried
underground for fifteen days. At the time of his surfacing, Swami
told the King not to send a large procession to greet the ascetic
as he had previously done, but instead send just two policemen.
When the ascetic surfaced and did not see anyone waiting to
greet him, he became enraged and began to shout, “Where is
the King? Where is the horse carriage? Where is the band? He
collapsed while shouting and died. He lived through his ego and
when that ego was not nourished, he died. The definition of ego
is to impose yourself where you are not.
In reality ‘you’ the Self does not die. It is the ego that
dies and takes birth again. Death does not occur until the ego
endorses it, and the foolish do not refrain from endorsing it.
When a person is bed-ridden and suffering with pain, he
endorsees his death by saying it would be better to die than go
through the suffering. Here the endorsement becomes inevitable.
Who Is The Enjoyer?
The Self does not enjoy anything. It cannot enjoy anything.
If it were the intrinsic nature of the Self to enjoy, then that
tendency would always remain with the Self and liberation would
never be achieved. The one who enjoys is merely using his ego
when saying ‘I enjoyed it’. Senses are effective. Because of
causes, the senses become effective. As effects unfold, because
of illusion, you egotistically claim to be the doer or the enjoyer.
When this illusion of ‘I am the doer’ is removed and you
understand who the real doer is, liberation is at hand. It is
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possible to experience liberation even with the body.
The over crowding and congestion today is not because
of people but their egos. You can live amidst crowds of egos
through Gnan. Nature follows its own laws and so does the
Self, but it is the ego between the two (Self and non-self) that
is the cause of all suffering; it does what should not be done.
It is the ego that perpetuates the worldly life and it is also the
ego that causes you to take birth in the four worlds of different
life forms. It is this ego that has separated us from the Self.
Even the most attractive person can look repulsive because
of the ego. When does one become attractive? One appears
attractive when one becomes the embodiment of love
(prematma). An attractive person with ego will appear hideous,
because the ego is hideous.
Questioner : Are there different kinds of egos?
Dadashri : To refer to a relative thing as ‘I am’ is ego.
Pride with three components, arrogance, envy, respect and
disrespect – are all different words used at different times to
explain the varying degrees of the ego. That is why the Gnanis
have given them different names.
Many people consider themselves humble and modest
but the intoxication of calling themselves such is acutely more
deluding than those with overt pride and conceit. Vanity is
inevitable in those who consider themselves humble and modest.
The ego can never be completely destroyed without the
knowledge of the Self. And yet people are in pursuit of trying
to acquire a state of humility but what about the ensuing increased
level of their intoxication? What about the deplorable subtle ego
that is born of such a state?
The inner instrument of psyche (antahkaran) remains as it
is, even after one acquires Self-realization. The only thing that
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is destroyed is the wrong belief of one’s identity; the false
imposition of ‘I am’ where one is not, is removed and this ‘I’
is placed where the ‘Real I’ is. Thereafter the ego that remains
in the inner psyche will conduct one’s remaining worldly activities.
This discharge ego does not have to be curbed but it is to be
rendered insipid.
Squeeze The Juice Out Of The Ego
You have acquired the main thing, the Self. Now you
have to get rid of the juice (tasteful interest) out of the ego. If
someone insults you, the ego arises; it becomes jarred at the
slightest provocation. You get upset and even sulk. Why should
you sulk? Now there is nothing left for you to get upset about.
All you have to do is to take away the old juice from the ego.
Nobody likes insults but I am telling you that it is very
helpful. Respect and insult are the sweet and bitter juices of the
ego respectively. Those who insult you come to squeeze the
bitter juice out of your ego. When someone tells you ‘you have
no sense’, he extracts the bitter juice out of your ego and
breaks it proportionately, without any effort of your part. The
ego is full of juices. Before when you did not have the awareness
(of Gnan) and someone squeezed the juice (insulted you), it
caused you tremendous agony. Now with this understanding
(Gnan), let the ego be squeezed knowingly and naturally. What
is better than someone else doing this for you naturally? People
can be extremely helpful in this matter.
In any way that you can, extract the juices of the ego in
order to attain final liberation. The ego has a function after
Gnan. It carries on your mundane worldly activities. The only
thing that needs to be done is to render the ego juiceless.
Others will do this cleansing of your ego for you. This is good
for you. Otherwise you would have to do it yourself. The Gnanis
are void of any intellect (abudha) and have so much power that
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they can squeeze the ‘juices’ out of the ego but you do not have
such power. Therefore you should be happy if someone does
it for you when they insult you. On the contrary they spare you
the effort. For you there is only gain in it. You merely have to
assess where your profit lies. For you there is tremendous profit
in it.
It is the intrinsic nature of the ego to accomplish all your
tasks for you in a make believe (dramatic – i.e. not real)
unattached manner, provided the bittersweet juices of your ego
are gone. The ego is not to be destroyed but rendered insipid
and tasteless, void of the bittersweet juices.
For the worldly interactions however, you may even have
to give compliments for a tasty meal.
Drink Poison With A Smile
A person feels bitter if you hurt his or her ego. You know
the consequence of hurting others and as far as possible; it is
best that you hurt no one.
‘The noble soul drinks poison with a smile,
Detached and desireless, he needs no fame or recognition.’
I am nilkantha (refers to the blue throated Lord Shiva
who could swallow all the poisons of the world). From a very
young age I swallowed the poison (problems) people gave me
with a smile and not only that but I also bestowed blessings
upon them and that is why I am a nilkantha.
You too will have to drink the poison. It is your account
(from the past life) and therefore the poison will come to you no
matter what. So whether you like it or not, you will have to drink
it with a smile or with a frown. People will force you to drink it,
whether you like it or not. So why not drink it with a smile and
bless those who make you drink? How else will you become a
nilkantha? Those who offer you poison come to do so to bestow
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upon you a higher spiritual state : if you make a wry face, it
(spiritual state) will escape you. Whoever has come to me with
cups of poison, I have drunk them with a smiling face, while
blessing them and have become Mahadevji (Lord Shiva).
As long as your belief of ‘I am Chandulal’ exists,
everything will taste bitter, but for me the poison has turned into
nectar. Respect or insults, sweet or bitter are all dualities. From
now on we are free from such dualities; we are beyond such
dualities. That is why we do these satsangs! After all, eventually
everyone wants to achieve the state beyond duality, do they
not?
When someone deals you anything bitter and you drink
it with a smile, blessing him or her, your ego will be destroyed
and you become that much more free. Not only that but your
opponent will also react from your positive reaction and change
for the better. He too will feel better. He will realize his weakness
in being your adversary and appreciate your spiritual strength
for taking the insult with a smile.
Do you think you would drink anything bitter of your own
volition? How benevolent are those who make you drink it?
Those who serve you (the bitter drink) are like a mother. You
have no choice but to drink. You will have to take the bitter in
order to become nilkantha.
‘You’ should tell ‘Chandubhai’ : ‘you will have to take
this bitter drink a hundred times.’ That is all and there after he
will get used to it. We have to force bitter medicine to a child
but once he realizes that the medicine is good for him he will not
have to be forced to drink it, he will drink it on his own. Once
you make a decision that you want to drink all the bitterness
served to you, you will be able to do so. It is easy to drink
‘sweet’ but you have to know how to drink the ‘bitter’ also.
Will you not have to drink it some time or another? Besides it
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is a profit for you, so should you not practice drinking it?
You feel very hurt (at a loss) when someone insults you
in front of everyone, but that is a tremendous spiritual gain for
you and once you realize this, you will not see it as a loss, will
you?
You say, ‘I am Pure Soul (Shuddhatma)’, so don’t you
want to remain in that state forever? For that, you will have to
get rid of that ego of yours. You will be able to do that with
conviction and hard work.
How appropriate is it for a vagabond to continue calling
himself a vagabond after he has been made a king? After
acquiring the state of ‘Shuddhatma’ you should not consider
yourself anything but the pure Self.
Do you not want to move away from this state of
bittersweet suffering? So then why do you still keep one foot in
it? Once having made a decision to be free, how can you keep
your feet in both, the Self and the non-Self? You cannot do that.
When do people feel offended? It is when someone serves
them something bitter. During the Gnan Vidhi you say that you
are a pure Soul, so then should you protect your pure Self
(pure Soul) or the relative self (the other side)? It is very difficult
to render your ego juiceless through your own efforts; it is
better if others do it for you. This way the ego will play its role
in a superficial; make believe manner and the inner machinery
will also function well. If it is so beneficial, why should you not
take what is offered to you, with a smile in order to render the
ego dry? When the ego becomes completely insipid, the Self
becomes complete. Just decide that you want to render your
ego juiceless and it will continue to become so.
If this medicine becomes agreeable to you then nothing
will trouble you. And you now know that it is very profitable for
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you in your spiritual progress. Whatever sweetness you find in
life, is equally filled with bitterness. So deal with the bitterness
first, all that will remain will be sweet and that is easy to deal
with. It is a great achievement to digest the bitterness of life.
Everyone smiles when they are offered flowers, but what happens
when people hurl stones at them?
Penance : Invisible (Adeethha taap)
Ego is an object to be known (gneya) and ‘You’ are the
Knower (gnata). Where there is a relationship between the
Knower and the known, the known should not be protected. If
you protect one gneya (ego), then you have to protect all others,
and they are infinite. From now on you have to practice invisible
penance (adeetha tapa). You have to maintain awareness that
you do not become engulfed and become swept away with the
ego. That awareness is invisible penance. This kind of penance
has to be done because from time immemorial you have acquired
a habit of identifying yourselves with the known, the gneyas. As
you do this penance, these habits will become weaker and so
will the ego and consequently the puzzle will be solved. Once
you resolve to do this penance, it will continue to occur on its
own.
Of what use is the ego that has made you fall in every
circumstance and made you look ugly despite your beauty?
Awareness is that which does not allow the known to become
the knower. That is invisible penance. The awareness that you
have to maintain in order to render the ego juiceless and insipid
is invisible penance.
Obstacles to spiritual progress come from the outside as
well as from within. Ego is an obstacle against which you will
have to be well prepared.
Even the importance and respect people give you, is not
acceptable. Only those who can endure insults can endure
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respect. Someone once asked me, “Why do you accept the
garlands of flowers people give you?” I replied, ‘Here, let me
put a garland around your neck also. But you will not be able
to endure the honor.’ People will be awed to see so many
garlands. If you bow down to someone, he or she will quickly
get up – they cannot bear the respect being given to them.
Account Of Respect-Insult
The rule is : ‘No one will insult you when you no longer
fear insults’. As long as there is fear, the ‘transactions’ will keep
coming but they will cease when your fear is gone. Keep both,
respect and insult in your account. Whatever respect or insult
people offer you, credit them to your account. Do not create a
new account by reacting to the insults. However large or small
the dose of bitterness people serve you, credit it into your
account. Decide that you want to credit about a hundred insults
a month in your account and the more the insults, the greater the
profit. Now if you get seventy instead of hundred, you are in a
loss by thirty and therefore you have to credit one hundred and
thirty the following month. Those who have a credit of three
hundred or so insults to their account will not experience any
fear of being insulted. After that there is smooth sailing to the
other shore (liberation). So you have to start keeping a record
from the first day of the month. Can you do that much or not?
When you bow down to a Gnani Purush by putting your
hands together, it means you purify your ego of worldly
interactions and when you touch your forehead to the Gnani’s
toe and do real darshan, you are surrendering your ego at his
feet. The benefit you gain is in proportion to the degree of your
surrender of your ego.
Pity is not an attribute found in the Gnani, the Gnani has
boundless compassion. Pity is a dangerous attribute of the ego
as far as liberation is concerned. In what way is it an egotistical
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attribute? Pity is an attribute of duality. Duality means that if a
person has pity within him, he will inevitably also have its
opposing quality, cruelty at the other end. This attribute becomes
apparent only when it surfaces and when it does, he will destroy
everything around him. He will make all kinds of dealings. He
will even forsake his home, his wife and children. The whole
world is immersed in duality. Until you acquire a state of non-
duality, pity is a praiseworthy quality of this world because it is
the foundation for the good of the world. But maintaining pity
is for your own safe side and not God’s. Those who go around
feeling pity for others deserve pity themselves. Why don’t you
pity your own self? Why do you go out worrying about others?
Some ascetics show pity towards worldly people : ‘What will
become of these people?’ You foolish men! Whatever is going
to happen to those people, will happen, but who are you to
take pity on them? What will become of you? Why are you
concerned about others when your own problems have not
been resolved? This is nothing but dangerous intoxication of
ego. An ordinary worldly person’s intoxication will diminish within
hours of waiting in a line to buy oil or sugar, but how will the
intoxication of these ascetics ever diminish? On the contrary it
will continue to increase. The Lord has said that those who are
free of such intoxication will achieve liberation. Intoxication is
the most dangerous subtle ego; it will make you suffer
tremendously. Even an ordinary person can point out your gross
ego. You will find someone or other who will ask you why you
walk around with an inflated chest and will tell you to be humble.
This will make you humble. But the intoxication of the subtle
ego of : ‘I am somebody. I have achieved something. I know
something’– will never go away. What is the definition of
knowledge? True knowledge is the light of the Self. Can one
stumble in the presence of light? How can people claim to have
knowledge when they stumble every step of the way? What
right does one have to feel pity for others when he himself is in
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ignorance of his real Self?
The Poison Of Ego
When the ego rises after having attained or accomplished
something, beware. Your downfall is inevitable. If the mahatmas’
ego gets inflated about having acquired this Knowledge, they
will not fall because of ‘Dada’ presence, but their knowledge
will become veiled. If one’s ego arises because his divine
powers have blossomed, he will fall as low as he became
elevated. Things happen because of divine powers and he
claims to be the doer; this ego will take him to a world of
lower life form. If he were to abuse his divine powers, he will
reincarnate in a lower life form. Egoism of one’s divinity results
in a life in hell.
In children the ego is in a dormant state. They too have
an ego but it is in a compressed form. As the child grows, the
ego expresses. A child will only grow up to be good and wise
if the negative ego in a child is not nurtured. If you don’t support
a child’s negative ego, he will grow up to be a beautiful and a
cultured being.
Do not become entangled in relationships with the people
of this world. They are in search of something to feed their ego,
and if you do not want to get involved, then feed their ego and
move on otherwise you will encounter obstruction in the path to
liberation. An egoistic person will continue to worsen the
complications arising out of the ego. Such people are unlikely
to have problems with greed.
People with ability to think critically and have the ability
to understand are considered cultured. These cultured people
have a lot of poison of the ego. The poison of attachment (of
my-ness) also obstructs them. One can become free from
attachment but it is not possible to become free from the ego.
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Committing suicide is a very dangerous ego. When the
ego is shattered, when it gets no nourishment from anywhere,
a person will commit suicide. Consequently that person binds a
life of hell. The lesser the ego, the higher the life form and the
greater the ego, the lower one goes.
Some exercise ego of killing and some exercise ego of
saving lives. God sees both these acts as acts of egoism because
nobody has the power to kill or save any living being; they are
merely being egoistic in claiming to save lives. The person who
saves lives incarnates to a higher life form and the one who kills
will go to a lower life form. There is bondage in both for sure.
Lions have tremendous ego. A lion is the king of the
animal world. He has wandered through all cycles of births and
found happiness nowhere. Finally in his current life form, he
goes around venting his ego through his roars and wails in the
jungle. He desires to be free but does not find the right path.
It is very difficult to find the right path and what is more, it is
even more difficult to encounter the giver of liberation. Countless
circumstances come together and dissipate but only the
circumstance of an encounter with a Gnani will give you the
permanent solution.
Satisfying The Ego
What you see around you is not sansar (the worldly life).
The ego itself is worldly life. In such a world what is wrong if
nothing is satisfied? If a man has borrowed five hundred rupees
from you and when the time comes for him to return the money
he does not do so. Your ego remains unsatisfied. To satisfy your
ego you file a lawsuit, but if that man comes to you pleading and
weeping and gets down on his knees to you, your ego becomes
satisfied and so you will let him go.
This ego is such that it will not let a person entertain the
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slightest dislike for the state he is in. Even a pauper has
attachment for his hut and finds happiness in it because of his
ego. Ultimately, through his ego he will find happiness in it
because he feels he is better off than the dogs and the animals
in the street. Whatever happiness a person acquires through his
ego, his ego will not let him feel dislike towards it.
The ego creates division and factions. The Gnani is ego-
less. Division and factions come together in the presence of a
Gnani. To rule by creating division and factions is the job of an
egotist.
Sensitiveness And Atkan (get stuck) : Spiritual Roadblock
Some people are very sensitive. Sensitiveness is a direct
expression of ego. If there is a discussion going on and I ask
a question and someone speaks out in the middle; that is called
a sensitive ego. The predominant spiritual roadblock, related to
ego is atkan. Other examples of atkan are sexual matters, greed
and pride. For example a strong healthy horse stops dead in its
tracks when it comes to a mosque or a graveyard; it will not
move forward at all. That is called a block. Likewise in spiritual
progress there are certain major blocks called atakan. Every
human being has an atkan and this is the very thing that makes
him wander life after life. Atkan leads to wandering and
wandering leaves one hanging, neither here nor there and I
rescue such persons. The ego of atakan is acceptable but not
the one of sensitiveness. There is no progress as long as there
is an ego of sensitiveness. Sensitiveness is present if a person
becomes upset over trivial things. You can get rid of your atkan
by just observing it but the ego of sensitiveness will only go if
you are very forceful and vigilant in breaking it. Whatever you
have brought with you from the past life is indeed what is going
to come forth from within. You have to simply observe it. The
Gnani has bestowed upon you the absolute light of the Self, so
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why then do you still have a sour face? It is because of the
atkan and your sensitiveness. A sensitive person becomes one
with his sensitive ego and that is why he or she becomes upset
for prolonged periods and feels no zest in life.
Know where you slip. Why do you see darkness when
you are walking on an illuminated path - a path illuminated by
Gnan? It is because of your atkan and sensitiveness. By merely
becoming aware of and knowing about this sensitive quality, the
sensitiveness within will disappear. Whatever baggage you have
brought with you will indeed exhaust itself just by your knowing
and observing it, so remain the Knower and the Observer. This
process will destroy all atkan but sensitiveness will not leave
easily. When you become sensitive, electricity is produced within
the body, and these sparks kill many small life forms within.
However if you maintain an unwavering awareness, nothing will
stand in the way and your accumulated baggage will dissipate.
It is so simple and yet this baggage of atkan and sensitiveness
has taken hold over you.
Antahkaran : How It Functions
(Antahkaran : Inner complex of mind, chit, ego and intellect)
Why does one’s wandering in the world continue? It is
because the self ‘answers the telephone calls’ in the antahkaran,
that were meant for the mind, the chit, the intellect or the ego.
This is interference. You are to simply know and observe the
duties and the workings of the mind, intellect, chit, and the ego.
‘You’ should not answer anyone’s call. ‘You’ are the Knower
and the Observer of what the eyes, ears, nose etc. are doing.
If you answer the call of the mind, the chit or any other
components, conflicts will arise. So do not answer someone
else’s call, let them answer their own calls.
Have you ever investigated to see what happens to the
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food you eat in the stomach or the intestines? Every part of the
body carries out its own natural function. One would not be
able to hear if the ears did not carry out their natural function
or smell anything, good or bad, if the nose did not carry out its
own function. Similarly, you have to check to see whether the
mind, the intellect, the chit and the ego are functioning according
to their own nature or not. There is no problem if You, the Self,
remain in your own pure state, the Shuddhatma state. If the
antahkaran carries out its natural function i.e. the mind shows
different pamphlets, the chit shows the scenes, the intellect makes
the decisions, the ego endorses that decision and the pure Soul
(Shuddhatma) remains in its natural state as the Knower and the
Perceiver, then everything is fine. Every component is indeed in
its own inherent natural state. All you have to do is to know
whether any of these components are functioning properly and
if not, then how to restore them to their natural state. Instead
people claim doership; ‘I thought about it’, ‘I am speaking’, ‘I
am doing everything’. Even the arms and legs carry out their
natural function and yet people say, ‘I am walking’. They are
merely expressing their ego and what is more they believe the
ego to be their self. Herein lies the confusion.
Can you not tell when the nature of the mind becomes
spoiled? Surely you can. If an old lady were to come to your
home and nag you all whole day long for fifteen days, you will
get used to her if you do not get into a conflict with her. Similarly
you have to become used to the constant bombardment that
goes on in your mind. As it is, your inability to look at the mind
has resulted in your inability to recognize what kind of a bomb
is detonating within. All kinds of ammunition have become mixed
up. You believe that they are harmless sparklers but they detonate
like firecrackers. Similarly the mind is full of all different kinds
of things and they detonate accordingly. But just like your dealings
with the old lady, if You do not interfere with the mind, then You
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will get used to it. Your relationship with the mind, chit, intellect,
and ego is that of the Knower and the known (gnata-gneya)
and not one of matrimony and therefore You can remain separate
from it.
When a person is hypnotized, it is really the antahkaran
that is hypnotized. All the components of the antahkaran are
hypnotized. First the chit gets trapped and then rest of the
components. Once the inner component is affected, the external
will be affected also. When the mind becomes still, the external
instrument then acts according to instructions of the person doing
the hypnosis. When you are hypnotized you will not know or
remember anything that happens under hypnosis when you come
to your senses. How can you remember anything when your
whole antahakaran comes to a stand still? Not every one can
be hypnotized. You can only be hypnotized if it is in your karmic
account. The effect of hypnotism is short lived. It cannot last for
too long.
If you surrender your antahkaran along with your body
and sit with a Gnani Purush for only one hour, you can conquer
the whole world. I destroy your sins and bestow upon you
divine eyes; I make you ‘Shuddhatma’, within one hour. This is
the Gnan Vidhi. Thereafter you can go wherever you desire.
This Gnan will remain with you all the time until you achieve final
liberation. Your antahkaran will continue to purify in my presence.
Your miseries will cease and the antahkaran will be purified.
And because of this, you will experience bliss.
Questioner : What kinds of activities are going on in the
antahkaran of the devotees who turn the rosary? Mentally they
recite the mantra. Externally they count the beads while their
chit is engrossed in some other activity. What is all this? Which
mind is at work during that time?
Dadashri : Counting of beads will automatically begin
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once you decide to do so. When the hand is doing its work, the
mind and the ego are working in the antahkaran, at the same
time. The chit is not present. It is wandering outside. And yet
people claim that they are the ones performing the ritual, thus
sowing seeds of karma for their next life. In fact the rituals they
perform is a discharge of their karma from past life but while the
discharge is taking place, they express an opinion (deep inner
intent, bhaav). As is the opinion, so is the fruit. If one builds an
opinion that he wished his chit would remain focused in the
counting of the beads and not wander around, then that is the
fruit he will reap in his next life. And if a person has an inner
intent that the rituals of turning the rosary would come to an end
and builds that opinion (intent), then in his next life, that is what
he will acquire.
The seeds for one’s next life are being sown according to
whatever deep inner intent (opinion here) one has. This is where
new karma is being charged.
Children will remember what they read if while reading
there is a presence of all four of the components - mind, intellect,
chit and ego, of their antahskaran. But the child’s chit is at a
cricket match and so all his reading goes to waste. What happens
if one of the legs on a bed breaks? What would be the result?
Such is the state of this antahkaran. Kavi has sung :
“Solitary in a crowd engulfed in a dream world …
Listener ‘I’ am and the singer ‘I’ am too”
When you travel in an overcrowded local train in Bombay
during the evening rush hour you get pushed and shoved from
all directions. At that time the mind, the intellect, the chit and the
ego are all overwhelmed and engaged in their own functions.
That is when ‘You’ (Shuddhatma) can really enjoy seeing and
knowing in an independent state. At such times ‘You’ become
alone and that is when it is fun to Know and See. The greater
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the crowd (gneyas, subjects to be known), the greater is the
blossoming powers of the Knower (gnata). When one is in a
huge crowd, the Knower within will flourish tremendously; the
Knower will express fully. The greater the scope, the more the
power increases. Some people abandon everything and run
away to the forest for solitude, but the real pleasure is amongst
a crowd. It is when there is a crowd on the outside, a crowd
on the inside, a crowd everywhere that the Shuddhatma
becomes alone. There it does not identify itself with anything.
However this is possible only after acquiring the knowledge of
the Self.
Mandatory Versus Voluntary
It is not easy to understand how the world functions.
Everything in this world is mandatory but people believe that
they act of their own volition and that is why they become
trapped. Being born is mandatory, education is mandatory, getting
married is mandatory and dying too is mandatory. It is extremely
rare to find a person who has even an inkling of where lies the
power of one’s free will. It is only when you become a Gnani
Purush (Self-realized) that your independent free will arises in
this mandatory world. Purusharth (Real effort) only begins after
you become a Purush. From the time you are born until the time
you die, your every action is mandatory. You have wandered
through endless cycles of births under compulsion and you will
keep on wandering in the same way unless you meet a Gnani
Purush who can liberate you from this cycle.
It is mandatory for a father to raise his children, educate
them, get them married and help them settle in life. Mandatory
means duty-bound and voluntary means will-bound. People
mistakenly believe all that is duty-bound to be will-bound. You
perpetuate your worldly life in the direction of your will; you
believe you are acting according to your free will whereas in
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fact you are duty bound. That which you are able to change is
where your free will lies. When a child become disrespectful
towards his father, the father will get angry and remind him of
the sacrifices he has made for him. The foolish man! Tell me
what have you done that is new! Everything you did was
mandatory. Tell me where your free will lies!
Abirth as a celestial being in the devagati too is mandatory.
One has to be born there to reap the fruits of one’s merit
karma. In the same token it is mandatory for one to endure the
consequences of one’s demerit karma. Do you think that your
occupation is of your own free will? No, it is mandatory. Do
you think you have done anything in this life of your own free
will? When things go according to your wishes, you believe it
was your own doing and when everything works out to the
contrary, you feel it was inevitable and mandatory. In both the
instances, everything was mandatory. Desire too is mandatory.
No activities can be stopped. They are all mandatory and
always bind new karma. It is an illusion to believe that you do
something willingly or unwillingly. You have no idea as to where
lies your free will. There is no doer-ship in that which is
mandatory; whereas when you act according to your free will,
you become the doer. It is sheer egoism to believe that an
action is will-bound. When a person earns a lot of money, he
brags that he earned it and when he loses it, he blames God.
This in itself is a contradiction. It is egoism. People believe
they act according to their free will in this world and that is
why they bind merit and demerit karma. There is no bondage
if they believe that everything in this world is mandatory (duty-
bound).
When you got married, was it mandatory or voluntary?
Questioner : Previously I felt that it was voluntary but
now I feel it was mandatory.
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Aptavani-1 143
Dadashri : Your name too is mandatory. It was given to
you when you were an infant and you have to live with that
name, whether you like it or not. There is no escaping it.
Everything is mandatory and everything gets done automatically.
It does not matter at what stage you are on the natural flow of
this worldly path. Everything is mandatory and therefore you
will have to do it. A policeman will force you to comply with
the law because it is mandatory. Just as there are policemen on
the outside, there are policemen within. It is the policeman within
that makes every ‘top’ (everyone) spin.
One day I was sitting in the verandah and I saw an ox
being pulled mercilessly. Three men were pulling at its reins
from the front and it appeared as if they would tear its nose.
Another man was flogging the poor beast from behind. They
kept poking him with a sharp nailed-stick but even then the ox
would not budge. I asked them why they were treating the ox
that way and why would it not move. They told me that they
had taken the ox to a vet the day before and it scared him and
now he refuses to move. The ox had no choice in the matter.
It would have to go. Instead of going through all the torture,
why not go willingly? Either way you will have to comply so
why not do it willingly instead of complying through torture?
Everything is mandatory so proceed without causing any problem,
otherwise the world will flog you, like they flog the ox, and will
make you comply.
You may not like to drink the poisons of the world but,
because they are mandatory, you will be made to drink them.
Instead of drinking with a frown, drink with a smile and
become a nilkantha. Do this and your ego will melt away
and you will become Mahadevji. I have become Mahadevji
in this way.
Even for Lord Mahavir renunciation was mandatory. What

he did of his own free will was completely different. He was
liberated. He had become a Purush (Self-realized), and had
free will. But on the outside, as far as the worldly life was
concerned, he was duty-bound and he never lost sight of that.
When he renounced his wife, it was mandatory but people
thought he did it of his free will. Whatever my mahatmas do as
mandatory is a luxury and whatever they do voluntarily is
liberation. Liberation with grandeur - such is the ‘Akram Gnan’
of Dada Bhagwan.
The World’s Foundation
The whole world is in search of its foundation, but it is
difficult to find. Pratishthit atma is the main foundation of the
world. Pratishthit atma means the relative self. This relative self
exists because one thinks, ‘I am Chandulal.’ This is a false
imposition of the Self. The Self is not in its original place. Today,
through me, the real foundation of this world is revealed naturally.
You are the pure Self (Shuddhatma), then who else remains
within? Who carries out the subtle internal activities? The
pratishthit atma does it all. Pratishthit atma is the result of karma
caused in your previous life. Whatever beliefs you projected
and installed back then, the pratishthit atma is the result of that
creation. How was this pratishtha (projection) done? Through
the belief of ‘I am Chandubhai’, ‘this is by body’, ‘this is my
mind’, ‘I am the doer of whatever I have accomplished’; these
are all pratishthas. This then becomes the pratisthit soul that
returns in the body at birth. It is also known as the superimposed
self. It superimposes itself everywhere. And during the time of
its dissolution, simultaneously and very subtly another pratisthit
atma is being created (because the wrong belief of one’s identity
still prevails). How can anyone understand or know this?
When is it called a pratishthit atma? It is when you combine
the ‘I’ with attachment of ‘my’.‘I am this’ (‘I’ in the wrong
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location; identifying the relative self as the real Self) and ‘this is
all mine’ is attachment. ‘I am not this’ and ‘this is not mine’ is
without attachment. The association with attachment is that of
the pratishthit atma and the Self is without any attachment. The
pure ‘I’ never moves from its location. ‘I am Chandulal’ and
‘this body is mine’, is pratishthit atma.
All the activities are done by the pratishthit atma. The
pure Self does not do anything. All movement, walking, eating,
etc., are the attributes of the non-Self and not of the Self. The
Self does not sleep during the day or the night. It is the non-
Self that sleeps. The one that performs the actions needs the
rest and therefore sleeps. The Self does nothing so why would
it need any rest? Who seeks rest? It is the one who is interested
in rest, the pratisthit atma. All these activities are of the pratishthit
atma. Who knows whether the pratisthit atma had sound sleep
or not? The pure Self. The Self is the Knower and the Seer of
the pratisthit atma and it never interferes in any activities of the
pratisthit atma. All interference is done by the pratisthita atma.
What the pratisthit atma knows is called gneya (object to be
known) and the one that knows the pratisthit atma is the gnata,
the Knower, the pure Self (Shuddhatma). Why does the pratisthit
atma meddle or interfere? It meddles because it is interested in
the worldly life. The Shuddhatma has no such interest; it is the
Knower and the Seer and is the abode of eternal bliss. The Self
illuminates the Self and the non-Self. The pratisthit atma illuminates
the non-Self only. The Self Sees and Knows the pratisthit atma.
Therefore the pratisthit atma is gneya (the known; object) and
the Self is the Knower (the Gnata). The relation between
Shuddhatma and pratisthit atma is only that of the Knower and
the known.
A non-Self-realized (agnani) person may then ask who
endures the suffering. He himself endures suffering. Is he not the
soul? He is the soul but he is the pratisthit soul. He has not
Aptavani-1 145

known or recognized the Real Soul, the original Soul, the Pure
Self (shuddhatma), so how can he be called the Pure Soul?
Yes, if you know and recognize the shuddhatma (achieved Self-
Realzation) and constantly remain in that state (of awareness of
your real identity) then you are Shuddhatma; but if you are
Chandulal and if this body is yours, then you are the pratisthit
atma. You did the pratistha (installation) of the ego and
attachment and therefore you are the pratisthit atma.
The Japanese manufactured a car, which would run like
a wind up toy. It was wound such that it would run five miles.
Four people (mind, intellect, chit and ego) sat in the car. The
winder is the designer of the car himself. They go to meet a
friend. They hardly travel a mile or so and on the way they meet
the person they were going to see. He calls out to them and
asks them to stop. But how can they stop when the car was
programmed to stop only after five miles?
Questioner : They would have to make a ‘U’ turn.
Dadashri : It is a matter of understanding. The driver is
told to stop, he cannot, he has no way to do so, because of
past life’s programming. The machinery within (antahkaran) keeps
turning round and round creating havoc because of the conflict.
Such is this world. Once the winding occurs, the driver
too has to keep going. You yourself have done the pratishtha
(charged karma and set things in motion) but during the discharge
(of karma), you become trapped.
It is the pratishthit atma that experiences through the five
senses. The one who hears, sees, feels touch, and smells etc.
is the pratishthit atma. The one that Knows and Sees what the
pratisthit atma experiences through the five senses is the
shuddhatma (pure Self). The knowledge acquired through the
senses is that of the pratisthit atma; and the knowledge
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transcending the senses is Shuddhatma. The knowledge of the
pratisthit atma is indirect and limited and the knowledge of
Shuddhatma is direct and unlimited. The energies charged by
pratisthit atma are being discharged in this life. At the end both
the pratisthit atma and the Shuddhatma will separate at the
same time. At the time of moksha, final liberation, even though
the pure Soul is formless, it takes on two-thirds of the form of
the final body. In this world, all transactions of give and take
whether gross or subtle, belong to the pratisthit atma. In reality
no one can be robbed nor can anyone rob. All these are mere
dealings of give and take of the pratishtha (charging energies)
done by the pratisthit atma.
If you hurt the pratisthit atma, you commit tremendous
sin. Why? Because the other person believes, that is who he is.
He has superimposed his identity with it. Say if you were to
burn this table, you would not commit a paap (karma of demerit)
if the table had no owner, but if someone has projected his
ownership on that table with ‘this is my table’, then you have
committed paap. Attachment is created during the time one
becomes the enjoyer or the sufferer. During the time of
enjoyment, feeling and belief of ‘My-ness’ or ‘this is mine’, ‘I
am enjoying,’ is being superimposed on the subject being
enjoyed. The same holds true for suffering endured with feelings
of ‘I am in pain, I am suffering’. The baggage within is nothing
but the result of attachment created during the state of enjoyment
or suffering. Consequently the kind of fruits you reap depends
upon the kind of projection (prathista) you did. If you projected
happiness in it, you will experience happiness and if you projected
unhappiness; you will experience unhappiness. The current likes
and dislikes you experience are the results of your past pratistha.
The pure Soul has never been the enjoyer, the sufferer or the
doer of anything. To be the enjoyer or the sufferer (vedak)
means attachment. Vedak means attachment. ‘Shuddhatma’ (pure
Aptavani-1 147

Self) and attachment are contradictory. The (vedak) one who
appears to be the doer or an enjoyer is the pratishthit atma. All
activities visible to the eye or experienced through the senses
are of the pratishthit atma and not of the pure Self. The activities
of the pure Self are related to Gnan. The pure Self possesses
powers of infinite knowledge and infinite vision. These can be
comprehended only when one attains the state of the pure Self.
It is only then can you understand that as the Self, you are the
non-doer. Until you acquire the knowledge of your Self and
become the Self, you remain as the pratishthit atma and that is
why you are a doer, and therefore the enjoyer and the sufferer.
In this state of an enjoyer, you become the doer and thereby
create a new pratishthita and a new pratishthit atma and the
same old rut continues!
The Pure Self is only the Observer and the Knower. It is
the pratishthit atma that creates everything and that is why people
like the look of their faces in the mirror otherwise they would
not. All this creation is of the pratishthit atma. As long as the
pratishthit atma believes ‘I am the doer’, it does pratishtha
(sows karmic seeds). Every human being creates his own new
birth himself. Whatever pratishtha you do, is how you will be.
As you sow, so you shall reap. As is your pratishtha, so is your
form. Your pratishtha is your pratishthit atma. This is the doer
atma in the worldly interactions (vyavahaar atma).
The whole world is groping around in search of absolute
truth (sat). The absolute truth is the Self that gives light and
shines within you. At the moment there is no one in this world
that has found the real Self and if they have, it is the relative self
and that too, only the partial relative self. The relative self is the
pratishthit atma.
The pratishthit atma (relative self, relative soul) has no
power other than to have deep inner intent called bhaav.
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The souls that are in an unidentifiable state (avyavahar
rashi) always remain with the pratishthit soul. These are souls
(jivas), which have not yet been identified and given names
(categorized). When a soul attains a manifested state (vyvahar
Rashi), it is given an identity and a name and thereafter begins
it’s vyavasthit (cosmic progression).
The inner psychic instrument (antahkaran) belongs to the
pratishthit atma but it is distinct from it. The pratishthit atma is
distinct from the mind, intellect, chit and ego. When the mind
wants to do something and the pratishthit atma says no, it will
not get done. Intention (bhaav) belongs to pratishthit atma; the
pure Soul (Shuddhatma) is just an Observer and the Knower
of these. Desire that arises within, calls for the working of the
pratishthit soul. The Pure Soul is merely the Knower and the
Observer of whether the pratishthit soul becomes one with the
mind or not. Even a person without Self-realization, with yoga,
derives certain powers by keeping pratishthit atma and the mind
separate.
After acquiring Self-realization, you stop doing pratishtha
(false projection). Your worldly life continues because of
previously done pratishtha. After Self-realization there is no
ego (charging ego) in the words you utter. It is indeed a
wonder that new ‘creations’ cease to take place. If pratishtha
is halted even for just one lifetime, it is a great achievement.
What is the difference between the pratishthit atma of a Gnani
and that of an agnani (person without Gnan)? The ‘I’ in a
Gnani refers to only the Pure Self and it means only for the
pure Self whereas the ‘I’ in the agnani person refers only to
the pratishthit atma. For the Gnani, the Knower that knows
everything as the non-self is the pure Soul. The Gnani knows
even pratishthit atma to be the non-Self. But in the one with
agnan (ignorance of the real Self), the knower of the non-self
is the pratishthit soul.
Aptavani-1 149

Questioner : The power (chetan) used in the worldly
life, is it that of the pure Soul?
Dadashri : That power belongs to the pratishthit atma.
Nothing of the pure Self is spent or used up. A battery charger
will charge the batteries without losing its own power. No matter
what actions these life forms carry out or whatever birth they
take, the ‘gold’ (Soul) within remains the same, only the labor
of making the ornament goes to waste. The labor of creating
this buffalo is what goes to waste. Countless life times have
been spent in hell, but even then the gold within has not become
tainted, it has remained one hundred percent gold. The creation
and dissolution is that of the pratishthit soul (aka mishra chetan),
the charging and discharging is of the mishra chetan and not of
the pure Soul.
Even the pratishtha (ceremonious installation of an idol)
done in a stone idol gives benefit to people for a long time, does
it not? How powerful is the ritual of pratishtha! It has enough
power to make a piece of iron fly! All these scientific inventions
are of the pratishthit soul. When the pratishthit soul possesses
so much power, how can we even begin to speak of the infinite
powers of the pure Soul (Shuddhatma)? The Soul has so much
power, that if it were to do pratishta in a wall, the wall would
talk!
Even the pratishthit soul is so pure that it has no thoughts.
Thoughts arise in the mind. When a tuber of the mind sprouts,
it brings about a state of thinking. Thoughts about religion or
thoughts about stealing that arise are really tubers of the mind.
If the pratishthit soul had the ability to think, the intellect would
no longer remain. Everything would then become like a computer.
The internal activities that the pratishthit soul performs are the
activities of the inner psychic instrument and that is what will
manifest exactly on the outside. Those who learn how to see the
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antahkaran will also come to know about the external activities.
But one must know how to read the mind, the intellect, the chit
and the ego. The mind, the intellect, the chit and the ego are
components of the pratishthit soul, in other words the antahkaran
is because of the pratishthit soul. Whatever the antahkaran shows
within is what manifests on the outside. The brain is also with
the anatahkaran but it is gross (sthul), whereas the antahkaran
is subtle (shookshma). Therefore, whatever activities take place
in the antahkaran, take place because of the pratishthit soul.
If you perform pratishta in an idol, which has a form, you
will find a God with form and if you do the same in the formless,
you will find a formless God.
Nishchetan Chetan - Lifeless Life
What the world calls life principle (chetan; animate,
conciousness), I call lifeless life (nishchetan chetan; inanimate
consciousness) because even though it looks and acts like life
and living, none of its properties are anything like that of a real
life element (chetan, the Self). So how can you call it living?
For example polished brass looks just like gold, it’s
characteristics are like gold but if you were to show it to a
goldsmith, he would be able to tell you exactly what it is. The
goldsmith will first examine it for the presence of any properties
of gold. If there are no properties of gold in it, then it is not
gold. If it has the same appearance but not the properties of
gold, then it is not gold. Similarly if the appearance of life is
present but not its properties, then how can you call it life? I call
it lifeless life. (nishchetan chetan; non-conscious consciousness).
Brass looks like gold but it reveals its true identity when it rusts,
similarly gold too will reveal its identity.
The body is lifeless life (nishchetan chetan). ‘You’ are
pure Self (chetan). Whatever charging (pratishtha) you did in
the past is the (charged soul) pratishthit soul and that is the
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charged consciousness (pratishthit chetan).
Chetan, the Self on its own is fine or achetan, the non-
living on its own is fine but mixed chetan, ordinary lives, is not
because it has all the characteristics of chetan, the self. The
Lord has said that you may create vibrations (subtle interactions)
with a water well (i.e. an inanimate entity) but not with mishra
chetan (other living beings). Natural mundane dealings with mishra
chetan are not a problem but one should not slip (become
entangled by binding) there. When people slip, I caution them :
I caution them when they are dealing with mishra chetan. There
is no problem as far as achetan is concerned. This cigarette is
achetan and I have no objection there. The ‘entries’ made in the
karmic ‘account’ (for smoking) will have to be settled, if not,
the atoms within will make demands and spoil your mind. But
whenever mishra chetan is involved, I caution you. Be cautious
even if you have to involve your ego. Do not be unwary
otherwise your next life will be adversely affected.
Do the movies have any objection to you enjoying them?
No, because movies are lifeless (achetan), whereas the mishra
chetan, a living being will make claims against you because
there is no peace within him or her. There is tremendous inner
turmoil and that is why they will make claims against you. There
would be no problems if there were peace within. The moment
you have a negative thought about anyone, you should
immediately do pratikraman and erase everything. Pratikraman
is not needed for achetan. The trouble with mishra chetan is that
not only does it prevent your moksha (liberation) but it also
prevents any happiness coming your way.
Neither cinema nor good food causes problems. Problems
are created only by the mishra chetan (human being). The food
does not sulk but can the mishra chetan ever refrain from sulking?
Mishra chetan is the foundation of the entire worldly life. Mishra
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chetan is a “black hole”. Once all dealings cease with the mishra
chetan, then where is the difficulty? (Dadashri is referring to the
tremendous problems created in the interaction between man
and woman).
You should keep a safe side so that you can sit with a
free mind. If the mind craves for some ice cream, give it some,
so that it will allow you to sit peacefully. But mishra chetan will
not let you do that. Even in satsang, it will gnaw and sulk at you.
Your being is divided in two parts : one is lifeless life
(nischetan chetan, inert consciousness) and the other is pure
Self (chetan; pure consciousness). You mistake the lifeless life
to be the self. They are both in a mixture form, not in a
compound form. If they were in a compound form they would
both lose their individual properties.
The lifeless life (the body) is mechanical. Even the external
part is mechanical. You have to ‘turn the handle’ to set the
gross machinery in motion, but the inner subtle machinery has
already been set in motion by you from your past life and it is
on auto-pilot. You just have to add fuel (food) to it but you do
not have to set it in motion. The subtle inner machinery is
mechanical but when you take credit for its actions by saying ‘I
did it’, you charge new karma and sow seeds for the next life.
The entire world believes the lifeless life to be life. It also
believes that the soul is involved in all actions. The Soul cannot
be in any action nor can any action be in the Soul. But how is
one to realize this? The world is run by the interaction of all that
is non-Self. This interaction is an effect of causes created in past
life for all living entities. The Self is distinct and separate from
the non-Self. If you delve deeper into this, then what runs this
world is also totally separate from these two. That is all ‘vibhavik
guna’. Vibhavik guna means those attributes that are born out
of the coming together of the Self and the non-Self (matter).
Aptavani-1 153

This third entity that results from this combination is what runs
this world. It is called mishra chetan (mixed life entity). From
the perspective of the Self, this entity is the result of an illusion
over the Self.
Man’s Birthright To Liberation
Darwin has written about the theory of evolution but it is
not complete. It goes only up to a certain point. He did not
know that after a human life form there could be a reversal to
a lower form of life and therefore he was not able to give the
complete theory. Liberation cannot be achieved from any other
life form except the human form. The human life form exclusively
holds the right to liberation. If one gets a human life form and
is blessed to obtain the means and circumstances congenial to
liberation, then his liberation will occur. But at present all human
beings are in the form of nischetan chetan (lifeless life, charged
by past life karma and simply discharging in this life). In other
words they are all ‘tops’.
What people refer to as ‘bhava mun’ (causal mind) and
‘dravyamun’ (effective mind) are really lifeless life (nishchetan
chetan, mechinical atma). What the Gnani gives you, is your
Pure Self (pure Chetan). Everything else is machinery – all
mechanical. It is the machine that does everything but people
take credit for running it by saying, ‘I am the doer’. To say this
is nothing but egoism. The mind is made up of many tubers.
When these tubers or rhizomes bear fruits, it is the manifestation
of effect. If the effect is involved with a mishra chetan then there
is problem. Meaning that even when you are willing to let go,
the other person will not. Whereas if it involves achetan
(inanimate) there will be no problem if you let go. Doctors cannot
see the mind but a Gnani can. The mind is completely physical
and the subconscious mind is nishchetan chetan (lifeless life).
The nischetan chetan is considered a dual (dvaita) state.
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It can be called living (jiva) but not pure life, the Self (chetan).
My mahatmas have acquired the state of pure life i.e. it cannot
be called the pure Self (shuddha atma). Your body is nischetan
chetan and ‘You’ are pure consciousness.
Until you realize your state of pure consciousness, you
are nischetan chetan and so is everyone else, whether it be an
ascetic, a saint, sadhu (saint) or a sanyasi (recluse). Human
beings, animals, trees, souls in hell and celestial beings are all
nischetan chetan and therefore they are all ‘tops’. As long as
you have not realized your pure Self, as long as you have not
encountered a Gnani Purush to help you realize your pure Self,
you are nischetan chetan.
I am the Lord of the universe wielding no ownership or
authority because ‘I’ am pure consciousness in the manifest
human form.
Whatever the situations or circumstances, they are all
nischetan chetan and the real You is pure consciousness. Every
circumstance is to be observed and known and must be
immediately settled without any raag or dwesh (sambhaav,
equanimity). You should know how to bring about a quick
resolution to all circumstances because if you get caught in any
of them, you will have suffering and lose joy. Nishchetan chetan
is under the control of some other entity. In nishchetan chetan
there is internal and external turmoil, mental agitation and
restlessness and anxiety (aadhi), physical ailment (vyadhi) and
externally induced problems (upadhi); whereas in pure Chetan
there is bliss and samadhi (absence of adhi, vyadhi and upadhi).
It is the nishchetan chetan that experiences worries and anxiety
but because one believes the nischetan chetan as being one’s
real identity, worries ensue. That which endures suffering created
through the mind, physical ailments or suffering imposed by
others, is all nischetan chetan. Speaking from the perspective of
Aptavani-1 155

the Self - Gnan, there is no life outside the Self. All are nischetan
chetan, whoever or whatever they may be. In the term ‘nischetan
chetan’, ‘nischetan’ is the adjective. In the term lifeless life,‘
lifeless’ is the adjective.
It is out of illusion that one says ‘I am Chandulal’. The
real ‘I’ is the pure Self but one imposes himself to be where he
is not, hence nischetan chetan, lifeless life, continues to arise.
Until this illusion is destroyed, one has to live as the falsely
imposed state of ‘Chandulal’. Once the awareness of ‘I am
pure Soul’ is established, then the lifeless - nischetan, can never
become one with the pure Self. The pure Chetan can only be
understood when one acquires the pure Self, and only then
does one become free from the responsibility of the ensuing
consequence of the state of doership, which is creation of new
karma.
As the karmas unfold, those who identify themselves with
the nischetan chetan continue to become free from their liability
from past life but at the same time they also create new liability
for the next life.
Desire
Desire is a burning fire. It will not extinguish until the
desire is fulfilled. The Lord has said that desire is an obstructing
karma. The only desire worth having is a desire for liberation
and for a Gnani Purush; such desires will not cause any
obstructions. All other desires will continue to scorch you. They
are fire-incarnate. People look for water to put it out but instead,
end up putting petrol (kashaya) over it. Even before a single
desire is fulfilled, another one springs up. They keep coming,
one after another, in succession. The natural law says that
whatever desires you have will certainly be fulfilled, but nothing
will be accomplished by constantly thinking about them. On the
contrary it causes more entanglements. The desires that come
156 Aptavani-1

incessantly will continue to plague you. You will not have desires
for everything. Desire is the juice of worldly life. Whichever
juice one likes the most, he will continue to thirst for it. What
do people desire? They desire that which he or she have brought
with them from their past life in their vessel of intellect (buddhi
no ashai). They will continue to receive the happiness they have
brought in the vessel of their intellect at the expense of their
merit karma.
You may use both the edges of the sword of this world,
but use only one side of the blade of the pure Soul. What would
happen if you use the side of the blade of ‘I am impure Soul’,
instead of ‘I am pure Soul’? It would destroy everything. The
pure Self has no desires but the interim Self (antaratma) does;
it desires to acquire the Absolute State of pure Soul. When it
achieves that absolute state, there will be no more desires left
because the state of vitaragta – a state void of any attachment
- will have been attained. There is no desire in the One who is
absolute vitarag. My desire is a discharging desire whereas you
mahatmas have a desire for the attainment of the absolute state.
My desire is a discharge because I have already attained the
Absolute State.
Questioner : What is the difference between desire and
chintvan (persistent focused meditation on a topic)?
Dadashri : Chintvan creates future (karmic) accounts
and desires divulge what you have brought from your past life.
Desire is a discharge and chintvan is charge. What you desire
and what you do not, are both contents of your karmic stock
from your past life. When the link of your merit karma comes
into effect, your desire is fulfilled. When this sequence is broken,
undesired things will come before you. For example, if you
throw some numbers in the dark and then you pick them up in
the dark, if there is a fruition of a sequence, only the numbers
Aptavani-1 157

that fall in that sequence will come in your hand. The number
two will follow one; three will follow two. There will a link
there. But if there is a fruition of non-sequence (akram), the
numbers you pick up will not be in sequence. You will pick up
seven, then fifty-two etc. There will no link here.
I met a man from Ratnagiri once who told me that he
finds gold wherever he searches. I cautioned him that it was the
result of his link of merit karma and that the link will break in
a short time. When it does, I told him to remember me. And
that is exactly what happened. He incurred such heavy losses
in his business that both he and his wife tried to commit suicide.
The circumstances were such that they both survived and they
remembered what I had told them. Kram (sequence of events)
and akram (non sequential events) come and go. Such is the
worldly life. Desire is a consequence of past account and during
chintvan one is creating plans; one becomes engrossed in it and
creates new causes. Desire is an effect whereas chintvan is a
cause; it is a charging point. The writers of scriptures have said
that desires come on their own; one does not need to create
them.
Even when the sun is setting it can appear to look like a
rising sun. Your desires are ‘setting’ desires; so do not worry
about them. I have told my mahatmas that their desires are
barren; they will not bear any seeds and that is why your desires
are setting. Other people have both rising and setting desires.
Rising desire is cause desire and setting desire is effect desire.
In this current phase of the Kaliyug time cycle, people
have desires for very insignificant things; they do not have the
desire to enjoy everything. They waste away their whole life
looking for something very trivial.
Alas I have even seen affluent businessmen sitting in Lord
Mahavir’s assembly, who in order not miss the Lord’s discourse,
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would order their meals in the assembly hall. They enjoyed the
Lord’s words so much that they would not leave his side and
yet today I see these very men still wandering around. They are
left behind because of their desire for trivial and insignificant
things.
Before anything takes place, first sprouts the desire for it.
A person who wants to pass an exam will first have the desire
to do so. As the obstacles get destroyed, things fall into place
according to one’s desires. You may have a deep desire to
spend your money for satsang but what can you do? Obstacles
created in your past life will prevent you from doing so even
when the opportunity presents itself. Once the obstacles are
destroyed, things will naturally work out according to your
desires.
Desire (effect of karma) is not the same as bhaav (chintvan,
deep inner intent that charges karma).
Questioner : What is the difference between desire and
bhaav?
Dadashri : This bail of cotton lying here is innocuous but
when you light it with a match, that is desire. Desire is a living
fire and it will continue to burn until it is satisfied. Desire is to
light a fire to anything, and it will keep burning within you. My
state is such that I do not even have a match to light anything.
Emerging desires and diminishing desires are ‘charging’
desires and ‘discharging’ desires respectively. Drinking and eating
are diminishing or discharging desires; they are not harmful but
emerging or charging desires cause bondage and will create
torment within you.
What is Bhaav?
The pure Self has no bhaav. The bhaav we refer to is that
Aptavani-1 159

of the pratishthit atma. Both the Gnani (Self -Realized) and
Agnani (Non Self-realized), have a pratishthit atma. In the agnani
the bhaav is in the form of a strong mental resolve. He strongly
resolves (does a bhaav) that he will do pratikraman and so his
dravya (effect) is created accordingly. Now out of this dravya
emerges another bhaav.
Questioner : What is bhaavmun (internal subtle mind,
intent mind) and dravyamun (physical mind, effect mind)?
Dadashri : When the pratishthit atma does bhaav, it is
the beginning of the bhaavmun (subtle mind, cause mind) and
because of this, dravyamun (physical mind, effect mind) is
formed. Actually, there are two kinds of mind : discharge and
charge.
Really speaking the bhaavmun (internal subtle causal mind)
is the direct charging part of the pratishthit atma. The dravyamun
(physical mind, effect mind) that you see is a discharge. The
charging part cannot be seen, felt or known. Indeed if charging
was such that a person could understand it, would he even let
it occur? Everyone would be liberated! But bhaav is such that
it cannot be detected. If anyone were to discover it, he would
seal it up immediately. Only a handful of people understand
bhaav but even then they understand it to be that of the ignorant
soul and consequently confuse the whole issue. Bhaav cannot
be comprehended without Gnan. It is extremely subtle. One can
say ‘subtle’ a hundred thousand times over and still there would
be no end of its subtlety.
The pure Self does not have bhaav. It is separate and
beyond bhhav. Bhaav means existence and it belongs to the one
who projects, the pratishthit atma. People create bhaav towards
what they like; they continue to have likes and dislikes. The
likes and the dislikes really belong to the pratishthit atma and
that is what binds karma. They do bhaav for transient things and
160 Aptavani-1

therefore they become transient. When you believe the image in
the mirror to be your real self (atma, here), what headway can
you possibly make?
Nobility – Wickedness
Both saints and sinners exist in the world together. It is
because of a wicked person that a noble person has any worth.
What if everyone in the world were noble?
Noble person : A person who will never come under
the obligation of a wicked person.
Wicked person : A person who constantly harms others.
Grateful person : A person who will always remain
indebted to those who have helped him and will never recall the
hurt he suffered at the hands of others.
Ungrateful person : A person, who forgets good deeds
of others towards him and despite this obligation, he knowingly
hurts them, even if he gains nothing from it.
It is easier to fathom the depth of an ocean but there is
no way to fathom the depth of the worldly life.
People, who abuse their authority, lose their powers. If a
person does anything unworthy of his authority, he loses the
power of that authority. If your employee abuses you, and you
retaliate in return, and thus come down to his level, you will lose
your authority.
A lie will cry out from the roof and so will the truth; but
the lie will speak out at once whereas the truth will take time
to be revealed. A lie will come out the very next day.
There is no joy in conflicts, joy lies in resolving them. Get
your work done judiciously but do not fight. What is justice? It
is justice if a conflict does not end up in court and it is injustice
Aptavani-1 161

if it does. Whatever happens is justice.
Use your mind, speech, body and soul for the welfare of
others. If you use them only for your own self, you will acquire
a birth of as a Raina tree. Then you will have to suffer for five
hundred years. People will enjoy your fruits and burn your
wood and use your wood to imprison people. Therefore the
Lord has said for you to use your mind, speech, body and soul
for the welfare of others. And if after that should you experience
any misery, you should tell the Lord so.
A desire to discover non-contradiction is the ‘right
understanding’.
Those who have tried to destroy the world have them-
selves become destroyed in the process. Being a human carries
a tremendous responsibility and liability; it is truly a test and yet
people believe there is pleasure in it. There are innumerable
danger zones where a human being can fall. Every moment
carries with it the fear of death so why waste even a single
moment? Therefore do something that will improve your next
life. This human life is a turning point; from here there is a
deviation into the worlds of other life forms. From here every
individual soul encounters four diversions – hellish life, animal or
plant life, human life or celestial life. Liberation too can be
attained from the human life form. If you encounter a Gnani,
salvation is yours!
The Three Forms Of Body
The body has three different forms : Electrical body, causal
body and effective body.
The electrical body, also called the subtle body, constantly
stays with the Self. The body’s aura and luster is because of the
electrical body. There are four factors that lead to the body’s
aura and luster :
162 Aptavani-1

The luster of wealth : It originates from the aristocratic
life of affluence, ease and happiness.
The luster of dharma : It radiates from the soul of the one
who lives a religious and righteous life.
The luster of knowledge : It radiates from acquiring relative
knowledge through learning different teachings or scriptures.
The luster of celibacy (brahmcharya) : It emanates from
the practice of celibacy.
The luster of all these four emanates from the subtle body,
the electric body.
At the moment of the union of a mother’s ovum and a
father’s sperm, the effective body is created. What is a jiva?
That which lives and dies is jiva. When the jiva dies, it carries
with it the subtle body and the causal body. The mind, the
intellect, the chit and the ego are freed here. The causal body
that is carried forward will give rise to a new effective body.
The effective body, created by the union of mother’s ovum and
father’s sperm, prepares its own sustenance and thus a tuber
(embryo) is created. A jiva cannot survive without sustenance
even for a minute. If there is no food, it takes at least air or
water.
This electrical body is the same as the tejas body and the
subtle body. It digests food and produces heat and energy. It
keeps the blood circulating. The entire machinery of the body
works because of its minute network of inter-connections
reaching all parts of the body. If there is any karmic deficiency,
it will result in certain physical ailments e.g. the stomach will
lack in digestive power from infancy. It is the electrical body,
within the physical body, that really carries out the bodily functions
but the gross external body cannot grasp it and that is why it
eventually becomes weak. The subtle body in every one is the
Aptavani-1 163

same. The shape of your body was already designed in the past
life and that is the causal body. The gross physical body that
you acquire is the effective body. Any part of the body that
becomes above or below normal, is the part that becomes a
problem and suffers. From this one can deduce where the
problem (disease) came from and why.
The causal body can be understood. It comes into being
at the time of birth, from the time of its inception in the womb.
Attachment and abhorrence (raag and dwesh) begin from the
moment breathing starts. Attachment and abhorrence attract
atoms. Vitaragta (absence of attachment and abhorrence) does
not. The attraction of these atoms produces the causal body.
The physical body you see today is the causal body from the
past life. The Gnani Purush can visualize the causal body and
has so much spiritual power that he can prevent the formation
of a new causal body. He can put a stop to it so that a new
causal body is not created.
When the Soul separates from the body, it carries with it
the causal body; merit (punya) and de-merit (paap) karma too
go with it. On the strength of punya, one acquires a beautiful
symmetrical body and happiness. Because of paap one will
acquire an asymmetrical, deformed body. When the Soul leaves
the body, the subtle body and the causal body remain together
and when the scientific circumstantial evidences of atoms of the
causal and the subtle body come together, the gross physical
body will come into formation. At death, when the Soul leaves
the body, in less than a fraction of time, it arrives at its destination
predetermined by vyavasthit, and upon the union of the father’s
sperm and the mother’s ovum, it attains a body. The Soul at
that time is completely compressed. It does not leave the existing
body until the new body is ready for it. Because of its property
of elasticity, it stretches its one end to the new effective body
while the other end is still anchored to the old body. It only
164 Aptavani-1

discards the old body when it is secured in the new effective
body. There are some rare Souls that cannot secure a new
body immediately. These souls roam in vain without a body and
when they find a new body, only then do they find release from
wandering.
After acquiring a human form, the soul can pass through
other life forms such as those in celestial world, animal world or
hell for up to a maximum of eight lives but then returns to the
human form. It is only through the human life form that one is
degraded or diverted to other life forms. It is also from the
human life form that the soul’s wandering comes to an end
(liberation). If one knows how to successfully fulfill the purpose
of the human life, liberation is possible and if one does not, then
the human life also becomes the instrument for increasing one’s
endless wandering and suffering. In all other life forms there is
only release from that life form. In the human form there is
release but at the same time there is bondage for further life
forms. Therefore get your work done, now that you have this
rare opportunity of having acquired a human life form. ‘The
Soul has spent endless lives for the body, if the body were to
live just one life for the Soul, your purpose will be fulfilled.’
It is only in the human form that an encounter with a
Gnani Purush will bring about liberation. Even the celestial beings
yearn for a birth as a human. Just by encountering a Gnani
Purush and establishing a connection with him, the body, which
for endless lives had been a foe, becomes a friend. You have
met the Gnani in this human body so get your work done.
Complete your connection and swim across to the other side.
How much affection do I have for this body of mine? ‘I’
have already acquired liberation through this body and procured
my salvation. My affection and care for this body is only to the
point that it becomes the instrument for the salvation of others.
Aptavani-1 165

But otherwise my relationship with this body is one like that
with a neighbor.
I do not have any rights over this body. Whoever has the
right will come and make their claim and take it. You have to
treat this body of yours as a friend and get your work done.
There is no telling what can happen to this body at any time.
Nothing however can happen to the territory of the Self. The
body that will take you to moksha is very strong. The body
through which liberation is attained is called the ‘charam sharira’
(the ultimate body).
How long does God reside in the body? God resides
only as long as the pratishthit atma (charged atma) remains in
it. But the main support is that of the pure Self. The one that
depends on air (breathing) is mortal. If the nose were to be
pinched shut for eight minutes, the life within would cease. This
is all machinery.
Awareness of the body is considered a state of stupor
and ignorance; ‘I am Chandulal’ is ignorance. The awareness
of, ‘I am pure Self’ is liberation.
The gross body is free from any attachment and
abhorrence (vitarag). It is as detached as this wooden stool.
The Self too is vitarag. It is the subtle body (that which is not
seen, it is not to be confused with the subtle electrical body
described above) that is responsible for everything. The subtle
body is made up of certain special atoms. None of the activities
or behaviour of the gross body have anything to do with the
Soul. The subtle body alone endures all suffering. The subtle
body is the manifestation of the soul. It is through the subtle body
that one does the projection (pratishtha) of ‘I-ness’ in the wrong
place. Therefore the subtle body is like the pratishthit atma.
The higher the number of karmas the smaller the body
and as the karmas become lesser the body becomes bigger, for
166 Aptavani-1

example as in elephants and ants. I have seen the ants, dragging
a grain of sugar at four o’clock in the morning. But the elephant
lives in intoxication of grandeur.
Release From Dehadhyas : ‘I Am This Body’
Everyone in the world is stuck in the belief of ‘I am this
body’. They may claim ‘this body is not mine’, or ‘this mind is
not mine’, but if someone were to call them stupid, they would
not be able to sleep the whole night. This identification with the
body cannot be broken until one acquires the knowledge of the
Self. ‘I am Chandulal’, ‘ I am his uncle’, ‘I am her husband’ or
‘I am a father’ are all connected to the belief of ‘I am the
body’. Unless this belief is broken, subtle and gross attachments
remain along with the good and bad. The belief of ‘I am the
body’ breaks the moment one gets the exact realization of ‘I am
the pure Soul’. After Self-realization, even if one’s only son
were to die, no feelings of gloom and grief would ensue. No
sense of right or wrong or any duality would prevail.
Just as the sense of ‘I am the body’ had become
established, the awareness of ‘I am pure Soul’ should become
established. This awareness should prevail even during deep
sleep. With the knowledge that I bestow upon you, the belief
of ‘I am the pure Soul’ will prevail in every circumstance. This
knowledge is exclusive and extraordinary. Just as the curd and
the whey remain separate after the yogurt has been churned, so
do the body and the Self, after Gnan.
Gnanis of the past had undergone the severest of penance
and suffering. They put their bodies through severe penance
under the premise that if the Soul is the real ‘I,’ then it matters
little what happens to the physical body.
Three Stages Of The Body
There are three stages of the body : childhood, youth and
Aptavani-1 167

old age.
Childhood is a stage of constant happiness and natural
joy. Children have no worries. The milk for their nourishment is
ready and overflowing even before they are born. Do babies
have to worry when and where their milk will come from? And
yet babies get everything when they need it. The Gnani Purush
is just like a child but the child is in a state of ignorance whereas
the Gnani Purush is on the highest pinnacle of knowledge and
understanding and yet He is just like a child. Achild’s mind and
intellect are not developed, only his chit is at work and its extent
is only limited to the object of his enjoyment. For example, if
a child sees a toy, his chit vruti will remain absorbed only in that
toy until he finds something else. Their chit vruti cannot remain
in one object for too long whereas for adults the chit vruti will
become occupied in two or more different subjects and will
keep wandering amongst them and that is precisely why all the
problems arise. A child will forget after a while and that is
because a child’s chit vruti does not become fixed on one subject
for too long. As long as a child’s intellect is not developed,
happiness is inherent and natural for it. But as the intellect
develops, a child’s discontent increases.
The youth stage of a human life is like a blazing fire.
During this stage arise circumstances, which defile the youth’s
external conduct. Therefore it is imperative to exercise caution
and vigilance. The celestial beings are not subject to birth, old
age or death. They are perpetually in a youthful state.
Old age is a stage of decline. It is very difficult to go
through old age. All the body parts begin to break down and
fail; the teeth tend to break, the ears will ache etc. Great care
is needed in old age. If the karmas are not very serious or
heavy, one will leave this world while sitting in an easy chair. But
people still want to cling on to life a little longer even when all
168 Aptavani-1

their body parts are failing. This is because of their temptation
for trivial things.
Heavily bound karmas are like fire-works. They are set
up to go off only during the declining years. Whatever enjoyment
the body had indulged in, will give pain and suffering when it
leaves and whatever suffering it had to endure will give happiness
in the end. That is the rule. The peace and happiness one
experiences will be in proportion to the pain one has endured.
Only a rare blessed soul departs in peace. While indulging in
worldly pleasures, people are not aware that every part of that
enjoyment will have to be repaid. Indulging in pleasures that one
has no right to will have to be accounted and paid for at the
end, at the time of death. For simple and straightforward people,
everything remains well. It is an indication that a soul is going
to a higher plane of existence when a person has a chance to
bid farewell willingly to his worldly life. Unconsciousness during
the time of death leads to existence in a state of unconsciousness
like that of the cattle. There is no telling what happens to those
who die suddenly of heart failure. Raudra dhyana (anger, abuse
and irritation towards fellow beings) and aarta dhyana
(preoccupation with worries about ones self) are so pervasive
today that not only living but dying too has become difficult.
Those who die young, die in raudra dhyana and arta dhyana.
The old die in anxiety and despair and take on grave liability.
Today people acquire food and clothing through dishonest means;
they acquire things through aarta dhyana and raudra dhyana and
this results in a lot of pain and suffering during the time of death.
Every atom in the body will render suffering and if there is too
much suffering, one will die as a result of a heart failure. In the
next life, however he will still have to endure karma-effects
again. This is a science of atoms. This verily is the science of
the Vitarags. No one can change it.
The Lord has said that it is better to receive what is
Aptavani-1 169

coming to you through honest means, be it good or bad. A
simple meal or even torn clothes you have earned yourself are
better than acquiring anything through dishonest means.
In old age, when the time comes to leave this world, all
the fire-works are set off all at once. In the absence of Gnan,
it is very difficult to go through old age. And if Gnan is firmly
entrenched within, one can remain in the Self and just Know
and Observe all the fireworks that go off. Do you know what
my mahatmas, who have self-realisation, say as they breath,
their last breaths? They say, ‘ Just as you are watching this
body take it’s last breath, I too am doing the same.’ They
remain the Knower and the Observer of even their last breath.
Sooner or later everyone will have to vacate their ‘shop’, will
they not? It is only in order to leave, that one comes into this
world. From the moment you are born you are on your way to
the cemetery. So if you are on your way to your funeral, why
do you waste precious time stopping here and there for
something to eat (in search of trivial things)? At least think about
this. Every moment you are heading closer towards your funeral.
Sooner or later you will have to reach the final destination. One
is allowed to have expectations of a quiet exit rather than an
early or a late exit.
In old age all miseries combine to become one malady.
If one knows the cure for it, one can start the medicine when
the suffering starts. The last malady comes to take you away (to
life beyond).
How can you have affection for the body that withers
away, rots away and stinks? It is nothing but a piece of meat
dressed with skin. After all the care you give this body; bathing
it, feeding it, ultimately it still lets you down. If your own body
is disloyal to you, what can you expect from others? After
pampering the body so much, will you still like it if pus were to
170 Aptavani-1

ooze out of it? You could not even bear to look at it; you would
become detached from it. It is nothing but a mass of pus, blood
and flesh. To the Gnani Purush this is clearly visible. The Gnani
sees everything exactly as it is and that is why the Gnani remains
detached from it. Infinite lives have been spent having attachment
for this body and the reward for this has been the perpetual
cycle of birth and death. Just once become attached to the
Soul, and become a vitaragi and you will make up for the loss
of all the past infinite life cycles.
What kind of a body should you have? Your body should
be such that it becomes a vehicle for liberation. You should
acquire the ultimate body (charam sharira).
Your body is made of nothing but an accumulation of
atoms. Whatever you experience in this body is the direct result
of the kind of atoms you have been in company of.
All birds, animals and plants live to serve humans, whereas
humans live for themselves. Despite this the Lord says that the
human form is worthy of a ‘darshan’ even by the celestial beings.
If one understands this, one can get one’s work done.
Purpose Of Human Life
Who in this world knows the purpose of the human life?
Why does one attain a human life? As such no one has a clue.
People believe they can enjoy themselves in life. They pray to
God, practice yoga, do penance and renunciation. But in reality
the human body is acquired to purge oneself of one’s past
mistakes and misdeeds and settle past accounts. This body has
been acquired to settle each and every circumstances that arise,
with equanimity and to realize the Self.
Kavi has written :
‘The body that you have acquired, is to rid your misdeeds,
The veil of karma need to be shed to see God.’
Aptavani-1 171

Persons to Contact
Dada Bhagwan Parivar
Adalaj : Trimandir, Simandhar City,
Ahmedabad-Kalol Highway, Adalaj,
Dist.: Gandhinagar - 382421, Gujarat, India.
Tel : (079) 39830100, Email : info@dadabhagwan.org
Ahmedabad : "Dada Darshan", 5, Mamtapark Society,
Behind Navgujarat College, Usmanpura,
Ahmedabad- 380 014. Tel. : (079) 27540408
Rajkot : Trimandir, Ahmedabad-Rajkot Highway, Nr. Targhadiya
Chokdi, Maliyasan Village, Rajkot. Tel.: 9274111393
Vadodara : "Dada Mandir", 17, Mama ni pol,
Opp. Raopura Police Station, Salatvada, Vadodara.
Tel. : (0265) 2414142, 9825032901
Bhuj : "Trimandir", B/h Hill garden, Airport Road,Near Sahyog
Nagar, Bhuj (Kutch) Tel. : (02832) 290123
Godhra : "Trimandir", Village Bhamaiya, Opp. FCI Godown,
Godhra, Dist - Pachmahal Tel. : (02672) 262300
Mumbai : Mobile : 9323528901
Kolkata : Mobile : 9330133885
Bangalore : Mobile : 9341948509
U.S.A. : Dada Bhagwan Parivar (USA) +1 877-505-(DADA)3232
Dada Bhagwan Vignan Institute : Dr. Bachu Amin,
100, SW Redbud Lane, Topeka, Kansas 66606
Tel : +1 785 271 0869, Email : bamin@cox.net
U.K. : Satsang Activity Centre,College House, 15 College
Road, Harrow, HA1 1BA, Tel. : +44 7956 476 253
Email : dadabhagwan_uk@yahoo.com
Website : www.dadabhagwan.org
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Australia : +61 421127947
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Aptavani-1 Part 1