People are confused by the story of Ajamila, not just in India, but all over the world. It is said that at the time of his death, Ajamila called out to his son. His son’s name was Narayana. In the world, when someone is close to death, he will ask to see those he is most attached to one last time. Ajamila was extremely impious and frequently associated with prostitutes, but he was very attached to his son. He wanted to say, “Call Narayana,” but he was only able to utter, “Narayana” and then he fell unconscious. Although he did not die at this time, it is said that he expired and that he then attained the divine abode, Vaikuntha. Perhaps those who say this have not read this story.
In the Bhagavatam, it is clearly written that after Ajamila called out for his son, he became unconscious. Everyone becomes unconscious before death. Unconsciousness happens when someone cannot tolerate the pain he is experiencing. However, this does not mean that he has died. Suppose someone is being struck once, twice, three times – each time he is hit, he screams in pain. When he is struck the fourth time, he is silent because he has fallen unconscious. People may think that he is dead, but after some time he regains consciousness and sits up. Thus, there is a point where the senses and mind cannot tolerate pain, and after this, they stop working. If death occurs, it happens only after this.
The pain you experience at the time of death is so great that even before death you cannot speak. You are unable to utter even a worldly name, let alone God’s name. So to say a name at the time of death really means it has to be said before death. Even so, this is not possible. Even if it were, in Ajamila’s case, he did not die after becoming unconscious. Instead, he had a vision that the messengers of Lord Vishnu and the messengers of Yamaraja (the celestial god of death) had come. They were debating with each other and Ajamila overheard this.
Yamaraja’s messengers were saying, “He is a great sinner. We will take him to hell.” Vishnu’s messengers said, “No, you will not. He took God’s name, Narayana. You cannot take him.” In the end, the messengers of Vishnu had greater authority and chased Yamaraja’s messengers away. (Bhagavatam 6.2.20)
In other words, after Ajamila uttered "Narayana," the messengers of Vishnu saved Ajamila from death and chased away the messengers of Yamaraja. The scriptures clearly say he was saved from death. This being the case, how could he have gone to Vaikuntha? Then what actually happened?
He was saved from death. (Bhagavatam 6.2.24) After listening to the debate between these two groups of messengers, Ajamila developed detachment. He thought, “Does God’s name really have so much power that it can chase away Yamaraja’s messengers?” After hearing about the importance of God’s name, devotion for Lord Krishna arose in his heart. (Bhagavatam 6.2.25) He then decided, “I will now lovingly attach my mind to God through bhakti.” (Bhagavatam 6.2.38) Then he went to Haridwar.
In Haridwar, he engaged in devotion and through this he attained God-realization and received the divine vision of God. Then the messengers of Vishnu who had come before, came back in a celestial vehicle, but this time they came to take Ajamila to Vaikuntha. Therefore, if your mind is not lovingly attached to God when you repeat His name, nothing will happen. It is essential to add your feelings of loving remembrance of God when you engage in naam sankirtan or chanting God’s name.
The cause of our mayic bondage or liberation from maya is the mind, not the senses. God does not note what our senses are doing. Even in a criminal case, the law does not note what the senses do. If someone has premeditated bad intentions, then his actions are called a crime. But no judge is all-knowing. He cannot know what a person actually thought. He can only pass judgement based on the evidence before him. He also feels that he should not wrongly give the death sentence because the accused did not commit the crime. But he is helpless. He must act according to the evidence.
However, God Himself is noting all our thoughts from within our hearts. That is why He has no need for physical evidence. He Himself is the observer, He Himself gives the judgement, and He Himself ordains the punishment. For this reason, the mind must be attached to God. The Vedas say: “The cause of our mayic bondage or liberation from maya is the mind.”
God’s name is so powerful that you can say it just once and attain God-realization and liberation from maya. But the condition is that your mind must be completely attached to God. Shri Krishna told Arjuna the essence of the entire Gita in just one sentence.
“Arjuna, listen carefully. Keep your mind continuously attached to Me and wage this war.”
(Gita 8.7)
What happens in the world? A judge gives an order for the police to open fire into a crowd and ten people die. The police are asked, “Did you shoot?” “Yes, we did.” “Should you receive the death sentence?” “Of course not! Ask the judge why he gave us the order. We are not responsible.” The judge is interviewed, “Listen, if I had not given them the order to fire their weapons, then instead of ten people, one hundred would have died.” Thus, God only notes one’s mental intention. Arjuna killed millions in the Mahabharata War, but Shri Krishna did not make a note of any of these. People might say, “Arjuna should be severely punished.” What crime did he commit? “He committed so many murders!” Says who? “We saw it with our own eyes!” Shri Krishna says, “Your eyes are deceiving you. His mind was with Me. He had no animosity for anyone.”
Thus, the activity of the mind, and not the senses, is what is regarded as action. The activity of the senses is simply a physical drill. Someone is mouthing, “Rama Rama, Shyama Shyama,” but his mind is attached to his mother, father, spouse, child, wealth or reputation. Whatever your mind is attached to is what you receive after your death. (Gita 8.6)
“The one who remembers Me at the time of death will go to Golok.” (Gita 8.5)
Shri Krishna is referring to the one who lovingly remembers Him, not the one who merely takes His name.
“The one who lovingly remembers Me at the time of his death attains My divine abode.” (Gita 8.13)
The mind is the most important and that is why I repeatedly emphasise that before taking God’s name, you must first lovingly remember His form. Imagine that He is standing before you or that He is seated in your heart. In either case, visualise His form first.
God is so kind that He allows us to conceive any form of Him that we wish – as a young child, as a youth, even as an old man. The Vedas say that God is a child, an old man, a woman, a man – imagine Him in any form that is pleasing to you. Dress Him in any way you like. Engage in any pastime with Him as you wish. God will accept whatever you lovingly imagine. Shri Krishna was offered an opulent feast by Duryodhana, but He preferred to eat the banana peel lovingly offered by Vidura’s wife. He ate the fruit that had been tasted by Shabari because it was offered with love.
A devotee says, “I have no money. My Lord, how will I feed You halva and puris?” God replies, “Give me simple dry bread. You eat that, don’t you?” “Yes, my Lord, but today there is no bread!” “It does not matter. Just give Me water.” “But my Lord, the tap is turned off.” God says, “Then just offer me a leaf.” “But my Lord, how will I pick a leaf? My hand is sprained.” God says, “Then just mentally serve Me.” Everyone has a mind. No one can say that someone took his mind. Every living being has a mind. God therefore says, “Just surrender your mind to Me, and act with your body in the world.” This is called karma yoga. This is a very simple and straightforward philosophy in our Hindu dharma. There is no need to apply your intellect to this.
What we do instead is physically act as if we are doing devotion and our minds are attached in the world. God says that we must reverse this. Suppose you are driving your car towards Allahabad, but you have to go to Lucknow. So just turn the car around. Steer your car in the other direction. There is nothing more you have to change. For example, you hope for happiness from your mother, father, spouse and children. But instead you are deceived. Why? “They are beggars like me! They also want happiness from me.” A blind person says to someone, “Listen, I cannot see. Can you take me to Kripalu Ji’s ashram?” He is actually speaking to another blind person. That person thinks, “He cannot see that I am also blind!” But he says anyway, “Come on, take my hand.” They confidently set off and soon fall into a ditch. This is our condition, yet we insist on calling ourselves intelligent. If someone suggests that we are slightly ignorant, we retort, “What did you say!” “Well, are you omniscient?” “Oh no! Only God is all-knowing!” Then why are you taking offense at being called ignorant?
Every single person is lustful, angry, greedy, deluded and jealous. Everyone possesses these faults. But if you say a single word about it to someone, it could escalate into murder.
Once, I went to Jhansi to give a lecture and I stayed in the home of a lawyer. When he came home that evening, he told us about that day’s case. He said there was a land ownership dispute between two brothers and the elder brother won. In a judgement, someone has to win and someone has to lose. So the older brother was very happy. When they all returned to their village, the younger brother was glumly sitting in front of his house. His mother was beside him. He was very sad because he had very little land to begin with, and now it had all been snatched away. The elder brother who lived nearby was making his way to the toilet. He simply looked towards his younger brother and twirled his moustache in a gesture of victory. Both the mother and younger brother saw this. That insulting gesture was like pouring salt on their wounds. The mother angrily said, “If you are my son, then kill him!” The younger brother picked up a stick, struck his older brother and killed him. This murder case was before the court that day. Even the judge was incredulous that a murder was committed simply because someone twirled his moustache!
You must always be mindful to lovingly remember God’s form when you practice devotion. It does not matter whether you practice this remembrance alone or add kirtan or anything else to it. Our main aim in devotion is to develop our feelings of love for God. Everyone, and in fact all living beings, already know how to love. Even if you pick up a dog’s puppy, she starts barking and may run towards you to bite you. Thus, we cannot say that we do not know how to love. If we say we cannot practice devotion because our mind is not under our control, then this is wrong. Everyone has their mind under their control. Look, there are so many people sitting here. Is anyone sitting here naked? You all know, “I must be properly dressed in public.” Why? Your mind says, “It is so hot today. Take your clothes off!” But your intellect says, “Absolutely not! I will be sent to a mental hospital if I do that. I am not doing it.”
A five year-old child is going to school. On the way, there is a sweet shop and they are frying jalebis outside. His mouth starts watering at the sight of the jalebis, but his pockets are empty. He did not bring any money today. His mind says, “Hey, just grab one!” His intellect says, “But I will get a spanking!” His mind says, “So what? It’s worth it!” His intellect says, “No, I will not do it.” He just looks at the jalebis as he continues on his way to school. He controls his mind so his hand does not reach out to take a jalebi. Instead, he reasons, “Tomorrow I will bring some money from my mother and I will buy one.” Imagine, a five-year-old is able to control his mind like this! Everyone is controlling their mind like this, even criminals. Out of fear of the law, the police or society, we limit our wrongdoings.
If a local government announced, “For the next twenty-four hours, you will not be punished for any crime you commit.” After this twenty-four hour period, what would remain? It would be total chaos. This means that everyone has the tendency for wrongdoing, but our fear of being punished saves us from acting on it.
Thus, a very great spiritual government resides within each of us. God dwells in everyone’s heart. We have heard this, read this, and ninety percent of people repeat this, “God resides within. He is observing everything. He knows all our thoughts.” But they do not believe it. If we truly believed this, we would be incapable of even thinking about wrongdoing, let alone actually doing it. We would think, “Oh, God will note this! All-powerful, all-knowing God is seated in my heart! After I die, I will be punished for this!” No one can escape this, no matter who they are. After death, you must undergo the consequences of your actions.
Wrongdoing keeps on happening in the world. The cheating and deception that happens here, you will not get away with in God’s domain. When a rich person persecutes a poor person, the poor person thinks, “I am helpless. I have to tolerate this. But after death, God will issue you with a final account for your actions.” But why do we not realise all the time that God is seated in our hearts? When a person has a billion dollars, he swells up with pride. But this is a trivial thing. If you truly realized that the Supreme Lord of the entire universe is seated in your heart, you would naturally be entitled to feel, “Who is equal to me?” Plus, you would remain ever blissful.
If someone were to insult you, it would have no effect. You would feel, “How can you insult the soul? Insults only relate to the body. Go ahead!” Why do we feel bad when someone does this, especially when it is true? If you meet an ordinary policeman and ask him if he is a sergeant, and he says, “Yes, I am a sergeant.” He will not demand that you address him with the loftier title of detective or captain. He is happy being called a sergeant. We have every fault because we are governed by maya. Therefore, if someone calls us any kind of name, it is true.
If someone claims, “I only thought of doing something bad; I did not actually do it.” Yes, but you thought it, or you do it secretly thinking no one will see. Just see how many people in India hide their total income from the tax board. Accountants tell their clients to do this. They earn $10,000 and only declare $1000. “Write your accounts like this. No one will catch you.” Is this wrong or not? Thus, we keep committing sin secretly. If we were to truly feel that God resides in our hearts, then every kind of wrongdoing would end in the world. All the courts would close, and all the police would be redundant.
We therefore need to practice this awareness that God is seated in our hearts. We will be benefited only from this, and not the world. We are all selfish. We do what benefits us. If everyone did what would truly benefit them, then the world would be benefited. What do we do day and night? We want others to say we are good, but we do not try to become good. To make others think of us as good, we calculate what to do, what to say, where to go or who to meet. We think of different methods to accomplish this. But everyone is being deceived. Even your own parents, spouse and children are thinking badly about you. Their favourable external actions are just an act. Even you lovingly say, “Come, son!” And inside you think, “How did I get such a useless child?”
Therefore, the main and most important point is that your mind must practice devotion to God.
An English translation of a discourse delivered in Hindi by:
Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj, 14 August 2010
Bhakti Dham, Mangarh
© Radha Govind Samiti
Book Recomendation:
Bhakti Shatak - English: https://www.jkpliterature.org.in/en/product/bhakti-shatak-3
Bhakti Shatak - Hindi: https://www.jkpliterature.org.in/en/product/bhakti-shatak-2
People are confused by the story of Ajamila, not just in India, but all over the world. It is said that at the time of his death, Ajamila called out to his son. His son’s name was Narayana. In the world, when someone is close to death, he will ask to see those he is most attached to one last time. Ajamila was extremely impious and frequently associated with prostitutes, but he was very attached to his son. He wanted to say, “Call Narayana,” but he was only able to utter, “Narayana” and then he fell unconscious. Although he did not die at this time, it is said that he expired and that he then attained the divine abode, Vaikuntha. Perhaps those who say this have not read this story.
In the Bhagavatam, it is clearly written that after Ajamila called out for his son, he became unconscious. Everyone becomes unconscious before death. Unconsciousness happens when someone cannot tolerate the pain he is experiencing. However, this does not mean that he has died. Suppose someone is being struck once, twice, three times – each time he is hit, he screams in pain. When he is struck the fourth time, he is silent because he has fallen unconscious. People may think that he is dead, but after some time he regains consciousness and sits up. Thus, there is a point where the senses and mind cannot tolerate pain, and after this, they stop working. If death occurs, it happens only after this.
The pain you experience at the time of death is so great that even before death you cannot speak. You are unable to utter even a worldly name, let alone God’s name. So to say a name at the time of death really means it has to be said before death. Even so, this is not possible. Even if it were, in Ajamila’s case, he did not die after becoming unconscious. Instead, he had a vision that the messengers of Lord Vishnu and the messengers of Yamaraja (the celestial god of death) had come. They were debating with each other and Ajamila overheard this.
Yamaraja’s messengers were saying, “He is a great sinner. We will take him to hell.” Vishnu’s messengers said, “No, you will not. He took God’s name, Narayana. You cannot take him.” In the end, the messengers of Vishnu had greater authority and chased Yamaraja’s messengers away. (Bhagavatam 6.2.20)
In other words, after Ajamila uttered "Narayana," the messengers of Vishnu saved Ajamila from death and chased away the messengers of Yamaraja. The scriptures clearly say he was saved from death. This being the case, how could he have gone to Vaikuntha? Then what actually happened?
He was saved from death. (Bhagavatam 6.2.24) After listening to the debate between these two groups of messengers, Ajamila developed detachment. He thought, “Does God’s name really have so much power that it can chase away Yamaraja’s messengers?” After hearing about the importance of God’s name, devotion for Lord Krishna arose in his heart. (Bhagavatam 6.2.25) He then decided, “I will now lovingly attach my mind to God through bhakti.” (Bhagavatam 6.2.38) Then he went to Haridwar.
In Haridwar, he engaged in devotion and through this he attained God-realization and received the divine vision of God. Then the messengers of Vishnu who had come before, came back in a celestial vehicle, but this time they came to take Ajamila to Vaikuntha. Therefore, if your mind is not lovingly attached to God when you repeat His name, nothing will happen. It is essential to add your feelings of loving remembrance of God when you engage in naam sankirtan or chanting God’s name.
The cause of our mayic bondage or liberation from maya is the mind, not the senses. God does not note what our senses are doing. Even in a criminal case, the law does not note what the senses do. If someone has premeditated bad intentions, then his actions are called a crime. But no judge is all-knowing. He cannot know what a person actually thought. He can only pass judgement based on the evidence before him. He also feels that he should not wrongly give the death sentence because the accused did not commit the crime. But he is helpless. He must act according to the evidence.
However, God Himself is noting all our thoughts from within our hearts. That is why He has no need for physical evidence. He Himself is the observer, He Himself gives the judgement, and He Himself ordains the punishment. For this reason, the mind must be attached to God. The Vedas say: “The cause of our mayic bondage or liberation from maya is the mind.”
God’s name is so powerful that you can say it just once and attain God-realization and liberation from maya. But the condition is that your mind must be completely attached to God. Shri Krishna told Arjuna the essence of the entire Gita in just one sentence.
“Arjuna, listen carefully. Keep your mind continuously attached to Me and wage this war.”
(Gita 8.7)
What happens in the world? A judge gives an order for the police to open fire into a crowd and ten people die. The police are asked, “Did you shoot?” “Yes, we did.” “Should you receive the death sentence?” “Of course not! Ask the judge why he gave us the order. We are not responsible.” The judge is interviewed, “Listen, if I had not given them the order to fire their weapons, then instead of ten people, one hundred would have died.” Thus, God only notes one’s mental intention. Arjuna killed millions in the Mahabharata War, but Shri Krishna did not make a note of any of these. People might say, “Arjuna should be severely punished.” What crime did he commit? “He committed so many murders!” Says who? “We saw it with our own eyes!” Shri Krishna says, “Your eyes are deceiving you. His mind was with Me. He had no animosity for anyone.”
Thus, the activity of the mind, and not the senses, is what is regarded as action. The activity of the senses is simply a physical drill. Someone is mouthing, “Rama Rama, Shyama Shyama,” but his mind is attached to his mother, father, spouse, child, wealth or reputation. Whatever your mind is attached to is what you receive after your death. (Gita 8.6)
“The one who remembers Me at the time of death will go to Golok.” (Gita 8.5)
Shri Krishna is referring to the one who lovingly remembers Him, not the one who merely takes His name.
“The one who lovingly remembers Me at the time of his death attains My divine abode.” (Gita 8.13)
The mind is the most important and that is why I repeatedly emphasise that before taking God’s name, you must first lovingly remember His form. Imagine that He is standing before you or that He is seated in your heart. In either case, visualise His form first.
God is so kind that He allows us to conceive any form of Him that we wish – as a young child, as a youth, even as an old man. The Vedas say that God is a child, an old man, a woman, a man – imagine Him in any form that is pleasing to you. Dress Him in any way you like. Engage in any pastime with Him as you wish. God will accept whatever you lovingly imagine. Shri Krishna was offered an opulent feast by Duryodhana, but He preferred to eat the banana peel lovingly offered by Vidura’s wife. He ate the fruit that had been tasted by Shabari because it was offered with love.
A devotee says, “I have no money. My Lord, how will I feed You halva and puris?” God replies, “Give me simple dry bread. You eat that, don’t you?” “Yes, my Lord, but today there is no bread!” “It does not matter. Just give Me water.” “But my Lord, the tap is turned off.” God says, “Then just offer me a leaf.” “But my Lord, how will I pick a leaf? My hand is sprained.” God says, “Then just mentally serve Me.” Everyone has a mind. No one can say that someone took his mind. Every living being has a mind. God therefore says, “Just surrender your mind to Me, and act with your body in the world.” This is called karma yoga. This is a very simple and straightforward philosophy in our Hindu dharma. There is no need to apply your intellect to this.
What we do instead is physically act as if we are doing devotion and our minds are attached in the world. God says that we must reverse this. Suppose you are driving your car towards Allahabad, but you have to go to Lucknow. So just turn the car around. Steer your car in the other direction. There is nothing more you have to change. For example, you hope for happiness from your mother, father, spouse and children. But instead you are deceived. Why? “They are beggars like me! They also want happiness from me.” A blind person says to someone, “Listen, I cannot see. Can you take me to Kripalu Ji’s ashram?” He is actually speaking to another blind person. That person thinks, “He cannot see that I am also blind!” But he says anyway, “Come on, take my hand.” They confidently set off and soon fall into a ditch. This is our condition, yet we insist on calling ourselves intelligent. If someone suggests that we are slightly ignorant, we retort, “What did you say!” “Well, are you omniscient?” “Oh no! Only God is all-knowing!” Then why are you taking offense at being called ignorant?
Every single person is lustful, angry, greedy, deluded and jealous. Everyone possesses these faults. But if you say a single word about it to someone, it could escalate into murder.
Once, I went to Jhansi to give a lecture and I stayed in the home of a lawyer. When he came home that evening, he told us about that day’s case. He said there was a land ownership dispute between two brothers and the elder brother won. In a judgement, someone has to win and someone has to lose. So the older brother was very happy. When they all returned to their village, the younger brother was glumly sitting in front of his house. His mother was beside him. He was very sad because he had very little land to begin with, and now it had all been snatched away. The elder brother who lived nearby was making his way to the toilet. He simply looked towards his younger brother and twirled his moustache in a gesture of victory. Both the mother and younger brother saw this. That insulting gesture was like pouring salt on their wounds. The mother angrily said, “If you are my son, then kill him!” The younger brother picked up a stick, struck his older brother and killed him. This murder case was before the court that day. Even the judge was incredulous that a murder was committed simply because someone twirled his moustache!
You must always be mindful to lovingly remember God’s form when you practice devotion. It does not matter whether you practice this remembrance alone or add kirtan or anything else to it. Our main aim in devotion is to develop our feelings of love for God. Everyone, and in fact all living beings, already know how to love. Even if you pick up a dog’s puppy, she starts barking and may run towards you to bite you. Thus, we cannot say that we do not know how to love. If we say we cannot practice devotion because our mind is not under our control, then this is wrong. Everyone has their mind under their control. Look, there are so many people sitting here. Is anyone sitting here naked? You all know, “I must be properly dressed in public.” Why? Your mind says, “It is so hot today. Take your clothes off!” But your intellect says, “Absolutely not! I will be sent to a mental hospital if I do that. I am not doing it.”
A five year-old child is going to school. On the way, there is a sweet shop and they are frying jalebis outside. His mouth starts watering at the sight of the jalebis, but his pockets are empty. He did not bring any money today. His mind says, “Hey, just grab one!” His intellect says, “But I will get a spanking!” His mind says, “So what? It’s worth it!” His intellect says, “No, I will not do it.” He just looks at the jalebis as he continues on his way to school. He controls his mind so his hand does not reach out to take a jalebi. Instead, he reasons, “Tomorrow I will bring some money from my mother and I will buy one.” Imagine, a five-year-old is able to control his mind like this! Everyone is controlling their mind like this, even criminals. Out of fear of the law, the police or society, we limit our wrongdoings.
If a local government announced, “For the next twenty-four hours, you will not be punished for any crime you commit.” After this twenty-four hour period, what would remain? It would be total chaos. This means that everyone has the tendency for wrongdoing, but our fear of being punished saves us from acting on it.
Thus, a very great spiritual government resides within each of us. God dwells in everyone’s heart. We have heard this, read this, and ninety percent of people repeat this, “God resides within. He is observing everything. He knows all our thoughts.” But they do not believe it. If we truly believed this, we would be incapable of even thinking about wrongdoing, let alone actually doing it. We would think, “Oh, God will note this! All-powerful, all-knowing God is seated in my heart! After I die, I will be punished for this!” No one can escape this, no matter who they are. After death, you must undergo the consequences of your actions.
Wrongdoing keeps on happening in the world. The cheating and deception that happens here, you will not get away with in God’s domain. When a rich person persecutes a poor person, the poor person thinks, “I am helpless. I have to tolerate this. But after death, God will issue you with a final account for your actions.” But why do we not realise all the time that God is seated in our hearts? When a person has a billion dollars, he swells up with pride. But this is a trivial thing. If you truly realized that the Supreme Lord of the entire universe is seated in your heart, you would naturally be entitled to feel, “Who is equal to me?” Plus, you would remain ever blissful.
If someone were to insult you, it would have no effect. You would feel, “How can you insult the soul? Insults only relate to the body. Go ahead!” Why do we feel bad when someone does this, especially when it is true? If you meet an ordinary policeman and ask him if he is a sergeant, and he says, “Yes, I am a sergeant.” He will not demand that you address him with the loftier title of detective or captain. He is happy being called a sergeant. We have every fault because we are governed by maya. Therefore, if someone calls us any kind of name, it is true.
If someone claims, “I only thought of doing something bad; I did not actually do it.” Yes, but you thought it, or you do it secretly thinking no one will see. Just see how many people in India hide their total income from the tax board. Accountants tell their clients to do this. They earn $10,000 and only declare $1000. “Write your accounts like this. No one will catch you.” Is this wrong or not? Thus, we keep committing sin secretly. If we were to truly feel that God resides in our hearts, then every kind of wrongdoing would end in the world. All the courts would close, and all the police would be redundant.
We therefore need to practice this awareness that God is seated in our hearts. We will be benefited only from this, and not the world. We are all selfish. We do what benefits us. If everyone did what would truly benefit them, then the world would be benefited. What do we do day and night? We want others to say we are good, but we do not try to become good. To make others think of us as good, we calculate what to do, what to say, where to go or who to meet. We think of different methods to accomplish this. But everyone is being deceived. Even your own parents, spouse and children are thinking badly about you. Their favourable external actions are just an act. Even you lovingly say, “Come, son!” And inside you think, “How did I get such a useless child?”
Therefore, the main and most important point is that your mind must practice devotion to God.
An English translation of a discourse delivered in Hindi by:
Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj, 14 August 2010
Bhakti Dham, Mangarh
© Radha Govind Samiti
Book Recomendation:
Bhakti Shatak - English: https://www.jkpliterature.org.in/en/product/bhakti-shatak-3
Bhakti Shatak - Hindi: https://www.jkpliterature.org.in/en/product/bhakti-shatak-2
Read Next
How to Find God?
A Journey of Surrender and Love The ultimate goal of every individual soul is only supreme divine bliss; to attain that, we exert constant effort every moment. But until now, we have not received that bliss. There are only two fields: the field of maya, the material power, and the
Eternal Freedom from Suffering
The Eternal Struggle Between the Material World and God We all have a mind that is responsible for all the actions that we perform. Firstly, it is the mind that constantly creates desires. The question is, “Why do we have desires?” The answer is that all souls desire true happiness,
Knowledge and Acceptance
The scriptures tell us that the individual soul has endeavoured to know God in every moment since eternity. No soul can remain inactive even for a second. And we know this to be true from our own experience. Wherever we are and whenever it is, we are engaging in some
Faith: The Ultimate Gamechanger
You must have heard the word shraddha which means “faith”. The Vedas say: shraddhatsva tata shraddhatsva “O humans! Have shraddha, have shraddha." agyashchashraddhadhanasheha sanshayatma vinashyati nayam lokosti na paro na sukham na para gatim There are three kinds of people who fall from the spiritual path due to doubts.