Superiority of the device who serves both God and his devotee
Chapter-31
Finding faults in a devotee it self is the fault of the follower.
On the second day of the second fortnight of the month of Paush of Samvat 1876, Shriji Manaraj was seated on a cot in the evening on the
Verandah facing east, Near his residential chamber, in the Durbar Gadh of Shri Dada Khachar at Gadhada. He was clad in all white.
At this moment, Yoganand Swami asked, There are two types of devotees, one who is totally detached, prefers seclusion and hurts nobody by harsh words; the other is also fully detached but is engaged in serving God and his devotees by the means like food etc available to him, but hurts others by the harsh words. Which of them excels. Shriji Maharaj avoided to answer it and called fOr Muktanahd Swami and Brahmanand Swami, and repeated the question before them.
Replying to this they said, One who is engaged in serving God and his saints and in so doing has to speak harsh words to inspire others in such serviCes excels the other who prefers seclusion to service. He lacks the exuberance of Bhakti which demands dedicated service.
Thereafter, Shriji Maharaj said, Answer is absolutely correct. Such a devotee who is absorbed in service is apparently found to be lacking in sweet manners and one who magnifies such drawback, invites repulsion. The habit of magnifying such minor drawbacks would impel him to find out fault even with God, who has assumed a human body for the redemption of many Jivas. But because of such fault finding habit eiiher God or his saint does not cease to be redemptive. It is his perverted view which leads him to deduce such perverted conclusion. Shishupal maligned Shri Krishna and the Pandavas by saying the Pandavas are crossbred and they lack the principle of morality in as much as five of them married one wife. Krishna is a great hypocrite who soon after his birth killed a woman, then a crane, then a calf. He had uprooted the honey-combs and so was called Madhusoodan the dertroyer of Madhu-honey, but he had not killed any damon named Madhu, as he has been so hailed. Is he God because the crossbred Pandavas hail him as God and so worship him? Shishupal had such a perverted mind which impelled him to discover only faults. But those who were the devotees of God could visualise divinity in all activities of God. One who lacks the vision of appreciating the virtues has a perverted mind with a demonic bearing.
Further to this, Yoganand Swami asked, Mahataj! It is quite natural that one does not look for faults in such great devotees of God but devotees of average leveL are likely to be so evaluated for their drawbacks. Then Shriji Maharaj said, I think you do not quite understand the term Greatness and Smallness, when these are applied to a devotee of God. A devotee who has known God and who has been implicitly obeying all his holy injunctions is in real a great devotee. One who lacks these attributes and even though he is great in worldly way, spiritually he is not great. But I feel that in this satsang all possess these two attributes in as much as they all have realised that Purushottam who transcends Akshar has descended on the earth with all his divinity and so has become visible to us. They therefore feel fulfilled, and with such a realisation offer dedicated devotion to Lord Purushottam. Therefore even if certain insignificant drawback persists in them, they could not be regarded so adversely. And one who takes cognisance of such drawbacks develops a perverted mind which then becomes demonical.
Thus Ends Vachanamrit : Gadhada First - 31.
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