Is it a sin to check the intentions of a saint? Should we not check if a saint really possesses saintly qualities or not?
Shreeji Maharaj has said that one should never find faults in a saint no matter what. However, Nishkulanand Swami has said that one should check a saint’s true intentions every moment.
Is it not enough to check a saint’s intentions once? No, we should check a saint’s intentions every moment. Here verification does not mean to doubt them or to find faults in them, but it means to verify the quality of his saintliness every moment.
Checking a person’s intentions is completely different from finding faults in a person. Many individuals find faults in other people without understanding who they are.
A washerman found faults in Lord Ram and blamed Him that, “He is still living with Sitaji even after she spent almost a year in Ravan’s Lanka.”
Did the washerman verify whether Sitaji is good or bad?
When someone decides to find faults in a person, he doesn’t necessarily verify the facts around that person or doesn’t necessarily understand that person. On the other hand, dedication to a person happens only after a proper understanding of that person.
If a person understands Lord Krishna’s true nature, he will never find faults in Him.
One day, Uddhavji and Lord Krishna went to Kubja’s home.
As they both reached Kubja’s home, Lord Krishna told Uddhavji to sit at the door and make sure no one enters the home while Krishna and Kubja stay inside.
Without any hesitation, Uddhavji followed Krishna’s instructions and stood at the door; he had no doubts about Krishna.
Why didn’t Uddhavji have any doubt about Krishna? Is it because he is blind about Krishna? Or is it because he completely understood Krishna?
It is because he completely verified and cross-verified Krishna. And so, he never doubted Krishna.
Thus, Uddhavji, without a trace of doubt, went and sat at the door, and made sure no one else entered the place. He didn’t doubt Krishna because he had already completely verified Krishna and understood Krishna as He is.
So Nishkulanand Swami has said that one should constantly check the purity of a saint.
If the intentions of the saint are pure, then we will understand the greatness of that saint and serve him. If the intentions of the saint are impure, then we will understand the fakeness of that saint and keep away from him.
What would happen to a person who verifies Lord Krishna every day? What would happen if he verifies Sanakadika Rushis every day? When would happen if he verifies Jada Bharat every day? Eventually, he will transform himself and become a great saint or devotee.
When a person truly understands a true saint, he slowly begins to adopt the mindset of the saint he follows.
Shastriji Maharaj used to say this quite many times: “Is there someone who truly understood a saint? Is there someone who truly understood this Gurukul?”
A person might be a great devotee, yet he may not completely understand a saint or this Gurukul because he never tried to understand a saint or this Gurukul. And the only way to understand a saint or the Gurukul is to constantly check the intentions behind them.
Whom should we verify?
From the initial observation of a saint, we can get a sense of whether he is a true one or a fake one. If we sense that he might be a true saint, then we can go deeper to gain more clarity. Do note that going deeper is only required if we sense that he is a true saint; if the saint is a fake one, there is no need to do a deeper study of him.
Moreover, if we find that a saint is fake, we shouldn’t try to change that saint. We should simply leave him and go ahead to find a true saint.
Let’s say someone goes to a store to buy an item. If he doesn’t find the product of his expectation, he shouldn’t fight with the store owner about the quality of the product. If the product is bad, he will think “this product is not for me,” and will move on to find a product of his expectation.
Similarly, if we realize that someone is fake, we don’t fight with them or try to correct them, but we should move on to find the right one.
One should observe and analyze the saint as a whole to determine his true intentions
Let us say there is a person who sits on Vyaspeet (stage) and preaches so many life-changing principles. By listening to him, many people think of him as a true saint based on the words he spoke on the stage. They keep praising him: “Wow, what an insightful katha it was and what a great set of life-changing principles did he delivered. Amazing, isn’t it?”
If a saint delivers such a katha, can we say for sure that he is a true saint?
We can’t understand the purity of a person with his speech.
Then how can we understand if he is real or fake?
When we take all the actions and works of a person and line them up in the axis of time, and analyze each of his actions, then we will get hold of the common thread (the core) of his life, which is called “the direction of the life of a person.” That direction will tell us whether a person is fake or real.
If we analyze just a part of someone’s life, we may not get the complete picture of him.
Every person should also analyze themselves by plotting their life on time-axis: when I was young and studying, how was I? How were my thoughts and actions in those days? Then when I became an adult, how was I? How am I now?
If we do such an analysis, we will get the direction of our life. Otherwise, it is difficult to our own direction in life.
If all the major and minor incidents of our life are plotted and analyzed, then we will find our direction. Finding our own direction in life is difficult than finding someone else’s direction.
In Vachanamrut-5 of Loya chapter, Shreeji Maharaj has explained how to determine ones’ true nature.
Maharaj said, “Let’s say that there is a person who is deceitful and does a lot of showoffs. He is also very clever to hide his deceit and showoffs. How can we know the true nature of his deceits, showoffs, and unsaintliness?”
No one was able to give a satisfactory answer, and so Shreeji Maharaj answered, “When we stay with him and observe what he eats and drinks, how he sleeps, sits, stands, and walks, how he talks and listens, then we can determine his true nature.”
Living with a person doesn’t help us to know him. We should observe him closely. We should also enquire about his behavior from someone close to him. We should sit with him to eat, we should go with him to take a bath, and we should observe him every time we are with him. Only then can we understand him.
Sadguru Gunatitanand Swami has said:
Vyavaharena sadhu
Definition: Only when we interact with a person and observe him closely can we know whether he is saintly or unsaintly.
References:
- Chosathpadi Katha Part 09 (Pad 09).
- Chosathpadi Katha Part 11 (Pad 10, 11).