No quality is greater than detachment
Shri Nishkulanand Swami says that even if all the hundreds of good qualities come together, they can never reach the power of Vairagya (detachment). Why is that? Even if we have all those hundreds of good qualities, they can’t keep you with God. If we have detachment, it keeps us close to God even if you don’t have any other quality.
The hundreds of qualities are good to have. But they keep you tied with the world and may not allow you to reach God.
If you do all pious and great activities without detachment, those activities don’t take you to God but would increase your desire to stay in this world.
Satsang is real only if it disconnects you from everything other than God. Otherwise it is not a real Satsang.
If you have only Vairagya but no Satsang (say you are living in a jungle), then God would still come and take you. If you are in Satsang but don’t have Vairagya, then you are not good for God to take you.
Maharaj said that the detachment that is developed by being in relation with God is called the detachment with knowledge.
The detachment that sprouted from the knowledge of God is never destroyed. Knowing God and leaving the world is the real detachment. None of the activities other than detachment could discard you from the world.
The importance of a devotional activity is based on how powerful it is to discard the worldly relations and how powerful it is to attach you to the God. In that sense detachment is the greatest quality of all qualities.
Devotion and detachment make the best pair
Bhakti (devotion) and Vairagya (detachment) is a pair. Dharma (morality) and Gnan (knowledge) is a pair.
The more moral you are, the more your conscience has the power to absorb knowledge and realize it. The more knowledge you are able to realize, the more moral you become.
Similarly, the more devoted you are to God and His Saint, the more detached you become to the world. The more you are detached to the world, the more you become devoted to God and His Saint.
The more our food is pure, the more our conscience is pure. The more our conscience is pure, the more we are able to realize knowledge. Devotion towards God has the capacity to attach to God, but it doesn’t has the capacity to discard the world. Detachment has the capacity to discard from the world, but it doesn’t has the capacity to attach to God.
In the Gita it is said that if an action is executed selflessly, even the most common action would help you to achieve God. If there is no selflessness, even if you do the greatest works, you will find it difficult to achieve God.
Nishkulanand Swami clarifies about detachment
Nishkulanand Swami clarifies everything about detachment in such a way that there remain no doubts about it. No one can describe detachment as beautifully as him.
Shastriji Maharaj said that, “In my view Nishkulanand Swami is another God. No one could describe about detachment like him. One God is Lord Swaminarayan. The other God is Nishkulanand Swami.”
The more we understand Nishkulanand Swami’s words, the sweeter it tastes. If you completely realize Nishkulanand Swami’s thoughts, then there is no need of any other Satsang. Such an explanation can not be found even in scriptures.
Detachment is only by the mercy of God and Saints
Yog Sutra states that, “Vairagya happens only when there is mercy.”
Nishkulanand Swami says that pure detachment can only happen with the mercy of the Lord of all Lords and the most detached Saint. If there is no mercy, there is no detachment.
Even if we cultivate detachment by performing different kinds of devotional activities, it will be useful for our ultimate good only when we get the blessings of God and His beloved Saint. If an activity is well executed, it doesn’t mean it would help us in our ultimate good. detachment with mercy bonds us with God and makes our ultimate good.
Many people would have good qualities and might be prosperous. When would those good qualities and prosperity be useful for his ultimate good? It happens only with a great Saint’s mercy. It doesn’t happy with the force of good qualities and prosperity. We could get instant detachment only with the mercy of the purest Saint. There is no other way to achieve pure detachment.
So, keep serving Lord Hari and Lord Hari’s dearest Saint and devotee. Become the servant of the servant of the Saint and keep the company of detached devotee.
References:
Sarsiddhi Katha Part 14