Asserted Topics:
Explaining transcendental state attained through knowledge.
Key Points:
- Faults within the Antahkaran are removed by understanding God’s greatness.
- Faults within the Antahkaran are removed by understanding God is faultless.
Explanation
Supreme God Shreeji Māharāj says in this Vachanāmrut that “Today, I am going to explain the state of mind attained through knowledge. Knowledge is beyond Prakruti-Purush. When one acquires knowledge, he loses consciousness of Prakruti-Purush and their creation. This is called Gnanpralay (dissolution due to knowledge). In such a state of mind, one only sees the Murti of Supreme God, and no other image is seen there. Moreover one attains such state by the consistent memory of the Murti of God which one sees before him.
Māharāj has mentioned that through knowledge one attains transcendental state. This means when this state is attained, a person has knowledge about God’s greatness. Without understanding God’s greatness, the transcendental state of mind cannot be achieved. It is said in the scriptures that “स्वे महिन्मि प्रतिष्ठितः” – sve mahinmi pratiṣhṭhitaḥ. The transcendental state through knowledge mentioned means knowledge of the greatness of God. When a devotee attains knowledge of God’s greatness, he becomes firm in transcendental state. It is said in the Upanishad that एकेन विज्ञातेन सर्वं विज्ञातम् भवति – eken vigñāten sarvaṃ vigñātam bhavati i.e. everything is being known just by knowing one Supreme God. That statement also demonstrates the greatness of God. If one has understood the greatness of God properly and perfectly, nothing is left for him to know. Māharāj says that one, who attains knowledge of God’s greatness, becomes firm in transcendental state. This state cannot be destroyed even by four types of dissolution, therefore, that state is beyond all dissolution. Hence knowledge is said to be the ultimate dissolution.
Dissolution refers to the process of eliminating faulty and deficient elements, allowing only the pure essence to exist. This state, known as Gyān Pralay (dissolution through knowledge about the greatness of God), signifies the ultimate purification of the element. At this point, eternal realization is attainable solely through the profound understanding of the infinite greatness of God, without reliance on any other means.
Therefore, Shreeji Māharāj says that when one attains Gyān Pralay, Prakr̥uti and its work means nothing to him. This is true gyān Pralay for one. Pain and sorrow cannot end just by death; instead it is possible only through emotional destruction and detachment of the body. One cannot attain transcendental state by destruction of the natural elements; instead it is possible through concentrating the mind in the Murti of God. By performing this process, Prakr̥uti and its work are being destroyed. How is this possible? Māharāj says that when one becomes extremely motivated to concentrate their consciousness and mind constantly upon God’s Murti the results become immediate. This is not possible without deep interest in the Murti of God. Therefore, the most important thing is to develop a desire to concentrate one’s mind on the divine Murti of God.
Māharāj says that “The brightness of the light in his heart will increase in proportion to how much he understands the greatness of God”. There will not remain a tinge of doubt. The true brightness of light in one heart is the clearity within to walk on the path of God. And this determination is the true light for us, which is more important than divine lustre for us. Furthermore, Māharāj says all bad thoughts will disappear from his mind altogether.
Māharāj gives an example: One’s mouth and teeth will become sour if he drinks the juice out of a small piece of lemon. However, he will still be able to slowly chew Chana (roasted grams). But if he drinks the juice out of a whole lemon, he will be unable to chew Chana, but he may be able to eat boiled beans with some effort. Furthermore, if he drinks the juice from many lemons, he will not even be able to eat cooked rice. Similarly, when one understands the greatness of God and has firm faith in God, his four types of conscience and ten senses become sour. His mind will not be able to enjoy the objects of the senses, in the same way that sour teeth cannot chew Chana.
Another fact is that The divine Murti of God is beyond the influence of Maya and is unaffected by its attributes. Ther is no possibiliy of any distrubines in any times i.e past, present and future. But the Lord appears in a human form only for the good of the souls. Persons with poor intelligence will find different types of human failings in Him. But God is free from all the faults. It is the fault of the intelligence of the person who thinks like that. This fault of the person will never be gotten rid of.
The essence is that when one truly comprehends the divine magnificence of God, the soul attains a state of innocence. Even if one does not fully grasp the true glory of God, recognizing God’s form as inherently pure and untouched by Maya (illusion) brings about a sense of innocence. When such innocence is perceived in God, it facilitates the fulfillment of life’s purpose and eradicates the imperfections within one’s own nature. By regarding God as supremely innocent, an overwhelming sense of detachment is fostered, leading to one’s own innocence. Those who perceive faults in God without realizing that such faults do not exist in God, only end up harming themselves.
Here, Bramhānand Swami raises a question. “Even though the senses are not carried away by their objects of enjoyment, various desires do not arise in the heart, and there is a firm faith in God, why does one feel as though something is lacking as if there is a void of sorts in the heart?”Shreeji Māharāj replies, ”It is a great fault of the devotee that they do not experience perfect bliss despite their firm faith in God.” In fact, feeling dissatisfaction is a result of weakness in understanding the greatness of God. Otherwise, they should experience high satisfaction and divine bliss of God. Māharāj says that “If we give a Chintāmani (a wishing stone) to a child, he does not feel joy of possessing such a valuable stone because he does not know the value of the stone.” We, too, undergo the same experience. We are unaware of the exceptional influence and magnificence of Maharaj, thus we do not experience such bliss. However, we should strive to remain in a state of joy and bliss by recognizing that we are part of this Satsang, which is the result of our many past good deeds.
-Swaminarayan Chintan