When a fake saint speaks, what does he speak about? He always tries to convince others that he is a true saint.
Any person, when he speaks, always speaks in such a way that his public image or reputation is guaranteed to improve. This is especially true when one is speaking in public.
When a fake saint speaks in public, what does he speak? He always speaks against lust, anger, and other internal enemies, which are the topics of a true saint, to guarantee his public image as a saint.
Such a fake saint has not been able to conquer lust, anger, and other internal enemies, and yet he talks about defeating these internal enemies. Devotees, not knowing him to be a fake saint, continue to listen to his talks, and begin to accept him as a true saint.
Therefore, one cannot determine if a saint is a true one or a fake one by merely listening to his talks. One can determine a saint is true or fake only by understanding his intentions.
How can we understand the intentions of a saint? It is in fact very difficult to understand the intentions of a saint, though it is not impossible.
One can determine any person’s intentions by using two techniques that have been outlined in the scriptures.
- Collect all the events, including minor ones, that have occurred in a person’s life and analyze his actions during these events. We can determine his intentions based on his actions during these events.
- A person’s intentions can also be known by observing his thoughts and actions when he is alone.
These two techniques are described in detail as below.
Determining one’s intentions based on incidents of his life
One cannot figure out a saint’s intentions just by observing and analyzing his words, but one can figure out a saint’s intentions by connecting different incidents of his life.
Once, Shreeji Maharaj asked all the saints to find out His true intention.
No saint was able to give the right answer. Even though there are so many recorded incidents of Shreeji Maharaj’s life, no one was able to give a satisfactory answer.
Then Shreeji Maharaj shared his true intention that, “From the time I was born, I am very strong in being free from lust.”
If we look at all the events that have occurred during Shreeji Maharaj’s life, such as running away from home, meeting Ramanand Swami, and all such incidents, they all indicate that His intentions are very strong to be completely free from lust.
What is the essence of the 5th canto or 10th canto of Shrimad Bhagwat scripture? Can one understand the essence of the 5th or 10th canto just by reading one chapter of the canto? No. One must read all the chapters of the canto to know the key points of each canto. Only then will he understand the essence of that canto.
Intention is the essence of a person.
When all the major and minor incidents of a person are collected and connected with each other, then his inner intentions will automatically be revealed.
One’s intentions can be known when he is alone
When a person is alone, we can know his intentions by observing his thoughts, words, and actions. This is true because there is no reason for him to hide his nature when he is all alone.
When we are all alone, everything present in our heart will come out as it is. We are free to do anything. Rules and regulations become invisible when we are all alone. As a result, we might do things that we wouldn’t do if we were in public, thus revealing our true intentions.
One who associates with a saint with impure intentions will suffer
Nishkulanand Swami has said that a fake saint is the one whose intentions are impure and who is completely polluted with lust, anger, jealousy, ego, infatuation, selfishness, deceit, fame, power, material desires, etc.,
If one feeds such a fake saint, he will not even get the fruit of feeding a beggar, let alone the fruit of feeding Bhagwan.
So, one should always stay away from a fake saint. A mere sight of a fake saint will cause suffering; touching such a fake saint will wipe out all good fortune; associating with such a fake saint will erase the chance of attaining kalyan.
So, the soul aspiring for his kalyan should be very careful about a fake saint and keep away from him in all possible ways.
A fake saint’s impure intentions are more harmful than his talks
The purity or impurity of a person’s intentions will have a greater effect than his talks. Talks are just a medium of communication; talks being good or bad is not going to affect much.
One will suffer if he listens to the talks of a person who has impure intentions no matter how insightful or pleasant his talks are.
Pleasant talks make people happy. Yet, listening to pleasant talks of a person with polluted intentions will always cause suffering. On the other hand, even if one listens to harsh talks of a person with pure intentions, it brings him peace.
Nowadays, discourses on Ramayan or Shrimad Bhagwat are held on massive scales. Thousands of people gather to hear the discourses of Bhagwan. However, if one observes closely, none of the listeners would leave the habit of consuming tobacco, or any other addictions for that matter. In fact, tobacco is being offered to everyone participating in the discourse.
If one listens to the talks about the life of Lord Ram, Lord Krishna, and Lord Swaminarayan, but is unable to forsake his addictions, what has he gained from listening to those divine incidents of Bhagwan?
This is because the intentions of the speaker are impure, and so, the essence of the discourse doesn’t make a mark on the listeners.
Thus, the words of a person don’t affect the listeners, but the purity (or the impurity) of the speaker affects the listeners.
In essence, the person who is forever chasing behind lust, anger, jealousy, ego, infatuation, selfishness, deceit, fame, power, material desires, etc., is a fake saint. Listening to the sweet and pleasant words of such a person would not bring pleasure but sorrow.
And with a true saint in whom Bhagwan resides forever, one gets immense pleasure even if he listens to his unpleasant or harsh words, and even if he doesn’t completely understand his talks.
References:
- Chosathpadi Katha Part 05 (Pad 05).
- Chosathpadi Katha Part 06 (Pad 06).