20 Dec 2020
[An online spiritual discussion was conducted on November 28, 2020, in which several devotees participated. Some of the questions of devotees answered by Swāmi are given below.]
[Dr. Nikhil asked: While describing the eligibility criteria for a person to start the spiritual journey, Śrī Śaṅkarācārya said that patience (śama) is one of the prerequisites (śamādi-ṣaṭka-sampattiḥ). Sai Bāba said that śraddhā (faith or interest) and sabūri (patience) are necessary throughout the spiritual journey. Śrī Kṛṣṇa said in the Bhagavad Gītā that śānti (peace or patience) is important as the last step (Tyāgāt śāntiranantaram). So, what exactly is the role of patience (śānti or śama) in the spiritual path? Also, could You please explain the different steps of the spiritual path?]
Swāmi replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! God, who is the goal of spirituality can be compared to Mumbai city. Knowing the details of Mumbai city is the first step of the spiritual effort and is called jñāna yoga, which means the step of knowledge. This develops an attraction in the mind of the person to go to Mumbai city. This mental attraction is the second step called bhakti yoga, which is the step of devotion. Both these steps are related to the intellect and the mind respectively and both together belong to the theoretical phase. The third step is practically walking up to the railway station to travel to Mumbai. This step involving the devotee’s practical effort is called karma saṃnyāsa. It involves the sacrifice of one’s work to God, which means the offering of one’s service to God. The fourth step is purchasing the railway ticket by spending money from the pocket. This step is called karma phala tyāga. It involves the sacrifice or offering of one’s wealth to God. Both karma saṃnyāsa and karma phala tyāga together are called karma yoga. Karma yoga is practical devotion. After purchasing the ticket, one needs to have a lot of patience as one boards the train and waits for the train to take you to Mumbai over the next several hours. Thus, having done practical service and the sacrifice of one’s wealth, one must wait patiently until the divine fruit is achieved. This is the fifth and final step in the spiritual journey and is called śānti yoga. It is mentioned in the Gītā as “Tyāgāt śāntiranantaram….” Here, śānti can also mean a full stop because the efforts to be put up from the side of the devotee are over with the first four steps. After first four steps, one puts a full stop, which is indicated by the word śānti. Śānti also means patience, which is to be maintained by the devotee until the divine fruit is achieved, after completing the first four steps. Whether śānti is mentioned as a prerequisite quality by Śaṅkara or whether it is a quality to be acquired during the spiritual path, as mentioned by Sai Bāba or whether it is a quality necessary at the end of the spiritual path, as stated by Kṛṣṇa, its use is only in the end, as told by Kṛṣṇa, after completing the four prior steps.
Datta Swāmi has described the spiritual path to be made of only the first four steps, namely, jñāna yoga, bhakti yoga and karma yoga, which is divided into karma saṃnyāsa and karma phala tyāga. Datta Swāmi did not mention the fifth step of patience or śānti because, as per the path of Datta Swāmi, the fifth step called patience is required only when the devotee aspires for the fruit in the end. When the devotee follows all the four steps without any aspiration for the fruit and only due to true love for God, the idea of the fruit does not exist in the mind of the devotee at all! In such a case, where is the context of śānti or patience? The lack of aspiration (vairagya) for achieving any fruit in this world or in the upper world is also mentioned by Śaṅkara as part of the four required qualities for the spiritual path (Ihāmutra phalavirāgaḥ).
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