Posted on: 04 Jun 2024
[Smt. Sudha Rani asked: Pada Namaskaaram Swami. Thank You Swami for giving me the rarest opportunity of Bhagya catushtayam. Through Your knowledge I clearly learnt that Worldly activities returns misery at any instance for sure. Anubhava also coincides with this truth. With this influence, can I choose to be the servant of God , trying to do Karma Samnyaasa and Karma Phala Tyaaga, as they are like insurance schemes of not only NO LOSS but highest profit paths. I may be threatened that The Divine Path is full of thorns. My answer is however my worldly life is also thorny. Swami, this is my mere selfish thought process. Swami, what should be the actual basis of choosing the path of divine service? Please correct me. I salute again and again to Your Lotus feet, which shower the reasonless grace on me knowing clearly that I am a piece of coal.]
Swami replied:- Here, the intensity of interest is the main force and not advice of someone based on profit and loss or happiness and misery. When the attraction is in climax, madness comes by which only the spiritual progress runs like a non-stop express train. In this context, the best example given by sage Narada in the Bhakti Sutram is like a married lady trying to meet her past illegal lover crossing all restrictions even by cheating sinful methods without fearing even for hell and the best example for this is the Gopika of Krishna (Jāravat ca, yathā vraja Gopikānām). The state of madness does not distinguish justice and injustice or profit and loss or happiness and misery. Devotion to God is a tremendous force of climax madness. Only by such state, God can be attained. There is no place for any type of analysis because the only subject in the eyes of the devotee is just how to attain God whatever may be the way.
If you concentrate on the analysis of the way, the goal is never reached. You may say that if the way is not analyzed, we may miss God, who is the goal of correct path only. In such madness, there is no need of any path because God Himself will come to you. God will take up the journey by a suitable way and reach you since you have become His goal! Shri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa reached such state of madness and He was called as a mad person (Paagal Thaakur). First is interest and then, the final madness. Interest itself will discover suitable ways at every spiritual stage and advice is not necessary. When the interest is very weak, all types of analysis appear causing confusion. Interest in love to God and madness to God are the only two steps to attain God. Interest and madness are theoretical forces and all the corresponding steps of practical devotion stand as proof for the theoretical devotion.