The last moments, the deciding moments

It is said that -  - one’s destination after death is decided as per one’s thoughts at the time of death. Death is a very complex phenomenon. Nobody knows what happens after death and this confusion becomes intense as the time of death nears. Scientists of soul or Self namely saints and sages say that after death what remains are the thoughts. The thoughts are invisible and consist of mainly the unfulfilled desires - bad and good. These thoughts along with the measures of punya (merit) and papa (sin) decide the next form. If the actions have been good and the mind is at peace chances are better that one may escape from the cycle of birth and death or may get human birth again for an opportunity to fulfill unfulfilled desires. However if the actions have not been good and the mind is not at peace then there are chances that one may get back into the cycle of birth and death through 84 lakhs of species before again getting human birth. Ultimately, everything is at disposal of God.

Indian culture is full of traditions that impact soul and help make soul’s journey filled with happiness here and hereafter. However to benefit from these traditions one should follow them with devotion.

When King Parikshit, the great devotee of Lord Krishna, grandson of the great Arjuna, son of the great Abhimanyu and the great king himself, came to know that his death was after seven days, in few minutes of knowing this, he called his young son Janamejaya, still a kid, in his presence and with the help of Brahmins enthroned Janamejaya as his heir and with just clothes on the body he set out to the bank of river Ganges to spend his last moments of his life in holy pursuits. He started chanting the name of god. The sages of his kingdom upon knowing the news that king has spontaneously renounced everything and has set out to the bank of Ganges river, they also arrived there to know what happened. King Parikshit was loved by all his subjects as he treated them as his own children. When the people of his kingdom came to know that King Parikshit was cursed by a sage that on the seventh day he will be bitten by serpent they started praying for nullification of the curse. However King Parikshit thought otherwise. He considered that curse as a boon and thanked the sage who cursed him. He thought that that curse made him realize that he had forgotten the higher goal of life and was engrossed in worldly affairs. So he considered this curse as an opportunity to shift his focus on higher goal of life i.e. liberation from the cycle of birth and death and achieving consummation with his beloved Lord Krishna. He asked the assembled sages what he was supposed to do so that he can spend his remaining time in most sublime thoughts. Everybody started suggesting him in their own ways about good actions to be performed when one comes to know that death is nearing. To his and the fortune of all assembled there Sage Shuka arrived at place. He arrived there as if sent by God to help King Parikshit find answers to all his questions and help him spend his last moments most auspiciously. Sage Shuka was not an ordinary human being. He was son of the great Sage Vyasa. He was born brahmadnyani. King Parikshit asked Sage Shuka the ways to spend his remaining time. Sage Shuka advised him to fix his mind on God and His stories and himself agreed to narrate the stories to king. For next seven days he narrated to King Parikshit the stories from the greatest of all puranas – Maha Bhagwat Purana - that consists of stories of all incarnations of Lord Vishnu. On the seventh day while listening to the stories of his beloved Lord Krishna, King Parikshit was bitten by a serpent and with his mind engrossed in Lord Krishna he left his earthly body and achieved consummation with Gopala.

Why, even Shri Saibaba, incarnation of God himself, followed the tradition of listening to scriptures when his end was near. He made his devotee Shri Vaze read in front of him the great epic Sri Ramayan. As such he didn’t require all this reading as his mind was totally engrossed in godly thoughts. However he did this to preserve the tradition.

The time of death is uncertain. Not everybody comes to know about the time of death in advance and moreover once the body gets affected by disease there are high chances that mind may not attain peace at all. So, one should be very careful in maintaining the mind’s balance. Performing spiritual practices prescribed by Guru help in long way to maintain the peace of mind.

Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak – the great social reformist

Adi Shankaracharya achieved title of Jagadguru (teacher of the world). He wrote commentaries on core scriptures of Sanatana dharma. In his short 32 years of life he travelled throughout India to remind people about core principles of Sanatana dharma. Lord Krishna incarnated 5000 years back to establish righteousness. Through Arjuna he gave the world the divine message of Srimad Bhagwad Gita. 2500 years passed after Lord Krishna left his earthly body and again the cultural system started collapsing due to the rise of non-adherence to eternal code of ethics. This was the time when Shankaracharya was born to protect the system. It is because of his efforts that people of Indian continent again started realizing the importance of teachings of Bhagwad Gita.

So also did Bal Gangadhar Tilak, the great social reformist of Maharashtra. He fought for the freedom, not just for geographical boundaries, but for core Indian cultural system that was going in doldrums due to the influence of British rule. Through his writings he reminded people about their original duty of preserving the core ethical values prescribed by scriptures of Sanatana dharma.

Even saints praised the work of Tilak and supported him in all his endeavors. Once when Dadasaheb Khaparde, another social reformist who worked closely with Tilak, went to Gajanan Maharaj to invite him as a guest for the event where Tilak was to speak on the occasion of birthday of Chatrapati Shivaji, Gajanan Maharaj happily accepted invitation praising Bal Gangadhar as the most appropriate person for uplifting the nation. Because of his selfless service to the nation people wholeheartedly gave Bal Gangadhar Tilak a title of Lokmanya i.e. accepted by public as a leader.

When British government summoned Lokmanya Tilak under act 124 for his writing which British government considered as sedition, a close associate of Lokmanya Tilak, Kolhatkar, upon request of Dadasaheb Khaparde, went to Shri Gajanan Maharaj for his spiritual help and guidance. Gajanan Maharaj remained silent in sleeping position for almost three days. Kolhatkar showed a tremendous patience by remaining at the feet of Gajanan Maharaj. When on fourth day Gajanan Maharaj spoke up, he indicated to Kolhatkar that going of Lokmanya Tilak to jail was inevitable.

Gajanan Maharaj gave a piece of bread (bhakari) to Kolhatkar to be partaken by Tilak and told him that by eating this bhakari Tilak will do great work while in jail. 

When Bal Gangadhar Tilak received bhakari as a prasad (consecrated food) through Kolhatkar, he was much pleased to know that he was destined to do a great work. He consoled his co-workers saying "sadhus and saints are the people who know everything about past, present and future. If Maharaj has told that some great work is going to happen through me, it will. Lets see what it will be." He had a strong faith in saints and sadhus. He faithfully ate that prasad of bhakari even when due to age he was unable to eat. While in jail Tilak wrote a great commentary on Bhagwad Gita which eventually came to be known as “Gitarahasya” i.e. secrets of Bhagwad Gita. This was the great work that was indicated to him by Shri Gajanan Maharaj. Due to this work Lokmanya Tilak achieved a status of a teacher of the world - Jagadguru.

The best way to respect the great work of Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak is to attentively read Gitarahasya.

The most beneficial passion (aasakti) - Saipadasakti

They say that out of all passions, the most beneficial passion (aasakti) is the passion to be at the feet of Shri Saibaba i.e. serving the lotus feet of Shri Saibaba, in essence one's Sadguru. Hemadpant (author of Shri Saisatcharit) gives a very beautiful analogy for this passion by describing the scene of a cat mother suckling her kitten. Even if cat mother has suckled her kittens a short while ago, as soon as her kittens see her around they again come back to her for being fed. At first the cat mother gets angry on them and thereby the kittens also, for a moment, keep quiet out of fear. But as soon as she lies for resting, the kittens make a dash on her udder. They are unaffected by the anger of the mother as they know that it is only she and no one else (ananya – opposite of anya) who can satisfy their hunger. And the mother also knows that it is only she who can satisfy the hunger of her children. So as soon as they make a dash on her udder, out comes the milk in an unceasing flow. She forgets all her anger by seeing the utter dependence of her kitten on her and starts to satiate their hunger while licking them. She is unaffected by their eager scraping of nails on her udder, in fact the more eager their scraping, the more flows the milk. It’s really a divine scene. 

Likewise when devotees approach their Sadguru with ananya bhakti (the feeling that it is only their Sadguru  and no one else that can satisfy their desires), Sadguru  with the  same reciprocal feeling embraces the devotees and takes care of them. The surrender of a devotee unto the lotus feet of their Sadguru has to be complete, their devotion pure (anaasakt), similar to the utter and causeless dependence of a baby upon their caretaker. Any contamination in the degree of surrenderness or to put it different words - any trace of ego - dilutes the experience.

Sai Charan Bhakti Vistar – a divine business

Two great devotees of Shri Saibaba namely Shri Ganpatrao Dattatreya Sahasrabuddhe alias Dasganu Maharaj and Shri Nanasaheb Chandorkar played a very important role in the divine mission of spreading the word about devotion to the lotus feet of Shri Saibaba (Sai charan bhakti vistar), in the then Mumbai region. It is because of these two persons that people of Mumbai region, came to know about Saibaba and his leelas. In fact it is Saibaba who chose and inspired them to spread the word about Himself so that people can benefit from His blessings.

It is in the human birth alone that has one possesses an ability to think and act. It is this ability that human beings can use to uplift them and easily cross and reach the other end of sea of samsara (bhavasagar). And once one acquires an art to cross this ocean, it is the duty of that person to help others to acquire that art as well.

Spreading the word about devotion is a divine business. The business of material things helps one to achieve the material wealth which is obviously essential for living, however the business of spreading devotion helps one in living not only in this but all next worlds. Money is the earnings of material business whereas merit (punya) is the earnings of business of spreading devotion. To engage in material business one has to learn so many skills. And also in material business profit is not guaranteed. However to engage in the business of spreading devotion only skill required is to remember Saibaba and read and listen to his stories with utmost sincerity, and the profit is guaranteed. To perform this business one need not even initially worry about going outside. Mere performing Saibaba arti (singing the glories of Saibaba) in a home helps keep the whole family busy in this business. And then like the  fragrance of incense stick the fragrance of the devotion spreads slowly in surroundings and makes the environment pleasant.

Once engaged and established in continuous remembrance of Saibaba, it is He who then inspires and instructs in various ways according to one’s ability, which is again best known to Himself. For example He inspired Dasganu to perform kirtan, Shri Dabholkar (Hemadpant) to write His stories. To some He inspired to build temples. What is important is all the time believing that it is Sai that is using us as instruments to perform His business and be happy in experiencing the bliss of performing activity.