|| Shri Hari ||
Prison - A School
कारागार‒एक शिक्षालय
Swami Ramsukhdas
Shri Hari ||
Prison - A School
कारागार‒एक शिक्षालय
tvameva mata cha pita tvameva
tvameva bandhuscha sakha tvameva |
tvameva vidyaa dravinam tvameva
tvameva sarvam mama devadeva ||
Swami Ramsukhdas
|| Shri Hari ||
Prison - A School
कारागार‒एक शिक्षालय
(A discourse given in the Nagpur Prison)
Until God-realization does not take place, all ‘jivas’ (Embodied soul) are prisoners. You should not think that you are very lowly, you are all children of God ! Just as you have come to this prison against your will, you have not come here out of your own independent will, in the same way, we have all come to this world on being bound, and after coming here, we are experiencing the fruits of our past deeds. So long as man, bound by his ‘karmas’ (Actions), enjoys it’s fruit, till then, he remains a prisoner.
Human birth is the only birth in which one can realize God, the Supreme reality. We can become independent once and for all, dependence will be wiped out entirely, and for this only the human body has been received. In this, there are two kinds of sense experiences - pleasure and pain. Man thinks he has become independent while occupied in enjoying pleasures, and while suffering pain he thinks he has become dependent. However, this is a misunderstanding. If man were independent in enjoying pleasures, then we would enjoy pleasures all the time, and not suffer pain. However, this is not in our hands. We have to undergo pleasure as well as pain.
There is one exceptional point in suffering pain ‒ in enjoyment of pleasures, our merits are decremented, but in undergoing pain, our sins are destroyed ! You have come here to wipe out your sins. Some sin or the other takes place, therefore, man is imprisoned. On staying for the course of the prison time, the sins are destroyed, and when sins are wiped out, he becomes purified. Therefore, henceforth, you, I and all of us should want to be free of pain and sorrows, not to perform any act that is sinful, unjust, wrongful conduct, mis-demeanour and against scriptural injunctions. You are getting an opportunity to learn this over here in the form of work.
This prison is a school. Here you get the education that henceforth you will not commit such sins. The pain that one feels from all the displeasures in the world (such as from illness, suffering great financial loss, being insulted, receiving criticism), is for teaching that sometime or the other we have sinned, and this pain is the fruit of those sinful acts. Therefore, henceforth we will not commit any sin ‒ one must learn this lesson. On suffering the consequences of past sinful deeds, the sins will be destroyed.
With the annihilation of sins, one becomes pure, free of any blemishes. When favourable situations come, when money comes, it is a payback for our virtuous deeds. When unfavourable situations come (such as suffering financial losses, death of someone, someone falling sick), it is all a fruit of our sins. For enjoying the pleasures of virtuous deeds, one goes to Heaven, and there one gains all pleasures. With the enjoyment of pleasures, merits are decremented, and once again one has to fall down to the ‘mrutyulok’ (Abode of death).
‘क्षीणे पुण्ये मर्त्यलोकं विशन्ति ।’ (गीता ९ । २१)
Ksine punye martyalokam visanti (Gita 9/21)
Meaning : Their merit is exhausted, they return to the mortal world. Sins are destroyed through experiencing adversities, and merits are destroyed through gratification of pleasures.
On enjoying worldly pleasures, the merits are exhausted, our nature is spoilt, and with it, the seeds of sin are sown. However, there is gain and only gain in unfavourable situations and circumstances, there is no loss at all. The unfavourable times, sorrow, difficulties that one faces have the ability of destroying old sins, and it alerts one of future sins.
The king is the mother and father of his subjects. He wishes for the supreme welfare of his people. It is for your good that you have been enrolled here (prison), whereby no flaws remain in your life, and you become free of any flaws. You all don’t misunderstand that you have become bound due to the imprisonment. Understand this place to be only a school. Here, activity-based education and training are provided. It is not a polluted place. Lord Krishna took birth in a prison. Therefore, everyone calls the prison ‘birth place of Lord Krishna’. Even on incarnating in a prison, Lord Krishna became so great ! His teachings in Srimad Bhagavad Gita are revered even by foreigners-westerners. If there is any learned person out there, he will surely honour and respect the Gita.
Here (in prison) you can progress immensely. While living here, you must do good work and conduct yourself properly. Have the sentiments of serving everyone, respect all and try to make others happy. Here you might be learning various other work-trades. With this too you can benefit immensely. You can develop a particular skill and earn a livelihood in the future with the education, knowledge and training received here. I am not familiar with the rules here, but I did visit another place for some work. In Bikaner prison I saw that there are many great things they make - blankets, bed-spreads, rugs etc. Such beautiful things they make, which are even sent to foreign countries. When Gangasingh was the king of Bikaner, once he visited England. He spent a lot of money to purchase a rug. When he returned to Bikaner, he showed the prison officer the rug and said, ”See this rug, see if you can get a similar one made here. I brought this rug from England”. On seeing the rug, the officer said, ‘O Providence ! This rug was made in this prison; on going overseas, it became very expensive. See the emblem of our prison here’.
Working here you may feel that you are in subordination; but if you learn these skills, then this art, this knowledge will make you skillful. With this art, wherever you go and live, you can do this work. You all come together, collaborate, tell various wealthy businessmen that you know how to do such and such work, and then with their help, you can really make this country progress and flourish. While living here, learn how to conduct yourself properly. Learn to obey other’s instructions - this is a way to develop and improve. Pay attention to this point. One suffers subjected to the influences of evil men; but one who is influenced by good men, becomes independent and gains happiness. Those who have become very learned, were living under the guidance of highly scholarly men, from a very young age. All who have become Saints-great souls were serving their Gurus, and by remaining subservient, they became great souls. At a very young age, great men of a very high caliber accepted staying away from their family. Brothers ! Subordination under gentlemen and well-wishers is the kind to give self-sufficiency. However, those who come under the sway of their mind and senses remain ever subjugated and dependent. Time and again they have to go to hell and suffer many hardships. Therefore, keeping the mind and senses under control, one should engage in good work. Spontaneously coming under the sway of pleasures of the senses and mind may appear to be freedom, but down the road, it will lead to bondage and subordination - this is also bondage in freedom. Gentlemen are free, even in bondage.
Learn good conduct, good qualities, good sentiments and feelings. Make your life ever pure. This is a Divine opportunity to become pure; because, this place is not for becoming sinful, rather it is for becoming pure.
There are much glories of the Divine Name. Eknathji, Tukaramji etc. and all who have become great Saints-great men have sung many glories of ‘Namjapa’ (Repeating the Lord’s Divine Name). You do ‘Namjapa’, and you are not bound by anyone in doing so. While doing work-business too, you continue to do Namjapa. Whether you say Ram, Krishna, Govind, Vasudeva etc. or Vithala-Vithala, whatever Name of God appears dear to you, repeat that Divine Name.
The Names of God may be different, but there is no difference in the fruit. Do Namjapa of the Name you are most inclined towards and interested in. There will be many gains in doing so. Do Namjapa attentively, engaging your mind. If the mind does not engage, then too, get into such a habit that while doing work-business, Namjapa continues to take place.
Saints have said ‒
हाथ काम मुख राम है, हिरदै साँची प्रीत ।
दरिया गिरस्ती साध की, याही उत्तम रीत ॥
In this manner, while living here, repeat the Lord’s Divine Name, then you too will become a Saint. Many great men also suffered imprisonment for the Independence of the country; but they had done so for Dharma (Righteousness), not for sinful acts. The editor of ‘Kalyaan’, Shri Hanumanprasad Poddar too stayed in jail as a prisoner for civil rights. While staying there, he dispensed medicines and continued to do ‘bhajan-smaran’ (Worship and remembrance of God). He read approximately 2,000 books in the prison, and practiced Namjapa. He used to do Namjapa using his fingers, and for keeping a count, he would make a line with a stick on the prison wall. In this manner, he did a lot of Namjapa. Therefore, there is an excellent opportunity here for Namjapa.
You are not even required to speak a lot here. Your officers have to command, therefore they are required to speak; but you are not required to speak much of anything. Thus, you can do Namjapa in an exceptional manner. Every few minutes, call out ‘O Lord ! Let me never forget You; O Lord ! May I develop love for Your Lotus feet !’ ‒ in this manner, continue to pray to the Lord and do Namjapa.
Be a well-wisher of all from the heart. Do not wish ill of anyone. Do not wish ill of even the one who had filed a case against you, and got you imprisoned; because he has done so to cleanse you off your sins. If you are purified, you will not need to take birth time and again, nor will you need to go to prison. Staying in a mother’s womb is a very heavy duty prison. A ‘jiva’ encounters a lot of difficulty there. It suffers a lot; but time and again it has to go back due to sins. Therefore, if the ‘kaaran’ (Instrument of action) is destroyed, the ‘kaarya’ (Action) will be wiped out on its own ‒
‘मूलाभावे कुतः शाखा ।’
When the root itself is cut off, how will the branches come ?
Therefore, one should never engage in sins, injustice, bad conduct, etc., nor should one steal, rob or harm anyone. He who causes pain to others with the mind, body and speech will have to suffer - this is the truth.
As is the seed so is the tree, and from that tree will come the same seed. In the same way, he who causes pain to others will have to suffer. Gaining pleasures by taking away someone’s wealth and making them suffer, becoming rich by beating others, even though at present one becomes happy, in the end one will have to suffer, one cannot escape it. There is a lot of fairness in the Lord’s kingdom, there is justice. In this world, even by lying and cheating, a man can escape punishment, but in God’s kingdom, one cannot be saved. In His kingdom, you will not be able to get false witnesses and you will not get defense lawyers either. There, you will have to bear punishment according to the sins committed.
Pay some attention. A fan runs, a bulb lights up, a speaker amplifies the sound - all this is taking place due to electricity. When the representative of the electric company comes to your house, he does not ask you how much electricity you have consumed, how did you do so, when did you do so ? The meter is installed, and simply by looking at the meter, he determines your bill and invoices you for the number of units of electricity consumed. That is the amount you owe him. In the same way, we all have a meter within us.
This meter is placed from the neck to the head. As we see, hear, taste, touch, smell, it is all recorded in the meter. When a thought arises in the mind to harm someone, that too is recorded in the meter. Those who are watchmen in the prison, have a device around their neck. Anytime they fall asleep, it gets recorded in the device, and accordingly appropriate arrangements will be made for punishment and reward. They will not ask how much and what was done ? There is no need to ask these things at all. They themselves can see everything that was recorded. Here, in order to get someone to tell the truth, they have to be first made unconscious, and in that unconscious state, they reveal the truth from the impressions that are left on their mind. However, there is this wonderful device within, in which there is no need to talk ! The inner feelings and sentiments can be known on their own, and accordingly the favourable and unfavourable situations come in one’s life.
The favourable situations are not as beneficial as the unfavourable situations. Enjoyment of pleasures appears good, but the result is not so good. Pleasures enjoyed exhaust your bank of virtues and one’s habit are spoilt, whereby the desire to enjoy pleasures once again arises. The desire to enjoy pleasures is the root of sins. Arjun asked, “Maharaj, this man does not wish to commit sins, then too who is it that forcefully makes him commit sins ?” (Gita 3/36) God replied that the cause of sin is the desire for pleasure and hoarding. The more sense enjoyments a man indulges in, the desire for these pleasures will increase. That desire itself will make him commit sins. By indulging and enjoying sense pleasures, the previous virtues are destroyed, and with the desire for enjoying sense pleasures, the seed of sins are sown, by which he becomes a sinner. Therefore, there is no benefit in enjoyment of pleasures. However, there is significant benefit in suffering pain; on one hand, the old sins are wiped out, and on the other, from the sense enjoyments it is revealed that we have done these things for pleasures, due to which we have to suffer pain. Therefore, on having such sentiments that henceforth we will not commit any sins, man is purified.
It has been seen that when some person comings out of a grave illness, his mind-intellect are purified. This can be recognized by putting forth some talks pertaining to God, stories of devotees of God in front of him, and on listening to these, he has an outpouring of emotions, he begins to cry. He finds the tales of God very dear. Now, what is the reason for this ? The suffering during the illness cleansed the inner-senses and purified him. Love of God manifests in his mind-intellect etc. that are purified ! Therefore, you too will be purified from undergoing this prison term. While staying here, let your feelings, sentiments and intentions be good. The outcome of this will be very great for you. You are more fortunate compared to those who enjoy pleasures and roam around in freedom.
We have six ‘darshan shastras’. Patanjali Yogdarshan is one of them. It is said in it ‘हेय दुःखमनागतम्’ (२ । १६) ‒ The pain and sorrow that has not come yet, but there is a possibility of it coming, that sorrow is renounceable.
In other words we can be saved from that sorrow ! What can be done about the pain and sorrow that we have already suffered ? On going through the suffering we are experiencing right now, the pain will come to an end. To be saved from such suffering itself, one has received this human body. In this human body, if we remain vigilant, if we conduct ourselves properly and live reputably within limits, then moving forward, there will not be any sorrow. Your current position is very favourable in being saved from the pain and suffering that is coming your way. Now it is essential that you be exceptionally careful. For those who live outside in householder’s life and consider themselves to be free, it is very essential to be extremely careful. Without being careful, negligence, laziness and various ‘tamogunas’ (Modes of inertia) and related tendencies will not go away. Violence, negligence, laziness, uselessly wasting time is a very wrong thing. Therefore, it is a sensible thing for you to put all your time in the best work.
For every person, whether he is an Ascetic or a householder, whether he is a brother or a sister, whether he is educated or not, I continue to say these four points time and again. Put these points to use, then it will be very beneficial and life will be purified. These four points are ‒
1. First and the foremost is the issue of time. Whatever time we have, it should be put to use in the best of works. Do not waste any time. The time that goes away in playing cards, games, cinema, dramas, sports (hockey, cricket and various other games), is being wasted. Neither do you attain God from these activities, nor do you get any worldly gains from it. Yes, there are certain games that exercise the body, make it healthy; but mostly it is waste of time. By watching films the eyes get spoilt, money is wasted, time is also ruined and character too becomes bad. Life is ruined in such playing-entertainment etc.
The time we have received is limited, not unlimited. Just as in a mechanical watch, the watch will tick to the extent that it is wound. The moment it is unwound, the watch will stop working. Similarly, our internal clock in the form of life-breaths is ticking away. The moment the life breaths are over, one has to die. Beyond that point no one can live. It is not in one’s hand that with someone’s strength, entitlement, abilities, knowledge one will be able to continue to stay alive. If those life-breaths are used in useless work, in committing sin, in addictions and vices, then this is great foolishness !
The time that goes by without worshipping and remembering God is all wasted and worthless time. Therefore, one should beware, and remain alert at all times that our time does not get wasted ! Perform the work that has to be done, the duties that have to be performed with great enthusiasm, and the moment you are freed from that work, do Namjapa, Kirtan, Gita recitation or in reading various spiritual books.
2. Second point is very easy for you ‒ lead your life with simplicity, your personal expenses should be minimum. Let your habits be such that you eat basic food, wear modest clothes and live in a modest house. On cultivating such habits, when the time arises, you can even consume great food, wear very nice clothes, live in a magnificent house, and at other times, have the most ordinary of meals, wear most ordinary of clothes and live in a very basic house. You have received this opportunity in which you can personally reduce your spending, and practice to live this life in a very simple and modest way.
On leaving this place too, do not live a life of luxury and relaxation. Maintain simplicity in life. By having such a nature, you will be able to live very comfortably anywhere. All the great Saints and great souls have spent their lives wearing very ordinary clothes, using minimal and simple beddings, residing in ordinary houses and eating very simple meals. Those of you who have money, do charity, engage in virtuous causes, spend on the family, on those who do not have any protection, on those who are those invalids, on the poor and suffering ones. Reduce your personal expenses.
3. Third point - increase your skill, proficiency, cleverness, prudence, in whatever work you are doing. When you learn a skill, it will remain with you forever. It has been said that if Brahmaji gets angry with his mode of transport (the ‘hans’ [Swan]) and tells it to go away, then without doubt it will be released; but the skill of separating milk from water is retained by it forever. Even Brahmaji cannot take it away from the hans. Wherever the hans goes, that knowledge will remain with it. Therefore, in every work, go on increasing your proficiency, workmanship, prudence and knowledge.
4. Fourth point ‒ Never take what rightfully belongs to someone else. Stealing and robbing is very farfetched; we must be extremely careful on this subject that other’s entitlements do not come to us, If you eat the food from your real earnings, then the ‘antahakaran’ (Mind-intellect) will become pure, and if you eat food from earnings that are stolen, cheating-manipulation, then the inner-senses will become extremely impure.
Nowadays, there is hiding and stealing going on in trade and business etc., due to significant increase in taxes. They try to save money as taught by the lawyers. They do not even think that by saving money in this way, the mind-intellect becomes impure ! One Saint used to keep saying that immense purity comes from honest earnings. There was a king who used to frequently visit a Saint. Once the king asked him, ”Maharaj, many people come to visit you; you too go to many homes for bhiksha (Alms). Is there a home in your eyes whose food is from honest and proper earnings ? Please let me know if you see such a place”. The Saint replied, “In such and such place, there is an old woman; her food is from honest and unadulterated earnings. She spins cotton and with that her livelihood is sustained. She has no money, has an ordinary hut made of grass and hay; but she does not take what belongs to others, therefore, her food is Holy”. On hearing this, the king thought that if I get a roti (Indian bread) from her, it will be very good ! Dressed as a beggar, the king reached her house and said ‒ ”Mataji ! May I get some bhiksha ?” The old woman went inside and brought a roti and said, ”Son ! Here, take this roti”. Then the king asked, ”Mataji, tell me one thing. Is this roti from honest earnings ? Hope other’s entitlements are not over it ?“ To this she replied, “See son, this roti is not entirely from honest earnings; in this a little bit of other’s entitlements are there ! One night a wedding procession was passing by. I spun the cotton in the procession light; that much of other’s entitlement has come in it. Besides this, there is no taint in my earnings”. The king was thoroughly astonished that this old woman was so attentive to even such a minor issue. What entitlements does she have on other’s light under which she spun the cotton ?
In this manner, these four points were covered ‒
1. Do not waste time; put it to best of works
2. Whatever work you do, keep increasing your knowledge-skill in that area
3. Develop the habit of spending very little money in the upkeep of this body
4. Don’t take away other’s entitlements
He who has these four points is very much liked by others. If he wants to work, to get a job, he will surely get it. These big businessmen lie-cheat and betray the Government, they even keep a separate set of books (ledger, journal), and at the opportune time, they betray the trust as well; but they too do not wish that their own book-keeper will lie, cheat and steal from them or betray their trust. They too wish that they get an honest and good man as an employee. Even a dishonest man wants an honest, good employee and even an honest man wants an honest employee. Everyone continues to have an appetite for a genuine and honest man.
I met a widow, whose in-laws took away all her money and jewellry and didn’t leave anything for her. She used to say, ”Between my two hands is my stomach, that is the extent of my expense ! People have to support their entire families, I have only this stomach, neither son nor daughter. I and my two hands are with me. What shortage do I have ?“ A person who spends less money and is able to manage with spending little, has plenty of readiness in him. With this promptitude and readiness, he is able to earn and live, and his mind is ever cheerful. However, on taking other’s entitlements, the mind does not stay flawless. He who takes other’s entitlements, whether he becomes a wealthy person on the surface, whether he eats-drinks and becomes nourished, he cannot become fearless. He who has not taken anyone’s entitlements, what can cause fear in him ? He remains fearless and free of any doubts. He never has to undergo any difficulty. In this way, you too can make your life free of any flaws. Put these four points to use. With this your antahakaran will become free of impurities. Besides this, read the books of Saints you have faith in, and mould your life according to their teachings.
नारायण ! नारायण !! नारायण !!!
‒ From the book in Hindi ‘Vaastavik Sukh’ by Swami Ramsukhdasji
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