DOUBTING THE DOUBT WITH INTENSE FAITH

[Guest guest]

DOUBTING THE DOUBT WITH INTENSE FAITH:

 

Nana Saheb Chandorkar was convinced more than ever that Baba was God

omnipresent, merciful and omnipotent, for he had the power to bring

water under a rock and a man to show it just at the exact

psychological moment. This conclusion of his might perhaps appear to

be too weak for a logician versed in inductive logic to accept. `An

individual instance does not prove a rule and guarantee the validity

of a universal proposition is what the logic a world would remark.

But Nana was not pestered by doubts of Tarka sastra or logic.

 

In the circumstances of Nana, there could be no room for doubting

that Baba did respond to his very thought, which was an appeal for

aid; and did provide him with the water which was a necessity to save

his life at that perilous juncture. His faith was confirmed and grew

stronger and stronger. The unfortunate fact about most of us is that

as most educated minds are fed on the Cartesian principle of doubting

everything, the logician's axiom about insufficiency of individual

cases to prove universal propositions and other similar doubts crop

up over and over again. When 150 experiences of Baba's help had been

derived by a man, on the occurrence of the 151st case of help, even a

well known devotee asked himself the question, `Is this Chance or is

this Baba's help?' This wretched idea of `chance helping' does not

easily leave us.

 

Luckily most of us by Baba's favour have some grounding in faith, and

we gradually shake off the tendency to go on doubting and doubting

for ever. Except for that, we would become `Samscyatmas', that is,

persons in whose nature, doubt become a fixed trait, a part of their

second nature. The Gita (BG IV 40) says, Samscyatma Vinascyati, that

is, `The man who goes on doubting and doubting ad infinitum will

perish' . Perish does not necessarily mean `die', so far as the

physical body is concerned. He is dead already whose faith is dead. A

man that has no faith is a breathing corpse. Even in ordinary worldly

matters, we find what an important part is played by our ability to

believe what is reported to us. If in a new place before reaching the

railway station, we have to ask for the road to the station at half a

dozen places and answers are given, if at each answer we think that

the answer may be false and hesitate, we should never reach the

station in time to catch our train. This is the meaning of Samscyatma

Vinascyati. Luckily in the case of Nana, far from his being a

`samscyatma', he was a Shraddhatma.

 

Shraddhavan Labhate Jnanam

Tatparah Samyata Indriyah

Jannam Labdhva – param scantim

Achirena adhigachchati. (BG IV-39)

 

This means, `The man of faith obtains knowledge and wisdom. Being a

person who controls his senses and thereby effectively fixes his mind

on that Jnana, treating it as the goal of his life, he obtains Jnana;

and having obtained it he soon reaches Scanti, Supreme Peace. This

has an obvious application to Nana's case, and Nana, with very little

of doubting nature, advanced in the strength of his faith, obtained

more and more of wisdom (Jnana) by the grace of Baba, and was

progressing rapidly towards that Scanti or Peace, which is the goal

of all spiritual life and endeavour.

 

Courtesy: HH Pujyasri B. V. Narasimha Swamiji

(Shri Vasuki Mahal Shirdi Sai Baba Trust, Coimbatore-641025, India)