Conversations between Baba and Nana Chandorkar

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Conversations between Baba and Nana Chandorkar

 

Nana folded his hands and said, " I understand that but what puzzles me is this:

why should there be pain and pleasure, joy and sorrow? There cannot be these if

one gets rid of worldly affairs. "

 

To this Baba said, " Pain and pleasure, joy and sorrow are illusions. They are

not real, although people think them to be real. Thanks to his previous karma,

one man feeds on delicacies; another feeds on dry bread; a third gets only stale

food or worthless left-overs. Those who feed on stale food or worthless

leftovers consider themselves unhappy, while those eating good food say that

they have everything they need. The purpose of eating is to quench the fire in

the stomach, no matter what one eats delicacies or leftover. Similarly, the

purpose of covering one's body, whether with delicate fabrics woven with gold

thread or with rough garments made from the inner bark of trees, is to protect

the body; nothing more. Thus, joy and sorrow, pain and pleasure are simply ways

of looking at things. They are, as I said, illusions and you should not be

deceived by them. Illusory as they are, these feelings cannot exist without a

cause just as waves cannot exist

without water or light without a lamp.

 

The six enemies like desire, avarice etc. are the underlying causes. These make

one believe that the unreal is the real. When a poor man sees a gold bracelet on

the wrist of a rich man, he feels angry. The anger in turn gives rise to envy,

the desire to own something belonging to another. One must therefore defeat the

six enemies. Once they are subdued they cannot disturb you with joy or sorrow.

You need not destroy these enemies completely; you need only to learn to employ

them as your slaves, keeping them in check through knowledge or rational

thinking.

" There is, however, one real joy and one real sorrow. Being caught up in the

cycle of births and deaths is the real sorrow; getting liberated from the cycle

is the real joy. All the rest is illusion.

 

" How then, should one conduct oneself in the world? Listen to what I say

carefully. One must be contented with one's lot in life; one must not keep

worrying over it. If riches come to you, accept them but be humble, like the

trees which bend on being loaded with fruit. It is good to be humble, to be kind

and polite but not to everyone. You should learn to tell rogues, who take

advantage of the kindness of the rich, and be stern with them. Do not forget,

however, that wealth is but the noonday shadow. Do not get puffed up with the

power of wealth and harass others. Instead give in charity according to your

capacity. One should never borrow and be extravagant. The world may be an

illusion but your destiny is not: it is real. You need wealth to conduct your

worldly affairs.

 

Wealth is essential but one should not get entangled in it. Do not be a miser.

Be generous but not over-generous. Remember no one will care for you once your

wealth is spent. Generosity combined with extravagance is dangerous; avoid it by

all means. While giving in charity, consider how suitable is the recipient. Ask

yourself: " Is he worthy of your help? Is he in real need? and only if the answer

is yes, must you give. The sick and the disabled are worthy of your charity; so

are orphans. All public welfare projects are deserving of financial help: so are

scholars of merit. Try and help, if you can, poor and deserving women in labor.

 

" There are three types of feedings: mass feeding, regular feeding and occasional

feeding. Mass feeding is feeding people in thousands. You may do this if you are

very wealthy and your intentions good. When you mass-feed, you need not

differentiate between caste or between good and bad people; all are worthy.

Feeding in the name of the Lord also falls in this category. However, you should

not undertake some feeding if you have to borrow and get into debt.

 

Regular feeding, on the other hand, calls for discrimination. Only way farers,

mendicants, the worthy poor among students who live by begging their bread, and

the hungry deserve to be fed regularly. " Then there is occasional feeding -

feeding on occasions like weddings, festivals and the completion of the

observance of religious vows. On such occasions you may invite your good friends

and relations and feed them. These are the three types of feeding and the

reasons behind them. The same holds good for the offering of clothing as well.

 

" Try to help those in distress whenever your purse permits. When in power, do

not misuse it. Do not take a bribe while sitting in judgment on a case. Whatever

responsibility is given to you, carry it out well and with due care. Do not

dress overly and show off. Do not, without proper reason, insult anyone. Know

the bad and the wicked and deal carefully with them. If you are blessed with

sons, daughters, servants and maids, treat them all affectionately but do not

take pride in these blessings, for such pride is the cause of the cycle of

births and deaths. We must finish up with our past store of karma so that

nothing is left for us to carry forward. Blessings like sons, daughters etc. are

meant for this life only. Where, for instance, are the friends and relatives we

had in our past lives? They ceased to be when the lives for which they were

meant ceased to be. Desires, on the other hand, bind us from birth to birth and

bring about the next birth. Do not

therefore take false pride in your progeny, relations or friends. Only then

will you get everlasting bliss. We go to a hotel to take shelter there for a

short while. We do not get attached to such a temporary dwelling. The world too

is but a temporary abode for us.

 

" Everybody should perform his duties and at the same time remember the Lord, who

is full of bliss.

 

The one God created all children on earth but your own child is your

responsibility. You must bring him up properly, educate him, give him some money

and leave some wealth for him. Do not, however, take pride in his upbringing or

education or the wealth you have left him. Do your duty and give the Lord the

credit for doing it. Give the Lord the fruits of your duty too. This will help

you to remain aloof and detached from worldly activities. Use your intelligence

and knowledge to differentiate the good from the bad, accept the good and

discard the bad. Take up good projects and make all possible efforts to complete

them. You must by no means be apathetic towards the affairs of this world. Do

your duties proudly but cast off this pride as soon as they bear fruit.

 

" As long as life exists, one must take good care of one's body but one should

not weep over death. After death nothing exists for you to cry over. Wise men

are unmoved by death; it is only the foolish who give vent to their feelings in

times of death. The body until its death is a loan from the five elements, which

the life force repays. On full and final repayment of the loan, air mixes with

air, fire with fire. Thus, the five elements go back to their respective places.

 

The body belongs to the earth and as such its loss is not a matter for mourning.

Similarly the birth of a child need not be a cause for rejoicing, birth being as

natural a phenomenon as death. One must simply stay calm, unmoved by birth and

death, O Narayan! The earth bears the seed, the cloud waters it and the sun

helps the seed to germinate. When the seed germinates, do the earth, the cloud

and the sun rejoice and start dancing? Whether the sprout turns into a big tree

or it dries up and withers is something that should cause neither rejoicing nor

sorrow. If we act in this manner, how can there be any misery or cause for

lamentation? The state of absolution is the absence of misery and lamentation.

 

Baba then told Nanasaheb that we would receive from him more 'upadesh " later.

Nanasaheb was very pleased to hear this. His eyes moist with tears of joy and

his body full of goose pimples, he caught hold of Baba's feet and said in a

voice overwhelmed with emotion. " O generous Sai: you have redeemed me. Your

" upadesh " has washed away the dust of nescience that had gathered over me. I am

deeply grateful to you. " Nimonkar was equally overwhelmed. They both fell at

Baba's foot and left for their respective home