Gnan ané Aashro
Maharaj has illustrated four ways in which one can recognise the Pratyaksh Swaroop – God in human form as described in Vachnamrut G. I. 27 and G. I. 62. The four ways are known as Gnan, Priti, Das-atwa, Prapati.
Gnan, Priti, Das-atwa and Prapati are the four angs – fundamental characteristics with which we worship the Lord. Maharaj has also illustrated the main obstacles one would come across depending on one’s main fundamental characteristic.
The spiritual knowledge we are trying to understand is extraordinary and thus to grasp its concepts with our modest intellect, hearts and minds can seem quite daunting. Muktanand Swami once commented that there are only a few, who even have the inclination to recognise God in human form, and of those few – how many will actually achieve it?
Totally selfless worship, without any ulterior motives, in order to benefit others performed by a person who is “egoless” is beyond imagination. Maharaj and Gunatitanand Swami proclaimed that they had descended on earth to free us from our selfish desires.
The four main angs are those of gnan, priti, das-atwa and prapati. Bhagatji Maharaj’s ang was priti, Jaga Swami’s was gnan, and Yogiji Maharaj’s was das-atwa. Each one utilised their angs to their fullest capacity and became god-realised saints. We do not have the same determination as them to apply our ang. However, the ang known as prapati would suit us all. Yogiji Maharaj encouraged everyone to apply this ang and progress in their sadhana.
For those who have a deep desire to attain redemption of their souls, Maharaj has stated that the easiest and best way to achieve this is to surrender completely – without any reservations as illustrated in Vachnamrut Vartal 5; also known as prapati-marg.
Prapatiyog is the total dependence on the Pratyaksh Swaroop – it means placing total faith in Him. Prapatiyog is to take refuge in the god- realised saint with absolute faith that He will do whatever is best for us. Just as a helpless child clings to its mother relying on her – so we must rely on the Lord. P. Yogiji Maharaj advocated prapatiyog.
Our sadhana is to constantly remain sub-merged in smruti whilst taking refuge in the god-realised saint. However, we must refrain from formulating fixed opinions about devotees based on how we perceive them – i.e. we should not ponder on their vices.
Yogiji Maharaj has blessed us by affiliating us with god-realised saints and to constantly remember them is equivalent to remembering God himself. We will firmly accept this as the truth because continuously remembering the god-realised saints will mean that we are gradually freed from worldly attachments and worldly desires. The only prerequisite for wanting to attain the bliss and happiness of Akshardham is Prapatiyog.
Prapatiyog can be summarised as follows:
- Simply take refuge in the god-realised saint – have total faith Him. (Aashro).
- Constantly remember Him (smruti).
- Always remain happy and contented in the knowledge that you have attained an association with God – this is known as Prapti- no-Kéf.
Overcome emotional disturbances; feelings of distress, depression or anxiety by praying, performing japyagna or doing smruti. Gradually such feelings will subside and the degree of bliss and happiness experienced will increase. Eventually you will attain an immunity from everything up to prakruti purush – meaning that nothing in this world will affect or cause you to lose your sense of happiness and bliss. You will be in a constant state of happiness and bliss – known as Akshardham nu sukh. You will constantly engage your mind, body and soul in thoughts of the glory of God (mahima). You will only participate in speaking and listening to mahima. This has been described in Swami-ni-Vato, Chapter 1 – 1st Discourse and Swami-ni-Vato Chapter 1 – last Discourse. However, for young and old sadhako alike, the only requirement in their sadhana from the start to the finish is the continuous practice of smruti.
Until one can see the leela – that is experience Maharaj at work – witnessing why he allows certain events to happen, one can only watch and pray. Yogiji Maharaj used to say that each person has a wealth of spiritual knowledge which will be released once he has been purified.
True spiritual knowledge (Gnan) is the constant practice of singing and listening to the praises of the Lord and the god-realised saints.
Gnan can also be defined as the acceptance of the god-realised saints as the almighty controllers of everyone and everything. They are the omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient supreme forces who control everything in our lives.
Whatever helps us to remain submerged in mahima is gnan. If religion, spiritual knowledge, detachment from worldly desires or worship helps us to realise the mahima of the god-realised saints as mentioned above then they are useful in our sadhana. Otherwise they are useless. They will not be useful in gaining redemption of our soul and will not help to increase the degree of happiness which we experience over time. Indeed, they may even cause us to feel greater degrees of distress, emotional disturbances and unhappiness. Whatever helps us to remain carefree, happy and conscious that we have attained the association of the supreme Lord will be useful in our sadhana. All we should do is pray, remain submerged in smruti and happy in the knowledge that we have recognised God who will redeem our souls.
All those who lived according to the principle mentioned above completed their sadhana in a very short space of time. This is indeed the easiest route to attaining bliss and happiness. Although it is such an easy, straightforward route, some people find it difficult to follow! However, we should still persevere with it.
An inner ‘ocean of spiritual knowledge’ exists deep within each person. This knowledge will automatically surface when that person has been purified. However, this could take a few years, therefore he should pray, remain sub-merged in smruti and ask the Lord for strength.
During this period, others may not realise his spiritual status and will not be able to give him due respect. He may feel lonely and isolated. He may begin to compare himself with others and as a result will experience distress and unhappiness.
Thus for at least five years of one’s sadhana, one should persist with Prapatiyog – i.e. the total dependence on the Prayaksh Swaroop. The degree of happiness experienced will gradually increase. Thus one should take refuge in the god-realised saint and remember that the key to solving all problems is prayer and performing japyagna. Simply remain detached and watch what happens within us and others. Do not worry about the ups and downs in your sadhana; you will experience happiness / depression or compliments / insults. Simply concentrate on the feeling of happiness experienced and continue to pray.
Those who practised this in their sadhana were considered by others to be suffering. They however, felt nothing but bliss and happiness during this period. Come what may, they tried to keep smiling and remain happy and found that they had attained purification.
Thus let us follow this easy route known as prapatiyog. May the Lord bless us with the strength to do so.