Darshan On Bhajan O Shankara Dada
June 02, 1977 am
[Bapuji chants “O Shankara Dada.” (First line: Avyo chun apane dvare O Shankara Dada)]
[Gurudev translates]
The title of the bhajan is O Shankara Dada.
In Sanatana Dharma, which is born in India, there are three major devas, the divine beings.
These three devas accomplish, perform, three different actions.
First deva, known as Brahma, he is the creator of the universe.
The second deva is Vishnu, who sustains the universe that is created by Brahma.
The name of the third deva is Maheshwara, or Shankara.
That deva, he destroys the universe that has been created by Brahma.
Means, he changes it, in other words.
Brahma is the devata of rajoguna; Vishnu is the devata of sattvaguna; Lord Shiva is the deity of tamoguna.
I think many of you know what is sattvas, rajas, and tamas.
Sattva is purity, rajas is activity, and tamas is inertia, or darkness.
These three devatas are the swami, means of the deity of one of these three gunas, through which the universe is manifested.
Creation is so scientific that we will be amazed, our intellect will be almost numb, to think about it.
Because Brahma is creating the universe, that creation involves rajoguna.
This is why he is the devata of rajoguna.
His work is not to sustain.
His function is only to create the universe.
The second devata, Vishnu, does not create the universe.
Means, all things in the universe are the creation.
He does not create the universe, but he just sustains the universe that has been created by Brahma.
Third devata is Maheshwara, or Shankara.
He does not create the universe, neither does he sustain the universe.
He just destroys the universe.
There are different Puranas, means the oldest scriptures, for each of these devatas.
And in that, these devatas are considered to be the highest of all the devatas.
But, how could they be the highest of all? Bapuji says that the first devata can create, but he cannot sustain, second one can sustain, but cannot destroy.
So each one of them do not have all the powers.
Then, how to understand this.
In Shiva Purana, the scripture that exposes Shiva’s glory, he says that Shiva is the supreme most god.
Similarly, in other Puranas, of Brahma and Vishnu, each one of them are considered to be the highest, higher than the highest, in their own Purana.
This creates one kind of confusion.
But it is not confusion.
It is a solution.
Bapuji says that, “God is one, but he accomplishes three different functions.” When this one God becomes Brahma, he becomes an energy of creation, and at that time, he is expressing the rajoguna.
But when he becomes the supreme most, he becomes the Lord of all three gunas.
This proper solution to this question could be given this way.
In our body, we have the organs of action, different than sense organs.
The hand can pick up something.
Eyes cannot do the work of hand.
Then you must understand that those three different gods that are explained; they are the three different limbs of one god.
This, if you just understand this much, this I gave you a simple explanation.
Here, in this bhajan, Shankara Bhagwan is called Dada because he is supreme most, in the highest, and nothing beyond him.
Bapuji says it is very difficult to understand the philosophy, the core, of Sanatana Dharma.
You can say that, in order to experience that or understand that, you will have to be born in India.
But you don’t have to be discouraged because of that.
Here, new India is being born, that will definitely teach you.
When America itself will become Bharat, itself, means India, it will not be necessary to go into other Bharat.
You will receive that knowledge right here.
Now we will have to imagine that there is a temple of this Dada, means Bhagwan Shankar, and one of his disciples, is entering into the temple.
You go to the river when you have a desire to bathe in it, isn’t it? This is the Dada, or the grandfather of the entire world, so whenever we are in pain or suffering, we go to him.
Bapuji says, “There are two kinds of devotees who go to him.
If there are two types of gurus, naturally there will be two types of disciples.
The first type of devotees are those desirous of religion, prosperity and satisfaction of all the desires.
The second type of devotees, they only desire liberation God.
This devotee who is approaching the temple, he is knocking at the doors of the temple.
He says, “Dada, Oh Dada, I have come here.” When some guest comes to the householder, he receives him.
So the temple is the abode of devas.
We become his guest when we go there.
Even if we are devotees, we go to him.
So this deva has to get up from his seat and has to go receive his devotee.
He has to open the doors.
He is not a human being.
He is deva, very high being, and so naturally, his manners and love would be higher than human being, so he will definitely come to receive us.
If it is the first type of devotee who desires religion, wealth and satisfaction of senses, or the second type of devotee who desires moksha, he receives both of them.
But you must remember another thing in your heart.
The first thing is, when you put the statue or the picture of deva in your room, before you start, you have to invite the deva into your home, or wherever you are inviting.
So you have to invite him first.
He becomes your guest, first.
In the worship of the devas like this, in India it is the tradition to first bring the presence of the Lord into that.
And this is the first step of puja.
And then when the puja is finished.
See in the beginning you invite him before you start puja.
In the end when you are finished you say now you can go.
And you go to leave him at the door.
Why do we have to tell him to go? If you ask him to sit there, he will stay there.
Why do you ask him to go? Because you have to go.
If the deva stays there, then you have to stay there.
Now your work is finished, and you said, “Dev, now you can go.”
By devotee going to the temple, the deva has to naturally invite the devotee.
Those who desire siddhis and powers, they know how to satisfy the devas, so they take the path of siddhis.
Means, material accomplishments.
External accomplishments.
When you want to ask something, that you cannot invite a deva into your home, you should go to the temple.
Where he invites you.
There you can do your job.
This trick is better, that when you go to the temple, the deva comes to receive you.
So this bhakta, knowing this, he knocked at the door, and said, “Dada, I have come here.
When would you give me this darshan? I will be late, if you are busy.” Dada has lots of works.
Our works are very small.
Just related just to us.
But it cannot work if the Dada comes late.
If we don’t ask any time from him.
Whenever we go there, he has to come to receive us at that time. That is the devotee asking for.
I went to one small village.
That town knew me before.
In that town, I owned some land.
So all the individuals in that village knew me.
But when I went to the same town, after I became swami, I had no relation with the land.
I reached there and I was given an accommodation in one building.
The rich man of the village was busy with some work.
He came little late to see Bapuji.
He came so late that it was almost time to go to bed.
He said, “I have some work. I’ll go there and come back in an hour and a half or so. And then we will sit for satsanga. Night is our own. We can do whatever we want.”
He thought that satsanga was an engine of shunting, you know, going back and forth.
Bapuji was explaining there is an engine that draws the bogies from here to there.
It doesn’t go anywhere.
It just does that work of bringing the carriages back and forth.
So Bapuji says that the saint is also a kind of satsanga engine.
Whoever comes, he has to just connect himself with him, and give him satsanga.
But this is not the real way of satsanga.
But he knew me in my previous life, before I became a swami.
This is why he was treating me this way.
And was asking things of me.
And really, he returned in the morning around two o’clock.
He says, “Oh, you are asleep? Didn’t you know I was coming?”
Now if I became angry with him, he will think that now I have become spoiled, after I became swami.
So I got up smiling.
In some problems, you have to cry.
In some problems, you have to laugh.
That is what Bapuji was doing.
He was laughing at his problems.
Then we had a satsanga with him, and when it was early morning time, he left.
While he was returning, he said, “Oh, that was a good time.
I liked that.
I brought the bundles of fun for you, and I have given it to you.” In social interaction, even the saints have to do this occasionally.
This is external interaction, and yet it is sadhana for a sadhak as to how to act in a specific time.
You are sitting here and listening to the lecture.
That is one kind of sadhana.
But that sadhana is of a lower kind.
You might be surprised that this sadhana is of a lower kind?
When you go outside of here, there you have to work under great difficulties and chaos.
Only when you are successful there, that is of a higher sadhana than here.
You learn here.
Your test is there, but you learn here.
Bapuji says that we don’t have to see others.
We have to see ourselves.
Our own selves.
Then what does this devotee say after he enters this temple?
He has come to remind God.
He is reminding him as to what relationship he has with God.
“You are my father, you are my mother, you are my brother, you are my sister.”
First he called him Dada grandfather.
Then he said, “You are everything.” This relationship, do you think he is the only one who knows? Doesn’t he know if he is a father, this is my son? He knows it all.
But because he has come to ask something, so he reminds him of his relationship that “You are my everything.” He says, “You are my father, you are my mother, you are my brother, you are my sister, you are this and that.” He is telling everything.
Then the grandfather is smiling.
He is saying, “Wow.
He is really saying real sweet words, isn’t he? But when he goes out of this temple, he won’t even remember me.” At the end he says that, “My Dadaji, you are the only support.
Whatever you have, why don’t you give to me without asking, because I am yours anyway.” Now, he is being little wise.
“Dada, you should flow the entire ocean of love towards me.” He is saying to Shivaji, or Dada, “All the rivers of love are dry.” His own.
“The pot of love is dry.
The wells of love are dry.
So you will have to just flow the ocean of love towards me.”
Under such circumstances, who can give us the nectar of love to drink? So I have come to receive the nectar of love.
He is really cunning.
The devotee does that with his beloved.
He says he has come to receive the nectar of immortality, nectar of love.
Instead of giving, he has come to take it.
Oh, he is giving him, so only if he takes, then he can ask.
He is really smart.
Now he accepts his own faults.
Then he is saying, “Dada, I had forgotten you.
This is why I had to go through many incarnations, through pain.
I had to be born over and over because I was after lust.
Now, at the end, I am completely exhausted and I have come at your feet.
I cry and always remember, day and night, your name.
Shiva.
Shiva.” One who desires moksha performs such actions.
“My Lord, I cannot have your darshan.
This is why I am experiencing the fire of separation.
Dadaji, now bring the boat of my life on the shore.” Then in the end, with the tears in his eyes, and bowing down at his feet, he says, “My Lord, Brameshwar Dada, have mercy upon me, and fulfill my desire.
Dada, please help me because, other than you, there is no other who can protect me.”
Now the explanation of this bhajan is completed, in short.
[Bapuji chants “Jai Shiva Shankara.”]