On days and 7 of Shrimad Bhagavat Katha at Junamaka, Patan, Pujya Bhaishri spoke of the power of the Shrimad Bhagavat in transforming one’s understanding of death.
Sadguru makes death a swayamvar for a devotee – Days 6 and 7 Patan Katha
Shrimad Bhagavat expresses the perspective of all three but as it is primarily a scripture of loving devotion, it fills one with loving feeling for the Lord which makes it possible to effortlessly renounce this material world in favour of His union when the time comes.
Satsang is a swayamvar for a spiritual aspirant organized by one’s Sadguru. When the Lord, in the form of the divine word of the Sadguru, is accepted wholeheartedly by the aspirant, this union is complete.
Pujya Bhaishri sang various sant vānis and explained their true essence to reveal the experience in these hymns by self-realized saints explaining this relationship with death. Quoting Sant Kabir, he described the recognition of a girl in love of her true home being with her beloved.
The bride’s side and groom’s side typically have a litany of different wedding songs. Yet there is one song which is common to both in Gujarati folk songs. Pujya Bhaishri described the truth of life expressed herein. When the four palanquin bearers arrive to fetch the bride, she demurs hoping to seek a few more words of advice from her elders. Of what use is that now? If one has not paid heed to one’s Guru during one’s lifetime, when the messengers of death come to take one, there will be no opportunity to ask for time then. It will be time to depart.
The Lord sends his own attendants for one who can easily discard the body as a garment ready to be put away when called. Who comes and goes and who doesn’t? This physical body remains in the mortal world. The Soul does not come or go because it simply always exists in all places and all the time. The vital airs are what enter and leave the body.
Rationalists who question if God exists struggle to accept that not only does God exist but in fact nothing other than Him exists in all of creation. How is this possible when He is unseen? Clearly there is a soul that activates the consciousness in a human body. It is noticeable as once it departs from the body, it leaves behind a mere corpse. Doctors can precisely locate each organ in the body, yet no one has been able to pull out a tangible soul. Nevertheless, its presence remains indisputable. The same applies to the Lord, the super soul of all of creation.
Celebrating the 101th birth anniversary of Shri Prāgji Bapa and the entire lineage of Saints of Junamaka as well as of Gurpurab, the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanakdev, Gurudev sang various Kirtans invoking the grace of the Guru and spoke of the spirit of humble surrender needed in a disciple.
