“If a person of one caste shows the qualities of those belonging to another caste, then he is to be recognised as belonging not to the caste he was born into, but as belonging to the caste towards which he is showing inclination”.
What a profound statement Maharishi Nārada makes!
With this the eleventh chapter of the Seventh Canto comes to an end.
Seventh Canto Chapter Twelve
In this chapter, the four stages of life i.e. Brahmacarya, Gṛhasta, Vānaprastha and Sanyāsa are described with more emphasis on the Brahmacarya and Vānaprastha stages.
Maharishi Nārada said to Emperor Yudhishthira, “O Dharmaraja! The celibate-student (Brahmachāri) should have complete sense-control. While residing in the teacher’s home (gurukula) for his education he should always engage in those tasks which are beneficial to his Guru. Like a servant he should always be subservient towards his Guru and should have feelings of deep friendship towards his Guru. Both in the mornings and evenings he should worship his Guru, Fire, Sun and the Supreme Lord Srihari. He should be soft-spoken. During the morning and evening sandhya times he should, with an absolutely focussed mind, unfailingly chant the Gayatri mantra or the mantra obtained from his Guru. When the Guru calls him, he should diligently and attentively chant all Vedic hymns. Without wasting a moment, he should eternally chant the known hymns from the Vedas. With great humility he should attend to his Guru’s needs whenever called. He should not object or postpone saying, ‘I will finish this chapter and then complete that work’.”
In all three Sandhya times, unfailingly he has to complete his mandatory Gayatri worship. In this there is no excuse. Only when Gayatri is chanted unfailingly, positive energy increases and the merit (punya) needed for performing Guru seva increases. In other words, his punya bank balance increases.
**After obtaining Guru many people stop chanting mantras deciding that there is no more need for chanting Gayatri or any other mantra. They reject all rituals. Do you know that the merit of your many, many past births has given this connection with Guru in this lifetime? It has given you the chance to offer Guru-seva. If you stop all your disciplines then one day your merit (punya) will get completely eroded. The moment that balance is eroded you will be distanced from Guru. **You will fall to levels wherein you will criticize your Guru. With this you will be thrown into the worst Rourava hell. This happens because your past punya, which you had accumulated over many births, has now been reduced to zero.
Your past punya has brought you to this sacred place. If you do not continue japa and other worship, then the balance will get eroded. This is what I teach Veda students in the ashram- Do not waste your time. Do not miss your daily chanting. Serve the Lord. Do not gossip wastefully. Do not waste time by leaning on walls and dozing off, or sitting and dozing, or staring at the walls. Eating and sleeping all the time only erodes the existing spiritual bank balance. Will any bank honour your cheque when funds are nil? Along with withdrawals some new deposits should be created. Only then the balance continues. Conduct japa and offer it to your Sadguru. With this balance in your account will increase. Even Guru will not simply pass the power of all his past penance to his devotee. He will chant a mantra a lakh times and gift the power of that chanting. He will never give away the entire balance that he has. We should try to sustain on the interest while retaining the principal intact. Here it implies that we should increase our japa and other austerities so that it gets added to the account.
When suddenly people leave the Guru, others question- ‘Oh, he was so close to Guru. What would have happened?’ The answer to this is –‘His bank balance has got eroded’. You may question-‘How come he happened to be close to you in the first place?’ The answer is- ‘the accumulated merit of his many past births brought him here’. ‘Why did he reach this pitiable state now?’ The answer is- ‘he did not put in any further efforts. After reaching the ashram he stopped all his austerities. He even stopped his daily sandhya ritual. He reached a state wherein he would unhesitatingly skip bath. He stopped purifying food (parishecanam) before eating. He began eating at all times per his will. He stopped worshipping God. All his punya got depleted quickly’.
He had begun withdrawing the principal. The smart person who realizes this will immediately re-start all his daily worship. With this little by little he will build his balance again. **If your mind begins to waver when offering Guru seva, it implies your punya is eroding. Sin is slowly entering into you. It implies you have to quickly step in to increase the balance as you are in danger level. Instantly re-start your daily sandhya and other rituals. ** Increase your devotion. Serve Him with devotion. Serve your Sadguru believing Him to be Lord Srihari. Worship the Lord in all the three sandhya times. Offer the food to the Lord before eating. If you immediately re-start all these disciplines your balance will start increasing. Your disciplines will help build a new balance while at the same time your seva will cause depletion to that balance.
You may question- ‘Due to sinful deeds, merit balance can get depleted. But does it get depleted when seva is offered?’ My answer is –‘Yes, it will.’ Then what is to be done? ‘Continue your disciplines and fill in the balance.’
Assume you have cooked food to serve others. Without any difference, you are serving all noble persons and sinners. Will the food in the vessel decrease or not? Similarly the slightest wavering towards Guru seva is an indication that your punya (merit) balance is coming to an end. Immediately re-start your mantra. Begin to chant Lalita Sahasranama or Vishnu Sahasranama. At least listen attentively to the Sahasranama CD.
Day after day you are wasting your time in eating, gossiping, sleeping. Agreed you are performing Guru Seva. But still your austerities and disciplines are a must! At least pray mentally. Perform puja. Offer food to at least 10 people. By performing annadana a greater merit (punya) quickly adds to your account.