Here, you will find some inspiring, interesting and beautiful snippets collected from Bapu’s Kathas over the years. Please remember that these are all translations and not quotes.
God
Love is not a state of mind. Rather, it is a supreme state of existence.
Krishna is a form of prem. Khudaa hain mohabbat; mohabbat khudaa hain. God is love; love is God. (Manas Marjaada, Dubai, 2008)
Rabindranath Tagore says that God can come anytime. You have to be ready. He can come in the form of a flower blossoming or a wave in a still ocean. (Manas Marjaada, Dubai, 2008)
God comes to everyone. It’s a case of being able to recognise him. (Manas Marjaada, Dubai, 2008)
Sant
Who is a sant?
A sadpurush (good man) is one who find solutions to others samasya problems).
Samaajik samasya – helping dalits, giving respect to widows, letting a widow do kanyaadaan etc
Shikshaik samasya - providing education to girls, children
Aarthik samasya - providing food to people
Dhaarmik samasya - dharma is not there to create problems but to solve them. They say that the best government is one which has least faults and vices; this should never become the case in dharma i.e. whichever dharma is least bad is better. Just like Shankar Bhagwaan has three eyes, so does dharma have three rup (forms) – satya, prem and karuna. Dharma tyaag ka paryaay hona chaahye. (Manas Marjaada, Dubai, 2008)
A saadhu does not see anyone as a dushman (enemy). Meerabai’s family were her enemies but she did not see them as that. (Manas Marjaada, Dubai, 2008)
A saadhu has no lobh (greed) of anything. (Manas Marjaada, Dubai, 2008)
One main thing is stolen from saadhak - his ekaant (oneness, to be alone). In my ekaant, I think only of my guru. I don't need to think about anything else. My most important lakshya (aim) is my guru. I want nothing beyond that. (Manas Marjaada, Dubai, 2008)
Sadguru
Bapu says, I am not dharmavaadi, nor am I arthavaadi, nor am I kaamvaadi or mokshavaadi. I am only premvaadi. I am not anyone’s guru. You are all my shrotaas (listeners) and I have love for you. (Manas Marjaada, Dubai, 2008)
The way to spiritual truth must be a combination of the aspirant's sadhana (efforts) and sadguru's karuna (grace). By far, the easiest path is the name of the Lord.
Either leave everything to your sadguru or leave your sadguru. (Manas Kailas, 1997)
Guru is like the morning sun, blossoming the lotus flower and removing the darkness within us. A guru's words are the rays of the sun. The only difference is that the sun always sets, but the light of our guru never sets. (Manas Guru Gita, 1993)
A guru always showers blessings, but in order to receive them, your bowl must be straight and free of any holes, such as lust anger, greed and ego. (Manas Guru Gita, 1993)
Grace (kripa) cannot be attained by efforts. Grace is a gift. Some saint may endow it through compassion. (Manas Bhaktimani, Washington, 1990)
A sant or guru seldoms call you, but if your guru calls you then you should drop everything, even swarag (heaven) or mukti (salvation). It is the sign of your param saubhagaya. (Manas Guru Kar Komal Seel Subhau)
A disciple's faith should be focused on how his sadguru's grace has worked wonders in his life.
Devotion
Once bhakti (devotion) is attained, then greed, ego and delusion do not give trouble and the thief of desire will not bother us.
Awareness about the one in whose feet we have absolute faith is a sign of devotion.
He who has been enlightened in the path of devotion won't see anybody as sinner in the entire world and even amongst all living creatures.
Perform worldly duty with complete sincerity in such a way that our conscience remains crystal clear. This duty can become a medium to experience the supreme. There is no need to change our work or our place, provided that our life is full of faith and dedication towards the divine.
Duty
A wife must have maryada and a husband must have vivek. Vivek and maryada are married to one another (daampatya).
Do earn money, but try to also earn some time.
What we need is a steady mind that does not swing like a pendulum between past and future.
If an old man or woman is working in your house, then give respect to them. Call them 'tame'. Call an old woman 'mā'. What if we were in that position in some other life.
It is important to have satya (truth) in your speech, but it’s also important to have satya in your thoughts. You might say ‘sit here’ to somebody, but in your mind, you might be cursing him. So satya in your thoughts is also necessary.
Fear
Don't live in fear of what people will say. There is no need to be superstitious. I'm not trying to break your faith but this is what I think.
Weddings may take place at any time of the day and on any day of any month. Instead of looking at the graha (stars), look at one’s anugraha (blessings, divine grace).
So many people live in fear. If they don't do a fast or pooja, what will happen? Is this what religion is about? To make you live in fear? Dharma should be shaurya.
Others
Righteous intellect recognises the distinction between the right and wrong actions, like the difference between milk and water.
A person who feels pain from another’s suffering does not feel pain from his or her own suffering.
First of all there should be improvement in a person. From that, the society will improve. And from society, the nation will improve.
Sangraam (conflict) denotes a tree of war. Its root is dwesh (hatred), its stem anger, the branches are the negative inclinations of mind, the leaves the instability of the mind and the fruit is violence.
Japa is a yagna. Within this yagna, the tulsi mala is sameedh (wood), tears are aahuti (offering), devotion is ghee (igniting element) and mamta (attachment) is sacrifice.
Satsang gives rise to a person's mati (positive intellect), keerati (fame), gati (right path of progress), bhooti (fortune), bhalaai (goodness) as well as vivek (wisdom).
The supreme power is omnipresent in the creation, but it can also be said that the omnipresent itself has taken the form of the creation.
The forty lines of the Hanuman Chalisa signify the zeroing of four things in life - Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha.
Each language is important and everyone should hold on to their own language. For us, Gujarati is our dharma (righteousness), Hindi is our artha (wealth) and English is our kaam (desire). (Manas Kripala, Kampala, 2008)
If you want to be something in life, then fight for it; don't lose courage. (Manas Kripala, Kampala, 2008)
We shouldn't try and sudhār (change) people or try and samaj (understand) them. We should just swikaar (accept) them. (Manas Marjaada, Dubai, 2008)
Aashirwaad is not just giving blessings to others for comforts and fortunes; it actually means to have courage to take away the sufferings of those who bow down to you.
EXCERPTS