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desireless. Hence every spiritual aspirant should
regard his actions as offerings to the Divine.
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Lead Your Life without the Feeling of
“Mine and Thine”
Today man is filled with various desires. Then
what is the way to lead a desire-free life? Lord
Krishna has shown the way for this. He said, “Son,
there is nothing wrong in having desires, but all of
them must be pleasing to God.” “Let all your ac-
tions be pleasing to God.”
You should put into practice the eternal prin-
ciples based on truth and dedicate all your activi-
ties to God. Lead your life without the feeling of
“mine and thine,” and offer everything to God.
Only then can you attain the state of desireless-
ness. Today man has both worldly desires and de-
sires that lead to the inward path, but the number
of desires that lead to the inward path pale in com-
parison to the number of worldly desires in him.
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Desirelessness Prevails When All
Actions Are Offered to God
It is only when all actions are done as an of-
fering to God that desirelessness prevails. When
such a feeling fills the heart of the devotee, the
Divine confers beatitude on him. Such a devotee
is dear to the Lord. If you want to earn the love
of the Lord, you have to render service to anyone,
anywhere, as an offering to the Lord.
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SUCHI
(Pure)
Both Inner and Outer Purity Is Essential
The second quality is suchi (purity). There
should be both inner and outer purity. Bodily pu-
rity relates to the physical. It covers such cleans-
ing acts as bathing, wearing clean clothes, eating
pure food, and the like. Even in studies, the books
should be wholesome and elevating. But mere ex-
ternal cleanliness without internal purity is of no
value. Everyone, from the scholar to the common
man, is concerned only about external cleanli-
ness and not about the purity of the heart within.
However pure the ingredients may be, if the vessel
in which they are cooked is not clean, the food
will be spoiled. For a man, his heart is the vessel,
and he must see that it is kept pure and untainted.
Undertake Selfless Service
to Purify the Heart
For the purification of the heart, everyone
must undertake selfless service. Attachments and
aversions, which pollute the mind, should be es-
chewed by concentrating on selfless service. It is
only when the heart is pure that selfless service can
be performed. Hence both bodily and mental pu-
rity are essential for a good devotee.
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Purity Is Vital for All Aspirants
It is not enough if the body is clean. Inner pu-
rity is essential. The latter, in fact, is more essential
than the former. For the proper enjoyment of all
things, purity of mind is essential. Whatever sa-
cred acts you may perform in the external world, if
you have no purity of mind and heart, all of them
are valueless.
The food cooked in an un-tinned vessel will be
spoiled even if all the ingredients are good. Like-
wise, in the vessel of the heart, the inside must be
purified by love. Then, all that one consumes will
be wholesome. Hence purity is vital for all aspi-
rants; without it, all man’s actions are tainted. Ac-
tions done with an impure heart can only produce
undesirable results. Whatever good results you
want to secure in the external world, inner purity
is the basis.
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How to Purify the Mind,
Speech,
and Body
All the actions a man performs issue from in-
ternal impulses and not from external forces. They
are a reflection of his inner being. It is only when
man has pure feelings within him that his actions
can be pure. When he is polluted within, all his
actions will be impure.
How are the internal impulses to be purified?
These relate to the mind, speech, and the body. Of
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the three, speech is the most important. How is
purity in speech to be achieved? Every word you
utter should be free from causing excitement or
agitation. It should be true and pleasing, says the
Bhagavad Gita.
There are four factors that account for pol-
lution of the tongue. One is uttering falsehood;
two, excessive talking; three, carrying tales against
others; and four, abuse or criticism of others. The
tongue is prone to indulge in these four types of
offences in speech. Unfortunately, in this Kali
(Iron) Age, all four are rampant. Untruth has be-
come ubiquitous. People freely indulge in slander-
ing others. Tale-bearing goes on. Indulgence in
loquacity is widespread. It is only when one gets
rid of these four evil tendencies that his speech can
become pure and unpolluted. Hence the first task
is to purify one’s speech.
Next comes the mind. The mind is polluted
by wrong thoughts and bad feelings. Man should
strive to keep away all bad thoughts from invad-
ing his mind. When a man is ceaselessly filled with
bad thoughts, he can only reap bad consequences.
To purify the mind, all bad thoughts have to be
expelled. No room should be given to them. Bad
feelings should be banished from the mind. Only
then will the mind become totally purified.
Then comes purity of the body. One must
have a body that is free from the taint of violence
or harm. Men commit many acts of violence and
many sinful acts with their hands. The body has
been given to man primarily for practising righ-
teousness. Such a sacred gift should be used only
for rendering service to others and doing godly
actions. This is the way to purify the body. There-
fore, when speech, mind, and the body are puri-
fied, internal purity is ensured. Suchi thus calls for
internal purity as well as external cleanliness.
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DAKSHAH
(Firm in Determination)
Have Strong and Unshakable
Determination
The third quality that the devotee must have
is dakshah or strong and unshakeable determina-
tion. What sort of determination must you have?
You must say, “Come what may, I shall not rest till
I accomplish this or achieve this.” This is the sort
of resolve you ought to have. Swami occasionally
says:
Having resolved what ought to be done,
Hold on till you succeed.
This is determination.
Having desired what ought to be,
Hold on till it is fulfilled.
This is determination.
Having asked what you want,
Hold on till you get it.
This is what is meant by determination.
Having thought what you wish to have,
Hold on till the thought is realised.
Such is the quality of determination. In the
end, what should happen?
Due to your perseverance, the Lord must yield to
your wishes!
Persevere, be tenacious, and never give up.
It is not the characteristic of a devotee to retreat,
Abandoning his resolve.
What is meant by determination? It means
having the firm resolve:
“I should definitely see God, have God, and
secure His Grace.” God loves dearly the devotee
who has such firm determination.
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