The Advancement of Living Beings Through the Management of Nature

Questioner: Through which effort has a living being evolved?

Dadashri: I will explain that to you. The Narmada River that we have nearby, it flows through the rock cliffs, and it also flows through bluffs of mud.

The current is so strong where there are rock cliffs that it even breaks off the edges of the cliffs. Then rocks of various sizes fall into the river. If one were to get hit by such a rock at that time, then he would start bleeding; that is how sharp the rocks are. This is because the freshlycut pieces of rock that fall in the river are sharp-edged. So I will explain to you what the purusharth of these embodied souls are. The nature of this river is such that it drags and pulls these stones within its flow. It carries on in this way. These stones constantly collide with each other, and upon travelling about ten to fifteen miles, they become smooth, shiny; they look as if they have been polished and they become marble-like in appearance. But even then, they still have edges and corners. And by the time they pass through Bhadbhuja [an area located in Surat, Gujarat], they become so rounded that when people go on a pilgrimage, they are asked, “Bring home a shaligram (symbolic round stones that represent the lingam in the worship of Lord Shiva) for worship.” So people worship these rounded stones. Similarly, all these embodied souls perpetually collide with one another. Nature pushes them along and they collide, and through the process of colliding, they are becoming ‘rounder’ [they are evolving]!

Questioner: So then does nothing at all have to be done?

Dadashri: Nothing at all has to be done. What can a ‘spinning top’ do? What can one do when he doesn’t even have control over his own bowel movement?

The stones that become round from colliding over and over again, people refer to them as shaligrams and place them in temples! Those that become shaligrams end up as idols for worship, while the rest end up in the sea! Similarly, upon taking birth in India, the ‘stone’ has become round and if [such a person] meets a Gnani Purush (the One who has realized the Self and is able to do the same for others) and attains samkit (the right belief ‘I am pure Soul’), then they become idols of worship, while the others are cast into the sea! Without attaining samkit, there is no Purusharth. Until a person attains samkit, he will be discharging his karma while simultaneously charging new karma. What people believe to be purusharth is actually illusory. Illusory purusharth means that one has to take another birth.

This analogy I have drawn for you of how the stones originate is very much like the beginning of worldly life interaction. There is no beginning for avyavahaar; that is without a beginning. However, the origin of worldly life begins from here, just like the moment the stone falls into the river. Avyavahaar rashi means that the embodied soul has not even been given a name yet. And from the moment it is given a name, such as a ‘rose,’ ‘jasmine,’ ‘ant,’ ‘carpenter ant,’ and so on, all those embodied souls are said to have come into vyavahaar rashi. They naturally get pushed forward. The natural arrangement is made all the way until the ‘seed’ of the ‘final fruit’ comes.

Questioner: What is the basis for this relative progress?

Dadashri: Nature makes all of it happen. The dravya (the relative self, physical evidences) changes as time changes, and as the dravya changes, so does the inner intent ( bhaav), and one does egoism of ‘I did this!’ Even this egoism is brought about by nature. And the one who becomes free of this egoism has become freed from this [ niyati] too. Nature brings about this progress, otherwise all expression through words is merely egoism.