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Chapter 8
SADHANA FOR A HAPPY ENDING OF LIFE: THE YOGA OF CONSTANCY
39. ‘Day And Night, The Fight Goes On’
15. In short, death will be a matter of joy when there is continuous performance of swadharma outside while inwardly the mind is being purified through devotion etc., when the streams of vikarama and karma flow within and without. That is why the Lord says, ‘म्हणुनि सगळा काळ मज आठव झुंज तूं’[1] (‘Remember Me all the time and fight’). He also refers to one who is ‘ever absorbed in that’—‘सदा त्यांत चि रंगला।’[2] When love for the Lord pervades your whole being, when your whole life is informed with that love, you will then always rejoice in things sacred. Evil urges and tendencies would never appear before you. Noble resolves and noble thoughts would germinate in the mind and good deeds would follow naturally and effortlessly. 16. It is true that good deeds become natural when one always remembers the Lord. But the Lord’s command is to keep on striving. Saint Tukaram says, ‘रात्री दिवस आम्हां युद्धाचा प्रसंग। अंतर्बाह्य जग आणि मन’॥ (‘Day and night, we are required to fight with the world without and the mind within.’) This conflict is going on relentlessly. It is not that you will win every battle. One has to persevere till the end to win the war. It is the final result of the war that counts. During the war we shall succeed and fail many a times. But failure is no cause for dejection. When a stone breaks at the twentieth blow, it does not mean that the previous nineteen blows had been in vain. In fact, they were preparing ground for the success of the twentieth blow. 17. To feel dejected means to lose faith in God. God is always there to support and protect you. Have faith in Him. To develop self-confidence in a child, the mother lets him wander here and there, but she keeps watch. She does not let him fall. If he starts tottering, she is there to lift him up in her arms. God too is watching you. He holds in His hands the string of your life’s kite. Sometimes He pulls it taut while sometimes He lets it loose; but be assured that He Himself is holding the string in His hands. To teach swimming in a river, one end of a rope is tied to a tree on the bank and the other end is tied to the learner’s waist, and then he is thrown into the water. Trainers are there in the river to take care of him. The novice struggles initially but, in the end, masters the art of swimming. God teaches us the art of living in this way. |
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