Talks on the Gita -Vinoba 99

Chapter 9 THE SOVEREIGN SCIENCE OF SERVICE TO HUMANITY: YOGA OF SURRENDER 47. The Lord’s Name Destroys The Sins 29. Once the sentiment that the Lord is present everywhere is deeply rooted in the mind, we will naturally know how to behave with each other. There will be no need for any rules and canons of ethics. Vices will disappear of their own accord, sins will flee and evil would vanish into thin air Tukaram has said, ‘चाल केलासी मोकळा। बोल विठ्ठल वेळोवेळां। तज पाप चि नाहीं ऐसें। नाम घेतां जवळीं वसे॥ (‘You are free to do whatever you like. Just chant the Lord’s Name again and again. Once you recite His Name, no sin will remain near you.’) Well, you are free to sin now. You can now commit as many sins as you can. Let us see whether you get tired of sinning or the Lord’s Name gets tired of reducing them to ashes. Is there any evil stubborn and belligerent enough to pit itself against the Lord’s name? ‘करी तुजसी करवती’—Sin as much as you can. Let the Lord’s Name and your sins fight it out. The Lord’s Name is powerful enough to burn down in an instant the sins committed not only in this life but in countless births in the past. A cave may be full of darkness since ages, but the moment you light a candle, darkness disappears. In fact, the older the sins, the more quickly they get destroyed, just as old wooden logs are more easily and quickly reduced to ashes. 30. No sin can ever exist in the presence of Ramanama (the Lord’s Name). Don’t the children say, “Ghosts vanish when you take Ramanama.” In my childhood, we children used to challenge each other to go to the cremation ground at night and drive in a peg there. There used to be snakes and thorns in the way, and darkness all around. Still I would fearlessly go there. I never came across ghosts. Ghosts, after all, are creations of the mind. How could they appear before us? Wherefrom did a ten-year-old boy gather such courage? From Ramanama. It was the power of the Lord who is Truth. If a man feels that the Lord is ever by his side and surrenders himself to Him, then he will not be afraid even if the whole world turns against him. Which demon can devour him? A demon may destroy the body; but never the truth. No power on earth can destroy the truth. Sin can never stand before the Name of the Lord. Hence seek His grace. Dedicate all actions to Him. Surrender completely to Him and be totally devoted to Him. Let the urge to dedicate all the actions to Him become more and more intense. Then this trivial life will become divine. The soiled life will become beautiful.