SNEH - GEETA (In Praise of Love) By SADGURU NISHKULANAND SWAMI Sadguru Nishkulanand Muni has been very thoughtful in regard to the future of this Satsang and therefore, he has enriched our Satsang literature with a very large stock of sacred scriptures written and recited by him. These holy books are like the eternal stream of nectar strengthening devotion and affection. Swami has preached to householders to live detached of Grihastashram and worldly relations for a brighter and more luminous stage of life as a householder. Shreeji Maharaj preaches not to inflict pain to others through our thoughts, speech or actions. To act at the will of God is the first step forward on the path of devotion and worship. To live a decent and well-cultured life is the second step. Prudence and decorum are the foundations of the axiomatic religion. Shreeji Maharaj has created an army for the Axiomatic religion The scholar poets like Brahmanand Swami, the yogis like Gopalanand Swami, the orators and readers like Muktanand Swami, the scholars of the Sanskrit literature, such as Pragji Dave and the secretaries like Shukanand Swami, great musicians, painters, writers and the alert attendants like celibate Swami Mukunandji have adorned the eternal court of Lord Shreeji Maharaj. This large force of ‘armed guards’ has acted like an army of crusaders. God incarnates himself on the earth to liberate living beings through His holy company. The fulfillment of the four Purusharthas (cardinal attainments of the lifetime) has resulted in the incarnation of Lord Swaminarayan, with his splendid retinue of Paramhansas and devotees. Sadguru Nishkulanand Swami wrote the scripture of “Sneh Geeta” to strengthen the devotional fervour and the spirit of affection among aspirants and devout souls. 1 Sadguru Nishkulanand Swami narrates here the subliminal love of the devotees for God. Sneh Geeta is the scripture of eternal love and affection: Sneh Geeta is a wonderful scripture Sneh Geeta nurtures and strengthens love for God. It is a scripture of universal humanity. Sneh Geeta is like a water hut that satisfies the thirst of mankind without any discrimination between colour, creed or sect. But there should be real thirst for God. Listen to katha-varta with real thirst. Unreal thirst will not help an aspirant to quench his satisfaction. Such a person would be tempted to criticise the water-hut or even the water! A soul with real thirst – true aspiration – would like to drink water. He would not find any fault in regard to its taste or temperature. He would drink the water happily. Once, a boy at the railway station was distributing water to the passengers of a train. A man was sitting near the window looking out at the platform. The boy passed by him with water to sell. The passenger waived his hand and called the boy near to him. The water- boy came to him carrying a small earthen pot and a glass to distribute the water. The passenger asked him, “What is price?” “Fifty paise per glass,” said the boy. The sheth tried to bargain and asked with a smile, “How about twenty five paise for a glass?” The boy smiled at him without any answer and walked away to cover other prospective buyers. A saint was observing this. He found it a bit unusual. He came down from the coach and asked the boy, “Why haven’t you entertained that customer? Why have you smiled mildly instead of a reply? Why did you leave with just a smile?” The boy’s answer was most intelligent. He said, “Why should I insist? He is not thirsty. A thirsty passenger never inquires about the price and never bargains for a glass of water. Another person asked for the glass of water without any bargaining. He said he was thirsty and insisted for a glass of water without delay. As the first person was not thirsty, I left him with a smile instead of a bargain.” The satsang of Shree Hari is like a water-hut. A thirsty soul receives here the cool and nectar-like water in the form of katha, kirtan 2 and dev darshan. The Gopis were thirsty for darshan – holy company - of Lord Shree Krishna. They ran to him hastily to quench their thirsty to meet Shree Krishna. They stopped nowhere in between until they found Shree Krishna. Sneh Geeta sings with love the praises of Lord Shree Hari. Sneh Geeta is not merely an object or a book, but it is life - the colourful episodes of one’s personal life. It is a school to learn the lessons of life. It strengthens our love and affection for God. These are the songs of affection and devotional love. Sadguru Nishkulanand Swami begins the scripture with a Mangalacharan (auspicious prayer). To remember God is the most auspicious among all acts. Sadguru Nishkulanand Swami has presented here the essence of his devotional experiences. Kadavun - 1 Sadguru Nishkulanand Swami narrates here in his unique style the Katha of Dashama Skandha of Shreemad Bhagwat: (Shreeji Maharaj is the idol form of auspiciousness. Lord Vrajraj is the soul and heart of the residents of Vraj. O Lord! Please be kind to me. I desire to sing your praises.) Sadguru Nishkulanand Swami begins the scripture of Sneh Geeta with due blessings of Shree Swaminarayan Bhagwan. Auspicious beginning is the rise of virtuous will. To walk on the path of devotion is itself a blessing of God. Devotion is not possible without the blessings of God. A soul receives devotional pleasure of holy company (Satsang) through the punyas of his last many births. The Katha of Sneh Geeta sang by Sadguru Niskulanand Muni himself is supreme in our Satsang. The scripture of Sneh Geeta showers on mankind the blissful light of eternal enlightenment. The story begins with the pooja (worship) of the Holy Scripture. Why do we do pooja and worship of this scripture? We do it because it treasures the divine leelas of God. Sneh Geeta has two wings. Shraddha (faith) and Bhavna (devotional sentiments). A bird can fly with its two wings. Similarly, 3 Shraddha (faith) invokes true knowledge in our intelligence and Bhavna purifies our mind and destroys sin. God is attainable through firm faith. Three things, namely love for God, faith in God and trust in God are a must to attain God. The scripture teaches us love and affection towards our personal God – Lord Shree Hari. Swami says, ‘O God! I desire earnestly to sing your praises. One cannot sing the praises of God without His mercy.’ (I desire to sing your devotional songs. I desire it utmost. I wish to sing Sneh Geeta in accordance to my spiritual wisdom.) Those who desire to please God should rise early in the morning. There are many benefits to rising early. One can attend comfortably to mental worship, gurumantra japa, pradakshina, darshan of early morning aarti and first salute to one’s personal God. One can listen attentively to early morning katha sessions held at the temple. A man planning a visit to another town rises early in the morning, readies himself for the journey and reaches the railway station quite early, before the time of his departure. A man puts in best efforts for a comfortable tour. Similarly, a man who has to travel a long way for his ultimate destination – Akshardham – needs to do daily poojan, archan, katha–satsang, japa and kirtan, by rising early in the morning. (Now listen to this katha of sublime love and affection.) I have considered everything from all angles, I have thought much about japa (holy chants), tapa (penance) tiratha (pilgrimage of holy shrines), yoga (meditational concentration) and yagya (holy-fire), but come to the singular conclusion that devotional love has no alternative.) Spicy vegetables are tasteless if we have forgotten to add a pinch of salt. Similarly, devotion and spiritual wisdom look dull without devotional love. Though beautiful by being bedecked with ornaments, jewelry and precious attires, she still look ugly and repulsive if she is without a nose. 4 Install God constantly in the seat of your heart Sadguru Nishkulanand Swami insists for devotional love and love for God. The attributes like donations, nine kinds of devotion, poojan, sacred scriptures, satsang and samaiya, bear no fruit in absence of devotional love. Satsang will be dry and rough without devotional love. It would be like a meal cooked without butter oil. A body has no value without the soul. The world has no value without devotional love. Rain in a saline land yields no fruits and a most fertile land yields nothing in the absence of rain. Similarly, devotion is futile in absence of devotional love. Love instills power in devotion. Act to your best ability to increase your love for God – devotional love. (A lake is dry without water. Flowers are useless without fragrance. The heart is lonely without love.) A dry lake is of no use. Fresh and colourful flowers are of no use without their fragrance. The heart would be dry and lonesome without the moisture of devotional love arising from satsang, katha and kirtan. Devotion is dry and lifeless without selfless love. Don’t do dry devotion. Do devotion with love. If the kirtan “~Þt{ ‚{u Ët[wk ™týwk” (O Shyam! You are real wealth…) was sang loudly, it may reach the temple but it still would not reach God. If you want it to reach God, you have to attach your heart and soul to that song. Similarly, a scholar of scriptures would be consigned to infernal regions if his knowledge were not wedded to devotional love.