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Part Two Who Am I? How Can I Know That?
Now How Can the Cycle End?
Questioner: Now, I just wanted to ask you, what do we need to do to put an end to the cycles of birth and death?
Dadashri: Now you ask the question, in the fifth era of the current time cycle (ara – one of the six divisions of time in one half of the time cycle. We are currently in the fifth ara, which began about twenty-five hundred yeas ago)? It would have been possible to stop the cycle in the fourth ara, but you failed to do that, because you were too busy “tasting chutney (savory relish)”. Just only for the chutney (material; worldly pleasures), that is all you desired, and therefore you stayed behind. When you could have put a halt to cycle of birth and death back then, you did not do anything there. Now you have come, there is no recourse left to you; you may have your chutney, but the solution is no longer around. Now do you feel that you can let go of the chutney?
Questioner: It may go away.
Dadashri: Yes, in order to stop the cycles of birth and death, you will have to attain the knowledge of who you are. You must attain the right vision (samkit).
Questioner: Until the purpose of this life is realized, all other discussion is meaningless. One only needs to know that purpose. It is there, that the fundamental question lies.
Dadashri: Yes. This fundamental question is indeed true.