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Yoga-drishti-samuccaya
After manifestation, naturally, the desire to serve, that is, to listen, arises. And this desire to listen is also related to the truth. What is the truth of things? Who am I? What is my form? What is all this other stuff? What is its real form? What is my relationship with it? What is this world? Why is its form so diverse and wonderful? What is dharma? What is the ultimate form of dharma? How is it attained? The desire to listen to the stories of truth that reveal the answers to these and many other questions related to the truth arises intensely in the seeker with this vision, and an inner desire manifests. Listening through the ear-sense without this intense inner desire is just a name, it is like listening with one ear and letting it out the other! Thus, this being has listened to countless stories and tales, and its ears have even burst from listening! Yet, it has not attained Brahma-jnana, true knowledge of the truth! Because it has not listened with the inner mind, with the inner ear-sense, with the feeling ear-sense, it has only listened superficially.
“The ears burst from listening to stories, yet Brahma-jnana does not come.” - Shri Akhabhakt Brahma
“O, those who are to be heard, those who are to be loved, those who are not to be abandoned.” - Shri Veda-shruti
“Sometimes, a mistake is made in that the relationship between listening and acceptance, the relationship with the truth, is not considered. ‘Shravana’ means to listen, and to listen means to let sounds fall into the ears; and often, this is considered to be enough. x x x To take the word into the ear and accept it with the mind, that is the name ‘shravana’, that is the real and ancient meaning of the word ‘shravana’ according to the scriptures.”
And this desire to listen, without the influence of others or their teachings,
Shri Anandashankar Bapubhai Dhruv, a learned man, expects something from it, because listening is not a matter of chance; therefore, listening is through another, through another’s mouth. That is, primarily, it is to be done through the mouth of a special person, a Brahma-nishtha sadguru, a sadguru; and if that is not possible, then it is to be done through the mouth of a maha-atma, a great soul, who is always present, because the consciousness of such great gurus, who are full of great knowledge, is expressed in the form of ‘akshar’, the eternal form, and it is manifested in their actions, remaining in the form of ‘akshar’. In the absence of a direct self-knowing sadguru, it is beneficial to listen to the words of such indirect self-realized sadgurus, it becomes a great help. In the absence of a sadguru, it is more beneficial to listen to the words of such indirect sadgurus than to listen to the words of ordinary people who are considered to be gurus. This is the opinion of the learned. It is better to do this than to consider anyone as a guru, even if they are devoid of guru-guna.