Aptavani 01

Author(s): Dada Bhagwan
Publisher: Dada Bhagwan Foundation

Page 14

Aptavani-1
Aptavani 1
Dharma - Religion; One's Duty "What is dharma?
It is anything that remains in and results in its own intrinsic properties.
Dharma means one's intrinsic nature and properties.
For example, when can you call gold, gold? It is only when it exhibits the properties that are intrinsic to gold. Another example is if these grapes are bitter, then you could say that it does not exhibit its intrinsic property. Brass can look and shine just like gold if it is polished enough. But if a goldsmith were to test it, he would be able to tell that it is not gold from the intrinsic properties of that metal.
goon dharma, if it exhibits its innate nature. The belief of 'I am the body', or to believe the body, the non-self, to be your real identity is par-dharma (dharma of another). To believe the Self (Soul) as the Self is sva-dharma (own dharma). That is atmadharma, dharma of the Self.
Dadashri : Who Are You? Questioner: I am Chandulal. Dadashri : What is your name? Questioner : My name is Chandulal.
Dadashri : Do you see a contradiction in the statements 'I am Chandulal' and 'My name is Chandulal'? How can the name and the entity it belongs to be one and the same? When a person dies, his name is taken away from him during his funeral rites, is it not? It is even removed from the census records.
Who does this hand belong to? Who does this leg belong to?
Questioner: They are mine.
Dadashri : They are all parts of this body. What is yours in all that? Who does the mind within you belong to?
Questioner : It is mine. Dadashri : What about speech? Questioner : It is mine. Dadashri : Whose body is this? Questioner : That is mine too.
Dadashri : When you say, it is mine, does it not occur to you that the owner of these body parts is separate from the
There are two mangos in front of you. One mango has an aroma and given time it will become a little dry, the skin will shrivel and will eventually begin to rot. The other one looks exactly like a mango, only it is made out of wood. It does not have the aroma; it will not shrivel or rot. They are both mangos, but one does not have the qualities of a real mango. The real mango will exhibit its natural properties. It can only be called a mango if it has and remains within its natural attributes.
Similarly you can say that a thing is in its innate nature,