________________
Aptavani-2
One man was riding his pony. He was a heavyset man and the pony was small and frail. The pony seemed to buckle under his weight. As they were trudging along he came across another man who asked him if he wanted some green grass for his pony. This fellow was tempted to take the grass since it was free but at the same time he was concerned about the added weight on the pony. He thought a little bit and not being too bright, decided that if he put the bale of grass on his own head, the pony would not have to carry the extra weight. So he put the bale of grass on his head and sat on the pony and took off. On the way he comes across a Vanik gentleman who tells him, "Brother, you are carrying the bale on your head, but the load still falls on the pony and that is why both you and the pony look as if you drank some castor oil!"
This worldly life is like the pony. Thinking the pony to be a weakling, that man sits on it worrying about the weight the pony has to bear but his assessment is incorrect. Ultimately the load falls on the pony alone. Similarly, all of you should put the load of your worldly life on the worldly pony where it belongs. Do not sit on the pony of the worldly life with any worries. Do not have worries as you live your life. The Self, the knower of the universe has entered the worldly life and lost his knowership; his original abode. Everyone in the world is fooled in this way. Only the vitarag Lords understood that worries of the worldly life should not fall on one's mind; they belong to the worldly pony. Vitarag Lords were very clever in their calculations and that is why they attained liberation whereas those with calculating minds have been left behind to wander.
Tree of the worldly life Kavi has sung:
"Aha! Akram Gnan kadi na suniyu "Never before was heard the knowledge of the Akram Path'
Ene khodiyu dhori vruksha mudiyu' He (Dadashri) has unearthed and destroyed the main root
that perpetuates the worldly life.' This worldly life is like a huge tree, which even after countless lives, has not dried up. People try to kill it by cutting its leaves, but new leaves keep sprouting. Many religions believe if they cut the leaves, the tree will dry up and die but instead new leaves keep sprouting. Many say cut out the larger branches and it will die, but it does not, new branches grow in their place. Many say cut the trunk, but even then, it does not die. Many say go beyond and cut out the roots, but the tree grows again. This is not the real solution to destroy the tree of the worldly life. How does this tree keep living? The tree has many roots, which pervade into the ground that helps keep the tree upright but there is one root, from which the tree derives food and water It is called the main root. Only the Gnani Purush has knowledge of the main root of the tree of worldly life. He cuts out a wedge from this main root and puts some medicine in it. This is all that the Gnani Purush does; he does not do anything else. He does not mess with the leaves, the branches, the trunk or the roots. He just puts some medicine in the main root after which the tree of worldly life slowly begins to dry up. After this, it will not sprout any new leaves.
This worldly life is not to be lived callously; it has to be
