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Aptavani-4
47
speech is broken, and that is why the differences between purusharth and prarabdha prove wrong. It is not completely wrong, but it is relative truth.
Questioner: I understand prarabdha, but I still do not understand purusharth properly.
Dadashri: Circumstances coming together is prarabdha, and to maintain equanimity when that circumstance is negative or painful, is called purusharth. Whatever circumstance arises, is all prarabdha. When you pass with a 'first class' grade, it is prarabdha. And when another person fails to get a 'first class', it is also prarabdha. From these words, recognize that any circumstance that you encounter is all prarabdha. Waking up in the morning is also a circumstance. If you wake up at seven thirty, then it is considered a circumstance of seven thirty. That is called prarabdha.
Questioner: If a man speaks negatively about me, right in front of me and I make an effort (purusharth) to maintain equanimity towards him is that really prarabdha or not?
Dadashri: What happens is that when a person encounters a negative circumstance, like an insult, he does not do purusharth there, but he instead returns the insults and displays expressions of disgust and all that. If someone insults you, and you perceive it as being the fruit of your own karma; the other person is just an instrument (nimit) and that he is faultless, then it can be considered the purusharth that follows the Lord's agna (special directive). Maintaining equanimity at that time is purusharth.
Questioner: For those that do not have the right vision of the Self (samyak darshan), is this the only purusharth for them?
Dadashri: Yes. For the people at large, that is purusharth. And what kind of purusharth is it? It is a ‘relative' purusharth. Because, in their worldly life (sansar) they have ‘relative' gnan.
