Autobiograpy of Gyani Purush A M Patel

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

Page 20

28
Autobiography of Gnani Purursh
Autobiography of Gnani Purursh
exams? One cannot just fail without a reason!
There was an ice-cream shop at the station. I was staying at a nearby hostel and my brother remained at home. If I were to stay at home, I would not have the freedom to go out and enjoy myself. So, on the pretext of being able to study better for exams, I stayed in a hostel. In those days the food served in hostels was good and pure. So I ate well and enjoyed life. In the evenings some friends and I would get together at the ice-cream shop. We would sing film songs and eat ice cream. Other boys were also there to take exams, just like myself. I had no problem making friends because birds of the same feathers always flock together. I did not have to go out looking for such friends. So I failed my exams!
My father Muljibhai and elder brother Manibhai had conspired to make me a collector. One of my relatives was a collector and so they wanted me to become one too. I had overheard them talking about it. I thought that if I were to become a collector then I would also have a commissioner over me who would censure me and so I did not want to be a collector. I thought to myself that I have acquired this human birth with great difficulty and what would be the point of it if I were to acquire a superior over me? When I did not want any material things, why would I put up with someone who would boss over me? It may be acceptable to those who desire a materialistic lifestyle, but I was not for it. I would rather own a small paan (beetle leaf) shop than be censured under any circumstances. So I decided to fail my matriculation exams so that my brother and my father would stop entertaining the idea of me becoming a collector. That is why I was so lax about my schooling.
Questioner: So you planned to fail?
Dadashri: Yes, I did. I planned to fail. So I am a person who failed his matriculation. People ask me about my academic achievement when I use words and statements like: scientific circumstantial evidences, or The world is the puzzle itself; there are two view points... etc.' People think I must have been at least a college graduate. I tell them there is not much joy in divulging my qualifications and when they insist, I would tell them, 'I am a metric-fail person!'.
When I failed, my brother told me, 'You do not know anything. I replied, "My brain is not working.' He asked me, *How come before you were learning so well?' I replied, "That it may be but now my brain does not function.' So he asked me, 'Would you like to join our business?' I told him I didn't know how to work the business but I would do what they told me to. After a year and half in the business, my brother was impressed with what I had done. I developed an interest in that business and learned how to make money.
They wanted me to be a collector but when they realized that I had gone off on the wrong track, they decided it was better to get me involved in the family business. Then I knew that my fortune had turned. My stars, which were unfavorable, had changed. I learned the business very quickly and at the same time I could even go out and enjoy myself. This meant I could eat in hotels and have tea and bhajias without restrictions. The business was a business of contracts, and was full of corruption and politics.
Awareness Even When Getting Married
I was sixteen years old when my marriage was decided. My bride Hira was fourteen years old. On my wedding day I was wearing a new turban; it became displaced from the weight