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I am the Soul
Sometime back I happened to notice a reader's letter in the columns of ‘Prajamar'. His question was - "Of late the name of Moraribapu has become a rage in India and abroad. He renders Ramayana in a unique and wonderful style. The audience listens to him spellbound and with rapt attention. Not thousands but lakhs of people gather to hear him, leaving aside their work and business. In spite of all this, how many of the audience have improved their life? What an effort on Bapu's part! He speaks non-stop for six hours every day. He takes the audience on a journey through the emotions and the audience gets engrossed in them. He immerses them into practically all the emotions - laughter, pity, valour, detachment. Why! He manages to place a list of all the sins within, in your hands. Yet why is that people do not improve? Well, perhaps a few 50 or 100 people may have turned a new leaf but the rest all are just the same. Why don't they improve?" I do not know what reply that reader got to this question of his, but Srimadji has told us why this is so -
अहंभावथी रहित नहि. स्वधर्म संचय नाहीं: Freit fagfe facut, 3RT .....
Why don't we improve? There is the ego lying within. A man says - “I admit what you say is right. I accept that you have managed to show me a true picture of my attitude. I admit I am as I am. But if I were to follow what you say and bring about a change in myself, would I not be called a washout? I let go of my habits just because you tell me? How can that be? How very useful are all these activities in feeding my beliefs! My ego alone gets me the respect amongst the councils, why should I give it up? Of course, once I let go of my ego, other attitudes are bound to go away, but then what will be my worth? It is like taking the venom out of the snakes fangs. Once you take the venom out of the snake, it is not very different from a worm. I do not want to be so. Ego may very well be like venom, but I shall store it."
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