________________
302
I am the Soul
by name “Kaivalyabeej Shun?" there are several references to the serving at the feet of the Sadguru. He says -
बिन सद् गुरु कोय न भेद लहे जब सद् गरु चर्न सुप्रेम बसे
गरुदेवकी आन स्व - आत्म बसे How come the one who has sung such praises of a Gurudev does not have a guru himself? In this present life, he never served at the feet of a Guru. Then how did he understand the true necessity of a Guru?
This question is quite natural. An alert jiva is bound to come up with this doubt. But the answer too is available from his very life. The influence on the soul with which he was born, had begun to show in his very childhood. The fierce turmoil that awakened within him about the principle of Atma at a mere age of seven, and the awakening of the feeling of Self without anybody's direct inspiration, indicate that Srimadji had earlier, in his previous births, made an unparalleled tremendous effort to attain that influence. Such a wonderful flowering of the Selfwithout any apparent reason, would be impossible without a strong previous influence. That means, not in the present but somewhere in the past he has served the Sadguru with an unwavering faith and become eligible for the Guru's grace which granted him the capability that lasts over several births. Not just this, Srimadji may not have accepted any one great person as Guru, but has on several occasions saluted them with the devoted feelings towards great satpurushas. In his letters, he has saluted the Satpurushas at many places. It means his soul was always dedicated at the feet of the Satpurushas.
The great sage Ramana Maharshi, of this age, who always used to be immersed in the bliss of his soul, had never found a Guru. The experience of the soul that occurred to him at a young age was so deep that he never came out of it. After the Self realisation that occurred without any effort, that state was growing with every passing day. It was not necessary to make effort even for that growing state. Somebody once asked of him, “The age-old tradition of the
Jain Educationa International
For Personal and Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
