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[25] Understanding the Principles of Pratikraman
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Pratikraman
Dadashri: The ego is present until the end, but it does decrease.
Questioner: In the Kramic path, the ego decreases gradually. Here it has become separate from day one, and the state one experiences due to that is the superiority (visheshata) of Akram Vignan.
Dadashri: That is why one has to do pratikraman in Akram. One has attained Gnan at an untimely state (one's spiritual state is not ready).
The Greatest Tool to Attain Moksha
Questioner: If one wants to go to the terrace, the stairs are the only tool to get there. Similarly, if one wants to go to moksha, after attaining this Gnan, pratikraman is the only tool to do so. That is what I believe.
Dadashri: No, not like that. Pratikraman is one of many other tools available. Knowledge of the Self (swaroop gnan) is the only vehicle or tool for attaining moksha; there is no other.
Questioner: Yes, you have given us that Gnan but after that, is pratikraman not the main tool?
Dadashri: Some people do not have to do any pratikraman.
Questioner: But how can one do pratikraman without attaining Gnan?
Dadashri: People do that! They do pratikraman with the ego by saying, 'I will not do it again.' People are doing it anyway! And their life goes on too. Just as they do atikraman through the ego, they also do pratikraman through the ego. It is all a doing of the non-Self (pudgal); it is all a creation of the non-Self, there is no Self in it. Moksha Only through Pratikraman of the
Akram Path Questioner: But, Dada, this is one weapon with which one is going to attain moksha.
(488) Dadashri: That is one way. And this is Akram, so liberation (moksha) is its nature.
Questioner: That is true, but we will have to continue doing pratikraman and pratyakhyan, will we not?
Dadashri: You will have to do it. But even then, only those who can do it will do it. What about those who cannot? If a person cannot walk, I have to carry him on my back. So when they do it on their own, then the energy will arise within them and they will do prarikraman again. They are not so shameless that they will not do it at all. Those who have met Dada do have shame.
Questioner: Dada, please explain that in detail.
Questioner: If one does not make mistakes, then he does not have to do pratikraman.
Dadashri: For that reason, many people do not have to do pratikraman. Hence that tool is used by those who find it necessary to do so. The main thing is the Gnan. You can attain moksha if you have Gnan. But if you do not have Gnan, then no matter how many pratikramans you do, you will still remain in the worldly life.
Dadashri: For what I have to explain to you, I will tell you to do alochana, pratikraman and pratyakhyan; and you are to do all three. This is because you all have become free from such pain. For these other people (those who do not have Self-realization), they can never be free from pain. How is one to become free from pain in this era, Kaliyug?
