' The Jiva '...

"The JIVA [individual self] has been doing its work for many births. Its tendency to work exists since times immemorial. Therefore, if the work is just started with a little cooperation of the mind, it will continue to go on just like a railroad car way in the back of the line if it is just jerked and pushed by the engine.

"It is necessary to bifurcate the work of the mind into main and secondary. Thinking of God (PARAMATMAN) should be considered as main and giving a little cooperation to carrying on worldly activities (VYAVAHARA) as secondary.

"Apply your body and wealth mainly, and your mind secondarily, to run the VYAVAHARA.

When the mind is mainly engaged in thinking of God, you shall receive His grace. God is all-powerful (SARVA SHAKTIMAN). Even a little of His grace is capable of bestowing on the JIVA all that is good in its entirety.

"The declaration of the Lord that is proved by the Vedic Scriptures is this: 'WHOSOEVER THINKS OF ME WITH ONE-POINTED DEVOTION, I SHALL CONDUCT HIS NECESSARY VYAVAHARA ALSO.' The experience of the Bhaktas also goes to prove this declaration of the Lord.

"Accumulate wealth (ARTHA) but in such a way that it is not against ultimate good (PARAMARTHA). That which hinders PARAMARTHA and results in accumulation of sin is not wealth (ARTHA) but the negation of wealth (ANARTHA).

"As is the cloth so is the price. For carrying on the short-lived activities of VYAVAHARA, employ your short-lived body and wealth. Mind is a permanent thing which remains with you always. Even in the other world, it will continue to stay with you. Therefore, connect it with a permanent thing. God, being the eternal existence both in animate and inanimate things, is the only permanent thing of the highest order. Connect your mind with Him."




-Swami Brahmananda Saraswati (1869 - 1953)
in Dr. Raj R. P. Varma
Strange Facts About A Great Saint: His Divinity Swami Brahmananda Saraswati Maharaj,
Jagad Guru Shankaracharya Of Jyotirmath, Badarikashram, Himalayas
(self-published)
Excerpt from a lecture of Swami Brahmananda appended to the text