The Wisdom of Sharnānandjī Mahārāj

1. There is no word more beautiful than ‘My Lord’ (Hey Nāth) in our language.

2. Things are drawn to the earth; and the human being to the Infinite.

3. I regard to be free from evil as the greatest service of all.

4. The service of the creation is the service of the Lord of creation.

5. Service is such a subtle principle whose lightest burden should not on those served

6. Doing good to others results in one’s own good and improving oneself results in the

improvement of others.

7. When you “do” good, you serve the society; when you “be” good, you serve the whole

universe.

8. Everyone’s present condition contributes to their progress—whether the present condition

is sorrowful or joyful.

9. When the spiritual aspirant, by using discriminative intellect, realizes the essential nature of

the body, then the reality and attractiveness of the body vanishes. With this realization, the

desire or craving comes to an end.

10. Only he who does not want anything can “love.” And only he who does not want anything

can be “free.”

11. It has been my experience so far that our true spiritual welfare obtains when what we want

does not happen. Whenever I have followed my willful will, it has always resulted in

downfall.

12. If things happen against our will, then the spiritual aspirant should understand that now

God is fulfilling His heart’s desire.

13. He, who has become detached (or desireless) and he who has attained steady abidance in

the self (ātam-rati), has nothing left here to accomplish.

14. By not regarding oneself as the body, all cravings come to an end; and with the ending of

the cravings, the bondage of joy and sorrow ends and one attains to the everlasting peace.

15. If you breathe your last while the desires still remain, it is called “death;” if you become

desire-free before death, it called Liberation (“mukti”).

16. The true meaning of “knowing” is this: That you have properly understood that, in reality,

in this whole vast world, nothing is verily mine, and that I do not need anything.

17. Doing work and directing your mind towards God is not as good as doing work and

considering it as God’s work.

18. We cannot do good or bad to someone else until first making ourselves good or bad.

19. ‘Attachment’ is born the moment one entertains the expectation for pleasure. ‘Aversion’ is

born the moment one considers the other to be the cause of their sorrows. Attachment

(rāga) ends through renunciation (tyāga) and aversion (dvēs ̣a) ends through love (prem).

20. Upon the strengthening of the vital breath force (prān-shakti), every disease gets destroyed

automatically. The vital breath current gets strengthened by cheerfulness and fearlessness

of the heart. For this, the refuge in the Lord and the repose are two unfailing methods.

21. Thinking is applied to that which is within the range of the intellect, is limited, and is

subject to change. That which is eternal, infinite, and limitless is the domain of faith.

22. The mutual unity [of a society] cannot be preserved by focusing on one’s own virtues and

the faults of others.

23. There is no fault like prying into the faults of others.

24. Renunciation (tyāga) is the duty of one who is unhappy and service (sevā) is the duty of the

one who is happy.

25. As long as, willy-nilly, we keep on fulfilling only our own heart’s desire, till then we will

not be steadfast in fulfilling our duties. In order to be steadfast in discharging our duties,

we have to relinquish our rights while protecting the rights of others.

26. The last offering at the altar of love is the surrender of “I” and “mine.”

27. The pain involved in death is due to the reason that we have to die while we want to live.

28. There is no harm in becoming desireless because, after the fulfillment of the desire, one

returns to the same state that was before the fulfillment of the desire. This then proves the

futility of the very effort to fulfill the desire.

29. It is a law that he who is guilty in his own eyes expects to be called faultless by others.

30. One knows the untruth; one realizes the Truth.

31. The [real] ‘knowing’ means when you have properly understood that, in reality, in this

whole wide world, there is nothing that is indeed mine and that I do not need anything.

32. The culmination of Knowledge in the form of spiritual practice lies in [Divine] Love; the

culmination of Devotion (Bhakti) in the form of spiritual practice lies in Realization of the

Self (svarūpa kā sākshātkāra).

33. After self-realization, there remains nothing apart from one’s self; then who should talk

about what?

34. The question is not that we should renounce the body and the world; rather the question

is—that our relationship with the body and the world comes to an end.
35. You will become poor internally to the extent you accumulate externally. If one comes to

know the proper use of wealth, one will not be able to hoard it. Donation is only a tax for

hoarding.

36. The best service, to ourselves and to others, is that we regard no one as bad.

37. We devote our full energy in eating the food; but for the discovery of truth, we want to find

out an easy method, a convenient way!

38. God’ name, God’s work, God’s meditation carry equal value.

39. God is in us, God is now, and God is ours—with this conviction, you will be able to attain

God.

40. The proper use of the pleasure or happiness is ‘service;’ and the proper use of the sorrow is

‘sacrifice.’

41. One cannot advance on the path of spiritual practice without giving up attachment and

desire.

42. God’s worship or contemplation that is undertaken to fulfill desire brings estrangement

(vimukhatā) of God upon the fulfillment or non-fulfillment of desire.

43. There is no such pleasure which does not originate in some pain; and there is no such

pleasure which does not end in pain.

44. “I” is the assemblage of desire (kāmnā) and the desire to know (jijñāsā). On this side of “I”

is the world and on the other side, whatever is, is That (the Absolute, the Immutable).

45. With the understanding that “Nothing is mine” comes (the realization that) “I do not need

anything.” When I do not need anything, then no-thing like the “ego” will be left.

46. We engage in the enjoyment of the sense pleasures by choice; we have to bear the pain,

helplessly.
47. The real service can be rendered only when there is no sense of mine in the means with

which the service is performed; nor is there any sense of mine in those who are served.

48. My life’s final conclusion based on my experience is that we all can attain spiritual

perfection (siddhi) without any effort, without needing anything, and without any

companion.

49. God does not want to take away the human being’s freedom; therefore, until the human

being turns towards God on its own, God verily remains in the background.

50. Live by faith in God; this is Divine service. Live by being free from vice; this is world-

service. Live selflessly; this is the service of the self.

51. Do no evil; expect no reward for good deeds; accept the Lord in yourself by regarding Him

as your own.

52. He who becomes free from evil in thought, speech, and deed—and he who does not expect

any reward for good deeds—such a person is liberated.

53. Do not look towards anyone and anything for your happiness; this alone is the ‘liberation.’

54. These three things can solve all the problems of life: 1) I do not need anything; 2) God is

mine; and 3) Everything belongs to God. This is the truth of life. By accepting this truth,

one attains generosity, freedom, and love.

55. He who has nothing and he who does not need anything—he alone can accept the Lord as

his own and he alone attains the true [Divine] love.

56. There is no entry in the kingdom of love without the annihilation of the sense of ‘I” and

‘mine.’

57. Only he can give love who does not need anything and who does not have anything as his

own. And only He who has everything can be happy with love alone.
58. If you are able to experience that ‘nothing is mine and that I do not need anything’—then

you are liberated.

59. Devotion is higher than even peace and liberation. In the eyes of the devotee, there is no

reality apart from God. He thinks—today, my heart’s wish did not happen; that means

God’s will prevailed. There is no place for fear and worry in the life of a devotee.

60. There are no others; there are no outsiders. From the standpoint of Reality-Absolute, there

are no others. From the standpoint of practical conduct, there are no outsiders.

61. The plant of sorrow grows from the seed of pleasure. To crave for pleasure, therefore, is to

invoke pain.

62. The true, one-pointed devotion (annanya Bhakti) is this: Withdrawing oneself from all

directions and experiencing one’s object of Love in one’s own self.

63. The supreme penance (tapa) is this: To bear happily the difficulties encountered on the way

to carrying out one’s own natural duties (svadharma).

64. Put an end to all those volitions (saṇkalpas) which cannot be revealed fearlessly before the

general public.

65. Purify your heart by contemplating on Reality (tattav-vichār) and by feeling the pangs of

separation from your object of Love (prem-pātra ki vireha).

66. Contemplating about virtue is a greater virtue than virtue itself since by contemplation one

attains steadfastness in virtue.

67. Cultivate the habit of contemplation of God (Bhagavad-chintan) to eradicate contemplation

of sense-objects (visheya-chintan).
68. O’Lord! Fill this heart with your dearness. Make this body steadfast in the service of the

sorrowful. Make my intellect graced with discriminative wisdom. Make me a beautiful

flower in the garden of your creation. May I always long for Thy Grace!”

69. All is of the Lord; all is verily of the Lord, and the Lord is all there is. Keep this in mind

while rendering service. With this sentiment, service of anyone will be the service of the

Lord. This is the master key.

70. May the body be of service to the world; may the ego be free from the pride; and may the

heart be saturated with the Divine Love.

71. Every object of the transient world is continuously burning in the fire of Time. Therefore,

in the present time itself, one should, by making efforts appropriate to one’s competence,

try to become one with one’s object of Love (prem-pātra).

Five things that can lead to Liberation (Mukti)

1. Nothing is mine.

2. I do not need anything.

3. I do not need to do anything. (Param-vishrām)

4. God is all there is.

5. Only God is mine. (Hari-āshreyey)

~From Various Pravachans of Swāmījī

There is no other.
There is no outsider.

Accept the Lord in yourself

—as your very own.
 Noting is mine.
I do not need anything.
I am nothing.

All is of the Lord.

All is verily of the Lord.
The Lord is all there is.

Serve the world; Know Thyself; Love the Lord.