| Discourses On Gita By Acharya Vinoba Bhave |
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| Discourses On Gita |
| ACHIEVING THE GOAL - THE YOGA OF CONSTANCY |
| I
am fond of this example. I used to see this every day when I was a
child. If you collect all the water used in twenty-four hours, you
might perhaps get two buckets. Why not pour the two bucketfuls all
at once on Siva's head? I got the answer to this even as a child. If
we overturn the bucket in one breath, the karma would not bear
fruit. The flow of the water drop by drop is worship. The flow of
our samskaras should be even and perpetual, like this water of
worship. In the morning, at noon and again in the evening, by day
and by night, the same yesterday, today and tomorrow; the same this
year and the next, so too in janma after janma (birth after birth),
the same in life as in death, the divine stream of samskara made up
of little drops of action, should flow uninterruptedly, all through
one's life.
It is only when this stream flows unbroken, that we can reach our goal and plant there the flag of victory. And this stream of samskara should flow steadily in the direction. Otherwise it would be like water falling on a rock, and scattered in many directions, without ever forming a river. On the contrary if all the water runs in one direction it becomes a stream and gathering force as it goes down the mountains, it becomes a mighty river like the Ganga, and mixes with the sea. The stream that runs in one direction reaches the sea, but the water that is scattered in many directions soon dries up. The same is true of samskaras. If they come and go, of what use are they? It is only when the pure stream of samskaras flows unbroken through life that the death that comes at its end will appear as a bringer of bliss. The traveler who does not stop on the way, escapes the delusions and temptations that beset him, and walk with firm steps up the steep ascent, and reaches the mountain-top, and there throws down the burden on his back, and enjoys the free air that blows there who but he can experience such joy? But the sun will not stay for the traveler that dallies by the way. |
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