Kramic And Akram Paths

Dadashri: Of course, inner intent (bhaav) is bound to arise, is it not? Wouldn’t you have to make the bhaav to get married? It is because of the bhaav from your previous life, that you have such desires now. Because you charged such a bhaav, this is what has come about. This is why inner intent is said to be purusharth and dravya (what comes into effect) is considered prarabdha. But people take this in their own language (interpret) by calling effect (dravya), a purusharth; while having no understanding whatsoever, of the bhaav (‘charge’) purusharth.

Here in the path of Akram, both effect (dravya) and cause (bhaav) have been classed as ‘discharge’. The Kramic path is dependent on cause (bhaav). In the Akram path, we have entered into our swabhav (the Self), which means that the others are in par-bhaav (nature of the non-Self). We have put cause (bhaav) aside, so that all that remains for you now is to settle all effects (dravya) with equanimity.

Questioner: So, one cannot consider it a purusharth until he knows the Self?
Dadashri: You cannot say that you are doing real purusharth. However, you can still do the illusory (bhrant) purusharth. If you have unity of mind, speech and body, then through the illusory purusharth a karmic seed will be sown. That is considered vyavahar (worldly) purusharth. A person says exactly what is on his mind, and acts according to what his mind and speech dictate. If he becomes involved in activity which is shubha (auspicious), he will benefit from his worldly purusharth. If he proceeds in this way, he will eventually meet with the right circumstances to allow him to attain the Self. That is why shubha has been praised. This illusory purusharth is considered one kind of purusharth. I will explain to you why this is called an illusory purusharth.

The Kramic path is such that if you tell someone to sit down and do chanting (japa), he would sit down to do japa. The chanting (japa) happens because of prarabdha, but it is the bhaav (subtlest inner intent) that occurs at the time, that sows the karmic seed for the next life, which is called purusharth.

Therefore, while experiencing the prarabdha, it gives rise to purusharth. While enjoying his prarabdha, the seed of purusharth is sown within. This is because he believes, ‘I am the doer’. Otherwise, you would not be sowing the seeds while going through prarabdha, and you would still attain moksha. But you still have the bhaav of doership which is why there is a great deal of emphasis placed on prarabdha and on kriya (rituals and actions). It is because behind that, the purusharth is occurring automatically.

The Kramic path today is fractured. If a person sits down to do religious chanting (japa), and while he is chanting, at the same time he is creating bhaav in his mind, thinking: ‘My father is useless, my father is useless... he bothers me; he provokes me.’ So, he has something different on his mind, he says something different, and his actions are different. What was Kramic path like until now? It was to do purusharth while going through the prarabdha. And what is the Akram path? Straight, direct purusharth! Through the grace of the Gnani Purush, You become Purush (the Self), and then the real purusharth arises. You attain complete awareness as the Self; and absolute light. Thereafter, You will never forget the Self, even for a second.

To be Continued…

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