Page 92 - Kailaspati: Paramhans Hansdevji Avadhoot

“how will this come-and-go discontinue?” we asked.
“if uprooted, then it will come to a stop. Just as the grass, if uprooted in full, does not grow, human beings, if detached from desires, will not be reborn,” replied he.
“how to be detached from desires?” we asked.
“it is only by means of study and knowledge of Brahma one can detach himself from desires. By means of this habit, the soul will be all the more pure and holy, and the seed of desires, sans (without) water, will dry and meet with death. if the soul is made pure and holy, the light of knowledge will shine. With the rise of light, man will shake off his duties and thus his desires will die a natural death,” said he in reply.
Once our Baba said, “a hermit had a cow in his hermitage. so he had a rope to tether to a peg. One night a piece of that rope fell on the floor of the cowshed. One of his disciples, in the faint light therein, took it to be a snake. he got scared and shouted out, telling his Guru that a snake had slithered into the cowshed. The Guru was at that time in a cottage nearby. said he, “Nothing to fear, chant the name of Badrinarayanji.” The disciple did the same, but the snake did not go away. The disciple then said, “it is not going.” The hermit said, “Chant in the name of Jagannathji.” The disciple did so, but the snake (i.e., the rope) remained still. The hermit said, “Chant in the name of all gods and goddesses.” The disciple chanted in the name of every god and goddess but there was no sign of the movement of the snake. The hermit then said to him, “Pray to the snake-God with five types of offerings.” The disciple then prayed to the snake-God with flowers and sandal-paste, but all in vain. The snake did not vanish. Concerned, the hermit got up and went to the cowshed and he too, in the faint light within, saw a snake lying by the side of the cow. he then asked his disciple to fetch him a lamp. With that light, both of them saw it was all but a piece of rope. They then felt assured.
With these words, our Baba made us understand that ignorance can hardly be dispelled without light. The chanting of the names of Gods and Goddesses or offering prayer to them would help nothing to dispel ignorance. When, after a lot of endeavour and
70 Kailashpati