Samarth Ramdas

Samarth Ramdas

The last instructions of Ramdas to his disciples were: "Do not think much of your bodily wants. Have Satsang with devotees. Keep the image of Lord Rama in your heart. Repeat the name of Lord Rama always. Annihilate lust, greed, anger, hatred and egoism. See Lord Rama in all creatures. Love all. Feel His presence everywhere. Live for Him alone. Serve Him in all beings. Make total and unreserved surrender unto Him. You will always live in Him alone. You will attain immortality and eternal bliss".Chakradhar Swami

The philosophy of Shri Chakradhar Swami advocated the bhakti mode as well as an austere code of conduct. This influence the literature of Mahanubhavas. A work like Leela Charitra was composed by Mahimbhatta, a disciple of Shri Chakradhar Swami. He met a large number of people who had been in contact with Shri Chakradhar Swami, collected the reliable information about his deeds and verified it with Nagadevacharya and finally put it into a massive prose biographical text.Saint Dnyaneshwar

Dnyaneshwar says, let the people of the world be happy and let them do good deeds to make others happy. Dnyaneshwar says that while flowing streams provide water needed for life, the banyan tree provides shade and shelter from the sun's heat, without any expectations. Being good and doing good to others without evil thoughts or expectations of rewards, is the first step towards spiritual attainment.

Next, Dnyaneshwar requests God to remove ignorance from our lives and replace it with enlightenment and divine light to achieve our goal, to let everyone adhere to his swadharma or his own sacred duty towards others. If everyone sticks to swadharma there will be no conflict and happiness will prevail. Dnyaneshwar requests God to fulfil the genuine desires and aspirations of all. All pious persons who perform their duty without any expectations or returns, will ultimately desire to become one with the Supreme.Saint Eknath

The sayings of a man who practised what he preached must be of special interest to us:

Duty well performed purifies the mind, and qualifies one for Bhakti (Devotion). The Vedas should be followed as long as one has not risen above attachment and duality just as a watchman is needed to guard the fruits of a mango tree until the fruits are removed and then he can be dispensed with.

So when a man transcends body consciousness he is beyond the Vedic Order.

Through Love, says Saint Ekanth, the devotee can even become God. God and His devotees are akin to the ocean and its waves.

He also condemned unnecessary penance of the body while the mind remains steeped in worldliness.

To emaciate ones body with fasts and the like is not true penance. So long as evil passions persist in man, all external appliances are useless.Saint Tukaram

An individual should make God the center of his universe. Serving others and loving others is the best way through which we can find Him.

For the attainment of sadhana, an individual needs to have faith in his/her destiny.

It is not necessary to renounce the world and lead the life of an ascetic in order to be one with God. Spirituality does not require elaborate rituals.

Nama Japa (reciting the name of Lord) is the most important privilege of being a devotee.

Siddhis serve as impediments in the attainment of genuine sadhana (meditation).

Traditions prevent an individual from budding in the love of God. One has to sidestep the usual customs to achieve the same.Saint Namdev

Every thing is God; there is nothing but God; consider the world and God to be one; the foam and the water are not different.

it is impossible that the pursuit of God can be coupled with a life of Samsara. If it had been possible for a man to find God while he was pursuing Samsara, then Sanaka and others would not have grown mad after God. If it had been possible for him to see God while carrying on the duties of a householder, the great Suka would not have gone to the forest to seek God. Had it been possible for people to find God in their homes, they would not have left them to find out. Nam Dev has left all these things, and is approaching God in utter submission