Aptavani-2
283
you in this life are verily the entanglements that have been
created by you in the past life. Therefore, do not look at
disagreeable circumstances as disagreeable, make them agreeable
before they leave and that way you will not have to face
disagreeable circumstances in your next life.
People tell you, “You are Shantaben; you are a mother in-
law to this person. You are this person’s mother” and you have
accepted and believed everything they tell you and you have
become the role they impose upon you! A person will even
forget his own name if he were to think too much, in the same
manner if you become besieged with circumstances, you will
forget the Self; this is called worldly life. In this, the only
agreement that you have signed is of ignorance and the only
thing that you have nurtured is ignorance. That is why ignorance
prevails and proliferates.
People say, “He is a son-in-law to so and so and a father-
in-law to so and so…” You ask him, “Hey! How can you say
you are a son-in-law?” and he replies, “I got married.” To enjoy
and taking a beating is called a marriage. Marriage is an
agreement of one lifetime, but one thinks it is forever. And the
prize for this is endless beatings in just one lifetime. And it is all
because the Lord within has lost his awareness and that is why
this worldly life has perpetuated.
The opinion, ‘This circumstance is good’ and ‘This
circumstance is bad’ is the reason the worldly life perpetuates.
If one understands and says, ‘All circumstances entail suffering’,
then he has begun his journey to liberation. This verily is the
science of the vitarag Lords. Lord Mahavir was such a great
scientist. The Vitarag Lords knew that the world has come
about simply because of circumstances. People turned them into
agreeable and disagreeable circumstances and created raag and
dwesh towards them, whereas the Lord made them both
disagreeable and became liberated.