Aptavani-2
395
ruin the word panchmahavratdhari through this wrong belief.”
Instead you may say, ‘I have renounced possessions (I am
parigraha tyagi) and I am in the process of learning to renounce
further.’ That is not regarded a vow (vrat). The mahavrat of
parigraha (the supreme vow of non-possession), is a very high
state indeed. ‘Dada’ is free from all possessions; non-
acquisitiveness (aparigrahi); He is completely aparigrahi. He
does not have a single parigraha in his mind; not a single
parigraha occupies his awareness. He is not even aware of any
parigraha missing or present. Whereas these ascetics have only
four possessions; two items of clothing, a bowl for food, a
rosary and a pair of tongs. And if the bowl were to break, they
get very upset. Then you had better watch out! You are in
trouble. Or if one of their possessions is not found in its place,
they will demand, “Where did it go?” So they have that much
parigraha in them; it remains in their awareness. They have only
the four items in their possession and yet they remain in their
awareness. Whereas despite living amidst abundance of material
things, nothing remains in ‘our’ awareness, and that is why ‘we’
are considered aparigrahi. Our mahatmas have the awareness of
being the pure Soul. Therefore, they take possession and they
give their possession and yet they are considered aparigrahi.
This is because parigraha is not in their awareness. Their
awareness is that of being the pure Soul. One can have either
the awareness of the Pure Soul or the worldly life. One can have
only one or the other. That is the science.
Many people in the world do not steal overtly. However,
the Lord does not consider that as tyagi (renunciation) of the
vow of non-stealing. The Lord says, ‘That is your vow”; it is a
part of your being (vartey tey vrat). That in which one does not
have a feeling of ‘I-ness’, and where one does not feel, ‘I am
renouncing’ and that which is natural to one, then it is called vrat
(vow). Why is it that the Lord directed the anuvrats (minor
vows) for the Jains? Because even people in foreign countries