464 Aptavani-2
the Self. The slightest impurity will not work for moksha. It is not considered‘ gold’. The Lord has said,“ Even two percent impurity is not gold; we need absolutely pure gold. Any other kind of gold will not work here.” We need to attain the criteria laid down by the vitarag Lords. We need pure awareness( shuddha upayog), 99 % will not do; it has to be 100 %.
Vitarag means to be truly shrewd
Vitarags are not so naïve. Others may be but there is no one as astute as the vitarag. They are truly very astute. What did the intellects of the world call them? They used to call them very naïve. Friends of the vitarags used to say,“ They( vitarags) are naïve. They are fools.” The fools! It is you, your friends and families who are fools. The vitarags are so smart that no one can make fools out of them. They cannot be derailed from their path. They may let themselves be fooled deliberately to stay on course. They will take the approach of,“ If I do not let myself be fooled, they will not let me go on my path.” So people think they are naïve. They are not naïve; they are very astute and wise. There is no one smarter in this world than the one who allows himself to be fooled deliberately. Those who did so went on to become vitarags. Therefore, anyone who wants to be vitarag should deliberately allow himself to be fooled by others. As it is, the world is being fooled unknowingly anyway. All these ascetics, saints and such are being fooled all the time, only vitarags get fooled deliberately.
The vitarags, from a very young age, would allow people to fool them from every direction, and yet they would not let the other person know that they know that they have been fooled, otherwise he would see it in their eyes. They were smart; they would not let you read their eyes. They had knowledge of,‘ these poor people deal on the pudgal level so let them take away the pudgal; I have to give away the pudgal anyway. Let the one with the greed satisfy his greed; let the one seeking