30
Aptavani-5
That Which Comes in Memory Is Parigraha
There is no problem with eating snacks but it should not
become a habit. You should have enough awareness that the
Self does not get dragged into it. If it does, then do
pratikraman. What drags you when you are eating?
Questioner: The spicy flavour.
Dadashri: Do you think about it afterwards?
Questioner: No.
Dadashri: Then it is not considered eating. It is
parigraha (take you away from the Self) if it comes in your
memory and it is not parigraha if it does not. If you forget to
make an entry in your ledger of accounts, you will keep
remembering what needs to be done. Like a fly your mind will
hover around that. That is parigraha.
The presence of ‘Dada’ in memory is such that it will
make you forget everything. It will easily make you forget
parigraha!
Questioner: Ordinarily nothing comes to mind but when
it does and it lasts for a few hours, is that considered
parigraha?
Dadashri: Yes, of course! Anything that takes you away
from the Self is parigraha. It is the graha (prejudice) that has
possessed you; you have become possessed by the ghost of
parigraha. That is why you forget the Self. For that duration of
time, for an hour or two, you lose awareness (jagruti) of the
Self. Some people lose it for up to twelve hours. And for those
who have not received Gnan; it carries on. The whole day long
someone else’s farm gets watered; one does nothing for the
Self. The water pump is his, the engine is his, the water is his,
the fuel is his, everything is his and yet the water goes into
someone else’s farm. After attaining knowledge of the Self, all