DOUBTING THE DOUBT WITH INTENSE FAITH
Nana Saheb Chandorkar was convinced more than ever that Baba was God omnipresent, merciful and omnipotent, for he had the power to bring water under a rock and a man to show it just at the exactpsychological moment. This conclusion of his might perhaps appear to be too weak for a logician versed in inductive logic to accept. `An individual instance does not prove a rule and guarantee the validity of a universal proposition is what the logic a world would remark. But Nana was not pestered by doubts of Tarka sastra or logic.
In the circumstances of Nana, there could be no room for doubting that Baba did respond to his very thought, which was an appeal for aid; and did provide him with the water which was a necessity to savehis life at that perilous juncture. His faith was confirmed and grew stronger and stronger. The unfortunate fact about most of us is that as most educated minds are fed on the Cartesian principle of doubting everything, the logician's axiom about insufficiency of individual cases to prove universal propositions and other similar doubts crop up over and over again. When 150 experiences of Baba's help had been derived by a man, on the occurrence of the 151st case of help, even a well known devotee asked himself the question, `Is this Chance or is this Baba's help?' This wretched idea of `chance helping' does noteasily leave us.
Luckily most of us by Baba's favour have some grounding in faith, and we gradually shake off the tendency to go on doubting and doubting for ever. Except for that, we would become `Samscyatmas', that is, persons in whose nature, doubt become a fixed trait, a part of their second nature. The Gita (BG IV 40) says, Samscyatma Vinascyati, that is, `The man who goes on doubting and doubting ad infinitum will perish' . Perish does not necessarily mean `die', so far as the physical body is concerned. He is dead already whose faith is dead. A man that has no faith is a breathing corpse. Even in ordinary worldly matters, we find what an important part is played by our ability to believe what is reported to us. If in a new place before reaching the railway station, we have to ask for the road to the station at half a dozen places and answers are given, if at each answer we think that the answer may be false and hesitate, we should never reach the station in time to catch our train. This is the meaning of Samscyatma Vinascyati. Luckily in the case of Nana, far from his being a `samscyatma', he was a Shraddhatma.
Shraddhavan Labhate Jnanam
Tatparah Samyata Indriyah
Jannam Labdhva – param scantim
Achirena adhigachchati. (BG IV-39)
This means, `The man of faith obtains knowledge and wisdom. Being a person who controls his senses and thereby effectively fixes his mind on that Jnana, treating it as the goal of his life, he obtains Jnana;and having obtained it he soon reaches Scanti, Supreme Peace. This has an obvious application to Nana's case, and Nana, with very little of doubting nature, advanced in the strength of his faith, obtainedmore and more of wisdom (Jnana) by the grace of Baba, and was progressing rapidly towards that Scanti or Peace, which is the goal of all spiritual life and endeavour.
Courtesy: HH Pujyasri B. V. Narasimha Swamiji
Nana Saheb Chandorkar was convinced more than ever that Baba was God omnipresent, merciful and omnipotent, for he had the power to bring water under a rock and a man to show it just at the exactpsychological moment. This conclusion of his might perhaps appear to be too weak for a logician versed in inductive logic to accept. `An individual instance does not prove a rule and guarantee the validity of a universal proposition is what the logic a world would remark. But Nana was not pestered by doubts of Tarka sastra or logic.
In the circumstances of Nana, there could be no room for doubting that Baba did respond to his very thought, which was an appeal for aid; and did provide him with the water which was a necessity to savehis life at that perilous juncture. His faith was confirmed and grew stronger and stronger. The unfortunate fact about most of us is that as most educated minds are fed on the Cartesian principle of doubting everything, the logician's axiom about insufficiency of individual cases to prove universal propositions and other similar doubts crop up over and over again. When 150 experiences of Baba's help had been derived by a man, on the occurrence of the 151st case of help, even a well known devotee asked himself the question, `Is this Chance or is this Baba's help?' This wretched idea of `chance helping' does noteasily leave us.
Luckily most of us by Baba's favour have some grounding in faith, and we gradually shake off the tendency to go on doubting and doubting for ever. Except for that, we would become `Samscyatmas', that is, persons in whose nature, doubt become a fixed trait, a part of their second nature. The Gita (BG IV 40) says, Samscyatma Vinascyati, that is, `The man who goes on doubting and doubting ad infinitum will perish' . Perish does not necessarily mean `die', so far as the physical body is concerned. He is dead already whose faith is dead. A man that has no faith is a breathing corpse. Even in ordinary worldly matters, we find what an important part is played by our ability to believe what is reported to us. If in a new place before reaching the railway station, we have to ask for the road to the station at half a dozen places and answers are given, if at each answer we think that the answer may be false and hesitate, we should never reach the station in time to catch our train. This is the meaning of Samscyatma Vinascyati. Luckily in the case of Nana, far from his being a `samscyatma', he was a Shraddhatma.
Shraddhavan Labhate Jnanam
Tatparah Samyata Indriyah
Jannam Labdhva – param scantim
Achirena adhigachchati. (BG IV-39)
This means, `The man of faith obtains knowledge and wisdom. Being a person who controls his senses and thereby effectively fixes his mind on that Jnana, treating it as the goal of his life, he obtains Jnana;and having obtained it he soon reaches Scanti, Supreme Peace. This has an obvious application to Nana's case, and Nana, with very little of doubting nature, advanced in the strength of his faith, obtainedmore and more of wisdom (Jnana) by the grace of Baba, and was progressing rapidly towards that Scanti or Peace, which is the goal of all spiritual life and endeavour.
Courtesy: HH Pujyasri B. V. Narasimha Swamiji
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