THE CULMINATION OF DEVOTION

official source: A'nanda Vacana'mrtam Part 1

cross-references: none

this version: is the printed A'nanda Vacana'mrtam Part 1, 2nd edition, version 
	(spelling mistakes only may have been corrected). I.e., this is the most 
	up-to-date version as of the present Electronic Edition.

	The idea that 'I am at His disposal and that He does His work, I am just a tool in His hands' is known as 'prapatti.' Its derivation is as follows: 'Pra'--'pat' + 'ktin'= 'Prapatti.'

	A practitioner of 'Prapatti' does not consider sorrow as sorrow, joy as joy, but accepts sorrow and joy with equanimity.

	The feeling is just the reverse in 'viprapatti.' In viprapatti, one feels that it is 'I' who does everything--and no one else. As a result of this, one becomes crude.

	In 'prapatti', the idea that 'everything is being done by His wish, that it is by His grace that He is using me as a tool, that He may or may not use me as a tool, but 'His will be done', predominates on one's mind. To get the full joy of prapatti, one has to surrender completely unto Him.

	All Vaes'n'avism and Sufism depend on prapatti. A befitting expression of prapatti is found in the song:-

	Sakali toma'r iccha',
	Icca'mayii ta'ra' tumi,
	Toma'r karma tumi karo Ma',
	Loke bole kari a'mi.

	Paunke baddha karo karii
	Paungure laungha'o giri.
	Ka're da'o ma' Brahmapada
	Ka're karo adhoga'mii.

	A'mi yantra tumi yantrii
	A'mi ghar tumi gharan'ii
	A'mi ratha tumi rathii ma'
	Jemon ca'la'o temni cali.

	Everything is your wish,
	All wishes originate from you,
	You do all action,
	But people say, 'I do.'

	You get elephants caught in mud
	While enabling the lame to cross the mountain.
	To some you give moks'a,
	While you make others depraved.

	I am the machine,
	You are the mechanic,
	I am the house, You are the dweller,
	I am the chariot, You are the charioteer,
	And I move as You wish.

	From the spiritual standpoint, there is nothing but prapatti.

      To tell you in short, a believer or practitioner of Prapatii will never engage himself or herself in bad actions.

      Materialism is based on viprapatti; that is why there is sorrow everywhere in materialism and no one can be trusted in materialism.

      Prapattiva'diis say:-

      Man gariiber kii do's' a'che?
	Tumi ja'dugarer meye Shya'ma',
	Tumi jemon na'ca'o temni na'ci.

      What is the fault of the poor mind?
	O Shya'ma', Thou art the Supreme Magician.
	We simply dance according to your tune.

      They alone are entitled to speak about prapattiva'da who have developed complete surrender. Man should be clear, clean and conclusive. There should be no ambiguity in any sphere of life.

      Jiivankii dha'ra' saunkoc-vika'shii hae kintu jiivan siidha' hona' ca'hiye. Movement is always systaltic, but the moving entity must be straight.

      Na'ha'm manye suvedeti no na vedeti veda ca
	Yo nastadveda tadveda no na vedeti veda ca.

	I do not say that I know the Supreme Entity, I do not say that I do not know the Supreme Entity, because the Supreme Entity is beyond the scope of knowledge.

      The beginning point of prapattiva'da is 'I am, Thou art, and Thou art mine.' The culminating point of prapattiva'da is 'Thou art, O my Lord, Thou art.'

      In the absence of 'I am,' prapattiva'da cannot begin; that is why the presence of 'I am' is essential for prapattiva'da in the beginning; but in the end only 'Tvamasi, Tvam' Hi, Tvam' Hi' (Thou art--Thou, Thou.)

11 August 1978, Patna