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   Try to shape and see and experience yourself as a person who has courage as well as illumined wisdom, who is humble, whose character has the fragrance of tapa, and who has the capacity for ceaseless striving for self-growth.

Madhu vata —tayate madhu kranti sindhavah
Madhvirnah santvoniadhih.      

      - Yajurveda  13/27

Meaning: Following the cosmic order, the winds blow soothingly and the rivers flow with nectarine waters.  May the herbs be sweet for us.

Honey-sweet Vasant (spring) has once again come to our homes and lives with its full zest and vibrancy.  It has brought on its wings the invigorating message of jivana sadhana, the same message as had come to our revered gurusatta (spiritual guide) Param Poojya Gurudev on the Vasant Parva in 1926.  This time, too, the air is permeated with the same fragrance, the horizon has the same glow, the nature is suffused with the same exuberant surge of vital energy.  In 1926, the Vasant-time message in the life of Gurudev had been brought by his own spiritual guru.  This time the celestial tunes of this message have been composed for us by the transcendent consciousness of our Gurudev.

The advent of this Vasant is a time of test for us.  On this auspicious and festive occasion, are we as wakeful and alert as was our revered Gurudev, who in his very first meeting with his guru surrendered himself completely to him and became a sadhaka of jivana sadhana?  As a sadhaka and a disciple, every dimension of the life of Gurudev is a source of inspiration – to be read, contemplated upon and followed.  From the very first instant of his jivana sadhana, words of the guru became Vedic dicta and unflinching faith in the guru, his whole identity.  In every aspect of sadhana – be it dietary rules, or refinement of conduct and thoughts, or the awe-inspiring tapa – the standards set by him are milestones for us.

Can we, his spiritual progeny, surrender ourselves completely to the sadguru?  Do we possess the courage to be true disciples?  Are we earnest to overcome fully our stultifying lethargy; and the unyielding ego which fumes and frets at the drop of a hat?  Those aspiring to tread this path should judge themselves on this Vasant Parva in the light of Gurudev's life of a sadhaka.  This is the touchstone of their sadhana and of the sincerity of their discipleship.

It is generally observed that on the one hand we talk endlessly of jivana sadhana and take pride in our discipleship, and on the other, are ever ready to plunge into a do or die situation for some small benefit or satisfaction of the ego.  Annihilate if we must, our selfishness, our egoity, our conceit.  A true disciple's identity is non-distinct from his guru's.  Only the gross body is his own; the inner consciousness is that of his sadguru.  This is possible only when the merry journey of life is steeled with the hot embers of tapa, the flames growing bigger and higher with every advance of the step.  The sadhaka's life of Gurudev is its best example.

When did he crave for respect and honour?  When did he bother for his identity?  When did his ego obstruct his path?  He had but only one passion – the task assigned to him by his guru.  An intense and fervent desire to dissolve himself fully in this task was his only identity.  Every second of his life, every day, month and year of it, send out only this message.  It is this ardour which elevated him to the pinnacle of sadhana.  If supra-sensory powers are to be given recognition as visible proofs, it can be positively said Gurudev accomplished rarest of the wonders in the course of his jivana sadhana.  He not only acquired the spiritual glories and powers scarcely within the reach of even mahayogis, but also liberally transmitted them to some worthy recipients.

As a mahasiddha (great mystic), the life of Gurudev is as much a saga of heroic endeavor, rigorous austerities and supreme sacrifice, as it is of compassion, paternal love, kindheartedness and extraordinary generosity for his followers.  If we can attentively perceive, this bounty is available to us even now.  Only his gross body has gone, his transcendent consciousness still pervades every pore of our beings.  He exists just around us.  We have only to open our hearts, and then we will realize how eager he is to shower his innumerable heavenly gifts on us.

Even at this moment, through these words, he wants to mingle his voice with our emotions, something like what he had said on one occasion: "Try to shape and see and experience yourself as a person who has courage as well as illumined wisdom, who is humble, whose character has the fragrance of tapa, and who has the capacity for ceaseless striving for self-growth.  If he occasionally stumbles, or is faced with a failure, he is not perturbed or loses his patience, but resumes his journey on the sadhana path with renewed vigor and courage, because he knows that the setback is temporary, failure is transitory; at the end success is certain.  You and only you have a right over the ultimate and supreme accomplishment of jivana sadhana.  This is inevitable.  No one can alter this verity in any circumstances, because the responsibility of taking you to that pinnacle is mine".  These words of Gurudev, are a source of unlimited energy and courage for us, his followers, on this Vasant Parva.  So, no more delay or prevarication; with him in mind, step ahead for jivana sadhana now, this moment.
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A student asked his teacher: "Who are the two angels who nurture life"?  "Heart and tongue", was the reply.  The next question was: "Who are the two demons who destroy life"?  "Heart and tongue", was the reply again.
The cruelty and tenderness of heart makes a person mean or great respectively.  Non-control over tongue leads to loss of health and friendship.  Sweet and amiable speech, on the other hand, begets ample love and affection of the multitudes.
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