Which is more important: studying the knowledge of the Sadguru or discussing with fellow-devotees?

[Reply to a question by Shri Kartik] Swami replied: Both are equally important. On studying the knowledge, no doubt might come to your mind immediately. But after discussing with fellow-devotees and after hearing some doubt raised by another devotee, you might also appreciate that doubt. Perhaps, that same doubt would have also arisen in your mind, but after a long time. It is possible that by that time, the Sadguru might have passed away. So, your doubt would never get answered. To avoid such a situation, whenever you have a doubt, you should approach the Sadguru and ask Him immediately for clarification. The first listening to the spiritual knowledge or studying it is called śravaṇaṃ and the second discussion with devotees is called satsaṅga.

The most important additional point is that you must record the doubts raised by you and the clarifications obtained from the Sadguru. These records will be useful for several other devotees, at present, as well as in the future. You might not be able to successfully practice the concept clarified by the Sadguru to you. But somebody elsewhere or somebody in the future might get benefited by it. In that case, you will get the fruit of doing that good work (puṇyam) and with the help of that fruit, you will be benefited. There should be no such human being, who fails to record the clarification from the Sadguru, unless the person wishes that whether he or she gets benefited or not, no one else should get benefited, at any cost!

Another benefit of recording the Sadguru’s clarifications of your doubts is that you might also forget the answer after a long time and you might develop the same doubt again. If the concept is properly recorded, it will be useful for you to remember too. In this way, the recording and the propagation of the spiritual knowledge of the Sadguru brings three benefits: (1) You will be benefited in the long run, by being reminded of the concept, in case you forget it. (2) Other devotees who could not contact the Sadguru will be benefited by reading the concept and (3) God will be pleased with you for doing His work because by learning the recorded spiritual knowledge of the Sadguru, the world will be enlightened and run peacefully.

The peace in the world, which is the result of the recording and the propagating of the Sadguru’s spiritual knowledge is most important for God. We can understand this point very easily from the example of a factory owner. The owner has established the factory and he will be very pleased if you, as one of the employees, do such work that promotes the smooth and peaceful running of the factory. Suppose you yourself disturb the peace of the world, imagine how angry God gets! If you carefully analyse the work of any spiritual preacher like Śaṅkara, Rāmānuja, Madhva, Paramahaṃsa, Vivekānanda etc., you will find that the ultimate goal of their constant efforts was world peace alone.

Keywords:

| Shri Datta Swami | Which is more important: studying the knowledge of the Sadguru or discussing with fellow-devotees? | Shravanam punyam satsanga Raamanuja Shankara Paramahamsa Vivekananda