Recognizing a saint
In Identify the saint and expose the pretender the indecisive signs for identifying the sainthood were discussed. Then in Tell take sign of a pseudo-saint you learned to spot the imposters who are out there in multitude to dupe you. The rest of the story still remains.
How to know who is a genuine God-realized Saint?
By the will of God God-realized saints stay amongst us. Also, as you would expect they are not found in multitude. Whereas pretenders are plenty. So it is imperative to know the criteria to ascertain who is fake and who is real.
So, now you will learn about those signs which are exhibited only by God realized saints.
External Characteristics of a Saint
Bhagavat enumerates the external behaviour of a saint as
बुधो बालवत् क्रीडेत् कुशलो जड़वच्चरेत् ।
वदेदुन्मत्तद् विद्वान् गोचर्यां नैहमश्चरेत् ॥ भा ११.२८.२
budho bālavat krīḍet kuśalo jaḍa़vaccaret ।
vadedunmattad vidvān gocaryāṁ naihamaścaret ॥ bhā 11.28.2
1. Despite possessing perfect knowledge, the saint has innocence of a child. He is equipoised in both admiration and condemnation.
2. Despite being expert in all disciplines, he can have the appearance of a lunatic. One such example of a saint was Rishabha Bhagwan. He abandoned all social norms and behaviors and did bhakti mentally.
3. Despite being a competent scholar, he can behave like an uncivilized person, who rejects all social norms of behavior. The Bhagavata says –
क्वचिद् रुदत्यचुतचिंतया क्वचिद्धसंति नंदंति वदन्त्यलौकिकाः ।
नृत्यन्ति गायन्त्यनिशीलन्त्यजन् भवंति तूष्णीं परमेत्य निर्वृताः ॥ भा ११.३.३२
kvacid rudatyacutaciṁtayā kvaciddhasaṁti naṁdaṁti vadantyalaukikāḥ ।
nr̥tyanti gāyantyaniśīlantyajan bhavaṁti tūṣṇīṁ parametya nirvr̥tāḥ ॥ bhā 11.3.32
"Being intoxicated and drowned in divine love bliss, sometimes they cry in ecstasy, sometimes keep on laughing and sometimes they talk something inconspicuously and become overjoyed. Sometimes they dance and sing being oblivious of the rest of the world and sometimes they become silent."
These are called symptoms of divine love (asht satvik bhav) which occur in the body of a real saint.
Impact on you when associating with a real saint
When you stay in association of such a saint, due to his personality and seeing those asht satvik bhav, your worldly attachments would gradually decrease and love for God increases.
Sometimes, you might experience some initial symptoms (ratyabhasa) of divine ecstasy. Now, you will realize within your heart that “there is no happiness in the world, I have to realize God”.
If you ever were to ask such a saint to bestow some material benefit upon you, instead of saying ‘so be it’, he would encourage you to let go of the material desires that you already harbor and advise you to not wish for more.
He would clarify that these material matters are holding you back from reaching God and attaining bliss. In short He will impart the knowledge needed to attain God.
Even though assessing abilities of a Divine Saint are beyond the capability of material beings yet, use these characteristics as a yardstick to assess who is a true saint and who is a pseudo-saint.
Once you are assured that someone is a true saint, follow his (or her) advice “to the letter” to attain God.
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