Daily Devotion - Jan 20, 2026 (English)- Threefold Grace
There are many kinds of grace. Among them, two are primary: God's grace and the grace of a saint. Here, Shri Maharaj Ji describes three graces -
- Nar tanu - the human body,
- Hari anukampā - God's grace, and
- harijan anukampā - a saint's grace.
- The First Grace - Nar Tanu (Human Body)
By His grace, God has bestowed upon us this human body according to our karmas, as the fruit of our actions. kabahuṃka kari karunā nara dehī, "deta īśa" -
"God gives" - Actions themselves are inert; they cannot transform into results on their own. This happens only through the grace of God. If you truly understand the importance of this body, it would not take you even a single day to attain God. The human body is so valuable that even the celestial gods and goddesses of heaven long for it - the very heaven for which people perform severe austerities.
i) The human body is extremely impure. Dirt emerges from each pore of the body.
ii) Its mechanism is so complex that some part or another is always malfunctioning. In contrast, the structure of other bodies is very simple. For example, the body of an amoeba has only one opening through which it performs all its functions. No other body is as complex as the human body.
iii) The mental and physical sufferings caused by destiny and present actions are so intense that it is astonishing how a human being manages to remain alive while enduring them.
However, even though this body is very impure, a human possesses one extraordinary asset - the power of knowledge.
jñānaṃ hi teṣāṃ adhika: -
Except for the celestial gods, no other life form has a capacity for knowledge comparable to that of human beings. This is what makes the human body supremely important. Through this power, you can understand philosophical knowledge and correct your condition. Countless souls before you - such as Tulsidas, Surdas, Nanak, Tukaram, and others - have done so.
Although celestial beings possess greater knowledge than humans -
i) They cannot perform devotional practice through their bodies. Celestial beings cannot earn spiritual merit; they can only exhaust it. As long as the fruits of their past merit last, they enjoy the pleasures of heaven. When those fruits are exhausted, they must descend to the earth again. “As a human being, however, you can permanently free yourself from all bodies through sādhanā. In other words, you can attain liberation from the cycle of 8.4 million life forms.
ii)Even in heaven, there is no pure happiness; it is a mixture of joy and sorrow, just as it is in this world. The moment pleasure is attained, the desire for a higher level arises, because even there exist progressively superior realms - Maha, Jana, Tapa, Satya, and Brahmaloka. The celestial beings constantly aspire to ascend to higher realms. Consequently, dissatisfaction, unrest, unfulfilled desires, incompleteness, lust, anger, greed, attachment, pride, and jealousy exist there as well, just as they do here.
iii) Through the power of knowledge, you can eradicate your vices and correct your condition - something the celestial beings cannot do.
Reflect on this fact. Among the 8.4 million life forms, you stand at the highest level.
Contemplate repeatedly how rare this human body is. You do not reflect on this fact, and that is why you remain in a miserable condition.
After attaining this human body, you waste it by thinking only about how best to pass your time. You earn money for your children and spouse and perform countless activities "for others." Instead of doing things for "others," if you were to do what is truly beneficial for yourself, you would not need to do anything separately for others. God and the saints are there to take care of others; that is not your responsibility. Worldly pleasures can never bring happiness to the soul, because expectations, greed, and desires continue to torment you regardless of how much you acquire. The higher the position, the greater the wealth, the greater the beauty, and the greater the talent, the more enemies one attracts.
Therefore, you must use this human body and the power of knowledge for God and your Guru. You must attain your goal by surrendering to them, and you must do so swiftly. Everyone's lifespan is fixed. Death is certain, as indicated in the phrase 'dead sure'. You will have to depart at that predestined moment, and no power in this world can save you.
do bātana ko bhūla mata jo cāhata kalyāṇa,
nārāyaṇa (name of the poet) eka mauta ko, dūjo śrī bhagavān -
Always remember these two things: death and God. Do not procrastinate. It is due to procrastination that your countless lives have been wasted. Act quickly. Who knows whether you will even live to old age? And even if you do, devotional practice becomes extremely difficult in old age, because:
- The body grows weak.
- The mind becomes so deeply entangled in worldly attachment that detachment becomes difficult despite sincere effort.
Therefore, keep this truth constantly in mind - there is no certainty of this body. This awareness will prevent carelessness in sādhanā and remove the habit of procrastination. Do whatever needs to be done now. Who knows whether you will be alive tomorrow?
- The second grace - Birth in India
God also bestowed upon you the second grace - birth in India:
i) Even during funeral processions, people chant "rāma nāma satya hai" here.
ii) In every household, people remember God in one form or another.
iii) God's incarnations occur here, which does not happen in any other country. Because, firstly, many demons were born here, making it necessary for God to descend to destroy them. Secondly, many aspiring devotees practiced devotion here and attained God. Only saints and celestial beings pray for God to descend to the earth. - The third grace - Meeting a genuine saint
Infinitely greater than the above two is the third grace - meeting a genuine saint who is śrotriya and brahma-niṣṭha, possessing both theoretical and practical knowledge.
Developing faith in such a saint is even rarer.
Rarer still is receiving philosophical knowledge from him and truly understanding it.
Beyond this, there is no greater grace of God or a saint. A treasure-trove of all graces has already been showered upon you. This is called chappara phāṛ kṛpā - grace poured without measure.
If, even after receiving such grace, you continue to procrastinate in your sādhanā by falsely blaming time, karma, or God, it is equivalent to ātma-hatyā-gati jāi - the destruction of the soul itself.
Therefore, do not procrastinate in devotion.
Recommended books by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj related to this topic:
