Patanjali Yoga Sutra - śabdajñānānupātī vastuśūnyo vikalpaḥ||1.9|| शब्दज्ञानानुपाती वस्तुशून्यो विकल्पः||१.९||
Verbal delusion is when knowledge lacks real essence or true stuff.
Conclusions one draws purely under the influence of fantasy could be called as vikalpa. The end results are not at all comparable with established facts. Sādhaka miserably fails in his endeavor. Svādhyāya (the study of scriptures which contain eternal truth, through a competent Guru) can save a person from being a prey to his own vikapla.
Bhagavān describes such persons as under:
काममाश्रित्य दुष्पूरं दम्भमानमदान्विताः।
मोहाद्गृहीत्वासद्ग्राहान्प्रवर्तन्तेऽशुचिव्रताः॥गीता १६.१०॥
kāmamśritya duṣpūraṃ dambhamānamadānvitāḥ|
mohād gṛhītvā’sad grāhānpravartante’śucivratāḥ||Gītā 16.10||
Persons under delusion are obsessed with unquenching lust, gripped under double standards, sheltering egotism, pride, unsatiable covetousness, following empty principles owing to ignorance.
Success is everybody’s child; whereas failure is no one’s. Though being a great jñāni, rāvaṇāsura, king of Laṅkā, could not overcome his delusion as he was intoxicated by success, self-centeredness, egotism, and lust, that resulted in his complete destruction. He was completely up-rooted by śrī Rāma. Tree of egotism can yield seeds nothing less than one’s one total devastation.
Kālipada Ghoṣ, though a spiritualist, was a drunkard. He tormented his wife for 12 years. One day, Kālipada Ghoṣ approached Rāmakr̥ṣṇa Paramahaṁsa and asked for wine. All the devotees around were shocked at this behaviour of Kālipada Ghoṣ. But Rāmakr̥ṣṇa Paramahaṁsa cooly said, ‘Yes, I can give you. But the problem is, if you taste this wine, you will lose interest in everything in this world. Are you ready?’ Kālipada Ghoṣ says that he is read. Rāmakr̥ṣṇa Paramahaṁsa just touches Kālipada Ghoṣ. Kālipada Ghoṣ becomes semi-conscious and starts weeping, thus began an astonishing relationship between Kālipada Ghoṣ and Rāmakr̥ṣṇa Paramahaṁsa. One day, Rāmakr̥ṣṇa Paramahaṁsa wanted to cross the Gaṅgā river and was waiting for the boat to come. Kālipada Ghoṣ invites Rāmakr̥ṣṇa Paramahaṁsa to his boat. Innocent Rāmakr̥ṣṇa Paramahaṁsa sits in the boat of Kālipada Ghoṣ. Kālipada Ghoṣ starts navigating the boat. When the boat reached mid-river, he stops the boat. Confused Rāmakr̥ṣṇa Paramahaṁsa asks him why he has stopped the boat. Kālipada Ghoṣ says, unless Rāmakr̥ṣṇa Paramahaṁsa blesses him, he won’t move the boat. Rāmakr̥ṣṇa Paramahaṁsa says, ‘Yes, I have blessed you, move the boat’. But Kālipada Ghoṣ says, ‘No, I want your blessings’. Rāmakr̥ṣṇa Paramahaṁsa initiates a mantra and says, ‘with this mantra, you can get salvation’. Kālipada Ghoṣ says, ‘No. I want your blessings’. Rāmakr̥ṣṇa Paramahaṁsa says, ‘Yes, I will you get you salvation, don’t worry’. But Kālipada Ghoṣ says, ‘No. I want your blessings’. Unable to understand his intentions, Rāmakr̥ṣṇa Paramahaṁsa asks him what he wants. Kālipada Ghoṣ says, ‘when I am breathing my last breath, no one will be there. There will be complete darkness. No one will be around me to help me. At that time, you have to hold a candle in one hand and with another hand, should hold my hand and lead me’. Rāmakr̥ṣṇa Paramahaṁsa agrees and then Kālipada Ghoṣ moves the boat. Kālipada Ghoṣ refuses to accept Mokṣa also. Instead, he wanted the Guru’s blessings. Thus, Kālipada Ghoṣ got what he wanted. This was possible only because of his lack of delusion.
Sai Bābāji always preferred to sit on the floor. One of the devotees asks him out of sheer curiosity, ‘Bābāji, though you are a true jñāni, a realized soul, why do you prefer to sit on the ground?’ Bābāji laughs and answers, ‘Yes dear, if I sit on the floor, there is no fear of fall at all’.
Right from birth, we are being labelled in many ways. The first label is ‘name’ given by our parents. It distinguishes X from Y, etc. The second tag is given by our education system. It gives the tag: Ph.D., M.Phil, MBA, MBBS, etc., thus differentiating one from the other at the education level. Then our society labels us as Professor, Scientist, Doctor, Lawyer, Engineer, etc, based on one’s profession. Then tags could be like valiant, coward, philanthropic, brilliant, idiot, poor, rich, etc. Each of these tags is a concentric circle called ‘Ego circle’, identifying us and differentiating from others:
Each circle is a fort keeping us apart from others. More the circles we have, the more egoistic we are, keeping us away from others and God. De-tag one by one, to be connected to Supreme Soul (uddharedātmanātmānam — Gītā 6.5). When a child is connected to the parents, all that belongs to parents belongs to the child as well. When one is connected to Supreme Soul, all that belongs to Supreme Soul belongs to the one connected.
