Sri Morari Bapu
Sri Morari Bapu was born in September. 1946 in the sleepy village of Talgaajarda. He had to walk a long distance to go to school. His grandfather, Tribhovandasji was a great Ram Bhakta (devotee of Sri Ram). He would make young Morari memorize five couplets of the Ramayana on his way back and forth from his learning place. In the evening the wise old man would explain to his grandson the meaning and interpretation of the couplets that he had memorised for that day. Morari Bapu’s grandfather saw the spirit of the Lord in all. The personality of the grandfather and what he learned from him made a deep impression on the young mind of Sri Morari Bapu. Today he considers his grandfather his Guru as it was the latter who taught him to walk on the path of the saints and sages.
Sri Morari Bapu’s talks are based on the Ramayana. What he teaches has a universal appeal and his simple style can easily tug at one’s heart-strings. The devotional hymns that he sings and the relevant narration of anecdotes make thousands of people sit enthralled for hours.
Though Bapu Is a busy man, always traveling. thronged by admirers, one feels like one has a private rapport with him. He seems to answer all your questions and doubts through his public discourses. A disciple once told Morari Bapu that it was impossible to lead an ideal life if one were to survive in today’s world. To this Morari Bapu replied: “Do what you like for eight working hours and live the rest of your sixteen hours by the ideals I give you, that is, from now on don’t be aggressive with your wife, children and those around you and even with yourself. I am confident that these sixteen hours will prove to be so powerful that they will influence your eight working hours. In this way you will learn to survive In your so called today’s world.” The question here would arise: Where have we gone wrong? Why can’t we even live part of our life according to the Ideals laid down by the scriptures. Morari Bapu says It is because we are ill – spiritually ill’ He believes that just like food is not appetizing to those who are physically unwell, similarly, the Scriptures are not enjoyed by those who are not healthy in the spiritual sense. According to Morari Bapu, the scriptures, though they may be of ancient origin, offer a solution to our present-day problems and are an eternal light to mankind’s future. But then what does a modern man do? One who has not the time nor the inclination to read the scriptures and yet wants to get rid of his problems? In such a case Morari Bapu feels that after one has analyzed the problem and taken the right measures to remedy it, pray and leave the results to the Lord.
According to Morari Bapu in order to eradicate a problem, three requisites are important. The one who is willing to help. must understand the true nature of the problem. He must have the compassion to try and eradicate the problem. And he must have the capacity of getting rid of the problem. When observed closely it will be noticed that one of the three points is mostly always missing in the personality of the helper. The one to help may know the nature of the problem. but he may not have the capacity to get rid of It. or alternatively, he may be capable of alleviating your problem, but he does not have the compassion to do so or he may have the compassion and the capability, but he may not understand the real nature of the problem.
Morari Bapu urges us not to put all our energies into the world to achieve happiness. Go to the Lord – Pray, he says. The Lord understands your problem – He has the compassion and is capable of getting rid of it. When God listens to your prayer consider It His Prasad, His Grace; if he does not answer your prayer know that “NO” can sometimes be an answer. In fact Morari Bapu implores his audience to stop making a choice. Make happiness and unhappiness your friend and there will be no problem. If happiness comes, consider it a laddu (sweet), given by your mother. If unhappiness, then the medicine given by the same loving hands. We generally pray with folded hands. Morari Bapu has an interesting theory on why we do so. When we fold our hands we are saying: Our hands are tied. I am not capable, I surrender. O God, you take over.
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