4.1 In the Samvat year 1882, on Fãgan vad 3 [26th March 1826], Swãmi Shree Sahajãnandji Mahãrãj was sitting on a mattress with a cylindrical pillow placed on a decorated bedstead upon a square platform facing the mandir of Shree Nar-Nãrãyan in Amdãvãd. He was dressed entirely in white clothes. A pink pãgh had been tied around His head, and tassels of roses were dangling from that pãgh. Bunches of roses had also been placed upon His ears. In addition to this, several garlands of roses were hanging around His neck, and bãjubandh and gajarã of roses had been tied around His arms. A sabhã of munis, as well as haribhaktas from various places, had gathered before Him. 4.2 Then, Shreeji Mahãrãj said to the muni-mandal and the bhaktas, “Everyone, please listen to what I have to say. A person should first develop a firm belief of the svarup of Bhagvãn. What is Bhagvãn like? Well, by His own wish, He takes birth for the kalyãn of the jeevs. However, having taken birth, He is still beyond birth. Despite having to die, Bhagvãn is still beyond ageing and death. He is also niranjan, and He has no blemish of Mãyã. In addition, He possesses a definite murti and is svayam-prakãsh; He is Parbrahm, antaryãmi, the supporter of countless millions of brahmãnds; and He is also beyond Akshar. His assuming and discarding of a human body is merely an illusion – like the magic of a magician. Furthermore, He is the controller of the countless muktas, including Akshar. He is also the lord of all. That Shree Purushottam Nãrãyan, after first taking birth from Dharma-Dev and Murti, performs tap in Badrikãshram in the svarup of Nar-Nãrãyan. 4.3 “That same Shree Nar-Nãrãyan assumes the svarup of Matsya, Kurma, Varãh, Vãman, Rãm, and Krishna on the earth for the fulfilment of particular tasks. Then, using His own body, He helps other people eradicate their belief of being the body and accept the belief of being the svarup of brahm. In this way, He makes His body and the bodies of other people appear to be the same. For example, just as after a thorn is used to remove another thorn, both thorns are discarded, similarly, Bhagvãn discards His body like other jeevs discard theirs. This event is explained in the Mahãbhãrat through the story of Nrusinhji. When He wished to leave His body, Nrusinhji, through His antaryãmi powers, inspired Shiv within his heart to take the svarup of a sharabh. Then, both Nrusinhji and the sharabh fought a battle in which Nrusinhji died. Therefore, Bhagvãn independently, by His own wish, accepts a human body and abandons that human body. 4.4 “After hearing the charitras of Rushabh-Dev being burnt in a forest fire, and Shree Krishna Bhagvãn being killed by an arrow striking his foot, the minds of those with a nãstik belief, and those who are not bhaktas of Bhagvãn become confused. They then allege that Bhagvãn too passes through birth and death just like themselves, and He receives a human body according to His karmas, and then leaves the human body by His karmas as well. They also declare that only when Bhagvãn performs karmas that do not cause attachment will He be released of His karmas and attain kalyãn. 4.5 “On the other hand, those who have an ãstik mind, and those who are bhaktas of Bhagvãn, realise the understanding of the nãstiks to be wrong. They know the body of Bhagvãn to be eternal; and that the birth, childhood, youth, old age, and death of Bhagvãn, as well as whatever other bodily qualities He may display, are merely an illusion. This is because Kãl and Mãyã are not powerful enough to have any sort of influence on Bhagvãn’s body. In fact, all changes that do appear to occur in Bhagvãn’s body are all due to His extraordinary powers. Those who are bhaktas of Bhagvãn are not misled by this; whereas the minds of those who are not bhaktas become confused, just like worldly people become confused on seeing a magician’s acts. However, those who are aware of the magician’s techniques are not confused. Similarly, Purushottam Shree Nar-Nãrãyan also assumes many different bodies and discards them like the magician. Therefore, this Shree Nar-Nãrãyan is the cause of all avatãrs. 4.6 “Those who assume death upon Shree Nar-Nãrãyan will themselves have to undergo countless births. The suffering of passing through the cycle of 8.4 million different life-forms and the torments of Yampuri are indeed endless. Conversely, those who realise Shree Nar-Nãrãyan to be beyond ageing and death will be released from their karmas and the consequent cycle of births and deaths in the 8.4 million life-forms. Therefore, all satsangis and sãdhus of our Uddhav Sampradãy should not assume death upon the murtis of Bhagvãn – those that have occurred in the past, the current murti, or those that will occur in the future. This principle should be noted by all.” 4.7 In this way, Shreeji Mahãrãj revealed Himself as the pratyaksha murti of Bhagvãn. All who heard this talk strengthened their nishchay in Shreeji Mahãrãj in this same way.