Questioner : They say that there is no Nirvana (liberation) in this time cycle. Is that true?
Dadashri : Whatever words God has uttered can never be wrong, but Lord Mahavir has said, ‘In this time cycle, no one can be liberated from this planet’. People have misinterpreted this. Some people think it means ‘There is no Nirvana - liberation’ and that is why they stopped trying in that direction and others have followed suit. But who says that you too have to be sucked in with that flow? For example if a person were to say, “In this time cycle, on this planet, one cannot get a check for a 100,000 rupees but it is possible to get a check for 99,999.99 rupees.” So at least you are able to get a check for up to 99999 rupees and 99 cents, if not the full 100,000 rupees, right? You are getting some loose change as spending money. You can spend it on snacks and enjoyment if you want because you have some loose change. And here, when you want to cash a check, do they not take five-cent commission out of it? In this era, I am able to give you a check for up to 99,999.99 rupees (up to the final stage of Moksha).

People know that total Nirvana (ultimate salvation) is not possible at this time, but at least they should know up to what point the path is open! The train may not go all the way to City but at least it goes up to Border so then shouldn’t one get on the train? But instead, people do not even leave their homes. They have shut the door of their home! Whose fault is it when this kind of misinterpretation arises? What the Self realized Avatar is saying, that here there is a shortage of just one penny! Of the six time cycles, the best time cycle is the fifth cycle. This current cycle is called ‘Time of the furnace’.

On the one hand there are scientists and on the other hand there is ‘the furnace’, so no matter how impure the gold is, the jeweler (the scientist who has the knowledge) will be able to extract the pure gold out of it! In the sixth cycle, the ‘furnace’ is there but there are no jewelers. The fifth cycle has the longest reign of rule (shashan) by Lord Mahavir. The reign of previous Tirthankars (Vitaraags, Enlightened ones) used to last only last up until their Nirvana (death), whereas this rule will last twenty one thousand years following the Nirvana of Lord Mahavir.

What has God said, ‘Liberation is only a quarter of a mile away and the Heaven is millions of miles away, but one should find a living self enlightened Avatar for liberation. Without a living awakened soul you will not find self realization and liberation. Only those who are liberated themselves can liberate others. Many men leave their wives and children and believe they have become free from all their attachments. No, wherever you go you will start new attachments. Attachments will keep on increasing from within. This is the work (to grant Nirvana) for only a Liberation avatar, just like it is the work of a doctor to prescribe medicine! If you ask a grocer for medicine for a heart attack, he will tell you to go to a doctor. People have not understood what God has said and so they ‘swallow the medicine that was prescribed for external use!’ So what can anyone do? Liberation is in your own hands. The nature of Soul itself is liberation (Nirvana).

This mind of yours will show you all kinds of things; all you are supposed to do is merely ‘see’ and ‘know’ it. It is the duty of the mind to show you all kinds of things and your duty is to see and to know; but if you become involved with the mind, then it will trouble you. Nirvana means freedom from the actions of the mind, body and speech, your ‘own’ independent happiness. A person is not affected in anyway by his own mind, speech and body and neither by the mind, speech and body of anyone else. What do the mind, body and speech do? As long as ‘this shop’ (relative shop) is here, the goods from this shop go to another shop and the goods of other shops come here! Worldly interactions are inevitable.

God has said, “Today, there is absolutely no appropriate conduct left anywhere suitable for Moksha (Nirvana). However, there is conduct suitable for Deva Gati (reincarnation in the celestial planet). For Nirvana, one should follow ‘God’s directives. Conduct after acquiring the knowledge of the Soul (from a Gnani) will become the conduct that will take you to Nirvana!