A Great Sense Of Detachment...

Shrimadji came to His grandfather with the question : 


"What is death ?" 


Panchanbhai was unsure how best to answer the question and did not want to frighten Shrimadji. 


In an attempt to divert His attention, he told Shrimadji that he would answer His question after he had his lunch. 


Shrimadji however was not so easily diverted, and insisted that he should have His question answered first. 


His grandfather at last gave in, explaining : 


"Amichandbhai's passing away means that he will neither speak nor walk, nor eat, nor drink. 


His soul has left the body. 


His body will be taken to the cremation grounds to be burnt.


In order to properly understand the nature of death, Shrimadji quietly went to the crematorium and climed up a tree from which He could see the cremation. 


The dead body was burning on a funeral pyer, while few people stood or sat around it. 


At this sight, His heart was filled with revulsion. 


How was it possible that a person who showed Him so much love could be burnt like this ? 


How cruel  can these people be to burn such a fine and good man ? 


He began to wonder :if the body was still there, what was the nature of  the substance that had left ? 


As He thought along these lines, it was as though a veil had been removed, and He began to see some of His past lives. 


Later in His life, He saw the fort of Junagadh, and He remembered even more past lives. 


He had experienced Jati Smaran Gnan, the knowledge of previous lives, and as a result, Shrimadji experienced a great sense of detachment towards material and transient objects.