Saduru Sthavan

From Worldliness to Wisdom

Shree Guru Mauli – The Mother of all mothers

Introduction

Hymn 14 of Sadguru Sthavan offers a rare window into the inner transformation experienced by the early women devotees who lived in the presence of Tulas Amma. At a time when most of them were simple householders, absorbed in the demanding rhythms of large joint families and bound by the patriarchal norms of their era, they had little agency or space to pursue spiritual discipline. Their lives were shaped by responsibility, silence, sacrifice, and the unspoken expectations placed on women in traditional homes.

Yet, something extraordinary happened around Tulas Amma.

Although she belonged to a lineage of Rāj Yog, having received initiation from Bhagavan Nityananda—himself an unparalleled master of Kundalini Yog—Tulas Amma did not impose the rigours of complex yogic disciplines on her devotees. Instead, with immense compassion, she opened for them the gentle and direct path of Guru Krupa Yog:
The path where the Guru’s grace becomes the primary force of transformation.

Under Tulasamma’s sanidhya—her living presence—ordinary householder women began to awaken extraordinary inner clarity. They learned to discriminate between the transient and the eternal, between the real and the illusory. The heaviness of worldly life no longer clouded their vision. Instead, they discovered strength, joy, and inner freedom, not by abandoning their responsibilities but by infusing them with the light of awareness received from the Sadguru.

Hymn 14, written by one such direct devotee, stands as a shining testament to this awakening.
It does not emerge from bitterness, rejection, or despair about the world.
It arises from a deeply matured understanding—from the clarity that comes when the Guru has opened the disciple’s inner eye.

The devotee sees the world as it is:
filled with selfishness, delusion, and ego-driven relationships.
But she is not troubled by this recognition.
Her words carry no complaint—only insight.
She has discovered that the world is transient, and that the only permanent refuge is the Sadguru, whose love is unconditional and whose grace is transformative.

Thus, Hymn 14 is not a lamentation; it is a declaration of empowerment.
It reflects the journey of a woman whose life has been illumined by the presence of Tulas Amma—
a journey from confusion to discrimination,
from emotional dependence to inner strength,
from worldly entanglement to spiritual clarity,
all through the simple and sublime path of Guru Krupa Yog.

In this light, the hymn becomes more than a reflection on the ways of the world—it becomes a mirror showing the profound shift that unfolds in a devotee lifted by the grace of the Sadguru.

Hymn No.14

१
जागी सर्व लोक धरी स्वार्थ एक ।
धनाच्या गर्वात होत भ्रांत ॥१॥

jāgī sarva lōka dharī svārtha ēka |
dhanāchyā garvāt hōta bhrānta ||1||

The whole world is awake only to its own selfish interests.
Blinded by the pride of wealth, people wander in delusion.

२
क्षणिक सुखाचा धरुनिया ध्यास ।
अहंपण धरुनी बुडई व्यर्थ ॥२॥

kṣaṇika sukhācā dharuniyā dhyāsa |
ahaṃpaṇa dharunī buḍaī vyartha ||2||

Holding on tightly to fleeting pleasures,
They sink into vanity and ego, wasted and lost.

३
साधु सज्जनांसी नाहीं मन देती ।
आपुलिया पण कीर्ति उच्चारिती ॥३॥

sādhu sajjanānsī nāhīṃ mana dētī |
āpuliyā paṇa kīrti uccāritī ||3||

They give no regard to saints or noble souls.
Instead, they glorify only their own name and importance.

४
लविता न येई सूर्यासी कल्मष ।
भेद न करितो त्यांच्यावर ॥४॥

lavitā na yēī sūryāsī kalmaṣa |
bhēda na karitō tyāñcyāvara ||4||

Just as a stain cannot touch the radiant sun,
The truly wise make no distinction towards such people

५
भ्रातरी कांटा, कांटेशी भ्रातर ।
बाळाक्षी माय नेणे स्वार्थें ॥५॥

bhrātari kāṇṭā, kāṇṭēśī bhrātara |
bāḷākṣī māya nēṇē svārthēṃ ||5||

A husband to his wife and wife to her husband,

child to its mother,

are related for the ego only for their own gain.

६
सुखी दुःखी नेणती स्वार्थापुढें ।
पडती नरकी जन्माच्या ॥६॥

sukhī duḥkhī nēṇatī svārthāpuḍhē |
paḍatī narakī janmācyā ||6||

Happiness or sorrow—nothing matters before selfishness.
By such actions, people fall into the hell of repeated birth.

७
आपुल्या कार्यासी प्रधम साधिती ।
सद्गुरुवाचोनी नसती कोणी ॥७॥

āpulyā kāryāsī pradhama sādhitī |
sadguruvācoṇī nasatī kōṇī ||7||

They put their own work first above everything,
For without the refuge of the Sadguru,
No one can escape the cycles of ignorance.

The devotee of Tulas Amma, after remaining in the sanidhya of her Sadguru, learns to discriminate between the transient and the permanent, the real and the illusory. She now sees the world as it truly is, knowing that it is the one Self that pervades everything. Her words do not arise from any sense of futility or pain about the world, but from the clarity born of recognising its fleeting nature. Having understood this, she becomes strong, centred, and fully equipped to live life more intensely and joyfully, with integrity, contentment, and inner freedom.

In this world, most people are indeed caught in selfishness and captivated by the pride of accumulating wealth, mesmerised by its glitter. ||1||

Tulas Amma’s direct devotee, begins by describing the common human condition. When the mind is turned outward, it becomes absorbed in possession, achievement, and social validation. The pride of wealth blinds a person, creating a fog of delusion where one equates worth with accumulation.“““““`

The devotee who has lived with the Sadguru sees this not with bitterness, but with understanding. She sees that people are driven by ignorance, not by inherent evil. This recognition frees her from disappointment and unrealistic expectations, allowing her to interact with the world with compassion and clarity

Ever absorbed in chasing momentary pleasures, they sink helplessly, clinging to their ego. ||2||

Human life is often spent chasing fleeting pleasures—sensory stimulation, excitement, praise, possessions. Such happiness is kṣaṇika—momentary and unstable.

By clinging to ego (“I want,” “I expect,” “I deserve”), a person loses their footing. Tulas Amma has seen, through her Sadguru’s teachings, that ego is the weight that pulls one down into sorrow, not the world itself.

Her insight is not a condemnation but a gentle reminder:
As long as one grasps egoically at transient joys, one is destined to sink.

They offer no respect to monks, saints, or noble souls, yet leave no chance to praise and glorify themselves. ||3||

True reverence for saints requires humility.
Where ego prevails, humility cannot exist.

By pointing out the lack of reverence for the wise, Tulas Amma is highlighting the inversion of values in worldly life:

  • The real is ignored.

  • The unreal is celebrated.

This is māyā at play—honouring the noisy and ignoring the pure.
Yet the devotee, strengthened by the Sadguru’s presence, sees this clearly and is no longer disturbed by it.

But just as the sun remains untouched and unbiased by any impurity, we cannot expect it—or the enlightened ones—to make distinctions towards such behaviour. ||4||

Here, Tulas Amma introduces a profound Vedantic metaphor.
The enlightened ones, like the sun, shine equally on all—
the pure and impure, the noble and the selfish.

The Sadguru’s grace is universal and unconditioned.
It is not contingent on human behaviour.

This verse reflects the equanimity that Tulas Amma has learned:
She no longer expects the world to change for her happiness.
Instead, she stands in the sunlight of the Sadguru’s unbiased love.

Husband and wife, mother and child—these relationships, too, are often understood only through the lens of self-interest. ||5||

This is one of the most misunderstood verses.
Tulas Amma is not criticising relationships; she is revealing their conditionality.

Most worldly relationships are built on mutual need, expectation, security, or emotional fulfilment. They are rarely unconditional.

By understanding this, the devotee does not reject relationships—
she simply stops relying on them for ultimate security or fulfillment.

Her insight leads to:

  • greater acceptance of human limitations,

  • less disappointment,

  • more mature love,

  • inner freedom in relationships.

She loves others more deeply because she no longer demands from them what only the Sadguru can give.

People do not care for the joy or sorrow of others when their own selfish motives come before everything else, and thus they fall into the endless cycle of birth and suffering. ||6||

“They do not care for others’ joy or sorrow when their own selfish interests come first; thus, they fall into the hell of repeated birth.”

This verse teaches the karmic reality of self-centred living.
When actions are driven solely by self-interest, one remains bound to the cycle of desire → action → result → rebirth.

Tulas Amma uses the word “hell” symbolically:
Hell is not a place but a state of mind—
a life endlessly entangled in the consequences of selfishness.

Having seen how people suffer through their own actions,
The devotee feels karuṇā (compassion), not judgment.

There is none other than the Sadguru whom you can consider as wholly, selflessly, and eternally yours. ||7||

This final verse is the culmination of her realisation.
She has seen the world clearly—not negatively, but truthfully.

And in this clarity, she recognises:

  • The only relationship that is unconditional

  • The only presence that is eternally reliable

  • The only support that is completely selfless
    is the Sadguru.

The Sadguru stands beyond expectation, karma, or need.
His love is not transactional.

This insight fills the devotee with:

  • stability,

  • inner assurance,

  • freedom from emotional dependence,

  • and a deep joy that comes from resting in something permanent.

Tulas Amma’s words arise not from rejection of the world, but from mastery over it.
She has moved from:
illusion → discrimination → understanding → inner strength → unconditional love.

Her vision is not pessimistic; it is empowering.
By seeing the world as it truly is, she gains the freedom to live it fully.

Thus,

Hymn 14, when read with an inner ear tuned to the spirit of Tulas Amma’s lineage, reveals far more than its words alone convey. It shows us how the light of the Sadguru can enter even the most ordinary life and quietly turn it towards the extraordinary. The devotee who composed these verses did not renounce her home, her duties, or her relationships. She did not step away from the complexities and constraints of her time. Instead, through the living presence of Tulas Amma, she discovered a new centre within herself—a place of steadiness, wisdom, and freedom.

Here, we witness the flowering of Guru Krupa Yog: the path in which transformation does not depend on ascetic practices or esoteric techniques, but on the subtle yet powerful grace of the Guru. In this grace, even the burdens of daily life become teachers; even the limitations of one’s circumstances become gateways to inner strength.

This hymn reminds us that the Sadguru does not merely give knowledge—
He gives a new vision.
A vision that enables one to live in the world without being weighed down by it.
A vision that restores dignity, clarity, contentment, and quiet joy.
A vision in which the transient is recognised as transient,
and the Eternal is recognised as one’s true refuge.

As we conclude our study of Hymn 14, we honour not only the devotee who penned these lines, but the silent revolution Tulas Amma set in motion—
a revolution that uplifted simple householders, one heart at a time,
through love, grace, and the unshakeable power of the Sadguru’s presence.

May the discerning insights of this hymn
strengthen our faith,
deepen our trust in the Sadguru,
and inspire in us the same courage, clarity, and contentment
that blossomed in the hearts of Tulas Amma’s devotees.

Note:

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