32. What is the difference between Moha and Prema?

Love is Prema. It is based on truth and knowledge. Blind love is Moha, which is based on falsehood and ignorance. If you teach your son to make him pass the examination, it is love. Inspite of your teaching, if he is dull and if you want to pass him in the examination by false means, it is blind love. Tukaram preached Bhagavatam to his wife everyday. But, his wife was much attached to the household duties. Hence, she did not deserve the salvation. The divine aeroplane came only for Tukaram because he deserved. But, Tukaram offered a place in the aeroplane to his wife who did not deserve. This is Moha. His wife did not reach the aeroplane due to the house hold duties. Tukaram did not wait for his wife. Had he waited for his wife, he would have become undeserving due to his Moha and the aeroplane might have left even without him. By the grace of Lord, Tukaram realised the truth and got into the aeroplane. Tukaram preached Bhagavatam to all the devotees and his wife was also present in those devotees. Had he preached only to his wife, it would have been again Moha. Shankara preached all the people by wandering all over the world. Moha is responsible to bring down anyone from the highest state to the lowest state. Hanuman and Shankaracharya – both are incarnations of Shiva. Then Hanuman was trapped in the Moha of His mother by fighting with Rama for the sake of His mother. So, He fell from the state of Shiva to Jeeva. Therefore, He was always in the state of Jeeva (soul) and always stated ‘Dasoham’ i.e., I am your servant. But Shankaracharya left his mother for the sake of Lord and was not having any Moha. Therefore he was in his original state of Shiva and told ‘Shivoham’. Please remember that Hanuman acted in the role of an ignorant Jeeva to preach us and He was not really trapped by Moha. We should take the message of His role only. Therefore even Shiva becomes Jeeva due to Moha. When Shiva crosses the Moha, he remains as original Shiva. The essence of Saadhana is only to destroy this Moha on the worldly bonds and to have Moha only on the Lord. This should be proved in practice and need not be expressed through words or feelings. If the true knowledge is absent, the practice will never come. If the true knowledge is attained, if not today, you will attain it in the practice after a few days. Therefore, true knowledge and its propagation is the most important program of the Lord. He who participates in such program will become very near and dear to Lord. The only duty of a Sanyasi is propagation of the divine knowledge and therefore the Sanyasi is the nearest and dearest as told in the Gita (Jnani sacha mampriyah, Jnani tva tmaiva). Sanyasa does not mean shaving the head and wearing the saffron clothes. Sanyasa means propagation of divine knowledge to uplift all the people in the world.