The first type is a sadhana which the monkeys practise and is called the Markata sadhana.
The second is called Vihanga sadhana and is typical of sadhana practised by birds.
The third is called the Pipeelika sadhana or the sadhana practised by the ants.
So far as the monkey is concerned, it goes to a tree, plucks a fruit but does not eat it then and there. It then jumps from one branch to another. In this process it loses this fruit altogether! This is a kind of sadhana where we want quick results. We want to see God quickly and in this process we go on changing the objective of our sadhana every day and change from place to place like a monkey.
I remember telling a questioner in Maharashtra, while in the previous Body, that there are three types of devotion:
The bird method (Vihanga) where, like a bird swooping down upon the ripe fruit on the tree, the devotee is too impatient and, by that very impatience, loses the fruit, which falls from his hold.
The monkey method (Markata) where, like a monkey that pulls toward it one fruit after another and by sheer unsteadiness is not able to decide which fruit it wants, the devotee hesitates and changes his aim much too often and thus loses all chances of success.
The ant method (Pipeelika), where like the ant that slowly but steadily proceeds toward the sweetness, the devotee moves direct, with undivided attention, toward the Lord and wins His Grace!
