Posted on: 22 May 2021
[An online spiritual discussion was conducted on May 16, 2021, in which several devotees participated. Devotees’ questions answered by Swāmi are given below.]
[Śrī Bharath Krishna asked: Pādanamaskāraṃ Swāmiji! 1) In a satsang, You were explaining about niṣkāma karma yoga, which is doing aspiration-free service and sacrifice to God. I have a doubt in this context. You have given two examples. One is that of a mango tree, in which the spiritual knowledge (jñāna yoga) and devotion (bhakti yoga) are like water and fertilizer, while the mango plant is practical service and sacrifice (karma yoga). You have said that the plant alone bears the fruit. The manure and water are necessary, but not sufficient to yield the fruit. You have also given the example of traveling to Mumbai city in which the information about the city is knowledge, the interest to visit it is like devotion. But one can reach the city only when one practically walks to the railway station (service) and purchases the ticket to Mumbai (sacrifice). Through these two examples, what is the final fruit You are referring to, Swāmi?
2) By default, I am a selfish fellow. I came to spirituality to find a way to fulfil my desires, but funnily, I realised that all my desires are just stupid. It means that, all my life, I have been enjoying my stupidity! As You were telling during the satsang, You know me better than myself. What I know about myself is that I have always been business-minded. As I gradually learned Your knowledge, I have understood that anything that I give You is never a loss to me. You are definitely going to give back whatever I give to You, if not immediately, at least after a million births. But You will definitely give it to me. 3) I have learned another important point from Your knowledge, which is that whatever I earn on this earth will definitely be lost one day. If I earn anything in excess, it will definitely give me misery. But Your grace is most important and I want loads and loads of it. According to my understanding, Your grace means the opportunity to be with You forever and happily take part in Your service. I am definitely happy to be with You and serve You. In my experience, the enjoyment I get by serving You is quantitatively more than the enjoyment I get by involving in worldly enjoyments. However, frankly speaking, it is not so high that I can totally forget worldly enjoyments.
4) At the same time, I am damn sure that if I can develop true devotion, I will only enjoy Your presence and Your service, and nothing else. This I got to know by observing some of Your closest devotees. Although I have learned this from Your knowledge, I actually believed it when I observed Your devotees. Finally, there is one question left. What is it that these devotees of Yours know about You that I do not know? Now I want to find the answer to this question Swāmi. I have frankly and honestly expressed what I feel. Please correct me if I have understood anything wrongly. Does niṣkāma karma yoga mean not even aspiring for Your grace? At Your Divine Lotus feet, Bharath Krishna.]
Swāmi replied: 1) By these examples, I am referring the ultimate goal, which is true love to God. Aspiration for God’s grace is very clever aspiration because by grace everything is attained. In such case, God becomes angry and starts giving you troubles and immediately your real colour will be out! God is omniscient and hence, don’t aspire anything from God including His grace. The true love is only one-way traffic only. 2) As long as you retain the idea that one day God will give the fruit in return to you, God will keep silent. The day you drop that idea and serve God as one-way traffic only, which is the real proof of real love, what will not be given by the omnipotent God? You must always remember that God is begging for your service and donation due to His love on you to uplift you from Pravṛtti to Nivṛtti. You must always remember the story told by Me that a grandfather purchased a packet of biscuits and gave to the mother of his grandson telling her to keep the secret that he has given it to her. The mother gave a biscuit to her son and the son is thinking that the biscuit was purchased by his mother. Now the grandfather is begging the grandson to give a small bit of the biscuit to test the real love of the grandson on him. The grandfather is not really a beggar for the biscuit and all the drama was played by him to test the real love of his grandson on him. 3) Any process will have beginning, middle and the end. Hence, either you are in the beginning or in the middle and one day or other you will reach the end. Only the people, who are not even in the beginning of the spiritual journey are only to be pitied. 4) My devotees are also in three categories:- a) Devotees in the beginning of spiritual journey, b) Devotees in the middle of spiritual journey and c) Devotees in the end of journey. There is a balanced equilibrium between (a) and (b) categories. But, regarding with the category (c), they are in irreversible equilibrium. The categories (a) and (b) know that much knowledge pertaining to their levels only. The category (c) knows the ultimate knowledge of the ultimate goal. Yes. Niṣkāma karma yoga means true practical love mixed with true theoretical love also having no aspiration for any fruit in return including His grace.