03 Nov 2016
1) Shri Phani asked: My friend Shri Gopi Krishna is feeling very much for the comments of Shri Swarupaananda ji like calling Baba as ghost in burial ground.
Swami replied: Daksha also criticized Lord Shiva as leader of ghosts (bhutapati) living in burial ground. Lord Veerabhadra (He is the deity of our family or ‘Kula Daiva’) removed his head by very sharp sword in physical sense. The head is characterised by the intelligence or argument. I will cut such argument by My knowledge-sword (jnānāsinātmanah… Gita).
i) Leader of ghosts must be also a ghost like leader of animals (Lion) is also animal. Hence, Daksha scolded God Shiva as ghost. Similarly, that person scolded Baba as ghost and His temple as burial ground. This means that person is praising Baba as Lord Shiva by these words!
ii) Adi Shankara is said to be the human incarnation of Lord Shiva (Shankarah Shankarah saakshaat). This means that that person scolded Adi Shankara also as ghost in burial ground since devotees worship the tomb of Adi Shankara like the tomb of Baba. That person may not accept Baba as Lord Shiva, but, I am sure that he accepts Adi Shankara as Lord Shiva. Hence, scolding Baba is doubtful, but, he scolded certainly Lord Shiva (Daiva Droha) and Adi Shankara (Guru Droha)!
iii) Even in Pravrutti, tombs of great political leaders are worshipped by their followers. This means that that person is criticizing the people in politics (Government) and this is criticism of Government (Rajadroha). Politicians of all parties (whichever party may be ruling) visit the tomb of Mahatma Gandhi for worship with flowers, who is also a ghost and followers are visiting the burial ground as per the comments of that person!
It is told that ignorant people criticize great personalities (Dvishanti mandaah charitam mahaatmanaam). It is also told that not only the person scolding great people get sin, but also, the people, who hear such scolding become sinners (Shrunoti tasmaadapi yah sa paapabhaak). The ego and jealousy are the two demons that mislead even such great scholars (vidvāmsamapi karṣati… Gita).
2) Shri S V Ramanaiah asked: Please elaborate the significance of service and sacrifice to God.
Swami replied: Service (karmasamnyasa) means dedication of practical work to God. Sacrifice (karma phala tyaga) means dedication of fruit of work (money) to God. Service involves dedication of time and energy to God. Sacrifice involves dedication of money to God. Both these service and sacrifice constitute practical devotion (karma yoga). Yoga means that, which is related to God. Karma means both work and money because work and money are inter-convertible. If you do work you will get money. If you spend money you will get the work done. Work involves energy and money involves matter. Both energy and matter are inter-convertible according to science. Saints can do only service because they have to beg even for their food. The householder can do both partially as per the convenience to make a humble beginning. The householder becomes saint in the old age and is dedicated to work. This means that the soul should do both service and sacrifice to God. For this purpose, the soul is advised to take samnyasa (becoming saint) only after becoming householder. Even Hanuman married Suvarchala for the same purpose. Shankara is an exception since He is God Shiva in human form. The above policy is for ordinary souls, which is called as ‘kramamukti’or becoming saint gradually so that every soul worships God through service and sacrifice constituting practical devotion to get practical fruit from God (of course, without aspiring for it).
You may say that every soul spends all the time, energy and money for the development of its family members. O.K. I am not asking your time, energy and money that is required for your basic needs and for your duties towards your family members. I am also not asking for your money earned spending your time and energy that is stored for your old age. I am only asking for your time, energy and money wasted in unnecessary luxuries (vyasana) to be diverted to God. I am only asking for your time, energy and coin that are thrown into waste box or waste kundi to be diverted to the hundi (box for offering money) of God. There is a very widely propagated scientific project called as ‘Wealth from Waste’. This is related to Pravrutti and I am extending the same to Nivrutti also in the name ‘Salvation from Waste’! This is sufficient to get salvation. If you can’t jump even to this preliminary height of one foot, how can you jump to the sky, which is dedication of your total time, energy and money to God? Control of luxuries is not loss to you and in fact, it is beneficial to you giving you good health, which is the real wealth!
Develop the theory (knowledge or Jnaana yoga and devotion or bhakti yoga) also since it is the generator of practice or karma yoga. Theory alone can’t give the fruit. But, without theory, no practice is generated. Practice alone yields practical fruit. This is the minimum justice called as business ethics. Hence, theory is indirect cause for the practical fruit. The direct cause for practical fruit is only practical devotion involving both service and sacrifice. Of course, you have to get the practical fruit without aspiring for it, going beyond the business ethics. You are not wrong if you aspire for practical fruit for practical devotion. But, you are right if you get the practical fruit without aspiring it! Expecting practical fruit for theoretical devotion is worst and such a devotee is devotional prostitute! You must expect the fruit of your theory to be the transformation of theory in to practice. Knowledge is water. Devotion is manure. Practical devotion is the mango plant, which alone yields the practical fruit. We don’t deny the importance of water and manure without which no plant can grow to yield the practical fruit. But, you should not expect the yield of the mango fruit to water alone or manure alone or both together. You may have thousands of tanks of water and also thousands of bags of manure. You can’t procure even a small tender fruit of mango from those tanks and bags! Even if you have little water and little manure, on application of both to the mongo plant, the plant will become tree yielding a good mango fruit!
Dedication of time, energy and money (T E M) to God is also divine and three folded: 1) Dedication of time representing God Brahma: Time is sub-divided into past, present and future. The fruits of past deeds (samchita) are written by God Brahma on forehead, which are enjoyed in the present (prarabdha) and in the future (aagami). The life time or longevity is also decided by God Brahma. 2) Dedication of energy representing God Shiva: Energy is represented by the propagating waves. Shiva Linga is in the form of wave. The wife of Lord Shiva called as Shakti also represents God Shiva. Work is a form of energy only. 3) Dedication of money representing God Vishnu: Money is matter or wealth. Goddess Lakshmi, wife of Vishnu represents money. In the Vishnu Puranam God Vishnu says that He will steal the money of devotees on whom His grace is showering (yasyaanugrahamichchaami tasya vittam haraamyaham)! Lord Krishna, incarnation of God Vishnu also stole the milk, curd and butter which is the money or wealth of Gopikas.
Hence, dedication of three folded T E M to the three faced God (Dattatreya) is the spiritual path. T and E constitute dedication of work or service (involving time and energy) and M constitutes the dedication of sacrifice (involving money or wealth).This is the Karma Yoga (practical devotion), which must be the result of Jnanna Yoga (theoretical knowledge) and Bhakti Yoga (theoretical devotion) and thus Yoga is also three folded. You should climb first two theoretical steps (Jnanna and Bhakti) and should not stop there. You must climb the third practical step (karma) also to get the practical fruit called salvation from world (moksha) and absorption in God (saayujya). The first two theoretical steps are very important because theory alone leads to practice. The warning here is that you should not stop by climbing these two steps. Theoretical devotion (Bhakti) is the power that is generated from theoretical knowledge to transform the theory in to practice. Even if the theory is completed, sometimes practice is not generated in many cases. Such devotees stop with theory and aspire for the practical fruit like a prostitute. What is the reason for the lack of transformation of theory in to practice? The reason is non-generation of the power in knowledge and devotion. When the theory is not correct, the power is not generated. If the theory is true, the power is spontaneously generated by theory. The fundamental is knowledge, which generates devotion. Hence, if the knowledge is true (satyam jnanam… Veda), it spontaneously generates devotion and such devotion generated by true knowledge spontaneously transforms the knowledge in to practice. Who is responsible for this defect of non-transformation of knowledge in to practice? The preachers are responsible and not the devotees like the teachers are responsible for the failure of students. The preacher is not preaching the true knowledge because he/she is not clear of the truth and preaches in confused state only. The preachers can’t keep silent since they are provoked to preach due to the inner force of ambition for name and fame!
3) Shri Phani asked: I am not doing service and sacrifice in the spiritual field like other devotees.
Swami replied: In one of the songs of Bhakti Ganga, I compared you to the 4th Veda called ‘Atharvana Veda or Dhanur Veda’ which deals with the miraculous weapons (astra unlike shastra, which is weapon in physical sense like arrow, sword etc.). The weapons are used in the physical war, which is related to Pravrutti only. Pravutti is the basic stage of Nivrutti. You have sacrificed all your materialistic life for the work of God, which is the basic stage for the Nivrutti-drama. Hence, even if you are not in the spiritual field (as per your version only), you are in the basic Pravrutti field dedicating your entire life for the basic service (that which is basis for nivrutti) of God. Rama used Hanuman in the service of His personal pravrutti and gave the highest fruit of nivrutti to Hanuman. Rama Himself is the divine climax fruit of nivrutti. Service to Him in pravrutti or nivrutti comes under nivrutti only. You may not be in the drama, but you are the basic stage of the drama by dedicating yourself to the basic Pravrutti support to the programme of God. In generating divine nectar (amrutam) angels, demons, Vasuki-serpent, Mandara-hill and Milk Sea are said to be the participating instruments. But, what about God Vishnu, who supported the hill as the basic tortoise (kurma) hidden in the Milk Sea and unseen by anybody externally? The spiritual programme of God needs support of work and wealth at the basis, which are always the hidden Pravrutti. Pravrutti and Nivrutti are always interlinked with each other in every stage of programme. Lord Krishna wanted to destroy the injustice (Kauravaas) and Pandavas are the basic support of Pravrutti for the God. Of course, God can do His work just by His will as He showed destruction of Kauravaas in the cosmic vision before war! But, God gives opportunity to devotees in the form of service and sacrifice to only uplift them. The highest plane is to do service and sacrifice without aspiration for any fruit in return. You may argue that if you work (service), you are getting the fruit in the form of salary. Similarly, you may say that you are also getting the fruit in form of some desired item from the shop for sacrificing your money. Then, why should there be no fruit in the case of God? The answer is that the dedication of service and sacrifice suggested by God to you are fruits by themselves. There can be no second fruit for the first fruit. You can’t ask salary for doing the work of drawing the salary! Since the service and sacrifice are only for your upliftment, you should not aspire for any fruit in return in the case of your participation in the programme of God.
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