30 Aug 2024
[Shri Lithin asked:]
13. Were there any other intelligent beings as devotees before humans were created?
Swami replied: This question is based on the sequence of creation of different souls and this kind of information is not important for spiritual progress. Whether there were some beings or not, how does that matter for your spiritual progress? It is absolutely unnecessary research. The main problem now is that we should please God. Suppose you did a lot of research and found out the answer whether humans or angels were the first intellectuals in the creation. Will it help to the present problem? Modern research is like that only now a days. When they want to get a Ph.D. on Shankara’s philosophy, you know what they do? They do research whether Shankara was born exactly in Kerala or in the border between Kerala & Tamil Nadu or whether this portion of Tamil Nadu was existing in Kerala back then? What is the use of that? You should do research and bring out what Shankara has written in His commentary so that it will help our present problem, is it not?
The present problem is what will happen after one dies. Somebody says that God exists and some others say that God doesn’t exist. Everybody has this question of what happens after we die. The best solution is to follow the 50-50% probability theory. Assuming that hell exists, I am not doing any sin and I die one day. After leaving the body, even if I find that hell is absent, there is no loss to Me. Assuming that the hell is absent, I did a lot of sins and I die one day. After leaving the body, if I find that hell is present, I am finished! It is always wise to take the option of least risk.
[Smt. Suchandra Chatterjee asked:]
14. Today, I see that modern scientists are doing the same research again wasting time and funds. What is the solution?
Swami replied: Research means discovery must be there. Without discovery, simply acknowledging the already existing facts is not research. Especially chemistry people should agree this because many of them do a Ph.D., in reaction kinetics to prove that A+B→C is a first order reaction. It is already written in the text book. After seven years of research, the conclusion of the thesis is A+B→C is a first order reaction, which is already proved. Some science scholars do Ph.D., thesis writing 400-500 pages, quoting 200-300 references making a big book. Seeing the size of the book, we get a false impression that the scholar has done some great work. But, actually he finds nothing new. According to Me, he did nothing.
15. But in my case, I am also doing something not purposeful being a scientist. Should I continue that research or should I leave it?
Swami replied: While swimming in waters, you must follow the water current of the river and you can’t swim against the water current. You must swim against the current provided God, upon hearing your prayer, changes the direction of the river. Then only, it is possible practically. The first step to change is realization of the fact. Unless you realize, you cannot change. I am bringing the realization to everyone so that all can change.
For a real discovery, you need not have a laboratory. What laboratory did Newton have when he discovered the law of gravitation by observing the fall of an apple? Actually, great scientists suddenly find new concepts by the grace of God only. When God graces you, you get the new formula in your mind suddenly. That is the real research since research means discovery must be there. Without discovery, simply acknowledging the already existing facts is not research. Research means that you are searching again and you must get it, then only the research is fruitful. You cannot demand a Ph.D., saying you searched a lot but did not find anything. Suppose a ring is lost and you searched again and again. You cannot claim the fruit for just doing some work of searching again and again! You will get the fruit only if you succeed in finding the lost ring after searching multiple times.
When I joined research in the university, I was very much astonished to know that Einstein was given the doctorate by the British, for his paper on E=mc2, which is just about nine pages. Newton was given doctorate for the laws of motion, mentioned in the paper of seven pages. Then, I decided that I must either get a Ph.D., like this or don’t take any Ph.D., at all. Of course, I could not succeed completely because My thesis was 31 pages with seven references. In the 31 pages also, theory was only 11 pages and rest 20 pages contained the experimental data. That is why, I am having very poor opinion about research. For your information, I did not touch the equipment for generating those twenty pages of experimental data. I knew a scholar named Mr. Nair, who was working in Dr. Varma’s ultrasonic laboratories. I was just enquiring him, “Why is it like this? Why not like this? If heterogeneity is introduced like this, what will be the value of 𝜃?” I was instructing him about the inputs and I was getting samples prepared in the workshop. I didn't touch the equipment or samples. I was rotating the samples as a side activity in his work. When he rotates them, lot of discrepancy was there in the angles. He explained to Me that it is just an error but I replied that it is not an error but a new concept is embedded in it. That’s when I told him that I would write about this in My thesis. But, he was honest in not claiming all that work as his work. In India, that is also very much there. Therefore, I conclude that this question also doesn’t help to solve our present problem of how to please God.
16. Why snakes represent Satan in Christianity and they are divine in Hinduism?
[Shri Lithin asked: In Christianity, snakes are presented as Satan but snakes in Hinduism and Buddhism are related and depicted with Gods. Why are these many different opinions?]
Swami replied: After all, a snake is only a simile. Why should you bother about a simile? If there is a difference in the concept, then we should discuss. Don’t present it as a snake, present it as a wolf or fox or some tiger. What is the issue? It is only a simile. In Hinduism also, they are worshiping snakes as angels and not as the ultimate God. Nature of the serpent is that if you go by your way, it will go by its way and it will not harm you. It will bite only when it is afraid of you. If it fears that you are going to kill it, then only it will bite you. Till that fear is caused, it will not cause any harm to you. You go silently by your way and it will go by its way by your side, just like a co-human being walking on the road. Suppose if you stop suddenly, then it will doubt about you thinking that you stopped only to kill it. It misunderstands you and comes to bite you. But, all these are only studies of animals and we are studying about human beings, spiritual knowledge and how to get salvation? Why should we bother about serpents? I am confined to spiritual knowledge, which is for human beings only and not for animals (Zoology) and plants (Botany). I always request the devotees to put questions on spiritual knowledge and not on materialistic knowledge like politics, medical science, etc. You need not ask Me, which medicine you should take for typhoid fever. Any doctor can write prescription for it!
[Shri Veena Datta asked:-]
17. Many incarnations are coming in the animal births, Swami! Hanuman is coming as a Monkey.
Swami replied:- Hanuman is not an animal completely. All His body is human being only having an extra tail and only face is like monkey. Entire body of Garuda is also like human being only. So, these are not animals but they are having faces like animals. In human beings, you find some people having faces like animals, sometimes. If you find someone, whose nose is very long, you can call him as Garuda. If somebody is very lean and walking in curved way, you can call him a serpent. So, the idea behind this concept is that you shouldn’t judge a person based on the beauty of the face. Somebody can have a very beautiful face but may possess a lot of venomous ideas. I think Blaise Pascal, in his writings, remarked, “Cleopatra’s nose, had it been shorter, the whole face of the world would have been changed.” He meant that the big war would not have happened. Therefore, physical beauty shouldn’t be taken as the standard. The internal beauty of good qualities is always permanent. The internal good qualities or bad qualities will attend the soul from one birth to another birth whereas the beauty of this body perishes as soon as human being dies. The physical body is burnt or buried after death. Is it not? But, the qualities of internal beauty will continue from one birth to the other birth and internal qualities are as permanent as the soul itself.
The next level after this is devotion to God. Everyone must remember that devotion to God is the best quality among all the good qualities. If devotion to God is present, it doesn’t matter even if some qualities are not good because the value of devotion is so high that those bad qualities get neglected. Devotion to God tackles the main problem of human life, which is to please God and it is the purpose of this human life. Therefore, devotion is the best quality among the good qualities. You must give value to a person by his devotion to God and then by his good qualities. If bad qualities are present, you must neglect him and never bother about his physical beauty. Even if some people are having faces resembling the faces of animals, they may be very pious and great devotees of God. Hanuman has a monkey-face but is the highest devotee of God. For your information, Hanuman is called as the most beautiful by Valmiki and named Hanuman’s part in the Ramayanam as ‘Sundarakanda’. God Rama is actually having the highest physical beauty but whenever His story came, Valmiki named them as Balakanda, Ayodhyakanda, Aranyakanda, Kishkindakanda, etc., but the word ‘Sundara’ is not mentioned. When Hanuman's part came, it is mentioned as Sundarakanda (It means the story of the most beautiful Hanuman.). In the Sundarakanda, the monkey is most beautiful (sundere sundarah kapih). Therefore, don’t go by face value, especially in the context of selecting alliances and selecting life partners. Examine the good qualities and if devotion to God is present, don’t see any other thing.
A devoted boy asked Me, “Swami, how to select my life partner? How can I understand her in just a 15 minutes meeting?” I replied that there is nothing to understand for such a long time. You can select the life partner in just one minute only. Simply, you ask, “Do you believe in God? Do you know that God will reward our good deeds and punish our sins?” If she says, “Yes, I also believe God and His administration”, then that’s it! You can ask for mangalasuutram (yellow thread to be knotted in the neck of bride in marriage by the bridegroom) to get married! Here, you need not worry about the influence of bad qualities because if she believes in God, who punishes sinners and rewards meritorious people, she will never do any mistake or at least, she will fear to do any mistake. Without asking about God, you will waste a lot of time if you ask about each individual matter like, “Will you do this mistake? Will you do that mistake? Will you do that merit? Will you do this merit or that merit?” Instead of spending hours together with a big list, simply one basic question, “Do you believe in God?” You need not interview further. Let her look like a monkey, it doesn’t matter! She will help you spiritually. When you worship God Hanuman, the monkey, are you not helped spiritually? So, a spiritual person looking like a monkey is like God Hanuman. Hence, the internal beauty is very important and devotion to God is the highest internal beauty. Do not give value to a person based on the external beauty. Even if the face is not good, don’t bother about it. To preach this concept, God Hanuman is in the form of monkey, Garuda is in the form of bird, Aadishesha is in the form of a lean fellow walking in curved path. They are not animals and they are only human beings having some deformed faces.
Even now, we see some human beings having some defects in faces. They may not be beautiful to look at, but, we should see their qualities and works. See the qualities and works of God Hanuman. Who can be equal to Him in the entire creation? Do you know what He said before going to Lanka, “I will go to Lanka and search for Sita. If I don’t find her, I will bring the entire Lanka (yadyahaṃ tatra tāṃ sītām, na paśyāmyasitekṣaṇām…) and put before you so that you all can search for Sita. I will never fail in My work (sarvadā kṛtakāryo'haṃ eṣyāmi saha sītayā…). I will come with the information of Sita”. Look at the courage and self-confidence even before going to Lanka. What is there if His mouth is a little bit protruding? Of course, this doesn’t mean that you will not behave properly with beautiful people because God Rama is beautiful and God Krishna is beautiful.
Now, let Me tell you the secret of beauty also. Among all the good qualities, the devotion to God brings Godliness to the soul and that divinity automatically brings the external beauty. Krishna is beautiful because He is divine. Rama is beautiful because He is divine. Adi Shankara was beautiful because He is divine. Therefore, don’t make a wrong conclusion that every beautiful fellow should be hated and every ugly person must be loved. Ravana is very very ugly. In a Shakespeare’s drama, Desdemona is very beautiful but she married Othello, a Negro. If there are some defects in the face from birth, what can anybody do? You can neglect the facial defects by seeing their internal qualities, efficiency of work and efficiency of intelligence. To preach this concept, the faces of Hanuman and Garuda are like that. Even Nandi is also a human being, but he becomes a bull when he carries God Shiva. All of them are human beings, but with slight deformation in the faces. We should neglect the physical beauty, compared to their good qualities and the most important is devotion. Devotion is the best good quality.
18. Was there any existence of intelligent beings before humans and do they exist in various other lokas or planets?
[Shri Lithin asked:- As we know, there are many Brahma years, which have passed and multiple yugas in each. So, do we have civilization before humans? If yes, please can You tell us about it and did God create more intelligent beings other than humans and do live in any other lokas or planets? If Yes, are the souls of all beings same? Also, does rebirth happen across these lokas?]
Swami replied:- It is also like that question, which is not useful. We can calculate the time in Brahma loka with respect to the years and yugas on earth, but what is the use? When Shankara was writing commentary of the Brahma Sutras, He has written the Adhyaasa Bhashyam, which is the first part of the commentary of superimposition. One question comes from Puurvapakshii (Opponent) –“You say that this world is Anaadi (beginningless). Can You tell how many years back was the world created by God?” Then, Shankara tells, “We are writing this commentary and studying all the scriptures to escape from this vicious circle of worldly bonds and reach God. Suppose, we find out that so many years back this world was born, in what way can it help in our present problem?” He adds, “Your question is like making the paste of already existing paste (piṣṭa peṣaṇamevāyaṃ praśnaḥ…)”. So, there is no use of your question.
Let us find out about the qualities of God, which can attract us and create devotion in our heart. Then, let us also find out the qualities of human beings that help us to reach God because we are human beings, who must reach God–the Goal. So, it is also important to learn the qualities of human beings and how they should be changed. Hence, this comes under the useful questions. Of course, the devotee also asked to which Loka human souls can go after death and can they take re-birth in upper Lokas. This is relevant to God because we should know what will be our destination in case, we fail to reach the abode of God after death. Every spiritual aspirant should think, “If I don’t reach the highest abode of God, at least I should reach some better upper worlds, which are on the way to the abode of God, so that I can get association with the energetic beings and take their help in reaching God”.
In fact, there are four divine upper worlds such as Maharloka, Janaloka, Tapoloka and Satyaloka or Brahmaloka for souls in Nivritti. Before reaching Brahmaloka (the abode of God), there are Maharloka, Janaloka and Tapoloka. These three worlds contain devoted souls, who do not deserve Brahmaloka or the abode of God. They slipped due to certain false concepts. These devoted souls rectify those false concepts in these worlds. When devotion is high but some false concepts exist in their mind, those souls go to Maharloka, then to Janaloka and then to Tapoloka. Very enlightened souls are present in these Lokas, who help other devoted souls in their spiritual journey. In association with those enlightened souls, false concepts get rectified. Then, they reach Tapoloka and do penance. From there, mad devotees of God finally reach the abode of God. So, this is the spiritually relevant part of the question. But, the rest of the question, which is about how many years exist in Kruta Yuga and in the Treta Yuga, etc., is irrelevant to our present problem of how to get salvation.
[Shri Surya asked:]
19. Swami, final spiritual effort can be done on the earth only. Isn’t it?
Swami replied: Final spiritual effort must be done only in the Martya Loka because it is also called as Karma Loka and upper worlds are called as Bhoga Lokas. But, there are certain upper worlds, which guide the spiritual aspirants to rectify some false spiritual concepts and reach God finally.
[Smt. Chhanda Chandra commented:-]
20. When soul cannot do any deed there, how can rectification be possible?
Swami replied: A soul cannot do karma (deed or action) in these Lokas but mere theoretical concepts can be modified. Knowing the concept is not equal to doing any practical action. No karma is involved in correcting your concept and it is not connected to Karma Yoga (practical sacrifice and service to God). It is only connected to Jnaana Yoga (theoretical knowledge of God).
21. Can we do penance for God in other Lokas?
Swami replied: Yes, we can do penance for God in Maharloka, Janaloka and Tapoloka. Maharloka and Janaloka contain some enlightened souls like Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatkumaara, Sanatsujaata, etc. They rectify certain faulty concepts in the spiritual aspirants to reach Tapoloka, the final stage. Tapoloka contains souls doing a lot of severe penance for God. So, these Lokas are not Karma Lokas but give slight help in rectifying faulty concepts. These souls need not return to earth to implement rectified concepts in deeds. At such high stage, it is sufficient if the concepts are rectified.
22. What about Aabrahmabhuvanalokas?
Swami replied: I already did a long discussion with Dr. Nikhil during a Satsang of Brahmajnaanam recently. “Ābrahmabhuvanāt lokāḥ punarāvartino'rjuna…” is one verse in the Bhagavad Gita. It means that all souls of all Lokas including the residents of Brahma Loka (abode of God) have to take rebirth on this earth again. There is another verse, “Yad gatvā na nivartante, tad dhāma paramaṃ mama…”. It means, “If you reach My Loka, you will never return to earth and you will not be re-born”. Nikhil raised a question of how to correlate both these points because both are opposite.
In the first statement, even the residents of Bramaloka have to be re-born. In the second statement, those who reached My Brahmaloka need not be re-born. Both are contradicting clearly. I correlated like this, “Whether you reach the Brahmaloka or not, you have to be re-born. When God Himself is taking the re-birth as incarnations such as Narasimha, Vamana, Parashurama, Balarama, Krishna, Buddha, Kalki, etc., are you greater than God in avoiding re-birth?” So, that point of no rebirth is ruled out for any liberated soul also. When we attain God, we get salvation from the world completely. After reaching the abode of God, we have to take re-birth on earth along with God to assist in His mission. The drama company comes to every village along with its group in a jeep! Of course, those who are required in that drama alone will come and not all actors of the company.
Second point is, “Those, who reached My Loka (abode) will not be re-born”. The meaning of that sentence is that though they take re-birth, they will not be re-born in the births, which are entangled or fascinated by worldly bonds. Even when God takes birth as human incarnation, He only acts in the role but does not get entangled by worldly bonds. Like God, this fellow also will not be entangled by the worldly bonds. So, you are not getting re-birth, which is entangled by worldly bonds. But, you are getting re-birth to assist God. You are getting re-birth in one angle and not getting re-birth in another angle. Both angles exist at the same time.
Some say that God Krishna talked like this to mean that the souls going upto Brahmaloka are re-born and the souls going to Goloka are not reborn. This is not correct. Even the leader of Goloka (God Krishna) is reborn as He told that He will incarnate whenever necessary (Yadā yadā hi dharmasya… - Gita). Moreover, God Krishna is Brahman and hence, even Brahmaloka is His Loka only.
[Shri Kunal Chatterjee asked:-]
23. Does muktajeeva also take re-birth along with God?
Swami replied: Yes, muktajeeva (liberated soul) has no rebirth and also takes re-birth simultaneously. He has no re-birth like ordinary souls, who are entangled in worldly bonds. Even though the muktajeeva also takes re-birth, he is not entangled in worldly bonds. This correlation (samanvaya) is not given by anybody so far! Quarrels continue between the followers of the three Acharyas even today since nobody could correlate the three Vedantic philosophies. Only God Datta correlated the three Vedantic philosophies logically giving the contexts for each.
24. Can we call this as divine re-birth of soul?
Swami replied: Yes, it is not human re-birth, but it is divine re-birth. Therefore, re-birth is there and re-birth is not there at the same time for the souls, who have attained God. Since human re-birth is not there, we can say that there is no re-birth. Since divine re-birth is there, we can say that there is re-birth. Like this, beautiful correlation is given by God Datta. Very beautiful!
25. If a devotee offered a costly meal to me and if I offer back a meal of lesser value, will I be still indebted to that devotee?
[Shri Hrushikesh asked: In one of the recent discourses by You on 24th of December that was published, in the second point, You were talking about devotees bound rules of Pravrutti. You said, “Whenever a devotee goes to another devotee, some snacks or meals are offered with the intention of good friendship and the devotee shall try to repay it approximately as early as possible.” In this regard, I have the question–What if the devotee, who was offering the meal is very rich? Suppose he is offering me a meal worth 2000/-, whereas my capacity is only 200/-? Here, You also have mentioned about Citragupta maintaining record of every paisa. In that case, if I am not able to treat them with a Rs. 2000/- worth meal, will it be considered as a debt relationship?]
Swami replied: You need not split this topic to such a deep extent. I gave a general suggestion that one shouldn’t give strain to another person. For example, all the Hyderabad devotees wanted to come to Mumbai for this Satsang. I discouraged them although this is in the own interest of the devotee because the devotee will spend so much of money unnecessarily for the journey. Unnecessary spending of money means insulting Goddess Lakshmi Devi. If you insult anybody, they will quit your house. Not only Goddess Lakshmi, anybody will quit your house. If you spend money properly, it is worshiping Goddess Lakshmi. When Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped, she will stay in your house like anybody, who is respected.
When you are going to another person's house to stay for 2-3 days, you should also estimate their financial ability as the first point. Suppose they are living an ordinary life with normal earnings. Your stay in their house will definitely give some financial strain to them. Isn’t it? Just because he is your friend, you shouldn’t go. By his friendship and love on you, he may offer something to you. Undoubtedly, he is a good person. I don’t blame him that he has some bad intentions. But, you should also consider his financial stress and personal stress. Suppose his wife is not having good health. She will be forced to prepare extra quantities of food for you. You should consider both financial strain as well as physical strain. Some people stay in other’s house without considering any of these aspects. They simply follow the Newton’s laws of motion! They simply travel from Hyderabad to Mumbai or Hyderabad to Vijayawada. When asked, they reply like this, “Newton's first law says–as long as there is no resistance, an object can move for infinite time. As long as the host doesn’t say anything, I can stay in their house for infinite time because Newton's first law says that! If there is resistance, then only it can be stopped. If there is no resistance i.e., if the host is not telling anything, I will keep roaming from one house to another to spend my entire life on others”. Due to his good character and good behavior, he may not say anything.
But, one time or the other, he will feel the strain. He is not a Yogi or Maharshi, who has a constant mind. Human mind changes as per the context. Then, he will feel pained but still he is not expressing it to you. Is it not sin on your part to cause suffering to a good person? Citragupta will write and record such cases of sin. It is called as runaanubandha (debt-bond) and you must clearly know that it has to be paid along with interest at some point of time in future. If this concept is revealed, some awareness will be developed among people. If this concept is not told, the first law of Newton will come into place! A rocket doesn’t require any fuel while it rotates in vacuum because there is no resistance. Ignorant people think that just like that rocket, which need not worry about fuel, we need not worry about financial stress of the host because there is no objection expressed by the host! God’s administration is very correct and over-intelligence will be punished severely. If the host did not express his stress, it doesn’t mean that stress did not exist. X-rays are not expressed to naked eyes. Do you think that X-rays do not exist? Since he is unable to express, I expressed it on his behalf. So, you can take these cases based on good analysis and deep logic.
Before you visit anybody’s house, you think about all these aspects. Suppose you have gone to somebody’s house due to your friendship or due to an inevitable situation. While returning back, you purchase something and give it to his children. Otherwise, directly give some money to his children. You can approximately calculate how much he has spent for you and give it back. Don’t do exact calculations like how much rice I ate, what was the quality of rice, etc. Approximate compensation must be done so that it won’t enter the record of Citragupta. It will definitely enter the record if you don’t analyze all these things and blindly follow Newton’s first law. To compensate this sin along with interest after a long time (many janmas), you will be born as a dog and will watch his house until that debt is cleared, which means until the dog dies!
26. What do You comment about several young people, who don't contribute anything to society?
[Shri Kunal Chatterjee asked:- There are several young able people (male or female), who don’t contribute to the society. They don’t work. They keep consuming from various sources but they never contribute. What do You say about such people? Isn’t that a sin?]
Swami replied:- Merely saying it as contribution to society is not correct. Contribution to very needy people like feeding the poorest beggars gives punyam or merit. Contribution to good deserving receivers will give highest merit. Simply contribution to society, by blindly donating to any fellow with closed eyes is not at all correct. If the receivers of your donation are sinners, it becomes a sin and you will be punished for supporting the sinners. It becomes a merit if you donate to deserving receivers and it becomes sin if you donate to undeserving receivers. You may think that this sin, which you got by this donation may be cancelled by the merit of another donation to deserving donation. Let Me tell you that your sin can’t be cancelled by your merit. Sin is sin and merit is merit. You have to undergo both results separately.
To be continued...
★ ★ ★ ★ ★