17 Jan 2021
[Śrī Lakshman asked: While explaining the miracle of showing Yourself as God Datta with golden light to a devotee, You said that there are two possibilities. 1) that gold or God is hidden by creation as Veda mentions about Hiraṇyagarbha in whom the gold is hidden. Another possibility is that the gold comes out and hides the creation as told in Hiraṇmayeṇa pātreṇa. But the subsequent line of this verse in Veda says that, this external golden vessel hides the truth or God (satyasyāpihitaṃ mukham)
Now, my doubt is that when gold is truth or God, how we can say that the golden vessel is covering the truth when it itself is the truth?]
Swāmi replied: Your doubt is correct because, as per one possibility, the relative reality (creation) is covering the absolute reality (God). As per the other possibility, the absolute reality is covering the relative reality. But the Veda says that the absolute reality (golden vessel) is covering the absolute reality (God or truth). Actually, as per the second possibility, we should say that the absolute reality is covering the relative reality because in the miracle referred by you, the golden light (representing God) covered My human form.
In the line “Hiraṇmayena pātreṇa satyasyāpihitaṃ mukham”, let us focus on the word ‘satyasyāpihitam’. This word is actually two words joined together (sandhi). The same joined word satyasyāpihitam can result from joining the words satyasya + āpihitam or by joining the words satyasya + apihitam. Based on these two options, the Vedic statement can be interpreted in the following two ways to cover both the possibilities mentioned above:
1)The first interpretation is that the relative reality is covering the absolute reality (hiraṇyagarbha). For this purpose, we must resolve the word satyasyāpihitam as satyasya + āpihitam = satyasyāpihitam. The word ‘āpihitam’ means ‘has covered’. So, the entire statement means that the relative reality (hiraṇmayena pātreṇa) has covered (āpihitam) the absolute reality (satyasya mukham).
2) The second interpretation is that the absolute reality is covering the relative reality. Here the word satyasyāpihitam is resolved as satyasya + apihitam = satyasyāpihitam. The word apihitam means ‘has not covered’. So, the entire statement means that the absolute reality (hiraṇmayena pātreṇa) has not covered (apihitam) the absolute reality (satyasya mukham). This is the case of the above-mentioned miracle, in which the golden light (golden vessel; hiraṇmayam pātram) representing the absolute God was covering My human form (relative reality). Thus, the absolute reality was only covering the relative reality and not the absolute reality.
Thus, satyasyāpihitaṃ mukham can be interpreted to cover both the possibilities of the relative reality covering the absolute reality as well as the absolute reality covering the relative reality.
When you see Datta Swami, the relative reality, usually, this relative reality is covering Lord Datta, who is the absolute reality in Him. But, when Datta Swami appeared as Lord Datta, the absolute reality was seen in the miracle to be covering the relative reality. In this way, both possibilities exist. Lord Datta being eternal is taken as the absolute reality, whereas, the human form not being eternal, is taken to be the relative reality. The first Energetic Incarnation called God Datta is not at all different from the unimaginable God since God Datta alone remains eternal like the unimaginable God.
Keywords:
| Shri Datta Swami | Does the Veda use the word 'gold' to indicate God or the covering that hides God? | Hiranyagarbha Hiranmayena patrena satyasyapihitam Hiranmayena patrena satyasyapihitam mukham satyasyapihitam
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