15 Jan 2022
[Shri Jayesh Pandey asked: Pranaam Swami! At Your feet, Swami, please tell me the essence of doing Rudra abhishek in detail, Also, Swami here in North India, people prohibit eating of rice on ekadashis. What are Your views on this, Baba.]
Swami Replied: Abhisheka means pouring water on Shivalinga thinking that you are bathing God Shiva. Bathing of God Shiva is only your imagination and actually a stone representing Shiva is bathed. But, this is not totally wrong and also not totally correct. Since, you have not provided water for the actual God Shiva since God Shiva is energetic incarnation and at least you have not provided water for bath to Human incarnation of God Shiva like Shankara, the entire process is totally wrong. But this is also simultaneously totally correct since such practical opportunity might not have come to you either due to your past bad deed or due to your greed even if the opportunity has come and hence, except the worship of representative model there is no other way. Due to this you might be doing the practical worship of a representative model to increase your theoretical devotion at least since you failed in the practical devotion. If you understand all these points, you have understood the ritual of abhisheka.
On Ekadashi day, you are expected to immerse in the devotion of God throughout that day. In the influence of your attraction to God you are expected to forget taking the food on that day. The attachment to God is indirectly measured by the detachment to worldly bonds. Hence, your attachment to God on that day is recognised by others from your detachment to regular means. But, what is happening? People are not having real attachment to God on that day by which they will naturally forget taking meals, which alone can be called as real fasting or upavāsa. The actual meaning of upavāsa is:- “Upa” = close to God, “Vāsa” = living or immersed. Unfortunately, this word does not mean taking meals or fasting at all. But, even though people do not have such real devotion to God, they want that other should feel them as real devotees. Since I already told that the attachment to God (devotion) is measured by the detachment from worldly affairs (fasting). They want to fast and make others to get an impression that they fasted being very close to God. Some devotees do such false fasting thinking every minute about the food items to be eaten before breaking the fasting! Is this the real devotion to God? Even if you impress others that you are a true devotee of God by such forced false fasting, you can fool others, but not fool the omniscient God!
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