05 Oct 2004
If we grasp the essence of the Ramayana, Bhagavatam and Mahabharata, it will be very useful to our spiritual effort. Hanuman was a saint (monk). He could not sacrifice the fruit of work (money). He could only sacrifice his work (his efforts for the Lord’s mission) and dedicate the fruit of His efforts to the Lord. He always participated in the work of the Lord and sacrificed himself in the work of the Lord. In the Bhagavatam, the Gopikas were householders. They could sacrifice the fruit of their work. Moreover there was no work of the Lord at that time in which they could participate and so there was no need of any sacrifice of work. They did not give the fruit of their work (butter) even to their children but they gave it to the Lord. Today people are doing sins in order to sacrifice the fruit of that work to their children; they earn money by sinful means and pass on that money to their children. Such people should remember the Gopikas. Hanuman and the Gopikas neither worshiped the energetic forms of God such as Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, which are not seen in this world, nor did they worship the statues of previous incarnations. Hanuman did not worship Vamana and Narasimha, who were previous incarnations of God. The Gopikas did not worship Rama who was the previous incarnation of God.
The Gita says that the Lord incarnates in human form even every minute if required (Yadaayadaahi). The word ‘Yuga’ in the Gita (Sambhavami yuge yuge) could mean a year or even a human generation. If the Lord came in one human generation only, then He would become partial. If the Lord came in only one place, He would not be available to the people in other places. The Lord appeared as sixteen thousand Krishnas at different places. Akkalkot Maharaj, Shirdi Sai Baba and Vasudevananda Saraswati were different incarnations of Lord Datta that existed at the same time in different places. The Veda says “Yat sakshat aparokshat Brahma”, which means that the Lord is available before you and can be seen by your eyes. Every human incarnation is Datta (God who has given Himself to human beings in human form). The ego and jealousy, which hinder the recognition of such a human incarnation, should be removed. Only then can one attain Datta. Hanuman became the future creator and the Gopikas reached the topmost heaven called ‘Goloka’. These two fruits are the highest. Therefore, the human incarnation is highest for humans. Hanuman and Gopikas are the highest devotees. Sacrifice of work and sacrifice of the fruit of work are the highest worship.
In the Mahabharata the Lord preached to Arjuna to sacrifice selfish work or karma. The battle of Mahabharata was meant for killing evil people and therefore the battle was the work of the Lord. Arjuna was advised to participate in the battle as a servant of the Lord. Arjuna was participating in the battle but his participation could not be called as sacrifice of work, because Arjuna was fighting for the kingdom; the battle was his selfish work. He was thinking that his son Abhimanyu should become the future king. Therefore when Abhimanyu was killed, Arjuna wanted to withdraw from the war. This proved that Arjuna was fighting for the kingdom with the bond for his son and he was not fighting as a servant of the Lord. This clearly shows that Arjuna was selfish.
He who cannot sacrifice his work, also cannot sacrifice the fruit of the work. He continued the fight even after Abhimanyu’s death because he still had his other son, who was born to Draupadi. Draupadi had five sons and the Pandavas (Arjuna’s clan) were aspiring for the kingdom for the sake of their sons. Therefore the Pandavas never said that they would sacrifice their entire kingdom to Lord Krishna. They feared that if they had said such a word, Kirshna might accept and take over their kingdom.
The Pandavas mean those who are white in color. White represents satvam or the good quality. However they were merely black pieces of charcoal painted white from the outside. Internally they were equal to the blind Dhrutarashtra (the enemy king). By the will of the Lord, the sons of the Pandavas were killed. This is “Dattam chhinnam” which means that Datta operates upon (cuts) everything. Only after this incident did the Pandavas lose their blind bond with their children and were liberated. A doctor with an M.D. degree gives medicines. A surgeon with an M.S. degree operates. The Lord is both the doctor and the surgeon. He (Lord Krishna) gave the divine knowledge in the form of the Bhagavad Gita, which is the medicine. But the medicine did not work because karma samnyasa and karma phala tyaga, which are the signs of good health, were not achieved. Therefore the Lord operated and cut the bonds of the Pandavas with their children by destroying the children. The right side of Lord Datta is ‘Guru’ (preacher), who is the doctor. The left side is ‘Bhagavan’ (God), who is the surgeon. Krishna was an incarnation of Lord Datta and therefore He was not mentioned in the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu is just one third of Lord Datta; the other two-thirds of Datta are Brahma and Shiva.
You can see the Lord by prayers (words) and devotion (mind) but you cannot please the Lord by them. By such things you may be pleased but the Lord is not pleased. Sugreeva was near Lord Rama and was serving Him personally. Sugreeva was happy by such service. But the Lord was not happy. Hanuman left the presence of the Lord to search for Sita. Hanuman did not attend to the personal service of the Lord in that time. He was far from the Lord and was unhappy. But the Lord was happy with Hanuman. Hanuman was made the future creator but not Sugreeva. Sugreeva was given only a petty kingdom in this world. Ravana got a vision of Lord Shiva by penance, which is nothing but prayers, devotion and meditation and they are related only to words and mind. Yet, Ravana was destroyed along with his kith and kin, since Lord Shiva was not pleased with him, since Ravana did not practice any sacrifice. Rama never did such penance. But He sacrificed His wealth and even His wife practically. Lord Shiva blessed Him. Therefore practical sacrifice alone can please the Lord. If you do service, which is not required by the Lord, that may give you some pleasure, but it will not please the Lord. While Rama is busy with the construction of the bridge on the sea, if you chant the name of Rama and sing songs, Rama will not be pleased with you. In fact He will be angry with you. If you really care for Lord Rama, then you have to carry the stones and help building the bridge. Therefore doing the service required at that time is important. When Lord Rama is on the throne after the war, you can do the service that is appropriate at that time. The practical service is sacrifice of work and its fruit. If you are lazy to sacrifice your work and if you are greedy and do not sacrifice the fruit of the work, there is no use by doing service with empty words and mind. You can deceive ignorant people by such words and expressions. But the Omniscient Lord can never be deceived. Therefore the essence of human life is only to recognize the Lord in human form and participate in His work.
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