Even though God is beyond our understanding, can we at least understand the highest devotee of God?

[Shri Bharath Krishna asked: Namah Śhivaya Swami! I understand that there is no way I can understand You (Unimaginable God). One can only understand how God interacts with the world, but can never understand God Himself. Now my question is, if there is a devotee like Rādhā, existing today, who is at the climax devotion towards God, is it possible to understand such a devotee, at least?]

Swami replied: The original absolute God is unimaginable because He is beyond the three dimensional space to which our thinking and imagination is limited. The Veda says that God created space before creating the rest creation (Ātmana ākāśassambhūtaḥ). If the three spatial co-ordinates (length, width and height) existed in God, it would mean that space already existed in God. If space had already existed in God, you could not have said that God created space! Creation means producing something which did not already exist before its production. When space is absent in God, God has no volume. Any item having no volume is beyond imagination. Nobody can imagine it even on trying for millions of births. Hence, God is unimaginable to our brains, which are limited to the three dimensional space. But the same unimaginable God also enters into a medium to become an Incarnation. The medium, which is part of the imaginable world, can either be the body of an angel, which is made of energy or it can be a human body, which is made of a combination of matter and energy. Thus, God can either become an Energetic Incarnation or a Human Incarnation. This mediated God or God-in-a-medium can not only be imagined, but we can also see, talk, touch and live together with Him.

The Gītā says that God enters into the medium of a specific human being to become a Human Incarnation for fulfilling the desire of His intense devotees (Mānuṣīṃ tanumāśritam...), who want to see and talk to Him. God Datta, Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva etc., are Energetic Incarnations since they possess energetic bodies, which are invisible, but imaginable. These Energetic Incarnations may make themselves visible for a short while to a human devotee who has done a lot of penance to see God in that energetic medium. But the Human Incarnation is imaginable and visible to everyone so that devotees can easily approach Him without any effort. We can infer the existence of the unimaginable God in any Energetic or Human Incarnation of God through the unimaginable actions called miracles performed by them. The Invisible-Unimaginable God is the only real source of those visible-unimaginable events called miracles. The perception of the absolute God is impossible, whereas, the perception of the mediated God is possible. There is no difference between the Energetic and Human Incarnations because the same unimaginable God exists in both. There is no difference between the Human Incarnation, Kṛṣṇa and Energetic Incarnations like God Viṣṇu or God Datta.

Rādha was also a Human Incarnation of God Śiva. Generally, Human Incarnations behave as devotees, so that human devotees may not identify them as God. If undeserving devotees identify Human Incarnations, they may press the Incarnations to grant them boons. This is one of the main reasons, why Incarnations try to hide their identity. Moreover, if the Human Incarnation says that He or She is only a devotee, it greatly reduces the inevitable ego and jealousy that human devotees have towards fellow-human beings, including the human form of God. This helps the devotees because it allows them to approach the Human Incarnation freely and closely to clarify their doubts, without any reservation. A devotee who keeps God in the heart is a dualistic human incarnation like Hanumān and Balarāma. A devotee in whom God has entered and merged, is a monistic incarnation like Rāma and Kṛṣṇa. Any soul can become an Incarnation only by the wish of God. If a soul aspires to attain the status of God, that aspiration and the effort made by the soul in that direction itself becomes biggest disqualification for becoming an Incarnation of God.

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| Shri Datta Swami | Even though God is beyond our understanding, can we at least understand the highest devotee of God? | Namahshivaya Aatmana aakaashah sambhuutah Gita Krishna Raadha Hanuman Hanumaan Balaraama Raama Rama Manushiim tanumaashritam

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