15 Jul 2007
Some people criticize that God is enjoying creation and entertaining Himself, while souls are troubled with problems. So they blame God with sadism. The entertainment of God is not sadism at all. Sadism is based on two points: One is that an action can be called sadism if it is exhibited in reality in the world and not in the imaginary world. For God, this world is imaginary and not real. However, sadism in the imaginary world may also show a mental attitude towards sadism. Even that point is ruled out because the second point on which sadism is based is that a sadist enjoys by torturing some innocent person without a justified reason. Here in the case of God, the problems of the soul in the world are based on its own actions and the punishment is given based on perfect justice. Hence, sadism cannot be attributed to God even in mind. Moreover, the soul need not be concerned with the entertainment of God because the soul is not punished for any unjust reason. If the soul follows the rules of justice[1] given by God, the soul will face no problem.
A rich person started a college for his own entertainment or to escape from paying income tax on his wealth. Knowing the reason why he started the college is unnecessary for the student as long as the college is running as per the rules of the university. The student can argue against the management provided any type of injustice takes place in teaching or in the examinations. As long as the academic program is perfectly implemented, the student has no scope for argument against the original intention of the management in starting the college. Only a student, who is not perfectly following the academic schedule, will bother about such irrelevant points to mask his own defects. If somebody still argues on this point due to foolishness, the only answer is that God is the Suprememost Boss and there is nobody to argue with Him.
If an ant comments on the driving of the driver of a car, that comment is not even heard by the driver! Since you do not know all the actions of any soul from its childhood, you should not say that a particular soul is good and yet is punished unjustly. Neither are you are capable of noting all the actions of a soul nor are you capable of judging each action in depth. Shankara established that the nature of the world is unreal by itself and that the world feels real as long as it exists based on God. This unreal world is imaginary. A dream cannot be real without its basic material, which is the soul or awareness. Similarly, a pot without mud and a chain without gold are unreal and they are imaginary or illusory. But the world is imaginary only to God and not to your self. If you say that the world is imaginary for your self also and try to do sins, you will have to undergo all the punishments. Then you must feel that the punishments are also imaginary like your sins! Your sins and their punishments are both within the realm of the world and hence both must be imaginary!
Some people feel that the word “best” has no end because there is always the possibility of something better in the future. Such people miss even the ultimate God because they will always be hoping for a better tomorrow, which never comes! Therefore, you have to fix yourself in the best as soon as the certificate from your inner conscience is granted since the inner self is always the best judge for your level, even if you are in the highest level.
Good works will lead you to heaven temporarily. Bad works will lead you to hell temporarily until you are transformed at least to a large extent. You may even enter the permanent liquid fire or hell for your endless sin, where you have to stay till you are completely transformed. Devotion (practical service without aspiration for any fruit in return) will lead you to the abode of God. If your devotion is limited to the energetic forms of the upper world, or to past human incarnations, you will have to return back from the abode of God (Abrahma Bhuvanat…—Gita). If your devotion is limited to your contemporary human incarnation, you will reach the abode of God forever (Yat Gatva na nivartante…—Gita). Of course, you will be coming to the earth in human form along with God in human form, to assist Him in His mission. Thus you will be in the permanent association of God.
Sun, Saturn and Yama
[Swami sang the following three lines in Sanskrit, explained their meaning and gave a discourse following it.]
Jnana Tejasam Tam Divakaram,
Jnana Karakam Tam Shanaishcharam,
Jnana Dayakam Tam Yamam Bhaje.
To Sun[2], who emits the radiation of spiritual knowledge
To Saturn, who generates the spiritual knowledge
And to Yama who gives the spiritual knowledge[3]
—I pray.
Sun, Saturn and Yama are the three spiritual preachers in the traditional Vedic line. Sun is the son of Kashyapa and is called as Kashyapeya. Kashyapa is called as Pashyaka, meaning the seer of even minute, subtle concepts (Kashyapah Pashyako bhavati yah Pashyati Saukshmyan…—Veda). This means that he is the top most spiritual preacher. I was born in the early hours (Brahma Muhurta) of Sunday in the Kashyapa dynasty (Gotram). I was born in the zodiac sign of Capricorn for which the Lord is Saturn. My birth star[4] is Uttarabhadra in which the period of Saturn starts. Capricorn is viewed by Saturn from the seventh house (Cancer). Capricorn, whose symbol is the crocodile, stands for a firm grip or firm determination, which is essential in the practice of spiritual knowledge. Today, is the day on which Saturn is moving from Cancer to Leo.
[In the early hours of this day, Swami looked very black and certain physical changes were seen in His body. Today a devotee, Mrs. Shrutakirti from Hydarabad, reported that Swami gave her a vision as Lord Yama. He was jet black in color and surrounded by several departed souls, sitting on a throne, conducting the enquiry].
You must understand that the planets indicate the nature of the soul and not vice-versa. The nature of a soul is not created due to the position of the planets. This is the basic flaw in astrology. People think that the planets, due to their positions and movements, harm or benefit them. The planets harm or benefit the people not based on their positions and movements, but based on the bad and good deeds done by those people previously. The word Jyoti stands for light; meaning the planet. But the same word Jyoti stands for the original light or God (Param Jyotih…—Veda, Jyotiradhikaranat…—Brahma Sutra). The real astrology is only the spiritual knowledge. People approach astrology for remedies to their problems. The solutions must be linked to the worship of God so that people slowly become devotees of God. Even Kamya Yajna (sacrifice performed to fulfill desires) is expected to gradually lead the person to the worship of God. This is the path of the Veda (Nastyakrutah…—Veda).
Suppose there are three persons. One uses his entire salary for his day-to-day expenses without saving any for his old age. The second person uses some of his salary for his expenses and saves some for his old age. The third person saves the entire salary for his old age and leads a simple life on the earnings from some work that he does on the side, because during oldage one needs a lot of money for medical treatment etc. All these three persons are not different in the view of their employer because the basic selfishness in them is one and the same. Similarly, one person serves God only for getting happiness in this world. The second person serves God for getting happiness in this world and also in the upper world. The third person serves God only for happiness in the upper world and in this world he leads a simple life by doing some work for his livelihood. All these three are not real devotees. Shankara says that a real devotee should serve God without aspiring for anything in return in this world as well as in the upper world (Ihamutraphalaviragah…). This is a very clear indication of real love as can be observed even in worldly life. Parents love their children and serve them without aspiring for anything in return from them and hence paternal love is said to be real and pure. On this point, no scripture is needed as evidence because it is a very well established point even in worldly affairs.
Message From History
[Swami watched a film on the T.V. titled “Yashoda Krishna”. Devotees requested Swami for a message on the film.]
You must learn lessons from past history, which are useful to your present. Otherwise, history is only an entertainment to pass time and is useless. By seeing the past human incarnation, Krishna, and His past devotees, you, the present people, must become devotees of the present human incarnation in a similar way as far as possible. Only then has the intended practical purpose of the movie been served. You have seen God in human form and the love of His devotees for Him. Each of the devotees was related to Him by different bonds, which were selected as per their taste. The extent of love in a bond is important and not the form of the bond. The weight of the sweet fixes the rate and not the form of the sweet.
You must not forget that the basic essence of a divine movie like this is the love that the devotees expressed for God in human form, who existed before their eyes. They proved their love through sacrifice. If you forget this basic essence and view the movie simply as the expression of love through various bonds, this movie is as good as any movie with a social theme. Many such movies show the same emotional love in various bonds like mother, father, beloved, husband, brother etc., as we see in the case of Yashoda, Nanda, Radha, Rukmini, Balarama etc., respectively. People often forget the basic essence of a divine movie and only see the emotional love of worldly bonds in it. Then the final result is only the strengthening of their worldly bonds further and further, which is quite opposite to the aim of strengthening the bond with God.
Recognition and Value for God
Purity means oneness. Pure gold means the single gold metal without any second metal like copper. When a single bond exists without a second bond, that single bond is called as pure love or devotion. This is the highest stage. In the lower stage, even if several bonds exist, only one bond becomes the topmost, before which all other bonds get rejected, in case of competition. In childhood, the bond with parents is the topmost. In youth the bond with one’s beloved or wife is the topmost. Afterwards the bond with one’s children becomes the topmost and continues throughout one’s life. The rejection of other bonds before the topmost bond is the meaning of the word “hate” used by Jesus, when He stated that one cannot become His dearest disciple unless one hates the worldly bonds. The bond with inert money is only to see happiness in one’s parents, wife and children; i.e. the bond with money is only for the sake of life. The bond with one’s own life happens to be the topmost bond from birth to death and before this bond all other bonds may be rejected. But sometimes, this bond may be rejected before the other bonds. It varies from one individual to the other.
The bond with God is also like the bond with money. People love God and money only for the sake of the happiness of self (life), parents, wife and children. Money and God are only the instruments to achieve happiness for the sake of self, parents, wife and children. If these bonds are absent, the bond with God and money disappears. This is the case of Pravritti, which is the general trend of most devotees. Only few exceptional cases exist among devotees for whom God becomes the topmost. Such exceptional devotees come under Nivritti and God loves only such exceptional devotees. The transformation of Pravritti to Nivritti is the real spiritual path. Jesus referred only to such devotees of Nivritti in His statement given above. Krishna also referred to such devotees in the Gita (Matchittah matgatapranah…). Divine movies aim to achieve such Nivritti. But people take God as an instrument to achieve protection and happiness of their worldly bonds including their own selves. Jesus says that His dearest disciple must be prepared to carry his own cross for the sake of God. This means that one has to sacrifice even the bond with one’s life for the sake of God. In fact, Jesus sacrificed the bond with His life for the sake of God’s mission, through His crucifixion. Hanuman tore His chest and heart to show God in His heart and this also shows the sacrifice of the bond with life for the sake of God. Krishna also sacrificed the bond with His life and the bonds with His children, wives and relatives for the sake of God’s mission. To establish justice and devotion on this earth, which is the primary aim of God’s mission, Krishna supported the Pandavas by all means. For the sake of this He accepted the curse from Gandhari due to which all His family and even His own life had to be sacrificed. Such practical sacrifice with all worldly bonds including one’s life for the sake of God’s mission alone could prove that God is the topmost. Thus, Krishna Himself practiced what ever He preached. Practical sacrifice alone can bring the real fruit. Theoretical knowledge and theoretical devotion should lead to the practical sacrifice. Theory is essential for the appearance of practice. Theory is like the seed and the subsequent practice resulting from it is like the tree. The tree alone can give fruit. The knowledge and devotion are like water and fertilizer, which are essential for the seed to grow into a tree. Therefore, knowledge and devotion are important but without practice (service), which is work, there is no fruit.
Brahma Vidya, Brahma Jnanam or spiritual knowledge is the most complicated path and even to achieve the correct knowledge is a hectic affair (Kashchinmamvetti…—Gita). Correct knowledge is the first step and even in this first step, there are a lot of complications. People are often misled even in this first step. The whole complication lies only in one point: you must conquer your ego and jealousy completely and recognize the contemporary human incarnation existing before your eyes even though He acts as an ordinary human being. Sometimes He may even act as the worst human being. You have to recognize God who is beyond good and bad. God is the Possessor of the world in which both good and bad exist. God is not touched by the world and therefore the good and the bad do not touch Him. He can expose good or bad but He is not touched by both. The world is like a shirt, which cannot be His characteristic like His skin. The good and bad are like the different colors of His shirt and they are not the colors of His skin. The white color of His shirt is not the white color of His skin. He is wearing white shirt and He is beyond the white shirt. Seeing the color of the white shirt, you will decide that He is white and approach Him as a good person.
In the case of the individual soul, your analysis is correct because the individual soul is a bundle of qualities. The individual soul is the shirt itself. Therefore, the individual soul is actually white or good himself. Similarly, the individual soul can be black or bad. But in the case of the human incarnation, God is beyond the white and black colors, since He is unimaginable. When you approach Him, He will change His white shirt and put on a black shirt. You will think that He is black and you will run away.
All your spiritual knowledge must be used to distinguish a really black man and a colorless person wearing a black shirt. This is a test for your knowledge of discrimination and your faith about your identification of God. It is also a practical test for your value for God over the other worldly values including the value for your life. Thus, your identification of God in a human being, who looks like an ordinary human being, is the first step. The faith in this identification is tested on the exhibition of bad qualities by the incarnation. If your faith remains, the extent of faith is tested through the extent of value given to God over other worldly values.
Sage Sharabhanga could not identify Rama as God, because Rama ended in problems by blindly following the foolish desire of His wife for a golden deer even though Lakshmana warned against it. He submitted his living body in the fire altar for the sake of God and thus he showed that he had the highest value for God. But he could not recognize the contemporary human incarnation. King Dhritarashtra believed in Krishna as the contemporary human incarnation but his value for God was not high compared to his value for his son. Therefore he refused the proposal of Krishna to avoid war even after seeing Krishna’s cosmic vision (Vishwarupam). If you see Hanuman, He not only recognized the contemporary human incarnation as God like Dhritarashtra, but also gave the topmost value to God like Sharabhanga by tearing open His chest with His own nails and offering His life for God. Thus, Hanuman contains the merits of both Sharabhanga and Dhritarashtra and he also avoided the defects of both. Most human beings have both the defects and therefore salvation is only for one in millions and that too after millions of births as per the Gita.
In the statement of Jesus that unless one sacrifices all the worldly bonds including the bond with one’s life, one cannot be His dearest disciple, both these merits are indicated. Generally the inner circle-devotees of God, who are very few in number, are born as devotees and get salvation, which is only a show for the sake of other devotees because the inner circle-devotees are already liberated souls. Sage Nara was a liberated soul already associated with Lord. But he was born as Arjuna, then as a hunter and finally as Vivekananda. In these three births, he represented an ordinary human being (Nara) and showed the path of salvation in the role of a devotee. Thus, the same liberated souls are born again and again and get salvation to show the path to other devotees. Only one in millions, after millions of births, gets real salvation and enters the inner circle of God. To achieve this goal, you have to conquer the ego and jealousy in order to recognize the contemporary human incarnation on one side. On the other side, you have to increase the value of God to the highest place, defeating all other worldly values including the value for your own life.
[1] Dharma
[2] Sun-god or Surya
[3] Yama, the Lord of death, gave this knowledge to Nachiketa
[4] Constellation as per Vedic astrology
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