22 Nov 2024
13. Is there any pre-plan for the birth of every human being?
[Śrī Ravinder Reddy asked:- Paadanamaskaaram Swami! Is there any pre-plan for the birth of every human being? Is there any change in karma implementation in the human life? Can we escape from past karma? Swamiji, will there be any impact of the karma from previous life to the present life?]
Swami replied:- Everybody has a pre-plan. If you want to do something, you will have a pre-plan. If you want to build a house, you have to take the plan first. Is it not? Pre-planning is an inevitable step for any activity of a human being. When the human being leaves this gross body, the soul will go to the upper worlds of heaven and hell to enjoy the fruits of all good deeds in heaven and all bad deeds in hell. When all the fruits are exhausted, the soul will again take a new birth on earth. Here, we should remember that the soul should have some Karma Shesha (balance of deeds) to be born again. So, God will make sure that a trace of karma will be leftover unenjoyed by the soul. The reason being that any punishment can never bring complete transformation in the soul. Similarly, any reward will never give complete encouragement. Every soul enjoys the rewards in heaven for its good deeds and undergoes punishments in hell for its bad deeds. But, when a soul gets punished in hell, the soul will not completely transform with the punishment.
A slightest guna (quality) will be leftover in the soul. Although the soul will transform by 99%, the 1% of gunas will be present in the soul. The punishments in hell are similar to the punishments that are given to criminals in police stations. There is not much difference between both. When you give a third-degree torture to a thief in a police station, he will avoid stealing only for some time. But after few months of his release from the police station, due to his bad friendships, he will start stealing again because of the small guna that is left within him called as karma śeṣa. Here, guna represents karma because guna is the cause of karma. Similarly, the soul will not reform completely even after suffering punishments in hell. When the favorable environment is seen in the next life, this small karma śeṣa will grow again. In this way, there is a relation between the karma in the previous life and the present life. The full karma of the soul cannot be exhausted or removed by punishments since punishments can never bring complete reformation. Only the true and complete spiritual knowledge from Sadguru can bring permanent reformation in the soul.
Every soul gets a new birth based on this balance of deeds (karma śeṣa) only and if it is zero, then there is no chance to get a new life as there is no purpose of life due to the absence of karma. Hence, a small amount of karma will be stored in the form of guna in each soul. For example, a person is doing a karma, which is telling lies. Now, this telling of lies will be stored as a guna and this guna can be called as a karma. The guna is a thought and this thought is formed due to nervous energy. The action of this thought is done by physical energy. For example, you are cutting a tree. This action is done using physical energy and the thought of cutting is a form of nervous energy. Both are energies only, but, the physical energy is the strongest and the nervous energy is the weakest. This is the reason you don’t get punishments for bad thoughts.
If you have a criminal thought, you will not have practical punishment in hell. You will only receive a strong warning from Yamadharma Raja not to repeat such wrong thoughts again, which is against justice. If you keep on thinking about the wrong thought, it will convert into physical action and you will end up getting practical punishments. Since there is no harm to others because of your criminal thoughts, you don’t get practical punishment. But these wrong thoughts are very dangerous because if you intensely think about it, it may lead you to do physical action. So, you must cut it at the root level itself. I conclude this answer by saying that there is a strong relationship between past karma and the present karmas because the past karma is in the form of quality or thought that exists in the jiiva and that provokes the jiiva to do further actions of the same kind. A quality or strong thought is nothing but a subtle form of karma, which promotes to do fresh actions in this birth.
14. Is the quality not present in the soul after reformation?
[Śrī Satti Reddy asked:- Mee Paadapadmalaku Namaskaaram Swamiji! Swamiji, after reformation, that quality is not present in the soul. Isn’t it?]
Swami replied:- Yes. Reformation means that the quality is not present anymore. But, the above answer is for those souls, who didn’t get reformation.
15. Draupadi theoretically thought of killing Kauravas. Why did she receive practical punishment?
[Swamiji, You said that theoretical sins will have theoretical punishments. Draupadi had revengeful attitude towards the Kauravas and it is theoretical thought. Why did she receive practical punishment of losing all her sons?]
Swami replied:- Draupadi provoked her husbands to do the war and kill the Kauravas. Every day, she was provoking them and that resulted in practice by her husbands. So, she becomes responsible practically. Even in the above answer, I told that wrong thoughts should be avoided because further concentration on the same thought will lead to action.
16. Can we get real attachment to God through theoretical worship like singing songs?
[Swamiji, You told that liberation means attachment to God, which gives spontaneous detachment from the world. You also told that practical devotion alone is true devotion. But, we also get detachment from the world while doing theoretical worship like singing bhajans of God and doing japa. Isn’t that attachment to God real?]
Swami replied:- It is the result that decides the correctness of your action. You do whatever you want but attach yourself to God completely. You either sing songs of God or study the spiritual knowledge or involve in practical service. Do whatever suits to you, but the result must be achieved. I just want the result. Test yourself in seeing the practical result by singing theoretical songs and theoretical japa. My personal experience is that along with theoretical devotion, practical devotion also must be associated as far as possible.
17. How to escape from worldly thoughts after theoretical or practical worship is stopped?
[Swamiji, but the problem is that once we stop the worship like singing songs or doing japa or practical service, the worldly life i.e. maya is catching us and it is very strong. What to do?]
Swami replied:- When your mind is going away from God, you must change the method of worship and take some alternative method to attach yourself to God. Whatever suits to your psychology, you select that method at that moment. There are many methods followed by many people according to their interest. Sometimes, each method may have partial influence, but when all the partial influences are added, it may give the complete influence. Each devotee has a different psychology with different mental setup. One single method may not work for all and may not work for the same devotee all the time. So, whatever suits your mental setup at that time, you select that and continue with it. When your mind is going back to the world, you change the method immediately and bring your mind back to God.
18. If I had got a higher-paid job, I would have sacrificed more. Please comment.
[Ms. Thrylokya asked:- Paadanamaskaaram Swami! Swami, today morning I have seen Lakshman Garu donating 5 lakh rupees and JSR Prasad Garu donating 2 lakh rupees to Swami. When I see Your devotees doing great practical sacrifice to You, I feel that I should get a better paying job and do more than them. Please enlighten me.]
Swami replied:- How did you come to know that they have donated that amount? I did not open the cheques and I Myself don’t know the amounts. They gave folded cheques and I just kept the folded cheques there. Should I pay you the tax now? There is one income tax officer (referring to Smt. Meena, wife of Shri Lakshman) in the Satsang observing this!
19. Should I spend more time in getting a better job to sacrifice more?
[Sorry for the trouble, Swami. I saw the cheques on the table and opened them to see the amounts. You also told that Karma Phala Tyaaga is the highest and more than Karma Samnyaasa also, Karma Phala Tyaaga is the highest. Now, I feel that I should invest more time in getting a better paying job so that I can earn more and sacrifice more. Please enlighten me.]
Swami replied:- I told many times that God doesn’t see the value of the donated item. It is not the question of the amount of donation. When Jesus was preaching the spiritual knowledge in a Church, several rich people came and donated hundreds and thousands of coins to Him. One devotee donated a hundred coins, another devotee donated two hundred coins and another devotee donated a thousand coins, etc. But, one beggar lady donated only one coin. Jesus immediately got up and announced that the she is the best donor so far. Everyone was shocked because many other devotees donated amounts, which were hundred times and thousand times more than what the she had donated. Jesus then explained that God sees only the percentage of wealth donated to God compared to the total wealth possessed by the devotee. The beggar had only one coin with her and she had donated the entire wealth she possessed. Therefore, her sacrifice was 100%. That is why, Jesus arose from the chair and said that she was the best donor and best devotee. Although a rich man may have donated one thousand coins, but his possessed wealth is one lakh coins. In the eyes of God, the rich man’s donation is only 1%. So, God doesn’t see the donated amount and sees only the donated percentage.
If you go to a business man and give 10 rupees, he will give one fourth kilo of tamarind. If you give 20 rupees, he will give half a kilo of tamarind. The business man sees only the amount of wealth donated. But, God sees only the percentage of the total sacrifice done by the devotee and not the amount. Sudaama was suffering from poverty, but still, he donated three handfuls of parched rice to God Krishna by taking a loan from neighbours. While he was returning back from Dvaaraka to his home, he must be worried as to how to clear the loan and he must scold God Krishna for not giving him anything in return. But, Sudaama didn’t criticize God Krishna even in his mind. This is something marvelous and God Krishna was pleased with Sudaama’s devotion. Hence, God Krishna gave unimaginable wealth to Sudhama. There is no comparison between the amount of donation done by Sudaama and amount of wealth given by God Krishna to Sudaama. This is another incident, which clearly proves that God doesn’t see the amount of donation. Actually, if you see the value of donation, it is only three handful quantities of parched rice and God Krishna took two handful parched rice only. When He was about to eat the 3rd handful, Rukmini caught His hand and stopped Him because if He were to eat that 3rd quantity, God Krishna would become as poor as Sudaama by giving all His wealth to Sudaama! Here, we must understand that God is not in need of money unlike human beings. He is the giver of money to all.
Some people may mistake that God can be purchased by money. The sacrifice of wealth or Karma Phala Tyaaga does not mean that God can be purchased by money. Karma Phala Tyaaga is only a proof for one’s theoretical devotion. It is very clear in worldly affairs also. Suppose a boy loves a girl. He may sing songs and write poems praising her to show his love. But, only when he spends some money from his pocket, she will develop some confidence that he will take care of her after marriage. Otherwise, after marriage also, this fellow will not give food and he will simply go on praising her! In Telugu, there is a saying (raaka pokalu unte bandhutvam, petti poshiste aapekshalu), which means that true love is there when you do practical sacrifice. This fact is true in Pravritti and you need not go up to Nivritti for this. This is not suddenly discovered in Nivrutti since it exists in Pravrutti from a very long time.
You may say “I have only a little money such as a hundred rupees. Now, I will earn a thousand rupees and give to God”. Is God in need of your thousand rupees or hundred rupees? If you give a hundred rupees now, your sacrifice is 100%. Tomorrow, after earning a thousand rupees, if you give nine hundred rupees also, it is not 100% sacrifice. Greed grows with earning wealth. You may think “I gave a hundred rupees the last time. Why should I give a thousand? Let me give two hundred this time”. Once you get more money, you develop more attachment to it. Since your income is less, your attachment is less and that is why it is good to give a hundred rupees now. If you get more money, ambition for money also increases. That is why, rich people can never donate and only poor people can donate money to God. It is always the poor, who succeeded in the test of God. Adi Shankara went to the house of a poor lady, who was starving from several days due to poverty. But, when Shankara came to beg, she searched all the house and found one small fruit. She brought that small fruit and put in the vessel of Adi Shankara. She could have eaten that since she was starving badly. But, she decided to sacrifice it to Shankara. Then, Shankara was so much pleased that He spontaneously sang Kanakadhaara Stotram and golden fruits were rained by Goddess Lakshmi.
Every day, Shankara was going for begging to several other houses and people were giving Him very good food. But, He was not so much pleased with any other devotee. It is because her sacrifice was 100% and in other houses, their sacrifice was only 1% or 0.5% or 0.1%. This again proves that God doesn’t see the amount of sacrifice but only the percentage of total wealth sacrificed by the devotee. In Sudaama’s case, I say that the sacrifice is 200% because he has nothing in his house and he went to his neighbours to bring some parched rice on loan so that he can give to God Krishna. Will anybody sacrifice money to God by taking a loan? Anybody can give whatever they have and that is the maximum limit. Will anybody think of going to others’ houses and begging for a loan? Can anybody calculate the percentage of such a sacrifice?
20. Swami, everyone is getting money by Your grace only. Isn’t it?
[Śrī Satti Reddy asked:- Swamiji, the money we are getting is by Your grace only, right?]
Swami replied:- See, that should always be a secret and should not be opened. If that is opened, true love cannot be achieved. I always tell one story. A grandfather bought and brought a biscuit packet to his grandson. He gave that biscuit packet to the daughter in law (who is the mother of that grandson) and told her not to reveal that grandfather bought these biscuits. She gave one biscuit to her son and he is not aware that his grandfather had bought the biscuits. Now, the grandfather goes to the grandson and says “I am feeling hungry, can you give me a bit of that biscuit?”. Suppose the grandson knows that his grandfather had bought the biscuit packet, he will immediately give that whole biscuit to him out of gratitude. He will think “My grandfather bought 100 biscuits for me. Can’t I give one biscuit to him in return?”. He will also go to his mother and ask for some more biscuits to give to his grandfather. But, this is not true love. This is only an expression of gratefulness. That is why, the grandfather asked his daughter-in-law to keep it a secret that he bought these biscuits. Now, if the grandson has true love on the grandfather, he will give a bit or a whole biscuit to him. Only if the fact is kept as a secret, the test can be conducted properly. Otherwise, gratefulness will enter.
God is giving everything to everybody. If anybody has anything, that is obviously given by God only. Everybody knows this fact. But, that should not strike the mind of the devotee while donating wealth to God. While testing the devotee, God hides this fact and it will not strike to our mind. Even if it strikes our mind, God’s power of Maayaa creates a doubt in our mind whether the person to whom we are donating is the contemporary human incarnation of God or not. God’s test is always practical and correct from all angles. True love is different from gratefulness and nowadays, people don’t even have gratefulness towards God.
21. Please unite all the people, who are divided based on caste and religion.
[Śrī Phani asked:- Swami, I have a question. Nowadays, society is divided based on caste and religion. As Sadguru, You should unite all the people. How can You unite all the people based on the caste and religion?]
Swami replied:- If I stand for the elections, I will definitely unite all the castes and ask for votes! In fact, I am on My way to elections! I tried to get sympathy from women by revealing the true meaning of the Gayatri is singing sweet songs in the praise of God and proved that it is done by women only and not men. I also told that the real Yajñá is done by females only because Yajñá means cooking food and giving to the Vaiśvānara Agni (hunger fire) of hungry people. I have given a lot of arguments on these in My website. So, I am slowly gaining the votes of women first since almost 50% votes are women only! Then, I denied the caste system based on birth and told that caste is decided by the qualities and deeds (Guṇa karma vibhāgaśaḥ - Gita). I have given the example of Satyakaama Jaabaala from the Veda. When Sage Gautama asked Jaabaala about his father, Jaabaala frankly replied “I don’t know. I will ask my mother”. His mother said “I worked in several houses as a servant and I don’t know who your father is”.
Then, Satyakaama Jaabaala came to Goutama and told the truth “My mother tells that she doesn’t know to whom I was born. So, I don’t know my father’s name”. Then, Gautama declares that Satyakaama Jaabaala must be a Brahmana since he told the truth and admits him into his Gurukula. To whatever caste he may be born, he is a Brahmana because he is telling the truth. Goutama did not say “You must have been born in Brahmana family and that is why, you are telling the truth”. I also gave another example of Janashruti. Janashruti was a king. He was a kshatriya by birth, but sage Raikva addressed him as a Shudra because he was very much worried mentally. We don’t know the caste of Jaabaala by birth but we clearly know the caste of Janashruti as Kshatriya by birth. Since he was worried, he was called as Shudra since Shudra means the person, who worries (Shochati iti Shudrah).
Hence, caste is derived from quality, but quality cannot be derived from caste. Romaharshana was a pot maker but he was made as the head of the sacrifice in Naimisha Forest by all the sages. All other sages are Brahmanas by birth and brahmanas by quality. But, they made Romaharshana as the head of the sacrifice, but he was a pot maker by birth. When Balarama came to the sacrifice or Yajna, all the sages stood up in respect except Romaharshana. The rule of the Yajna is that the head of the sacrifice shall not stand before anybody. So, he followed that rule. But, Balarama became angry and killed him with his Hala aayudha. Then, all the sages scolded Balarama and told about the rule (niyama). Balarama being the incarnation of Adi Shesha, gave life to Romaharshana and asked him to excuse his sin. This entire incident is present in the Bhagavatam. Although Romaharshana was not a Brahmana by birth, he was a brahmana by his qualities and deeds. This current caste system based on birth was created just five thousand years back when Kali age started. The characteristics of Kali is only to split, create quarrels and create hatred among people. I have taken a lot of care and explained the true meaning of everything in My spiritual knowledge.
22. Which is the higher between Karma Phala Tyaaga and Karma Samnyaasa?
[Śrī Surya asked:- Swami, I have a doubt. The proof of practical devotion is both Karma Phala Tyaaga and karma samnyaasa. Between these two, which one is higher?]
Swami replied:- In the Gita, it is clearly told that Karma Phala Tyaaga is the highest (Śreyo hi jñāna mabhyāsāt, jñānād dhyānaṃ viśiṣyate, dhyānāt karma-phala-tyāga, styāgā chhānti ranantaram). I also explained scientifically that in Karma Samnyaasa (doing sacrifice of work), energy is sacrificed and in Karma Phala Tyaaga (sacrifice of wealth), matter is sacrificed. Between energy and matter, matter is greater because a small amount of matter is equal to a lot of energy (E=mc2). When a small matter is converted into energy, a lot of energy is released as an in atom bomb. Hence, matter is more valuable than energy according to science also. Even in Pravrutti or worldly life, the employee is sacrificing his/her work (energy) and the employer is paying money (matter). Who is respected by whom? The employer is respected by the employee. The employer, who gives matter or money is greater than the employee, who gives energy. There are several employees sacrificing energy, but employers are less. Therefore, Karma Phala Tyaaga is the highest but the question of capability is always there.
You must donate as per your capability and as per your devotion, whichever is less (Yathā śakti yathā bhakti). Just like you calculate your HRA before paying tax, you must calculate, which is the least between capacity and devotion! Suppose you have the capability (shakti) of 100 rupees, but your impression on Me (bhakti) is only 10 rupees (You think “This fellow deserves 10 rupees and not more than that”), then you must give only 10. Here, your shakti is 100, but your Bhakti on Me is only 10. Since 10 is the minimum between 10 and 100, you should give only 10. Suppose it is the reverse, where your capacity is 10 but your impression on Me is 100, then also you can give only 10 since you don’t have the shakti although bhakti is high. Suppose your Shakti and Bhakti are equal, then you must give the tallied amount. Suppose your capacity is 100 and your devotion on Me is also 100, then you must give 100. Suppose your capacity is 10 and your impression on Me is also 10, then you must give 10. There are a total of four possibilities here, but some exceptional rules are also there.
Saktuprastha is an exceptional example. It was a time of severe drought and he got some flour for his family after one month of starving. Saktuprastha, his wife, his son and his daughter-in-law were the four members in his family. Since some flour was obtained after a month, they cooked it and divided into four parts. Then, God came as a guest-beggar and asked for food. Saktuprastha gave his share to Him. He ate the share and said “I am still hungry”. Then, his wife gave her share. The guest said that He was hungry still. The son gave his share and the guest said that He was still hungry. Then, the daughter-in-law also gave her share. All the four parts of food were sacrificed to God at the time of severe drought and this is a very exceptional case. Even the beggar, who gave one coin to Jesus was also an exceptional case since she sacrificed 100% of her wealth to God. If you observe in the world, a beggar doesn’t care for one paisa but a multimillionaire cares even for one paisa! If he is a poor man, he won’t even care for a 100 rupees note.
As you become rich, the greediness in you also increases. That is why, even if you do more amount of sacrifice to God, the percentage of sacrifice remains as less only. If you are capable of spending your money or energy for God, but not spending it, then it proves that there is no true love for God. If someone is not capable of sacrificing wealth, then Karma Samnyaasa (sacrifice of energy or work) itself is considered as total 100% sacrifice. A Saint cannot do Karma Phala Tyaaga because he himself is begging for food. What Karma Phala Tyaaga can he do? Nothing. For a saint, Karma Samnyaasa (sacrifice of energy or work) itself is the test of true devotion. Actually, the principle behind is that Karma Phala Tyaaga is a test for theoretical devotion. Always remember that God is not in need of anything and our sacrifice to God proves our true devotion towards Him. Since the same concept of practical sacrifice is followed in the worldly life or Pravrutti to prove one’s true love, God also follows the same to test our love towards Him in spiritual life or Nivrutti.
Swami commented:- This Thrylokya commented that Shri Lakshman gave 5 lakhs and Prof. JSR Prasad gave 2 lakhs. But, do you know how many lakhs she gave? She gave 14 lakhs last year. Now, she is talking about other devotees. She is very cunning actually!
23. Please enlighten about the wrong birth-based caste system.
[Smt. Sudha told:- Paadanamaskaaram Swamiji! I have one more question. Although God Krishna told in the Bhagavad Gita that birth-based caste system is wrong, our Indian society is suffering from this wrong classification of caste system for last 5000 years.]
Swami replied:- Now, even the government has passed many rules to abolish caste discrimination and society has changed a lot.
[Swamiji, even the matter of reservations given by the government to lower caste people is also based on birth only. That is a big problem now since undeserving people are getting government jobs and promotions.]
Swami replied:- Deciding one’s caste based on birth is a wrong tradition that is persisting from the beginning of Kali yuga. But, the present government is giving jobs to both upper and lower castes based on birth. Is it not?
[But, Your rule is not being followed now?]
Swami replied:- My rule will never be followed because these rules, which I told are theoretical, but not practical. Whatever I told is the correct rule since God Datta spoke that. God Krishna is also God Datta only. Caste must always be decided by qualities and deeds only. Let My spiritual knowledge reach to all the people and let them think and debate. We are expecting that people implement the correct caste system in the future.
24. Don’t the gratefulness and love to God come in sequence?
[Śrī Ganesh asked:- Paadanamaskaaram Swamiji! Swamiji, I have one question regarding Karma Phala Tyaaga. For previous question, You told that gratefulness to God and love towards God are two different things. Don’t they come in sequence?]
Swami replied:- Gratefulness is actually business devotion only. When you give 10 rupees to the shopkeeper, he gives you 1/4th kilo of tamarind. Can you say that the shopkeeper takes your 10 rupees as donation to his shop and to express his gratitude, he gives 1/4th kilo of tamarind to you out of gratefulness? This suits business only. True love is when somebody comes to you and doesn’t give a rupee, but you give one kilo of tamarind to him with a lot of shy and humility. True devotion is like the one-way traffic and business devotion is like e two-way traffic. In true devotion or one way traffic, you don’t expect anything from the other side. Since you have real love on God, you are sacrificing or donating to God since you love the personality and qualities of God. Sacrifice is just the practical expression of your true love to God.
When you don’t aspire any fruit in return from God, then that is the true love. Actors and Politicians like NTR, MGR, etc., had a huge number of fans. A fan of a hero shows such true love in this world. When such love is diverted to God, it is called as fan devotion. Whenever the hero’s cinema is released, a fan spends money from his pocket without expecting anything from his hero. The hero doesn’t know even the name of this fan but the fan will do anything for his hero. The fan has developed such high fascination towards the hero by watching the movies of that hero, where his personality is projected in an unimaginable manner and he appears as a very good gentleman. If you see him outside in real life, he is a rogue! Based on the projected false personality of the hero, this fan developed a lot of true love. When the hero dies, the family members of the hero take the dead body to the burial ground to burn it and after coming home, they take all the property earned by him. This fan, who did not take a single paisa from that hero and spent his hard-earned money for the sake of hero, will burn himself committing suicide when the hero dies. What a marvelous love it is? It is called fan love.
I categorized the devotion to God into four types. i) Prostitution Devotion, ii) Business Devotion, iii) Issue Devotion and iv) Fan Devotion. Issue Devotion is also very pure since parents have true love on their issues. Issue means child. Parents give all their property to the issues even though their issues don’t look after them properly in their old age. A son puts the beds for his old parents in the verandah saying “You are coughing all night and disturbing our sleep”. Then, his parents will scold saying “You ungrateful fellow! How much we have served you from the childhood! Now, since your wife has come, you have forgotten us”. These parents do scold theoretically, but they don’t change the property-will that is written in the name of their son. When this kind of parental love is diverted to God, it is called as Issue Devotion. The best and highest is fan devotion only because fan devotion is the climax of devotion.
A fan loves without any relationship and any aspiration in return. Although business devotion is a two-way traffic involving exchange from both sides, it is better than Prostitution Devotion, in which practical expectation exists without practical sacrifice from our side. This Prostitution Devotion exists to a large extent in our country. If you want a job or lottery or profit in your business, which is practical boon from God, you read the Hanuman Chalisa for 108 times or the Vishnu Sahasranaama for 11 times and this is nothing but theoretical devotion only. You don’t spend even 10 paise for God. You know what a prostitute does? When a customer comes, she sings songs and sheds tears of false love so that she can take money from her customer. Money is practical and singing is theoretical. Exchange of theoretical devotion with practical boons is called Veshyaa Bhakti or Prostitution Devotion. Exchange of practical devotion with practical boons is called Vaishya Bhakti or Business Devotion. A merchant promises God to sacrifice practically if God helps him practically in his business.
In Apatya Bhakti or Issue devotion, some aspiration exists but even if it fails, the parental love is not changed. In Unmaada Bhakti or fan devotion, there is no aspiration for anything in return. We must develop such love towards God. When we go to a temple, some worldly problems come to our mind and our devotion is contaminated by those worldly desires. Even if you are doing practical devotion, it is to get some practical benefits from God only as we see in business devotion. That is not correct. We should love God like a mad fan or at least like a parent loving one’s own issues. There are 10 types of issues like Aurasa Putra (born to actual parents) and Kṛtrima Putra (born by artificial insemination), etc. God Datta can also be called as Datta Putra or adopted son. Actually, Datta means given. The actual parents give their son to other parents not having children and such given son is ‘Datta Putra’.
We are supposed to worship God as our son and do the service and sacrifice to Him practically just like we do to our own children. Adopted son will also ask property and hence, treating God as son is a danger for us. This is loss for us and profit to God. But, we, human beings are cleverer than God! Hence, we say in reverse that Datta is our Father and Mother and we are His children (Tvameva mātā ca pitā tvameva). Saying that, we are escaping from our practical devotion to God and demanding God as parent to give wealth to us in the form of the usual will even though we are defective in our devotion! Seeing this over-intelligence of human beings, God Datta became mad and roams in the world and this is interpreted as a curse got by God Datta!
25. Can we do 100% sacrifice to God with the ambition that He will take care in future?
[Śrī Hrushikesh asked:- Sashtaanga Namaskaaram Swami. Is it correct to do 100% sacrifice to God with the ambition that God will take care of me if something happens in the future?]
Swami replied:- Sacrificing 100% to God is done by very few exceptional devotees. Are you an exceptional devotee? Are you one of the public? You are one of the public and hence, you follow the rule of ‘Yathā śakti yathā bhakti’, which means that you must donate as per your capability and as per your devotion, whichever is minimum. You must first take care of your family expenditure. If the aim of your life is to serve God only, then the amount you earn and save for your expenses and the amount you earn and save for the expenses of your family including wife and children, etc., will be considered in the account of God only. All the expenses of yourself and your family will be considered as donated to God only if your sole aim in life is to serve God because you must maintain yourself with good health served by your family to be a good servant of God. Since you have a home and family such as spouse, children, parents, etc., you have to maintain them for your happiness so that you can consistently serve God and fulfill your ultimate aim of life. When the only aim of life is God, all these maintenance expenses come under the account of God. Unless you maintain a healthy body and maintain some peace of mind, how can you serve God?
To be continued...
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