16 Sep 2020
[Reply to a question by Kum. Mohini] Swami replied: There are several common points and several points of difference also. Unless you have a sharp intelligence and you follow a deep analytical procedure, you can easily mistake one for the other. Today, science is well-developed and hence, practical analysis has become very strong, unlike in the past, when logic was confined to the intellect alone, without any experimental proof. One person wanted to test Shri Rāmakṛṣṇa Paramahaṃsa to find out whether He was a Sadguru or not. The person secretly kept a one rupee coin under the bed of Paramahaṃsa. When Paramahaṃsa sat on the cot, His body was flaring with a burning sensation. This was a practical test. But Shirdi Sai Bāba used to ask money from devotees, which is quite contradictory to the case of Paramahaṃsa. But we know very well that Sai Bāba was also a Sadguru! In fact, both lived in the same time. The answer for this is that Paramahaṃsa behaved like that since that particular devotee expected to see that behavior, if Paramahaṃsa was a real Sadguru. Paramahaṃsa was indeed a real Sadguru and the devotee was very much convinced with the result of the test. His procedure of testing the genuineness of the Sadguru was according to his level of understanding of spiritual knowledge. But several devotees were convinced with Paramahaṃsa, even without this test. Hence, we must understand that the person testing the Sadguru always has limited knowledge. Kṛṣṇa, the topmost Sadguru, preached that the proof of one’s real devotion is the sacrifice of the fruit of one’s work, which is one’s hard-earned money and not one’s ancestral wealth.
All the three cases are tests to find out the reality. In the incident with Paramahaṃsa, it is clearly proved that the Sadguru never aspires for anything because He is God. In fact, since He is omnipotent, He can give anything to anybody. Paramahaṃsa told Vivekānanda that his family would never suffer from poverty and it happened so, from that day onwards. Would such a Paramahaṃsa (Sadguru) aspire for money? In the second case of Sai Bāba, He would ask money from devotees, but it does not mean that He required money. It only meant that the devotee’s ability to sacrifice his money to the Sadguru is the real proof which proves that the devotee’s devotion for the Sadguru is true. In the third incident, Kṛṣṇa further clarified this concept by emphasizing the sacrifice of one’s hard-earned money (karmaphala tyāga) to the Sadguru because one’s bond with one’s hard-earned money is far stronger than one’s bond with one’s ancestral wealth. Even though He had enough butter in His house, He stole the butter of the cowherd ladies, which was their hard-earned wealth. They had stored that butter in their houses for the sake of their children. The bonds with one’s children and one’s hard-earned wealth are very strong worldly bonds and both were simultaneously tested by Kṛṣṇa by stealing their butter. The Sadguru never aspires for money because He is not in any need of it, in the real sense. Since the sacrifice of money is the real practical proof for the devotee’s devotion, the Sadguru asks for it. It is not for His sake, but only for the sake of testing the reality of the devotion of devotees.
The ultimate aim of finding the true Sadguru is that you may receive perfect spiritual knowledge from Him, so that you will be benefited by it. But before testing the Sadguru, you must be well-prepared to digest the words of the Sadguru, even if He speaks very harsh knowledge. The truth is always very harsh. The best test to identify the Sadguru is to test the knowledge itself, instead of testing the giver of the knowledge, which is of no use to you. When you go to the jeweler’s shop to purchase pure gold, will you test gold or the jeweler? Therefore, you should never test the Sadguru because sometimes, He misleads you to test your faith in Him. Hence, never attempt to test the Sadguru. Understand that you are in need of His knowledge and not of Him. Suppose you go to a doctor to cure your disease, which you have got due to your smoking habit. The doctor has given you the perfect prescription. If you follow it, you will get perfectly cured. But the doctor may be a smoker himself. Because of this, will you reject his prescription? If he is a smoker, he will suffer for it, which is none of your concern. In the spiritual field, sometimes, the Sadguru, being the form of God, even tests your faith by appearing as a smoker. Shirdi Sai Bāba used to smoke. Sai Bāba being the human form of God was not affected by the smoking. The doctor, being a human being, gets affected by his smoking habit. In both cases, the cure of your smoking habit is very important and not the smoking habit of others.
God Kṛṣṇa told Arjuna at the end, after preaching the Gītā, to test whatever was told by Him (Vimṛśyaitadaśeṣeṇa...). He did not tell Arjuna to test Him personally. Hence, you must develop the wisdom of testing the item that you actually require and avoid testing the item which you do not require. If you test unnecessary items, there is every possibility of not identifying Sai Bāba as a Sadguru, due to His smoking. There is also every possibility of selecting a false Sadguru—a false guru appearing like a Sadguru—looking at only His external dress and habits. One is required to test the required item deeply like testing gold with acid. There is no need to test the seller of the gold. If you carry out a superficial test, it will not reveal the true picture of the required item. Rolled-gold glitters more than original gold. Similarly, while selecting a life-partner, one must deeply study the psychology of the person and not merely the external personality. You must always see whether the knowledge of the Sadguru fully clarifies all your doubts and convinces your inner consciousness. You must always test the required item and not the giver of that item because you are benefited by your required item alone.
Arjuna approached Kṛṣṇa after the war and requested Him to repeat the Gītā so that he could hear it with attention and a peaceful mind, in the absence of the tension of the war. Kṛṣṇa told him that He could not repeat it since He had also forgotten it. In the Sadguru or the Human Incarnation, there are two components: (1) The God component, who is the original speaker (person) of the knowledge and (2) the human-being component or the inert microphone before the speaker. If you ask the microphone to repeat the speech of the speaker, it cannot do so. But fortunately sage Vyāsa had recorded the Bhagavad Gītā preached by Lord Krishna and hence, this world was benefited forever (Vyāsena grathitāṃ purāṇa muninā...). On Arjuna’s repeated requests, Kṛṣṇa also repeated the Gītā. This second version of the Gītā is called the Anu Gītā, which is not as famous as the original Bhagavad Gītā. This means that Kṛṣṇa maintained His own stand by not revealing the original Gītā again, which was a punishment for Arjuna for not hearing Him with proper attention, the first time. The Sadguru’s knowledge is not a bathroom tape-recorder which can be heard, whenever one is in the mood to hear it!
Keywords:
| Shri Datta Swami | How to distinguish between a true Sadguru and a false Sadguru? | Gita Giita Ramakrishna Paramahamsa Krishna karmaphala tyaaga Sai Baba Vimrushyaitadasheshena Vyaasa Vyaasena grathitaam puraana muninaa
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