03 Oct 2006
O Learned and Devoted Servants of God,
[Message on Dasara, Day-2] Yoga means attainment. Attainment is meaningful if something other than yourself is attained by you. After traveling some distance if you say that you have attained yourself, it is meaningless. When you attain the superself (God), which is other than yourself, then only you can use the word Yoga. God in human form is attainable by your effort. God also has His limited family, which consists of a few liberated souls as you have your family. For you, your family is more important than the society, which consists of general public. You maintain business with society but love with your family. God also behaves like you. In business, you serve with balance of account in two-way traffic. But, in love, your service is one-way traffic. Similarly, God serves the public in a two-way traffic who expresses artificial love through worships. God also postpones their sins to the future births and cheats them by giving an impression that He has cancelled their sins. This balances their cheating God through artificial devotion, which comes out only in solving their worldly problems. Regarding the liberated souls, His service to them is without any account due to real love. God transfers their sins on to Him and relieves them from the sins. You are also sacrificing your happiness for the welfare of your family. The human form of God has such program of enjoying the sins of the liberated souls, which were committed by them before liberation. [At this point, a devotee asked a question.]
Devotee asked: Does the Human Incarnation of God suffer only for the sins of liberated souls, or even in case of some souls who are not liberated?
Swami replied: In some cases, God may also suffer some of the punishments of a soul who is not liberated. If the unliberated devoted soul has expressed aspiration-free devotion to God, theoretically and practically (through sacrifice) in a certain situation, God is pleased with that soul, in that situation. That soul might not have complete knowledge and might not be able to maintain that aspiration-free devotion to God in all other situations. But in one particular situation, the devotee manages to maintain pure and excellent aspiration-free devotion. The devotee might be suffering due to the punishment of some sin, but he has not expected God to remove that punishment. Even in that moment of suffering, the devotee manages to maintain aspiration-free devotion to God. Motivated by that devotion, he even practically sacrifices to God. God gets highly pleased with that soul, in that situation. So, He relieves the devotee’s suffering and bears it Himself.
[Swami continued…] In the Gita, the word Karma Yoga means the service to God, which is the practical devotion. The word Yoga denotes attainment of God and the word Karma means service. The word Karma means the necessary work or job (service) to be done to maintain one self or his family. Even the unmarried Samnyasin has to do some job to earn his livelihood if he is not having sufficient ancestral property. In Kali Yuga, Samnyasin has no value if he depends on the society for maintenance. People misunderstand Samnyasin that the aim of all his preaching is only food. Then they neglect all his knowledge and his effort in preaching goes waste. If the people are sure that the Samnyasin has his own food already arranged, they will be very much attentive to his preaching and also compel him to take food in their houses. A householder cannot reject his family since in marriage he promised before God to maintain it. He has the responsibility to maintain the family especially when the family is also devoted to God and is not opposing his practical devotion to God. In any case, job is essential if sufficient ancestral property is absent. Such work to earn the livelihood is called as karma. Since, the basic needs of the body or family are essential basis for the divine service, karma is a part and parcel of karma yoga. In such case, the aim of karma is also God only and not the self or the family. Then you are not the doer (karta). You cannot be the enjoyer (bhokta) of the basic facilities needed to maintain your body or your family because your aim is to please God by your service and not to please yourself or your family.
The basic needs cannot be called as enjoyment (bhoga). Thus, in the path of karma, you are not bound by the merits or defects (sins) of such karma. When your aim is to please the God and not to please yourself and other souls, the sin committed in such path cannot touch you. Kannappa, a hunter killed rabbit (a soft natured animal) and offered the flesh to the Lord and he was maintaining his body also by the same hunting. His body was maintained with only one aim, which is the service to Lord. Such sin did not touch him in any way by the grace of the Lord (Ahamtva Sarva Papebhyo… Gita).
A priest, a business man, a job holder etc., who maintains himself and his family through justified work without any sin neither goes to hell nor becomes a member of the family of God. Such fellow will be born as a bird or soft animal, which concentrates always on its livelihood only. The aim of this very rare human birth is to achieve the grace of God and not mere earning of livelihood. The word Akarma means leaving the work to earn the livelihood and depend on the society for the basic needs. Such a lazy fellow, who is not active even to earn his livelihood cannot be active in divine service also. Activity is very important and is the basis of Rajas (Rajah Karmani… Gita). Knowledge is the basis of Sattvam. Tamas is determination. Knowledge leads to determination, which leads to activity or practical devotion or divine service. Even in the worldly job, this sequence is required. By knowledge, one gets the concepts and clearance of all doubts, which results in determination that ends in practice. The worldly job is required to avoid the worldly stress like hunger etc. Similarly, the divine job is necessary to avoid the stress of hell after death. If you compare the stress of the hell and the worldly stress, you can understand the difference. Then you will realize how much the divine knowledge is more important than this worldly knowledge. The human beings being blind generally are concentrating on the worldly education only and are completely neglecting the spiritual knowledge. Such people may not do sins but they do not understand the useless future birth of birds and animals. Such birth is also considered as another form of hell on the earth. The human birth is a chance of getting huge profit. Such birth as animal or bird is neither profit nor loss. The neutral state is relatively minus with respect to the plus. Therefore, such neutral birth is also a hell with respect to the state of salvation. This neutral state generally extends to minus. People first think to earn the livelihood required for themselves and their families. Up to this stage, there is no problem because God arranges basic needs for every living being in this world.
Importance of Spiritual Knowledge
But after sometime since the concept of God is not realized through spiritual knowledge, such people extend their desires for more and more facilities (bhoga). Then they start earning the wealth by doing sins. Even after attaining the highest facilities, earning through sin does not stop because people become alcoholic to the process of earning. A drunkard cannot stop drinking after sometime. Such people are thrown in to permanent hell. Such extended work to commit sins is called as Vikarma. What is the solution for such vikarma if the person realizes it? The only solution is to sacrifice back such wealth to the welfare of the society. Rich people often speak about such social service by saying that since he has taken from the society; he has to return back at least something to the society. The solution is justified because the sacrifice of extra wealth (karma phala tyaga) is equal to sacrifice of work. Wealth is the fruit of work and therefore, it is another form of work. Work is energy and wealth is matter. Energy and matter are inter-convertible forms. Thus, the person, who sacrificed some wealth is equal to the person who has sacrificed work that was done to earn that much amount of wealth. You should not say that a rich man is purchasing heaven by sacrificing wealth. Since, sacrifice of fruit of work (matter) is equal to sacrifice of work (energy) according to science, you cannot object this concept. Moreover, if such alternative does not exist, what is the fate of that sinner, who realized the truth before his death? You cannot condemn him since he realized his mistake. There must be a way for repented soul. Therefore, such sacrifice is not purchasing the heaven by money.
Jesus told that a rich man can never reach God even if a camel passes through eye of needle. This appears as if all the rich people are permanently condemned. But Jesus always showed path to the people, who repented. Therefore, His statement applies to the rich people, who did not repent. If you close the doors for all the rich people permanently irrespective of their repentance, what type of work can be done by the devotees, who sacrifice work only? A person, who sacrifices work only is either a poor householder or samnyasin. Both these types cannot do any divine service without the money. Such situation will be like that in which when two samnyasins rub their shoulders with each other, only some ash applied to their bodies can fall down! Therefore, there is always a way for the repentance even on the death bed. Thus, vikarma also has a solution. The Gita emphasizes the sacrifice of fruit of work by giving highest place (Dhyanat Karma Phala Tyagah) by stating that mechanical practice of tradition without analysis (abhyasa), knowledge (Jnana), theoretical devotion (dhyana) and sacrifice of fruit of work (Karma Phala Tyaga) are in the increasing order of importance. Again, here you must note that the sacrifice of fruit of work means sacrifice of work also. Between these two words (karma samnyasa and karma phala tyaga) any word has both the meanings.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★