18 Aug 2020
[Krishṇāṣṭamī Message, August 11, 2020] O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! Today is Krishṇāṣṭamī and we have to please God Krishna. Can we please Him by mere prayers and songs (bhakti yoga), without practically following (karma yoga) the instructions given by Him (jñāna yoga)? He has instructed us through the Gītā regarding how our behaviour should be with people in the world (pravṛtti) and how our behaviour should be towards Him (nivṛtti)? We cannot please a wise king by merely praising him, without following the rules and regulations framed by him. In order to please God Krishna, we must first know His philosophy, which He has preached through the Gītā. Only then can we identify and follow the path to please Him and attain His grace. Today, all of us are forgetting this background and are simply involved in His praise and worship, aspiring for some fruits in return. The fruits we aspire for are either related to this world while we are alive or to the upper world, after the end of this life. Nivṛtti is love for God, in which we must never aspire for any fruit from God in return for our love. Pravṛtti is our strictly controlled ethical behaviour with other souls in this world, which is liked by God Krishna. None can claim to have any love and respect towards any elder by going against the elder’s liking and wishes. If you are going against the liking of your elder, you cannot claim to have even a trace of love for that elder. The starting stage of love itself is to follow the instructions of the elder. Respect, in advanced stage, becomes love. Disrespect and love cannot travel together. If you disrespect somebody and say that you love him, it is like saying that you will give a hundred rupees to him, without giving even one rupee!
God Krishna gives a lot of weightage only to pravṛtti. In fact, He punishes anybody violating pravṛtti (Dharma saṃsthāpanārthāya…, Vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām…—Gītā). Nivṛtti is optional for the soul and not mandatory at all. Are you not mad, if you refuse that which is insisted upon by your elder, but you follow that which is liked by the same elder? God Krishna specified three main sins that must be avoided and they are: illegitimate sex, illegitimate anger and violence and illegitimate greediness through corruption etc. (Kāmaḥ krodhastathā lobhaḥ…—Gītā). If a soul refuses to follow this strict instruction, the soul will be punished. He will have to face hell here, in the form of diseases like the coronavirus infection and other problems. In addition, he will also have to face hell in the afterlife. Such a soul can never even dream of nivṛtti, which brings the climax of God’s grace. Demons touched the climax of nivṛtti, but they violated the fundamentals of pravṛtti. So, God punished the demons severely, without caring for their nivṛtti. Without properly understanding the actual philosophy of the divine personality of God, people are praying to and worshipping Him blindly, thinking that God is innocent enough to be fooled and trapped by their buttering techniques!
The first Energetic Incarnation of the unimaginable God is God Dattātreya, who incarnated as the three Energetic Incarnations called Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva. The three qualities of God Datta are rajas, which is related to Brahmā, sattvam, which is related to Viṣṇu and tamas, which is related to Śiva. Hence, God Datta is called Hiraṇyagarbha (Brahmā), Nārāyaṇa (Viṣṇu) and Īśvara (Śiva). God Viṣṇu incarnated as the materialised Human Incarnation called Krishna. The unimaginable God (Parabrahman) is the innermost light and all the other names belong to the external media which have merged with the materialised outermost medium called Krishna. The medium called Krishna is material and is made of the five elements. Into this medium, the media of Datta and Viṣṇu are merged. The energetic media of Datta and Viṣṇu are merged into the materialised medium called Krishna. The medium means the external body and all these media (Datta, Viṣṇu and Krishna) merged together, are identified by the single name ‘Krishna’.
Apart from the absolute unimaginable God, the three souls of Datta, Viṣṇu and Krishna are also merged together as one soul for the one body called Krishna. The unimaginable God has merged with both the soul and body of Krishna and hence, Krishna is completely divinised and is called God Krishna. The unimaginable God is beyond space and beyond the imagination of human beings or even angels (Na me viduḥ suragaṇāḥ…—Gītā). In order to allow angels, who are energetic beings, to perceive and meditate upon God, God has entered into certain energetic beings. God mediated by an energetic being is called an Energetic Incarnation. For the sake of human beings, God is mediated by a selected human being and is called a Human Incarnation (Prakṛtiṃ svāmadhiṣṭhāya…—Gītā). The unimaginable nature or power of the unimaginable God comes to the medium due to the perfect merging of the unimaginable God with the medium. Actually, the unimaginable God remains as the unimaginable God, while simultaneously becoming the medium (Sacca tyaccā’bhavat… —Veda, Sadasaccā’ham arjuna…—Gītā) and this concept is unimaginable.
As per the Gītā, God is neither existent nor non-existent (Na sat tat nā’saducyate…). This means that God cannot be said to be existent because we can only say that an item exists, if we can at least imagine it. One cannot say that something exists, when it cannot be understood or even imagined! But one is forced to say that something unimaginable exists because of the miracles that are perceived. Miracles are said to be unimaginable events because, even though their outcome or effect is perceived, their source remains beyond imagination. Thus, miracles indicate their unimaginable source, which ultimately, is the unimaginable God. This finally means that one cannot say that the unimaginable God exists, based on perception. But one can say that the unimaginable God exists, based on inference. Even though God’s existence can be inferred, His nature cannot be inferred or even imagined. It remains permanently unimaginable.
The soul is a part of creation. It is not the creator or even a part of the creator. The creator is the absolute reality, whereas, creation is the relative reality, which means unreal by itself. The relative reality or unreality of creation is with reference to the creator and not with reference to the soul. The soul is a part of creation alone and hence, the soul is also part of the relative reality. When a soul creates an imaginary world (daydream) for its own entertainment, the imaginary world is relatively real with reference to the soul who is the creator of that imaginary world. But the same imaginary world is absolutely real with reference to itself and entities within the imaginary world. The soul can perform any miracle like the creation of any item in the relative imaginary world created by it. One absolute reality cannot perform any miracle in another absolute reality and hence, the imaginary world created by the soul must be accepted to be relatively real with reference to the soul. The same story applies in the case of the unimaginable God. God is the absolute reality and creation (including all souls) is relatively real with reference to God. But creation is absolutely real with reference to the soul within creation. Our real world is the imaginary world of God. It is just like the imaginary world created by the soul for its own entertainment (Ekākī na ramate…—Veda).
But there is a difference between the omnipotent God and the impotent soul. The imaginary world of the soul does not appear to be as clear as the real world is for the soul. Hence, it is unable to give real and full entertainment to the soul. This is because the soul’s imaginary creation is based on its weak mental creative power called avidyā. But creation, which is God’s imaginary world, appears to be as clear to God as the real world appears to the soul. Thus, creation is able to give full and real entertainment to God. God creates creation using His unimaginable power, māyā, which is very powerful. So, even in the view of God, His relatively-real world is fully clear to Him, as if it were an absolute reality like God Himself. On the contrary, in the view of the soul, its relatively-real world is very weak and not very clear to give complete entertainment.
Finally, this world is equally clear to both God and the soul. The world is only relatively-real before God, while, before the soul, it is equally real as the soul. Yet, as far as its appearance is concerned, it appears completely real to both God and soul. The essentially unreal nature of the world from God’s point of view means that God can perform miracles in it. Its real appearance to God means that God gets full and real entertainment from it.
That which is real, appears clear to us and that which is unreal, appears unclear to us. But the world is unreal to God and yet it appears clear to Him. This self-contradiction of the natures of reality and unreality is forcibly suppressed by the power of māyā, which is praised in the Gītā (Mama Māyā duratyayā…). Hence, both Śaṅkara saying that the world is unreal, allowing God to perform miracles and Rāmānuja saying that the world is real because of its perfect clarity, stand true simultaneously. In fact, Śaṅkara said that this world is neither real nor unreal. He said that it is different from both and hence undefinable (Sadasat vilakṣaṇā mithyā). Thus, Śaṅkara and Rāmānuja both stand simultaneously true, even from the same point of view of God. Madhva’s philosophy follows Rāmānuja’s philosophy, treating creation to be real. This impossible simultaneous coexistence of the two contradictory natures of creation is made possible by the unimaginable power (māyā) of the unimaginable God.
God Krishna exhibited several miracles in His childhood to give evidence that He was the Incarnation of the unimaginable God. Through these unimaginable events called miracles, one can infer the existence of the unimaginable God. God Krishna was a monistic Human Incarnation of God, which means that the unimaginable God had directly merged with Krishna. But several sages could also perform miracles. They were great devotees and can be called dualistic incarnations of God. Sage Nārada says that a real devotee of God is also an incarnation of God, since he or she keeps God in his or her heart. Such a great devotee or dualistic incarnation is also capable of performing all the miracles. Not only that, but even some demons who are devoted to God, can perform miracles. They have forced God through their rigorous devotion and penance to grant them those miraculous powers. It means that the performer of miracles need not always be God.
In spite of all this analysis, Krishna was very well recognised as God through the miracles He performed. In that case, why did the majority of Gopikās complain against Krishna that He was stealing the butter from their houses, which they had stored for the sake of their children? The stealing of butter was a test of God given to the Gopikās to see whether they would give more value to God Krishna than their children and wealth. The bond with one’s children is called putreṣaṇā and the bond with wealth is called dhaneṣaṇā. Butter was the wealth of the cowherds, which the Gopikās had preserved for the children. Thus, that butter acted as the single testing material to test these two strong worldly bonds of the Gopikās. Krishna had a lot of butter in His own home and yet He stole. So, the Gopikās could have overlooked His stealing with the realization that Krishna is God. As God, Krishna did not require any butter at all and even as a human child, Krishna did not require butter from anyone else since He had plenty of butter in His own house.
Sage Nārada has also said in his Bhakti Sūtram that the Gopikās were well aware of Krishna as God. Even other villagers were well aware of this fact because they had all seen the most wonderful miracle of the tender boy, Krishna, lifting the huge Govardhana mountain. The point here is that the Gopikās were well aware of Krishna being God and yet, they complained to Yaśodā about the theft of their butter by Krishna. What I mean to say is that no Gopikā can say “Oh, I only thought Krishna was a human boy. Had I known that Krishna was God, I would have given up, not just butter, but even my life for His sake!”
This means, God competed with the wealth and issues of the Gopikās and the majority of the Gopikās did not vote for God. This is to say that the power of illusion covered their souls (Āvṛtaṃ jñānametena …—Gītā). The practical aspect of ignorance (māyā) is far far greater than the theoretical aspect of ignorance (avidyā). Māyā, which is God’s unimaginable illusory power, is the practical reality for the soul. Avidyā or the individual ignorance is only theoretical (mental) for the soul. This combined bond of a soul with wealth and issues is the strongest worldly bond. Several Gopikās failed in this test. They gave more importance to worldly bonds than God.
By dancing with the Gopikās in Bṛndāvanam, Krishna tested whether their bond with God was stronger than their bond with their life-partners. This bond with the life-partner (dāreṣaṇā) is a weaker bond as compared to the bonds with wealth and issues. So, we find that even some of the Gopikās who had failed in the previous tests, were able to cross their bond with their husbands and attend this dance. These two activities of Krishna, namely stealing of the butter meant for their children and dancing with them, were tests of their devotion. He tested whether their devotion was stronger than their strong worldly bonds called dhaneṣaṇā (wealth), putreṣaṇā (issues) and dāreṣaṇā (life-partners).
God Krishna repeatedly claimed to be God in the Gītā (Ahaṃ sarvasya jagataḥ…, Manmanābhava …). What does this mean? Does it mean that God Krishna was fond of blowing His own trumpet, like a demon? No, not at all! If you think like that, you have totally misunderstood Krishna’s point. The point is that God Krishna wanted to repeatedly stress on a very important concept, which is that God comes in human form for the sake of humanity. The human being need not waste even a minute of its time in making any effort to see the Human Incarnation of God. On the other hand, to get even a short vision of an Energetic Incarnation of God, one has to perform severe penance for a long time. Often, the person’s short human life may end before getting the vision of God’s energetic form. The Energetic Incarnation of God is meant for energetic beings of the upper worlds called angels. The same unimaginable God existing in Energetic Incarnations like Datta, Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva etc., also exists in any Human Incarnation. To see the Human Incarnation, the human being need not waste even a minute of time. One can effortlessly see and talk with the Human Incarnation of God. Thus, the human being can use its entire lifetime in getting spiritual knowledge directly from God and expressing devotion to God, in both theoretical and practical ways.
Similarly, God Krishna repeatedly emphasised the sacrifice of the fruit of one’s work in the Gītā (Tyaktvā karmaphalā’saṅgaṃ…, buddhijaṃ karmayuktā hi…, dhyānāt karmaphalatyāgaḥ…). This practical sacrifice of the fruit of one’s work is the sacrifice of one’s hard-earned wealth. It is the fire-test for the genuineness of one’s love for God. This again should not be misunderstood. God is in no need of any material help from souls. He is the ultimate giver of everything—materialistic or spiritual—to all souls. God is not bothered about the magnitude of the sacrifice of the fruit of one’s work. Instead, He gives value to the share or proportion sacrificed to Him out of one’s total possessed wealth. Hence, the extremely poor Sudāma, by sacrificing a few handfuls of borrowed parched rice to God Krishna, was able to please God Krishna immensely. As a result of his sacrifice, God Krishna granted Sudāmā immense wealth in this world and salvation later on. Similarly, a very poor lady gave just one small fruit that remained in her house to Śaṅkara. Pleased with her total sacrifice, Śaṅkara granted her a rain of golden fruits here, along with salvation hereafter. Listening to these stories, we might even be ready to donate a bag of parched rice and a bag of fruits to God. But the question is, had we been in the place of Sudāmā or that lady who were hit by such extreme poverty, would we have sacrificed even a grain of parched rice or even a piece of that fruit? God Krishna also emphasised theoretical devotion in the Gītā, which means that while expressing practical devotion (donation) to God, we should also simultaneously express theoretical devotion. This is because God is not a beggar aspiring for mere practical sacrifice. The practical sacrifice is the proof that one’s theoretical love for God is true.
In view of all this analysis, we should try to give the first place to God, whenever God competes with anybody or anything in this world since the Veda says that God is the highest (Na tat samaḥ…). Let us sincerely follow the rules of God in pravṛtti so that we like what He likes (justice) and we dislike what He dislikes (injustice). If this fundamental point is violated, whatever may be the extent of our nivṛtti, we will be disliked by God and we will be called demons. Maintaining this basic pravṛtti as the basic stage under our feet, let us try to improve our pure nivṛtti, which is the love for God, without the aspiration for any fruit in return, either here or there. At least, let us maintain our pure nivṛtti one day in a week as the initial effort.
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| Shri Datta Swami | Pleasing Lord Krishna | Krishnaashtami Krishna Nivrutti Giita Pravrutti Jnaana Dharmasamsthaapanaarthaaya vinaashaayacha dushkrutaam Kaamah krodhasthathaa lobhah Shiva Iishvara Naaraayana Vishnu Na Me viduh suraganaah Prakrutim svaamadhishthaaya Sat cha tyat cha abhavat Sadasatchaahamarjunaa Na sat tat naasaduchyate Ekaakii naramate Mama Maayaa duratyayaa Sadasat vilakshanaa mithyaa Raamaanuja aavrutam jnaanametena maayaa daareshana dhaneshana putreshana avidyaa Aham sarvasya jagatah Manmanaabhava tyaktvaa karmaphalaasangam karmajam buddhiyuktaahi dhyaanaat karmaphalatyaagah Na tat samah
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