25 Mar 2017
Shri Kishore, Hrushikesh and Karthik asked: In one place, You said that a beggar is under the punishment of God and to help the beggar becomes sin since we are interfering with the divine administration. In another place, on other hand, You said that helping the beggars must be done by constructing beggar homes. How to reconcile and correlate both these contradicting concepts?
Swami replied: In your question itself, the answer is in hidden state as found through two words: 'In one place' and 'in another place'. The same true concept is taken in one angle in one place and in another angle in another place. The very important point is that when two angles exist for a concept, you should not take any angle as the sole true angle. You cannot also take both the angles in one time as one angle. You have to take each angle separately giving equal importance to both angles and then only the original true concept gets perfect correlation in two sides. I will give one best example. The creation is unreal from the angle of God and the same creation is simultaneously real from the angle of human soul. You can't say that the creation is real or unreal or ‘real and unreal’ or ‘neither real nor unreal’. All these four possibilities become wrong. Here, you have to say that the true concept can't be projected without its corresponding angle. You must say that this concept can be told with reference to its corresponding angle only. Now, you can say that the creation is unreal with respect to God and the same creation is real with respect to the soul since soul is a part of the creation. The basic logic here is that unreal (creation) is not real with reference to real (God) and the same unreal (creation) is real with reference to unreal (soul) since soul is a part of the creation. Unreal can be unreal before real and cannot be unreal to another unreal. Hence, you can't say simply that creation is real or unreal without reference. Hence, Shankara called this creation as Mithyaa, which is different from real and unreal (Sadasat vilakshanaa mithyaa). It means that it can't be told as real or unreal without the reference. The pot is real with reference to the spectator. The same pot is unreal with reference to the mud with which it is made.
The point in your doubt is also similar to the above explanation. There are two references here based on this point, which are:-
1) You are criticizing the Judiciary for giving rigorous imprisonment to a sinner without facilities of life. You want every sinner to be arrested in his house only so that minimum facilities are available. Further, you will say that since the level of poor should be made equal to the level of rich, every sinner should be arrested and should be kept in a five-star hotel with all luxurious facilities! Here, the view of the critic is only about the standards of prison in which a sinner is arrested and the whole aim is to criticize the Judiciary system awarding such rigorous imprisonment.
2) Your aim is not to criticize the standards of prison maintained by the Government and its facilities to be provided for an imprisoned sinner. You fully agree that a sinner has to be punished by rigorous imprisonment because the judiciary system is not giving punishment due to revenge to the sin. The punishment is given for the sinner to bring at least a temporary reformation since punishment can never bring the real, permanent reformation. The Judiciary is justified and is not cruel, which is acting for the welfare of the sinner and thereby for the welfare of the society only so that the sinner will not do a second crime. Now, you have sent an appeal to the Government that you will give a course of moral preaching to bring real reformation in the sinner. You also expressed that such coaching will be given in a building having all minimum facilities protected by the external force. The Government agrees to this proposal. One should not argue that this course of coaching should be given only in the jail without any minimum facility. This is not justified because when you are trying for real reformation, the punishment (rigorous imprisonment) for temporary reformation need not simultaneously exist. In the absence of trial for real reformation, the punishment for temporary reformation should be implemented for which no criticism should be done.
The above two contexts are totally different angles of reference of the aim, which is either trial for permanent reformation or trial for at least temporary reformation. Both are different angles and should not be clubbed so that repulsion arises between the two mutually contradicting aims. When a sinner is punished by the birth of a beggar, you should not help the beggar simply with the aim of criticizing the divine administration (Government). If you help the beggar with this atheistic aim, it is a sin. Such help also becomes useless because the beggar will spend the money given by you for vices and becomes more punished due to spoiled health. Instead of financial help, you must build beggar homes in which no money is given to them. Food, shelter, clothes and medicines are supplied. In the beggars also, the old, children, disabled and diseased are eligible for such free service. The healthy and energetic beggars must be provided with some work to earn these services and deficiency can be met over with free services. By such beggar homes, the problem of giving money is avoided since perfect and complete service is done by the beggar homes. The beggar homes are devoid of the defect that the donated money may be spent for vices because the beggar homes do not involve free spending of money by beggars. Even though this defect is solved, a major bigger defect lies unsolved, which is the trial for reformation of sinners through preaching the spiritual knowledge and devotion. If this main aim is absent and simply beggar homes are maintained without any trial for real reformation, it is a very bad situation because at least the punishment (rigorous imprisonment) is better than such arrests in houses or in five-star hotels! Mere help to a sinner without trying for his/her reformation is condemned by Me. The other context is helping the sinner with good facilities during the process of trial for permanent reformation. The spiritual trusts like TTD [Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam] should take up such program of beggar homes associated with preaching spiritual knowledge and devotion because such activity is very congenial to any religious trust. The secular Government (as in our country) may object such spiritual preaching and may come forward only to maintain the beggar homes without spiritual knowledge and devotion. In such case, the whole program becomes utter failure. Even the religious trust is giving food to all the visitors just for business of getting better donations through such service! Instead of giving food to every visitor, God will be pleased if the entire money is spent just for beggar homes only. The secular Government must understand that 'secular' means the unity of all religions through spiritual knowledge and not rejection of every religion and even the basic spiritual knowledge of all religions. If you say that God exists, who is omniscient and omnipotent to punish any sinner, it is spiritual knowledge and not any religion since you have not given any name to God like Brahman, Jehovah, Allah, etc. The Government is foolish to reject the spiritual knowledge also in the name of religion. By this rejection of basic and universal spiritual knowledge, the whole system of administration collapses due to appearance of various sins not only in the public but also in the machinery and members of Government also!
Therefore, mere social service without association of spiritual knowledge trying for reformation of a sinner is not only waste but also a crime against the Government or Judiciary system (divine administration). Mother Teresa did lot of service to the bottom-most victims of the poverty (poorest). But, such service done by her was always associated with the divine spiritual knowledge of Christianity. Her service was not for mere name and fame. Her service was also not mere service done by a politician aspiring for polling votes in the election! This politician becomes a part and parcel of the Government after victory in the election. The present Government is filled with such cunning and selfish politicians only. Of course, there are always a very few exceptional good people, who are unable to change the system due to their extreme minority! These politicians of majority never serve the poorest beggars. You must always start the service from the bottom-most level and extend it to the higher levels in course of time. This means that first you must serve the poorest, then poorer and then poor. These politicians never touch the poorest beggars because they can't swindle money in the service of poorest. If one swindles money here, the poorest beggars will come on the road and public will detect the mischief of the politician. Hence, these politicians select poorer and poor people for implementing the welfare schemes. The poorer and poor have their homes and some methods of earning for basic needs of life. In the case of such poorer and poor people, if the money is swindled by the politicians in the name of implementation of welfare schemes, the poorer and poor people do not come to the streets since they have homes and certain minimum basics of living. This is what is happening in the present system of democracy. In the ancient days, the monarchy of the King was present. The King is a single person immersed with lot of wealth and facilities. The King and his family are bored with the immense wealth and facilities. They always try for good administration and help the poor people starting from the bottom-most level. In the kingdom of King Rama, no beggar was seen on the road! The King is also guided by a council of Ministers for good administration and thus the possibility of a bad King becomes very much minimum. Hence, the saying that old is always gold becomes true in the light of the ancient system of monarchy than this present democracy.
Even the old monarchy was having some democracy since the council of ministers were advising the King. Today, the President (supposed to be King) is powerless. The Ministers are elected by the people and all the power lies with the Ministers only. When you concentrate power on a single individual guided by a council of well-educated (not elected by innocent public) Ministers, the system works good. When you concentrate power on a group, especially elected by the innocent public, the whole system becomes corrupt as we see in India. Of course, there is a council called Rajya Sabha, supposed to be filled with scholars. But, today, Rajya Sabha is again filled with political parties only or innocent public! If you see the foreign countries, the President has full powers even though guided by council. I see the print on a dollar note, which is ‘We trust in God’. Why not to print such statement related to God on our currency also? We print Gandhiji on our notes since he is the Father of nation, who brought freedom to our country. But, Gandhiji worshipped always Lord Rama, who must have been greater than Gandhiji. Why not print the figure of Lord Rama, who is the Father of the universe. Even Gandhiji will be happier to see the print of God worshipped by him. Of course, Gandhiji was secular believing universal spirituality. We can print Lord Rama, Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, Mahavir, etc., as photos on currency representing the universal spirituality. Spiritual knowledge is far far greater than politics. Spiritual knowledge is the real basis of the entire political administration of the humanity to be placed on the ground of truth, justice and peace. Even in court halls, you must put the big photos of various forms of God of various religions so that the criminal feels the experience of God, whom he/she cannot fool. This is better than presenting a statue covered with black cloth to indicate that the actual truth was not seen and judgement is based on the ears hearing the witness only. This indicates the limitation of human force by which the criminal is encouraged to take the advantage. Instead, such photos give impression on the mind of criminal that God is existing in the place of judge whom the criminal cannot divert to wrong line. The photos also suggest that even if the criminal takes the advantage, the criminal cannot escape the punishment from God either in this life or at least after death.
The most important fundamental concept is about the establishment of the concept of existence of God, who created hell for punishing the sinners, even if they escape the punishments from the Government in this Earth. For this, the existence of omniscient and omnipotent God is the basis of the above fundamental concept. Even in the trial for permanent reformation of sinners, this concept should be the starting point. Every sinner should feel that he/she shall be punished for the sin after death even if the punishment is escaped on this earth due to over-intelligence. If the sin is intensive, the sinner shall be punished in this very life itself. If this basic concept is impressed in the mind of every citizen, there is no need of judiciary or police, etc. This concept can be impressed on the mind of every citizen provided the education system takes care of it. The present people think that the ancient Kings were foolish, who gave more importance to spiritual knowledge in the education than the professional learning. I can clearly say that our ancient Kings were not foolish and the present people, who think like that, are the most foolish. The ancient Kings were very wise to spend more for spiritual knowledge in the education system so that the concept of God and hell is built in every mind by which the administration becomes very simple and perfectly good and justified. What is the use of materialistic progress when fear for sin and fear for God do not exist? Disciplined poverty is better than undisciplined prosperity. Self-discipline or self-resistance to sin comes only through spiritual knowledge, which develops resistance to sin at least by fear to hell created by God. For normal sins, hell exists in the upper world. For intensive sins, hell exists in this earth itself. The Creator of both types of this hell is the omniscient and omnipotent God, whom you cannot fool through tricks, false evidences and lawyers fighting to save injustice for the sake of money. Spiritual knowledge does not mean the subject of old age or subject after death. It is the subject of this entire humanity from birth to death and after death also!
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