16 Dec 2018

Shri Dattaguru Bhagavat Gita: Kaalabhairava Khanda: Chapter-16 Part-1

(Song of Preacher – God Shri Datta)

Kālabhairava Khaṇḍa—Part of Kālabhairava

Sixteenth Chapter–Datta Matasamanvaya Yogaḥ

(Divine Vision of Correlation of Datta-Religions)

God-Preacher Shri Datta spoke:

While preaching spiritual knowledge, one preacher gives a simile to explain a certain point for the sake of the receiver’s effective understanding. The disciple of another preacher, who has come later on, criticizes that simile, pointing at the inapplicable side of that simile. Whenever a simile is given, one should only take the applicable side of the simile. Otherwise, it brings misunderstanding and leads to confusions, differences, and quarrels.
Every divine preacher in this world belonging to any religion is My Incarnation alone. I incarnate in every generation to remove the misinterpretation and misunderstanding of the concepts in spiritual knowledge made by the followers of previous religions. As I remove the misinterpretations by the proper correlation of concepts, the followers of every religion invent some new misinterpretations of other religions. This makes Me come again and again into this world in the form of Incarnations.
There are two levels, which are the level of God (Paramaartha dashaa) and the level of the soul (Vyavahaara dashaa). Both these levels should be studied independently. They should not be mixed since the imaginable soul is not the unimaginable God. My Incarnation shows that the unimaginable God becomes the imaginable soul for the purpose of expressing Himself to the imaginable souls. The Incarnation serves the purpose of preaching the true spiritual knowledge to souls, which is especially necessary in the context of such misunderstanding due to misinterpretations.
The spiritual knowledge preached by Shankara was misinterpreted by some followers, which led to misunderstanding and the spoiling of a large number of followers. Hence, Shankara Himself, came as another Incarnation called Ramanuja and rectified the confusion. Again, misinterpretation and confusion developed. Then, Ramanuja came as another Incarnation called Madhva and rectified the confusion. Again, misinterpretation and confusion appeared. So now, I have come as another Incarnation called Datta Swami, Yourself. In this Incarnation, I expressed the rectification of confusions from the very beginning, so as to bring it to a final conclusion. In fact, I have appeared here, coming out from Yourself!
I am the God-component, the pure gold, and You are the human being-component in the Incarnation-alloy. Both an Incarnation and an alloy are homogeneous mixtures due to the perfect merging of two components to form a single phase. Pure gold cannot be used to prepare jewelry since it is not strong enough when stretched into plates or drawn into wires. So, it is alloyed with copper. Similarly, the original God, who is beyond space, is invisible and unimaginable for souls. So, He merges with a selected devotee for expressing Himself to human beings. The merging with the selected devotee is called Saayujya. It is not the inability of the omnipotent God to appear before devotees. It is the defect of souls that they are incapable of grasping the original God. The simile of an alloy for an Incarnation is applicable up to this point. In an alloy, both the components, gold and copper, are visible, whereas, in the Incarnation, the God-component is invisible and even unimaginable.
To all general human beings, the Human Incarnation, which is like an alloy, appears to be just a human being, which is like copper. This is the dualism of Madhva. On the contrary, the alloy of gold used for jewelry appears to be gold itself. This is the case with the climax devotees who see the Incarnation as the original God Himself. This is the monism of Shankara. For average devotees, the Incarnation appears to be a mixture of the two components in various ratios, depending on the intensity of their devotion. This is the middle path which is the special monism of Ramanuja. In these aspects, the case of the Incarnation differs from the given simile of an alloy.
I select the Human Incarnations and their disciples from among My devotees. They become My external media to prepare and propagate the true spiritual knowledge that has been adulterated by false concepts. Among these devotees who always wish to be My servants, some are selected by Me as Incarnations through monism while some are selected to be their disciples. All these devotees have a very strong desire to enjoy the fruit of dualism with Me by remaining only as My servants forever. These dualistic devotees always want to remain ants and enjoy the sugar-like God by remaining separate from Me. They do not want to become the sugar and be enjoyed! In fact, in dualism, I Myself become their servant since they always wish very much to only be My servants and never to become Myself.
Whether the fruit is monism or dualism, all these devotees, who prepare and propagate knowledge and devotion respectively in the world, are always very dear to Me. This is said in the Gita as “Priyohi jnaaninotyartham..., Bhaktaastetiiva Me priyaah…”. Knowledge generates devotion and devotion generates service and sacrifice. Knowledge and devotion form the theory whereas service and sacrifice form the practice. Theory is the source of practice and the practice is the proof of the theory. Hence, both are holy and equally important. Theory without practice is useless since theory does not yield any practical fruit. Practice without theory is impure. The fruit produced by such practice is rotten, which only a beggar will accept and enjoy. To please God, the practice must be based on theory since God is not actually in need of Your theoretical prayers, practical service or the practical sacrifice of the fruit of Your work. All this drama of God to get work done through You, is only to uplift You. The hidden fact is that God is doing His work through You and is giving fame to You.
The devoted soul, selected to become an Incarnation, is also reluctant to have monism with Me. But I force the soul to have monism with Me and become a Human Incarnation representing Me directly since somebody is needed for that role. If the soul wishes for monism with Me, it is a very strong disqualification for getting monism with Me. The human being-component in the Incarnation has a high risk of getting the infection of ego. His monism with God may easily develop an ego in him, leading to his fall. Of course, if the Incarnation is real, I will protect that human being-component from ego since that soul did not become an Incarnation by its effort or wish. He became an Incarnation only because of My force.
Among the Incarnations, only Parashurama expressed ego since I did not protect him. I did this only to express the concept that the human being-component should be very careful about developing an ego resulting from the monism. Actually, Parashurama too was a perfect Incarnation, but He was used by Me to express this important concept of the ego resulting from monism. There was no fault of the human being-component in that Incarnation. He only sacrificed His true merit to express this concept. His sacrifice is useful to warn the human being-components in other Incarnations about the ego. Many Human Incarnations are false because they are just human beings pretending to be God due to the false effect of the monism preached by Shankara. They do not understand the background that Shankara had to preach the philosophy of monism to convert atheists into theists. They also forget that Shankara had warned His close disciples about such a misunderstanding by saying that He alone is God (Shivaḥ kevaloham).
The disciples of the Human Incarnation are also My indirect Human Incarnations because I do My work of propagation of knowledge through them. I am very close to them and they have My nearness, which is known as Saamiipya. There is no difference between direct and indirect Human Incarnations. Balarama was devoted to God and he never wished to become a Human Incarnation. Balarama was an incarnation of Adishesha, who is a devoted servant of God in the upper world. Yet, He was kept at par with My Human Incarnations by placing him in the list of ten Incarnations, between Rāma and Krishna, covering his identity as Adishesha. Sometimes, I even merge with the disciples, making them direct Human Incarnations, whenever necessary in the divine program. Padmapaada, the disciple of Shankara, became a direct Incarnation when God Narasimha merged with him to protect the life of Shankara from a cunning kaapaalika.
Sureshvara, who was previously known as Maṇḍana Mishra, and who became a disciple of Shankara, was the Incarnation of Myself as God Brahma. Rama and Krishna were Incarnations of Myself as God Viṣṇu whereas their respective servants, Hanuman and Radha, were Incarnations of Myself as God Shiva. Ramakrishna Paramahaṁsa was the Incarnation of Myself in the combined form of Shiva-Shakti, like Satya Sai, and Vivekaananda was an Incarnation of God Viṣṇu. The generator of the divine knowledge in the divine mission on earth is known as the Incarnation and those who propagate that knowledge are called disciples. But both are My direct and indirect Incarnations respectively, and both are equal. The preacher and the disciple are only the different roles in My program, and I am the single Actor acting in both the roles as I perform My work for the welfare of My creation. Hence, the human-component of the Incarnation should always be free from the ego-based difference between preacher and disciple.
When I merge with the human being to become an Incarnation, the disciples, identifying Me as the ultimate God Datta or Father of heaven, impress this truth upon the minds of others too. But others do not believe this truth because they see the normal properties of My external medium like hunger, thirst, sleep etc. Similarly, they also see the internal properties of the soul like anger, happiness in gains, misery in losses etc. At times, even the devotees who believe this truth, also have doubts upon seeing these properties of My visible medium. My visible medium means both the body and the soul of the selected human devotee since I merge with both body and soul. This helps Me mix with other souls, showing all the normal moods as shown by them. By covering My divinity and appearing like a normal human being, I can mix freely with people. Without raising undue excitement in them, I encourage them to ask Me any questions in full freedom so that I can clarify all their doubts.
As an Incarnation, I behave like a devotee, and this behavior helps My devoted disciples to learn the behavior of an ideal devotee of God. In fact, even though I exist merged with the selected human being, as the Human Incarnation of God, I also exist separately in My own original state as the unimaginable God (Parabrahma). I also simultaneously exist as separate Energetic Incarnations and other Human Incarnations. For instance, God Krishna did penance to please God Shiva in order to get the boon of a child for His principal wife, Rukmini. God Shiva, the Energetic Incarnation appeared and granted the boon. During the same time of God Krishna, Sage Vyaasa was also present simultaneously on the earth as His contemporary Human Incarnation. God in Krishna, Shiva, and Vyaasa is the same full God. Due to My unimaginable power, I do not undergo any reduction in spite of dividing into many forms. It is important to realize this and get rid of any confusion.
Demons obtain boons from God as a fruit of their rigorous penance. After getting miraculous powers as boons from God, the demon performs miracles just to get fame. In exhibiting miracles, his final aim is that others should regard him as God. He even denies the existence of God, other than himself. Of course, this demon got the miraculous powers only by praying to God in the first place. His denial of that same God later on, upon getting the miraculous powers, is the most fantastic joke! A soul who is an Advaita philosopher tries to become God through the constant thinking that he is God. He feels that he is already God but that he has forgotten that he is God. If he is already God, can God be so ignorant to forget Himself? A person who does not even remember his own identity is totally mad. Does this Advaita philosopher want to say that God is mad? The Advaitin also worships God initially like the demon. But he does it only to purify his mind; just as a step to recollect his own divinity. Both the demon and the Advaitin do not accept the separate existence of God in the final stage.
Performing miracles is essential for a Human Incarnation at the beginning of His divine program. It helps in overcoming the starting trouble for the divine program and it gives it an initial momentum. If the miracles exhibited are used by the devotees of the normal level to initially identify the Human Incarnation, it is good. But after the identification of the Incarnation, the experience of miracles immediately kindles the hidden selfishness in the devotees, who wish to use the miraculous powers for solving their selfish problems. Thus, their selfishness increases due to the miracles. When the selfishness reaches its climax, it makes the person commit sins, which lead the person to hell. The devotee thus falls to the level of injustice, which is the lowest level of animals. This level is below the path of worldly justice called pravrutti. Selfishness is the fascination towards oneself and one’s own family members. This is the lower sub-level of pravrutti in which there is not even a trace of fascination for God. My spiritual knowledge develops service and sacrifice for God in the person, reducing his or her selfishness. Some souls have a fascination for serving society or helping other souls, which is the level of social service. They pray to God to solve the problems of society. This is the higher sub-level of pravrutti. Such people attain heavenly pleasures. Even among such people, there is no trace of the fascination for God. The fascination for God is only found in the path of nivrutti. In this path, the same social service is done by the will of God and with His guidance. It then becomes divine service.
The demon is able to do miracles due to the powers granted by God. The miracles are the fruit of the rigorous penance done by him. At least during that period of penance, he accepted the separate existence of God. The Advaita philosopher, however, never accepted the separate existence of God. He tries to cover up his inability to do miracles saying that since the whole world is non-existent, the miracles performed in this world are also non-existent! He has not understood the meaning of the word ‘mithyaa’ used by Shankara. It means that the world is non-existent for God but it is very much existent for the soul which is part of the world. Due to the simultaneous existence and non-existence from different points of view, the world cannot be said to either completely existent or completely non-existent. It is said to be mithyaa, which is defined as that which cannot be said to be totally existent or totally non-existent. (Sadasat vilakshanaa). Only God Shankara could pass through the bolted doors, while his disciples, who were only souls, could not. The doors were simultaneously existent to souls and non-existent to God.
Miracles are like the jewels worn by God. They are His associated jewels even though the miraculous or unimaginable power is inherent of unimaginable God. When a demon performs miracles, the unimaginable God in hidden state performs those miracles so that the miracles appear to be done by the demon as if the miraculous power is transferred to him. Miracles are performed by God using His inherent unimaginable power. A demon appears to be performing miracles, but actually, God performs those miracles in a hidden manner, through the demon. Even in the case of the Incarnation, the same truth holds good. The demon says that he performed the miracle while the Incarnation says that God performed the miracle through Him. A scholar-devotee recognizes the Incarnation through the unimaginable knowledge given by the Incarnation. This unimaginable knowledge is the inseparable characteristic of God, like the beauty of the person. The scholarly devotee does not recognize the Incarnation by the Incarnation’s performance of miracles because, the miracles are only God’s associated characteristics, like the jewels worn by a person. The person may wear the jewels or not wear them. The queen recognizes the king by his inherent features of the face and body, and not by the jewels worn by him. Ignorant devotees try to identify God only through miracles. Thus, they are sometimes misled into thinking of some demon as God. An ignorant mad queen tries to recognize the king only by his crown and jewels. She is easily fooled by an actor from a drama, who merely wears a crown and jewels and claims to be the king!
The Incarnation either exhibits knowledge or miracles based on the requirements of the divine program. Rama never did any miracles except for one, which He did only in the presence of His brother Lakshmaṇa and sage Vishvaamitra. The miracle was turning a stone into a lady. He did not perform any miracles publicly because His divine program was to act like an ideal human being in pravrutti, which involves rising from the basic animal level to the level of worldly justice. By not showing miracles, He gave the message that a human devotee should not be attracted to miracles, which could be harmful. On the other hand, by performing several miracles, Krishna showed an example of the upper nivrutti level, which is the state of the Human Incarnation. This is the reason for the appearance of Rāma first and Krishna next.
Advaita philosophers need not justify their belief by saying that Shankara Himself had told that the soul is already God and that the soul should worship God only to purify the mind before becoming God by self-identification. It is true that Shankara had said so, but one should understand the background of the atheistic atmosphere during the time of Shankara. Rigid atheists do not believe in the separate existence of God. The preacher has the right to change the concept to suit the context of the receivers present around him, so that they can climb up to the next step. The progress of the receiver is more important for the preacher (Guru), whereas just stating the truth is more important for a mere scholar. This justified right of preachers to change the concepts to suit the stage of the receivers of their knowledge, brought differences in the philosophies of the three divine preachers. To understand their philosophies correctly, one must understand them in relation to their respective backgrounds. The fact that all three were revealing one true philosophy, becomes clear when You observe the gradual trend from Shankara’s monism for all souls, to Ramanuja’s special monism, followed by Madhva’s dualism. It matches with the gradual advancement in the spiritual level of devotees with time.
The preacher initially follows the wrong path of the highly ignorant receiver for some time. He then slowly diverts the person to the right path. Even if a person speaks something wrong, a good diplomat agrees with him initially by saying “Of course, you are perfectly correct, but...” and then he gradually and skillfully changes the person’s opinion. One has to run along with a strong running bull for some time before controlling it. This initial acceptance of the other person’s view satisfies the rigid person and makes him a little softer. He becomes more likely to understand the argument of the other side. The atheist asked Shankara “I have realized that I myself am God. Why am I still unable to do miracles like an Incarnation or like a climax devotee? Why am I unable to preach excellent spiritual knowledge like Krishna or Shankara?” Shankara replied to him “You are already God, but the ignorance of your mind is very strong. You have to purify your mind by worshipping God, and only then will your divine nature be expressed like the sun appearing after the clearing of clouds.” The atheist, trapped by the strong attraction of wanting to become God, was unable to ask sharp questions like: “How can God ever have ignorance?” or “Why should the soul, which is already God, worship God in order to become God?”

(To be continued…)

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