01 May 2011
[Mr. Anil asked two questions: (1) You said that Shirdi Sai Baba did a lot of penance in His early days. Is such penance necessary for a human incarnation? (2) Can there be more than one human incarnation at a time? Shri Swami gave the following reply.]
The very purpose of the human incarnation is to preach the humanity. For this purpose, God takes the human form and behaves like a human being. The behavior itself gives the practical direction to humanity. If God appears in energetic form and gives the message, people will not follow it because there is no practical demonstration by a human being. They will think that the message is practically impossible for human beings. Ofcourse, they will hear the message with lot of reverence to the energetic form with extensive excitation. This extensive excitation may also cause disturbance in receiving the message and understanding it. Jesus also performed penance on a hill for forty days. Both Sai Baba and Jesus preached that a human being should do penance and realize God practically before preaching about God. The penance means the maintenance of faith on God irrespective of severe practical difficulties. Jesus had no food during penance, which was for a short period. Sai Baba took only Margosa leaves for several years during penance. Even Baba did penance in the childhood, which is nothing but the undisturbed faith that He is Sai Baba. There was lot of torture on Baba to divert Him and Baba never changed. You find Lord Shiva always in the posture of meditation closing His eyes. Lord Shiva is God Himself existing in the energetic human form. In such case, what is the goal of His meditation? He is giving the message to the souls in the energetic bodies to meditate upon God in that way. He Himself is the goal of His meditation.
God can exist in different human forms simultaneously as per the various programs meant for the welfare of humanity in different aspects. The intensity of the program also varies as per the different standards of the receiving people. You have Parashurama and Shri Rama as simultaneous human incarnations. Parashurama was very furious to warn the kings from further atrocities. Shri Rama was very peaceful because His goal is to be an example for human beings. Both these are simultaneous programs. Even a human being does two types of activities at a time. In such case, why not the omnipotent God? Shirdi Sai Baba was very rough and tough since He preached the villagers. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was very soft since He preached the educated public of city. Both are simultaneous human incarnations. It is impossible for a human being having spatial dimensions to exist in different houses, which have large spatial dimensions. But, God has no spatial dimensions and hence, can exist in different human forms, which have spatial dimensions. Here, to some extent, you can take the simile of current existing in different wires performing different activities. Simultaneously, the current generates sound in T.V., light in a bulb and mechanical motion in a fan. You can take this simile to a great extent because many good aspects of comparison are covered. But, there are limitations even to this simile. Current is a chain of electrons, which may be treated as particles or waves. But, God is not a chain of particles or waves. Both particles and waves have spatial dimensions and hence, current also has spatial dimensions. Therefore, current is quantitatively divided in different instruments but God has no spatial dimensions and such quantitative division is not possible in the case of God.
Same God in Different Media
The Gita says that with respect to the media, which have spatial dimensions, God appears to be divided. But, the unimaginable God is not divided since God is beyond space (Avibhaktam Vibhakteshu). Even the entry of God into human form is unimaginable due to the single reason that God is beyond space. We always see the process of entry of one imaginable item having spatial dimensions into another imaginable item, which has spatial dimensions. We do not have another unimaginable item in the world to compare to God. The only imaginable aspect here is the existence of unimaginable God in the imaginable medium. We can only say that God exists in this medium and God does not exist in that medium. Neither the entry, nor the nature and nor the actions of God are imaginable. By simultaneous existence of God in different media, God is neither qualitatively divided nor quantitatively. But, in the case of current, it is not qualitatively divided but, it is divided quantitatively in various instruments. You may say that if the current exists in equal number of watts, it may not be quantitative division because the quantities are equal. This argument is wrong because the division is there even in equal quantities because the current is discontinuous. There is no current at all in the space existing between the instruments. This discontinuity means the division of current. You may say that the space between two human incarnations also does not contain God and the same quantity of God exists in both the human incarnations. By this, you cannot say that current and God are one and the same and hence, current is God or God is current. The above situation can stand as a good comparison for God and current. The same current flowing in two different wires with the same potency can stand as a good example for the existence of the same omnipotent God in two different human forms. The absence of current between two wires can be a good example for the non-existence of God in the creation other than the human incarnations. God having no spatial dimensions is not present in the creation having spatial dimensions by way of general logic. But, God and current are totally different items because God is unimaginable without spatial dimensions and current is imaginable since it consists of electrons having spatial dimensions. Therefore, a simile to God can help to understand the knowable concept regarding God. By this, you should not mistake that the compared item and God are one and the same. The compared item can be also called as God and such statement is a metaphor, which is one of the figures of speech. Metaphor is another form of simile. People having no knowledge of figures of speech mistake that God is actually the compared item.
The holy scriptures are always the poetic compositions of God. The Veda says that God is a poet and a scholar (Kavirmaneeshi). Hence, the Veda says that God is space, life, etc. All these are metaphors only. God is subtle like space. God is important like life. In the Christian scripture, it is said that the lamb will come in red robe. God is as pure as the innocent lamb. When people cut it for eating, it is full of blood, which looks like the red robe. The scripture says that you should not cut any animal for eating and killing an animal is like killing God. The scripture says to kill the animal offering to God. This does not mean that the scripture encourages to kill the animals. Anyway, people are killing the animals and do not stop on the advice. To introduce at least the concept of God, the scripture says to offer it to God. By this, the fear to God may be developed in due course of time and people may follow the advice of God not to kill the animals. Baba took this statement to compare Himself to the lamb. The red robe indicates the red dress of Baba. In fact, the dress means the body in which the mind is a part. The red robe stands for the matured mind with ripened knowledge. The fruit becomes red on ripening. This avoids again the misinterpretation that Krishna, Jesus, etc. are not human incarnations because they were not in red dress. Baba told that the lamb cries with the sound babababa etc. Hence, the lamb stands for Baba. Again, this does not mean that the human incarnation with the name Baba alone is God. The scripture gave several metaphors and this is not the only metaphor. Moreover, Baba means father. God is the Father, who is the creator of all the souls. The Gita says this (Aham Beejapradah Pita…). In this way, you can apply this simile alone to every human incarnation.
Every human incarnation is one and the same since it is the imaginable human form in which the unimaginable God exists. The basic qualities are also one and the same except there is a difference in the some of the qualities. The difference in some of the qualities is due to the difference in the programs and due to the difference in the standards and qualities of human beings, with whom God has to deal. To deal with a cruel demon like Hiranyakashapu, God is associated with anger. To deal with the cruel human beings, who kill the animals, God is associated with peace in preaching. The basic aim of every human incarnation is one and the same, which is the establishment of peace and harmony in the society and to guide the few deserving devotees in the Nivrutti. Another basic aim is to pacify the desire of the devotees to see and directly talk with God for the clarification of their doubts.
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