21 Mar 2007
Satguru is the preacher of spiritual knowledge and is the human form of God. God is hidden in Him like electric current in a live wire. God is indicated by the word Hiranya (gold) which means the best and most precious. Hiranyagarbha is the name of Lord Brahma, who is the first spiritual preacher or the first Satguru. He is the energetic form charged by the hidden God, given (Datta) to angels. He is the first energetic human form of God given to the creation for correct spiritual guidance. Today all the false spiritual preachers also deserve the name of Hiranyagarbha. This word also means that gold is hidden in their stomachs. It means that they are simply swallowing money for preaching false spiritual knowledge.
The real Satguru can be compared to the abode of a snake [termite mound in which snakes often live], which is worshipped by Hindus, who pour milk in it. If the snake hidden in it comes out, the devotees will run away. Krishna was like that abode of a snake worshipped by human beings. When the hidden energetic form in Him called as Narayana came out as Vishwarupa (Vishwam Vishnuh…), Arjuna ran away in a similar way. The human being is unable to perceive even the energetic form of God hidden in the human form. The energetic form of God is in no way different from the human form and thus Narayana is not all different from Krishna. In both God is one and the same. Only the external cover (Upadhi) differs since the cover in Narayana is an energetic form and the cover in Krishna is a materialized human form.
If this is the state, how is the human being imagining to perceive the unimaginable original God? It is impossible. It is impossible. It is impossible. Even the intelligence, which is limited by the dimensions of space and time cannot grasp God (Yo Buddheh…), who is beyond space and time. A sharp intelligence (Drishyatetvagraya…) can at the most grasp only the most subtle item of creation i.e., self (soul). The soul exists in the human incarnation also, but the unimaginable God charges it. You can grasp the soul present in the human incarnation but you cannot grasp God who is beyond the soul and who has charged it. The electric current is quite different from the wire but charges the wire. Hence, you can treat this soul as God just as you can treat a live wire as electric current. It is this charged divine soul existing in the body of Krishna that was referred by Him in the Gita (Ahamatma…). Even the energetic body of God is intolerable to humans, then what to speak of the original God? Krishna referred to this original God as that item that is unknowable to any one (Mamtuveda Na Kashchana—Gita). When Hanuman tore His chest and showed God in His heart, that God was only the energetic form of Rama. Rama was fully recognized by Hanuman and was constantly maintained in His heart because there was no point of repulsion between common media. Hanuman was a monkey where as Rama was a human being, who is at a higher level. Hanuman exhibited several miracles but the other monkeys could not recognize Him as God due to the same repulsion of common media. The monkeys accepted Rama because Rama was a higher human being. Similarly, Arjuna could not fully accept Krishna due to the same repulsion. But Arjuna could accept the higher energetic form of Lord Shiva since Krishna also worshipped Shiva. Similarly, the monkeys could not accept Hanuman as God because Hanuman also worshipped the higher human form of Rama. Daksha, an angel having an energetic form could not recognize Shiva as God for the same reason of repulsion. This repulsion of common media exists even among angels (Paroksha Priyah—Veda). When God appeared before the angels in an energetic form of light (Yaksha), they could not recognize God for the same reason.
Lord the Kingmaker
All the human incarnations have a single common point, which is the spiritual guidance given to human beings, since that is the most important program. Other factors like the physical form, dress, language, culture and composition of the three qualities in them, are not important and this variation occurs, as you can see in Rama and Krishna. Therefore, God is represented by this common characteristic of true spiritual knowledge alone (Satyam Jnanam Anantam Brahma, Prajnanam Brahma—Veda; Jnanitvatmaiva—Gita). Even a liberated soul should be in constant awareness of the Lord and even if the liberated soul is made to sit on the throne of God, it should remember that the Lord is the kingmaker. The divine wheel (Sudarshana Chakra) is always revolving around the finger of the Lord. The revolutions constantly indicate that the Sudarshana is only a zero. The finger of the Lord indicates the number one. All the zeros placed after the one get value only due to the existence of the number one behind them. This must be the constant memory of the liberated soul even if it becomes a human incarnation. If ego enters, the liberated soul will fall down and Sudarshana was born as Kartavirya who was full of ego and was killed by Lord Parashurama in the war. But Parashurama was also a human incarnation of a liberated soul. Again he committed the same mistake and Rama, who was the original human incarnation of God, removed his ego.
Sefless love
Selfless love is like sugar that can be sometimes seen even in the worldly bonds, which do not deserve it. Selfish love is the salt, which is also white like the sugar and is generally seen in worldly bonds. The worldly bonds are like pickles which deserve only the mixing up of salt and not sugar. God is like the Badam Kheer (special delicious sweet) and it deserves only sugar. If you put salt in Badam Kheer and sugar in pickles, you will lose the taste in both the places.
Wealth is for the Divine Mission
Goddess Lakshmi is the deity of money and wealth. In the world (Pravritti), she is the ruling queen. But she does not look like the queen. She is always sitting at the divine feet of the Lord in His service. What does this mean? Wealth is not meant for attaining power and prestige in the world but it is only meant for the service of the Lord in His divine mission.
Maintain devotion inspite of loss
[Shri Partha Sarathi (USA) asked Swami about his continuous financial loss due to the victory of injustice in this world]. Injustice will never win because if that happens in this divine rule of God, it will only bring blame to His administration. With the limited knowledge of this birth, you cannot decide justice. In the view of all the previous births and the deeds in the previous births, God gives judgment, which is perfectly justified in the wide range of all the previous births. If you criticize God, God will leave you with the due justice as per the cycle of deeds. If you are a devotee of God, God will compensate your financial loss through some other way at a later date. If you waste the present time in worry, the financial compensation may be done, but you cannot have the compensation of the time that you have lost in the past. Hence, you should take the help of the spiritual knowledge and try to be happy even in misery so that you will not lose both time as well as money. If you are worried, you cannot concentrate on God. Your devotion also becomes weak and your financial compensation in the future also gets correspondingly reduced. Therefore, you must be brave in the troubles, without any worry and maintain your concentrated devotion to God.
Co-existence of two birds
The human incarnation is an association of God and the human soul in the same human body like the boss with his PA [personal assistant] residing in the same house. This is the meaning of the statement in the Veda “Dvasuparna ….” This statement can be also applied to the case of an ordinary human being because even in the human body of an ordinary human being, two items co-exist, which are the soul and the intelligence as the owner and driver of the chariot [body] respectively. Shankara gives this alternative application of the above Veda. In the Kurukshetra war, several chariots are seen with drivers and owners, which represent ordinary human beings. In such chariots both the owner and the driver are ordinary human beings. Similarly, in ordinary human beings, both the soul and the intelligence are imaginable items of creation. But in the chariot of Arjuna, Krishna (the unimaginable God) is sitting as the driver and Arjuna, the owner is the imaginable ordinary human being. This single chariot represents the human incarnation.
Knowledge, devotion and work in the Veda
The Veda is divided in to three parts, which are Jnana (knowledge), Upasana (devotion) and Karma (work or service). There is no contradiction between these three because these three are only subsequent steps. You have to decide whether these three steps are in the direction of God or in the direction of the world. Without realizing the real place of contradiction, preachers are fighting with each other regarding the non-existing contradiction within these three steps. They are beating around the bush and the bird is lost! All these three steps exist in God (Nivritti) as well as in the world (Pravritti). In Pravritti, Jnana means the knowledge useful for earning money. Upasana means the blind attachment to the family. Karma means sins like the corruption done for the endless luxuries of the family. These three steps have same meanings in the context of the different direction towards God. Jnana means the knowledge about God. Upasana means the blind love for God. Karma means the selfless service done for the sake of God, which may some times include even sins during the tests given by God.
Cancelletion of sins
Sins are not cancelled by doing mere good social works. You will get separate results for your good and bad deeds. The Pandavas did a lot of good works and did very few bad works. The lot of good did not cancel their little sins. The Pandavas went to hell for a short time to suffer for the little sins and then went to heaven to enjoy the good results for a long time. This means that the good works, which will have separate good results, cannot cancel the sin. Hanuman advises Ravana not to do injustice and says that good deeds like penance cannot cancel the sins, since both have to be enjoyed separately (Praptam Dharma Phalam…Adharmasyapiha Phalam—Ramayana). But the devotion to God can cancel the sin because God will suffer for the sins of His devotees (Ahamtva...—Gita). The Gita says “Apichet…Bhajatemam”, which means that even the greatest sinner is protected if he serves God. Some preachers take this verse and apply it to the case of a theoretical devotee, who sings songs etc. The verb Bhaja means service and not songs (Bhaja Sevayam…). This verb has also another meaning of attainment (Bhaja Prapane). You cannot say that the devotee will be saved if he attains God. Ravana reached Kailasa and stood near God and this is attainment of God, which could not save him.
Statues do not eat food
[A devotee referred to a story of a devoted boy by whose innocent devotion, the statue of God became alive and God ate the offered food. Swami replied as follows]. Several people create stories. I do not think that this is possible because no sincere devotee, who tells only the truth can say this in spite of hectic devotion. There is no end to these stories. But you can draw a very good conclusion from this story. This means that the statue never eats the food. The statue has to be converted into human form to eat the offered food. This finally means that the human form of God alone can eat the offered food and therefore the real service can be done only to the human form and not to the statue. In the story the devoted boy has taken the correct meaning of Nivedanam which is offering food to God. He proved that the daily offering of food to God done by his father was not correct and he taught the truth to his father. Of course, God has the super power to eat the food even through the statue without converting the statue in to human form. Such special type of eating or conversion of statue in to human form involves the unnecessary use of the special super power because God is available in human form to eat the food offered by you.
Illusion of fame
[A devotee asked about the bliss that can be derived in the fame obtained by doing social work]. When social work is done, people will praise you. Such praise will enter your brain and cause intense happiness. Suppose, a person is imagining the same social work to be done by him and also imagines the consequent praise, such imagination can also generate the same intense happiness. The feeling gives happiness. In the first case, hearing the praise generates the feeling. In the second case imagining the praise from people can also generate the same feeling. Once the feeling is the same, the result of the feeling (happiness) is also the same. You are in no way greater than the second case. If you consider the eternal fame even after your death, you are in no way connected with it to derive happiness in the next birth. Therefore, do not fall in the illusion of fame, which is also Maya. If you serve God and do social service under the guidance of God, God is pleased with you. The pleasure of God is real and is not illusory as in the above case of the fame.
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