12 Mar 2019
1) How can the truth set a person free when no one knows the truth?
[This is a question based on the statement of Lord Jesus in the Bible, “The truth will set you free”, and was posed by a person in an online discussion to Shri Anil.]
Swami replied: Truth means the fact in any subject. It also means an item which really exists. One must have the knowledge of both to uplift one’s soul. The true item is God. God is unimaginable, but He enters a medium to become an Incarnation for the sake of souls. Recognizing this mediated God or Incarnation itself is the recognition of the true goal. For this, one must have the capacity for logical analysis so that one can find the truth. After finding the true goal, one must get the knowledge of the soul or oneself. Specifically, one must know that one’s own self is not the goal. One must realize one’s own identity as a soul, which is an iota of the imaginable creation and not the unimaginable Creator-God. With this realization, the true knowledge of the soul is attained. Finally, one must know the true path to please God, which is developing real love without any aspiration for a fruit in return. The true goal, the truth about the soul and the true path to reach the goal is the threefold truth or triputi. The knowledge of this threefold truth is essential and only with it can a person succeed in the spiritual effort.
2) In spite of being very powerful like God, why did Shirdi Baba not fight for the independence of India?
[This is a question was posed by a person in an online discussion with Shri Anil.]
Swami replied: Did Lord Krishna directly fight in the war to establish justice? No! Yet, He was solely responsible for the victory in the war. Several human beings fought for independence but they could not succeed and many even got killed. On the other hand, Mahatma Gandhi got freedom for the country even without fighting, by the blessings of God. Shri Shirdi Sai Baba had told Shri Bal Gangadhar Tilak that independence would come to the country but that there was still some time left for it. The Gita says that a wise person finds action in inaction (Akarmanicha karma yah...). We seem to act a lot but our actions bring no result. Great Incarnations like Shri Sai Baba do not seem to act and yet the result is effortlessly obtained. Thus, there is inaction in our actions and action in the inaction of God-men.
3) Can God even forgive a person’s prarabdham and give full relief to the person from the punishment of the person’s sins?
[This is a question was posed by a person in an online discussion to Shri Anil.]
Swami replied: Prarabdham means the cause for the present birth. It is that small part of the fruit of a person’s deeds that remains after exhausting the major part of the bad and good fruits in hell and heaven respectively. This remaining small part of the fruit is required for acquiring a new human body and it gets exhausted as soon as the soul is born in this world. God is omniscient and omnipotent. He knows everything about what is to be forgiven and what is not to be forgiven. He is omnipotent and can forgive anything and nobody can question Him since He is the supreme authority. But He never misuses this unique power since He is omniscient.
4) Are the total number of souls constant or are new souls being created?
Shri Bhargav asked: Hello Swamiji! Are new souls being created? Are souls being born as human beings, animals, insects or birds for the first time? Or is the number of souls constant because some say that there is no such thing as first karma or first universe and that the universe is beginningless.
Swami replied: Souls are approximately constant in number. Do not just look at the rising trend of the human population on earth and think that new souls are being created. Souls exist in various worlds in the universe. The time for which souls stay in various worlds differs from case to case based on the intensity of the deeds of each soul. Even to study the total population of souls in this world, you have to count all types of living beings like human beings, animals, birds, insects, worms and so on. If God wishes, He can create a new soul instantly in a particular situation. But as soon as the purpose is over, such a soul disappears.
5) If reformation is the reason for punishment, would it not be wonderful to start teaching spiritual knowledge in the jails of the country?
[A question by Laxmi Thrylokya]
Swami replied: You are absolutely correct! You have understood the concept of reformation well. There are already some attempts in this direction taking place.
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