07 Oct 2023
1. Is it justified for a devotee to reach out to the incarnation for worldly problems?
[Shri hrushikesh pudipeddi asked: Dear Swami, I request You to kindly help me with the answer for the below questions. I have read in one of Your discourses that Human incarnation will follow the rules of nature of human body. Human incarnation also has birth,hunger, sleep, sex, disease and death. Also, I read that Human incarnation takes the diseases of His devotees and suffers on their behalf continuously.
Is it justified on the part of the devotees to reach out to the Incarnation for simple worldly related problems? Is it really required to phone or meet the Human incarnation in person to discuss this? It is very clear that the Human incarnation is God in Human form as He is omnipotent and knows everything about the devotee’s problem.]
Swami replied:- You are correct, but, the human tendency is that satisfaction comes to most of the human beings when they contact Him and explain. This is the most common basic level of human souls.
2. How can we apply existence and non-existence to the unimaginable God?
[When Unimaginable God is beyond all the principles, concepts and rules of the creation and we can't say, how can we apply the concept of existence and non-existence to the unimaginable God and say that Unimaginable God exists, as this concept is the concept of the creation? at Your divine feet, Hrushikesh]
Swami replied:- The Veda says that the only information about unimaginable God is that He exists (Astītyevopalabdhavyaḥ). This is valid due to the authority of inference. Seeing the unimaginable events called miracles, their source, the unimaginable God is inferred. Inference is having an equal status of perception. All scholars of logic agreed that perception and inference were commonly acceptable authorities among the six authorities of knowledge.
3. Can You please give a reference from the scripture that Hanuman is none other than Lord Shiva?
[Shri Hrushikesh asked: Dear Swami, I request You to kindly consider my request to answer the questions below. In Madhvacharya’s philosophy, there is no mention that Lord Hanuman is an incarnation of Lord Shiva. You mentioned in your writings that Lord Hanuman is an incarnation of Lord Shiva. Can You kindly help us with a reference from the scripture that Hanuman is none other than Lord Shiva?]
Swami replied:- In a song of Tyaagaraaja, it is mentioned that God Shiva incarnated as God Hanuman. Who can be a better devotee than Tyaagaraaja in the case of a matter related to Shri Rama and Hanuman?
4. If a married person goes for a second marriage, will this fall under the category of illicit sex?
[In case a married person women/man goes for a second marriage without the permission of his/her spouse, gets secretly married and secretly maintains the relationship. Does this come under the category of illicit sex? Is there any sin involved in this case? As per my understanding, the sin only applies in case if there is a chance of hurting his/her respective partner. Here in the above case when the relationship is secret there is no chance of his/her respective partner getting hurt. Kindly elaborate.]
Swami replied:- There is no secrecy in the enquiry done by Yamadharma Raja in hell. You can’t maintain secrecy with regard to him, who enquires the sins and gives punishments.
5. I realized that I would have never succeeded in anything without You. Where is my effort in this process?
[I realized from all the experiences that You gave me in this life over the years that I would never have succeeded in anything without You. I realised that I am useless of all souls, realized that I am fit for nothing, there is no other way that i would have survived without Your full hand in everything I do. Every day I go to my workplace to do my job but each day it is clear that You are doing the job and I am getting paid. I would have never got any job at all with my skill or effort. I am unable to understand where is my effort in this complete process? I doubt if there is anything which is so called effort from soul?]
Swami replied:- You are thinking like this due to your humility and devotion to God. Unless you are present and do the work, the grace of God will not fall on you. The soul has to do its duty and shall not be lazy, leaving everything to the grace of God.
6. What is the right way of using alcohol and cigarettes?
[You said in some of Your writings that God made everything in the perfect way. However, if it is used in the wrong direction it becomes sin. Can You kindly clarify the reason why alcohol was created by God? What is the right way of using alcohol and cigarettes?]
Swami replied:- Direct use of alcohol and tobacco is very dangerous to health, leading to early death. Alcohol is used in some medicines. Tobacco is also used as an external medicine in the case of inflammation. If used in a proper way, every item of creation helps the health of human souls.
7. If God is interested in Pravrutti alone, why in this Avataar do Your messages focus on Nivrutti also?
[You said that God is always interested in Pravrutti, is always focused on Pravrutti. Nivrutti is discouraged by God and Nivrutti is a path discovered by devotees. You are God. Why in this Avataar Your writings are also focusing on Nivrutti as equally as in Pravrutti. When Nivrutti is the path discovered by devotees, it is the devotees who should focus on that subject and write, isn't it?]
Swami replied:- When I said that God is interested in Pravrutti, it means that the rules of Pravrutti are mandatory and any violation is severely punished by God. God insists every soul to follow the norms of Pravrutti as mentioned by the ethical scriptures, which is like the constitution implemented through courts, prisons, police stations, etc. There is no question of liking of God in Pravrutti because it is a rule implemented with force. Regarding Nivrutti, there is no force at all and this does not mean that God dislikes Nivrutti. If somebody loves some person, will that person become furious and oppose? God resists Nivrutti through severe tests only for the sake of testing the truth in the love of the devotees. What I mean here is that God will not punish anybody if Nivrutti is not followed. God is not interested in anybody by Himself, but, this does not mean that He is a stone not responding even to the true love of the devotee. Moreover, it is perfect truth that the fruit obtained in Nivrutti is of very high value whereas Pravrutti is a mechanical and routine affair (Pravṛtti reṣā bhūtānām, Nivṛttistu mahā phalā). Justice is the topmost item in Pravrutti and justice has no element of love in it. Pravrutti is like the subject called mathematics. Nivrutti is like the subject of poetry involving bliss. Love exists in Pravrutti also, which is related to worldly bonds. In Nivrutti, love is concentrated on one bond, which is with God only. The bond in Nivrutti is true and eternal whereas the worldly bonds are temporary and essentially unreal. The soul is saved in Nivrutti forever whereas in Pravrutti, there is no safety. Hence, devotees discovered Nivrutti and such discovery is also by the grace of God only.
8. Is it acceptable if i leave my family for discussing Your knowledge?
[Each night I go home late as I feel like having tasty food outside and discuss Your knowledge with others, there are times where i meet somebody new each week and discuss this beautiful knowledge. There are times when only material discussions happen and i can't help but to listen as each person is different. Due to this reason my family members are suffering. But this has become my addiction and i am not interested to leave this activity. I try to make reasons for coming home late every day saying that due to heavy load of work in office i am getting delayed. But they don't believe me at times and start confronting me. So far by Your grace, the intensity of resistance is bearable? If this blows out of proportion, is it ok if i leave them and lead my life? At Your Lotus feet, Hrushikesh]
Swami replied:- Had you taken this decision before marriage, it would have been correct. But, if you take this decision now, your family members (especially your wife and child) will be subjected to a lot of pain and this will lead you to hell and there is no trace of doubt in this conclusion from My side. Even house-holders have served God without disturbing Pravrutti. You have promised on God in your marriage that you will lead Pravrutti in a proper way. If you do like this, God will become very furious with you. Then, how can you please God in Nivrutti by doing such spiritual service? That God and this God are only one! You need not bother about the quantity of service. You shall serve Him as far as possible. If God wishes, don’t you think that His work will be over in a fraction of a second? Arjuna wanted to leave the war and go to the forest like a saint. God Krishna opposed such decision of Arjuna and advised him to participate in fulfilling the accepted responsibilities. It will be injustice if you break your promise before God and God gets the climax of anger against injustice. If you displease God in Pravrutti by doing injustice, you have made Him furious already before entering into Nivrutti. All your Nivrutti will utterly fail since God is already annoyed with you. You should finish the responsibilities of the already promised house-holder ship (Gruhastha aashrama). After this, you retire and follow Nivrutti along with your wife (Vaanaprastha aashrama). Then, you can wander in this world doing the propagation of true spiritual knowledge (Samnyaasa aashrama). If you are interested to follow Samnyaasa aashrama now itself, arguing that the human life is uncertain, in such a case, follow this aashrama simultaneously without any disturbance to the previously promised Pravrutti before God. Since you are caring for the promise done before God, God will give you sufficient longevity so that you can finish Nivrutti also in this life itself.
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