Posted on: 06 Jun 2024
1. Please comment on the following statement of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.
[Smt. Chhanda Chandra asked:- Paadanamaskaram Swami, please clarify the following doubts:- Ramakrishna Paramahamsa used to say many times, “Maa, one day is wasted as You did not appear before me”. I think He used to say this for His devotees as He Himself is God. Please comment.]
Swami replied:- What you said is exactly correct. Even the incarnation of God behaves like a devotee so that He will stand as an example for devotees. Such lower behaviour as servant of God in the case of a human incarnation is called as Loka Samgraha (Loka saṅgraha mevāpi…- Gita).
2. Does Vaasudeva mean something else also other than son of Vasudeva?
[Swami, does Vaasudeva mean something else also other than son of Vasudeva? I was going through a discourse where it is mentioned that Vaasudeva name has already appeared much before Krishna which has got some other meaning. Please reveal.]
Swami replied:- You can create some other meaning for the word ‘Vasudeva’ but not for the word ‘Vaasudeva’. Vaasudeva clearly means the son of Vasudeva (Vasudevasya apatyaṃ pumān Vāsudevaḥ). This word in this sense is very very important because this word denotes the contemporary human incarnation, which is very much relevant to any human devotee on this earth. This word is also existing in Dvaadashaaksharii Mantra (The divine statement in twelve letters used for chanting the name of God for salvation). The mantra is ‘Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya’, which means – my salutations to God, who is the son of Vasudeva. The emphasis here is on contemporary human incarnation.
3. Why did You say ‘Your faith is My strength’ because You are unimaginable?
[In one of Your discourses, I was amazed to see a title ‘Your faith is My strength’. Your strength is unimaginable, then why are You saying like this?]
Swami replied:- Every statement of God should not be taken in literal sense (Vaacyaartha). There is another sense called implied sense (Lakshanaartha). Such statement is told to encourage the devotee to develop devotion and shall be taken in implied sense. You will be more surprised to see in the Gita that God Krishna told Arjuna – I am Arjuna among the Pandavas (Pāṇḍavānāṃ Dhanañjayaḥ).
4. Is it possible to save the balance of society without Nivrutti?
[In case of most of the incarnations, there is very less Nivrutti in their actions and most of their actions were only to save the balance of the society, i.e., Pravrutti. Swami, without Nivrutti, is it possible to save the balance of society?]
Swami replied:- God gives topmost importance to Pravrutti, which deals with the behaviour of a soul with other co-souls. God makes Pravrutti as mandatory to the souls whereas God makes Nivrutti as optional. In such Pravrutti, the initial stage of Nivrutti is underlying like the current in the electrified wire. People are following Pravrutti either due to devotion or due to the fear to God. For both devotion and fear, the existence of God is very essential. The initial stage of Pravrutti is theism, which is the belief in the existence of God. If the fascination of the soul towards worldly bonds is in excess, corruption appears to earn more money even in unjust ways. Such a state is called Dushpravrutti. Nivrutti means complete eradication of worldly bonds. Without reducing the fascination to worldly bonds (transformation of Dushpravrutti into Pravrutti) in the first stage, how can one enter into the second stage, which is eradicating worldly bonds for the sake of God or Nivrutti? The soul must leave Dushpravrutti (excess fascination to worldly bonds) and travel to Pravrutti (controlled fascination to worldly bonds), then to Nivrutti (complete eradication of worldly bonds) and finally end in Mahanivrutti (concentration of all devotion on God only).
5. Will individual soul exist in every incarnation?
[Swami, ‘when Paramatman incarnates, an inert body is formed in the womb of the mother. This body is pervaded by pure awareness without any qualities. But this pure awareness cannot be definitely said to be an individual soul’. Is this correct Swami? Can we say that the three basic qualities exist here but not their mixture? And is that the reason for saying that incarnation does not have any qualities, He is Nirguna? Please explain this whole procedure in an elaborated way.]
Swami replied:- God will enter into a selected individual soul either in the womb or outside the womb in this world. Hence, the possibility of God entering the individual soul of pure awareness without qualities is not a practical truth. The qualities of the individual soul are helpful in making the devotees to think that the incarnation is only an ordinary human being. When such illusion takes place, even devotees develop freedom and flexibility towards God to clarify all their spiritual doubts from God.
6. Please comment on the following story.
[Swami, as Lord Krishna, You spent six minutes in prison after taking birth. I came to know that these six minutes imprisonment is related to Your previous incarnation of Lord Rama. Please tell me the story behind it. Always at Your divine lotus feet, Chhanda]
Swami replied:- I don’t find this story in any scripture like the Valmiki Ramayanam or in the Shrimad Bhagavatam. Several devotees create good stories about God. Even if they are created stories, we can take them because in the case of God, any good interpretation is possible due to His good omnipotency.