11 Aug 2021
1. Why did God Datta came as untouchable Caṇḍāla separately to show the path to disciples of Śaṅkara?
[Pādanamaskāraṃ Swāmi: Why did God Datta came as untouchable Caṇḍāla separately to show the path to disciples of Śaṅkara? Śaṅkara, Himself being God Datta should have taught those lessons to His disciples by some means? [Ref: All this drama was played for the sake of the disciples following Śaṅkara. Both concepts of Pravṛtti (that the caste shall not be decided by birth but, shall be decided by qualities only) and Nivṛtti (that God sometimes shows negative qualities to test the depth of the devotion of the Nivṛtti devotee) were taught to the disciples of Śaṅkara.]
Swāmi Replied:- Preaching theoretically makes some impression, but, preaching practically through a play brings very strong impression. God Datta played double roles as the untouchable and as Śaṅkara.
2. Do the women of Islam frustrate because of many restrictions?
[Pādanamaskāraṃ Swāmi, some questions raised in internet discussion forum is presented below. Please grace Your response to the same. At Your Lotus Divine Feet-anil.
Muslim women are kept under many restrictions, don't they feel frustrated? Why don't they get converted to Hinduism or Christianity?]
Swāmi Replied:- All these customs belong to culture and external traditions. Religion is related to the internal Spiritual knowledge and devotion. Just for the sake of external culture, one need not change the internal religion related to the soul.
3. Why were the Prophet’s wives told to stay home in the Quran?
[In Islam, why were the Prophet’s wives told to stay home in the Quran? Were they not protected by Allah in public? Would Allah not protect me if I go out in public? Are women obliged to act similarly to the Prophet’s wives in Islam?]
Swāmi Replied:- This point is also related to the external culture and trends of the public life and has nothing to do with the subject of God.
4. Why can’t God just end the Devil's life instead of sending His own Son to come and lose His life on Earth?
Swāmi Replied:- Devil is not a problem to God and devil is only a problem of the devotee. Devil can be controlled by God at any time. When devil harms any soul, it is only the punishment of the soul. If the punishment of the sin is absent, due to the absence of sin devil can’t touch any soul. When the son of God sacrificed His life and underwent the sufferings of punishments of sins of His devotees, the love of God to His devotees is also clearly expressed.
5. Where was Jesus between the age of 12 and 30?
[Where was Jesus between the age of 12 and 30? What was He doing? Why do we not know what Jesus did during His lost years? Why were those years skipped in the Bible?]
Swāmi Replied:- The importance is about the Spiritual knowledge served by Jesus and not about the penance done by Jesus during these hidden years. The mother will not allow her children into the kitchen while she was cooking. While serving the cooked food by her, she exposes herself very closely.
6. How can just by faith one can do such miraculous acts?
[Jesus’s disciples tried to expel demon from a possessed person, but they could not do it. Then Jesus told “O unbelieving and perverse generation! How long must I remain with you? How long must I put up with you?” Then He expelled the demon from that person. Afterwards the disciples came to Jesus privately and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” Then Jesus told them “Because you have so little faith,” “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Swami in this incident, Jesus gives importance to faith. How can just by faith one can do such acts? What is the meaning of faith referred here by Jesus?]
Swāmi Replied:- Here faith means love and attraction towards the personality of God without aspiration for any fruit in return from Him. Such faith of the size of even an atom is not seen in any devotee, not to speak of the size of a mustard seed! Every faith is only a swelling and not real strength. God being omniscient gets bored by all these types of dramatic actions of the devotion!
7. What did Jesus mean when He said, "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth? I did not come to bring peace, but a sword?”
Swāmi Replied:- People think that Spiritual path means bliss or at least peace. Spiritual path certainly gives bliss, but, such bliss is always associated with strenuous work of God involving lot of worries. In the service of God, once, Hanumān tried to commit suicide!
8. If Jesus Christ, Buddha, Muhammad and any other heads of religions met for a conference, what would the conversational topic be?
Swāmi Replied:- The topic will be one and the same Spiritual knowledge while all these human forms of God speak that same Spiritual knowledge in different languages.
9. Kṛṣṇa being supreme God must have infinite Kalās instead of 16?
[Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa is said to be the master of 16 Kalās but I have a query that He is the supreme God so He must be having infinite Kalās. Can You please remove my confusion?]
Swāmi Replied:- The number 16 means complete number of powers. Any complete number indicates infinity because there is no limitation of boundary in completeness.
10. Does worship of Śiva or Jehova or Allāh not proper?
[In Bhagavad Gītā, Kṛṣṇa says, (O Arjuna), "All worship ultimately reaches Me even if some worship different Gods. They all worship Me in improper way." Does it mean worshiping Śiva is not proper way or worshiping Abrahamic God Yahweh / Allāh?]
Swāmi Replied:- The worship based on good quality called Sattvam is very much liked by God. If the worship is based on bad Rajas and Tamas, God likes the devotion but doesn’t like Rajas and Tamas in it.
11. Why did God create Mom and Dad for us and for our lives?
Swāmi Replied:- Both Mom and Dad are introducing God, who is protecting and taking care of you a million times more.
12. Who owns the oldest physical copy of the Vedas, Upaniṣads and Mahābhārata?
Swāmi Replied:- The oldest Sages maintained copies of these in the form of palm leaves.
13. Should a disciple think of becoming the next Guru after his Guru's physical departure?
[Should a disciple agree to take the credit of accomplishing a mission from his Guru or think of becoming the next Guru after his Guru's physical departure? Should such a thought even cross his or her mind? If such a thought comes then what to do?]
Swāmi Replied:- Guru must be always improving his knowledge through constant study and must feel as a student throughout the life. Similarly, a student must feel as Guru by teaching the known concepts to weaker students.
14. If women are the cause of misery in all religions (Hindu, Muslim, Christian), then why don't we mistreat them?
Swāmi Replied:- Gender is worse nonsense than the caste. At least in the caste, the surrounding atmosphere may introduce certain qualities due to long constant association of parents, relatives etc. How two souls born in the same caste surrounded by similar atmosphere can differ in the qualities? The height of ignorance of caste system is up to the top of Everest whereas the height of ignorance of gender system is up to the sky!
15. If I aspire to be born in some family, will I be re-born in that family?
[If I aspire and desire to be born in some other family which I am seeing in this birth as a lovable, complete family, will I be re-born in that family? Every day I pray to God for the same.]
Swāmi Replied:- The fruits of your deeds shall be also examined to see whether such fruits are congenial to your prayer or not.
16. According to Hinduism, how can I know that I have attained liberation when I am alive?
[According to Hinduism, how can I know that I have attained 'Mokṣa' or liberation when I am alive, or do I have to die first to know it? How do I know if I am going on the right path?]
Swāmi Replied:- The right path is your attachment to God and the liberation is a spontaneous process resulting due to your attachment to God. You have to observe only about your attachment to God always and there is no need to observe the detached worldly bonds that have fallen automatically on the ground.
17. What is the difference between Ācārya, Upādhyāya and Guru?
Swāmi Replied:- All these three belong to the human level only. Sadguru belongs to the divine level. Ācārya stresses more on practice. Upādhyāya stresses more on theoretical knowledge. Guru is more concentrated on removing your ignorance in the form of misunderstandings of the true concepts. Sadguru is the human incarnation of God, who is your theoretical preacher, practical guide and the ultimate goal to be reached by you.
18. Why did Śrī Kṛṣṇa become Arjuna's charioteer and why not to anyone else?
Swāmi Replied:- Charioteer is the practical guide for the journey of any soul. Kṛṣṇa was Sage Nārāyaṇa and Arjuna was the Sage Nara, who was closely associated with the Sage Nārāyaṇa. Their background bond was very very strong and in fact both are inseparable. In every incarnation of Nārāyaṇa, Nara will be associated spontaneously.
19. Why is glorifying God a good thing?
Swāmi Replied:- Glorifying God is always true unlike glorification of a human being. Speaking truth is always a good merit. It is said that praising God is only speaking truth and it is not praise at all because praise means speaking lies (Yathārtha vyāhṛtiḥ sā hi, na stutiḥ Parameṣṭḥinaḥ…- Kālidāsa).
20. Is feeding hungry dogs a good deed?
Swāmi Replied:- Feeding any hungry living being to save it from hunger death is a very high meritorious deed.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★