06 Jan 2021
[An online spiritual discussion was conducted on December 12, 2020, in which several devotees participated. Some of the questions of devotees answered by Swāmi are given below.]
Swāmi said: God Datta has been called Jñāna Mohinī in one of the Datta Aṣṭakams composed by Me (Taṃ jñānamohinyavatāramekaṃ…). It means that He is the Mohinī (Divine Enchantress) of spiritual knowledge because He attracts everybody in the world by His wonderful spiritual knowledge. As we all experienced, Smt. Devi, w/o Dr. Nikhil is singing devotional songs at the end of every satsaṅga in an excellent way. Hence, Datta Swāmi gives this title to Smt. Devi, because He is overwhelmed by her unimaginably sweet voice and her climax of devotion. Datta Swāmi jokingly said the following:
Mohinī is the Incarnation of God Viṣṇu and Her husband is God Śiva. If Datta Swāmi can be called Jñāna Mohinī, He represents God Viṣṇu. There is another reason why He is God Viṣṇu, which is that His original name is Venugopalakrishna Murthy. Kṛṣṇa was an Incarnation of God Viṣṇu. Hence, Smt. Jñāna Mohinī (Datta Swāmi) is giving this title of Gāna Mohinī to Smt. Devi. Gāna Mohini means the one who enchants or attracts everyone through her songs. Smt. Devi thus becomes Smt. Gāna Mohinī. The husband of Jñāna Mohinī is God Śiva, who belongs to Vārāṇasī. The wife of Dr. Nikhil, who is Gāna Mohinī also belongs to Vārāṇasī! Finally, Smt. Jñāna Mohinī has given this award to Smt. Gāna Mohinī! God Viṣṇu became Mohinī as known by all of us. God Viṣṇu is related to the quality of sattvaṃ and sattvaṃ is related to jñāna or spiritual knowledge (Sattvāt sañjāyate jñānam…). Thus, God Viṣṇu or God Kṛṣṇa can justifiably be called Jñāna Mohinī.
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