Were Brahma,Vishnu and Shiva devoted souls who became Energetic Incarnations of God by God's grace?

[An online spiritual discussion was conducted on April 03, 2021, in which several devotees participated. Some of the questions of devotees answered by Swāmi are given below.]

[Kum. Laxmi Thrylokya asked: Pādanamaskāraṃ Swāmi! You taught us that God merges with a particular devoted soul so as to become an Energetic or Human Incarnation of God. Were Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva also devoted souls who became Gods by the grace of God? Or were they God by default like Lord Datta?]

Swāmi replied: Brahmaṃ, Viṣṇu and Śiva were already in God Datta by the names Hiraṇyagarbha, Nārāyaṇa and Īśvara. These three are the inherent concepts of God Datta. Datta’s potency to create is Brahmā, Datta’s potency to rule is Viṣṇu and Datta’s potency to destroy is Śiva. These three divine forms are not to be considered as devotees into whom God Datta enters and merges to become incarnations. The concept of devotee becoming incarnation happens in the case of all incarnations after these three basic divine forms. Datta became these three by creating the three energetic forms and by merging with them. There is no life of devotion of the medium in the case of these three basic divine energetic incarnations. There is no difference between Datta and any form of these three and there is no difference between any two forms of these three. Of course, in the case of incarnations coming later on also, this concept applies as it is and the only difference is that the later incarnations have the span of devotion in their media.

The three qualities (rajas, sattvam and tamas) of God Datta are personified as Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva. Rajas, sattvam and tamas are the qualities of the souls also. In some souls, these three qualities are in balanced state and such people like God Datta in their worship. Some people have predominance of rajas, who like to worship God Brahmā alone. Some people having predominant sattvam like to worship God Viṣṇu and some people predominant in tamas like to worship God Śiva. For the sake of the devoted souls only, to facilitate their meditation and worship, the unimaginable God became God Datta and for the same reason, God Datta became Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva separately. Even in the human incarnations, some are having balance of the three qualities are to be considered as direct incarnations of God Datta. Other incarnations are also of God Datta only, but predominance of Brahmā or Viṣṇu or Śiva exists, which means that either Brahmā or Viṣṇu or Śiva (each contains God Datta) directly incarnates.

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