07 Jan 2021
[An online spiritual discussion was conducted on December 13, 2020, in which several devotees participated. Some of the questions of devotees answered by Swāmi are given below.]
[Reply to a question asked by Kum. Laxmi Thrylokya.] Swāmi replied: Attaining the grace of God is the most important point. If the grace of God is absent, what is the use of such an attainment? Attainment of God just means achieving closeness to God, in a physical sense. Such an attainment is of no use if God is not pleased with the devotee. Rāvaṇa went to Kailāsa and attained God Śiva, in a physical sense. But what was the use of his attainment? He was destroyed along with all his family and relatives. God Śiva is famous for preventing untimely death and yet Rāvaṇa met an untimely death since he did not have God Śiva’s grace due to his sinful nature. On the other hand, Rāma never saw God Śiva. But He had the full grace of God Śiva and He won the war against Rāvaṇa. One should never aspire to become a Human Incarnation of God. Such an aspiration is the basic disqualification for becoming an Incarnation. When there is some divine work in this world, God Himself selects a devotee and merges with the devotee to become the Human Incarnation. Even after becoming the Incarnation, the devotee should continue to feel that He is the servant of God selected by Him to do that work. Hanumān is an Incarnation of God Śiva, but He always feels that He is the servant of God.
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