08 Feb 2005
[In your childhood did You not perform the Gayatri Mantra? Did You not worship statues and pictures? Did You not perform sacrifices? Why have You changed like this later in Your life?]
I performed the Gayatri rituals in My childhood. But I never recited the present Gayatri Mantra, which is not the Gayatri at all, because the present Mantra is not a song. While doing Gayathri I used to recite several devotional songs in My mind and people thought that I was doing japa [mental repetition] of the present Gayatri Mantra. I used to tell the people that I have chanted Gayatri, but I never told them that I chanted the so-called Gayatri Mantra.
I worshipped statues and pictures. I also performed sacrifices because I could not open My knowledge in the beginning itself. Had I opened this knowledge in the beginning itself, people would not have digested it. When a bull is running with full speed, I have to follow the bull for some distance and then gradually control the bull. Similarly in order to become close with people, I ran along with their tradition for sometime and became close to them. Then slowly I opened the true knowledge step by step.
Shankara followed Buddhism [Buddhist ideology] in a similar way and was critized by some Hindus as a ‘Pracchanna Bouddha’, which means ‘Buddhist in disguise’. He was called so because His Maya Vada [Theory that the world is an unreal imagination] was similar to the Buddhist Sunya Vada [Theory that the world is ‘nothingness’]. He followed the Sunya Vada of the Buddhists but slowly brought them under His control and made them accept the Brahman. Due to Him Buddhism, which was born in India, does not exist in India today. He saw to it that Buddhism crossed the borders of India. How can you call Him a Buddhist in disguise? Therefore the Gita says ‘Sarvarambhahi Doshena’, which means that in the beginning, ignorance is inevitable. When you jump into the mud pond to lift other people who are stuck in it, you will be also covered by mud. It is inevitable even for the human incarnation.
I never condemned the present Gayatri Mantra. I only told you what the real Gayatri Mantra is. I never condemned temples, statues and pictures. In fact I advised people to preserve these models of knowledge for the future ignorant devotees. They have limited utility of vision and meditation. As per the Gita, I only condemned the service to the statues (Ijya). The statues and pictures are good but have limited use. In the name of statues and pictures, people try to fool the ignorant public and do business and cheating. They say that the statue has life, which is absurd and is not scientific or logical. I condemned the aim of the rituals but not the rituals. I condemned burning the food in the name of sacrifice but sacrifice in its real sense, i.e., feeding the guest should be performed. I never condemned the school and college but I asked the people to come out of the school to college and to university in course of time. One must come out of all these rituals as a Grihastha and come to Sanyasa at the end. One should become a Sanyasi and reach Brahma Loka and should not die as a householder. When a person dies as a Sanyasi, the rituals following death are not done, which means that he does not go to hell. But when a householder dies, the rituals including the donation of cow clearly prove that he goes to the hell.
I never condemned the lower steps but I advised you to come to the highest step before you die. I climbed all the steps in My life to be an example to others. Even tradition proves this, and it is also supported by the scriptures. You have no argument in this matter because I have proved this with the help of both the scriptures and ancient tradition. Lord Shiva came as Hanuman to show how to serve God. Therefore He acted as a servant to God. That does not mean that He is really the servant. He merely acted like that to set an example for others.