Posted on: 26 Aug 2019
This is the second part of the two-part discourse given by Swami to several devotees who visited Him on the auspicious occasion of Krishnāṣṭami. This part is meant for those interested in logical analysis, especially for Prof. J. Prasad, who was among the devotees, who visited Swami.
When God is known from inference and scripture, God cannot be said to be unknowable or unimaginable. It is also said that God is known by experience alone (Anubhvaikavedyaṃ Brahma). Experience is possible only in the case of known or knowable items. In view of this, how can we say that God is unimaginable?
Swami replied: You have referred to ‘knowing’ God through inference, scripture or experience. But such ‘knowledge’ of God is only confined to knowing the existence of God. It does not mean knowing the nature of God. We experience the shock given by an electrified wire. With the shock, we have only experienced the existence of electricity and not the nature of electricity. Electricity is a stream of flowing electrons, which we have not experienced. From the shock that we experienced, we can infer that electricity must exist in the wire. We have not inferred the nature of the electricity. The testimony or ‘word’ of reliable persons, in the form of a written book also stands as an authority for knowing the existence of electricity. In the book, those reliable persons state that they too have inferred the existence of electricity by experiencing the shock. Again, they too have not experienced the nature of electricity. In this example, electricity stands for God and the shock is the miraculous knowledge which is experienced. Thus, scripture only expresses whatever can be known through inference. So, in the context of knowing God, there is no difference in the two authorities namely, scripture and inference.
The Veda, which is the most ancient and most well-preserved scripture, says that only the existence of God can be experienced through inference (Astītyeva upalabdhavyaḥ). It further says that the one who says that he knows God, does not know anything about God while the one who says that he is unable to know anything about God except His existence, is the knower of God. The latter, at least, has that much correct information about God, that nothing other than His existence can be known (Yasyāmataṃ tasya matam, mataṃ yasya na veda saḥ). The Veda also says that we must remember that God is always unknown and unknowable and that we must forget the idea that God is known or knowable (Avijñātaṃ...). There are several Vedic statements which say that God is beyond words, beyond the mind, beyond intelligence and beyond logic. In short, we can conclude that God is unimaginable (Yato vāco..., Yo buddheḥ..., Naiṣā tarkeṇa..., Na medhayā..., Aśabdaṃ..., Atarkyaḥ...). He is said to be smaller than the smallest and bigger than the biggest simultaneously, which means that He is beyond the concept of volume or space (Aṇoraṇīyān...—Veda). He is the generator of space and hence, He is beyond space since space cannot exist in its generator before its generation. Any entity which is beyond space, must be unimaginable since we cannot even imagine such an entity. All these scriptural statements make it very clear that getting any knowledge of His nature is impossible and that it is only possible to get the knowledge of His existence.
Let us consider the example of inferring the existence of the unseen fire on the mountain upon seeing smoke. Observe the following five statements:
This example of inferring the existence of fire upon observing smoke is being compared to inferring God upon observing a miracle. In an inference, the unseen cause is inferred upon observing the effect (Liṅga parāmarśo anumānam). Here, it is important to note that, as per the fourth statement, it was possible to perceive fire, which is the cause. But in the case of God, it is impossible to perceive Him. When we perceive a miracle, which is an unimaginable event, we infer the existence of its unimaginable Cause (God). Here too, only the existence of the unimaginable Cause is known and not the nature of the Cause. If you say that the knowledge of the existence of the unimaginable nature itself is the knowledge of the nature of the unimaginable Cause, it is meaningless. Nothing of the nature of that Cause is even imagined by you since it is unimaginable. The existence of the cause of an unimaginable action can be inferred. But the nature of that Cause must also be unimaginable. An imaginable event is caused by an imaginable cause whereas an unimaginable event must be caused by an unimaginable Cause alone. Thus, analyzing the inference-authority from various angles, we conclude that only the existence of the unimaginable God can be known and not His nature.
Opponent: You mentioned above that an unimaginable source is inferred to be the cause of an unimaginable effect while an imaginable source is inferred to be the cause of an imaginable effect. The world we see around us is knowable or, at least, imaginable. Based on the above logic, the cause or creator of this imaginable world (effect) must be an imaginable item. In other words, God must be imaginable.
Swami: If your logic is to be accepted, the imaginable soul should be able to create at least an imaginable atom, if not the whole imaginable world. The imaginable pot-maker does produce the imaginable pot, but he creates it using the already-existing clay material and the rotating potter’s wheel, which is a tool. God-in-human form can miraculously create the same imaginable pot without either the clay or the wheel! This is the difference between an ordinary soul and the Human Incarnation of God.
The Incarnation’s creation of the pot is unimaginable and the God present in the Incarnation is also unimaginable. The imaginable human form in the Incarnation is not the creator of the pot, which is created in this unimaginable way. A human being, whether it is an ordinary human being or the human being-component in an Incarnation, can only make the imaginable pot in the usual imaginable way using pre-existing clay and the potter’s wheel. But before the creation of the world, no part of the world existed. Hence, it is obvious that the world must have been created in an unimaginable way alone and not in an imaginable way. Therefore, the Source of the unimaginable miracle as well as the Creator of this imaginable world is one and the same unimaginable God.
The imaginable inert energy is not that unimaginable Creator who created this imaginable world in an unimaginable way. The energy is inert. It is not intelligent to be able to design and plan this wonderful world. From the angle of planning and designing, we say that the unimaginable Creator who produced this imaginable world in an unimaginable way, is Unimaginable Awareness. Unimaginable Awareness does not mean the imaginable awareness that is produced in the course of the creation of the world. The awareness produced in the course of the evolution of the world is not unimaginable. It is completely imaginable. It is produced from the imaginable food, which, in turn, comes from imaginable plants (Oṣadhībhyo annaṃ annāt puruṣaḥ—Veda). This imaginable awareness is nothing but the imaginable inert energy functioning in a working nervous system. It is a work-form of the energy. The ‘work’, in this case, is the work of transmitting information from the senses to the brain. The inert energy is the essential ‘material’ that constitutes awareness. When both the ‘material’ which constitutes this awareness and its work, which is the process of knowing, are known, the awareness is altogether imaginable. But the energy gets converted into awareness only in a physical nervous system and not anywhere else. So, the pre-existence of both matter and energy are essential for the production of the imaginable awareness.
Due to absence of both energy and matter before the creation of this world, we cannot have any knowledge at all about the ‘material’ which constitutes the Unimaginable Awareness. Even the process of knowing (work) is unknown in the case of Unimaginable Awareness. The only common point is that both the Unimaginable Awareness and the imaginable awareness are able to know. The final result of being able to know is qualitatively common between the two. But even in that result of being able to know, there is a lot of quantitative difference. The Unimaginable Awareness knows everything whereas the imaginable awareness knows very little. The commonality, which is the quality of knowing, is as thin as a hair, at best. The difference between the two is vast as well as fundamental. Apart from the huge quantitative difference between their abilities to know, the constituent material of one is imaginable whereas that of the other is unimaginable. This means that the imaginable and the unimaginable awarenesses are inherently or fundamentally different. The negligible hairline commonality between the two in that both are able to know, is only an associated quality and not an inherent quality. In terms of the inherent constituent materials of the two, there is not even this hairline-commonality. It is as if each of the two items has a small dust particle associated with them. Those two negligible dust particles are all that the two items have in common, while both items are inherently different. Those negligible dust particles, which they have in common, can never bring even a trace of monism between the two.
The Gita says that the original unimaginable God (Parabrahman) is neither existent (Sat) nor non-existent (Asat). This statement is not mutually contradictory (Anādimat parambrahma, na sat tat nāsaducyate). It means that the unimaginable God is not existent in the same way as an imaginable item such as a pot is existent. The reason for the difference is that God is unimaginable whereas the pot is imaginable. God is not existent because, in God, the relative existence does not exist. At the same time, God is also not non-existent because His existence can be inferred through the experience of His miracles and miraculous knowledge. The absolute existence of God negates the idea that God is non-existent. On one hand, the Veda says that God is exisent because of His absolute existence (Sadeva somya...). On the other hand, the Veda also says that God is non-existent because the relative existence does not exist in Him (Asadvā idaṃ...).
Swami replied: Mantra means the repetition (mananāt) of a line of prose (Yajur Veda), poetry (Ṛg Veda) or song (Sāma Veda) that effortlessly attracts your mind and which you do without any aspiration for a fruit. That line should be in the praise of God and such repetition brings divine protection (trāyate) to you (Mananāt trāyate iti mantraḥ). The mantra must attract the person’s mind. In terms of the mantra’s ability to attract the person’s mind, if the mantra is prose, it is great. But if it is poetry, it is greater and if it is a song, it is the greatest. Krishna said that among the Vedas, He is the Sāma Veda. The Sāma Veda is a song. By His statement, Krishna meant that the Sāma Veda is the greatest among all the Vedas since it is able to attract the person’s mind more than any other Veda.
Such singing of a song in praise of God is the actual meaning of ‘Gāyatrī’. Gāyatrī means the song (gāyantam) sung in praise of God that protects (trāyate) the singer. A movie-song may also attract your mind, making you want to repeat it again and again. But it is not a mantra because it is based on some worldly subject and not on God. So, it does not bring divine protection to you. The Gāyatrī Mantra, is thus defined as the song in praise of God that protects the singer. This Gāyatrī Mantra is said to be the best mantra (Na gayatryāḥ paro mantraḥ).
Even scholars have misunderstood Gāyatrī to be a deity! The public, including scholars, recite the Gāyatrī Mantra, thinking that it is the actual Gāyatrī. In fact, it is clearly told that the deity being worshipped through that mantra is God Brahmā (Savitā devatā). The Gāyatrī Mantra is a genuine Vedic mantra, but reciting it with the Vedic accents is not the actual Gāyatrī, which is said to be the highest mantra and which provides divine protection. Gāyatrī also happens to be the name of a Vedic meter (Gāyatrī chandaḥ) and the Gāyatrī Mantra is composed in that meter. Being the most popular mantra in the Gāyatrī meter, this Mantra has been called the Gāyatrī Mantra even though the mere recitation of that mantra as prose or poetry does not provide any divine protection (mantra). So, this specific Vedic verse composed in the Gāyatrī meter and which is not sung, but is only recited, is not the real Gāyatrī. The mind is attracted to a song more than prose or poetry and when we sing an attractive song, our mind gets absorbed in it. If the song is in praise of God, then by singing it with a fully-absorbed mind, without any expectations from God, we are expressing a very high level of devotion, which pleases God. When God is pleased, He grants His protection to us. Thus, people, reciting the so-called Gāyatrī mantra instead of singing it, are totally misled. The traditional people from the so-called upper castes also prohibit people form the so-called lower castes from reciting the Gāyatrī Mantra. Even among the upper castes, only men are allowed to recite it; women are prohibited from reciting it.
The real Gāyatrī is any song, even if it is composed by you, which is sung by you in praise of God. Hence, Gāyatrī is universal, irrespective of caste and gender. Some people try to make the mantra more attractive by introducing some extra syllables or letters called bīja-akṣarās like ‘ram, hrīm’ and so on, before the mantra. They claim that reciting the mantra along with these bīja-akṣarās, gives a more powerful effect in fulfilling a person’s worldly desires since the bīja-akṣarās have some miraculous powers. This is utter nonsense. The bīja-akṣarās represent certain specific items. Ram stands for fire, hrīm stands for energy and so on. These letters have no relation with any miraculous power. Only God has miraculous powers. You can please Him by singing a song in His praise, which strongly attracts your mind, making you want to sing it repeatedly. The repeated singing should not be out of any force and there should not be any aspiration in the mind for some fruit from God. Such singing, which is an expression of pure devotion, pleases God and He will certainly protect you whenever it is necessary.
Swami replied: Any Human Incarnation results when God Datta (Īśvara), who is the first Energetic Incarnation of God, merges with a selected devotee in order to do some divine work in this world for the welfare of devotees. God Datta is the Creator (Brahmā), the Controller (Viṣṇu) and the Destroyer (Śiva) of this world. The Human Incarnation has the three inseparable characteristics, which are to be used for identifying Him. The first is that He possesses excellent spiritual knowledge for guiding devotees in the worldly path (pravṛtti) and the spiritual path (nivṛtti). This knowledge is related to God Brahmā. The second is the infinite love for deserving devotees, which is related to God Viṣṇu. The third characteristic, related to God Śiva, is the miraculous powers, which He uses to solve the problems of deserving devotees and to help them on the spiritual path. The person in whom all these three characteristics coexist, is identified as the Human Incarnation. Even though Rāma did not perform miracles in public, He did perform the miracle of converting a stone into a lady, called Ahalyā, in the forest.
The administration of God, which protects justice and punishes injustice, is clearly seen in this world. You are clearly able to see two aspects: (1) The protection of justice by compensating the innocent victim, provided the victim remains patient and does not resort to revenge (Paritrāṇāya…—Gita) and (2) The punishment of sinners, even if they manage to escape the law of the land through influence or other corrupt practices (Vināśāya…—Gita). But you must be patient in order to notice the punishment of sinners because God gives some time to the sinful souls to realize their sins and reform. So, the punishment will not be seen immediately. There is no reason to be impatient, thinking that the innocent victim has not received justice because, if the victim is really innocent, he or she will certainly be compensated by God. Patience is the basic requirement to understand the divine administration. Even in the administration of human beings, do you find immediate punishment of criminals for their crimes? In fact, the punishment of criminals, such as the duration of the imprisonment, can be reduced if the criminals show signs of reformation by their good behavior. The punishment is only meant for reformation and not for revenge. This is especially true in the case of divine punishment.
Sometimes, a sinner may not be punished at all by God. This happens because, in their previous births, the present criminal was the victim and the present victim was the criminal. So, it is a case of a retaliatory crime in which the previous roles of the criminal and the victim are reversed in the present birth. A common example of this is the killing of an animal by a butcher. When the animal is killed by the butcher, the dying animal thinks that it should become butcher and the butcher should become the animal being killed, in the next birth (Māṃsaḥ…). ‘Māṃsaḥ’ means flesh in Sanskrit. But the same word when split as follows, gives a deeper meaning, which is stated in the scripture. Māṃ means ‘me’ and saḥ means ‘he’. So, the particular verse in the scripture means “Just as he kills me now, I will kill him in the next birth”. This is the wish expressed by the dying animal facing the pain of an untimely death. The punishment for this sin cannot be given in this birth itself since the animal wished for the punishment to be given in the next birth. It is also logical since a new birth is necessary for the butcher to be born as an animal and the animal to be born as a butcher. The critical thing to be remembered in this context is that the punishment is not limited to the butcher. The eater of non-vegetarian food also equally shares the sin with the butcher as the promoter of the sin (preraka). It is the consumer, who demands the meat from the butcher, after all. So, both are given the full extent of the punishment in the next birth. If a crime seen in this birth is not a retaliatory crime from the previous birth, the sinner will be punished in this birth itself.
Another point to note is that the fruits of only the intense sins and merits are given to the soul, immediately in this birth. The fruits of the moderately or mildly good and bad deeds are given to the soul only after death in heaven and hell respectively. This postponement of most of the rewards and punishments to after the person’s death is done so that the person can focus on performing good deeds and getting reformed here. If the person is occupied in enjoying all the fruits of his or her deeds in the short human life, there will be no time and opportunity to concentrate on performing the good deeds and getting reformed.
Astiityeva upalabdhavyah Yasyaamatam tasya matam yasya na Veda sah Avijnaatam Yatovaacho Yo buddheh Naishaa tarkena Na Medhayaa Ashabdam Atarkyah Anoraniiyaan Agnimaanayam parvatah yatra yatra dhumah tatra tatra vahnih iti vyaaptih Yathaa mahaanase linga paraamarsho anumaanam oshadhiibhyo annam annat purushah Anaadimat parambrahma na sat tat naasaduchyate mananaat traayate Mananaat traayate iti mantrah gaayantam Na gayatryaah paro mantrah Gayatrii chandah ram hriim paritraanaaya Shiva Brahmaa Vishnu vinaashaaya maam sah Ishvara