Posted on: 17 Feb 2007
All the hectic effort in spiritual discussions (to analyze God, the soul, the link between God and soul, the link between God and the world and finally the path to become God if possible, or at least to become the dearest servant by pleasing God to get salvation or at least some benefit here) is only for some selfish advantage. The effort is hectic with a hope to find out the path to become God or to please God by some analytical knowledge and theoretical devotion without doing any action and without any sacrifice. If this single point is answered, all the effort made for only discussion and only theoretical devotion vanishes. In such a case, the devotees will not be worried whether God is unimaginable or imaginable and whether the link between God and soul or world is imaginable or unimaginable. However, the answer for this point can be directly given in terms of practical demonstration by showing the life of Hanuman and the Gopikas.
Temporary and Permanent Unimaginability
God is unimaginable. The link between the soul and world with God is also unimaginable because a link between two imaginable items alone can be imaginable. The actions of God are also unimaginable since the actions of imaginable items alone can be imaginable. The only imaginable region is that of all the items of the world and relationships between those items and the dead boundary of this world (imaginable region) is space. In this imaginable region there may be some temporarily unimaginable regions, which have not been analyzed today but one day or other, those regions will be analyzed by science. The unimaginable region for an ignorant person may be simultaneously imaginable to a scholar like the technology of an electronic instrument. Of course, even today, there are certain regions in the deeper planes of the science of the world, which are unimaginable even for scholars. Such planes will be known to scholars (scientists) after some time by the grace of God, because such planes are within the limits of the space. The scientist is misled at this precise point. Some time back, he did not know certain deeper planes of the world. Now he has succeeded in analyzing those unknown planes. Due to this, scientist becomes blind with ego. Based on this success, he feels that he will analyze the final truth of the unimaginable limits of the infinite space (world) in future. This is not correct.
The reason for this is that the planes which were not known to him and which are now known to him are all within the limits of space. Still, there are deeper planes, which are not known as of today. In the case of these planes, I assure success for the scientist because these planes are also within the limits of space. But he should know that on no day can he cross the dead limits of space and God is beyond such space. Since God is the generator of space (Atmana Akashah…—Veda), we can only touch the edge of God in the unimaginable limits of space. We can say that once we have touched the limits of space, we have touched God. Let Me even say that the unimaginable limits of space are God. The scientist agrees to the existence of these unimaginable limits of space and therefore the scientist is agreeing to the existence of God. Even the common man is experiencing the existence of these unimaginable limits of space by seeing the space with his naked eyes. The scientists see the space through the telescope and arrive at the same conclusion.
Human intelligence cannot cross the four-dimensional space-time model at any cost on any day. The beginning and end of space (limits or boundaries) are always untouchable and unimaginable for the intelligence of even the topmost scientists. If the scientist crosses the limits of this space, certainly he can touch (know) God, who is beyond space or who exists at the limits of space. The unlimited space stands forever reminding the scientist regarding this eternal truth. Thus, the universe is visible to all human beings at all times, exhibiting the unimaginable item through its unimaginable limits. This universe is a practical proof and the clear miracle of God available to all to declare this basic concept for every human being on this earth. Nobody needs the demonstration of any miracle other than this to indicate the unimaginable God. Miracles are not available to all and at all times. Even if some miracle is demonstrated, people may conclude that it is an illusion or a coincidence of events. But in this demonstrated example of the unimaginable limits of space, there is no such controversy.
Moreover, in this miracle, there is no hope to disprove the unimaginable limits of space in future, even according to the opinion of scientists. There cannot be two or more than two unimaginable items. Hence, the unimaginable limits of the universe are showing only one unimaginable God directly to every human being. Since, you do not perceive the limits of the universe, you have not perceived God. The existence of unperceivable limits establishes the unimaginable limits. The universe is exhibiting its unperceivable and unimaginable limits. This means that you have not seen these limits. Hence, you have not seen the unimaginable limits, which are God. But the existence of the unimaginable and unperceivable limits is exhibited. This means that the unperceivable and unimaginable God exists and His existence is clearly exhibited. This universe itself exhibits the existence of such a God. From this, the conclusion is that you have understood only the existence of the unperceivable and unimaginable God, but this does not mean that you have seen or imagined God. The Veda says “Astiityeva Upalabdhavyah” which means that you can know only the existence of the unknowable God. The Veda says that God is unperceivable and unimaginable (Na Chakshusha…, Yasyaamatam…). The Gita also confirms that God is unimaginable (Mamtuveda Nakaschana…).
You have two regions of unimaginable nature. One is the temporarily unimaginable region consisting of the deeper planes of the world within the limits of space, and these are surely going to be analyzed in future by scientists. The other is the permanently unimaginable region, which exhibits the permanently unimaginable limits of space, or God. Hence, scientists have established the existence of the permanently unimaginable God. The unimaginable nature is the reason for wonder. Maya means wonder by its root word. Hence, we have temporary and permanent regions of Maya. Even a magic show, which creates wonder, is called as Maya, which is temporary, since you can analyze it and know it after some time. But the miracle performed by the human form of the Lord can never be analyzed. It is not magic and such a divine miracle is a permanent Maya indicating the permanently unimaginable God in human form.
Therefore, the miracle of the human incarnation and the unimaginable limits of space are one and the same in establishing the permanently unimaginable and hence permanently wonderful God. Since there cannot be existence of two unimaginable items, there is no place for Maya and God together since both are permanently unimaginable. There can be several temporary unimaginable items in the world just like two items in a magic show. On realization, the two items of the magic show reveal different imaginable technologies of the performance of magic. But the realization of various permanently unimaginable miracles indicates only one unimaginable God. Therefore, in all the permanently unimaginable miracles, there is only one God as the basis, who is permanently unimaginable.
Maya needs a medium of imaginable nature to exhibit its unimaginable nature. The unimaginable limits of the universe are exhibited by the imaginable universe, which is composed of imaginable items. Similarly, the unimaginable God is exhibited by the imaginable human body [of an incarnation], which performs unimaginable miracles through imaginable actions and imaginable items. For example, when the human incarnation moves its hand and produces sacred ash, the human form, hand, movement of the hand and the final ash are imaginable items. With the help of these imaginable items, the generation of ash from space is exhibited as the permanently unimaginable miracle. Even the temporary Maya needs imaginable items in the magic show for exhibition. Similarly, the unimaginable God needs the imaginable human form as a medium for expressing Himself to His devotees. In the case of the human incarnation of God also, you have only understood the existence of the unimaginable God and you have not imagined the nature of God as in the case of the limits of the universe. You have only seen that the limits of space are beyond your sight and this does not mean that you have seen the limits of space. In all these examples, Maya (unimaginable item) exists in the imaginable items to give a proof for its existence, just like the unperceivable electricity exists in the perceivable metallic wire to give the experience of its existence. The wire with electricity can be treated as the electricity itself and there is no other way than this to perceive the electricity. The electricity has to be treated as the wire containing electricity. But every wire is not electricity. Therefore, the unimaginable Maya has to be treated as the imaginable world, which shows the unimaginable limits. This does not mean that every imaginable item in the world with definite limits is Maya. Therefore, this world can be treated as Maya (Mayamtu Prakritim—Gita).
Here the word Prakriti stands for the world with unimaginable limits and it does not stand for any imaginable item in the world with definite limits. Similarly, the person charged by God (human incarnation) can be treated as God but not every person. The world with unimaginable limits and the human incarnation with unimaginable miracles can be treated as God (Vishwam Vishnuh.., Vasudevah Sarvamiti…) and this does not mean that the world or the human body of human incarnation itself is God (Avyaktam Vyaktimapannam—Gita). The world and the human body of the Lord give the proof for the existence of God beyond the world and God beyond the human body of human incarnation respectively. You have not perceived the electricity in the wire and you have only experienced the existence of the unperceivable electricity through the medium of the wire and electricity is separate from the wire. Of course, electricity is imaginable for scientists and here it is used, only as a simile for God and the unperceivable nature of electricity is a comparison for the unimaginable nature of God.
Metaphors in Spiritual Preaching
Except God, all are imaginable items and hence there is no way other than to choose an imaginable item as a comparison for the unimaginable God. We take an unperceivable item or an item, which can be imagined with a lot of difficulty as a comparison for the really unimaginable God. Awareness is an item of the world, which can be imagined with a lot of difficulty and hence is selected as the best comparison for the unimaginable God. Unfortunately, the concept of comparison has been lost and awareness itself is [mistakenly] thought to be God directly. One day the electricity in the wire compared to God by Me may also become God! Another reason for such misunderstanding is the metaphor, which is a figure of speech like a simile. The simile reminds one constantly that God and awareness are different items. But the metaphor easily misleads ignorant people into thinking that awareness is God. Only scholars can recognize the metaphor carefully. If you say that a person is like a lion, it is a simile. The word “like” acts as the torchlight to constantly separate the person and the lion. In a metaphor, we say, “The person is a lion”. This misleads ignorant people into thinking that the person is actually a lion and they think that every lion (person) of the “Lions club” (a club of important persons who serve the society) is actually a lion, which will kill people!
The Veda is the greatest poetry of the greatest poet—God (Kavim Kavinam—Veda). Advaita scholars are also great scholars of all the Shastras and they know this figure of speech very well. Alankara Shastra deals with figures of speech. They know the truth very well. But they are already so intensely attracted by the concept that the soul itself is God, that they cannot come out of this sweetest dream in which they get the highest without the least effort! The dreamer knows that it is only dream but the sweetness is so much that he does not want to come out of it. A scientist is relatively better than this Advaita scholar, who is caught by the powerful ghost of Mohini, because the scientist thinks of himself as an ordinary soul and not as God. You may say that the scientist denies God, which is the greatest sin. I agree to it, but if you analyze, even the Advaita scholar is also an indirect atheist. He is denying God apart from himself, which also means an indirect negation of God.
After the establishment of a simile, the metaphor is used further in all contexts. A great person is compared to a lion and once this simile is established, the metaphor is used further and every important person is called as a lion. Thus, the lions of the Lion’s Club mean important persons and not actual cruel animals (wild lions). Similarly, it is established that God is compared to the soul and the universe is compared to the human body. Therefore, the word soul can stand for God as the word lion stands for the important person. Hence, in the Veda the word Atman (soul) is used to mean God in some places. It does not mean that the word soul stands for the actual soul, just like the word lion in the Lion’s Club does not stand for an actual lion. At least in the first case the great person and the lion are both imaginable items and we can use the word ‘great person’ without lion. But in the second case, God is unimaginable and always needs an imaginable item for comparison. This problem becomes more significant when God comes in the form of a soul (human incarnation) where the word soul has to be used as the external cover (Upadhi) to indicate the direct address of God.
Utility of Imaginable Items
Science is the absolute master as far as the world within its limits is concerned. Any item of the world can be analyzed by science thoroughly and the report of science is final. This is a great advantage to protect the correct spiritual knowledge from exploitations. Ignorant and selfish scholars exploit us by misleading us and making us believe that certain worldly items are God directly. Awareness (soul) is the biggest example of such exploitation. Here comes science to rescue us from such twists and exploitations. The priests exploit us by saying that a statue is God or contains God. The analysis by science clears such exploitation. At least in the case of the soul, God may enter some soul (human incarnation) to preach the knowledge. But such a necessity does not exist in the case of a statue and hence God never enters any statue. The only purpose of the statue is to keep it as a representative model of God. The Advaita scholars only exploit themselves to enjoy the sweet dream. The priests exploit others to enjoy the sweets offered by others! Of course, the soul can be treated as the greatest item among the imaginable items of the creation and hence the soul can be called as Brahman because the root meaning of the word Brahman is that which is the greatest.
The word Brahman is Yaugika, which means that it can be applied to any item if the root meaning is applicable (Yoga Rudha means the word is fixed only to a particular item even though its root meaning is applicable to many other items including that particular item). The word Brahman is also applied to mean the scripture, the Veda, as said in the Gita (Brahmakshara Samudbhavam) because the Veda is the greatest among all the scriptures (since the Veda was protected by recitation from generation to generation without any deletions or introductions). The word Brahman is applied to God also since He is greater than everything in the universe and hence the greatest. You can meditate upon your self separating it from the body and get temporary relief from stress, which is like the first aid for an injury. Thus the word Brahman is not Yoga Rudha and is not fixed in God alone. The ignorance of this concept misleads you into thinking that the soul is God when it is said that the soul is Brahman (Ayamaatmaa Brahma—Veda). It actually means that a particular soul like Krishna, Adi Shankara etc., is God if you take the word Brahman to mean God. If you take the word Brahman to mean a greatest item in any category, the statement means that the soul is the greatest in the universe. This may also be taken as a metaphor comparing the soul with God.
You can keep the statue to represent God as a model (Pratika) in the beginning. The Veda says that you can worship the inert globe of the sun as representative model for God but it immediately says that the sun is not God, and that the sun fears God and God is not in any inert object (Adityam Brahmeti…., Nedam tat…., Bhishodeti….,Natasya Pratima…). The tradition of Advaita and the tradition of the worship of inert objects as models for God are good as long as they are limited to their specified levels. They should not be over extended for the exploitation of oneself and other souls.
Maya, in the form of permanently unimaginable miracles, is seen in an imaginable worldly item having definite limits like a particular human being called as the human incarnation; but such Maya is not there in every human being. The Maya is also present in the unimaginable limits of the universe but not in any other item of the universe except the human incarnation. Thus, you see the evidence of Maya, which is a proof for the existence of the God in the limited human incarnation and in the unlimited boundary of the universe.
Krishna as the finite human incarnation and His cosmic vision with infinite limits, simultaneously stand for this concept. The exhibition of the universe with unperceivable and hence unimaginable limits is the only aim of the Lord in showing the cosmic vision to Arjuna (Nantosti…—Gita). Such exhibition also simultaneously indicates the unimaginable nature in the core of Krishna. Thus both the vision of the infinite cosmos and the vision of the unimaginable nature through the miracles in the human incarnation together prove that God is unimaginable in the limits as well as in the core. This vision concludes that the limits of the universe and the nature of the human incarnation are unimaginable simultaneously. This vision also gives the simultaneous conclusion that any item in the universe except the human incarnation, is imaginable and hence does not indicate the existence of God in any imaginable item except the human incarnation. The final conclusion of cosmic vision is that unimaginable God exists beyond (the limits of) the universe and God also exists in the human incarnation.
God in a Human Body
God in the human body of this Datta Swami gave this cosmic vision to two devotees (Ajay and Sitamma) simultaneously during a divine discourse on the day of Guru Purnima and asked both of them to explain their experience, which they were silently watching in a gathering of devotees. The identification of those only two devotees from the gathering of several devotees, who were also silently listening to the discourse, is also miraculous apart from giving such vision [The fact that Swami could identify that only these two devotees were having the vision and no one else in the gathering is miraculous]. The cosmic vision (Vishwarupam) was given during the discourse of the Gita by Krishna. Hence, the miracles associated with miraculous divine knowledge alone can be the indication of God (Yadyat Vibhutimat Sattvam—Gita). Otherwise demons also perform miracles and hence miracles alone cannot give the address of God. Of course, the miracles exhibited even by demons indicate the unimaginable God but do not give the address of God in the demon. Since miracles serve their original purpose of indicating the existence of unimaginable God, God grants miracles even to demons. This satisfies the desire of demons and also gives publicity to the concept of the existence of unimaginable God in the world simultaneously. By miracles, the existence of God is indicated and the miraculous knowledge gives the address of God (Jnanitvatmaiva…—Gita, Prajnanam Brahma…—Veda) [in the giver of that knowledge].
Among knowledge, love and bliss, knowledge is the most important sign [of God] since only knowledge can guide the soul to the goal. Expression of mere love or bliss or both cannot indicate God like the miracles. Without proper realization, determination and practice will not materialize and without practice, there can be no fruit. Mere love can be seen even in a prostitute or a beloved darling who even sacrifices his or her life for your sake. Such love does not guide you to the goal in the spiritual path and it drowns you more in worldly bonds. Similarly, you can see bliss in a drunkard or persons smoking and taking drugs. They cannot guide you in the spiritual path because mere love and mere bliss cannot give you any realization and determination to practice. Hence, persons who are simply performing miracles and persons who are simply expressing reasonless love and bliss without clearing your doubts and without showing the correct path through perfect analysis, are not real human incarnations. Sometimes God incarnates only exhibiting the miraculous power to destroy evil forces and such incarnations (Matsya, Narasimha, Vamana etc.,) disappear immediately as soon as the purpose is over.
Miracles indicate the unimaginable nature of God, which indicates the existence of the unimaginable God. God exhibits the super power of performing the miracle only for a particular deserving devotee as in the case of the cosmic vision, to give support to a concept in the spiritual knowledge given to Arjuna during the discourse of the Gita. The super power is also used to protect deserving devotees, as in the case of lifting Govardhana Hill and it is also used to punish evil forces as in the case of killing demons sent by the demon Kamsa. Such protection and punishment through the exhibition of miracles, indicate the proof that God does the protection and punishment always even in the absence of such exhibition. Miracles in general indicate the basic existence of God and hence they are exhibited by everyone, starting from demons to the human incarnation, just as the police uniform is worn by all policemen, starting from a constable to the top most official. Krishna performed a series of miracles in a selected place of Vrindavanam, for a selected group of devotees called the Gopikas who were the most deserving sages. Later on, Krishna performed the miracles very rarely; only whenever there was an extreme necessity in His view. Throughout the Kurukshetra war He performed only one miracle, which was the hiding of the sun by His chakra. The series of miracles that He performed earlier, was performed in His childhood as an introduction card, without which nobody could have identified God.
Similarly, God in this human body of this Datta Swami performed a series of miracles within a period of two years before He started the mission of spreading divine knowledge exactly 16 years back. Later on the stress on miracles was reduced and more stress was given on knowledge and devotion. Krishna limited the spiritual discussion (the Gita) only to a particular devotee like Arjuna and also limited His divine love only to a limited set of deserving devotees like the Gopikas, Sudama etc. Therefore, the deservingness of the devotee limits the number of devotees.
The exhibition of endless the cosmos by the Lord to Arjuna shows only one point that the cosmos has infinite unimaginable limits. If this were the only point, then everybody is already receiving the same knowledge by looking into the sky with the naked eyes or through a telescope. In any case the final conclusion is that the world has infinite unimaginable limits. Then what is the use of the same vision given by the Lord to Arjuna, which anyone can get by simply looking into the sky? The essence of the cosmic vision is also stated by the Lord as one point; i.e. this cosmos is endless (Nantosti…—Gita). Arjuna also draws the same conclusion (Nanto nachadih—Gita) on seeing the vision. The specialty is not in the vision because anybody can very easily obtain the same vision by simply looking into the sky. The knowledge behind this vision is important without which the simple cosmic vision is useless. The knowledge in this cosmic vision is that the existence of the permanently unimaginable item is exhibited by the unimaginable limits of the infinite cosmos to everyone. One need not recognize the existence of the unimaginable nature by searching the human incarnation and its miracles. The unimaginable nature is an indication of the unimaginable God. Hence, the proof for the unimaginable God is exhibited to everyone through this infinite cosmos. This is the essence of the knowledge of Vishwarupam.