Posted on: 26 Dec 2004
In the beginning Brahman (God) was One and alone. Only Brahman knows about Brahman and this is the meaning of the Vedic statement, “Brahmavit Brahmaiva Bhavati”. But this statement is misinterpreted and people say that “He who knows Brahman becomes Brahman”. This is not the correct meaning because the Veda says that Brahman cannot be known by the senses, mind, intelligence or logic (Yato Vachah, Nachakshusha, Apraapya Manasaa, Namedhayaa, Naisha Tarkena etc.).
The Gita says “Maamtu Veda Na kaschana”, which means that no body knows Brahman. The reason for this is that Brahman is beyond space. The imagination or intelligence of any human being cannot cross the three dimensional space. Therefore, no human being can imagine Brahman, which is beyond the space. The space was produced from Brahman as said in the Veda (Aatmanah Akaasah). Unless the space is dissolved, one cannot perceive or imagine Brahman. Unless the pot, which is the effect, is dissolved, its cause, which is the lump of mud cannot be imagined. When space dissolves, the creation also dissolves and no body remains to perceive or know Brahman. The authority for such incapability of human beings is the Veda and the Gita.
Now, the atheists may say that that which cannot be known might not exist at all. For this, the Veda answers “Astheetyeva Upalabdhavyah” which means that Brahman makes the people know its existence, if not its details. How? It is done through the human incarnation. If this is not done, all the human beings will be atheists. The human incarnation exhibits certain things, which are beyond our imagination, thereby indicating the existence of that Brahman, which is beyond imagination. Such exhibition is necessary for the atheists and this is the main aim of all the super powers of the human incarnation. There is no need of such exhibition for any theist.
Some scholars argue that there is no referrence of human incarnation in the Veda. It is not correct. The Veda says “Ajayamaano Bahudha Vijaayate” which means that the Lord, who has no birth, is born through several forms. The Veda also says “Tadeva Anu Pravisat” which means that Brahman entered the world as an individual soul. Some scholars have misinterpreted this text also, stating that it means that Brahman entered the creation in the form of all living beings and not as the human incarnation. Such interpretation is wrong because the Veda says that a human being is born from the food derived from the plants (Annat Purushah). The plants are modifications of the five elements. Brahman cannot be born from food. Therefore Brahman created the inert universe and the living beings in the beginning itself for entertainment. On seeing the cinema of creation, Brahman was not satisfied and therefore entered the world as a specific soul, which is the human incarnation. Moreover the Gita says that the creation (Prakriti) is of two parts. One part is the inert nature called as Apara. The second part is the life called as Para. Prakriti means creation. The Para Prakriti means the best part of the creation.
Datta: Human Incarnation
Brahman enters this world not only for the full entertainment but also in order to give the fortune of His vision, touch, conversation and co-living to the devotees. There are several human incarnations, which are given to this world and such a human incarnation is called as Datta. The word Datta means ‘given’ or ‘gifted’. Datta is not a specific deity as people misunderstand. Datta means any human incarnation that is gifted to the world to liberate the devotees. These incarnations are of different levels because the devotees are also of different levels. Datta means the system of preachers, who come down at different levels, in different places and in different religions for the sake of the human beings, who are present in different places, at different levels and in different religions. The main aim of the human incarnation is only to preach the divine special knowledge, which cannot be preached by any individual soul. Such special knowledge is called as ‘Prajnanam’ in the Veda. At one place, there will be an elementary school, a high school, a college and a university and teachers of different levels are required at that one place itself. Such teachers of different levels are required in each place, each language and each religion. If the Lord is confined to a particular place, language, generation or religion, He becomes partial. The Gita says that the Lord is the divine Father of all the human beings (Aham Bija Pradah Pitaa). An individual soul is the father of a limited family and the Lord is the Father of the entire world.
The Lord gives experience to us in every walk of life about His existence. But, such experiences become weak in course of time due to the petty minds of the human beings. The human mind always uses logic and interprets such experiences as mere accidental situations. Therefore the faith of the theists is not strong. The human preachers are unable to answer the doubts of these human beings and this further weakens their faith. Therefore, the Lord comes down in the form of a human being as the divine preacher. Thus, there is a strong neccesity for such incarnation. The Veda says “Yat Saakshat Aparokshat Brahma”, which means that Brahman comes down before the eyes of the human beings. The Gita also says “Maanusheem Tanumaasritam”, which means that Brahman comes down as a human being. But the human body taken by the Lord follows the rules of nature and is not different from any other human body. The shirt of a king is not different from any other shirt. It can be cut with the help of a blade like any other shirt. The speciality is in the king but not in the shirt. If the Lord wishes, He could take a human body, which neither has neither birth nor death. It can be a divine body, which appears before all human beings in different places and preaches, in different languages in the same time. But, such creation of a divine body means that the Lord is going beyond the rules of the nature, which are created by the Lord alone. The Lord has such divine power, which can go beyond this nature. Such divine power is called ‘Maya’ and the Lord, who is the possessor of such Maya is called ‘Mayee’ as said in the Gita “Mayinam tu Maheswaram”. But no sensible administrator will break his own rules when some work is possible within the setup of the existing rule. There is no need of doing that work by breaking the adminstration. The Lord can achieve the same result by taking several human bodies at a time and from generation to generation. In such way, the divine administration is not disturbed. Therefore, the Lord comes in several human incarnations at a time in each generation and the Vishwarupa represents this. In the Gita, the prayer on the Vishwarupa mentions about several feet, faces and also several stomaches (Aneka Baahoodara Vaktra Netram). Therefore, the present picture of Vishwarupa is wrong. Vishwarupa only means the photograph of a group of preachers existing at the same time. The word ‘Udara’ (stomach) is not justified in the present picture of Vishwarupam, which is again another misperception leading to misinterpretation.
Therefore, it is very very clear that Datta means only the human incarnation that comes down to preach the true divine knowledge. But, due to the egoism and jealousy which are natural to human beings, they do not recognize the Lord in the form of a human being. Only very few believed in Krishna as the Lord. Only a very few believed in Shirdi Sai Baba as God. When Sai was alive there were a few devotees and nobody thought of building a temple for Him. Even Butee wanted to build a temple for Krishna alone, who was a past incarnation. Now there are millions of devotees and lakhs of temples for Sai Baba because He is no more a present incarnation. He who wins over the three types of egoism caused by the three qualities (Trigunas) is called as Atri. He who conquers jealousy (Asuya) is Anasuya. Such a devotee alone can capture the human incarnation. This is the sense of the statement that Atri and Anasuya attained Datta.
All the human beings have egoism and jealousy as two layers covering their eyes. Therefore, they misunderstand the outermost human gross body of the Lord since it also has birth, death, hunger etc. They think that the Lord is also an ordinary human being. The wire in which the current is passing and the wire without current, look alike to the eyes. The difference can be known only when one goes near and experiences.
Some people are able to cross this gross body and capture the inner subtle body called ‘Sukshma Sareera’, which is made of three qualities. But, these people expect the qualities of the Lord to be only good (Satvam). They expect the Lord to be of the nature of Vishnu who represents Satvam. Brahma is Rajas and Shiva is Tamas. These devotees take the Lord as Vishnu only and expect the Lord to have only good qualities. Rajas and Tamas are bad qualities. Then, how these devotees can explain the incarnation of ‘Narasimha’, who was full of anger (Rajas)? How can these devotees explain the bad qualities of theft etc. (Tamas), shown by Krishna? The devotees who realize that all three forms are equal and the Lord is associated with these three forms (three qualities), can alone understand the Lord. The Lord is beyond these three qualities which are the means of His play. This subtle body with the three qualities is just a tri-coloured shirt of the Lord. The Lord does not have any colour. Therefore Datta appears as a preacher (Satvam), appears as a furious person by beating the devotees (Rajas) and appears as person who drinks wine and is associated with prostitutes (Tamas). Only such realized devotees can pass the test of Datta. Datta is Vishwarupa, which means that the gross body of Datta is this universe in which all the three qualities exist. Therefore, Datta contains all the three qualities. This universe does not contain only good qualities. Therefore it follows that Datta is associated with all the three qualities (Trigunatmaka) and not just good qualities alone (Sattva Gunaatmaka). The Lord said in the Gita that He contains all the three qualities (yechaiva Saatvika Bhaavah…). According to the Shastra no human being consists of pure good qualities only (Satvam). The human body into which the Lord enters must follow the same norm. The Gita says the same (Tribhih Gunamaaih Bhavaih).
The three faces of Lord Datta indicate the three qualities and the six hands indicate the six changes of a human body, which are existence, birth, growth, modification, reduction and destruction (Shat Vikaaras or Shat Urmis). This means that Datta is a human form containing the three qualities and a body undergoing all the six changes. He who knows this inner interpretation of the word Datta is the real realized devotee of Datta. The devotees in the stage of preliminary ignorance, worship a statue or a picture of Datta having three faces and six hands. If such form of Datta were real, Hanuman and the Gopikas would have worshipped such a form. The human beings, whose egoism and jealousy are not removed and therefore cannot worship the human incarnation, can worship such statues and pictures of Datta. This is called as representative worship (Prateeka Upasanam). In that stage such worship is not wrong and realized scholars should not mock at them because they were also in the same stage in the beginning. There is no other way than this for the ignorant people.
The real form of Brahman can never be understood as said in the Vedas. Even the super natural powers are associated characteristics like jewels, since such powers can be donated even to the demons by the Lord. The demons cannot become Lord by wearing these jewels. The son of an advocate cannot be the advocate by simply putting on the black coat of his father. His son cannot get the talent of the father in law and advocacy. Therefore the Vedas say that the special divine knowledge of the Lord, which nobody can attain is the real characteristic of the Lord. Such knowledge cannot be attained by demons, but ignorant people want God only for the sake of getting boons in this world and fulfilling their desires. They have no true love for God. Their love is only for His powers because those powers are useful to attain boons. One bows to the collector but not to the person in that post. Even if the collector is an undeserving person, people do not mind bowing to him because they have some work with the collector and not with the person in that post. Similarly ignorant people worship even demons on seeing their powers. If the Lord does not exhibit these powers, these people will not worship Him. People will not bow to a retired collector who may be a real deserving person.
Now, one doubt arises i.e., if the special knowledge is the characeristic form of Brahman, then Brahman is understood. But the Vedas say that no one can understand Brahman. The answer for this is that the special knowledge is also an associated characteristic like a jewel, but this jewel is never separated from the Lord. A married lady can donate any jewel or ornament to anybody, but not the yellow thread from her neck. [A married lady is supposed to wear the mangal sutra at all times. This mangal sutra has a pendant attached to a yellow thread, in some places. In other places it is gold chain with certain beads and a pendant of golden cuplets.] Therefore the yellow thread is an associated characteristic and also is an integrated characteristic. This integrated characteristic is useful to differentiate her from other ladies who are not married or whose husbands are no more. Similarly the special divine knowledge of the human incarnation is useful in separating the human incarnation from other human beings. The special knowledge creates infinite bliss in our hearts and therefore infinite bliss is also an integrated characteristic of Brahman. The special knowledge (Prajnana) and the infinite bliss (Akhanda Ananda) are inseparable from each other like the light and heat of the sun. The knowledge of scholars may appear as special knowledge, but it will not create infinite bliss in our hearts. Sunlight can be separated from moonlight by its heat. The sunlight is integrated with heat and the moonlight is not associated with heat. Therefore when the special knowledge gives us infinite bliss, such human being is the incarnation and He is separated from other scholars. By seeing this creation, we can guess the existence of the Creator. By seeing the house, we infer the existence of its builder. But, the house cannot show the actual place where the builder exists at that time. Only his voice can indicate the place of his existence. Similarly the creation can give the inference of the existence of the Creator but not the actual place of the Creator, for whom we are searching. The special knowledge which gives infinite bliss indicates the actual place of existence of the Creator i.e., the human incarnation. Even though, you have recognized the human incarnation, you cannot see Brahman, which is hiding in the human incarnation. The special knowledge which gives infinite bliss, is radiating from the Brahman through the incarnation. You have seen the human incarnation through the eyes and heard the special knowledge through the ears. Your eyes have captured the human incarnation and your ears have captured the special knowledge. But remember that neither your eyes nor your ears have touched Brahman. The Veda says “Prajnana Ghanah”, which means the special knowledge and the human body. It is just like a particular cloud is transmitting the light of the sun hidden in it. You have seen the cloud and the sunlight, but not the sun. Therefore, if you become egoistic and say that you have captured Brahman through the knowledge, we are sorry to say that you have not even touched Brahman and the special knowledge is only an associated characteristic and not the real characteristic. You have seen only the light and not the sun at all. However, if a devotee, who surrenders to the Lord without egoism feels unhappy that he has not experienced Brahman, we say, that the devotee has experienced Brahman through the Knowledge. The light and heat of the sun are experienced through the sunlight and therefore the experience of sunlight is the experience of sun. Therefore the two contradicting statements of the Veda, one saying that Brahman is seen (Pratyagaatmana maikshat) and the other saying that Brahman cannot be seen (Na Chakshushaa Pashyati) are correlated without any contradiction. Nobody can see the sun and one has seen the sun through the sunlight. Brahman has no objection for getting captured by you. If you capture Brahman, you will certainly become egoistic due to your human nature. You think that you have surrendered to the Lord completely without any trace of egoism. But remember my friend; egoism is hidden in you as a minute trace about which even you are not aware. So many ideas related to your previous birth are hidden in you, which come out in your dream. Therefore, in course of time, you will certainly become egoistic and you will fall. To prevent you from such a fall, Brahman is escaping from your capture. Except for this, there is no other reason and whatever the Lord does, it is only in your interest.
Awareness, Brahman and Advaita
Scholars say that Brahman is awareness because the Veda says that Brahman wished to create this world. The wish is the characteristic of awareness (Chaitanyam). But this logic is not correct. To wish, Brahman need not be awareness. You are limiting Brahman with the conditions and the logic of this creation. The Veda says that the Lord can run without feet and can capture without hands (Apaani Pado Javano Grahita). If you say that Brahman is awareness, the awareness is present in every living being. Do you mean that every living being is Brahman? Brahman created this world. Can the awareness in any living being create this world? You may say that the soul is a small spark of Brahman. In that case, let the soul create a small atom. You may say that the soul creates the dream [a human individual can create his own dream-world while sleeping]. The dream is not the atom. The soul creating the dream is only a comparison [similie] for Brahman in creating this world. Brahman created several examples in this world so that we can understand the acts of Brahman through those examples.
You may argue that wherever knowledge exists, awareness must exist. Inert matter, which is not awareness, cannot possess knowledge. Therefore, since Brahman is recognized as the possessor of the knowledge, Brahman must be awareness. This argument is again wrong. Brahman is not awareness but Brahman is associated with the awareness, which radiates the knowledge. The yellow thread of the married lady is consisting of the thread and the yellow colour. Similarly Brahman is associated with the awareness that radiates the special knowledge. The lady is neither the thread nor the yellow colour. Similarly Brahman is neither awareness nor the knowledge. Moreover we have clearly stated that Brahman is omnipotent and can do anything even without the association of the instrument. Brahman can run without the instrumental legs. Similarly Brahman can radiate knowledge even without the awareness. The married lady can contain the yellow colour even without the thread. From this point of view also, Brahman need not be awareness and need not be even associated with awareness. Moreover, your logic is wrong at the base itself. You say that awareness and knowledge are inseparable. If it is so, awareness is present in birds and animals, but birds and animals are not associated with knowledge. Remember that the lady created the thread, the yellow colour and the association of the yellow colour with the thread. Similarly, Brahman created awareness and knowledge. If knowledge is associated with Brahman, it is only because such is the will of Brahman.
The Gita says that Brahman enters the human body like the sun entering the cloud. Here you can eliminate the inert statues, living plants, birds and animals. The reason is that all these categories cannot preach knowledge. Therefore Brahman enters only the human body as said in the Gita “Manusheem Tanumasritam”. The Gita does not mention about the entry of Brahman into a statue, plant, bird or an animal. The main aim of the incarnation is only preaching that divine special knowledge and this is possible only through a human body. This does not mean that Brahman has entered every human being because that special divine knowledge, which creates infinite bliss in our hearts, is not coming out from every human being. The sun has not entered every cloud. If Brahman has entered every human being and if every human being is a divine preacher, who is to be preached? What is the necessity of preaching? The remaining inert objects, plants, birds and animals cannot be preached. Then preaching becomes meaningless and it means that Brahman does things, which are meaningless. You may say that Brahman is the substratum of the entire world. Therefore the knowledge of Brahman is radiating in every human being. If this were true, how come the majority of human beings are ignorant? You may find a few scholars who are preaching the divine knowledge. But such knowledge is not special and is not creating infinite bliss. It may create a little happiness. There may be some clouds in the sky in the daytime, which are transmitting a little light. But there is one particular cloud from which the entire light of the sun is transmitted with high intensity. There is a quantitative difference between this cloud and the other clouds. The soul is called ‘Alpajna’ which means that the soul has little knowledge. But, that particular human incarnation is called ‘Sarvajna’, which means the soul with full knowledge. That particular cloud is pervaded by the sun and that cloud is almost the sun. This is the Advaita or monism (non-duality) between that particular cloud and the sun.
This does not mean the monism of the sun and every cloud. In fact, there are some black clouds also, which do not transmit even a single ray of the sun. Such souls are called ‘Ajna’ which mean the souls without any trace of knowledge. There is no other way than treating the light-transmitting cloud as the sun and there is no any difference in the experience as far as that particular cloud and the sun are concerned. You cannot look at the sun directly. If Brahman (God) is directly revealed, the creation, which is made of ignorance, disappears. You will also disappear since you are a small part of the creation. Therefore, the direct revelation of Brahman is impossible to you. Today, we have seen a particular cloud in which the sun is hidden. Tomorrow, we will see another cloud in which the same sun is hidden. The sun is not changed. The composition of the clouds is also one and the same. Therefore you should not say that the cloud of yesterday alone Brahman and reject the present cloud. Generally, human beings are jealous of another human being who is in the present. The Veda says that even angels have this disease (Paroksha Priya ivahi devaah Pratyakshadvishah). People reject the present human incarnation and worship the past incarnation, who is not seen anymore. Some people with even more jealousy worship only the statues of celestial forms, which are not at all present in this world. If one conquers this jealousy, he will be able to worship the present incarnation. Hanuman worshipped Rama and the Gopikas worshipped Krishna. The Gopikas did not worship Rama (who was the past incarnation) and that was not wrong because they did not see Rama. But Hanuman did not accept Krishna though he saw Him. For Hanuman, both Rama and Krishna were present incarnations [Hanuman lived from the time of Rama, was alive at the time of Krishna, and is said to be alive even today]. Yesterday, you have seen one cloud with the hidden sun and another cloud today with the same hidden sun. You have accepted yesterday’s cloud but not today’s cloud. The shape of the cloud may vary but the composition of the cloud is the same. You must know that the cloud is not the sun and also that the sun is not modified as the cloud. Yesterday’s cloud was not the sun. It was only assumed to be the sun. If you think that yesterday’s cloud was the sun, then the sun must have also disappeared when the cloud disappeared. You will conclude that since today’s cloud is not yesterday’s cloud, today’s cloud is not the sun. Similarly if you think that Krishna was Brahman and Brahman disappeared when the body of Krishna was burnt, then you will conclude that the present incarnation is not Brahman because Brahman was burnt. Ignorant people think that the human body of the incarnation is Brahman. This is said in the Gita “Avyaktam Vyakti mapannam”. To eliminate the previous incarnation, we must accept that the human body is not Brahman. The cloud is not the sun. However, when the present incarnation is worshipped, you must think that that cloud is the sun, because there is no other way to capture Brahman. Therefore you must worhsip the human body of the present incarnation as Brahman. You must treat the present cloud with the hidden sun as the sun itself. But when yesterday’s cloud comes into the picture, you must know that the cloud and the sun are different. For the past incarnation, you must use the knowledge of duality (Dvaita). In the case of the present incarnation you must have the knowledge of monism (Advaitam). For the people of the generation of the past incarnation, monism was correct. If you continue the monism from the past to the present, you will not accept the present incarnation. So, to leave the past incarnation, analysis (Jnana) is necessary and to worship the present incarnation, imposed ignorance (Ajnana) is necessary. Imposed ignorance means that you have both the analysis and the ignorance to leave the past and worship the present respectively. Imposed ignorance does not mean real ignorance. If the cloud is not acting as the sun [not transmitting light] and if you think that the cloud is the sun, then that would be real ignorance. But here, the cloud is acting as the sun for almost all practical purposes and so thinking that the cloud is the sun is not real ignorance although the sun and the cloud are different.
Every Soul is Not God
A human being is only a composite of three bodies which are:
Human beings are also based on Brahman, since they are part and parcel of the world. Yet this creation does not even touch the Brahman because it stands on a mere will of Brahman. Therefore no human being is even touching Brahman and it is foolish to say that every human being is Brahman. A particular human being can be treated as Brahman because Brahman pervades all over His body by His power called Maya. The sun pervades a particular cloud through its sunlight. This means the sunlight is pervading the cloud and this is treated as the sun pervading the cloud. This sunlight is transmitted through the cloud. Similarly the power, Maya, is also transmitted through such a human incarnation. Such power is not transmitted through every human being. The sun did not enter every cloud, but any cloud is eligible for the entry of the sun. Similarly, every human being is eligible for the entry of Brahman. Eligibility means that Brahman can enter any human being. Such entry is according to the will of Brahman and not according to the will of the human being. The income tax officer can enter any house for a search. This does not mean that the officer has entered every house. He has entered only a particular house. You can say that the air has entered every house. But the income tax officer is different from the air. The Veda says “Eeshaa Vaasyam Idam”. Here the word Vaasyam means that anything in this world is eligible for the entry of the Lord. This does not mean that the Lord has entered everything in this world. If the Lord has entered everything, how can you correlate the Vedic statement, “Neti Neti Iti”, which means that nothing in this world is Brahman? But, there is another Vedic text, which says that everything is Brahman (Sarvam Khalu Idam Brahma). Here, according to Sanskrit grammar, the meaning of this statement should be taken as “Everything is under the control of the Brahman.” This statement can also be applied to the case of human incarnation. In that case, you can say that that whole human body is Brahman. The cloud illuminated by the sun is almost the sun. Brahman can be taken as the basis of the world and this relationship between Brahman and the world is called the ‘base-based relationship’ [object-substratum]. In this relationship, there is not even a slight touch between the world and God. Therefore, no human being can achieve Brahman without his individual spiritual effort (sadhana). Only by sadhana, can one become near and dear to Brahman. Even in the case of the human incarnation of God, all human beings in the world cannot even recognize Him and therefore cannot become near and dear to the human incarnation. Only by special effort, can a few recognize Him and become near and dear to Him.
Difficulties in Recognition
The nine obstructions (Nava Avaranaas) in recognizing the human incarnation are:
These nine obstructions, which are like coverings or compound walls, constitute the three bodies of any human being as well as the human body of the human incarnation. In the case of an ordinary human being, there is nothing else than these three bodies. But in the case of the human incarnation, the fourth entity, which is Brahman, exists. The three qualities cannot exist without the awareness just like the water-waves cannot exist without water. You may say that you have standstill water without waves. So you may say that the water can exist without waves, but modern science proves that there are vibrations even in standstill water. The molecules in the water have rotations and the atoms have vibrations. The sub-atomic particles have spin and revolutions. Therefore, anything, which appears immovable, has inner movements. The Gita says the same (Akarmanicha karmayah). Therefore, there is no water without waves. Similarly there are no qualities without awareness and there is no awareness without qualities. The qualities exist as unrecognizable traces in the pure awareness. Even in deep sleep, the qualities are present in subtle state. They project [manifest] when the human being wakes up from deep sleep. Therefore, the awareness (Kaarana Sareera) and the three qualities (Sukshma Sareera) are inseparable and integrated and are treated as one entity called as soul (Jiva).
In the Gita creation is sub-divided into two parts:
But the three qualities of Apara, and Para (Chittam) come as one category called Antahkaranas. This means that the three qualities and the pure awareness are integrated as one category called as Jiva. This Jiva contains the three qualities, which are made of awareness and the awareness is made of the three qualities in subtle state. This Jiva is permanent when compared to the gross body, but when the Jiva is compared with the Lord, the Lord is eternal. The Lord created the Jiva. Before creation, only the Lord existed. Of course, these souls (Jeevas) continue to exist since the Lord wishes so. But this does not mean that the soul is eternal. That which has birth must have an end. The end can come if the Lord wishes. Therefore, the soul is not eternal. The Gita clearly says “Nahanyate Hanyamaane Sareere” which means that though the gross body is destroyed, the soul is not destroyed. The permanence of the soul is not absolute but only relative with respect to the permanency of the gross body. Scholars have misunderstood the second chapter of the Gita and concluded that the soul is absolutely eternal and is the Brahman itself. If the soul is eternal, then how did Lord Krishna create the same souls again for one month, when some souls were hidden by Prajapati? The soul exists due to the conversion of food, which is inert matter. The conversion of life and inert matter can be seen when Ahalya was made stone and the same stone was converted back into Ahalya. Therefore life is only a complicated form of energy, which is the result of the conversion of matter as per the will of the Lord. Therefore, scholars have to cross this ninth compound wall, which is the soul. Beyond the soul, Brahman exists though not perceived or understood. The proof for only the existence of Brahman is given. Therefore, you should not say that there is nothing beyond the soul. In the human incarnation of God, one has to cross all these three bodies, which are the nine Aavaranaas (coverings) to recognize Brahman. But, at the same time, the power of Brahman pervades all the three bodies and therefore even the gross body can be treated as Brahman and can be worshipped. Other than this, there is no other way to worship Brahman. This is clearly stated in the Veda “Vedahametam Purusham….” The meaning of this line is that one can know the Purusha (cloud), which is illuminated with the power of Brahman called as Maya (sunlight). Such monism between that particular human being and Brahman is the Knowledge, which is the end of ignorance (Tamasah Parastat). If you feel that the sun and cloud are separate (Dvaita), it is ignorance because your aim is to worship Brahman and not to analyze Brahman. If your aim is not to worship Brahman and only to analyze Brahman, then the monism is ignorance and duality is the Knowledge. He who knows the sun as that illuminated cloud, worships Brahman and is liberated here itself because the human incarnation is present in this world itself (Tamevam Vidvaan Amrita Iha Bhavati). The word ‘Iha’ means in this world itself. Other than this one path, there is no other way to see, touch, talk and to live with Brahman (Naanyah Panthaah). In the Veda, the words like Purusha and Atma mean only the human incarnation. In Sanskrit, the word Atma means the human body too. In the Veda, Purusha Suktam is treated as the most sacred because it preaches about the human incarnation of the Lord. Even the four Mahavaakyas speak only about the human incarnation. The first three sentences say that the human incarnation looks like myself, yourself and any other human being externally. But according to the fourth sentence, He is different from all the human beings internally, due to His Special Knowledge (Prajnanam). This wonderful knowledge is called as Maya. The word Maya means wonderful. Human beings also possess knowledge but such knowledge is the quality of Satvam, which is a part of the creation. Prajnanam or Maya is the knowledge of the creator and is quite different from Jnanam, which is only a quality of creation or Prakriti. This Jnanam cannot explain the concepts, which are beyond the logic and so, such knowledge is not wonderful.
As soon as the soul leaves this human body, it attains the smoke-body and goes to Pretaloka (world of the dead) for the enquiry. From there, when the soul goes to the hell, it continues in the same body, which is called as ‘Yatana Shareera’ (body of pain). If the soul goes to ‘Pitruloka’ (world of ancestors), it contains the same smoke body. Sometimes the soul wanders in this world itself as a ghost (Pisacha) and in such case also, the same body is maintained. For the souls of this second world, the Lord also enters a smoke body and that is also an incarnation of Datta. He is said to be in the form of ‘Digambara Pisacha’ who preaches to all the souls of the second world. There is third world, which contains heaven and Brahmaloka. The soul from Pretaloka may enter the heaven. In such a case the soul leaves the smoke body and attains a body of light called as Divya Shareera or Bhoga Shareera. The word ‘Divya’ means light and the word ‘Bhoga’ means enjoyment of good results. Such a soul [soul wearing a body of light] is said to be Deva or Angel. In this world, the Lord too takes the body of light in the heaven and preaches to all the angels. In the Veda, it is mentioned that Brahman appeared in the form of light called ‘Yaksha’. Brahman preached to all the angels that no one should become proud due to egoism. Even the Lord of angels called Indra was refused for an interview.
A soul will come back to the first world [this world] after enjoying the good results in the heaven. Therefore, if the soul goes to Pretaloka after death, it has to come back whether it goes to hell, pitruloka (Moon) or heaven. The highest region in the third world is Brahmaloka. When the soul goes to this Brahmaloka, it does not go to the Pretaloka for the enquiry. It attains a body of light is called Yoga Sareera. The word Yoga means that the soul is going to be associated with the Lord. In the Brahmaloka also, the Lord becomes Datta by entering a highly intense body of light. This incarnation is called Brahma or Vishnu or Shiva. Thus these three forms are also incarnations of Brahman and they are called as Datta. The most pitiable thing is that the souls in these higher worlds (second and third), except Brahmaloka also do not recognize the incarnations of Brahman due to the principle of common plane [since God appears in a body similar to their own bodies]. The souls have the same bodies as Brahman has in these worlds also. Therefore due to egoism and jealousy, they refuse to recognize Brahman and neglect Datta. But in Brahmaloka that is not the case because only those souls who recognized the human incarnation in this world go to Brahmaloka. These souls have conquered the effect of the principle of common plane here itself. Therefore they will not be affected by this principle in Brahmaloka also. The Veda says this point very clearly “Ihachet Avedeet….” This means that if you have recognized the human incarnation in this world i.e., Datta, you will also recognize Datta in Brahmaloka. If you have not recognized Datta in this world, you can never recognize Him either in the second world or in the third world except Brahmaloka.
Universal Datta
The universality of Datta in this world must be recognized. Brahman is not confined to only one human body. Therefore Brahman appeared in human forms before and after Lord Krishna. Krishna Himself stated “Yuge Yuge”and “Yada Yadaahi”. This means that whenever and wherever there is necessity, Brahman appears in human form. Brahman can appear in several human forms in several regions and several religions at the same time and for the same generation. Conservatism is against the philosophy of Datta. Datta is not only Rama, Krishna, Sai etc., but also Buddha, Jesus, Mahavir Jain, Mohammed, etc. If you say that Krishna alone can save human beings, you are attributing partiality to the Lord. There was some time in the past when India knew Krishna but foreign countries had not even heard about Krishna. In that time, the foreign generations must have gone to hell because they had never even heard about Krishna, what to speak of worshiping Krishna. But it was not their mistake. The teaching and literature of Krishna had not crossed the sea at that time. Had it been spread all over the world, at least some of those generations might have worshipped Krishna. For no fault of theirs, those people have gone to hell and this is the injustice done by Krishna. Krishna should have spread His message throughout the world when He incarnated at one place. This argument applies to other incarnations of other religions also. No religion can give a correct answer to this objection. Therefore in order to make the Lord impartial, which has to be agreed by all religions, the only way is to accept that the Lord incarnated in several regions and religions and should have preached the same divine knowledge in different languages. Then only, can you justify the Lord as the creator of this entire universe. Every religion accepts this concept but does not adopt it and therefore becomes conservative.
All the religions are correct, since all the scriptures of different religions are the preachings of the same Lord. Every religion sees the truth from its own angle and receives a part of the truth, which is absolutely true. But when all these angles are correlated, the parts will compose the total truth. One has seen the tusk and another has seen the body of the elephant. One says that the elephant is like a pillar and another says that the elephant is like a wall. Both are true as parts of the total truth, but they contradict each other because each part is considered as the total truth due to fanatic ignorance. Thus Arya Samaj and Islam say that the absolute God does not incarnate in this world. He sends His servants alone to preach to this world. This is the truth when we consider one part of the total concept. The sun is not seen directly. The sun sends the cloud, which is created by Him. Thus Brahman is not seen directly. Only the human body, which is His servant, is sent for preaching. When you analyze, you find that this is a part of the truth. Christianity says that the human incarnation is Son and the Lord is the Father. Father produced the son. Therefore Father means the Creator and Son means the created human body of the incarnation. The Son is under the control of the Father and so can be treated as His servant. This concept coincides with the above concept. But Jesus says that He and His Father are one and the same. Here the second part of the concept is realized. The sun and the illuminated cloud are one and the same for all practical purposes. For the purpose of worship, this concept of monism is the truth. In Hinduism both these concepts exist as Dvaita and Advaita. Buddha and Mahavir Jain kept silent about God. This means that God is beyond words and imagination. If the total truth is realized, the universality of Datta is understood and this is the complete knowledge about Datta.
The company or association of people that you associate with, (Sanga) decides your path. Worldly people will only poison you with the materialistic knowledge of this world. Spiritual people will uplift you with the divine knowledge of the Lord. You fellow, you always associate with poisoning people since they are your kith and kin like wife, children, relatives and friends! They always inject the poison of materialism of this world into your mind so that you always think, talk and do materialistic things only. This wrong poisonous knowledge, which is called as ignorance, can be cut only by the right spiritual knowledge. Knowledge leads to decision, which results in words and action. The nature of knowledge is reflected in your words and deeds. Finally you will end in the results of your deeds. Therefore, the right spiritual knowledge is very essential for your right upliftment in this human life. Only Sadguru, who is Brahman in human form can only give such right divine knowledge. The word ‘Sat’ means Brahman as per the Veda (Sadeva …). Similarly, Satsanga means the association with the Brahman in the human form, which is the human incarnation of the Lord. Human birth is rare, desire for salvation is rarer and association with the human incarnation is the rarest as said by Shankara “Manushyatvam….” The first step in the spiritual effort is association. If you catch the first step, other steps follow without any further effort as in the case of escalators in the railway station. You will go to the last step, which is the salvation while you are alive (Jeevanmukti) without any further effort as said by Shankara (Satsangatve…). Therefore, the selection of the Sadguru, who is the human incarnation called as Datta, is the most important first step. If you catch the human incarnation, you will get salvation in this world itself without any further effort.
This Datta (Sadguru) is mixed with other fraud preachers like the original diamond mixed with artificial diamonds. Now again, all these diamonds (original and artificial) are mixed with gravel stones. This means that Datta and the fraud preachers are mixed with the ordinary human beings, since all appear as human beings alone. Therefore, there are two stages of filtration. In the first stage, you have to separate the diamonds from the gravel stones. You must separate the spiritual preachers from your kith and kin. In the second stage, you have to separate Datta from the other preachers. Finally you have to get the original diamond and the knowledge of such filtration is called ‘Brahma Vidya’ or ‘Brahma Jnana’. You have to get the original diamond separated first from gravel stones and then from artificial diamonds. This can be done only by the knowledge called ‘Ratna Vidya’ or ‘Ratna Pariksha’ (Knowledge of Jewels). You are unnecessarily spending lot of energy and time in selecting your bride, who is a gravel stone only. Any gravel stone is same as the other. Similarly any bride is same as the other in poisoning yourself with the materialistic knowledge of this world. But, you are not spending time and energy in selecting the right divine preacher. If you are ignorant about ‘Ratna Vidya’, you may mistake a gravel stone for the original diamond. If your knowledge is incomplete, you may select an artificial diamond for the original diamond. In both cases you lose your money, but at least, money can be earned again and hence there is not much loss. But if you select an ordinary human being or a fraud preacher as your spiritual preacher, your loss is irrepairable. The reason for this is that you will fall into hell forever and will not get this human birth again.
An artificial diamond is better than a gravel stone. A fraud spiritual preacher is better than materialistic human beings, who may be your kith and kin. The fraud preacher increases your selfishness by making the Lord as the instrument to achieve your materialistic desires. This is like a poison-tablet coated with real medicine. The real medicine here is that you’re worshipping the Lord. The poison is the increased selfishness. But, this capsule is better than the direct tablet of poison, which is given by your so-called kith and kin. Thus a fraud preacher is better than your kith and kin. In the preaching of the fraud teacher, atleast God is introduced. But, in the conversations with your kith and kin, there is no any trace of the knowledge of God. They talk only about the materialistic goals and the corresponding materialistic efforts. But, if you can catch Datta, you can get the tablet of medicine directly. Sometimes Datta also gives the tablet of medicine coated by poison for some low-level devotees. The higher level devotees can take the medicine directly, which is completely the knowledge of the Lord. The lower level devotees need solutions for some materialistic problems. If these problems are solved, there is a hope for them to become higher level devotees. For such low-level devotees, Datta clears their problems and then preaches the spiritual knowledge. Such low-level devotees require the capsule alone. The difference in the capsules given by the fraud teacher and Datta is that the first capsule contains very little medicine and lot of poison, whereas the second capsule contains very little poison and lot of medicine.
You must eliminate the artificial diamonds from the original diamond. The fraud preachers are either scholars in the Vedas and Shastras or illiterate, not knowing even the Vedas and Shastras. You have to eliminate both these types. The knowledge of Brahman is always inseparable from love and bliss. Knowledge is Brahma, Love is Vishnu and Bliss is Shiva as per the Veda (Prajnanam Brahma, Raso Vaisah, Anando Brahma). These three forms are inseparable because only one Brahman exists in these three forms like the same actor existing in the three roles. The knowledge preached by scholars only gives a headache and not love or bliss in your heart. The knowledge of illiterate preachers is without the quotations from the Vedas and Shastras. If that illiterate person is Brahman, he should also be Lord Brahma who created the Vedas and Shastras. Then, what is the difficulty for him to quote the Vedas and Shastras, which are written by himelf? If he is not Lord Brahma, he cannot be Brahman. Brahman means Possessor and Datta means Transporter. Brahman possesses knowledge, love and bliss. Datta transfers these three into the disciples. The container of fire possesses the heat. When one goes near the container, the heat is transferred to him and he must experience that heat. If there is no such transfer of heat, the container does not possess heat. Therefore, Brahman must be Datta. If Brahman is not Datta, Brahman is not Brahman. The very authority of containing the heat is only the transfer of heat. If someone claims to be Brahman, the authority is that he should be Datta. This means he who transfers knowledge, love and bliss can alone be the possessor of knowledge, love and bliss. Therefore, fraud human incarnations, who claim that they possess knowledge, love and bliss, should be discarded because they are unable to transfer the same to the hearts of the other people, who come near them.
The three faces of Datta indicate creation, ruling and destruction of this universe. Such capacity is also an associated property of Brahman, which is of course inseparable like the knowledge. Again creation, maintenance and destruction are inseparable from each other because during creation, the maintenance of the new product exists and at the same time destruction (disappearance) of the cause-material also takes place.
The right half of Datta is the preacher (Guru) holding the conch (Sankha), Damaruka and the bead garland. Sankha denotes the Vedas. Damaruka denotes the Shastras. The bead garland, which rolls again and again, denotes the formation of sentence from the sound of the Sankha and Damaruka. The repetition of the garland denotes the repeated line of the devotional song indicating devotion. Thus the right side denotes knowledge and devotion. The left half of Datta indicates the Lord (Bhagavan) holding the Chakra indicating ‘Kala’ (time), Trishula indicating the three types of karma and finally the water vessel (Kamandalu) indicating the spiritual powers. The right side is more important than the left side. Guru is greater than Bhagavan–why? Bhagavan establishes justice by destroying the injustice through the weapons on the left side. He leads you from injustice to justice. But, Guru leads you to salvation from the stage of justice. You have to cross even justice to get the salvation as said in the Gita (Sarva Dharmaan…).
Types of Incarnations
The human incarnations (Datta) are of various types like Kala (a ray), Amsha (a part), Purna (full) and Paripurna (fullest). The Amsha and Kala incarnations are called partial incarnations of Datta. Thus the Kala incarnation contains only a ray of the power of Datta. The vessel contains only one drop of milk and that drop alone comes out. He is like an elementary school teacher who can teach the elementary classes only. You need not look down upon Him. He has done his assigned duty perfectly. But he is different from a professor, who also happens to teach the elementary class. He is like a vessel filled with milk but giving only a drop of milk according to the requirement. Though the professor looks like an elementary teacher as per the surrounding necessity, you should not underestimate Him. Thus the fullest incarnation (Pari Purna) of Datta also may look like a Kala Incarnation due to the low level of the disciples around Him. There is another type of incarnation, which is called as ‘Avesha’. The Lord enters a devotee either fully or partially for some urgent work. As soon as the work is finished, the Lord exits from the body of the devotee. During the stay of the Lord in the devotee, such devotee is also Datta.
Anagha
Who is Anagha? Anagha is the wife of Datta. Wife is denoted by the word ‘Bharya’ which means ‘one who is maintained’. The entire world including all the Jeevas (souls) is maintained by the Lord. The Lord is called as the Husband denoted by the word ‘Bharta’ meaning the maintainer. Therefore every soul is a wife and the Lord is the Husband. The word Anagha means ‘sinless’. In what context is this word used for the soul? When the soul (devotee) leaves even his duties for the sake of the Lord, he becomes sinless. For any other reason, except for the sake of the Lord, if one leaves one’s duties, he or she becomes a sinner. Shankara left His mother and His essential duty to serve His mother, for the sake of the Lord. Meera left her husband, Buddha left His kingdom, son and wife, and Saktuprastha left his meal and was prepared even to discard his own body for the sake of the Lord. All these excellent devotees are not sinners and therefore are called as Anagha. The Vedas in the form of dogs and justice in the form of cow follow Him. This means that the Vedas cannot catch Him and they follow Him because they have not caught Him. The Veda says “Yato Vaachah”, which means that words cannot touch Him. The Vedas are made of words. He is beyond justice as said in the Gita (Sarva Dharmaan…).
Yoga
Datta is said to be the owner of Yoga. What is the meaning of Yoga? Yoga means to achieve. First you have to achieve the Lord in human form by conquering your egoism and jealousy completely. Then, you should achieve His constant association so that you will be listening to His divine preaching. The constant divine knowledge is to be injected like a long course of medical treatment. Till now, you have taken a lot of poison due to the constant association with your kith and kin. The poison of selfishness is also been increased by the fraud preachers. Your illness is chronic and you should leave the materialistic association and be in the constant association of the Lord. If you are a patient of cold, you should take the medicine constantly for a long time because your lungs are full of fluid. You should also avoid eating cold things. Therefore, you must have constant association with the Lord and you must also cut the association with your kith and kin. Both are essential to get rid of the chronic illness and to get good health. Yoga denotes the constant association with the Lord. When your mental set up is changed with the constant divine knowledge, your ideas, words and deeds follow that divine knowledge. Then you will enjoy the fruits of your deeds. Achieving such good results for good deeds is also Yoga. Due to the constant association with the Lord, your brain is constantly associated with the divine knowledge and therefore you will constantly achieve good ideas, good words, good deeds and good results. All this is Yoga. People misinterpret Yoga as some physical and mental exercises to achieve physical and mental health. This is also needed for the sadhana as the basis. Upto fifth stage (Pratyaahara), you will achieve good health and this is not a part of your spiritual effort. [The eight stages of Yoga as given by Patanjali] The spiritual effort is the drama for which the ticket is purchased. Building up of the stage is a pre-requisite and that cannot be the starting scene of the drama and the ticket is not purchased for that. Even an atheist requires such health. For doing such exercises, spiritual powers are not granted. Upto this fifth stage, it is only science with logic of ‘Prakriti’. The sixth stage is ‘Dharana’ in which, the bond is formed with Datta. Next in ‘Dhyana’ this bond is intensified and finally in ‘Samadhi’ this bond is permanently fixed without any unsteadiness. For practicing these three steps, the grace of the Lord is achieved, which gives super powers and salvation. These three steps form the wonderful part called ‘Maya’, which is above the logic. You should not aspire for anything from Datta for your service; your service should be a one-way traffic. Therefore it is above logic. Only, for that part of ‘Maya’ the super powers are achieved and not for ‘Prakriti’. Yoga means to unite the streams of energy, which are dissipated through wastage channels and thereby conserving a huge amount of energy in yourself so that you can do the service of the Lord very effectively like Hanuman. You have to control the unnecessary thinking of mind and unnecessary gossip through which your limited human energy is wasted. This energy is limited because your digestive system can assimilate a specified quantum of food per day and can produce a specified quantum of energy per day. Your lifetime is also fixed. Therefore your total energy is fixed and is not infinite. Therefore, Yoga is necessary to save this limited energy and concentrate all that limited energy on the work of the Lord in this limited lifetime. This is the real essence of Yoga and only ignorant children close eyes and concentrate on the imaginary wheels (Chakras) and the imaginary ‘Kundalini’ and finally get nothing except wasting their time and energy.
Tests
Datta knows the stage in which you are. But you overestimate yourself and think that you are in a higher stage. To make you recognize your real position, Datta conducts some tests. He gives some problems and misery. Then your response and behaviour proves your real position. Of-course, in these tests, He is using the results of your sins only. Even if you fail, your sins are cleared and thus you are benefited. There is no extra loss. When you enjoy the divine knowledge of Datta, which creates Bliss in your heart, you may love Datta because He is the instrument of your happiness. Every worldly bond is of this type as said in the Veda (Atmanah Kaamaya). The Veda says that one loves another person as long as that person is the instrument of the happiness of the self. When Datta gives misery, He tests your love and sees whether it is like any other worldly bond. In fact He makes you know the nature of your bond with Datta. He does not require any test because He knows everything in advance.
(To be Continued...)