Posted on: 13 Feb 2011
People think that Philosophy is totally a theoretical subject. This is a total misunderstanding because Philosophy is totally a practical subject. Engineering, medicine etc., involve both theory and practicals, whereas history etc., involve only theory. Practice alone yields the fruit. Of course, theory is the mother of the practice. Theory is transformed into practice. Therefore, theory is the cause and practice is the effect. In between theory and practice, the power of transformation or inspiration is the devotion. Therefore, theory or knowledge (jnana yoga) is transformed into practice or service (karma yoga) with the help of the emotion or inspiration or the force of transformation (bhakti yoga). In general, theory is called as jnana and if it is related to God, it is called as jnana yoga. Similarly, the inspiration in general is called as Bhakthi and if it is related to God, it is bhakti yoga. Service in general is Karma and if it is related to God, it is called as karma yoga. Jnana is like water, bhakti is like fertilizer and Karma is like the plant that alone yields the fruit with the help of water and fertilizer. The word yoga denotes the special fortune in achieving God in human form.
God in the form of a photo or statue can be easily achieved in any shop and that cannot be even fortune, not to speak as special fortune. The reason for this difference is that the service done to a statue or photo cannot be real and the sacrifice in such service is totally false. If you offer food to the statue or photo, it does not eat even a trace of the food. You offer it and take it back as remains of offering (Prasada). But here, the entire food remians and nothing is eaten by the statue. Therefore, you cannot call it as remains after offering. Hence, achievement of God in human form alone can make your service real and the sacrifice in such service alone can become true. Of course, this does not mean that offering food to statue or photo of God is wrong. Such offer can develop the theoretical devotion in you, which is the mother of real service in the future. People should not die with theoretical devotion only till the end of their lives. They should understand the significance of the photo or statue, which is always in the human form. People are remaining in such theoretical devotion only throughout their lives because they fear for the real service. Such people always dislike the concept of contemporary human incarnation. The theoretical devotion is always convenient, which hides their real practical sacrifice, greed and selfishness. Hence, even if they accept the concept of human incarnation, they will always stick to the photos and statues of past human incarnations only. Such people misinterpret the spiritual knowledge to suit to their convenience.
A devotee prepared a cup of sweet to offer to the alive human form of God. Another devotee also prepared a cup of sweet for himself and his family. The second devotee did not have either the idea of contemporary human incarnation or was unable to recognize the contemporary human incarnation. In any case, the cup of the sweet remains protected in the fridge. After sometime, the second devotee was able to accept the idea of living human form of God and was able to recognize it. The second devotee need not feel for the time lost. Even now, he can offer the cup of sweet to the alive human form of God and he becomes equal to the first devotee, who prepared the same sweet for the contemporary human form of God. The fruit of the work is another form of the work. Sacrifice of the fruit becomes equal to sacrifice of the work because even in the latter case, finally the fruit is only sacrificed. Therefore, the Gita stressed on the sacrifice of the fruit of the work (karma phala tyaga) as the essence of the entire effort (sadhana). It is the remedial measure for the people, who did not work for God in their lives due to lack of recognition. Nothing is lost if they can sacrifice the fruit of their past work since the fruit is another form of the work only. The misinterpretation here created by greedy, selfish, intellectual devotees is that if the attachment of the fruit is sacrificed; it becomes equal to sacrifice of the fruit. So, you have sacrificed your attachment to the cup of sweet prepared by you and you say that such sacrifice is the same sacrifice of the cup of the sweet. As long as the cup of the sweet is in your fridge, your attachment to it is not at all sacrificed. The proof for the sacrifice of your attachment to the cup of sweet is only your sacrifice of the cup of the sweet from the fridge. As long as the cup of the sweet is not eaten by the alive human form of God, the sacrifice is totally false.
Samnyasa means cutting the desire towards the cup of the sweet. Yoga or fully called as ‘karma yoga’ means practical sacrifice of the cup of sweet to the human form of God and not to the statue or photo. Therefore, samnyasa and yoga are one and the same (Yam samnyasamiti Prahuh yogantam… Gita). Samnyasa means the practical sacrifice of your sweet and yoga means the practical offering of the same sweet to God in human form. Therefore, samnyasa and yoga are practically one and the same involving single practical action only. Gita says that sacrifice of work or fruit of work (samnyasa) is horrible if the receiver, God, is absent. You cannot remain without any work. If the fruit is offered to yourself or your family only leaving God you are not protected and therefore, the result becomes horrible (Duhkhamaaptumayogatah...). Therefore, remaining without any work or storing the fruit without any sacrifice is not samnyasa. Working for God and sacrifice of fruit of work to God is yoga, which naturally means samnyasa, which means working for the worldly people or sacrificing the fruit of work to the worldly people including yourself. Does this mean that you have to work for God only or that you have to sacrifice all the fruit to God only? The answer is both ‘No’ and ‘Yes’. The answer is ‘No’ because you have to maintain yourself and your family to serve God especially when your family is also devoted to God. The bare needs to maintain the life are not selfish and this is told in the Gita also (Sharirayatraapichate…). This is the normal condition of the spiritual aspirant. The answer becomes ‘Yes’ in the special situation when you are tested by God. Saktuprastha offered even the food needed for the minimum life also to God during the test. God must always stand in the first position before anybody including yourself. That alone is the real and highest devotion that really pleases God. This point should be proved in the practical test only, which must involve the human form of God only, and not the statue or photo that represents God.