Posted on: 20 Mar 2007
[Shri C.B.K. Murthy asked Swami about the way to conquer the Ahamkara (ego) and Mamakara (attachment to the world). Swami replied as follows.]
The only way to conquer ego is to always keep your self in the Dwaita of Madhva. Always remember Hanuman as your guide and the ghost of ego will run away. Remember that Hanuman always says that He is the servant of Rama (a human form of God) even though He is made the Creator (God). Attachment to the world can never be broken without tasting the attachment to God. In such a case there is no need of any special effort to break the attachment with the world. If you taste badam kheer, (a delicious sweet) you will spontaneously reject coffee. Without devotion or Bhakti (attachment to God), there is no meaning in trying for the detachment or Vairagyam from the world. Even if you try for it, such detachment for the world is not permanent and you will again get attached more vigorously to the world, within a short time.
The worldly bonds [such as family members] will leave you since they are neglected by you due to more attachment to the world. Sometimes the worldly bonds may fight with you with jealousy like the first wife of a husband on seeing the newly married second wife. In that case, do not leave the worldly bonds mercilessly. You must try your level best to convince the family members and you must try to convert them also into devotees. Even if they do not fight with you, you have to do this as a part of God’s mission. Your family is a part of the world. The propagation of divine knowledge in the world should start from your family. You are working day and night for the welfare of your family. Then, is it not your duty to work for their eternal spiritual welfare? By this if your family members become devotees, they will not oppose you. Instead, they will support you.
Even if you leave the family and go out, you have to live in association of devotees alone. Ignorant people leave the house and go to the forest, where even the normal behavior of human beings is not seen and instead they see only animals and birds, which are always struggling and fighting for food. Shankara left His mother but He did not go to the forest. He went to Shri Govinda Bhagavat Pada to have spiritual association. Throughout His life, He was wandering in the world alone and having spiritual debates. I do not understand the significance of forests in the spiritual field. If you say that a peaceful atmosphere exists in forests, it is zero. Plus, which is the association with devotees and Satguru, is far better than zero. Zero is only better than minus, which is the disturbance in the world. Therefore, the sages took the advantage of zero and plus by living in forests together. Hence, the association with devotees is the main point and not merely the forest. If you can convert your family members into devotees, you need not go out. Thus, the obstruction in your spiritual path is removed and simultaneously, you have also done the work of God. It is the best way because it is double edged. It simultaneously achieves the work of your self and that of God. In spite of your best efforts, if the family does not change, then alone do you have to leave the family for the sake of God (Yadahareva virajet—Veda). But this step should be the last resort and should not be the first step.
This problem becomes most serious if God is the contemporary human incarnation. Hanuman did not have such problems because His mother and father were divine and had full spiritual knowledge and encouraged Hanuman to leave the house to serve Rama. He was not married and therefore the problem from the side of wife and children did not arise. But in the case of the Gopikas, the problem was very serious because their husbands and relatives were also ignorant. It was a fire-test for them because that was the last worldly birth for those sages. The detachment from the world should be done carefully, without haste. Only as a last resort should the extreme step of samnyasa be taken up for the sake of God. In the absence of Krishna, the Gopikas became mad and did not live in their houses. They just wandered in the outskirts of the village called as Vrindavanam. Their stage was the climax and hence they were given the highest position called as Goloka. In their case, the detachment from the worldly bonds was without any effort or force. Their detachment was due to their madness for Krishna.
Hence, you should not aim at the detachment from the world because it is a spontaneous consequence of devotion. Once Shri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was killing bed bugs present on His cot. The devotees were surprised at that. He told them that anything that comes as a hindrance in the spiritual path should be cut down mercilessly. But He took such an extreme step because the bed bugs can never realize the truth even if He preached to them. Similarly, when the family members stand in the level of animals, without any realization, in spite of your best efforts, then alone do you have to discard them to save yourself from drowning in the world. A swimmer tries to help the person who is drowning. But in that effort, if he finds that he is also getting drowned, he will leave that person and will save at least his own life instead of letting both drown. The word ‘samsara’ means only the strong family bonds, which are constantly penetrating into the mind day by day (Samsarati iti Samsarah). You have to cross this samsara and not this physical world, since samsara does not mean this physical world. If samsara had meant this physical world, you can cross samsara by death and for that no effort is needed.
Renunciation (samnyasa) cannot come by emotions if the cause is a quarrel in the family and it cannot be real if the aim is to earn one’s livelihood. Arjuna wanted to take samnyasa based on emotion developed in killing his grandfather. Samnyasa means detachment from the bonds of family. But Arjuna wanted to take samnyasa due to attachment to the bonds of his family members like grandfather etc. Samnyasa is a natural consequence of intense attachment (devotion) to God. The emotion should be in the devotion and should not in the detachment from the family. The emotion in the devotion will spontaneously detach you from the family. Shankara did not leave His mother just based on emotion or some family problems like poverty etc. He left the home to go to the Satguru called as Shri Govinda Bhagavat Pada, and to proceed further for the propagation of the correct divine knowledge in the world. Samnyasa should come as natural and spontaneous consequence of your intense interest for God. If one asks whether he should take samnyasa or not, such samnyasa is not real because samnyasa happens naturally and spontaneously, without any enquiry or doubt about it. Shankara never had any debate about His samnyasa from the home. It is just like a mad fellow naturally getting detached from worldly matters. Will he discuss with anybody whether he should be detached from worldly matters or not?
Human Incarnation or Greatest Devotee?
[A devotee asked whether Swami is the human incarnation or one of the top devotees from the inner circle of God. Swami replied as follows.] God can come simultaneously in the role of a human incarnation as well as in the role of a divine servant as in the case of Rama and Hanuman. Hanuman is Lord Shiva, who is the top most Boss (Ishwara) in the entire creation and He is never a servant to anybody. This Lord acted in the role of a servant, which is the other extreme end. You can never smell even a trace of His Lordship in that role. For our sake, He has stooped down to such level of an animal at the feet of the human form of the Lord. A diamond remains a diamond even if it is kept on the earth and the stone is a stone even if it is kept in the sky. Similarly, God is God even if He is acting in the role of a servant like Hanuman. Parashurama was a liberated soul acting in the role of the Lord as one of the ten incarnations and Rama (who was God acting in the role of an ordinary human being) insulted him for his ego. Hanuman was never insulted because the Lord (Actor) can never be insulted. Sometimes even the Lord appears to be insulted since He wants to taste the entertainment in defeat. Arjuna, in the case of Gaya defeated Krishna and this was a play for the Lord. Hence, the nature of role, insult, honor etc., cannot affect the original nature of God (diamond) and the liberated soul (stone acting as an artificial diamond).
Balarama was the human incarnation of Adisesha (a liberated soul), acting in the role of God and is counted in the ten incarnations. He could not be given the maintenance of the entire creation instead of his external thousand heads because internally, he is only a liberated soul and cannot do the work of God to maintain the entire world. Sesha means a part of God and can only maintain a part of the creation and hence only earth is given to him for maintenance. Hanuman is a monkey externally and the brain of a monkey is very unstable. It cannot design even a small work. But He was given the post of Creator because internally He is God and can design the entire world. Hence, Hanuman was made Creator of the world and in fact He, as the Actor of the role, is already God internally. Hence, becoming Creator is only apparent.
Therefore, the power of position is related to the internal essence and not to the external appearance (Upadhi). The power lies in the internal actor and not in the external role. Hanuman exhibited the climax of service in that role in order to be an example for devotees. His life is His message to us. Rama also behaved like an ordinary human being to show the protection and success of a human being who sticks to justice (Pravritti). He showed that the final success is only of justice. People do not have patience in this world to get justice. If injustice wins it will be blamed only on the administration of God and therefore one need not worry about this. God will take care of justice and he is capable of protecting justice even in the last fraction of a second by turning the tables around. For us even to turn a physical table, it takes hours. But you should remember that justice is decided by God who is aware of all the births of the soul (Bahuni me—Gita) and all previous deeds. He is aware of the internal bad soul, which may be hidden, in a human body with an innocent external nature. Abhimanyu was a very innocent boy but he was a cruel demon hidden in the body. Krishna knew it and so got him killed. You will blame Krishna for the injustice in getting Abhimanu killed in the war. Therefore, you cannot be the judge to give the judgment with limited knowledge of the present birth and with the ignorance of internal structure of the soul.
When the Lord in human form sometimes behaves like a devotee, it is to give a message to devotees. Krishna did penance for Lord Shiva. Sai Baba constantly reminded Himself that God is His master (Allah Malik). Jesus addressed God as the Divine Father. All this is for the sake of the devotees alone. It is very difficult to recognize and worship the contemporary human incarnation. Therefore, God uses the main part of His life only to act as the sincere devotee so that His life can be taken as the message directly, by ordinary human beings.
Can Songs Give Salvation?
[A devotee asked if singing divine songs about God could give salvation as in the case of Meera. Following is Swami’s reply]
Divine songs certainly will inspire and develop intense devotion in the mind. But what is the use of such devotion limited only to the mind, tears and the throat? The mind (theoretical devotion) should be transformed into action or service to God (practical devotion). The inspiration in the mind is like the bags of fertilizer stored in your house, which are to be applied to the field so that you can get the best crop from the field. The field is action or service, which alone can give you the divine fruit. You have taken only the songs of Meera but you are not taking the resultant effect of those songs on her practical life. She left her house and wandered in the world in the propagation of devotion by singing songs constantly. That was her participation in the divine mission of God. You are taking only the commentaries of Shankara and analyzing them, sitting in your own house. Such divine knowledge limited only to your brain is just like a lot of water stored in the water tank of your house. Shankara left His house and propagated the divine knowledge throughout the world and participated in divine service of the Lord, which alone can give you the fruit directly.
You should take the water from your house to the field and supply it to the plants to get the yields from the plants. Neither the fertilizer stored in the room nor the water stored in the tank can give you the fruits directly. They should be supplied to the field to get the fruit. Similarly, the devotion of Meera (fertilizer) and the knowledge of Shankara (water) should be applied to the service of God to get the fruit. You are taking Meera and Shankara partially up to the storage of devotion in the mind and knowledge in the brain, which are of no use since they cannot give you the direct fruit unless they are transformed into divine service. You must take also the resultant practice of Meera and Shankara to get the grace of God.
There are three instruments (Trikaranas) in the spiritual effort, which are mind (and intelligence), words and work. The mind is transformed into work directly and there is no need of words for the transformation of one’s mind into work. Meera did not sing to convert her mind in to practice. She sang for the sake of the world in the divine mission and not for her personal practice. Similarly, Shankara did not debate for His personal practice because He left the house (practice) even before the debates. His debates were only for the world. Therefore, the middle instrument (words) has no significance in your personal progress. It is used only for the sake of others in the divine service of the Lord. A word is a mixture of mind and the work of the body (throat). The mixture is not actually a third component since only the other two components exist in it. Hence, there are only two instruments. One is external (work of body) and the other is internal (mind or intelligence).
Present Validity of Manu Smriti
[Shri Surya asked that a devotee raised the question about the validity of Manu Smriti in this age of Kali, which was quoted by Swami in His divine knowledge.]
Manu has brought out the original constitution from God in the field of Pravritti (Manvadin Prajapatin Srishtva—Shankara). Only Parashara etc. modified this constitution here and there through certain amendements in certain sections and such sections are only valid in the Kali age (Kalau Parashari Smritih). Those sections are few such as that on samnyasa based on false reasons, killing an animal when the guest comes, getting children through the brother of the husband etc. Except these few sections, which cannot be adopted with a genuine view of purity in this Kali age, in general, the Manu Smriti is valid for any age constantly. If the parliament makes certain amendments to the constitution, it does not mean that you should burn the original constitution and print out only the amendments as the new constitution!
Importance of Satguru
[A devotee asked about the importance of Satguru.]
Satguru is needed for the correct guidance in the spiritual path, which is eternal. For temporary worldly affairs there is no need of Satguru. Animals, birds etc., do not require a Satguru. They are constantly concentrating only on the needs of the body and the needs of their issues and are never aware of God. Human beings, who are always concentrating only on the needs of the body and the needs of their children, are no different from animals. Working to satisy one’s basic needs is not implied here because just to satisfy one’s basic needs there is no need of concentration throughout the life. We find people who are always engaged in constant work even though their basic needs for future hundred generations are met. After some time, the human being becomes a workaholic (like an alcoholic). In the beginning a little alcohol is taken as a medicine for appetite. Alcohol is used in several medicines in a little quantity. But in course of time, the person becomes alcoholic and goes on drinking alcohol in unlimited quantities. Similarly, one starts working for the sake of meeting the basic needs of the body and the needs of his family. But in course of time, even if he has earned enough to meet basic needs for his future hundred generations, the fellow is not pacified and continues to work and work till the day of his death. Such a workaholic starts preaching that work is worship. Such human beings are basically the citizens of the animal kingdom. Even animals do not work if their stomachs are full. But this human being earning without end is worse than animals and therefore even their citizenship in the animal kingdom gets cancelled!
Even a tiger kills a deer when the tiger is hungry. But our fellow kills poor innocent devotees also through endless corruption even though he has earned for his future thousand generations! Therefore the association of cruel animals also expelled this human being from their association! He goes on with endless corruption for the sake of endless comforts of his endless future generations! Such souls are going to be thrown into the births of animals and birds and in their case God is not angry at all. God is the Father who fulfills the desires of the children. When such human beings do not turn towards the spiritual path in spite of repeated preaching, the Divine Father finally yields Himself to the rigid desire of the children who want only materialistic things permanently. Hence they are given the births of animals, which are always involved in the materialistic world alone, till their death. By taking birth in the kingdom of animals, the human soul will at least learn to limit its endless ambition as said above.
Therefore, God is trying to uplift the soul even by throwing it into animals and there is no revenge here also. Only to reduce the intensity of its ambition is the soul subjected to torture in hell and here also God only wants the upliftment of the soul. Hence, the Divine Father is always working only for the betterment of the soul and there is no feeling of revenge on His children in His heart. Such souls are condemned forever. They continue revolving in the cycle of hell and animals, which is a constant training for them. They are responsible for their own fate. A permanently mentally deranged son has to be kept only in the mental hospital forever and cannot be brought back to the house (human kingdom).
There are certain good and learned souls, who are interested in the spiritual path to gain the grace of the God. But in the spiritual path there is confusion, since several human beings interpret the scripture of God in different ways. Only God has to give the correct version of His own scripture. For this purpose God comes in human form called as Satguru to give correct guidance in the spiritual path. God has to come in human form in every generation because as soon as God exits, selfish people misinterpret His message constantly. The misinterpretation satisfies the majority of people, who are incapable of practicing the right path. For example God decides that 70% are the marks for passing with distinction. When God exits, the majority of students, who are incapable of getting a distinction, want to bring down the percentage so that they can also have the satisfaction of getting a distinction. A student who gets 7% also wants to have a distinction. Now the misinterpretation is given like this. In the number 70, there are two numbers. One is 7 and the other is 0. Since 0 has no value, 70 must mean 7. Therefore, the student getting 7% can get a distinction. Such a misinterpretation by a mischievous teacher is admired by a large majority of students. Now he is the greatest teacher with a large majority of followers! This is the present situation of false preachers misleading the vast majority. The distinction can neither be given by the teacher nor by the students. The board conducting the interview for a job position selects the students who have really got a distinction. The board has the knowledge of what a real distinction is and for such a real distinction alone is there real fruit [getting a job]. Hence, God gives the divine fruit only to the real distinction since He is well aware of the marks for distinction, which were prescribed by Him alone. Therefore, God had to come again and again and also everywhere simultaneously (especially when there was no electronic communication in the world) to establish the correct interpretation in the entire world. This correct interpretation attracts only the meritorious students and the majority consisting of incapable students will reject it. God is also not bothered about such a majority because even if the truth is established to them, there will be no use in the case of such students. Krishna never preached spiritual knowledge to many people in His life. In His entire life, He chose only one occasion to preach the Gita and that too just to Arjuna.
The devotees of Krishna are establishing the concept of contemporary human incarnation but they are not implementing it themselves. They tell the story of Jambavan fighting with Krishna. Jambavan, who was worshipping the past human incarnation (Rama) could not recognize the human form of God present before his eyes. What is the conclusion of this story? They themselves are establishing the ignorance of Jambavan in worshipping the past human incarnation, without recognizing the present human incarnation existing before his eyes. Finally Jambavan realized that the same God existed in the past human incarnation (Rama) and also in the present human incarnation (Krishna). This means that the same God can come again in a different human form. This was not recognized by Jambavan for the same reason of the difference in the human forms and external qualities. I wonder how these devotees of Krishna who explain the story and preach the above conclusions do not practice the same and at least do not think about searching for the human incarnation in the present time. Jambavan is a bear which is famous for its rigidity [tenacity] in catching anything. Even such a Jambavan could come out of his rigid concept but our present devotees of Krishna (more powerful bears) are not coming out of their rigid concept of the past human incarnation. What is the use of preaching the Bhagavatam without understanding the conclusions from the life history of Krishna?