Posted on: 07 Jan 2009
[Vaikuntha Ekaadasi] Today is Vaikuntha Ekaadasi and devotees see Lord Narayana through North gate. This is our tradition. Tradition is always action or karma. Karma generates samskara or feeling. Devotion is feeling about God. Therefore, tradition aims at the development of devotion in devotees. Karma generates Samskara and this Samskara again generates karma. The quality of stealing leads to the action of stealing. While doing stealing, the quality of stealing gets more and more developed. Both these mutually contribute to each other. Therefore, the tradition set up by our ancient sages is always with good aim. Today, tradition says that you should take bath in the early hours of the day and visit the temple to see the Lord from North side. All this is practice or action only, which is expected to generate the devotion to God. Today, people gather in very large crowd before the North gate and sometimes the crowd is so much that some children or old people are wounded and sometimes we hear of their death also. People feel happy about such deaths praising that they have reached Vaikuntha, the city of Lord! I say again and again that the tradition is good provided its actual aim gets fulfilled. If you go into the full picture of this original aim of the sages, who have set this tradition, it is that you should develop the devotion, which should be one way traffic towards God without aspiring any fruit in return from God. But, today, if you investigate really, the devotion developed by this tradition is truly one way traffic but in reverse direction! Devotees expect that God will be pleased by this vision through North gate and sanctions some benefits in this world and even after death, one will reach the city of God and enjoy the divine bliss forever. Aspiration of this divine bliss after death is also polluted with selfishness and hence, Shankara says in one prayer that He does not ask God even for salvation (Namokshasyaakaamkshaa…).
Instrumental Devotion Vs Goal-Devotion
True, the devotion is developed but not in the right direction. It is developed in exactly the opposite direction. You are seeing the Lord through North gate but your devotion is running out in the opposite direction through South gate from your heart! The devotion should be on God without the aspiration for any fruit. Such devotion is the real love to God. The opposite path is that you love God for the sake of fruit, in which your real love is on the fruit but not on the God. In this type of devotion, your love to God is not your aim (Saadhya) but your love on God is instrumental (Saadhana). Here, God is the instrument to achieve your desired fruit. It is called as instrumental devotion (Sadhana Bhakthi). If you love God for the sake of God only without even a trace of aspiration for any fruit, such love is Goal-devotion (Saadhya Bhakthi). Therefore, the original aim of the tradition is not fulfilled at all. Of course, we agree that this instrumental devotion is better than atheism in which one puts own efforts to achieve the fruit since God does not exist in this line. In the instrumental devotion, at least there is recognition of existence of God even though there is no real love to God. This can be treated as the first step, which is far better than the ground atheism. If you want to progress in the spiritual line, you should not look back and feel satisfied. Then, you will see the ground by looking back and get satisfied with your position on the first higher step. With this satisfaction, you will sit on the first step forever. I, therefore, appreciate people following the tradition with real love for fruit, which shows false love to God. My appreciation to these beginning devotees is with reference to the atheists sitting on the ground. A teacher should appreciate the student for his success in achieving the first higher step from the ground. This gives confidence and encouragement to the student. But, if the teacher stops with this appreciation only, the student will sit on the first step only forever without looking forward towards the second higher step. Therefore, the teacher should immediately show the second step and criticize the student for not climbing the second higher step.
The student can sit on the first step for sometime to take rest for putting the efforts to climb it from the ground. But, he should not sit on the first step only lifelong! Hence, the treatment of a teacher towards the student should be a mixture of cold water (appreciation) in the summer and hot water (criticism) in winter. Winter follows the summer. Criticism should follow the appreciation. Therefore, it is My duty to open the eyes of the people of instrumental devotion towards climbing the next step of goal-devotion. In the first step, it is one-way traffic of aspiring for the flow of love from God towards the devotee. In the second step also, it is one way-traffic only but, it is flow of love from the devotee to God without any aspiration for fruit. All My efforts in preaching the spiritual knowledge are only for just change of direction of devotion. The material of devotion is not changed except its direction. In instrumental devotion, you want God to love you without aspiration for any service from you. In goal-devotion, God wants that you should love Him without aspiration for any fruit from Him.
Tradition involves certain lies for the sake of implementing the action for developing the devotion. What is the significance of North gate here? In India, the North side is considered to be auspicious due to the sweet Ganga river flowing from pure snow mountain (Himalaya). The South side is not considered so much auspicious due to presence of salt-ocean in the border. The North India is said to be pious land (Punya Bhumi) and the South India is said to be the land of worldly work (Karma Bhumi). When the Sun turns to North, it is said to be pious (Uttarayana) and when the Sun turns towards South it is called inauspicious (Dakshinayana). This classification of North and South based on mere geographical direction and mere turning of Sun is utterly meaningless, if you take it only in the background. Several pious people die in Dakshinayana and several sinners die in Uttarayana. There are several pious people born in South India like the three Achaaryaas (Shankara, Ramanuja and Madhva), who have opened the eyes of entire India regarding God. There are several sinners born in North India like Duryodhana, Shishupala etc. The classification is only to show that devotions to God and world are quite opposite to each other like North and South poles. Except this one point, there is no significance of North and South by way of place and time.
Paths Suggested in Scriptures
The Gita classifies the two paths: One is North (Devayaana), towards God and the other is South (Pitruyana), towards your family bonds. Here, the words North and South are not meant in the sense of directions in space or time. They only mean that both God and world (family) are quite opposite to each other (Duramete Viparite Vishuchi… Veda). When you say that two people are opposite to each other like North and South poles, it does not mean that one person is turned towards North side and other person is turned towards South side! It only means that their attitudes are quite opposite in directions like North and South poles. Thus, the North gate means your attitude or feeling turned towards God from your family. The South gate means your attitude or feeling turned towards your family from God. God competes with your family and tries to find out your true love. Lord Krishna stole the butter from the houses of Gopikas. Some Gopikas were very happy since they are turned towards God from the family. Such Gopikas are standing before the North gate. The other Gopikas, who were turned towards family became angry and fought with Krishna by complaining to His mother. They are standing before the South gate. Even if you are in your house and have not taken bath, if you are turned towards God sacrificing your blind love to your family bonds, you are before the North gate of the Lord and reached His temple.
Even if you stand before the North gate of the temple after taking bath in the early hours with selfishness for fruits, you are actually standing in the South gate before the Lord and in fact, you have not reached the temple at all. Unless the tradition is analyzed and the real meaning is revealed, people will carry on in the wrong direction of the devotion even though the first step that is the recognition of existence of God is attained. Then only, they will climb the next step. Otherwise, they will sit on the first step only throughout their lives. The mother tells a lie to the child while giving food that if it eats the food, the moon will come down. Such lie is good since it is for the welfare of the child and cannot be considered as sinful. But, the mother cannot use the same lie for her elder grown up son, who has taken a Ph. D degree in astronomy while serving the food. Shankara says that such traditional tricks, which are called as Arthavaadas, meaning, lies told to achieve welfare in the case of ignorant people, fail if applied to realized souls. He says that a knife cuts successfully a vegetable but utterly fails in cutting a stone (Shilaaprayukta Kshuradivat…). The lie should be protected and applied in the case of ignorant person standing on the ground before climbing the first step. But, the same lie should be revealed by spiritual knowledge (jnana yoga) in the case of the devotee standing on the first step forever. Therefore, the Vedas preached the instrumental devotion through performing sacrifices (Yajnas) to the beginners and finally revealed the truth through the Upanishads so that the instrumental devotion is transformed into goal-devotion. The meaning of Narayana is the statue in the temple for the beginners, who stood on the ground. The real meaning of Narayana is the source of Knowledge (Nara= Knowledge and Ayana= source) i.e., the contemporary human incarnation preaching you the truth. The people on the first step should go to Satguru for further guidance to reach the second higher step.