13 Jun 2025
(Today is my Birthday and Swami answered my question stating that His answer is my Birthday gift. - Thrylokya)
[Ms. Thrylokya asked: Swami, You told that Madhumati embraced Sage Dattatreya with sweet devotion towards her husband only. You may say that her fault is to embrace her husband while Dattatreya is doing the worship of God and hence, she was cursed by Dattatreya to become a demon. But, Madhumati knows that Dattatreya is the ultimate God. Similarly, when Renuka found an upper energetic being (Gandharva) taking bath in Narmada river along with his wives, she developed sexual desire towards her husband only. How can it be sin so that her husband ordered their son Parashurama to cut her head?]
Swami replied:- You are very much correct in some angles, but, there is another angle called Lokasamgraha through which you can find the sin. Both Sage Dattatreya, the husband of Madhumati and Sage Jamadagni, the husband of Renuka, are certainly the incarnations of God. Sage Dattatreya is the human incarnation of God Datta (first energetic incarnation) and Sage Jamadagni is the human incarnation of God Shiva (the energetic incarnation). They need not worship God through any ritual since they themselves are God. But, both are worshipping God through prescribed rituals not for their sake, but for the sake of the world. This is called as “Lokasamgraha Karma Yoga” followed by every incarnation. God Rama and God Krishna were also worshipping God every day through Sandhya Vandanam, a ritual of worship of God done three times per day. The souls in the world follow the practice of the human incarnation and hence, the human incarnation acts like an ideal devotee so that He can guide other souls through such practice of worship of God.
Now, if Madhumati embraces her husband while the husband is worshipping God, this will be imitated by other souls. Similar is the case of Renuka and Sage Jamadagni. Certainly, Renuka did not develop sweet devotion on that Gandharva taking bath and she developed sweet devotion only on her husband. In this Kali Yuga, modern Renuka will develop sweet devotion directly on the Gandharva only! But, Renuka has gone to the river to bring holy water to be used by Sage Jamadagni for the ritualistic worship of God. So, her diversion of mind from God to husband was punished. Sage Dattatreya punished Madhumati by cursing her to become a demon called Mahishii in the form of she-buffalo while Sage Jamadagni punished Renuka by ordering their son Parashurama to cut her head with His axe. Madhumati is the human incarnation of Goddess Anaghaa, while Renuka is the human incarnation of Goddess Parvati. Both came down to earth to assist the incarnations of God in the activity of Lokasamgraha. Since Sage Dattatreya and Sage Jamadagni are in the roles of God while Madhumati and Renuka are in the roles of devotees covered by full ignorance, Dattatreya and Jamadagni have responsibilities to punish the sin of the devotee for the sake of Lokasamgraha. However, both these dramas are played by God Datta and Goddess Anaghaa to preach the concept of spiritual knowledge to the world of devotees. God Shiva is the energetic incarnation of God Datta (first energetic incarnation) and Goddess Parvati is the energetic incarnation of Goddess Anaghaa, the inseparable power of God Datta. The message is that when the divine personalities are also punished for their sins, what about the case of ordinary human beings? This develops fear in souls to do sin.
If the sins of Madhumati and Renuka are excused by the incarnations of God without giving punishment, a wrong concept that husband is greater than God will be propagated by souls showing the examples of Sage Dattatreya and Sage Jamadagni because Madhumati and Renuka neglected God, who is worshipped in the ritual and gave more importance to their husbands. For the sake of salvation from the worldly bonds and for the sake of union (Yoga) with God, the reverse shall be done. Any wife shall not be overcome by sweet devotion to her husband so that she shall not give more importance to her husband than God. If they practice this, it will be an ideal concept to be followed by other souls. Dareshana, the bond with spouse, is one of the three strongest worldly bonds (Eshanaatrayam), which should also be broken for the sake of God. Liberation from the three strongest worldly bonds (issues, wealth and spouse) is called salvation, which is essential for attaining Yoga (constant association) with God.
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