- His Holiness Shri Datta Swami
Filters for Q & A
1. Are women suffering unfairly for Indra’s sin by way of menstruation?
Shri Anil asked:- Padanamaskaram Swami! In Your message regarding supreme court verdict on Sabarimala issue you mentioned that 'Indra divided his sins into four equal parts and transferred it to four items. They are the earth, water, flowers, and women. 'Is it unfair for women to suffer for the sin of Indra. Women also suffer due to pain during giving birth to a child, such problem men do not have. Is it not the prarabdha of that female soul? Kindly give Your response. at Your Lotus Feet. , Anil Antony
Swami replied: The menstrual cycle in women is a gynaecological phenomenon. When the ovum is not fertilized, the pre-prepared layer for receiving the fertilized ovum gets broken down and is released as menstrual blood. The inconvenience faced by women in pregnancy and delivery is compensated by the great joy of motherhood. Since blood is lost during menstruation, it is assumed to be the fruit of the sin of Indra. There is no additional loss for women because of that assumption. The menstrual cycle is necessary in any case for producing children, who are the future generation of humanity. Moreover, the inconvenience of menstruation, pregnancy and childbirth are compensated by the joy of motherhood. The earth, water and flowers are not suffering because they acquired odor, froth and pollen, respectively. Then how can we say that women are suffering due to the menstrual cycle? The main point of the earlier discussion was about the holiness or unholiness of menstruation. My answer was related to that main point.
Shri Anil asked: In Mahabharata war Arjuna based on the advise of God Krishna fought the war and the war was organised by God Krishna to destroy the evil. It is God's work. The final solution for Sabrarimala issue was given by You and it is the final ultimate verdict, which supreme court judges could not give. My question is this case, a case of God like Mahabharata war in which God involved directly and gave final verdict. Similarly the final verdict of You could have come from the mouth of those judges being it the case of God since this case differs from normal cases like disputes between two parties for a piece of land? Kindly give Your response. at Your Lotus Feet. , Anil Antony
Swami replied: The purpose behind creation is totally different from the purpose you have selected in such issues. Your purpose is achieving peace in a hurried manner, whatever may be the way. The purpose behind creation is not achieving peace by the miraculous will of God working on certain human beings. The purpose is achieving peace by the reformation of people while giving them full freedom. From your angle, you may say that the Mahabharata war itself could have been avoided by changing the mind of Duryodhana, using the miraculous will of God Krishna. But God did not change the mind of Duryodhana using His miraculous power. In fact, even in the case of Arjuna, Krishna did not perform any miraculous change of Arjuna’s mind to make him fight the war. God tried His level-best to convince Arjuna to fight the war. After presenting the logical analysis, Krishna did not force Arjuna to fight. Instead, the last words of God Krishna were “You analyze on your own whatever I have told you and take the decision as per your will”.
Hence, no force through the miraculous power of God is seen. What appears instead is only God’s miraculous way of presenting the explanation perfectly. If the soul is not convinced with God’s explanation and analysis, and continues to commit a sin, the miraculous power of God will certainly appear to give the proper punishment to the soul for the sin. It is not a question of achieving the solution by any means. It is a question of getting the solution in a proper way. Even if God were to change the mind of Duryodhana through His miraculous power, the effect would not be permanent. Unless the soul gets reformed, no permanent solution is possible. Hence, God tries to bring about the reformation of the soul through His preaching of divine knowledge. He does not try to bring temporary change through miraculous powers.
In the beginning of creation during the first age called Kruta Yuga, almost all souls were sages. They followed the commandments of God strictly, like robots following the instructions fed to them. At that time, there was no question of any reformation of souls. The cinema of creation after the Kruta Yuga, was like a film reel replaying the same movie show once again as it is. But in course of time, freedom was granted to souls. As a result, variations in behavior started. Each soul acted as per his or her free will. Some souls committed sins while others did good deeds. Reformation of the sinners then became necessary and some souls were reformed resulting in betterment. The background settings like planets, earth, hills, rivers etc., remained without any change. The change was only in the behavior of the souls.
The resulting variations in the behavior of souls brought newness to each following show. This newness gives real entertainment to God, like watching a movie, whose story is unknown. The basis of this newness is only the freedom given to souls. We need not blame God that He granted this freedom to souls just for the sake of His entertainment. Thinking like this is totally wrong! When the souls lacked freedom and were acting like robots, they became unhappy. They developed an urge for freedom. The Father-God has only tried to remove the unhappiness of His children by sanctioning freedom to souls. He knew that the result of such freedom is sin. So through the scriptures, He warned His children-souls to avoid sin. He has also constantly been preaching to souls personally by descending in the form of Incarnations in every human generation. Yet the future behavior of a soul always remains unknown. This brings some anxiety and newness. When the Gita was preached by God Krishna, Arjuna was perfectly convinced whereas Dhrutaraashtra scolded Krishna for brainwashing Arjuna through the Gita! The uncertainty and unpredictable behavior of souls is due to the freedom granted to souls. This uncertainty brings some ignorance even to God. God likes this enjoyment through ignorance (Avidyaa). If He wishes, He can effortlessly know what is going to happen (Vidyaa). But He does not want to know what is going to happen in the movie of creation, even before watching it. This entertainment is not the main aim of God. It is only an associated secondary benefit that developed on its own. A person attending a seminar in Mumbai, completed all his duties at the seminar. Afterwards, he went for shopping and purchased some gifts for his family before leaving Mumbai. You cannot say that the person went to Mumbai only to purchase the gifts and that he arranged the seminar in Mumbai only for the purpose of his shopping!
3. Why can the devotees of Lord Ayyapa not practice self-control in the presence of women?
Shri Surya asked:- Padanamaskaram Swami. A person Jatayu commented as given below in Yahoo news on Your message about entry of ladies in Sabarimala temple. “A person who is not able to control his mind by observing ritualism is not fit to visit the shrine. What is the use then. If females also go and then if he able to follow the rituals by controlling his mind then only he is worthy to be called Ayappan. It shows that the good olden Brahmins who postulate these rules might not have control over their senses and thus prohibited the women not to entry on some invalid sayings which seemed to have continued till date. The Supreme court rightly said that every human beings including the females have the right to visit the deity.”
Swami replied:- I have already given a message on this topic. You said that if senses are not controlled, what is the use of visiting the holy shrine of Lord Ayyappa? It is very easy to pass such statements standing merely in the theoretical phase. When you stand in the practical phase, you will understand its real power. If you see the story of the birth of Ayyappa, it is said that even Lord Shiva was fascinated by Mohini, the climax of feminine beauty, who gave birth to Lord Ayyappa. Of course, even females have such desire since they too are human beings just like men. Sex is a very powerful force and its power can be realized only in a practical situation. Even sage Vishvaamitra was attracted to the heavenly dancer called Menaka. Are you greater than sage Vishvaamitra, who created a new heaven between the sky and earth? Due to this truth, sage Vashishtha advised in the beginning of his book, called the Yoga Vaasishtam, that an ordinary human being should always stay away from worldly attractions. Only an Incarnation of God can have full control even in the presence of these attractions. God Shiva is said to have been fascinated by Mohini only to indicate that it is impossible to escape from such fascination. It is only an Arthavaada, which is a lie told for a good purpose).
You criticize Ayyappans (devotees of Lord Ayyappa) that they are not fit to be Ayyapans if they cannot control their senses! This reminds Me of an incident that happened in My early life. I joined a college as a lecturer. After one year, My probation period ended and I was called by the owner of the college to give Me a confirmation of the job. Do you know, what he said? He said to Me “We hired you as lecturer since you are a Ph.D. degree holder. One year has passed away, and you could not even get a Nobel prize!” I so shocked that I left that college immediately and joined another college!
Other than Lord Ayyappa Himself, no human devotee (Ayyapan) has perfect control over his or her senses. It is only to achieve this control that the devotees practice this special worship for forty days following very strict rules. When such devotees go to the temple after forty days to surrender to Lord Ayyappa, the presence of females between the ages of ten to fifty years is not at all good, since the devotees’ minds are highly unstable. This is the background of the devotees, who visit that specific temple after forty days. It is for this reason that women are not allowed in the temple. One should not go to the extreme of doubting the control of senses of Lord Ayyappa Himself in this issue!
God Ayyappa exists in every Ayyappa temple. It is not that He exists only in the Sabarimala temple. Moreover, all the statues of different deities in any temple are only the representative models of God. God does not directly exist in the statues (Na tasya pratimaa —Veda). But the worship of the representative models certainly improves the person’s theoretical devotion and is very much necessary for beginners (Pratimaa hyalpa buddhiinaam).
This problem can be solved in any one of the two ways:
God never considers the differences of caste and gender. These differences are only for foolish souls. The menstrual cycle of women is not unholy. It is said in the scripture that Indra divided his sin into four equal parts and transferred it to four items. They are the earth, water, flowers, and women. As a result, the earth began releasing its part of the sin in the form of odor. Water began releasing its part of the sin as froth. Flowers began releasing their part of the sin as pollen grains. Women began releasing their part of the sin in the form of menstrual blood.
When the scented earth, water with froth and flowers with pollen are not unholy in any worship, how did women in menses become unholy? Yet, this concept of ‘unholy menses’ was imposed on women even by the good tradition. If you analyze the hidden intention behind this false concept you will realize that it was not bad at all! The background intention of this ‘unholy menses’ concept is that women are forced to take rest for four days in a month. Effectively, they are being treated as patients who need rest due to the bleeding. If the truth had been revealed, women would not have taken rest. Such a creation of a lie to achieve a good purpose is called an arthavaada. The only thing that is unholy is always being involved in worldly issues. The only thing that is holy is being involved in spiritual knowledge and devotion to God. Some people say that in a particular temple of a Goddess, the statue of the Goddess shows marks of Her being in menses every month. The temple is kept closed for the four days. But every statue of that Goddess or any other Goddess does not go through menses. It means that what happens in that particular temple, is a miracle. The miracle indicates the human form of God, who is the real goal of worship. God is beyond caste and gender. He always gives weight only to our devotion, which must be based on perfect spiritual knowledge.
4. Will Muslims end up in the lake of fire for rejecting the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus?
A person Robert William commented as given below in Google+ on Your message that Islam accepts Jesus as Prophet only. “Datta Swami Because Muslims reject the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, they will die in their sins and end up in the eternal lake of fire.” at Your divine feet, surya
Swami replied: The first statement given by Me is alright. Prophet means Messenger of God and Jesus was declared as Messenger of God by Mohammad.
Your statement given below (2nd sentence) is not correct since it disturbs the peace and brotherhood among all human beings in the world. Jesus did not use even a single harsh word against His bitter enemies. He instead prayed to God to excuse them and lead them on the right path. But look at what you are doing! Unless one finds unity among religions, which is the primary aim of God, such a person cannot even be called as a devotee. Such a person will go to the lake of liquid fire! You must also appreciate the reason why Mohammad said that Jesus was only a messenger of God and not an Incarnation of God or the Son of God. Note that the Son of God can be treated as God Himself. Jesus had already proved through miracles that He was the Son of God or God Himself. The knowledge and devotion that He preached, attracted the wise public. This made the egotistic priests develop jealousy against Him. They succeeded in getting Jesus crucified.
Jesus was the preceding Human Incarnation, before Mohammad. Mohammad thought that the sinful tragedy, which took place in the case of Jesus, should never be repeated again with any other Human Incarnation descending on earth to give right direction to people in both their worldly and spiritual lives. He found out that the basic reason for that tragedy was the claim made by a human being that He is an Incarnation of God. Hence, Mohammad eradicated this concept along with the miracles done by the Human Incarnation. He felt that the knowledge spoken by the Human Incarnation and the miracles done by the Human Incarnation can be directly linked to the absolute unimaginable God. By this, the Human Incarnation becomes just a messenger of God. The miracles become the actions done by the same God. In fact, the knowledge and miracles come only from the God-component of the Human Incarnation and not from its human being-component. The credit goes to the God-component and not to the human being-component, which is perfectly justified.
If you say that the resurrection after crucifixion was done by the human being-component, it means that you have to accept that Jesus, as the human being-component, performed the miracles. But this is not acceptable to any ordinary human being suffering from ego and jealousy. This concept is also not true because no human being can perform any miracle. Only God can perform miracles. But God perfectly merges with the human being-component in an Incarnation. This makes that particular human being God. God merges into that human devotee in order to give credit to His devotee. So, you can treat Jesus as the God-component Itself. But even this not acceptable to ordinary human beings affected by ego and jealousy, although it is acceptable to wise devotees. In both these cases, the devotees affected by jealousy, are certain to crucify the Incarnation.
So, the only way left for Mohammad was to say that Jesus was only a human being, who is separate from the unimaginable God present in Him. It can be done by treating Jesus as only a messenger of God like a postman. Similarly, all the miracles done by Jesus can be linked directly to God. Even better, the miracles performed by Jesus (the human being-component) can be rejected and treated as mere magic. This concept would certainly pacify the ego and jealousy of the human beings around.
All this was done by Mohammad for the safety of Human Incarnations. Mohammad Himself being a Human Incarnation sacrificed His real status for the sake of the protection of all Human Incarnations. The Human Incarnation is always kind even to His own killers, who after all are also His own children! With this background, you must understand the concepts established by Mohammad. It is those concepts which are being followed by your Muslim brothers. So, you should not criticize them. The absolute unimaginable God is called as Parabrahman in Hinduism, Jehovah in Christianity and Allah in Islam. Similarly, Krishna, Jesus and Mohammad are the Human Incarnations of the same one absolute unimaginable God.
5. Can a soul born as an animal or bird be reborn as a human?
Shri Anil asked: Padanamaskaram Swami, Shri Shantanu Ray, after reading a part of Your discourse come with following question in Quora forum:
[Sir, you have to forgive this impudent and possibly stupid question but the answer will benefit the reader in comprehending the rest of the text. Is it impossible for someone born in a tiryak yoni then to transcend into higher beings? Ultimately as a human form. The question arises due to the part 'jnyan cannot be given to a bird or insect'. Since without jnyan one cannot transcend into higher beings. Sincerely hope the question is intelligible. Sir, again seeking forgiveness for the impudence and looking forward to an answer. God bless all ॐ।]
Swami replied: Souls present in a human body commit several sins due to their fascination for selfish desires without even remembering God. Such souls are given the birth of birds, animals, trees, stones etc., (tiryak-sthaavara). In these births, their selfishness gets reduced. If you see any bird or animal, it does not store its food for tomorrow. But the present human being is not satisfied even upon storing wealth for a hundred future generations! After the birth of birds and animals, if the soul’s selfish fascination has not been sufficiently exhausted, it is given the birth of a tree. As a tree, even if somebody takes its fruits (wealth), the tree will not feel any loss due to the absence of intelligence and a mind. If the fascination still remains in traces, the soul is given the birth of a stone in which the awareness is totally absent. It is a state like a long deep coma, in which the soul can forget the concept of selfishness. All these punishments are not given with an idea of revenge but are only meant for the reformation of the soul. Once the soul is perfectly reformed, the human birth is sanctioned again, where the soul acquires awareness, knowledge and a mind.
In the birth of the bird or animal, full knowledge may be absent, but a mind and awareness are present. In trees, even the mind is absent even though very basic awareness is present. In stones, even the awareness is absent. In your question, you mention about the inability to introduce full knowledge to the soul while it is in the birth of a bird or animal (tiryak). But our concept is broad in dealing with the rebirth of the soul as a human being, after passing through the births of animals or birds for a long time.
6. How should devotees bear the reports of sex scandals in spiritual institutions?
Shri Anil asked: Padanamaskaram Swami! Recently some sexual scandals were observed in spiritual institutions like the Catholic Church involving spiritual leaders like Bishops etc. In the light of this kindly give Your valuable advice to devotees who have faith in such belief systems. Kindly give Your reply on this. At Your Divine Lotus feet, Anil
Swami replied: I do not understand why people are always very sensitive about sex. It is just a biological activity like hunger, thirst, sleep etc. If the desire for sex still remains even after formally taking sainthood, such a person should have his wife stay with him. There is nothing wrong in it. We say that such a person is in the state called Vaanaprastha Aashrama, which is living with his wife while participating in the spiritual effort. There is no difference between Vaanaprastha Aashrama and sainthood (Samnyasa Aashrama) except that in Vaanaprastha Aashrama, the wife or the husband also stays with the spiritual aspirant. Saint Sureshvara, the important disciple of Shankara, followed Shankara in the propagation of spiritual knowledge along with his wife, Ubhayabharati. God Datta is known to be with goddess Anagha while wearing the saffron cloth, which is the external sign of a saint. Just as food is required to pacify hunger and just as water is required to pacify thirst, the wife or the husband is required to pacify the desire for sex. The important point is that such sex should be legal. It should not be illegal. Illegal sex is equal to stealing food and water in order to pacify one’s hunger and thirst respectively. Sex is as normal as hunger and thirst. Sex with one’s wife or husband is justified and holy as told in the Gita (Dharmaaviruddhah bhuteshu kaamosmi—Gita).
In ancient days, spiritual preachers used to visit the houses of their disciples to preach or revise the spiritual knowledge necessary for the spiritual life of the disciples. They always used to visit the houses of these disciples along with their wives. Such spiritual preachers were very good scholars. They were not lesser than any saint, even though they did not wear the saffron cloth. The saffron cloth is just an external indication of sainthood, which is not at all important. A person should become a saint only when all the worldly fascinations drop off naturally, without any force. Worldly fascinations drop off due to the climax of fascination for God. In case of such a person, all these wrong and unjust things will not happen. These illegal things happen only when sainthood is taken without achieving perfect detachment from worldly fascinations in a natural and effortless way. Once the climax of fascination for God is attained, the person becomes a perfect saint, even though he or she might not be wearing the saffron cloth and might still be staying at home. There are several devotees, who pleased God by their climax devotion and attained salvation from the worldly bonds in a natural way.
Shri Anil asked: Padanamaskaram Swami! Several devotees of Shri Sathya Sai Baba is expecting the return of Sai Baba as Prema Sai. One of the devotees of Sai Baba says the following in Quora forum:
["Prem Sai has already been born in the Mandya District in Karnataka around 27th November 2011 and he will declare his Aftar hood in 2022 and that is when the work of sukshma Sai Baba living in Muddenahalli will be over and the Sukshma Sathya Sai Baba will completely transfer himself into Prema Sai and the work of God will continue. Om Sai Ram. Because in November 2022 Swami will turn 96 years the true date of leaving his physical body and merging into Prem sai but he left his physical body quite early so he is going to work till 2022 in his spirit form and then when he will become of 96 years he will transfer himself into Prem sai."] At Your Divine Lotus feet, Ani
Swami replied: Shirdi Sai came and preached. Did we change? Sathya Sai came and preached and preached. Did we change? Prema Sai will come and will preach, preach and preach. Are we going to change? Incarnations of God will come again and again as long as this creation exists because we are not going to change unless this creation is totally destroyed. Even after the total destruction of creation, souls exist in a hidden state (avyaktam). They will be born again at the beginning of the new cycle of creation along with their inherent qualities. Neither death nor the destruction of creation can bring any change in the soul. The change in the soul will come only on hearing, memorizing and meditating on the spiritual knowledge spoken by God through the Human Incarnations.
Incarnations of God are infinite in number as said in the Bhagavatam (Avataaraahyasankhyeyaah...). We should always concentrate on the preaching of God-in-human-form. That preaching alone is meant for us and it alone will benefit us. A person who is not hungry at all, simply passes time watching the food served in a plate before him. A person who is not sleepy, just closes his eyes pretending to be asleep. A person, who is not interested in digesting the spiritual knowledge preached by the Human Incarnation exhibits utmost devotion only for the sake of the miracles performed by the Incarnation. Such a person only wants to exploit the miracles for solving personal problems. Many are interested in God only to exploit God’s miraculous powers for their personal use. A person not having even a single rupee in his pocket, goes to the jewelry shop and enquires about the rates of various ornaments of various designs! When the main thing is missing, the inquiry about unnecessary details starts!
Shri Lakshman asked:- Pada Namaskarams I put forth my humble question as follows. No sperms or ovaries contain souls otherwise it would mean killing of souls when they get destroyed. After fertilization soul is introduced by God only is my presumption. Is this one fundamental point not enough to defeat the atheists? Regards, Lakshman
Swami replied: The Brahma Sutras clearly confirm whatever you have said above. But science says that the sperm and ovum have the inherent potentialities to generate a fertilized ovum, which gives rise to the baby. The scripture also says that God guides the soul from the upper worlds, through several intermediate worlds, down to earth and finally into the father’s sperm. Then alone does the sperm unite with the ovum to give birth to the baby. This theory supports the rebirth of the soul. The concept is even proved through perception, by several cases throughout the world, where persons reveal details about their previous birth. But these atheists do not believe even the genuine miracles which are clearly observed. They even deny the miracles that are proved through direct perception! Do you think that such rigid atheists will believe these concepts and thereby believe in God? Can you kill a person with a mere iron sword, when he is not affected even by the Brahmaastra? It is possible to bring vision to blind eyes through surgery. But no surgery can ever rectify the blind mind!
Shri Anil asked: A person gives comparison between Shridi sai baba and Sathya Sai baba to refute Sathya Sai Baba. Please give Your answer:
[Sathya sai baba is different from my shirdi sai baba…. Because I can say 9 difference between bogus satya sai baba and shri sai baba of shirdi…
1.shirdi sai baba parents, birth are unknown…. But satya sai baba born to eswaramma who is devotee of satya bagwan…
2. Shirdi Sai baba used to sit down when he was in masjid in those days the people of shirdi used to bring a silver chair but shirdi sai baba never touched it and when he is at out used to sit on a rock … but satya sai baba sat on a chair …
3. Shirdi Sai baba used to live in a old masjid not in good condition also and named as dwaraka mai ( shri Krishna birthplace) and planted a tulsi plant and used to light lamps this indicates oneness of Hindu and muslim.. but satya sai baba lived in a big palace called prashanthi nilayam
4. Shri shirdi sai baba used to sleep on floor with a brick as pillow and satya sai baba sleep on a big soft bed ..
5. Shirdi Sai baba used to bikshatan …. The devotees also asked reason for biksha he said in this way he taking our fate and offering great… but satya sai baba didn't done bhikshatan at one day also …
6. Satya sai baba used a wheel Chair when he was in last days but shirdi sai baba done shivathandavam at last day …
7. Shirdi people asked to sit sai baba in pallaque but he refused to sit in that that’s why they kept foot prints of sai baba there … but satya sai baba sat on a big ratha also ..
8. Shirdi Sai baba used to annadaan … he used his hands as a stick and mixes food and then remaining food donated to birds and animals and after what left that he used to eat.. but Satya sai baba used to eat first and then other people….
9. Shirdi Sai baba died due to two reasons one is he given life to his devotee baija maa son tatya who is unmarried that time and but second one is his brick which was broken .. but satya sai baba died due to heat arrest… At Your Lotus feet]
Swami replied: Whatever is preached by the Human Incarnation to us is important. The external culture followed by the Incarnation is irrelevant. Lord Krishna spoke the Gita, which is the original scripture while Shankara only wrote a commentary on it. Krishna enjoyed all the luxuries and facilities as the king whereas Shankara led the simple life of a saint. Krishna wore a royal dress whereas Shankara wore the saffron cloth. Krishna slept on a posh royal bed whereas Shankara slept on a stone. From the difference in the lifestyles of both these divine personalities, would you expect Krishna to be the author of the original scripture and Shankara to be only a commentator on that original scripture? You should not look at the external appearances. Instead, you should observe the internal stuff, which is useful to us.
Similarly, when you observe any two religions, the external cultures will be different. But the internal deep spiritual knowledge is one and the same. Based on the external culture, you should not differentiate between two religions, and treat one as greater and the other as lower. The external lifestyle of any Human Incarnation will be such that it enables Him to mix with the surrounding society, which has a certain culture. Shankara was always in the association of saints and Krishna was always in the association of kings. God-in-human-form is beyond this external culture and also beyond the qualities of the body. The Human Incarnation follows the external culture which is congenial to the surrounding associates. That way, He can easily mix with the souls around Him. King Janaka wore a royal dress. Yet sage Vyaasa selected Janaka as the examiner for testing the spiritual progress of saint Shuka, who was the son of Vyaasa. Sage Shuka was a disciple of Krishna and saint Shankara was the commentator on Krishna’s book called the Gita!
Some people say that Jesus was married and some others say that Jesus was not married. How does it matter whether Jesus was married or not married? We should only examine His spiritual knowledge which is expressed through the Holy Bible. It alone is useful for our spiritual progress. If you are so worried about His marriage, you should be equally worried about His food, drinking water and sleeping. After all, they too are biological needs, just like legal sex in a marriage.
10. Why is it claimed that Vedic civilization was advanced, even though it had many defects?
Shri Anil asked: A person in Quora forum asked the following question: “I wanted to know that how could the unjust practices like human sacrifice or sati pratha or human trades in open markets were present in society which had all the knowledge of physical and metaphysical worlds? If the Vedic civilization was so advanced, how could they believe in sacrificing one's life?” Kindly give your response to this. At Your feet, Anil.
Swami Replied: The defects or sins mentioned by you were not present in the ancient Vedic culture. As time changes, the culture of the people also changes. It is an alternating pattern of justice and injustice in society, appearing like the seasons, which alternate between hot and cold seasons. Several such alternating cycles have gone and more will come in the future. This is the very nature of this creation. It is a misunderstanding to think that only one cycle has appeared so far since the beginning of creation. If you are under such a misunderstanding, you will appreciate the present time and criticize olden times, or vice versa. The past referred by you is only relatively older than the present times. It is not the oldest! You cannot confine all of time only to two days and say that yesterday was bad and today is good or vice versa. The alternating pattern in human society and culture happens due to the psychology of humanity. Human beings are fond of change. After a long period of good, they seek bad, and after a long period of bad, they seek good.
11. Can religion be questioned? When religion contradicts science, which side should we take?
Shri Durgaprasad asked: Paadanamaskaaram Swami,
1) In a discussion on recent supreme court rulings on homosexuality and adultery, one person commented like this:
We are not copying from the west..the west has copied from us....anyway everything depends on where you draw the line in the timescale. And adding religious tag to common moral values is harmful because the very nature of established religions do not allow questioning..and ppl get sentimentally hurt on any questioning on religion. And centuries if religious values didn’t make our countrymen honest. Societies where majority are atheists are way ahead of us in common honesty...
2) One another problem the new generation is facing is, which side to sway when the science and the religious reasoning contradict..... Should we sway towards religion or science??
Please enlighten on this. At your lotus feet, -Durgaprasad
Swami replied (for both 1&2):- Whether it is religion or science, one can find the truth only through reasoning, which involves sharp and deep analysis. Scripture is also not an exception for such analysis because we cannot be sure whether the scripture is a genuine version or an adulterated version with insertions made by ignorant people in the course of time. During the process of reasoning, we can distinguish between the genuine concepts and the adulterated concepts. Even divine preachers did the same in writing commentaries on the scriptures. The commentaries varied in their conclusions due to such adulteration of the original text. Due to this reason, we often find mutually contradicting concepts within the same scripture. You should understand the path of these divine preachers, who wrote commentaries on the scriptures. The path is that you should not accept anything without deep and sharp analysis. People, who dislike the questioning of scripture, should answer why there is a difference in the commentaries written on the same scripture.
12. HOW CAN WE REACT IF LORD krishna born again?
Sheetal Basopia Basopia asked: HOW CAN WE REACT IF LORD krishna born again?
Swami replied: Lord Krishna is the incarnation of God Datta, who incarnates in every generation having the suitable requirements for the needs of the specific program required for the world in that time. This is also told by Krishna that He is born in every Yuga. Yuga means a generation and every generation is given the equal benefit of coming in to contact with the contemporary human incarnation of God. It is our head-ache to search and find out the contemporary human incarnation.
13. Guidance needed on unimaginable God
Shri Rajesh B. Naik asked: Guidance needed
I am not able to understand the following. Any entity having even very very small spatial dimensions can be imaginable. If the boundary is imaginable, you are still continuing in the imaginable phase of universe only and the boundary should not be reached. If the boundary has no spatial dimensions, it should be the generator of the space. The reason is that space cannot exist in its generator before its generation. This point again mutually proves that the boundary is the generator of space. By Rajesh B.Naik
Swami replied:- This point is very very subtle and any hasty proceeding will spoil the actual subtle concept. You have to examine this point very carefully and with lot of patience so that you will never miss the actual subtle point. This universe is imaginable and hence, its boundary must be also imaginable. When you are travelling in a ship in the sea, if the water of the sea is visible (imaginable world), the boundary of the sea, which is also water must be visible only. The boundary of the sea does not mean mere edge of the sea water only, but also, refers the adjacent boundary of the (unimaginable God) earth also. As per the rule, if you have reached the boundary of the sea, you must reach the boundary of earth also. This means that if you have reached the boundary of this imaginable space or world, you must have reached the boundary of unimaginable God also. But, actually, you can never reach the boundary of unimaginable God since God is beyond space being the generator of space (if space or spatial dimensions existed in God, it means space existed even before its generation in God and this is impossible contradiction). If you are not able to reach the boundary of unimaginable God, naturally, it means that you must be unable to reach even the visible (imaginable) boundary of visible-imaginable world also. This results in the inevitable impossibility to reach the imaginable boundary of the imaginable world. As you are running in the space to touch the imaginable boundary of imaginable world, it is also expanding before you reach it so that you can neither touch the imaginable boundary of the world nor touch the unimaginable boundary of God. This results in the constant expansion of world or space. The world or space may also be already so huge (in which case the expansion of universe is not necessary) that even the angels or energetic beings having the fastest speed of energy can’t reach the boundary of world. The Veda says that even angels can’t touch the unimaginable God, which means that they can’t touch the imaginable and visible boundary of the imaginable world also (Nainat devaa aapnuvan puurvamarshat). The core and boundary of the imaginable world and the boundary and core of unimaginable God (assuming that both boundary and core of God exist) are known to the unimaginable God Himself and this means clearly that the infinite world or space doesn’t mean that it is not having the boundary in reality. Infinite means not only the boundary-less item, but also, an item having the boundary unknowable and unknown to us.
Shri Anil asked:- Some people say that allowing ladies in to the temple of Swamy Ayyappa in Kerala is responsible for the recent water calamity. What do you say?
Swami replied:- The main cause is already explained by Me, which is the violence on good natured peaceful living beings. Apart from the main reason, secondary reasons may also exist, which are many. The analysis only decides whether something is at least the secondary reason or not. It is certainly the basic concept that there is no discrimination of gender in the presence of God. The reason presented by you has some good point in it. It is not the question of gender in the divine presence, but, the good side is that the male devotees undergo very strict discipline in food etc., for a specific period of time and reach the temple maintaining the discipline followed for sometime, which is attachment to God through detachment from world. In such case, if you allow the other gender also, there is lot of chance for male devotees to slip from the concentration on God. I feel that this good side is not properly presented in the court. It is better to restrict the gender at least for that one month during which the discipline is maintained by the male devotees. Alternatively, the male devotees can select a separate place (temple) on the same divine hill for the specific gender at least for that limited time. This tradition is towards such point only because old ladies and minor girls are exempted from this tradition. This is certainly a slip without understanding the good background of a tradition, but, need not be taken seriously to that extent of this much calamity. Serious punishments have always serious backgrounds. Killing the public by such calamity indicates the sin related to killing only. Death sentence is given for the crime of killing others only. We shall not reject every tradition as blind without analyzing it deeply. We are only particular of rejecting the bad traditions followed blindly without analysis.
15. Question on doctrine of actions and fruits
Shri Balaji asked: Namaste Swamiji,
1) Kindly clarify the following question from one of my friends:
["My grandfather lead a decent life, did not not have bad habits, was a good devotee of Lord Rama and did a lot of puja everyday. But his death was very painful with lot of suffering due to disease. He needed help from someone even for eating, passing motion etc. I understand everyone has to die someday. But could God whom he prayed all his life not grant at least a fast death with minimum suffering and dignity of managing essentials? My mind is pained by this incident for many years and is not pacified on thinking of it as a karmic reaction. Kindly answer this query.."]
2) Also I have a query on role of free will of people and karmic results:
Just for example, if a criminal hurts a good person, is it because of some previous karmic result of the good person or is it a fresh result due to the free will used by the criminal? Sincerely, Balaji
Swami replied:- 1) This doctrine of actions and fruits implemented in this world as well as in the upper world is according to a general plan that the fruits are enjoyed in the upper worlds so that in this world (karmaloka or world for actions) sufficient free time is given so that the soul will have freedom to reform itself through the spiritual knowledge preached by the human incarnations of God. But, there are several superseding exceptions to this general procedure. The very powerful superseding factor is implementation of any fruit from the specific list of an individual soul is at the will of God because under His direction only each soul is guided and wherever God feels that a specific fruit is required at a certain stage for betterment of the soul, such implementation is immediately done. Fruits of very intensive deeds are enjoyed in this life itself, which act as witnesses of the divine administration to the public. There are so many permutations and combinations at every step in every fraction of second and the final decision is taken by God. This three dimensional network of actions and fruits interfered with several other factors like devotion, reformation etc., is said to be very complicated as said in the Gita (Gahanaa karmano gatih). Your observation of any soul is not very deep and you don’t have a continuous audio-video system to take the picture of a soul in and out. Our capacities are very limited and our study of a soul is very very superficial. We don’t know all the actions with in and out pictures of even this birth of a soul, not to speak of knowing the trace of any action of previous births, which is sometimes dragged to this birth by the will of God. Who knows that whether God wanted to exhaust all the bad fruits by this birth itself and wants to give the next birth as very good devoted life to your grandfather? We draw very drastic conclusions based on our very very limited study of souls. We must have perfect faith on God’s justified administration. He is your grandfather, but, do you know that your grandfather is the issue of God since all souls are issues of God only (Aham biijapradah pitaa— Gita)? Even in the angle of love, do you have more love on your grandfather than his Father? We must always remember that any soul in this world is more loved by God than ourselves and also that never administration of God has place for the trace of any injustice.
2) This question is answered by Me several times. When a criminal hurts a good person, it can be in any way of the two ways, which are:-
i) The criminal might have been hurt by the good person in the previous birth. The identification of this possibility is done by observing the silence of God on this issue and
ii) The criminal might have hurt the good person in this life itself freshly due to his egoistic criminal nature. This can be detected by seeing the damage of the criminal done by God for witness to others acting as a warning.
We always observe things for a short time and draw the conclusions as if based on our continuous observation of the soul in past, present and future. Our conclusions appear as if we are omniscient, but, it is totally false. If we understand our deficiency and limitations in studying a case, we will stop making such false comments. The best advice to anybody is to study one’s own self perfectly and take care of it always since there is some perfection when the self is studied and conclusions drawn are implemented. If everybody does this, there is no scope of such time pass comments about other souls.
16. Question on rituals in Bali
Shri Nyoman Guna Darsana asked:
Dear Swamiji, ussualy in Bali, when every worship is held, the first pray , we offer to god sun (surys). And the second we offer to Lord mother of earth ( mother pertiwi). After these praying, we pray fo the other god and Godeses. My question is why we doesnt do the first praying to god siwa or wisnu or brà hma? My salutation on your lotus feet. By nyoman guna darsana
Swami replied:- Even if you pray some item of creation believing that the ultimate unimaginable God (Parabrahman) is in that item like Sun or Earth, it becomes a representative model worship of God, which is also acknowledged by God. The other type is direct worship, if you worship directly energetic incarnations like Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. But, here also, you are worshiping their statues or photos only and this can’t be treated as the real direct worship. Hanuman and Gopikas never did any representative worship or representative worship of real energetic incarnations also. If you catch and worship the contemporary human incarnation, that will be really direct worship. But, you have to cross the ego and jealously towards co-human form in order to achieve final success in this final step. This is the ultimate final examination, which will be naturally very very hard. We all know that Hanuman and Gopikas are the top most devotees, but, we are unable to practice the step practiced by them. This is the highest tragedy in spiritual field!
17. Can we say that the first created human being is 'Datta' or 'Father of Heaven'?
Shri Anil asked:-
Can we say that the first created human being is 'Datta' or 'Father of Heaven' (before the merge of unimaginable God) instead of saying Adam and eve or other equivalent human beings mentioned in other scriptures?
Swami replied:- Datta or Father of heaven is first energetic being and not human being. After merge with unimaginable God, the first energetic being became Father of heaven or Datta. Adam and Eve are the first set of human beings created by God Datta or Father of heaven, who told Adam and Eve not to touch a specific fruit. The Father of heaven tested the human couple for its faith in Him.
18. Can we treat Mulaprakruti as 'Adi parashakti' ?
Shri Anil asked:-
Mulaprakruti is mentioned as first created item even before the creation of 'Datta' or 'Father of Heaven'. Can we treat this Mulaprakruti as 'Adi parashakti' ? In such case Adiparashakti came first even before 'Datta' or 'Father of Heaven'.
Swami replied:- Adiparaashakti is the Mulaprakruti created by unimaginable God as the first item of creation, but, the unimaginable God didn’t merge with Adiparaashakti. He merged only with the first energetic being to become Datta or Father of heaven. Adi=first, Paraa=best and Shakti= power or energy. This word can be used in different items based on its applied meaning.
This concept is only to show that the Father of heaven is beyond gender and also beyond any specific form. This means that the Father of heaven (Datta) appears as Hiranyagarbha or Narayana or Sadashiva or Adiparaashakti or any form of ultimate God of any religion. The unimaginable God is beyond gender and beyond any specific form looking in the form and gender as desired by the devotees. By this, the Father of heaven gets universality of all world religions and all sub-religions in a religion (like various divine forms of sub-religions of which Shakteya is one sub-religion in Hinduism). Shankara brought unity in all the sub-religions like Shaiva, Vaishnava, Shaakteya, Gaanapatya, Skaanda and Saura having Shiva, Vishnu, Adiparaashakti, Ganapati, Skanda and Surya as the main deities in Hinduism. He brought unity in all the divine forms due to presence of same unimaginable God in all those forms. In fact, all these forms appear simultaneously as different forms of the same form, called as the first energetic incarnation, due to the unimaginable power of unimaginable God (Parabrahman) merged with the first energetic incarnation. It is just like the same photo of one form of God looking as different form of God by seeing in a different angle!
If you take Adiparaashakti as energetic being (not merged with unimaginable God), She represents also the creation as product form. If you take her in the causal form, She can be the non-mediated unimaginable God directly or God Datta looking as Divine female form, which is mediated unimaginable God. If you take her in product form, she is the creation. In this way, Vedanta-line speaking about God Datta resulting from Parabrahman (unimaginable God) and the Shakteya-line speaking about Adiparaashakti are not at all different. In both the forms, the same unimaginable God exists. Hence, whenever you use the word Adiparaashakti, you shall be cautious about your intention i.e., whether you like to mean the cause of the creation or the creation (product) itself.
19. What is the meaning of 'nothing of energy' in 'SHRI DATTAGURU BHAGAVAT GITA'?
Shri Anil asked:-
Referring to the following portion in 'SHRI DATTAGURU BHAGAVAT GITA'
['If space is nothing, energy is nothing and hence, matter and awareness must be also nothing since both are modifications of energy only. Such state of nothing of energy exists in the very beginning when unimaginable God alone existed in the absolute state (Paramaarthadashaa).']
What is the meaning of 'nothing of energy' here means. If energy exists in the very beginning when unimaginable God alone existed then contradiction comes. At Your divine feet, Anil
Swami replied:- There is no contradiction if you take the meaning of the word ‘beginning’ , which is in two ways:-
Hence, beginning means either the time in which unimaginable God alone existed before creation of subtle energy or the time in which unimaginable God existed as mediated God or Datta before the creation of further creation. To say in short, first only unimaginable God existed. Then, the unimaginable God created space or subtle energy. Then, the unimaginable God created first energetic being with which He merged and became Datta. Then, Datta created further creation.
‘If energy is nothing’- is hypothetical way of argument and not real statement. Since Einstein said that space is nothing and didn’t treat space as subtle energy (something), we are opposing it by saying that if you say that space is nothing, then the modifications of space like matter and awareness also become nothing, in which case energy, matter and awareness become nothing so that the creation itself becomes nothing. However, this nothing of creation is also possible in the absolute state in which the unimaginable God alone existed. On the other hand, we treat that space is subtle energy, the first creation of God, from which Datta came out and entire world is manifested by Datta using further subtle energy created by Him.
20. Enlighten on Karma and Karma Yoga
Shri Hrushikesh asked:-
1) Mr. Andreas Lechthaler on the face book group Beyond the sense and mind reading on of your discourses on Karma and Karma Yoga asked the following. 22June 2018
[Andreas Lechthaler: But all happens without asking. So I don’t need to analyze its details.
I request you to enlighten us with your words. I prostrate to your feet for all the love you show to us, all the hard work that you put in our spiritual progress. No words can show the gratitude to your concern for us.]
Swami replied:- There are two lines of approach to God in this concept:-
1) Since God gives the boon if we don’t aspire for any fruit in return, we don’t aspire for any fruit in return for our service and sacrifice. In this line, God keeps silent because your aspiration for the fruit is the basis for your lack of aspiration for fruit. You are disappointed for the silence of God after sometime.
2) If you are really not aspiring for any fruit in return, you will continue to serve God without any aspiration of fruit in return. Here, even if God keeps silent, you are not disappointed at all.
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