Posted on: 08 Jan 2003
God and Your Efforts
The Gita says “Bahūni me” i.e., “several births have passed away for you and for Me. I remember all those but you do not remember”. Sometimes the ‘Saadhanaa’ of a devotee may be less during this birth. God shows lot of grace on that devotee. The reason for this is the penance done by that devotee during the previous births. Even that devotee forgot that penance done by him. The other devotees who are doing lot of penance to God in this birth become jealous about that devotee. These devotees do not know that their penance done in this birth is very less compared to the penance of that devotee done in the previous births. The wealth of a person should not be decided by looking into his current account only. His fixed deposits, which are the fruits of the penance of his previous birth, should also be taken into account. Only the Lord can see these fixed deposits but not by the people. Vivekananda came to Paramahamsa for the first time. Paramahamsa taken him into a room and placed a sweet in his mouth and wept with folded hands. Vivekananda could not understand this and was confused. Paramahamsa is the incarnation of Rama and Krishna. Vivekananda is the incarnation of Arjuna and he does not remember his previous births. But Paramahamsa remembers all the previous births. The other disciples could not digest this and became jealous of Vivekananda.
Once Satyabhama hit the forehead of Krishna by her left leg. Krishna pressed her feet stating that the foot might have been pained. This looked very odd for all the other devotees. They thought that Krishna became the slave of her beauty. Any external beauty in this world cannot attract the Lord. Only the internal beauty attracts him, which is the sacrifice and love. She is the incarnation of Goddess Earth. She was bearing the violence of all the demons that were strengthened by the boons of the God. Like this she tolerated God indirectly. She is tolerating the feet of all the living beings. She is another form of tolerance. Even though Lord killed her son Narakasura, she kept silent. In fact, she helped Him in that war. She crossed the wheel of ‘Anaahata’, which is connected, to the children. Nobody can have more tolerance than the Goddess Earth. God knows all this background.
Without eligibility, God will never give anything to anybody at any time. But the devotee must put the first step towards God. The necessity is for the devotee. The Veda says ‘Āptakāmasya’ i.e., “God has attained everything and there is nothing which He has to achieve”. You have come near the sea with a pot. You should put a step into the water and make an effort to fill your pot. Then the sea moves the water into the pot. Therefore, the human effort is necessary even in the case of God. When the God is in the human form, He is bound by the manners of humanity. The properties of human body co-exist. The electric wire is having both the qualities of wire and electricity. Giving shock is the property of electricity. Being thin and lean is the property of the wire. The property of the wire is clearly seen by the naked wire. Similarly, the properties of the human body of the God are clearly seen by the people. As people misunderstand the electric wire as a common wire without electricity, the human body of God is also misunderstood as an ordinary man. As the current is not seen the divinity in the human form is also not seen. But whenever a necessity arises the electricity becomes intensive in the wire and heat is radiated out. Similarly, the divinity in the human form exposes its divine qualities like Jnana, Love, Bliss and Miracles whenever necessary.
Sudama felt bad to approach Krishna who was his classmate even though he was suffering with poverty. Krishna also kept silent, though He was ready to give infinite wealth. But Sudama did not put even one step towards Dwaraka City to meet Krishna. Sudama was chanting the name and worshipping the statue of Krishna. But even a trace of poverty was not removed because he neglected the human form of God. Unless he approached the human form of God and did Karma Phala Tyaaga by offering some rice, Lord did not respond. At his level the offering of that handful rice to Krishna is the best sacrifice. Similarly, Krishna gave infinite wealth according to His level. When Sudama went to Krishna, Sudama did not ask Krishna to remove his poverty. He was prepared to undergo the result of his sins. At the same time, he did the highest sacrifice of that handful rice. His family is starving and if that handful rice is cooked at least a little food can be given to his children. But he offered it to the Lord. He did not ask anything and also did not even think in his mind to ask. Similarly, a devotee should not ask or even think in his mind about the removal of his difficulties by God. He should be prepared to undergo the results of his sins. He should offer Guru Dakshina to the human form of God to his level best. Then God will remove his difficulties.
Swami sees only the quantity of love in you and not the things you are offering to Him. The squirrel rolled in the sand particles and showered them into sea with full faith and so the Lord patted it. Monkeys were placing big stones in the sea to construct Varadhi. But they were not patted since their faith was disturbed. Both the stones and sand particles were drowning in the water. The squirrel did not stop putting the sand particles but the monkeys stopped putting the big stones. So, the Lord does not view what you have surrendered. The spirit with which you surrendered is only viewed by the Lord. So, surrender what you have with full faith and love.
Whatever sin may be present with the fruit, which you have surrendered to the Lord, due to your sacrifice, such offer becomes a most pious deed. Kannappa offered flesh obtained by hunting to the Lord. That is the greatest sin. There is no greater sin than killing harmless animals. “Ahiṃsā paramo dharmaḥ” i.e., the greatest sin is to kill innocent harmless beings. Kannappa attained the same salvation of Shabari who offered pious fruits. The real dharma is to please the God. God created everything, created us and is present with us in every minute of every life as the highest well-wisher. Nobody should be dearer than God. Sudama went back home without begging anything from the Lord. Sudama wanted to beg Krishna in his heart of hearts. That is not Nishkama Yoga. He was caught by the influence of prestige. While going home to his place, he was suffering thinking about his poverty. Krishna also kept silent. But Krishna is also ocean of kindness. So Krishna came down. Here the victor is Lord Krishna. Kuchela, due to his prestige, was defeated. Krishna defeated His principle and so came out of it. Sudama gave importance to the manners of the external human body and could not understand the Lord as ocean of Love.
Veda says three qualities of God.
If one quality is present, the other two must also co-exist. When Datta takes the human form, these three are transmitted out. These three are the current in the metallic wire. It is like the heat coming out of the fire covered by ash. If the ash is absent, we cannot tolerate the heat. Ash controls the heat to the extent of our tolerance i.e., the human body works like the ash. Even angels like Indra cannot see the inner form. If the inner form is exhibited or comes out, the entire Universe disappears. Therefore, only through the human form one can worship or enjoy the essence of Datta. Nobody can establish a direct bond with Datta, because, when Datta appears the devotee also disappears along with the Universe. So, you cannot attain Datta except through Human body.
Jnana, Ananda and Bliss cannot be obtained either from formless or statues. Therefore, for human being Naraakara (Human form) is the only source. If you neglect the human form, you cannot get human birth, and you will therefore be put to permanent loss.
The Veda says the same “Iha cedavīdīt ath satya masti na cedihāvedīt mahatī vinaṣṭiḥ”.
Datta in Human Form
Datta means the God given to the world. The Veda says that the only one God (Parabrahma) creates, maintains and destroys this world. This God cannot be even imagined by the people. The Veda also tells this. The Sage Atri saw this ultimate God through a form for the first time. This form, which was given (seen) to Atri was called Datta. God Himself told Atri that He gave Himself to Atri through that form. Datta means the form that is given. Datta is the only form, which satisfies the definition of God as said by the Vedas. Datta is only one. Through the three faces He creates, maintains and destroys this world. This Datta form is also an incarnation of God (Parabrahman). But this is the only fullest incarnation of God among all His incarnations. Therefore, this incarnation is the original form of God. In this form also, which is named as Datta, God is present. You cannot imagine God if you go beyond this form. So, if you want to imagine God, Datta is the only original form that is imaginable. The starting point of your imagination is Datta. If you leave Datta the imagination ends. Do not try to imagine God beyond Datta. Such imagination is impossible for anybody. So, God means only Datta. This Datta is very powerful as He radiates energy of infinite millions of suns. Only Atri who became very powerful by penance, could see Datta. All the deities and all the planets are just His external dresses.
Datta hides in deities and planets with the help of His inexplicable power called Maya. The planets, which we see in the sky, are not the planets, which I mentioned here. The planets, which you see in physical form, are inert. The planets, which are mentioned by Me, are divine forms. These physical planets are just symbolic representations of those divine forms. The Veda says “Ādityaṃ Brahmeti” i.e., worship the sun as God. People started thinking that the sun is the God. So the Veda again says “Nedam tat” i.e., this sun is not God. The deity form of sun is invisible. Therefore, the planets in their original sense (deities) and the other deities are invisible forms. The planet deities and the other deities put together can be called as deities in general. These deities are also very powerful and are like the radiating sun. Of course, they are not as powerful as Datta. A man can see deities with some effort and care. But you cannot touch them. We can talk with them. But they cannot live with us because of their radiation.
We should not consider Datta as the incarnation of God because God is beyond imagination. Hindus call this God beyond imagination as Parabrahma. This God is called Jehova by Christians and Allah by Muslims. You cannot say that this God is even formless because the formless object can also be imagined. For example: light is formless which can be imagined, but God is beyond imagination. Therefore, we have no direct right even to mention the word God. The word ‘God’ indicates only that unimaginable thing. That unimaginable thing can be understood only as something existing due to its effects. The Bhagavad Gita says “Avyaktā hi…” i.e., worship of the unimaginable God is impossible and leads to grief.
So the form of Datta is inevitable and we should start with Datta. Now the word God should mean Datta. However, if you are particular of that unimaginable God only, you can pray to Him but you cannot worship Him. Do not call Him formless. Call Him unimaginable. If you imagine Him as formless light, again your imagination is His incarnation only. Any imagination cannot be the unimaginable God. The Veda says “Na medhayā”, “Naiṣā tarkeṇa” etc., which means that God is beyond imagination and logic. When you were imagining the light, your mind contains some limiting boundaries for it and so the light that you imagined cannot be formless. Moreover, light is made of particles called photons. Each photon is a packet of energy. So light is not formless. In this way also you cannot imagine a formless object. You can only submit your prayer to the unimaginable formless God. But this does not satisfy devotees. They want to describe Him. They want to see Him. They want to touch Him by embracing. They want to talk with Him. They want to live with Him throughout their lives. To give full satisfaction to devotees, Lord Datta takes the human form, which is made of five elements.
The Bhagavad Gita says “Mānuṣīṃ tanumāśritam”. Just like Datta takes radiation bodies and becomes deities; Datta takes human bodies. Those deities and these human bodies taken by Datta are all incarnations. Incarnation is a two-in-one. The first is the inner form, which is Datta. The second is the external form, which is either deity or human body. The inner form pervades all over the external form like current in the metallic wire. The whole wire is the current. Wherever you touch the wire the current gives the shock. There is only one i.e., current here and so the purpose is served for the devotees. Therefore, the devotees see and touch God. They talk and live with God.
How to recognize Datta in human form?
He performs miracles. He gives blissful knowledge because He is both bliss and knowledge. He quotes all the Vedas and the Bhagavad Gita because He spoke the Vedas and the Bhagavad Gita. He treats this entire world as His family. He always tries to uplift all the living beings. He is the embodiment of love and kindness. The incarnation of Datta is filled with all these divine qualities. Do not decide a person as Datta by miracles only. Even demons and devils perform miracles. Do not decide a scholar as Datta who can give knowledge by quoting the Vedas and the Gita. The knowledge of Datta gives bliss. The bookish knowledge of a scholar cannot give bliss. A scholar can explain the Veda and the Gita based on the meaning given by another scholar. These scholars cannot grasp the actual view of God present in the Veda and the Gita. The Veda says “Brahmavit Brahmaiva…”. In this sentence the first word Brahma means the Veda. The second word Brahma means God. The meaning of this sentence is that God Datta can alone give the real meaning of the Veda. So, Datta can only give the real interpretation of the Veda and the Gita. Such real knowledge is called Prajnanam.
The fourth great sentence (Mahaavaakya) says that Datta should be recognized by such Prajnanam only. Such Prajnanam is the characteristic property of the internal form in the incarnation. The first three great sentences (Mahaavaakyas) say that the external form is like Me, like you and like him i.e., like an ordinary human being. Foolish people think that He is an ordinary man by seeing the external human body, which follows all the rules of the nature. The Gita says the same “Avajānanti māṃ mūḍhāḥ…’. The aim of such a human body is that He wants to suffer by taking the sins of His devotees in a real way. He will not suffer really if His body is beyond the rules of nature. Then it amounts to cheating the God of justice. Another aim of such human body is that all the other people, who are not devotees, should not recognize Him. If all recognize and follow Him, this drama of world gets disturbed. He came only for devotees and not for all. Only devotees prayed for Him. Only strong devotees can recognize Him. He will throw the weak devotees by negative talks and negative deeds (Maya). Generally, people are not interested to recognize God in human form due to their jealousy and egoism. One in thousands will try to recognize. One among those recognizes and reaches Him. The Gita says the same “Mānuṣyāṇām...”.