Posted on: 18 Sep 2020
[Mrs. Lavanya asked: Namaskāram Swami! Is there any significance in the dress code or the colour of the dress of Sadgurus? We see Śrī Satya Sai Bāba wearing orange robes, while Śrī Ramaṇa Maharṣi and Śrī Rāmakriṣṇa Paramahaṃsa wore white. As per the rules of the saṃnyāsa āśrama (sainthood), they should also constantly move from place to place and get their food in the form of bhikṣā (begging). But these Sadgurus were confined to one particular place, even though they visited a few places occasionally. This question was raised by my husband and he told me to ask You, Swami.]
Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! Dress code is not at all important because the dress code is only the code of the body, which itself is the dress for the soul (Vāsāṃsi jīrṇāni...—Gītā). The body contains the brain and the nervous system in which awareness is flowing. All the thoughts and qualities exist only in awareness. The soul (Ātman) is pure awareness, without any thought and this soul is only abstract. Soul means awareness and awareness is always contaminated with different qualities or thoughts. Soul is said to be that pure awareness which remains when all the thoughts or qualities are filtered off. We say that the Gaṅgā-river is the purest. But presently, the Gaṅgā-river is highly polluted and its water contains many impurities. Here, the pure Gaṅgā-river means the river containing pure water, after removing all the impurities through filtration and other softening procedures. Therefore, the ‘pure Gaṅgā-river’ is only an assumed river. Similarly, the soul, which is said to be ‘pure awareness’ is also just an assumption.
The contaminated soul, which is the soul with qualities or thoughts is called the individual soul or jīva. This contaminated soul is made of awareness and the awareness is produced by the brain and the nervous system, which are part of the body. So, the contaminated soul can also be treated to be part of the body. The Gītā says that God enters the human body to become a Human Incarnation (Mānuṣīṃ tanumāśritam). Here, people have a misunderstanding. They think that the human body into which God is said to have entered, means the inert human body without awareness. They feel that the ‘God’ who is said to have entered the body is nothing but awareness. So, they feel that all human beings are God. This is not correct because the human body includes the brain and the nervous system through which the awareness or the individual soul is flowing. When we say that the king is staying in a palace, it does not mean that he alone is staying in the inert palace. It means that he is staying in the palace along with some servants. The inert palace is like the body and the living servants, which can be considered to be part of the palace, are like the awareness in the body. Hence, the statement “God entered the human body” means that God entered the human body containing the individual soul. That individual soul acts as a servant to the God, who has entered the body of the Incarnation. Thus, this statement in the Gītā declaring the entry of God in a human body applies only to the case of the Human Incarnation of God and not to the case of an ordinary person. The reason is that this verse clearly refers to God Kṛṣṇa (Avajānanti māṃ…—Gītā) alone. Kṛṣṇa uses the word ‘māṃ’, referring to Himself and not to Arjuna or any other ordinary human being. Of course, even in the case of an ordinary person, since the awareness flows inside the nerves and the brain, we can also say that the awareness exists inside the body as the inner individual soul. Thus, we can say that the external body, including nervous system and the brain, acts like an external dress of the individual soul or the jīva.
The pure soul or pure awareness (Ātman) is very close to the inert energy, which is its cause. This is why the pure soul has sometimes been described in the Gītā (Sthāṇuracalo'yam...) as inert energy itself. This inert energy in the body is exactly the same inert cosmic energy (Nityaḥ sarvagataḥ...—Gītā). The Ātman or the pure soul, which is confined to a body and the cosmic energy are qualitatively one and the same. They only differ quantitatively. The individual soul is seen as waves of inert energy in an electronic instrument since inert energy is the essential material of the individual soul. If the pure soul (Ātman) is a lump of gold, the individual soul (jīva) is the chain made out of the gold. The soul is said to be a non-doer and non-enjoyer because, when all the qualities are filtered out, there is no sense of doership and no enjoyership. The inert energy also lacks both these due to its inert nature. Hence, this pure soul, which is known as the Ātman, is almost like inert energy.
Now, coming to your point of the dress code of saints, the saffron cloth represents the ripened state of the individual soul with qualities of maturity. When a fruit ripens, it gains a saffron colour. It is only an indication. It does not mean that the internal individual soul of the person wearing the external saffron-coloured dress has certainly ripened. The white colour of the external clothes indicates pure qualities and again it is not necessary that the external white clothes necessarily indicate the pure qualities of the individual soul.
The main duty of sainthood or saṃnyāsa āśrama is the propagation of spiritual knowledge in the world. In ancient days, there were no good facilities such as printing technology, so that books containing spiritual knowledge could be printed and distributed all over the world. Books, in those days, were written by hand on palm leaves and hardly one or two copies of these books would be available. There was also no facility of fast conveyance in the ancient times. So, the propagation of knowledge could only be done by walking from one place to another place. In such a situation, having a family with a wife and children was a big hindrance for the person propagating this spiritual knowledge. Hence, the person had only two options: either avoid marriage completely or accept sainthood and propagate spiritual knowledge only in one’s old age, after fulfilling all the family obligations. Of course, the propagation of spiritual knowledge was also taken up by the old wife, accompanying her husband since the wife is also a soul seeking salvation, just like the husband. Ubhayabhāratī accompanied her husband Sureśvara, after accepting sainthood and Śaṅkara gave His full consent for this.
Today, the situation has totally changed. Very fast conveyance exists. So, the husband can leave the family temporarily, go to any place to propagate spiritual knowledge and return home in a day or two. Further, progress in electronic communication has provided tremendous possibilities. The preacher preaching spiritual knowledge in one place can be seen on the screen and can be heard by devotees present in several far away places. Discussions can be done on the phone too. In fact, reading the written articles of the preacher is far better than oral discourse because the article is prepared leisurely by the preacher and all the points are presented in a balanced manner. In oral communication, one cannot take a gap to think leisurely since one has to speak quickly. So, the preacher may miss some points. With the development of computers and the internet, one can easily send the articles widely by email to numerous people. Had these facilities existed in ancient times, spiritual debates would have taken place in written form. One’s ideas could have been expressed slowly and steadily and the ideas expressed by others could be read patiently, before responding to them. This would have avoided the many quarrels that exist between the sub-religions of Hinduism and even among religions in the world. A single religion with one spiritual knowledge would have evolved long back and this Datta Swami could have taken sufficient rest in the present time!
Hence, going from one place to the other and begging for one’s food for the sake of propagating spiritual knowledge was valid in ancient times. The same approach is outdated now due to the total change in the situation and the available facilities. Our ways of doing things change with the flow of time, due to changing conditions and new technologies. In olden days, the owner of the house used to fan the guest with a hand-held fan. Now the owner need not strain his hand in order to serve his guest. Simply putting on the switch of the electric fan is sufficient!
The program of a saint is the same as that of a Human Incarnation of God, which is the propagation of spiritual knowledge in the world to bring balance and peace in society. In fact, this program pleases God very much since God is interested in the balance and peace of the world, which is created by Him. An industrialist, who has established an industry is always interested in maintaining balance and peace among the workers. He is very pleased with the person who helps in maintaining that peace. Hence the activity carried out by saints brings a lot of pleasure to God. When God comes to earth as a Human Incarnation, He also does the same work carried out by saints. In fact, whoever does this work must be called a saint, irrespective of his or her age and marital status. Today, with the available advanced facilities, anybody can become a saint and continue to live the life of a saint. The main work carried out by the person and its successful results decide whether a person is an actual saint or not. Sainthood is not determined by the dress code and the code of getting food, i.e. whether the person begs for his or her food or whether the person simply eats at home. Any person can become a saint by doing this work of God, which is propagating spiritual knowledge for world peace, even in one’s leisure time. Instead of wasting one’s leisure time by engaging in unnecessary enjoyment of luxuries and vices, this spiritual program can be carried out. That way, our leisure time, which usually gets wasted, can become fruitful—very fruitful indeed!
There is no need to leave one’s house and family and go from place to place. There is no need to beg others for food in order to do this work. In fact, eating one’s own food and doing God’s work is more sacred than doing the same work and eating others’ food. Śaṅkara said that begging with a saffron cloth on the body is also cheating the public to earn one’s livelihood (Udaranimittaṃ bahukṛta veṣaḥ). One can remain at home, do one’s job, even enjoy with one’s family and still be a true saint. All that is necessary is to use one’s leisure time for doing God’s work instead of wasting it on meaningless, sinful, health-spoiling and wealth-spoiling enjoyments (Na karmaṇām anārambhāt...—Gītā). All that is necessary to do this God’s work is a laptop in hand!
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| Shri Datta Swami | Code Of Conduct Of Saints | Sai Baaba Saibaba Satya Saibaba samnyaasa aashrama Ramana Maharshi Raamakrishna paramahamsa Ramakrishna bhiksha Vaasaamsi jiirnaani Gita Gitta Aatman Atman Ganga Maanushiim tanumaashritam Sthaanurachaloyam Nityah sarvagatah Shankara Udaranimittam bahukruta veshah Na karmanaam anaarambhaat