Swami Answers Devotees' Questions

Shri Anil asked: Pādanamaskāraṃ Swāmi, some questions raised in internet discussion forum is presented below. Please grace Your response to the same. At Your Lotus Divine Feet-anil

1) What’s the difference between Christianity God the Trinity and Hindu Trimūrti?

Swāmi replied:- Trinity means three. This word can’t be fixed in a specific topic only.

2) If God can incarnate as a man, can God incarnate as a woman?

Swāmi replied:- There are several female human incarnations. The medium of God in human incarnation is human body whether it is male or female.

3) Why is it important for Muhammad to self-promote Himself or create a philosophy of God to fabricate the promotion of His last and final prophet position? Why would His promotion demote or step on Jesus to elevate Himself?

Swāmi replied:- All incarnations are one and the same God. No incarnation downs other incarnation because God is not so foolish to down Himself by such mad activity.

4) What did Jesus mean by saying “no man has ascended in heaven but Him”?

[John 3: 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven— the Son of Man. 14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up. What comes to Your mind when You hear this sentence: “Before space and time existed, God existed”?]

Swāmi replied:- Unimaginable God existed before space and time because He created both space and time. The prior statement in the question means that the human incarnation alone can become God on leaving the human medium taken for incarnation. This is not possible for every human being.

5) Why was John confused when Jesus came to him to be baptized?

[Matthew 11:2-6 2 When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” 4 Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. 6 Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of Me.”]

Swāmi replied:- In a human generation and in a specified area, one or very few human incarnations can exist.

6) From what age is a person accountable for his/her sins and when does the karma cycle begin according to the Bhagavad Gita? Is a child forgivable of all his past mistakes?

Swāmi replied:- Even a child exhibits as per the past nature of the soul present in that body. Punishment is given only to change the nature of the soul at least for temporary span of time. Knowing or not knowing is not important because the reformation of the soul is the main point.

7) Do prophecies conflict with free will?

Swāmi replied:- Free will misused is opposed by the prophecies. Free will properly used for the benefit of spiritual progress is always supported by God.

8) How can Christian pastors do a better job of explaining the mystical concept of a triune God?

Swāmi replied:- If you take holy spirit as the unimaginable God in approximate sense, Father as first energetic incarnation and Son of God as incarnation, this trinity exists in every incarnation.

9) Did Lord Kṛṣṇa or any other God ever cry over a person or material thing?

Swāmi replied:- God also cries to enjoy it internally like enjoying internally while eating the hot dish externally. While a hot dish is eaten, you get tears, your tongue vibrates etc., which indicate your external cry. But, you are enjoying internally. Enjoyment is different from external crying. Yoga means to enjoy internally both external comedy and tragedy and this is possible only for God, who gets entertainment from this world containing both happiness and misery. Equanimity in enjoyment of both profit and loss and success and defeat is Yoga (Samatvaṃ yoga ucyate—Gītā).

10) Why wouldn't God or other deities tell the whole world the correct religion to follow to clear up the confusion?

Swāmi replied:- Created people developed different qualities and cultures in course of time. Even in the same category of people, different stages of spiritual progress exist. Hence, spiritual knowledge in different angles and in different stages has to be preached by God for the sake of benefit of human beings.

11) If God took human form, what would His birth chart look like?

Swāmi replied:- His birth chart indicates His divinity as well as the specific program to be followed in that human incarnation.