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Shri Datta Swami

Posted on: 20 Jul 2020

               

What is the relationship between God and money? Why do people say that even God is in money (Paise mein Paramatma hai)?

[This question was posed to Swami on the auspicious occasion of Guru Purnima.]

Swami replied: Regarding the relationship between God and money, there is the correct angle as well as the wrong angle. Unless we examine both angles separately, we cannot arrive at the right decision on this topic.

Correct angle: Theoretical love is only based on words and mental feelings. Somewhat better love is rendering service (karma saṃnyāsa). The Gītā says that the best true love is proved by the sacrifice of hard-earned money and beyond it, there is nothing else. The Gītā says that knowledge is better than doing action blindly. Theoretical love, which is expressing love through words, songs and feelings, is better than knowledge. The sacrifice of the fruit of one’s work is better than theoretical love and after it, there is no further step (Śreyo hi jñānamabhyāsāt...). The Veda says that the sacrifice of money is the highest (Dhanena tyāgena...). But the Gītā says that the sacrifice of money earned by hard work is the highest because one has the highest bond with money earned by hard work as compared to money received from one’s ancestors. Work is a form of energy and the fruit of work is money or matter. Energy is far less dense in value than matter as per the equation E=mc². It means that even a small amount of mass is equal to a very large amount of energy or work. So, the employee who does work (energy) gives more respect to the employer who pays money in return for his work. It indicates that the money is of higher value than the work, which follows from the scientific concept that matter is denser in value than energy.

Datta always tests the devotee only in the sacrifice of hard-earned money, which is the practical proof of the devotee’s theoretical love for God. All of us give our hard-earned money along with our ancestral property only to our issues (children). This shows that all parents have real love for their issues. Such issue-love should be kept as the standard for love or devotion to God. God, in the form of a poor guest, tested the poor Śaktuprastha by asking all the food prepared for his family in a severe drought. Sudāmā, who was unable to earn his livelihood and feed his family, brought along a handful parched rice, which he had borrowed from a neighbour, to give it as gift to God Kṛṣṇa.

Wrong angle: God is not in need of your gift like a beggar since He alone gives everything to everybody. He keeps this fact hidden so that everybody thinks that he or she has earned it by self-effort or by one’s own luck. Due to this, the soul forms a strong bond with the earned wealth (dhaneṣanā), which is the strongest of all worldly bonds. God wants you to prove that your bond with God is stronger than your strongest worldly bond, which is the bond with your hard-earned money. He tests your sacrifice by begging you to give a part of your wealth with which you have that strongest bond, as the real proof of your real love for Him. Instead of understanding this as a test of real love, we should not mistake God to be a beggar, who is in a dire need of our donation.

A grandfather bought a packet of biscuits and gave to his daughter-in-law without the notice of his grandson. The mother gave a biscuit to her son and the son thought that the mother had actually purchased the packet of biscuits. The grandfather asked the grandson for a small piece of the biscuit to test the real love of his grandson towards him. The grandfather was not in any real need of the biscuit. If God were a businessman, He would have given importance to the magnitude of the donated amount. But God does not give any importance to the magnitude of the donated amount. He only gives importance to what percentage the donated amount is with respect to the whole wealth possessed by the donor. A beggar who possessed only one coin donated that one coin to God Jesus, whereas, several rich devotees donated thousands of coins. But God appreciated the beggar for his hundred percent donation and He did not even acknowledge the names of the rich people whose donations were less than one percent of their total wealth. This shows that the sacrifice of the fruit of one’s work is the only real test of the reality of our love for God or for anyone.

The expression of theoretical love through sweet words and sweet songs for practical boons is prostitution devotion. The exchange of practical devotion with practical boons is business devotion. The practical sacrifice of one’s efforts (work) and wealth to one’s issues, without aspiring for any fruit from them in return is real issue-devotion. God Datta always appears as a sixteen-year-old boy because He wants to remain in the place of an adopted son of the devotee. The word Datta, in Sanskrit actually means an adopted son. The devotee, like the adopting father, should prove his real love through practical sacrifice. But we are very clever devotees and keep Datta in the place of our father instead of our son, so that Datta may show His love for us through practical sacrifice. Even though we are undeserving devotees, we want Datta to be like the parent who practically sacrifices even for his undeserving issue. The very basic concept of devotion to God is that we should not aspire for any fruit (theoretical or practical) in return for our theoretical or practical love expressed to God. We should not ask for any fruit in return for our sacrifice, even in our mind, because God is omniscient and knows our mind also. Sudāmā donated a handful of parched rice to God Kṛṣṇa, but God Kṛṣṇa did not give anything to Sudāmā in return, even after noticing his severe poverty. But Sudāmā never aspired for anything from God Kṛṣṇa, even in his mind. Pleased with that climax of devotion, God Kṛṣṇa made him immensely rich.

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| Shri Datta Swami | What is the relationship between God and money? Why do people say that even God is in money (Paise mein Paramatma hai)? | Paisa mein Paramaatmaa hei samnyaasa Shreyo hi Jnaanamabhyaasaat Dhanena Tyaagena

 
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