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Swami replied: This is very critical concept that can be very easily misunderstood, leading to the wrong conclusion that God desires the money of devotees. God Datta always tests devotees on this aspect of the devotees’ ability to sacrifice the fruit of their work to Him. The fruit of one’s work is one’s hard-earned money. We sacrifice our money only for the sake of those whom we truly love. So, the sacrifice of money or wealth is the practical proof of true love. God Datta never tests our theoretical devotion by asking us to recite say the 8th verse of the 10th chapter of the Gītā! We sacrifice our wealth only for the sake of our children...
Swami replied: How do you decide whether a preacher is a Sadguru in whom God exists or whether the preacher is only a Guru, who is an ordinary soul? If you want to decide which gold-seller is honest, you cannot decide it just by looking at the various gold sellers and testing them personally. You have to test the gold sold by them. Only then can you come to the conclusion about the honesty of the seller. If the purchased gold is tested and found...
Swami replied: A newly married devotee would return home late because he would listen to the preaching (satsaṅga) of Paramahaṃsa. The devotee’s wife would quarrel with him for returning late every day. The devotee went to the Sadguru (Paramahaṃsa) and told Him about this problem. At that time, the Sadguru was going from the temple to Pañcavaṭī, located on a hill for meditation. This represents ārohaṇa or ascending from the world to God. Hence, the Sadguru told the devotee...
Swami replied: If I advise new devotees to worship Me, they will think that I have reached the climax of madness! Even to My devotees, I will not say that because it would be the climax of ego, since, as the human being-component of the Incarnation, I cannot even solve My own problems! I am only a medium of God Datta. God Datta, the first Energetic Incarnation, merged with Me on the holy Śrīśailaṃ hill. When I told some devotees about this merging and when they also experienced miracles from Me subsequently, they began to believe that I am a Human Incarnation of God Datta. My devotees are worshipping...
Swami replied: While speaking, all the relevant points do not flow into the conversation, due to weak memory. But while writing, all the points can be brought out, so that the answer is complete from all angles. While speaking, since only a few points are being spoken, more stress is given on each point. That attracts your mind. While writing, due to the larger number of points, the stress on each point gets reduced. This is the law of conservation of human energy. It means that a person’s energy is limited and it can only do a certain limited quantity of work. Either the number of points can be increased...
Shri Balaji asked: I am breaking my head to understand this verse in the Gītā, which says “Sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭaḥ”, which appears to mean that God has entered all creation or all living beings. Please clarify this.
Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! The tendency of every human being is to misunderstand and misinterpret the scripture. This is the reason why it appears to us as if God Datta is in the reverse gear. Actually, we are always in the wrong gear and He is always in the right gear. That is why we think that He is always in the reverse gear! A similar verse in the Gītā says that God is present in the heart...
[Reply to a question by Shri Bh.V.R.Shastri] Swami replied: I am both. Shirdi Sai Bāba was both an Ayurvedic doctor as well as a divine spiritual preacher. He used to give Ayurvedic medicines to cure the diseases of His devotees. To the devotees who were spiritual, He used to preach spiritual knowledge with perfect clarity, which was the unique characteristic of His preaching. He never confused any concept in spiritual knowledge. The scriptures of Ayurveda and astrology were written by divine sages so that they can be used for solving the materialistic problems...
[Shri Anil asked: Pādanamaskāraṃ Swami! In western religious scriptures like the Quran etc. fearing God is stressed more than loving God. For instance, in the Quran, it is mentioned: “O you who believe! Fear God as He ought to be feared and do not die except as believers.” (Quran 3:102). In the Bible, God is treated as the Father. God is thus treated as the Father who fulfils all the devotees’ needs as they are His children. This concept has gone into our blood and bones from childhood through various preachers, who have preached this concept saying that it is love for God. But concepts such as serving God...
Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! Based on the psychology of receivers, God gave suitable concepts for their assimilation. Merely delivering the concepts is not important for the divine preacher or the Human Incarnation of God. The proper digestion of the concepts by the receivers is more important. God is the impartial Father and except for the above reason, there is no other reason...
Shri Anil asked: Pādanamaskaraṃ Swami! The New Testament gospel is considered to be written by four authors namely St. Mathew, St. Mark, St. Luke and St. John. However, in the life history of Jesus written by the four, there are few inconsistencies in reporting certain incidents. Also there is no mention of rebirth in any of the four gospels. Some believe that priests in the past might have censored the gospels...
Swami replied: As told by Me already, the fundamental concepts in all religions are exactly one and the same because the same God came in various human forms to preach the spiritual knowledge in different regions. There cannot be any contradiction in the basic concepts of all religions in the world. There may be some superficial differences due to different cultures and traditions that had developed...
Mrs. Anita Renkuntla asked: Swami, I desperately want to have Your darśanam. Am staying in Karnataka as my husband works in a cement company in Lokapur, Karnataka. But COVID is on the rise here. My husband is a sugar patient and has a thyroid problem too. Our visit to Hyderabad has been postponed to the Diwali festival. At this time, can I get Your darśanam? Also, are all the discourses available in the Hindi and Telugu languages?...
Swami replied: The control of sin through fear does not last for a long time, unless the concept of sin is understood through spiritual knowledge. Spiritual knowledge alone can bring permanent reformation in the soul. Your point of bringing the punishments of the sins of previous births to the mind of the soul is valid only as far as the temporary control of sin is concerned. But there is a big issue...
Mrs. Anita Renkuntla asked: I am not able to recollect the dreams which are as if I have experienced some answers from somebody related to scriptures. It happened three times from 2 am to 5 am, a couple of days ago. Also, I saw a ray of light. What is it Swamiji? Looking forward...
[Shri Anil asked: Pādanamaskaraṃ Swami! In the Gītā, God Kṛṣṇa said to Arjuna that He knows all the past births of Arjuna, but that Arjuna did not know any of them. What is the context in which Kṛṣṇa said this? What is the significance of this statement? Did Kṛṣṇa explain all the details and actions of the past births to Arjuna? If that is the case, in what way did knowing all the past births benefit Arjuna? Please grace us...
[Shri Anil asked: It is said in the Gītā that the qualities of a person are influenced by the food they eat. One commentary found on the internet on these verses is as follows: Foods such as milk, fruits, rice, and vegetables are of sattva guṇa, the mode of goodness. Foods such as garlic, onions, chillies and mushrooms are of rajo guṇa, the mode of passion. Foods such as meat, fish, fowl and eggs are of tamo guṇa, the mode...
Shri Anil asked: Swami, as learned from Your knowledge, I understand that the three qualities namely, sattvam, rajas and tamas essentially indicate the three fundamental traits namely; knowledge & analysis, action that results from the analysis, and the firm determination in executing the action in practice. This means that all the qualities are good, without any superiority over the other. Swami, we would like to know the origin...
[Shri Anil asked: In the Quran, Prophet Muhammad allowed men to marry up to four women in those particular times and circumstances. Whereas, regarding divorce, Jesus said: “But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.” After analyzing these two statements...
Swami replied: The word dharma has two meanings: (1) Dharma can mean the natural property or the natural instinct to do some actions, whether it is justified or not and (2) Dharma can also mean justice as established by God in the divine constitution and which is also accepted by various righteous scholars in the world. Burning something is the dharma of fire. Here dharma means the natural property of fire...
[Shri Anil asked: Swami, in Your message on 26 August 2020, You have said, “The individual soul can be known and can even be seen through the latest equipment in the form of pulses of inert energy.” I wanted to know what the meaning of the statement ‘soul can be known’ is. The soul is basically a bundle of thoughts. By knowing the soul, can we say that we have known all these thoughts? Or that we have come to know...
Swami replied: The soul is pure awareness, without any thought. It is very close to the basic inert energy that creates the soul. Due to a lot of similarity between the thoughtless pure awareness and inert energy, the same word Ātman is used for both the pure awareness and the basic causal inert energy. In the second chapter of the Gītā, you find the description of Ātman and that description...
[Shri Hrushikesh asked: In Your recent answer given to Śrī Durgaprasad, You have said the following:“God is omniscient and omnipotent. There is no need of asking God for any type of help since God knows everything at all times, especially regarding His devotees. He is watching all His devotees and is aware of every situation faced by His devotee. We have to report our problems to other human beings so that they may help us in difficult situations. This is because they cannot know unless...
Swami replied: Asking God for advice is quite different from asking help from God. The first point is not seeking any help from God, but seeking the help of God in the form of right advice, when one gets a doubt. Arjuna asked God Kṛṣṇa to advise him about whether to proceed with the war or withdraw from the war. From one angle, Arjuna felt that proceeding with the war was justified because the opposite...
Shri Sabbella Satthireddy asked: Shri Datta Swami, śaraṇaṃ mama Swami! What is the purpose of my life, Swami? Who am I Swami?
Swami replied: Please read the answer given to Mrs. Lavanya on September 14, 2020. Please understand...
[Mohini Unukuru asked: Pādanamaskāram Swamiji! I am Your devotee. My question is about girls getting their monthly periods. During that time, parents tell the girl to not go to the temple, not touch anyone and not touch the pūjā gadi. This happens mostly in villages. What is the reason behind this, Swamiji ? If I have asked anything wrong, please forgive me.]
Swami replied: There is nothing wrong with the menstrual periods of girls from a spiritual point of view. The Veda says that Indra distributed his sin of killing Vṛtra to four items: (1) To the earth, due to which the earth began to give off the smell of soil, (2) To water, due to which it began to froth, (3) To flowers, due to which flowers began to give off pollen grains and (4) To women, due to which they began...
[Shri Hrushikesh asked: Dear Swami! One of my friends asked me if it is justified for a 30-year-old man to marry a 9-year-old girl? Why did the 23-year-old Shri Ramakrishna Paramahaṃsa marry the 5-year-old Śāradā Mātā? What is the ideal age difference that should be maintained between a boy and a girl who are to get married? Can a girl marry a boy who is younger than her? Why is it traditionally considered bad in Hinduism, if a man marries a woman elder to him?]
Swami replied: Marriage is different from the first night function. The norms of age are to be considered for the first night function and not for marriage. Suppose, a boy and girl are very strongly committed to be married in future and when the proper age comes, they are married. This is ok. You are objecting to their early marriage in childhood itself since it becomes child marriage. Suppose the marriage between both...
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