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भज भज दत्तम्। भज भज दत्तम्। भज भज दत्तम्। ब्रह्मदत्तम्। (पल्लवी)
bhaja bhaja dattam। bhaja bhaja dattam।
bhaja bhaja dattam। brahma dattam। (Chorus)
Worship Brahma Datta, seated as the President in the holy parliament of sages and angels...
Śrī Ganesh asked: A few days ago, I had a doubt, which I discussed with Dr. Nikhil. When I try to analyze what exactly a soul is, I am unable to find the answer. Even the soul seems to be as unimaginable as the unimaginable God to me. Everything in this world seems to be unimaginable, when we ask deeper questions and try to analyze it in depth. So, is the soul and creation also not unimaginable...
Smt. Sudharani asked: Pādanamaskaram Swami! I feel that the spiritual standard of our ancient Indians was uncomparable to the standards that we have today. They delivered excellent spiritual knowledge in a symbolic form by constructing a lot of architechtural monuments and temples with mysterious technology and materials. Having said that, I want to know why You mentioned in one of Your...
Swāmi replied: It is said that all that is old is not gold and all that is the latest is not the best. A wise person analyzes both and selects whatever is good (Purāṇamityeva na sādhu sarvam...—Kalidasa). A conservative...
Smt. Suganya Raman asked: Few years back, when I met Mata Amritanandamayi (Amma), I asked her, if I could live in the ashram and lead the simple ashram life. Amma said, “You should not come to the ashram in virakti (detachment). In fact, towards life, you should not have virakti at all”. My question is, “Is it possible to enter into a spiritual life without any detachment towards worldly life?” A climax-devotee...
Smt. Suganya Raman asked: My question is about the pañcabhūta sthalas of Lord Śiva. These are five temples dedicated to Lord Śiva, representing each of the five elements. Out of these temples, the space-element is represented by the temple at Chidambaram. There is a special significance or a mystery associated with this temple, known as the Cidambara rahasyam or the Secret of Cidambaram. It is said that after the main pūjā...
[A question asked by Smt. Sudha Rani.] Swāmi replied: Antarātmā means the inner soul or consciousness. It is not an antaḥkaraṇam. Karaṇam means instrument and antaḥ means inner. So, the four antaḥkaraṇams...
Smt. Sudha Rani asked: Swami, You said that ‘Anaghā’ is nothing but the first wave of God’s imagination, or the first wish of God (prathama ūha), which manifested as creation. Does this mean that Anaghā is the same as Mūla Māyā, which is the root cause of creation? Also are Adam and Eve none other than the Brahman and Mūla Māyā mentioned in our Hindu scriptures? Can You please correlate the process of creation explained in the scriptures of different religions?
Swāmi replied: Adam and Eve are the first souls created by God after completing the rest of creation...
[An online spiritual discussion was conducted on January 02, 2021, in which several devotees participated. Some of the questions of devotees answered by Swāmi are given below.]
1. Did Śrī Hanumān burn Lanka out of ego or due to some other reason?
[A question asked by Śrī Ganesh.] Swāmi replied: Hanumān, while burning Lanka, announced that He was the weakest monkey in the army of Sugrīva (Mattaḥ pratyavaraḥ kaścit...). Sugrīva, the leader of the army...
[A question by Kum. Thrylokya]
Swāmi replied: Devotion towards the Super-Self (God) has higher value than your self-satisfaction. Self-satisfaction is also a type of satisfaction. But it is like a silver ornament. Why do you want to buy silver ornaments when gold ornaments are available? The satisfaction you attain...
[A question by Śrī Ravinder Reddy]
Swāmi replied: There are two types of dreams. The first kind of dreams are due to the vāsanās or mental impressions acquired by you, due to the deeds done by you during the day. The second kind of dreams occurs when God enters into the dream to communicate with you. Similarly, there are two types...
[A question by Smt. Yashoda]
Swāmi replied: You can discuss with Sadguru and analyze the karma or action. Even if you are unable to conclude during the discussion, it will become clear to you at the time when you receive the karma phala (fruit of action). You will not be punished if the deed has been done due to God’s will. You will definitely...
[A question by Smt. Yashoda]
Swāmi replied: Karma is extraordinarily complex to understand. You need not know it and you are not the judge. God is the ultimate Judge and He is omniscient. He knows everything and He gives the correct result of every action at the correct time. Suppose Dharma Rāja killed a certain king in battle. It is possible that Dharma...
Kum. Bhanu Samykya asked: Pādanamaskāram Swāmi! I have learnt from Your knowledge that every soul should be attached to God as it is the permanent relationship. But if my family members and friends are wanting to stay attached with me, how should I behave with them? If I behave in a loving manner, their attachment might increase. How to deal...
Kum. Thrylokya asked: Pādanamaskāram Swāmi! You said in a discourse that God is both the Vighna Kartā (creator of problems) and the Vighna Hartā (destroyer of problems). When God is punishing some souls by giving them poverty for their reformation, we should not disturb His divine administration by donating money to them. God will bless them once they are reformed. In that case, am I not disturbing His administration by donating food to them?
Swāmi replied: If a person has committed a serious sin and God has decided to punish him through starvation...
[A question by Smt. Anita Renukuntla]
Swāmi replied: The danger that comes to a person is not because of planets (grahas) or stars, but because of his own bad karma done in the past. Even when the birth stars (nakṣatras) of many daughters-in-law are not mūla nakṣatra, do their fathers-in-law not die? For example, a police inspector arrested a thief on the road. The thief is now claiming that he was peacefully walking on the road and that the inspector...
[A question by Kum. Thrylokya]
Swāmi replied: Dharma (justice) appears to be the highest because God likes dharma. Dharma has no value by itself. It has got its value solely because of God. In pravṛtti (worldly life), dharma (justice) and adharma (injustice) stand for election against each other. You must vote only for dharma in pravṛtti. In nivṛtti (spiritual life), God and dharma stand for election against each other. Here, you must vote for God alone...
[A question by Kum. Thrylokya]
Swāmi replied: Dharma or nyāya is not a person or a policeman to come to your rescue. The statement indirectly means that you will be helped by someone, if you follow justice. The deity of justice has taken a female form of a cow and has taken the refuge of Lord Dattātreya. Lord Kṛṣṇa said, “Dharma samsthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge”. He said that He would come again and again to uplift...
[A question by Kum. Thrylokya]
Swāmi replied: God does not come running with His śaṅkha (divine conch), cakra (wheel), gadā (mace) etc., to protect justice. Some person passing by...
[A question by Kum. Thrylokya]
Swāmi replied: We should be grateful to the person who helped us. But there should be a limit to that gratitude. The energy possessed by that person was given by God and the person’s will to help you was also caused by God’s will. The person only acted as an instrument of God’s will. You should have the discrimination to understand who is more important. If you show complete gratitude...
[Kum. Thrylokya asked: Pādanamaskāram Swāmi! Do we achieve a pure mind after attaining devotion? Or do we need a pure mind to achieve devotion? Which is the highest state—devotion with a pure mind or devotion with an impure mind?
Swāmi replied: A pure mind or an impure mind is not important here. The direction of the mind is important. An impure mind directed towards God is better than a pure mind directed towards the world. When a thorny bush (impure mind) is put into the fire (God), it becomes sacred ash, whereas, sugar (pure mind) falling into the drainage (world) becomes a waste. There is only one lock and one key. If you turn your mind towards the world, it attains bondage (bandha)...
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