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Swāmi replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! A person burning 1001 lamps is more ignorant and a greater sinner than the person burning 365 lamps. The oil used by the former and the oil used by latter can instead, be donated to poor people to maintain their life-lamps. In that case, the former would become...
Swāmi replied: Bhartā, in Sanskrit, means the maintainer. It commonly means the husband. But more properly, it means God, the maintainer of all souls in the world. Bhāryā commonly means a wife, but, more properly, it means the soul maintained by God. Sometimes, a particular bhartā might happen to be a husband as well as God (Incarnation) and in that case, a distinction...
Śrī Bharath Krishna asked: Swāmi, the custom of lighting fire-crackers during the festival of Dīpāvalī has become a very big issue on social media. The majority of Hindus are complaining that the issues such pollution due to Hindu customs are only brought up during Hindu festivals. Hindus say that fire crackers are the most important aspect of Dīpāvalī and that children enjoy them very much. They say that other religions...
Śrī Durgaprasad asked: Swāmi, it is said in the Gītā that inert births of being born as a stone or tree are given to some souls as a punishment for severe sins. How is the reformation of such soul possible in such inert birth when they do not even have awareness?...
Swāmi replied: Such inert births are granted to certain souls as prior steps before the soul can be reformed in subsequent births. When a mad man gets into a very wild mood, some anaesthesia...
[Reply to question by Kum. Laxmi Thrylokya.] Swāmi replied: The expectation of any fruit from God in return for our service and sacrifice will be treated as business devotion. In business devotion, there is an expectation of practical boons...
[Śrī Anil Anthony asked: Swāmi, in Śrī Kṛṣṇa Lord Datta was directly there. But in Śrī Ramaṇa Maharṣi, Lord Datta was there in the form of Lord Subrahmaṇya. Why does Lord Datta not inter every Human Incarnation directly?]
Swāmi replied: Lord Datta is a balanced equilibrium of the three fundamental qualities called sattvam, rajas and tamas...
[Śrī Veena Datta asked: While discussing with a devotee, he said that Subrahmaṇya Swami is nothing but the kuṇḍalinī within us. I could correlate that with Your bhajan on Lord Subrahmaṇya Swāmi “Caitanya śaktiyau kuṇḍalinī nīvegā”. Every soul possesses caitanya within him, but every soul cannot be Lord Subrahmaṇya. So, how can we understand this?]
Swāmi replied: Garuḍa is a kite, but every kite is not Garuḍa. Nandi is a bull, but every bull is not Nandi. Ādi Śeṣa is a serpent, but every serpent is not Ādi Śeṣa. Kṛṣṇa is a human being, but every human being is not Kṛṣṇa. Our prime minister...
1. Should we donate to a beggar sitting before a temple, when it is not easy to evaluate his deservingness?
Śrī Pavan Kuppa asked: Tirumala Tirupati Devasthānam is serving free food to everyone without seeing their deservingness. They are unable to see who deserves and who is not. How to evaluate a person and donate only to the deserving person, especially when it is the case of a beggar sitting before a temple...
Swāmi replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! Unless you evaluate the deservingness of the receiver, there is always a risk in doing the charity because, if the receiver is undeserving, you will get the punishment of the sin...
[Śrī Balaji asked: Namaste Swāmi! Kindly clarify the following verse from Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 3, “Niyataṃ kuru karma tvaṃ....” Here, what is meant by niyataṃ karma? Is it correct to say that niyataṃ karma means good actions like pañca mahā yajñas and also the avoidance of vikarma and akarma like causing hurt to good people, laziness, selfish work beyond basic necessities, over-enjoyment etc.?]
Swāmi replied: The word niyataṃ means ‘prescribed’ and hence, one must do the prescribed deeds...
Śrī Balaji asked: The Gītā says “Śreyān svadharmo viguṇaḥ paradharmā….” Here, how do we understand svadharma? Does it refer to performing actions pertaining to religion or traditions based on the caste that we are born into or does it refer to actions pertaining to the religion and traditions that we are naturally attracted to, due to our past saṃskāra. E.g. Prahlāda was naturally attracted to the worship of Lord Viṣṇu, which was different from his family tradition. So here, Prahlāda's svadharma was worshipping Lord Viṣṇu and he followed it correctly, without deviating from his svadharma...
Smt. Priyanka asked: Pādanamaskāram Swāmi! I have a question about nāḍī jyotiṣyam and whether the pre-determined future can change or not. Please forgive me if this type of question has already been asked before. I have heard and seen that some astrologers accurately predict a person’s past and future on short notice (in an hour), even though they have never met the candidate before. I have also seen that the sequence of events that happen in one's life are almost exactly like how they predicted. I fail to understand how this happens! Isn't a person's future dependant ...
Smt. Priyanka asked: Pādanamaskāram Swāmi! Swāmi, thank You so much for giving us the golden opportunity to ask You any doubts we have and for the divine blessing of participating in the satsaṅgas. It is truly joyful to see You and hear You every week and there are no words to describe Your knowledge! I am so happy the sessions are recorded, which allowed me to listen to it in my own time zone. I have some follow-up doubts regarding a couple of questions that were discussed during a recent satsaṅga session. You had mentioned that worshipping planet deities...
Smt. Priyanka asked: Somebody asked a question on buying non-veg pet food for people who keep pets. You had answered by saying that we will get the sin to buy that food because we are encouraging the killing of animals. At the same time, animals like dogs, etc., are carnivorous by nature and if they don’t get their necessary food and exercise requirements, they may get health problems and may not live long. I kept hearing from pet owners that many people who give only vegetarian food to their dogs are not taking care of their pets and it ends up dying early. They buy dog food from the store...
Śrī Rupak Pawar asked: Namaste! I am dealing with pain in the hands, forearms that sometimes leads to the center of my back. Recently, I have started feeling burning and numbness on my outer upper thighs. I am a college student and have to sit for long hours and work on my laptop. My hand pain has been bothering me since March this year and has made my studies suffer, now if I sit and study, I start feeling burning...
Smt. Anita Renkuntla asked: Śrī Datta Swāmiji, pādanamaskāramulu! As and when I read Your discourses, some incidents or experiences I faced in my life pop up in my mind. I was a silent and quiet person from childhood. I used to feel very bad whenever I was humiliated or criticised, even though I was right, by my own people or by people at work. Is being quiet and calm a bad quality? Is not back-answering them a sin? Have they exhibited good qualities? I have developed hatred towards them. How should I overcome...
Mr. Prince Andy asked: Hello sir! Please, my name is Prince Andy Nkwocha of God Holiness Cathedral of All Saints and I need Your spiritual power for healing, miracles and to run my church. These people want take my father’s property and want to kill me: Moses Eze, Cordeloa Eze, Samuel Eze, Chimaobi Nwafor...
1. Did the Indian sage Mārkaṇḍeya also visit Bali in ancient times?
Śrī Guna Darsana asked: Praṇām Swāmiji! Was the Ṛṣi Mārkaṇḍeya who came to Bali in ancient times, the same sage Mārkaṇḍeya who lived in India? Thank You
Swāmi replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! There is only one sage Mārkaṇḍeya, who is son of sage Mṛkaṇḍu.
2. What is the difference between hṛdayam, heart and mind?
[Śrī Bhagath K. asked: Jay Guru Datta! Could You please explain if the physical heart is the same as hṛdayam, which means heart in Sanskrit? One guru said that hṛdayam is more important than the mind. What is difference between the physical heart, mind and hṛdayam?]
Swāmi replied: Hṛdayam is used in a broad sense and it means the essence of a certain concept. Mind means the thinking process within oneself involving a debate about various possibilities. The physical heart is, of course, different since it has a physical...
Śrī Lakshman asked: Pādanamaskārams Swāmi! This śloka is from the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣat Chapter I iv.2.: So'bibhet । tasmādekākī bibheti sa hāyamīkṣāṃ cakre yanmadanyannāsti kasmānnu bibhemīti tata evā'sya bhayaṃ vīyāya kasmāddhyabheṣyaddvitīyādvai bhayambhavati. Some of the explanations given by various preachers for dvitīyāt vai bhayam bhavati is: (i) the presence of two is the cause of fear. (ii) fear is born out of duality. Whenever and wherever there is a sense of two, fear or suffering can exist. (iii) fear indeed arises from the second entity. My question is that (i) if this refers to the Unimaginable God, how can fear be attributed...
Swāmi replied: There are two options. Does this word ‘fear’ apply to (1) God or (2) to the soul? Let us take the first option in which everybody knows that God never has any fear because there is no second item other than Him, which has an equal reality...
1. Should we expect gratitude from those whom we have helped?
[Ms. Thrylokya asked: Pādanamaskāraṃ Swāmi! Some people help others to get settled in life. Later on, they expect the other people to always stay grateful and obedient to them, throughout their lifes. Is it correct to expect gratitude from others for the help we have done to them? - Your servant, Thrylokya]
Swāmi replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! Gratitude is a good quality for the person who has received the help, but it should not be the expectation of the helper. If a person expects the expression of gratitude, such a donor is said to be rājasic. These are people who donate expecting some help or praise in return (Yattu pratyupakārārtham...—Gītā). A sāttvik person donates or provides help without expecting anything in return (Dīyate’nupakāriṇe...—Gītā). But the receiver...
[Mr. Martin Evind asked: We have a large and lovely Narmadā River Śiva Liṅgam for the last fifteen years. These type Liṅgams are known for having unique natural markings. The liṅgam we have is particularly beautiful with a very noticeable divine figure Śiva/Śakti. Right away after doing pūjā pouring water over it After some time we noticed new markings started to appear on the liṅgam such as Serpent, Crescent Moon etc. Now the liṅgam is almost completely covered with lines and markings and what appears to be a words/language which is not discernible to us. I am praying that if i sent pictures of the liṅgam they could be shown to Śrī Datta Swāmi and He would comment. Sincerely, Martin Evind]
Swāmi replied: I will consider Myself most fortunate to see such divine pictures. Divine miracles are always exhibited in the world continuously, not only to turn atheists into devotees, but also to strengthen and increase the devotion of devotees. Had such miracles...
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