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[Krishnāṣṭami] Shri P.V.N.M. Sharma asked: Several preachers say that when a devotee’s devotion ripens, the God who the person worshipped grants self-knowledge (ātma jñānam) to the devotee. This self-knowledge leads to self-realization (ātma sākṣātkāra) in which the devotee realizes that the soul itself is God. Can you please explain this point?
Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! This is a very important question. Its answer will automatically be realized once the background knowledge related to this question is clearly understood. There are some crucial points that constitute this background. The analysis of these points will reveal the essential message given by Krishna in the Gita and will also provide the answer to your question. Let us consider these points...
Shri Kishore Ram, Shri Hrushikesh and Kum. Purnima asked: Is it not necessary to introduce spiritual education in schools, at least in the present time?
Swami replied: There are two stages in spirituality, which is the subject of God: (i) Pravṛtti or worldly life and (ii) Nivṛtti or spiritual life. For worldly life (pravṛtti), spiritual knowledge of a basic level is sufficient. Spiritual knowledge pertaining to pravṛtti mainly contains the concept that the omnipotent God exists and He punishes sinners even if they succeed in escaping from the police and the courts of law. That much knowledge about God is sufficient to develop an in-built resistance towards sin in the minds of human beings. This in-built resistance to sin controls sin at its root and is far more effective than external control. External controlling agencies fail to control sin in society because the agencies are made of human beings, who themselves have become corrupt. The in-built control is based on the most fundamental concept that the omnipotent God actually...
1) Shri Kishore Ram, Shri Hrushikesh and Kum. Purnima asked: There are two common confusions people have about Hinduism. The first is theoretical and the second is practical. The first is regarding Śaṅkara’s theory that every soul is God. The second is about the practical behavior of Krishna, since He stole butter and danced with the Gopikās. How do we resolve these two?
Swami replied: The greatest confusion arises when you combine these two confusions mentioned by you. As per Śaṅkara, the soul is God, which means that every human being is a Human Incarnation or Lord Krishna Himself. If every human being feels that he is Krishna and starts behaving like Krishna—stealing others’ wealth and dancing with illegitimate partners—the confusion reaches its climax! We have to understand both these confusions independently...
Shri Hrushikesh asked: Dear Swami! You had given a discourse on December 18, 2018, related to Vedic recitation, in reply to some previous objections raised by Mr. Sid Pat. The same was communicated to him and he has responded with a long and critical response which is given below. I request You to kindly enlighten us with the truth.
Sid Pat wrote: All right. So, your answer to my objections is as verbose as the article to which I objected. Not only has it not answered any question, but by going tangential to the questions and answering things that were never asked, it shows the struggling of sailors in a sinking boat that has too many holes to plug than there are hands on it. I will just take the 1st and 2nd reply to demonstrate how all the arguments given simply aim to further the anti-Brahmin narrative to sound modern...
Swami replied: I had said that the inert sound energy cannot do any miracle because sound is an item belonging to the imaginable domain. It cannot have the unimaginable power needed for doing a miracle. Moreover, it is inert and cannot even think, in order to perform a miracle. Also, all vaidika rituals are done only for getting miraculous results. For example, the Putrakāmeṣṭi ritual (yajña) is done to get issues...
Shri Bharat Krishna asked: Namah Shivaya Swamiji! I have some questions in my mind, which I will try to explain below. I request you to kindly clarify my confusion. After reading many of your discourses, I have understood that God is totally unimaginable. There are two components in the Human Incarnation: an ordinary soul who is an extraordinary devotee of God and God Himself. You have also mentioned many times that you are such a devotee of the unimaginable God who exists in yourself. Since God is unimaginable, even you cannot see him or imagine him. But you do pray to God, right? Even you have to pray to some form...
Swami replied: The concept of Human Incarnation is very very complicated because you are dealing with a two-component system appearing as a single phase, like an alloy of two metals. The alloy appears to be a single metal unless you observe it through a powerful microscope when you find out that there are two separate components at the atomic level. You can understand this clearly. But when you take the Human Incarnation...
How can I increase my devotion so that God will enter my subtle body?
Shri Dixitkumar Aboti asked: Please guide me on increasing my attraction to God so that He can enter in to my subtle body and elevate my consciousness to a high state of being.
Swami replied: I can certainly advise you on increasing your devotion in the correct direction by giving you true spiritual knowledge. Initially, you have to make some effort to withdraw yourself from your worldly bonds. This is called the stage of pratyāhāra. By partially withdrawing...
Smt. Bindiya Baugh: It is now one year since we met Swamiji and I have written the following poem for Him. I will be very grateful if He accepts it. Thank you.
Jaya Dattātreya Swāmijī
Āpako praṇāma
Āpako namana
Victory to Dattātreya Swamiji!
I salute to Thee!
I bow to Thee!...
Surya asked: Could You please clarify the significance of the rituals namely Aharnikālu, Ṣoḍaśam, Vṛṣossarjanam, the immersion of the piṇḍās and Sapiṇḍīkraṇam? What is the relevance of Gayāsura and the priest’s statement “Gayā śrāddha sadṛṣaḥ….”? Why is proper importance not given to the Viṣṇu sthāna and how can it be rectified? The priest also says that Nityāgnihotram needs to be performed. What does it mean?
Swami replied: The essence of all these death rituals is just the worship of God involving prayers to protect the departed soul. If you catch the essence, which is strong devotion to God, the total purpose of the ritual is served. All the procedures involved in the various parts of any ritual are the practical expression of your devotion...
Shri Phani asked: You have told us that sage Vasiṣṭha has recommended that ordinary people should avoid the association of worldly bonds since detachment from the worldly bonds is impossible while being in their association. So, I am trying to practice that. What is Your opinion about it?
Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! Apart from sage Vasiṣṭha’s recommendation mentioned by you, I have also told you that the Veda says the opposite. It says that staying far from the worldly bonds increases one’s attachment to the worldly bonds, while staying in the association of the worldly bonds, the person develops negligence and detachment from them (Parokṣapriyā iva hi...). So, these two statements told by Me appear to be mutually contradictory. Actually, both statements are correct since each of them is applicable at different time-periods in the life of a person. Initially, the worldly bonds attract the person due to which the person develops attachment towards them. It means that the family members of the person such as life-partner and child attract the person, producing attachment...
God-Preacher Shri Datta spoke: 78) To convert atheists into theists, Śaṅkara gave a trickish philosophy of false monism (Advaita) between God and any ordinary soul. But His philosophy is actually applicable to the cases of Īśvara, other Energetic Incarnations and Human Incarnations. In these specific cases, there is real monism between God and the soul. Rāmānuja gave the philosophy of special monism (Viśiṣṭa Advaita), according to which, a close devotee of God, in whom God has not actually entered, can be treated to be an Incarnation. In this case, an actual monism between God and the soul does not exist. However, the two are treated to be one due to their constant close association, as if the soul were a part and God were the Whole. Rāmānuja’s special monism is, thus, a philosophy of effective monism...
Shri PVNM Sharma asked: You have established that the sacrifice of the fruit of work (donation of money) to God is greater than the sacrifice of work (service) to Him. But renounced saints and poor people have no money to sacrifice so they can only serve God. In that case, will people not feel that God and salvation have gone into the hands of rich people who have plenty of money to sacrifice?
Swami replied: Hanuman did the sacrifice of work or divine service to God Rāma, which is Karma samnyaasa. The Gopikas sacrificed the fruit of their work to God Krishna, by giving Him butter, which was their hard-earned wealth. The sacrifice of the fruit of one’s work is called karma phala tyaga. Rama and Krishna were one and the same God Vishnu. Hanuman reached Brahma Loka to become future Brahma or the Creator. Thus, He reached the same level as God. Vishnu Loka, the abode of God Vishnu and Shiva...
Shri Anil asked: In a discussion forum, a person asked what is meant by the inverted tree described in the Gita. The tree is said to have its roots above and its branches and leaves growing downward. Could You please explain its meaning?
Swami replied: The inverted tree represents the creation. The branches, leaves, flowers and fruits represent the world, which is many-fold. The root of the world-tree represents the Creator-God, who is the Cause of the world. God is greater than world and hence, the root is above and the tree grows downward from it. If you worship God, which is like watering the root, all your worldly bonds, which are like the branches...
Shri Anil asked: Some people try to avoid paying tax to the government because they feel that, by paying tax, their hard-earned money is going into the pockets of corrupt government officials and is not actually reaching the needy. Could You kindly give Your opinion on this?
Swami replied: If you find an opportunity to not pay tax or minimize paying tax, you can use that saved money for feeding beggars and the poor. But you should also note that there are some good officers in the government, who are not interested in corruption. The best way is to pay tax to the government and also propagate true spiritual knowledge in the world. The propagation of spiritual knowledge will ultimately eradicate corruption...
Shri Anil asked: The Veda says that the deserving recipient must satisfy two conditions: (i) He must possess true spiritual knowledge for preaching to and guiding the world in the right direction (ii) He must not have the aspiration for any fruit in return from anybody. In that case, no one is eligible in this world is eligible for our donation other than the Human Incarnation and His devotees. Is this true?
Swami replied: Whether somebody is a Human Incarnation or not; or whether the person is a devotee or not, is not the criterion for proper donation. The criteria for donation are the above two requisites recommended by the Veda. Here, the Veda is describing the recommended normal approach for donation. However, in the case of the poor and beggars, there is no need to examine these requisites. To such helpless and needy people, donation must be done without the above analysis...
Shri Anil asked: Why did Judas just not ask Jesus for forgiveness for betraying Him. Apostle Peter too had made a mistake by denying Jesus. But he asked Jesus for forviveness and he was forgiven. Could Judas not have done the same instead of hanging himself?
Swami replied: In the case of a tactful sinner such as Judas, how can you expect that he would be so poor in his logical analysis that he would underestimate the depth of his sin? Knowing the true depth of his sin, how could he ask Jesus for pardon? Some sinners are very quick in acting out of emotion but they are equally quick in analyzing their own sin too. Judas realized his sin completely and hence, he did not have the courage to ask Jesus for pardon...
Following is a satsanga or divine conversation between Shri Swami and Kum. Thrylokya. Thrylokya is a B.Tech., student of Dr. Nikhil at Amrita University and had visited Shri Swami in order to have satsanga.
Thrylokya: Dr. Nikhil has told me a lot about You and explained Your spiritual knowledge in detail. I know it is very very rare to attain this knowledge and that it can be attained only by fortunate souls.
Swami replied: Education upto a postgraduate degree is straightforward. Only concepts which are well-established to be true are taught. But in the research work done for a Ph.D. degree, even concepts that are opposite to the well-established concepts are researched. There is an effort to investigate, again and again, whether a true concept is false and whether a false concept is true. So, a researcher has a habit of always thinking in a direction that is opposite to that of well-established concepts. Myself and Dr. Nikhil are Ph.D. degree holders and hence, both of us always think and speak the reverse of what is true. So, whatever Dr. Nikhil said about Me is not true ...
Smt. K. Ramaa Sundari asked: Swami! I have been inviting You to visit our house and have meals with us, but You have not visited us in a long time. Are you angry with us?
Swami replied: You are an ardent devotee of Shri Satya Sai Baba, who appeared before Me a long time ago and asked Me to propagate true spiritual knowledge. I have narrated this incident to you several times. That day, Shri Satya Sai talked about several spiritual points with Me for about half an hour. One of those points told by Him was that the disciple should go to the preacher; the preacher should not go to the disciple. This is absolutely correct because when the disciple goes to the preacher, it means that the disciple has recognized the value of the preacher and the value of his spiritual knowledge. The disciple’s going to the preacher and offering money (Guru Dakshina) to him is proof of the value...
Shri Suryanarayana’s father passed away on July 6th and Shri Suryanarayana did all the rituals for his father as per tradition. In this context, he sought the following clarifications from Shri Swami.
Shri Surya asked: I am presently doing the death rituals for my father who recently passed away. Could You please give me some more clarity regarding the actual purpose of the death rituals and whether it is necessary to perform them in the traditional way?
Swami replied: Even though I have preached the true background of these death rituals to you several times, you have to do these rituals. The reason is that you have to go along with the forceful flow of ignorant people when you cannot change them. You have to follow the majority even if it is wrong. In the Parliament, the Lok Sabha passes a bill when the Rajya Sabha approves it. The former often contains members elected by the public irrespective of the intelligence of the members while the latter contains members having some intelligence and education...
Shri Phani asked: How to control the wavering mind and frequent anger?
Swami replied: When you are absorbed in something due to intense attraction, all the negative qualities of the mind naturally disappear without any effort. But the attraction must be deep. The mind should be completely absorbed through-and-through. In science, absorption is said to be a bulk phenomenon, which means that a solid soaks up a fluid throughout its bulk...
Some devotees including Shri Balaji, Shri Hrushikesh, Shri Kishore Ram, and Kum. Purnima, went to meet Swami. Shri Swami gave them a message that greatly inspired them. Presented below is the same message in brief.
Sadguru (Satguru), the divine preacher is God Datta (Guruh Saakshaat Parabrahma). The same Sadguru is said to be God Brahmaa, God Vishnu and God Shiva (Guruh Brahmaa...). In any divine preacher, who is an Incarnation of God Datta, all the three divine preachers exist in harmony with each other. The three divine preachers are Shankara, who was an Incarnation of God Shiva, Ramanuja, who was an Incarnation of God Vishnu and Madhva, who was an Incarnation of God Brahmaa. The preaching of such an Incarnation of God Datta involves the correlation of the philosophies of these three divine preachers...
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