Filters for Discourses
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...
Smt. Bindiya asked: Recently, it was reported that a two-year-old girl was raped. It is impossible for that child to have committed any sin. Yet the child was subjected to suffering. Do such incidents not indicate the failure of the divine administration in maintaining justice? If the child suffered as a result of her sin of the past birth, why was she not punished in hell, before being born on Earth? Punishing her on Earth when she is undoubtedly innocent in this birth, unnecessarily causes people to doubt God's divine administration.
Swami replied: I have explained many times that our observations are always limited and that we lack the knowledge of the total background. When we see a criminal being punished by hanging him to death, we pity the criminal. We feel that the jailor is cruel to execute such a horrible punishment...
Shri Durgaprasad asked: My son was asking why eating eggs is a sin, when there is no life in it. Awareness or life develops in it only if the egg is kept in an incubator for hatching.
Swami replied: Let us say that you have gone outside of your house to play. So, you are not seen in your house. Even though you are not seen in the house, your mother is preparing food for you because you will come home shortly. So, your absence from the house is only temporary. It also means that you exist elsewhere, even though you cannot be seen by the people in the house. When you return home after sometime and are seen by your people, do they say that you have just come into existence since they could not see you before? Existence is different from visibility...
Shri PVNM Sharma asked: You have said that Krishna left Brundaavanam at the age of 18 years and never returned. He did not even return to see Yashoda, His mother, who had raised Him in His childhood and who loved Him more than her life. But Devaki, His mother, who had given birth to Krishna, got the pleasure of His company for a far longer time. Is it not injustice?
Swami replied: A child gives the maximum enjoyment to its mother during its childhood. So, the enjoyment given by the divine child Krishna to mother Yashoda was of greater value even though it was only for a short time. The enjoyment that the grown-up Krishna gave to mother Devaki was very little...
Smt. Bindiya: When does a soul enter the baby who is in mother’s womb? Does it enter after birth or before its birth? If the soul enters before birth, it means two souls exist in the single body of the mother. How does the baby’s soul affect mother’s soul?
Swami replied: Some say that the soul of the baby enters mother’s womb in third month of pregnancy and some say it enters in the fifth month through the food grains consumed by the mother. Sage Vyaasa says in the Brahma Sutras...
Kum. Laxmi Thrylokya: If a person has prayed to God that the person will donate his or her hair to God at a holy temple after successfully overcoming a certain situation, can the person skip the donation of hair in that temple and instead donate it to any cancer foundation with inner devotion to God? After knowing the truth that God resides in the Human Incarnation, is doing puja everyday at home compulsory?
Swami replied: Donation for some useful purpose such as to the poor or to sick people in need is always a better idea. It is more valid than donating to a temple in which our donation may or may not be used...
Shri Manikanta asked: Could you kindly elaborate upon the sanchita, prarabdha and agami forms of karma?
Swami replied: All the three types of karma are based on the constant ratio of the three fundamental qualities namely, sattvam, rajas and tamas in a particular soul. Sattvam is the good quality of knowledge. Rajas is the bad quality of ego and tamas is the bad quality of ignorance and rigidity. When the soul reaches the upper worlds for enjoying the fruits of its good and bad deeds...
Shri Bharath Krishna asked: Were all the fourteen lokas created simultaneously or were they created later on like the Goloka, according to the need? The Goloka was created only after the Gopikas passed the tests of God and was not there in the beginning. Did animals and humans come into existence at the same time? During the initial days of creation, assuming that all human beings had the knowledge given by God, there must have been no necessity of hell and heaven. Animals are supposed to be condemned souls. They can be condemned only after doing sins in their human births. But during the initial days of creation, nobody had the freedom to do sins. Hence, there should not be any animal existing at that time.
Swami replied: The fundamental point is that there is a subtle difference between a human being and a robot. In the first age after creation called the Kruta Age, human beings did not have the freedom to commit sins. But they still had some little marginal...
Shri PVNM Sharma asked: The Gopikaas were married women and yet they loved Krishna as their Lover. As per pravrutti, the path of worldly justice, relationships outside of the marriage are considered to be sins and are punishable in hell. Will the relationship between the Gopikaas and Krishna not spoil the public and prevent them from following the path of pravrutti?
Swami Replied: Krishna Himself said in the Gita that ordinary people follow the actions of a great person (Yadyadaacharati...—Gita). He also said that illegitimate sex and greed are the greatest sins (kaamah Krodhah tathaa lobhah …—Gita). So, illegitimate sex and theft are indeed the biggest sins. Krishna was the greatest Person because He was God who had incarnated in human form. Then why did He steal butter from others’ houses even though He had plenty of butter in His own house? Perhaps He might have stolen in an emergency situation since stealing to save oneself from dying of starvation is justified (aaptadharma)...
Shri PVNM Sharma asked: Gopikaas were totally uneducated villagers. How did they recognize Krishna as the contemporary Human Incarnation, when recognizing the Incarnation is very difficult even for great scholars?
Swami replied: Ego and the fascination for one’s worldly bonds are the main hurdles in recognizing the contemporary Human Incarnation. Males experience repulsion from a male Human Incarnation due to their gender-ego. But the Gopikaas, being females, were free of this ego. Scholars have the ego of knowledge. They experience repulsion from the Human Incarnation since He preaches spiritual knowledge. The Gopikaas were uneducated and illiterate and so were free of the ego of knowledge. People born in the so-called upper castes have the ego of their caste...
Shri Phani asked: I feel that I am incompetent to do God’s work. Please advise.
Swami replied: The doctor gives an antibiotic tablet to cure the patient’s fever. But the medicine has side-effects such as constipation, hyperacidity and weakness since the medicine not only kills bacteria but it also damages some healthy tissues. Hence, along with the antibiotic, some antacid to control hyperacidity and some vitamin B-complex for overcoming weakness are also given to the patient. The antibiotic will not work to cure the hyperacidity and the antacid will not work to cure the fever. Similarly, feeling incompetent works to eradicate the ego. But this feeling has a side-effect and it is to reduce the person’s enthusiasm to work for God. To overcome this side-effect, another medicine must also be given...
Shri Kishore Ram asked: You have said that when ‘I’ is crossed the selfishness being related to the self (‘I’) also vanishes. You have further said that ‘I’ vanishes whenever one is attracted to God. This brings a temporary relief from the selfishness. How to get rid off selfishness forever?
Swami replied: As long as ‘I’ exists, selfishness also exists just like the property of heat exists as long as the fire exists. The root source of selfishness is the I-thought or one’s self-identity. It means that one must try to keep oneself in the state of being attracted to God at all times. It is the only way to be relieved of selfishness forever. A doubt arises at this point that if a devotee is always immersed in God, how can the devotee perform his or her necessary worldly duties? The answer to this question is found in the Gita. God says that in the case of such a devotee, who is always immersed in God, God Himself takes up the worldly responsibilities as well as the spiritual responsibilities of that devotee...
Shri Hrushikesh asked: When a devoted soul is dedicated to God and is involved in practical service and sacrifice to God, the family members of the devotee suffer. Is it justified on the part of the devotee to let his family suffer as a result of his devotion?
Swami replied: Certainly, I tell you, it is not merely justified but it is more than justified! Shankara, even though He was the only son of His mother, left her in her old age in order to serve God. His old mother lived alone in a hut far from the village and she did not even have the cooperation of her relatives. If you see these circumstances, you will say that Shankara’s action was not mere injustice, but it was more than injustice! The old mother, who had no attendant, suffered a lot at the fag end of her life. But just before her death...
Shri Hrushikesh Pudipeddi brought the following question to the attention of Swami. The question was posed by a devotee on an online forum after the devotee read one of Swami’s discourses related to Advaita. The devotee asked “How can one know that the soul wants something? How can one identify if it is the craving of the soul?”
Swami replied: The correct term to be used when referring to the awareness present in a particular human being is the ‘individual soul’. The term ‘soul’ refers to the inert energy that is required to generate the awareness (individual soul) in the person’s functioning nervous system. The inert energy...
Shri Anil asked: Padanamaskaram Swami! In the recent terrorist attacks, many people who had gathered for worship were killed. Some people are questioning why God allows such killings to take place in a place of worship. They are asking if God was sleeping while these people were being killed. Even if the killing were inevitable, God could have easily made it happen in some other place so that this blame would not come on God. At Your Divine Feet, Anil.
Swami replied: The time and place of punishment is decided by God Himself. God Himself is punishing the sinners by killing them. Krishna Himself killed several sinners and He also got several sinners killed. Prophet Mohammad also killed several sinners, who were creating violence by propagating the multiplicity of God. Of course, sometimes, even God gets killed by sinners! Jesus, Shankara, Daynanda Sarasvati etc., were Human Incarnations of God, who were killed in this manner. All these incidents have their own hidden backgrounds...
Dr. Nikhil asked: Many people say that they do not believe in the existence of God because they find accepting God’s existence inconvenient. I am trying to change the mode of logic in such a way that the existence of God does not become inconvenient to them. Is it alright?
Swami replied: Shankara did the same thing to convert atheists into theists. To accomplish this, it was necessary for Him to use some twisted logic. He used a three-step logic: (i) You are God, (ii) You exist (iii) and hence, God exists. In His time, people in India were mostly atheists. They either followed the ritualistic Purva miimamsa philosophy or Buddhism. Converting these atheists into theists...
Kum. A. V. N. Kishori asked: It is said that we are reborn on this earth to enjoy the fruits of our deeds (karma). But it is also said that we undergo the punishments (fruits) of our bad deeds in hell. Do these two statements not contradict each other? Also, what is the importance of the number 19 in numerology?
Swami replied: Your second question on numerology has no connection with your main spiritual question. This second question is like a black spot on the white moon! Yet, I am answering your second question first since it is the first time that you are posing questions to Me. Our ancient astrological scriptures do not have the numerology that is being followed nowadays. The numerology that is based on the ancient astrology is different from the present system of numerology...
Dr. Annapurna asked: Why is the Shrimad Bhaagavatam said to be the highest scripture?
Swami replied: With reference to any action, there is the doer of the action (kartaa), the object of the action (karma), the action or the activity itself (kriyaa) and the fruit of the action (phalam). Shrimad Bhaagavatam describes the life and the divine deeds of God Krishna as He interacted with His devotees, the Gopikās. It is the story of the highest action (kriyaa) done by the highest Human Incarnation (kartaa), to the highest devotees (karma), which caused the devotees to attain the highest divine fruit (phalam). It means that all the four parts of the action, as mentioned above, were the highest. Let us see this in greater detail.
1) God Krishna, whose divine deeds are described in the Shrimad Bhaagavatam, is said to be the highest Incarnation expressing His divinity to the fullest extent. The 1/16th fraction of God’s unimaginable power is called a kalaa. A kalaa means a light...
[Reply of Swami to a question by Kum. M. Meenakshi] The true spiritual preacher is identified as the personification of correct spiritual concepts and not as a certain physical personality. Shri Shirdi Sai Baba, Akkalkot Maharaj and Shri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa were the Human Incarnations of the same God Datta. They were present at the same time in different places; in different physical forms. The spiritual concepts preached by them were one and the same. If you change your spiritual preacher from Sai Baba to Akkalkot Maharaj, it is not really a change of your spiritual preacher...
Shri Durga Prasad (Mumbai) asked: Will a soul who has been transformed by spiritual knowledge (Jnanagnih sarva karmani—Gita) be able to enjoy both misery and happiness equally (Samatvam yoga uchyate —Gita)? Can these two statements from the Gita really be reconciled?
Swami replied: Anything is possible by the grace of God, even when it is not possible by the mere effort of the soul. God becomes the soul in the Human Incarnation and enjoys both happy and tragic incidents equally just as one enjoys both sweet and hot dishes in a meal. This is yoga (Samatvam yoga uchyate—Gita). While eating the hot and spicy dish, your tongue vibrates...
Filters for Discourses