Characteristic Signs

O Learned and Devoted Servants of God,

A person took food to give it to a cow. A cow, a donkey, a dog and a cat etc., are present. He asked, “which is the cow?” The cow replied “I am the cow”. The person thought that due to ambition for food, that animal is telling itself as the cow. Therefore, even if you speak the truth you have to see the psychology of the person who is hearing you. The cow told “recognize the cow by a special layer of the skin below the neck, which is hanging. No other animal will have that”. The person thought that the animal is very intelligent by giving such special mark. The cow should tell like this. “The Shastras say that the cow alone has the special layer of skin below its neck (Sāsnāvatī gauḥ). The person is now satisfied because the special mark of the cow is mentioned in Shastra. Then he recognized the cow and gave the food.

Therefore, when the Lord comes in human form, He will not say that He is the Lord. Immediately the human beings will suspect and doubt whether that person is egoistic. But if the Lord in human form says that He is not the Lord, people will immediately believe it. People never believe a fellow human being to be the Lord. They will never recognise a particular man as Lord. Moreover, several people say that they are the Lord. Then who is the Lord? One must take the identification marks mentioned in the Veda to recognize the Lord. If one is not the Lord and tells the truth, that is good.

The man is not having any standard. His faith changes from one minute to another minute. He is a mixture of the qualities of several animals, because he was created after the animals. A fox will remain as fox forever. Similarly, a tiger or a goat. But the man becomes tiger in one minute and fox in another minute and in another minute, he is a combination of tiger and fox. The percentage of the nature of fox and tiger varies from time to time. Therefore, the animals can be believed but not the man. A demon remains as demon throughout his life. An angel always remains as an angel. But a man is a mixture of good and bad qualities. The Gita says the same (Aniṣṭamiṣṭaṃ miśrañca). Arjuna fell on the feet of Lord Krishna. Lord Krishna preached that He is the Lord. The Lord was very kind and revealed the truth. He did not like to give the trouble to the Arjuna to search a human incarnation following the Vedic identity marks. Arjuna may be misled. Therefore, the Lord avoided the trouble and told that He Himself is the Lord. Arjuna doubted and asked Lord Krishna to show Vishwaruupam if He is Lord. The Lord showed the Vishwaruupam but Arjuna did not believe because He knows that even devils show miracles.

Arjuna participated as a servant of the Lord in the war to destroy the evil people. But when Abhimanyu died, he withdrew himself from the war. This shows that Arjuna was fighting for the kingdom to be given to his son. On the eighteenth day Krishna asked him to get down from the chariot. But Arjuna asked Krishna to get down first because Krishna was the driver. This shows that Arjuna did not realise Krishna as the Lord. Neither Arjuna nor the Pandavas sacrificed the kingdom (fruit of the war) to the Lord. Therefore, their sons were killed and then only they realised the truth.

Lord Krishna preached Gita to Arjuna and finally told “you analyze what I told and do whatever you like”. He gave freedom to Arjuna. Still Arjuna did not realise because Krishna told again and again that He is the Lord. Krishna should have told the Vedic statements, which are useful to identify the Lord. Thus, Gita shows the possibility of such misunderstanding, if the Lord in the human form says that He is the Lord. Recognising the Lord in human form is Jnanayoga (knowledge). Sacrifice of fruit of the work to the Lord is Bhaktiyoga. Sacrifice of work to the Lord is Karmayoga. Gopikas who sacrificed the butter to the Lord without giving even to their children are the best example of Bhaktiyoga. Hanuman is the best example of Karmayoga who avoided the children for the sake of the Lord. Recognition of the Lord in human form was done by both Hanuman and Gopikas and that is Jnanayoga. They never worshipped any statue except the Lord in human form as clearly seen from Valmiki Ramayana and Vyasa Bhagavata.

Arjuna acted as if he was doing karmasamnyasa. Arjuna is also called ‘nara’ meaning the human being. The present people are also doing the same thing. They hide their blind love for their families in their heart and act as if they love the God. They take the help of the Lord as Arjuna took the help of the Lord in the war. As Arjuna got the kingdom people get benefits in this world. As Arjuna wanted to give the kingdom to the children only but not to the Lord, present people also try to give those benefits to their children only and not to the Lord. The Lord is Omniscient and knows the outward action of the devotee. There is no use of putting the sacred ash on the forehead. The white light of knowledge from the third eye should spread on the forehead. The third eye of knowledge-fire should glow but not the red scar on the forehead. One should leave the ignorance and should be surrounded by the divine knowledge. There is no use of leaving the ordinary clothes and wearing the silk clothes. You can please the Lord only by sacrifice of work and by sacrifice of fruit of work. The Lord is recognized by His special knowledge which creates Love and Bliss in our hearts. He will not show the miracles for exhibition. This is the Jnanayoga explained in the Vedas.

The Lord is not modified as human body like the milk changed into curd. The Lord only entered the human body like the current entering the wire. The Lord is beyond even your imagination and is called ‘avyakta’. He cannot be achieved by any human effort. But the kind Lord enters the human body and comes down as human incarnation. The Gita says the same (Mānuṣīṃ tanumāśritam, Avyaktaṃ vyaktimāpannam). Such Lord is seen and touched. You can talk with Him and live with Him.

The Lord is only in two states. 1) As avyakta: He cannot be touched even by imagination. 2) Vyakti: He enters a human body and pervades all over the human body. In between these two states there is no state in which the Lord is available. All this creation is only the modification of His power called ‘Maya’. By touching Maya you cannot touch Him. The base of Maya is the Lord like the person in the shirt. By touching the shirt, you cannot touch Him. The cross belt consists of three strings which means that you must catch the human form of the Lord which is made of the three qualities. Maya is His mind and the world is the modification of His mind. Either the world or Maya which is the power pervading all over the universe cannot give you the touch of the Lord. The threads of the shirt are Maya. The wrinkles of the shirt are the various items of this world. You cannot say that the Lord as avyakta is formless. He is beyond the imagination and you cannot say whether He has form or not. The formless power is Maya, which is modified into various forms of the world. People who meditate upon the all-pervading power are only touching the Maya and not the Lord who is the base of Maya.

Concluding Remarks by Swami on Miracles.

The whole universe itself is a miracle, which is the modification of His mind called Maya. The mind is His energy or power. This power is the substance that pervades all over the world. This Maya (mind) is the water and all the objects of the world are only waves of this Maya. Since the Maya is inseparable from the Lord, you can say that the Lord (Brahman) is modified into the world. When you imagine the city, you are not modified into the city. Only your mind is modified. As the mind changes the city changes. Therefore, according to the Maya anything can take place in this world. The Maya is under the full control of the Lord. The wish of the Lord itself is Maya. All the miracles are only the wishes of the Lord. The Lord may wish to follow certain rules, in such case, there is no miracle. But when the Lord wishes to break the rule, the miracle happens.

Therefore, the miracles are not the real characteristic signs of the Lord and they are transferable from the Lord to anybody. The miracles are only associated characteristics of the Lord like jewels. The Lord may exhibit His jewels or may remove and hide them. Krishna exhibited miracles and Rama did not exhibit. A cow should be recognised by the special layer of skin below its neck, which is not present in the case of any other animal. Similarly, the Lord must be recognised by His characterstic signs only like Jnana, Prema and Ananda (knowledge, love and bliss). If you recognise the cow by a bell-belt, it is not the correct sign. The bell-belt can be transferred to a donkey. The donkey cannot be the cow. The donkey can never have the special layer of the skin below its neck.

Therefore, the Lord in human form can be recognised only by special knowledge (Prajnanam) as said in the Veda. Such prajnanam alone can generate love and bliss in your hearts. But the miracles are useful to distinguish the Lord from a scholar. A scholar may also generate a trace of love and bliss and sometimes may be misunderstood for the Lord. Sometimes the scholar also may perform some miracles. Ravana was a scholar and also performed the miracles. But his knowledge can never generate infinite love and infinite bliss in the heart of anybody. Therefore, the true and infinite knowledge that generates infinite love and infinite bliss in your heart is the only characteristic sign of the Lord. You can also decide the Lord by the miracles, which are performed whenever there is real necessity. Ravana performed miracles as exhibition. Rama changed the stone into ‘Ahalya’ and also broke the bow of Lord Shiva. He also removed the pride of Parashurama. All these are miracles of Rama with necessity and dignity.

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