Divine Satsanga on Shri Datta Swami's Birthday (Part-3)

Part-1   Part-2   Part-3

23. Swami, in order to exercise, we go to gyms, attend zumba dances, etc., where there are very big mirrors while worldly music is also played continuously. Should I avoid such locations so as to not become too body-conscious?

[A question asked by Kum. Thrylokya.]

Swāmi replied: It’s not necessary that everyone who goes to such places becomes body conscious. It depends on the individual. Some people may be capable enough of not getting distracted by such an atmosphere and they may go to such places simply to maintain their physical health. But if you feel that such an atmosphere will disturb your spiritual progress, you can decide to keep away from such places. We cannot generalize here as it completely depends from individual to individual.

24. What do You mean by total surrender to God?

[A question asked by Shri Hrushikesh.]

Swāmi replied: The one who has surrendered completely to God will always succeed in any line that God chooses to test him in. A person may be capable enough to succeed in almost all the tests by God, but he may not succeed in one particular angle. Lord Datta is such that He will test the soul only in that one particular angle where the soul is unlikely to succeed. He will not question you on those points that you have studied. Instead, He will identify that area where you have not studied and test you there. He does not see how much money you have sacrificed to Him. Instead, He will look at how much is left in your pocket. His approach is completely opposite to our psychology.

It is very difficult to understand Lord Datta. But, you can win Him over with sincerity. If you are truthful and sincere before Lord Datta, you will pass His tests. Don't ever try to be dishonest with Him. Any attempt in that direction will guarantee your failure in His tests.

Lord Datta once asked Me to jump from the top of a hill. I immediately jumped. He caught Me before I hit the ground below and said, "Never do that again. If You jump from that height, You will become a chutney (a paste). I will not catch You again." In response to His statement, had I answered, "Oh, is it? Had You told me this before, I would not have jumped!", I would have definitely failed His test. His tests are very subtle. Instead, I told Lord Datta, "If You tell me to jump again, I will jump. Whether You save Me or not is the least of My concern. I will simply do as You ask Me to."

We have to be 100% sincere before Him. If we express a feeling before Him, we have to stick to it with 100% sincerity. If we cannot stick to the feeling till the very end, we must not express it before Him. We should not say Tvameva sarvam mama Deva Deva (Oh Lord, You are everything to me) if we cannot live up to the verse. We should utter the verse only if we can stick to it in action.

A family once went to select a bride for their son. The prospective bride was very beautiful. Her body was adorned with jewels. Not only was she the top of her class in college but she also had very good manners. Everything about the bride seemed perfect. However, the family noticed a tiny spot of leprosy on her feet. That one tiny, almost-negligible spot of leprosy was enough for the family to reject the bride despite all her numerous merits (Sarvanga sundari kanya...).

Lord Datta is also like that. He will not check how much devotion you have. He will instead check if there is a defect in that devotion. He will always try to identify the defect in you because He wants to rectify the error. You have written an exam paper very well and ended up scoring 99 out of 100. Lord Datta is such that He will concentrate on why you lost that one mark. He is after all the Guru svarupam. He does not care about all the right answers you have given because there is no need to. He will only focus on that one wrong answer because that is where you need correction. In His examinations, even if you lose one mark, you have failed. You are considered to have passed only if you get 100 out of 100.

Lord Datta is the highest incarnation of God. On the occasion of His shashtipoorthi, Shri Satya Sai Baba told His devotees that He would be going into samadhi for an hour and warned them not to touch His body until He came back from that state. Saying this, Baba entered the state of samadhi. After some time, a devotee happened to walk in and wanted to pay his respects to Baba by touching His feet. The other devotees warned him not to touch Baba then but this particular devotee ignored them and went ahead and touched His feet. The moment he touched Baba's feet, he flew and landed many feet away as if he was electrocuted. He lost his consciousness The other devotees took him to the hospital nearby, where they tried to treat him for an hour. After an hour, Baba came out of His samadhi, after which even the devotee regained his consciousness. Baba then said, "I am constantly in union with one form of God or another. This time, I was in union with the form of Lord Datta. That is why I warned all of you not to touch Me. Datta is the highest power. Because of My grace, the devotee who touched Me then was able to survive. Otherwise, He would have been burnt to ash."

To conclude, we must always be truthful in front of Lord Datta. Never speak lies or utter verses we don't mean in front of Him. Speak only that which you are capable of. If you are not capable of something, tell Him honestly that it is beyond your means. This is called trikarana shuddi, meaning your thoughts (manas), words (vaak), and actions (karma) are in alignment with one another. The one whose thoughts, words, and actions are in harmony is called a Mahatma. The one whose thoughts, words, and actions are in disharmony is called a Duratma. That is why it is said that Dattatreya Upasam is very difficult. Even the most learned scholars are scared of His tests. He will test your worldly bonds (eshanas) very severely.

25. Swami, can we sing shlokas in Sanskrit even though we do not understand their meaning?

[Smt. Sudha Rani asked: Swami, can we sing shlokas in Sanskrit even though we do not understand their meaning? Will this mean that we are singing something that is beyond our capability? Also, some shlokas are composed by Rishis. Can we chant such shlokas as well?]

Swāmi replied: Devotion or bhakti develops only when you understand the meaning of what you recite. There is no point in mindlessly chanting a shloka in front of God like a tape recorder. How can you sing a stotram without understanding its meaning? You need to sing a stotram with all your heart. You have to sing it while understanding its full meaning. How can you feel any emotion when you do not understand the meaning of what you are singing? Without understanding its meaning, you cannot develop any emotion (bhavam). Without bhavam (emotion), how can you develop any bhakti or devotion? Meaning arises from words while emotion arises from meaning. Finally, devotion develops from emotion.

God understands every language. You can speak to Him in your own language. It is the feeling or emotion that matters to Him (Bhaavagraahi Janaardhanaat...). Why should you express the bhavas of a Rishi? Are you in the elevated position of a Rishi to say what he has in front of God? The Rishi, in his elevated state of devotion, has naturally expressed his bhavam to God through certain shlokas. You should naturally express whatever bhavam you have to God based on your own state. This is how you can be truthful and sincere before Him.

However, by understanding the meaning of the shlokas composed by Rishis, we can make an attempt to practically implement their level of devotion and service in our lives. Such shlokas by high-level devotees are good from the viewpoint of gaining spiritual knowledge (jnana). But while praying to God, express the bhavam that comes naturally to you and in your own mother tongue language.

26. Astrology suggests that we chant some Sanskrit slokas while You suggest that we pray in our own mother tongue. What should I do, Swami?

[Shri Ganesh asked: Sometime back, I consulted a respected astrologer. He told me that there is an influence of Chandra, Rahu, and Ketu grahas in my life. He recommended that I do tarpanam and chant some shlokas in Sanskrit. Now, You say that we must pray to God in our own mother tongue so that we understand what we say. Only then a feeling arises and eventually leads to bhakti. When I chant these shlokas to appease the grahas, should I also understand their meaning?]

Swāmi replied: When you chant anything, it is better to know the underlying meaning. Only then can you develop devotion. You can chant shlokas in Sanskrit, but first, you must know their meaning and then recite. For example:

Ardha kaayam—only half-bodied

Maha viiram—very intensive

Candraditya vimardhanam—He who troubles both the sun and the moon

Simhika garbha sambhuutam—He is born to a demon called Simhika

Tam Rahum pranamamyaham—To that Rahu, I offer My salutations

It is good to know the meaning of these shlokas. The grahas are also the powers of God.

27. I know the meaning of Omkaram to a certain extent. Can I chant this verse as japa?

[A question asked by Shri Ravinder Reddy.]

Swāmi replied: It is better if you can attach the name of a deity to the Omkaram. This approach is also recommended in the Mantra Shastram. Omkaram refers to only the Nirguna Parabrahman (unimaginable God). Instead, you can use Omkaram in the following manner: Om Namah Shivaya, Om Namo Narayanaya, Om Namo Brahmane, Om Namo Gauriye, Om Namo Mahalakshmi, etc. It is always good to attach a medium (upadhi) to the Omkaram so that our devotion is directed to the Saguna Brahman.

28. Can you please explain the meaning of the Shloka, Devavo Brahmano rupe…?

[Shri Ganesh asked: I came across a shloka on the internet and I was trying to correlate its meaning with Your philosophy. I will be very happy if You can clarify its meaning: 'Devavo Brahmano rupe, Amrutam cha, Mrityam cha, amurtam cha....'. The translation to the verse I found is as follows: Brahman has but two forms—gross and subtle, mortal and immortal, limited and unlimited, defined and undefined. Does this verse refer to the difference between the unimaginable God and the human incarnation?]

Swāmi replied: Even in creation, there is a definable domain and an indefinable domain. Science has not defined everything. For example, the momentum of an electron and its position in the same instance cannot be defined. This is based on Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. This is in the imaginable domain itself.

Unimaginable God is beyond both the definable and the indefinable. One day or another, you may catch the indefinable domain in science. But you can never catch the ultimate indefinable thing. Today, you can touch the top of that door. After some time of practicing jumping, you can touch the roof of the house. But you cannot touch the sky on any day. Take, for instance, the words murtam cha amurtam cha—that which has a shape and that which has no shape. Space has no shape and air has no shape. Water has a shape, fire has a shape, and earth has a shape. So within the creation, murta and amurta both are present. Nirakara (formless) does not mean unimaginable God. Nirakara is within the creation. Air is nirakara. Space is nirakara. Both these items come within creation. The unimaginable God is beyond nirakara and saakara.

Nirakara can attain saakara. Take a vessel, for instance. Space enters the vessel and obtains its shape. Water has no shape. But if you put it in a tumbler, it obtains a certain shape. The unimaginable God, however, never attains a shape in this manner. The unimaginable God instead enters a shape (medium) and merges with it. So, nirakara does not mean the unimaginable God.

Datta is saakara. He is an energetic incarnation. Nirakara is energy. Energy is spread everywhere and has no aakara. But Datta has aakara. His body is made of energy. Other energetic incarnations include Vishnu, Shiva, etc. Rama and Krishna are human incarnations whose bodies are made of matter.

29. Krishna showed a lot of rajas and tamas in His incarnation. Can You please elaborate?

Swāmi replied: Satvam, rajas, and tamas are the play tools of God. Suppose you go to a games room. You can pick a football or a tennis ball or a volleyball or anything else. What you pick depends on your taste. The point is that you are playing with them (football, tennis ball, etc.). They are not playing with you.

Satvam, rajas, and tamas play with us while God plays with these three qualities. You are under the control of Maya. But Maya is under His control. So how does it matter whether He chooses to play football or cricket or tennis? All these qualities are under His perfect control. He may play with any quality. It is not going to control Him. It is not going to give a result to Him. But you cannot play in such a manner. The quality will certainly give a result to you. You are under its control.

30. Why is Krishna Bhagwan considered to be an avatar of Lord Vishnu?

Swāmi replied: Krishna gave a lot of knowledge through the Gita. Jnana comes from sattva gunam. Sattvam is primarily associated with Lord Vishnu (Satvaat sanjaayate jnaanam...). Therefore, Krishna is considered to be an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. But no quality exists in isolation. All three qualities always coexist. By predominance of a certain quality, you can say that Lord Vishnu is sattvam. This also applies to human beings. You may say that a certain person is very sattvic. But the point to remember is that he also has rajas and tamas. Even Rama for that matter had rajas and tamas. Rajas means anger. Rama became angry with sage Jabali. He also killed Ravana. Is this not an expression of rajas? However, Rama is predominantly sattvic. So, he is known as Ramo vigrahavan dharma.

31. Please explain the meaning of the following verse in the song, Dattatreyam ko janati, composed by You:

“karmaṇi magnam na karmabaddhaṃ, karmaphalānāṃ dātāraṃ tam”

[A question asked by Shri Karthik]

Swāmi replied: Karmaṇi magnam means that He is always active in work but that the work does not bind Him, as conveyed by the words, na karmabaddhaṃ. Karmaphalānāṃ dātāraṃ tam means that He gives the results of karma for everybody. Karma cannot bind Him. He can do any karma and it can never bind Him. The concept of action in inaction and inaction in action can also be brought into this verse (karmanya akarma yah pashyet akarmani ca karma yah).

32. Can the above concept also be applied to souls?

[A question asked by Smt. Sudha Rani.]

Swāmi replied: Some of the things that Lord Datta does is also possible for the soul. When the soul engages in an action without attachment, it does not bind him. For example, there is a soldier in a war. He kills an enemy in the war with a rifle. That action does not bind him and is not a sin in his case. This is because he does not have any self-intention while killing the enemy. He is simply doing his duty while representing his country. If he goes and murders a person for a selfish reason, the act of killing then becomes a sin. He will subsequently be punished legally. In the war, however, when he kills a soldier from another country, the court does not punish him as what he has done is perfectly legal. The act of killing is present in both the cases. But punishment is awarded in one case and not in another. The intention is important.

To be continued...

★ ★ ★ ★ ★