Essence of the Epics

O Learned and Devoted Servants of God,

If we grasp the essence of Ramayana, Bhagavata and Bharata, it will be very useful to our spiritual effort. Hanuman is a saint. He cannot sacrifice the fruit (money) of the work. He can only sacrifice the work and give that fruit only to the Lord. He participated always in the work of the Lord and sacrificed Himself to the work of the Lord. In Bhagavata, Gopikas were householders. They can sacrifice fruit of their work. Moreover, there was no work of the Lord at that time and so there was no need of sacrifice of work. They did not give the fruit (butter) of their work even to their children and gave it to the Lord. Today people are doing sins to sacrifice the fruit of the work to their children. Such people should remember Gopikas. Hanuman and Gopikas neither worshiped the forms of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, which are not seen in this world nor worshiped the statues of previous incarnations. Hanuman did not worship Vamana and Narasimha. Gopikas did not worship Rama.

Gita says that the Lord incarnates in human form in every minute also if required (Yadā yadā hi). The word ‘Yuga’ in Gita (Sambhavāmi yuge yuge) means year and also human generation. If the Lord comes in one human generation only, the Lord becomes partial. If the Lord is in one place, He is not available to the people in all the places. The Lord could appear as sixteen thousand Krishnas at different places. Akkalkot Maharaj, Shiridi Sai Baba and Vasudevananda Saraswati existed at the same time in different places that are the incarnations of Lord Datta. The Veda says “Yat sākṣāt aparokṣāt Brahma”, which means that the Lord is available before you and can be seen by your eyes. Every human incarnation is Datta. The egoism and jealousy, which hinder the recognition of such human incarnation, should be removed. Then only one can attain Datta. Hanuman became the future creator and Gopikas reached the topmost “Goloka”. These two fruits are highest. Therefore, the human incarnation is highest. Hanuman and Gopikas are highest. Sacrifice of work and sacrifice of fruit of work are highest.

In Mahabharata the Lord preached Arjuna to sacrifice the work. The battle was for killing evil people and therefore the battle was the work of the Lord. Arjuna was advised to participate in the battle as a servant of the Lord. Arjuna participated in the battle but his participation could not be sacrifice of work, because Arjuna was fighting for the kingdom. He was thinking that his son Abhimanyu should be the future king. Therefore, when Abhimanyu was killed, Arjuna wanted to withdraw from the war. This means Arjuna fought for the kingdom with the bond on his son and he did not fight as a servant of the Lord. This clearly shows that Arjuna was selfish.

He who cannot sacrifice the work, cannot also sacrifice the fruit of the work. He continued the fight because he had his son born to Draupadi. Draupadi had five sons and Pandavas were aspiring the kingdom for their sons. Therefore, Pandavas never told that they will sacrifice the entire kingdom to Lord Krishna. If they such word, they feared that Kirshna may accept the kingdom.

Pandavas mean white color, which represents the sattvam (good) quality. They are black charcoals coated outside with white color. Internally they are equal to the blind Dhrutarashtra. By the will of the Lord the sons of Pandavas were killed. This is “Dattaṃ chinnam” which means that Datta operates everything. After this only Pandavas lost the blind bond with their children and they were liberated. A doctor with M.D. degree gives medicines. A surgeon with M.S. degree operates. The Lord is both doctor and surgeon. He gave the divine knowledge in the form of the Bhagavadgita, which is medicine. But the medicine did not work because Karmasamnyasa and Karmaphalatyaga were not achieved, which are the signs of good health. Therefore, the Lord operated and cut the bonds with children by destroying the children. The right side of the Lord Datta is ‘Guru’ who is a doctor. The left side is ‘Bhagavan’ who is a surgeon. Krishna was incarnation of Lord Datta and He was not mentioned in the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu is one third of Lord Datta.

You can see the Lord by prayers (words) and devotion (mind) but you cannot please the Lord. By such things you may be pleased but the Lord is not pleased. Sugriva was near the Lord Rama and was serving Him personally. Sugriva was happy by such service. But the Lord was not happy. Hanuman left the presence of the Lord to search Sita. Hanuman did not attend the personal service of the Lord in that time. He was far from the Lord and was unhappy. But the Lord was happy with Hanuman. Hanuman was made the future creator but not Sugriva. Sugriva was given only a pretty kingdom in this world. Ravana could see Lord Shiva by penance, which is nothing but prayers, devotion and meditation and they are related only to words and mind only. Ravana was destroyed along with his kith and kin, since Lord Shiva was not pleased with him, since Ravana did not practice any sacrifice. Rama never did such penance. He sacrificed the wealth and wife also practically. Lord Shiva blessed Him. Therefore, the practical sacrifice alone can please the Lord. If you do the service, which is not required by the Lord, that may give you pleasure but that will not please the Lord. Rama was busy with the construction of bridge on the sea. If you chant the name of the Rama and sing songs, Rama will not be pleased with you. In fact, He will be angry with you. You have to carry the stones in that time. Therefore, the timely required service is important. When Lord Rama is on the throne after the war, you can do such things. The practical service is sacrifice of work and its fruit. If you are lazy to sacrifice the work and if you are greedy to sacrifice the fruit of the work, there is no use by doing service with words and mind. You can deceive the ignorant people by such words and expressions. But the Omniscient Lord can never be deceived. Therefore, the essence of human life is only to recognise the Lord in human form and participate in His work.

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