Krishna's Essential Message

O Learned and Devoted Servants of God,

[Shri PVNM Sharma asked:- Several preachers say that when the devotion is ripened, the worshipped God grants self-knowledge (Aatmajnaanam), which leads to self-realization (Aatmasaakshaatkaara). This reveals that soul is God. Please explain this point.]

Swami replied:- This is very important question. The answer for this can be realized after analyzing the background of this question.

1. First, you must understand the real essence of the four great sentences (Mahaavaakyas). “I am God”, “You are God”, “He is God” and “Excellent knowledge (Prajnaanam) is God” are the four great Vedic statements. The essence of the first three statements is that God relevant to humanity is human incarnation, who looks like me, like you and like him. You shall not misunderstand that a statue looking like me, like you and like him is God. The fourth statement says that God is not an inert statue, but, a living human being with awareness like me, like you and like him. In fact, the word Prajnaanam used in the fourth statement means excellent special spiritual knowledge that gives correct guidance in Pravrutti (worldly life) as well as in Nivrutti (Spiritual life). Unfortunately, this word is misunderstood or misinterpreted as mere awareness, which is present even in animals, birds etc. Is there worldly usage of this word in the sense of mere awareness? Do you call an animal as the possessor of excellent spiritual knowledge (Prajnaanii ayam pashuh) since the animal is not having even the basic worldly knowledge?
2. Even every human being can’t be called as the possessor of excellent spiritual knowledge because we find a human being being called as ignorant, foolish, similar to animal etc., by wise elders. Such usage objects the concept to call every human being as possessor of excellent spiritual knowledge. Even a scholar of spiritual knowledge (Jnaanii) is not called as possessor of excellent spiritual knowledge (Prajnaanii). The first three statements mean that God is in external human form like me, like you and like him, which means only the external similarity. This external similarity isolates the human form of God from animals, birds etc., and fixes it in the category of human beings. The fourth statement exhibits the internal difference between God in human form (human incarnation) from all other ordinary human beings including scholars. If you see an electrified wire and other non-electrified wires, you can’t distinguish the electrified wire from the other wires because the inner electricity of the electrified wire is not at all seen by our eyes. Hence, perception fails to identify God in human form. God is unimaginable and hence, naturally invisible. Even in the imaginable domain (creation), invisible items like X-rays, gamma rays etc., exist. God and X-ray are invisible, but, God is invisible and even unimaginable. X-ray is invisible, but, imaginable.

When we say that he is like the brave lion, this is simile (upamaa), which is the similarity of braveness in him and lion. If the braveness is very much, the simile is transformed in to metaphor or ruupaka (another figure of speech). In metaphor, we say that he is the brave lion. Metaphor does not mean that there is no single difference between him and lion. Similarly, when we say that I or you or he is God Krishna, it means that there is some difference between the human being and God Krishna. Metaphor is used because there is extreme external similarity between God Krishna and human being.

2) When you touch all the wires, the electrified wire gives a shock by which you can infer that the electricity is present in that specific wire. Similarly, you can distinguish the God in human form from other human forms on hearing His excellent spiritual knowledge by which God is inferred in Him. You shall not doubt that how I told that God is known by inference when God is unimaginable or unknowable? The answer is that only existence (Tatasthalakshanam) of God is known and not the nature (Swaruupalakshanam) of God. The electricity in the electrified wire is known means that the existence of electricity is known and not its nature like that electricity is a stream of flowing electrons etc.

3) Kaalidaasa says (Aaptavaaganumaanaabhyaam...) that the existence of God is known by two authorities only:-

i) Inference:- The second Brahma Sutra says that the existence of cause for this systematic universe must be inferred (Janmaadyasya yatah) because if you go in the endless (Anavasthaa) chain of causes, you have to stop somewhere to avoid the ad-infinitum. Scientists say that the inert energy (which becomes matter and awareness) itself is the cause of this world. But, the inert energy can’t make such systematic arrangement of the cosmos. It must have intelligence. But, we can’t say that awareness existed as cause before creation since awareness is a product in course of the process of creation, which can’t exist independently in the absence of matter (nervous system) and inert energy (that enters the functioning nervous system to be transformed into a specific work form, called awareness). This means that unimaginable awareness, existed in the beginning of creation, is unimaginable God. This unimaginable God enters the first energetic form, called Datta (Eshvara) and Datta enters the energetic forms or materialized human forms to become further incarnations. When Datta enters the human form of Krishna, the energetic body (merged by unimaginable God) of Datta dissolves in the gross body of Krishna and the imaginable soul (merged by unimaginable God) of Datta dissolves in the imaginable soul of Krishna so that we can say that the unimaginable God through Datta merged with Krishna both externally (body wise) and internally (soul wise) as told by the Veda (Antarbahishcha...). We can say the conclusion simply that the unimaginable God merged with the body and soul of Krishna. The existence of unimaginable God in Krishna is known from the inference based on the unimaginable events and knowledge expressed by Krishna. The creation, control and destruction of the world itself is the biggest miracle, which is exhibited by Krishna by giving cosmic vision. This miracle is the differentiating point of Krishna from other ordinary souls, which can’t perform even the smallest miracle like creating an atom of matter or a ray of energy.

ii) Scripture:- The experience revealed by the sages is expressed in the scripture, which can be taken as supporting authority and this is told by the third Brahma Sutra (Shaastra yonitvaat).

4) How to recognize that the spiritual knowledge told by Krishna alone is excellent? Your inner consciousness will identify it by expressing the sense of full satisfaction in your mind (Pramaanamantahkaranapravruttayah —Kalidaasa). The full satisfaction is expressed by the inner consciousness only when the heard spiritual knowledge is perfectly true. The Veda says that the excellent spiritual knowledge (Prajnaanam) is nothing but the true knowledge (Satyam jnaanam…) because both are one and the same God (Brahman). This does not mean that knowledge itself is God since the possessor of knowledge is also expressed as the possessed knowledge. When a quality is in excess, the possessor of quality is told as the quality itself. Possessor of excess of energy (Tejasvii) is told as energy (Tejah) itself (Ex: Tejasaam hi na vayah samiikshyate). When you are hearing the spiritual knowledge from the preacher, your inner consciousness is charged by the knowledge-power of God, who gives the full satisfaction to your inner consciousness. God is helping you here to recognize the truth. This does not mean that your inner consciousness (deep awareness) itself is God!

5) The Gita says that the self must uplift the self (Uddharet Aatmaanaa Aatmaanam). If you mean this as that you should uplift yourself, is it proper to say this statement to a person, who is sinking in water? The situation is that the sinking person is unable to lift himself due to lack of knowledge of swimming and needs the help of the swimmer to drag him out! Most of the souls are sinking in this world-ocean due to lack the knowledge of self-uplift and require the external help of somebody else to guide in the self-uplift. The Gita further says that self is the friend as well as the enemy of the self (Aatmaivahyaatmano...). The self always is friend to itself because every soul wants to uplift itself and does not want to drown itself. All this analysis concludes that the word self is used not only for the sinking person, but also to another person, who can uplift the sinking person. Why the same word ‘self’ is used for both the persons? The same word is used because both the persons are the same human beings looking perfectly similar in the external appearance. The differentiating swimming talent is present in one person only and it is invisible. There is another reason also to call both persons by the same word ‘self’. The same word ‘self’ is used for both because the sinking person, later on, may be trained by the other person in swimming and the sinking person saved by the second person may become the second person after learning the art of swimming from the second person. If the first person becomes the disciple of the second person, the second person will help the first person and in such case, the second person becomes friendly to the first person. If the first person rejects the help of the second person due to ego and jealousy based on common repulsion (since both are externally common human beings and the swimming talent in the second person is invisible), the first person will sink and in this case, the second person, being helpless, has to become enemy of the first person. Thus, if there are two persons, then only, the full verse of the Gita becomes meaningful. If there is only one sinking person (who represents almost all the souls in this world), the above verse of the Gita becomes meaningless due to its impossibility of its application.

6) Today is Krishnaashtami, which is the birthday of Krishna. On this day, who is doing the best worship to Krishna? The person, who has understood the real essence of the Gita, is the perfect devotee doing perfect worship of Krishna. First, you must understand, who is Krishna. Krishna looks like any other human being (like me, like you and like him) externally having all the common properties of human beings like birth, hunger, thirst, sleep and death due to attack by an arrow etc. In such case, what is the speciality of Krishna? The speciality of Krishna is that He is the human being in which God is existing. This is told in His own words in the Gita (Maanushiim tanumaashritam) that He is the God living in human body. Here, the word ‘body’ includes the awareness or soul also because two categories are told by Him in the Gita:- 1) Purusha, the God and 2) Prakruti, the creation created by God. The awareness comes under Prakruti since Prakruti is sub-divided in to 1) Aparaaprakruti and 2) Paraaprakruti, which is awareness (Apareyamitastvanyaam..., Jiivabhutaam...). Even if you take other type of classification mentioned in the Gita itself, which is:- 1) Prakruti or Aparaaprakruti, 2) Purushaa or Paraaprakruti or awareness and 3) Purushottama or God, awareness is not God because God is the third category whereas awareness is a different second category. This means that God is not awareness. When we say that God entered the body, it means that this statement is based on the classification based on two categories:- 1) Purusha or God and 2) Prakruti or creation in which body is a part having both Aparaa Prakruti as well as Paraaprakruti or awareness. The God, who entered the body, is unimaginable and hence, is neither the imaginable Aparaaprkruti nor the imaginable Paraaprakruti. The awareness is treated as a part of the body only. When we say that the Prime Minister entered his allotted house, the house is not only mere inert building but also includes the non-inert servants. There is no difference between inert building and non-inert servants because the non-inert servants are not at all independent (who are independent showing their supremacy over the inert building in absence of the Prime Minister) by obediently executing all the orders of the Prime Minister without any independence like inert items. Similarly, when the omnipotent God enters a human being (here, human being is called as human body), the awareness has no independence since it becomes fully obedient servant of God like an inert item and it can be treated as a part of the inert body. The awareness has independent status as soul over the inert body in the absence of entered God only.

7) The total essence of the Gita is to understand that the preacher of the Gita is God or Bhagavaan. Krishna is addressed by the word ‘Krishna’ only throughout the Mahaabharatam and while preaching the Gita only, Krishna is not addressed as Krishna whereas He is addressed as God or Bhagavaan (Shri Bhagavaan Uvaacha, which means that God is speaking) and never written as ‘Krishna is speaking’ (Shrii Krishna Uvaacha). Not only this, everywhere, Krishna told again and again that He or Krishna is God only and not a human being. Three points are to be remembered:- a) Krishna told that He is God, who entered the human body. b) Krishna told again and again that He is God and c) Sage Vyaasa mentioned everywhere in the Gita that ‘God told’ and no where mentioned that ‘Krishna told’. From all these points, what is the real essence of the Gita? It is that Krishna is stressed that He is God, who can be easily misunderstood as human being by seeing externally. Why to stress again and again that Krishna is God? The need to stress again and again that ‘Krishna is God’ is that Krishna looks like an ordinary human being and Arjuna (representing every ordinary human being hearing the Gita) shall not misunderstand that Krishna is an ordinary human being. What is the strong reason for such frequent misunderstanding? The strong reason is the repulsion between common human forms that develops jealousy based on selfish-ego. This point that ‘Krishna is that ultimate unimaginable omnipotent God’ is reminded again and again in all angles because the misunderstanding that ‘Krishna is a human being’ will attack the mind of every human being again and again masking the realized truth that ‘Krishna is the ultimate God and not the ordinary human being’. Hence, the single line of the Gita “Maanushiim tanumaashritam” is the life and the total real essence of the Gita because human incarnation alone is the ultimate goal of the entire humanity to see, talk and serve with full faith. If this is realized, the entire Gita is understood and such realization is the best worship to Krishna today. By this, the path of the ISKCON is established, which is also not complete, because Krishna Himself told in the Gita that He will come as human incarnation whenever there is a need for it (Yadaa yadaa hi...Tadaatmaanam srujaamyaham). If you say that Krishna alone is God, what about past Vaamana, Rama, Buddha etc., and what about the future Kalki? When it is established that God will come as human incarnation other than Krishna, other human incarnations like Shripaadavallabha, Shri Narasimha Sarsvati, Shri Maanikya Prabhu, Shri Akkalkot Mahaaraj, Shri Sai Baba, Shri Satya Sai Baba etc., are also allowed as human incarnations. For the sake of uplifting humanity outside India, human incarnations like Jesus, Mohammad etc., are also allowed as human forms of God because God created this entire earth and not mere India.

8) Krishna told that the same unimaginable God exists as the basic single actor in different external mediated roles (Avibhaktam vibhakteshu—Gita) and establishes the Universal Spirituality in all world religions because the entire world is created by only one unimaginable God, called as Parabrahman, Jehovah, Allah etc. Since all religions lead to the same God finally like rivers travelling in straight or curved routes merge finally in the same ocean, there is no need of changing one religion to the other, which becomes a circular eternal round journey from one house to the other house (each house having its own straight specific route to the centre) without reaching the centre at any time. One must follow the religion in which he/she is born till death that unites the soul with the unimaginable God. If you follow your religion without hatred to the other religions (because all religions lead to the same ultimate unimaginable God only), that is sufficient and you need not change your religion. You can treat the fathers of your friends equal to your father and respect them as you respect your father. You need not reject your father and call the father of your friend as your father! When you change your religion, you will adopt the external culture of the other religion also and your kith and kin will repel against this external culture since they were accustomed to a specific culture from a long time. Such resistance from your kith and kin will isolate you resulting in development of fear in you (Paradharmo bhayaavahah– Gita).

If you follow the culture of your religion and worship the same unimaginable God existing in the form following the external culture of your religion itself and finally die, you get salvation (Svadharme nidhanam shreyah—Gita). It is sufficient if you don’t scold the unimaginable God existing in a different form with different culture, realizing that the same inner unimaginable God exists in the divine form of the culture specified to other religion. If you have scolded Krishna, you have scolded Jesus, Mohammad etc., simultaneously. Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, Mohammad etc., may differ in their external physical forms and in their external dress, but, the unimaginable and omnipotent ultimate God present in them is one and the same like the same actor appearing in different roles with different dresses and different faces appearing different by the plastic surgery! You are scolding your God only acting in a different role! The Universal Spirituality removes the hatred to other religions and by this, your inherent love to your religion need not be affected in anyway (Puurvaih Puurvataraih krutam— Gita).

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