Soul's Freedom and Salvation

O Learned and Devoted Servants of God,

[Dr. Nikhil asked: (Ref.: Answers to the two questions asked by Dr. Nikhil with reference to the recent message given to the question asked by Shri Anil)]

1. Could You kindly clarify how souls can said to be completely free in this world and the upper worlds?

[Question 1: Padanamaskarams Swamiji! I feel that that only God is completely free; not souls. The freedom of the soul is always restricted by several internal and external factors on earth. So, it cannot be called as total freedom or the freedom to act in all directions. The restrictions by the internal and external factors put tremendous force on the person’s mind and influence the person’s decision. The choices before a person are largely determined by these various forcing factors. Hence, in spite of knowing and wanting to do the right thing, a person may often be forced by the internal or external factors to do the wrong thing. Duryodhana’s statement from the Prapanna Gita (Pandava Gita) clearly brings out this internal force acting on a person’s mind “jānāmi dharmaṃ na ca me pravṛttiḥ jānāmi pāpaṃ na ca me nivṛttiḥ ॥ 57॥”. Arjuna also says something similar in the Gita “Atha kena prayukto'yaṃ pāpaṃ carati pūruṣaḥ”. Lord Krishna answers “Kama eṣa, krodha eṣa rajoguṇa samudbhavaḥ”. In other words, Lord Krishna points out at the internal factors which force the mind of a person in choosing an action. Similarly, there are strong external factors too. They might be related to the influence of other people such as other people forcing a person to do something. They may also be related to external situations such as poverty or life-threatening situations, which force a person to act in a certain manner. So, I feel that the human being is never free to decide. The so-called freedom or free-will of human beings, is a highly constrained freedom at best.

In any case, there is at least some relative freedom for those souls on earth who have got a human birth. But in the upper worlds, especially in hell, there is absolutely no freedom. Their freedom is taken away and souls must suffer. So, there is only physical force and zero freedom in hell. Also, animals and plants on earth are completely pre-programmed and have hardly any freedom. God clearly uses physical force on souls, to punish them in hell and sometimes on earth too for the intense sins. Could You kindly clarify how souls can said to be completely free in this world and the upper worlds and that God never uses any force?]

Swami Replied:- The word freedom referred by Me does not mean the absolute freedom possessed by God in human form as said in the Veda (Āpnoti svārājyam). Such absolute freedom is only with God and no soul can even imagine it. The present freedom controlled by several factors as referred by you here is relative with respect to the earlier state of souls in Kruta age. The factors controlling the freedom of the soul are common to the soul in all ages and have nothing to do with the little freedom given by God. These factors referred by you are certainly decreasing even the little freedom, but, these factors were selected by us, the souls only and not created by God to decrease the freedom of the soul already given by God. These factors were selected by us in the atmosphere of full freedom of selection of any factor and the given advises by God through scriptures, devotees and incarnations regarding such negative factors decreasing the sanctioned divine freedom. God did not want not to give freedom to select the negative factors, but, gave the freedom to select the negative factors also if we like while His strong advises not to select such factors are repeatedly blown in to our ears! If this freedom was not given, the stage will be the same earlier state of strong discipline of Kruta age only. Even in this strong discipline that curtails the negative factors, freedom was already given to us to choose any positive factor.

To explain this more clearly, in the strict discipline of Kruta age, we are advised to eat any good fruit, but, we are forcibly restricted from all the poisonous fruits. When the freedom was given to us, who were bored with such discipline, freedom was given to us even to eat any poisonous fruit if we like, but, repeated advises were given to us not to eat any poisonous fruit and to eat only any good fruit. Certainly, this given freedom provoked us to eat the poisonous fruit, but, such freedom was desired by us only and even though such freedom to select negative factors was given, the repeated advises not to select any negative factor given to us by God exist as the antidote to neutralize the blame given to God by us in getting such freedom. On one side, we are blaming God for giving such freedom and on other side we are criticizing God for not giving such freedom! The best balance was shown by God by giving such freedom with simultaneous strong warning about such freedom. Still, we blame God! In such case, we shall suggest the better way than what He did.

Immediately, the question that shoots up from us is that why God created negative or bad fruits and He should have created only good fruits.

Can there be good without the relative bad? Can there be day without night? The recognition of positive can be done only in the presence of negative. Leave the creation of God for some time. Are we preparing our meals without hot dishes? Are we producing cinemas with only pleasant scenes without tragic scenes? Are we conducting games with the concept of success only without defeat of one party playing? If such creation was done, we will criticize God for doing such meaningless creation! Hence, the creation started with a theoretical plan of Sattvam (good), Rajas and Tamas (bad) qualities just like the cinema starts to be produced after fixing the basic theoretical story. Kruta age was just like childhood of the souls. The parents take forcible care regarding the child in protecting it from bad factors. As the child grows becoming young and adult, the soul of the child aspires full freedom and the parents limit themselves in giving repeated good advises only without force. Similarly, God did the same as the parents do with respect to their children. Some children listen to their parents and enjoy peace and happiness whereas some children don’t listen to their parents and end in problems. In such case, do you blame the parents or the grown-up children? While we blame God, we are exactly blaming the parents for not controlling their grown-up children using force!

If all the children in this entire world are not listening to their parents even after becoming adults, at least, there is a possibility to think to blame the fundamental system. If all the students in a class fail without single pass, we can think of the possibility of doubting some defect in the teacher. There are several children, who listen to their parents even after becoming adults and there are several students in the class room, who pass the examination with distinction. Even in this worst Kali age, there are several good devotees, who surrender to God totally following His divine scriptures properly explained through His devoted messengers and His incarnations. There may be a chance with the human parents and human teachers to be defective and wrong, sometimes, but, the omniscient God can be never defective or wrong. Even such God is not advising us to follow His advices blindly without logical analysis, which is the last word of God Krishna told to the soul Arjuna (Vimṛśyaitadaśeṣeṇa - Gītā). God gave us very strong intelligence also to analyze anything as good or bad. God clearly preaches us again and again regarding the fruits of good deeds and fruits of bad deeds separately.

Once again, coming to our starting point, in Kruta age, the souls were acting, speaking and even thinking as per the direction of God only given through divine scriptures like babies in the hands of parents. Such disciplined state and further freedom given by God are only referred here. Lack of full divine freedom existed every time in the soul throughout all the four ages. The souls were just like robots working as per the information induced by the scientist (God) without any self freedom to the full extent. In such case, the total responsibility of thought, speech and action were on God only. The souls were very much bored with such perfect and total discipline just like the child on growth becomes reluctant to the strictly forced practical discipline of the parents. Neither the souls wanted the absolute freedom of God nor did God give His absolute freedom to the souls. The freedom has a little confined sense of few limits only. When God asked Adam and Eve not to eat a specific fruit, both were following the order of God strictly like robots. Both these beginning types of souls (male and female categories) were bored by such strict discipline of God. God understood the feeling of boredom and gave freedom to think, to speak and to do whatever they liked. God strengthened the facility of intelligence that discusses and arrives at correct conclusions.

The earlier part of it is mind that starts the internal debate (Saṅkalpa vikalpātmakaṃ manaḥ). When the logical analysis starts, it is called intelligence. The result of logical analysis is right conclusion (Adhyavasāyātmikā Buddhiḥ). The mind and intelligence were without much work in Kruta age. God gave freedom to mind and intelligence to work hard. Mind is not that much important since it starts the basic doubt needed for analysis. Intelligence is very important, which may do wrong analysis to end in wrong conclusion or may do right analysis to end in right conclusion. Intelligence is the driver and the individual soul is the owner of the vehicle as said in the Veda. Safe journey or accident is in the hands of driver only. Hence, God started His preaching (the Gītā) with Buddhi yoga or Sāṅkhya Yoga related to analysis by sharp intelligence. A father seeing his issues bored by the stay in the house recognizes the state of the boredom of issues and proposes an outdoor picnic to entertain the issues by providing a change. The father gives careful precautions to be followed during outdoor stay. Similarly, God gave freedom along with several careful precautions through the scriptures. He also explains the precautions through His devotees and personal incarnations. Hence, God has not even a trace of responsibility of the actions of the souls.

We are talking about the force used by God on their thoughts, speeches and actions in Kruta age on this earth or Karma loka or Martya loka in which only the concept of the above said little freedom is possible. The upper worlds are called ‘Bhoga lokas’ in which the soul is destined to enjoy the fruits of its actions without a trace of freedom to alter the fruit. Hence, we need not touch the upper worlds in which even a trace of possibility for a trace of freedom is also absent. In this Karma loka or earth in Kruta age, every human being was eating certain restricted food only that helps the soul to think, speak and do good only. The state of the soul was like the hospitalization of a patient, who is restricted to eat the prescribed food only. Food is said to influence the physical state of body and the thinking state of mind (Annānurūpāṃ tanurūpabuddhim, Kāryaṃ nidānāddhi guṇānadhīte). After getting freedom from God, today, a human being can eat any type of food, can speak and do anything, if necessary, with secrecy also! But, the scriptures, the preachers and the final human incarnations exist giving the information with full clarifications about merit and sin. Ignorance can’t be projected for excuse. Freedom with precautions can be enjoyed simultaneously. By precaution, you are avoiding all the sins.

By freedom you can do any type of merit since there are a variety of merits available for implementation as per the limits of the category of merits. Sweet (merit) is said to be good food (Sāttvika āhāra) and the freedom is that you can select any type of sweet for good physical and mental health. By precaution, you must avoid all varieties of hot dishes (sins). There are several saints eating sweet food in limited quantities avoiding hot dishes totally. Majority like us select hot dishes also and such selection is based on the extension of freedom by God to us. Will you not criticize God if such extended freedom is not given to us? Doing merits only with the aspiration for heavenly enjoyment should be also cautioned like eating more sweets results in diabetes.

Avoiding sins and doing merits must be associated with the real devotion to God (medicine) from the beginning to avoid the disease. We must clearly note that the forces (qualities) generated by the foods fall on our responsibility only since we have the freedom to select good food with the help of intelligence and scripture (last chapter of the Gītā) and we have further freedom to select any type of good food we like. This brings full freedom within certain limits. Similarly, the association with good people and bad people is to be analyzed. We have freedom to select any bad association (bad food) also, but, using the divine precautions and our intelligence with right analysis, we can select good association (good food) only and we have full freedom to select any type of good association. In Kruta age, freedom to select any good association only was there, but, there was no trace of freedom to select bad association. Later on, when the freedom was given by God, even the freedom to select bad association was granted by which some souls are spoiled, for which, God can’t be blamed because He always preaches us all about good and bad without any partiality.

The verse quoted by you means that Duryodhana saying that even though both justice and injustice were known to him from his preachers, he is not able to do justice and avoid injustice in Pravrutti. This represents the state of the soul in Dvāpara age after getting freedom from God. Due to bad associations chosen by him due to the extended freedom, even though the ‘Āvaraṇa’ or theoretical ignorance has gone (by preachers), the ‘Vikṣepa’ or practical ignorance has not gone (by bad associates). In this case, you cannot excuse him since he has received correct theoretical knowledge from the preachers. Due to forces resulting from bad associations selected by him only in a state of full freedom, he has come to wrong path to do injustice. This half of this verse was frank in admitting the truth of his bad fate chosen by himself only. The second half of the verse shows cunning nature of this bad fellow, who says that he will act as per the order of God sitting in his heart (Tvayā Hṛṣīkeśa! Hṛdisthitena, Yathā niyukto'smi tathā karomi). He addressed God as ‘Hṛṣīkeśa’ meaning the Lord of senses of his body (Hṛṣīkāṇām indriyāṇām Īśaḥ). The Lord of senses is the individual soul as owner of the body-chariot, intelligence being the driver, senses of body being horses and mind being the control belt of horses as said in the Veda.

A controlled soul by God in Kruta age can be addressed as God, who can be treated as the controller of the senses of body (Hṛṣīkeśa) since all the above mentioned items (owner, driver, horses, controlling belt of horses and chariot) are under the full control of God only in Kruta age. But, after kruta age, the situation of the normal human being is that the intelligence controls the whole fate of the soul. Right knowledge with right analysis resulting in right path can alone save the soul and God is out of scope of this due to given extended freedom by Him to the soul. Duryodhana is clever villain in addressing God as the Lord of his senses so that the total blame of his injustice is thrown on God! The two halves of this verse give a very strong hybrid misinterpretation, which is generally given by almost everyone in this Kali age. The main point is that one shall not blame God in giving extended freedom in the unfortunate situation of bad forces acting on a soul, which were selected by the soul itself. The truth here is that full freedom (in limited sense) is given by God and the selection of all these forces is done by the soul itself and hence, the soul should not blame the forces also, which are clearly known to the soul regarding their inevitable effects. Knowing that fire burns the finger, one is putting the finger in the fire and blaming the fire, God and the factors influencing him in the given full free atmosphere as the causes for the burning! When the truth (that fire burns) is well known to him and the factors inducing bad force are also selected by him, he has to blame himself for the burning! Does a grown-up adult blame his parents in not controlling him by force to prevent him while putting his finger in the fire?

In spite of the acquirement of bad qualities, God showed the good sides of sins along with bad sides of merits also by preaching a special talent (Yoga) in the Gītā (Yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam). This means that if you attain intellectual (Buddhi) talent (Yoga) through sharp analysis, you can turn the sin into merit by using the good side of the sin. Even if you possess the quality of anger, it can be used in condemning the injustice and in controlling your children and students from going to wrong path. Even if you possess sexual lust, it can be used in legal bond to generate issues. Even if you are greedy due to selfishness, you can use it in controlling yourself to donate an undeserving receiver. These three are mainly stressed in the Gītā as the main gates to hell. You need not remove your bad quality acquired from several births, which is precipitated in yourself as huge hill since it is impossible. You can divert it to its good side and get rid of its fascinated entry into your mind because any quality is exhausted by its corresponding deed. God also warns you to be careful by the attraction of merit, which has bad side also. If you donate to a deserving receiver aspiring for some more good fruit, it is the bad side of the merit. If you donate the good receiver without aspiration for any fruit in return, this will help you to have the same attitude when you worship God.

Even after generating issues, if you have intensive lust towards the legal bond, it is the bad side of merit in Kruta age. Sages controlled their sexual life after generating issues and such state was called as Vānaprastha āśrama in which the wife is looked as own sister and the husband is looked as own brother! Of course, the justice or merit is slightly changing without entering in to sin as the age changes in view of the then existing atmosphere. As a last resort, in this Kali age, we can say that avoiding illegal sex is the highest merit and intensive sex with legal bond up to death also need not be considered as sin! Keeping peaceful and silent towards a horrible sin in spite of the ability to control it is the bad side of the merit called peace and silence (as in the case of Bhīṣma and Droṇa keeping silent while Draupadi was insulted by attempt of de-clothing her). In this way, God has shown the talented line of Yoga even for the souls caught up by the forces of bad sides of good qualities! Can any human being having a minimum trace of humanity blame still God?

2. Do Your following sentences refer to John the Baptist or John the disciple?

[Swami: John the Baptist, was like good fertile soil with good seeds, but he could not hear the preaching of Jesus. This John had received the rain of God’s grace in his generation and was already saved. That is why he was able to recognize Jesus as a Human Incarnation of God.

Question 2: Do these two sentences refer to John the Baptist or John the disciple? If they refer to John the disciple there is no problem.

If they refer to John the Baptist, then there is a contradiction. Before Jesus arrived, how can it be said that the Baptist had received the grace of God? The grace of God is basically the divine knowledge preached by the Incarnation. But the Baptist never learned divine knowledge from Jesus. Then naturally, it is not possible that the Baptist was saved. If the Baptist was already saved, he must be fully-reformed. If he was fully-reformed, how could there be an un-cancelled pending punishment for him? The Baptist was not an Incarnation to bear the suffering of devotees upon himself, like Jesus. This means that he must have been punished for his own sin. It means that he was not fully reformed and saved.]

Swami Replied:- John, the Baptizer of Jesus was another contemporary human incarnation like sage Vyaasa, who was another human incarnation along with Krishna. The births of all these human incarnations were miraculous. Sage Vyaasa was born as a boy straight as soon as sage Paraashara met with Satyavati (unmarried girl). John was also born to a very old barren lady and Jesus was born to an unmarried girl. While Krishna was born, Lord Vishnu (energetic incarnation) appeared. After the birth of Krishna and Jesus, malefic kings killed several children in search of both. Both did several miracles. Both preached wonderful spiritual knowledge called the Gita and the Bible respectively. When John was to be born, the divine angel told His father that God is sending this messenger to preach about the concept of reformation of the soul for which Baptism was an external symbol. Like sage Vyaasa, John also lived in a forest. John was very bold due to His strong confidence on God and hence, criticized a king for doing a sin. His idea was that the king will repent and withdraw from the sin, which was illegal sex.

For this, He was jailed by the king. The king was also not willing to cut His head since he recognized Him as a divine messenger. But, the king was trapped to do such horrible sin in the case of a divine preacher. Even in the case of Jesus, the Judge, who enquired Him couldn’t find any fault with Jesus, but, was trapped by the plot of the priests of church in allowing crucifixion. As Jesus suffered the sins of His devotees through crucifixion, John also suffered the sins of His devotees through such horrible punishment. Every divine messenger is the incarnation of God only. The difference between the actual incarnation like Krishna, Jesus etc., and divine messengers like Vyaasa, Madhva, John etc., is only that God merges with the soul in the incarnation and is very closely associated with the soul in the divine messenger. Shankara and Jesus told that they are God (Śivaḥ kevalo'ham, I am the truth and light) since the merged God is speaking through them even though their human being components were not liking to speak like that. No devoted soul be it incarnation or messenger aspires monism with God and God only merges with a specific soul and speaks about His identity suppressing the desire of the devoted soul acting as His medium. Balaraama was the incarnation of Adishesha, who is very close servant of God, but, was kept in the list of incarnations of God like a conferred IAS officer. There is no trace of difference between messenger (dualism of Madhva), son of God (Special monism of Ramanuja) and incarnation of God (perfect monism of Shankara).

These three states are expressed by the incarnation of God also based on the stage of ego and jealousy of the disciples. Even the divine messenger saves His disciples by undergoing the punishment of their sins. The incarnation is a homogeneous mixture of gold (God) and copper (soul). The messenger is a copper rod welded with a gold rod. In both cases, if the gold is heated, the copper also becomes hot. In both cases, the human being component suffers for the sake of the will of God. In the concept, the gold is invisible (in fact, unimaginable) and the heating process of gold can be expressed through the visible copper only so that the concept is given the proof of perception. Here, very important point is that God suffers the punishments of His real devotees only and not the punishments of the entire humanity. Emmanuel means the sufferer of the sins of His real devotees only.

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