Posted on: 05 May 2023
1. Is it the level of attachment to the sacrifice that is more important?
[Mr. Talin Rowe asked: Hello, Shri Datta, I hope You are well, may love and devotion be heaped at Your feet. I was reading a discourse message posed between Yourself and Ms. Thryloka “How Does God Respond to Souls?” In it You describe how the ratio of donation of total wealth is what is important in terms of sacrifice.
A thought occurred to me about the capacity for recuperating said wealth. In a short example, a Rich person may donate 1,000,000 usd, but their wealth is 10,000,000 usd. So they donated 10% of their wealth, Whereas a poor person may donate 10 usd but all they own is 10 usd. Which is 100% of their wealth. However, in terms of the recuperation cost of their sacrifice, the poor person can quickly and far more easily recuperate 10 usd, than a rich person may be able to recuperate 1,000,000 usd. So is it the level of attachment (love) to the sacrifice that is most important?]
Swami replied:- All these post-calculations are not in the mind of the person sacrificing to God because pure love does not calculate the posterior effects. The re-possession of the donated wealth is not in the eyes of the donor if his eyes are filled with pure love. The beggar donated whatever he had without thinking about the future. The rich man donated only 10% keeping the rest 90% with him. Of course, your point is that the beggar can easily earn the lost money (100%) in the donation since it is very small whereas the rich man cannot earn the lost money (100%) since it is a very big amount. What I say is that the rich man shall not be proud of the magnitude of his donated money seeing the beggar and feel that his 10% donation is far far greater than the 100% donation of beggar. I am telling this point of comparing the donated amount with the remaining amount so that the rich man will not laugh at the poor man. Suppose the beggar is a rich man and his total possessed will be donated to God since he doesn’t see the remaining with him. If you have such a great beggar, what will you say about the rich man donating 10% and looking at the remaining possessed wealth? The strength of the devotion to God is more important than these accounts.
2. Wouldn’t the sacrifice of the son imply sacrifice of the son, as it is his life that is lost, rather than the sacrifice of the father?
[Another thought is the story of Abraham. Abraham was ready to sacrifice the life of his beloved son to You. However, that would imply ownership of the son? Wouldn’t the sacrifice of the son imply sacrifice of the son, as it is his life that is lost, rather than the sacrifice of the father? (Thank You for saving Abraham from such a fate). Does this story implicate attachment (love) or value to be the hidden cost behind practical sacrifice? Thank You, Talin Rowe]
Swami replied:- Not only Abraham is appreciated for the extreme devotion to God, but also, his son must be appreciated in the devotion to God. The son could have run away from the house if his life was in danger. But, he agreed to his self-sacrifice based on the commandment of God. God clubbed both such father and son together to show this miracle in order to teach the humanity that is doing lot of sins to accumulate wealth for their sons.