03 May 2025
1. When You go to Vijayawada, I feel like You went to a different planet. How to overcome this feeling?
[Ms. Thrylokya asked:- Swami, whenever You travel to Vijayawada and leave Hyderabad, I feel like You have gone to a different planet. When You are in Hyderabad, even if I don't visit You, I feel that You are close to me since we are in the same city. How to overcome these feelings?]
Swami replied:- These feelings are the symptoms of true devotion. They are appreciable and you need not overcome these feelings, which will develop your devotion to God.
2. When You appreciate a devotee, how does the devotee know whether You mean it really or for the sake of encouragement?
[Swami, when You appreciate or praise a devotee, how does the devotee know whether You mean what You say or You are just saying for the sake of encouragement of the devotee as Arthavaada (beneficial sinless lie)?]
Swami replied:- The devotee need not know that it is an Arthavaada because if the devotee knows that it is Arthavaada, the devotee will not be encouraged at all and the purpose of Arthavaada is completely lost. When Arthavaada is told, Swami will never reveal it as Arthavaada to the devotee. In spiritual knowledge, this concept of ‘Arthavaada’ has to be revealed because all the concepts of God must be clearly explained. Since the name of the devotee is not revealed in spiritual knowledge, there is no danger of discouragement. If the devotee gets ego by the influence of Arthavaada, God will definitely reveal the truth of Arthavaada to the devotee to save him/her from the fall. If the devotee continues with good nature without getting influenced by the Arthavaada in negative way, God will not reveal the Arthavaada to the devotee.
3. Which of the following is a better choice for a devotee when troubling the incarnation with distrust and insult?
[Which is the better choice for a devotee when the devotee is displeasing and troubling the incarnation with distrust and insult due to lack of devotion.
Choice-1) To leave the incarnation and do penance until the ego and jealousy are controlled. In this choice, the devotee will have a satisfaction that he/she is not displeasing God with his/her presence. The devotee can come back to the incarnation with purified mind and continue to please God again.
Choice-2) To remain with the incarnation and continue to purify its devotion simultaneously. In this choice, the incarnation has to suffer until the devotee comes to the normal state of devotion.]
Swami replied:- The second choice is better than first choice. What do you mean by penance? Penance is thinking over the subject of God deeply. With the help of God, you can have a better thinking with better truth. Taking the help of contemporary human incarnation of God as your guide is always better to cure the ignorance like treating your illness with the help of the doctor than doing self-treatment.
4. When God is already an ocean of bliss, why should a soul please God as the only aim of its human life?
Swami replied:- It is not for the sake of real pleasure of God. Here, your intention is the main point. Your intention to please God pleases God. Even before you please God, He is already an infinite ocean of bliss. The point here is that God wants to know your intention and its practical implementation. To uplift you only, your intention and practice are tested by God. God is actually neither pleased nor displeased since He always remains in full state of satisfaction (Āpta kāmasya kā spṛhā…- Veda, Nānavāpta mavāptavyam - Gita).
5. Is God an ocean of love for all kinds of souls?
[Swami, You told that God has an ocean of love on every soul and a soul’s love is just a drop. But, You also told that God’s love is just the reflection of a soul’s love. How do You correlate both these statements? A soul can be a devotee or a non-devotee or an atheist. In such case, does God have an ocean of love for all kinds of souls?]
Swami replied:- God has infinite love on every soul and wants to uplift even an atheistic soul. Moreover, God never becomes your enemy even if you insult Him to infinite extent. He becomes angry only when you trouble another devotee.
6. How can Shiva suffer due to the separation from Sati and Rama due to the exit of Sita when God is always blissful?
[When there is nothing to be attained by the blissful God, how can God Shiva suffer due to the separation from Sati and how can God Rama suffer due to the exit of Sita?]
Swami replied:- All these actions of God are meant for the ordinary souls to buildup a strong and justified worldly life (Pravrutti). Developing a strong bond with one’s spouse forms a basis for a stable family life so that the children can be happy.
7. Is it not blindness to see everything either as good or bad since both exist in reality?
[Swami, it is said that for a good person, everything appears good and for a bad person, everything appears bad. But, isn’t it blindness to see everything as either good or bad since both good and bad exist in factual reality?]
Swami replied:- Yes! You are correct in saying that both good and bad exist in this world. One must see good as good and bad as bad without any partiality based on family, caste, gender etc. A good person seeing everybody as good will be harmed by a bad person. A bad person seeing everybody as bad will lose the help of a good person. Equality of good shall be in the case of all good people and equality of bad shall be in the case of all bad people. Equality is seen in all the living beings whether good or bad — means that spiritual scholars see the soul (awareness) that is present in every living being and it does not mean that the qualities of all living beings are one and the same (Paṇḍitāssamadarśinaḥ…- Gita). Even God protects good people and punishes bad people (Paritrāṇāya…- Gita).
8. There cannot be bad in the creation since it is created by God. Then, how can there be so much of sin in this world?
[Swami, You told that there cannot be bad (amangalam / ashubham) in this creation since it is created by the auspicious God (mangalam / shubham). In that case, how can so much of sin, suffering and violence exist in this world, which is absolutely bad?]
Swami replied:- When God created this creation, He created all the good qualities only. The human beings diverted a good quality towards bad direction and that quality became bad, which is also stamped by human beings as a permanent bad quality. Anger is necessary for the parents and teachers to develop discipline in children. But, when the same anger is diverted to a good person to harm him, such anger becomes a bad quality. The direction towards which a quality is diverted makes the quality good or bad.
9. Does the word 'Bhagavaan' mean God Datta or Parabrahman?
[Does the word 'Bhagavaan' mean God Datta (first energetic form of God) or Parabrahman (Unmediated Unimaginable God)?]
Swami replied:- Bhagavaan means the person possessing six auspicious qualities and the word indicates that the person is of male gender. Hence, Bhagavan means God Datta, the mediated God. But, all these auspicious qualities are also present in the unmediated unimaginable God and such God can be called as ‘Bhagavat’ of neutral gender. The power of God Datta is Anagha of female gender and is called as ‘Bhagavatii’.
10. Rama was straight forward and Krishna was not. How to correlate?
[Swami, You told that Krishna is as pure as Rama since both are the incarnations of the same God Vishnu. But, Rama was straight forward and Krishna did a lot of drama. How to correlate?]
Swami replied:- God Rama stands for “means justify ends”. God Krishna stands for “ends justify means”. Rama incarnated in the beginning of Treta Yuga and Krishna incarnated at the end of Dwaapara Yuga. Therefore, two yugas of time gap is there between both the incarnations. People were ethical and straight forward in Treta Yuga and as time advanced, people became unethical by the time Krishna came. Hence, drama was unnecessary in the time of Rama and drama was very much needed in the time of Krishna. Finally, justice must be protected whether the means are just or unjust. As per the context required, the path shall be modified, but, the end must be only protection of justice and destruction of injustice.
11. What is to be learnt from Shiva crying for Satii and Rama for Sita?
[What should we learn from God Shiva crying for Satii and God Rama crying for Sita? Did they suffer in separation just for the sake of rasa (divine entertainment) only, which is the aim of creating this creation by God?]
Swami replied:- For God, entertainment is continuous in any situation. But, the need of the context is also important. God is preaching love between the soul and its spouse for the sake of a good family life, which is important for Pravrutti. God never preaches Nivrutti. The devotee gets natural interest in Nivrutti, who is helped by God after testing his/her confirmed interest in God.
12. What is to be learnt from the following actions of Lord Venkateshwara?
[God Venkateshwara married twice and also took loan to get married in a grandeur manner. What are the lessons to be learnt from these actions of God in the angle of Pravrutti and Nivrutti?]
Swami replied:- All this is about Pravrutti only. One can take a loan to perform an important function like marriage. But, the story tells that God Venkateshwara could not pay the capital at all so far because He is continuously paying the interest only. By this, God teaches that you should not take heavy loans and suffer by paying the interest continuously. In this point, even God did a mistake and hence, we need not talk about ordinary human beings! The mistake of God is not real, which is only for the sake of teaching a good moral. Regarding the married life of God, I have already told you that God is an absolute celibate and always maintains purity. God will enjoy only with the embodiment of His own power (Goddess Mahalakshmi, who is kept in His heart) and for the case of other devotees (like Padmavati, Bibi Nancaari, Godaa Devi etc.), He creates illusory forms of Himself to satisfy other devotees in order to encourage them in the spiritual path or Nivrutti. We have already seen the same divine technology in the case of God Krishna, who danced with thousands of Gopikas at once by creating thousands of unreal forms of Himself. God Ventakeshwara is God Krishna only. God Venkateshwara’s mother, Vakulaa Devi, is none other than Yashoda, who didn’t get the opportunity to perform the marriage ceremony for her son, God Krishna, in her previous life. God is always one and His policy of devotional justice is always one.
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