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1. Did the Indian sage Mārkaṇḍeya also visit Bali in ancient times?
Śrī Guna Darsana asked: Praṇām Swāmiji! Was the Ṛṣi Mārkaṇḍeya who came to Bali in ancient times, the same sage Mārkaṇḍeya who lived in India? Thank You
Swāmi replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! There is only one sage Mārkaṇḍeya, who is son of sage Mṛkaṇḍu.
2. What is the difference between hṛdayam, heart and mind?
[Śrī Bhagath K. asked: Jay Guru Datta! Could You please explain if the physical heart is the same as hṛdayam, which means heart in Sanskrit? One guru said that hṛdayam is more important than the mind. What is difference between the physical heart, mind and hṛdayam?]
Swāmi replied: Hṛdayam is used in a broad sense and it means the essence of a certain concept. Mind means the thinking process within oneself involving a debate about various possibilities. The physical heart is, of course, different since it has a physical...
Śrī Lakshman asked: Pādanamaskārams Swāmi! This śloka is from the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣat Chapter I iv.2.: So'bibhet । tasmādekākī bibheti sa hāyamīkṣāṃ cakre yanmadanyannāsti kasmānnu bibhemīti tata evā'sya bhayaṃ vīyāya kasmāddhyabheṣyaddvitīyādvai bhayambhavati. Some of the explanations given by various preachers for dvitīyāt vai bhayam bhavati is: (i) the presence of two is the cause of fear. (ii) fear is born out of duality. Whenever and wherever there is a sense of two, fear or suffering can exist. (iii) fear indeed arises from the second entity. My question is that (i) if this refers to the Unimaginable God, how can fear be attributed...
Swāmi replied: There are two options. Does this word ‘fear’ apply to (1) God or (2) to the soul? Let us take the first option in which everybody knows that God never has any fear because there is no second item other than Him, which has an equal reality...
1. Should we expect gratitude from those whom we have helped?
[Ms. Thrylokya asked: Pādanamaskāraṃ Swāmi! Some people help others to get settled in life. Later on, they expect the other people to always stay grateful and obedient to them, throughout their lifes. Is it correct to expect gratitude from others for the help we have done to them? - Your servant, Thrylokya]
Swāmi replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! Gratitude is a good quality for the person who has received the help, but it should not be the expectation of the helper. If a person expects the expression of gratitude, such a donor is said to be rājasic. These are people who donate expecting some help or praise in return (Yattu pratyupakārārtham...—Gītā). A sāttvik person donates or provides help without expecting anything in return (Dīyate’nupakāriṇe...—Gītā). But the receiver...
[Mr. Martin Evind asked: We have a large and lovely Narmadā River Śiva Liṅgam for the last fifteen years. These type Liṅgams are known for having unique natural markings. The liṅgam we have is particularly beautiful with a very noticeable divine figure Śiva/Śakti. Right away after doing pūjā pouring water over it After some time we noticed new markings started to appear on the liṅgam such as Serpent, Crescent Moon etc. Now the liṅgam is almost completely covered with lines and markings and what appears to be a words/language which is not discernible to us. I am praying that if i sent pictures of the liṅgam they could be shown to Śrī Datta Swāmi and He would comment. Sincerely, Martin Evind]
Swāmi replied: I will consider Myself most fortunate to see such divine pictures. Divine miracles are always exhibited in the world continuously, not only to turn atheists into devotees, but also to strengthen and increase the devotion of devotees. Had such miracles...
Śrī Bharath Krishna asked: Padābhivandanaṃ Swāmi! I shared the recent discourse given by You about chanting the Lalitā Sahasranāmam in an online group of the devotees of AMMA (Mātā Amṛtānandamayī Devī). In that discourse, You have said that men should not chant the Lalitā Sahasranamam and You have also given the reasons for it. But the members in that group are arguing saying that AMMA tells everyone to chant the Lalitā Sahasranāmam. If it were not good for men...
Swāmi replied: Divine Amma, situated at a higher spiritual plane, belongs to the feminine gender and hence, She might not be giving much importance to this negligible point that applies to males belonging to the lower plane of creation. When She says all should chant the Lalitā Sahasranāmam, the word ‘all’ can also mean all females. Of course, a male having perfect control over the senses...
Śrī Bhagath asked: Jai Guru Datta! Please explain the sayings of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa Paramhaṃsa given below:
Parents are the best preachers. We must serve them lifelong. We must do rituals after their death or at least weep for them. Only then will we be relieved from their debt. Except for God, we should not disobey them. Prahlāda and Dhruva gave more importance to God than father.]
Swami replied: Whatever is said by Paramahaṃsa is indeed the spiritual knowledge of God. But we should be able to understand the meaning of what is written between the lines also. These statements have both a positive side as well as a negative side. The positive...
[Śrī Anil asked: Pādanamaskāraṃ Swāmi! A person I met online asked why God did not come straight down from heaven instead of entering into the womb of a woman, growing inside her for nine months and then being born in a messy manner. He asked the reason behind this strange way of God coming into this world. Another person asked if it is even possible for a human womb to bear the Almighty God in it for some days or months? Please give Your response to this. - At Your Divine Feet -anil.]
Swāmi replied: God follows the rules of nature while entering into the world of humanity. Otherwise, human beings would get highly excited, if God were to enter our world straight from heaven. Then they would pester God...
1. How did Adam know about Prophet Mohammed and how had Jesus seen Abraham?
[Śrī Anil asked: In a Hadith the following is mentioned: “They said: 'O Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ)! When was the Prophethood established for you?' He said: 'While Adam was between (being) soul and body.'" In another Hadith from the narration of Umar Ibn al-Khattab it is written: "The Prophet [PBUH] said, "When Adam sinned he said, O Allāh! I ask for Your forgiveness for the sake of Muhammad (PBUH)." Allāh asked him, "How do you know Muhammad (PBUH) when I have not yet created him?" He (Adam) said, "O Allāh! After you created me and breathed into me of your soul I raised my head...
[Śrī Anil asked: Pādanamaskāraṃ Swāmi! In the Bible, the Jews asked Jesus when the kingdom of God would come, to that Jesus replied “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” By this, was Jesus referring to Himself (as the Human Incarnation) as the kingdom of God, since He was present amidst them at that point of time? Please grace us with Your answer to this question. At Your Divine Feet - anil.]
Swāmi replied: The statement of Jesus has two meanings: (i) The first is that every soul is ruled by God, but the Human Incarnation is very close to God since God lives in the Human Incarnation. It is like the palace of a king is very close...
Srī Anil asked: Paul, who was earlier known as Saul, was a Jew who used to torture the followers of Jesus after Jesus’ death. One day the following incident happened. Paul (Saul) neared Damascus and on his journey, suddenly, a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city...
[Dr. JSR Prasad (Prof. of Sanskrit specialised in logic, Central University, Hyderabad) asked: Svāmipādebhyo sāṣṭāṅga praṇāmāḥ! I have been invited by my close relatives to participate in a Sundarakāṇḍa Homa. After hearing Your spiritual knowledge, I am convinced that a homa performed by burning ghee in the physical fire is wrong. Should I go there or refuse? At Your lotus feet, Prasad.]
Swāmi replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! You may go and participate in the homa, as performed by them following the blind tradition. You will get an opportunity to put forth this spiritual knowledge before them. The force in the blind tradition is great because the tradition has been in existence for a long time. First, you have to run along with them for some time and only then slow down...
Shri Durgaprasad asked: Pādanamaskāraṃ Swāmi! A person who believes in God Datta, but not in the contemporary Incarnations of God, said that in the past, God’s Incarnations were not recognized or were seriously doubted by Brahmā, Indra, Kaṃsa and his army, Kālīya, and Manmatha. But God did not deny their doubts. Instead, He removed their doubts by proving His divinity. This person said that if a claimed Incarnation like Sathya Sāī Bābā...
Swāmi replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! I have seen with My own eyes, Śrī Satya Sai Bāba creating a big glass basket that was held in His two hands. The occasion was Kṛṣṇāṣṭamī and the basket contained various kinds of sweets. Bābā said that He had brought those sweets from Mathurā city. On another occasion, Bābā held a small pot upside down and moving...
[Kum. Ishita Iyer asked: Namaskāraṃ Datta Swāmiji! Swāmiji in the Kali Yuga what should we do or rather, how do we manage to stay on the right path and yet also be attached to our worldly duties and ambitions related to family, career, personal goals etc., while still not straying away from the spiritual path? What are the essential qualities of the person who wants to remain attached to God despite worldly responsibilities and bondages? Regards, Ishita Iyer.]
Swāmi replied: If you are totally attached to God, I assuredly tell all of you that your worldly side will not be harmed in any way. Moreover, your worldly life will shine brighter than the worldly life of a person concentrating...
Śrī Anil asked: Pādanamaskāraṃ Swāmi! Please grace us with Your response to the following questions.- At Your Divine Feet -anil
The mainstream Islamic belief regarding the crucifixion of Jesus, is that Jesus did not die, but rather, that he was raised alive to heaven, and that he is present in heaven with his physical, worldly body and life. They quote the following verse from the Quran as evidence.
[4:157-158] And their saying, ‘We did kill the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the Messenger of Allāh;’ whereas they slew him not, nor crucified him, but he was made to appear to them like one crucified; and those who differ therein are certainly...
Swāmi replied: All this analysis only brings a headache because the procedure of analysis is travelling on a confused path. Jesus raised the dead body of Lazarus to life when He was alive. This one miracle is sufficient to prove that Jesus was the Human Incarnation of God, possessing all types of divine miraculous powers. Even if He had died on the cross, there is every possibility...
Śrī Anil asked: Swāmi a ‘Baha'u'llah’s devotee (Bahai faith) said that the followers of his faith agree that the essence of God is unknowable, but that they disagree with the idea that God fully incarnates into a human being. Instead...
Swāmi replied: God comes in human form so that every generation gets the opportunity to meet Him and get all their doubts in spiritual knowledge directly clarified. God is not the partial divine Father...
[Śrī Anil asked: Regarding the concept of Human Incarnation, a muslim devotee commented that if Allāh is present as Human Incarnation on this earth, then how the same Allāh can be present in the upperworld? He says that it would amount to saying that two Gods exist; one in the upperworld and one on earth. Swāmi, please give a response to this.]
Swāmi replied: Tell your friend that God is unimaginable and that He has unimaginable...
Śrī Anil asked: Swāmi, in the discourse given by You on September 26, 2020, it is mentioned, “In the second chapter of the Gītā, You find the description of Ātman and that description applies to both the thoughtless pure awareness as well as the inert energy since they both have a lot of similar characteristics. Both do not have the sense of doer-ship (kartṛtva) or enjoyer-ship (bhoktṛtva).”...
Swāmi replied: In that discourse, I had said that thoughtless awareness means that all thoughts are absent except the one thought of self-identification, which is the ‘I’-thought. Here, ‘I’ is both the subject...
[Shri Anil asked: Swāmi, why did You incarnate in Hinduism, instead of western religions like Islam or Christianity? The doctor is needed by the patient. In India, there is already a lot of spirituality. In the West, after Jesus and Muhammad, no direct Human Incarnation has appeared. Could You kindly clarify. - At Your Divine Feet-anil]
Swāmi replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! The real patient is Hinduism alone because over-intelligence frequently leads to misunderstanding. One Hindu told Me that Hinduism is the greatest since God incarnates frequently in this land alone. I replied that the teacher...
[Śrī Anil asked: The Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) forbade eating of onions and leek. When we were overpowered by a desire (to eat) we ate them. Upon this he (the Holy Prophet) said: He who eats of this offensive plant must not approach our mosque, for the angels are harmed by the same things as men. Why did Muhammad object to the eating of onions? How can angel get harmed by eating onions when angels are energetic beings? In Hinduism also, some sects do not eat onion and garlic. How can we explain this common practice in the two religions?]
Swāmi replied: Overeating of some substances is not good for health. When one’s health is spoiled, one’s spiritual effort also gets spoiled. When human beings become weak in the spiritual line, angels get discouraged...
Śrī Anil asked: In the Bible there are instances where Angel Gabriel appeared to devotees and gave direction. He appeared to Virgin Mary to tell the news of her giving birth to Jesus before her marriage. In case of father Joseph, the angel appeared in his dream to give the message to accept Mary as his wife. On another occasion, the angel appeared in the dream to Joseph asking him to escape with Mary and baby...
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