dattaswami

Permanent Solution for the Coronavirus Pandemic Shri Phani asked: How to overcome such calamities as all the world is facing now due to the present horrible virus? Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! A king passed a rule in his kingdom which was to be followed by all citizens. The citizens who failed to follow the rule were to be punished. Some citizens violated the rule and were punished by the court of law (dharmāsanam) present in the kingdom. Now, suppose these punished violators praise the king a lot and pray to him, will the king cancel their punishment using his supreme power? The other citizens who followed his rule were not punished, even though they never praised the king. Hence, the main point here is to follow the rule of the king. Whether citizens praise the king or not is immaterial. If you replace the king with God and the kingdom with this entire world, you will be able to relate the above story to the present context. God has given the divine constitution called the Dharma Śāstra, to humanity through ancient sages. Every soul is expected to follow that divine constitution of God. The constitution recommends doing certain meritorious deeds and prohibits sinful deeds. If one does not do the meritorious deeds, one only misses some benefit like going to heaven. But if one commits sin, one faces inevitable punishment. The punishment includes being sent to hell after death and undergoing suffering there. But it also includes hell-like punishment here on earth, when the sin committed is highly intense (Atyutkaṭaiḥ pāpa puṇyaiḥ, ihaiva phalamaśnute). The present calamity is punishment given by God to souls here on earth. Hence, it is indeed the result of the intense sins done by the souls in this world. Following justice, doing meritorious deeds and not committing sin is the path of pravṛtti or worldly life. Devotion to God, which includes praising God, is the path of nivṛtti or spiritual life. A soul’s efforts in nivṛtti do not save the soul from the punishment of violating pravṛtti. Hence, praying to God will not stop this calamity, since it is the punishment for the sins committed by souls in worldly life (pravṛtti). Pravṛtti and nivṛtti are independent fields and nivṛtti never interferes with pravṛtti. Even if a soul is an atheist, but if he or she follows pravṛtti (worldly justice) strictly, the soul will not face any punishment. By avoiding sin, one certainly avoids the punishment of sin. Such a person will escape the infection even in the present epidemic. The three main sins mentioned in the Gita “Kāmaḥ krodhaḥ tathā lobhaḥ…” are given below and briefly explained: 1. Illegitimate sex: Sex with anyone except one’s legitimate married life-partner is sin. 2. Illegitimate anger: The unjust anger or violence shown towards good people and harmless living beings is sin. Not showing the appropriate anger or force towards bad people is also a sin. 3. Illegitimate greed: All forms of corruption, and theft are sin. Being miserly and avoiding donation to deserving recipients is also sin. Further, irrationally donating to undeserving receivers is also a sin. These three main sins are to be strictly avoided by all people. Being ethical, following justice and strictly avoiding sin is the minimum and maximum expectation of God from any soul, be it a theist or an atheist. If the people of a country can pray to God in the following manner, this calamity can be avoided in that country. Even people who do not believe in God can make the following resolve and abide by it. They too shall be protected. The prayer or resolve is as follows: Let me propagate the message of doing meritorious deeds and not doing sins, extensively in society. By repeatedly propagating this message of living ethically in society, not only do I imbibe it fully, but the public also imbibes it fully. It brings reformation in me as well as in the society around me. At the very least, it reduces the intensity of sin. All souls including me will, at least, sincerely try to reduce the intensity of their sin. Even atheistic countries and atheists within different countries can make this resolve because it makes no reference to God. However, atheists must accept the inevitable force with which the sins of mankind get punished by nature. This mere invisible virus has brought the whole world to a halt and left even the world leaders trembling in fear. At the time of the final destruction, the final Incarnation of God called Kalki, using the electric sword (vidyut khadga) given by Lord Śiva, will destroy almost all the souls in the world with unimaginable speed. It will be a million times faster than the spread of the present virus! =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

Permanent Solution for the Coronavirus Pandemic Shri Phani asked: How to overcome such calamities as all the world is facing now due to the present horrible virus? Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! A king passed a rule in his kingdom which was to be followed by all citizens. The citizens who failed to follow the rule were to be punished. Some citizens violated the rule and were punished by the court of law (dharmāsanam) present in the kingdom. Now, suppose these punished violators praise the king a lot and pray to him, will the king cancel their punishment using his supreme power? The other citizens who followed his rule were not punished, even though they never praised the king. Hence, the main point here is to follow the rule of the king. Whether citizens praise the king or not is immaterial. If you replace the king with God and the kingdom with this entire world, you will be able to relate the above story to the present context. God has given the divine constitution called the Dharma Śāstra, to humanity through ancient sages. Every soul is expected to follow that divine constitution of God. The constitution recommends doing certain meritorious deeds and prohibits sinful deeds. If one does not do the meritorious deeds, one only misses some benefit like going to heaven. But if one commits sin, one faces inevitable punishment. The punishment includes being sent to hell after death and undergoing suffering there. But it also includes hell-like punishment here on earth, when the sin committed is highly intense (Atyutkaṭaiḥ pāpa puṇyaiḥ, ihaiva phalamaśnute). The present calamity is punishment given by God to souls here on earth. Hence, it is indeed the result of the intense sins done by the souls in this world. Following justice, doing meritorious deeds and not committing sin is the path of pravṛtti or worldly life. Devotion to God, which includes praising God, is the path of nivṛtti or spiritual life. A soul’s efforts in nivṛtti do not save the soul from the punishment of violating pravṛtti. Hence, praying to God will not stop this calamity, since it is the punishment for the sins committed by souls in worldly life (pravṛtti). Pravṛtti and nivṛtti are independent fields and nivṛtti never interferes with pravṛtti. Even if a soul is an atheist, but if he or she follows pravṛtti (worldly justice) strictly, the soul will not face any punishment. By avoiding sin, one certainly avoids the punishment of sin. Such a person will escape the infection even in the present epidemic. The three main sins mentioned in the Gita “Kāmaḥ krodhaḥ tathā lobhaḥ…” are given below and briefly explained: 1. Illegitimate sex: Sex with anyone except one’s legitimate married life-partner is sin. 2. Illegitimate anger: The unjust anger or violence shown towards good people and harmless living beings is sin. Not showing the appropriate anger or force towards bad people is also a sin. 3. Illegitimate greed: All forms of corruption, and theft are sin. Being miserly and avoiding donation to deserving recipients is also sin. Further, irrationally donating to undeserving receivers is also a sin. These three main sins are to be strictly avoided by all people. Being ethical, following justice and strictly avoiding sin is the minimum and maximum expectation of God from any soul, be it a theist or an atheist. If the people of a country can pray to God in the following manner, this calamity can be avoided in that country. Even people who do not believe in God can make the following resolve and abide by it. They too shall be protected. The prayer or resolve is as follows: Let me propagate the message of doing meritorious deeds and not doing sins, extensively in society. By repeatedly propagating this message of living ethically in society, not only do I imbibe it fully, but the public also imbibes it fully. It brings reformation in me as well as in the society around me. At the very least, it reduces the intensity of sin. All souls including me will, at least, sincerely try to reduce the intensity of their sin. Even atheistic countries and atheists within different countries can make this resolve because it makes no reference to God. However, atheists must accept the inevitable force with which the sins of mankind get punished by nature. This mere invisible virus has brought the whole world to a halt and left even the world leaders trembling in fear. At the time of the final destruction, the final Incarnation of God called Kalki, using the electric sword (vidyut khadga) given by Lord Śiva, will destroy almost all the souls in the world with unimaginable speed. It will be a million times faster than the spread of the present virus! =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

Permanent Solution for the Coronavirus Pandemic Shri Phani asked: How to overcome such calamities as all the world is facing now due to the present horrible virus? Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! A king passed a rule in his kingdom which was to be followed by all citizens. The citizens who failed to follow the rule were to be punished. Some citizens violated the rule and were punished by the court of law (dharmāsanam) present in the kingdom. Now, suppose these punished violators praise the king a lot and pray to him, will the king cancel their punishment using his supreme power? The other citizens who followed his rule were not punished, even though they never praised the king. Hence, the main point here is to follow the rule of the king. Whether citizens praise the king or not is immaterial. If you replace the king with God and the kingdom with this entire world, you will be able to relate the above story to the present context. God has given the divine constitution called the Dharma Śāstra, to humanity through ancient sages. Every soul is expected to follow that divine constitution of God. The constitution recommends doing certain meritorious deeds and prohibits sinful deeds. If one does not do the meritorious deeds, one only misses some benefit like going to heaven. But if one commits sin, one faces inevitable punishment. The punishment includes being sent to hell after death and undergoing suffering there. But it also includes hell-like punishment here on earth, when the sin committed is highly intense (Atyutkaṭaiḥ pāpa puṇyaiḥ, ihaiva phalamaśnute). The present calamity is punishment given by God to souls here on earth. Hence, it is indeed the result of the intense sins done by the souls in this world. Following justice, doing meritorious deeds and not committing sin is the path of pravṛtti or worldly life. Devotion to God, which includes praising God, is the path of nivṛtti or spiritual life. A soul’s efforts in nivṛtti do not save the soul from the punishment of violating pravṛtti. Hence, praying to God will not stop this calamity, since it is the punishment for the sins committed by souls in worldly life (pravṛtti). Pravṛtti and nivṛtti are independent fields and nivṛtti never interferes with pravṛtti. Even if a soul is an atheist, but if he or she follows pravṛtti (worldly justice) strictly, the soul will not face any punishment. By avoiding sin, one certainly avoids the punishment of sin. Such a person will escape the infection even in the present epidemic. The three main sins mentioned in the Gita “Kāmaḥ krodhaḥ tathā lobhaḥ…” are given below and briefly explained: 1. Illegitimate sex: Sex with anyone except one’s legitimate married life-partner is sin. 2. Illegitimate anger: The unjust anger or violence shown towards good people and harmless living beings is sin. Not showing the appropriate anger or force towards bad people is also a sin. 3. Illegitimate greed: All forms of corruption, and theft are sin. Being miserly and avoiding donation to deserving recipients is also sin. Further, irrationally donating to undeserving receivers is also a sin. These three main sins are to be strictly avoided by all people. Being ethical, following justice and strictly avoiding sin is the minimum and maximum expectation of God from any soul, be it a theist or an atheist. If the people of a country can pray to God in the following manner, this calamity can be avoided in that country. Even people who do not believe in God can make the following resolve and abide by it. They too shall be protected. The prayer or resolve is as follows: Let me propagate the message of doing meritorious deeds and not doing sins, extensively in society. By repeatedly propagating this message of living ethically in society, not only do I imbibe it fully, but the public also imbibes it fully. It brings reformation in me as well as in the society around me. At the very least, it reduces the intensity of sin. All souls including me will, at least, sincerely try to reduce the intensity of their sin. Even atheistic countries and atheists within different countries can make this resolve because it makes no reference to God. However, atheists must accept the inevitable force with which the sins of mankind get punished by nature. This mere invisible virus has brought the whole world to a halt and left even the world leaders trembling in fear. At the time of the final destruction, the final Incarnation of God called Kalki, using the electric sword (vidyut khadga) given by Lord Śiva, will destroy almost all the souls in the world with unimaginable speed. It will be a million times faster than the spread of the present virus! =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

Permanent Solution for the Coronavirus Pandemic Shri Phani asked: How to overcome such calamities as all the world is facing now due to the present horrible virus? Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! A king passed a rule in his kingdom which was to be followed by all citizens. The citizens who failed to follow the rule were to be punished. Some citizens violated the rule and were punished by the court of law (dharmāsanam) present in the kingdom. Now, suppose these punished violators praise the king a lot and pray to him, will the king cancel their punishment using his supreme power? The other citizens who followed his rule were not punished, even though they never praised the king. Hence, the main point here is to follow the rule of the king. Whether citizens praise the king or not is immaterial. If you replace the king with God and the kingdom with this entire world, you will be able to relate the above story to the present context. God has given the divine constitution called the Dharma Śāstra, to humanity through ancient sages. Every soul is expected to follow that divine constitution of God. The constitution recommends doing certain meritorious deeds and prohibits sinful deeds. If one does not do the meritorious deeds, one only misses some benefit like going to heaven. But if one commits sin, one faces inevitable punishment. The punishment includes being sent to hell after death and undergoing suffering there. But it also includes hell-like punishment here on earth, when the sin committed is highly intense (Atyutkaṭaiḥ pāpa puṇyaiḥ, ihaiva phalamaśnute). The present calamity is punishment given by God to souls here on earth. Hence, it is indeed the result of the intense sins done by the souls in this world. Following justice, doing meritorious deeds and not committing sin is the path of pravṛtti or worldly life. Devotion to God, which includes praising God, is the path of nivṛtti or spiritual life. A soul’s efforts in nivṛtti do not save the soul from the punishment of violating pravṛtti. Hence, praying to God will not stop this calamity, since it is the punishment for the sins committed by souls in worldly life (pravṛtti). Pravṛtti and nivṛtti are independent fields and nivṛtti never interferes with pravṛtti. Even if a soul is an atheist, but if he or she follows pravṛtti (worldly justice) strictly, the soul will not face any punishment. By avoiding sin, one certainly avoids the punishment of sin. Such a person will escape the infection even in the present epidemic. The three main sins mentioned in the Gita “Kāmaḥ krodhaḥ tathā lobhaḥ…” are given below and briefly explained: 1. Illegitimate sex: Sex with anyone except one’s legitimate married life-partner is sin. 2. Illegitimate anger: The unjust anger or violence shown towards good people and harmless living beings is sin. Not showing the appropriate anger or force towards bad people is also a sin. 3. Illegitimate greed: All forms of corruption, and theft are sin. Being miserly and avoiding donation to deserving recipients is also sin. Further, irrationally donating to undeserving receivers is also a sin. These three main sins are to be strictly avoided by all people. Being ethical, following justice and strictly avoiding sin is the minimum and maximum expectation of God from any soul, be it a theist or an atheist. If the people of a country can pray to God in the following manner, this calamity can be avoided in that country. Even people who do not believe in God can make the following resolve and abide by it. They too shall be protected. The prayer or resolve is as follows: Let me propagate the message of doing meritorious deeds and not doing sins, extensively in society. By repeatedly propagating this message of living ethically in society, not only do I imbibe it fully, but the public also imbibes it fully. It brings reformation in me as well as in the society around me. At the very least, it reduces the intensity of sin. All souls including me will, at least, sincerely try to reduce the intensity of their sin. Even atheistic countries and atheists within different countries can make this resolve because it makes no reference to God. However, atheists must accept the inevitable force with which the sins of mankind get punished by nature. This mere invisible virus has brought the whole world to a halt and left even the world leaders trembling in fear. At the time of the final destruction, the final Incarnation of God called Kalki, using the electric sword (vidyut khadga) given by Lord Śiva, will destroy almost all the souls in the world with unimaginable speed. It will be a million times faster than the spread of the present virus! =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

Permanent Solution for the Coronavirus Pandemic Shri Phani asked: How to overcome such calamities as all the world is facing now due to the present horrible virus? Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! A king passed a rule in his kingdom which was to be followed by all citizens. The citizens who failed to follow the rule were to be punished. Some citizens violated the rule and were punished by the court of law (dharmāsanam) present in the kingdom. Now, suppose these punished violators praise the king a lot and pray to him, will the king cancel their punishment using his supreme power? The other citizens who followed his rule were not punished, even though they never praised the king. Hence, the main point here is to follow the rule of the king. Whether citizens praise the king or not is immaterial. If you replace the king with God and the kingdom with this entire world, you will be able to relate the above story to the present context. God has given the divine constitution called the Dharma Śāstra, to humanity through ancient sages. Every soul is expected to follow that divine constitution of God. The constitution recommends doing certain meritorious deeds and prohibits sinful deeds. If one does not do the meritorious deeds, one only misses some benefit like going to heaven. But if one commits sin, one faces inevitable punishment. The punishment includes being sent to hell after death and undergoing suffering there. But it also includes hell-like punishment here on earth, when the sin committed is highly intense (Atyutkaṭaiḥ pāpa puṇyaiḥ, ihaiva phalamaśnute). The present calamity is punishment given by God to souls here on earth. Hence, it is indeed the result of the intense sins done by the souls in this world. Following justice, doing meritorious deeds and not committing sin is the path of pravṛtti or worldly life. Devotion to God, which includes praising God, is the path of nivṛtti or spiritual life. A soul’s efforts in nivṛtti do not save the soul from the punishment of violating pravṛtti. Hence, praying to God will not stop this calamity, since it is the punishment for the sins committed by souls in worldly life (pravṛtti). Pravṛtti and nivṛtti are independent fields and nivṛtti never interferes with pravṛtti. Even if a soul is an atheist, but if he or she follows pravṛtti (worldly justice) strictly, the soul will not face any punishment. By avoiding sin, one certainly avoids the punishment of sin. Such a person will escape the infection even in the present epidemic. The three main sins mentioned in the Gita “Kāmaḥ krodhaḥ tathā lobhaḥ…” are given below and briefly explained: 1. Illegitimate sex: Sex with anyone except one’s legitimate married life-partner is sin. 2. Illegitimate anger: The unjust anger or violence shown towards good people and harmless living beings is sin. Not showing the appropriate anger or force towards bad people is also a sin. 3. Illegitimate greed: All forms of corruption, and theft are sin. Being miserly and avoiding donation to deserving recipients is also sin. Further, irrationally donating to undeserving receivers is also a sin. These three main sins are to be strictly avoided by all people. Being ethical, following justice and strictly avoiding sin is the minimum and maximum expectation of God from any soul, be it a theist or an atheist. If the people of a country can pray to God in the following manner, this calamity can be avoided in that country. Even people who do not believe in God can make the following resolve and abide by it. They too shall be protected. The prayer or resolve is as follows: Let me propagate the message of doing meritorious deeds and not doing sins, extensively in society. By repeatedly propagating this message of living ethically in society, not only do I imbibe it fully, but the public also imbibes it fully. It brings reformation in me as well as in the society around me. At the very least, it reduces the intensity of sin. All souls including me will, at least, sincerely try to reduce the intensity of their sin. Even atheistic countries and atheists within different countries can make this resolve because it makes no reference to God. However, atheists must accept the inevitable force with which the sins of mankind get punished by nature. This mere invisible virus has brought the whole world to a halt and left even the world leaders trembling in fear. At the time of the final destruction, the final Incarnation of God called Kalki, using the electric sword (vidyut khadga) given by Lord Śiva, will destroy almost all the souls in the world with unimaginable speed. It will be a million times faster than the spread of the present virus! =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

Permanent Solution for the Coronavirus Pandemic Shri Phani asked: How to overcome such calamities as all the world is facing now due to the present horrible virus? Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! A king passed a rule in his kingdom which was to be followed by all citizens. The citizens who failed to follow the rule were to be punished. Some citizens violated the rule and were punished by the court of law (dharmāsanam) present in the kingdom. Now, suppose these punished violators praise the king a lot and pray to him, will the king cancel their punishment using his supreme power? The other citizens who followed his rule were not punished, even though they never praised the king. Hence, the main point here is to follow the rule of the king. Whether citizens praise the king or not is immaterial. If you replace the king with God and the kingdom with this entire world, you will be able to relate the above story to the present context. God has given the divine constitution called the Dharma Śāstra, to humanity through ancient sages. Every soul is expected to follow that divine constitution of God. The constitution recommends doing certain meritorious deeds and prohibits sinful deeds. If one does not do the meritorious deeds, one only misses some benefit like going to heaven. But if one commits sin, one faces inevitable punishment. The punishment includes being sent to hell after death and undergoing suffering there. But it also includes hell-like punishment here on earth, when the sin committed is highly intense (Atyutkaṭaiḥ pāpa puṇyaiḥ, ihaiva phalamaśnute). The present calamity is punishment given by God to souls here on earth. Hence, it is indeed the result of the intense sins done by the souls in this world. Following justice, doing meritorious deeds and not committing sin is the path of pravṛtti or worldly life. Devotion to God, which includes praising God, is the path of nivṛtti or spiritual life. A soul’s efforts in nivṛtti do not save the soul from the punishment of violating pravṛtti. Hence, praying to God will not stop this calamity, since it is the punishment for the sins committed by souls in worldly life (pravṛtti). Pravṛtti and nivṛtti are independent fields and nivṛtti never interferes with pravṛtti. Even if a soul is an atheist, but if he or she follows pravṛtti (worldly justice) strictly, the soul will not face any punishment. By avoiding sin, one certainly avoids the punishment of sin. Such a person will escape the infection even in the present epidemic. The three main sins mentioned in the Gita “Kāmaḥ krodhaḥ tathā lobhaḥ…” are given below and briefly explained: 1. Illegitimate sex: Sex with anyone except one’s legitimate married life-partner is sin. 2. Illegitimate anger: The unjust anger or violence shown towards good people and harmless living beings is sin. Not showing the appropriate anger or force towards bad people is also a sin. 3. Illegitimate greed: All forms of corruption, and theft are sin. Being miserly and avoiding donation to deserving recipients is also sin. Further, irrationally donating to undeserving receivers is also a sin. These three main sins are to be strictly avoided by all people. Being ethical, following justice and strictly avoiding sin is the minimum and maximum expectation of God from any soul, be it a theist or an atheist. If the people of a country can pray to God in the following manner, this calamity can be avoided in that country. Even people who do not believe in God can make the following resolve and abide by it. They too shall be protected. The prayer or resolve is as follows: Let me propagate the message of doing meritorious deeds and not doing sins, extensively in society. By repeatedly propagating this message of living ethically in society, not only do I imbibe it fully, but the public also imbibes it fully. It brings reformation in me as well as in the society around me. At the very least, it reduces the intensity of sin. All souls including me will, at least, sincerely try to reduce the intensity of their sin. Even atheistic countries and atheists within different countries can make this resolve because it makes no reference to God. However, atheists must accept the inevitable force with which the sins of mankind get punished by nature. This mere invisible virus has brought the whole world to a halt and left even the world leaders trembling in fear. At the time of the final destruction, the final Incarnation of God called Kalki, using the electric sword (vidyut khadga) given by Lord Śiva, will destroy almost all the souls in the world with unimaginable speed. It will be a million times faster than the spread of the present virus! =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

Permanent Solution for the Coronavirus Pandemic Shri Phani asked: How to overcome such calamities as all the world is facing now due to the present horrible virus? Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! A king passed a rule in his kingdom which was to be followed by all citizens. The citizens who failed to follow the rule were to be punished. Some citizens violated the rule and were punished by the court of law (dharmāsanam) present in the kingdom. Now, suppose these punished violators praise the king a lot and pray to him, will the king cancel their punishment using his supreme power? The other citizens who followed his rule were not punished, even though they never praised the king. Hence, the main point here is to follow the rule of the king. Whether citizens praise the king or not is immaterial. If you replace the king with God and the kingdom with this entire world, you will be able to relate the above story to the present context. God has given the divine constitution called the Dharma Śāstra, to humanity through ancient sages. Every soul is expected to follow that divine constitution of God. The constitution recommends doing certain meritorious deeds and prohibits sinful deeds. If one does not do the meritorious deeds, one only misses some benefit like going to heaven. But if one commits sin, one faces inevitable punishment. The punishment includes being sent to hell after death and undergoing suffering there. But it also includes hell-like punishment here on earth, when the sin committed is highly intense (Atyutkaṭaiḥ pāpa puṇyaiḥ, ihaiva phalamaśnute). The present calamity is punishment given by God to souls here on earth. Hence, it is indeed the result of the intense sins done by the souls in this world. Following justice, doing meritorious deeds and not committing sin is the path of pravṛtti or worldly life. Devotion to God, which includes praising God, is the path of nivṛtti or spiritual life. A soul’s efforts in nivṛtti do not save the soul from the punishment of violating pravṛtti. Hence, praying to God will not stop this calamity, since it is the punishment for the sins committed by souls in worldly life (pravṛtti). Pravṛtti and nivṛtti are independent fields and nivṛtti never interferes with pravṛtti. Even if a soul is an atheist, but if he or she follows pravṛtti (worldly justice) strictly, the soul will not face any punishment. By avoiding sin, one certainly avoids the punishment of sin. Such a person will escape the infection even in the present epidemic. The three main sins mentioned in the Gita “Kāmaḥ krodhaḥ tathā lobhaḥ…” are given below and briefly explained: 1. Illegitimate sex: Sex with anyone except one’s legitimate married life-partner is sin. 2. Illegitimate anger: The unjust anger or violence shown towards good people and harmless living beings is sin. Not showing the appropriate anger or force towards bad people is also a sin. 3. Illegitimate greed: All forms of corruption, and theft are sin. Being miserly and avoiding donation to deserving recipients is also sin. Further, irrationally donating to undeserving receivers is also a sin. These three main sins are to be strictly avoided by all people. Being ethical, following justice and strictly avoiding sin is the minimum and maximum expectation of God from any soul, be it a theist or an atheist. If the people of a country can pray to God in the following manner, this calamity can be avoided in that country. Even people who do not believe in God can make the following resolve and abide by it. They too shall be protected. The prayer or resolve is as follows: Let me propagate the message of doing meritorious deeds and not doing sins, extensively in society. By repeatedly propagating this message of living ethically in society, not only do I imbibe it fully, but the public also imbibes it fully. It brings reformation in me as well as in the society around me. At the very least, it reduces the intensity of sin. All souls including me will, at least, sincerely try to reduce the intensity of their sin. Even atheistic countries and atheists within different countries can make this resolve because it makes no reference to God. However, atheists must accept the inevitable force with which the sins of mankind get punished by nature. This mere invisible virus has brought the whole world to a halt and left even the world leaders trembling in fear. At the time of the final destruction, the final Incarnation of God called Kalki, using the electric sword (vidyut khadga) given by Lord Śiva, will destroy almost all the souls in the world with unimaginable speed. It will be a million times faster than the spread of the present virus! =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

Permanent Solution for the Coronavirus Pandemic Shri Phani asked: How to overcome such calamities as all the world is facing now due to the present horrible virus? Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! A king passed a rule in his kingdom which was to be followed by all citizens. The citizens who failed to follow the rule were to be punished. Some citizens violated the rule and were punished by the court of law (dharmāsanam) present in the kingdom. Now, suppose these punished violators praise the king a lot and pray to him, will the king cancel their punishment using his supreme power? The other citizens who followed his rule were not punished, even though they never praised the king. Hence, the main point here is to follow the rule of the king. Whether citizens praise the king or not is immaterial. If you replace the king with God and the kingdom with this entire world, you will be able to relate the above story to the present context. God has given the divine constitution called the Dharma Śāstra, to humanity through ancient sages. Every soul is expected to follow that divine constitution of God. The constitution recommends doing certain meritorious deeds and prohibits sinful deeds. If one does not do the meritorious deeds, one only misses some benefit like going to heaven. But if one commits sin, one faces inevitable punishment. The punishment includes being sent to hell after death and undergoing suffering there. But it also includes hell-like punishment here on earth, when the sin committed is highly intense (Atyutkaṭaiḥ pāpa puṇyaiḥ, ihaiva phalamaśnute). The present calamity is punishment given by God to souls here on earth. Hence, it is indeed the result of the intense sins done by the souls in this world. Following justice, doing meritorious deeds and not committing sin is the path of pravṛtti or worldly life. Devotion to God, which includes praising God, is the path of nivṛtti or spiritual life. A soul’s efforts in nivṛtti do not save the soul from the punishment of violating pravṛtti. Hence, praying to God will not stop this calamity, since it is the punishment for the sins committed by souls in worldly life (pravṛtti). Pravṛtti and nivṛtti are independent fields and nivṛtti never interferes with pravṛtti. Even if a soul is an atheist, but if he or she follows pravṛtti (worldly justice) strictly, the soul will not face any punishment. By avoiding sin, one certainly avoids the punishment of sin. Such a person will escape the infection even in the present epidemic. The three main sins mentioned in the Gita “Kāmaḥ krodhaḥ tathā lobhaḥ…” are given below and briefly explained: 1. Illegitimate sex: Sex with anyone except one’s legitimate married life-partner is sin. 2. Illegitimate anger: The unjust anger or violence shown towards good people and harmless living beings is sin. Not showing the appropriate anger or force towards bad people is also a sin. 3. Illegitimate greed: All forms of corruption, and theft are sin. Being miserly and avoiding donation to deserving recipients is also sin. Further, irrationally donating to undeserving receivers is also a sin. These three main sins are to be strictly avoided by all people. Being ethical, following justice and strictly avoiding sin is the minimum and maximum expectation of God from any soul, be it a theist or an atheist. If the people of a country can pray to God in the following manner, this calamity can be avoided in that country. Even people who do not believe in God can make the following resolve and abide by it. They too shall be protected. The prayer or resolve is as follows: Let me propagate the message of doing meritorious deeds and not doing sins, extensively in society. By repeatedly propagating this message of living ethically in society, not only do I imbibe it fully, but the public also imbibes it fully. It brings reformation in me as well as in the society around me. At the very least, it reduces the intensity of sin. All souls including me will, at least, sincerely try to reduce the intensity of their sin. Even atheistic countries and atheists within different countries can make this resolve because it makes no reference to God. However, atheists must accept the inevitable force with which the sins of mankind get punished by nature. This mere invisible virus has brought the whole world to a halt and left even the world leaders trembling in fear. At the time of the final destruction, the final Incarnation of God called Kalki, using the electric sword (vidyut khadga) given by Lord Śiva, will destroy almost all the souls in the world with unimaginable speed. It will be a million times faster than the spread of the present virus! =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

Permanent Solution for the Coronavirus Pandemic Shri Phani asked: How to overcome such calamities as all the world is facing now due to the present horrible virus? Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! A king passed a rule in his kingdom which was to be followed by all citizens. The citizens who failed to follow the rule were to be punished. Some citizens violated the rule and were punished by the court of law (dharmāsanam) present in the kingdom. Now, suppose these punished violators praise the king a lot and pray to him, will the king cancel their punishment using his supreme power? The other citizens who followed his rule were not punished, even though they never praised the king. Hence, the main point here is to follow the rule of the king. Whether citizens praise the king or not is immaterial. If you replace the king with God and the kingdom with this entire world, you will be able to relate the above story to the present context. God has given the divine constitution called the Dharma Śāstra, to humanity through ancient sages. Every soul is expected to follow that divine constitution of God. The constitution recommends doing certain meritorious deeds and prohibits sinful deeds. If one does not do the meritorious deeds, one only misses some benefit like going to heaven. But if one commits sin, one faces inevitable punishment. The punishment includes being sent to hell after death and undergoing suffering there. But it also includes hell-like punishment here on earth, when the sin committed is highly intense (Atyutkaṭaiḥ pāpa puṇyaiḥ, ihaiva phalamaśnute). The present calamity is punishment given by God to souls here on earth. Hence, it is indeed the result of the intense sins done by the souls in this world. Following justice, doing meritorious deeds and not committing sin is the path of pravṛtti or worldly life. Devotion to God, which includes praising God, is the path of nivṛtti or spiritual life. A soul’s efforts in nivṛtti do not save the soul from the punishment of violating pravṛtti. Hence, praying to God will not stop this calamity, since it is the punishment for the sins committed by souls in worldly life (pravṛtti). Pravṛtti and nivṛtti are independent fields and nivṛtti never interferes with pravṛtti. Even if a soul is an atheist, but if he or she follows pravṛtti (worldly justice) strictly, the soul will not face any punishment. By avoiding sin, one certainly avoids the punishment of sin. Such a person will escape the infection even in the present epidemic. The three main sins mentioned in the Gita “Kāmaḥ krodhaḥ tathā lobhaḥ…” are given below and briefly explained: 1. Illegitimate sex: Sex with anyone except one’s legitimate married life-partner is sin. 2. Illegitimate anger: The unjust anger or violence shown towards good people and harmless living beings is sin. Not showing the appropriate anger or force towards bad people is also a sin. 3. Illegitimate greed: All forms of corruption, and theft are sin. Being miserly and avoiding donation to deserving recipients is also sin. Further, irrationally donating to undeserving receivers is also a sin. These three main sins are to be strictly avoided by all people. Being ethical, following justice and strictly avoiding sin is the minimum and maximum expectation of God from any soul, be it a theist or an atheist. If the people of a country can pray to God in the following manner, this calamity can be avoided in that country. Even people who do not believe in God can make the following resolve and abide by it. They too shall be protected. The prayer or resolve is as follows: Let me propagate the message of doing meritorious deeds and not doing sins, extensively in society. By repeatedly propagating this message of living ethically in society, not only do I imbibe it fully, but the public also imbibes it fully. It brings reformation in me as well as in the society around me. At the very least, it reduces the intensity of sin. All souls including me will, at least, sincerely try to reduce the intensity of their sin. Even atheistic countries and atheists within different countries can make this resolve because it makes no reference to God. However, atheists must accept the inevitable force with which the sins of mankind get punished by nature. This mere invisible virus has brought the whole world to a halt and left even the world leaders trembling in fear. At the time of the final destruction, the final Incarnation of God called Kalki, using the electric sword (vidyut khadga) given by Lord Śiva, will destroy almost all the souls in the world with unimaginable speed. It will be a million times faster than the spread of the present virus! =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

Permanent Solution for the Coronavirus Pandemic Shri Phani asked: How to overcome such calamities as all the world is facing now due to the present horrible virus? Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! A king passed a rule in his kingdom which was to be followed by all citizens. The citizens who failed to follow the rule were to be punished. Some citizens violated the rule and were punished by the court of law (dharmāsanam) present in the kingdom. Now, suppose these punished violators praise the king a lot and pray to him, will the king cancel their punishment using his supreme power? The other citizens who followed his rule were not punished, even though they never praised the king. Hence, the main point here is to follow the rule of the king. Whether citizens praise the king or not is immaterial. If you replace the king with God and the kingdom with this entire world, you will be able to relate the above story to the present context. God has given the divine constitution called the Dharma Śāstra, to humanity through ancient sages. Every soul is expected to follow that divine constitution of God. The constitution recommends doing certain meritorious deeds and prohibits sinful deeds. If one does not do the meritorious deeds, one only misses some benefit like going to heaven. But if one commits sin, one faces inevitable punishment. The punishment includes being sent to hell after death and undergoing suffering there. But it also includes hell-like punishment here on earth, when the sin committed is highly intense (Atyutkaṭaiḥ pāpa puṇyaiḥ, ihaiva phalamaśnute). The present calamity is punishment given by God to souls here on earth. Hence, it is indeed the result of the intense sins done by the souls in this world. Following justice, doing meritorious deeds and not committing sin is the path of pravṛtti or worldly life. Devotion to God, which includes praising God, is the path of nivṛtti or spiritual life. A soul’s efforts in nivṛtti do not save the soul from the punishment of violating pravṛtti. Hence, praying to God will not stop this calamity, since it is the punishment for the sins committed by souls in worldly life (pravṛtti). Pravṛtti and nivṛtti are independent fields and nivṛtti never interferes with pravṛtti. Even if a soul is an atheist, but if he or she follows pravṛtti (worldly justice) strictly, the soul will not face any punishment. By avoiding sin, one certainly avoids the punishment of sin. Such a person will escape the infection even in the present epidemic. The three main sins mentioned in the Gita “Kāmaḥ krodhaḥ tathā lobhaḥ…” are given below and briefly explained: 1. Illegitimate sex: Sex with anyone except one’s legitimate married life-partner is sin. 2. Illegitimate anger: The unjust anger or violence shown towards good people and harmless living beings is sin. Not showing the appropriate anger or force towards bad people is also a sin. 3. Illegitimate greed: All forms of corruption, and theft are sin. Being miserly and avoiding donation to deserving recipients is also sin. Further, irrationally donating to undeserving receivers is also a sin. These three main sins are to be strictly avoided by all people. Being ethical, following justice and strictly avoiding sin is the minimum and maximum expectation of God from any soul, be it a theist or an atheist. If the people of a country can pray to God in the following manner, this calamity can be avoided in that country. Even people who do not believe in God can make the following resolve and abide by it. They too shall be protected. The prayer or resolve is as follows: Let me propagate the message of doing meritorious deeds and not doing sins, extensively in society. By repeatedly propagating this message of living ethically in society, not only do I imbibe it fully, but the public also imbibes it fully. It brings reformation in me as well as in the society around me. At the very least, it reduces the intensity of sin. All souls including me will, at least, sincerely try to reduce the intensity of their sin. Even atheistic countries and atheists within different countries can make this resolve because it makes no reference to God. However, atheists must accept the inevitable force with which the sins of mankind get punished by nature. This mere invisible virus has brought the whole world to a halt and left even the world leaders trembling in fear. At the time of the final destruction, the final Incarnation of God called Kalki, using the electric sword (vidyut khadga) given by Lord Śiva, will destroy almost all the souls in the world with unimaginable speed. It will be a million times faster than the spread of the present virus! =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

Permanent Solution for the Coronavirus Pandemic Shri Phani asked: How to overcome such calamities as all the world is facing now due to the present horrible virus? Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! A king passed a rule in his kingdom which was to be followed by all citizens. The citizens who failed to follow the rule were to be punished. Some citizens violated the rule and were punished by the court of law (dharmāsanam) present in the kingdom. Now, suppose these punished violators praise the king a lot and pray to him, will the king cancel their punishment using his supreme power? The other citizens who followed his rule were not punished, even though they never praised the king. Hence, the main point here is to follow the rule of the king. Whether citizens praise the king or not is immaterial. If you replace the king with God and the kingdom with this entire world, you will be able to relate the above story to the present context. God has given the divine constitution called the Dharma Śāstra, to humanity through ancient sages. Every soul is expected to follow that divine constitution of God. The constitution recommends doing certain meritorious deeds and prohibits sinful deeds. If one does not do the meritorious deeds, one only misses some benefit like going to heaven. But if one commits sin, one faces inevitable punishment. The punishment includes being sent to hell after death and undergoing suffering there. But it also includes hell-like punishment here on earth, when the sin committed is highly intense (Atyutkaṭaiḥ pāpa puṇyaiḥ, ihaiva phalamaśnute). The present calamity is punishment given by God to souls here on earth. Hence, it is indeed the result of the intense sins done by the souls in this world. Following justice, doing meritorious deeds and not committing sin is the path of pravṛtti or worldly life. Devotion to God, which includes praising God, is the path of nivṛtti or spiritual life. A soul’s efforts in nivṛtti do not save the soul from the punishment of violating pravṛtti. Hence, praying to God will not stop this calamity, since it is the punishment for the sins committed by souls in worldly life (pravṛtti). Pravṛtti and nivṛtti are independent fields and nivṛtti never interferes with pravṛtti. Even if a soul is an atheist, but if he or she follows pravṛtti (worldly justice) strictly, the soul will not face any punishment. By avoiding sin, one certainly avoids the punishment of sin. Such a person will escape the infection even in the present epidemic. The three main sins mentioned in the Gita “Kāmaḥ krodhaḥ tathā lobhaḥ…” are given below and briefly explained: 1. Illegitimate sex: Sex with anyone except one’s legitimate married life-partner is sin. 2. Illegitimate anger: The unjust anger or violence shown towards good people and harmless living beings is sin. Not showing the appropriate anger or force towards bad people is also a sin. 3. Illegitimate greed: All forms of corruption, and theft are sin. Being miserly and avoiding donation to deserving recipients is also sin. Further, irrationally donating to undeserving receivers is also a sin. These three main sins are to be strictly avoided by all people. Being ethical, following justice and strictly avoiding sin is the minimum and maximum expectation of God from any soul, be it a theist or an atheist. If the people of a country can pray to God in the following manner, this calamity can be avoided in that country. Even people who do not believe in God can make the following resolve and abide by it. They too shall be protected. The prayer or resolve is as follows: Let me propagate the message of doing meritorious deeds and not doing sins, extensively in society. By repeatedly propagating this message of living ethically in society, not only do I imbibe it fully, but the public also imbibes it fully. It brings reformation in me as well as in the society around me. At the very least, it reduces the intensity of sin. All souls including me will, at least, sincerely try to reduce the intensity of their sin. Even atheistic countries and atheists within different countries can make this resolve because it makes no reference to God. However, atheists must accept the inevitable force with which the sins of mankind get punished by nature. This mere invisible virus has brought the whole world to a halt and left even the world leaders trembling in fear. At the time of the final destruction, the final Incarnation of God called Kalki, using the electric sword (vidyut khadga) given by Lord Śiva, will destroy almost all the souls in the world with unimaginable speed. It will be a million times faster than the spread of the present virus! =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

God is Beyond Time Note: This article is meant for intellectuals only Shri Anil asked: Padanamaskaram Swami, A person in quora forum asked the following doubt. What is time? Can God exist outside of time? Is it possible for anything to happen without time? at Your Lotus feet, Anil Swami Replied: Shankara proposed that God is beyond space and time. According to Him space and time are conventional and they are myths (Mithya) with respect to God. Based on this, scholars say that an event (paristhiti) is defined by space (Desha) and time (Kaala) (Desha kaala paristhitih). The same concept is proposed by Einstein, who says that any event in creation can be defined with the four-dimensional model of space-time, where three coordinates belong to space and the fourth coordinate, is time. Time is based on the activity of an item composed of matter and energy and the duration for which the activity continued. The sun is an item made of matter and energy. Its activity is the movement in the sky. Actually, after Aryabhaṭṭa, Brahmagupta established that the earth moves around the sun and around itself too. But from our point of view, the sun moves in the sky. In any case, the study of time proves that time is a component of creation. It is certainly not beyond creation. The first created item is space, which is the subtlest form of energy. Time is always associated with space. From space (space-time), the rest of creation evolved. The unimaginable God is beyond creation. He is beyond the first created item, space and also beyond time, which is always associated with space. The First Energetic Incarnation is called Datta. He is also called Eshvara or Father of heaven. Even God Datta is beyond the concept of time. He is eternal and changeless. This is because the unimaginable God has permanently merged with God Datta. Before the creation of the first item of creation, i.e. space (subtle energy); only the unimaginable God existed. No concept of time existed in the unimaginable God. The word ‘before’, which indicates time, is associated only with creation. It cannot be linked with the state of the unimaginable God existing alone up to that point of the beginning of creation. The concept of time appeared only after creation. God Datta exists in creation, but for all practical purposes, He is beyond this creation due to the eternal merging of the unimaginable God with Him. This creation will never end even though it had a beginning. Hence, there is no possibility of the disappearance of time at any point in the future. Since the entertainment of the unimaginable God (or God Datta) continues forever, this creation will never disappear. Even when God withdraws from the entertainment, creation is maintained in a very subtle state (avyaktam), only to be projected again whenever entertainment is required. The disappearance of creation or space cannot even be imagined. If it were possible to imagine the disappearance of creation and space, it would also be possible to imagine the unimaginable God. Of course, that is impossible! The existence of the unimaginable God alone is imaginable (Astiityevopalabdhavyah—Veda). In fact, the existence of the unimaginable God can be logically experienced. Through the authority of experience, the existence of the unimaginable God is shown to be valid (Anubhavaikavedyam Brahma). Of course, the unimaginable God perfectly has the potency to make the entire creation, including the First Energetic Incarnation, disappear at any time. But this potency is never exhibited practically for the sake of maintaining the eternality of God Datta, who is perfectly identified with the unimaginable God. The energetic body of God Datta is to Him as your body is to you. Your human awareness or soul pervades all over your material body. Similarly, the awareness of God Datta also pervades all over His energetic body. The important difference is that the unimaginable God has merged in the awareness of God Datta. So, along with His awareness, the unimaginable God also pervades all over the energetic body of God Datta. Hence, we say that the soul as well as the body of God Datta are pervaded by the unimaginable God. Any human being who destroys his own body commits the greatest sin called suicide. Such a thing can never be imagined even in a dream, in the case of the unimaginable God! So, the First Energetic Incarnation, with whom the unimaginable God is completely merged, will never be destroyed. It remains eternal and changeless. In the case of the unimaginable God, you should not think about the time in which the unimaginable God remained in His inherent state. It is the state even before the creation of space and His First Energetic Incarnation. Even if you assume that some such time existed, when God was in that unimaginable state before creation, that time is also unimaginable! You cannot consider the unimaginable time as a separate unimaginable entity because two unimaginable items cannot co-exist. The result is that the unimaginable time is also the same unimaginable God. Hence, you cannot imagine the unimaginable time in which the unimaginable God alone existed until the starting point of the imaginable creation.

Brahma Loka Comes to Shri. C. B. K. Murthy Discourse Podcast Shri C. B. K. Murthy, the first pillar of the mission of the propagation of the spiritual knowledge of Swami, expired at 11.00 pm on 09.11.2018. On the same day from 09.00 pm onwards, Swami was watching a movie on Shri Akkalkot Maharaj played on the television from a pen-drive. The last scene in the movie in which Shri Maharaj breathed His last, appeared exactly at 11.00 pm. Swami suffered in terrible pain and wept for half an hour, indicating the death of His important devotee. Swami did not weep like this previously while seeing this picture. A week earlier, the son of Shri C. B. K. Murthy had come and told Swami that his father was constantly uttering the name of Swami. Swami replied that He would come to his house to see him in just a week and that it would be His last visit to the devotee! The family members of the devotee told Swami that the devotee in his last days was always remembering the name of Swami alone and was praying to Swami to uplift his soul. Swami replied: “As per the ethical scripture, I am not supposed to visit the funeral ritual of anybody for a period of six months since I just performed the marriage of My third son four months ago. During this period I did not even attend the annual ceremony of My late mother due to that restriction. But I attended this ritual, abandoning the rules of pravrutti since this is the line of nivrutti. By this you can realize that how much value I have given to this devotee!” All the family members of the devotee said that the devotee reached Brahma Loka (Abode of God) since Swami came there. But Swami replied, “This devotee did not reach Brahma Loka since Brahma Loka itself reached this devotee!” Smt. Shrilakshmi, the first daughter-in-law of the devotee asked Swami about the journey of the soul after death. Swami gave the following message to all the family and relatives of the devotee on that day. Smt. Shrilakshmi is the fortunate devotee to whom Swami had given a vision in the past, in which He appeared as God Brahma emitting tremendous radiation. The Journey of Souls Doing Worldly Deeds Swami spoke: After death, the individual soul (Jiva) enters an energetic subtle body and reaches the immediate upper sub-world called Preta Loka. There the soul waits for ten days for the inquiry of its deeds by God. During this period, its subtle body gets food from cosmic energy. Individual souls have different shades in their energetic bodies based on their qualities and deeds done. The first world, Bhuuloka, is subdivided into four sub-worlds called Martya Loka, Preta Loka, Naraka Loka and Pituloka. This earth on which human beings exist is called Martya Loka or Karma Loka, which is the first sub-world of the first world, called Bhuuloka. This first sub-world is the place for doing deeds and hence, it is called a karma loka. Above this first sub-world, the other three upper sub-worlds of the Bhuuloka and the other worlds existing above the Bhuuloka, are invisible to human beings due to the unimaginable power of God. But by the grace of God, some souls can see them. When the inquiry is over in the Preta Loka, the individual soul with its subtle body, travels along one of four channels starting from the Preta Loka which is the junction. The channel along which a soul is sent depends on the inquiry of its deeds and the corresponding fruits that are to be enjoyed by the soul. The Naraka Loka and the Pitruloka, which are the two uppermost sub-worlds of Bhuuloka lying above the Preta Loka, are called bhoga lokas. All worlds lying above the Bhuuloka are also called as bhoga lokas, which are the places meant for the enjoyment of the fruits of one’s deeds. The four possible channels through which souls are sent after the inquiry in the Preta Loka are: 1) The third sub-world immediately above the Preta Loka is called Naraka Loka, which is hell. All sinners go to this world. Their souls are present in bodies which resemble black smoke. This body of smoke is called as Dhuuma Shariira. Note that the ‘food’ for all energetic bodies is cosmic energy itself. But for the souls in the Dhuuma Shariras this ‘food’ from the cosmic energy, is almost not supplied. The souls constantly suffer from terrible weakness. Very very little cosmic energy and that too very rarely, is supplied to them now and then; just to maintain the very mild energetic bodies. Naraka Loka (hell) is headed by Yama Dharmaraaja. In the region just above this regular hell, special hells headed by Kaalabhairava also exist. 2) The uppermost sub-world of Bhuuloka is called Pitruloka to which all neutral souls go. This sub-world is located on the moon. The body of the soul here is made of mild moonlight and is called as a Pitru Sharira. Food for these bodies is supplied in the form of the light energy of the moon. 3) The next immediate world above the Bhuuloka is called Dyu loka. It is also called as Jyotirloka or Bhuvarloka. Souls who have done social service for fame on this earth, reach this world. In this world, the soul gets a body, which is like a little bright light and is called a JyotihSharira. Food is supplied to these bodies from the cosmic energy. This world lies in between Bhuuloka and the sun. 4) Above this second world, exists the Suvarloka or Svarga Loka starting from the globe of the sun up to the pole star (Dhruva). It is also commonly called heaven. Souls reaching this world are those who have done good work of social service, which is not for fame. The soul here gets a body called a bhoga Sharira. Food for this body too is supplied from cosmic energy. Once a soul attains an energetic body, material food is not at all required by its body. It is said that the material food given to deserving priests, reaches the departed souls. But this is only an Arthavaada, which is a lie told for a good purpose. It ensures that even a greedy person performs the death rituals and donates food to deserving receivers. It is very important to ensure that the receiver of our donation during any ritual is deserving of our donation. Donation to the deserving brings merit, while donation to the undeserving incurs sin. Do not think that the donation of food, clothes and money done to undeserving receivers is a mere waste. Actually, it yields punishment since such donation is sin. The Veda says that a receiver is deserving only if the person possesses the following two things (Shrotriyasyachaakaamahatasya😞 i) Spiritual knowledge of the Veda (or of the holy scripture of one’s particular religion) and ii) The lack of aspiration for receiving anything in return from the donor or performer of the ritual. The priest is the principal receiver of the donation of money (Dakshinaa) offered by the donor. Hence, the priest must explain the spiritual knowledge to the donor and other people assembled so as to improve their devotion. If this is not done, the whole ritual is a sheer waste! If the priest does this divine duty in the service of God without any aspiration in return, God will take care of everything for the priest. Money cannot be the solution for everything whereas God’s grace solves all problems. The merit earned in donating to deserving priests protects the departed soul as well as the performer of the ritual. I am not saying that the ritual should not be performed. What I say is that the ritual must be performed properly with perfect knowledge of the background (Jnaatvaa kuriita karmaani—Gita). By doing the rituals perfectly, good fruits are attained and the punishment for the sin of doing the rituals wrongly can be avoided. For souls who are on the path of pravrutti, which is the path of worldly justice, we discussed the four channels along which they are sent depending on their good and bad deeds on earth. These four channels are limited to the Bhuuloka, Bhuvarloka and Suvarloka. The individual souls after enjoying the good and bad fruits of their deeds in the upper worlds or the sub-worlds of Bhuuloka, return to earth. This cyclic rotation always continues in pravrutti. In the path of pravrutti, there is no spiritual knowledge or devotion to God. There is only doing good deeds to serve society and avoiding bad deeds which harm society. Social service is the highest merit in this field. The Journey of Souls on the Spiritual Path The second path is nivrutti. It is the path of progressing in devotion, which is based on true spiritual knowledge. On this path too, the devotee does social service but it is not for heavenly fruits. It is done on the command of God, only to please God. Here, God is more important than the social service. The fully ripened soul who follows this path, leaves this earth after death in a very bright energetic body called a Divya Sharira and directly reaches the ultimate seventh world called Brahma Loka. Brahma Loka is the abode of God Datta or Father of heaven. Ripened devotees having some deficiencies, reach the three upper worlds, which lie between Suvarloka and Brahma Loka. These three worlds are called Maharloka, Jana Loka and Tapoloka. In these worlds, these highly devoted souls, get some special spiritual advice and guidance from divine preachers, who too are present in energetic bodies in these three worlds. In these three worlds, the souls also enjoy the fruits of their spiritual progress. These are the destinations of souls on the path of nivrutti. Uncertainty about the Departed Soul’s Destination When a person dies, we do not know in which world the soul has gone. But during the ritual, the priests pray to God for the journey of the soul to the ultimate Brahma Loka (Shaashvata Brahmaloka nivaasa siddhyartham). This is only our good wish and hope for our departed loved one. The reality depends only on the merit of the soul. We even inform others about the passing away of the person by writing that the departed soul has reached heaven (Svargasthaḥ). This too is only our good wish for our departed elders and the reality depends only on the merit of the soul. We also perform annual ceremonies for the departed souls every year assuming that the soul is in heaven. The assumption behind doing the rituals is providing food for the departed souls every day as per the duration of a day in their world. As stated earlier, traditionally it is assumed that donations of food and items made by us to deserving receivers here on earth reach our departed ancestors. One day in heaven (Svarga Loka) is equal to one year on earth, whereas one day in Pitruloka is equal to one month on earth. Up to one year, we perform monthly ceremonies assuming that the soul has gone to Pitruloka. We even call our departed relatives as Pitrudevataas assuming that they are in Pitruloka. If they remain in Pitruloka, we should continue to perform these ceremonies every month since one day in Pitruloka is equal to one month on the earth. But we do these ceremonies monthly only up to one year. After the first year, we perform this ritual annually. Perhaps, this is done due to the inconvenience in doing it every month! But at least as per our assumption, it means that the soul stays in Pitruloka for one year and then moves to heaven (Svarga Loka) after one year. Yet we still continue to call our departed relatives as Pitrudevataas, which means that they are still residents of Pitruloka! By our assumption that the departed relatives have moved to heaven after the first year, we should call them as Devataas (angels), who are the residents of heaven! Of course, we must remember that even if some departed souls actually reach heaven, they are only temporary residents there. These temporary Devataas get temporary energetic bodies and are different from the permanent Devataas, who are present there in the energetic bodies forever. After the fruit of their good deeds is exhausted upon enjoyment in heaven for the stipulated time, the temporary Devataas have to return to earth. In spite of all the above assumptions made in the traditional death rituals, we donate a cow to the priest during the ritual. It is said that the donation of a cow to the priest is necessary since it allows the departed soul to cross the river of blood called Vaitaraṇi and reach hell. This donation of a cow is performed for everybody. It means the soul certainly goes to hell alone after death. This variety in the steps and rituals followed during the death ceremonies of departed souls is due to the uncertainty regarding the exact direction of the journey of the souls after their death. The Essence of the Death Rituals When a loved one dies, the surviving relatives of that person, due to their grief, get temporary detachment from worldly issues. This is called Shmashaana vairaagyam or crematorium-detachment. This condition, when their minds are temporarily free of worldly attachments, is congenial for introducing the fear of sin in them. So traditionally, the relatives are supposed to read the secondary scripture called the Garuda Puraanam, in which horrible punishments are described for the corresponding sins. Either devotion to God (bhakti) or the fear of hell (bhayam) is essential to control the sinful nature of the soul. Actually, the Garuda Puraanam can be read at any time by anybody and it need not be confined only to the death ritual. There is one important precaution that must be taken during the death ritual or any other ritual. That is that the priests should explain the spiritual knowledge of the holy scripture which is recited, to all the people attending it, so that it improves their devotion to God. Usually, the priests simply recite the scripture blindly in an unknown language (Sanskrit) without knowing or explaining its meaning. In that case, it is the responsibility of the relatives of the departed soul, who are performing the ritual to demand that the priests explain the meaning of the scripture. The performers of the ritual donate money to priests so they are like the customers who pay the priests for their services. It is said that the customer is like God. So, the donors, who are the customer-gods, must demand the explanations of the scripture from the priests. That is the only way to change these priests who have been blindly reciting the scripture for generations. It will force them to study the scripture instead of wasting time in blind recitation without knowing its meaning. There is no need to memorize the scripture and recite it. It can easily be read from the printed book. What is important is that its deep meaning should be properly explained. This deep meaning is the actual sacred spiritual knowledge. Merely reading out the translation of the Sanskrit verses is not sufficient. If the explanation of the deep spiritual knowledge becomes the main essence of the ritual, then it will benefit everyone. The people assembled will get a chance to leave their sinful behavior and get reformed. They will also develop devotion to God. Similarly, the priests themselves will get a deep understanding of the spiritual knowledge, which will reform them and develop devotion in them. If this is not done, then any type of donation to priests is not only a total waste, but it is also a sin that brings punishment upon the performer as well as the departed soul!

Will it be practical to propagate the divine knowledge in this Kali yuga? Ms. Arsha asked: Padanamaskaram Swamiji! This is Arsha. I hope You are fine Swamiji. I had some questions that were making me restless. So I wanted to ask them to you and clear my doubts. I would be really blessed if You would clear them. Swamiji please forgive me if there is any mistake in any of my questions or in my way of asking the questions. Please always be with me Swamiji. The three questions are given below. Yours Lovingly, Arsha. Discourse Podcast In this cruel yuga where there is violence and misunderstanding everywhere, will it be practical to propagate the divine knowledge? Why is it important to propagate knowledge, when we know that this is the Kali Yuga, in which people criticize, kill, insult and argue with each other having no peace of mind and no patience to listen to each other’s suggestions and queries. Will it not be a waste of time? Is it worth propagating knowledge in this cruel yuga? Please clear my doubt and enlighten my path so that I can walk on it without any sorts of doubts or queries in my mind. Swami replied: We are doing the propagation of spiritual knowledge as the work of God, whom we like the most. We are not doing this work with an aspiration for any fruit from God in return as our salary. We know very well that the fruit of God’s work is in the hands of God alone. We also know very well that God is very very potent to do His work and always get a positive fruit. In fact, God can get the fruit of His work in a fraction of a second just by His will. If He wishes, the positive fruit can be achieved in a fraction of a second; however impossible it might be to succeed in that work. In spite of all this background, why is God expecting us to do the work? It is, after all, His work alone, and success in His work depends only on His will. The answer for this is very clear. God wants to see whether we have the sincere intention to do His work, in spite of all the hurdles in the path. Our firmness to do His work with an unshakable intention for success shows our unshakable devotion to Him. God is testing the strength of our devotion to Him, which is the strength of our love for Him. If we withdraw from the work due to the hurdles, our love is not very strong and complete. God is not testing us about the success or defeat in doing His work. He is only testing our firmness and consistency in doing His service, which is the practical devotion to Him. This has been clearly stated by Him that our responsibility is only limited to the work and that it does not extend to the fruit (Karmanyevaadhikaaraste...—Gita). Actually, this verse refers to the work done by us in His service. People apply this verse to their personal worldly work too. Such application is also correct since the statement of God is always multi-dimensional. Even in our worldly work, when we concentrate only on the work without thinking about its fruit, we are doing work with detachment from its fruit. The attachment to the fruit consumes our energy in the form of mental worry. It leads to a deficiency of energy available for doing the work. This is clearly understood through the first law of thermodynamics. The law states that the energy supplied to a system in the form of heat (Q), is partly used to increase the internal energy (E) of the system and only the remaining part of it gets converted to work (W). It is represented by the following equation: Q = E + W In a broad sense, the law can also be applied to human beings. The energy in our body which is available for doing work (Q) is partly wasted by us in unnecessary worries and tensions, which are like the increase in internal energy (E). Only the remaining part of our energy can be used for doing work (W). Attachment to the fruit of our work causes worries and tensions. If we are detached from the fruit of the work, we become free of worry. No energy is wasted in it. Hence, all the energy available (Q) is completely utilized to do the work (W). It brings a hundred percent efficiency to our work. This principle is very useful especially for students, who become nervous and weak due to tension about their examinations and the results of the examinations. The right answers to the examination questions are present in the student’s brain, which is like a computer disc. But the electric signal coming from the brain (Q) is mostly used up in the mental tensions (E). The remaining signal is too weak or even absent and so, it never reaches the student’s conscious memory, which is like the computer screen. Hence, the student is not able to answer the question (W = 0). This principle applies to everybody in doing any work during one’s entire life. The attachment to the fruit comes due to selfishness. It means that when you do any work, you think that it is your work. If you think that you are doing others’ work, you will be detached from the fruit. When the client of a lawyer in a court case is cross-examined by the opposing lawyer, the client gets confused. This is because the client is attached to the fruit. The client thinks that it is his case and that he is personally affected when he wins or loses the case. But the lawyer of that client argues very well in the court since the lawyer is detached. He knows very well that it is not his own case. He is only fighting the case on behalf of his client and that he is not personally affected by either success or defeat. Let us take the example of the squirrel serving God Rama in the construction of the bridge across the sea to Lanka. All the powerful monkeys and bears were dropping big stones and trees into the sea to construct the bridge. But the tiny squirrel could only carry a few grains of sand. But she worked constantly and sincerely, carrying the few grains of sand from the shore and putting them into the sea. She did not think about the fruit of her work. She knew that those few grains of sand were almost useless in the construction of the bridge. But due to her immense love for Rama, she was doing the work. Her blind love was not allowing her brain to think about the negligible possibility of success in that work. Even if the squirrel were a scholar, she would have still continued her work thinking as follows: “God Rama is omnipotent and does not require this bridge to cross the sea. He can cross the sea in just a fraction of a second by His divine will. In fact, even that is not necessary. He can kill Ravaṇa and get back Sita in a fraction of a second by His divine will. He is doing all this drama to test the practical devotion of these monkeys, who are the incarnations of angels and have come to serve God. All this is an opportunity given by God to these souls to serve God and get uplifted. Hence, let me serve the Lord to the best of my capacity continuously throughout my life, without thinking about the fruit of my service to the omnipotent Lord.” Such work done with full detachment from the fruit enables the worker to do the work by spending his total energy without any loss in worrying about the fruit. Such totally dedicated work shall succeed one day or another. This shows that both a person having full ignorance (tamas) with blind love or a person having full knowledge (sattvam) with wise determination are successful. On the other hand, a person with half-knowledge will start the work and then drop it or he might not even start the work due to doubt. In doing personal worldly work, one can think about the impossibility of one’s success. For instance, you should not start taking efforts to lift a hill without thinking of the impossibility of success. But in the work of the omnipotent God, you should never think about the impossibility of success. You should work continuously knowing that God is only testing the strength of your love for Him through the consistency shown by you in your practical devotion (service and sacrifice). (First question is completed.) (To be continued…)

Does God come in the form that is wished by his devotee? Discourse Podcast Ms. Arsha asked: Does God fulfil his devotee’s desire by incarnating on earth in that particular form, even though there are enough number of incarnations for that time or that Kala? Is there a restriction in the number of incarnations in a particular period, in other words is there any limitation on the number of avatars, that have taken form during a time? Swami replied: Even before creating this world, the unimaginable God descended down as the first Energetic Incarnation called Datta or Father of heaven. He did this to express Himself for the sake of the souls who were to be created later. Datta, which is the name of the first Energetic Incarnation, means ‘given’. It means that through the form of Datta, the absolute God, who is beyond space and time, and who is unimaginable to all souls, can now be grasped by the souls. So actually, God did not incarnate because of the desire of souls. The concept of incarnation was not the idea of souls. It was the noble idea of the unimaginable God Himself. It was due to His kindness that He descended in the form of an Incarnation. Through the Incarnation, He can interact with souls, help them in every justified way, and uplift them. Along with this primary aim of God, His secondary aim is to have entertainment in a positive manner. Ignorant people wrongly blame God thinking that His entertainment is negative like that of a sadist. God enters the upper energetic worlds in the form of Energetic Incarnations. On earth, He appears in the form of Human Incarnations. Both these types of Incarnations are equal in all aspects. But the Human Incarnation is relevant to human beings on earth while the Energetic Incarnation is relevant to energetic beings in the upper worlds. When human beings die on earth and their souls pass on to the upper worlds, they too get energetic bodies. Then, the Energetic Incarnations of the upper worlds become relevant to them. Relevance is decided by the common medium. In an ordinary human being, the physical body is the medium for the soul. The medium allows the soul to experience the outside world and interact with other souls. In the case of energetic beings, their external body, which is the medium of their soul, is non-material. It is made out of energy. When God incarnates in any world, material or energetic, He enters a devoted being from that world. The external body and soul of that devotee become the medium of God. It allows God to interact with other souls who too are present in the same medium in that world. This arrangement is most wonderful like the divine nectar (amrutam). It provides the greatest benefit to souls. It allows them to interact with God and be uplifted. But before souls can be benefitted by this divine nectar, they have to survive a horrible poison. This poison is the repulsion between common media. The repulsion is the mutual ego and jealousy that exists between all fellow-beings of the same kind (common media). As a result, the energetic being is repelled from the Energetic Incarnation and the human being is repelled from the Human Incarnation. Due to this poison, the soul in a human body rejects the Human Incarnation here on earth and upon reaching the upper energetic world, rejects the Energetic Incarnation there too. The end result is a total loss for the soul, every time and everywhere! The aim of the Incarnation is only to re-establish the right path and the balance of the world, whenever it is disturbed. This is clearly stated in the Gita (Yadaa yadaa hi...—Gita). The same concept was also stated by Jesus, who said that He would come again. It means that the order in the world gets disturbed often and there is an emergent need for God to enter into His creation again and again to rectify it. When a factory is established by a person, he visits it every day so that he will be available to solve any problem that arises at once. It is necessary for the smooth administration of his establishment. No owner comes to the factory only when called by the workers after a problem has arisen. The owner has his own fundamental right and sense of responsibility to visit his establishment as many times as possible and no invitations are necessary for him. Invitations are valid when a person is invited to visit the property of someone else. In this case, all of creation is God’s own property. So, He needs no invitation from souls within His creation to enter into creation. This analogy of the factory and factory-owner has its limitations since it is an example from this world, which is the imaginable domain. In the actual concept, the unimaginable God exists in His original place surrounding the boundary of this world. At the same time, using His unimaginable power, He also visits this world which is surrounded by Him. He enters creation in the form of multiple Energetic and Human Incarnations. The various Incarnations as well as the original unimaginable God, exist simultaneously. Even though God appears to be divided, He remains undivided as clearly told in the Gita (Avibhaktam vibhakteshu...—Gita). This is possible only with His unimaginable power. While attending to His primary justified responsibility of establishing justice in the world and destroying injustice (Paritraanaaya...—Gita), He also fulfills the desires of His climax devotees as a secondary or associated activity. Fulfilling the desires of devotees is only an associated activity from the angle of coincidence. But it is also the primary activity from the angle of importance. The Human Incarnations of God are of two types, based on how long it takes to solve the problems. If long-term problems exist, Datta, the Energetic Incarnation of God selects a devoted human soul and merges with that soul. Datta is born on earth merged in the body and soul of that selected soul. This is how normal Human Incarnations are born on this earth. Apart from this, God also comes to earth in the form of temporary Incarnations. Sometimes, when a climax devotee is facing an urgent problem, God suddenly merges with any ordinary human being present nearby to help the devotee. Once the devotee has been helped, God leaves that human being into whom He had temporarily entered. These temporary Incarnations are called Aaveshaavataara. If necessary, God can even appear in the form of a newly-created Human Being by His unimaginable power. As soon as the purpose is over, the new Human Being disappears. God thus helps human beings by appearing in human form (Daivam maanusharuupena) and this concept applies to both the long-term (normal) Human Incarnations and the temporary Human Incarnations. In any case, the incarnation of God in human form is always need-based and is meant for the sake of His real devotees. The term ‘Emmanuel’ in the Bible, means the Incarnation of God, who comes here to save His own devotees. The same unimaginable God exists in every Incarnation and He always possesses His full power. So, one should not differentiate one Incarnation from another. Quantitative and qualitative differences are inherent in creation. So, two Incarnation appear to be externally different. But the same power of God always exists with God in every Incarnation. In fact, God, the Possessor of the unimaginable power is not different from the unimaginable power. The Unimaginable Entity must only be one. There cannot be two unimaginable items since if they can be counted as two, or differentiated from each other, they are not unimaginable at all! So, God’s unimaginable power is the same as the unimaginable God Himself. The power possessed by all Incarnations is the same. But the power exhibited by different Incarnations may differ based on the need of each specific program. When an Incarnation exhibits only a ray or the 1/16th fraction of God’s power, He is called as a Ray-Incarnation or a Kalaavataara. When an Incarnation exhibits a somewhat larger fraction of God’s power, He is called a partial Incarnation (Amshaavataara). When an Incarnation exhibits a major part of God’s power (more than 12/16th fraction) and the power remains with Him throughout His life, He is said to be a complete Incarnation (Puurnaavataara). When an Incarnation exhibits the entire power of God throughout His life, He is called the most-complete and greatest Incarnation (Paripuurnatamaavataara). One should never insult any Incarnation by thinking that one is lower than another since this classification is only based on the power exhibited by the Incarnation. The power possessed by each Incarnation is always the entire unimaginable power of God. The devotees propagating the true spiritual knowledge in all regions of the world are also Incarnations of God since God merges with such devotees to carry out His own work. There may be one cook in the kitchen, but there are several waiters distributing (propagating) the cooked true knowledge in this world. Krishna cooked the true knowledge-food in the form of the Gita. Sage Vyaasa recorded it and several sages propagated it. Krishna, Vyaasa and the other sages, who propagated the Gita, are all Incarnations of God since only God can do His work. They all are different media of God and God did His work through them. It only appears as if they did the divine work. The reality is that the kind God, who actually does His own work secretly, gives the fame of carrying out His work to His devotees. While doing His divine work through them, He uplifts all these devotees in various angles and stages. God incarnates everywhere in the world in every generation. By propagating His knowledge everywhere, He exhibits the power of His divine knowledge in a form that is suitable to the devotees present in each place. This propagation of His knowledge everywhere shows His kindness for humanity since all people can be benefitted by His knowledge where ever they live. If He were to incarnate only in one place many people would not be able to visit Him. Based on all these aspects related to Incarnations, we cannot limit the number of Incarnations of God. The Incarnations of God are infinite in number as said in the Bhagavatam (Avataarahyasamkhyeyaah…). (Second question is completed.) (To be continued...)

If a student surrenders his life for God, will God compensate him with an excellent school life? Discourse Podcast Ms. Arsha asked: Why can’t a student surrender his entire life time for the divine purpose? As you have mentioned in one of your recent discourses that, the leisure time which is used by a student for his entertainment can be used for focusing in spirituality i.e., in reading spiritual knowledge. But the divine knowledge is such a vast and valuable treasure which should be given enough time, rather than a 30 minute leisure period. So if a student surrenders his life including his school time and play time in God's work then will he be compensated with an excellent school life? If he spends his time with his own liking and interest in God and his knowledge will he be given good results in his school? Is it important to spend time for school as well? Because I feel school work is very boring, knowledge of God is really different and interesting. So will it be fine if i spend minimum time for school? Swami replied: The most important part of spiritual knowledge is to realize that we are not God originally. After that, it is important to study the personality of God. This means we should study how He behaves with us, in response to our behavior with Him. Our behavior is based on our worldly qualities (Durgunas), while God’s behavior reveals His divine qualities (Kalyaana gunas). Studying His behavior towards us, we can know whether God is pleased or displeased with us. But for this purpose, a clear understanding of spiritual knowledge is necessary. Studying spiritual knowledge is only a side-activity for a normal worldly soul. We know very well that we are just normal worldly souls. Our worldly duties are tied to our worldly fascinations. Since studying spiritual knowledge takes up some time and effort, which could interfere with our worldly duties, we can only treat that spiritual study as a side-activity. Here we are not discussing about the special souls, who are born here with a lot of divine background for the sake of working in divine programmes. Such souls can be counted on the fingers. Hence, this message is for the majority of humanity, which is trying to develop spiritually in life. This message is not meant for those scholastic special souls, who do not require any instructions. This message is also not required for souls at the other extreme, who are totally absorbed in their worldly fascinations alone. Effort is not necessary for the souls who have already succeeded and also for the souls who do not have even the slightest possibility of success. Keeping Arjuna as a representative of these middle-path souls, God preached the Gita to him. Such souls are said to be eligible (karmaadhikaarii) for the introduction of spiritual knowledge in controlled quantities, without affecting their worldly life. This path should be followed by the preacher especially when the receiver is a student working hard to get settled in his worldly life in the future. Settlement in worldly life is very important for normal souls like us since we are not those climax devotees. For the climax devotees, God takes up the responsibility of even their worldly life. Hence, we should concentrate completely on the aspect of getting settled in our worldly life in the future. This settlement in worldly life is the basic stage for our future spiritual development. The only problem is that we do not know how long we will live. So, it is better to start the effort for getting spiritual knowledge from childhood itself. It can be done in a way that does not interfere with our efforts of getting established in our worldly life in the future. Hence, spiritual knowledge can be taken as a limited side-activity. That way, it will not disturb our main worldly effort. We can thus study spiritual knowledge only in our leisure time. In any case, even if we do not take up this spiritual activity, we are sure to take up some other worldly activity in our leisure time. Any activity taken up for leisure must be totally different from the main activity that we do. Only then can it provide the change that we need. If the leisure activity is also like the main activity, we get bored. Spiritual activity is related to the unimaginable Domain. The main worldly activity is related to the imaginable domain. Hence, the spiritual activity, which alone is totally different from the main worldly activity, is the best leisure activity. Besides, since this spiritual activity is done only as a leisure activity, which is inevitable in any case, there is not even a trace of damage to the main worldly activity. All other worldly leisure activities like watching worldly movies, reading worldly books, and engaging in worldly gossip are not as good. They too are worldly, like the main activity, and hence, they cannot provide us with as much of a change as the spiritual activity. Until the soul gets settled in worldly life, limiting the study of spiritual knowledge to one’s leisure time is appropriate. After settlement in worldly life, one must make this spiritual activity as the main activity internally. Externally, the worldly activity can continue, but it might not need too much effort. This is because, after gaining a lot of experience and skill throughout one’s life, one can maintain the worldly activity, as much as necessary, with minimum effort. After retirement from worldly activity, one should make the spiritual activity as one’s total activity. At this stage, one should detach from the worldly activity internally as well as externally. The leisure-time activity discussed above, should not be confused with sports and physical exercise, which are essential for sound physical health, which in turn is related to mental health. Physical exercise is essential throughout one’s life since a sound mind in a sound body is very essential for any activity, be it worldly or spiritual. The point raised by you about God protecting you in your worldly life, in case you are more involved in spiritual activity, is a very critical question. It needs a lot of explanation, which is given below and is to be understood carefully by you. It is a multi-dimensional question. I can simply give its answer through the following song sung often by Bhagavaan Shri Satya Sai Baba in His divine discourses: “O mind! Don’t aspire for any fruit in return from God; As you aspire, the fruit goes down more and more, So, if you don’t aspire for it, He gives it to you at once, And know that He is omnipotent to give any fruit”. Spiritual knowledge means (i) knowing the details of the personality of God, (ii) knowing that the soul is not God and (iii) knowing the real path by which God will be really pleased. Once you know that you are not God, there will be interest to know about God about whom several people in this world are speaking. Then, you should also inquire about the path to please God since He is omnipotent and if He is pleased, He can give anything to anyone at any time and at any place. The human being passes through different stages in life called as Ashramas. In the first stage, the person concentrates on education, which enables him to earn his living throughout his life. This stage is called Brahmacarya. In the second stage, he starts earning and establishes himself in professional life, which also enables him to have a family. This is the stage of the householder or Gruhastha. In the third stage, the person is established in his professional and family life well-enough that he has sufficient leisure time to concentrate on God. This third stage is called Vaanaprastha. In the fourth stage, the person retires from his profession as well as from his duties towards his family. In this stage, he does the work of propagation of spiritual knowledge to uplift others in the world. This stage is called Samnyaasa. This is the normal course of the life of a normal human being in present times. There are deviations from this normal course in the case of some human beings and the deviations may be towards the wrong side or the right side. The deviation to the wrong side means not developing an interest in God at any stage, and being involved in worldly life alone, till one’s death. The deviation to the right side means getting more and more interested in God and concentrating more and more on spiritual life. There is no stipulated time or stage as mentioned above when one develops an interest in God. Any human being may develop an interest in God at any time. Generally, such interest comes due to a spiritual inclination in the person owing to the soul having led a spiritual life in the previous birth. A person may also develop an interest in God due to a congenial atmosphere around the soul, given to him by the grace of God. That congenial atmosphere around the soul is granted based on the soul’s spiritual life in the previous birth. This congenial spiritual atmosphere around the soul can include spiritual family members or other people outside the family who influence the soul positively. In any case, getting such a congenial spiritual atmosphere is indeed the greatest fortune of the soul. When the soul develops interest and attachment to God, it naturally brings detachment from worldly bonds. No soul should try for worldly detachment directly. It is not only impossible, but it is also a total waste. The detachment from the world should come indirectly due to the attachment to God. Some people are afraid that attachment to God might lead to detachment from the world, which in turn would result in a materialistic loss. Nobody should have this false fear since the power with which the world attracts the soul is unimaginable! It is like a person avoiding divine nectar as much as possible, fearing that the attachment to the divine nectar might result in the detachment from ordinary food. Here, divine nectar is like God’s grace and the food is like worldly life. The person is under the false impression that he will actually attain the divine nectar as soon as he develops interest and attachment to it! Developing interest in the Divine Nectar (God) itself is very difficult in the opposing atmosphere of the world. Even if the interest in the Divine Nectar is born, it is very difficult for it to grow in the negative worldly atmosphere. The Veda says that both spiritual and worldly atmospheres are opposite to each other (Duuramete vipariite Vishuuchii). Even if a person’s interest in the Divine Nectar (God) grows, it is very difficult for the person to stand firm in his attachment to It. It is even more difficult to cross all hurdles on the way and finally attain the Divine Nectar. Older people know all these practical difficulties and hence are never worried even if their children develop an interest in God. In fact, parents encourage their children to worship God. They know very well that a mere interest in God will not result in attaining the ultimate grace of God, which could spoil their worldly life. Instead, due to their children’s devotion to the omnipotent God, He will help the children in every walk of their worldly lives! The Veda says that the attainment of the grace of God alone results in the spontaneous detachment from the world (Yadahareva virajet tadahareva pravrajet). This statement means that as soon as you get theoretical detachment from the world (virajet) due to attachment to God (bhakti), you will naturally detach from the world practically (pravrajet). But we see that in the world, this rule fails. We see many people who have developed attachment (devotion) to God. Not only do they show theoretical devotion to God in the form of prayers, meditation and devotional songs, but they also show practical devotion, in the form of service and sacrifice. Yet, the natural consequent detachment from the world is not seen in them. When even theoretical detachment from the world is not seen, practical detachment from the world is out of the question! Why does this rule from the Veda fail practically in the case of devoted human beings? The reason lies in the fundamental step, which is developing an interest or theoretical attachment to God. The fundamental reason is that people’s devotion is contaminated with the aspiration for worldly fruits from God in return for their devotion. They may be devoted to God, in both theory and practice, but it is only due to their aspiration for getting worldly fruits from God. The theoretical and practical devotion developed by these devotees is not due to real love for God. It is due to their real love for the worldly fruits, which they expect as boons from God. A plant dies if you introduce poison through water poured at its root. Similarly, the real theoretical and practical devotion dies due to the aspiration for worldly fruits in return from God, which is introduced at the root-level of developing an interest in God. True spiritual knowledge can help you identify this main problem due to which your devotion fails to please God. The safest path is to learn spiritual knowledge and prevent the problem from arising before developing devotion to God. One should eliminate the tendency to use God as an instrument for attaining our worldly goals and ambitions. The devotion to God that will then develop will be free of aspiration. This is the best and easiest option. It is the defensive approach for protecting ourselves from the attack of the virus of worldly ambition. The second option is treating the devotees, who have already been infected by the virus of the aspiration for attaining their worldly ambitions from God in return for their devotion. In the case of such infected patients, the treatment is complicated and it takes some time to cure the disease. It is a psychological disease and hence, careful handling of the patient is needed. The first line of treatment is to initially allow the devotees’ worldly aspirations in the hope that in due course of time, they will be able to overcome the aspirations and develop real devotion for God. It is essential to play along with the person for some time just as you have to run along with a powerful running bull for some time before you can control it. Following this approach, God responds to the prayers and worship of devotees who have desires for worldly fruits as boons from God. The Veda also reveals formal sacrifices as paths to attain heavenly boons from God. These Vedic sacrifices essentially involve prayers to God along with the distribution of cooked food to devotees. Shankara has clarified that the Veda, by prescribing these formal sacrifices, does not induce the desire for the boons in the devotees. It only provides a path to fulfilling the desires of the devotees who already have the desires for the boons. The treatment does not induce the disease in the patient; it only aims to cure the patient! In the course of time, the devotee is expected to develop some real devotion for God. When the devotee sees that God has always been by his side and has helped him in fulfilling his worldly desires, he can develop some real love for God, which is beyond the aspiration for worldly fruits. Experiencing the greatness and kindness of God, he may realize that the eternal God should not be used as an instrument for attaining temporary worldly fruits (Naastyakrutah kruteneti—Veda). This is the sign of the cure. In some cases, as the desires get fulfilled, more desires flare up and the unreal devotion to God for the sake of getting boons continues. It means that the first line of treatment has been ineffective. Then the second line of treatment is started. This treatment takes an offensive approach. God acts shrewdly in giving boons. Boons are the fruits of a person’s good deeds in order to encourage their good deeds. Conversely, worldly difficulties and illnesses are the fruits of sinful deeds. They are punishments to discourage sin. When these souls demand for undeserved boons in the present, God merely draws some reward, which they were supposed to enjoy in the future and grants it to them in the form of a boon in the present. This premature withdrawal of the soul’s good fruits leads to a loss in the value of the fruit. Similarly, when such devotees pray for their present difficulties to be removed, God merely postpones these punishments for the souls’ sins, to the future with increased interest. Thus, in this second offensive line of treatment, God ensures that even if the souls do not get cured of the disease of worldly ambition, neither He nor His constitution is exploited by these souls at any time. There are two categories of souls who need this second line of treatment to cure their worldly ambition. The worst category of souls try to get practical boons from God in exchange for their theoretical devotion to Him. They only worship God through verbal and mental forms of worship such as prayers, meditation, and singing of devotional songs. Yet they expect practical boons from Him in the form of health, wealth and protection. Such devotion is the worst kind of devotion and is called as prostitution-devotion. A slightly better form of devotion is to try to get practical boons from God in exchange for their practical devotion to Him. In other words, apart from theoretical devotion the devotee practically donates some money for God, but expects much more in return. This is called business-devotion. Both prostitution-devotion and business-devotion are forms of unreal devotion. In both forms, the devotee’s real devotion is only for the worldly fruits and not for God at all! The best-possible devotion available in the world is issue-devotion, which is the devotion to God as a parent is devoted to his or her child. Parents not only love their issues theoretically but they also practically serve their child and sacrifice the fruit of their work (money) to their issues. The practical devotion is the proof of their theoretical devotion to their children. Their theoretical and practical devotion to their children is free from the aspiration for any fruit in return from the children. The parents continue their practical devotion even if their children behave badly with them. At the most, the parents may scold their children for behaving badly with them, but there is no change in their practical devotion to the children! In this issue-devotion, it is very important to keep God in the place of the issues and to keep ourselves in the place of the parents; not vice versa! In other words, we should always practically serve God and sacrifice our money for God without expecting anything in return from Him and we should continue the practical devotion even if He responds negatively to us. This issue-devotion should be taken as the guiding path for how our devotion to God should be. In issue-devotion, we see the essence of true devotion, which is theoretical devotion, and practical devotion involving service and sacrifice, without the aspiration of any fruit in return. In real life, when parents scold their ungrateful children for their bad behavior, it shows that the parents have lost theoretical devotion for their children. But in the case of God, we must be very careful about maintaining the purity of even our theoretical devotion along with the practical devotion. We must remember that God is not in need of our service or sacrifice and that the practical devotion is only the proof of our theoretical devotion. There is another important point to note in the context of freedom from the aspiration for worldly fruits. Worldly fruits mean not only the fruits that are to be enjoyed in this world but also the fruits that are to be enjoyed in the upper worlds. The aspiration to escape from the punishments of our sins in hell and the aspiration to enjoy in heaven without doing good deeds here are also to be avoided. In this second line of treatment for curing the worldly ambitions, it is clear that our good fruits get exhausted and the bad fruits grow more and more with increasing interest. The soul only goes deeper and deeper into difficulty and there seems to be no escape for the soul. How can it be called a treatment then? Actually, no matter how much the pending punishments grow with interest, one need not fear. In the wonderful administration of the kindest Lord, an escape and a chance for reformation is ever-present. The golden path of the propagation of God’s spiritual knowledge can be adopted by any soul at any time. The work of propagation enables the soul to learn the knowledge deeply and get the grace of God. As the soul learns and propagates God’s spiritual knowledge, his misconceptions are eliminated. He realizes and repents for his sins. When he finally does not repeat the sins practically, he is said to have reformed. Upon getting permanently reformed, all his pending punishments are canceled by God since the punishments were only meant for reformation and not for revenge. However, the soul must choose to follow this path of reformation through spiritual learning and propagation. The souls whose worldly ambitions are not cured even by the second line of treatment are thrown into the life cycles of animals, birds, worms and so on. This is not at all done for revenge but in fact, God is only fulfilling the soul’s desire. When the soul is simply attached to his worldly goals and refuses to rise above them, in spite of several efforts made by God, God finally gives the soul a congenial living atmosphere. In the animal births, the soul is driven only by materialistic goals like eating, drinking, and sex, which is exactly what these souls pursued in their lives as humans (saamanyametat pashuvat naraanaam). If apart from the strong desire for these worldly goals if the soul also has a lot of ego, it is thrown into the births of devils and demons (kshipaamyaasurayonishu —Gita). The important point is to delink our worldly ambitions from God and live like an atheist in the single aspect of taking worldly efforts to get worldly fruits. Of course, we should follow the atheist only in this single aspect and not follow him in the aspect of disbelieving the existence of God. The lack of belief in God drives the atheist to fulfill his excessive worldly ambitions even by sinful means, whereas the theist’s belief and devotion to God controls his ambition and prevents him from committing sins. Mere belief and confidence in God does not bring any result. The belief must also be associated with theoretical and practical devotion to God. If you simply have faith and confidence in the prime minister, you will not be favored by him. You must come in contact with him as a real and sincere worker of his party. Then alone will he be pleased with you and favor you. (Third question is completed.)

Discourse Podcast Dr. Nikhil asked: Padanamaskarams Swamiji! Given below is a discussion regarding the systematic observations recorded by researchers working in the field of rebirth, near-death experiences, and some supernatural phenomena. These researchers are trying to convince the rest of the scientific community that such phenomena are genuine and that there is a need to revise our world-view in order to accommodate these phenomena. However, the scientists are not yet able to correlate their observations and come up with an overall theory that brings meaning to life and shows direction to humanity. Also, some of the tentative conclusions made by these researchers appear to be in contradiction with the karma theory. I request You to kindly correlate these observations in a meaning way. Your servant, Nikhil. Correlating Rebirth and Near Death Experience Cases with the Karma Theory A number of children worldwide have reported memories of their past births. Similarly, there are several reports of near-death experiences reported by people. These and other cases are found all over the world irrespective of race, religion, beliefs, and geographical location. A massive volume of scientifically verified and published cases exists and this field is the subject matter of active research at the Division of Perceptual Studies (DOPS) at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. There are only a handful of researchers worldwide who do research in this field. This small but motivated group of researchers is striving to convince the rest of the scientific community and the entire world, that the present scientific view of the world is very limited and that it must be changed. The present worldview is a materialistic or physicalist worldview, according to which nothing beyond the physical can exist. Consciousness is the product of brain activity and it ends with the death of the physical body. There is, of course, no question of the afterlife, the supernatural, or God, in the physicalistic worldview. The researchers at DOPS and a few other places are saying that the evidence and scientific investigations conducted by them, contradict the physicalistic worldview. A drastically different worldview is necessary to explain these supernatural phenomena. As a first step to developing a new worldview, the scientists at DOPS are trying to come up with possible explanations for their observations from thousands of cases. They have also consulted some spiritual masters and practitioners to help them formulate these explanations and theories. Their understanding at present is only in the early stages and they are nowhere close to developing a comprehensive theory. However, I feel that some of the tentative conclusions made by them are not in the right direction. If they do their research in better alignment with the karma theory as explained by You, not only will they see better progress in their research but it will also be beneficial for humanity. Hence, I request You to kindly enlighten us and the world in this regard. Let us first have a look at some of the important observations made by these researchers based on their investigation of thousands of cases. Then let us review some of the inferences made by them. Observations regarding remembered past lives The majority of people, who report that they remember their past births, are children. They usually start speaking about their past-life memories as soon as they are able to talk at ages of 2-3 yrs. Their past life memories usually fade as they grow between 5-7 years of age. Very few of them retain those memories into adulthood. Most of the people who remember their past births have died in a tragic manner. Some of them have birthmarks or deformities at the same place on their body where they had been hurt fatally in the past birth. e.g. a person who was shot dead with a bullet in his head was reborn with a deformity near the ear and face where he was shot in the past birth. Sometimes, they also have ailments in the new birth which are related to the cause of their death in the past birth. e.g. a person who died due to tuberculosis at a young age in the past birth can be reborn with asthma. When they are counseled by psychic healers, and once they are able to overcome the shock and pain of their death in the past life, their current ailments get cured, almost miraculously. Observations regarding near-death experiences Near-death experiences and out-of-body experiences occur with a small number of people. Thousands of such cases have been investigated by DOPS. In general, in near-death experiences, some patients who were thought to be dead by the doctors for sometime later claim that they were still conscious outside of their body during that time. The patients often claim to have floated up from their body and seeing everything accurately in the hospital room and even outside. The patients say that they were able to think much more clearly than usual and observe all minute details. At times they claim to have visited some other heavenly worlds and met their dead relatives, who told them to go back. Later, the patients shared these experiences with others after being revived by the doctors. Pleasant near-death experiences are far more common than unpleasant and terrifying experiences. There does not seem to be a correlation between the nature of the person and the type of near-death experience of the person. Good-natured people can have unpleasant near-death experiences, and bad-natured persons can have pleasant near-death experiences and vice versa. Tentative conclusions based on the above observations Following are some of the tentative conclusions drawn by the DOPS-researchers based on the observations listed above: The current scientific concept that consciousness or 'mind' is the product of brain activity alone is probably not true. There is a relation between the neurological activity in the brain and consciousness. But near-death experiences quite clearly support the claim that personal consciousness can certainly exist beyond the physical body. In other words, the death of the physical body is not the end. It is quite possible that consciousness might be the cause of the material world. At present, science says that the neurological activity in the brain (matter and energy) produces consciousness and the mind. This seems to be violated in near-death experiences. This seems to be supported by the cases of children with birth defects related to fatal injuries or ailments related to the cause of death in the previous birth. The mental shock and pain experienced by the person during the previous birth could have manifested the deformity or ailment in the current birth. In other words, consciousness (pain of past birth) is the cause of the material reality (present ailment). It is further supported by the observation that the ailment of the present birth gets cured when the person is able to overcome the pain caused by the ailment, in the previous birth. Many modern-day Advaitins enthusiastically agree with this idea that consciousness creates material reality. The ability of some people who can move, control or physically change objects by their mind is another phenomenon that supports the claim that consciousness causes material reality. From the evidence of near-death experiences and rebirth, it seems quite clear that an afterlife exists. It is not very clear yet what all experiences are present in the afterlife for a soul. But some common trends are known. The karma theory might not be valid based on the analysis of the near-death experiences. Pleasant and unpleasant near-death experiences can happen to good-natured or bad-natured people. It is not as if good near-death experiences happen only to good-natured people and vice versa. If their near-death experience is an indication of their experience upon their actual death, then their afterlife could be similarly pleasant or unpleasant, irrespective of their nature. Rebirth of a person on earth certainly seems possible. Whether rebirth on earth happens for everyone or it happens only for people who died tragically is unclear. It might be possible, that people who died tragically 'before their stipulated time' might be given a 'second chance' to live out their life completely. In that case, rebirth might only be in these exceptional cases. For the majority, they might be going to some other destination or different destinations based on unknown criteria. Necessity of correlation Given above are only some proposed tentative explanations. Clarity is still lacking. The DOPS-researchers are not claiming to have a complete theory. Perhaps they are being extra-cautious to not make any conclusion that will appear ‘too spiritual’, since that would make them completely unacceptable to the mainstream scientific community. Mainstream scientists do not openly accept spiritual concepts like the afterlife, theory of karma and rebirth. Hence, the main focus of DOPS-researchers is on diligently-recording the available evidence and analyzing it using well-accepted scientific and statistical methods. They are taking this effort so as to maximize the chances that their research gets accepted by mainstream scientists. The DOPS-researchers are not openly stating whether or not they accept the karma theory. They say that they are consulting spiritual masters and practitioners, but they are coming up with their own theories. Unfortunately, some of their tentative conclusions seem to be in contradiction with the karma theory. For instance, the aspect of reward and punishment for one's deeds is not at all accounted for by their explanations. Their understanding is far from comprehensive as of now. They have not been able to relate all these observations and define the meaning and purpose of life. These scientists do not have clarity on how this ‘new’ knowledge about the afterlife and rebirth can be used for the benefit of an individual as well as society. I request you to kindly correlate the scientific observations made by the DOPS-scientists with the karma theory. I believe that a proper correlation would bring out the true meaning and purpose of life and would show the path to individual and societal progress. Rebirth Cases as Concrete Evidence Discourse Podcast Swami replied: A number of cases of rebirth have been reported are still being reported all over the world. I have even seen two to three page long reports of such incidents published in English newspapers. The instances clearly establish the concept of rebirth. Human beings born in faraway places speak of intricate details of their previous birth, which on verification, are found to be exactly correct. It would be better for you to find that report because reading the detailed report makes things crystal clear. A few years ago, the news of a case of rebirth was published on the front-page of the Eenadu Telugu newspaper. A small girl of four to five years, born in the city of Khammam, started talking about her previous birth. She even described details about her house in the previous birth, which was located about 150 km in the city of Tenali. Finally, she was taken to the house described by her in Tenali, and all the details were found to be accurate. The child gave exact details of all the jewelry worn by her in the previous birth. She even described all her properties and children in the previous birth. A photograph was published on the front page in the newspaper in which the adult daughter of the past birth, was seen holding her reborn mother in her arms. The headline read “Daughter holding her mother in her arms!” These examples are very very concrete. The verified details are clearly related to the physical world and there is no obscure point anywhere. Some people try to reject such examples as mere personal experiences of certain individuals. They try to explain away such cases as the mental imaginations or psychological disorders of those individuals. But these cases cannot be mere imaginations since they involve facts from the practical world, which are fully verified. We can draw clear philosophical conclusions from such genuine cases of rebirth just as we can draw clear scientific conclusions from experiments conducted in a laboratory. Near-Death Experiences Yield Uncertain Conclusions The concept of the individual soul leaving the physical body during death is a prerequisite for the rebirth of the soul. So, when clear-cut evidence of rebirth exists in the form of practically-verified cases of rebirth, the concept of the soul leaving the physical body during death is automatically established. Yet, in the context of near-death experiences, researchers make certain doubtful conclusions based on the near-death experiences alone. When clear practical examples of rebirth are available, why should the doubtful observations and conclusions related to near-death experiences be considered? Since the brain of the person is not in a good and stable condition during these near-death experiences, the experiences of the person can always be doubted. If we limit ourselves only to these near-death experiences, it may not be possible to disprove the doubts using mere logic since concrete facts might not be available. The researchers discussing the near-death experiences and drawing doubtful conclusions appears quite odd to Me. They are like the person who has physically seen an elephant clearly with his own eyes in this very physical world but who still doubts whether the animal that just walked away was an elephant or not. Later, upon seeing the footprints of the elephant on the path, he finally decides that the animal was indeed an elephant (yathaa gajo neti samaksharupe …—Kaalidaasa)! At least this person finally concluded that he had seen an elephant. But these researchers are still not able to reach a conclusion! They are limiting themselves only to these imaginary ideas based on the near-death experiences. As long as a person limits himself to his mental doubt or debate of whether or not the animal is an elephant, without considering concrete evidence, he can never reach a definite conclusion. He must accept the concrete evidence of physically seeing the elephant. Experience based on correct perception alone can be the authority. The experience of a person with a defect in his perception cannot be taken as the authority. Shankara has stated that a person having a defective eyesight which causes him to see two moons in the sky, cannot be taken as the authority even though experience is treated as the final authority (Netrataimirikadoshasya dvichandradarshanavat ). I am not saying that the reported experiences of those patients at the time of death are wrong. Their experiences are certainly in agreement with the independently-established concept of rebirth. What I am saying is that there is no need to draw conclusions only based on the doubtful near-death experiences, when concrete examples that are verified through practical experience are available separately. It would be better for these researchers to shift to the study of the concrete incidents of rebirth and draw clear conclusions. Miracles by Human Incarnations as Evidence Apart from these supernatural phenomena, we can also consider the miracles performed by Human Incarnations. Audio-visual recordings of miracles performed by the recent Human Incarnation of God Datta called Shri Satya Sai Baba, exist today as a practical reference. They too can be taken as the concrete basis for drawing conclusions related to unverified hypotheses and doubts. The conclusions drawn by the researchers can be clearly verified by analyzing the clear concrete examples of rebirth along with supporting concrete evidence in the form of the miracles performed by Human Incarnations. About Consciousness Outside the Body The conclusions such as consciousness extends outside the human being or that consciousness causes materialization, must be carefully examined. At the death time, the consciousness (awareness), which so far was confined to the body, leaves the body and goes outside. Hence, some people report these out-of-body experiences. It means that the awareness was not already existing outside the body. It certainly does not mean that the whole world is pervaded by awareness. If the awareness that leaves the body had an independent isolated existence, we would have found awareness in space just as we find electromagnetic radiation moving independently in space. Even though inert energy has an independent existence and pervades all over the world, its specific work-form called awareness is not all-pervading. The mud out of which a mud-pot is made, also exists spread-out everywhere on earth. But it does not mean that the mud-pot extends all over the earth! The Advaitins say that this entire world is made of awareness alone. This is not correct because you have already made a basic distinction between an inert item and a non-inert item. The non-inert item or awareness, which is only observed in living animals, is a specific work-form of inert energy generated in a special functioning device called as the nervous system. Let us call this awareness as relative-awareness since it is a part of this world, which is relatively true. Since awareness does not have an independent existence, it requires a container like the physical body. The positive proof (anvaya) for this is that awareness exists only in a physical body. The negative way of proving the same (vyatireka) is that awareness does not exist in empty space; or in other words, awareness does not exist in the absence of the physical body. Hence, the awareness that leaves the physical body must be leaving in an invisible energetic body, which acts as its container. The Existence of Heaven and Hell In rebirth cases, a time-gap is observed between the date that a person dies and the date when the same soul takes a new birth. It means that the soul, along with its energetic body, must be spending that time somewhere in space. There are also several near-death experiences in which the person after being revived, reports that two energetic forms had dragged his or her soul out of the body and had taken the soul to the upper energetic world called hell. These experiences are also true even though near-death experiences generally remain doubtful as explained earlier. The only reliable authority for the existence of hell and heaven is the preaching of the Human Incarnation of God. Miraculous materializations Human Incarnations perform miracles like the materialization of objects at will out of empty space. Such materialization-miracles cannot be explained scientifically by saying that the human will or awareness, being inert energy essentially, gets converted into matter based on the principle of conversion of energy into matter. Although the conversion of energy into matter is generally agreeable, it cannot explain this miracle. We find that only a specific human being, who is known to be an Incarnation of God can do this miracle. Ordinary human beings are unable to perform it. It indicates that there must be a difference between the awareness of an ordinary human being and that of a Human Incarnation of God. The relative-awareness of a human being requires basic inert energy along with a material nervous system. The Human Incarnation also possesses that relative-awareness but His awareness must have some additional unimaginable factor, which allows Him to perform the miracle of materialization at will. Due to the presence of that additional unimaginable factor, we can say that the relative-awareness of the Human Incarnation becomes unimaginable. The Incarnation’s awareness is, therefore, an unimaginable awareness. It is acceptable to call that additional unimaginable factor as unimaginable awareness since no matter how many unimaginable items we define, they all ultimately become one. When an item is basically said to be unimaginable, it is meaningless to say whether it is one or two. If you can count two different unimaginable items, i.e. they are countable; then they are not unimaginable at all! Thus, the conclusion is that the unimaginable awareness alone can be the cause of the miracle; not the relative-awareness existing in every human being. The Human Incarnation, who possesses that unimaginable factor, performs miracles which are beyond the capacity of human beings. The mechanism or power behind the miracles is also beyond our imagination. The same Human Incarnation possessing that unimaginable factor also reveals hidden concepts such as heaven and hell, which are beyond the capacity of our senses and intellect to know independently. Hence, the revelation by the Human Incarnation inevitably has to be treated as the final authority for knowing the existence of the invisible heaven and hell, which exist somewhere in space. Where does the soul go first? Heaven or hell? Every soul does good deeds as well as sins. After death, the soul has to enjoy the fruits of both in heaven and hell respectively. Between the soul’s merit and sin, the soul is first sent to enjoy the lesser of the two. In the Mahabharata, Dharma Raja found that the evil Kauravas, who had earned very little merit in their lives on earth, had gone to heaven. They were enjoying that little merit in heaven for a short while before being sent to hell for a very long time. On the other hand, the righteous Paandavas, who were the brothers of Dharma Raja, were first sent to hell since their sins were few. After suffering in hell for a short while, they would be sent to heaven to enjoy for a long time. Revelation is the authority for the unimaginable domain The concept of the existence of the unimaginable domain is established through unimaginable miracles, which are practically experienced. The Human Incarnation possessing that unimaginable power must then be taken as the final authority for knowing at least those concepts that are related to the unimaginable domain. His revelation must be kept above science, which is the study of the imaginable domain (creation) alone. Science can be considered as the true authority in the imaginable domain due to its perfect analysis that follows imaginable logic and experience. But just because it has this merit, there is no way it can enter unimaginable domain by any way. Soul and individual soul Actually, the basic soul or Atman is the essential inert energy that gets converted into awareness in the functioning nervous system. The generated awareness is called the individual soul or Jiiva. The basic soul is like mud and the individual soul is like the pot made out of the mud. The soul exists in the individual soul in a basic sense and hence, the individual soul can loosely be called as the soul. But there is a clear distinction between the two. You can fetch water in a mud pot, but you cannot fetch water with just a lump of mud. Mud can be said to pervade all over the earth qualitatively. But the pot having a limited round shape does not extend all over the earth. When we call the mud-pot as mud or a golden ornament as gold, it is said only in an approximate sense. God controls the unimaginable and imaginable domains In fact, the unimaginable God created the even imaginable domain and He completely controls it at all times. Both the imaginable domain and the unimaginable domain are His properties. He has given the imaginable domain to the souls, keeping the unimaginable domain with Himself. Even science was developed by souls in creation by the blessing of God. Science only studies the imaginable domain and the credit for developing the field is given to the souls. Science is perfect as far as the imaginable domain or creation is concerned. But it can never enter the unimaginable domain. It is the unimaginable domain or the unimaginable power of God which basically controls all the principles of science. God proves this by miracles, which are the violations of the principles of established science. Hence, we should take God as the authority on the unimaginable concepts at least. The Human Incarnation is also an item of the imaginable domain, but He exhibits unimaginable miracles since the unimaginable God has merged with that selected imaginable human being. If the unimaginable God were to enter into an unimaginable medium It would not be visible to human beings even to exhibit unimaginable miracles. The unimaginable power or unimaginable God is the Controller whereas the imaginable power and the principles, which are known as science, are controlled by God. They are subordinate to God. Subordinate does not mean that they are wrong. It only means that these scientific principles are under the control of some superpower. Hence, science is correct but it is subordinate to God since it is the study of the subordinate domain which is the imaginable domain. The propagation of spiritual knowledge, which is often done by God through Human Incarnations, is not done because God desires fame in the world. The purpose is to bring devotion along with fear in the minds of human beings so that sins are controlled as far as possible and society remains balanced. The unimaginable miracles exhibited by God are also for the same purpose, which is to establish control in society. Since miracles are practically seen and experienced, they form the most concrete evidence for the existence of the unimaginable God. Science too ultimately relies on the same authority of perception.

Discourse Podcast Parabrahma Samaarambhaam, Shrii Dattatreya Madhyamaam, Shrii Satya Sai Paryantaam, Vande Guru Paramparaam. Starting with Parabrahman, the unimaginable God, With Shrii Dattatreya, the Energetic Incarnation, in the middle Upto Shrii Satya Sai, the previous Human Incarnation, I salute to the divine chain of My spiritual preachers. The Incarnation of Sai God, being beyond space, is unimaginable. Just after the creation of space or subtle energy, He expressed Himself as the First Energetic Incarnation, which is known as Datta, Eshvara or Father of heaven. He incarnated in a form so that the souls, who were to be created later, could grasp Him. The three potencies of God namely, creation, maintenance and destruction of the world are expressed in the form of the three Divine Personalities namely, God Brahmā, God Vishnu and God Shiva respectively. These three Divine Forms represent the three divine qualities called rajas, sattvam and tamas respectively. The word Datta simply means ‘given’ and it stands for the unimaginable God who has ‘given’ Himself to souls in the form of the First Incarnation. Datta has no connection with any specific religion. This eternal God Datta is the First Energetic Form into which the unimaginable God has completely merged. He further merged with other Energetic Forms in the upper energetic worlds to form more Energetic Incarnations namely Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. The same God Datta also merges with selected human devotees on earth to become Human Incarnations of God. Energetic Incarnations are relevant to souls in the energetic worlds and the Human Incarnations are relevant to human beings. There is absolutely no difference between the unimaginable God and God Datta since the energetic form of the eternal God Datta is the permanent address of the unimaginable God. All the Incarnations of God are one and the same in the sense that the same God Dattatreya (Datta) has merged into them. But more specifically, the three Incarnations namely Shri Shirdi Sai Baba, Shri Satya Sai Baba, and the future Shri Prema Sai Baba are considered to be the Incarnations of God Shiva. Here, God Datta is taken to be God Shiva. Shri Shirdi Sai Baba was an Incarnation of God Shiva. Shri Satya Sai Baba was the Incarnation of God Shiva and Goddess Shakti. Shiva and Shakti together constitute the Divine Form called Ardhanārīśvara, which has the right half as God Shiva and left half as Goddess Shakti. The next Incarnation, Shri Prema Sai, will be the Incarnation of Goddess Shakti. As per the boon given by God Shiva and Goddess Shakti to sage Bharadvaaja, these three Incarnations were to be born in the dynasty (gotram) of sage Bharadvaaja. Miracles Overcome the Starting Trouble of Incarnations The spiritual standards of souls in this Kali age are very very low. They have reduced to 1/4th of what they used to be during first age called the Kṛta Yuga. People in this present age do not recognize the divinity of a Human Incarnation by His spiritual knowledge. The Incarnation is forced to show miracles so that people may recognize Him. This is especially true in the beginning when the public does not know the Incarnation. It is a starting trouble faced by any Human Incarnation particularly in present times. Even Rama, as a boy of twelve years, showed the miracle of turning a stone into a lady called Ahalyaa. Krishna, as an infant, showed the miracle of killing the demoness Puutana. Shankara also showed a miracle by entering the house of Mandana Mishra by passing through the bolted door before starting the spiritual debate. As soon as Shri Shirdi Sai Baba arrived in the village of Shirdi as a boy, He had to perform a miracle of showing four divine lamps burning in a pit that was dug. Shri Satya Sai Baba also showed several miracles as a boy. He stated that He would attract people through these miracles and then preach spiritual knowledge to them. Due to the miraculous grace of God Datta, even though I never studied Sanskrit from anybody, I became a scholar and poet in Sanskrit. I composed more than a hundred books on spiritual knowledge in Sanskrit by the age of sixteen years. While doing My job for the sake of fulfilling My worldly responsibilities, I could only spread spiritual knowledge to very very few Sanskrit scholars. But I spent My entire leisure time for it. My Close Connection with Bhagvaan Shri Satya Sai Before describing how I came in close contact with Bhagvaan Shri Satya Sai Baba, I have to speak about another incident in My life. I was very much influenced by the character of Kunti in the Mahabharatam. Towards the end of the epic, when all her difficulties were over, Lord Krishna told her to ask for a boon from Him. Kunti replied “During all these years when my life was full of difficulties, I was constantly remembering You. Now that all my difficulties are over, I will not be forced to remember You. I am afraid that I might forget You. Hence, even in the future, grant me difficulties alone, so that I will always be driven to remember You”. This is practically true. In difficulties, one is more active and alert in one’s devotion to God. In times of happiness, one gets lazy and proud, and goes away from God. So, one day, I performed a special ritual worship to God Shiva called Mahaanyaasa Rudraabhisheka. Traditionally, the purpose (samkalpa) of performing the worship is to be declared in the beginning. The purpose of performing the worship declared by Me was that I should get all problems so that I can become more devoted to God. Immediately, I saw that Lord Shiva was startled. He kept looking at Me with surprise since this special worship is generally done by everybody to get rid of poverty and difficulties. Immediately, after the worship, I was attacked by several problems and severe poverty. During that period, Bhagvaan Satya Sai Baba was about seventy years old. But one day, Baba appeared before Me as a young boy of sixteen years, sitting on His silver throne. Actually, Baba was in Puttaparti when this incident occurred. Yet, He was also present right before My eyes in a young body, far away from Puttaparti. The following conversation occurred between the two of Us. Baba: I have selected You to spread true spiritual knowledge in this world as a full-time activity. Myself: I am just a teacher of chemistry. It will be better if You select some saint, who is totally dedicated to spirituality. Baba: Who is better than You in this world for doing this work? Myself: But I have the worldly responsibilities of a big family which is dependent on Me. Baba: I will take care of all Your worldly problems. After this conversation, I immediately resigned My job as a professor of chemistry and got involved in this divine work. As per His promise, Baba is taking full care of all My worldly responsibilities. After this conversation, God Datta appeared to Me at the holy site, Shrishailam, and merged with Me. God Datta, through Shri Satya Sai, even performed some miracles through Me to overcome the usual starting trouble. Two Levels in the Spiritual Journey There are two levels in the spiritual journey: Pravrutti and Nivrutti. Pravrutti is the human level related to the behavior of a soul towards fellow-human beings. It is the step in which one’s worldly fascinations are reduced by the devotion to God. As a result, the soul follows justice and avoids injustice and sin. Nivrutti is the divine level related to the behavior of a soul towards God. In it, all the worldly fascinations totally disappear as the soul reaches the climax of devotion to God. In fact, even justice is sacrificed for the sake of God since the soul is completely filled with love for God alone. In this Kali age, the souls are at a level below the human level of pravrutti. They are committing sins for the sake of achieving their worldly fascinations. This is actually the level of animals and devils. Hence, every Human Incarnation in this world in the Kali age gives a lot of stress on pravrutti, which is to be achieved by the majority of human beings. Baba used to pose this question in His speeches “When at present you are at the lowest level of animals and devils, how can you aspire for the divine level without first reaching the human level?”. It is perfectly true! Unless we first reduce the force of our worldly bonds, how can we think of the total destruction of our worldly bonds? The worldly bonds are weakened due to our devotion to God, which is the level of pravrutti. When our devotion to God intensifies and reaches the climax, the worldly bonds are totally destroyed. This is the level of nivrutti. Unless we first reach the middle-level of moderate devotion, how can we reach the climax of devotion? The most important point here is that, be it the weakening or the complete destruction of the worldly bonds, it should happen only due to the devotion to God and not by forced efforts. Detachment from the world should come only due to the attachment to God. The first part of the path to reach God is pravrutti and the second part is nivrutti. Since the majority of humanity is below the first part, all spiritual preachers like Krishna, Buddha, Mahaaviir, Jesus, Mohammad etc., stressed only on the initial part in their preaching. Shri Satya Sai too stressed on pravrutti in His divine discourses. Interestingly, even in pravrutti, developing devotion to God at least to some extent is essential to weaken the worldly bonds. So, even pravrutti begins with devotion to God. Thus, nivrutti, which is totally related to devotion to God, comes in at the very starting point. Controlling Atheism In this Kali age, atheism has gained a lot of strength due to the rapidly falling spiritual standards of people. So, to pacify the atheist’s ego, Shankara preached that every soul is God. This philosophy is acceptable to the atheist since according to it, there is no God other than the atheist himself. If Shankara had preached that He alone is God, while all others are ordinary souls, the jealousy in the atheist would not have allowed the atheist to accept it. Democracy means treating all as equal. The atheist’s psychology does not allow him to accept monarchy, which treats only one as great or aristocracy which treats only a few as great. The concepts of democracy and equality are good as far as the worldly life of human beings is concerned. But spiritual life is totally different. The Veda says that both spirituality and worldly life are opposite to each other (Duuramete vipariite vishuuchii). However, Shankara applied these policies of worldly life in spiritual life too since it is easier for common people, and especially people influenced by atheism, to accept one uniform policy. However, Shankara revealed the truth to His disciples, who were spiritually advanced, that He alone is God (Shivah kevaloham). Shri Satya Sai followed the same path of Shankara when He addressed everyone as divine souls, and when He stated that every soul is God. This is highly essential in present times when the development in science had led to the spread of atheism. In the beginning, the Incarnation has to follow the psychology of the people to whom He intends to preach spiritual knowledge. The philosophy of monism provides the climax of attraction for any soul since it preaches that any soul can become God just by recognizing that he or she is already God! It makes the philosophy tremendously attractive. But that attraction is necessary in the beginning for a person with an atheistic mentality so that it can gradually change to a theistic mentality. Once Shri Satya Sai warned people that a human being should not think that he is God and behave like a madman. Even the human being-component of the Human Incarnation can slip sometimes and develop an ego like Paraṣurāma. Then what to speak of ordinary human beings claiming to be God! The other main aspect of the program of Shri Satya Sai was also the performance of miracles continuously throughout His life. The miracles are essential to prove the existence of an unimaginable domain. The tremendous development in science in recent times is promoting the false belief that nothing beyond science can exist. Many people have come under the influence of this false belief and they refuse to accept the existence of anything supernatural. Miracles cannot be explained by science and they indicate the presence of the unimaginable domain, which is not different from God. Hence, they are most essential to control the rapid growth of atheism. Shri Satya Sai preached lot of spiritual knowledge through His divine discourses and developed devotion by singing several devotional songs with His excellent sweet voice. I convey My auspicious greetings to Bhagvaan Shri Satya Sai Baba on the eve of His auspicious birthday through the following verse: Chitraavatii nadiitiira, puttaparti nivaasine, Shrii Satya Saayine tubhyam, uchyate janmamangalam . I convey My auspicious greetings On this auspicious birthday to You, Bhagvaan Shri Satya Sai Baba, Who lived in Puttaparti on the banks of river Chitraavati.

Why am I not able to recognize and love You like the Gopikas? Discourse Podcast Shri Bharat Bandi asked: Namahshivaya Shri Datta Swamy. I am Bharath Krishna, MTech student from Amrita University, Coimbatore. I am a student of Dr Nikhil sir who is your devotee. He has been guiding myself and another student in understanding all your discourses. We have been reading all your discourses till Divine Discourses-6. Swamy most of my life I knew God existed but nobody gave me the right definition of God so I behaved as an atheist. After seeing so much pain in people's life I have concluded that God created this world but he doesn't care about us. So, I thought I will gain power and do the Justice. This changed after meeting my beloved sadguru AMMA (Shri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi). I learnt about God from one of her disciples and finally understood what god is. After learning more about God from your Discourses I have changed completely. I have always considered that you are responsible for all the pain that I have gone through in my life. Now I have very well understood that without that pain I would have been with very bad character. Thank you very much for whatever you gave me in life but I have one doubt left which is disturbing me continuously. I have learnt from you that Gopikas got liberated because they showed perfect devotion. I also should have existed that time. Why was I not able to recognize you and why am I not able to love you? You have created all of us when you created this world. You told that everyone had perfect knowledge during the initial days of creation and everyone was happy. If the knowledge was perfect then they should have got liberated that time itself. If they are liberated they will have ananda even while they suffer but it is not the case. I got this doubt because gopikas got liberation 5000 years back but I didn't. That means you created all of us different. If you have created all of us in a similar way then all of us should have got liberated at once. Swamy I myself know that I am missing something in this. I am asking all this because of my Ignorance. Please forgive me and enlighten me with your answer. I can't sleep because of this doubt of mine and that's why I had to ask. It is hindering my progress in the spiritual path. I desperately want to know where I have mistaken. Padabhi Vandanam Datta Swamy. Swami replied: Gopi means the soul which hides its love for God from the surrounding worldly atmosphere, in case it opposes the soul in its spiritual efforts. You have worldly bonds with your family members and relatives. These people expect you to love them since their love for you is based on the happiness that you give to them. This is clearly told in the Veda (Aatmanah kaamaaya sarvam priyam bhavati). It means that the people with whom you have worldly bonds, love you only for the sake of their own happiness, which they derive from you. Naturally, they fear your love for God. They are afraid that your love for God might, in some way, damage or reduce your love for them, which would result in a reduction of the happiness they derive from you. It is a natural tendency of any human being. A newly-married devotee used to attend the spiritual gospels (satsanga) delivered by Shri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. As a result, he would return home to his wife late in the night. His wife started objecting to his coming home late. The wife’s objections became more and more severe as time passed, leaving the devotee worried. Finally, the worried devotee reported this matter to Paramahamsa while Paramahamsa was walking up to Panchavati, the place where He meditated upon God. Paramahamsa’s ascending to Panchavati indicates His moving from the world to God. He immediately replied to the devotee plainly “Then, leave your wife”. The devotee stood there dumb-struck and waited till Paramahamsa returned from Panchavati. Paramahamsa’s descent from Panchavati indicates His returning from God to the world. This time Paramahamsa listened to the devotee’s problem, patted him on his back and said to him that He had already told this problem to the Divine Mother and that it would be solved. True to the words of Paramahamsa, the devotee’s problem got resolved. The internal essence is that you have to reject worldly bonds for the sake of God if necessary, as the last resort. One day, Paramahamsa was killing bedbugs while sitting on His cot. A devotee saw this and asked Him if it was not a sin to kill living beings. Paramahamsa told him that the bedbugs were disturbing Him while He was sitting on the cot for meditating on God. He also said that He would commit any sin for the sake of God. This shows that God is the highest goal; greater than anything and anybody (Na tatsamah …—Veda). In this case of the bedbugs, there was no other alternative than killing them since they are parasites and cannot be stopped from sucking a person’s blood. Such a step is the extreme last resort and has to be adopted only when there is no other peaceful alternative. In the case of Paramahamsa’s devotee, he did not have to leave his newly-married wife. But this extreme step had to be taken by Ramanuja, since He found no alternative. Preferably, one can hide one’s devotion to God from the family so that they are not hurt. Secrecy is recommended in spiritual efforts (Aatmaanam rahasi sthitah). Hiding one’s devotion to God, one can express false devotion to the family. It is just acting since one’s entire love is directed to God. But such acting is not a sin because it is done for the sake of God. It is the best way to solve the problem without hurting other souls. This procedure was followed by the Gopikas. They gave butter to Krishna secretly. They danced with Krishna in Brundavanam at midnight secretly. Keeping the secrecy of the divine love for God is the best way. We should learn this point from the Gopikas and implement it in our spiritual effort, if necessary. Only a soul implementing the principle of the Gopikas, can be called as a Gopika in the real sense. We should analyze and take the points that are useful for our spiritual progress. Simply listening to the superficial story of butter and Brundavanam is of no use! Before pursuing one’s devotion to God secretly, one should try to convince the family and try to turn them into devotees of God too. If they too become devotees, there is no problem at all! It is the highest fortune if the family members also become devotees and cooperate with your spiritual efforts. In the case of the newly-married devotee of Paramahamsa, he had tried all these methods and failed. Hence, he was in the need of God’s help, which was extended by the Divine Mother on the prayer of Paramahamsa. One should always take the essence of any story described in the secondary scriptures (Puraaṇams). That essence should be implemented in one’s own spiritual efforts to derive the benefit of salvation from one’s worldly bonds, which results from one’s intensive attachment to God.

How can we be responsible for our deeds when the planets influence our minds? Discourse Podcast Shri Parikshit, a lawyer from Delhi asked (on the phone): Are the planets not influencing our minds to do good or bad deeds? The planets have Lordships of houses like wealth, house, issues, wife, job etc., and also have natures (Kaaraka) like knowledge, work, wife, children etc., when their periods come it is said that they influence these aspects. Then, our works are destined by the planets and we shall not receive punishments for our sins done by us due their influence, which is the destiny. Swami replied: We are doing good deeds or bad deeds based on our own inherent nature. This is stated repeatedly in the Gita as “prakrutim yaanti bhuutaani..., prakrutistvaam niyokshyati..., Prakruteh kriyamanaani, gunaih karmaani..., kaaranam gunasangosya...” and so on. God and the planets are neither the doers of our deeds nor do they influence our deeds. They also never give any fruit to us unless we perform the corresponding deed (Na kartrutvam na karmaani…—Gita). Our nature depends on our qualities which we have picked up from our surroundings in this birth or carried forward from our previous births. The planets are only giving us the fruits of our own deeds. The fruits have been arranged in a regular cyclic fashion by God so that we receive some good fruit followed by some bad fruit of our own actions alternately. This alternate arrangement is done so that we can get maximum enjoyment from life. Enjoying only good fruits i.e. pleasant experiences; one after the other, will lead to boredom. Similarly, experiencing the bad fruits of our actions i.e. difficulties in life; one after the other, will lead to depression. The alternate arrangement provides maximum enjoyment like enjoying a full meal in which one eats sweet and hot dishes alternately. As per our acquired natures, we are born in zodiac signs, whose Lords have a similar nature. Note that we are not referring to the inert planet. We are referring to the nature of its Lord or presiding deity, who is known by the same name as the planet. For example, the Lord of the inert planet, Mars, has a hot and angry nature. So, souls of a similar nature are born in the zodiac signs, Aries or Scorpio, which are ruled by Mars. It is very important to understand that Mars does not induce anger into the soul but the angry soul is born in the zodiac sign ruled by Mars. Hence, our natures are not influenced by the planets. We are merely born in the zodiac signs ruled by the planets having a similar nature. The different astrological periods (dashaas) are the times when we are supposed to receive the fruits of our deeds as arranged by God in our life. Destiny means that you must receive the fruit of your deed at the appropriate time as decided by God. You can never escape it. You are destined to receive the fruits as per the constitution of God. But the concept of destiny is confined to enjoying the fruits of your deeds. It does not extend to your performing the deeds. You perform the deeds only as per your qualities, which make up your nature. If you kill some person and state in the court that you have killed him due to the influence of certain planets on you, will the judge be satisfied? The judge will say that you are receiving the punishment for your crime based on the influence of the same planets! People often exploit spiritual concepts. For example, some say that every incident happening in this world is destined since it happens only by the will of God. Then the judge will say that he too is giving you the punishment for your crime based on the same will of God! God is responsible for every deed in the sense of supplying the energy required for the deed. He is not responsible for the direction of the deed, which alone decides the fruit. Electrical energy is supplied to your house by the government expecting that you will use it for good purposes like putting on lights and fans. If you misuse the electricity or if you put your fingers in the plug point, you will receive a shock. The government is not responsible for the electric shock, and will not compensate you for the damage! God is like to horse that carries you from one place to the other. But the direction of your journey is decided only by you, and the fruit, which depends on the direction taken, shall also be enjoyed by you alone. If you go to the forest, robbers will rob your money. If you go to another city where your relatives and friends live, you will be received by them with pleasure. The horse that takes you either to the forest or the city as per your direction, is not responsible for the fruits that you receive. The meaning of the Vedic statement “Abadhnan purusham pashum” is that the souls have bound God to their deeds, as a horse is bound to a cart for a journey. Binding the horse to the cart does not mean that the horse is responsible for the direction taken by the cart. The driver of the cart, which is the soul, alone is responsible for the direction. Swami Vivekananda said that you can change your destiny and that destiny is in your hands alone. This means that you can stop the chain of punishments for your sins provided you put forth the effort to undergo reformation. Reformation has three steps. The first is intellectual and it involves gaining spiritual knowledge and digesting it fully. It naturally leads to the second emotional step which is the repentance for one’s wrong deeds in the past. Finally, the third and final practical step is the non-repetition of the sinful deeds throughout one’s life. The third practical step proves that one has actually reformed. If the spiritual knowledge is gained and properly digested, repentance and non-repetition of the sin are natural consequences. The digestion of spiritual knowledge does not take place simply by gaining it. After gaining it, you have to propagate it in the world. This repeated propagation confirms and strengthens the concepts in your mind resulting in their digestion and assimilation by your soul. i.e. they become part of your inherent nature. Swami Vivekananda made this statement from his own experience. He was involved in the propagation of the true spiritual knowledge preached by Shri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa throughout His life!

How can I maintain undistracted brahmacarya on the spiritual path? Discourse Podcast Shri Sriraag asked: Namaste Swamiji, I have been following some sadhana for few years now with a resultant experience of ananda. My mind has been vacillating with the desire to follow brahmacharya throughout my life (I am 23 years old now). While I have to admit that I have failed in keeping up this ideal in the past year, I wish to regain my purity somehow and keep my mind on the Divine throughout my life. Kindly give your guidance regarding effective means of maintain brahmacharya and not getting distracted on the path to God. Deepest gratitude for answering our questions. Pranaam. Sriraag Swami replied: Sage Narada asked God Brahma “Who is the unshaken celibate (Brahmachaarii) in this world?”. God Brahma replied that Shri Krishna is such a celibate. How is this possible, when Krishna had married one thousand six hundred princesses? A Brahmachaarii is commonly understood to be a celibate. Celibacy only means the avoidance of sex. But the actual meaning of Brahmacharya is far beyond celibacy. The correct meaning of the word Brahmacharya can be derived in two ways. The first way is Brahmanah Vedasya charyaa Jnaanam iti. We split the word Brahmacharya into brahma and charya. Here, the word Brahma is taken to mean the Veda. Brahma or Brahman can be used to indicate anything that is the ‘greatest’ in its category. The Veda being the greatest among scriptures has been said to be Brahma in the Gita (Brahmaakshaara samudbhavam). Charyaa means movement. But in Sanskrit, verbs indicating movement also mean knowledge (Gatyarthaanaam dhaatuunaam jnaanaarthakatvaat). So here, Charyaa means possessing the true spiritual knowledge. Now putting the meanings of brahma and charyaa together, the meaning of Brahmacharya is acquiring and subsequently possessing spiritual knowledge. The second way of deriving the meaning of the word Brahmacharya is Brahmanah paramaatmanah charyaa Kriyaatmakasevaa Jnaana prachaararuupena iti. Here Brahma means God. Charyaa means practical service by propagating true spiritual knowledge. So, Brahmacharya means serving God by propagating true spiritual knowledge. Krishna was a Brahmachaarii based on both the above definitions of the word Brahmacharya. He possessed true spiritual knowledge and He also propagated it through the Gita. Since the Gita is the best spiritual knowledge, Krishna is called the real unshaken celibate (Brahmachaarii). It is a misunderstanding to think that avoiding sex is Brahmacharya. Eating food, drinking water, sex and sleep are the biological needs of the material body, which have no connection with real Brahmacharya. As long as the biological needs are met without disturbing basic rules of justice (pravrutti), Brahmacharya is unrelated to these biological needs. If one is engaged in God’s work, such a devotee is the real celibate. Thus, we should understand the true meaning of the terms used in spiritual knowledge and proceed practically on the correct path in our spiritual journey.

If souls are God’s inert instruments, does it not violate their freedom and make it unfair to punish souls for their sins? Discourse Podcast Shri Krishnaraj.V.S wrote: Dear Sir, With reference to the above message, i would like to seek clarification for the following: The reply by Swami is, Quote “The real Speaker is God Datta alone. The audience has awareness just like the Speaker. The only inert or ignorant instrument in between God Datta and His live audience is Myself, who lacks even a trace of knowledge.”Unquote Most spiritual books and gurus say on similar lines that man should consider himself as an instrument of God. The above logic raised a question for which I could not get a convincing answer. The question is, if man should only be an instrument, then what is the purpose of his creation ? If anything good or bad happens, should he attribute the same to God and refrain from exhibiting his emotions? Should he be only a puppet and suppress his emotions? Why I am raising this point is that, most discussions /forums put forth the view that god has given freedom because, he doesn’t want humans to be programmed dolls. If god has given really freedom to humans, then what is the point in humans thinking that they are mere instruments of god. Thinking us as mere instruments imply that our freedom is not real freedom. 1. If the freedom we are enjoying is not real freedom, god can as well make us dolls so that evils are totally curbed. The point is, god wants us to be mere instruments and also make us to suffer by allowing evil. This is not just. 2. Assuming ourselves as mere instruments will not hold good in practical life. If a person commits a sin and if he says that, i am merely an instrument and god should be held responsible, will it be acceptable in court of law? For me above mentioned points deter to think that we should be mere instruments of god. I may be wrong also. If I am wrong , kindly clarify what could be correct? Regards, Krishnaraj.V.S] Swami replied: The source of your question is the confusion between Nivrutti (divine life) and Pravrutti (worldly life). The statement given by Me is related to Nivrutti and not to Pravrutti. Freedom is given to all human souls, who are responsible for freely choosing to perform good deeds or bad deeds in Pravrutti (Svabhaavastu pravartate —Gita). Even here, God preaches to the souls through ethical scriptures and also directly in the form of Human Incarnations. His preaching clearly describes which deeds are good and which are bad. In Pravrutti, the human being takes the credit for the fruits of his good deeds, and tries to throw the blame for the fruits of his bad deeds on God! Pravrutti belongs to all of humanity whereas Nivrutti belongs to an extremely small number of climax devotees to God, who have surrendered to God totally (Tameva sharanam gachha —Gita). Especially, when divine work of God is to be done by a climax devotee such as delivering excellent spiritual knowledge, God merges with that climax devotee and generates that excellent spiritual knowledge through that devotee. Here, the planning of the divine program (Samkalpa), choosing the appropriate direction in its execution, and providing the energy for doing the work, are all actually done by God alone since it is entirely God’s work. God does His own work through that climax devotee and gives the credit to His climax devotee. The climax devotee in turn always passes on this entire credit back to God since the real credit belongs only to God. The climax devotee always says that he or she is a total zero whereas God is the all-in-all in such divine work. This point which applies only to the extremely small number of exceptional devotees cannot be extended to all the other general human beings. In Pravrutti, while doing a good deed or a bad deed, the planning of the action, and choosing the direction for how it is to be executed, are done by the human being. Only the energy required for the work is supplied by God. A simile for this is that God is like the horse taking you to any place as desired by you. The horse merely provides the energy for the journey by doing the work of pulling the cart. This simile comes from the Veda which says “Abadhnan purusham pashum”. The planning and choosing the direction in doing the work is your responsibility alone. You may choose to go to a forest and get robbed or you may choose to go to a city in which your friends live, and enjoy happiness. The fruit of the work depends on your planning, and the direction chosen by you in executing the work. Hence, the fruit goes to you alone, and not to the horse. In Pravrutti, the horse (God) only acts like inert energy. You have complete freedom in planning and deciding the direction of the work. You have not given a chance for the horse to contribute to the planning and choosing the direction. Hence, you are responsible for the good and bad fruits of the work done as per your choice. In the case of the climax Nivrutti devotee, he or she has surrendered to the horse (God) in all the three steps of planning the work, choosing the direction, and obtaining energy for performing it. You cannot mix the cases of climax devotees with the other general human beings and arrive at confused conclusions. The teacher teaches the lesson to all in the class without any partiality. If the majority of students in the class are undisciplined, they may fail. A few disciplined students will pass the examination. You cannot mix the cases of both the disciplined and undisciplined students, and arrive at a common conclusion. The freedom of choice too was given by God to souls since the souls were bored after living in continuous discipline for a long time during the Kruta Yuga. By giving them freedom, the divine Father made all souls, who are His children happy. At the same time, in the interest of the welfare of His children, He has taken all necessary steps to guide them on the right path. He has guided humanity by giving the ethical scriptures. Moreover, He preaches the true spiritual knowledge to humanity directly by coming in the form of Human Incarnations in every generation. Under these circumstances, if one blames God, it is only the climax of ignorance!

Fate of Enjoyers of Sinful Wealth Discourse Podcast Dr. Nikhil asked: Padanamaskarams Swamiji! With regard to the recent message given to Smt. Bindiya Chaudhry on December 1, 2018, You have stated that for sins done with intention, the direct doer of the sin, the employer of the direct doer, the promoter and the supporter; all share the fruit of the sin equally (kartā kārayitā caiva, prerakaścānumodakaḥ...). In this regard, I have the following questions for which I seek Your kind clarifications. Your servant. Nikhil. Dr. Nikhil: Does anumodaka mean supporter or the enjoyer of the benefit? Swami replied: Grammatically, you have every right to take the meaning of anumodaka in the sense of an enjoyer since the root verb ‘mud’ means joy. But the word anumodakaḥ means the supporter of a deed in the sense of appreciating the deed after it is performed. The words ‘anumodanam,’ ‘samarthanam’ or ‘sammatih’ have similar meaning and they convey the sense of supporting through acceptance, and through the expression of joy after the deed is performed. If this word is taken in the sense of enjoying the fruit, it is also correct because the supporter enjoys the fruit equally along with the other three parties to the sin, who are involved before performing the deed or during the deed. The first three parties to the sin are the direct doer or kartaa, the indirect doer or Kaarayitaa, who is the employer of the doer, and the promoter or preraka. The fourth party to the sin, the supporter or anumodaka, comes into picture after the deed is done. An example is a lawyer pleading the case of a criminal. The prefix ‘anu’ which means ‘after,’ indicates that the supporter comes after the other three parties have planned and executed the deed. Thus, the first three belong to one category, while the supporter belongs to another category. It is already said in the verse that all the four parties equally enjoy the punishment or the fruit of the sin (chatvaarah samabhaaginah). So, all four are ‘enjoyers’, in any case. Then if you take the meaning of anumodaka only in the sense of the person who enjoys the fruit, the former three parties also become anumodakas since they too enjoy the fruit of the deed. In that case, there cannot be a separate fourth party called anumodaka; there are only three parties. An independent fourth party cannot arise unless a different meaning such as supporter is assigned to the fourth term anumodaka. The root verb ‘mud’ primarily means to enjoy, as per grammar. By adding the prefix ‘anu’, it means supporting the deed through the acceptance and appreciation of the deed. This is the actual meaning of the word anumodaka. In addition to the actual meaning as a supporter, you can also associate the sense of ‘enjoyer’ with the word as per the primary meaning of its root verb, since the supporter is also one of the enjoyers of the fruit. But it is important to remember that the meaning derived from the root verb, which is enjoyment, extends beyond just the term anumodaka, to include all the four parties. Thus, taking the meaning of anumodaka as the enjoyer, suffers from the defect of Ativyaapti or over-extension. Since, the meaning, enjoyer, applies to the first three parties, a separate fourth party disappears. This makes the verse false since it clearly mentions four parties (chatvaarah). So, to maintain four separate parties as mentioned in the verse, the word anumodaka should be understood in the sense of the supporter. This main sense of supporting is in accordance with grammar. Over and above that you can also add a secondary meaning as the enjoyer, since it is based on the root verb. The case of Valmiki’s family Dr. Nikhil asked: I request You to please throw light on the case of the enjoyer of the benefit too. Specifically, in the case of Valmiki’s story, his family said that they would not accept a share in the sin even though they were the enjoyers of the wealth earned through sinful means. They said that as the breadwinner, Valmiki was duty-bound to provide for his family; how he fulfilled his duty was none of their concern. They had never forced him to commit sin and rob others. So they would not accept a share in the sin. This was a specific case where the doer of the sin was duty-bound to provide for the enjoyers of the benefits. More importantly, the family members had no choice but to depend on Valmiki, the bread-winner. But in general a person who enjoys the benefits of a sinful deed, should have a share in the sin especially when the doer of the sin is not duty-bound to provide for the enjoyment of the enjoyer. Or more correctly, the enjoyer who is not dependent on the doer of the sin should get a share in the sin. Could You please clarify this point. Swami replied: It is said that the above-mentioned four parties equally share the fruit of the sin. It means that each of the four, separately and fully enjoys the fruit of the deed. For instance, if the fruit of a sin is a hundred beatings, then each of the above four, receives a hundred beatings in hell. It certainly does not mean that each will get just twenty-five beatings, which is one-fourth of the share of the total beatings. Coming to the main point, sage Narada met the robber Valmiki in the forest and asked him to ask his family if they were ready to share the fruit of his sin. Valmiki’s family replied that they would not share his sin since they were not directly involved in the sin of robbing others. The family members gave that answer due to their ignorance about the actual concept. But that answer shocked Valmiki, who left his sinful ways and later became a sage. The conversion of Valmiki was a positive outcome. It need not be criticized just because it was based on his family’s false understanding of the cycle of deeds. When Valmiki returned to Narada, on hearing his family’s ignorant answer, Narada did not correct it. Narada was a real preacher or Guru, and not a mere scholar. The Guru does not bother about the truth of a concept as much as the upliftment of the soul. If a concept is false but if it can help the soul progress to the next higher level, the Guru will even preach that false concept for the immediate spiritual progress of the soul. Such a lie told for a good purpose is called arthavaada. Sometimes, the truth can cause damage and prevent the spiritual progress of the soul. In that case, it should not be revealed for the time being. The real Guru has this tendency to give more importance to the progress of the soul than simply revealing the truth carelessly. The real Guru preaches and reveals the truth carefully based on the psychology of the receivers. This tendency is clearly seen in the three divine preachers, Shankara, Ramanuja and Madhva. If in a court, a party or its advocate make any claim, it need not be accepted by the judge, who is the final authority on the constitution. Hence, the answer given by the family to Valmiki need not be taken as the final authority. Our understanding of the actual concept need not be based on their answer. It is the ignorance of the family to think that they would not have to undergo the punishment for the sin. Actually, they come under the fourth category of the supporters of the sin or anumodakas, and they cannot escape punishment. The family obviously knew that Valmiki was bringing money and jewels by robbing other people. They knew that he was not earning money through hard work. When Valmiki went to his home as per Narada’s instructions, he did not ask his family whether they knew that the wealth he was bringing home was robbed from other people, and not earned through hard work. He simply asked the family whether they would share the sin or not. The family too was not shocked to find out that Valmiki was a robber. They merely refused to share the sin, which clearly proves that they were already fully aware that Valmiki was earning through sinful means. They were enjoying that sinfully-earned wealth with full awareness. They replied ignorantly saying that they would not share the sin even though they were enjoying the fruit of the deed, which was the wealth. They falsely claimed that they would not suffer the punishment for the sinful deed since they were not the direct doers of the sin. The ignorant family had limited the responsibility of the sin to only the first party, which is the kartaa or the direct doer of the sin. The ignorance of the family was exploited by sage Narada for doing the good work of reforming Valmiki. Some people might not agree with sage Narada’s approach. Let us understand their objection through the following conversation between an opponent and Swami. Opponent: Valmiki was under the wrong impression that if his family shared his sin, his share of the punishment would get reduced. Why did Narada not reveal the truth to Valmiki? The truth is that the punishment for a sin is never divided among those responsible for the sin, and that each one gets the full punishment for the sin separately. So, both Valmiki and his family would have to bear the full punishment for the sin. There was no need for Narada to hide this truth from Valmiki. Even if Narada had revealed this truth, Valmiki would still have given up his sinful ways. He would have reformed with the knowledge that the punishment for his sin would not be reduced at any cost. Swami: If you are told that not only will you have to bear the full punishment for your sin, but also that your family will not get any punishment at all, you will immediately give up your sinful ways and get reformed with double the force. You will think it is foolish to continue the sinful deeds when even though both you and your family equally share the sinfully-earned wealth, you alone will be punished while your family totally escapes punishment. On the other hand, if you are told the truth that both you and your family will have to separately bear the full punishment for the sin, there will be some satisfaction and even some sympathy towards your family. It will reduce your vigor in reformation. Hence, sage Narada did not reveal the truth to Valmiki. Such is the intensity of a Guru’s interest in uplifting a soul! The Gita says that one should not leave one’s duties (Niyatam kuru…). But it does not mean that one should fulfill one’s duties even in an unjust way. A wife is said to be a partner in all the work done by a man to achieve the four goals of life. These four goals are called the puruṣārthās and they are: dharma or justice, artha or wealth, kaama or sex and moksha or the spiritual effort taken for salvation. The wife and grown-up children, who enjoy the wealth and benefits earned through sinful means, cannot escape the punishment for the same deeds. The wealth and benefits are the immediate fruits of the sinful deeds while punishments in hell are the delayed fruits of the same sinful deeds. Any human being with the slightest commonsense knows whether the head of the family is earning money through rightful or sinful means. After all, a wife is the partner of her husband in earning wealth, which is called as artha. If necessary, she might also have to take up a job and earn money along with her husband. Then how can she claim to be ignorant of her husband’s ways of earning money? Any family member can easily know when the head of their family is earning through sinful means. It is the duty of the family to advise and strongly urge the head of the family to stop the sinful earning and stick to only rightful means to meet the expenses of the family. Often times, the family does not do this important duty. That is why the family is also destroyed in course of time by the sinful money earned by the head of the family. Let us say that the head of the family is doing a lawful job and earning a rightful salary. But along with it, he is also earning some sinful money through corrupt means. The family might not be able to identify the sinful money if it is small in amount. In that case, it is justified to say that the head alone should undergo the punishment for the sin as the kartaa or the doer of the sin. A higher officer, who receives a share of the money earned by his juniors through corrupt means, also undergoes the same punishment as the kaarayitaa or the indirect doer. Another employee, who encourages the doer of the deed, and also gets a share in the sinfully-earned money, undergoes the same punishment as the preraka or the promoter. The family enjoying the large amounts of sinful money, which is the fruit of the sinful deeds done by the doer, must also undergo the punishment, which also is the fruit of the sinful deed. Here the family is the anumodaka or the supporter. The family should naturally get suspicious when the head of the family earns large amounts of money beyond his or her salary and are expected to question the head. The family cannot simply keep silent and say that they never supported the sin. Such an excuse is not valid. It is their responsibility to question the sin and try to avoid it by controlling the head of the family. A sinful employee, takes a bribe from another sinful person like a contractor. He says that he is taking the bribe from the sinful contractor, who in turn is looting a lot of money in a project. The employee claims that his sin is not serious since he is only taking money from a rich and corrupt contractor and not from a poor person. But neither the contractor nor the employee can escape punishment in hell. Both are earning sinful money for their selfish purpose. Both are accumulating that money for their families. If a person has earned such sinful money in the past, it should be donated for some good work like the work of God or for feeding beggars, helping the poor etc. Only then can one escape from the punishment. Apart from the fact that they will face inescapable punishment, the sinners do not realize that the very purpose for which they earned this sinful money will never be achieved. They earned money sinfully for the sake of their family. But the large amounts of sinful money accumulated by them will destroy their children and their future generations. Sin should be avoided even in cases of emergency, which are called as Aapatdharma. It is said that sage Vishvaamitra was once forced to eat the flesh of a dog during a drought. But it should be noted that he only ate the flesh of a dog that had already died. He did not kill it to save his own life. Even Kaapaalikaas, who eat human flesh from dead bodies, are not sinners since they do not kill anyone. Flesh by itself is not sinful since it does not differ from vegetarian food in the basic chemical constituents. It is the killing of harmless living beings for food that is sinful. The judgment of God depends on His deep analysis based on the overall background of each case. He is able to analyze perfectly since He is omniscient. Souls, with their limited intellects, are incapable of analyzing perfectly. Hence, the Gita says that the analysis of deeds is too deep for souls to understand (Gahanaa karmano gatih). (Second question – answer to be continued.)

Vedic Accents Do Not Bring Any Fruit Discourse Podcast Dr. C. Annapurna asked: Please clarify once again the topic of “Indrashatru” mentioned in Veda, which is referred by you in the recent messages. Swami Replied: The Vedic scholars of the Puurvamiimaamsa philosophy lay a lot of emphasis on the recitation of the Veda with the correct accents, even if the meaning of the Veda is not understood. They say “Yathendrashatruh svaratoparaadhaat”, which means that the demon, Vrutra, was killed because of the wrong accent used in the recitation of the Veda. Vruta had forced the sages to perform a ritual worship for gaining victory over Indra, the king of angels. In Vedic recitation, every syllable is to be recited with one of three accents called svaras. These three svaras are anudaatta or the lower accent, svarita, which is the middle accent and udaatta, which is the higher accent. To bring victory to Vruta, the enemy of Indra, the sages were to recite a prayer with the words “Indrashatro vardhasva” which mean “May the enemy of Indra flourish”. But the sages, who were in support of Indra, changed the upper accent (udaatta svara) from the word ‘Shatro’ to the word ‘Indra’. With this seemingly unnoticeable change, the meaning of the sentence became exactly the opposite. It now meant “May Indra, the enemy (of Vruta) flourish”. In the battle that followed, Vruta was killed by Indra. Quoting this incident, priests focus on blindly reciting the Veda with the correct accents. They justify it by saying that the meaning of the words in the Veda depends on the accent. They go to the extent of saying that even if the meaning is not understood, but the Veda is recited with correct accents, the desired results are received. They say that the mere sound accents of the Veda bring the desired fruits. In short, according to them, knowing the meaning of the Veda is not necessary. Using this argument, priests try to convince people to support their blind recitation of the Veda without knowing its meaning. Actually, the word compound ‘Indrashatru’ used in the above sentence, is made up of two words, Indra, which is the name of the king of angels, and Shatru, which means enemy. It literally means ‘Indra-enemy’. This word compound can have two meanings based on the rules of Sanskrit grammar: 1) The first meaning is ‘Indra who himself is the enemy’ (Indrashchaasau shatrushcha). This type of a compound is called Prathamaatatpurusha samaasa. 2) The second meaning is ‘the enemy of Indra’, who is Vruta (Indrasya shatruh). This type of a compound is called Shashthiitatpurusha samaasa. In the texts of grammar, it is not told that the difference in meaning is based on the accent. The difference in meaning comes as a result of the intention of the person who uses the word. The above theory claims that the meaning of the word changes with the accent, irrespective of the speaker’s intention. No such point is mentioned in the texts of grammar. Let us assume that the priests had the intention to favour Indra and hence, Vruta instead of winning the battle got killed. So, if the result is based on the intention, there is no necessity of the accent! You might argue that both intention and the accent together are necessary to yield the result. But in both Vedic and non-Vedic ritual worships conducted by priests, when they declare their intention (Samkalpa) for performing the worship, they never use any Vedic accents. The declaration of the intention or Samkalpa is usually done before the worship in which no accents are used. If both accent and intention are necessary for the result, then such worships should never yield any result. But results are obtained even when the Samkalpa is declared without accents. Note that while performing any type of worship, Vedic or non-Vedic, the statements describing the Samkalpa are not from the Veda and hence, they do not possess the Vedic accents. Actually, God gives fruits in response to the prayers done. But the sanction of results by God is based on His independent discrimination. God does not give results for the prayers based on the Vedic accents or the intention of the praying devotee. If the prayer is justified, God gives a positive result and if it is not justified, God keeps silent. In this case, Vruta was a bad demon and Indra is a good angel. God always supports good souls. Hence, God gave the opposite result in which Vruta was killed by Indra instead of the reverse. God is neither bound by the inert sound-accent nor by the non-inert intention of the soul. He does not give results mechanically and cannot be bent by either intention or accent. In the above case of Indrashatru, God favoured Indra because Indra is a good soul. Incidentally, the accent in the prayer and the intention of the sages coincided with the decision of God to support the good side. This is called the Kaakataaliiyaka nyaaya, which means that when a person stood under a palm tree, a crow also came and sat on the tree at the same time, and right then a palm fruit fell on the person. The fruit fell on its own because its stem had become weak. The person thought that the fruit fell because the crow sat on the tree. In reality, it was only a case of coincidence in which the fruit fell just after the crow sat on the tree. There was a similar coincidence in the story of Vruta. The changed accent of recitation and the sages’ intention coincided with God’s independent decision to support Indra. This coincidence is exploited by the priests to support their blind recitation of the Veda since they neither know the true meaning of the Veda nor do they want to explain it to the public.

Unintentional Sins And Suffering in Life Discourse Podcast Smt. Bindiya Chaudhry asked: I am Parikshit's wife who already is a devotee of Swamiji and I too am one. There is a question that is boggling me. First shat shat pranam to the all mighty Swami Dattatreya the unimaginable God. Some sins are obvious like killing someone or hurting, but how do we save ourselves from committing non obvious sins that lead to our sufferings? Can one live a human life without committing sins? If sins are unintentional how do we avoid their repeat in future? I am currently suffering from a deep problem and am asking Swamiji for forgiveness for my sins. Is forgiveness possible in the same human birth?- Bindiya Chaudhry w/o. Shri Pariikshit, Lawyer, Delhi. Swami replied: Sins done unintentionally, like accidentally stepping on and killing ants while walking on the road, do not yield punishments. When the intention is absent, the person is not directing the work towards sin, and so the fruit of sin also does not arise (Jnaanaagnidagdhakarmaanam, Padmapatramivaambhasaa—Gita). The inert energy needed for doing any work is supplied by God and it is never linked with the fruit since it is inert. It cannot have any intention which gives direction to the work. Intention is part of awareness and awareness has two sides: The soul or Aatman is the basic inert energy that produces awareness The individual soul or Jiiva is the produced awareness and is a bundle of thoughts. Aatman is inert energy (Sthaanurachaloyam—Gita). It is not touched by the fruits of deeds since it cannot have any intention. This Aatman is the limited amount of energy present in the finite human body and is like a drop of water. The same inert energy or Aatman is also qualitatively the material of the entire cosmos, which is like the ocean. The difference between the Aatman present in a body and the entire inert energy in the cosmos, is only quantitative (Nityah sarvagatah—Gita). Jiiva or the individual soul is the awareness in the form of a bundle of thoughts. It is responsible for the intention, and giving direction to the work. Unintentional sins are excused because in case of such actions even the Jiiva, which is responsible for the intention, remains silent. Since the Jiiva is not involved in the deed, it can also be considered as inert like the Aatman. Hence, in unintentional deeds no fruit is given to the Jiiva. When a sin is done with intention, the Jiiva gets the fruit since intention always belongs to the Jiiva. When ants get crushed under the feet of a human being, the fruit of sin does not arise and reach the human being, since the case is similar to ants getting crushed under a car on the road. There is no difference between an inert car and the human being in this case since the intention to kill is absent in both. On the other hand, the case of intentional sin leads to punishment. Further, a person, who plans to kill somebody, is a worse criminal than the person whom he employs to kill another. Of course, the employed person is not like an inert car since he takes money to kill and commits the sin of killing. But he is a criminal of a lesser grade. He too will be equally punished due to his intention of earning money through sinful means. Your husband, being a lawyer, can explain this point with more clarity. In the case of sins done with intention, the direct doer of the sin, the employer of the direct doer, the promoter and the supporter; all share the fruit of the sin equally (kartaa kaarayitaa chaiva, prerakashchaanumodakah...). According to the divine constitution, the lawyer who supports the sin through his arguments for the sake of earning money, and a corrupt judge who supports the sin through his biased judgement, also share the sin equally. Even if there is a total failure of justice in courts run by human beings, the judgement of God does complete justice. Four Types of Work Let us consider the four types of work mentioned in the Gita. Karma yoga is God’s work done by a devotee on the path of Nivrutti to attain the abode of God or Brahma Loka. Karma is good social work done by the devotee on the path of Pravrutti to attain temporary good fruits in heaven or in this world. Both karma and karma yoga are often used in the same sense, but they differ tremendously. Vikarma is sinful action. It is the deeds that should not be done, and if done, the fruit of such sin is punishment in hell or sometimes punishment in this world itself. Akarma is inaction. Inaction or the avoidance of action should be applied only to the case of sinful action. In other words, only sinful action should be avoided. Avoiding good worldly action or avoiding the work done for God, is not recommended (Karmanohyapi boddhavyam—Gita). Karma, which is doing good deeds for the sake of selfish enjoyment, and vikarma, which is sin, are related to each other and they constitute the phase of Pravrutti. Both are done for selfish enjoyment. As long as the desire for selfish enjoyment is limited, the person performs karma or good deeds, whereas when the desire reaches its climax, it leads to sins. It is for this reason that Shankara opposed Mandana Mishra, the Puurvamiimaamsaa, for following the path of doing deeds (Yajna) to attain temporary heavenly enjoyments. During that time, the philosophy of Puurvamiimamsaa had fallen to such a low level that the followers had begun to say God does not exist (Devo na kashchchit...). Meaning of Inaction in the Gita In the Gita, total inaction (akarma) is mentioned in a verse (Sarvaarambhaparityaagii), which is misunderstood by people. They feel that the verse recommends that we should avoid doing any worldly work. In another verse, Lord Krishna also says to Arjuna that he should only do God’s work (Matkarmaparamo bhava—Gita). This is correct only in the case of an exceptional Nivrutti devotee. In the case of ordinary human devotees, it is not possible to stop all worldly work and only work for God. Of course, the devotee of Nivrutti indeed follows this line of thinking, and he lives as a renounced saint, begging for his food. But in the case of Pravrutti devotees, who are not saints, the practical worldly problems make them perform some worldly work. They have to do some professional work for their livelihood and maintaining their family (Shariiraayaatraapicha te—Gita). They also do some social service for the welfare of the world (Lokasangrahamevaapi—Gita) but they do it for selfish reasons. Of course, social work also forms a part of Nivrutti, which is God’s work. Helping people through the propagation of the spiritual knowledge of Pravrutti and Nivrutti is a necessary aspect of God’s work. But social service, which is done for selfish fame without devotion to God, or which is done for the sake of enjoyment of worldly or heavenly pleasures, is quite different. It cannot be treated as perfectly good action, although it is not sin. In any case, the maintenance of one’s body and one’s family are basic responsibilities. Social service in the form of the propagation of spiritual knowledge is also an important part of God’s work. The Gita does not recommend giving up such necessary and good actions (Niyatasya tu samnyaasah...—Gita). The Gita says that one should give up all intentions (Yasya sarve Samaarambhaah—Gita) so that all actions get dropped (Naivakurvan na kaarayan—Gita). These verses must also be taken in the sense of giving up the intention of doing sinful deeds, which will naturally lead to the stopping of the sinful deeds. It certainly does not mean giving up good deeds or God’s work. The same authority, the Gita, which says that one should give up the intentions that cause the deeds, also recommends doing certain actions. So, one should clearly understand that it only recommends giving up sins and not good deeds or God’s work. A person who gives up sin and performs good deeds for the welfare of the world in order to get fame or to reach heaven for selfish enjoyment, is in the middle-state between sin and Nivrutti. The person doing sins is far from Nivrutti, while the person doing good deeds for selfish reasons is relatively closer to Nivrutti. Earth is better than hell and heaven is better than earth. But the abode of God is far higher than even heaven. If the devotee does social service due to his devotion to God and not due to the desire for heaven, then that devotee reaches God. A person doing good deeds only for the enjoyment of heavenly pleasures, returns to earth and continues to rotate in the cycle of repeated births (kaamaatmaanah…, Kshiine punye…—Gita). Whenever the Gita preaches inaction, it always applies only to the three main types of sins, which are known as the three main gates to hell. They are illegal sex, violence and greediness. These sins are always to be avoided (Tasmaadetat trayam tyajet—Gita). Sin (Paapam) and merit (Punyam) are decided based on a deep analysis of various factors. Lust (Kaama) is a sin. But lust in a justified worldly bond is not a sin (Dharmaaviruddhah kaamosmi—Gita). In an unjust and illegal worldly bond, even a trace of mental love or lust is sin. Violence or hurting is a sin. But killing demons is not a sin. Similarly, when a preacher hurts a person in order to lead him or her on the right path of justice, it is not a sin. The sin lies only in hurting good people or in the violence done towards them. Greediness is a sin. But when due to the greed, one avoids unnecessary and wasteful expenditure, it is not a sin. It is a sin if due to one’s greed, one avoids making necessary and justified expenditures. Similarly, greed which causes a person to earn money through corrupt means is sin. Hence, deep analysis is very important (Buddhiyukto jahaatiiha—Gita) in deciding what is sin and what is not sin. Reformation and Salvation Reformation is a golden opportunity given by God to us. It consists of three steps. The first step is related to knowledge. It is realization or Jnana Yoga, which is identifying the sin through analysis. The second step is related to emotions and it involves sincere repentance before God with deep devotion to Him, which is Bhakti yoga. The third and final step, is the practical step of Karma yoga in which you should not repeat the same sin in your life. Many fail in the third step. It is of no use because the third step is practical and the first two steps are merely theoretical. A person can be said to be reformed only when he does not repeat the sin practically. Some clever people try to exploit this concept thinking that they will reform their souls, just before death! Such over-intelligence brings double punishment as no one can cheat God since He is omniscient! It is perfectly correct to say that a soul cannot remain idle; simply keeping silent without doing any action. This is clearly told in the Gita “Nahi Kashchit kshanamapi”. Even the Veda recommends action “Kurvanneveha karmaani…”. God never asks you to become inactive like an inert stone. Such inactivity is not only impossible but is also useless in the spiritual path. You have to learn both activity and inactivity in life. Inactivity should be applied in the context of doing or even desiring to do a sin. In other words, one should avoid doing or even desiring to do a sin. Activity should be applied by ordinary human beings following Pravrutti in doing good deeds that help society. Activity should be applied by exceptional devotees following Nivrutti in doing God’s work. The Gita stresses on both activity and inactivity in the context of these two separate paths respectively. In both these paths, you should do the work without getting attached to the fruit due to selfishness. When you are detached from the fruit of the work, you can do the work perfectly by concentrating your entire energy on the work (Karmanyevaadhikaaraste—Gita). Devotees like Shankara, Meera etc. jumped straight to God’s work, avoiding all worldly work from their very childhood. It is a direct jump to salvation from the worldly bonds which is called as Saakshaanmukti and is attained by forming a very strong bond with God. Devotees like Ramanuja, Janaka etc., walked towards the same goal of salvation from worldly bonds passing through all the four states of life, which are known as the Aashramas. This gradual walking towards the goal is called Kramamukti and is applicable to the majority of human beings. Severe Punishment Without a Serious Sin Sometimes, we are punished here severely, even though we have not committed a sin, which is deserving of such a severe punishment. We get confused in such a situation thinking that God is cruel and a sadist. Such thinking is only due to our ignorance. In fact, the punishments for our sins are usually given only in the upper sub-world called hell. The reason is that we should not be disturbed in this sub-world called earth or Martya Loka while performing our worldly and divine duties. The upper worlds and sub-worlds are called bhoga lokas, which are places for enjoying the good and bad fruits of our deeds. Earth, on the other hand is called a karma loka, which is a place for doing deeds. This is the general rule, but there are some exceptions to the rule. One exception is that intensive sins done here are punished here itself immediately. Another exception is that sometimes, the punishment for a sin committed in the previous birth is received here on earth. This happens in the case of killing animals for food. The killed animal thinks while dying that it too will kill the killer in the same way. So the animal of the previous birth is reborn as a butcher while the butcher and the consumers of the meat in the previous birth are born as animals and are killed by the butcher. In both these exceptions, the soul receives severe punishments here due to intensive sins committed previously in this birth or in the past birth respectively. The case mentioned above, in which the soul is severely punished here in spite of not having done an equally severe sin in this birth, is different from the above two exceptions. In this case, since no severe sin has been done in this birth, as per the general rule, the soul should not be punished here for any sin done by it in the past birth. Why then is the soul punished here severely? This case is covered under another exceptional rule. Note that God is all-in-all. He is the Maker of the rules, and is beyond all the rules. Whenever He breaks any rule, it is only for some good purpose. All these rules regarding a soul’s deeds and the rewards and punishments for the deeds are only for the soul’s reformation. God does not give any punishment to a soul out of revenge. He is the Doctor who is treating the patient. The soul is the patient, who is to be cured. Sometimes, God feels that a person will be benefited and his or her reformation will progress better if some punishment is given at a certain time. So, He brings to the present life, a punishment which the soul was supposed to face in a future lifetime. It is like the premature withdrawal of a deposit from a bank, which leads to a loss in the value of the deposit. So the punishment, when preponed to the present, reduces in value. This is a benefit to the soul. Additionally, it accelerates the reformation of the soul. So, the soul gets a double benefit! This exception is made in the best interest of the soul. It is like the Supreme Doctor, God, deciding to increase the dosage of antibiotics for a patient, deviating from the regular treatment plan, to speed up the recovery of the patient. This exceptional rule, like all other rules related to the administration of the deeds of souls, clearly shows the loving kindness of God, the Divine Father for the souls, who are His children.