dattaswami

How can one remain happy and ethical throughout one's life? Kum. Amudha asked: Dear Swami! How can one remain happy in one’s life even in difficult times. How can one be good and ethical, at all times? At Your Divine Feet. Amudha. Swami replied: The only way that your wish will come true is when you accept the existence of God and develop devotion to Him. Devotion is developed when you come to know the true details and divine qualities of His personality. If one is always inspired by God and is certain that God will punish sinners, one will stay away from sin. As a result, one will remain free of misery. This is because, misery or stress is only the fruit of sin. If you hurt a good person, it is sin. Also, if you remain silent and peaceful towards a bad person, even though you are capable of controlling him, it is a sin. If you avoid sin, God’s pleasure will reach its climax. Such a life leads to nivṛtti. When all your responsibilities are taken by God, you will be the happiest person in this creation. You will enjoy continuously, throughout every birth of yours in this world. =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

Is it alright for vegetarians to consume mushrooms? Shri Manikanta asked: Padanamskaram Swamiji! Are mushrooms considered vegetarian food or non-vegetarian? Please enlighten us on this point. Manikanta Swami replied: The main issue is to ensure that the food you eat is not obtained by causing an animal to suffer the agony of being killed. Mushrooms are fungi. Scientists do not classify fungi as either plants (botany) or animals (zoology). We even consume foods containing bacteria such as curd from milk. Mushrooms do not exhibit pain and suffering as an animal or bird does, when it is killed. Therefore, mushrooms can be consumed as food. They contain a lot of proteins and other nutrients and are even good for diabetes patients. Since they do not exhibit the pain of death and they are good for health, there is no sin in consuming them. Plants do not have a nervous system to feel pain and hence, vegetarian food is free of sin. Bose suspected that awareness might exist even in plants. Goddess Pārvatī even gave up eating the leaves of plants during her penance and hence, was called Aparṇā. Jains even wear masks to avoid germs from accidentally entering their noses and mouths and dying. But we need not go to such a micro-level. If we follow non-violence at the macro-level, it is sufficient. =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

How can one distinguish between God's plan and human free will? Smt. Priyanka Seethepalli asked: Swami, can you please enlighten us regarding the difference between God’s plan and the free will of mankind. Can you extend the same concept of God’s will to various human actions like deforestation and killing of animals resulting in the extinction of some animal species like gorillas, etc? Swami replied: It is said that anything that happens, happens only by the will of God, due to His omnipotence. But this omnipotence of God cannot be exploited by us and twisted in wrong directions. If a person kills somebody and says that the murder happened by the will of God, since everything happens only by the will of God, the judge will say that he too is giving a death sentence to that person by the will of the same God! Even when the omnipotent God comes down as a Human Incarnation, He follows the traffic rules while walking on the road. He does not stop all the traffic by His omnipotence until He crosses the road! He can prove His omnipotence by stopping the traffic, but He will be criticized for being a mad and egotistic administrator of the world! Killing any bird or animal is the greatest sin, unless your life is in danger because of it. =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

How can Hindus explain the multiplicity of Gods to people of other religions? Smt. Priyanka Seethepalli asked: One of my Christian friends asked me “Why does Hinduism have so many forms of Gods and Goddesses? We have only Jesus Christ. Muslims have only Allah. Buddhism has only Lord Buddha and so on. How can one keep up with so many forms? Are you supposed to just pick whom you like and focus on that form”? How should I answer such questions? Swami replied: The above question regarding the multiplicity of Gods in Hinduism itself contains the answer because the questioner asked “Are you supposed to just pick whom you like and focus on that form?” Hinduism is a micro-model of the macro-world. What you see in the world, you also see in the Hindu religion at a micro-level. In the world, you have picked up the form of Jesus since you liked it and you are focusing on it. Did you ask other people in the world, “Why are there so many forms of God existing in the world when Jesus alone is God?” Some other person has picked Allah, who has no form. Some other person picked Buddha. Note that even Allah is a mediated form of God because the unimaginable God entered in a medium of formless light. The external form chosen by the devotee is as per the devotee’s personal taste. The external form does not merely mean the physical features of the body. The external form includes the internal mental qualities, in the case of the Human Incarnation of God. Both the body and the qualities constitute the external form because the internal form existing in any Human Incarnation of God is the same unimaginable God. Human Incarnations differ in their external forms in terms of the physical features and the colour of the body along with the mental qualities. But the internal unimaginable God in all of them is one and the same. If you take two ordinary human beings, God does not exist in them. In that case, the body is external and the mental qualities are internal. But in a Human Incarnation, God exists in the human medium. God is internal and both the body and the mental qualities become the external medium. Of course, the noble qualities are commonly present in all Incarnations, but their modes differ. There are three modes, which are sattvam (peaceful), rajas (active) and tamas (dormant). Human beings differ in their tastes for these modes. The divine qualities present in an Incarnation can be expressed in any of the three modes mentioned above. So, when I said that the internal qualities in Incarnations differ, it means that the modes differ. Rāma was very calm and peaceful, whereas Krishna was very dynamic. But both have the same divine qualities. =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

Is euthanasia or mercy killing wrong or a sin? Smt. Priyanka Seethepalli asked: Is euthanasia or mercy killing wrong or a sin, particularly in the following cases: Case 1: Sometimes, a cancer patient at the hospital is told by a doctor that, with a lot of effort, they can prolong their life by 6 more months or a year, at the most. But the patient opts for no more suffering from chemotherapy or any other types of medical interventions and choses to lead the remaining life in doing what he or she likes. The patient chooses not to fight for living a little bit longer and instead, makes peace with his or her upcoming death. Is this wrong? Should patients always choose to fight as hard as they can, to survive? Are such patients supposed to accept this suffering as a consequence of their previous birth sins and go through it, so that nothing is carried forward to their next birth? Case 2: If a patient is in a coma and their family is asked to sign the papers to end the patient’s life, by removing the life-support system, is it wrong if they do so? Nobody knows whether the patient would have ever come out of the coma or not. Some people cannot afford the medical bills of keeping the coma patient alive. Can humans decide in such a case whether or not to end another person’s life? Case 3: Some people who own pets, chose to end their pet’s life because they cannot bear to see their pet’s suffering. But is it acceptable to God if a human being goes to a vet and ends the pet’s life? Or should a pet owner let the pet suffer? Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! Under such circumstances, which of the various possibilities gets chosen depends on each individual case. The option that finally gets chosen is based on the specific nature of the sin done by the soul, either in the past birth or sometime back, in the present birth. As per the Gita, the individual soul is born everyday and hence, every day can be considered to be a new birth, in case you do not believe in rebirth. If the judgement of God is that a soul should experience mercy killing, it will take place. If the judgment of God, based on the soul’s sin, is that the soul should continue to suffer without mercy killing, it happens so. We cannot make a generalization that is applicable to all the souls because souls commit different sins, in different lives and that too, with different intentions. The nature of the punishment for a specific sin is an exact reflection, of how the sin was committed and it has the same kind of twists as the sin. The punishment given to one soul differs from the punishment given to another by a very narrow margin since a similar marginal difference exists in the way the souls committed the respective sins. It is said that Mahatma Gandhi once advised the mercy killing of a cow since it was having a complicated delivery and was suffering immensely. People say that, as a fruit of that intense sin, he was also shot dead. Intense deeds yield fruits in this birth itself. The analysis of the soul’s deeds and the soul’s qualities in the form of intentions, is very very deep and very very complicated. There are several subtle interfering parameters involved. The correct judgement can only come from the omniscient God. Whatever finally occurs in each case, should be taken as the final conclusion of God. The cycle of deeds and punishments is deeply complicated as told in the Gita (Gahanā karmaṇo gatiḥ). The right decision in each case, is not as simple as you had expected. It is highly specific to each individual case and requires an analysis of the three dimensional network of several subtle parameters, some of which are seen and some of which are unseen. Whatever finally happens, is always as per the sharp analysis and decision of God. We can make some approximate inferences about what actions the soul might have done in the past, when we analyze the final judgement of God. So, we can infer the action based on the final result, but we cannot decide, what the right result should be for a certain action, due to our extremely limited intelligence. =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

Are gay relationships acceptable from a spiritual standpoint? Smt. Priyanka Seethapalli asked: What is your take on legalizing gay marraiges? It is already legal in some states in USA and we see many gay couples who are even raising children together. There are some people who say that all gay people will be condemned to hell and parents disown their own children when they come to know that their children are gay. There is so much social taboo and shame in accepting gay people. Swami replied: Any inborn defect in this life is only the fruit of some sin done in the past lives. A person who mocks at a eunuch, is born as a eunuch in his next life. If the eunuch is reformed in this birth and becomes a strong devotee of God, God will remove the defect and bless the soul even using His miraculous power, if needed. The case of a gay person is highly unfortunate because God created a difference between males and females, so that both can engage in legitimate sex in order to give birth to the next generation. The continuity of the human race is the sacred mission of God and hence, legitimate sex is treated to be holy. It is even depicted on the walls of temples and praised in the Veda (Prajātantuṃ…) and in the Gita (Dharmāviruddhaḥ…). Homosexual attraction is possible as in the case of male sages who were attracted by the astonishing beauty of Rāma. So much was their attraction to Rāma that they wished to become females and embrace Rāma. But remember, the sages only wished to embrace Rāma. They did not wish to have sex with Rāma. Their desire was fulfilled by God when they were reborn as the female Gopikās in their next birth. =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

Smt. Priyanka Seethepalli asked: Why do some souls haunt places on Earth instead of crossing over? We hear stories where some people can even see these ghosts. Some spirits even try to enter living human beings and cause them harm. I heard that some harmless spirits just wander around for years. How come those souls did not face any judgment after 10 days of their death? Also, how does a soul transform into an evil spirit and why do evil spirits harm people? Is having complete faith in God to protect us, the answer to preventing these spirits from approaching us? Swami replied: There is no difference between ghosts and persons who have extreme attachment or fascination to worldly things. It is only due to their extreme worldly fascination that souls enter invisible energetic bodies called ghosts, after death. They continue to wander in this world untill their fascination gets pacified. Such a judgment is given by God to the soul having extreme worldly fascination, on the 10th day after the death of the soul. Such ghosts or spirits occasionally enter us and cause harm to us only by the will of God. It is a form of punishment given by God to us for our sins. In the absence of the divine will to punish us in this manner, ghosts usually go their own way and we go our way. How can you worship God to avoid ghosts, when it is only by the will of God that the ghost is troubling you to punish you for your sins? If you worship God, God will come to you in human form and preach the spiritual knowledge required for your reformation. Once your soul is reformed, the sins are cancelled and the ghost will automatically leave you. After understanding this entire procedure, we can say that our worship to God removes the ghost. But usually, the intermediate step of the reformation of the soul through spiritual knowledge goes unmentioned and unnoticed. =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

How important is it to match the horoscopes of the bride and the groom before getting married? Smt. Priyanka Seethepalli asked: Is kuṇḍali or horoscope-matching very important for marriages? In some marriages, even though the horoscope has been matched, the couples seem to be having a lot of inter-personal problems and they do not get along well. Should people still match the horoscopes anyway, just to err on the safe side? It is also said that the cutting of hair and nails should only be done on specific days and not at night time. Do such rules apply even today? Swami replied: The subject of astrology as written by ancient sages is correct. However, the astrologer must interpret the horoscope in the correct way. The astrological planets are not the inert planets, but the deities of the inert planets. They are nothing but the various forces of the unimaginable power of God. They deliver the fruits of the deeds of souls, as per the schedule of life cycles, which are arranged by God. The inert planets, which exist in space, are made of inert matter and energy. But the astrological planets are the deities that rule the respective inert planets and are known by the same name as the inert planets. These deities are souls existing in energetic forms (bodies) and they are associated with the required unimaginable power given by God to them for carrying out their respective duties. Astronomy deals with the study of the inert planets, while astrology deals with the living deities of the planets. An eclipse is an astronomical fact, whereas, the matching of horoscopes is an astrological concept. However, if you are bonded firmly to God, He will take care of you in all these problems. =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

Isn't it true that we need a lot of courage to debate with a great saint? Shri Balaji asjed: In the spiritual line, a lot of courage is needed, in general. When we debate with a great saint, a lot of courage is needed, isn’t it? Swami replied: There is no need to have any fear during a spiritual debate because our strength lies in our argument and not in the status of the opponent. It does not matter even if the opponent is the greatest saint. It is the question of a wrong point being defeated by the right point. It should not be taken to be a personal success or personal defeat. People fight for properties registered in their names. But there is no need to fight for concepts, which are not registered in anybody’s names! In fact, the defeated person is the one who really gets benefitted because his wrong concept got corrected. There is no personal benefit for the winning person. Hence, one should not view the discussion as a debate between a great saint and an ordinary soul. If the concept is perfectly true, one must be courageous enough to stick to it, even if the opponent is a great saint! =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

Is the experience of the world useful in spiritual knowledge? [Reply to a question by Shri Balaji] Swami replied: The answer to this question is a full yes. For every concept in spiritual knowledge, there is an excellent example in the world. This means that from worldly experience itself, the entire spiritual knowledge can be built up. We have seen that issue-devotion (love for one’s children) is the strongest and that one’s devotion to God stands in competition against it. The final success lies in conquering the love for one’s children with the devotion that one has for God. We realize that we should love God, even if God gives us negative results, just like our unshakable love for our issues does not diminish, even if they turn against us! Our worldly experience tells us that the love or service of the highest value is that in which the desire for selfish benefit is absent. When a father comes to know that his son is serving him without aspiriing for anything in return, he is highly pleased. Similarly, when our devotion is free of the aspiration for any fruit in return from God, God is highly pleased with us. Such aspiration-free devotion is of the highest value. A fan of a political leader who commits suicide on the death of the leader, stands as the best example for the climax of devotion to God. God has created this world in which various examples exist. On proper analysis, they can be used as correct similes or analogies to understand spiritual knowledge. They make the understanding of the spiritual concepts most effective. Worldly knowledge thus helps the soul understand spiritual knowledge. When worldly examples are given as comparisons, they bring full clarity to our understanding of subtle spiritual concepts. =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

Are Human Incarnations of God possible in atheistic or communist countries? Swami replied: God said in the Gita that He incarnates in human form for only one purpose, which is the establishment of justice and the destruction of injustice (Dharma saṃsthāpanārthāya…—Gita). He never said that He would incarnate for the sake of establishing His existence or for destroying atheism. God is not worried about the spiritual path (nivṛtti). He is not interested in establishing theism, spiritual knowledge, devotion, service to Him or sacrifice to Him. He has no desire to destroy atheism and establish theism or any aspect of spirituality. The only reason for His incarnation mentioned by Him, is the destruction of injustice and the establishment of justice in worldly life (pravṛtti). Hence, even in an atheistic country, He comes as a Human Incarnation, whenever injustice is trying to suppress justice. As soon as justice is established, God quits the human being with whom He had merged for that specific purpose. Such a Human Incarnation is called an Āveśa Avatāra. It is a temporary Incarnation that is only meant for the specific purposes of establishing justice in that situation. Whenever injustice has suppressed justice, even in atheistic countries, God has merged with a suitable atheist, fought against the injustice and re-established justice. =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

Can one's love for God miraculously cancel one's sins? Shri Anil asked: Jesus said that the sins of the devotee will be excused in proportion to the love possessed by the devotee for God. Does this mean that the love for God has such miraculous power to cancel sins? Swami replied: The love for God does not have any miraculous power. Even if it had any miraculous power, that miraculous power is not used to cancel the sins. Due to the devotee’s love for God, God comes down in human form to preach to the devotee about the path of reformation. It is only upon reformation that sins are cancelled. There are three steps in the reformation of the soul. The first is realization. It means the recognition of the sin. The person should confess that he or she has committed a sin and not try to use false and twisted arguments to defend the sin or prove that it was not a sin but a good deed. The second step is repentance for the committed sin. The third and final step is the practical non-repetition of the sin for the rest of one’s life. This step is the most essential step. Mere confession of the sin is not sufficient to cancel the sins. Confession, repentance and non-repetition of sin together complete the process of reformation of the soul. When God finds that the soul has been fully refomed through these three steps, He cancels the sins. Without the final practical step of non-repetition of the sins, sins are never cancelled. Both realization and repentance are theoretical steps. So, by merely realizing and repenting, the sins are not practically cancelled. If the person continues to repeat the sin practically, the person has not really reformed. In that case, the person’s apparent theoretical reformation is meaningless. So, God too, will only cancel the sin only theoretically and not practically. In other words, it will appear that the sin has been cancelled, but in reality, it will not be canelled. God’s behavior with us is just a reflection of our behavior towards Him (Pratirūpo babhūva—Veda). When Mary Magdelena worshiped Jesus with expensive perfumes, one devotee commented that the money used to purchase the perfumes could instead have been used to feed beggars. Jesus told the devotee to let her worship Him to her satisfaction, saying that there would always be beggars in the world to feed. Actually, the devotee who passed that comment was not eligible to do so. The immediate question to him would have been “Have you stopped spending money on all pleasures and started using it only to feed beggars?” One should comment on others’ practice only after perfectly practicing it oneself. Jesus also told the devotee that her sins will be cancelled in proportion to her love for Him. This means that even if God preaches the total concept of reformation to a soul, the soul will digest it only in proportion to his or her devotion. If the devotee’s devotion is complete, the concept of reformation will also be completely digested. If the devotion is partial, the digestion of the concept will be also partial. If the concept is only partially digested, the person’s reformation will also be partial. When the reformation is not complete, ideally, sins cannot be cancelled. This would mean that unless one has full devotion to God, who preaches this concept of reformation, the sins would not be cancelled. In other words, unless the devotee has full devotion, has fully digested the concept of reformation and has practically been fully reformed, the devotee’s sins would not be cancelled at all. But Jesus said that partial cancellation of sins does take place when the devotee digests the concept partially, as a result of his or her partial devotion. This clearly means that partial devotion results in the partial reformation of the soul. Reformation happens in the context of some lighter sins. As a result, some sins committed by the soul earlier are cancelled by God, even though not all sins are cancelled. The more serious sins require a deeper reformation, which takes a longer time. Some say that Jesus married this lady and even had children with her. Whether Jesus got married or not, how does it matter to us? What matters to us, is only His valuable preaching, which alone is going to benefit us. If you go to a teacher to study a subject, you are only concerned with the teacher’s teaching of the subject. You need not bother about the personal life of the teacher. Moreover, Jesus got legally married to her and then had children. There is nothing unjust or illegitimate in it and there is absolutely no cause for criticism. In a Human Incarnation, even though God exists in the human medium, the human medium retains its own natural characteristics and needs including hunger, thirst, sleep and legitimate sex. All these are the inevitable biological needs of the human body. I do not understand why people make a big issue out of sex alone. Nobody is bothered if the Human Incarnation eats food, drinks water or sleeps to get rest! Why then, should the Human Incarnation or God-man be looked down upon, if He is involved in legitimate sex? In that case, the God-man eating food, drinking water and sleeping, must also be looked down upon for not having conquered those biological needs of the body! The Human Incarnation could be criticized only if He has been involved in illegitimate sex. But even in that case, careful analysis is necessary before any such criticism. Krishna was misunderstood for His involvement with the Gopikās. The negative qualities of rajas (desire and activity) and tamas (ignorance and inertia) are sometimes, deliberately exhibited by God-in-human-form. Exhibiting these negative qualities is helpful in repelling selfish souls who have positive qualities. Such selfish people come to the Incarnation to exploit His miraculous powers for their selfish benefits. In order to avoid their exploitation, He exhibits negative qualities, which repel them. Sometimes, negative qualities are also exhibited by God, to test the firmness of the faith of devotees. Deep analysis shows that the negative qualities shown by the Incarnation are only superficial and were meant to severely test certain devotees. The Gopikās, who possessed the topmost level of devotion, were tested by God Krishna for their ability to overcome all their worldly bonds for His sake. The Gopikās, were cowherd ladies and Krishna stole their butter, which was the wealth of the cowherds. They had stored the butter for the sake of their children. By stealing their butter, He was simultaneously testing their bond with wealth (dhaneṣanā) and their bond with their children (putreṣaṇā). He was competing with their wealth and children combined, forcing them to choose between their bond with Him and their bond with wealth and children. Similarly, Krishna danced with the Gopikās at midnight, on the banks of the Yamuna, to test the strength of their bond with their life-partners (dāreṣaṇā), forcing them to choose between Him and their life-partners. When Krishna died, the Gopikās jumped into fire and ended their lives, proving that their bond with Krishna was stronger than their bond with their own lives (prāṇeṣaṇā). Upon deep analysis, one can find that Krishna did not do these activities with any selfish motive. Once His tests were completed, Krishna never returned to Bṛndāvanam and He never repeated such tests elsewhere in His life. Similarly, Shirdi Sai Baba appeared to be a smoker, but it was not His weakness. It was meant to test the faith of orthodox devotees in Him. Hence, we should not jump to hasty conclusions in the case of God-men. Of course, false God-men appear before us as unmarried bachelors, pretending to have conquered the desire for sex, but in reality, they are involved in illegitimate sex secretly! =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

The Unified Path of Knowledge and Action [Shri J.S.R. Prasad (Professor of Sanskrit, Central University, Hyderabad) asked: In the Yoga Vāsiṣṭham, which is the preaching of sage Vasiṣṭha to Śrī Rāma, it is said that both knowledge (jñāna mārga) and action (karma mārga) are like the two wings of a bird flying to the spiritual goal. But Śaṅkara condemned the karma mārga of Maṇḍana Miśra. How can we correlate Vasiṣṭha and Śaṅkara?] Two Types of Karma Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! Just like Vasiṣṭha, Kumarila Bhaṭṭa also said that both jñāna and karma are needed side-by-side, in the spiritual effort. Bhaṭṭa’s theory is called Jñāna-Karma-Samuccaya-Vāda or the unified path of knowledge and action. His disciple, Maṇḍana Miśra, however, took only the path of action (karma mārga), which is also called Pūrva Mīmāṃsā. It mainly stresses on karma, which is work done with an aspiration for worldly fruits. If you take Śaṅkara, He stressed only on jñāna, which is the theoretical enquiry about God and the consequent theoretical devotion to God. Hence, Śaṅkara and Maṇḍana Miśra were exactly opposite to each other, whereas, Vasiṣṭha and Kumarila Bhaṭṭa lie in between them since they accept both jñāna and karma. In any case, there is a conflict between the paths of knowledge and action. The whole confusion is caused by the word karma, which actually has two meanings: (1) The first meaning of karma is action done with an aspiration for worldly fruits. It includes both worldly work and the aspiration-filled practical worship of God. Practical worship of God means serving God or sacrificing our wealth for Him. When the practical worship of God is done only for the sake attaining worldly benefits, even this worship is basically worldly work. (2) The second meaning of karma is action done in the service of God, without aspiring for any fruit in return. The meaning of the word karma, as taken by Maṇḍana Miśra, is the first one, which is the aspiration-filled worldly work. The meaning taken by Vasiṣṭha and Kumarila Bhaṭṭa is second one, which is God’s service done without the aspiration for any fruit in return. Therefore, the meaning of the word karma, taken in the second sense, is not against the path of Śaṅkara (jñāna). The action (karma) involved in the path of Śaṅkara, is related to God and not to the world. The action done (karma) in the second sense, is a part of the jñāna mārga of Śaṅkara itself. If you take worldly work, in which there is an aspiration for worldly fruits, such karma is against the jñāna mārga of Śaṅkara. If service to God, which is karma, taken in the second sense, is absent, jñāna mārga is incomplete and useless, like a human body without life. Suppose you only show theoretical love to your wife, always praising her beauty and good qualities. Will she love you, if you never express your love practically, such as by purchasing some flowers to decorate her hair? Similarly, if you have merely used your intelligence to analyze and come to know all the theoretical details about God (jñāna mārga) and if you have merely used your mind to pray to God (theoretical devotion), your entire spiritual effort is only theoretical. It is useless without practical proof. Practical Proof of Devotion Karma yoga is the practical proof of theoretical devotion. It can also be said to be practical devotion. Karma yoga has two sub-divisions: (1) Karma saṃnyāsa, which is the effort or work done in serving God. (2) Karmaphala tyāga, which is the sacrifice of the fruit (wealth) earned by hard work. Claiming to love God by expressing only theoretical devotion and avoiding practical devotion, is cheating God. It is called prostitution-devotion or veśyā bhakti. In this form of devotion, the devotee only expresses theoretical devotion, aspiring for practical fruits from God. The devotee does not express even a trace of practical devotion (service and sacrifice). The devotee is like a prostitute who only expresses theoretical love for the customer, aspiring for the money from his pocket. She does not sacrifice even a single rupee to the customer. The reality is that she does not love the customer at all. She only pretends to love him to get his money. Due to the absence of practical proof, which is action involving sacrifice (karma), this devotion is the worst devotion. Mere theoretical knowledge, which is knowing the correct details of God with the help of analysis and theoretical devotion, which is praising God through prayers, become meaningless in the absence of the practical proof or karma. Even karma yoga, which is practical service done to God, becomes useless if it is done with an aspiration for worldly fruits. Such practical devotion which is filled with aspiration is business-devotion or vaiśya bhakti. It is nothing but business done with God, in which you aspire for some practical worldly fruits, in exchange for your practical devotion (service) to God. The jñāna mārga of Śaṅkara includes theoretical knowledge (jñāna), theoretical devotion (bhakti) and the practical proof or action (karma). The evidence for this is the very life of Śaṅkara. Śaṅkara wrote commentaries (jñāna) and several devotional prayers (bhakti). But along with these two, Śaṅkara also performed the third step called karma yoga by wandering throughout the country, doing God’s work. Apart from service, He also sacrificed the fruit of work (wealth). He donated to a poor devotee, the golden fruits, which rained from the sky after He sung the prayer called Kanakadhārā Stotram. Hence, Śaṅkara did both service and sacrifice, which are the two parts of karma yoga, while being in the path of jñāna. The service done by Śaṅkara was not worldly work. It was God’s work (Matkarma paramo bhava—Gita). Karma Yoga and Giving Up Action Therefore, if you keep the two meanings of the word karma in your mind, the confusion related to the paths of knowledge and action disappears. The karma followed by Maṇḍana Miśra was worldly work in the first sense of the word. He, like all pūrva mīmāṃsakas, performed rituals called yajña to worship God. This action (karma) was done with worldly aspirations like the aspiration for heavenly pleasures. This karma, as followed by Maṇḍana Miśra is not work done for God. It is not divine service done without the aspiration for any fruit. To avoid confusion, it is better to call the work of divine service karma yoga and aspiration-filled worldly work simply karma. The word yoga denotes the association with God. Hence, God recommended the path of jñāna (sāṅkhya) over the path of completely giving up work (Karma yogoviśiṣyate, Na karmaṇāmanārambhāt etc...—Gita). There is no point in giving up all kinds of work. Only aspiration-filled work is to be given up. Aspiration-free service to God is to be certainly performed. When one only does God’s work, worldly actions and worldly fruits do not bind him since he is not doing worldly work at all (Kurvannapi na lipyate—Gita, Na karma lipyate...—Veda). When God said in the Gita that all work should not be given up, He used the term karma saṃnyāsa to mean the giving up of all work (Tayostu karma saṃnyāsāt). On the other hand, we have used this same term, karma saṃnyāsa, in the sense of doing God’s work (service). So, God Krishna has used the word saṃnyāsa in the sense of detachment, while, we have used saṃnyāsa in the sense of attachment. Saṃnyāsa can mean both attachment as well as detachment. It means attachment to God, which, simultaneously, is detachment from the world. Two Birds in One Stone Whenever we do either service (karma saṃnyāsa) or sacrifice (karmaphala tyāga), we are doing both of them! If a person does some service to God, he has also indirectly done the sacrifice of the fruit of his work because, in that time, he could have done some worldly work and earned some worldly fruit. Since he served God, he had to sacrifice that worldly fruit. Thus, effectively, serving God is sacrificing a proportional amount of the fruit of one’s work. Similarly, when a person donates money for the sake of God’s mission, he is sacrificing to God, the fruit of his past worldly work. He had worked in the past, when he was ignorant and he had earned that money. By sacrificing that fruit of his work to God now, his past worldly work effectively becomes God’s service (Karmajaṃ buddhi yukatā hi, phalaṃ tyaktvā...—Gita). Thus, by doing any one of service or sacrifice, you are effectively doing both—two birds in one stone! We have preferred to use the term karma saṃnyāsa to indicate God’s service because a renunciant saint can do only service. Being a renunciant, he possesses no money and hence, he cannot sacrifice the fruit of his work. The word saṃnyāsa indicates sainthood (renunciation). The term karma saṃnyāsa to indicate God’s service indirectly involves giving up worldly work. God Krishna used the same term, karma saṃnyāsa to mean giving up worldly work. So, both usages do not contradict each other. Even when a married devotee dedicated to serving God does worldly work to maintain his or her life and the lives of his or her devoted family members, that worldly work should be included under God’s work (Śarīrayātrāpi ca…, Niyatasya tu saṃnyāsaḥ…—Gita). The devotee should not marry an atheist, who will hinder the spiritual progress of the devotee. The devotee should also always try to improve the devotion of his or her family members so as to get the cooperation of the family in his or her divine service. God’s work (or worship) done aspiring for worldly fruits is only worldly work. It is not God’s work, at all. But worldly work (niyata karma) done for maintaining the body (and the family) in order to do God’s work is indeed God’s work and not worldly work (Karmaṇyakarma...—Gita). We must clearly understand the philosophy of Kumarila Bhaṭṭa in which both jñāna and karma are recommended in the spiritual effort. There is no contradiction in this philosophy, if you take the meaning of the word karma in the second sense as God’s work. In that case, karma becomes the final part of the jñāna mārga. The contradiction arises only when you take the meaning of karma in the first sense of worldly work. Step-by-Step Removal of Aspiration There is a path of the same philosophy in which the word karma is taken in the sense of worldly work, while still maintaining the connection with the spiritual effort. That worldly work is taken to be initial step of the spiritual effort. In this initial step of the spiritual path, it is necessary to develop an attraction for God in the soul. This is done by presenting God as the giver of worldly fruits. The inevitable attraction of the soul to worldly fruits is exploited for the beneficial purpose of developing an attraction in the soul for God. Later on, the soul is gradually guided to develop detachment from the worldly fruits, through the realization that the worldly fruits are illusory. Gradually, the soul reaches the stage of worshipping God, without aspiring for any worldly fruit (Nāstyakṛtaḥ kṛteneti—Veda). It is based on this very approach that the Veda encourages the worship of God for attaining worldly fruits (kāmya yajña). The initial defect of aspiration in the work is acceptable since it is inevitable. As we try to kindle a fire, it inevitably gives off a lot of smoke initially, before burning brightly, later on (Sarvārambhā hi...—Gita). This is very similar to the case of developing a child’s interest in going to school. Initially, the child in the kindergarten class is given some chocolates to motivate it to go to school. At that low level of maturity, one cannot expect the child to be motivated by the knowledge and learning that takes place in the school. But by the time the child grows into an adult postgraduate student, he or she is supposed to be attracted to the knowledge that is to be acquired in the university. At that point, the chocolates should not be the motivating factor for going to the university. Thus, the Veda introduces the worship of God for worldly boons, in the beginning. Later, in the final stage, it introduces the worship of God without the aspiration for any fruit, in the Upanishads. Unfortunately, this path has been an utter failure, in the case of the devotees of today. Today, the postgraduate student is also demanding chocolates to attend classes at the university! Even when people get old, they still remain attached only to worldly fruits (Vṛddhastāvat cintā magnaḥ). Action Leading to Liberation Hence, if you take jñāna-karma samuccaya vāda as following both jñāna and karma (God’s service), this theory is perfectly correct. Śaṅkara condemned this theory too, if the word karma is taken in the first sense, as aspiration-filled worldly work. It is important to remember that even God’s service done aspiring for worldly fruits becomes worldly work. Thus, the word karma is complicated and it has different senses in different contexts (Gahanā karmaṇo gatiḥ—Gita). God Krishna also said that devotees like King Janaka got salvation by karma alone (Karmaṇaiva hi saṃsiddhim, āsthitājanakādayaḥ—Gita). Here, karma means the karma yoga which is part of the path of kowledge jñāna mārga. King Janaka was deeply interested in spiritual knowledge. He used to be so absorbed in spiritual discussions and debates that he once said that even if his city burnt, he would not be bothered at all (Mithilāyāṃ pradagdhāyāṃ na me kiñcana dahyate). If God Krishna had meant worldly work by the word karma, it was impossible for such ‘karma’ to be the path of Janaka’s liberation. If Janaka were constantly engaged in worldly work, such as the administration of his kingdom, he would never have made the above statement! =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

Meaning of Brahman, Ishvara and Atman Shri Phani asked: In our latest spiritual discussion, we were discussing about the meanings of words like Brahman, Īśvara and Ātman, in spiritual knowledge. Can you please enlighten us on this topic? Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! Every word has different meanings. Based on the context, you have to select the proper meaning. The word president can mean the president of an entire country as well as the president of a tiny village in the country. Both are addressed as president by the public. When you are discussing the article in the constitution that puts the president above the jurisdiction of the courts of law, the word president can only mean the president of the whole country. It cannot mean the president of the tiny village. You cannot say that the president of the village is above the jurisdiction of courts of law just because all the people in the village are addressing him as president. The mere meaning of a word is not important since it is the context that really decides the specific meaning of the word. The word Brahman literally means ‘the greatest’ (Bṛhi-vṛddhau). It can refer to the greatest item within any specific category of items in the world. Among Hindu scriptures, the Veda is the greatest and hence is called Brahman. So, in this context, Brahman means a book called the Veda. Awareness is the most precious form of inert energy and it is the greatest among all the created items (parā prakṛti). Therefore, in this context, Brahman means awareness. But the unimaginable God is greater than the greatest awareness and hence, is the absolute greatest. Awareness is the greatest among all items of the imaginable world. The unimaginable God is beyond this imaginable world and hence, the word Brahman is prefixed with the word para, which means ‘beyond’. Thus, if you want to specifically refer to the unimaginable God, it is better to use the word Parabrahman, instead of simply using the word Brahman. However, the word Brahman is also used to mean the unimaginable God because He is the greatest, in the real sense. Hence, the word Brahman has several meanings as it indicates several greatest items in different categories, apart from the absolute unimaginable God. When the word Brahman is used, you have to decide its actual meaning, based on the context. For example, in the Gita, it is said that Brahman was generated from the Akṣara (the Eternal). Here, Brahman is not eternal because it is said to be generated. Anything having a birth, must also perish. In this context, Brahman means the non-eternal holy book called the Veda and Akṣara means the eternal unimaginable God. Note how the context helps us decide that Brahman means a holy book and not the unimaginable God. Similarly, in the Gita, Krishna said “I am the base of Brahman (Brahmaṇ’opi pratiṣṭhāham...)”. Here, Brahman cannot be taken to be the unimaginable God, who is the basis of everything. The unimaginable God cannot be said to have any further basis. Here, the word ‘I’ (aham) stands for the unimaginable God. Krishna is referring to Himself as the unimaginable God who has merged with the first energetic form, to become first Energetic Incarnation. This first Energetic Incarnation is called Īśvara (or Datta). Īśvara, is also called Nārāyaṇa and He had further merged with the human being called Vāsudeva or Krishna. Īśvara is already the mediated unimaginable God. Thus, Krishna was both Īśvara and the unimaginable God. In the above line, Brahman, means the first Energetic Incarnation (Īśvara). The word ‘I’ (Aham), referring to Krishna, means the unimaginable God or Parabrahman. This means that the unimaginable God (Aham) is the basis of Īśvara (Brahman). In the Brahma Sūtras, the first sūtra says that an enquiry about Brahman is to be done. In this context, the word Brahman means the unimaginable God because in the second sūtra, no direct characteristic (svarūpa lakṣaṇam) of Brahman is stated. Only the indirect characteristic (taṭastha lakṣaṇam) is stated. The sūtra says that Brahman is the creator, ruler and destroyer of this world. No direct characteristic can be given for an unimaginable item. Hence, the word Brahman referred to, in the first sūtra, is the unimaginable God alone. In the Gita, it is said that Īśvara is the central controller of the entire world (Īśvaraḥ sarvabhūtānāṃ...) and here, the word Īśvara means the unimaginable God alone. Īśvara has become the unimaginable God due to perfect merging of the unimaginable God with the first energetic being. But in literature, the word īśvara is used in a different sense to mean an ordinary human ruler. An example is the word nareśvara (nara + īśvara) meaning the king or ruler of the people in a kingdom. In that context, the word īśvara does not mean the first Energetic Incarnation of the unimaginable God. Similarly, the word ātman means the self or the inert energy present as awareness in a living body. Ātman literally means to occupy space (Atati iti ātmā). As the body grows, the awareness also grows and hence, it occupies more space by expansion. This word is also used in the sense of the unimaginable God because, just as the self makes the body alive and existent, the unimaginable God also makes the world alive and existent. In the Veda, the word Ātman is used to mean the unimaginable God, when it is said that space was generated by the Ātman (Ātmana ākāśaḥ...). The same word Ātman is used elsewhere in the Veda to mean the self situated in the limited human body (Ātmānaṃ rathinaṃ viddhi...). Several words having worldly meanings and indicating worldly items like life (prāṇa), space (ākāśa) etc., are used to indicate the unimaginable God. This is discussed in the Brahma Sūtras (prāṇādhikaraṇa, ākāśādhikaraṇa etc.,). The name of any important worldly item can be used to mean the unimaginable God, in the sense of a figure of speech. Even in the case of worldly topics, the meaning of a word should be understood as per its context. =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

Sankranti - The Transition Northward and Southward Journeys O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! Saṅkrānti is the transition of a person from worldly life to spiritual life. A person’s worldly life is represented by the sun’s southward journey (dakṣiṇāyanam), which, according to the Indian calendar, occurs in the six months from July 15th to January 15th. Likewise, a person’s spiritual life is represented by the sun’s northward journey (uttarāyaṇam) from January 15th to July 15th. It is said that if one dies during uttarāyaṇam, one will get salvation, otherwise, one will continue in the cycle of births and deaths. Ignorant people literally think that one can get salvation by dying during the six months when the sun travels northwards! This is not true since several great devotees died during the sun’s southward journey (dakṣiṇāyanam) and still perfectly got salvation. Attaining salvation or not, is related to whether one follows the spiritual path in life or the worldly path. It has nothing to do with the sun’s movement. The uttarāyaṇam and dakṣiṇāyanam periods only represent the spiritual and worldly paths, respectively. So, dying during uttarāyaṇam means dying while pursuing the spiritual path in life and not the worldly path. It means that, at least before death, one should enter into spiritual life. Bhīṣma, who had the boon of choosing the time of his death, is said to have waited until uttarāyaṇam to give up his life, so that he would get salvation. It was his misunderstanding of uttarāyaṇam and dakṣiṇāyanam in terms of time, rather than in terms of the spiritual and worldly paths in life. In fact, he always misunderstood even the worldly path of justice (pravṛtti), which is evident from his keeping silent when Draupadi was being insulted in the court and his supporting the unjust Kauravas in the war. He gave more importance to his blind promise that he would never oppose the king, than protecting justice. But in the last days of his life, as he lay on his deathbed, Krishna came to him. Bhīṣma died praying to Krishna with full concentration and got salvation. Ignorant people misunderstand that Bhīṣma got salvation because he died after January 15th! The Veda says that spiritual life and worldly life are far from each other; in fact, that they are opposite to each other, like north and south poles (Dūramete viparīte viśūcī). As the earth revolves around the sun, the sun appears to move northward in the sky for six months and southward for the remaining six months. The astronomical scriptures of Aryabhaṭṭa and Brahmagupta clearly reveal that it is the earth that goes around the sun and not vice-versa. These northward and southward journeys of the sun, being in mutually opposite directions, were taken as analogies to represent the spiritual and worldly paths, which too are mutually opposite. Astrology and Astronomy In Vedic astrology, the divisions of space and time are represented as a diagram in which the twelve zodiac signs are arranged in a square arrangement around the earth, covering 360°. Earth is assumed to be at the center of the square. The diagram can be clearly understood with the knowledge of astronomy. Each of the zodiac signs rises one after the other from the east and sets in the west, until all twelve are covered in 24 hours (360° rotation). The same 360° of the sky is also divided among 27 constellations (stars). The sun occupies each zodiac sign for a month. It is result of the Earth revolving around the sun, while also rotating about its own axis. Due to the rotation of the earth about its own axis, it covers all the 12 zodiac signs in one full day. The time of the day is thus divided into twelve parts. In addition to this daily rotation, the earth also revolves around the sun in one year, due to which, the sun appears to be in each zodiac sign for one month. Similar to the sun, other planets also appear to pass through each of the zodiac signs, staying in each for definite intervals of time. In Vedic astrology, the sun, moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and the two lunar nodes are all called planets (grahas). The two lunar nodes are said to be the shadow planets, Rāhu and Ketu. In the astrological diagram, the space around the earth (the sky as seen from earth) is divided into two hemispheres: (1) The northern hemisphere starts from the zodiac sign Makara (Capricorn) and ends with the zodiac sign Mithuna (Gemini). It covers the north and east directions. (2) The southern hemisphere starts from the zodiac sign Karkāṭaka (Cancer) and ends with the zodiac sign Dhanu (Sagitarius). It covers the south and west directions. The northern hemisphere is ruled by the deities Kubera, Śiva, Indra and Agni. Kubera rules over the north direction, which includes the signs, Makara and Kumbha (Aquarius). These two signs are owned by Saturn (Śani). Śiva rules over the north-east, where the sign Mīna (Pisces) is placed. Mīna (Pisces) is owned by Jupiter (Bṛhaspati). Indra rules over the east, which consists of the signs, Meśa and Vṛṣabha. These two signs are owned by Mars (Mangal) and Venus (Śukra) repectively. Agni rules over the south-east, where the sign, Mithuna (Gemini) is plaed. Mithuna (Gemini) is owned by Mercury (Budha). The southern hemisphere is ruled by the deities Yama, Nirṛtī, Varuṇa and Vāyu. Yama, the lord of death, rules the south, which includes Karkāṭaka (Cancer) and Siṃha (Leo). These two signs are owned by the moon (Chandra) and the sun (Sūrya) respectively. Nirṛtī, a female demon, rules over the south-west, where the sign Kanyā (Virgo) is placed. This sign owned by Mercury (Budha). Varuṇa, the lord of water and rain, rules over the west, which contain Tulā (Libra) and Vṛṣcika (Scorpio). These two signs are owned by Venus (Śukra) and Mars (Mangal), respectively. Finally, Vāyu rules the north-west containing Dhanu (Sagitarius), which is owned by Jupiter (Guru). Thus, the sky as we see from earth, is divided into 12 zodiac signs from east to west and back to east (from below the earth). It is also divided into the 27 constellations (stars), such that 2 ¼ of a constellation is accommodated in each zodiac sign. Each of the nine planets is located in one of the zodiac signs and constellations at any given time and the planets move through the various zodiac signs and constellations at different rates. Uttarāyaṇam starts with the sun entering Makara (Capricorn) on January 15th and staying there till February 15th. Dakṣiṇāyanam starts with the sun entering Karkāṭaka (Cancer) on July 15th and staying there till August, 15th. This is the essential astronomical basis of astrology. Astronomy is the science dealing with inert physical planets, stars and the zodiac signs, which are imaginary divisions made in the sky. Astrology is part of spiritual knowledge and it deals with the deities of the planets and stars. These deities of the planets are the executives of the cycle of deeds, which is part of the divine administration of God. They grant the fruits of the deeds of every soul to that particular soul. Mars in astronomy means an inert planet in the sky. Mars in astrology means the deity of planet Mars, who is an energetic being having some unimaginable powers. Those unimaginable powers of God have merged into the deity to enable the deity to perform its duties. Some people confuse astronomy with astrology. Rāhu and Ketu are demons that swallowed the Sun-god and the Moon-god since they were angry with the latter two. Rāhu and Ketu were originally one demon of a snake-like form. He tried to cheat God by pretending to be a god (angel) in order to get a share of amṛtam, which is the drink of immortality. The Sun-god and the Moon-god informed this to God Viṣṇu who cut the demon into the two parts, Rāhu and Ketu. Since the demon had already become immortal, the two parts Rāhu and Ketu also remained immortal but they became enemies of the Sun-god and the Moon-god. The swallowing of the deities of Sun and Moon by Rāhu and Ketu is the actual eclipse (grahaṇa) mentioned in the scriptures. This eclipse is between the deities of the respective planets and not between the inert planets. The deities are energetic beings and cannot even been seen by us. The eclipse that we see is an astronomical phenomenon and not the astrological event. The astronomical phenomenon only symbolizes the astrological event. On the day of an eclipse (astronomical), we are told to bathe and worship God to avoid the ill-effects of the eclipse. Such instructions are arthavādas; which means, they are lies that serve the beneficial purpose of developing devotion. There is no need to criticize them due to their benefit for beginners. With this explanation, both physical science and spiritual knowledge are not disturbed at all! The shadows of the moon and earth that fall on the sun and moon respectively during their physical eclipses, are considered to be Rāhu and Ketu, the shadow planets. This is only an analogy representing the actual event taking place between the deities of the planets in the upper world. Dakṣiṇāyanam: Transition to Worldly Life The word saṅkrānti is also used when the sun moves from Mithuna (Gemini) to Karkāṭaka (Cancer). Note that the movement of the sun through the 12 zodiac signs in one year is only an apparent movement. In reality, it is the earth that is rotating about its axis and also revolving around the sun. The apparent movement of the sun through the zodiac is the result of the superimposition of the earth’s rotation and revolution around the sun. Dakṣiṇāyanam begins when the sun transits from Mithuna (Gemini) to Karkāṭaka (Cancer). Mithuna (Gemini), is owned by Mercury and Karkāṭaka (Cancer) is owned by the moon. Mithuna, which is the last sign in uttarāyaṇam represents doing business with the help of God. It represents business-devotion, in which the person practically sacrifices something to God and expects something in return from God. The beginning of dakṣiṇāyanam (worldly life) with the sun’s transit into the sign of the moon (Karkāṭaka) represents a change in the attitude of the mind, since the moon represents the mind. The person starts to think that business should only be done for success, as per the plans of one’s own mind. One begins to feel that there is no need to depend on God. Hence, the soul feels that business-devotion, which involves faith in God, is not better than purely materialistic business. This transition is the transition from theism to atheism. After Karkāṭaka (Cancer), the sun moves into Siṃha (Leo), which is owned by the sun. The sun stands for intelligence. The sun’s transit into Siṃha (Leo) represents the development of the analytical knowledge of science, which involves only creation and not the Creator. Next, the sun moves into Kanyā (Virgo), which is owned by Mercury. Mercury represents business. This transit indicates unethical business done with a desire for profit alone. The transit into the next sign Tulā (Libra), which is owned by Venus, indicates unethical and illegitimate sexual affairs. The transit into Vṛścika (Scorpio), which is owned by Mars, stands for fighting for unjust gains. The next is Dhanu, which is owned by Jupiter. It represents performing rituals for one’s own benefit. These rituals are not based on devotion to God, but are based on the doctrine of action or karma (Pūrva Mīmāṃsā). Thus, the worldly path of dakṣiṇāyanam extends from Karkāṭaka (Cancer) to Dhanu (Sagitarius) while the spiritual path of uttarāyaṇam extends from Makara (Capricorn) to Mithuna (Gemini). Uttarāyanam: Transition to Spiritual Life Today on 15th January, the day of Makara Saṅkrānti, the sun transits from Dhanu (Sagitarius) to Makara (Capricorn). This transit also marks the transition from the cool winter to the hot summer. The coolness of the winter represents the happiness and convenience of worldly life, whereas, the heat of the summer represents the misery and inconvenience of spiritual life. Makara Saṅkrānti represents the transition from worldly life to spiritual life, in this sense too. The path to hell is full of roses, whereas, the path to heaven and God is full of thorns. The transition represents the transition into the sunlight of knowledge that gives strength and removes the darkness of ignorance. The lord of Dhanu (Sagitarius) is Jupiter (Guru) and the lord of Makara (Capricorn) is Saturn (Śani). Jupiter is related to religious rituals done for the sake of benefits. Saturn is the lord of spiritual knowledge (jñāna kāraka). Makara Saṅkrānti is thus a transition from the path of worldly rituals (pravṛtti) to the spiritual path (nivṛtti). Jupiter also represents justice, which means that the soul has reached such a stage in pravṛtti (worldly path of justice) that it completely avoids committing sins and instead, does good deeds. This stage is attained by the recognition of the existence of the unimaginable God, who rewards good deeds and punishes bad deeds. This is the original Pūrva Mīmāṃsā philosophy, as given by sage Jaimini, which accepted God, in this manner. Saturn, the lord of Makara (Capricorn) stands for acquiring the detailed spiritual knowledge about God. The following zodiac sign is Kumbha (Aquarius), which is also owned by Saturn. This continuity of the same lord for adjacent zodiac signs is not found among any of the other signs. It means that the analysis of spiritual knowledge must be always continuous. From this day (January 15th), the next six months of uttarāyaṇam are treated to be very precious and holy. People say that the ritual of upanayanam must be done only within this uttarāyanam period. Actually, upanayanam means coming close to God. In this essential sense, any time is holy. The next zodiac sign in this holy hemisphere of uttarāyaṇam, is Mīna (Pisces). It is located in the north-east corner, which is the place of God Śiva. God Śiva is said to be the deity of spiritual knowledge (Jñānaṃ Maheśvarāt...). The owner of Mīna (Pisces) is also Jupiter, the deity of justice (dharma kāraka). It indicates that you have to work for the welfare of the world, even while following the spiritual path of nivṛtti. You have to preach to people about following the path of worldly justice or pravṛtti. The next sign is Meṣa (Aries) owned by Mars (Maṅgal). Mars being the deity of battle, represents fighting. Meṣa (Aries) represents the fighting and conflicts done for the sake of justice. The next sign, Vṛṣabha (Taurus) owned by Venus represents legitimate sexual life, which is necessary for continuing the human race, in the service of God. The last sign in the holy hemisphere of uttarāyaṇam is Mithuna (Gemini) owned by Mercury. It represents business-devotion to God, as explained earlier. This inferior stage of devotion need not be criticized since it is inevitable in the beginning. It has the advantage that it, at least, accepts the existence of God. Good and Bad Angles of Qualities and Actions All qualities and actions have two angles—pravṛtti (dakṣiṇāyanam) and nivṛtti (uttarāyaṇam). Knowledge can be worldly as well as spiritual. Rituals can be done for the sake of one’s own benefit or for worshiping God without the aspiration for any fruit. Fighting can be for justice as well as for injustice. Sex can be illegitimate or legitimate. Business can be unethical as well as ethical. Souls, depending on their nature, will choose one or the other angle. The planets in the horoscope of a person only represent the existing nature of the soul. They do not cause the soul to have a certain nature. Clever people reverse this and say that they committed the sin due to the influence of a bad planet. The truth is that the planet only represented the sin done by the soul. Upanayanam and Gāyatrī mean becoming close to God by singing devotional songs. In this true sense, upanayanam can be done at any time. Representative Models Representative models only indicate concepts. As such, the model and the actual concept are not physically related in any way. The three-coloured national flag of India represents the country, India. There is not the slightest physical relationship between the flag and the country. In the flag, the upper red colour indicates the quality of rajas (creation). The middle white colour indicates sattvam (ruling) and the lower green colour indicates tamas (destruction). The three colors represent the three fundamental qualities found predominantly in Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva respectively. The three colors representing three qualities indicate a living being from among the public. But the flag-staff (pole), the cloth and the colors, of the flag, by themselves are non-living items. This means that the model only represents the concept and has nothing to do with the concept, in reality. Once, in a speech, Shri Satya Sai said “This is My finger and that is a flower. With the help of My finger pointing towards the flower, you should see the flower. Once you have seen the flower, the finger is not necessary”. This does not mean that the finger should be cut off once you have seen the flower! You should still respect the finger since it helped you in seeing the flower. If the finger continues to exist, it will also help others in seeing the flower. Before you saw the flower, the finger was essential for you too. Similarly, in the initial stage, the model is essential to realize the concept. Even in the advanced stage, after realizing the concept, you should be grateful and respect the model that helped you. The same model will also help others in the future. This is the reason why everybody salutes to and respects the national flag. Hence, in the beginning, statues and images of God are essential to understand the existence of the unimaginable God. Once the unimaginable God is understood and realized by identifying the contemporary Human Incarnation, the statues and images are not necessary for the realized devotee. But even the realized devotee must be grateful to the statues and images, which have helped him and which continue to help others who are in that initial stage. The human form of the statue indicates that the God to be sought by you is the contemporary Human Incarnation of God. The common human form of the statue and the Human Incarnation of God indicates this. Even a realized soul worships statues and images due to his gratitude and to become an example for other devotees who are beginners (Lokasaṅgrahamevāpi...—Gita). Representative models are only meant for beginners and not for advanced scholars in spiritual knowledge. The rigid religious traditions succeed in the case of an ignorant beginner, but they fail to bind a true scholar. To explain this Śaṅkara gave the example of a knife, which can be used to cut vegetables, but it fails to cut a stone (Śilāprayukta kṣurādivat...)! Any statue or image is made of some material consisting of both inert energy and inert matter. But it lacks the non-inert awareness. So, priests perform the ritual of life-initiation (prāṇa pratiṣṭhā) on the statues in temples. The life-initiation ritual is also performed for images and statues worshipped by people in their homes. In spite of that, no life appears in those inert objects! This means that the life-initiation ritual is not meant to make an inert statue alive, but that it is a model representing the concept that one should worship the living human form of God, which is the contemporary Human Incarnation. It means that the object of worship should contain inert matter, inert energy and non-inert awareness. But we know that: Inert matter + inert energy + non-inert awareness = human being Thus, the ritual provides the correct address of God, which is in the human being. It refers to the external medium in which God has entered and merged. The living human medium consists of matter, energy and awareness. When the unimaginable God enters one such chosen living human medium and merges with it, that human being becomes the Human Incarnation. The unimaginable God has already entered and merged with an energetic form in the upper world. This first Energetic Incarnation of God is called Datta or Īśvara. This Datta further enters and merges with the living human medium to become a Human Incarnation. The life-initiation ritual indicates to the devotees that they must seek and worship this living Human Incarnation of God and not mere images made of inert matter and inert energy. Instead of giving value to inert matter and energy, one must transition to valuing the non-inert awareness in human beings. Finally, one should transition from valuing ordinary human beings to searching and worshipping the Human Incarnation of God. This is real transition or saṅkrānti. Good, Bad and Meaningless Traditions The real saṅkrānti means leaving bad traditions and following good traditions. Certain traditions, although essentially meaningless, can still be followed since they are meant for encouraging beginners. There are three types of traditions: (1) The good traditions established by ancient sages, which are followed by realized souls. (2) Meaningless traditions, also established by the sages, for the sake of encouraging and teaching beginners. These traditions too are followed by realized souls out of gratitude and for the sake of others. (3) Bad traditions established by ignorant priests, in later times. A good tradition is performing every ritual with the knowledge of the internal meanings of the Vedic hymns. It improves one’s spiritual knowledge and devotion to God. For instance, the internal meaning of upanayanam is getting close to God and Gāyatrī means pleasing God through devotional songs. Real sacrifice (yajña or homa) means pacifying the hunger-fire of a human being, bird or animal, by offering food. Veda adhyayana means knowing the deep meanings of the Vedic hymns. A bad tradition is doing a ritual blindly, without understanding its background and without even knowing the meanings of the Vedic hymns, as is commonly done by many people. The real meaning of upanayanam is not putting a three-stranded thread over the shoulder of a child and initiating the child into the recitation of a particular Vedic hymn written in the Gāyatrī meter. Sacrifice does not mean burning ghee in the physical fire and wasting precious food items like milk, in the name of worship, while several hungry living beings die every day. God will be immensely pleased if hungry souls are fed, since they are all His children. The Veda says that even a trace of food should not be wasted, even in the name of worship (Annaṃ na paricakṣīta). Ignorant priests worshipping the Divine Mother burn a silk sari in the sacrificial fire on the final day of pūrṇāhuti. The Divine Mother will actually be greatly pleased if the same sari is given to a poor lady. A meaningless tradition is that which is basically false, but it is meant for developing the devotion of a beginner. It is not meant for a scholar. Scholars still follow such traditions to maintain the faith of the beginners. The annual ritual performed on the death anniversary of a departed soul is a good tradition because, in that ritual, a deserving person is fed and honoured by offering money and clothes in donation. This is meritorious action (puṇyam) that protects the departed soul as well as the performer. But this ritual can be done on any day. There is no need to do it only on the death anniversary. But sages created certain lies (arthavāda), such as the idea that feeding a deserving priest on the death anniversary of the departed relative is necessary to ensure that the departed soul gets food in the upper world. This false idea is introduced only to ensure that even greedy people perform this ritual involving sacrifice (donation), at least on the death anniversary of their departed relatives. Actually, the departed soul is present in an energetic body in the upper world, after the death of the physical body on earth. In the energetic body, it consumes energy directly as food. But the false idea of food for the departed relatives was created so that ignorant greedy people, out of the fear that their departed relatives will starve in the upper world, will certainly perform this ritual on the death anniversary. That way, they will perform at least some meritorious action and get an opportunity of gaining at least some knowledge from the learned priest performing the ritual for them. Without this false idea, those greedy people would never have done any meritorious action or learned any spiritual knowledge. A true scholar knows the truth of the matter, but he still performs the ritual for the welfare of such greedy persons! A scholar will not condemn a mother feeding her child by telling the false story that the moon will come down to the child, if the child finishes the food quickly. The scholar supports such a lie in the interest of the child and probably tells the same lie to his own child! Purpose of Festivals and Rituals The purpose of festivals that involve the worship of God is to inculcate devotion among ordinary souls. The festivals are celebrated at specific times and at holy places or other specific places and they are meant for the welfare of ordinary souls. A true scholar worships God at all times and in every place. Such a scholar is said to be in the state of mahāvratam as described by sage Patañjali, which is being beyond the constraints of place and time. For ordinary souls, certain arthavādas (beneficial lies) are essential to attract their ignorant minds. The truth of the arthavādas should not be revealed to them, since it can damage their faith. True scholars follow these arthavādas in the interest of the beginners. But if a true scholar (jñānī) violates these arthavādas occasionally, due to special circumstances, ignorant priests should not blame that true scholar. For example, a renounced saint (saṃnyāsī) should not perform the death rituals of his parents because he has crossed all worldly bonds and he also knows that the death ritual is only a prayer to God to protect the departed soul. Śankara, who was also a saint, wanted to perform the death rituals for His mother, as per her last wish. But the ignorant priests strongly objected to it and refused to even give Him fire to perform the ritual. The reality was that the mother of Śaṅkara had already reached the abode of God directly. There was no need of any ritual for her. In any case, the ritual is only to cremate the body and it has no effect on the soul. In anyway of cremation like burning, burying, drowning in water etc., the five elements of the dead body merge with the five cosmic gross elements only. There is also a tradition to leave the dead body in forest as food for birds and animals and in this way also the five elements of the dead body merge with the five cosmic gross elements only! When the priests refused to give Him fire for the cremation, Śaṅkara, being the Incarnation of God Śiva, burnt the body with the fire generated from His third eye! In the case of Śaṅkara, the special situation was that His mother had made Him promise before she permitted Him to accept sainthood, that He would perform her funeral ritual. Śaṅkara did not want to avoid sainthood and become a householder, just to be allowed to perform His mother’s funeral rites. He had incarnated on earth to propagate spiritual knowledge as a saint. In the view of the importance of His divine program, He decided to become a saint and still perform the funeral rites, contrary to tradition. He promised her the same. Even an ordinary human being should not break a promise given to another human being, let alone breaking a promise given to one’s own mother. Hence, He performed her funeral ritual. It was not an actual breaking of tradition because any ritual is only a prayer to God to protect the departed soul and anybody can do it, even for an unknown person. The Gita says that knowing the background-knowledge behind a traditional ritual is more important than following it blindly (Śreyo hi jñānamabhyāsāt). Further, the Gita says that focusing one’s attention on spiritual knowledge which leads to devotion for God is more important than the mere background-knowledge of a ritual. This is because, the essential purpose of any ritual is only improving the person’s spiritual knowledge and devotion to God (Jñānāt dhyānaṃ viśiṣyate). At the end, the Gita says that service accompanied with the sacrifice of the fruit of one’s hard work (donation) is more important than both the theoretical knowledge and the theoretical devotion. The practical step of service and sacrifice is the final full stop (Dhyānāt karmaphala tyāgaḥ, tyāgāt śāntiranantaram). The word ‘śānti’ used here, means a full stop, beyond which nothing remains to be said.

Spiritual Knowledge only for Rare Diamonds? Shri Phani asked: In Your discourse on December 02, 2019, You have said that Your spriritual knowledge is not meant for the general public, but only for a few rare diamonds scattered here and there in the world. With reference to it, someone remarked to me that if the spiritual knowledge of Datta Swami is only meant for rare diamonds, let Him confine His preaching to only those few diamonds. What is the necessity to propagate it to the public, all over the world? Could You please respond to this? Rarity of Spiritual Attainment Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! This point that spiritual knowledge is meant for the rare few was actually told by God Krishna in the Gita. He said that out of millions of devotees, only one tries to reach God and among those rare devotees trying to reach God, only one recognizes God (Manuṣyāṇāṃ…). Such a devotee is the rarest of the rare. Even that rarest-of-the-rare devotee recognizes and reaches God, only after trying to reach Him for several births (Bahūnāṃ...—Gita). Actually, the absolute God is unimaginable. He can never even be understood by anybody since He is beyond imagination (Atarkyaḥ…—Veda). Yet, God Krishna was speaking about recognizing and reaching God, which appears to be contradictory. How can we reconcile this idea of recognizing and reaching God with the fact that God is unimaginable? It clearly means that God Krishna was speaking about the mediated God (Incarnation) and not about the absolute unimaginable God. The mediated God can be identified since He is visible to our eyes. Of course, mediated God includes both Energetic and Human Incarnations of God. The Energetic Incarnation is relevant to the energetic beings (angels) of the upper worlds. The Human Incarnation is relevant to human beings of this earth. Since Arjuna was a human being and Krishna was directly speaking to him, God, in that context, only meant the Human Incarnation of God. You might say that Arjuna was directly seeing Krishna, the Human Incarnation of God, so where is the problem? The problem is not in being able to see the Human Incarnation. The problem lies in being able to recognize the Human Incarnation. Krishna said that the rarest-of-the-rare devotee alone can recognize Him essentially (Tattvataḥ...). If it were only a matter of seing the Incarnation, not only Arjuna, but everybody else could also see Krishna. The real problem was, how may could recognize Him? Only the sages who were reborn as the Gopikās recognized Krishna essentially as God and not as a mere human being based on His external appearance. Actually, not even all the Gopikās could recognize Him. Only a few among them could recognize Him. What was the problem due to which everyone else failed to recognize Krishna essentially as God? The problem is the repulsion between the common human media of God and the souls. When the unimaginable God merges with a human being, He appears like any other human being, externally. So, other human beings experience repulsion towards Him. Due to the repulsion, they fail to recognize the Human Incarnation of God like Krishna. This repulsion of the common medium is nothing but ego and jealousy. Every human being has an ego and also feels jealous of any other fellow-human being. No human being can tolerate the greatness of another human being. This problem is not only limited to human beings on earth, but it equally applies in the case of energetic beings in the upper worlds (Pratyakṣa dviṣaḥ—Veda). Every energetic being (angel) experiences this repulsion of the common medium for other energetic beings, including the Energetic Incarnations of God like Viṣṇu, Śiva etc. Even Indra, an important angel came under the grip of this repulsion for God Śiva, the Energetic Incarnation of God and tried to kill God Śiva with his weapon! The soul in a human body on earth, experiences this repulsion for the Human Incarnation of God due to the common human media of the soul and God. After death and upon acquiring an energetic body in the upper world, the same soul meets the Energetic Incarnation of God. Again, due to the common energetic media of God and the soul, the energetic being fails to recognize the Energetic Incarnation. The Veda says that this is the greatest loss or the greatest tragedy for any soul because the soul misses God, both here and there, forever (Mahatī vinaṣṭiḥ)! Ego (mada) and jealousy (mātsarya) are the topmost among the six vices (ṣadguṇas) and no soul can be free of these two. They are the real cataracts in the two eyes of the person. Your friend who passed the above comment, is no exception to this. He is experiencing repulsion for the other devotees, whom I praised as rare diamonds. He is unable to tolerate the greatness of those rare devotees and so he passed this comment! Added to this problem of ego and jealousy, is another wonderful problem! The spiritual path necessarily involves the soul serving and sacrificing to the climax-extent to the mediated God, who is hidden in an ordinary medium of a human being. While serving and sacrificing, the soul must be free of the aspiration for any fruit in return! Who can do such selfless service and sacrifice? Commonly, anyone doing such selfless service and sacrifice is said to be the biggest fool (Prayojanamanuddiṣya...)! When the basic recognition of God-in-human-form itself is a million-dollar question, the service and sacrifice to Him, without aspiring for any fruit in return becomes a billion-dollar question! This is the essence of these verses told by Krishna in the Gita. Krishna, as the Human Incarnation of God was, not only the Guide, but also the Goal. A guru is only a guide, whereas, the Satguru is the Guide and Goal. Even Arjuna could recognize Krishna just as a guide. It was only the Gopikās, who recognized Krishna as their Guide and Goal. The general repulsion of the common human medium certainly existed in Arjuna’s mind for Krishna. But there was also an additional, more specific repulsion, due to their common gender. Both were men. It made it even more difficult for Arjuna to overcome His ego and jealousy towards Krishna. You might wonder how come Āñjaneya (Hanumān), being male too, could recognize and serve His contemporary Human Incarnation of God, Rāma. Was Āñjaneya not influenced by the double repulsion of the common medium and the common gender? The answer is that Rāma was in a human form, whereas, Āñjaneya was in the form of a monkey (vānara). So, the repulsion of the common (human) medium was absent in His case! We have been trained from our very childhood by our elders and as part of tradition, that we should pray to God and worship Him, so that God will give us material benefits and protect us from all sorts of problems, here and hereafter. We have absorbed this poison for such a long time that we have become like the pickle that has absorbed salt, through and through, after being stored in a jar for a long time. Can we get rid of this poison by any effort made, for any length of time? It is almost impossible for any soul! Hence, the words like rare and the rarest have been used in the Gita. Of course, in the intitial stage, devotion with an aspiration for some fruit in return from God is inevitable for ordinary human beings. All beginnings are always defective, as said in the Gita (Sarvārambhāhi...). However, in childhood, the expectation for some fruit in return has not yet firmly established in a person’s mind. Hence, it is important to develop devotion for God in the mind of the child by portraying the wonderful divine personality of God. This can be effectively done by telling the stories of divine Energetic and Human Incarnations of God. The child should develop devotion to God, due to an attraction for His divine personality and not because God provides materialistic benefits. If such aspiration-free devotion is well-established in the person’s mind from early childhood, then upon growing into an adult, much aspiration for the fruit will not enter the person’s mind. Grades for Encouraging Progress The teacher teaches the entire class without any partiality towards any student. Yet, only one student tops the class and gets the gold medal! The gold medal is not given to the topper, to discourage other students, but so that all other students recognize the truth and try to become the gold medallist. Apart from the gold medal for the topper, there are several grades below it, like a distinction, first class, second class and third class. Other students are awarded those grades as per their performance. In any case, students should ensure that they do not fail. Even if a certain student happens to fail, he or she should try again and again, keeping the goal of getting the gold medal, one day. Devotees trying to attain God are like these students in the class. All of them should try to become the gold-medallist, even though only one might actually achieve it. Only atheists are in a pitiable situation. They are like the children who have refused to get admitted to a school. The Kohinoor diamond is the topmost among all diamonds. It stands for the topmost devotee. Other diamonds are like other top devotees. Beware that apart from real diamonds, there are artificial diamonds too! These are pretenders. But below the real diamonds, there are several grades of stones like granite, marble, gravel and sand particles. All these grades are only devotees at different stages of the spiritual effort. No grade should be looked down upon. Atheists are like carbon particles, which do not shine at all, whereas, all other grades shine at least a little. But there are some atheists, who have become Kohinoor diamonds. These atheists are very sincere and very persistent in their effort. They are like fast runners. When they turn to the right path, they will easily overtake the theists walking slowly along the path. You need not worry how the black carbon is. It can even become the most brightly shining diamond! You must know that diamond is an allotropic form of carbon itself! Jealousy is Based on Wrong Understanding Some devotees treat Me as the Incarnation of God Dattātreya and they want to serve Me by propagating My spiritual knowledge. Of course, I do not know whether I am an Incarnation or not. I did have a vision in the holy place named Shrishailam. God Datta appeared in His energetic form before Me and merged into Me. But that might have been an illusion of My eyes. However, after seeing this unimaginable knowledge flowing out of Me, I believed that My vision was true and not an illusion. By telling this to you, I am not boasting about My being an Incarnation. I know the technology of incarnation. An Incarnation is just mediated God. The medium does not get any importance at all. If a diamond is hidden in a cover, what is the value of the cover? All the value lies only in the diamond. God Datta is the one who is speaking this knowledge and I am only the microphone before His mouth. If I do not accept that I am an Incarnation of God Datta, it means that I am claiming to be the author of this excellent spiritual knowledge. That would be the climax of ego! In that case, your jealousy towards Me will increase even more and you will suffer even more! But when I say that I am an Incarnation, it means that I am zero since all the knowledge given by Me is being spoken by God Datta alone. By saying that I am not the Incarnation, I would be taking the credit for giving this excellent spiritual knowledge and indirectly denying that God Datta is its original author. The Gita says that whenever excellent true spiritual knowledge is seen, God alone is the author of it (Jñātvātmaiva...). It is such knowledge given by God that alone directs souls on the right path. Directing souls on the right path (jñāna) alone has the total importance. Neither the act of travelling (karma) nor the speed of travel (bhakti) is important. This is because, numerous devotees are already serving and sacrificing a lot (karma). They also have excellent devotion in their mind (bhakti). They are travelling (karma) on the path at high speed (bhakti). The only problem is that they are travelling in the wrong direction. They have not recognized the contemporary Human Incarnation to be the Goal of their spiritual effort and they have not realized that devotion should be free of aspiration. Thus, all they are lacking is the right direction (jñāna). When it comes to performing miracles, God grants that power to others. Even demons have acquired miraculous powers from God! But when it comes to knowledge, God Himself gives it directly. This is because of the highest importance of knowledge in the spiritual path. Since God directly gives the knowledge, one need not form a high opinion about the external medium of the Incarnation. By hearing the word Incarnation, everybody feels jealous of the external human form of the Incarnation. But sharp analysis reveals that such jealousy is based on a false concept because all the greatness lies with God and not with the medium. The greatness lies with the diamond and not its cover; with the person speaking and not with the microphone. A climax-devotee for whom, God has become his or her servant, is greater than even the Incarnation. In the Incarnation, the devotee (human medium) is treated as God i.e., the devotee only becomes equal to God. A non-electrified golden wire (climax-devotee) is more valuable than an electrified copper wire (Human Incarnation)! Diamonds and Propagation In the context of the propagation of My (God Datta’s) spiritual knowledge, I suggested to My (God Datta’s) devotees that, in the local area, I (God Datta) should not be projected as a preacher of spiritual knowledge. This is because, My (God Datta’s) spiritual knowledge is mainly based on knowledge of Śaṅkara, the devotion of Rāmānuja and the service and sacrifice of Madhva. The knowledge and devotion are both theoretical (in the mind). The service and sacrifice are practical and they are the practical proof of the devotion in the mind, as long as there is no aspiration for any fruit in return from God. My devotees had planned some local propaganda with banners etc., and had asked for My guidance. I told them to not do any such localized propaganda, highlighting My spiritual knowledge because those capable of absorbing such spiritual knowledge are rare and they are scattered here and there. They are not localized in any one area. Even if such knowledge were propagated, to the local people, they would only adsorb it and not absorb it. Adsorption is a surface phenomenon, while absorption is a bulk phenomenon. It means that the local people might only understand and appreciate it superficially and not in a deep and thorough manner. On the other hand, if this knowledge is propagated through e-mails or TV channels, all those rare diamonds located in different places, will certainly come face-to-face with it. If devotees want to propagate something about Me only in the local area, I told them that I should be projected as an astrologer or a man of miracles. All temples are flourishing because God in these temples is projected as having miraculous powers to solve people’s worldly problems. Only one Kohinoor diamond appreciates the fact that real devotion (love) is always selfless. My friend who passed the above comment, has misunderstood that My spiritual knowledge is confined only to diamonds. It is a total misunderstanding! The propagation of knowledge depends on the receivers of the knowledge. The method of propagation chosen, whether it is propagation in the local area or all over the world, should suit the level of the receivers of the knowledge. This is My actual point. My point is not to confine only to the rare diamonds. I have presented the overall picture of the process of propagation and the various levels of the receivers of the knowledge. The Kohinoor diamond is the devotee who absorbs or appreciates selfless devotion. Such a devotee is at the topmost level and is the goal to be reached by all the devotees. Projecting the gold medallist is only to encourage every student to put in hard work for becoming that rarest gold medallist. If not the Kohinoor diamond, one can at least become a diamond by reducing the aspiration for any fruit from God, as far as possible. Such a stage is very close to the Kohinoor diamond. Spiritual knowledge is mainly meant for the majority of devotees in the lower grades. It is not meant for the Kohinoor diamond, at all! The Kohinoor diamond has already reached the highest level and does not require any preaching from anybody. Even the other diamonds do not require much preaching. They just need to be reminded of the concepts that they have already learnt. =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

Swami's Vision of the Sixteen-Year-Old Sai Shri P V N M Sharma asked: Swami! You often tell us Your experience when You prayed to Lord Rāma and Shri Satya Sai appeared before You asking You to propagate spiritual knowledge. Why did Lord Rāma or any other divine form not appear before You? Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! I often get divine visions, in which mainly God Datta appears to Me in energetic form and He speaks with Me; sometimes even for several hours! Of course, other divine forms of God Datta also appear now and then and they include Energetic Incarnations and the energetic forms of past Human Incarnations. In all these visions, the divine form seen is only an energetic form and not a materialized human form. For the first time in My entire life so far, and only on that one occasion, the divine form of Shri Satya Sai that appeared before Me was a materialized human form. The silver throne on which He was sitting was also a materialized form! Actually, I had expected that, as usual, the energetic form of God Rāma would appear before Me since I had prayed to God Rāma by singing a spontaneously-composed song in Sanskrit (Yāce Śrī Rāmaṃ, tavāsmīti). I had composed this song on God Rāma seeking His help in a materialistic matter. Rāma had said that if anybody surrenders to Him saying that he belongs to Rāma, Rāma would certainly protect the devotee (Tavāsmīti ca yācate—Rāmayaṇam). But, instead of Rāma, Shri Satya Sai appeared in materialized human form before Me, sitting on a materialized silver throne! There is always a deep spiritual message in the actions of God, which is understood by us, in due course of time, through sharp analysis. The main question is, why did Shri Satya Sai appear when I had prayed to Rāma? The answer lies in the fact that the most important concept in the spiritual knowledge to be propagated by this Datta Swami is the concept of the contemporary Human Incarnation of God. On that day when I prayed, Shri Satya Sai was still alive and was in Puttaparti. He was the contemporary Human Incarnation of God Datta for Me. Rāma was also a Human Incarnation, but He was not My contemporary. It is the contemporary Human Incarnation who clears all the spiritual doubts of the devotee and greatly strengthens the devotee’s understanding of the spiritual knowledge. That strong understanding of spiritual knowledge produces powerful devotion. No such facility of doubt clarification and strengthening of knowledge is possible in the case of the statues and images of Energetic Incarnations and past Human Incarnations of God. This is the reason why no Energetic Incarnation like Viṣṇu, Śiva, Brahmā etc., or no past Human Incarnation like Rāma, Krishna, Shirdi Sai etc., appeared in energetic form before Me that day. The form of Satya Sai that appeared was not an energetic form, but a human form because contemporary Human Incarnation is always a human form and not an energetic form. The very first statement of Satya Sai was that I had been selected by Him for the propagation of spiritual knowledge. Another important point is that Satya Sai appeared before Me as a 16-year-old boy, whereas, at the same time, Satya Sai was also present in Puttaparti and He was about 75 years of age! He could have appeared before Me in His usual form, aged 75 years. What is the background of this? Shri Satya Sai was an Incarnation of God Datta, who is always said to appear 16 years of age, as indicated by one of His holy names (Nityaṣoḍaśa varṣīyase namaḥ). Angels, on the other hand, always appear 30 years of age (tridaśāḥ). The reason God Datta appears young is that you have to love God Datta as your son and not as your father. The love for one’s children is always real and the highest. Even if children are ungrateful to their parents, the parents still love them blindly. The devotion of parents for their children is completely real because, in addition to theoretical love, parents also show practical love for their children, without aspiring for any fruit in return. Theoretical love means the mental feeling of love, which is the result of the knowledge that the child is one’s own. Practical love means serving the child and giving up one’s entire wealth to one’s child. Serving the child or working for the child is the sacrifice of work. Giving one’s wealth to the child means sacrificing the fruit of one’s work to the child since the fruit of one’s work is wealth. The sacrifice of work is called karma saṃnyāsa and the sacrifice of the fruit of work is called karma phala tyāga. Both together constitute practical love. They are the proof of the theoretical love that exists in the mind. Parents’ love for their children is completely real because the theoretical love is proved in practice. It is also free of aspiration since it does not reduce even if the children behave badly with the parents. This is exactly the kind of love that God expects from us. The theoretical love for God should be the product of our recognition of Him through spiritual knowledge. But apart from having theoretical devotion for Him, we should also prove our devotion in practice, through the sacrifice of work (karma saṃnyāsa) and the sacrifice of the fruit of work (karma phala tyāga). Even if He does not fulfill our desires, our devotion to Him should not change even a bit. In other words, our devotion to God must be aspiration-free. All this is extremely difficult. Thus, treating God to be our son is highly inconvenient to us! Hence, we prefer to treat God as our father, so that, even though we behave ungratefully with Him, He will not care about it and He will continue to show real theoretical and practical love for us! In order to reverse this selfish concept in our minds, He always appears as a 16-year-old boy, who can only be our son and not our father! If God Datta comes in the form of an angel, appearing to be 30 years of age, there is a chance that we may consider Him to be our father. But by appearing to be a 16-year-old boy, there is no chance for us to consider Him as our father. We are forced to consider Him to be our son! =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

How can unfortunate souls whose bad qualities are strengthened over several previous births, attain salvation? Swami replied: The soul is given full freedom in choosing the right path or the wrong path (Svabhāvastu pravartate—Gita). God does not force souls to leave the wrong path and turn to the right path. Using logic, God fully explains to souls about both paths and the results of following each of them. It is the souls who must feel attracted towards the right path preached by God and follow it, using their own free will. Krishna only preached to Arjuna what the right direction in his situation was. After presenting the complete logic before Arjuna, Krishna finally told Arjuna to analyze whatever He had said thoroughly and make his own decision, using his own free will (Yathecchasi tathā kuru). Krishna could have just forced Arjuna to fight the war, even without preaching the Gita. His mere will was sufficient to change the mind of Arjuna, in a fraction of a second. Then there would have been no need to preach all the eighteen chapters of the Gita! But God honors the free will that He Himself has granted to the soul. The change in the soul should not come through divine force. Instead, it should come through divine knowledge. It is for this reason that the soul must correctly grasp the concepts preached by God and assimilate them, in order to bring them into practice. If the soul had no freedom and acted only as per the direction of God, the question posed by you would not even arise. The divine father, being greatly interested in the welfare of all the souls created by Him, would only direct them on the path of justice and they would all follow justice. Thus, there would only be peace and harmony in the world. In fact, such a situation actually existed for a very long time in the period called the Kṛta Yuga. But after that long time, souls got bored of always strictly following the directions given by God, without any freedom to choose what they wanted. So, they desired a free-will. The divine father always aims at the pleasure of His children and hence, He granted them a free-will, using which they had full freedom to choose what they wanted. But God expected souls to use their free-will in a responsible manner, using the powerful intelligence given to them to discriminate between the right and wrong paths. He clearly explained to them about the right and wrong paths through the scriptures. Knowing that souls are likely to misunderstand or deliberately misinterpret His preaching, He has repeatedly incarnated in human form, to eliminate the doubts and misinterpretations and preach true spiritual knowledge to every generation. In His preaching, He stresses on souls following the right path, again and again. God is the divine Father of all souls, whereas, you are only a brother or sister to other souls. You should realize that He is far more concerned about their welfare than you are and He wants all souls to return to the right path. But God will never violate the free-will that He Himself has granted to souls. Under these circumstances, there is no other way than to repeatedly preach to souls about following the correct path while, at the same time, giving them full freedom to choose what they want. The souls who follow His preaching progress spiritually, while those who reject His preaching do not. Souls who wish to change must choose to follow His guidance, using their own free will. There is no other alternative, under the circumstances. =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

What is the connection between theism and the belief in the Veda? Shri J. Prasad (Prof. Sanskrit, Central University) asked: The Veda is the authority for knowing the existence of God. So, it is said that those who do not believe in the Veda are atheists, while those who believe in it are theists. But some Vedic scholars believe that the sound and accents of Vedic recitation are the main soul of the Veda. They say that Indra defeated and killed the demon Vṛtra because sages uttered a certain Vedic accent in a different way. Of course, You have clarified that Vṛtra was killed due to the will of God and not due to the changed accent of recitation. However, the point is that such Vedic scholars do not believe in any God other than the sound of the Veda. Then, how can the belief in the Veda be the basis for differentiating between theists (āstikas) and atheists (nāstikas)? Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! The Veda means the spiritual knowledge by which God is known and attained (Enaṃ vindanti Vedena, Vedaiśca sarvairahameva vedyaḥ, Tametaṃ Vedānuvacanena..., etc.). The greatness of the Veda is in that it is the knowledge of God. In other words, the greatness of the Veda is not independent, but dependent on the greatness of God. The temple is holy because of the presence of God in it. Without God, it is not at all holy. Similarly, the Veda is holy because it describes and praises God. Most of our ancestors have been greatly influenced by the path of Pūrva Mīmāṃsā, which negates the existence of God. Keeping the Veda in the place of God, it only gives importance to rituals, which are done without understanding their meaning (Devo na kaścit bhuvanasya bhartā, Karmānurupāṇi puraḥ phalāni). These people give the topmost place to the sound of the Vedic verses recited with the proper accents. They treat that sound of the Veda itself as God (Śabdamātra Devatā) and they do not care for the meaning of the Veda, even though the word ‘Veda’ itself means knowledge! Even the word adhyayana also means studying the knowledge and not the blind recitation of the Veda. Knowing that people will continue to recite the Veda without understanding its meaning, the scriptures have given a clear instruction that the meaning of the Veda should be known (Vedo adhyetavyo jñeyaśca). People may misunderstand the Veda to be a text, instead of spiritual knowledge which is to be learnt. They may also misunderstand adhyayana to mean the blind recitation of the text, instead of the study of the Vedic knowledge. But they cannot neglect the third word ‘jñeyaśca’, which very clearly means ‘to be known’. These blind people are effectively saying that the external temple itself is God and that there is no other God in the temple! The outer temple is just an inert building and has no trace of even the relative awareness that is present in an animal. How can it possess the absolute unimaginable awareness or the omniscient awareness of God? If you take the Veda as the mere inert sound, without its meaning, how can it be God? God is not at all inert, as per the Brahma Sūtra (Īkṣateḥ…). How can the inert sound, by itself, grant us any results? The inert wooden sandals (pādukās) of the divine preacher are worshiped, but only as symbols of the non-inert preacher, for whom we have great value. But if a person denies the very existence of the divine preacher and says that the wooden sandals themselves are the divine preacher, will we not say that such a fellow is a crack? In the Gita, Krishna scolded such mad fools who worship the inert sandals and deny the preacher. He called these people atheists (Vedavādaratāḥ pārtha, nānyadastīti vādinaḥ). Even ordinary atheists are better than these people, who not only have wrong knowledge, but are also mentally deranged! An ordinary atheist does not believe in the existence of God and hence, he criticizes the Veda, which establishes the existence of God (Nāstiko Vedanindakaḥ). These atheists are people who are unable to catch the correct logic. But the Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas are not only incapable of catching the correct logic regarding the existence of God, but they are also mad in saying that the Veda itself is God! You go to the palace of a king and say that the palace itself is the king and that no king other than the palace exists! Will you not be branded as a mental patient, who has escaped from the mental hospital? These fools think that the sound of the Veda is God. As per science, sound is merely a form of inert energy. They further think that the inert rituals performed by them also give results by themselves! If you serve the king, the king, who is pleased with your service, can give you a reward. The inert service cannot bring a reward on its own! While walking past a temple, you touch the compound wall of the temple with devotion. You treat the entire temple to be holy due to the presence of God in it. God may be pleased with your devotion and He may protect you. But you cannot say that the compound wall or the inert action of touching the compound wall brings divine protection by itself. I am short of words to scold these blind mad people, who deny the existence of God in the temple and treat the inert temple-building itself as God! Theists respect the holy Veda due to their understanding of the knowledge contained in it. The spiritual knowledge contained in the Veda establishes the existence of the unimaginable God (Parabrahman) who possesses unimaginable power. It also establishes the fact that the unimaginable God can be seen in mediated form, especially as the contemporary Human Incarnation. As per the Puruṣa Sūktam in the Veda, the world was created by the unimaginable God expressed in mediated form. This is evident from the fact that the Puruṣa Sūktam describes the mediated God as having a head, hands etc. We respect theists who respect the Veda due to their devotion for God. They are like the devotees who salute to the temple because they believe in the existence of God inside the temple. The Veda is very holy, but it is holy only because it contains the spiritual knowledge revealed by God, who is very very holy. Without God, the recitation of the Veda by itself is a mere sound. It is like the inert temple-building without God in it. The Veda is certainly the final authority to know about God. We respect a book of science only due to the value of the scientific knowledge it contains. We do not respect it for the inert material of the book. Śaṅkara condemned these blind people and stressed on the importance of understanding the meaning (knowledge) of the Veda. Maṇḍana Miśra, the famous Pūrva Mīmāṃsaka, argued with Śaṅkara for about a month, got defeated and became the disciple of Śaṅkara. The Veda simply means the knowledge of God. It is neither mere sound nor is it connected to any language like Sanskrit in which the Veda is written. Knowledge has no connection with any particular language. The knowledge of God in any language is the Veda. This is the real view of the Veda. Knowledge alone gives right direction and the right information about God. The right knowledge alone opens the door to right practice, which in turn leads to the right goal. This brings true benefit to a soul. Without understanding the knowledge of the Veda, simply believing the sound of the Veda to be God is not mere ignorance, but madness, to be precise. Indra killed Vṛtra because Vṛtra was a demon and Indra was an angel. An angel is always a good soul following the path of justice, whereas a demon is always a bad soul following the path of injustice. God always protects justice and hence, it was the will of God to destroy Vṛtra and protect Indra. Whatever happens, happens only by the will of God. God’s will cannot be changed by the inert sound of the Vedic hymns recited with certain accents. The accents are mere musical notations to make sound of the Vedic recitation pleasant. We are not denying the pleasantness produced by the sound of Vedic recitation. But the importance of the accents is only that much. It should not be extended unnecessarily to the extent of treating the sound of the Veda as God. At the maximum, you can give secondary importance to the sound and the accents. The primary importance must be given only to God’s knowledge and devotion. Several devotees, who have not studied the Veda became the topmost devotees of God and got salvation. =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

Will an atheistic innovator be granted human rebirth? If not, how will his desire to innovate be fulfilled? Shri Bharath Krishna asked: This question is related to the life of an innovator. An innovator enjoys his thought-process which produces new ideas, which is what motivates him to create or discover something. But discovery or innovation requires an advanced intellect and only a human being has that kind of intellect. I have also learned that the only true purpose of a human being is to use all his abilities in finding God. If a human being spends his entire life in innovating things without ever bothering to learn about God, will he be granted another human birth? I am asking this question because unless he gets a human birth, his desire to innovate will not get fulfilled. Swami replied: Why should the innovator who innovates things in some field of worldly knowledge, be given a human rebirth? He did not spend even a minute to know about God! His innovation requires a deep interest in the worldly subject, which the innovator has developed. In doing so, he has gone further and further away from God. If leading an ordinary life is like walking, innovating in some field is like running. But the innovation is in the worldly field and not in the spiritual field. So, it is like running in a direction opposite to the goal. The goal is God. Hence, innovating in any worldly field, without recognizing God takes a soul further and further away from the right goal, which is God. =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

Was Janaka's detachment from his kingship not neglect of God’s work? Shri Balaji asked: In Your reply to a question on rāja yoga on February 10, 2020, You have said that when king Janaka was deeply absorbed in a spiritual discussion and was told that his city, Mithilā was on fire, he was not disturbed. You have explained that this showed Janaka’s detachment from worldly issues. But You have also said that, in the case of Janaka, his administration of the kingdom was also God’s work, since it involved maintaining justice and controlling sins. Does his detachment from the administration of the kingdom not mean the detachment from God’s work? Swami replied: Fulfilling his duty as the king of his kingdom was the unavoidable worldly work that he had to do, just as an ordinary person has to perform his professional work as an employee. But Janaka turned even this worldly work into God’s work by ruling the city in accordance with God’s will. He upheld justice and condemned injustice. Being king was not a matter of worldly enjoyment for him. He never enjoyed the kingship. Instead, he would always enjoy spiritual knowledge in the numerous spiritual discussions he would have with sages. He was detached from his kingship and always attached to God through the spiritual discussions. The sages wanted to test his detachment from worldly affairs and simultaneously his attachment to God. So, they told him that his city was burning. Janaka, of course, remained undisturbed. But Janaka cannot be compared to the Roman emperor, Nero who was playing the fiddle (violin) while Rome burned. Enjoying worldly music is also a worldly affair and not related to God. The detachment from the world comes only by the attachment to God. Such true detachment alone is meaningful and it is natural and spontaneous. There is no force or effort required for it. It is the result of the attachment to God and is not a prerequisite for achieving the attachment to God. Mere detachment from the world, without any attachment to God, is forced, unnatural and completely useless. The reason why detachment from the world is given value in spirituality is that it is an indirect measure of the attachment to God. The detachment from the world is clearly visible, whereas the attachment to God is abstract and invisible. So, the worldly detachment is used as an indirect measure of the internal attachment to God. When a person is watching a movie, the depth of his absorption in watching the movie cannot be measured by simply looking at him. But when we notice that he is unconscious of the bedbugs and mosquitoes biting him, we realize how deeply absorbed in watching the movie he is. The externally-visible bites of the bedbugs and mosquitoes act as indirect measures of his deep attachment to the movie. He did not make any effort to detach from the bodily discomfort and pain from the bites. His detachment from the pain was natural and effortless. Such natural detachment alone is the real measure of the person’s attachment to the movie or God. Today, people develop forced detachment from the world to show off to the public. They want the public to take their worldly detachment as a measure of their spiritual attainment or their devotion to God. But such pretenders have no real attachment to God. Of course, King Janaka turned the worldly affair of his administration of the kingdom into God’s work by being seriously committed to the protection of justice and the control of sin. This is perfect pravṛtti, which pleases God. When he was told that his city was burning, he thought that the city was burning by the will of God alone. It was certainly not burning by his will! In any kingdom, there are other administrators who are designated to carry out various responsibilities on behalf of the king, even in his absence. They were capable of taking the necessary steps to put out the fire and the absence of king Janaka would not affect those emergency tasks in any case. His running back to his city, leaving the spiritual debate would not have helped the situation in any way. Janaka was ruling his kingdom as a divine duty, without any personal attachment. Such an attitude only comes when the soul is not attracted to worldly enjoyment. All his enjoyment was only in spiritual life. When such a situation of loss or tragedy occurs in the life of a spiritual soul, it means that God is cutting the worldly bonds of the soul. A spiritual soul is never disturbed by such situations. The spiritual soul gets disturbed only when his bond with God is disturbed. An ordinary king would have certainly run to the city immediately, leaving the spiritual debate due to his attachment to the worldly bond with the kingship of the country. The ordinary king gains enjoyment from that position. On the other hand, if a king is immersed in playing the violin, but the music is devotional music, he is immersed in devotion and not worldly enjoyment. Then his case would also be the same as that of king Janaka. =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

What is the inner meaning of the custom of the wife respectfully treating her husband to be Lord Vishnu? [Reply to a question by Tinku K] Swami replied: The reason behind this custom, like many others, is money. In the ancient tradition, the husband used to be the earning member of the family and the wife used to be the non-earning member. Since God is said to be in money, the wife calls her husband God, even if it is only lip-service. She also serves him for the same reason. Similarly, a businessman calls his customers as costumer-Gods! But times have changed and now, the wife also earns, in many cases. So, you will see a corresponding change in the attitude of the wife. As per the old system, the husband being the earning member, contributes to the family by sacrificing his hard-earned money. When the wife is not an earning member, she gratefully contributes to the family in terms of service, since she is unable to contribute in terms of sacrificing hard-earned money. The same equivalence between service and the sacrifice of money is also seen in spiritual life. Saints (monks) are unable to sacrifice money to God because they do not earn any money. They themselves are supposed to beg for their food, as per tradition. But they can serve God. So, service, which is the path of the saint, is termed karma saṃnyāsa, where the word saṃnyāsa denotes sainthood. If the devotee is a householder, then apart from doing some service, the devotee is also supposed to sacrifice the fruit of his work (karma phala tyāga), which is the sacrifice of his hard-earned wealth to God. =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

Why does the woman have to leave her home and go to her husband's home after marriage? [Reply to a question by Tinku K] Swami replied: The reason behind this age-old practice is that the property of the parents was only given to sons and not to daughters. As a result of this practice, daughters too, only served their in-laws and not their parents. Daughters even change their surnames and gotras to those of their husband. The reason behind all of this is basically money and property. The gotra is the family lineage tracing back to an ancient sage. The funny part is that no one thinks that when one is not supposed to marry a person belonging to the same gotra, how can the wife assume the husband’s gotra after marriage? There is also a tradition in some places where the daughter-in-law addresses her in-laws as “Father” and “Mother”. The reason behind this is that she wants to take the place of the daughter of her in-laws. When she takes the place of their daughter, it minimizes the possibility of them giving their property to their daughter! Similarly, the son-in-law also addresses his in-laws as “Father” and “Mother”, in an attempt to take the place of their son and get some generous gifts from them, at least! In fact, the Veda says that property should be given to both sons and daughters equally. The word ‘putra’ literally means a son. But, as per Sanskrit grammar (Ekaśeṣa sutra), in many contexts, it means both sons and daughters. This applies in the context of the division of property too. Of course, the division can be unequal based on the demands of the situation. This is known as āpaddharma, which is a modified rule to suit the demands of a special situation. For instance, if one of the issues (son or daughter) is poor, a greater share of the property can be given to that issue. But the unequal division should not be based on gender. The temptation for wealth is so powerful that due to its influence, men denied the sacred thread ceremony (upanayanam) to women. They did this because if women were also eligible for this ritual, they would also become eligible to carry out the death rituals. Men linked the inheritance of property to the death rituals. The traditional belief is that one would not be released from the earthly plane and reach heaven if the death rituals were not conducted for the departed person. But in order to conduct the rituals, one had to have undergone the sacred thread ceremony, which was only conducted for men. It meant that only sons could conduct the death rituals for the parents. Since the release of the parents from this world and reaching heaven depended on the sons carrying out the death rituals, parents developed a preference for sons. So, they wanted their property to go to their sons alone and not their daughters. This entire world is only revolving around money and wealth (Dhana mūlamidaṃ jagat). Due to the topmost importance of money and wealth in the hearts of souls, God too only uses money to test devotees’ real devotion (love) for Him. The Veda says that the sacrifice of money and wealth alone decides the strength of devotion (Dhanena tyāgena ekena...). In the Gita, God has gone one step further by saying that the money sacrificed must be one’s hard-earned money and not one’s ancestral wealth. The term used in the Gita is karma phala tyāga, which means the sacrifice of the fruit of one’s hard work. The reason is that the bond with one’s hard-earned money is stronger than the bond with ancestral wealth. Only when one earns money through hard work does one recognize the importance of money. One always tends to save hard-earned money, as far as possible. On the other hand, there are many cases, where people have wasted and lost their inherited ancestral wealth. But the cases of people wasting their own hard-earned wealth are very rare. That is why commonly, God is said to be in money (Paise me paramātmā hai)! =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

Why is it that only women do the household work? [Reply to a question by Tinku K] Swami replied: Women are far cleverer than men. So, they chose to do household duties which involve a lot of physical exercise, throughout the day. As a result, they do not put on weight. They remain beautiful and in perfect health, which is necessary for worldly enjoyment. Men are egoistic and wherever there is ego, the brain becomes incapable of doing sharp analysis. Men may exercise at specific times, but exercising throughout the day is only possible when one is involved in household duties. Women have the additional responsibility of delivering babies for which they must have a very healthy body. But modern scientific development is causing damage to women by providing appliances like the gas-stove, mixer, washing machine etc. Promising convenience and a better lifestyle, such scientific development is spoiling the health of women. We should see both the positive and negative sides of scientific development. Scientific development is also damaging nature in many ways such as by causing pollution. Interestingly, nature too is treated to be feminine (prakṛti), while God is treated to be masculine (Puruṣa). =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace

Can You please explain how cosmic energy is infinite? [Reply to a question by Shri Ankuj] Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! Infinite means an item which has no beginning and no end. In this context, the main question is whether the item is really infinite or not. If the item is really infinite, there is no problem in calling it infinite. But there is another possibility, which is that the item might not really be infinite, but it might just be very large, even though finite. It might be so large that we are unable to find its beginning or end and so, we mistake it to be infinite. Cosmic energy is an imaginable item that has been created by the unimaginable God. The same cosmic energy has got converted into matter and awareness to form the various living and non-living items in creation. After all, cosmic energy being a created item, must have a beginning. That which has a beginning, must also have an end. If you say that cosmic energy is really infinite—without beginning and end—it would mean that even God is unaware of its beginning and end. In that case, God would not be omniscient due to His ignorance of the boundaries of cosmic energy. Hence, cosmic energy is not really infinite. It is infinite only from our point of view. It is so large that its beginning and end are unknown to us. It means that we are incapable of knowing its boundaries, even though its boundaries actually exist. The universe is nothing but cosmic energy is or space. You might ask, what is present beyond the boundaries of that cosmic energy (space). Only the unimaginable God exists beyond the boundaries of the cosmic energy (Sarvamāvṛtya tiṣṭhati—Gita). Then, you might ask, whether God is infinite or finite. If God is said to be infinite you would further say that if He is really infinite, He could not be omniscient since He would be ignorant of Himself, owing to His infinite nature. If God is said to be omniscient, you might say that God must know His own boundaries and since His boundaries are known, He must be finite. If God is said to be finite, the next question would be, “What is present beyond the boundaries of God?” If some other finite item is said to exist beyond the boundaries of God, it would bring up the same question again and again ad infinitum. Also, in that case, God would not be omniscient since He would not know the end of that endless chain of finite items existing beyond God. All these cases mentioned above regarding God are meaningless because actually, God is beyond our imagination. Being unimaginable, He has no space in Him and He is fundamentally beyond the concept of space. Boundaries can only be defined for items which occupy some space. The concept of boundaries is a spatial concept. Even the concepts of finite and infinite are only related to spatial items and not to God, who is beyond space. Hence, cosmic energy is finite in the view of God. It is infinite in our view only in the sense that we are unable to know the boundaries of the finite space or cosmic energy. In fact, space does not mean absolutely nothing. Space is actually an extremely subtle form of energy, which appears to be ‘nothing’ to us. If space were actually nothing, how could science have proved that space bends around the boundaries of massive objects? If it bends, it must be something. It is meaningless to say that ‘nothing’ bends. Einstein felt that space is nothing. He said that space is only geometrical and that it only exists relatively with reference to the existence of two items, such as the space between the two walls of a container. His theory reflected the view of human beings for whom space appears to be nothing, even though it is actually extremely subtle cosmic energy. Thus, space is finite in view of God and simultaneously infinite in our view, in the sense that we are unable to know the boundaries of the vast but finite cosmic energy. When we consider the view of God while speaking from our point of view, we say that space is not really infinite, but is relatively infinite, in our view due to our inability to know its boundaries. If you are not considering the view of God, then space is really infinite from our point of view since we are unable to know its boundaries. In the Gita, even God said that the cosmic energy or space is infinite. We should realize that His statement was only with reference to our view (Nānto’sti mama...—Gita). =============== -By Shri Datta Swami (Visit our website: www.universal-spirituality.org) Universal Spirituality for World Peace