Dattaswami answers various questions from devotees
1) What is the aim of the birth of every soul?
A) A soul is the part of creation. Veda says that the world is created for the entertainment of God only. Therefore, every soul should realize that its existence and life are for the pleasure of God only and not for the pleasure of one’s own self or his family.
2) Can we take all the human beings to be born with some purpose?
A) As long as the human being thinks that the birth and the life is meant for the pleasure of one’s own self or its family, till then the life has no purpose. The reason is that as told above. The real aim of life is only to please the Lord. Therefore, the life of such human being which thinks that the ultimate aim is only to please the Lord alone has the purpose of birth.
3) What are the duties of the human being?
A) The only duty of human being is the service to Lord. But, for the service, the maintenance of the body and family is essential. Therefore, the duties related to such maintenance are also part and parcel of the main divine duty.
4) What is the reason for human incarnation?
A) The main purpose of the human incarnation is to clarify the doubts of the devotees in the spiritual knowledge. Apart from this, vision, touch, conversation and co-living are the four fortunes that are the available to the devotees. To punish evil forces and protect the devotees, His power is able to do it. Mainly the human incarnation is only to preach the spiritual knowledge. Therefore, the incarnations like fish, pig etc., are only forms of His power. Vamana, Parasurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha etc., are mainly for the preaching only.
5) How the family should behave to please the Lord?
A) If the entire family believes the human incarnation, it will be possible to worship the Lord in human form. Since in your question the pleasure of the God is mentioned, we can observe the pleasure for our service only in the human form the Lord. In worship of idols or in the worship of formless God there is no proof of the pleasure of God that can be noted by us. Therefore, in this answer I had to limit to the human incarnation only. At least you can serve the beggars and note happiness on their faces. You will get heaven for the service though for a temporary stay.
6) Does Pravrutti lead to God?
A) The duties to be performed for the maintenance of the body and family are Pravrutti. Therefore Pravrutti is the basis to reach God, but Pravrutti alone cannot lead you to God. For a drama the stage is necessary. If you prepare the stage only without the drama the spectators will throw stones. Therefore, Pravrutti along with Nivrutti only leads to God. Nivrutti means service to Lord.
7) How to practice to Nivrutti?
A) Your question itself contains answer. Service to Lord in practice is the practice of Nivrutti. Nivrutti is in the form of feelings and in the form of practice. Praising or singing the Lord with words, loving God with mind and discussing God with intelligence is the feeling-form of Nivrutti. Sacrifice of work and sacrifice of fruit of work are practical Nivrutti. Nivrutti is completed when both forms exist. The drinking water is like the feeling-form and the practice is like the plate of meals offered to the guest. Then only we will get the complete grace of the Lord. Veda says the feeling-form as Asambhuti and practical- form as Sambuthi. You should not expect any fruit for the feeling-form. Even the hotel does not charge you for a cup of water! Only the plate of meals is charged.
If one follows justice, is there is no necessity to worship God?
A) Justice is the stage and worship is the drama based on it. Even without justice the worship can be done. Kannappa is hunter. He kills the innocent animals like rabbit. But by worship he got salvation. Even without stage the drama can be played on floor. But the stage without drama is waste. The aim of practicing the justice is only to please the Lord. Therefore, whatever pleases God that is justice. Krishna asked Dharma Raja to tell a lie, but Dharma Raja did not tell the lie. Dharma Raja was taken to hell because he did not tell the lie even on the advice of the Lord. Therefore, God is more important than justice. But in the Pravrutti which is the behaviour to the other souls, justice is more important than injustice. But in Nivrutti God is more important than justice. Since the Nivrutti is the aim of life mere justice is waste. By justice one can reach temporary heaven according Gita. By Nivrutti the permanent abode of God is obtained.
9) For which purpose Worship, service and praising are done?
A) All these are done only to please the Lord. Praising is like giving dinking water. Service is like offering meals. Both these are called as worship.
10) “All this is God†is Vedic statement. Does it mean that all the body of human incarnation is God or does it mean that the entire creation is God?
The word Brahman has two meanings. The greatest item in a category is Brahman. Brahman also means God. In Gita, Veda is called as Brahman. Since Veda is the greatest among the scriptures, it is called as Brahman. Since God is greater than any greatest item, God is also called as Brahman. The inert energy is greatest in the creation. All this creation is inert energy only. If you take God is Brahman, the entire human body of the human incarnation is Brahman. If you say that all the creation is God, then the entertainment of God as told in Veda is impossible.
The enjoyer and enjoyed cannot be one and the same, because the entertainment is impossible. Only the human body is equal to the world, because the nine items are common in the human body and the world (the eight items of Apara and ninth Para). The intelligence (Buddhi) exists only in the human body. Therefore, God pervaded in the body of the human incarnation can be said as God pervading the world. Therefore you can see the body of Krishna as the world but the world cannot be seen as Krishna. If the Universe is God, the soul which is a part of Universe is also Brahman. Since there is nothing other than Brahman, who gets salvation and from which the salvation is needed? If that is true there is no need of spiritual effort.
11) You told that you are every thing and you are everywhere. Then why not the soul be God?
A) If you take My statement in the direct sense, then the spiritual effort becomes waste. If God is the whole Universe and if there is nothing other than God, how can the creation give entertainment to God? Veda says that the creation came to entertain God. Then Veda becomes futile. Therefore, the interpretation of God’s word must be done properly. In grammar there is statement “All this Kalingaâ€. Kalinga is the name of king. How the kingdom which is in the form of soil can be a human being called as Kalinga? According to grammar this means that the kingdom is under the control of king Kalinga. Therefore, you have to take my statement in that sense and so it means that all this is under the control of God. In some occasions, I tell such sentences to encourage the devotees. This indicates the affection of Satguru. In the climax of devotion where one sees only God and nothing else, this can be correlated directly. Gopikas reached that state. If this is true why are you eating food and not mud? You should not use this statement to escape the spiritual effort and feel that you are God. Such statement of the final Avadhuta- stage should not be used by every one.
12) Who am I? Am I the soul?
A) You are the soul. Soul is awareness. Awareness is the special work form of the energy. Awareness is a special of form of inert energy that is generated by the Oxidation of food in the body.
13) How can I see my-self?
A) The essence of the awareness is the inert energy. Awareness is proved as the form of inert energy. If you stop food and oxygen the inert energy is not supplied and the awareness disappears. In the deep sleep the awareness remains as inert energy which is its basic form. Therefore, in deep sleep there is no awareness. If you see the inert energy like Sun light, it is equal to seeing the soul. To day you can see the awareness as the basic form of energy flowing as waves in sophisticated medical electronic instruments.
14) You say that you are Datta and again say that you are not Datta.
Why this contradiction?
A) If some body is eligible to digest the divine knowledge, the first statement is told. If some body does not deserve, the second statement is told. Krishna never told any body in His life that He is God. Krishna told only to Arjuna during the preaching of Gita that He is God and Arjuna was close to the Lord for the past several births as Nara with Narayana. Therefore Krishna did not face any danger. Sankara also did not face any danger because He told that every human being is God. Jesus told before a group of people that He and His father are one and the same. Therefore, He was crucified. Egoism and jealousy existing in every human being oppose the acceptance of one human being as God. According to Islam there is no human incarnation. Therefore, the human beings accept either the concept of every human being as God or no human being as God. Even a great devotee will suspect the human incarnation in some time due to egoism and jealousy. Therefore, human incarnation uses these two sentences according to the context. Even in a devotee the second statement will pacify the egoism and jealousy hidden in the subconscious state.
15) What is special penance?
A) Penance means the spontaneous urge in the concentration but it should be spontaneous. It is a state of madness. Such state came for Gopikas only. The other efforts need some reason. Without aspiration for fruit the madness that is reached in the love for the God is the special penance. In such penance the Lord becomes the servant of devotee. This is the higher fruit than Advaita.
16) If the doer-ship is removed can the soul become God?
A) The God and soul are completely different. God is the creator and the soul is a part of creation. The Doer-ship has wide scope of range. Starting from the creatorship of universe, up to doing sins in the case of a demon, the word doer-ship can be used. The creatorship is confined only to God. If the doer-ship means the creatorship of the world, then such doer-ship is necessary for the soul to become God. In every action if the soul feels that it is not the doer and completely surrenders to God, the soul will become liberated and close servant of God. This is the maximum state of divinity that can be achieved by the soul.
17) It is said that God takes the form as per your desire. Does it not mean that He is formless?
A) God is neither formless nor has form. In the creation both formless objects like air and form-full objects like earth exist. Because of this reason God is neither formless nor form-full since both are imaginable. Veda says that God is unimaginable. But God comes in human form, which is useful to the humanity in all directions. The main aim of the human form is preaching Divine Knowledge. That is why God has taken a human form which is very much useful to the humanity in various angles. You have to worship such form taken by God. He is not your servant to come in the form you desire. In Gita the Lord said that He will approach the devotee in the same path as the devotee approaches. This does not mean that He will take the form as you like. You can take any form you like which can be a representative of God (Pratika) but God does not exist in it.
18) The three faced and six-handed form(Datta) is Parabrahman. Then what about the other divine forms?
A) Datta means God given to the humanity in the human form. The six hands show the six modifications in His external body and three faces show the three qualities exhibited by Him. Therefore, only Datta is the attainable form of God for humanity. All the other forms are the energetic bodies of the upper worlds. They do not belong to the world of humanity. It is the natural tendency of the human beings to neglect the available human form and to give value to the unavailable energetic forms.
19) Does every soul reach God?
A) For humanity God is confined to the human form only. Even the recognition itself is very difficult. Even after recognition it is more difficult to stand on it because He exhibits the Maya of three qualities. One in millions and that too in one birth after millions of births can identify and please the God with full sacrifice and service. Like this Gita says (Kaschit mam….).
20) Does the awareness in every body is the form of God?
A) When God is unimaginable we cannot say that He is form-full or formless. The awareness in every living body is only a part of His creation. This awareness is the greatest in the creation, because it has a unique property of Knowledge. Since any greatest item can be called as Brahman, the awareness (Soul) can be called as Brahman. Awareness is imaginable and hence cannot be God.
21) Should the soul not desire for the appreciation from God?
A) If such desire is without egoism it is not wrong. Satyabhama was having such desire with egoism. Krishna removed it.
22) After how much time and by which means the soul reaches God?
A) The possibility to reach God is only in one human birth. If you miss it you may get other human births but without that chance. The five-fold service by words, by mind, by intelligence, by sacrifice of work and by sacrifice of fruit of work can be the only path to get the grace of the God.
23) What is the reason for these atrocities in the world?
A) The only reason is not having the contact with God through Satsanga that imparts the divine knowledge in the human being.
24) If God created this world like a cinema, is it only the way for us to watch the cinema?
A) God has given freedom and intelligence (discriminating power) to the human beings. Therefore, each soul is creating its own cinema. The stage, dress etc., are given by the God but not the story and dialogues. Therefore, God is the creator of the Universe but He is not the creator of the life of the soul. When God comes in human incarnation, He comes down along with His servants who are the liberated souls. Then only He is the writer of the story and dialogues for that divine play.
25) Why God is tolerating the dictatorship of some people?
A) In the creation every incident is the result of the three dimensional network of action, time, fruit etc., You do not know the incidents of the previous birth. The person who tortured somebody is now born as the sufferer. You see this birth only and pity that soul. In the creation of God no injustice will take place and nobody will escape. Hence, the omniscient God keeps silent. The soul with limited knowledge talks all sorts of things.
26) Why the present rulers are not following the rule when they punish the innocent people?
A) Again you are committing the mistake to think that the punished person is innocent. The innocence cannot be judged by either you or present ruler. Not only in the previous birth even in this birth he committed several sins which are not only known to you or even to himself. Therefore, the real judgment is given by God. The judge may give a wrong judgment. He gave like that because his enquiry is guided by God. You are criticizing the judge. The judgment given by him by mistake is correct because it is given by God. Anybody in this world who harms you is just instrumental. Without the enquiry and decision of God nothing will happen in this world. The God is punishing not with revenge but to transform the soul. This entire system of Universe is created and run by God only.
27) What is the essence of justice?
A) Justice is the divine system created by God, to maintain the balance of the society so that the spiritual aspirants can do their efforts with peace. The justice is related to your colleague soul. The essence of Dharma is not to hurt anyone in anyway because the law and order is in the hands of God. At least you should not harm any devotee. But punishing the students for their welfare is exempted because the welfare of the student is the main aim.
28) What is injustice and immorality? what is the punishment for this?
A) You may hurt your colleague souls in several ways. All these ways are injustice and immorality. For example by corruption you are hurting your colleague souls. At least you are not exempting the poor and devoted people. If you do corruption in the case of unjust rich people, you should spend it for divine purpose. If you spend it for your self or for your family, all of you will be completely destroyed.
29) When shall we speak truth and when shall we not speak truth?
A) If innocent and devoted souls are hurt, you should not speak truth. To hurt a soul is the highest injustice. Kauravas harmed Pandavas who were innocent devotees. Krishna asked Dharma Raja to tell a lie in the war. There it is justified. The final aim is to destroy the evil people. Ends justify means. In the case of God all the justice should be thrown up. Because in Nivrutti the real justice is to please God. The final aim of the soul should be Nivrutti.
30) Between duty and God which is more important?
This depends on your stage in the spiritual path. There is nothing to decide here. An ordinary human being will do the worldly duties only. Even if you advice to leave such duties, he will not leave because he cannot leave. For Sankara even though His mother asked him to do worldly duties, He left them and dedicated Himself to God only. Therefore, the soul does according to its spiritual state and inherent interest. Finally the interest decides the selection. Therefore you cannot have universal selection.
31) God is giving every thing to all the people. What the necessity of the service to Him?
The absolute reality is that God does not require any service and sacrifice from any soul. In this state the creation does not exist it self. But He created the universe for entertainment. He gave independence and intelligence to all the souls. God has removed the knowledge that this entire universe is His wealth only. He imposed ignorance on Himself and on the souls. In the state of this ignorance only, through sacrifice and service the love is proved. Such love only gives happiness to heart. There can be no better entertainment than this.
You are bringing out this point to escape form sacrifice and service. Such over intelligence arises due to your blind love on family and your selfishness. If you go to that absolute state of reality your self and creation disappear. If your point is correct, don’t ask God for anything. You want Advaita when you give something to Him. You need dvaita when he has to give some thing to you. If you do not aspire anything from Him do not give anything to Him. In fact the highest devotion is to give every thing to Him without aspiring anything from Him. But you are reverse to this. Apart from this, you show over intelligence!
32) What is the sequence of spiritual effort? How is it done?
A) Knowledge, devotion and service are the sequent steps. Service is the real proof of devotion. These three steps are indicated by Sankara, Ramanuja and Madhva who came in sequence. The practice of these three steps depends on your love to God. When the divine love exists, your practice is spontaneous. When such love does not exist, the question “how to do?†comes up.
33) When the soul gains completeness?
A) The soul attains perfectness in the one-way traffic service to God. If the service is there, devotion is there. Hanuman, perfect in the service, is the perfect devotee and scholar.
34) Why do not all see God?
A) No body sees God. God is not touched even by imagination. How can we see God? God enters some medium and becomes visible through that medium. Through that medium also you are experiencing only the existence God. Only experience of existence is possible. There is no any way to see God directly. The current cannot be seen directly. When it flows in a wire only its existence can be experienced.
35) What is the fruit of service to God without aspiring His love in return?
A) As I told, you should attain the perfectness in the one-way traffic in your service to God. You should not aspire any fruit including His love. When you are not aspiring even love what is the point of another fruit? Love is theoretical and can be easily given and the other fruits are practical. When you are not aspiring even theoretical fruit, how can you aspire other practical fruits?
36) What is the aim of spiritual institutions?
A) The propagation of the divine knowledge should be the sole aim of spiritual institutions. If the knowledge is perfect, devotion will be strong and the service will be complete. The duty of Guru is only to propagate the correct knowledge. That is sufficient. The spiritual institutions should take the place of Guru.
37) Which form of God should be worshipped?
A) Lord Krishna has given the essence of all the Vedas. In Gita He told that He is in the form of human being. In fact, He is in the human form only. In Gita everywhere Krishna asked to worship and serve Him only. Any human being can perfectly serve God in human form only. An offering can be really eaten by Krishna. Therefore, such service is only real. You cannot do real service to formless God or Statue. Only Krishna could preach and clear all the doubts. You can see the response of your service in the form of pleasantness in the face of Krishna. Here again the devotees slipped. Krishna told that He will come again and again. Therefore, the service to the present human incarnation is the perfect spiritual knowledge. If you take statue of Krishna, again the above defects are repeated.
38) In this time of kali, which human incarnation is to be worshipped?
Suppose you have identified some human forms as incarnations. Now the problem comes; who is the real human incarnation among these? Suppose you have worshipped all so that the risk of missing the real human incarnation is avoided. Suppose you have taken one form and it may not be real human incarnation. Even then, you need not be worried. Such human form may not be God but certainly he must be a very close devotee of God. Since your filtration is to such high level, the other forms must be exceptional devotees of the highest level.
Suppose you have taken such a strong devotee as human incarnation. I assuredly tell you, that you are more lucky than the person who serves the real human incarnation. The reason is that God is more pleased if such strong devotee is worshipped, because God loves such strong devotee more than Himself. Therefore you will receive a better fruit in quicker time. Apart from this there is also the possibility of the same God coming in different forms in the same time. For example, Parasurama and Shri Rama and AkkalKota Maharaj and Shridi Saibaba were simultaneous human incarnations.
39) In Gita both males and females are given equal importance. This is stated by Swami. Is it true?
A) The soul is neither female nor male but the word Jeeva or Atman is in masculine gender in Sanskrit. In Sanskrit the gender is only for word and not for the meaning. In fact all the human beings are made of the same items externally and internally. The five elements make the external body. The Jeevatman is made of awareness which is in the form of four Antahkaranams (ParaPrakruti and APara Prakruti) or three qualities. In Gita, only Prakruti and Purusha are mentioned. Purusha is God and Prakruti is human being. If you take five elements as Prakruti and jeevatman as Purusha, then also every human being Prakruti and Purusha. When you take like this, God will become Purushottama. Meera exhibited a doubt to Tulasi Das that whether Purusha exists in souls. The basis for this question is that she is in the first type of clarification (Prakruti and Purusha). Accordingly Veda says that only Lord is only Purusha. Veda also says that all the human beings are females and are also the wives of God. The word wife means that is maintained. The word husband means maintainer. In Gita it is said that God is Father who means creator. If all are the children of God, then all the human beings are brothers and sisters only! you should take the meanings in the root sense here and not in your sense. In Gita it is told that even women will get salvation. This does not mean that so far Gita was preached for males only. To deny this misunderstanding that is Gita is so far confined to males only; Lord said like that. This means that whatever is told so far applies both males and females only.
40) God said that the sex which does not oppose justice is divine. Is there any limitation to that?
a) The sex is meant for the reproduction of the souls who are coming from the upper world. The sex is placed in the four Purusharthas. In Veda also it is stated that you should marry and produce children. In the same Veda it is stated that you can leave every body and every thing for the sake of God at any time. The first statement is for those who are incapable of the sanyasa. But a doubt comes whether one cannot take sanyasa after becoming the house-holder. The second statement is most powerful and rules out the first statement. Therefore, not only Sankara, a house-holder like Buddha took sanyasa. Therefore, within the limits of the state of the soul, Gita said like that. Within such limits it is better to marry than to move freely in the line of sex. The earth is respected with respect to the lower patala but with respect to sky the earth cannot be respected.
41) How to reach God and how to recognize Him?
A) Reaching God means reaching the medium in which God exists. No body can reach unimaginable God directly. You cannot catch current but you can experience current through the alive wire. The essence of Gita is to recognize and serve the present human incarnation.
42) What should be known form Satguru?
A) It depends on your state. If egoism and jealousy are in climax, He will say that you must search for human incarnation. This is also stated by Guru. The reason is that Guru is not human incarnation. If those two exist in lower level, He will say that the power and grace of God exists in Himself. This is also stated by Guru because it is true in his case also. Such Guru is the incarnation of power of God (Amsavatara). If those two are completely absent in you, Satguru says that He is the human incarnation. Therefore, Satguru preaches according your state.
43) If Satguru is God, how can he show God?
A) When you attain such maturity, Satguru will show Himself as God. Krishna told like that. Really the Satguru is showing the medium only in which God exists, because God is invisible as He is unimaginable. Such medium should be taken as God. The alive wire can be only taken as the current. If the Guru is liberated soul, who accompanied the Lord in this earth, he will show the Satguru whenever you deserve.
44) People of which state can see God?
A) When the egoism and jealousy are removed, which are the layers covering your eyes, you can see God through Satguru.
45) Which is great between Knowledge and devotion?
A) Without Knowledge devotion is not generated. When Rukmini came to know all the details of Krishna (Knowledge) from Narada, the love on Krishna was generated. Since Krishna is God such love is called as devotion. Devotion leads to God according to Gita. The real proof of devotion is service. Rukmini attained the Lord through devotion and then served the Lord by pressing His feet as Maha Lakshmi. The knowledge should exist along as long the soul exists. Till you reach house, you must have the torch light. Even after reaching the house, the light should be there in the house. As the knowledge is lost, even devotees like Narada and Sudarsana have fallen by egoism. Knowledge without devotion is waste. Devotion without service is only cheating. Sankara told that knowledge and devotion are one and the same. In Gita the Lord gave highest place the both the knowledge and devotion, which means that both are one and the same.
46) After receiving knowledge should one keep silent or propagate it?
A) Knowledge at any level without propagation is the greatest sin. Shastras say that such scholar will become the intensive demon (Brahma Rakshasa). When you propagate, your knowledge becomes more and more stabilized. Therefore propagation is useful for your upliftment also. But you must be sure that the knowledge which you propagate is correct. If you propagate the wrong knowledge it is again sinful. Therefore you propagate the true knowledge spoken by your Satguru only on his command. If the propagated knowledge was spoken by Satguru, there is no need of His command also.
47) It is said that God sees every body with equal attitude, then what about the punishment of sinners?
A) When ever you ask a doubt it should be supported by scripture. If you say “it is saidâ€, that has no authority. If what said is true, then in Gita how Krishna told He will destroy sinners.
At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami
Anil Antony
www.universal-spirituality.org
Universal Spirituality for World Peace
antonyanil@universal-spirituality.org
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