Identification of deserving priests and performing rituals

[18-04-2014] Hindu religion is actually in the top most place among all the religions of the world since it is the only religion that deals with the subject of God (Nivrutti) to the extreme depth. Unfortunately, this religion is now in the bottom most place. The reason is that today the rituals performed in Hindu religion are waste since the essence is lost. The essential packed precious item is neglected and the unnecessary waste packing material is given importance. If you understand this point, you will also appreciate the universality of the rituals with respect to the packed precious item, which is one and the same even though the packing covers are different.

Let us understand this concept with the help of the ritual performed in Hindu religion after departure of the soul. These rituals are done up to 13 days and sometimes 15 days. The essence of this ritual performed in all these days consists of two parts; the major part is doing prayers to God with devotion and minor part is doing donation to the deserving devotees. This essence is universal in all the religions of humanity. This essence alone gives the fruit. Since this fruitful essence is seen everywhere in the world, God is impartial for spreading this essence to all the humanity without any partiality to any religion and region. God has given this precious item to all the human beings, who are His children. The language of the prayer to God and the procedure in respecting the devotees during the process of donation differ from one religion to the other, which are only the packing covers. If a specific packing cover followed in one religion is a real essence and the precious item, God become partial since that is not universal in all the religions. God becomes unjust and criminal for not spreading this to all the humanity. The prayer read in Sanskrit and the materials like dry grass, water, black sesame seeds etc are not universal since the same is not seen in the ritual of every religion. In the place of such, prayers to God in their language (Bible, Quran etc) and other procedures using different materials are seen.

In Hindu religion the language of the prayer to God  is Sanskrit, which is unfortunately not known to any Hindu. In the olden days Sanskrit was mother tongue and hence these prayers were written in Sanskrit in that time. Today, the meaning of the prayer is not known even to the reader (Priest) and not to speak of the doer and other people associated in the ritual. The prayers are generally from Veda and the meaning of the word Veda is knowledge. The devotion comes only after having the knowledge by knowing the meaning of the prayer. Therefore, there is no sense of devotion in any person participating in the ritual. The main aim of the ritual is only to pray God with devotion. Thus the main part is lost. Due to this, the minor part is also lost because in the absence of real devotion nobody in the ritual is a devotee. In such case, your donation to them in terms of food or cloth or money etc becomes waste. In such ritual even a devotee outside is becoming non-devotee and undeserving of the donation. If the ritual is performed in the right spirit, even a non-devotee outside is becoming devotee and deserving in such ritual. Thus in the present rituals of Hinduism both major and minor parts of the essence are totally lost.

          In such a ritual, the doer feels that the main aim is to give food to the departed soul through the dining devotees. This concept is not true in the real sense. This concept is introduced only to force the greedy devotees to perform the ritual. Except this one aim, there is nothing truth in this point. The departed soul has four ways of journey. The first type of souls goes to the abode of God called Brahma Loka and for such person there is no need of this ritual (Nahi tena pathaa tanutyajah tanayaavarjitapindakamkshinah). The second type of souls goes to Heaven and the divine nectar is its food due to which there is no need of this ritual (Ubhe teertvaa ashanaayaapipaase). The divine nectar (Amrutam) is also the immortal energy, which is the basic substratum of all the forms of universe. It is not the form of matter, which is not immortal. The third type of souls goes to the world of moon or Pitru Loka and takes the rays of moon as food and hence there is no need of this ritual for this type also (Nirvishtasaaraam pitrubhih himaamshoh). The fourth types of souls go to hell for which food and water are not allowed due to severe punishment given and hence there is no need of this ritual (Jaayasva mriyasva). 

When the soul leaves this materialistic body, it is enclosed by the energetic body. For energetic body, energy alone can be the food and not this materialistic food. Therefore, feeding the departed soul is not at all the aim since it is not true. The aim of the ritual is only to pray God to protect the departed soul and give food to the devotees assisting the prayer. The departed soul is expected to be protected since the property of the departed soul is spent in such ritual and due to such donation the departed soul can be blessed with good fruit. The scriptures also say that the main aim of this ritual is only to protect the welfare of the doer since by such prayer and donation the doer is always blessed by the fruit of a good deed. The doer and the departed soul are blessed because the money of the doer is spent and the property of the departed soul is gained by the doer. Thus, ultimately it becomes a joint financial transaction and hence the fruit is coming to both. If the doer is not performing such ritual, the scripture says that the doer will get bad effect. 

The aim of the scripture is only to promote the performance of the ritual by the doer controlling the greediness and not any other intention. The doer, who was not giving proper food to the alive parents may also be forced to do these rituals for this fear only, which is the bad effect in not performing the ritual. This point is exploited by the priests for their self benefit of getting money from the doer even though this point is mentioned in the scripture for the sake of the greedy doers.  If the doer is regularly praying God and performing some donation to the deserving devotees, such ritual is not essential. Hence, such ritual is not performed by and not performed for- the realised soul (Samnyaasin).

The present priests in Hindu religion are not deserving for any donation. This is the worst state of Hindu religion because the priest in any religion is considered to be the leader and head in the spiritual path. The deserving qualifications mentioned by Veda for the receiver of the donations are: 1) he should be a Shrotriya meaning that he should know the true meaning of Veda and should propagate it to others. The meaning of the word Brahmana is also the same since the word Brahma here means the meaning of Veda as Veda itself means knowledge (Brahma nayati iti). 2) he should not aspire for the wealth of others (Akaamahatasya). Both these qualifications are absent in the present priests. Donation is a double edged knife. If you perform it to the deserving acceptor, you will receive good result. If you perform it to undeserving acceptor, you will receive bad result. In the place of bad result, if no result exists at least, it is tolerable since it becomes only wastage. But it is not so. Hence you must concentrate on the analysis of identifying the deserving acceptors from the undeserving acceptors as said in Veda (Samvidaa deyam), which says that you should analyse before donation. The first qualification exists only in God. The second qualification exists in few sacred souls and due to the presence of such souls only on this earth, the earth still exists. 

Generally people give importance to place and time and not to the deservingness of the acceptor (Deshe kalecha patrecha- Gita). The place, time and deservingness of the acceptor are in the ascending order of importance, which is unfortunately reversed now. They do hurry donation because of the place and time. They like to finish the donation before the end of the day of Shivaratri and before returning from Benaras. They should do deep analysis and take long time to identify the deserving acceptor. Once the deserving acceptor is attained, you should perform the donation immediately and such place is Benaras and such day is the Shivaratri. You can even postpone this ritual to some other day if the proper acceptor is not available. You are postponing this ritual for small reasons like eclipse etc., and neglecting this important main aspect. 

Lord Krishna donated only once in His life, which is the case of Kuchela. Both the qualifications exist only with Lord Krishna and for a completely perfect donation, He has to donate to Himself! Therefore, He was doing long analysis for the deserving soul having atleast the second qualification perfectly. He was analysing the mind of Kuchela till he reaches his village in the return journey to see whether Kuchela develops any aspiration for His wealth. In fact, Kuchela borrowed a little quantity of parched rice from the neighbour and is expected to return it back after coming from Krishna. His wife instructed him so. But, Krishna did not give anything while Kuchela was returning and more over consumed major portion of the parched rice. In spite of this, Kuchela never aspired anything from Krishna, who is the Lord of Lakshmi, the universal wealth. Such acid tests generally fail any soul.

          The priests of Hindu religion should aim at the state of Kuchela. They should not aspire for anything from anybody. They should conduct the rituals feeling that they are already paid for getting a lucky chance by participating in the ritual, which is a prayer to God, the result of which is not only blessing to the doer from God but also to the priest. The donation comes from anybody by the will of God. The donation is based on the capacity (Shakti) and the faith towards the acceptor (Bhakti). The priest should not fix a rate common to poor and rich like a business man in the market. He should keep the capacity of the donor also in his view. The donor may have full capacity but if the faith towards the acceptor is less, the donation to the acceptor is also less. This also should not be criticised by the acceptor since the less faith to the acceptor is always due to the defects observed in the acceptor. The acceptor-priest should always think that God is giving the donation and the evaluation of acceptors by God is always correct. Therefore, the priests should not aspire for anything from anybody and should have faith in God, the real donor. 

The priest should also learn the meaning of Veda and explain it to all the people. He should not waste his time in practicing the blind recitation of the scripture. There is no need of recitation without seeing book. He can see the book and should explain the meaning properly to develop the devotion. The priests of other religions read from their books only. If the priest is able to recite also without the book, it means he is well experienced in performing the rituals and is remembering the scripture due to frequent participations in the rituals. This is only the aim of the statement that a priest without book is better due to long experience (Tathaa likhitapaathakah). It only denotes the appreciation for the experience, which is not a mandatory. There, the instruction that the priest should know the meaning of Veda is also given (Anarthajnah) and this is mandatory because the very meaning of the word Veda is knowledge and this point is repeatedly mentioned (Adhyetavyo jneyashcha).

          Therefore, one need not be worried about the present looting rates of the priests regarding this ritual. He can perform the prayers to God in his own mother tongue without any priest and can call the best available deserving devotees for the possible donation from his side. In such way, I declare with all guarantee that such a person has performed this ritual in the real way because the basic universal essence of the ritual is performed neglecting the meaningless packing cover. I also declare with all guarantee that a doer performing this ritual neglecting the universal essence and caring for the unnecessary packing material is not performing this ritual at all and also will be punished in the hell for the donation to undeserving acceptors. Shankara alone performed this ritual for His departed mother when every priest boycotted Him denying the co-operation and such ritual performed by Him was really fruitful since He prayed God with full devotion.

          We are not denying the performance of any ritual but only recommending to perform the ritual with full analysis that brings the realization of true essence of the ritual (Jnaatvaa kurveeta karmaani – Gita). If the essence is lost, the total performance of the ritual is not only waste but also a sin.

At the lotus feet of Shri Datta Swami

-Prasad

Sri Datta Ashtakam (Telugu)

Sri Dattashtakam in Telugu by Swamiji (Download)

At the lotus feet of Shri Datta Swami
-Durgaprasad

Science and Technology in Ancient India

[April 3, 2014 Abstract for Symposium on Science and Technology in Ancient Scriptures, Mumbai] Science and technology existed in ancient India to very high level in advanced state. Mathematics of Bhaskara, Astronomy of Arya Bhatta and Brahma Gupta, Geometry of Apasthamba, Bodhayana and Kaatyayana, Physics of Kanaada and Gowtama, chemistry of Rasaarnava, Aeronautics of Maya, Ayurveda of Charaka, Surgery of Sushruta, Economics of Chanakya, etc., were several advanced branches of science and technology. Brahmagupta establishes the theory that the earth is moving around its own axis and also around the Sun. The theorems of geometry of Aapastamba etc., were of great surprise, which were followed in the construction of the Vedic altars to perform sacrifice using bricks (Shulba Sutraas). The altar of a square to be converted into a rectangle of the same area so that the diagonal of the square becomes the side of the rectangle is in one Sutra “Samachaturasram deergachaturasram Chikeershuh tadakshnyaa samparichchidya yathaa yogena yojeyet”. This means that you should cut the square via the diagonal and one half is made into two and these three pieces to be added. Sushruta describes several intricate eye operations. Rasaarnava describes thousands of chemical reactions.

The usage of Brahmaastram in the Kurukshethra war was nothing but explosion of nuclear weapon as per the full details in the Mahabharatam and the studies of the soil of Kurukshethra war. The history of the science says that Zinc metal was first extracted in China since the metal sublimed and escaped the furnace during the earlier metallurgical operations in other countries and hence, could not be extracted from its ore. But, Rasaarnava says that the Zinc metal was extracted in ancient India by using a lid that covers the crucible so that the lower part of the lid collects the Zinc metal due to the condensation of the sublimed vapours on the lower part of the lid (Mukamushaagatam Dhmaatam – Rasaarnava). Hence, the Zinc metal was first extracted in ancient India and not in ancient China. The alloy of Zinc metal after mixing with Copper (Riti) was mentioned in the Valmiki Ramayanam (Ritih kanchanarajatih).

We are benefitted by the applications of Science and Technology irrespective of its place of origin in the present time and to do research on the history of Science may not be of great importance. The argument that our ancient Indian scriptures were carried away to the foreign countries may help to restore the pride of our ancient India. This is purely from the point of history and not from the point of advancement in Science. But, a thorough study of these ancient scriptures may open the doors in some areas at least even for the advanced techniques, which may not be known even today. The metallurgy of Ashoka pillar in Delhi, which is made of cast iron, not corroding till today in spite of the extreme climate gives a practical hope for such research.

The place of Science and Technology in ancient India was at lower level before the spiritual knowledge involving miraculous powers exhibited by the sages. If a sage could create a building just by the power of his will, what will be the value of civil engineering before that? Today, we have lost that technology of spiritual powers and hence, the science and technology appear very big. The science and technology were like a small line drawn before the spiritual power standing as a big line. Today, the big line disappeared and the relatively smaller line becomes absolutely big.

At the lotus feet of Shri Datta Swami

-Prasad

ANALYSIS OF ALMIGHTY IS FAR SUPERIOR

O Learned and Devoted Servants of God,

[February 19, 2014] Shri Ajay asked: “It is very painful to observe the extent of injustice and corruption taking place even in the case of rulers and due to this, the country is going to dogs. A new leader must come to repair this situation. God must do something”. Shri Ajay posed this question in the context of the depression of Shri Phani for the political failure of the issue of the state. In fact, Shri Swami replied that this issue would be settled in this way only as it happened now.

Swami Replied: It is good that you have responded against the injustice and for the justice. If possible, you should also think the best that can be done by you either by taking up some practical step or by taking up some theoretical step through suggestions and propaganda of right concepts. You should always try to support the justice and condemn the injustice whether it is the case of an individual or a community. Such reaction is very important part of your worship to God. God will be highly pleased by such effort from your side involving in the establishment of justice and destruction of injustice since God feels that this is His primary responsibility towards His creation. Your practical participation in trying to help the primary duty of God is highly appreciated always by God. If one fails in this aspect, any quantity of personal worship of God is useless. God says that He incarnates on this earth mainly to protect the justice and suppress the injustice. This is very important divine quality and contributes mainly to your achievement of divine nature. Therefore, you must develop this attitude within the limits of your capacity, knowledge and analysis. You must live always maintaining this divine nature irrespective of the defeat and success of your trials in establishing the justice against the injustice.

All the above concept is one side of the coin only. The other side is regarding the actual mechanism of the system arranged by God that involves the history of the case related to the future birth and previous birth. It is also related to the nature of the judgment of God based on several special and specific points of each individual case. The actual proceedings of the system run by the constitution created by God may sometimes differ from your analysis based on limited knowledge. You are not aware of previous and future births (Natvam vettha… Gita). The actual direction of the running of the case depends on the previous and future births known to God alone. The analysis of the Almighty is also far superior to your limited and inefficient logic. However, you should not be discouraged by the actual proceedings of the case. You are totally justified within your limits. In fact, the proceedings of this entire Universe are beyond your capacity and about which you need not be worried. When the contradiction arises between your effort and the actual direction of a case, do not become emotional to find fault with the proceedings of the Universe, which are based on the direction given by God only. Thus, by criticizing the administration of Universe, you are criticizing only God, Who is the Universal Administrator. In case of the contradiction between your effort and the path of the world, God is not blaming you since you are putting sincere effort within the restricted limits of your knowledge and capacity. On the other hand, God appreciates the behavior of your good psychology as per the divine expectation. In the case of such contradiction, you are only blaming God by condemning the universal direction and you are not realizing that this is the result of your incomplete knowledge. Therefore, your duty is to support the justice and oppose the injustice within the limits of your knowledge and not to blame God directly or indirectly in case of the failure of your effort due to contradiction by the universal tendency directed by God.

The Gita says that the practical nature of the activities in the Universe is very much complicated and every case is highly specific like the thumb impression. If Prakash is beaten by Manohar, the punishment given to Manohar differs in several ways depending on very minute details of the case and the possibility of psychological transformation of the sinner. For this sin, Manohar may be beaten here itself in this very birth by somebody or may be beaten by Prakash here itself in this very birth or may be beaten by the servants of the Hell in the upper world or may not be beaten by any one at any time since it is the reaction-punishment as Manohar was beaten by Prakash in the previous birth. When the fact is the last option, people misunderstand that good Prakash was beaten by bad Manohar and nothing happened to Manohar. Your effort to beat Manohar fails if it is the last option. Now, you will start blaming the universal tendency and thereby blaming God indirectly since the direction of motion of any activity in the Universe is totally under the control of God only. Due to the existence of so many complicated options of the deeds of the souls, Lord said that the analysis of the three dimensional network of the deeds and fruits is very much complicated (Gahanaa Karmano Gatih).

The essence of this message is that you should try to uplift the justice and reject the injustice within the limits of your knowledge and analysis. But at the same time, when your such good wish and effort are repelled by the forcible universal direction controlled by the divine system, you should not be emotional and should not get any pain or depression. You will be appreciated by God for your behavior within the possible limits since the change of the attitude of the soul towards the right direction is the main aim of God since He does not require even a trace of the contribution of your effort as help or assistance in His administration. The Lord said in the court of king of Kauravaas like this “If certain people (like Bhishma, Drona etc.,) here have neglected the justice allowing the injustice to win, this does not mean that justice will be defeated and injustice will win. Anyway, I am always there to protect the justice and destroy the injustice. Moreover, such people shall also be punished by Me”. In fact, Bhishma suffered by lying on the bed of arrows and Drona suffered while his head was cut.

In the above given options, the selection of the choice is mainly based on the nature of the psychology of the human being to be changed. According to the suitability, the option is selected by God since the main aim is only to transform the soul and not to revenge through the punishment. The punishment gives only temporary suppression and the permanent transformation can be brought only by the powerful knowledge. Once the human being is convinced through the logical steps of the analytical knowledge, the practice will be spontaneously affected. For this purpose, God comes down in the human form again and again. Of course, God is engaged always through such activity and this aspect is totally different and should not be linked in the context of the present level. The human incarnation is such Leader as expected by you and such divine program is already going on and you are the best witness of that.

 

At the lotus feet of Shri Datta Swami

-Prasad

 

Knowlede alone can change karma chakra (Jnanaagnih Sarvakarmaani - Gita)

[January 4, 2014] Shri Anil asked: Please explain the Sanchita, Praarabdha and Aagaami in the case of an example so that these can be clearly understood.

Swami Replied: The Samskaras are the qualities only and are responsible for all the activities. Fruit is always associated with the action that is represented by the quality. The fruit may be awarded for certain actions like burning the finger introduced into the fire with or without the intention or quality. But, such fruits do not come under the divine cycle of deeds, which runs with the intention based actions. If an action is done without intention, the fruit is not awarded as in the case of killing an ant without intention while walking. Sometimes, intention may be there and action may not take place due to lack of opportunity. There also the intention is punished. The punishment is always aimed at total destruction of the qualities in absence of which the actions do not take place. But, the punishment can never eliminate the quality except decreasing its intensity. The decreased intensity may not be effective in generating the action due to which the external world is not disturbed.

Let us take a specific soul going to the upper worlds along with the lump of Samskaras or qualities or attitudes. Let us express the power of intensity of this lump as two hundred volts. Samskara or quality is made of mind and since mind is neuron-energy such units are justified. The composition of the qualities in this lump represents the number of qualities (which is a qualitative expression) and the intensities of the qualities (which is a quantitative expression). The soul goes to the upper worlds and receives rewards in the heaven and punishments in the hell. The soul going to upper worlds is only mind or a bundle of qualities called as individual soul or Jeeva, surrounded by the subtle body made of energy in plasma state as said in the Veda (Manomayah Praanashareeranetaa). After this enjoyment of the fruits in the upper worlds, the lump is reduced to the micro level. This micro lump has the same number of qualities and thus, there is no qualitative change. But, after the enjoyment, the intensities are reduced and now the total intensity of the lump is only 10 volts. This means all the efforts in the upper worlds can only reduce the intensity of a quality, but can never eliminate the quality. The only way to eliminate the quality is hearing the true knowledge from Satguru as said in the Gita (Jnanaagnih Sarvakarmaani..., Yasya sarve samaarambhah...). 'The knowledge burns the deeds' means that the knowledge burns the qualities, which are the generators and promoters of the deeds. Now, the soul coming from the upper world has the lump of Samskaras with intensity of ten volts. These ten volts are called as Sanchita associated with the soul just before re-birth.

When the soul comes to the earth, the above said Sanchita is awarded with a fruit in the form of the re-birth and its atmosphere. The composition of Sanchita varies from one soul to the other. Therefore, the conditions of the re-birth and the states of atmosphere also differ from one soul to the other. Some souls are born blind, some are born as dumb and some are perfect. Some are born in rich families, some are born in poor families and some are born in middle class families. We have already seen the policy in the upper world that the enjoyment of fruits can only reduce the intensity of the lump and the qualities are never eliminated. Therefore, the ten volt lump is again reduced in its intensity to one volt after receiving the re-birth as fruit. The nine volts are spent for the re-birth on this earth. These nine volts are called as Praarabdha. Now, the soul is left over with a lump of one volt, which is the balance of Sanchita after enjoying the Praarabdha. Thus, Praarabdha is the spent intensity and hence, cannot be revoked as told by Shankara in the commentary of the verse 'Jnanaagnih Sarva Karmaani...'. The reason is that Praarabdha is not in the form of quality that can be destroyed by the knowledge, but, it is in the form of already converted fruit. The version here that the knowledge burns all the deeds is also correct in the sense that the remaining balance in the form of qualities (lump of one volt) is totally burnt since all the deeds represented as qualities are eliminated by the Knowledge. 

The child with the lump having least voltage (one volt) looks very beautiful and sometimes is compared to pure and pious God. But, in course of time, the intensity of this lump increases with the external atmosphere of the world and the same beautiful child becomes young demon! The increase in the voltage differs from one soul to the other depending on the various possibilities of different environments. This world gives full freedom to the soul in choosing the environment. Such freedom is the characteristic of this world (Karma Loka), which is absent in the upper world (Bhoga Loka). The chosen environment decides the extent of increase of voltage of the lump. Let us take the same specific soul already selected by us as above. Let us say, the increase of the lump is ninety nine volts and the total voltage of the lump is hundred volts after addition to one volt. These ninety nine volts will be associated with the soul in future while going to the upper world and are called as Aagaami. The same cycle repeats again and again. The soul can come out of this cycle of deeds (Karma Chakra) with the help of the true knowledge of Satguru. The quality is a thought, which can be erased by another powerful convincing thought. The knowledge is lump of powerful thoughts, which can alone cut the existing thoughts or qualities. Diamond cannot be cut by any instrument except diamond. Therefore, the qualities can be changed only by the knowledge and not by other methods like meditation, penance, worship, fasting, etc.

 

Dr. Nikhil asked: The intensity of a quality can be increased by the subsequent activity in the presence of proper opportunity. In absence of such opportunity, it may not increase. Hence, the activity and opportunity also affect the quality even without the context of knowledge.

Swami Replied: We never said that other factors cannot change the intensity of the quality. The efforts like rewards and punishments, which are other than knowledge, have changed the intensity of quality. We have mentioned the knowledge only in the context of elimination of quality. Apart from elimination, knowledge also changes the intensity of the quality like other factors. It depends on the nature of the soul in choosing the factor i.e., Knowledge or hell. But, no factor except knowledge can eliminate the quality. The example you have mentioned may work in reverse direction also. The subsequent activity helping the earning may increase the desire for earning or sometimes may also decrease the desire for earning. Again, this depends on the nature of the soul. Satguru Dattatreya uses this reverse method in some souls. He grants excess of worldly pleasures (Bhoga) by which the soul gets detached by developing allergy to Bhoga. Hence, the Lord is called as 'Bhoga Moksha Prada', which means that the Lord sometimes gives salvation by granting excessive enjoyment of luxuries. The final action depends only on the chart of qualities and their intensities irrespective of the factors. The possessor of the quality not doing the action due to lack of opportunity is called as 'Mithyaachaara' in the Gita, which is also punishable. Therefore, the ultimate aim of the reward or punishment is only aimed at the reduction of the intensity of the quality and not at the subsequent inert deed as revenge.

At the lotus feet of Shri Datta Swami

-Prasad

Understanding Karma Chakra

[January 3, 2014 2nd Message] Shri Anil asked: You told that the enjoyment of the results of the deeds is finished in the upper worlds and the soul is born in this world along with some remains of the psychological background of the deeds called as ‘Samskara’. Hence, the fruits enjoyed in this world are only the results of the deeds done in this world based on the remains of qualities called Samskara. In such case, a person born blind has not done any sin in this world as soon as the birth is over and hence, this case cannot be justified.

Swami Replied: The deeds are divided into three categories as explained by Me already. The first category is ‘Sanchita’, which is the bundle of deeds accompanying the soul on this earth after leaving the upper worlds. This Sanchita is the bundle of qualities related to the remains existing in Samskara. This is a bundle of the psychological attitudes generating and promoting the deeds. The remains of the attitudes as very weak forces constitute the Samskara that accompanies the soul. This means that the enjoyment of fruits in the upper world does not make the dead end of any quality of any deed. The divine aim of punishment is only transformation by changing the qualities and not any revenge. Therefore, a major portion of the result of every deed is finished by the enjoyment in the upper world and the minor part of the result of every deed is in the out coming soul. Hence, the out coming soul from the upper worlds is qualitatively one and the same as the soul of the same human being entering the upper world. The enjoyment of the results made a quantitative reduction in all the attitudes (Gunas). This means that the incoming and outgoing souls of the same human being are qualitatively one and the same and differ only quantitatively. It is just like a thief severely punished in the police station is not involved in any theft after coming out for a long time. The reason is that the attitude of theft is only weakened to a large extent and is not completely removed. Hence, any punishment cannot remove the quality completely. Every child in the period of its childhood is like a weakened thief. The same child after becoming young repeats all the older activities. Thus, Samskara is a total representation of ‘Sanchita’ only. Remember that the qualities (Sankalpas) generating the deeds alone are associated with the soul going to the upper world or coming from the upper world. These qualities are the links of the deeds. Thus, the chart of the qualities associated with the soul represents the chart of the deeds. The results are passed on to the soul based on the chart of these qualities only. The deed has no address in the soul if it is done without the quality and this point is well explained in the Gita (Kurvannapi na lipyate). The results of the deeds will not touch such a Divine soul.

The second category is ‘Aagaami’, which is the additional list of qualities that is added in the present life to accompany the soul in future that reaches the upper world. The results of some of the deeds done in this life give results here itself. For example: If you put your finger in the fire, the punishment of burning takes place immediately here itself. In this light, this world is called as ‘Karma Loka’, whereas the upper world is called as ‘Bhoga Loka’. In Karma Loka, both the action and sometimes the enjoyment of the fruit of action are possible. In Bhoga Loka, the enjoyment of the result of the deeds done here represented by the related qualities only takes place. Sometimes, some actions give results here itself if they are excessive in nature called as ‘Atyutkata Karma’. Leaving these two exceptions, the remaining results will be added to the soul in future through the links of the qualities.
‘Praarabdha’ is the third category, which exists between Sanchita and Agaami. It may be the result of a specific deed that was not covered in the upper world and happens to be the reason of the present birth by the will of God. Generally, Praarabdha happens to be the birth, which represents the accumulated average effect of the Samskara. The accumulated effect takes place in general and thus, no result accompanies the soul from the upper world coming to this earth. But, sometimes the result of a specific deed may be chosen by God to give a specific birth, which may help the soul in transformation as expected by God. This is a specific case based on the hope of the transformation. Though the system of the deeds (Karma Chakra) is rigid but it is under the control of God everywhere since it is divine (since the maker of it is God).

Let us take the case of the person, who is born blind. A born blind can also come under the general case of Praarabdha. The soul might have been a rowdy, who made the children blind to beg for his enjoyment. This sin may be the overall essence of the chart of his qualities coming as the Samskara with the soul. If the soul is born with normal sight in this life, it may continue the same horrible action again. Therefore, the result for this Samskara as blindness is rewarded for the sake of welfare of this world. The punishment given in the upper world is for the welfare of the soul and the punishment given to the soul at the time of birth in the name of Praarabdha is for the welfare of the world.

Sometimes, the Praarabdha may not be so strong to give the blindness to the soul at the time of the birth. In such case, the result of some sin may be saved without punishment in the upper world and may be granted to the soul at the time of birth by God for its transformation or for some divine purpose also. Such blindness may not affect the world but may help in the spiritual development of the soul as in the case of the devotee, Suradaas. A blind man got the sight by the grace of Jesus and repented for his past sin that was responsible for his blindness. Such sin could have been finished in the upper world very easily because the extent of that sin must have been little since he got the sight after sometime in this life. He might have caused blindness to somebody without intention. But, the Lord purposefully made the result of such a sin to become Praarabdha so that the blind person stands as a proof for the miraculous power of the Lord exhibited here. In fact, Jesus told this to the cured blind man and made him consoled to live happily in the rest of the life.

At the lotus feet of Shri Datta Swami

-Prasad

Suicide is a biggest sin

O Learned and Devoted Servants of God

[December 28, 2013] Shri Surya asked: "I was told that a great Shankaracharya asked the Government to give permission to enter into Maha Samaadhi. The Government refused and the Acharya dropped from it. Please enlighten us on this".

Swami replied: Maha Samadhi means suicide in which one sits alive and a closed room is built around him. Suicide is equivalent to murdering somebody. The soul of yourself is as good as any other soul existing in a living body. When some living being is killed, the soul in it experiences torture. This torture is the greatest sin and avoiding such torture is the greatest among the good deeds (Ahimsa Paramo dharmah). For this reason only, the non-vegetarian food is prohibited by the scripture. There is no difference between vegetarian food and non-vegetarian food since the chemical composition of both (like carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals etc.) is one and the same. Therefore, eating the non-vegetarian food is not a sin. The process of getting the non-vegetarian food by killing and torture is the sin. If one eats a living being, which is dead due to some accident, it is not wrong. Eating a living being dead by disease or old age is avoided due to medical reasons. The Kapalikas eat dead bodies and are not considered as sinners. They are respected as the followers of a sacred branch of Hindu religion. Therefore, torture and violence is the main sin. You should not argue that killing a living being in unconscious state by giving some anesthesia may not be sin. Any living being undergoes the pain of death in any unconscious state. Moreover, you are forcibly ending the life given by God in which a living being enjoys the facilities of creation and feels happy. You must keep yourself in the place of such living being and understand the logic in the best way. You should not also argue that you are not directly killing the living being and hence, you are not the sinner. The living being is killed by somebody since people like you purchase it. Therefore, the sin is shared by you also (Kartaa kaarayitaa chaiva).

Therefore, the torture experienced by your soul in the suicide is one part of the sin. The other part of the sin is that you are forcibly missing the opportunity given by God to derive happiness in this life sanctioned by God. God feels happy if His children (the living beings) feel happy by enjoying His creation and become grateful to God. God will feel unhappy if His children are tortured (Mamchaivaantah Shareerashtham - Gita). Here, you should not take it granted that God is in your body. The soul is already referred as a part of creation in the earlier line by the word 'Bhutagraama'. The soul or awareness is already mentioned as a part of the nature (Sanghatah Chetanaa dhrutih). The soul is said to be in the body (Shareerashtham). But, God is said to be very deep in the body (Antah Shareera), which means that God is the basic substratum. Otherwise, God should have been also brought under the category of Shareerastham. God is inside the body in the sense that God is inside the whole creation as substratum and therefore, here also God is taken as the substratum of the body. 

The Veda says that a soul committing suicide will fall in the hell called 'Asurya', which is totally filled by darkness (Asurya Naama te lokaah). You may argue that you are ending your life due to problems. Problems should be solved with courage derived from the devotion to God. In the higher plane of philosophy, you should learn to enjoy the problems along with peace in the life like alternate hot dishes and sweet dishes in the meals. Anything running continuously will result in getting bored, which is also a problem. You cannot enjoy the sweets continuously without a hot dish. You cannot enjoy the cinema with happy scenes only without tragic scenes. Problem is a valuable interval in continuous peace like the pickle in eating a sweet continuously.

The creation of God in which life is a part is always wonderful. Hence, you should be entertained continuously by the alternate peace and disturbance. In fact, God has created this universe for His entertainment only as said in the Veda (Ekaaki Naramate...). You are enjoying the scenes of problems in the cinema and you must enjoy more the same problem appearing in your life due to direct involvement. You will enjoy more by eating the food instead of enjoying by seeing somebody eating the food. This is the reason that why God was not satisfied with the entertainment attained by seeing His running creation. God takes human form to enter the creation and is entertained perfectly by directly involving Himself in the positive and negative events of life. If you enjoy your life on this earth like God in human form, you are equivalent to God in this aspect of enjoyment. Creation, maintenance and dissolution of this Universe are unnecessary botheration since the final aim of these three aspects is only continuous entertainment. This is perfect monism (Advaita) preached by Shankara.

Therefore, you require the spiritual knowledge to understand the philosophy of life and this total creation. You should always wish to live more time by taking proper care of your health (Jeevema sharadasshatam - Veda). Some ignorant people feel shy in taking the help of medicines and doctors feeling that such way is not spiritual. They pray God to cure the illness and pose that they are in the real spiritual path. It shows only their ignorance. God is the Creator of the Science (Vijnaanam etat sarvam janaardanaat) and its results are given by Him only to the living beings, which are His children (Aham Bijapradah pita). When the problem can be solved through natural power, why should you be rigid of the unnecessary miraculous power of God? Both are His powers only. The natural power is called as Prakriti and the miraculous power is called as Maya. Basically both are His power only and thus, there is no difference between them from that point of view. The Gita says that Maya and Prakriti are one and the same (Mayaam tu prakritim viddhi). If Prakriti fails, you can approach God for exhibition of Maya.

You may think that some of the great people followed this procedure of Maha Samadhi. Lord Rama jumped into the river of Sarayu and committed suicide. Raghavendra, Veerabhahmendra, etc., have taken this Maha Samadhi. You cannot imitate them in taking Maha Samadhi without reaching their level. They have reached such high level in which they do not feel even a trace of torture in leaving the body. For them, the body is just like the dress that can be changed at any time (Vasaamsi Jeernani - Gita). You can test yourself to see whether you have reached that level or not by closing your nose and mouth for a few minutes to see whether you are feeling any inconvenience or not.

The great Shankaracharya tried to take the permission of the Government because he knows very well that the Government will not permit. By this, he wants to preach that suicide is a sin not only in Nivritti but also in Pravritti since it is a punishable offense in the worldly law. Hanuman tried to commit suicide when Sita was not seen in Lanka. Here, the suicide was not due to personal problems. It is due to the problem in the work of the Lord, which could not be solved by Him. This shows His intensity of involvement in the Lord's work. He dropped from the idea of suicide even in this work of Lord because He thought that He can continue in the Divine service by living.

At the lotus feet of Shri Datta Swami

-Prasad

Caste system is not based on the birth but on qualities and actions (Gita)

O Learned and Devoted Servants of God,November 03, 2013 Deepavali Day A devotee raised a peculiar issue stating that some people of backward castes claim Narakasura as their ancestor, who was a good person and was killed by the upward castes in wrong way. They state that he was ‘Asura’ meaning that he does not drink wine. Hence, Deepaavali is a function of the victory of injustice over justice. 

Swami Replied: You believe that Narakasura was killed by Krishna on the basis of a Scripture that gives the life history of Narakasura. If you believe that Scripture for this point, you must believe the same Scripture for the other points also related to Narakasura. You are using the Scripture for a specific convenient point and you are discarding all the other points of the same Scripture. In addition, you are creating new points that contradict the other points of the Scripture. This is highly improper and climax of indiscipline based on prejudice and bias to other castes. Your intention is only partiality in the caste system and not the justice and injustice based on facts and lies.

The first point is that you told that Narakasura is Asura, who is not a Sura (Angel). The same Scripture says that Narakasura was born to God Maha Vishnu and Goddess Bhudevi (Earth). Both the parents belong to the caste of angels (Sura) and not to the caste of demons (Asura). Hence, you cannot claim Narakasura as Asura or backward caste (BC). Though Narakasura was a Sura by birth, he was called as Asura based on his qualities and actions. This is a proof to state that the caste system is not based on the birth but on qualities and actions as said in the Gita (Guna Karma Vibhagashah). Your attempt to make Narakasura as a person born in BC, SC, ST, etc., is thus futile. Instead, you must know that Krishna belongs to Yadavas, a backward caste. Narakasura belongs to angels, who belong to superior caste above all the human beings. Krishna is a human being and there also belongs to BC category. Now, your case is totally is reversed! You are supporting the upward caste and condemning the BC!! Hence, before talking something, you must have minimum patience to do minimum analysis. You cannot bring the case of Kamsa also, who is maternal uncle of Krishna. Since both belong to the same caste, your fowl play is objected at the gate itself.

Similarly, if you take the Mahabharata, both are cousin brothers belonging to the same caste. Similarly, if you take Ramayana, Ravana belongs to the upward caste of Brahmins. He was also called as Asura due to his qualities and actions. Even Rama belongs to the caste of Kshatriya, which is lower than the caste of Ravana. Here also your case is reversed. In Ramayana, it is described that all the Asuras drank wine and ate non-vegetarian foods (refer to Sundarakanda). Now, you say that Asura does not drink wine! Asura means the person, who is not Sura. You are taking a different meaning for the word Sura and create all this non-sense. If you allow other meanings of a word, all the concepts are subjected to confusion. Sura and Asura do not refer to castes. They refer to good and bad cultures. A person is decided as Sura or Asura based on his culture and not on the caste in which the person is born. Even the caste should be decided on qualities and actions only as per the Gita.

Whether it is caste or culture, good is always respected and bad is condemned. We respect and even worship the photos of ‘Shabari’ and ‘Kannappa’ in the worship rooms of even Brahmins. Shabari and Kannappa belong to SC and ST category as per the caste. But, they belong to the Sura Culture. Bhurishravaah, a pot maker was made the President of a Sacrifice conducted by Brahmin Sages (refer the Bhagavatam). Ravana is a Brahmin and Narakasura is an angel. But, both were condemned since they belong to the Asura culture. The qualities are always the reason for the worship or rejection and not the age, the gender and the caste (Gunaah Pujaasthaanam… Bhavabhuti). The caste system was just maintained in marriages and while taking meals because of the different food habits. This has nothing to do with the higher and lower levels viewed for worship and rejection. Even the concept of untouchable is misrepresented to criticize the Brahmins. The heart of the ancient Brahmin sages was totally different in this issue. To change the Asura culture into Sura culture, such punishments were adopted like boycotting a person from the village as untouchable. The aim is only transformation and not revenge. A bad student is debarred from the school for some days to transform him into a good boy. He is not allowed into the school and is treated as an untouchable. The good aims are twisted to create hatred and fight in the castes. Bhurishravaah was pot maker by birth and belongs to BC. But, his Sura culture was so high that he is made as the President of the Sacrifice to whom all the Brahmin sages had to bow.

Therefore, our ancient Hindu culture and Scriptures were pious and pure and the mud thrown by you will revert back to fall only on your face.

At the lotus feet of Shri Datta Swmi

-Prasad

Whole essence of BHAGAVATHAM

O Learned and Devoted Servants of God, [October 27, 2013] In the entire spiritual knowledge meant for humanity, the most essential and the most complicated concepts are only two. One is the contemporary human incarnation and the other is the sacrifice of fruit of the work (Karmaphala Tyaga). The Gita gives stress on these two points projecting Krishna as the contemporary human incarnation in that time.

The first concept brings the unimaginable God Himself before your eyes to see and talk to clarify your doubts in the spiritual knowledge. Spiritual knowledge is the most important field of knowledge because it deals with your faith beyond this world. Everybody is in utter confusion and in maximum fear regarding the unknowable future of the soul after death. Any extent of success, wealth, health, enjoyment, fame, etc., has no significance at all because the cremation after death equalizes all by the same common process of disposal of the five elements of this body into the five cosmic elements. Whether the dead body is disposed through water or fire or air or soil, the disposal of the five elements is one and the same. Whether the body is disposed with huge show or thrown away in a forest for birds, no difference can be seen here. Regarding the life after death, some feel that it is unknowable. But, the Scripture says that the soul is born again by taking new birth. The cases of re-birth are several existing in this world as practical proof, which coincide with the Scripture. Hence, we should be always positive in our approach without doubting everywhere. The concept like re-birth stated in the Scripture appears practically valid. In such case, why not all the other scriptural concepts? There is more weightage for the positive sign and hence, we must adopt the positive side only. Even if the minor probability of negative side is possible, nothing is lost since everybody looses everything here itself after death.

The unimaginable God coming to you in alive human form is the best opportunity in the spiritual field. The guidance in the spiritual path is very important because you have to do everything on the practical side. God is limited to theoretical side only as Philosopher and guiding Preacher. Some people think that the practical side is also taken up by God for which He should be pleased through prayers. This is not correct. God will show only the right direction in which you have to walk with your own legs. This must be noted very clearly by every spiritual aspirant.

The practical journey to please God exists in proving your bond with God as strongest of all. Money, the fruit of work is the root of all your worldly bonds assembled as tree in the form of branches, leaves, flowers, fruits, etc. The root alone absorbs water and gives life to the entire tree. All the bonded souls will leave you if the money is absent. Even the life leaves this body if you cannot procure food due to lack of money. The Veda says that your bond to God will be tested at this root level (Dhanena Tyagena…). If you are detached from the root, you are detached from all the worldly bonds. If you have surrendered this root to God, God alone is the every bond for you. In the case of saints having no possibility of earning this money, the work (Karma Samnyasa) can be treated as money because the fruit of work is another final form of work only. If money is the matter, work is the energy. Matter and energy are inter-convertible forms.

The Bhagavatam is said to be the best guide for salvation. It contains mainly the life history of Krishna, the alive human incarnation. All the Gopikas were great sages passing through several stages of spiritual knowledge like knowledge, penance, theoretical worships, etc. Finally they were born as uneducated Gopikas. When the theory class is over, you will enter the laboratory to do practical experiments. Gopikas lived by selling the butter, curd and milk in the nearby city called Mathura. There were three types of Gopikas. The first type did not have faith in the human incarnation and therefore, did not like the sacrifice of money in terms of butter, curd and milk and complained to the mother of Krishna. The second type had belief and disbelief in equal proportions. They allowed Krishna to steal these materials in excess existing in their houses. But, they did not sacrifice these, which were taken to the city to sell and purchase the livelihood. The third type of Gopikas sacrificed these to Krishna in the path also, which was their livelihood. The third type went to the abode of God and the second type was born on this earth again and again for further development. The first type went to the lower plane of birds and animals.

Thus, the Bhagavatam is the gist of the entire practical spiritual knowledge, which gave salvation to king Parikshith in seven days. The spiritual knowledge called Brahmavidya is often stated as the most difficult subject because of these two difficult concepts to be combined to reach the goal.

At the lotus feet of Shri Datta Swami

-Prasad