Inquiries into the Absolute: Digest 22

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Digest 22, January 10 2002

 

Answers by His Holiness Romapada Swami Maharaja

 

 

 

Spirit soul

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Q.1) We say that both the subtle and gross body belong to this material

creation. A person's destination depends upon his consciousness at the time of

death. So my question is whether our consciousness is material or spiritual.

Does a person go to spiritual world with his consciousness (material or

spiritual)? Are soul and consciousness the same?

 

Answer

Consciousness is concomitant with the soul; it is an attribute of the soul. In

other words, consciousness itself is not a material element. When one falsely

identifies oneself with the material energy, then one's consciousness is said

to be materially engrossed. In that state, at the time of death the subtle body

carries the soul to the next gross body. However, when one purifies his/her

consciousness from material identification, then the soul returns to the

spiritual world in spiritual or purified consciousness.

 

Forms of God

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Q.2) Lord Krishna told Arjuna: "Those who claim to be directly My devotees are

actually not my devotees. But those who are devotees of my servants are

factually My devotees." In Srimad Bhagavatam purports of first canto, Srila

Prabhupada mentions that Lord Shiva is a pure devotee of Lord Krishna.

According to the above sloka, does it not directly imply that all of us must

serve Lord Shiva? How far is this justifiable?

 

Answer

Yes, Lord Shiva is certainly worshipable, as a great devotee, but not

independently. Lord Shiva is one of the four primary spiritual masters (the

others being Brahma, Lakshmiji and the Kumaras) and teaches pure devotional

service to the Supreme Lord. Therefore, factual service to Lord Shiva is to

follow his instructions to worship and chant the Holy names of Lord Vishnu .

 

Q.3) Whenever a vaishnava comes, we are eager to take association. Lord Shiva

is a senior most vaishnava: "vaishnavanam yatha shambu" and yet we don't go to

his temple. Besides, on the appearance or disappearance days of Vaishnava

acaryas we observe a fast till noon but we don't do so on Shiva-ratri festival

day, which marks Lord Shiva's drinking of the poison. Why is this so?

 

Answer.

This question was asked once before, and here is the answer I gave. =

Vaishnavas are not prohibited or discouraged from visiting Lord Shiva's

temples. In fact, Lord Caitanya visited many Shiva temples during His tour of

South India, where He chanted Hare Krishna mahamantra and danced in great

ecstasy before the Deity of Lord Shiva. But unfortunately, there are hardly any

bona fide temples of Lord Shiva today where worship is performed with the right

understanding that he is the topmost devotee of Lord Krishna. Therefore,

devotees generally do not make it a point to visit such temples, although they

don't specifically avoid them either.

 

The best way to worship Lord Shiva, in any case, is to chant Hare Krishna and

to dedicate our lives to worship Krishna. This would be most pleasing to Lord

Shiva, and automatically we receive his blessings. Even in our ISKCON temples,

therefore, devotees celebrate Shivaratri by chanting in sankirtan and

discussing the glories and the great devotion of Lord Shiva as described in

Srimad Bhagavatam and offering a feast in his honor.

 

Q.4) It is said that Buddha is one of the incarnations of Lord Krishna. If this

is so, how is it that Buddha has proposed a totally different path for

salvation rather than Bhakti Marga?

 

Answer

The purpose of the incarnation of Buddha is described in Srimad Bhagavatam.

During the time of Buddha, people in general were atheistic, and were misusing

the Vedas for promoting violence and indulging in unrestricted killing of

animals and meat-eating. In order to curb these malpractices and out of

compassion for the innocent animals, Lord Buddha advised the people to reject

the Vedas and taught sub-religious principles such as morality and non-violence

which are the preliminary steps for spiritual realization. Thus he bewildered

the faithless atheists to place their faith on Him. (Cf. Bhag 1.3.24).

 

 

Modes of material nature

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Q.5) God created evil and good. If He was as merciful as he is supposed to be,

then why create evil at all, put marginal souls in a vulnerable position, and

then punish them when they sin? Why create us at all? If there was no

existence, there would be no karma and no consequences. Did God create all of

us for His entertainment?

 

Answer.

First of all, we need to understand that the soul was never "created". The

individual soul is co-eternal with God being His part and parcel. The purpose

of our existence is enjoyment - not only God's enjoyment but ours also! But as

part and parcel of the Supreme Whole, our enjoyment is in relation with God's

enjoyment. "Ananda mayo 'bhyasat": in our relationship with the Supreme Lord,

in serving Him, both the Lord and the living entity experience transcendental

bliss.

 

However, when the individual soul forgets his real position and comes to the

material world, his so-called punishment by the material energy is not cruelty

on the part of the Supreme Lord; rather that is another feature of his mercy to

help the living entity reinstate himself in his original position. This is just

like a father who might 'punish' his child in order to train him: the

chastisement is another feature of the father's love and is for the child's

benefit. There would be no meaning to argue why one should beget a child and

then punish the child! (Please also refer to our discussion on 'good and evil'

from the previous issue, Digest 17)

 

Q.6) As a neophyte devotee, I need more clarification on the topic of keeping

pets (dogs and cats). My family and I live on a farm in Durban, South Africa.

The crime situation is rather serious here, in terms of the womenfolk being

held up at their homes. I would like to know if there are any rules or

regulations in terms of keeping dogs as a measure of security.

 

Answer

In the Vedic system, householders in general maintained domestic animals,

especially cows and sometimes other animals such as dogs also. However, while

such animals were maintained for particular purposes, they were not considered

part of the household and would not be permitted within the house, the most

obvious reason being cleanliness, as the householders were engaged in their

religious duties, worshiping the Deities etc. There are specific injunctions

that animals should not be allowed in sanctified places such as the temple room

of the Deity or the kitchen where offerings to the Deity are cooked.

 

Another important aspect for which Srila Prabhupada often downplayed the

concept of keeping pets is the undue attachment one may develop for the pets on

the bodily platform. This can be detrimental to one's spiritual cultivation and

the classic example we know of is the story of Maharaja Bharata, who became so

attached to his pet deer that he had to take birth as a deer in his next life.

While maintaining the above concerns, keeping dogs for security purposes and

offering them prasadam is not improper for a devotee.

 

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----- Festivals over the next week ------

Jan 10 2002, Thursday Disappearance Sri Mahesa Pandita

Disappearance Sri Uddharana Datta Thakura

Jan 14 2002, Monday Appearance Sri Locana Dasa Thakura

Jan 16 2002, Wednesday Disappearance Srila Jiva Gosvami

Disappearance Sri Jagadisa Pandita

 

*** NOTE: All times are for Washington D.C, USA, EST ***

For festival information for your city please go to http://www.iskcondc.org and

click on 'Calendar'

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** A brief biography of His Holiness Romapada Swami available at

:http://www.prastha.com/cgi-bin/uncgi/renderphilo.pl?ndx=2

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