Excellent books on Divine knowledge, for all the levels of spiritual aspirants includ

[dattaswami]

Excellent books on Divine knowledge, for all the levels of spiritual aspirants including scientists and atheist

These discourses freely downloadable from the links shown below are the excellent collection of divine discourses of His Holiness Shri Datta Swami, given to different devotees around the world, over a period of time. These discourses are embedded with excellent logic supported by various scriptures of the world, and aimed for all the levels of spiritual aspirants including scientists and atheist. You can see use of extensive logic in these discourses which are used at the level of intelligence, thus avoiding any emotional impact, but imparts a thorough understanding of the spiritual concepts through analysis which one cannot observe in any other works elsewhere. All your questions in the spiritual field are explained in the most convincing manner with scientific logic and supported by all the scriptures of the world, like Veda, Gita, Bible, Quran etc.

§ Who is God?,

§ Can we see God?

§ What is divine knowledge?, who gives it?

§ Difference between Guru and Sat Guru

§ What is soul?, Is soul God?

§ Who is Human incarnation? or ‘Immanuael’

§ Who is Jesus, <st1:place w:st="on">Krishna</st1:place>, Bhudha etc are they the same?

§ Is there only one God?

§ How to see and please God?

§ Whether God is with form or formless?

§ How to convince atheist?

§ Re-birth is true or not?

§ If there is only one God then why so many religions

§ Hell, Heaven exists or not?

§ Reality of Advaita philosophy

§ Can God come to this earth in human form?

§ Idol worship, rituals, temple/churches

§ Is there any truth in Astrology

§ Religious Fanatics

§ What is self-realisaton, is it God realization?

§ Use of the work ‘Brahman’ and ‘Parabrahman’

§ God & Science, God & Logic

§ Veda, Gita, Bible, Quran etc

§ Miracles whether they are true?

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[gHari]

What sampradaya speaks of idols?

[dattaswami]

 

What sampradaya speaks of idols?

 

Idol Worship

 

The statue or photo is the inert object. The form carved in a stone or painted on a paper is also an imaginary form and not even a direct photo. The statues and photos are only models representing the concept, which is knowledge. The form of statues and photos is mainly human form, which represents the concept that the Lord always comes to this world in human form as said in Gita (Manusheem Tanu Masritam). Please remember that Gita did not tell that the Lord would come in any other form. The forms of fish, tortoise etc., were only temporarily to kill the demons and nobody worshipped such forms during their time. But Rama, Krishna etc were the human forms worshipped by several devotees like Hanuman and Gopikas. The Lord will come in every human generation; otherwise, He becomes partial to a particular generation. If necessary the Lord can come whenever there is necessity as said in Gita (Yedaa yedaahi).

Once this concept is realized, there is no need of temple and statue for you. You should go from school to college and then to university. This does not mean that when you leave the school, the school should be destroyed. The school must exist for the future batches. Therefore for you, the statue and the photo are not necessary and this does not mean that the statues, photos and temples should be broken. They should be protected and must be respected as the models of divine knowledge for the future ignorant devotees. Some devotees cannot accept the human form, which is before their eyes as said in Veda (Pratyaksha dvishah).

For such devotees the statues and photos are necessary for meditation since they are at the school level. The statues and photos are useful for the meditation of such limited minds as said in Sastra (Pratima svalpa buddhinam). Veda says that the Lord does not exist in the inert objects (Natasya pratima, Nedamtat), but says that the inert objects can stand as models representing the Lord (Adityam brahmeti). Therefore seeing and meditation upon the statues and photos are correct in the case of the ignorant devotees. But the other rituals like offering food, burning camphor, fume sticks, oil lamps and breaking coconuts, offering flowers etc. are not mentioned in Vedas and there are unnecessary and are causing the air pollution harming the humanity. All these unnecessary rituals should be avoided.

Offering food should also be done to the human form of the Lord only but not to the inert statues. Ijya or Yajna is cooking and offering of the food. Gita says that such Ijya should not be done to the inert objects. In the name of the statues, people are stealing the food and money. The statue and photo is not taking the food or Gurudakshina. The people behind the statue are taking those things and most of them are either cheating or wasting the money with ignorance. Whatever the Gurudakshina is given should go only to the priest and not the managing devotees. The business of the merchants by selling such materials in the temples should be stopped, because such materials are not even heard in Veda. Of course, the priest should be a Satguru and preach the divine knowledge to the devotees and the devotees should give Gurudakshina to such Satguru only. Thus, the temple should become a center of learning selfless devotion and divine knowledge and the priest must do only ‘Jnana Yajna’ in the temple and not the ‘dravya yajna’ as said in the Gita (Sreyaan dravyamayat).

Gita condemned such Ijya before inert objects because such Ijya is only cheating and business. Such a devotee will be born as inert object (Bhutejya yanti). This business is connected to removal of the fruits of sins and getting the fruits of good deeds, which are not done. All this is false, because the theory of ‘karma’ says that one has to suffer for all his bad deeds and can never get the result of any good deed without doing it (Avasyamanubhoktavyam…kalpakotisatairapi). The spiritual path should be preached in the temple, which must be ‘nishkama karma yoga’ i.e., sacrifice of work and sacrifice of fruit (money) of the work to the Lord without aspiring any fruit in return. Remember, that only the Ijya is condemned and not the temples or statues, which are the models of the divine knowledge.

[gHari]

Then there is no sampradaya, no parampara. It is mental speculation from the mind - such a mountain of offense to climb over.

 

 

 

Gita 9.26:

 

<center>

patraM puSpaM phalaM toyaM

yo me bhaktyA prayacchati

tad ahaM bhakty-upahRtam

aznAmi prayatAtmanaH

</center>

patram--a leaf; puSpam--a flower; phalam--a fruit; toyam--water; yaH--whoever; me--unto Me; bhaktyA--with devotion; prayacchati--offers; tat--that; aham--I; bhakti-upahRtam--offered in devotion; aznAmi--accept; prayata-AtmanaH--from one in pure consciousness.

If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it.

 

[gHari]

The injunction of VaiSNava regulation in this connection runs as follows: arcye viSNau zilA-dhIr guruSu nara-matir vaiSNave jAti-buddhiH zrI-viSNor nAmni zabda-sAmAnya-buddhiH, etc. "One should not consider the Deity of the Lord as worshiped in the temple to be an idol, nor should one consider the authorized spiritual master an ordinary man. Nor should one consider a pure VaiSNava to belong to a particular caste, etc." (Padma PurANa)

 

 

 

Parampara ......... http://vedabase.net/sb/2/3/22/en

[dattaswami]

 

What sampradaya speaks of idols?

 

I am not condemning statues and pictures. They have limited use. When your son is in a foreign country, you keep his photograph with you, just to see him in his absence. A photograph is meant for that purpose only. You cannot talk with the photograph. The Veda says, ‘Drastavyah’ i.e., you must see Him. <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Temples</st1:City></st1:place> are built only for this purpose. You can wash and decorate the idol. But there is no necessity of offering food. For maintaining the statue in the temple, the temple priest can earn his livelihood (by working in the world). Why should he take the food offered to the statue? Why should he earn his food based on falsehood, when there is an alternative to earn based on the truth?

 

A Guru must preach by referring to the Vedas, Shastras, Gita etc, which are the scriptures. An advocate, while arguing in court, must refer to the relevant sections in the constitution. Merely talking about spirituality without Vedic (scriptural) authority is not valid.

[dattaswami]

Why God keeps silent to somebody even after intensive cry?

 

Ans. A diabetic patient cries before a doctor to get a sweet for eating. The doctor has infinite number of sweets and he does not worry at all for giving a sweet to the patient. You are crying before God, who is the divine father (creator of all the souls) to give some wealth or to solve some problem. If He helps you, there is not even a trace of any personal loss to Him. Neither His wealth nor His power is finite and nor His love to souls is limited. The only factor that guides Him is to see the future position after the help. If your eyes are to climb the roof of your head after the help, God will keep silent. After the help you will fall down even from your present level and then you will cry again before the same God to lift you up.

If the doctor gives you the sweet, the level of sugar may go up and the emergent treatment is also the responsibility of the same doctor. Hence the doctor will not give you the sweet. If the doctor is confident of your health, he may give the sweet. Sometimes the doctor gives the sweet and conducts the emergent treatment to show you the truth, if you are scolding the doctor to be unkind. The response of the doctor lies on his analysis of the situation and it is not the subject of the patient at all. You must have the faith in the doctor (God) that any response is for your good only and you must know that the patient is ignorant of his own real welfare.

[dattaswami]

Why are people indulged in killing each other in the name of God?

 

Ans. The original founders of the religions were the human incarnations of the same God like <st1:place w:st="on">Krishna</st1:place>, Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha etc. Every religion says that their God only created this entire earth or this entire humanity. Unfortunately, there is only one earth and this proves that there is only one God mentioned by all the religions. Since God is one and the same, there cannot be contradicting concepts between the religions. But we find some contradictions and people are divided based on these contradictions. This division is leading to quarrels and finally killing each other. These contradictions cannot be from God because there is only one God as said above.

These contradictions were introduced into the religions by some misinterpretations of the followers only in the name of God. Hence the killing is also done in the name of God only. Q`ran says that you should protect even the follower of other religion and convey the message of Allah to him. It is left to him to follow or not. Hiranyakashipu worshipped Lord Shiva and his son Prahlada ( a great devotee) worshipped Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu killed Hiranyakashipu not because he is worshipping Lord Shiva but because he tortured Prahlada to change his religion of worshipping Vishnu. In fact Shiva is Vishnu (Shivashcha Naarayanah…Veda). The conclusion of this is that God will punish you if you torture the devotee of any religion obstructing the freedom of his religion. Prahlada did not force his father to worship Vishnu. The same God exists in different forms in different religions. Hinduism is a mini model of unity in diversity that should exist in the universe as universal spirituality.

[indulekhadasi]

Wow...where do you get all this stuff dattaswamiji? Is this your own writing?

[dattaswami]

 

Wow...where do you get all this stuff dattaswamiji? Is this your own writing?

Yes. I give divine discourses to devotees now and then, answering all their doubts.

 

You can read all my divine knowledge which is freely down loadable from the following links:

 

Parabrahma_Sutras

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Free MP3 Bhajans

 

Please Go to

 

 

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[dattaswami]

 

What sampradaya speaks of idols?

 

<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"></st1:City></st1:place>

 

O Learned and Devoted Servants of God,

 

 

Why is there so much rush in temples? There is only one reason. People think that if they go to the temples they can escape from the difficulties, which are the fruits of their sins. They also think that they can get some benefits (which are the fruits of good deeds) for good deeds that they have not performed. Obviously this is not true. The scriptures say “Avasyam Anubhoktavyam” which means that we must enjoy the fruits of our good and bad deeds. You cannot escape the result of your bad deeds and you cannot achieve the result of a good deed, which you have not done. One cannot escape the punishment given by the judge in the court. Similarly, you cannot escape the judgment of God. If this fact is written at the gates of the temple, nobody will enter the temple.

 

 

Then what is the actual aim of the temple? One of the sixteen divine qualities (Kalyana Gunas) of God is beauty (Soundarya). For example it is said that the beauty of Lord Rama disturbed the minds of even sages. The beautiful Lord should be seen first; “Drashtavyah”, as said in the Veda. So the statue of God in the temple must be carved most beautifully. The priest should decorate the statue in the most beautiful way, so that our eyes will be fixed on the statue. The next step is “Srotavyah”, as said in the Veda. It means that after seeing the form of God, we must listen to His other divine qualities. It is the duty of the priest to explain the other divine qualities of God. The third step is “Nididhyasitavyah”, that is your minds should be filled with inspiration given by the all-round personality of God. With this inspiration you must go back home.

[dattaswami]

 

What sampradaya speaks of idols?

 

<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"></st1:City></st1:place>

 

<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Temple</st1:City></st1:place> and statue are necessary for low level people as said in Sastra (Pratima Swalpa Buddhinaam). It is a teaching model for a school student. But for a college or university student it is not necessary. It is called as Pratika (Model). Veda says to meditate upon the Sun assuming Sun as the Lord. The Sun is not the Lord. The Lord is not in the Sun. Sun is only a servant of the Lord.

All these points are told in Veda (Adityam Brahmeti, Nedam tat, Bheeshodeti Suryah). Veda says that the Lord is not in the statues (Natasya Pratima). Veda also says that no inert object and no human being is the Lord because the object or human being is an item in the creation (Neti, Neti). Gita says that the Lord comes only in human form (Manusheem Tanumaasritam).

The statue, which is in the human form is a model teaching you the concept that the Lord comes only in human form for preaching the divine knowledge in every human generation, to avoid the partiality to a particular human generation as said in Gita (Yada Yadaahi). Once you understood this concept the temple and statue is not necessary for you but they should be protected and respected as the models of divine knowledge for the future ignorant devotees. Some people are telling that ‘Kulluka Bhatt’ says about worship of statues. Kulluka Bhatt is a ‘Purva Mimaamsaka’ who is an atheist (Devo Na Kaschit).

How can he contradict Veda, which says that the Lord does not exist in statues? Gita condemns severely that a person-worshipping statue will be born as a stone. Here the meditation upon the statue is not condemned. Only worship like offering the food is condemned because the statue does not eat the food. Some fellow behind the statue is eating the food. In Gita the word ‘Bhutejyah’ means worshipping the inert object by offering food. Ijya means offering the food. Bhuta means inert substance, which is one of the five inert elements (Pancha Bhutas).

Some people say that the word Bhuta means ghost and those who worship ghosts become ghosts. We do not object such meaning. But the word Bhuta also means the five inert elements. Our meaning is in the same line of your meaning. A person worshipping ghosts becomes ghost. Similarly a person worshipping inert objects will become inert object. We are not contradicting your meaning. Our meaning is in the same line of your meaning and therefore you cannot contradict. Moreover the verse says that those who worship deities become deities etc., Therefore our meaning is in the line of the meaning of the verse. Yajna means feeding the guest after cooking the food and not burning the food in the fire. The guest is treated like fire. The hunger in his stomach is treated as ‘Vysvanara fire’.

<st1:place w:st="on">Krishna</st1:place> stopped burning the food in fire and ate the food stating that He was hungry. Kapila condemned such burning of food in Bhagavatam. The Yajna is only cooking the food and feeding the guest. In this true sense Yajna is essential and must be performed.

[Beggar]

Once Ramanujacarya fed a fish the maha-prasadam of the Deity. The fish jumped out of the water to grab the prasadam in its mouth and before it could enter the water again the fish assumed a Vaikuntha form and entered the Vaikuntha planets. The disciples of Ramanuja saw this and inquired from their guru as to why they had not yet received a Vaikuntha form since they had received maha-prasadam many times. Ramanuja replied that his disciples were trying to enjoy the prasadam which is an aparadha, offense. The fish he said made no such aparadha and therefore he attained Vaikuntha.

[thehat]

These are fantastic words dattaswamiji

[Tirisilex]

Sometimes I pray at night for me to have a dream about Krishna.. I never do dream of him. However when I do cry out to him with a painfull heart something happens.. Its usually something small but just enough to let me know that he hears me.. Like tonight.. I was feeling like I just wanted to escape this life and cried out to him and then a comforting song would play on the radio.

[dattaswami]

 

Sometimes I pray at night for me to have a dream about Krishna.. I never do dream of him. However when I do cry out to him with a painfull heart something happens.. Its usually something small but just enough to let me know that he hears me.. Like tonight.. I was feeling like I just wanted to escape this life and cried out to him and then a comforting song would play on the radio.

 

Visions are miracles done by God to rectify the defective students. Visions are not necessary for the souls of perfect spiritual level. <st1:place w:st="on">Krishna</st1:place> never showed the cosmic vision(Vishwarupam) to Gopikas, who were the perfect sages. He showed this vision to sage Udanka who was rectified permanently. Again He showed this vision to Arjuna who was rectified temporarily upto the 18^th day of war. On that last day, Arjuna refused to get down from the chariot for the sake of his prestige before the soldiers even though <st1:place w:st="on">Krishna</st1:place> ordered him to do so. Again <st1:place w:st="on">Krishna</st1:place> showed the same vision to Kauravas, who did not change at all. Jesus told that the devotees who believe without proof are really blessed. Hence miracles like Visions are not important at all in the case of real devotees.

[dattaswami]

 

Wow...where do you get all this stuff dattaswamiji? Is this your own writing?

 

Knowledge from the Sadguru

 

The Sadguru (teacher of true knowledge of God, who is also a human incarnation of God) gives the right knowledge, even without your service. You can serve Him only when you are convinced. Your service to Him will help Him help others. Infact a Sadguru does not need your service because He is God Himself. He can help others by His own powers. But you will not get the right benefit from Him, because you did not show gratefulness to Him. Suppose a doctor gives you medicines for some illness without asking for fees and you get cured. If you do not pay his fees due to your greediness, even though you are capable of paying, you will die with a new disease. So, only for your own safety, the Sadguru advises you to participate in service.

 

Service to Sadguru

 

Service done to the Sadguru consists of two parts:

 

<!--[if !supportLists]-->1) Paying the fees in terms of money, which you have earned by your work.<!--[endif]-->

 

<!--[if !supportLists]-->2) Doing some work for the Guru.<!--[endif]-->

 

You can do either of these or both as per your convenience. When you have taken meals in a restaurant, either you must pay the bill or do some work in the restaurant. You can even partly pay the bill and partly do some work. Paying money as fees to the Sadguru is called as Karma Phala Tyaga. Working to serve the Sadguru is called Karma Sanyasa. Both these put together is called Karma Yoga or service. This is explained clearly in the Bhagavad Gita. Similarly, you must either pay the fees to the doctor or do some work in return such as by working as his assistant. Without doing either of these two, if you simply praise the doctor by words or express your love, by feelings, what is the use of all these?

[dattaswami]

You must be prepared to suffer for your sins

 

In the Hindu religion, astrologers and priests must also realize the truth. By worshipping planets and deities, the results of bad deeds cannot vanish and the results of good deeds that are not done by you, cannot be achieved. God (Parabrahma) pervading all these planets and deities internally, is Lord Datta (God, the contemporary Human Incarnation) and He alone should be worshipped. The fan cannot move without the electric current. The light bulb cannot glow without the electric current flowing through it. The fan and the light bulb are like planets and deities. The electric current is Lord Datta. In other religions, the same current is named as Jehovah or Allah. The Veda says “Bheeshodeti” i.e., the sun shines only by the energy and fear of God. The Veda (Kena Upanishad) says that the power behind all deities is God alone.

So, all these astrologers and priests should be converted into Sadgurus, who preach about Lord Datta. They can also take some money (Guru Dakshina) from the people for their livelihood and there is nothing wrong in it because they are standing for the truth and are giving real help to all the people who believe them. But they should make one thing clear that only Lord Datta can really protect you by taking your sins on Him. He will undergo the punishments for your sake. Except for this way, there is no other way to escape from your sins.

At the same time, you must not expect Lord Datta to take your sins. You must be prepared to suffer for your sins and still continue to worship Him without aspiring for anything in return from Him. You must prove your love by your practical participation in His service. Worship should not be done with mere mind and words.

Instead of worshipping Lord Datta (Sadguru), if you worship planets and deities with selfish desires, your bad results will only be postponed to the later part of this life or your next life. You will have to suffer them later and that too with added interest. The good results that were to be enjoyed in the next life are dragged to the present life with reduced values due to your rituals and selfish worship. They reduce in value like prematurely encashed bank deposits. As a result, your next life is going to be miserable; full of difficulties from birth to death with hardly any good result.

[dattaswami]

Sins cannot be cancelled simply without suffering their result

 

 

 

<!--[if !supportLists]--> <!--[endif]-->The One and the Only Way

 

The only way to get rid of all the difficulties in this world is to become a real devotee of Lord Datta. Datta means something, which is given. Lord Datta means the human form, through which the ‘God’ (Parabrahman) is given to this world. All incarnations like <st1:place w:st="on">Krishna</st1:place>, Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha etc., are called Datta. God cannot be even imagined. So there is no question of worshipping the God, but such unimaginable God takes a human form and comes down to this world. Such human form is called incarnation. The human form is like a metallic wire. God is like the current, passing through the metallic wire. The current pervades all over the wire. Similarly, God pervades all over the body of human incarnation. Wherever you touch the wire the current is experienced. Similarly, the human body of incarnation is God everywhere. Lord Krishna is the human incarnation of God. When you touch the feet of Lord Krishna you have touched the feet of the God. But the human body of incarnation follows only the rules of the nature. If you beat such human body it suffers with the same pain as an ordinary human body suffers. Why this human body is not beyond the rules of nature?

The purpose of the human body is to suffer with pain like any other human body, whenever the results of the sins of the devotees are taken. If the human body is above the nature, then it will not suffer with pain. Then it becomes cheating the justice. So Datta means the human body given to this world of devotees for the sake of suffering their sins. The only way to get rid of your sins is to catch Datta (The contenmproary human incarnation). In no other way your sins are postponed. You will have to suffer your sins in the future life along with interest. The cycle of ‘Karma’ is very much inevitable. The scriptures say ‘Avasyam anubhoktavyam’, which means that one has to enjoy the results of his own deeds rather good or bad.

There are only 3 ways.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->1) <!--[endif]--> To enjoy the fruits of bad deeds now itself.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->2) <!--[endif]-->To enjoy the fruits of bad deeds in your future along with interest.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->3) <!--[endif]-->To catch Datta and transfer the fruits of all your sins to Him.

Out of these three ways a scholar will not accept the second way. A devotee will never agree to the third way. A scholar and a devotee will agree the first way only and is prepared to undergo the results of the sins now itself. He will never ask God to relieve him from the results of the sin. In such a stage nobody becomes a devotee of God, because there is no benefit from God. But still one can become a devotee. Let us take the case of a fan of a film hero. The fan does not get any benefit from the film hero. Instead of getting benefit, the fan spends from his pocket and the fan is put to loss. He became the fan attracted by good virtues of the hero shown in the various films. Such a fan is ideal for the devotee. The devotee is attracted towards Datta by the sixteen divine qualities. The devotee is worshipping Datta because he is attracted by the divine personality of Datta and not for any benefit from Datta. Even if he is put to loss he will not leave Datta. He wants to undergo all the sufferings now itself. As a scholar, he does not want to postpone the suffering of his sins, because he has to pay the interest. As a devotee he does not want the suffering of Datta for his sake. Therefore, His devotee is not at all connected to the removal of his sufferings. His love (Bhakti) to Datta continues irrespective of his sufferings. The love to Datta is really proved by his service to Datta. He continues to serve Datta while suffering due to the sins. Such scholar-devotee is the real devotee of Datta. Now, Datta takes over all his sins and suffers for his sake. The devotee is not aware of this. If the devotee is aware, he will strongly object Datta. So Datta suffers for his sins secretly without the knowledge of the real devotee. This is the only way to get rid of your sins really. Except this one way there is no other way to escape your sins. In all the other ways either you have to undergo your sins then itself or if you pester God too much, your sins will be postponed and you have to enjoy those sins with interest.

[dattaswami]

God is even not equal to your son!!!! & your prayers are lies only!!!

 

Excellent explanation of fundamentals of devotion to God and God is the ultimate decider not planets

 

Astrologers and Priests

 

When a policeman beats a thief with his stick he should not think that the stick is beating him. Ofcourse the stick is directly beating him, but the stick is inert and cannot beat him by itself. Only the policeman is beating him through the stick. If the thief prays the stick there is no use. If he prays the uniform of the policeman then also there is no use. Only he should pray the policeman who wears the uniform and is holding the stick. The uniform is also inert. Since the thief has stolen something from somebody, the police beat him. The judge has given that punishment. The judge became the policeman and beats the thief. Similarly, the person who is acting as judge as well as policeman is God. The thief is the individual soul (Jeeva) who has done the sin. The uniform of the policeman is the deity. The stick is the planet. Even if the thief praises the judge who is the police also, there is no use because the judge or the policeman is very strict. So there is no use of praising either the inert uniform or stick or the living being i.e., police or judge.

There are three ways here.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->Ø <!--[endif]-->The first way is that the thief should receive hundred beatings today itself.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->Ø <!--[endif]-->The second way is that the thief can postpone the punishment by one day and he can receive hundred and twenty beatings tomorrow.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->Ø <!--[endif]-->The third way is the policeman or judge will receive hundred beatings today or one hundred twenty beatings tomorrow on behalf of the thief.

The second way is unnecessary because the interest is unnecessarily paid. In the third way what is the relationship you have with the judge or police i.e., God? When the God comes in the human form you have treated Him as an outsider. You have not treated Him even on par with your son. You have served your son in his childhood. When he is grown up instead of reciprocating by serving you, he started insulting you. But still you have given all your property to him only. Let us take God. You have worshipped Him. Suppose God is giving you difficulties instead of boons, if God is on par with your son you should continue to serve the God because you continued to serve even your troubling son. But you are leaving God if He gives difficulties for your worship. So God is not equal to even your son. But you are praising God that He is above all the bond and that He is more than anything and anybody. So your prayers are lies.

God is treated as an outsider and your love on him is not real. Then why should He undergo the punishment on your behalf? More over you tried to fool the God with your false prayers, which are lies. Therefore, the third way is ruled out. Only the first way remains and you must undergo the punishment today itself. God is infinite Ocean of kindness. If you pester Him by weeping pitiably, He will postpone your punishment by one day and you have to pay the interest for that day. He cancelled the punishment for today only. You are misled, since you think that the punishment is cancelled forever. God can also transform the punishment from one form to other form. In that case instead of one hundred and twenty beatings, you will receive one hundred knife injuries tomorrow. In this case also the beating is transformed to the knife injury and you are thinking that the punishment by beating is cancelled. He is not only the infinite Ocean of kindness but also the infinite Ocean of intelligence.

Therefore, there is no use of worshipping the deities or planets, which are inert, like uniform and stick. God is like the policeman or judge, which is the living force. The beating by stick is mechanical force, which is used and controlled by the living force. That living force is God. If you want to escape the punishment really and forever you have to catch that living force. That living force which is the judge or policeman has power to cancel the punishment. But He will not cancel the punishment. Instead, He will undergo your punishment for your sake if you can catch Him. He can be caught by true love. The love can be proved only by Service or Seva i.e., you participate in His mission when He comes down in human form. He will appear as if He is giving some difficulties to you as soon as you serve Him.

He is only settling your future sins. He undergoes ninety nine percent of your future sins and makes you pay one percent only. The ninety nine percent from which you escaped is not seen by you. As you see only that one percent, it appears as if He is giving difficulties to you as soon as you worship Him. He appears like this to test you whether you can still serve Him on par with your troubling son. If you pass His test and continue to serve Him in spite of the difficulties, He will be pleased with you. Then He will suffer for all your sins by undergoing one hundred percent punishment. Your devotion to Him is so much that you will not agree if He reveals this truth to you. So He undergoes the punishment secretly. This is the only way to get rid of your sin completely. But remember that you should not aspire to get rid of your sins completely by following this path artificially. You should be prepared to suffer your sins really and follow this path sincerely.

The Veda says ‘Bhishodeti’ and ‘Tasya Bhasa’ i.e., all the planets work only by His power. The Veda also says ‘Ekena Vijnatena…’i.e., by catching that one power you can catch all the deities and planets. The clue to catch that one power, which is God, is already explained above. The fans and lights are working by current only. Similarly, by the force of God only deities and planets work. The inert planets, which we see in the sky and their divine forms and other deities also, are working only by His power. These planets are the executive forces, which catch a person and pass on the results of his deeds at the prescribed time according to the judgement of God. They are bound by their duties. There is no use by performing ‘japas’ chanting. People think that the planets are giving good or bad results by their movement. This is wrong. The planets are giving only the results of your deeds. Auspicious planets give you results of good deeds and malefic planets are giving you results of bad deeds. A planet is called as ‘Graha’, which means that it catches you wherever you may be in this universe and gives you the result in the scheduled time.

Similarly ‘Kenopanishath’ (The Veda) says that when the deities became proud of their powers, God appeared as ‘Yaksha’ and proved that all their powers are only His power. So the deities also cannot do anything without the will of God.

[dattaswami]

 

Sometimes I pray at night for me to have a dream about Krishna.. I never do dream of him. However when I do cry out to him with a painfull heart something happens.. Its usually something small but just enough to let me know that he hears me.. Like tonight.. I was feeling like I just wanted to escape this life and cried out to him and then a comforting song would play on the radio.

 

Devotion

 

The relationship of the devotee with the Lord is called devotion. Devotion is love for he Lord. Love is proved by service or seva. Claims of love without service are fraudulent. Praying, meditation, intellectual discussions, words, feelings or singing hymns does not substantiate devotion. If a husband loves his wife then he must serve her when she is ill. If he just sits by her side with his eyes closed or meditates upon her or chants her name aloud, while refusing to practically serve her by giving her medicines, food and drink, then he is only making a show of love; he does not really love her. The one who really loves her will serve her.

The Lord is pleased only with total devotion. The Gita says “eka bhakti? visi?yate”. He wants the devotee to love Him alone; not anyone or anything else. Nobody or nothing should be equal to Him. He will make the devotee reach this stage of devotion. This is the essence of all the datta parik?a or the tests of the Lord. The devotee will be tested severely till he breaks all bonds with everyone and everything in the world, till only the bond with the Lord remains. The Lord does not compromise in this aspect. He will not tolerate even a drop of the devotee's attachment to anything or anyone in the world.

Lord Krishna tested Radha very severely.

She was His beloved in v?ndavanam. When the Lord left v?ndavanam he left her behind. Not only that but He even married other women. He offered protection to sixteen thousand women. He never returned to v?ndavanam to Radha. He never inquired about her. He never even saw her face again. Such was the severity of His test. His intention was to see if Radha would get jealous. The weakness of a woman is her lover. No woman can tolerate any other women around her lover. Radha, who was the Lord's beloved, for many years in v?ndavanam had all the reason to get jealous of the wives of Lord Krishna. Yet her love was pure. It was free of expectation. She never once gave in to jealousy. She was ever full of love for Him. She would constantly imagine herself falling at the feet of the Lord. She died pining for Him. The Lord was extremely pleased with her and gave her his eternal companionship in the uppermost world.

The Lord tested Hanuman in the aspect of egotism. He gave Hanuman ample opportunity to develop egotism. Lord Rama never displayed any special powers to prove that He was the Lord. Hanuman himself had a lot of super powers and had to use them more than Lord Rama. The Lord also made sure that Hanuman was compelled to use those powers to save Him. He made Hanuman save Lakshmana's life by lifting the dro?agiri mountain in order to obtain the life saving sañjivani herb. When Lord Rama and Lakshmana, both were knocked unconscious by the powerful demon, indrajit, Hanuman had to fly to the heavens and bring garu?a the Divine Eagle, in order to save them. Thus the Lord made it appear that it was Hanuman, who was never incapacitated in the war while the Lord Himself was. It was Hanuman who had to rescue the Lord. It was Hanuman who displayed super powers and not the Lord. It would appear to a common observer that Hanuman was the Lord and not Lord Rama. However Hanuman's devotion was sublime. He did not fall pray to egotism. He understood fully well that Lord Rama was the Lord and that He was only testing him. He therefore said “daso'ha? kosalendrasya; “I am the servant of the Lord.”

[dattaswami]

 

Once Ramanujacarya fed a fish the maha-prasadam of the Deity. The fish jumped out of the water to grab the prasadam in its mouth and before it could enter the water again the fish assumed a Vaikuntha form and entered the Vaikuntha planets. The disciples of Ramanuja saw this and inquired from their guru as to why they had not yet received a Vaikuntha form since they had received maha-prasadam many times. Ramanuja replied that his disciples were trying to enjoy the prasadam which is an aparadha, offense. The fish he said made no such aparadha and therefore he attained Vaikuntha.

 

Goloka means the group of senses (Gavam Loka iti). This means the human body. The energetic body also is in the same form of human body and is having all the senses. Therefore, Goloka means both the human body and energetic body. When Gopikas were in the association of <st1:place w:st="on">Krishna</st1:place> on this earth, they were already in Goloka. When <st1:place w:st="on">Krishna</st1:place> and Gopikas left their human bodies and entered energetic bodies, in the upper world called as Goloka, Gopikas are again in association with Lord Krishna only. This means that the state of Gopikas continued even after their death. The death does not change the state. If you attain the jeevanmukti, you can attain mukti. The former is due to recognition of the human incarnation in this life on this earth. The latter is due to subsequent recognition of God in the energetic body in the upper world.

Therefore, without the former, the latter is impossible. The Goloka is given higher status than Vaikuntha. What is the reason? Same God exists in both energetic forms (Narayana and <st1:place w:st="on">Krishna</st1:place>). Both forms are equally energetic. Thus there is no difference in the forms of God. But there is difference between the levels of the devotees. The devotees in Goloka recognized God on the earth and in Goloka fully since they conquered egoism and jealousy. They are in the higher level. But the devotees in Vaikuntha could not recognize the human incarnation on this earth due to the principle of common repulsion (repulsion between the common human bodies). They worshipped Lord Narayana here through photos and statues with full devotion. The reason for their full devotion on this earth is due to the absence of the common repulsion. But the same devotees went to Vaikuntha and do not recognize Lord Narayana due to the same principle of common repulsion (repulsion between the energetic forms). But due to their Samskara of their full devotion to Lord Narayana on this earth, a partial devotion to Narayana develops due to reduction of full devotion by the common repulsion.

Now if you compare the devotees in Vaikuntha with the devotees in Goloka, the latter are certainly in the higher level. The same teacher goes to graduate and post graduate classes. The difference in the levels of the classes is not due to the difference in the teacher but it is due to difference in the levels of the students. Therefore, the recognition of human incarnation in your present generation can alone lead you to the highest plane of God.

Goloka Vs Vaikuntha

 

Lord Narayana exists always as energetic form only. But Lord Krishna existed as human form for some time on the earth and then became energetic form and is continuing in the same. The devotees of Narayana and <st1:place w:st="on">Krishna</st1:place> are in no way different from each other as on today, because today both are worshipping the energetic forms only due to repulsion towards human form. Both devotees on reaching the upper world will have reduced devotion due to principle of repulsion between common media. The case of Gopikas was quite different from the present devotees of Krishna, since they had the opportunity to worship the human form of <st1:place w:st="on">Krishna</st1:place> when they were alive on this earth.

Gopikas conquered egoism and jealousy and hence could worship <st1:place w:st="on">Krishna</st1:place> in human form when they were alive on this earth. But the present devotees of <st1:place w:st="on">Krishna</st1:place> could not conquer egoism and jealousy like Gopikas and hence are unable to accept their contemporary human incarnation. They can never enter Goloka for this main difference. They can only enter Vaikuntha like the devotees of Narayana, who can also appear as <st1:place w:st="on">Krishna</st1:place> to them simultaneously. These devotees of Krishna have already the concept of Narayana appearing as <st1:place w:st="on">Krishna</st1:place> and hence they can not object to this.

[Beggar]

Bhagavad-gita 10.11

Commentary

 

by

 

 

Srila Bhaktiraksaka Sridara Deva Goswami Maharaja

 

 

Verse 10.11

 

 

tesam evanukampartham, aham ajnana-jam tamah

nasayamy atma-bhava-stho, jnana-dipena bhasvata

 

 

eva

- Certainly;

anukampa-artham

- being subordinate to the love;

tesam

- of them;

aham

- I;

atma-bhava-sthah

- appearing within their hearts;

nasayami

- destroy;

bhasvata jnana-dipena

- by means of thew dazzling perception of meeting Me;

tamah

- the darkness of bewilderment;

ajnana-jam

- born of not seeing Me.

 

Out of compassion for them, I, situated within the hearts of all living beings, dispel the darkness of ignorance with the radiance of knowledge. or

Being conquered by the love of those devotees who, in the most elevated position of noncalculative loving devotion (jnana-sunya prema-bhakti ), are afflicted by all-devouring darkness born of the pangs of separation from Me, their Lord - I, granting them the internal illumination of meeting Me personally, destroy the darkness of their agony of separation.

Commentary

The general interpretation is always given for this verse:

"Out of compassion for them, I, situated within their hearts, dispel the darkness of ignorance with the radiance of knowledge."

But if we appreciate pure, noncalculative devotion (jnana-sunya bhakti ), the Lord's statement here may again appear redundant and inconsistent. When those high devotees are already admitted to be performing continuous and unadulterated service, and even above that, they are situated in the plane of pure love, spontaneous and automatic (raga-marga ), how can it be harmonized that the Lord will now in the last stage destroy their ignorance (tamah ) which is born from misunderstanding (ajnana-jam ), by giving them knowledge (jnana )? Jnana is only a cover - a futile, finite conception of the Infinite Absolute (jnana-karmady anavrtam . . . bhaktir uttama ). When they have achieved devotion devoid of the covering of knowledge (jnana-sunya bhakti ), how will they again have to return to that knowledge (jnana )? In his commentary, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura has mentioned that this knowledge is extraordinary (vilaksanam ), but he did not enter into specific detail. To clarify this point, we have given the following explanation:

Lamentation and delusion are generally known to be symptoms of the mode of ignorance (tamo-guna ). In jnana-sunya bhakti, the elevated devotees who take Krsna not as the Supreme God, but as a friend, son, husband or lover, will come to experience lamentation and delusion, but this is only an outward appearance of ignorance. In fact, it is the pain of divine separation. They lament, "Where have You gone?"

In this verse, the Lord's statement, tesam evanukampartham generally means "Fortunately for them," or, "To favor them (I dispel their darkness, etc.)." But it may also be interpreted, "I want their favor. I aspire for the favor of those devotees of the highest order."

The Lord also says in the Srimad Bhagavatam (10.82.44):

 

mayi bhaktir hi bhutanam, amrtatvaya kalpate

distya yad asin mat-sneho, bhavatinam mad-apanah

 

 

"Devotion to Me is the only means for the living beings to attain eternal life. O Gopis, by your fortune, your love and affection for Me is the only reason for your getting My association."

 

This is the general meaning. However, in Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Goswami has drawn out the inner meaning, which is just the opposite:

"Through devotion, everyone wants Me to help them attain the highest position of eternal benefit, and if they have a connection with Me, they consider themselves fortunate. But I consider Myself fortunate because I have come in touch with the valuable affection that I found in your hearts. By My fortune, I got your association."

Therefore, here in Sri Gita, the Lord is saying, "Tesam evamukampartham - being conquered by the love of those devotees, when I cannot tolerate their pain of separation, I at once come running to satisfy them, and I reveal to them with special light, special consciousness, 'I have returned to you - see Me now.' With powerful brilliance (jnana-dipena ) I show them My presence when they are very much in need of Me, and I relieve their pain of separation."

Atma-bhava-sthah: He reveals Himself according to His devotees divine relationship with Him (rasa ): to a friend, as a friend; to a mother, as a child; to a wife, as a husband; and to the sweethearts, as a paramour.

After Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu left home and accepted the renounced order of life, sannyasa, mother Saci could not tolerate the deep separation, and she began to cry. Sacidevi was preparing excellent dishes, offering them to the Deity, and weeping, "Where is my Nimai? He's very fond of these curries. His favorite dishes and Nimai is not here." Suddenly, Lord Caitanya came and began to eat. Sacidevi exclaimed, "Oh, Nimai is eating!" and for the time being her separation was relieved. Moments later, she reconsidered, "Did I see Nimai eating? But He is now a sannyasi in Jagannatha Puri, so how could He have come here? Did I serve Him? There must be a mistake." Then she examined the pots again to see if there was food there. Finding them empty, she began to conjecture whether even a dog or some other animal had come and eaten it. But during that moment, Nimai had actually come, and mother Saci saw Him in broad daylight. That illumination is transcendental, and not the "knowledge" (jnana ) that is generally known in our vocabulary.

The acme of theism is parakiya-rasa. Parakiya means "another's." In every divine relationship (rasa ), the Lord captures all. In the whole of Vrndavana, where everyone follows the path of love (raga-marga ), this parakiya-rasa is infused. The friends of Krsna sometimes say, "Some people say that Krsna is a resident of Mathura. They say He's the son of Vasudeva, and He will soon go to Mathura. They say He is not our friend! Will we really lose His company? Then how will we be able to live in this jungle and drive the cows?" They experience this apprehension - "We may lose Him at any time." This intensifies their friendly service to Him.

Similarly, mother Yasoda says, "Some say that Krsna is not my son, He's Devaki's son. What is this? I won't admit this. He's my child!" This idea enhances Yasoda's affection for Krsna: "I may lose Him? Then how shall I live?" Therefore, the parakiya-rasa stresses the rarity of Krsna's relationship, because the possibility of losing His company is always in the background. But the highest intensity of service is to be found in the madhura-rasa (conjugal) camp. In the other rasas, there is the idea of suspense that He may "go away," but in the conjugal relationship in the divine abode of Vrndavana, the consorts cross the direction of the scriptures and the society, which guide everyone to remain as husband and wife (svakiya ). Parakiya ("another's") has heen accepted in the science of devotion as the highest conception, above svakiya ("belonging"), because social and scriptural sanction is generally a stale conception. Parakiya or paramour relationship is necessary to deceive those who claim ownership over another, such as a husband over the wife, or a parent over a child. In the normally accepted connection (svakiya ) the relationship is very cheap, but to cross the jurisdiction of the scriptures and society, as a paramour, means a greater risk as if to commit sin. Thus, this relationship is very rare, and rarity enhances its intensity and value. The idea of deceiving the "possessor" to favor the "nonpossessor" is a beautiful ornamental conception. Actually in Krsna's case there cannot be any state of paramourship, because in truth He is the owner of everything. However, the divine arrangement is fashioned in this way to enhance the devotee's internal devotion for the Lord, just as food appears more tasteful when hunger is present.

In the planets known as Vaikuntha, the nature of worship of Lord Visnu is gorgeous, majestic, reverential, and awe-inspiring. But above that, the highest conception of Godhead is just like a human form and nature. It is stated in Sri Caitanya-caritamrta in the teachings to Sanatana Goswami:

 

krsnera yateka khela sarvottama nara-lila

nara-vapu tahara svarupa

gopa-vesa venukara nava-kisora natavara

nara-lila haya anurupa

krsnera madhura-rupa suna sanatana

ye rupera eka kana dubaya saba tribhuvana

sarva-prani kare akarsana

 

 

"The most supreme form of Godhead is Krsna, who plays in His eternal divine pastimes just like a human being. An ever youthful cowherd boy of Vrndavana, He enacts His pastimes, always playing His flute. His beauty is so charming and sweet, that the whole universe is flooded by an atom of it, and all beings are drawn irresistibly to Him."

 

"He is approachable by all. We can find God nearest of all - in a human feature. It has been explained how Krsna's nature of human feature is the highest nature of the Absolute, according to the calculation of ecstasy (rasa), which is the common standard of measurement of the whole scope of the Infinite. By the development of

santa-, dasya-, sakhya-, vatsalya-,

and

madhura-rasa,

and then

parakiya

(peacefulness, servitude, friendship, parenthood, and consorthood, and then paramour relationship), this is scientifically proved, without whimsical or blind faith. If we follow the line of

Rupanuga-bhajana

(devotion following the standard of Srila Rupa Goswami) which originates from Sri Caitanyadeva, the scientific basis can be appreciated. The previous

acaryas

have left for us, step by step, how we can follow, conceive, and attain all things.

 

Sridhara Deva Goswami

[theist]

 

Wow...where do you get all this stuff dattaswamiji? Is this your own writing?

 

Although I only scanned this thread I did not notice if this question was answered clearly and in a straight forward manner or not. It should be answered to avoid the charge of plagerism.

[Shakti-Fan]

 

 

 

JAIVA-DHARMA, FROM: CHAPTER FIVE

 

 

 

“VAIDHI-BHAKTI IS NITYA NOT NAIMITTIKA”

 

 

 

SRILA BHAKTIVINODA THAKURA

 

Lahiri:...My son, the service that all of you render at home to the Deity of Bhagavan is not paramarthika because you do not accept the eternality of Bhagavan’s form. That is why you cannot be among the isanugatas. Now I hope that you have understood the difference between nitya and naimittika upasana (worship).

Devidasa: Yes. If one worships the sri-vigraha (Deity) of Bhagavan, but does not accept that vigraha as eternal, then it is not worship of an eternal object. However, can’t one adopt a temporary means of worship to attain the eternal truth, which is ultimately distinct from any such temporary forms?

Lahiri: Even if that were the case, such temporary worship cannot be called eternal dharma. The worship of the eternal vigraha as performed in vaisnava-dharma is nitya-dharma.

Devidasa: But sri-vigraha that is worshiped is fashioned by a human being, so how can it be eternal?

Lahiri: The vigraha worshiped by the Vaisnavas is not like that. Bhagavan is not formless like brahma. On the contrary, He is the all-powerful, concentrated embodiment of eternity, knowledge, and bliss. It is that sac-cid-ananda-ghana-vigraha that is the worshipable Deity of the Vaisnavas. Bhagavan’s transcendental form of eternity, bliss, and knowledge is first revealed in the pure consciousness of the jiva, and then it is reflected in the mind. The external form of the Deity is fashioned according to this transcendental form revealed in the mind, and by the power of bhakti-yoga, the sac-cid-ananda form of Bhagavan then manifests in the Deity. When the devotee takes darsana of the Deity, that Deity unites with the transcendental form of Bhagavan that the devotee sees in his heart.

The Deity that the jnanis worship, however, is not like that. They think that the Deity is a statue made of material elements, but that the state of brahma is present in it while they are conducting their worship, and that it becomes a mere material statue again after they have finished their worship. Now you should consider the difference between these two conceptions of the Deity and their respective methods of worship. When you obtain Vaisnava diksa by the mercy of a genuine guru, you will be able to correctly understand this difference by observing the results of both.

Devidasa: Yes, now this all makes more sense to me. Now I see that the Vaisnavas are not just fanatics driven by blind faith; rather, they are endowed with subtle and discriminating insight. There is a major difference between the worship of the sri-murti and the temporary worship of an imaginary form of the Lord that has been imposed on a material object. There is no difference in the external procedures of worship, but there is a vast difference in the faith of the two worshipers. I will think about this for some days. Father, today my greatest doubt has been dispelled. Now I can say emphatically that the jnanis’ worship is merely an attempt to cheat Sri Bhagavan. I will submit this topic at your feet again at a later time.

After saying this, Devi Vidyaratna and Sambhu departed for their residential quarters. They returned to Lahiri Mahasaya’s kutira in the late afternoon, but there was no opportunity to discuss these topics further, for at that time everyone was immersed in hari-nama-sankirtana.