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Vedic Religion

Vedas For Beginners 7 : What is meant by ghosts and spirits[ Bhuths and pretaas]?

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K:  Do bodies like ghosts and spirits exist?  Number of stories is told on ghosts and spirits.  Talismans, threads are tied in an attempt to ward off evils. Mantras are muttered to drive away the spirits. There are exorcists claiming similar action. Is it correct?

V:  Really speaking, ghosts and spirits do not exist. What people say on the subject are just imaginary stories. Time has three dimensions, present, past, and future. Bhoot means past i.e., what is elapsed.   A deceased does not exist anymore. He is counted to as belonging to the past (Bhoota). Therefore, Bhoot refers to the person who is dead and gone. There is nothing called pretha (spirit). A dead person is called as pretha ( pra+ ita) which would also mean as one who has already gone away. In other words Bhoot and pretha refer to that person who was there earlier but not now because he is dead. People who say that they have seen these ethereal bodies, normally also claim that they could be seen in night only. How? All phony things occur only in night. Whether these men claiming to have seen such unearthly bodies possess catty eyes or whether these airy bodies are made of radium type substance that could be seen only in dark is for anybody to guess. All the big and minute things in the world could be seen either with our naked eyes or thru specially made lenses. If Bhoots and Pretas were to be some sort of human bodies definitely they would have been visible or not visible at all. Fact however is, it is generally said to be seen by a person who normally suffers from deliriums or convulsions or whose mind is heavily influenced by stories of Bhoots and Pretas. Otherwise men who are sound, in body and mind do not claim for having seen them. As per principles of psychology when the man’s mind is subjected to certain bad influences (psychological trauma) he would be visualizing pictures of some weird objects and scenes.  What is to be seriously pondered over here is that when a man is dead his body gets merged in the five elements of nature. And the soul takes a new body as per law of Karma. Then where is the question of Bhoot or pretha? Wherefrom it can originate?

ghost

If it is said that Bhoot or prêt refers to the subtle body then it should be clarified that the soul cannot discharge any bodily functions without the medium of gross physical body.  If, talisman, black threads, mumbo-jumbo, exorcism were capable of warding off diseases, then the ward of the men indulging in such spurious practices should never succumb to any disease? Is it so? Their children also die and so also they vanish one day. If mantras or mumbo-jumbo could cure men from diseases then where is the necessicity for Doctors and Hospitals? Funnily, the cat will be out of the bag when a person who is said to be possessed of spirit is confronted with a difficult problem. Person desirous of examining them should ask for a Veda Mantra from a person possessing such spirits in case he is a Hindu or he must be asked to recite versions of Koran in case he is a Muslim. If done, these tricksters stand thoroughly exposed. Further these fraudulent men employ some smart tricks here to fool the credulous. So when the common man is unable to understand these phenomenons they tend to think that they (men of spirits) are capable of controlling the spirits. Frankly speaking there are no spirits, but these thoughts keep nagging the weak and the doubting thamases. The truth however is, every person shall reap what he sows and there is no escape from this law.  . The just God is present everywhere and his law that person is rewarded or punished as per his previous karma or sanskars stands unchanged.

 

Do planets influence men and cause pleasures and pains?

 

sonia-astro

 

K. Good! There may not be objects like spirits. But pleasures and pains are definitely caused by planets. We have to undergo the punishments inflicted by these nine planets. Astrology can never go wrong. Astrology is so perfect that it can predict the cosmic phenomenon like lunar eclipse and solar eclipse well before hand.

 

V. pains and pleasures are not due to planetary influences. They occur because of the outcome of ones deeds. The planets that are present would give neither pain nor pleasures to anybody. Planets do influence the earth each in its own way. The changes like happiness or sorrow that occur are dependent on the strength of the objects.  For ex, Sun is a star. Its light is found everywhere. Utilizing the sunlight a plant is growing tall with roots firmly embedded in the soil.  At another place there is tree which lies after being cut. The sun falls equally on the growing tree as well as on the tree that is cut. But it is only the uncut tree that is growing big and the severed tree is withering away fast due to sunlight. Whereas the sun is falling equally on both why the uncut tree is flourishing well and other is getting dried up? The same sun falls equally on iceberg and stone.  The stone becomes harder because of sunlight but the iceberg melts. A healthy eyed man enjoys the beauty of Nature made more enchanting by the shades of light whereas the man with the diseased eye shuns the sight of sun and feels unhappy. Now tell me whether this difference was caused by Sun? Did he do any mischief here?  What was the fault of Sun?  The changes, the pleasures or pains occur because of the strength of the object. Now look!  There are two parts present in Astrology.  That part which is based on mathematical calculations is called Astronomy could be called as scientific. The other which is predictive in nature and dependent on speculations on planetary movements is a pure myth. The lunar and solar eclipses are related to Astronomy. Therefore they can be predicted well in advance i.e. before months and years. The Sun, the Moon have been at work as per physical laws and the Astronomy is accordingly written. Astronomers have the knowledge of the movement of planets and they could therefore accurately predict when the eclipses could take place. Where there is certainty in the movements of the objects its influence could be known at once by mathematical calculations. There is definiteness in the movements in a clock. Any boy who is conversant with the reading of the clock could say with certainty when 12 Noon occurs. When both the needles are getting together at 12.during the day he would instantly say that it is 12 Noon.  This is possible because there is an accurate movement in a clock. Truly speaking, Astronomy is mathematics based science.  Astrology is a predictive mumbo-jumbo and Astronomy has been associated with this by default.

          

 Note :  This is the translated version of the original Hindi  ”Do bahinonke bathe” written by late Pt. Siddagopal”Kavirathna” .

 

Vedic Religion

Vedas For Beginners 6 : IS GOD JUST AND MERCIFUL?

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V:  How the attributes of Mercy and Justice could remain together with God was your yesterday’s question. Frankly speaking, both Mercy and Justice are always remain together, the difference being whereas Mercy is from the side of God; Justice is dispensed as per the Karma of men. For ex, a farmer sows the seed in a farm. But the God instead gives him hundreds of grains in return. This is God’s mercy. About Justice it is as per the well-known adage “he reaps what he sows”. When he sows the groundnut seed he reaps the groundnut crops only, and not wheat. This is his justice. There is a father with four sons. The father gives Rs 1000/- each to his sons. This is the mercy being shown by the father on his sons. If one son snatches the portion of another son forcibly then the father punishes the erring son. This is his justice. The father gives money from his side. Hence he is merciful; punishing the erring son and restoring the rights to the entitled is the Justice of the father. A king punishes a robber. This is his Justice. By giving death sentence to the robber he protects the weak and affected. This is His mercy. If the king lets off the robber it is His “injustice”. Really speaking the meaning of both Justice and Mercy is one and the same. Where is Justice without Mercy? The unjust is selfish and never kind. God is while being Just is also Merciful. He has created the world for living beings. This is His total Mercy. He dispenses fruits according to their Karma to everybody and this is His Justice.

 

K: Does God becomes aware whenever a wicked deed is performed or not? If yes, why it is not stalled immediately?

 

V: God tries to stall everybody from doing wicked deeds instantly. The proof for this is, while about to do an  evil, the feelings of guilt, shame, crop up in the mind of the doer at the same time, whereas while doing a good deed the feelings of delight, enthusiasm springs in his mind instantly. All these things happen from the side of God. This is called the inner voice. Why human beings? Even in animals the feelings of doubt and shame crop up. When a piece of bread is thrown at a dog it eats at the same place with its tail wagging. The same dog when it steals a piece of bread it neither wags the tails not eats at an open place. It eats stealthily. Why? It knows that this is a food gained by stealing. Hence it is clear that God prevents the living beings from committing a crime. Yes. This much is certain. God does not snatch away the liberty of doing an action from any body. The Soul is beginning less and is free to do any action and this being the case how can He take away the independence of human beings? If he takes away the liberty, the Souls do not remain as Souls as such or there a longing to improve from their side. For ex, when examination is going on, the teacher would be watching the boys against copying. So many boys would be writing wrong answers and the teacher is observing them. He does not prevent boys from writing wrong answers but allows them. He is not coming in the way of their independence. If the teacher on the other hand were to dictate the correct answers to all, how could there be an improvement from the boys? What is the point then in teaching and conducting examinations to them? In that event, the students do not remain as students but become a piece of lifeless dolls. It is the duty of the teacher to teach them well. To study well and write correct answers is the duty of boys. In a similar manner it is the duty of God to provide the nature of Good and bad deeds through Vedas. It is not His job to get good or bad things done. The living beings do their Karma according to their freedom. They get happiness if they were to do good things inspired by Knowledge and suffer if they do vice versa. Apart from the knowledge given thru Vedas, God by remaining within their hearts would be prompting living beings not to do evil things.  Of course, it is up to their freedom and power to heed to this advice or not. This is called the God’s attempt to prevent the occurrence of Evil deeds. Prevention does not mean taking away the freedom. In case, God was to take away the freedom of action, the imitative and Enthusiasm for doing a Work or not gets lost and the living beings become reduced to just dolls in the hands of God. And God becomes accountable for everything.

 

K: Good! Why God does not provide the benefit [Award or Punishment] immediately?

V: How can award or punishment be given instantly? Let us think for a while. God has given a reward for the good work done by a person immediately. The duration of happiness consequent of this reward could be also visualized to last for one year. Now in the very next day he does some wicked things and that that the duration of punishment for this deed is to last for a year. Now think about this. Now the man has got a reward and consequently he should not put to any suffering for a period of a year. But if punished immediately for his bad deeds for a period of a year then the earlier order of God that he should enjoy happiness for a period of one year is defeated. Since the human being possess the work freedom, he would  keep on doing either good or  bad deeds and if God were to provide instant reward for the deeds done then the system of God  awarding  punishments or happiness and their unhindered enjoyment or suffering  overlap each other   and His own inimitable law suffers.

 

K: Do the lakhs of lives in the world are born of their Karma?

V: There are two types of lives in the world. One is called Bhogayoni and other is called Ubhaya yoni. They have got this birth because of their Karma.

K: What is meant by Bhogayoni and Ubhayayoni?

V: Those lives that enjoy happiness or sorrows but do not indulge in any action for their future are called Bhogayoni. For ex, animals and birds. Man is an Ubhayayoni. He enjoys both pain and pleasures as per predetermined Karma and also does both good and bad things for future.

K: Why man is considered as Ubhayayoni?

V: Animals and Birds have passion or concern for eating only. They don’t have the passion to produce things. They are here to enjoy as decided by God’s system. They don’t earn anything. These animals eat, wheat, grains, but they are incapable of producing them for the reason they lack thinking faculty. But the man because of thinking strength produces the crops by utilizing the animals. Because of his thinking power only he is described as Ubhayayoni. He is capable of enjoying the goods and controls all animals by his thinking power. A shepherd has thousands of sheep. A cowherd has thousands of cattle.  Man gets acrobatics done even by lions in circus. Why animals? Because of this thinking strength he manipulates fire, air, water, sky, earth to his advantage. God did not give man feathers to fly but he has got aero plane built for the purpose. God did not provide him with bodies of fish, crocodile, turtle, etc, to remain in water but he has got ships, built for the purpose. God did not give him the distant penetrating sight of an eagle but has found out Microscope, Telescope etc, to overcome the difficulty. What is the secret of this? It is because of his thinking ability. Hence he is Ubhayayoni.  He enjoys the reward of his karma of his previous births and also does action for future also

K: Does all lives get their births as per their Karma? Does not man become animal or bird in his next birth?

V:  Yes. The types of lives [Yonis] are got by their own Karma. Souls keep on moving from one lives [Yonis] or the other. The Karma done in human life are linked to merit or sin [Punya or Pap] I have already told that human being possesses the thinking ability and when he misuses this faculty he commits a sin requiring to travel in all types of lives[Yonis}. God gives birth in many lives [Yonis] according to his own Karma for his improvement. The effect of his good and bad deeds leave imprint on his subtle body. It is this Sanskars that merit him births in several types of lives [Yonis].

K: When human birth is got?

V: When the Sanskars of noble deeds outweigh the Sanskars of sin he gets a human birth. When the Sanskars of selfless life become super strong he gets a liberation i.e. Moksha. In other words, man becomes free from the worries of mundane life and enjoys Bliss.

K: How can the soul of an elephant get into the size of an ant? Because the bigger the animal the bigger the size of the soul. This could be possible. Is it not?

V: There is no big or small in Souls. All Souls are of similar type. There are big or small things in the size of bodies. For ex, in a big machine there are many parts. One part cuts, the other part separates, yet another prints and each part does its own job. But the machine provides equal power to each part. But since the machine is big it has many parts with diverse functions. Those animals which have manlike lips drink milk. A bird with its peaks gulps the milk. There is no disparity in souls. The difference is found only in bodies.

K: Does birth takes place according to Karma? If that is the case, where was Karma before birth? While there cannot be Karma without a body and when was there was no soul with body, how Karma could be done then? Then how he gets caught in the bondage of births?

V: The birth takes place because of ignorance and the bodies are got according to Karma. A boy gets admitted to a school because he is ignorant. Further standards depend upon his Karma or fitness. Similarly, the man gets entry into a School called this world i.e. his first appearance with a body, due to his finite knowledge and taking births in so many lives are due to Karma. Secondly, this is not the first time that he got a birth but has obtained body countless times before and still happening. The Soul has many Sanskars.  One may ask what the Sanskars were obtaining at the time of beginning of Creation. At the beginning of Creation Sanskars pertaining to previous Creation was already there. The Creation is flowing like a river which has no beginning or end. Creation and dissolution of the world keeps on occurring like day and night. It keeps on rotating like a Wheel.

K: Some people assert that evolution has taken place from smaller animals to man.  They say that Man is the ultimate evolution in Creation.

V: This is wrong. If that is so, when man is present the other animals should have become extinct. Whereas man and other animals, birds etc, are also there. How can it be said, that Man also has evolved as other animals went on evolving?  How a seed could remain intact after it is sprouted and grown as tree? Can the flower buds remain as such after flowering? Another important thing to be noted is, there is general knowledge found to be even in animals other than man. But Special knowledge is to be found only in man.

 

How this Special knowledge is found in man? This is due to his power of thinking. This thinking power is not found available in other animals. If this thinking power was present in other animals then man would have found it, not possible to boss over them.  A common principle to be noted here is that, “Nothing emerges out of nothing”. In case, man is evolved out of other animals, then the thinking power should have been present in other animals too. But this is not seen. The theory of evolution says that man is evolved out of monkey. If this is the case, then a just born baby would not have been drowned if thrown into water. If man is evolved out of monkey then all the powers of monkey should have been found invested in man. But this is not the position. Hence, it is clear that man, animals, birds etc have been formed as per the just system of God.

 

Note :  This is the translated version of the original Hindi  “Do bahinonke bathe” written by late Pt. Siddagopal”Kavirathna” .

Vedic Religion

Vedas For Beginners 5 : Is Idol worship justified?

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K: When God is formless how to meditate on Him?

V: Meditation is of two kinds. One is about worldly things and living beings and other one is about God who is beyond senses and All-controlling. We meditate about worldly things when we see them or get parted from them. For ex, I saw a woman in Calcutta. We became friendly. Next, I saw her in Bombay after five years. Immediately I remember her as the woman I met at Calcutta. Secondly, when we part ourselves. For ex, my friend left for tour. Frequently, I would remember where she could be now? When we are together the question of meditation does not arise. Because how could we meditate when she is already before me? But when she parted she is remembered. These are all about worldly things. But the meditation about God is different. To meditate means is to keep mind away from materials and subjects. In other words, zeroing on Soul whose strength is spread over mind and senses. So long the mind and senses are preoccupied with worldly things the soul cannot meditate on God. It is necessary therefore before undertaking meditation that the mind and senses are not allowed by habit to be drawn towards materials and subjects. Meditation is also called as Dhyana, is the seventh step in Yoga. First, yama Niyama Asana, pranayama, pratyahara, Dharana, are to be tackled first. Then the man becomes qualified for undertaking Dhyana. As per rules, meditation is mastered after the six steps are overcome. When there is a distance of seven steps before mastering Dhyana how is it that it could be achieved through Idols first?

K: The mind is fickle. How it can stay on the formless? Idols are required for staying of mind. Mind cannot become steady without a formless object?

V: You are innocent. Mind could stay put only in formless. It cannot become steady in form. This is because, the object with which a form is made of elements of sound, form, touch and liquid etc, Hence mind becomes unsteady after getting stuck in these things. If mind could become steady because of form then the entire world which is having a form and logically the minds of all should have become steady. But this is not the case. The more the minds getting entangled in worldly objects the more unsteady the mind becomes. If you examine still more carefully, mind does not become steady at all. The moment the mind becomes still, death follows. Frankly speaking, mind getting inwards from outside transactions could be stated as the steadiness of mind. So long man lives, his mind would be always in momentum.

K: Are you of the opinion that people who meditate thru Idols are under illusion? Through Idols the unsteadiness of mind is kept away. Hence people worship idols of Ram, Krishna, etc.

V: I have already told that meditation of God is not possible thru Idols. Dhyana means mind being away from subjects. All Idols have all the five subjects in a disorganized way. Looking at them roughly, they have FORMS. Fruits, flowers, milk etc are offered to them and hence there is a juice present. Fruits have scent or smell. Blowing of Bells or conches has an element of sound. The Idols are made of five elements, like, sound, smell, touch, form, and liquid. Then how the Idols can keep away the unsteadiness of mind? People, who worship Krishna’s idol for steadiness of mind, should

Ponder over the fact, that it was Krishna who was present in full life before Arjuna and still the mind of Arjuna was wavering. He tells Krishna,

Chanchalam manah krshna pramadhi balavadrudam|
tasyaham nigrahm manye vayoriva sudhushkam|| [Geetha]

Meaning: The mind is fickle, agitated and strong. I find it is as difficult as to control the air.

Krishna replies.
Asamshayam mahabaho mano durvigraham chalam|
Abhyasena tu kaunteya vairagyena cha gruhyate|| {Geetha}

Meaning: Arjuna! It is not doubted that the mind is very fickle and obdurate. But it is controlled by regular practice and detachment.

Given the fact that when Arjuna was seeing Krishna day in and day out and in spite of his mind was still restless, how the imaginary images of Krishna could instill steadiness of mind?

K: Then should we not worship Idols at all?

V: We should do Idol worship [Murthy puja] i.e. the inanimate Idols should be worshipped in the manner deserving for an inanimate matter. Similarly, the live i.e. Conscious entities should also be worshipped in a manner befitting for living beings.

K: I did not catch your point. How worshiping of the inanimate [Jada] should be done as deserving to a Jada matter and Conscious [Chetan] beings in appropriate manner as deserving to Chetan entities?

V: The term Pooja [worship] has many meaning as per its root verb and also in common parlance. For, ex, the meaning of the term Pooja is to do honor whereas with reference to a jada matter it means to use the inanimate matter judiciously or wisely and to safeguard it from destruction. Now think over the meaning attached to worship of a Jada matter. It means to keep them in order, to safeguard them, to ensure that they are not broken and do not get soiled. This is the intended meaning here. Bowing before all things, offering fruits and flowers is not thought of here. When it is said that a noble man is to be worshipped the intention here is that he should be honored with food and gifts and does not mean flinging of fruits, flowers, water etc at him. Further in the context of fraudulent, the worship of him conveys the meaning that he should be thrashed soundly and not otherwise. So here in one context, Pooja means altruism and in other context punishment. Likewise in respect of jada matter i.e. Idol-worship what is intended here is that these Idols are to be kept safely and offering of light, prostrating before them is not at all the desired intention. This is because that these Idols being inanimate cannot grasp the reverence of a doer nor in a position to receive what is offered to them in the form of flowers and sweets. Conscious beings in the form Father, mother, teacher, Sanyasi, advisor, and scores of men similar to them should be done Pooja i.e. They are to be honored with fruits, flowers, food etc. In other words Pooja here is to be understood as doing an honor or respect.

K: God is said to be everywhere. He is also found to be in Idols. In that case why Idols should not be worshipped? What is worshipped is not stone. The all pervading God is worshipped therein,
.

V: It is true that since god is found to be everywhere he is found to be in Idols also. But it is not necessary that He should be worshipped everywhere and in all things. It is the soul that offers Pooja and the object being to meet with God. Meeting between the two is possible only where they could have a chance to meet. God is no doubt is in Idols. But the soul which desires meet with God is not there in Idols. Then how could there be a Meet? Yes. God and Soul are both present in the hearts of every human being. Meet between these two could take place here only i.e. hearts. Hence the man who wants to meet God is required ensure that Pooja is done in his heart after controlling the mind and senses. Now look! Can we drink water everywhere presuming that God is there in water? God is present in Lions and Snakes. Is it okay to go nearby them? Hence it is clear ignorance and superstition to believe that God is in Idols and hence He should be worshipped there. God is in poison. Then should we eat it? No. Only such things that are eatable are to eaten. Idol worshippers think that they are doing Pooja to the all pervading God in Idols. But frankly speaking, there can be no Pooja of the all pervading God in Idols. You may ask how? God is present also in those Pooja items that are placed on Idols. For ex, sky [void] is present in a pot. It is present in brick also. Could he hit the Void by throwing the brick at the pot? Since the void is pervading everywhere the brick cannot hit the void rather the pot gets broken. Not the Void. Because the void is present both in the pot and brick. Similar is the case of Pooja things that are placed on the Idol. These Pooja items are deposited over Idols and not on God for the reason God is pervading in Pooja items also.

V: It is not necessary that we need to put fruits and flowers on God. But looking at Idols reverentially we become aware of the grace and glory of all pervading God.

K: This is talk in the extreme. How could we get the knowledge of all pervading God, his grace and glory? Just think. There is oil in til seed. But what is seen? Is it til or oil? Apparently only the til seed is seen. You don’t see the oil in it even when seen with utmost reverence. When the oil is seen? Only when the til seed is grinded the oil is seen. Similarly what is seen in Idol are the bare Idol only and not the all pervading God. Only when you cut the bond with Idol and start searching God in the heart then only God is perceived. Now about the knowledge of glory of God while looking at Idols. How the glory of God is seen in the man made Idols? In fact the greatness of man who has carved the lovely Idols will alone be seen when looking at Idols. If you want to see the grace and glory of God observe the entire Creation with a rational attitude. You will observe the beauty and greatness even in small things. What mark of God’s greatness is there in the man made inanimate Idols?

K: Sister! We get the results as we believe. Even you don’t agree that Idols are not God you can get the results by thinking God in them. Secondly, before we ascend to the heights, we cannot do it so instantly and we require steps. I consider Murthy Pooja as the first stepping stone for the realization of God. Hence, if anybody were to make the imaginary pieces of God and worship them there is no fault in it

V: You should know that faith does not alter the truth of an object. If somebody due to ignorance thinks or believes that lime water is milk can he churn butter out of it? Will the stomach gets it’s full by visualizing a stone as a Roti? If by mere thinking could get the desired things then the people

would not have been found to be so sorrowful. We would not have witnessed the people laboring hard to get things they desire. A belief becomes a belief only when it stands on Truth. Otherwise it is a non-belief. Supposing if a person were to consume laxative pills believing them as medicinal
Tablets can he not get the purging? Hence it is sheer ignorance to say that we can get the results by mere believing contrary to the hard facts.

Look! The priests of Somnath temple had a belief that the inanimate Idol was a veritable lord Mahadev himself. Hence, when Mohamed Gazni came in aggression the priests were sitting idle. They started advising the people, to do Somnath Jap and there was no need to fight as the Lord himself would vanquish the enemy forces. What terrible consequences followed because of this belief and trust are well known to the students of history. Why Somnath temple? Other temples also were destroyed and the Idols broken and tons of money was looted and taken away all because of this belief and trust. Still people did not get rid of their superstitions. The irony is, People believed in powers of the Idols which were incapable of doing anything but reposed no faith in the Conscious entities[ people] who were capable of achieving anything. What a shame? This is the main reason for the downfall of our country and community. Now you would have understood how sorrowful the outcome of belief borne out of ignorance is. Your statement that Murthy pooja as the stepping stone for realization of God is totally erroneous. Yes. Worship of Conscious bodies could of course be treated as the stepping stone of God’s realization in a limited manner but the same cannot be accepted in the context of worship of inanimate Idols. The inanimate objects could be pavements for climbing Himalayas but how they could be stepping stone in God’s realization when they [pavements] are void of any knowledge? The alphabets A, B, C, D are the basic steps to learn English. But if anyone believes this as basic steps for learning Hindi or Sanskrit how could he learn these languages? Hence he could climb to the target thru things which is considered as its steps. The steps for God’s realization are selfless service, Satsang, the eight paths of Yoga [Yama, Niyama, Asana, pranayama, pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi]. Only the regular practice of these steps faithfully can ensure the God’s realization.

You asked me what are the faults involved in worshipping the imaginary Idols of God. The faults are many. They are as under.

1. Man deceives himself by assuming certain real things in imaginary or artificial objects. Even Animals, Birds, insects know that artificial things cannot accomplish the functions of the Real. Throw a mouse made of mud or rubber before a cat. The cat never pounces upon the artificially made mouse. A bee never stops on a flower made of paper. Similarly the animals never aspire on artificial things. But a man who claims to be very intelligent creature among all animals longs to obtain the maximum of good things out of artificial things. Can there be a bigger paradox than this?
2. Man imagines his requirements are also due to this imaginary man made Idols. Since man needs food he also feels that God also requires food and therefore presents eatables. He dresses them as he himself dresses. He bathes the god as he takes bath. He puts God to sleep and awakens him. He puts on ornaments on God as he tries to put on himself. When man is of the belief that God also is in need of formers requirements then what sort of upliftment that could be expected of this God? When

God is himself is the subject of many requirements how he could fulfill the requirements of others? Can the blind lead the blind? No, Never.
3. God is one. But the Idols are many. Each group bound by their own tradition has carved out gods as per their belief. Consequently, there are inter-group clashes destroying national unity. There are other hundreds of faults.

K: Then is it your opinion that we should neither carve out Idols nor worship them? When we see the peaceful, serene and detached Idols of great men we get peace; further they make impact on us.

V: It is not my opinion that we should not carve out Idols at all. Yes we should make Idols that is what I say. By keeping the photos of great men or making their Idols, we can perpetuate their memories. However it does not mean that these replicas should be worshipped like Conscious beings or they should be prayed for grant of favors treating them as either Gods or Gods representatives. How can these grant favors as done by Conscious beings or God? Can a father who is dead shower as much love as he did while being alive to his son? Is the body of the father which fed his son so lovingly while being alive is of any use after death? What difference is there between carved out Idols and the dead body? The Idols do not putrefy whereas the dead body starts putrefying soon after death. This is all the difference and in respect of others matters there is no difference. Pooja means proper use. If goods are not put to use properly then they get ruined causing harm to the man. How you may ask? Listen! There is a devotee of river Ganga.He worships it day in and day out. He offers flowers and Sweets to the River. He sings praises of Ganga always. But he does not know how to swim. One day he gets into the deep river. Will not he get drowned? However great devotee of the river he might be, since he does not know swimming he is sure to get drowned. Then there is other person who does not treat Ganga as mother. He has killed somebody. His clothes have become bloody. He jumps into the river and Swims across the river. How this happened? The reason is simple. He knows how to make use of the river. The first one was doing a wrong Pooja. Hence the river drowned him and saved the other. There would be a section of worshippers of Ganga. Taking bath in the river, offering flowers etc is treated as worship. Every year they shell out hundreds of rupees to Railways. They also get killed in stampede.

Then there is other section of Ganga worshippers. They make canals. Through irrigation they produce abundant crops, and produce power in the form of Electricity. They never did take bath in the river. They got Ganga in their taps at home. Since they knew the correct usage of the river [a Jada matter] how could they keep idle? Any number of examples could be given about the unconscious matter [jada] similar to Ganga. Now about the impact on seeing some Idols. Good or bad influence is not got by seeing the Idols. It is so because of the inherent Sanskars. A Hindu goes to a Ram or Krishna temple. He automatically bows before the Idols. This is because he would have imbibed the history of these personages and also learnt the way they vanquished evil persons like Ravan and Kans. These sanskars could be either through Books or by being heard. But before the same Hindu if you place a statue of Confucius of China, he does not get influenced, nor does it induce any faith in him, the reason being he does not know anything about Confucius. Hence he does not bow before this statue. A Muslim does not bow before any Hindu deities. Why? Because that Muslim has no Sanskars. On the other hand he finds an awful looking Muslim in a photo more pleasing for the reason that Sanskars that the Muslim appearing in that photo is looked as “momin” [Help to Islam] is strongly embedded in his mind. Hence, it is the Sanskars that makes an impact on

Mind while seeing some Idols. If Idols were to make impact it should have done it so to all the viewers of Idols and got peace. But this does not happen.

V: Don’t they show Maps in Schools? They disclose the knowledge of the entire world thru the medium of small Maps. Likewise, the small Idol could disclose the knowledge of God? Is it not?

V: Dear Sister! The Map is made of the world which has a shape. Hence we get knowledge of rivers, mountains, sea, cities, Railways etc. God is omnipresent and formless. Hence it is not possible to make an Idol of Him. Hence the Knowledge of God is not obtained.

K: Syllables and sound are formless. But we make a sign of it and students are taught. If we don’t design the shape of syllables and sound how could else the students learn knowledge?

V: Syllables and sound are not seen by the eyes. But they are heard of course. The eyes choose the subject matter of its concern in order to make the subject known to ears. But how could it receive as its subject matter as it’s when the relevant subject matter is not theirs? This is understood by experience only. It is also not correct to say only when imaginary sign is accompanied by sound, Education could be imparted. If this were to be correct, we would not have seen learned blind men at all. They would not have seen how A, B, C, D alphabets looked like. However we see many blind men well versed in English, Hindi, etc. Secondly the imaginary signs are known as Varna [Letters]. Not syallables.What is written is letter. It has a form. That which is spelt is syllable and this is formless.

It is also not correct that thru the signs [which have a form] one could get the knowledge of formless. This is because the formless sound is first spelt and then sign is written and told to recognize the sound with a particular sign. If your logic is accepted then it amounts to driving the knowledge of formless God first and then asking the student to recognize God in a particular form! When the knowledge of formless God is obtained already then why worships the Idols? Is not the God realization an object of worship? When God is realized why worship without a reason?

K: Good! Time is formless. But people get their jobs done thru the Clock.

V: Clock is not the form of time. Just as we become aware of the time with the movement of Sun, similar work is done through a Clock. The entire functioning of Clock is dependent on Sun.

K: How to meditate on Formless? When an Idol is present before, we keep on meditating. Now we sit for meditation of Formless and closed the eyes. Nothing is before us. Then how the mind can remain steady?

V: There are two types of world; one is spiritual and another physical. The Soul is related to the spiritual. Physical is related to elements like Earth, water, Fire etc. Let us remember that God related subjects are spiritual in nature. Where is the scope of spiritual thinking when your mind keeps roaming here and there while doing Meditation? What are remembered are physical things only? Spiritual meditation could take place when the thinking of worldly objects having form is set aside and the Soul is thought of being pervaded by God. There is no bar of space and time between God and Soul. What is far away is Knowledge. Once the obstacle of Knowledge gets removed God is beginning to be felt. It stays put when the minds desires. The mind stops on those things that are practiced. All works in the world is successfully got through practice only. We would have seen women carrying many water filled pots over their heads negotiating the uneven roads taking care to see that a not a drop of water is spilled over. Many boys and girls carefully walk on the wired thread while doing acrobatics. In circus, dogs and cats even fire bullets. This is all due to practice only. Many weaklings take cold bath in the biting winter but which is dreaded by musclemen. Like wise those who are habituated of thinking God and by practicing the Yama and Niyama they keep meditating on God for hours together near rivers and mountains. Those who have attained Samadhi keep meditating for days together. Do they meditate on any Idols? Not at all. If you think bit deeply, the mind does not rest on Idols at all. The minds keep wandering on the eyes, nose, and limbs of the Idols. When the Idols are not present, the transactions are drawn towards the Soul.

Sister! Kindly remember. Even if the mind were to rest on Idols, it rests on Idols only and not on God. Really speaking, God is formless and omnipresent. Hence close your eyes and start meditating on the meaning of OM with a feeling” that God is present everywhere and I am present in Him and He is also present in me” Keep repeating OM. Recite Gayathri Mantra or any other Vedic mantra and think deeply of its meaning. See how the mind is not brought to control.

K: If we buy sweets from sweet meat shop for a Rupee and eaten, it causes happiness. The Sweet is having a form. The taste we derive is formless. If we were to ask the vendor to provide one rupee taste how could he give that formless taste? This goes to show it is only through the material representation we could get the God’s Bliss.

V: That which is the taste of a matter is enjoyed when it is eaten. If Khova is eaten we get the taste of Khova. If a Laddu is eaten then we get the taste of Laddu only. There is a link of subject and its effect between Khova and its taste, and the link between them is not that of be pervaded and pervade. Khova is a subject and taste is its effect. However, the Idol and God are two different subjects. You know Khova through its taste. When God is not the quality of Idol how could God is felt thru the Idol? Further only when Khova is eaten then only its taste is derived. How a person could derive the taste of khova when it is artificially made of mud? Not possible. Similarly, only when god is experienced the God’s Bliss is obtained. Instead, if material representation is made of metal and mud in place of God how then the God’s bliss is obtained?

K: A currency Note with a King’s photo thereon is more comfortable for circulation. In a similar manner Murthy Pooja is also more comfortable.

V: First of all a King is a person with a body. Hence his photo can find a place in a currency Note. Whereas God is formless and his Photo cannot be made. Further, the Notes printed under the king’s authority are legal and can be easily being traded upon. Whosoever prints Notes against King’s authority could be jailed. Hence the proper and correct usage of forms and objects made by God is more rewarding. Making photos and stating that they are the material representation of God amounts to flouting the order of God which attempts to land the doer in darkness for several births.

K: We have heard in Mahabharata that Ekalavya learnt Archery by making the Idol of Dronacharya?

V: There was a person Dronacharya and his photo was possible. What Ekalavya did was to make the prototype of the master. He did not worship it in place of God. Secondly, the prototype did not

teach him archery. If that is the case why he should have practiced? He learnt the entire Archery thru his efforts and practice. Dronacharya was completely unaware of this development. When he came to know about his prototype he gave punishment. If photos or prototype were capable of imparting education then Vedas could be learnt by just putting up of the photo of Vedavyas. One should be able to get riches by just putting up the photo of Kubera. Do we learn anything other than inertness from the lifeless objects? A butler from his association with an Englishman learns to talk in English. A labour learns to make sweet dishes by working with a Sweet maker. By sitting near fire, the heat is felt. We get the quality of things that we are associated with. By associating with inert, lifeless idols people also got inertness and lost vitality. They were beaten. Temples were destroyed. Country was thrown to slavery and poverty. Because of this inertness the qualities of self-confidence and Action were lost.

K: Good! We have discussed the matter enough. Now tell me whether God is just and merciful? If yes, how both attributes could remain together? If mercy is shown justice gets affected. If Justice is shown then the mercy is lost.

V: Let us discuss this tomorrow.

Vedic Religion

Vedas For Beginners – 4 : WHY GOD HAS NO FORM?

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K:  Sister! Please give reply to yesterday’s question

 

V:   Your question was what was wrong in assuming God had a form? Okay. There are many faults that are involved in treating God as having a form. Firstly, God is known as Sachitananda.   This has three words.viz, “Sat”  “Chit” and “Anand”. The term “Sat” means being present uniformly at all times, present, past and future. In the other words, that which does not undergo change is called as “Sat”.  That which is Knowledge is known as “Chit” The term “Anand” indicates free from sorrow at all times which is known as Bliss. God is called Satchitananda because He is changeless, His knowledge is never destroyed, and who never experiences any sorrow.

 

It is in this context we should see how the objects in the world fare. All the things that have a form in the world are all subject to change and therefore they are not “Sat”. Only formless God and soul could be called under “Chit” Whoever is having a form or body cannot be away from sorrows. He does not enjoy happiness at all the times. He is afflicted with the feeling of hot and cold, hunger and thirst, fear and sorrow, sickness-ageing-death. God is distinct from these two.

 

The first fault in assuming God as having a Form, is with a form, he ceases to be Satchitananda and changeless. This is because all bodies have inbuilt qualities of birth- growth-decay and death. God is above these characteristics.

The second fault is God with a body becomes finite; Whereas God is infinite in nature. He is omnipresent.

The third fault with god having a form is He begins to cease “Beginning less and endless” This is because every thing with a form has an origin and therefore it has a beginning. It cannot be called as beginning less and endless. The thing which has an origin must have an end. That which is created is destroyed in the end.

The fourth fault is God with a body cannot be “All-Knowing” for the reason a body is limited by space and time and therefore it cannot have knowledge of all things. Because of this God cannot become “Antaryami” He cannot understand the mind of everybody.

The fifth fault is God ceases to be eternal. That which remains and has no reason for being remainant is called “Nitya” He being Nitya is not a combination of things. Whereas the things that have a form is the combination of certain elements.

The sixth fault is God instead of being supporter of all He himself becomes dependent on others. The entire world is dependent on God and He is supporter of all. He has assumed the entire world. Whereas if God is treated as having a body He is required to be dependent on some other material. Precisely, for this reason, the traditionalists have set apart places treating God with a body. Some have placed God in seventh heaven, others at Kailas, golok, etc. It is funny that God who is a supporter of the entire world have made himself dependent. If God were to remain dependent on world then how the world could support itself?  Similarly there are so many faults in treating the god with a form or body.

 

K: God is no doubt formless. However, Scholars are of the opinion that God takes shape and reincarnates from time to time. For ex, vapor is formless but when required by time it takes a gross form. We can multiply such examples. When physical things could be formless and yet could assume shape why not God who is formless, could not take a form?

 

V:  The example of water vapor and fire pointed out does not appear to be correct. Water and fire are not basic elements. Many atoms make for water vapor and this take gross shape in the form of cloud and again become water. If water vapor were to be made of one atom then it would not have taken gross form. So is the case of Fire. Many atoms make a fire ball and assume a gross form. To say that fire is all pervading and formless is totally wrong notion. Fire is subtler than earth and water elements. Hence it could be said that fire is pervading in Earth and water. But it is not pervading in air and ether. But it is true that both water and air is pervading in fire for the reason these are more subtle than fire. The subtle pervades the gross. In all things where fire is pervading they have shape and form. All the things in the world which have a form are caused because of all pervading fire. Because the quality of fire is form. Physical things become gross from subtle by the association of many atoms. God is omnipresent, and all alone. He cannot therefore assume shape and take a form. Now, about the god descending from time to time. This is only assumption and nothing else. The term Avatar means to descend and ascend. Only a finite bodies can do this and not applicable to infinite entity like God. The act of ascending, descending, Avatar, coming and going is unthinkable about an entity which is omnipresent. Wherefrom He can come and go when He is found to be everywhere?

 

K: Does not God take Avatar to vanquish Ravan, Kans, Hiranyakashipu etc? I have heard that God takes Avatar whenever Dharma is threatened?

 

V: God has not taken Avatar ever nor He will ever do so in future. From time to time great men are born who have vanquished the wicked, showed the right path and therefore people have called them with some honorific titles. Some people have named them as Nabi or son of God. Still some other has described such great men as Avatar or God personified. But the fact remains that great men remained as such. Why you don’t talk rationally? Can God not capable of destroying by remaining formless?  Hundreds of living beings are born every second and does God goes on destroying them? With one earth quake lakhs of men are killed. Epidemics wipe out hundreds of living beings. Is it sensible to believe that God takes Avatar just to kill wretched beings? Do men like Ravan, Kans ever count? Is it not ludicrous and insulting to God to assume god taking avatar to kill the wicked when He is capable of Creating, Sustaining and destroying the world? It is also not free from blame to say that God takes Avatar when Dharma is threatened. Probably those people who believe in Avatars believe this to be true. But they stand condemned by their own statement. Look! The people having belief in Avatar agree on Ten Avatars and also four Yugas. These Yugas are viz, Satyayuga, Threthayuga, Dwaparyuga and Kaliyuga. In Satyayuga, Dharma stands on four steps. In Threthayuga it stands on three steps, in Dwapara Dharma and Adharma stands equally on two steps each. In other words in Dwapara the elements of Punya [Virtue] and Papa {Non-Virtue] share equal honors. In Kaliyug it is believed that   Non-virtue {Papa} rests on three steps and Virtue [Punya] rests only on one step. Now think of the order of Avatars in all the yugas. It is said four Avatars took place in Satyayuga, three Avatars in Threthayuga and two in Dwaparayuga. And they believe one Avatar taking place at the end of Kaliyuga. Now what is to be pondered over here, why four Avatars took place in Satyayuga when Dharma was resting on all four steps and no Adharma was present. In Threthayuga when Dharma was resting on three steps why three Avatars? Why one less? When in Dwapar when both Dharma and Adharma was present in the proportion of 50:50 why only two Avatars? In Kaliyug when Dharma and Adharma is in the ratio of 25:75 why only one Avatar is outstanding and that too at the end of the Yug? Logically speaking, the number of Avatars should be more with the increase in the proportion of Non-virtue. Whereas the number of Avatars went of decreasing with the rise in the proportion of Non-Virtue. Now tell me what is the relationship between Avatars with the loss of Dharma?

 

K:  The Avatar men have shown amazing things not capable of being done by ordinary men. For ex, lifting of Govardhan Mountain with little finger, etc. Because of this we are compelled to believe that they are all Avatars of God.

 

V: First of all it is wrong to say that someone lifted a mountain with a finger. Even if we accept this could be true, this does not demonstrate anyway the greatness of God or God’s avatar. You may ask why? Before God, who has upheld Sun, planets and countless stars the lifting of Govardhan Mountain appears to be too trifle. There are hundreds of Mountains big and small in the world you live. God has upheld the world and what greatness is involved in upholding a Govardhan Mountain? What heroism is there in upholding a Govardhan Mountain? This is like a student of M.A answering a paper set for 3 rd standard. Yes. If a 3rd standard boy were to answer a paper for M.A then it deserves full praise. This is because it is unbelievable. If God’s Avatar were to lift a mountain there is nothing great or amazing here.

 

K: If God were not to take Avatar then how to believe that God is All-Powerful?  Where is his   omniscientness of God if He could not take an Avatar? He is All-Powerful who could do anything.

 

V: You are irrational. If God were to take Avatar he ceases to be All-Powerful and gets reduced to an entity with limited strength. You may wonder how? He who was doing things earlier without a body and limbs will now start doing the work with limbs. Earlier he was seeing things without eyes. Now he sees with his physical eyes. Earlier he was listening without ears. Now he listens with physical ears. The import of this is, earlier to taking Avatar he was doing everything without a body and now he is dependent on body. Where is His omniscient ness when he becomes dependent? Like the man with finite knowledge depending on Body God also becomes dependent on body. Now where is the difference between man and god? God also becomes subject to hunger and thirst, cold and hot that torment a man. Hate, Love, fever that man experience will also be felt by God. The extraordinary thing is God becomes subservient and not at all remain Independent. He requires food, water, clothes and shelter. How could you say that he is all powerful when he starts depending on his body for execution of jobs when earlier he was doing everything with no support from any side?   A person with just a blink of an eye makes a person unconscious and yet another make him unconscious with the help of a drug. Who is powerful among these two? Definitely the person who renders unconscious with a blink of an eye for the reason he does not dependent on drugs for this job.

 

Now, you would have understood that God is powerful without taking Avatar. It is totally wrong notion to believe that being All- Powerful means that He is capable of doing everything. All-Powerful means that all powers are with him. He can join subtle things and could disintegrate them. He would award the human beings based on their Karma. He could create, sustain and dissolve the world and run it as per laws. He requires nobody’s help in the execution of his jobs. That is the meaning of being all-powerful or omniscient. Rendering impossible things as possible is not the meaning of being All-Powerful.

 

 

K: Does God not make impossible the possible?  He is no God who cannot make impossible things possible.

 

V: Not making impossible things possible, not undoing the Rule [i.e. making or mending the rules] is God’s divinity. If you were to believe that God could turn impossible to possible then I would ask “can God kill himself? Or can God create another God? Please reply.

 

K: God may not kill himself. But since he is All-Powerful He could create another God as equal to himself.

 

V:  No Sister! God cannot create another God of equal standing. You may ask why? Listen. Now imagine that God has created another God. Now is this created god could be equal to the creator? No. This is because one is old God and another is Created God. One is Visible God and another is invincible God and thus there are two Gods. One is ageless because he is eternal. The age of other God has just begun for he is created. The first God is all-pervading and other is pervaded. Both cannot become all-pervading.  If you were of opinion that both are pervading 50:50 then none are omniscient and omnipresent. Hence all-Pervading does not mean that He could do everything and anything. God could do which could be done by him.

 

K: What is wrong in accepting that god could take Avatar? What is the risk here?

 

V: When God could not Avatar at all, the acceptance of God taking Avatar, would amount to twisting and killing the truth. This is the first danger. Secondly God himself gets entangled in decadence. Narayan becomes Nara. Nara becoming Narayan could be treated as growth, but the reverse is definitely a sign of downfall. If a poor becomes rich then it is his real improvement but if a rich becomes poor it is definitely a sign of retrograde progress.  Thirdly, a fraudulent declares himself as an Avatar and misleads the followers. He makes money out of them and leads a sinful life. There are umpteen examples in Bharath where some fraudulent men have declared themselves as Avatars and totally cheated the people. Fourthly, people start tolerating the injustice and fraud. People begin watching loot, murder rape and destruction of property by hooligans and don’t protest against them. They feel it is not in their hands to prevent the injustice and of the opinion that only when God takes Avatar he would put down effectively all the cases of injustice. Then only that Dharma reins and evil is vanquished. This sort of wishful thinking is due to the belief in the concept of Avatar. Communities or group of people who don’t believe in the concept of God taking Avatar stand firm against assaults  and resist firmly the cases of injustice and destruction bravely. They firmly believe that God has given those hands to protect themselves and never tolerate Adharma. They don’t look towards God for jobs that could be done by them. To be frank, the theory of Avatarvad has ruined the Aryan community and destroyed their self-confidence. This has caused untold hardships for Aryans and contributed to their prolonged slavery. Our history is a witness to this tragedy.

 

K: Your logic is fine, convincing and effective. Now tell me how to meditate on God who is said to be formless.

 

V: It is really God’s kindness that the effect of true principles have made impression on you. I will reply to your question tomorrow.

 

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This is the translated version of the original Hindi  “Do bahinonke bathe” written by late Pt. Siddagopal”Kavirathna”

Translated by : Vasudev Rao.

Vedic Religion

Vedas For Beginners : Why be devoted to God?

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K:  Sister! Please reply to yesterday’s question.

 

V:  Why to remain devoted to God? And why should we praise and pray Him was your yesterday’s question.

Well.  All things in the world aspire to get drawn towards its Primary source or centre of Power. This is applicable equally to both Conscious [chetan] and non-conscious or inert [Jada] bodies. Fire moves up and up for the reason that the Sun is the primary source of heat or Fire. Now consider another example. Throw a mud ball towards the Sky and however high it is thrown up ultimately it lands on the earth because Earth is the prime source of mud. Water gets evaporated from sea, because of Sun and the water so evaporated becomes a cloud. It starts raining and the water enters the rivers which ultimately join the sea, because sea is the prime source of water. So is the case of other materials also. Every material has its prime source.

Ocean is the Prime centre of water

Sun is the treasure house/ source of Fire

Sky is the Prime centre of Wind

Earth is the source of soil

 

Similarly Knowledge also has its prime source in the world. That is god. All the knowledge that man has acquired has been got from God. If a man could acquire the knowledge by himself without others assistance there was no necessity for schools, colleges, universities etc. Teachers were also found then not necessary. But this is not the case. Parents teach their children to talk and make them aware of so many things that surround them. They teach their children, how to eat, drink, dress etc. Behavior, etiquettes, inter-personal relationships etc are also taught. When these children enter schools they learn many other things. Here it should be also noted that what the teachers teach is also not theirs but what they would have learnt while at home, Schools and colleges before becoming teachers. Here a question arises. When the knowledge the men acquire is thru others who taught the human beings or the primary man at the time of Creation when there were no people before them? The answer is they got the knowledge from God only. Then how the Knowledge was given? How he taught them since He had no body? Here it may be clarified, that there exists a difference between revealing the knowledge and imparting them.  Teaching is done through sound and knowledge is revealed in heart. Since God is all pervading He is present in the human beings created at the time of Creation. Accordingly, God reveals the Knowledge in the souls of chosen Rishis Viz, Agni, Vayu, Aditya and Angira. These Rishis in turn teach the knowledge for others through the medium of Sound. Then starts the mechanism of teaching, i.e. reading and hear them reading, reciting etc.

If God had not given the knowledge, the tradition of transmission of knowledge would not have come off. It is therefore clear that whatever knowledge that man has acquired is thru the process of transmission only and whatever enlightenment he has obtained has become possible thru god given intelligence and by observing the nature of world created by god. Man can enhance the boundaries of knowledge but so long he is not administered knowledge he cannot obtain himself. In the beginning of Creation God has revealed the knowledge in the hearts and minds of Rishis in seed form. Subsequent growth of knowledge in expanded form [Tree form] is rendered possible thru the efforts of Rishis   and intelligent men. This is the rule from time immemorial and the same will continue in future also. When all things in the world are aspiring to get drawn to its prime source and still at it, why the soul with finite knowledge would not wish to move towards God who is the repository and source of infinite knowledge? This is because his evolution is not at all possible sans God. Conscious bodies evolve with conscious bodies and unconscious [inert] bodies with inert bodies.

 

The welfare of conscious soul is not possible by any inert things in the world. It is true however, that by intelligently utilizing the inert matters the well being of body is definitely ensured. The soul however, bound as it is by limited knowledge [i.e. remaining Alpagna] seeks improvement in the worldly things but fails.  Hence he remains restless. Ignorance is the reason for unhappiness in the world. If soul were to understand the true nature of materials obtaining in the world, he will not experience unhappiness or sorrow. The soul becomes enmeshed in sorrow and shackles so long it keeps equating untruth to truth, ignorance to knowledge and conscious to inanimate. God who is the source of knowledge is the real source of happiness. Removed from God happiness does not lie in worldly things. If happiness could be found in worldly things then the entire world should have looked happy and cheerful. But the actual position is different. Every conscious being in the world seeks happiness, because it is not with him.  Why he should seek happiness if he already had?  He becomes  liberated with worldly sorrows and bondages and attains eternal happiness called Bliss[Ananda] in the end when while remaining devoted  keeps on doing praise[ Stuti] prayer[ Prarthana]and communion[ Upaasana]

 

K: It is wrong to say that there is no pleasure or happiness in the worldly things. If there were to be no happiness in them, then why they should be much sought after by men? If money were not to bring happiness why people would have struggled to accumulate it? If food were not cause happiness why they would have consumed it? Why wear clothes if they were not to cause happiness? Why construct Homes if they were not to bring in pleasure and happiness?  All this indicate that there is happiness in worldly things. Hence, people desire to have them and do not want to give them up. He finds happiness in their acquisition and feels unhappy at its loss. Then how to believe that happiness is not found in material things?

 

V:  Sister! What you find happiness in worldly objects is not real happiness but illusion of it. Happiness is in the minds of men. When a man makes use of things he feels comforted and comes to believe that happiness is obtained from them only. But frankly speaking, happiness is not obtained from a particular thing. He feels happy so because of

mind’s concentration. When a dog bites a dry bone, its gums starts bleeding and the dog [unaware of the fact that dry bone cannot have a blood] keeps on sucking the blood oozing from its own gums! Similarly where is the happiness in the worldly things outside? Happiness lies inside. This is known. If money were to spell happiness, then no rich man would have been unhappy. But the extent of worries that the rich man has is not there with the poor man. A rich man down with diseases could buy medicines but not health. That rich man   could employ teachers, workers, buy books but can he earn knowledge? No. He can earn knowledge and wisdom only thru hard intensified study. Likewise he may buy food but cannot buy hunger.

 

There are millionaires in the world who are unable to digest even one meal a day. Now tell me whether there is happiness inherent in money. If food were to bring happiness the quantum of happiness one derives by eating four chapattis should be four times by eating 16 chapattis. This is because happiness should be proportionate to the quantum of food eaten. But does this happen? By eating more than that satisfies his hunger he becomes sick requiring medication. Dry, tasteless food tastes like nectar when one is hungry, whereas, nectar tastes bitter when not hungry. Similar is the position about clothes. If clothes were to cause comfort, the same cloths that are comfortable  in winter should continue to be so in summer also and vice versa. If causing comfort were to be the nature of clothes then it should cause comfort in all seasons. Why warm clothes are not suited in summer and winter clothes are not suited for winter? The nature and character of a thing should remain constant under all circumstances. For ex, to burn a thing is the nature of Fire. This nature will not undergo change. Sweetness is the quality of sugar. Eat sugar at any time. You taste sweet only. Likewise, if causing happiness is the nature of worldly things, then people would not have sought happiness even after their possession. They should be feeling happy every second. Now be clear!  Will the problem of a person running high temperature could be overcome by putting him on a soft, silky bed? Never. Hence I tell you, that happiness does not lie in the worldly things. God is the source of Happiness and that is obtained by being nearer to Him.

 

K: If happiness were to be within, and real joy does not rest with the worldly things, then why a person derives happiness in eating sweets? Why he does not derive happiness by eating Mud? There is joy in eating Rotis but not sand. Sugar tastes but not grass. What is the reason for this?

 

V:  The feeling of happiness which we derive in eating sugar candy etc is because of the character of the latter and this does not constitute real happiness. The sweetness is felt when this is concentrated in mind. Then only he experiences joy in it. If sugar candy were to cause happiness then it should cause same happiness during fever also whereas sugar tastes bitter during fever. Similar is the case of chillies. Persons not habituated to taking chillies find it as poison. So is the case of other worldly things. Now about person not finding happiness in eating mud. If mind is concentrated in it then eating mud also becomes enjoyable. We might have seen some women eating mud balls. Some animals eat sand stones also. Leave this matter aside. We find people taking liquor which is awfully smelling, astringent and bitter. Opium is highly bitter but some people consume

it. People find happiness in these things. Does joy lie in these things? No. Man derives happiness in these things as long as his mind gets concentrated in them. A question may arise as to how the mind gets concentrated in an object. When a man becomes used to a thing he starts concentrating therein albeit temporarily is the answer. Because of habit, the inherent culture or the sanskars of that object leaves a strong impression on the mind. The sanskars of a particular thing instigates a person to use them often and often. Similar is the case of beautiful scenario. Man in order to see his mind gets relaxed goes to forests, Sea, Parks, mountains etc. But when he is entangled in a criminal case he does not derive joy in these places of interest. Strikingly good places appear to be drab, worthless places for him for the reason his mind is restless resulting in lack of concentration. A person goes to a music concert, Film show etc to enjoy. But if he finds his son being sick he does enjoy the show even though present. This is because the sickness of son has disturbed him. At times when our mind is busy roaming elsewhere, we are unaware of taste of food being eaten. Hence it is clear that happiness rests with when accompanied by concentrated mind and not in objects.

 

K: First you said that God is a prime source of all Happiness and now you are telling that happiness lie in concentrated mind. Why this dichotomy?

 

V: Only in the concentrated mind the blissful God is felt. The ignorant finds that happiness lie in the external things. This is not dichotomy. What is important to be known here is, because of habit man obtains   transient concentration in worldly things. Hence transient happiness is obtained. We may ultimately realize God if we start concentrating mind in comprehensive form in worship. This is the ultimate aim of life. Precisely for this reason, praise [Stuti] prayer [Prathana] and communion [Upaasana] is necessary, the object being let mind gets concentrated and thereby derive more and more happiness.

 

K: What is the proof that the more the mind is concentrated, the more happiness is derived?

 

V: I give a proof based on state of being while in wakeful {Jagrit] state and in deep slumber [Sushupthi] state. During wakeful position man’s transactions [vrithis] are spread over towards worldly things. Hence concentration is not attained. The mind rushes to one object or the other. But in sleep condition his mind’s activities are in concentrated, restful mode, and he feels happy after a good sleep. Getting up in the morning he says that he is happy because he got a good sleep overnight. The happiness he got in sleep was due to the mind’s concentration. The soul is relieved off the connection with worldly objects and rapprochement is done with God. The soul is attached either to worldly things or with God. The more he is attached to worldly things the more sorrow he experiences. The more he cultivates relationship with God he derives more happiness. This becomes clearer from the example. A person is in jail. He is ailing. He is pained at the loss of his wife and children. He is having lot of other worries.  He is disturbed but till when? These things drag him to restlessness as long he is in wakeful state.  Once he manages to get sleep all the troubles disappear and he enjoys the same amount of happiness that a king

enjoys. Even animals enjoy happiness in sleep. This is because that in Sleep his mind’s transactions are not scattered over, but remain concentrated. Control of mind’s transactions is called “YOGA” i.e. communion with God. When an intelligent communion is established with God thru Stuti, Prarthana, and Upaasana it is said that there is spiritual elevation. This spiritual upliftment reaches its zenith thru Samadhi where Soul becomes immersed with God. This is the ultimate aim of life.

 

K:  Which is called Stuthi, Prathana and Upaasana?

 

V:  Praising the God with full devotion and faith is called Stuthi. Seeking God’s help for the removal of his foibles or weaknesses from those Godly qualities is called Prarthana. Keeping away from the worldly things that involves his pride in self called Ahankar and strongly invoking a feeling that he is nearer to God is called Upaasana.

 

K: You believe that God has no Form. But large number of people in the world thinks otherwise and offer prayer to the Form. What is wrong in understanding that God has a Form or having a Body?

 

V: You will get answer to this question tomorrow.

 

Vedic Religion

Vedas For Beginners : Is the God the Creator?

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K:  Sister!  Give reply to yesterday’s question

 

V:  Your yesterday’s question was how God could protect the world when he was devoid of body for the reason that there could be no activity without body being present. But  I say that  your understanding of the matter is wrong. Conscious being can do functions any where it resides. It can give momentum. Where it is not there, then only the requirement of body is needed. For ex, now I have lifted this book. From which?

K: By hands of course.

 

V: If hands were not to be there would it be possible to lift the books?

 

K: Not possible.

 

V: Good!  The hands have lifted the book.  Now tell me which lifted the hands?

 

K: You have lifted the Books with your strength.

 

V: Look! I am shaking my entire body. From which the body is being shaken?

 

K: From your strength. It is obvious.

 

V: You were just telling that no activity was possible without Body. Now how the body got its activity without a Body?  The answer to this question is wherever the conscious entity and its strength is present there remains no necessity for the agency like the body. The Soul that resides inside the body gives mobility for the entire body, and for those things that reside outside the mobility is given thru the body. This is because He [Soul] is not found outside. God resides both inside and outside and he is omnipresent. Hence He does not require a body. Since he is present in the entire universe he gives momentum for the entire universe.

 

K:  I see, Pot makers, Cooks etc, who are having a Form, alone could create objects having Form. Then how formless God could create this world having a Form?

 

V: Creators who have a visible Form could create things that are external to their bodies. They cannot create things within their bodies. For the creation of things that are external to their bodies the help of limbs like hands and legs are necessary. However these are not necessary for creation of things that are inside. There are no materials which are external to god. He pervades all.  He is omnipresent. Hence no body is necessary for Him to create. A cook prepares food that is outside his body. Supposing if he prepares the food inside his body then who would eat the food? In such case why hands and legs are needed? The blood, bone, and marrow are formed inside the body without the help of hands and legs. Now think over. Sense organs create and watch external things. In case they were to watch what goes inside the body the life becomes miserable. How things will be if one were to smell inside body things, were to watch the flesh, blood, stools etc present inside the body? It is awful experience indeed! It is god’s grace that we see things that are external to the body.

 

K: Does the Creator pervade the created? Clock maker makes the clock. Clock is different from that of clock maker. The sweet maker makes the sweet. The sweet and sweet maker is different from each other. It is a universal principle that the maker is different from what is made. How it is possible that the God creates all and pervades all? Secondly it is not understood how things are created without the aid of hands and legs.

 

V:  The clock makers, sweet maker, are all creative men with finite abilities further bound by the limitation of space and time. They are together with the object created to the extent of action involved for creation.  If they were not to be there the corresponding action would not have taken place. When we say that clock-maker made the watch it would mean that he assembled the machine parts. A clock-maker makes the watch but does not create it. The machine parts maker is with the clock when the machine parts are being assembled. If he was not present, the machine parts would not have joined together to become a clock. Similarly the machine maker is present with machine parts with action. If that was not the case the machine parts would not have been made. Similarly, the people who made steel [out of iron ore] used to make machine parts were with the steel and this would not have come off had they not been with steel. This goes to prove that behind making a clock many hands of creation are involved. The Creator is present with the every corresponding action. Similar is the case of Goldsmith, and others. They are the creators of their action. Many hands are involved before making a final product.

 

So it is clear that while making an object, apart from the maker, the help of many people are involved. Then only an object could be created. Why this is so?  This is so because man has limited knowledge and limited abilities and he could create things with the coordinated efforts of others. Those Creators are with the created by their action. When they could associate with gross objects as such,why god is not present in the subtlest of the subtle, grossest of the gross Creation? Think for yourself. Creation does not mean just Sun, Moon, Stars, Mountains, Tress, Rivers, Human beings, Animals, Birds etc, There are many things which are endless subtle and beyond imagination. The Creation includes or a combination of all these things.

 

          Creation is made by an intelligent combination of atoms. Five gross elements, five principles of subtle entities called Panchatanmatras [speech, touch, vision, taste, and smell] five great elements called Panch-Mahabhootas [ether, air, water, fire and earth] are all created out of these atoms. The creation is made of out of these things. If the assembler of atoms is not with them how they can take shapes? There is no machinery in the world which can hold atoms together and bring out things out of them. The elements which are indivisible are called Atoms. God is immanent in all the atoms. Hence is able to form the grossest and subtlest things in the world. The atoms are the subtlest things in insensate [Jada] matters and God is more subtle than them. Hence he could pervade them. If this was not the case, he had to seek the help of outside agency similar to man taking the help of others for creating things. Hence it is clear that everyone is present to the extent of action involved for creation. Now the question how could things be created without hands and legs? Granting that these parts are necessary, a question that arises here as to who could have created these limbs? Here it should be understood, Hands and legs are the product of creation. When hands and legs could be created without the help of the latter is it not then possible for other parts of Creation to be had without the assistance of hands and legs?  Are the hands and legs of a child in mother’s view being formed with any hands or legs? Seeds grow into plants and trees. And are they so made with hands and legs? It should be made clear here, that hands and legs could manufacture things that are related it.  Is it possible to create mosquitoes and other minute creatures out of legs and hands? The circumference of the Earth where human beings reside is about 25000miles. There are planets like Mars, Uranus and stars like Sun in the Universe which are million times bigger than the Earth. Is it possible to create these objects with hands and legs? Only the omnipresent and omnipotent God has created these bodies in a purposeful manner.

 

K:  Sister!  Some how you initiate new subjects for discussion.  Where is the Rule being observed here? Are the things created as per Rule? Where is the method here?  We see tall mountains, deep valleys, on the one side! And on the other side there exist dense forests, deserts, bushes, shrubs etc. Where is the method/order here? Like wise the world is formed haphazardly. Normally a system is followed. When a man builds a house, he provides for a living room, well, lavatory etc so as to make it hospitable. An agriculturist builds an agricultural farm, provides for a farm house, canals, varieties of plants and trees etc in a methodical manner. A shopkeeper arranges goods in order in the shop. So a Rule or method is followed by man, whereas I find Creation to be reckless and bizarre. As per my assessment no Rule or method is found to be in Creation.

 

V: It is utter foolish to say that no Rule or method is found in Creation. Why Sun should rise in East and set in west? Why not the other way round? Is there no Rule here? Even the best made human watch shows slight variation in being either fast or slow. But do you find a variation by a second in the movement of Sun and the Moon? How perfect are their movements? Based on the movements of Sun and Moon the eclipses occurring at a distant future could be predicted accurately. Similar is the state of things in respect of other cosmic bodies also. Now tell me why mango seed is obtained from Mango tree only. Why we cannot get oranges from Mango tree? Why man is born a baby, grows into adult and gets old. Why not he gets old first, youth later and baby there afterwards?  Why see with eyes only and not heard from them? Why nose smells only but cannot taste?  Are these not indicative of the presence of Rule here?

 

Mountains are found to be somewhere and so the rivers. Oceans, bushes, Forests are found to be at some other place. And to say that there is no Rule in creation because of this diversity is reflective of your ignorance. With what petty yardstick you are measuring the Creation? Normally people find fault in things they do not understand. This is universal phenomenon. This sort of reasoning could be likened to an ant which started climbing the body of man and telling that the head is like a forest, eyebrows as thorny fences, nose as a hillock with nostrils as tunnels, moustaches to bushy forests, etc and felt that man indeed  should be awful creature. The ant bound by its limited intelligence assumes that body has been formed haphazardly.

 

Supposing, for the convenience of ant, if the eyes, face, nose and other parts are removed and body is made flat then the ant might feel that the body had been constructed in orderly fashion. Now my point is body shaped to the requirement of an ant could satisfy the whims and fancies of an ant and it might even say that the human body was in order. But the body shaped to the ant’s requirement could ever remain human?  Will the aesthetic intelligent transaction between the organs of perception and action occur there?  Not at all. Take another example. An Engineer constructs a machine having hundreds of parts inside it. The shape and size of each part might be round, curved, square, big or small. The parts are made to the requirement of the machine. An ignorant person not aware of the importance of machine might think that the parts are too big or curved and he may even say that the parts have been assembled haphazardly.  It is natural for an ignorant to think this way. But the machine maker knows well and he has assembled the parts as ought to have been done for the machine to work satisfactorily. If the machinery parts had been made either round or straight only the Machine would not have worked at all.

 

Similar is the position of Creation effected by God. The machinery called Creation has many parts. It has mountains, rivers, ocean, valleys, forests etc, etc. The Creation has a purpose and an object, i.e. welfare of human beings. For the ignorant, the parts of Creation appear as uncouth, useless and lacking in order, the reason being they are unaware of purpose of Creation. The usefulness of parts of Creation i.e., oceans, rivers, mountains etc is not understood. The examples of shopkeeper, agriculturist, etc that were given are too small and could be understood easily, whereas the laws of Creation are too subtle and complex to be understood. Just think over of the Brain thru which man makes laws. Even this brain is made by god who has formulated innumerable laws of Creation. If no laws were to be there who would have believed God? The existence of immutable laws provides the proof of existence of God.

 

K: O.K. God has made the Creation. Who has created the God?

 

V:  Created matter is the effect. It [created matter] requires a material cause [base material] and the Maker is called Efficient cause. God is not a created-matter. He is Eternal and has No origin. Hence, the question, as to who created God does not therefore arise. Who could be creator for who is self-created? If the Creator were to have a creator then he cannot be called a Creator. He becomes a Cause then. He is alone a Creator who is self-independent. The matter- created, cannot be termed as Creator. The human bodies deemed as Creators are not Creators in the real sense. They are instruments or agencies that bring about Creation. The Soul is the Creator. 

 

K: O.K.  Granting, that Creator has no Creator as such, then please tell me as to why should we accept the God? Why should we praise [stuthi] pray [prarthana] and communion [Upaasana] Him?  How is He related to our lives?

 

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Note : This is the the translated version of the original  ” Do bahinonke bathe” written by  late Siddagopal “kaviratna”.

Translated by Vasudev Rao.

Vedic Religion

Vedas For Beginners : IS GOD IS THERE OR NOT?

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K; Sister! You have been telling me to pray daily. I am asking you to whom we should pray? And where is that God?

 

V: God is everywhere. There is no place which is free from God.

 

K: You have told the wonderful. If god were to be everywhere then where are other things? All space  are occupied by God and if there is no place free from God then there is no place for other things. Were the other things  remaining  without a space ?

 

V: It is not that way sister! When it is said that there is no place free from God, it means that God is everywhere. This is my opinion and that is how it is told in a common language. God being there  is not dependent on space. It is the   physical  elements that occupy the space.

Earth, water, air, fire and their atoms, are those things that occupy space. But God pervades them all. Hence it is said that God is everywhere.

 

K: O.K. If God were to everywhere  why He is not seen? When  not seen, where is the proof of  his presence?

 

V: Are there are no objects present which are not seen? There are so many things in the world which are not seen. cold, hot,  happiness, sorrow, time, direction, hunger, thirst, itching, pain, etc are there which are not seen. There may be many reasons for a thing not to be seen.  Like far off places say, like  Europe, America etc, many things are not seen. Are we able to see the kite or a bird flying at  a far off distance? Because of closeness of proximity also, eye is not able to see a thing. There are hundred of subtle things like atoms. Some like  bacteria or virus could be seen only thru microscope. Water being covered with  algae is not seen because of algae  and like wise there are so many unseen because separated by cover.  Because of dirt, a mirror is not seen and because of presence of a wall the man sitting across the wall is also not seen. Milk and water are both liquids and because of this water in milk is not seen. If there were to be trouble in the eye many things are not seen. A man affected with jaundice cannot see white objects. Hence it is not correct to say that  things are not present  just  because they are un seen.

 

K:  For me, I don’t believe in anything without seeing.

 

V: This shows your obduracy. I have already said that there are many things which are not seen and yet   we have to believe them.  Good! Now,  are you listening to  what I am telling?

 

K: Yes listening.

 

V: By which?

 

K: By ears of course

 

V: Are you sure that what I am telling?

 

K: Yes. Why not?

 

V:Are you seeing my words thru your eyes? Okay. Look here, I am having a flower in my hands. Which is that flower?

 

K: It is Rose.

 

V: Does  the flower has a fragrance  or not?

 

K: Yes. It has a fragrance.

 

V: How did you come to  know about  this?

 

K:  Through my nose.

 

V:  Tell me one thing. Did sugar was there in the milk that  you drank overnight?

 

K:  Yes. It was there.

 

V:  How did you come to know about  it?

 

K: Thru My tongue.

 

V:  Now I point out, that the sound was perceived thru ears,  fragrance thru nose, and sugar thru tongue. Why this way? Why not did eyes perceive sound,  ears the fragrance and nose the sugar?  Even though the smell and fragrance was present why not the same was seen by eyes?

 

K;  The senses perceive its subjects only and grasp knowledge. God is not perceivable by any sense organs. How could we believe that He  is present at all?

 

V: God is not seen and therefore he is not present  was your initial argument. Now you have turned over.  You have agreed that there could be things not seen. It is separate  issue that the knowledge of such unseen things  could be had by  other sense  organs. Now, you are asking how the presence of   God could be accepted when he is not perceivable by any sense organ. If you believe that God could not  exist as He is not understood by senses, then how you understand these senses? If you believe that sense organs are understood by sense  organs only then it constitutes what is known as Atmashrya Dosha. This is because thru what is seen is not seen by itself. When their subjects are different by themselves how sense organs could understand the  sense  organs? The subject matter of eye is sight; ears sound;  nose smell; tongue taste; skin touch. Nose cannot understand the eyes nor the  tongue can understand the ears.

 

 

 

K:  How it cannot be  understood? When I hold mirror before me,  the eyes, ears, nose , tongue etc are forthcoming. The eyes are more forthcoming about knowledge of other organs.

 

V:  Sister! This is your wrong understanding. What you see from your eyes is only a form or sight not the subjects. Will you see the subjects of other sense organs in the mirror? The eyeballs can see places of  sense organs which have a form. The strength of these senses are present in that places.  Can eyes disclose  the entire knowledge about other sense organs? Eyes cannot see by itself. You are of the opinion that  eyes are seen in a mirror. Now, I put a question. Tell me  what is in my hand?

 

K:  Mirror.

 

V:  How did you see that there is a mirror in my hand?

 

K; Thru eyes of course.

 

V: When you said  that you saw mirror thru eyes , it means before seeing a mirror eyes  had a knowledge. In other words it means to say that without eyes mirror would not have seen. Now tell me, whether thru  eyes mirror is understood or vice versa?  If eyes are understood thru mirror, even when eyes are dried up, the mirror should have caused  the knowledge of the dried up eyes. When eyes are dried up , let alone causing the knowledge of eyes, mirror  cannot cause the knowledge of itself. If you think deeply, even eyes see the others with the help of other aids and not independently. It is however  true that sight cannot be seen without eyes  but the knowledge of  sight  cannot be made  by eyes themselves.

 

K; What other  aids are required for eyes? Eyes sees the Forms independently. The subject matter of eyes are sight. How do you say that eyes don’t see independently?

 

V: Yes.  Now I am seeing all objects. But  if there  is a thick darkness surrounding can I see things?

 

K:  No, It cannot be seen.

 

V: Hence it is clear that eyes are not just enough to see. It requires light. If there were to be no light  eyes are helpless. And even if both light and eyes were to remain present  and the object is not stationary then also we cannot see. If you place the book too close to your eyes you cannot read. Similarly also we cannot read letters in a book held at a distance. Therefore to read letters  book is to be held at a definite distance and place. Further, even the object at a place and light were to be there and  if eyes were removed from the mind, in that event also we cannot see. There are many occasions where mind is involved in some work, the objects are not seen by the eyes even though they  may pass thru our front. In such circumstances, if you were to ask a person whether he observed certain things he would say “ no, I did not watch”. Now you would have understood what are the aids that are required to see a particular object.

 

K:  What do you mean by all this?

 

V: Have you not understood as yet?  If you cannot perceive God thru sense organs, you cannot understand sense organs thru sense organs. But even then we have to accept the sense organs. Then why doubt about  the  acceptance of existence of God.

 

K: How we can understand the senses?

 

V: Sense organs are understood by the Soul thru experience. When he perceives sound, smell, Form,etc he understands  “ That there are aids within me and I am getting the benefit thru them”

 

K: And how we could understand the God?

 

V: God could be understood by experience.

 

K: How the experience is got?

 

V: God is felt thru Soul.

 

K: When  this feeling is felt?

 

V: When mind is got rid of three faults.

 

K: What are these faults?

 

V:  Mala,  Vikshepa, and Avarana

 

K: What are its characteristics?

 

V: The thinking of doing bad to others and  the effects of  Sins fallen on Soul [sanskars] is called Mala.  Constantly thinking over  the worldly objects[materialism] and lack of firmness in mind is referred to as Vikshepa. The impact formed on mind about the pride of temporary worldly things is referred to as Avarana.

 

K: How can we overcome the above three faults?

 

V:  There are three ways thru which we can overcome these three hurdles.

 

K: What are they?

 

V: Knowledge, [Jnana]  Action[Karma] and Communion [ Upaasana]

 

K: What you mean by Knowledge, Action and worship?

 

V:  Understanding the matter as it is,  i.e. to treat inert matter  as inert[Jada] Conscious entities [ Chetan] as Conscious[Chetan] and transitory things  as transitory  things marks the  Knowledge.  To work for the welfare of  Soul, Body and  Society and to try for the acquisition of ennobling things  is referred to as Action. To approach  a material  and  overcoming his shortcomings based on the strength of that  material   is referred to as Communion.  Consider for a while, that  a person is down with cold. If he approaches water for the removal of cold it betrays  his ignorance, not knowledge. If he is aware of fire and  tries to obtain fire thru Action and approaches fire for the removal of cold then  only he gets rid of cold. From Knowledge, the Mala is overcome, from Action, Vikshepa, is got rid of and finally thru Communion  the effect of Avarana is kept away. Then only God is felt.

 

K: Make this point more clear. How the faults of Mala, Vikshepa, and Avarana are removed respectively by Knowledge, Action, andCommunion respectively?

 

V: With the help of  Knowledge, it should be understood that all worldly things, all living beings are not permanent. For this reason, not entertaining the  feeling of  snatching away  the rights of others is a step in the direction of removal of evil  of Mala. By  thinking that worldly things are the end all and be all  and appropriating them with that spirit  would cause infirmity of mind  or Vikshepa. It is true that materials in the world are means to an end. But they are not end by themselves nor they could be life ideals. According to this principle, the action of man should be dispassionate, like a lotus in a water pond. This is type of  Karma which drives away Vikshepa. Looking upon the God gifted things as something his own is the thing that makes a deep imprint on the mind of man and this prompts him to treat money, women, land as his own which   causes self-pride and this cast spell over his  mind. Further with the strength of these material possessions  he starts tormenting  the others. He thinks there are no superior to him. But instead, when  he does Action with full Knowledge then he withdraws all forces inside  and with concentration thinks that “ God is with me and I am with God” in his heart  then he gets away from the evil ofAvarana. Hence by constant efforts and resorting to Knowledge, Action and Communion he is able to drive away the three evils Mala, Vikshepa and Avarana. Then only he can the feel the presence of God.

 

K; Sister, you are very clever and good at logic. Now tell me why God is necessary to this world at all?

 

V: Why God is  necessary to the world? Very good question. If God were not to be there then how is the world is created?. Who can create Sun, Moon, mountains, rivers, Air, water, ether, stars, forests, Trees, fruits, Milk, honey animals, birds, water creatures, snakes, etc. Who else can create these things and species?

 

K: Why God is necessary for the creation of these things? They are self-formed and has been there always.

 

V: If  things in the world could form themselves without the help of creator, then food should  have there without a cook, pot without a potter, ornaments without a goldsmith, sweet without sweet maker, dress without a tailor etc.  Secondly any thing in the world does not remain permanently. Every thing in the world has a origin, growth, decay, and ultimately destruction. All big to very big things have been created and gets destroyed in the end..

 

K:  I don’t see that God creates things. It does not appear as such. All things are formed by themselves and this order is there from time immemorial. Earth, water, Air, Fire, and their atoms are in existence in the world. These elements keep on joining  themselves in the creation of new and newer things and getting destroyed separately. Where is the work of God involved  here?

 

V:  Your opinion does not stand  to facts. The Earth and the other elements  and their atoms are inert matters. They don’t join themselves without joining them and do not disintegrate without getting disintegrated. Joining and Unjoining  are mutually hostile qualities. These qualities do not stay together. There may any number of qualities in a matter but not mutually  hostile qualities. If the nature of a thing  is to associate they keep on associating. and on the other hand disintegrating is their quality they keep on disintegrating. They do not join with mutually hostile qualities. If you were to say that joining and disintegrating  are the nature of a matter,  those qualities which are  predominant will have a say over the other. For ex, if joining is the  predominant quality, it never allows the world to disintegrate. If disintegrating is the nature of a matter and remains predominant it never allows the world  to stay together. If both qualities are held to be  equal then no object can be formed in the world. But we are seeing where an object is formed, remains for a while and gets destroyed. You may imagine any number of qualities in physical matters, but without God, Creation, sustenance, and dissolution is not possible in the matter called Prakrithi. There is difference in Conscious[ Chetan] and Non-Conscious[ Jada}forces. The Non-Conscious cannot do anything on their own. It keeps working with the help of Conscious forces only. The Conscious being  is capable of doing, not doing or undoing anything. This is the natural qualities of  Conscious beings.

 

K: The person who creates a thing in the world is directly  visible. The goldsmith, potter, the sweet maker,  the bird which builds the nests are  all seen. If God were to be creator of this world he would have been visible.

 

V: Believe me. The maker in the world is not at all visible. It is totally false to say that the goldsmith, Sweet maker, potter are visible. You may ask how? Listen. People like Potter, Goldsmith etc are creators who are made of twin elements, Body and Soul, The body to a soul is an instrument to do a function. Only when soul uses the  instrument called body a material  is formed. Without the instrument called body a material cannot come off. The goldsmith, potter etc are  physical bodies which are visible and are made of five elements called earth, water, fire, air and sky. But the soul who makes use of this body is not at all visible. The body without the soul cannot create things. Likewise without body, a soul cannot do anything either. His strength is of limited character. Hence God grants him a body which is visible. But God is of  limitless potentialities, omnipresent and omniscient. He does things without a body. The soul is also a creator like God, albeit with a limited strength and abilities . God is a creator of all. Both God and Soul  are not visible.

 

K: If God  is without Body then how is that  He can create the world. No function is ever possible without an instrument called  body.

 

V: Now the time is over. Tomorrow morning answer to this question will be given.

 

K: Okay. Let it be on tomorrow.
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Note : This is the the translated version of the original  ” Do bahinonke bathe” written by  late Siddagopal “kaviratna”.

Translated by Vasudev Rao.