2014 Guru Poornima

Philosophy

Kripalu Leelamritam

Guru strives for your ultimate bliss

Kids Story

Why does God descend?

Philosophy

Hinduism - Monotheistic or Polytheistic?

राम कृष्ण दोनों को गोविंद राधे । व्यास ने लिखा है भगवान क्यों बता दे ॥

rāma kṛṣṇa donoṃ ko goviṃda rādhe । vyāsa ne likhā hai bhagavāna kyoṃ batā de ॥

The Shrimad Bhagavat Mahapuran asserts both Lord Ram (Balram) and Lord Krishna are God, whereas from the Vedas to the Ramayana all the scriptures and all the Saints unanimously say there is only one Supreme God. Not only that, the word Bhagavaan or God is used to refer to many more divine personalities such as God Brahma, God Shankar, God Vishnu and so on. Moreover, the spiritual master is also addressed as God in the scriptures. So, if there is only one God, who are all these others who are being referred to as “God”?

वदन्ति तत्तत्त्वविदस्तत्त्वं यज्ज्ञानमद्वयम् । ब्रह्मेति परमात्मेति भगवानिति शब्द्यते ॥
भा 1.2.11

vadanti tattattvavidastattvaṃ yajjñānamadvayam । brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavāniti śabdyate ॥
bhā 1.2.11

There is one Supreme God known as Lord Krishna. He eternally reveals Himself in three different forms. As Sachhidanand Brahm, the all-pervading almighty impersonal aspect of God, He does nothing. He has no name, form, pastimes, abode or attributes. Only eternal knowledge and bliss are revealed in this form.

The second aspect of God is Paramatma, the Super Soul. He has a name, form, and attributes, but He doesn’t have pastimes or divine associates. He is known as Mahavishnu. He exists in 3 forms. First is Karaṇārṇavadaśayī Mahavishnu (कार्णार्णवाशायी महाविष्णु). A power of Karaṇārṇavadaśayī Mahavishnu (कार्णार्णवाशायी महाविष्णु) is Garbhodaśayī Mahavishnu. And a power of Garbhodaśayī Mahavishnu is the Kṣīrodaśayī Mahavishnu (क्षीरोदशायी महाविष्णु). They are also known as the first purusha, second purusha and third purusha respectively. These are the three aspects of one Supreme God.

The third aspect of God is is called Bhagavan, the One who descends with name, form, attributes, pastimes and associates to please His devotees Saints through His rapturous pastimes.

All of the rest of these are also God. God means Bhagavan or the One who is endowed with six kinds of bhag (unlimited divine majesties). So the one who possesses these six opulence is called Bhagavan. Moreover, God has a personal power called yogamaya also referred to as swaroop shakti and para shakti. All swansh are personal expansions of God, they are also Governors of yogmaya. So, all the personal expansions of Supreme God are also known as God.

ऐश्वर्यस्य समग्रस्य धर्मस्य यशसः श्रियः । ज्ञानवैराग्ययोश्चैव षण्णां भग इतीरणा ॥

aiśvaryasya samagrasya dharmasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ ।
jñānavairāgyayoścaiva ṣaṇṇāṃ bhaga itīraṇā ॥

"The six bhag are unlimited majesty, dharm, glory, prosperity, knowledge and detachment".

They are Governors of swaroop shakti.

The parts of jeev shakti of Lord Krishna are also of two types. One part encompasses all the eternally liberated souls who are the divine associates of the Lord. Even so, they belong to the class of jeev, the individual soul. They are not God. They are not the personal expansions of God, and hence they are not the Governors of para shakti. They are instead governed by para shakti. Nevertheless they have never been under the control of maya.

A second type of individual soul is known as maya baddha. We belong to this class and we have been under the control of maya since time immemorial. We are also parts of jeev shakti of Lord Krishna. We are also not God. We are governed not by yogmaya but by maya. Although, after God-realization we will be governed by yogmaya and will be freed from the clutches of maya.

So, all the personal expansions of God are referred to as God. The 10 avatars, 20 avatars, 24 avatars that are mentioned in the scriptures descend from the third purusha, Kṣīrodaśayī Mahavishnu, is the source of descensions or avatar. Hence, these descensions are also called as purushavatar.

Another aspect of God is known as Purusha.

एतन्नानावताराणां निधानं बीजमव्ययं । यस्यांशांशेन सृज्यन्ते देवतिर्यङ्नरादय ॥
भा 1.3.5

etannānāvatārāṇāṃ nidhānaṃ bījamavyayaṃ । yasyāṃśāṃśena sṛjyante devatiryaṅnarādaya ॥
bhā 1.3.5

Purusha Kṣīrodaśayī Mahavishnu is the primal cause of all the descensions, except for two descensions: Lord Balram and Lord Krishna. Lord Krishna is Supreme God. All the other descensions (purushavatar) are descensions of His parts (purusha). Lord Balram is the direct descension of Lord Krishna. He is not the descension of purusha. So both Lord Krishna and Lord Balram are referred to as one.

For this reason in Braj, even until now, Balram is addressed as Bade Thakur and Lord Krishna is addressed as Chhote Thakur. So Lord Balram is not the descension of purusha. Rather, He is the direct descension of Lord Krishna. Lord Balram and Lord Krishna descend on our earth once every kalpa. One kalpa is one day of Lord Brahma’s life. One day of Lord Brahma is calculated to be 4,294,080,000 human years. This is just one day of Lord Brahma. Lord Brahma’s night is of the same duration. Brahma lives for 100 celestial years..

Lord Krishna descends on this earth once every kalpa, and in between there are yugavatars, who are the descension of purusha. The yugavataras are not the descension of Supreme God. 5,000 years ago Supreme Lord Krishna descended here on this earth. It is our good fortune that we are able to hear about His pastimes. So, this is the secret of God.

God is only one. There cannot be 10-20 Gods! That same God has taken countless forms and will continue to take countless forms in the future too.

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Philosophy

Reason for increasing corruption

The question is often raised in all parts of India that despite so many temples, rituals, prayers, saints and religious activities happening in so many forms, why there is so much corruption in India?

This is a genuine question because divinity may or may not be apparent in all these religious activities, but at least human qualities such as honesty, compassion, truthfulness, etc. should develop as a result of practicing them.

The answer to this is very simple. We perform all our devotion, prayer, chanting, pilgrimages and so on only with our bodies and senses, and we keep our minds engaged in the material world due to a lack of firm understanding of who is the actual performer of all these devotional activities. We keep our minds well-fixed in material thoughts and the benefits that satisfy our self-interest. We forget that the cause of bondage and liberation is the MIND alone.

Second, generally people go to big festivals like the Kumbh Mela to bathe in a holy river like the Ganges or go to famous religious places like Kashi, Badrinath, Mecca Madina, Bala Ji and so on with an unyielding belief that visiting these places will provide them material wealth, power and control over others and that will ultimately make them happy. For this reason everyone is striving hard to become a millionaire or billionaire. Where is their faith and love for God? Our scriptures assert

Lord Krishna says, “When I bestow my grace upon someone, I first take away his wealth so that he will be free from its pride and intoxicating effects, and he will surrender himself totally unto Me alone.”

How many people are there who feel poverty or material deprivation is the sign of divine grace? Bad and good actions are only the manifestation of the mind. We miss this point. We often sing before God in almost all the temples:

“You alone are my only mother, father, brother and friend...” This is apparently a false statement because our minds instead remain positively attached to our material parents, relatives and friends.

So, the internal machinery where ideas and thoughts originate is the mind. If we do not focus on God or the aim of our human life, how can we expect to stop corruption? Performing worship to God while one's mind is attached to the material world is like multiplying a huge number by zero. The result is always zero.

There are two different areas – the area of divine God and the area of Maya. Due to misunderstanding that our happiness comes from attaining the sense objects of this attracting world of Maya, we are blindly rushing towards them because we do indeed attain some limited pleasure from them. Yet this happiness does not pacify our desires. Instead it is like adding fuel to a fire. Your desires wouldn't stop even if you attained the position of the creator, Brahma, because we can get everything we choose that is pleasurable through wealth and power except for the happiness that is unceasing and ever-increasing. An ordinary police officer wishes to be S.P., an S.P. wants have the position of a D.I.G, and a D.I.G wants to be an I.G. Even the emperor of the celestial abodes, Indra, longs to have the superior position of Brahma.

This disease of ambition of attaining the ultimate pleasure goes on even up to that level because our true desire is not being fulfilled through these means.

The cause of this misconception is the ignorant understanding that we are the body. So what gives happiness to the body is what we consider happiness. In reality, we are not the body. The body is “mine” not “me”. We have to understand we want our happiness, that is, the happiness of “me” or the self, the atma. But instead we are constantly striving to attain the happiness of the body.

We generally say, “This is my body.” This means “I” am some other entity. Everyone realizes this fact at the time of another's death. This is why we say, “I am going to have the last visitation of the body of my friend, who is now gone forever.” This sentence proves that you know the body and soul are not the same entities. This misconception causes differences that rise up to the level that we start thinking, “I am a man,” “I am a woman,” and then, “I am a Hindu,” “I am Punjabi,” “I am Christian,” and we then we start fighting in the name of different religions.

Thus, our first mistake was to accept the body as the “I”. This made us forget about God. Otherwise, we could have understood that this body is mine and “I” am a divine soul. The atma (soul) only belongs to God and this material world has been made to fulfill the necessities of the body. The body and soul are complimentary. No ascetic could challenge this by saying this world is unreal and unnecessary. Who could survive without milk after birth or without various kind of food thereafter? Where can an ascetic live that is without the earth, space, water, air and heat?

So, we have to firmly keep in our mind that the cause of all good and bad results is the mind alone. This same mind has become grossly contaminated in billions of lifetimes. We have to purify it now by focusing on divinely pure God. All the matters of the world or Maya's area are contaminating. Scriptures propagate this same knowledge.

First, understand that you are the soul and second, purify your mind. If you reorient your mind, you will have nothing to worry about. To reorient your mind, connect it with the intellect of the pure mind of a true Saint and follow the spiritual path he describes and with his guidance. Our contaminated mind cannot guide us properly. An illiterate man knows nothing about the law. But when he connects his mind with the intellect of his lawyer, even the most competent prosecutor fails to confuse him and thus a completely uneducated man could win his case. If we also connect our mind with the all-knowing saint and follow his advice, there would be no chance of corruption in society and no need of any government or police agencies, and so on. Otherwise, it is impossible to control corruption in this world. The criminals find ways to circumvent the laws before committing a crime. We have never attained real happiness in this world and we will never attain it in the future. The only real peace we have ever experienced is given by God at the time we enter sound dreamless sleep. There is nothing else in the world that compares to that peace. Even the happiness experienced by billionaires, presidents or prime ministers cannot beat it.

Conclusion
God is omnipresent and omniscient. If this philosophy is propagated all over the world and we trust it only then will we stop doing wrong things and only then will corruption be curtailed. Otherwise, there is no way. Physical acts of worship are futile.

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Philosophy

Our real Father

सब जीव भाई भाई गोविन्द राधे । सबका पिता है एक कृष्ण बता दे ।

saba jīva bhāī bhāī govinda rādhe । sabakā pitā hai eka kr̥ṣṇa batā de ।

In the Tatriyopanishad of the Vedas, Bhrigu asked his father, who was a brahma-gyani (one who has attained formless God thru the path of knowledge), “Please teach me who is brahm.”

भृगुर्वै वारुणिः। वरुणं पितरमुपससार। अधीहि भगवो ब्रह्मेति। तस्मा एतत् प्रोवाच। अन्नं प्राणं चक्षुः श्रोत्रं मनो वाचमिति।तं होवाच। यतो वा इमानि भूतानि जायन्ते।येन जातानि जीवन्ति।
यत् प्रयन्त्यभिसंविशन्ति। तद्विजिज्ञासस्व। तद्‌ ब्रह्मेति।स तपोऽतप्यत। स तपस्तप्त्वा॥
तैत्तरीयोपनिषद्

bhr̥gurvai vāruṇiḥ। varuṇaṁ pitaramupasasāra। adhīhi bhagavo brahmeti। tasmā etat provāca। annaṁ prāṇaṁ cakṣuḥ śrotraṁ mano vācamiti।taṁ hovāca। yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante।yena jātāni jīvanti।
yat prayantyabhisaṁviśanti। tadvijijñāsasva। tad‌ brahmeti।sa tapo'tapyata। sa tapastaptvā॥
taittarīyopaniṣad

Is He grain, the breath, the eyes, the ears, the mind or the tongue?

अन्नं प्राणं चक्षुः श्रोत्रं मनो वाचमिति

annaṁ prāṇaṁ cakṣuḥ śrotraṁ mano vācamiti

His father, Varuna, replied,

तॅ होवाच। यतो वा इमानि भूतानि जायन्ते। येनजातानि जीवन्ति।
यत्। प्रयन्त्यभिसंविशन्ति। तद्विजिज्ञासस्व। तद्‌ ब्रह्मेति । स तपोऽतप्यत ।

taॅ hovāca। yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante। yenajātāni jīvanti।
yat। prayantyabhisaṁviśanti। tadvijijñāsasva। tad‌ brahmeti । sa tapo'tapyata ।

“Brahm is the one in whom all the individual souls originate, brahm is the one by whom they are sustained, and it is into brahm that all the individual souls ultimately merge. You have to know Him. He cannot be known by any other means except practices of austerity. So practice severe austerities.” Bhrigu left and after some time he came back and said to his father, “Now I know who is brahm.”

अन्नं ब्रह्मेति व्यजानात्‌। अन्नाद्‌ध्येव खल्विमानि भुतानि जायन्ते। अन्नेन जातानि जीवन्ति। अन्नं प्रयन्त्यभिसंविशन्तीति।

annaṁ brahmeti vyajānāt‌। annād‌dhyeva khalvimāni bhutāni jāyante। annena jātāni jīvanti। annaṁ prayantyabhisaṁviśantīti।

“Grain is brahm, because grain is the source of birth and survival, and eventually all the bodies merge into the soil from which grain grows.” His father smiled and told him to again practice more austerities to know the real answer.

The disciples of Ved Vyas asked him the same question.

अथातो ब्रह्म जिज्ञासा ।
वेदान्त 1.1.1

athāto brahma jijñāsā ।
vedānta 1.1.1

The quest of knowing God starts from here.

जन्माद्यस्य यतः ।
वेदान्त 1.1.2

janmādyasya yataḥ ।
vedānta 1.1.2

It means that God is the one from whom the world originates, the one by whom the world is protected and the one through whom the world enters into dissolution.

Shankaracharya elaborated on this verse. Shankaracharya’s Guru was Govindacharya, his Guru was Gaurpad-acharya, his Guru was Shukdev Paramhans, and his Guru was Ved Vyas. Ved Vyas wrote 18 Puranas and the Mahabharat. He divided the Veda into four Vedas, and he wrote the Vedanta and the Gita. Shankaracharya, the first Jagadguru of this kaliyug, elaborated on this verse

अस्य जगतो जन्मस्थिति

asya jagato janmasthiti

“Lord Krishna, God, is the father of all the living beings”. Living being can be c in 2 major categories; ones which can move around like humans, animals, birds etc and immobile ones (like trees and plants).” The final writing of Ved Vyas is the Shrimad Bhagawat. In the first verse of Bhagawat, He wrote, "I am going to write about Shri Krishn.”

जन्माद्यस्य यतोऽन्वयादितरतश्चार्थेष्वभिज्ञ: स्वराट्
तेने ब्रह्म हृदा य आदिकवये मुह्यन्ति यत्सूरय: ।
भा 1.1.1

janmādyasya yato'nvayāditarataścārtheṣvabhijña: svarāṭ
tene brahma hr̥dā ya ādikavaye muhyanti yatsūraya: ।
bhā 1.1.1

“Lord Krishna is the cause of all creation, He is the one who maintains it, and the one into which it will merge. He is the father of all.” The Padam Puran says,

चेततनस्द्धिधाप्रोक्ता

cetatanasddhidhāproktā

There are 2 types of sentient entities – those who are mobile and those who are immobile. Mobile beings can walk, see, listen, smell, taste, touch and think, like humans, animals, birds and so on. They are mobile. Souls can get immobile bodies also like that of trees, grass, shrubs etc.

So Padma Puran says that all souls are sentient and the Atma (God) is supremely sentient (The word atma is in the Vedas in many places is used not to refer to the individual soul but to God.)

या आत्मनि तिष्ठति

yā ātmani tiṣṭhati

जीवाभ्यादयाः प्रोक्ता आत्मैकस्तु जनारदनः ।

This means that except for Lord Krishna, everyone, even the celestial gods, are jeev (souls). There are two types of souls. Some are swansh and others are vibhinansh. Swansh are endowed with the inner potency of Shri Krishna directly, like Shankar, Durga etc. And vibhinansh are part of the jiva shakti (soul power) of Lord Krishna. In these, too, there are 2 divisions - those who have never been under the control of Maya (who are parikar or eternal associates of God) and those who are like us, who have been under the control of Maya since beginningless time. These, too, can be divided into 2 categories - those who have realized God and those who are still aspiring to this.

We all are the children of God.

Starting from Vedas all scriptures unanimously declare that God is the Father of all. Understand by an example given by Shankaracharya,

सत्यापि भेदापगमे नाथ तवाहं न मामकीनस्त्वम्।
सामुद्रो हि तरङ्गो क्वचन समुद्रो न तारङ्ग ॥ शंकराचार्य

jīvābhyādayāḥ proktā ātmaikastu janāradanaḥ ।

“O Shri Krishna! You and I are not different. Both of us are sentient, but still there is a difference. Waves originate from the ocean, but the ocean does not originate from the waves. Means we are born from You, but You are not born from us, this is the difference.”

So each wave is related and their father is the ocean. They originated from the ocean, they are water from the ocean, and they will merge back into the ocean. In this world you call somebody your father or mother or brother or son. These souls are all siblings. Your current physical father was once your wife, husband, son and brother numerous times in past lives. Since beginningless time every soul has had every relationship with every other soul. Then how can we call someone our father? All these relationships belong to the ever-changing and perishable body, not the soul. If the body of a person is your father, then why during a father's cremation ceremony does a son break his father's skull (kapal kriya)? Why does a son burn his father’s body? He does so because he knows that his father has already left that body. He is not dwelling in that body any more. Only at that time do we consider the soul as mine and not the body.

This body is transitory. Just like the passengers traveling on a train. Every passenger has a different destination.

Passengers in a train have a good time as long as they are together. Then, people alight on their own destinations. Life is the same way.

When they arrive at their destination, passengers get down from the train. Sometimes another passenger who may have respectfully addressed you as ‘father’ gets down before you. You may ask,”Why are leaving me, my son?” “Well, this is how it is. My stop has come and I have to go.” First the father should go and then the son. There is no logic that works here. Every soul leaves their body at their predestined time. The time of death is determined by God according to the deeds of the soul in his past lives. God says, “You are being given this human body for a certain length of time. During that time, attain Me, or else the human body will be snatched away, and based upon what actions you performed during your life, you receive consequences you must undergo. You cannot bribe your way out of this.” In this world a lot of bribery happens, but nothing like this works there.

So God is the father of all souls. The meaning of celebrating father’s day is to decide to attain your divine Father. In order to attain your divine Father, the most important and the only entity who can help you is the Guru. That is why both God and Guru are considered the father.

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Kripalu Leelamritam

Guru strives for your ultimate bliss

In the city of Pratapgarh, lived Mahabani Ji with his wife and children. His youngest daughter, who grew up to be known as Banchary Didi, was raised listening to the profound spiritual teachings of Shri Maharaj Ji, who lived in Pratapgarh and held satsangs three times a day. Banchary Didi understood the basic tenet that Hari-Guru want their followers to be happy, but she did not fully grasp the nuances of this philosophy

One day, someone brought an alphonso mango as an offering to Shri Maharaj Ji. That single mango came in a nice packaging. It looked ripe and smelt great. Mahabani Ji asked his wife Chandrani to put it away so that Shri Maharaj Ji could eat it later. As young girls often do, Banchary Didi followed her mother to the storage area.
At tea time that evening, Maharaj Ji asked for the mango, but it was nowhere to be found. Somehow, they suspected that little Banchary Didi knew where the mango was. So her mother asked her. She replied, "I ate it."

Mahabani ji's wife revealed the mystery of the missing mango to Shri Maharaj Ji. Maharaj Ji used to treat Banchary Didi like she was much older than her age. He called her and asked why she ate the mango when she knew it was for him. She joyfully replied, "You like us to be happy. And eating that mango made me happy. So I ate it. And since it made me happy, you would also be happy?"

Maharaj Ji was pleased by tattvagyan of such a young girl. He further refined her understanding of what they really meant. He explained that Hari-Guru want their followers to find true bliss. That true bliss is God. He said that giving in to the temptations of the senses does not bring lasting happiness. In fact, it makes Hari-Guru sad when people give in to their temptations because it weakens their will-power. One must be strong-willed to follow Hari-Guru's direction to the word. That is the shorted and the fastest way to attain eternal divine bliss.

MORAL
Don't be lax in acquiring the tattvagyan. Without a sound understanding of the divine precepts you might inadvertently err.

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Kid's Story

Why does God descend?

One day Akbar, the Mugal Emperor of India, asked hi wise Prime Minister Birbal, "In Islam we say God sent his servant Mohammad Saheb to save people. That was sufficient to do the job. But in Hinduism it is said that God Himself descends. Why does God go to all the trouble of descending?"

Birbal replied,"O Emperor, I don't really know. That is just how it is". Thus Birbal deferred the question.

Birbal was very wise. He knew that just an explanation will not be sufficient to satisfy Akbar's curiosity. The crown prince was Salim and Akbar was very fond of him. So, Birbal got a wax replica made of Salim, in a sitting posture. When the replica was ready Birbal suggested that Akbar and Salim go for a boat ride. Birbal took the nanny of Salim in his confidence and she too accompanied them. Akbar, Salim and Birbal along with the entire entourage of servants embarked on boats. Akbar and Birbal sat at in the front and Salim's replica with the nanny sat behind. The real prince stayed in the palace with other attendants. The maid kept fondling and caressing the replica. After sometime Birbal signaled the maid to throw the replica in the water and pretend like he accidentally fell in the river.

Seeing Salim bobbing in the river, Akbar jumped in the river to save his son. No sooner did he touch the wax replica that he figured out that it was one of Birbal's pranks. Akbar was furious. He asked Birbal what kind of practical joke this was.

Birbal replied,"O Emperor! You wanted to know why God descends on earth and does not send His servants to save people. See when your son fll in the river you yourself jumped in the water. You didn'd ask any of your servants to save him. Similarly, we are God's children and He loves us. Hence, He Himself descends on eath to save us".