Eminent western thinkers and philosophers of the intellectual class have admitted the rationality of the non-dualism of Indian philosophy that there is one reality, the Supreme Self abiding in the hearts of many persons and objects having different names and forms but…
But what is the method by which Indians compel the Omnipotent One, the Supreme Lord of the Universe, the Supreme Being to become a small child, dance for the sake of a bowl of buttermilk, cry for a lost wife, for a dying brother, laugh, lay, cry, sing, dance and tend the cows? How is it that they are able to get the Supreme Brahman become a child, a friend, a charioteer? The Supreme Being driving Arjuna’s chariot! He appears in King Kams’s cell in His divine four-armed form but Vasudeva and Devaki say, ‘Lord! You had promised to come as a child. How can we fondle you in this form? How shall we get the joy of loving you like a son?’ he immediately responds by becoming a crying newborn baby. What is this technique that the Indians have? This is an enigma for western philosophers.
There philosophy, their scriptures, Upanishads and Vedas etc. are all ok; it is intelligible to us,’ they say, ‘but what do they have that makes God incarnate, dance with them, cat with them and tend cows with them? What technique is this? Yes Indians! What technique is this?’
After ruling over the kingdom of Ayodhya for long time, Lord Rama decides to go back to His own able. He invites all the people of Ayodhya thereto. All who wished to accompany him entered the waters of Saryu River. Thousands, hundreds of thousands of people of Ayodhya center the Saryu and athrough it reach Saket, Lord Rama’s abode. What technique could that be? Foreign thinkers are at a loss to know.
Lord Krishna is two-armed but becomes four-armed at will and He shows His
Cosmic Form to Arjuna. He dance for the sake of a bowl of buttermilk. He liberates demons and other nasty beings by killing them. When Putana comes with poison on he breasts, he suckles the poisoned breasts, he suckles the poisoned breasts of Puntana, kills and sends her to His own abode. He is Supreme Brahman, the substratum of the Creation, the Ex8istence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute; yet He becomes a child. He, the Lord of the Universe, is prepared to flee from battle for conferring glory on somebody. He renders service to and shows hospitality for saints coming to yajna. He washes their feet and picks up the defiled leaf-plates after they have taken food. What is the power these saints have? What is that method possessed by Indians that makes (the formless) God assume a form? He talks with them; he touches them; He speaks, cats walks and does and all things like them! They make Him their disciple as well! Sandipani was not a brilliant student but he had realized the truth of ‘Guru’s form is the object of meditation…”and therefore would listen attentively to the Guru with gaze fixed on His countenance and mind fixed on Guru-tattva i. e. the essence or real he said to Sandipani, ‘My son! You have been mediocre so far as worldly learning is concerned but you had a deep yearning for Ultimate Knowledge. The Lord is going to incarnate as Krishna; I bless you that Lord Krishna would become your disciple.”
So, he made his disciple the Lord’s Guru i.e. he himself become Lord’s Guru’s Guru… what technique is this?
I was asked in the ‘Parliament of the World’s Religions’, “Why does God incarnate Himself only in India?”
I posed a counter question, “Why is there greenery where it rains and rain where there is greenery?”
They said, “It is the law of nature.” I said, “Similarly, Lord Shiva’s abode, the mount Kailash emerged first of all from the vast expanse of water. Lord Shiva’s blessed Matsyendranathji and other saints with self-knowledge and then entrusted them with the task of disseminating the same among the masses. So there is incarnation of God where there are devotees and vice versa. There is greenery where there is rain and there is rain where there is greenery.”
There is no technique, no method. The Lord incarnated Himself on this land in succession of Lord Narayana and the Rishis. Upāsanā and spiritual practices of this land aim at lessening attachment to the mortal body and developing devotional feelings and love. The higher feelings and love captivate even animals and birds what to speak of human beings. Such feelings make the stones melt and manifest god from the stone idol. So devotees’ feelings and love melt the heart of Supreme Lord, the Governor of the Universe and He is prepared to become a small child as a part of His divine play. There is no other technique, or method. Hindu dharma is unique in that its mantras and system of worship have great specialties hidden in them. There are many kinds of yoga – laya yoga, kundalini yoga, tanka vidya, spiritual science, karma-vidya, bhagavad vidya….the list seems to be unending. Unbounded is the glory of Hindu Dharma! Sādhanā practiced according to the system of Hindu Dharma develops the divine powers hidden in man. Only ten millionth of the total powers have been developed till now. Einstein had taken recourse to self-restraint and meditation according to the Indian system.
That Lord is all-pervading. He can become manifest for the sake of His loving devotee, whenever he wants wherever he wants in whatever way he wants, to enchant the world with the sense of goodness and propriety. Don’t think that the Lord incarnated Himself only as Lord Rama and Lord Krishna. There are a number of minor manifestations of God. The Lord’s Avatāras can be – Nitya, Naimittika, Preranā, Āvesha, or Pravesha. When the evil Duhshasana wanted to disrobe draupadi, she felt greatly distressed and cried out to the Lord, “Dwārikādhish (the king of Dwarika)!” When she said ‘Dwarikā’ the Lord was in Dwarika, but when she finished the call by saying ‘…dhish’, the Lord had already got Pravesha (manifestation) into her sari. Duhshasana, who possessed strength equivalent to a number of elephants combined, was tired pulling the sari but there was no end to it in sight. He threw up his hands in despair saying, ‘Is this a woman or an endless sari?’ no, it is the Lord manifested in the form of the sari. Similarly, when Prahlad was tormented, the Lord incarnated Himself as Lord Narsingh to unleash His fury (Āvesh). Lord Shiva’s incarnation to protect Markandeya, too is His Āuesha Avatāra. If you do good, you get inspiration (Preranā) from within and if you plan to do evil, the inner voice admonishes you; it is the Prerana Avatāra of God. In Indian culture, rishis have devised paths of sādhanā in addition to the study of the Gita and assimilating its teachings in life, japa of Lord’s name powered with seed-mantra that may not be intelligible to scholars but it works wonders. The Bhial woman, shabari has intense yearning for Lord Raman and she becomes successful in making the Lord eat defiled plums (first bitten by her). Sati anasuya transforms the Trinity – Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva into milk-suckling babies by the power of her chastity and loyalty to her husband. Mirabai knows no technique or method but her love and devotion makes the Lord appear before her in human form. Taj, who used to take pride in being called a Hindu though being a Turk, would make Lord Krishna. Manifest Himself before her. Rahim Khankhana would be go engrossed in devotion that he would behold Lord Krishna in the form of a child and then as Murlidhar as well. Ravidasji knew no technique or method but the water in which he dipped the leather had tremendous divine power. Once Gorakhanathji came to him and asked for water to drink. Ravidasji gave him the leather-water. Gorakhnathji was in a predicament. He had seen leather being dipped in that impure water but at the same time, it was given by a saint like Ravidasji. He neither drank the water nor threw it away. Finally, he came to saint Kabirji and told him what had happened. Kabirji’s daughter Kamali was sitting there. She drank the water which awakened the divine powers in her. Later, she was married and went away to her in-laws’ place in Multan. She witnessed many miracles in her life. Gorakhnathji was highly impressed by her powers. He came to Ravidasji again hoping to get that water. Ravidasji said, “The water has gone to Multan.” So, there is no big technique or method behind this. You cannot remain without loving but when you love transient things, it leads to attachment and when you love the eternal God, that love becomes God Himself. Wherever there is the sense of ‘ownness’, there is love. A dog may be wetting many a shoe but it doesn’t bother you at all. But when it comes near your shoes intending to do the same, you chase it away. Whatever belongs to us is dear to us. Similarly, Indians say, ‘the Lord is mine own; the Lord is a lover of cows; the Lord is infallible; the lOrd has the whole universe within Him; he is my mother; he is my father…’ This love and devotion and strong belief make the formless God assume form and then He dances and plays with them; laughs and weeps with them. The Lord says, ‘I am subservient to my devotees’ and He proves it with His conduct. Devotees have the same power over the Lord as the child has over his parents, grandparents and neighbours.
‘Love is not grown in green plantation,
Nor can it in the market-place be bought.
Whether you are a sovereign ruler or a subject,
Remember this, that only he who gives his head, can by it.’
Why do we prostrate ourselves before the Lord? To destroy our ego. Otherwise, what use does god have for our throwing ourselves prostrate before Him? As our ego slowly gets effactd, as we begin to realize the importance of God and open ourselves to God’s mercy and compassion, God’s real nature, Love and shelter become available to us. The more peaceful and reposed one’s heart is, the more one considers the Lord as one’s own, the more intense is the bhāva and love in the heart. On the strength of this bhāva and love, the Supreme Brahman yields to devotees’ feelings and dances to the devotees’ tunes. There is no other technique or method.
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