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REJUVINATION OF HINDUISM
Significance of Temples
O Learned And Devoted Servants of God,
Why is there so much rush in temples? There is only one reason.
People think that if they go to the temples they can escape from the
difficulties, which are the fruits of their sins. They also think that they
can get some benefits (which are the fruits of good deeds) for good
deeds that they have not performed. Obviously this is not true. The
scriptures say “Avasyam Anubhoktavyam” which means that we must
enjoy the fruits of our good and bad deeds. You cannot escape the result
of your bad deeds and you cannot achieve the result of a good deed,
which you have not done. One cannot escape the punishment given by
the judge in the court. Similarly you cannot escape the judgment of God.
If this fact is written at the gates of the temple, nobody will enter the
temple.
Then what is the actual aim of the temple? One of the sixteen
divine qualities (Kalyana Gunas) of God is beauty (Soundarya). For
example it is said that the beauty of Lord Rama disturbed the minds of
even sages. The beautiful Lord should be seen first; “Drashtavyah”, as
said in the Veda. So the statue of God in the temple must be carved most
beautifully. The priest should decorate the statue in the most beautiful
way, so that our eyes will be fixed on the statue. The next step is
“Srotavyah”, as said in the Veda. It means that after seeing the form of
God, we must listen to His other divine qualities. It is the duty of the
priest to explain the other divine qualities of God. The third step is
“Nididhyasitavyah”, that is your minds should be filled with inspiration
given by the all-round personality of God. With this inspiration you
must go back home.
Present State of Temple Worship
But what is happening today? The statue is not at all beautiful. The
decoration is not at all inspiring. So there is no question of any divine
inspiration. When we go to temple the priest utters some Vedic hymns
in Sanskrit which you do not understand at all. When you return from
the temple, you do not have any trace of devotion for the divine
personality. If at all you have any bit of devotion, it is only due to your
desires, which you want God to fulfill. Your devotion is forced by your
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desires. Without realizing this actual concept, you are doing a non-
useful exercise by going round and round the temples.
What is going on in the temples now? Lights are lit
(Deeparadhana), camphor is burnt (Neerajanam) and some eatable
items are offered as Prasadam. The Vedas do not even mention such
types of worship. This is also not the tradition of our ancient sages. This
is nothing but a bad tradition introduced by some people later on.
How can such types of worship be connected with fulfilling your
desires? Is it not true that you do these worships with fear or
selfishness? Such types of worships neither benefit the devotees nor the
priests. Some merchants reap the benefits. For example the devotee
breaks a coconut in front of the idol. The coconut costs five rupees. The
priest takes half the coconut. That is Rs.2.50/-. Since there are hundreds
of such coconuts offered each day, he manages to sell them to a nearby
restaurant for one rupee per half coconut. The restaurant gets Rs.1.50/-
as profit. Instead of earning one rupee by such a false way, let the priest
earn two rupees by an honest way. For example, let him maintain the
idol by regular washing (Abhisheka) and decoration and let him explain
the divine virtues of God in the people’s mother tongue. Then let him
take Rs.2.00/- as Guru Dakshina (fees paid to the teacher). By this true
way, both God and the devotees would bless the priest. The eatable
items (Prasadam) offered to God in the temple by the devotees, should
not be enjoyed by the priest, because it is nothing but cheating the
devotees in the name of God. Such food offered, should not be given
even to other devotees, because the devotees are capable of earning their
own food.
Changing Temple Worship
Such food should be distributed only to beggars, who come under
the following categories:
1) Children
2) Very old people
3) People suffering with diseases
4) Handicapped persons
5) Hungry animals like dogs and birds.
So the temples must be spiritual centers and not shops in which
you can ‘purchase’ the fruits of your desires. After returning from the
temple, your divine knowledge and devotion must increase. Temples
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writing. But now the Vedas are even computerized and there is no need
of preservation of the Vedas by recitation. Therefore such a tradition
should be discouraged. Blind people are led by blind preachers and fall
in the well, as said in the Veda (Andhenaiva…).
In the Hindu religion, astrologers and priests must also realize the
truth. By worshipping planets and deities, the results of bad deeds
cannot vanish and the results of good deeds that are not done by you,
cannot be achieved. God (Parabrahma) pervading all these planets and
deities internally, is Lord Datta and He alone should be worshipped. The
fan cannot move without the electric current. The light bulb cannot glow
without the electric current flowing through it. The fan and the light
bulb are like planets and deities. The electric current is Lord Datta. In
other religions, the same current is named as Jehovah or Allah. The
Veda says “Bheeshodeti” i.e., the sun shines only by the energy and fear
of God. The Veda (Kena Upanishad) says that the power behind all
deities is God alone.
So, all these astrologers and priests should be converted into
Sadgurus, who preach about Lord Datta. They can also take some
money (Guru Dakshina) from the people for their livelihood and there is
nothing wrong in it because they are standing for the truth and are
giving real help to all the people who believe them. But they should
make one thing clear that only Lord Datta can really protect you by
taking your sins on Him. He will undergo the punishments for your
sake. Except for this way, there is no other way to escape from your
sins.
At the same time, you must not expect Lord Datta to take your
sins. You must be prepared to suffer for your sins and still continue to
worship Him without aspiring for anything in return from Him. You
must prove your love by your practical participation in His service.
Worship should not be done with mere mind and words.
Instead of worshipping Lord Datta (Sadguru), if you worship
planets and deities with selfish desires, your bad results will only be
postponed to the later part of this life or your next life. You will have to
suffer them later and that too with added interest. The good results that
were to be enjoyed in the next life are dragged to the present life with
reduced values due to your rituals and selfish worship. They reduce in
value like prematurely encashed bank deposits. As a result, your next
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the priest performs the ritual in the right sense, the Lord will bless him
and the people and also the country with the immense wealth. The
rituals are the paths of divine knowledge and devotion and not mere
formalities or paths of earning some petty money. Today, Lord Datta is
advising all the Indians to rectify this mistake and please the Lord so
that He will bless India with wealth.
Let us take good from the west not only in science, but also in
spiritualism. Let us not be egoistic that we are the masters in
spiritualism. The Lord never likes egoism. Good is good and diamond is
diamond in any country. All the human beings are one and the same
coming under one category called “Creation”. The second category is
“Creator” who is also only one. People are putting food, ghee etc., into
the fire in the name of sacrifice, which leads to pollution only. ‘Kapila’,
the incarnation of Lord Vishnu, criticized such practice as mentioned in
‘Bhagavatam’. It is only giving food to a deserving hungry person. The
Veda says that such deserving person is a devotee or human incarnation
of the Lord, who is considered as fire (“Vaisavnaro Brahmanah…”).
The Gita says that the Lord is in the form of fire in the stomach to
receive the food. Lord Krishna with hunger came and asked for the food
that was to be offered to the fire and the wives of the sages gave the
food to Him. Krishna taught the real sense of sacrifice. He discouraged
the sacrifice to a God Indra, for the same reason.
In Sadguru, all Gods live as said in the Veda (“Yavateeah...”),
offering food to the Sadguru is like offering food to all the Gods. The
word ‘Agni’ comes from ‘Agri’, which means the Sadguru is to be fed
first. Fire is only an aid to cook the food. This incarnation, Sadguru,
called ‘Agni’, stands as witness in the marriage and not the inert fire.
True Interpretation of Gayatri Mantra
Another misinterpretation is about the ‘Gayatri mantra’. Women
and some other castes were prohibited to chant this. You also say that no
hymn (mantra) is equal to Gayatri. Does this not charge God with
injustice? Gayatri does not mean a particular hymn. Gayatri means ‘the
sweet style of a song’. Mantra means, that which spontaneously attracts
the mind to chant something again and again. Any sweet song on God
that attracts the mind to sing it repeatedly and gets the protection of God
is called Gayatri (“Gayantam…manantam”). Even a cinema song,
slightly modified in the name of God can be a ‘Gayatri mantra’. For
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e.g., replace the word ‘Sanam’ by ‘Hare’ in the cinema song “Churaliya
hai tumne…”and sing it on Lord Vishnu. You are singing spontaneously
without any force. This is a mantra. Gayatri means a meter but not a
deity as said “Gayatri chandah”. This takes you near the Lord, because
He likes the Sama Veda (songs) as said in the Gita “SamaVedosmi”.
‘Upanayanam’, the ritual in which Gayatri is given, means taking you
near the Lord. (Upa= Near, Nayanam= taking through a song). So,
Gayatri is with women and other castes only who sing about God.
Indians are blessed with lot of spiritual knowledge and devotion.
Both these are side dishes in a meal. The main item, which is bread or
rice, is lost in India. The main item is ‘Karma Phala Tyaga’ (as said in
Gita) which means sacrifice of money, which is the ‘Karma phala’ (fruit
of the work). Indian scholars have interpreted the meaning of Karma
phala as meditation or chanting songs. So, you meditate or chant some
hymns and at the end say, “I have sacrificed the fruit of this work to the
Lord!” The Lord blessed you with good intelligence because of your
meditation and good pronunciation for your recitation i.e., as the work,
so the fruit. Such intellectual interpretation is only due to your
greediness. Indians connect their heart to their children from which love
flows. These connection tubes are large and very long. These bonds are
very strong and extend even to their great grand children. Hence, their
heart is empty. They connect their intelligence to the Lord, which results
in such tricks.
Present Indian Scenario of Worship
The straight test for love is sacrifice of the fruit of your work
(money) only. In the west, family bonds are very weak and the love
stored in them is diverted to the Lord. How much money they sacrifice
for the work of the Lord! They fund even the Indian spiritual centers. Is
it not a shame to Indians? The foreigners consider the Lord is same in
all the religions and fund Indian centers also. They ask their children to
earn and live after a certain age. But in India, people are worried of their
heirs in the coming ten generations also, and go on storing the money.
When you love your children, you get happiness, which is selfishness
only, and this cannot protect your children. If you love God, God can
protect your children and that is your real love on your children. Can
your love give longevity to your children? Only God can give longevity.
Indians do not want to sacrifice even a rupee for the Lord. But they want
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to get the blessings of the Lord. They want to please the Lord by mind
and words and get money from the Lord! For such purpose, they follow
all the intellectual tricks to please the Lord. They eat the food and say
that the food is offered to the Lord. For this, the Advaita philosophy is
exploited which says that man is God. The aim of that philosophy is to
say that a particular man, like Lord Krishna is God. The philosophy is
extrapolated to every man.
Showing food to statues is another trick. Offering food and money
to a deserving person is the actual Karma Phala Tyaga in this context.
Statues are meant only to see the incarnation of Lord in His absence,
just like a photo of your son who is elsewhere. A Guru criticizes the
student not with a negative view. His aim is rectification of the defect
and gets the subsequent benefit to his student. This criticism of Indians
is done by Lord Datta only to rectify their mistake, to make India rich
and to get India blessed with immense wealth and prosperity.
Right approach to Guru Datta
The Veda says that God is true and infinite knowledge (Satyam
jnanam anantam…) and Guru Datta is the God. So Datta always speaks
the truth whether you like it or not. This is the reason why Datta did not
become famous. But now Datta is becoming famous since people are
realizing the importance of truth. The effect of truth is permanent and
real.
Generally, the approach of people to God is a sort of business. If
you get a problem or you want something from the Lord, you approach
God and bribe Him with money. Now, people are very alert with God!
They pray to God Balaji in Tirupati, “Let this work be done. Then I will
do such and such worship or I will offer so much money to you”. This
shows that people even doubt God to offer anything prior to the work.
This attitude cracks the very foundation, which is the faith in the
existence of God. Another approach to God is like a beggar praising the
house owner for food. The beggar explains his poverty and pitiable
condition. This approach of a beggar is similar to the approach of a
devotee of God with prayer and meditation without offering any money.
The inner consciousness of this sort of rich devotee will be like this,
“God may exist or may not exist. If God exists, let me please Him with
prayers. If He does not exist, my work might have succeeded on my
own effort. Then I might foolishly attribute the success to God and offer
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sari might have become a sari at the maximum, even if the interest was
compounded. Since her sacrifice was without aspiring anything in return
and there was no account in it, Lord Krishna multiplied it infinitely,
which was required in that situation. Requirement is the criterion of
love.
So, Lord is a wonderful bank! You should offer your extra money
as Guru Dakshina with love and forget about it without aspiring
anything in return. When the need comes, Lord will multiply it infinitely
to the extent of your requirement. One rupee offered by a poor man is
equal to one lakh offered by a rich man because the requirement of your
status decides the extra you have taken.