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Jul 30 2017
Datta Maata 59: Selfless action (Nishkāma karma)
Doing any karma (activity) without even a single desire (Nishkāma karma) is not possible for the seeker at the very beginning. But, one must necessarily do it. Because, such karma performed in this birth will not go in vain. If we do such Nishkāma karma once, it will not create any obstacle in the future births. Say, some karma happens in the world.
The jeevi (being) always attaches doer ship to his/her self. Because of that, the jeevi experiences the fruits of that karma. He cannot escape the fruits of it. Attaching the fruits of karma to the jeevi is attaching the karma to the doer. When the fruits of karma are attached to a doer, it is said to be “sakama karma”. If it is not attached then it is known as “nishkāma karma”. This is what we must learn.
Lord Krishna told about Nishkāma karma thus:
If one tries for nishkāma karma, then such a person will not incur any loss even if the effort fails. Instead, the fruits of the spiritual practice will lead him to heaven. After experiencing the fruits of the merit accumulated, he will take re-birth on Earth. It is such a good topic from Bhagavad gita. We must practice it. We should read a chapter from it or at least a shloka every day. Such a person will get the energy without any efforts to continue the spiritual practice (sādhana) from where it stopped in the last birth. In this birth, he will be born in a family where he can continue the sādhana. We often see people with such fortune.
These were the words of Lord Krishna. There should not be any doubts regarding the words uttered by Krishna so clearly because he is Jagadguru. Nishkāma karma will not be finished in a birth. The efforts must continue. This is what we learn here. Many ask how it is possible to do karma without any desire. Because we do the karma with a desire, it is not fulfilled. Then, we will not have any interest on the karma. Hence, we must do any karma without any desire on it and without any expectation for the fruits thereafter. Many go to temple, Guru and follow yantras and mantras only if some good fortune comes to them. Holding onto yantra and mantra may be illusory but approaching a Guru is not so. If we feed the hungry, then we must do so as nishkāma karma. Instead, it is wrong to be egoistic for feeding the hungry. At the same, it is a big mistake to either insult the person or boast about oneself after offering the food. Nishkama karma is a very good penance for one’s life. It involves no expectation. You will emerge victorious for taking up any karma being duty-bounded.
Jai Guru Datta! Sri Guru Datta!
Permanent link to this article: https://puttugam.com/datta-maata-59-selfless-action-nishkama-karma/
Jul 29 2017
Datta Maata 58: Disciplines of Yama and Niyama help the person enjoy real happiness.
The foolish people who want to become wealthy regard amassing wealth as the greatest virtue. Nay, they consider any path of earning as righteous (Dharma).
In colloquial language, it is said that the craving for money will not leave a person till death. Such kind of people will definitely reach hell post death. In this way, those who have the yearning for money regard the passion for name and fame as a virtue. We can identify such quality in others. But, we can never find it if such quality exists within our own self. How do we come out of this? The situation continues to be the same till the time of death. If it is so, then there is no solution for this problem. When there is no solution at all, then humans can’t be made responsible for it. Hence, we have to understand this in a different angle.
You might have heard of the qualities of Yama and Niyama. Out of these two, the quality of Yama refers to compassion, truth, cleanliness and non-violence. The Manu scripture proclaims:
Yamānaschevitassatatam nemansthu kadāchanā!
This means that as long as the human survives; he must adhere to the principle of Yama. When he goes away from this principle, he becomes thoughtless and deceives himself. Hence, there is one and only one solution.
Just like the darkness is dispelled by the brightness of the Sun, to get rid of such ill quality, we must follow the principles of Yama. We may follow any number of disciplines, but without the principle of Yama, everything goes in vain. The above verse tells us that keeping the Yama as the main quality, one can engage in great charities.
Yama and Niyama lead us to a good discipline in our life. Life becomes happy with that. By practicing them, man glows with radiance and peace. Many do not understand this concept. They merely want to be happy without that. By following Yama and Niyama to some extent, one gets good eligibility to experience the real happiness. Yama and Niyama are meant not just for happiness. It is meant to experience bliss along with the happiness. How does such happiness come? It does not come with money, name, fame etc. When a man is rich with all of those, he is in fact quite obsessed. He cannot sleep calmly. Hence, if you follow Yama and Niyama, you can be very peaceful even if you do not possess money, name or fame. This is the result of these two great virtues.
Jai Guru Datta! Sri Guru Datta!
Permanent link to this article: https://puttugam.com/datta-maata-58-disciplines-of-yama-and-niyama-help-the-person-enjoy-real-happiness/
Jul 29 2017
Datta maata 57: Difference between Para-jnana and Apara-jnana
There are two types of needs – temporal and spiritual. The jnana (knowledge) or intellect with which one fulfills the temporal worldly needs is known as “Apara jnana”. The main goals of those who work to fulfill such needs are only to amass wealth and remain happy. They adopt several methods for that. Contrary to this, the intellect that is used to attain permanent happiness is known as “Parā jnana”. Those who put efforts to attain such jnana have no need for money. We know this.
But, in this Kali Yuga, it is the other way round. The scholars are earning money by selling the temporal and spiritual knowledge that they possess. It is very rare to find even a single person who has any interest in other’s benefit. This is the power of money and Kali Yuga.
There are two other important aspects that the seekers must observe here. We must understand that the reason behind contrariety is this Kali Yuga and that this world runs on money. Hence, it is an absolute mistake to cultivate feelings of hatred on the culprits. We only intensify our feelings of hatred towards such people. Instead, we never try to correct the mistakes in them. Even if mistakes happen, we must understand that it is because of the kāla (time). Many people commit mistakes unknowingly. It is merely the play of the God of Time. We must remind ourselves time and again that God makes such mistakes happen only to divert us towards the eternal principle of Time. Only the spiritual seekers can understand such concepts. There is also another important aspect that seekers must observe. The money and resources obtained through the worldly means carry least significance. Hence, one must never show interest towards those who wish to attract and teach about the sacred knowledge for money. Many people teach Yoga for money. They sell mantras, yantras, etc. We must be extremely careful.
Swamiji is telling us a secret to achieve Para jnana. That is “Parārthāsakti”. It is the interest that one has to help others. By sacrificing selfishness, one must utilize the entire energy to help others. We need not accumulate any external energy for this. It is enough to simply utilize the energy that God has given to us naturally. The question here is not about the number of energies you have utilized for the sake of others. It is about the interest that you show to help others. This is very important. I pray Lord Datta to bless you all with such wisdom.
Jai Guru Datta! Sri Guru Datta!
Permanent link to this article: https://puttugam.com/datta-maata-57-difference-between-para-jnana-and-apara-jnana/
Jul 29 2017
Datta maata 56: Use every second to reach the other shore called liberation.
Time is very precious. We should not waste even a second. It is highly valuable. Our elders often tell us to utilize the available time judiciously. We read the same in books too. It is very fine with people who have this sense but those who do not have it are quite dubious. They only want to enjoy the life and are least bothered about anything else. There is a beautiful story to convince such set of people.
A boat was ready to ferry. Meanwhile, a bird landed from somewhere on the sail of the boat. The boat ferried into midway of the ocean. The bird flew into air, saw a particular direction and assumed it to be east and continued to fly to find the shore. Nevertheless, it did not find the shore even after a long time. Then, it understood that it is not moving towards the east direction and hence flew backwards towards the boat and sat once again on the sail of it. It then looked towards another direction and assuming to be west, flew again. Once again, despite flying far distances, it did not find the shore. It could only find water all around. So, it learnt that it is not the west direction. As usual, it came back to the sail of the boat and sat on its position. The bird tried its best by going in all the four directions but soon had to come back every time failing to find the shore. While the bird tried to find the shore, the boat reached the shore. The bird happily flew into the sky.
Here, the bottom line is about the “efforts” that we put in. Despite being in the midway of the ocean, the bird tried many a time to reach the shore. But, it never actually could. Similarly, a man is also entangled in the ocean of samsāra (cycle of births and deaths). Keeping aside about reaching the shore, he is not even putting any basic efforts and offering prayers to God. One must never restrain from putting in human efforts. Many do not consider it. They simply remain idle without any effort. Some or the other day, we must reach the shore called ‘moksha’ (salvation).
Hence, without wasting time, man must ascend the boat called ‘God’ and hold on to the sail called ‘God’s names’. Only then, God will make us reach the shore.
God is somehow making us travel in this life. Just like the bird, we are trying to do something by wasting precious time, money and other resources. This is not good. It is mere waste of time. The bird reached the mid of the ocean. It had no compass. By merely holding onto the sail of the boat, it reached the shore. Likewise, we never know towards which direction the samsāra will drag us. We must surrender to God, who is our boat to cross the ocean called samsāra.
Jai Guru Datta! Sri Guru Datta!
Permanent link to this article: https://puttugam.com/datta-maata-56-use-every-second-to-reach-the-other-shore-called-liberation/
Jul 29 2017
Datta maata 55: Never forget the help received from others
We must never forget the help received. Those who forget the help received are said to be ungrateful. Good befalls a person who is grateful whereas misfortune befall the person who is ungrateful.
In the kingdom of the king of Kasi, there lived a hunter. One day, while he was on hunting, he saw an antelope. Immediately, he left an arrow that was smeared with poison. But, that arrow did not strike the antelope. It instead hit a healthy mango tree. Because of the poison contained with the arrow, the tree was empoisoned and all the leaves and fruits of the tree withered and fell down. The tree shriveled and became unappealing. As a result, the birds that took shelter in the tree left the it. But, a parrot that stayed in a hole of the tree since a long time, did not feel like going away from it because the tree gave it shelter for its survival. It continued to live in the dried hole of the tree. The time for the tree to perish also has approached. Even then the parrot did not leave it.
Indra wanted to test the parrot for its gratitude towards its master – the tree. He visited the parrot in the guise of a man. He said that the tree can no longer give shelter to it and asked why is it that it stayed in that tree itself when there are thousands of other trees around. He asked why the parrot continued to stay there even after the tree is about to perish. The parrot immediately identified that it was Indra who came in disguise. It replied that staying in a tree when it is hale with fruits and leaving it when it is in its hard times is termed as ingratitude. The parrot told that it is a sin to forget the help received. Indra was very happy for the merit of the parrot because it had identified his guise and hence he appeared in front of the parrot in his real form. He wanted the parrot to ask for a wish. The parrot prayed for the good health of the tree. Indra happily made the tree blossom again and blessed the parrot with salvation in its future births.
Hence, we must never forget the help received from any one. They would have helped us some time in the past. Now, when they are suffering with utter poverty, we must not neglect them. We must try to talk to them, respect them and offer any possible help to them because they have helped us in our difficult times. Their help might have been very small in quantity. But today, they have nothing. We must respect and show our reverence. Instead, we must not leave the place just because they will ask us for money. We must try to help our bit. The parrot did not do so. It was blessed with sainthood in its future births.
Jai Guru Datta! Sri Guru Datta!
Permanent link to this article: https://puttugam.com/datta-maata-55-never-forget-the-help-received-from-others/
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