13. What is the importance of Agni (Holy Fire) in the sacrifice (Yajna)?

The first the Veda (Rig Veda) starts with the word Agni i.e., the Holy Fire. The Mantra says that Agni means ‘Purohita’, Ritvik and Hota. These three words mean the preacher of the Veda. Therefore the Vedic scholar who is like fire is called Agni. The word Agni comes from the word Agri, which means that He [the preacher of the Veda or Satguru] should be worshipped first. The Veda also says that such a Vedic Scholar, who can be only the actual incarnation of the Lord, should be your guest to offer food and Guru Dakshina (Vysvanaro Brahmanah Pravisatyatithih Gruhaan). Such a Sadguru, who will give the divine knowledge of the Lord is called as Brahmana. Brahmana means he who knows Brahman and not a person who is born in the caste called Brahmins. The word Brahman means the Lord as well as the Veda. Therefore a Brahmana is the Vedic Scholar who preaches the divine knowledge of the Lord according to the Veda. Such a Brahmana is also called as ‘Vaishwanara’. The Gita says that Vaishwanara is the fire of hunger (Aham Vysvanaro Bhutva). Therefore, ‘Yajna’ is to offer ghee and food to such Sadguru.
The fire is in three forms as per the Veda.
1) Loukikaagni or Bhowtikaagni: which is the physical form of the fire and is used to cook the food; 2) Vaidyutaagni: which is the electric form of fire and 3) Vaishwanaraagni: which is the fire of hunger in the stomach of Sadguru. Vaishwanaraagni is better than Vaidyutaagni. Vaidyutaagni is better than Bhowtikaagni. Therefore Yajna means to feed and give Guru Dakshina to a deserving Vedic scholar who preaches the true meaning of the Vedas. Such a Sadguru is the abode of all the angels (Yavateervai Devataah). When such Sadguru is satisfied with your food offered, the rains will come. Without knowing this inner meaning, if you are burning the ghee and food in the physical fire, the rains will stop due to environmental pollution. Lord Krishna stopped such sacrifice by asking the sages to give Him food and satisfy His hunger. Kapila, the incarnation of Lord Vishnu condemned the burning of ghee and food in physical fire and stated that he who does such Yajna is a biggest fool. Ofcourse the physical fire Agni stands as model or representative (Prateeka) for the Lord. As the fire removes darkness the Lord removes the ignorance. As the fire burns everything, the Lord can burn all your sins. Thus you can meditate upon the fire, as a model of the Lord. But you need not burn the wood constantly to meditate upon the fire to receive this knowledge. You can lit the fire once in your life and learn that the Lord is like the fire. A model experiment is done only once to learn the knowledge. In the olden days, the population was less and there were no plastics and automobiles. Forests were many in number. There was no alternative like electricity. Therefore it was necessary to lit an oil lamp and pollution due to the oil lamp was negligible in view of less number of factors of pollution. Fire was inevitable for cooking the food. The presence of fire threatened the wild animals and the smoke from the fire threw away the mosquitoes. It was very difficult to lit the fire by rubbing the two sticks one against the other. Therefore a constant fire was maintained. Shirdi Sai Baba also lit the fire (Dhuni) in the old Masjid, so that the snakes etc., will not come. But today in every temple of Sai, people burn the wood, which is a waste. This also causes the environmental pollution. You can supply all these wood to the poor people, who will use them for cooking their food. Thus, the physical form of the fire should be taken as the real representative model of the Lord. The Vaishwanara Agni is also called as Devataagni. This means the hunger-fire that is present in the stomach of the human form of the Lord, is the real deity of the fire i.e., Devataagni. The actual inner meaning of the Agni as introduced by the Veda is forgotten. Ignorant people are playing with the actual fire, who is the Holy Lord by not following the Vedic truth. In this true sense Yajna is essential and must be performed.

12. In Hinduism why continuous rituals are performed after the death?

When householder dies the rituals are performed and the cow is donated (Godaana). This proves that a householder certainly goes to the hell because the cow is donated to help the householder to cross a river of blood and pus called Vaitarini flowing in the path of the hell. But when a saint dies these rituals are not done and the cow is not donated. The tradition itself proves that the householder who is doing all the rituals, worshipping the statues and doing Gayathri Mantra is going to the hell. A saint is not doing any one of these things and is doing only the propagation of divine knowledge. A saint does not mean removing the cross belt and putting the saffron cloth. The quaky uniform of an actor cannot make him a police. A police is valid while doing his duty even in mufti dress. Therefore a saint is He who works for the propagation of the knowledge. The rituals consist of two parts. 1) Prayers to the Lord and 2) Sacrifice of fruit of work in the form of money to the deserving people. Prayers will give satisfaction and peace. The practical sacrifice will bring the fruit from the Lord. When a person is not doing these two things while he is alive, he is not getting anything when his son does these things after his death. The son will get the fruits and not the father or mother who died. Therefore one should pray the Lord while he is alive and get the peace and satisfaction. Similarly one should sacrifice the fruit of his work (food and money) to deserving people while he is alive. The food offered by the son will not reach the dead person. The Lord has made all the arrangements for food in the upper world. Even for a jailed person the government arranges food. The Lord will certainly arrange the food to all the souls present in all the worlds. The threat of giving food to the parents who died was given so that a greedy person is forced to do these rituals. But there is no truth in such threat. A person who did these things while he is alive does not aspire either for sons or for such rituals. Shankara, Vivekananda, Meera etc., who participated in the propagation of divine knowledge and devotion, did not have children and they never bothered about such rituals. Their path is the path of knowledge (Archiraadi Marga) as said in the Gita (Ekayaa Yatya naa Vrittim). It is said that such people do not need such rituals “Nahi tena Pathaa Tanuthyajah, Tanaya Varjita Pinda Kankshinah” i.e., the people in the path of the service of the Lord do not require the son and such rituals after death. A person must be wise to pray the Lord and to donate a deserving person, while he is alive. He should not depend on his sons for this after his death. In that unhappy moment the sons will not be able to get a proper deserving person to receive the fruit of the work (money and food). When they sacrifice the fruit to the undeserving persons, sin is purchased by the donation of food and money. Therefore it is better to do the donation while one is alive by searching a proper deserving person who can be the human incarnation of Lord or atleast a great devotee of the Lord. If this real aim of the rituals is not understood, performing the rituals after the death are simply a waste, which are done as a formality. In such rituals the priests are reciting the hymns without knowing their meanings like tape recorders. The concept of prayer is completely lost in such recitation. When you donate to such undeserving tape recorders you cannot get the real fruit and you will get the sin in such rituals. If one has prayed the Lord and donated to the most deserving person while he is alive such rituals are not necessary for him after his death.

11. What truth can be learnt from our present tradition?

[Can we learn any truth from the present tradition, which we are following?] Yes. If you observe carefully the present tradition itself, you can get the whole concept without referring to any Holy Scripture. When a householder dies, the rituals are performed and a cow is donated so that the diseased person can cross ‘Vaitarini’ (river of blood and pus) present before hell. This clearly shows that every householder is going to hell. The householder does Gayathri Japa, wears the cross belt, worships the inert statues and photos etc., When a saint dies such rituals are not performed. This clearly proves that a saint goes to Brahma Loka and not to the Hell. The saint leaves Gayathri Japa, throws away the cross belts, does not worship inert statues and photos. A saint always propagates the divine knowledge in the world. The present tradition also shows that all the householders prostrate at the feet of the saint. This shows that the stage of the saint is certainly higher than the stage of the householder. This shows that everybody should pass from high school to the college. All the rituals should be protected like the high school for the future ignorant batches. We never say that since you left the school, the school should be destroyed. We are saying only that you should leave the school and go to the college i.e., you should not die as a householder but you should die as a saint. Leaving the house and wearing the saffron cloth are not necessary for a saint, which are external only. A policeman sometimes does his duty in mufti without the uniform. An actor wearing the police uniform cannot be the real police. Therefore anybody can become a saint by participating in the propagation of divine knowledge and working for the welfare of the entire humanity without the saffron cloth and without leaving the house. A householder burns camphor, fume sticks, oil and ghee in the lamps and in Yajnas causing lot of pollution and these stop the rains. He is harming the humanity by such foolish deeds, which are not mentioned in the Vedas. Some ignorant preachers fooled public by such deeds and he is not benefited at all. A saint never does these things because he cannot be fooled since he attained the Jnana. Therefore confining to the present tradition itself, one can get the true knowledge without going to the scriptures. The ancient Indian sages (rishis) who are the real saints set up this tradition. When you do not understand even the tradition that is before your eyes, how can you understand the Vedas and Shastras?

10. How you say that even a cinema song slightly modified and diverted to the Lord can become the Gayathri Mantra?

[A cinema song like ‘Churaliya Hai’ is not having pious meaning. How can it be a Gayathri mantra?] You are mocking a person travelling on the donkey towards the goal. But you are travelling on a pig covered by silk cloth. Then how can you mock at the donkey? You sing the Astapadi song to please God, which has very much vulgar meaning in Sanskrit i.e., “Gopi Peena Payodhara Mardana Chanchala Karayuga Saali”. This means that Lord Krishna is pressing the breasts of Gopikas. Don’t you think that our cinema song has better-polished meaning than this? Because it is in Sanskrit and you don’t know its meaning, you sing it very loudly. Churaliya Hai Tumne Jo dilko – Nazar Nahi Churaana Hare (The word Sanam is replaced by the word Hare and the song is diverted to Lord Krishna). Therefore whatever may be the nature of the vehicle if it is turned towards God it is pious. Gopikas reached and pleased the Lord through romance as said in Bhagavatam. Since it is diverted to the Lord such romance is the pious spiritual path. An atheist may do social service but that is only a sinful service. Any quality diverted towards the Lord is good and any quality diverted towards the world is bad. You may know Vedic hymns but if you pray the Lord with Vedic hymns to achieve something in return from the Lord, you are travelling by a good horse in the opposite direction. You are becoming more and more far from the Lord. A pig or donkey towards the direction of Lord is better than a horse travelling in the opposite direction.

9. Who created God

God has no beginning and no end because God is unimaginable. The beginning and the end must be also unimaginable for an unimaginable item. The beginning and the end of the cosmic energy or space or the creation are also unimaginable. Therefore, the beginning and the end are unimaginable for the unimaginable item like God and also for the imaginable item like space. Therefore, the two points, which are the beginning-less and end-less characteristics cannot help you in understanding the real nature of God. If you start recognizing the God by simply these two points (beginning-less and end-less), you may think that God is an imaginable item like the space or energy or the creation. In fact based on these two characteristics people have imagined God as an imaginable item like space or energy or creation. This concept has misled people to such a low level that people think that God is the very infinite space or infinite energy or infinite creation. Therefore, one should filter the concept of God at this juncture itself. One should think that God has no beginning and no end because the beginning and the end of an unimaginable item are also unimaginable.

Such God desired to create this Universe for entertainment. The very desire itself is the Creation. In view of God this present materialized universe in only an idea or imagination or the very desire itself. Therefore, the desire to create the world is itself the desire and also the created world itself is a desire. Thus the creation, maintenance and dissolution of the imaginary world are also imaginations or desires. A part of this infinite creation is the individual soul. The soul is like a drop of the infinite ocean of imagination or desire of God. Thus, quantitatively the entire ocean of imagination of God is very huge compared to the tiny soul. Remember that both the Universe and the tiny soul are made of the same substance called as imagination or desire. Thus the force of the Universe is far greater than the force of the soul. Due to such huge quantitative difference of the same phase, the Universe, which is far stronger than the soul appears as a materialized entity for the soul. But this infinite ocean of desire, which is the infinite Universe is a tiny drop compared to the infinite force of God. Therefore, again due to the same quantitative difference of force the entire universe is just the very weak imagination from the view of God. Thus imagination and materialization exist simultaneously true from the point of God and soul.

For the sake of entertainment, God desired to create the Universe. This statement is in Veda (Sa dviteeya Maicchat). In this statement there is a very subtle intermediate stage, which is the essence of the desire to create the Universe. The desire to create the world is like the golden ornament but the essence of such desire is like the raw gold in which the ornament is not yet expressed. Such raw essence of the desire is pure awareness. The pure awareness is a special subtle form of energy, which is not qualified by any form. Such pure awareness is called as the spirit, which is not qualified and does not have any attribute. This is called as “Nirguna Brahman”, which means the pure awareness, which has no reference to the creation of the universe. It is a very critical and subtle point to recognize the pure awareness. Veda says that only very very sharp intelligence can grasp that critical state (Drushyate Tvagraya bhuddhya). Sankara, the topmost genius among the spiritual preachers could grasp that state and proposed the concept of Nirguna Brahman or non-qualified pure awareness. Such pure awareness is the first creation of God (Parabrahman). This first creation is almost as critical and unimaginable as the very Parabrahman itself. The only difference is that Parabrahman is absolutely unimaginable for any sharp intelligence, but this pure awareness is imaginable only for a very sharp intelligence. This pure awareness is called as Mula Prakriti or Suddha Sattvam or Mula Avidya or Mula Maya or the Spirit in general. The Parabrahman maintains such spirit and it is only an associated item and is the first created item. The word Mula means the first. This spirit is in the form of knowledge. It is aware of itself, which means that it is knowledge. Knowledge requires both subjective and objective characteristics. It is subject as well as the object. Therefore, it is called as knowledge or Sattvam. This knowledge is the first form of energy.

Energy is always active. Action is the characteristic of Rajas. Such Spirit is unaware of its own creator who is the God. Therefore, it is having ignorance or Tamas. Thus, the Knowledge itself is action and ignorance. According to Gita Knowledge is Sattvam (Sattvaat Sanjayate Jnanam), action is Rajas (Rajah Karmani) and Ignorance is Tamas (Tamastva Jnanajam). Thus these three qualities are always inseparable. The pure knowledge (Suddha Sattvam) itself is pure action (Suddha Rajas), which is the pure ignorance (Suddha Tamas). Thus in the very first instant itself the three qualities are created simultaneously in the purest state. Since all these three co-exist, it is called as equilibrium of the three qualities. When the equilibrium is disturbed various items of awareness result in which the three qualities exist in various proportions. Such disturbance of the equilibrium resulting in various distorted items of the three qualities is the very creation. The various mixtures of these three qualities constitute this diversified universe, which is meant for the play of the God and for His entertainment. When the entertainment is over all the three qualities go into the equilibrium state. Thus the Universe is converted into Mula Prakruti.

God is in association with this Mula Prakruti in the beginning. At this stage the Mula Prakruti is only a creation or created item and cannot do anything further. Its equilibrium continues. In fact the Mula Prakruti is only inert and the continuation of such equilibrium is the inertia. God enters the Mula Prakruti and pervades it. Now this Mula Prakruti is electrified wire. It is the ignited stick and is called as fire. Now this Mula Prakruti becomes divine and is called as Brahman or the Holy Spirit. The Spirit, which is just the inert created item became Holy due to the existence of God in it. Now Brahman multiplies its little part of the Mula Prakruti in which, Parabrahman does not exist. This means that God enters ninety nine percent of Mula Prakruti and not one percent. This little part of un-divine Mula Prakruti is multiplied by the disturbed equilibrium and the Universe appears. Thus, the pure awareness in which God pervaded becomes Brahman. Now Brahman becomes the spectator of the Universe. The little pure awareness into which God did not enter is modified into the Universe in which God does not exist. Here the modification does not mean materialization. The modification means the undisturbed equilibrium being converted into disturbed equilibrium. In both the states the substance is only awareness. You can compare this to a day-dreamer’s mind. The mind of the day-dreamer is Mula Prakruti. A little part of the mind is converted into dream. The mind, which is not converted, is a spectator of the dream. The dreamer is identified with the spectator part of the mind. Thus the dreamer is witnessing the dream through his unmodified mind. The dreamer has not entered the dream and therefore is not multiplied.

When the dream city is burning neither the spectator part of the mind is burnt nor the dreamer. The spectator part of the mind itself can be treated as the dreamer because the dreamer entered that spectator part of the mind and exists in it. Thus, Brahman, the spectator of the Universe can be treated as Parabrahman. Such Parabrahman who is the spectator of the Universe is called as Eeshwara. Thus, Parabrahman is the original unimaginable creator. Mula Prakrithi is the first created item, which is the pure awareness. Brahman is the major part of pure awareness in which Parabrahman entered and occupied it. The same Brahman enjoying the Universe by vision is called as Eeshwara. Neither Parabrahman nor Brahman nor the Eeswara has entered the Universe, which is the disturbed equilibrium of the three qualities. Thus, there is no disturbance in either Parabrahman or Brahman or Eeshwara. In Christianity God is Parabrahman. Brahman and Eeshwara are called as the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the substance with which the Universe is made of. The spirit is not Holy because God did not occupy it. Thus the Universe is not Holy in Toto. It is Holy with reference to the good devotees and the divine incarnations. It is unholy with reference to bad living beings and Saturn. Parabrahman who is a spectator for sometime develops a desire to enter this Universe in the form of a living being especially as a human being because the main aim is to preach the divine knowledge.

Veda says the same (Tadevaanu Praavishat). This divine human being in which, Parabrahman or Brahman or Eeshwara exists is called as human incarnation or God in Flesh. The human incarnation consists of four items. The first item is God. The second item is the Mula Prakruti, which is the pure awareness or Brahman or Aatman or Karana Sareeram (Casual Body). The third item is the disturbed equilibrium of the three qualities called as Jeeva or Sukshma Sareera (Subtle Body). The fourth item is the Gross body made of five elements (Sthula Sareera) which is again imaginary only in view of God but a materialized form in view of other human beings. If you analyse any ordinary living being it contains all the three bodies except God. If we analyse any inert item of the world it contains only the Gross Body made of the five elements.

God should be understood as the unimaginable creator. Next God can be understood as the unimaginable spectator of the world. Lastly, God should be understood as the unimaginable actor who has entered the Universal Drama in the form of Human Incarnation.

8. How can the reports of the scandalous actions of Shri Satya Sai Baba be explained? [Detailed Analysis]

DIVINE MESSAGE ON SHRI SATYA SAI
BY Shri Datta Swami

Question by a devotee: We recently came across a website describing the various scandals pertaining to Shri Satya Sai Baba. Apparently there have been hundreds if not thousands of cases of alleged (homosexual and mental) abuse of men and young children. There have also been cases of murder. Some of the abuse cases have first hand witnesses or the abused persons have themselves reported their own experiences. There are just too many cases to simply dismiss them as rumours. If these incidents had been rare or few in number, one could neglect them considering them to be special exceptions such as the affairs of Krishna with the Gopikas. Lord Rama who killed Vali from the back, which was a violation of Kshatriya Dharma but it can be argued that He did so only to protect Sugriva who had approached Him for help. So Lord Rama was only proving that He can even violate dharma for the sake of a devotee who approaches the Lord.
How can the reports of the scandalous actions of Shri Satya Sai Baba be explained? [Detailed Analysis]

Reply from Sri Datta Swami

To answer this, only Lord Datta has to come forward. I prayed Lord Datta to answer this through My mouth and now Lord Datta is speaking through My mouth.

I enter the human body to establish both dharma in Pravritti as well as the path to please Me through Nivritti. By following the Pravritti Dharma, the souls will not displease Me, because the foundation of the society which is the stage for My divine play is to be protected. I enter several human bodies at a time for various programs from time to time according to the requirement. This type is called as Purnaavatara. I am always associated with the liberated souls through whom My power carries on the program designed by Me. Such liberated souls possessing the knowledge given by Me and super powers granted by Me are called as Kala and Amsa avataras. There is no difference between My direct incarnation and these indirect incarnations. Whether I speak directly or My speech is delivered indirectly through cassettes is one and the same. All the spiritual preachers propagating My knowledge are the liberated souls who serve Me in mission. These preachers represent Me and should be respected as equal to Me. There is no difference between Myself and these divine souls who serve Me in My mission. If any question is raised against the cassettes played by them, I have to answer because their knowledge is from Me only. Each preacher has a specified cassette, which is meant to a particular level of the devotees. The devotees of a particular level cannot concentrate in one place, since they are scattered all over the earth. Therefore, these preachers tour all over the world and attract the devotees of a specified level for whom only they are sent. As the level goes down, the attracted souls increase in number because the majority of souls are at the bottom level only. Schools are many. Colleges are few. Universities are rare. Generally the Purnaavatara comes for Nivritti and the liberated souls come for Pravritti. But this is not a rule. When the Purnaavatara comes it may concentrate on Nivritti only like Shankara or may concentrate on Pravritti only like Rama or may concentrate on both like Krishna. The liberated souls also may preach to certain specified levels in Nivritti. Vyasa is a Kala Avatara. Kapila is Amsa Avatara. However, I do not like to make any distinction between Myself and the liberated souls who are My top most devotees, serving Me in the mission. Service is the real proof for devotion.

Sri Satya Sai Baba is the re-incarnation of Sri Shirdi Sai Baba, who was a Purnaavatara. This means that there is no need to tell that Sri Satya Sai Baba is a purnaavatara. He has started with strengthening the foundation to protect the faith of God, which is the basic stage. For this purpose, the majority of the society is in the underground level requiring the level of foundation only. If the foundation is not there, today nobody will hear the knowledge delivered through this Datta Swami. For such foundation, which is the faith in the existence of God, the demonstration of a variety of miracles is needed involving the super power, especially in the present atmosphere of scientific achievements. Sri Ganapathi Sachidananda Swami erected walls on this foundation, which involve the representative worship for the higher level. Once the existence of God is accepted, people like to worship God. In this stage, the concept of human incarnation cannot be introduced because the level of jealousy and egoism is not at all subsided in this level. People accept God but cannot accept the human incarnation. Therefore, the human forms represented by statues have to be worshipped so that training is given to develop the psychology to worship the human form of the God. In course of time, during this training the jealousy and egoism are expected to come down. Swamiji has introduced the word Datta in this level. He told that every form represented by the statue is Datta only. Rama, Krishna etc., are God given (Datta) to human beings. Siva, Vishnu etc., are God given (Datta) to souls in energetic bodies existing in the upper world. These energetic forms are also in human structure only. Since, these forms are not human forms on the earth; the jealousy is satisfied in the beginning. But the human form is already introduced. Slowly the human forms on this earth are introduced, when the jealousy comes down to the lowest level. But still since these human forms on the earth do not exist at present, the jealousy gets pacified on this point. I have laid the foundation through Sri Satya Sai and erected the walls through Swamiji. Now the roof on the walls is left over which is being done through this fellow, Datta Swami. At this level the real meaning of the word Datta is revealed, which is that Datta is God given to the human beings on this earth through the present human form only. Please do not misunderstand that the roof is at the highest level. The roof cannot exist without walls and walls cannot exist without the foundation. Thus, the roof completely depends on the walls and foundation only. Thus, the strength of this Datta Swami is only these two human forms of God. Therefore, egoism cannot enter the mind of Datta Swami due to this logical analysis. Without these two there is no need or existence of this roof.

Sri Satya Sai has strengthened the human values, which are the stones of the foundation. How can He break the very human values? He is building up the spiritual foundation, which is Dharma in Pravritti. How can He Himself violate His own program? It is equal to saying that Rama married several girls after losing Sita. I assuredly say that all this is built up against Him by atheists, who are the embodiments of jealousy and egoism. How many false witnesses are not created in the cases existing in courts? How many tricks of photographs are not fabricated? Even in Nivritti, Lord Krishna danced with Gopikas in view of a special back ground only. Gopikas were sages who requested the Lord to cut their bonds by His powerful attraction since they themselves were unable to cut their bonds. Therefore, Krishna attracted them by His beauty and flute and forcibly cut their bonds with their families. He stole the butter (Money) so that their bonds with money were forcibly cut. He has done so on their prayers only. For Krishna even the dancers of heaven will come down with immense pleasure if He gives permission by just moving His eyebrow. Do you think that He was attracted by Gopikas who were not actually beautiful? The Lord was attracted by their beauty of devotion. Sri Satya Sai was pained to see even the bulls carrying the heavy loads on the carts and was advising people not to do so, when He was a boy. Can you imagine that He has abused children and committed murders? It is equal to saying that the fire is ice cold. If He wishes, even the dancers from heaven will stand in line just to embrace Him for one second. Such person is having homosexuality! One should be ashamed even to utter such words. The hell with liquid fire is meant for such people only where they have to stay forever. The human beings who are rubbing this homosexual nature on Me must have the same very nature. Most of the human beings have the sages as their ancestors. The sages became homosexual on seeing Rama in forest (Pumsam Mohana Rupaya…). The gene-characteristics naturally come down according to the present accepted concept of science. Therefore, these human beings have got that feeling from their ancestors. For a fellow who has red spectacles on his eyes, sees the whole world as red only. Therefore, those who have the homosexual feeling find the Lord also as homosexual. I have met a lady in Vijayawada, who said that Swamiji called her for sex when Swamiji visited her house. Is it believable? Swamiji has done so much intensive Sadhana from the childhood to control the senses about which I am the witness. How can anybody fool Me by such false remarks?

The program of Sri Satya Sai was to install the faith in God and this involves majority of the society. Therefore, the fame is inevitable. I am not fond of fame because I was bored in the upper world with continuous praises from angels and divine sages. I come down to the earth bored with the fame in the upper worlds. In such program the fame is inevitable. I never try for fame. This unlimited fame naturally grows the jealousy to climax. Therefore, such reactions come out. I keep silent to such abuses because My children who are suffering with jealousy-fever should get some relief. Such abuses pacify their jealousy and they gain normal health. Therefore, I am happy that My children have been relieved from the stress of jealousy. A dancer came to attract Me in Shirdi. She failed in the very first step. A saint came from Himalayas and scolded Me for My involvement in the function arranged to honor Me. He fell on My feet on seeing Me inside the body. Even the sage Udanka tried to curse Me on the charge that I have got killed so many people in the war of Kurukshetra. Gandhari cursed Me that I have killed her sons by cheating. Vali cursed Me for killing him hiding Myself. The demon Hiranyakasipu was furious on Me for killing his brother. Tulasi, the wife of Jalandhra cursed Me for spoiling her in disguise and she forgot that she was craving for Me in the previous birth. Therefore, all these are not new to Me since the history always repeats.

If you realize that all the incidents in this world are designed by Me only for My full entertainment, which always needs a variety, you will not be perturbed over these incidents. A picture contains villain also. A meal contains chilies also. Both summer and winter, praise and abuse, worship and insult are for the full entertainment only. In fact, I come down to this earth in quest of chilies only because I am bored with the sweets in the upper world. Once, I asked all My devotees in the upper world to scold Me once so that I can have at least one hot dish because I was bored with the continuous praise-sweets. No devotee came forward with fear. But the watchman standing before My gate came forward to please Me with the required service. I told him that he should give one hundred hot dishes continuously, since I cannot get those again. The watchman was born as Sisupala and scolded Me hundred times as desired by Me. Immediately, after doing this exceptional service, I was so much pleased to unite him in Me. Even during scolding, people have observed Me with smile only, which indicated My happiness on enjoying hot dish. I have created Satan who is also remunerated like the villain booked in the cinema. If you understand My Divine Leela, you can never get any disturbance. Such insults are planned with several background uses also. Even the best devotee develops some jealousy hidden in the subconscious state of mind, especially when such immense fame is observed, this is inevitable. Even though the devotee is pained, the jealousy in his subconscious state gets satisfied and thus I protect My devotees in this way also. Such incidents also test the firmness in the faith of My devotees. Thus, any incident in My creation is multi-dimensional. Such incidents of Rajas and Tamas are fabricated and superimposed on Me due to My will only. Then My personality looks like a multiple choice question which contains one correct answer and three wrong answers. Your digested knowledge about Me is tested by this. Do not forget that the wrong answers are also prepared by the same setter of question paper, who examines you after teaching the subject. Therefore you should not misunderstand those people who fabricated all these wrong answers to confuse your faith, which has to be tested. I know the extent of your faith and for Me there is no need of this examination. The examination is only for your sake because you are thinking that you have perfectly understood the subject. The examination reveals the extent of your understanding to yourself only. This helps you so that you will rectify the deficiency and progress further. Thus this examination system (Datta Pariksha) is not for My entertainment based on sadism. It is only meant for your spiritual progress. Often you think too much about yourself and feel that you have perfect faith on Me. Due to this egoism also enters into yourself. This leads to your fall. Only to save you, is the test conducted so that you will realize the real position of yourself and put further efforts to rectify your deficiency. Thus you have to understand My tests in the right direction which are totally aimed at your spiritual welfare only. The cases in the courts, police station and jails are not new to Me. I was born in jail when I incarnated as Krishna. A case was filed on Me in court and I was enquired when I was in Shirdi. In fact such insults give Me immense pleasure because such things are impossible in the upper world. You can find Me with a radiating smile in such situations, which indicates My full enjoyment. The souls acting as My enemies were also appointed by Me and they are given good remuneration for performing the duties of their roles in My service. Therefore, you can never find hatred in Me. This is the secret of My constant bliss. The Lord does some special actions in some special cases based on the requests only in their previous births. They forget the previous births and therefore they are worried. All the Gopikas were sages who requested Me to give the salvation. But when I tried in that line, some were attracted but some quarreled with Me. All these have forgotten the previous births. In such ignorance only the real nature of the soul comes out. Otherwise all will behave in the same way and they cannot be differentiated according to their spiritual levels. When I killed Vali, it was justified even in Pravritti Dharma. It was not because a devotee came and soaped Me for doing favor to him. In that race when a brother dies, his wife becomes the wife of the other brother (Devaran Nyaya). When Sugriva came, he thought that Vali was killed and therefore the wife of Vali (Tara) became his wife. But when Vali returned, he drove away his brother and made forcibly Sugriva’s wife (Ruma) to become his wife. This is against the rule because Vali forced the wife of his brother while the brother was alive. Vali was not even listening to what Sugriva was telling. I explained all this to Vali at the end and he was completely convinced before his death. His son Angada was My devotee but was pained often about the incident. To remove the negative feeling from My devotee, I gave him a chance to kill Me in Krishna Avatara. When the action of Rama was correct, how can He be punished? Even in Nivritti, the Lord will never do anything against the Pravritti Dharma. People misunderstand the Lord without knowing the background of the previous birth. The Lord remembers all the previous births but not the souls (Bahuni ne –Gita). Since the devotees do not know the background, there is every chance for them to misunderstand the Lord. Again this point is used to test the firmness of their faith. Another secret dimension also exists. The Lord transfers the sins of His closest devotees. Suppose some closest devotee has to be insulted for his sin. The Lord attracts that to Him and allows the insult to take place on Him and thus protects the devotee. Therefore every action, every word and every plan of the God has innumerable dimensions. One should not criticize the Lord seeing Him through a limited angle and unnecessarily accumulate the greatest sin.

When I enter the human body, there are two ways. I may enter a created human body in the womb of My mother. Such human body also is a composite of gross, subtle and causal bodies. The qualities in such subtle body are not accumulated from the previous births because such a created body has no previous birth. Yet such human body contains all the three qualities to be mixed in various proportions, required for My play and it differs from an ordinary human being. In ordinary human being these three qualities exist in certain already mixed proportions, which are the Vasanas from previous births. Sometimes I enter a human body of a liberated soul, which also is a composite of those three bodies containing all the three qualities to be mixed in various proportions as and when My play requires. The liberated souls have the three qualities and their mixtures do not exist due to already burnt Vasanas. Thus, there is no difference whether God enters a created human body or the human body of a liberated soul. Rama was the example for first case and Bala Rama was example of the second case. Lord Narayana entered in to the body of Adisesha and therefore, Bala Rama is in equal status with Rama in the ten incarnations. Sometimes, I enter the body of even an ordinary human being who is My devotee. Parasurama was a sage and has the Vasana of egoism already. When I came out from his body after My work, his vasana was expressed in the natural way. When I killed the egoistic people through the body of Parasurama, I have used his egoism which was required for My work and which already existed as a prepared mixture. All these three are respected as equal incarnations because I existed in all those human bodies. You are respecting Me through the human body and therefore you should not worry about the qualities of the human body. When I enter the human body, the qualities of the human body or Upadhi are not changing. When the current enters the wire, no property of the wire like length, thinness etc. is disturbed. The current flows through the wire and does its work by revolving the fan without any disturbance to the nature of the medium. Therefore, the devotees observe the medium with its own properties without any variations even if I am present in it. I am experienced through the medium and only the medium is perceived. The devotee must perceive the medium and experience Me through that medium. When you sip the coffee from a cup, you do not taste the cup but you taste the coffee from it. Ignorant people observe the medium and experience its properties only. By the influence of such observation of the properties of the medium, some do not experience Me and some neglect My experience. Therefore, such a situation is the test for the knowledge of the devotee. The devotee expects the medium to be totally different and expects that the medium should exhibit new properties or at least should not exhibit its properties. The devotee expects the human incarnation to live by taking the energy directly which is a new property of the medium. At least He expects that the human incarnation should not eat the ordinary food. A lady-devotee broke a coconut on the feet of a human incarnation! The body of human incarnation suffered a lot for ten days with the swollen feet!

I told in Gita (Manusheem Tanum Asritham…) which means that I have entered the human body. I have not become the human body. I have become one with the human body without changing its properties. You have to experience the current which is flowing in the wire without changing the nature of the wire. When you touch the electric wire, you can experience the current by shock. But if you are insulated with the cover of egoism and jealousy, you cannot experience Me and then the human incarnation is as good as any human being. The difference lies between God and soul existing in the human bodies. The two human bodies are one and the same. The difference is only in the inner God and soul. The king and beggar are different but their shirts may be one and the same. If you cannot recognize Me and experience Me without neglecting the natural properties of the medium, there is no other way for you to experience God because one cannot experience God directly. When a political leader does some good work to the country, the people are appreciating neglecting his personal life, because he belongs to their category of souls. All the souls constitute the opposition party, since God is the ruling party. A party neglects the defects of their own party-members but magnifies even a trace of defect which is not even real if there is a chance to criticize the ruling party.

If you understand the God in the cosmic form (Viswarupam), you can realize that all the three qualities (Good Sattvam and Bad Rajas and Tamas) are created by Him only (Ye Chaiva… –Gita) and exist in His body only. Veda says that the creation is like His body (Pruthvi ...Sareeram). Everyone recites “Vishwam Vishnuh” which means that the universe is Lord. When all the qualities are seen existing in the universe, does it not mean that these are existing in God? The basis for the bad qualities also is God. Where can they exist leaving the basis? The human incarnation is a micro form and it is simultaneously the macro cosmic form. Krishna appeared in micro form as a human being but showed His simultaneous macro cosmic form (Viswarupam). Does it not clearly mean that all the good and bad qualities are existing on the basis i.e., God only? In such case, where is the feeling of hatred? Unless you go beyond the difference between Dharma and Adharma, you cannot digest the concept of God (sarvadharman –Gita). That which pleases God is good and that which displeases God is bad. The hunter killed the innocent animal and offered the flesh to Lord Shiva. He was given the final abode due to the love which is the basis. Dharmaraja did not tell a lie even though Lord ordered. He went to the temporary heaven only. After all, the aim of following Dharma is only to please God. How can you keep Dharma above its aim? In the case of the souls, you have to follow Dharma and maintain the balance of the society. If you disturb the balance, you will be punished. Demons were killed for the same reason. But when you enter the Nivritti, you have to keep God above Dharma. None and nothing should be greater than Him (Na tat samah –Veda). If you cannot cross Dharma for the sake of God, you must remain in Pravritti. Did God force you to come to Nivritti? You yourself have recognized the value of Nivritti and entered into it.

It is told that Pravritti is expected nature of human beings, where as Nivritti is highest unimaginable fruit (Pravrittiresha…). Now you should not talk about Pravritti. If you cannot stand in Nivritti, go back to Pravritti. God will not stop you. If you remain in Pravritti, God is neutral to you since everything happens according to the constitution and Pravritti is only the expected behavior for which there can not be a big reward. If you do your job, you need not be specially rewarded. He will not punish you for not entering into Nivritti. You can question the Lord in Pravritti and the Lord will answer your argument standing in the upper court. You can also point out the Lord even in Nivritti. He will show the background and will submit His argument. Thus both Pravritti and Nivritti come under the rule of justice only. In one birth you request for something from God and when He gives it in the other birth, you are scolding Him. When the Gopika desired for Lord, the Lord refused for which the Gopika became angry and scolded the Lord. In that birth also she was a married lady. Why she neglected dharma? In the next birth she scolded the Lord for fulfilling her previous desire criticizing that the Lord violated the same Dharma. If she is a real devotee, she should not criticize the Lord in any birth whether the desired fruit is given or not given or given in undesired way. This shows that her devotion is mixed with ignorance and egoism. The situation is also to be viewed in another angle. Her own husband went to Kailash to fight with Lord Shiva, since he wanted to marry Goddess Parvati. The war was going on; Lord Shiva was unable to kill him due to the power of Tulasi. Thus she is supporting the same injustice for which she is scolding the Lord. Unless that is done, Lord Shiva cannot kill him. Therefore, the action of the Lord is perfectly justified from all the angles. The action of Tulasi is perfect injustice from all the angles if analyzed properly. The Lord is the protector of justice. The justice has surrendered to Him in the form of a cow. It is ridiculous if you criticize Him for injustice and try to protect the justice.

Please do not take My criticism also in the real sense because you should not forget that all this fight is within this world which is for Me, a cinema only. Therefore, you can find only the arguments from Me but not any trace of anger on My face. Even though an evil soul is abusing Me, I am not disturbed because the entire world including the primary energy (Mula Maya) is unreal from the view point of Myself. Here the soul is acting according to its accumulated anti-divine vaasanas. When he suffers in the hell, then also I smile at him since the hell is also unreal in My view. But, the soul suffers in the hell since the world is real for it because it can never cross the level of Mula Maya. But sometimes I Myself book My own devotee to play this role! In such case, I am enjoying the entire scene because I am the producer, director and story-writer of such divine play arranged within the limits of this world-cinema. In such divine play, those who criticized Me were also directed by Me in the rehearsals behind the screen. Therefore, My anger on such critics is not true with respect to the background. Therefore, I am enjoying My criticism also in the same manner as I enjoy the praise. The devotee and the demon are acting in their roles and are uttering the dialogues written by Me only. I will be really angry if they show any deficiency in enacting their roles in such divine play. Thus, I am pleased in such divine plays, if My critics have played their roles well with a lot of sincerity. From My point of view, this entire universe is relatively true like an imagination. Therefore, anybody scolding Me does not disturb Me because both the scolding person as well as the scolding are unreal in My view of My absolute reality. Whether the person abusing Me is a liberated soul like Sisupala or not, there is no difference for Me, because both the divine plays arranged by Me and the world-cinema is unreal to Me. The sense of scolding by Sisupala is My drama within this drama of Universe, which is also My drama in the final absolute sense. Sisupala has reached Me after the role, but the followers of Sisupala reach the liquid fire in the hell. The liquid fire is also unreal in My view of the final absolute reality. Therefore, the followers of Sisupala are not reaching Me. Ofcourse from My view both Sisupala and his followers are unreal and hence, I enjoy equally. But Sisupala played the role on My desire. The followers are playing their roles on their own desire. Do not scold even a pseudo-human incarnation, because I am there to take care of such fellows. Krishna punished Poundraka Vasudeva who was a false incarnation. The follower of Sisupala should take the divine play up to killing the Sisupala so that he should know that he will be punished. The spectator should take the drama enacted on the stage only but should not see behind the screen. By not scolding the pseudo human incarnation, one is not going to hell. But by chance if it happens to be real human incarnation, then the hell is inevitable. Therefore, if you doubt anybody, leave him silently. If you have faith, worship Him. But do not abuse anybody, in which high risk is involved. To analyze and decide the human incarnation, lot of care is needed because you may miss the real human incarnation by just a hair margin. Either worship if you have faith or leave the human incarnation if you have doubt, but never criticize Him due to the high risk involved in it.

At the lotus feet of Shri Dattaswami
-Durgaprasad

7. You say that the present Gayathri Mantra is not Gayathri at all?

[In your childhood did you not perform the Gayathri Mantra? Did you not worship statues and photos? Did you not perform the Sacrifices? Why have you changed like this in the last part of your life?] I performed Gayathri Mantra in My childhood. But I never recited the present Gayathri Mantra, which is not at all the Gayathri because the present Mantra is not a song. While doing Gayathri I used to recite several devotional songs in My mind and people thought that I did the Japa of the present Gayathri Mantra. I used to tell the people that I have chanted Gayathri, but I never told them that I chanted the so-called present Gayathri Mantra. I worshipped statues and photos. I also performed sacrifices because I could not open My knowledge in the beginning itself. Had I opened this knowledge in the beginning itself people could not have digested it? When a bull runs with high speed, I have to follow the bull for some distance and then control the bull. Similarly to become close with the people I ran along with their tradition for sometime and became close to them. Then slowly I opened the true knowledge step by step. Shankara followed Buddhism and was called as ‘Pracchanna Bouddha’, which means “A Buddhist in disguise”. He was called so because His Maya Vada was similar to Sunya Vada. He followed the Sunya Vada of Buddhists but slowly brought them under His control and made them accept the Brahman. Due to Him only the Buddhism which was born in India does not exist in India. He saw that Buddhism crossed the borders of India. How can you call Him a Buddhist in disguise? Therefore the Gita says ‘Sarvarambhahi Doshena’, which means that in the beginning ignorance is inevitable. When you jump into the mud pond to lift the people you will be also covered by mud. It is inevitable even to the human incarnation. I never condemned the Gayathri Mantra. I only told what Gayathri Mantra is. I never condemned temples, statues and photos. I advised to preserve these models of knowledge for the future ignorant devotees. They have limited purpose of vision and meditation. I only condemned the service to the statues (Ijya) as per the Gita. The statues and photos are good but have limited use. In the name of statues and photos, people try to fool the ignorant public and do business and cheating. They say that the statue has life, which is absurd and is not scientific and logical. I condemned the aim of the rituals but not the rituals. I condemned burning the food in the name of sacrifice but sacrifice in its real sense, i.e., to feed the guest should be performed. I never condemned the school and college but I asked the people to come out of school to college and to university in course of time. One must come out of all these rituals as a Grihastha and come to the Sanyasa at the end. One should become the Sanyasi and reach the Brahmaloka without dying as a householder. When a person dies as a Sanyasi, the rituals are not done, which means that he does not go to the hell. But when a householder dies, the rituals including the donation of cow clearly prove that he goes to the hell. I never condemned the lower steps but I advised to come to the highest step before one dies. I climbed all the steps in My life to be an example to others. Even the very tradition itself proves this, which is supported by the scriptures. You have no argument in this matter because I proved with the help of both the scriptures and the ancient tradition. Lord Shiva came as Hanuman to show how to serve the God. Therefore He acted as a servant to God. That does not mean that He is really the servant. To set an example for others He acted like that.

6. What is the specialty of Gayathri Mantra?

The meaning of Gayathri is a divine song, which protects the singer. Mantra means that divine sentence which attracts the mind and protects the person who utters it. If you join these two words, Gayathri Mantra means a divine song, which attracts the mind without any force by virtue of its sweetness and protects the singer. Poetry is better than the prose but song is better than poetry. The Gita says that the song is the best (Vedaanaam Saamavedosmi). Therefore any divine song that attracts your mind is Gayathri Mantra which will please the Lord and will protect you. The sage for Gayathri Mantra is Vishwamitra. The word Vishwamitra means the sage who is interested in the welfare of the entire humanity. Therefore any human being can sing any devotional song to please the Lord. This is the real essence of Gayathri Mantra. Gayathri also is the name of a Vedic meter. The present verse (Tat Savituh…), which is in Gayathri meter is not a song and therefore is not Gayathri at all. The real Gayathri is with women and Sudaras who sing devotional songs. The people who were denied possess the real Gayathri. The people who denied them with jealousy do not have the real Gayathri. Gayathri is the super power of the Lord called ‘Maya’. The modification of Maya is this world as said in the Veda (Gayatriva Idagum Sarvam). The goddess described in the Sandhya Vandanam by the verse “Muktha Vidruma….” is not a Vedic deity because the meter of the verse is ‘Sardula Vikreditam’ which is not a Vedic meter. Some scholar wrote that verse imagining such form and introduced in Sandhya Vandanam. The word Sandhya Vandanam means to sing any prayer at the time of the sunrise and sunset. There is no particular text called Sandhya Vandanam.

5. Archanam is one of the nine stages of devotion. How can you object the Archanam of statue?

Archanam means worship. But in all the nine stages of devotion the word Archanam is mentioned. It does not mean the Archanam of Pratima (worship of statue). It can be the worship of a human form of Lord. Infact examples given in the nine stages of devotion relate only to the human form of the Lord. For ex: Arjuna was told as an example from friendship (Sakhyam). But Arjuna was a friend to Lord Krishna and not a friend of any statue.

4. Is it necessary to go to temples, worship statues and do sacrifice (Yajna)?

Temple and statue are necessary for low level people as said in Shastra (Pratima Swalpa Buddhinaam). It is a teaching model for a school student. But for a college or university student it is not necessary. It is called as Pratika (Model). The Veda says to meditate upon the Sun assuming Sun as the Lord. The Sun is not the Lord. The Lord is not in the Sun. Sun is only a servant of the Lord. All these points are told in the Veda (Adityam Brahmeti, Nedam tat, Bheeshodeti Suryah). The Veda says that the Lord is not in the statues (Natasya Pratima). The Veda also says that no inert object and no human being is the Lord because the object or human being is an item in the creation (Neti, Neti). The Gita says that the Lord comes only in human form (Manusheem Tanumaasritam). The statue, which is in the human form is a model to teach you the concept that the Lord comes only in human form to preach the divine knowledge in every human generation, to avoid the partiality to a particular human generation as said in the Gita (Yada Yadaahi). Once you understood this concept the temple and statue are not necessary for you but they should be protected and respected as the models of divine knowledge for the future ignorant devotees. Some people tell that ‘Kulluka Bhatt’ said about worship of statues. Kulluka Bhatt is a ‘Purva Mimaamsaka’ who is an atheist (Devo Na Kaschit). How can he contradict the Veda, which says that the Lord does not exist in statues? The Gita condemns severely that a person-worshipping statue will be born as a stone. Here the meditation upon the statue is not condemned. Only worship like offering the food is condemned because the statue does not eat the food. Some fellow behind the statue eats the food. In the Gita the word ‘Bhutejyah’ means to worship the inert object by offering food. Ijya means to offer the food. Bhuta means inert substance, which is one of the five inert elements (Pancha Bhutas). Some people say that the word Bhuta means ghost and those who worship ghosts become ghosts. We do not object such meaning. But the word Bhuta also means the five inert elements. Our meaning is in the same line of your meaning. If a person worships ghosts becomes ghost. Similarly, if a person worships inert objects becomes inert object. We do not contradict your meaning. Our meaning is in the same line of your meaning and therefore you cannot contradict. Moreover the verse says that those who worship deities become deities etc., Therefore our meaning is in the line of the meaning of the verse. Yajna means to feed the guest after cooking the food and not burning the food in the fire. The guest is treated like fire. The hunger in his stomach is treated as ‘Vaishwanara fire’. Krishna stopped burning the food in fire and ate the food stating that He was hungry. Kapila condemned such burning of food in Bhagavatam. The Yajna is only to cook the food and feed the guest. In this true sense Yajna is essential and must be performed.

3. Why the statues are made of five metals (Pancha Loha)?

A statue is a model representing a concept. It is actually a teaching aid of the spiritual preacher who alone can be Lord Datta. Datta means the Lord given to the world in human form. The human body of the Lord is made of the five elements (Pancha Bhutas). The statue is in human form which represents the human body of the Lord. The five metals represent the five elements. This means that the body of the Lord is also the same Prakriti. Therefore the body of the Lord will be having the nature of Prakriti only like hunger, thirst etc. Prakriti is the shirt of the soul or the Lord. A blade can cut the shirt of any human being. Similarly the blade can cut the shirt of even a king. This represents that you should concentrate on the inner form of the Lord which pervades all over the human body of the incarnation just like the current pervades all over the metallic wire. The wire gives you electric shock, which is the property of the current. But the wire is also maintaining its own property like leanness etc.; similarly the human body of human incarnation has the property of the inner form and also its own natural property. Therefore you should recognize this truth and worship the Lord in human form by offering food etc.; you should not think that since He is the Lord He would not have hunger. Ofcourse the Lord can use His divine power to remove His hunger. The Lord does not use such divine power for the sake of His Human body. The very purpose of the human body of the Lord is to suffer the results of sins of His devotees. In such suffering the human body must follow the nature of Prakriti and must suffer like any other human being. If the Lord uses the superpower in suffering, the deity of justice is cheated. The statue that represents the human body, which consists of five elements represented by the five metals of the statue, indicates all these concepts.

2. Do you appreciate or condemn the life initiation in statues?

If you take the life initiation as a model of knowledge, it is appreciated the inert statue + life initiation (Prana Pratistha) indicates the living human being because the Lord comes in living human form. But if you say that the life initiation brings life in the statue, it should be condemned because the statue does not move even an inch. You cannot bring life in a dead body by this life initiation.

1. What is the necessity of worshiping the statues in temples?

The statue or photo is the inert object. The form carved in a stone or painted on a paper is also an imaginary form and not even a direct photo. The statues and photos are only models representing the concept, which is knowledge. The form of statues and photos is mainly human form, which represents the concept that the Lord always comes to this world in human form as said in the Gita (Manusheem Tanu Masritam…). Please remember that the Gita did not tell that the Lord would come in any other form. The forms of fish, tortoise etc., were only temporarily to kill the demons and nobody worshipped such forms during their time. But Rama, Krishna etc. were the human forms worshipped by several devotees like Hanuman and Gopikas. The Lord will come in every human generation, otherwise He becomes partial to a particular generation. If necessary the Lord can come whenever there is necessity as said in the Gita (Yedaa yedaahi…). Once this concept is realized, there is no need of temple and statue for you. You should go from school to college and then to university. This does not mean that when you leave the school, the school should be destroyed. The school must exist for the future batches. Therefore for you, the statue and the photo are not necessary and this does not mean that the statues, photos and temples should be broken. They should be protected and must be respected as the models of divine knowledge for the future ignorant devotees. Some devotees cannot accept the human form, which is before their eyes as said in the Veda (Pratyaksha dvishah). For such devotees the statues and photos are necessary for meditation since they are at the school level. The statues and photos are useful for the meditation of such limited minds as said in Shastra (Pratima svalpa buddhinam). The Veda says that the Lord does not exist in the inert objects (Natasya pratima, Nedamtat), but says that the inert objects can stand as models representing the Lord (Adityam brahmeti). Therefore seeing and meditation upon the statues and photos are correct in the case of the ignorant devotees. But the other rituals like offering food, burning camphor, fume sticks, oil lamps and breaking coconuts, offering flowers etc. are not mentioned in the Vedas. They are unnecessary and cause air pollution harming the humanity. All these unnecessary rituals should be avoided. Offering food should also be done to the human form of the Lord only but not to the inert statues. Ijya or Yajna is cooking and offering of the food. The Gita says that such Ijya should not be done to the inert objects. In the name of the statues, people steal the food and money. The statue and photo do not take the food or Gurudakshina. The people behind the statue take those things and most of them either cheat or waste the money with ignorance. Whatever Gurudakshina is given, should go only to the priest and not the managing devotees. The business of the merchants to sell such materials in the temples should be stopped, because such materials are not even heard in the Veda. Ofcourse, the priest should be a Sadguru and preach the divine knowledge to the devotees and the devotees should give Gurudakshina to such Sadguru only. Thus, the temple should become a center of learning selfless devotion and divine knowledge and the priest must do only ‘Janna Yajna’ in the temple and not the ‘dravya Yajna’ as said in the Gita (Sreyaan dravyamayat). The Gita condemned such Ijya before inert objects because such Ijya is only cheating and business. Such a devotee will born as inert object (Bhutejya yanti). This business is connected to removal of the fruits of sins and to get the fruits of good deeds, which are not done. All this is false, because the ‘theory of karma’ says that one has to suffer for all his bad deeds and can never get the result of any good deed without doing it (Avasyamanubhoktavyam…kalpakotisatairapi). The spiritual path should be preached in the temple, which must be ‘nishkama karma yoga’ i.e., sacrifice of work and sacrifice of the fruit (money) of work to the Lord without aspiring any fruit in return. Remember, that only the Ijya is condemned and not the temples or statues, which are the models of the divine knowledge.