Excess of wealth is the real death of any soul

[dattaswami]

Excess of wealth is the real death of any soul

 the excess of wealth is not poison, if it is linked to spiritual line.

A poor fellow was a disciple of Shri Akkalkot Maharaj.  Shri Maharaj took that fellow to a forest and showed an abode of snakes.  Shri Maharaj asked him to take two snakes in to his bag.  The disciple took two snakes with lot of fear and took them to his house.  When he opened the bag, both the snakes were found to be two rods of gold.  What is the message of this story?  Shri Maharaj was the human incarnation of Lord Datta and was called as Samartha Sadguru, which means that He was the capable human form of the Lord appearing as the preacher.  Hence, the message must be very capable.  The message of Lord Datta in this story is that the excess of money indicated by the abode of snakes is very harmful like the poisonous snakes.

 Nobody can escape the poisonous bite of a cluster of snakes.  The poison is the ego that is injected in to the human brain due to excess money, which kills the life.  Here the life is the spiritual life.  In the Sanatsujatiyam of Mahabharata, it is told that the death means forgetting God and not leaving the human body.  Leaving the old human body is like changing the old shirt, which should be really an occasion of happiness only. Death means an occasion of lot of unhappiness, which is only when God is forgotten. 

Therefore, the message of Maharaj is that the excess of wealth is the real death of any soul.  Only Lord Narayana lying on a big serpent and Lord Shiva wearing serpents as jewels are exceptional cases that are not affected by these poisonous serpents (excess wealth).  This means that the excess of wealth is not poison, if it is linked to spiritual line.  The Lord advised the devotee to take only two serpents indicating the limited wealth meant for materialistic life.  Generally there is a possibility of escaping the bite from two snakes. 

[Well-wisher]

True..

[dattaswami]

True..

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[asterias]

Om Sai Ram !

Dear dattaswami ji

Can you tell me from where you have got this leela of Akkalkot Swamiji ??

As far as I remember, the person takes not just 2 but many more. Also the devotee (who was very poor) had immense faith in whatever Akkalkot Swami was asking him to do, because of which, even if it was dangerous, the devotee collects the snakes.

It takes lot of faith to even for a normal human being to catch one snake. But on the order of Swami, the devotee collected as many snakes as possible. The strength of his faith, helps him in his difficulty (since those snakes turn into Gold).

The leela made me aware that, inspite of whatever a Sadguru orders, one should obey it. What the Sadguru commands might seem difficult or even dangerous, but we should remember that its for our own good.


Om Sai Ram !

[dattaswami]

Money is the root knot


It catches your throat. Therefore the Veda says “Dhanena tyagenaike …” which means that money alone decides your love on God. Real love can be expressed only by money and work (karma sanyasa and karma phala tyaga). Without these two, other ways are only hypocritic. If these two also exist, then, other ways get life. Otherwise, they are dead items only. ‘Guna’ is theory. ‘Karma’ is practice. Theory should lead to practice. Otherwise, mere theory is only hypocrisy. The four castes in spiritual path are decided by theory and practice only (guna karma vibhagasah – the Gita). Saktuprastha is the real Brahmana (or Brahma Jnani), who sacrificed all the fruit of his work for God. Dharma raja is kshatriya, who could only do partial sacrifice of wealth in doing Asvamedha. Dhritarastra is Vysya, who has good theory but zero in practice. He recognized the Lord Krishna but did not give even five villages, even though the Lord is asking. He has full power to give but escaped nicely by pleading his false incapability in going against his son.

 Duryodhana is a sudra, who did not even recognise the Lord and was greedy for wealth of even his own brothers. Thus caste is not by birth, but it is by the qualities and practice (guna karma). Swami Dayananda, who is also human incarnation preached about this valuable concept. Every great preacher is incarnation of God because the Gita says the same (Yadyat vibhutimat…).

[asterias]

Om Sai Ram !

I am not sure I understood your post at all. Is it related to what I said .. ?

which means that money alone decides your love on God.

Huh ? Is it so ? I dont see so in Baba's life. Mhalsapati was probably the poorest of Baba's devotees, yet see his love for Baba and Baba's grace on Him.

Thus caste is not by birth, but it is by the qualities and practice

Extremely correct. Its clearly written in Gita.

Om Sai Ram !

[dattaswami]

Om Sai Ram !

I am not sure I understood your post at all. Is it related to what I said .. ?

which means that money alone decides your love on God.

Huh ? Is it so ? I dont see so in Baba's life. Mhalsapati was probably the poorest of Baba's devotees, yet see his love for Baba and Baba's grace on Him.

Thus caste is not by birth, but it is by the qualities and practice

Extremely correct. Its clearly written in Gita.

Om Sai Ram !

Emphasis of Karma Phala Tyaga

The word karma in the case of a human being means the work done to earn money, which is essential for his food and offering the food to the guest. Money required for the self and his family is called ‘sareera yatra’ in Gita. Money required to prepare food to offer to the guest is called ‘yajna karma’. The word karma in Gita was used in these two meanings in the context of a human being (sareera yatra pichate, yajnah karma samudbhavah). Therefore the fruit of the work means only money.

The first mantra of the first Upanishad speaks about enjoyment and sacrifice of money (kasyasvit dhanam). The mantra says that the entire creation is the wealth of the Lord and one should store the money for his minimum enjoyment and the rest should be sacrificed to the Lord who comes in the human form for His mission to uplift this world. The second mantra says that one should continuously work and earn. Vasista said that money is the root of all this worldly family bonds (Dhanamulamidam jagat). When money is absent all the family members will leave you. All the family members and relatives approach you only due to money just like the frogs are present in the tank when it is full of water.

The ‘Srichakram’ means the wheel that surrounds the money. Therefore when the sacrifice of money comes into the picture, all the fraud devotees will run away because in their hearts the attraction to the family bonds exists as solidified darkness. Only the true devotees will stand, in whose hearts the darkness is removed and the light of divine knowledge exists. The Lord came in human form and tested ‘Saktuprasta’ in the sacrifice of the food, which is another form of money. In draught he could secure a little flour and he was fasting for the past ten days. He was not tested in any other way of words and mind (japa, parayana, dhyana etc.). A real devotee will stand in this root test and this is the real fire test.

If the bond with the money is cut, all the worldly bonds are cut, since money is the root of this whole ‘samsara’. The fraud devotees want to escape this test and therefore interpreted the ‘karmaphala’ as the fruit of prayers, japa, parayana, dhyana etc. The eyes in this world not at all see such fruit. Therefore such fruit of work done by words and mind is unreal. There is no difficulty to sacrifice such unreal fruit. Therefore they misinterpreted the ‘karmaphalatyaga’ as leaving a spoon of water in the plate after doing such work by words and mind. Some people have fooled the ignorant people by doing such works and get the ‘Gurudakshina’. They are selling the unreal fruit for the real money, by promising that the fruits of their sins will be removed and results of good deeds, which were not done, will be attained.

[asterias]

Om Sai Ram !

Sincerely I dont know what point you are driving at Dattaswami ji. The posts seem very incoherent.

Anyways, Karma is not done only for money. I strongly object to it.

Karma or duty is done, because it is DUTY ! The society or universe in general works or runs because each person does his/her duty. If sun doesnt come up everyday, will we have food ? If sun comes up but the farmers dont farm, will there be food ? If farmers are there, but there is no rain, will there be food ? If farm yields the crops but there is no one to bring it from farm to shop, will I have anything to eat ?

This logic can be generalize. In an nut shell, even if one of the the situation/persons involved in this "loop" doesnt do the required the duty, others are affected. This one of the reasons to say that we are all connected.

Rest of what you have written are more onto interpretations of scriptures, metaphysical concepts. I dont have much clue regarding them!

Om Sai Ram !

[dattaswami]

Om Sai Ram !

Sincerely I dont know what point you are driving at Dattaswami ji. The posts seem very incoherent.

Anyways, Karma is not done only for money. I strongly object to it.

Karma or duty is done, because it is DUTY ! The society or universe in general works or runs because each person does his/her duty. If sun doesnt come up everyday, will we have food ? If sun comes up but the farmers dont farm, will there be food ? If farmers are there, but there is no rain, will there be food ? If farm yields the crops but there is no one to bring it from farm to shop, will I have anything to eat ?

This logic can be generalize. In an nut shell, even if one of the the situation/persons involved in this "loop" doesnt do the required the duty, others are affected. This one of the reasons to say that we are all connected.

Rest of what you have written are more onto interpretations of scriptures, metaphysical concepts. I dont have much clue regarding them!

Om Sai Ram !

Karma & practical sacrifice

The Gita praises karma as the path of pleasing the God. Knowledge by intelligence, love by mind and prayers by words are also forms of Karma. But these three forms are negligible like offering drinking water to the guest.

The practical service and sacrifice of fruit of work are important like offering the meals which is the important two-fold karma. The cooking of meals is karma sanyasa and sacrifice of fruit of your work which is meals is karmaphala tyaga. The fruit of this work is also the final form of your work only. Karma is energy and fruit of karma is matter. Energy and matter are inter-convertible forms. The karma sanyasa and karmaphala tyaga are one and the same and always go together. The word sanyasa indicates that sacrifice of work is mainly meant for saints who do not earn any fruit by work. The karma sanyasa and karmaphala tyaga together relate to the householder. This is a practical proof of the devotion. The reality of this concept is understood by referring to your service to your family.

 The karma becomes complete when the meal is also associated with drinking water. This is the path of karma in complete sense. Karma in the form of sacrifice of words, mind and intelligence as drinking water and the sacrifice of work as cooking and serving and sacrifice of fruit of work as meal is the five-fold path of karma to attain the divine grace.

[dattaswami]

Om Sai Ram !

Sincerely I dont know what point you are driving at Dattaswami ji. The posts seem very incoherent.

Anyways, Karma is not done only for money. I strongly object to it.

Karma or duty is done, because it is DUTY ! The society or universe in general works or runs because each person does his/her duty. If sun doesnt come up everyday, will we have food ? If sun comes up but the farmers dont farm, will there be food ? If farmers are there, but there is no rain, will there be food ? If farm yields the crops but there is no one to bring it from farm to shop, will I have anything to eat ?

This logic can be generalize. In an nut shell, even if one of the the situation/persons involved in this "loop" doesnt do the required the duty, others are affected. This one of the reasons to say that we are all connected.

Rest of what you have written are more onto interpretations of scriptures, metaphysical concepts. I dont have much clue regarding them!

Om Sai Ram !

One should sacrifice practically for God, not only mere words and mind but work and money
You have to do something practically to get the grace of God, which is the divine fruit. Fruit is always related to action (karma) or doing. Knowledge is related to intelligence and words. Devotion is related to mind and words. Mind (including intelligence) is one instrument (karana). Word is another instrument. Jnana Yoga (knowledge), Bhakti Yoga (devotion) and Karma Yoga (service or work) are the three instruments used in the spiritual effort. The word Yoga gives the spiritual sense. These three without the word Yoga can be the worldly instruments also. To know the details of Mumbai is Jnana. To have intensive desire to visit Mumbai is Bhakti. To take up the actual journey practically is Karma. Rukmini heard the details of Krishna from Narada and this is Jnana Yoga. Rukmini developed intensive desire to marry Krishna and this is Bhakti Yoga. Rukmini married Krishna not to become the queen but to press the divine feet of Krishna and this is Karma Yoga. The fruit of this service is that Rukmini (Lakshmi) was blessed by the Lord to become the deity of the Universal wealth.

 A poet comes to know the interest of the king in the literature and this is Jnana. The poet becomes intensively interested to meet the king and this is Bhakti. The poet meets the king and praises the king through a poem. The construction and recitation of the poem is Karma. The fruit of this Karma is to get a petty golden chain. By the word Yoga, you must differentiate the two different fields of creation and creator. In the above examples, you can note that Jnana leads to Bhakti and Bhakti leads to Karma. The fruit is directly related to Karma only and is indirectly related to Jnana and Bhakti because without the later two, the former cannot be generated. Knowledge is like water and Bhakti is like fertilizer. Karma is like the tree giving the fruit. Even a tank of water or a bag of fertilizer cannot generate the fruit directly. But without the water and fertilizer, even the seed cannot give the first sprout, not to speak of the sprout becoming tree! Hence, all the three are equally important and are sequential. Shankara, the preacher of Knowledge came first. Ramanuja, the preacher of devotion came next. Lastly Madhva, the preacher of service (work) came. Jnana and Bhakti are theoretical and can be achieved in plenty. But, Karma is practical and cannot be done beyond certain limits of your capacity.

Therefore, both interest (Bhakti) and capacity (Shakti) decide the progress of your spiritual efforts. You may have lot of Bhakti, but you cannot do anything beyond your capacity like the squirrel dropping sand particles in the sea for the construction of bridge for the sake of the Lord. If your Bhakti is lesser than your Shakti, spiritual knowledge, which is the generator of Bhakti, can be improved. Hence, you must concentrate on all the three aspects (Jnana, Bhakti and Karma). You need not worry about Shakti because it is always sealed beyond certain limits. The Lord showed highest grace on the squirrel for its immense Bhakti associated with the little Shakti that is transformed into proportional Karma. The Karma cannot cross the limits of Shakti but should not be lesser than the limits also.

[asterias]

Om Sai Ram !

Sincerely I dont know what point you are driving at Dattaswami ji. The posts seem very incoherent.

Om Sai Ram !

[dattaswami]

Om Sai Ram !

Sincerely I dont know what point you are driving at Dattaswami ji. The posts seem very incoherent.

Om Sai Ram !

What is the difference between the Lord and ordinary human beings if money is only the criterion? No doubt, money is the criterion because the real love is tested by the sacrifice of money only. But there is difference between the account of God and the account of human beings. If you go to a booking clerk, he will give you a ticket for 100 miles-distance by taking Rs 100 (100 $)and he will not ask about the money left over in your pocket after paying the hundred rupees. He will give you a ticket for ten miles if you pay Rs 10(10 $) and will not ask about the balance in your pocket. This is the account of human beings. But if the Lord sits in the same booking section, His account is totally different. Suppose you have asked for a 100 miles-ticket. He will not tell the fare of the ticket. He will ask you about the amount present in your pocket. If you have only Rs 10(10 $) and pay Him all the ten rupees, He will give you a 100 miles-ticket. Suppose you have Rs 1000(1000 $) in your pocket and give Rs 100(100 $), He will give you a ten miles-ticket because you have paid 1/10th of the money present in your pocket. This is the difference between the human beings and the God. God sees the extent of sacrifice but not the extent of sacrificed item.
 
Dharma Raja performed Aswamedha-sacrifice and donated lot of wealth to the sages. Let us assume the worth of his entire wealth as 7 crores(700,00000 $) in view of the value of rupee at that time. He donated the wealth worth of 3 crores. The Lord gave him the ticket up to the third world only which is the heaven or Swarga Loka. The Swargarohana Parva of Mahabharatam says that Dharma Raja has gone up to the heaven only. The top most Brahma Loka is the seventh world from the earth. Therefore we expect that the cost of the ticket for Brahma Loka is Rs 7 crores (700,00000 $)according to the account of human beings, since Brahma Loka is the seventh world from the earth. But when the Lord came in the disguise of a poor hungry Brahmin to Saktuprastha, he offered the Lord a flour-meal which is worth of 7 rupees(7 $). According to the above account of human beings, the Lord can give a ticket for 7 miles on earth only. But the Lord gave the ticket to Brahma Loka for the Rs 7! (7 $).Saktuprastha sacrificed everything and nothing was left over with him. This happened to be the total sacrifice of the fruit of work which is Sarva karmaphala tyaga as mentioned in the Gita.