February 23, 2002 (Saturday)
Swami came out of interview room at 3.30 pm. He then called students to distribute sweets. Swami materialised rings for two security personnel. He even blessed them by standing beside them for photographs and gave them clothes. He then came out and asked the teachers seated in the front…
Swami : What is My weight? (Getting no response, He again repeated) What is My weight?
Teacher : Swami, 108 pounds.
Swami : Yes. It has been constant from 60 years. What is God’s real weight?
Prof. A. K. : Swami, everything is God.
Swami : What is God’s real weight?
Prof. A. K. : Who can estimate the weight of God?
Swami : Yes, you can at least estimate a little? (Finding no response) God is Anantudu (infinite), Apramanudu (immesurable), and Aprameyudu (incomprehensible). In science, you have protons. Protons, in a garlic size, weigh up to 10 crore tonnes. Scientists have calculated it now. If such a tiny part is so heavy, how much should God’s real weight be?
Prof. A. K. : Yes, Swami. God is smaller than the smallest and bigger than the biggest.
Swami : God is everything. He is Anantudu, Apramanudu, and Aprameyudu. Anoraneeyaan, Mahatomaheeyan (He is smaller than the smallest and bigger than the biggest). God is Avangmanasa Sanchari (beyond words and thought).
Prof. A. K. : He is thought beyond thought.
Swami : He is in thought and beyond it. Beyond thought means He is not in thought.
Teacher : Then how should a Sadhaka (spiritual aspirant) worship Him. How to comprehend Him then?
Swami : God is in you, with you, above you, below you and around you. The story of Prahalada is the best example of this. He was a small boy, like these schoolboys seated in front. His teachers were Chanda and Amarka.
They were very cruel. After finishing his education, when he went back to his father, his father made him sit on his lap. Prahalada then said, “Father, I studied everything and learnt the essence of all.” Hiranyakashyap then asked delightfully, “Tell me my son, what you learnt?” He replied with a smile on his face, “Om Namo Narayanaya.” When his father heard this, he became furious and asked, “Where is your God?” Prahalada then replied that He was everywhere. He then threw his son in to the ocean. But because of his faith, the ocean lifted him out of danger. Like this he was put to many difficult situations.
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| Prahalada with Lord Narasimha |
Prof. A. K. : If God is in all, then He is the One who underwent Shiksha (punishment) in Prahalada.
Swami : There was no Shiksha to suffer. Everything is God. Here we have a father who was a Hari Dweshi (one who hates God) and his son who was Hari Premi (one who loves God). Actually God sent him to teach a lesson to Hiranyakashyap. When Hiranyakashyap went to do penance, he left his wife Leelavati in the Ashram of Narada. Leelavati was pregnant at that time. Narada narrated the glories of Lord Narayana to her, and when she slept, the child in her womb used to listen. Daiva Preetini Nuvvu Nerchukovu, Nuvvu Techhukuntavu (You don’t learn love for God, you get it with you). Who taught a fish to swim?
Prof. A. K. : Swami, are there anybody like Prahalada among men?
Swami : There is no child like Prahalada, but ordinary people are there.
Otherwise how will the world sustain itself?
Prof. A. K. : So Swami, it is in-born. Can’t it be cultivated?
Swami : Yes, it can be. By Sadhana (spiritual practice) and Pramanamu (proof). What is the meaning of Madhava? (Getting no response) Madhava means: Ma = Maya (illusion), creation and Dhava = Master. Madhava means – Master of Maya. He is the Master of creation. Nothing exists without Maya. Maayani Ardhamchesukovaddu, Mitrunigaa Chesuko (Don’t try to understand Maya, but befriend it). A cat kills rats, but at the same time, when it carries its kittens in its mouth, it carefully takes them from one place to another. The same is the case with Maya. It can destroy or even protect.
Prof. A. K. : Can’t Maya be overcome?
Swami : Maya can be overcome by Jnana. Unnadi Lenatlugaa, Lenidi Unnatlugaa Chupinchedi Maya (Maya shows the one which is there as not there, and the one which is not there as it is there). Suppose you are walking in the dark, you see a rope. Initially you are afraid thinking it to be a snake. But when you throw light on it and see, it is only a rope. You then walk over it. The same rope was seen as a snake and also as a rope. The Maya is both Bhrama (illusion) and Brahma (Divine). The rope is Maya here.
Maya is not new. It is always there. Maya is like your shadow. It is with you wherever you walk. It exists even when you are dead.
Prof. A. K. : So, we should recognise it as our shadow?
Swami : When you move, it moves. If we understand that it is like a reflection, then you have found the secret. Here is a story. One day a boy took his cattle to the hills where there were lot of pastures. While the cattle were grazing, he shouted, “My name is Rama”. His words then echoed back to him. He got scared and shouted again. Again his words were echoed back. He thought that someone was there shouting back. He went back to his mother and repeated the story. She laughed at his ignorance and told him that it was his echo and nothing else. Nobody is there; it is Bhrama (illusion). It is only resound. Don’t hate anyone, you will receive it back. You say, “I have done it”. That is Bhrama. It is not you. It is Maya.
Prof. A. K. : So everything is Maya.
Swami : If you open your eyes, you see everything. If you close your eyes, it will become dark. It is upto you. So, the Srushti (creation) is there in the
Drishti (sight). Srushti has no fault. The fault lies in Drishti.
Prof. A. K. : Swami, in Vyavahaarikam (worldly things) also is it the same?
Swami : Yes, in Vyavahaarikam also it is the same. Nenu (I) is not the ego. Nenu is the name of Atma.
Prof. A. K. : Swami, man must give charity. But is the giver superior to the receiver?
Swami : Whatever you do with good feeling is charity. Who is the giver and who is the receiver? You can’t say that the giver is superior to the receiver. Vedanta is very easy.
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