Death of a God

India lost one of its most revered Gods, Bhagawan Sri Satya Saibaba on 24th April 2011 and his absence will be very much felt in the days to come. There is only one all pervasive Ishwar, but we have several Gods reflecting and reminding us of the presence of Ishwar in everything. Indians have always recognized the Gods in our midst at all times. It is the presence of these Gods which makes the Indian nation a unique one with heights of philosophy and lows of poverty co-existing side-by-side within a vast population of over one billion. It is very much easier to satisfy our innate rationality when we have faith in an all pervasive entity whose net quality is in favour of sustaining this universe by natural evolution depending upon the cause and effect of individual actions. The concept of an Ishwar who is ‘wasting’ all ‘his’ time in ‘making’ humans, monitoring, punishing and rewarding us is alien to Indian philosophy. It is almost absurd to even imagine one like that. Ishwar is more of a logical energy and it must be its reflections in the form of Gods who interact with us.

Saibaba was truly such a God who interacted with millions and millions of people directly and indirectly. He could achieve much more for ordinary humans than even governments with huge resources at their disposal. His only asset was love and his only investment was again love. Even his arch detractors have nothing to say when it comes to his unique contributions in the field of health and community welfare. Without any outside support he brought drinking water to many districts in Andhra Pradesh. Compare this with governmental efforts in states like Kerala, with 40 odd rivers and one of the largest fresh water lakes in the world, struggling to provide drinking water even 60 years after liberation from British rule. And Satya Sai superspeciality hospital is perhaps the only hospital in the world which does not have a billing section at all. Those who criticize him must now show the moral courage in trying to do something of social significance in their own neighbourhoods.

Godly Presence

More than a social worker, it is the presence of Ishwar in abundance that stood out in Saibaba during his lifetime. Stories and anecdotes from his early childhood days are plenty. It is upto individual followers to believe or not to believe in them. For his arch detractors, it may be cooked up stories, just like the ‘magic’ he used to exhibit in producing various gifts out of thin air. Some of his bitter rivals have even brought out documentary films to highlight his gimmicks in their never ending attempts to expose him. But all such attempts have failed again and again. More their opposition, more became the number of people who came to see him and even worship him. Thousands flocked to him to get a glimpse of him and listen to him when he used to talk. And when he became physically weak even to talk, the number of people flocking to Puttapurthi became unbelievably high. There is a big lesson for the so called ‘rationalists’ in this. Man is intrinsically rational and a Rationalist Association can never replace the individuals’ rationality. They should leave it to the individuals to believe or not to believe.

But even those (like me) who have not seen the Bhagawan can easily vouch for his divinity. The sthayi (stable) form in his face and monotonous stability in his actions for the past several years are proof enough of his divinity. Try doing nothing for a few days and you will soon realize the greatness of such Indian Rishis. Deep meditation and Samadhi are the next steps in this path to absolutely stability. The inherent entropy (measure of disorder) has to be brought down to the levels of absolute permanence to achieve oneness with the all pervading, indifferent and immovable Ishwar. By his grace of absolute stability he was providing the sense of stability to millions of his believers who are constantly agitated and unstable under the influence of their own worldly problems. The so-called atheists and rationalists cannot provide such solace to the agitated minds who are constantly perturbed by misfortunes, misery and man-made disasters. Saibaba was definitely not an ordinary mortal and the truly rational believers do not need any more proof regarding this. His was a divine birth meant for bringing solace to millions.

Divine Successor

The controversies regarding Saibaba’s successor smell of a deep rooted conspiracy. His was a divine presence and it is not possible to elect or nominate the next Saibaba. He will come in due course. He will establish his presence and command his acceptability over a period of time just like his predecessors. All that we have to do is to wait for the next incarnation to take place. Unlike temple idols we cannot install a new idol and continue the worship. Exactly like his predecessors, the new Saibaba (Premsai as he will be called) will come and establish his divinity within a few decades. Those who are controlling the reigns of Saibaba Trust must show the sagacity to understand their role. None of those who constitute it have the required divinity and it is not expected also. Those who clamor for action by the Trust are more interested in seeing the end of Saibaba’s legacy, rather than the incidence of Premsai in a much more apt form.

There should not be even an iota of doubt in the minds of ardent Sai devotees that the lineage of Saibabas will continue. Spirituality of Hindu Sanatana Dharma needs the presence of such individuals of heightened divinity to provide guidance. Thousands of such individuals with heightened divinity are already in our midst and the true Premsai shall definitely show up at the appropriate time. No amount of impersonation or false claims is going to succeed in the case of Godmen, as they are called. We have seen umpteen cases where the likes of Premanandas have miserably failed. We all have the divine spark within us and we will always realize the truly divine avatars in a short time. And only those who can offer the much needed spiritual solace in the midst of ever growing human misery can sustain their status in the long run.

Exit of Saibaba is no doubt a tragedy for us, but an end for everything but Ishwar is inevitable. Born of ordinary parents in a nondescript environment, the achievements of Saibaba make his life truly remarkable. What more proof is required for his status than this? He not only radiated divinity, but also attracted some of the most creative minds into the field of service for humanity. His absence in our midst will be felt for a long time to come. But the simple fact that such an exalted soul lived among us and he did bring about lot of changes in our society is enough to make us nearer to Ishwar. His dawn in post-1947 India itself was a great boon for us and his messages have highlighted the relevance of Hindu Sanatana Dharma to an international audience. Legends about Saibaba will continue to inspire generations in the path of doing service to the needy.

No God, Only Godmen

Godmen is a derogatory word among the so-called Communist intellectuals in India and perhaps their cousins all over the world. One cannot blame anyone who truly believes in the absence of a superior logic to rubbish anything related to God. We should definitely respect true Communists, Marxists and Maoists when they ridicule God and Godmen based on their ideology. But then the question turns to the basis of their ideology itself. Communism has failed completely and what we are seeing in China, Russia and even among Indian Maoists are only dishonest and hypocritical attempts to push the secret agenda of a few in the name of Communism. We too had very many true Communists who were hardcore atheists in their younger days; but ultimately all of them failed in their pursuit and some of them even became prominent Godmen. So how can followers of a ideology that failed in the span of a century ridicule the rationality of our shastras that advocate Godmen and have survived many millennia. It is now proven that Man’s irresistible quest for a rational explanation about God cannot lead to anywhere else but to the spark of Godliness within him as demonstrated by many a Godmen.

The case of the two Semitic religions is no different when it comes to Godmen. Deriding the concept of Godmen has always been a prominent weapon of the two Semitic religions that are competing to convert the whole of India into their folds. Their foreign progenitors were inherently incapable of comprehending the Vedic signals from India that pointed to an all pervading logical entity that can be called God. Instead they believe in a God who lives in another world. All their techniques to convert the followers of Hindu Sanatana Dharma (PTBH) have an element that ridicules the concept of finding God within Man. The clever ones among missionaries and mullahs know that their own existence will be questioned if the truth of an all pervading entity finds any foothold among their followers who are trapped under an ideological slavery. They are hell bent on keeping God away from Man and operating their wholesale agency business. Little do they realize that the eternal truth shall always overcome the transient ones and the truth of Godmen shall be firmly established one day.

No Separate God

The concept of a separate God can hold water only when it is possible to provide proof for separate origins for God and others. Whatever little theology that could be built up by the followers of such religions has been completely shattered when Big Bang started seeing light of the day. So far prophets, messengers and godsons were having a good time formulating faiths with ulterior motives for domination and subjugation. Just the simple fact that their blinding books have many references to non-believers when their separate God is supposed to be all-powerful shows the hollowness of their claims. An omnipotent Creator should at least have the vision to refer to all humans as His followers. Instead the books containing His dictates’ are self-explanatory in revealing His diffidence and inabilities. How can any entity that cannot ensure that all ordinary humans believe and follow it be granted omnipotence? It is only as strong or weak as any of us are.

Another strong argument against the existence of a separate God is the present condition of human race in this universe after almost a dozen billion years of existence. There are religions and religions, each with a version of God of their own. Not all can be true. If any particular one is the real truth, all those who fully follow it should have succeeded in every respect by now. Extreme violence and misery in the Arab world, steady decadence of the Western world etc., points only to the lack of any substance in their beliefs of a separate God, which is all-powerful, compassionate and omnipresent. The utter failure of all Hindu schools in the past that advocated Dvaita and Visishta-Advaita in India also proves this point beyond any doubt. There is definitely a God but it cannot exist outside any of us. Like all forms of energy that needs storage or conductor, God is nothing but a logical energy that resides in each and every thing in this universe. It cannot have any human feelings like compassion, vengeance and benevolence as promised by the prophets and messengers.

Only Godmen & Godwomen

Where the concept of a separate God dies, the relevance of Godmen begins. Given the fact that God is present in all of us and that all of us are different, it is only natural to conclude that we all have different ‘quantities’ of God. The concept of Godmen (and Godwomen) comes in here. Divinity of the entire six billion people can be plotted in a graph and we are sure to come up with a clear bunch at the top. These are the people like Saibaba and Mata Amritanandamayi who have demonstrated their uniqueness without any doubt. A lot of us are confused between divinity and miracles. Most miracles remain inexplicable for those who consider it as miracles and it is not necessary to possess divinity to show miracles. A magician may be able to show it better. Divinity is nothing but the silent radiation of God energy. Even the most unbelieving will feel excited in the very presence of people like Ramana Maharshi, Saibaba and the Mata. I do not think anyone will demand proof for their positive divine capabilities when we compare their achievements to that of the rest among us.

Another equally important truth of evolution comes in here. In the broad spectrum of divinity pattern distributed among us there cannot be any doubt about the slow and steady process of spiritual evolution. Knowingly and unknowingly we are accumulating knowledge through our experiences. Those who have inborn qualities of radiating God energy and those who accumulate the same consciously during their lives go on to become Godmen. Many of their deeds and words point to only one thing – that they have much more of God energy than we have. The basic inequality of human beings is nothing but a reflection of the different levels of God within us. All other inequalities in terms of social, economical and even physical parameters can be altered. An individual’s divinity can be altered by only him (or her) and that too based on his (or her) individual efforts. The one and only way to realize the God within you (and become a Godman) is through strenuous hard work or prayers.

All of us have God within us, but to become accomplished Godmen there is the acid test of sustained acceptability. Many a Nityanandas and Premanandas have failed miserably in this regard. Truly accomplished Godmen in the past like Ramana Maharshi (www.ramana-maharshi.org) were highly indifferent to publicity. But the strength of divine signals emanating from such rare personalities not only overwhelmed the locals but followers from far and abroad. A list of devotees who fell for this seemingly unimpressive saint is truly astonishing. In contemporary times, the accomplishments & achievements of Mata Amritanandmayi (www.ammachi.org) and Saibaba (www.saibaba.org) need no further proof to establish their claims as genuine Godmen. Those among us who are wasting our time in failing to recognize their divinity are making the big mistake of searching for a non-existent separate God when Godmen are readily available in our midst.