D: Koti Koti Pranaam MAHARAJI. Thanks for being always with me and my family. Parnaam on occasion of amavasaya form our entire family. I always feel the word thanks is very very less to explain my feelings. YOU were always with me, in each and every step of my life. Maharaji after coming to Bangalore it is becoming very difficult to come there to have darshans of you. I am unable to come when ever I want these people will not give permission for leaves (Company). I really want to come to you. With your blessings and with ISHWAR kripa every thing is fine. KOTI KOTI Parnaam MAHARAJI
Swami Ram Swarup: My heartiest blessings to you, my daughter.
No doubt, my blessings are always with you. I will advise you to devote sufficient time for name jaap, hawan and daily Yogabhyaas. In addition, you should also study my books. Even 1-2 pages are enough, daily.
This is the main motto of human life. Again, my blessings to you.
A: Namaskar Swamiji, I had been an avid reader of your site. Now, I am in a fix, I live outside India and my Mother in law lives in India with my elder brother in law. This year in pitra paksha time, she was staying with us outside India. She is not a good religious follower, she does an ample amount of mistakes during her pooja ceremonies at this ripe age also. I am afraid of following her guidelines as maybe I will also do the mistakes in my pooja. Now she is forcing me to follow all pitra paksha rituals as she is following. I am a bit afraid as I don’t have full faith in her doings. I am afraid that may be some bad thing will happen to me or my husband or my kid. What should I do? Follow what she is saying or not.
Swami Ram Swarup: Namaskar, my daughter. Thanking you, please. In this regard, I paste my articles below:-
Pitra paksh period made by men does not exist in Vedas, shastras, upnishads, Bhagwad Geeta etc. Learned do not accept it. It does not effect the human life by any means, being against the Vedas. In Vedas, it is stated that every day, week, time/mahurat has been made by God for our benefit so any pious deed like marriage etc., can be performed any day and time which suits us. So, you need not to worry, please. I would advise you to study two of my books- Vedas Divine Light-I and II
(in English) worth Rs. 80/ and Rs. 121/-, excluding postal charges. These books clarify several doubts/present blind faiths. The book can be sent on receipt of your postal address, if you desire.
Afraid of any kind of dosh
There is no seva dosh, mangal dosh, kaal sarp dosh, navgrah puja, pitra dosh etc., mentioned in Vedas, the eternal knowledge which emanates directly from Formless, Almighty God. So, learned never accept the same being against the Vedas and due to their non existence in universe. So, please do not be afraid of pitra paksh faithfully discharge your duties towards family.
So, it must be clear that those who do not do the said worship are not defaulters and there will be no harm for them, say Vedas.
As regards worship done by your mother-in-law, nothing can be done because she is an old-aged lady. Actually at this age, she cannot be preached the eternal Vedic philosophy. Yet, it is also your duty to tell her about Vedic philosophy, if you know it. In this connection, I paste my articles below:-
Idol worship is not mentioned in Vedas
If an aspirant will concentrate over mouth of idol then for sometime he will concentrate on chin, nose, head etc., but concentration on one point will not be achieved. Secondly, Vedas do not preach to concentrate outside the body. Yog shastra sutra 3/1 also states, DESHBANDHASYA CHITTASYA DHARNA” i.e., concentrate on a point of body like agyachakra, tip of the nose or heart. So we cannot go against the ved-shastras. Yes, idol worship has been started within two thousand and five hundred years. That is why, Vedas do not tell for idol worship but if people desire, they can go ahead.
Pictures, drawings etc., may not be considered idols but it is an art and not worship of God. We must know that knowledge of Vedas emanates direct from God and idol worship has been made by human beings. So now we have to decide whether we obey God or human beings.
If we still follow the path made by humans then no problem, one must go ahead. On the other hand, follower of Vedas must continue his own path.
In four Vedas, the media to realize the God has been stated as – Study of Vedas under guidance of acharya which is a real media and as mentioned in the Vedas, one has to follow the preach mentioned therein viz., performance of Yajyen, name jaap of God , regular contact with learned acharya of Vedas, ashtang Yoga Practice under his guidance etc. The said media is stated by God Himself in Vedas. Man, an artist, clay and every matter right from straw to sun, moon, air, space etc., is the creation of God. It thus concludes that we have to worship and realize the creator and we must not be attracted towards creation. Attraction is the task of senses, perceptions and mind which is destroyed but the creator is immortal. No other media is stated in Vedas except the human body through which the said worship is done by a Yogi, Rishi-muni or aspirant.
Vedas-shastras state that God is omnipresent and according to Yajurveda mantra 40/6 it is true but other mantras state that God is “Ninnaya” that is hidden in the universe and we have to locate the
hidden God and not the visible, non-alive matters of the world.
T.V., radios etc., all articles are man-made and controlled by some mechanism. And examples of man-made mechanism are actually not applied on Almighty, omnipresent God. Any mechanism, for
example- rocket launching , launching of satellites etc., involves the mind of a man and mind has limited power otherwise mind could have searched the hidden Almighty God also but Vedas state that mind, intellect , senses etc., have limited power and God is beyond imagination , beyond description, beyond calculation. That is why, our ancient Rishis, Rajrishis practised Vedic path that is did practice of Ashtang Yoga Philosophy, yajyen etc.
As such they exercised control over mind, intellect, senses etc. A Yogi when makes the mind dead etc., and forgets even himself (soul) then he realizes the God. This eternal Vedic path of Yoga philosophy has been very well preached by Rishi Patanjali in his Yog Shastra.
God is not a matter to be seen with eyes. So how can He be seen alone in everything with the destructive eye?
Ego is not one-sided matter. If there is ego, neither a formless God is realized nor difference between idol or formless God is established. It is ego that most of the people respect the idol worship as well as formless God’s worship mentioned in Vedas but when an aspirant follows the Vedas, his mind becomes stable, then he only accepts worship of formless God and not others. Whereas, the worshipper who worships idol, he accepts formless God also i.e., he cannot ignore Vedas and can not accept one path alone. We must deeply think over it that why is it so?
God being formless has not preached regarding any of His substitute or symbol, so the aspirant who knows Vedic philosophy accepts the God’s preach accordingly. When God in four Vedas, has not
stated about His mark or representative then how the follower would accept the same? Vedas have been preaching the formless worship as quoted above eternally whereas the worship of idol has been made for the last about two thousand five hundred years ago by the human-beings. So there is difference of worship of formless God and idol.
Idol worship is the worship where the sentiments and emotions of heart are involved and all the said involvements are man-made as well as destructible. How a mind/intellect having limited power can dig out the Almighty, formless, hidden God from the creation? God is Almighty i.e., He has unlimited powers whereas soul who is being assisted by mind, intellect and senses etc., has limited power.
Yajurveda mantra 1/5 and Rigveda mantra 3/56/1 states that even God cannot transgress His rules. So how can God be transformed according to our emotions and be forced to accept our sentiments which are not according to His laws of nature.
All Vedas state that His laws of creation remain unchangeable. So there is no value of our sentiments etc., contrary to His rules and regulations. In the said Rigveda mantra, God strictly
states “that all mountains, seas, rivers and even the Yogis who have realized Him (God) are incapable to change His rules and regulations and the way of worship etc.” So our self-made worship, emotions and sentiments etc., are of no use until these are according to Vedas.
As regards flag, yes it is invaluable not only for soldiers but for countrymen as well. However, the flag of each country is different. Will any other countryman sacrifice his life for our Tiranga? We, the Indians are enough to sacrifice our lives to maintain the dignity of our adorable Tiranga. So flags are different, the countries being different but God is one and only one for entire universe. So worldly example in the matter of formless, Almighty God is not applicable, please.
Also the matter of image being very clear to the devotee when it speaks to him in his own language of devotion, forces a learned man to say that the said speech between his mind and soul is worldly
speech and even destructible whereas when a Yogi realizes God, he is completely unable to speak, hear, see, smell, eat, think etc. In this connection, the description of Yog shastra sutra 4/30,31, 32
pertaining to Dharmamegh Samadhi refers.
Yes, only currency notes are valuable. Similarly the Yogis –like Yogeshwar Sri Krishna Maharaj, Sri Ram, Vyas muniji, Guru Vasishth, Atri Rishi, Patanjali Rishi and the present Yogis-Rishis –Munis who have realized God, following the Vedic path are valuable. The stamp of beloved God is everywhere that is in sky, water, vegetation, in each living being etc. But as far as worship is concerned then the follower of Vedas only worships formless God who creates, nurses and destroys the universe, alone being Almighty. He is Almighty, therefore, He does not need any assistance from anyone.
This is never forgotten that the image has been brought from Jaipur etc., so if one can worship an image then why can’t one worship all pervading, omnipotent, omniscient, merciful God, who is
the source of everything, who is eternal, unchangeable, life of life and soul of soul etc. Why do we change Him from being unchangeable to changeable idol?
Practice makes man perfect. So the beginner will get the sanskar (effect) on his chitta of idol worship and the same will never be omitted again. Secondly, according to the Vedas idol worship is not authentic. You see, there is no shape of soul. Atharvaveda mantra 10/8/25 states that size of soul is less than the tip of hair i.e., soul is the minutest matter which remains unseen. But when an aspirant tries to know about the soul, he knows based on qualities. We know about a person according to the description of his qualities- good or bad. Accordingly, we know Ravanna, King Harishchandra etc., based on their bad and good qualities respectively. So is the case of formless
God. God has given His description/His divine qualities in Vedas only.
After studying the Vedas, we first know the God based on Shabda Brahma i.e., ved mantras. Thereafter, when we worship Him according to Vedas, we attain Samadhi and realize Him. This fact has also been mentioned in Shantiparv of Mahabharat wherein Bheeshma tells Yudhishthir that
Oh! Yudhishthir, he who gets perfection in ved mantras first, then he realises God.
When Formless, Almighty God has not stated in any ved about the idol worship then how will He be pleased by idol worship? Yajurveda mantra 32/3 states “NA TASYA PRATIMA ASTI” i.e., God cannot be measured. So there cannot be any idol of God because He is immeasurable. However, if people get peace in following idol worship, they may continue. Here I am only discussing the fact of Vedas.
Touching of hand and body etc., is materialistic matter which can only please mind, intellect through skin but it can’t be quoted in respect of Formless, Almighty God.
Whole world can be considered as the body of God but in reality God does not have body because God is alive whereas world is non-alive matter. So God is separate and world is separate. God
remains immortal whereas world is destructible.
The image will be destroyed one day but not God. When there is no body of God then how will we be able to offer flowers, sandal wood paste, food etc., to Him. Yajurveda mantra 40/8 states God to be the purest and He needs not to be purified by bathing, changing clothes and applying sandal wood paste etc. It is an idol or body of human-being which requires purification again and again.
External form of worship will strengthen the idol only because we will be singing, describing the attributes of idol/creation and not to Formless God. If we in the beginning are not able to judge the true, divine qualities of formless God then our love and faith will remain unstable.
Such aspirant will only feel nearness to the idol and not formless God who is already within him and who already resides the nearest to the soul i.e., within the soul.
We will have to study the Vedas which state that idol worship is not permitted by God. Yet, if an aspirant wants to worship an idol then I am telling again and again that he can go ahead at his own. On receipt of your e-mail, I am giving answer based on Vedic philosophy only that what Vedas say about idol worship. Vedas do not speak about idol worship and avtarwad. However, people are free to go ahead on their own and do whatever they like.
When I will see any art which is liked by soul through eye, definitely it will be admired and the scene which is disliked will be ignored. So if many people admire the idol of Ganesh sitting on conch, admiration is natural. As far as Vedas-shastras and other holy ancient books written by Rishis are concerned in the worship of formless God, spirit has no concern. Neither spirit exists nor has any concern with the worship of God.
Are path,Yagya, havans etc., after death of a person or tarpan shradh etc., of any beneficial to departed soul?
Soul is dependent and therefore cannot do any deed etc., without senses, perceptions, mind and body whereas, God is independent. He is Almighty and needs no help from anybody to control the universe. So He never takes any assistance/help like of any human body or of bow-arrow, gun etc., to kill anyone. At the time of death, soul goes out of the body and body with mouth, ear, eyes etc., is burnt.
Thirty-ninth chapter of Yajurveda throws light that at this stage, soul remains in sushupt stage i.e., like in coma, because the soul has no assistance like mouth, ear etc., so she cannot take in food, drink water, do any thing. After thirteen days the soul based on his previous lives’ deeds enters the womb. Therefore neither soul can be ghost nor can he take food etc. So according to Vedas, shradh, tarpann cannot be done.
No doubt, soul has to face his karmas-both karmas i.e., pious as well as sins. Please refer to the article on three types of karmas. Vedas as well as yog shastra 2/16 states “Heyem Dukham Anagatam” that present sins/bad deeds as well as previous lives’ sins can be burnt with the help of present pious kriyamann karmas like paath, yajyen, havan mainly listening of Vedas, name jaap of God, learning of yoga philosophy from a true acharya (who is learned of Vedas) and its practice there of etc. Benefit of the same worship is awarded when soul remains in body. Soul leaves the body to take rebirth based on sanchit karma i.e., benefit of the worship had already been awarded by
the God. If soul is really interested to get salvation, then he contacts with an acharya to learn the said worship and may be able in this birth or in the future births to get salvation. But in no case,
the real worship based on Vedas goes in vain. This is also stated by Shri Krishna in Bhagwad Geeta shloka 9/31.
Meenu: Why ladies do not go to cremation ground?
Swami Ram Swarup: Ladies do not go to cremation ground because the said tradition has been made by us (the humans) and not by God in Vedas. As per Vedas, ladies are very well allowed to go to the cremation ground.
