Swamiji TV

Other links



Video details

God Incarnates

A Janmashtami satsang on divine incarnation, humility, and humanity's relationship with the Creator.

"God incarnates for the well-being of the entire world, the nature which is included—the ocean, the lakes, the rivers, the ponds, the creeks, mountains, forests, the valleys, and deserts."

"Therefore, humans try to compare with God. On the day when you compare with God, or with your knowledge, that 'I know,' that day you should know that you don’t know."

A spiritual teacher addresses an assembly on the occasion of Krishna Janmashtami. He expounds on the nature of God's incarnations, the folly of human arrogance in comparing itself to the divine, and the exemplary humility found in nature—like a selfless tree or a giving lake. Through parables, including a scientist debating a meditator and the devotion of Saint Surdas, he illustrates the path of surrender, the danger of ego, and the need for compassion towards all creation.

Filming location: Jadan, Rajasthan, India

Jai means victory. Jai means glory. Good evening, dear brothers and sisters in this hall and in different parts of the world, spiritual seekers. Today is a very auspicious day. It is called Janmāṣṭamī. It is the day of the incarnation of Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa. From the twenty-four incarnations, one of them is also Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa. Bless you all in the name of Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa. I wish you a happy Janmāṣṭamī and pray to Bhagavān to bless you with good health, happiness, spiritual development, and God-realization. The descending of the cosmic light, the descending of that cosmic consciousness, the descending of that cosmic energy or Śakti, which manifests on this planet or on this earth as an incarnation—to act, to live, one needs to adopt the five elements: Ākāśa-tattva, Agni-tattva, Jala-tattva, Vāyu-tattva, and Pṛthvī-tattva. These are the five elements through which our body is created. The creator is one of the best architects. Throughout history, in the past, ages and ages, we do not know of any human who could create a creature. And in the present time, there is no engineer or any scientist who can create such a creature, from the very small up to the big elephant, including humans. And it will not be. Man should never compare oneself with God. God is in different forms. Let us see the human brain or any brain of the other animals. All the functions of the brain, all the fine nerves, the entire anatomy, bones, flesh, skin, nerves, the memory, the stories of the memory, the concentration, the mind, the emotion, all action or reaction through the body—anger, hate, jealousy, sadness, happiness, bliss, kindness, mercy, wisdom, knowledge, the clever one or the foolish one. God is the Līlā, the miracle; for us, it is a miracle which has been created by the Creator, what we call Mother Earth and Mother Nature. But this is not separate from God. Therefore, we should never deny God, and we should never compare ourselves with God. God will always be God. That is the governor of the entire universe. Ātmā, Īśvara, and Parameśvara. Ātmā is the governing or the governor of this body. Īśvara is governing the entire solar system in which we also exist. All the stars, moon, sun, elements, visible, invisible—it is governed in this part of the space which is our sun system. Parameśvara is the governor of the entire universe, thousands, millions of the sun systems. What we call the galaxies is nothing but the light of the different suns. Ānanda Brahmāṇḍa, Śāstra Sūrya. The scriptures, the Vedas, the Upaniṣads, the ancient literature of wisdom, said, "Ananta Brahmāṇḍa," endless universe. "Śāstra Sūrya," thousands of suns. That Parameśvara, Hari Ananta, Ananta Hari Kathā. Therefore, that Parameśvara, Ananta, is endless. And also, the glory of that is endless. Ātmā is the form of that Paramātmā, that Īśvara, and that Īśvara is Parameśvara. No duality. Time to time, that divine consciousness, the divine Śakti, the divine energy, manifests for us on this mortal world to bless us, to help us, to liberate us. God does not incarnate only for particular people. God does not incarnate only for humans. God incarnates for the well-being of the entire world, the nature which is included—the ocean, the lakes, the rivers, the ponds, the creeks, mountains, forests, the valleys, and deserts. God incarnates for every creature, and for humans too. Like the sun is shining for everyone. Even a very tiny, small flower, which is somewhere between the rocks, needs the light of the sun. And the sun is providing the light also to that very tiny plant or the flower which is somewhere between the rocks. So humans should never think that the moon, the sun, the stars, and the rain are all only for us. This all is a light of God, and we do. It is said that God is in the form of difference. Sarvar Tarvar Śāntajan Cauṭhā Bārīṣa Meṁ Aur Paramarata Ke Karane Cāro Darī Hinde. Sarvar is a lake. A lake does not drink its own water. The lake keeps water for everyone. It does not refuse anyone to come and take water, take a bath, or wash themselves. Doesn’t matter—birds, animals, humans, fish, or other creatures. Sarva is just there, just there for the sake of all. Tarva is a tree. The tree gives oxygen to the entire planet. The tree gives fruits, flowers, beautiful shadow, and smell, and the tree is standing in its own place. Never feels lonely. Never complains that I am lonely. Enduring or fighting all different situations—hot sun, hot weather, heavy rains, cold minus degrees, snow, or storms. The tree remains there for the sake of all. In a large tree, there are millions of creatures living, not only birds and humans. When the tree gets the fruits, it does not eat its own fruits. It is given to all. If we throw a stone at the tree, it throws back the fruits, not the stones. This is the difference between humans and a tree. If someone throws a stone at you, you will throw five stones back. But the tree will not do. Be like a tree. Endure. Just give. Be like a lake. It is said, where there is humbleness and surrendering, there the water collects. Not on the rock on the top of the hills. Similarly, those who have such a big heart, full of mercifulness and compassion—there the water of wisdom, the water of the love of God, collects in that person’s heart. And the saints, they do not preach for particular persons. They do not preach only for humans. Any holy book, any holy scriptures around the world, any holy saints around the world never write to destroy someone or something. All speak about love. Maybe the saints in the Islam religion, the saints in the Sufi religion, the saints in Christians, in Jews, Baha’is, Hindus, Buddhists, and so on. All holy books are full of love, understanding, compassion, mercy, blessings, humbleness, kindness, and helping. Then what is the problem? The problem is only in humans. Why? Because a human’s ego is so big that one human thinks, "I am bigger, and even bigger than God." Our Gurudev, Hindu Dharm Samrāṭ, Swami Madhavānandjī Mahārāj often told beautiful stories. Sometimes you will not remember the whole lecture, but stories you remember. And that’s why in ancient times in India, the entire education system was the poems or bhajans, the drama, they call it līlā, playing, and the stories, only three. And no one failed in their class. All got the best numbers, and Gurujī told often to the students, "When you do not understand your subject, then you make a story out of your subject." Give the name, Mr. Vitamin. Vitamin B was Badrināth, and Vitamin C was Sītā, and many, many different names. Make a story: what he said, what she said, what is this and what is that, and the center point is you. Now you know you have a connection to all. You go to an examination and say, "What was the C vitamin? Ah, yes, citric acid. I know now what C is." Very nice. So, stories make the stories. All who are sitting, from out of your subject, you will get the best number: 99.9. But if you are not able to listen to stories and satsaṅg, then you will get maybe 49 by 9, or 60, or the teacher will say, "Just pass," because you do not have concentration. So there was one man who studied a lot. Sometimes, too much studying makes you completely blind. At the end, you don’t know anything. A great philosopher from Greece said, at the last, after writing all his beautiful books and stories and like this—the Western philosophy is based on the Greek philosophers. And that philosopher said at the end of his life, very great, what was his name? Now I know that I don’t know. No? Pūrī itnī paḍhāī karne ke bādh, meṁ ākhir meṁ usne kā ki ek cīj mujhe patā hai, ki mujhe kuch bhī patā nahī̃ hai. Gyān ananta bhaṇḍāra. So sometimes, too much studying, then you make tarka-vitarka. If like this, then why not like that? And if like that, why not this, and like this, this. Finally, you say this: everything is nothing. Finally, you come to nothingness. And that is what Vedānta said: nothing, only one, Brahmasatya, that’s all. But that also they don’t accept. If they accept Brahma satya, then they think they are losers. Their ego is so strong. So that man, he was a scientist. Every day he used to have a nice walk around a big park. One day, he went for a walk at five o’clock in the evening, and there was one man sitting under the neem tree and meditating. That scientist was Gnostic. He saw the man who was meditating, and that scientist said, "Stupid, meditating." Pagal, pagal ho gayā. Pagal. Aāṅkh baṁdh kar ke baiṭhā hai. Mad. He became crazy. Just close your eyes and sit. I should go to him and give him a lesson, knowledge. So he came near to that man who was meditating, and the scientist is coming and said, "Why should he open his eyes? He was one with God." Again, he said, "Excuse me." That man opened his eyes. He opens his eyes. He is a professor of science. He said, "What are you doing here? What are you doing here?" He said, I am meditating. He said, "I am meditating. I am meditating on whom? On Bhagavān." We are meditating on what? God. Well, God has no common sense. And when He has no common sense, how can He give you the knowledge and liberation? Study, study, come to my college. I will teach you, and you will become a human. Oh my God! The yogī who was meditating became a little noisy, angry. He said that God has no common sense. He said that God has no common sense. He got angry and said, "Sir, how can you say that? You have no common sense." He said, "Sir, what is the proof? How can you say that God has no common sense? Isn’t it difficult to tell this?" He said, "Okay, then tell me, at least I know. You are sitting under the neem. How high is it? Twenty, thirty, thirty-five, forty feet high? Such a large, big, strong tree and it has such small neem fruits. And look at the garden, pumpkin, baḍā, koi ke vo pumpkin hai? Kaddu, moṭho kaddu, itto moṭho. 20 kg kaddu, 30 kg kaddu, 40 kg kaddu, 50 kg kaddu, 1.25 kg kaddu. Itnā baḍā kaddu aur choṭī sī bichārī komal vela uspe laṭakā diyā. Look at the neem tree, such a small fruit, and the plant of the pumpkin is so gentle, it can’t even stand. He gave such big pumpkins. No common sense. He should give big fruits to the big trees and small fruits to such gentle plants." The yogi said, "That’s all? Oh God!" He said, "What do you mean, that’s all? You offended me. I told you the truth, and you have no knowledge? Come to my college from tomorrow onwards. You will get free admission, and I will teach you the whole science furthermore." He says, "Sir, Śrīmanjī, ek minaṭ, ādi minaṭ rukhiye." Now the yogī is praying, Mahāprabhujī. Ab to isko jñāna deo. Mahāprabhujī, please give him some knowledge. Yeh fully standing in front of me, O Vāgyānī, mere sāamne khaḍā hai Bhagavān, inko thoḍī akal de do. Wo principal sāhab kī pagṛī to thī nahī." He had his hat, not a turban, and a small fruit of the neem. There was a sitting parrot, totā baiṭhā thā, us tothe ne toḍh ke phakā nīche. Professor is doing like this, guṭlī ko aṭā rahā hai. Yogī, kyā ho gayā Śrī Mahāñjī ke? Kuch nahī ho, nīm kī guṭlī gir gaī." What happened? Why? What is there? He said nothing, just a small fruit fell down. The yogī said, "Sir, instead of the small neem fruit that fell, if there were a 20-kilo pumpkin that fell on your head, if that pumpkin fell on your head, then what would happen to the science of your life? What would have happened? The entire science of your study would be finished. If a twenty-kilo pumpkin falls on your head... Yes, the professors are... In this way, God is right. We have to do the research. Now we need to do some research on this." He said, "Don’t do any research, Professor, just meditate on Bhagavān and you will understand. You need not do any research. Just meditate, and God will give you the right knowledge." There was a conference of the poets. There was a meeting of poets. And it is said, if someone makes a mistake in Bhagavān, he will not get reward. So, those who will make a nice poem and tell, "Vidhātā kī bhūl," not God, but the creator, Vidhātā—what is the mistake made by Vidhātā, who created all this, this planet? That one will get the award. Everyone was saying something, like why monkeys have long tails and this. But you know, laṅgur kī lambī pūch chāhīye, that is like an antenna, like a balancing system. Ek kavi ne kahā, sonā meṁ sugandh nahī, gana ek, sonā meṁ sugandh nahī, aur nahī candana ke phool, gana ke phal nahī, ye vidnā kī phool. If gold is so expensive, if it had a good fragrance, then its glory would have increased even more. Gold does not have a fragrance, not the flowers of sandalwood. There are no big flowers on sandalwood trees. There is so much fragrance in wood. So, how much fragrance could there have been in sandalwood flowers? But no flowers, and if there is no fruit of sugarcane, how sweet are Ganas? What are they made of? They are made of juice. What are they made of? They are made of jaggery. What are they made of, after jaggery? They are made of sugar. But Gaṇas have no fruit. Have you ever seen it? If Gaṇas were so sweet, how sweet would the fruits be? This was the wisdom of the flower maker. So it is said that gold has no smell. Gold is such a precious metal. And if there would be a very good fragrance, a good smell, it will have a higher value. Or nahī, candana ke phūla, the sandalwood tree has no big flowers. Wood itself has such a good smell. How good the smell would have been in a sandalwood flower. Or gaṇā ke phal nahī̃, ye vītānā kī phūl. The sugar cane is so sweet that we make sugar. But the sugar cane has no fruits. If the sugar cane could give fruits, maybe the fruits would be sweeter than the cane itself. Therefore, humans try to compare with God. On the day when you compare with God, or with your knowledge, that "I know," that day you should know that you don’t know. Therefore, the best for us is: I am not the doer, God is the doer, and thank you, God, that you gave me some common sense and knowledge. Thank you. O Lord God, you are the giver of bliss. Please give me the right knowledge. Please give the shelter at thy holy feet. That we always do the good things in life. These are the school prayers every morning, and children, even on Sunday at home, should get up and they should do them. Not only when my teacher is standing there, and then children are looking. Looking to the... That God does not accept. Concentrate. Concentrate. Nothing is there. Only the picture of the God, the Sabhī of the Bhagavān, in which Bhagavān, in which God, in which you believe, that is there. They all are one in all, all in one. So, sense is preaching for all and not for a particular person. Therefore, say, God incarnates in these four things. Sarvar, Tarvar, Santajan, Cauṭhah, Barṣeh, May, the fourth is the rain. When the rain is falling, the rain will not refuse to fall here because it is dirt. No. Rain will equally fall everywhere. Without making disturbances or differences. Samdṛṣṭi, God has a samdṛṣṭi, and these all four have a samdṛṣṭi. Therefore, Sarvar, Tarvar, and Rain are compared to holy saints. And that’s why Surdhājī said, Prabhujī, mere avaguṇa citta na dharo. Prabhujī, mere avaguṇa citta na dharo. Sam-dṛṣṭi hai nām tiyāro. Sam-dṛṣṭi nām tiyāro. Cāhe to pār karo. Cāhe to pār karo. Prabhujī, mere avaguṇa citta na dharo. Prabhuji, O God, O Lord, mere avaguṇa cintā dharo. Lord, please do not notice, please do not see or take into consideration my avaguṇa. My avaguna means my bad qualities. Please do not notice or take into consideration my bad qualities. It doesn’t matter which—ego, jealousy, hate complexes, these, that, all. Prabhujī, mere avaguṇa cintā māt dhāro. Sūrdājī, he was blind, but the great bhakta of God, Kṛṣṇa, and... Krishna came to Bhagavān, Krishna comes to the Sūradāsa. It is said when Sūradāsajī was singing, then Kṛṣṇa as a small baby came and sat near Sūradāsajī and was listening like this bhajana. But sometimes Śrūdājī was mistaken also. One day Śrūdājī brought his bhikṣā, and before eating he was saying, "Brahmārpaṇam brahmāvī brahmāgno brahmaṇāvatam, brahmevit tena-gantavyam brahma-karma-samādhinā. Ruccā-ruccā-bhoga-lagāvo kaunā? Ruccā-ruccā-bhoga-lagāvo. Pleased with great appetite, O Kṛṣṇa." Accept and eat this food which has been given to me, the prasāda. One day, a cat wanted to take his foot away every day, but she was afraid. After a few days, coming closer and closer, the cat came, suddenly took the chapati and ran away. And Surdhājī said, "Thank you, O God, Kṛṣṇa." Thank you. Thank you. You took it, accepted my prasāda, my bhoga, my bhojana. Next day again he brought some good vikṣā. Ruchi, ruchi bhogya lagabo ka naa? Ruchi, ruchi bhogya lagabo. Karma bhairo khichalo khayo. The cat again came and took two chapatis and ran away. And Surdharśī was so happy because he was blind. Then one day, Surdharśī told one bhakta, "Kṛṣṇa is coming and taking from my thālī, from my plate, the food." Then he said, "Okay, I want to come and see that Krishna is coming." So one man came and sat beside, and Churdājī said, "The cat did not come because that man was sitting near." And Churidājī was crying. But the cat was afraid because someone was sitting there. Churidaji said, "You have no love for Krishna. You are a sinner." That’s why he doesn’t want to come near you. Tomorrow he will come. So that man, he went and sat in the room. And Sudhājī said, "Hide yourself behind the door, so Krishna will come." Next day, that man was standing behind the door, looking through the keyhole. Ruch ruch bhoge, laga vo ka na. Ruch ruch bhoge. Cat come. So he said it was a cat. What? I thought that Krishna was coming. Now, what to do? So he said, "I will tell you the technique." What? When you eat and you call, he said, "A stick in the hand." Aur thālī ke sāmne aisā kar, ruch ruch bhog lagā vo, kānā, ruch ruch bhog lagā vo. Billī bolī, ke baiṭhā khitā bho, ādmī bhajmā asus ne mere, sab kām bhī gār diyā. The cat was angry that the man was so clever. My food has been stolen by him. So, then Śūdrājī had some disciples. They said, "Why, Gurujī, are you doing like this?" He said, "This is good." So all disciples became daṇḍī. Before eating, everybody was doing like this. So he was told, "Why are you doing this? Because Gurujī was doing it." If Gurujī was doing it, then we are also doing it. Then he did research. He thought about why Gurujī was doing it. Then he came to know that the cat and the dog would come, and Gurujī was blind. But if he was there, then who would be blind? So he was saying that Gurujī was blind. And because of the dogs or the cats, he had a stick. But you, disciple, you are not blind. Why do you have this stick like this? Therefore, reality is different. Then, after eating, Surdhājī was singing. Mere avaguna chitna dharo. Maybe it is my mistake, and I am doing wrong. O Krishna, please come. Sam-drashti hai naam tyāro, cāhe toh pār karo. You are known as equal-vision one. If you want God, you can let me cross the ocean of this māyā, ignorance, or worldly ocean. Be like a parāś. Doesn’t see the difference between the knife at the butcher’s house or the knife cutting the prasāda or your spoon. So that when you surrender to God, then Gurudev or God will not see your avaguna. He will make you the gold out of the iron. But Paras cannot make you Paras, but Gurudev can make you Guru. The water that flows in the Ganges is the water of the Ganges. Even if it is the water of the streets. And the water that comes out of the Ganges and goes into the streets, no one will say that the Ganges water is mud. So the one who has complete faith in his Gurudev, that is the one who attains the position of a Guru. That is why it is said that thousands are sitting there, but you cannot predict who will be that one. So it depends on our citta-śuddhi, antaḥkaraṇa-śuddhi. So God incarnates, and God does not incarnate for a particular country, because countries we divided. It is said the man first who went on the moon, the man who first went to the moon, when he came back, people asked him, from the moon, how was looking our planet, our Earth? How was the earth looking? The scientist went to the moon for the first time, and when he came back, people asked him, "How does the moon look like from the moon?" So he said, "Very beautiful." He said, "Very beautiful, very beautiful." But when I looked with the telescope, I began to cry. He said, "Why?" Because on this beautiful planet, there were a lot of scratches. What do you mean? That’s the crisis of the borders of the countries. So he said, "When I saw with a telescope, I began to cry." Because there were so many scratches. Then I looked once more, and that was the division of the earth. My country, their country, my land, their land. People have begun to cut the wood, the forest; they have destroyed the mountains. Mountains are also being cut. The person who is capable of cutting the mountains, what will that poor tree do in front of him? O human, you have done this for the nature of God. The earth, which is made of God’s blood, let it be made as it is. But the greed of the human being is so great. That is why Mahatma Gandhi says that Mother Earth has enough for our needs, but not for our greed. Someone said, so the greed of the human is so big, it is a hole without a bottom. Mahatma Gandhijī said, "Mother Earth has enough for our need, but not for our greed." All are greedy, those who are cutting the mountains, cutting the trees, these, that, all. At least humans should leave the earth as it is. We have dug thousands of meters deep, searching for oil, searching for gold, searching for diamonds, searching for gas, searching for coal, searching for stones, destroying the surface and destroying what is underneath. No wonder there is an imbalance in the weather, in the climate. Climate changes the heart, this and that. Therefore, a great scientist, an American Indian, a very wise one, when the Europeans entered America and began to destroy nature and this and that, he wrote, "When the last tree will be chipped off, and the last fish from your pollution creation, when the last fish will die in the water," O man, then you will realize that you can’t eat your dollars. Hey man, when the last tree will be cut off on this earth, and the last fish will also be finished off by your dirty water. Then your eyes will open, that you cannot eat your dollars. The mercy, the love, the kindness. Pride is the root or basis of dharma. Dayā dharma kā mūla hai. The roots of the dharma. Pāpa mūla abhimāna. And the roots of the sins is thy ego, thy pride. Tulsi Dājī said, "Never give up your mercy, your kindness." As long as you have prāṇas in your heart. So today, today is the day, and this night, according to Indian time, in three hours, the time of Kṛṣṇa’s incarnation. Again, the light came on this planet. Again, life came on this planet. Again, love came on this planet. Again, hope came. The protection came. The savior came. The liberator came. And so, I wish you, my dear brothers and sisters, wherever you are, there also have been incarnations, holy saints. Every religion believes there is only one God; there are not many gods. And that is Parameśvara, formless. But from time to time, he has to manifest in these five elements to act and protect all bhaktas, innocent creatures, and our nature. We will have live webcasting at 11:30 this evening until 12:30. There will be one hour, or 40 minutes, or half an hour. A nice ceremonial, very nice decoration on Kṛṣṇa’s birthday. If you have time, please join us. I wish you a happy Janmashtami. And I pray to God to bless all of us for mutual understanding, for love, happiness, good health, and spiritual development. Deva-vidyā-dravinam tvameva, tvameva sarvam mama deva-deva. Deva-sarvam mama deva-deva. And therefore Arjuna said to Krishna, "You are my mother and father. You are my brothers and sisters. You are my relatives, and you are my wisdom and my wealth. O Lord, you are everything." Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ,...

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:

Email Notifications

You are welcome to subscribe to the Swamiji.tv Live Webcast announcements.

Contact Us

If you have any comments or technical problems with swamiji.tv website, please send us an email.

Download App

YouTube Channel