Sree Krishna, the Lord of Love

by Baba Premananda Bharati

SECTION XX. THE ATOM'S RETURN JOURNEY.

It is absolute Krishna-consciousness—or God-consciousness, if you will, if that God is Absolute Love—that carries the atom from its man-stage of development to its Real Home, Krishna, the Abode of Eternal Love and Bliss. Like all roads leading to Rome, all religious paths lead to that Home. The primeval, the most natural and the most scientific religion, called now the Hindoo religion, has constructed five main roads for making the return journey easy, and the travelers can choose any of these roads, according to their inclinations and the state of spiritual progress. One is the Path of Light and Psychic Force, called the path of the Sun, because the Sun is the presiding deity of the path. The second is the Path of Success whose presiding deity is Ganapati, Bestower of Success. The third is the Path of Destruction of Tama whose presiding deity is Shiva, the Destroyer, one of the Hindoo Trinity and the presiding deity of Tama, Shiva who has subdued Tama and become its lord. The fourth is the Path of Divine Energy whose presiding deity is Durgā, the Motherhood of God and the Universe—"Prakriti," Divine Nature. The fifth is the Path of Spiritual Devotion whose presiding deity is Vishnoo (Aniruddha), the presiding deity of Sattwa, out of whose navel the universe has sprung and who is the dispenser of Moksha to the walkers of all the other paths. In this path is included another path, a path far superior to all the five paths, the Path of Absolute Causeless Love which leads direct to Krishna, whose presiding Deity is Krishna, the Deity of all the deities. These different path-walkers are called by the names of their respective deities of worship—Saura, Ganapatya, Shaiva, Shakta (worshippers of 'Shakti,' Energy) and Vaishnavs, among whom are included Krishna-worshippers.

The Sun is the medium of the physical manifestation of the Divine Light, the Light of Absolute Intelligence, the Co-existent Attribute of Absolute Love. It is called the Parent of the gross universe, the Outer Eye of the Deity, the passage of the First Sense of the Divine Mind which produced Forms. The devotee of the Sun worships it as such, as the medium of the Absolute Deity, Krishna. Some of them concentrate their eyes upon the Sun, immersed in water up to the neck from sunrise to sunset, others pray to it morning, noon and evening and contemplate its power. The sun is not blazing hot as some modern people think. It is peopled by spiritual souls who, by the merit of soul-development, go from earth after death to dwell there for further development. These spiritual souls are spiritually governed by one who is most developed among them. He is called the Sun-God, the representative of the sun. Sun-worship leads finally to Krishna-worship in some fully developed reincarnation.

Ganapati, first-born of Shiva (Shiva means Weal, Destroyer of Ill or Evil), is the presiding deity and bestower of Success—material, moral and spiritual—which is the chief factor of human weal. Satisfied material success, virtuously earned, inspires the desire for moral development in well-ordered minds, and moral development, in turn, leads to spiritual imfoldment. By concentration on this Central Idea of Success itself, the mind of the devotee of Ganapati, absorbs its essence, the force of which guides his efforts to prosperity. Earthly prosperity, enjoyed with discrimination, impresses us with its hollowness, its failure to satisfy the inner craving of the mind and points to the path of solid, all-satisfying, permanent happiness.

Shiva is the Presiding Deity of the Weal of Creation, hence his name—Shiva. He is the Conqueror and Destroyer of Darkness (Tama). He helps his devotees to dispel the darkness of ignorance generated in their mind by its Tama Attribute, and thus uncover its attribute of Sattwa by the illumination of which their souls reach the state of Moksha—Freedom from the Bondage of Matter—and finally merge in the Divine Essence whence it originally sprang.

Durgā is Divine Energy, the Motherhood of Creation. She is the Sāttwic force by which Shiva subdued Tama. Hence she is the consort of Shiva, the Helpmeet of Spiritual Weal. Without Durgā, his Shakti (Energy), Shiva is inert; with his Shakti, he is alive and rules the universe. Shiva and his Shakti are inseparable, as man and his mental energy, which alone he is, is inseparable. Man is moved by his mental energy, so Shiva is moved by his spiritual energy. Durgā is the highest spiritual phase of Kālee, Conqueress of Time and Door of Eternity. She is the Spiritual Force of Nature (Prakriti), she is the Mother of the Universe. Her devotees called Shaktas (Shakti-worshippers) meditate on her as the Great Mother and pray to her for her grace, as a child talks to its mother and looks up to her for help, protection and sustenance. When the most spiritual of her devotees develop the same natural love for and unshaken faith in her as those of an innocent child to its mother, they are blessed with her last grace. They are helped to Moksha or led into the path of Krishna, this last the greatest of all her gifts. She, as Yoga-Māyā (energy of the highest spiritual concentration), holds the key of the Gate of Goloka, Krishna's Abode of Love-Bliss.

Vishnoo is the sum total of all the deities which are the manifestations of his powers and attributes. He is the Parent of both the Motherhood and Fatherhood of the Universe—the Spring of Creation itself. He is the Presiding Deity of Sattwa out of which are born Rāja and Tama. He is the Preserver, the Sustaining Power of the Universe. He is the Way to Moksha, His Essence is the Abode of all Salvation. He is the Outer Form of Krishna, the Form through which Krishna manifests His Will and becomes the Many from the One. His Abode, called Vaikuntha, the Centre of his All-Pervading Essence, is over this universe, over Brahmā-Loka—Brahmā's Abode. He is the last but one Goal of all spiritual aspirations. He is the Gate of Krishna, the Last Goal.

The upward evolution of the atom from the man-stage has to pass through many higher spiritual stages in higher and higher spheres. Interested spiritual culture, by which I mean spiritual culture with a view to enjoy the finest essence of sensuous happiness in spheres higher than the earth, never lifts a human soul beyond the Bhuba and the Swar, the abode of the gods. The Bhuba sphere is just over the earth. It is the astral sphere. It is peopled by semi-celestial spirits and beings whose bodies are made mostly of ether, air and fire and the finest essence of water and earth; hence they are invisible to our gross physical eye. They are so light that the air to them is like firm land to us; they walk over it as we walk over earth. There are houses and roads in this sphere as on earth, as also in the Swar sphere. Many psychical persons have now and then a glimpse of the Bhuba sphere and the dwellers therein. One of my students in New York, the truth of whose visions is known to many, has often seen these airy houses, roads and beings. The Swar is composed of finer material than the Bhuba, and its atmosphere is more sacred. Selfish spiritual culture is rewarded by a term of residence in the Swar. When the term is over the soul has to come down to earth again to be reborn as man.

The soul which loves and cultivates unselfish spirituality, spirituality for spirituality's sake, succeeds when it has no desire or sympathy any more for anything earthly, in skipping over the Bhuba and Swar, after death, and enters and becomes a dweller in the Mahar sphere. Such a soul seldom comes back to earth, but through higher development attains to the Brahmā Loka and there waits, to be absorbed or immersed in Vishnoo's Essence, till the time of the Universal (Natural) Dissolution through which it reaches its goal.

The worshippers of Vishnoo pray for one of the five states of Moksha (Salvation), according to the preference of their inclinations. These five states of Salvation are Sālokya, Sāmipya, Sārupya, Sājujya and Sārshti. Sālokya is, to dwell in the plane of Vishnoo. Sāmipya is, to live near Vishnoo as a servant. Sārupya is, to live with Vishnoo as his companion and having Vishnoo's form and appearance. Sājujya is, to remain immersed in Vishnoo's Essence. Sārshti is, to possess even the powers of Vishnoo. Those who attain to the first three states of Salvation serve as messengers of Vishnoo, and at times act as mediums of communication between Vishnoo and the dwellers of the Universe, while some of those who attain to the last two states come down to earth only from time to time as Avatārs, partial Incarnations of Vishnoo (God). These have developed complete God-consciousness and after being immersed in the Essence of Vishnoo for eons together, they have been thoroughly Vishnooized. True, they were human beings before, but now they are Parts of God Himself. They have no more recollection of their former existences. Therefore, to call them any other than Vishnoo is blasphemy. When the affairs of the earth are in chaos and humanity in general needs spiritual uplifting, some of these immersed souls are detached, and they come down to our sphere, take birth and walk among us, helping us, by examples and teachings, to right actions which lead to Salvation.