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When a form is idealised like this, it really becomes a symbol of the Universal; but, how can a mere symbol of the Universal ever become the Universal itself? Conscious always of this, every one should acquire, without giving room to senseless hatred, the vision that all forms of the ideal are equally valid and true. Without this, it is impossible to realise the Poornam. All these gross forms of the ideal are fully saturated with the subtle Divine Principle. The taste of the vast ocean is to be found, complete and undiminished, in every single drop of its waters; but, this does not mean that the drop is the ocean. Though we recognise the 'drop' and the 'ocean' as separate entities, the nature and taste of both are identical. Similarly, the sarvaantharyaami Paramaatma and the gross form and name which Paramaatma assumes and through which He is realised are not separate entities; they are identical. When this All-pervasive, All-inclusive Pure existence is described, the
matter and the method depend on the principles of the speaker and the
tastes of the listener; when the individual name and form imposed by the
Bhaktha are transformed into the Attributeless and the Formless, it is
referred to as Brahmam; when this same Brahmam appears with attributes
and forms, it is referred to as Rama, Krishna, Vishnu or Siva. Do not
the followers of even other religions agree that when the devotee attains
the Ecstasy of Mystic Union, all distinction between him and God disappears?
The Yogis, Philosophers of other lands and other faiths, too, accept without
demur that this distinctionless experience can be earned through Parabhakthi.
Even if some little trace of difference is retained, it is due to the
individuals own taste and desire and not anything especially basic. It
is only when name and form come in that it is named differently as Prakriti,
Paramaatma and Bhaktha. When name and form are absent, doubt and discussion
whether it is masculine, feminine or neutral will not arise at all. Then
any description fits. For something that is above and beyond imagination,
any name and form can be ascribed. In fact, It has no attribute and no
form; it is All-pervasive, Omnipresent. When this Subtle Omnipresence
is systematically worshipped through a gross form and as having attributes,
the devotee will clearly realise its nature through the Sadhana itself.
To vouchsafe the knowledge of this Sadhana and that Truth, and to bless
the Bhakthas with that Bliss, the Attributeless Paramaatma incarnates
in this world, assuming name and form, and gives scope for all embodied
beings to have concrete experience and joy. Through these experiences,
the Incarnations facilitate the realisation that Paramaatma is Sarvaantharyaami
and Sarvabhoothaantharaatma, All-pervasive, the Inner Atma of every thing
in Creation. Lord Krishna showed in his own form the entire Creation.
Until he saw with his own eyes how Lord Krishna had contained in His gross
form of entire Creation, even Arjuna failed to understand that Krishna
was Sarvaantharyaami. |