Spiritual practices all over the world commonly describe the qualities of God as all powerful, almighty, omnipresent, divine etc. But there are conflicting views on the form that God possesses. While some practices are based on the concept of a formless God, others preach about God in personal form.
Moreover, most people today are overwhelmed by the large number of forms of God described in Hinduism. Though this speaks great volumes about the depth of this religion, which was originally called the ‘sanatan dharma’ or the ‘eternal religion’ in Vedas, people find it bewildering and misunderstand the concept of Supreme Absolute Truth as stated in the Vedas and scriptures.
In this article Swami Mukundananda has clarified some very basic doubts that people have regarding the form of God. He says there is one Supreme God, and he is all-powerful. He has created this world around us, which is full of shapes and forms. If God can make a world with infinite forms, He also has the ability to take on a form himself. If we say that he cannot have a form, then we do not accept him as the all-powerful God. And if we admit that he is all-powerful, then we must also accept that he possesses the power to manifest in a personal form.
At the same time, God is also formless. He exists everywhere in the world. For him to be all-pervading, it is necessary that he should also be formless.
Hence, the Vedas state that there are both aspects to God’s personality:
Dvevavabrahmanoroope…(Chandogya Upanishad)
“God is formless and All-pervading, but he also manifests in a personal form.” In the Vedic tradition, we are fortunate that we have descriptions of the personal forms of God, such as Shree Krishna, Shree Ram, Lord Shiv, Lord Vishnu, etc.
Question: The ancient scriptures describe that “The bliss of the personal form of God is exceedingly sweeter than that of the formless Brahman.” How is this true? Please elaborate.
Swami Mukundananda: Consider an example to understand this point. Let us say that a woman is carrying a baby in her womb. Although she has not seen her baby as yet, she is happy at the thought that soon she will become a mother. After a few months, the baby is born and starts growing up. The mother holds her two year-old baby in her lap with great love. Now, ask that mother, “The joy you are experiencing from your baby now, is it the same as the joy you got when the baby was in your womb.”
The mother will say, “What are you saying? That was nine months of pain. This is real bliss. I can see my little daughter, hug her, hear her childish chatter, see her innocent pastimes and serve her. When she was in the womb, it was just a feeling that I have a baby.”
Similarly, those who worship the formless Brahman cannot see their Lord; they cannot witness his sweet leelas; they cannot hear the enchanting sound of his flute, or feel the love of His embrace. They can only experience him in their minds.
But the worshippers of God in his form as Bhagavan are able to see the divine form of his Beloved Lord, participate in his sweet pastimes, and serve him to their heart’s content. They experience all the sweetness of the names, forms, qualities, pastimes, abodes and associates of God.
Hence, the highest Bliss of God is attained from His personal form as Bhagavan. This is called premanand, or divine love bliss. It is innumerable times sweeter than brahmanand, the bliss of the formless Brahman.
Q: Why does the Bhagavad Geeta say that worshipping the Formless is very difficult for the embodied soul?
SM: Since eternity, we have been habituated to interacting with people and things possessing forms, shapes, attributes, etc. So our mind is naturally accustomed to forms. If we engage in meditation on the formless brahman, it is against our nature.
If you were asked to observe a light for six hours and contemplate on it, you would probably not be able to do so. Instead, if you were asked to see a wonderful drama, with a great story, attractive actors and lots of action, you would thoroughly enjoy it, and easily sit through the entire session.
Similarly, Shree Krishna says:
Kleshodhikatarasteshamavakt-asaktachetasam …(Bhagavad Gita)
“For the embodied soul it is very difficult to meditate on the unembodied Brahman; the path of worshipping the formless Brahmanis full of difficulties.”
Since our mind is drawn towards sweetness, it is easily attracted to the bliss of the personal form of God. This is called premanand. In this, we can also take advantage of all the nectarine descriptions of the loving leelas of God, which have been described in the scriptures, for turning our mind towards Him.
Q: In Hinduism, we have many Gods – Krishna, Ram, Shiv, Vishnu, Durga, etc. Are they all different Gods? And if so, are some of them bigger than the others?
SM: The answer to this question is that these are not different Gods; they are different forms of the same Supreme Lord.
We too have many personalities. When a man goes to office, he is dressed formally. When he takes a walk in the park, he is dressed semi-formally. And when he is at home, he is dressed very informally. His wife does not become confused, thinking, “I had married one man.
How come I have three husbands?” She knows very well that these are three different appearances of her one husband. Similarly, Krishna, Ram, Shiv, Vishnu, etc. are all different forms of the same one God. We should not consider any one of these as bigger or smaller than the others. This is stated in the Vedas:
Ekamsantambahudhaykalpyanti
“The Absolute Truth is one but it has been described in a variety of ways by the Saints.”
While comparing the example of a worldly person with God, we must also note the difference. A worldly person is not all-powerful; he cannot exist in all three places at the same time. However, God is supremely powerful. He can manifest in as many forms as He wishes and exist in all of them simultaneously. Hence, he eternally exists in the forms of Krishna, Ram, Shiv, Vishnu, etc. The true devotee respects all these forms of God, although doing devotion to any one of them.
Q: If there are so many forms of God that we can choose to meditate on, how does one decide which God to worship?
SM: Although Ram, Durga, Krishna, Shiva, Hanuman etc are all different forms of the one Supreme Lord, yet it is advisable to focus your devotion on a single form. There is a Hindi saying:
Eksadhe sab sadhe, sab sadhe sab jaay
“If you focus all your attention on a single activity, you will succeed in it. But if you try to succeed in multifarious things at the same time, you will fail in all of them.” With the same logic, if you try to love all the forms of God, you will end up loving none. But if you focus your mind in devotion to one form, you will develop love for all of them. So you must choose one form to worship, which is called “Ishta Dev”, or the devotee’s chosen form of God for devotion.
Now in deciding your Ishta Dev, you must consider which form of God is attractive to the mind. If your Ishta Dev has a beautiful form and wonderful pastimes you will find it much easier to meditate on Him.
By hearing and chanting those pastimes (leelas), devotees increase their love for God. From both these viewpoints, devotion to Shree Ram and Shree Krishna is both sweet and easy. Hence, they are also the most popular IshtaDevs in India. Their sweet pastimes are lovingly sung and remembered in temples and houses in every part of the country.
Amongst them, Shree Krishna manifests four special nectars, above and beyond any other Avatar of God:
1. Exceptionally attractive form (His famous three-fold bending form with a flute on his lips).
2. Amazing sweetness of his flute that attracts even Lord Shankar.
3. The sweetest childhood pastimes that enchant the mind.
4. Loving leelas that reveal how God forgets his almightiness because of the love of his devotees.
For all these reasons, it is highly recommended to make Shree Krishna and his divine consort, Shree Radha Rani, as your Ishta Dev.
However, if you decide to choose any other forms of God, that is also fine.
Q: What about the celestial devatas such as Indra, Varun, Kuber, Agni, Vayu, etc? What is their status in comparison to the Supreme God?
SM: These devatas live in the higher planes of existence within this material world, called swarg. The devatas are not God; they are souls like all of us. They occupy specific posts in the administration of the world.
Consider the Federal government of a country. There is a Secretary of State, Finance Secretary, Industries Secretary, Agriculture Secretary, and so on. These are posts, and chosen people occupy those posts for a limited tenure. At the end of the tenure, the government changes, and all the post-holders change too. The posts of Secretary of State etc do not cease to exist, but the persons holding the posts change.
Similarly, in the governance of the world, there are posts such as AgniDev (the god of fire), Vayu Dev (the god of the wind), Varun Dev (the god of the ocean), IndraDev (the king of the celestial gods), etc. Souls selected by virtue of their deeds in past lives occupy these seats for a certain amount of time. Then they are removed from their positions and others occupy these seats. Hence, souls get these posts of AgniDev, Vayu Dev, IndraDev, Varun Dev, etc only temporarily.
We cannot compare them to the Supreme Lord who is the all-powerful, eternal creator, maintainer and annihilator of the world. This distinction should be borne in mind between the various forms of Bhagavan, or God, and the celestial gods, or devatas.
Many people worship the celestial gods for material rewards. However, we must remember that these devatas cannot grant either liberation from material bondage or God-realization. Even if they do bestow material benefits, it is only by the powers they have received from God. Thus, Shree Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita that people who worship the celestial gods are less intelligent. Those who are situated in knowledge worship the Supreme Lord.
Swami Mukundananda is a world renowned spiritual teacher from India, and is the senior disciple of Jagadguru Shree KripalujiMaharaj and founder of JK Yog. He has received his degrees in engineering from world renowned institutes in India, IIT and IIM. He has inspired people all over the world on the path of spirituality, holistic health, yoga, meditation, service to society and God realization. This year, Swamiji will be conducting weeklong programs in 30+ cities of USA from April onwards. For more information visit: http://www.jkyog.org/ or contact: secretary@jkyog.org
To attend Swamiji’s Yoga, Meditation and Spiritual Discourses in USA, see the schedule for your city: www.jkyog.org/2013
Swami Mukundananda
Thank You For Your Vote!
Sorry You have Already Voted!
