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In Part 8 of Swami Prakashanand Saraswati’s illuminating discourse on the Gita, we journey beyond India to explore the foundational beliefs of global religions, particularly Taoism and Confucianism in China. Swamiji reveals how these ancient paths reflect profound spiritual principles—one focusing on renunciation and inner stillness, and the other on cultivating virtue and fulfilling human duties. Through his clear comparisons, we begin to see how the philosophies of Tao and Confucius align or diverge from the core teachings of Vedant and the Gita.

Read Part 1 Here:- Swami Prakashanand Saraswati’s Speech on the Gita Series 4 – Part 1

According to Swami Prakashanand Saraswati

The Divine souls: Up till yesterday, we learned that all the Indian religions, they were started after certain great Divine personalities who especially came for the purpose of establishing the path of God realization in the world. Some religions worship impersonal aspect of God, but most of the religions, they worship a personal form of God. Now we are going to learn what are more religions in the world, especially apart from India. There are mainly seven religions. Say, two in China – Tao religion and Confucius religion. One started in Japan, Shinto religion. And four more religions, just like Jewish religion, Parsee religion, Christianity, and Islam. These are all seven important religions in the world.

Read Part 2 Here:- Swami Prakashanand Saraswati’s Speech on the Gita Series 4 – Part 2

We take Tao and Confucius today. They both started  around 2,500 years ago in China. Think of at that time it was all mostly peace and not so much prejudice or controversy in the world. Anyway, so Tao was started by Lao Tsu, a master of that time, and Tao Te Ching is their scripture, very small. Tao Te Ching, written by Lao Tsu.  That book has around 5,000 words, you can say like the size of our book, Vision of the Godhead. Very small book, but that’s enough for them. They have a concept about God and how to attain that perfection. So, for God, they say he is omniscient God. He is omnipresent, but he has no form – He is formless. Formless Divine existence, just like our Brahm in our Scriptures; formless Divine existence. So that formless Divine existence, what is the name or word for it? They say, “We can’t give a word. If I give a word”, they say, “then it becomes limited.” They say the Tao that can be worded will not be a Tao.  The Tao that could be explained will not be a Tao. So, what is that? Something beyond human concept. Beyond. But that is a Divine entity, a Divine existence. That cannot be defined into any worldly terms. Okay, something is there. It’s like our Brahm.

Read Part 3 Here:- Swami Prakashanand Saraswati’s Speech on the Gita Series 4 – Part 3

Also are there other beings also? They say “Yes, there are lower Divine beings like various forms of God.” There are still other lower beings, Divine beings like spirit gods, but they are all lower beings. Some of those gods and goddesses, they also help the devotees. So, in Tao shrines, they believe that those Divine beings remain there, and they help the devotees who follow the path of Tao. They use a concept, a word, just like we explained. See there are millions of species in the world. They use a phrase, “10,000”. Then, like man, you have 10,000 creations of the world. Keep away from 10,000 attractions of the world. They use a phrase. Their 10,000 means limitless.  So, what is the path? They say path and goal is very similar – so what is the goal? Goal is to remain in that state of pure consciousness. And how to achieve? Just develop your consciousness. They use a word “non-action action”. The action which has no action; non-action action. 

Read Part 4 Here:- Swami Prakashanand Saraswati’s Speech on the Gita Series 4 – Part 4

So the one who follows that non-action action, what/how he is recognized?  They say, simple.  They give example of a bamboo.  A bamboo, higher and higher and tall and straight, inside – hollow. So he becomes straightforward, simple, kind-hearted, hollow from inside.  Hollow from inside? Yes. No craftiness, no jealousy, no hatred, no greed, just hollow. Empty inside. On the outside, he is straight, smooth. So how to practice that non-action action? They say there are various ways: practice meditation, practice breathing technique to control your thoughts, develop your humility, develop your love for mankind, develop your virtues, human virtues.  But keep away from 10,000 attractions of the world. Keep away. Means a perfect sanyasi, a perfect sanyasi who has no attraction, no attachment, no jealousy, no greed, love for everyone.

Read Part 5 Here:- Swami Prakashanand Saraswati’s Speech on the Gita Series 4 – Part 5

So that is the path, that is the practice, and the perfection of this is the goal. Perfection of this is the goal. So how to achieve that perfect goal? They then say that same thing. The one who is totally away from all the attractions of the world. Totally away. The one who has no attachment in the world. Even to his own being he has no attachment, to his own body, to his own life, that kind of renounced person, he can attain that Tao. So in our Scriptures it’s like a total sanyas, total renounced person. So their philosophy is very similar to our Vedantic philosophy. I’ll explain tomorrow that part anyway. So their goal, their absolute Divine existence, it comes from our Scriptures. So in that Tao, in his book of those around 5,000 word book, they explain briefly all these aspects: how to develop your qualities, how to extend that, how to reach that, how to reach the highest goal. All of that they describe briefly, but clearly.

Read Part 6 Here:- Swami Prakashanand Saraswati’s Speech on the Gita Series 4 – Part 6

The second religion is Confucius in China. These two are just not opposite, but two entirely different. Confucius religion has a book, and in that they explain mainly how to be a perfect man in the world. They are like agnostic. Means they don’t believe in supernatural phenomena or supernatural perception or supernatural attainment. Whatever is here has to be perfect, that kind of religion. You see, one religion talks absolutely about God and brahm and total renunciation. Other religion tells just to be perfect in the world. That’s it. That’s your path.  So in that religion, they accept some higher rule, that’s it. They don’t say “God”. They don’t say a word for that. They don’t want to realize that part of perfect existence, but they say that there is something…just like a materialized ethical principle; something. Some power. Something that has its own rules and regulations in live form, and that controls the whole phenomena, completely. So it’s all controlled by that super ethical principle which has a life of its own. So it’s all governed.  And because that is all-good, so, in his creation is also all-good. And human being has a nature of being good, inherent nature of being good.

Read Part 7 here: Swami Prakashanand Saraswati’s Speech on the Gita Series 4 – Part 7

So, what is the evil? What is evil? They say the disharmony. Disharmony of situations causes the evil. But inherently, naturally a person is good. Because of various diversities in nature, in the world, here and there, in society and things, so disharmony is caused. Because of disharmony, the other side, the negative part of goodness is evolved, and a person becomes bad. But normally he is supposed to be good. So strive for goodness, that’s your path. Strive to be a perfect man. So a perfect man is their goal, that’s it. To become a perfect man. That’s it. Just perfect man. So, what is a perfect man? A perfect man is a perfect man. Means he is good in all the ways. He is virtuous by all means, that’s a perfect person. A perfect man. That’s your goal. 

So how to do this, how to practice to become perfect man? They say it’s very simple. Very simple. Don’t do anything to other person what you don’t like him to do to you. Suppose you don’t like to be insulted? Don’t insult anybody else. If you don’t like to be cheated, don’t cheat anybody else. If somebody lies to you, you feel hurt, so don’t lie. You like to be helped when you are in distress, so help others when they are in distress. So whatever you like for yourself, do for others. Their practice. Practice every day your whole life. Do for others. And in doing so, you will develop your quality, your virtues.

They also say a man has some duties. He must do his duties:  duty to his ruler, the government;  duty to his parents, father and mother; duty to his brother; duty to his friend; duty to his spouse. These are five kinds of relationship in the world. Five kinds of relationship. So, there are five kinds of duties.  o to these five kinds of relationships in the world, you have duties to observe and be good to all of these people. So observing your duties to your family, friends, and nation, just do good to others and develop human virtues. So how far you have to develop? They don’t confirm any limit to it. Just a perfect man. Keep on perfecting until you live in the world and have a perfect society in the world. That’s all they say in that Confucius religion. So we see on one side, it’s not bad. At least some person develops this kind of quality, he can have a regular society.

And the other religion, Tao? They also say one more thing about God. They say this whole creation, all 10,000 things in the world, they have been created from the same Tao.  They don’t give a word. Same Divine phenomena we were all created. They all stay in that, and then they go back in that. They come from there, they stay in there, and they go back in the same. But their Tao, that Divine existence is still untouched. This manifestation comes from that, stays in that, and goes back to that situation, that Divine existence. But the Divinity itself remains untouched by this creation: being created or existing or going back into that. So that remains untouched, beyond. Anyway, it is beyond, so they say you have to reach that part.

We see, there is also a description of our brahm in our Scriptures: from brahm until the world comes into being. In brahm there stays this whole creation, and back to brahm they all dissolve in brahm, and that brahm is absolute. That brahm is absolute, beyond, untouched. So Taosim is just our actual Vedant, Brahma gyan, Brahm gyanni, and brahm.  Three words: brahm, brahm gyan, brahm gyanni. So a Taoist, total Taoist who attained that Tao, that’s a brahm gyanni.  The Tao, you can say brahm. And the path, very similar. In our gyan marg, there is two kinds of practice. To conceive the oneness of yourself to the Divine existence, and then to practice.  Conceive the oneness and then to practice. So to conceive the oneness, you have to be totally renounced, totally – otherwise you cannot conceive. Means your soul, your own self, and the absolute Divine existence. Try to conceive the unity; you have to be renounced. Definitely no attachment. Definitely no worldly affiliation. Definitely you have to be like this. And then you have to practice samadhi through ashtang yog. 

So Taoism also says practice meditation, practice breathing technique, try to be good, develop your qualities, and they stress on humility.  They stress on humility.  You must be humble.  Developing that humility is a very important aspect of your devotion. Develop humility. So in this way we see that their practice and our yog practices, renunciation practices, they are very similar. May not be the same, but very similar. And their Tao is like our brahm. And their achieved Taoist is like our brahm gyanni who is established in total peace. Established in total peace. And their path is same as ours. Follow the path of renunciation, surrender, and reach the absolute oneness of Brahm. 

Conclusion:

Swami Prakashanand Saraswati reveals that even across borders and languages, the spiritual truths of Taoism resonate with the Vedantic concept of brahm, while Confucianism emphasizes human ethics and harmony in society. His insights help us see how these traditions—though outwardly different—offer complementary approaches for the soul’s inner refinement and worldly responsibility. For those seeking to understand the deeper unity among the world’s spiritual paths, and how to proceed toward perfect unity with God, Swamiji’s words open a profound gateway. Part 9 will continue this enlightening journey for sincere seekers.

This is the first part of a 12-part speech series by Swami Prakashanand Saraswati, where he unravels the profound wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita. In this opening session, he clarifies the distinction between dharm and sampraday, emphasizing how dharm, the true path of righteousness, leads to both inner peace and spiritual fulfillment.

Speech 1 by Swami Prakashanand Saraswati:

Dear souls: In the previous series of Gita, we learned about the philosophy of God realization in detail. There are many religions in the world, also in India, and Gita is supposed to be the origin of all the religions. How is it, we are going to learn in this series.

Religion is an English word. We have two words in Sanskrit or Hindi: “dharm”, and “sampraday”.  Actually, sampraday is translated as religion, not dharm. Dharm and sampraday.  Sampraday means religion. What is the meaning of the word dharm? A very common description or definition (Sanskrit quote). Everyone knows. All the preachers or teachers who come from India.  It’s a very common definition.  But seldom someone explains the meaning of this. 

Literal meaning is, you can say in one sentence, “the way of happiness”. Dharm: the way of happiness, or the path of happiness. But the meaning of that phrase is (Sanskrit). Abhudaya means worldly happiness. Nishreyas means Divine happiness by which both are attained.  That path is dharm. So nishreyas means spiritual happiness. That’s all right, we understand, means bliss of God or God realization if we follow the path of dharm. But how one could be happy in the world if he follows the path of that dharm? Happiness of the world we consider as being wealthy, having good friends, having fun, enjoying the world, good health. That’s all.

So, is it possible to follow any kind of dharm and be, in a worldly sense, called prosperous? Is it possible? If it is possible, everybody can follow that dharm and become prosperous in the world. But it’s very illogical,  Absolutely illogical. But the meaning is same – abhudaya. Abhudaya. We go deeper in the meaning. How (do) the Scriptures say abhudaya? By following dharm. Abhudaya actually means abai biday. Means you rise. You rise. “You” means what? “You” means your consciousness. Your good consciousness rises. That’s it. Abhudaya.

If we go in detail, means there are two kinds of dharm, par and upar. Par dharm for God realization and apar dharm for this first term, abhudaya.  And apar dharm, according to our Vedas is also explained in great detail. You can understand it’s like being good, doing good, doing rituals, doing formalities of the Vedas – all those good things to do is apar dharm.  So, by following those rules and regulations of the Vedas, how one could be happy in a worldly sense?  The idea is that if you follow that dharm, you develop a kind of good consciousness, being good to others. Suppose someone harms you in any form, insults you, gives you monetary loss, any damage to your personality, money, property, defames you… any kind of harm a person gives to you, you don’t like it. So, whatever you don’t like others to do for you, don’t do the same thing for others. A simple explanation. You want everyone should be honest with you?  Then you try to be honest with others. Simple form of dharm. Simple. Whatever you like to be or to receive from others, do it for others. That’s generosity.

So this has been explained in our Scriptures in detail, especially in the Vedas. A person is protecting his family, respecting others, helping his neighbors and society, not breaking laws of the government, giving some charity (10% of his income according to manu smriti), doing some form of worship to God, following rituals of the Vedas like just worshipping Supreme God three times a day and celebrating through Vedic hymns with a feeling of God consciousness. Experiencing various occasions of life like birth and death and marriage and all that, but having God consciousness.

These are simple explanations of Vedic dharm; they are in great detail. But that’s enough for you to understand. Means doing all the good things to form a good society. That’s it. And also having God in your mind at every step of any kind of function or worship or celebration. In India throughout the year, we have hundreds of such religious celebrations – eleventh moon night, full moon night, eighth moon night, sometimes Janmashtmi, Ramashtmi, Ram Naumi, Durgashtmi, Shiva Ratri, thirteenth moon night – there’s so many. They’re all religious, means like following  apar dharm, the first part of dharm.

So, will it make you happy? Will this give you money and prosperity and other things? No. It won’t give you any worldly prosperity. Then how could you be happy? If we try to learn what is happiness and who experiences happiness. Suppose you are enjoying a delicious meal sent by some friend to your house. Is your mouth feeling happy? No. Mouth is mouth. Mind, mind feels happy. Your mind. Mind is not working? Suppose somebody is sleeping fast and the same nice morsel kept into your mouth. Will you enjoy? No. Mouth cannot enjoy. Eyes cannot enjoy the scene. Soft touch can’t be enjoyed through touching by hand. Mind is the enjoyer. Mind. Not the physical body, not the physical senses. Only mind can enjoy. Only mind. Physical body is the means of transferring some information. That’s it. And that positive information is received by the mind, and it says “Oh yes, it’s good, this happiness, it’s great.” So, they transfer the information, your senses, of enjoyment. Your physical senses cannot enjoy anything. Only mind enjoys. Mind.

Suppose the same meal you were enjoying a lot, and your son comes and tells that “Dad, this was sent by that person, your ex-business partner”. You were eating something; you dropped it. “That nasty ex-business partner? He cheated on me.” Enjoy the meal? No. You can’t enjoy because your mind has now secured information that this delicious food was sent by someone you don’t like; you hate that person. With this new information, the same food, you’d like to throw it away. So, the happiness of your mind is happiness of your mind. Physical things cannot make you happy or unhappy. Your decision of the mind, information you receive, accordingly, your mind acts.

 So, one thing is importan: worldly luxuries, they don’t  make you happy. If your mind is happy, everything is good. If mind is unhappy, everything is useless, bad. Suppose you have plenty of money, millions and billions of dollars, but no one really loves you. You feel discarded, disheartened, dejected, devoid of everything in the mind. “Oh, it’s all useless.” Means your mind, not the physical wealth, not the worldly luxuries, your mind is either happy or unhappy. 

And suppose in a very small family, poor family or 3 or 4 people, and they are earning their hard-earned wages, simple-hearted people, living happily. They are happy. Their boss where they are working might be very unhappy. So in general, your mind receives happiness of this world also.  So, by doing this apar dharm, it’s called seemit dharm or apar dharm, means the secondary part of dharm, doing good, being good in the society. So by following this part of apar dharm, a person develops pure pious consciousness, pious. This kind of sattvic consciousness: sattvic.  So someone in sattvic consciousness, normally his mind is peaceful.

There are three kinds of consciousness: sattvic, rajas, tamas. Tamas consciousness = devilish.  Rajas consciousness = selfish consciousness, and sattvic consciousness means a pious consciousness. So pious consciousness, sattvic consciousness, always keeps your mind in a peaceful state. So you are happy. Simple. Simple answer, you are happy. So how to receive happiness in this world? Keep your mind happy.

Now one more cause of unhappiness, just like extreme poverty when you have nothing much to eat, physical bad sickness, very big disaster in your family, or somebody defames you to a great extent. All these things are really hurting. So it’s like being born in a very, very poor family, very weak health, deformed from childhood.  These kind of things, they are really a real misery you can say. So if somebody is following this proper dharm, what will happen to him? In a future life, he will be born as a normal person. As a normal person. Normally good person, and normal living. Not a very wealthy living so you forget God and everybody in the pride of your own wealth.

So this dharm, following the apar dharm, or the secondary dharm, a person in this lifetime enjoys the peacefulness of mind, and in next lifetime, he’s born in a normal family where he’s earning his money in a honest business, honest service, probably, and again following the same dharm. So abhudaya means the peacefulness of the mind, that’s it. Not God realization. Peacefulness of the mind. So by following dharm, you receive abhudaya, means worldly happiness. What is worldly happiness? Peacefulness of the mind. That’s it. And also you receive Divine enlightenment, God realization, both. Means worldly happiness in the form of mental peacefulness by being good and by doing good, and also by following  par dharm, realizing God and experiencing His bliss.

So there are two kinds of dharmas; one following the mental peace and the second for God realization. So the first one is apar. Apar means lower or secondary, and the other one is par, means primary or the absolute or the final dharm. So final dharm for God realization, and apar dharm (secondary, lower dharm) for mental peacefulness. Having a peaceful life in the world, and that is the happiness of this world, it’s called abhudaya. 

These both dharmas, par and apar, lower and upper, primary and secondary, both dharmas, who introduced? No one. They were never introduced. They are both eternal, so they are called sanatan dharm. Sanatan means eternal, never started, so they will never finish. Never started. Eternally they are there – both.  For worldly peace and happiness while living in the world and for God realization. And both dharmas are very explicitly explained in great, great detail in Vedas and most smritigranthas. In great detail. Both dharmas. So they are sanatan dharm, eternal dharm, or Vedic dharm coming from the Vedas – whatever you may say, because Vedas are also eternal. So, we have two eternal dharmas.

So eternal dharm, how they were introduced in this world? Yes. That could be a question. How they were introduced in this world?  So in this world, when human civilization started trillions of years ago, in the very very beginning of human civilization in this planetery system. At that time the Vedas (were introduced), through those great saints of that time who had received the knowledge of Vedas from Brahm directly, like from inside to inside transfer of knowledge. Not by vocal communication. Not through any speech. Not through any writing. Just transfer of knowledge from heart to heart, from mind to mind. They were all Divine, so they received the Divine message,  and then there were quite a few generations of saints. 

That time was called Brahm kalp, when Brahm created this planetary system, the very first day of his life.  He had lived already fifty years of his life, and that was very first day. That was “kalp”, means Brahm’s day, Brahm kalp. In that Brahm kalp there were only Saints on this earth planet, in a part of this globe, not all over. There was also India, means Bharatvarsh at that time. In Bharatvarsh, somewhere on this globe, there were thousands and thousands of Saints. Only Saints.  And how they came into being? Just Brahm produced them. He thought “a thousand Saints be produced”, and they were there. They were all Divine. Then a few thousand more Brahm produced. They were there. And those Saints were absorbed in God consciousness of the Divine status. So their hearts were impregnated with the Vedic knowledge, knowledge of the Vedas. So, they kept on transferring. Brahm transferred his knowledge from his mind to those first Saints. Then those second Saints who came again after that, they transferred to them. They transferred to them for quite a few generations – 3, 4, 5 generations, and all those generations were just the Saints; this knowledge was transferred.  So the knowledge was called shruti at that time. It was transferred to them from Brahm. Then they transferred into the heart of other Saints, then some time they spoke and transferred, that’s called shruti. Just by listening, they received the whole knowledge of the Vedas. So from then on, in the Vedas, both kinds of dharms, par and apar, secondary apar, and par primary for God realization, both dharms were introduced in this world.

Conclusion:
Swami Prakashanand Saraswati highlights that true happiness does not stem from material wealth but from a peaceful and pure mind. By following dharm, one cultivates sattvic consciousness, ensuring both inner contentment and spiritual progress. Further ahead, in Part 2 of this series, Swamiji will explain deeper insights into dharm and its impact on life.

Swami Prakashanand Saraswati explains that while God’s abstract energy exists, it becomes meaningful only when experienced in a perceivable form. Just as electricity is invisible but proves its existence through its effects, God’s divine form allows devotees to experience His beauty and love.

According to Swami Prakashanand Saraswati:

Abstract or formless things exist but they are simply energy or energies. They cannot be associated with, experienced, or perceived. But because they do exist, they also exist in a perceivable form. So, the abstract existence is proved from the perceivable substance. This is an axiom. From a perceived object, its abstract existence is proved.

Electric power proved electricity exists. With the perceived experience we know that energy exists as abstract. So, the abstract form of God is proved with the Personified Form of God. Whenever one has experienced or perceived the beauty of God, the love of God, the form of God, the charm of God, he says, “Oh yes, this is Godhead Personality, but I didn’t realize Him before.” He existed before but in an energy form.

You are shivering because it’s snowing outside, and your heater has gone off. But electricity is around you; why can’t you use it? Why are you shivering? Because something has gone wrong with the wiring or connections. When electricity is evolved into an experiential form, then that has use, otherwise, it is of no use.

Similarly, when the power or energy of God appears in a perceivable form, that form of Godhead Personality is beautiful, charming, and loving to an unlimited limit – that is why we call Him Godhead Personality.

He has a personality but not like yours. You have a material personality; God has a Divine personality. You have a material brain and mind; He has a Divine mind. You have a body of flesh and bones; He has a body, but not like your body of flesh and bones. How? Before you experience Him, this is beyond understanding. After you experience Him, then everything becomes understandable, because you understand God with the mind of God. You see His form with the eyes of God. You embrace God with the body of God. This theory has been explained in one single verse in the Gita.

नतुमांशक्यसेद्रष्टुमनेनैवस्वचक्षुषा।

दिव्यंददामितेचक्षुःपश्यमेयोगमैश्वरम्॥

Arjun said, “Krishn, I want to see You.” Krishn said, “See Me. I’m standing in front of you.” Arjun said, “But I can’t see You in Your Divine Beauty.” Krishn said, “You cannot see Me, because with physical eyes you see physical things. With My eyes, you can see Me.”

The word dadami means, “I give it to you.” Krishn gave His vision. He put His vision into the eyes of Arjun, and with that vision Arjun saw Krishn. So, with Krishn’s eyes, one can see Krishn. With Krishn’s body, one can embrace and love Krishn. With Krishn’s ears, one can hear Krishn’s flute. With Krishn’s nose, one can smell His perfume. This is called the Grace of Krishn.

When Krishn Graces, He imparts His power into the heart, mind, and soul of a devotee, and then that devotee receives the same power which Krishn has. So with that received power, he perceives Krishn. The material power is finished, and he has only Divine power.

Conclusion: True realization of God comes not through material senses but through His divine grace. Swami Prakashanand Saraswati highlights how Krishn bestows His vision upon devotees, enabling them to see, hear, and embrace Him with divine perception, leading to ultimate spiritual fulfillment.

Swami Prakashanand Saraswati is a profound spiritual guide who emphasizes the transcendence of material and psychic experiences to reach God-realization. He taught that Divine Love, which is beyond all worldly phenomena, is the ultimate truth and path to eternal happiness.

Swami Prakashanand Saraswati Explains:

Our scriptures and our Masters pointed the power of God out which is beyond this material phenomena. Not within; beyond. Your body, the world you live in, and your mental experiences, what are they? They are all material existence. You see dreams. What is that? A state of your mind. Some people can see while they are sitting with closed eyes. What is that? It is psychic experience.

There are two kinds of lights: psychic light and material light. When you see dream, do you see light? Some might say no, but how can you see if there is no light? When you are seeing a dream, light is there. It is illogical to say there is no light when you are seeing dream. So in that dream, everything is there. Whatever is here that you see with your open eyes when you are conscious, is also there.

So, you use subtle senses in the subtle world, and physical senses in the physical world. They are all material phenomena. There is no concern with God. God is entirely different from this existence, though He is absorbed in these existences. You cannot find Him, though He is omnipresent. He has no concern with these material existences. He is beyond.

For that reason, if your path of meditation is only related to the psychic phenomena, that can lead you only a few steps ahead in your psychic stage. Never to God. Because God is beyond material phenomena, beyond psychic phenomena, beyond celestial phenomena. There are not only two, there are three phenomena: material, psychic, and celestial. Beyond material, and beyond psychic, and beyond celestial phenomena, is the abode of God. And God is only the power of Love.

Can we imagine God? No. Why? Because imagination needs perception. What-ever you perceive, the same you can imagine. A blind person has never perceived any color so he can have no imagination about color. You have seen a tree so you can imagine a big, huge tree in a jungle. You can imagine, “Oh, I have seen a tree in my garden, and a garden with trees that is hundreds of miles wide, that might be a jungle.” You need to have some perception about that particular thing, then you can imagine a greater limit. But if you have no perception of anything then you cannot imagine. For that reason, God cannot be imagined. God, God’s qualities, His form, His omnipresence, His virtues – they cannot be imagined. Similarly, God’s love cannot be imagined.

This world has dissatisfaction and unhappiness, and the Divine world has complete happiness with no dissatisfaction. Just the opposite. You see, in material love – take the example of two people, a wife and a husband who love each other very much. Suppose the husband was gone for six months on a long tour, and he came back, and they both met. After six months there was a great excitement, great emotion.

They ran and embraced. How long were they in that stage? A few minutes. How long did the excitement last? A few hours. It might be that after three to four hours they start quarreling on some issue. In just four hours they started quarreling because there was some dispute in the thoughts of both people. Take that instance when they both met together after six months’ separation, that first moment they experienced the maximum love. After some time, it was reduced. After some time, it was further reduced. After a few hours it became normal.

That is the nature of material love: it reduces and slowly fades. But Divine love is ever-increasing.

Conclusion

Swami Prakashanand Saraswati’s teachings clearly explainthe distinction between material existence and the Divine realm. He revealed that while material love diminishes over time, Divine Love is boundless and ever-increasing, leading the soul to unparalleled bliss and God-realization. Through his wisdom, seekers are inspired to transcend worldly attachments and embrace the eternal joy of Divine Love.

Swami Prakashanand Saraswati, a revered spiritual leader, guides seekers on deepening their devotion to Krishn. In this Q&A, Swami Ji highlights the role of the intellect in strengthening our emotional connection with God, encouraging us to reflect on the urgency of finding Krishn, and the spiritual loss of missing this rare opportunity.

Question & Answer with Swami Ji

Question: How can I come closer to God?

Answer: There are two forms of mind: the emotional form, and the intellectual form. The intellect is the governing power in your personality. Whatever your intellect decides to do you act accordingly. You want to see, you don’t want to see, you want to get up, you want to lie down. Your mind says all the time, “This is bad. This is good. Go there. Follow this.” It is all the decisive mind, the intellect.

The simple answer is, the more deeply you understand with your intellect that, “Oh, I must love Krishn, He is my only beloved,” the more deeply you feel for Krishn. If there is less understanding, there is less giving of the heart. If there is more understanding there is more giving of the heart. Understand and you have given your heart simultaneously. There is not even a fraction of a second delay.

I’ll give you an example. There was a little boy. His school was past a wooded area, so he used to get scared when he came home in the evenings. One day he told his mother. She said, “You have an older brother, he lives in the woods. His name is Gopal and if you need him, he will come.”

One day when he was coming home late, he got really scared, in the dark jungle with wild beasts, jackals howling. He called out, “Gopal, Gopal, Gopal, GOPAL!” He called as if he was going to die. Gopal had to come. Gopal means Krishn.

Now take this whole incident. The boy took it to his heart in the very beginning when his mother told him, “Your brother is there.” He liked the idea of having someone, but he was not that desperate. But when he saw the disaster, he was desperate, “Oh, I have to find my brother Gopal.” He gave his heart completely to Krishn and He had to appear.

The same thing happens with every devotee. First, how seriously do you take that He is yours? Then, how seriously do you take it that if you don’t meet Him in this lifetime, what may happen. There are two things, what you will gain by finding Krishn and what you will lose if you don’t find Him. Both things incite your excitement towards finding Him.

If we keep these two things in our intellect our heart is already given to Krishn – to the extent of our understanding of that Divine love, which Brahma sought for millions of years but did not find. Oh, that love?! How great it is. And if you lose this chance? You may lose millions, trillions of lifetimes. Who knows?

Conclusion:

Swami Prakashanand Saraswati emphasizes that a deep intellectual understanding of Krishn’s divinity naturally opens the heart to divine love. By recognizing the urgency of connecting with Krishn and understanding the profound loss if we don’t, we can strengthen our devotion and draw closer to Him in this lifetime.

The teachings of Swami Prakashanand Saraswati, a revered spiritual guide, are dedicated to guiding devotees on their path to Radha-Krishn’s divine love. Heemphasizes the importance of self-reflection and sincere devotion for spiritual progress. In this insightful Q&A session, Swami Ji explains the true markers of progress on the devotional path, highlighting the role of faith, reduced material attachments, and unwavering confidence in Krishn’s presence. Through his profound answers, he inspires seekers to trust in the grace of their Master and the transformative power of divine love.

Question & Answer with Swami Prakashanand Saraswati

Question: How can we determine how much progress we are making on the path?

Answer: There are many factors involved in progress. Your past sanskars and your present devotion are the main ones. Past sanskars include all kinds of good and bad sanskars. Present devotion includes present association, study, environment, attachments, faith, dedication, and discipline in doing devotions. All these factors determine your devotion. So it becomes difficult for your own mind to judge its progress. This your Master knows.

Progress means faith and confidence.

Suppose a devotee has received for the first time divine-love-consciousness and he feels a great thrill and longing in his heart, tears in his eyes, and another devotee is not feeling those things, but he has great expectations, hope, that Krishn will surely come to him soon. Outwardly both look very different, the first looks very highly evolved, the second just ordinary, but it may be the other way. The first one might not have that much confidence in Krishn coming quickly to him. The second one might have more confidence and faith in Krishn. So it is very difficult to judge on your own.

However, you can see your material attachment. Is it lessening or not? If it is not increasing, if it is staying the same it’s not bad. It should not be increasing.

How much faith do you have? Faith means how much confidence you have that Krishn will really come, “I will see Krishn, without doubt.” With this feeling, you feel a kind of closeness with Radha and Krishn, while working, or not working, even while sleeping you feel Krishn is always with you. So, both decrease in your material attachments, and an increase in your feeling of confidence and closeness with Krishn are a few indications of your progress. But don’t try to judge others. When you cannot judge your own progress exactly, how can you judge others?

If you want to know exactly where you are, think in another way. How much love, reverence, confidence, faith do you have in your Master and Radha Krishn? More than that they give you Their own Grace and blessings.

Conclusion: Swami Prakashanand Saraswati shares that true progress involves reducing material attachments, deepening our faith, and feeling closer to Radha-Krishn. Trust in your Master’s grace and their divine guidance to stay steadfast on the path of devotion.

Swami Prakashanand Saraswati was a revered spiritual teacher who dedicated his life to explaining the profound depths of divine love and the path to God realization. He emphasized that Krishn’s love represents the ultimate sweetness and bliss in the Divine realm, far surpassing all other forms of divine experiences. His teachings help us understand that while the essence of God remains one, the bliss experienced in Krishn love is unparalleled, as illustrated by the saints and scriptures throughout history.

According to Swami Prakashanand Saraswati…

Krishn is the absolute, supreme, and the ultimate sweetness of Divine love. God is only one, but there are variations in Divine status. The blissfulness of Krishn love does differ from the blissfulness of other Divine forms. Although it is totally impossible to intellectually comprehend how these differences exist in the Divine world, we can still try to faithfully understand this fact according to the historical events and the experiences of the Saints.

Brahma attempted to fathom the greatness of Krishn love with His own ultimate yogic powers, and He failed. Bhagwan Shiva resides in the Divine abode. He himself is God. Yet, He came running to receive Krishn’s grace and vision when Krishn appeared in Braj 5,000 years ago.

When Bhagwan Ram appeared in TretaYug, there were many great devotees living in Dandak forest. They desired the ultimate experience of Divine-love from Bhagwan Ram. Because He is a modest form of Divine-love, Bhagwan Ram blessed them to be reborn as Gopis in Braj in order for them to receive the supreme form of Divine-love, the ultimate bliss of love through Krishn, which they received during Maharas.

These instances show the ultimate supremacy of Krishn love. Try to understand with this example: a sweet drink can be made sweeter by adding honey or maple syrup, which will dissolve and make the drink thicker without increasing the volume. The thicker drink is sweeter. Similarly, there are varying intensities of Divine sweetness and blissfulness.

In this world material happiness and love has two stages: conscious and partly engrossed. There cannot be total engrossment in material pleasure because at every step of worldly enjoyment your soul remains dissatisfied and desires the bliss of the Divine. Any worldly happiness is short-lived and requires the sacrifice of your time, energy, effort, and intellect. Your soul is not satisfied by material attainments. It demands the experience of ultimate, Divine bliss, beauty, and contentment.

Before the Divine attainment, there is a devotional stage. In the devotional stage there is an experience of blissfulness which is neither Divine nor material. The engrossment in devotional love increases as the devotee proceeds on the path to God realization. When your mind is fully engrossed in divine-love during the devotional period, you enter into divine- love samadhi (divine-love trance). The devotional experience of love occurs in all the three stages: the conscious stage, partially engrossed stage, and fully engrossed stage. This happiness is far greater than worldly happiness yet much less than Divine happiness.

The first Divine stage is like the experience of Vaikunthdham (the abode of Mahavishnu and almighty forms of God). The second is like the blissfulness of Saket or Dwarika dham (the abode of Bhagwam Ram and Dwarkadish), and the third and ultimate is like the bliss of Vrindaban dham (Krishn love). Although these are all Divine stages there are variations in the experience of blissfulness.

In Ujwalneelmani, Jeev Goswami explains the various stages and experiences of devotional and Divine blissfulness in Krishn love. In the devotional stage one “enters” into samadhi, but in the Divine stage there is a natural, eternal samadhi (sahaj samadhi). In that Divine samadhi there is a stage where one is Divinely conscious even in the dream state and deep-sleep state.

He experiences an ever-increasing blissfulness of Divine-love. There are seven states of conscious samadhi and nine states of semiconscious and unconscious samadhi. For instance: jagratjagrat, jagratswapna, could be translated as natural, Divine transcendence in a fully awakened state, natural, Divine transcendence in a fully awakened-like, dream state, and so on. There are sixteen Divine states of Gopi love or Krishn love which a devotee experiences with the Divine grace of Radha-Krishn.

Thus the Divine experience of Krishn love is absolutely supreme and beyond all Divine experiences of Divine blissfulness.

Swami Prakashanand Saraswati thus explains how the divine experience of Krishn love is the highest form of spiritual bliss; it surpasses all other divine experiences in its depth and intensity. Prakashanand Saraswati illustrates how progression through the stages of devotional love leads to an ever-increasing awareness of this supreme divine love. Following this path, a devotee may finally be graced to receive the ultimate state of true Divine Love, which is beyond worldly comprehension.

Swami Prakashanand Saraswati emphasizes that true human happiness transcends worldly pursuits and is rooted in the soul’s longing for Divine perfection. He guides us to recognize that while mental desires are fleeting and limited, the soul’s ultimate goal is to connect with Krishn and experience pure, unending Divine love.

Swami Prakashanand Saraswati emphasizes…

Every human being has two kinds of desires: (a) An internal desire comes from the soul which is to find Divine perfection or God and (b) many other desires which the human mind forms on its own. All mental desires relate to perception. When a person perceives something interesting, he begins to desire for it, not before that.

For instance, a person who is blind since birth and has never seen anything in the world cannot desire for anything that is visually beautiful. The world is full of many interesting and attractive things that multiply your desires every day, these are all worldly desires.

Your inner desire is only one and it is to meet God. It comes from your soul, which is located next to your fully unconscious mind. Next to your soul is Krishn and between your soul and Krishn there is a cosmic veil, the mayic curtain (known in our scriptures as chit-jad-granthi), which prohibits the soul from receiving Krishn love. The soul’s desire for Divine perfection is transferred through your fully unconscious mind to subconscious mind, which transfers it to your conscious mind. But your conscious mind only sees outwardly, it cannot interpret the Divineness of the desire, so it tries to fulfill the soul’s innate desire by offering it worldly things.

Saints give us the knowledge that we are desiring for perfect love and happiness, which is non-existent in the material realm. Furthermore, every worldly situation has its negative aspect: pleasure and pain, joy and sorrow, life and death. You may try for billions of lifetimes to achieve perfection and to change this situation in this world, but you can never succeed because mayic energy has an inherent nature of both, good and bad qualities, and also has limitations.

Saints and the scriptures explain that the Divine realm has a nature and character of unlimited peace, joy, luxury and love. This Divine realm is just next to your soul. When you accept these facts, it is the beginning of jigyasa (the desire to know the truth).

You have lived uncountable lifetimes and so your mind has developed worldly consciousness, which stays in your conscious mind. Worldly consciousness means attachment to your physical body, friends, and relatives. A devotee has to transcend this kind of consciousness and realize his true and eternal relation with Krishn.

The heart is the seat of your mind, your soul, and Krishn. All three reside in your heart region. There is a Divya-akash, the Divine space, located near the center of your heart. Bring your mind to your heart and try to feel it centered there. Expand your self-awareness along with this feeling that Krishn is your eternal Divine beloved and you are His eternal lover. Practice this meditation during your devotions, in the morning and evening, and gradually your awareness of Divine love will expand, and you will realize that Krishn is next to your soul. At this stage you will receive less attraction to the world and more attraction to Krishn.

When this awareness develops it is called ‘divine-love-consciousness”.

Even the greatest yogis cannot cross the fully unconscious part of the mind, be- cause the subconscious mind is the limit of yog, and you have to cross the fully unconscious mind to reach Krishn. Shankaracharya says:

“Shudhyati hi nantratma Krishn pad-ambhojbhaktimrite”

“Only through the Grace of Krishn your heart is completely purified.”

You cannot proceed on your own efforts. Only Krishn’s Grace takes you across subconscious, unconscious and fully unconscious mind and ensures His vision.

So, try to keep the awareness of Krishn love in your heart. Retain this consciousness for the maximum time each day and night, and you will be proceeding towards the desire of your soul, the ultimate Divine realization… the Krishn love. Thus, Swami Prakashanand Saraswati elucidates that while mental desires stem from worldly perceptions and are inherently limited, the soul’s true desire is to experience Divine love and perfection. By focusing on spiritual practices and seeking Krishn’s grace, one can transcend material desires and achieve the ultimate realization of Divine love.