Daily Reading 91. Swamiji explains the difference between metaphysics and science with Ganesha and Kartikeya. And touches on the deity within all – hence no ‘fault-finding’ or cruelty.

Taken from Mother Radha’s notes, written at Swamiji’s feet.

On [Lord] Ganesha [the aspect of God that removes obstacles]: One of the great things we observe about Ganesha is his bhakti [love, devotion] for his mother and father. Ganesha is the elder brother – he stands for metaphysical science. Kartikaya is the younger brother and he stands for physical science. In the scriptures we read how Ganesha finds his goal by going round his mother and father. [For the background story, please click HERE.] He is a scientific person who is the Self of the whole universe. When you travel within [introspection] you find the Self of all.

Kartikaya got on his peacock – his vehicle of pride – and travelled around the whole world trying to discover the Truth. Meaning he searched the [external] effect of the Cause. Science deals with effects. The Cause of all causes is the Self, within.

Ganesha won [the contest] and got the fruits – this stands for his brides, Siddhi [powers] and Buddhi [intellect] – success and wisdom. He travelled within and won the prize. What happened to Kartikaya? He came back to his parents and said, ‘Give me the fruits! Ganesha must still be going round on the rat [his symbolic mode of transport] with his pot belly!’ [Ganesha is typically depicted in the form of a pot-bellied elephant]. Swamiji: The world of the child is nowhere else than the womb of the mother.

Ganesha is a sign of brahmacharya.

The world you seek without [outside of you] is lying deep within Prakriti [nature]. Prakriti and Purusha [spirit] are not two different things.

Ganesha had parental devotion. After losing the contest, Kartikaya runs to the Self, to the cave, full of anger. There he did tapasya [austerities] and disciplined the senses and went back to his mother and father. If you want to succeed in this world you must first do tapasya and get the senses and mind under control. Kartikaya was then blessed by his mother and father.

Aryans in the North [of India] are very proud people, as are the Dravidians in the South [of India]. So Kartikaya brought unity between North and South. Discriminate – but not between cultures. See good in every culture. If you see positive, you will become positive. If you see negative you will become negative.

One night, Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi worshipped the moon. She saw that even the moon has blemishes [marks]. Then she prayed, ‘May my mind not have any blemishes.’ Sri Ramakrishna stood behind her and said, ‘When your thought, word and deed become one, your prayers will be answered.’ This happens when the mind is completely pure. So long as you say one thing and mean something else, you are not pure. If your words and actions are different, you are not pure.

In the scriptures we read how when Ganesha was young he played with a cat. Later in the day he went to his mother – the goddess Parvati – and said, ‘I am so happy to have played with a cat.’ Then he noticed that his mother had a scratch mark on her body. He said, ‘How did that happen, Mother?’ She answered, ‘You did that.’ Ganesha said, ‘But I did not come here today, mother.’ Then, as the Universal Soul, she explained: ‘I exist in every being and if you hurt that being you will hurt me.’  
Swamiji: You must be very, very careful. You must not hurt your Deity in the heart of another being.

Lord Krishna said [in the Bhagavad Gita], ‘I am seated in the hearts of all beings.’ When you make a man suffer, in reality the Deity is suffering. See what is sitting in the heart: the Deity.

When God takes the form of man He will not show supernatural powers [siddhis]; because the laws are made by God. You can transcend [rise above] the world by the laws of this world – just as when you are drowning you can overcome the sea by the aid of the waves. Take the natural laws and transcend the world.

This is how God gets hurt: He takes the form of man and gets hurt in the form of man. This is why we say do not find fault with anybody.

In Master [Sri Ramakrishna] you are worshipping the highest form of God – the Supreme Being, Brahman Itself.

Underlined words are hypertext links to clarification, explanation or other sources. Just tap on them.

The free-to-read or download, 396-page Flipbook version of Swamiji’s biography, ‘A Life Lived For Others‘, is available by clicking HERE. If you’d prefer the PDF version, please click HERE.

For our gurubhai Atmaprakash Kramer’s beautiful pictorial ‘memoir’ booklet of the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa, Avoca Ashram, please click HERE.

There’s also a Facebook site for Swamiji’s posts now. They feature newer readings published more recently. Click HERE to view.

These recordings or the excerpts from them, were made from the early 1970s onward, by Mother Radha, a close devotee of Swamiji’s and edited for uploading here by our gurubhai and her son, Brother Tim. Please be mindful that what Swamiji was saying may have been specific to those with him at the time.