H.H.Sri Swami Sivananda:  Why not? They are also planes of existence just like ours. They are as real as the earthly plane. All the worlds (Lokas) and all the Tirthas (sacred rivers) are existent in the human being himself, if he has belief in the scriptures. One can enjoy heaven or hell in this birth if he so wishes. The greater the grossness, the more intense will be the torture and suffering till such time as the individual is refined and fit for the descent of the Lord’s grace by repeated calcinations or purificatory processes.

If you want to enjoy heaven on earth, go on purifying yourself by controlling the lower mind, the desires and cravings. All is bliss, all is joy, all is happiness then. If you allow a free rein to the horses of the senses and yield to the prompting of the devilish mind, if you follow the path of Adharma, hell itself will prevail, not elsewhere in some incredible region, but here on this earth itself.

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H.H.Sri. Swami Sivananda:         There is no use of praying to the Lord by fits and starts or every now and then. Do Japa and meditation regularly without any break even for a single day. Just as you do not give up tea and meals even for a single day, and just as you do no forget them too, so also, do not forget Sadhana– whatever little you can  and then only take your meals. This is a sure and potent way of goading and compelling the mind to penetrate itself deeply and unavoidably into the spiritual practices. By following this procedure, you get used to doing Sadhana regularly at least for the sake of the meals that is necessarily to succeed, in spite of the unwillingness of the mind.

When the mind undergoes phases of transition in enjoying the charm of the world, it cannot concentrate upon itself and direct the gaze within itself. Pull the reins of the mind back towards itself as it goes out hither and thither. Continue this process several times in a day. When you develop strength of will to realize the Lord by intense efforts, progress automatically sets in. Read the Second Chapter of the Gita with meaning. You will have a clear understanding of the remedy for setbacks in Sadhana.

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H.H.Sri Swami Sivananda:         The materialistic modern mind needs a good flushing before it can understand this. To the spiritual aspirant, the Guru’s feet are not feet merely, but are the channels of divine grace. From time immemorial, the Indian seeker after truth has known that his receptive centre, viz., the head, should come into contact with the preceptor’s transmitting centre, the feet, in order to get infused with spiritual power, wisdom and light. This is one of the axioms of electricity, that the positive and the negative poles should come into contact in order to complete the circuit.

Pada Puja develops the spirit of self-surrender in the aspirant. The flower symbolizing the heart, the fruits symbolizing the fruits of all actions, coins representing all wealth, and camphor symbolizing the very soul of the aspirant which gets totally absorbed in the enlightened Self of the Guru, are first offered in worship. And finally, the aspirant prostrates at the feet, signifying that everything without the least reservation is surrendered at the feet of the Satguru.

Pada Puja creates and strengthens the aspirant’s faith and devotion and divine qualities like humility.

Bharata worshipped the divine feet of Lord Rama and took His sandals which he enthroned as Rama’s representatives; he regarded himself as the viceroy of the sandals. It is such humility, faith and devotion that will make you divine.

Here, I do not compel people to come and worship my feet; if they, of their own accord, insist on doing so out of their Guru Bhakti towards me, I cannot refuse. If I refuse, I will not only be displeasing those who are anxious to prove their self-surrender and respect to me, but also, I will be failing in my duties. Do you think I feel happy or elevated when they do Pada Puja to me? I have to sit patiently bearing all that process. Surely it is not out of pleasure that I agree to sit patiently!!

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H.H.Sri Swami Sivananda:         Our ancestors used to have a well-regulated, disciplined life. They were not slaves of their senses as the modern people are. They used to do Japa, Pranayam, Sandhyavandana (Trikala) and Svadhyaya (study of religious books like the Gita, the Bhagavata and the Ramayana). They used to do charity and selfless service, and observe Vratas like Ekadasi, Sri Rama Navami, Sri Krishna Ashtami and Dattatreya Jayanti. They used to conduct spiritual conferences and pray for world peace and not for their own individual selves. They used to take plenty of physical exercise in the form of walking ten to twenty miles a day and at a stretch. They used to observe Yama and Niyama very rigidly. They used to live mostly in villages and not in congested areas. They were self-reliant and not dependent on others even for trivial matters. They used to have Kaya Siddhi as well as Vak Siddhi. When the present-day generation realizes the value of the way of ancient living, surely will it achieve all that it desires with the Prasannata (grace) of the Devas.

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H.H.Sri Swami Sivananda:         Suicide as well as killing of other beings are both considered to be great sins, as they block the course of evolution of the Jiva. Moreover, putting an end to the present gross body by force does not help one to put an end to his sufferings. Sufferings and pleasures due to him by virtue of his past actions won’t leave him until and unless they are enjoyed by him completely.

On the contrary, by suicide one is inviting more miseries, for it may take some time for him to get another gross body in which he can enjoy the effects of his actions, and during this interim period, he may have to move about in the form of a Preta or ghost. It is, of course, needless to say that killing a human being is a criminal offence legally and is totally heinous from the point of view of spiritual progress, barring, of course, such contingencies as in a war.

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H.H.Sri Swami Sivananda:         Indian thought has no hesitation in answering this question in the affirmative. Except the rank materialists, the Charvakas, the founders of all other systems of Indian thought boldly declare that “one should not adopt a foul means to achieve a desired end, however covetable that end may be”. There should not be any doubt regarding this point.

I don’t think that your two examples are strong enough to prove that the end justifies the means. For, the medicine, whether it be sweet or bitter, in so far as it does not do any harm to the patient or anybody else while curing the disease, should be considered as a means free from any fault. It is a fair means to achieve the end, viz., cure of the disease.

In the second example, Arjuna fought the Kauravas and killed them all, no doubt. But the battle fought by Arjuna was not an exhibition of cruelty, but an execution of one’s own duty. The war fell to his lot as pure duty or Svadharma. Arjuna did not want it himself. He did not impose it on the Kauravas. He was challenged to it by them. He had to defend himself and his clan. As a Kshatriya, it was his sacred duty and moral responsibility to fight for the defense of his rights. Thus, Arjuna’s fighting the battle being purely duty-bound, is thoroughly justified.

Sri Krishna has reiterated this point in several places in the Gita. On the contrary, if Arjuna had shirked away his responsibilities of fighting the battle, then he would have been failing in his Dharma. Hence the Lord’s repeated commands to him: Svadharmamapi Chavekshya Na Vikampitumarhasi (Waver not from your own duty on seeing it in front of you), Yudhyasva Vigatajvara (Do thou fight, free from mental fever), etc

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H.H.Sri Swami Sivananda:

The pure conscience itself is the “Inner Voice”. But the difficulty in the ordinary man is that the voice of the lower mind, the voice of the brutal instincts, is often misunderstood as the voice of conscience. As a result of such misunderstanding, guided by his animal tendencies, he commits colossal blunders, involving danger to others. It requires a great degree of purity and calmness of mind to hearken the true Inner Voice.

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H.H.Sri Swami Sivananda:         To live and enjoy Grihastha life, with one’s own wife during the Ritu period subject to the imposed restrictions of the Sastras is itself Brahmacharya. Sastras say that the married man should not indulge in sense-satisfaction as and when his senses prompt him to do so. He should subject himself to the various restrictions imposed even on the enjoyment of sense life. For details in this respect, study my book, “Advice to Women”. One who observes these Sastraic injunctions and leads a happy, well-regulated life is a perfect Brahmachari, though technically a Grihastha. Whatever be the natural ebullient impulses of the couple, and however young they be, it is quite possible to observe Brahmacharya on the above lines. Brahmacharya for a Grihastha does not mean absolute abstention from enjoying the conjugal life; but means a well-disciplined, self-restrained, Dharmic life.

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H.H.Swami Sivananda:

Neither manhood nor womanhood nor procreation is a sin. A seeker after Truth can beget children and later take to the path of renunciation either in and through the world or entirely out of the clutches of the world. The moment one begets a male child for the upkeep of the progeny, one can devote oneself wholeheartedly to Sannyasa if he so wishes, though it is not a hard and fast rule to have a male child before taking Sannyas. The need for a male child, though not imperative, is in consonance with the Sruti.

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