Knowledge of God
A Sufi Saint once said, O friend, I have read all the Vedas. “But brother, you are a Muslim? What could you possibly know about the Vedas?” I have studied all four Vedas and the Bible too, and I accept them all. I honour the temple, the mosque, and the church. “How?” Because I love God alone. You tell me, what else is written in the Vedas or the Bible?
Uddhava was a close friend of Shri Krishna. He had attained scriptural knowledge, and yet Shri Krishna advised him (Bhagavatam 11.19.5), “O dear Uddhava! Your knowledge is useless if you do not love Me exclusively. To know Me means to love Me. If your knowledge was genuine, then you would not be able to live another moment without loving Me.”
Once there was a father who became so angry with his young son that he slapped him. Feeling incensed, the boy ran away from home. It wasn’t long before the boy found some simple work in a hotel. Being industrious by nature, he started his own business that was so successful that he became a millionaire. Then one day the thought of returning home to see his father dawned in his mind. Though he vowed never to go back, a person’s mental state does fluctuate. All that pent-up frustration he once had subsided, and he yearned to see his father once more. Thinking thus, he headed home.
Living for several years in a terrible state of anguish about what he had done and being separated from his only son for such a long time, the boy’s father had become mentally unstable. As luck would have it, both men happened to stay one night at the same inn, and that too, in adjacent rooms. During an episode of madness, the boy’s father would often create a disturbance — yelling and speaking incoherently, crying, and so. Now, the son, being a millionaire and having all the pride of youth, would not stand for any nonsense. Hearing all the commotion coming from across the hallway, he stormed out of his room and said, “Hey! You are disturbing my sleep! Can’t you keep the noise down? I don’t know why they allow crazy people to stay in this hotel. Where is the manager? Have this lunatic removed!” During the verbal altercation that followed both men realised that they were father and son, and their anger dissipated as they tearfully embraced.
Jagadguruttam Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj explains that initially there was so much resentment between these two, but knowledge of their relationship led to love. In the same way, if someone knows God 10 percent, his love for Him will be 10 percent. If someone says, “I do not love God,” then this proves that he does not know Him.
Let’s say you find a ring and decide to have it valued. Someone tells you that it is only worth $10 and so you carelessly keep it on the kitchen table. But suppose a diamond appraiser sees that ring and he declares its value to more than one million dollars. Just imagine! Now your love for that ring increases exponentially knowing its true value.
Through these simple worldly analogies given by Shri Maharaj Ji, we all can understand that knowledge gives rise to faith, and the same is also true in the spiritual realm. Spiritual knowledge imparted by a genuine spiritual master gives rise to faith in God, and it is faith alone that leads one to the love of God. In other words, if you do not love God then you can never know Him.
Jagadguru Kripalu Bhaktiyoga Tattvadarshan
the essence of Vedic wisdom, spirituality, and devotion in daily life
