Baba says, “Each one has two fathers; the physical father is different, whereas the parlokik Father of all is the same.”

In the Mahabharata, Arjuna asks God to be His charioteer during the war. Arjuna had many father figures amongst his relatives, there were scholars, experts, teachers and yet, rather than pick one of them, he asked God for His help. These people had raised him, educated him, trained him in warfare and yet when it came to the toughest battle of his life, the battle for sovereignty, he went to God. Why?

This Mahabharata episode is playing out right now, explains Baba. Except here, the enemy is not a physical one, I am fighting my internal demons or the vices referred to as Maya. A physical father or close relative, no matter how well intentioned cannot help me win this war for a couple of reasons: 1) they themselves are under the influence of the vices and 2) I have acquired these vices and cultivated negative sanskars over many births. My physical father does not know all of my births and therefore cannot know or understand the areas where I need help- the strongholds, the biases, the fears, doubts.

God is the Father of all souls. Throughout the cycle of time, I, the soul, have taken many births and in each birth, I have had a different body and a different physical father. But throughout this cycle of time, the father of I, the soul, was, is and will always be God. He is my true Father, my eternal Father. And so based on this relationship, He is the only One positioned to really know my whole story through the cycle of time- the beginning, middle and end of it. Even I don’t know my whole story but He does and He tells me this story at this most auspicious confluence age. Also, He is the only One who remains beyond the cycle of birth and death and so remains beyond the influence of the vices. He is therefore the only One who can rescue me from the quicksand I find myself in.

He does so by reminding me of who I am and Whose I am. I fell prey to the vices when I forgot I am a soul, a child of God and started thinking of me as a body and thereby started identifying in bodily terms- a name, gender, appearance, nationality, role, relationship, social status etc. These aspects sowed division between me and my brothers, gave rise to fear of loss, jealousy, competition, the need to win etc. God comes to bring me and my brothers together again, to unite our family again. He comes to liberate us from our stumbling and searching and take us all back home by seating us in His eyes. He is always our Father but when I recognize Him at this time and make myself belong to Him practically, He also becomes my Teacher and Satguru. While Duryodhana had to go to different people in his vast army for different types of counsel, Arjuna always only needed to go One. I fulfill all my relationships with Him- as my Father, He sustains me, as my Teacher, He reveals the secrets of the cycle of time, of the Creator and creation. As my Satguru, He guides my every step at every second through every storm and fire. As my Friend, He cheers me on and tells me when I’m off track. He sticks with me through everything as my constant Companion.

Only His love and companionship has the power to break the toughest bondages, overcome fears, and transform stubborn sanskars. He shows me the way through giving me His elevated directions; His remembrance and love gives me the power to follow those directions. When I follow them, I become liberated-in-life in a second. I become victorious in my battle against Maya in all her forms and reclaim my self-sovereignty. Everyone has two fathers; the eternal Father is the most beloved. He comes to finish the cries of distress of the whole world and bring about cries of victory.