31. When the grace of Guru and God is there, why is the mind still not controlled?

There must be Purushartha also. Only when you do Purushartha, the grace will come. A professor will not answer the questions for you and make you pass. The Gita says, "Uddharet Atmanatmanam". One should raise oneself. Grace only helps one to raise oneself. Everybody should work out his own salvation. You may ask, "What is grace then?". If an aspirant gets letters from his preceptor, clearing his doubts, that is grace. If an aspirant comes here, takes Ganges bath and hears the lectures here, that is grace. Many people are thirsting, even croropathis (those who possess crores of rupees) are thirsting to come and bathe in the Ganges, but all do not get a chance of coming and having their wish fulfilled. If good books are available for Svadhyaya (study), it is grace. If one enjoys good health for doing Sadhana, that is grace. If God so wishes, He can give Mukti to the whole world in an instant; but He does not do so. Grace descends only when there is Purushartha.

32. Why has God created the world?

Ask God why He has created this world! Attain wisdom of the Self. Then you will know why God created the world. You cannot understand it with your intellect. You can understand it only with intuition.

For the sake of sport, God created the world. Lokavattu Lila Kaivalyam. Creation of the world has a purpose. Just as we cannot have a sun without rays, similarly, we cannot have God without the world process. The world is like His rays. It is His Svabhava, nature. Just as a juggler produces something and makes it disappear, so also, God produces this world and makes it disappear. God is omnipotent. To ask why He created the world is an Ati-prasna, a transcendental question. We will be only wasting time by discussing it. Before asking about the world, ask about yourself. Know who you are. Then you will know everything.

33. Is there a remedy for the fall of ethical laws and standards due to the industrial revolution?

The industrial revolution does not compel anyone to lower the moral standard. No doubt, it might have facilitated this fall to some extent. The real mischief was done by the misleaders of mankind who deliberately exalted material values over spiritual values. It is never too late to mend. Even now, if the heart of man be cleansed of the dross of selfishness and self-aggrandizement, and righteousness enthroned in it, the moral standard can be kept high in spite of the most spectacular industrial development.

34. Why does man not remember death and cease forthwith from sinful deeds keeping the transience of earthly life in view?

Every man has not sprung up all on a sudden as a man. The Jiva, right from the very first ushering into the world, continues to undergo the cycle of births and deaths not in tens, hundreds or thousands, but in lakhs. It actually carries with it the Samskaras right from its very first birth up to the birth current, i.e., under enjoyment. The unenjoyed or residual Samskaras continue till they are completely fried in toto by Atma Jnana. The very forgetfulness of death by man, though he sees countless deaths daily, indicates the nescience that has developed in him to avoid seeing the face of Truth. The experiences that he has gained thus far, i.e., up to the moment of consideration, are quite insufficient to drag his attention towards the eternal truth which is God. A day will certainly dawn in the life of every individual on this earth, not necessarily in this very birth itself, when he will, by some rare merit, through Satsang with Mahatmas, devotion to Guru, or God's grace, tune in to the Ultimate by gradual evolution.

The sinful deeds which men commit are mainly due to ignorance. When ignorance vanishes once and for all by performance of good and selfless deeds, Japa, Svadhyaya, etc., or by Guru Kripa, the final goal ever remains in view. Commission of vicious deeds indicates that the Jiva is not yet an evolved one and that he is to gain more and more experiences of the world and undergo repeated and continual refinement from grossness. For the disappearance of ignorance and firm remembrance of God, there is no way more powerful than to encounter the kicks, blows and knocks of the world that may greet one unawares.