How can a negative quality be used to test one’s love to God (devotion)? Can't God use a positive quality for the same test? Positive qualities are used to test one’s love to God at the initial level. When the Lord in human form begs you for food or for some money, He tests you for your willingness to donate such desired items through a positive quality. Begging and donation are not negative. If the devotee donates, the he or she succeeds in the test. If the devotee fails to donate to the deserving Lord in human form, it corresponds to a failure in the positive test. In the advanced level, when devotion or love to God becomes very strong, the devotion is tested through negative qualities. The Lord appears as a mad person in a highly drunken state surrounded by prostitutes and starts beating you with a stick, demanding money from you. This test is like an exam paper containing tough questions in subjects like Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Botany and Zoology (given to a student studying MBiPC in the central Indian syllabus). Any mad person or a person who’s become mad by drinking is naturally avoided. Here, the Lord shows both (madness and drunkenness) and hence, should be totally avoided as per rational thinking. The surrounding prostitutes show His unjust character towards women. Such behaviour leads you straight to hell and such a person should be boycotted as per the scriptures of justice. Moreover, He beats us with a stick and this is violence without reason. If non-violence is the highest justice, violence without reason should be the highest injustice. Moreover, He demands for money instead of begging. Hence, such a person appears to be in the climax of injustice and should be avoided. Even if you know that He is Lord Dattatreya Himself, the tolerance to His test is next to impossible. In spite of all these negative qualities and actions, if you still tolerate Him, love Him, praise Him with folded hands and submit money as Gurudakshina by falling on His feet, it is the climax of your love or devotion to God. This test is like the final annual examination conducted by the form of God called Lord Shiva, Who is the embodiment of Tamas and contains all the devilish qualities. Before this exists the half-yearly examination, which is conducted by Lord Vishnu, Who steals away all your wealth and makes you the poorest by preaching spiritual knowledge representing Sattvam. Lord Vishnu is supposed to steal your money (Tasya vittam haraamyaham – Vishnu Puranam). If this is the result you get when you approach Him for obtaining wealth from His wife, Goddess Lakshmi, is it possible for anyone to face this test? Before this, exists the initial quarterly examination conducted by the Lord Brahma representing Rajas or ego. When you pray to the Lord for wealth in this test, He keeps silent and you misunderstand Him to be egoistic for such constant negligence to your continuous prayers. Any practically worldly wise person will stop the worship of such Lord and reject the Lord Dattatreya, Who is in all the three divine forms (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva). Tests are essential to revise your progress in the spiritual path and make you know your status achieved at every stage so that you will understand your present stage and put more effort in the future accordingly. Source - universal-spirituality.org/msg30122015a.html
