When Sri Sathya Sai established a Modern Gurukulam on Guru Pournima Day...

Sri Sathya Sai at the entrance of the New College Building at Anantapur
on the day of Inauguration

Thursday, July 08, 1971

The President of India, Sri V. V. Giri, inaugurated the new building of the Sri Sathya Sai Arts and Science College for Women, Anantapur on the 8th July, 1971, Guru Poornima day. Swami came in a procession at 11 am accompanied by the President and his wife Smt. Saraswathi Giri. The Members of Sri Sathya Sai Trust, the Managing Committee of the College, Dr. Bhagvantam and the Principal, Smt. Anima Mukherji accorded a traditional welcome. The function was presided over by the Governor of Mysore, Sri Dharmavira. 

Dignitaries on the dias: From the left - Sri Brahmananda Reddy, Chief Minister, Andhra Pradesh; Sri Sathya Sai; Sri V. V. Giri, President of India

The dignitaries present at this function were, Sri K. Brahmananda Reddy, Chief Minister, Andhra Pradesh; Sri Nakul Sen, Lieutenant Governor of Goa; Ministers Sri G. C. Venkanna, Sri M. N. Lakshminarasaiah and Sri P. V. Narasimha Rao; Members of Parliament - Sri Shankaragiri, Sri Brahmananda Panda, Sri Chanda Narayanappa; Justice Balakrishna Eradi, Justice Gopi Vallabha Iyengar, Justice V. Parthasarathi; Sri Vema Reddy, Chairman, Rayalaseema Development Corporation; Ms. Indra Devi from Mexico; Sri S. Seetharam from London; the Rajmata of Jamnagar; the Rajmata of Sirohi; Sri P. R. Kamani; Sri A. S. Adke, the Vice Chancellor of Karnataka University, Dharwar; Dr. D. Jagannatha Reddy, Vice Chancellor of Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati; the Kumararaja of Venkatagiri; Sri V. K. Rao; and  Members of the Legislative Assembly of the region.

Prof. V. K. Gokak delivering the Welcome Address
(Seen the in the background: From left - Sri P. V. Narasimha Rao, Minister, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh, Sri Sathya Sai; Sri V.V. Giri; Smt. Sarawathi Giri)

The function started with Vedic recitation by Brahmasri Kameswara Ganapathy. Prof. V. K. Gokak, Director, Institute of Advanced Studies of Shimla, then delivered the welcome address. Dr. S. Bhagvantam presented progress details of the College. This was followed by the speeches of Dr. D. Jagannatha Reddy, Sri P. V. Narasimha Rao, Sri Brahmananda Reddy and Sri Dharmavira.
 

The Presidential Address by Sri V. V. Giri, President of India

Swami delivered His Discourse after the President’s address. He said:
 

This Day we are inaugurating the new buildings for the College dedicated to this purpose of having such Maas (mothers) for the revival of the Dharma, which Bharat and the world so urgently need today. Today, all departments of life are reverberating with the raucous noise of anxiety and fear, uncertainty and insecurity. The main purpose of life is the acquisition of Ananda, and the sharing of that Ananda with others. This has gone under; and a vast new number of desires, quite unrelated to the chief aim of the Vyakti (individual) who has to make his Divinity patent, is emerging, like lava from the subterranean fire! The Guru warns and waylays; but, his words are not heeded. Man loathes the law and loves the lie; he gives ear to evil and invites iniquities on himself!
 

…This will be a Gurukul, a place where teachers and taught will grow together in love and wisdom, as close to the ideas of the hermitages of the past as possible under present conditions. Today is Guru-vaar, Thursday; it is also Guru-Pournima, the Day set apart for adoration of the Guru (the Preceptor). It was mentioned just now that this must prove to be the nucleus of a Women's University---but, I am not enamoured of that prospect; I will be happy only when the Gurukula atmosphere is fostered and maintained, uncontaminated. Women must emerge from this College armed with deep-rooted virtue and firm faith in the ideals of woman-hood, laid down in our sacred texts. Then only can they, as mothers, mould their children as bright, beautiful, virtuous, strong citizens of the world. This is the only way out of the horror in which the world is simmering.

 
…The seed has been planted today; it has to sprout and spread as a tree, heavy with fruits. It has to confer security and sustenance to all…

The ersthwhile Sri Sathya Sai College for Women at Anantapur; now the Anantapur Campus, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning

In the evening function, Sri Nakul Sen addressed the gathering. The function concluded with Swami’s Discourse. On that occasion He said:

This day is Guru Pournami, when many offer special Puja to the Guru (worship of the preceptor) who has initiated them into spiritual life, with the grant of some manthra (sacred syllable) or some vow. To adore the preceptor who has shown the path of liberation, you need not wait for the arrival of this particular day. You need not watch the calendar at all; be ever grateful. The guru has directed the vision inside, the goal is in you, the path leads you to yourself, the I that shines unknown in you, as well as in all. Knowing it is liberation from the bondage of the body and the chain of birth and death which the body drags along with it.
 

People come to Me and pray, “Swaami! Naaku Moksham Kaavaali” (Swami, I want liberation). Consider for a moment that statement of thirst. A parcel you get through post is covered top and bottom, with the gift inside the two; you remove the packaging material from top and bottom to get at the thing you really value most; Moksha (the gift you value) is packed between two ideas---'for me,' and 'is wanted'---the idea of Ego and the idea of Desire. So, all I have to tell you is, "Remove the packing, and take the gift, Moksha. Have no ego, discard desire, you are liberated!" The Guru asks you to repeat a Mantra; but the Mantra cannot grant you the final beatitude, It will discipline the mind, control its vagaries, and strengthen faith. But, unless you see God in all, unless your mind is made a mirror reflecting the image of God that everyone and everything is, you are not entitled to the release you claim. 

…We have in this country, as well as in others, many institutions and organisations devoted to spiritual uplift of man; but, they are all caught up in the politics of competition for prestige and power, and in the game of personal aggrandizement. Wherever you turn, you meet Sanyasins, Yogis, Gurus and Babas, varieties of the same theme, clamouring for clientele, wheedling for funds, parading for protocol! No one seems to have delved into the relativity of things. No one seems to have dived for the pearls at the bottom and secured them. All are on the surface of things, afraid to lose their identities, once they have the light revealed. We require spiritual guides who are free from conceit and pride, hate and greed; guides who have travelled the whole length of the journey. In religious field, hypocrisy is high treason. 

I know there are many of you who argue and discuss how and in what manner these structures came to be built so grandly. If you have known Me through and through, there will be no such argument at all. You will know that this is but an insignificant product of My power. I have done this, only as an example, for, unless those who lead are themselves active and earnest, to bend and bear the burden, those who are encouraged to follow will lose heart and miss the way. Religious leaders have a greater responsibility in this respect; for, it is a field where hypocrisy is high treason. People fly high, only to cast their eyes on a wider circle, searching for sustenance, as vultures do! The eye belies what the wings proclaim.
 

Others, I know, have questioned, why I had requested the President of India, Smt.Saraswati Giri, the Governor of Mysore, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, the Education Minister of Andhra Pradesh, and the Vice-Chancellor of the Venkateshwara University to share the Ananda (joy) of this occasion. They hold positions which are sources of influence over many and it is necessary to draw their attention to this resurgence of spiritual education. They themselves have to be put into touch with the activities that are crucial to the revival of the culture of this land. That is the reason why I am inviting these dignitaries to attend and share in the joy of the proceedings. My aim is to plant transformation in the hearts of all, whether they hold high positions or not. All are dear to Me and all are important in My eyes. By having recourse to all means, the mission of establishing Prashanti has to be achieved. That is My task. 

…Today, we have the happy confluence of three Gu's: it is Guru-vaar (the day of the week is known as the Day of the Preceptor or Guru). The second refers to Adi-Guru (Primary Preceptor), the Full Moon of this month, which occurs today is revered as specially sacred to the memory of Veda Vyasa, the collator of the Vedas, the author of Brahma Sutras (aphorisms on Supreme Reality), the great poet who composed the epic known as the Fifth Veda, the Mahabharata, and the author of the renowned scripture of Bhakti (devotion), called the Srimad Bhagavata. The third Gu refers to this Guru-kula-Ashram, this college with the new (but ancient) outlook, of reviving the master-disciple, sanctified by centuries of spiritual effort and experience. These three Gu's are reminders of the three-pronged Bilva (wood-apple tree) leaf, which is placed in reverence while adoring Shiva, symbolising the three Gunas (qualities), the three prongs of time (past, present, future) held as a spear by Shiva, and the three attributes which man has to overcome, the Tamas, Rajas and Satwa (inertia, passion and equanimity).
 
Source: Sri Sathya Sai Digvijayam Part 1 (1926 to 1985)