Sunday, March 21, 1965 to Tuesday, April 6, 1965
Amalapuram and Rajahmundry in the East Godavari District
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| On the way to the Prashanti Vidwan Mahasabha |
At Amalapuram Swami inaugurated and presided over the Prashanti Vidwan Maha Sabha Sessions on 28th and delivered His Divine Message thereafter. Exhorting the Pandits about the role of India as the Guru of the world Swami said:
“This region is called Konaseema, the Delta, the End land; it is famous as the home of traditional scholarship in the Vedas and the Shastras; it has a large number of Sanskrit Schools even today and the number of Pandits versed in Vedic lore still following the rigorous discipline laid down by the Dharma Shastras (religious scriptures) is large enough to win the respect of the people of this country. When the region has won fame as the repository of spiritual learning, it must also be taken to be the teacher of detachment from the pursuit of Artha and Kama (wealth/power and sense pleasure), both of which have to be restrained and regulated by Dharma, the first among Purusharthas. It is indeed a great misfortune that, in this Kali Age, India which upheld the Adhyatmic (spiritual) ideal for centuries and stuck to it, in spite of economic and political upheavals, is entering the competitive struggle for existence, irrespective of the moral code which the ancients laid down.
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| Felicitations during the Function |
Dharma is the Swarupa (form) of India; Sathya is its Swabhava (innate quality). But most people today feel that happiness is to be sought for, by whatever means. This evil doctrine has caused discontent among all classes, and in the attempt to relieve the discontent, further Adharma is being resorted to. This is the situation that prompted Me to found the Prashanti Vidwan Mahasabha; many Pandits of this region are members of this Sabha. They have now this great chance to use their talents in the service of humanity and to spend life in fruitful activity. Activity results in either joy or grief, due to the attachment with which it is done. ‘I’ and ‘mine’ are the two fangs of the serpent; pluck them out, then, you can safely handle it and play with it.
You need not give up activity. As a matter of fact, you have to be intensely active. In this Karma Bhumi, it is only through karma that you can transcend karma. Birds and beasts are not aware of this secret; man alone can select and accept the karma that is most profitable for liberation from the chain of Karma. If he seeks happiness by satisfying the demands of the sense, he learns that happiness won by that search is inseparably mixed with misery.
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| Delivering the Divine Discourse |
Function of the Science of Yoga
You know from experience that deep sleep gives you maximum happiness. Think over it for a while; have you ever, in the waking stage, experienced that degree of calm; of quiet, of equanimity, of happiness? That is why Nidra (sleep) is said to be the nearest approximation to Samadhi. If even the impulses and. instincts and thought-waves dormant during sleep disappear, then, the joy becomes perfect and full. This happens when the Sun of Jnana illumines you. That drives away even the minutest speck of darkness; in fact, darkness is just the absence of light. There are three principles that have to be overcome before knowledge (Jnana) can dawn: the Physical (Deha Tatwam); the Sensory (Indriya Tatwam) and the Mental (Manas Tatwam). Even the mind has to be overcome before the One can be cognized; for, the mind seeks variety and change; it revels in the contact with the objective world called Vrittis. The prevention of these Vrittis in the mind, of the ever-widening circles in the Manasa Sarovara (the Lake of the Mind), whenever a wish or thought or a resolution is dropped into it, that is the function of the science called Yoga, Union. Union of what, with which? Union of 'Tat' with 'Twam', of you and the rest, resulting in the One, without a Second.
To get this attitude of surrender, of dedication, you must have Faith in God. This world is His play; it is not an empty dream; it has purpose and use. It is the means by which one can discover God; see Him in the beauty, the grandeur, the order, the majesty of Nature. These are but shadows of His Glory and His Splendour; that is why, the Vedas have three sections or Kandaas: Karma, Upasana and Jnana. Karma leads to the consciousness of the ever-present, immanent, all-powerful God. Upasana (adoration of that God), leads to the knowledge that He is in all; when you experience that there is no second. That is Jnana! In the past, when people were observing the discipline which gave them Shanti and Saukhyam (peace and contentment), they were happy; they could not be swept off their feet by fear or disappointment. But, M.A.'s and B.A.'s are today unable to get jobs suited to their standards; the income is too poor for their own sustenance. They are helpless and unhappy; they do not help their parents or make them happy.
Devotees should improve their behavior
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| Sri Sathya Sai distributing Prasadam to devotees |
The Vedic scholars themselves have fallen victims to this rash for jobs and degrees, for their children too run after the glittering tinsel of a degree, which does not fill their stomachs or fulfill the cravings for peace and calm. They have lost faith in the Vedas themselves; else, why should they discard them so fast, in exchange for a few rupees? Nevertheless, there are some, in Andhra Pradesh also, who preserve their faith and who are serene in the face of everything. They are not known to newspapermen, they are not news; they live apart and happy. Nobody worries about them and they do not worry any one.
People, nowadays, know the history of film stars, while they are profoundly ignorant of their own history. Pay attention to your real needs; cultivate virtues that will add joy to you and others, not habits that ruin your health and empty your purse and lower you in the estimation of others. I want Bhaktas (devotees) to improve their behavior and character. It is no good attending the temple and sharing loudly, with cymbals in your hands, in the singing of devotional songs there. They are but external signs of enthusiasm. God watches the Bhavam, not the Bahyam – the thought power behind, not the pomp above.
The two injunctions of the Vedas are: Satyam Vada, Dharmam Chara (Speak the Truth, Practice Righteousness). Satkarma (good deed) is the tree, Sad-Bhava (good intention) is the root. The Sadbhava is that which serves your best interests, viz. lasting happiness, final liberation from the cycle of birth and death. Take the mind off the sensory pleasures and fix it upon God; then, Bhava gets pure; whatever you think or say or feel will be for the good of yourself and others.
Some people laugh at spiritual aspirants and call them idle visionaries who seek something that is not tangible, that cannot be weighed and valued! How can anyone ignore the foundations and be content with the knowledge of the walls and the terrace? You can be free from fear only when you are confident of the strength of the foundation. You do not see your breath or weigh it; but, breath is the very sustenance of life. The unseen is the basis of the seen. If you are caught up in the meshes of the seen, you cannot know the importance of the unseen.
India is the Guru of Humanity
This ought to be known to everyone, not the mountains of information that is filling the head now. The key for liberation is contained in the Vedas and these Pandits have it. That is the reason why Bharat lays claim to be the Guru of Humanity. If that claim is to be respected, Indians must themselves live the life. Everyone must be immersed in Shanti (peace), derived from dedicated work, work offered as worship, work done with no desire or attachment for the benefit therefrom. But, what do we see today? There is no peace in the home or in the mind, no cordiality between brothers, no reverence for parents, no love between partners. You must first achieve victory at home; you can then call on others to strive for victory. Mere devotion is not enough. It must be regulated by reason and discrimination. Or else, it will not flow along sane lines. Reason makes devotion a sharp instrument. Reason out the purpose of your sojourn on the earth, the purpose of the intelligence with which you have been endowed. Then, devotion will encourage you to fill your days with steady, controlled activity, towards Liberation.”
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| The 200 year old Visweswara Swamy Temple (also referred to as Dakshina Kasi) at Rajahmundry |
“Matam is a matter of Mati (religion is based on the urge that moves the mind). If the urge is divine, we have a Divine religion; if it is bestial, then, the things held lovable and desirable will be bestial too. Join the particular with the universal, the limited with the unlimited, the river with the sea. This is the process called Yoga. This can be achieved through Bhakti or Karma or Jnana. You must develop this attitude of ‘merging’ with the Divine in all that you do, this attitude of dedication, of surrender to His Will. This is the best means of realizing Him. The Geeta, about which all the four Pandits whom you are honoring today spoke, was itself the result of Arjuna’s surrender, his Prapatti. The Geeta does not prescribe the same remedy for all; each must get himself diagnosed by an experienced doctor of the spirit and then follow his advice, until he reaches a state of health, when he can restore equanimity to himself by his own effort. You need not learn all the Shlokas (verses) and all the commentaries by heart and exhibit your scholarship, engaging in contest with other scholars. It is enough if you put into practice one Shloka, the one that suits your spiritual stage, that appeals to you most. That first step will itself take you nearer the second step, the second will make the third easier and so on until the end. If the cow is the representative of Dharma, then, the four Vedas are the teats in its udder, where the life-giving milk is stored; the Gopala (Krishna) milked the cow and gave it to the world, as the Geeta. It has to be taken into the heart. Of what avail is 'medicine' if it is poured into the ear? It has to be taken in, so that it might act and strengthen the blood-stream. So too, there is no use in listening for hours to discourses on the Geeta; take the lesson in. Put it into practice, apply it in daily life. Realize the Divinity in you, that is the lesson.
Consider the welfare of humanity as a whole
The three Pandits you have honored today are preserving and propagating these vital truths of our culture for the last thirty or forty years; there are many more men of this caliber still to be recognized and honored. Many people condemn Brahmins as a class and charge them with trying to promote their caste interests, writing the Shastras (scriptures) and trying to have a monopoly of the Vedas. But, have you considered how difficult the Shastras have made the life of a Brahmin? No one will willingly impose such restrictions on so many of his own acts and movements, but these people have done it and tried to live accordingly for centuries, and their chief inspiration for subjecting themselves to this restriction has been not power or pomp, but ‘the welfare of humanity!’ Consider this. That is the outlook of Indian culture, the welfare of humanity as a whole. That is also the reason why it has survived, while all its contemporaries of the past have sunk into oblivion, some without a trace of theft influence on posterity. This culture has stood firm because it is built upon the Vedas, the authentic experience of the seers. It is only those who are obsessed by doubt that lose those precious jewels of spiritual wisdom; there are some who hesitate to accept good and useful things that others suggest, though these same people are daily taking countless other facts on trust!
Imagine the enormous efforts of these seers, as a result of which the path of spiritual progress has been cleared by them for the good of all! Why do you not proceed along it? If you take the very first step, you will immediately recognize that their experience is authentic. What is the use of blaming them, instead of trying their prescription? But, you must be aware, of course, of your illness and long for a cure.
Develop confidence in yourself
The Geeta must be carried by this Samaj to the villages and its message must be instilled into the daily lives of our people. In order that you may get the authority to do this, you must yourselves follow the Geeta in your daily life. Develop confidence in yourself and in the culture you have grown up in. There is no advertisement needed for it, it has its own inherent value and the proof of its value is in the Shanti it confers and the courage it implants. I am sorry these Pandits, who are great scholars, did not speak longer because they wished Me to address you for a longer time. Whether they speak or I speak, the subject is essentially the same; liberation from delusion and escape from darkness, by the recognition of the light that is effulgent within.”
From Rajahmundry, Swami left for the towns of Kavali and Razole in the Nellore and East Godavari Districts. His focus was now giving a message for the villages in this region.
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| The Beautiful and Blessed Town of Rajahmundry, also known as Rajamahendravaram |
Thank you SSWS Team....Sairam
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