Sri Sathya Sai's Last Address in Mumbai

Friday, June 01, 2001
Sri Sathya Sai at Dharmakshetra

Bhagavan made a short visit to Mumbai on 1st June 2001. He visited the residence of a senior ailing devotee, and then proceeded to Dharmakshetra. Bhagavan blessed the Bal Vikas students at Dharmakshetra in Shanti Deep Hall at 12.30 pm. He blessed the assembled devotees with His Darshan. Sri V. Srinivasan, All India President of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation, gave a short speech. Bhagavan then delivered His Discourse which was translated into English by Sri Srinivasan. He said:

“The All India President of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations, Srinivasan, spoke about the Fatherhood of God and Brotherhood of man. But he did not speak about motherhood of the mother. In this creation all are born to a mother, however great they may be or whatever they might have achieved. The mother’s womb is like Bhu Mata (Mother Earth). The quality of the fruit will be the same as the quality of the seed sown in the earth.

Revere The Mother As God

In today’s world, people lack purity and sacrifice. What is the reason? It is the lack of purity of the mother’s womb. If the mother’s womb is pure, the children born to her will also be pure. If there is peace in the mother’s heart, the whole world will be peaceful. So, first and foremost, we need women of purity in this world. It is because of such pure women that Bharat became a Tyaga Bhumi (land of sacrifice), a Yoga Bhumi (land of spiritually) and a Karma Bhumi (land of action) and could set an example to the rest of the world. People say motherland and not fatherland. In every country, the mother is held in high esteem. The feeling of motherhood is far superior to all other feelings. The main flaw of today’s children is that they are not concerned about the happiness and satisfaction of their parents. If you make your parents happy, the whole world will be happy. Matru Devo Bhava, Pitru Devo Bhava (revere the mother and father as God). You must understand that parents are verily God.

You have to make your mother happy. Only then will there be peace and happiness in the world. It is meaningless to worship God without revering one’s own parents. First of all, offer worship to your mother as she is the one who has given you birth. Only if the mother’s heart is nectarous will the whole world be nectarous. Rama’s Divinity blossomed under the loving care of Kaushalya. As He was born from the womb of Kaushalya, He got the qualities of Kaushalya. That is why He is worshipped as God. Shivaji could do so much sacrifice for the country because he was born to the pure lady, Jijabai. It is because of the nobility of the mother that the children attain good fortune. So, Prema Swarupas! (embodiments of love!) There is nothing beyond love. Only love is the mainspring of all your good fortune. A man without love is lifeless. You should therefore adore and worship the mother who is the embodiment of love.

Fill Your Heart With Love And Peace

Where is peace in the world? When you do not make your mother happy, how can there be peace in the world? Peace cannot be bought in the bazaar. Every man’s heart is the abode of peace. Only when you fill your heart with love will there be peace in the world. The world is in turmoil today as man lacks total love. Peace will reign supreme in this world only when man develops total love. 
We have attained human birth. There is nothing greater than this. Jantunam Narajanma Durlabham (out of all the living beings, the human birth is the rarest). You are born and brought up in society. Then why do you not work for the welfare of society? All the wealth that you have earned has come from society. You should show your gratitude to society. The world is facing problems because man does not show gratitude to society. You should never neglect society. Society’s well-being is your well-being too. But, is anybody looking for the welfare of society? No. It is selfishness all around. Give up selfishness and work for the welfare of society. The world will enjoy peace and security only when you serve society and have devotion towards God. If you want that peace should reign in the world, then you should first develop peace in yourself. Where is peace? It comes only from our heart. Our heart is the source of peace, truth, righteousness and love. You have forgotten the heart and are searching for peace in the external world. You don’t get peace in the bazaar, you get only pieces. Peace is only in your heart. Fill your heart with love. Whatever work you do, do it with total love. But now, wherever you go, there is only selfishness. Man has lost purity as his mind is polluted.

The food you eat is impure. The air you breathe is impure. Everything is impure. Then how can you escape disease? If you do not want disease, eat pure food, breathe pure air, drink pure water and be pure. But wherever one looks around, there is only impurity. When you are surrounded by impurity, how can you get purity? When purity manifests from within, you can experience its reflection, reaction and resound in the external world. First and foremost, you have to infuse purity in society. To whomsoever you speak, speak sweetly, not with hatred, anger and jealousy. First you have to learn this. You cannot always oblige, but you can speak always obligingly. Speak with love. From head to foot, man is filled with anger today. He has become like an animal. Even an animal is better than man. An animal has a reason and season. Today man has no reason and no season. If you behave in this manner, how can you call yourself a human? To call yourself a human, first and foremost show humanness in action. Just because you have a human body, you cannot call yourself a human. The human body will have value only when you cultivate human values, namely, Satya (truth), Dharma (righteousness), Shanti (peace), Prema (love) and Ahimsa (non-violence). Of what use is human birth if human values are absent? First demonstrate humanness. Develop love. By doing so, all will become your friends. What kind of friends? Those who are full of love. Your real friend is only God. God is love personified. He is full of love.
The same Atma, the same love and the same God is present in all beings. Ek Prabhu Ke Anek Naam (one God has many names). With such feelings of oneness, develop love for God. Then your heart will also be filled with love. The heart is like a tank and all the senses are like taps. When the ‘tank’ is full of love, all that comes out of the ‘taps’ will also be love only. Whatever you see in others is only a reflection of your inner being. First of all, understand this truth. If you see evil in others, it is actually the reflection of your own evil feelings. All are one. That is Prema, that is God, that is Atma. That is everything. 

Earn The Wealth Of Merit

You have forgotten love and are hankering after all worldly things. Wherever you go it is only money, money, money. Money comes and goes but morality comes and grows. Everyone is interested in amassing wealth. But will the wealth accompany you when you leave this world? No. Only the results of your actions will go with you. Wealth is not going to protect you. Only the wealth of merit will protect you. Paropakaraya Punyaya, Papaya Parapeedanam, (one attains merit by serving others and commits sin by hurting them). Earn the wealth of merit. Do not accumulate sin. Alexander ruled over a vast empire, but when he died what did he carry with him? He went empty-handed. You should carry with you only pure love when you leave this world. If you earn the wealth of pure love, you are the richest person in the world. He who has much satisfaction is the richest man in this world and he who has many desires is the poorest man in this world. Today man is filled with desires from top to toe. As long as you have desires, you will never be happy and peaceful.
Give up desires and see for yourself how much love and bliss you get. The bliss you experience will be far superior to all the happiness you have experienced before. All the bliss is within you. But you are imagining that it is outside. What is outside is only the reflection, reaction, and resound of what is within you. If you are a good person, you will see goodness all around. If you wear blue glasses, you see everything blue. If you wear red glasses, you see everything red. Good qualities are your greatest wealth. Cultivate them. Eschew hatred. Demonstrate Ahimsa. Ahimsa Paramo Dharma (Ahimsa is the greatest dharma). Kill anger. Cultivate love. There is nothing sweeter than love.

Man Is The Embodiment Of Cosmic Form

Sage Narada went all over the world but could not get peace. He realised that peace could not be found in wealth and material objects. It is within one’s own self. Peace and bliss are within, but man is unable to experience them. How can man, who is unable to understand the divinity within, experience God outside? Everything is within you. Man is Vishwa Virat Swarupa (embodiment of the Cosmic Form) but he is behaving like an ordinary person by developing attachment to the ephemeral body.

Give up body attachment. Cultivate the awareness of the Atma. Atmananda (bliss of the spirit) is Amritananda (the eternal bliss). That is within you. Everything is within. All qualities are within you. So, you should try to bring out the love that is within you. You will not get this love outside. You are the embodiment of love. Do not develop attachment to the body. Body is bound to perish one day or the other. Why are you deluding yourselves with this impermanent body? That which is permanent is the Atma. In order to experience Atmic bliss, love is essential. If you cultivate love, you become divine. Do not think that God is different from you. Have the courage to say “I am God”. You are not man. You are God. Have the firm belief that you are God. You must first love your parents. They have given you their blood, their wealth and have brought you up with love and care, taking great pains. So, be grateful to them. That is real Bhakti (devotion). There is no greater Bhakti than this.

Swami has just come for a short while. I have not got the complete satisfaction of coming to Mumbai. I will come again. (loud applause) Cultivate love. Revere your parents. Make them happy. Then I will be with you always. Live a life of love.”

Bhagavan returned to Brindavan that evening.

Note: Swami once again visited Mumbai in November 2009. That was His last visit to the city. But during that visit, Swami did not give any discourse. Thus, this is the last physical address in the city of Mumbai.

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