The Purpose of Human Life

You say Atma, Atma! What is this Atma? Earlier, the sages had seen Atma as perfect love. But Atma is higher than perfect love. There are four objectives of life for every man. They are Dharma (duty), Artha (wealth), Kama (desires) and Moksha (liberation). Man ends his life longing for these four objectives of life. However, there is also a fifth purpose for life. That is perfect love. With that perfect love, we can attain liberation and merge with God. Without love, you cannot achieve anything. Love is the primary cause for everything. Love is life. Love is God. Live in Love. Start the day with love, fill the day with love, spend the day with love and end the day with love. This is the way to God. We should spend our day with love. Today, all our days, hours and minutes have become polluted. How can we attain God then? You have great desires, but your actions are mean. It is impossible to obtain God while indulging in bad actions. We have to develop pure love. We should remove all the dirt in our love. Where does the dirt come from? It is born from the tree of attachment. The fruit of love has the skin of worldly desire covering it. Without removing this skin, and taking out the seeds of worldly desires, we cannot enjoy the juice within. So, first remove the skin of desires by nurturing detachment.

Do Not Lose The Golden Opportunity – Now

What is detachment? Give up that which is not useful to you. You have to take only the essence of everything that is good. But today, students run after futile things all the time. They do not entertain useful thoughts at all. If we really find out for ourselves where we are, we are in a zero state. We are not able to carry out even a small job by ourselves.

It is only because of Swami’s grace that you all are here, very near to Me. It is not because of your deeds or your parents’ love for Swami. It is only because of Swami’s grace. You should realise what good fortune you all are having. You should inquire within yourself as to what could be the reason for attaining God so easily. It is only because of the merit earned for many years. Now that you have obtained Sai, you should ensure that you never lose Him.

If you are not aware of this, you are spoiling your own fortune. It will turn into misfortune, resulting out of your bad actions. Whatever you have attained, protect it well. How can you protect it? Only through love, can you safeguard it. There is nothing higher than love. In ancient days, sages undertook penance in dense forests, where wild animals moved freely. They did not carry any weapons with them. They had only one weapon - love. Because of this weapon, they could develop kinship with the animals and lived happily. If you have this weapon of love, you can achieve anything. People say bombs are more powerful. Hydrogen bomb or Oxygen bomb, no bomb is more powerful than love. In this world, no power is higher than love. With love, you can even reach God. So, develop love. Because of your petty desires, you are losing the very Divine power. You do not understand now. Gradually as you grow up, you will realise it. What is the use of worrying at that time? This is the right time. Think for yourself. This is the golden age. Only you can safeguard this holy age. Even if one second is lost, it will not come back. Past is past. Forget the past. Do not worry about the future. Time is only in the present. Not ordinary present, but ‘Omnipresent.’ Look after this ‘present’ carefully. If you save this present, you can achieve whatever you want.

Hanuman’s Devotion

Human mind is a monkey mind. Not an ordinary monkey, but a mad monkey. How can mad monkeys attain God? However, we must remember that even monkeys served Rama. They kept on chanting the name of Rama. We know that Sita had to undergo many hardships. Hanuman is a great devotee who served Sita and Rama as his own parents. All the time, he was thinking of Rama. During the coronation of Rama, when the distribution of gifts was going on, Sita said, “Hanuman is the jewel among the monkeys who helped Rama accomplish His mission. He is a great servant of Rama, who entered into the mighty kingdom of Lanka repeatedly and attained success.” She praised Hanuman in this manner and asked Rama to give him some reward. Rama said, “Sita, I know the essence of love contained in the devotion of Hanuman. He does not want any reward except Me.” Saying this, Rama went to Hanuman and said to him, “Hanuman, the service you rendered to Me is priceless. I offer Myself to you.” He hugged Hanuman saying, “I have given Myself to you”. But in that big gathering, Sita thought that there should be some material reward given to Hanuman. She presented him with a valuable chain of pearls given by her father, Janaka. As soon he received the chain, the mischievous Hanuman started biting all the pearls apart and threw them away after searching inside.

Why did Hanuman behave like this? Was he unaware of the value of those precious pearls? When Sita asked the reason for his act, Hanuman replied, “Mother Sita! My whole body is filled with the name of Rama. Even though it is a priceless pearl, it did not have the name of Rama within. So I threw it away.” Then Sita said, “You have not left your monkey acts. How can you see the name of Rama in pearls?” Hanuman picked one hair from his body and kept it near her ear. Mother Sita could hear the name of Rama echo in it. Hanuman had filled his body with the name of Rama. ‘Antar Bahischa Tat Sarvam Vyapya Narayana Sthitaha.’ (The Supreme Lord Narayana is both within and without. He pervades the entire space.)

Wherever you see, you can find love. This principle of love brought Hanuman near to Rama. Hanuman felt proud in that court. It was pride full of love, of Divinity and of purity. It was pride full of humility. From that day onwards, wherever Rama was, Hanuman would be there beside Him. He was a great devotee. How could he fill himself with the name of Rama from top to toe? It is possible only with love. The only thing that achieves everything else is love. A heart without love is equal to a stone. What kind of love do we have today? We have worldly love which is physical, ordinary, individual, temporary and untrue. How can you attain God with such love? You should obtain Him with eternal love.

There Is Only One ‘I’

Be broad in loving. Only then, can you merge in God. As you blow air into a balloon, it becomes bigger and bigger and bursts after some time. Then the limited air in the balloon mixes with the outside air, which is everywhere. Body is like a balloon. The Divinity exists in it, but in a small quantity. You must expand your love. You should have expansion of love, not contraction of love. When you nurture this love, it widens and the body attachment bursts off like the balloon. When you attain detachment, you merge with the Self. Remove your body consciousness. Less luggage, more comfort. Then only will you have pure feelings. How can you have Divine feelings, if you drown yourself in worldly desires and forget your own reality? You should ask yourself, “Who am I?” If you know the answer to this question, you can definitely recognise the principle of ‘I’ in this world. It is not just a single ‘I’ principle. You think you are ‘I’. The next person also thinks he is ‘I’. However, there is only one ‘I’. If you recognise this ‘I’ principle, you can definitely recognise the unity in diversity.

Therefore, we should develop pure thoughts in our hearts. When you are purified, you can merge with the principle of Divine. Before you drink water, you clean the tumbler. First, clean the vessel of your heart. Install God in your heart. Then, you can really feel the Divinity in yourself. Where is God? He is everywhere. He is also present in your pure heart. All the time, let your heart contemplate on the Divine. Love all. ‘Adveshta Sarvabhootanam’ (Do not hate anyone). So, love all. Through love, you can attain God. You can see God, whom you could have never seen before. The form of the Divine is love. This is the real principle of God. Students! How much ever you study, how many ever degrees you may acquire, it is of no use. This secular education is of little value. For the sake of the stomach, it may find you a job. However, is filling the stomach that significant? Even animals are filling their stomachs. What education do they have?

The real education is that of love. That is the pure education. That is the highest education. That is immortal education. That is the real education. It is in the form of nectar. Krishna declared in the Gita, “Son! Listen to the truth. You are ‘Amrutasya Putra’ (son of immortality).” We must live up to that title. What is the use of saying that you belong to so and so? You should be able to tell, “I am the son of immortality.” But how can you become one? What is the way to immortality? Removal of immorality is the only way to immortality. That is the true principle. Give up all the bad qualities. Cultivate love. If you forget this love, you have only the burial ground left with you. If you have love, you will become immortal.

Swami Is Not Angry With You!

Sometimes, I enquire about the feelings in the hearts of students. I do not have hatred or anger against anyone. However, some students are not able to understand this. They still think Swami is angry with them. Primary school children are better than these students. If you really know Swami’s love, can you have these doubts? Do you think Swami has anger? However, sometimes in order to transform your mind, He will use some harsh words. It is only because you are making your hearts like hard stones. In order to set this right, proper punishment should be given. You can cut butter with a finger. But iron can be broken only with a hammer. As is the feeling, so is the outcome. So, depending on your feelings, you will get the treatment. Swami is not angry with you. He loves all. Every man should be full of love. He should become the embodiment of love. We sing, “Prema Mudita Manase Kaho, Rama Rama Ram.” What does it mean? Fill your mind with love and chant Rama’s name. We should speak with love, live in love. If you have real love, Swami Himself will come to you. But, you do not have such love. You only have the useless love. Even a Neem fruit, when it becomes ripe, tastes sweet. But that is not the real sweet. You should have that kind of love, which comes from the heart. You should never speak wrong things. You should have the feeling that you are the child of immortality. Only then, you become a real human being.

Be Ready To Sacrifice Anything For God

In Upanishads, it is said that nothing is higher than God's love. Once upon a time, a sage was angry with God as he thought that God never responded to his prayers. He went on criticizing God. God kept quite as He knew his state of mind. He did not say anything. In later stages, the sage was born as a pig. He was moving freely in the fields. He got another pig as his wife. A pig will get only another pig as a wife! Both the pigs got married and lived together. They gave birth to ten to twelve piglets. They started enjoying their lives in a dirty pond. God was compassionate towards them. He felt sad that such a person, who was always with Him, was in such a condition. He wanted to make the sage realise the truth. So, the Almighty God took the form of a sage and went to that sage who was living in the form of a pig. He said, “O son! At least now realise yourself and come with Me. I will transform you. Let us go to Vaikuntha. Let us go to Kailasa. Let us go to Heaven.” The sage now in the form of a pig, said, “I don’t want Your Kailasa or Vaikuntha. My wife and children are Kailasa for me.” It was his fate that he lost the grace that was showered upon him. We should not be like this. We should be ready to give up anything for God.

‘Na Karmana Na Prajaya Dhanena Tyagenaike Amrutatva Manasuhu’
[Neither by action, nor by progeny, nor by wealth but only by sacrifice, can one attain immortality.]

If you sacrifice, you can attain God. This is the easiest path to God. Still you find it difficult to follow it. You do Bhajans, singing them with Raga (tune) and Taala (tempo). But what is the use of Bhajans, if you do not think of God while singing? You should have Divine feelings while you are singing Bhajans. When you have Divine feelings, everything looks Divine. Raga and Taala also will follow it. If your mind is centered on God while singing, Taala will follow automatically. Everyone should try in his or her own way to reach God like this.

Source: Discourse 5, My Dear Students Volume 1; Divine Discourse delivered on April 3, 2000 at Trayee Brindavan

Hanuman: The Divine Messenger

Hanuman was the embodiment of peace, virtue, strength and wisdom. He had mastered the four Vedas and was well versed in the scriptures. Hanuman was a past master in etiquette and courtesy and went as an emissary to meet the brothers. Assuming the guise of a Brahmin, he began talking to them (Rama and Lakshmana at the foothills of Rishyamuka Mountain). He heard their story from the beginning to the end, and decided to take them to Sugriva, who lived on the mountain top. Hanuman volunteered to carry Rama and Lakshmana to the mountain top on his shoulders. There, Hanuman related to Sugriva the story of the two brothers.

When Sugriva heard about the abduction of Sita, he summoned a soldier to bring a bundle of ornaments that some monkeys had found in the forest. Rama asked Lakshmana to find out if the ornaments in the bundle belonged to Sita or not. Lakshmana opened the bundle and started shedding tears. He said, “O brother! I can identify only the toe rings that sister-in-law wore, since I always noticed them when I used to prostrate before her feet every day in the morning.” Lakshmana was the embodiment of purity and virtue. He is a worthy ideal to be emulated by students. Though he lived for thirteen years in the company of Rama and Sita, he had never looked at the face of Sita.

Rama would always praise Lakshmana for his great virtues, but Lakshmana would modestly say “Rama! I am Your servant. You are Lord Narayana Himself. This is the effect of Your company.” Virtuous people are always modest and humble. On the Rishyamuka Mountain, Rama and Sugriva set the seal of friendship. Rama promised to help Sugriva in exchange for the help he would render to Him in searching for Sita. Sugriva decided to test the strength of Rama, to find out whether He was stronger than his brother Vali. Once, Vali shot an arrow that pierced through five trees, one after the other. Sugriva asked Rama whether He would be able to emulate this feat. Rama felt pity for Sugriva, since he could not recognise Rama’s Divinity. Only equals can judge equals; small ones can never grasp the powers of the great. Since Rama needed Hanuman for His mission, and since Hanuman belonged to the clan of Sugriva, He agreed to face the trial of strength set by Sugriva.

Rama discharged His arrow. It not only pierced through five trees but even crossed the mountains beyond. Sugriva immediately felt repentant for doubting the strength of Rama and sealed his friendship with Rama, with fire as the witness. Rama assured him that He would stand by him and crown him as king. Rama felt that Sugriva was punished by Vali, for no fault of his. Vali had committed the most heinous act of appropriating the wife of Sugriva, when one should actually consider the wife of one’s younger brother as one’s own daughter. Hence, Rama decided to punish Vali for his unrighteousness. On the strength of the promise given by Rama, Sugriva dashed to the mansion of Vali and challenged him to a fight. But poor Sugriva had to flee, severely battered by the blows of Vali.

Rama persuaded Sugriva to challenge Vali once again, assuring him that He would definitely kill Vali this time. While the two brothers were locked in mortal combat, Rama, hiding behind a tree, discharged an arrow at Vali and killed him. Many denounce this act of Rama, asserting that it was not proper on His part to have killed Vali while hiding behind a tree. All said and done, Rama’s act can be justified on three counts: Firstly, hunters shoot an animal by hiding themselves. Secondly, no one could defeat Vali face to face, since he had earned a boon by which half of the strength of his opponent would flow into him in a face-to-face fight. Thirdly, if Vali were to fall at Rama’s feet when Rama appeared in front of him, Rama would be forced to give him shelter and consequently break the promise given to Sugriva. The justification for the act of Rama lies in these three reasons. Vali himself, while dying, caught hold of the hands of Rama, admitted his mistake, and said that what Rama did was justified. He prayed to Rama to crown his brother Sugriva as the King of Kishkindha and to make his son Angada the Crown Prince. Later, Rama fulfilled the promise given to Vali.

After Vali’s death, two months passed, but no action was taken by Sugriva to help Rama. Rama then sent Lakshmana to warn Sugriva. Lakshmana told Sugriva, “You have forgotten to honour your word after receiving help from Rama.” Sugriva humbly said to Lakshmana, “It is the rainy season now. The climate is not conducive for the monkeys to move about searching for Sita. I can never forget the help rendered to me by Rama. Very soon my emissaries will comb every forest and valley for Sita.”

Hanuman in Lanka

Sugriva sent the soldiers of his army in the four directions, in search of Sita. He selected Hanuman, who merited the titles Balavanta (the powerful one) and Dheemanta (the intellectual one), for the task of searching for Sita in Lanka. Hanuman had all the qualifications to be Rama’s emissary to Lanka since he was strong, steady and intelligent. He firmly resolved that he would find Sita at any cost and work on the task with one-pointed attention, devotion, and dedication. Nothing would deter the iron resolve of Hanuman to trace Sita’s whereabouts. He even looked into the bed chamber of Ravana, to find if Sita was held a prisoner there. Though, he moved in the bedrooms of the people in Lanka, his mind never wavered. He found women sleeping in all sorts of postures and positions, but never once did an evil thought enter the mind of Hanuman.

At one place, he found an extremely beautiful woman, sleeping in the bedchamber of Ravana. For a moment he thought that she might be Sita, for she was extremely beautiful. Immediately he regretted having had such a thought. He knew for certain that Sita would never agree to occupy the bedchamber of the evil Ravana. Hanuman then made a thorough search of Lanka to trace out Sita, but he failed. Deeply frustrated, he climbed to the top of a tree on the sea shore and he desired to commit suicide by plunging into the sea. The very thought that he was not able to perform the task assigned by Rama gnawed deeply at his heart. Then all of a sudden, he realised that he had not searched for Sita in the Ashoka grove, which he spotted from his vantage point. He leapt toward the grove.

While Hanuman was trying to enter the garden, he was captured by the eldest son of Ravana and brought to the court of Ravana, who sat on a high throne. Finding Ravana, who was full of evil, seated so high, Hanuman thought that being a devotee of Rama he should not be at a lower level. He increased the length of his tail, coiled it like a seat, sat on it, and rose much higher than Ravana’s throne. Hanuman then felt satisfied that he had occupied a pedestal higher than that of Ravana.

There then ensued a furious exchange of words between Ravana and Hanuman. 

Ravana: O monkey! Who are you? You have spoilt my grove. Who sent you to Lanka?

Hanuman: The great Rama, the King of kings, who had cut off the nose of your sister, has sent me.

Ravana: Why do you address me so disrespectfully?

Hanuman: I am the servant of Lord Rama. I am at liberty to address you, a sinner, thus.

Ravana felt frightened, looking at the power and prowess of Hanuman. He thought that when a mere monkey had so much courage and strength, the followers of Rama must be much greater than him. Ravana decided to humble Hanuman by setting fire to his tail, for the tail is very dear to a monkey. Yards of cloth were brought to wrap around the monkey’s tail, and it was set on fire. Hanuman leapt from mansion to mansion, setting fire to every house with his burning tail. After causing incalculable damage to Lanka, Hanuman plunged into the ocean to extinguish the flames on his tail.

When he surveyed Lanka burning furiously, Hanuman regretted his action. He thought that Sita might be burnt in the flames. Hanuman rushed to the Ashoka grove to find out if Sita was safe. Since he had never seen Sita before, he found it difficult to identify her amongst the numerous ladies in the grove. At last, he noticed a lean lady with downcast eyes under a tree. He wondered whether she was Sita. He then started reciting the story of Rama to check if the lady under the tree was Sita or not. While he was reciting the story, the lady under the tree looked up with tears streaming down her face.

Hanuman sees Sita

At that time, Sita was in the company of Sarama, the wife of Vibhishana, and her two daughters, Ajata and Trijata. Hanuman found that these three ladies were the only friends of Sita in Lanka. It was due to the solace and assurance provided by them that Sita survived. Hanuman then dropped Rama’s ring in front of the lady under the tree, to further confirm whether she was Sita. The lady grasped the ring with great ecstasy and showered a volley of questions at Hanuman. She asked him, “Are you the messenger of Rama, or are you a trickster sent by Ravana to deceive me? The demons here assume strange forms and indulge in strange deeds.” To impress upon Sita that he was indeed the messenger of Rama, Hanuman then ripped open his heart to show Rama installed there. Looking at the image of Rama imprinted on the heart of Hanuman, Sita fainted. Hanuman then became completely certain that the lady was indeed Sita.

Without wasting any time, Hanuman instantaneously leapt across the ocean to convey the message of Sita’s whereabouts, to Rama. While the monkeys were busy eating fruits in Madhuvana, Hanuman, forsaking food and sleep, hurried to Rama to convey the good news. He said, “Sri Rama! Sita is verily a jewel amongst women, chaste and virtuous. Her plight is like that of a parrot confined in a cage of arrows. She was surrounded by many demons, who were brandishing their swords to kill her. I found Sita trembling at the sight of these terrible women.” Hearing these words of Hanuman, Rama, overcome with emotion, wanted to rush to Lanka to fight Ravana at once. Hanuman and Sugriva restrained Rama and told Him that it would take some time to make arrangements for the battle against Ravana. All the great warriors then rallied together to hold deliberations and devise strategies to defeat Ravana.

Source: Divine Discourse on May 24, 1996 at Brindavan

The Difference between Universal Love and Individual Love

What is the way of practicing Swami’s teachings? How can one get complete benefit of Swami’s Darshan? It is only through love. Love is God. Love is life. Life is awareness. Love is a challenge. Love is a dream. Love is a game. Love is everything. Love is life, so live in love. Love is said to be universal, but it is the mind that is the basis for this. Mano Moolam Idam Jagat - Mind is the basis for this creation. The mind is the whole world. When there is no mind, you don’t see anything in the universe. Therefore, the mind pervades everything in this universe. The individual mind and the universal mind are one and the same. Because of the individual mind, we say ‘You and I’. It is this same mind that is all expansive. There is nothing like the universal mind. There is no difference in the brilliance (Chaitanya) of the individual and the universal mind. Chaitanya is Chaitanya only. What is the shape of water? It has no definite shape. If you pour it into a glass, it will take the form of the glass. If you pour it into a jug, it will assume the form of the jug and so on. Similarly, when the mind is in the body, it will assume the form of the body. Depending on the nature of the mind, things change. So, it is all love.

Love is a Challenge - Meet it

Love is a Game - Play it

Love is a Dream - Realize it

Love is Life - Live it

Life is Love - Enjoy it

Without love, there is nothing. However, because we compare worldly love with Divine Love, it assumes several forms. Worldly love is filled with attachment. You say, “She is my daughter and so I love her. He is my son and so I love him. She is my wife and so I love her. She is my mother and so I love her”. But all this love is filled with worldly attachment. However, love is one. 

You may prepare ‘Athirasa’ with some rice flour. You may prepare ‘Rava Laddu’ with wheat flour and ‘Kesari’ from some other powder. The delicacies may be different, but the sugar in them is one. In the same way, love is one. There is no distinction between individual love and Universal Love. Individual love gets transformed into Universal Love. How does this happen? Individual love, by itself, has limits. You blow a balloon, for instance, and tie it up at one end. There is air inside the balloon, and outside. The air outside is the universal air. If you continue blowing the balloon, it will burst, and when this happens the air inside and the air outside become one. So too, individual love merges with the Universal Love. As long as you bind it, it remains individual love. The moment the bondage bursts, it transforms into Universal Love. So, individual love and Universal Love are one and the same. Merger of the individual love with the Universal Love is called Moksha (liberation). 

What is Maya? There are three attributes – Rajas, Tamas, and Satva. Once we get away from these attributes, we will be free from illusion. The whole world is born out of attachment (Moha). When we are away from this Moha or attachment, it naturally amounts to Moksha or liberation. We are born with attachment. When this attachment is cut asunder it leads to Moksha or ‘Moha’ plus ‘Kshaya’. Individual love is bondage whereas Universal Love is liberation. The feeling of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ is individual love. When you move from ‘I’ to ‘We’, it becomes Universal Love. The former is contraction of love, while the latter is expansion. Even in the case of truth, there are Absolute Truth (Satyam) and transcendental truth. Brahma is the Absolute Truth (Brahma Satyam). The truth that changes is the transcendental truth. Prajna is conscience, not radiation. The radiation is one endowed with power. Comprehensive wisdom (Paripurna Jnana) is the conscience. That is Chit. It is the full knowledge.

What is Karma?

Karma in English is called action. Karma is not merely what is done with the hands and legs; whatever is done with the mind is also Karma. Blood circulation is Karma; pumping of blood by the heart is Karma; the movement of the eye-lids is also Karma. So, everything is Karma. Digestion, breathing and all the involuntary actions performed by the body is Karma. English pronunciation is as such very funny. It has no rules and regulations. ‘Put ‘and ‘But’ are pronounced differently even though they have the same spelling, but for the first letter. Karma has two aspects to it – one is that which is done in the past lives, and the other is the one which we are doing currently in this birth at this point of time. But, if we see it from the spiritual point of view, Karma is Karma and not action. The word ‘Karma’ has its genesis from the root word ‘Krut’ which also means ‘Kriya’, but cannot be translated as actions or deeds. Swami had once given this example that just as a patient (Rogi) is given some pain-killer to free him from the sense of pain due to the disease (Roga), in the same way the grace of God is necessary for giving one the strength to bear the burden of one’s own Karma. Though the westerners are new to these concepts of Karma, they try to give their equivalent meanings by translating it as ‘action’ which does not give the full meaning which the word ‘Karma’ gives. 

The Role of Students in Society

If you take a loan and spend it lavishly without being able to pay it, then it is bad. We should place the welfare of the country before ourselves. Once a devotee got down from his car and he found three beggars each on either side of car. He gave them one rupee each. They said, “Sir, we won’t get even one Roti for this money. We won’t get any Vaddi (interest) also for this”. Even beggars have some shame and self-respect. But, today there are union leaders who take away money from the workers in the name of saving group money! Today, there are no students, doctors or lawyers who work for the welfare of the country. During General Elections, the students close down the college and go to the roads voicing their opinions for various political parties. The students take lakhs as loan for their education, but waste that money without focusing on their studies. Are students supposed to be like this? No. Students should be like the protection pillars for the country.

Importance of Chanting the Food Prayer

Three things must be clean – Patra Shuddhi, Paaka Shuddhi and Padartha Shuddhi. The material brought for cooking may be purchased through different means. It is possible that the food obtained may be stolen from somewhere or purchased through wrong means. The person who is cooking may be cooking with bad thoughts and feelings. It is not possible for us to purify all these. But when the cooked food is offered to God, it becomes Prasadam. And this Prasadam will not have any defects whatsoever. After chanting Brahmhaarpanam, the God within (Vaishwanara) responds by digesting the four forms of food and supplying it to all the parts of the body. You may ask, “Where is God?” The answer comes from within, “Oh, mad man! I am present in your stomach as the Vaishwanara. I am the Vaishwanara in you. I am present in all bodies. I digest the four forms of food”. What are the four forms of food? The four forms of food are the food that has to be chewed, the food that must be sipped, the food that must be swallowed, and that which must be tasted (like pickle). So, I am the One who digests all these four forms of food. 

Source: Discourse 16, My Dear Students Volume 4; Divine Discourse delivered on April 1993 at Sai Sruthi, Kodaikanal

God Fulfils Himself – By Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer

God fulfils Himself in many ways, and one way, inscrutable to the infidel but understandable to the sensible, which has tradition and evidence in support is incarnation, not always of plenary and often of partial divinity. Does God exist? Call Him by any name, from Walt Whitman to Charles Darwin the divine presence has been undeniable. “I say to mankind,” wrote Whitman in the preface to Leaves of Gras, “Be not curious about God. For I, who am curious about each, am not curious about God – I hear and behold God in every object, yet understand God not in the least.” And Charles Darwin who shook Christianity by his ‘The Descent of Man’ did assert: “Another source of conviction in the existence of God, connected with the reason, and not with the feelings, impresses me as having much more weight… I feel compelled to look for a First Cause… and I deserve to be called a Theist.” The greatest scientist of our century Albert Einstein did believe in God, not in a God who bought and sold rewards and punishments but in a “presence… revealed in the incomprehensible universe.” It is astonishing that even Marx and Engels did not deny God but did not permit the gods to be agents for exploitation men. Marx did protest against “all deities of heaven or earth who do not recognise as the highest divinity the human self-consciousness itself.” ‘Aham Brahmasmi’ is the emphatic and pervasive realisation of the self within each man as the universal Self – the sublime basis of Advaita. Engels has, in his Socialism, Utopian and Scientific, clarified that Marx and he had only emphasised that “in the materialist conception of history the determining element in history is ultimately the production and reproduction in real life.” He asserts – and this is important – “More than this neither Marx nor I have ever asserted. If, therefore, somebody twists this into the statement that economic element is the only determining one, he transforms it into a meaningless, abstract and absurd phrase.” Marx, Engels and Lenin argue for sublime feeling, humanist thought and, in this rId which is the theatre of action, equal opportunity for everyone to unfold his full potento.

The central theme of the human-divine is the core of the Bhagavad Geeta and of Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s affirmation of Man and Sattvic Action in this world, filled with love or Prem, not of other worldly assets in after-life and non-activity in this life. Service with Love is the rational humanism in God’s mandate. Spiritual realisation is not material negation but living the pure life charged with fellow-feeling, in a holistic sense of identity and non-duality of all things in Creation as manifestation of that Supreme Power which is also the Absolute Unmanifest. The living awareness of oneness is the root and fruit of cosmic consciousness. Once this higher supra-mentalism – in Sri Aurobindo’s diction – becomes integral to one’s being, the laws of Nature are at one’s command and miracles are thereafter natural, not impossible. Science rises to super-science, matter rises to consciousness and a harmony, coherence and total coordination between spirit and other forms of existence emerges. You truly become an Avatar, an incarnation of the divine. Then you are a Paramahamsa, a Bhagavan. Among them we may cite Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Ramana Maharshi and that radiant Light of Love Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Swami Vivekananda blended materialism and spiritualism into a radical wholeness. Many other lofty names throng but illustratively here I mention that cyclonic sadhu whose vibrant voice called bigots to true goodness and atheists to godliness: 

“First, feel from the heart... Do you feel? Do you feel that millions and millions of the descendants of gods and of sages have become next-door neighbours to brutes? Do you feel that millions are starving today, and millions have been starving for ages? Do you feel that ignorance has come over the land as a dark cloud? Has it gone into your blood, coursing through your veins, becoming constant with your heart-beats? Has it made you almost mad? Are you seized with that one idea of the misery of ruin, and have you forgotten all about your name, your fame, your wives, your children, your property, even your own bodies? Have you done that?” 

Illustratively, again, is Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali exposing the hypocrisy of holiness w forgets humanliness: 

“Leave this chanting and singing and telling of beads! Whom dost thou worship in this lonely dark corner of a temple with doors all shut? Open thine eyes and see thy God is not before thee! 

He is there where the tiller is tilling the hard ground and where the pathmaker is breaking stones. He is with them in sun and in shower, and his garment is covered with dust. Put off thy holy mantle and even like him come down on the dusty soil! 

Deliverance? Where is this deliverance to be found? Our master himself has joyfully taken upon him the bounds of creation; he is bound with us all for ever. 

Come out of thy meditations and leave aside thy flowers and incense! What harm is there if thy clothes become tattered and stained? Meet him and stand by him in toil and in sweat of thy brow.”

God is not a Sunday discourse or Friday Namaz or temple Bhajan but a constant Presence within oneself which chastens life’s stream, raises the states of consciousness and divinises, never denies, human activity here on earth and therefore guides Karma or action in tune with dharma righteous values which sustain the happy union of the whole community through a higher enlightenment beyond the grosser pleasures at the sensory levels. God indwells in man and irrelevant if imprisoned in holy books and hallowed spots. The dynamics of divinity have spoken of spiritual values while believing in atheism. The true objection to religion and God has been the use of this ‘opiate’ as a treacherous tool of man’s systemic inhumanity to man. But once you realize that true religion, the religion of man, is science of the spirit, that matter and spirit are not antithetical, that human liberation is divine mission and that that cosmic vision is authentic which sees in all Creation the indelible imprint of the Imperishable, Infinite, All-Pervasive Power, then religion, in its Advaitic authenticity, is the most revolutionary ideology against exploitation, injustice and inequality and for liberty, fraternity and human dignity. The vice is not in God but in Man’s abuse of God. Ingersol, the agnostic, held:  an honest God is the noblest work of man. And Lenin pinpointed the rationale behind the lity to God, the Anti-Man.

Many empires have been built as a joint adventure of the flag and the cross; many millions of women have been denied freedom in the name of Allah. Many wars have been fought because Gods have fallen out. Many injustices have been inflicted on masses of men using scriptures as weapons. But universal religion, oneness of God, a vision of the Supreme as the divinity in every person, the affirmation of equality and fellowship, of worship of God through service of man, of compassion for the suffering as the condition of godliness, of spiritual dignity of the prince and the pauper, of the Brahmin and the Bhangee, of refusal to share our wealth with the lowly and the needy as denial of God – how can such a spiritual principle which is the strength behind world peace, common prosperity of humanity, opposition to exploitation, promotion of social justice and love of fellow-men as basic to religion, be condemned concept by the heartless? The great spiritual leaders, seers, poets and reformers of India and elsewhere have been in the vanguard of revolutionary religious awakening acting on the theme that Ice of man is worship of God.

Bhagavan Baba has the powers of Super-Nature because he lives in cosmic consciousness. For him every piece of Creation is divine. For, as has been rightly said: “The ancients have stated that God sleeps in the mineral, awakens in the vegetable, walks in the animal and thinks in Man.” (Kanthryn Breese-Whitting)

The great gospel of Bhagavan Baba is love of the living as children of God and realisation of the Self by a holistic consciousness of all things great and small. “The Lord who made us all, made and loveth us all.” 

The devotees of Baba hold Bhajans and sing themselves unto divine ecstasy. Why? Because it is the Bhakti Marga. 

Bhagavan Baba or Sri Sathya Sai Baba is a boon to our generation. Where he walks is hallowed ground; where he sits is shrine; and where his name is chanted, tuned to cosmic vibrations, is divine presence. His doings challenge the grosser sciences, maybe, but his teachings vitalise our spiritual heritage. His message of compassion, his profound emphasis on high values and his human-divine expression of Truth elevate our emotions and refine our inner being, which we may sum up as the song of Sai. Says he: 

“There is no creature without Love; the lowest loves itself, at least.” 

“… Sai has come in order to achieve the supreme task of uniting as one family the entire mankind, through the bond of brotherhood, of affirming and illumining the atmic reality of each being in order to reveal the divine which is the basis on which the entire cosmos rests, and of instructing all to recognize the common divine heritage that binds man to man, so that man can rid himself of the animal, and rise into the divinity which is his goal”

The melody of Sai, the raga of Baba, the music of Bhagavan, surge up from the deepest and constitute, in a strange way, the science of being and the art of living. In moods contemplation, when self - awareness spreads, there is “silence more musical than any song.” Nada Brahman is the Key to the Universal Self. 

It is in the fitness of things that homage is paid to Baba through song and art, silence and expression.

Sarvam Brahma Mayam

Aham Brahmasmi

Tat Tvam Asi

Prajnanam Brahma.

The supreme realisation in personalised incarnation is Baba. So adore Him.

About the Author:

Sri V. R. Krishna Iyer was a distinguished senior judge in the Supreme Court of India. He began his career as a brilliant lawyer and was a Minister for Law, Home, Prisons and Social Welfare, Irrigation and Power in the Kerala State Government.

Eventually he became a Judge of the Kerala High Court and later joined the Central Law Commission before accepting Judgeship of the Supreme Court. He was well-known for his passion for legal aid to the poor and pioneered judicial activism in India. He was conferred the Padma Vibhushan in 1999. Born in 1905, he completed his earthly sojourn in 2014 at the ripe age of 99. 

Source: Golden Age 1980 (55th Birthday Offering)

Sri Sathya Sai shares Inner Significance of Instances from the Ramayana - Part 5

Rama was aware of all types of Dharma. He had intelligence which could cover every aspect of life. He could demonstrate the need for humility, respect and devotion under the most trying conditions. He was a great individual who conducted Himself and His life consistent with the conditions prevailing around Him, at that time, in the country. Looking at the body of Ravana after his death, Vibhishana expressed unwillingness to perform the last rites that are usually performed. Vibhishana thought that Ravana was a very great sinner, that he was thinking badly of Rama, the incarnation of the Lord, and that it was not right to perform the obsequies of such a person. Rama, who was an embodiment of Dharma, called Vibhishana and said, “If there is any dislike for a person, that should not go beyond his death. Let it end with his death. All hatred should disappear with the death of the person”. Rama asked Vibhishana, “Will you, as a brother, perform the obsequies or shall I perform the obsequies?” As soon as he heard these words from Rama, Vibhishana realised his mistake and was prepared to perform the last rites. It is because Rama knew all the aspects of Dharma, He is referred to by saying “Ramo Vigrahavan Dharmaha” (He is the very embodiment of Dharma.) Thus, Narayana, the Lord, took the human form in Rama and by His conduct and by His adherence to Dharma, He demonstrated that Dharma is part and parcel of the ordinary daily life of a human being. How should one conduct oneself in a family? How should one conduct oneself towards a friend? How should one conduct oneself towards the community? In this manner and in all aspects, Rama was translating every moment of His life to be an example for ideal behaviour.

- “God is beyond Description through Words”, Summer Showers in Brindavan 1977

Sita is the daughter of the king of Mithilapura whose name was Videha. Videha means one who has no body or one who has no consciousness of his human body. Sita can be identified with wisdom, and Sita marries Rama or becomes one with Rama who is Dharma. When wisdom comes together with Dharma, in the ordinary course, such a good event will meet with some obstacles. It is customary and quite natural that every good thing is met with by some obstacles. As I state often, pleasure is only an interval between two pains. If there is no pain at all, there is no value for pleasure. Sita is the embodiment of wisdom and she had been taken away by Ravana, who symbolises selfishness and ego. 

If one wants his little wisdom to disappear, all that one has to do is to promote his selfishness, jealousy and ego. Ravana symbolises selfishness, jealousy and ego. To make a search for Sita, who had been taken away by the bad qualities, selfishness, jealousy and ego, Rama, in the form of Dharma, along with the other Purusharthas, i.e., Artha, Kama and Moksha, makes a journey. Here Lakshmana is to be identified with the mind. We should notice that Rama, the embodiment of Dharma, combines with Lakshmana, who is identified as mind, and goes to the forest, which signifies life. In that forest of life, Rama searches for wisdom in the form of Sita. In this context, there is an argument between the two brothers Vali and Sugriva. Sugriva can be compared to the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. Here the inability or the weakness which is called Dhirathwa has been destroyed in the form of Vali; and Sugriva, who symbolises the ability to distinguish between right and wrong, comes out victorious. Along with Sugriva, who symbolises Viveka, or the ability to distinguish right from wrong, we have Hanuman. The combination of Sugriva and Hanuman is like the combination of Viveka and courage. The Viveka and courage went together in search of Sita, the wisdom. They meet with one obstacle in the form of an ocean of Moha. Thus the ocean of Moha had to be crossed and this crossing was affected with the help of courage in the form of Hanuman.

After crossing the ocean, they encounter the three gunas: the Rajas, Tamas and Satwa on the opposite bank of the ocean. They are Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Vibhishana representing the three gunas respectively. The Rajas and the Tamas, Ravana and Kumbhakarna, were removed from the scene and finally the Satwa Guna gets the upper hand in the form of Vibhishana. He has been crowned the king. After making Vibhishana the king of Lanka, Rama has the vision of wisdom, born out of experience in the person of Sita. Rama, prior to finding Sita, could be called a Brahmajnani but when He found Sita, symbolising the knowledge of experience, there is a reunion of the knowledge of experience with the pure Brahma Jnana, and the culmination was the coronation, the story which we called ‘Sahasrartha Ramayana’. This description which has now been given can also be called ‘Adhyatma Ramayana’. 

- “Ignorance is the Cause of One’s Sorrow”, Summer Showers in Brindavan 1977

See the difference between Rama and Ravana. Both were equally eminent intellectually and were great scholars. Ravana was a great man. Rama was a good man. The difference between greatness and goodness should be understood. Ravana, out of egoism and uncontrolled desire, misused his knowledge and brought about his ruin. Rama used his knowledge for the benefit of the people and made them happy. Ravana did not digest his knowledge properly and suffered from the consequences of indigestion. The difference between Rama and Ravana was that between Dharma (Righteousness) and Adharma (unrighteousness).

“Let Rama live in Your Hearts”, Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume 29, March 28, 1996, Brindavan

Kaushalya exhorted Rama when He went into the forest, “May the Dharma which You are upholding by this act, be Your guardian when You are in the forest, as an exile”. And, Rama too upheld Dharma even under the most trying circumstances. When, after the death of Ravana, Vibhishana’s coronation was arranged, he prayed that Rama Himself should crown him in the city of Lanka. But, Rama declared that His vow and His father’s orders did not allow Him to set foot in a city during the years of exile. That period was not yet over, He said. So, the function was attended only by Sugreeva and others. Rama thus demonstrated by His actions how scrupulously Dharma had to be observed. 

“Dharmakshetra”, Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume 04, February 18, 1964, Venkatagiri

Rama never provoked another in order to create a convenient excuse to destroy Him; on the other hand, He gave the adversary every chance to be saved, He carried the message of Dharma to the Vanaras and the Rakshasas, as well as to sages like Jabali. He accepted the homage of Vibhishana without demur and He announced that He was prepared to accept even Ravana, if only he repented his iniquity. “Satyam Vada” (Speak the Truth), says the Shruti; Rama stuck to truth, in spite of all temptations. “Dharmam Chara” (Practise Virtue), says the Shruti. He never deviated from the path. For example, He had, as you know, to live 14 years in the forest, to fulfil His father’s behest. So during that period, He did not enter an inhabited town or village. He avoided Kishkindha and Lanka, even when the coronations of Sugreeva and Vibhishana took place. Vibhishana pleaded with Him very plaintively, saying that only a few days remained out of the 14 years, but Rama sent Lakshmana instead. He did not waver or overstep. That was the strictness with which He kept the vow. 

“True Nature of Rama”, Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume 03, April 01, 1963, Rajahmundry

After the war in Lanka, when Rama was entreated by Vibhishana and others to crown himself as ruler of Lanka, Rama told them that the mother and the motherland were greater than heaven itself and nothing on Earth would tempt Him to give up His love for Ayodhya.

- “What Great Mothers Mean to the Nation”, Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume 26, May 06, 1993, Brindavan

After the destruction of Ravana; Rama, Lakshmana and Sita were getting ready to leave Lanka for Ayodhya. At that time, Lakshmana spoke to Rama, “If we return to Ayodhya, I doubt, we will get back our kingdom. Kaikeyi might have installed Bharata on the throne. We left Ayodhya for the forest in response to the command of our father. Ayodhya may not be in a prosperous condition now. You know that Lanka is more prosperous than heaven itself. Would it not be better for You to be the ruler of Lanka and enjoy all that this country can offer?” Rama replied: “Lakshmana, however ugly one’s mother may be, I am not so insensible as to look upon some other beautiful woman and regard her as My mother. My motherland is the land of My birth. However attractive and prosperous Lanka may appear, with all the treasures of the Earth, I have no use for its attractions and wealth”.

- “The Gift I like most”, Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume 14, November 23, 1980, Prasanthi Nilayam

Bharata stayed in Nandigram till Rama completed his 14 year long exile and returned to Ayodhya. On that occasion, Bharata took the chariot to welcome Rama. Rama you have come back to Ayodhya. It is my duty to take you to Ayodhya. Please get on to the chariot. If you see the photographs, Rama is blue in colour and Bharata is also blue in colour. While awaiting Rama’s return from the forests, continuously he was chanting the name of Rama. Bharata represents the Sama Veda. All the time he was thinking of Rama. Because of the incessant contemplation of Rama all the radiance of Rama entered Bharata. They sat. Bharata was seated at the feet of Rama and Sita who were seated in the chariot. The villagers came. All the subjects were happy that Rama was returning to Ayodhya after 14 long years. They could not differentiate between Bharata and Rama. For 14 years they had not seen Bharata also. They had not seen Rama also. Both of them were shining with the same radiance. The villagers brought a garland. One of them was the administrator of Ayodhya. He brought the garland near Bharata and was about to garland him. Bharata recognised the mistake that he was about to commit and he himself garlanded Rama so that people could understand who among the two was Rama.

“Ramayana: Divine Insights”, My Dear Students, Volume 05, May 14, 2003, Kodaikanal

On Rama’s return to Ayodhya after finishing His 14 years of exile in the forests, Kaikeyi, who felt penitent about this grievous wrong she had done to Rama, approached Him when He was alone and prayed, “My dear Rama, even though I knew about Your Divine nature, I caused You a lot of unnecessary hardship, blinded by narrow feeling of ‘I’ and ‘mine’. Kindly give me some Upadesh (spiritual instruction), so that I may be absolved of the heinous sin I have committed against such a noble person like Yourself”. In response to her request, Rama did not give her the Upadesh directly but gave her some hints indirectly. This is characteristic of all Avatars from time immemorial. Avatars seldom give advice directly. Whatever they wish to communicate they convey more often by way of indirect suggestions and only rarely by the direct method of instruction. The reason for this is there is Divinity inherent in every human being, which he can manifest spontaneously, if favourable conditions are provided, just as a viable seed will germinate and grow into a tree because of its inherent nature, if only suitable facilities are provided for the manifestation of its potentiality. Man should be enabled to correct himself by his own efforts, by merely giving timely suggestions, rather than by stultifying his freedom and dignity through directives imposed from without. In short, the best maxim for helping people either in worldly matters or in the spiritual field is “Help them to help themselves” or “Self-help is the best help”. Following the same strategy, therefore, Sri Rama, in the present instance told, Kaikeyi, “Mother! Please take bath in the holy Sarayu river and come back for My Upadesh. But while bathing in the Sarayu please observe what is going along the riverside”. Kaikeyi went along with her retinue to the river and returned to Rama after bath. Rama asked her, “Mother! Now tell Me what you noticed on the banks of Sarayu?” Kaikeyi replied that she saw a number of sheep and goats grazing the green grass on the banks, bleating “mae, mae,” as usual, every now and then. Then Rama told her promptly that “mae, mae” was His Upadesh for her. He disclosed to her that the bleating of the sheep and goats meant, “Who am I? Who am I?” He further remarked that when even sheep are concerned with the question of, “Who am I?” if a man does not concern himself with this question, he is worse than sheep. 

- “Buddhi: The Charioteer”, Summer Showers in Brindavan 1990

It was the great day of Sri Rama’s Coronation. The city of Ayodhya was en fete, with the people rejoicing in the festive celebrations. The crown that was first worn by Manu, had been worn by successive emperors according to hallowed tradition. That day the sages Vashishtha, Vamadeva and Jabali earned the crown for the coronation of Sri Ramachandra. To participate in the historic ceremony several kings, chieftains and lesser rulers were entering the Durbar Hall, along with many sages. At the main entrance gate, a gigantic message was blazoned across the gate in a novel manner. The message read in Sanskrit: “Satya-Dharmabhih Yuktaanam Nasti Mrityu Bhayam” (Those who adhere to truth and righteousness will have no fear of death). The message declared that for the one who adhered to truth and righteousness there was no fear of rebirth. This means that such a one need have no fear of death again after this life because he will have no re-birth. Without birth there can be no death.

Sri Rama Pattabhishekam - A painting symbolising Rama's Coronation

The first pronouncement which Rama made on the occasion of the coronation is remarkable. He said: “Who is it that is primarily responsible for making today’s celebration possible? Hanuman was solely responsible for the successful search of the whereabouts of Sita and helping Me to recover her. Hence, at the outset I express My deep gratitude to Hanuman”. Rama then expressed His gratitude to Jatayu, who sacrificed his life in fighting against Ravana while he was carrying away Sita. Next, Rama expressed His gratitude to Sugreeva, who had helped Him in organising the search for Sita and in providing the hordes for the war on Ravana. He next expressed His gratitude to Vibhishana, who had come over to Him, despite the suspicions of Rama’s companions, and who had revealed to Rama many of the secrets of the enemy. Above all, there were the huge hordes of monkeys, who had no direct connection with Rama or Sita, who endured many hardships and even laid down their lives for His sake and He expressed His gratitude to all of them. In this manner, Rama expressed His gratitude to one and all who had helped Him in the epic Rama-Ravana battle. The supreme lesson to be learnt from the Ramayana is that one should be grateful all his life to anyone who has helped him in a crisis. Only the man who shows such gratitude can be termed a human being. The ungrateful man is a demon.

- “The Greatness of Rama-Rajya”, Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume 29, May 29, 1996, Brindavan

For all the mighty deeds done by Hanuman and great help rendered by him, Rama asked him: “Hanuman! What reward can I give you? Apart from expressing My gratitude to you I cannot give you any fitting recompense. The only way I can show My gratitude to you is that whenever you think of Me at any time in your life, I shall appear before you”. Rama was showing His gratitude to Hanuman in this manner. This indicates that the primary duty of man is to be grateful all his life to the person who has done him a good turn.

- “Install Rama Rajya in Your Hearts”, Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume 28, April 09, 1995, Brindavan

Source: Chapter 4, Sai Vani: Avatar on Avatar Purushas

Why does God Test us?

Why should God test us? What does this test mean? It is not test but it is His taste. Unless you are tested, your determination will not be strong. You appear for four examinations per year. What are they meant for? They are not to trouble you but to develop your interest in the subjects. When you pass in the examination, you are promoted to a higher class. You will be tested even for entering higher studies. God also does the same. Whatever may be the test, you must clear it. Only then, you attain a higher state. It is in fact to protect, not to trouble. It is not a punishment, but only a protection. Then why does God want to test when He knows everything? There is no need for Him to test you as He knows your standard. Only the teacher tests you because he does not know about you. God knows that you are good but He tests in order to set an ideal for others. What you see is one and what God sees is another. God does not put everyone to test. He keeps protecting you. He is always there within you, beside you and around you to safeguard you. How can such a God test you? But all your sins and short comings need to be washed away. We wash the tumbler both inside and outside before using. Is it not enough if you wash inside? But, people outside also should see the cleanliness. “Antar Bahishcha Tat Sarvam Vyapya Narayana Sthitaha”. He tests you in order to strengthen your patience and devotion. Even gold is tested. Everything is tested. Suppose you have been honoured by a degree or you apply for a job. They call you for an interview. Even the interview is an examination. The questions can be very tricky. Once an interview was organised in the third floor of a building. The interviewers asked the person who was being interviewed, “How many steps have you climbed to reach the third floor of this building?” The boy was stunned. He said, “Sir I did not count.” He was rejected for this reason.

These tests are conducted in order to test your courage. Without test, you do not get rest. You should ask for such tests. You have to face the tests and attain a higher stage. If you keep on pestering Swami that you do not want tests, how can you go to a higher state? You remain where you are. In order to progress ahead, you must face the tests and you should have the courage to face them. Even if you are weak or unfortunate, you must try to win. The Godward path is very hard to follow. Whatever happens, take it as God’s will.

We must say, “Whatever You have given me, I offer it back to You. I did not bring anything with me.” You may think that your mother and father have given you this body. They might have given birth to the body, but who put the heart in it? You may feed the body, but who is running the heart incessantly? Who is its Master? Who is the driving force behind the circulation of blood? God Himself takes care of everything that goes on in the body. The eye that is not even an inch long can clearly perceive the stars faraway in the sky. Who has given this strength to the little eye? God has conferred upon you everything. However, you say everything is yours out of ego. This is the greatest ignorance. So, let God do whatever He wants.  

The Jack and Jill Story

Tests come in many ways. Test is the taste of God. God has a taste for raising human beings to greater heights. Whosoever passes His test will experience rest in life. That is what liberation is! Only that person can get Moksha, who passes the test of God. He will get rest from the vicious cycle of ‘Punarapi Jananam Punarapi Maranam’ (repeated births and deaths). You keep on taking birth after birth without any rest. Rest here means having no birth. Punarjanma Na Vidhyate. (There is no rebirth for the one who always thinks of God.) A true devotee should recognise the underlying principle of the tests. I have dwelt upon this earlier but there are some new boys here. There were two classmates of Mine, All the three of us used to sit on one bench. Swami would be in the centre and the two boys sat on either side. One was eight years old and the other was eight and a half years old. Swami was eight years old. When a question was put, Swami used to write the answer under the desk and show it to them out of the sight of the teacher. The boys used to answer the questions just as written by Swami and the teacher would be very happy. There was a very good teacher by name Mehboob Khan. He was a great devotee of Swami. He brought with him whatever eatables that were prepared at his home like Pakodas. He used to feed Swami after the bell was given as there were other boys in the classroom. 

When Swami gave up schooling, the boys who sat next to Swami could not bear the separation. One of them became insane and another put an end to his life. Classes were suspended because the boys protested against attending classes without their Raju. During the prayer session, Swami used to lead the prayer song everyday in the school. In his own compositions, Swami emphasised in those days itself that all religions are one. But, as Swami had left the school, somebody else had to chant the prayer. One Mohammedan boy with a good voice was called on to the stage, but as soon as he got on to the stage, he remembered Swami and broke down. He could not sing. Seeing that boy, the teachers and other boys started crying. That day onwards there was no prayer session in Uravakonda School. 

A little while after Swami left the place, the other boy who went mad also died. They could not live without Swami. Later, they took birth as Jack and Jill. You might have seen the photo of Swami holding the pets. Swami kept these two dogs as pets. The Brindavanam (Tulsi garden) that you find behind the old Mandir is Jack’s memorial. Many do not know about this. Swami never does anything without a cause. Thus, their lives were fulfilled. They would always say, “We will come along with You wherever You are. We will not leave You”. They possessed such a strong determination which caused their liberation.

Determination is most important of all the things. Swami also reciprocates based on the strength of your determination. Your determination may shake, but Swami’s will power will never change. When your determination becomes weak, Swami also reciprocates accordingly. It is your reflection, reaction and resound. A mirror does not possess anything. It only reflects whatever is happening in front of it. Everything is reflection, reaction and resound. It is the same with Swami. He reflects your feelings towards Him. So be good and be determined to do only good actions and succeed in that.

Source: Discourse 4, My Dear Students Volume 2; Divine Discourse delivered on April 22, 2000 at Trayee Brindavan

God Descends For Man’s Ascent - By Prof. Jayalakshmi Gopinath

I live in an enchanted place, a Goshen, in the midst of Virgin Nature, away from the din and bustle of humanity. The distant blue hills stand as sentinels all around to ward off all negative vibrations from entering this allowed place. The tall trees, the green verdure, the variegated blossoms, the fountain in the middle, the green lawn, a soft carpet for God to tread on, the meandering pathways flanked by tall coconut palms, heavy with the ripened coconuts hanging tantalizingly for one to pluck, and the little flowers peeping out of the trimmed grass, tinted blue, pink, yellow and purple, innocently looking at one as one walks along, transports one to heavenly bliss.

Here, in the midst of this indescribable bounty of God is a beautiful majestic building which gradually rises, tier after tier, to the highest pinnacle on which is a full blossomed pink lotus, chiseled by the devout artisan, praying to the Almighty to place His divine feet on her that she and the whole place may be sanctified. This uniquely lovely building is situated on the highway, on the Bangalore road, a cynosure of all eyes–veritable Heaven on Earth. This is Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Anantapur Campus; this is my home.

The Divine Sankalpa was made by our Beloved Bhagavan to start an Educational Institution which would integrate the total personality of Man, his physical, mental, intellectual, moral and spiritual aspects, to mould man into a whole being who would not only be benefited personally but become an indispensable instrument to make the world a better one, to open the eyes of humanity that all these faculties are God-given and one must utilize them to strive to walk the royal road to redemption.

Sri Sathya Sai Arts, Science & Commerce College was initiated and inaugurated by Divinity, Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba in a rented building on 1968, July 2nd as at that time, the college building was yet to be constructed. To cater to girls in and around Anantapur, even the Intermediate Course was offered. The Degree Course was under the auspices of the Sri Venkateswara University. A large number of students were admitted, catering to the dire need of the time. When the Divine wills it, buildings of great beauty and majesty rise like in exhalations. The construction of the present Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning was completed in an incredibly short time, within a year, by those who executed the Divine Plan. It stands apart as a beacon light which lights up the darkness within the soul of the individual, a boon and blessing to humanity. This lofty and towering college building was inaugurated on 8th July, 1971 by the then President Sri V V Giri, and the hostel by Smt. Saraswathi Giri, in the Divine Presence of Bhagavan Baba. My father was one among the selected few who were present during this unique and august ceremony. Hardly did I know then that I would be blessed to be a member of the Faculty.

Sri V.V. Giri, President of India, and Sri Sathya Sai at the Inauguration of the Anantapur College - 1971

The college was taken over by Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust and renamed as Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning on 10th November 1981. Needless to say, the educational system was re-shuffled to cater to the fast changing world of today. It was a wonderful combination of what was good in the old system and what was necessary for the present day. 

Bhagavan Baba constituted a committee of well-known educationists and administrators to plan the working of this singular endeavour. Dr. V K Gokak, an expert in the educational field was the first Vice Chancellor of the Institute. He was the person befitting to carry out the mandates of Divinity, so that the Institute could formulate an educational pattern that would be on par with any well-known university of foreign countries. Since then, with the blessings of Bhagavan Baba, the Institute has maintained academic excellence. The syllabi for all the courses are keyed to a high level that the students who pass out of this university are much sought after, in the academic, the business and the administrative fields.

Right from the initiation of this educational programme, Bhagavan Baba’s personal interest, encouragement and loving advice to the students as well as the teachers is a continuous grace bestowed on all. The motto of this Institute is: “There is only one language, the language of the Heart; There is only one religion, the religion of Love; There is only one caste, the caste of Humanity; There is only one God, and He is Omnipresent.” Along with the educational training, Beloved Bhagavan with infinite mercy blessed us with His Divine Ministry – this constituted the Educare, which alone could bring about a synthesis of the intellect and the heart. It was a pointer to the profound truth that it was not merely the study of secular knowledge imparted through books but the need for moral and spiritual awareness which could make this world a God-given gift to Man.

Swami inaugurating the first Overhead Projector at the Anantapur College - 1978

Those delightful early days when Bhagavan Baba would come to our Campus very often, sometimes informing us in advance, sometimes coming whenever He chose to, are unforgettable experiences. As a mother pays special attention to a young child, so did dear Bhagavan to the children of the Institute. 

A spacious living room opening into a balcony, an attached bathroom and another room where Swami could talk to the devotees were built on the first floor, right in the heart of the college building. He would come out into the balcony and give us Darshan in the early morning when we would go for Nagar Sankeertan. Those were days of unbounded joy. If it was a working day, Baba was particular that the college schedule should not be disturbed. He would walk gracefully along the verandah and peep into the class rooms while teaching was going on. The students with their hearts and minds following the Divine, and the teachers with understanding conniving with them followed Divinity, though not physically–but with their whole being, intoxicated with the presence of God. The College, needless to say was the Temple of the Almighty.

Swami would sit on the lawn in the evenings and the students would sing bhajans many a times with Baba playing the Talam to the beat of the rhythm. In John Milton’s words, - “This was Paradise now.” Swami would encourage the students to participate in games and to make the youngsters, who acquitted themselves with expertise, happy, give them presents with His own Divine Hands. Traditional dancing, classical and light music, enacting meaningful dramas, participation in debates not only in the college but even outside in such programmes sponsored by various organizations, was encouraged by Swami. He would even create watches, rings studded with gems and gold earrings for the winners. The recipients of such grace were thrilled beyond measure, a blessing never to be forgotten. 

Swami with Vice Chancellor Prof. V.K. Gokak at the Anantapur Campus Playground - 1984

On a certain visit to our Campus accompanied by our first Vice Chancellor, Dr. V K Gokak and other dignitaries, Baba graciously presided over the March Past of our students and took the salute. It was later that the Sports Meet became an integral part of the blossoming of the total personality of the students. On one such Sports Meet, conducted as usual in the Divine Presence of Beloved Bhagavan in the Hill View Stadium in Prasanthi Nilayam, He was so happy and proud of the girl students who had performed incredible acrobatic feats on the motor bikes. They would go through fire and take a long leap over sixteen students prostrate on the ground. As a token of appreciation, He would shower His bountiful love by giving them costly presents and above all, create gold rings studded with precious gems and put them Himself on their fingers. What can we offer to such a God in return for such abundance of Grace? Nothing but gratitude mingled with the humble resolve that we should implicitly follow the Values so dear to Him and become blessed.

God descended from the high heavens, donning the human garb–to rescue us from the troubled waters of the world. The unique Educare was integrated into the educational system – like two facets of the same coin. In the silence of the early mornings at 5.30 a.m. the Suprabhatam prayer, the Nagar Sankeertan to purify the surroundings with the powerful vibrations of the Bhajans and the early morning Yogasanas contributed to the integration of the body and the mind. Personally, Bhagavan exhorted Mrs. Pushpa Ramanna and me to train them in cutting vegetables–telling themselves that they are cutting their ego, roll chappatis, symbolic of expanding their hearts. 

The Self-Reliance Programmes initiated by Bhagavan is an indispensable training for the youngsters. They had to perforce clean, sweep, mop their own rooms, wash their own clothes and keep the surroundings clean. Serving items of food, senior students helping the teachers in the maintenance of discipline in the hostel during the study hours has to be seen to be believed. This loving Educare of the Omniscient Divinity, Bhagavan Baba, has made the impossible possible-in making the young girls totally self-reliant. 

When Educare and Education go hand-in-hand they foster a sense of belonging to the Alma Mater, self-confidence, dedication, an ardent desire to acquit oneself well in all activities, an awareness of time management, and above all translating into action, the much needed Value – an ounce of practice is much better than tons of precept. 

As there is no hospital here run under the auspices of the Sri Sathya Sai Trust, we have to perforce send our children to doctors in the town whenever necessary. Two teachers and some students diligently and with love, look after the sick. The hostel extends all the cooperation. It generates the Value – Hands that serve are holier than the lips that pray.

Another facet of the loving Educare is the divine discourses Swami would give in the college auditorium where all teachers and students would assemble. Virtuous women, Swami would say, are the bed-rock of society. God has endowed them with the inherent selfless love of the mother, patience, compassion, sense of self-sacrifice and the unique power of chastity. The young girls who are trained in this Institute will become the torch bearers to ward off the lurking shadows of the negative currents that have shrouded the world today. In a nutshell, Baba says – Kattu, Bottu, Juttu of the girls if taken care of, meaning the mode of dress, the visible bindi on the forehead and hair neatly tied up, will contribute to the building up of the personality of the girls. Such girls become potent instruments to bring about an awareness that it is not cannons and bombs that are necessary to quell the evil in man but Values and Values alone which are the panacea for the troubled world.

Swami heading to the Anantapur Campus Hostel; Jayamma is on the right along with other teachers

The most unforgettable experience is the visit of Bhagavan Baba to the Hostel, whenever He came to our Campus. He would have food with us. We would decorate the dining table of Bhagavan and place it in a vantage position, so that all the children could see Him. He would walk with such grace among the rows of children seated, talk to them lovingly and crack jokes with them. Mrs. Puspa Ramanna and I had the rare privilege and fortune of serving God. The children hardly ate the food as they gazed at Bhagavan with eyes moist with the unshed tears of devotion. Swami would enter the kitchen, talk lovingly to the cooks, open the lids of the vessels and say with such transparent love that the food seemed very appetizing. Baba would give clothes to all the workers and they would touch His delicate Feet with reverence and gratitude. Though those days will never come back again, they are indelibly imprinted on the canvas of our hearts. We remain ever grateful to our beloved God, Swami, for teaching us that God’s pure love chastens and uplifts one. 

Seated on the Anantapur Hostel Jhoola

After the inception of our Institute, the educational system was overhauled by our first Vice Chancellor, Dr. V K Gokak. The syllabi and the method of teaching were reoriented to keep abreast of the times. The novel change was that, English being the lingua franca, should cater to all sections of society. Hence Communicative English was taken care of. Optional English for the undergraduate and the postgraduate course was also introduced to cater to those students who wanted to specialize in English language and literature. Arts and Science subjects were also an integral part of their curriculum and the syllabi of all the courses were judiciously planned in consultation with experts in the respective areas of study.

Every two years, the senior faculty members in every course, along with experts invited from other prestigious universities, meet and assess the efficacy of the prevalent syllabus, how a change for the better can be introduced periodically. Suffice it to say that breaking through the monotony of teaching the same texts and following the same methods, makes it conducive for both the teachers and the students to gain expertise in their areas of study. These changes are salutary; in that, they whet the intellectual curiosity of the students; encourage them to face the challenges in their adventure of the learning process.

Our teachers of all departments – Arts & Sciences - have attended many seminars and workshops conducted under the auspices of the U G C as well as those conducted by various educational institutions. They have been invited as Resource Persons to deliver talks and also monitor the conduct of the programmes. They have published many papers after doing research in their fields of study, which have been acclaimed at home and abroad as valuable  contributions to the all-round progress of man’s well-being. The Home Science Department’s contribution to the less fortunate ones of our society is the  various nutritious types of food packets from what Nature has provided. This does not demand money or hard labour. Home remedies for common ailments are processed in the lab and are distributed to various medical shops at very nominal prices. Our teacher’s involvement in the unique research programmes is a testimony to keep abreast with the fast changing modern scenario. 

Swami with Jayamma (right) and other faculty member from the Dept. of English

Our teachers guide the students in their M.Phil and Doctoral Research. Needless to say, with the bounteous loving grace of Bhagavan and the encouragement of our dedicated authorities, our Institute is making tremendous strides in the area of productive research. Our Institute has not through any propaganda, but by sheer dint of hard work and dedication of our students with the able guidance of the teachers have acquitted themselves par excellence, in all fields of study. Never to be forgotten is that all this is possible through Bhagavan’s love and grace and His Unique MAGNUM OPUS, EDUCARE.

The National Assessment and Accreditation Council visited various universities and declared that our University was one of the best and has awarded the highest grade of A++. That our University is one of the best, speaks volumes of the unique combination of Educare and Education.

The extra-curricular activities are an integral part where the teachers and students involve themselves in reaching out to the needy and the poor. Fortnightly distribution of food packets and clothes to the neglected unfortunate ones and visiting the leper colony periodically, distributing food and clothes to them is a continuous, sacred activity. 

As far back as 1971, our students involved themselves in the NSS Programmes. They would go to the villages and survey their living conditions. They would build houses for them with stones and mud. It was an incredible sight to see the youngsters carry heavy stones and build sturdy huts for the needy. It was all due to the Grace of Divinity. 

Prof. Jayalakshmi Gopinath with Swami at the Summer Course in Ooty - 1976

Under Baba’s Divine Ministry, we have all understood that education is not merely the study of varied subjects, fragmented as they are today but the integrated awareness of understanding God’s Omnipotence, Omniscience and Omnipresence revealed to us in the study of various disciplines, concerning man and his world. 

Faith in God and dynamic humility is the touchstone to our character building which Bhagavan says is the end of education. These two virtues will add value and refinement to the academic pursuits and to the over-all integrated education that we get in Swami’s institutions. 

I conclude saluting the Holy Feet of the Great Teacher of Teachers – Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba.

- Prof. Jayalakshmi Gopinath

Former Principal, Anantapur Campus

Former Head, Department of English

Former Warden, Anantapur Campus Hostel

Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning

Source: Vidyagiri: Divine Vision 2006