Happy Ugadi, 21 March 2004

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Divine Messages for Ugadi extracted from the Divine Discourses of Bhagavan Baba.

Source: http://www.eaisai.com/baba/docs/ugadi.html

 

Kali Yuga started in the year Pramadi in the month named Sravana and in the

fortnight named Bahula and on the day called Ashtami. According to the English

calendar, this will be described as February 20, 3102 years before the advent

of Christ. In order to bring out this aspect of the commencement of the new

Yuga on February 20, 3102 B.C our ancestors have been calling that day Ugadi or

the day of the beginning of a new era. As this was the commencing day of a new

Yuga it was called (Y)Ugadi.

When looked at from this angle, we should also learn a different aspect,

although it is not very pleasant. This particular day called Ugadi is also the

day on which Krishna gave up his mortal body in a sacred place of pilgrimage

called Prabahatsa near Dwaraka.

>From Digest Vol I (a collection of Baba's quotations)

Today is Ugadi, the beginning of the New Year. Since ancient times, man has

celebrated many Ugadis, but he is yet to give up bad qualities. True Ugadi is

the day when man gives up bad qualities, fills his heart with love and takes to

the path of sacrifice. Do not limit the celebration of Ugadi to merely putting

on new clothes and partaking of delicious items. Today you may wear a new

shirt, but how long will it remain new. Tomorrow it becomes old. Nobody reads

the same newspaper everyday. Today's newspaper becomes a waste paper tomorrow.

Our life is like a newspaper. Once you have finished reading a newspaper, you

do not like to read it again and again. You have been given this birth which is

like a newspaper, and have gone through varied experiences of pleasure and pain.

Enough is enough. Do not ask for one more newspaper, i.e., another birth. You

should pray, "Oh God! You have given me this 'newspaper' and I have gone

through the experiences of this

life. I don't want to have another birth."

On this day of Ugadi, take a firm resolve to purify your heart. Past is past. It

cannot be retrieved. When you are walking on the road, you should look at the

path ahead of you. What is the point in looking behind? Likewise, there is no

point in brooding over the past. Future is not certain. What is the guarantee

that you will be alive until tomorrow? So, do not worry about your future. Live

in the present. It is not ordinary present. It is omnipresent, meaning the

results of past as well as the future are contained in it. So, when you make

proper use of the present, you can be rest assured that your future is safe and

secure.

Today is Ugadi, the New Year Day of Andhrites. Tomorrow happens to be the Tamil

New Year Day and also "Vishu", the New Year Day for Keralites. Thus, there are

any number of festivals in a year. You should celebrate them understanding and

experiencing their true significance. Right from this moment, embark on a new

life giving up bad thoughts and bad qualities and purify your heart. Only then

will your life be blissful. There is no point in reading sacred texts or

visiting noble souls unless you purify your heart in the first instance. Let

your thoughts, words and deeds be sacred. This is the true purpose of

celebrating Ugadi.

Divine Discourse: April 13, 2002

The name of this New Year is Vrusha. Lot of people are making all kinds of

predictions of the events in the coming year. What is bound to happen will

happen. Carry on doing what you have to do. During all this, your mind should

be centred on your original source (Mooladhara). If you neglect this, all your

efforts are useless. As a consequence of this only, humanity is faced with so

many distressing and calamitous events. One should not say unpleasant things,

but I am obliged to say some unpleasant things. The coming year is likely to

face far more difficulties, than the past year, in fact a lot more. The

political arena is likely to face greater problems. There are likely to be more

earthquakes. What is the cause? It is the consequence of man's wrong actions.

The good or bad events of the world are a consequence of the activities of

mankind. There is conflict even between brothers; and in the field of politics,

human values have been forsaken. This is

the case, not just in any one country but all over the globe.

Vrusha is the name of this New Year. In Kerala, this is known as Vishu.

According to Indian calendar, there are 60 years after which the cycle repeats

itself. To name a few, Prabhava, Vibhava, Shukla, Pramodhuta, Prajotpathi,

Angirasa, Srimukha, Bhava, Yuva, Datha, etc. These are the names of the

children of Narada. He begot these children when he became Narada. As he had

desired that the names of his children should remain eternally, the years have

been named thus.

This New Year brings with it some good results also. The New Year Day is not

celebrated merely to partake of delicious dishes. You have to imbibe sacred

feelings and resolve to lead a fruitful life. The good and bad of the world

depend on your conduct, which in turn depends on your thoughts. So, develop

good thoughts. Only then will you be able to lead a noble life. Set an ideal to

your fellowmen. Give them happiness. Show compassion towards them. Talk to them

lovingly. All this is possible only when you acquire Divine love. So, strive to

become the recipient of Divine love. Chant His Name wholeheartedly.

Divine Discourse: March 26, 2001

Do not waste time speculating over what would happen in this New Year. If your

actions are good, your future is bound to be good. The future of the nation

depends on your actions. God is a witness. He neither protects you nor punishes

you. In fact, it is you who protect or punish yourself. Whatever you utter, be

it good or bad, God always blesses you saying, "So shall it be." God blesses

everybody. Each one is responsible for his pleasure or pain.

In this New Year, develop new and sacred feelings and make everybody happy. Do

not strive for money; strive for love. Once you develop love, there will be no

scope for evil qualities like anger, jealousy, etc. If your thoughts and

actions are good, your future is bound to be good. Then the whole country, nay,

the whole world will prosper. Pray for the peace and prosperity of the entire

world. Peace can be attained only through practice of human values.

Divine Discourse: April 5, 2000

You would have celebrated many Ugadi (New Year day) festivals in your life.

Certain traditional practices go with every festival, such as having a sacred

bath, wearing new clothes, cleaning the house and decorating it with buntings

of green leaves. Greatness lies in purifying our thoughts, not merely the

transient human body. The significance of a festival does not lie in wearing

new clothes, but in cultivating new and noble thoughts. The house should be

decorated not merely with the buntings of green leaves, but with buntings of

love. Share your love with everyone who visits your house. Only then we would

be celebrating the festival in its true spirit.

Today New Year has begun. With sacred feelings and divine thoughts, cultivate

the spirit of love in you. God is not found separately in a temple or in an

Ashram etc. Truth is God. Love is God. Dharma is God. When you worship God by

following these principles, He will manifest Himself then and there. There is

no doubt about this. You should love God wholeheartedly. Pray to God and make

friends with Him. You can achieve anything if you have God as your friend.

What you have to learn today is to fill your heart with love and adorn your hand

with the ornament of sacrifice. Sacrifice is the jewel for the hands, Truth is

the necklace one should wear. You must develop the habit of adorning these

jewels in the New Year. In this New Year, develop divine love and foster peace

in the country. You must pray with a broad feeling: Loka Samastha Sukhino

Bhavantu (May the whole world be happy!). Start the New Year with this prayer.

Then you will lead a blissful and peaceful life full of enthusiasm. To lead

such a life, you have to cultivate noble thoughts. So, love God , make

friendship with Him and you are bound to be successful in all your endeavors.

Divine Discourse: March 18, 1999

Our ancients gave the different years good names such as "Prabhava", "Vibhava",

"Sukla" and so on. Sometimes the priests predict bad developments in a year.

This is intended only to make the people undertake propitiatory ceremonies that

will bring in income to the priests. Can the mere expenditure of money ward off

evils? No. Your troubles will go when the heart is purified. Your sincere

prayers will help to relieve your troubles.

There must be a transformation in the hearts of the devotees. They should not

continue to remain in the same rut for years. They must benefit from the grace

of God's love.

People talk about the new year, but do not care to develop new feelings and new

attitudes. They must develop new ideas and new enthusiasm. If they are all the

time depressed, when will they learn to express the joy of good living? They

must exude happiness. That is the mark of the Divine within. Happiness is union

with God. God is eternal bliss. Get rid of your evil tendencies and fill your

hearts with love of God. You will become one with God.

Divine Discourse: Mar 29, 1998

There is no need to wait for a new year to bring new tidings. Every moment is

new. Many are wondering what troubles and losses the new year will bring. For

all our troubles and difficulties the year is not responsible. Our conduct

alone is responsible. If our actions are good the results will be good. Bad

actions will lead to bad consequences. People think that good and bad are

related to bad time. Not at all. Their thoughts are the cause. Hence, they

should develop good thoughts and do good deeds. They should cherish good

feelings and associate with good persons.

People should realize the preciousness of Time. Most of the time available is

wasted by people. This is utterly wrong. Time should be used always for right

purposes. That is the foremost duty of every man. Waste of time is waste of

life. The Lord of Time protects those who take refuge in Him, even against the

Lord of Death (Kaala). Time takes its revenge on those who misuse it. A

nation's prosperity is dependent on how people use their time in the

performance of good actions.

Divine Discourse: Apr 7, 1997

We will achieve victory in every walk of life when we foster good thoughts and

good deeds. Today is the first day of the New year. From today onwards, all

devotees must undertake this holy task. Past is passed. Do not think of the

future, because it is not in our hands. What is the guarantee that we live

until tomorrow! Therefore, this present time is very important. Make good use

of it. Do not go against your inner self. That is what I tell my children, the

students here, "Follow the master". Who is your master? Your inner self is your

master. So, no need for anyone else; follow your own inner self. That is your

God. That is your happiness. That is your wealth. That is your peace. That is

your everything. Happiness and peace are not outside.

Divine Discourse: Mar 20, 1996

Yugadi should not be treated merely as a holy festive occasion. It must be

regarded as a day dedicated to the Divine. All festivals observed by the

Bharatiyas have a marvelous inner meaning. But men in general view them only in

terms of external observances and celebrate them with feasts and frolic. These

festivals were really intended to be used for the exclusive worship of the

Divine, enjoy the bliss of that devotion and overcome pain and sorrow. These

holy days were instituted for getting rid of the ignorance and cultivating

right knowledge, the higher wisdom and cosmic consciousness. Man has been

endowed with intelligence together with the human form. Along with these, man

has also been given temporary existence. Man has, therefore, to use the

life-span allotted to him for leading a purposeful existence by the use of his

intelligence. Man unfortunately misuses his intelligence and gambles away his

precious life.

The Yugadi celebration is an annual reminder of man's obligation to express his

gratitude to the Divine for all the benefits received from God.

We hail the New Year as Samvatsara because it signifies the omnipresence (in

time and space) of the Divine. Samvatsara does not merely mean period (of the

year) made up of minutes, hours, days and months. Every moment is Samvatsara,

because without seconds, minutes, etc. there cannot be a year. If the year is

to be sanctified, every moment is to be sanctified. Every second constitutes a

year. It is not the New Year that matters. Every new second is significant.

Hence, you should fill every moment with sacred thoughts, with pure feelings and

pure actions. Every moment you should try to get rid of bad thoughts and fill

the mind with good thoughts.

Embodiments of the Divine! Do not forget God, who is the embodiment of the Yuga.

He is the Lord of Time. Kaala means one who is the giver of all happiness. If

you take refuge in the Lord of Time, no one can cause you any harm. Make the

best use of time chanting the name of the Lord or engaging yourselves in sacred

activities.

Divine Discourse: Apr 7, 1989

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