Maha Shivaratri Divine Discourse, 26th February 2006

[Guest guest]

and worship it. We should worship the cosmic form of the divine. Brahmanda

(cosmos) is the very form of God. Brahman pervades the Anda, Pinda and

Brahmanda. Anda is the combination of Padartha (matter) and Prana (life

principle). Pinda is that which is born out of the mother's womb. Ultimately,

they become one with the Brahmanda. Embodiments of Love! Love is the basis

for Brahmanda. Without Prema (love), there is neither Prakriti (nature) nor

Prapancha (world). The world is sustained by the principle of love which is

uniformly present in the five elements. You may worship divinity in a number of

ways, but all your worship will prove futile, if you forget the principle of

love. The five elements are responsible for the sustenance of human life and

the world at large. Everything will come to a standstill even if any one of the

five elements is missing. We hear the sound with our ears. We see the world with

our eyes. In this manner, we are able to experience the world through the five

senses. They prove the existence of the world. Man has forgotten the divine

principle of love and is striving to attain Ananda (bliss) through mean and

worldly pursuits. It is said, Jantunam nara janma durlabham (out of all living

beings, human birth is the rarest). In fact, human being is essentially divine.

Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha are prescribed as the four goals of human life.

But, man today has given up Dharma and Moksha. He is running after Artha and

Kama (wealth

and desire). God has created this world. Your wife, children, friends and foes

are all created by God. It is not enough if you maintain good relationship with

your wife, children and friends. You must be able to see God in all. That is

your primary duty. Your wife, children, friends and even foes are all the very

embodiments of Brahman. Even God had to fight the enemies sometimes. However,

in spite of their animosity towards God, they ultimately merged in Him owing to

His grace. In this world, there is no place where God does not exist. He is

present everywhere. Sarvatah panipadam tat sarvathokshi siromukham, sarvatah

sruthimalloke sarvamavruthya tishthati (with hands, feet, eyes, head, mouth and

ears pervading everything, He permeates the entire universe). The people

around you may not be able to see what you do, but He is watching you. Others

may not hear what you speak, but He is listening to you. He is the eternal

witness. Unfortunately, you are unable to realise this truth. Some people

argue, "How can you say that God is present everywhere when we do not actually

see Him? How is it possible for Him to hear our prayers?" In fact, sound is the

very form of God. There is no place where there is no sound. He can hear

everything since sound is His own form. Light pervades the entire world. God

can see everything in this world as the very light is His vision. Hence, never

be under the mistaken notion that God does not know what is happening. Do not

doubt or deny His existence just because He is not visible to the naked eye.

How does sankalpa originate in your hridaya (heart)? It happens as per the Will

of God. There may be ups and downs from the worldly point of view, but divine

principle always remains steady.

The Loka (world) and Lokesha (God) are inseparable. The creation and the

creator are one. There is an intimate and inseparable relationship between the

two. Atma is the name given to the principle of divinity. It has no specific

form. It pervades the entire world in the form of sankalpa (will). It is a

grave error to attribute a particular name and form to the Atma. It is

essential that we understand the oneness of Atma and experience the same.

Everything is divine. Sarvam khalvidam Brahma (verily, all this is Brahman). As

you are unable to comprehend the divine principle in totality, you confine God

to a specific name and form such as Rama, Krishna, Vishnu, etc., and worship

Him. A potter makes the idols of Rama, Krishna, etc. However, it is only the

clay that takes the forms of various deities. The same clay is moulded into

various forms. Jewels are many but gold is one.Cows are many but milk is

one.Beings are many but breath is one.(Telugu poem) As you are unable to

understand the principle of unity, you are deluded by the apparent diversity.

Embodiments of Love! No one can describe God as having this form or that form.

He permeates the entire universe. Without name there can be no form and vice

versa. The principle of divinity is represented by a name and a

form. Every object and every being in this Prapancha (world) is the

manifestation of divine love. Hence, do not see the world merely from the

physical point of view. Consider the world as the very form of God and the

manifestation of divine love. Because of your limited understanding, you

confine such an all pervading divine principle to a name and a form. Yad bhavam

tad bhavati (as is the feeling, so is the result). God responds according to

your feelings towards Him. If you have purna bhakti (unwavering devotion) and

love God with all your heart, He will confer on you purna ananda (supreme

bliss). God transcends the dualities of birth and death, happiness and sorrow.

You may think that even God has pain and suffering. But, from God's point of

view, pain does not exist at all! It is an aspect of divinity. Bliss also is an

aspect of divinity. God is beyond pleasure and pain, merit and sin. Happiness

and sorrow are of your own making. Pleasure is an interval between two pains.

Do not consider God as a separate entity. Unfortunately, people are unable to

understand the principle of divinity and hence indulge in all types of

imaginations. God is one. The Veda declares, Ekam sath viprah bahudha vadanti

(truth is one, but the wise refer to it by various names). However, when the

situation demands, Divine incarnations appear on earth and play a role in the

cosmic drama. When Droupadi was humiliated by Duryodhana and Dussasana in the

royal court, Bhima was seething with anger. He wanted to crush them to pulp.

But, even under such circumstances, God did not kill them. It is most essential

you understand that everything happens as per His will. Whatever happens is for

your own good. With such firm conviction, you should accept pleasure and pain,

good and bad with equanimity. It may be difficult for you to bear misfortunes.

You should pray to God to grant you the necessary

strength to bear them. You may have difficulties today, but tomorrow it will be

different. Difficulties are like passing clouds. They will certainly give way

to happiness. Man always strives for happiness. How can he attain it? True

happiness lies in union with God. In fact, God is beyond happiness and sorrow.

Whatever you may do, He says, "Tathastu" (So shall it be). He showers His

blessings on you saying, "Let it be for your own good." You will be free from

sorrow once you understand the Bhagavadtatwa (nature of divinity). If you are

undergoing difficulties, do not get disheartened. Have faith that God is making

you go through the ordeal for your own good. Happiness and sorrow coexist. You

cannot attain happiness without undergoing difficulties. Embodiments of

Love! Do not attribute multiplicity to divinity. Consider everyone as the

embodiment of divinity. Install such sacred feeling firmly in your heart. Treat

even the person who hates you as your own. Having attained human birth, you

should be able to withstand pain and suffering with courage and fortitude. Be

convinced that they are good for you. All that God has created is good. In

God's creation, everything is good and sacred. There is nothing which will

cause sorrow and misery. In fact, misery arises out of man's delusion. The

delusion is because of his identification with the form. What is the meaning of

the term Manava? 'Ma' means Maya, 'Na' means without and 'Va' means Varthinchuta

(to conduct oneself). Therefore, Manava is one who conducts himself without

maya. If you fall a victim to maya, you will never be able to understand

marmamu (reality). In fact, maya is man's own making. It arises out of his

imagination. However much one may try, it is not possible to know God in

totality. Once mother Kunti said to Krishna, "Oh Krishna! Though You are verily

God, sometimes we are deluded to think that You are also a human being like us."

Saint Thyagaraja too echoed the same feelings in the following verse: Oh

Lord! You answered the prayers of Droupadi and saved her from humiliation. You

made ugly-looking Kubja beautiful. You protected the Pandavas. Is it possible

to estimate Your glory and splendour? You are beyond all description and human

comprehension. Krishna, it is not possible for even Brahma to describe Your

glory.(Telugu song) Good and bad lie in your mind; they are not outside.

Hence, correct your feelings in the first instance. Get rid of all animal

qualities so that humanness can blossom in you. If you notice even a trace of

hatred in yourself, drive it away at once. Having attained human birth, it is

shameful on your part to have evil qualities like hatred. Do not fall a prey to

infatuation. You should be attracted only towards God and none else. You love

your son because you consider him to be your reflection. In fact, the one who

loves you, the one who hates you, the one who criticises you, all are your own

reflections. At one time, one may be angry and later the anger may give way to

love. People are carried away by the vagaries of the mind. Being deluded by the

names and forms, they are unable to know the transient nature of the world.

Truly speaking, you have neither friends nor enemies. It is only your love or

hatred that is reflected from outside. God

does not give you happiness or sorrow; they are of your own making. They

originate from you. Embodiments of Love! God is present everywhere in the

form of five elements. Everyone is endowed with five elements and everyone is

an embodiment of love. All are one. There is no second entity. Wherever you

see, there are five elements. You do not find a sixth element anywhere. The

principle of love present in you represents Easwaratwa and Brahmatatwa. It is

merely Bhrama (delusion) to think that Brahma is separate from you. Everything

is Brahman. Everything is the manifestation of Atma and Ananda. That is why God

is extolled as Nityanandam, Paramasukhadam Kevalam Jnanamurtim … (God is the

embodiment of eternal bliss,

He is wisdom absolute). Even the karma (action) that you perform is the

manifestation of Brahma. When you perform your actions with such divine

feelings, they will yield good results. Never criticise God. Never deny Him.

Everything is the manifestation of Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara. All are

divine. This is what you have to learn on this auspicious day of Sivarathri.

There is nothing other than divinity in this world. The principle of divinity

present in a grain of sand and in a big laddu is one and same. Once you realise

this truth, you become Brahma verily. You do not need to search for Brahma

elsewhere. You are Brahma, you are Vishnu, you are Siva, you are the very

embodiment of the Divine Trinity. It is only your feeling that assumes the form

of Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara. You are subjected to unrest and suffering

because of your dualistic feeling. You perceive unity as diversity,

instead of visualising unity in diversity. Number one is the basis for all other

numbers. Likewise, names and forms vary, but all are essentially one. There is

no second person. Other than divinity, there is no second entity in this world.

Many spiritual aspirants and yogis have made concerted efforts to understand the

principle of divinity. They ultimately realised Ekam sath viprah bahudha vadanti

(truth is one, but the wise refer to it by various names). As you have not

understood this truth, you are deluded by the apparent duality. You should

understand the spiritual Mathematics in order to know that divinity is one. It

is most essential that you understand this principle of oneness and conduct

yourself accordingly. When you understand this oneness, you will experience

divinity. You will realise that the individual is not different from God. When

you put a zero after the numeral 1 it becomes 10; put one more zero it will

become 100. In this manner if you go on adding zeros, the

value also increases to 1000, 10,000, and so on and so forth. Zeros gain value

only when they are positioned next to the numeral one. 'I', 'my wife', 'my

children', 'my property', etc., all these are like zeros. They will have value

only when they are associated with God who is like numeral one. The entire

world is like a zero. It has emerged from the Hero, God. It is because of your

delusion that you mistake zero for Hero. So long as you are immersed in

delusion you will never be able to realise divinity. Delusion gives rise to

doubts which will rob you of your bliss. They will poison your mind and put you

to danger. Hence, never entertain doubts with regard to Divinity. Strengthen

your faith in God. A car can run smoothly only when there is air in all its

four tyres. Even if one tyre is punctured, it may lead to accident. The human

body is like a car. Mind

is the steering wheel. Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha are its four tyres. They

should be filled with the air of faith. Even if one of the tyres is punctured,

your life will be put to danger. Your mind should be steady and under control.

Only then can you reach the goal of life, i.e., Moksha (liberation).

Embodiments of Love! The entire world is pervaded by the five elements. You

should maintain perfect balance and harmony among them. When you are riding a

cycle, if you do not maintain proper balance, you will fall down. Likewise, you

can lead the life of a true human being only when you have proper balance of

mind. If you lack proper balance of mind, your humanness will be ruined. It is

said, Jantunam nara janma

durlabham (out of all living beings, human birth is the rarest). Having been

blessed with such precious human birth, what a shame it is if you behave like

an animal! You should live like a human being. Keep your mind under control.

This is My message to you on this holy night of Sivarathri. Understand that you

are born as a human being, not as an insect or a worm. Neither are you an

animal, nor a bird nor a beast. You should understand the meaning of the term

Manava. 'Ma' means not and 'Nava' means new. You are not here for the first

time. You are not new to this earth. You have gone through a number of births

before attaining this human birth. Give up all your old and mean qualities and

start your life afresh. Human life is highly sacred and mysterious. Only God

can unravel its mystery. Visweswara (the Lord of the universe) permeates the

entire Viswa (universe). He transcends all description. He is present in you in

the form of Atma. There is only one path for the realisation of

Atma. Give up the feeling of 'Mine'. You say 'this is mine and that is mine'.

Once you get rid of such worldly attachment, you will develop purity,

steadiness and selflessness. You will be free from suffering, worries and

anxiety. Ultimately, you will attain Moksha (liberation). Having attained

manavatwa (humanness), you should make efforts to rise to the level of

Madhavatwa (divinity). That is your goal. What is the use if you remain in

manavatwa forever? You should develop sanmathi (pure mind) to rise to the level

of divine. Unity confers purity which will in turn lead to divinity. Hence, all

of you must stand united. You belong to the human race. You belong to one

family. Hence, you must conduct yourself like brothers and sisters. Absence of

such spirit of unity will diminish purity and take you away from divinity.

Embodiments of Love!

Being students of Sathya Sai College, you must set an example to others with

your spirit of unity. You deserve to be called Sai devotees only when you

develop unity. Love God with all your heart. Love for God will transform your

heart. It will drive away hatred and other evil qualities. You can achieve

anything through love. (Bhagawan sang the Bhajan "Prema muditha manase

kaho…" and continued His discourse) Embodiments of Love! Since time

immemorial, the divine name of

Rama has been protecting the devotees and leading them on the right path. One

can very well imagine the divine potency of Rama's name as it has remained

etched in the hearts of people through all the ages. This in itself is a

mystery. Thousands of years have passed since the advent of Rama, yet His name

remains ever fresh and ever new. One may be on the top of the mountain or in a

village or in a city, everyone derives immense delight in singing the name of

Rama. Ramayathi ithi Ramah (that which delights is the principle of Rama).

Once in the court of Krishnadevaraya, there was a debate in which the eight

scholars of the royal court popularly known as the 'Ashta Diggajas'

participated. Krishna-devaraya wanted to know who among them was the best. He

wanted them to frame a meaningful sentence consisting of five letters, each

letter having the same meaning in five different languages. "Whoever

comes out with an answer to this question by seven tomorrow morning will be

suitably rewarded", he added. Since his house was far away, Tenali

Ramakrishna decided to spend the night in his brother-in-law's house. When he

was provided with a comfortable bed for the night, Ramakrishna refused to sleep

on it. He said, "I have to think of an answer to a question put by the king by

tomorrow morning. A bed like this is certain to put me to sleep in no time. So,

provide a cot for me in the cow shed." As he was lying on the cot, at one

o'clock in the night, one of the cows in the shed gave birth to a calf.

Ramakrishna called out to inform his brother-in-law about this. His

brother-in-law wanted to know which cow had given birth, since he had

given different names to his cows, like Parvati, Lakshmi, and Saraswati. He

asked Ramakrishna, "Ye Aav Ra Bava" (which cow is that, Oh brother-in-law).

When Ramakrishna heard this, his joy knew no bounds, since he had found an

answer to the king's question. So, he too repeated the phrase again and again.

His brother-in-law thought that Ramakrishna was behaving in this strange manner

due to lack of sleep. The next morning, Ramakrishna went to the royal court

and found that no one else had a solution to the question. All others were

convinced it was not possible to frame such a sentence. "Ye Aav Ra Ba Va" is

the answer, he said. Everyone was intrigued. Then he explained, " 'Ye' in

Marati, 'Aav' in Hindi, 'Ra' in Telugu, 'Ba' in Kannada

and 'Va' in Tamil convey the same meaning, i.e., 'come'." Five languages are

represented in this sentence. Students! The words you utter sometimes convey

different meanings. Hence, you should be very careful while speaking. Develop

virtues and lead an ideal life. Only then will Swami be pleased with you. If

you make Me happy with your ideal conduct, I will confer much more happiness on

you. Your happiness is My happiness. Wherever you go, earn a good name for

yourself. Your character is very important for Me. Hence, make every effort to

mould your character and be an ideal to others. This is the message I would

like to give you on this auspicious day of Sivarathri. The day on which you

experience eternal bliss

is Sivarathri for Me. Once Thyagaraja performed a musical concert at

Thanjavur. Many eminent musicians and scholars were present in the concert

hall. In the beginning of the programme Thyagaraja offered salutations to all

of them through his famous composition, Endaro Mahanubhavulu, Andariki

Vandanamulu … (there are many great souls who have had the divine experience; I

prostrate before all of them). Everyone was blissful listening to his melodious

singing. He demonstrated by his example that one should pay his respects to

everyone in the assembly before addressing them since there was divinity in all

of them. Many years ago, in Prasanthi Nilayam, a scholar was invited to address

a congregation. While commencing his speech, he addressed the audience thus:

"Brothers and Sisters except one!" Then he explained that his wife was also

present among the audience. Even while addressing a

congregation he was remembering his wife. One should not observe such

differences while addressing a public gathering. One should offer his

salutations to one and all. Embodiments of Love! I shower My blessings on

all of you on this holy night of Sivarathri. Sing the Divine Name throughout

the night. To the extent possible, spend the night in the contemplation of God.

Only then can you experience divine bliss. You can even witness the

manifestation of divine effulgence. Sing the Divine Name wholeheartedly. You

may sing any name, but you should understand its inner meaning. For example,

'Digambara' is one of the names

of Lord Siva. Digambara in common parlance refers to the one who is naked. But

if you enquire into the inner meaning, you will know that 'Digambara' is the

One who has dikkulu (four sides – East, West, North, South) as His ambara

(vesture). There is a possibility that people misunderstand this word and think

that Siva does not wear anything on His body. Hence, it is better that you do

not use this word in Bhajans. Source:

http://sssbpt.org/Pages/Prasanthi_Nilayam/shivaratri_06_Discourse.htm

saibabanews/