Sathya Sai Baba Geetha Vahini - Chapter 12

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Sathya Sai BabaGeetha Vahini

Chapter XII

"The A-paraa Prakrithi, about which I speak, is just a manifestation of My

Sakthi, My glory, remember. Seen superficially, with the gross vision, the

Sthuladrishti, the universe might appear as many; but that is wrong. There is

no many at all. The yearning of the inner consciousness, the Anthah-karana, is

towards the one; that is the real Drishti. When the inner vision is saturated

with Jnana, the Jagath or creation will be seen as Brahmam and as nothing else.

Therefore the inner consciousness must be educated to interest itself only in

Jnana." The Jagath is saturated with the Jagad-isa. Creation is nothing but the

creation in that form. Isavasyam idam sarvam, it is said (all this is God).

Though there is only one, it appears as many. Let us remind ourselves of an

example with reference to this statement of Krishna. We walk in the thick dusk

of evening when things are seen but dimly; a rope lies higgledy-piggledy on the

path; each one who sees it has his own idea of what it is, though it is really

just a length of rope. One steps across it, taking it to be a garland. Another

takes it to be a mark made by running water and treads on it. A third man

imagines it to be a vine, a creeper plucked from a tree that has fallen on the

path. Some others are scared that it is a snake; is it not?

Similarly, the one Parabrahmam, without any change or transformation affecting

It, being all the time It and It only, manifests as the Prapancha of manifold

names and forms, the cause of all this seeming being the dusk of Maya. The rope

might appear as many things; it might provoke various feelings and reactions on

various people; it has become the basis for variety. But it never changes into

the many; it is ever one. The rope is ever the rope. It does not become the

garland or the streak of water or the creeper or the snake. Brahmam might be

misinterpreted in a variety of ways but it is ever Brahmam only. For all the

various interpretations, Brahmam is the one real basis. Like the string for the

garland, the foundation for the building, Brahmam is the string that penetrates

and holds together the garland of Jivis; it is the foundation for the structure

of Prakrithi. Note this. The string and the structure are not visible. Only the

flowers and the building are evident. That does

not mean they are nonexistent! In fact, they support the flowers and the

building. Well, you can know of their existence and their value by a little

effort at reasoning. If you do not take that trouble, they escape your notice.

Reason, examine - and you can arrive at the string that holds the flowers

together and the foundation, hidden in the earth. Do not be misled by the

Aadheya (the contained, the thing held) into denying the Aadhaar, the holder,

the container, the basis, the support. If you deny it, you miss the truth and

hold on to a delusion. Reason and discriminate; then believe and experience.

For the seen, there is an unseen basis; to grasp the unseen, the best means is

inquiry; and the best proof is experience. For those who have experienced, no

description is needed.

The nature and qualification of individual beads are not important at all; they

should not distract our attention. Concentrate rather on the inner reality, the

basis of all the beads, the Brahmam; that is the essential quest. There may be

many varieties of flowers in a garland, even trivial ones (Thamasic jivis) or

flashy ones (Rajasic jivis) or nice pure ones (Sathwic jivis) but the string,

the basis, the Paramatma is independent of all of them. It is unaffected; it is

Sathya, Nithya, Nirmala.

Flowers cannot become a garland without the string; so too, Brahmam unites all

Jivis. You cannot separate the two in all things and substances; Brahmam fills

everything. The five elements are but its manifestations. It is the inner

motive, unseen by those who look only at the surface. It is the Antharyamin, in

other words. That is why Krishna said "I am Rasa in water; I am effulgence,

Prabha in the sun and moon; I am the Pranava in the Vedas; I am sound in the

Akasa; I am Pourusham (heroism, adventure and aspiration) in man."

Let us consider the topic of Pranava, which has been mentioned. Krishna said

that the Pranava is the very life of the Vedas, is it not? The Vedas are

reputedly "An-aadi" or "beginning-less." Pranava is spoken of as the very

life-breath of the Vedas, which are themselves beyond all beginning. Take it

that the Pranava is the subtle essence, the underlying form of every particle

and substance in the universe.

There are two parts in every single substance in the universe: name and form,

Nama and Rupa. Take away these two and there is no Prapancha or universe any

more. The form is no Prapancha or universe any more. The form is conceived and

controlled by the name. The Rupa is dependent on the name; so if you reason out

which is more lasting, you will find that the name is Nithyam and the Rupam is

A-nithyam. Consider the case of persons who have done various good works,

achieved meritorious deeds, constructed hospitals or schools or temples or

places of worship; now, even their form is absent from the world for men to

see, their names with all the associated fame are ever present in human memory,

is it not? The Rupam lasts but for a brief time; but the Namam continues.

Names are countless, and so are Rupams. But there is one matter which you have

to take into consideration here, a matter which is within the daily experience

of all, from the Pundit down to the ignoramus: Aksharas or letters. In Telugu,

there are 52 letters; in English, there are just 26. Even if you pile up the

entire literary output in Telugu or in English and the piles rise mountain

high, it is all composed of either the 52 Telugu letters or the 26 English

ones, not a single letter more.

Similarly, in the human body there are six nerve centres, all in the form of the

lotus-flower. All the six lotus-forms have one letter or sound attached to each

petal. Like the reeds in the harmonium, when the petals are moved, each one

emits a distinct sound. Those who follow this statement intelligently may get a

doubt; if the petals are said to move, who or what is moving them? Yes, the

force that moves them is the Anaahathadhwani, the primeval sound, the

undistinguished indistinguishable sound, emanating without effort, irrespective

of conscious will. That is the Pranava. As beads in the string, all letters and

the sounds they represent are strung on the Pranava. That is the meaning of the

statement that He is the "Pranava of the Vedas." Krishna's teaching is that you

should merge your mind in the Pranava, which is the universal basis.

The mind has an innate tendency to merge in whatever it contacts; it craves for

this. So, it is ever agitated and restless. But by constant practice and

training, it can be directed towards the Pranava and taught to merge with it.

It is also naturally drawn towards sound. That is the reason why it is compared

to a serpent. The serpent has two crude qualities; one, its crooked gait and

two, its tendency to bite all that comes in its way. These two are also the

characteristics of man. He too seeks to hold and possess all that he sets his

eyes on. He too moves crookedly.

But there is in the serpent one praiseworthy trait; however poisonous and deadly

its nature might be, when the strains of the charmer's music are played, it

spreads its hood and merges itself in the sweetness of that sound, forgetting

everything else. Similarly man too can, by practice, merge himself into the

bliss of Pranava. This Sabdopasana is a principal means of realising the

Paramathma, who is "the Pranava of the Vedas." He is not other than Sabda. That

is the reason why the Lord said that He is the "Pourusha of man." Pourusha is

the vitality, the Prana of man. Without it, man has no manliness. However

strong may be the force of the drag of previous births, it has to yield to the

strength of adventure and achievement emanating from Pourusha. Unaware of this

potentiality, foolish man is misled into cursing his fate; cursing the

"inescapable" effects of what he dreads as 'Prarabdha!'

Every one has to exercise Pourusha: for without it life itself is impossible.

Living is struggling, striving, achieving. God has created man so that he might

wield the talent of 'Pourusha' and achieve victory. His purpose is not to make

man a consumer of food, a burden upon the earth, an animal that is a slave to

its senses. He does not aim at creating a horde of idlers and loungers, who shy

at hard work, and accumulating fat, grow into monstrous shapes. He does not

create man with the idea that he should, while alive, ignore his creator and

deny Atma and wander about like animals, allowing both intelligence and

discrimination to go to waste, moving about without an iota of gratitude to the

giver of all the gifts which he consumes and enjoys!

Prakrithi too punishes those who exploit it for self-aggrandizement, saying

"This is mine, that too is mine, that belongs to those who belong to me." She

punishes heavily those who break her code; that is the reason why Krishna

describes to Arjuna the way of Upasana or worship in great detail for Upasana

is using Prakrithi to reach the Lord who transcends it.

"Arjuna! Many people anxious to offer uninterrupted worship to Me go into the

thick forest. That is an insane step. There is no need to seek the jungle as if

I am only there. There is no place where I am not; there is no form which is not

Mine. I am the five elements: earth, water, fire, air, ether! Where can you find

a place devoid of one or other of these five? To experience My presence and My

glory, there is no special place, for I am everything, everywhere, ever. The

fiery nature of fire is I Myself, I am life in all living beings. I am the

strength of the strong, the strength that is free from greed and lust. Mine is

the nature which prompts beings to desire Dharmic things and means."

"Of course, when I say strength, I mean the strength of the intellect,

Buddhibalam. For the world knows many varieties of balams: Dhanabalam, born of

wealth; Vidyabalam, born of scholarship; Janabalam, coming from the

consciousness that one has a large following; Manobalam, arising from one's

determination, Dehabalam, which is just muscular force, etc. All these are to

be considered as Mine for I am the Parameswara. Only, all forms of strength

have to be free from Kama and Raga, desire and attachment. If Kama and Raga

adhere, then it becomes bestial strength, not divine; it is Pasu-balam, not

Pasu-pathi-balam."

"Kama means the desire to possess a thing which is so strong that even when

there is no chance of securing it, the mind hankers for it. Raga is the feeling

that a thing must be in one's possession, even though it is evident that it

cannot be there long, for it is after all an evanescent thing. Ranjana is the

root of the word, Raga. Ranjana indicates the capacity to give pleasure. Any

form of strength that is polluted by either of these two cannot claim the

dignity of divinity."

"Some forms of Balam attain height or depth, according to the status they are

allotted by the owners. For example, riches. If riches reach a wicked man, they

create vanity, pride, cruelty and contempt. If they are with a good man, they

are directed along the paths of charity and good work. Physical strength is

used by the wicked to injure others while the good use it to protect others

from harm."

Another point has to be noted here. Krishna said that even Krodha (anger) and

Lobha (greed) which are not opposed to Dharma are forms of expression of the

divine. Therefore, why repeat it a thousand times; all feelings, all forms, all

things and beings are born out of the Paraa and the A-paraa nature of the

selfsame divine essence. But, to have higher feelings and emotions, one must

accustom one self to see His form in the higher feelings, higher forms and

higher beings. Still one must not get away with the idea that only the higher

is divine and the lower is not. That is not correct; the objective world with

all its Sathwic, Rajasic, Tamasic things, reactions, impulses - all originate

in God. This conviction can grow in one and get firmly fixed only by reasoning

it out and getting its truth affirmed.

The Lord Himself declared: "Arjuna! All this originated from Me, all this exists

in Me, but I am not dependent on all this; remember; I am unattached to all

this." Here, there are two points of view; the Jivi point of view and the

Lord's point of view. The Jivi has the dual experience of good and bad, the

Lord has no duality at all. When all is God, when God is the inner Atma in all,

how can there be two, one good and another bad?

Now ordinary folk may get some doubts on this point. The Lord says that all

things both good and bad originated from Him and that He is the prime cause;

but at the same time, He declares that He is neither bound nor affected by the

effects or defects of all that has thus originated! He says He has no

relationship with them and that He is above and beyond that for which He is the

cause.

You might infer that man too is not in the least responsible for the good and

the evil that is done through him by the divine, that his real nature is beyond

both good and evil, that his acts, however evil, were basically prompted by the

Lord himself, for man has nothing he can claim as his act. True; but faith in

this attitude that "nothing is done by you," that "it is all the Lord's will

that is being worked through you," must be steady, sincere, deep and unshaken.

There should be no trace of ego. If that is so, then certainly such a one has

attained the highest goal of life. He is blessed to the uttermost. That reality

has to be known; that knowledge has to be stabilised. Indeed he who has the

conviction that all this is God, that he has no sort of relationship or kinship

with the objective world, that he is above and beyond it, is the Sathya-jivi,

the individual whose sojourn here has been worthwhile.

Words however are futile; you may repeat like a parrot what has been taught for

long, certain phrases like "Every thing is the Lord's,I am but a puppet; He

pulls the strings and I dance as He wills,Nothing is mine; I am just

carrying out His will." But what do you usually do? When a praiseworthy act is

done, you claim it to be your own; when a blameworthy act is done, you ascribe

it to the prompting of the Lord! You shout from platforms till your throats get

dry that you won by your own effort, honour, fame, status and standards,

authority and position, property and possessions, attainments and achievements;

but when it comes to confessing your share in earning ill fame and defeat, evil

and wrong, you conveniently transfer the responsibility to the Lord, saying, "I

am but an instrument in His hands, He is the master, I am but a tool." This has

become the habit of man today. Nay, it has developed into a fashion. People

swing from "I", to "He" like the pendulum of the clock.

This is sheer deceit, hollow spiritual sham.

Mind, word and act, all three must be filled with the belief that all is His

play; that is the genuine path. It is a human frailty to separate things as

good and as evil; to impute this to God is sacrilege. It might appear sometimes

that the Lord too has that weakness, but it is a passing phase, a cloud that

hides His glory, not a blemish that adheres to Him.

Though Gunas emanate from the Lord, He is unaffected: smoke arises from fire,

but fire is unaffected; clouds form in the sky and move about in the sky; but

the sky is unaffected by them. All are attached to Him, like beads; but He is

free, unattached. The universe is based on Him but he has no need for the

universe as base.

Take the example of cloth; cloth is based on yarn, it is dependent on yarn; but

yarn does not depend on cloth, it is unaffected, unattached to cloth. The pot

depends on clay, but clay is independent. Again, cloth is yarn, pot is clay.

Clay is Brahmam; the pot is Prakrithi. Yarn is Brahmam, cloth is Prakrithi,

(the universe of Namarupa, of manifold variety). Ignore the shape, the form and

the name - the pot is just clay. Ignore the form of the cloth and the name;

observe the basic thing that stays in and through the cloth, then you know it

is but yarn. Without clay you can have no pot; without yarn, there can be no

cloth. So too, without Brahmam, there can be no Prakrithi. It is truer to say

that all is Brahmam than to say, "Brahmam-is-in-everything." It is grander to

picture Brahmam as Sarva-aadhaara, the basis of all, rather than to conceive It

as Sarvabhutha-antharaathma, the inner reality of all beings. That is truth.

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