Sathya Sai Baba Geetha Vahini - Chapter 15

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Sathya Sai BabaGeetha Vahini

Chapter XV

"Karma is of My Nature; I manifest Myself as Karma," said Krishna, to the great

consternation of Arjuna. He made it clear that all Karma is divine, of His

essence! "It is enough if you know that Brahmam, the universal Atma, the

individual and Karma are all three in Me; knowledge of this will confer

release. You need not worry about the rest," said Krishna, as if He wanted to

avoid further discussion. Evidently, Krishna wanted to take the chariot into

the ranks of the foes and start the conflict, for time was flying fast.

But, Arjuna was adamant; he was different. Ordinary men would not have argued

even so long with Krishna. When Krishna says, "Do not worry about the rest,"

one should stop worrying. But Arjuna was the right interrogator for Krishna and

Krishna was the right teacher for Arjuna; in fact, they are Nara-Narayana, is it

not? Hence, the appropriateness, the interest and value of this dialogue.

Arjuna was not content to leave the matter at that; he did not accept Krishna's

assurance. "Tell me about the remaining three also, O Lord," he pleaded. "Save

me from the coils of doubt," he prayed. "Destroy the darkness and reveal to me

Your reality," he insisted. At this Krishna melted a little. He fondly stroked

Arjuna's back and replied, "Do not grieve; I shall tell you all. Adhibhutham,

about which I mentioned, is not such a formidable tangle. It is something quite

within the reach of all. Everything that declines and dies, everything that has

Rupa and Nama, form and name, is included in Adhibutham."

"To put it in other words, Adhibutham is Aparaa-prakrithi; all these embodied

things, on this side and on the other and everywhere are Adhibutham. In spite

of this, they are not different from Me," said Krishna, pausing meaningfully.

He did not continue the exposition!

The ways of the Lord are known only to Him. No one else can make out their

meaning and purpose. Attempting to unravel them is a fruitless task.

"They are not different from Me!" At these words Arjuna was petrified with

surprise. His head became heavy with doubt. His intelligence was befogged. His

conviction was shaken. Doubts multiplied in his brain in frightening sequence.

Why did he suffer like this? What was the reason for all this upset?

After declaring "I am the Sath-Chith-Ananda, the Sathya-Nithya-entity,I am

unaffected by death, decline or destruction," Krishna made the devastating

admission that He was the temporary, transitional, destructible Deha also! This

was the cause of all this confusion in Arjuna's brain! Anyone would be

confounded by doubt at these conflicting statements. Krishna laughed as He saw

Arjuna's plight.

Still, since He had no intention of causing delay, and since He knew the source

of Arjuna's dilemma, Krishna immediately set about resolving the doubt.

"Arjuna! Why do you feel lost? You are confounded because I said I am the

short-lived Deha too, is it? Common folk will be shocked on hearing this. Their

reaction will be to reject the idea, for it is difficult to reconcile the two.

This Deha, which is temporary, transitional, and transient, has affinity with

Me; for I am the base from which it springs. Without Me, the Deha or body can

never be. This will become clear to you, on a resume of its origin. Listen to

the story of the origins of the body, which clarifies the mystery. The body is

primarily indebted for its emergence to the food (Anna) that the parents

consume, is it not? Where did that Anna come from? From the earth-element: the

grains and other materials which grew on the earth. And the earth? The

Prithvi-element? It evolved from Jalatathwam, the Water-element. Tracing

back, we find that the Jalatathwam emerged from Agni or the fire-element, the

Agni from Vayu, the Vayu from Aakaasa and the Aakaasa from the Maya of Godhead!

That Maya is merely My apparel."

"My apparel, which I willed and folded around Me became Aakaasa, the Aakaasa got

transformed into Vaayu, the Vaayu changed into Agni, the Agni into Jala, the

Jala became Prithvi or earth, the Earth grew grains of food, the food developed

into the body! So, it is clear, is it not, that the Deha too is Myself? Why

doubt this?"

"Therefore, I am Adhibhutham also, as much as I am as I said before, Brahmam,

Aadhyaathmam and Karma. The cause if the same as the effect; I am the primal

cause and so I am all these effects also. I am the Paramatma; the rest are all

Adhidaivam. In every physical citadel or body, the divine personality named

Hiranyagarbha is immanent. Just as a man is served by his senses, the

Hiranyagarbha is served by the Adhidaivas."

"You might wonder what the role of these Adhidaivas is! They are deities that

serve the divine purpose; that is to say, the eye is illumined by Surya, the

ear by the deities of the quarters, and Indra motivates the hand; these and

other presiding deities are the senses of Hiranyagarbha. However great a

Sadhaka might be, whatever eminence he might have reached, he can attain the

highest only through Hiranyagarbha. Hiranyagarbha is indeed Godhead; there is

no distinction between the two. Is this clear, Arjuna? I am as much Adhidaivam

as I am Adhibutham; as much as these two I am Brahmam, Aadhyaathmam and Karma.

They are all fully divine."

"Now for the next entity - Adhiyajnam. That is also Me! This is the entity that

consumes joy and grief, the result of the multifarious Karmas they are engaged

in. I am the recipient of the Sabda, Sparsa, Rupa, Rasa, and Gandha; through

the five senses in all beings, the Adhiyajna principle! I am not only the

Kartha, the entity responsible for the Karma; I am also the Bhoktha, the entity

for which that Karma is gone through, the recipient of the fruits; I am the

benefactor as well as the beneficiary."

Of course, Krishna was able to open the eyes of Arjuna and clarify this truth,

this fact of His being the Adhiyajna. But, ordinary intellects may not be able

to grasp its implications. It will be easy if we take some illustrations from

life. When you want breeze, you switch on the fan; when you want light, you

switch on the lamp; when you want to cook, you light the stove; when you want

to address a vast audience, you fix up a mike and loudspeakers and switch them

on. Or if it is printing you require, you operate the press with a switch.

Consider these as separate operations and you will notice that they are

unrelated to one another. Light and air, heat and sound, are unrelated; they

are distinct in every way, it would seem. But for all these, the Kartha, the

motivator is the same, viz., the electric current. The expressions, the

manifestations may be different; but the basis, the inspiration, the latent

potency, the base is the same.

Like the current, Godhead too operates through all instruments, and awards the

consequences of all the activities of all the instruments. He is the Daatha of

Sarva-karma-phala. Like the current, He is the inner motivator of all beings,

Sarva-bhuthaanthara-atma. Since He is the activator of all Karmas, He is called

Adhiyajnam.

"The seventh is Pranav, which, when pronounced at the moment of death, awards

merger with the Akshara-parabrahmam Itself!" When Krishna said this, Arjuna

immediately prayed to Him to elaborate the point a little more, so that he

might grasp it clearly. Krishna was only too glad to do so. 'The moment of

death' does not mean 'some future point of time.' It means, 'this very moment!'

Any moment might turn out to be the 'moment of death.' So every moment is the

'last'. Every moment must be filled with Pranava. The fate of man after death

is moulded by the thought that predominated at the moment of death. That

thought is the foundation on which the next birth is built. "Whoever at that

time remembers Me attains My glory, reaches me in fact," declares Krishna. So

each Karma of man, every striving of his, every Sadhana, should be aimed at

sanctifying that fateful moment; the years of life must be devoted to the

discipline that will bring up at that moment the thought of Parama or

Pranava.

"What has to be discarded is the Deha, this physical case; what has to be earned

is Parabrahmam, the universal absolute. The Deha has your reality, your

Swarupam, the un-discardable, indestructible, undying Sathyam and Nithyam. That

reality is the entity called Atma, or what is the same thing, Paramatma. Since

you are that, you cannot cast it off. Casting off the body is akin to shifting

from a house occupied for some years, and birth is your entry into a new one.

Both these are physical acts, not affecting the Atma. Arjuna! The Atma does not

come in, nor does it go out. Those who are toiling in the falsehood of

Dehatathwa cannot have the Atma revealed to them. The Dehatathwa is liable to

decay and death. Therefore, more than the six items mentioned by Me already,

the Pranava which is such a potent instrument of liberation has to be

understood clearly. All the long years of life are to be utilised for this

consummation - the mind being fixed on Pranava when the body is being cast

off. You belch the flavour of the food you have taken; your last thought

indicates the food you have fed on."

"Your Sadgathi is in accordance with your Sadhana; progress is in accordance

with practice. Be always aware of the need to fix the mind on holy thoughts,

when the body is got rid of. That is to say, immerse yourself in holy thought

every moment of your life."

Arjuna inquired, "O Lord! Has one to strive for it from now on, if one wishes to

get holy thoughts at the last moment of life? Can we not get them at that time

itself?" The Lord realised his doubt and replied, "Your intelligence seems to

have been blunted a great deal! For you are hesitating to accept the need to

develop holy thoughts from now on. Arjuna! The mind has to be educated into the

habit, through what is called Abhyasayoga, the discipline of constant practice.

It has to be trained to avoid other thoughts and concentrate on the Lord only.

Then only can you reach the Paramapurusha, the oversoul, the supreme spirit.

Unless you systematically teach it and train it, you will not remember the

Paramapurusha at the moment of death."

"You might ask me the reason. Well. Think of your own case. You are able to use

these weapons of offence and defence in the battle that is imminent because you

taught yourself the art of handling them over many years, is it not? Could you

have used them with confidence, without preparation, on the spur of the moment?

Is it ever possible? The Kshatriya will be called upon to wield weapons some

day, so he is taught the art from childhood so that he may be ready for any

emergency."

"Similarly, whatever else a man may not meet during life, he is certain to meet

with death. So each one must be trained to have at that time the attitude and

thought that are most beneficial to him. Otherwise, life is a failure, a waste.

A person unready for this consummation has to suffer the fate that will befall

him. No one enters a battlefield in order to suffer defeat. So too, no one

voluntarily accepts a fall; he seeks only progress. Will it not be wise,

therefore, to strive for the end that is in your own best interest? Hence,

every man must take earnest steps to secure the thought of the seventh item,

Pranava, at the last moment of life. Whoever dies in that thought attains Me,"

said Krishna.

This is the entire essence of the Geetha. For the goal of all man's actions is

to attain the acme of progress, is it not? That is the urge which makes him

engage himself in prayers, in Japam and Dhyanam, in Archana and Thapas. All

those who have placed faith in these have to remember the goal throughout.

Krishna said that Om or Pranava has to be remembered at the moment of death.

There are certain points that require elucidation in connection with this for

there are many who argue that the Pranava can be repeated only by a few and

that others are not entitled to it. This is wrong. This false conclusion has

been arrived at since they do not know the truth. It springs from a mistaken

belief.

The Geetha does not mention this group or that group. Krishna declares "whoever"

without any qualifying words, limiting it to one class or sex. He has not even

said, "who deserves or who does not deserve,who is authorised or who is

unauthorised." He has only said that for meditation on the Pranava, (mere

'calling it to memory' is of no use) some preliminary disciplines have to be

gone through, like control of the senses, the concentration of the mind, etc.

For, when the mind is flitting from one fancy to another, how can the production

of a sound Om, Om, by the vocal organs be of any benefit? The sound will not

help the attainment of liberation. The senses have to be curbed, thoughts have

to be one-pointed, the glory has to be apprehended. That is why the Lord

advised that from birth to death, one must be engaged in the search for truth.

Instead, if you postpone Sadhana until the last moment, you will be like the

student who turns over the pages of his textbook for the first time, just

before he enters the examination hall! If the student feels that he has before

him one full year and if he neglects to learn from the teacher and from

lecture-notes and from books, how can anything enter his brain when he opens

the pages of his book that very morning? It will only add to his despair. He

can be pronounced proficient only in indolence.

No tree will yield fruits the moment you plant the seedling in your backyard. To

reach that stage, you have to foster it with care over a long period of time, is

it not? Similarly, whatever result you seek, you have to follow carefully,

without break, preparatory disciplines. No one can acquire the fruit without

vigilance and steadfastness.

Sadhakas must be always aware of this. This yearning must be directed away from

"how to be born" towards "how to die!" For birth depends on how death takes

place. Death comes first, birth happens later. Folks believe that men are born

to die and they die so that they may be born. This is wrong. You are born so

that you may not be born again, you die, so that you may not die again. That is

to say, the man who dies must so die that he is not born again. When once you

die, you should not be born again to meet another death. Death is inevitable,

if you are born; so, avoid birth and avoid death.

So, the Sadhaka should not aspire for a good birth; he should seek a good death.

You may be born well, in a good family or with many favourable circumstances;

but subsequent Karma may not ensure a good death. So, if a good death is aimed

at, the trouble of being born and becoming once again subject to death can be

avoided.

Every man born must have the end always in view. Cultivate good habits of

thought and action in order to make that end genuinely auspicious. Attaining

such an end is the unmistakable sign of having won the grace of God.

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