Sathya Sai Baba Geetha Vahini - Chapter 18

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Sathya Sai BabaGeetha Vahini

Chapter XVIII

"Since the Uttarayana Marga is lit by the holy splendour of Jnana, it is praised

as the Sukla marga or the white path. The Dakshinayana marga is dark, filled

with Thamas and Ajnana; so it is called the dark path or the Krishna marga.

Those who discard the body and journey on during the Uttarayana move along the

white path and reach the stage of liberation or Moksha, which is devoid of

delusion, which is the seat and source of Brahmananda, from which there is no

return to this world of name and form, this arena of embodied beings. Those who

leave the body during the Dakshinayana and move along the dark path, have to

bear again this physical encasement called Deha, subject to birth and death."

"Uttarayana is not so much a period of time; it is a state of mind. Those who

discard the body with the glory of self-knowledge move along the Uttarayana

marga and those who die in ignorance of their Atmic reality move along the

Pithryana, or Dakshinaya or the dark path."

"Of the Gunas, Sathwaguna is pure and effulgent; the Thamoguna is dark and so

they are distinguished by the opposite colours of white and black. Again there

are two Nadis, Ida and Pingala by name, subtle nerves; Ida to the left and

Pingala to the right of the Sushumna. The Ida-naadimarga is the lunar path and

the Pingala-naadimarga is the solar path. The Yogis proceed along the solar and

the others along the lunar path. This is another of the unobserved mysteries."

"The end of everything that is born is death; Samyoga leads to Viyoga;

construction must result in the destruction of that which is constructed. It is

the law of nature that birth ends in death and death leads to birth. The stage

which knows no coming and going is the stage when the universal Brahmam is

visualised, for since Brahmam is all-pervasive, where is the other place from

which the 'coming' can be effected and to which the 'going' can be performed?"

"There is no need to doubt whether such a stage is within the reach of all,

whether all can achieve this victory. Nor is any special effort, or peculiar

good fortune or a specially designed act necessary. It is enough if the mind is

always fixed on Paramatma, if the Lord is meditated upon without break. That

will cleanse the mind; the delusion clogging it will disappear. This by itself

comprises Moksha, for what is Moksha but Moha-kshaya, the decline of delusion?

A person who has achieved this Moha-kshaya will attain Brahmathva, the stage of

Brahmam, howsoever he might die. Such a person is called a 'Jnani'."

At this, Arjuna put in a query. He said, "Krishna! I do not quite understand the

meaning of what you call Jnana. Is it the knowledge learnt through the ear from

the teacher? Or is it the knowledge culled from the Sastras? Or is it the

knowledge imparted by those rich in actual experience? Which among these

liberates man from bondage?"

Krishna replied: "The types of knowledge you mentioned now are all useful at

some stage or the other of one's spiritual development; but by none of them can

you escape the cycle of birth and death! That which releases you is known as

Anubhavajnana, the knowledge that you yourself experience; that alone can help

you to be free. The teacher can be of some help in the process; but he cannot

show you your real self. You have to visualise it yourself; besides, you have

to be free from vices like envy. Then only can you be called a Purna Jnani, one

who has attained full Jnana. He who has faith in this Jnana, who is devoted in

acquiring it, and who is full of yearning to earn it, only such a person can

realise Me."

"He must be free from envy; besides, he must be earnest, steeped in Sraddha.

Earnestness is essential even for the performance of the smallest act by man.

Not man alone, but bird and beast, worm and virus, all have to be earnest to

succeed. When you have no earnestness or Sraddha in the act, you cannot gather

the fruit.

"Arjuna! I am the witness; through Me, this Prakrithi, this conglomeration of

the five elements called Prapancha, all these moveable and immoveable objects,

are formed. Through Me as the cause, the Prapancha behaves in various ways.

Fools who cannot understand Me as the highest principle and as the master of

all the elements whose will they have to obey, take Me to be just a man. Some

great men reverently meditate on Me as Brahmam; others worship Me under various

names and in various forms; some then worship Me through Jnanayajna and

Atmayajna."

"Whatever the name, whatever the form of worship, I am the recipient; for I am

the goal of all. I am the only one; there is no other. I Myself become the

worshipped, through My many names and forms. Not only this; I am the fruit of

all actions, the bestower of the fruit, the basis. The prompter, the prompter

of all. Why recount and repeat? I am the force behind the birth, existence and

death of everything and of every life. I am the birthless, deathless cause."

"Realise Me, the primal cause; that is indeed Moksha. He is the Jivanmuktha

(liberated even while alive) who attains that Moksha. Therefore, Arjuna, if one

yearns to become a Jivanmuktha, to attain Moksha, he must accomplish some simple

disciplines. He has to eradicate fully the attachment to the body."

Hearing this, Arjuna intercepted, "Krishna! Do you speak of this Sadhana of

complete detachment as a simple discipline? Is it so easy to practise? Even

accomplished ascetics find it difficult and you recommend it so glibly to

people like me! You speak of it as if it were a very simple task; but it is a

formidable endeavour. I feel you are putting me on trial with such suggestions.

Can I ever attain that state? Can I win liberation, can I attain Moksha? I have

no hope" he said and sat dispirited.

Krishna was watching him steadily losing courage. He went close to him and

patted his back in a reassuring manner. He said, "Arjuna! There is no need to

get perturbed and desperate just for this. No one will get faith as soon as one

hears of it. One must delve into I with the help of reason; then it will be

found that this discipline is not as hard as it is imagined to be. To become

completely detached it is not necessary to grow matted hair, wear ochre robes

and torture the body into skin and bone. It is enough if you do all acts as

dedicated to the Lord, without any desire. This is the secret of liberation."

"Performing all activities in this manner is not difficult. Only, one should

have steady faith and earnestness. Of course, these are essential for every

type of activity and so, you can realise that they are indispensable for

spiritual activity too."

"Whoever among devotees dedicates all acts to Me with no other thought, whoever

meditates on Me, serves Me, worships Me, remembers Me, knows that I am always

with him, ever providing for him in this world and the next. I bear the burden

of his Yogakshema. Do you hear Me?" asked Krishna, patting Arjuna again on the

back and imparting courage to his drooping heart.

This statement about the Lord guaranteeing the Yogakshema of the devotee has

given rise to a great deal of misunderstanding. Even pundits, not to speak of

others, have failed to grasp its real import. The commentators on the Geetha

explain this declaration in manifold ways.

This most sacred sentence is as the navel to the Geetha-body. The navel of

Vishnu was the place where Brahma took birth; this sloka is the navel or place

of nativity for those who thirst for Brahmajnana. If this sloka is followed in

practice, the entire Geetha can be understood.

There are a number of interesting stories current about this sloka. I shall give

one example: A learned pundit was once giving discourses on the Geetha in the

august presence of a Maharaja. One day the turn of this sloka came:

Ananyaaschinthayantho maamYe janaah paryupaasatheTheshaam

nithyaabhiyukthaanaamYogakshemam vahamyaham.

The pundit was explaining enthusiastically the many-sided implications of this

sloka, but the Maharaja shook his head and said: "This meaning is not correct."

He continued to dispute the correctness of every one of the explanations the

pundit gave. The poor pundit had won meritorious distinctions at the court of

many a Maharaja and was honoured by them all with pompous titles. He felt as if

he was stabbed when the Maharaja in the presence of the entire band of courtiers

condemned his explanation of this sloka a 'wrong'. He smarted under the insult;

but plucking up courage, he again set upon his task, and marshalling all his

scholarship, he plunged into an eloquent discourse on the multiple meaning of

the words, "Yoga" and "Kshema." The Maharaja did not approve of even this; he

ordered: "Find out the meaning of this sloka and having understood it well,

come to me again tomorrow." With this, the Maharaja rose from his throne and

went into the inner apartments.

The pundit lost even the few grains of courage left in him. He was weighed down

by anxiety; he tottered under the insult; he reached home and, placing the copy

of the Geetha aside, he dropped on his bed.

Surprised at this, the pundit's wife asked, "Tell me why you came home from the

palace today in such grief? What exactly did happen?" She rained one anxious

question after another so that the pundit was obliged to describe to her all

hat had happened, the insults heaped on his head, the command with which the

Maharaja sent him home, etc. The wife listened calmly to the account of what

had happened and after pondering deeply over the incident, she said, "Yes; it

is true. What the Maharaja said is right. The explanation you gave for the

sloka is not the correct one. How could the Maharaja approve it? The fault is

yours." At this, the pundit rose in anger from the cot, like a cobra whose tail

is trodden hard. "What do you know, you silly woman? Am I inferior in

intelligence to you? Do you, who are engaged in the kitchen all the time,

cooking and serving, claim to know more than I? Shut your mouth and quit my

presence," he roared.

But the lady stood her ground. She replied, "Lord! Why do you fly into such a

rage at a statement of mere truth? Repeat the sloka once again to yourself and

ponder over its meaning. You will then arrive at the right answer yourself."

Thus by her soft words the wife brought calm into the mind of her husband.

The pundit started analysing the meaning of each individual word in the sloka.

Ananyaaschinthayantho maam, be began, deliberately and slowly, repeating aloud

the various meanings. The wife intervened and said, "What use is it to learn

and expound the meanings of words? Tell me what your intention was when you

approached this Maharaja. What was the purpose?" At this, the pundit got wild.

"Should I not run this family, this home? How am I to meet the cost of food and

drink, of clothes and things, for you and all the rest? It is for the sake of

these that I went to him, of course; or else, what business have I with him?"

he shouted.

The wife then replied. "If you had only understood what lord Krishna has

declared in this sloka, the urge to go to this Maharaja would not have arisen!

If He is worshipped without any other thought, if one but surrenders to Him, if

at all times the mind is fixed on him, then the Lord has declared in this sloka

that He would provide everything for the devotee. You have not done these

three; you approach the Maharaja, believing that he would provide everything!

That is where you have gone against the meaning of the verse. That is the

reason why he did not accept your explanation."

Hearing this, that reputed scholar sat awhile, ruminating on her remarks. He

realised his mistake. He did not proceed to the palace the next day. Instead,

he got immersed in the worship of Krishna at home. When the king inquired why

the pundit had not appeared, courtiers said that he was staying at home and had

not started out. The king sent a messenger, but the pundit declined to move out.

He said, "There is no need for me to go to any one; my Krishna will provide me

with everything; He will bear my Yogakshema Himself. I suffered insult because

I did not realise this so long, being blinded by eagerness to know the manifold

meanings of mere words. Surrendering to Him, if I am ceaselessly engaged in

worshipping Him, He will Himself provide me with all I need."

When the messenger took this message to the palace, the Maharaja proceeded to

the dwelling of the pundit on foot; he fell at the feet of the pundit, saying

"I thank you sincerely for explaining to me this day, out of your own

experience, the meaning of the sloka which you expounded yesterday." Thus, the

king taught the pundit that any propagation of spiritual matters which does not

come out of the crucible of experience is mere glitter and show.

Even today, many learned men who go about discoursing on the Geetha and doing

propaganda for it, do not observe its principles in practice; they are engaged

in simply expounding to the world the valueless rind, the textual meaning, the

sense of the words and nothing more. Trying to spread the Geetha, without

actually practising it, is tantamount to ruining the cause and insulting the

sacred book. They extol the Geetha as the very breath of their life, as the

crown of all scriptures, and as having emanated from the lips of the Lord

Himself.

They show so much reverence for the book that their eyes overflow with tears at

the very mention of its name; they place it on their heads; they press it on

their eyes; they keep it in their shrines and offer Puja to it with great

bursts of demonstrative devotion. All the respect, all the worship is only for

the paper, the book!

If indeed they have reverence for the words of the Lord, the contents of the

book, they would have striven to put them into practice, is it not? No; they do

not strive, they have no iota of experience. If they have the experience, none

of them would barter the spread of that experience for money. They would yearn

only for grace.

Not even one in a million among the Geethapracharaks today, among those who talk

about their mission of spreading the Geetha, has the yearning for the grace of

the Lord. No; if they had that yearning, they would not have thought of income

or of money.

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