SATHYA SAI SPEAKS - Volume II [Ch. 14, 15, 16]

[Guest guest]

Dear Sai brothers and sisters of the worldwide '' family,

In view of the ensuing glorious event of the 80th Birthday of the Divine Lord

Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, we propose posting of all the Divine Messages

titled as ‘Sathya Sai Speaks’ for the benefit of our members and all the Sai

devotees the world over. We request you to pass on/forward/spread these Divine

messages to your Sai circle so that they also derive spiritual benefits and

bliss from them. These Divine Messages are not only for Sai devotees, they are

for the entire HUMANITY. Lord Krishna taught humanity the ways and means of

salvation for mankind in ‘Bhagavad Gita’ in Dwapara Yuga. ‘Sathya Sai speaks’

is the Bhagavad Gita of Kali Yuga. - With Sai love, Sai brothers -

’’

***

Om Sri Sai Ram

SATHYA SAI SPEAKS - Volume II [Ch. 14, 15, 16]

14. BE GRATEFUL TO THE DOCTORS

THOUGH I have been coming to this City for over twenty years now, this is the

first time I am speaking to a gathering of the people living here. The time,

the need and the deed have to coincide; and today they have. The Guru Poornima

has provided all three and collected together in this sea of humanity the

waters of many areas through many channels and tributaries. Mysore City has

earned fame by its devotion to music, sculpture and other fine arts. But there

is an all finer than all these: the Art of Living. Many a person skilled in

other fields is a failure in so far as this art is concerned. He lives

miserably, without a trace of joy or contentment or peace. He knows only pain

and he gives others only pain.

Mysore is also famous for the fragrance of its sandalwood. So far so good. But I

would like the fragrance to emanate from your feelings and thoughts and deeds,

not so much from the trees that grow in the forests. Then only is the fame

fully deserved. If the sense of beauty and the sense of harmony are not

translated into the daily life of men and women and children, then that life is

a waste, a burden, a hoax.

Man has to lift himself from the animal level through his own Sadhana. There are

three types of men: the Paashavi or the Animal type, the Sahaja or the Human

type and the Divya or the Divine type. Man has evolved from the stone through

plant and tree, worm and insect, bird and mammal; but some are still groveling

in the early stages though they have achieved the human form.

Everyone has some illness or other

Chief Minister Jatti said that you are all like boulders, rough and hard, and

that Bhakti has the power to make you soft and smooth. Now, what does a

sculptor do when he sees a good boulder? He pictures in his mind the lovely

idol of God that is sleeping inside it. He becomes possessed with idea of

liberating the idol from the hard clasp of the stone. He takes up his chisel

and removes the extra stone that lies around the beautiful figure; at last, he

liberates the image. The boulder has to suffer all that hard chiseling in order

to become the Image of God; so too, you should cast off all the impediments, all

the encumbrances that drag you down and make you a boulder instead of a Bhakta

(devotee) and a Paramahamsa (ascetic of the highest order), or even Paramatma

(the Supreme Being).

The world is a huge hospital and humanity is bedridden. Some are writhing in the

pain of envy, some are bloated with pride, some are losing sleep through hate,

some have become blind through miserliness, some are struck down by

selfishness; every one has some illness or other. On this Guru Poornima Day,

you have to render gratitude to the doctors who diagnose your diseases and

prescribe remedies, and the nurses who tend you back to health. You should also

resolve today to follow the treatment recommended and the regimen ordered; it is

not enough if you learn the prescription by heart or read the label on the

bottle three times a day; or visit the hospital every day. Praising the doctor

or worshipping him might induce him to take pity on you, but only your taking

the drug and obeying the restrictions on food and drink and on your habit can

cure

your illness.

While talking of doctors, I must also say that doctors who fight for the

patient's purse or who try to grab a patient before a rival appropriates him,

are a danger to society. The doctor who despises other doctor, or sticks to his

own patent cures irrespective of the experience of failure, or who is guided

more by his whims, fancies and prejudices, or who considers the patient's caste

rather than his disease as more important; such men are also dangerous. Today,

we find doctors and gurus who have deteriorated to the level of wrangling for

patients and their purses, and for the sale of their own or other people's

patent remedies.

Vyaasa is the greatest of spiritual doctors

This day is a day when mankind pays homage to the greatest of spiritual doctors,

Sage Vyasa. Vyasa is the greatest of such doctor; for he put together the Vedas

and composed the Puranas and the Mahabharata and gave humanity the Bhagavatham.

He is the primal Guru for all who walk in the Path of God. He planted the seed

of theism and nurtured it, through Sruthi, Smrthi, Sasthras and the

Mahabharata. He gave the world the Geetha and the Brahma Sutras, the idea of

the immanent Atma, the story of the Divine Leela, the secret of this changeful

Creation. He belonged to about 3800 B.C.; he was the great-grandson of the sage

Vasishtha, the son of Paraasara and the father of that celebrated gem among

Rishis, Shuka. His life-story is a series of miracles, a Divine saga. He came

from Vaasudeva, announced the

Leela of Vaasudeva to all and finally, got merged in Vaasudeva. He established

the era of Naamapaaraayana (repeating and discoursing, on Lord's Name) and made

all aware of the sweetness of the Name of the Lord, which evokes His Form and

His Grace.

The prayers to be offered daily

Vyasa first revealed to man the secret of making the mind as clear and as full

of cool rays as the moon on a full moon night; that is why this Pournami is

associated with him and with all Gurus. Today every Aasthika (who believer in

God) must refuse to be content with a feast and a lecture. He should try to

plant today the Naamabija (seed of Lord's Name) in his well-prepared heart,

devoid of the thorns of egoism; and water it with Prema (love), fence the

sprout with Shraddha (faith), feed it with the fertilizer, smarana (remembering

the Name); and from the grown-up tree of the mantra (holy letters), pluck the

fruit of Ananda (bliss) and relish the sweetness.

A person may boast of the vast treasures in the vaults of his bank, but he will

get credit only for that which he has actually earned and deposited therein. Do

not fritter away the time allotted to you; offer it to Kesava, who is Kaala

Swarupa (Time personified). Know that waking from sleep is but birth and going

into sleep is death. On waking, pray every morning of your life, "Oh Lord, I am

born now from the womb of sleep. I am determined to carry out all tasks this day

as offerings to Thee, with Thee ever present before my mind's eye. Make my

words, thoughts and deeds sacred and pure; let me not inflict pain on any one;

let no one inflict pain on me; direct me, guide me, this day." And when you

enter the portals of sleep at night, pray, "Oh Lord! the tasks of this day,

whose burden I placed on you this morning, are over. It was You who made me

walk and talk and think and act; I therefore place at Thy Feet all my words,

thoughts and deeds. My task is done. Receive me, I am coming back to you."

Adopt these as your daily prayers. The best thing is to have your own Self as

the source of Light, as the Guru. The Inner Intelligence, the Inner Guru will

reveal the Truth. This prayerful attitude will so educate your impulses that

the Inner intelligence will be fully revealed.

Do everything with a spirit of dedication

Begin with the cultivation of Prema. I have found that the people of Karnataka

have great faith and devotion; they are simple in their habits and thoughts. Do

not allow these to decline; cultivate them with care. The Chief Minister said

that all are children of the Lord. It is better to say that all are actors in

the drama designed by Him; dolls dancing and acting as He pulls the strings.

The role you have might be that of an officer, a soldier, a ryot, a beggar or a

clerk. Act well your part so that the drama might be a success. Do everything in

a spirit of dedication, as if in each moment you act, speak and even feel in

response to a command received. To get that mood of dedication, the Bhakti

Sutras (aphorisms on devotion) prescribe nine paths but the easiest and the

most practicable is Smarana---a life lived in the constant

remembrance of the Lord.

A bar of iron sinks in water; but beat it into a hollow vessel and it will float

merrily and even carry some weight. So too, man's mind sinks easily in the sea

of sense; beat it hollow, hammering it with the Name of the Lord. It will float

safely, on a sea of troubles. Do not be like gramophone records singing some one

else's song, ignorant of the genuine thrill of music. Sing from your own

experience of the Glory and Grace of the Lord.

If you win the Grace of the Lord, even the decrees of destiny can be overcome.

There are certain drugs which come in bottles on which the manufacturer has

given an ultimate date beyond which the ding loses its efficacy. Of coupe, the

ding will be in the bottle, but would no longer be effective. Similarly, Lord's

Grace can make it inoperative. The Guru is one who shows you the Path for

getting that Grace and to such a one this day is dedicated.

Guru Poornima Mysore: 27-7-1961

Prayer is a very forceful weapon, much more effective than any bomb. The word is

an effective instrument: it can move mountains. In these critical times, every

one of you should pray deeply and sincerely, for the peace and prosperity of

Bharatha Maatha (Mother India). - Sathya Sai Baba

15. MITHI AND GATHI

JONNALAGADDA Sathyanaaraayanamurthy thrilled you so much, since he spoke soft

and sweet in his charming style. He has returned from Russia where there is too

much rush, to this quiet place this Nilayam of Prashanthi. This is a function

connected with physical ills and their cure and prevention and so I must also

confine My remarks to them.

Man has two varieties of troubles: the physical, due to the imbalance between

the three humors Vaatha, Pittha and Sleshma (wind, bile and phlegm), and the

spiritual, due to the imbalance of the three Gunas, Sathwa, Rajas and Thamas

(qualities of purity, passion and inertia). Sathyanaaraayanamurthy gave some

pathetic instances of the sufferings caused by resorting to indifferent and

ignorant doctor. I also agree that it is wise to adjust one's living so

intelligently that there is no need to approach any doctor. Illness is due to

the neglect of. some simple rules of healthy eating and drinking and due to the

damage caused to the system by evil habits and stupid cravings. Man rains

himself by greed and lust worry and fear; he falls an easy prey to his

insatiable thirst for a happy life. He does not know the source and

spring of happiness, which lies within himself; he believes he can get it in

plenty and in quick time by running after the mirage of fashion or fancy,

excitement or entertainment. He thinks that floating on the roaring, raging

torrent of the world will help; but that only gives him unbearable tossing and

nausea. Joy is a subjective feeling; it is not inherent in the objective

world. You are the witness, separate from the scene; you are the seer not the

seen--dhrashta not the dhrik or the dhrishya.

Purified inner vision gives unfailing health

The Screen is the Sathya (truth) and the images that flit across it are mithya

(false); when you see the film you do not see the screen as screen; you forget

its existence and you think that there is just the picture and nothing else as

its base. But the screen is there all the time and it is only the screen that

makes you experience the picture. Narayana is the screen and Prakriti

(objective world) is the film; when the play is on, the screen is the Aadhaara

(base) and Prakriti (objective world) becomes Naaraayanamayam (God

all-pervading). The Screen is Sathyam; the story is samsaaram (worldly life),

for it has only some saaram (essence).

Surdas, the blind singer, had as his ardent listener when he sang Krishna

Himself sitting in front of him as a cowherd boy humming in appreciation;

Surdas took Him to be a cowherd from the villages around, though he sang that

all beings are His Forms. One day, Krishna revealed to him that He was the Hero

of his heart. He touched his eyes with His Divine Fingers and He could be seen!

>From His Lips, he could hear the selfsame strains of the Flute, which he was

hearing all along, whenever he started meditating on the Lord; as a matter of

fact, he was only trying all along to put that music into verse. He then

declared that he did not care to see other things with the sight vouchsafed to

him; he said the inner eyes were enough. The purified inner vision gives

lasting joy and therefore, unfailing health.

To purify the Anthahkarana (inner psychosomatic equipment), Vedas and Sasthras

prescribe the proper processes; some people dismiss the Vedas and Sasthras as

so many shackles on thought and action, but they are "bunds" which regulate the

flow of feelings, emotions and instincts along safe channels.

Sadhak should be careful about food

Coming to the more direct topic of physical ills, I must tell you that you must

practice moderation in food, drink, sleep and exercise. Good food taken in

moderate quantities, at regular intervals; that is the prescription. Saathwik

(pure, wholesome) food promotes self-control and intelligence more than

Raajasik (passion-producing) and Thaamasik (impure food). So for spiritual

aspirants, Saathwik food is very necessary.

In one of the jails of this State, there was once a very pure soul devoted to

spiritual ideals, carefully practicing Sadhana (spiritual discipline); he had

advanced very far in Dhyana (meditation) and dharana (holding on to it). One

day, however, when he sat for Dhyana, he felt very savage emotions surging up

in him and was shocked to find that he could not, in spite of tremendous

straggle, suppress the hateful and murderous thoughts that took hold of him. He

was rocked in agony and his Guru too was upset at the turn of events. The Guru

probed into the history of the disciple rather deeply but could not find any

valid reason for the tragedy. At last, he found that a certain fanatic murderer

had acted as the cook in the jail kitchen the day previous to the calamity and

his hateful homicidal thoughts had

pervaded the food cooked by him, which the Sadhak had consumed. There are subtle

invisible thought-forms that can pass from one person to another by such means.

Here, one has to be very careful about food, especially where one is proceeding

Godward, through the steep path of Yoga.

Sleep too should be regulated and moderate; it is as important as work and food.

Remember also that dress is primarily for protection against heat and cold, not

for vain display even at the cost of health. Virtuous conduct also ensures

mental peace and that in turn saves you from many a physical and mental

illness. If you overstep mithi (bounds), you miss your gathi (progress).

The habit that rehabilitates the fallen

Above all, do every act as an offering to the Lord, without being elated by

success or dejected by defeat; this gives the poise and equanimity needed for

sailing through the waters of the ocean of life.

It is the mind that builds up the body, strong and shiny or wastes it to skin

and bone. For manushya (human) to be strong the manas (mind) has to be strong.

Live always as the servant of the Lord within you, then you will not be tempted

into sin or fall into evil. Get into the habit of living in the light of God. It

is the habit that rehabilitates the fallen. Have the attitude of Saranagathi

(seeking refuge at the feet of the Lord), or else your destiny will be

Shara-gathi (movement of an arrow). That is why Krishna said,

"Manmanaabhaava!"---"Let your mind be absorbed in Me."

You may ride in a smart car of your own; but you are entrusting daily, without a

second thought, the car and yourself and your family to the skill and presence

of mind' of your chauffeur. However, when advised to entrust your affairs to

the Lord, Maya Shakti (power of worldillusion) hesitates and declines! It

refuses to surrender to Maha Shakti (Divine Power). What are we to say about

such absurd conceit! If you have Saranagathi, you will be ever content and ever

so happy and healthy. Then this hospital can be closed for want of patients; it

can well be used for accommodating devotees and giving them lodging!

You are all certain to win

All that you eat, all that you see, all that you hear, all that you take in

through the senses, make a dent on your health. There are three types of

reactions you usually have from the outer world and three types of men in whom

one or the other predominates: the cotton, which gets soaked in whatever it

gets immersed; the stone, which escapes from getting affected; and the butter,

which is changed by whatever it comes across, even a little warmth. The

"butter" men are moved by instant sympathy, either at another's joy or at his

grief.

Do not, like some mental patients, be always worrying about some little ailment

or another. Have courage, that is the best tonic; do not give up, before you

have to. It is not long life that counts; if you live on and on, a time may

come when you have to pray to the Lord to take you away, to release you. from

travail. You may even start blaming Him for ignoring you and blessing other

luckier people with death! By all means, worry about success or failure in

achieving the real purpose of life. And then you will get as many years as are

needed to fulfill that desire. Yearn, yearn, yearn hard; and success is yours.

Remember, you am all certain to win; that is why you have been called and you

have responded to the call to come to Me.

What other task have I than the showering of Grace? By Darshan, Sparshan and

Sambashan (seeing, touching and conversing, you share in that Grace. When that

melts and this melts, the two can merge. Treat Me not as one afar, but as very

close to you. Insist, demand, claim Grace from Me; do not praise, extol and

cringe. Bring your hearts to Me and win My Heart. Not one of you is a stranger

to Me. Bring your promises to me and I shall give you My Promise. But first see

that your promise is genuine, sincere; see that your heart is pure; that is

enough.

Sathya Sai Hospital Prashanthi Nilayam 10-10-1961

You say, "I have got fever " But where did you get it from? Kaali? Gaya? It came

from within you, not from anywhere outside you. When you have developed

jaundice, everything appears yellow. Egoism too is a jaundice, which warps your

vision and makes you see things wrong .It is due to inner impurity, inner

defects. Get rid of that egoism and all will be Love, Peace, Unity, One. -

Sathya Sai Baba

16. SHIVA SANKALPA

JONNALAGADDA Sathyanaaraayanamurthy spoke on fine topics in a fine language, but

however nicely a person may talk and however great his skill in the use of

language, he who can clarify the truth of God has never yet been born; nor will

he be ever born. One can only relate what one has felt or experienced through

His Grace. He who has touched the very base will not come again to this base

world.

Of course, they show the Lord in books, illustrations, films and pictures, as

well as on the stage. But who among the writers or painters or actors has seen

Him? The epics and Puranas relate only an infinitesimal fraction of His Glory;

they set limits to the limitless, for words have a limit. It is only the one

endowed with Jnaanadhrishti or Yogadhrishti or Bhakthidhrishti (vision of

sacred knowledge, of union with God or of selfless devotion for God) that can

have a glimpse of that Effulgence. The rest only mislead by their claims of

authenticity. Those who know will not speak; those who speak do not know,

cannot know.

You all recite the Sloka in the Geetha, which says that the Lord will create a

Form for Himself and come into human affairs whenever Dharma is in grave peril.

You have repeated it so often that it has become meaningless jargon; it has been

quoted so often and by so many that it has lost all significance. Only those

that are proficient in the Sasthras can recognise an Avatar and test the

credentials; only they can taste the joy showered by the Incarnation. The

Puranas and the Itihasas (ancient legends and history) describe the Lord in

manifold ways according to the vyakthi (individual) who is devoted and the

Shakti (power) that is described; but the Vedas and the Sasthras do not indulge

in such changing moods; they deal with fundamentals. Sometimes, in the confusion

of interpretation

and re-telling, people miss the road. When the blind lead the blind, both are

likely to fall into the well. Then the wise intervene and demarcate the Road

along safe lines.

God is beyond understanding

Sathyanaaraayanamurthy referred to Dr. Bhagavatham and the soaring claims of

science. But religion begins where science ends. In science, when one door is

opened, and a passage is revealed, ten doors are discovered in that very

passage, and each one of them has to be opened in turn. Science transforms

things, re-arranges them, studies their composition, re-groups their pans and

releases the energy that lies latent in them. But I create the things

themselves! And they are as lasting as any that is found in Nature! That is

this, but this is not that. Nature is Brahman, mistaken to be Nature, on

account of the delusion of Name and Form. But Brahman is not Nature; it is only

the rope, which was mistaken to be the snake. When Wisdom dawns, when Light

illumines, the snake disappears and the rope alone remains. The Lord is

sweetness, you are

sugar; He is fire, you are fuel; He has no heart; every heart where He is

installed is His. Narada who moves always by and with the Lord feels that God

is beyond his understanding; Balarama who came as His own brother could not

fathom His personality. How then can you grasp My Mystery? How can those who

strut about in well-ironed bush coats fathom Truth? Yet, I know some here who

sold away their faith to hollow men and started talking about My dress and My

hair! If you dare seek My Truth, come, surrender unto Me. Do not teach treason

to your friends and to other seekers. Dress and manners have become polished

now but the inner man has deteriorated in virtue and faith!

Yearning of the heart only pleases the Lord

Ravana and Hiranyaaksha were experts in Japa Yajna (Vedic ritual of sacrifice

with pious repetition of sacred mantras) but they never surrendered their ego

to God. They did not pluck the weeds .of sensory impulses from the fields of

their hearts and so they harvested a crop of thorns. It is not the grandeur of

the yaaga (ceremonial sacrifice) or the pomp of Pooja (ritual worship) that

pleases the Lord; it is the yearning of the heart; not the sum of all the miles

covered by you in pilgrimage or the cost of all the articles you have given in

charity. You need not even pray aloud, unless of course you picture Him as

living far away in Dwarka or Kailash. If you have installed Him in your heart,

He will Himself emerge when you yearn for Him. Prahlada felt so and since no

fire could burn Him or no fall could break His bones,

Prahlada too suffered no harm!

Ambarisha performed a yaaga, but at the crucial moment the animal intended for

the sacrifice escaped! Now the priests ordained that to make amends for this

sinful neglect, a human being had to be offered as substitute to the Gods! The

King promised 1000 cows in exchange for a son, but which father will send a son

to death, even when 1000 cows are given in exchange? There were also other

conditions: the King's messengers should not ask any one for the son; they

should not commit the sin of equating 1000 cows as equal to human being; the

father too should not break the sad offer to the son; the offer to immolate

himself must come unasked from the son, without any prompting or persuasion; it

is only such a son that will be accepted by the Gods.

An end which even saints would envy

Now, Sunashepha heard the news by himself and approaching his father, he said he

would go, and gladly too. For, what greater good fortune can a mortal expect

than ascending to heaven through the sacrificial flame? (I am reminded of a

strange answer that a little girl, aged nine, gave Me when I asked her, "Well,

what do you want from Me?" She said, "Baba, let me merge in You" and in a few

weeks, she passed away and her wish was fulfilled. The child breathed her last

asking that her face be turned to the wall so that she might look on Baba's

picture when she died. She had a wonderful end, an end which could be envied by

saints).

God likes such pure souls who come gladly to merge in Him. Some people say, "Oh,

it is the Dasara Festival and lakhs and lakhs of people throng there. And they

pour lakhs and lakhs of rupees there." Well, what they give is alakshyam

(disregard), not Laksham (lakhs)! My hand stretches out for receiving, only

when a pure heart full of Prema (Love) is offered; on all other occasions, it

gives, never takes. People with poison in their hearts, barren of love and

service, let them feel shame and resolve to cleanse themselves from now on.

The Lord will never disown a devotee

Sunashepha persuaded his father that his wish to proceed to the Yajna and offer

himself was legitimate and approvable, and he left for the capital. On the way,

he went to his maternal uncle, Visvamitra, who tried to keep away the boy from

the sacrifice. 'This is all just foolish superstition; can anyone substitute a

man for a cow?" Visvamitra asked. Sunashepha replied that all men are cattle,

for until Viveka and Vairagya (discrimination and detachment) dawn, they are

but animals. So, in spite of his uncle's arguments, arguments like the ones

used by some to dissuade persons from coming to Puttaparthi, Sunashepha managed

to reach the Yaagashaala (the place of sacrifice). In the same way as the lights

before us are lit when a switch is moved up at Penukonda, when the Lord decides

on something, it has to happen so. Well, the

Lord is not a rock or a stone; His Heart melted at the plight of the boy. Indra

appeared in the sacrificial fire and departed showering blessings on his head.

It was Indra, who had carried away the original cow and elaborated all this

plot, to bring Sunashepha and his greatness to light and to bless him. The Lord

is Prema Swarupa (Divine Love personified), believe Me. The earthly father or

mother will show love only so long as you obey them; start going against their

wishes and they will go to the extent of even disowning you! The Lord will

never disown, for He is your very core, your very basic Reality. You derive

from Him the fruit of your labour, of your Dhyana, Japam and Pooja; faith will

grow into Thyaaga (sacrifice); you will feel that you are instruments with no

individuality save as prompted by Him.

The one Namaskaaram (respectful obeisance) you do, do it with devotion. That is

enough. You do not do even that; you do it so callously, so indifferently, so

automatically. When you fold both your hands and bring them together, feel that

you are offering at the Feet all the actions of the five Karmendhriyas (organs

of action) and the five Jnaanendhriyas (organs of perception) as indicated by'

the ten fingers. Again, the purpose of Namaskaaram is to touch the Feet

(Sparshan) of the Lord. The negative pole, Maya Shakti (power of illusion), and

the positive pole Maha Shakti (Supreme divine power) have to meet in order to

produce a spiritual current that will flow through you.

Do not allow your faith to falter

Come, I am the repairer of broken hearts of damaged Anthahkaranas. I am like the

smith, who welds, mends and sets right. Ten years ago, a devotee prayed to Me in

song, "My heart has gone 'dry, my lamp has gone out, my path is dark, my brain

is confused. Lord, make me fit again for life's arduous journey." The Lord will

be waiting outside the door of the Pooja room of the Bhakta, anxious to fulfill

his wish! Verily, he who has the Lord as His Servant, he is the real Prabhu

(Lord)!

Only, do not allow your faith to falter. Do not become a slave to others; no,

not even to God. Test. Test, examine, experience and then, when you find God,

demand as of right. But' before you get that right, you should appear for the

examination and pass, is it' not? I set tests not as a punishment or because I

enjoy putting you into trouble, but just to give you the joy of passing!

Bhadhram here was asked by his gum, Deekshithadaas, to go along the streets for

some years and beg for food. He had enough to eat but he had to do it as the

customary, and the legitimate, duty of dhaasas; and Bhadhram did it quite

gladly. It is a training in the control and conquest of the ego; you have to

take it as such and not give up the fruit, afraid of the exertion that the

cultivation of the plant requires.

You should not also yield to despair or become dejected. It is My Sankalpa

(resolve) that you progress in spiritual development. I have collected all of

you and I shall lay the concrete foundation and build the walls and erect the

roof and complete the mansion. My Sankalpa never proves ineffective.

The story of a Divine Plan

I shall tell you the story of Iswara Sankalpa (Will of the Supreme Lord) and how

nothing could stop its realisation. Shiva was every day discoursing on Kailash

to sages and saints and Devas in the evening hours. One day, Parvati suggested

that a Hall be constructed for accommodating them all, so that they could all

listen without being affected by the constant fog and mist and cold winds.

Shiva did not have the Sankalpa to put it up; still, Parvati insisted that her

idea must be implemented. The astrologer who was consulted before the

foundations were dug said "The stars forecast that the Hall will be consumed by

fire, since Shani (Saturn) is not propitious from the very beginning." The Hall

was completed, nevertheless.

Now, that set a problem for the Couple. Shiva proposed to ask Shani for the

favour of saving the Hall from his anger, though He doubted whether the Planet,

reputed for his inevitable ire, would ever agree. Parvati felt deeply hurt and

she resolved not to give the tiny tyrant, Shani, the credit for destroying the

Hall that She had got built. She swore that instead of giving him the chance to

declare arrogantly that he had set fire to the Hall, she would herself set fire

to it. But Shiva asked her to first await the outcome of His appeal to Shani,

for He was Himself proceeding to his headquarters! He told Her, "If Shani

agrees to exempt the Hall from his anger, I shall come back and report the good

news to you; but if he is adamant, I shall raise My Hand and twirl this Dhakka

(double drum). On hearing that signal, you may

set fire to the Hall and rob Shani of the credit for doing so."

The role of a tool in the Divine Plan

Parvati was ready with a burning torch in anticipation of the signal, so that

there may not be a moment's chance for the wicked Planet to execute his

nefarious plan of revenge. Shani, however, agreed to the request made by Shiva;

he said that he would not bum down the Hall in Kailash and Shiva was happy at

his reply. So, when Shani prayed that he might be granted one small boon, Shiva

agreed and asked him what it was. It seems Shani had never before seen the

famous Dance of Shiva which all the stellar divinities were extolling and Shani

craved that Shiva may show him a step-or two. Shiva readily assented and started

the Thaandava (frantic dance of Shiva), raising His hand and sounding the

Dhakka! Listening to the signal, Parvati applied the torch and the Hall was, as

per the Sankalpa of Shiva, burnt to

ashes! Divine Sankalpa must be fulfilled! Shani was just a tool in the Divine Plan.

About the Ashtagrahakoota (conjunction of eight planets) that is scaring you all

now, if you have Anugraha (Divine Blessings), what can the Grahas (planets) do?

If you have gold, that is enough; you can get made all varieties of jewels Ask

for and secure gold--that is all that you need. The astronomical junction of

planets between Feb. 2 and 5 next year is being made much of by the astrologers

and calendar minded Brahmins and they are reaping a rich harvest by creating

panic and suggesting various counter measures. Of coupe, it is good to give

things in charity, to pray to the Gods and to perform Yaga; but do it for its

own sake, not with a view to escape the Eight Planets! Do it, as you should, at

all times, not because of this temporary fear. Do not give way to panic. Nothing

will happen between Feb.2 and 5. You will

all be coming happily and full of joy for Shivarathri to Puttaparthi, let Me

assure you. All talk of Pralaya (annihilation) is just a scare; do not lose

courage.

Prashanthi Nilayam, 17-10-1961

“Dharma (Righteousness) is the root of the world,” says Shruti (sacred text);

so, as Krishna said, when Dharma declines, the Lord incarnates as Man. Well.

“The Veda is the root of Dharma,” says Shruti. Dharma is the fruit of Veda,

which is the Tree. Now, Veda itself is getting dried up! So, fostering Veda is

one of the tasks of the Avatar. - Sathya Sai Baba

TO BE CONTINUED…

With Sai love from Sai brothers – ‘’Source and Courtesy:

http://www.sssbpt.info/ssspeaks/volume02/sss02

Sports Rekindle the Rivalries. Sign up for Fantasy Football