SATHYA SAI SPEAKS - Volume II [Ch. 44, 45, 46, 47]

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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. 44, 45, 46, 47]

44. WHAT IS DHARMA, WHAT IS NOT?

VAARANAASI Subrahmanya Shastri spoke so well about Dharma, especially the

problem of right and wrong as brought out in the episodes of the Mahabharata.

Of course, as he said, right and wrong have to be decided in each case by the

analysis of the particular context, with reference to some fundamental

principles. Those principles have been visualized by Sages and laid down in the

Vedas. That is why the Veda is declared to be the root of Dharma. Ganapathi

Shastri brought out this primacy of the Veda in his talk. Both of them have

already served you a fine banquet of wisdom. The time is 6.25 p.m. and

Ghantasaala, who is to give a musical recital, has already occupied the

attention of most of you. Ghantasaala tells me that he requires about half an

hour to begin and so, it seems, I have to keep you engaged until he is ready,

whether you like it or not!

Naturally, I always speak of Dharma. For, I have come to re-establish it. I have

no other work here. I give what is Paanakam (sweet drinks) for the ignorant and

what is Amrita (nectar) for the illumined. You cannot infer that Dharma is

declining only in India, because all the. Avatars you know took place here; the

Avatar has to take shape. in the place where the Dharma originated and where it

is still studied and valued. The rest' of the world is but the branches of this

tree. For Me, there is no native land or foreign land. All humanity has to be

brought back to the path of Dharma. The Veda is Apourusheya---"Not ascribable

to human skill or authorship;" the Veda Purusha (Soul of Veda) is not

ascribable to any one country. Veda emanates from wherever you yearn for it.

All

religions and Dharmas are but proliferations of Vedic truths.

Intentions of actions should be pure

Human nature has to be chastened, controlled and guided along certain channels;

otherwise, like the flooded Ganga, it will bring disaster to millions who rest

in 'security, believing it to be harmless. The haste to secure an immediate

advantage has to be cured, the later advantage may be more lasting and more

healthy; benefits to the individual have to be given up in favour of benefits

to the group, the village, the community, the country or the whole of mankind.

Ideas, principles, laws, 'customs, codes, habits, actions---all are to be

judged on the twin points of intention and consequence. Is the intention pure,

is it born out of Prema, is it based on Truth? Does it result in Shanthi? If

yes, dharma is enshrined in that action or law, custom or conduct. Intention

and consequence are the two bunds that guide the flood waters of

the Godavari safely into the sea, which can swallow any amount of river water.

In fact, it is the rule and the restriction that gives charm to the game of

life. If in the game of football any player can do any thing with the ball, and

there is neither foul nor out, neither offside nor goal, neither throw nor

penalty, then it will be a meaningless game incapable of giving Ananda.

Principles on which Dharma is based

Now, how are you to decide in any particular case what is dharma and what is

not? I shall tell you some principles, which you can use on such occasions.

That which does not inflict pain on you. and on others---that is fight, that is

dharma. So act in such a way that you get joy and others too get joy. Or, take

another standard for your actions: Make the manas, the Vaak and the kaayam

(thought, word and deed) agree in harmony. That is to say, act as you speak,

speak as you feel; do not play false to your own conscience; do not cover your

thoughts in a cloak of falsehood; do not suppress your conscience by forcibly

enslaving it and embarking on actions not approved by it. That is the dharmic

way of life Frequently doing right makes it easier and easier, habit grows into

conscience. If you are once established in

right conduct, you will automatically follow the right. What you do depends on

what you are; what you are depends on what you do. The two are interdependent

to a great degree.

Or, there is another principle. Dharma trains you to be calm, levelheaded, and

secure in equanimity. You know the transitory nature of success or failure,

riches or poverty, joy or grief, appointment or disappointment. You are not

elated or deflated. You are serene, unmoved. Anything that helps you to

maintain this unruffled stability is dharma. To cut it short: sensual life is

Adharma; the spiritual life is dharma. Dharma is that which sustains, saves and

sanctifies. Man is born and is given a lease of life so that he may earn the

knowledge of His identity with the Infinite.

There are differences between the limbs of the body but they all belong to the

body; it is foolish for them to imagine that they are unconnected with the

body. The Sun sends out a million rays but they all belong to the Sun. The Sun

is reflected in a million pots of water but though they all are tiny images of

the Sun, the Sun is the Truth and the reflections are all relatively unreal.

Do not have a double standard

One common definition of dharma is that it is the adherence to the rule: "Do

unto others what you wish them to do unto you; do not do unto others what you

do not wish them to do unto you." Do not have a double standard. Treat all as

your own sell That is to say, you must have faith in yourself and then only can

you have faith in others. You must respect yourself and respect others. Egoism

is the measure of altruism. Mankind is one community; you harm yourself and you

harm all. You make a man stand erect and that act makes you stand erect. The

treatment you wish others to render to you is itself the measure of your duty

to them.

The Vedas and the Upanishads, which form the Jnaana kaandha and the Upasana

sections of Sanathana Dharma (Eternal Religion), are the best guides to the

path of dharma for mankind, for all classes, for the family, for society, for

the professional group and for the individual. Just as Delhi is the capital of

India, India is the spiritual capital for all mankind. It is the responsibility

of Indians to demonstrate in their lives that Dharma confers on them Shanthi and

soukhya (peace and happiness), so that the rest of mankind may get the

inspiration to follow the same path.

Prashanthi Nilayam, 5-10-1962

45. THE BRAHMIN

YOU may not remember it now, but this meeting stared at 4-15 and perhaps most of

you were here by 3-30 at least; and now the time is 7-40. You have heard the

lucid exposition of Uppuluri Ganapathi Shastri, who knows the different shades

of meaning of every individual syllable of the entire Veda. That is his thapas

(penance). And his Prema (love) towards you is so great that he puts all that

vast learning into such simple and sweet Telugu that even a child can

understand and what is more, you become enthusiastic to know more. He has been

helping you to understand the why and wherefore of the various rites and

rituals and mantras which are used in this Yajna, for this is Jnaana Yajna

(sacrificial rite of spiritual wisdom), and every one must know the

significance of everything done here.

He explained why earth from the Royal Stables, the Royal Elephant Stables, the

Palace Gates is considered sacred for the Yajna; why the earth from the

ant-hill is also used in preference to other places. I took special care to

bring these materials in thief genuineness and gave these people everything

they needed, and told them not to be satisfied with substitutes and second

bests, for I know they too wish to seize this opportunity for performing a

scrupulously correct Yajna. I want to show you and them that a Vedic Yajna

celebrated strictly according to Vedic formulae will certainly grant the fruits

'promised by the Veda Purusha (Supreme Being).

Vedha is a deep sea containing precious pearls

Remilla Suuryaprakaasha Shastri spoke on Kumarilabhatta, who preceded

Sankaracharya and revived Vedhic learning and overwhelmed the opponents of

Vedhic ritual in those days. They are now arranging here the Seshaparyanka

(serpent-like couch). The Thribhuvana Vijaya, for which Kalluri Veerabhadra

Shastri and others have been planning, will start soon. I had no idea of

speaking today but since you will all be disappointed if I do not, I shall fill

up the interval. The two Shaasthrys spoke very well, because their authority for

all their statements is the Veda, nothing less. Their purpose was also

praiseworthy; to elevate man through the spread of the Vedic teaching. When the

mind is so pure and the brain so full, the words will certainly be sweet and

nourishing. It is a very difficult task to dive into the deep sea,

the beginingless and the endless 'Veda,' and bring up such precious pearls; not

that the pearls' are few, but because the sea is so deep. The Vedha teaches man

lessons that take him beyond the ken of the three Gunas---the dull, the active,

and the calm; the black, the red and the white.

The Veda also speaks the language of symbols and one has to be well versed in

Vedic vocabulary and the technique to be able to interpret it, as Ganapathi

Shastri does or as Remilla does. For example, they said explaining a mantra,

that all men are children of Surya. The meaning of that is: all those who have

eyes to see are specially blessed by the Sun, for the Sun is the presiding

deity of the inner and the outer vision. The mantra does not mean that all men

belong to Suuryavamsa (Sun dynasty)! There are seven Suns, seven types of rays;

and that is the reason why you are advised to have half-closed eyes when you

meditate on the Form of the Lord. Then there will be the first three rays

trying to penetrate the upper eyelid and the last three, the lower eyelid; but

the eye will receive only the fourth ray, the fourth

colour. Such subtle secrets are also hidden in the hymns to the various Gods. It

is not correct to say that each Vedic God represents a Force of Nature that is

patent to man: the Rain God, the Thunder God, the Sun God, the Dawn Goddess,

etc. The glory and the majesty of the One. God is visualized in various

contexts and praised; that is all. The mantras have far deeper meanings.

This humanity is a motley crowd of pilgrims

It is often said that the Brahmin caste, out of hatred and contempt, has denied

to the other castes the chance to study the Vedas. If you go out to catch fish,

you must equip yourself with the rod, the' hook and the bait to attract the

fish. If you desire to master the Vedas, you must have the rod of Dharmic

living, the hook of Vedic Sanskrit, and the bait, viz., the Brahmin who is

revered by the Vedas and who revered the Vedas in turn. The Brahmin has been

prepared by a series of purificatory rituals or samskaras. This enables him and

entitles him to pronounce the mantras and to expound them.

Every one has not won the same sublime impulses and impressions. All of you

listen to Me, but do all of you understand what I say to the same extent? Or,

do all of you practice what I suggest to the same extent? No. Each understands

or practices according to the tendencies, the roots which those tendencies have

laid in the mind. Men are not so uniform. One person is not equipped like

another. It is a motley crowd of pilgrims, this humanity.

The correct pronunciation of Vedas is essential

The Brahmin, when born is just a Sudra; birth does not entitle him to take up

the study of this Mystery, even if the boy happens to be the son of a great

Vedic scholar! It is only when he has been formally initiated by a special

ceremony that he can start the study of the sacred scriptures. The ceremony

makes him a Brahmin; he is then born again into a sacred world of study and

responsibility.

Many Brahmins have fallen from this responsibility of maintaining a certain

ascetic simplicity of life and a certain level of scholarship. When the pure

metal has been turned into an alloy, it has to be put into the crucible again.

Again, whenever we find genuine Vedic vessels like these Pundits, we have to

protect and preserve them. If people sit quiet when stones are thrown on these

vessels by little folk swayed by foolish hatred, the vessels will be broken and

Veda too will become inaccessible.

If Brahmins are driven into the forest, the Vedas too will enter the forest with

them, for they are the repositories of Veda. They study the correct

pronunciation of each syllable and have, by a remarkable technique of keeping

it in memory, preserved it through the ages, through all the calamities India

had to endure. There was a boy who was reading aloud his English lessons at

home but he did them so wrongly that the parents were one day put into a great

fright. MILK was what the boy was reading; he spelt it out first and then read

the entire word. He shouted, emmayelkay milk, emmayelkay milk, emmayelkay milk

so fast and so nervously that the parents felt he was shouting in fear, Amma,

yeluka---yeluka meaning in Telugu, the rat. Correct pronunciation is essential.

Encourage the Brahmins to dedicate their lives to the proper study of

the scriptures; you too will benefit by that study as you are benefiting these days here.

The Lord cares for single-minded yearning

Jaathi and Neethi (caste and conduct) are based on each other and there is no

jaathi without its corresponding neethi, or controlling restrictions. That is

done for purposes of systematic training and for elevating the individual, not

for suppressing or cheating him. If a boy is admitted in the Primary School or

the Nursery School instead of a College, you cannot say that he is cheated or

treated with contempt. It is the first step towards College and a Degree. But

remember, the Lord makes no difference between caste and caste. What He cares

for is virtue and single-minded yearning. When the elephant Gajendra raised its

trunk and surrendered to the Lord and prayed to Him for succor, it was no longer

a beast; its beast hood had dropped off. A piece of paper, however soiled or

directed, is valued and kept in the strong box

as a precious possession once it has imprinted on it the insignia of the Reserve

Bank and called a hundred-rupee note. Bhakti makes the lowest, the rarest of

men.

There was a Bhakta called Sena in Delhi at the time of Akbar's reign. He was the

royal masseur at the Court of the Emperor. Every morning at seven the Emperor

expected him at his side and had ordered that he should massage his body for

half an hour. One day, Sena entered his Pooja room as usual and, in the ecstasy

of that Vision of Beauty, he lost all sense of time! His wife ran about in panic

outside the closed door, for she had no mind to disturb her husband's

concentration. Meanwhile, Akbar was being massaged by Sena at the Palace and

the Emperor was praising him, "Sena, I have never felt so happy all these days;

your fingers are indeed divine." When the session was about to close, Akbar saw

in the cup of oil on the teapot in front of him, the reflection of the

masseur's face---and he was surprised to find that the face was of Krishna!

He turned to examine the face of his attendant, but he was no longer there!

The lord does not weigh the status or caste of the individual before bestowing

His Grace. He is all merciful and His Grace, like rain or moonlight, falls on

all. The Vedas themselves declare this. So, have faith in this and proceed to

deserve it and to acquire it.

Prashanthi Nilayam, 6-10-1962

Each man carries his destiny in his own hands. You will not be bound, because

others are not freed. You should strive for you salvation, at your own pace,

from where you started when you born into this chance. - Sathya Sai Baba

46. POORNAAHUTHI

BHAAGAVATHA was the subject of the discourse by Kalluri Veerabhadra Shastri

today; but do not think that it has no relevancy to the Vedhapurusha Sapthaaha

Jnaana Yajna (Seven-day Vedic ritual of Sacrifice of Spiritual Wisdom for the

Supreme Being of Veda); for the Bhagavatham contains Vedhasaaram (essence of

Veda) itself. The Veda speaks in hymn after hymn of the Glory of God, known by

various names as Indra, Varuna, Mithra, etc. It is all Upasana---worship filled

with Bhakti, devotion to God, whom the Veda itself declares as One, "though

endowed with a variety of Names." The Bhagavatham is the Vedhasaara (the

essence of Veda), made available for easy assimilation by all. It is just a

limb of the Vedic literature and as limb it is an inseparable part of the

Vedic tradition. The same blood flows in this limb too; it makes the Veda beautiful and charming.

Just as juveniles are shown pictures and made to learn names of the objects

which they represent, the Bhagavatham teaches the Akshara (Imperishable)

through the Kshara (perishable). You cannot attain the subtle without

experiencing the gross, without the instrumentality of the gross. After rising

to the heights of the Chith (Awareness), with jada (dull witted) as the

instrument, you have to also make the jada so suffused by Chaitanya (Supreme

Consciousness) that the difference does not persist! In Dhyana, the picture

first felt has to be transformed into the picture of the purified imagination,

and that again has to be rarified into the subtle abstract principle only. Then

only can the dhyeya or Form meditated on, be transcended and the highest Vision

of Universal beauty, wisdom and strength

obtained. The Bhagavatham helps in this spiritual education, taking the student

through all the lessons from the primary to the postgraduate levels.

Look for the real meaning of Vedas

Most of you always by-pass the real meaning of the legends, tales and

descriptions given in the ancient scriptures. Brahma's lotus is not stalk that

grows in mud and rises above the waters to catch the rays of the sun and

blossom, but the many petalled Lotus of the Heart, each petal being the

direction in which a particular tendency attracts the individual. The Bull on

which Shiva is said to ride is not the animal called by that name, but the

symbol of Dharma or Righteousness which has the four legs, Sathya, dharma,

Shanthi and Prema. Gopala did not graze cattle, but protected and fed Jivis

(living beings) known also as 'Go'. In the study of the Veda, you should look

for the meaning that satisfies the heart, and not rest content if the meaning

satisfies the head! A sentence may be quite right grammatically, but

may still be sheer nonsense!

Ganapathi Shastri, for example, while describing the reason why the earth from

ant-hills is recommended for the sacrificial mound, said that white ants are

deemed to have powerful latent skill, which is put at the service of the Gods,

for they once ate up the cord of Vishnu's bow! When Vishnu's bow was thus

released from tension, its end hit Him under the chin and the impact removed

His Head and carried it aloft into the sky! Now, if you take that story as

applying to Lord Vishnu who is also known as Narayana, then it is something

that belittles the Glory of God. But take it as applicable to the all-powerful,

all-embracing Narayana aspect of the Godhead. How can we accept the explanation

given for the white ants eating up the cord? The reason given is that the Gods

wanted to prick the bubble of Vishnu's pride. Now, how can Narayana be accused

of pride?

How can the Gods conspire to depute white ants to maneuver in such a sly way to

take off His head? No. The story obviously refers to a minor God, a Devatha,

one among the many in the Vedic heaven, who bears the name Vishnu; that is all.

There is no need to besmirch the grandeur of Narayana by identifying the minor

God Vishnu with the Chief of the Gods. Prefer the meaning that elevates and you

will always be right.

Be proud of your ancestry

You have to trace your ancestry and be proud of it. From Paramatma Moola

(Supreme Soul, the Source), Prakriti (Nature) descended with the emergence of

Maya (illusion); and from the stuff of that illusion, Akasha (Space); from

Akasha, Vayu (Wind); from Vayu Agni (fire); from Agni, Jala (water) from Jala,

Bhoomi (Each). By a combination of the five elements, this tabernacle of

Paramatma (the Divine), that is you, was produced. The entire ladder has now to

be climbed up in order to reach the Paramatma, the Origin of all. There is a

regular syllabus for the promotion of the spiritual aspirant, which is given in

that form in the Veda and in an elaborate story form in Bhagavatham.

I will not accept it if you say that you are an atheist with no faith in the

Lord. For what is the root of that faith in yourself? Who are you that you

should believe yourself? No. You believe, yourself, because your Self is God.

and you have an unshakable faith in God, deep down in you. Faith in yourself

and faith in God are identical; you tap the strength of the God within when you

stand at attention against an enemy without. That is why there is a persistent

whisper, within to use that strength in the path of Mercy, Charity, and

Helpfulness.

Offer your bad qualities into Sacrificial Fire

Every one has to go from here when the provisions he has brought or secured have

been spent. But by that time, attain the purpose of all this bother of arriving,

traveling, accumulating and spending: the realisation of supreme happiness by

ending this circle of birth and death. Change your habits and conduct for the

better from this very moment. That is the measure of your sincerity. Have

faith and steadfastness. I cannot be deceived by mere playacting. Folding of

arms and shedding tears will not make Me take you as a Bhakta. If you try

devious paths pretending to be what you genuinely are not, the punishment will

be greater in order to cure you of that trait also.

Tomorrow, between eight and nine in the morning the Poornaahuthi or the

Valedictory Offering in the Sacred Fire will take place. That is a precious

moment in every Yajna; the full and final offering is considered the

fulfillment of the ritual. But here, you must keep one fact in mind. I am not

getting this Yajna done; I am He who receives the offerings of Yajna. I observe

many of you are getting active to procure from Bangalore or Anantapur, in time

for the Poornaahuthi, articles like sandalwood, gold, precious stones, etc. to

be put into the Sacrificial Fire when the final Aahuthi is made. I am not

permitting anybody to do that. It is easy to throw away a few rupees and

purchase a few material objects from some shop and bring them here and throw

them into the fire and go about saying that you have done a great

big act of sacrifice. I am going to set you a more difficult task; you cannot

escape by doing the easy thing. I want that you should all, when the

Poornaahuthi is offered into the fire, stand up and reverentially offer into

the same fire every one of the dhurgunas (bad qualities) that you have---the

faults, the failings, the temptations, the transgressions. Search for these

today, unearth them from their hidden places, bring them with you here

tomorrow, nicely packed, and with one final heave of mental exertion, throw

them in when the flames of Poornaahuthi rise aloft. That is the share you have

to secure in this Yajna. That, nothing more; and nothing less. These Pundits

have done you a great service. You must be grateful to them for it. They have

given you a clear picture of the glory and splendor of Vedhamaatha (Vedic

Mother). which is the real form of Bharatha Maatha (Motherland). I shall tell

them just one thing: when they have

given Me Anandam, they have given Anandam to you also; for I am in every one of you.

Prashanthi Nilayam, 7-10-1962

47. ON TO VICTORY

TODAY, you have heard discourses on the excellence of the. Divine Name, on the

indispensability of Bhakti and on the omnipotence of Divine Grace. In so far as

all these three are concerned, whatever a person may say or expound, it is one's

own experience that matters, not scholarship or skill. The Divine Name, when

uttered by a dedicated soul like Prahlada, brought out the Lord from wherever

he sought Him!

The Divine Name saves and liberates! It is armor against the onslaughts of pride

and self-pity. When Japam (pious repetition of holy name or sacred formula) is

started by you in a systematic manner, fixing your inner eye on the Form which

illustrates the Name, you will meet with many obstacles, disquieting thoughts

and enticements. They should be ignored, by passed, treated lightly. Strengthen

your habits, stick to your discipline, improve your inner administration; mix

more in the company of the good and the godly. The unruly bull has to be roped

and tamed, its nose bored and ringed; it has to be yoked and trained to drag

heavy loads and become the docile servant of its master.

There are some who condemn the six passions as dire enemies and advise you to

eject them outright. But I would advise you to keep them with you as docile

servants, useful for your purposes. Hate those who slight the Name of the Lord

and tell you that it is a hollow meaningless sound; hate them so much that you

avoid them forever! Attachment can be used to fix your heart on the Lord; be

fascinated by the overwhelming beauty of His Form reflected in all the

loveliness of Nature.

Sasthras are binding on every living being

Kama (desire) is not a vice, for it is given the status of one of the goals of

human endeavor (Purushaartha). Develop desire, but not for the material, the

momentary. Desire for the deathless, the indestructible. Desire for the steady

development of faith in the Sasthras (Holy Scriptures) as a means to this. The

Sasthras are binding on all men, said Ganapathi Shastri. I will go a step

further and say that the Sasthras are binding on every living being that has

sacred knowledge or even discrimination. Or else, how can we explain the

killing of Vali by Rama except on this basis? Vali argues about the right and

wrong of Rama’s action; he pleads for the protection of the principles of

dharma; he charges Rama with a number of adharmic (un-righteous) deeds---but

himself, when accused, claims exemption from

the Sasthras on the score that he is a monkey while the Sasthras are only

binding on men. You cannot have it both ways. When you discriminate between

right and wrong and pompously argue on the basis of the principles of dharma,

you are bound by the Sasthras, which lay down the discipline. If you adhere

strictly to the path of virtue and stick to the yearning, you can become a

Paramahamsa (ascetic of the highest order), though you may now be a novice or

even a nonbeliever!

Sometimes, by just seizing a chance, you can elevate yourselves steadily.

Someone comes to Me to get his stomach-ache cured; then he likes this place and

its atmosphere and its Omkaar and Bhajan and its Prashanthi; he sees Me and

observes My movements and words and actions. He takes home a picture or a

Bhajan book and, before long, he forgets the ache, which brought him hither and

cultivates a new ache---for Prashanthi, for Darshan, Sparshan and Sambashan

(dialogue); for Japam, Dhyanam, saakshaathkaaram (Realisation). Of course, I

never deviate from Truth. Since I recline on Truth, I am called Sathya Sai;

Saayi (as in Seshashaayi) means reclining. The name is very appropriate, let me

assure you. It is only those who fail to follow my instructions and who deviate

from the path I have laid down, that fail to get what I hold out before them.

Follow My instructions and become soldiers in My army; I will lead you on to

victory. When someone asks you, in great earnestness, where the Lord is to be

found, do not try to dodge the question. Give them the answer that rises up to

your tongue from your heart. Direct them. He is here in the Prashanthi Nilayam.

Prashanthi Nilayam, 21-11-1962

TO BE CONTINUED…

With Sai love from Sai brothers – ‘’

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