Golden words of Bhagavan Sathya Sai Baba - 85.

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85. Pancha Bhutas

The Universe is visible to the naked eye. It is called Prapancha because it is a manifestation of the Pancha Bhutas (five elements). There is no world without the five elements. They are the very forms of the Divine. That is why people reverentially refer to the five elements, namely, earth, water, air, fire and ether, as Bhudevi, Gangadevi, Vayudeva, Agnideva and Shabda Brahman, respectively. The five elements are present in every being. The Spirit or the Atma which is the very form of God is not visible to the naked eye, but the Pancha Bhutas can be seen, heard, felt and experienced by one and all. They are highly potent. Man is the embodiment of the five elements. He is their master. One who understands the principle of these five elements becomes God Himself.

The body is made up of five elements and is bound to perish one day or the other. But in such a transient body there exists the eternal divinity in the form of the Atma (Self). The all-pervasive divinity is known as consciousness, the limited form of which exists in the body as conscience. Consciousness and conscience are the same in terms of quality, only the quantity differs. You may collect water from the ocean in a cup, pot and a big tank. The water in these three differs only in quantity; the salinity is the same in all of them. The body may be compared to a pot. The all-pervasive consciousness exists in it as conscience.