Bhagavada Vahini - Chapter 30

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Bhagavada Vahini by Sathya Sai Baba

 

Chapter 30

The Science of Salvation - the Bhagavatha Path

 

 

" Maharaja! The great Tree that Bhagavatha is, truly inspires

reverential awe. It has, incorporated in it, every conceivable source

of auspiciousness and joy. The Lord, Sri Narayana is the seed from

which it has sprouted. The sprout is Brahman. The trunk of the Tree

is Narada. Vyasa constitutes the branches. Its sweet fruit is the

nectarine story of Krishna. Those earnest souls that yearn for that

nectar, and pine plaintively, regardless of bodily comfort or the

passage of the years,until they secure the fruit and imbibe its

essence, such are real saints and yogis.

 

0, ye ascetics and sages! This day, I am relating to you that

Bhagavatha Sastra, that enchanting story of Krishan; treasure it in

your memory and save yourself from delusion and grief, You have

listened to the recitals of all Sastras already. You have also

mastered all Sadhanas. But, you have not known the greatest of them

all. I shall now give you the sacred Name of Krishna and the

Sweetness that is flowing from it. It is the sweetest name one can

conceive; when it falls on the ear, the heart is filled with joy;

when you recall the Name to memory, a stream of Love springs from the

heart. The Bhagavatha inspires and promotes deep devotion to Lord

Krishna.

 

The Universal Absolute, the Birthless Formless, Unmanifest, Infinite,

too on limitations of Name and Form, and concretized Itself as

Avathars (Incarnations) on many occasions and manifested countless

instances of Divine Intercession and Grace. Through these, as well as

the characteristics assumed and the ideas propagated, God saved

mankind from downfall. Those who sing the story of this Glory, those

who listen eagerly to the recital, those who imbibe and digest the

lessons conveyed, these are the real devotees. They are the

Bhagavathas, those who follow the path laid down in the Bhagavatha.

Bhagavatha binds Bhaktha with Bhagavan; that is to say, the Story

fills you with God, and transmutes you into Divinity.

 

God incarnates, not merely for the destruction of the wicked; that is

just an excuse, one of the obvious reasons. Really speaking God

incarnates for the sake of Bhakthas (faithful devotees). The cow has

milk primarily as sustenance for its calf. But, it is used by man for

maintaining his health and efficiency. So too, God incarnates,

primarily for the sustenance of the faithful, the devoted, the

virtuous and the good. But, even the faithless, and the bad, use the

chance for their own purpose. Therefore, in the Bhagavatha, stories

of such wicked persons intervene amidst the accounts of the Glory and

Grace of God. This does not make the Bhagavatha any the less holy.

When the sweet juice has been squeezed out of the sugarcane, the

bagasse is discarded. When the sweetness of Divine Majesty has been

tasted, the bagasse can well be thrown out. The cane has both bagasse

and sugar; it cannot be sugar only. So too, devotees have to be

amidst the faithless; they cannot be without the others.

 

God has no bondage to time and space. For Him, all beings are the

same.He is the master of the living and the non-living. At the

conclusion of every aeon the process of involution is completed in

the Deluge; then,evolution starts again and as Brahma, He creates

beings again. He enlightens every one with a spark of His own Glory

and fosters every one of them on the path of fulfillment, as Vishnu.

It is He again, who as Siva, concludes the process by the destruction

of all. Thus, you can see that there is no limit to His Might, no end

to His Potence. There can be no boundaries for His achievements. He

incarnates in countless ways; He comes as an Incarnation of a Kala

(fragment) of His, or an Amsa (part) of His; He comes as an Inner

inspirer for some definite Purpose; He comes to close an epoch and

inaugurate another (Yugavathar). The narrative of these Incarnations

is the Bhagavatha.

 

The One Divine Principle works through three Forms, as Brahma, Vishnu

and Siva, in order to manipulate and complete the process of becoming

a being, called Srishti. The three are fundamentally of the same

essence; there is no higher or lower; all three are equally Divine.

Associated with Creation, He is Brahma; with Protection, He is

Vishnu; with Dissolution, He is Siva. When He comes down assuming

special form on special occasions for a specific purpose, He is known

as Avathara. In fact, Manu and Prajapathi and other Persons are

Divine Persons entrusted by Brahma with the mission of peopling the

world. Everything happens in consonance with the Divine Will. So, we

can assert that the saints, sages, ascetics and men both good and

bad, are all Avatharas of the Vishnu Entity. Avatharas are as

countless as living beings are, for,each is born as a consequence of

Divine Will. But, the story of the Yugavathar alone is worth perusal

for the Advent is to restore Dharma and moral life. The story of all

the rest is but a story of distress and despair.

 

Brahma deputed Manu to proceed to the earth and to create living

beings thereon; Devi, the Feminine Principle eluded him and took the

Earth into the nether regions. Brahma then had to seek help from

Vishnu (Hari) and He assumed the Form of a Boar and brought the

Earth, from the nether regions, and placed it among the waters.

 

Later, the Earth was so incensed at the atrocities of Emperor Venu,

she kept all the seeds sown, within herself and did not allow them to

sprout. So, all beings were afflicted with the agony of hunger. The

earth became a medley of hills and valleys with nothing green on it.

Then, the Lord assumed the Form of Prithu, who leveled the surface and

added fertility to the soil and induced the growth of agriculture and

promoted the welfare of mankind. He fostered the Earth like his own

child and so, the Earth is called Prithivi. He is said to have built

the first cities upon the earth.

 

That is to say, it was the Lord's Will that it should be done so. It

is that will which is being worked out. The Lord originated the

Vedas, for the preservation of man, through the practice of morals

and spiritual exercises. The Vedas contain Names that will liberate

beings, and the rules and regulations that will guide. When the

Asuras or the Evil-minded threatened to steel the Vedas, they hid

themselves in the waters and the Lord assumed the form of a Fish to

recover them. He saved the Seven Sages and Manu from the same waters.

This is the reason why it is said that the Lord incarnated as a Fish.

 

0, ye ascetics! 0, King Parikshith! Doubts may arise in your minds

when you hear the story of creation and the early history of man on

earth. The processes of the Divine Will are mysterious wonders; they

cannot be grasped by the faculties with which you measure earthly

events. Often, they may strike you as devoid of any basis but, the

Lord will never involve Himself in any deed without proper cause.

That Will need not be explicable; it is its own prompter. Everything

everywhere is due to His Will.

 

To initiate Creation, there must be some attraction that will act as

the urge. So, Brahma had to become two, in body and activity. The One

Body was transformed into two and therefore, where there was one Will

formerly, two appeared, one which attracted and the other which was

drawn towards creation, the feminine and the masculine. Since the one

attracted in a hundred distinct ways it was called, Satharupa

(hundred-facetted) and Beloved of Brahma (Brahmapriya). The other was

named, Manu. These two gained renown in the first stage of creation.

Satharupa and Manu were the first progenitors.

 

Dasavathara - 10 Vishu's Avatar

 

1. Matsya, the fish incarnation, is saving the Vedas.

 

2. Kurma, the tortoise incarnation, is holding the hill on His back.

 

3. Varâha, the boar incarnation, is fighting with the demon

Hiranyâksa.

 

4. Nrsimhadeva, the lion incarnation, is killing the demon

Hiranyakasipu.

 

5. Vâmanadeva, the dwarf incarnation, is begging some land from King

Bali.

 

6. Parasurâma is killing the demoniac ksatriyas.

 

7. Lord Râmacandra is going off into exile with His wife, Sîtâ,

and brother, Laksmana.

 

8. Lord Krishna with calf and beside Him is His brother Balarâma.

 

9. Lord Buddha.

 

10. Lord Kalki is riding on His horse, killing all the demons and thus

liberating them.