Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

Today, Veda which is the embodiment of the manthras and the Brahmanas will be described by one of its many names i.e., Prusni. This sacred word Prusni has an inner meaning and through this inner meaning it has been giving prosperity to the entire world. Prusni indicates cleanliness, the cleanliness of the Antahkarana. The correct meaning for this word is clean, clear and unwavering. On the basis of the meaning of this word, many rishis have been getting different kinds of strength from the manthras. The manthras are sacred and faultless. Hence, they are referred to as Prusni. By chanting these faultless manthras, great rishis were also described by the name Prusni.

What is contained in these sacred manthras is the Veda Rasa. Therefore the Veda which is a conglomeration of such manthras is also referred to as Prusni. The basis for this Veda Rasa is the aspect of Brahman and this has also been called by the name Prusni. Off and on, when we try to understand the real inner meaning and significance of this word Prusni, we realise that it represents everything that is faultless, clean and clear. Since these words signify the establishment of the clear and clean aspect of the Parabrahma, this word also refers to God in the common parlance.

There is another synonym for the word Prusni that is Ajaha. Since our ancient rishis were able to attain that stage of immortality by uttering such sacred and faultless manthras, they were also called ajaha. Every individual who does karma is after the fruits of the work which he does. On the other hand, the wise people, because of their wisdom, do not crave for the fruit of their karma, but perform it for the benefit and prosperity of humanity at large. Because of this, they are called ajahas.

One can attain wisdom out of doing karma, but we have to understand that wise people undertake action for the benefit of the ignorant and whatever karma they perform are for the sake of setting an example or ideal for the ignorant people to follow. The sacred rishis could hear the sacred word of the Veda through their thapas and because of this they could also hear the sacred manthras. Hence, they were sometimes called tapoja. Because these sacred words of the Veda could be listened to only through the strength and the power of thapas, these words have also been referred to as Brihaspati, Vakpati, and Vachaspati. The sacred words, which could be heard because of the power of rishis, were described by these names.

The source for these immaculate manthras has been Brahman himself. Hence, Brahman is also described as Prusni garbha. It is not possible for such a sacred Brahman to have any faults. In fact, Brahman is without any attributes.

We have the authority of the word Rasovaisaha, which is a description of the Lord. Out of Rasa, we can get only rasa that is out of Brahman, who is full of rasa, we can get only rasa and nothing else. Therefore, what has originated from such a Brahman, namely the entire universe must be viewed as Brahman Himself. But what has originated from Brahman - faultless aspects of all creation which have come out of Brahman - if it is compared with what originates from us which is often full of faults, we find that there is no comparison at all.

In order that we may understand this aspect of Brahman, we have ourselves to reach a stage which corresponds to that aspect. We have made a statement that rishis have acquired this aspect of Prusni with the help of thapas. We have to ask ourselves whether they have by their power of thapas outlined something which does not exist or whether they have revealed to themselves something which already exists.

It is impossible for anyone to find something which does not already exist. What already exists has been learnt by the power of the thapas. One can reveal the existence of something which already exists. In the same manner, we can try and understand something which already exists but no one can comprehend what does not already exist. The rishis have understood this immaculate aspect of the Brahman by means of their thapas. This only means that they have uncovered this aspect of Brahman which already exists.

There is a small example for this. When one enters the elementary class, one learns the alphabets: A, B, C, D. Thereafter, one tries to combine these letters into words. The twenty-six letters can thus be grouped to form different words. When we undertake to compose one word God, we have to group three of the existing twenty-six letters to form the required word. There is a very subtle aspect which we have to comprehend fully here. In forming this word God, we must ask ourselves whether we have used the letters which already exist in the language or whether we have used a new alphabet in forming this word God. When we look at this with some care, we realise that our effort was only in picking up some letters and making them into a word like God. Taking the words Prusni, Apishtuhu, Thistuhum, we see that we are taking them out of the manthras, and by grouping them together we form another manthra.

On the same analogy, from what already exists in us in the form of divine strength, namely the aspect of Brahman, we pick up things and formulate other sadhanas which go by the names Dhyana, Yoga, or Manthra. We are able to do this only by combining what already exists in us. We are observing the already existing divine aspect in some form. The form depends on the time, circumstances and the country where one resides. After the lapse of some time one may change this aspect in accordance with changes in environment, culture or country.

At one time, on a particular piece of land you may see that there is nothing green growing on it. On another day you may see that there is rain and as a result of which there may be green vegetation in its place. A barren land becomes full of greenery because of rain and because of seeds which were there already. What was present as latent seeds have now sprouted and become a green pasture.

What is present in you is a desire in the form of a seed and out of this seed of desire sprouts a small plant which is your mind and out of this small plant, namely the mind, grows a big tree. Out of this big tree, we are attempting to get fruits and flowers. On the same analogy, out of the seeds of karma you will have to grow the plant of upasana and through the plant of upasana, you have to grow the tree of wisdom and from this tree of wisdom, you can get the fruits and flowers namely Ananda or Bliss.

Therefore, what you find as the aspect of Brahman is not something which was not already present in you. In fact, it is something already present but latent and unseen. The thapas simply uncovers what is already there.

In this context, there is another name for the word Prusni, namely, Devayuvam. This alternative word has come because people constantly fixed their mind on Deva. The Maharishis have also used the word Devayuvam for the same thing. The meaning of this word is to have your objective as God, fix your attention on God and reach a stage when you experience the identity of your self and God. That stage is called Devayuvam. Thus, while having the aspect of God, the aspect of Brahman, and the aspect of faultless manthras within ourselves, to spend our time as ordinary human beings and on several occasions less than human beings that is, as if we are animals, is a very futile exercise.

“Veda iti Dharmadi itihi vedaha” means that which expounds dharma is Veda. In common usage, it is also said “Veda ititi vedaha” meaning that which explains the meaning, is Veda. Veda is that which cannot be known by Pratyaksha pramana, or by inference. That is the aspect of the Parabrahma.

Since Veda tells you something which cannot be understood by either direct evidence or inferential evidence, these two aspects are called dharma and moksha. Of the four aspects - dharma, artha, kama and moksha - artha and kama are matters which relate to the world or they are worldly transactions. We are attaching importance to artha and kama which are the common transactions in the routine world and neglecting dharma and moksha which are the divine aspects. Today, what we see in the daily life as direct evidence are matters relating to artha (wealth) kama (desire). We should ask ourselves whether these two things are giving us any happiness. We find that these are giving us only sorrow, lack of peace and some types of anger. In the environment in which man lives, he has all the necessary strengths - physical and mental - but is not utilising any of these to realise truth. Even if one uses a very small part of the strength that he possesses, he will be able to get infinite happiness. Without realising the sacredness of our objective and without realising our own strength we are also borrowing strength which we do not possess and we put on an exhibitionist appearance and we indulge in such things which are not backed by natural strength and frequently land ourselves in troublesome situations. In accordance with our culture, I will give an illustration which is common knowledge with young boys and girls.

It is customary in our country that when one goes to have darshan of the Lord in a temple, one removes the shirt, pant and other appurtenances like shoes, tie, etc. and puts on a simple apparel of only a dhoti and an upper cloth. The inner meaning of this is that God is not attracted by your appearance but that God will look at the cleanliness of the inner self. This is interpreted by saying that you give up your external decorations and that God will see you in your natural condition. Another way of saying the same is that you have to give up whatever you have acquired as additions to your body before presenting yourself before God, but nowadays many somehow try to get hold of a special dress - even on hire, if need be - to attend special functions. You can see for yourselves how degrading it is to borrow something on loan and put it on instead of wearing what belongs to you. The meaning of all this is that everything that is artificially created is bound to be full of faults whereas what is natural is bound to be good. What you borrow and add to yourself artificially will have no relationship whatsoever to you in the context of the divine. We should realise that “Imitation is human while creation is divine.” Merely imitating what you see in the world around you is purely human and there is no divine aspect in it at all. On the other hand, what comes from your own Atma contains divinity. What binds man in all circumstances are these artificial attitudes but really, the divine aspect never lands man in bondage. What is contained in the Vedas must be accepted, adopted and put into practice. This is the sadhana that is appropriate for the youth. Dharma is something which makes the entire world prosperous in addition to stirring your heart and body to right action.

In the Mahabharatha, there is a very good example for this. The Kauravas and the Pandavas had made themselves ready in the battle array in the Kurukshetra. They were all holding weapons and wearing dress appropriate for the oncoming war. They were blowing their respective conches and uttering war cries. Thus everything was getting ready for the battle. Their blood was boiling and even as the situation was tense, Dharmaraja just looked at the Kaurava army and noticed his Guru Dronacharya and his grandfather Bhishma. Immediately, he removed his footwear and the battle armour and started walking with folded hands and bare feet towards Bhishma. On seeing this, the Kauravas felt very happy and thought that Dharmaraja was coming to ask for peace. The Pandavas were also very much disturbed by the sight of their eldest brother behaving like this at a very critical moment. Everyone became very angry. At this, Krishna who was on the Pandava’s side, signalled to Arjuna and others that they should follow Dharmaraja as they had all done on earlier occasions. Dharmaraja would never do any meaningless thing. Whatever he did was always right. He had never done anything contrary to the injunctions of the Vedas or contrary to the right path because he knew all aspects of righteousness and had a name very appropriate to his qualities. Following the orders of Krishna, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva also put down their weapons and followed suit. Dharmaraja requested the grandfather to bless them and said “Our father died when we were very young and ever since we have regarded you as our father. It is not right for us to fight with one who has been like a father to us. Hence, we request you to pardon us and bless us at this moment and give us permission”. Bhishma immediately recognised the dharma in Dharmaraja and the right kind of conduct which he was adopting. He shed tears of joy. Realising that Dharmaraja was exhibiting the highest kind of dharma, he blessed him and said Dharmo rakshati rakshitaha. Dharma will itself protect one who protects dharma. Since you are following dharma to the very letter, dharma itself will protect you. Thereafter, Dharmaraja went to Drona and addressing him as guru said that it is not appropriate for them to fight with him as he was in the position of their guru but on account of situations beyond their control they were forced to wage a battle with their guru and requested him to give them permission and blessing. At this, Drona too was deeply moved as he recognised in this act of Dharmaraja an extraordinary quality of sticking to dharma even in the most fearful conditions. Drona affirmed that this very quality will bring the Pandavas victory in the battle. Because the Pandavas were full of dharma, they went and asked Bhishma and Drona for permission and blessing and won. Otherwise, could anyone defeat Bhishma and Drona in a battle? Only the path of dharma followed by Dharmaraja brought victory to the Pandavas. Contrary to this situation, today, we find that the very first people with whom one wants to fight are one’s parents and guru. Those who go against the wishes of their father, mother, gurus and God are Kauravas and not Pandavas.

Gandhari, the blind mother of the Kauravas, tried to convince them to stick to the path of righteousness.

Dhritarashtra, their blind father also tried to put them on the right path but they would not listen. God Himself, in the form of Krishna, went to the Kauravas on a mission of peace and tried to put them on the right path. Their Guru Drona, also tried his best to put them on the right path but they did not listen.

Such people who are not following the right path and who are not showing respect either to God or the parents are to be described as Kauravas. They cannot be called as Pandavas. Like the Pandavas, we have to recognise the five aspects or the five pranas (vital airs) that are present in us as divine, and thereby we should recognise the aspect of Brahman. This is absolutely necessary for us. I wish to bless you young people who are participating in this session and hope that you will give up foolish ideas and take to sacred ideas and try and understand what is being expounded as part of Indian culture in the form of Puranas, stories and Vedas.