Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

Do not simply go on imagining that you will do this or that and that you will achieve this or that and tire yourself out during your life. You cannot plant seeds in one place and expect the tree to come out at a different place. You cannot plant one seed and expect to get a different tree from that seed. Whatever the level of your intelligence may be, you must keep on doing work, with your thoughts on the Lord. The result of all good work will only be good. Whatever work you have done in the past, Brahma will put all that, the good and the bad together, as a garland round your neck when you are born. You will be born with this garland of good and bad round your neck, and you have to suffer all the consequences thereof.

In this world, for all the good and bad, our own actions are responsible. The cause for your birth is your own karma. Whether you do good or bad, all that makes you take birth again and again and experience the consequences of your own karma. Our dharma, the Hindu dharma, is one which has faith in the doctrines of karma, of rebirth, and of the characteristics of an Avathar. Of all the faiths in the world, Hindu dharma alone accepts all these three doctrines. In this context of believing that one’s karma is responsible for one’s rebirth, you might get a doubt as to what karma God should have performed to be born as a human being. Just as for man’s birth, his good and bad karma is responsible; so also for God to take birth as a human being, there have to be good and bad circumstances. There is an important distinction that is to be noted here. If man has done good or bad, the consequences will apply only to him. The aspect of Avathar is not exactly like that. The bad work done by bad people and the good work done by good people are both causes for an Avathar, God coming in the human form. This will become very evident to us in the story of Narasimha Avathar. The good karma of Prahlada and the bad karma of Hiranya Kashyapa are both responsible for Narayana’s appearing in the form of Narasimha. In the same manner, for every Avathar, there is some reason. The Lord takes a human form for the karma done by others. He takes such a form out of His own free will.

For the Avathar of Rama, there are several reasons. When the war between the devas and rakshasas was going on, the rakshasas sought refuge from the wife of Maharishi Bhrigu. Then she was of some help to the rakshasas. Because she willingly helped them to some extent, the rakshasas were saved. When Narayana came to know of this situation, Narayana went to the wife of the maharishi in anger and killed her by cutting her head off. Then Bhrigu was suffering because of separation from his wife, who was killed. Bhrigu cursed Narayana that he should be born as a human being and suffer separation from His wife in that birth. The significant inner meaning of this situation is that every action will have a reaction and a reflection. Even though He is Narayana, the all powerful God, results of His own karma will inevitably follow when He comes in human form. This is, of course, to illustrate this truth to all humanity.

However, because of maya, instead of drawing this sacred lesson from this incident, we question the divinity of the Lord and are not able to firmly believe that the human form is that of Narayana Himself.

In the forest, when Rama, Sita and Lakshmana were walking, if we examine closely, we find that they are going forward in a single line, one behind the other. We can take our three fingers as the three members of the party. The first, the forefinger represents Ramachandra. As Rama is moving forward, behind Him is walking Sita. Behind Sita, Lakshmana is walking. Here Rama is the Paramatma, Sita represents maya and Lakshmana is typical of the jiva. In this situation, when Lakshmana, the jiva, wants to have a look at Rama, the Paramatma, Sita in the form of maya is standing between them. What should Lakshmana do in that situation? Should he be arrogant to Sita and ask her to move away? That cannot be. If he does that, then Rama would not tolerate it. He should pray to Sita, “Oh mother, I want to have a vision of the divine Paramatma. Please step aside for a moment and let me have a vision of Paramatma.” If on the other hand, he begins to argue with maya and he begins to command maya to step aside, then the result will be that he will not be able to look at Ramachandra or have a vision of the divine. Paramatma is always surrounded by maya. He wears maya as His body. Maya is part and parcel of Paramatma’s body. No one will agree to remove or cut away part of His own body. Regard Sita as maya. Through her and by praying to her, one should be able to get a vision of Rama, the Paramatma.

In this context, Sita is responsible for our inability to realise the true form of Paramatma. To be able to understand Him also, Sita will be the reason. As we have already said, man’s mind alone is responsible for his liberation and for his bondage. Here, the aspect of maya is similar to the aspect of mind. Mind has got a special form of its own. It is our own illusion that takes the form of our mind.

Here is a piece of cloth. This is not a piece of cloth in reality. This is actually a bundle of threads. If you look more closely at it, it is not even a bundle of threads, but it is just cotton. If we remove these threads one by one and pull them away, then the form of cloth will disappear; and we will not see the cloth any more. In the same manner, mind is simply a conglomeration of desires. These desires, like threads, come together and constitute what may be called the cloth which is the mind. Just as the cloth disappears if you pull away the threads, there will be no mind left if you pull away all the desires. The mind has no form of its own. The result is called mukthi or liberation. This process is also referred to as diminishing and removing our own responsibilities and desires. Our life is a long journey. In this long journey, if we carry a small amount of luggage with us, then that journey will become pleasant. Many students who travel in the railway trains would have seen the motto, “Less lug-gage and more comfort makes travel a pleasure.” In this life, which is like a long rail journey, the desires constitute the luggage. In order to minimise the lug-gage, we should minimise the desires. It is because of these desires that we get into bondage. It is by such bondages that we get sorrow and difficulties.

As was mentioned the other day, Rama became close to Sita because she had sacrificed everything of hers, gave up everything and thought that Rama was the only thing which she wanted. But in Danda-karanya, at the Panchavati, because she began to ask for and desire the golden deer, Rama became distant from her. It is in this context that we say that when there is kama or desire, there cannot be Rama. Where there is Rama, there cannot be kama or desire. Light and darkness cannot coexist in the same place. For every human being, the results of his own past karma, either give him happiness or give him sorrow.

In Ramayana, when Rama follows the golden deer, one hears the deceptive cries, “Ah Sita! Ah Lakshmana!” Lakshmana knows very well that these sounds have emanated from Maricha. Knowing that, he did not pay any attention to those sounds. He was looking after Sita and he was doing his duty in want-ing to protect her. When these sounds were heard by Sita, she was terrified and was in confusion. She brought undue pressure on Lakshmana, saying that Rama was in danger. She urged Lakshmana to go immediately and protect Rama. Lakshmana knew very well the tricks and the deceits played by the rakshasas. So Lakshmana told Sita, “No, you must not believe those things; they are only tricks. No kind of harm can ever come to my brother, Rama.” But Sita’s words, at that time, exceeded all reason. It looked as if she was not thinking clearly at all. She started utter-ing very harsh words. Lakshmana could no longer bear those harsh words. Therefore, he unwillingly left the place because he had no other alternative. The words that Sita uttered while urging Lakshmana to go were such that an innocent person like Lakshmana did not deserve them at all. Sita was not an ordinary woman. She was the consort of Narayana, Himself. She was the incarnation of Lakshmi Devi. In spite of all that, the inevitable law, by which one has to experience the results of one’s own karmas, was to be demonstrated here in that situation.

After the death of Ravana, when Sita was asked to go through the ordeal of having to walk into the fire to prove her purity, Rama uttered several harsh words because He wanted to test her and set an example to the world. For ten months, Sita had been waiting for the vision of Rama and when Rama appeared, He never showed any compassion, but was even using very harsh words. When Sita was in tears, Rama would shows no kindness and no compassion. On the other hand, He was so harsh that he said, “Sita, I will not show any grace to you. You can choose to remain and live with Lakshmana or Bharatha.” Sita was not an ordinary person. The moment she heard such words from Rama, she realised that this was the result of the harsh words she had used when talking to Laksh mana. The result of one’s own karma is so invincible that one can never escape it. This situation in Ramayana illustrates the law of karma very well and sets an example to human beings. It teaches human beings always to be good, to do good and see good.

In other situations also we find important illustrations. On one occasion Sita was in an advanced family-way. At that time Rama was the ruler and in Rama Rajya, people’s words were given great importance by the ruler. There is a conflict here between one’s duty as a husband and one’s duty as a king. When Rama contemplated and discussed within himself, “Is my duty as a husband more important or my duty as a king more important?” He came to the conclusion that His duty as a king was more important. The duty as a husband is an individual’s duty. The duty as a king is something which has to do with the community as a whole. After coming to the decision that His duty as a king was more important, He decided to send Sita to the forest. Although the people thought that this was a harsh action, Rama never deviated from the path of dharma even under the most trying circumstances.

If we look at yet another event in the story, we find that Rama, along with Sita and Lakshmana, were seated on a chariot and they were going to the forest. Dasaratha was immersed in sorrow, and while run-ning behind the chariot, shouted, “Stop, stop.” Sumanta, who was driving the chariot looked at Ramachandra as if he was asking a question, “Shall I stop the chariot, following the orders of Dasaratha or shall I go forward?” Ramachandra said, “Go on, go on.” After going some distance, Sumanta turned to Rama-chandra and asked the question, “It would have been very good if I, too, had to stay with you for years together in the forest. But I will have to go back to the city and then Dasaratha will ask me, ‘Why did you not stop the chariot when I asked you to stop the chariot?’ What kind of answer shall I give to Dasaratha?” Ramachandra said, “Oh, say that you could not hear his words.” Is that not an untruth? No, there is no untruth in these words. There are many reasons for this. Ramachandra has to go to the forest and the quicker he goes the better. If He delays going to the forest, He would be causing great sorrow and pain to His parents. There is another reason for this. In the battle between the devas and the rakshasas, Dasa-ratha gave a boon to Kaikeyi and he wanted her to have that boon granted. He gave that boon to Kaikeyi in his capacity as a king. In order to satisfy and fulfil the boon that he had given to Kaikeyi, in his capacity as a king, he had banished Ramachandra to the forest. But on the day, when Dasaratha was asking the chariot to stop, with the intention of having another look at Ramachandra, he did so in the capacity of a father. He is not uttering these orders in the capacity of a king. This order is something which is connected with the relationship that exists between a father and a son, which has nothing to do with a king.

He told Sumanta, “You have obeyed the orders of your king. You did not obey the orders given by my father.” We should observe the important distinction which Rama is making between king and father. If, say, a person by name Yellaya with four sons, becomes a minister, in the olden days he used to think that the minister had no children, but all the people in the country were his children and would look after everyone. But in these days, the moment Yellaya be-comes a minister, his four children become important. They are not recognising that along with a position, there is a responsibility when he occupies that position. Thus, if we compare the situation today, with the situation that existed in the time of Rama Rajya, we will see a big difference.

The rishis are leaders of the world. That is, they are the path finders. In history, you may find various human qualities ascribed to great rishis. All such qualities have always been used by them for the prosperity of the people. Individuals, who cannot understand this truth, begin to comment and discuss the conduct of these great rishis. Rishis were always totally selfless. All their actions were directed towards the prosperity of the people. The important events, that are contained in the sacred story of Ramayana are examples for proclaiming such ideals. Every word in Ramayana has the potency of a manthra. Rama has been showing Himself as an ideal human being.

You have the responsibility for the good of the country, and it is necessary for you to understand the inner significant meaning of Ramayana. It is not right for you to think that these are just stories which have been created by somebody, and that they have no rela-tion to the context of your life. These are incidents which have been narrated by Maharishis and offer an ideal to you to follow at all stages of your life, whatever the situation may be, whatever position you may be occupying and whatever the circumstances may be. But today, we are not making an attempt to keep our thought and intelligence in the correct path. The intelligence that has been given to you, so that you may understand who you are, is being used to understand the rest of the world and not yourself.

If the intelligence that has been given to you, for the purpose of introspection and search of your Atma, is used to procure food, there is no meaning in your life. Even the birds and the animals are searching and procuring food. It is a shame to be born as a human being just for the sake of getting food to eat. If a mir-ror that is given to you to look at your own face is used to see the faces of others, how are you going to know your own face?

God has gifted this intelligence to you so that you may be able to understand yourself and to realise your own true nature. Make an attempt in the first instance to find out who you are. It is this enquiry that will automatically become the enquiry of self and lead to questions like, who am I? Am I this body? Am I this mind? Am I this intelligence? etc.

When you examine each of these questions, you will realise that you are none of these. For example, you say, “It is my body.” When you say that, you imply that you are separate, the body is separate and that you are not the body. This truth must be understood by you. If I take this as my kerchief, the kerchief can be thrown away at any time and I can become quite separate from the kerchief. When you say that this is my body, my mind, my intelligence and so on, it simply means that you are different from the body, the mind and the intelligence. You are in the body, you are in the mind, you are everywhere, but they are not in you. They belong to you but they are not the same as you.

We should also enquire here into a small situation. Yes, they are you, but you are not they. What is the implication? When you say that you are those things, it is right. And when you say that you are not those things, that is also right. How is this possible? There is a small tub of water. You are looking into that tub of water, and you find by reflection your image in the water. You then say that is you. What you see as an image is you. Then I say, no, that is not you. If you claim that the image is you, and if I take hold of a stick and beat the image, you are not going to feel the pain. How do you then claim that the image is you? That is the image. That is not you. But you are that. If I abuse that image, then you will become angry. If I beat the image, you do not feel the pain, but if I abuse the image, you certainly feel hurt. This means that you are in it, but are not identical with it. In the same manner, you are present everywhere. You are present in the image, you are omnipresent and you are divine. In this context and in the aspect of this truth, I say that you are not one person, but you are three persons. The one you think you are, the one others think you are and the one you really are. The body, the mind and the Atma, represent these three different aspects.

This morning, one of the speakers gave the meaning of the letter ‘W.’ Very cleverly, he decided that ‘W’ stands for woman. In that conclusion, it be-comes established that either for the prosperity or for decline in the world, women alone are responsible. Whether to improve the world and make it a happy place to live in and to take it to the heights of glory, women alone are responsible. It is said in the Bhagavad Gita that women have got a very distinctive quality in them, and that women should get the first place in everything. Our country is described as the mother. Nature, the creation, is compared with a mother. If we fall down and experience pain, we cry out “Amma,” we do not cry out “Appa.” In all these situations, in our symbolising the mother, there is a very distinctive and special position for the woman. A woman can take a person to the heights of glory and she can also drag him to the deepest depths of degradation.

There are three sacred words: work, worship and wisdom. In all the three words, “W” is common and is the first letter. There are also three other words beginning with “W” and which take you to the very depths of destruction: wine, woman and wealth. In the world you can see a person of position and of authority such as a general, commanding thousands of sepoys, or a supreme court judge, who has the power by which he can punish in any manner that he likes. In big colleges, there may be thousands of students. The principal will have such power that even at the mention of his name the students will be frightened. Can a general who commands all his soldiers, a supreme court judge who can wield such an authority, a principal of a college who can terrify thousands of students wield a fraction of such authority over his wife in that manner? We conclude that in women, there is some divine strength. Because of this divine strength, Sita could secure Rama who is not easily available to everyone.

When we hear the name of a mango from Vijayawada which is called the ‘Rasam’ the very name will make us feel that it is a very attractive fruit. When we hear the name, it creates a great attraction and we think it is a very sweet fruit. But when we actually see the fruit itself, and we want to eat it, we may get a doubt whether it is really sweet or sour? In the same manner when we hear the name of God, then we certainly have a great attraction to that name. But when the same God, takes a human form, we begin to have doubts. The changes that come about in a form, a natural characteristic of all creation, are responsible for these doubts.

All that we see around us is the creation of nature. This is simply a manifestation of creation, and is called nature. There is a great deal of weakness in this creation, and the source for such weakness is in the creation itself. Wherever there is a weakness in any individual, to that extent he is simply in the form of a woman. In this world which is like a stage, a man and a woman are merely actors and are playing their roles. However, simply because one takes the part of a man or of a woman in a play, one cannot conclude that some are men and some are women.

Here is a small example. There is a girls’ college in Anantapur. At the time of the Annual Day in the girls’ college, the students stage several dramas. In a drama, whether it is the part of a king or any other man, it is the girls who play that part. Whether it is the king or the queen, whether it is a man or a woman, all the parts are played only by girls. Just for that day, they are putting on the appearance of a man or a king on the stage, but truly, they are simply girls, they are women. In the drama or on the stage it is only a part that they are playing. They are in reality neither kings nor men. In the same manner in the entire creation, the world is like a girls’ college. On the stage of the world, we are thinking that some are women and some are men. This is simply an appearance but not true. All persons suffer from weaknesses like hunger, anger, jealousy, tiresomeness, etc. All these weaknesses are present in everyone and that indicates that all are feminine. There is only one who has not got such qualities and that person is referred to as Purusha and that is Paramatma.

To be able to get a vision of the Paramatma, we should throw away these human weaknesses, like being short tempered, and angry. Particularly, you young people should be able to control your anger, your hatred, your jealousy and your lust. It is these that you must control. If you cannot make an attempt and succeed in controlling them when you are young, it will become impossible to control them when you grow older. To be able to control the senses, this is the right age. It is these sensuous urges that destroy you and your equanimity.

When you are able to control your desires, it will be possible for you to have the entire world in your palm. If you become subservient to your desires and to your ambitions, then you will become subservient to everything around you. If you become a slave to your desires, then you become a slave to the entire world. But if you control and conquer your desires, you can conquer the whole world. If you want to keep them under control only apparently, the lasting results will not follow. If you go and beat on the surface of an anthill with a stick, will the snake inside the anthill die? Controlling desires only superficially will not be the right thing to do. The bad ideas and thoughts that come within your body have to be controlled. Mind is like the anthill. Out of the anthill of your mind, several poisonous thoughts, like poisonous snakes, will be pouring out. By using sacred thoughts of God and by using quiet and calm ideas about God, you should be able to put the snakes to sleep. Yours is an age which is a sacred age. To waste such a sacred age and not to get good results out of that age is deplorable. You should not desire to imitate or copy others in all your actions. If from today, you are able to get rid of such qualities and control your thoughts, in future you will be able to acquire strength by which you can go close to God.

If such good results do not flow from attending these classes, what is the use of having such summer classes and seminars? If a car which has gone out of order goes into a workshop for repairs and comes back to you as a car which is still out of order, what is the use of taking it for repair? In a similar manner, many damaged cars, without nuts and bolts, in the form of young students, have been sent to this workshop of a Ramayana Seminar, and they have come from all parts of our country. When these cars return to their places, they will have some value only if they are repaired so as to be in good condition. Otherwise, there is no use of coming to this workshop.

Such of those students who have come here should not go back in the same condition in which they have come here. They should transform themselves into ideal men and ideal women. I am hoping that you will thus be able to set an example to others who may follow you in the coming years.