Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

Matham is a matter of mathi; 'religion' is based on the urge that moves the 'mind'; if the urge is divine, we have a divine religion; if it is bestial, then, the things held lovable and desirable will be bestial too. Join the particular with the universal, the limited with the unlimited, the river with the sea. This is the process called Yoga. This can be achieved through Bhakthi or Karma or Jnana.

You must develop this attitude of 'merging' with the divine in all that you do, this attitude of dedication, of surrender to His Will. This is the best means of realising Him. The Geetha, about which all the four Pandits whom you are honouring today spoke, was itself the result of Arjuna's surrender, his prapaththi. The Geetha does not prescribe the same remedy for all; each must get himself diagnosed by an experienced doctor of the spirit and then follow his advice, until he reaches a state of health, when he can restore equanimity to himself by his own effort. You need not learn all the shlokas (verses) and all the commentaries by heart and exhibit your scholarship, engaging in contest with other scholars. It is enough if you put into practice one shloka, the one that suits your spiritual stage, that appeals to you most. That first step will itself take you nearer the second step, the second will make the third easier and so on until the end. If the cow is the representative of Dharma, then, the four Vedas are the teats in its udder, where the life-giving milk is stored; the Gopala (Krishna)milked the cow and gave it to the world, as the Geetha. It has to be taken into the heart. Of what avail is "medicine" if it is poured into the ear? It has to be taken in, so that it might act and strengthen the blood-stream. So too, there is no use in listening for hours to discourses on the Geetha; take the lesson in. Put it into practice: apply it in daily life. Realise the divinity in you, that is the lesson.

There are two statements in the Geetha, both complementary: Shraddhavan labhathe jnanam(the man with steady faith wins wisdom) and samsayatma vinasyathi (he who doubts perishes). The doubt that overpowered Arjuna was removed by the teaching of Krishna and the necessary shraddha was inculcated. As a matter of fact, the Geetha is a conversation between the jeeva and Brahman, the limited or, rather 'the idea of the limited', with the Unlimited. The dehavasthra is worn by the dehi: the body is but a vesture of God, who is eternal and permanent. Seeing one's own reality is the opening of the doors of liberation; for this, the mirror of the heart has to be prepared, by coating the back of the heart with sathya and dharma. Otherwise, the image will not appear. In every act of yours, if you observe truth and justice, then you can see your own reality revealed. You may say that the burden of past acts and their inevitable consequences have to be borne; but, the Grace of the Lord can burn that burden in a flash; the revelation of reality will, in a flash, save you from that burden. If you see yourself in all and all in you, then, you have known the reality, says Krishna in the Geetha. Therefore, you have to develop the same quantity and quality of Love that you have for Me, towards all others. When you are the Universal, where can you say, your street is or your house is? You are then no longer an individual; you are the Universal. Get that idea fixed in your mind. The Lord will be easily moved; He is like butter, a little warmth is enough to melt His heart. When Prahladha approached Him, the ferocity of the Narasimha Form of the Lord cooled down.

The three Pandits you have honoured today are preserving and propagating these vital truths of our culture for the last thirty or forty years; there are many more men of this calibre still to be recognised and honoured. Many people condemn Brahmins as a class and charge them with trying to promote their caste interests, writing the Shastras (scriptures) and trying to have a monopoly of the Vedas. But, have you considered how difficult the Shastras have made the life of a Brahmin? No one will willingly impose such restrictions on so many of his own acts and movements, but these people have done it and tried to live accordingly for centuries, and their chief inspiration for subjecting themselves to this restriction has been not power or pomp, but "the welfare of humanity!" Consider this. That is the outlook of Indian culture, the welfare of humanity as a whole. That is also the reason why it has survived, while all its contemporaries of the past have sunk into oblivion, some without a trace of theft influence on posterity. This culture has stood firm because it is built upon the Vedas, the authentic experience of the seers. It is only those who are obsessed by doubt that lose those precious jewels of spiritual wisdom; there are some who hesitate to accept good and useful things that others suggest, though these same people are daily taking countless other facts on trust!

Imagine the enormous efforts of these seers, as a result of which the path of spiritual progress has been cleared by them for the good of all! Why do you not proceed along it? If you take the very first step, you will immediately recognise that their experience is authentic. What is the use of blaming them, instead of trying their prescription? But, you must be aware, of course, of your illness and long for a cure.

The Geetha must be carried by this Samaj to the villages and its message must be instilled into the daily lives of our people. In order that you may get the authority to do this, you must yourselves follow the Geetha in your daily life. Develop confidence in yourself and in the culture you have grown up in. There is no advertisement needed for it, it has its own inherent value and the proof of its value is in the shanthi it confers and the courage it implants. I am sorry these Pandits, who are great scholars, did not speak longer because they wished Me to address you for a longer time. Whether they speak or I speak, the subject is essentially the same; liberation from delusion and escape from darkness, by the recognition of the light that is effulgent within.