Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

One meaning of karma, which is popularly accepted, is that it is one’s destiny or fate, the inescapable “writing” on the brow, which has to work itself out. There is no escaping it. But people forget that it is not written by some other hand. It is all written by one’s own hand. And the hand that wrote it can also wipe it off. The husk with which the paddy is born can be removed by effort; the worldly illusory power (maya), which persuaded you to write all that destiny, can be conquered in an instant, and then the entire page can be wiped away. Men are spinning cocoons for themselves; they suffer because they are unable to come out of it into the world of light. They are like the monkeys caught by the wandering beggar, dancing at the end of the rope and begging pennies from those sitting round the ring. Sankara said that he would willingly offer the monkey (mind) to Siva so that He may teach it tricks that please Him and use it for getting alms for Himself. That is to say, Sankara proposed to fill his mind with thoughts of God, so that the monkey would be tamed and made to serve God’s purpose. You too must make the mind the servant of God, not the slave of the senses.

You must have watched a bird sitting on a branch that waves in the wind. It is unafraid, because it has more confidence in its wings than in the branch. It knows that, any moment, it can take to its wings and leave the perch, the uncertain perch. The branch is the objective world (prakriti), and the wings are the grace of the Lord. Develop strength of wing and sit on any tree. You won’t come to harm. But if you trust the objective world and rely only upon the protection it gives, you fall. Mullapoodi Narayana Shasthri and Vajapeyam Venkateshwara Avadhani both spoke now of the difficulty of demarcating what exactly dharma (duty) is and what the criterion is to determine the dharma of each person. Well, the dharma that you have to follow is to be what you profess to be. This is an easy and intelligible test. If you feel and believe that you are a brahmin, then you have to follow the dharma as laid down for a brahmin. If you feel and are convinced that you are the Atma, then your dharma is the Atma dharma (divine-oriented duty). If you feel and are certain that you are the body, then the body-oriented duty is the dharma for you. But everyone must imbibe higher values and consider themself as Atma and follow the Atma dharma. That is the mission for which I have come. That is the work of the Vidwan Mahasabha (Society of Pandits). Wherever the ants may be, sugar will be placed near the entrance leading to their colonies. All people are Mine; so the whole world has to be saved from the consequences of ignorance or limited knowledge. I will get all My people near Me, for they are Mine and I am theirs. Then I will start teaching and training them until they become entirely ego-free.

For the last 25 years, it has all been sweetness, kindness, soft persuasion; hereafter, it will be different. I will drag them, place them on the table, and operate. That is to say, I have no anger or hate; I have only Love. It is Love that prompts Me to save them, to open their eyes before they get deeper into the morass. The Society that was inaugurated yesterday will approach the people, those who are as yet ignorant of the great teachings of Veda and Vedanta, who have not enough capacity to digest it and assimilate it into their system. Therefore, it will be given in small doses that can be easily assimilated, with love and sympathy. Each one of those pandits will contribute some share to the eradication of ignorance (ajnana). The watchword will be the ancient vedic prayer,

It will be lighting the lamp in village after village, lighting little lamps from these big lamps. This work has to be done, but the rulers won’t take it up, nor do the ruled ask that it be done. Unless the child starts wailing, the mother will not feed it. But this Mother is different. She knows that the child must be fed and when it is to be fed. The advent itself was according to My resolve (sankalpa); every step in this Avatara is due to My own resolve, not due to the prayer or petition of devotees. Devotees seldom know what is good for them.

Since Brahmins are the custodians of the Vedas and the scriptures (sastras), fostering the Brahmin will foster the Vedas and scriptures and ensure world prosperity. Some say that the Brahmin has monopolised the Vedas and scriptures and that he is misusing that monopoly for his aggrandizement; it is said that the Veda is a huge conspiracy by a clique of Brahmins for promoting the wealth of that community. This is very far from truth. Look at all the rules and regulations, the prohibitions and denials that the Brahmin has to observe. They were all laid down for the Brahmin by Brahmins themselves. Eating, drinking, moving about, sleeping, conversing, working, giving, receiving, earning, spending - all the various activities of living are controlled by hundreds of restrictions. This does not convey the impression of a clique bent upon enjoying at the expense of the rest of the community. Moreover, the regulated life of the Brahmin and the rites, vows, fasts, and prayers that he undertakes as part of his duty are intended to benefit the whole world, for securing world prosperity. As a matter of fact, you must encourage more and more Brahmins to keep up the traditional way of regulated life. That is also one of the purposes of the Vidwan Mahasabha (Society of Pandits). Goddess Bhavani gave Sivaji a sword and sent him on Her work of restoring dharma (righteousness). This Siva-Sakthi (meaning Sai Baba) is giving the sword courage into the hands of these pandits and asking them to go forth in order to reeducate our people and remove their ignorance (ajnana). Sivaji’s sword was always used only on behalf of dharma. Once, when Sivaji with his army paid a visit to the ashram of Samartha Ramadhas, his soldiers invaded the field opposite and plucked the sugar cane, eating off the entire crop. When the owner protested, they beat him with the cane itself. Sivaji heard about this, and he not only punished the soldiers for the theft but, on the recommendation of his guru, made the land of the peasant tax free for all time! These pandits know the medicine for the worldly disease (bhavaroga); learn it from them and begin taking it. Attend the meetings that they will address in the villages wherever your district committee arranges. Accept whatever good they give. Become the soldiers of Prasanthi, to drive away the Chinese from your hearts, those who are undermining your awareness of the Atma. Honouring them is honouring Me; neglecting them is neglecting the Vedas and Sastras, and it is as foolish as neglecting Me.