Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

Though the Vedas were classified so that people could find them easy to study and experience, yet they were ignored.

Selfishness has become the motivating force for all activities of man today. His mind is filled with all types of desires, and violence has become the way of life. He is wasting his life, not knowing its purpose. He is straying away from the path of dharma (right action) and prema (love). Desires of man are crossing all limits and are ultimately leading him to misery. Man is in a state of confusion because he is unable to comprehend the true objective of life.

I have been giving discourses for the past sixty years, but you are not making any effort to put into practice even a few of the teachings. Students are like gold. Their hearts are suffused with sacred feelings. Their behaviour should also be in accordance with their feelings. Man will be ruined if his behaviour is not on the right lines. Not only students, but teachers and administrators are also not coming up to expectations. The situation is the same in the case of samithis and Organisations.

No doubt, devotees have immense love for Swami, but the same love is not expressed in the form of gratitude and sadhana (spiritual practice). It is rather surprising, even to Me, that for the past few days I did not feel like speaking at all. Since there was no marked change in you, I thought there was no point in continuing to speak to you. Hence, I decided to confine Myself to a few words.

What do you expect Me to speak? I have already taught all that ought to be taught. There is nothing more to convey. I am pained to see that all My teachings have gone waste and all My sweet words have become tasteless to you.

Today, ego is on the rise in devotees. They are becoming more and more ostentatious. They pose as great persons before the world, thereby setting a wrong ideal to others. The knowledge acquired and the experience gained by them are not being put to any good use. They are not able to recognise that their ego will lead them to their downfall. They are not following the ideals set before them by Swami and are also not grateful for the love and grace showered on them by Me.

Since ancient times, the Vedas have been teaching profound truths. They form the basis for a peaceful and prosperous society. The term ‘Veda’ refers to ‘wisdom’, ‘discrimination’, and ‘being’. There are many people who chant the Vedas from dawn to dusk, but no one is trying to understand the utility and significance of the Vedas. What is the benefit derived by chanting them? Many people attend Veda classes to study the Vedas, but they do so only for the sake of money, name and fame.

Sage Vyasa thought that it was well nigh impossible for man to study the infinite Vedas within his limited life-span. Therefore, he classified the Vedas into four broad categories: Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, and Atharvana Veda. Yajur Veda was further divided into Krishna Yajur Veda and Shukla Yajur Veda. The vastness of the subject of the Vedas is conveyed by their several other names, such as Sruti, Trayee, Chandas, Swadhyaya, Nigama, Agama, etc.

Each name is pregnant with a deep inner significance. Each Veda consists of three parts: Mantras, Brahmanas, and Upanishads, including Aranyakas. The Mantras are the hymns in praise of gods. The Brahmanas deal with the performance of sacrifices - yajnas and the yagas. Aranyakas consist of the Mantras chanted and practiced by the Vanaprasthas in the forest.

Though the Vedas were classified so that people could find them easy to study and experience, they were ignored. Unfortunately, no one is giving due importance to the Vedas, which are very sacred and are replete with profound truths. As a result, Indian culture is on the decline.

People from other countries understand the value of the Vedas better than the Indians. The Japanese and the Germans studied the Atharvana Veda deeply with the result that they could excel in the manufacture of arms and ammunition. But, unfortunately, the Bharatiyas (Indians) are not trying to comprehend the greatness and the grandeur of the Vedas. They are ruining their lives in the pursuit of materialistic desires. They undertake even spiritual practices only to fulfil their worldly ambitions. They can nourish this sacred culture only when they develop steady faith in Divinity. They are taking to pravritti marga (outward path) and forgetting the nivritti marga (inward path).

Modern man wants everything to be done in a trice without any hard work on his part. He is not prepared to put in any effort or bear any hardship. Today, people are not prepared to accept truth; they are carried away by untruth. This is similar to the situation wherein people refuse to take milk delivered at their doorstep but are prepared to traverse long distances to consume illicit liquor.

What is the meaning of education? Education is meant to know oneself, not to amass wealth. In spite of his education, a mean-minded person cannot give up his wicked qualities. Modern education leads only to argumentation but not to total wisdom. If the elders themselves take to the wrong path, the young are likely to follow in their footsteps.

Modern man thinks he is highly educated, but in fact he is totally ignorant. Since he is unable to understand the significance of education, he is using it only to earn his living. He is going through various scriptures and joining various spiritual organisations but is not making any effort to put into practice even a few sacred teachings. There is no sin worse than this. It is all right if a mistake is committed unknowingly, but committing a mistake deliberately amounts to great sin. Though man is fully aware of what is good and what is bad, he is not able to practice good and give up evil. This is why he is unable to progress in the field of spirituality.

has been associated with a profound spiritual significance. Yajna means sacrifice. In this yajna, you have to sacrifice your bad thoughts, wicked feelings, and evil tendencies and cultivate noble qualities. Before the commencement of the yajna, fire is produced by keeping one piece of wood over the other and churning vigorously. The piece of wood which is below can be compared to the mother and the above to the father. The resultant fire, the son, burns the parents themselves. You have to understand the mystery and inner significance of such concepts of the Vedas.

Many of you are feeling bad, thinking that Swami is angry with you and is not talking to you. I do not have even a trace of anger or dislike toward the students or the elders. I consider students as My very life. In such a case, how can I be angry with them? But I do not wish to talk to anybody because I do not want My words to be devalued. I feel it is better not to speak than to speak and lose the value of My words.

There is no point in feeling bad that Swami is not talking to you. Make efforts to attain the deservedness, so that Swami would talk to you. I have taught you on innumerable occasions, but have you made any sincere attempt to practice even one of My teachings? When you do not give up evil tendencies like hatred, jealousy, and pomposity, how do you expect Swami to talk to you? Hatred is the greatest enemy of man. Ostentation gives rise to ego, which will in turn ruin humanness.

Love is the common property of one and all. You can attain happiness and peace only when you develop love. But, today, love is on the decline and hatred is on the rise. We find hatred college and inmates of the same ashram. Slander is the worst of sins What is an ashram? It is a place where there is no shrama (hardship). But, you are making this ashram into a place of burden! You have no right to stay in the ashram if you do not obey Swami’s command and understand His love and Divinity.

No benefit accrues to you if you merely stay here without putting Swami’s teachings into practice. It is better that I do not speak to you if you do not practise what I say. In fact, overseas devotees have better understanding of Swami’s love. They go into ecstasy if Swami talks to them even once. On the other hand, you do not understand the value of love and grace showered on you day in and day out. You merely waste your time by indulging in mean actions like slander and backbiting.

Slander is the worst of sins. Do not criticise or abuse others. The Upanishads declare that man is highly valuable. But he is losing his value, respect, and honour by his wrong acts. Man alone is to be blamed for this.

Here is an example. You are all worshipping Me. But, the Atma in Me is the same as the Atma in you. So, your worshipping Me amounts to the Atma worshipping itself. If an individual indulges in criticism, he does so because he considers himself separate from others, not understanding the oneness of the Atma.

The Atma does not criticise itself. If you want to be near and dear to Swami, develop the principle of love. All the mantras you chant and the worship you do will go waste if you give scope to evil qualities like hatred, jealousy, pomp, and show.

Embodiments of Love! Love everybody just as you love Swami, because Swami is present in one and all. There is the same divinity present in all beings. Easwara sarva bhutanam (God is the indweller of all beings). One who realises this truth can achieve anything in life.

Once, a great yajna (sacrifice) was performed by king Janaka. Great scholars, both men and women like Yajnavalkya, Gargi and Narada, were present on this occasion. The king told the assembly to ask any question they wanted. Gargi enquired if she, being a woman, was permitted to ask questions. Janaka was wisdom incarnate. He said, “Advaita darshanam jnanam (knowledge of non-duality is true wisdom). There is no difference between man and woman in the domain of true wisdom. Hence anyone is free to ask.” Then Gargi addressed Yajnavalkya, “You are preparing to leave with cows given to you by the king. You may do so after answering my questions. My first question is: what is the basis of all the objects in this universe?” All the scholars present were astonished that a woman could dare to put such a bold question to Yajnavalkya. “Akasa (sky) is the basis for all that exists,” he replied.

She then asked, “What is that which is above the sky, pervades the earth, and extends below the earth?” “The substance that pervades all these is akasa only,” replied Yajnavalkya.

In this manner, the assembly of great scholars went on discussing the ultimate source of akasa. It did not merely mean what was above our head. Gargi explained the uniqueness of the sound principle by defining akasa as Sabda Brahman. It was also explained that for everything in this universe akasa was the basis. And Surya (the sun) was the basis for akasa. The source of the sun was prakriti (nature). In this way, Gargi participated in this discussion. All were amazed at the discrimination and wisdom of Gargi.

People generally think that Narada loves quarrel.

He got up and asked Gargi, "Respected lady, what is your life’s ambition?

“My only desire is to attain Divinity,” she replied.

“It is impossible,” replied Narada.

“Why?” asked Gargi.

Narada replied, “Moksha (liberation) and the attainment of Divinity are not ordained for unmarried women.” Gargi said, “The only difference is in the body and the mind, and not in the Atma” Narada said, “The moment you are married, you will attain moksha” Gargi said, “That is impossible, for I have surrendered myself entirely to God already. Such being the case, do I have no possibility of attaining moksha?” As this dispute was going on, Janaka intervened and said, “Mother, you can get married. What are you going to lose?” She thought for a while and considered the contents of all the Upanishads and Sastras. She then said, “All right then, I shall have a one-day marriage.” Even Narada was perplexed as to what this one-day marriage meant. Gargi said, “A marriage is a marriage, be it for a day or a hundred years. So, I shall have a one-day marriage; who is ready to accept this?” One of the sages, named Sringi, agreed. Tadeva Lagnam, Sudinam Tadeva, Tarabalam Chandrabalam Tadeva, Vidyabalam Daivabalam T adeva - as the mantra was being chanted, and the sage tied the marital knot, Gargi immediately broke it and promptly attained liberation. Thus, Gargi attained her goal without transgressing her vows or any of the Sastric injunctions.

Janaka said, “Gargi, your entire life is devoted to the fulfillment of the Divine Will. Then, how can moksha elude you? You are destined for moksha. You are indeed a great scholar. Today, I shall get myself crowned by your hands.” Gargi explained the dharma of the householder in the court of Janaka and said that such worldly relationships were temporary and not permanent.

Countless such illustrious women were born in this sacred land of Bharat. It is unfortunate that people born in this sacred land are going to such a low state. Ego and attachment are the cause for this state of affairs. Whatever I say is for your good and not for My sake. Many of you do not realise this. Arrogance of one’s own level of knowledge is the main cause for this state of ignorance.

Educated people should have humility. Education confers humility, humility confers deservedness, deserving one obtains wealth, and when wealth is used to practice dharma, one attains true happiness. You can thus attain the goal of your life here and hereafter through true education.

Students! First get rid of your ego. Cultivate humility. Respect your elders. Speak sweet words. When you practice these virtues, Swami will always be with you and will always guide you. You do not know, but many marvelous things are going to happen in the near future. You will be delighted to see, hear, and experience these divine events. Do not miss this sacred opportunity that is before you. If you lose it, you will never get it again. Once you obtain it, you will never lose it. Keep these sacred thoughts in your heart, respect your parents, please your elders, and make your life meaningful. This is My blessing to you all. With this I blessing, I bring My discourse to a close.