Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

Oruganti Narasimha Yogi has been explaining the Krishna Principle (Thathwam) to you during the last three days. Pandits (scholars) are the instruments through whom you can gather the key to the understanding of the mystery of God; they give you the gist of the scriptures (sastras) in easy, simple, style and interpret them in the light of whatever experience they have earned. You have to listen to them with faith and devotion, in a mood of humility. Arjuna told Krishna, “I came into this battlefield a brave person (dheera). I have now become a man in distress (dheena), for I am but an instrument in your hands.” Arjuna was an embodiment of divine consciousness and not, as he imagined, a mud-filled body. He was suffused with divine consciousness, not earthly inertia. Only he was not aware of it. A person gets into the company they deserve, is it not? From the company, you can judge a person. Well, Arjuna had the Lord Himself for company! Arjuna had the faith to concentrate on the Gita teaching even in the midst of the battlefield, on the eve of the fight that was to decide the fate of his family. He had devotion enough to compel Krishna to show him the Cosmic Form of God (Viswarupa, Viratswarupa) itself! He had the humility to declare that he would much rather beg than kill his kith and kin. He had the humility to fall at the feet of Krishna when he could no longer see how he should proceed. Develop these qualities, and you too can get the company of the Lord.

Krishna aroused the passionate (rajasic) qualities again in Arjuna, by prodding him and laughing at him for his cowardice and un-warrior attitude of renunciation. Thus, the qualities of sloth and ignorance (thamasic qualities) were removed. Later, He transformed Arjuna into a noble, pious (sathwic) hero, fit for the war of righteousness that he was to wage. The Isavasya Upanishad mentions that ignorance (ajnana) is the greatest sin. The fault of being miserly (karpanya dosa) that the Gita mentions is another name for the same ignorance. The Gita is the specific for this fell disease, which afflicts the majority of mankind. You must all study the Gita daily. Read a few verses and meditate on the meaning yourself; it will dawn on you in the silence of your heart. You need not read elaborate commentaries. Each word in the Gita is a gem. No more do you need gemstones for the ear, the nose, and the neck. Have the gem of the Gita verses in your heart, and let them activate your intellect and your hands.

As long as you are entangled in the sensual world, you cannot distinguish the real from the unreal. You have to discover the real through discrimination; there is no avoiding that responsibility. You have to do it now or later. Power, status, wealth, authority - these are useless in this adventure. Alexander, during his campaigns in the Punjab, was anxious to see a celebrated sage. He went to the cave where the sage was and expected to be received most thankfully and with demonstrations of welcome. But the sage simply asked him to move aside and go. He was not interested in the famous world-shaker, the Greek con queror. Alexander was very angry; he threatened to kill the sage and drew his sword. But the sage said calmly, with a laugh “I do not die; I cannot die.” That put some sense in Alexander, and he put his sword back into the scabbard. Narasimha Yogi spoke of the divine play (leela) where Brahma (One of the Trinity) takes away the entire population of Brindavan, including the cattle. Using His miracle power, Krishna creates identical men, women, and children and identical cattle, and they carry on undiscovered, quite normally, for one year! Now, Brahma is not different from Vishnu or Krishna; they do not work contrary to each other; they both work out the same plan. This form (rupa) is that form; this disguise (upadhi) and that disguise are both of the same divine Energy. The essential purpose of all this divine play is divine bliss (anandam). So, the One carries away when in one disguise called Brahma and creates substitutes when in another disguise called Krishna - all for the sake of the bliss it gives to the participants as well as to the onlookers and those who listen to the story later. This is one way of announcing the divinity of the Avatara, which has to be done so that people may listen and obey. The common people will sit up in wonder, and their awe will ripen into faith; later, even if one starts discriminating and arguing pro and con, the Avatar will only be glad, for the faith will thus be confirmed.

The mind is ever unsteady; it has to be educated; its quicksilver quality has to be curbed. The mind is really the Embodiment of Consciousness (Chaithanya-swarupam), and it will become steady only when it is merged in the Divine (that is, in Chaithanya). There may be ice on a lake, which is inert (jada), but move it all to one side, press it aside, and the natural form of water, the Chaithanya, reveals itself, That Chaithanya has no joy or sorrow. It is ever in perfect equilibrium. “I am That.” I am not affected by either. Mine is Samadhi - intelligence that is sama (steady), unaffected, unchanging wisdom. Remove the cataract and the vision becomes clear. So too, remove the feeling of inferiority that dwarfs you now. Feel that you are absolute, eternal, and blissful; then, every act of yours becomes a sacrifice (yajna), a ritual worship (puja). The ear, the eye, the tongue, the feet all become tools for your uplift, not traps for your destruction. Transform the quality of inertia (thamogunam) into the quality of austerity (thapogunam) and save yourself.

You are indeed lucky that such learned and experienced pandits share with you their scholarship and their joy. Practise contemplation of what you hear; that is the best way to show your gratitude. You have another advantage too. With your experience, you can understand the Bhagavatham better. Swami’s nature is all-pervading Love (Viswaprema), you have known, and Bhagavatham is the story of Viswaprema. I declare that I am in every one, in every being. So do not hate anyone or cavil at anyone. Spread love always, everywhere. That is the best way to revere Me. Do not seek to measure Me or evaluate Me. I am beyond your understanding. Pray or worship for your own satisfaction and contentment. But to say that I will respond only if I am called or that I will save only if I am thought of is wrong. Have you not heard the declaration. “Sarvathah pani padham”? It means that you can hear My footsteps, for I walk with you, behind you, beside you. My ear will be there to listen when you cry out in agony, “Don’t you hear my heart’s plaint? Have you become so stony-hearted?” Ask Me to protect you like the apple of the eye, and My eye will be there to watch over you and guard you. Have incense and scent sticks for the ritual worship, and I smell them. I answer to whatever Name you use. I respond to whatever request that you make with a pure heart and a sanctified motive.