Significance of Onam Festival - From the Discourses of Sri Sathya Sai Baba

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Significance of Onam Festival

8 September 2003

 

>From the Discourses of Sri Sathya Sai Baba

 

Source:

http://sathyasai.org/calendar/onam.html

 

ONAM

 

This day is the sacred day when the Lord as Vamana Avathaar

conferred liberation on Emperor Bali. Bali was a great person, but

he had one weakness. He suffered from a slight sense of ego. Who is

a great man? One who sees the human even in Naaraayana (God). But a

good man is one who sees God even in man. Hence, it is more

important for people to be good rather than great. Most parents

these days want their children to become great in various ways --in

scholarship, wealth, and position. This is totally misconceived.

They should really want their children to be good. Greatness

signifies quantity. Goodness is an index of quality.

Vamana incarnated to eradicate the undesirable quality of ego in

Emperor Bali, Bali was known for his love of his subjects. Poverty

was unknown in his realm. He looked after the welfare of his people

with an equal eye. He felt proud about his kingdom and his people.

Vamana wanted to remove even this pride and redeem Bali.

 

Before leaving for the nether world, Bali gave a promise to his

people, whom he loved. He said he would come back to them every year

on Onam day and bless them.

 

Onam is celebrated as the day of advent of Vamana and Bali. It marks

the beginning of a new life. That is why it is celebrated by wearing

new clothes and resolving to lead a new life.

 

Divine Discourse: 14 September 1997

 

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When the Lord, as Vamana, was approaching Emperor Bali's sacrifical

ceremony (yaaga), the Emperor received him reverentially and asked

him what he wanted. He said, "I want three feet of ground, measured

by my feet." Bali said, "Why come all the way to ask for just three

feet of ground?" Vamana declared, "That is all I want." The

Emperor's preceptor, Sukracharya, warned the Emperor against making

the gift, since the seeker was no ordinary person. But the Emperor

firmly declared that there is no greater sin than going back on

one's promise. He kept his word.

 

Emperor Bali stands forth as the great upholder of the plighted

word. That is why the people of Kerala worship him to this day and

celebrate the festival of Onam in his memory.

 

What is it that is adored today? It is Truth. Without truth nothing

has any value.

 

Without the values of truth, righteousness, peace and love, all

education and other attainments are useless. (Telugu Poem).

 

Love is the supreme value. It is not mundane love but Divine love

that is precious. That Divine love encompasses every other form of

attachment to friends and others. Cultivate the enduring friendship

of God.

 

Emperor Bali was prepared to offer everything, including himself, to

God. That is his greatness. It is not the gift of mere three feet of

land. He offered himself to the Lord.

 

I offer all that is mine, my family, my wealth, and myself, keeping

nothing for myself. Save me, Oh Lord, who has sought refuge in you.

(Sanskrit sloka)

The heart that you gave to me

I am offering to you --

what else can I offer at your Lotus Feet?

(Telugu Poem).

 

This is the spirit in which Bali surrendered to the Lord.

 

Divine Discourse: 27 August 1996

 

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The Lord had incarnated to bless Bali, not to destroy him. So, when

He had measured the earth with one stride and the sky with the

second, he placed his foot on Bali's head and accepted the emperor

as the third foot of ground. That foot released Bali from the

recurrent cycle of birth and death.

 

But Bali made one last lingering wish, which the Lord agreed to

fulfill. He prayed, "Allow me to come one day each year to the

Kerala I ruled over, so that I can see people I love and the land I

cherish in my heart". Onam is that day. The word Sravanam, when it

is applied to this month, has become Chingam, and when applied to

the star with which the moon is associated this day, it has become

Onam --Sravanam, Vanam, Onam. Bali chose for his annual visit the

day of the Sravanam star, in the Sravanam month.

 

The lesson that Onam imparts is this: A lifetime spent without

devotion to the Almighty Lord is a pitiful waste. Ridding oneself of

identification with the body and its adjuncts, one must involve

oneself with the spirit. This alone can reveal to him his reality,

the Aathma. Once the Aathmic core of oneself is contacted, it needs

only one step more to discover that everything else has the same

Aathma as its reality. Thus, man becomes aware of the unity that is

truth, that is God.

 

Emperor Bali, who is welcomed into their hearts and home by the

people of Kerala on Onam day, had unwavering faith in God. He served

his subjects as if he were commissioned by God (Naaraayana). He

offered all he earned, all he was, himself, most gladly to God. He

overcame the clouds of ignorance and rose to the heights of supreme

wisdom. His self expanded so vastly that it merged in Divine

Consciousness. Purity leads to unity and unity to mergence with

Divinity. This is the message that the Onam festival and the story

of Bali convey to mankind.

 

Divine Discourse: 28 August 1985