1008 PEARLS OF SAYINGS OF BHAGAWAN SRI SATHYA SAI BABA - Part III [51 to 75]

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Om Sri Sai Ram

1008 PEARLS OF SAYINGS OF BHAGAWAN SRI SATHYA SAI BABA

Part III [51 to 75]

[A compilation of THOUGHT FOR THE DAY displayed in Prashanthi Nilayam over years prior to1992]

 

51.    I AM in your heart all the time, whether you know it or not. Draupadi

called out for the Lord of Dwaraka, Sri Krishna, when the wicked cousins of her

husbands cruelly assaulted her, and so the Lord responded but after a little

delay. He had to go to Dwaraka and come from there to Hasthinapura where she

was! He told her that she could have received Him in the fraction of a second

had she called out, "Oh Dweller in my heart", for He dwells there as everywhere

else.

 

52.    THE elders in Brindavan who reveled in scandalizing Krishna - successors

have been born for them even now - set an ordeal for Radha to test her virtue.

She was given a mud pot with a hundred holes and asked to bring water in that

pot from the Yamuna to her house! She was so full of Krishna-consciousness that

she never knew the condition of the pot. She immersed it in the river, as usual

repeating the name of Krishna with every intake of the breath and every

exhalation. Every time the name Krishna was uttered, a hole was covered, so

that by the time the pot was full, it was whole. That was the measure of her

Faith. Faith can affect even inanimate objects.

 

53.    IN Realty, Truth is God; Love is God; Dharma is God. The Gopis and

Gopalas saw in Krishna the Embodiment of Truth, Love and Dharma. What He said

was Truth; what He was became Love, what He did was Dharma. They were so

immersed in Krishna-Consciousness that they saw everywhere and in everything

nothing but Krishna. Krishna for them did not exist as a separate entity in the

home of Nanda; He was right in their own consciousness, at all levels of it.

These Gopis and Gopalas were true Bhaktas indeed.

 

 54.    WHATEVER is dedicated and offered to God can never be lost. People can

gain enormous benefit by offering even a little to God. "A leaf or a flower, a

fruit or a little water" - that is enough, if offered with devotion. Draupadi

gave Sri Krishna the fraction of a leaf sticking to the side of a vessel and

God granted her endless good fortune. Kuchela gave a handful of parched rice

and received from the Lord awareness of His endless Glory.

 

55.    THE Lord had Maya as His consort, so to say, and He had a son called

Manas. This Manas, to continue the parable, had two wives. Pravritti and

Nivritti (Attachment and Detachment). Of course, Pravritti was His favorite

wife and she had a hundred children. Nivritti was ill treated and neglected;

and she had just five. That is the symbolism of the Kauravas and the Pandavas.

Though all the children lived in the same kingdom, ate the same food and learnt

from the same Teacher, their natures differed widely from one another. The

Kauravas, children of the attachment, were greedy, cruel, self-centered, and

vain. The Pandavas, five of them, each one represented a Supreme Virtue, so

that they could be said to symbolize Sathya, Dharma, Shanti, Prema and Ahimsa.

As

they were so pure and born of Detachment, the Lord became their Guide.

 

56.    THE Gita speaks of Bhakthi, Jnana, and Karma as Yogas; and by Yoga is

meant what Patanjali intended it to mean: "Chiththa Vrithi Nirodha", that is to

say, "the stilling of the agitations of the consciousness". Vishnu is the

supreme exemplar of this calm, for He is "Saanthaakaaram bhujagasayanam", the

very picture of peace and calm, though reclining on a thousand-hooded snake,

the snake being the symbol of the objective world with its poisonous fangs.

Being in the world but not of it, not bound by it - that is the secret.

 

57.   THE riches that you should strive to amass are not fields, factories,

bungalows or bank-balances but the wisdom and experience of oneness with the

Grandeur of the Universe and the Force that runs it without a hitch. Arjuna is

called Dhananjaya by Krishna because he had won (Jaya) such Dhanam (riches)

that saves man; and that cannot be taxed, stolen or transferred. The method of

winning these riches is Sadhana.

 

58.   GIVE joy to all. Prema or Love is the means to achieve this ideal. When

Love can bring even God nearer to you, how can it fail where man is involved?

Krishna could not be bound by any other means. That is the reason why SAI has

declared: "Start the day with Love; spend the day with Love, fill the day with

Love; end the day with Love. That is the way to God".

 

59.    KRISHNA was known to all as Almighty, All knowing, all encompassing, and

All-fulfilling. Yet, the enthusiasm to do Seva promoted Him to approach

Dharmaraja, the eldest of the Pandava brothers, on the eve of the magnificent

Rajasuya Yaga that he had planned to perform and offered to take up Seva of any

kind. He suggested that He might be given the task of cleaning the dining-hall

after the guests had partaken of the feast! Krishna insisted on outer

cleanliness and inner cleansing. Clean clothes and clean minds are an ideal

combination.

 

60.    DURING the battle of Kurukshetra, which climaxed the Mahabharatha story,

Krishna served as the "driver" of the chariot of Arjuna throughout the day till

dusk on the field and caused the adjournment of the fight. He led the horses to

the river, gave them a refreshing bath and applied healing balms to the wounds

suffered by them during the fierce fray. He mended the reins and the harness

and rendered the chariot battle-worthy for another day. The Lord sets the

example for the Devotees to follow. He teaches that Service done to any living

being is offered to Him and is accepted by Him most joyfully. Service rendered

to cattle, to beasts, and to men is laudable Sadhana.

 

61.    THE World is today in deep distress because the common man and his

leaders are all distracted by lower desires and lower motives, which require

only the lower skills and meaner impulses of man. This is what I call

"devaluation". Though man is inherently divine, he lives only at the animal

level. Very few live even in the native human level.

 

62.    KRISHNA does say: "whoever among men who pronounce the Pranava at the

moment of death", etc. The word he uses is "whoever" without any qualification

of sex. He does not say "whoever is authorized or whoever is among the

deserving". The clear intention of the Lord is to encourage women as well as

men to take up Pranava Upasana. You will see that I do not discourage any one

from the Upasana. It is the royal road to spiritual victory which all are

entitled to use.

 

63.    BHISHMA, for example, has to be revered and accepted as an inspiration,

even more potent than Rama so far as homage to the father is concerned. In

order to cater to the carnal cravings, which he could have ordinarily

condemned, he denied himself gladly, spontaneously, without demur and for the

entire period of his life, both wedded life and royal status. He honoured the

Vedic injunction, “Pithru Devobhava” in the fullest manner.

 

64.    THIS created Universe has two aspects, one is impermanence (Anityam), the

second one is    unhappiness (Askulham). In the Gita, Krishna has said, "Anityam

Asukha Lokam Imam Prapy          Bhajaseva Maam". Nothing in this World can give

happiness that is true and lasting. Mistaking the World as "All" and forgetting

the Atman, which alone is eternal and the only refuge, is the greatest folly of

man today. Man is pinning all his hopes on slippery work and is madly running

after amassing and hoarding wealth. Of course, material needs are to be taken

care of but within limits and not at the cost of spiritual values. Money

and mansions are not the only wealth. Hoard the wealth of the Spirit. Character

is wealth; good conduct is wealth; and spiritual wisdom is wealth.

 

65.    WORKERS and peasants - that is the slogan nowadays. These two classes

were given their due share of social importance and honour during the

Krishnavathar. Now, people are honoured even if they grow not food but cash

crops. Foreign exchange is what we are after and so, people are encouraged to

produce what others can buy not what we need; such as milk and a variety of

milk products which are highly nutritious foods. Balarama, the elder brother

and an Avathar in his own right, had as his weapon the plough. It declared

agriculture as a consecrated occupation.

 

66.    EGOISM is the most dangerous illusion that has to be exploded and

destroyed. Bhima had it; but when he could not lift and lay aside the tail of a

monkey, who was really Anjaneya himself, that bubble was exploded. Arjuna had it

one day after the battle. When Krishna brought the chariot back to camp, he

wanted that Krishna should get down first, like all charioteers; the Master

must get down later, after the Charioteer opens the door for him. Krishna

refused and insisted that Arjuna should alight before He should. At last

Krishna won. Arjuna got down and as soon as Krishna left His seat

and touched the ground, the chariot went up in flames. In fact, if Krishna had

gotten down first, the various fire-arrows, which had the power of burning the

chariot, would have hit the target; but due to the presence of Krishna, their

igneous powers could not manifest themselves. After knowing this, Arjuna was

humbled and his egoism had a  powerful shock. He realized that every action of

Krishna was full of significance.

 

67.    THE Gita advises "Karmasamyasa", that is to say, Karma without attachment

to the fruit thereof. There are Karmas, which have to be done as duties related

to the status in “Samsara”, and, if these are done in the proper spirit, they

will not bind at all. Do all Karma as actors in a play, keeping your identity

separate and not attaching yourself too much to your role. Remember that the

whole thing is just a play and the Lord has assigned to you a part; act well

your part; there all your duty ends. He has designed the play and He enjoys it.

 

68.    IT is when you are in a desperate situation that you call upon the Lord,

forgetting your pride and your egoism. The Pandavas were so full of misery in a

worldly sense that they always had an attitude of prayer. If I had given you all

the comforts and opportunities, you would not have come to Puttaparthi. Trouble

is the bait with which the fish is pulled out of the water. Kunthi asked that

Krishna should continue giving her and her sons all kinds of misery so that He

may grant them His Grace continuously.

 

69.    THE Gita prompts you to seek the answers and directs you to experience

them. It helps you to control the "Chittha", the agitations of the mind; it

destroys delusion. It develops true knowledge; it makes you glimpse the

splendour of the Lord and confirms your faith. You say at one moment: "Baba

does everything, I am but an instrument; but the next moment the same tongue

says: "I did this; I did that; Swami did not do this for me". If you never step

into wrong, you can be ever certain of His Grace.

 

70.    THE Mahabharatha, for example, is basically the story of the five Vital

Airs of Man (the Pancha Pranas) overcoming the hundred obstacles in the path of

upward progress. The eldest of the Five Pandava brothers is Dharmaraja

(Morality, Righteousness); he is ably supported by Bhima (physical strength

devoted to Divine Service and charged with Devotion), Arjuna (steady pure Faith

in God), and Nakula and Sahadeva, who represent Steadfastness and Equanimity.

When these Five are exiled, the Hasthinapura (body) is inundated with Adharma

(unrighteousness).

 

71.    IN the Manasa-Sarovar (the deep, placid mind-lake) of every man lurks a

poisonous cobra with six hoods: Lust, Anger, Greed, Attachment, Pride and Hate,

infesting the air and destroying all who are near it. The Name of the Lord, when

it dives into the depths, forces it to come up to the surface so that it may be

destroyed. So, allow the Divine in you - the Krishna, Lord over the mind -

trample on the hissing hood and take out the vicious viper; let it vomit the

venom and become Satwic and sweet.

  

72.    LIKE all Avatars, Krishna announced His advent to the World bit-by-bit,

step-by-step, testing every time how far the Reality will be accepted by the

masses. The signs and miracles were intended, then as now, to proclaim the

Avatar.

 

73.    THE mystery and splendour of God can be grasped only by a pure mind and a

clear vision. That is why the Lord granted a new eye to Arjuna in order that he

might not be confounded by his glory. A resolution adopted by the mind is like

a stone thrown into a Sarovar or lake. It produces ripples that affect the

entire face and unsettles equanimity. A good resolution or "Sankalpa" sets up a

series of such thoughts, each contributing its quota to the process of

purification and strengthening.

 

74.    THE One is comprehensive of all this. So, it has no wants, no desires and

no activity to realise anything. Sri Krishna tells Arjuna: "Name Partha asthi

Karthvyam, Thrishu lokeshu Kinchava Partha". (There is nothing I have to do in

any of the three Worlds). He has willed the World as his sport. He has laid

down that every deed must have its consequence. He is the dispenser of the

consequences but he is not involved in the deeds.

 

75.    ONE can also be rid of Maya if one can discard the three Gunas from one's

make-up. The "Sathya guna" too has to be transcended; why? The Gita directs that

even the eagerness to be liberated is a bond. One is fundamentally free. Bondage

is only an illusion. So, the desire to close the bond is the result of

ignorance. Krishna says, "Arjuna, become free from the three Gunas". In truth,

the word "Guna" means "rope", for all three "Gunas" bind the "Jiva" with the

rope of desire. Liberation means liberation from delusive attachment or

"Moha";  "Mohakshaya", decline in the desire caused by attachment to sensory

pleasure.

 

With Sai love,

Sai brothers – ‘’

 TO BE CONTINUED