SRI SAI SATCHARITA and SATHYAM SIVAM SUNDARAM [58]

[Guest guest]

Om Sri Sai Ram

Ganesha Mantra: AUM Gung Ganapathaye Namah

Ganesh Gayatri

Tat purushaaya vidmahe

Vakratundaaya dheemahi

Tanno dhanti prachodayaat

SRI SAI SATCHARITA and SATHYAM SIVAM SUNDARAM

The Life Stories of the Two Avatars of the Age – [58]

KHAPARDE DIARY [Concluding Part]

1st March 1912

I went to Masjid about 11 a.m. and Sai Baba seemed to be in a very good mood,

but looked very much tired. Trimbak Rao came very much near to abusing Fakir

Baba for what appeared to me to be a very trifling matter. The midday Aarathi

passed off as usual. Sai Baba remembered Mr. Dixit, Nanasaheh Chandorkar and

Sathe.

3rd March 1912

I attended the Kakad Aarathi and Sai Baba looked pleased and passed into the

Masjid without any hard words. Abdulla in trying to remove a hanging lamp by

accident left it so as to drop to the ground and get shattered. I thought this

might anger Sai Baba but it did not. He took no notice of it. We held our

Panchadashi class and sat in my room as it was very windy in the verandah. We

saw Sai Baba go out and again after he return. He said that in a former birth I

was with him for two or three years and went into royal service though there was

enough at home to live in comfort. Wished to learn further particulars but Sai

Saheb would not communicate them.

4th March 1912

My wife was late in going to worship Sai Saheb but he very kindly desisted from

his meal and let her worship him.

6th March 1912

We finished the Kutastha Deep and began the Dynana Deepa. After the class I went

to the Masjid as usual and Sai Baba happened to be in a very good mood, so I sat

serving him. He said he felt as if tied at the waist, chest and near the neck,

that he thought Nagavely leaves were put on his eyes and on opening them to

find out what the matter was, he was surprised to see something which he could

not understand. He caught a leg of it and then it lay down. He tried to light

his fire but the fuel being not quite dry would not ignite. He thought he saw

four dead bodies removed and could not understand whose they were. Sai Saheb

kept on speaking in the same strain saying that his left upper and lower jaws

were very painful and that he could not even drink water.

7th March 1912

I attended the Kakad Aarathi. Sai Maharaj was in a very pleased mood and danced

as he left the Chawadi and went towards the Masjid.

8th March 1912

In the morning Bhishma and Bandu got up early and had a musical prayer. It was

very helpful, I prayed and then we had our Pachadashi class. We saw Sai Maharaj

go out and later on I went to the Masjid. Sai Maharaj very kindly called me by

name and as soon as I sat down he commenced a tale of his having had four

brothers. He said he was very young but very intelligent. He used to play at

his house which was close by. Near it used to sit a very old man who would not

go either into the Masjid or the Ashub khana saying that the place where he lay

was his. His people did not wish it but Sai Baba used to go the Ashubkhana also

and approved of the programme carried out there. The old man turned out to be

his mother's father and Sai Baba always carried to him bread and something to

eat it with. The old man

was a leper but his fingers and toes daily grew worse until at last he refused

food and died. Sai Baba played near him did not suspect that death was so near

and talked about it to his mother who went to see her Father. When Sai Baba

went he found the old man gone and his body converted into rice. Nobody would

take charge of the clothes of the old man. Later on the rice disappeared and

the old man was born again but associated with mangs. Sai Baba gave him food

and then the old man was born a third time as a son of Kondaji. The boy played

with Sai Baba and died a few months ago. At the midday Aarathi Sai Baba

approached me and touched my left arm and held his hand waist high just as we

do to indicate a young man, with the other hand he made a sign as we do to

indicate a man passing away. He made a sign with his eyes. I did not understand

the whole and puzzled over it all day.

9th March 1912

In the morning I attended the Kakad Aarathi. Sai Saheb appeared to be in a very

good mood. He blessed as usual by saying that God was higher than all. Then he

passed away into the Masjid; I returned, prayed, and was making ready for the

Punchadashi class when Dhanjisha arrived from Bombay. He brought very good

fruit for Sai Saheb. We sat talking, saw Sai Saheb as he went out, we held our

discussions and did not make much progress, I went to Masjid as usual. Sai

Saheb told the history of two sparrows that were sitting in the niche in the

southern side of the "Nimbar". He

said the sparrows built their nest there and used to sit as they were sitting at

the moment. Death overtook them it came in the form of a serpent, which crawled

round the Nimbar and swallowed them up. The sparrows are born again now and

have built h\their nest again exactly where it was before and are sitting once

more as they used to do. He said he never touched them not even spoke to them.

He accepted Dhanjisha's Puja and allowed the garland to remain on him much

longer than he ever does. He liked the flowers and ate a few grapes. Dhanjisha

is of course staying with me. After meals I lay down for a while and then we

held our class or rather continued it. We enjoyed the portion very much. At

sunset we went and saw Sai Maharaj at his stroll. He was in a pleased mood but

said that he did not care for buntings etc. but he wanted men. At night Bhishma

read Swanubhawa Dinkar and Dasabodha. Balasaheb Bhate also came there was also

Bhajan.

10th March 1912

We saw Sai Baba go out and I went to the Masjid on his return. He addressed me

by name and said that his father was very rich, had money buried in all

imaginable places. Once he had a little difference with his father when he was

very young and went away to a place. It was a broad and thick cactus hedge and

he found a large treasure underground there. Sai Saheb sat in it and became

converted into a big cobra. He sat on for some time and then felt inclined to

go away. So he moved away to a neighboring village and on the way regained his

human form. Then he went to a lane where they killed men. He wandered there but

was left unhurt. Then he went about begging and brought all the treasure trove

in. the midday Aarathi passed off as usual and when I was returning he said

"Look here; be careful, some

guests will come; do not admit them" all which meant that I shall have some

disturbing influences and I shall withstand them. After the midday meal I lay

down for a while and then got a letter from Anna Saheb Mutalik saying that Uma

has become a lady. There is the religious and the social ceremony to be

performed which means expense. Narayan Dhamankar writes to me from Amravati to

say that they are all very hard pressed for money on all sides, so I understand

the necessity of the warning given by Sai Saheb.

12th March 1912

We saw Sai Maharaj go out. I went to see him after he returned to the Masjid. As

I sat down Sai Saheb said, “People are very ignorant. When they do not see my

physical body they think I am absent." He then said that he thought of

Pimpalgaon this morning. Then met four men from it and they followed them to

the Masjid. The conversation somehow turned to topics connected with weddings

and Sai Saheb pointing to the new wall that is being built said that there used

to be a passage there and a thin tree. An old man sat there and he was very

pious. He had come from Jalna and did not care to return for over twelve years

though his brother and family suffered very much during his absence. At last he

was prevailed upon to return. He did so on horseback and Sai Saheb accompanied

him in a cart, arrived at Jalna,

the old man stayed with his wife and four grown up sons that he had, and then

suddenly decided to marry the daughter of his brother. The wedding took place

though every one laughed it to scorn. The bride was very young. At last she

grew up and the old man had a son by her. Then the old man died when the son

grew to six years of age. The boy was poisoned by biradars. The young widow and

bereaved mother spent a chaste life, never remarried and eventually died. The

boy was born again as Babu and died and is now born again in Bombay. Such is

the artistic work of God.

13th March 1912

We saw Sai Maharaj go out, and saw him later at the Masjid. He told a long story

which in substance was that an old Patil used to visit him, that four and

afterwards as many as twelve Govindas (Detectives) used to watch him, that the

old man and the Govindas had hard words and once had a serious scuffle. Sai

Saheb favored the old man visited him in this field and on one occasion hit the

Govindas when they attacked him. At last the old man was removed to a large town

for being dealt with, that Sai Saheb intervened and got him released.

19th May 1917

LOKMANYA TILAK’S VISIT TO SHIRDI FROM SANGAMANER

I got up early in the morning, but so many people gathered that I could not

pray. There was a movement to keep us here and not let us go till after noon

and Kelkar appeared to throw his weight on the side of the movement, but most

unaccountably I felt angry and insisted upon starting. So after a pansupari in

the house of Mr. Sant, a leading pleader of Sangamner, we started about 8.30

a.m.

normal"> We reached Shirdi, about 10 a.m., after a puncture of the way. We put

up in Dixit’s Wada. Bapu Saheb Bootee, Narayan Rao Pandit, and the

establishment of Bootee were there. My old friends Madhavrao Deshpande,

Balasaheb Bhate, Bapusaheb Jog, and others gathered. We went to the Masjid and

paid our respects to Sai Maharaj. I never saw him so much pleased before. He

asked for Dakshina as usual and we all paid. Looking at Lokamanya he said,

"People are bad, keep you to yourself." I made my bow and he took some rupees

from me. Kelkar and Paregonkar also paid. Madhavrao Deshpande asked permission

for us to proceed to Yeola. Sai Saheb said, “Why do you want to go in the heat

to die on the way? Have your food here

and then to in the cool of the afternoon. Shama feed these people". So we

stayed, had our food with Madhavrao Deshpande, lay down for a few minuets and

then again went to the Masjid and found Sai Maharaj lying down as if sleeping.

People gave Lokmanya a Pansupari in the Chawadi there and we returned to the

Masjid again. Sai Maharaj was sitting up and gave us Udi and permission to go,

so we started by the motor.

KHAPARDE DIARY CONCLUDED

BOW TO SHRI SAI - PEACE BE TO ALL

*****

SATHYAM SIVAM SUNDARAM - PART IV

The Life of the Divine Avatar Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba - [1973-1979]

N. Kasturi M.A., B.L.

THE GOPIS

Baba quotes the love of the simple milkmaids and cowherds of Brindavan towards

Krishna as the best example of this Parama Prema. Krishna Himself appreciated

it thus: "They long for Me so deeply, their thoughts, words and deeds are so

imbued with Me, that they have no sense of time or space, no consciousness of

their bodies and their needs. They are so absorbed in Me that they are like

rivers that have merged in the ocean and lost their individual names and

distinctions." Shankara, the great philosopher-saint, wrote of Bhakti:

Swa-swaroopa anusandhanam bhaktirithi abhidheeya the (the constant

contemplation of the Reality which is one's innermost core, is Bhakti). Baba

elaborates on this truth: "The Atman is the inner core, it is the Reality that

has to be contemplated upon... When Krishna advises Arjuna to surrender all

activity to 'Me' and to take refuge in 'Me', it is but an exhortation to spend

every moment in the awareness of the real Me, the Atman, the Swaswaroopa."

Baba says in Prema Vahini "Only through love can faith become steady; only

through faith can knowledge be gained; only through knowledge can Parabhakti

(complete devotion, self-surrender) be ensured and only through Parabhakti can

the Lord be realised."

"Jnanadevathu Kaivalayam," says the Gita (Knowledge alone can confer freedom).

Bhakti clarifies the vision, cleanses the mind, strengthens self-control and

purifies thought, so that the Lord may be reflected clear and complete in the

heart. Regarding the age-old controversy on the relative status of the three

paths - Bhakti, Karma and Jnana - that lead to God, Baba writes, "I do not

agree that Bhakti, Karma and Jnana are separate. I do not place any one before

the other, nor will I accept a mixture of the three. Karma is Bhakti; Bhakti is

Jnana. A piece of candy has taste, weight and shape; the three cannot be

separated. Each bit has all the three; we do not find shape in one bit, weight

in another and sweetness in the third. When the candy is placed on the tongue,

the taste, the weight and the shape

are simultaneously experienced. Similarly, Jnana, Karma and Bhakti may be truly

experienced only as one whole." Karma is love in action, Jnana is love

experienced and Bhakti is love universally shared. Thus Baba dismisses in one

stroke all disputations about the superiority of any one of these disciplines

over the other.

CUPS OF MANY SHAPES

Baba has silenced traducers of idol worship too. He says that no one can adore

the nameless, formless Absolute Principle, without sacrificing one's alloy in

the crucible of devotion to that same Principle in a mentally cognisable and

acceptable form. "No one can be a Nirguna Jnani (knower of the Attributeless)

without being a Saguna Bhakta (worshipper of the attributeful)" He says.

"Iswara anugrahadeva pumsam adwaitha vasana," says Shankara (It is only through

God's own grace that one can comprehend Him as being without name and form). In

'Prema Vahini' Baba says, "Idols serve the same purpose as metaphors and

similes in poetry. They illustrate and illumine the Divine." He has also said

that idols are only artistic and attractive containers which people use for

quaffing the nectar of Divine effulgence.

"You cannot quaff it without a cup. One person may like to drink the delight in

a 'blue Cowherd Boy of Brindavan' cup, while another may relish it in a cup

depicting the ecstatic 'Cosmic Dancer' of Kailash. The choice may depend on

either hereditary predilection, or on personal choice, or on a wave of

spiritual awareness. Whatever the reason or the shape of the vessel, it serves

the same high purpose - to help imbibe the joy, the power, the love, the wisdom

and the splendor of the one Divine Entity.

In the Bhakti Sutra, Narada has said that a Bhakta (devotee) has no worldly

worries for he has surrendered himself to the Lord. Baba writes, "This does not

mean that he would sit quiet. Service of man, for the Bhakta, is service of God,

for he sees God in every man. Free from the alternating waves of like and

dislike, worry and exaltation, the Bhakta sees the Divine as the motivator in

himself and in others. He is ever engaged in good deeds for such is his basic

nature. In whatever he does, thinks or speaks, he promotes Lokasangraha (the

welfare of mankind). He has no worry or disappointment, because for him it is

God who provides, performs, proposes, plans and dispenses."

While the monthly serials of 'Prema Vahini' in the Sanathana Sarathi were

percolating like fresh water into desiccated hearts, another series of Baba's

articles was published in the same magazine to remove the weeds of doubt

growing wild therein. They were collectively entitled 'Sandeha Nivarini'. Even

in His teens and twenties, Baba took delight in prodding those who gathered at

His feet to ask Him questions on spiritual matters. These became the cues for

dissertations, short and long, with many an interspersed parable, poem or song,

to lead the questioners from darkness to light.

QUESTIONS ANSWERED

I remember many such question-answer sessions taking place on the Chitravathi

sands. Dayananda Sagar (a lawyer), Vittal Rao (a sylviculturist), V. Hanumantha

Rao (a civilian officer), and a few others, were prolific interrogators. Many

brought their doubts before Baba and prayed for solutions. There were pundits

and Sadhakas from Venkatagiri, Yerpedu, Vyasasram, Thiruvannamalai

(Ramanasram), Pondicherry, Kanhangad and Varkalai Narayanaguru Asram. They

returned happy and restful, for their problems received Baba's clear analysis,

deep diagnosis, intimate unraveling and

effective remedy. There was, one day, a hoary monk from Rishikesh who asked Baba

with a touch of nonchalant conceit, how to escape the coils of Maya. Baba

answered, "Maya does not exist, until you look for it. Don't look for it, it

won't affect you. The image of your face is inside the well only when you peep

to discover whether it is there." The monk confessed to me later it was a reply

he had never received so far, and it had solved for him a doubt that had haunted

him for years.

In 'Sandeha Nivarini' Baba says, "I am happy when anyone asks Me about things he

has not understood. Of course, you have every right." Then he asks the pupil,

"But are you reflecting on the answers I give and practicing what has been told

you, with the conviction born of faith?... What am I here for? Is it not for

explaining to you things you do not know? Ask me without hesitation or fear. I

am always ready to answer. Only, the enquiry must be earnest, emerging out of a

genuine desire to know and to practice what is good."

It can be revealed now that the 'Bhakta’, who visits Baba with questions -

personal, philosophic and religious - in every chapter of 'Sandeha Nivarini',

is a creation of the Divine pen. Baba reveals through this character, His

infinite compassion towards the Samsayatma, the person afflicted with doubts.

He poses the problems and provides the answers. He writes, "Bhakta! I converse

with you about every point you place before Me, and allow many to take part in

this conversation. The sun's light falls upon the mirror, the light from the

mirror upon the walls of the bungalow and the light from the walls upon the

eye. Similarly, this 'Sandeha Nivarini' has been planned in order that the

illumination of My teaching may fall upon you and thence on to the pages of the

Sanathana Sarathi, so that the effulgence

may illuminate the world and bring light and harmony into the heart of mankind."

DHARMA IS THE REFUGE

The next book to be serialized in the pages of the Sanathana Sarathi was 'Dharma

Vahini'. Baba says, "Dharma is like the river Saraswathi, flowing unseen beneath

the deeper levels of human consciousness, feeding the roots of activity, filling

the springs of thought, cleansing the slushy eddies of feeling. When the river

runs dry or is clogged by greed and hate, the avatar comes to let in a torrent

of grace and restore its fresh, free flow."

Buddha declared that Dharma is the very basis of good life. He insisted that

everyone should surrender to its dictates so that the misery that is ever at

the heels of life may be avoided. Asoka, the historic emperor, sweetened every

law of his empire with Dharma. He inscribed on rock and pillar his

exhortations: "Hitherto my people and my forefathers went on Viharayatras

(pleasure trips); hereafter I propose only Dharmayatras (pilgrimages). Hitherto

they gave Dana (Charity, usually in the form of money); hereafter they must give

Dharmadana (the gift of the knowledge of Dharma). Hitherto they sought Digvijaya

(conquest of territory); hereafter I exhort them to relish Dharmavijaya (the

triumph of righteousness)." Asoka knew that Dharma sustains strengthens and

saves.

"Why should man take to the path of Dharma?" asked Schopenhauer, and then

replied to himself, "To preach morality is easy; to lay the foundation for

morality is not." Faith in God, who rewards the good and punishes the bad, was

a stout bulwark of Dharma for ages. But secularism has undermined this faith.

Baba, however, in 'Dharma Vahini' has installed Dharma on an unshakeable

foundation as the unity of all life, indeed, of creation: "Whoever conquers the

ego and overcomes the natural tendency to regard the body and its furniture as

his true self, is surely on the path of Dharma, for he would soon discover the

truth behind all this scintillating multiplicity. He would realise that the

objective world is like a gem-studded veil over Brahman, which is the one and

only truth. Sarvam Khalu Idam Brahman (All

is verily Brahman). When man is aware of this truth, there will be no 'other':

all will be 'you'. Since you love yourself most, your love will flow in full

measure towards all and encompass the living and the non-living." As a Red

Indian Chief wrote to the President of the United States of America in 1855,

"Every part of this earth is sacred to my people - every shining pine needle,

every sandy shore, every mist in the woods, every clearing and every humming

insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people."

Dharma has to be built on this deep understanding of the depths of being. "Build

your life," says Baba, "on the Atmic plinth, the faith that you are a wave upon

the Ocean of Bliss, a spark of the Cosmic Intelligence." Then He asks, "When

you worship an idol, what is it that you really do? First, a form of God is

imprinted on your mind. After that

you meditate on His power, grace and omnipresence, and project these qualities

upon the idol, thus enabling your consciousness to transcend it and become

unaware of the lithic substance before you... In the same manner, imprint onto

your consciousness that form of God which delights you most and fills you with

illumination, and project that form on every man, beast, bird and insect, on

every tree and plant, on every rock and rill; this Sadhana will make you true,

good and beautiful."

This is the fundamental norm: Atmic awareness - the unceasing remembrance of the

One appearing to be many. And to the question, "Am I my brother's keeper?" often

asked by those wearing 'I-glasses', Baba answers, "You are your brother; his

health is your health; your holiness is his. There is no difference or

distinction. If you swim, he swims; if he sinks, it is you who sink."

THE SOURCE OF POWER

Baba does not agree with the dictum, 'Knowledge is Power', for knowledge may

induce conceit, competition and conflict. Instead He always emphasises that

'Character is Power' and, elaborating upon the basis of character, He quotes

the Bhagavad Gita (Ch. 12, verses 13-19): "The man of character hates none, is

kind and compassionate, free from egotism, treats pleasure and pain with equal

unconcern, behaves ever with forbearance, is ever content, self-restrained and

steady in his conviction of the unity of the universe. He has no feeling of

harassment from the world nor does he in any way harass the world. He has no

trace of anger, fear, anxiety or exultation, nor is he bound by the chains of

infatuation or vengeance. He neither craves nor grieves, but passes unscathed

through good repute and bad,

welcoming both, heat and cold. He is satisfied with fortune, be it good or bad,

and has no home which he is loath to leave."

Seva has two invaluable consequences: the negation of the ego and the experience

of kinship. Baba reminds us that even charity is cruelty unless one heart meets

another is warm fraternity. The fragrance of love and the sweetness of

sincerity must sanctify every act of Seva. Baba teaches us in the book

'Prashanthi Vahini', how Dharma can lighten the travails of family life and how

social life can become healthier and happier through the regulation of

relationships according to Dharma. Masters and servants, elders and youngsters,

teachers and students - all can benefit if Dharma prevails.

But the ancient academies of Dharma have now become hotbeds of greed and

jealousy. "Beautiful groves and fields are becoming thorny jungles with no

viable path," say Baba. He lays down in some detail how parents can preserve

and promote the culture of this land and save Dharma from pollution. He pleads

for a revival of the status of the village temple as a reservoir of Dharma. He

says, "It can, if maintained on ancient lines, circulate sanctity and vitality

through every vein and nerve of the social organism."

PRASHANTHI

It is always richly rewarding to delve into the significance of the names that

Baba sometimes gives to people or things. His residence at Puttaparthi,

constructed in 1948-50, was named Prashanthi Nilayam (the Abode of Supreme

Peace). All beings have to obtain it, sometime, somewhere; each has to build it

for himself with His guidance and grace. Baba has cautioned the humanitarians

and the philanthropists of this era that people today do not yearn for toys and

trinkets, which feed avid appetites; they yearn rather for the glory of God,

peace on earth and goodwill among men. They need calm contentment rather than

loud sensationalism. W.M. Dixon said in his Gifford Lectures, "In the new

Garden of Eden, there will be good roads and water supply, unlimited picture

houses, unstinted soft drinks, excellent

sanitation, slaughtering, and the best of schools, wireless installations, free

concerts and lectures for all. There will be no far horizon and invincible

hopes. We shall cease to think of birth and death, of the Infinite, of God, and

the sublime secrets of the universe. I am not much in love with these sixpenny

Utopias." Baba has been insisting that those who draw five-year plans for dams,

powerhouses, railway lines and factories must also provide adequate correctives

for the devastation of traditional values which will follow the vast accession

of pettiness and profit. People intoxicated with sudden prosperity and

disheartened at the loss of traditions need Prashanthi and Prema to confer

courage and equanimity.

Baba's book, 'Prashanthi Vahini', gives us the key to the treasure house of that

peace which escapes understanding and defies logic, namely Prashanthi, which the

Gita calls the goal of human endeavor. Shanthi means 'peace'; 'pra', the prefix,

means 'larger, superior'. Prashanthi is Shanthi unaffected by desire, greed,

hatred or anger. It is not curtailed by adversity or multiplied by windfalls.

Baba says that we must cultivate the three virtues of Viveka (intelligence),

Vairagya (detachment) and Vichakshana (discrimination) in order to equip

ourselves with Prashanthi. He prescribes the Viveka Chudamani, composed by

Shankara, as the text, which can develop in us these three virtues. Baba says,

"Like children playing with dolls you, too, call some brings elephants and

others horses, some friends and

others enemies, and spend your entire life in such make-believe. Once you

realise that without the spirit they are all just the same inert substance, the

notion of 'many' and the diversity of name and form, both disappear and there

can be liking or disliking any more... You laugh and weep, love and hate, live

in joy, sorrow, anger and fascination, but all these varied reactions do not

make the objective world less unreal."

Vairagya gets a new meaning in 'Prashanthi Vahini'. Raga means 'attachment' and

Vairagya comes when you realise that the stone to which you were attached is

really God. The 'stoneness' is like a veil cast by your ignorance upon what is

really of the same substance as you yourself. The Vairagya that results from

this illumination is lasting and most sublime.

EIGHT DISCIPLINES

Baba has also commented favorably in this book on the eight traditional stages

of spiritual education, but He has given each of them wider and deeper meaning.

The first discipline is Yama, which includes non-violence, honesty, celibacy and

non-acceptance of gifts. Baba says, "This is the meaning usually given to this

word. But I would say that Yama is really the giving up of attachment to the

body and the senses."

The second discipline is Niyama, which is described in Raja yoga texts as

'physical purity, mental exaltation, austerity, steadfast study and the

attitude of surrender to God.' But Baba explains it in the following manner:

"Niyama is steady Prema fixed on god, the Supreme Oversoul, regardless of time,

place and circumstances."

Asana, the next discipline, lays down the place, time and postures for the

Sadhaka engaged in meditation, to help him gain steadiness and stability. Baba

has clarified it with a simple formula: "The best posture is Udasina" (the

posture of full relaxation and complete detachment). In the Yogha Sutras,

Patanjali recommends Sthira Sukha Asanam (a steady, comfortable style of

sitting). Baba writes, "I am telling you the same thing in other words, that

the most effective Asana is the one least affected by the external world, and

Udasina means 'unaffected.' "

About Pranayam Baba says, "In Yoga, this step is explained as breath control.

But the control of the vital airs is possible only for those who are aware that

the world is an amalgam of truth and falsehood. The picture of the universe in

the mind's eye will be like letters written long ago by lead pencils, now hazy,

indistinct, indecipherable and giving impression half true and half false. Only

a person aware of this peculiarity of creation can command the vital airs to

obey his will."

Baba also elaborates upon and clarifies the fifth stage called Pratyahara, or

the withdrawal of the senses of perception from the external world in order to

free the mind for uninterrupted meditation on the inner one. How can this be

done? The awareness that the external world is born of Maya and sustained by

Maya, will provide the motive force to withdraw the senses. According to Baba,

no other achievement can accomplish this task. So here, too, the acquisition of

wisdom is a vital prerequisite.

Baba continues, "Patanjali declared that when the Chittha is established in one

thought, it is called Dharana I would say that Dharana implies more than mere

negation of the multiple activity of the Chittha... Treat your Chittha like a

little child; caress it into good ways, leading it with tenderness. Gradually

make it aware that all that is 'seen' is illusion, superimposition,

make-believe. Remove its fears with love reprimands and focus its attention on

the goal."

Dhyana, the next stage, has a book for itself from the pen of Baba. Suffice it

here to say that He reveals to us that Dhyana is an uninterrupted dwelling of

the consciousness within the consciousness itself. And the final stage of

Samadhi - the Savikalpa, where there is but a trace of the knower, the

to-be-known and the knowledge, and the Nirvikalpa, where even this trace is

effaced - is like the ocean, into which the consciousness finally merges. That

is the goal where supreme peace reigns.

For the people of the world today, Prashanthi Nilayam has become a place where

they can bask in the warmth of such a peace. On Christmas Day, when mankind

celebrates the advent of the Son of God to establish 'peace on earth and

goodwill among men', hundreds of Christians from overseas gather at Prashanthi

Nilayam to share with fellow Christians from India the presence of Baba, who

has come on that same divine mission and is engaged in transforming man into an

instrument for fulfilling that mission. He has directed every unit of the Sathya

Sai Seva Organisation to close each session with the prayer, Loka Samastha

Sukhino Bhavanthu (May happiness and prosperity reign everywhere). But He has

also warned them, "While repeating the prayer, if you do think ill of others or

look down upon anyone, if you

cannot tolerate difference of dress, language, faith or temperament, you can

never promote peace. Your hearts have become pits of hatred, greed and

jealousy. But from this day on, while your tongues pray for peace, let your

hands be engaged in service and your hearts dwell in love."

PRESCRIPTIONS FOR PEACE

"Today, quacks with new fangled ideas lay down rules for Dhyana," says Baba.

Each one has his own special prescription and claims that his system can confer

more benefit than that of others. But none have themselves experienced its

sweetness or sanctity. That is the real reason why Dhyana has drawn on itself

the cynical laughter of many. My intention is to instruct such people and guide

them onto the right path."

Baba goes on to reveal in these words the origin of His book, 'Dhyana Vahini':

"Even the most potent drug will not cure when it is only extolled in elaborate

phrases at the bedside of the patient. The drug must be taken in and allowed to

work its way into the blood stream. Your reading what I write on Dhyana will not

make it easier. The mind is a mad pleasure-seeker, running after mirages seen

through the inefficient and, therefore, deceptive senses of perception. The

multifarious desires that infect the mind have to be quelled and the mind

focussed on Ananda only. Of course, when the mind is enlightened that God is

the highest Ananda, it will itself turn to God. When knowledge is accepted as

the master and given charge of the reins, when the mind is denied the food that

breeds depravity, when the

senses are tamed by firmness and faith, Dhyana will surely lead you to that Goal."

Baba distinguishes between concentration, contemplation and meditation.

Concentration is an unwavering determination in one's daily life, in the realm

of the senses, the feelings and the intellect. Contemplation is achieved when

the senses withdraw for some time and attachment to the objective world

slackens. "When you have completely broken away from all attachment, you enter

a state of meditation," says Baba.

Baba gives the guidelines for meditation and mind control in 'Dhyana Vahini'. He

says that Dhyana is a life sustaining as Dahlia (food). "The methods vary

greatly," says Paul Brunton, who has tried quite a few, "but they generally

consist of physical asceticism and worldly renunciation, together with attempts

to induce a contemplative mood by disciplining, during fixed periods, the

confused drift of thoughts and impressions which make up man's inner

existence." Baba explains the choice of place, posture, timetable and the

curriculum, but lays greater stress on the compassion of the Lord who responds

to the prayer embodied as Dhyana. Since God assumes, for the sake of the

Sadhak, the name and form that he meditates on, Baba assures us that Dhyana

need never be a barter endeavor; the summit can be

reached by perseverance, for He raises up to Himself the struggling and the exhausted.

Baba warns us against nine enemies that waylay the earnest Sadhak. Three of them

are physical: adulterous urges, greed to possess things or gain exclusive love

and the tendency to injure living beings; three are verbal: delight in causing

panic by false alarm, speaking lies and spreading scandal; and three are

mental: craving for what belongs to others, envy and cynicism. Baba directs

that meditation on the Form be accompanied by an unbroken absorption of the

sweetness of the Name by which that form is identified. When the form slips

from attention, the name will soon bring it back; when the name-drops from

awareness, the form will restore it to the mind. "Thus, the constant presence

of God in the consciousness is ensured," says Baba.

BLOSSOMS OF BLISS

Mention can be made here of a small book, 'Dialogues with the Divine', brought

out by the Maharashtra Branch of the Prashanthi Vidwanmahasabha, an All-India

academy of scholars and Sadhaks founded by Baba. "This work has," as Baba

writes, "blossomed out of the bliss that V.S. Page has earned and enjoyed in

his inner-self," when he sat at the feet of Sri Sathya Sai Baba and questioned

him with humility on various problems arising out of his studies and spiritual

practices. Baba tells him, "Nothing can be attained without ceaseless practice.

So every moment you should remember God and be happy in the thought. Then only

will you be able to attain peace. Are we not at peace when one thought ceases

and another does not arise? You have to wait for that gap, be at one with that

peace. Then that peace will

become continuous and lasting.

"Thoughts ever rise and subside as ripples on the surface of water. You have to

look at the mass of water, not merely at the ripples. Similarly, the Atman ever

dwells in peace; but man fails to realise this, and remains ever absorbed in the

vacillations of the mind. Nityavadhan (constant vigilance) is needed to ignore

the waves and watch the water... Restlessness is but the rise and fall of the

wave on the ocean that you are."

The next Vahini to be published serially in the Sanathana Sarathi was the 'Jnana

Vahini' (Stream of Wisdom). "Whenever the gross and even the subtle are

transcended, when the intelligence is clarified, when the self is free from

feelings, impulses and instincts, what remains in the consciousness is the true

self only. The person, then, is one with the eternal Truth, the One beyond

everything. He becomes Brahman or Paramatma," says Baba. This awareness is the

acme of Ananda. In the Taittiriya Upanishad it is declared that "from Ananda

all this is born, through Ananda all this lives, in Ananda all this is merged,

and in Ananda all this rests." The greater the awareness of Paramatma the more

the Ananda. Baba summarizes the truth in one sentence: "Awareness is life," and

then goes on to reveal, "All men

are Divine like Myself; the only difference is that they are yet unaware of

their divinity. They have come into this karmic prison through the Karmas of

many lives. I have taken to this mortal form out of My own free will. They are

bound to the body while I am free of this bondage."

Another of the Vahinis is the 'Upanishad Vahini', a synoptic review of the ten

principal Upanishads, with a prologue and an epilogue on the rare text called

the Brahmanubhava Upanishad. These Upanishads are esoteric and highly cryptic,

but they elucidate the highest truths discernible to the intellect of man.

Baba stopped short of the fifth form in high school, when He was fourteen years

of age. He did not read books or learn from any teacher. He is Wisdom

incarnate. He is poet, pundit, linguist, educationalist, artist, mystic - the

best in each field. In His discourses He quotes freely from the Bible, the

Koran, the poems of the Sufis, the dialogues of Socrates, the sayings of

Johnson, the dicta of Herbert Spencer, Kant and Karl Marx, and from the myths

and legends of ancient cultures. He quotes from the Upanishads and reveals new

significances in the utterances of the sages, to the astonishment of the

savants who have too long been content with arid dialectics they have

treasured.

On fifteen evenings Baba held a gathering of over five thousand students and

scholars at Brindavan spellbound by His elegant and eloquent analysis of the

Vedic word, Brahman, which means, as Baba writes in the 'Jnana Vahini', 'big,

enlarged, gross, high', since it comes from the root 'brh'. He carefully untied

the knots which pegged that portentous word to a cluster of irrelevancies and

misconceptions. He traced the genealogy of the word from its roots to the

tallest branch and the tiniest twig. He ransacked without compunction the nooks

and corners of Vedic texts to expose the excrescences that had gathered on that

word as it rolled down the corridor of time. On subsequent evenings, for

another fortnight, Baba spoke on another Vedic word, Bharat. He elaborated upon

the origin and migrations of the

word among peoples and through the texts. Baba has declared more than once, that

the revival of Vedic studies and research, with the aim of reviving the practice

of Vedic ideals, is one of His plans for rehabilitating man.

THE FLOW OF THE UPANISHAD

Baba, therefore, decided on a small book on the Upanishads, in order to rivet

the attention of the world to the efficacy of Vedanta. As editor of the

magazine, which published serially the chapters of this book, I had an amazing

experience every month for a whole year. After dispatching the magazine on the

16th of the month, I would go to Him for the next part of the series.

Announcing the name of the Upanishad Himself, He would ask me to wait for a

while in His room and proceed along the veranda with a notebook and pen,

towards the room where there stood a table with a chair by its side and nothing

else besides. Once, it was the turn of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad to be

summarized and simplified. It is the biggest and the profoundest of the ten. I

am certain that Baba had never read it or consulted

others who could talk on it. And there was no copy available anywhere within

miles. But forty minutes after he moved out with the pen and the notebook as

His sole possessions, I could descend the eighteen steps from His room with a

ten-page dissertation on the truths this Upanishad enshrined! I peeped into the

script as I walked towards the press and my eyes fell on the Telugu words which

said, "The grandeur of the intellect of the Sage Yaajnavalkya is impressively

evident in this Upanishad." I told myself, "The grandeur of the omniscient

teacher that Baba is, is now impressively evident to me."

Vedic literature is classified as ritualistic, consecrational and metaphysical

(Karma, Upasana and Jnana), and the Upanishads are grouped under the third

category. But Baba says that each principal Upanishad deals with all the three

and is, therefore, instructive for all types of Sadhaks. Besides special rites

described in most of them, the adoration of preceptors or deities is also

recommended. Baba says, "The Upanishads enshrine the whisperings of God to

man." About the ten on which Shankara and other scholar-saints have written

detailed expositions, Baba says, "Humanity stands to gain or fall by these

ten... They are the synthesis of human thought, experience and aspiration at

their highest. They confirm the possibility of human perfectibility. They

declare and demonstrate that man can secure the

awareness of God as His reality if only he casts off the veil of ignorance that

he now delights to wear."

GITA RETOLD

Baba's 'Geetha Vahini' is the Bhagavad Gita retold in order to save modern man

from the myopia of egoistic materialism. He has declared that He has come to

unify and clarify, fructify and fortify the holy aspirations of man. The doubts

and delusions which torment us while we are engaged in the 'Battle of

Kurukshetra' with our outer and inner kith and kin, are treated here with love

and sympathy by Sai Krishna, who also provides us with the answers.

I was once taken by an octogenarian pundit, a professor of Sanskrit and a

retired Inspector of Sanskrit schools in the state of Orissa, to the Gita

Mandir that he had built at Puri. He had spent all his earnings on the

construction of this memorial. The temple is in the form of a magnificent

chariot, over twenty feet in height, complete with wheels and horses. He had

explained to me, with a glint in his eye and a tremor in his voice, the symbols

he had got carved around the chariot. The figures represented various steps in

Sadhana and stages of spiritual achievement. There was Hanuman on the flag of

the pole fixed atop the chariot. And when we stood in front of the chariot. And

looked up, I could see two mysteriously real statues seated upon it - the Lord,

and His disciple who was just awakening from

his self-inflicted stupor! It was a moment of thrill for me. I had not expected

such a satisfying impact. I saw the disarming smile on the countenance of the

Lord when He recognised the dawn of self-knowledge on the doubting and

dismay-ridden mind of His disciple. His hand extended lovingly towards Arjuna

as if He wished to draw him closer to Himself, and on that hand I could see,

resting upon His palm, the book of books - the 'Geetha Vahini' of Bhagawan Sri

Sathya Sai Baba! I saw Sai Krishna comforting, consoling and convincing Arjuna.

The pundit knew that Baba's 'Geetha Vahini' was not a resume or a commentary or

an abridgement. It was the voice of Krishna Himself, ringing over the clash of

hate and greed and calling us into more worthwhile

victories.

We are encouraged in 'Geetha Vahini' to offer Baba the prayer He puts into the

heart of Arjuna: "As you are guiding this chariot, guide me also and show me

the way," for He is in fact the charioteer installed in everybody. The Gita as

expounded by Baba, is a textbook of Yoga and a guide for Sadhana. It is a

Yogasastra and Brahmavidya rolled into one. Through simile and story, sneer and

laughter, banter and reprimand, question and counter-question, Baba pours into

us the nectar of wisdom.

At Kurukshetra, Krishna said that the mind and its vagaries can be tamed by

Abhyasa (discipline) and Vairagya (detachment). In 'Geetha Vahini' Sai Krishna

adds Vichara (discriminative reasoning). Baba also analyses the concepts of

Kshetra, Yajna, Yoga and Maya and sheds light on many corners which the lamps

of the ancient masters did not illumine. The ideal of Nishkama Karma (selfless

action) gets a glow of heroism when He interprets it as a conscious refusal of

the fruits of activity, a courageous turning away from both triumph and

failure.

SELF-REVELATION

There are many passages in 'Geetha Vahini' of self-revelation by Baba, where it

becomes difficult to determine who is speaking to us so intimately - Krishna or

Sai. "How can I ever forget him who never forgets Me?" is the question.

"Forgetting is a human frailty. Let me tell you: There is no need for Yoga or

Tapas, or even Jnana. I only ask you to fix your mind on Me, dedicate it to Me.

That is all I demand, and all that you need to do."

This is the promise of grace, which all Arjuna can hope to receive: Grace

revives us when we are in great pain and restlessness. It revives us when we

totter through the dark alleys of a meaningless and empty life. It revives us

when our disgust for our own being, our indifference, our weakness, our

hostility and our total lack of direction and composure have become

intolerable. It revives us when, year after year, the longed-for perfection

does not appear, when stale compulsions reign within us as they have done for

decades, and when despair destroys all happiness and courage. Sometimes, at

that moment, a wave of light breaks into our darkness, like the voice, which

Tillich describes in his book, 'The New Being' saying, 'You are accepted.'

'Geetha Vahini' also condemns fanatic, blinkered gurus and pompous exponents of

the Gita, whose oratory sounds hollow because they do not themselves practice

what the Gita preaches.

The Gita is the central gem in the crest-jewel of the great Indian epic, the

Mahabharata. Sage Vyasa wove this intricate tapestry of sublime heroism -

physical, mental, moral and spiritual. He had also codified the Vedic hymns and

rituals. He prepared a magnificent garland of aphorisms summarizing the basic

philosophic truths. In spite of his encyclopaedic scholarship and great

creative skill in the realm of thought, Vyasa was afflicted by a deep, inner

sadness. He had no sweetness or peace left in him. Narada, the sage who

propagated the validity of devotion as a means of achieving bliss, had advised

Vyasa to describe the glories of God who had incarnated as Krishna. The

exposition that did emerge from this advice is called the Bhagavatha Purana.

And Baba has given it to us again in a sweeter and a more concise form, as

'Bhagavatha Vahini'.

SENTENCE OF DEATH

Baba's 'Bhagavatha Vahini' flows clear and cool, straight from the page to the

heart. The book contains 338 pages, the first 270 and the last 90 of which

thrill us by the narration of the Leelas of Krishna and of the dedicatory acts

of those who received His grace, while about 40 pages are devoted to the vast

regions mapped by Vyasa under the compulsions of scholastic norms. As a result,

'Bhagavatha Vahini' is not just a book; it is a tonic, a balm, a pilgrimage, a

hallelujah, a clarion call, a beacon light. It is designed by Baba to loosen

our bondage from the trivial and to tame the wildness of our minds. Vyasa's

son, Suka, had recited the Bhagavata for the benefit of King Parikshith, who

had been cursed to die at the end of seven days. The recitation occupied those

seven days. Since the King had

filled his mind with this narrative of the glory of the Lord, he died with the

name of God on his lips and the form of God before his eyes. Each one of us is

under such a 'sentence of death', only we do not know when death will confront

us. The 'Bhagavatha Vahini' can save all those who choose to be free from the

fear of death and prepare them for passing beyond the realm of life, cheerfully

and hopefully.

REMEMBERING THE PAST

The latest of the Vahinis to emerge from Baba's pen is a lucid narrative of

Rama's life, the 'Ramakatha Rasavahini'. Baba has announced that He is the same

Rama come again to carry out His mission through His horde of followers. Drawn

by His love, we have the same good fortune now to share in His task of

remoulding man after His image.

While recounting the incidents in His life as Rama, Baba has included in His

narrative certain details of dialogues and diversions not contemplated by

Valmiki or any subsequent author. He mentions many additional events and

encounters, which fill the lacuna that, have long disturbed admirers of the

Ramayana. The controversy over whether Rama is to be reckoned as an historic

prince or as God incarnate has been set to rest by Baba. 'Ramakatha Rasavahini'

is the very nectar of the epic.

CONTINUED…

With Sai love from Sai brother M. Palaniswamy

/

 

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