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SANDEHA NIVARINI SATHYA SAI BABA DISSOLVING DOUBTS
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It was the evening of September the 2nd 1991. The occasion was Krishna
Janmaashtami. Swami enthralled us with an almost 2 hour long discourse
on Krishna as the Incarnation of Prema. He started with a lovely
poem sung in his mellifluous voice..
"Love is God; the Cosmos is permeated with Love.
Assuming the Love form, to save His beloved ones,
Showering the nectarine stream of Love,
Krishna came as the embodiment of Love for those yearning for Him.
Everything is born out of Pure Love;
All joy is derived from unalloyed Love;
So are Truth, Sacrifice, Peace and Forbearance
if Love is lacking, there can be no contentment.
This is the path of Sai and the word of Truth
"Embodiments of Divine Love!
Affection (Anuraaga) and Love (Prema) are mutually dependant and
inseparable. When the mind is turned towards the things of the world it
is called Anuraaga (affection or attachment) and if it is turned
towards God it is called Prema (Love or devotion). Love is the fruit of
Love. Love is comparable only with Love. Love can offer only love
itself. Love cannot be described by poetry. It cannot be proved by the
mind or the spoken word. Hence, the Vedas declared that it transcends
the mind and the speech. Love is priceless indescribably precious. Its
sweetness is unexcelled. The scriptures have described Amrit (nectar)
as indescribably sweet. But Love is far sweeter than nectar.
LOVE AND UNSELFISHNESS
"Love is a precious diamond which can be got only in the realm of Love
and nowhere else. The kingdom of Love is located in the heart, in a
heart filled with Love. Love can be experienced only in a mind flowing
with Love and a heart filled with Love. The precious diamond of Love
cannot be got through japa or meditation, through prescribed rituals or
various sacred acts. These can only give mental satisfaction.
"Love can be got only through love. The different paths of devotion-
santhi (peace), sakhya (friendship), vaatsalya (maternal love),
Anuraaga(affection) and Madhura marga (sweetness) are all based on
love. The essence of all spiritual diciplines is contained in love.
"The greater a man's love for God, the greater the bliss which he
experiences. When love declines in man, his joy also declines equally.
The lover of God sees God everywhere. Hence man's heart must be filled
with the love of God.
"Love will not enter the heart of one filled with selfishness and
self-conceit. Therefore, man should forget his petty self and
concentrate his thoughts on God. Love of God makes a man oblivious to
his own existence. Love becomes a form of intoxication. Love makes the
devotee and God dance in ecstasy and becomes one with them. It induces
self-forgetfullness. It generates an ecstasy in which everything is
forgotten.
KRISHNA'S ADVENT AS LOVE
"Love cannot bear separation from the beloved. Today is the day when we
celebrate the advent in human form of the Lord who came down to earth
from Gokula to instill Divine Love in human beings. The nature of
Divine Love can be understood only when the Divine in human form
teaches as man to man the nature of this Love.
"In ancient times the sages performed rigorous penance in the forest,
living among wild animals. With no weapons in their hands, they relied
on the spirit of Love to protect them. They performed their penance
with Love for all beings.
"Their Love transformed even the wild animals which lived at peace with
the sages. Love transformed even tigers into friendly beasts.
"Today because men have lost the feeling of Love and are filled with
selfishness and greed, they have become `Tigers' (man-eaters). You read
in the papers about the death of `Tigers' in Sri Lanka. Who are these
`Tigers'? They are men who have turned into `Tigers'.
"Today men are becoming man-eaters. In ancient times, tigers turned
into creatures with Love.
THE POWER OF LOVE
"It is to transform man's nature from animal to human that Love has
been serving as a powerful force. The hearts of men in the olden days
were soft and loving. Although love inherently is soft and
compassionate in certain situations it assumes a stern form. This is
because, even out of love one has sometimes to use punishment. The
harsh words and the punishment are associated with love. When it rains,
it is a downpour of drops of water. But ometimes the rain is
accompanied by hailstones. The hailstones are hard, but they are only
water in a condensed form. Likewise, softness or punishment are
different expressions of Love.
AKRURA AND THE GOPIKAS
"Sometimes even devotees use harsh words about the divine. Kamsa, who
regarded Balarama and Krishna as his mortal enemies, wanted by some
means or other to get rid of them. Despite all his strategems, Kamsa
could not get hold of them. On the pretex of performing a sacrifice,he
sent Akrura to bring (to Mathura) Balarama and Krishna. Akrura was a
kind hearted man, full of devotion to the Lord. Although he did not
relish the prospect of going to Balarama and Krishna to bring them to
Mathura, he could not disobey his master's orders. He reached Repelle
and conveyed to Devaki and Vasudeva and Yashoda and Nanda Kamsa's
invitation to Balarama and Krishna and asked them to arrange for
sending the two lads with him. The gopikas got wind of this and
immediately rushed to Yashoda's house and asked: "Who is this cruel
fellow (Krura) who has come here? He has been named Akrura (a man
without cruelty) by mistake. Are Balarama and Krishna to be entrusted
to such a cruel person?" They decided to ignore Akrura and appeal
directly to Balarama and Krishna not to go with Akrura.
GOPIKA'S APPEAL TO KRISHNA
"However, the main purpose of Balarama's and Krishna's advent was to
destroy Kamsa. This task had to be accomplished. Therefore, they could
not agree to the Gopika's appeal. They got into Akrura's chariot. All
the gopikas surrounded the chariot. "Krishna will not give ear to our
prayers not to go", they felt. So, they decided to appeal to Him with
all humility and intense love. Sobbing and praying from the depths of
their heart they said: "We cannot bear separation from you even a
moment. It is right for you to leave us like this? Is it a game of
yours? Take pity on us, oh Lord! What is this farce of a yaga! It is
Kamsa's disease (rogam). Our sole prayer is this. Take us also with
you, who have placed all our faith in you." (Swami sang the song of the
Gopikas). They prayed to Krishna, "Take pity on us Lord!" Even as they
were praying in this fashion, the chariot disappeared from the place by
the Maya of the Lord.
"The hearts of the gopikas were filled with love. Hence they saw only
love everywhere. They felt that everything was throbbing with life and
love. They ran to Brindavan, went to every plan and bush and flower and
entreated them to tell whether Krishna was anywhere hiding amongst
them, describing the beautiful features of Krishna. (Swami sang the
song in which the gopikas described Krishna.)
"For those immersed in love, everything appears vibrant with life. The
power of love is boundless. The love-impulse is manifested in different
persons in different ways. Supreme devotess like the gopikas considered
Sri Krishna as the very breath of their life and worshipped him. "You
are everything to us," they declared.
YASHODA'S MATERNAL LOVE
"On the other hand, Yasoda's love for Krishna was that of the mother
towards a child. After Krishna's departure, she waited for two days for
news from Mathura. Note the difference between the devotional love of
the Gopikas and the maternal love of Yasoda. Yasoda, looked upon
Krishna as on ordinary child, the darling of her heart, who was
innocent of the ways of the world. She was in anguish with the thought
"I cannot imagine what tortures the inhuman demons in Mathura have
inflicted on Balarama and Krishna in the streets of Mathura. Oh
Krishna! I cannot wait any longer for your return. (Swami sang a song
full of feeling.)
"There is a great difference between the love of devotees and the love
of a mother. The intensity of the mother's feeling arises from the
sense of maternal attachment. The devotees feelings are different. The
gopikas' lament was : "Oh Krishna! Why don't you show your beautiful
face and let us listen to the divine music of your flute?".
"The love of Radha who was totally absorbed in the love of Krishna, was
different. "Oh Krishna! Wherever you may be and whatever the form you
may assume, bless me so that I may be one with you in that form." Radha
yearned for this kind of union.
"But the love-principle in all these cases was one and the same. Love
may be called by different names, but its expression is the same. "The
Brahman is the form of Love. It is suffused with Love. One can have the
experience of Unity with the Divine-the Advaitic Experience-only
through Love." (Poem Swami sang).
THE AVATAR AS TEACHER OF LOVE
"`Prema' is a two letter (Akshara) word (in Telugu). But in this short
small word the entire universe (Akshaya Jagat) is contained. But, alas,
today there is so little awareness of this power of Love. Wrapped up in
their trivial attachments, people are ignoring the power of this
infinite, sacred and all-encompassing Divine Love. Love is associated
with immortalilty. It is nectar itself. There is nothing in the world
comparable to it.
"It is to teach mankind the truth about this Divine Love that Love
itself incarnates on earth in human form. The scriptures declare that
the Divine descends on earth to teach mankind the ways of Dharma,
Justice and Truth. "Dharma samsthapanaarthaya sambhavaami Yuge Yuge."
(I incarnate on earth from age to age to establish Dharma.). This is
Krishna's declaration in the Gita. Once people are filled with Love,
all Dharma, all justice and all truth will be installed in them.
Without love, righteousness will be a mechanical ritual. What kind of
righteousness can there be without love? what sort of justice can there
be? It will be a lifeless corpse. Love is life. Without love no man can
exist even for a moment.
"Hence Love is the form of the Supreme Lord. It is to preach the
doctrine of Love that the Krishna Avatar and other divine incarnations
made their advent on earth. According to the place, time and
cirmustances prevailing then, different names were given to the Lord.
These differences are like the different figures made from sugar to
appeal to the different preferences of children. These figures may be
those of a peacock, or as a dog or a fox and so on. But what is common
to all of them is sugar.
"Likewise the avatars in the four yugas incarnated to teach what were
appropriate for that age: Dhyana (meditation) in Krita Yuga, Tapas
(penance) for the Treta Yuga, Upasana (worship) for the Dwapara Yuga,
Namasmarana (chanting the name of the Lord) in the Kali Yuga. Common to
all of these is Love (of the Lord). In the same way what is common to
the nine forms of worship (Srvanam, Keerthana, etc.) is love. In all of
them chanting of the Lord's name with devotion is common.
STEADFAST LOVE
"Although there are many types of spiritual practices, they are of no
avail without love. This love must be unchanging in all circumstances.
The faith of the eldest of the Pandava brothers, Dharmaja, was of this
steadfast type. Whether as an exile in the forest, or as an emperor,
whether during the disrobing of Draupadi in Duryodhana's court or when
Abhimanyu was killed in battle, or when the slaughter of the
Upapandavas (by Aswathama) occured, in all situations, his faith in
Krishna never wavered. He firmly believed that Krishna was his sole
saviour. At all times he was contemplating only the name of Krishna.
Whether as an emperor ruling over a vast realm or when he lost
everything in the game of dice, he was never elated by success nor
depressed by defeat. The primary trait of the Pandavas was to cherish
such unflinching faith in the Divine.
"Unfortunately, in this age of Kali, it is characteristic of the
small-minded people to praise God in times of prosperity and traduce in
times of adversity. People must cultivate the feeling of love which
will enable them to look upon prosperity and adversity with equal
serenity. People must develop the conviction that it is the same Lord
who is the indweller in all beings. Just as the body is an organic
whole and any ailment affecting any part of the body is felt as a pain
by the whole organism, people should feel that anyone's sufferings is
their own suffering and any relief done to others is a help done to
themselves. Differences between persons will cease when there is a
recognition of the common Divinity present in everyone. The foremost
purpose of the avatar is teach this truth to humanity.
"WELCOME DIFFICULTIES"
"However, despite all the teachings, mankind is prone to go astray from
time to time. Men should shed their pettiness and develop
broad-mindedness by the cultivation of love.
"Human life is beset with ups and downs, joys and sorrows. These
experiences are intended to serve as guide posts for man. Life would be
stale if there were no trials and difficulties. It is these
difficulties that bring out the human values in man. Because of the
manner in which Harishchandra faced all the difficulties in his life,
his story has become a glorious chapter in human annals. Prahalada
stands out equally as a great devotee who stood up to all the
persecutions of his father.
"Today, however, people want instant salvation, without the slightest
effort or sacrifice on their part. But if such instant salvation is
achieved, it will vanish also in a trice. Only that which is got by
hard effort will yield lasting benefit.
"People pray to Swami to rid them of all difficulties and losses. This
is a totally wrong kind of prayer. Difficulties must be welcomed and
must be overcome. By overcoming trouble the Divine must be experienced.
You cannot get the juice of the sugar cane without crushing it. You
cannot enhance the brilliance of a diamond without cutting it and
making many facets. The body is like a sugar-cane stalk. It is only
when it goes through various difficulties that you can experience the
sweet bliss of Self-realization. That sweetness is Divinity itself.
Where does that sweetness reside in man? It is in every limb and
organ.
"All have faith in the power of love. But how is this love to be
fostered and develop? This question may arise in the minds of many.
When people ask, "How can we develop our love for the Lord", the answer
is: "There is only one way. When you put into practice the love in
which you have faith, that love will grow." Because you do not practise
what you profess, your faith gets weakened. A plant will grow only
when it is watered regularly. When you have planted the seed of love,
you can make it grow only by watering it with love every day. The tree
of love will grow and yield the fruits of love. Men today do not
perform those acts which will promote love. When you wish to develop
love for the Lord, you must continually practise loving devotion to the
Lord.
"SAAHASA" AND "SAADHANA"
"The mind is allowed to wander and engage itself in external exercises
like japa and puja. Here is a story to illustrate this:
"King Vikramaditya was once going around his country incognito to find
out what the people were doing. He noticed an old Brahmin performing a
yajna (fire sacrifice). Apparently as the yajna had been performed over
many years a huge mound of ash had come up near the sacrificial
fire-place. Vikrmaditya asked the old Brahmin what he was doing. He
replied: "I have been performing a yajna for the past 60 years. This
mound you see is the accumulated ash from the yajna. Though, I have
been ceaselessly performing this yajna, I have not yet had a vision of
the Yajna-Purusha (the Lord of the Sacrifice).
"Vikramaditya was deeply moved by the anguished utterance of the old
man. He sat in meditation himself. He performed a severe penance.
Despite his long penance he could not have vision of the Yajna-Purusha.
He felt: "Of what use is all the penance I have performed? If I cannot
get the Grace of the Lord, what use is there in living?" Thinking in
this way he took out his sword from inside his cloak and decided to end
his purposeless existence if he could not have a vision of the Lord.
Addressing mentally the Yajna-Purusha he said: "If you will not appear
before me, I am offering my life to You." As he drew his sword to offer
his head, the Yajna-Purusha appeared before him and seized the sword
from the King's hand. He said to the king: "Oh Vikramaditya! This is an
act of recklessness (saahasa) and not a spiritual offering. Where am I?
As Vaiswanara, I am dwelling in all beings as the digestive power. Is
it a sign of spirituality for you to seek, on the one hand, externally
a vision of the Divine who is within you, and, on the other, to put an
end to your life, because you do not have a vision of the Divine that
is in you? This kind of act savours of the Rajasic tendency. A real
devotee should not resort to such desparate actions. To realise Me,
what you need to practise is love and not reckless courage. Whatever
you see, whatever you do, be conscious of the all-pervading Divine.
Only then work will be transformed into worship. What this old Brahmin
has been doing for 60 years is to mumble the words of the mantra
without understanding their meaning. He did not invite My Presence with
all his heart and soul. I present Myself to one who prays for Me with
all his heart and with harmony in thought, word and deed. If one cannot
offer such dedicated worship, he should adhere to My injunctions
without hesitation.
[Swami related the story of the debate between Virochana- Prahlada's
son- and Sudhira (Angirasa's son) in which Prahlada himself acted as
judge and gave the verdict in favor of Sudhira. When Virochana had to
forfeit his life as the loser in the debate, Sudhira gave him back his
life, in his admiration for the supreme sense of justice of Prahlada
and the readiness of Virochana to give up his life according to the
conditions of the debate. The story figured in Swami's Onam discourse.]
PARASURAMA'S EXAMPLE
"A similar incident occured in the life of Parasurama, son of the sage
Jamadagni. One day when Jamadagni's wife went to the river to fetch
water, the king Vichitravirya was going in his chariot. She was a pure-
hearted lady. She just looked up to see who was going in the chariot.
She was struck for a moment by the beauty of Vichitravirya. When she
returned to the hermitage, Jamadagni ordered Parasurama to cut off the
head of his mother. Parasurama did not flinch for a moment. Carrying
out implicitly his father's command, he cut off the head of his mother.
Jamadagni then asked his son: "What boon do you want? You have
implicitly carried out my command." Parasurama said: "Dear father!
Restore the life of my mother." The sage gave back her life. Implicit
obedience merits its own rewards.
MISTAKEN NOTIONS ABOUT KRISHNA
"This is the inner secret of how the Divine works. In the life of
Krishna, there are many incidents which have an esoteric meaning, but
which have been misunderstood and misinterpreted by scholars and
commentators. Such misunderstandings have been caused by stories that
Krishna had eight wives and that He dallied with 16,000 gopikas. In the
spinal column, there are six chakras, of which two are important- the
Sahasraaara chakra in the brain and the the Hridayachakra in the middle
of the spinal column. The Hridayachakra is a flower-like chakra with
eight petals. The eight petals are symbols of the eight parts of the
earth, whose master is the Lord Himself. The esoteric meaning of this
is that God is the Lord of the eight-petalled lotus of the heart in
Man. The Lord of the Heart is described as Maadhava. `Maa' means
Lakshmi, or Maayaa or Prakriti. `Dhava' means husband. God is the Lord
of Laxshmi, or Maayaa or Prakriti. Krishna is thus the Lord of the
eight-petalled lotus of the heart.
"`Sahasraara' is the topmost chakra of the spinal column. It is
pictured as a thousand-petalled flower. In each petal, God dwells with
all His sixteen potencies (kalas). Altogether there are 16,000
potencies, which represent the gopikas. `Go' means sound, speech, and
life-breath. God is the Lord of this thousand-petalled Sahasraara. The
inner significance of the reference to 16,000 gopikas should be
understood in this manner. Few attempt to understand the spiritual
significance of many episodes in the Bhagavatham. Young men may easily
be misled by references to Krishna's 16,000 gopikas. The real meaning
is that each one should awaken the sixteen thousand potencies within
him. This can be done only by implicit obedience to the commands of
God. The Kundalini-sakti, which starts at the Moolaadhaara (the root of
the spinal column) ascends to the Sahasraara to attain its fullness.
The life-breath for this power is Prema (Divine Love). This love has to
be generated at the Moolaadhaara and taken up into the Sahasraara.
ARDHANAAREESWARA AND THE ATOM
"In this age of science and technology, students should try to
understand the inner meaning of the concept of Ardhanaareeswara (the
combination of the male and female principle in Easwara). No scientist
has attempted to explain this concept. Consider the similarity between
the ancient sage's concept of Ardhanaareeswara and the ideas of modern
science regarding the atom. There are many such ancient concepts which
have contemporary validity. Every object is composed of atoms and
in every atom (Anu in Sanskrit) there is a proton and an electron. The
electron is described in Sanskrit as the Vebhaaga (the left side) of
the atom (Anu) and the proton is described as the Dhanabhaaga (the
right half) of the atom. The Vebhaaga represents the female principle
and the Dhanabhaaga (the right half) represents the male principle. The
coming together of these two constitutes the material base of each
object. This process of coming together is represented by the concept
of `Ardhanaareeswar'- the coming together of the male and female
aspects. `Ardhanaareeswara' means half-feminine and half-masculine. The
electron represents the feminine aspect. The proton represents the male
aspect. The atom is formed when they come together. Every object in the
universe is made up of atoms. Hence, the ancients regarded the entire
cosmos as an embodiment of the Ardhanaareeswar principle.
TRADITION AND SCIENCE
"Similarly, many of the ancient Bharatiya customs and practices are
based on profound scientific truths. For instance, during festive
occasions, green leaves and plants are displayed at the entrance to
houses. The scientific principle behind this custom is noteworthy.
During festive occasions, large groups of people used to gather in
houses and they exhale carbon dioxide which fouls the air. The green
leaves and plants serve to absorb the carbon dioxide and give off
oxygen, which is essential for the health of the people. As the houses
in old days had only small windows, this practice helped to ensure
fuller supply of oxygen. Could the display of green leaves be called a
superstition?
"Similarly, the use of cow-dung for cleaning floors in the houses had a
scientific basis. The cow-dung has antiseptic properties and its use in
cleaning floors served to eliminate germs. When cow-dung water was
sprinkled in front of houses, all disease-causing germs where
destroyed.
"Such practices helped to promote the health and longevity of people.
Let any scientist today experiment with the use of cow-dung.
Unfortunately, the scientists seem to be more concerned to conduct
experiments on remote objects than with those lying at their doorstep.
"The ancient seers established practices which were designed to make
life more healthy and joyous. For instance, in the past women were
accustomed to making use of turmeric for cleansing the body. Turmeric
was also used for adorning the threshold. This turmeric also has
antiseptic properties. The use of turmeric served to destroy germs
entering the houses. People today wish to substitute yellow paint for
turmeric! The paint may look attractive, but has no antiseptic
properties.
"Thus the ancients always had in view the inner purpose of each small
practice which they prescribed. The use of kumkum and turmeric by women
was based on hygenic practices. (Swami recited a song he had composed
as a youth in which he lamented the replacement of kumkum and turmeric
by face powder.) The application of turmeric helped to prevent the
growth of hair on the face. By the giving up of these practices,
diseases like Oesonophilia and asthma have spread among women. In the
olden days, people valued health as the key to happiness.
"If we study the Indian cultural tradition in this manner, we will find
that its emphasis was always on what was beneficial and good for the
individual and society.
"The Vice-chancellor (in his address earlier) made a reference to the
doctrine of Surrender. Surrender does not mean that the devotee and God
are different. True surrender implies the sense of oneness with God.
`Without You I cannot exist,' should be the attitude of the devotee.
This was the feeling which the gopikas expressed about Krishna. {Swami
sang a song in which the gopikas express their love for Krishna and how
they cannot bear separation from Him.} The love of the gopikas was pure
and sacred. This is exemplified by the story of Suguna, who was so
completely lost in thinking about Krishna that she was not conscious of
her fingers being burnt while she was getting her lamp lighted in
Yasoda's house. When Yasoda asked her what had happened to her, she
said that she was seeing the charming face of Krishna in the flame of
the lamp.
"Devotion should flow from the heart, as was the case with the gopikas.
Much of what passes for devotion nowadays is artificial. Develop pure
and sincere devotion and sanctify your lives."
(Swami concluded his discourse with the bhajan, `Govinda Krishna Jai,
Gopala Krishna Jai!' in which the entire gathering joined.)
-excerpts from the Discourse at Prashanthi Mandir
September 2, 1991
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