Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

Now, in this world of ours, man is given to enjoy and experience wealth beyond description. But, out of all the types of wealth that one can possibly come across, it is one's health which you find is the wealthiest possession. In fact, it's said health is wealth. One who's not given to having a good health cannot possibly succeed even in the smallest of ventures. It is one's health again which is of paramount importance and necessity either in this world or the world beyond. One could have wealth and money beyond description or wealth. Or could be having positions of authority and officialdom. But without his health, the person concerned would look upon these - the positions, official authority, and wealth - as of no consequence. He might be a crorepati, a master of crores. Only when he has health in the first place, would he be in a position to use this wealth of his for some good purpose.

In order that one might discharge one's responsibilities in terms of Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha, the four Purusharthas, one's health is again the most important necessity. The first three of these, Dharma, Artha, and Kama, belong to this world as such. But the fourth one, the fourth possession, Moksha or liberation, comes to you in the world beyond.

Now, what is the primary aim and goal of one's life? It is this Kaivalya or liberation. It is this Kaivalya or liberation which is man's goal, destiny, and the very secret of his existence. You might have positions, you might have wealth beyond your dreams, and you might occupy positions of authority. But unless you are able to reach your destination, all of these are futile. In your household, you might have dishes and food of varied descriptions and tastes. But unless you are able to relish, eat, and partake of them, what's the use of having these in your household? The food stuff, any number of them. If you're not able to eat, what's the use of having them at all?

Now, these three Purusharthas, Dharma, Artha, and Kama, are like the different types of food that you could have. The fourth one, Moksha, is the primary goal or aim. But it is given to man, and it's very much in his nature, that by way of discharging his responsibilities in this worldly life, he might adopt different methods, different techniques. Now, man is born with five sheaths or Koshas: Annamaya, Pranamaya, Manomaya, Vijnanamaya, and Anandamaya. Now, out of these five, three belong to your physical existence and two to the world beyond. It's not possible to differentiate between these two. Now, what you're trying to seek in this world and the world beyond are interlinked closely, inseparable, they are a perfect admixture, you cannot possibly differentiate.

Now, we look upon God as the very embodiment. We, in fact, refer to Him as Satchidananda (Existence-Consciousness-Bliss). Now, this Satchidananda are part of one's experience. But what you really behold and have to experience are name and form. Now, without, first of all, coming into realizing the Name and Form, you cannot experience in their totality the Satchidananda aspects. Now, this Name and Form are those that belong to this part of it, this world. Now, these are temporary, ephemeral. Through this medium of Name and Form, which are temporary and transient, you are able to experience Satchidananda, which are lasting and permanent. So, without this Name and Form in the first place, you cannot experience that pure, the un-sullied purity which is Satchidananda.

Now, here we come to the first of these sheaths, Annamaya Kosha, the body. Now, in this Annamaya Kosha, the body, the primary entity is the Prana. This Prana in turn is linked with this Manomaya Kosha. Now, this totality of one's existence on this earth consists of the coming together of the three sheaths: Annamaya, Pranamaya, and Manomaya. From this human plane of existence, you transcend and rise above to become one with the divine. For that, you need the assistance of the Vijnanamaya and the Anandamaya Koshas. So, here you have the two paths being shown to you: one pertaining to this worldly existence and one that you have to reach that lies beyond.

Now, it's a mistaken notion on our part to feel that one's health in a way confers lasting happiness as regards this worldly existence. We also tend to believe that in our worldly transactions health is of primary importance. But then the question, what for this worldly existence? So that you might reach to something which is beyond. Unless you have that distant goal set before you, this worldly existence is meaningless. So, what for do you have to protect and safeguard your health? Not for your worldly existence, but for the sake of experiencing the Atmananda.

So, in order to protect one's health, one has to follow a certain set of rules, a code of conduct and habits. Now, in this creation again, you have any number of life forms, lakhs of species. In fact, the different types of life forms have been classified into eighty-four lakh species. They do not give you the total number of lives, but life forms, species. Now, out of these eighty-four lakh species of life forms that you have, eighty-three lakh, nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine types tend to eat food which is not cooked. They eat, instead, food which is natural and available in the world. This food that is available in nature is taken by them. They do not seek to change them. So, you find that these eighty-three lakh, nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine species of life forms enjoying peak health. But of course, it does happen that because of climatic variations and factors which are beyond one's control, some of these life forms also do come to grief.

But, all said and done, it transpires that it is man alone who is subjected to the maximum amount of trouble in terms of his health. Any number of diseases are on the increase. The reason is, man doesn't like to partake of food which is God's creation, which is available in nature. He is a victim to his tongue. It wants to be satisfied in terms of the taste, and his own likes and dislikes come in the way of what he should eat. So, what is available in nature, man seeks to transform to suit his taste, thereby he is putting an end to the very essence of life contained in them. Because he's thus exterminating the life-giving forces in the food available to him, he's subjecting himself to diseases in an increasing way. So, it follows again that if man were to seek to eat food which is available in its natural state, he certainly would not be subjected to such increasing disorders.

Again, a common knowledge that each body, each system has its own governing factors. There are certain factors which limit the functioning of a body. Now, in tune with the requirements of these different constituents, that should make up a constituent body. All these should be present in a proper way. Anything less, anything more is bound to put you into disorder. Now, in a body, the different organs could appear to be different. Now, look at the head. You might say it is above, on top. So, if you ask a question, what's the cause for headache? It is not the head which is to be faulted with. It's the stomach which has gone out of shape. In this way, for all the different organs that you have, it is the stomach which is the key point. So, whatever is given to the stomach, the stomach digests it and supplies the essence of it to all the organs. So, this power of digestion given to the stomach, in fact, is a God-given thing. That's how one reveres and worships it.

In fact, God resides in a being as this digestive force, which is what governs and runs all the life processes in the body. So, to such a God as this, what is it that you should offer and give? So, this God should be given that which is His own creation, not what is made by man. So, whatever is available in a natural state as given to you by God in His creation, if you were to give that to your stomach, everything would be fine and okay.

Now, here, what do you really mean by this Ahara or food? Now, we look upon things like rice, fruits, vegetables as food. But this is not the case as such. Whatever you can possibly see in this world is food. And that food stuff which experiences and partakes of the food is also a type of food. So, here what follows is that food experiences food. The body, for instance, is again food. And this which is food is partaking of something which is food. An animal or a beast is also a type of food. Now, this beast partakes of some other animal as its food. So, here it is, food eating food. So, what you must keep in mind is what should be given to a particular system. Now, man, he feels, "I am a human being and I am eating this." This is ignorance on his part. Your body serves as food to some other entity. And that entity, in turn, is food for a third quantity. So, here if you start looking at things, everything around you is food. But in this food again, which is present all over, the Sattvic variety is to be looked at. Now, the hallmark or the quality of this Sattvic food is that it is full of the Sattvic attribute. It puts you on the path of Dharma.

So, when you bring together these three seemingly different entities, Dharma, Artha, and Kama, you can secure the fourth, Moksha. Now, you find that the priests who preside over ceremonies like weddings and marriages, when they keep chanting these mantras, they make a reference to Dharma, Artha, and Kama. They don't utter the word Moksha. The reason is, if you can really experience and fulfill what is to be done with regard to Dharma, Artha, and Kama in the proper way, Moksha would come to you on its own. But, possibly because of the influence of this Kali (the time of Kali), we keep in sight Moksha, forget all about Dharma, Artha, and Kama. So much so that we really do not do what we should with regard to this Dharma, Artha, and Kama. When you really fulfill what is to be done with regard to Dharma, Artha, and Kama in the proper way, Moksha would be your own. Now, we do not discharge our obligations or responsibilities in the proper way with regard to the first three.

We ask for Moksha. How can it be yours? So, what is required here is, following the path of Dharma, seek Artha or wealth. So, again treading this path of Dharma and securing Artha or wealth in the proper way, you come to the third step, your desire or your aspirations. They also should be saturated with this element of Dharma. So, again, how do you go about acquiring wealth? Through the medium of Dharma. Wealth without Dharma, desires without Dharma, cannot make you deserving of securing or wanting to secure Moksha.

"You have plenty of wealth, prosperity, all your material possessions, and you also have this Dharma in you. Then why wail aloud that you cannot really have anything more?" "Without Dharma again, you possibly say that you are an educated one. You are a man of authority. What's the use of this arrogance?" "In the same manner, one who wails aloud, poverty-stricken, and burdened with many children to bear." "He keeps asking for people to come to his support." Now, what is the result? What is the cause for some of these situations to arise? Because you do not do a thing the way it should be done.

So, if these Purusharthas (Dharma, Artha, and Kama) had been discharged the way they ought to have been, man would not have been subjected to such increasing orders of stress and disorder. The main thing which governs these three is again food. Now, what we tend to take is food in excess, and food which leads us to mental derangement. There should be a limit that has to be placed on the food that one takes. You exceed this, you're bound to suffer in the process. To protect and safeguard the body, food is necessary. But even this food should be taken in tune with the quantity required for the sustenance of the body. You exceed that limit, and disorders gallop come your way with regard to the body. Take for instance, the heart. Now, this heart has a capacity wherein it pumps the blood to the rest of the body. It cannot exceed this limit, this optimum point. Now, you probably are aware of this. Rather, you are aware of this.

A machine working to a certain horsepower. Now, if you have a certain task to be performed by a certain machine, you go in for that machine which you feel would meet with this requirement of yours. Now, the horsepower of the machine is less, and you want to exceed, power beyond it from your side. Like you want to irrigate your fields, you get a machine of less horsepower. You can't get anything out of it. So, you can't get your good crop, no food. So, you find that in God's creation, this body requires a certain horsepower for this heart, and that's what God has given to it. So, supposing you want to build your body beyond the means and limits of this heart, it cannot function. That's why there is an increase in the heart diseases. Now, you want to build your bodies like boulders, what can your poor heart do?

Now, even amongst the educated people, this disease is creeping in. Not merely the educated one. Even those doctors who specialize in the field of the heart, they become victims to this. So, the doctors who are all-knowing with respect to this, they are also falling a prey to this. They exhort to each and everyone, "Health is wealth," but when it comes to them, they don't bother. So, you have fallen a victim to disorder and disease, you can certainly curb and alleviate yourself of this by placing a curb on food. For instance, a person has got this problem of blood pressure. Now, in the wake of this blood pressure, he becomes a victim to diabetes. Now, one can, in fact, equate the two as being twins, blood pressure and diabetes. One follows in the footsteps of the other. And here is a peculiar thing. If you take a medicine for diabetes, the BP, the blood pressure, goes up. If you take a medicine for blood pressure, diabetes goes up. Because these two are a pair of opposites. And these cannot be brought down under control through medicines. Now, these, possibly like the Kundalini Shakti, remain contained for a while. But then, how does one rid oneself totally of these? What do we do? The golden principle or formula is diet control. Keep a curb on the food intake, everything will be okay. You must reduce your weight. The reason again is, we are eating this food.

Now, this body is like a mound, a heap. And it has no power of activizing itself. It is purely inert, inanimate. "Now, you might ask, if the body is inert and inanimate, it's growing alright. What do you say?" Certainly, even that which is inert, inanimate, grows. "For instance, you sweep your house continuously for a month, collect all the dust, that's it becomes a heap. You can't question that." "So, all that you have dumped into a pit has now risen up and become a heap." "How is it possible?" you might ask. "Every day you are putting a little into this, and that's going up into a heap." In the same manner, this body also, which is inanimate and inert, in this you are putting this dust of idli, sambar, vada, dosa, and stuff like that. So, this body also is growing in proportion. "Don't put any of these for a week. Even this would show a reduction in size, the body." So, this body, once again, is like a tire. "You pump the tire, it becomes inflated. You remove it, it becomes deflated." But here, if you see, if you deflate a tire, there is no danger inherent. "But, if you go on pumping and the inflating part or inflation keeps going on the increase, there is always a danger that the tire might burst." So, it's rather, it's better in a way to be playing safe. Be on the safe side, than on the other side.

Here is a small illustration. Now, since this is the Hospital Day, it is necessary that we speak about matters pertaining to health. Now, just a while ago, I mentioned these two to you, blood pressure and diabetes. Now, these two diseases, according to us, are common place ones. Now, this is a highly mistaken notion. These two could be very dangerous. Both these diseases affect and act on the heart. Now, one of these tends to enlarge the heart, the other tends to enlarge the surroundings of the heart. So, both these together, it follows, that would tend to enlarge the heart. And both these again have something to do with blood. Now, for instance, if the blood sugar also were to be increasing, the circulation also would not be proper. There is no proper circulation of the blood, and the heart also tends to solidify a bit, harden. Now, what's the cause for the increase of the sugar content in the blood? Now, there is something like insulin which acts as an antidote to this blood sugar. If this insulin is on the decrease, the blood sugar is on the increase. That's why for a diabetic patient, he is injected with this insulin. Because the body also can contain only a little sugar, nothing more, nothing less. Dangerous either way. If the sugar comes down or goes up, the person falls unconscious. So, in order that one keeps a check on the sugar content in the blood, doctors generally advise the patients to eat food stuffs like wheat, jowar, and things like that.

Now, why do the doctors place such a restriction on diet? This is not something they are placing a curb on you about. It's just a case of making you eat less. Every substance that you eat gets changed into glucose, and there is sweetness in that. In fact, every substance that you eat gets changed into glucose, and there is sweetness in that. In rice, you have the sweetness. Wheat, you have the sweetness. Now, in the southern part of the country, people are given to eating more of rice. It's something in their nature. So, because of this trait in them, they eat more of rice. This rice, eating more of rice, the glucose content also becomes more. So, in order to make this person eat less of content, he's advised to eat wheat instead. Because he can't stomach much of wheat, he eats less of food. So, in this way, the sugar content comes down.

Now, merely by eating wheat, the blood sugar is not coming down. Now, they are given to eating dozens of chapatis, wheat. Now, if wheat can bring down this sugar content, diabetes, how come these people are eating and still free from this diabetes? Now, they are used to eating wheat, so they eat more of it. So, what's the type of diet control that you would prescribe to a northerner? Ask him to eat rice. Because he can't stomach much of rice, he eats less of food now. So, in this way, the sugar content comes down. Now, when you look closely at either of these, rice or wheat, the starch content is more or less the same. If one has got eighty-five percent, the other may be seventy-eight.

So, what's the main idea behind all this is, the amount of food that you take should be placed under a limit. Eat less of it. Whatever be the food type, if you were to eat it within limits, to a degree of moderation, all will be well. Excess of food leads to mental derangement. Limited amount of food will confer joy and happiness to you. Now, so that your hunger may be satiated and your body may be sustained, you eat food, not for the sake of building up your bodies. There is every opportunity available to us, if only we were to take care of our food and our habits, could really confer a longevity on us. Maybe certain circumstances beyond control could lead you to distress. But, otherwise, there is no cause why you should be subjected to illness. If you wish to live longer, if you wish to be of service to society, and if you wish to experience divinity for longer, then keep your food under check. And then again, the food type, the food stuff that you eat should be such as to be sustaining, should be such as being nourishing and nutritious. What you eat in this world of ours today is that which has absolutely no innate power to sustain you. Now, for this, for the upkeep of the body, you need proteins, you need vitamins of all descriptions. One vitamin gives you a good sight, power to the eyes. One purifies and strengthens the blood. A third vitamin sustains or strengthens the bones. But for all these, proteins are a must. And in fact, that entity is called protein, that which protects you. That's why it's called protein. So, when you have this protein content more, you can certainly sustain yourself longer.

Now, here, when you look at the protein content in the food stuff available, that which is not cooked as such contains a large amount of protein. Take for example, the pulses, the different types of pulses that you can think of. Take for example, the green gram, the moong as we put it. The way of eating them is, soak them in water, and then after they become palatable, eat them. They come to you in their richness. Now, because we are victims to this palate or tongue of ours, and taste and our whims and fancies, what do we do? Get hold of all these, boil them, subject them to various types of transformations in the form of adding oil and various other ingredients. In the process, deprive them of the basic contents, deprive ourselves of what they can give us. Take for example the fruit then. In the fruits also, what you have is nothing but vitamins. In vegetables, they can give you any amount of strength. But today, you find the same chili bloated up out of all proportions and a huge big one. What's the reason? You are now feeding these plants with artificial manure. As a result, they really do not have the innate strength which ought to have been there.

Not only this, there are other things too. You know them, all right, but I would, nevertheless, like to tell them. Now, here, in big towns and cities, you know what happens. The drainage water, the sewage water, that's taken out. Now, on either side of these sewage lines, you tend to plant these food-giving vegetables. Not only that, you install pumps and pump this water into these plants. As a result, you find that these vegetables present a wholesome picture, big ones. But, look at that. These vegetables have been grown and sustained by this sewage water, thereby all these diseases. Now, when you contrast the picture of a village and that of a city, the village folk have far less number of diseases than a town folk people. Because those living in the cities and towns, they can't breathe pure air, they can't get pure water to drink. They can't get pure materials to eat. The external picture of what they get is certainly healthy. But what they can offer is something undesirable. Even these manure, the fertilizers that you give, are full of disadvantages. As a result, you find an increase in the number of cancer cases or heart complaints.

To this day, to this moment, there has been no doctor who has come out with a solution for this cancer. But then, if you ask this question, what's the cause for this cancer? Then it is something worth knowing. Now, somebody might say, "Because you eat betel leaf, you are getting cancer." A few others say, "Cancer is a direct result of smoking beedis and cigarettes." And some might say that the air around you is polluted, so you're getting cancer. To a limited extent, these factors might be contributing in a small way, but they are not the primary cause for cancer. You go deeper into this issue, and then you'll come to this realization that the main cause for cancer is sugar. The reason again is, in order to give it this commercial sugar, a lot of chemicals are added up in the process. And in these chemicals, part of the chemicals added are the powder of the bones. And this content, as you take in sugar, might get lodged in any part of the body and create a problem. And then again, you have got these two types of corpuscles, the white and the red blood corpuscles. Now, the white one gets clogged up, blocked at a certain point, and that's the spot for cancer.

Now, some people call it lucoma. Now, this lucoma is a primary ingredient, assistant of this cancer. Now, in this lucoma, this primary disadvantage of this sugar, this chemical, acts up. Now, today the doctors say those who are eating betel leaf, those who smoke, they get cancer. But how many of the people around who eat betel leaf, who smoke, are really free from cancer? The main cause is sugar.

In the good old time, sugar in what form was it being eaten or partaken of? Not this artificial synthesized one. Jaggery, powdered, wholesome one. That used to be taken to add sweetness to the dish that you wanted to eat. But today, you find that this superficial means being adopted, artificial things coming in to everything that you eat or is given to you. So, all merely for the sake of minting money, people take to any number of such dubious ways. And the result is, diseases gallop. Now, the question is, if man himself were not to be existent, for whose sake is this money? It is an individual or man who's important. Is it wealth or money? Now, you might be living long, you might have any amount of money. Who's going to foster? Who's going to experience, enjoy? Now, if your lifespan were to be limited and short, who's going to finally enjoy all this money? So, try to adopt that means and that path wherein you really realize yourself. Emperors, mighty ones, valorous ones, they have all gone, leaving behind their wealth. So, don't forget that goal. Don't forget that your identity lies with the divine being, and thereby protect and safeguard your body.

Now, there was this Greek emperor called Alexander. Now, he was one who also made a conquest to this country on more than one occasion. He was a man who was extremely wealthy. But he was not satisfied with what he had. So, he wanted to add more and more kingdoms to his own. Even this aspiration on his part, ambition, exceeded the limits. Now, on one such occasion, he made a trip to India, Bharat, conquered, collected a lot of wealth. And with all that he could collect, he was on his way back, and he was being faced by the local people. And on his way back, he suffered a great disorder. Now, he was an emperor. So, there are any number of doctors in his entourage who could come to his assistance. All of them came and examined him. Now, this emperor had at his bidding any number of doctors, any number of sepoys, orderlies, who would only run if they were to get a command from him. The doctors all came, one by one and all together, examined him, and then they started shedding tears, saying, "There's nothing that can be done," and "Nobody can possibly do anything for him." At that end point of his life, a great realization dawned on Alexander. This realization, what was it? He said, "During my lifetime, I did not realize it, but after my death, this realization of mine should be proclaimed with all publicity to all people all around." So, he summoned all his ministers. "Oh, look here, ministers, in a few seconds from now, I'm going to leave this body." "But, as per my wishes, you must perform the funeral rites," he said. "We'll certainly do your bidding, O Lord," they said. Then Alexander told them, "After I die, you must transport my corpse, the my body, the dead body, to Greece. And there, you must wrap the body in a cloth of white all around, except two parts. What are the two parts? The two hands of mine. And let those two hands of mine be raised up so that everybody can see." But the minister said, "But, sir, this is against our custom and tradition. What are we going to answer the people if they were to ask us a question, 'Why are you doing thus, putting the hands of the king up like this?'"

And then Alexander uttered these last words of his before he breathed his last. What are these words? He said, "Here is the emperor of Greece, a mighty one, and without a parallel. A mighty, wealthy one, and one who could ask for everything that he had. But, what did he take at the end of his life? Nothing. He could not possibly take anything, and he is going away bare-handed thus. This is the message you must tell my countrymen." So, what do we do now against this? What is it that we find? For the sake of this wealth, we are literally wasting and frittering away our time and energies. It is not this material wealth which is important. It is one's own good qualities, the gunas, which are real wealth. Without these attributes, the good qualities, wealth by itself cannot give you anything. It could only turn you bad. So, here again, rather than wealth, take care of your health, it is being said. And what for this health? So that you can fulfill what has been asked. What is this fulfillment that you must seek? You get back to the destination from where you have come. What is our destination? Atma is the destination for us. Until such time as you reach this destination, spend your time, spend your body, spend all that you have in good deeds and doing good to others.

So, in order to protect and safeguard this aspect of health, we have established hospitals here and there. But some may be assailed by this doubt. "But, here is Swami, who can cure all people of their diseases through His own power, through His own miracles. Why then establish these hospitals?" What you feel is normally reflected externally. There may be some who would have implicit, total faith in the Vibhuti of Swami, partake of it, and be cured. But there may be some who would have intense faith in the form of this medicine which is available only in a hospital. Not only that, there are people who might be afflicted with minor ailments and diseases. So, they could go, seek the help of doctors, and relieve themselves. So, for this small and trivial things, so that you really don't have to go and trouble God, you could as well go and see somebody who can come to your assistance.

We are, therefore, establishing hospitals so that people can seek help. Also, through this medium again, through this medium of hospitals, one should get to know this spirituality aspect. And there is certainly a close relevance between these two. Now, there are many innocent village folk. They do not even know that they are up against a disease. Till these people come to grief. Now, for the sake of such people, we have established hospitals, not in towns and cities, but on the outskirts or in villages and such other places. So, these village folk who are innocent to the extreme have to be given this service. Now, there are many amongst these village folk who do not know the cause of the disease they are suffering from. And in their ignorance, they only go on increasing this disorder in them. And there are not many, and it's a pity, there are not many who would tell them that this is wrong with them. Now, for instance, the hospital which has been established at Whitefield, those people in the nearby villages are really experiencing a great relief. All our medicines are free. And whatever they want, they need not really expend any money. It is theirs for the asking. So, certainly it has to be said and mentioned that the doctors who are working in these hospitals are extremely fortunate. And in this hospital at Bangalore, Whitefield, Dr. Rajeswari spends a lot of time and spares no effort whatsoever. And there are those others, her colleagues, nurses, and other doctors who also give her a helping hand, and with love and affection, they are rendering this service. Because these people are devout devotees, they don't charge, they don't take even a single naya paisa. There are no doctors who are being paid by us, either here or there. Because they feel this is the service they can do to Swami, and they are doing it purely. There are those like Dr. Alreja and the other doctors who have come from Sri Lanka and Uttar Pradesh and various other places who have come out of their own love and regard for the place and for Swami, and doing everything motivated by the spirit of service and sacrifice.

I am hoping that in this world, as the world goes today, the doctors should be motivated by the spirit of service and sacrifice so that they can decrease and put an end, if possible, to cases of death on account of ill health and where diseases take hold.

What is the sum and substance of all that I have been talking to you about?

Firstly, health is of paramount importance.

And the second thing, for what sake, or whose sake? So that you might experience Ananda of the Atma.

Now, you might have health, all right, but you can't experience this Atmananda. What's use having that health? Now, such people who cannot experience this Atmananda, nevertheless they have a good health. What type of people are they? It has been very well said that these people are those who tend to reduce the food content of the world, and they are merely a burden to the earth. So, try to understand who you are, your own reality. If you can't understand who you are, what's use of your staying, living in this world? So, don't make a distinction now between that which is this world and that which is beyond this world. Instead, bring the two together, and realize that you have to realize your own true nature and experience the divine Ananda. And what is given to man? Try to further it, love. Don't give any room for this petty-mindedness, narrow outlook. And try to conduct yourself in a way not to injure or harm others. Only then you will be sanctifying yourself, your existence.