Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

There is none in this world who does not know the word love. The entire universe is contained in love. Only love equals love. There is no language to describe love. Howsoever one may try, it cannot be expressed in words. Love is beyond mind and speech, just like Brahman.

The Vedas declare: Whence the words along with the mind rebound in futility without comprehending Brahman (Yatho vacho nivarthanthe aprapya manasa saha).

Sage Narada described love as: That which cannot be defined in words (anirvachaneeyam).

It is not easy for an ordinary mortal leading a worldly life to understand and attain this transcendental principle of love, which is beyond mind and speech.

True love is vested only in God. It is like a mariner’s compass. Wherever you place the compass, its needle will always point toward the north. Similarly, the principle of true and eternal love always flows toward God under all circumstances. Just as oil makes the lamp glow, love gives effulgence to life.

People in this world consider worldly love as true love. But it is not love; it cannot be called love. Love between parents and children, wife and husband is nothing more than attachment (anuraga); it is not true love. In fact, worldly love is only physical attachment; it is not related to the Self. It can be called a sort of delusion (moha).

People love the physical body, position, and power. But how long do all these last? Since they are temporary and transient, love related to them is also momentary. In fact, it cannot be called love. But, unfortunately, people waste their lives considering it as true love.

True love is highly sacred, selfless, egoless and full of bliss. It is possible to understand such divine and sublime love only through love. Remembering, thinking, and contemplating worldly and physical relationships does not constitute love. All these worldly relations come and go.

True and eternal love blossoms in the heart. It is not something that emerges from somewhere; it is all-pervasive and ever-present. Then how is it that one is not able to recognise this ever-expansive principle of love in one’s heart?

People’s heart today have become barren, dirty, and polluted. What is the reason? The reason is that they have filled the heart with worldly and mundane feelings. Therefore, there is no scope for true and eternal love to find place in it.

First of all, one should get rid of all that is worldly and transient. Only then will true love blossom in the heart and become expansive. This is what one should know today.

A person’s love keeps changing constantly. During childhood, one considers the lap of the mother as the very heaven itself. As one grows up and acquires worldly education, one even forgets the love of one’s mother. One considers education as everything and devotes full attention to it. After facing many types of hardships and problems, one completes education and acquires a job. When one gets married and enters the householder stage (grihastha ashram), the focus is shifted from education to family life. After having children, one turns attention to the accumulation of wealth. Then, wealth becomes the only goal of life.

When one faces many difficulties, losses, and sorrows in accumulation of wealth, one gets disgusted with life and starts beseeching God.

In this manner, one’s focus keeps on shifting from one thing to the other all through life. How can such ephemeral love be called true love? It is not the infinite, eternal, and changeless Atmic love.

Divine love is changeless, whereas worldly love is ever changing and full of delusion (bhrama). So far as bhrama persists, one can never experience Brahma (the Supreme Being). Only when you keep your heart steady and sacred can you attain true and eternal love.

All that is seen is bound to perish (Yad drishyam thannasyam). All that is visible to the naked eye is bound to disappear sooner or later.

Whatever disappears or perishes cannot be called truth. True love is that which does not disappear, that which is present in the inner being and purifies the inner feelings. True love only gives and does not receive.

Do you find anyone in this world who always gives? Even a father is not prepared to give his property to his own son. Such being the case, how can you expect people to share with others what they have? Only God has this quality of giving. Such unconditional love is associated only with Divinity.

In fact, this divine love springs forth from every heart and immerses the entire being from top to toe. One can experience this love in every cell and every atom of the body. But, unfortunately, since the heart is polluted, one doesn’t find the spring of love emerging from it. One is all the time engrossed in the pursuit of physical and worldly desires. Therefore, it is necessary to get rid of worldly desires.

Even the world will not accept a person who is devoid of love. A heart devoid of love is no better than a body without life. Love is life. Love is God. First of all, everyone should recognise this principle of love.

Whatever teachings you hear and read, you should imbibe them in your heart. Once, a guru called his disciples and said to them, “My dear ones! I am giving all of you a sweet. See to it that it is not spoilt by ants, flies, mosquitoes, cats, or rats.” Most of the students tried to preserve it in many ways. But only one student ate it, digested it, and derived strength from it.

What is the inner meaning of this? It is not enough to preserve the divine teachings in books; you should imbibe those nectarine teachings in your heart, digest them, and experience them. Only then can you derive strength and happiness (pushti and santushti).

Treasure in your heart all the sacred teachings that you hear, read, and understand. Whatever you have treasured in your heart, put it into practice in your life. Only then will you have fulfilment.

Merely eating is not enough; you must digest what you eat. Similarly, merely hearing and reading is not enough; you should put it into practice and experience it in your daily life.

The cowherd maidens (gopikas) constantly prayed to Krishna thus:

Be it the worldly, scientific, or spiritual path, you get the desired result only when your heart is pure. All spiritual practices are meant to purify your heart. Everyone must endeavour to realise this sacred principle of love.

Love does not connote Nature; it is beyond Nature. Love is not contained in Nature; Nature itself is contained in love. Similarly, it is not love that is contained in the universe; it is the universe that is contained in love.

When I hold this handkerchief in My hand, what does it mean? It means My hand is bigger than the handkerchief. But if you say that love is contained in this universe, it would mean that the universe is bigger than love. But, in reality, it is not so. The reality is that love is bigger than the universe.

Love is not subservient to this visible world; this world itself is under the control of love. Creation, sustenance, and dissolution, time,

cause, and effect - all are contained in love. Other than love, everything else in this world is physical and fleeting.

How long will this body last? It is temporary. Love that is related to this ephemeral body is also momentary and transient. Only the principle of Atma, Brahma, or Hridaya (the heart) is true and eternal. It is the foremost duty of man to recognise this true and eternal principle of love.

Today, the world appears to be like a sick person suffering from some incurable disease. Wherever you look, you find unrest and agitation. Wherever you go, you find injustice, betrayal, unrighteousness, and evil practices. All these are contrary to the principle of love.

Only love is true, permanent, all-pervasive, and the bestower of bliss to all. Therefore, if you want to experience eternal bliss, it is possible only through love. Love is the unifying principle of body, mind, and spirit.

Worldly love is related to the body, mind, and to some extent intellect. But Atmic love transcends the body, mind, and intellect.

What is Atma? It has no form. It manifests in the form of bliss. In fact, love that is sacred, pure, selfless, attributeless, egoless, and formless is nothing but Atma. Such love can only be experienced.

Consider sugar. What is its form? It looks like white sand. But if you ask what is the form of its sweetness, none can give a proper reply. Sweetness has no form; it can be experienced only by tasting.

We experience love in many ways in this world. However, true and eternal love is also immanent in this worldly love. That which is temporary will vanish soon, and that which is eternal is the innate reality.

You have to enquire into this principle of love in a number of ways. True love is related to the inner Self, whereas worldly love is related to body, mind and intellect. Due to union and separation, this worldly love causes happiness and sorrow. Even if it is love for God, it causes sorrow to you when you feel separation from Him. But when you develop Atmic love, you will not feel grief even in separation.

There are four types of love (prema): swartha prema, samanjasa prema, parartha prema, and yathartha prema.

Swartha prema can be compared to an electric bulb in the room. Its light is limited only to that room; it can’t give light outside the room.

Samanjasa prema can be compared to moonlight, which is present everywhere but it is not so bright.

But Parartha prema is like sunlight, which is very bright. However, it is not permanent because when there is sunset, we cannot see the sun and think that it is not there. In reality, the sun neither rises nor sets.

In the same manner, it is wrong to say God incarnates on earth only when righteousness (dharma) disappears from the face of the earth. Dharma never disappears.

Oh Arjuna! Whenever there is a decline in dharma and rise in a-dharma, I incarnate on earth.

Here, decline in dharma means not its disappearance but decline in its practice.

What is the meaning of glanir bhavati? It means that dharma is not visible. But it does not mean that it ceases to exist. When the sun sets, we think sun is not there. The fact is that it does exist, but it is not visible to us; it is visible in another part of the world. Similarly, as dharma becomes invisible, people think it has ceased to exist.

The fourth type of love is yathartha prema. It is present within and without at all places, at all times, and under all circumstances. This is what the Vedas describe by: That all-pervasive God is present within and without (Antarbahischa tatsarvamvVyapya Narayana sthita).

This type of love illumines the inner and outer world equally. This Atmic love neither comes nor goes, neither increases nor decreases. It never perishes; it is eternal. Try to experience this love.

You need not go in search of this love. You cannot receive it as a gift from others, nor can it be purchased anywhere. It is very much present in you and all over. This is described as: With hands, feet, eyes, head, mouth, and ears pervading everything, He permeates the entire universe (Sarvatah panipadam tat sarvathokshi siromukham, sarvatah srutimalloke sarvamavruthya tishthati).

When you experience this eternal and immortal principle of love, you will experience peace at all the three levels - physical, mental and spiritual. You can attain peace only through love.

There is a prayer describing Lord Vishnu:

What is the inner meaning of this? Though the Lord reclines on the thousand-hooded serpent, he is ever peaceful. How is he able to remain in this state of peace? He is able to experience peace because he has subjugated the thousand-hooded serpent.

But today, people have placed the serpent of worldly desires on their heads. That is why they are always fear-stricken. Therefore, it is essential to keep desires and materialistic tendencies under check.

Where does Lord Narayana dwell? He dwells in the heart of everyone. So, there should be no place for desires in the heart.

Then, what is it that entertains desires? It is the mind. It is the mind that indulges in all types of mischief. Therefore, first of all, turn your mind toward the heart.

How can this be done? It can be done only through love. There is no other way to do it. All other ways will prove futile before the tricks of the mind.

The mind appears to be all-pervasive. That is why the Vedas said: The mind is the basis of the entire world (Mano moolam idam jagat). The mind is subservient to the world, whereas the world is subservient to love. When you follow the master, i.e. the path of love, you can conquer the entire world.

Sugriva devised many plans to conquer Vali. His minister Hanuman was not an ordinary one. He was one of great intelligence. He used all his intelligence and enquired how they could conquer Vali. He understood that in order to win over Vali, they had to make friendship with someone who was more powerful than Vali. There was no point in befriending someone who was inferior to Vali in power.

That is why Sugriva subjected Rama to a test in order to determine whether He was superior to Vali in power. Since Rama proved that he had much superior power than Vali, Sugriva at once made friendship with Rama. He firmly believed that he could easily conquer Vali with the help of Rama.

Once, Ravana went to Vali to invite him for a duel. At that time, Vali was doing prayers during dawn and dusk (sandhya vandanam). So that these prayers would not be disturbed,

he put Ravana under his armpit and continued his ritual. Such was the power of Vali, who could keep the mighty Ravana under his arm and subdue his ego.

Vibhishana underwent much suffering and hardship for the love of Rama. His love for Rama endowed him with great strength.

During the war between Rama and Ravana, Rama and Lakshmana killed most of the demon (rakshasa) warriors, including Kumbhakarna and the valorous sons of Ravana.

When they thought only Ravana remained to be conquered, a mighty demon came to the battlefield. Vibhishana said to Rama, “If you can subjugate him, you can easily win over Lanka. He is much more powerful than Ravana himself.” Rama waged a fierce battle with him for a long time but could not conquer him. He was tired. Noticing this, Vibhishana counseled Rama from behind. “Rama, this is not the time to relax. If You delay further, it will be impossible to conquer him. I am telling You all this out of my love for You.” Enthused by the counsel of Vibhishana, Rama continued the fight and ultimately killed the demon. When the mighty demon fell to the ground, Vibhishana fainted at the same time.

Some time after this, he got up, chanting the Name of Rama. He repented and said, “Swami, this is my weakness. Fie on me. Having filled my heart with Your love, it was not proper on my part to display this weakness.” Rama asked, “Well, why did you faint? What is the reason?” Vibhishana said, “Swami, that mighty warrior was my son. Due to grief arising out of physical attachment, I displayed my weakness.” As you can see, Vibhishana was prepared to sacrifice the life of his own son for the victory of Rama.

Rama asked, “Vibhishana, why did you do this? Is it not a mistake on your part? You should have told me in the beginning that he was your son.” Vibhishana replied, “Swami, whoever he was, he had come to wage a war against You. In a war, there is no scope for entertaining thoughts of physical relationship and attachment.” Relationships like mother, father, brother, sister, and friend are not real.

House and wealth are also illusory. Hence, beware! Beware!

“Do we observe physical relationship in a war? If any of our relations comes and wages a war against us, we have to treat him as our enemy and not as our relation. Be it father or mother, friend or relative, whoever they may be, if they are against God, we should have no relationship with them.

“I have surrendered to You, and I am Your servant, so I must strive for Your victory."

“All worldly relationships are momentary, like water bubbles. They are bound to perish in a moment. Your love alone is true and eternal.” With such deep love for Rama, Vibhishana tried hard for His victory.

There should be an inseparable bond of love between you and God. Whatever value you may attach to worldly relationships, they are only bondages.

Dull or ignorant (thamasic) relations are like iron chains, passionate or emotional (rajasic) relations are like copper chains, and pure or good (sathwic) relations are like gold chains. The chain may be iron, copper, or gold, but a chain is, after all, a chain, which binds you.

Materials like iron, copper, and gold may have some value, but bondage has no value. There should be no bondage, even if it is a pure (sathwic) one. One should aspire only for the love of Rama, which is pure and unsullied.

Vibhishana propagated this divine principle of love, setting his own example. He was the pure (sathwic) friend of Rama, whereas Sugriva was His passionate (rajasic) friend and Jambavan was his dull-ignorant (thamasic) friend.

Though Vibhishana belonged to the demon clan, he surrendered to Rama with pure (sathwic) feelings. You find the radiance of love only in such pure feelings. Such sacred love cannot be measured; it cannot be described. No language can express it.

Love has no birth and no death. It is everpresent. It shines in the heart when all worldly feelings are driven away from it. This is the main teaching of the Vedas. It is not possible to describe this love.

Narada used many adjectives to describe love, but he could not give full description of it. He said: Having attained that, man gets total satisfaction, fulfillment, ecstasy, and bliss (Yallabdhwa puman ichchharamo bhavati trupto bhavati matto bhavati Atmaramo bhavati).

Love is like a priceless gem. None can estimate its value.

Mira sang: I have found the jewel of the divine Name (Payoji maine nam ratan dhana payo).

Where can you find this priceless gem? In which market can you find it? Even ordinary gems are not displayed outside. Only fish are kept outside in the market. Gems are kept safely in an iron safe and are shown only to those who can buy them. Where is this priceless gem of love available? You cannot buy it like any other commodity in a market.

This gem of love is available only with God, who is the embodiment of love. It is available only in the bazar of love and in the shop of love. God is the sole owner of this love. It is possible to get it only from Him.

One may estimate the value of all the jewels in the world, but no one can estimate the value of the gem of love. It is impossible to describe this glorious, eternal, sacred, and priceless principle of love. Therefore, do not undervalue love, and do not consider it as an ordinary thing and thereby lose it. Once it is lost, it can never be regained.

Having attained the proximity of Sai, do not fritter away this golden opportunity, but make best use of it.

If you lose this chance to serve the Lotus Feet of the Lord of Parthi, you will never get it again.

He develops devotion in you, confers strength on you, and ultimately grants you liberation.