“I am the Sai Baba of Shirdi come again; then, I was mostly engaged in preparing the meal; now I have come to feed you all with the strengthening, purifying repast,” says Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. He announced thus, in his fourteenth year, while casting away his school books and addressing the first gathering of devotees in 1940.
Ever since, Baba has been consoling, correcting, and curing, with His compassion and all-conquering love, an ever-increasing band of physical and spiritual sufferers and establishing the new Sai era of peace and joy.
As part of His mission of establishment of dharma, in February, 1956, Baba started a monthly magazine, which He named Sanathana Sarathi (Ancient Charioteer). Evidently, He meant to declare more clearly through that title that He is both Ancient and the Charioteer of all physically embodied beings. He announced that the Sanathana Sarathi is engaged in a campaign against falsehood of all types and varieties, as well as against the spirit of ...
The special characteristic of humanity among all created beings is the power of wisdom with discrimination (viveka). One is therefore bound to act, always using the discriminating capacity. But two forces are putting obstacles in the way: (1) the ignorant, who prompt toward inaction, and (2) the teachers of Sankhya. The first set of people, though they may desist from activity through their senses, are unable to withdraw their minds and continue to commit acts in their minds. So, their inactivity is meaningless and unreal; it is relatively or apparently but not absolutely true (mithya).
The Sankhyans use a number of arguments against action. “Action causes both good and evil,” so, it is said, “the wise must give up all action.” In the Gita, Krishna met this argument and showed the way to get the good out of action and avoid the evil. The Sankhyans further say that action results in a mixture of pain and pleasure, of benefit and loss, and it leads the doer to heaven, to hell, or...
Spiritual versus materialistic lands
The countries of the world fall into two categories: countries in which the people are devoted to activities with spiritual motivation (karma-bhumi) and countries in which the people pursue the pathways of the senses (bhoga-bhumi), with no higher purpose to guide them. The categories emphasize the ideals of the people down through the ages. India (Bharath) is the land of Godward activity, where the people have discovered the proper goal of all activity, namely the glorification of God resident within and without.
Activity (karma) is inevitable; it is immanent in every thought. It is of two kinds: material and spiritual, connected with this world and drawn from the Vedas or scriptural injunctions. Activities that merely sustain life are material. Activities that elevate the human into the divine are based either on the Vedas or on later sacred texts (sastras) or codes of law (smrithi). The activities can be mental, emotional, or physical. They are al...
Freedom from delusion results in vision of Atma
This Upanishad is incorporated in the Rig-veda. It shines bejeweled by six chapters, which describe the absolute Atmic principle. It is therefore famous as the Atmic Six (Atma-Shatka). It makes possible for the aspirant the vision of the Atma that results from the destruction of delusion and ignorance. “Atma” is used in two ways:
worldly activity and supreme. Used in the activity sense, Atma indicates the individual (jivi); in every individual, the Atma expresses itself through the senses of perception (jnanen-driyas) into the outer world. The word is derived from the root ath, which indicates “expansion, consumption, movement”, among other things. So, the word Atma denotes universal immanence, universal assimilation, and perpetual movement. That is to say, it connotes the Brahman itself.
Atma is unlimited, endless, changeless, all
In the waking stage, the Atma, in the sense of the individual (jivi) in worldly activity, enjoys all...
High and low, rich and poor, male and female - all are affected by illness, and all have the right to seek the drugs that cure illness. So too, all people are affected by the illness of birth and death and all have the right to the drug, named knowledge of Brahman (Brahma-vidya), that is its effective cure. That is the heritage of all.
According to the stage reached by each, the degree of development attained in spiritual discipline, and the extent of assimilation of the drug, each person will improve in health, that is to say, in peace and equanimity. But one thing has to be specially mentioned: along with the drug, the regulations regarding the mode of living have also to be strictly adhered to.
The drug, Brahma-consciousness, has to be supplemented and strengthened by the appropriate dharma as well as by cultivation of devotion, wisdom (jnana), and discrimination (vairagya). Dietary and other restrictions are essential components of the treatment of illness; so also mere initiation ...
Thath thu samanvayath
It is clearly demonstrable that all Vedantic axioms posit only Brahman. The statements in the sacred scriptures, when studied in a spirit of reconciliation, reveal the Brahman and make known its reality.
There is the question whether the scriptures hold forth the supremacy of works (karma) or of wisdom.
Though the profound mystery of Brahman is incommunicable to others, it has to be denoted by some categories of knowledge, however unsatisfactory they are. Or else, it might remain beyond perception.
Scriptures are not only world-oriented
One school of thought believes that the Vedas lay down works as a means of liberation and that the Vedanta (the Upanishads) does not. But the scriptures (sastras) are concerned with guidance and counsel, and not with exclusive adherence to some system or other. Advocacy of works is not the chief goal of the scriptures. When one is active through works, one has to do many merit-yielding tasks, and these promote purity of mind. Since...
The hermitage of Bharadwaja
Thus, Rama entered the hermitage of Bharadwaja, taking Sita with him and accompanied by Lakshmana and Guha. The sage appeared at the doorway and walked forward to welcome him, as if he had been waiting for a long time to be blessed by the sight of the Lord (darshan). Rama prostrated before him, and when Bharadwaja lovingly embraced him and invited him to enter the hermitage, he was very happy to comply. The sage made them sit on seats he had spread on the floor, for each according to his status.
He asked after the welfare of every one of them and declared that his heart’s desire was now fulfilled. He asked his pupils to bring fruits and roots, and, placing them before his guests, he pleaded with them to eat. They spent the night in the hermitage, accepting the sage’s hospitality and service.
When day dawned, Rama proceeded to the confluence of the three rivers at Prayag, asking the sage to accompany him. Bharadwaja said, “Listen, O Lord! I chose this h...
The brothers continued their journey through the forest, moving like twin lions, talking about the devotion and immeasurable dedication of the aged aspirant, Sabari. Traveling fast, they approached the Rishyamuka mountain range.
Amidst the hills of that range, Sugriva resided as a refugee, with his ministers and courtiers. He saw the two brothers nearing the hills and was astonished at their noble mien and mighty stride. They appeared to be divine.
Sugriva was ever on the watch for strange faces nearing his habitat, for he was afraid that his elder brother, Vali, might torment him, even in his present home, by sending emissaries of death or distress. He had his eyes on all lines of access to his craggy residence. He was frightened at the gait and the glory of the two strangers and was anxious to know quickly who they were and what their mission was.
So, he called Hanuman. “Mighty hero!” he said. “Have you noticed those two effulgent personalities? Go and find out who they are, wh...
Meanwhile, Dasaratha proceeded toward Ayodhya with his sons and daughters-in-law, the sages and scholars, army units of infantry, elephantry, cavalry, and chariotry, and citizens of his empire. Suddenly, they observed certain bad omens, and they had a premonition that something serious was about to happen. Dasaratha approached Vasishta. “Master! What a surprise this is! Dark clouds are thickening and howling; the beasts on earth are tramping around us full circle. They shouldn’t behave so, should they? What can be the reason? What does it indicate? I am apprehensive about these omens.” Vasishta could see the meaning of these portents by means of his divine insight. “O King! These are signs of some terrible event nearing us. The clouds are roaring frightfully. But, since the beasts on earth are circumambulating our chariots, this much can be inferred; the disaster that threatens us will be averted. Therefore, you need have no anxiety.” Vasishta instilled faith and confidence i...
Vyasa continued. “O King, your grandfathers were ready to renounce everything to God, if the need arose.
They were also prepared to fight with God, if the need arose, for they were only observing warrior (kshatriya) dharma when they fought so. You must have heard the story of your grandfather fighting against Siva and winning from Him the divine weapon of Siva, the Pasupatha-astra.” The king suddenly raised his head and asked, “Master! What did you say? Did my grandfather fight Siva? I hadn’t heard about it so far. Tell me all about it. Satisfy my thirst to know about it.” Parikshith fell at Vyasa’s feet, importuning him to narrate the story.
Vyasa cleared his throat. “Son! How many stories do I have to tell you? For its full elaboration, the relationship between the Pandavas and the Gods needs not hours, not even months, but years! Still, since you implore, I’ll tell as many as possible within the time available. Listen, King!
“The Pandavas were living in the forest....
