Hanuman knew that it was wrong to spend any more time in Lanka. He felt that the sooner he communicated to Rama the welcome news about Sita, the better for all concerned. He prayed for permission to leave.
She said, “Go. Go safe and soon. Tell Rama to come soon and take me with Him.” She shed tears of hope and sorrow.
Hanuman was moved by the pathos of the scene. Sadness overwhelmed his brave heart. He consoled her and said, “Very soon, Mother, Rama will lay siege to Lanka. With his monkey (vanara) hordes, he will destroy these demon (rakshasa) forces, rescue you, and restore you to Ayodhya.” But Sita was inconsolable. She had her doubts. “Hanuman! What are you saying! Can monkey hordes fight and destroy these demons, who have mastered so many mysterious stratagems and subterfuges and who are themselves much stronger? How can Rama and Lakshmana stand up against these demons and win? Victory over the demons is an impossible dream. This can end only in my death. Rather than cau...
Editor's Introduction
When Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba started the Sanathana Sarathi magazine in February 1958, He wrote an article for the magazine every month from the very first issue, and continued writing without any break all the way up to October 1984. All these articles were written in perfect sequence and have been compiled in the form of books called the Vahini series. Vahini means Stream or River in Sanskrit and a few other Indian languages.
The 16th and final book of Vahini series was named “Leela Kaivalya Vahini” (Stream of cosmic consciousness divine) by Swami.
Stream of Divine Cosmic Play
Spiritual exercises like worship, singing hymns of adoration, and meditation are prompted by devotion to higher powers. Controversy about their efficacy should not be indulged in by those who are unaware of the depths and heights to which they can lead. These depths and heights can be gained and judged only through actual practice. The proof lies only in one’s person...
The Hindu religion authorizes the worship of a variety of Gods; this has resulted in sectarian feuds and factions, which fill the land with fear and unrest. The unthinking verdict of many observers is that the insights and agitations in the country can be traced to this one basic defect. But this judgment is not correct. It is a flimsy flight of fancy, indulged in by people devoid of the faculty of reason.
Sectarian conflicts within a religion
In the West, the inhabitants of all lands are, more or less, adherents of the Christian religion. Though all of them adore one God, they have been slaughtering each other by methods far more horrible than wild animals resort to. Don’t they wage wars in which peoples remote from the scene of conflict are wiped off the earth by merciless fire power, including innocent women, children, and the aged? Is their religion the basic cause for such heartless, disgraceful, stupid, and demonic devastation and fratricide? Of course, they belong to one relig...
The beneficent and maleficent impulses
The fulfilment of life consists in the realisation of the Atma (Atma-sakshatkara). To get this realisation, one should be entirely free from impulses (vasanas). Liberation (moksha) is, in the true sense of the term, liberation from the bondage of these impulses. These tendencies are of two types: beneficent and maleficent. The beneficent tendencies are saturated with holiness; the maleficent ones feed the mind and make it more and more uncontrollable and unsteady; they spread and strengthen the desire for objective pleasure.
If the beneficent impulses (subha vasanas) are encouraged and cultivated, they will not go on multiplying and binding the mind indefinitely; they become fried seeds, which will not sprout. If you stick to the beneficent impulses, you can easily acquire knowledge of Brahman (Brahma-jnana). These impulses are characterised by such activities as association with great souls (mahatmas), reverence for the great, conversation with t...
Q. Swami! Of the four life stages (asramas) - student, householder, forest dweller, and renunciant - which is basically important?
A. Just as all living things are dependent on the life-giving breath, so all life stages are dependent on the householder.
The householder provides food and drink to the rest and fosters them, promotes the study of the Vedas, and guards the scriptures. So the householder stage is the most important. In the scriptures (sruthis), in the Naradaparivrajaka Upanishad, and in the Manu Dharma Sastra, it is declared that the householder who strictly adheres to the dharma of their life stage is worthy of the greatest respect.
Q. But Swami, some people say that the renunciant is superior to the householder; how far is this correct?
A. Whatever the stage of life, if the person follows the dharma laid down for that stage, carries it out in practice, and steadfastly yearns for liberation, that person can get it. There is no doubt. To win knowledge of the true Self (Atma...
Devotee: A reverential salutation to you, Swami.
Swami: Happy to see you. You seem very tired, and in this summer, travel is even more exhausting. Rest for a little while; we can converse thereafter.
Devotee: When there is no peace of mind, where can rest be got?
Swami: Well my boy, rest is for the sake of peace of mind. Once you have that peace, where is the need for rest?
There is need for a bandage until the wound heals; after that, what is its use?
Devotee: Swami, just now my mind is restless. I cannot decide upon anything. I don’t know what or why. What shall I do?
Swami: Well, no effect can take place without a cause. You do certainly know the cause of your present condition.
Well, nothing else need be done. At such times of mental pain, do repetition of the name (nama-smarana) for a while, sitting in a solitary place, or sing devotional songs (bhajans) loudly in a raised voice. If that isn’t possible, spread the bed and sleep for some time. Thereafter you can think about all...
Happiness and misery are due to our own actions
Of the three instruments used for thinking, speaking, and action, the third instrument is the body with its hands ready to execute the thought that is expressed in words. The deed, the work, the labour in which the hand is engaged are the source of all the happiness or misery in which a person is involved. One asserts that one is happy, or that one is anxious and afraid or that one is in trouble. And one attributes the cause of these conditions to some person other than oneself. This belief rests on a wrong basis; happiness and misery are due to one’s own actions.
Whether one accepts or rejects this truth, one has to go through all the consequences of one’s action. This is the law of nature. One may not believe in summer or winter, in fire or rain, but one cannot escape from heat and cold.
They affect the person anyway. Therefore, the best course is to direct our activities along proper lines.
Hands are not the only limbs or agents th...
Work done with no concern or desire for profit, purely out of love or from a sense of duty, is yoga. Such yoga destroys one’s animal nature and transforms one into a divine being. Serving others, visualising them as kindred Atmas, will help one to progress; it will save one from sliding down from the spiritual stage attained. Selfless service (seva) is far more salutary than even vows and worship (puja). Service disintegrates the selfishness latent in you; it opens the heart wide; it makes the heart blossom.
So, work done with no desire is the supreme ideal; and when the mansion of life is built on that foundation, through the subtle influence of this basis of selfless service, virtues will gather unto him. Service must be the outer expression of inner goodness. And, as one undertakes selfless service more and more, one’s consciousness expands and deepens and one’s Atmic reality is more clearly known.
This ideal of selfless service (seva) and the urge to practise it form the very...
This Upanishad is the kernel of Vedanta, the most profound among all the Upanishads. It is the chief one, having the distinction of being recommended as enough, by itself, to lead man to salvation. It is very brief, consisting of just a dozen mantras! They are divided into four chapters: origin (agama), falsehood (vaithathya), non-duality (a-dwaitha), and extinction of the firebrand (alatha-santhi). In the first chapter, the secret doctrine of the Om (Pranava), which is the key to self-realisation, is expounded. In the second chapter, the doctrine of dualism, the great obstacle to liberation, is discussed and rebutted. In the third, the non-dual (a-dwaitha) Unity is propounded. In the last chapter certain mutually contradictory non-Vedic doctrines are described and rejected.
No sound is beyond the ken of Om; they are all Om, its permutations and products. Brahman is also Om, identified by It and with It. The Brahman, which is beyond vision, is manifest for vision as Atma.
The waking, d...
For the consummation of human evolution and the realization by people of their highest goal, religion and spiritual discipline are very essential. Religion is the link between the individual and the universe, between the individual soul and God (jiva and Deva). If the link does not exist, life becomes chaos. A cow caught on a hill, wanting to go to the opposite hill but confronted with a flooded river in between, needs a bridge between the two.
That is what religion is. Between the hill of individual life and the region of the Universal runs the flooded river of nature, with all its confusions and complexities. It is difficult to discover where it comes from, how it accumulates all that uproar, and where it ultimately ends. But, fortunately, in every human community we have bridge builders who help people to cross.
Vedic religion sourced in God, non-Vedic religions in God-man
We may have more than one bridge, but the purpose of each is the same. The bridge built by the sages and seers ...
