The rains stopped. The autumn season dawned on the world. The earth shone resplendently green. Grass sprouted everywhere, and soon the earth decked itself with a many-coloured floral dress. Greed weakens when gladness grows; so too, the waters evaporated when the star Agastya appeared in the sky. The mind is rendered pure and pellucid when desire and delusion disappear; so too, the rivers were rendered clear and clean.
Rama told Lakshmana, “Brother! It’s time to warn Sugriva now.” Lakshmana paid heed to the command and asked Hanuman, who was a daily visitor to the hermitage, to remind Sugriva of the promised task. Hanuman was most earnest and anxious to fulfil Rama’s orders, and he warned Sugriva immediately and effectively.
Sugriva called the leaders of the monkey hordes together and initiated the arrangements. He gave everyone the determination and courage needed for executing the task assigned. Urged by the resolution that the mission must succeed, he sent them to all four q...
Gounascheth na, Atma sabdath
Since the word (sabda) Atma is used (Atma sabdath), the “thinking (eekshathe)” or projection mentioned in the previous aphorism has to be a function of the Atma. Fire or water is the product, the effect of the will. The words “projection” and “manifestation” cannot be interpreted in a secondary or figurative sense. The Atma alone is indicated as the Primal Entity in the revealed texts (sruthi) or Veda. The urge or resolution is a happening in the Atma itself, not in any other entity. The entire cognizable cosmos is just Being (sat) or Is. Whatever form it has assumed in the process of time and in the perimeter of space, all of it is, in reality, only Being, that is to say, Atma! This is the lesson of the Veda.
Nothing is inert, inactive (jada). Thus, we find the word Atma used once in a while to denote even primordial matter (pradhana or mula-prakriti). Primordial matter is the instrument that fulfills the will of the sovereign Consciousness, th...
Knowledge of Brahman (Brahma-vidya) is the specific theme of this Upanishad. It has three chapters on:
instruction (Siksha-valli), bliss (ananda-valli) or Brahman (Brahma-valli), and Bhrigu (Bhrigu-valli). In the Chapter on instruction, certain methods are detailed to overcome obstacles placed in people’s way by gods and sages (devas and rishis) and to acquire one-pointedness in mental exertions. This chapter has twelve sections.
The last two chapters are very important for those seeking knowledge of Brahman (Brahma-jnana). Both chapters give instruction on the knowledge of the sage Bhrigu (Varuni Vidya), which leads to liberation, so they are practically the same. For convenience of study, it is dealt with in two sections, that is all.
The objective world is caused by ignorance, with bondage the result
In the Siksha-valli, subjects are dealt with that are not antagonistic to action (karma), like the combination of letters according to euphenic rules (samhitha), and also subjects tha...
The ancients considered temples not only as temples of God (deva-mandirs) but also as temples of spiritual wisdom (vijnana-mandirs).
They knew that God can be attained by service done consciously and with full knowledge of meaning. They felt that temples are academies of higher learning, where man develops the real culture of the mind. They knew that the house of God in the hearts of people would be as clean and holy as the house of God was in the hamlet where they lived. You could guess the nature of the inhabitants of a village simply by observing the village temple and its environs. “If the temple is kept clean and pure, with holiness in the atmosphere, you can infer that the villagers are full of the fear of sin, that they walk along the path of goodness” - so thought the ancients.
Today, such institutions of spiritual inspiration (divyajnana- mandirs or Atmopadesalayas) have degenerated into places where “offerings” are distributed and picnic parties revel. Idlers gather ...
When Ravana heard the news of this holocaust, he exclaimed, “Whoever expected the war to end thus? Whoever expected that it would be so calamitous a disaster?” The news of Narantaka’s death spread terror throughout Lanka. Many wise scholars approached Ravana, the bereaved father, and sought to give him consolation and comfort. But their effort was just waste of time; their advice didn’t enter Ravana’s heads.
When Ravana recovered himself, he heard the wailings of Narantaka’s wife, and that made him angrier still.
He forgot himself in the flames of vengeance and anger. The night ended and day dawned, although Ravana did not notice it. The monkeys gathered at the four gates of the city and were, as usual, getting ready to storm them and enter.
Ravana himself heads the army
Ravana assembled the demon (rakshasa) warriors and addressed them, “Soldiers! If your hearts shudder at the prospect of battle, it is best you leave the ranks this very instant. Don’t flee when the batt...
Swami: Well, my boy, I am glad you have come. Are you reflecting on the answers I gave last time, and are you practising with firm conviction what has been told? Are you deriving bliss (ananda) from it?
Devotee: Swami, would any devotee like me allow your nectar-like words to go to waste? No one aspiring to attain real bliss will throw away the ambrosial words that you confer in Your grace. I don’t know about others, but I reflect upon your answers night and day and practise them with courage and conviction. I am awake all the time, waiting for the next chance to meet you.
Swami: It is this alertness that devotees should cultivate. To attach oneself to the flimsy, paltry foolishness of the world and to run after them and worry when they slip out of the hands or jump about in glee when you get them, all this is ignorant illusion. But your counting of days, waiting for the chance, keeping awake for the opportunity to hear the words of the Lord and imbibe their essence, that is illusion...
Prasna means “question”, Uttara means “answer”, and Vahini indicates “a stream”. This book is the stream of the questions that have evoked answers from Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Among the tasks that Bhagawan has assumed while incarnating, He has declared as basic the one that He calls, “the clarification and purification of the religious scriptures of mankind.” Every Vahini emanating from Him has done this service to some aspect or other of the spiritual upliftment of man.
This Vahini is one of the earliest in the series, since it seeks to elucidate the fundamental concepts and precepts of religion, especially the technical words and expressions that seek to concretise them. Hitherto published as an Appendix to a single Vahini, the Gita Vahini, it is now placed in the hands of seekers as a key publication, helpful for readers of all the Vahinis.
The Ancient Wisdom (Sanathana Dharma), the Perennial Path, has been communicated to posterity in words that have suffered ...
Dharmaraja sees many bad omens
Dharmaraja, reeling in agony at the departure of his uncle and aunt, had another bout of unbearable pain, like a needle thrust underneath the nails. Wherever he turned, he began seeing bad omens in his kingdom. He noted in every act around him the taint of falsehood, cruelty, and injustice. It met him at every step and confused his vision.
As a result, an inexplicable anguish possessed him. His face became pale with apprehension. It was marked by constant agitation and anxiety. Seeing this and becoming agitated themselves, the brothers - Bhima, Nakula, and Sahadeva - approached their eldest and expressed their eagerness to delve into the reasons for his strange sadness. They stood before him with folded hands and inquired, “Lord and master! Day by day we find your countenance rendered dimmer and dimmer; you seem sunk in unfathomable agony, sinking deeper and deeper with every passing hour. You have become too weak to stand firm. If any of us has caused ...
The nature of light is to reveal objects, by illumining them. But real illumination is the property only of the Atma. The sun and fire can only “penetrate” darkness; they do not destroy it completely, because darkness and light are opposed to each other. But the effulgence of the Atma has no opposition at all; all objects, all natures are favourable to it. It illumines all. Hence the statement, “The gods acclaim It as the light of lights (Tham deva jyothisham jyothih).” Its form is spiritual wisdom (jnana) - not things, like the physical body. The body is ever-changing; it is not eternal. The Atma shines equally everywhere and illumines everything, without any distinction. It is of the nature of bliss and of consciousness (chaithanya). So, it automatically becomes Brahman! This conviction is the essence of wisdom.
One who sees a pot can know that it is a pot clearly, by oneself, right? But how is it that one identifies oneself with the body simply because attachment makes one f...
God: source of time, creation, activity
The cosmos or creation, time, activity (karma) - all these are manifestations of the will of God and are bound to Him. They are considered by some as “false” and “unreal”, but how can God, who is the very embodiment of truth (sathya), will anything not true? Therefore, it can be said that these two are true, in one way. When evolution changes over into involution and the ultimate stage of mergence of both the conscious and the unconscious is reached, God (Iswara) is the only One existent.
Time is the manifestation of the power of God, so it has no measurable beginning or end. Activity (karma) is also an important truth to be reckoned as such. God is no wayward force, unmindful of bounds and limits. He creates situations and environments strictly according to the activities in which people engaged during their previous lives. The creation, the time, and the action - all three are true in God and true along with God. They are instruments th...
