Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

If you don’t understand even a fraction of that love in this world, how do you expect to realize truth and fulfill your ambitions?

Embodiments of Divine Love! Peace, friendship, servitude, sweetness, affection - these are all synonyms of the basic principle of love. The more a man develops love, the more blissful he will be. Man aspires to be blissful. Man always wants to be happy. What is the reason? Man is born out of this bliss. He lives in bliss. He ends in bliss. This bliss is divine. Though this divine quality is latent in him, man searches for it outside. Bliss does not have a separate existence .

Man strains himself thinking that he would be happy by learning. He makes every effort to take up a job, to be happy. Thinking that he would find happiness in it, he struggles hard to occupy exalted positions. He thinks that he would be happy by becoming a householder. In spite of all these efforts, he is far from this happiness.

Of all the attributes and names of God, Sat-Chit-Ananda is the most precious. To attain such a bliss, one has to follow this path of Sat-Chit-Ananda. Sat is the truth that remains the same in all the three worlds and in all the three periods of time. In order to know this truth, one has to tread along this path only. Chit means total awareness. Out of this total awareness, you can attain Divinity. Where these three principles, Sat-ChitAnanda, exist, there is supreme bliss, Brahmananda.

Man undertakes many spiritual pursuits to attain this bliss (Divinity). But they all give him temporary satisfaction, not lasting bliss. They are all worldly pursuits. Once you give up these external paths and take to the inward path, you attain bliss. Those who want this eternal, supreme, non-dual bliss should follow this path of Sat and Chit.

In order to reach this blissful state, one has to follow the path of truth. Truth is God. Truth is all pervasive. Truth is beyond time and space and all reckoning. Once you follow this truth, naturally you can attain God, who is the embodiment of truth. This is what Veda means, when it says, “Uddhareth Atmanatmanam. (You should work for your own emancipation).” You should know your truth. Investigate your own heart. There lies real bliss.

Man has four primary objectives in life. They are dharma (righteousness), artha (wealth), kama (desire), and moksha (liberation). These four objectives give us worldly comforts and bring peace and enjoyment in our life. However, there is a fifth objective of life called Supreme Love. It is the principle of love that makes you love God intensely. The one who understands and follows this sacred text of love will attain liberation.

What is liberation? Mukti (liberation) is that which would put an end to external pursuits.

What is to be offered to God? This body, which is the temple of God, should be offered to God. This is called Pindarpanam. This body is Pindamu; offering this to God is liberation. It means only that all actions that we do with this body should be offered to God. This is the fifth objective of human life, i.e. the sacred ideal of love. To teach this sacred rule of love, to pass on the sacred love, to propagate this love, to make people drink the nectar of love, the formless God descends from Goloka to Bhuloka in a human form.

The day of descent of God on earth is celebrated as the birthday of God. Why does He incarnate? God descends on earth to make humanity drink the nectar of love and enjoy the sweetness of Divinity. One who drinks this sweet nectar forgets himself and identifies himself with God and enjoys the blissful state thereafter. “Shariramadyam khalu dharma sadhanam, the body is gifted to perform sacred actions.

We have to discharge our duties and sacrifice the fruits of our actions. We have to cultivate the principle of thyaga (sacrifice) and be far off from bhoga (worldly pleasures). God is the embodiment of thyaga. The bliss that you get out of sacrifice is truly divine. Those who want to enjoy the blissful state of God must give up body attachment and turn inward.

We should not spend all our time for our bodily pleasures. We do need to safeguard our body. What for is the body given? It is given to serve God.

The body is bound to perish at some point of time. Just for the sake of this fleeting body, we should not waste our time and energy. What we need is good character. The modern student tries to acquire only physical strength, friendship, and wealth. But all these things are not important. Character is important. Without character, physical strength, friendship, and wealth are of no use. It does not matter even if wealth or friendship is lost, but you should keep up your character.

In the ancient days, Bharathiyas (Indians) believed, “If wealth is lost, nothing is lost, if health is lost, something is lost, if character is lost, everything is lost." But due to the effect of Kali Age, people now say, “if character is lost, nothing is lost, if health is lost, something is lost, it wealth is lost, everything is lost.” This is the modern trend. This is not the path that we have to adopt.

The previous speaker, Prof. Chatterjee, narrated the incident of Krishna lifting the Govardhanagiri, in order to protect the gopalas and gopikas (cowherd lads and maids) from the torrential rain. When Krishna told them to come and take shelter under the mountain, which He had lifted with His small finger, the people were afraid to do so. They doubted His Divinity, thinking Him to be only a small boy. Human beings form their opinion based on the physical frame and physical strength. It is only the Divine that goes by the character and not by the physical strength.

We have to make an effort to know the difference between God’s love and human love. God always gives and gives and never receives anything in return, but man always receives and is never prepared to give.

In every activity, we have to inquire the principle of truth. One who recognizes the truth will always live in bliss. Love is truth, love is life, and love is the goal. Love is second to none; love equals love alone. Only through the path of love can you reach the embodiment of love, which is God. It is not physical or worldly love. It is not “pravritti [rema”, which is external, but it is the “nivritti prema”, which is eternal and Divine.

You can win God's love either by criticism or praise. When Dharmaja was offering first respects to Krishna in the open court, Sisupala started criticizing Krishna in many ways. Dharmaja could not bear this. As he was listening to this uncharitable criticism, he could see the life principle of Sisupala merging in Krishna. This made Dharmaja much more unhappy and dissatisfied. He started wondering how the life principle of a person like Sisupala could merge in the Lord.

Dharmaja requested Narada, who was by his side, to explain how such a thing could happen. Narada said, “O king! criticism or praise relate only to the body, not to the spirit. Moreover, Sisupala criticized Krishna only out of love and not hatred; since he knew that the more he criticized, the sooner he could merge in Him. There is no mistake if you criticize God out of love. Even such a criticism is a kind of praise.” Kamsa, having come to know that he would die at the hands of Krishna, decided to kill Krishna and Balarama. Immediately, he called Akrura and commanded him to go and fetch Balarama and Krishna saying, “O Akrura, you are a good friend and devotee of Krishna, if you go, they will surely condescend to your request.” Since he could not disobey the command of the king, Akrura went and met Yashoda and Nanda and told them that Kamsa was performing a yagna and wanted Krishna and Balarama to attend it. But Yashoda and Nanda were not in favor of their children going to Kamsa's palace.

The gopikas (cowherd mainds), having heard of this, surrounded Nanda’s house and said that Krishna should not go to Mathura, because He was their life and they could not live without Him. They raised objections in several ways.

Krishna is the very form of mystery and wonder. He did not utter a word, since he knew that gopikas would not be convinced so easily. So he sat in the chariot and made it disappear with his divine power. Until He reached the banks of Yamuna, no one could see the chariot. Since the gopikas found themselves helpless, they returned to Brindavan. The gopikas had this intense love for Krishna, so they could see this love pervading all over.

Whenever the hearts of human beings become barren, because of unrighteousness and lovelessness, in order to sow the seeds of love and in order to propagate the principle of love, God incarnates. The main mission of God is to develop the principle of love in mankind. Only when we get intoxicated and forget ourselves drinking the nectar of divine love can we find the path to liberation.

In order to experience Sat-Chit-Ananda, we should tread along the path of truth. We should have total understanding of the Self; then we will enjoy the manifestation of God Himself. God is not present in a foreign land, He is present in your body.

Krishna once questioned the gopalas around Him, “Who is the true victor?” One of them said, “One who emerges victorious in the battlefield is the true victor.” A few said, “One who can face all the difficulties and troubles with steadfastness and courage is the true victor.” In this manner, each gave different answers.

Krishna smilingly said, “Gopalas, whatever you mentioned are temporary in nature. None of them can be termed as a true victor. True success lies in controlling one’s senses. Then one will be a victor. One has to control the senses. The senses belong to the body. Make this body a temple of God.

No one can describe God. The gopikas sang, “O Krishna, can we understand You? You are smaller than an atom, mightier than the biggest. You are present in all 84 lakhs of species always. Right from the atom to the entire cosmos, You are present everywhere.” It is impossible to understand God. We have to understand Him as the embodiment of love and recognise Him as the embodiment of truth. We should see that we follow the twin principles of truth and love. Then we will be able to control our senses. We cannot control our senses by any spiritual pursuits or physical exercises. All these are temporary. Only through the principles of love and truth is it possible to gain control over the senses. The combination of truth and love would shape into dharma. Therefore, speak the truth and follow dharma. Once we awaken truth within us, we can see God.

Ego and attachment are the cause for all misery. In order to give up these two, develop love. Under any circumstances, we should not give up love. Only through love can you develop faith. Love is God, live in love.

In order to see that there will be downpour of rain of love, So that the rivers of love would flow continuously, O Krishna! Please play on Your Divine Flute. Earth, seeds, rain, river, trees, fruits, all are filled

Having taken this human form, which is full of love, how is that we have lost it? Because we make use of our love in the worldly sense. When does it become true love? Only when we offer our body to God. This is true offering. Many people offer different things to God, but a true devotee offers himself to God.

Emperor Bali offered himself to God, and he did not have rebirth. We should consider this body as the flower, which has to be offered at the lotus feet of God. Therefore, human life gifted to you has to be spent in doing good actions and ultimately offered to God.

Brahmins think that the word, Pindarpanam is connected with the obituary rites. But. that is not so; offering our body to God is the true Pindarpanam. This is true offering that gives us liberation. Once the body is offered to God, there is no attachment (moha). Once attachment is gone, that is liberation - Moha kshayam is moksham. Those, who know this truth and conduct themselves accordingly, can enjoy bliss. Until we reach that sacred exalted state, we have to protect our body. We have to discharge our responsibilities.

Bharatiyas (Indians), since ancient times, have given top priority to sacrifice. They give utmost importance to dharma. They held the quality of renunciation in the highest regard, and they welcomed truth. Since ancient times, the hearts of Bharathiyas are full of compassion.

I have told students many a times about Max Muller. He was also called “Moksha Muller”, because of his noble qualities. Though he was a foreigner, his love for Bharat was beyond all limits. He wanted to leave his mortal coil in this sacred land. Many of his friends questioned him as to what was so special about Bharat. He told them, “The air of Bharat has truth in it. There is dharma in the dust of Bharat. There is love in the mud of Bharat. In the Ganga, there is sacrifice. There is no other country as sacred as Bharat. That which is not present in Bharat is not present anywhere else in the world.” Even though born in Bharat and called Bharatiyas, we are not able to recognize the greatness of Bharat. We have to put in great effort in order to know the sanctity and greatness of Bharat.

One day, Balarama brought a few cowherd boys with him and started complaining to mother Yashoda. “O mother, Krishna is always so hungry! He eats at home as well as outside like a glutton. Why should he eat mud? Today, he started eating mud.” Yashoda felt sad and was furious. She caught hold of Krishna’s hand and asked, “Krishna, am I not serving you enough food? Are you not eating enough butter in the neighborhood? Why have you started eating mud?” Krishna started explaining. “O mother, to eat mud am I a child or a madcap?” Though Krishna was only 5 years old at that time, by telling His mother that He was not a child or a madcap, He meant to indicate indirectly that He was the mighty Great One. Thu,s Krishna conveyed many inner secrets.

No one can understand Krishna’s leelas in depth. They have some external implications and inner significance. But, today ,very few people know the inner reality. People are full of doubts. Mother Yashoda saw all the worlds in Krishna’s mouth, but she herself doubted. What was the main reason? It was the feeling that Krishna was her son. It is physical attachment that causes doubts.

One should attach oneself to Atma. When Atma merges in Atma, everything becomes unified. This Atmic relationship is spirituality. The body relationship is physical. Therefore, it was Krishna who clarified all the doubts, demonstrated, manifested Divinity in everybody.

Though all incarnations are Divine, Krishna Avatara was special in this sense that He spent all his time smiling and smiling, full of love. At no point in time was He angry. He was always smiling. This is the main quality of God. God has no trace of ego or pride or jealousy whatsoever.

Such sacred qualities are present only in Sai Avatar again. In no other incarnation was this noticed. Though Divinity is uniform in all the incarnations, each Avatar expressed Himself on the basis of the prevalent circumstances. So, you should develop full faith in God. Just as you have faith in yourself, have faith in God. Faith in yourself, faith in God - this is the secret of greatness. You are God, and God is you only. Why do you give scope to doubts? In fact, these doubts will ruin you. So, give up all these doubts. Develop love, follow the path of truth, and experience the Divinity. This is true sadhana (spiritual practice), this is true spirituality.