Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

Sukham athyanthikam Buddhi grahyam atheendhriyam. The Gita declares that everlasting bliss can be secured by the Buddhi (intellect) by transcending the senses. Sukham (happiness) cannot be derived through the senses. Sensory pleasures are deceptive and transient. True happiness is permanent and real. Man can realise this only through the Buddhi. The intellect is characterised by earnestness and steadiness. All the pleasures enjoyed by man in ordinary life are related to the senses. Vishayasukham (sensuous pleasure) is verily visha (poisonous) and not Amrithasukham (eternal). These pleasures result in bondage for man and do not elevate him. All the pleasures man enjoys are based on the senses and have no relation to the intellect. Man should seek the bliss that is real and lasting and this can be got through the Buddhi. The Thaitthireeya Upanishad has expounded the nature of the Buddhi in detail. Comparing Buddhi to a bird, the Upanishad has described its head as Sraddha (earnestness). The two wings of the bird are Sathya and Ritha. Yoga is its tail. The body is Mahath-Thathwa. The five constituents - Sraddha, Sathya, Ritha, Yoga and Mahath Thathwa - are parts of Buddhi. Among these Sraddha comes first. Man cannot accomplish any undertaking without Sraddha (earnest endeavour). All daily actions like eating and walking are prompted by Sraddha. "Shraddhavan labhathe Jnanam," says the Gita (The higher wisdom is obtained by the earnest seeker). Nor is that all. The Gita has declared that Sraddha as well as Buddhi are forms of the Lord. Buddhi, therefore, should not be regarded as an ordinary appendage of man. It is associated with Sraddha, Sathyam (Truth), Ritham (the Cosmic order), Yoga and Mahath (the Supreme Principle). To treat an attribute that is related to these five significant entities as an ordinary quality in man is the result of viewing it from a mundane perspective.

Buddhi should not be equated with Medha Shakthi (mental agility or cleverness). The superiority of Buddhi over Medha Shakthi was proclaimed by King Vikramaditya at an assembly of scholars whom he had gathered for discussing this issue. Without Buddhi, with its five important associates, all mental faculties are useless like a fruit without juice, a tree without fruit, a temple without a lamp, or a counterfeit coin. Most intellectuals today, not realising the supremacy of the Buddhi and relying only on their intelligence, are ignoring their inherent divinity. Buddhi is the divine element in man, which is shining effulgently always. The Gita declares: The Buddhi transcends the senses (Atheendriyam). It is related to the Divine. What passes for the intellect today is divorced from the Divine and is not Buddhi in its real sense. This intellect is limited in its capacity and is motivated by Self-interest. Hence the Buddhi's power of discrimination is used by man for selfish purposes. All actions are based on swartha (selfinterest) and not on Parartha (higher values). Actions which are free from self-interest lead to Tharakam (liberation). Actions based on self-interest lead to Marakam (mortality). The difference between these two should be properly understood. All actions based on the Atmabhava (the Atmic feeling) lead to liberation. All worldly actions are Maraka (self-destroying).

In olden days, many persons who were observing transitional practices, used to recite some manthras before taking food. "Annam Brahma" (The food is Brahman). "Rasam Vishnu" (The sweet drink is Vishnu). "Bhoktho Devo Maheswarah" (The partaker is the Lord Maheswara). Reciting these manthras, they would start eating. The object of this prayer was: "May the food that we consume be converted to the vital fluid that circulates in every part of the body and endows the body with all powers. Confer on our mind the capacity to make right use of these powers. Purify our speech in conformity with the nature of the mind." The physical part of the food that we consume serves the needs of the gross body. The subtle element in it goes to the mind. The subtler element enters into Vak (speech). The Buddhi is thus related to the functioning of the body, the organs and the mind. These three are represented by Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara. The Prana (life-principle) is related to Brahma. The mind is related to Vishnu and vak (speech) is related to Shiva. These three faculties should not be wasted. They should be utilised properly. The power of speech should be used for speaking the truth. The mind should be directed towards sacred paths. The body given to man should be used for achieving righteousness. Sareeram-adyam khalu dharmasadhanam. (The body is the primary requisite for realising Dharma). Thus, the mind, speech and body are manifestations of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

If people today indulge in meaningless and impure activities, it means that they are wasting their Divine gifts. Before undertaking any action, one should utter the prayer: "May my actions be holy. May my speech be helpful to others and not cause any pain to them. May all my thoughts be sacred, godly and purposeful." The rulers and people in ancient days used to sanctify their lives by such prayerful actions. Two things are vital in a man's life: Sathya (Truth) and Ritha (Unity in thought, word and deed). In most people today, this triple unity is absent. One reason for this is that people have allowed their intellect to be polluted, as in the case of a lamp in which the chimney is covered by soot from the flame inside and dust from outside. The light from the lamp will be effulgent if the soot inside and the dust outside are removed. In the case of the Buddhi (intellect), the soot comes from Ahamkara (ego) and the dust from Mamakara (mine-ness). These two reduce the effulgence of the intellect. They have to be removed to make the Buddhi shed its light fully.

To explain how Ahamkara (egoism) and Mamakara (Mine-ness) affect even those who claim to be renunciants, there is an episode from the life of Adhi Sankaracharya in which Ubhayabharathi, the wife of the great scholar, Mandana Mishra, acted as a judge in the debate between Sankaracharya and Mishra. In the first debate Ubhayabharathi declared Sankaracharya to be the winner and Mandana Mishra took Sanyasa (renunciant stage). Thereupon, Ubhayabharathi challenged Sankaracharya to vanquish her in a debate as she was one half of her husband. She also took to Sanyasa after losing in the debate. One day Ubhayabharathi saw a Sadhu (mendicant) using his drinking vessel as a pillow while resting on the ground and meditating. She remarked to her disciples: "Look at this Sadhu! He claims he has renounced everything, but in his attachment for his drinking vessel he is taking care of it by keeping it under his head lest someone should take it. Is this renunciation?" On heating her words, the Sadhu threw away the vessel. While Ubhayabharathi and her disciples were returning from the Ganges, Ubhayabharathi noticed what the Sadhu had done and remarked: "I thought the sanyasi had only one defect - attachment. I find he has another: Anger arising out of ego, Ahamkara. He threw away the vessel enraged by my words. Both attachment and anger are enemies of thapas." On hearing these words, the Sadhu fell at her feet and declared that she was her preceptor.

Every man who aspires for experiencing the Divine, should strive to remove the blemishes affecting the Buddhi by getting rid of egoism and attachment. When the ego goes, attachment also can be given up easily.

The ego affects in various ways. It induces people in various professions to resort to pomp and ostentation for impressing their clients. Egoism is a demonic quality. Devi has been described as a destroyer of demons. Worshipping of Devi is for the purpose of destroying the demonic qualities in each person.

During the Mahabharatha war, Arjuna got dispirited on the ninth day when he saw Krishna bleeding all over, as he shielded Arjuna from the rain of arrows showered by Bhishma. Krishna jumped down from the chariot and advanced towards Bhishma, declaring that He would himself slay Bhishma. Bhishma was so much charmed by the beauty of the Lord that he declared: "If Sri Krishna is coming to kill me, let the same Krishna be my saviour." Devotees nowadays would act differently. If they lost their faith in one deity, they would seek favours from another. But, in fact, there is only one God. Irrespective of names and forms, God is one only. Dhurga represents Prakruthi-matha (Mother Nature). To overcome the demonic qualities arising out of the influence of Nature, the power of Nature has to be invoked. This is the meaning of the worship of Dhurga. Nature is the protector as well as the chastiser. Lakshmi represents the protecting aspect of Nature. When Dhurga has destroyed the demonic qualities, Lakshmi purifies the mind. Then there is purity in speech, represented by Saraswathi. The worship of Dhurga, Lakshmi and Saraswathi is thus undertaken to get rid of the impurities in the mind and purify one's thoughts, words and deeds. Prakruthi (Nature) is the embodiment of the Divine. Man perceives Nature and experiences Nature, but is unable to recognise the Divinity in Nature. To see the external manifestations of the Divine and yet fail to recognise the Divine is a sign of stupidity. Man sees Nature in the form of the Universe, which is Virata-Swaroopa (Cosmic form of Vishnu). Has the Lord any particular form or abode? No. He is everywhere. He is you and you are He. The day you recognise this, you will comprehend God. If you want to see the Divine in you, you have to use your Buddhi, just as you need a mirror to see your own eyes, which are able to see everything else in the world. It is folly to seek the Divine elsewhere. God is nearer to you than your own mother. With purity of heart, you can experience the Divine within through your intellect. Love is the means to have this experience, for Love is God.