Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

The place was the banks of river Yamuna. The atmosphere was peaceful and beautiful. One could hear the singing of the murali in the cool air. Radha entered the sand dunes with a pot in her hand. Having placed the pot on the ground, she began listening to the enchanting soft music of the murali and she stood stiff as a stick shedding tears of sorrow. After some time, she heard someone calling, “Radha, Radha.” Instantly she opened her eyes and looked all around. It was a place where there were no other human beings. She then sat down and told herself that there may be places where there are no human beings, but there can be no place where Krishna was not present. She decided that the call was from Krishna. She proclaimed, “What I could play; I have played, what I could sing; I have sung. From time immemorial, I undertook to play different parts, I had participated in different acts and now it is enough. I wore clothes that may be described as anger and desire. I also wore jewels that may be described as attachments and moha. I wore anklets that may be described as greed. I heard about the blame and blemish that came because of this. My mind also supported my actions and provided the background music to my drama. What may be described as company of some bad people sometimes, provided the rhythm and the beat. Attachment and ego have been keeping time. With so many ancillaries, my drama has come to an end. For some time I was performing my drama on water and at other times, I performed the same on the earth. These attachments and human foibles have been responsible for my inability to put my whole life at the lotus feet of my Lord. Like a parrot which runs to a cotton fruit thinking it to be a mango fruit and gets disappointed, I looked at these worldly desires and attractions, mistaking them for something good and wasted my life in disappointment. Krishna! It is enough, this drama of mine should now come to an end. I am requesting you to take my life and merge me in you. In earlier times, I used to take the name Dhara. Now, I am called Radha.” This creation has three attributes. One is its feminine nature. In the word Stree, there are three letters Sa, Ta and Ra. Sa signifies sathwik guna and T a signifies thamasik guna. The third letter Ra is the symbol of rajasik guna. For a stree, the letter Sa is the first letter and the sathwik guna is thus the most essential. Forbearance, humility, and obedience are the three essential qualities that go with this guna. The next important one is the thamo guna. Fear, humbleness and shyness are qualities which are associated with this guna. Contrary to this, we see that where the sathwik and thamasik gunas should be present, features like courage, independence and the desire to take decisions freely are appearing. These features are to be found in some women and are becoming more pronounced in the Kali Yuga. In fact the Kali Yuga was just beginning at that time. She said that when the qualities of courage, freedom and independence of action are beginning to be seen in women, she would not like to continue living. Whereas for men, there is only one home, a woman has two homes. It is the duty of women to bring reputation to the house in which they are born and to hold high the honour of the homes into which they go. But the reputations of both the houses are being brought down to some extent because of independence of action among women. Krishna: it is unusual to refer to a woman as ‘abala’ or a weak person. This should not be interpreted by saying that she is always subservient to a man. It should not mean that she is supreme only in the kitchen. The reputation of the entire home and even a whole nation depends on the women. However, in the background of the culture of Bharath, women have a specified place in certain rituals and in the giving away of some ceremonial gifts and it is in this background that they are referred to as being ‘abala.’ When Harischandara was giving away the kingdom, Chandramati had a role to play. While giving away gifts, the wife also should be a party to it. Otherwise, it will not be a good gift. She is therefore given a prominent place and described as Ardhangi. We will take another instance. When Ramachandra wanted to perform the Aswamedha Yaga, he could not do so, because Sita was not with him. They had to create a golden idol of Sita to satisfy the requirement of her presence. In that manner, whenever a Yagna is performed, according to tradition, the wife must also be sitting along with the husband and then only the ritual will be completed. In that context, the husband and wife are referred to as Somadeva and Somadevi respectively. Because of a situation, where such rituals cannot be undertaken by a woman alone, she has been referred to as an “abala”. One cannot interpret this word by saying that a woman is weak in regard to mental or physical stamina.

Here, in the aspect of womanhood, one must observe and draw attention to a great quality which may be described as compassion. The next quality that we must note is their ability to sacrifice. The makeup of a woman is such that she will give protection in spite of many faults. She can also be compared to an educational institution where she will teach patiently like a good teacher, even if the recipient is not willing to learn. She may also be described as a happy home where she is arranging everything without thinking of any discomfort for herself. We can also think of a woman as a person of sufficient spiritual strength by which she can make Aja, Hara, Hari or God himself play like a child before her. She can also be described as one full of sacrifice and compassion. The home of the wife is the school where the husbands can learn everything. Radha said that this sacred form of womanhood was taking a very distorted route these days. She further said: “Krishna! to be near you is my greatest ambition.” In this prayerful manner, holding the pot in her hand, she was rolling in ecstasy in the sand dunes.

As Radha was like this, Krishna himself was in Brindavan waiting anxiously for Radha’s return. While thinking about and recollecting Radha’s actions, he was recapitulating all that he had learnt from Radha. Whatever form one’s ideas and thoughts take, God will respond accordingly. Since Radha had Krishna in her thoughts at all times, Krishna was also thinking of her. Just as by having continuous knowledge of the Brahman, one can hope to become identical with Brahman, so also by constantly thinking of Krishna, Radha wanted to merge in Krishna. If you keep on repeating the word Radha continuously, it becomes Dhara and similarly if you keep on saying Radha Krishna continuously it becomes Krishna-Radha.

Therefore, Radha may be transformed into Krishna and Krishna may be transformed into Radha. The nature of God is such that the thoughts with which we think of him and the ideas that we ascribe to him will determine the kind of response that he would give. God is like a clean, clear mirror. The actions that you perform will be reflected in that mirror. Radha said “Krishna! will anyone want to see the image, if the original itself is available to him? Will the beauty of an object be fully reflected in its image? Out of milk which has been broken, can we get curds?” While Radha was thinking of Krishna in this manner, Krishna’s divinity also came out in a bright and effulgent form. When this took a separate form, it left Krishna and began moving forward. In order to get back His brightness, Krishna was physically following the effulgence. Gradually, this effulgence came and merged in Radha. In the context of this Jyothi coming and merging in Radha, she was also described as Ahladini - a name that signifies Ananda. Since this bliss came out of Krishna and merged in Radha, Krishna had to come to Radha for receiving back his effulgence. God’s bliss can be understood only by the devotees. God is simply a witness. His bliss and His happiness are merely for the devotees. He gives the gift or the fruit of your work, but he does not make you undertake the work. This experience of happiness is that of the devotee and not of God. If one wants to experience divine bliss, one has to clean one’s own mind and like Radha, one has to print God’s image in his mind. For man to recognise the glory of divinity and to realise the divinity contained in all living things, he has also got to purify his own mind and clean it. The love that is contained in man and in God are closely linked with each other in an inextricable manner. When the aspect of love in you is made to join divine love, it will become the sweetest kind of devotion to God.

While talking of devotion and faith, we should know that there are six different kinds described as Santha Bhakthi, Sakhya Bhakthi, Dasya Bhakthi, Vatsalya Bhakthi, Anuraga Bhakthi and Madhura Bhakthi. Of all these, the best is the Madhura Bhakthi or Bhakthi contained with sweetness. In all these six steps, Madhura Bhakthi can be regarded as the highest and the final step.

It is not possible to find a higher or better form. One can only experience the sweetness of this Bhakthi. It cannot be described easily. Just as the ghee is the end product of transformation of milk, so also Madhura Bhakthi is the ultimate form of Bhakthi. This may be explained by the following example. By using a little curd as additive, you can convert milk into curd or buttermilk. If this is churned, you can get butter. This butter can be heated to form ghee. This ghee cannot be transformed into anything better. In the same manner, we can change Santha Bhakthi into Dasya Bhakthi and gradually move on to Madhura Bhakthi but this cannot be transformed any further. An individual who undertakes to reach a village will complete his journey as soon as he reaches the village. In the same manner, a devotee or a sadhaka will complete his journey as soon as, and only when, he reaches his destination. This is the form of Poorna Prema or the totality of love. Anything that comes out of this is also a total thing, and all that remains is also a total thing. That is full and complete. Out of that, will come something that is also full and complete. What will remain will still be full and complete. This fruit of fullness is present in the life of every individual. On the tree of every life, there is the fruit of Madhura Bhakthi. If you want to enjoy that fruit, you should remove the cover. The cover is in the form of attachment. Moreover, there will be several seeds in the fruit. These seeds, which are our thoughts and desires, must also be removed. Only then, can you get the sweet pulp. This sweet pulp has been referred to as vairagya. Vairagya does not mean giving up your wife and children and running away to a forest. The removal of the bad qualities in you is the true meaning of vairagya. If you really want to get rid of the bad qualities in you, you must make an effort. Radha’s dress was her anger and desire. The word dress here refers to bodily illusions. She said that she had given up these illusions. She was wearing anklets of attachment. The sound that comes from the anklets is like a blemish. This implies that from attachment, we only get blame and blemish. She also said that she was wearing a garland made of sensory organs. This signifies that she had given up the desires coming from sensory organs. She said that because of this, she had transformed herself into Radha and made herself like a ready-made juice. That is, the seed and pulp, the cover and such useless things have all separated out of their own accord. The reason for this is God’s sacred love. Having obtained the sacred love of God, she is not concerned with the love to other persons. She prayed that her movements should merge in Krishna. You will listen to the aspect of her merger in the following days.