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The Sunday Talk Given by Anil Kumar
“Dasara”
September 28th, 2003
OM… OM… OM…
I offer my greetings to all of you,
on this occasion of ‘Sarannavarathri’ or ‘Dasara Navarathri’, or
the nine-day celebration. May Bhagavan shower His choicest blessings on
each and every one of us and our families, so that we will move ahead
along the spiritual path, more actively than before, so that the very
purpose of our human life will be fulfilled, so that the very dream of our
life will come true.
‘NAVARATHRI’ IS A VERY
AUSPICIOUS PERIOD
Dasara is a nine-day festival. The
nine-day celebrations come under one title, ‘Navarathri’. Nava is
‘nine’ and rathri is ‘night’. It is also called ‘Sarannavarathri’
as the season is called ‘sarath’. This is a holy season. If we
begin some spiritual sadhana, say recitation, worship or any
spiritual discipline that we are determined to undertake, it may be
commenced during this season as this is a very auspicious period.
During this nine-day celebration of
Dasara, yajna is celebrated every year. In fact, I started
explaining the details of yajna last week. Today I should complete
it because we will be participating in yajna beginning tomorrow,
and all next week, we will be busy with the yajna. Therefore, I
would like to complete the remaining part of my talk this morning.
Before I begin, let me tell you very
clearly that the white board you see here is full of technical terms. When
we find it difficult to pronounce those words, we may feel frustrated. The
complexity, the number of rituals, the jargon or the nomenclature used may
confuse you. Sometimes, there is the threat of losing interest in the
subject. Being a teacher for decades, I know the psychology. But I warn
you, forget about it. All those details are given because there are some
people who are really interested. There are some people who want in-depth
information. For those people, I have provided it. We have to cater to the
requirements of both categories of people -- those who want to have a
bird’s eye view, and those who want in-depth knowledge.
One thing I want to say in the
beginning, before I go into the details. Yajnas are of many types.
The process of yajna is very long and tedious, full of manthras,
which we do not understand. It is presided over by priests, whom you will
be seeing on the dais tomorrow. What do they do? We do not know. Why do
they do it? We should not be concerned. But we can enjoy the celebration.
WHAT IS THE DEFINITION
OF YAJNA?
My friends, the performance of a
yajna, a sacred ritual, has deep significance. Every act has profound
meaning. It is purposeful and meaningful, having an aim. It is not simply
a ritual and a mechanical routine matter. So, what is the definition of
yajna, according to Bhagavan Baba?
We may have this question: “Sir, we
do not know the Sanskrit words. We do not know those manthras. We
do not know that procedure. We do not know what, why, when and how. What
is a yajna after all?” Bhagavan’s definition of yajna is this: Any act that is pure and selfless,
and
performed with devotion and love, is
yajna.
“Sir, I serve in the canteen. If I
serve food with love, devotion, selflessness and purity, then the canteen
service I do is yajna.”
“I am a businessman. In business, if
I do it with all the purity and love, with a spirit of service and
devotion, that very business is a yajna. “
“I am a professor. I talk to
students. I love them very much. I teach with devotion and love for the
profession.” That is yajna.
We don’t have to wait for a Dasara
celebration for yajna. According to Swami, every act in this life
is yajna. Every moment is yajna.
OUTER YAJNA IS RITUAL,
INNER YAJNA IS SPIRITUAL
What we see there in the
Poornachandra is the outer yajna. What happens within us is inner
yajna. The outer yajna is seasonal, whereas the inner
yajna takes place from the womb to the tomb. The outer yajna is
symbolic; the inner yajna is the significance of it. The outer
yajna is an expression, and the inner yajna is an experience.
The outer yajna is ritual; the inner yajna is spiritual.
The outer yagna requires so
many priests and paraphernalia, and it has a long procedure. The inner
yajna does not need anybody else, only the real You. The Self is
enough.
The outer yajna requires
interaction; the inner yajna requires inquiry. The outer yajna
requires interpretation; inner yajna is the very meaning of it.
Outer yajna may look sectarian. It may look fanatic. It may look
religious. But inner yajna is purely individual, absolutely
secular. It is totally fundamental.
You may not have faith in the outer
yajna. But whether you have faith or not, inner yajna is
taking place already. Blood circulation, psychological reactions, the
heartbeat, motivations, sentiments, feelings, thoughts, and actions all
come under the category of inner yajna.
So we cannot say, “Sir, I don’t
believe in yajna.” You may not believe in external yajna,
but there is inner yajna, as you and I are alive. If one says, “I
doubt whether I am alive or not”, well, that is a psychiatric case! We are
alive. Therefore, that very life, that very vitality, that very dynamism
itself is the result of inner yajna. It is the fulfilment of
yajna.
VEDAS ARE STRAIGHT FROM GOD
I will give a few technical points,
with your permission. Those who are interested may wish to know. The
others may simply listen. You don’t have to memorise. I beg your pardon if
they are going to disturb your peace in any way.
The term Veda, is a very
often spoken about during this season. All manthras recited on the
dais by the priests are manthras from the Vedas. The text,
the original, is from Vedas. It is the primal sound. Veda
has another name, ‘Eeswareeya’, meaning ‘straight from God.’ You
are not the author; I am not the author. The name of the author is not
known. ‘Eeswareeya’ means ‘totally Divine’. Veda has
another name, ‘Apourusheya’, meaning ‘not by a human, straight from
God’. So, Veda is such a holy text.
THE FOUR
VEDAS HAVE THIRTEEN CRORE MANTHRAS
Vedas
are four in number: Rigveda, Yajurveda, Atharvaveda, and
Samaveda. And these four Vedas are divided into five
samhithas. And these four Vedas, as Bhagavan has said, contain
thirteen crores of manthras. I do not know the number of
zeros. Thirteen crores, I tell you.
Samhitha
means ‘literature’. It is a mountain of manthras, a treasure of
manthras.
What are they? They are Ruksamhitha,
Samasamhitha, Atharvasamhitha, and the fourth one,
Yajusamhitha. The samhitha relating to Rigveda is
Rigsamhitha. The part related to Samaveda is Samasamhitha.
The part related to Atharvaveda is Atharvasamhitha
and
the component of Yajurveda is Yajusamhitha. It is easy
to remember. So each Vedic part has a samhitha, which is
noted towards the end.
Then, the wonder is how can there be
five samhithas, out of four Vedas? It is because the last
one, Yajurveda, is divided into two parts. One is
Krishnayajurveda and the second one is Shuklayajurveda.
Therefore, there are five samhithas out of four Vedas. That
is the first technical aspect, which I want to draw your attention to this
morning.
My friends, let me bring to your kind
notice that these points are all taken from Sathya Sai literature only.
Anil Kumar, standing in front of you, is a student of botany. He has
nothing to do with Sanskrit or yajna. I go through the plant
sciences lessons. The plants do not speak. Yet I may speak on their behalf
now and then. So similarly, I thought that what Baba said to all of us on
Dasara and other important aspects relating to yajna should be
shared with you. Everyone should know what Baba said. That is my aim. Now, each samhitha is divided into three parts. In other words, Vedas are divided into samhithas, and samhithas are divided into three other sections. The planet is divided into continents; continents are divided into countries; countries are divided into states; states are divided into provinces; provinces are divided into districts; districts are divided into villages. That’s all. When we believe in geographical classification, why not in the classification of spiritual knowledge? Why not?
Therefore, Vedas are divided
into samhithas, and each samhitha is divided into three more
parts. What are they? Brahmana, Aaranyaka and Upanishad
are the three parts in each samhitha.
The first part, Brahmana,
speaks of the manthra part. All manthras recited relate to
the Brahmana aspect. All yajna and yagas are full of
manthras. So, the first part, called Brahmana, is full of
the ritual aspect.
RETIREMENT IS TIME FOR
REST AND SELF-ENQUIRY
The second part, Aaranyaka,
means ‘forest’, suggesting retirement. In every country, every job has
retirement. Nobody would like to die while in service, unless one is a
minister who wants to die with state honours! If he wants to have a flag
flying half-mast and a 21-gun salute, well, that is a different thing. But
most often, people want to have rest for sometime. While in service, we
live for the family, earn money, perform our duties, perform the marriages
of children, and see them well settled.
Then one has to say ‘goodbye’. If one
hangs on to the children and grandchildren, woe unto him! Life is not
worth living, because some day or other the children will say, “Please
stop. We know what is good for us.” Before that good day dawns, better we
silence ourselves. Before they openly say it to our face, better we
maintain our own dignity. So, an honourable retirement is one that keeps
us at a respectable distance from our kith and kin, before we are heckled
at, or before we are let down.
This period of retirement is called
vanaprastha. It is a period of rest and recluse, when a person
starts living for the Self. Till then, they lived for the family. After
retirement, they live for the Self. ‘What about me? Who am I? What will
happen after this? What had happened for so long? Am I the body? Am I the
mind?’ These are things of interest after retirement. If they think of the
interest of the bank account, woe unto them! There is no redemption for a
hundred lives to come. Nobody can help them.
So, a time will certainly come in the
lives of everybody when one has to think of his own liberation, of his own
Self, of his own transformation. Therefore, this is Aaranyaka,
where one proceeds along the path of inquiry. And Aaranyaka begins
from Brahmakanda. Brahmakanda is a chapter that begins with
Aaranyakas. And it is the end of karmakanda, the field of
action.
“My dear boy, for 60 years you have
worked well. You are tired. Please understand. You should relax from now
on. Don’t jump around. We know that you have arthritis, spondylitis, and
pneumonia. You have all these problems. Why don’t you relax?“
The body warns you not to be active.
But yet, the mind refuses to accept the truth, as the mind feels dynamic.
The mind thinks that it is ever young. Let the mind be ever young. But the
body cannot be young always. Impossible. So, the sooner we reconcile
between a grudging body and a mind that is going in another direction, the
better. We had better reconcile an aging body and young mind as early as
possible in order to be peaceful in life. If I want to fight with my body
that is aging, my mind being young, there is no other place than a
hospital where I can relax. (Laughter)
If the body acts according to the
dictates of the mind, which is young, I look awful, ridiculous, a matter
of fun, a big joke, and a clown in society. An elderly man cannot act like
a child. There is dignity and beauty in advanced age also, why not? You
are in a position to be consulted. People come to receive advice from you.
Yes, you are a big man, you are honoured, and you are respected. That’s
why they say, “Grey hair is to be respected.”
“Sir, I am dyeing my hair.”
“OK, continue to do it until you
die.” (Laughter)
Grey hair is to be respected because
we have had a lot of experience, and a wise man learns from others’
experiences. Therefore, karmakanda, the field of action is over.
Service is over, that’s all. The body is strained, having exerted for so
long. Now begins Brahmakanda, the path of inquiry. That is the job
of Aaranyakas, retired people -- the recluse stage. I am speaking
vehemently, with emphasis, because I am also a retired person now for your
information. (Laughter)
UPANISHADS SPEAK OF
DIVINITY
The third one is Upanishad.
Bhagavan gave a beautiful meaning to this word ‘Upanishad’. Upa
means ‘near’, ni is ‘sit’, and shad is ‘down’. It means that
a teacher sits at a higher level. A student sits just below, very close to
him.
If a student sits in one corner and
the teacher sits in the other corner, he can conveniently get into state
of sleep or samadhi. (Laughter) And the teacher cannot go on
teaching, as if it’s a monologue. Teaching is a dialogue. It is a two-way
channel, a two-way transfer of information and knowledge.
So, a student has to sit down near
the teacher, Upa-ni-shad. So, ‘sit down near’ is the meaning of
Upanishad. That’s what Bhagavan has said. Nobody else has given that
meaning to the best of my knowledge.
And then, what do the Upanishads
speak of? They are very difficult to understand. That’s what people think.
We don’t pay attention to Upanishads literature. Upanishad
is full of science; Upanishad is full of derivations, equations and
serious purpose.
It is not story-telling.
Upanishads will never entertain you. A person who likes Upanishads
is a man of depth. A knowledgeable man in Upanishads is a scholar.
A man of Upanishads is one of inquiry. It is a serious thing, as
life is not all entertainment until the end -- certainly not! Life is not
a joke.
So, life, its depth, and its purpose
are very well dealt with in the Upanishads. Therefore, Upanishads
speak of Divinity, Brahmathwa. All the education that we have
received until now is called aparavidya, material knowledge;
whereas Upanishad is paravidya or spiritual knowledge.
Upanishad
is the only one part where we have spiritual knowledge.
It is Vedanta. Veda is the spiritual knowledge. Anta
is the experience of it. Veda is the text and anta is the
‘essence’ of it, like the cream and the butter. So, the cream of Vedic
text is Upanishad.
EIGHT TYPES OF VEDIC
RECITATION
Now we come to the third part. The
recitation of Veda is called manthrapatha. There are eight
types of recitation. That’s why, when we go to the ritual, we hear so many
different types of sounds, different beats, different rhythm, different
levels, different resonance, different wavelengths. The eight types of
manthrapatha are called: jata, ghana, mala, shikha, rekha, dhwaja,
danda, radha. These are the technical terms. Of all these eight,
jata and danda are most important, as the other six are
included in these two.
To sum up, there are eight ways of
Vedic recitation of the manthras.
TWENTY-ONE TYPES OF
YAJNAS
Now we come to the fourth aspect.
There are three categories of yajnas and seven types within each
category. The first is havisyajnas. There are seven
havisyajnas. The second seven are called somayajnas and the
third seven are called pakayajnas. So, altogether there are
twenty-one types of yajnas.
And now, why twenty-one? Why not
twenty-two? Why not twenty-three? Why not twenty? The modern trend is to
question ‘why?’ and ‘why not?’ (Laughter)
“Yeah, Swami came that side. Why? He
did not come this side. Why not?” (Laughter).
“This morning He did not come at 7:00
when I was there. Why? (Laughter) He came at 8:30, when I was
having breakfast at home. Why? (Laughter) I could not be there.
Why?” (Laughter)
These things bother us naturally. So,
why twenty-one? This number twenty-one has its own meaning. We have five
senses. There are the senses of perception and the senses of action. The
five senses of action are called karmendriyas. The five senses of
perception are called jnanendriyas. There are also five life
breaths and five life sheaths. That comes to twenty. And all the twenty
are operational with the principle of the Self, what we call Aham.
That is One. Twenty plus one is twenty-one. Without this One, Aham,
the Self, all the twenty are useless. I may put on ten banians and
ten shirts, five coats and five pants, but if I am not there, what is the
dhobi list for? (Laughter) What for? So, it is important to
make use of all of them.
THE VEDA HAS NINE NAMES
After all, when you and I have two
names, why shouldn’t Veda have nine names? Why not? Sometimes our
names have no meaning; but Vedic names have a meaning because
Veda sacred text is multidimensional. What are the nine names?
Sruthi, Anusravam, Thrayee, Amnayam, Samamnayam,
Manthra, Swadhyaya, Ajamam, Nigamagam.
“Oh, should we remember all nine?” Not necessary. Some of them are
repetitions for emphasis.
A simple example for Sruthi:
Can the pronunciation or diction be done in any style? AAAUUUMMM…
why can’t you say OM like that? No! You can’t say that. There’s a
correct way. “AAA-UUU-MMM”. Aa, Oo, Mm -- the three sounds
at three levels.
So, every manthra has to be
recited in a particular way. You cannot say it any way you like. Here is a
simple example. My name is Anil Kumar. If you say “A-nil, how are you?” I
feel, “I am not A-nil! I am Anil, OK?” (Laughter)
If you say “A-nil, how are you?” why
not? The spelling is the same: A-n-i-l. But how you pronounce it makes a
big difference, don’t you think so? In a similar way, every manthra
has got to be pronounced in a special way. So, that is the meaning of
Sruthi.
Sruthi:
You can also call it ‘equal to’ Anusravam, the second name of
Veda. Anusrava is ‘voice’. So, Anusrava and Sruthi
are about pronunciation.
And then we come to the next one,
Thrayee, meaning the three Vedas. Actually, the original
classification of the Vedas says that there are only three texts.
Later, there were four Vedas. But originally, Vedas are said
to have been three in number. What are they? Rigveda, Yajurveda and
Samaveda – only these three are recognised in the earlier
classification.
And then comes Amnayam. “Mna”
means ‘practice’. The Veda has to be practised every day.
Therefore, the priests keep on reciting it. They may be aged, but still a
priest of eighty goes on repeating the manthra, as it has to be
recited every day.
And now there is Sama, meaning
‘music’. Sama is ‘music’.
Now, we come to the sixth one,
Manthra. What is manthra? The meaning of manthra is
Shiva-Shakthi, which means ‘cosmic energy’. Shiva-Shakthi
means the Divine energy. Shiva-Shakthi means the combination of
matter and energy. Shiva-Shakthi means consciousness. So,
Manthra means cosmic energy. It is a combination of Purusha and
Prakrithi, matter and energy.
And then comes Swadhyaya,
meaning that Vedas are not taught in a regular classroom. There is
nothing like a semester system, fee payment, examination, awarding of
grades, or leaking of the question papers -- nothing whatsoever. The
Vedic knowledge is passed on from one generation to the next. From the
forefathers, this rich treasure of the Vedas is passed on, handed
over from one generation to the next generation. And therefore, it is
called Swadhyaya.
Then the next name is Ajamam.
You see, in our breathing process, there are two parts - inhalation and
exhalation. We breathe in and breathe out. This is Ajama and
Nigama. Nigamagama means ‘the breathing process’. So, Ajama
and Nigama, or Nigamagama, mean the same. It means that
God’s breath is in the form of the Vedas. That’s what is recited
here in this land. That is the fifth aspect, which is to be noted.
Now, I come to the next aspect.
According to some schools of thought, according to some scholars, the
Veda has got two other names besides the nine. Traditionally, Veda
has these nine names. But, according to other scholars, in addition to
these nine, there are two others. Well, what are they? One is Prasni,
meaning ‘pure’. And the next one is Pradhamaja, meaning the
word Rigveda.
WORDS OFTEN HEARD IN
THE PROCESS OF YAJNA
During yajna, you will often
hear this word said by the priests: “Swaha, Swaha.” They keep on
saying it. What do they mean by ‘Swaha’? It means ‘that which is
offered’. Swaha is offering things in the name of God. Then you
also hear another word, “Swadha”, meaning Atma. That is the
Self. I wanted to bring to your attention to the words that are often
heard in the process of yajna.
Now we come to the other important
aspect. One is the prefix; the other is the suffix. Om
Keshavaaya Namaha, Om Madhavaaya Namaha, Om
Govindaaya Namaha. ‘Om’ and ‘Namaha’ are prefix and
suffix. Every manthra will have these two. What do they mean?
When we know these things, we can
actively participate in the yajna; otherwise, it is like a pillar,
or a marble stone where we sit. We are not like that. We are supposed to
know what it is, so that we can fully participate and be the beneficiaries
of yajna. That’s why one should be fully aware of what is going on
there.
Om Keshavaaya Namaha, Om Govindaaya Namaha. Om
comes first. What does it mean? Om is Purusha, the Divinity.
Namaha is Prakrithi. This electric fan and this microphone
are Prakrithi. The current inside is Purusha. Without a
power supply, which is Purusha, this mike or Prakrithi is
useless. You cannot hear me. Or, Prakrithi is the bulb, and the
power supply is Purusha. With both, you get light.
“Sir, there are bulbs, but there is
no power supply.”
That is very good. Prakrithi
without Purusha is useless. Purusha manifests in the
Prakrithi. Purusha and Prakrithi together equal the
bliss or ananda that we get. Energy and matter are responsible for
the whole of the creation. That’s what is said here.
And then you find priests making
offerings with the hand saying, “Swaha, Swaha.” And other
priests will be offering flowers and reciting manthras. Whatever
they do, that act is yajna. And whatever they spell out, that is
manthra. What is said, all the words are manthras. So yajna
is a combination of the act and the word.
I’ll give a simple example. When you
greet a person in a Western manner, you say, “Hi! Good Morning! How
are you?” If you don’t say that, if you just lift your hand, they will
think something is wrong with the hand. (Laughter) Some people hold
their hand near the chest. That is a Sai devotee style of greeting. But I
don’t approve of it. Is there some problem with the chest or the heart? (Laughter)
It is not a healthy way of greeting. Why? It is not necessary. You can
say, “Sai Ram!” You greet with the word and also salute -- do namaskaar.
Don’t you think so? The act and the word together are more respectful,
more meaningful. That’s what it is in yajna.
CONTENTS OF THE VEDAS
And now we come briefly to the
contents of the yajna or Vedas. First, Rigveda --
what does it speak of? It is full of praises to the glory of God. “O God!
You are that and this!” Dayamaya -- that’s what we sing.
Dayanidhe
Kripanidhe,
Devaki
Thanaya Dayanidhe, Dayanidhe Kripanidhe.
O Lord! You
are Lord of Grace,
You are
Lord of Mercy,
You are
Lord of Compassion.
So, these manthras, which are
said in praise of God, are contained in Rigveda. You can praise God
in any way, with all His attributes -- Dayanidhe, Kripanidhe.
“O God! I praise You because I am aware of Your
deeds. How miraculous You are! How incredible You are!”
Giridhara Gopala Muralidhara
Giridhara Gopala Muralidhara Govinda Gopala Damodara
Govinda Gopala Damodara
Giridhara Gopala Muralidhara.
Giridhara Gopala
means that it was Krishna
who could lift the mountain. You want to associate Krishna’s name with
Krishna’s deed. So, there are different ways of praising God -- by His
Names, by His actions, by His attributes. Every way is possible. So,
Rigveda contains praises and glories.
The next one is Yajurveda.
Yajurveda is full of details concerning yajna and yaga.
A friend asked me yesterday, “What is the difference between yajna
and yaga?” Yajna takes place for a short duration,
relatively speaking. Yaga is a prolonged period of spiritual
activity. Yajna takes place over a limited period of time, and
yajna has more manthras compared to yaga.
Therefore, yajnas and yagas,
though there is a small bit of difference, are both spiritual sacrificial
activities. So, Yajurveda speaks of the details and procedural
aspects of yajna and yaga.
And then, Atharvaveda has so
many names. One is Angiroveda, Adharvangiroveda,
Bhrugwangiroveda, Kshatravedam and Bhaishajyaveda. The
Atharvaveda also has other names, depending upon the utility. It is
full of secular knowledge, of material knowledge. We’ve got humanities,
we’ve got sciences, medicine, technology, and all that. We’ve got so many
branches of knowledge. So, Atharvaveda has so many names depending
upon the utility.
And then there is Yajurveda.
In Yajurveda, there are two branches. One is Shuklayajurveda;
the other is Krishnayajurveda. Shuklayajurveda is followed
in North India. Krishnayajurveda is followed in South India.
Krishnayajurveda
has a Brahma tradition, while Shuklayajurveda follows a
tradition called Adithya tradition. This is solar, the Adithya
tradition. Adithya is sun. Therefore, there are two traditions
followed by Indians, one in the North and another in the South.
So, we have Rigveda,
Yajurveda and then Atharvaveda. Then Samaveda deals with
the music part of it, the rhythm and the beat.
We often hear these words repeated in
the manthras: ‘Vishnu’ and ‘Rudra’. These are two Names that we
often hear in manthras. Bhagavan said ‘Vishnu-Rudra’ means
the sustenance, the maintenance and the annihilation or the ending.
Maintenance and destruction are two aspects of Divinity. Brahma is
creation, Vishnu is sustenance and Rudra is the ending, the annihilation.
During this time, we pray to Vishnu and we pray to
Rudra: “O God! Make my intellect sharp. O God! Make my mind aware. Make
the body physically fit. Let the mind be full of awareness. Let the
intellect be alert.” That is the prayer offered to Rudra and Vishnu during
this Dasara season.
We also find another manthra,
the Mruthyunjaya manthra. During this time, we pray to God,
uttering this manthra, which prevents untimely death. Let us leave
this body when we are ready, at the right time. All the trains should not
reach the station before the correct time, because the platform will not
be free. (Laughter) Running late is also bad. Things should happen
in the right time. So the point is, to prevent untimely death, one repeats
this Mruthyunjaya manthra.
And then during this season, we also
hear these words in manthras: Om Indra, Om Varuna. “O God!
We want to have timely rain.“ Varuna is in charge of the rain, so we pray
to Him. And then Indra is another name. Indriya means ‘the senses’.
Indra is head of the department of the senses -- that is the mind.
There are different Names because the
spiritual literature is meant to meet the demands of all sections of
society. They are symbolic. Various aspects have been given different
Names for us to make it easier to identify them. So, Indra and Varuna are
different aspects of Divinity. Thus we pray to God for timely rains,
safety, security, and all that.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN
RECITING MANTHRAS?
In addition to those technical
details that I have shared with you this morning, there are some other
points to which I want to draw your attention. What will happen when I
recite manthras? My friends, please try it. During Suprabhatham,
you hear a manthra. And during yajna time, you find the
recitation of manthras. You just sit there.
Om Sayeeshvaraaya Vidmahe,
Sathyadevaaya Dheemahi,
Thannah Sarvah Prachodayaath.
Om Bhur Bhuva Suvah,
Thath Savitur Varenyam,
Bhargodevasya Dheemahi,
Dhiyo Yonah Prachodayaath.
If you continue to listen to that
sound, what will happen? Just close your eyes and watch. What is
happening? We don’t know the meaning of the words, but sound waves have
got their own strength. The sound waves, the electromagnetic waves, as
they touch our eardrum, will make the mind pure and sacred.
SOUND
IS NOT AN ORDINARY THING
So, we have to listen to those
manthras. We may not know the meaning, yet the very sound, the very
vibration, has its own effect. How do you know that? We sing so many
songs. I don’t know Hindi, but the tune is very nice. I feel like hearing
the tune. Many people don’t know Telugu, but they do bhajans. Why?
The song and the tune have their own meaning, their own effect.
Gopika Mala Haari Pyaari,
Mayi Meera Mana Vihari,
Madana Mohana Muralidhaari, Krishna Jai!
Krishna Jai Hai! Krishna Jai Hai! Krishna Jai Hai!
Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Jai!
Arey!
I don’t know why. Krishna Jai…la-la-la-la… (Laughter) Why is
it that this happens? That’s the effect of the sound.
Sound is not an ordinary thing.
First, there was the Word, according to the Bible. The primal sound
Omkaara, out of which all the letters emanated, originated thereafter.
So, when we listen to this manthra, what happens?
Om Bhur Bhuva Suvah…
When you say that, what will happen?
The latent energy in you will find an expression, which gets unified with
the cosmic energy around, manifesting in the form of Vedic sound. I
repeat once again, the sound of Vedas is nothing but the
unification of the individual vibration with the totality. That is
Vedic sound.
So my friends, there is great joy in
the merger. There is great joy in unification. Separation hurts;
separation damages. Union thrills, union excites, union makes you joyful,
and union makes you blissful. Separation is misery and sadness.
When all of us join and say, “Om Bhur Bhuva
Suvah, Thath Savitur Varenyam, Bhargodevasya Dheemahi”, when we
say that with full-throat, what happens? The individual sounds, those
individual electromagnetic waves, get merged with the universal cosmic
sound, like a drop in the ocean. The drop becomes the ocean. That’s all.
Another point is this: Om…Namah.
They say, towards the end, “Namah”. As I said earlier:
Om Madhavaaya Namaha,
Bhagavan made another point. We can
take it this way also: ‘Na’ and ‘mama’. Swami is the master
of literature. Bhagavan Baba is Saraswathi. The master of all words, He
splits this into ‘na’ and ‘mama’. ‘Mama’ means
‘attachment’, while ‘na’ means ‘I don’t have attachment’. So ‘Na
mama’ means, “I have no attachment, O God! I am attached to You.” I am
not attached to the plots and the flats and the people here, no. I am
attached to You -- Na mama. So, this Namaha wants us to be
desireless, to be totally detached. That’s what Bhagavan has said.
MANTHRAS WILL TAKE YOU ALONG
THE RUNWAY VERY FAST
Now, by reciting these prayers, these
manthras, we are progressing, we are journeying. Yes, as the flight
starts, it moves along the runway for take-off, right? If it does not
take-off, it will find its place next day in the morning newspapers’
headlines. (Laughter) Similarly, the recitation of Vedic
manthras will take you along the runway very fast. Takka!
Take-off!
We go from form to formless. Form is
sakara; formless is nirakara. We move from attributes,
saguna, to attributeless, nirguna. So, the holy performance of
yajna, listening to manthras in rapt attention, with full
faith and devotion, will help us in this flight -- the ‘Sathya Sai
Intercontinental flight’. (Laughter) Go from form to formless, and
then a safe take-off and landing is guaranteed. That is the goal and aim
of yajna, as Bhagavan Himself says.
It is also relevant to know the
results of yajna. You have Samaveda, Yajurveda,
Rigveda, so many priests reciting so many manthras, so much
activity going on there. What is the ultimate result? Is it wasting of
money? Or waste of time? No. To think like that is waste of life. No.
The end product, the result of yajna,
is Self-awareness, Self-inquiry and manifestation of the Self. We will
experience the fullness of the Self, the depth of the Self, the cosmic
vision of the Self and the universality of the Self. These are the results
of yajna. It is not a simple ritual. It has a target, an ambition
and an aim that is universal. The
universality of yajna
has to be understood in order for one to be totally benefited.
GRATITUDE IS SPIRITUALITY
My friends, before I close for this
morning by taking up two or three questions at the end as usual, let us
kindly remember this: Let not any one of us think that we are totally
independent. Let us not think, ‘I am self-grown. Without anyone’s help, I
have come up in life on my own.’ Oh, I see.
No one can come up on his own, take
it from me. If anyone says, “I have come up on my own”, it is bogus or
humbug, because you do not make your life.
“Yes, I made this life on my own.” I
see. Where have you manufactured your life? (Laughter) Let me know
the formula of your life. Let me patent it, if possible!
So, you are not doing it. Let us be
aware of that. Breathing -- you can stop if you want. If you stop for a
very long time, that’s the end of the matter. Circulation? You are not the
cause! The heartbeat? You are not doing the pumping! No. It’s not like
opening the tap and closing the tap. Nothing of the sort!
So many things are happening in our
life without our knowledge. We are totally unaware, but many things take
place. So you cannot say, “I have come up on my own.” No. You have come up
in spite of yourself. Let us put it that way.
So, my friends, no one has come up on
his or her own. No. We should remain grateful to three people. Gratitude
is religion. Gratitude is spirituality. Gratitude is thankfulness. As Baba
says, a dog is thankful if you offer a morsel of food. And when we are not
grateful and thankful, we are much worse than a dog. We are indebted to
three people, and we have to offer our salutations to those three so long
as we are alive. Who are they?
HOW DO WE EXPRESS OUR
GRATITUDE TO GOD?
First, we are indebted to God. We
express our indebtedness to Deva, meaning God.
“O God! We are indebted to You! We
are grateful to You, Swami! We are thankful to You, Swami!” That is the
first thing.
How do we express our gratitude to
God? “Shall I praise You, O God?” as if You are short of praises!
“Shall I bring all the flowers in the
village and offer to You?” He says, “Flowers are not your property. Keep
quiet.”
“O God, shall I bring apples?”
“No. No. No. No. I have plenty of
apples.”
“Bananas?”
“Keep them for yourself.”
So, God is not interested in the
flowers and the fruits that we offer. So shall we stop doing it? No, No,
No. You can do that. But they are symbolic. Whatever worship we do, we do
it with the full understanding that they are symbolic.
Then, how do we please God? How do we
express our thankfulness to God? How do we express our gratitude to God?
It is done by service, by serving the poor, helping those who are poor and
needy. That is the way of expressing our gratitude to God.
“O God, You have helped me.
Therefore, I help others.”
It was Jesus who said, “I love you
because He loved me. He loved me, so I love you. God gave me all this, so
I will give to everybody.”
So, service is the best way of
expressing our gratitude to God. Having taken a loan from the bank, we
cannot escape -- you have to pay it back. You cannot evade it. You are a
criminal if you don’t pay back the loan that you take.
“So God, let me pay back the loan.
Let me express my gratitude to You by serving ever, by serving everybody.”
You can pay back the loan to God by serving others.
WE ARE INDEBTED TO OUR GURUS
Secondly, we are indebted to saints,
sages, prophets, Avatars, great men and noble people. I am indebted
to my gurus.
I think all of you would agree with
me if I say that we are indebted to Baba, because without these
discourses, we would not have come to know anything at all. I am sure you
will all agree with me when I say that the secrets of Vedanta, the
depths of philosophy, the unity of faiths, the subtle meaning of subjects
that are so complex and difficult, are conveyed in the simplest way by
Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba.
Though the subject
was there, it was conveyed in such a way that you were afraid of the
subject, let alone the teacher. But Bhagavan conveys these concepts in
such a simple way, relevant to our times that we want to hear and we want
to learn. I think you will remember Bhagavan speaking about lasers,
speaking about sound, magnetism and the computer.
“O Swami! You are the ‘latest’ God. You speak of electrons, protons,
photons and neutrons. You speak of astronomy, science, surgery and
biosciences. Aaaah! There is no subject that You have not touched
upon, my Lord! You are Saraswathi, the embodiment of knowledge. You are
Saraswathi, the personification of wisdom.
O God! You
are Lakshmi, the very form of affluence, plenty and prosperity. O God! You
are Durga, as You are the body, the vitality, the leadership and the
dynamism.”
So, Bhagavan is Durga, the vitality
and the energy. Bhagavan is Lakshmi, the life force. Bhagavan is
Saraswathi, the radiation, the soul, the consciousness and the spirit
behind everything. Bhagavan is three-in-one! Just as we have two-in-one
these days -- the tape recorder and the radio!
Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswathi,
Sai Jaganmatha,
Three-in-one, that is Sai. Durga is
the body, Lakshmi is the life, and Saraswathi is the consciousness.
Durga is the materialisation, Lakshmi is the vibration and Saraswathi is
the radiation. The energy and the matter go together.
So my friends, we are indeed very
grateful to God, Bhagavan Baba, for telling all those important sacred
things to us. How to express my gratitude to Bhagavan Baba? By following
His commands, by following our Guru, by not doubting Him at
anytime.
“Why is Swami coming in a cart these days? Why not
walking?” (Laughter)
“Why these days is He not coming
towards the men?” (Laughter)
“Why not coming in the morning?”
Why and why not? Brush it aside! They
are the worst of our enemies. ‘Why’ and ‘why not’ will help us in the
world, but they will ruin us in religion. ‘Why’ and ‘why not’ are poisons
in religion. ‘Why’ and ‘why not’ are scientific and technological,
applicable for advanced physical, worldly life, to acquire comforts and
conveniences.
Therefore, we can express our
gratitude to our Guru, Bhagavan Baba, by following His commands.
EXPRESS GRATITUDE TO PARENTS
BY SERVING THEM
Thirdly, we are indebted to our
parents. Had they not been there, we would not have had this body. You
enjoy all the pleasures of life. You share all the bliss of life. You
experience all the loveliness in nature, the galaxies, the lunar and the
solar systems, the forests, the valleys, the mountains, the worlds and
what not. I enjoy all this beautiful nature because of this body, gifted
by my parents. So, I am indebted to them.
You can express gratitude to your
parents by serving them, and making them happy in every possible way. You
can show it by not disobeying them, by following them, by doing whatever
things please them. That is the way of expression of gratitude to the
parents.
QUESTIONS -- SEPTEMBER 28th,
2003
BODY, MIND AND ATMA IS MBA
Q. “What are the three
worlds, and the fourteen worlds?”
Well, Bhagavan said at one time, there are three
worlds. What are they? Then in another context, Bhagavan said there are
fourteen worlds. What are they? Neil Armstrong could go to the moon, but
there is nothing on record of any scientist of any nation visiting these
three worlds. There is no record of any person aware of these fourteen
worlds. Bhagavan said three worlds at one time, and fourteen worlds at
another time. So, what time is it now?
The simple answer is that the three
worlds are the three planes of understanding. There are three levels of
comprehension, three levels of consciousness, three levels of awareness.
They are body, mind and Atma. MBA, that’s easy to remember. The
body is the underworld, and I don’t mean black marketing! The mind is this
plane. Atma is the higher plane. So, there are three worlds.
Then, Baba said this about the
fourteen worlds: They are the five senses of perception (Karmendriya)
and five senses of action (Jnanendriya). What are the other four?
They are manas, the mind, buddhi, the intellect, and
chittha, the emotion. Finally, ahamkara is the individual self
or ego. Ten plus four is fourteen. So, there are also fourteen worlds.
Let us not look at the map to locate
these fourteen worlds!
SOLVE YOUR PROBLEM WITH
OFFICE-BEARERS
Q. “There are so many
devotees who want to do some activity. What is your guidance?”
This refers to the organisational aspect. Activities are there and office-bearers are there. If I give you directions from here, you cannot follow me -- they won’t accept it. Please solve your problem with your office-bearers, as I don’t want to get into it and become controversial. There is enough controversy here! Why import controversies? It’s not worth it.
AT THE END, YOU WILL BE
REDUCED TO VIBHUTHI
Q. “Why do we do arathi?
What is the significance?”
We keep camphor on the plate, light
it and give arathi. At the end of the arathi, the plate is
empty. In the beginning, there was camphor. This means, “O God! I think of
You; I praise You. Just as camphor has come down to the level of
nothingness, just as camphor is lost, I get lost in Thee. I get merged in
You. I do not exist.”
You may own all the land, the whole
property, but at the end you will be reduced to vibhuthi, the
sacred ash.
And vibhuthi also speaks of Divinity. The
whole creation, the whole universe is God’s play, God’s will and God’s
vibhuthi. Creation is vibhuthi. That’s what is meant.
DO RIGHT THINGS
Q. “Why do we have to
always use our right hand?”
Unless you are a left-hander, you
make use of the right hand only. (Laughter) There are some
left-handers too. But Baba said one thing. You do things with the right
hand because they are right. They are always right. (Laughter). You
do things with your left hand because they have to be left some day or
other. So do right things, and don’t do those things that have got to be
left. That’s a joke that Bhagavan made.
EXPERIENCE GOD IN EVERYONE
Q. “Why
do we have to do
seva?”
First, do seva to give up ego.
But there are many who develop ego by doing seva. (Laughter).
That’s a different category. It is not service. It is a disservice and
waste of time.
Number two, do seva to give up
jealousy.
Number three, do seva to
experience God in everyone.
Number four, do seva for
self-effacement, not self-glorification.
So, there must be egolessness,
desirelessness, detachment and the feeling of identification with
everybody. Service, being an opportunity, is a blessing that way.
But service is sometimes a cadre,
with two-star, three-star, super-star and convenor positions. Well, that
is only worldly. That service cannot be spiritual by any standard. I can
say that.
These were the only three questions
passed on to me.
Thank you very much. I wish you all a
very happy, holy Dasara celebration. May Bhagavan be with you forever and
evermore, and with your families as well. Have a happy time. May Bhagavan
bless you!
(Applause)
Anil Kumar closed his talk by singing the bhajan,
“Jaya Ho
Jaya Ho Gopalana”.
Thank you very much.
Om Asato
Maa Sad Gamaya
Tamaso
Maa Jyotir Gamaya
Mrtyormaa Amrtam Gamaya
Om Loka
Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu
Loka
Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu
Loka Samastha Sukhino
Bhavantu
Om
Shanti Shanti Shanti
Jai
Bolo Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Babaji ki
JAI!!!
May Bhagavan Baba
shower His choicest blessings on everybody on these auspicious days of
Navarathri. Sai Ram!
(Audience)
Sai Ram! |
