DIVINE DISCOURSE VOLUME 3 1963

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16. Protection of the devotees
YESTERDAY, when I came into the Hall, I could see the agony you all felt. That was because
you identified Me with this body, that was having the illness. If you had known My truth, you
would not have been sad; in fact, if you had known your Truth, that would be enough. The
illness came and went; I was its master, throughout. One day, when it reached its climax, I was
watching its behaviour and directing it to finish its Dharma. For I had taken it on Myself and so,
I must allow it to do its Dharma! All kinds of silly stories were circulated when I was ill! Some
people feared that when I went to the South recently, some black magic was inflicted upon Me
and that the stroke was the consequence. Let Me tell you that nothing evil can affect Me.
Nothing can harm Me. I am the Master, the Shakthi (Power) that overpowers everything else.
I knew that short explanation: some people were saying that I was in Mounam or Samaadhi
(silence or a state of concentration in Yoga). Now why should I keep the vow of silence? If I am
silent, how can I carry out My Task of reforming you and making you all realise the aim of life?
And, why should I seek Samaadhi, I who am the Aanandhaswaruupa, the Premaswaruupa
(Embodiment of Bliss and of Love) Myself. It is the wavering doubter, the ignorance dabbler,
who will lend his ear to such talk. The true bhaktha will discard all such news. For the bhakthas
here, the 8 days were days of intense thapas; they had no other thought than of Swaami.
To think low or mean is also egoism
Once, Krishna too pretended to be suffering from headache, intense, unbearable headache! He
acted that role quite as realistically, as I did last week. He wound warm clothes around His head,
rolled restlessly in bed. His eyes were red and He was in evident distress. The face too appeared
swollen and pale. Rukmini, Sathyabhaama and the other queens rushed about with all kinds of
remedies and palliatives. But they were ineffective. At last, they consulted Naaradha and he went
into the sick room to consult Krishna Himself and find out which drug would cure Him.
Krishna directed him to bring---What do you think the drug was?---the dust of the feet of a true
Bhaktha! In a trice, Naaradha manifested himself in the presence of some celebrated bhakthas of
the Lord; but, they were too humble to offer the dust of their feet to be used by their Lord as a
drug!
That Is also a kind of egoism. "I am low, mean, small, useless, poor, sinful, inferior"---such
feelings also are egoistic; when the ego goes, you do not feel either superior or inferior. No one
would give the dust wanted by the Lord; they were too worthless, they declared. Naaradha came
back disappointed to the sickbed. Then, Krishna asked him, "Did you try Brindhaavana where
the Gopees live?" The Queens laughed at the suggestion and even Naaradha asked in dismay,
"What do they know of bhakthi (devotion)?" Still, the sage had to hurry thither.
Do karma which is approved by higher wisdom
When the gopees heard Krishna was ill and that the dust of their feet might cure Him, without a
second thought they shook the dust off their feet and filled his hands with the same. By the time
Naaradha reached Dhwaaraka, the head-ache had gone. It was just a five-day drama, to teach that
self-condemnation is also egoism and that the Lord's command must be obeyed without demur,
by all Bhakthas.
When I said that I had taken on the illness that was destined for some one who could not have
suffered it or survived it, many of you felt, "Why should Swami, for the sake of a single person,
plunge so many of us in grief?." Well! Did not Raama proceed to the forest though all Ayodhya
wept? My Dharma of Bhaktharakshana (protection of devotees) must be carried out; the
Dharma of the disease must also be worked out. Krishna could have stopped the rains, however
powerful Indhra was; but, Indhra had to do his Dharma and by lifting Govardhanagiri to protect
the cows and cowherds, Krishna manifested His Divinity!
In this case also, it is the same Leela (Divine sportive act). Using the chance to demonstrate to a
doubting world the Divinity inherent in this Human Form. I told you yesterday that even this
lucky bhaktha was just an instrument to work out the promise made in the past to the Sage
Bharadhwaaja; it served to announce My real Nature to you all. You are indeed fortunate that
you could witness on the sacred Guru Pournami Day this magnificent proof of My Divinity.
Karma of a higher order leads to jnaana
There is no Sathyam (Truth), without Shivam (Goodness); there is no Shivam, without
Sundharam (Beauty). Truth alone can confer Mangalam (Auspiciousness) and Mangalam alone
is the real beauty. Truth is beauty; Joy is beauty; falsehood and grief are ugly, because they are
unnatural. Buddhi, chittham and hrudhayam (intellect, sub-conscious mind: !and heart)---these
are the three centres in the individual where reside jnaana, karma and bhakthi). The effulgence
of Sathyam will reveal Shivam; do karma (action) which is approved by the higher wisdom, not
karma which is born of ignorance. Then, all karma will be Shivam (auspicious, beneficial,
blessed). The experience of that Shivam is what is called Sundharam; for it confers real
Aanandha. That is my Reality. That is why My Life is named "Sathyam Shivam Sundharam."
Do karma based on jnaana, the jnaana that all is One. Let the karma be suffused with bhakthi;
that is to say, humility, prema, karuna and ahimsa (love, compassion, non-violence). Let bhakthi
be filled with jnaana; otherwise, it will be as light as a balloon, which drifts along any current of
air, or gust of wind. Mere jnaana will make the heart dry; bhakthi makes it soft with sympathy
and karma gives the hands something to do, something which will sanctify every one of the
minutes that have fallen to your lot to live here.
This is why bhakthi is referred to as upaasana, dwelling near, feeling the Presence, sharing the
sweetness of Divinity. The yearning for upaasana prompts you to go on pilgrimages, to construct
and renovate temples, to consecrate images. The sixteen items of Upachaara (honouring) with
which the Lord is worshipped satisfy the mind which craves for personal contact with the
Supreme. All this is karma of a high order; they lead to jnaana. First, you start with the idea, "I
am in the Light;" then the feeling "the light is in me" becomes established. This leads to the
conviction, "I am the Light." That is the supreme wisdom.
See yourself in all; love all as yourself. A dog caught in a room whose walls are mirrors sees in
all the myriad reflections, not itself but rivals, competitors, other dogs which must be barked at.
So, it tires itself out by jumping on this reflection and that, and when the images also jump, it
becomes mad with fury. The wise man, however, sees himself everywhere and is at peace: he is
happy that there are so many reflections of himself all around him. That is the attitude you must
learn to possess, that will save you from needles bother.
Prashaanthi Nilayam, 7-7-.1963

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17. Lakshya puuja
THOUGH there is no particular reason for this evening's gathering, Kompella Subbaraaya
Shaasthry tried to discover one and he concluded his speech with a reference to the Varalakshmi
Puuja that is generally done in Hindu homes today! This search for 'causes' is another of the
delusions that pester man; he is out to seek the cause of every thing and in that confusion, he
forgets to derive the full benefit of the result which is before him.
Shaasthry quoted from the Soundharyalahari to explain the meaning of Shiva-Shakthi, probably
moved by the incidents of the last Guru Pournami Day. Shiva-Shakthi is the conjunction of jada
(insentient or inert) and chith (awareness), the conjunction of the wire with the current, which
activates all the instruments---fan, stove, bulb and radio. Shiva-Shakthi is in all, not only in Me;
there is only the difference in power and capacity to manifest. The fire-fly has some power of
illumination; it also emits light. We have oil lamp, the electric bulb, the petromax lamp, the
Moon, the Sun--all emanate light; that is the common quality.
Like that, both good and evil have the right to exist. The evil has to be used for the purpose for
which it is suited. The skin of the orange is not sweet; but it helps to protect the sweetness
within. The bitter green skin of the unripe orange protects the fruits during the ripening period.
The skin too gradually takes on some of the sweetness and flavour of the ripening orange; so too,
evil has to be slowly transformed into good by the subtle influence of association.
Purpose and rationale of Nature around us
The indhriyas may be used for the purpose of increasing spiritual Aanandham (bliss). When
fruit-juice is poured into a cup, the cup does not know its taste; if you hold it in the palm, you do
not get the taste. You have to drink it with the straw, the senses; then buddhi (intellect); then the
tongue experiences the sweetness. The fruit juice is prakrithi (the Nature) around us. Taste its
sweetness, namely, the Divinity that is immanent in it; that is the purpose and rationale. Prakrithi
is just the leela of the Lord, set before you so that you may become aware of his Glory, His
splendour.
If the mind obeys the dictates of buddhi, then, the individual gains. If the orders from Delhi are
obeyed by every State, then the country gains in strength and unity. But, if the mind becomes the
slave of the senses, then woe be to the individual. When the mind thus follows the outwardbound
senses and forgets the Reality, when the individual revels in the dream-world of false fantasy,
this Shivathaayi (Divine mother) pats the child and wakes it. There is then no more need to tell
them anything else. When awake, the truth will stand revealed.
Your right is to realize Vishwaswaruupa (cosmic nature); so, don't play about forever in the
dehabhaava (thought of the body), the consciousness that you are just this five-foot body;
transcend the attachment to the family, the home, the village, the community, the district, the
state, the nation. You must acquire not the independence denoted by the political fact of
Swaraajya, but the freedom of the spirit called Swaraajya (dominion over oneself).
All different conceptions of God are valid
The cry of equality now being used as a slogan is a vain and meaningless cry; for, how can men,
inheriting a multiplicity of impulses, skills, quail-ties, tendencies, attitudes, and even diseases
from their ancestors and from their past be all of the same stamp? And in spite of all this
advertisement for the supposed equality, you find more misunderstandings and factions now than
at any previous period of history. Those who promote inequality are those who most loudly
proclaim this modem doctrine of equality.
Each person has a different conception of God and of goodness, according to his upbringing and
the state of purification of his impulses. All such conceptions are valid; when water is let into the
fields, you will find sheets of different shapes---circular, rectangular, oval, square, according to
the shape of the fields. The fertility or the quantity of the crops harvested do not vary according
to the geometrical correctness of the shapes. How far, how fast you have established attachment
to the Lord, that is the test. The rest does not matter.
Bhagavath prema (steady Love of the Lord) is like a mosquito curtain; it will keep out the
disease-carrying moha and madha (delusion and pride), kaama and krodha (lust and anger),
lobha and maathsarya (greed and jealousy). Develop faith, so that you may love without doubt.
The "illness" that ended on Guru Pournami first shook the faith of many, but, later, confirmed
the shaken faith. That is not as good as keeping faith unshaken, whatever may happen. How can
the nose that falls down when you merely cough, be firm when you sneeze?
Shankara harmonised the various schools and sects I had to do My Dharma (divine duty), and
every act of Mine has its significance, which you cannot understand. You are in the dark and so,
you fear more. You cannot notice the heaps of earth and the pits on the road. You cannot even
know that the road is smooth and fine. There is no fault or partiality in creation-be confirmed in
that. Then you will no more waver in your faith. If God's Creation itself was faulty, all would
have suffered equally! Now, each person has a different version to give, if you ask him whether
he is happy and why. The same person speaks differently at different times about the acts of the
Lord. So, the fault lies in you, the excellence that you praise is in you. You see yourself in the
outside world; what you like or dislike is your own self!.
Wealth accrues by fair means as well as foul
Shankaraachaarya declared, "Brahma Sathyam; Jagath mithya"---Brahman alone is Real; the
world is false. But he did not therefore discard the world as beneath notice. He continued the
work of Kumarila Bhatta, harmonised the various schools and sects of those days, established
Mutts (Missions) for the propagation of the Adhwaitha (non-dual) doctrine in the four corners of
India, Bhadhrinath, Sringeri, Puri and Dwaaraka and then left. "Brahma Sathyam, Jagath
mithya" is the essence of the Shruthis (holy scriptures). That truth can be cognised by minds
trained through Dwaithic (dualistic) worship of the personal God, and Visishtaadhwaithik
emphasis of the jeevi as the limb of the Absolute. One batch of students after while should be
passing out of a college while batch after batch is joining the first year class. So too more and
more people must take up Bhakthi-Karma (devotional activity) and slowly ascend to the stage of
full Jnaana (knowledge of the Supreme); then only can humanity achieve the Goal. With this
idea Shankara established the Mutts.
A man lost in the jungle was asked to move on in a certain direction; then, after some time, he
saw a village; now, that village did not emerge for his sake, just then. He saw what was already
there, that is all. So also, Adhwaitha shows you the way to something that is already there, but
which you did not recognise so far---namely, your being the unlimited, illimitable Brahman.
Well; just a word about the Varalakshmi Vratham, which Subbaraaya Shaasthry mentioned. Let
Me tell you frankly, I do not like this Lakshmi Puuja, which people do, expecting to grow rich
and accumulate wealth. They even speak of Dhanalakshmi and have special Sthothrams (sacred
prayers) to propitiate Her. Lakshmi (wealth) accrues by fair means as well as foul; money is
earned by gambling, by various forms of deceit, by highway robbery itself, by high and low, by
all and sundry. Worship Lakshya, I shall appreciate you! Keep the lakshya (the Goal) of
expanding your love till it embraces all beings, till it sees every being as your own self---keep it
ever steady before your mind's eye; then, Lakshmi will, of her own accord, favour you to the
extent necessary for realising the Goal. Never doubt that. Never falter.
Prashaanthi Nilayam, 2-8-1963
Life is a battlefield, a Dharmak-sethra, where duties and desires
are always in conflict. Smother the fiery fumes of desire, of hatred
and anger that rise up in your hearts, it is sheer cowardice to yield
to these enemies that turn you into beasts. When obstacles come,
meet them with courage. They harden you, make you tough.
Sathya Sai Baaba

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18. The love of the gopees
KOMPELLA Subbaraaya Shaasthry spoke about the coming on earth of the incarnation of
Krishna and read extracts from the Bhaagavatha describing the antecedents of the birth. All of
you enjoyed listening to him, though many of you are listening to the story for the hundredth
time; the story of the Lord does not lose its sweetness when repeated, Jnaana, yoga and karma
(knowledge of Supreme Self, meditation and selfless action) are, each one of them, hard to go
through, but like chutney, which is salt, chilly and tamarind in the right proportion ground to a
paste, bhakthi which is jnaana, yoga and karma in tile correct proportion, is bound to be
appetising to all tongues.
The Grace of the Lord is a subject dear to every one. It is a subject that is within the grasp of all.
The Lord also can be addressed by any Name that tastes sweet to your tongue or pictured in any
form that appeals to your sense of wonder and awe. You can sing of Him as Muruga, Ganapathi,
Shaaradha, Jesus, Maithreyi, Shakthi, or you can call on Allah or the Formless, or the Master of
all Forms. It makes no difference at all. He is Sarvanaama and Sarvaswaruupa (all names and all
forms). He is the beginning, the middle and the end; the basis, the substance and the source. So,
any story that brings into your consciousness, His Glory, His Grace and His Beauty must
perforce appeal to you.
Every thought sets up a function, agitating all around
Believe Me, all Vriththis (mental modes or functions) are A-nithya (impermanent). A vriththi is a
circle, like the circle that emanates from the place where a stone falls into the still water of a
lake. The water gets agitated and the circle affects the water up to the farthest end. Every thought
acts like the stone on the stillness of the mind; it Sets up a Vriththi. It agitates all round. The
Pravriththi maarga (path of attachment) multiplies these circular waves and seeks to create
further and Wider agitations. But, the Nivriththi maarga (path of detachment) aims at Stilling the
waters. No agitation at all. Preserve the calmness, even the level. Keep the agitating thoughts
away.
Concentration on the Name and Form of Krishna tends to calm the waves of Vriththi. When
E.M. Forster came to India, he was for some time with the Thakore of Rajkot and when he found
the Thakore-engaged in dhyaanam (meditation) before the image of Raadha-Shyaam, he
wondered at first what it was all for! The Thakore had no wants to fulfil. What could he pray for?
One day, he asked the Thakore, "Why?" He replied that Krishna was for him the embodiment of
Prema, Soundharya and Aanandham (Love, Beauty and Bliss), and so, when he meditated on
that Form he was filled with love, beauty and joy. The senses, intellect and emotions, all get
purified and clarified by dwelling on the pure :and the splendid. Forster was induced to try the
first steps and though he found it rather difficult at first, the thrill engendered by the strange calm
egged him on to persist. He found dhyaanam, good and useful.
Krishna's pranks reveal His divine essence
Krishna was only a few weeks old, when a certain ascetic came into the house of Nandha;
Yasodha was having the baby in her lap. Of course this is an incident not found in any book- I
have Myself to tell you this. The maids ran in, for, they were afraid the child might start weeping
at the sight of the uncouth individual. He walked in nevertheless, and Yasodha found that when
he was sent away, the baby raised a cry; not when he was approaching! The Muni also
announced himself as having come to see Krishna Paramaathma (Krishna, the Supreme Self), a
name that was new to the entire family. No wonder, the baby cried when that distinguished
visitor was asked to go! Devaki had been given the vision of Krishna being the Lord Himself,
but, this Muni had discovered the arrival of the Avathaar, by the Grace of the Almighty. It was
Baaba who. had invited the Muni for His dharshan.
The replies that Krishna gave when the Gopees complained to His mother about His mischievous
pranks and thefts of milk, butter, etc., also reveal, by the inner meaning they convey, the divine
essence that He was.
"Why did you drink the milk from the pot she was carrying?."
"She was taking it to be offered to God, perhaps, God might have drunk it up."
"Where had you run away?"
"I was always with you, is it not?"
"Why do you hold that butter pot in your clasp?"
"So that others may not eat it!"
"Why do you put your hand into that butter pot?"
"I am looking for a lost calf."
These were the types of answers He taught them with. He was the Ancient One, in the new garb.
His words came from the beginning of Time.
Raadha's prema was pure without egoism
The Raadha-thathwam (principle) is also a deep, inscrutable one. She was ever in the
contemplation of the Lord and His Glory. She too saw the child Krishna as the Divine
manifestation, separate from the human form. Yasodha one day was searching for Krishna who
had strayed away; she sought almost everywhere and at last, she went to the house of Raadha.
Raadha just closed her eyes and meditated on Krishna for a while and when she called "Krishna,"
Krishna was there. Then, Yasodha shed tears of joy. She said, "I love Krishna as a mother; I have
a sense of egoism in me that He is my son and that I must save Him from harm and seek to give
Him guidance and protection. Your prema is pure; it has no egoism prompting it."
The gopees had that one-pointed prema (love), unwavering, clear and pure. The relationship
between the gopees and Krishna as depicted in the Bhaagavatha has been unfortunately judged
by persons who have not regulated and controlled their Vriththis. This subject is beyond the
comprehension of such people. Only Brahmachaarins (celibates)of the most ardent and ascetic
type like Shukha Maharishi who described it to King Pareekshith and in recent years,
Raamakrishna Paramahamsa, can appreciate that relationship and pronounce upon its
uniqueness. All the rest are apt to see in it only the reflection of their own failings and their own
feelings. The language of samsaara (worldly life) is the only language they know; the regions of
Thuriya---beyond the regions of wakefulness, dream and deep sleep---to which those experiences
relate, are not within their reach. So, they drag the subject down to their own level and claim that
they have mastered their mystery.
Every Godward step makes you shed all attachment
As a matter of fact, the Inner Eye, the Inner Senses are needed to grasp the meaning of this
relationship. Oruganti has shown that it has eluded the grasp of most interpreters, for it is closely
allied to the Adhwaithik experience of Nirvikalpa Samaadhi (the superconcious state where there
is no mind) itself. The mind has to be the master, not the slave, of the senses, if the interpretation
has to be just. Thoughts, wishes, deeds and feelings---all have to be purified of the desire for
gain. Ahamkaara (egoism) itself must lose all its hold on the interpreter, as it did on the gopees.
Prema towards the Lord such as the gopees had, should make a man strong, not weak. In fact,
the gopees were not weakened by their Love; they were rendered tough. Raamakrishna too
exhorted his disciples, like Narendhranaath, to grow strong, with the cultivation of prema
towards the Lord.
Every step taken towards the Lord makes you shed bit by bit all attachment to the world. How
then could the gopees retain their physical awareness? Dhruva went into the forest to get from
the Lord the boon of sitting on the lap of his father, a very ordinary wish of a plainly earthly
type. But as he advanced in thapas, that wish disappeared from his mind and his mind was
elevated to great spiritual heights. How can one who has tasted amritha (nectar) be eager to taste
water? Or, crave for tamarind fruits after tasting kharjur (dates) and having it in his possession?
Every craving will be sublimated into the higher realms of pure consciousness, the moment one
enters the spiritual field.
The gods came to the world as gopees
And then who are these gopees, according to the Bhaagavatha itself?. They are the demi-gods
who wanted to share in the glory of the Avathaar and who came down to the world as witnesses
and sharers ill the Divine leela (cosmic sport). They came for a purpose; they are not ordinary
village folk, who could be dismissed as a crowd of voluptuous women. They saw in every
gesture and gait, every word and phrase of Krishna the Divine, not the human at all. They had no
occasion or chance to be agitated by a secular vriththi (thought wave); all vriththis were
awakened by Divine promptings and urges. Like the magnifying glass which catches the rays of
the Sun and directs them all to one spot, thus concentrating the heat on one point and helping it
to ignite, the hearts of the gopees collected all the vriththis and concentrated them and caused the
illumination and the flame. The flame burnt all dross; the illumination revealed the Truth. All
other interpretations are to be laid at the door of either ignorance or scholasticism, the pompous
pride of mere book learning, which scorns the exercise of discipline.
Meaning of Krishna's theft of butter
Krishna is condemned as a thief who stole butter from the cowherd maidens; but, the butter
represents the bhakthi of the heart that is got after the process of churning. It is a question of a
symbol being taken as literally true. He is Chiththachor (the stealer of hearts). The thief steals at
night, in the darkness, without awakening the master; but, when this thief steals, the master
awakens; He wakes him and tells him that He has come. The victim is left supremely happy and
satisfied.
Every gopee had the highest type of bhakthi in her heart. They saw only Krishna wherever they
turned; they wore on their foreheads blue kumkum, in order to remind themselves of Krishna.
There were many husbands who protested against the colour of the kumkum, but they dared not
wipe it off, lest harm should befall them and the sacrilege recoil on them alone. [Here Baaba
who had filled his hand with petals of Mallika (jasmine)flowers pulled apart by Him from
garlands given to Him, showered the petals from one palm to another and they fell in a cascade
of blue gems. Even the gems they preferred were of this type, blue, like Krishna. He showed the
astounded gathering the gems He was referring to. Each gem had Krishna's form in it, beautifully
clear. ]
Do not have pride in your attachment to God
There was a gopee named Suguna. One day, when Krishna was with Sathyabhaama, He
pretended to have severe stomach ache and in spite of all the remedies that she tried she could
not afford relief. Of course, it was all acting, superb acting such as the paralytic stroke I had for a
week previous to Guru Pournami recently! Even Rukmini was not admitted into the house by
her to inquire about Krishna's health. But, Rukmini found Suguna pining outside the door in
great agony at the illness of the Lord. She gave her the articles and asked her to go in. Krishna
welcomed Suguna and made her sit at His Feet and ate the fruits she had picked up from
Sathyabhaama's own garden and suddenly, the ache had gone. It was her agony at the Lord's
condition, her simple sincere devotion that was so effective.
There should be no artificiality in your attachment to the Lord, no affectation, no pride, no
egoism left, to soil the freshness of the flower you offer. Sathyabhaama protested when Krishna
accepted the fruits, for, Krishna had brushed them aside as tasteless when she had herself offered
them as the precious product of her assiduous gardening effort. They were tasteless, since her
pride had entered into them now. When the simple rustic gopee picked them from the ground and
saturated them with her devotion, they became tasty and attractive for the Lord, who cares for the
bhaava (inner feeling), not the baahya (outer show)!
The only prema that will not allow pride and envy to interfere with its purity is prema towards
God. I know that many of you, who know that I have been taking only a cup of buttermilk daily
for the last two months, are genuinely grief-stricken, though I have been talking to you that no
work of Mine has been stopped or delayed as a result of what they call My "reduced intake of
food;" that is a sign of their prema but really, I live on your Aanandham, not on this material
food at all. I wish that you realised this and stopped worrying or weeping.
Prashaanthi Nilayam, Krishna Janmaashtami,
12-8-1963
Remember always that it is easy to do what is pleasant; but it is
difficult to be engaged in what is beneficial. Not all that is pleasant
is profitable.
Success comes to those who give up the path strewn with roses,
and brave the hammer-blows and sword-thrusts of the path fraught
with danger.
Sathya Sai Baaba