Immanent In You

You have heard four people speaking, now, on the magazine, Sanatana Sarathi and the value derived from it by readers. I know that you have been squatting for an hour or so and you will come again for longer sessions later in the day, which will continue the whole night. Let Me tell you that far from sympathizing with you, I commend your endurance, for such hardships make your lives worthwhile. To call it a hardship is a sign of delusion and ignorance of values. Just now, the entire country is under the shadow of a fear, the fear of ashtagrahakoota - the conjoint effect of eight planets that converge in one line for some, short time. To ward off the evil, persons, who have so far never spent a pie on charity, are spending lavishly for yajnas, pujas, and the propitiation of planetary powers. So far, so good; let some money flow from one pocket to another, which is needier. Let money circulate.

Let the spirit of charity grow, even out of panic. But, calamity, danger, death cannot be avoided for all time; they are inevitable factors of life; you have to learn to live bravely with them. This can be accomplished only by uninterrupted prayer, not by spurts of worship actuated by sudden fear. Purify your hearts, your thoughts, feelings, emotions, speech; strengthen your nobler impulses; then, no panic can unnerve you; nothing can shake your stability, your prashanti (inner peace).

The Story Of Madhavadasa

Your prayers will be heard and answered; the Lord has no distinction of big or small, of high or low. There was in Bengal a bhakta, named Madhavadasa, who realized when his wife died that he had lost his griham (home), for his Grihalakshmi (wife) had passed away; so, he gave all his riches to the poor, donned a gerua (yellow) robe, and wandered alone as a pilgrim to the Jagannatha shrine.

There, he did such deep penance that the concrete image soon became the abstract reality and the abstract reality became a perpetual vision. He lost all sense of time and space, of chit and achit (awareness and ignorance). Then, the Lord, with Subhadra, His shakti-aspect, moved towards him and placed before him the gold plate, used by the priests to keep food in front of Jagannatha in the sanctum sanctorum. When Madhavadasa awoke to his gross surroundings, he saw the gold plate with the pile of delicious food upon it; he ate his fill and returned to his inner paradise, which he had left for a while.

Meanwhile, the plate was reported lost, assumed to be stolen, and discovered by the seashore near Madhavadasa, who was promptly arrested and led to the lock-up by some very efficient policemen. He was beaten mercilessly, but did not seem to mind it a bit. The chief priest that night had a dream, in which Jagannatha asked him not to bring food for the Lord again, into the shrine, for, “You bring food for Me, and when I eat it, you start beating Me!” Then, he realized that it was all the Lord’s leela, to demonstrate the devotion of Madhavadasa and teach others the real nature of bhakti.

Some scholars and pandits of Puri did not feel happy at this sudden rise to fame of a stranger from Bengal. So, they called Madhavadasa into their midst and challenged him to an intellectual duel. Madhavadasa was not a pandit of that type: he had learnt the shastras only as a staff to help him walk, as a guide to action, not as a stick to beat others. So, he accepted defeat even before the bout began and signed a statement to that effect, which the leading pandit was only too glad to accept, because Madhavadasa had a reputation for the scholarship which was really frightening.

The Lord Will Not Allow A Devotee To Be Harmed

The pandit hurried to Kashi with that token of victory; he waved it before a gathering of scholars and demanded that they should all pay him homage, as superior even to Madhavadasa. But, the Lord will not allow His bhakta to be humiliated. When the signed statement was opened and read, they were all amazed to find that it was a statement declaring that it was Madhavadasa, who had achieved victory and it was the pandit, who had signed underneath, acknowledging his own defeat! The Lord will not be silent when the bhakta is insulted or harmed.

But, remember, the word is bhakta. Well, who is a bhakta, and how can you claim the privileges of that position? Unless you have unshakable faith, you do not deserve that name. If you are rooted in that faith, success is yours without a doubt. But, do not think that I am angry or displeased with you on that account. This evening, the Lingodbhavam (emergence of egg-shaped stone of Shiva) is My duty, My responsibility, rather My nature, which must reveal itself on this holy day.

I gave Kasturi and Thirumalachari shawls and blessed them at the beginning of this meeting, since they wrote My life in English and Telugu: the book called “Sathyam Shivam Sundaram”. Some of you might have wondered why I liked the publication of this book on My life. Well, I like the production of all kinds of things and so, why should I not like this? I responded to the prayers of devotees and allowed them to write it. “Ramayati Iti Rama” - He who pleases is Rama. The joy of the bhakta satisfies the Lord; the joy of the Lord is the reward of the bhakta.

Truth Is The Basic Reality Of You All

The title, “Sathyam Shivam Sundaram” is full of meaning. It speaks of Me as immanent in every one of you, remember. Satyam (truth) is the basic reality of you all; that is why you resent being called a liar. The real “you” is innocent; he will not accept an imputation that is false. The real “you” is Shivam - joy, happiness, auspiciousness, but not shavam (corpse). It is shubham (beautiful), nityam (permanent), anandam (bliss). How then can you bear being called otherwise? The real “you” is beauty, and so, you resent being called ugly. The atma has got entangled in the body, which it does not like; it is weighed down by shame when you identify it with the body and attribute to it the weaknesses and deficiencies of that physical vehicle.

The Sanatana Sarathi is the result of My sankalpa (resolve), My utsaha (venture), My ananda (bliss). Nothing can stand in the way, once I have decided on any step. When the Paramatma tattvam (principle of Supreme Soul) assumes human form and appears, not with Mahashakti and Mahasvarupa (supreme power and form of the Supreme), but with mayashakti and mayasvarupa (power of illusion and form of illusion), it is difficult to comprehend it, especially when you are in an uncertain, vacillating mood. Once you understand the purpose and the procedure, all doubts will cease.

Prasanthi Nilayam, 4-3-1962