A-natha and Sa-natha

Kannada is a sweet and soft language, but I do not propose to speak in it now; I feel that you can follow me even if I speak in Telugu. I am happy to lay the foundation stone of this Home for Retarded Children and the Hostel and Workshops of the Mahila Makkala Kuta, for service is the best form of worship. I know this is an institution that does real service. It is a lighthouse in the sea of mere worldly-mindedness.

For all the higher forms of service, bhakti is the very life-breath. Of the two, Preyas (worldly gain) and Sreyas (spiritual merit), Sunandhamma has chosen Sreyas; so, even when she is ridiculed, she carries on; even when she is praised, she does not accept the praise. If she succeeds in this venture, she must strengthen her faith in the Lord. That is enough.

When the election season is on, you find people suddenly going round and round and falling at the feet of all and sundry, praying for votes. They could have fallen at the feet of the Lord, and He would have showered His Grace. If he is a godly person, full of humility and the spirit of service, he would have got the votes he needed, even without this humiliation of door-to-door soliciting.

Faith Is The Very Breath Of Victory

Be good, be serviceable, be useful, be kind, be God-fearing, the confidence of the people will be yours. I am sure Minister Kanthi who is here will agree with Me when I say, that such a man has no need to beg for votes, people will themselves come forward and offer the votes at his feet. Faith, faith, that is the very breath of victory, faith in oneself, faith in the good work one has set upon; faith in its success, in spite of signs of failure.

Attachment and hatred, these are the greatest enemies of progress in any scheme of social service; why, in any scheme of work. If the individual is deluded into believing that he is saving others, then woe be to him; for, there is no other at all. All are one; one man's sorrow is everyone's sorrow. The fundamental flaw is the ignorance of man. If only he was wise, he would have known that all individuals are waves on the surface of the self-same ocean.

Niskama karma (selfless action) is the ideal to be aimed at; now everything is measured by the result, the gain that accrues. Study too is for the salary one can get on the basis of the degree which is its goal. If you fan a person out of love, when you leave off, he cannot blame you; but, when the paid servant who is the pankhawallah stops, the master takes him to task. In the first case, the act is done in the Niskama way; there is no aim to seek gain. The desire for gain is like the poison fangs; when they are pulled out, the snake of karma is rendered harmless.

Faith Becomes Steady Through Sadhana

The correct discipline to acquire the Niskama (without selfish desire) attitude is dedication; and dedication is possible only when you have intense faith in God. That faith becomes steady through sadhana. Now, sadhana (spiritual effort) is like the snacks one eats; the main dishes are all of the world, from the world. The spiritual must be the major portion of the food.

You must be aware of the danger of a fall, in time. Do not behave like the master of a house, who when his wife said, “I hear some noise; it is perhaps a thief”, replied: “I know; do not interrupt my sleep.” In a few minutes, she said, “He has entered the house,” but, the man said, “I know.” Later, she said, “He is opening the box”; still, the man said, “I know” and kept quiet. After some time, she said, “He is running away” and the master said, as formerly, “I know.” He did not pay any attention to the warnings of the theft; so, too, you do not heed the warning, but move forward to the calamity, with eyes open.

Once you feel that all are waves on the self-same sea you will no longer use the word, A-natha (helpless orphan), which I found in the report that was read. In one sense, there is no A-natha at all; all are Sa-natha (protected by a guardian), for the Lord takes care of all. He is the Pasupati, pashu meaning individual jivas (living beings). There is only one purusa (Masculine) in creation; all the rest are stri (feminine). There is no fool too; that is only a role played by that particular manifestation of the jnana svarupa, which is Paramatma. Nagayya might play the role of Tyagayya, in the film on Tyagaraja, but, all the while his Nagayya is the truth, the reality. The Tyagayya is a temporary role in the drama of life.

Journey To God Is To Be Through Good Karma

Remember this and do not tarry on your journey to God. You fill up the petrol tank with fuel for the journey that lies ahead, is it not? When you propose to keep the car in the garage for long, you do not fill the tank. Well, the body too is fed with fuel so that it may go on a journey, journey to God. That journey is through karma, good karma, Nishkama karma. Such karma is called kayaka (relating to the body), the exertion of the kaya (body) for the liberation of the soul imprisoned therein.

Not all the raindrops that fall from the sky manage to reach the sea. It is only those that flow into a flowing river that attain the goal of all the drops; for, they come from the sea and they yearn to reach their source.

I find that the sun has invaded this side of the pandal; the hall is not big enough to provide shade for all of you. I cannot bear to see you suffering. I find one man has fainted there. Here, take this Vibhuti (sacred ash) to him, let him drink it in a glass of water. (He waved His right hand once and created a quantity of Vibhuti as a token of His Grace). When I am leaving do not crowd around and fall at my feet. Do the Namaskaram (obeisance) in your hearts; that is better than crushing everybody and pushing forward. There are many old men, sick persons and children; so, be calm and patient. Why do a thing, which does not give you full satisfaction, nor gives me satisfaction? Make Sai the resident of your heart; that gives you hayi (happiness) and Me, joy!

Mysore City, Vanivilasapuram, 15-9-1963