The Divine Voice

Narakasura is present in every one as kamam, krodham, lobham (lust, hate, greed), and as bhayam and duhkam (fear and grief), which are against the very nature of man. Just as an umbrella with inferior cover cannot protect you from rain, but only one with a waterproof cover, so too, in this storm-driven world incessantly flushed by torrential rain, an umbrella with kaama-proof and krodha-proof covering is required. The five bhootas (fire, earth, water, ether, and wind) cannot harm one who is equipped with such protection. The five Durgas (fortresses) in which Narakasura is said to have taken refuge are the five elements.

There is a great Avyakta shakti (latent power) inherent in everyone and when that shakti is made vyakta (explicit), man deserves to be called vyakti (individual). When that is made manifest, the asura (demon) will automatically be destroyed. Your reality is Atma; your quality is Ananda. What does it matter to you if the Narakasura of the Puranas is killed by Krishna and Sathyabhama? For you, Krishna is Paramatma (Super or Omniself) and Sathyabhama is the jivi (individual self). Paramatma destroys the evil propensities with the active collaboration of jivi; jivi defeats evil with the active Grace of the Lord.

Make kama, The Servant of Rama

India is the repository of spiritual power; but now, scarcely anyone practices the disciplined life which is the mark of that power. Even now, millions go on pilgrimages; millions of copies of sacred texts and spiritual lore are bought and read; thousands of ascetics and gurus are scattered over the land and they receive the homage of the people. But, yet, there is no peace in the heart, no food in the stomach, no clothes to keep the cold off the body. India, which is Annapurna-swarupa (the granary of the earth), has now to go about with a begging bowl for food for her children. This tragedy is caused by indiscipline, by want of self-control, by what can be called A-sva-rajya (the absence of self-Government, Government of the Self).

Sathyanarayana, when he acted the role of Sathyabhama in the drama, remembered always that he was Sathyanarayana, though he was also aware that he had a part to play in the drama and he played it well. It would have been a failure if he had forgotten that he was Sathyanarayana or that he was acting the role of Sathyabhama. So, too, act in the world but remember your genuine Self. When humanity forgets that this is a play and starts assuming it as real, the Lord comes down to remind them of it. Otherwise, when the execution scene is enacted, heads will fall; when Lanka is set on fire in the drama, the theatre itself will be consumed. Do not take the world more seriously than it deserves.

There is space for only just one throne in your heart. But, now you are inviting too many to sit on it or you try to put two thrones there, one for Rama and one for kama; or, when you find it difficult, you are inviting Rama and kama to squeeze themselves into that one seat! Or, you install kama and want Rama to sit down below as his henchman! No wonder Rama deserts you. Make Rama the deity on the throne and utilise kama as His servant—there is no harm.

Cultivate the Inward Look

The mother-cat, it is said, takes hold of the new born kitten and shifts it from place to place, seven times, within a few days of its birth, so that its eyes might open and it might see! The kitten gets proper vision after going through seven transfers but, man does not get the vision (viz., that he is in reality the deathless, birthless, infinite Atman) even after he is shifted from womb to womb a million times! This is the tragedy of ignorance and sloth.

You have heard of the story of Gajendra Moksha, the elephant caught and dragged by the crocodile, appealing helplessly to the Lord and the Lord sending down the Sudarshana Chakra (discus) to slay the tormentor and save the beast. The story has a deeper meaning, which has universal appeal. The wild elephant is the jivi (the individual), full of sensual greed and blind with delusion. It enters the tank of samsara (flux) of the objective world. There the crocodile of egoism grasps its leg in the vice of its teeth and pulls it down deeper and deeper into the mire of samsara.

There Is a Definite Process for God-Realisation

The individual (jivi) struggles by itself for a long time until pride is exhausted and its faith in its own powers is spent. Then, it appeals in complete saranagati (Surrender) to the Lord and what does the Lord send? Sudarshana. Mark that word, what does it mean? Sudarshana, God sight! Beneficial outlook! A vision that is correct, conducive to lasting joy, namely, the inward look, away, from the sense objects, Avrtta Chaksu. As soon as that sight is cultivated, egoism is destroyed and the jivi is freed.

Live and act in the world, by all means; but, deal with samsara as you apply collyrium to the eye. The eye is not blinded by the collyrium, it is rendered more efficient, more charming, that is all. So too, samsara (worldly life) must make your sadhana (spiritual effort) more efficient and more pleasing to yourself and others. Be like the lotus which though born in mud rises higher, through the waters, on the region of sunlight. It knows their real value; so it does not allow itself to be contaminated by either.

A great sage once fell in with a gang of nonbelievers in an atheist settlement. They crowded around him and plied him with impertinent queries and insisted that he must show the God in whom he believed. The sage promised to do so, but asked for some milk before he could demonstrate God. The vessel of milk was brought; he sat silent for a long while, stirring the milk with his finger. The crowd got exasperated at the delay and at his silence. They asked him what he was looking at; he replied that he was only trying to spot out where the butter was, top, middle, or bottom? The crowd shouted that it was everywhere, in every drop of milk and that he could see it only when the preliminary process of churning was done. Then, the sage answered, “Well, the Lord too is immanent in every atom of this Universe. He can be perceived and experienced only when the preliminary spiritual exercises of sadhana are done. There is a definite well-known process for God-realisation also, just as there is a definite well-known process for butter realisation.

Prasanthi Nilayam, December 1963