Aim of Life

While in boyhood man mingles with several folks 
And gets immersed in play and frolicking 
With advent of youth, like the glamorous cupid
he burns in sensual desires
At the middle age he is immersed in mundane 
Matters like earning money in lakhs
With the onslaught of old age, one forgets Hari 
And keeps worrying on lacks.

Unable to discard his vices
Finding no taste in devotion
He keeps crawling in the mud of karma
Man is thus throwing his life into dust
(Telugu poem)

Dear students!

What is meant by life? What is its goal? What is its secret? What is its aim? We must ruminate on these aspects. “What for did we come to this world? What is liberation? Really what is freedom?” Liberation is “to reach.” One joining the other. One mingling with the other. This is known as liberation. Take the case of a river. It flows incessantly finding its way unmindful of any obstructions on the path. When obstructed by a rock it breaks itself into two streams around it, and merges subsequently into the sea. The river never forgets its goal. Our life is like the flow of a river. What is the goal of the river called life? Definitely, the goal is not wasting life and forgetting our duties. Therefore, our life should flow towards its goal of grace of God with perseverance of practice. This is what all religions teach. The aim of all religions is the same. All religions are sacred indeed. They talk of idealistic life. It is human nature to consider one religion as good and others as bad. The Bible, the Geeta, and the Quran are all teaching the same thing. You will find in the Bible the words, ‘I am the messenger of God.’ What is its inner meaning? God is separate from the messenger. The messenger brings down the message of the master. The master need not come directly to teach. These two are considered as separate. In the Vedantic parlance, the same thing is called ‘Dvaitam.’ In the Zoroastrian and Muslim texts, it is referred to as ‘I am in the Light.’ This implies you are not the light.

You are under the command of the light. This also comes under ‘Dvaitam’ (Dualism). Through this message, one understands gradually the divinity (Light) as present within himself. This stage is spoken in the Bible in concealed words. ‘I am the son of God.’ Here one finds the relationship between son and his father. Qualities of the father are reflected in the son. The son has the right to his father’s property. The son tries to attain his father’s position. Subsequently, the son reaches a state when he says, “I and my father are one.” This means the son and the father are one and the same. But this cannot be termed as ‘Merged’, because the phrase is ‘I and my father’ implying slight difference. The Hindu philosophy says, ‘Aham Brahmaasmi.’ This statement is known as Advaitism. But it is not a perfect Advaitam as these are two different entities (Aham, Brahma) in it. When you look at your image in the mirror, you say, “this is my face.” It is only the image of your face. The one that is looking is Bimbam (form). The one that is looked at is Pratibimbam (reflection). Also, in the mirror, your left eye appears as the right eye and the right eye appears as the left eye. Therefore, this cannot be pure ‘Advaita.’

Until the river reaches the sea, it has separate entities of taste and look. After it merges into the sea, the river loses its separate identity and assumes the form of the sea. When we remain static at one place, we cannot reach the goal. We must travel to reach the goal in life.

‘So’ham’ Of Gopikas

The Gopikas, who were dear to Sri Krishna, did not know any Tantram (trick). The body is a Yantram (machine), breath is Mantram (incantation) and the Chitta (mind) is Tantram (technique). What is the Mantram? ‘So-Aham’. Their calls and thoughts of Krishna! Krishna! became ‘So-Aham’. They were all along uttering Krishna’s name (Japam) even while they were engaged in any work. For them, the whole world was filled with Krishna. As we think of Krishna; Gokulam, Mathura, and Brindavanam, these three places come to our memory. Such is the bond between these places and Krishna. Mathura is the heart. Krishna, who resides in Mathura, comes to the mouth (Gokulam) as we utter His name. From there Sri Krishna playfully enters Brindavanam of good thoughts and joyful feelings. Ever since Krishna heralded at Gokulam, several demons started creating illusions trying to kill Him. Notorious among them were Pootana and her brothers Bakasura and Kakasura. But Sri Krishna was not an ordinary person. He squeezed out Pootana’s life when she offered her breast milk to Him under the pretext of love. He killed other demons when they mingled with the cowherds and tried to kill. Then, Kakasura became angry and came in the form of a stork to kill the animals. Krishna came in time and killed the demon. Upananda was a great astrologer. Having seen such incidents taking place at Gokulam, he advised Krishna to shift His abode to Brindavanam. Then the entire group of Gopalas and Gopikas reached Brindavanam. It was not, as we imagine, a beautiful place filled with flowers and bowers. It was, in fact, a forest land filled with thick trees and wild animals. The Gopalas made it habitable. This Brindavanam was three and a half miles away from Gokulam. Even while these three places were being scorched, Krishna had hearty play with them.

Meanwhile, Uddhava had come with a wish to teach Gopikas some lessons in knowledge. Then, the Gopikas said, “Do not try to teach us big matters contained in large texts. We have got only one mind and it is filled with Sri Krishna. We do not have any interest whatsoever other than Krishna.”

“Even while mother-in-laws were fussy
And husbands were sharpening knives
They do not open their mouths, do not move
And were not afraid,
Krishna was imprinted in their hearts
Like a picture in a book”
(Telugu poem)

They told Uddhava, “Let anybody say anything. Nothing else goes into our minds other than thoughts of Krishna. We do not have several minds as you have. And we cannot engage one mind on each chore. Hence, we do not need your teaching.”

We must likewise develop concentration of mind on a useful thing. That will turn into Yoga, Yajña, or Daana (charity). These days, an artificial atmosphere prevails in all colleges, excepting our college where discipline is its life breath. We should not convert our ‘heart’ into artificial life and dissipate our valuable time.

The Case Of Doctorates

We must cultivate certain disciplined habits like talking gently. When you talk aloud, your energy dissipates and old age sets in faster. The minds of youth are like monkeys as they are fickle. ‘Brahmachaari shata markataah’ (a young man is equal to a hundred monkeys) you must lead a good, pure, and true life.

Your parents had brought you here with immense devotion. You might be having all modern comforts at home. You will have to adjust in this hostel along with many other students. You were used to special doleful treatment at home; yet you are applying patience here. I am happy about it. This is great Saadhana (spiritual practice). Sages had been to forests not to enjoy comforts. They went with a resolve to face difficulties for the sake of Tapas (penance).

How far you are observing discipline? Just as you are adjusting yourselves in the hostel, you must adjust yourselves to life. Saadhana does not, in fact, involve rigorous practices. For example, there is no rule that you must have a big ship in order to cross the ocean. Even a single tyre is enough for this purpose. A small lamp will suffice to cross a forest at night. And a short name of God is enough to cross the ocean of life. Live humbly, live honorably. You get immense joy when you greet elders respectfully.

It happens often that after studying for about five long years here, girls soon forget all ideals when they go for higher studies. All this discipline you have learned becomes a waste. Of what use is it, if the nose detaches itself with but one sneeze? This is the case of M.A.s and M.Sc.s. The case of Doctorates must be still worse. Add doctorate to your M.A. and your arrogance shoots up like a rocket.

M.A. + D = Mad,
B.A. + D = Bad; where ‘D’ stands for Doctorate degree.

This kind of Doctorates only leads to wastage of life. You cannot obtain degrees without the help of Gurus. Therefore, Guru is greater than your degrees. The concept of Guru is important. Guru means big or greatness. Students emulate teachers only when they display greatness with regard to an idealistic way of living. Boys are naturally independent. But you are supposed to be under somebody’s care and protection. Restricted talk and sweet talk will endear you to all those concerned. Take this as a command from Swami and make your lives happy!

Liberation follows discipline, and it does not require great textbooks. A life of pure, selfless, sacred love is what is important. And it is an easier way of attaining liberation than even great penances!

You must take only good from others. Make it a point to keep good health at all times. Without good health, you cannot achieve anything. Do not resort to fashions, fast foods, and false prestige and spoil your good habits. Maintain regularity in all that you do. I bless that you will bring good fame to your college through your good behavior.