Love And Surrender

All sacred texts, Vedas and other scriptures will not help to cut the curtain of illusion in man. While man is in front of the curtain, God is behind it. The cause is behind and the effect is in front of the curtain.

(Telugu Poem)

From ancient times, Bharat has treasured the spiritual wealth and spread the message of “Lokah-samasthah sukhino bhavantu,” praying that all people in the world should be happy.

Today man has attained considerable progress in science and technology, but, moral values and righteous conduct are on the decline. He has become a slave of selfishness. Whatever one thinks, speaks or does is only based on self-interest. Human quality has become rare among men and animal quality is predominant.

Develop Firm Faith With Discipline

Human life is considered very sacred and it is a matter of shame that man is not living upto his ideal. Man today lives as he likes without following any discipline. Discipline is needed in every aspect to maintain the right course in life: “Na shreyo niyamam vina.” A river has two banks. But for this the river may flow in all directions, flooding the fields and villages and causing untold hardship and disaster. If it has the bunds to regulate the course of flow, it will be useful for irrigation.

In a similar manner the river of life has to be contained between the two bunds of eight lettered axioms. One is "Shraddhavan labhate jnanam" and the other is "Samsayatma vinashyati." Both these declarations are made by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita. The meaning of the first one is “it is only by faith that one attains wisdom” and the second one means “A person who doubts everything will perish.” So long as one has doubt, he cannot achieve anything. If a person has no doubt and has full faith, he can achieve anything. The river of human life flowing between these two bunds reaches the goal successfully.

A tree that needs water is provided water only at the root. Though the root is not visible to your eyes as it is buried under the earth, it is the basis for the tree to thrive. If the root is dry, the tree becomes dead. Therefore you have to safeguard the root. Similarly, you have to safeguard the root of life. Otherwise, it will get extinct. The root of life is to kill doubt. Therefore, these two eight letter Mantras are the essential needs for life. "Samsayatma Vinashyati" is comparable to the root and "Shraddhavan labhate jnanam" is comparable to the tree of life. You have branches, leaves and other components for a tree. The end-goal of planting a sapling is to get the fruit from the tree. The goal of human life is purna jnana, total wisdom. Total faith is needed to achieve this goal.

Realise The Divinity Within

One should expand the broad feelings of heart to foster the tree of life, to grow and retain its fertility. That is why ancient teachers used to pray: "Annam Brahma, Raso Vishnu, Vak Devo Maheshwarah." This was the prayer chanted before taking food by these ancient seers. Food gives energy to the body and its essence is distributed to all parts of the body. To safeguard functions of all limbs and sense organs the mind has to be in fine fettle. To fulfill the truth, "vak" or speech should be truthful and purposeful.

Therefore these three important requisites for human life, body, mind and speech (mano-vak-kayam) are treated as the three aspects of Divinity, Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara. Vishnu is all pervasive, so also mind is all pervasive. It is said, "Manomoolam idam jagat." Maheshwara represents shabdha or sound (vak). That is why God is described first as Shabdha Brahmamayi, then Characharamayi, Jyotirmayi, Vangmayi, Nityanandamayi, Paratparamayi, Mayamayi and Shreemayi. (Master of Sound, Mobility, Light, Speech, Bliss, Transcendence, Illusion, Prosperity). By expansion of Love we carry all the eight types of divinity. Everyone should realise the divinity within. Then only he or she may be considered to lead a true life.

The body is not just the physical one consisting of all the limbs and organs. God has gifted this body to discharge the dharmic duties. The mind creates the "bhavam," feeling or thought, which is expressed through the tongue in words and done by the limbs in action. Human life is a combination of the functions of thought, speech and action. The Divine is manifest in human; though many do not realise this.

Swami recited a Telugu song which spells out the omnipresence and universal pervasion of God. “Can you limit the one who created the Universe within the frame of a picture? When even demi Gods cannot understand Him, how can a mere mortal understand? What name can you give the one who manifests in all names and forms? What can you offer to the supreme power who has the universe as His stomach? One whose effulgence is equal to one crore suns – What light you can use for illuminating Him?

The Seer Is Different From The Seen

We cannot worship such a supreme power in narrow ways. Even when He is so vast, you can comprehend Him in the human heart, just as you see the outside world in a small mirror. He is Hridayavasi. Who are you? Who is He? If you inquire, ‘I’ the inner self is the seer, and all this is the seen. The entire world is a combination of seer and seen. Many people are sitting in this Hall. ‘I’ am the seer. All the people are seen, and My (Baba) body is also seen by Me. So ‘I’ is the eternal witness. Let us not be carried away by the “seen.” We must make efforts to perceive the “seer.” You cannot do this with the physical eyes. We have to develop the “wisdom eye” (jnana chakshu) in order to see the “seer.” It is only through inner vision that you can attain liberation and not by your physical eyes. The chaitanya (awareness principle) is prevalent all over the world. But we ignore the inert (jada) and even a part of chaitanya.

To inculcate the truth of spirituality, you can take the example of animals which get sanctity and become objects of worship when they are in the company of the Divine. The snake, when it is around the neck of Lord Shiva, is worshipped by all. When it is encountered elsewhere, people do not hesitate even to kill it. Similarly, the mouse which is the vehicle of Vinayaka is an object of worship, when it is with Vinayaka, but when it is seen in your house, you trap it and try to do away with it. This teaches the lesson that when we are in the company of God, we are held in high esteem.

God Is All Pervasive

Just as the limbs are part of our body, we are all the limb of the body of the cosmic form (Sahasrashirsha Purushah sahasrakshah sahasrapat). The cosmic form is of thousands of heads, feet, hands and eyes. All the bodies of beings are His. If we develop strong faith in this, we can understand Divinity in its true spirit. When we see the Bull in the Shiva temple made of stone, we worship it. When we see a bull in your everyday life, we do not hesitate even to hit it. This is due to the ignorance of man who does not see God in every being. God is in every being from an ant to an elephant!

(Swami sang a song in Telugu conveying the truth that god is beyond description) “Is it possible to describe You with the limited human intellect? You are minuter than atom and mightier than the macrocosm. You are in a subtle form in all the 84 lakhs of species of beings. You are pervading everywhere. Who can describe You?"

The Light Of Love Is Divinity

There is no doubt about the existence of truth. It is everywhere and in everyone. When you have light, where is the need for going to your neighboring house to borrow a lamp? Develop the infinite light of love within you. The light of life is shining with effulgence within you. In order to see a light you do not need another light. In order to see the moon you do not need a torch. Similarly there is no need for any other light to realise the self-effulgent atma within. The light of life is divinity. God says you are a fragment of His eternal Self. Every individual is the spark of the Divine.

Sachidanandam who spoke before mentioned about sharanagati or self-surrender. Surrender involves three entities, one is the person who surrenders, the other is the one to whom he surrenders, and the third is the act of surrender. If we analyse carefully in the spiritual sense, you have a person, mirror and reflection. When you remove the mirror, the reflection is not seen. So you find: three minus one becomes one only. It is only the person that remains. Similarly the prakriti is a mirror, the jiva (individual) is a reflection of the divine. When prakriti the mirror is removed, what remains is only one. That is the Divine. The individual is only a reflection.

Develop The Spirit Of Love

When your vision is towards prakriti you have duality. When your vision is turned inward, you have the one that is God and nothing else. Even prakriti is a creation of God; when everything is Divine, there is no second. This Divine is nothing but Love which is in all beings. Love is God, live in Love. It has no beginning and no end. It is infinite, you cannot fragment it. All spiritual paths are paths of Love. The goal is also Love. It is the one that is always existing in this world. You should never give up Love at any point of time.

In common parlance, jealousy, pride, etc., are evil qualities. But if you see them all with love, you can never have hatred. There is no question of hatred when there is only one and not two. The current of atma is flowing in all beings as Love; you have to develop the Spirit of Love and expand it. You should not care about names and forms. See only the unity in the diverse forms and names, you will realise the divine. Just as Bhramara (humming butterfly) injects the humming sound to the insect and turns it into its own form, you should concentrate on the Divine name and become Divine.

Cast Off Attachment To Body

You are Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara, as already explained. Parents have given you the physical body and the name. But the heart (spiritual) is given by God. No one else can give this. To be with a compassionate heart is human nature. It is giving and forgiving. Develop oneness with Love. People do several types of sadhana, like turning the japamala (prayer) beads and meditating. The body may be still, but the mind goes about wandering all over! Even a little mosquito disturbs you, and you strive to kill it, while engaged in dhyana (meditation).

You should cast off the attachment to body. Body is only a temple of God. But God is the indweller. This truth you should never lose sight of. Nature is also a manifestation of God. The ancients saw the truth that food is Brahma, mind is Vishnu and vak (speech) is Maheshwara. Man is combination of these three. That is why when we pray to Shiva, we offer the three-fold body to Him. Just as we offer the Bilva leaf with its three parts. This is the principle of self-surrender (sharanagati).

Lakshmana’s Exemplary Spirit Of Surrender

Lakshmana is an apt example of the attitude of surrender. When Rama, Sita and Lakshmana went to the forest and reached Chitrakuta Hills, Rama told Lakshmana, ‘I’ feel tired and Sita too is tired. It is better we stay there for some days. So, I would like you to put up a hut, in which we can stay longer, even for a period of 10 years if necessary. You can put up the cottage in any place of your choice.

Hearing these words, Lakshmana felt hurt and bent down his head with grief. Noting this, Sita asked Lakshmana, “Why are you perturbed Lakshmana? Your brother did not speak anything harsh. Why do you feel so sorry?” Lakshmana said, “Have I ever had any choice of my own? I left my mother, wife and all comforts of a palatial life and accompanied you two to serve. I have surrendered myself to Rama. Where is the question of my choice? The command of Rama is what I like to carry out. While so, how can I withstand the impact of Rama asking me to put up the hut at a place of my choice?”

Rama realised the sacred feelings of Lakshmana and the true attitude of his surrender and pointed out the site himself.

Shun Bad Company And Bad Places

Such an ardent devotee of Rama with the attitude of complete surrender, once suddenly turned rebellious and said, “Rama, I am leaving you and returning to Ayodhya. Why should I come with you? Only you were asked to go to the forest. I shall go back to Ayodhya to join my wife and mother.” Rama was not surprised at this unexpected turn in the mind of Lakshmana and asked him to wait for a while, and after walking some distance, halted under a tree for shelter. But then Lakshmana repented for his lapse and said I am sorry. I do not want to leave you and go. Do not know why I got such an unnatural attitude all of a sudden!” Rama said, “You were then in the region of Surpanaka, the demoness. So, your mind wavered. Now, we have come out of the territory and you are normal.” This is a lesson to show that even a great devotee like Lakshmana could be upset by traversing the region of a demonic person. Rama recognised that Chitrakuta was the seat of rishis and there they will be at peace.

That is why you should shun bad company and bad places, haunted by bad people. Discriminate which is good and which is bad, which gives permanent joy, and which is transient. Do good deeds. If you surrender to atma and be constantly in touch with atma, God will be with you, around you, above you and below you.

Bhagawan concluded the discourse with the bhajan "Govinda Krishna Jai."

(From Divine Discourse on 23rd April, 1998 at “Sai
Sruti”, Kodaikanal)