Truth and Love Shape Dharma

God is the embodiment of love. 
If you don’t understand even a fraction 
of that love in this world, 
how do you expect to realize truth 
and fulfill your ambitions?

Embodiments of Love !

Peace, friendship, selfless service, sweetness, affection, these are all synonyms of the basic principle of love. The more a man develops love, the more blissful he will be. Man aspires to be blissful. What is the reason? Man is born out of this bliss. He lives in bliss. He ends in bliss. This bliss is divine. Though this divine quality is latent in him, man searches for it outside. Bliss does not have a separate existence. Man strains himself thinking that he would be happy by learning. He makes every effort to take up a job, to be happy. Thinking that he would find happiness in it, he struggles hard to occupy exalted positions. He thinks that he would be happy by becoming a householder. In spite of all these efforts, he is far from this happiness.

Of all the attributes and names of God, satchidananda is the most precious. To attain such a bliss, one has to follow the path of satchidananda. Sat is truth which remains the same in all the three worlds and in all the three periods of time. Chit means total awareness. Out of this total awareness, you can attain divinity. Where these three principles, satchidananda exist, there is supreme bliss, brahmananda.

Why Does God Incarnate?

Man embarks on many spiritual pursuits to attain this bliss (divinity). But they all give him temporary satisfaction, not lasting bliss. They are all worldly pursuits. Once you give up these external paths and take to inward path, you attain bliss. Those who want this eternal, supreme, absolute bliss should follow this path of sat and chit. In order to reach this blissful state, one has to follow the path of truth. Truth is God. Truth is all pervasive. Truth is beyond time and space and all reckoning. Once you follow this truth, naturally you can attain God, who is the embodiment of truth. This is what the veda means, then it says, “Uddharet atmanatmanam” (You should work for your own emancipation). You should know your truth. Investigate your own heart. There lies real bliss. All physical paths confer temporary satisfaction.

Man has four primary objectives in life. They are dharma (righteousness), artha (wealth), kama (desire) and moksha (liberation). These objectives give us worldly comforts and bring peace and enjoyment in our life. There is, however, a fifth objective of life called supreme love. It is the principle of love that makes you love God intensely. One who understands and follows this sacred principle of love will attain liberation. What is liberation? Mukti (liberation) is that which would put an end to external pursuits. What is to be offered to God? This body which is the temple of God should be offered to God. This is called pindarpanam. This body is pindamu; offering this to God is liberation. It only means, all the actions that we do with this body should be offered to God. This is the fifth objective of human life, i.e., the sacred ideal of love. To teach this sacred rule of love, to pass on the sacred love, to propagate this love, to make people drink the nectar of love, the formless God descends from goloka to bhuloka in human form.

We Have To Offer Our Total Love To God

The day of descent of God on earth is celebrated as the birthday of God. Why does He incarnate? God descends on earth to make humanity drink the nectar of love and enjoy the sweetness of divinity. One who drinks this sweet nectar forgets himself and identifies himself with God and enjoys the blissful state thereafter. Shareeramadyam khalu dharma sadhanam - body is gifted to perform sacred actions. We have to discharge our duties and sacrifice the fruits of our actions. We have to cultivate the principle of tyaga (sacrifice) and be far off from bhoga (worldly pleasures). God is the embodiment of tyaga. The bliss which you get out of sacrifice is truly divine. Those who want to enjoy the blissful state of God must give up the body attachment and turn inward.

We should not spend all our time for our bodily pleasures. We do need to safeguard our body. What for is the body given? It is given to serve God. We have to offer our total love to God.

What We Need Is Good Character

The body is bound to perish at some point of time. Just for the sake of this fleeting body, we should not waste our time and energy. What we need is good character. The modern student tries to acquire only physical strength, friendship, and wealth. But all these things are not important. Character is important. Without character, physical strength, friendship, and wealth are of no use. It does not matter even if wealth or friendship is lost, but you should keep up your character. In the ancient days, Bharatiyas believed, “If wealth is lost, nothing is lost; if health is lost, something is lost; if character is lost, everything is lost.” Due to the effect of Kali age, people now say, “If character is lost, nothing is lost, if health is lost, something is lost, if wealth is lost, everything is lost.” This is the modern trend. This is not the path, which we have to adopt. In order to foster character in man, Krishna taught in many ways and propagated the principle of love.

The previous speaker, Dr. Chatterji, narrated the incident of Krishna lifting the Govardhangiri in order to protect the gopalas and gopikas from the torrential rain. When Krishna told them to come and take shelter under the mountain, which He had lifted with His small finger, the people were afraid to do so. They doubted His divinity thinking Him only to be a small boy. Human beings form their opinion based on the physical frame and physical strength. It is only the divine that goes by the character and not by the physical strength. We have to make an effort to know the difference between God’s love and human love. God always gives and never receives anything in return, but man always receives and is never prepared to give.

In every activity we have to enquire the principle of truth. One who recognizes the truth will always live in bliss. Love is truth, love is life, and love is the goal. Love is second to none; love equals love alone. Only through the path of love, you can reach the embodiment of love, which is God. It is not physical or worldly love. It is not pravatiprema, which is external, but it is the nivratiprema, which is eternal and divine.

It Is Not A Mistake If You Criticize God Out Of Love

You can win God’s love, either by criticism or praise. When Dharmaraja was offering first respects to Krishna in the open court, Shishupala started criticizing Krishna in many ways. Dharmaraja could not bear this. As he was listening to this uncharitable criticism, he could see the life principle of Shishupala merging in Krishna. This made Dharmaraja much more unhappy and dissatisfied. He started wondering how the life principle of a person like Shishupala could merge in the Lord. Dharmaraja requested Narada, who was by his side, to explain how such a thing could happen. Narada said, “O King! criticism or praise relate only to the body, not to the spirit. Moreover, Shishupala criticized Krishna only out of love and not hatred; since he knew that the more he criticized, the sooner he could merge in Him. There is no mistake if you criticize God out of love. Even such criticism is a kind of praise.”

Kamsa, having come to know that he would die at the hands of Krishna, decided to kill Krishna and Balarama. Immediately, he called Akrura and commanded him to go and fetch Balarama and Krishna saying, “O, Akrura! you are a good friend and devotee of Krishna. If you go, they will surely condescend to your request.” Since he could not disobey the command of the king, Akrura went and met Yashoda and Nanda and told them that Kamsa was performing a yajna and wanted Krishna and Balarama to attend it. Yashoda and Nanda were not in favor of their children going to Kamsa’s palace.

Gopikas’ Love For Krishna

The gopikas, having heard of this, surrounded Nanda’s house and said Krishna should not go to Mathura, as He was their life and they could not live without Him. They raised objections in several ways. Krishna is the very form of mystery and wonder. He did not utter a word, since He knew that the gopikas would not be convinced so easily. So He sat in the chariot and made it disappear with His divine power. Until He reached the banks of the Yamuna, no one could see the chariot. As the gopikas found themselves helpless, they returned to Brindavan. Gopikas had this intense love for Krishna, so they could see this love pervading all over. Whenever the hearts of human beings become barren, because of unrighteousness and lovelessness, in order to sow the seeds of love and in order to propagate the principle of love, God incarnates. The main mission of God is to develop the principle of love in mankind. Only when we get intoxicated and forget ourselves drinking the nectar of divine love, we can find the path to liberation. In order to experience satchidananda, we should tread along the path of truth. We should have the total understanding of the self; then we will enjoy the manifestation of God Himself. God is not present in a foreign land, He is present in your body.

Krishna once questioned the gopalas around Him, “Who is the true victor?” One of them said, “One who emerges victorious in the battlefield is the true victor.” “One who can face all the difficulties and troubles with steadfastness and courage is the true victor”, said a few. In this manner, each of them gave different answers. Then Krishna smilingly said, “O, gopalas! whatever you mentioned are temporary in nature. None of them can be termed as a true victor. True success lies in controlling one’s senses. Then one will be a victor. One has to control the senses. The senses belong to the body. Make this body a temple of God.”

It Is Impossible To Understand God

No one can describe God. Gopikas sang, “O, Krishna! can we understand You? You are smaller than an atom, mightier than the biggest. You are present in all the 84 lakh species always. Right from the atom to the entire cosmos, You are present everywhere.” It is impossible to understand God. We have to understand Him as the embodiment of love and recognize Him as the embodiment of truth. We should see that we follow the twin principles of truth and love. Then we will be able to control our senses. We cannot control our senses by spiritual pursuits or physical exercises. Only through the principles of love and truth, it is possible to gain control over the senses. The combination of truth and love would shape into dharma. Therefore, speak the truth and follow dharma. Once we awaken truth within us, we can see God. Ego and attachment are the cause for all misery.

In order to give up these two, develop love. Under any circumstances, we should not give up love. Only through love, you can develop faith. Love is God, live in love. Gopikas prayed to Krishna thus,

"In order to sow the seeds of love 
in our barren hearts, 
In order to see that there will be 
Downpour of rain of love, so that the 
rivers of love would flow continuously, 
O Krishna! Please play on Your divine flute. Earth, seeds, rain, river, trees, fruits, 
all are filled with love."

Offer Your Body To God

Having taken this human form, which is full of love, how is it that we have lost it? Because we make use of our love in the worldly sense. When does it become true love? Only when we offer our body to God. This is true offering. Many people offer different things to God, but a true devotee offers himself to God. Emperor Bali offered himself to God and he did not have rebirth. We should consider this body as the flower, which has to be offered at the lotus feet of God. Therefore, human life gifted to you has to be spent in doing good actions, and ultimately offered to God. Brahmins think that the word, pindarpanam is connected with the obituary rites. But, that is not so; offering our body to God is true pindarpanam. This is true offering that gives us liberation. Once the body is offered to God, there is no moha (attachment). Once attachment is gone, that is liberation – moha kshayamis moksham. Those who know this truth and conduct themselves accordingly, can enjoy bliss.

Until we reach that sacred exalted state, we have to protect our body. We have to discharge our responsibilities.

Bharatiyas since ancient times have given top priority to sacrifice. They give utmost importance to dharma. They hold the quality of renunciation in the highest regard and they welcome truth. Since ancient times, the hearts of Bharatiyas are full of compassion. I have told students many times about Max Muller. He was also called “Moksha Muller”, because of his noble qualities. Though he was a foreigner, his love for Bharat was beyond all limits. He wanted to leave his mortal coil in this sacred land. Many of his friends questioned him, as to what was so special about Bharat. He told them, “The air of Bharat has truth in it. There is dharma in the dust of Bharat. There is love in the mud of Bharat. In Bharat, there is sacrifice. There is no other country as sacred as Bharat. That which is not present in Bharat is not present anywhere else in the world.” Having been born in Bharat, and being called Bharatiyas, we are not able to recognize the greatness of Bharat. We have to put in great effort so as to know the sanctity and greatness of Bharat.

Significance Of Krishna’s Pranks

One day Balarama brought a few cowherd boys with him and started complaining to mother Yashoda: “O mother, Krishna is always so hungry. He eats at home as well as outside like a glutton. Why should he eat mud? Today he started eating mud.” Yashoda felt sad and was furious. She caught hold of Krishna’s hand and asked: “Krishna, am I not serving you enough food? Are you not eating enough of butter in the neighborhood? Why have you started eating mud?” Then Krishna started explaining: “O mother, to eat mud am I a child or a madcap?” Though Krishna was only five years old at that time, by telling His mother that He was not a child, nor a madcap, He meant to indicate indirectly that He was the mighty Great One.

Thus, Krishna conveyed many inner secrets. No one can understand in depth Krishna’s leelas. They have got some external implications and inner significance. But, today very few people know that inner reality. People are full of doubts. Mother Yashoda saw all the worlds in Krishna’s mouth, but she herself doubted. What was the main reason? It was the feeling that Krishna was her son. It is the physical attachment that causes doubts.

One should attach oneself to the atma. When the atma merges in paramatma, everything becomes unified. This atmic relationship is spirituality. The body relationship is physical. Therefore, it was Krishna who clarified all the doubts, demonstrated and manifested divinity in everybody. Though all incarnations are divine, Krishnavatar was special in this sense that He spent all His time smiling and smiling, full of love. At no point of time, He was angry. He was always smiling. This is the main quality of God. God has no trace of ego or pride or jealousy whatsoever.

Such sacred qualities are present only in Sai Avatar again. In no other incarnation, this was noticed. Though divinity is uniform in all the incarnations, each avatar expressed Himself on the basis of the prevalent circumstances. You should develop full faith in God. Just as you have faith in yourself, have faith in God. Faith in yourself and faith in God – this is the secret of greatness. You are God, and God is you only. Why do you give room for doubts? In fact, these doubts will ruin you. So, give up all these doubts. Develop love, follow the path of truth and experience divinity. This is true sadhana; this is true spirituality.

Discourse at Prasanthi Nilayam on 14-8-1998.