Sathya Sai Geetha - I

Discourse of Sathya Sai Baba, Prashanthi Nilayam, 27 September 1960
Published by Sri Sathya Sai Books and Publications Trust
Web posted at Oct 1, 2001

In the Sathya Sai Geetha, which Thirumalachar read and explained just now, he has given My name to the 'Sathya' that he has experienced. Persons who have seen Me are many, but those who have understood My significance are few; so too, those who have 'seen' the Geetha, that is to say, read it and learned it by rote, are legion; but those who have grasped the sense are few. Geetha must be "Thaagi" (which is the reverse form of Geetha), that is to say, in Thelugu, "drunk" or imbibed! Then, you become a "Thaagi", full of Vairaagyam - free from senseless attachment to the sensory world. Giving up Raaga - that is, things that please and bind, that ensnare and enslave - that is what is meant by Vairaagyam (dispassion).

Another thing about the Geetha is that it does not speak of Grihastha (the householder) stage of life. It deals with the fundamentals of living; not living in this compartment or that, but living as such, and the deepest problems of life. It was repeated by one householder to another and so it does not prescribe the recluse's 'escape'. That is the lesson, both in that Geetha and this.

Many read the Geetha but few benefit

Geetha means 'song'; Krishna sings at Brindhaavan with the flute. He sings on the battlefields too; in both places the call is for the particular to merge with the infinite, the universal. For Him, the Rudhrabhuumi (place of cremation) as well as the Bhadhrabhuumi (sanctified ground) are the same; they are equally placed for imparting Upadhesh (spiritual instruction) in the form in which the Bhaktha most likes it, namely, song. And imagine with what concentration Arjuna heard it? His concentration was steady as that of the Gopees (cowherd girls) who listened to the message of the flute in Brindhaavan. He forgot the opposing armies, his own hatreds and enthusiasm for war and he became immersed in the teaching he secured. If you develop that Ekaagratha (one-pointedness) in the Kurukshethra of your own particular 'battlefields', you can assuredly also listen to the Geetha - the Bhagavathgeetha or the Sai Geetha or the Sathya Sai Geetha, intended for you.

The Geetha was spoken to remove the Ajnaana sammoha (the delusion caused by ignorance), and it succeeded in removing it so far as Arjuna was concerned; others like Sanjaya and Dhritharaashtra who also heard it did not benefit, because they were still bound by their own particular brand of Ajnaana. Dhritharaashtra was all the while worried that the battle had not started yet and that his sons' enemies had not been destroyed! So he was not benefited. Therefore, many read the Geetha but few benefit. You must have Arjuna's Vairaagyam and Arjunas's Ekaagratha to derive profit from the Geetha. Nirmala hridhaya (pure heart) and Nischala bhaava (firm disposition of mind) are essential.

Feeling of 'I' and 'mine' should go

The Sammoha (confusion) of Arjuna was the feeling of 'I' and 'Mine'. All of a sudden he began to feel that he was the killer, that he would be responsible and that they were his teachers and elders and relations. This Mamakaara (feeling of mine) has to go, the 'I' has to be crossed and all words, deeds and thoughts have to be dedicated to the Lord. The baby weeps as soon as it is born because the Jeevi (individual being) has no desire to get entangled in Prakrithi (objective world) once again. It is unwilling to come into Maayaa (veil of delusion). Science describes it as the process of breathing for the first time and the clearing of the air passage; but why should it weep? The process can be started some other way, say, snaking or shivering, is it not?

The weeping child must later leave this world laughing, the worth of life is to be judged by the end. Prema is the seed, Bhakthi is the seedling, the sapling. Faith is the manure, Sathsanga (holy company) is the rain, Aathma-arpana (offering of the self) is the flower and Aikyam (merging together) the fruit. With that, one must throw off this coil and become free.

The Geetha advises Karmasanyaasa (renunciation of action), that is to say, Karma without attachment to the fruit thereof. There are Karmas which have to be done as duties, related to the status in Samsaara (worldly life), and if these are done in the proper spirit, they will not bind at all. Do all Karma as actors in a play, keeping your identity separate and not attaching yourself too much to your role. Remember that the whole thing is just a play and the Lord has assigned to you a part; act well your part, there all your duty ends. He has designed the play and he enjoys it.

Take refuge in the innermost Recesses of the Heart

Aathma is the ocean, Prakrithi (nature) is just a wave of that vast ageless, boundless ocean and the Jeevi is just a drop of that wave. You cannot give up the wave or the sea. You can only merge the name and form of the drop. Once you enter the depths of the sea, it is all calm, it is all peace; agitation, noise, confusion - all are only on the outer layers. So also in the innermost recesses of the heart, there is a reservoir of Shaanthi where you must take refuge.

There are three types of people: The Thaamasik who are like iron balls, impervious to any softening influence; the Raajasik who are like cotton, absorbent but not changing their own nature; and the Saathwik, who melt as butter melts at the joy or grief of others or at the mention of the Leelas (divine plays) of the Lord. They dive deep into the source and spring of sympathy. Anger, envy, greed and intolerance are all so many holes in the pot; the waters of Shaanthi, Soukhya and Santhosha (peace, contentment, happiness) leak through the holes and the pot becomes empty. The pot has to be repaired and all leaks stopped so that it may be useful.

It is when you are in a desperate situation that you call upon the Lord, forgetting your pride and your egoism. The Paandavas were so full of misery in a worldly sense that they always had an attitude of prayer. If I had given you all the comforts and opportunities, you would not have come to Puttaparthi. Trouble is the bait with which the fish is hauled out of the water, Kunthi asked that Krishna should continue giving her and her sons all kinds of misery so that He may grant them His grace continuously.

Offer your Egoism, at the Lord's Feet

Thirumalaachar called this attitude Aathmaarpana (offering of the self), but the Aathma is He Himself; and so, what do you mean by offering Him to Himself? What you would offer at His feet is your egoism, your Aham-kaara! Offer all the pride, all the separateness, all the delusion, all the attachment that the egoism has proliferated into! That is the worship you have to do. Bring to Me all the evil in you, and leaving it here take from Me what I have, viz., Prema; learn Sarva sama bhaavana - the capacity to see all as 'moved and motivated by the one Paramaathma (supreme reality or self)'.

Examine every day what you do and with what motive; then you can yourself pronounce judgement on your progress. Select only pure motives, pure deeds. You forgot that you are the Aathma and now you remember that you are the Aathma! That is all the progress you have to achieve; it all looks so easy, but it is one of the hardest of assignments. The ear is so near to the eye; but it can never see it direct!

There was a clown in a palace who always asked questions and was therefore held to be a big nuisance. The king had to put up a board. "No questions" just to escape him! But when the king was on his death bed, he called him near and whispered, "I am going." The clown asked him hurriedly, "Shall I order the royal chariot? The elephant with the Howdah? The royal horse full caparisoned? The palanquin? How far are you going? Which is the exact place? How long will you camp there?" The clown was very wise. He knew the questions, though he did not know the answers, nor did the king know. But you can pass examinations only if you know the answers!

The Geetha helps to control Agitations of the Mind

The Geetha prompts you to seek the answers and directs you to experience them. It helps you to control the Chiththa (thoughts) and the agitations of the mind; it destroys delusion; it develops true knowledge; it makes you glimpse the splendour of the Lord and confirms your faith. You say one moment, "Baaba does everything, I am but the instrument" and the next moment the same tongue talks, "I did this; I did that. Swaami did not do this for Me." If you never slip into wrong, you can be ever certain of His grace.

All hearts are His property, it is all His domain. But just as the Zamindhaar sits only on a clean spot though the entire area may be his, the Lord will install Himself only if the heart is cleansed. The Lord has said that, "madh bakthaah yathra gaayanthe thathra thishthaami, Naaradha" - "Where My devotees sing of Me, there I install Myself, Naaradha." I must tell you that you are luckier than men of previous generations. The accumulated merit of many previous births must have granted you this luck. You have got Me and it is your duty now to develop this relationship that you have achieved by sheer good fortune.

In four of five years time, you will see Yogis and Maharishis and Munis (ascetics and sages) crowding here and you may not have such chances of asking Me questions and getting the answers, of approaching Me and directly speaking to Me. So do not be like frogs around the lotus; be like the bees. Plantains and mangoes are kept, while yet green, in straw or dried grass or in a closed room so that the heat may make them ripe and tasty. The meditation on God gives you too the right temperature to ripen yourselves and become sweet and tasty.

Seven Things to be fostered for World Welfare

There are seven things that have to be fostered for the welfare of the world; the cow, the Brahman-ward or spiritual aspirant or the Brahmana, the Vedhas, chastity, truth, non-attachment and Dharma (righteousness). All these are now fast declining and I have come to restore them to their pristine purity and strength. Do not think that this Sathya Sai Geetha was composed by some Bhaktha (devotee) and that he reads it and explains it here. As he said, I am the inspirer and it is for your benefit that he has summarised My teachings in this way. It is said "Ekam Sathyam, vimalam, achalam" - "the one truth is pure and unshakeable." Thirumalaachar has collected it in his vessel and he is giving it to you.

Of course, no one can unravel the mystery of the Lord. Even Vishwaamithra who came to Dhasaratha asking for the two boys, extolling them as divine incarnations, later forgot that fact and he dared teach them Manthras (sacred formulas), as if they were just ordinary disciples! He was even proud that the Lord who transformed Ahalya and released her from the curse was his disciple. Pride is one of the worst sins in the spiritual field. If you feel conceited that you are a Bhaktha of Hari, He will "Hari" (destroy, in Thelugu), you remember. Sharanaagathi (absolute surrender) should be like the attitude of Lakshmana. Raama said, "Take Seetha and leave her in the forest." Implicit obedience! There is no why! That is Lakshmana. That is Sharanaagathi; the rest are deserving only of Sharagathi (the arrow of Raama).

That is the genuine Geetha, this lesson of Sharanaagathi. Increase faith, walk in the path of a Dharma, get rid of Vyaamoha and Ajnaana (delusion and ignorance), cleanse the Chiththa vrithhi (agitations of the mind), and know that He is the Aathma and that you too are the Aathma.