Immanent in You

Discourse of Sathya Sai Baba, Prashanthi Nilayam, 4 March 1962
Published by Sri Sathya Sai Books and Publications Trust
Web posted at Sep 22, 2001

You have heard four people speaking now on the magazine, 'Sanaathana Saarathi' and the value derived from it by readers. I know that you have been squatting for an hour or so and you will come again for longer sessions later in the day which will continue the whole night. Let Me tell you that far from sympathising with you, I commend your endurance, for such hardships make your lives worthwhile. To call it a hardship is a sign of delusion and ignorance of values. Just now the entire country is under the shadow of a fear, the fear of Ashtagrahakoota - the conjoint effect of eight planets that converge in one line for some short time. In order to ward off the evil, persons who have so far never spent a pie on charity are spending lavishly for Yajnas, Puujas and the propitiation of planetary powers. So far, so good; let some money flow from one pocket to another which is more needy. Let money circulate.

Let the spirit of charity grow, even out of panic. But calamity, danger, death cannot be avoided for all time; they are inevitable factors of life; you have to learn to live bravely with them. This can be accomplished only by uninterrupted prayer, not by spurts of worship actuated by sudden fear. Purify your hearts, your thoughts, feelings, emotions, speech; strengthen your nobler impulses; then, no panic can unnerve you; nothing can shake your stability, your Prashaanthi (inner peace).

Lord's Leela to reveal the Nature of Bhakthi

Your prayers will be heard and answered; the Lord has no distinction of big or small, of high or low. There was in Bengal a Bhaktha named Maadhavadhaasa, who realised when his wife died, that he had lost his Griha (home), for his Grihalakshmi (wife) had passed away; so he gave all his riches to the poor, donned a Gerua (yellow) robe and wandered alone as a pilgrim to the Jagannaatha shrine. There he did such deep penance that the concrete image soon became the abstract reality and the abstract reality became a perpetual vision. He lost all sense of time and space, of Chith and Achith (awareness and ignorance). Then the Lord, with Subhadra, His Shakthi-aspect, moved towards him and placed before him the gold plate used by the priests to keep food in front of Jagannaatha in the sanctum sanctorum. When Maadhavadhaasa awoke to his gross surroundings, he saw the gold plate with the pile of delicious food upon it; he ate his fill and returned to his inner paradise which he had left for a while.

Meanwhile, the plate was reported lost, assumed to be stolen, and discovered by the seashore near Maadhavadhaasa, who was promptly arrested and led to the lockup by some very efficient policemen. He was beaten mercilessly but did not seem to mind it a bit. The chief priest that night had a dream in which Jagannaatha asked him not to bring food for the Lord again into the shrine, for: "You bring food for Me, and when I eat it, you start beating Me!" Then he realised that it was all the Lord's Leela to demonstrate the devotion of Maadhavadhaasa and teach others the real nature of Bhakthi.

Some scholars and Pandiths of Puri did not feel happy at this sudden rise to fame of a stranger from Bengal; so they called Maadhavadhaasa into their midst and challenged him to an intellectual duel. Maadhavadhaasa was not a Pandith of that type; he had learnt the Shaasthras only as a staff to help him walk, as a guide to action; not as a stick to beat others with. So he accepted defeat even before the bout began and signed a statement to that effect, which the leading Pandith was only too glad to accept because Maadhaavadhaasa had a reputation for scholarship which was really frightening.

The Lord will not allow a Devotee to be harmed

The Pandith hurried to Khaasi with that token of victory; he waved it before a gathering of scholars and demanded that they should all pay him homage as superior even to Maadhavadhaasa. But the Lord will not allow His Bhaktha to be humiliated. When the signed statement was opened and read, they were all amazed to find that it was a statement declaring that it was Maadhavadhaasa who had achieved victory and it was the Pandith who had signed underneath acknowledging his own defeat! The Lord will not be silent when the Bhaktha is insulted or harmed.

But, remember, the word is Bhaktha. Well, who is a Bhaktha and how can you claim the privileges of that position? Unless you have unshakeable faith, you do not deserve that name. If you are rooted in that faith, success is yours, without a doubt. But do not think that I am angry or displeased with you on that account. This evening, the Lingodhbhava (emergence of egg-shaped stone of Shiva) is My duty, My responsibility, rather My nature which must reveal itself on this holy day.

I gave Kasthuri and Thirumalachar shawls and blessed them at the beginning of this meeting since they wrote My life in English and Thelugu: the book called "Sathyam Shivam Sundaram." Some of you might have wondered why I liked the publication of this book on My life. Well, I like the production of all kinds of things and so, why should I not like this? I responded to the prayers of devotees and allowed them to write it. "Ramayathi ithi Raama" - He who pleases is Raama. The joy of the Bhaktha satisfies the Lord; the joy of the Lord is the reward of the Bhaktha.

Truth is the basic Reality of you all

The title, "Sathyam Shivam Sundaram" is full of meaning. It speaks of Me as immanent in every one of you, remember. Sathyam (truth) is the basic reality of you all; that is why you resent being called a liar. The real "you" is innocent; he will not accept an imputation that is false. The real "you" is Shivam - joy, happiness, auspiciousness - but not Shavam (corpse). It is Shubham (beautiful), Nithyam (permanent), Aanandham (bliss). How then can you bear being called otherwise? The real "you" is beauty, and so you resent being called ugly. The Aathma has got entangled in the body which it does not like; it is weighed down by shame when you identify it with the body and attribute to it the weaknesses and deficiencies of that physical vehicle.

The 'Sanaathana Saarathi ' is the result of My Sankalpa (resolve). My Uthsaaha (venture), My Aanandha (bliss). Nothing can stand in the way once I have decided on any step. When the Paramaathma Thathwa (principle of supreme soul) assumes human form and appears, not with Mahaa-shakthi and Mahaa-swaruupa (supreme power and form of the supreme), but with Mayaa-shakthi and Mayaa-swaruupa (power of illusion and form of illusion), it is difficult to comprehend it, especially when you are in an uncertain vacillating mood. Once you understand the purpose and the procedure, all doubts will cease.