Bhrama and Brahman

Discourse of Sathya Sai Baba, Prashanthi Nilayam, 2 October 1962
Published by Sri Sathya Sai Books and Publications Trust
Web posted at Sep 22, 2001

When you listen to these speeches by distinguished scholars, these wise men who have become like ripe fruits full of sweet Vedhasaaram (essence of Vedhas), you forget (I can realise your feelings) the discomfort, the rain, the heat, the sleeplessness and the hunger which might be pestering you. That shows that the Vedhas are a reservoir of joy. And for you, the joy is greater because you are all the time listening with Me in your minds, comparing My words and deeds with what you hear these people describe as the words and deeds of the Vedhic God, and discovering that both are the same. For your inner joy, they are not the cause, nor is it, believe Me, even I. It is you yourself. The proofs and arguments they quoted for the purity of the rites and establishment of a happy social order, which is the product of the rites, they are in you already, they are for you. You have those messages whispering their words of warning and encouragement in your inner ear; it is up to you to be silent for a while, so that you may hear it and benefit by it.

You have been born for one purpose: to die. That is to say, to kill the "I." If Bhrama (delusion) dies, you become Brahman (the supreme spirit), or rather, you know that you are Brahman. All this literature, all this effort, all this Yajna, all this teaching is just to hold a mirror before you, so that you may see Yourself.

Karma is like the Clouds that pass

Now, this can be done by Karma, Upaasana or Jnaana (action, worship, sacred knowledge); the Vedhas are the basic teaching for all humanity on these three; it has the Karma kaanda, the Upaasana kaanda and the Jnaana kaanda. Of course, Bhakthi or Upaasana (through the Karma which it sublimates and sanctifies) will lead you on to the highest Jnaana. It is enough if you take a ticket and sit in the "through" carriage of the train; it will take you through many junctions to the distant destination. The Karma of purchasing a ticket and getting into the carriage and the Bhakthi or intense desire to reach the terminus (without any urge to alight at intermediate stations) will take you through a series of junctions and stations, right to the very place where you want to go.

In the firmament of the heart, the mind and the intellect must shine as the moon and the sun; Karma is like the clouds that pass; do not worry about them. Some clouds are inevitable; they will shift soon and fade away. So also Karma. They will not disappear if you simply shout at them. Discipline alone can drive away those clouds; that is to say, Karma has to be done to free the mind from the consequences of Karma.

The Vedhas are endless, Anantham; Vedha is the sky, which envelops all, which has no limit in any direction. The Shaasthras are like buildings built under the sky, each with its own roof; some big, some small, but all constructed to give shelter and comfort; the same nectar is found in both, but the Vedha is the reservoir from which they draw and fill their own tanks.

Take a stone image; the face, the nose, the feet, the ankle, the knee, the hair, the crown, the precious stones set in the crown are all stone. The cloth that the image wears is stone, the smile is stone. So too, the entire world is Brahman, one substance, one energy, one mind. Vidwaans Kolluri Somasekhara Shaasthry, Sannidhaanam Lakshminaarayana Shaasthry and Uppuluuri Ganapathi Shaasthry all went through their speeches at express speed, for they felt that you were longing to hear Me also. But that was wronging you, for rarely do you hear men of such talent and experience. Still, I shall close now, for you have sat too long without any interval.