Sathyam, Shivam, Sundharam

Excerpts from Discourses of Sathya Sai Baba during May 1963
Published by Sri Sathya Sai Books and Publications Trust
Web posted at Jan 13, 2001

To earn the grace of God, you have to pray to the personified power with name and form; it is your yearning that decides in what form the Lord appears. You call and He answers. If you are not earnest, if you feel indifferent, and say, "Let Him come when He wills, in the form He likes and with the name He prefers," He will not come at all. Call on Him with anguish; He will respond.

In Raajasthan, there was a priest who worshipped the image of Baalakrishna installed in the temple, attached to the palace of Udhaipur. His name was Dhevesha. His story may not be found anywhere but since he was intimately connected with Me, I know him very well. Every night he used to "put Baalakrishna to sleep," with appropriate ritual and closed the door of the shrine; but, before he came out, he would take from the head of the image, the Mallika (jasmine) garland he had placed there in the evening and wear it himself, before proceeding home. Of course, on those days on which the Mahaaraana visited the temple, the garland had to be given to him, for wear.

One day, however, the Mahaaraana came immediately after he had worn it inside his tuft of hair; so, when the ruler demanded the flower, he had to get inside the shrine and, slyly removing it from his tuft, hand it reverentially back to him. The Mahaaraana was happy that he had not missed the gift; but, was shocked to find in it a strand of gray hair! Suspecting some tricks he shouted angrily, "What! Has our Balakrishna grown old and grey?" The priest, to save his skin, said "Yes, Yes." The Mahaaraana replied, "Well, I shall not disturb now; but, early tomorrow, I shall come and see if His hair has really gone grey."

Devesha had no food or sleep that night. He wept his eyes out in agony, for, he had in his fear, imposed old age and greyness on the ever-youthful Lord. Morning came and the Mahaaraana hurried to the temple to open the shrine. They both looked in and, lo, the hair was grey. The king suspected that the hair was false, planted by the priest. So he pulled and tugged at it, only to find drops of blood at the roots. God had responded to the anguished cry, the call of the agony. The formless will assume any form and undergo any transformation to satisfy the yearning of the devoted aspirant. The over-riding purpose is to make all Karma-jeevis (action-oriented beings), Brahma-jeevis (God-filled beings).

Man must crave for the Vision of God; then only is he entitled to the status of human-ness. Maanava (the human) must reach Maadhava (the divine). He must conquer the mind. Man is the ruler of Manas (the mind), not its slave. Who takes the role of the educator from the beginning of your life? The mother, is it not? Prakrithi (nature) is the mother, the feminine principle, the Maayaa (illusory energy). She is the great teacher. If you do not learn the lessons well, nature punishes you, boxes you in the ear, hits you on the head. She is a stern merciless instructress; but, if you learn well, she will lead you proudly to the Presence of Purushoththama (the supreme person). Obey Prakrithi and be well trained by Her; then, you can inherit the glory of Purushoththama. If you disregard Her teaching, the mother gets disgusted with you and the father too will disregard your entreaties. The commands of Prakrithi given for your good are called Dharma. Have that Dharma as the witness of all your thoughts, words and deeds. Be guided every instant by the dictates of that Dharma, and success will be yours.

Little children must be taught with the help of big letters scrawled on boards and slates. Temples, images and saligrams (crystal stones) are the slates and boards, for children in spiritual progress. But, even if you play with a toy elephant you cannot get the experience of contacting a live elephant, can you? The formless God-head can be understood by you only when you have rendered yourself formless! When you are in the world of Gunas (qualities), you have to attach yourself only to a Saguna Lord (God with attributes).

Even a thief does not like being called "thief." He gets either ashamed or angry when he is called. Why? Truth is his real nature and his true nature revolts against the appellation. The Aathma is always Shivam (auspicious and holy). So it protests vehemently when the vehicle where it resides is called Amangalam (inauspicious), Shavam (dead). The Aathma is also Sundharam (beauty). AUM is the Ahamkaaram (egoism) of Paramaathma; it has no Vikaaraam (ugliness) in it. So it is always Sundharam (beautiful, charming, lovely). That is why when it is described as ugly, deformed, disgusting, etc., he lowers his head in shame, for something revolting to his true nature is being imputed. Sathyam, Shivam, Sundharam is yourself; you have not realised it because of delusion, ignorance and false inference. Get rid of these and merge in your real self.