The Seeds of a University

Discourse of Sathya Sai Baba, Ananthapur, 8 Jul 1971
Published by Sri Sathya Sai Books and Publications Trust
Web posted at Mar 17, 2002

Bhaarath is the land that won renown in continents across the seas for her heroic achievements in the material as well as spiritual fields, that swept away the mighty cohorts of her imperial conquerors, that is the nursery of famous scholars and investigators into the mysterious realms of the mind, that is upholding high traditions of music, dance, painting, sculpture and architecture that have their roots in the ancient days of adventure and achievement; this is the heritage that the sons and daughters of this country have to feed and foster. This is no weakling's task. It requires a generation of mothers, like Kausalya who brought up Raama, Seetha who fostered the charming twins, Lava and Kusha, Thaaraabai who filled the heart of Shivaji with the earnestness and enthusiasm of epic heroes, and a Putthalibai who shaped a Gandhiji out of her hesitant and honest son.

These mothers took the children on their laps and through song and lullabies, through gesture and good stories, while feeding and rocking them to sleep, they poured into the precious vessels of their hearts the nectar of the Vedhas, the Upanishaths and the various Yogas of Bhaarath. They charged them with power and charted the road to eternal joy and peace. Maa (mother) was the first word the children uttered and the last that man gasps. She teaches the first steps for the child's unsure feet, and she sets it on the long journey towards liberation.

The Process of Education has become a Trade

This day we are inaugurating the new buildings for the college dedicated to this purpose of having such Maas (mothers) for the revival of the Dharma, which, Bharath and the world so urgently need today. Today, all departments of life are reverberating with the raucous noise of anxiety and fear, uncertainty and insecurity. The main purpose of life is the acquisition of Aanandha, and the sharing of that Aanandha with others. This has gone under; and a vast new number of desires, quite unrelated to the chief aim of the Vyakthi (individual) who has to make his divinity patent, is emerging, like lava from the subterranean fire! The Guru warns and waylays; but, his words are not heeded. Man loathes the law and loves the lie; he gives ear to evil and invites iniquities on himself!

Education does not seem to improve his plight in any manner, or to any extent. The schools and colleges, once revered by the entire population as temples of Saraswathi, the Goddess of learning, as a means of attaining the supreme state of self-realisation, have degenerated into temples for the Goddess of wealth! For securing admission into the schools and colleges, money is demanded; contributions are sought. For the payment of a sum, the required attendance at classes will be certified as having been secured. A "pass" in the examination can also often be manipulated with the help of the purse. As a result of this decline in morality, discipline is reduced to shambles, character is devalued and the process of education has become a trade. As Shrimathi Saraswathi Giri said, degrees and diplomas have become worth while because they entitle you for jobs. They are begging bowls, with which you can clamour outside the doors of offices and factories.

Make the Home that Children love to cherish

Shrimathi Giri said that the misery of some unemployed women is more pitiable that that of their brothers. This situation has arisen because the real significance of education has been missed by the educated, educators and educatees! Education must strengthen the springs of Aanandha, Prema and Shaanthi (bliss, love and peace) that are inherent in the heart; these should not be dried in the dusty years of study. Man is in essence a function of eternal joy, peace, love and devotion. Cultivate these, by precept, example and exercise, during the formative years. Then, the educated will have security and sweetness as long as they live.

Of course, livelihood has to be earned; but, when, as happens now, both husband and wife attend office away from home, children grow on the laps of Aayahs (nurse maids) and the shoulders of servants, learning their language and manners. The father and mother become casual strangers. When the food they eat is not prepared by loving hands and served with affectionate smiles, the savour disappears and the vibrations are often vile. The mother, as a teacher, attends school leaving off her natural role as a teacher of her own children! This is indeed a tragedy! The house where such parents live an never become the home that children love to cherish in memory.

The securing of jobs cannot be allowed to overshadow the real purpose of education. Women have to cultivate the qualities of sacrifice and detachment, of virtue and wide vision, so that they can lovingly transform their mates and children into seekers and Saadhaks, on the way to success. At present, colleges are infected by anxiety and perplexity, discontent and ill-discipline, irreverence and futility; they have lost the status of temples of learning, where youth is shaped into self-reliant, contented and enterprising heroes; when I identified these defects, deficiencies and dangers, which are rampant in the country, I resolved upon this college in Raayalaseema, at Ananthapur.

Gurukula Atmosphere should be fostered

I am never satisfied with the declaration of intentions! I must taste the Aanandha (bliss) of putting them into action! I express my love through every act, every intention of mine. More than floods of eloquence in praise of that intention and millions of words written in elaboration of the theme, I insist, by my own example, on immediate and complete fulfilment. This will be a Gurukul - a place where teachers and taught will grow together in love and wisdom, as close to the ideas of the hermitages of the past as possible under present conditions. Today is Guru-Vaar, Thursday; it is also Guru-Pournima, the day set apart for adoration of the Guru (the preceptor). It was mentioned just now that this must prove to be the nucleus of a women's university - but, I am not enamoured of that prospect; I will be happy only when the Gurukula atmosphere is fostered and maintained, uncontaminated.

Women must emerge from this college armed with deep-rooted virtue and firm faith in the ideals of womanhood, laid down in our sacred texts. Then only can they, as mothers, mould their children as bright, beautiful, virtuous, strong citizens of the world. This is the only way out of the horror in which the world is simmering.

India should regain the Status as Preceptor of Mankind

Now, the education that is being given in schools for girls and in women's colleges helps only to make them 'desirable wives', not 'desirable mothers'. The role of the mother which is the natural, native and inescapable role is neglected; the subsidiary short-lived scintillation is given prominence. I am glad that the hostel building was inaugurated today by Shrimathi Saraswathi Giri, who provides the ideal I desire to hold forth before the girl-students who will be residing and studying in the hostel, now and later in the coming years. The words she spoke about the dangers of imitating alien cultures, and the validity of the ancient mores of this land have to be remembered by them, as an inspiration. If those words are treasured and acted upon, India can regain the status she long held as the preceptor of mankind.

India shone for centuries as the Karmabhoomi (land of sanctified activity) where each activity of man was ennobled by high purpose and the sense of dedication. She was therefore acclaimed as Yoga-Bhoomi, the land where the people yearned for communion with God; she was revered as the Thyaaga-Bhoomi, where the ideal of the mendicant monk, the naked fakir, the simple monarch counselled by the sage, was placed before the people through precept and example.

At the present time, it is being forged into a Bhoga-Bhoomi, the land of skyscrapers, air-conditioning and tinned foods, an imitative, insurgent, in-disciplined mass of humanity, pulled from its roots and transplanted in other soils. This is an insult to our past, a defiance of history. It is a sacrilege on the sanctity of time, the holiness of the human body and on the consecration which each activity can well become.

Peace is the most priceless Possession of Man

The seed has been planted today; it has to sprout and spread as a tree, heavy with fruits. It has to confer security and sustenance to all. Shrimathi Saraswathi Giri said that, while she is happy that this great institution has come up in the town which is the place of her birth, she can get undiminished happiness only when all those who are poor are enabled to get food, clothing and housing. Of course, these are basic requirements for man; but let me ask, do people who have these - even a surfeit of them - enjoy mental peace? Are they free from anxiety, fear, malice and hate? Peace is the most priceless possession of man. It is the sign of a virtuous character, a willingness for service, a readiness to renounce, a calm spirit of resignation, an awareness of the evanescence of material wealth, of the cool agitationless lake of joy in the heart. You are all broiling in the sun and I do not desire to cause further suffering; we shall gather again in the evening when I can speak to you at greater length on Guru Pournami and its meaning.