Detachment is Possible for One and All

Discourse of Sathya Sai Baba during the Summer Course in Spirituality and Indian Culture
held for College Students at Brindavan, Whitefield, Bangalore District in May 1973
Published by Sri Sathya Sai Books and Publications Trust
Web posted at Apr 25, 2002

Whether one is a Yogi given to simple living or a Bhogi given to luxury, whether one has renounced everything and is a Sanyasi or is still in a family enjoying attachment, peace and truth are the only two things which can give him Ananda or bliss. His peace is his happiness supreme.

Boys and girls! When Sankara was engaged in composing the verses of Bhaja Govinda, each disciple was also giving a verse of his own and a principle disciple, by name Nityananda, gave a distinctive message in the verse that he composed. The meaning of this verse is that whether one is given to the Yogic way of life or one is given to a luxurious way of life, whether one has renounced the world or one is still in it, once one has seen and tasted the greatness of Brahman or the aspect of the divine, one will remain a divine person and nothing will detract him from the divine path. You may ask the question how this is possible? A dancer or an actor, while performing a dance or enacting a drama, does the particular act very well and is not led away from the normal life by what he or she is doing in that act. So, this Yogi or the individual who is living in a family and performing the duties prescribed for that purpose is not attracted into the family. Because we are looking only at the external appearances, we are not able to understand the true spirit in which a Yogi functions.

There is another small example for this. According to Indian traditions and as an accepted practice, if one husband has two wives and if one of the wives is pregnant at the time of the death of the husband, she will not acquire widowhood till she delivers the child and continues to enjoy the status of a Sumangali. She alone knows the fact that she is a widow. Purusha, or the creator of the universe has two wives, Pravritti and Nivritti. As in the example just given, Nivritti only keeps up her appearance of a Sumangali for the prosperity of the world and has a special relationship to Purusha, the husband.

It is about this that a clever disciple by name Saunaka questions Guru Angirasa in the Mundaka Upanishad. Angirasa tells that whatever could be taught is of two kinds. One is the knowledge of the lower type, the Apara Vidya and the other is the knowledge of the higher type, the Para Vidya. Whether it is the Rig Veda, Atharvana Veda, Sama Veda or Yajur Veda, or the Upanishads, they have all been taught as Apara Vidya. Not only that, Angirasa had taught various things like grammar, prosody, astrology etc. as part of Apara Vidya. On the other hand, whether it was to listen to or understand and turn over in one's mind all that is abstract and all that relates to the divinity or Brahman, the eternal, it was handled as part of Para Vidya. This means that once you turn your mind towards understanding the imperishable Brahman, then whatever is performed as a function of the body is no longer Apara Vidya but also turns into Para Vidya. We know that king Janaka, even while performing ordinary worldly duties like ruling the kingdom and looking after the needs of the kingdom, found it possible to turn his thoughts completely towards the divine. For Janaka's ability to do this, there is an example.

The great Rishi Suka, was once teaching several things to his disciples in a forest quite close to Mithilapura. King Janaka learnt about this and wanted himself to become a disciple of Suka and listen to his teachings. Janaka went to the forest, made obeisance to Suka and asked that he be accepted as one amongst the numerous disciples Suka had, and requested for permission to attend the classes. From that day, Janaka was conducting himself as one of the disciples. One day when he did not arrive in time, Suka did not start his class and waited till Janaka arrived. He further told the other disciples that he was delaying the class for that reason. When the sage told the other disciples to wait till Janaka arrived, they murmured amongst themselves and told each other that they had joined this great sage only because it was believed that he attached no special importance to kings and such other powerful people. It now appears that he is influenced by the king's wealth and power. From that day, their faith in the Guru started weakening. They also became envious of king Janaka. This is something which has been known from ancient times. When deserving disciples are given the opportunity of going close to the teacher, others who are not eligible for such treatment become envious. It is not possible to say when and on whom such grace will fall. Some people, even if they had done a lot of good in their previous births, are reborn the moment their accumulated good work has worked itself out. This means that one should go on performing good actions and thereby rise higher and higher. On the other hand, if one thinks that he need not do anymore good, he will lose the opportunity.

As soon as Suka saw such envy and jealousy among his disciples, he decided to teach them a lesson. At an opportune moment, all the disciples were made to feel that the entire city of Mithilapura was in flames. As soon as the disciples heard that Mithilapura was in flames, each one of them began to think of the consequences of the effect it would have on their houses, on their parents, on their wealth, and so on. Each one began to run to the city, with a view to save and salvage what they could. But king Janaka did not waver and did not move from his place. Suka told Janaka that the flames appear to have spread to the palace and he asked Janaka to go and save the inmates of the palace. Janaka did not agree to do this but was only smiling, thinking that God's will shall be done and no one can change it. The envious students who ran to the city found that there were no flames at all and that it was perhaps only a make believe. They came back and reported this to Suka. They expressed surprise at the steady mind of Janaka. Suka looked at the disciples who were envious and told them that it is better to have one disciplined student rather than many students who had no stability of mind. It is good to have one steady mind to which you can convey a lesson. This is better than a thousand wavering minds.

There is a similar story with regard to Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. In the midst of giving a discourse, he found a disciple by name Rani Rasmani sitting and pretending to listen to the discourse. He went straight to her and gave this Rani two slaps. Others who were witnessing this event were surprised and were thinking that Ramkrishna did not have a sound mind. Rasmani also was surprised at this and was trying to think if anything was wrong with her and why the Guru was treating her with disrespect. Truly, if one knows one's own faults, he will not commit those faults. In fact, because Rasmani did not know her fault she was not able to realise what was wrong with her. Ramakrishna told her that if she came there to think of her problems of litigation, and not to listen to the discourse, she might as well do so in her house. In the same manner, some people who come and sit here to listen to what is being said here, waver and flutter like the leaves of a tree. They move about and look around as if they are crows. They are not able to sit steadily. They look this side and that side. They are unconcerned and unaffected by all that happens here. They cannot even sit properly. Unless you have a steady mind, you cannot understand matters relating to the Atma. They also set a bad example to others. People who have a wavering mind cannot be true Yogis, even though they may pass off as good devotees in external appearance.

It is in this context that Sankara's disciple, Nityananda wrote this particular verse. Even if you have family attachments, you can do many good things and understand the Atma Tatwa. There have been many saints like Pothana, Thyagaraja, Kabir, Ramdas, Vemana, Jayadeva, Gouranga and so on who have expounded the divine while remaining in society and retaining worldly attachments. There are others who remove themselves away from society and go to a forest or a hill to attain this Atma Tatwa. There are yet others in the society who pretend to be great devotees. They always move to places where there are large gatherings of devotees. They pretend to be very detached while remaining in the society. Such actions and such pretentions can never be the accepted way of life.

Valuable jewels are always kept in strong boxes and sellers thereof can show them only to those who really wish to buy them or those who have the capacity to buy them. They cannot take the jewels to a fish market and show them to everyone irrespective of their capacity to purchase them. Japa, Dhyana, Sadhana and other methods of self-realisation are like valuable jewels and gems. They can only be shown and given to people who have unwavering faith and a steady mind. They cannot be given, for purposes of exhibition, to people who do not even know how to concentrate on an object.

There are three kinds of Sadhanas in order to develop an unwavering mind. The first is Meena Sadhana (like the fish). The second is Mriga Sadhana (like the animal) and the third is Kurma Sadhana (like the tortoise). Meena Sadhana can be explained by remembering that a fish can survive only in water. The moment it is taken out of water, it perishes. Similarly, Meena Sadhana is one which can be done only in solitude. If you sit in public, the Sadhana will not be successful. Being unable to concentrate when one is mixed up with other people and to be able to get concentration in solitude is called Meena Sadhana. The animal Sadhana is that in which one can get concentration on the earth only. You cannot go elsewhere, say into water, and do it. As in this case, there are some people who can get concentration only when they are sitting in company and among others. They cannot get concentration in solitude. If they are alone, they begin to think of their family problems. On the other hand, the tortoise can live equally well either in water or on earth. So, if we say that one's Sadhana is like Kurma Sadhana or one is able to concentrate like a tortoise, we mean that the person is able to concentrate irrespective of whether he is alone or is sitting in company among others. This is called Kurma Sadhana.

Today there is no equal mindedness. You are all developing only what is related to Sangha or the society. In this age of youth, it is possible for you to develop intense concentration. While your body is strong and while your mind is strong, you must control your organs. Otherwise you will have a wavering mind and you cannot control it, when you grow older. If you have a wavering mind, you will be wasting your life. If things happen contrary to your ideas, your desires and your expectations, there will be excitement coming from within you. You should not be subservient to such excitement. You should control yourself and get an upper hand over such excitement. Then only, will you be entitled to God's grace. Be in society but remain careful to see that your faith and devotion are not perturbed. If your faith shakes, your life will become shaky. If your mind can be controlled, you can certainly do something useful and your life will become purposeful.

I want to urge upon you to make good use of your stay here, without wasting any time. Looking at all this, taking a superficial view of this and your taking down notes from what the teachers have said, is not going to be of much use. Only that portion of it which you take to your heart and preserve with care will be of lasting value. In a washerman's house there may be hundreds of shirts, pants and bush coats with very attractive colours and shapes but all these clothes will be there for a short while only. They will be washed, ironed and returned to the owners. The only clothes that will remain in his possession for a longer time will be his own clothes. In the same manner, your head is like the house of a washerman. The teachings which are being given to you now, go into your head like the clothes of others which go into a washerman's house. Only those teachings which you retain and put into practice will remain with you and all others will go out of you. If you take a spoon and put it in various items of food like the Sambar, buttermilk, Payasam and so on, the spoon itself cannot get the taste of any of these items. There is no use if our intelligence moves about in the contents of various lectures that we hear, like the spoon in this analogy. It is only when we consume this ourselves, that useful results will follow.

There is a small story in the Mahabharata. With a view to get Krishna on her side, Satyabhama, a selfish woman, went to Narada and requested him to tell her some way, a short cut by which she can achieve her objective. Narada knew that Satyabhama was very selfish and that selfishness will never work in regard to matters relating to God. So, Narada wanted to teach a lesson to Satyabhama and said that he knew of a method which would get Krishna on her side completely. This method consisted of a devotional ritual in which she was supposed to give away her husband as a gift to someone and then buy him back by paying money, equivalent in weight to the weight of the Lord. Narada said that Krishna will belong solely to Satyabhama at all times and under all circumstances, if she went through this ritual.

Satyabhama did not understand God's ways. She had no idea of God's strength. She was intensely selfish and was lured into the plan which Narada had put before her. Therefore, she had undertaken the ritual of gifting Krishna to Narada and then getting him back after weighing him in terms of wealth. She made Krishna sit in one pan of the balance and she put all her wealth in the other pan but it was no match for the weight of Krishna. Narada saw an excellent opportunity in the situation and told Satyabhama that since she was not able to give the money needed to equal her husband's weight, he was taking away Krishna and that from that day, Krishna would not belong to her but would belong to him.

In that situation, Satyabhama was trying to find someone who would help her. She thought of Rukmini and went in search of her. She found her performing Tulasi Pooja. Rukmini saw the plight of Satyabhama and said that she would gladly come to her help. She went with a few Tulasi leaves in her hand. When Rukmini went there and saw the situation in which Krishna and Narada were, she was astonished to find that Satyabhama was trying to outweigh the Lord himself with money. She knew that this would never be possible. She addressed Narada and said that money will never outweigh God and only God's name can match Him in weight. Narada did not agree with this and asked that since Krishna had a form which can be seen, He must be weighed against something which can also be seen. Narada said that he could not accept something which could not be seen, such as a name as equivalent to Krishna, a form which could be seen. Since Rukmini had a pure heart, she immediately grasped the situation and she told herself that whether it was a fruit, a flower or a leaf or even a spoon of water, if given in full faith, God will surely respond. If there was any truth in this, she expected Krishna to respond to what she was going to do. So, if full faith, she placed a few Tulasi leaves in the other pan of the balance after uttering the name of Krishna. The name of Krishna became exactly equal to the person of Krishna and the weight of the leaves became the excess in the balance.

It is only with affection, love and a pure heart that one can get round God. But if you want to adopt tricks and shortcuts and if you want to be foxy and thus try to get round God, He can be even more foxy and turn you into a dog. Your pretensions and your doing things that are not relevant will never take you to God. For this reason, whether one is a Yogi or a Bhogi, whether one is in the society or in solitude, if he knows and understands the nature of God, he will change into becoming one with the divine. This is the substance of the verse given by Nityananda in the Bhaja Govinda series.