Diverse Appearances are only Manifestations of the One God who is Without a Second

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/June 1974
Published by Sri Sathya Sai Books and Publications Trust
Web posted at Jun 20, 2002

Whatever work is prescribed in the Vedas is desirable work and one should accept it as worth performing. Whatever is not prescribed in the Veda is forbidden. One who forgets to differentiate between work that should be done and work that should not be done is a sinner.

'Brahmithi Bharata Bhasha', 'Girivag Vani Saraswati'. This is the description of the language of Saraswati and of Bharata given in our scriptures. Our tradition has been prescribing that the words which occur in the Vedas show the right way in which one can group the letters. To regard such sentences which are groups of words that occur in the Vedas as ordinary sentences, neglecting the sacred meaning thereof has become customary. The words like Ida, Saraswati and Bharati are sacred words of Vedic origin and they represent the essence of Veda and they represent the Veda itself. The words Indra, Vayu and Brihaspati convey to us some aspects. They together contain the meaning of the words Ida, Saraswati and Bharati. The summary meaning of these three words is also contained in the three words Agni, Vayu and Aditya. The synonymous nature of the meaning that is contained in the two sets of three words makes it not possible for either set to come to the place of Yagna by itself. They always come together to the place of Yagna. Along with Aditya comes Bharata and along with Vayu and Agni comes Saraswati, comes Ida and the combination of all these is represented together at the ceremony of Yagna. With the place of Aditya, the word Bharata has been regarded as a synonym or equivalent.

Bharata, Saraswati and Ida are Vedic words. They represent Veda itself. They have not been created as such and later in literature. They have a Vedic origin and Vedic significance. We have to recognise and appreciate this. There is also a well known alternative name for Bharata and that is 'Dravanodam'. 'Dravana' can be interpreted to mean wealth and strength. For one who gives wealth and strength, that is Agni has a name 'Dravanodaha'. This aspect of 'Dravana' is also a name for the 'Havis' or the offering to the God of fire. The one who makes the offering is also called 'Dravanodaha'. For this Rithwic, the Agni is in the position of the son. For the statement that Agni is in the place of a child for the Rithwic, the support is that the Rithwic uses his physical strength and generates the fire by rubbing two pieces of wood. Thus we figuratively regard Agni as being in the position of a child for the Rithwic.

So the Rithwic is also called the Bharata. In that context, the word 'Dravina' will apply to Bharata. It is because of the Rithwics who have the name Bharata and because the name 'Dravana' is applicable to the Rithwics there is also a class of people called Dravidas. In this country, whether it is a name taken by an individual or a philosophical principle, that name must have our acceptance in the Vedic context. If this does not happen, it cannot be taken as a name by any one in this country. Our citizens have been regarding all kinds of work which people do as something which is acceptable to the Veda. These actions in which we are involved from birth to death are not something which we learn from somewhere external to Vedas and undertake. They come to us because our ancestors followed them and we follow them. It is not as if we learn them afresh and put them into practice. To believe in the truth of the following statement 'Sakuntalayam Bharata' which means that the name which Sakuntala's son had, has been given to our country, is a mistake. Bharata was taken from Veda and given to Sakuntala's son. We must realise that the country did exist even before the birth of Sakuntala's son and that the Vedas did exist earlier. We must also examine where from did Sakuntala's son get the name Bharata to get at the origin.

These statements are made by the historians and are all false. These three names Bharat, Bharati and Bharata are Vedic names and have Vedic origin. It is right for us to come to the conclusion that from time immemorial, our country has been called Bharata. The name has come to us from the Vedas where the Rithwicks were using the term in various ceremonies. Its origin is purely and wholly Vedic and is not from anywhere else. It has not come from any kings nor from any philosophical expositions. By virtue of its sacred origin the name Bharata is a significant name for the entire world. Bharata is a significant name for the creation, maintenance and dissolution of the world. Although this world appears as one, it manifests itself in all the three aspects. When we look at this aspect of Bharata and when we want to examine its aspects in time, the future, present and past, they reflect Ida, Saraswati and Bharati. When we look at this name in the aspect of Agni, it has been referred to as 'Ida'. When we look at it by the aspect of Vayu, this has been referred to by a second name 'Saraswati'. The same thing looked at in the aspect of Indra, it has been referred to as 'Bharata'.

You must realise the truth that the name Bharat has not come from any individual and that its significance spreads all over. The sound which spreads all over is also referred to as Bharata. Since there is no direct connection either with Agni or with Vayu, it is regarded all over the world as 'Dwiloka' and is called Bharati. Since the 'Brahma Dharma' was spread all over the world, it is also called Bharati. If today the citizens of Bharat are not able to recognise the full significant meaning of this sacred name, it is a very unfortunate situation. All aspects represented by the name of our country must be realised by one and all. Today the youth is such that they are not able to understand the significance of their own names. The name of their country and the stories that are contained in the Puranas convey no meaning to them. If you want to raise your country back to its glorious past, you must learn the sacred contents of Bharata, Bhagavata and so on. The appropriate and proper authority on which we should rely must come from the Veda. Our authority can not be from any individual. It should come from the Veda. Since the Veda has not originated from any individual, it has an authority behind it which is infinite and it is truth itself. Any history or literature which has come into existence because of the work of man is likely to contain versions which depend on the attitudes of such men who created this history. Our early Puranas are being rewritten and commentaries on early scriptures are being written by persons who live in the present age. These people are affected by the environment that is present in the age of Kali and this is reflected when they rewrite these stories. Because we are forgetting the original meanings and authoritative writings and relying on the statements of individuals, we are missing what is important.

Bharata is regarded as the fifth Veda. The stories in the Mahabharatha are often misinterpreted by commentators. From the Mahabharatha, it is known that the Pandavas were living incognito at king Drupada's palace. At this time, according to some writers, Kichaka loved Draupadi and Bheema got angry and killed him. This is not the truth. The actual fact is that Kichaka was ill-treating Draupadi who was at that time in the role of a servant. Bhima was enraged at this and killed Kichaka. There is nothing like Kichaka having been in love with Draupadi, because at that time Kichaka was 22 years old and Draupadi was 76 years old. Modern writers have in several instances created confusion in regard to stories they have rewritten because of lack of faith and considerable amount of doubt in their own minds in respect of our Puranas.

It is now a common experience that some foreigners who look at the religious ways of Indians think that we have too many deities while God is in fact only one. They think we are foolish enough to regard God as having so many different names. We are not so foolish and ignorant as these outsiders think us to be. It is time that they realise the truth behind the belief and recognition of these aspects of God. Even in the very early stages our people have realised and asserted that God is one and only one and that there is no second. But for reasons of interpretation to suit each one's attitude, each one has created his own image of the only God that exists. It is time that the outsiders realise this aspect. Taking into account the situation that prevails in a country at a certain time we have to experience and regard the one God as manifesting Himself in so many different ways. This is only a phase which has been brought about by environment and conditions.

The Bhagavad Gita is the essence of all Vedas and in this Krishna had given a very beautiful and apt analogy. Suppose we are seeing a big tree. In this big tree we see a large number of leaves, many branches, many roots, many fruits and so on. We see all this in the big tree. We do not call the flowers by the name of the leaves nor do we call the leaves by the names of the fruits or roots. We use an appropriate name for each part of this single big tree. The branches are branches but they do not become fruits. Similarly the leaves do not become roots. When we want to enjoy the fragrance of the flowers we must smell the flowers and not the roots. Similarly if you want to taste the fruit you must eat the fruit and not the branches. Therefore, the name and the form of the fruit correspond to the name and form of the fruit itself. This big tree which has so many different components and so many different parts is really one in the sense that the seed which gives rise to this tree is only one. Just as there is only one seed for the entire tree, there is only one divine being and all other parts are related to this one source. The recognition of this oneness in the entire and diverse aspects of divinity is really the basis of Advaita.

'Beejam mam sarvabhutanam' or 'I am the seed for all being' is the basis of Indian philosophy in the form of Advaita. We are experiencing all these different forms and parts of the tree although they have arisen from the same seed. So also, we are experiencing different aspects of the one God. God is only one. All other names and forms we create are only aspects to suit our own enjoyment. As the time changes and as the ideas of an individual change, the name and the form that he gives to God also change. These names and forms are things which are manufactured artificially in the factory of your own thoughts and mind. For so many different names and forms, our mind is responsible. It is not as if God has in fact all these aspects.

One does not have to go so far to understand this aspect. Even in a single human body we are having so many different forms that are appearing at different stages of one's life. As soon as a child is born it is either attractive or unattractive and we give the name 'child' to this new-born baby. As time goes on, the same child becomes more mature and is called a boy. As this boy grows older and acquires different qualities, he will be called a man and as the same man grows older, his form will be called a grandfather. Therefore, the child, boy, man and grandfather are all the same although at different times in different forms he is called by different names. The name and form of these different stages are therefore different but all these really refer to one and the same. These names are all different names but appropriate to the same individual only at different times. Similarly good and bad also go on changing more or less in the same manner.

What is good at one time and in one place may be bad at another time and in another place. There is an example which young people understand very well. This evening we eat some very good and tasty fruit or milk but by the time the next morning sets in, the very same thing becomes waste material and is rejected. Thus, what was good and tasty material the previous evening has been converted into bad and is rejected as waste material the next morning. As in this case, as the change has come about with time, so also in the world what is good now becomes bad a little later and if there is a change in name and form of some material, we should recognise that such changes from good to bad are coming not because of any connection with the divine but only because of changing times. In the same manner, we must understand the aspects of Agni, Vayu and Aditya.

When we get together some fire for cooking, we use that fire for the purpose of cooking. We do not treat this kind of fire with any special respect. If the same fire is prepared for the sacred task of a Yagna, then people prostrate before the fire and show great respect to the fire. Fire is also used to burn dead bodies in cremation grounds and if such fire is seen, not only will people do not give any respect to such a fire but they will treat it as evil. No one will cook his bread or food on such fire. Such a fire will be treated as an unsacred one and no one will use it for any good purpose. If the same fire is put in the front of a sacred house then it is the custom in our villages for people to go to such sacred houses and light another Jyothi from such a Jyothi in a sacred house. It was the belief that Jyoti was brought from a sacred and good house, the other houses will also enjoy prosperity. In the olden days they used to regard this as a very good custom.

In this context, I will give you a story from the Bhagavata. If you are continually given the aspects of Veda, the listening becomes tough. So we can give you some light stories from the Bhagavata or Bharata to make things easy and give you some relief. In Repalle, Nanda was a well known and rich Jamindar. The inhabitants of that village had so much respect for Nanda that they would not disobey him at all. In fact, Yasoda and Nanda were treated by the villagers as if they were their very lives and their very hearts. People were lighting up their Jyothis from Nanda's house in the hope that if they light their lamps from such a sacred house, then they would also imbibe the good ideas and good conduct which Nanda and Yasoda were famous for. In those days, they did not have such artificial and unreliable lights as we now have. These lights and microphones which we now use may fail us at any moment. If there is a wick and oil, the lamp will continue so long as the wick is there and so long as the oil is there. These three components are called Karma, Akarma and Vikarma. Karma here stands for the wick and Vikarma stands for the oil and if the wick and the oil are there, we can get the Jyoti, but if either of them is exhausted the Jyoti would disappear and the disappearance of Jyoti is called Akarma or disappearance of all action. This kind of Jyothi was lit and kept in the veranda of the house by Yasoda everyday. All the ladies of Repalle had the tradition to go in a line and light their own lamps from the particular lamp lit by Yasoda.

As Krishna was growing and coming of age, the number of women coming to that veranda was dwindling gradually. The reason was that the mothers-in-law and the husbands in each household who could not recognise the true form and nature of Krishna were preventing the young women from going there. However, those husbands and those mothers-in-law who had good ideas at heart permitted the women to continue this tradition. They used not only to permit but also encourage the continuance of such a practice. In the pretext of lighting this Jyoti, the Gopikas used to go to Nanda's house and come back with their hearts filled with pleasure and happiness.

To that village came a new daughter-in-law by name Suguna. Neither the husband nor the mother-in-law of Suguna liked her going to Nanda's house. Suguna was a great devotee. In fact, when she got married she was very happy that she would be going to Repalle where she can watch and enjoy the Leelas of Krishna. On arrival at her mother-in-law's house, she found that she was bound down by various harsh rules and orders. She was told that she should never look at Krishna and that the windows should be closed if Krishna was ever to be found walking on that street. When other women from the adjoining and the opposite houses came to describe the Leelas of Krishna, she felt very sorry that she was not in a position to enjoy these Leelas. As faith and devotion grow, it is not possible for anyone to stop devotees of that kind from fulfilling their desires. Fortunately in that house, the mother-in-law was herself bringing the traditionally lighted Jyoti. It so happened that one day the mother-in-law became very ill and she asked Suguna to go and light the lamp from Nanda's house. The mother-in-law knew that Krishna was away from Repalle. When Suguna came to Nanda's house, she was very unhappy that Krishna was away. She was completely engrossed in the thought of Krishna, and as she was completely lost in the thought of Krishna, her hand was being burnt by the flame but she never knew this. At this time, Yasoda saw this and asked her how she was not mindful of even her hand burning. She asked her if she did not have enough sleep the previous night. Suguna then replied that she was quite unmindful of herself because she was seeing Krishna in that flame and hence she did not feel the pain of her burning hand. When she was narrating this to Yasoda, so many other Gopikas came to light their own Jyotis and heard this. Like a thief stung by a scorpion, these Gopikas when they heard what Suguna told Yasoda they came running into the open market and started singing 'our Suguna had the vision of the Lord in the flame in Yasoda's house'. 'It seems in Nanda's house, our Gopal had given his Darsan to Suguna in the flame', and the very flame burnt her finger. When this song was heard by the mother-in-law, her fever disappeared and she came running into the street.

From the story, we have to learn that whenever God does anything, He does it with a purpose and out of it comes some specific good result. Here we see that pleasure is an interval between two pains and in this case Suguna's mother-in-law realised that Suguna had such great devotion that she had the vision of the Lord and she began saying that it was a great honour to have Suguna as the daughter-in-law in her house. She also began singing praises of the Lord. Because it is difficult for common people to understand what is prescribed as Dharma in the Vedas and put such Dharma into practice, our Puranas have given several stories which common people can understand and put into practice. This is the reason why our Maharshis have written the Puranas. Therefore the givers of the verses and stories like Vyasa and Valmiki have immortalised the stories of Krishna and Rama for the benefit of mankind in the form of Puranas so that common people can understand and follow them in their daily lives.