Immortality can be achieved through Sacrifice

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

One's wealth is unsteady and quickly changes like the phases of the moon. It will also move away and disappear with time. Do not develop a feeling for the disappearing wealth. What I am now telling you is the plain truth and is what actually happens in the world.

Students, boys and girls! Saraswati which is the embodiment of our voice and speech is also described by an alternative name 'Abdevata'. Sacred Saraswati, starting as the embodiment of our speech and spreading all over the place, has been exhibiting her strength and her power which is like God's power. She has thus been identifying herself with speech, in the broad street of your heart and harmonising herself with the intelligence and the thought that one has. By identifying herself with Vayu, she has been moving about in the entire space and revealing herself to us as the Adhibhoota and Adhidevata. Saraswati has also another alternative name, Saraha. This sacred deity that we associate with the speech also takes the place of Aditya in our heart and she takes the place of Agni the fire as well as the place of Vayu the air and represents the one common thing in these different aspects. It is said 'Vacha Saraswati Bishak' and 'Bishak' is another alternative name for Saraswati. It is the common practice in this world to cure any disease of the human body by some kind of attention and medicine. While we cure the disease in the physical body by appropriate medicines, the uncleanliness of the mind, the troubles that worry our mind and the impurities in our mind are cured by Saraswati in the form of Vak or speech. Thus the name Saraswati is justified by her capacity to cure the diseases of the mind. Because Saraswati has the capacity to fill us with the Rasa or knowledge or Vignana, she is also given the name Adhidevata. Because such Saraswati with such capacities fills the sky, she also gives importance to Vayu and Agni. Because she fills the sky with quantities of water, Saraswati sometimes stands for a stream of flowing water.

There is need for us to enquire into the origin of water that is filling the sky. The sun's rays fall on the ocean and these rays change the ocean water into clouds. Aditya or the sun is responsible for the formation of these drops of water which later collect into clouds and become quantities of water. You have already learnt that Aditya is a name synonymous with Bharata. Therefore, Bharata joins Aditya and produces this aspect of Saraswati. Here we notice that Aditya joins water and thus the drops of water are produced. We see the oneness or the identical nature of the three aspects Ida, Saraswati and Bharati. Latent in these three aspects Ida, Saraswati and Bharati are contained Indra, Vayu and Vasu as well. In this chronology, if we understand the sacred meaning and place of Bharata, we will understand that the sacred word Bharata has got a Vedic origin and all the meanings of the word Bharata can be ascribed to a Vedic origin. This aspect of Bharata when it is regarded as having a Vedic origin with the necessary Vedic authority behind it, then it is possible to understand this aspect as capable of removing the faults inherent in a human being.

However careful and thoughtful a man may be and however much he may want to lead a faultless life, five faults always stick to him in spite of his care. While breathing air, while walking on the ground and while making domestic fire and while drinking water, we do cause great harm to Jivas and sometimes we may even have to exterminate several Jivas. Because of these five actions of ours where we use our working organs, we kill and destroy various Jivas, the Vedas have prescribed Yagnas to recompense for the faults that we commit in these actions of ours. The Yagna relating to the Devas, the Yagna relating to the ancestors, the Yagna relating to the Rishis, the Yagna relating to the lives of various Jivas around us and the Yagna relating to the guests are the five different Yagnas prescribed by the Vedas. If you perform these Yagnas it will be possible for you to remove the sin of the faults that you may have knowingly or not knowingly committed in these five different actions.

The Deva Yagna or the Yagna relating to the Devas consists of your reciting the Vedic Mantras, the Upanishads and involving yourself in various ceremonies associated with Agni and your reading the Bhagavata and other sacred texts. All these actions constitute the Deva Yagna. All work and all actions which relate to God - thinking of God and turning over the aspects of God in your mind - will constitute the Deva Yagna. Pitru Yagna relates to the ancestors, in particular it deals with the task of gaining the goodwill of your father and mother, to look after the welfare of your father and mother and seeing that no harm comes to them, constitutes the Pitru Yagna. Rishi Yagna stands for your understanding the aspect of Dhyana which was the normal action of their Rishis. The process of Sravana, Manana and Nididhyasana of the various things which the Rishis have handed over to us constitutes the Rishi Yagna. To be able to participate in Japa or Kirtana which have been handed over to us by the ancestors would also be a part of Rishi Yagna. Bhuta Yagna relates to your attention and your service to living things. For example in one's own house, there may be cattle living, there may be pet birds, there may be pet cats and the process of attending to them and feeding them will be called Bhuta Yagna. There may be people in the hospital who need your help and to do such things which will relieve the sorrow of living beings will be called Bhuta Yagna. Thus Bhuta Yagna consists of serving and satisfying all living things. They may be suffering form various kinds of sorrow and to relieve their sorrow and make them happy will be an aspect of Bhuta Yagna. Since it is not possible to spend all your time in this kind of service, it has become the tradition in our country that once or twice a year we either feed poor people who are in need of food or we distribute clothes to the poor. It has become the tradition to distribute such clothes or give such service occasionally. It is in this context that they have said 'There is no gift greater than giving food to a hungry man'. There is no other person to whom you can show greater respect than to your father and to your mother.

'In this world, there is nothing more sacred than Japa, Dhayana and following the path of Dharma'. These are the most sacred things. There is no enemy more vicious than your own anger. Such feelings have been at a very high premium in our lives and in our traditions. The next in importance is this service done to our guests. Either to the relations who come to your house or to the hungry people who knock at your door and ask for food, it is mandatory to offer them whatever you can offer and relieve their hunger. Do not attempt to do such sacred work beyond your own strength. You need to do it only within your capacity and strength. A portion of whatever resources you have must be set apart with a view to do some service and give satisfaction to other needy Jivas. It is not right to go and incur a debt when you do not have your own resources to do such service. Not only is it wrong to incur a debt to do service to the living things, it is also wrong to incur a debt to undertake even a pilgrimage. Instead of going on pilgrimage with borrowed money, it is much better to avoid sin and make your own heart sacred and pure.

Veda has been giving the commandments as to what we have to do with regard to our daily life and whatever injunctions Veda has been giving it has been giving with a broad meaning. Not only have the Vedas given us injunctions regarding the duties of our daily life but they have also given a code of conduct in matters which are apart from our daily life such as Dharma and Moksha. Thus, Veda has been telling us about various aspects which are beyond direct evidence and sometimes even beyond inferential evidence. Veda has always been taking the view that you cannot divide your duties and life into two compartments - temporal and spiritual. By regarding all the work - whether it is worldly or godly as interrelated, different kinds of actions are prescribed by the Vedas. Veda has told us that it is a sin to divide our work into two parts and say that something is your work and something is God's work. In all the work that we have to do in our life, there is nothing that you can call your own work. Everything is God's work. You should do all your work believing that it is God's work and then the omnipresent Lord will take care of the results. He will be present in you as the Atma and will see to the success of all work if you have such a view. If you are not able to satisfy and serve human beings who are with you and who are like you, then how can you satisfy God who cannot be seen by your physical eyes and who does not live with you and who is not like other human beings. Veda has also asserted that if you cause harm to the living beings who are living with you, there is no meaning in worshipping God in those circumstances. Vyasa who codified and divided the Vedas into several sections and undertook the writing of the eighteen Puranas, has described the essence of our scriptures by stating that it is good to help others and it is a sin to harm others. If for some reason you are unable to do a good turn to others, at least refrain from doing harm to others. That in itself is the greatest good.

Such sacred things which are connected with the incidents in our daily life are dealt with by the Veda. Veda does not differentiate between small and big things. An example or an ideal of this kind has been given by Rama in the Ramayana. When Sumantha came to take Rama to the apartment of Kaikeyi, Rama followed him although he knew everything and he knew what was going to come. When he reached the apartments of Kaikeyi, Rama learnt about what was happening but Rama resolved to respect the wishes of his father as he knew that it was his duty to follow a path which would give happiness to his father and therefore he came back to Sita with a resolve to obey his father's commands. When he came home, he found that Sita was doing Puja to the Lord. Sita is herself divine and there is an inner meaning in the fact of her worshipping the Lord. It was mentioned yesterday that great people, persons who have all the sacredness in them also do such things only because they want to set an example for others to follow. Every man and woman looks to a leader to see what and whom they can follow. Thus, when Rama looked at Sita in worship, he asked Sita what she was doing. She replied that she was worshipping the Lord for the sake of maintaining the reputation of Rama and for the sake of happiness of the people of the kingdom. Considering that it was a good opportunity for him to give good advise for people in this world, Rama told Sita that it is not right for her to worship something which was abstract, especially when father and mother who sacrificed so much to bring them up were available as living human beings. He said that one's father and mother were equivalent to living Gods. You must understand that all life on earth is the aspect of God and in particular father and mother are to be regarded as living Gods. If you cannot pray for the total welfare of the community around you in whom God lives, how is it possible for you to worship an invisible God. The first thing that you have to do is to look after the welfare of the living community around you.

In ancient times, even ordinary kings had such a broad view and they were always doing certain things with a sense of duty and were looking after their people very well. There is a small story to illustrate this. One great king took looking after his people as his first duty and he was doing many things to promote this. He used to think that the people constitute the body of the king and that the king constitutes the heart of the people. In this way, a close relationship between the king and the people was established. Whatever the king did, he always had the convenience of the people in mind. One day he wanted to have an oil bath and he sent for the queen and told her that she might apply some oil. In the olden days, they were not engaging servants more than the minimum required. Whatever had to be done for the husband was being done by the wife and not by a servant. Even if it is a small work, the work was done by the wife even though she was the queen. She may be a queen for the rest of the world but she is a wife for the husband. The queen in this story is a broadminded person who appreciated the aspect of service to her husband. In the olden days there were long and big mirrors in all the rooms in which the king and the queen were moving. The king was sitting and the queen was applying oil. The queen found that there were some grey hairs on the head of her husband. When the wife found that there were four or five grey hairs on the head of the king, she thought the end of the king was coming near. The appearance of a grey hair is treated as the first step in the passage of one's life to its conclusion and the eyes developing short sight is the second step and losing one's teeth is the third step and the last step is to develop wrinkles on one's face. The queen thought that the first step was already visible and so she was sorry and was shedding tears. Today, due to the pressure of the Kaliyuga everyone has become a creator and everyone wants to be Viswamitra and originate his own creation. When white hair appears, they dye the hair. When the teeth fall away, they insert false teeth. When the eyes develop cataract, they undergo an operation and when there are wrinkles they take recourse to some make up and hide the wrinkles. In this way they may counteract the first few steps but the last end has to come and nothing can be done about it.

In the big mirror in front of the king, he saw the queen with tears in her eyes and immediately he turned to the queen and asked for the reason for her tears. The queen told him the truth as it was passing in her mind. The king had good qualities and he immediately realised that the thought passing through the mind of the queen was true and he responded by telling himself that no one can live too long and that the body is sure to drop out one day or the other and in the context of that inevitable end, he resolved to hand over the burdens of the kingdom to the ministers and go to the forest and spend the remaining time in the thought of God. This was the decision which the king came to on the spot. He had his bath and sent for the ministers. The requests of the ministers to change his mind had no effect on him. The king stuck to his decision and told the ministers that they should look after the kingdom and that he was going away to the forest in order to enjoy the kingdom of the Atma and the kingdom of the divine. He requested the minister to inform the people of this decision. In a moment, this decision spread throughout the city. All the children, old people and young people came running to the king. They prayed to the king that he should not leave the city and go away. They told him that he was in the position of heart to all of them. If the heart leaves the body and goes away how is the body going to live? They said that they will all give up their lives if the king went away. The king did not hide the truth and told the people his feelings in the following terms.

The human body consisting of the five elements is not a permanent thing, it will have to fall one day or other. Our ancients have told us that the average period of one's life is hundred years but one should not have trust in this. Death may come anytime either in childhood or in youth or in old age. The body is sure to fall at some time or the other. One does not know whether it will fall in a forest or in a city or in the midst of water. Death is the only thing that is certain. Already old age has come to me and I want to spend the remaining years in the thought of God because death is certain! All the people were shedding tears and they said that they would go to the forest and pray to God so that he may grant the king long life. All the citizens went to the forest with a determination to pray to the Lord for long life for their king. As soon as he heard this, the king thought that it was not right for a king to act contrary to the wishes of his people and so he said that they may do as they like. These people offered hearty prayers to the Lord and the Lord was pleased with their prayers and he appeared and asked them what they wanted. All the people with one voice requested the Lord that their king may be granted another hundred years of life. Then God said that because of the unanimous request and their devotion he was very pleased and said that he would grant the king two hundred years. The people rushed back to the king with uncontrolled and excessive joy and conveyed the good news of God's blessing to him. The king too was very pleased.

The queen came to the king as soon as she heard this and told him that she was going to the forest. The people thought that the queen was angry because they had secured the boon from the Lord for the long life of the king but not of the queen. The queen went into deep meditation and had the grace and vision of the Lord. When the Lord appeared the first thing she asked was whether it was true that the Lord had granted two hundred years of life to the king. The Lord said that it was so. The queen said, she was happy to hear that the king would live for two hundred years but asked 'What is the good if the king lives for two hundred years, the loving people who secured this boon for the king should also live for two hundred years'. Then the Lord granted the boon that the people would also live for two hundred years. The queen said it is only when such good people can live in the kingdom that the king also should live for two hundred years. It is only when such a good king lives for two hundred years should the people in that kingdom also live for two hundred years. This should be the kind of inseparable connection between the people and king'. The Lord was so pleased that he granted two hundred years of life to the king, to the people and also to the queen, because she had such a broad mind. God was pleased with this broadminded sacrifice on the part of the queen and granted her also a long life.

The moral of this story is that the greatest of Yagnas is sacrifice. To be able to sacrifice is the most important of all qualities. Here, because the people had sacrificed and prayed for the long life of the king they deserve to live for two hundred years. Similarly, the king was willing to sacrifice and leave everything and so he was able to get the boon and the queen too by her broad-mindedness and sacrifice was able to get a long life. There is nothing greater than sacrifice. Here we shall also try to understand the inner meaning of the word sacrifice. Whether it is for a house we occupy or for a land or whatever it be that we own, we pay the tax payable to the government so that we can use them. If one does not pay the tax on any of these items, the government will sell away the property and realise the tax. This is the common practice. In the same manner, to atone for the sins and the bad deeds that we commit, Yagna is something like a tax which we must pay to the Lord. We should be able to sacrifice and with happiness pay the tax to the Lord for our sins. Sacrifice will give you such happiness which nothing else can give. Work, scholarship or anything else will not give you the same amount of happiness as is obtained from sacrifice.