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Education should not make One neglect His Parents

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

Students! For the past one month we have been learning many things about Indian culture. We have also learnt that for all our culture, the source is the Veda and that for all aspects of the Veda there is a sacred meaning and that it is necessary for students to know about these aspects. We have also understood to some extent the inner meaning of the Vedas and that it is only by understanding the inner meaning of the Vedas, it is possible for human nature to blossom out and flourish. It is necessary to recognise the truth that fulfilment of man's aspirations and his pleasures are not contained in the worldly aspects. Permanent happiness and bliss are things which have to be generated from within your heart. They cannot be brought from outside and given to you. These are things which you cannot search for and obtain from the external world. Such education which cannot give you the bliss of your heart and which cannot give you the security and firmness that you seek cannot be called true education. Only that education which can give you bliss in your heart, peace in your mind and happiness in your life is true education.

To make the education that you get a prop for your life or a breadwinner for your life is a mistake. Your life itself should give you the strength to live. Education should not be made a breadwinner. There are Crores of people in this country who are not educated and who are still living a good life. To think that education is necessary to enable man to live is quite wrong. Education should enable you to be an ideal and develop into an ideal example. Your learning is not to be used just to fill your stomach. Education is the correct type of education if it enables you to lead a life which can be an example to others and if it enables you to distinguish the right from wrong. Education should promote humility in you, should enable you to become more humble than an uneducated person, it should enable you to serve your mother and father and country and your service should become a selfless service. If you become a selfish person and simply acquire degrees which become a burden on your shoulders, that kind of education is of no use. Selfishness, exhibitionism and immorality are seen in an extensive measure only in the educated class of people. Such education which makes you proud and which removes all the good qualities such as humility and humbleness cannot add to the prosperity of the country. It can only cause harm to the country and create confusion and trouble.

As you become more and more educated, your ideas should become broader and broader. As our knowledge grows further and further, humility should also become more and more. At any time and under all circumstances you should be prepared to give your help, energy and encouragement to those who ask for it. The moment our students get one or two degrees they become burdensome to their own parents and they do such things which cause great confusion in the minds of the parents. They bring tears of sorrow to the parents. The father of the house struggles to do everything for the family even when he grows old. In spite of the fact that the son sees the father going through all this struggle, he does not raise even his little finger to help him. This kind of education which makes one not serve his father, how is it going to enable him to serve the country? Mother and father would have struggled and starved on many occasions to be able to feed and support their son as a student and when the parents are in difficulty the son would not do anything to help them and relieve their hunger and trouble. He himself eats and sleeps like a Kumbhakarna in a very selfish manner. What is the use of education which he has received if it does to teach him to look after the welfare of the mother and father when they are in difficulties?

Pavitratma Swarupas, students! Do not join that group of young people who are doing such bad things. Remember the sacred Indian culture and Indian traditions. I am hoping that by not joining this band of youth, you will maintain the culture and traditions of Bharat and you will proclaim its greatness by putting it into practice. Use all the strength of your mind, body and speech to do hard work and get results of a good kind. If we do not come forward and involve ourselves in hard work, then the country itself will deteriorate. In this workshop of the universe, a group of people is like a machine and in this machine each person is like a small bit or a tool. In this machine, whatever duty comes to an individual, it must be done and you must fulfil your duty however small it may be. If you take a retrograde step in the matter of doing work allotted to you, not only would you harm yourself as an individual but you would be harming the whole country in which you are living.

Indian culture teaches you the aspect of 'Soham' but it does not teach you the aspect of idleness or laziness. Laziness is equivalent to dust and rust where as selfless work is like rest and the best. If you want rest, you should really involve yourself in all kinds of the work that is ordained by our scriptures. On the other hand, if you do not work in the day and if you do not give the necessary physical exertion to the body, even if you go to bed in the night you will not be able to sleep. You will simply be tossing around in the bed. On the other hand, if you give the necessary physical exertion to your body you will get rest and in this manner rest follows hard work. There is a proverb that one who cannot sleep well will be having all kinds of bad thoughts and plans. If you sleep well, there is no room for such bad planning in your mind. Thus, you young people should work hard and bring good to your own home, village and to the society to which you belong and thereby bring good to the whole country itself.

In the old days, those who were enlisting themselves as students of the Vedas were involved in doing hard work and thus developed good ideas and practices. Thereby they used to give considerable happiness to their parents. The education and lessons of today are such that even the teachers do not understand the lessons they are giving. The education that we are getting is not giving us any peace of mind or security in our daily life. Learning Vedas is not like that. Whosoever wants to learn the Vedas has to accept a considerable amount of physical exertion and has to be a student all through the time without waiting even a second. He must be prepared to take a considerable amount of trouble. If an individual wants to learn thoroughly all the sections of the four Vedas, he will have to spend forty eight to fifty years. There are 31 sections in the Rig Veda and there are 101 sections in the Yajur Veda. There are a thousand sections in the Same Veda. There are 9 sections in the Atharvana Veda. For learning each Veda, it would take at least twelve years and for four Vedas it used to take something like fifty years and for these fifty years the disciple had to remain in the Guru's ashram.

Many people used to feel that it is very difficult to learn all the four Vedas and so a number of them used to learn one or two. Yet others who were not able to completely learn even one Veda would learn a few sections depending upon their family tradition. Learning only chosen sections of the Vedas has been referred to as 'Swadhyaya'. Swadhyaya is something which refers to reciting what is customarily natural to him. This word is not used in a narrow sense. There is a meaning here for Swadhyaya, that is to be able to recite what is necessary for understanding Brahman. Here one cannot call it Swadhyaya if one recites the Veda in a selfish manner or with a desire to earn reputation or money. Unfortunately today one does not learn or recite the Veda for the noble purpose of realising the supreme being, but most of them are reciting Vedas either for getting monetary benefit or reputation or for some similar selfish reason. This is the reason why the strength of the Vedas is on the decline and our own faith in the Vedas has been eroded.

In the early days one learned in the Vedas had the ambition of realising the Atma and in this way they knew the real purpose of reciting the Vedas. In the early years, when one would be doing all the Karmas prescribed in the Vedas, he would be called a Vasuvu and later when he begins the practice of the Vedas and takes to Swadhyaya, he would be called a Rudra. Vasuvu the student of Veda moves on from the early years to the time when he is doing Upasana and is called Rudra and then he moves on to the stage of wisdom or acquiring Jnana and then he is called Aditya. This aspect of Aditya, when he is in the final stage of acquiring wisdom is also called Swadhyaya. We also have to state that the stage of Aditya is connected with the stage of Bharata. In the intermediate place, the place of Upasana or Rudra there is Saraswati present. In the early stage, the stage of Vasu has to be identified with the aspect of Ida. This disciple of Vedas or the Vedavidu has also been called 'Swasa'. For this word Swasa, there is an alternative meaning called sister and for this feeling of the sister the other name given is Saraswati or Bharati. The same Bharati has also been called Deepti.

As was mentioned yesterday, the kind of inseparable relationship that exists between the sun and the sun's rays also exists between Bharati and Bharata. Thus for words like Bharata, Bharati, and Bhaarati, the Sruti has been giving meanings which are synonymous with each other. When we went to understand the aspect of God, it will be possible for us to come to a conclusion only when we understand the meaning of Bharati. As the next step, it is only when we understand the meaning of Bharata that we can say proudly that we are citizens of Bharat and that we understand the meaning of that word. The students of the Vedas who really understood the Vedas or those who understood the real meaning of the Vedas were prepared to sacrifice anything and everything. The kind of devotion which they used to proclaim cannot be described easily. That could only be experienced. They could never be described easily either by words or thoughts. But the devotion of today is continually changing. What there is in the morning is not there in the evening and what there is in the evening is not there the next morning. If one is able to get his ambition of desire fulfilled or if one is able to get what he asks for, he will praise the Lord very much but if one is disappointed or if one's desires are not fulfilled then there is no room for any respect for God in their mind. Whether it is in loss or in gain, our faith must be unshakeable. This kind of faith is also called Ananya Bhakti. We must be prepared to accept the disappointments as well as the successes of our efforts equally readily. There is a small story for this.

There was an individual who had a desire that others should accept him as a great devotee and so he was using several exhibitionist methods. Every day he used to go and close his eyes and do Japa in the temple early in the morning. This individual used to sit in the temple till very late and much after several of the other devotees had left. Because of this situation the priest had to remain late and used to return home very late. This priest was feeling that he was being retained every day was wondering how he was to attend to his normal duties if he was retained like this every day. He told himself that it was not right to disturb this man who was in Japa and was thinking that there was something odd with this person who was sitting in the temple late every day as if he could not sit for meditation in his own home. He thought that there must be something about this individual. The priest with the intention of finding out the truth behind all this went behind the idol and said 'I am very much satisfied with your devotion and will take you into myself.' The moment this devotee heard this he thought that God was really speaking and was so afraid that he never came to the temple again.

Our devotion and our attitudes today are of this kind. If we want really relief from this life, then while God is prepared to take you away any moment you should also be prepared to give up your life and become one with God. If you do not want this and you still want to become a realised soul and one with God how is it possible? While it is necessary for you to plan for your future, you must not have a fear of death. Do not be afraid of death, do not forget God, do not get yourself involved too much in this world. It is necessary for you to remember all these three and have faith in the divine. Therefore, while you are doing work fill your heart with the thought that Ida is the presiding sacred deity. When you are in Sadhana and entertaining good thought remember that all the words that are coming out of your mouth are coming from the Goddess Saraswati, the Goddess of speech. Instil the aspects of Ida, Saraswati and Bharati in your heart and get them firmly implanted in your mind and have faith that these are responsible for all your actions.

It is not easy for anyone to understand and unravel the strength and the power of God. All the descriptions which we give of the Lord are not really descriptions of the strength and power of the Lord but are merely being given for our own satisfaction. They are not the true description of the infinite strength of God. To some extent you must understand the limitations of your own speech and strength and you must be prepared to do your work consistent with your strength of word, thought and deed. But today we are taking a retrograde step even for doing a small thing like uttering the name of the Lord. We are willing to utter useless and purposeless speech.

At one time there was an individual who had great respect for traditions and he had one son. This father who was tradition bound performed the Upanayanam to this one son and he gave him the sacred thread and told him that he must utter the name of Gayatri at least a hundred and eight times every day. Not being able to bear the pressure of that the father was bringing on him, the son was uttering the Gayatri Mantra under compulsion. As time went on, the son wanted to decrease the number of times he had to repeat the Gayatri Mantra. One day the father asked, it looks as if you have not been repeating the Gayatri properly, let me see how you do it today. At first he did repeat the Gayatri Mantra properly and thereafter he simply said 'ditto, ditto'. Not knowing what this means, the father asked him what 'ditto, ditto' means and the son said that it refers to the fact that the same was being said several times. This word 'ditto' has no significant meaning and in turn the original sentence also turns out to be one which has no significant meaning. The father was very much hurt at this and told himself 'Oh what a son have I got, he is not able to repeat even the Gayatri Mantra'. He thought that he should somehow bring him back to the old traditions. This boy went to the college, passed out of the college and even while he was in college he corresponded with institutions abroad and arranged to go abroad. The father was very desirous to see that the son maintained the traditions even if he went abroad and so he told him that he should try and practice the Gayatri Mantra every day even while abroad. The father wanted the son to return later with good qualities and so he took the son to the Devi temple and asked him to pray to the Devi so that he may return with good qualities. Although unwilling, the son prayed to the Devi because he thought that if he prayed to Devi his father would let him go abroad. He thus prayed to the Devi and went abroad and in three years he changed his mind and did not want to return to India, but because of the father's pressure he reluctantly returned to the mother country.

Because the son was returning after three years, the father and the mother went to the airport with great hopes to receive their son. But the father and mother were very disappointed as the son was speaking to them in a foreign language and it looked as if he had forgotten his mother tongue. The mother told the son to speak in Telugu as she was not able to understand him, but the son immediately replied that he had forgotten the language. The father was very angry and he was feeling considerably hurt but he controlled himself as he felt that he should not hurt his son as soon as he landed from a foreign country. He thus calmed himself in spite of his great anger. The father sarcastically told his son that he was glad that in three years he had not forgotten his father and mother which he might well have done for he has forgotten the mother tongue which he was speaking from his childhood and he felt thankful for this. From the airport, the parents took the son directly to the Devi temple for they felt grateful that the Devi has somehow brought back the son to his country. Before going inside, the parents asked him to remove the shoes but he said that he cannot walk if he removed the shoes. The father was again very angry at this and he asked his son why he was so proud even while going into the presence of the Devi and he said that it was a shame that he forgot the traditions of the country. Somehow, yielding to the compulsion of the father, the boy removed the shoes and was going into the temple but as soon as he entered the temple he addressed the Goddess and said 'How are you mummy, how do you do?' and he wanted to give the Goddess a hand shake. The father was very angry and in spite of the fact that he was in the presence of the Goddess in a temple, he gave the boy two or three good smacks. The youth of today are developing attitudes which are more or less like this. One who forgets his mother country, his mother and father and his divine and noble traditions cannot in fact be called a human being.

In this story because the father belonged to a time when the traditions were respected, as soon as he realised that the son had gone astray he hit him hard but unfortunately the parents of today would have taken the attitude by which they feel proud of the change which has come over the son. In fact they would have felt happy that their son has become very modern and so modern that he has even forgotten his mother tongue. This is the unfortunate position today. In several cases it is the parents who are responsible for the wrong path which the children are taking to. The responsibility for ruining the children rests with the parents and they must learn the correct attitude which they should take to put their children in the right path. The children will accept the advice given by the parents and will take to the right path only if the parents themselves are adopting the right path and only if the parents conduct themselves in a correct manner. Teachers who wish that their students should go on the right path should themselves practice what they preach to the students.

Today, in my assessment the students are faulty to some extent but the teachers and the parents are largely responsible for this pitiable situation in which the students are. It is in this context that Kabir proclaimed 'Dil Me Ram, Hath Me Kam'. Here the 'dil' or the mind is like the pipe and out of the pipe will come good water if the tank of the mind is full of good water. The teachers and the parents are like the tank and it is only when the teachers and the parents have good ideas and adopt good conduct, out of them will flow good ideas to the students. Giving the students excessive and uncontrolled freedom and giving them more money than they really need are the primary reasons for this state of affairs. When the son requires a hundred Rupees, if the parents give him a hundred and twenty Rupees, the surplus of twenty Rupees will be used by him for a wrong purpose. On the other hand, when the son wants a hundred Rupees, the father should give him only ninety Rupees. Only then will he take to the right path. Such a restriction will at first appear to be harsh but as time goes on, they will find that this very restriction is helpful to them in their life and will help them to develop strength of character.

Students! You must understand the purpose for which the traditions are laid down. You must also understand the significance that is behind the language in which they are conveyed. You must learn to respect your parents. You must also be able to put all these things into practice. In future, you will have to shoulder many responsibilities. You must learn and find out how you can deserve God's grace and how you can distinguish good from bad. I am hoping that you will have all these capacities and earn God's grace. It is not enough if you have devotion to Swami. Your Prema towards Swami is not necessarily going to result in Swami's Prema on you and unless you find the ways and means by which you can earn Swami's grace, your effort is useless. More than showing Prema, you should follow such a path by which you will be able to experience Prema and enjoy Prema. To know the path by which you will receive Prema is more important than simply saying that you have Prema. Your Prema alone is simply like a one way traffic. If your Prema results in your receiving Prema from the other side, then it becomes a two way traffic and it is give and take. If you have good ideas and if you develop good notions and if you adopt good practices, then you do not have to ask for God's grace. God by Himself will give you grace and Prema as a result of your good conduct.