Beacon of Bliss

Confusing and confounding stories depicting the illness of Baba, and details of the operation that was not performed, generating distressing news that He would not be able to make a public appearance for months, filled the drooping hearts of devotees in Bombay with fear and anxiety. These uncalled for fears, the progeny of rumour and hallucination were allayed by Baba's Presence at Dharmakshetra on Christmas Day. The gathering heard a long discourse, followed by many Bhajan songs, from Baba. They heard the authentic version of the assumption of the illness and its equally sudden dismissal. Illness had appeared to affect that holy Body, but in fact it cannot afflict it. It had been a passing phase: belonging to someone it came and went like a passing cloud.

"But, I have no contact with it; many people, however have the courage to suggest to Me ways and means of dealing with such situations!" According to them the Swami should not allow the illness of another to come upon Him, causing sufferance to Lakhs of people. Baba told the gathering that it is His duty to take upon Himself the suffering of those who surround Him. Likewise it is the duty of His devotees too to suffer on that account. But the truth is, there is no suffering, and as such no reason to get anxious. Christ sacrificed His life or the sake of those who put their faith in Him. Service is God, Sacrifice is God - that was His Declaration. The whole world can derive joy from that Divine assurance. "Do not grieve, the Saviour who will take on your grief, has come."

On the first day of the New Year, the Kamanis, the famous industrialists had the privilege of welcoming Baba at Kurla. Their Community Hall, which is really a Prayer Hall, was declared open that day. Even though entrance to the commodious auditorium was restricted by passes only, there was not an inch of space even to change one's sitting posture. The auditorium consisted of workers and their families. The area was tastefully decorated with simple unostentatious dignity, television sets provided the entire gathering with the thrill of Darsan.

The words of wisdom contained in the Discourse delivered on January 1, 1971 by Sri Sathya Sai Baba at the premises of a massive industrial establishment in Bombay have great relevance to modern India.

Commenting on this, the Bhavan's Journal wrote, "When a sage brings his mind down from the higher realms of beatitude to dwell on a mundane matter like employer-employee relations, the subject is bound to acquire a new dimension and a fresh sparkle of spirituality."

While exhorting the employees to develop the enthusiasm to earn rights by fulfilling obligations, Baba also exhorted the employers to take care of the employees and provide amenities to their children to develop a strong and virtuous character. To put it in the words of the Divine Master: "Happiness and peace are mental conditions which grow in the soil of love, and not of power, affluence or skill."

"The tree of life yields as its most precious fruit, the quality of Love, sweet fruits have bitter rinds. This fruit too is encased in a thick bitter six-fold rind, composed of lust, anger, greed, attachment, pride and hate. If these are negated and the rind removed, the nectarine sweetness of Love can be tasted and taken into the system. Those who make effort to explore into that treasure of Love within, they alone can have the Peace and Bliss. Sadhana is the name of process by which man discovers the Spring of Universal Love within him, by which he is privileged to share it with all beings."

Riches of various kinds, possessions and power, name and fame - these are not of much worth; the precious possession called Love, is the very breath of Life for man. A heart devoid of Love is an altar plunged in darkness. Bats of evil passions will make it their home. They will render it in a dirty sinking seat of chaos. Only the Light of Love can illumine the heart and drive away these vicious inhabitants.

We have here, gathered in thousands, the employees of the Kamani factories. The industrial, agricultural, mercantile, political and administrative fields are as Five Vital Airs to the human community. They have to be Healthy and Harmonious, so that Mankind can live in Peace and Prosperity. If these five are aware of their interrelationship and interdependence and if they lovingly co-operate in common endeavour, this country, and the world too, can celebrate each day as a festival day, can festoon each door-sill in green.

But, at the present time, the bond of love and mutual co-operation is absent. There are factions in each of these fields, each producing its own share of confusion; so, the country is heading every moment into deeper and deeper anxiety. People are moving about in fear, grasping their lives n the palm of the hand, doubtful what the next moment holds for them. This is not a proper state of things to be welcomed.

Emotions and Passions have a way of suddenly rising into devastating floods. Really speaking, every worker has to earn the authority, before standing forth as a part of the organisation, of which he is a limb. Emotion and passion have to arise out of earned authority; now, they surge forward from persons who do not carry out the duties undertaken by them. Authority and Influence have to emerge from the discharge of one's duties. Then only will they be effective. We must be convinced that rights are deserved only by the discharge of obligations.

But today, agitation is only for rights; there is no enthusiasm to earn right, by fulfilling obligations. Every one must work with the consciousness that Duty is God and that Work is Worship. If devotion to duty is developed and all work is done as sincerely and as correctly as acts of worship, then each one can be happy, and society will be free from discontent and misery.

The Kamanis are fabricating transmission towers in their factories. Every person who is engaged in the fabrication and erection has to carry out his work correctly and sincerely, so that the towers may be strong and secure. Who among them does the more important item of work? It will be impossible to discriminate. Each item is important, and each worker earns his right by discharging well his particular share of the total obligation. There should not be any attempt to compare and claim superiority or confer inferiority. Such attempts will only promote ill feeling, and obstruct the flow of Love and Tolerance.

Let me illustrate this by an example. There was a man going along a country road whose eyes saw ripe fruits on a wayside tree. The eyes told him that they were desirable and would provide him a feast. So the mind got attached to them, the feet took him nearer the tree, the body was bent by the muscles of the back, the hand moved down to the ground, the fingers picked up a stone and clasped it, the shoulders gave the needed thrust when the hand threw the stone on to the tree in the direction of the fruits. That made one fruit fall on the ground. But, more items of work still remained to be done by the limbs of the body. The fingers have to pick it up, the hand has to offer it to the mouth, the tongue has to place it between the teeth, the teeth have to chew it and the gullet has to swallow it and send it to the stomach. Now, which among these items are more important and which less? Which limb had done more and which less? Each limb has done its duty exactly when needed to the best of its ability and so, the fruit on the tree reached the stomach of the hungry person. We must respect each worker as the contributor of a valuable share of the common task. Feel that all are Divine, all are equally to be loved; that is the Sadhana that will bestow Ananda on both the individual and society.

Doing the duty that has fallen to one's lot is the best way to make life worthwhile and to contribute the skill and intelligence one is endowed with for the common good. This is the debt one has to discharge for having come into this world embodied as a human being. We have not come into this world for the sake of eating and drinking; we eat and drink in order to live; we do not live in order to eat and drink, we have to reach the far higher goal - the Presence of God, through the Path of Love. That is the higher duty, the most elevated item of work we are engaged in the Factory (the Body) where we are. All our energies and skill have to be fully directed towards this effort. Or else, we lay waste our lives in the chaos of emotional impulses.

Of course, the question may be asked: Who is God? Where can we find Him? Who has seen Him? I can tell you a story to elucidate this. A Sanyasi (monk) wearing a Gerua robe entered, during his pilgrimage, a village, renowned for its godlessness. Seeing his robe which indicated a person who had dedicated his life to God, a crowd gathered around him and started heckling him, on the existence of God. "Can you show Him to us?" they asked and the Monk said, "I can." However he called for some milk, evidently to overcome exhaustion. When the milk was brought, he stared into the cup for a long time in the silence. The group of villagers lost patience and clamoured that God be shown to them, as promised. They asked him why he was staring at the milk so long. He replied that he had heard that milk had butter in it and so, he was trying to see the butter! They laughed; they called him a fool and a simpleton. "Don't you know that milk has to be boiled and cooled, curdled and churned before the butter can be seen as such, clear and distinct? Now it is there in the milk, in every drop." The Monk said, "There, you have the answer to your question. God is in everything and being, in the Universe. If you want to see him clear and distinct, you have to go through various processes called Sadhana. You can see Him thereafter, not now, by merely asking me."

The essential ingredient of this Sadhana is Love. Sadhana without Love (Prema) towards all creation, will reveal only Satan.

I shall explain this a little more. Around us now here, we have the radio waves carrying music from the Broadcasting Station Bombay. We have the radio waves from Delhi also; in fact we have, here and now, the radio waves from Stations all over the world, though we are not able to see them or listen to the 'programmes' they carry. When we have with us a Yantra, called receiver, and when we adjust the wavelength to the station that transmits the programme and tune the receiver correctly, then we can hear the music or the news. God who is also here, now all around, can be cognised clearly by means of a Mantra (meditation on a meaningful mystic formula). Have the Mantra, concentrate on it (i.e. the adjustment to the wavelength), with Love (i.e. the tuning in) and you become aware of God (i.e. listening to the omnipresent programme). If the tuning-in is not accurate, you run the risk of listening to the nuisance, not to the news! So too, unless Love is poured out in profusion without any idea of Self, you run the risk of cognising Devil, not God! And if you do not develop concentration, your mind will wander in many directions at once, causing confusion.

Therefore, Love is the best instrument to win Grace. Draw everyone near, as you draw your own brother and sister, and resolve to bear your responsibility with the utmost care and skill you are capable of. In fact, life as a worker is most valuable and fundamental. Work, worship and wisdom are three stages on the Godward path; work is the base - work that is dedicated, work that is done righteously and in reverence to others. The employer and the employees are bound close to each other, as close to each other, as the heart and the body. There can be no heart without a body and no body without a heart; both are essential for each other. The employer-employee relationship is as the bond between a father and his children. It is only when such affection and regard prevail, when the atmosphere of brotherhood is recognised among workers, that mutual help and service can flourish. Under such conditions, each can fulfil his duty gladly and peacefully.

When the employees have any problem that worries them, they can place them before the employer and both can discuss them calmly and sweetly, without unnecessary passion, without arousing hatred or malice and spreading unrest among others. Above all, each person must be conscious always of his obligations as well as of his rights. That is the basic requisite.

The Community Centre has been inaugurated by Me just now. I suggest that you gather in the place once a month, or more frequently, once a fortnight or once a week, for Satsang, when you can have Bhajans, spiritual discourses or other programmes which will turn the mind towards the contemplation of the glory of God or the spiritual treasures in your own selves. I desire also that the children of the labourers be provided with schools where they will be initiated into Bhajans, instructed in spiritual discipline and theistic beliefs and inspired to develop strong virtuous character.

Discipline is the most essential equipment for man; the acquisition of discipline should be the primary goal of all endeavour. Life is rendered worthwhile and valid, only when it is lived out in disciplined ways.

"It is a great source of Ananda for me to be with you. Let the New Year bring you new opportunities to establish joy and peace in your hearts."

The beginning of 1971 was conspicuous because of its auspiciousness for devotees in Bombay who had the benefit of Baba's immediate presence there. In the evening of the first day of January, Baba addressed a public meeting in the compound of Dharmakshetra; the sea of humanity seemed to overrun its precincts. John Hislop is inseparable from paper and pen, whenever he is in the August Presence; he jots down notes of what he hears on spiritual matters from Baba. On this occasion Hislop posed two questions, viz., "What does Baba mean to me, as a person born and educated in a foreign country? And what does Baba mean to the subtler aspect of me which has no nationality?" These questions were answered by himself when he went on to state, "He is the Lord of the heart. He has removed from my heart the hardness accumulated during the years and made it fresh, new and joyous." The second question he answered, saying: "Baba's Divinity is an overwhelming and incomprehensible mystery. He is the Supreme Teacher, He guides us to Liberation." Blessing the devotees, Baba told them to pray for peace and concord amongst communities and nations. Mankind must learn to live happily as one human family.

During Baba's stay in Bombay the children attending Bala Vihar classes enacted plays, recited poems, sang Bhajans, and repeated stories selected from the Epics and Puranas. There were occasions when they felt so deeply the impact of Baba that they broke down in tears, in sympathy with the characters they were portraying. One boy concluding his account of Bhagawad Geeta with a direct appeal to the Sai Krishna who was standing beside him, sobbed in uncontrollable joy. No wonder Baba considered those children the Prahladas of the present age.

"The children of the Sathya Sai Baba Vihars must know the Sathya Sai residing in their hearts. The teachers must also take it as the Puja of Sai Ram. How to reveal these children the Sai who is in their hearts - that is the problem you should set before yourselves. By leading the children towards Divinity, the teachers are serving their parents and society, for they will cleanse and brighten their homes and surroundings," Baba said.

Talking to the members of the Service Organisation, Baba emphasised the role of Sadhana which leads man to Self-realisation, implying that all are waves of the vast ocean called the Higher Self - Paramatma. Warning them against any display, pomp and publicity, he advised them to link themselves with God by the chain of love, through the recitation of names saturated with His loveable qualities. His Name uttered in sloth or slight, in resentment or rancour, will constitute a weak link and the chain will not bind.

The 7th January was Vaikunta Ekadasi, the day on which "the Gates of Heaven are opened." Baba observes these festivals in order to restore their significance. At the conclusion of the Akhanda Bhajans on that day, Baba revealed the real meaning of Ekadasi - the eleventh: when the ten senses are co-ordinated and turned towards God, then the doors of Heaven will certainly open, welcoming you into the presence of the Eleventh, that is God.

Before leaving Bombay, Baba addressed members of the Seva Dal. He said, "Discipline comes to your rescue when the world storms around you with the dark flood of hate or derision, or when those in whom you put trust shun contact and shy afar. Crucify the ego on the cross of compassion, preparing yourself by all means for serving others with your specialised skills. When you are engrossed in such work, remove the Ego with Namasmaran, Japam, Dhyana and Study." Baba exhorted them to lead simple lives, not to wear gaudy and outlandish dress and manners, for they keep the common folk away from them. Test every gesture, and mannerism, ever habit, and every whim of yours on this touchstone; will Baba approve of this?

During Baba's stay at Bombay, a unique book was dedicated to Him by the members of the Maharashtra Branch of the All India Prasanthi Widwanmahasabha, founded and directed by Baba. The President of the Sabha, Sri P.K. Sawant declared that the book will 'light a path to the Almighty'. Sri V.S. Page, the Chairman of the Maharashtra State Legislative Council, said, while offering the book, at a public meeting at Dharmakshetra. "I sat at the Feet of Sri Sathya Sai Baba and started questioning Him on many secrets of spiritual progress. He was kind enough to give His Grace freely. Others of the Sabha participated in the process of questioning and learning. This is a faithful record of such Divine Dialogues, "which confers illumination to those who struggle in the darkness of confusion." Baba explained that there seemed to be three stages in the life of a Bhaktha:

1. Tvamivaham: I am entirely Yours. Here, the Bhaktha completely surrenders himself to God without any reservation.
2. Mamaivatvam: You are exclusively mine. Here, the Bhaktha thinks himself to be the chosen devotee of the Lord and starts to make a claim on Him.
3. You alone are, and I am not. I am yours and you are nothing but I. Here, the Bhaktha sees God alone, everywhere, including himself.

Giving directions about Dhyana, Baba mentioned a method which He has elaborated often. "Are we not at peace, when one thought ceases and another does not rise? You have to watch that moment, be one with that moment and get fixed in that, so that, there is ceaseless continuous peace; thoughts arise and die as ripples on water; you have to look at the water, rather than the ripples. Neglect the waves, watching the water. " Page pursued the subject and asked, "That is Nirvikalpa Samadhi. Nirvikalpa is like water without waves or ripples. Can we watch the water, even when there are waves and ripples? For us to have deep peace in the mind, should we not have experienced Nirvikalpa sometime or other?" Baba answered, "Yes. The person who takes up the process of meditation lands into a state of Nirvikalpa some time or other though it is a very difficult state to attain. Even a Karmayogi or a Bhakta touches this stage time and again in the most natural way, and knows fully what it is. Therefore, he can remember it and bring it back into experience, and feel the joy of continuous communion with God." Page writes, "This was a complete answer to my question, and I was very much satisfied with it. I could not get this answer, from my reading of the scriptures, but, as Sri Sathya Sai Baba was kind enough to give it, I hope it would be useful to a number of aspirants, including myself."

Another very interesting point clarified by Baba was about Neti, Neti (Not this, not this). He said, "Brahman is like a balloon that bulges; it never bursts! So, Neti refers to the comprehension of Brahman, not Brahman itself? Neti does not mean, 'No, it is not this,' it means: 'No, it is not thus.' 'No, this is not all.' 'No there is much more to Brahman than this or thus.

Page mentions that Baba distinguished between ego and Self. Baba said: " 'I' pure and simple is God; 'I' identified with the body, the subtle body and the body imagined in dream life is the ego." Then Page asked, "God is said to be One. Is there one 'I' pure and simple for all of us?" Baba replied, "The different egos are but reflections of one and the same Self or God." Page asked, "Is the mind a material, just like our body? Can it be objectified?" Baba replied, "Yes. Mind is matter. Only, it is very subtle, we cannot point out its breadth, length, thickness or weight. It can be objectified. Sankalpa can do that." Page asked about the miracles too. He says, "Sri Sathya Sai Baba explained these miraculous powers in a very frank manner and we accepted the same without any reservation." Baba said that the miracle was the Nidarsan (Witness, Evidence), of God having created the world out of His Will.

The festival of Mahasivarathri in 1971 was celebrated on 23rd February. Though Prasanthi Nilayam gets overcrowded during that time, the peace of that Abode is maintained, due to the Holy Rays emanating from that holiest of places. Speaking from Santhivedika, Baba raised a very interesting question and answered it Himself. "Why does Swami produce the Linga from Himself this day? Let me tell you that it is impossible to understand the attributes of the Divine. You cannot measure Its potentialities, nor gauge the significance of Its Mahima; it is Agamya; unreachable, Agochara; un-understandable. Because of these, you get an example of Divine attributes. In order to bear witness to this Divinity that is amidst you, for your benefit and benediction, the Linga emerges. If even these glimpses are denied, faith in the Supreme will vanish and an atmosphere of greed, hatred, cruelty, violence and irreverence will overwhelm the good, the humble and the pious."

The Linga is an illustration of the limitless, formless, beginningless, Divine Principle. Baba stayed at Prasanthi Nilayam to assuage a large number of persons who had come long distances to fill their eyes and minds with the sanctity and elation that the Lingodbhava gives, and to touch His Lotus Feet. After showering Grace on them, Baba left for Brindavan, for He had willed that the Women's college at Anantapur must be shifted from temporary sheds and rooms to its own magnificent home, with the beginning of the academic year.

The Sathya Sai Seva Samithi, Bombay, had organised the first All India Bala Vihar Teachers Conference on 11th and 12th May. So Baba in response to the prayers of the devotees of Bombay visited that city for a few days, to bless the teachers. 404 teachers, Crusaders of the new Sai Era of Education attended, and were benefited by Bhagawan's counsel. Baba interpreted the usual invocatory verse on the Guru, recited by a pupil and made it the text of His Discourse. The Guru is Brahma, because, He said, teaching is a creative activity; he is Vishnu because the teacher has to foster the child, guide him and guard him: he is Maheswara, since he has to weed out deleterious components and undesirable traits and habits. The verse, which has been all along taken to mean conventional praise and glorification of the Teacher thus assumed the role of a clarion call to the entire profession itself. That is the significance of Sai Touch! "The Guru is praised as Parabrahma, the genuine supra-soul, or He reveals to the pupil the Reality that makes him free." He said, "Recognise the vast potential lying dormant in the child; help it to express itself."

For this reason, Baba suggested that the name of the classes for children should be changed from Bala Vihars; for more than play and recreation, what has to be done is to encourage the good, the true, the beautiful in the child to blossom, to express and expand. "Bala Vikas," Baba said, "is the more correct name." He wanted that the little children must be trained and encouraged to speak before gatherings of devotees and even others, so that elders might learn from the lips of children what they refuse now to learn from those entitled to advise them. He appreciated the short speech given by a little pupil on 'Film posters, and the horrors they inflict.' It was an eye-opener to the elders who are tolerating such insults on the innocence and purity of home life.

All over the country now, the tiny tots of the Bala Vikas sing Bhajans, draw pictures, paint, write stories and relate them, about heroes of the spirit, and the great mothers of the land, and enact plays depicting elevating incidents from the Upanishads, Ithihasas and Puranas, as well as the religious literature of all faiths. A big revolution in thought, and in social relations, is fast coming into fruition. The Maharashtra State Conference and the Gujarat State Conference of the Organisation were held in May. Baba was present in Bombay for the Maharashtra Conference, He sent a message of Blessings to Dwaraka for the Gujarat Conference. "I am watching the entire proceedings; do not deplore that I am not present with you. I am present as the Eternal Witness," He wrote.

While returning from Bombay, Baba presided over the Mysore State Conference at Dharwar, on the 14th. About 200 Office-Bearers of the Units all from parts of Mysore were charged with steadier faith and deeper devotion for the work ahead.

"The College at Anantapur," wrote Dr. S. Bhagavantham, D.Sc., "is a concrete manifestation of something superhuman. At an enormous cost of four million rupees, within a record time of ten months, Baba has reared a structure, which is good enough for a University! Who did all this work? Where have the funds come from? If you want to see Divinity in action, you can find concrete evidence at Anantapur! It is something beyond the pale of human reason, and mortal prowess!"

The College was to be inaugurated on the 8th July, '71' by the President of India, although there seemed to be no sign or hope of completing the building by the stipulated date! Everyone swore that it was an impossible task. A big industrialist who had visited Anantapur a week before the inauguration said, "If I had applied all my energies with my entire organisational machine, I would have thought that it would take another six months for completion of the work."

The College building is the architectural archetype for Sai Era in education for individual and social uplift. Baba has the Sai Emblem depicting the many faceted adventure of man to realise the Divinity inherent in him as his very breath, hoisted on the central tower as the symbol of hope and victory. The college building is a full circle of charm and dignity. It symbolises the Fulfilment of the Search, called Religion. It is Brahman, the beginningless and endless, which a circle alone can represent. It is redolent with the fragrance of the cultural heritage of India. It is resonant with the echoes of Sanathana Dharma. It carries sky-high the Lotus Flower, (the Hrdaya-kamala) which blossoms at the first touch of the rays of the Rising Sun (Intelligence, Reason).

Baba has installed a clock on the tower, so that Time the Divine Watchman, can waken, hasten and warn the process of teaching and learning, shaping and strengthening, that happens in the College. Architects sat with Baba to translate His ideas on paper, but, the supreme Architect had it all in His Will, and that was enough. The Anantapur College looks like a prayer rising up from the heart, a poem of praise for the Giver of all Good. The building is a miracle in marble, brick and stone, colour and light.

On the day of the Inauguration an international gathering saw a constellation of great personalities. The President of India, Sri V.V. Giri, the wife of the President, Srimathi Saraswathi Giri, the Governor of Mysore State, Sri Dharma Vira, the Lt. Governor of Goa State, Sri Nakul Sen, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Sri P.V. Narasimha Rao, the Vice-chancellor of the Venkateswara University, Dr. Jagannath Reddy, Sri G.C. Venkanna and Sri M.N. Lakshminarasiah, Ministers of the Government of Andhra Pradesh - it was a bouquet of talent, authority, sacrifice and patriotism.

Above all, there was Baba, fresh as a flower, beaming with a benignant smile, with no trace on His Divine Face of the exhaustion, worry or anxiety that He had removed from the faces of even the most busy workers around Him. The bright morning was rendered doubly bright by the Light of Love that shone on that face.

Dr. Gokak, Director of the Institute of Advanced Studies, Simla, welcomed the distinguished guests. He communicated to every one an awareness of the epochal character of the moment. "This college and the others that Baba has planned to establish in every State in India will inculcate Indian Culture in its essence and purity; they will develop not only knowledge and skill, but balance and insight, and faith in the unity of all religions, and in the Reality of Oneself." Dr. Bhagavantham, formerly Vice-chancellor of the Andhra and Osmania Universities said, "History has few parallels of a college that is so well equipped on the date of its Inauguration!" Dr. Jagannath Reddy, spoke of the phenomenal growth of the college in the short span of 3 years. The Minister for education said, "When Baba establishes a college for women we can be certain that it will not be just one among many. It will be a beacon, a lesson for others, a model, a pioneer." Sri Brahmananda Reddy greeted the Day as a Festival for Andhra Pradesh and for Bharathiya Culture itself. Sri Dharma Vira felt that the college for women will be of lasting benefit for the whole country, since educating a woman is educating a whole family. The President declared that it was a good augury for India that Baba is not only conferring spiritual enlightenment to millions, but granting the proper type of education to the youth of the land.

The 8th July, 1971 was Guru Pournima, the Full Moon Festival, dedicated to the Primal Spiritual Preceptor, Vyasa, and also to the adoration of Spiritual Preceptor, by aspirants. It is the Day when millions seek to have Darsan of Baba. It was Baba's Will that the College in which the Guru-Sishya relationship of Ancient India was to be revived, should be inaugurated that Day itself.

Baba pointed out that, as lava from subterranean fire, a huge upsurge of low desires is smothering man, though his chief desire should be the visualising of the God in him, and the cultivation of the Peace, Beauty, Truth and Love that are the marks of that Divinity. "Man has in him a fountain of joy, peace, love and courage. Cultivate these by precept, example and exercise. Then, the educated men and women will have security and sweetness as long as they live."

"India is being forged into a Bhogabhoomi - land of luxury - a land of skyscrapers, tinned foods, air-conditioning and television. Indians are being shaped into an imitative, insurgent, ill-disciplined mass. They are being transplanted on other soils and encouraged to grow, without roots. This is an insult to our past and a dangerous defiance of history. It is a sacrilege on the sanctity of time, on the holy purpose of the human body. That is the reason, I have decided that this college has to be inaugurated on Guru-Pournima Day on Guruvar - Thursday - as a Gurukula - the hermitage school of ancient India in which the highest ideals of life were instilled by personal example and guidance by the Guru to the pupils eager to imbibe."

Baba concluded with the Blessing: "The seed has been planted; it will sprout and spread, heavy with fruits, providing shade, security and sustenance to all."

The educational institutions started with the Blessing of Baba will not imitate nor help to forge out of competitive or compulsive society. They look forward with hope and envisage a society built on love and co-operation, blossoming the human spirit, and the human community.