Sathya Sai Vahini - Post 55

Chapter XXII.

 

The Eternal Truths

 

The Veda is the Mother of all the scriptures (sastras). The Veda emanated from God Himself as inhalation and exhalation. The great sages, who were the embodiments of the treasure gained by long ascetic practices, received the Veda as a series of sounds and spread it over the world by word of mouth from preceptor to pupil.

 

Since it was “heard” and preserved by generations, the Veda is known as sruthi, “that which was heard or listened to”. The Veda is endless.

 

The Vedas: divine revelations

 

Who composed the Vedas? Until today, it has not been possible to unveil their names. Those who recited it had perhaps no desire to earn renown, for the names are nowhere seen mentioned in the Veda. Perhaps they attached no importance to their names, clans, or sects, or it is likely they had no kith or kin or clan. 

 

The word Veda originated from the root vid, meaning “to know”. “That which reveals and makes clear all knowledge is Veda (Vidam thu anena ithi Vedah).” The Veda can be mastered neither by limited intellect nor by limited experience. The sacred Veda instructs in all that one requires for spiritual advancement. It instructs in the means and methods of overcoming all sorrows and grief. It instructs in all the spiritual disciplines that can give unshaken peace.

 

No one has understood correctly the beginning or end of the Veda, so it is hailed as beginningless and eternal. Since the first and the last of the Veda are not known, it is everlasting (nithya). The intelligence of humans is tainted, but since the Veda has no trace of taint, it is concluded that it cannot be a human product. So the Veda is also characterized as non-personal (a-pourusheya).

 

The Vedas: a unique source of all religions

 

The Veda is its own authority. Each Vedic sound is sacred because it is part of the Veda. Those who have faith in the Veda and its authority can personally experience this. The great sages were enriched by such experiences, and they have extolled it as the source of wisdom. 

 

Human intelligence can operate only within certain limits. (Buddhi-grahyam atheendriyam). But the Veda is beyond the reach of intelligence, which is restricted and can deal only with facts discoverable by the senses and experiences related to these. It can act only in the area of the visible, the viable.

 

The Vedas: source of all sciences

 

Mother Veda has been kind to her children —the human race. To sanctify its cravings and to uplift the race, she has posited the concept of time —and its components, the years, months, days, hours, minutes and seconds. Even gods were declared to be bound by time. The individual (jiva) is caught in the wheel of time and space and rotates with it, unaware of any means of escape. But really, the individual is beyond the reach of time and space. The Veda is bent upon the task of making it know this truth and liberating it from this narrowness. Mother Veda is compassionate; she longs to liberate her children from doubt and discontent. She has no desire to inflame or confuse. Wise ones know this well.

 

The Vedas: drawn toward India

 

The atmosphere in India was congenial for the revelation and growth of the Vedas. The Vedas were drawn toward the hearts of the sages of this land, this land of Godward activity, this land of yoga, this land of renunciation. Since in India the spiritual quest was sincerely pursued, along with material objectives, people here had the good fortune of Mother Veda incarnating.

 

The heroic sages of India (Bharath) were able to receive the Vedic message as a result of their spiritual practice (sadhana) of denial and detachment, as well as their capacity to concentrate and to experience the bliss resulting from practicing it. 

 

The scriptural texts of India —the Vedas, limbs of the Veda (Vedangas), Upanishads, law codes (smrithis), Puranas (didactic ancient legends), and historical epics (ithihasas)— are repositories of profound wisdom. Each is an ocean of sweet sustaining milk, sacred and sanctifying.

 

Sanskrit: mother of all languages

 

A person who wants to understand clearly the sacred books and scriptural texts of India, to imbibe their message, must learn the Sanskrit language; that responsibility, that duty, cannot be avoided. The very mention of Sanskrit immediately arouses in many among us a prejudicial attitude. “It is the dead language of a dying culture; it is boosted by the fanatic attachment of antiquated conservatives”, contemporary moderns declaim.

 

Sanskrit is an immortal language; its voice is eternal; its call is through the centuries. It has imbedded in it the basic sustenance from all the languages of the world. Revere Sanskrit as the mother of languages. Do not ignore its greatness or talk disparagingly about it.

 

Contd...

 

Love.

 

 

 

Sathya Sai Vahini - Post 54

Men and women, rich and poor, all are eligible to kindle in themselves the flame of spiritual wisdom. Distinctions of race, religion, caste, and creed do not come in the way. 

 

Young people have to spring into the sphere of action and strive to the best of their ability to build up a resurgent India and a happy peaceful world.

 

Even as it is the duty of children to serve and please their mother, it is the bounden duty of every child of mother India to make her happy. To serve the motherland selflessly should be the sacred ideal of one’s life. 

 

Thus, it is the duty of all Indians to engage themselves in the dedicated service of Mother India. Such an obligation on one’s part may even be described as forming part of the nobility of character of the individual vis-a-vis their motherland. 

 

Four inheritors of wealth 

 

There are four inheritors of hoarded wealth. The first is charity; the second, the king; the third, fire; the fourth, the robber. The first claimant is charity, and the major share goes to it. Students should recognize the profound significance of this truth and utilize the wealth they acquire for the welfare of mankind.

 

Sacrifice is the highest step. One who has the true spirit of sacrifice gives even their dearest and highest possession to others without any hesitation or reservation, smilingly and gladly. Surrendering the fruit of action to the Lord is real sacrifice. 

 

A renunciant (thyagi) does not shrink even to give up their body, regarding it as worthless straw. Sacrifice means something more than giving up of wealth, gold, and material objects. 

 

There is no happiness greater than that obtained from sacrifice. Only those who sacrifice are the children of immortality, because they live forever. Spirit of sacrifice When we study our epics and legends, we come across numerous figures who embody such spirit of sacrifice. 

 

Every young Indian should be enriched once more by the spirit of sacrifice. Sacrifice is sweeter than enjoyment. Sacrifice should become the aim of life. Only through sacrifice can one attain peace. 

 

The Upanishads have proclaimed in a full-throated voice that sacrifice alone leads to immortality. Sacrifice is the chief trait of the pure. Therefore, every student must imbibe and display the spirit of sacrifice in their life. One should not become a victim of the disease of enjoyment. 

 

End of education

 

Wisdom is illumination, and the aim of education is to radiate that light of wisdom. Such wisdom bestows real power upon a person. Wisdom enables us to recognize the mutual relationship of objects and individuals and to know the precedents and antecedents of each object. 

 

How can this illumination enter one’s being? 

 

By listening to and going through great books like the Vedas, the Vedanta, the Upanishads, the Koran, and the Granth Saheb, the biographies of noble souls, and books dealing with physical and technological sciences and psychology, one gains this light. Along with wisdom, the discriminatory approach and logical thinking can be gained by reading them. One should not depend entirely on knowledge derived from sacred texts but also upon wisdom arising from experience. 

 

Love.

 

 

Sathya Sai Vahini - Post 53

Chapter XXI

 

The inner enquiry

 

Sage Vasishta explains to Rama on “creation”

 

From where did the cosmos originate? How did it emerge?

 

The questions “how did it emerge?” and “from where did it originate?” are exactly on a par with the question, how did the “serpent” appear on the “rope” and cause the “terror”? 

 

Only the rope exists there; the serpent was imposed thereon, at dusk, by the defective intellect of the onlooker — that is to say, on account of illusion created by reasoning. 

 

In other words, ignorance is the basis of the misapprehension. Brahman is the rope; the cosmos is the serpent, superimposed on it by reason afflicted by illusion. 

 

We cognize Brahman as the cosmos; we take one thing as another as long as this affliction holds sway. Therefore, it is best to conclude that the cosmos is an object that originated in our own intellect (buddhi) and emerged out of the same faulty faculty. 

 

An object born of such a delusion and confirmed by only an infirm intellect can never be true. When the delusion goes, when the infirmity disappears, the cosmos so caused also disappears. 

 

Non-dualism dispels primal ignorance If you seek to destroy the ignorance that separates and stultifies, this attitude must be transformed and the conviction that “I am the embodiment of happiness, I am the one who has realized desire” has to be cultivated.. 

 

The reason we are unable to realize the above truth lies in the absence of four requisites: 

 

(1) attention to spiritual progress, 

(2) steady faith, 

(3) devotion, and 

(4) the grace of God. 

 

Even if one of these four is absent, people cannot experience the highest bliss of the Absolute. Our inquiry should not be directed to the obvious and the superficial. 

 

The Inner Inquiry edge without personal experience is futile. Wisdom lodged within us will be of no avail if it is static. It will only assume the form of mere scholarship. If such learning is brought within the ambit of practice, it is creditable. Acquiring and hoarding wealth will be of no avail if it is not consecrated and spent for the welfare of the world. 

 

Similarly, mere acquisition of knowledge from books is a futile exercise. Knowledge becomes blessed only when it is translated into actions that promote the good of humanity. This translation of knowledge into experience is possible only when you pass through the three stages of knowing (jnatum), visualizing (drashtum), and entering (praveshtum). 

 

First, you must learn about the precious truths contained in the sacred texts from veterans in the field. When you learn about them, you naturally take an interest in them. Then you develop an urge to visualize those truths at any cost. 

 

In the second stage, you carefully peruse, examine, and collect such sacred texts wherever they are available. You read and directly visualize them. With great perseverance you enquire, comprehend, and enjoy them. Thus, you derive some satisfaction that you have discerned certain profound truths. 

 

By entering the arena of experience, one should feel complete identification with the ideal. What has been heard, seen, and understood should be put into practice at least to some extent. This is the stage of entering. 

 

Though one may gain renown and recognition in the world, one will not experience happiness without self-knowledge. “Knowledge of the soul”, “knowledge of God”, “spiritual knowledge” —all these expressions connote the wisdom that promotes full awareness of soul and God. Self-knowledge is that knowledge by which everything else is known. 

 

Human effort constitutes the prime step in one’s Endeavour to attain this highest state of Godhood. God’s grace is the second essential factor. Anyone can strive for and attain self-knowledge. 

 

Contd....

 

Love.