Roots into the deep

GOD is Premaswaruupa; God is in every being; so, the fruit of every life is full of the sweetness of that Prema. Like the bitter skin of the fruit which is sweet which casts the cover of ignorance over the precious juice within, so too the bitter skin of envy, egoism, hate, malice, greed, lust and pomp does not allow the sweetness to be patent to all. Every being is entitled to partake of that Prema, irrespective of nationality, colour, creed or status in society. When God and God’s Prema are activating every atom, who dare say, ‘Stand out’ to any one? Ishaavaasyamidham sarvam — All this is God, is Prema.

The lights that Vyaasa lit to reveal this great reality have become dim; no one is pouring oil into the lamp; all are interested in pursuing false ideals and fleeting pleasures. Vyaasa taught Dharma in the Mahaabhaaratha, bhakthi in the Bhaagavatha, and shaanthi and prema in the 18 Puraanas; he taught the knowledge of “knowledge, knower and the known” in the Brahmasuuthra. He emphasised that harming others is the seed of sin and serving others the seed of merit. That is the lesson of Prema, pure and simple. The person who has delved into his depths and discovered his inner reality is the embodiment of shaanthi.

Realise troubles and miscries are God’s gifts

Prema is the Amritharasa (essence of nectar) which fills the Upanishadhs. When man realises the inefficiency of the senses, the mind and the intellect, to grapple with the Reality and know the inner core of his truth, then, he discovers he is the Aathma which is Sathya, Dharma, Shaanthi and Prema. Or, He realises that there is God who is the basis of all this superstructure, who has designed and contrived all this and he surrenders his ego to Him. “Let Your will prevail,” he proclaims and resigns himself fully to His plan. That moment is a supreme moment of joy, Aanandha. Troubles, miseries, handicaps, grief and pains that were hitherto causes of distress suddenly take on a new and magnificent r01e: they are “His handwork, His gifts, His Grace.” They are no longer unwelcome; they are as welcome as the successes, the pleasures, the happiness are. Both are His Will. When you go to a new place, you seek out a friend and hand over to him all the money you have for safe keeping; but, if you start suspecting him later, you will have no peace. Have faith in him; you are free; you have no worry. So too, give all your desire-driven activities to God; have faith in Him and be unconcerned for ever. Sarva dharmaan parithyajya, (giving up all your desire-driven activities through various codes and regulations) maam ekam sharanam vraja (give everything to Me and have full faith in Me).

If the match-stick is soaked in water, how can it ignite when struck? If the mind is soaked in vishaya (worldly desires), how can it be ignited into spiritual endeavour? The Prema with which you are endowed must be directed towards God; then only can it expand, grow, deepen, fertilise all your actions, benefit all those around you. If it is confined to the world, it will be sucked up soon, by the sands of envy greed and malice. Without that expansive Prema which is Divine, man is worse that a pashu (animal), he is a Danava (demon). The pashu or cow yields milk, when its dead calf is stuffed and taken near its udder. That is the measure of its vaathsalya (parental love)!

Human life today is like a wheel without hub

The light of Prema is absent in the heart; and, so, bats and nocturnal birds infest it and foul it. The bats are the evil qualities of hate and malice and greed. The Mahaabhaaratha epic which Vyaasa collected and composed teach quite emphatically and clearly the evanescence of wealth, authority, power, physical prowess and all that is considered desirable by man on earth. What did Duryodhana and Karna lack? Still, they fell and were eaten by dogs and jackals on the battlefield on which they had staked their all.

It is to develop this Prema and use it for liberation that the four ideals have been placed before man — ideals which he is to strive for consistently, each one being sublimated and subordinated to the next — Dharma, Artha, Kaama, Moksha — Artha or material happiness to be won by Dharma (virtuous living), Moksha (Liberation) to be held as the only desirable Kaama or goal. Now, these ideals are being repeated ad nauseum but no attempt is made to act. That is why human life everywhere has degenerated into a farce, a tragedy. It is like a wheel without a hub, milk without butter, ineffective, waste.

Prema too is of three kinds, depending on the guna (quality) that predominates in the individual. Thaamasik Prema confines itself to “me” and “mine,” it does not flow beyond that little circle. The Raajasik Prema flows only towards those in power, or have wealth, or to those who will: give it a spectacular effect. Saathwik Prema, on the other hand, always flows towards the good, the pure, the detached, towards awe and wonder, towards God. Pundaleeka was tending his parents when God appeared before him as Naaraayana. He was revering them as the God in them. So, he asked Naaraayana to wait a little, He threw a brick towards Him to serve as a footstool on which He could stand, until he was ready to worship Him. If you do not revere the parents, how can you draw from your heart enough reverence to worship the Father who dwells in Heaven?

A cleansed mind alone can recognise God

Prema is the spring that feeds the roots of all the virtues. You must have seen paddy fields where the crop is drying, though the ground is wet and there is a thin sheet of water still under the plants. You must have seen also big trees, standing upon hard dry ground, but, decked with a rich crown of green foliage. Have you paused to find out the reason for this contrast? The roots of the paddy plants do not go deep; the roots of the trees go down unto the very springs of underground water which are perennial.

So too when each of your acts, the words that you utter, the thoughts that shape your desires and emotions — when all these draw sustenance from the roots that go deep into the inner springs of Love, then you will be happy and fresh, you can give shelter and shade to many a weary mortal. Japam and thapas (pious repetition of Lord’s Name and penance) and puuja and vrathams (ritual worship and vow-keeping austerities) — all train and subdue the senses. They cleanse the mind so that God can be reflected therein. Just as the sugar that your eyes can see and your hands can put into water becomes so dissolved in it that neither eye nor hand can cognise it again, the senses and intelligence cannot cognise that immanent God; chiththashuddhi (cleansing of mind) alone can recognise God, just as the tongue alone can recognise the sugar that has dissolved in the water.

Gopikas had the highest form of devotion

The Gopikas had .that chiththashuddhi (purity of thought), though inferior minds full of gross desires have fouled the clear springs of their Prema with their ignorant comments. Naaradha too thought that the illiterate milkmaids could not have the highest form of devotion; but, when he offered to teach them, he found them so immersed in God-consciousness that they had no thought other than those of Krishna, no words unrelated to His Glory, no act unconnected with His Seva. They had surrendered their all to the Lord who ruled them from within themselves.

It has become a fashion for the educated to ask, “Where is God?” “What is His task?” and not wait for answers. They can well believe that there must be some one who launches and regulates the highly complicated rockets that move around the earth and other artificial things in space; but, they cannot believe that there must be some intelligence behind all this manifold galaxy of stars and planets revolving for aeons and along millions of light years of space.

Believe in that Supreme Paramaathma and engage yourselves in the practice of living. You will then find that you can manage to detach yourselves from the world, though you are in it. You will be like the lotus which grows in water but which floats on it and does not allow it to wet it, like the tongue which is unaffected by grease though it may eat ghee and oily articles. The chiththa (the mind-stuff) should not be contaminated by contact with the sensory objects, that is the means of saadhana.

*Editor’s Note. The date of the discourse is July 1967, the exact date is not known.