Spirituality Is The Basis Of All Types Of Knowledge

Do not get deluded by thinking what appears to the naked eye as truth. If you follow Me with steadfast faith, I will be happy to show you what is truth.
(Telugu Poem)

Annihilation of Ignorance Leads to Liberation

All the scriptures of Bharat such as the Vedas, Sastras, and Puranas are written in Sanskrit. Therefore, if one wants to learn the culture of Bharat, one should develop the understanding of Sanskrit. In ancient times, even in villages, people used to converse with each other in Sanskrit. Sanskrit was the language of even street plays in those days. Sanskrit language is so sweet that one can enjoy listening to it even without knowing its meaning.

Never Leave Sathya and Dharma

In a street play, when the actor playing the role of Dharmaraja (Yudhishthira) comes on the stage, the stage manager as per the tradition asks him, “Who are you? What brings you here?” Dharmaraja replies, "My name is Yudhishthira; I am the one who adheres to truth at all times, under all circumstances and in the face of all trials and tribulations. That is why I am called Dharmaraja." Dharmaraja was the embodiment of Dharma. He had the power to destroy Adharma and make people follow the path of Dharma. The main teaching of the Vedas is Sathyam Vada, Dharmam Chara (speak truth, practice righteousness). The Vedas exhort man that he might leave anything in this world, but he should never leave Sathya and Dharma. Hence, always speak truth and follow righteousness. But how many follow the teachings of the Vedas and how many put them into practice in their lives? Sathya and Dharma are not the products of the mind. They emerge from the heart which is filled with compassion. But, unfortunately, man today follows the mind, forgetting his heart and ignoring his intellect which is endowed with the power of discrimination.

One who follows the mind degenerates to the level of an animal and ruins his life. One who follows the intellect will rise to the level of the Divine, says the Lord of Parthi.
(Telugu Poem)

The moment a thought enters his mind, man today acts upon it. In this way, he follows his mind. This is an attribute of the mind; but in fact, it is not an attribute, but an evil tendency of the mind. As soon as a thought arises in one’s mind, one should not translate it into action immediately. One should examine the nature of the thought with the power of Buddhi (intellect). Only when one investigates with the power of one’s intellect can one know whether a particular thought is good or bad, right or wrong. Buddhi has the ability to distinguish between the ephemeral and the eternal. It is only when man enquires using the power of his intellect can he take to the right path.

All the elements are immanent in Akasha (ether). Sound is the attribute of Akasha. Where has the sound originated from? Sabda Brahmamayi, Characharamayi, Jyotirmayi, Vangmayi, Nityanandamayi, Paratparamayi, Mayamayi and Sreemayi (embodiment of sound, mobility and immobility, light, speech, eternal bliss, perfection, delusion and wealth). Everything has originated from sound and sound is Brahman. Atma is another name of Brahman. The Atma, the mind and the speech, all belong to the same Atmic family. People describe mind in many ways. But, in fact, it should reflect the nature of the Atma. Therefore, never put the mind to misuse. Do not allow the mind to act in an arbitrary manner. Though the mind has no specific form, it sees everything, it hears everything. In fact, it is responsible for all actions. You may be under the wrong impression that when everything in this world is meant for our use, why should we give up anything? That is a great mistake.

Intensity of Gopikas’ Love for Krishna

Everyone experiences three states of the soul, namely, Viswa (individual soul in the waking state), Taijasa (individual soul in the dream state), and Praajna (individual soul in the deep sleep state). In your dream, you go to Mumbai, see your parents, meet your friends, and go through many experiences. What is it that has created all these? It is your mind. It has created you, your journey to Mumbai, your parents, your friends, and all the bazaars of Mumbai. It has created everything, but it is not real. As the proverb goes, “All the mansions and buildings that you see in your dream become non-existent when you open your eyes.” You see Marine Drive, Shivaji Park, Dharmakshetra, etc., in your dream, but when you wake up in the morning, you find yourself in Prasanthi Nilayam. Who has seen and experienced all this and who is responsible for this experience? It is only your mind. All this is a play of the mind. Similarly, whatever you see and do is only illusory. All that is not related to the Hridaya.

There are many students here. They study their textbooks, listen to their teachers, acquire degrees, and take up jobs. But how much of what they have studied do they put to use in their profession? Not much. What for is all this study? You should acquire the capability to use your education for the benefit of society. It is not enough that you secure a job, maintain a family, and lead a comfortable life in this world. No one seems to enquire, what have I studied and what is the benefit of my education? You should think about how you can use your education for the benefit of society. You have prepared many delicious dishes in your kitchen, but what is the use if you do not bring them to the dining room and serve them to the guests? What a waste it is! All the good things that you have learnt should be imprinted in your heart and should be used to serve others.

Uddhava was a great scholar of yoga, Upanishads, and other Sastras. He was Krishna’s dear friend. Once he told Krishna, “Swami, Gopikas are illiterate and ignorant. They have not understood Your power. Therefore, I would like to go there, teach them yoga by which they can have Your direct vision.” However, he knew that Gopikas would not pay any heed to him unless he carried a message from Krishna. All the Gopalas and Gopikas had treasured Krishna’s love in their heart. They knew no God other than Krishna. Therefore, Uddhava requested Krishna, “Kindly write a letter to Gopikas and give it to me. Unless I carry a message from You, the Gopikas would not listen to me.” Accordingly, Krishna wrote a letter and gave it to Uddhava. He wrote, “I am sending this letter through My dear friend Uddhava. Listen to his advice.”

Uddhava took the letter and went to Brindavan in Krishna’s own chariot. This made Gopikas think that Krishna Himself had arrived without any prior information. All of them ran towards the chariot looking for Krishna. All along they were waiting for Krishna day and night foregoing even their food and sleep so much so that their eyes were swollen. They had not seen Krishna even for a moment after He went to Mathura. Therefore, they were dejected and depressed. All their energy had drained out. But once they saw Krishna’s chariot, they were overjoyed and ran towards it. Uddhava showed them Krishna’s letter and said, “This is the letter Krishna has sent for you.”

Then one of the Gopikas said, “We are illiterate as our parents never sent us to any school. We don’t know even the alphabet. How can we read your letter?” Then Uddhava said, “If there is anyone who knows to read may take this letter and read.” One Gopika knew how to read. But she did not want to touch the letter. She said, “I offer my salutations to you. I know Krishna’s handwriting very well. But I cannot touch this letter.” Then Uddhava asked, “Why can’t you touch this? You are all great devotees of Krishna. You worship Him with total faith. Then why don’t you even touch this letter?” The Gopika said, “You do not understand our devotion and sense of surrender to Krishna. Our body is burning from top to toe in the fire of our separation from Krishna. If we touch the letter, it may also get burnt. Whatever we touch is sure to get burnt. We do not want to reduce this sacred and golden letter of Krishna to ashes by our touch.” See the intensity of devotion of the Gopikas! Someone else in their place would have felt, “I am educated and I can read this letter.” But Gopikas did not do like that. Uddhava then tried to give the letter to another Gopika. She also said, “My salutations to you. I also know Krishna’s handwriting well. But I cannot control my tears if I try to read it. My tears are bound to fall on the letter and smudge His handwriting completely. How can one read a letter which is totally smudged? Therefore, I do not want to take this letter and read.” Ultimately, Uddhava himself had to read out the letter. The moment he completed reading those two lines written by Krishna, the Gopikas started leaving the place. They did not even look at the face of Uddhava. They were not prepared to look at anyone else having feasted their eyes on the Divine form of Krishna. Such was their sense of devotion and surrender towards Krishna.

Oh Lord! In spite of having eyes, people are verily blind as they do not yearn to see Your auspicious form. Though they are endowed with ears, they are deaf to Your teachings. Though God is immanent in them, they have drowned themselves in worldly life. How can one describe their misfortune?
(Telugu Poem)

When Uddhava noticed Gopikas leaving one by one, he pleaded with them, “At least, listen to my teaching of yoga.” Then the Gopikas replied, “We have not seen Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara. How can we focus our mind on some God whom we have not seen? We have seen Krishna and experienced His Divine power. Therefore, we do not want anyone other than Krishna. You may have a number of minds, but we have only one mind which has gone to Mathura along with Krishna. We do not have a second mind to listen to your teaching on yoga.” This statement of the Gopikas was an eye-opener for Uddhava. What for is all this learning?

Acquire the Education that Liberates

Students are stuffing their head with all sorts of worldly information to such an extent that it is ready to burst any moment. They are filling their head with all sorts of useless information from various countries of the world. Is this the purpose for which God has endowed you with a head?

One can fill an empty head with anything, but is it possible to put something in the head which is already full? How can it be filled with sacred feelings unless it is emptied in the first instance?
(Telugu Poem)

This is not what you are supposed to fill your head with. Study what you are supposed to study. Retain in your head only that which is necessary and discard all that is unnecessary and useless.

Once a teacher was taking a class for village children under a thatched roof. He asked a student, “3+3+3-2 is equal to what?” But the absent-minded student was looking at something else. The teacher was angry. He asked, “Hey, what are you doing? Has everything I taught entered your head? Has it gone inside completely?” As the proverb goes, “the body is in the temple but the mind is thinking about the sandals left outside,” the boy’s attention was totally diverted on something else. He absent-mindedly replied, “Yes, sir, it has gone inside completely except the tail.” He was referring to a rat that had just entered a hole in a corner of the hut. The rat had entered the hole but the tail was still outside. The teacher was teaching something and this boy was concentrating on something else. Is this the way to learn? No, no. What is the purpose of all your studies? Students should become role models and serve society. What is meant by Vidya? That which gives true knowledge is Vidya. But modern education does not impart real knowledge to students.

Give First Priority to Dharma in Life

Chanda and Amarka were the teachers appointed by Hiranyakasipu to teach his son Prahlada. Once when both of them went to a river to take bath, Prahlada gathered all the students around him and started teaching the Bhajan, “Narayan Bhaja Narayan…” Teachers should not think it otherwise. Prahlada told his fellow students, “Look here, our teachers are really misguiding us. My father Hiranyakasipu has instructed them to teach us only about Artha and Kama (wealth and desire) and nothing about Dharma and Moksha (righteousness and liberation). What for is this education? They are teaching us that education is meant for earning money. Should one go to school and study just for earning money? Even beggars and thieves earn money. What is the necessity for education if we have to only earn money? Our teachers are stressing only on Artha and Kama. So, we should not pay heed to them.” Then Prahlada pointed to a monkey and a dog and said, “They are also enjoying all the worldly and sensual pleasures. What is the use of this education if it promotes only Artha and Kama? We need teachers who give us the knowledge of the Self. Why do we require a teacher who gives us only the worldly knowledge? We should oppose this education which is centred only on earning wealth and fulfilling our worldly desires.” All the students were inspired by what Prahlada taught them.

As the teachers returned from the river, the students started singing “Narayan Bhaja Narayan…” They were uttering the name of Narayana which Hiranyakasipu had forbidden them from chanting. Not only did Prahlada chant the name of Narayana but he also taught the other children to chant the same much against the wishes of his father. Seeing this, the teachers started slapping their own heads in desperation. They understood that it was none other than Prahlada who had made the children chant the name of Narayana. They threatened to punish Prahlada, but he was least perturbed and said to them, “What you are teaching is wrong. Dharma should be the foundation of education. This is the main step in achieving the objective of human life. No doubt, money is required and there is nothing wrong in having desires, but all this should be done on the principles of Dharma. Only then can one attain liberation.”

Liberation does not drop down from the sky nor does it emerge from the nether world. It is not available on earth either. It is only when the veil of ignorance is removed from your heart can you attain the sacred state of Moksha. This is the truth propounded in the Smritis (texts composed by the sages).
(Sanskrit Verse)

Moha Kshaya (removal of attachment) is Moksha (liberation). Annihilation of ignorance leads to liberation. When the ash that covers the fire is blown away, the fire becomes visible. Similarly, when the clouds that cover the sun move away, the sun becomes visible. There is no need to make any special effort to drive the clouds away. In fact, the clouds are born out of the sun and cover the sun. Does the sun get angry when it is covered by clouds? No. The clouds will anyway move away in a short period. Similarly, when the clouds of ignorance move away, one will have the vision of the Self.

What is it that teachers are supposed to teach their students? They should teach them to give top priority to Dharma in their life. They should pursue Artha and Kama on the basis of Dharma. Then they will reach the top level, Moksha (liberation). To reach the top of a building, you take the help of a ladder. Unless you start from the lowest step of the ladder, you cannot reach the top. The lowest step is Dharma and the top is Moksha. Artha and Kama come in between. Prahlada exhorted his fellow students to make their teachers understand the importance of Dharma and asked them to become the teachers of teachers. Scientists today have understood and declared that atom is all-pervasive after doing research for thousands of years. But the same truth was proclaimed by Prahlada thousands of years ago when he told his father:

Never doubt that God is here and not there. Wherever you search for Him, He is there.
(Telugu Poem)

Wherever you see, God is present in every atom and every particle. This all-pervasive Divinity is referred to as atom by scientists. The same is described as energy by philosophers. They say this energy is God. Scientists go in a round about manner to understand this simple truth whereas the same truth can be experienced directly by following the spiritual path. Unless you put your hand and mouth to work, how can the food served in the plate reach your stomach? But what are the scientists doing today to make the food reach the stomach? They don’t put it in the mouth directly; they do it in a roundabout manner by taking the hand round the head. Whatever the method they adopt, ultimately they will reach the same truth. Prahlada understood this truth by his intuitive intelligence. This is the type of intelligence that students should develop. You may not be able to put everything into practice in daily life that you study in the classroom. Say, for example, when you go to a laboratory, you mix two parts of hydrogen and one part of oxygen to make water. You can do this only in a laboratory. But when you sit for food, do you mix hydrogen and oxygen to get water? Modern education leads only to agitation whereas education in those days led to elevation. What we need today is elevation and not agitation. Elevation confers happiness to all. The system of education should be moulded in such a way that everyone in society is benefited by it.

Focus your Mind on Spirituality

Develop faith in God. Then He will take care of you wherever you are.

God is your sole refuge wherever you may be, 
In a forest, in the sky, in a city or a village, on the top of a mountain or in the middle of deep sea.
(Telugu Poem)

God knows you wherever you are. Your head is on the top and the feet are at the bottom but when an ant crawls on the feet, your hand automatically hits the ant without even the eyes seeing it. Just as the power of consciousness is present in your entire body, God pervades the entire universe. Deha and Desha (body and universe) are mirror images of each other. Light and darkness do not exist separately. The absence of one implies the presence of the other. For instance, when you switch on the light in a dark room, the darkness at once disappears. Where does it go? When you switch off the light, the darkness reappears immediately. Where does the darkness come from and where does the light go? They neither come nor go. The existence of one leads to the non-existence of the other. There is only one aspect, that is the truth. Trikalabadhyam Sathyam (Truth remains unchanged in the three periods of time - past, present and future). Wherever you go, whatever you do, you should never forget this transcendental truth.

Students!

You may acquire any type of knowledge, but always focus your mind on spirituality. What is the basis of all types of knowledge? It is spirituality. Lord Krishna declared in the Bhagavadgita, Adhyatma Vidya Vidyanam (spiritual education is true education). Out of all types of knowledge, I am the spiritual knowledge, said Krishna. Spiritual knowledge should be the basis of all types of knowledge.

Suppose you have a magnet and an iron piece. The magnet at once attracts the iron piece when it is brought close to it. However, if the iron piece is rusted, it is not attracted by the magnet. Then the iron piece says, “Oh magnet! You do not have the power to attract.” Hearing the words of the iron piece, the magnet laughs and says, “Oh mad iron! You have covered yourself with great amount of rust and dust. How can I take you closer? First of all, clean your rust and dust. Then automatically you will be attracted by me.” Human life is like an iron piece. It is not enough that you clean yourself with soap and water by having a bath. You should be pure and clean inwardly as well as outwardly. When you make yourself pure in this way, the divine magnet will immediately attract you. The magnet not only has the power to attract an iron piece but can also transform it into a magnet. Students can perform this experiment. Take a pin and keep it in contact with the magnet for two days. On the third day, the pin itself will become a magnet. Due to its continuous contact and association with the magnet, the iron will turn into a magnet. Brahmavid Brahmaiva Bhavathi (the knower of Brahman becomes verily Brahman himself).

Just as a magnet imparts its power to an iron piece, noble souls impart their sacredness to all those who come in contact with them. Suppose you go to a forest and try to cut a sandalwood tree with an axe. Does the sandalwood tree curse the axe which cuts it? No. On the other hand, it imparts its fragrance to the axe also. Similarly, good people will impart their goodness to even those who try to harm them.

When you do good to others, you will certainly receive good in return. Therefore, you should be prepared for any sacrifice to do good to others. Not only that, do good to even those who harm you. You will be richly rewarded. Whatever good you do to others, it will never go waste. You may not get the result immediately, but in due course of time, you will certainly get the reward.

Students!

It is not enough if you acquire knowledge; you should use it for the welfare of society in a proper way. You should take a vow to do good to others in every possible way according to your capacity. Your knowledge becomes useless if it is not put to proper use. There is a lot of knowledge in the Pustaka (book) but what is the use if the Mastaka (head) is filled with mud? Don’t make your Mastaka another Pustaka by merely stuffing it with information. Rather, use the knowledge acquired from Pustaka for a good purpose. Make efforts to understand the essence of education.

(Bhagawan concluded His Discourse with the Bhajan, “Prema Mudita Manase Kaho…”)

– From Bhagawan’s Discourse in Sai Kulwant Hall, Prasanthi Nilayam on 28th August 1996.