Raso Vai Sah
Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, in this discourse delivered on a Krishna Janmashtami day long back, firmly encourages us to cultivate universal love—the only way to God.
It is a great pity that in this land [India], that discovered the divinity of man and the means by which he can regain that divinity, that through a continuous stream of saints and sages reminds man of his grand role as a pilgrim toward God, men have allowed the teachings to decline and the practice to fade. Hearts saturated with this honeyed wisdom have become chalices of poison. Hate has hardened them, greed has sharpened them, and pride has polluted them. Once again, man has to be made aware of the spring of joy within him so that he may be happy and not agitated by anxiety.
Human ideals have degenerated so much that man has become incapable of appreciating the beauty, wisdom, and power of avatars (divine advents). They do not yearn for the intuitive experience of the glory and majesty of which they themselves are parts. They do not lose themselves in the stream of joy that flows from the contemplation of the limitless and beginning-less power that is God. This day that you are celebrating as the birthday of Krishna [an avatar] can best be used for rededicating your lives to the attainment of that joy.
God’s creation is sweet
Krishna has three separate meanings—the word, that is: first, Karsh is one root from which the name is derived. It means, “that which attracts;” Krishna attracts hearts to Himself, by His sportive pastimes, miraculous victories over the forces of evil, his charming conversation, His wisdom, and His personal beauty. Second, the word is also related to the root, Krish, to help cultivate, as a field, for growing crops. The word also means that He removes the weeds from the heart of man, and sows seeds of faith, courage, and joy. Third, it is related to the root, Krish, meaning something above and beyond the three attributes and the three eras; and finally, na, means, sat‑chit‑ananda [existence‑knowledge‑bliss]. The leelas (divine plays) and mahimas (miraculous powers) of Krishna through which He attracts the love of mankind, cultivates the harvest of joy in the hearts of His devotees, and makes them aware of His being existence‑knowledge‑bliss are described in the Bhagavatam [the story of Krishna].
Dr. Balasubrahmanyam [an earlier speaker] said now that if you follow My [Swami’s] directions, it is as good as putting the [Bhagavad] Gita [the divine song] into practice. Arun Kumar Dutt [another speaker] said that you are all lucky since you have seen many manifestations of My power. They, however, are manifested because they have to be, and not for exhibiting attainments or for drawing clientele. They manifest when needed by the exercise of [the Universal] will, as naturally and as spontaneously as any other physical act. I am the truth of truth; I guide toward truth; I manifest truth, and when men realize the truth, they realize Me.
Raso vai sah—”He is sweetness.” So, the jagat (the universe), that is His creation cannot but be sweet for those who recognize it as His handiwork. The jagat has to be used to instruct you on the glory and the power of God so that you may seek Him and reach Him. There are four stages in the journey toward this goal; each one is called a loka, a region that you reach. The first is a‑vidya loka (the region of ignorance and delusion) from which you start, prompted by the chain of grief and pain it inflicts upon you. The second is the Vidyaloka [the region of knowledge], where you penetrate into the vijnanamaya kosa (the intellectual plane), and are able to distinguish between the true and false, the kernel and the husk. The third is the anandaloka [the region of bliss], where you are immersed in bliss at the glimpse of the eternal source of power and peace. And, lastly, you have the go‑loka [the region of jivas], where the Go‑pala [the caretaker of souls] reigns, and all the gos (jivas—the sparks from the Divine) waves of the prema sagara (the ocean of love) are one in ecstasy and enlightenment!
Soak your emotions in compassion to attain God. Unless you have love, you cannot claim kinship with the votaries of God; mere ritualistic exactitude, pompous adoration, or loud acclamation will not entitle you to enter the portals of the Go‑loka. They are as tin and trash before the treasure‑chest of love. Love is the bridge that helps passage from birth to death to deathlessness, from death to birthlessness. When you rise from the jiva‑sense to the deva‑sense (humanness to the divine state), then, there is no more birth or death. Liberation happens when you love every being so intensely that you are aware of only one. Soak your heart in love, soak your acts in righteousness, and soak your emotions in compassion; then, you attain God faster.
Krishna serves cows and calves
Now, most people are nearest to the temple but farthest from God. This is because there is no genuine manipulation of the limbs, emotions, impulses, or activities during worship. You say, Krishnarpan (dedication to Krishna); but, really, the dedication that the mind performs is to trishna (desire);the priority may also be dedication to the wife or children! It is seldom done to Krishna! God is everywhere at all times; He accomplishes everything. He accomplishes the minor feat of assuming the human form, and growing up among men in their midst in order to win them over to the path of truth. He gives man the chance to savor His sweetness, and glimpse His glory. He acts despite the absence of any compulsion so that man may be led to do likewise.
The sage Vyasa happened to pass by when Krishna was washing Arjuna’s horses in the water of the [river] Yamuna; the sage shed a tear, contemplating the duty that the Lord had imposed on Himself in order to guide man aright. Krishna played the role of Arjuna’s servant so that man may know how to serve and thereby rise to sovereignty. Krishna served even the cows and the calves. When he was just a boy, His mother proposed to have Him wear shoes on His tiny feet lest the hard thorny ground of the pasture injure His lotus feet. Krishna would have none of it; He replied, “I go daily behind the cows and calves to the distant pasture in order to tend them; I am their servant. How can the servant go shod before his masters wearing shoes when they are not shod?”
His was love and compassion
The cattle were so loyal and loving toward Krishna because of this intimate bond. When Kamsa [Krishna’s evil uncle] invited Krishna to Mathura [Kamsa’s city], and Akrura, the messenger from Mathura, took him in his chariot to that city, even the cows and the frisking calves shed tears at the separation. The beasts had such sincere Krishna‑trishna [desire for Krishna]! Only man has strayed away into the wilderness of ego‑infested evils. Every other animal is still treading its allotted path. God takes human form, in order to fill man with gratitude and joy; man sees the power, the wisdom, and the beauty of God—the Satyam, Shivam, and Sundaram—and the vision gives him a tormenting thirst for truth, goodness, and beauty.
Krishna dealt with the world as with a sitar [Indian stringed musical instrument], pulling its heartstrings to arouse the melody of comradeship, heroism, love, affection, compassion, and conviction. But of these, the two emotions of love and compassion were characteristically His own. His breath was love. His behavior was compassion. Adore Him, placing a garland of tears around His neck and wash His feet with tears springing from joy at the contemplation of His love. That very worship will endow you with the wisdom that the sages seek, the bliss that the books extol.
Grow in love, meditating on the embodiment of love called Krishna. When the heart has not melted and softened to the cry of distress, the spasm of pain, and the groan of the hungry, and when the fountain of love therein is blocked with the tinsels of pride, Krishna will not play the flute in your ear. You may be a master in the service of Krishna; but, without the key of love, you cannot gain entrance to the Go‑loka where He resides. You may be in Prasanthi Nilayam [Baba’s residence] since years, claiming to be with Swami and near Him; but, without cultivating love expressed in service, you cannot know Me.
The splendor & reflection of God
Once, there was a pupil who prided himself about his ancestors and his master; they were great pundits (scholars) renowned over the entire realm. His preceptor asked him one day whether he could answer any question he might ask. The pupil was stung to the quick! He said, “Why this hesitation? Ask, and it will be answered! I come from a Somayaji family; my father is a celebrated savant. I have been learning at your feet for years! Don’t I know the answers to all questions?” “What is the meaning of the word, lavana?” the guru asked. The pupil laughed and said, “You surprise me with this absurdly simple question. Don’t I know? Lavana means—cowdung.” Well, lavana is a word that is in daily currency in every household and everyone knows that it means “common salt!” The conceited disciple had not learnt even that. This is very much like what some long‑standing devotees know about Me!
Unless you brighten your vision with love, you cannot see the truth. Love helps you to see God in everyone, and everyone as divine. The jagat [world] is not false, it is not a trap; it is the splendour of God, His reflection. He reflected and the jagat happened. It [Jagat] is His own substance, manifesting as multiplicity, as latent or potent energy or matter. When activity is in accordance with awareness, and awareness is befogged or belittled, dried up or deluded, then, dharma [righteousness] descends, and the avatar appears among men.
People tell Me that mankind is on the brink of destruction, that the forces of hypocrisy and hate are prevailing fast in all the continents, and that anxiety and fear are stalking the streets of every city and village of the world. There is no need to tell Me this, for I have come precisely for this very reason. When the world is on the verge of chaos, the avatar comes to still the storm raging in the hearts of men. Prasanthi (the higher peace, the calming of perturbations) will be stabilized soon; the demonic deviations from the straight divine path will be corrected. Dharma will be revived and re‑vitalized in every human community.
Become mad for Krishna
You celebrate the birthday of Krishna, of Rama, and of Sai; but, they have no birth, and they do not age; they appear and disappear like the rising and setting Sun, because you roll and rotate; they are steady and ever‑present. They appear so, so that you might realize the Unlimited, and forget in that ecstasy the limited to which you are shackled. Do not derive contentment simply adoring pictures and images, and reading or reciting hymns or songs of praise. Move on to the higher stage of seva activity, and then to the highest stage of ananda that is Go‑loka.
Know your reality and the reality of all beings as revealed to you; that very instant you become Radha [the foremost devotee of Krishna]; and since Radha is Krishna and Krishna is Radha, you enter and merge in the Krishna‑tatwa (the Krishna Principle), the divine truth. Whoever adores Krishna ceaselessly, without any other thought or feeling to perturb him, is Radha. See with the eyes of love; hear with the ears of love; work with the hands of love; think thoughts of love; and feel love in every nerve. Then the God of love, Krishna, will come to you on the wave of love and fill your hearts with Himself.
Do not cage Him in a picture; do not confine Him in an idol. He is all forms. His is all names. He is the reality of all beings. Infect yourselves with madness for Him instead of for the world. Someone has written a song about Me, saying that I cure madness and confer madness, that I wipe tears and cause tears to flow. Yes, madness for visualizing God is any way preferable to the madness after riches and reputation.
Power of love binds the world
Shed tears of ananda (divine happiness), not tears of grief. Yearn for the love that will bring you the love of God, prema. I have no power mightier than that. I might change earth into sky or sky into earth, but, that power is nothing before the power of love that can bind the world and rule the world. Love; do not hate or harm. Even mosquitoes can pride themselves on the capacity to injure and harm, and cause disease. Bugs can do likewise; so, if you feel proud of the skill to harm, you are only demeaning yourselves. Love and serve; that is the sadhana (spiritual striving) that will reward you best.
Celebrating festivals like this has been prescribed by the sages since they encourage you to ponder over the fundamentals of spiritual progress. A young tree grows better and faster when the soil around the roots is raked up now and then; the air and solar rays can penetrate the source of its strength and vitalize it. I bless that you will have the constant contemplation of the Lord and that your minds will taste the sweetness of the Divine without intermission.
Source: Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 11
