The Bubble of Pride
Man is a pilgrim toward Dharmakshetra (abode of righteousness), the pride of dharma, which is the abode also of shanti (peace]. But on the way he is led into the by-lanes and alleys of objective pleasure by the senses to which he has become a slave. Man is eager to know about all kinds of trivialities, like the details of other lives and other places, but he has no keenness to know about himself or the place from where he himself has come. Man is sunk in ignorance about himself, his source and substance, his goal and fate. He reduces himself to just one individual; he, the inheritor of unlimited wealth and fortune, feels himself a pauper. Remove this ego boundary, then only can you recognize the vastness of yourself.
This microphone before Me must have been made by someone, is it not? He is not seen or known by you, but of his existence there can be no doubt. Besides, it is certain he must be knowing all about this microphone that he has made. So, too, there must be a creator for this universe, and He must be knowing all about it. This universe is composed of the five elements, and He is the master of all the five, their manipulator, aware of their subtle characteristics, and properties. He is the Kshetrajna (indweller), He who knows this kshetra (field). When I speak into the mike, all of you can hear Me clearly; but the tape recorder here, the fan, the bulbs, the tube lights, all operate on account of the self‑same unseen electric current that animates each of them.
Diwan Bahadur Ramaswamy Sastry, Yogi Suddhananda Bharathy, and others addressed you now, each one on a separate note, but all described only the self‑same Kshetrajna, the Universal Knower, who is known by all names and who is in all forms. He is the impersonal person described in a hundred different ways in the Vedas, the Sastras, the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, and the Bhaagavata. Hold on to Him and live your lives; you will not slip. Build your activities on that basis; your career will not cave in. You will also develop courage, consolation, and faith in yourself and in your destiny.
Krishna’s lessons to control the ego
Krishna addresses Arjuna in the Gita sometimes as Kaunteya. Now, what does that appellation mean? It means, “one who assimilates quietly” as you are doing now. You are seated comfortably under this pandal [temporary shelter], in fine weather and you can afford to listen in silence. But, remember, Arjuna was between two opposing armies, eager for the fray for which they had prepared for years with unquenchable vengeance. It requires extraordinary self-control and yearning to command concentration at that time. Krishna addresses him as Kurunandana, which means that he takes delight in karma [action] dedicated to the high ideals he had in view. Every mode of address of Krishna has an inner meaning and appropriateness, as well as a lesson for others.
Arjuna was trained by Krishna without break to control his egoism. Before the Mahabharata war, Arjuna once happened to be at Ramasethu, near Rameswaram. Arjuna spoke of the bridge with some scorn in the hearing of Anjaneya, who was there, and said that he would have built a bridge of arrows single‑handed and not bothered about subduing the sea and getting monkeys to pile up rocks one over the other. Anjaneya asked him to build one. When Anjaneya walked gently over the bridge, the arrows broke under his weight!
Krishna suddenly presented Himself and suggested that it should be done in His presence, for there was no witness when the challenge was made and accepted. In order to save Arjuna from humiliation, Krishna bore the second bridge on His back when Anjaneya walked on it, so that Arjuna saw the telltale streaks of red where the arrow points had pierced the Lord’s back Thus, Arjuna’s pride was humbled. He prayed to Anjaneya to fight on his side at Kurukshetra. But Anjaneya said that the Kaurava army would be too infinitesimal a foe for his prowess; it would not be fair to pit him against such a weak enemy. He would only watch the fight from the flag of Arjuna’s chariot, he said; and the offer was gladly accepted.
Egoism is a tough enemy
Arjuna’s pride was humbled during the war in another interesting manner by Krishna. Around the end of the war, one evening Arjuna felt proud that Krishna was his charioteer, and thus his ‘servant.’ He felt that as master, he should get down from the chariot after Krishna and not before Him. So, that day he insisted that Krishna should get down first, that he should come down only afterward. But Krishna was adamant; Arjuna must come down first, he said. After wasting a long time, pleading and protesting and praying, Arjuna got down very unwillingly, swallowing his pride. Krishna then came down, and immediately the chariot went up in flames!
Krishna explained the reason. The incendiary arrows and missiles that had stuck on the chariot were powerless so long as He was on it; but when His presence was no longer there, they set the chariot on fire. Thus, Krishna showed that every act and word of the Lord had significance and a purpose, which mortals cannot gauge. Egoism is a tough enemy and it requires constant vigilance to conquer it.
Conquer the foes of the inner realm
Pride raises its head in every stage and state. Like grass that covers the earth with a green carpet as soon as the rains fall even in places that appeared dry waste, pride thrives upon opportunity. King Sikhadhwaja got a feeling of extreme renunciation and left for the forest for ascetic practices. His queen Choodala had the spirit of detachment in greater measure, but she did not make a show of it as her husband did.
The queen put on a male attire, wore ochre, spelt a rosary, and sought him in the jungle. Discovering him at last, she asked him who he was. The King replied that he was the ruler of the realm, that he had given up his riches, his treasure, his army, his court, etc. “For the sake of what did you give up these?” asked Choodala. “For the sake of peace,” replied the King. But he had to confess that he had not attained it.
Then Choodala taught him that the giving up of “things” will bear no fruit, that the desire for things, the pride of possessing things, of having once possessed them, has to be given up. That one must be detached from the objective world so that he might turn his eyes inward and conquer the foes of the inner realm and become a master of himself. When the King attempted to fall at the feet of the new guru that had come to him, Choodala revealed her identity. She was a sati (virtuous wife) who was the guru of her pati (husband); there were many such women in ancient times, when they were honored and educated much better than today.
Tremendous power of mind over body
You must develop the devotion of the gopis, of Radha, of Uddhava, of Hanuman. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa did intense sadhana, transmitting himself into the attitude of Hanuman, and even his physical attributes changed to suit the role. He developed a small tail during the period; such is the tremendous power of mind over body. Many husbands and mothers-in-law tried to scare away the gopis from Krishna by spreading scandals about Him. But how can anyone keep the jiva (individual soul) and the Jagadeeshwara (Lord of the universe) apart? Vyasa, the great saint, says that words are inadequate to describe the intensity of that devotion, the devotion of the gopis for the Lord. They had no egoism left in them, and that is why they became the supreme devotees of the Lord.
Learn the art of overcoming the ego from the Shastras [scriptures], whose repositories are here before you in the Prasanthi Vidwanmahasabha [Academy of Vedic Scholars]. There are still many such in our land, in spite of decades of neglect and the glitter of other studies. You must have heard of Bhojaraja, the great patron of the pundits such as these. He was at first not so considerate, but an incident happened that turned his attention to this essential task.
The pundits of his realm had God’s grace in good measure, no doubt, but they were extremely poor and had to struggle to keep their families above starvation. One pundit was so down and out that he decided to turn thief and steal, not from any poor man’s house, but from the King’s palace itself, for the King cannot be made poorer by the loss. He crept into the private apartments at dusk and though he had access to a large quantity of silverware and gold cups and plates, he felt that he should carry away with him only what he needed most, and so, he stole only a few seers [kilos] of wheat flour. While moving about with the bag of flour in a dark corridor he heard noises, and so he entered a room whose door was ajar and hide himself under a cot. It was the King’s bedroom!
Scholars must have faith in their learning
The pundit spent the night under a cot, unable to move or cough or sneeze or even breathe aloud. An hour before dawn, the King rose and sat upon the bed, reciting aloud a stanza he had composed at night while trying to sleep. There was a gap in the last line that the King could not fill; the appropriate word was evading him. The pundit heard the stanza; he had the word on his lips, and he could not but shout it out from underneath the cot. He forgot for the moment that he was a thief with the telltale bag in his hands. The King peeped under the cot and welcomed the pundit and honored him for his scholarship and poured largess on him in sympathy for his plight.
It was thus that Bhojaraja [the King] learnt of the misery in which the scholars of his kingdom lived. The pundits also must have this faith: that their learning will never injure them, never destroy them, that it will sustain them, provided they follow them strictly, gladly, sincerely, and in the fear of God. The faith in God will be instilled by namasmarana (the repetition of the name of God)–the remembering of the glory of the Lord and of His infinite mercy and power.
When a mother is feeding her child, you can see her with the child on her hip and the plate in her hand, inducing the child to eat by means of harsh words or a smile, a joke, a threat, or a story, diverting its attention, showing the child a dog or a flower or the moon. I have also to adopt the same tactics to make you listen and assimilate the valuable food that is so necessary for your growth. That is the reason why I relate stories, sing, recite poems, etc., in My discourses!
Source: Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 4
Birth and death are two high cliffs between which the river of life flows. The force of atma-shakti [self-power] is the bridge that spans the chasm, and for those who have developed that force and faith, the floods are of no concern. With atma-shakti as their safe support, they can reach the other bank, braving all dangers.
~Sri Sathya Sai
