The Immortal Guide to Immortality

These days when anxiety casts its shadow over the land, the recollection of the birth and achievements of Rama acts as armor to the agitated mind. Rama is in truth the Vedas [scriptures] personified. He is Veda dharma in human form. Today, what you celebrate is not the birth of the son of Dasaratha called Rama, but the birth of dharma [righteousness] itself. You must be happier at that thought; it is a double birthday. When dharma declines and the joy of practicing it and living it and saturating thoughts and deeds with it is no longer sought after, when that joy is forgotten and even denied, the Lord incarnates, according to the assurance He has vouchsafed. That is the way of the Lord.

The arena of life is raised on four pillars: dharma, artha, kama, and moksha (righteousness, wealth, desire, and liberation). They sustain and support. When the arena loses two and struggles to stand on the remaining two, viz., artha and kama, naturally anxiety, pretense, grief, and greed afflict mankind. Each pillar must co‑operate and complement the parts that the other three play. Dharma must sublimate artha, that is to say, through moral means alone should the means of living be obtained. Artha must be won through dharma and used in dharma. Kama must be primarily for moksha; that is to say, desire must be directed to liberation from bondage, not to the forging of new chains or the addition of further links in the chain of birth and death. The first of the four, dharma, must interpenetrate and strengthen the next two, so that the fourth may be attained. Devoid of the first and the last, mankind is reduced to the level of beasts and birds.

Dharma subsumes all stages of life

Artha and kama should not be sought after in isolation. The fact that today there is fear and anxiety in all sections of the people and in all stages of life shows that men are pursuing only artha and kama and neglecting dharma and moksha. It was once the pride of India that it was a land of peace and fearlessness, of spiritual effort and adventure, which guaranteed social and individual content. Now Indians must again dedicate themselves to the revival of that way of living, of dharma that subsumes all the stages of life. In this campaign, it is the duty of every individual, irrespective of caste, creed, sex, or extent of possessions or learning, to join enthusiastically. For, it comes quite naturally to an Indian since it has drawn out the best in him for centuries and the yearning for it is in his blood.

How are you to adopt dharma in the process of living? That is laid down by the Avatars [incarnations] like Rama. That is the purpose of His coming. Dasaratha had four sons of whom Rama was the foremost. They represent the four purusharthas [goals of life], dharma being the foremost; the other three serve and are strengthened by Rama, who is described as Vigrahavaan Dharmah—the very image of dharma.

The difference between man and demon (manava and danava), is just this: Manava or man has or ought to have dharma, dama, and daya—morality, self‑control, and charity. The danava or demon does not have these, nor does he consider them as desirable qualifications. He spurns them and pays no heed to their promptings. These three da’s are essential components of humanness. There are as many stages of manavatwam [humanness] proceeding toward Madhavatwam [Godliness] as there are hearts; for all are pilgrims from danavatwam or demon-hood to manavatwam or human-hood, and thence to Madhavatwam or Godhood. The pilgrims move at their own speed and with the Name‑Form that inspires them.

Religion is a mode of the mind

There are some who talk of unifying religions; but religion is a mode of the mind and there are as many religions as there are minds. If you can unify minds, you can unify religions; but it is an impossible task. Unless the altars of all hearts are made uniform, this attempt is bound to fail. And it is not worthwhile. Jeevo devassanaathanam (the self and God are eternal), said the pundit now. Yes. The Brahmatatwam or the Universal Principle is nirmala and nischala (pure and immovable), but the Deva imagines itself to be the jiva. Brahman feels bound to name‑form and so it has to regain the lost awareness. This is done through dharma.

Samartha Ramadas appeared before Shivaji with his usual call for alms: Bhavathi bhikshaam dehi [please give me alms]. Shivaji realized that the guru is God, so he wrote something on a piece of paper and deposited it reverentially in the alms bag of Ramadas. “For the relief of hunger how can paper suffice?” asked Ramadas. Shivaji prayed that the paper may be read. The paper recorded a gift of the entire kingdom and all that Shivaji owned to the guru. Samartha Ramadas replied, “No, my dharma is dharmabodha, the teaching of dharma, instructing the people in the right way of life. Kshatriyas like you must follow the dharma of ruling the land, ensuring peace and content to the millions under your care.” Sage Yajnavalkya, too, once refused a kingdom because he cared more for the kingdom of moksha, the realm of eternal freedom. Sage Vasishta is also said to have renounced a kingdom offered to him by Rama.

That was the ideal in the past; it is only now that men pursue paths that lead them away from dharma. You have allowed the treasure that the sages gave you to drop from your grasp. Though the medicinal root that you so badly need is lying across your path and has actually tripped your step, you have no eyes to recognize it and realize the value. What a pity this is!

Look at the way that Rama, to carry out the wish of his mother and the plighted word of his father, refused to accept the kingdom out of which he had willingly come, when Bharatha [the second brother] entreated him piteously to take it from him. Rama taught that artha and kama should not be allowed to overrule dharma and the discipline of moksha. For, fundamentally, the objects of the world are incapable of conferring joy.

Good deeds will wipe out the tracings of bad

Once when Narada [a sage] was proceeding to Vaikunta, the abode of the Lord, he espied a yogi who was engaged in severe ascetic practices. The yogi prayed to Narada to bring back from Vaikunta information about the date of his becoming entitled to entry there. Narada promised to do so. When he stood in the presence of God, he pleaded on behalf of the yogi and asked that he may be informed of the date. The Lord replied, “Tell him that he will be coming here after as many more births as there are leaves on the tree under which he is doing penance.” Narada felt sad and dispirited when he thought of the grief into which the yogi would be thrown on hearing this disheartening news. But he mustered courage to announce it nevertheless since the yogi insisted on hearing the news that he had promised to bring.

When at last Narada broke the news, the yogi was transported with joy; he was not dispirited at all. He jumped and danced in glee. He was lost in the thrill of his hope being so near fulfilment. All consciousness of the world disappeared from his joy‑filled mind. So the Lord himself appeared before him and offered Vaikunta immediately. But the Yogi said that he would bide his time for he did not like the Lord’s word, which Narada had brought, to be falsified! The Lord had to convince him that good deeds and thoughts and feelings will wipe out the tracings of bad; so he had by his enthusiastic acceptance of the Lord’s will gotten over the consequences of past actions.

The law of karma is not an iron law; by dedication, by purification, which invites benediction, its effects can be modified and its rigor mitigated. Do not despair; do not lose heart. When vices hold sway over your heart it becomes foul and sooty. The flames of kama, krodha, and lobha (desire, anger, and greed) char the heart. Grace is proved by the quenching of these flames. Grace confers anandam (supreme bliss), which kama, krodha, and lobha can never confer.

Practice the discipline laid down by Rama

The word Rama itself indicates anandam. Rama is Anandaswarupa [the embodiment of bliss]. In every being, He is theananda in the innermost core, the atmarama. How then are you being affected by grief? Because you ignore the core, you identify yourselves with the shell, the body. Today, the holy day of Ramanavami, you should immerse yourself in the atma [soul] as Dharmaswarupa, as the motivator of the moral life. There is no place where Rama is not; no being to whom He denies grace. He does not arrive or depart; He is immanent, eternal. So, to celebrate a day as the day on which He was born is itself a sacrilege.

Rama for you should mean the ‘path He trod, the ideal He held aloft, the ordinance He laid down’. The path, the ideal, and the ordinance are eternal, timeless. Follow the path, stick to the ideal, and obey the ordinance—that is the true celebration. Then alone does your life become fruitful. Now you worship His form, you repeat His name, but you ignore His orders. This is no real prema [love] at all. Without actual practice of the discipline laid down by the Lord to purify the mind so that He may be reflected therein, all else is mere show, empty ritual.

Godhood can be reached and realized

Running after momentary joy, people exile themselves from the Kingdom of God. The value of human birth consists in this; it is only from human-hood that Godhood can be reached and realized. Contemplate on this unique good luck today, use it not for feasting but plan your future so that the goal is quickly attained. Such days must be fully dedicated to thoughts of God, thoughts that elevate and inspire. People spend holy days as holidays, when they revel in picnics and hikes, watch films, play games, gamble, and quarrel over a game of cards. This is entirely wrong. Days like Gokulashtami, Shivaratri, etc., must be welcomed as opportunities to broaden the heart, deepen faith, and enlarge sympathy with fellow beings. To tarnish them by indulging in sensory pleasures is to insult the hoary tradition.

I have heard many complain that it is difficult to achieve ekagrata (one‑pointedness); even some so-called great men have told me so. But the fault is not with the times, it is in themselves; they have no adequate shraddha—faith and steadiness. The steadiness they exhibit in the pursuit of worldly goods and worldly comfort they do not transfer to the pursuit of inner calm. They complain of lack of time, as if all their waking hours are now utilized for worthwhile purposes!

I must also condemn the absence of gratitude, which is rampant today. Ingratitude is the hall‑mark of wild beasts, not of man. Man today is all humility, all obedience until his wish is fulfilled. Once it is satisfied, he tries even to ruin the person who helped him realize it. This does not befit man. He must be conscious of benefits derived and eager to repay the debt, or at least eager to avoid causing harm to the person who saved him while in distress. Manava means “an individual without a trace of ignorance.” But man by his pomp and pride, his egoism and conceit reveals that he is ignorant of his reality and therefore undeserving of that name.

Ingratitude does not befit man

As far as lies in your power, do good to others. Do not sow fear in others’ hearts; do not inflict pain on others; do not promote anxiety or grief. If you take pleasure in the pain of others, you only scotch the divinity in you and bring to light the demonic nature. “Ishwara sarva bhoothaanaam—the Lord resides in all.” He is in you as much as in the `other’ whom you try to harm. Know this and give up all efforts to ruin others. You cannot help another; you can only help yourself by that act; you do not harm another; you harm yourself by that wicked act. The attachments are different; but the inner reality is the same in you and the “other.” You will understand this when you distinguish values, the value of vishayaindriya anandam and Vishweshwara Anandam, that is to say, the joy derivable from senses and objects and the joy derivable from the contemplation of the glory and the grace of God.

Rama strove to uphold sathya [truth] as the main plank of dharma. Whatever the trial, however hard the travail, He did not give up truth. Sathyam is dharmam. Dharmam is sathyam—the two are irrevocably intertwined. Sathyam vada (speak the Truth), Dharmam chara (practice Righteousness), say the Upanishads [the scriptures]. Rama will be remembered so long as mountains raise their heads and the oceans exist because of this strict adherence to sathyam and dharmam. If he had argued, “Why should I be bound by the word of my father?” he would not have earned this immortality. The immortal had come in the form of Rama to show the way to immortality.

Sita, too, kept up the dharma of women. She declined to return to Rama on the shoulders of Hanuman for, she said, she would not of her own will contact another male; nor would she deny Rama the chance of proving His prowess by destroying the wicked person who stealthily carried away His consort. That is the dharma of a pativrata (chaste woman). These ideals have weakened now. Women as well as men are tempted to yield to the convenience of the moment; they do not attach importance to the deeper springs of righteousness. Tree shade or tent, what we want is sleep, they seem to say. The end justifies the means, that is the philosophy. Fair ends through foul means, how can this be right? He who must install Rama in his heart is sheltering a beast therein. What a tragedy!

Traits that man should learn from Rama

Kausalya counselled Rama at the start of His exile in the forest, “The dharma that you are so scrupulously observing will guard you.” That was the farewell she gave, not a banquet of tasty dishes. The ten‑headed Ravana who held the Gods in chains could not stand up to Rama, who had dharma as His sword and shield. Rama was happy when others were happy. He grieved when others were in grief. That is the trait that He wanted man to learn. So, while avoiding pain from others, be vigilant not to cause pain to others, too. Then you attract the grace of the Lord, not when you contrive by tricks to harm others, or revel in the misery of others, or concentrate on your own happiness and progress, irrespective of the injury you cause to others.

The grief you cause to others will suffocate you after getting hardened into hatred. It will recoil on your own head with tenfold force. If you are established in atmatatwam (reality of Self), you need not fear. Of course, you must be afraid of wrong, of injustice, of cruelty, and of sin. But why fear when you have the security granted by sathyam, dharmam,nyaayam, and premam—truth, righteousness, justice, and love?

I had no intention to speak today, but I was pressed to speak for five minutes at least. I have spoken for 50! I shall now give you a chance to sing a few namavalis (divine names).

Source: Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 5

Darkness and light cannot exist at the same time and in the same place; they cannot continue together. Dhanam (riches) and Daivam (God) cannot be joint ideals. When riches are sought, God cannot be achieved. If both are sought by man what he will achieve will be neither dhanam nor Daivam but the devil.

~Sri Sathya Sai