Sanctifying the Meal
From the moment of Baba’s arrival in Brindavan [His ashram near Bangalore, India] on December 7, students of the Brindavan campus of the Sathya Sai Institute experienced inexpressible ecstasy. They were enjoying the presence of Bhagavan [the Lord], for whom they had been yearning for months.
Every morning and evening, they eagerly awaited the emergence of Bhagavan from Trayee Brindavan [His home], sitting prayerfully in front of that inspiring edifice. Their faces glowed with delight, and He searchingly looked at each of them and made an occasional inquiry.
While His mere presence is always a source of joy and inspiration for the students, Bhagavan, as the divine teacher, makes use of every occasion to impart some spiritual truth and turn their minds towards the sublime.
One evening, Bhagavan started asking questions about how the prayer that precedes every meal in the hostel should be recited (Brahmarpanam, Brahmahavih…). Swami corrected a student when he repeated the words in a hurry. He instructed the students on how the words of the prayer should be recited, on the stops to be observed, and on the cadence to be followed. All these, He said, were important if the mantra was to be efficacious.
He then proceeded to ask the students about the reasons for reciting the prayer. When they were perplexed for an answer, Bhagavan gave almost a full‑length discourse on the importance of ensuring purity in the food eaten and all the implications of this purity—purity of the items used in preparation of the food, purity of the vessels used, personal purity of the person or persons preparing the food and serving it. If there was impurity at any stage, He said, it would have bad effects not only on the body but on the mind of the person taking the food. The mantra recited before eating was intended to invoke the Divine to purify the food and render it whole-some for the body and spirit.
Bhagavan illustrated the theme with the example of a sadhaka who had mentally disturbing experiences after eating food that had been provided by a rich widower whose young wife had ended her life out of desperation. The moral of the story was compelling, and the students felt they had learned one of the most valuable lessons in their lives.
Action, devotion and self-knowledge
On another evening, Bhagavan tried to impress on the students by the use of a simple analogy the importance of self‑knowledge (jnana) as the real goal of sadhana [spiritual practice]. Taking the example of a watch, Bhagavan said it had three hands: the second hand, the minute hand, and the hour hand. The second hand moves quickly, and when it has moved sixty stops in a full circle, the minute hand moves one step. The hour hand moves even more slowly. Swami said that in life, the activities in which a sadhaka is engaged are like the movement of the second hand. These are the good actions he does. The minute hand resembles the devotion of the aspirant. But action and devotion are not enough, unless they lead one to the awareness of the Divine—of jnana. In a watch, the second hand and minute hand will serve no purpose if there is no hour hand to indicate the time. Jnana is the goal, and action and devotion are the means.
Source: Sanathana Sarathi, February, 1986
