Destination

The proof of the rain is in the wetness of the ground; the proof of devotion is in the peace that the devotee has, peace that protects them against the onslaughts of success as well as failure, fame, dishonor, gain, and loss. Devotion is the river Ganga, detachment is the river Yamuna, and spiritual wisdom (jnana) is the river Saraswati of this spiritual confluence of three rivers (triveni). Spiritual wisdom is the through-train; you just board it, that is enough, and it takes you direct to the destination. Devotion is the through-carriage. Though it may be detached from one train and connected with another, if you get into it, you need not worry; as long as you stick to your place, it is bound to take you to the destination. Karma (action) is the ordinary train. If you board it, you have to disembark, climb in and climb out at every junction, load your luggage and unload it, and do a good lot of work to reach your destination.

Devotion alone is enough even to acquire spiritual wisdom. It ends in seeing only Brahman in all, and it destroys egoism. Wisdom also gives you these. Narada once offered to teach the gopis [milk maidens] the principles of philosophy—vijnanabodha as he called it. Krishna agreed. But the cowherd maidens said, “We do not care for your learning and your discourse. We see Krishna everywhere and in everything, so we have no hate or envy or malice. We have equanimity (sama), and we have no egoism. We believe this is enough for us.” Narada found that what they claimed was correct, so he left discomfited.

~Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol.3

On the stage of the world, everyone has been going through a variety of acts. Everyone is participating in many different types of shows. Every living being from amongst the 84 lakhs [8.4 million] of jivas has been doing this; but in this particular birth of a human being only, one is trying to earn God’s grace in many ways. He is trying to satisfy God and earn His kindness. Alas! In spite of his trying hard, he has not succeeded in earning such grace. The appearances that we are putting out through the songs that we are singing and the words that we are uttering, are really hollow.

In this world, it is a common practice that when a man is carrying a load on his shoulders, he wants to walk fast and reach his house early so that he may relieve himself of the load on his shoulders. In the same manner, if an officer goes to his office in the morning, he will be asking himself at five o’clock and even before that, when he can go home. When you are making a journey in a car, in a bus, or in a train, you tend to ask when the journey will end and when you will reach the destination. While this is so in regard to worldly situations, even after going through many births and deaths, man does not seem to ask himself the question when he will reach his destination, the goal of Divinity.

Today, in the world many attempts are being made to increase the leisure that man can get; but we are not making the necessary attempts to secure peace. If man does not have peace, even if he gets leisure, he will not get any satisfaction. A jnani or a wise man, will be unperturbed and peaceful, even if he works for all the twenty-four hours of the day. On the other hand, an ignorant person will look very troubled and ruffled even if he has no work at all and is able to enjoy leisure for the whole day.

~Summer Showers 1973, Indian Culture & Spirituality