1008 Pearls of Sayings
of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Index Introduction Pearls 1- 100 Pearls 101 - 200 Pearls 201- 300 Pearls 301- 400 Pearls 401- 500 Pearls 501 - 600 Pearls 601 - 700 Pearls 701 - 800 Pearls 801 - 900 Pearls 901 - 1008

From 901 to 1008

901

ONCE Ramadas wailed, "Oh Lord! you are Mighty, all powerful, all knowing; I am alone helpless, orphaned and poor". Then the Lord interrupted the self condemnation and said, "No, how can you call yourself poor, helpless and orphaned? I am with you and in you, showering My Grace. The only orphan in the Universe is Myself, for I have no guardian, no means of support, nobody to fall back upon. I am the A-natha; all else are Sa-natha (with Lord), for I am their Natha (Lord)".

902

THE Universe is the Body of God; in that Body, the Unity Consciousness is Bharath, the Ekabhava. "Ekam Sath" the Vedas declared eons ago! That is the heartbeat of Bharath today. This is the reason why Sages, Saints, Divine Personages and Incarnations of God appear here and proclaim their message to mankind from this land. The precious message is being exported but very little is used inside the country. That is the tragedy. For the influence available from positions of authority and for acquiring and accumulating power, individuals talk ill of others and breed hate.

903

MAN strives to provide himself with food clothing and housing for the sake of the body. He must also provide himself with something to keep the mind healthy and happy. It is the mind that conditions even the body. The mind is the instrument, the flywheel, and the thickest comrade of man. Through it, one can ruin oneself or save oneself. Regulated and controlled, channeled properly it can liberate; wayward and let loose, it can entangle and bind fast.

904

TRAIN the mind to dwell on the inner equipment rather than the outer attractions. Use the mind to cleanse the feelings, impulses, attitudes, tendencies and levels of consciousness. Let it not accumulate dirt from the outer world and deposit them within itself. If it is attached to work (Pravriti Marga), the consequences of work get attached to it. Unattached work is the purest; it does not encumber the mind with elation or disappointment. "I did it", this is mine", these are the two fangs that make the individual poisonous. Pull out the fangs, the snake can be handled and played with as a pet.

905

THE Lord is closest to you. He is the Mother, Father, Teacher, Friend, Guide and Guardian. Call on Him and He responds immediately. From dawn to dusk, spend every minute in His company. That is the reason why I have directed that every Sathya Sai Organisation must arrange for Nagar Sankirtan in the pre-dawn Bhahmamuhurtham. It is a mission of Love and all will welcome it. It is a great act of social service to wake up people with the Name of God. It is a purifying pilgrimage, casting off anger and hate that infest the atmosphere.

906

THE Gita speaks of "Yukthahara Viharasya", habits of feeding and recreation, which are controlled and regulated. The gross part of food is discarded as feces, the subtle part is transformed into muscle, blood etc., and the more subtle of the subtle aspects are transmuted into the mind and its activities. That is why the Sages have prescribed certain limits and levels of food, in order to promote the spiritual urges and prevent contrary tendencies. But nowadays, as a result of the downgraded time, spirits and food that damage the spiritual urge, are being increasingly favoured.

907

THE Karma or activity is the indicator of inner character. Observing one's actions, their motives, their consequences and the extent of one's involvement, it is possible to declare one as a Pasu (beast) or Pasupathi (The Lord of Individual Souls: that is to say, as Divine as God Himself).

908

AT school, the first lesson is "Baa Baa Black Sheep, Have you any Wool?", and the second is "Ding Dong Bell, Pussy in the well". Gone are the days when the first lesson was on Rama, Krishna or some great sage or saint? Getting to know about black sheep will make children black sheep; getting to know about the great and the good will make children great and good. Children of Baba Vihar are therefore told stories of Rama, Krishna and other Divine Persons. Learn those tales and decide to live like them. Learn Indian ways and Indian tales, and be true Indians.

909

WHY say "Good morning" or "Good night". "Namaskar" or "Namaste" is the Indian way, the really humble way. You must have Bhaya Vinaya and Viswasa - Fear, Humility and Faith. Fear of what? Fear of doing wrong and of falling into falsehood. Humility before whom? Before elders, teachers and parents. Faith in what? Faith in God, in your own strength and in your own victory.

910

"TAMASOMA Jyothigamaya" is the prayer. Egoism is Thamas. There is an easy way to illumine the inner consciousness and the outer behaviour with the light of God. Put the lamp of the Name of the Lord, the illumining flame, on the tongue! That is the doorstep. That light will drive out the darkness from both, inside and outside. Have it ever burning, clear and bright. You will soon reach remarkable heights and enjoy happiness, the like of which you cannot get by sticking to the senses.

911

KRISHNA took upon Himself three vows: (1) "Parithraanaya Sadhoonam Vinaasaayacha Dushkrithaam, Dharma Samasthaapanaarthayya Sambhavaimi Yuge Yuge" - "For the protection of the good and the punishment of the bad; for the establishment of the Moral Order, I shall concretise Myself, age after age"; (2) "Anayaaschinthayathramanm Yejanah Paryappasatha, Shaamnishya-Abhiyukthaanaam Yoga Shemam Vahamyaham" - "Who ever is wholly immersed in my contemplation, with no other thought; I shall be ever with him and I shall bear the burden of his welfare"; (3) "Sarvadharmaan Parithojya Maamekam Saranam Vrajas Ahamthwaa Sarva Paapebhyo Mokshaysh Yaami Maasuch" - "Surrender unto Me, giving up all other duties and obligations, I shall liberate you from all sin; do not grieve".

912

WHEN Dharma (which means, that which is worn, the apparel, clothes) was sought to be removed from the wearer, the Lord blessed Draupadi with the grant of an unending series of saris. Today, the Sanathana Dharma which is the robe of Bharathamatha is sought to be taken away by her unworthy and deluded sons; and the Lord has come to grant solace and strength. You will see splendid saris pouring into her lap from every door of the Durabar Hall, where she is being insulted. You will witness this great Miracle by the Avatar who has come to protect her honour and her heritage.

913

YOU stay far and complain that Grace has not come. You do not scrape off, by the process of repentance, the mud and rust that prevent attachment. You come for needs sometime and stray away into the distance. I do not mean physical distance at all. You may be physically far but mentally by My side. I do not measure distance in miles or meters. I am always with you, in you, beside you; only you have to be aware of that and make use of My presence. You must become an "Aartha", torn by intense suffering to sense the Lord.

914

THE Lord has to take the Form that is suitable for the task He has to fulfill. To catch a gang of decadents, the Police Officer has to move among them as a decadent. That is why the Human Form has been taken. But who, challenged with impurity by their own wives, dare challenge the Avatar and ask for proof! Of course, if you desire to understand, you are welcome; be near, watch, learn and believe. Put on the role, if you have the courage and the conviction that you can enact it well. Are you not tired of playing the parts of beggar and clown, in scene after scene, birth after birth? Aspire for the nobler role, at least now, in this birth.

915

IF you plan to give joy to others, you will be joyful. Who are these others? Even when the Lord has come with a definite Human body, all humans that you come across are but parts of His Glory and Splendour. "Iswarasarvabhuthanaam, Hrdresse Arjuna Shrishtethi", "Oh! Arjuna, the Lord, dwells in the regions of the heart in all beings", says the Lord in the Gita.

916

HOW can we find time for all this when we have to toil every moment for feeding and clothing ourselves? But you forget, the Lord will grant you these material things and even immortality, if only you place full reliance on Him. Whatever you do, have the name, Rama or Krishna, or Siva or Hari on your tongue, no extra time or energy is needed for that. When you rise in the morning, rise with the Name on your tongue and slide into sleep with the Name on your tongue.

917

CONSIDER the condition of the field of your heart; it is overgrown with thorns and bushes of lust, anger, greed and envy. Remove them, root and all. Do not allow the land to turn fallow. By continuous good work, plough the field and fill the field with the water of Prema. Select the Nama-seed that appeals to you and sow it in the field. Discipline is the force which will guard the growing crop against cattle. Virtue is the pesticide. Fostering the field with great care, you can bring home the precious harvest of Ananda.

918

ONE day, Krishna pretended to be fast asleep! With the flute carelessly thrown aside by His side, when Radha approached the fortunate flute and asked it in plaintive terms, "Oh lucky Murali! Tell me how did you earn the great good fortune. What was the vow you observed, the vigil you kept, the pilgrimage you accomplished"? The flute got a voice through His Grace: "I rid myself of all sensual desire of envy, greed and ego, that is all. I had no feeling of ego left to obstruct the flow of His Prema through me to all creation".

919

REVERE Jnana as you revere your father; adore Love as you adore your mother; move fondly with Dharma as if it is your own brother; confide in "Daya" as if it is your dearest friend; have Shantams as if it is your better half; treat Sahana (Fortitude) as if it is your own beloved son. These are your genuine kith and kin. Move with them; live with them; and do not forsake or neglect them.

920

THIS is a place where you must try to help and not hinder; this is the atmosphere of peace and Prasanthi. Do not behave here as you do when you gather elsewhere. There is no scope here for envy or malice of hate or competition. When Kama and Vrodha are rising in hot flames from the heart, how can the cool rays of Shanti, Sathya, Ahimsa and Prema emanate therefrom? This human birth is a rare chance! Use it for spreading joy, and not grief. Of course, it is natural for man to resent and to grow angry. But you should not allow anger a free and furious scope.

921

KRISHNA had undoubtedly the power to transform in a trice the wayward mind of His kinsman into unillumined instrument for resolute action. But Krishna did not use the power! He only prescribed the medicine and the regimen. Arjuna had to swallow the drug and follow the regimen himself in order to be saved. He said, "You are My friend; you are My kinsman; you are now so near to Me that I am now your charioteer; you are also in great distress; I agree that the delusion, which has overpowered you, must be removed quickly; but, your Ajnana must fall off through your own efforts not through some Miracle of My design".

922

ONE can claim genuine victory only when one has reached not the dead satellite but the living star; not the Chandra but the Ramachandra, the Lord who rules over the inner satellites, the inner planets, the inner motives and agitations. Then one's inner reaction and agitation will be transmuted into the Divine. All that one experiences through the senses, the mind and the intellect will take on the Divine lustre, reveal their Divine core, and man will be shaped through the mould of Love.

923

ONE can be in the World but yet unaffected. Activity will then be for the Almighty by His Grace and through His will. Do not get work done by cooks, servants, ayahs and others in the home, women must not depend on these for the care of their children or attendance on their husbands. Earning leisure for Dhyana through these servants is not a spiritual gain.

924

I ALWAYS encourage Samathanam, Sanghikam and Saam Krishikam activities: the three S's. If it is for reviving the values recognised as great by time or recreating the damaged structure of the good of Society or restoring vigour to some fine art that is declining, you can count on My Blessings. I always exhort people to win, not the titles that come to those who canvas support but the title that the Upanishads proclaim as the highest decoration for spiritual aspirants: "Amirthaaya-Pathrash", "Children of immortality".

925

EVERYONE'S heart is Dharmakshetra where the battle between the forces of Good and Evil is fought. The whole country is Dharmakshetra. So, the mothers and children of this land must be devoted to Dharma, above all. The Gita begins with the words, Dharmakshetra, and ends with the words: "Sarva Dharmaan Parithajiya"; "Through Dharma, you have to transcend Dharma". That is why Kausalya exhorted Rama when He went into the forest: "May the Dharma, which you are upholding by this act, be your guardian when you are in the forest as an exile". And Rama upheld Dharma even under the most trying circumstances.

926

THIS World is His play; it is not an empty dream; it has purpose and use; it is the means by which one can discover God; see Him in the beauty, grandeur, the order and the majesty of Nature. These are shadows of His Glory and His splendour; that is why the Vedas have three Sections or Kandas; Karma, Upasana and Jnana. Karma leads to the consciousness of the ever-present, immanent, all powerful God. Upasana or adoration of that God lends to the knowledge that He is in all. When you experience that, there is no second, that is Jnana.

927

MY place is among you, with you and wherever work lies. That is why I moved among you and stood at your back. This is just to show you that, even in your own places, when you do Bhajan or some other type of adoration like serving children, the sick or the poor, I do not sit on a special seat, apart and distant. Do not believe I am on the pedestal that you offer Me. I am part of you, a partner and partaker in all your efforts, inspiring and instructing when you ask or need inspiration and instruction.

928

BY developing spiritual qualities, you will be promoting the resuscitation of this country and its culture. Look at the warning that the sacred texts offer! Somaka, the Asura, stole the Vedas! Ravana kidnapped Sita, Duryodhana grasped an empire; Kamsa slaughtered children; but not one of them realised their heart's desire that their names be exalted by history. Sentence of death awaits everyone, cutting off their pride and pomp. Some young persons feel that the work they have on hand gives them great pleasure but they do not pay heed to its future consequences. When you seek beneficial results, you have to involve yourselves in beneficial activity.

929

THERE are some who are attracted by various systems and methods like Hathayoga, Kriyayoga or Rajayoga, which claim to help people to realise the self. But I must tell you that none of these can make you realise God - I am saying this most emphatically. The Prema Yoga, Discipline of Love, alone can lead you to God. Those Yogas may calm the minds' agitation temporarily and may improve health and prolong life for a few more years - but that is all that they can do. What is the good you hope to achieve with that body in those extra years? If Love is absent, they weigh you down as life's big burdens.

930

WHAT is the immortal part of man? Is it the wealth he has accumulated? The residences he has built, the physique he has developed, the health he has acquired, and the family he has reared? No, all that he has done, developed or earned are destroyed; he has to leave them all to the ravages of time. He cannot take with him even a handful of earth, the earth he loved so much. If only the dead could take with them a handful each, the Earth would have become scarce; it should have been rationed by now! Discover the Immortal "I"; and know that it is the spark of God in you! Live in the companionship of that vast measureless Supreme and you will be rendered vast and measureless. Consider all objects that you collect here as given on trust to be used in this caravansari, during your pilgrimage, in this Karmashetra.

931

THE law of Karma is not an iron law. By dedication, by purification which invites benediction, its effects can be modified and its rigour 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 char the heart. Grace is provided by the quenching of these flames. Grace confers Ananda, which Kama, Krodha and Lobha can never confer.

932

WHY is it that the World reveres Rama and revolts at Ravana? Rama is not its uncle's son or Ravana its step mother's child. It is the kinship of the spirit, your innate goodness, responding lovingly and adoringly to the goodness in Rama and reacting revoltingly to the wickedness of Ravana. It is not enough nor is it essential that you should utter the name of Rama loudly, respect it in the fullness of love and admiration. If you have no spirit of love in you, dig into your heart with external instruments like Raga, Stotra etc., and it will start to flow.

933

WE are today celebrating the Advent of Krishna. The Avatar (incarnation) in the Krishna. Form has a vast mystery enshrined in it. Brindavan (the forest of Brinda) is the tangled jungle of life. The cows tended by Lord Krishna in Brindavan are none other than the humans that are helpless without His care and guidance. Gokula (the herds of cows) is the name given in the Bhagavatham (book on the Glory of the Lord) to the region where Krishna tended the cows. "Go" means also the individual who is enclosed in the body. So, Gokula, is the region inhabited by man.

934

ONE poet has sung, "Oh, Krishna, Oh, Gopala, do not count on your being kind to me, being moved by my appeals for mercy. Don't I know that you killed with your own hands your maternal uncle? You killed the very nurse who came endearingly to you in order to feed you at her breast! With no iota of compassion towards the father of your dearest devotees, you tortured him and killed him while the son, Prahlada was looking on! You approached Bali as if for alms, and when he gladly placed all he had at your feet, you trampled on his head and pressed him into the nether regions! How can a heart that has no tenderness melt at my misery"? Yes, the Lord is above all attachments, He has no favorites or foes.

935

BY THE example of your lives, you have to restore confidence among the people in the higher values of life. Do not neglect the great lessons embedded in Sanathana Dharma, which have sustained countless generations in this land for many centuries. "May all the Worlds be happy", this is the goal towards which Sanathana Dharma is leading us. Welcome within the fold of your Love, all men without distinction or race or religion, colour or class. Have the picture of the Happy, Love filled human community in your heart. That will give you enough encouragement in your mission.

936

ISSA Vassyam Idam Sarvam; "All this is enveloped by God". All this is soaked in God; saturated with God. Everything is the substance of God. We are on the Earth; around it revolves the moon. Both, the Earth and the Moon are illumined by the Sun. Dependent on the Sun, planets like Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and Saturn dutifully move along the orbits at different speeds. Their Satellites also belong to the Solar family. Whenever we lift our eyes up to the sky at night, we notice Stars beyond numbers. And in the Milky Way, we see thick masses of Star Clusters. In space, there are more than ten thousand crores of Stars, and regarding the Galaxies in the Milky Way and elsewhere, we have more than ten crores. Without being lost in numbers, we must ponder over the mystery of the Unity and Harmony of this Cosmic projection.

937

IT IS not possible to consider Creation and the Creator, Nature and God as different or separate. Can we see that waves are separate from the sea? They are of the sea, with the sea, and from the sea. Man too is of God, with and from God. The bubble is born in water, stays in water and is lost in water. The Cosmos too is a bubble born in the Absolute, exists as the Absolute and merges in the Absolute or Paramatma. Nara (the human) is the bubble. God (Narayana) is the sea. Recognise this truth, as the bubble cannot be conceived without positing water. The Cosmos, this World, cannot be conceived without God.

938

GOOD men are the targets for maligning by the small. Have your own errors and evils hidden so that you can tackle them in solitude; do not inflict them on others. Wrestle with them and overwhelm them in the silence of Sadhana. Deal with others only beneficially and in joyful cooperation. Look at Lord Siva. The poison, which will ruin the World ruthlessly, has been contained in His throat! The Moon that can shower cool, calm comfort is worn by Him on His head for all the Worlds to benefit from! That is a lesson for you. Why render others miserable, because you are too weak to suppress the bandits your heart has welcomed?

939

I KNOW there are many of you who argue and discuss how and in what manner these structures came to be built so grandly. If you have known Me through and through there will be no such argument at all. You will know that this is but an insignificant product of My power. I have done this only as an example; unless those who lead are themselves active and earnest to bend and bear the burden, all those who are encouraged to follow will lose heart and miss the way. Religious leaders have a great responsibility in this respect. People fly high, only to cast their eyes on a wider circle, searching for sustenance as vultures do! The eye belies what the wings proclaim.

940

WHEN you have filled your heart with sympathy for the distressed, the Lord will shower His Grace. Draupadi had earned the Grace through her devotion and virtues. Sita, too, had stuck to the highest ideals of life in spite of her severe sufferings. She was kept as a prisoner by her abductor. When Hanuman offered to cross the ocean with her on his shoulders and take her safe to her Lord Rama, she replied that she would not allow herself to be abducted back from the custody of Ravana since that would deprive Rama of the chance to punish him for his crime and retrieve her. Quite in consonance with Dharma.

941

THE Gita is His Command; how can you earn the Master's Grace if you do not carry out the Master's commands. If the son says, "Leave me to myself, I need no instructions from you"; how can he expect the father to give him a share of the property? The Gita also helps you to recognise the incarnations of God. Usually, when the Lord appears with Form, man is pestered by doubts and he actually loses the precious chance. He asks himself and all those whom he meets "Is it true?"; "Can it be true?"; and before his doubts are removed, he deserts the quest and wanders into the wilderness. Of course, steady enquiry is essential! Do not be led by others; awaken your own reason; amass your own experience; and decide for yourself your own path.

942

NOTHING that is experienced will go to waste. It will shape the course of events. It will change attitudes and habits. It will purify and clarify situations and outlooks. That is why I want you to read the Gita; it is like learning Eatha (Swimming) - this learning of the Gita. Eatha saves you from drowning. Gita saves you from drowning in the treacherous flood of worldly desires. The Gita is the real purpose for which the Avatar of Krishna was undertaken.

943

TO condemn all is unjust, untrue, and unkind. Take My own instance. I never exult when I am extolled, nor shrink when I am reviled. Few have realised My purpose and significance: but I am not worried when things that are not in Me are attributed to Me. Why should I worry? When things that are in Me are mentioned, why should I exult? "Sayiki Sarvam Yes, Yes, Yes". For Sai, it is always S.S.S. If you say "Yes, you are the Lord", I am the Lord to you. If you say "No", I am "No" to you. I am "Ananda, Shantham, Dhanam", Bliss, Equanimity, and Courage. Take them as your "Atonathathwam" and you will not be wrong.

944

THE influence of the Divine is such that while you are contemplating it, all traces of envy and greed will disappear from the mind. The boy Krishna had entered a Gopi's house and was just standing beneath the pot of curds when she discovered Him. Krishna ran out into the street and the Gopi pursued Him and wanted to catch Him quickly, for she was so distressed that the boy was running in the hot sun. She never worried about the loss of curds or milk or butter, but the very thought of Krishna's tender feet walking over the hard stones in the sun was something she could not bear. The Prema that Krishna showered made everyone forget everything else. He too gave such disarming replies to the queries of the mother and the Gopis that no one could have anything but Prema towards Him. That is the characteristic of Avatars at all times.

945

DHARMA is the very habiliment of India, the dress that Bharathamatha wears to protect her, honour to reclaim her status to shelter herself against heat and cold and to set a standard to her sisters. When the wicked Kaurava princes seized hold of the sari that Draupadi wore and tried to inflict insult on her honour, Krishna rescued her and foiled the foul design. Dharmaraja sat as if he was unaware of his rights and duties. Bhima was involved in doubt concerning his obligations to his elder brother and his consort. Arjuna cared more for his own interests. Nakula and Sahadeva waited and weighed the pros and cons. But the Lord did not wait! His Grace knew no delay or doubt.

946

DHARMA, the very clothes that Bharathamatha has worn since centuries, which is the expression of her natural style, is now seized by wicked irreverent hands. They wish to dress her in unbecoming styles on their own initiative or frenzied dictates. So Krishna has to come again for resuming the eviction of the wicked. Krishna revealed the hollowness of the people who were confident of their capacity to dishonour Draupadi and the weakness of those entrusted with the task of protecting her. Now too, the Lord has to foil the attempts to undermine Dharma and to stand in support of those who are the traditional protectors and protagonists of Dharma.

947

YASODA one day was searching for Krishna who had strayed away. She thought He went to the house of Radha. Radha just closed her eyes and meditated on Krishna for a while and when she called "Krishna", Krishna was there. Then Yasoda shed tears of joy. She said, "I love Krishna as a mother. I have a sense of egoism in me that He is my son and that I must save Him from harm and seek to give Him guidance and protection. Your Prema is pure; it has no egoism promoting it".

948

REMEMBER always that it is easy to do what is pleasant; but it is difficult to be engaged in what is beneficial. Not all that is pleasant is profitable. Success comes to those who give up the path strewn with roses and brave the hammer blows and the sword-thrusts of the path fraught with danger. As a matter of fact, no road is strewn with rose petals. Life is a battlefield, a Dharmakshetra, where duties and desires are always in conflict. Smother the fiery fumes of Desire, Hatred and Anger that rise up in your hearts. It is sheer cowardice to yield to these enemies that turn you into beasts.

949

THE vision of the Virat, the Cosmic Form, is given to those who surrender their ego and take refuge in the Lord (as Arjuna did) and who imbibe with care the Gita sung by the Lord in the silence. God is Omnipresent. He is the inner Motivator of every particle in the Universe. To declare that He is amenable only to your style of worship and that He will answer only the Name that you have learnt to use, is to insult His Omniscience and His Glory. See Him in all; serve Him in all; revere Him in all. Pray, "Let the Whole World prosper; let all mankind be happy".

950

IMAGINE the Prema of the Gopis. One noon, Krishna stealthily entered the house of a cowherd and drank all the milk in the pot. The Gopi discovered Him and, when she admonished Him, Krishna took to His heels. When the Gopi saw Him running over the hard cobblestones of the street, she shed tears of contrition. "These Lotus feet must feel great pain", she wept. "Oh, what a great sinner I am", she wailed. Krishna will make the most wicked heart melt in repentance. He is Premaswarupa and Santhaswarupa and so He makes every heart sprout up to Prema and Shanthi.

951

VASUDEVASSARVAMIDAM does not mean that all this is just Krishna, the son of Vasudeva. It means that all this is God, by whatever Name He is known. So if you decry anyone, you are decrying God, which is His real core. If you become aware of the God in you and the God in all else, there is nothing to equal the peace and joy that you get.

952

LET Me tell you, without reforming conduct in daily behaviour and acts, "Ananda" will be beyond reach. I consider "Pravarthana", Practice, as essential. A man or an institution is to be judged by his integrity and whether acts are according to the principles proposed. The mind, the body and the word; all three must work in unison. By such disciplined Karma, the senses will be sublimated and Prasanthi won. Then out of this Prasanthi will arise Prakanthi or the great light. From that will emerge Paramjyothi, the Supra-splendour of illumination. That illumination will reveal Param-Atma, the Over-Soul, the Universal.

953

PRASANTHI Nilayam is holding forth and exemplifying the higher ideals in the material, ethical, economic, moral, spiritual, worldly and even political fields. There is no place here for anything contrary. This can be asserted without any possibility of contradiction. In spite of this, some ignorant individuals rely more on their guesses than on facts and indulge in spreading wrong conclusions. Let me tell them that if a single person in the whole world points out a wrong step in Prasanthi Nilayam, he shall be met with and be convinced that the Prasanthi Nilayam is eagerly bent upon the task of upholding and demonstrating high and holy ideals of achieving spiritual realisation. It does not seek those worldly riches, nor does it yearn for earning favours and fame.

954

IN Prasanthi Nilayam, no misuse or extravagance can ever happen. For any festival, either Sivarathri, Navarathri or the Birthday, many people imagine that lakhs of Rupees are spent here. For the Dasara celebration, all who have come served their best in the fullness of devotion that dwells in their hearts and so, not a Naya paise is spent for any purpose. The Rithuriks, who officiate at the Yagna and the lecturers who deliver discourses, all come and share in the joy out of Love and Faith. Their comforts are looked after by the members of the Seva Dal and the Sevasamithis and by the Volunteers who dedicate their strength and skills to make the Festivals a success. No paise is spent on any item.

955

TODAY, you find the Prasanthi Nilayam area clean and pleasing. What is the reason? How many sweepers have we employed? How many coolies are engaged, you may wonder? No, not one, Everyone cleans the place where he is staying and the adjacent area. Thus, cleanliness is ensured without any cost. It can be asserted that at no place in the World are resources put to such good use, with the least expense, as at Prasanthi Nilayam.

956

MAN has Truth as his nature, that is to say, you can rely on man's behaviour being always true; he will speak out only what he feels to be sincere; he will act according to his words. His thought, word and action will be consistent and complementary. If in any one case this concordance is absent, then the person is a man only in outer form. He is worse than a beast, for beasts are free from the burdens of thought and speech.

957

GOD gives an ear to the prayers that rise in all languages and even from the silence of the dumb. He has no trace of anger or worry. You too have no reason to develop anger and anxiety. When the teeth bite your tongue, do you get angry at them for hurting? Do you break the teeth that hurt it so? No, teeth and tongue are both yours. Similarly, he who hurts you and you are both limbs of the same body - God. Feel that Oneness and avoid hate. God is on the lookout for the inner vision. He blesses those whose hearts are so vast that they can take in all His children. How can He be pleased when you are so selfish and narrow minded that you send away His children from the doorstep of your heart?

958

WHAT has brought you all, in this vast number, from your homes and villages to this place?. It is the Love you have for Me, and the Love I have for you. The reason for your presence is not any force or authority or temptation to earn material profit or gain. Ponder over the things I have told you out of My Love. Try to cleanse your minds through repentance for the wrongs done or contemplated and, through a firm resolve to shape your lives anew according to the Divine Plan, by which each can stand revealed as fully Divine.

959

RAMA strove to uphold Sathya as the main plank of Dharma. Whatever the trial and however hard the travail, He did not give up Truth. Sathyam is Dharmam; Dharmam is Sathyam; the two are irrevocably intertwined. "Sathyam Vada; Dharmam Chara", say the Upanishads. Rama will be remembered as long as mountains raise their heads and the ocean exists because of this strict adherence to Sathya and Dharma. 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.

960

WHEN you travel towards God, obstacles have to be bypassed. Prahlada went against his father; Vibhishna went against his brother; Jamadagni had to harm his own mother; Meera could not obey her husband; because they stuck to the path of God and broke through all those who opposed them. Young men like you have the problem, I know, of being forced to marry against your will by parents who seek to hasten you into marital security. You have to win them over and get their approval as Sankara did when he wanted to enter the monastic order.

961

BELIEVE that All are God through Jnana, even then compassion compels you to love and serve. Believe that God is Master or Father and that you are His children or servants through Bhakti. Even then, His command is to wipe the tears, nourish the sick, and help the lame to climb over the stile through pity and sympathy. Believe through faith in Karma that God has to be adored through dedication. The highest form of adoration is by means of Seva done in Love.

962

RAMA is the personification of Viveka, the discriminating faculty of the intellect. Sita and Lakshmana are the higher levels of consciousness - Sujana and Prajnana. Rama puts an end to evil feelings and promotes good thoughts. Rama is the emperor of Ayodhya. That name means impregnable will. No enemy, that is to say, no demeaning feeling or thought can invade the heart when Rama is installed therein. Thyagaraja sang "Telisi Rama Chinthana Cheyeve Manasa", (Oh Mind, Meditate on Rama with the full knowledge of what He represents).

963

INDIA shone for centuries as the Karmabhoomi, where each activity of man was ennobled by a high purpose and sense of dedication. She was therefore acclaimed as Yogabhoomi, the land where the people yearned for atonement with God. She was revered as the Thyagabhoomi, where the ideal of the mendicant monk, the naked fakir and the simple monarch, counseled by the sage, was placed before the people through precept and example. At the present time, it is being forged into a Bhwyabhoomi, the land of skyscrapers, air conditioning and tinned foods and an undisciplined mass of humanity pulled from its roots and transplanted in other soils. This is an insult to our past and a defiance of history.

964

SRI Sathya Sai College is not founded, as some of you are guessing, to promote financial considerations, nor is it intended as an instrument for publicity. It will be an example of an inspiration, a beacon, a pioneer and a lesson for educators and for all those who have the future of humanity in their hearts. The usual answer to the question, "Why College education? Is it to help secure jobs? Why this college?" is, "It is to sweeten the hearts of the future mothers of this land with humility, faith and discrimination; and to light the path they tread towards truth and virtue".

965

YOUR car is not meant to be kept as a showpiece in a glass case. It is meant for the roads, for taking you fast and safe to the place where you want to go. So too, your body must serve the purpose of your journey. Journey to where? Not, as it has been happening, to the cemetery. You have nobler things to do than merely die! You must know your own Reality before you die and merge in that supreme joy. Eat just enough to keep the body trim and use the body to discover this Reality, namely, God. Sanctify every moment of your sojourn here with pious deeds and sacred thoughts.

966

MAN has been enslaved by money. He lives a superficial, hollow, artificial life. This is indeed a great pity. Man should seek to possess only as much money as is most essential for his living. The quantity of riches one must earn can be compared to the shoes one wears; if too small, they cause pain; if too big, they are a hindrance while walking. Money too has to be with us only just enough for a life of physical and mental comfort. When we have more, it breeds pride, sloth and contempt for others. In pursuit of money, Man descends to the level of the beast. Money is of the nature of manure. Piled up in one place, it pollutes the air. Spread it wide, scatter it over fields - it rewards you with a bumper harvest. So too, when money is spent in all the four quarters for promoting good work, it yields contentment and happiness in plenty.

967

MOVE forward towards the light and the shadow falls behind; you move away from it and you have to follow your own shadow. Go every moment one step nearer to the Lord and then Maya, the shadow will fall back and will not delude you at all. Be steady; be resolved. Do not commit a fault or take a false step and then repent! Have the "thaapam" (the deliberation, the decision and the discipline) first, that is better than "Paschaath Thaapam" (regret for the mistakes made).

968

THE Universe is seen; it can be learnt about, it can be experienced and enjoyed. But God is unseen. He has to be inferred through His handiwork. So too, society to which social service is rendered, cannot be seen as such. We can contact only individuals. But through the individual you infer the immanence of the Divine. All are actors on the world stage in His play. Every atom is surcharged with His power, His might, His Glory. Every being is surcharged with His Bliss, His Beauty, His Goodness.

969

DO not compare the various manifestations of the Divine and pronounce judgment, declaring that Rama is greater than Krishna or Siva superior to Vishnu. This line of thought is poisonous and harmful to the devout aspirant. You do not know your own self, but yet, how dare you pronounce judgment on personalities and powers you have never experienced or understood. Rama is as unknown to you as Christ and so it is best to keep silent, and revere both with equal ardour. For all are manifestations of the same Divine Effulgence.

970

THE airplane runs on wheels for some length on the ground before it takes off into the air. You may ask "Why wheels for the airplane?" so too, when you reach a certain height in spiritual Sadhana, rules and regulations can be folded up, as the pilot folds up the wheels when up in the air. While serving others through the Samithi, do not forget to do some Sadhana for your own advancement. Paraseva (service of others) is the negative Pole. Atma - Seva (service to oneself) is the positive Pole, and when they meet, the flash of Ananda (Bliss) emanates. Bliss obliterates all worries, all fears, and all anxiety. March on to that Consummation, through Sadhana and Seva. These are my Blessings to each of you.

971

THE Purusha Suktah of the Vedas says "Sahasra Seersha Purushah, Sahaeraakshah, Sahasrapad", The supreme Sovereign Person has a thousand heads, a thousand eyes and a thousand feet. The heads, eyes and feet of the thousands who gather here, are my heads, My Eyes, and My Feet. Nurse them respect them, attend to their needs - you have done your japam dhyanam and puja! The mantra says "Sarva Deva Namaskaraha Kesavam Prathi, Gachachathi"; the homage that you pay all to the Gods flow towards the one only, Kesava. I would elaborate it further and give you this new mantra; "Sarva Jeeva Namaskaraha Kesavam Prathi Gachchathi"; The reverence, the Service that you offer to every single being (Jeeva) flows automatically to the One, namely Kesava.

972

GOD is to be recognised in all that exists, all that is charming or suffering, blooming or drooping. He is Intelligence in the insect, Faithfulness in the dog, latent Energy in the rock! Vivekananda announced at Chicago that Hinduism uncovered the upadhi (Scabbard) and sought the inner core of the Divine in all things, animate and inanimate. A gentleman may wear morning dress, evening dress, dinner coat or luncheon slacks; he is the same inside all these dresses, isn't he?

973

THE Vedas are for the Glorification of the Gods, "Devaanam sthuthy antham", in the Kaliyuga, one is asked to rely more on Namasmarana for Liberation. Why is it considered enough for the people of this Age? For other sadhanas are fraught with difficulties. They need rigorous discipline and much preliminary effort. Again, there is another advantage in Namasmarana; as soon as the Name is uttered, the owner of the Name comes into view. When you think of the Form, the Name may not always accompany; you may not be able to identify. There may be more than One Name and you may be confused, but take the Name and the Form automatically appears before the mental eye.

974

THE true Guru is not a human Preceptor. It is the Cosmos itself, Prakrithi, Creation, the World around us. Life must have an ideal before it, it must proceed towards a goal, it must be a constant march. Life has as its sole purpose: man becoming Divine, the transformation of the man. We profess to be the God we really are. "Gu" in the word Guru indicates the qualities of Gunatheetha, that is unaffected by attributes and attitudes, not associated with any one particular characteristic, and "Ru" means rupa-rahitha, that is not limited to any form but pervasive in all forms. In this context, the Universe and all its components are to be looked upon as one's Preceptors and lessons learnt from each.

975

IT is all God, an expression of His Majesty! Derive joy from the springs of joy within you and without you; advance, do not stand still or recede. Every minute must mark a step forward. Rejoice that it is given to you to recognise God in all and welcome all chances to sing His Glory, to hear His chronicle, to share His presence with others. God has His Hands in all handiwork, His Feet on all altitudes His Eyes beyond all horizons, His Face before every face. That is what the Bhagavad Githa declares, you who read the Githa can vouch for the accuracy of that statement, if only you have faith in it and live in its light.

976

THE sages have laid down three categories which comprise the knowable world; God, Nature and the I (Iswara Prakrithi and Jiva). God, when seen through the mirror of Nature, appears as I. Remove the mirror, there is only God, the image merges in the Original. Man is but the Image of God. Even Nature is but an appearance of God; the reality is He alone. The Principle of Appearance that deludes as multiple manifestation is Maya. It is not external to God; it is inherent in God, just as all Powers are inherent in Him.

977

GOD, the Eternal Absolute is pictured, praised and adored as temporarily apparent and is adored in limited regions as Rama, Krishna, Vishnu, Eswara, etc. These are not basic fundamental expressions of His Nature. These are only Forms assumed for certain purposes, like conferring peace on earth, re-establishing the norms of justice and strengthening the ideal of faith in the Supreme. The fixed and fundamental Attributes are Sathyam, Jnanam, Anantham. This is the swarupa of Brahmam.

978

THE Lord is now worshipped by offering Him all things that you crave for; by treating Him with all the honour you like to have yourself. The idol is bathed and washed, bedecked with jewels, fed and fanned, surrounded with fragrance, etc. since these are things you desire. But the Lord is pleased only when you do things the Lord desires! How else can you win the Grace? How else than by nursing and nourishing, scouring and saving His Children? How else than by helping them to realise Him as their Lord and guarding and cultivating Faith in Him, through your own straight and sincere living?

979

CLEANSE the heart by listening to spiritual discourses seeking the Company and comradeship of the righteous, the simple, the sincere, the seekers and by cultivating goodness of character and sweetness of disposition. Fill your hearts with the sweet, fragrant waters of Prema (Love). Then every act of yours, every word of yours (which are like the water drawn from the tank through the taps - tongue, hand, brain etc.) will be sweet and fragrant. If the tank is filled with pollution, how can the word be helpful, the thought beneficial, or the deed commendable?

980

SOME people are afraid of cynical criticism by unbelievers and therefore reluctant to move out in groups along the streets in the early morning hours singing the Glory of God. When you have the embodiment of fearlessness installed in your heart, why should the slightest tremor of fear affect you? If others do not join for fear of derision or ridicule, move out alone singing the Name. You came into this world alone with no companion, didn't you! During the years of life you collected all this kith and kin, you gathered wife and children, friends and acquaintances, which attached themselves to you. When you return to the Realm from which you came, you enter the portals alone, with no one to keep you company. So too, let it be with the journey called Nagarsankirtan. Come into street alone, collect kith and kin, if they come to you, move with them unconcerned and unaffected; revel in your own sweet solitude and finally enter your home in the satisfaction that your job is well done.

981

GOD likes such pure souls who come gladly to merge in Him. Some people say, "Oh, it is the Dasara Festival and lakhs and lakhs of people throng there. And they pour lakhs and lakhs of rupees there". Well, what they give is Alakshyam, not Lakshyam! My hand stretches out for receiving only when a pure heart full of Prema is offered; on all other occasions, He gives, never takes. Let the People with poison in their hearts, barren of Love and Service, feel shame, and resolve to cleanse themselves from now on.

982

IT was announced that I was born like Janaka, as the result of some Karmasesha! I have no sesha or Karma as already mentioned in the Githa. The Mahasakthi puts on the cloak of Mayasakthi in order to fulfill the purpose of contacting and protecting mankind. I have no desire and so, no binding Karma. It is only you have the desire, aim and wish that drag you along various paths. For Me, your Ananda is My Food, your elation is the swing on which I sit, your activity is My Playground.

983

WE have hospitals and dispensaries and clinics in every street now because disease has its hold in every family, in every home. Even little children wear glasses, young people dye their hair, many wear dentures. The reason is, the atmosphere in the modern home is filled with artificiality, anxiety, envy, discontent, empty boasting, vain pomp, extravagance, falsehood, and hypocrisy. How can anyone, growing up in this corrosive atmosphere, be free from illness? If the home is filled with the clean fragrance of contentment and peace, all its occupants will be happy and healthy.

984

THE Patient must drink the drug himself. There is no vicarious cure. The balm must he applied where the pain is. The cause of the illness and the misery is in your mental vision, for you are many when there is only one. You say "My God", "Their God", "Your God Baba", as if there are many Gods existing to help you quarrel and fight among yourselves. Ask the Lord for the removal of your earthly troubles. There is no mistake in that. It is much better than asking other men and losing self-respect and honour.

985

ATMA is the Ocean, Prakriti is just a wave of that vast ageless, boundless Ocean, and the Jivi is just a drop of that wave. You cannot give up the wave or the sea, you can only merge the Name and Form of the drop, Once you enter the depths of the Sea, it is all calm, it is all peace, agitation, noise confusion - all are only on the outer layers. So also in the innermost recesses of the heart, there is a reservoir of Santhi where you must take refuge.

986

THE doctors can serve the poor by treating them without insisting on payment: give the poor all the attention and care that you lavish on the rich paying patients. Do it for the sake of God; feel that it is the Puja you are offering Him. The lawyers can help those, who for want of a skilled advocate have to go undefended or have to suffer at the hands of unscrupulous men. Do not publish these acts of sympathy, do them spontaneously without fanfare. That is more precious than demonstrating your service with the help of headlines and photographs. These reduce the worth of the deeds of compassion. You must be uncomfortable when those around you are unhappy; when you ease their discomfort, you are making them happy and making yourself happy, isn't it?

987

TAMASO maa Jyothirgamaya, is the Prayer, Egoism is thamas; sharanagathi is Jyothi. There is an easy way to illumine the inner Consciousness and the outer behaviour with the Light of God. Put the Lamp of the Name of the Lord, the illumining flame, on the tongue! That is the doorstep, that Light will drive out the darkness from both, inside and outside. Have it ever burning clear and bright. You will soon reach remarkable height and enjoy happiness; the like of which you cannot get by sticking to the senses.

988

SIVARATHRI is a very auspicious day for all. It is the fourteenth day of the Lunar fortnight, when the moon is waning and the sun is in the sign of Aquarius. The festival is however related to the moon, rather than the sun. That is the reason why it is called "Sivarathri", the night of Siva, unlike other nights, this particular night is the night of consecration or dedication of illumination. On this night, there is just a minute part more to be conquered and that can be done by keeping vigil and dwelling on the Glory of God. The Vigil that is prescribed is symbolic of the eternal vigil one has to observe, while the rite of fasting is symbolic of diverting the senses of the pleasures they crave for. The night-long bhajan is significant of the lifelong consciousness of the Divine Presence that every one should cultivate.

989

THE Lord is closest to you. He is the mother, father, teacher, friend, guide and guardian. Call on Him and He responds immediately. From dawn to dusk spend every minute in His company. That is the reason why I have directed that every Sathya Sai organisation must arrange for Nagarasankirthanam in the pre-dawn Brahma-muhurtam. It is a mission of Love and all will welcome it. It is a great act of social service to waken people with the Name of God. It is purifying Pilgrimage, casting off the foul fumes of anger and hate that infest the atmosphere.

990

THERE was once a wicked commentator who said that this direction removes the need to discriminate between the right and wrong! He must have been the same person who said, "The Lord says in the Githa that He will be pleased if even a leaf, a flower, a fruit or a little water is offered to Him". Well, this hookah contains all four, the tobacco leaf, the red flower, denoted by the cinders, the shell of the coconut, fruit, and water through which the smoke bubble bubbles! Impertinence and irrelevance cannot hide irreverence from the eyes of God.

991

THE Anandam that will well up within you and the contemplation of Anandaswarupa will drive out all grief, all worry. Siva it seems laughed when He took a good look at the chariot that was provided for Him when He started out to slay the Thripura - Asuras, the Asuras of the three bodies; Sthula, Sukshma and Karana (the Gross, the Subtle and the Causal). Vishnu, the Charioteer, was mostly in yoganidra, the Stable Earth was the Chariot and the two wheels were the Sun and the Moon, two spheres which never revolved in Unison! That slaughter laid the Asuras low. There was no more need to proceed against the Asuras. How did the evil forces that dwelt in the three bodies die? They could not exist where there is Ananda; for they are products of grief. Develop Ananda; then evil impulses and tendencies will vanish, for they will not get any foothold in the heart.

992

THE human body has been secured as a reward of many lives of meritorious activity. Being valued as a boat which can help us cross the ocean of change, Samsara, it has to be tended with grateful reverence. The Bhaghavad Githa calls the body "Kshetra" which means a field. One can sow holiness or sin and gather a harvest commensurate with the particular quality. Choose the crop you need before you sow the seeds.

993

KSHETRA also means the entire earth. Another significant meaning of the word is "a holy place". We say "Kasi - Kshetra", "Prayaga - Kshetra", etc. to indicate those places are sacred. The body is also a kshetra since it is a temple where God is installed and worshipped through thoughts, words and deeds. The temple has to be cleaned and kept healthy and pure. Purity is to be preserved and promoted not by multiple baths or by avoiding contact with others "condemned as untouchable". You cannot be pure by the observance of the superficial taboo, "Don't touch".

994

THE body can be cleaned if washed with water. Speech can be cleaned if it is saturated in truth. Life can be purified if it is sanctified by Tapas, and the intellect can be cleared of blemish through Jnana. Above all, the conviction that you are not the body but only a resident of the body has to grow in you. If you identify yourself with the body you carry about with you, you are inviting sorrow and suffering to overwhelm you, instead of the joy and peace which are awaiting to bless you.

995

AVATARS manifested in the Krithika Yuga for preservation of Vedic tradition, in the Tretha Yuga for the protection of Dharma, and in the Dwvapara Yuga for the promulgation of the right of Property. In the Kritha Yuga the Avatar saved the Vedas from neglect, in the Tretha Yuga, He saved women from dishonour, and in the Dwapara Yuga He saved property from injustice. Now, in the fourth Age, the Kali Yuga, all three are in dire peril. The Vedas are ridiculed, women are tempted into unworthy lives, and property is condemned as theft! So, the Avatar has a threefold Task. Man has no purity in the heart, no sanctity in his emotions, no love in his deeds, no God in his prayers.

996

THE Earth is a caravanserai where men come and stay for the night and when dawn breaks, one by one they tramp their different ways. Kith Kin are the words we use for the attachment to the travelers cultivated in the caravanserai during the short term of acquaintance. Husband and wife are like two pieces of wood drifting down a flooded river; they float near each other for some time and when a current comes between them, they are parted. Each must move on to the sea at its own rate and in its own time. There is no need to grieve over their parting of the two, it is in the very nature of Nature that it should be so.

997

MAN must be Yoked to Samsara and broken; that is the training which will teach that the world is unreal; no amount of lectures will make you believe it is a snake unless you actually experience it. Touch fire and get the sensation of burning; there is nothing like it to teach you that fire is to be avoided. Unless you touch it, you will be aware only of its light. It is both light and heat; just as this world is both true and false; that is to say unreal.

998

COURAGE comes out of the grace of the Lord, it needs generations of learning and struggle. Meanwhile you must start with the first step, the cleansing of the mind and the cultivation of virtue. Even if you do not start with that step, at least do not laugh at those who do and discourage them. Do at least this much! Then, do not depend upon others for doing your work like attending to your personal wants. Do it yourself; that is real freedom. Again, never accept anything "free" from others; Pay it back in service or work. That will make you a self-respecting individual! Receiving a favour means getting bound to the giver. Grow with self-respect and dignity. That is the best service you can do to yourself.

999

THAT which is born has also to die; coming implies going; that which has no birth has no death either. The Atma has no birth, no death, nor can you say it spreads or grows or weakens. It has no history, that is all that can be said about it. It is ever Intelligence, ever Bliss. There is the urge to desire a thing that is named Ichcha Sakthi - but it too is a derivative of the Atma Sakthi, the Divine that is your core. Realise it as such and do not demean it by desiring deleterious objects. Desire, so sublimated, is the basis of Love, "Prema". It is the fruit of the tree of God-ward directed Ichcha Sakthi.

1000

WHY attached false values to exterior symbols? Why develop prejudice for the reason that a man was born on the other side of a political boundary or calls on God in another language? God is the origin of all languages. Boundaries shift and are subject to revision, resettlement and change. These are man-made differences and should not interfere with God-ward activities. God has made the Universe as one single Home for one Single family. Each state is but an apartment in that mansion.

1001

BAKTHI is defined as the means of discovering the Divine Reality within each being. Four steps are laid down in the scriptures to help man succeed in this effort; Discrimination between the Permanent and the Impermanent; withdrawal from the process of catering to the senses; Positive control of the feelings, thoughts, and pursuits; and incessant yearning for Liberation from all bonds. Bakthi is the urge which manifests as all four endeavours. Bhakthi is derived from "Bha" or Bhaghavan or God. It directs man to have God ever in mind and to cultivate love for God within him.

1002

DEVOTION fosters the highest virtue; it is the most precious treasure, it is the truest path, the only way to God. Man must live in Bakthi; for Bakthi; through Bakthi. For Bakthi is Love of the purest and the noblest variety. Such love is the breath that sustains life that supports the Soul in the effort to merge in the super-soul. The years of life spent without the Light of Love are years of ruin, of dust and disease. One could as well be dead and decay forever.

1003

THE Jivi has come to this birth in order to reveal the splendour of the spark of Godhead which it is. The body is the wick of the lamp, yearning for God is the ghee which feeds the flame. But like the rat which, attracted by the strong smelling cheap stuff inside the trap, neglects all other articles of food in the granary and falls prey to its foolishness. Man too neglects his real sustenance and wastes his life in pursuit of mortal riches.

1004

YOU must dive deep into the sea to get the pearls. If you must realise the full fruit of this Avatar, dive deep and get immersed in Sai Baba. Halfheartedness, hesitation, doubt, cynicism, listening to tales, all are of no avail. Concentrated complete faith, that alone can bring victory. This is true of any worldly activity, is it not? Therefore, how much more true must it be in the spiritual field? But if you have already attached yourselves to some Name and Form, do not change it, do not choose another in place of the Prema Swarupam.

1005

HAVE your mind fixed on one. Do not, now and then, allow clouds of doubt like "Is He Great?", "Is He God?" to dim your faith. Behold and Acknowledge the Glory that you have witnessed; proclaim the joy that you have experienced; confer the Grace that you have earned. For example, when people ask you whether you are going to Puttaparthi and whether you too are singing Bhajans, say, "yes" proudly, for there is no shame in walking on the right path.

1006

THE only new thing is man's perverse behaviour, the directions in which he has been wasting his talents, misusing his capacity of playing false to his own nature. He has been forgetting the path prescribed in the Scriptures for the cultivation of his nature, therefore all this suffering and hence My advent.

1007

YOU might have heard people talk about the miracles; My "making" this and "giving" that, My fulfilling all your wants, My curing your illnesses. But they are not so important as the Sathwa guna I appreciate, promote and instill. Of course, I confer on you these boons of health and prosperity but only so that you might, with greater enthusiasm and with less interruption, proceed with spiritual Sadhana. Bakthi leads to Sakthi and Sakthi will grant Yukthi. The Yukthi will help you to fix your Rakthi or attachment on the proper objects and your Bakthi thus promoted, finally results in Mukthi.

1008

CRITICISING others and finding fault with them are both results of egoism. Search your own faults instead. The faults you see in others are your own faults instead. The faults you see in others are but reflections of your own personality traits. Pay no heed to little worries; attach your mind to the Lord and then you will be led to the Company of good men and your talents will be transmuted.
 

Index Introduction Pearls 1- 100 Pearls 101 - 200 Pearls 201- 300 Pearls 301- 400 Pearls 401- 500 Pearls 501 - 600 Pearls 601 - 700 Pearls 701 - 800 Pearls 801 - 900 Pearls 901 - 1008