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Divine
Discourse on 7th October 2005 - Dasara
The Indweller is God Himself
Text of the Divine Discourse
delivered by Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba on 7th October 2005,
Dasara, in Sai Kulwanth Hall, Prashanti Nilayam
During childhood, man
develops absorbing
interest in play in the company of other children;
During youth, under the influence of cupid
he roams about in the company of women with infatuation;
During the middle age he is entangled in worldly
matters and deeply engrossed in hoarding wealth;
And lastly in old age he craves for this and that
not contemplating on God even at that ripe age.
Unable to get rid of old habits,
Unable to develop interest in Godward path,
Man wastes his precious human birth,
Deeply enmeshed in the web of karma.
(Telugu poem)
Embodiments of Love!
Man spends his life time thus, deeply enmeshed in pursuing
ephemeral things. He is carried away by unproductive thoughts
depending upon the particular stage of growth he is passing
through. Ultimately he realises that, he has, in fact, wasted
his precious human birth in vain pursuits. Is this the real
nature of a human being? Is this what he has to learn in life?
These activities are momentary like water bubbles. They cannot
provide lasting happiness to man. It is mere foolishness to
spend one's time in such futile pursuits.
When God takes birth in human form, people doubt whether he is
born like any other human being from the mother's womb or out of
His Divine will. The fact is when God takes birth in human form,
he selects His parents. He carries on with His avataric mission
with the help of the form He has assumed. This happens in every
age. Same was the case with Lord Krishna in the Dwapara Yuga. He
made friendship with the Pandavas. In fact, He was friend,
philosopher and guide to them. He constantly protected them
against the machinations of the wicked Kauvaras. When they were
engaged in the Kurukshetra war with the Kauravas, Krishna donned
the role of a Ratha Sarathi (charioteer) to Arjuna and
led the Pandavas to victory.
After the war ended, Lord Krishna informed the Pandavas that He
would leave for His palace in Dwaraka. He wanted one of the five
Pandava brothers to accompany Him during this journey. Kunthi,
the mother of Pandavas, suggested that Krishna may take Arjuna
with Him, since they were very close to each other. Accordingly,
Lord Krishna took Arjuna to Dwaraka and provided all comforts to
him during his stay there. Arjuna was a bit embarrassed to take
avail of the services rendered by Lord Krishna to him. He told
Krishna "Oh! Lord! How can I take services from You?" Krishna
replied, "Arjuna! You are mistaken. Whom am I serving? Is it
your body? Even your body belongs to Me. It is not yours. I am
the protector of all beings in the world. You, therefore, should
not delude yourself thinking that you are the body.
The body is made up of five
elements and is bound to perish sooner or later, but the
Indweller has neither birth nor death. The Indweller has no
attachment whatsoever and is the eternal witness. Truly
Speaking, the Dehi (indweller) is Devadeva (God of
gods) Himself.
(Telugu Poem)
"I am that Devadeva. You
identify yourself with the body out of delusion and say "I".
But, that is not your real Self. You are not the body. As long
as you identify yourself with the body, you remain as the
individual being (Jiva). Once you come out of that
delusion, you become one with Deva (the Supreme Self).
Hence, give up attachment to the body. The human body is like a
doll. However, one has to perform all his karmas using the body
as the instrument. Man has the right only to perform karma. The
entire world moves on account of karma. I am the Director of
this cosmic play, Oh! Arjuna!", said Lord Krishna.
The Yadavas with whom Krishna spent His entire life perished due
to their ego and hatred. In the end, Krishna Himself gave up the
human vesture and left for His divine abode. Watching these
developments helplessly, Arjuna wept inconsolably. Unable to
bear the separation from his dear Lord, friend, philosopher and
guide, he wailed, "Oh! Krishna! You have been constantly
protecting me and guarding me. Now that you left for your
heavenly abode, in whom shall I seek refuge?" At last, realising
the futility of spending his time in grief, he returned to
Hasthinapura.
The city of Dwaraka presented a scene of total destruction. The
entire Yadava clan had perished. Arjuna did not know what to do
in those circumstances. He remembered the possibility of his
mother Kunthi enquiring about the welfare of Lord Krishna and
the Yadavas. A hundred and one questions cropped up in his mind,
but he had no answers for any of them. Finally, Arjuna collected
all the Gopikas and started on his march out of Dwaraka, as per
the Divine command. Suddenly Arjuna and the Gopikas were
surrounded by a horde of forest dwelling nomads. But, to his
utter dismay, Arjuna could not even lift his bow, the Gandiva;
strange indeed! The great warrior Arjuna who tore the opposing
army lines into pieces with utter ease in the Kurukshetra war,
could not even lift his Gandiva now. He lamented at his
helplessness and prayed to Krishna "Oh! Lord Krishna! What has
happened to all my strength? Where is it gone now?" Again, he
answered to himself: "He who had granted this power to me has
now taken it back."
At last, in utter helplessness and agony, he prayed to Lord
Krishna "Oh! Lord! You have to protect your Gopikas yourself. I
am helpless." Finally Arjuna reached Hasthinapura along with
some of the Gopikas who could be saved from the clutches of the
barbarians by the divine grace of Krishna. There, Arjuna found
the people in great despair. He could not understand the reason
for their sorrow.
Meanwhile, Dharmaraja was very
anxious to know from Arjuna the welfare of Lord Krishna. Arjuna
replied, "I will tell you everything that had happened, in
detail." Mother Kunthi was, however, very anxious to know about
the welfare of Lord Krishna. She enquired: "Son! Arjuna! Is my
dear Krishna alright? Please tell me in detail as to what had
happened during your stay in Dwaraka." She was very eager to
know the facts and Arjuna could not but reveal the truth.
Finally, he steadied himself and related everything about the
departure of Krishna for His heavenly abode and the subsequent
developments. The moment Arjuna revealed that Krishna had shed
His mortal coil, mother Kunthi could not bear the grief and she
collapsed on the cot on which she was sitting.. Dharmaraja
rushed to her side and tried to console her saying, "Mother!
What was destined to happen, had happened. These are all the
Divine leelas of Lord Krishna. There is no use grieving over
these developments. Please get up." But, mother Kunthi did not
respond. He realised that she had left her mortal coil. He put
her head on his lap and called all his brothers. He gave
instructions to his brothers for performing the obsequies of
mother Kunthi. At the same time, he gave instructions for the
necessary arrangements to be made for the coronation of young
Parikshit, the heir apparent, as the King of Hasthinapura.
Thereafter, he called Nakula and Sahadeva to his side and told
them to make arrangements for their Mahaprasthana (the
great march) of the Pandavas to the Himalayas. Droupadi, the
queen of the Pandavas, who was witnessing these developments
could not maintain her poise anymore. She could not bear the
double loss of Lord Krishna's departure on the one side and the
sudden demise of mother Kunthi on the other. Dharmaraja called
Arjuna and instructed him to make arrangements for the cremation
of the dead body of mother Kunthi. Arjuna complied with his
instructions. The brothers could not contain their grief. They
wept inconsolably on two counts ? one for losing their dear Lord
Krishna and the other over the death of their beloved mother.
Dharmaraja led the funeral procession, carrying the fire in an
earthen pot. The same tradition was in vogue in those days also.
As the funeral procession was proceeding, the people of
Hastinapura could not contain their emotions. Finally, when the
body of mother Kunthi was placed on the funeral pyre in the
cremation ground, Dharmaraja lit the pyre. In a few moments, the
mortal body of mother Kunthi was consigned to flames. The
Pandava brothers returned home.
The next item on their agenda was to perform the coronation of
young Parikshit . What a great wonder! They lost their dear
mother; they lost their very life breath, Lord Krishna; yet they
were now prepared to perform the coronation of Parikshit with
perfect calm and poise! Time marches on! And, all things that
have to be performed have to take their course. The kingdom of
Hastinapura has to be protected. Thinking thus, the priests
started chanting the Vedic mantras for conducting the rituals
connected with the coronation of Parikshit. He was brought into
the court and the royal crown was placed on his head amidst the
chanting of Vedic mantras by the priests. Parikshit was,
however, very unhappy and pleaded with the Pandavas, "Oh! My
dear grandfathers! You are all great kings. You are still hale
and healthy. Is it proper for me to wear the royal crown in your
esteemed presence? Do I deserve to wear this royal crown? How
worthless and insignificant am I! Some one of you, please wear
this crown and rule the country." The Pandava brothers tried to
convince Parikshit saying, "Dear child! We will not be here
anymore to rule this kingdom. There must be someone to look
after the welfare of the people as king of this great country.
You have to, therefore, shoulder this responsibility. The
affairs of the kingdom have to be looked after. You should not
flinch from your duty in ensuring the continuity of the regal
obligations." Explaining thus and convincing the young
Parikshit, they sat down. Thereafter, the coronation of
Parikshit as the King of Hastinapura was performed as per the
wishes of Dharmaraja. Parikshit too bowed to the wishes of
Dharmaraja and allowed the rituals of coronation to be
completed. The Pandavas then started on their great march to the
Himalayas, straight from the royal court where the coronation of
Parikshit was being held. They immersed the ashes of their
mother in the holy river Ganges. Thereafter, they continued
their march in the Himalayas, proceeding one behind the other.
Dharmaraja, the eldest of the Pandavas, led the great march.
Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva followed him in that order.
Droupadi, being the wife of the five Pandava brothers, walked
behind the brothers.
While the Pandavas and their queen Droupadi were thus proceeding
in their great march to the Himalayas, Droupadi first dropped
down. Thereafter, the four brothers, Sahadeva, Nakula, Arjuna
and Bhima dropped down in that order during the course of their
jouney. But, none among them looked behind during their march.
For each of them, it was a lone journey to their final abode.
Finally, Dharmaraja was alone and he continued his march.
In this manner, the Pandavas' earthly sojourn came to an end.
Pariskhit was grief-stricken when he came to know about their
departure from this world. When they set out on the
Mahaprasthana, people were unable to bear their separation and
hence many of them shed their mortal coils. It appeared as
though destiny was unkind towards the Pandavas. Who can
understand its ways! None, except God, can know about the turn
of events in one's life. One may don ochre robes, but that will
not enable him to know what the future has in store for him.
The Pandavas symbolised virtues and valour. They could shed
their mortal coils peacefully as they had led their lives in an
ideal manner and sanctified their time in the contemplation of
God.
Like the Pandavas, King Parikshit was also one of virtues and
valour. Even while carrying out his kingly duties He spent his
time in namasmarana. When he took over the reigns of
Hasthinapura, some evil minded kings joined hands and waged a
war against him. They underestimated his strength and valour
thinking that he was young and inexperienced. But, some other
noble kings came to his rescue. With their help, Parikshit could
vanquish the enemies and assert his supremacy. He could emerge
victorious due to his unflinching faith in God. That is why I
often tell you - God is your sole refuge wherever you are -
whether on the mountain top or in the sky or in the town or in
the city or in the middle of the deep sea.
When Parikshit was anointed as the king, initially people were
apprehensive as to how a young boy could shape the destiny of a
kingdom. However, under the able guidance of Kripacharya's son,
Parikshit proved to be an efficient king. He followed in the
foot steps of the Pandavas. He took some time off from his royal
duties and went to the place where the Pandavas shed their
mortal coils. He performed pradakshina (circumambulation)
and wore the dust of their feet on his head in reverence. He
practised and propagated their ideals. The Pandavas are ideals
to the entire world. We should emulate their ideals and sanctify
our lives. We may have to face sorrows and suffering, but should
remain undeterred by emotional obstacles. Only then will the
true power and strength manifest in us. When we follow the
ideals of the Pandavas, we will experience peace, happiness and
prosperity.
Students!
You are young and have a long life ahead of you. Pariskhit was
much younger to you when he ascended the throne. However, he
took up the challenge with admirable courage and faith in God.
He stood as an ideal to the young generation. You too should
develop such courage and fortitude and strive for the welfare of
society. That is the true ideal. Pray to God to bestow on you
the necessary strength to hold on to this ideal. The Pandavas
left the world long ago but their ideal is eternal and ever
fresh. You should cherish their ideal in your heart and try to
follow the same in letter and spirit.
Embodiments of Love! Students!
All of you are highly virtuous. You should be an ideal to
others. Never give room for sorrow. Be always fearless. You
don't need to be a slave to others. Have firm faith that God is
always with you, guiding you and guarding you. Having God firmly
installed in your heart and with the divine name on your lips,
you should march forward saying Jai, Jai, Jai....
Source:
http://www.sssbpt.org/Pages/Prasanthi_Nilayam/Dasara_Discourse_7_10_05.htm |