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Divine
Discourse on 10th October 2005 - Dasara
Education without Educare
is inadequate
Text of the Divine Discourse
delivered by Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba on 10th October 2005,
Dasara, in Sai Kulwanth Hall, Prashanti Nilayam
Good education is that
which teaches the method of achieving world peace; that
which destroys narrow - mindedness and promotes unity,
equality and peaceful co-existence among human beings.
(Telugu poem)
Good education is not merely
reading several books, gathering bookish knowledge and teaching
it to others. There is no use acquiring mere bookish knowledge.
By acquiring bookish knowledge, you may perhaps become a book
yourself. Real education is that which promotes unity, equality
and peaceful co-existence with fellow human beings. Merely
reading books and periodicals and acquiring bookish knowledge is
the so-called secular education. Several people in the world
today are pursuing this type of education only. But, this cannot
be termed as real education. Real education flows from the heart
and is termed as 'Educare'. There is a lot of difference between
'education' and 'educare'! Educare is the basis and foundation
for all types of education. Educare is the adhara
(support) and education is the adheya (supported). All
the texts we read teach only education to us. But, this is
totally inadequate. We must pursue educare alongwith education.
Sage Valmiki in the Treta Yuga wrote the great epic
Ramayana. It emerged from the great sage as a spontaneous
expression of his divine feelings. So too is the Bhagavatha
composed by the great Rishi Veda Vyasa. These great
Rishis gave expression to their divine feelings emerging
from the depths of their hearts in the form of such great epics.
That is why they became immortal works teaching eternal truths.
These great epics teach about the divine life and message of the
great Avatars. They were composed by great Rishis who
themselves had the vision of God.
When Sita was living in the forest along with Rama during their
fourteen year exile, Rama taught her many things. She did not
reveal it to anyone, but she was following those teachings
carefully. After the completion of the period of exile, Sita,
Rama, and Lakshmana returned to Ayodhya. Rama was crowned the
king of Ayodhya. Days rolled by. One day, he called Lakshmana
and commanded him to take Janaki in a chariot and leave her to
herself in a deserted place with no human habitation on the
banks of the river Ganges and return. Obeying Rama's command, he
left Sita in the forest and returned to the capital. Sage
Valmiki was passing through the forest on his way back to his
hermitage from the river Ganga where he had gone for his ritual
bath. The grief stricken words of Sita fell on his ears. Having
listened to Sita's tale of woe, he consoled her and brought her
to his hermitage. Sita spent her days in the hermitage in
constant contemplation of Rama and his glory. When she was left
in the forest by Lakshmana, she was already pregnant. After the
completion of nine months, she gave birth to the twins Lava and
Kusa. Under the loving care and tutelage of sage Valmiki, the
twin brothers grew up as great warriors and worthy sons of Rama.
One day, Sita was lost in deep contemplation of Rama. She was
thinking of the happy days that she had spent in His company and
was feeling utterly dejected at the turn of events. Meanwhile,
Kusa and Lava returned to the hermitage and saw their mother in
tears. They could not understand the reason for her grief. They
enquired why she was in tears. They tried to console her saying,
"Mother! Why should you shed tears, when you have such brave
sons who are more powerful than Lord Rama Himself? Do not
underestimate our strength and valour." Sage Valmiki who was
observing this dialogue between Sita and her sons advised Sita,
"Amma! Please control your emotions. These children are not
ordinary children. They are not only well-read, they are capable
of taking an appropriate decision after deeply contemplating
over an issue. They have great sense of discrimination and
analytical ability."
While Rama was ruling the kingdom, he desired to perform the
Aswamedha Yaga mentioned in the Vedas, for the destruction of
all foes and to ensure peace and prosperity in the Kingdom. For
this purpose, a horse, immaculately white in colour, was
selected and a gold plate with a message to all the rulers of
the land was placed on its brow saying that those strong may
hold it, if they dared; or else, they should accept Rama's
sovereignty over them and they should pay Rama tax and tribute;
or else make themselves scarce. The horse was let out into the
country followed by a huge army under the command of Satrughna.
During the course of their march, they vanquished several kings
and brought them under the rule of Rama. While the horse
followed by the army was thus moving, one day, it came near the
hermitage of Sage Valmiki. The twin brothers, Lava and Kusa, saw
the sacrificial horse and the army following it. They caught
hold of the horse, read the inscription fixed to the forehead of
the horse and decided to confront Satrughna and his army. They
took the horse under their control and kept it at the hermitage
of Valmiki. They came back to fight with the guardians of the
horse. In the fight that ensued, the twin brothers subdued all
their opponents one after the other.
First, Bharata and Satrughna confronted them. They made a
last-ditch effort to dissuade the twin brothers from fighting
the battle saying, "You are still children; you have not faced
any difficulty in life so far, being under the loving care of
your mother and Sage Valmiki. Please give up the idea of
fighting a battle with our army; return to your Ashram. If you
still insist on fighting with us, we are ready". The children
could not, however, be persuaded to return to their Ashram. They
had no fear of the battle at all. They therefore responded by
saying, "We are also ready for the battle". So saying, they
started the battle against Bharata and Satrughna in right
earnest. Bharata and Satrughna could not withstand the shower of
arrows released by Lava and Kusa anymore and they fainted. The
news was conveyed to Rama in Ayodhya. Then, Lakshmana was sent
to continue the battle. He too met with the same fate as his
brothers Bharata and Satrughna.
Finally, the news reached Rama that the young boys had subdued
Laksmana, Bharata and Satrughna and their army and that they
were eager to confront even Him. Rama now had no choice but to
come to the battlefield with his army consisting of Hanuman and
other warriors. A lengthy argument ensued between Rama and the
twin brothers. Finally, Lava and Kusa decided to take on Rama
for a full fight, though Rama tried to convince them to leave
the horse and go away since He did not want to fight with them
as they were too young. While the war of words was thus going on
between Rama and the twins, news reached Sita through Hanuman
that a catastrophic war was about to start between Rama and her
sons Lava and Kusa. On hearing the news, for a moment, Sita
closed her eyes and envisioned the turn of events.
She lamented, "Why has this great calamity fallen upon my sons?
I understand they are going to fight with Rama. How great and
invincible is Rama! On the other hand what is the strength of my
sons! They are children still unable to realise the consequences
of this disastrous battle, should they fight with their own
father Rama! What a matter of shame!" Thus she lamented
helplessly at the turn of events. She thought to herself, "Rama
is a noble king and an ideal father. He will not fight with his
own sons. He will fondle and caress them lovingly. A father will
never fight with his own children. He will teach them virtues".
Sita expressed her anguish to Hanuman thus: "Dear Son! These
children are my own children. They are the sons of Ramachandra.
But, they are not aware of it. They know only that Rama had sent
Sita to the forest and put her to great suffering. That is why
they decided to fight with Rama's brothers and their army and,
if necessary, even with Rama Himself. However, I am convinced
that it is not proper on their part to fight a battle against
Rama. It is only up to Rama either to protect me or punish me.
He might have put me to suffering as a consequence of my
destiny. All this is for my good. They have nothing to do with
it. I do not regret it at all and blame anyone for my suffering.
The more frequently gold is put in fire and refined, the more it
will shine. Its shining increases each time it is subjected to
that process."
Hanuman himself is no ordinary being. He is a great soul. He is
well known for his inner peace, virtues and great physical
strength. He felt great joy hearing the sacred words of Sita. He
thought to himself, "Mother Sita is a woman of great virtue.
None can excel her in virtue".
Sita rushed to the battlefield and advised Lava and Kusa to
withdraw from the battle saying, "Dear sons! It is not proper to
fight a battle against your father. It is a great sin. The
father has to be revered, worshipped and persuaded to agree to
your point. But, one should not try to subdue him by waging a
battle against him. It is foolish to entertain such ideas.
Whatever be the circumstances in which you are placed, a father
is a father and revered as such. You should not go against his
command. Dear children! You are deluded to think that you are
great warriors and adepts in the art of archery. You think you
can win over any great warrior, with your battle skills. All
this is your arrogance born out of ignorance. Keep yourself away
from such ignorance. Rama is Lord Narayana verily. He is the
Divine in human form. You should not embark upon a path of
confrontation against such great Rama. If, in spite of all my
advice, you still decide to fight a battle against your own
father Rama, I will not live on this earth anymore. It will be a
matter of great shame to call you as my sons. Please do not
indulge in such heinous acts". Thus Sita warned her sons Lava
and Kusa.
It was then that Rama realised that Lava and Kusa were none
other than his own sons. Likewise, the twin brothers also
realised that their fight was against none other than their own
father and immediately fell at the feet of Rama, begging for
pardon.
Thus, Valmiki composed the great epic Ramayana exactly as
the events took place without any imagination or fabrication of
events. The great sages and seers in those days spoke nothing
but the truth.
Sri Rama always followed the twin principles of Sathya
(Truth) and Dharma (Righteousness). His entire life was a
saga of these great human values. Not only he followed these
great values, but also used to exhort everyone, Sathyam Vada
(speak truth) and Dharma Chara (follow
righteousness). His emphasis was not on mere lip service for
Dharma, but sincere practice of Dharma. Since then
the practice of daily parayana (reverential reading) of
Ramayana has come to stay in the Indian culture Indian
ethos. You might have observed that even in our Ashram, it is
the practice to sing / recite the glory of Ramayana,
Bhagavatha and Sapthasathi during the Veda Purusha
Sapthaha Jnana Yajna held every year.
You must develop faith in God. If you give room for doubt, even
that flicker of faith you have will be extinguished. Hence,
faith in God is the essential prerequisite for every human
being. What is the meaning of the word 'Manava' (human
being)? It means one who has faith in God. In present times,
unfortunately, man is gradually losing that faith. God fulfils
His avataric mission through the medium of human beings.
The essential commands which God expects man to obey are
Sathyam vada (speak Truth) and Dharmam chara (follow
righteousness). But, man today is going against the wishes of
God and distorting these principles as Sathyam vadha (kill the
truth) and Dharmam chera (imprison righteousness). The
country will prosper only when this trend is reversed and people
follow these principles in their proper perspective. Truth is
eternal. "Truth is God; speak Truth". Truth only will protect
you. I will elucidate this point tomorrow in greater detail.
Embodiments of Love!
God is one who protects always; He does not punish. People are
not able to realise this truth. Unable to realise this truth,
some people attribute unworthy emotions to God and accuse Him of
making innocent people suffer. Several books are being published
now on "God", "Divinity,", etc. But, none of these books
glorifies the human values as were practised in the Ramayana.
The great epic Ramayana was translated into several
languages in the world, including Russian. It is a widely read
classic in the world. Several non Indians not only read
Ramayana in their own language, but they even worship and
revere the great epic. The other day, the first lady of
Kazakhstan, a former Republic of the erstwhile Soviet Union
visited Prasanthi Nilayam and heard My discourse on Ramayana
with great reverence and joy. In fact, Ramayana is held
in high esteem in the erstwhile communist countries. They have
developed great faith and devotion in Ramayana and the
Ramayana way of life. Unfortunately, the Indians are still
lagging behind in this regard. The Ramayana is a great
spiritual text which everyone should read with utmost reverence
and devotion.
God loves every human being. He does not hate anyone. In fact,
the terms like anger, hatred and violence etc., do not exist at
all in the kingdom of God. Such a 'Loving God' is being
criticised now-a-days in ever so many ways. The avataric
mission is meant to bring about a transformation in the hearts
of human beings. You must be able to recognise one fact. The
global transformation of human beings has already begun. Within
a short period, you will notice that the entire human community
will come together and live in peace and unity in keeping with
the ideal cherished in the Vedic prayer:
Let us live together, let us grow together
Let us grow in intelligence together
Let us live in harmony with each other
I assure you that the golden era is very near. The personal
rivalries, differences and hatred against fellowmen will become
a thing of the past in Bharat and the world at large.
Embodiments of Love!
No one can describe God's love as this or that. If you hate such
a loving God, it amounts to hating yourself. Hence, all of you,
love God. The Navaratri celebrations and the Veda
Purusha Saptaha Jnana Yajna are coming to a happy end. On
the final day of the Yajna, the Purnahuthi ritual
will be performed. The Purnahuthi is a symbolic ritual
wherein all of you will offer your evil qualities in the
sacrificial fire and come out pure and sacred. Once again, I
remind you all to constantly chant the Ramanama wherever
you are and in whatever circumstances you are. Never forget this
great Ramanama. Continue to chant it till your last
breath.
(Bhagawan concluded His divine discourse with the bhajan "Rama
Rama Rama Sita ?" and "Srimad Ravikula ...")
Source:
http://www.sssbpt.org/Pages/Prasanthi_Nilayam/10_Oct_05_Discourse.htm |