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This land of Bharat has given birth to
many noble women like Savitri who
brought her dead husband back to life;
Chandramati who extinguished wild fire
with the power of truth; Sita who proved
her chastity by coming out of blazing
fire unscathed and Damayanti who reduced
an evil-minded hunter to ashes with the
power of her chastity. This land of
piety and nobility attained plenty and
prosperity and became the teacher of all
the nations of the world because of such
women of chastity.
(Telugu Poem)
T U R N Y O U R V I S I O N I N W A R
D A N D S E E G O D W I T H I N Y O
U
A woman who follows only her husband and
experiences happiness in serving him is
called Pativrata (chaste woman). It was
by the power of her chastity that
Savitri could bring her dead husband
Satyavan back to life.
Harishchandra’s Strict Adherence to
Truth
Chandramati extended full cooperation in
every way to her husband Harishchandra
who gave away his entire kingdom to Sage
Viswamitra in charity and became a
pauper without having even a single
paisa with him. When Sage Viswamitra
asked Harishchandra to give him Dakshina
(money offerings) after getting his
kingdom in charity, Harishchandra prayed
to him to give him some time to pay the
amount of Dakshina. Leaving his kingdom,
Harishchandra went to Kashi along with
his wife and son Lohitasva to earn money
to pay Dakshina to the sage. Finding no
other way to pay the amount of Dakshina,
he sold his wife and son to a Brahmin.
Being a queen, Chandramati had never
done any household work, but she was
asked to do menial work of washing the
dishes and cleaning the house by the
Brahmin. Harishchandra himself took up
the job of a caretaker of a cremation
ground. The owner of the cremation
ground assigned him the work of
collecting tax from those who came to
the cremation ground to cremate dead
bodies.
One day,
the Brahmin sent Lohitasva along with
other children to the forest to collect
Darbha (grass used in worship). There he
was bitten by a snake and died. The
other children brought his dead body to
Chandramati. As she had to finish the
household work before taking the dead
body of her son to the cremation ground,
it was night when Chandramati reached
the cremation ground with the dead body
of her son. When the caretaker of the
cremation ground, who was none other
than her husband Harishchandra, asked
her to pay the tax for cremating the
body of her son, she told him that she
had no money to pay the tax. Seeing her
Mangal Sutra around her neck,
Harishchandra said, “How do you say you
have no money? I see the Mangal Sutra
you are wearing”. On hearing this, she
thought to herself, “Only my husband can
see my Mangal Sutra and none else”. Then
she asked him, “Are you not my husband
Harishchandra”? Harishchandra replied in
the affirmative; he was grief-stricken
on coming to know about the death of
their only son. However, he told her
that he could allow her to cremate the
dead body of their son only when she
paid the tax. As she had no money to
give, she took out her Mangal Sutra to
give it to him. At that very moment,
Lord Siva manifested there. He praised
Harishchandra for his strict adherence
to truth and told him that all this was
a divine play to show to the people of
the world that there were still some
highly exalted persons in the world who
followed truth scrupulously. He also
brought their dead son Lohitasva back to
life. Meanwhile, Viswamitra also came
there. He returned the kingdom of
Harishchandra to him and told him that
he had done all this to test his
commitment to truth. Thus, Harishchandra
demonstrated the divine quality of
truth. Truth is God.
God
Permeates every Atom of the Universe
People search for God and ask, “Where is
God? Where is God”? God is everywhere.
Sarvatah Panipadam Tat Sarvathokshi
Siromukham, Sarvatah Sruthimalloke
Sarvamavruthya Tishthati (with
hands, feet, eyes, head, mouth and ears
pervading everything, He permeates the
entire universe). God has no beginning
and no end; He has no birth and no
death. Human body is temporary and
ephemeral like a water bubble. But it is
the abode of God who is eternal. God is
not outside, He is within you. The same
Atma is immanent in all beings including
birds, beasts and insects.
God has no particular form. Brahma,
Vishnu, Maheswara are not different from
each other. God manifests in the form
His devotees contemplate upon. If a
woman considers her husband as God, she
can realise God in him. With whatever
feelings you think of God, God will
appear before you in the same way.
Daivam
Manusha Rupena (God is in the
form of a human being). All are the
embodiments of God. So, the answer to
the question, “Where is God”? is “God is
everywhere”. The Atma that is present in
you in the form of consciousness is
present in all. You cannot say,
consciousness is here and not there; it
is everywhere. God is omnipresent. There
is no need to search for God who is
present everywhere, in all, at all
places. Therefore, it is very easy to
know God. Try to understand that
everything in the universe is permeated
by God. The objective of all your
education is to experience God who is
present everywhere and in every being.
To attain this ideal should be the goal
of your life. Close your eyes and
contemplate on the form of God that you
like. On whatever form of God you
contemplate upon, God will manifest
before you in that very form. Never
think that God is somewhere at a distant
place or He is present only at one
particular place and not at another. He
is present everywhere and permeates
every atom of the universe.
See God
in All
Today is Ugadi, the first day of Chaitra
Masa (first month of Indian calendar).
It denotes the commencement of New Year.
In fact, Ugadi means beginning of a new
era. But Ugadi is not the real beginning
of a new era; the real new era commences
when man has new and noble thoughts.
Therefore, look within and experience
God who is present in your heart. That
is the real celebration of Ugadi.
Realise that God is present everywhere.
God is one though people worship Him by
many names. There can be many sweets
like Gulab Jamun, Mysore Pak, Jilebi but
sugar in all of them is the same. There
may be differences in the names and
forms of people but divinity that is
immanent in all is the same.
Ekam
Sath Viprah Bahudha Vadanti
(truth is one, but the wise refer to it
by various names). You see the picture
of Krishna wearing a crown with a
peacock feather or that of Siva with a
third eye. But these are mere pictures
of God. God has no form. He is beyond
all names and forms. Therefore, do not
limit God to any name and form. Do not
have the false notion that God is
present only at this place or that
place. Contemplate on God who is present
in your heart and earn His grace. Right
from this sacred day of Ugadi, you
should see God in everyone. Whomsoever
you come across, offer your salutations
to him, considering him as the
embodiment of God. This is true
meditation. God is in you; you yourself
are God. Then where will you go in
search of God? Does anyone go out
somewhere in search of himself? When you
yourself are God, how can there be one
more God? Turn your vision inward and
see God within you.
When you
say, this is my body, then who is that
‘my’? Clearly, body is separate and you
are separate. Realise this truth. That
is real devotion. (Bhagavan called one
of the boys and asked him) Where do you
come from? (When the boy told Bhagavan
that he had come from Mumbai, Bhagavan
said) Your body has, in fact, come from
Mumbai, not you. Realise the truth, “I
am I”. When you say, I am so and so,
what does it convey? Your name has been
given to you by your parents. You were
not born with this name. Do not think
that your body is permanent. Physical
body lasts only for a limited period of
time. Ultimately, it has to go. (Swami
called another boy and asked him, “What
do you want”? The boy said, “Swami, I
want You, I want Your love. Be always
with us, Swami”. Then Swami said) I am
always with you. All of you belong to
Me. Whenever you contemplate upon Me in
your heart, I will manifest before you.
Today is New Year day. Be happy.
– From
Bhagawan’s Ugadi Discourse in Sai
Kulwant Hall, Prasanthi Nilayam on 16th
March 2010.
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sssbpt.org - Sri Sathya Sai Media
Foundation
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