Home |
SBOI-Group|
Pictures
|
Audio-Video |
Wallpapers|
Greeting-cards
|
Ashrams Info.
|
Sai news
<<back
to Sai news
20th
March 2007 |
Ugadi |
Puttaparthi |
by
Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
Note:
Discourses of Sri Sathya Sai Baba
at SBOIwebsite/group are unedited, authentic & only
sourced from the official Sai baba Org.
THE HAPPINESS OF EVERYONE IS MY HAPPINESS
Ugadi Photos
Embodiments of Love!
There are sixty years in the Telugu almanac by name Prabhava, Vibhava,
Shukla, Pramodhutha, Prajotpatthi, Angirasa, Srimukha, Bhava, Yuva,
Dhathu, Easwara, Bahudanya, Pramadhi, Vikrama, etc… This cycle culminates
in the 60th year Akshaya. This body has seen two Akshaya years so far.
This year Sarvajit is very significant to realise the divinity latent in a
human being.
A human being has several desires and aspirations. The year Sarvajit
fulfils such desires which are truthful. The year will see significant
progress being made in the moral, physical, righteous, spiritual and
scientific fields. A truthful desire will always result in fulfilment. One
has, however, to hold on to the Truth with steadfast faith. Sarvajit year
will bring victory in all possible ways. It is the most important year in
all these sixty years. ‘Jit’ signifies victory. Sarvajit means victory in
all fields of human endeavour. If one were to progress in life, one has to
cultivate truthful desires in this Sarvajit year. I have not seen a single
person who cultivated such truthful desires and failed in his life. Hence,
I exhort you all to cultivate truthful desires and aspirations and lead a
life full of happiness and bliss in this Sarvajit year.
Goddess Parvati is responsible for this year being named as Sarvajit. She
did severe penance for a number of years with an ambition to marry Lord
Siva, giving up food and sleep. Lord Siva was pleased with her penance and
appeared before her. He enquired, “For whose sake are you doing this
penance?” She replied, “Oh! Lord! I am doing this penance to win your
grace.” Lord Siva then informed her, “Your wish is fulfilled today. You
can join Me now.” Before Parvati could join Lord Easwara, several divine
ladies tried to dissuade her from marrying the Lord, criticising thus:
Oh! Gowri! You are very young and
Sambasiva is old;
He has matted locks and
wears a tiger skin;
He rides a bull and
is constantly on the move;
He is adorned with snakes;
How did you court Him?
Don’t you know all this?
He has no house of His own and
sleeps in the cremation ground.
(Telugu poem)
They enquired, “Why do you wish to marry such an old man who goes about
begging in the streets?” Parvati replied “You do not know, you are seeing
only his external form. You are not making any effort to realise the Atma
Tattwa in him. I am, in fact, aspiring for the divinity in him. Divinity
is changeless and eternal.” Lord Easwara accepted Parvati as His consort.
She was happy in every aspect. The day on which Goddess Parvati could
fulfil her desire surmounting all difficulties, is celebrated as the New
Year day of Sarvajit. In fact, this name to the New year was given by
goddess Parvati herself!
The names of the years that follow this Sarvajit are Sarvadhari, Virodhi,
Vikruthi …, Nala, Pingala, Kaalayukthi, Siddharthi, Roudri, Durmathi,
Dundubhi, Rudhirodgari, Raktakshi, Krodhana and Akshaya. It is only when
you pass through all these years that you can reach Akshaya. Goddess
Parvati rejoined the divinity, that is Akshaya (imperishable), only by
great penance and after undergoing several hardship and pain. Divinity
always incarnates in the year Akshaya only. This body was born in the year
Akshaya during Brahmamuhurtha (the auspicious period at dawn) at 6.00 a.m.
It is only when we get into the inner meaning, that we will be able to
know the good and bad of any aspect.
Parvati is the goddess that supplies water to the entire world. Lord
Easwara granted this boon to her. Ganga is another form of goddess
Parvati. That is why the river Ganga is worshipped as Gangadevi. Some
years ago, I visited the East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh. I had
to travel by car to reach Chennai (Madras). There is a place called Red
Hills near Chennai, where a huge reservoir was built to store water. I was
told that drinking water is supplied from that reservoir to the entire
city of Chennai. But, there was no water in the reservoir itself at that
time. How can water be supplied to the city? There were of course, a few
places in the reservoir where rain water collected as small cesspools. I
saw some children drinking polluted water from those cesspools. I was also
informed that the same water is being used for drinking and cooking as
well. There were a few devotees travelling along with Me in the car. They
enquired, “Swami! When would this reservoir get filled?”
For everything, there is a time, action, reason and duty, which shall go
together. I kept these aspects in view and told them, “I will not step
into this city of Chennai till the next ten years. It is only after
supplying water for drinking and irrigation purposes, and the people of
Chennai drink pure water that I would visit Chennai again.” Ten years
passed by. I fulfilled My promise of supplying drinking water to the
entire city of Chennai. Besides, it is also being used for irrigation
purposes. Accordingly I visited Chennai during Janurary this year.
The Britishers who ruled this country prior to independence, lived for 200
years in Chennai city. There were no proper roads or cars in those days.
They used to go to far off places and hill tops on horse back and search
for water sources. Nevertheless, they could not solve the drinking water
problem till they left this country. At the time of acute water shortage,
the rich could buy water in tankers from private owners of borewells. But,
what about the poor people? They have no money to purchase water. One day,
I was in Teynampet in Chennai city. Several people gathered there. They
represented, “Swami! We have no drinking water.” There were a number of
small children in that gathering. It was a holiday for the primary school
children on that day. They all surrounded Me and prayed, “Swami! We need
drinking water.” I told them, “My dear boys! Surely you will get drinking
water. I will arrange for the supply of pure drinking water from the river
Krishna.” I fulfilled My promise.
The Britishers promised to link the three rivers Ganga, Godavari and
Krishna. But, they did nothing in this regard. The Godavari water is going
waste by draining itself into the sea. Of course, the Krishna river is not
going that way. Even now, there is copious supply of water in the river
Krishna. Several dams and reservoirs are being built across the river
Krishna. We had to spend a huge sum of two hundred crores of rupees to
supply drinking water to the city of Chennai, as also for irrigation
purposes. The people of Chennai are very happy that they are able to drink
pure water now. During My recent visit to the city, I went to Teynampet
once again. The people there expressed their feelings thus: “Swami! We are
able to drink pure, sweet and refreshing water now. How can we express our
gratitude to You? Words fail to express our sense of gratitude to Swami.”
God can do anything, achieve any insurmountable task. But, foolish human
beings fail to realise this truth. You teach a proper lesson to such
fools. They have accumulated enormous wealth. But, they don’t shell out a
coin in charity to the beggars. I told those people, “You need not depend
on the charity of others. God Himself who is the creator, can grant
everything unto you. Hence, pray to Him, for whatever you need.” They
gathered there to greet Me on My way and express their gratitude to Swami
for this boon of sweet drinking water. I told them, “Drink this pure,
sweet water and be happy. That would be enough, I don’t need anything
else”. Now, the same water is supplied to every house and even small huts
by laying pipes. All people are drinking sweet and pure water. I must tell
you that My entire heart is filled with sweet water! The happiness of
everyone is My happiness. This is the inner meaning of the prayer, “Lokah
Samasthah Sukhino Bhavanthu” (May all the people of the world be happy!).
You also pray this way.
Our next project was the supply of drinking water to the people living in
the upland areas of East and West Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh.
The District President of the West Godavari district, Dr. Bhaskara Rao is
now here. They all worked very hard for completion of this project. It is
very difficult to lift the water from the low lying areas to the upland
areas. It is a tedious and expensive work. I assured them, “You do your
job; I will look after everything else.” I sent Ramakrishna, former Vice
President of M/s Larsen & Toubro Company and Kondal Rao, former chief
Engineer, Government of Andhra Pradesh to inspect the progress of work.
They were surprised to find that the work was going on at a brisk pace.
They exclaimed, “Oh! To what great heights the water reached! It is a
miracle. It cannot be expressed in words. It is only to be seen to be
believed. The people living on those hills and hillocks are not living
like other human beings. They do not go down the hills and interact with
fellow human beings living in plains, as they are afraid of them!
They expressed their awe at this huge water supply project thus: “Swami!
We are living in the hills right above the river Godavari flowing in the
plains. But, till today we did not taste even a drop of Godavari water.
Such people are now happily drinking sweet and pure water right in their
homes, supplied by laying pipes up to their doorstep. Several of those
people, especially ladies came all the way to Prasanthi Nilayam by walk to
see this place and have My darshan. They spoke to the devotees here and
expressed their sentiments thus: “How fortunate you are! Of course, we are
also fortunate! We will also settle at the Lotus feet of Swami one day.”
Thus, we have supplied pure drinking water to several villages to the
complete satisfaction of one and all. They composed songs in their local
dialect and expressed their gratitude to Swami, singing those songs. The
theme of their songs was, “The water we drink is supplied by Sri Sathya
Sai. We should not waste even a drop of that water. Come! Let us drink
that water and sustain our lives.” They set the song to a fine tune and
sang it in a group, dancing all the time. Thus, those villagers are very
happy that their drinking water problem has been solved permanently by
Swami. They fill that sweet water in big vessels and carry them to their
homes by means of a Kavadi (yoke). It is a beautiful scene to be seen. In
fact, there is a lot to be learnt by the people of the towns and cities,
from those innocent and jubilant villagers. They are experiencing
indescribable bliss and contentment in their lives.
Yesterday, Ramakrishna and Kondal Rao came to Me and represented, “Swami!
You must surely visit those villagers. They are all praying and eagerly
waiting for Swami’s visit.” I told them I will surely visit them. Very
soon, I will visit Rajahmundry. But, there is no way I can go to those
villages by car from Rajahmundry. Their places can be reached only by
foot. The villagers pleaded with Me earlier, “We will not cause any strain
to the body of Swami. We will try to take you to our places, without
making you walk. We will carry Swami on our shoulders, if necessary.”
Thus, those villagers are very happy and eager to receive Swami in their
villages.
On this holy occasion of Ugadi, we are launching a new scheme for rural
development, under the name, “Village works”. It is necessary that every
house in every village shall be kept clean. The houses are to be kept neat
and clean both inside and outside. The children in these homes are also to
be groomed into clean and healthy children. We propose to cover every
village under this scheme. Of course, the project involves huge
expenditure. But, we don’t hesitate to incur the necessary expenditure.
Money comes and goes. But, the help and good work we render remain. Hence,
we must undertake this rural development project immediately. We are
launching this scheme from today itself on the holy occasion of Ugadi. The
elders as well as children, the poor and rich, all should work united for
the success of this project. It is Seva that unites people. Both the
villages and towns should join and work together in a spirit of unity. We
are sure that very soon it will be a reality. We are launching this scheme
today itself. It is our wish that by the next Ugadi, all the villages are
shaped and moulded into model villages. All of you, including children
shall take part in this village service. You must consider it as Daiva
Seva (service to God). Service to man is service to God.
At present, we are at the individual level. We are working with an
individual interest. This attitude must change. We must change. We must
develop unity and national interest. The entire country must stand united.
In a recent meeting held at Chennai, several Chief Ministers, Governors of
States and several I.A.S. officers participated. Many people attended that
meeting. All these people shared a common cause. Thus, you must all come
united and participate in this village service programme. If all people
work together, the entire world can be changed into a better place to live
in. I am with you always, guarding and guiding you at every moment.
Whatever you need, ask Me; I will provide. Like the rivers that flow merge
into the sea ultimately, whatever Seva you do to anyone, reaches Me only.
Hence, don’t fear for anything. Why fear, when I am here? Do not hesitate
to ask Me for whatever you may need. Surely, I will provide everything to
you. Hence, make yourself ready to participate in this service, both men
and women.
Yesterday, a group of devotees from Mumbai have come to Prasanthi Nilayam.
They are very rich. They represented to Me, “Swami! We propose to erect a
Dwaja Sthamba in the name of Swami in the sea near Mumbai. It will be
several hundred feet high. We propose to arrange a beacon light on top of
the Dwaja Sthamba, so that it is visible to all from long distances. It
will have the divine name “Sai Ram” and will involve an expenditure of
several crores of rupees. We will come again to Prasanthi Nilayam after
the project is completed and have Swami’s Darshan.” No doubt, the devotees
of Mumbai are doing a lot of Seva. Everything is good; but the city of
Mumbai is very dirty. First and foremost, make the city free from
pollution. Some efforts were made earlier in this regard, but they were
not successful. The reason being, at high tide the sea is at a higher
level than the city drainage system. As you all know, the water flows down
only. Unless the drainage water in the city is pumped out, the city cannot
be kept clean and beautiful. I am sure that a way can be found for
tackling this problem. I am also sure that the people of Mumbai can
certainly undertake this task. I told them in no uncertain terms, “You
finish that work; I will surely come.”
I wish that the entire country of Bharat should be made beautiful and the
people lead a happy and peaceful life. “Lokah Samasthah Sukhino Bhavanthu”
(May all the people of the world be happy!). Swami’s happiness lies in the
happiness of all. He does not need anything special. Your happiness is My
happiness. Hence, whatever work you undertake, let it be for the peace,
welfare and happiness of all people.
More than anything else, the foremost requirement today is water for all.
Water is life sustaining. You may live without food for a few days, but
you cannot live without water. In future, there will be copious rains. No
one need to have any fear of drought. In fact, I have come into this world
to correct all these maladies. I will surely provide you happiness, by
correcting and forgiving your faults. You must all live in unity and love.
We consider the Panchapranas (the five vital airs) as Prana, Apana, Vyana,
Udana and Samana. No; what I mean by Panchapranas is Sathya (Truth),
Dharma (Righteousness), Santhi (Peace), Prema (Love) and Ahimsa
(Non-violence). Where there is Truth, there will be righteousness. Where
there is righteousness, there will be peace. Where there is peace, there
will be love. Where truth and love go together, everything else will be
added unto such a person.
Very soon, the entire world will be united into a single unit. Students
should strive to achieve that ideal. The senses are very strong in
children. The physical, mental and spiritual strength in them is of a high
order. You have to make proper use of that strength. I expect you not to
misuse your senses. Only then can you do great service to the world. It is
not enough if you simply go to one temple and do some whitewashing to its
walls. It is no service at all. Every house must be kept clean. You can
visit any house that is kept clean.
In the earlier days, the Harijans used to live in houses built separately,
at a distance in Puttaparthi. I used to visit their houses also. There
used to be one person by name Nagappa in those days. His son-in-law Ramulu
was educated up to 3rd form (8th standard). He knew about Swami and His
divinity to some extent. One day, he invited Me to have lunch in his
house. I informed the matter to Subbamma. She was taken aback and tried to
dissuade Me from going to his house saying, “Alas! Swami! Will You go to
the houses of Harijans? Please do not go.” I insisted on going. I also
told her to come along with Me. Subbamma belonged to the orthodox Brahmin
community. Nevertheless, she decided to follow Me saying, “I will do
anything for the sake of Swami.” I was leading and she was following Me.
Ramulu was walking in front of Me.
By the time we reached that house, the entire area was filled with divine
fragrance. I enquired the inmates of the house “From where did you bring
this fragrance.” Ramulu replied, “Swami! We did not bring it from
anywhere. It is emanating from You only.” I stepped into that house.
Subbamma willingly followed Me. She was then 62 years old. I was served
with some rice in an aluminium plate. In fact, that is what they had.
There were no stainless steel plates then. Subbamma was served food in
another aluminium plate. Subbamma used to have a feeling of belonging to
the high caste Brahmins, in the beginning. Later on, she changed her
attitude on the advice of Swami. She decided, “Fie on me! I should not
entertain such feelings of superiority.” She happily dined in their house,
along with Swami.
By the time we returned to the village after finishing our lunch in
Ramulu’s house, the entire village joined together and started heckling us
saying, “Subbamma has become a Mala (harijan).” They issued a decree that
none in the village should touch Subbamma. Subbamma responded by saying,
“That is exactly what I desire. Let no one touch me. It is enough if Swami
alone touches me. I have no children. I need not maintain any relationship
with any family. Neither I need give my children in marriage to other
families nor do I need bring their children into my house. It is enough if
Swami is with me.”
In those days, Subbamma used to cook food for every devotee visiting
Swami, in Puttaparthi. In keeping with her hospitality, fortune would
favour her and she used to reap rich harvest from her fields. Her fields
were yielding rich crops two to three times a year. Those paddy bags could
not be taken into her house. Hence, the bags used to be emptied into a
specially built granary from above. Thus, Subbamma sanctified her life in
the service of Swami. One day, I enquired from Subbamma what she needed
from Me. She replied, “Swami! I have no desire for anything. Before I
leave my mortal coil, if You can graciously pour a few drops of sanctified
water into my mouth from Your divine hands, it would be enough.” I assured
her that her wish would be fulfilled.
Once I was returning from Chennai to Bukkapatnam, by car. Subbamma died
the previous night. Her relatives were making arrangements to bring her
dead body from her house to the cremation ground in Bukkapatnam. As soon
as they saw Me, they ran towards Me and informed, “Subbamma died
yesterday.” I told them, “It is only your illusion. Subbamma did not die.
She won’t leave her mortal coil till she had My Darshan.” So saying, I
reversed My car towards her house. Subbamma’s mother was still alive then.
With an agonising heart she told Me, “Swami! She was remembering You all
the while and was chanting “Sairam”, “Sairam”, till last night. She was
enquiring everyone, “Did Swami come?” The body of Subbamma was covered
with a cloth. I removed that cloth and called her, “Subbamma! Subbamma!”
To everyone’s surprise, she opened her eyes.
When God gives a word, He will not forget it under any circumstances. I
told her, “You wanted that I should pour a few drops of water into your
mouth during your last moments. Is it not? Here it is; have it.” So
saying, I dipped a basil (Tulasi) leaf in a tumbler filled with water and
put a few drops of that sanctified water in her mouth. Subbamma then drank
the water, held My both hands tightly and put them reverentially on her
eyelids. She took leave of Me saying, “Swami! I have been waiting to take
leave of You finally before I shed my mortal coil. You have fulfilled my
last wish, as promised. Now permit me to leave. Here I am going.” I gave
her permission and she merged in Me.
I have built a housing colony in memory of Late Subbamma and named it
after her. Subbamma was a great soul. She used to go up on the terrace of
her house and converse with Mother Easwaramma, every now and then. She
used to tell her, “Easwaramma! You gave birth to Swami and I fostered Him.
Hence you are Devakidevi and I am Yashoda.” Easwaramma used to reply,
“Subbamma! You served hundreds of Swami’s devotees by giving food and
shelter to them in your house. Don’t you deserve the fruit of that Seva?
Surely you will.” Before Subbamma left her mortal coil, she came to
Easwaramma one day and pleaded with her, “I am leaving. You look after
Sathyam well.” Both of them shed tears. The next day Subbamma died.
The name of Subbamma’s husband was Narayana Rao. He always used to sit
near the Tulasi Brindavan in front of his house. When he took to bad ways,
I composed some songs and trained a few children to sing those songs in
front of his house in order to correct him. The children used to move in a
group in front of his house, singing those songs, one of which runs as
follows:
Don’t seek the company of women of bad character;
Surely you will fall down.
Your caste people will not allow you into their houses;
Your relatives will discard you; if they see you;
Your friends will beat you with chappals
if they see you in the company of such women. (Telugu poem)
While the children were moving about in a group singing this song, he felt
very much embarrassed. He called them inside and enquired, “Who taught you
this song?” The children replied, “Raju taught us, Sir!” He thought, “Yes,
it is true. Who else can know about my behaviour?” From then on, he shed
his bad thoughts and bad habits. In those days, cartloads of mango fruit
used to be brought into his house. He used to distribute those fruits to
all the children, lovingly.
The wrist watches just arrived in those days. If anyone in the village
wore a wrist watch, he was considered to be a great person. Not only that.
The gents in those days used to wear a small insect-like moustache under
their nose, as a fashion. Keeping in view these vainglorious fashion
trends, I composed a song thus and taught it to the school children so
that they may go about in the streets singing that song:
People wear some glittering white badge to the left hand
with leather belt tied to it.
What fashion is this, Oh! Dear!
What fashion is this?
Disgusting appearances are they;
What fashion is this?
Long moustache is trimmed and shaved;
Few hairs are kept under the nose instead;
What fashion is this, Oh! Dear!
What fashion is this?
(Telugu song)
Thus, I used to compose songs and make the children sing those songs in
the village in order that people shed the craze for fads and cultivate
noble thoughts. I used to bring about a transformation in one and all
right from the children to the elders, by such methods.
From today onwards, you must all embark on a mission to bring about a
transformation in the villages. It does not mean that the villages are to
be transformed into towns and cities. In fact, I don’t like such
transformation. First and foremost, the villages are to be kept clean.
Already, the towns and cities are stinking with filth. The people living
there wear a neat pant, shirt and a neck-tie. But, their inner feelings
are all bad. You must cultivate good thoughts and feelings, in keeping
with the neat dress you wear. First of all, you try to bring about a
transformation in your own self and then work for a change in the outside
world.
Yesterday, three boys sang a nice Burra Katha about Easwaramma. They
rendered it well. There was a wonderful description about Subbamma in that
Burra Katha. I am very happy about it. In fact, it was such a unique
story. No one has written such a story so far.
(Bhagawani called Sri Krishna Bhaskar who wrote the script, the three boys
who rendered the Burra Katha and presented them new clothes. Bhagawan
blessed them with a photo session).
Source: http://sssbpt.org
***SBOI***
Home |