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Other Baba-books
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The original
Sanskrit verses and with comments taken from the writings of
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'"Again Become
a Mouse."
1 2a 2b 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18a 18b
The
Upanishads are the essence of the Vedas which
are
ahuman
(a-pourusheya), imperishable and infinite. The Upanishads
offer eternal truths that ennoble and elevate the mind. The Mahābhārata
illustrates the spirit of the Upanishads in the form of a
narrative. The Bhagavad Gītā offers the quintessence of the Mahābhārata.
The
Upanishads taught the people of the world in several
ways
to speak the truth and follow the path of righteousness. Those who
regard the Gītā as the basis and goal of life attain the
sacredness of divinity. The Gītā declares that the spirit of Krishna
envelopes and resides in all that we see in this world. This is the
significance of the viśva-virāth-svarūpa of the Lord. To
behold this universal manifestation, men with divine vision have made a
conscious endeavor prompted by faith through the four paths of
devotion, action, wisdom and yoga. - Summer Showers in Brindavan
1979, p. 30. arjuna uvāca bhavāpyayau
hi bhūtānām evam etad
yathāttha tvam manyase
yadi tac chakyam Arjuna joined both
his palms and with uplifted hands he asked, "Krishna! The whole of
creation is Your Form, is it not? Knowledge, wealth, power, strength,
energy, splendor - all these are expressions of Your Glory, are they
not? Well, will You not give me the sacred chance to fulfill my life's
desire to experience You as all this creation as viśva-rūpa, of
the Form of Creation Itself? I plead with You. I pray at Your Feet." - Gītā Vahini, p. 173 śrī-bhagavān
uvāca paśyādityān
vasūn rudrān ihaika-stham
jagat
kritsnam na tu mām śakyase drashthum Knowing the anguish of
his heart, Krishna replied, "Arjuna! I shall certainly satisfy
you. But your physical eyes cannot see that Glory. The viśvarūpa
cannot be perceived by the limited vision that sees and grasps only
this nature. Therefore, I shall confer on you the supernatural eye.
Now, see!," He said and manifested Himself before him as creation and
more. What great Mercy! What superb experience! -Gītā
Vahini,
pp.
173-4 sañjaya uvāca While
at
this
point, there is one subtle detail that seekers have to note.
The Vedas, Sāstras and Purānas, besides many
scholars and saints and others who have a right to speak about such
matters, all describe God as sarva-vyapi and sarva-bhuthantar-ātmā,
that
is,
as present everywhere and the inner reality in every being. On
the basis of this, some people argue, "If He is so present everywhere
and in everything, why is He not seen by everyone?" For all such, the
only reply is: how can the physical eye composed of the five
elements see beyond the five? Nothing
can
illumine
an object that does not reflect light; but a flame
illumines itself and sheds light all around. God is self-luminous; He
illumines all, He is beyond nature, which is but a manifestation of His
Glory. So He can be seen only by the eye of wisdom, an eye that can be
won only by His Grace. Hence, worship of God is an essential part of sādhana;
he
who
fails in seeing himself can never succeed in seeing others, in
seeing anything outside of him. Engage yourself in sādhana that
will secure the Grace of God; through that Grace, the jñāna-netra,
the
eye
of wisdom will be granted. He is easily reachable by the path
of devotion. - Gītā
Vahini,
p.
174 aneka-vaktra-nayanam divi sūrya-sahasrasya To
acquire
the
awareness of the divine one need not journey to any special
region or place. It is enough if the eye is turned inwards. In the Bhagavad
Gītā, the inner reality, the ātmā is described as
"splendrous like a billion suns". But, man has not become aware of the
light and power within; he still flounders in the darkness of
ignorance. -
Sanathana Sarathi, Feb. 1977, p. 271 tatraika-stham
jagat
kritsnam tatah sa
vismayāvishtho arjuna uvāca The
manifestation
of
the viśva-virāth-svarūpa does not show that
God dwells in every object, but rather demonstrates that all things
exist in Him. Therefore, we should direct our vision inwards and see
the spark of the divine that we are, and not be engrossed in external
pursuits. - Summer
Showers
in
Brindavan 1979, p. 22 aneka-bāhūdara-vaktra-netram kirīthinam
gadinam cakrinam ca While
experiencing
the
vision of God in the universe and God as the universe,
Arjuna was shedding tears of joy. "Oh, Almighty God! All the gods, Brahmājī,
the
Creator,
all the sages and saints, all the manifold beings and
objects, moveable and immoveable: Oh, I see every one of these. I see
all ... Oh, from Your terror-creating face, flames of splendor emerge
and spread to farthest distances. How I wish I could know the meaning
and purport of this formidable Form", Arjuna exclaimed. Gītā Vahini, p. 174 tvam
aksharam paramam veditavyam Life
is
not
permanent. It is encased in the body, which is everchanging and
is made up of the five senses and the five sheaths, and is compounded
of the five elements and related to the kshara-purusha, that is
subject to destruction and decay. But, life endowed with divinity is
related to a-kshara, which cannot be destroyed. These two
aspects, the destructible (kshara) and the indestructible (a-kshara)
are
also
characterized as chara (unstable) and sthira (stable)
respectively. Summer
Showers
in
Brindavan 1979, p. 38 anādi-madhyāntam
ananta-vīryam dyāv
ā-prithivyor idam antaram hi amī hi tvām
sura-sanghā viśanti rudrādityā
vasavo ye ca sādhyā rūpam mahat
te bahu-vaktra-netram nabhah-spriśam
dīptam
aneka-varnam damshthrā-karālāni
ca
te
mukhāni Through
this
eye
of wisdom, Arjuna realized that the entire creation was
contained in the divine vision. He realized that all living beings -
human as well as animal and insect - were part of this vision. He
realized that Krishna was responsible for all creation. He
perceived that Krishna was present in every minute particle. Arjuna
closed his eyes and the divine vision was there in all directions. - Summer Roses on the Blue
Mountains, 1976, p. 51 amī ca tvām
dhritarāshthrasya putrāh vaktrāni te
tvaramānā viśanti yathā
nadīnām bahāvo 'mbu-vegāh yathā
pradīptam jvalanam patangā lelihyase
grasamānah samantāl ākhyāhi me
ko bhavān ugra-rūpo śrī-bhagavān
uvāca The
God
of
death is called Kāla, time. Time is the God of death; time knows no
mercy; when the time is over, you have to leave; each day, your span is
shortened by 24 hours. He is as omnipresent and omnipotent as Time. He
does not run a rope factory to drag into his home all the millions who
die. The dying person has the rope already spun and twisted round his
neck. He has only to come and pull! He spins the rope by every act of
his life, now or in the past. All acts done with egotism,
self-interest, an eye on the beneficial consequences, give a little
more length, a stronger twist, to that rope. Sathya Sai Speaks IV, pp.
337-8 tasmāt tvam
uttishthha yaśo labhasva "Arjuna,
you are only instrumental in the propagation of My
message. You are just an instrument in My hands", proclaimed Krishna to
Arjuna. - Summer
Showers
in
Brindavan 1979, p. 68 dronam ca
bhīshmam cajayadratham ca "Did you see Arjuna?
Have you known by this that I am the Creator, Sustainer and Destroyer
of all activity and of all beings and objects? Have you realized that
you cannot save anyone on this battlefield, nor can you kill anyone?
You have no power to kill, nor have they the power to die by their own
efforts. Living and dying are both directed by My Will. I bear the
burden of the earth; I create the burden; I relieve it," said Krishna,
fondly
patting
Arjuna on the back and speaking softly to
assuage his ecstatic excitement. - Gītā Vahini, p. 175 sañjaya uvāca arjuna uvāca kasmāc ca
te na nameran mahātman tvam
ādi-devah purushah purānas Arjuna prostrated before
Krishna and was overwhelmed and began singing in ecstasy and said, "How
can I know you Krishna? You are smaller than the smallest thing in this
world and You are greater than the greatest thing in this world, You
are the very basis of the 84 lakhs [lākh: one hundred
thousand] of kinds of jīvas [individual souls] in this
world. You are infinitely great and You cannot be compared even with
the greatest thing in this world, and You are the source of everything
that can be seen and I now surrender to You and will do whatever You
ask me to do without any question." An Avatāra [descend of the
Supreme Lord] is capable of all things at all times, yet the avatāra
will not undertake to demonstrate His powers at all times. An avatāra
will undertake to demonstrate such powers when exceptional
circumstances demand it and will shed the grace on a deserving person
only. - Summer
Roses on the Blue Mountains 1976, p. 5 vāyur yamo
'gnir varunah śaśānkah namah
purastād atha prishthhatas te sakheti
matvā prasabham yad uktam yac
cāvahāsārtham asat-krito 'si pitāsi
lokasya carācarasya tasmāt
pranamya pranidhāya kāyam adrishtha-pūrvam
hrishito
'smi
drishthvā Arjuna
prayed
that
Krishna become evident to him as a friend and
comrade rather than as the Immanent Director, the Transcendent
Sovereign, the Innate Substance of all that is, was and will be! He
longed for the joy of kinship rather than the bliss of mergence. To
conceive of the divine as the inner core and the outer shell of every
atom and plant, every speck of dust and every system of nebulae, as
well as oneself is an exercise that overwhelms individuality and so, Ramakrishna
Paramahamsa and others have prayed for the role of adorer, rather
than the abolition of roles! - Sathya Sai Speaks VII, p. 184 kirīthinam
gadinam cakra-hastam Arjuna
wiped
the
tears from his eyes; he folded his hands in 'prayer, "o Lord,
I see the viśva-rūpa, which I had never seen or heard about,
or even conceived. I realize that it is a factual Ttuth. Those terrific
flames of splendor are scorching me, my body is sizzling under the
impact of that glory. Present Yourself before me, once again, with the
sweet, smiling form of Yours; I can no longer bear this Vision. Father!
Resume Your form, I cannot continue to look upon this," pleaded Arjuna.
-
Gītā Vahini, p. 175 śrī
bhagavān uvāca na
veda-yajñādhyayanair na dānair mā te
vyathā mā ca vimūdha-bhāvo sañjaya
uvāca arjuna uvāca śrī
bhagavān uvāca nāham
vedair na tapasā bhaktyā tv
ananyayā śakya "...
Arjuna! You have just seen this Universal Form of
Mine, a vision that no height of vedic scholarship or ritual asceticism
or austerity can ever hope to win. This is achieved only by the bhakta
who is devoted to Me, with ananyayā bhakti; devotion that does
not admit of the least distraction. Such bhaktas see only the
Lord; whatever they do, they do as worship to the Lord. They have no
other form before their eyes; no other thought in their minds; no other
act for their hands. At all times and places, they see only My form,
they utter only My name; they think only about Me; they feel only for
Me or about Me; they are active only for My sake. It is such, oh
Arjuna, that attain this vision. I too ask for only this ananyayā-bhakti."
-
Gītā
Vahini,
pp. 175-6 The
Bhagavad Gītā has given the three words jñātum drashthum ca
tattvena praveshthum. The word jñātum means knowing by
inquiry. We should enquire about the aspect of "I" ... Therefore, while
we must first understand the jivesvara prakriti or the nature
of "I", of the "world", and of "Brahman", there has to be a second step
and that is to visualize all of them. Even this is not final, and there
has to be a third step of your entering into the whole aspect, and
identifying yourself with it. You cannot attain the experience of
happiness and bliss by mere study and practice. It is only when you
identify completely with it that you will be able to experience the
full significance of it. These steps have been referred to as drashthum
and tattvena praveshthum. It means that you have to inquire,
visualize and then become one with it. You begin with the quest in the
nature and origin of "I", then attain the experience of its vision, and
get released by realizing the non-difference between the witness and
the witnessed. - Summer
Showers
in
Brindavan 1973, pp. 242 mat-karma-krin
mat-paramo Kāla: eternal Time, cosmic time. The impersonal
visible aspect of Krishna. That what moves the material energy.
Consecution of moments in relation to the sun, the moon and the stars,
known by the rotation of the earth. There are innumerable
universal eggs or universes that are created and destroyed
systematically by the breathing of Maha-Vishnu. His exhalation causes
their creation and His inhalation, their destruction. Our particular
universe exists for the duration of Brahma's life span i.e. a total of
one hundred of Brahma's years. This is about 311 trillion human years.
We are right now in the midpoint of Brahma's lifetime. The current day
of Brahma is the first day of a new year; "today" being Brahma's
fiftieth "birthday." Each year consists of 360 days and nights. One day
of Brahma is subdivided into 14 manvantaras each consisting of 71 yuga
cycles. We are in the 7th of the 14 manvantaras; and the 28th of the 71
yuga cycles. Each cycle consists of Satya, Treta, Dvapara and Kali. We
are 5000 years into the Kali-yuga. It is near "noon" on
Lord Brahmā's fiftieth "birthday." Puranic information states that this
is the first day of Brahmā's fiftieth year (out of 100 yrs
total). This is the 7th manvantara out of 14, and the 28th yuga
cycle out of 71. We are 5.000 years into age of Kali. The age of
the universe and Brahma is said to be 155,521,972,949,000 of our
earth's years.' - One year of the gods
equals 360 human years. - The progress of kāla is
described as being of a continuous (nitya), occasional (naimittika),
natural (elemental or prākrita) and final (ātyantika) type of
annihilation or pralaya (S.B. 12.4: 38).
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