Immortality Can Be Achieved Through Sacrifice Only

May 1974, Summer Course 1974 - Bharath, Brindavan

Published English.

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which is the embodiment of our speech is also referred to by an alternative name . Sacred , starting as the embodiment of our speech and spreading all over the place, has been exhibiting her divine power. She has thus been identifying herself with speech, in the broad street of your heart and harmonising herself with the intelligence and the thought that one has. By identifying herself with , she has been moving about in the entire space and revealing herself to us as the and .

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has also another alternative name, . This sacred deity that we associate with the speech also takes the place of the sun, the fire and the air in our heart and represents the one common thing in these different aspects. It is said and is another synonym for . It is the common practice in this world to cure any disease of the human body by some medicine. While we cure the disease in the physical body by appropriate medicines, the impurities in our minds are cured by in the form of or speech. Thus, the name is justified by her capacity to cure the diseases of the mind. Because has the capacity to fill us with the or , she is also given the name . Since with such capacities fills the sky, she also gives importance to and . Because she fills the sky with water in the form of clouds, sometimes stands for a stream of flowing water.

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There is need for us to enquire into the origin of this water that is filling the sky. The sun’s rays fall on the ocean and these rays change the ocean water into clouds bearing water vapour. or the Sun is responsible for the formation of these drops of water which later collect into clouds and become deposits of water. You have already learnt that is a name synonymous with . Therefore, joins and produces this aspect of . Here, we notice that joins water and thus the drops of water are produced. We see the oneness or the identical nature of the three aspects , and . Latent in these three aspects of , and are , and as well.

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In the light of the above analysis, if we try to understand the sacred meaning and place of , we will understand that the sacred word has got a Vedic origin and all the meanings of the word can be ascribed to a Vedic origin. This aspect of when it is regarded as having a Vedic origin with the necessary Vedic authority behind it, then it is possible to understand this aspect as capable of removing the faults inherent in a human being.

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However careful and thoughtful a man may be and however much he may want to lead an unblemished life, five faults always stick to him. While breathing air, while walking on the ground, while making domestic fire and while drinking water, we do cause great harm to and sometimes we may even have to exterminate several .

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While performing these five actions we make use of our senses of action. In that process, we kill and destroy various . Hence, the have prescribed certain (sacrificial rites) to atone for the sins we commit in these actions of ours. The yajna relating to the , the yajna relating to the ancestors, the yajna relating to the , the yajna relating to the lives of various around us and the yajna relating to the guests are the five different prescribed by the . If you perform these , it will be possible for you to compensate for the sins you may have knowingly or unknowingly committed in these five different actions.

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The , or the yajna relating to the , consists of your reciting the Vedic , the , and involving yourself in various ceremonies associated with , and reading the and other sacred texts. All these actions constitute the . All work and all actions which relate to God - constant contemplation of God in your mind - will constitute the .

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relates to the ancestors. In particular, it deals with the task of gaining the blessings and goodwill of your ancestors, ensuring their welfare in their afterlife and provide for their needs in their state of existence. This constitutes the .

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stands for your understanding the aspect of which was the way of life of the . The process of , and of the various things which the have handed down to us constitutes the . To be able to participate in or as a tradition would also be a part of .

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relates to your loving care and service to the living beings. For example in one’s own house, there may be cattle, pet birds and pets like cats and dogs. The process of caring for them and feeding them will be called . There may be people in the hospital who need your help and to do such things which will relieve the sorrow of living beings will be called . Thus, consists of serving and satisfying all living beings. They may be suffering from various kinds of sorrow and to relieve them of their sorrow and make them happy will be an aspect of .

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Since it is not possible to spend all your time in this kind of service, it has become the tradition in our country that once or twice a year we feed poor people and distribute clothes to them. It has become the tradition in our country to undertake such services occasionally. It is in this context that they have said “There is no gift greater than giving food to a hungry man.” There is no other person to whom you can show greater respect than to your father and mother. “In this world, there is nothing more sacred than , and following the path of .” These are the most sacred things.

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A word of caution here. Do not attempt to undertake such sacred work beyond your capacity. You need to do it only within your means. A portion of whatever resources you have, must be set apart with a view to do some service and provide satisfaction to the in need. It is not correct to incur debt when you do not have your own resources to do such service. Not only is it wrong to incur a debt to do service to the living beings, butitisalsowrongtoincuradebteventogoona pilgrimage. Instead of going on pilgrimage with borrowed money, it is much better to give up such pilgrimage and make your own heart a sacred temple.

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The Veda has given certain injunctions with regard to our daily life. These injunctions are given with a broad meaning. Not only have the given us injunctions regarding the duties of our daily life, but they have also given a code of conduct for us to follow in our daily life such as and . Thus, Veda has been telling us about various aspects which are beyond direct evidence and sometimes even beyond inferential evidence. Veda has always been taking the view that you cannot divide your duties and life into two compartments - temporal and spiritual. By regarding all the work - whether it is worldly or godly - as interrelated, different kinds of duties are prescribed by the .

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Everything is God’s work. You should do all your work believing that it is God’s work and then only the omnipresent Lord will take care of the results. He resides in you as the and ensures success in all your endeavours if you have firm faith. If you are not able to satisfy and serve the human beings who are with you and who are like you, then how can you satisfy God whom you cannot be see with your physical eyes and who does not live with you and who is not like other human beings? The Veda has also declared that if you cause harm to the who are living with you, there is no meaning in worshipping the Deva (God).

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Sage who codified and demarcated the into different sections and undertook the compiling of the eighteen declared that the essence of all the and scriptures lies in doing good to others. He concluded that to help others always is (virtue) and to hurt others is papa (sin). If for some reason you are unable to do a good turn to others, at least refrain from doing harm to others. That in itself is the greatest good.

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Such sacred things which are connected with the incidents in our daily life are dealt with by the Veda. Veda does not differentiate between small and big things. An example or an ideal of this kind has been given by in the . When came to take to the apartment of , followed him although he knew everything that was to unfold later. When he reached the apartments of , learnt about what was happening, but resolved to respect the wishes of his father as he knew that it was his duty to follow a path which would give happiness to his father and therefore he came back to with a resolve to obey his father’s commands. When he came home he found that was doing to the Lord. is herself divine and there is an inner meaning in the act of her worshipping the Lord. It was mentioned yesterday that great people, persons who have all the sacredness in them also do such things only because they want to set an example for others to follow.

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Every individual looks to a leader whom he can follow. Thus, when looked at in worship, he asked what she was doing. She replied that she was worshipping the Lord for the sake of maintaining the reputation of and for the sake of happiness of the people in the kingdom. Considering that it was a good opportunity for him to give good advice for people in the world, told that it is not right for her to worship an abstract God when father and mother who sacrificed so much to bring them up were available right in front of us as living gods. He said that one’s father and mother were equivalent to living Gods.

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Today, due to the influence of the everyone wishes to invent artificial things like who created the . When white hair appears, they dye the hair. When the teeth fall away, they put up false teeth. When the eyes develop cataracts, they undergo an operation and when there are wrinkles on the face, they apply some makeup and try to hide the wrinkles. In this way, they may try to counteract the first few steps, but the end has to come ultimately and nothing can be done about it.

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In the big mirror in front of the king, he saw the queen with tears in her eyes and immediately he turned to the queen and asked for the reason for her tears. The queen told him the truth and explained the problem worrying her mind. The king was a good-natured person and he immediately realised that the thoughts crossing the mind of the queen were, in fact, true. He therefore, tried to convince her that no one can live for ever and that the body is sure to fall one day or the other. In the context of the inevitability of death, he resolved to hand over the reins of the kingdom to the ministers and go to the forest and spend the remaining time in the contemplation of God. This was the decision the king took at once. He had his bath and sent for the ministers. The requests of the ministers to change his mind had no effect on him. The king stuck to his decision and told the ministers that they should look after the kingdom and that he was going away to the forest in order to enjoy the kingdom of the and the kingdom of the Divine.

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The Lord was so much pleased with the queen’s argument that He granted two hundred years of life to the king and the people, because she had such a broad mind. God was pleased with this broad-minded sacrifice on the part of the queen and granted her also a long life. The moral in this story is that the greatest of is sacrifice.

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