Vidhyaarthis and Vishayaarthis

1 March 1981, Brindavan

Professor Kasturi's English.

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No object in the world can be without a creator. Here is a loud- speaker. It has the power to broadcast sound. Someone must have produced it. Who could have created it? Only somebody who had the knowledge and skill to produce such a contrivance. He may not be visible to you, but somewhere the person who produced it must exist. The person who produced your watch might exist in Germany or Switzerland or Japan. He is not visible to you but without such a person the watch could not have come into existence. For everything which man enjoys in daily life there is a creator. But we are also seeing objects which are beyond human capacity. The stars which twinkle in the sky demonstrate their existence. The glory of the Sun and the Moon which illumine the world is also visible to us. These are not human creations. Have they come into existence by themselves or is there someone who is not visible to us? What kind of person could be the creator of these super objects? Can any ordinary person create the stars or the sun and the moon? The supreme power which has the capacity to create such marvellous things has been described by the as , which means, one who is beyond all proofs and all limitations. He cannot be described in words. The primary object of man must be to seek to understand this Infinite Power. It would be a total waste of this human existence if one does not make any effort to find out the nature of the Creator. To recognise the Creator, there are certain criteria. There are three types of evidence determining the existence of a thing. The first is (direct perception), the second is (inference), the third is (the authority of revealed scriptures).

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Determining the existence of We generally consider direct perception as the most important type of evidence. We are able to see our body. We are able to see how many hands we have, how many legs we have, how many eyes, and so on. That is not all. We boil milk and add some curd to it at night and the next morning find that the milk has turned into curd. For the conversion of milk to curd, our own action provides the direct proof. The evidence of our own eyes is enough to convince us about how the change from milk to curd has occurred. We do not need anyone else's authority for that. But our mind is not visible. We cannot understand what is meant by .. We believe in the existence of the on the strength of the statements made by the great sages who have had the experience and who have conveyed the teaching. or inference is another form of proof. We see smoke on the top of a distant hill. We infer from the smoke that there must be a fire on the hill. Although we see only the smoke, we infer that there is fire. To infer the existence of the "unseen" from the presence of what is "seen" is (inferential proof). To take another instance: If a person who has gone to gives us a description of the place, those who may have seen the place would be able to appreciate or agree with the account given by the visitor, but those who have not been to the place can only appreciate the verbal description but cannot have the experience of direct perception. But these methods of determining facts are applicable only to the external universe. For determining, however, the Divine Principle-we must depend only on the of the . When the Divine is described as without attributes, eternal, ever-existing, pure, free, and self-effulgent, this description will not make the visible to us. It is only when the state of is realised by us that its existence becomes valid.

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Seek that which is unchanging. All subjects in the universe have three characteristics, which are derived from the Divine. These are , and . These qualities are also otherwise represented by the terms , and - Being, Awareness and Bliss. The existence of an object is derived from . What it is, is known from , that is, from how it appears to our eyes. That it is a useful or enjoyable object is derived from the quality of . While these three are fundamental qualities, the forms and names may change. For instance, a silver plate is capable of being, converted to some other article. Silver is fundamental and the value of the article, is dependent not on the form or the name but on the' silver in the article. While man can change the forms and names of objects, he cannot create the basic materials out of which the various objects are made. Equally the scientist makes use of materials available from nature for conversion to various uses but the primary material itself is not created by him. Man must seek that which is unchanging. What exactly is the underlying cause of all the conflicts and confusions that affect the world today? The institutions imparting learning have succeeded in equipping man with fantastic skills. Look at the field of atomic engineering or space exploration and conquest. Man has achieved astounding feats. But in actual daily life, these feats, have not resulted in peace, happiness and harmony. Castes, races and classes clash with each other with unremitting hate. Even students and the youth have taken to this dangerous course. The situation is fast becoming beyond control.

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As a consequence, the products of this process, who have no sense of values, gradually' enter the Professions and positions of authority in the administration of nations and rise up in time to higher levels The world has come to the brink of disaster as a result. which shone among nations as the land of forbearance, self-control and service, is being fast converted into a land pursuing pleasure. Each one desires to loll on sofas in airconditioned office rooms. Can this be named pleasure? Can this be the ideal for an educated person? No. This state will only breed physical and mental illness. How can a student be regarded as a success, if at the end of the course, he knocks at the door of every office, exhibiting the diploma he has secured, and clamouring like a beggar asking for jobs? Education has conferred on him this disgraceful role. Can it claim that it has done its duty? No. The educated person must serve the people through sweat and toil. Education has to inspire youth to offer service, to sacrifice and to help. It must not inspire youth to amass money as its goal, and to travel farther and farther to earn more and more of it. For, accumulated money breeds arrogance and arrogance brings in its train other vices.

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Men crave for peace and happiness but they do things which can only bring unhappiness and worry. Having been born as human beings, you should try to rise above the level of animals. You are all essentially sparks from the Divine, but like sparks coming from a furnace which after a time turn into ash, you are forgetting your divine origin. While pursuing your education for worldly purposes, you should also pursue the spiritual discipline, which will lead you to the Divine. You must consider yourself extremely fortunate in studying in this institution, in which there is a spiritual atmosphere. If you adhere to ideals and practise even a small fraction of teachings, you will be realising the true purpose of education and the true object of human life.

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