In plain words
‘Sir, there is no sāmbār or rasam here; go to the hotel next door,’ he says. What is the reason for this mistake? Going in without looking at the board is the reason for it. In just the same way, when we enter this world we enter it without looking at the board in front of this world, and ask, ‘Śānti, Śānti, Śānti.’ Who will serve it? Now, what does that board say? The board says, ‘Anityam asukham lokaṃ.’ Impermanent, joyless: where then is Śānti? The board says, ‘This world is without Śānti.’ If one had really seen that board, would anyone come into this world and ask, ‘I want Śānti’? Then where is this Śānti? In oneself alone. If one forgets the Śānti in oneself and tries to search for it in the world, one will not find it. The maker and sustainer of Śānti is God alone. So only when we take refuge in Him do we gain Śānti. Without taking refuge in Him, if we say, ‘Śānti, Śānti,’ we do not gain Śānti. How will Peace come? In the world everything is pieces. There is no peace. Holding an atom bomb in the hand, they shout, ‘Śānti, Śānti.’ What is in the hand is an atom bomb; what they shout is ‘Śānti, Śānti’. Where will it come from? It is frightening. Where will Śānti come from? Only when we throw this atom bomb away will we gain Śānti. So only when we push away what is called the worldly outlook, only when the feeling for God enters us, will we gain Śānti. We must strengthen this faith today. We must proclaim this faith.
On this Guru Pūrṇimā day I have not set out to give you any Name of eight syllables. I am not ready to give you any Name of five syllables. I am not telling you to read any Upaniṣads, any Bhagavad Gītā or the Brahma Sūtras. There is this one Name of five syllables. ‘God is’: take this Name of five syllables as your chief one. If we keep thinking of this faith, God is, feeling it, practising it, rejoicing in it and sharing it, there is no greater welfare for the world than this.