Love The Motherland: Serve The World

21 May 1992, Summer Course 1992, Brindavan

Published English.

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English education has become all-important; Spiritual education has receded; How, then, can purity of heart be experienced? That purity alone is the backbone of education. Ignorant of the high ideals of The Divine culture of , make no effort to know their heritage. What greater misfortune can there be than this? Dear Students! True Bharathiya education consists in instilling in the students reverence for and its cultural heritage. It is not politics that will protect . Nor will bombs and arms protect it. It is the patriotism and spirit of sacrifice enshrined in the hearts of the people and their spiritual outlook that will protect the nation. Hence students today should be filled with the spirit of sacrifice, cultivate selfless devotion to the country and prepare themselves to pursue the spiritual path. Only such students - boys and girls - can protect the nation and safeguard its security.

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Bharathiya education is not a prison-house Bharathiya education is not the kind of education which makes one spend a lot of money to acquire a degree and then go about with a begging bowl for jobs. It aims at promoting selfreliance, instilling in the student the noble idea of promoting the progress of the country in a spirit of sacrifice and leading a joyous life of dedicated service to the people. It seeks to promote unity in diversity. It prepares the minds of students to fight against all forms of injustice, corruption and wickedness afflicting society. Bharathiya education is not a prison-house for creating mental slavery or bondage to a job. It proclaims in strident terms: "The One abides as the Inner Spirit in all beings." It calls upon everyone to manifest his divinity. Thus, true Bharathiya education seeks to instil patriotism, promote the spirit of sacrifice, and encourage spiritual pursuits and thereby lead an ideal life. Students! Education does not mean imparting worldly knowledge for leading a mundane existence. True education should inspire one with feelings and thoughts to lead an ideal life. When a man is born, he is endowed with limited capacities. But owing to the misuse of the senses and the limitless growth of desires, these capacities are wasted away. As a consequence, he becomes prematurely old and dies. Hence, these limited capacities should be properly used by controlling the senses, thereby prolonging one's life, and dedicating one's knowledge and talents to the service of society. It is only when students develop character and integrity that they will be able to transform the moral climate of the word around them. It is because education has failed to transform human behaviour that there is no mental or spiritual development among them. For this purpose, a system of (moral order) has to be established that will promote both worldly and other-worldly well-being. Only then will humanity be divinised.

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Three qualities and three A student has to possess three qualities. "" (Rejoicing in the well-being of the entire world). This is the first quality. The student must wish for the welfare of every country. The second quality is "" (acquire all knowledge). This means that his knowledge should not be confined only to worldly matters. His knowledge should comprehend the spiritual. Every man is endowed with (knowledge). This assumes many forms. It is not mere intellectual exercise or mental speculation. It does not mean living in a dream world. It is not a product of the imagination. , in its profound sense, is the experience of oneness - "." "" (Perception of the One alone is Wisdom), declares the scripture. Them is no duality in this . (ignorance) is the reverse of this awareness. This awareness should be reflected every moment, in every step of a human being. To acquire such awareness or knowledge, one has to secure three capacities. One, a healthy body, two, sense control, three, restraining the mind. If any one of these three is lacking, the awareness will be incomplete. All three should be in the right condition. If there is a defect in any one of them, full Sathwik knowledge cannot be got.

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It is not difficult to go through the education process. By some effort, marks may be scored. But neither the blossoming of intelligence nor the unfoldment of good qualities can be witnessed in such students. The scoring of high marks or winning of high rank is not great in itself. What is important is the transformation of the mind. In the pursuit of education, practising what one learns is most essential. The external gains derived from education are accompanied by an equal amount of losses. The powers of intelligence and discrimination are lost. Knowledge of what is good, what is significant and what is supreme wisdom is lost. People are becoming slaves of the senses. The declared: "The slave of the senses is a fool. Only the man who subdues the senses is a hero."

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Anyone who misuses his senses is a fool Here is an illustration. was a greater scholar than . He was a master of sixty-four categories of knowledge. He knew also knowledge about the training of cows and elephants. Despite all these accomplishments, was described by as a (a stubborn fool). was described as (the very image of righteousness). Despite all his knowledge, failed to keep his senses under control. Because he let his senses have free play, he became a fool. Anyone who misuses his senses is a fool, whatever the extent of his knowledge. had full control of his senses and maintained perfect equipoise in all circumstances, whether of joy or grief. When he had to leave for the forest at the very moment that had been fixed for his coronation, he left for the forest with serene equanimity. He was unaffected by gains or losses, pleasure or pain. Life is a mixture of happiness and misery. Students! Your first task is to cultivate control over the senses. Only the student who has mastery over the senses can be heroic in his life and be strong and effulgent as a diamond. The one who is a slave of the senses will be a slave of the world. Self-control must be the primary aim of education.

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Students! You are not unaware of the situation in the world today. Wherever you turn, there is disorder and violence. Man has been given two boons. and (happiness and peace). Every person in the world, from a king to a beggar, desires only these two. But what is the happiness that he should seek? Is it physical, mental, or material pleasure? Men are not sure about what kind of happiness they want and wherefrom they can get it. If it is sensory pleasure that they want, they will find that these are only momentary and that they are weakened at the end. This is no pleasure at all. What about peace? People consider freedom from worry as peace. declared that there can be no pleasure without peace. How is peace to be secured? Only when desires are reduced will peace be secured. As desires grow, peace is lost.

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Develop contentment to put an end to desires Man is a prey to insatiable desires. As soon as he realises one desire, he develops a desire for something more attractive. He wants to become a legislator. Soon after he becomes one, he wants to become a minister and thereafter the Chief Minister. He is not content with that. He desires to go to . There is no end to these desires. Man should develop contentment. The discontented man loses in many ways. A student may desire to score high marks, but he should not wish that others should not fare equally well. This selfish attitude is unbecoming. All should fare equally well in the examinations. All should achieve excellence. Students should have this broadminded attitude.

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Students! Yesterday brought two life-size figures of lions in bronze from his collection of antiques. You may wonder why these lions have been displayed on the stage. Many may be under the impression that they are kept for decorative purposes. But I considered them from a sacred point of view.

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The lion is esteemed as the king of animals. It is not prone to commit anything mean or lowly. It is only when it is hungry that it kills an animal. It does not kill animals wantonly. Because it is known for its nobility of character it has been dubbed the King of animals. It has been said that human birth is rare among living beings. Hence every man should strive to become a lion among men. You should not fall a prey to weakness or fear. Be lions and not sheep. Our students should become lions who will protect the people as leaders. They should be content to use their abilities for satisfying their minimum needs. Do not get involved in foolhardy adventure. Observe the proper limits in the use of your talents, wealth or position. Pledge yourselves to promote the advancement of the country with determination, courage and spirit of sacrifice. Go forward with courage. "God is by your side. God is the Indweller in the heart." Have this confidence in yourself. This confidence begets courage. Mr. Justice said that the first requisite is courage. What kind of courage? The one who is filled with doubts perishes - "." Never become "Doubting Thomases." Only when you are free from doubts will you become heroic. Doubts will disappear where there is self-confidence. "" (The earnest aspirant gains supreme wisdom). It is lack of earnestness that gives rise to doubts. Students should develop firm faith in sacrifice, patriotism and the spiritual goal. There is no need to tell you more about this, as you are familiar with all this as students of the Institute. But there are quite a few new things which you have to learn. And there are many things which you have learnt which you have to put into practice and experience the fruits thereof. Moreover, you have to share and rejoice with others your experiences. That is the way to experience real bliss.

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Develop firm faith in God Students! The Vice-chancellor expressed a wish that should bless the students with knowledge of 's culture as embodied in great works like the and the . These works are of value not only to but to the whole of mankind. However, it is not enough if you merely listen to these discourses in the Summer Course. You should try to transform yourselves as a result. Without such transformation the Summer Course will be in vain. Therefore, cherish in your hearts whatever is said here. Develop firm faith in God. It is the loss of faith in God that has led to the degradation of mankind today. The existence of the Divine is demonstrated, even by science, in many ways. For instance, the sun, the moon, the earth and other planets are moving in their different orbits according to certain speeds. It will be disastrous for the world if they change their courses. There must be an unknown power which determines their movements. Without such a power they would not be following their prescribed courses. Who has determined these orbits and limits? We must ponder over this. We drop an object from the hand. We see the object falling to the ground. But we do not see the power of attraction of the earth - the power of gravitational attraction. The gravitational force is there even though you don't see it. To deny what you cannot see is a mark of ignorance.

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How the Divine works To give another example. During World War II, millions of men died in Europe. Two years after the war ended, the children who were born were predominantly males. What is the mason for this? It is the need for maintaining a balance between the ratio of men and women in the population. If such a balance is not maintained, the human race will be extinct. What is the power that maintains such a balance? It is the will of the Divine. Whoever enquires deeply into the workings of the Divine cannot fail to notice this. There is at the base of everything a power that is at work. That is divinity. Ignoring this, and placing his faith egoistically in some other power, man is falling a prey to (unrest). He is a slave to his conceit as a doer and enjoyer. This is wrong. There is a principle that is the Prime Mover. There is a power which governs the Cosmic process. Few attempt to recognise this. However, it may be asked, if God is controlling everything, what is the need for human effort? God is like the electric current. But even if the current is there, you must have a bulb to obtain light. It is only when the bulb is switched on to the current that the bulb will burn. Students should understand how the four values , , , and , are interrelated. If a bulb is to shed light, it has to be connected to a switch by a wire and current should flow in the wire. is the current. is the wire. is the bulb. is the light. When the current of Truth is connected to the wire of Righteousness and enters the bulb of Peace, you have the light of Love. You can see how all the four are essential. Human effort and Divine Grace should come together like the joining of the negative and positive ends of an electric circuit, to accomplish anything.

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