Onam: the message of sacrifice

16 September 1994, Prasanthi Nilayam

Published English.

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The entire cosmos is a stage for the play of the Divine. There should be no feeling of hatred among human beings because both in the individual and the society the Divine Consciousness is present. This Divine Consciousness which is termed as is not without purpose. The primary purpose of human birth is to manifest the Divinity within. When man is filled with ego, he indulges in wicked thoughts and actions, while he will do good deeds when he is conscious of the Divinity within. Human life is made up of virtue and vice, hatred and love. The root cause for all troubles are and (attachment and hatred). This has plunged humanity in misery since time immemorial.

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and his two wives, and , were the parents of (demons) and (demigods). , the king of went to war with the king of the , as it was common practice in those days for one king to invade, the kingdom of another to acquire additional territory. vanquished in the war and proceeded to annexe the territory of and occupied his capital . had gone to the Himalayas to do penance. Lamenting over the defeat of her son, , was in great grief. When she was wailing, came to her. Instantly; he was able to recognise the cause of her grief by divine insight, which he had acquired as a result of his penance. He consoled his wife saying that nothing happens in the world without God's will and people should go on doing their duties. He asked her to pray to Lord and taught her a (ritual) to be followed strictly, known as (milk ritual). It has to be observed from the twelfth day of the bright half of (). She observed the as prescribed. A devotee's sincere prayer will never go waste. Since she carded our the with a pious heart, appeared before her and informed her that He would Himself take birth in her womb and help . was very happy and true to the word of the Lord, she gave birth to a son of uncommon effulgence on the twelfth day of the bright half of the month of . That child was . Even as a child He demonstrated His Divine power by doing marvellous deeds.

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approaches emperor was performing an (horse sacrifice). He had previously performed a hundred such . He declared that he would give anything that anyone sought from him during this yajna. came to the . As He was approaching them, the sages assembled there perceived the extraordinary effulgent form of the young lad. went forth to receive the boy with all traditional honours and gave him and eminent seat befitting the status of a holy person.

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told him: "Master, it is my good fortune that you have chosen to honour me with your presence. Whatever you desire, I am here ready to fulfill the same."

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smiled and said: "You need not give me anything very great. It is enough if you give me that extent of land covered by three foot-steps of mine."

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On hearing him, 's preceptor, , who could have vision of the future, told that the one who had come to seek a gift from was not an ordinary boy but Lord Himself who had assumed this form. He advised not to promise the lad anything. But was a king who would never go back on his word and told his that he would never break his promise. He was determined to give whatever he wanted since breaking one's word was a sin and he had to keep his pledge. insisted that he should not fulfill the demand of as He had come to deprive of all his possessions. He said was not really in need of anything as everything was in his hands. , however, determined to honour the word given to , begged pardon of his for disregarding his advice.

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Earlier, while was embarking on the war with , he had prostrated at the feet of his preceptor, , and on his advice he performed the from which he secured very powerful weapons. It was only because of 's help that he was able to conquer . On this occasion, was not prepared to heed the advice of the same preceptor.

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cursed , saying: "As you have not heeded your 's words you will be reduced to ashes." was firm and replied, "I am prepared to face any consequence, but will not go back on my word." So saying, he told to measure the three feet of land as desired by him. All attempts of to dissuade from offering the land desired by proved futile.

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told his : " (life) and (honour) are the two eyes of a person. Even if life goes, honour should be protected. Granting that the person that has come now is the Lord Himself, I should be the most fortunate one as the Lord who gives everything to mankind, is seeking something from me." was an example of supreme sacrifice. He sacrificed all his possessions and himself too to God.

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said: "The hand of the Lord, which gives (graceful benediction) to all has been stretched to take something from me. The Lord's hand is below while my hand is above. This must be the fruit of my penance in several births. I am prepared for anything."

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This was the spirit of . was also a very good ruler, who was much concerned about the welfare of his subjects. He was the son of and grandson of . They were both devotees of . Is there any one who has perished having believed in God? There might be people who have perished without belief in God.

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Only by sacrifice one can attain immortality was happy and appreciated the good fortune of his grandson when himself sought a gift from him. He blessed that he had kept up the noble tradition and name of the family. It is only by sacrifice that one can attain immortality and not by any other means. 's anger was growing because of his selfish motive that he should continue to be the preceptor of the , He did not want , to give the gift sought by as he was sure that the last vestige of power of the would be destroyed by .

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Earlier, when a fierce battle was raging between and , used his (thunderbolt) against . The latter hinted. There was one Asura, by name. The could not be effective against him. An ethereal voice said, " is very powerful. As he has 's boon, nothing will affect him. Only a weapon that is neither wet not dry will be effective." looked at the ocean and recognized that the foam was neither wet not dry. He applied the foam to his weapon and attacked . fell down.

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is mightier than any weapon is hailed as the chief of the gods. In the , it is said that out of the face of the cosmic , emerged . is one who is the Lord of the senses. In man, the mind is the master of the senses. No one can estimate the power of the mind. and are not more powerful than (concentration) which is mightier than any weapon. For this, sense control is essential. There is always a battle raging in the body between vice and virtue, and only the one that has can come our victorious.

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is the symbol of (sacrifice). He controlled everything by his spirit of sacrifice. The begins with the utterance: "." These represent the three worlds which are in the body itself. represents (Earth), which is the physical body. Mind is . (spiritual awareness) is . Body represents materialisation as it is made up of the five physical elements. The mind is Vibration and is Radiation. If you enquire into their inner significance, all the three are in your body itself.

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The battle between and represents the mind battling to control the senses. When the mind is controlled one attains Divinity. This is the spiritual state. performed many sacrifices to attain this state. means tax. You pay taxes to the Government for electricity, water, drainage, etc.

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What tax did pay? He gave all his possessions, body, mind and soul, to the Lord. The Lord's first foot covered this world and the second foot covered the other world. How huge the Lord's feet would have been to cover the whole world? How can such a huge foot be kept on 's head for the third step of land? The inner significance of this action is that Lord entered 's body, mind and soul. Once the ego or body consciousness is surrendered, them is no bar to one's realisation. It is the body consciousness that stands in the way and makes you forget God. opened 's eyes to help him realise Divine. The imprisoned man had to be freed. offered his body, mind and soul, to the Lord.

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performed supreme surrender to the Lord is a sacred land where performed this action of supreme surrender to the Lord. He had good relationship with this people and they loved him in turn, and had faith in him. That is why is still fertile and prosperous. The lord goes about freely in this land. sought a boon from the Lord that he should visit every year, on this day of asterism in the month of . This day is celebrated as by Keralites. They have been following this faithfully, since ancient times. This day is considered most important for the people of . They prepare many dishes and ear together on this holy day.

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We should appreciate the spirit of sacrifice of the devotees from who sacrifice the comforts of their homes and the company of their near and dear ones and make a pilgrimage to this place, to celebrate this festival in the immediate presence and company of . They do not mind the inconveniences and lack of comforts here. They reflect the spirit of sacrifice demonstrated by even today.

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It is My blessing that you should enjoy this and should never give up your love of God. God's love is permanent while all other love among human beings is only transient and temporary. Because this faith is imprinted strongly in the minds of Keralites you are making your trip to this place leaving your own native place with your unstinted devotion to . It is My wish that other Stares should emulate your example. People may brand as dominated by Communist doctrine but I am sure the people of are filled with pure devotion to God, whatever may be their political affiliations. I bless you all to cherish this pure love and devotion always.