In plain words
All countries must live in peace.
Śānti of the body, of the mind, of the spirit
The children say it many times. They may not know the meaning. After the bhajan they say śānti śānti śānti, three times. But why not say it four times? Why not say it only twice? We must recognise the inner meaning of saying it three times. The first Śānti is Śānti of the body. The second Śānti is Śānti of the mind. The third Śānti is Śānti of the Ātma. If we have Śānti of body and mind but no Śānti of the Ātma, it is of no use. If there is Śānti of the Ātma and of the mind but no Śānti of the body, it is of no use. If the Ātma and the body are well but there is no Śānti of the mind, it is of no use. All three must be at peace. So we say śānti śānti śānti for all three: Śānti of the mind, Śānti of the body and Śānti of the Ātma. For the uplift of the country and for the establishing of Dharma, the ancients went on using measured speech. Why did they bring in measured speech? Through this measured speech we become ones who have nourished Dharma. If there are too many words, some untruth may enter those words. When one speaks little, there is no room for untruth. So those ṛṣis went on bringing in sacred paths in a gentle way. That is why: less talk, more work. Today many untruths enter through words alone.
Prema is life itself, divine Prema is Paramātma
What is the chief thing in everything? Prema. Prema. Prema. When we work with the hand with Prema, it becomes Dharma. When we enquire with the heart with Prema, Śānti arises. When we speak words with Prema, they themselves become Satya. All are merged in Prema. We must recognise the principle of Prema well. That very Prema is life. That very Prema is Paramātma. Love is God, live in love. We are unable to understand such sacred qualities. We bring Prema into many kinds of paths and make it impure. Whom should we love, and in what way? This itself is the search for Satya. Satya is one, is it not, so why should we search for it? The eyes saw. Whom did they see? They saw the mother. The same eyes saw the wife. The same eyes saw the daughter. The same eyes saw the daughter-in-law. Though the eyes that saw are the same, his conduct changes through the discerning knowledge that this is the mother, this the wife, this the daughter, this the daughter-in-law. When he sees, the question arises there: is she another man's woman or my own? When other people's children make fun of our sister, how much it pains us! In the same way, when you look at other women, how much it pains their brothers! We must go on enquiring well into this kind of quality. We must recognise the truth that the trouble which hurts us so much when it happens to us must not happen to another. To develop the feeling of one Ātma, we must keep Prema in the right way. The children are good indeed. But they change according to their surroundings. Because this principle of truth is not recognised, it goes astray. The kind of people you join with, that kind of disposition comes into you. One may take you to be that kind of person. We must not join bad company at all. We must keep far from bad company and join satsaṅga. To decide who is good and who is bad is in no one's power. This is what Vedānta called satsaṅga. Sat, that, that itself is God. We must keep company with God. That is what satsaṅga means. But it is not joining all these, devotees and those who do bhajans. Among singers too there are sinners. We cannot say who is good and who is bad. Keep company with Divinity in your heart; only then will the right feelings come. If you recognise the truth ‘I am God’, that itself is satsaṅga.
One world.. one human caste
Once, Gandhi resolved to go abroad. His mother was pained. She said he could not go abroad. He spent a great deal. He said he must gain more learning. He said he must go, come what may. But his mother forbade him to go. ‘Why should I not go?’ he said. Then his mother told him to make a promise first and go. What did she make him promise? She had him promise on three kinds of ‘ma’. Madhupāna he must not take at all. Māṃsa he must not eat at all. With maguva there must be no union at all. She said, ‘If you keep to these three in the right way, go.’