Passage 15

Tap any word for its meaning.

In plain words

If there is no unity and no harmony among the three, where will Śānti come from? Your body house. Three dwell in you. The Ātma is the father. Mind is the mother, Buddhi the son. Karma is the daughter-in-law. Mind, feeling and action: these three must come into unity. Because these three are not one, unrest begins in this body. We must strive for the unity of these three. Any Name at all will do. Think on any Name of God. You do not even need a Name of God. Think, ‘I myself am God, I myself am God.’ Think, ‘I am God.’ Little by little you become God. Whatever you think of, you attain its form. This is just what they called ‘Brahmavit brahmaiva bhavati’.

Sacrifice

Embodiments of Prema! Everyone has Bhakti. Everyone has śraddhā. But sacrifice is lacking. This is just what the word Bali means. Bali means sacrifice. Tyāga. If there is sacrifice, you can achieve anything at all. Bali is the root of sacrifice. This heart is the root of Bhakti. Through the unity of the two, Bali was able to attain divinity. This land of Bhārata is the land where such great souls as Emperor Bali and Emperor Śibi were born. Śibi too: a hawk came chasing a dove. The dove sought refuge with the king. Then he looked at it. Emperor Śibi gave it his promise of protection. ‘Do not be afraid; I will protect you,’ he said. The hawk came. ‘Hand over to me the bird I came chasing,’ it said. Emperor Śibi spoke humbly: ‘O hawk! If you are hungry, I will give you my flesh, as much as the bird weighs; take it,’ he said. And just so, he cut flesh to the weight of the bird and gave it to the hawk. For one bird Emperor Śibi made so great a sacrifice. There have been many such emperors in Bhārata from time without beginning. So from time without beginning, through its spiritual wealth, Bhārata has been giving lasting Śānti and prosperity to all countries. We must put the hardships of such great souls, of at least one of them, into practice and show it. However many comforts there may be, they are no happiness to this body. We must kill the mind. As long as the mind is there, there is no happiness at all. So they spoke of the destruction of the mind. The day we destroy it, that day we gain Śānti.