Virtue and Grace

2 October 2000, Dasara, Prasanthi Nilayam, AP

Published English.

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The Good Son There may be many sons born in a clan, but its fame is not spread by every one of them. It is only the (virtuous son) or the good son who brings name and fame to his lineage. A good son is an ideal in all the aspects of life. His own life and those of others around are elevated by his good conduct. A good son is like a streetlight. With an unwavering mind and a steady vision, he perceives the Creator in all the creation, thus helping himself and also others. Such has been the ideal life of a good son down the ages.

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Avoid Selfishness In the days of yore, the people though materially not very strong cultivated firm self-confidence and guarded this at all the times. Unfortunately, in the , man has acquired great fame, riches and comforts but he lacks peace and sense of security. The reason for this sorrow is the lack of patience and sympathy amongst the members of the family living in a house. Why does man lack these two qualities? The rise in selfishness and the use of intelligence for one’s own self-interests has brought about this decline. These two values are not seen in any family today. Because of this, they remain steeped in worries from dawn to dusk. There is no unity or coordination amidst the sons of a family. Therefore, each goes his own way and though born as a human being leads a life worse than that of animals. In fact, animals are better as they have a reason and a season.

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Today they build a house for the family. However, it was not so in the olden days. Five to six families lived together in a small hut peacefully and it became a home. There is a lot of difference between a house and a home. When there is tolerance and sympathy among members of the family it is home. Because of the absence of tolerance and sympathy, (house) has become (forest). This was the case with . He had conducted many and and thereby he begot children, but there was no tolerance and sympathy among his three wives. Hence, he had to face such a miserable end in the agony of separation from . The same was the case with also. There was lack of tolerance and sympathy between his wives. was ill-treated by his stepmother when the king showed his affection for him. This saddened the tender heart of . After seeking the blessings of his mother, he left for the forest promising his mother to return after earning God’s grace. He gave up all comforts and meditated upon God. Thus he kept up the word given to his mother. In every family, joy and sorrow arise only due to the lack of patience and sympathy. The world is a combination of joy and sorrow. Pleasure can be enjoyed only when one has undergone pain; auspiciousness is felt only if there is inauspiciousness.

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What is ? In this world, there are sons who show disrespect to their parents. They do not recognize that parents are the ones who gave them birth and brought them up with many sacrifices and discomfort. They hurt their parents on one hand and pray to God on the other. This cannot be called true devotion at all. Can they attain liberation with this type of devotion? What is liberation? Fools think that merging with God after death is liberation. But it is not so. Eliminating all worries and being happy thereby is true liberation. It is satisfying the hunger of the poor and giving succor to the needy.

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(liberation) is to cast away one’s difficulties, sorrows, worries, attachments and secure happiness, comfort, peace and bliss. It is not any separate destination to reach. To remove the anxiety of everyone and fill their hearts with supreme peace is . To be freed from one’s worries, is . , which is so simple, subtle and within the reach of everyone is being ignored by man. He craves for after death. But should be experienced when one is still alive.

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lamented that took away her son and that he had not returned since. She felt that she could not bear the difficulties and yearn for . Such a desire itself is . On hearing that had come back, she was transported to ecstasy. To give happiness to a person drowned in worries is . Such liberation in this world is available only to human beings.

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These two can be compared to two holes in a pot filled with water. Water is filled in such a pot, which gets drained. Similarly, the pot of our heart is filled with nectarous grace of God. It is said “.” (You are the children of immortality). Coming under the influence of the senses, you have become “ (Children of untruth).” Man has to foster his heart. But without forbearance and sympathy, he has drilled holes into it. Consequently, his lifespan has decreased. In this limited life span, what good deeds can he do? How can he work for the welfare of the society? God-given strength should be utilized properly by (Good Company), by (Good conduct) and by (Service to the society). Only then can your strength improve. Man is wasting his limitless strength through sensuality.

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once asked “How can I attain Divinity?” replied that he () was unable to remain steady because of his wavering mind. Unflinching faith in God only could confer that firmness on you. An unsteady person has doubts. When doubts increase beyond limits, the person becomes a dirty fellow. A pure heart never doubts. The heart becomes impure due to the dirt of doubts. One starts doubting one’s own mother. How can tolerance and sympathy grow in such people?

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A selfless person emerges victorious in everything that he does. faced many difficulties and humiliations, yet they achieved victory because of their faith in . In the same way, people in olden days cultivated self-confidence, strong conviction, tolerance, and sympathy. They used to live like brothers and sisters. But in today’s world, it has become a fashion to negate what others say. Debating to realize truth is good, but debating to simply negate what others say is foolishness. This is not good. Here is an example.

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A great scholar by name came to the court of . A scholar in the court of challenged that he would negate whatever said. laughed and took up the challenge. He thought, it was foolishness to negate everything. Only one who has studied the and is a scholar and such a person is equal-minded. But since this mad person is telling that he would negate whatever is said, he is not fit to be in the court of King . Then, he asked a question: “Sir! You are born of your mother, aren’t you?” How could the scholar negate that? Because of such arguments, King appreciated as a great scholar.

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Only a person without any prejudices can argue like this. Such questions are the only way to cure foolish people. A person does not become a scholar just by reading the . He becomes a scholar only when he is able to understand the unity in multiplicity. Tamil poet said the same thing: “Mind is the witness for one’s own mind. Attributes are the witness for one’s body, is the witness for everything and for a fool, his foolishness itself is the witness.”

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Once upon a time a king had a servant. Once the king became seriously ill and the servant, whom the king considered a fool, approached him and asked if he could do any service to him. The king replied, “The valuable lifespan given by God has come to an end. I am ready to obey His command and leave this world.” Then the servant requested the king to wait and got a horse for the king’s journey! The king remarked, “Foolish fellow! Neither a horse, nor a chariot nor any other vehicle can take me there.” In return to the king’s remarks, the servant asked the king, “You say that you are going but you are not telling me where you are going and how you are going there? So I am not a fool, you are the fool!” This kind of argumentation has become common these days and is leading to perversion of intelligence. In this people are losing their knowledge and intelligence by indulging in such useless argumentation.

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Childhood Episodes This morning when I was returning from , (from Hyderabad) said, “, when we hear your childhood days we feel very blissful. Please narrate some incidents from your life every day in your discourse.” This is the reason why I am telling you about My childhood.

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Family Partition and were brothers. died young. After his death, both his sons, lived along with ’s sons, and . One day told Me, “, I have taken a decision to separate these four brothers. What is your opinion?” I replied, “It is a very good decision because these four families are lacking forbearance and sympathy. So it is better to separate them.” asked Me, how I knew these things. I said, “I can hear their words, see their actions and feel their intentions. Is this evidence not enough?” followed My words, called the four brothers, and told them to live separately and happily. He told them, “It is good if you take up responsibilities and lead your own lives.” They readily agreed, as the ladies of the house had lost forbearance and sympathy. He distributed all his property among these four. They asked , who would look after him and where he would live? said, “I don’t want anything. Give me . He is my property! He will look after me.”

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Sri and Then I was eight years old. I would cook food early in the morning, serve him and run to with books; there was no school in this village. When the lunch bell rang at 1 o’clock in the afternoon, I would run back to the village, eat a little, and again run to .

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felt that I was taking a lot of trouble and so he asked Me to take food to the school and not to come back home in the afternoon. In those days there were no stainless steel carriers or plastic containers. Even aluminum vessels were scarce. I used to take balls wrapped in a towel for My lunch in the school. When the bell was given, all students from different villages (Karnatanagapalli, , , ) would gather near tank. They would get rice preparations in their carriers, whereas I was poor and I had only balls. In order to keep up the honor of the family, I used to move away from the group and eat separately. Everyone has to uphold one’s family prestige. If you behave in a mean way, your family will get a bad name. If other boys see Me eating balls, they would think that I come from a poor family. I did not want to let down the name of My family.

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The next day I told that I would come home and eat even if it was a little difficult for Me. There lies happiness in difficulties too. ‘Pleasure is an interval between two pains.’ Without pain, there is no pleasure. One has to work hard to enjoy happiness. To make an ornament out of gold, first the gold has to be put into the fire, then hammered, cut, molded and welded. Only then it becomes a jewel. Therefore, I said, “Grandfather, I am ready for hard work. This is not a difficulty, it is also good exercise for Me!” He told Me “This exercise is too much for an eight-year-old boy.” He had great love for Me. He would never trust anyone except Me. Whatever I said was truth for him. That is why he had a sacred death. Often urged to come and stay with his four sons at least for short periods. She told him that they were all ready to serve him and asked him if they did not deserve to serve him. Even then, he rejected saying that he had with him and he did not want anyone else. He had such a firm faith in Me.

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After the new was opened on 23rd November 1950, used to come every morning and evening to see Me. I told him, “Why do you strain yourself in walking all the way? You can stay at home. I will come and see you!” He replied that this was an exercise for him at that age. He paid Me back in the same coin. He was 112 years at that time. Even at that age he could walk steadily. At that time, I had the habit of eating from dawn to dusk. One day, I offered betel-nut and betel-nut powder. He refused to take the powder saying that his teeth were strong and took the betel nut itself and chewed up in no time. He never used spectacles. He could walk any distance.

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Old people of those days got strength through control of senses. They did not have body-attachment. They lived in order to discharge their duties. Such people were there in every family. That is why sang in the court of the King of Travancore, “!” (There are many great souls. My salutations to all of them). In earlier days, they used to begin any function by offering salutations to the audience. But our students begin by addressing ‘Brothers and sisters.’ These are all meaningless words. How can old people become brothers and sisters? These are all artificial words. In one such gathering, someone got up and asked the speaker, “You addressed me as your brother. I am poor; so give me a share in your property!” Will the speaker share his property? He just calls them brothers and sisters without that intention. Then, why should we use the words brothers and sisters? This has become an artificial usage. I do not like these artificial words. That is why I always address you as ‘Embodiments of Love!.’ Love is My property. It is also there in you. So, I call you Embodiments of love. I am never the master. I am a servant - a servant of devotees. I am always with the devotees fulfilling their wishes.

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Here is a small example. You are not coming to Me to take . I am coming to you to give . What does it mean? I am yours. You need not get up to come to Me. I will come to you. I will take over all your problems. In this way, I practice and demonstrate whatever I say. You too should do the same thing.

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‘The proper study of mankind is man.’ There should be unity of thought, word, and deed. Especially students should recognize this. It is not enough to praise , , in poems and songs. When you cultivate good qualities, you yourself will become . Once you control your senses, you will become . When the mind is under your control, you will become . When you speak words of truth, you will become .

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and The other name of is . Some people say that our country is named after or the brother of . But who named them? There should be a basis for all these names. That basis is the name of i.e., .

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is the creator but the one who sustains the creation is . is her name. This country is named after her. But this is not very widely known. Indian culture has many such secrets. But none endeavours to know these secrets inherent in the , and the .

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How can a man be devoid of anxiety when he is sitting under this tamarind tree of worries? By imbibing the values of patience and sympathy, we can sweeten our life, our speech, our vision, and things we hear too will become sweet. It is said about Lord -

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“ Shravanam Madhuram Madhuradhipater Akhilam Madhuram”

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However intelligent, scholarly, and great a man may be he is always immersed in worldly thoughts and worldly desires. To have attachment to the body and senses is being worldly. A person with such feelings is subjected to many diseases and difficulties. Many people ask Me, “, you are quite old now. Do you wear spectacles?” I ask them, “Have you ever seen Me wearing them? Then why do you ask Me?” I do not need them as I can see perfectly.

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When four different people with stomach-ache approach the doctor, the doctor prescribes four different treatments-hot water fomentations, sodium bicarbonate and magnesium sulphate, the salt or an operation. The last person might think that the doctor is partial. But only the doctor knows what has to be done for each ailment. Who is the Doctor? “”, God himself is the doctor.

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Some difficulties arise when the senses are impaired. Here is an incident. Once a boy, suffering from diarrhoea approached Dr. . is a very good person and works very patiently. Even at the age of ninety he walks all the way to the hospital. But he is hard of hearing. In spite of his hearing aid, his hearing is not proper. The boy complained of diarrhoea. Dr. thought it was constipation and prescribed a purgative. Mistakes occur when doctors do not listen properly to patients. Since it was done with a good intention, he was cured immediately. Thus whatever is done with good intentions, it will yield good results.

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