Passage 4

Tap any word for its meaning.

In plain words

In the supremely holy land of Bhārata, forbearance itself is our beauty; the one that has won lustre among all vows, the noble conduct of Satya, is the hardest tapas; if you ask what feeling is sweet in our land, what is worthier of honour than the feeling for a mother? That which holds honour greater than life itself, our country's code, they have burned to ashes, and, seeking out the codes of foreign lands, have given us today in haste the drawn knife called strange freedom. Ah! What shall I say of the rule of Bhārata? As the elephant does not know its own strength, so have our people of Bhārata become today.

Today, wherever you go, it is money, money, money! Everyone strives only to earn money, but no one strives to earn Prema, to earn Dharma. The principle of the Ātma is present in all. “God in human form.” It is not right to spurn a man, who is the very form of God. Only when the feeling arises in you that all are our sisters and brothers will you have attained svārājya. Until then this is svarājya, svarājya, svarājya! Here ‘sva’ means selfishness. What we must win is ‘svārājya’. That is, we must win the svātantrya that belongs to the heart.

Students! You are doing village service; you are serving the poor. First of all, win true svātantrya. Love each one, cherish each one. Help each one. Only then will you earn, in truth, the name of students who studied in the Sathya Sai College. It is not svarājya that matters to us; strive for svārājya.