Sathya Upanishad - Pt. 16

The Sun, Moon and Stars

Q16: Swami!  I gather that people in India revere and salute the Sun, the Moon and the stars as holy; is it so?

A: Sunshine is behind all the creation.  It aids the organic act of generation of food in the plants.  As such people salute the Sun in gratitude.  We prepare a plan for constructing a house on the ground; we pay tax to municipality for granting us permission for the construction.  In the same way, we pay our obeisance to the five elements in a spirit of gratitude for the benefits made available to us by them.

(To be continued)

(From the book "Divine Directions" by Prof. K. Anil Kumar)

Bakrid

Sunil Gavaskar visited Prashanti Nilayam for the first time in 1982.  Bhagawan blessed him with an interview on the first evening itself.  After the interview, Baba took him to the boys' hostel.  The students gathered in the Prayer Hall.  Baba asked Sunil to sit on a chair by His side.  As he sat on the chair nervously, Baba told him, "Today is Bakrid.  Speak to the boys on the importance of this festival!"

Sunil was flabbergasted since he never thought that he could speak anything in the presence of Baba and added to it that he knew nothing about Islam or Quran or Bakrid.  He pleased with Baba, "Swami, I don't know anything  about Bakrid.  How will I speak?"  Bhagawan replied, "You just go and stand in front of the microphone.  Everything will be fine!"

Sunil obeyed the command.  He talked for 10 to 12 minutes about Islam and Bakrid.  When he finished, there was thunderous applause.  As he went back to  his chair, Baba looked at him and said, "Didn't I tell you that you could speak."  Sunil just folded his palms in reverence.  Twenty years later, he expressed, "Even today, I do not know what I had spoken on that day!  I just stood in front of the microphone as per His command.  He Himself spoke through me."

(From: Sathyam Sivam Sundaram, Vol. 5)

Wrist Watch

 "You study your own wrist watches.  Every watch has three hands - the second, minute and hour, hasn't it?  The second hand should go round sixty times for the minute hand to move one place.  Then, the minute hand should go round sixty times for the hour hand to move to the next place.  Here, the second hand is karma marga, path of selfless action.  The minute hand is bhakti marga, path of devotion, while the hour hand is gnyanamarga, path of wisdom."

(From "Sathyopanishad" Pt. II by Prof. K. Anil Kumar,  Answer by Baba to Q.207)

Tasty Dosas

 

"About fasting on Ekadasi Day, Baba said, "In the state of Karnataka, they say in Kannada, "Bidabedi bittu kedabedi", which means don't give up and spoil yourself.  When you give up anything, don't pick it up again.  It is a bad habit.  Instead, what is happening?  They get the flour ready, well grinded and preserve the dough for three days.  With this, they make nice, tasteful dosas, South Indian tiffin.  So, in Kannada, it is said, "Indu adide ekasasi ondu tindu nalavattu dosa".  It means, in the name of Ekadasi, on one fasting day a month, preparations are made for as many as forty dosas.  Is this upavasa?  No, definitely not."

(From "Sathyopanishad", Pt, II by Prof. K. Anil Kumar, Answer by Baba to Question 148)

Faith

"Just think for a moment how you carry on your daily routine with or without faith.  You will soon notice that your every action, both mundane and spiritual, is based only on faith.  You give your clothes, costly shirts and safari suits to a washer man in full faith that he would bring them back after washing and ironing.  If you suspect that he would run away with your clothes, will you give them to him? 

 Most valuable gold is given to goldsmiths to make jewellery out of it, in good faith that they would do so.  Even if a trace of doubt arises in your mind, will you ever hand over valuable gold?  You go to a barber for a haircut.  Do you, for a moment, entertain the feeling that he would put his knife in the neck instead of on the head?  You bend your head in good faith in front of the barber to have your hair cut.  

So also in good faith, a patient will lie down on the operation table and allow himself to be operated upon by the surgeon.  Do you doubt that your life is not safe in his hands?  

So, be he a dhobi or a goldsmith or a barber or a doctor for that matter, all transactions are made in good faith.  To be faithless is unnatural and artificial.  But the pity of it is that you have full faith in everyone but not in God.  Isn't that very unfortunate?"

(From "Sathyopanishad" Pt. II by Prof. K. Anil Kumar; 

Answer by Baba to Q.169)