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Divine Discourse 19 July 1996

Nama Sankirtan Is The Royal Path For Man’s Redemption

Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Prasanthi Nilayam 19 July 1996

Editor’s note. This discourse does not appear in the Sathya Sai Speaks series. It appeared in San- athana Sarathi, May 2012.

Devotion is the basis to attain Oh the Lord of the universe! knowledge of the Supreme Being. You are dear to , the goddess Devotion is the panacea to get rid of of wealth. the disease of birth and death. You confer auspiciousness on those Devotion leads to the knowledge of who take refuge in You. eternal truth and confers liberation, You recline on the serpent Adi Sesha which is the ultimate goal of life. and are the embodiment of wealth ( Verse) and bliss. People follow various paths of (devo- Please destroy my worldly bondages tion) to attain the grace of God. What is and grant me eternal happiness. meant by bhakti? It is derived from the root (Telugu Song) ‘bhaj’, which means (selfless service). It People extol God as Sesha , Srinivasa signifies the principle of love. ‘Bhaj’ has (in whose heart Lakshmi resides), Chidvilasa many other meanings. (abode of bliss). Who is Srinivasa? Who is Chanting divine names gives eternal bliss Chidvilasa? Does it not amount to extolling His attributes? Devotees who extol the attrib- Devotees have been singing the glories of utes of the Lord in this manner can derive on- God in four ways: guna gana, geela gana, ly temporary satisfaction. bhava gana, and nama gana (singing about divine attributes, deeds, thoughts, and names Similarly, many devotees like and of God). Gauranga sang the leelas (plays) of the Lord. Jayadeva, Gauranga, Mira, and Sakkubai tried God is gunateeta (attributeless) and bha- to derive satisfaction by singing the divine vateeta (beyond thoughts). By extolling the leelas, but ultimately they realised that the attributes of the Attributeless One, you cannot entire world is the leela of the Lord. Creation derive complete satisfaction. It is mere delu- itself is His Leela. Then how can you separate sion to think that you can please God by ex- only a few acts of God as His leelas? Having tolling His attributes. The satisfaction that you realised this truth, they started performing derive out of guna sankirtan (singing about nama sankirtan and experienced bliss. Nama God’s attributes) is only temporary. Truly sankirtan is the highest form of devotion, speaking, God has no attributes. which can lead man to the ultimate goal of Many devotees extol the attributes of God in life. Mira craved for the vision of ’s this manner: blissful form in this manner:

1 Divine Discourse 19 July 1996

Dear One! Come and bless me with man’s redemption. When many people come Thy vision. together and do nama sankirtan wholeheart- Without thee, oh Krishna, I cannot be. edly, divine vibrations generated by it spread I have no hunger during the day and no everywhere. sleep at night. When God assumes a form, He takes upon What can I say when the words do not Himself a name also. One should contemplate come out of my mouth? on the form while reciting the name. This is Come, oh Lord, and soothe this burn- sahita dhyana or dhyana sahita japa ing heart. (chanting with meditation or meditation with ( Song) chanting). The gopikas (cowhered maids) not Ultimately, Mira realised that day is Krishna, only chanted the name of Krishna, they were night is Krishna, and everything is Krishna. also deeply attached to His form. He is time itself. Everything is His Divine Everything in this world has a name and a Leela. Having realised this truth, Mira con- form. It is the attachment to name and form sidered Krishna as her Hridayavasi (indweller that gives rise to abhimana and mamakara of her heart). She said, “Oh Krishna, my heart (attachment and feelings of mine and thine). is Your temple.” Some people ridicule the divine leelas of Nany devotees are lost in the thoughts of God. Krishna without understanding their import. They sing: Similarly, even today, many people criticise Oh Lord, Your face is as beautiful as God without understanding the import of His the moon and Your Lotus Feet are divine leelas. When Krishna played and worshipped by all the gods. danced with gopikas, he was only a child of You are dear to goddess Lakshmi. six years. Where is the scope for criticising Wherever I look, I find You only. the acts of a six-year-old child? This criticism You are there even in lanes and by- is only born out of people’s imagination. lanes. Once Krishna went to the house of a gopika I see You as the indweller of everyone and knocked at her door when her husband and as the embodiment of bliss. was taking rest inside. The gopika took some You bestow auspiciousness on those time to respond. Krishna was not one to keep who take refuge in You. quiet. When He kept on knocking at the door, Oh Govinda, the bestower of eternal she spoke to Him through the crevice of the bliss, come quickly and save me. door and said, (Telugu Song) Krishna! I am going to open the door. Spiritual import of Krishna’s leelas Why are You in a hurry? God is immanent in every particle of the uni- Have patience, because my husband is verse. What to speak of lanes and bylanes, the taking rest. entire universe is His leela (play, sport). Therefore, wait for some time. Therefore, it is due to your imagination that (Telugu Song) you do guna sankirtan, bhava sankirtan, and In spite of the pleadings of the gopika, Krish- leela sankirtan. na continued to knock at the door. Then her Of the four types of sankirtan, nama sankir- husband got up and opened the door. He was tan (singing the Names of God) is the best happy to see child Krishna at the door; he was and the highest. It is, in fact, the royal path for not at all angry. He took Him in his arms and brought Him inside. Seeing this, the gopika

2 Divine Discourse 19 July 1996 was ecstatic, thinking, “Aha! My husband is Devaki and saved Draupadi from also transformed. He is showering his love humiliation. and affection on Krishna.” Fully immersed in You fulfilled Kuchela’s desires. the thoughts of Krishna, she lost her body You made ugly-looking Kubja beauti- consciousness. ful. On the face of it, the leelas of Krishna appear You protected the Pandavas and saved to be of the nature of pravritti (worldliness) the 16,000 gopikas. but their true import is nivritti (). In You are beyond all description and fact, all the divine leelas of God lead man human comprehension. from pravritti to nivritti. Krishna, it is not possible for even to describe Your glory. One can derive bliss by singing the leelas of I have been praying for Your grace. God. It is everybody’s experience how sweet (Telugu Song) and blissful it is to sing the divine glories of God. When devotees do nagar sankirtan God is beyond all description and the reach of (walking the streets, singing) early in the the mind. That is why the declare, morning, even those who do not know singing Yatho Vacho Nivarthanthe Aprapya Manasa join them blissfully. There is so much sweet- Saha (whence the words along with the mind ness in singing. Be he a theist, an atheist, a rebound in futility without comprehending theistic-atheist, or an atheistic-theist, every- Divinity). one forgets themself listening to divine san- Supreme importance of community singing kirtan. Sankirtan of God’s Name captivates the heart of all those who participate in it; it Samashti sankirtan (community singing) has makes them forget themselves. the power to make the heart blossom. It broadens the mind and spreads divine vibra- Not only that, all the divine leelas, attributes, tions all over the world. That is why commu- and powers of God can be described beauti- nity singing is the noblest among all spiritual fully in singing. Singing pleases one and all. practices. It is the royal road to redemption for all. Those devotees who sing God’s glory, whole- Nanak initiated this practice. He started heartedly forgetting themselves, develop total this type of singing in which everybody could love for God. God becomes verily the servant join together and sing in unison. It is only of such ardent devotees. Many devotees have such type of singing through which one can been propagating the divine powers of God in attain liberation. Great saints like Das, the world through their songs. Tulsi Das, and Ramdas attained liberation through nama sankirtan (singing the names of You are beyond all description and God). There is immense power in nama san- human comprehension. kirtan. Is it possible to estimate Your glory and splendour? People may say God has no form, but He cer- I have been waiting for Your grace. tainly has a name. However, the name of God Oh Lord! does not mean only , Krishna, Govinda, Listen to my and redeem me. etc. God itself is His name. People say that You are the one who brought back to God has no name and no form, but there is life the dead son of Your preceptor. nothing in this universe that has no name and You are the one who vanquished the form. Even an atom has a name and a form. serpent Kaliya, freed and How can microcosm become macrocosm if it does not have a name and a form? Each and

3 Divine Discourse 19 July 1996 every form is associated with a name, and equally, so he distributed 3,333,333 to each of every name is endowed with divine power. the three worlds. At the end of the distribu- That is why the Bharatiyas (Indians) have tion, one sloka was left out. been worshipping stones, trees, birds, and The question arose how to distribute one slo- even poisonous snakes. They believe that ka into three parts. The sloka consisted of 32 there is nothing in this universe that is not letters. distributed 10 letters each to pervaded by Divinity. That is why many peo- the three lokas. Still two letters remained. ple do pradakshina (circumambulation) How to distribute these two letters to three wherever they are and offer their salutations worlds? to mother earth. Where is the place where told mother earth, “When Valmiki there is no earth? It is everywhere. Here is a distributed one crore sloka of his small story. to all the three worlds, two letters remained. Once a fox took five rupees as a loan from the These letters were Rama, Krishna, , Hara, earth. When it got up next morning, the earth Siva, Sai, etc.,” which are the common prop- asked, “Will you return my five rupees to me erty of all the three worlds (loud applause). or not?” These two letters signify unity in this world, In order to escape from the earth, the fox which is otherwise marked by duality. started running. It ran day and night and Duality is the nature of this world. Human reached a distant forest. Then it peacefully beings are unable to have vision of reality be- slept, thinking, “Now I can rest happily with- cause of their duality. One with dual mind is out being bothered by the earth.” half blind. That person is so deluded that they However, when it got up from sleep next sometimes say ‘yes’ and sometimes say ‘no’ morning, the earth asked, “What, when are as an answer to the same question. Those who you going to give back my five rupees?” the divine Names can overcome this duality and redeem themselves. This is true The earth is also a form of God, and it is pre- with respect to the divine Names of Jesus and sent everywhere like God. That is why the Allah also. Man should therefore chant the Vedas propound, Sarvatah Panipadam Tat divine Name of God constantly. Sarvathokshi Siromukham, Sarvatah Sruti- malloke Sarvamavruthya Tishthati (with Thyagaraja sang thus: hands, feet, eyes, head, mouth, and ears per- Oh Lord! vading everything, God permeates the entire How can I decide who You really are, universe). Whether You are Siva or Madhava? The letter ‘Ra’ is the life force of Chanting of any name of God confers bliss Madhava and Once mother earth prayed to Lord Narayana, The letter ‘Ma’ is the life force of Siva “, I can bear the burden of any number Mantra. of sinners, but not of those who do not chant I offer my salutations to the One Your Name. Therefore, kindly show the path whose name is the life force of the- of liberation to one and all through chanting se two . of the divine Name.” (Telugu Song) Valmiki wrote the Ramayana consisting of The Madhava Mantra is “ Namo Naraya- one crore slokas (verses). He wanted to dis- naya” and the letter ‘Ra’ is its life force. tribute the slokas to the three lokas (worlds) When we remove the letter ‘Ra’ from the word Narayana, it becomes Nayana, which is

4 Divine Discourse 19 July 1996 meaningless. Similarly, the Siva Mantra is “Om Namah Sivaya.” If we remove the letter ‘Ma’ from this, it becomes nasivaya, which means in- auspicious. However, when you join these letters ‘Ra’ and ‘Ma’, they give the Divine Name Rama, to whom Thyagaraja offered his salutations. There is no one in this world who does not chant the Divine Name in one way or the oth- er in their life. Many people have children or friends who bear the divine names Rama, Krishna, etc. They do chant the divine name when they call them, saying, “Come, oh Ra- ma, come, oh Krishna.” God has innumerable names and infinite forms. You may chant any of His names and redeem your life by nama sankirtan (singing the names of God). You may describe God in any number of ways. But this will give you only temporary satisfaction. Chanting His Divine Name alone confers eternal bliss. What greater penance can there be other than making the Divine Name dance on your tongue constantly? Only chanting of the Di- vine Name is the real (penance), real (place of pilgrimage), and kshetra (holy place). Therefore, nama sankirtan has su- preme importance in the life of man. Chant the Divine Name constantly and redeem your life. (Bhagavan concluded His Discourse with the , “Hari Bhajan Bina Sukha Santhi Na- hin …”) – From Bhagavan’s Discourse in Sai Kulwant Hall, Prasanthi Nilayam, on 19 July 1996.

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