No One Can Escape the Consequences of Their Actions Sri Sathya Sai
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Divine Discourse 15 August 2006 No one can escape the consequences of their actions Sri Sathya Sai Baba Athi Rudra Maha Yagna Prasanthi Nilayam 15 August 2006 Karma is responsible for the birth, existence, Embodiments of Love! and death of man. It holds sway over all stages of his life Karma is verily God. God is not separate as the very deity of human existence. from you. God is present in subtle form in It is responsible for the joy and sorrow of man. every action. God exists in the form of karma (Telugu poem) in everything right from microcosm to macro- cosm. Anoraneeyan mahato maheeyan What is karma? It is the action that we per- (Brahman is subtler than the subtlest and form. Karma is the cause of man's birth, his vaster than the vastest). One must necessarily life on earth, and his ultimate death. The very perform action and should offer all actions to existence of man depends upon karma. There God. Sarva karma Bhagavad preetyartham can be no human life without karma? Spiri- (do all actions to please God). If you do like tual practices like yajnas and yagas are also this, you will not be bound by the conse- forms of karma. The welfare and well-being quences of your actions. of the world depends upon these spiritual practices. The very basis of the world is Easwara sarva bhutanam (God is the in- karma. Therefore, everyone must necessarily dweller of all beings). He is present in all be- perform karma. ings, be it a human being, a snake, or a scor- pion. He performs actions appropriate to the Strive to attain God realisation by doing your vesture He takes upon Himself. Develop clear duty. As the action, so is the result. No one thinking and do not spoil your mind by un- can escape from the consequences of his ac- necessarily thinking about something that you tions. Karma does not mean merely the ac- do not know. Man today ventures into fields tions that we perform with the limbs of our about which he has very little knowledge. body; even the process of breathing consti- That is why he faces so many troubles. There- tutes karma. Eating, drinking, walking, sitting fore, men and women should undertake ac- —all are various types of action that man per- tions appropriate for them. forms. So, it is not possible to know the con- sequences of our actions. We should enquire In childhood, one develops absorbing interest about the nature of karma before performing. in play and enjoys the company of one's Being a human being, we should enquire playmates. whether the actions that we perform are befit- In youth and middle age, one is engrossed in ting a human being or not. If you perform ac- cultivating worldly relations and earning money. tion without proper enquiry, you will not have the desired results. 1 Divine Discourse 15 August 2006 In old age, one repents for not having this and Nothing escapes My attention. I noticed a that. couple of young ritwiks (priests) talking to In this way, man wastes his precious human each other during the performance of the ya- birth. jna. I am hearing all that you speak. But, for (Telugu poem) Me, both good and bad are the same. I do not Right from birth to death, man should lead his find anything bad in this world; everything is life befitting his human birth. Divinity is im- good. Similar is the case with right and manent in every human being. Man passes wrong. Something may appear to be right at through the various stages of childhood, the present moment, but, on enquiry, it may youth, and householder and ultimately grows turn out to be wrong. old. With the advancement of age, man does Pleasure is an interval between two pains. We not think of God and repents about what he may eat very good and delicious items today, has not got in life. but how long that will remain good? The very What is the use of worrying at this stage? We next day, it may turn into a different matter. should have proper thinking from the very Difference of time determines what is good beginning. The youth leader, Vinay Kumar, and what is bad. Therefore, we should under- prayed to Me to tell him what the youth stand everything clearly and act carefully in should do. So, I told him that youth should life. always remain young and energetic. When In the Mahabharata war, Duryodhana and youth misuse the power of senses, they lose Dussasana and other Kaurava brothers fought their energy and start growing old. They with the Pandavas due to hatred for them, but should always remain young and never grow they could not defeat the Pandavas because old with the advancement of age. Krishna was on their side. Since the Kauravas You should preserve your energy. Look at My were unable to meet the challenge of the Pan- body. I am 81 years old. Can anybody say that davas, they found Abhimanyu, the son of Ar- I am 81 years old? My body is free from all juna, all alone one day and devised the Pad- diseases. Sometime back, My leg was frac- mavyuha (an army formation in the shape of a tured when one boy fell on Me accidentally. lotus). Then they challenged Abhimanyu to That is why I am walking like this. I walk enter it. very freely inside My residence. But the doc- Abhimanyu was a young boy then. His father tor advised that I should take the support of Arjuna was not there; only Dharmaraja was one or two boys when I moved among the present at that time. He sought Dharmaraja’s devotees. On the advice of doctors, I am tak- permission to enter the Padmavyuha. Dhar- ing the support of one boy while walking. maraja told him that it was not an easy task. Since it is My nature to satisfy everybody, I follow this advice for the satisfaction of doc- Then he went to his mother Subhadra and tors. All the same, I keep on telling the boys, sought her permission and blessings. She tried “Don't hold Me, don't hold Me.” to dissuade him saying, “Dear son, it is a dif- ficult formation devised by Dronacharya him- But you may not know that there is a subtle self. Moreover, your wife is pregnant now. meaning behind whatever I do. Nobody can We do not know whether the time is favour- know the reality of My nature. I have never able to us or not. Your father, Arjuna, and un- suffered any ailment whatsoever in My life, cle Krishna are also not here to give you nec- be it fever, cold, or headache. I have always essary guidance and support. Hence, give up been healthy. I am not only healthy, but the idea of going to the battlefield.” wealthy also (loud applause). 2 Divine Discourse 15 August 2006 Abhimanyu was upset on hearing the words The lesson to be learnt from this episode is: of his mother and said to her, “Being the son never ignore the advice of one's parents and of Arjuna, I have to accept the challenge of elders. Listen to the advice of the parents the enemy. Otherwise, my father's name carefully, contemplate on it, assimilate it, and would be in disrepute. Even if I lose my life, I put it into practice. That is why the Vedas de- will fight in the battlefield.” He was very firm clare, Matru devo bhava, pitru devo bhava in his resolve and quite confident of coming (revere your mother and father as God). out of the Padmavyuha successful. He told his Whatever be the circumstances, wherever you mother, “I am going to attack the Kauravas may be, always obey the command of the par- like a tiger ready to pounce upon the horde of ents. elephants. You should bless me to come out When Arjuna returned, he was full of anxiety victorious in this fight by shooting the divine not to find Abhimanyu, who always ran to the arrows on the enemy. Instead of blessing me, door to receive him whenever he returned is it proper on your part to prevent me from home. When Arjuna came to know that Ab- going to the battle?” himanyu died in the battlefield, he became Listening to the words of her brave son, at last very sad. Krishna asked him not to lose heart, she gave her consent. saying, “Whatever was destined to happen has May the same kind of protection cover you as happened.” He also told Arjuna that the that which Mother Gowri conferred on her Kauravas who conspired against the Pandavas son Kumara when he went out for battle even in the past had again resorted to foul- against Tarakasura; play and killed Abhimanyu. In this moment of The blessing conferred by Kausalya on Rama great anguish, Arjuna spoke to Krishna in when he was going to the forest to safe- very strong terms that He had not told him guard the Yajna of Viswamitra! about the death of his son earlier and thus had May such great and auspicious blessing and, betrayed him. As was His nature, Krishna the greatest of all, Sri Rama Raksha (the heard all this, smiling all the time. protection of Sri Rama) be with you and protect you! At the time of the death of Abhimanyu, his (Telugu poem) wife Uttara was in the family way.