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For this
Sunday, we have an excerpt from the book
‘Satyopanishad’ written by Prof. Anil Kumar.
Question: Swami! As we think of the way in which our
life is going, we find it confusing and
disheartening. We also doubt if it is going in the
right direction or not. You are our only refuge.
Kindly guide us.
Bhagavan: You know mridangam, the South Indian
musical instrument, which like a drum, has to be
beaten on both the sides as you play. Your life is
like a rat caught in that mridangam. If the
mridangam is beaten on one side, the rat runs to the
other side and, vice versa, as there is no way out
for it.
Similarly having been fed up with this world, you
think of God. When God tests you, you again drift
towards the world. Your movement between the world
and God is like that of the rat. This is not the
proper way.
A small example. Two students competed with each
other in a tournament of eating bananas. One student
wanted to eat the outer skin of every fruit first so
that he could finish eating the soft pulp part next.
The other student planned to eat the soft part first
and the skin next. Accordingly, they started eating.
The first student having eaten the outer skin of
every fruit first had his belly full of that stuff
and he could not eat any sweet pulp. So he was
defeated, and suffered from stomach-ache and
indigestion. The second student ate a belly-full of
the pulp of every fruit and hence couldn't eat the
skin of the fruits. So, he too lost in the
competition. All the same, he remained healthy.
Similar is the case with those people who are after
worldly desires and sensual pleasures. They will
have to end their lives in misery finding no cure
for bhavaroga, the ailment of worldly attachment.
This is equal to the condition of the first student
who ate only the outer skin of the banana first in
the tournament. But those who think of God are like
the second student who ate the soft pulp. They grow
stronger in divine life.
Life should start from the point of dasoham, “I am
your servant”. Fill its middle with the relentless
enquiry, koham, "Who am I?" End it with full
awareness of the identity of the individual self
with God soham, “I am God”. This is the correct way
of life.
Man should realise that the happiness and peace he
essentially needs are not present in this mundane
world. A simple example. A person went to a hotel.
The bearer asked him, "What shall I serve for you"?
The person said, "I want idli and sambar (south
Indian vegetarian dishes)". Then the bearer taken by
great surprise, said "What Sir! Have you not seen
the board hanging over there! This is a military
non-vegetarian hotel, Sir!" Likewise, how can you
expect items like Palav, Biriyani and Chicken in an
Udipi Brahmin vegetarian hotel?
In the same manner there is a board attached to this
world, anityam asukham lokam, "This world is
temporary and full of misery." How do you expect
peace and happiness in this world? That is why in
the Bhagavad Gita Krishna says, 'mam bhajasva'
meaning, ‘Think of me or worship me or be immersed
in me or surrender to me'. You should lead your life
in full knowledge of these facts.
Jai Sai Ram.
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