Sarvamangala maangalye sive sarvardhasadhake
Thrai ambike devi Narayani namostute
“Dearest of the dear embodiments of Love!
I feel very happy to meet with you all after a long period of time. And I express my happiness in terms of Blessings to both all that are present, as well as to all your family members. These blessings may help some of you to overcome your problems, and for others to fulfill their desires. May each of you find happiness in your daily lives – ultimately attaining the sublime spiritual bliss.
Irrespective of the distance and any other inconveniences, you have all come here from different parts of the world. It gives me immense pleasure when I see you all like this. In return for this I will always be with you. I will take care of myself without expectations from anyone, whilst being continually at your service. You can’t get a better person than GOD Himself to serve you! After marriage, your wifes welfare is your responsibility, but it is GOD alone who doesnt expect any offerings of any kind from you, instead, He spontaneously responds to your sincere prayers. Leave all your worries, difficulties, and everything else that is bothering you, and take in return happiness and success in every aspect of life.
Today, through the Balasai Central Trust, I have donated a piece of land for the Muslim community to be used for a burial ground. It is all because of my compassion and wanting to help the needy as to whether I give the land for a burial ground for Muslims, or for the construction of a church for Christians, as I have always wanted to do something for the welfare of the people of Kurnool since it is the place of my birth. Land has also been donated in Kurnool, by the Balasai Central Trust, for a cricket stadium. This is expected to be inaugurated in June.
Another huge project that has been taken up is the construction of a dam in the district of Kurnool, which will be dedicated to, and named after Baba. This will have great significance as it will have the capacity to supply enough drinking water for 10 lakh families (approximately 1 crore people) continuously throughout the year. Prior to the bifurcation of the state, the State minister at the time, Mr.T.G.Venkatesh (who is present here today on the dais), made many efforts in regards to the sanctioning of this project. I have also requested the present M.L.A, Mr.Mohan Reddy, to speed up this project as much as possible, both for the happiness and sense of accomplishment of all those who contributed to make this task possible, but also, and more importantly, to ease the water shortage for so many families. When one reaches a higher level in their respective fields of life, one has to do some good for society in keeping with their position. I have extended this request to the present Central Minister, Mr. Ram Kripal Yadav, by saying that – even though the ruling political party may change from time to time – there is no use in being in power if you dont serve society. By staying in power for a tenure of 5 years, we have to look after the welfare of the people. Once again I must emphasise that the central government must also be involved in the projects that have been taken up in the district of Kurnool. The planned cricket stadium is intended as a gift to make the younger generation happy – like the way chanting Babas name makes the older one – since cricket is the most popular game in India.
Since time immemorial, India has had various ways of attaining salvation, or paths to reach God. Some of these include: performing Yagnas, Yagas, Poojas, construction of temples, spiritual shrines and so on. All these may be a part of Karma Yoga, Raja Yoga etc. For example: a leader who is elected in a particular constituency, region, state, or even the country, should consider the people who have elected him as his own people, and in the same way, the people in that region must also cooperate with, and consider him as their father, and work in cooperation with him. Then, if the elected leader and his subjects work hand in hand, any problems that may arise in that area can more easily be taken care of. Each form of the divine has its own significance; likewise, Baba’s aim is to bring everyone together by rendering mutual help so that we shall not only overcome the problems, but also bring about increased prosperity. Some other paths – such as the construction of temples – involves a lot of money which not everyone may possess, so the best way is to help and serve each other, and all to work towards peace and prosperity in society.
Karma Yoga does not mean attaining a particular stage in life. It gives us a chance to transform ourselves, and paves the way to the divine abode. Karma means work, so whatever are ones deeds, so are the consequences. Here is an example. There was once a rich man, who, although possessing a lot of wealth, did not like to spend it on any good cause, but rather misused it on unnecessary things which were of no use to anyone but himself. To be a good individual one must have a good heart. Whatever good things you enjoy today are the result of the good deeds you have done in the past, such as: having served the poor, the way you served your parents, and their blessings for that. All your previous good efforts put together have given you the benefits you enjoy today. So, as humans, you must always try to help the needy in any way you can. It need not necessarily be a monetary help, but can be something such as guiding a needy person to the right place where he/she can get the required help, and to make sure to always speak good and positive things. When you are young and energetic you should try to do good deeds like a pooja, meditation or service, because when you get to old age, or start having health problems, you wont be able to do any of these. Nowadays people have to sit in chairs to do pooja due to painful knees, and in the days to come, it may even become worse! In earlier times they used to say, “Hands up”, but in future they may have to say, “Legs up” due to worsening health conditions; meaning, one may not be in a position to even get up from bed.
Today people have the riches but no satisfaction or happiness. Be happy for whatever God has given you, and try to help others in whichever way you can, no matter how small, as this is the best way to express your gratitude to God for what He has given you. Follow the path of service as this is both the ultimate and the highest form of spiritual practice that will take you to God’s divine abode, and you can do any form of service activity that you wish. You dont have to give a single penny to Baba, but you can give one rupee to a beggar in the name of Baba. In general parlance we use the word beggar as if it is a rather mean word, but if there were no beggars in the world there would be no chance for anyone to be charitable. If everyone in the world was well to do, to whom then could you give? Rather than searching for an invisible God, try to help the needy then God will immediately respond to your good deeds and pour His blessings on you in abundance. The person who only lives for him or herself is Manishi (a Telugu word for a mere mortal), but the one who lives for others is called Maharshi (saint). In Babas opinion, all those who are around Him – either on the dais or in the audience – are all Maharshis, or saints, since they have already received Baba’s abundant blessings from the help they have given others in some way or the other.
There are no excuses, such as a ‘bad stage of life’, for anyone to not want to render assistance to the needy if one is in the position to do so. Doing good today means that you will enjoy the merits of that good tomorrow. Whatever you eat will die with you, but whatever you serve to others remains with you. This means that the food we consume for our own physical strength or health will be lost with the physical body when it eventually turns to ashes, but whatever we serve to others remains with us as the merit we have earned through service. Just as a good word gives beauty to the mouth, in the same way, service to the needy gives beauty to the hands, and of far greater beauty than that from rings or any other jewelry.
No one, including the avatars (incarnations of God), can escape the consequences of karma, and the best example of this is Lord Krishna when He became prey to His previous karma. There once was a hunter who was chasing an animal in a forest, and was unaware of Lord Krishna`s presence. He aimed his arrow at the animal, but it missed, and instead, hit Lord Krishna in the foot eventually causing his death. This was not a mistake of the hunter as in a previous life, He (Lord Krishna), had also shot and killed that same hunter in the forest. So if avatars themselves are not able to avoid the consequences of their deeds, what hope is there for us mere mortals? I have said before, “Awake and arise. Be conscious of your words and actions. Be good, do good and see good, and always try to help the needy. Be of some help to the person next to you, and lead a meaningful and righteous life”. Karma can be in any form; it may be in the form of an animal, or due to its previous good deeds, the animal may have attained a human birth”.
Baba then gave the following good example of karma before showering His Blessings on all. He said that on the streets of India, a lot of pigs and bandicoots can be seen digging around for something in the mud. Baba likened that to a rich man, who, in a previous birth, had had a lot of money, but preferred to bury it instead of using it to help people. He said that such rich people will be born again as the pigs and bandicoots who are always digging for their, once upon a time, buried treasure.
Baba concluded his speech with this:
Do service, and service alone. Service to mankind is service to God.