Embodiments of Love!
We have come across many difficulties, problems, arguments and many more such things and finally come to participate in Baba’s birthday celebrations as well as Mahara Sankranti andNewYear. We have all gathered in one place as the scattered brothers and sisters of a same house – gathered around the mother to celebrate the occasion. It gives me a lot of satisfaction and happiness.
There is still alittle bit of sorrow, but it will be there. We should not think of it always. Instead of thinkingabout the sorrow, we should take the sorrow as a bad dream that happened three months back, which took away many lives and made the lives of people miserable. As a small lamp gives light to the whole house and throws away the darkness, we have come across that bad dream successfully and gathered here today like mother and children. Balasai Baba blesses you all lovingly to be happy and comfortable, so that we – hand in hand – do the service to mankind and God and go forward towards God to gain the union with God.
You all came from different places and different countries facing different types of difficulties to attend Baba’s birthday celebrations. Balasai Baba bestows his loving, ever new divine blessings on all of you, whoever have come here with a wish, whether it is a student to get good studies, a businessman for prosperity or a devotee looking for a good job. Whatever it may be, all your wishes will be fulfilled. You all may live happily and safely for hundred years. I am blessing you once again.
Embodiments of love!
Our country India is sacred, wonderful and divine. No other country has given birth to so many sacred Great Souls, great seers, renunciates, Maharishis, Sadhus (mendicants) as our sacred India has done. Our country India is the capital of spirituality for the other countries in the world. India is the only country, which has the capacity to give alms of spirituality to other countries. We must be proud of our country and proud of being born here. Our country is the safest place as we use our natural resources, moral values and spiritual values for peace and not for fight.
Even though India underwent many invasions by foreign invaders, underwent many difficulties from other religious fanatics, our country stood as strong with its peace and spiritual values as ever. Still today India stands in place number one among other countries in the universe.
So far, India is known for her peace and spirituality, but now she is developing in economic respect, too, competing with other countries. We have to go ahead like this.
Embodiments of love!
Many incarnations like Rama or Krishna took place in India. Each incarnation had aspecific reason for its coming down. Some of the incarnations taught rituals or worship ceremonies and some others taught Dharma (righteousness, virtue), wealth and they taught different ways to attain knowledge, the wisdom. In olden days, people performed many feats like standing on one foot, sitting under a tree swallowing only thin air without food to get a glimpse of God. Some people attained this through divine music that is Bhajan like Meera Bai or Tulsi Das. They did a lot of good to society while attaining their goal. They left a wonderful treasure to the society through their songs, their way to godliness.
In this Kaliyuga (dark age), there is no time for people to think about other’s welfare. They are all self-centered. They want to earn money and save it for their kith and kin. People lead a miserable life in this Kaliyuga. Who thinks about the way to get union with God nowadays? Who has the time for it? Who cares about the address of God? If we know the address of God, then it will be easy to get to Him.
In those olden days people did many sacrificial deeds like ritual, ceremonies, meditation, Bhajans, recitation of God’s name etc. to attain God.
Now in this Sai incarnation, I am not a king like Sri Rama. I am neither a king nor a son-in-law of a king like Sri Rama, nor a king like Sri Krishna. As those incarnations were kings by birth, they did not come near to ordinary citizens and there was also no need for that in those days. I have neither a fort nor a throne, neither a country to rule nor a tree to sit around. Rama or Krishna did not construct schools or hospitals as there was no need for them in those days. But in today’s life these things are necessary.
So there is only one way to reach God in today’s life and it is through Seva, the selfless service.
Whatever we eat will go with us. Whatever we give to others will come with us. So it does not count how much we eat or how much we save. It only counts how much service we did to the humanity.
God won’t drop down from the air with four hands or six hands like a spider. Even if he came down like that, we would keep Him in an exhibition. We would not accept Him among us. So God has had His own ideas. He took the form of a human being and lives in the midst of people. He behaves like woman in the midst of women and like a man among men and like a child among children. He eats among them, lives among them and teaches them service by doing service Himself. He shows the best way for the humanity.
There are some debts which we have to repay. For example, there is the debt to mother,seva debt to father, debt to the teacher, debt to God. We are indebted to them.
We have to repay them. In the same way we have to repay the debt to society also. This is called in Sanskrit as ‘rina’. Man is a social animal. The human being cannot live alone. We are living happily with family and friends which means, we are living in society. We have to repay that debt to the society in the form of Seva, selfless service to the society.
If you earn a hundred rupees, it means, they do not fall from the sky. They have come to you from another’s pocket. We live in society. We have to help each other within our limits and should respect others. That is the meaning of human life. Service to humanity is the best and a worthwhile service. Even a small act of service to society takes us near to God – even without our knowledge. That is the greatness of Seva. That is liberation, freedom, the salvation. We need not waste our time thinking about salvation. We should help within our limits, if we have ten rupees, and if we have only one rupee, let us help a person in need with a pain killer tablet. Even by these small acts of kindness we can gain the blessings and acceptance of God.
So, embodiments of love!
Even the birds and animals take great pain to repay the debts to human beings. For example, there is a small story.
Once there was a young shepherd who took his goats on to a hill for grass. There he saw an eagle covered with a mesh. The shepherd boy untied the eagle from the net and set it free. He forgot about that incident and went on with his work. While one day he was sitting on a hillock, grassing his goats, an eagle came flying near to him, took away his hat from his head and flew away. The boy ran after it shouting for the hat. Then he heard a heavy thud sound from behind and saw that the rock on which he had been sitting was sliding down to the valley. Then the eagle dropped down his hat near him and flew away.
See, in this way even the birds and animals try to pay back the debt to human beings. Even the animals which cannot talk and express are doing service to humans. We, who have all these faculties intact, how much should we do to the society and to fellow people? If we don’t utilize this human birth to do service to others, what else can we say about ourselves?
We should not forget the support we got from others. The day we forgot that help, we are not human at all. Seva, the selfless service, is the big bridge which unites God and the devotee. Service is the first step on the godward path.
So embodiments of love!
Don’t leave service to society in any circumstances!
One more thing I want to mention. What is it? I am not a MLA, nor a MP, nor a Chief Minister and not even a Minister of State. I am a powerless person. I can do nothing of my own, but with all your strength I am today able to do service to humanity. Even the President comes and does salutations to me and takes blessings from me. No one is there to bless me…
You are my children. You all know it. I have none before me and none behind me. I am alone always.
When I am able to do service to society it means the reason is you, my dear devotees. You are doing service on behalf of my name. There is no need for anyone to do personal service to me. I am not handicapped. I am not an old person. There is no need for personal service to me and no need for any medication for me. Help a poor man with some medication in my name. Feed a poor when he is hungry. If you do such services, the salvation is in front of you.
Even if you don’t want, God will be with you, in front of you and save you – always. I eat in my home and do service in your home.
So embodiments of love!
Once again, what I want to say is for reaching God, there is no need for any sacrificial ritual or ceremony. There is no need for any spiritual exercises or practices. There is one simple way and that is service. A small rope can drag a big cow. In the same way with simple service activities, we can drag God from wherever he can be to our side. You can get God’s blessings and protection through service to society.
Service is union, service is worship, service is the technique, service is comfort, service brings prosperity in this world and service brings salvation in the other world. There is no other better thing in this world than service.
God is not in the sky. One who gives peace of mind and makes us walk in the right path is God. That is this Sai Incarnation.
Vasudeva sutham devam kamsa chanoora mardhanam
Devaki parama nandam krishnam vandhe jagadgurum
(Baba sang two bhajans:
Govindha Krishna Vitalle and Subramanyam)
Now we are able to sit here peacefully and enjoy the Darshan of God. That means, there was a lot of hard work to be done. Before we could sit here, many Seva workers cleaned this place first. There are no words sufficient to praise their hard work. Nothing can be compared to their work.
As I have said already I am not a person of money nor do I have power. But there are many people who have faith and love on me. For example, when there were floods here, even in the Ashram, there was a day or two when there was no food to eat. When the river Tungabhadra receded, the Bajrag Dal Youth Service Organization under the leadership of Pratapa Reddy did a lot of hard work bearing all the troubles. They were like the monkeys from the Kishkindha monkey-kingdom, which helped Lord Rama. Now they did service to this Sai Rama. The youth with all their strength did service to society for the development of society. This is the example of youth power, which can be diverted into doing good service for the society. They used their veins and muscles as iron and steel wire and steel rods, when they did service to our Ashram. Otherwise we could not sit and have Darshan peacefully today.
I bestow my blessings with both my raised hands on each and every Bajrang Youth wing of the organization, on Rama Rao Garu and Ramesh of the Balasai Seva Organaisation, on the President Pratibha Patil’s son Rajendra Singh Shekhuwat, on Sri Venkatesh MLA, on the Police, the electronic and print media, the doctors and the ambulance, and those who took part in the service – on each and every person! I bless that all of you live happily and comfortably with your families. As you are behind me in the service activities, I will always be with you.
I give this assurance and bless you all.”