757

VOICE breeds disease. Bad thoughts and habits, bad company and bad food are hostile grounds where disease thrives. "Arogya" and "Ananda" go hand in hand. A sense of elation and exultation keeps the body free from ill health. Evil habits, in which men indulge, are the chief cause of disease in the physical as well as the mental state. Greed affects the mind; disappointment makes man depressed. Man can justify his existence as man only by the cultivation of virtues. Then he becomes a worthy candidate for Godhood.

758

ANYONE may blame you; but you should ignore all such blame and go forward in doing service without rancour. Service is your only duty. The Universe is a manifestation of God. So too is the individual. All these three are like Brahma, Vishnu, Maheswara - the Trinity. Actually, there are no three, they are one - it is the unified Godhead. Cherishing this thought of Oneness and serving the Society is true Adhyatmic or spiritual life.

759

YOU should take to "Sarvada, Sarvakaleshu Sarvatra Haricharithanam". It is just not sufficient holding a mala and doing Japa, once in the morning during Brahma Muhurtha time, once in the afternoon and once in the evening. All the twenty four hours you should be in the remembrance of God. You should all the time be striving to awaken the spirit within you and for its blossoming (Atma Vikas). This is the real purpose of life.

760

MAN has in him vast resources of power. When he does not utilise them while discharging his duties to himself and to the Society which sustains him, he is only becoming a target for ridicule. When you are on a railway station platform waiting for the train that is due, and when you come to know that it arrives five hours late, how do you react? You fling abusive words at the train. When the coaches receive from you such treatment, how much worse treatment you deserve for not fulfilling your duty and for disappointing the expectations that you have raised by your being a man? Utilise your skills and learning as consistently and as effectively as duty demands.

761

MOHAMMED preached monotheism and was driven out of Mecca. Jesus preached mercy and charity and he was charged with treason. Harischandra refused to give up his allegiance to Truth and was driven to such straits that he had to sell his wife and son as slaves. So, when you stick to the path of Truth and Righteousness, pain and poverty haunt you. But they are only clouds passing through the sky, hiding for a little while the splendour of the Sun.

762

THE motherland is not a mere lump of earth. When we desire its progress, we have to promote the progress of the people who dwell therein. The skill needed for resuscitating and reforming man are found only in students. The reforming process involves the removal in daily living of bad conduct and bad habits and the practice of good conduct and good deeds. A man's worth can be measured by his efforts to reform himself. This day, the Government has no authority to reform the people; and the people have no authority to reform the Government.

763

THE Pranava is the essence of all sustenance, the embodiment of Rasa; of the Earth, Water is the Rasa; of the water, Physic (Oshadi) is the Rasa; of the Physic, the Human Person is the Rasa; of the Human Person, the Word is the Rasa; of the Word RK is the Rasa; of the RK, Sama is the Rasa; of the Sama (Veda), OM is the Rasa. These eight Rasas, the Earth, Water, Physic, Person, Word, RK, Sama and OM lead to the ninth Ananda (Bliss). These are the Navaratnas, the nine Essences, the nine Sustainers; and Ananda is the goal which man is seeking, the aim of human life.

764

THE A of AUM is the Viswa; the U is Tejas; and the M is Praajna- this is another interpretation in the Scriptures. Viswa is the Walking; Tejas is the Dream; Prajna, the Deep Sleep stage. The Pranava Sadhana (the spiritual exercise of meditation on OM) is therefore very important for Seekers. The Vedas prescribe the repetition of the Pranava, while studying holy texts, reciting the Name of the Divine, carrying out daily duties and offering gifts.

765

YOU have a Kalpavruksha, ready to give you all that you want; you have the Lord, who protects and promotes all. The virtues of the people are treasures of the State; the Smarana of the Name of the Lord is the root of all virtues. Narada, who was afflicted with conceit that there was no other who had dedicated his very breath to the recital of the Name, was once humbled to find that a ryot, who managed to repeat the Name three times in the course of his overwhelming multitude of distressing preoccupation from cock-crow to dusk, was judged a great Bhakta.

766

JOY is your birth right; Shanti is your in-most nature. The Lord is your Staff and Support. Do not discard it; do not be led away from the path of faith by stories invented by malice and circulated by spite. Take up the Name of God, any of the in- numerable ones, any that appeals to you most and the Form appropriate to that Name and start repeating it, from now on. That is the Royal Road to ensure Joy and Peace, that will train you in the feeling of brotherhood and remove enmity towards fellow men.

767

BECAUSE you have taken residence in this body, you cannot call the body "I". When you sit here in this Hall, you do not call the Hall "I". You know you are separate and that you are here only temporarily. When you go about in a tonga, you do not say that the tonga is you, do you? You do not take the tonga inside, when you step down from it on reaching home. So, you also have to drop this body when you reach "home".

768

PARAMATMA reveals its Glory in man; Prema appears in various forms, attaching itself to riches, parents, children, one's life mate or friends. All these are sparks of the same flame and the Love of the Universal is its highest expression. This Prema cannot be cultivated by reading essays, guide books, and made-easy lessons and learning the steps by note. It has to begin with yearning for the Light and an unbearable agony to escape from the Darkness as in the prayer "Thamasomaa Jyothir Gamaya". The yearning itself will draw the light. The Love will grow by itself and, by its own slow alchemy, turn you into God.

769

YOU must cultivate non-attachment towards Prakruthi and attachment to the Lord. I am reminded of the story of Sankara Bhatta. He was a great Sadhaka intent on Japa and Ahgama to such an extent that he was reduced to skin and bone. He worshipped Saraswathi or Vidya which is the key to open the doors of Mukti. Goddess Lakshmi saw his sad plight and was moved with great pity. She chided Saraswathi for denying Her votary even the common joys of life and she hid in his leaky hut to pour on him Her Grace. She offered him plenty, prosperity, fame and fortune. She derided Saraswathi for neglecting to award comfort and joy on Her hapless servant. But Sankara Bhatta turned a deaf ear to her allurements; he said politely but firmly, "No, Saraswathi has blessed me with the most precious wealth, the gift that liberates me. I do not crave your Grace. Please remove yourself from my presence".

770

JEWELS give Joy, not Gold. You can experience the Name, you can imbibe the Form; you can take them to heart and dwell upon them and fill yourself with the joy that they evoke. That is why Jayadeva, Gomanga, Ramakrishna and others wished to remain ants, tasting Sugar rather than becoming sugar itself. The Name is like the seed implanted in your heart; when the shower of His Grace falls upon it, it sprouts into a lovely tree. All trees that sprout from the Name are equally lovely and shady.

771

MANAVA can become Madhava by engaging himself in Madhava Karma; he can then discover his "Narayana - Tatwam". What is the use of doing only Manavakarma or even Danavakarma and claiming that man is divine? Virtue is the life-breath and character is the backbone. Without these, no meritorious act will fructify. A man without character is like a pot with many holes, useless for carrying water or for storing it. Renounce and win Peace.

772

HOW far have you progressed using the chance of these Discourses and the Dharsan and Sparsan? Bring something into your daily practice, as evidence of your having known the secret of higher life from Me. Show that you have greater brotherliness, speak less with more sweetness and self-control and that you can bear defeat as well as victory with calm resignation.

773

WHILE speaking of God, who is guarding you, I am reminded of a note that someone has sent Me from this gathering. The note wants Me to explain why I have not mentioned SAI BABA in any of my Discourses so far, though I bear the name as the Avatar of SAI BABA. Evidently, the writer of the note had in mind the people who engage themselves in publicity work of Rama, Krishna or SAI BABA.

774

FOOLISHNESS, egoism, and sheer ignorance are the causes of misery of man today. The eye, the ear and the tongue lead man to anxiety and malice instead of making him a messenger of Peace and Harmony. Intellect is the root of pride and envy. Vishnu is Jagannatha at Puri; at Kasi Siva is Visweswara; where then is any room for rivalry between those who worship at Puri and those who worship at Kasi? Vishnu is Gopal (protector of cows) and Siva is Pasupathi (master of cows). Still, the innate urge to fight comes up in the heart of man and he uses the name of the Lord as an excuse for provoking the fighting tendencies.

775

THE airplane has to land at a certain place to take those who have reserved the right to fly with the tickets they have purchased. So too the Lord has to come down so that those who have won the right to be liberated may be saved. Incidentally, others too will know of the Lord, of His grace and ways of winning it, of the joy of liberation. There are some who deny even today the possibility of air travel; they curse the contrivance. They cavil at it. Similarly, there are many who cavil at the Avatar who has come to save them.

776

YOUR minds are wayward like monkeys that skip and jump from bough to branch. Give them to Me. I can make them steady and harmless. When I say "Sit", they will sit; when I say "Stand", they stand. That is what Sankaracharya offered to do; he told Siva that he would hand over to him the monkey that was his mind to Him so that it might be tamed and used for his delight. But it must be a complete handing over with no reservations.

777

MAN comes into the World, burdened with Maya and its instrument, the Mind. The Mind expresses itself through Attraction and Repulsion, Raga and Dwesha, Affection and Hatred towards the external