Leela Kaivalya Vahini

The Vedas originated from the breath of God; each syllable is sacred. Each word is a mantra. It exhorts all men to pursue the same holy desire. All hearts must be charged with the same good urge. All thoughts must be directed by noble motives towards holy ends. All men must tread the one path of truth, for all are manifestations of the One. The world is enchanting, because it is tantalising in appearance, though it is fundamentally untrue. It is a phenomenon, which is fading out. When this truth is realised, one becomes aware of the Cosmic Sport of God and the Eternal Universal Being. Leela Kaivalya Vahini (originally published in the Sanathana Sarathi periodical) is a cool, crystal clear stream that flows from the Divine pen of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba to dissolve all obstacles, like doubts and dogmas, purposeless arguments, and flimsy fancies of the sadhaka (spiritual aspirant). We consider it be but yet another sign of His benign grace that these published in the periodicals could be given a book form and placed at the Lotus Feet, on the auspicious occasion of His 65th Birthday, which eventually falls on the 50th year of proclamation of Avatarhood. May this Vahini lead all seekers in the path of spiritual progress and fill us all with Ananda, the Bliss Absolute.

The Vedas originated from the breath of God, and each syllable is sacred. Each word is a mantra. It exhorts all men to pursue the same holy desire. All hearts must be charged with the same good urge; all thoughts must be directed by noble motives toward holy ends. All men must tread the one path of truth, for all are manifestations of the One. The world is enchanting because it is tantalising in appearance, although it is fundamentally untrue. It is a phenomenon that is fading out. When this truth is realised, one becomes aware of the Cosmic Sport of God and the Eternal Universal Being. Leela Kaivalya Vahini (originally published in the periodical Sanathana Sarathi) is a cool, crystal-clear stream that flowed from the Divine pen of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba to dissolve all obstacles like doubts and dogmas, purposeless arguments, and flimsy fancies of the spiritual aspirant. We consider it to be but yet another sign of His benign grace that these periodicals could be given a book form and placed at the Lotus Feet on the auspicious occasion of His 65th Birthday, which eventually falls on the 50th year of proclamation of Avatarhood. May this Vahini lead all seekers in the path of spiritual progress and fill us all with absolute bliss (ananda).

Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba wrote a series of articles under the Vahini series, for Sanathana Sarathi, a monthly magazine being published by Sri Sathya Sai Sadhana Trust, Publications Division, Prasanthi Nilayam. These precious articles are brought out now, under the title “Geeta Vahini”, in this book, for the benefit of readers. This is not a commentary or summary of the divine message that was given by Lord Krishna to Arjuna. It conveys the same message in a simpler form to us, in order to remove our delusion and confer faith and strength on us, so that we may realise our own reality. Bhagawan says, “Drawing on the Divine that is inherent in us is the lesson of Geeta… Arjuna is the jiva and Krishna is the Deva. When both are in contact, impregnable might results… Krishna had to work in and through Arjuna, so that the reign of Dharma (righteousness) is re-established. Arjuna means white, pure, unblemished. Hence, he is the proper instrument.” We too can become proper instruments in restoring Dharma, if we follow the lessons that Bhagawan teaches through this book.

Started in 1958, Sanathana Sarathi is a monthly magazine devoted to Sathya (Truth), Dharma (Righteousness), Shanti (Peace) and Prema (Love) - the four cardinal principles of Bhagawan Baba's philosophy. It is published from Prasanthi Nilayam (the Abode of Highest Peace) and acts as a mouthpiece of Baba's Ashram as it speaks of the important events that take place in His sacred Abode, besides carrying Divine Messages conveyed through Divine Discourses of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. The word meaning of Sanathana Sarathi is the 'Eternal Charioteer'. It signifies the presence of the Lord in every being as the atma guiding their lives like a charioteer. It implies that he who places his life, the body being likened to a chariot, in an attitude of surrender in the hands of the Lord, will be taken care of by the Lord even as a charioteer would take the occupant of his chariot safely to its destination. The magazine is an instrument to disseminate spiritual knowledge for the moral, physical and mental uplift of humanity without any discrimination as the subject matter discussed therein is always of common interest and of universal appeal. The fifteen Vahinis - streams of sacredness - known as the Vahini Series comprising annotation and interpretation of the Upanishads and other scriptures, Itihasas like the Ramayana, the Bhagavatha and the Mahabharata, and authentic explanations on Dhyana, Dharma, Prema, etc., have been serially published in this magazine as and when they emanated from the Divine pen of Bhagawan Baba. This magazine is published in almost all Indian languages, English and Telugu from Prasanthi Nilayam and others from respective regions. Every year Sanathana Sarathi comes out with a special issue in November commemorating the Divine Birthday. The English and Telugu magazines are posted on the 10th and 23rd respectively, of every month, from Prasanthi Nilayam. This magazine has wide, ever increasing circulation in India as well as abroad, as the study of it brings the reader closer to the philosophy of the Avatar in simple understandable language THUS SPAKE SAI... Discoursing during the launch of Sanathana Sarathi... From this day, our Sanathana Sarathi will lead to victory the cohorts of truth - the Vedas, the Sastras and similar scriptures of all faiths, against the forces of the ego such as injustice, falsehood, immorality and cruelty. This is the reason why it has emerged. This Sarathi will fight in order to establish world prosperity. It is bound to sound the paean of triumph when universal Ananda is achieved.

The Summer Showers in Brindavan, 1974 are no showers, but a flood. Bhagawan in His compassion and boundless love covered the whole gamut of truths, esoteric and explicit, contained in the Vedas in His discourses. While unfolding the esoteric content and explaining the technical terms, He dispelled many misconceptions in the minds of students and pundits, particularly about the term ‘Brahman’, which He established by drawing from scriptural texts, as also His own testimony as Eternal and Universal. He explained the term Bharath as embracing the whole world and not confined to the geographic entity now called ‘India’. Bhagawan has made a loving and passionate appeal to all students to take His teachings to heart and practice Dharma all the while. In fact, it can be, without exaggeration, renamed ‘The Sathya Sai Gita’.

The auspicious day of Vijaya Dasami, in 1953, opened a golden chapter in the history of mankind, for that was the day chosen by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba for His first ever divine discourse in public. The flow of divine discourses, which started on that auspicious day out of His immense compassion for the well-being and harmony of humanity, has continued unabated even after five decades. During this period, Bhagawan has delivered hundreds of discourses in various places, to a variety of audiences. His benevolent acts for the humanity at large are also unparalleled. His noble mother made three requests to Him, namely to provide drinking water, a school, and a hospital for the village of Puttaparthi. Bhagawan has commissioned mammoth drinking water projects, benefitting hundreds of villages, towns, and even the city of Chennai. He has also built schools, colleges, super specialty hospitals, and even an outstanding university, and constructed thousands of houses to cyclone-hit people. This priceless inaugural volume in Sathya Sai Speaks contains thirty three divine discourses, of which five are for the students and authorities, giving invaluable guidance. There are also five discourses addressed to the residents of different villages, advising them on the value of unity and brotherhood.

Swami says, “When a mother is feeding her child, you can see her inducing the child to eat by means of harsh words, a smile, a joke, a threat, or a story, diverting its attention, showing the child a dog, a flower, or the moon. I have also to adopt the same tactics to make you listen and assimilate the valuable food that is so necessary for your growth. That is the reason why I relate stories, sing, recite poems, etc. in My discourses!” With this inspiration, Bhagawan’s teachings and related moral stories are compiled in the form of this book from His Divine Discourses, for better understanding of His teachings. This book should help us in getting inspired, to put His teachings into practice in our daily lives and grow spiritually better and better, with each day.