Love In Action

Sairam,

“Sankranti is the time when the inward journey towards a pure and unsullied heart is made. Just as the sun embarks on his northward journey, Sankraanthi is the day on which the intellect should be turned towards the Atma for Self-realization.The Veda has declared the Uttaraayana as a sacred period. The great warrior Bhishma, lying on a bed of arrows, waited for 56 days for the advent of Uttaraayana to end his life. The puranas have stated that whoever passes away in Uttaraayana will attain liberation.

Few people understand the true significance of festivals like Sankranthi. Man cannot secure enduring bliss through physical pleasures. He has to discover that the source of this bliss is within himself. Sankranthi enables man to make this discovery, like a man who carrying his spectacles on his forehead searches for it everywhere and discovers to his joy that it has been with him all along.

The Divine is not anywhere else. It is enshrined in one’s heart. Hence, the man who seeks the Divine within his heart redeems himself. He then attains liberation. All external spiritual exercises are of temporary value. They should be internalized to experience lasting bliss. All mental exercises also leave the heart unaffected. In the nine paths of devotion, beginning with listening to sacred things and ending with total surrender of the self (Aatma nivedanam), the last is the most important. After “Aatmanivedanam” (total surrender) there is no need for any other effort.

“Sankraanthi” gives the call for this total surrender. Sankraanthi is a kind of family festival. Yes. This is so. But the whole world is one family (“Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam”). The festival relates to the entire world. It is not confined to one’s kith and kin. Sankraanthi is related to the entire mankind. Whether people realize it or not, Sankraanthi promotes in one and all a feeling of happiness.

Sankraanthi promotes mental transformation. It illumines the minds of people. It induces the unfoldment of inner feelings. It brings about the manifestation of the invisible Atma within everyone. Sankraanthi is pregnant with such immense significance. It influences not only the mind but also the powers of nature. Nature is a projection of the mind. The world is rooted in the mind. (Manomoolam idam Jagath”). When the mind is turned towards the heart and the heart is filled with the Divine, the mind will cease to be a source of trouble. The mind is the master of the senses. When the senses are controlled the mind is under control. Only the master of the mind can attain Madhava (the Divine).

Adapted from Divine Discourse by Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba on Jan14, 1996