The Ishvara who causes creation, preservation and dissolution through these is I, Myself, remember. There is no substance other than Me; there is no Reality other than Me. I am the Primal Cause, the Primal Substance. ‘I am One; let Me become Many’. Thus I Myself resolved upon this expansion into manifoldness, called Srishti. That resolution affected and motivated the Mayashakti and so the Mahat-tattva got produced. That was the first step in the evolution of Prakriti. (GV, p. 103)
In the Gita (18:66), the declarations by Shri Krishna of
sarva-dharman parityajya
mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
moksayisyami ma sucah
ksetra-jnam capi mam viddhi
sarva-ksetresu bharata
ksetra-ksetrajnayor jnanam
yat taj jnanam matam mama (13:3)
- ‘Aham mokshayisyami - I shall absolve you’, ‘Mam ekam saranam vraja - Come to me, the One, for refuge’, ‘ksetra-jnam capi mam viddhi - And, also know Me, as the Knower of the Field’ and the like - He refers to ‘I’, does He not? So, this expression ‘I’ is clearly omnipresent. It is the sign and symbol of all Jivatmas; it has unlimited forms and appearances. Like the string that passes through the rosary beads, it interpenetrates and holds together all names and forms.
However transient names and forms might be, the ‘I’ persists without being affected. Therefore, one has to know this omnipresent ‘I’ so that one can understand all that has to be known.
He who has known it is the Jagadguru, (the world-teacher), the Vishvaguru, (the Teacher of all beings), the Sadguru (The teacher to be followed).
The body is but the container, the Upadhi, the sheath. Nevertheless, imposing differences and distinctions based on physical characteristics and material considerations, some are elevated as ‘touchable’ and some condemned as ‘untouchable’. Some are classified as ‘high’ and others as ‘low’. Intellect cannot claim honour, and persons cannot claim to be pundits, if studies are directed to the amassing of money or earning the wherewithal for a comfortable living; nor can skill and excellence in argumentative scholarship be worthy of reverential mention.
Really, the word ‘I’ leads you to the Supreme Godhead, when you dive into its significance. ‘That is you’, ‘I and that are One’, this is what great Vedic dictum, ‘Tat Tvam Asi – That thou art’ - declares. That is the very core of all teaching, the grandest of counsels.
This sacred principle embodied in the ‘I’ is beyond the grasp of the most learned scholars, by means of lone inquiry, without guides and helpers. Only, the guides have to be those who are aware of the Truth and who are earnest in living the Truth. It is beyond the reach of scholarship, logic and grammar. Note that these are warnings administered by the Srutis and the Smritis.
Well. When one intends to learn in a general way about this ‘I’ and its implications, he can be told the secret in just three sentences: ‘I am active in day time, when I am awake; I sleep at night; I experience dreams when I sleep. Thus, acting and experiencing both day and night, I die’. When one considers these statements of the individual, one can conclude that they are based on the individual’s knowledge gained from this life. ‘The I begins, when I am born’, he believes. But, did this ‘I’ exist before birth?
If it had, how can an existing thing be said to be born? Even if this objection is ignored, how did it exist and where? Was it disembodied apart from name and form? Was it beyond the pale of the senses? Doubts such as these pursue the seeker in waves. It has to be understood clearly that the ‘I’ is not related or affixed to one object, thing, or being, to one name and form.
Remember this when you identify and recognise the ‘I’ or arrive at the true answer to the question, ‘Who am I’? You have identified and recognised the entire Cosmos and its mysteries. (SV, p. 106)
‘I am rasa in water; I am effulgence, prabha in the Sun and Moon; I am the pranava in the Vedas; I am shabda (sound) in the Akasha; I am Paurusham (heroism, adventure and aspiration) in Man’. (GV, p. 101)
There is no need to seek the jungle as if I am only there. There is no place where I am not; there is no form, which is not Mine. I am the five elements: earth, water, fire, air, ether! Where can you find a place devoid of one or other of these five? To experience My Presence and My Glory, there is no special place for I am everything, everywhere, ever.
The fiery nature of fire is I, Myself. I am Life in all-living beings. I am the strength of the strong, the strength that is free from greed and lust (the strength of intellect, Buddhi balam). Dhana balam (born of wealth), Vidya balam (born of scholarship); Jnana balam (coming from the consciousness), Manobalam (arising from one’s determination), Deha balam (which is just muscular force) are to be considered as Mine for I am the Parameshvara.
Only, all forms of strength have to be free from kama andraga, desire and attachment. If kama and raga adhere, then it becomes bestial strength, not divine; it is Pashu-balam, not Pashupati balam. (GV, pp. 109-110)
Krishna said ‘I give expression only to truth. I do not adjust My speech to your approval or disapproval; I am not elated when you approve, pressed when you disapprove. I am the same in all. But all are not the same in Me’.
Brahma once addressed Narada:
- Creation is My task. Creation is My task, the way in which I fulfil My mission, My tapas. I will, and creation happens. I lay down certain rules and modes for each species; if they are properly adhered to, the wheel turns aright in Dharma.
- I take the form of Rudra. Day and night are willed by Me. The rulers of living beings are part of Me. The urge that people have to increase and multiply is the reflection of My Will. I also limit the unlimited increase of beings. For this, I take on the form of Rudra I create the bad, in order to highlight and promote the good; and in order to protect the good I set certain limits, both to the good and bad, for they would otherwise stray into ways and inflict great harm.
- I am the core of every being. I am immanent in every being. People forget Me, who is without them; I am the inner core of every being but they are not aware of this. So, they are tempted to believe the objective world not to be true and then pursue objective pleasures, and fall into grief and pain. On the other hand, it they concentrate all attention on Me alone, believing that the Lord has willed everything and everyone, I bless them and reveal to them the truth and they are I and I am they.
- I am Hari and Hara I am the Cause of all causes. I am Eternal. I am Sat-cit-ananda, I am Existence,Knowledge, Bliss, I am Hari and Hara too; for I transform Myself into these manifestations as occasion arises. Creation, the Universe, is but the projection of My Will; it has not basic reality. ‘O My mind - projected son, Narada! I declared this truth to you as a result of My deep love towards you. Others will not be able to grasp the mystery of this creation. What I have just revealed to you is known as concise Bhagavatam. (BhaG, p. 162)
‘My apparel, which I willed and folded around Me became akasha, the akasha got transformed into vayu, the vayu changed into Agni, the Agni into jala, the jala became Prithvi or earth; the earth grew grains of food, the food developed into the body! So, it is clear, is it not, that the deha too is Myself? Why doubt this?’ said Krishna. ‘Therefore, I am adhibhutam also, as much as I am, as I said before,Brahman, Adhyatma and karma. (GV, p. 138)
‘I am the witness; through Me, this prakriti, this conglomeration of the five elements called prapancha, all these movable and immovable objects, are formed. Through Me as the cause, the prapancha behaves in various ways. Fools who cannot understand Me as the Highest Principle and as the Master of all the elements whose will they have to obey, take Me to be just a man. Some great men reverently meditate on Me as Brahman; others worship Me under various names and in various forms; some others worship Me through Jnana yajna and atmayajna’. said Krishna. (GV, p. 168)
‘Whatever the name, whatever the form of worship, I am the recipient, for I am the goal of all. I am the only One; there is no other. I Myself become the worshipped, through My many names and forms. Not only this; I am the fruit of all actions, the Bestower of the Fruit, the Basis the Prompter, the Promoter of all. I am the Force behind the Birth, Existence and Death of everything and of every life. I am the Birthless Deathless cause’. (GV, p. 169)
‘I am splendour; I have no partiality at all. To experience Me and derive Bliss from Me, all have equal chance opportunity and authority. Distinctions and differences arise as a result of the faults of the sadhakas. They are no blemishes in Me’. (GV, p. 187)
‘The five elements: earth, water, fire, wind and sky are also My forms. I am the activity in the sun, moon and stars. When the great destruction comes, I am the force of destruction and I am the force, which constructs again. I am everything from the microscopic to the macroscopic; I am the Past, the Present and the Future. I am the three regions and three gunas, which have shaped man and nature.
There is no object, which is not I; no name, which is not Mine. Blood taken from any part of the body is the same as from any other part; so too, the Divine is everywhere the same’. (GV, p. 190)
yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam srjamy aham
paritranaya sadhunam
vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge
(Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 4:7 & 8)
‘Whenever dharma declines, I restore it and put down the forces which cause the decline, by assuming a form’ and, ‘I am born again and again in every crisis in order to protect the good, punish the wicked and restore dharma’. (SSS Vol.4, p. 119)
To earn that consciousness of not-two, Love alone is the path. Prema means seva, which means sadhana; which means expansion, self-enlargement, reaching out of the very horizon of being and becoming! Until all is I. (SSS Vol.8, p. 47)
I am like Kalpavriksha. My task is to give each what he asks for. I have no prejudices and no favouritism. Not even the shadow of cruelty can touch Me. No fault can be imputed to Me. The rays of the Sun fall equally upon all that are directly in their way; but if something is behind something else, inside a closed room for instance, how can the Sun illumine? Cultivate the higher yearnings and you receive the higher stages. The fault lies in the aspirant and his aspirations, not in the attitude of the Lord. (GV, p. 63)
When you came into this world I was with you, I am always within you and around you. I have protected you from many dangers even when you did not recognise Me. I act for your well-being alone. Father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter and all your relatives..... I have specially chosen you to experience and evolve. They remain with you only while the purpose exists; they do not remain attached for ever. I take each one of them when their time is up. Friends will be there when you have material possessions and they too vanish. When they have all left you and you are alone, I am there waiting for you just as I was when you came into this world. Therefore, you must always try to please Me, serve Me and be always answerable to Me alone. (SS60, p. 60)
I am a kind of smith who repairs broken, leaky, damaged hardware. (FDD, pp. I-1)
I am like a shoekeeper whose shop is stocked with all things man needs. (FDD, pp. I-4)
I am ‘Satyasya Satyam’, the truth of truths. Why has truth come on earth in human form? To plant in the heart of man the yearning for truth, to place man on the road to truth, to help man to reach truth, by loving instruction and by the final gift of illumination. (FDD, pp. I-5)
I am the truth of truth, I guide towards truth, I manifest truth and when men realise truth, they realise Me. (FDD, pp. I-6)
I do not like praise, no father likes his son to praise Him, and no son approaches his father with a welcome address. (FDD, pp. I-8)
I shall bear the burden of ensuring peace, prosperity of all who rely on Me, I shall bear the burden of your welfare here and hereafter. I shall look after the well-being of all who renounce the ego and take refuge in Me. I shall never give up, even if you forsake Me, for it is not in Me to forsake those who deny Me. I have come for all. Those who stay away will come again to Me, do not doubt this. I shall beckon them back to Me. (FDD, pp. I-16)
I shall pardon all your errors, provided you repent sincerely and resolve not follow evil again. I shall save all those who surrender whole-heartedly to Me and I shall liberate them from the cycle of birth and death. (FDD, pp. I-17)
You cannot see Me, but I am the light you see by; You cannot hear Me, but I am the sound you hear by; You cannot know Me, but I am the Truth by which you live. (YG, p. 28)
I am that invisible hand in the stellar crossroads, where innumerable planets fly round and round, and I am the ‘Adi-purusha’ in control ensuring that they do not clash with one another! (YG, p. 32)
I am in your heart and you are in mine… Make the fullest use of your talents and march as long as you can and pitch your tent nearest the goal when darkness falls! (YG, p. 34)
I know everything that has happened to everybody in the past, everything that is happening and everything that will happen in the future. I know why a person has to suffer in this life and what will happen to him the next time he is born because of that suffering this time... I know both sides of the picture: the past and the present, the crime and the punishment, the achievement and the reward. (YG, p. 132)
You have to offer your heart and accept Grace. The Sathya Sai Organisation is formed so that we may share this divine love with everybody and thereby experience the latent divinity and not for enrolling large numbers. That is self-realisation. What is self? Here there are two forms of self, I. We say I am, I am. What is this I? There is the one lettered I or three lettered eye. Are you one lettered I or three lettered eye? You think the three lettered eye as the self, the Atma. You say I, I but do not enquire whether it is the body or the Atma. That is the search for truth.
I is not the body. You refer to the body with ‘my’; it is my body, my mind, my eye, my face. Then who am I? When you say my face, are you not separate from your face? This is my kerchief, my flower. Flower is separate from me. Kerchief is separate from me. Then who am I? We should inquire like this. This is discrimination. We should discriminate that way whole-heartedly. Then you will have the true vision of the I. (DTB Vol.3, pp. 10-11)
I am not the body – a mass of flesh, bones and blood,
I am not the mind – a bundle of wasteful desires, manifest and unmanifest.
I am not the feeling – of infatuation that obstructs the way to liberation;
I am that Eternal Paramatma, who is aware of the power that I Am.
(PD, p. 74)
I am Bhakta Paradina! I will come whenever they call Me. (SSSDK, p. 211)
I am the Master Goldsmith. When you give some to goldsmith for preparing a jewel, you cannot object to his subjecting the gold to burning or heating in fire, cutting with a chisel, striking with a hammer, pulling with a plier and burnishing with a file. If you object, the smith will simply return the gold to you without converting it into a jewel. Similarly, once you have offered yourselves to Me, you must gladly accept whatever I might do with you to transform you into divine ornaments. If you complain or whimper, saying that you are being tested and tortured, how can you be converted into valuable jewels of divinity? How can you sanctify your life? (NNSG Vol.5, p. 14)
I have come to repair the Ancient Path. When the road laid down for man’s uplift is overgrown with thorny bushes and becomes unrecognizable, The Lord Himself takes a human form to repair and restore it. As a part of the repairing process, the avatar has to clear the overgrowth of unwanted weeds in the form of misinterpretation of texts and blind traditions. (NNSG Vol.5, p. 17)
‘I am I!’ ‘I’ is the basis of everything. To say ‘I am this or that’, is dvaita bhavam – duality. ‘I’, means advaitam or ekatvam – oneness. That is the ultimate truth. It is this ‘I’, which is called by various names – God, Atma, Brahman, Krishna, Rama, Shiva, Allah or Yahweh.’ (SSSm Vol.5, p. 2)
You must see; hear, study, observe, experience and reflect; only then, can you understand that I am Love (Prema): that I give only one thing, Bliss (Ananda) through Love. My task is to grant solace, courage, and Peace (Shanti). That is to say my characteristics are the ancient, authentic ones; only the manifested form is new. (SSS Vol.25)