Man has been taken over by an overpowering desire to investigate and conquer Nature, To this end, he has relied upon his physical prowess, intellectual capacity, power of position and strength of sheer number. What has he achieved in the process? Without God’s Grace and support, he cannot taste even an iota of success. Nature is not anyone’s property. It belongs to God alone. Hence, only by first attaining God’s Grace can it be conquered.
Nature is not merely a conglomeration of the five elements; nor is it an assortments of the five life principles, or the five sheaths, or the five senses. Nature is the very Embodiment of Divinity. Man is making every effort to dominate beautiful Nature as Truth, Goodness and Beauty. Alexander, the disciple of Aristotle, also propounded the same truth to the world. However, wherefrom have the beauty and elegance come? God is beauty! Hence, Nature also is beautiful. God is reflected in Nature. In trying to overcome Nature without the permission of God, man experiences failure and hardship. In turn, this leads to troubles, obstacles and sorrows. This truth is propounded in the Ramayana. (SSB 1996, pp. 86-87)
If you crave for prakriti, the pleasing, the objective world, you cannot get a perfect picture, a synoptic vision, you become one-eyed, warped, defective. (SSS Vol.4, p. 134)
Believe that Dharma or Moral Rectitude will never play false; it will ensure greater joy than can be gained through all other means. Rama destroyed Ravana; it was victory of one head over ten; Concentration over distraction. Ravana craved for Prakriti (Sita) discarding the Purusha (spirit) which gave it values and meaning viz., Rama. If you crave for Prakriti, the objective world, you degrade yourself, you deny your reality, and you join Ravana’s brood. Do not imagine that the lord is outside Prakriti, or even of you, who are really a part of Prakriti. He is in you, beside you, before you. He is the eye of your eye; the I of your I. Yearn for the yoga or union with Him, through the unwavering awareness of His being the real You. Yearn for yoga; and whatever bhoga (pleasure) you really need will be offered to you in due course. If on the other hand, you yearn for bhoga itself, you are gone! You are blessed only with roga (disease). (SSS Vol.3, p. 182)
Prakriti consists of earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect and ego. Beyond this Prakriti, however, there is a higher realm known as Para prakriti. Every person must grasp the meanings of ‘Prakriti’ and ‘Para prakriti’. It is through Para prakriti that man becomes Divine. Prakriti binds man to the world, Para prakriti divinises him. Prakriti is concrete corporeal and tangible, Para prakriti is abstract, incorporeal and intangible. The immanent Atma is also incorporeal and intangible. It is a subsistent beyond mind, space and time, but it can be intuitively and mystically experienced by following the path of Yoga.
Prakriti is a vessel; Sadhana is the churning-rod and Jnana is the rope wound round the churning-rod of Sadhana. Pull the rope of Jnana and churn Prakriti with the churning-rod of Sadhana, and the Divinity that is latent in Prakriti will show forth. Some people are too slothful to make an effort, and go on arguing that God is non-existent. Every human heart contains the wish-fulfilling tree (Kalpataru) of divinity. It has also the wish-fulfilling sacred cow (Kamadhenu). (SSB 1979, p. 105)
Prakriti, or nature, is the vestment of Purusha, the primary principle. The bounties of nature should be enjoyed only with the benediction of Paramatma. (SSB 1979, p. 148)
The manifest nature of the individual is moulded by desire. He shapes himself in line with his hopes, aspirations, attempts and achievements. Even his own future life is designed by him through his decisions and deeds. The force that his ‘reason’ exerts on him and which directs his will in specific directions is known as Prakriti, or ‘Nature’. When once it is discovered that one’s own level of intelligence is the prime factor in determining one’s inclinations and desires, then, it is easy to follow the means by which one can win release from the hold of ‘Prakriti’. (SSVahini, p. 162)
Sita is the daughter of Mother Earth and the Consort of Rama – this is as far as the Ramayana is concerned. In spiritual terms, Rama is Paramatma (God) and Sita is Prakriti (Nature). Nature has been created by God and belongs to God. In the Ramayana, this symbolized by the marriage of Sita and Rama; the marriage represents the eternal unity and the inseparable nature of God and His Creation. Ravana who did not understand all these subtleties tried to abduct Sita and paid dearly for it. Towards the end, Ravana’s wife Mandodari said, ‘Ravana, Shri Rama is God Himself and Sita is the embodiment of Mother Supreme. You have committed a heinous crime in abducting Sita. What right do you have to take away what belongs to someone else? Repent at least now for what you have done. Go to Rama, fall at His Feet, seek His pardon, and restore Sita back to Him.’ But alas, when disaster beckons, the mind gets perverted, so Ravana ignored Mandodari’s advice and later paid the price for his rashness. (SSB 2000, pp. 102-103)