Rama Katha Rasa Vahini
(The Sweet Story of Rama’s Glory)
(The Sweet Story of Rama’s Glory)
Ramakatha Rasa Vahini is a lucid narrative of Rama's life. Baba has announced that He is the same Rama, come again to carry out His mission through his horde of followers. Drawn by His Love, we have the same good fortune now to share in his task of remoulding man after His image. The Ramayana (or the Rama Story) is an intensely human drama where God impersonates as man and gathers around Him, on the vast world-stage, the perfect and the imperfect, the human and the subhuman, the beast and the demon, to confer on us, by precept and example, the boon of Supreme Wisdom. It is a story that plays its tender fingers on the heartstrings of man, evoking lithe, limpid responses of pathos, pity, exultation, adoration, ecstasy and surrender, rendering us transformed from the animal and the human, into the Divine, which is our core.
Sai has declared that He is the same Rama come again, and that He is searching for His erstwhile associates and workers in order to allot them roles in His present Mission of resuscitating Righteousness and leading man into the Haven of Peace. While recounting the incidents in His life as Rama, Baba has included in His narrative, certain details of dialogues and diversions not contemplated by Valmiki or any other subsequent author. He mentions many additional events and encounters, which fill the lacuna that, have long disturbed admirers of the Ramayana.
He has now deigned to tell us Himself the story of this one epic Act in that Drama, wherein He took on the Rama role. As Rama, Sai instructed, inspired and invigorated, corrected, consoled and comforted His contemporaries in the Tretha Age. As Sai Rama, He is now engaged in the same task. While reading these pages, readers will often be pleasantly struck by the identity of the Rama of this story and the Sai Rama they are witnessing.The controversy over whether Rama is to be reckoned as a historic prince or as God Incarnate has been set to rest by Baba. The ‘Ramakatha Rasavahini’ is the very nectar of the great epic, Ramayana.
The whole volume of Rama’s story is divided into two parts. The first part deals with the story of Sri Rama from His birth till His banishment into the forest and the installation of Rama’s sandals on the throne of Ayodhya. The second part begins with the stay of Rama in the forest till the installation of Lava and Kusha on the throne of Ayodhya, the end of Ramayana.Ramakatha_RasaVahini-I
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The Geetha is a central gem in the crest jewel of the great Indian epic, the Mahabharata. Sage Vyasa wove this intricate tapestry of sublime heroism physical, mental, moral and spiritual. He had also codified the Vedic hymns and rituals. He prepared a magnificent garland of aphorisms summarizing the basic philosophic truths. In spite of His encyclopedic scholarship and great creative skill in the realm of thought, Vyasa was afflicted by a deep inner sadness. He had no sweetness or peace left in him.
Upanishad Vahini is a synoptic review of the ten principal Upanishads with a prologue and an epilogue on the rare text called the ‘Brahmanubhava Upanishad’. These Upanishads are esoteric and highly cryptic, but they elucidate the highest truths discernable to the intellect of Man.
Baba makes us aware of the comparatively less beneficial lower learning which deals with theories, inferences, concepts, conjectures and constructions. The Higher Learning hastens and expands the universal urge to know and become Truth, Goodness and Beauty, Sathyam Sivam Sundaram. Baba has come as Man among men on a self-imposed mission to correct the wrongs inflicted on mankind through the fanatically blind pursuit of lower learning. The human race has to voyage on an even keel; it is leaning too alarmingly towards the briny grave; the lower learning is lowering it into the bottomless pit. ‘Vidya’ alone is the remedy.
In the words of Bhagavan Baba, “Acquisition of the higher knowledge alone can fulfill the main purpose of
The world is enchanting, because it is tantalising in appearance, though it is fundamentally untrue. It is a
In Sandeha Nivarini Baba says, I am happy when anyone asks Me about the things he has not understood. Of course, you have every right. Then he asks the pupil, but are you reflecting on the answers I give and practicing what has been told you, with the conviction born of faith? What am I here for? Is it not for explaining to you the things you do not know? Ask me without hesitation or fear. I am always ready to answer. Only, the enquiry must be earnest, emerging out of a genuine desire to know and to practice what is good.
This Vahini is one of the earliest in the series, since it seeks to elucidate the fundamental concepts and precepts of religion, especially the technical words and expressions that seek to concretise them. For some years, this was published as an Appendix to a single Vahini, the Geetha Vahini, but later it was placed in the hands of seekers as a key publication, helpful for readers of all the Vahinis.
When the
‘Santhi’ means peace unaffected by desire, greed, hatred or anger. It is not curtailed by adversity or multiplied by windfalls. Baba says that we must cultivate the three virtues of viveka (intelligence), vairagya (detachment) and vichakshana (discrimination) in order to equip ourselves with Prasanthi. He prescribes the Viveka Chudamani, composed by Adi Sankara, as the text, which can develop in us these three virtues.
Baba's Geetha Vahini is the holy Bhagavad Geeta retold in order to save modern man from the myopia of egoistic materialism. It is not a resume or a commentary or an abridgement. It is the voice of Krishna Himself, ringing over the clash of hate and greed and calling us into more worthwhile victories. He has declared that He has come to unify and clarify, fructify and fortify the holy aspirations of man. The doubts and delusions, which torment us while we are engaged in the battle with our outer and inner kith and kin, are treated here with love and sympathy by Sai Krishna, who also provides us with the answers.
Whenever the gross and even the subtle are transcended, when the intelligence is clarified, when the self is free from feelings, impulses and instincts, what remains in the consciousness is the true self only. The person, then, is one with Eternal Truth, the One beyond everything. He becomes Brahman or Paramatman says Baba. This awareness is the acme of Ananda (or bliss).
Baba says, Dharma (Right Conduct) is like the river Saraswati, flowing unseen beneath the deeper levels of human consciousness, feeding the roots of activity, filling the springs of thought, cleansing the slushy eddies of feeling. When the river runs dry or is clogged by greed and hate, the avatar comes to let in a torrent of grace and restore its fresh, free flow.
Today quacks with new-fangled ideas lay down rules for Dhyana (Meditation), says Baba. Each one has his own special prescription and claims that his system can confer more benefit than that of others. But none have themselves experienced its sweetness of sanctity. That is the real reason why Dhyana has drawn out upon itself the cynical laughter of many. My intention is to instruct such people and guide them on the right path.
Baba has said that if He were to be identified by one characteristic more than any other, He could most aptly be called ‘Prema Swaroopa’, the Embodiment of Love. The very first Vahini (stream) that flowed forth from his pen to fertilize the mind of man was the book, ‘Prema Vahini’. Narada, the great exponent of love as a spiritual discipline, defines the path of love as equivalent to supreme devotion. The love is described as Supreme, because it is full and free, with no conditions, no trace of bargaining, no taint of fear. Once such love is practiced and experienced all distinctions drop, duality ceases and only the truth remains.