Prashanthi Vahini:The Supreme Bliss of the Divine

Prashanthi Vahini
(The Supreme Bliss of the Divine)

Baba's book Prasanthi Vahini, gives us the key to the treasure house of that peace which escapes understanding and defies logic, namely ‘Prasanthi’ (or supreme peace), which the Geeta calls the goal of human endeavour.

‘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 says, Like the children playing with dolls you, too, call some beings elephants and others horses, some friends and others enemies, and spend your entire life in such make-believe. Once you realise that without the spirit they are the same inert substance, the notion of many and the diversity of name and form, both disappear, and there can be no liking and disliking any more. You laugh and weep, love and hate, live in joy, sorrow, anger and fascination, but all these varied reactions do not make the objective world less unreal.

Vairagya (detachment) gets a new meaning in Prasanthi Vahini. ‘Raga’ means attachment and vairagya comes when you realise that the stone to which you were attached is really god. The stoneness is like a veil cast by your ignorance upon what is really of the same substance as you yourself. The vairagya that results from this illumination is lasting and most sublime, Baba explains.

Prashanthi_Vahini