THE CALL

OF
THE SCRIPTURES
Sri Swami Chidananda

Published by
THE DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY
P.O. SHIVANANDANAGAR—249 192
Distt. Tehri-Garhwal, Uttarakhand, Himalayas, India
www.sivanandaonline.org, www.dlshq.org
 First Edition: 2014
[ 2,000 Copies ]

©The Divine Life Trust Society

Swami Chidananda Birth Centenary Series—22

FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION

Published by Swami Padmanabhananda for

The Divine Life Society, Shivanandanagar, and
printed by him at the Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy
Press, P.O. Shivanandanagar, Distt. Tehri-Garhwal,
Uttarakhand, Himalayas, India
For online orders and Catalogue visit : dlsbooks.org
 PUBLISHERS’ NOTE
24th September 2016 marks the auspicious
occasion of Birth Centenary of Worshipful Sri
Swami Chidanandaji Maharaj. To commemorate
this sacred occasion, the Headquarters Ashram
has decided to bring out one hundred booklets
comprising illuminating talks of Worshipful
Sri Swami Chidanandaji Maharaj for free
distribution.
To propagate Sadgurudev Sri Swami
Sivanandaji Maharaj’s gospel of Divine Life,
Worshipful Sri Swamiji Maharaj travelled
extensively in India and abroad and showed the
path of divine life to countless seekers through his
spontaneous and highly inspiring lectures. His
lectures, in Sadgurudev’s words, are the
outpourings of his saintly heart, the revelations of
intuitive wisdom.
We are immensely happy to bring out some of
his hitherto unpublished lectures in a booklet
form as our worshipful offering at his holy feet on
the blessed occasion of his Birth Centenary. The
present booklet ‘The Call of the Scriptures’ is a
compilation of his four inspiring talks at the
sacred Samadhi Shrine during the year 1991
and 2003.
We express our heartfelt gratitude towards
the inmates of the Headquarters Ashram for their
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loving service in transcribing, editing and
compiling these talks.
May the abundant blessings of the Almighty
Lord, Sadgurudev Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj
and Worshipful Sri Swami Chidanandaji Maharaj
be upon all.

—The Divine Life Society

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 1. THE CALL OF
THE SCRIPTURES
(Morning talk by Sri Swami Chidanandaji Maharaj,
23rd October 1991)
Prostrations to the Presence of the great
Reality, the eternal Cosmic Being pervading all
existence, all space, the Omnipresent Reality who
has drawn us together at this early morning hour
into the presence of Holy Master Gurudev. Loving
adorations to the spiritual presence of Gurudev
Swami Sivanandaji, before whose sacred Samadhi
we are gathered in this hall, in this holy Ashram
on the banks of divine Mother Ganga.
Radiant Atman, devotees of the Lord, lovers of
righteousness, Sadhaks and seekers! May you
ever live in the light of this Truth, namely, that the
essential life of each and every individual soul is a
spiritual life. All of you being immortal spirits,
your life cannot be anything other than spiritual.
This is the simple truth. This is the actuality of
your being. This is the central declaration of the
Upanishads, the central affirmation in the Srimad
Bhagavad Gita. It is the central teaching of all the
Gitas - Avadhuta Gita, Ashtavakra Gita, Ribhu
Gita, Rama Gita—that you are not this cage of
flesh and bones, you are not this body. The central
truth is that you are not this fickle mind, filled
with anger and passion, envy and jealousy, love
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6 THE CALL OF THE SCRIPTURES

and hatred, deluded attachment, greed and

avarice, intolerance; you’re not this mind
characterised by these negative qualities. You’re
not this mind which is imperfect and subject to
selfishness, superiority complex, inferiority
complex, that afflicts you with fear, anxiety,
fantasy, imagination, plagues you with memories,
makes you depressed or makes you unnaturally
elated, swinging high and low. Vedanta declares,
the Upanishads declare, Srimad Bhagavad Gita
declares, all the Gitas declare that you are quite
different and distinct from this petty mind. You
are also beyond the intellect and its insufficient
reasoning. It has logic and reasoning, but it has
also perverted logic and irrational reasoning,
reasoning that is contrary to facts, contrary to real
intelligence and contrary to right thinking and
right discrimination. It can lead you; it can
mislead you. It can help you; it can hinder you. It
can rescue you; it can leave you in the lurch; it can
fail you when you need it the most. This is the
story of man’s intellect. It requires very little to be
confused and thrown out of normal functioning,
very little. “Mano buddhyahamkara chittani na
aham”—“mind, intellect, ego, memory, I am not.”
Jagatguru Adi Sankaracharya tells us in his
famous composition.
Now therefore, if you are a principle, if you are
the essence and a principle beyond this physical
instrument, beyond this instrumental mind and
this insufficient intellect that is prone and subject
to both rationality as well as irrationality, if you
 THE CALL OF THE SCRIPTURES 7

are beyond and different from the physical,

mental, intellectual factors then whatever you
are, That constitutes your real existence. The ego
principle, the little ‘I’, this empirical ephemeral,
ever-changing ‘I’ ceases to exist once in every 24
hours. When you enter into deep sleep, this ‘I’
does not exist, it is not experienced. It is a
temporary phenomenon. You are conscious that
the waking ‘I’ does not function when you are
asleep and dreaming; the waking ‘I’ does not
function.
Therefore, that which you think you are, in
terms of your relationship and your place in this
relative world of names and forms, this concept,
this awareness of yourself, Vedanta conclusively
establishes and proves, is not the truth of your
central being. It is as temporary and an
appearance as the mind and the intellect and has
no greater validity or greater substance. It is
insubstantial. It is very difficult to realise this,
because this has to be grasped by the mind and
intellect, which as we have just now seen, are
characterised by a false notion. They are in a state
of error. An inveterate habit has made your mind
think in a particular way. To disillusion it and
change its way of thinking takes time. But in
moments of clarity the intellect can grasp this
truth,—this central Vedanta.
This fact therefore has to be grasped and fully
recognised that your true life, your authentic life
is the life in that awareness, and awareness is
your true being. That genuine life, the authentic
8 THE CALL OF THE SCRIPTURES

life is the spiritual life. Everything that comes in

the way of your recognising it and keeping this
recognition alive is your problem and your
obstacle. It has to be overcome, it has to be
removed and ultimately eradicated, uprooted, so
that it does not exist. Otherwise, it is always an
intruding factor, complicating the inner state with
error, with forgetfulness, with delusion. If you
want the inner state to be clear, bright, effulgent,
authentic, true, genuine, this thing which
interferes with it, has to be gradually eased out.
This is the requirement of Vedanta, a patient
process of Sadhana.
But let us now go back to the central fact.
Your life is the life spiritual. That is the truth.
Therefore with every breath, at every moment,
strive to live in this Truth, strive always to base
your life upon this inner fact: “I may have physical
functions, I may have mental processes, I may
have intellectual activity, but they do not
constitute an expression of what I am. On the
contrary, whether I’m going to make the activities
of these levels helpful to my inner spiritual
unfoldment, or whether I’m allowing these
activities to come in the way of my spiritual
unfoldment, this is something which is my choice.
It will be as I allow it to be.”
So what is going to be the choice? This each
seeker has to decide for himself or herself. “The
activities and functioning of my physical self, my
mental and intellectual self, how am I going to
regard them? What place am I going to give them
 THE CALL OF THE SCRIPTURES 9

in the truth of my being? What are they with

reference to the truth of my being? Am I going to
be overwhelmed by them and taken away from the
truth? Am I going to allow them to take me away
from my centre, or in spite of them am I going to
remain unshaken, centred in my Reality? That I
am going to practice. I am going to make forth
continuous endeavour to be firmly established in
the consciousness of my real and higher being, in
spite of them. I am not going to be deprived of this
inner consciousness by my playing into the hands
of these levels and these functions.” This is
something each seeker, Sadhaka, Yogi has to
work out. You have to address yourself with this
all-important question of how you stand within
the complex of your physical, mental and
intellectual nature and your physical, mental and
intellectual activities; how do you stand in this
situation?
This is a consideration central to your day to
day living. It is a consideration of the very essence
and vital to your true life, the inner life. One day or
the other you have to face it. You have to become
100% aware of this situation within yourself in
your subjectivity, and how situations are within
yourself, in your subjectivity, and how you are
going to address these situations and what are
you going to make of them? That will decide the
reality of your spiritual life. That will decide the
power and the strength of your spiritual life.
Reflect upon this well, and deeply start
working upon it. Adjust yourself to this crucial
10 THE CALL OF THE SCRIPTURES

question of your inner being, because your

spiritual life, your authentic life will depend upon
it. Well, that is the truth for you to reflect upon, it
is food for your thoughts.
Now we may digress a little, but it would not
be a digression indeed. We are uttering collective
prayers, morning and evening, for the welfare of
all mankind, for improvement of things in India,
and for the relief and for the sake of the victims of
the earthquake. We are doing it. But then, in
addition to these collective prayers during
Satsanga, nothing prevents you to also set apart
some time, maybe 5 minutes daily, to recite the
Mrityunjaya Mantra and dedicate it to the welfare
and recovery of the earthquake victims. Nothing
prevents you. It would not at all be a bad idea if
you said, “Why not I, as a Sadhaka, as a devotee of
God, as one with universal love, as a kind and
compassionate devotee of God, lover of my
fellowmen, why not I think of them once in 24
hours, why not I try to help them with some
Mantra Shakti?” If thus you think and set aside 5
minutes every day for reciting the Mrityunjaya
Mantra, that would indeed be in line with the
principles and ideals of Divine Life.
 2. THE SUN GOD—BESTOWER OF
SELF-KNOWLEDGE
(Early morning Meditation Talk at the sacred
Samadhi Mandir on 5th October 2003)
Worshipful homage to the supreme infinite,
eternal, all-transcending, non-dual, cosmic divine
Reality! Loving adorations and prostrations to
revered and beloved holy Master Gurudev Sri
Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj!
It is a happy coincidence that the inaugura-
tion of the unbroken chanting in the Bhajan Hall
of the sacred Mahamantra “Hare Rama Hare
Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare, Hare Krishna,
Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare” sixty
years ago and the celebration of the Diamond
Jubilee for which a special sixty days of group
chanting has been organised, happens to be a
Sunday. Coincidence lies in this fact that Sunday
is the day specially kept apart for offering our
salutations and adorations to the Sun god Surya
Narayana Bhagavan.
We offer special reverence to the Sun god,
because without Him our world would be in
darkness. Imagine a day when the sun does not
rise—don’t think that somehow there is already a
light, and we can walk and go about. This
‘pre-sunrise light’ also is there because the sun is
approaching; even this light is due to the Sun. The
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12 THE CALL OF THE SCRIPTURES

pre-sunrise light is called dawn, and in the Vedas

even this dawn has been hymned. There are
hymns in the Vedas saluting the dawn by the
name Usha-kaal. The skies turn pink, and as the
sun approaches, pink rays shoot out, which they
called the fingers of dawn. “The pink hand of dawn
has appeared in the East! Lo behold, soon will
come a brilliant bright Being whose chariot is
drawn by a charioteer who has no legs!” For some
reason, they picture the Sun God, the bright
Surya Narayana Bhagavan, coming in a chariot
drawn by seven horses, and the charioteer has no
legs up to the knees—even the knees he does not
have. Therefore he is known as ‘Anurusarathi’.
And the coincidence is this: Surya Narayana
Bhagavan brings us from darkness to light, and
the Divine Name of God does precisely the same
thing. From the darkness of ignorance we come to
the divine light of illumination because the Name
is one of those Tattvas of Bhagavan that takes us
beyond. If chanted with devotion, with
persistence, the Divine Name takes us beyond the
darkness of Ajnana and bestows upon us the light
of Brahma-Jnana, Atma-Jnana, and liberates us
forever from this wheel of birth and death and
rebirth.
We are all bound in this wheel of birth and
death because of Ajnana. If we attain
Brahma-Jnana, we go beyond birth and death; we
attain Kaivalya Moksha. Our beloved and most
worshipful Gurudev has specially written a book
on this path of attaining enlightenment and
 THE CALL OF THE SCRIPTURES 13

liberation through the practice of the Divine

Name; it is called ‘Japa Yoga’. “Kali Yuga Kevala
Naama Aadhaara” – In Kaliyuga the Divine Name
is the only support.
As one normally talks about centuries and
millennia, our orthodox tradition calls the
passage of time Krita, Treta, Dvapara and Kali. In
Krita Yuga He came as Narasimha Bhagavan in
order to give His Darshan to His child-devotee
Prahlada. In Treta Yuga, He came as Sri
Ramachandra.
And, it is very interesting! Rama was born in
the line of kings whose Kuladevata was Surya
Narayana, the Sun God. Dasaratha and his
ancestors belonged to the ‘Ravi-Kula’, the royal
dynasty whose special form of worship was Ravi or
Surya. Lord Rama invokes the grace of the Sun
God at a time when He is confronted by Ravana in
Lanka. He had heard about the strength and the
valour and the martial power of Ravana. But when
He actually confronted Ravana, for a moment
Rama’s heart looked like failing Him; He trembled,
He was in trepidation. At that moment, the gods
realised: “Rama has come on a mission, He is to
destroy Ravana, and if trepidation takes place,
what will happen?” They invoke Bhagavan who
sends Sage Agastya.
Sage Agastya arrives at the spot, draws near
to Rama and says: “Prince Rama, Dasaratha-
Putra! Don’t fear! Offer worship to Surya
Narayana Bhagavan!” Sage Agastya, initiates Him
into this special Stotra, ‘Adityahridaya’, and after
14 THE CALL OF THE SCRIPTURES

having chanted this, all Rama’s faint-heartedness

leaves Him, once again He becomes courageous,
brave, strong of heart; He continues the battle and
destroys Ravana. Rama Himself, Bhagavan
Narayana incarnate, worshipped the Sun through
this hymn! So you can imagine the greatness of
this aspect of Divinity! It liberates us from the
darkness of night and gives us the light of day.
In the same way, the Name—the chanting of
which for sixty days you are going to inaugurate
just now in the Bhajan Hall—liberates us from the
darkness of spiritual ignorance by bestowing
upon us the light of spiritual wisdom, That is the
coincidence between these two Tattvas: the Sun
God and Divine Name. The Sun God liberates the
whole world from the darkness of night and brings
us into the light of day where alone all
Purushartha is possible. As the Sun God does
this, the Divine Name liberates us from the
darkness of Ajnana and bestows upon us the
illumined condition of Brahma-Jnana,
Atma-Jnana, and liberates us forever from the
wheel of birth and death. It is a coincidence, as it
happens to be on a Sunday.
Sriman Narayana, Narayana, Narayana.
Hari Om Tat Sat!
 3. ALL IS THINE, O LORD!
Worshipful homage unto Thee, O Thou
supreme, timeless and spaceless, eternal and
infinite, Supra-Cosmic Spirit Divine! Worshipful
homage unto Thee! Thou who art the beginning
and the end of all things. Worshipful homage unto
Thee in whom all things come into being, in whom
all things exist and in whom all things ultimately
subside. Worshipful homage unto Thee, O Thou
absolute, all pervading and non-dual
transcendental Reality who art the support of all
things, without whom nothing exists by itself.
Worshipful homage unto Thee who art the creator
of everything, who art the alpha and the omega.
Worshipful homage unto Thee in whom we have
our being, from whom we derive our very
existence. Worshipful homage unto Thee who art
our goal supreme by attaining and experiencing
whom alone our life becomes truly fulfilled. May
Thy Divine grace be upon all who have assembled
here.
Reverential prostrations and loving
adorations to beloved and worshipful holy Master,
Gurudev Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj, for
what he has been to each one of us we have to
thank the Supreme Reality. Beloved and
worshipful Gurudev is a bestowal to 20th century
humanity. He is a gift of That Being to mankind of
the 20th century, for He is a giver of all things.
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16 THE CALL OF THE SCRIPTURES

When He is the giver of all things, what can

you and I and all of us here give Him? We are the
receivers in every way, what can we give him? The
human world builds huge temples—specially in
India, hundreds and thousands of temples are
there—and in the temples people offer worship,
they offer Tulsi, Bael leaves, flowers, fruits,
ghee-lamp, cotton wicks, camphor, saffron,
sandal paste, Kumkum and Vibhuti. But from
where did they get all these things? They did not
invent them; they did not create them.
He has created the five elements—earth,
water, fire, ether or space, and the wind; He has
bestowed these things upon us, these things
without which we cannot live. God created the
flowers, the fruit, the saffron, and He created the
ghee, the cotton of the wick, the brass of the lamp
and the Arati; God created the sandal and the
Kumkum, the fire that makes Vibhuti or ash
possible; God created the marble to build the
temple and the Lingam which is found in the river
Narmada and many other places. God created the
black rock for Murli Manohar Krishna of Sri
Vishwanatha Mandir, He created the marble for
Parvati, Ganesha, Rama, Sita, Laksmana and
Hanuman. Everything in Viswanatha Mandir was
created by God, and God created the fruits and
flowers and Bael and Tulsi and all things. And
what He created, we take and offer to Him.
This brings us to the saying: “Tvadiyam vastu
Govinda tubhyam eva samarpayet:” “O Lord! O
Govinda, O Krishna, what belongs to You, that I
 THE CALL OF THE SCRIPTURES 17

offer to you.” We repeat in one of the Arati—“Tera

tujhako arpana, kya laage mera”—whatever is
Yours, I offer it to you; nothing is mine.
What to say! He created you; therefore offer
yourself to Him. He gave you this life. Let your life
be dedicated to His feet as an offering. He is
everything, it is His own outer form, Virat
Swarupa. He is all humanity, all the animals, all
the birds, all the fishes, all the flowers of the year,
all the reptiles, the ant, fly, mosquito, bed-bug,
blade of grass—everything. Therefore, whatever
He has given to you, your talents, your strength of
the limbs, offer it up as Aahuti (oblation) in this
great Yajna (sacrifice) of self-giving. Life ought to
be lived as Yajna, because you don’t belong to
yourself, your limbs don’t belong to you, the
strength that is enlivening you, the ‘Prana-Shakti’
does not belong to you, it is all His creation. And
He is before you as this world and all things and
beings in it. Therefore, make yourself an offering
by being useful and a source of benefit to the
whole of this Cosmic Form which this world
represents.
I am Thine, O Lord! All is Thine, and through
the offering of my time, my energy, my
talents—thought, word, and deed—through the
offering of myself I worship You. I also worship
You with flowers, fruits, fragrant water in which
sandal paste is mixed, and when they make the
sandal paste, they put a little bit of
Bhimseni-Kapur, a little bit of Kesar and the
sandal paste becomes the saffron colour and
18 THE CALL OF THE SCRIPTURES

fragrant and is dissolved in the Abhishek-water.

The whole of the ‘Shodashopachara Pooja’ is the
offering of various ingredients to Bhagavan. Make
yourself, your life, your thoughts, words, and
deeds, all your actions also an ingredient of this
worship called life. In this lies your highest
welfare. Such life is indeed blessed.
Why do we take the name of Hanuman? Why
do we laud Him in such a way? Precisely because
whatever he was endowed with, whatever
Bhagavan had given him – indomitable strength,
bright intellect etc. - he placed it all at the feet of
Bhagavan Rama, in the service of Bhagavan
Rama. He is a unique example of Sarvasamarpan
bhagawad charan mein (offering himself
completely at the feet of the Lord). Wherever Lord
Rama is, there Hanuman is present. Treta Yuga
has passed, Dwapara Yuga has passed – but
Hanuman is immortal; still temples are built for
him and worship is offered!
Jai bolo Hanuman ki! Jai bolo Hanuman ki!
Jai bolo Hanuman ki! Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai
Ram, Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram. Rama
Laxmana Janaki, Jai bolo Hanuman ki. Rama
Laxmana Janaki, Jai bolo Hanuman ki.”
Om Namo Narayanaya. Om Namo
Narayanaya.
Hari Om Tat Sat!
 4. SECULAR KNOWLEDGE AND
SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE
(Early Morning Talk at Sri Samadhi Mandir on
18th October 1991)
Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya
Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya
Prostrations unto the Divine Presence, that is
the All-pervading Reality in this universe of
vanishing names and forms, that is the
Permanent in the midst of the impermanent, the
Imperishable in the midst of the perishable, the
Eternal in the midst of the non-eternal, the
never-changing amidst the ever-changing, the one
fact in the midst of mere appearances that come
into being and vanish, to that Great Reality which
is of the nature of supreme fullness, that gives
satisfaction forever, which is of the nature of
absolute Bliss, which is of the nature of profound
peace, which is of the nature of Light of lights
beyond all darkness, attaining which one
becomes blessed forever, one becomes
enlightened, one becomes illumined. Salutations
and worshipful homage to that Great Reality, the
all-pervading, Nitya, Shashvat, Avinashi, Pari-
poorna, Anandamaya, Param Shanti Swaroop—
the Sat amidst the Asat! May grace supreme
shower upon you and bless your beginnings and
all your endeavours with progress and success.
This is the day of Vijayadashami, when
Vidyarambha is done. Yesterday, after the
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20 THE CALL OF THE SCRIPTURES

worship of Mahanavami, today’s programme was

announced, and they spoke of Vidyarambha, they
spoke of the auspicious nature of this day that
crowns our efforts with success, bestows
unhampered progress to our new undertakings.
This is the supremely blessed morning when we
should commence afresh our great ascent of the
Spirit from the unreal unto the Eternal Reality,
our ascent from darkness unto the everlasting
divine light of wisdom-consciousness, our ascent
from earthbound mortality of mere human
consciousness into the divine consciousness of
God-experience.
All knowledge here is an accumulation of
facts, so-much-so we are fast approaching an age
when the modern materialistic scientists assure
us that soon everything would be accomplished by
computers created by them. It will hold all the
answers. It will be able to provide whatsoever
information on whatsoever subject by pressing a
button or working in front of a computer. They
said it will provide everything, and with this data it
will be able to accomplish wonders, do everything
for you. Thus, we are moving towards an age when
man’s hitherto superior intelligent faculties would
become not so very important, for the computer
would replace effectively man’s innate
intelligence. The unique faculties that make man
a man, above all other living beings, all other
forms of created life, would become dispensable,
and the brain would become secondary before the
master computer.
But our ancients said that it is the lesser
knowledge, for it cannot give you freedom. It
 THE CALL OF THE SCRIPTURES 21

cannot liberate you from fear and sorrow, and it

cannot liberate you from the hellish pain of envy,
jealousy, hatred, anxiety, conflict, and the
computer cannot give you joy either. All the
knowledge accumulated in a computer cannot
free you from birth, death, old age, disease,
sorrow, disharmony and confusion.
Therefore they said that it is the lesser
knowledge. It cannot replace hatred by love; it
cannot bring about harmony where there is clash
and conflict between human beings. The Gulf War
proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that computer
technology can bring about unimaginable
destruction. It can rain death from the skies
without anyone having to move from his seat.
With just pressing a button it can send death and
devastation and cause terror and sorrow in
hundreds and thousands of hearts and minds. It
has unlimited potential for havoc! Computers can
also scan a brain. They can detect cancer, but
they cannot prevent or heal cancer or tell you why
cancer is caused. It can diagnose an entire case:
give your blood pressure, heart condition, ECG,
check your entire blood picture: RBC, WBC. They
said it is the lesser knowledge. It cannot provide
you with the know-how of how to look after your
physical body. It cannot provide you with the
know-how of how to deal with your emotions and
sentiments. It can supply vast accumulated
information to feed your intellect, but it cannot
prevent insanity, it cannot prevent psychosis, it
cannot prevent hatred, vengefulness. It cannot
bring out from within you compassion, kindness,
generosity, sympathy, tolerance, magnanimity,
22 THE CALL OF THE SCRIPTURES

consideration for others. It cannot make you a St.

Francis or a Jnaneshwar. It can make you a
Hitler, a Mussolini and a great commander. It can
make you an Admiral.
Therefore, they said that the supreme value is
not secular knowledge, lesser knowledge, for it
has its limitations in terms of the deepest human
yearnings. It has limitations in terms of the
fundamental human quest all over the world since
the dawn of creation. It can provide you with
everything that it has within itself, but it cannot
provide you what you want, what you are striving
to attain.
The supreme value in the vision of the ancient
seers and sages of the Upanishad is the value that
makes you totally perfect and full, that liberates
you from all sorrow, fear and anxiety, disease,
death and rebirth. Liberation is the supreme
value. And therefore today, let us adjust our
sights and make That our target.
“Pranavo dhanuh sharo hyatma Brahma tan
lakshyamuchyate
Appramattena veddhavyam sharavat tanmayo
bhavet.” (Mundakopanishad II/II/4)
Pranava (Om) is the bow, the Atman is the
arrow and Brahman is called its aim. It is to be hit by
a man who is self-collected and then as the arrow
becomes one with the target, he will become one
with Brahman.
Brahman is the target. The golden
opportunity of the human status has been
granted to the individual soul for the attainment
of Brahma Jnana. This must be clearly known,
grasped and utilised for this highest supreme
 THE CALL OF THE SCRIPTURES 23

attainment. That is wisdom. The Upanishads have

voiced forth the great call: “Come, come, seek the
Eternal, the Great Atman. That is the one goal
worth striving after; It is supreme, unparalleled,
without a second.” They said, Vidyarambha
commences with the study of the Vedas,
Upanishads, Yoga-Vashishta, Mahabharata,
Ramayana, Bhagavata Mahapurana—all the great
awakening scriptures of light of wisdom.
This is the day, the morning for new
commencement, where we set as our goal that
which is of permanent value, the unchanging
reality, the truth supreme. Yajnavalkya declared,
“That is to be heard about, that is to be reflected
upon, that is to be deeply dwelt upon in inner
contemplation or meditation—“Tat srotavyo,
mantavyo, nidhidhyasatavyo,” O that is the Atman
that liberates. That is the Para Vidya, the supreme
transcendental Knowledge.
What will provide you with clothes to wear,
bread to eat and a place to dwell—they have their
value. But you have not taken birth in order
merely to eat and drink and sleep. The ultimate
goal of life is a million times greater than this
which is done by every creature that crawls,
swims, flies or ranges the wilds. The uniqueness
of man is that he can go beyond the mere
biological quest, beyond satisfying sense-
appetites and fulfilling desires of the mind.
Recognise and realise the wondrous value of your
human status, claim your birthright and crown
yourself with glory. Towards this end live your life
and commence it today!
24 THE CALL OF THE SCRIPTURES

And providing the successful attainment of

this supreme goal, Gurudev Swami Sivanandaji
has brought into being an environment, an
atmosphere, a certain field, helping the seeker to
attain the goal, providing all the facilities,
everything that is positive and plus. Therefore,
wise is the person, who, recognising the value of
what he has got, puts it to the highest and best
use and makes a success of his life. May you live
and prove yourself an Uttam Adhikari. May the
grace of the Divine Mother and the choicest
benedictions of Gurudev grant you unhampered
progress, ultimate fulfilment and supreme
success in this wonderful adventure of the spirit
which we call Divine Life.
That is the humble prayer of Swami
Chidananda at the feet of Master’s spiritual
presence in the sacred Samadhi Hall of his holy
Ashram situated on the banks of Divine Mother
Ganga in Uttarakhand, this sanctified
northern-most area of holy Bharatavarsha.
May this sharing be acceptable to you all who
are fortunate Jijnasus and Mumukshus, who are
privileged seekers and spiritual aspirants, who
are thrice blessed!