Teachings of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba

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6

Reverential service rendered 

to the spiritual teacher

“The sixth is reverential service rendered to the 

spiritual teacher. This virtue will promote affec-

tion for the pupil, so one will benefit a great deal. 

But the guru who has no goal will only mislead 

the disciple into perdition. The guru must shower 

grace on the disciple as freely and as spontaneously 

as the mother cow feeds the young calf with milk. 

The teaching of the guru is the source and suste-

nance for attaining God and acquiring liberation.”

7

Cleanliness

“The seventh virtue is cleanliness—not merely 

outer cleanliness but inner cleanliness. And what 

is inner cleanliness? The absence of affection and 

hatred, of desire and discontent, of lust and an-

ger; and the presence of good, i.e., godly, quali-

ties. Water cleans the body; truth cleans the mind. 

Knowledge cleans the reasoning faculty; penance 

and discipline clean the individual.”

8

Steadfastness

“The eighth virtue is called steadfastness, fixity 

of faith, the absence of fickleness or waywardness. 

Aspirants must hold fast to what they have once 

fixed their faith upon as conducive to their spiri-

tual progress. They should not flit from one ideal 

to another, changing their goal from day to day. 

This is also referred to as dedication. Fickleness, 

the product of weakness, has to be scrupulously 

avoided.”

9

Control of the senses

“The ninth is control of the senses. Be con-

vinced that the senses have to subserve your best 

interests, not that you should subserve the inter-

ests of the senses. Do not be the slave of the senses; 

rather make them your slaves.”

10

Detachment

“Next, the tenth virtue: detachment or renun-

ciation (vairagya)—the loss of appetite for sound, 

touch, form, taste, smell, etc. The senses run after 

these things because they titillate and give them 

temporary joy. However, the senses are not inter-

ested in the goals—righteousness-wealth-desire-

liberation  (dharma-artha-kama-moksha) of the 

sublime type. The Atma can be discovered only 

through pursuit of the sublime.”

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Absence of egotism

“The eleventh virtue is absence of egotism—

the breeding ground of all vices and faults. The 

ego-centric individual pays no regard to right and 

wrong, good and bad, godly, and wicked. That 

person doesn’t care for them, doesn’t even know 

about them. That person is completely ignorant 

of  dharma and morals and will not conform to 

justice. To be devoid of this poisonous quality is 

to be endowed with absence of egotism. Egotism 

is a foe in the guise of a friend.”

12

Awareness of birth-death-old 

age-illness-grief

“The next virtue is called janma-mrithyu-jaraa-

vyadhi-dukha-dhosha-anudarsanam, meaning only 

this: awareness of the inevitable cycle of birth and 

death, of old age and disease, of grief and evil, and 

of other signs of the temporariness of this created 

world and life in it. Although people see these 

things happening to them as well as others, they 

do not investigate the reasons for them and the 

methods of escaping from them. That is the great-

est mystery, the wonder.

“If only you go to the root of the problem, 

you will realise that whatever else you may escape, 

you cannot escape death. What people conceive 

as happiness now is, in reality, only misery in the 

guise of happiness. So understand the truth of 

these things; reflect upon the flaws in the reason-

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13

ing that delude you. Then, as a result, detachment 

is strengthened, and through that, you attain wis-

dom. Therefore, Oh Arjuna! liberate yourself from 

birth, death, old age, illness, and grief (janma, 

mrithyu, jaraa, vyadhi, dukha).” Thus spoke Krish-

na, exhorting Arjuna with a great deal of affection.

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Withdrawal of Desire for Objects

Then He spoke of asakthi, the withdrawal of 

desire for objects.

The greed to possess things that you see is 

caused by egotism. “I must have this,” “I must 

be the proud owner of this valuable thing,” this 

is how egotism prompts. It is a strong cord that 

binds you to objects. Withdraw the mind, and 

treat all as manifestations of the Lord’s glory. Love 

all things as expressions of His glory, but do not 

delude yourself into the belief that possessing them 

will make you happy. That is an illusion. Do not 

dedicate your life for their sake; use them for your 

needs, as and when necessary, that is all. That kind 

of impulse activating you will be a great handicap 

in your progress toward liberation. Whatever you 

may acquire as property will have to be given up 

some day. On that last journey, you cannot take 

with you even a blade of grass or a pinch of dust. 

Keep this fact ever before the mind’s eye, and then 

you can realise Reality.

14

Absence of attachment 

to family and home

Before birth, one has no relationship with this 

world and its material objects. After death, they 

and all kith and kin disappear. This sojourn is just 

a game played in the interval. Getting fascinated 

with this three-day fair is foolish indeed. Desire 

tarnishes the mind and makes people unfit for 

higher pursuits. Aspirants who seek liberation and 

realisation must rid themselves of desire, for, like 

grease, once contacted it sticks and is difficult to 

remove.

15

Equanimity

After this, attention has to be paid also to 

another virtue, the state of equanimity, of un-

disturbed peace during joy and grief, prosperity 

and adversity, happiness and misery. This is the 

fifteenth virtue of a wise one. Being elevated or 

depressed by success and defeat, profit and loss, 

honour and dishonour is a futile activity. Accept 

all equally as the grace of God, His consecrated 

food (prasadha). Just as you wear shoes to tread 

over thorny places, or hold an umbrella to escape 

getting wet in rain, or sleep inside a mosquito 

curtain to escape the stings of insects, so too, arm 

yourself with an unshaken mind that is confident 

of the Lord’s grace and bear praise or blame, defeat 

or victory, pleasure or pain with equanimity. To 

live bravely through life, this equanimity under all 

circumstances is declared essential.

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Devotion

Next is devotion without any other feeling or 

thought. When grief overtakes you, you run to 

God. When difficulty overpowers, you take ref-

uge in the Lord of Venkata (Vishnu). When joy 

is restored, you throw Him overboard. When you 

are down with fever and your taste is ruined and 

your tongue is bitter, you crave some hot pickle; 

but when the fever subsides and you are normal 

again, you do not relish the same pickle. Devotion 

is not a temporary salve. It is the unbroken con-

templation of God without any other interposing 

thought or feeling. Whatever the activity, recre-

ation, or talk, it must be saturated with the love 

of God. That is undivided, undistracted devotion. 

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Solitude

Thereafter comes practise of solitude. One 

must be fond of being alone. This does not mean 

keeping the body in some solitary place, far from 

the haunts of humanity. There must be solitude 

and silence in the mind; all its occupants must be 

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