Vidya Vahini

by Sri Sathya Sai Baba

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Bhagawan opens our eyes to the futility of materialistic education, which sets innocent students into a rat race for earning livelihood and luxuries and acquiring pomp and power in society. He dwells upon the noble qualities that ideal education should impart to students whom He prefers to address as future leaders.

From the Book:

Baba has clarified that the word ‘Vidya’ used for this Vahini (Stream of Thought), means (Ya) that which (Vid) “illumines.” It is this sense that is highlighted in expressions like Atma Vidya, Brahma Vidya, etc., or even the name Vidyagiri given to the college campus of Prasanthi Nilayam which comprises the Institute of Higher Learning.

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.

From His childhood days, Baba has stood forth as an educator, a Guru as the villagers loved to address Him. He warned, without hesitation, elders at Puttaparthi, teachers in the schools, and headmen of castes against cruelty to animals and exploitation of labour, usury and gambling, pedantry and illiteracy, hypocrisy and pomp. Through gulps and jests, parody and satire, songs and plays, the young teenager Teacher ridiculed and reformed the society which honoured or tolerated such evils. Through Bhajans sung in chorus by groups of men and women, He reminded them of the universal human values of Truth, Morality, Peace, Love and Non-violence as early as 1943, when he was barely seventeen. These were the basic acquisitions that ‘Vidya’, the Higher Learning, can confer on votaries.

As Lord Krishna, He said to Arjuna, “Adhyaatma Vidya, Vidyaanaam” meaning, “Among all the types of knowledge, I am Atma Vidya - the search for Atmic Truth.” The world can be saved from suicide only through this knowledge. The search for Truth and Totality, for Unity and Purity is the means; the Awareness of the One is the consummation of the process.

This Message is the sum and substance of every Discourse of His, from the time He first spoke in the early 1950s. This precious book provides us the chance to peruse nineteen essays He wrote in answer to appeals for the elucidation of the principles which must guide us while rehabilitating Education as an effective instrument for establishing peace and freedom in us and on Earth.

About the Author:

Sri Sathya Sai Baba was born as Sathyanarayana Raju on November 23, 1926 in the village of Puttaparthi, in the state of Andhra Pradesh in South India. He is a guru from southern India, religious leader, orator and philosopher often described as a godman and a miracle worker. He is the Embodiment of Knowledge, Embodiment of Wisdom. Ever since He declared Himself as Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, the Avatar of Present Age, incarnated in human form, as promised by Lord Krishna over 5000 years ago, He has been tirelessly teaching humanity of the right steps towards the Ultimate Goal of human life.

Sathya Sai Baba is a highly revered spiritual leader and world teacher, whose life and message are inspiring millions of people throughout the world to turn God-ward and to lead more purposeful and moral lives. His timeless and universal teachings, along with the manner in which he leads his own life, are attracting seekers of Truth from all the religions of the world. Yet, he is not seeking to start a new religion. Nor does he wish to direct followers to any particular religion. Rather, he urges us to continue to follow the religion of our choice and/or upbringing.

Sathya Sai Baba interacts with all people on a heart-to-heart basis. There are no intermediaries between himself and those who yearn for knowledge and experience of God. Every day for more than 50 years, Sathya Sai Baba has walked among and talked with the spiritual pilgrims who gather around him in increasing numbers. He offers solace and inspiration to all sincere seekers of truth.