Talks on the Gita -Vinoba 214

Chapter 17 PROGRAMME FOR THE SEEKER 99. The Mantra of Dedication 25. ॐ (om) means ‘yes’. Yes, God does exist. He exists even in this twentieth century! स एव अद्य स उ श्र्वः He exists today, He existed yesterday and He shall exist tomorrow. He is always there. The creation too is always there, and we too are ever-ready to continue our spiritual quest in all earnestness. We are the seekers and the worshippers, He is the Lord, and everything in the creation is a means for worship. When our whole being gets charged with this feeling, we may be said to have digested the meaning of ॐ (om). The spirit of ॐ (om) should permeate our mind and find expression in our sadhana. See the sun at any time. It is always there with its rays; never without them. In the same way, our sadhana should be clearly visible in our life to all at all the times. Only then it can be said that we have assimilated the spirit of ॐ (om). Then comes सत् (sat). The Lord is sat; that is, He is good and auspicious. Look at the creation with this feeling and you will find His goodness and auspiciousness in it. When you remove a pitcherful of water from a river, a pit is not formed there; surrounding water rushes in immediately to fill the depression. What an expression of love and benignity! A river abhors depressions in its bed. ‘नदी वेगेन शुद्ध्यति।’ (‘The water of a river is clean and pure because it is flowing continuously and speedily.’) The river of creation is also getting purified continuously and speedily. That is why it is good and auspicious. Let our actions too be likewise. To understand the Lord as सत् (sat), all our actions should be full of purity and devotion. All our actions, our entire sadhana should be continually examined and progressively purified. Then comes तत् (tat). ‘Tat’ means ‘that’, something different, something unattached to the creation. The Lord is distinct from the creation and is unattached to it. As the sun rises, the lotuses bloom, the birds leave their nests, darkness disappears. But the sun is somewhere far off, quite aloof from all these outcomes. When our actions become detached and disinterested, we can be said to have digested ‘tat’.In this way, the Gita teaches us to dedicate all the actions to the Lord, using the Vedic Name ॐ तत् सत् (om tat sat). The idea of dedicating all the actions to the Lord had already been introduced in the Ninth Chapter. The verse ‘यत्करोषि यदश्रासि’ tells the same thing. The same idea has been elaborated further in the Seventeenth chapter. This Chapter has particularly pointed out that the actions to be dedicated to the Lord must be sattvik, for only then they will be worthy of being offered to Him. 26. All this is very well. Still a question remains. A virtuous man may be able to digest the Name ॐ तत् सत् , but what about a sinner? Is there any Name that a sinner too could take? Yes, a sinner too can chant ॐ तत् सत् . All Names of the Lord can lead us from untruth to Truth, from sin to innocence. You must purify your life gradually. The Lord will then certainly help you. He will support you in your moments of weakness.