UPANISHAD VAHINI - Sathya Sai Speaks

72 UPANISHAD VAHINIThe line of Uddalaka is steeped in the study of theVedas, and so it is famed as a noble high-born family.But Swethakethu, the son, was wasting precious yearsafter Upanayana (rite of leading pupil to preceptor), inidleness, without using them for Vedic Study. Thiscaused concern for Uddalaka, for he who neglects thestudy of the Vedas, being born as a Brahmin, does notdeserve that appellation. He can only be calledBrahmanabandhu, one who has Brahmins as hisrelatives! So, Uddalaka took him to task and forced himto go to a teacher. There, by the exercise of his superiorintelligence, he mastered, before he turned twenty-four,the Four Vedas with their meanings. He returned, proudand pompous, swelling with egoism, declaring that therewas no one to equal him in scholarship and righteousness.In order to prick his pride, Uddalaka asked himone day, “You have become haughty that you have noequal in learning and virtue. Well, did you seek from yourteacher the message that reveals the Absolute, the lessonthat only the practice of the Sastras can impart, themessage which when heard makes you hear all thingsthat are heard, which when imagined makes you imagineall things imagined? Did you learn that? That messagewould have shown you the Atma which is the fulfilmentof all Study and Scholarship.”The Atma is the base of individuals likeSwethakethu. The pure Consciousness becomes