Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba has come among humanity and is providing spiritual sustenance and guidance, in order to re-establish truth, justice, peace, and love as the mainspring of individual, social, and national life. He is using ancient and modern instruments for this great task, Sanathana Dharma and science. His writings, discourses, and conversations, which correct, communicate, and convince, are full of statements and commentaries on the discoveries of physical and metaphysical sciences. This book, which gives in English His articles (first published in Telugu in the Sanathana Sarathi) on the Ten Upanishads (invaluable textbooks on spiritual discipline and on the glorious fruit of spiritual adventure) will reveal to you the vast limitless mercy that impels Him to save us from trivialities and prompts Him to guide us along, until we reach the Goal of Life. Making us tread the path discovered by the sages of the past, inducing us to revere their light and their message, illumining in us the flame of knowledge, which dispels delusion —that is what Bhagawan, with His Supreme Love, does for us in this book. Let us read it with care, recapitulate it with earnestness in the silence of our hearts, and practise it with humility and faith in every turn of thought, in every tilt of tongue, and in every digit of deed.

Discourses by a Hindu spiritual leader from India.

Prasna means “question”, Uttara means “answer”, and Vahini indicates “a stream”. This book is the stream of the questions that have evoked answers from Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Among the tasks that Bhagawan has assumed while incarnating, He has declared as basic the one that He calls, “the clarification and purification of the religious scriptures of mankind.” Every Vahini emanating from Him has done this service to some aspect or other of the spiritual upliftment of man. This Vahini is one of the earliest in the series, since it seeks to elucidate the fundamental concepts and precepts of religion, especially the technical words and expressions that seek to concretise them. Hitherto published as an Appendix to a single Vahini, the Gita Vahini, it is now placed in the hands of seekers as a key publication, helpful for readers of all the Vahinis. The Ancient Wisdom (Sanathana Dharma), the Perennial Path, has been communicated to posterity in words that have suffered distortion, devaluation, dilution and denigration through the efflux of time and the controversies among commentators. Varna, asrama, yoga, sanyasa, yajna, karma—these are interpreted by dialecticians and practitioners of varied schools and sects, in confusing and contradictory versions. Bhagawan has resolved these tangles. His exemplary love and patience sweeten not only every answer but every question too, for, He has, by posturing as the interrogator, made the clarifications full and fruitful.

The Vedas originated from the breath of God; each syllable is sacred. Each word is a mantra. It exhorts all men to pursue the same holy desire. All hearts must be charged with the same good urge. All thoughts must be directed by noble motives towards holy ends. All men must tread the one path of truth, for all are manifestations of the One. The world is enchanting, because it is tantalising in appearance, though it is fundamentally untrue. It is a phenomenon, which is fading out. When this truth is realised, one becomes aware of the Cosmic Sport of God and the Eternal Universal Being. Leela Kaivalya Vahini (originally published in the Sanathana Sarathi periodical) is a cool, crystal clear stream that flows from the Divine pen of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba to dissolve all obstacles, like doubts and dogmas, purposeless arguments, and flimsy fancies of the sadhaka (spiritual aspirant). We consider it be but yet another sign of His benign grace that these published in the periodicals could be given a book form and placed at the Lotus Feet, on the auspicious occasion of His 65th Birthday, which eventually falls on the 50th year of proclamation of Avatarhood. May this Vahini lead all seekers in the path of spiritual progress and fill us all with Ananda, the Bliss Absolute.

Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba wrote a series of articles under the Vahini series, for Sanathana Sarathi, a monthly magazine being published by Sri Sathya Sai Sadhana Trust, Publications Division, Prasanthi Nilayam. These precious articles are brought out now, under the title “Geeta Vahini”, in this book, for the benefit of readers. This is not a commentary or summary of the divine message that was given by Lord Krishna to Arjuna. It conveys the same message in a simpler form to us, in order to remove our delusion and confer faith and strength on us, so that we may realise our own reality. Bhagawan says, “Drawing on the Divine that is inherent in us is the lesson of Geeta… Arjuna is the jiva and Krishna is the Deva. When both are in contact, impregnable might results… Krishna had to work in and through Arjuna, so that the reign of Dharma (righteousness) is re-established. Arjuna means white, pure, unblemished. Hence, he is the proper instrument.” We too can become proper instruments in restoring Dharma, if we follow the lessons that Bhagawan teaches through this book.

Started in 1958, Sanathana Sarathi is a monthly magazine devoted to Sathya (Truth), Dharma (Righteousness), Shanti (Peace) and Prema (Love) - the four cardinal principles of Bhagawan Baba's philosophy. It is published from Prasanthi Nilayam (the Abode of Highest Peace) and acts as a mouthpiece of Baba's Ashram as it speaks of the important events that take place in His sacred Abode, besides carrying Divine Messages conveyed through Divine Discourses of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. The word meaning of Sanathana Sarathi is the 'Eternal Charioteer'. It signifies the presence of the Lord in every being as the atma guiding their lives like a charioteer. It implies that he who places his life, the body being likened to a chariot, in an attitude of surrender in the hands of the Lord, will be taken care of by the Lord even as a charioteer would take the occupant of his chariot safely to its destination. The magazine is an instrument to disseminate spiritual knowledge for the moral, physical and mental uplift of humanity without any discrimination as the subject matter discussed therein is always of common interest and of universal appeal. The fifteen Vahinis - streams of sacredness - known as the Vahini Series comprising annotation and interpretation of the Upanishads and other scriptures, Itihasas like the Ramayana, the Bhagavatha and the Mahabharata, and authentic explanations on Dhyana, Dharma, Prema, etc., have been serially published in this magazine as and when they emanated from the Divine pen of Bhagawan Baba. This magazine is published in almost all Indian languages, English and Telugu from Prasanthi Nilayam and others from respective regions. Every year Sanathana Sarathi comes out with a special issue in November commemorating the Divine Birthday. The English and Telugu magazines are posted on the 10th and 23rd respectively, of every month, from Prasanthi Nilayam. This magazine has wide, ever increasing circulation in India as well as abroad, as the study of it brings the reader closer to the philosophy of the Avatar in simple understandable language THUS SPAKE SAI... Discoursing during the launch of Sanathana Sarathi... From this day, our Sanathana Sarathi will lead to victory the cohorts of truth - the Vedas, the Sastras and similar scriptures of all faiths, against the forces of the ego such as injustice, falsehood, immorality and cruelty. This is the reason why it has emerged. This Sarathi will fight in order to establish world prosperity. It is bound to sound the paean of triumph when universal Ananda is achieved.