In Chapter 2, significant realities of the language of SB's Discourses were presented. This chapter examines some aspects of SB's use of the English language to communicate his teachings and to relate personally with devotees. Also offered are some observations about the impact on devotees of this language behaviour. Finally, another aspect of SB's use of language is examined: his idiosyncratic use of etymological explanations.

The two major conclusions, based on the evidence presented, will be that SB's public use of English is quite basic, often obscure or confusing, and that therefore some of the evidence of his English utterances cited by devotees as proof of his omniscience is unfounded and unconvincing. These elementary language aspects, like the real nature and content of SB's Telugu Discourses, have been almost completely overlooked, or denied, by devotees.

In the final section, we shall see that SB occasionally misleads his audiences by mixing genuine and spurious Sanskrit and other etymologies in his Discourses, thereby falling short not only of omniscience, but also of Truth. These paragraphs are relevant both to SB's use (and misuse) of language and to the subject of Omniscience to be dealt with in Chapter 5.

In the devotee literature, there are numerous references to SB's alleged knowledge of foreign languages. Some devotees and writers believe that, in his omniscience, he knows all languages. He has been described by some commentators as "a polyglot" (Ra. Ganapati) and even as a "a multi-lingual genius, a polyglottal prodigy" (M.N.Rao)

There are many anecdotes describing how devotees have 'heard' SB speaking to them, or to someone near them in darshan or in interview, in that person's own foreign language. The languages named in these anecdotes include French, German, Italian, Japanese, Persian, Spanish, Swahili, and a dialect of Chinese, Teo Chiew. (See V. I. K. Sarin, 1995:122-3; M. N. Rao, 1990:271 and 1998:36-38; and B. Steel, 1998:30-33.) When one begins to examine the known and observable facts, however, a very different picture of SB's linguistic behaviour emerges.

Firstly, in spite of half a century of constant practice and of being surrounded by cultured and fluent English-speaking Indian associates, Baba's public use of English remains essentially quite basic. (This could, of course, be a deliberate 'performance', part of his public persona (like the late Maurice Chevalier's 'outrageously' French accent, which was so popular with his English-speaking fans, but this seems unlikely.)

Secondly, Baba's 'omniscient' personal messages in English, so highly treasured by devotees, including (in the past) myself, for their enigmatic and 'secret' significance for the individual, may be no more than small talk (in this basic English style of his), or may even be due to his misunderstanding of the devotee's English.

Thirdly, as we saw in Chapter 2, most of Baba's public pronouncements (via his Discourses) are given in his native Telugu language. He does not seem to be at home enough in English to deliver a full Discourse in that language. The style of these Telugu Discourses, as we are at long last privileged to see for ourselves thanks to the wonderful literal translations into several languages offered by the volunteer devotees at www.internety.com/premsai since 2000, is rambling, basic, and repetitive, with lots of simple Hindu scriptural stories, little Telugu 'poems' and Sanskrit slokas - a style which suits and delights so many of SB's humble Indian devotees, who compose his major live audience, and which bores many others, although they might not admit it in public. To quote an acknowledged neutral observer in partial support of this opinion: "He was not a good orator; jumping from point to point, rambling, repetitive, yet for more than an hour his audience sat on the hard marble floor, listening raptly." (Mick Brown, 1999:86) That is his undoubted charisma! These Telugu Discourses are subsequently published in heavily edited and packaged translations in many languages.

For SB, English is a foreign language which he often uses to speak to individual devotees and interview groups. As has been pointed out in the Introduction, other important Indian gurus (living and dead) who have Western followers are or were much more at home with India's acknowledged lingua franca. As reported in books, as heard during darshan (when he pauses to address a few words to a lucky devotee), and sometimes on videocassettes, spoken English comments by Baba to his devotees (like his frequent pithy - and effective - aphorisms), often take the form of very short sentences, consisting of a single word, a repetition, a phrase, or a sentence with no main verb. (The words 'the' and 'is' are usually not present.) This is a form of English which most native speakers of this language would term very basic.

Hitting the nail right on the head, a writer-devotee describes the thrilling moment when, during his first interview with Sai Baba, Baba had begun to address the group: "His whole manner was suddenly exactly like some pseudo-spiritual Indian I knew, pretending to be a guru and speaking in very broken English." (R.Priddy, 1998,120)

Most frequently heard or reported darshan phrases and sentences are given below. Others may easily be found in many of the published accounts (often in minute and narcissistic detail) of devotees' personal experiences of Sai Baba:

A very good (and commercially available) source of SB's basic English is a Video by Cosby Powell (distributed by the Video Education Co.). The title is Talk to Westerners and it captures a private relaxed talk to a roomful of Western devotees at the summer hillside resort of Kodaikanal in April 1991.

 The point of selecting all those very simple quotations is to establish the quite obvious but totally unacknowledged fact that Baba frequently speaks in public in very basic English. A probable reason for such obliviousness (or denial) is that devotees, in their total devotion to him as an Avatar of God and in their faith in his powers, believe that SB is, as he claims, omnipotent, and can therefore speak ANY language. More importantly for them, ANYthing Baba says to them, or within their hearing, however obscure, cryptic, banal or amusing, is accepted with enormous joy and gratitude as a personal recognition and quite frequently as a special personal message for their spiritual or earthly development, whose meaning may take them some considerable time, ingenuity and effort to work out.

This "singling out" for special attention is always a treasured moment for a devotee, often a deeply emotional one too in the charged atmosphere of the crowded darshan hall or the small group in the interview room. However, it does not occur to the enchanted devotee that such banal and basic English might also be no more than mere small talk! From time to time, an objective observer might even find his mind entertaining fleeting images of the brilliantly created movie character, Chance, the gardener ("Chauncey Gardiner"), the simple innocent hero of the American satirical comedy, Being There (1979). Chance, played by the unique Peter Sellers, is a reclusive and laconic gardener whose simple responses and obscure remarks attract the attention of the President and his advisors. Finding deep meaning and politically relevant interpretations in Chauncey's innocent but banal comments, these people adopt him as a Presidential advisor and he unwittingly becomes an enormous political asset.

In some books written by devotees, we occasionally find (unacknowledged) evidence in reported exchanges between devotee and SB that the treasured remark simply indicates that the guru has not understood the English of the devotee, as with this example:

"In that interview Baba took us into his private room and we 'discoursed together'. He had surely played with words in the dream to make me examine my feelings. He had just signed a copy of my book and he now asked about my work, saying, "Don't worry, I will look after everything." I asked, "Should I write, Swami?" He replied, "What you are doing is right. It is not wrong." To make sure, I said, "No, Swami... write", and to illustrate the meaning I made a writing sign in the air (without realising this was just what he often does). He gazed up as if at the ceiling and replied, "Yes, write, write. Go on. Very good." (Robert Priddy, private communication)

This basic small talk of SB's - or his lack of comprehension - could also explain why his words, gestures and actions, although often banal in the extreme, are seen to be so cryptic by many devotees, who may puzzle over them for long periods: "One never knows exactly what Swami means or how to interpret His words. They could be symbolic or factual. An event could happen right away or in the future. His words could require deep meditation, inquiry or introspection, or they could simply be taken verbatim. Many of the things He has told me I have not understood until years later." (Baskin, 133)

In such emotionally charged moments, writers who deal in detail with their personal experiences with Sai Baba frequently inflate insignificant scraps or gestures and by so doing further promote Baba's claim to omniscience. Rita Bruce offers this snatch of dialogue as if it had some special meaning, which, if viewed objectively, it clearly does NOT have:

"Swami: 'What is her name?' ... 'Rita.' 'Second name?' 'Bruce.' 'Rita Bruce, yes, I know.'" (Rita Bruce, II:254) (So? Why report this?)

Not only is there no omniscience to be gleaned from evidence such as the above cases and the numerous similar examples which could be taken from devotees' books, but they would not normally seem worthy of recording in print. The only reason they ARE written down (by so many devotees) and considered important by both devotee-author and devotee-readers is that devotees LOVE to pass on anything resembling "contact" with their Divine Baba and to share other devotees' contacts; they feed on such material. And so the legend of omniscience grows and grows, as do the writers' illusions of a close relationship with Baba.

This sort of strong (and sometimes quite forced) punning is also an Indian custom, particularly beloved of Baba's English mentor, Professor Kasturi, and other academic and intellectual Indian devotees who are (or have been) close to Baba, and whom he may have emulated. A personal favourite of Baba's, which crops up frequently in reports of his Discourses and personal advice to devotees, is: "The Jubilee which has to be celebrated by every individual is not the Diamond but the "Die-mind", the occasion when through Sadhana , the mind is mastered." (Sathya Sai Speaks, V, 53: 287)

In another Discourse (28 April 1999), SB seeks to make a rather laboured point (in Telugu) by contrasting English 'Divine' and 'deep wine': "What you have to take is 'Divine' and not 'deep wine'." (As reported on the Internet, on SaiNEWS on 7 May 1999, from notes by the Associate Editor of Sanathana Sarathi.)

Another similar example, apparently a favorite of SB's (from the 1991 Kodaikanal Video and repeated on 25 October 2001) also demonstrates this "foreign" nature of much of SB's frequent punning with English words and expressions, especially to his predominantly Indian audience. On mentioning "beggars", Baba immediately spots a new potential linguistic joke, and adds, cryptically and apropos of nothing in particular, "not biggers" - which his interpreter (who, interestingly, also 'interprets' SB's ENGLISH words, phrases and sentences, when they form part of his Telugu Discourse) makes clear means "big men". This clarification of the English is particularly helpful, even necessary, to native speakers of English since 'bigger' is not used as a noun and so we do not normally make the same associations. So SB's spontaneous play here is not that beggars are not big men (which would be rather disparaging!) but that the words SOUND similar to him. That's all. No special meaning behind it at all. It is his play - good fun for the local audience.

If the above associations appear a little odd to some readers, consider them from the perspective not of a native speaker but of a FOREIGNER speaking BASIC English. This may increase and explain their exotic appeal to persons like SB. Most foreigners make similar attempts to amuse native speakers of a language they know imperfectly (or even quite well). And, since this is a fact, the convoluted meanings and lessons attributed to many such utterances (often seen by devotees as 'cryptic'), however ultimately beneficial to the individual, are probably more often than not merely the products of the devoted hearers' minds and fantasies rather than any wish or intention on the part of the guru to help or enlighten them.

In some of the examples of SB's dialogue with devotees already presented above, there are interesting similarities to some of the techniques of 'cold reading', which are attributed by researchers and sceptics to clairvoyants and psychics. These techniques have also been specifically mentioned as SB's 'tricks' by some critics of his (in particular, by B.Premanand and Dale Beyerstein).

According to well known sceptical experts and illusionists like James Randi and Ray Hyman, 'cold reading' techniques are employed to elicit a maximum of information from the 'subject' and to leave a strong impression that the 'reader' has revealed amazingly unknown details of the person's life and character.

The main techniques which coincide with SB's interview and conversation habits are:

1. Giving the impression that one knows more than one is saying.

2. Asking questions which, when answered, can then be converted into apparently clairvoyant statements or 'knowing' remarks by SB (especially when his comment is "I know"), or given similar status by the subject. But sometimes there are telltale surprises. For example:

"Where is your husband?" "He's gone, Baba," I sadly replied.
"Like a compassionate Father, he replied, 'I know. I know. He was a good man.'" (Joyce D.Barker, The Touch of Baba, p.13) And five years later, in 1995, the following equally 'unomniscient' exchange took place on the same subject: "Where is your S bend?" [sic, = hus-band] ... "He died in 1989," I told him. "Yes, he was a good man." (the same comment as in 1990)" (p. 38)
Although Ms Barker states her recognition of SB's continuing lack of knowledge, she makes no comment or criticism! This silence is typical of the extent of devotees' indulgent and uncritical attitude to SB's behaviour.

Others:

"Are you from Madras?" "No, Swami, from Delhi." (A.M. Marwaha, 121)
"Where is your husband" "I'm not married ..." (Rita Bruce, I: 264)

"Swami, my mantra, is it still valid?"
"I shall give you a new mantra - new life. ... We shall talk this evening." ... (Marwaha, p. 61)
In the afternoon darshan: "Swami, you said you would give me a mantra."
"You got mantra from ... Tell me your mantra." ... Then He said: But it's a beautiful mantra! Why do you want to change?" (p. 64) [They repeat it and he adds his name to it.]
On a later occasion:
"Do you do any japa?" "Yes, Swami." "What name?" "Swami, you have given me a mantra." (p. 79)

"Where is your husband? In Delhi?" "Yes." "What does he do?" "Swami, his own business." (Marwaha, p. 80)

Not at all impressive, but as the magician James Randi has written: "Rule Number 6: No matter how often you're wrong, plow ahead! The Believers won't notice your mistakes, and will continue to follow your every word." (J.Randi, 1993:35)

Other factors which improve the practitioner's chances of being seen as having special psychic gifts are the subject's active but unconscious participation: his desire to be told about himself and his willingness to search his mind and memory to make sense of the psychic's comments, however vague. In the case of SB's devotees, as we have seen, this willingness to make SB's remarks personally 'meaningful' - however banal or cryptic they may be - can be stretched to absurdity. This would include statements of the obvious, the logical, or the expected, wrapped up as omniscient 'insights':

For example, while talking to pilgrims who had walked 400 miles to the Mahasivaratri celebrations in 1971, Baba said, "I was with you throughout, from the very first step to the last. Some of you argued at H... ... I know that you spent 75 per cent of the time in Divine thoughts, 25 per cent on your personal worries ..." (Sathya Sai Speaks, XI, 9:54-55)

With all this firmly in mind, let us now examine more critically some more English comments whose significance may have been inflated by devotees in a heightened state of spiritual fervour. In some cases, what some take as evidence of omniscience (and what Baba may possibly wish to be so taken) may simply be a bland generality, precisely like those we shall see when discussing Baba's Yugadi predictions in Chapter 5, which have tended to be over-rated for the same reason: an excess of fervour and enthusiasm for the guru, which anaesthetises critical judgement.

Sometimes, an objective re-reading of a quoted "omniscient" pronouncement by Baba reveals that Baba simply has not understood the English question or comment to which he is replying (and that he may be "filling in"). "And how is our Center [in America], Baba?" He replied, "Very good Center. Many good people. Some jealousy, though." (Joy Thomas, 1991: 160) Could this not be said of any Baba Centre, with its personality clashes, and so on? Is it really omniscient, or even wise?

The following is a reply to someone who asks Baba about her son who has been in a coma for two years. "Your son is in mind." (R.Selby, My Trip to Sai Baba, pp.135-6) This is interpreted by the writer as meaning "Don't worry. I am taking good care of him."

Finally, a well documented favourite Baba wordplay, which fits in with the "basic English" patterns established above, is the following exchange reported by Phylis Krystal:

Baba: "Where is the band?" Silent surprise. Baba: "Hus-band", as (a foreigner's) play on words. Baba uses this often as one of his little (ice-breaking?) interview jokes. Another well-known Baba writer, R. Lowenberg, tells the same story of another devotee's experience: "Where is your band?" I knew he meant husband, so I said, "But Swami, You know I am not married." "Yes, yes," He said, "Your husband is over there" and he pointed vaguely in the direction of the West." (R.Lowenberg, 1997, p. 15) (Since this woman eventually married someone from South Africa - to the West of where she lived, this is taken as an omniscient prophesy by SB!)

The SB devotee literature and devotees' ashram conversations are full of countless similar cases of wishful inflation of banalities and bits of basic small talk like those just offered. Such subjective fantasies merely inflate the impression, rather than the reality, of SB's omniscience about his devotees' lives. As we can see in other chapters, there are many other instances in his Discourses where SB's alleged omniscience is even more patently lacking. However, the following investigation of another characteristic of SB's use of language reveals not only a lack of omniscience but a disregard for linguistic truth.

In his book on cults, the Reverend Stephen Wookey refers to other research which demonstrates the use of inaccurate quotations and false etymologies used to make a point by preachers and orators. He quotes a blatant example by Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science (and another by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, from Jesus Christ):

"The word Adam is from the Hebrew adamah, signifying the red color of the ground dust, nothing new. Divide the name Adam into two syllables [in English!] and it reads, a dam, or obstruction ... it stands for obstruction, error, even the supposed separation of man from God and ..." (p. 338, from line 12 on). M.B. Eddy goes on and on in similar vein, telling us all the negatives that Adam "stands for" for half a page. As Rev. Wookey comments: the Hebrew meaning is simply: man.

In Section 67 of Chapter 3 of his Internet publication, which studies many alleged inconsistencies in Sai Baba's statements and actions, Dale Beyerstein gives a 6-line quotation from Lawrence Babb (1986b: Redemptive Encounters, p. 171):

"One of his most characteristic rhetorical devices is the ad hoc (and often false) etymology."

Babb then refers without clear comment to Baba's etymology for the word 'Hindu': "one who is non-violent by himsa (violence and dur 'distance')." He adds that this device has become very frequent over the years, as indeed it has, but a fuller account is worth presenting since it sheds more light on another of SB's idiosyncratic uses of language where the truth does not seem to matter so long as the Discourse subject matter sounds more effective. The behaviour at times seems so cavalier that no knowledge of Sanskrit is really needed to detect the invention, as we shall see below.

In one of his early Discourses (1961), the young and inexperienced Baba had made a very disparaging remark about speakers who, to illustrate a point, pretentiously use references to etymology. He (with the self-consciousness, perhaps, of someone new to public speaking) complains of a previous speaker:

"... saying Na meant this and Ra meant that and so on; it all sounded very learned and is really very clever; but no one can go on endlessly in this way, saying Na means either this or that ..." (Sathya Sai Speaks, II, 21:105) So in this very early phase, the high-falutin' academic way is not the Baba way. Baba prefers simple, clear and direct language for his mainly uneducated Indian audiences.

But, in fact, as a study of the Discourses demonstrates, SB quite quickly adopted and adapted the device of learned etymological references, perhaps prompted by his learned entourage in the Organisation. ("If you can't beat them, join them!") However, not content with giving many etymologies which sound correct, SB went on to make up fanciful and even patently absurd etymologies to suit his theme or message.

Here are just a few more of SB's extraordinary efforts in the field of etymology. (For more, see Chapter 3 of SSBGOG - or read the volumes of Sathya Sai Speaks):

This example dates from only a year after his dismissive remark above: "I am called Sathya Sai; Saayi (as in Seshashaayi) means reclining. The name is very appropriate, let me assure you." (Sathya Sai Speaks, II, 47:266)

Another of SB's imaginative etymologies for his exotic first name is: "Sa means 'Divine', ai or ayi means 'mother' ..." (Sathya Sai Speaks, XII, 38:229) But in a scholarly book about Shirdi Sai Baba, Kevin Shepherd (1986) proposes the following origin of Sai: "Sai is not a Hindu name, but a Persian word indicative of a holy man. It seems to bear an affinity with the Arabic sa'ih, which in the early medieval era of Islam was used to designate itinerant ascetics of sufi background. It appropriately reflects the Muslim background of the subject."

"In the name Ganapathi, 'Ga' stands for Guna (virtue) and 'Na' for Vijnaana (wisdom). When Ga and Na are joined we have the combination of Vijnaana (worldly wisdom) and Prajnaana (Spiritual wisdom)." (XXV, 27:294)

Krishna receives special inventive treatment from Baba:

"Ka thus symbolises the sun principle also. Ra represents the principle of delight. Sha represents Vishnu, the source of all wealth and prosperity. Na signifies the Narasimha avatara, the combination of man and animal in an integral unity. A reveals the Akshara swarupa of the Lord, His imperishable and eternal quality." (XIX, 18:145)

"Krishna has three separate meanings ... 1. Karsh is one root ...; it means 'that which attracts' ...2. The word is also related to the root Krish, to cultivate ... 3. It is related to the root. Krish, meaning something above and beyond the three attributes and the three eras, and na, means Sath-chit-ananda." (XI, 30:202) [Na = Sath-chit-ananda?]

On Mahasivaratri Day 1999 (15 February), moments before the appearance of the Shiva Lingam, Sai Baba gave his usual (and plausible) etymology for Manava (Man) but then immediately followed this with an invented one: "Manava refers to human being. Ma means 'not', Nava means 'new': So mankind is not new, it is ancient and eternal. But you are not able to understand this truth. Here there are three letters: Ma-Na-Va. Ma means maya (illusion), Na means without, Va means Varthinchuta (to conduct oneself)."

Guru

The first two explanations below sound quite reasonable (although the usual etymological meaning given is 'heavy'), but the rest show that Baba either does not know what is involved in etymological derivation, or doesn't care, or assumes his listeners will not notice.

"Guru means Big. Guru has also another meaning: Gu means darkness and Ru means dispelling. Guru means one who dispels darkness. ... Guru Purnima is the day on which one celebrates the dispersal of the darkness of ignorance from the mind." (Sathya Sai Speaks, XXVII, 21:181]

"Guru means (Gu - ignorance, Ru- destroyer) he who removes the darkness and delusion from the heart and illumines it with the Higher Wisdom." (IX, 16:87, 29-7-69 )

This is totally contradicted the following year, but to illustrate the same point:

"Gu means darkness and ru means light. Guru scatters [[=dissolves]]darkness through light."( X, 15:96)

An early invention was: "Gu = Gunaatheetha =- one who has transcended the three gunas.

Ru = Rupa Varjitha One who has grasped the formless aspect of Godhead "(I, 3:21, 1956). But Baba's inventive stretching continues with the later: "Do not seek human Gurus, however great their reputation. They are not gu (gunatheetha - beyond the Gunas); they are not ru (beyond Form); they are still in need of Form ..." (Sathya Sai Speaks, X, 15:97)

Rama

"Saint Thyaagaraaja ... sang that Rama is composed of two sounds: 'Raa' taken from Naa-raa-ya-na and 'Ma' taken from Na-ma-shi-va-ya; that Rama is the harmonisation of Vaishnavism and Shaivism (worship of God as Vishnu and worship of God as Shiva)." IV, 6:32

On April 5, 1998 (Sanathana Sarathi, May 1998, p. 115), Baba's etymological embroidery stretches much further: "The term "Rama"has another esoteric significance. It consists of three syllables: Ra + Aa + Ma. "Ra" signifies Agni (the Fire-god). "Aa" represents the Sun-god (Surya). "Ma" represents the Moon-god (Chandra)."

Ramayana. Notice the conflict between the following examples:

"The Ramayana is not merely a story about Rama. Rama+Ayana is Ramayana. Ayana means Path. The inner meaning of Ramayana is that the path shown by Rama should be followed." (XXI, 10:79)

Ramayana [Epic] "The term 'Rama' means one who is pleasing and loveable. 'Ra' refers to Atma and 'Ma' refers to Mind. The Rama Principle means merging the mind in the Atma. 'Ramayana' means suffusing the world with the bliss of the Rama Principle." (XX, 7:47)

Occasionally, SB even applies these peculiar 'skills' to other languages, but still using Sanskrit, and Hindu concepts, as his points of reference:

"Spirituality means seeking to realise the oneness of all beings. There is only One ... For instance, the name of Yesu (Jesus) itself spells out this truth. Ye means one, su means good. There is only one good." (Sathya Sai Speaks, XXVII, 11:105)

Allah: "A stands for Aathma, la for layam. Invoking Allah signifies merging in the Aathma which is the One God." (Sathya Sai Speaks, XXVII, 11:105)

"The Muslims use the term Salaam as a form of greeting. What does the word mean? 'Sa' refers to Sai, the Lord who is the embodiment of Truth, Awareness and Bliss (Sat-Chit-Ananda); 'la' means 'layam' (mergence). Salaam means merging in the Supreme, who is also the embodiment of Truth and Bliss." (Sathya Sai Speaks, XVIII, 30:187)

(According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Salaam is Arabic for >Peace=.)

"In Islam, the expression salaam is used as a form of greeting. "Sa" in this term signifies the combined expression of Saalokyam, Saaroopyam, Saameepyam and Saayujyam (Seeing the Divine, having the vision of the form of the Divine, nearing the Divine and merging in the Divine). When these four expressions are combined and merged into one - "La" signifying merger - you have Salaam (the merging of the many in the One). (Sathya Sai Speaks, XXIV, 29:321)

Notice that in both of these conflicting examples, SB arbitrarily reduces 'Salaam' to 'Sa' plus 'la' ('Sala') to fit in with his inventive needs.

SB sometimes plays with words and uses their component letters (not syllables) as legitimate mnemonic devices to make a teaching point. For example, "The latest new meaning of Sai Baba as given by Swami in his Divine Doscurse of 23rd July 1995 is: SAI means See Always Inside; Baba means Being-Awareness-Bliss-Action." (A.Reddy, p. 37)

But in the following example, the "meaning" he extracts is becoming more forced and closer to the misleading "etymologies" which we have seen above. He seems to see no difference between the two techniques:

"What does 'man' mean? It is said 'M-A-N', man. 'M' means 'maya' (illusion) has to be forgotten. 'A': Atma has to be seen. 'N': attain Nirvana (liberation from bondage). A true man is one who forgets maya, beholds the Atma, and attains Nirvana. Today every man is immersed in delusion and has forgotten the Atma. Then how will he attain liberation? So, first and foremost, illusion has to be forgotten. Maya has to be left." (20 October 2001)

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