Summer Showers in (1996)
Summer Showers in (1996)
Summer Showers 1996: Ramayana is a series of 12 discourses delivered by Sri Sathya Sai Baba during the Summer Course on Indian Culture & Spirituality at Brindavan (Whitefield, near Bangalore). This Summer Course focuses on the epic Ramayana, but Baba uses the Ramayana not just as a mythic story but as a spiritual guide: interpreting its characters, episodes, and Dharma / righteousness in relation to one’s own inner life.
One of the first discourses, titled “Education and Immortality,” points out that true education is not just acquiring information or material proficiency, but an education which helps one transcend ignorance, awakens moral and spiritual values, and prepares one for immortality (i.e., living with awareness of the Self beyond body and death). Baba cautions students not to waste their lives chasing comforts and superficial goals, but to awaken now.
Following this, in “Glory of Rama Thathwa” and “The Mission Commences,” Swami unpacks what the principle of Rama (Rama‑tattva) really means: the ideal of righteousness, justice, compassion, self‑discipline, truthfulness. He shows that Rama’s mission is not just an external duty but also an inner mission: the purification of heart, the control of ego and desires, the steady adherence to truth (Sathya) and dharma.
Episodes like The Abduction of Sita, Search for Sita, The War Begins, The Supreme Devotion of Vibhishana, Ravana Falls, Sita, The Embodiment of Purity, Rama Rajya (The Reign of Righteousness) etc., are treated with depth: Baba draws lessons about loyalty, steadfastness, sacrifice, purity, repentance, devotion, and the restoration of righteousness. For example, the devotion of Vibhishana is held up as exemplary — one can follow truth even in adversity; the fall of Ravana is not just the fall of a demon king, but the result of inner arrogance, refusal to listen, misuse of knowledge.
