By: Prof. R.S.Pappu

 A saint is one who unravels the secret of the self - his true being. In fact, this is one of the most important tasks of a saint. Sainthood is a passage from ignorance to self-knowledge, from an outer phenomenal existence - physical, mental and material - to an inner spiritual existence. A saint passes from the phenomenal to the real man, the consciousness of the life force behind, his real self - Atman or the in most man, purusha, which he truly and eternally is. He becomes aware of a cosmic consciousness, which is the secret of the cosmic energy - the cosmic self or the cosmic divine - the universal Godhead.

A saint becomes aware also that his own self or true being is one with the cosmic self or spirit. Also, he becomes aware of the transcendent being or existence who is not dependent on him or the existence of the universe and that the same Supreme Being or self manifests as a cosmic self or spirit, cosmic energy or nature. And in that again is his own self or spirit which becomes aware of him as an individual being and nature.

To the animals, man is supernatural and God is supernatural to man. The ascent to divine life is the journey of a saint without which he would be only a crawling existence among other ephemeral insects. To be precise, for a saint al life is seeking to imbibe and manifest the Divine. A saint is the master of his body, his mind, blissfully living in God and one with God in his being and all beings, for the spirit is freedom, unity, infinity and immorality.

A saint transcends himself to become the self. He is the seer of knowledge. His mind soars high into the super mind or divine mind or knowledge. He is swarat samrat or self-ruler or all-ruler. He discovers Divine in himself and reveals Him to himself in all things. He lives in His being, shines with His light, acts with His power, rejoices in His bliss.

A saint’s aim of life is integral experience of the Divine Reality as enunciated in the Gospel of the Gita "Samagram Mam" or "the Whole Me" of the Divine Being. He lives in the perfection of the Eternal and in His presence and by His infinite nature-Syuiva (unifying with Him) Salokya (perceiving Him), Samipya (feeling Him in vicinity) and Sadrysya (equity with Him). The objective of a saint is not only to liberate the soul from nature, but also to liberate both soul and nature by sublimation into the Divine Consciousness from whom they emanate. "We come from God and go back to God," says the Holy Bible.

 One of the most striking mark of a saint is that he is free from the idea of achievement because for him there is no differentiation between the terms, the ideal and the actual. He is an embodiment of simplicity, integrity and detached love or a man of Variagya. He loves everyone without any motive and remains undisturbed like an ocean in any situation. He is indifferent to dualities like success and failure, pleasure and pain, honor and dishonor and so on.

Sainthood is one’s inner psyche. It is this state that throws open the door to spiritual illumination and blessedness. It is only through the gateway of self-effacement, total eradication of the ego principle and selfishness and with the spirit of renunciation that one can enter this effulgent realm of spiritual life, progressive sainthood- meditation and illumination. Hence it is the state of mind, which paves the wave to blessedness and perfection. This awakened awareness is the higher essential trait of a saint.

A saint always maintains perfect equanimity and contemplates on the Supreme Lord. He is always by himself, and eternally in the company of the awakened souls. He does not do anything that is likely to stigmatize his sainthood or retard his progress towards the still brighter spiritual illumination. So the discovery of one’s real self and identification of the self with the Primal Source is sainthood. It is the actual being and becoming. This upward, God-ward urges always his life; only then he is considered to live truly or is alive. That Brahma Satyam Jagat Mitya(God alone is the reality and the entire universe is an appearance and is not re) is clearly understood by a saint.

Rigveda X11 4,9; Atharvaveda V1 91, 1; Katopanishada II 3, 10-11; Shweatassswitar Upanishad II 12-13; Yoga Vasista V1 13, 3; Gita II 48, 50-51; V1 21-23-35 and Yoga Sutra of Patanjali I 12 enlighten us what sainthood is. Hence the sainthood is the highest pinnacle of glory that every human being should ever strive to attain in his lifetime.