Special Issue - Sri Sathya Sai Books & Publication Trust

NOVEMBER 2010Special IssueJourney with SaiPersonal Accounts of Devotees

Dedicated at the Lotus Feet ofDedicated at the Lotus Feet ofBhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Babaon the Auspicious Occasion ofHis 85th Birthday23rd November 2010

Bhagavan offering Poornahuti (fi nal oblations) in the Yajna Kunda in Poornachandra Auditorium on 17th October 2010.

S a n a t h a n a S a r a t h iDevoted to the Moral and Spiritual Uplift of Humanity throughSATHYA DHARMA SANTHI PREMA AHIMSAC O N T E N T S“Whatever serious problem youmay be faced with, it can beeasily solved by following truth.There is nothing that truthcannot achieve in this world.”Vol: 53 Issue No. 11 Date of Publication: 1st November2 10NOVEMBER 0© Sri Sathya SaiSadhana Trust, Publications DivisionPrasanthi NilayamPrinted by K.S. RAJANPublished by K.S. RAJANon behalf of the owner, Sri Sathya SaiSadhana Trust, Publications DivisionPrasanthi Nilayam 515134,Anantapur District (A.P.),Printed at M/s Rajhans Enterprises,136, 4th Main Road, Industrial Town, RajajiNagar, Bangalore - 560044, Karnataka.And Published Sri Sathya Sai Sadhana Trust,Publications Division, Prasanthi Nilayam515134, Anantapur Dist., Andhra PradeshEditor G.L. ANANDE-mail: enquiry@sssbpt.orgeditor@sssbpt.orgsubscriptions@sssbpt.orgISD Code : 0091STD Code : 08555Telephone : 287375Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust Telefax : 287390General enquiry : 287164Sri Sathya Sai University -Administrative Office : 287191 / 287239Sri Sathya Sai HigherSecondary School : 287522Sri Sathya SaiPrimary School : 287237SSSIHMS, Prasanthigram,Puttaparthi : 287388SSSIHMS, Whitefield,Bangalore : 080 28411500Cover Page PhotographUnity of FaithsJourney with Sai: Personal Accounts of Devotees ............ 323EditorialMake Truth the Guiding Principle of your Life ................. 324Bhagavan’s Discourse: 2nd July 1996Science and Spirituality Complement Each Other .......... 332InterviewBhagavan’s Visit to Rajahmundry:22nd to 26th January 1969 ................................................ 338B.V. Ramana RaoCelebrations at Prasanthi Nilayam ................................... 345A ReportDivine Love in East Africa ................................................. 351Indulal Shah, Sarla ShahExperiencing the Bliss of Travelling with Bhagavan ......... 357Maj. Gen. S.P. MahadevanRealise the Divine and Become Divine ............................. 361From our ArchivesMy Journeys with Bhagavan to Kodaikanal ...................... 367T.G. KrishnamurthyMy Journeys with Sai ......................................................... 370Dr. K. Bhaskar RaoA Resurrection ................................................................... 376Effulgence of Divine GloryBhagavan’s Visit to Karur, 1947 ........................................ 378Smt. VijayammaA Delightful Half Century of Divine Grace ....................... 384Krishnadas Eradi, Haridas EradiGod Loves His Devotees .................................................... 386Chinna KathaTwo Memorable Trips to Mumbai with Bhagavan ............ 388Dr. T. RavikumarA Wonderful Journey withBhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba .......................................... 391Prema Kanakaraja GuptaNews from Sai Centres ..................................................... 394

JOURNEY WITH SAIPERSONAL ACCOUNTS OF DEVOTEESHIS SPECIAL ISSUE OF SANATHANA SARATHI ON “JOURNEYwith Sai: Personal Accounts of Devotees” carries eyewitness accountsof a few of Bhagavan’s tours by those fortunate devotees who travelledwith Him in His car or as part of His retinue or were intimately connected with Hisearly tours to various places.As Bhagavan says, man cannot understand God; he can experience God andderive bliss therefrom. After declaring His Avatarhood on 20th October 1940 atUravakonda where He was a student in High School, Bhagavan embarked upon HisMission of giving to mankind the blissful experience of His Divinity. He undertookextensive tours, covered lakhs of kilometres mostly by road and reached out tomasses even in remote villages to give them the direct experience of His Divinity.He told them in no uncertain terms that God has incarnated on earth to relieveman of his sufferings and lead him to Godward path and to redeem his life. Simplepure-hearted villagers gathered in thousands to hear Him and to experience Hisomnipresence, omniscience and omnipotence like the cowherds of Brindavanwhen they found Lord Krishna amidst them in Dwapar Yuga.EDITORIALTThese tours of Bhagavan make it evident that there is no limit to His love for Hisdevotees, and His compassion and kindness are boundless. No amount of physicaldiscomfort could deter Him from reaching out to His devotees. Be it scorchingheat of the midday sun in summer season or torrential rain, be it the most tediousjourney on dusty bullock cart tracks of villages or walk across open fi elds where noroad existed, nothing could stand between Him and His devotees. But in spite of thearduousness of the journey or long hours of travel, sometimes from early morningto past midnight, His co-travellers never saw any trace of fatigue or discomfort onHis face which was always radiant and fresh like a rose in full bloom.It is said, if you take one step towards God, He takes a hundred steps towardsyou. But compassionate Lord Sai has been taking thousands and thousands ofsteps towards man even without man taking that one signifi cant step. The presentgeneration is, indeed, most fortunate to fi nd such a compassionate Lord amidstthem who is showering His love and benedictions on vast multitudes day in andday out. It is therefore our sacred duty to express our gratitude to Bhagavan forHis bountiful grace on us all. Perhaps, one of the best ways to do so would be toidentify all those places sanctifi ed by the touch of the Lotus Feet of Bhagavan andpreserve them as places of pilgrimage for future generations. This would, no doubt,be our best tribute to Bhagavan on His 85th Birthday.– EditorNovember 2010 323

AMRITA DHARAMAKE TRUTH THE GUIDINGPRINCIPLE OF YOUR LIFEM A N I S T H E E M B O D I M E N T O F B L I S SBHAGAVAN’S DISCOURSE:2ND JULY 1996Embodiments of Love!SATHYA, DHARMA,Santhi, Prema andAhimsa are verily the fi velife principles of man.Truth is the very Form of GodPeople think humanness lies inperforming normal activities which aman is supposed to carry out in hisday-to-day life. These activities areonly worldly activities, not spiritual.Reporting of events as they are,as you see them and as you dothem constitutes only worldly truth.Spiritual truth is different from it.It is beyond the realm of time,space and circumstances and isnot related to any particular time,place or individual. It transcends thethree qualities of Sattwa, Rajas andTamas (serenity, passion and sloth).This truth is verily God. Everythingemerges from this truth.The creation emerges from truthand merges into truth,Is there a place in the cosmoswhere truth does not exist?Visualise this pure and unsulliedtruth.(Telugu Poem)All the fi ve elements have emergedfrom truth. Unable to understand this324 November 2010You are the embodiment of Ananda whether youknow it or not. It is only due to your ignorancethat you feel, you have lost your Ananda. Whenyou get rid of your ignorance and attain Jnana,you will realise that you are the embodimentof Ananda. The divine principle of bliss neithercomes nor goes. When you know this truth, youwill know everything. What is this truth? It isTrikarana Shuddhi. You should speak what youthink and do what you say. The unity of thought,word and deed is truth.

truth, we consider the worldly and physicalrealities as truth. Worldly truth is what you seewith your eyes, hear with your ears and thinkwith your mind. This worldly truth is the causeof both happiness and sorrow. It denotesworldly reality which is subject to change withthe passage of time. But the spiritual truth doesnot change in all the three periods of time. Thatis why it is said, Trikalabadhyam Sathyam(Truth remains unchanged in the three periodsof time – past, present and future). This truth isthe basis of entire creation. What do we meanby Sathyam (truth) which consists of threeletters, Sath+y+am. ‘Sath’ means life principle;‘y’ denotes food and ‘am’ stands for the sun.Every being is endowed with life principle, forwhich food is the basis. The sun is the cause ofentire vegetation and crops which provide foodto man. The combination of life principle, foodand the sun constitutes truth. Therefore, allthese three are the embodiments of Brahman.Life is Brahman, food is Brahman and the sunis Brahman.Sathya consists of three letters ‘Sa’, ‘tha’,and ‘ya’. When we reverse the order of theseletters, we get ‘Ya’, ‘tha’ and ‘sa’. ‘Ya’ standsfor Yamas and Niyamas; ‘tha’ stands for Tapaand ‘Sa’ denotes God who is the embodimentof truth. Therefore, when you perform penanceobserving Yamas and Niyamas (restraints andobservances), you will have the vision of God.This is what is meant by Sathya. Adherence toYamas and Niyamas denotes the control of fi vesenses of perception and fi ve senses of action.You should control the senses and performTapa (penance). What is meant by penance?It does not mean performing a posture withyour head down and feet up. The real meaningof Tapa is Trikarana Shuddhi (unity of thought,word and deed). Speak what you think and dowhat you say. This harmony betweenOur ancient Vedic culture teaches,Sathyam Vada, Dharmam Chara(speak truth, practise righteousness).But today we do not find one in athousand or even a million whoadheres to truth. People performSathyanarayana Vrata once in a yearbut for the rest of the year, they taketo the path of untruth only. Once ina while, they may speak truth andadhere to it, but they resort to untruthfor the rest of their life. This is nothumanness. True humanness lies inadhering to truth all your life.thought, word and deed constitutes TrikaranaShuddhi. It is only when you observe Yamasand Niyamas with Trikarana Shuddhi can youhave the vision of God. That is to say, SathyamJnanam Anantham Brahma (Brahman is theembodiment of truth, wisdom and eternity).Truth is knowledge, knowledge is infi nitudeand God is infi nite. Brahman denotes infi nityand vastness. Therefore, truth is the very formof God. But man today considers worldly realityas truth. He forgets the spiritual truth, takes tothe path of ignorance and is unable to see thelight of knowledge.Spiritual Truth is ChangelessMan’s life is divided into four Ashrams (stagesof life) as per the ancient Indian tradition. Theseare Brahmacharya Ashram, Grihastha Ashram,Vanaprastha Ashram and Sannyasa Ashram(celibate stage, householder stage, reclusestage and renunciant stage). These are thedifferent names of four stages of man’s life.This is the worldly truth. The person whopasses through these four stages is one andthe same. The stages change but notNovember 2010 325

the person. That which changes is worldlytruth and that which remains changeless isspiritual truth. The changeless truth is thefoundation. On the foundation of Sathya,stands the mansion of Dharma. The mansioncan be given any colour, any name; it canbe decorated in any way. But the foundationcannot be changed. This foundation is what ismeant by Sathya. Sathyannasti Paro Dharma(There is no Dharma greater than adherenceto truth). Sathya is the basis of Dharma.Dharayati iti Dharma (that which sustains isDharma). Dharma is supported and sustainedby Sathya. In fact, Sathya is the fundamentalbasis for everything. But, unfortunately, mantoday has forgotten this principle of truth.Our ancient Vedic culture teaches, SathyamVada, Dharmam Chara (speak truth, practiserighteousness). But today we do not fi nd onein a thousand or even a million who adheres totruth. People perform Sathyanarayana Vrata(worship of Sathyanarayana) once in a yearbut for the rest of the year, they take to thepath of untruth only. Once in a while, they mayspeak truth and adhere to it, but they resortto untruth for the rest of their life. This is nothumanness. True humanness lies in adheringto truth all your life.You are the Embodiments of AnandaWhat is meant by humanness? To conductoneself without ignorance is humanness. Manshould base his life on truth in order to livewithout ignorance. Then only can he be calleda Manava (human being) in the real sense ofthe term. The word ‘Manava’ consists of threeletters –‘Ma’, ‘na’, ‘va’. ‘Ma’ means ignorance,‘na’ means without and ‘va’ means to conductoneself. Hence, one who leads his life withoutignorance is Manava. To defi ne the word‘Manava’ in another way, it can be split intotwo parts, ‘Ma’ and ‘nava’. ‘Ma’ denotesnot, ‘nava’ means new. Therefore, the term‘Manava’ refers to one who is not new. He isnot someone who came into existence onlyin this birth. He is very ancient and eternal.The term ‘Manava’ demonstrates these truths.Therefore, man should dedicate his life tothese principles of truth and humanness.The goal of human life is to experienceSat-Chit-Ananda. ‘Sat’ means being whichis eternal. ‘Chit’ means awareness whichdenotes knowledge. When man combines ‘Sat’and ‘Chit’, he will naturally experience Ananda(bliss). Since man is not able to experienceAnanda, he keeps on searching for it here andthere. Truly, man’s very form is bliss. Unableto realise this truth, man searches for blisselsewhere? In fact, he wanders here and therein search of himself! How foolish is he whosearches for his own form elsewhere? Canyou fi nd yourself elsewhere? People cravefor Ananda, saying, “I want Ananda, I wantAnanda”. They keep on enquiring which objector which person can give them Ananda. Theytry to acquire several worldly objects and meetseveral people to derive Ananda from them.Similarly, they pursue various endeavours toget Ananda. But there is no Ananda in objects,individuals and worldly pursuits. Ananda is inyou. You yourself are the very form of Ananda.In fact, you are immersed in the ocean ofAnanda.Water bubble is born in water, grows inwater and merges in water. Man is thewater bubble and God is the water. Listento this truth, oh valiant sons of Bharat!(Telugu Poem)Where is the need to search for Anandaelsewhere? Since man today is not able torealise this truth, he has become an ignoramus.This is the effect of Maya (delusion).326 November 2010

Life is a delusion,Worldly attachments are a delusion,Family life is a delusion,Death is a delusion.Why should one becomeA victim of delusion?(Telugu Poem)You yourself are the cause of delusion.Maya is not to be seen anywhere. In fact, Mayadoes not exist at all. Since it does not existanywhere, it is called Maya. Where is Maya?You can see it only when it exists. You mistakea rope for a snake in darkness. Because ofthis deluded thinking, you run away from therope. When you fl ash a torchlight on it, yourealise that it is only a rope. Then your feardisappears. You can even hold it in your hand.When you mistook it for a snake, then also itwas a rope and when you saw it as a rope,then also it was a rope. When you throw lighton it, the snake does not run away and therope does not come there. Then also it was arope and now too it is a rope. Similarly, you arethe embodiment of Ananda whether you knowit or not. It is only due to your ignorance thatyou feel, you have lost your Ananda. Whenyou get rid of your ignorance and attain Jnana,you will realise that you are the embodimentof Ananda. The divine principle of bliss neithercomes nor goes. When you know this truth,you will know everything. What is this truth? Itis Trikarana Shuddhi. You should speak whatyou think and do what you say. The unity ofthought, word and deed is truth. There is anintimate relationship between thought, wordand deed.The other day, I told you that Aham (I) isborn out of Atma. Therefore, Aham is the sonof Atma. Mind is born out of Aham and hence itis the grandson of Atma. Speech is bornout of mind. Therefore, it is the great grandsonof Atma. That is to say, Atma, Aham, mind andspeech, all belong to the same family. In thesame way, there should be intimate relationshipbetween heart and speech and also betweenspeech and action. This harmony betweenheart, speech and action is Trikarana Shuddhiand that is Sathya. Sathya is not limited tostating what you see and hear. Sathya is yourvery form. What is the factor due to whichyou forget this truth? It can be identifi ed by aworldly example.Always Take Refuge in TruthStudents! You may not have the experienceof this, but it is a fact that a person has toundergo many diffi culties when he marries.There is no happiness in Samsara (worldlylife). ‘Samsara’ denotes ‘some’ + ‘sara’, thatwhich has little Sara (essence). There is nogreat happiness in Samsara. It can give youonly a little happiness. Many types of troublesand turmoils start in the family when you marryand get a wife. Your troubles will becomemanifold if you have two wives. Dhruva’s fatherUttanapada had two wives. As a result, he hadto face enormous diffi culties. His second wifewould not allow Dhruva to sit on his father’slap because he was born out of his fi rst wife.She started arguing with King Uttanapada thatonly her son had the right to sit on his lap. Asa result, Dhruva left for the forest and the kingwas subjected to great agony and suffering.You also know the story of Dasaratha who hadthree wives. He completely yielded to the wishesof his third wife and sent Sri Rama, born out ofhis fi rst wife, to the forest even though Ramawas none other than the incarnation of LordNarayana. What will then be the fate of onewho has ten wives? Who has got ten wives? Itis the mind. Its ten wives are the ten senses ofman. What a great suffering the mind isNovember 2010 327

put to by these ten senses! Theeyes demand, “Buy me a TV andtake me to a good cinema”. Thenthe tongue starts pestering it,“Bring for me the most deliciousMasala Dosa, Dahi Vada”. Thenose tells, “Get a fragrant fl owerfor me”. Similarly, the ears alsowant to hear good music. How isit possible to satisfy the cravingsof all these senses? It is diffi cultto fully satisfy even one sense.Then, how can the ten senses besatisfi ed? Unable to satisfy theten senses, the mind is subjectedto untold miseries. Only then itprays, “Oh God, I do not wantthis Samsara” and makes effortsto control the senses. What arethe worries that affl ict the mind?To be born is a worry, to beon the earth is a worry; worldis a cause of worry and deathtoo; entire childhood is a worryand so is the old age; life isa worry, failure is a worry; allactions and diffi culties causeworry; even happiness too isa mysterious worry. Devotionto Swami alone will put an endto all your worries. Oh people!Develop such devotion andlove.(Telugu Poem)Truth Alone TriumphsThen the mind starts praying, “Oh Lord, Ican no longer bear this suffering. Kindly cometo my rescue”. Till then, it does not think ofGod. People pray only in times of diffi culties.When are you affl icted with worries? It is onlywhen you forget truth. The reason for all theworries of man today is that he328 November 2010That which changes is worldly truth and that whichremains changeless is spiritual truth. The changelesstruth is the foundation. On the foundation of Sathya,stands the mansion of Dharma. The mansion can begiven any colour, any name; it can be decorated inany way. But the foundation cannot be changed. Thisfoundation is what is meant by Sathya. SathyannastiParo Dharma (There is no Dharma greater thanadherence to truth). Sathya is the basis of Dharma.Dharayati iti Dharma (that which sustains is Dharma).Dharma is supported and sustained by Sathya. Infact, Sathya is the fundamental basis for everything.But, unfortunately, man today has forgotten thisprinciple of truth.has forgotten truth. Follow truth and you willbe successful in all fi elds of life. Victory alwaysfavours those who follow truth, and none others.You cannot be victorious by your physicalstrength, intellectual power, enormous wealthand a large number of followers. All thesecannot supersede truth. It is the truth

that triumphs. There is nothing in this worldthat can overpower truth. Sathyameva Jayate(Truth alone triumphs). Nothing else canachieve victory. Ekam Sath Viprah BahudhaVadanti (truth is one, but the wise refer to itby various names). You can achieve victoryin all your endeavours when you follow truth.Whatever serious problem you may be facedwith, it can be easily solved by following truth.There is nothing that truth cannot achieve inthis world. It can achieve everything. Sathyahas such great power that it can turn earthinto sky and sky into earth. Therefore, alwaystake refuge in truth. Truth is God. Life hasno meaning if you forget truth. People in thisworld are victims of so many problems andsufferings because they have forgotten truth.If you forget truth and take refuge in anythingelse, you cannot achieve victory. You may havehigh position of authority and high degrees ofeducation, but they cannot lead you to truth.What is the reason? The reason is that allthese are worldly achievements and they leadyou only to worldly goals. Sathya leads to thepath of Nivritti (detachment). It is only whenyou realise this truth can you be victorious inlife.Students! In any adverse situation oflife, keep Sathya as your guiding principlebefore you. Uphold your promise under allcircumstances. If you have given a promiseto someone, you should stick to it till the lastbreath of your life. When Vamana asked forthree steps of land, Bali promised to give himwhat he asked for. Bali’s preceptor Sukracharyaforbade him from granting Vamana’s wish.Then Bali said, “Is there a greater sin than goingback on one’s promise? I have given him myword; I will not go back on it, come what may”.You should emulate such ideals and leada life of truth. The world can be savedonly when people follow this principle of truth.Do people today follow the path of truth andrighteousness? No. They listen to numerousdiscourses, read thousands of books and goto meet hundreds of noble souls. But what dothey follow? What do they practise? How muchdo they experience? Nothing at all.Get Rid of the Duality of your MindMany people call themselves Pandits(learned men). What does the term Panditmean? Is he the one who has mastered theVedas, the sacred texts, the epics and themythological texts? Or is he the one whois a great exponent of scriptures? Or is hethe one who has accumulated enormousknowledge? No, no. The Bhagavadgitarefutes this statement and declares, PanditaSamadarshina (A Pandit is one who is equalminded).A real Pandit achieves equalmindedness.He observes equanimity inhappiness and sorrow, praise and ridicule,pleasure and pain. He is indifferent to heat andcold. This has to be there and that also has tobe there in this world. These dualities are partand parcel of worldly life. When you suffer fromthe heat of summer, you want the coolnessof winter. But, how long can you enjoy thecoolness of winter? You will again desire forthe heat of summer. When the heat is severe,then you will say, “Oh God, I am not able tobear this heat”, and desire for coolness. Butare the heat and coolness under your control?No. They are the gifts of God. These dualitiesare the hallmarks of this world. Man can enjoyhis life and experience peace and happinessonly because of these dualities. Nobody wantsto eat sweets all the time. If you eat sweetsfor ten days, on the eleventh day you will feellike tasting pickles. When you eat pickles fora few days, you will again desire for sweets.Sukhadukhe Samekruthwa LabhalabhauNovember 2010 329

Jayajayau (one should remain equal-mindedin happiness and sorrow, gain and loss,victory and defeat). Pleasure and pain, profi tand loss are but natural in this world. However,one should observe equanimity in this duality.You should not focus your mind on duality justbecause there is so much duality in this world.A man with dual mind is half blind. Therefore,do not have a dual mind.Man’s mind oscillates like the pendulumof a clock this way and that way. So longas this vacillation of mind continues, manwill experience only duality. But when thependulum stops, the mind will become still andstable. Only then will he experience the unityof Jiva (embodied soul) and Brahman (God).Therefore, man should try to control the vagariesof his mind. So long as mind oscillates, youare bound by time. When the mind becomes stilland you realise the principle of unity, you willtranscend time. Time is God. Kalaya Namah,Kala Kalaya Namah, Kaladarpa DamanayaNamah, Kalateetaya Namah, KalaswarupayaNamah, Kalaniyamitaya Namah (salutationsto time, to the one who is beyond time, tothe one who has conquered time, to theone who transcends time, to the one who isthe embodiment of time, and to the one whoordains time).Reach the Goal of your Life’s JourneyGod is the master of time. When you takerefuge in God, time has no power to do anyharm to you. In fact, man should become themaster of time. A real human being is onewho transcends time. Time is God. God is theresident of your heart. Greatness of man isimmeasurable because God Himself is installedin his heart. God is subservient to His devotee.Therefore, it is not proper for man to thinkhimself inferior in any way. JantunamNara Janma Durlabham (of all living beings,human birth is the rarest). It is a rare fortuneto be born as a human being. Never demeanhuman birth. This Nara Janma (human birth)has to be offered to Narayana. This is the verypurpose of human birth. Man should rise to thelevel of divine. He should evolve from animalityto humanness and from humanness to divinity.But, unfortunately, man today is going in thereverse direction and degenerating to thelevel of animals. Never use the ‘reverse gear’.Always use the ‘front gear’ and move forward.Where should you stop? You should not stoptill the goal is reached. This is the purpose ofthe journey of human life.How should you lead your life? You shouldlead your life by following four ‘F’s, aboutwhich I have told you earlier. The fi rst ‘F’ is:Follow the master. Who is your master? Yourconscience is your master. The second ‘F’ is:Face the devil. The third ‘F’ is: Fight to the end,and the fourth ‘F’ is: Finish the game. This isthe goal of life and this is the game of life.Life is a game, play it.Life is a dream, realise it.Life is a challenge, meet it.Life is love, enjoy it.The life of man is fi lled with such deep innermeanings and such great mysteries. Todayman is demeaning such a sacred, divine, nobleand sublime human life. What is the reason?The reason is that he has forgotten truth. Manypeople think that three-fourth of truth is life. ButI do not accept this. What about the remainingone-fourth? Therefore, not three-fourth, butcomplete truth is life. Truth is God. God is full.Poornamada Poornamidam, PoornatPoornamudachyate,Poornasya Poornamadaya,Poornamevavashishyate.330 November 2010

(That is full, this is full. When the full is takenout of the full, what remains is again the full.)God is full, you are full, the world is fulland everything is full. Therefore, truth is fulland fullness is truth. Realise this truth and donot resort to falsehood as far as possible. In asituation when speaking truth can be dangerousor can land you in trouble, do not utter eithertruth or untruth; remain silent. AnudvegakaramVakyam Sathyam Priya-hitham Cha Yat (oneshould speak only truthful, pleasing and wellintentionalwords, which are benefi cial toothers).Pray with Sincerity of Feelings and Purityof HeartOnce Lord Indra decided to test a great yogiwho was observing two vows. His fi rst vowwas that he would not hurt or harm anybody,and the second vow was that he would not tella lie. In order to put these vows into practicein his life, he was performing severe penance.Lord Indra came there in the form of a hunter,chasing a deer. When the deer came runningbefore the yogi, he opened his eyes and sawthe deer which hid itself in a bush. The huntercame to the yogi and asked, “Swami, I camehere in pursuit of a deer. Have you seen it”?The yogi was caught in a dilemma. If he wereto say that he had not seen the deer, that wouldamount to uttering falsehood. On the otherhand, if he were to reveal the whereaboutsof the deer, the hunter would kill it. In eitherway, one of his vows would be broken. Thenhe prayed to God to give him a vision or anidea by which he could uphold both the vows.Immediately, God granted him a vision. Godat once responds to the prayers of those whopray to Him with purity of heart. Those whoutter their prayers without any earnestness,God will not answer their prayers, no matterhow long they keep on praying. Those whopray with sincerity of feelings and purity ofheart will get immediate response from God.As God granted him a vision, the yogi said tothe hunter, “The eyes that see cannot speakand the tongue that speaks cannot see. Thenwhat can I say”? Eyes that saw the deer cannotspeak. The tongue that can speak did not seethe deer. Seeing one thing and saying anotherthing amounts to falsehood. In this way, heescaped from a diffi cult situation.In this world, whenever man is caught up insuch a dilemma, he should try to escape fromit by following this path. Do not speak truth thatwould lead to danger. At the same time, do notcommit sin by uttering falsehood. Follow themiddle path because the world is illusive. Rightfrom your tender age, never utter falsehood. Ina diffi cult situation, neither tell a lie nor speaktruth. Better remain silent.(Bhagavan concluded His Discourse withthe Bhajan, “Hey Siva Sankara NamamiSankara…”)– From Bhagavan’s Discourse in SaiKulwant Hall, Prasanthi Nilayam on 2ndJuly 1996.You cannot understand the nature of My Reality either today or even after a thousandyears of steady austerity or ardent enquiry even if all mankind joins in that effort.But, in a short time, you will become cognisant of the bliss showered by the Divineprinciple, which has taken upon itself this sacred body and this sacred name. Yourgood fortune which will provide you this chance is greater than what was availablefor anchorites, monks, sages, saints and even personalities embodying facet ofDivine glory.BabaNovember 2010 331

SCIENCE AND SPIRITUALITYCOMPLEMENT EACH OTHERDr. G. Venkataraman, an eminent scientist and former Vice Chancellor of Sri Sathya SaiInstitute of Higher Learning, who interviewed a large number of eminent persons for RadioSai Global Harmony, is interviewed by Sri Ted Henry.DR. VENKATARAMAN, IT IS Apleasure to be sitting across thetable and speaking to you tonight.But I have to ask you if you feel alittle strange, because normally you are the oneasking all the questions. This is much easieron my side than it is on your side, isn’t it?It is like an examiner sitting for anexamination. I sit here not knowing whatquestions you are going to ask!You are a man of science and I was alwaysled to believe that science and spiritualitysimply do not mix. Are you an aberration there?What caused you to get into the world of bothof these disciplines?I am glad you asked that question. I have toclarify some misconceptions here. I will leaveout the philosophical aspect and stay with thepure human aspect. It is only a recent fashionthat scientists scoff at spirituality. If you go backin history, not too far, up to Newton and Galileo,you will fi nd that science and spirituality madea perfect mix. I am not sure if you are awarethat Newton wanted to be a priest. He was agreat believer in God. He was always amazedby the power of God. For example, he believedin absolute space, a concept in physics. But ofcourse, now we know that there is no absolutespace, there is only absolute space time, andthat came with Albert Einstein; however, thatis a different story. But Newton said youmust have absolute space; otherwise it won’tbe consistent with divinity. Similarly, he lookedat the thumb and said, this thumb alone isenough to prove the existence of God. Newtonwas not an isolated singularity as we say inmathematics. He was not an exception at all.That was the kind of feeling that prevailed. Aslate as the 1920s, Werner Heisenberg, whodiscovered the laws of Quantum Physics forthe fi rst time, later wrote a letter to his sister inwhich he said, “I felt as if I was looking over theLove is far more powerful than werecognise it to be, and I would saythat all His humanitarian projects aredemonstrations of the power of love.It is not just the hospital or the waterproject or any specific project. Thereare so many of them. He wants toshow that the way to solve problemsis through love and not in any othermethod. Conflict will certainly notsolve problems. It may shelve theproblem, it may sweep it under therug, it may keep it supposedly undercontrol but the problem will eruptagain, and when it does erupt, it willbe much more violent.332 November 2010

shoulder of the Lord as He was composing thesymphony of the universe”. And Heisenbergwas a Nobel Prize winner. I will not give along list but just jump to Charles Townes, aprofessor from Columbia who got the NobelPrize for discovering the principle of the Maserand Laser. He said, “Science explains the ‘how’of the universe and spiritual philosophy andthe religion explain the ‘why’ of the universe”.When did you become so interested in the‘why’?My case is somewhat different, for the simplereason that I led a double life, so to say! Born inIndia in a traditional family, one automaticallygets exposed to religion. As a small boy, I wasgiven a lot of books that related to our epicswhich I read and liked. The God that I likedreally was Lord Rama who stood for truthand righteousness. He was an ideal personand He naturally inspired a lot of admiration.Gandhi was very much around when I was asmall boy, and he used to adore Lord Rama.In fact, he died with the name of Rama on hislips. So, Lord Rama became very acceptableto me, particularly because of Gandhi. Butwhen I started my scientifi c career, I wouldthink of God at certain times and science atother times. As I grew up and became olderand wiser, I realised that science was only onehalf of the story and the spirituality the missinghalf, as Bhagavan Baba says. Unless youhave all of it together, you will not have thewhole picture.Now, let me ask you this question aboutBaba. What signifi cance does Sathya SaiBaba have in your life?Let me tell you briefl y, otherwise I will needa lot of time to explain this. I think, SathyaSai Baba not only has transformed me, butmade my life meaningful. He made meBaba always says, “I want to sustain thepeople in their own faith and make themdeepen their faith. There is a particularpathway to God that you have chosen,then why do you have to search forother tracks? There is no such need”.That is what makes Him acceptableto people from different religions.Particularly from Iran, I have seen biggroups come. They come here, andBaba gives them interviews. They say,“Baba, we want to sing Bhajans”. AndHe arranges for them to sing Bhajans,and all their Bhajans are on Allah. Weall listen; of course, we do not knowthose Bhajans and so cannot follow. Hehas no divisive feelings.realise the real purpose of human life. Thereal purpose of human life as I now see it is torecognise the divinity in man. This has beenrecognised by many religions. They all say,God made man in His own image. Well, if Godis divine, then man has to be divine too if he isan image of God!You know as well as I do that there arepeople all over the planet who are perhapshearing Sai Baba’s name for the fi rst time.Who is Sai Baba? Have you personally beenable to penetrate the veil of who Sai Baba is?I do not know if I can answer that questionin its entirety because I know in my head thatHe is an incarnation of God. That I know bylogical reasoning as well. But as a humanbeing, I believe that is not enough. I must feelthat in my Heart. Then only can I say I havepenetrated through the veil. There are timeswhen I feel that way and there are timesNovember 2010 333

when I can’t say that I feel that way. Just maybe my mind is wandering and Heart is nottuned up. But in my Heart of hearts, I do knowthat He is an incarnation of God and that Heis pure love and compassion. That, I have nodoubt of.It is because of His pure love that He hastouched innumerable Hearts in innumerablecountries. There are countries from wherepeople have not come like Cuba, but He isknown there. I have heard Leonardo Guttertelling me that there are something like 20,000followers of Sai Baba in Cuba including thebrother of Fidel Castro!How do they become aware?He has got his own methods. I do notremember the details. Somebody sent a letteror a picture there, and then the word spread,something like that. This has happenedtime and again and I shall give you a classicexample. In my opinion, if you have a feelingin your Heart for God, and it does not haveto be Sai Baba, He reaches out to you. It hashappened to a number of people. Take thecase of James Sinclair. He has recorded it infi rst person. He did not know anything aboutSai Baba. He always used to ask himself, “Howcome I am living 2,000 years late? Why was Inot around when Christ was there”? There wasa deep yearning in him and Swami broughtJames to Him. This happened to many people.Let me get back to the point that I wanted to tellyou. Look at Russia. Ten years ago, there washardly any Russian here. Today there are somany. In fact, at times there seem to be moreRussians than people from any other region!There are more Russians than Americanstoday, right now at this period.That is right. I understand there is a deephunger for God in them. I believe, Babatold somebody, just at the time Perestroikawas coming into the picture, “A big black cloudover Russia is lifting”. When it lifted, there wasa vacuum, and those who were yearning forGod came here. And for everyone who comeshere, there are at least a hundred more therewho are unable to come and we have heardstories of that. If you have yearning for God,He will reveal Himself to you in some way orthe other at the right time.There seems to be a threshold of awarenessin the west, particularly in America. Not so longago, there was a Sunday article in the NewYork Times. I have to imagine that there arethousands of people if not millions who areseeing His name and picture in print in thepaper for the fi rst time. Are you ready to havethe gates made bigger to accommodate thethrongs of people pouring in to see Sai Baba?We do not have to make them bigger. Thegates will collapse if they come. Already inIndia, whenever Baba goes to any place, hugecrowds come. I have seen this personally inthe year 1999. I had the pleasure and theprivilege of going with Him fi rst to Delhi andthen to Mumbai. It was a seven-day trip. Hehad to give Darshan in the biggest stadium inIndia, the Nehru Stadium. It was built for theAsian Games. About 1,00,000 people couldsit and the track and fi eld events would beconducted there. There were people sitting inthe playing area and the galleries, refl ectingthe tremendous hunger for Him. It has beenlike that for many years. I think people from allover the world too will be drawn to Him in duecourse when the time comes.We have talked about people coming fromatheism who have had no religion being drawnby Baba now, like from Cuba, from Russia.And, of course, there are millions of334 November 2010

people from India too. I am also aware, thethen Prime Minister of India who was a Hinduwas a devotee, an admirer and affi rmer ofSai Baba, and even the then President whowas a Muslim felt the same way. Talk to me alittle bit about His ability to unite people fromvarious religious backgrounds which makesHim unique.Baba always says, “I want to sustain thepeople in their own faith and make them deepentheir faith. There is a particular pathway to Godthat you have chosen, then why do you haveto search for other tracks? There is no suchneed”. That is what makes Him acceptableto people from different religions. Particularlyfrom Iran, I have seen big groups come. Theycome here, and Baba gives them interviews.They say, “Baba, we want to sing Bhajans”.And He arranges for them to sing Bhajans, andall their Bhajans are on Allah. We all listen; ofcourse, we do not know those Bhajans and socannot follow. He has no divisive feelings. Infact, if you go out and see, there is a mosquein the village. That mosque was constructedby Him. The Muslims of this village had to goto Bukkapatnam which is about 6 kilometresaway and they found it very diffi cult. Then Hesaid, “do not worry, you do not have to go thatfar”, and gave them a mosque.Sometime ago, there was a mass marriageceremony conducted for those who couldnot afford the expenditure of marriage. I waspresent at that. It was during Baba’s 70thBirthday. There were Christians, Muslims andHindus. A Muslim head priest conducted theMuslim marriages according to their rituals,the Christian priests conducted the marriagesaccording to their system and the Hindus, ofcourse, who were the majority conductedmarriages according to their custom.If you have a feeling in your Heartfor God, and it does not have tobe Sai Baba, He reaches out toyou. It has happened to a numberof people. Take the case of JamesSinclair. He has recorded it in firstperson. He did not know anythingabout Sai Baba. He always used toask himself, “How come I am living2,000 years late? Why was I notaround when Christ was there”?There was a deep yearning in himand Swami brought James to Him.This happened to many people.Swami just does not care about the proceduraldetails. He says, “My language is the languageof the Heart; My religion is the religion of Love”.So, He does not have any problem; we are theones who have the problems.The people that I have met here are fairlyattached to the form of Sai Baba and I wouldimagine you are no exception to that, andI understand you are doing His work at Hiscommand. What, if He suddenly told you, “Gointo the world and work again; go back fromwhere you came, go to Delhi or go to Mumbai”?Would you be able to do that easily if He wantedyou to be yourself apart from here?Let me answer that question in two parts.First, I hope He won’t ask me to do that. But if Heasks me to do that, I would obey His commandunfl inchingly because my duty is to do whatHe says and hope that He will be pleased withwhat I do. So, as far as I am concerned, I haveno hang-ups on that. But different people aremade differently. Baba says often, “You mustobey divine command implicitly”. If thatNovember 2010 335

is given to me as an order, I will defi nitely dothat. I have no doubts about that. May be, I willcry a little bit but that is a different thing.You would probably shed a few tearsbecause you are surely in the wonderfulposition of being around Him so much. How doyou describe Him as a man, the human featureof Sai Baba that you see so often?Baba Himself has answered this questionearlier. You can be very close and totally missHim, and you can be very far but you can bevery close to Him. It is all a question of howyou look at Him. As He says, if you look at Godwith a human eye, you see a human. If yousee Him with a divine eye, you will see Himdivine.I want to ask you one question. The goodworks of Sathya Sai Baba – the wonderfulhospitals that are almost beyond descriptionfor the person that has not seen them, theschools, the educational system, the waterpurifi cation projects – I am guessing there is noway on earth even Baba can meet these needsuniversally. Is the purpose of these projects toserve as models for others to carry on? And,is it His purpose to show to the people of Indiathat they can do this with very little money anddo it so successfully? Is that the purpose ofwhy He is giving so much attention to it?There are a number of reasons. But I cansay, there are some obvious lessons to belearnt. The fi rst is that you must be selfless inanything that you do whether it is small or big.If there is a tinge of selfishness, then there arechances of failure. But if you are totally selfl ess,then there is a very great chance that you willsucceed. A selfl ess person is full of love. Loveis far more powerful than we recognise it tobe, and I would say that all His humanitarianprojects are demonstrations of the powerof love. It is not just the hospital or thewater project or any specifi c project. There areso many of them. He wants to show that theway to solve problems is through love and notin any other method. Confl ict will certainly notsolve problems. It may shelve the problem,it may sweep it under the rug, it may keep itsupposedly under control but the problem willerupt again, and when it does erupt, it will bemuch more violent.He says, His religion is the Religion ofLove. I hear this over and over again but I fi ndthat it is the most difficult four letter word formost humans to understand including myselfwhat love means. You are talking about actingselfl essly. I do not know too many people whocan do that.You see we have lost practice and so wethink it is impossible. But in a small measure,we are all alive because of selfl ess love!We do not realise that. Let me put this way.I thought about this for a long time. You seea newborn baby. That newborn baby cannotsurvive unless the mother is prepared to getup in the middle of the night to feed it, clean it,take care of it and so on. That is selfless lovein action. That is really God’s love for man.You and I would not be alive if our mothershadn’t done it, and every mother on earth isdoing it all the time from the beginning of thehuman race. But we do not pay attention to it.Somehow, other factors come and eclipse this.Life goes on because of love. It is not confi nedto humans. Look at a tigress or a cat, how theyprotect their little ones. God has built this intoall the living beings – kindness, compassionand love. Of course, it appears in distortedforms but now what we are trying to do is toedge it out. That is our problem.How much longer do you continue to servein your capacity before you decide to simplyretire and enjoy the fruits of your achievementsover so many years?336 November 2010

With Baba, you do not take a vacation; Hedoes not take a vacation. He says, change ofwork is rest. I now have no encumbrances, Iam all by myself, I have no particular agendaof my own. My only complaint is that He hasgiven me only twenty four hours a day. Ofcourse, as Einstein says, if I can travel with thespeed of light I can make these 24 hours lastlonger, but I can’t do that. I have to be involvedin Swami’s work. I feel enormous strength andpleasure and happiness in doing His work. Byno means and no way am I going to trade itin.I would say, these are the best days of mylife. I would unhesitatingly say, these are themost useful years of my life. I know who I amfi nally; I know what I am doing and why I amdoing it. I know for whom I am doing it. I amgrateful to God for giving this opportunity tome.Finally, let me give you one last testquestion as we are running out of time. Ifthese truly are the best days of your life andif you would not trade places with anyone elseon the face of the earth, then for the personhearing about this place called Puttaparthi orPrasanthi Nilayam and Sathya Sai Baba, whatis the most important thing that you say rightnow that would help people understand whythis transformation occurred in you at this mostimportant time in your life?I would say, I was made to realise whoI really am. I am a human being and I havegot to live like a human being. Baba says,the defi nition of a human being is one with aI know in my head that He is anincarnation of God. That I know bylogical reasoning as well. But as ahuman being, I believe that is notenough. I must feel that in my Heart.Then only can I say I have penetratedthrough the veil. There are timeswhen I feel that way and there aretimes when I can’t say that I feelthat way. Just may be my mind iswandering and Heart is not tuned up.But in my Heart of hearts, I do knowthat He is an incarnation of God andthat He is pure love and compassion.That, I have no doubt of.Heart. For Heart, He uses the Sanskrit word– Hridaya. It is Hri + Daya. Daya in Sanskritmeans compassion. Unless your Heart isoverfl owing with compassion, you are not ahuman being. I would say Puttaparthi is tellingthe world now to discover your Heart, discoverthe compassion in it, let it fl ood all over yourbody and let it fl ow out of your body in acts ofselfl ess love.Dr. Venkataraman, you do very well on thatside of the microphone and I think you shouldstay there for a few more years. Thank youvery much for your time. Sai Ram.Thank you. Sai Ram.Courtesy: Radio Sai Global HarmonyOf what avail is it if you simply worship My Name and Form without attempting tocultivate the Samatwa (equal love for all) that I have, My Santhi (unruffled peace),My Prema (love), My Sahana (patience and fortitude), My Ananda (bliss)?BabaNovember 2010 337

ON 21ST JANUARY 1969, Itelephoned Sri D.V. Rama Rao,District President of East Godavari,that I along with Sri Sathya Murthywanted to come to his house at Rajahmundryfor Bhagavan’s Darshan as He was stayingthere. After receiving his consent, we went bycar to Rajahmundry, and were at the doorstepof the residence of Sri Rama Rao on 22ndJanuary 1969 at 6.30 a.m. We went into thehall where six devotees, known to me, werealready waiting. At about 7 o’clock, Bhagavancame out of His room and looking at us with aVisit to Villages on 22nd JanuaryAfter everything was set, Bhagavan’scaravan of four cars left for village Thamarada,about 15 km from Rajahmundry at 8.15 a.m.On reaching the village, Bhagavan got downfrom His car, laid the foundation of a Sai Mandirand stood on the dais, receiving garlands andArati. Before getting into the car, He stood onits footboard, waved His hand of benedictionto all sides and blessed the crowd of over tenthousand people.Our next halt was village Medapadu whereBhagavan inaugurated a newly-constructedB.V. Ramana RaoBHAGAVAN’S VISIT TO RAJAHMUNDRY22ND TO 26TH JANUARY 1969Bhagavan travelled for long hours, sometimes from early morning till late at night, and wentto remote villages to give His Divine Message of love to villagers undeterred by all physicaldiscomforts. His visit to Rajahmundry in 1969 highlights how relentlessly He pursued HisMission of showering compassion and love on the masses to redeem their life.smile on His face, asked us His usual question,“When did you come”? After all of us hadPadanamaskar, Bhagavan graciously askedus to have breakfast.Bhajan was in full swing in the spaciousPandal outside the compound when Bhagavanalighted from the stage, stood on the steps fora few minutes and started slowly walking alongthe carpeted aisle, with Rama Rao behind Him,collecting letters. Meanwhile, happy tidingswere conveyed to us that Swami had graciouslypermitted us to be a part of His retinue and thatour car should be behind Swami’s car whichwas driven by Rama Rao.Mandir. After consecrating Prasadam fordistribution and accepting Arati, He got intothe car. From there, we proceeded to villageVadlamuru, which is famous for oranges.Here, Bhagavan laid the foundation stone ofSathya Sai Mandir. There was a huge crowdat this place. Bhagavan was given a traditionalwelcome befi tting the sacred ceremony. Afterlaying the foundation of the Mandir, Swamisat on a chair placed on an elevated platformfor a few minutes to enable the crowd to feasttheir eyes on His Divine Form. Bhagavan wasshown the plan of the proposed Mandir whichHe blessed. Before getting down from338 November 2010

Sri Ramakrishna and his family members with Bhagavan afterBhagavan laid the foundation of his new house in Vadlamuruvillage on 22nd January 1969.the platform, He raised both His hands andblessed the crowd, turning to all sides.The cars moved on to the residence of SriThummalepalli Ramakrishna, where lunch wasarranged. Besides blessing the members ofhis family, Bhagavan laid the foundation of hisproposed new house on an adjacent site. Afterlunch, to which there were over 100 invitees,we went to Peddapuram.At Peddapuram, Swami visited theresidence of Sri Challa Apparao. He was oncea terrorist and also a political prisoner for adecade during British rule. He was bedriddenand immobile due to a serious illness. Sittingby his side on the bed, Swami wiped his tearsof ecstasy at His Darshan. Swami held hishead with His left hand and slowly raised himto sitting posture. Then He rubbed his handswith His right hand. After this, Apparao wasable to fold his hands and offer Namaskar toSwami. Swami materialised a Linga and gaveit to him with instructions to bathe it with waterevery morning and drink the consecratedwater. Swami made him drinka little milk. Thereafter, heaudibly expressed his gratitudeto Bhagavan for His kindness.While leaving the house, Swamiassured him that he would beable to come to Puttaparthi inabout a month, and he did. Thelast item of the agenda for theday was a public meeting in thelocal high school ground. It wasa historic meeting as a hugegathering of people throngedthe venue. Not only the vastground but both the streetsleading to the ground werefi lled with people. Bhagavan’sDiscourse extended from 5 to 7p.m. We returned to Rajahmundry by 8 p.m.On Way to Ambajipet and AmalapuramOn 23rd morning, we left at 8 a.m. in thedirection of Kothapeta where a public meetingwas scheduled to be held at 10 a.m. in honourof Bhagavan’s visit. On the way, there werea number of villages where Pandals wereerected in which Bhagavan’s photo wasplaced on a chair covered with a silk Sari in asimilar pattern at all places. There were about100 to 200 people at each of these places. Atthe sight of Swami’s caravan, one man with agarland and a woman with Arati plate wouldrush towards Swami’s car. Swami would slowdown the car to collect the garland, receiveArati and bless them. While all Pandals werealmost alike, for no reason understandable tous, Swami would ask the car to be stopped atcertain places and would get down from thecar. He would then ask the people to sit down.He would materialise Vibhuti and give to someold or disabled people, bless all and get backinto His car.November 2010 339

About 3 km on the way from Kothapeta,Swami directed the cars to go to a villagePalevela where He blessed the family of SriTuraga Purushottam, a very old devotee ofBhagavan. He spent about 10 minutes in thathouse before He got into the car. We werejust in time when we reached Kothapeta. Themeeting was organised in the vast ground ofa college which was thronged by a mammothgathering of devotees. Swami was receivedwith Poornakumbham amidst Veda chantingand was escorted to a specially erected andtastefully decorated platform. Before ascendingthe dais, Swami spent about 10 minutes walkingalong the long pathway straight in front of thedais and also beyond the carpeted pathway toenable the devotees to have closer Darshan.Bhagavan’s Discourse followed by Bhajanslasted till 12 noon. After the programme wasover, He spent almost 15 minutes talking tosome dignitaries and Vedic scholars, blessingsome of them with Padanamaskar and VibhutiPrasadam. This seemed to be quite unusual; itappeared as if He was delaying His departurefrom this place for some reason known only toHim.We left the venue of the meeting at about12.20 p.m. and were on our way to Ambajipetwhere lunch was arranged. When we werenearing Ambajipet, Swami’s car stopped. Weall got down to fi nd out what the matter was.Swami came out of His car and pointing to agroup of two ladies and two children almostrunning across the fi elds, told us, “Call themhere”. Two of us ran, stopped them and askedthem to follow us. They seemed to be so hardpressed for time that they did not care to stop.When we blocked their way, they had to obeyus reluctantly. The elder of the two ladies wasaround sixty years old. The other lady must bearound thirty-fi ve with the children agedBhagavan heaped up sand, and justin front of us from one of the heapsof sand materialised first an opalLinga. Bhagavan said that this was thesacred Linga which He had installedat Somnath Temple when He lastvisited the temple with devotees. Hebrought it out to show it to those whowere fortunate to be there. Later on,He produced a silver idol of crawlingBaby Krishna. Both these articleswere placed in a silver plate and takenround for the devotees to see andsanctify their lives.twelve and nine. They were evidently povertystricken.Baba asked the elder lady, “Whereare you going”? “We are going to Ambajipet tosee Sai Baba” was her reply, visibly annoyedat the interruption. “There will be enormouscrowd and you will be terribly inconveniencedwith these kids”, Baba was saying when theyturned to resume their cross country trek. Webarricaded their way and told them that it wasSai Baba Himself who was talking to them.The old lady looked at us askance. “I am SaiBaba – I stopped here just for you” Baba saidsmilingly. “Yes Attha! He looks exactly likeSai Baba in photos”, said the younger lady,presumably her widowed daughter-in-law withtwo children. The old lady was perplexed andlooked at Baba incredulously.“I know everything, your son was killed forthe sake of property. Don’t worry, the HighCourt verdict will be in your favour. I stoppedhere only to tell you this. Come, take this”.So saying, Baba picked up a wad of currencynotes in an envelope from the car and340 November 2010

gave it to her along with an apple each to allfour of them. They grabbed the envelope andstood stunned when we left. None of them saida word of thanks to Baba or made any formalobeisance to Him. When we saw the crowdsat Ambajipet, we realised the infi nite kindnessof Baba towards them and how fortunate theywere. The reason why Bhagavan had stayedfor 15 minutes after the public meeting atKothapeta, which was very unusual, was clearto us now; it was just to time His halt at thattwo-storeyed house of Dr. Saraswathi. Aftertea, we went to the high school ground at 5.30p.m. where a public meeting was arranged.There was an unprecedented rush and Swamiclimbed the steps of a well-illuminated podiumwith fi ne fl oral decorations, specially erectedat a height of 2.5 m. After He reached thepodium, there was a continuous loud applausetill He was garlanded and seated. Bhagavanspoke for an hour and a half, untiringly keepingthe audience spellbound.Bhagavan gave an enlightening Discourse to a huge congregation of people at Amalapuram on23rd January 1969.particular spot where He could meet the twoladies.A delicious lunch with delta specialitieswas waiting for us at Ambajipet. After lunchwe moved on to Amalapuram, the heart ofGodavari delta. The delta, which is otherwiseknown as “Konaseema” with its fertile soil, isa sight to be seen beyond description withits greenery abounding in beautiful coconutgroves, jack-fruit, mango and plantainorchards. At Amalapuram, we alighted in frontof the spacious and well-maintainedWe stopped for the night at the wellfurnishedresidence of Dr. Saraswathi. To bein the company of Bhagavan during His touris as much a pleasure as a penance. Everyword, every gesture, every moment and everyaction of Bhagavan is an enlightenment. It is apenance because all our attention is focused onBhagavan with our minds stilled and silencedagainst any other attraction or distraction.Whether it was at dinner or a public meeting,while the organisers were bound to pay specialattention to us, His entourage, we foundNovember 2010 341

ourselves always well within the confi nes ofHis affectionate attention.Mystery of Bhagavan’s Visit to a Housein Kathimanda VillageOn 24th morning, our caravan leftAmalapuram at 8 a.m. in the direction ofRazole. On the way, we could see those typicalPandals along the road, where devoteesassembled. Such Pandals were set up atManepalli and Thatipaka besides many othervillages. Baba did not get down but asked thecar to be stopped for a few moments when Hewaved His hand of blessings while receivinggarlands and Arati.We were to have a brief stopover atLakkavaram. At a distance of 3 km beforewe reached that village, Swami asked the carto take a turn to the right where there was arugged road fi t only for bullock carts. We knewthat Swami never came anywhere near thevillage Kathimanda, to which He led us, on thatonce God-forsaken road, now God-blessedroad. Swami asked the car to be stopped atthe corner of a bylane of the village. He gotdown from the car and trekked barefooted adistance of 30 m before He took another turnand disappeared. We were all left waitingaghast and could not conjecture where Swamimight have gone. Meanwhile, we manoeuvredto turn the cars back.Baba reappeared at the turn of the lane andcame near the cars in ten minutes, smiling.Before getting into the car, He stood there anddisclosed to us the mystery of His visit. Threeyears ago, a couple came to Prasanthi Nilayamfrom this village. The wife lost three children inthe past soon after delivery. She came whenshe was carrying. The couple were anxious tohave the blessings of Bhagavan. Bhagavanasked the husband to admit her inPuttaparthi hospital. By Swami’s grace, shedelivered a male child in her seventh month.They stayed at Puttaparthi till the child was twomonths old and returned to their home in thisvillage. “I went to the house and blessed themother and her son who is now a three yearsold chubby boy,” explained Bhagavan.While we were proceeding towardsLakkavaram after our return to the main road,Swami spotted two old ladies standing withgarlands in their hands under a festoon ofmango leaves, tied on each side to a coconuttree, in village Pothumatla. He asked the carto be stopped and summoned the two ladiesto come forward. Swami opened the door ofthe car, bent His head for the ladies to garlandHim and after they had Padanamaskar, weresumed our journey.A Miracle at LakkavaramAt Lakkavaram, Swami visited the residenceof Sri M. Balaji, a good active worker in thedistrict. There we had the good fortune towitness a miracle. That morning, Balaji’s petdog died, four hours before we arrived. Inanticipation of Swami’s visit any moment andin view of the street in front of his house beingjam-packed with devotees, Balaji could notfi nd time and convenience to give the deaddog a fi tting burial. So, they placed the corpsein a bamboo basket and covered it with layersof straw and leaves of holy basil (Tulasi) toprevent decay and foul smell. The basketwas kept under a mango tree in the backyard.Swami blessed all the inmates of the house.While looking at the backyard, Swami noticedthe basket and wanted to know what it was.Balaji explained that despite best efforts of theveterinary doctor, the dog could not be curedof its illness due to which it was sufferingagonising pain for over a month. Finally,342 November 2010

it died that morning and they were waiting togive it a decent burial. Swami asked the basketto be brought to the front of the backyard, fromwhere we could see what was happening. Hetold Balaji to remove the leaves and straw.Swami materialised Vibhuti, sprinkled over itsbody and patted it. The dog opened its eyes,slowly struggled to stand on its legs and startedwagging its tail. Swami asked Balaji to feed thedog with warm milk. Later when I met Balaji atPuttaparthi during Sivarathri, he told me thatthe dog was hale and hearty.A Visit to Village KadaliResuming our journey, Swami asked ourcars to be parked on the canal bank at a placewhere there was a road leading to Kadali,the native place of Sri Kamavadhani, whoalso accompanied us on the trip. Swami’s carproceeded in the direction of Sakhinetipalli, avillage 1.5 km away from Razole. This was thenative place of Sri Ramalinga Raju who wasthen the Minister of Religious Endowments,Government of Andhra Pradesh. He prayedto Swami to inaugurate the newly-constructedGita Mandir in his village. So, Swami wentthere with Sri Rama Rao.Some passersby who recognised SriKamavadhani must have informed his sonsat home that Sri Kamavadhani was in ourcar. They came along with some villageelders and requested all of us to come to theirhouse to take rest until Swami returned fromSakhinetipalli. We declined the offer politely.Then they requested Sri Kamavadhani tocome to their house. He neither looked at themnor talked to them. He was stoical for reasonsknown to him. In the meantime, some morepeople from the village gathered there andstarted singing the same song of inviting us.This silent drama lasted for one hour. Swamireturned at 10 p.m.To be in the company of Bhagavanduring His tour is as much apleasure as a penance. Everyword, every gesture, every momentand every action of Bhagavan isan enlightenment. It is a penancebecause all our attention is focusedon Bhagavan with our minds stilledand silenced against any otherattraction or distraction. Whether itwas at dinner or a public meeting,while the organisers were boundto pay special attention to us, Hisentourage, we found ourselvesalways well within the confines ofHis affectionate attention.The family members of Sri Kamavadhanimade their obeisance to Swami, whorecognised them. He got down from thecar and asked them, “Why did you not takeKamavadhani to your house”? All of them inone voice said that he was unmoved despitetheir importunate persuasion for the last onehour. Swami smilingly told them, “I shall bringhim and we shall all have our food at yourhouse”. On hearing this reply of Swami, theyliterally ran to their village in ecstasy. Swamisent word that Sri Kamavadhani should sitalong with Him in the car. Our cars moved ina procession with the villagers surroundingSwami’s car.It was a small tiled house of Sri Kamavadhaniin Kadali. We sat in the open verandah outside.Baba went into the house and sat in a chairfor five minutes talking to the members of thefamily of Sri Kamavadhani. Meanwhile,November 2010 343

people started pouring in and the whole streetgot packed up. Somebody managed to gettwo petromax lamps, a table and a chair whichwere placed in front of the house. When Swamicame out and looked at the crowd, the wholeplace reverberated with slogans in praise ofSwami. Evidently, Swami was moved by theenthusiasm and devotion of the crowd. Hesat in the chair and directed one more chairto be brought and placed by His side for SriKamavadhani to sit.Though there was no public address system,Swami gave a Discourse, followed by Bhajansfor an hour which made the crowd ecstatic.Swami was all praise for the Vedic scholarshipand spirit of dedication of Sri Kamavadhani.Added to that, Swami materialised by thewave of His hand a gold chain studded withprecious stones and put around the neck of SriKamavadhani, who was choked with so muchemotion that he could not open his mouth tosay a few words. It was a moving sight.We do not know from where all the materialwas procured, but a most delicious dinnerwas served after Swami’s Discourse. Whenwe came out of the house, Sri Rama Raotold us that Swami declined to stay at theminister’s house for dinner. He also did notgive a Discourse though the arrangementsand decorations were gorgeous.We are sure of one thing that Swamiwould not have stepped out of His car if SriKamavadhani had visited his house beforeHis arrival. That was a practical lesson and amessage.At the Sand Bed of Godavari25th January was a glorious day whichwould linger in our memory lifelong. On threemotor boats bound together with coir ropes,we crossed Godavari to reach the wide344 November 2010sand bed at a distance of 6 km from the bankof Rajahmundry. That was a bright cool moonlitnight. We all alighted on the sand bed at 9p.m. Bhagavan asked the devotees to fi nd anextended dry fl at sand bed for squatting. Nearlyall the 150 devotees ran hither and thither tofi nd a suitable place. Not being familiar withthe place, Sathya Murthy and I were walkingon the sands along with Swami and RamaRao when He suddenly announced, “Here theplace is fi ne, let us sit down and call them”.After Swami sat, we squatted just in front ofHim. Then the rest of the party came runningand squatted behind us.There was Bhajan for 30 minutes, followedby Bhagavan’s answering questions ofdevotees for another twenty minutes coveringthe signifi cance of Linga as a symbol of LordSiva and about Rasa Leelas of Krishna.Bhagavan heaped up sand, and just in front ofus from one of the heaps of sand materialisedfi rst an opal Linga. Bhagavan said that thiswas the sacred Linga which He had installedat Somnath Temple when He last visited thetemple with devotees. He brought it out to showit to those who were fortunate to be there. Lateron, He produced a silver idol of crawling BabyKrishna. Both these articles were placed in asilver plate and taken round for the devoteesto see and sanctify their lives.Swami gave the holy Linga wrapped in ahandkerchief and the silver idol to the safecustody of Sri N. Sathyam, secretary of thelocal Samithi, with stern instructions to returnthem to Him after dinner. At 10.30 p.m., we allsquatted for dinner in the presence of Swami,for whom a folding table and chair were laid.After dinner, Swami asked Sathyam to returnthe two articles. In the bag he placed them,Continued on page 356...

YOUTH CAMP OF ODISHASRI SATHYA SAI SEVAOrganisation of Odisha organiseda youth camp at PrasanthiNilayam from 25th to 27th August2010, in which more than 700 youth fromOdisha came to take part. During the courseof the camp, the youth participated in the dailyDarshan and Bhajan sessions and presenteda cultural programme on 26th August 2010 inSai Kulwant Hall.Dasavatar: Odissi DanceThe fi rst item of the cultural programmewas an Odissi dance which began at 7.00 p.m.after Bhagavan’s Darshan and a brief Bhajansession. Based on “Gita Govinda”, the immortalwork of saint poet Jayadev, the dance depictedten incarnations of Lord Vishnu. While thesingers and musicians provided the songs andthe tune, fi ve youth performed the dance withSai Youth of Odisha performed an excellentOdissi dance “Dasavatar” on 26th August 2010.aplomb, earning spontaneous applause of theaudience.A Flood of Love: A DramaThe second item of the programme was adrama “A Flood of Love”. Based on Sri SathyaSai Housing Project in Odisha, the dramadepicted how Bhagavan’s love and compassionA scene from the drama “A Flood of Love”performed by Sai Youth of Odisha on 26thAugust 2010.brought new hope in the life of 699 families ofthree districts of Odisha for whom new houseswere built by Sri Sathya Sai Central Trustsince they lost their houses and belongingsin a devastating fl ood in 2008. Simple story,excellent dialogues, good acting of the castand good choreography made the drama veryimpressive and enrapturing. At the conclusionof the drama, Bhagavan blessed the cast of thedrama and the dancers who performed Odissidance, posed for group photos with them anddistributed clothes to them. After distributionof Prasadam, the programme came to a closewith Arati to Bhagavan.November 2010 345

YOUTH CAMP OF UTTARPRADESH AND UTTARAKHANDA youth camp was organised by Sri SathyaSai Seva Organisation of Uttar Pradesh andUttarakhand at Prasanthi Nilayam, duringwhich the youth of these two States presenteda dance drama in Sai Kulwant Hall on 25thSeptember 2010.Syan Sya Aradhana: A Dance DramaThe drama entitled “Syan Sya Aradhana”(worship of Supreme Lord Siva) began at 5.35p.m. with a folk song and dance dedicated toSiva. The drama showcased the holy traditionsof the simple pure-hearted people of Kumaonregion of Uttarakhand who inhabit the beautifulvalleys of the Himalayas with Om mountainThe drama “Syan Sya Aradhana” presented on 25thSeptember 2010 depicted the holy traditions of the people ofKumaon region of Uttarakhand.as their backdrop on the Kailash Mansarovarroute. Portraying Prasanthi Nilayam as theholy Mount Kailash, the abode of Lord Siva,the drama depicted a couple of episodes fromthe life of Bhagavan who is none other than theincarnation of Lord Siva Himself. Embellishedwith two traditional dances of Uttarakhand, thedrama gave the message of purity and divinityand showcased the teaching of Bhagavan,“Manava Seva is Madhava Seva” (service346 November 2010to man is service to God). At the conclusion ofthe drama, Bhagavan blessed the cast, posedfor group photos with them and distributedclothes to them. The programme came to aclose with Arati to Bhagavan at 7.15 p.m. afterdistribution of Prasadam to the entire assemblyof devotees in Sai Kulwant Hall.YOUTH CAMP OFMAHARASHTRA AND GOASri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation ofMaharashtra and Goa organised a youth campat Prasanthi Nilayam from 30th September to2nd October 2010 and presented a dramaentitled “Anjaneya Veera” (valorous Hanuman)on 30th September 2010. The programmebegan after its ceremonial inauguration byBhagavan by lighting the sacredlamp on the dais at 6.45 p.m. Atthe outset, the Sai Organisationof Maharashtra and Goaorganised a youth rally in SaiKulwant Hall, wherein groupsof youth representing variousdistricts of the two States camebefore the dais and offeredtheir salutations to Bhagavan.Meanwhile, singers of the twoStates sang melodious songsdedicated to Lord Ganesh andBhagavan.Anjaneya Veera: A DramaThe drama “Anjaneya Veera” began at 7.20p.m. with a lovely dance by Bal Vikas children,all in the make-up of little Hanumans. The dramathen portrayed the childhood of Hanumanwho received Brahma Jnana (knowledge ofBrahman) from Brahma, blessings from sun godand Mantra of Rama Nama (Name of Rama)from Lord Siva. This was followed by variousepisodes from the life story of Hanuman

Divine Mother and her fi ve forms – Veda Mata,Bhu Mata, Go Mata, Desha Mata and DehaMata (mother in the forms – the Vedas, earth,cow, motherland and physical mother). In thesubsequent scenes, the play showcased thehighest ideals upheld by exemplary motherslike Madalasa, Sita, Draupadi and Putlibai indifferent periods of time. In the next scene,the play depicted an ideal modern motherwho followed the holy Indian traditions ofmotherhood and the teachings of BhagavanSri Sathya Sai Baba, thereby correcting herThe drama “Anjaneya Veera” presented on30th September 2010 depicted the life storyof Hanuman and highlighted his unmatcheddevotion to Lord Rama.which demonstrated his glory, bravery andunmatched devotion to Lord Rama. Excellentsets, good make-up and costumes, perfectchoreography, thrilling music and melodioussongs made the drama very impressive andabsorbing. At the conclusion of the drama,Bhagavan blessed the cast and posed forgroup photos with them. The programme cameto a close with Arati to Bhagavan at 8.35 p.m.after distribution of Prasadam to all.YOUTH CAMP OF BIHARAND JHARKHANDAbout 2,500 devotees including youthand Bal Vikas children came from Bihar andJharkhand and took part in Seva activities atPrasanthi Nilayam from 1st to 15th October2010.Maa: A DramaOn 5th October 2010, Bal Vikas children ofthese two States staged a drama entitled “Maa”(mother). The drama commenced at 6.05 p.m.with a song and dance by children, depictingthe glory of womanhood and describing sacredIndian tradition of worshipping theA scene from the drama “Maa” (mother)presented by the Bal Vikas children of Bihar andJharkhand on 5th October 2010.two friends who were deluded to follow awrong path due to the temptation of moneyand western lifestyle. The concluding sceneportrayed the highest qualities of womanhood,like self-sacrifi ce, forbearance and kindnessexemplifi ed by Mother Easwaramma formodern women to follow. Good story, excellentacting of the children, melodious songs andappropriate sets made it an impressive play.At the conclusion of the drama, Bhagavanshowered His blessings on the children, posedfor group photos with them and distributedclothes to them. The programme came to aclose with Arati to Bhagavan at 6.55 p.m. afterdistribution of Prasadam to all.November 2010 347

YOUTH CAMP OFHIMACHAL PRADESHSri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation ofHimachal Pradesh organised a youth camp atPrasanthi Nilayam from 3rd to 11th October2010, in which about 150 youth and Bal Vikaschildren of Himachal Pradesh and also thestudents of Sri Sathya Sai School, AnandVilas, Shimla came to participate.Folk Dance and Drama Entitled“Dasavatar”On 10th October 2010, they jointly presenteda cultural programme comprising two items, afolk dance and a drama. The programme beganat 7.15 p.m. after Bhagavan’s Darshan in SaiKulwant Hall. At the outset, 25 youth of Sirmourdistrict of Himachal Pradesh performed a folkdance of Himachal Pradesh which depictedhow the unethical practices prevalent inmodern society could be got rid of by followingthe teachings of Bhagavan Sri Sathya SaiBaba. To the delight of one and all, the youthdemonstrated their talent in balancing candleson their heads, rotating plates full of fl owerson their fi ngers and dancing with traditionalbows and arrows during this dance of 20Sai Youth of Himachal Pradesh performed athrilling folk dance on 10th October 2010.348 November 2010minutes duration. By far, it was a wonderfulperformance which earned loud applause ofthe spectators.This was followed by the drama “Dasavatar”which was enacted by the Bal Vikas children ofHimachal Pradesh and students of Sri SathyaSai School, Shimla. The drama portrayed theten incarnations of Lord Vishnu beginning witha collective introduction of ten incarnations andconcluding with the incarnation of BhagavanA scene from the drama “Dasavatar” performedby Bal Vikas children of Himachal Pradesh andstudents of Sri Sathya Sai School, Shimla on10th October 2010.Sri Sathya Sai Baba who has incarnated onearth to establish Sathya, Dharma, Santhi,Prema and Ahimsa on a fi rm footing andusher in an era of peace and harmony inthe world. Excellent direction, beautifuldances of children, scintillating music andperfect choreography made the drama veryenrapturing and absorbing. At the conclusionof the drama, Bhagavan showered Hisblessings on the participants of the two itemsof the programme, gave them the covetedopportunity of a prolonged photo sessionwith Him and distributed clothes to them. Theprogramme came to a close with Arati toBhagavan at 9.10 p.m.

SRI SATHYA SAIGRAMA SEVA 2010For the last one decade, Grama Seva hasbecome an essential annual feature of SriSathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, throughwhich experiential teaching is imparted to thestudents of the Institute how to selflessly servesociety, particularly the rural masses. Manypersons from other departments of PrasanthiNilayam Ashram also join the students andassist them in the performance of Grama Sevaby going to the villages with them.This year, Grama Seva began on the fi rstday of Navaratri (nine days of worship of theDivine Mother), i.e., on 8th October 2010.Nearly 2,000 students under the supervision ofthe staff of the Institute embarked on this nobleventure in the morning after circumambulatingthe Bhajan Mandir of Sai Kulwant Hall whilesinging Bhajans. They then proceeded toearmarked villages in about 45 vehicles loadedwith food packets and clothes for distribution tovillagers. On reaching their respective villages,they performed Nagar Sankirtan in the village,in which the villagers also joined them. AfterThe students of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of HigherLearning went to nearly 150 villages and handedover Bhagavan’s Prasadam to about three lakhvillagers at their doorstep during Sri Sathya SaiGrama Seva 2010.this, they went to the doorstep of each houseand handed over Bhagavan’s Prasadam to theinmates of the house with love and humility.The Grama Seva continued in this manner fornine sacred days of Navaratri, and on each daygroups of students, staff and other devoteeswent to their allocated villages and handedover Bhagavan’s Prasadam to the villagersat their doorstep. The villagers received thePrasadam with great reverence and adoredBhagavan’s students like messengers ofGod coming to their house with His love andbenedictions.In all, Prasadam was served to about3,00,000 villagers in 60,000 householdsof about 150 villages and hamlets underPuttaparthi, Kothacheruvu and BukkapatnamMandals. While the boys students of Brindavanand Prasanthi Nilayam campuses along withstudents of 11th and 12th Classes of SriSathya Sai Higher Secondary School went tovillages for Prasadam distribution, the studentsof Anantapur Campus and Primary Schoolperformed the task of packing the Prasadamwith the help of Seva Dal members. Thisyear, the students, both boys and girls, fromSri Sathya Sai Nursing College, Whitefi eld,Bengaluru also participated in Grama Seva.As in the previous years, youth from U.K. alsoparticipated in Grama Seva. This year, 19youth specially came from London to take partin Grama Seva and went to villages on all thenine days of Grama Seva to serve the villagers.On the concluding day, the auspicious day ofVijaya Dasami, i.e., 17th October 2010, thestudents of Anantapur Campus performed thetask of Prasadam distribution to the residentsof Prasanthi Nilayam.Meticulous planning of this stupendoustask by the supervisory staff of the Instituteand fl awless execution by the studentsNovember 2010 349

were shining examples of how service shouldbe performed to society with total dedication,humility and selfl ess love.VEDA PURUSHA SAPTAHAJNANA YAJNAThe sacred festival of Navaratri began atPrasanthi Nilayam with the commencementof Kalasha Puja (worship of sacred vessel)in the Bhajan Mandir of Sai Kulwant Hall on8th October 2010, the fi rst day of Navaratri.The Puja continued for another two days inthe Bhajan Mandir with total dedication andsacredness. On 11th October 2010, thissacred Kalasha was taken to PoornachandraAuditorium in a grand procession of Vedachanting Ritwiks (Vedic priests) followed byVeda group of students and Bhajan singinggroup of students. Sitting in the verandah ofthe Mandir, Bhagavan watched the processionand showered His blessings on Veda chantingRitwiks and students. Led by Nadaswarammusicians, the procession reachedPoornachandra Auditorium where beautifullydecorated Yajnashala had beenmade ready for the commencementof Veda Purusha Saptaha JnanaYajna.Bhagavan was then placed in Yajna Kundawith chanting of Veda Mantras by the priestsand students. Four priests seated around theYajna Kunda then started the Yajna by offeringoblations of ghee (clarifi ed butter) in the sacredYajna fi re along with chanting of Vedic Mantras.Meanwhile, another group of priests startedchanting the Mantras of Krishna Yajur Veda asper the Vedic injunctions of Yajna performance.Simultaneously, three senior devotees startedthe Parayana (ceremonial study) of sacredtexts, one priest started performing SuryaNamaskar (worship of the sun), another prieststarted the recitation of Durga Saptashati (asacred text devoted to goddess Durga), andyet another priest began Sahasra Lingarchana(worship of 1,000 Lingas). The chief priestalong with his wife started the worship of theDivine Mother with chanting of Vedic Mantras.The students also started Vedic chants andParayana of sacred texts.The chanting of sacred Vedic Mantras, thestudy of sacred texts, performance of the Yajnain the Divine Presence of Veda PurushaWith the arrival of Veda PurushaBhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba onthe Yajnashala at 11.00 a.m., theauditorium started reverberatingwith chanting of Vedic Mantras bythe priests and students. Sacredfi re for starting the Yajna was thenproduced in the traditional way byWith offering of Poornahuti in the Yajna Kunda bychurning one piece of wood on theBhagavan on the auspicious day of Vijaya Dasami, 17thother by the priests. They brought itOctober 2010, Veda Purusha Saptaha Jnana Yajna camein a plate to Bhagavan who blessedto a happy conclusion.the fi re and permitted the Yajna tobe started. The sacred fi re blessed byContinued on page 366...350 November 2010

Indulal ShahSarla ShahDIVINE LOVEINEAST AFRICAAFRICA IS PERHAPS THE MOSTbeautiful continent on this planet. Itis blessed with rich minerals, gold,diamonds, manganese, copper, etc. Besidesthere is vast virgin land abundant of rivers,lakes and waterfalls. It has also healthy andstrong human population. Thus, it has all thenatural resources required for a loving andpeaceful life.Bhagavan Answers the Prayers of EastAfricansBut the irony is that the loving and peacefullife is conspicuous by its absence there.When all the human beings on this planethave the same seeds of God, how can therebe differences based on caste, creed, colour,religion, sex and status? Millions on the landwere craving for recognition of human dignity,human rights and equal opportunities for agestogether. They were helpless slaves severelyaffected by poverty and affl icted by sufferingdue to inequality and neglect. Out of Hisimmense compassion, Bhagavan respondedto the yearning of the millions of Africans andshowered His love and grace on them byvisiting East Africa in 1968.On 17th May 1968, Bhagavan Baba madethe following announcement to a gathering of1,200 delegates from all over the world at theFirst World Conference of Sai devotees heldat the Mumbai Campus of Bharatiya VidyaBhavan:“This is a human form in which every Divineentity, every Divine Principle, that is to say,all the Names and Forms ascribed by manI have come to light the lamp of love inyour hearts, to see that it shines day byday with added lustre. I have not cometo speak on behalf of any particularDharma (religion) like Hinduism. I havenot come on any mission of publicityfor any sect or creed or cause; norhave I come to collect followers forany doctrine. I have no plan to attractdisciples or devotees into My fold orany fold. I have come to tell you ofthis universal unitary faith, this Atmicprinciple (principle of the spirit), thispath of love.November 2010 351

to God, are manifest - SarvadaivatwaSarvarupaalanu DharinchinaManavakarame Ee Akaram. Do notallow doubt to distract you; if you onlyinstall in the altar of your heart steadyfaith in My Divinity, you can win avision of My Reality. Instead, if youswing like the pendulum of a clock, onemoment, devotion, another moment,disbelief, you can never succeed incomprehending the truth and win thatbliss. You are very fortunate that youhave a chance to experience the blissof the vision of the SarvadaivatwaSwarupam (the embodiment of allforms of God) now, in this life itself.”Several delegates from overseas countriesprayed to Bhagavan to visit their countries.They included Howard Murphet from Australia,Tideman Johanessan from Norway, Dr. NallaiNathan from Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Indra Devifrom Mexico, Charles Penn from Los Angeles(U.S.A.) and Dr. C.G. Patel from Kampala,East Africa. Baba responded to the yearningof Africans and declared to visit East Africanext month. The people of East Africa madeall arrangements for the Divine visit.Journey to Nairobi and KampalaOn 30th June 1968, Bhagavan and His partyemplaned a Boeing 707 at Santa Cruz Airport,Mumbai for Nairobi, East Africa. Dr. C.G. Patel,Smt. Madhubahen Patel, Dr. Atul C. Patel andother members in his family were the hosts forthis visit. Bhagavan’s party consisted of Sri N.Kasturi, Sri Indulal Shah, Smt. Sarla Shah, SriRaja Reddy, all from India and Smt. and SriBob Raymer from U.S.A. Swami has declaredthat the whole world is His mansion and thateach continent is but a hall in that mansion.His visit to Africa was but a peep into one352 November 2010Members of Bhagavan’s entourage with Himon His visit to East Africa.of the rooms of that mansion. Flying at 900 kman hour at an altitude of 10,000 m above theArabian Sea, Baba was approached by thepilots and the crew, high offi cers of Air Indiaand passengers – all of whom received HisDivine grace in the form of Vibhuti, autographs,photographs, spontaneously materialised.During the fl ight, Baba exhibiting acharming sense of humour pulled out a cardfrom the pocket in front of His seat and wrotean affectionate admonition, giving His ownaddress as ‘Boeing 707’ and got it deliveredto Sri Bob Raymer of Los Angeles, a memberof the party, sitting in the row just before His.Back came the response in the same spirit ofneighbourliness through another picture card,with the lines:“The sky is blue, the ocean, too;Our wish has come true.We are fl ying with You!”After some time, Mount Kenya wasannounced. We saw only its jagged crown ofblue, over the sea of milk. Soon we reachedEmbaksi Airport, Nairobi. The local time was4 minutes to 12 while our watches showed2.24 p.m. Dr. C.G. Patel drove Baba to

On arrival at Embaksi Airport, Nairobi, Bhagavan gave Darshanto devotees assembled in an open space behind the airport.an open space behind the airport, where Babawalked amidst the assembled devotees andshowered His blessings on them.Many programmes were organised atNairobi where Bhagavan gave Darshanand blessings to devotees. From Nairobi,Bhagavan proceeded to Kampala, the capitalcity of Uganda. The road was 650 km long.On the way, we had a glimpse of the RiftValley 600 m below. We saw the Soda Lake,Residents of Kampala were overjoyed to receiveBhagavan’s love and blessings.Nakuru where several Africansand Indians got Baba’s DivineDarshan. The State of Ugandahad provided Baba with apilot car from Malaba, on thefrontier of Uganda as a sign andsymbol of His honoured status.Thereafter, the cars drove alongto Jinja, where the Nile Riverfl ows out of the Lake Victoria.Reaching Kampala at 1.30 a.m.,Bhagavan blessed about 2,000people who were waiting for Himand were singing Bhajans sincehours in a specially erectedPandal near the bungalow of Dr.Patel.On the morning of 1st July, Baba came outand stood facing the unprecedentedly massivegathering, moved among them slowlyshowering upon everyone His supremecompassion, giving His Divine cure to theneedy. Gen. Idi Amin, the Chief of Staff of theUganda Army and Sri Oryema, the InspectorGeneral of Police, Uganda were among thedignitaries who paid their respects to Babathat morning.On 2nd July, Bhagavangranted special interviews toa large number of sick anddisabled people. Two of themwent in wheelchairs and walkedout briskly to the joy and wonderof all. All came out with beamingfaces after receiving Bhagavan’sloving care and miraculous cure.Bhagavan’s Message of Loveto East AfricansOn 3rd July, Bhagavanfl ew over Ngorongoru Craterin Tanzania and Victoria LakeNovember 2010 353

in a small plane for two hoursfrom 7.15 a.m. to 9.15 a.m. Wefollowed Bhagavan in anothersmall plane. In the evening,Bhagavan addressed His fi rstpublic meeting in Nairobi NationalPark where about 20,000 peoplereceived His Divine Message oflove and unity of all mankind. Hedeclared: “I have come to lightthe lamp of love in your hearts, tosee that it shines day by day withadded lustre. I have not come tospeak on behalf of any particularDharma (religion) like Hinduism. Ihave not come on any mission ofpublicity for any sect or creed orcause; nor have I come to collectfollowers for any doctrine. I have no plan toattract disciples or devotees into My fold or anyfold. I have come to tell you of this universalunitary faith, this Atmic principle (principle ofthe spirit), this path of love”.On 5th July, Dr. Patel took Baba and theparty in cars to Nanyuki – located right on theEquator, about 200 km from Nairobi, where wespent the night. It was Thursday and Bhagavanwhile talking to us materialised a pot full tothe brim with Amrita (nectar), sweet beyondwords and fragrant beyond imagination, anddistributed it to all with a golden spoon.On the morning of 6th July, Bhagavan wentto Kampala by a chartered plane and gaveDarshan to about 1,000 devotees engagedin Bhajan. In the evening, Bhagavan meta large number of dignitaries, doctors andbusinessmen and answered their questionson spiritual topics. When someone asked thequestion, “Why is there so much evil in theworld”?, Baba said, “There is no evil354 November 2010Bhagavan with a group of devotees in Kampala, Uganda.in the world; it is the mind that sees the evil;the darkness has no independent existence;it is only the absence of light”. In reply toanother question, He said, “Trishna (desire)is the prime cause for misery and that if aperson examines his desires, he can easilyfi nd that he can live much more comfortablywith much less”. He advised, “Feed the mindas you do the body; have a regular breakfastof Dhyana (meditation), a lunch of Bhajan, atea of scriptural reading and a dinner of NamaSankirtan (singing the glory of God)”.Shower of Benedictions on GuruPurnimaOn the morning of 7th July, Bhagavan gaveDarshan during Bhajans and gave interviews toa large number of people. In the evening, Babagave His fi rst public Discourse at Kampala.Underlining the unity of all faiths, cultures andnationalities, He said, “Just as the same bloodstream circulates in all the limbs of the body,the one Divine principle activates the entireuniverse… Ignore the beads, contemplate uponunifying eternal ever present thread”.

This heartening message was received withenthusiastic approval by Muslims, Christians,Buddhists, Hindus and Parsis alike. Bhagavangave another Discourse at the same venueon 8th July and spoke about the nectarinesweetness of the Divine Name.After morning Bhajan on 9th July, Bhagavanmet members of the delegations from Nairobi,Jinja, Mbale, Tororo, Eldoret and a few othertowns in Uganda and Kenya. He explainedto them the ideal of service as Sadhana andasked them to constitute Sri Sathya Sai SevaSamithis in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania withheadquarters in Kampala.On 10th July, more than 25,000 personsgathered to offer their tributes to Bhagavanon the auspicious day of Guru Purnima.Bhagavan gave Darshan for nearly two hoursand went to every nook and corner, givingeveryone a handful of sweets and a packetof Vibhuti. Most of the recipients discoveredinside the packets enamel or metal portraits ofChrist, Cross, Krishna or Sai Baba Himself. Itwas a very moving sight to see both Indian andAfrican devotees expressing their love anddevotion for Bhagavan.Dr. Munshi could not suppress his tearsof joy and gratitude when he said, “Iwas pained to see around me the quickdecline of faith in God and earnestnessin religion, and I was on the brink ofdespair when I contemplated the futureof this ancient land. But, as I lookupon Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Babaand witness the transformation He iseffecting in the hearts of millions, I amheartened and happy. He will certainlymake India live again as India, andthrough this process, He will spreadfaith and religion in the world. I offer myobeisance and respects to Him”.all right. The party with Bhagavan then wentfor a motor-boat ride up the Nile for over 24 kmtowards the Murchison Falls passing throughthousands of crocodiles and hippopotamusesspending about three hours in this joy ridewhich was an unforgettable experience.Bhagavan reached Kampala at 1 a.m. onlyto find a gathering of thousands engaged inBhagavan along with His partyset off to see Murchison FallsNational Park at 6.30 a.m. on12th July 1968 in three cars. Thesecond car met with an accidenton the way but all the occupantswere saved by Bhagavan’s grace.Prof. Kasturi was worst hit. Theoccupants of this car took a taxiand reached Para Safari Lodgewhere Bhagavan applied curativeVibhuti to all, created ointments andtablets, pressed the spots of paingently and within minutes all wereThousands thronged for Bhagavan’s Darshan at Kampala.November 2010 355

Bhajans. Bhagavan moved among them andthen stood on the decorated dais long enoughto quench their thirst of Darshan.Return to MumbaiThousands gathered outside Dr. Patel’sbungalow for Bhagavan’s Darshan on 13thJuly. From 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., Bhagavan movedamong them, showering His Divine Grace onall. He accepted lovely rose bouquets, posedfor group photos and answered their questions.In the evening Bhajans, Baba gave the peoplelonger hours for Darshan. Many of the sick gotthe rare gift of curative Vibhuti.Hours before dawn on 14th July, almosthalf of Kampala was at Dr. Patel’s door to bidfarewell to Bhagavan. Bhagavan’s plane leftEntebbe at 1 p.m. and reached Nairobi at 2.30p.m. Thousands were perched on the terracesince 1 p.m. at Nairobi. Baba waved to thevast gathering and entered Mumbai boundplane which landed at Santa Cruz Airport at12.45 a.m. where 10,000 devotees offeredHim warm and affectionate welcome.On 15th July, Baba addressed a mammothgathering at Dharmakshetra, Andheri East,Mumbai which was presided over by Dr. K.M....Continued from page 344Sathyam could fi nd only the idol of Krishna butnot the Linga. After teasing him for a while,Swami said that He had sent it back to the holyprecincts from which He had brought it. Wereturned to the Godavari bank at around 11.30p.m. Swami’s face was blossoming like a freshfl ower despite His hectic activity from 8 a.m. tomidnight on that day.On 26th morning, Swami addressedLions Club members and their invitees atRajahmundry. At 2.30 p.m., we left Rajahmundryfor Vijayawada and en route we had teaat Eluru at 4 p.m. At Vijayawada, SwamiMunshi (Founder, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan).Dr. Munshi could not suppress his tears ofjoy and gratitude when he said, “I was painedto see around me the quick decline of faith inGod and earnestness in religion, and I was onthe brink of despair when I contemplated thefuture of this ancient land. But, as I look uponBhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba and witnessthe transformation He is effecting in the heartsof millions, I am heartened and happy. He willcertainly make India live again as India, andthrough this process, He will spread faith andreligion in the world. I offer my obeisance andrespects to Him”. Bhagavan, in His DivineDiscourse, spoke of His visit to East Africaas moving from one room to another in thespacious Divine Mansion, the universe. He said,“I am not alien in any country; I am native to allparts of the earth”. Baba declared that racialconfl icts and animosities sprang from sheerignorance of the basic brotherhood of man. “Itwas this truth, this unity, often misunderstoodas diversity when seen through ego glasses,that was propagated by Me in East Africa”,declared Baba.addressed a public meeting from 6.00 to 7.30p.m. followed by a cultural programme by BalVikas students. We had dinner and rested forthe night at the spacious residence of Sri SivaRama Krishnaiah, District President, KrishnaDistrict.On 27th morning, we motored down toAkiripalli, about 20 km from Vijayawada, forSwami to attend the anniversary of the Sanskritand Vedic College. At 10 a.m., Bhagavan leftfor Madras (Chennai) by road. We took leaveof Him and returned to Hyderabad with Hisblessings.356 November 2010

Maj. Gen. S.P. MahadevanIEXPERIENCING THEBLISS OF TRAVELLINGWITH BHAGAVANIN HIS IMMENSE COMPASSION ANDdeep love, Bhagavan Baba took me withHim in many journeys by road in His carand by air during my 15 years’ tenure as StatePresident of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation,Tamil Nadu. Let me narrate some of thejourneys I was fortunate to perform with Sai.Tamil Nadu is Daiva NaduIn 1982, Bhagavan took me with Him toTiruchirapalli in an Indian Airlines fl ight. AtTiruchirapalli, Swami gave a Divine Discourseto a mammoth gathering of nearly 10,000devotees. From Tiruchirapalli, I went with Himto Madurai in His car. At Madurai, He gaveDarshan to thousands of people who hadgathered in the open ground opposite to theDistrict Collector’s house. Then He took mealong with Col. Joga Rao and the studentswho had come with Him to Major (Dr.) Chari’shouse where we all had lunch. But Swami didnot eat anything there.On reaching Kodaikanal, we found SriRamakrishna Hegde, the then Chief Minister ofKarnataka, waiting to have Swami’s Darshan.Swami asked me to look after him by givinghim light refreshments till He comes. Sri Hegderefused to have tea or coffee or biscuits Ioffered him. He also refused to sit on the sofachair as he was keen to sit near the Lotus Feetof Bhagavan. When Swami arrived, He wavedHis Divine Hand and materialised Vibhutiwhich was given to Sri Hegde asking him toeat it. Then Swami applied it on his throat.Thus, Swami cured Sri Ramakrishna Hegde’sthroat cancer then and there.When the Chief Engineer, PWD ofTamil Nadu came to Nandanavanamfor Swami’s Darshan, Swami toldhim that there was drinking waterproblem in the village He visited andasked him to sort it out. The ChiefEngineer went to Kuppa NaickenPalayam and arranged to dig a deepborewell about 3 m from Sri SathyaKali Temple and within 20 m sweetwater was struck. He had a overheadtank built which supplies drinkingwater to Kuppa Naicken Palayam andto nearby villages. This is a greatMahima (glory) of the compassionateLord Sai.November 2010 357

From Kodaikanal, I went with Bhagavan toSalem where thousands of men and womenhad gathered to have Swami’s Darshan. Swamicalled me to the fi rst fl oor of the premises ofSai Samithi at Salem and said, “See how manythousands are there on the roads, on trees, onhouse-tops. You said, Salem was the home ofatheist Ramasamy Naicker”!From Salem, I went with Swami to MetturDam where we stayed at night. Next day, aftergiving Darshan, Swami took me with Him toKaveri Poompattinam where He blessed thepatients and doctors of the free eye operationcamp organised by the local Sai Samithi.After coming to Brindavan, Bhagavan told thestudents that He was happy to see so muchgood work being done with devotion anddiscipline and so “Tamil Nadu” (land of Tamils)could be called “Daiva Nadu” (land of God).Visit to Village ManipakkamDuring His annual visit to Chennai inJanuary 1983, Bhagavan made a historicannouncement in the Music Academy Hallduring His Discourse, in the presence of thethen Tamil Nadu Governor, Sri Khurana andthe then Vice Chancellor of Madras University,Dr. Sundaresan, “From today onwards, I willgive free education in all Sai colleges, Saischools and other Sai institutions. For offi cebearers in students union, there will be noelections; there will be only selection based onthe marks scored”. Next day, Swami agreed atmy request to visit one of the adopted villages,Manipakkam about 40 km from Chennai. Hetravelled patiently on the mud-packed roadthrough the paddy fi elds. On the way, Swamiasked me for the details of various tasks beingperformed by Sai workers in Manipakkamvillage. At the entrance of that village, Swami’scar had to pass by a toddy (countryAs we reached the southern limit ofMettupalayam, the Almighty God Saistopped the rain, received the garlandfrom the elephant, blessed thousands ofdevotees assembled there, distributedclothes to the doctors and nurses, gavea Divine Discourse and then left. As wecrossed the river Bhavani, the northernlimit of Mettupalayam, it started rainingheavily. On the way to Coonoor, Swamigot down from the car in heavy rainand walked without umbrella towardsthe Bhajan singers and blessed them. Iasked Swami why He walked in the rainwithout umbrella. Swami replied, “Whenso many are sitting in the rain andsinging Bhajans, why can’t I go in therain to bless them”?liquor) shop owned by a Muslim and also thetemple in the village which was in a dilapidatedcondition. Swami asked me to get the templerepaired, particularly its Rajagopuram (tower)and collect the money from Sri Sathya SaiCentral Trust for the repairs. One of the resultsof Swami’s visit to that village was that theMuslim shopkeeper converted his toddy shopinto a tea shop. In the village, Swami gave HisDivine Discourse to a gathering of about 5,000people and provided me an opportunity totranslate it into Tamil. Before leaving the village,Swami performed Bhumi Puja (consecration ofland) for a local dispensary to be built there bySai Trust.At Dharmakshetra, Mumbai withBhagavanIn January 1984, Bhagavan took me withHim to Mumbai by an Indian Airlines fl ight alongwith Col. Joga Rao and some students.358 November 2010

In Mumbai, Swami took us all to Rajmata ofNavanagar’s house for dinner. Next day, whenthe Chairman of Shirdi Sai Sansthan came toDharmakshetra for His Darshan, Swami askedhim to take me along with Col. Joga Rao andfour students to Shirdi for Darshan and bringus back. Accordingly, the following day wewere taken to Nashik by air and then by carto Shirdi, where we all were treated as guestsof Shirdi Sai Trust. I made our students singBhajans there. We gave the cheque givenby Bhagavan to Shirdi Sai Sansthan. Theygave to each of us a Kashmiri shawl. Whenwe returned to Mumbai, Swami questioned uswhat we all saw in Shirdi. When we missedout something, Swami supplemented our listabout small statues, etc., as if He had beenliving in Shirdi for a long time. In Mumbai,Swami blessed me to stay at Dharmakshetraitself with Him by giving me a room there. Atmidnight one day, I felt my bed was shaking.When I opened my eyes, I saw Bhagavansitting on my bed. I tried to get up but Swamiforbade me and said, “Keep lying down. Youand Joga Rao are playing the ‘military band’so loud by snoring! How can I sleep in the nextroom”? Saying so, He left.A Temple is BlessedOn 8th May 1989, I travelled with Bhagavanin the front seat of His car. Bhagavan leftKodaikanal at 6.00 a.m. Passing throughPalani, Udumalpet, Pollachi, Podanur andCoimbatore, we reached an adopted villageKuppa Naicken Palayam in Coimbatoredistrict at 3.00 p.m. by travelling over dustyuntarred village roads for 32 kilometres. In thevillage, Swami was received by thousands ofvillagers. He was offered traditional welcomewith Poornakumbham and white umbrellawith Veda chanting while Bal Vikas childrendid Pushpanjali (offering of fl owers) atSwami enquired from the villagerswhether they had been getting rain.“There is a shortage of water anddrought condition has been prevailinghere”, said the villagers. Swami thentold them, “Go quickly to safe placesas it is going to rain heavily now”.Thus, He blessed them. Within fiveminutes of Swami’s departure, itrained cats and dogs, immersing allvillagers in great joy.His Lotus Feet. Inside the village, a templededicated to Mother Kali was constructedby Sai devotees, and was ready for KumbhaAbhisheka (ceremonial bathing) and PranaPratishtha (energising with life principle).When Swami was about to leave towards agiant Shamiana (marquee) to give Darshanto thousands of villagers assembled there,the chief priest told Swami that the idol ofgoddess Kali had not been installed andYantrasthapanam (installation of the mysticdiagram) also had not been done. Immediately,Bhagavan said from where He was standingnearly 8 metres away, “Go and see. I have donethe installation of the idol and Yantrasthapanamalready”. He pointed His right hand towardsthe temple, with His fi nger prints in turmericand vermilion printed on my white safari suitas I was standing on His right. Swami gave thename to the goddess as “Sri Sathya Kali”. Thechief priest and other priests ran to the templeto find to their surprise that the idol of goddessSri Sathya Kali had already been installed withgreen neem leaves, turmeric and sandalwoodpaste on the idol. The entire congregationbecame ecstatic about it when they announcedthis Sai miracle to them.November 2010 359

Omnipotence and Omniscience ofSwamiAfter this, Swami went to the Shamianawhere He blessed the large gathering,witnessed a cultural show by Bal Vikas children,distributed clothes to poor village men andwomen and blessed the food to be distributedin Narayana Seva. Swami enquired from thevillagers whether they had been getting rain.“There is a shortage of water and droughtcondition has been prevailing here”, said thevillagers. Swami then told them, “Go quickly tosafe places as it is going to rain heavily now”.Thus, He blessed them. Within fi ve minutes ofSwami’s departure, it rained cats and dogs,immersing all villagers in great joy.On the way to Mettupalayam from there, itcontinued to rain very heavily. So, I requestedBhagavan to stop the rain as I had arrangedto keep an elephant at Mettupalayam SaiSamithi to garland Him, and thousands ofdevotees were waiting there, both inside andoutside the Samithi building, for His Darshan.Swami smilingly replied, “Wait and see”. As wereached the southern limit of Mettupalayam, theAlmighty God Sai stopped the rain, receivedthe garland from the elephant, blessedthousands of devotees assembled there,distributed clothes to the doctors and nurses,gave a Divine Discourse and then left. As wecrossed the river Bhavani, the northern limit ofMettupalayam, it started raining heavily. Onthe way to Coonoor, Swami got down from thecar in heavy rain and walked without umbrellatowards the Bhajan singers and blessed them. Iasked Swami why He walked in the rain withoutumbrella. Swami replied, “When so many aresitting in the rain and singing Bhajans, whycan’t I go in the rain to bless them”?On that night, Swami reached Ooty andgave me a room to stay with Him inNandanavanam itself. The next day, when theChief Engineer, PWD of Tamil Nadu came toNandanavanam for Swami’s Darshan, Swamitold him that there was drinking water problemin the village He visited and asked him to sort itout. The Chief Engineer went to Kuppa NaickenPalayam and arranged to dig a deep borewellabout 3 m from Sri Sathya Kali Temple andwithin 20 m sweet water was struck. He hada overhead tank built which supplies drinkingwater to Kuppa Naicken Palayam and tonearby villages. This is a great Mahima (glory)of the compassionate Lord Sai.In January 1990, Swami agreed to myrequest to visit a free eye operation camp inChrompet about 25 km south of Chennai. AtChrompet, Bhagavan blessed the doctors andpatients, distributed free spectacles to thepatients, gave away Saris and Dhotis to manyand blessed the food kept for Narayana Seva.On our way back to Chennai about 20 kmshort of the city, Swami asked me to take Himto my house to bless my wife. I said, “Swami!My wife is in Sundaram Sai Mandir. She doesnot drive in Madras (Chennai). I have to go toSundaram and bring her home”. Swami said,“She has already come home. Take Me to yourhouse”. When we reached my house, Swamitold my wife, “Your husband, a military man,tried his best to stop Me from coming here tobless you”. I asked her how she came home.She said, “One lady devotee with a driver tookpity on me sitting alone in Sundaram and shearranged to drop me at home”. It was anotherproof of the omniscience of Lord Sai who knewthe movements of His devotee 20 km away.I had many other opportunities and wasfortunate to travel with Sai in His car but dueto lack of space in Sanathana Sarathi, I betterstop my narration here now.360 November 2010

REALISE THE DIVINE ANDBECOME DIVINEY O U R H E A R T I S M Y H O M ETHIS IS A POT; THIS A THATCH;this a house; this a wall; this ajungle; this a hill; this the ground;this the lake; this the fire; this thewind; this the sky; this the maker of the day;this the light of night; these the stars; thesethe planets; these the inert, these the vital; thisis he, that is a person. These are all distinctfrom Me; this material world is different fromMe. Thus, as a witness, I cognise all this and filleach with the principle of existence without thehelp of any disciplinary process, for I am aboveand beyond all this.Use the Elements with Reverential CareThis is an auspicious moment in the historyof India when you have a great chance tounderstand the truths embodied in the scripturesof this land and the ideals that are embeddedin the ways of living that are prescribed bythe codes propounded therein. In order thatyou may attain the only goal of human life,I have no wish to draw peopletowards Me, away from the worshipof My other names and forms. Youmay infer from what you call Mymiracles that I am causing them toattract and to attach you to Me, andMe alone. They are not intended todemonstrate or publicise; they aremerely spontaneous and concomitantproofs of Divine Majesty. I am yours,you are mine for ever and ever.What need is there for attracting andimpressing, for demonstrating yourlove or My compassion? I am in you,you are in Me. There is no distance ordistinction.November 2010 361

namely, realising the Divine and becomingDivine, the Eternal has limited itself and comein this human form. He will reveal the idealsagain, and re-establish them among all men.Of course, it is difficult for those who areunacquainted with the scriptures to grasp themystery of this Advent.I may tell you, nevertheless, that all the fiveelements (ether, air, fire, water and earth) havebeen created by the Will of the Supreme. Theyhave each to be used by you with reverentialcare and vigilant discrimination. Reckless useof any of them will only rebound on you withtremendous harm. External nature has to behandled with caution and awe.Control your Taste, Control your TalkSo too your inner nature, your internalinstruments! Of these, two are capable of vastharm; the tongue and sex. Since sex is arousedand inflamed by the food and drink, you shouldbe careful about what you eat and drink. Whilethe eye, the ear and the nose serve asinstruments of knowledge about one particularcharacteristic of Nature, the tongue makesitself available for two purposes: to judge tasteand to utter word-symbols of communication.You must control the tongue with double caresince it can harm you in two ways.Without the control of the senses, Sadhanais ineffective. Doing Sadhana in this way is likekeeping water in a leaky pot. Patanjali (thecelebrated sage author of the Yoga Sutras)has said that when the tongue is conquered,victory is yours. When the tongue craves forsome delicacy, assert that you will not cater toits whims. But it is not so easy. Even monks andmonastic personages fall prey to the tongueand are unable to curb its vagaries. They wearthe robes of renunciation but clamour for tastydelicacies and thus bring the institutionThere are three lines along whichendeavour has to be directed: (i)spiritual exercise and discipline,(ii) cultivation of detachment, and(iii) development of confidence inone’s Self. Without these three, lifeis wearisome and wasteful journeythrough the sands. Give up, renounce.That is the virtue you need for spiritualprogress. It is not the value of thething given up that counts; it is theloftiness of the impulse behind the act.of monkhood into disrepute. If you persist ingiving yourself simple food that is not savouryor hot, but amply sustaining, the tongue maysquirm for a few days, but it will soon welcomeit. That is the way to subdue it and overcomethe evil consequences of its becoming yourmaster.Since the tongue is equally insistent onscandal and lascivious talk, you have to curbthat tendency also. Talk little; talk sweetly; talkonly when there is pressing need; talk onlyto those to whom you must; do not shout orraise your voice in anger or excitement. Suchcontrol will improve your health and mentalpeace. It will lead to better public relations andless involvement in contacts and conflicts withothers. You may be laughed at as a killjoy butthere are compensations enough for you. Itwill conserve your time and energy; you canput your inner energy to better use. You maytake this as My special Birthday Messagefor you: Control your taste. Control your talk.This is but a part of the larger programme ofcontrolling the senses. Your devotion to God isbest expressed by achieving the control362 November 2010

of the senses. For, the senses rush towardsthe temporary and the tawdry; thus, they foulthe heart. I require from each of you no othergift, no more valuable offering than the heart Ihave endowed you with. Give Me that heart, aspure as when I gave it to you, full of the nectarof love I filled it with.Do not be jubilant because this is the daywhen this body became manifest throughbirth, forty-three years ago. Birth and deathare inevitable incidents in the careers ofphysical sheaths. Worth is judged by whathappens in the interval. That is what one hasto be jubilant over. Utilise that period for theprogress of the spirit. There are three linesalong which endeavour has to be directed: (i)spiritual exercise and discipline, (ii) cultivationof detachment, and (iii) development ofconfidence in one’s Self. Without these three,life is wearisome and wasteful journey throughthe sands. Give up, renounce. That is the virtueyou need for spiritual progress. It is not thevalue of the thing given up that counts; it is theloftiness of the impulse behind the act.Consider each Moment a Step towardsGodSo long as man is dominated by sensepleasure, it cannot be said that his spirituallife has begun. Now, many clamour for theexperience of spiritual bliss, but few earn itbecause they find themselves too weak to rejectthe clamour of the senses! A little enquiry willreveal that the senses are bad masters andvery inefficient sources of knowledge; the joythey bring is transitory and fraught with grief.Mere knowledge will not endow you withthe well-spring of joy in the heart; only thecontemplation of the might and majesty of God,as seen in the universe, can be a never-failingsource of joy. No two persons can agree onany matter, be they brothers or sisters,I may tell you, nevertheless, thatall the five elements (ether, air,fire, water and earth) have beencreated by the Will of the Supreme.They have each to be used by youwith reverential care and vigilantdiscrimination. Reckless use of anyof them will only rebound on youwith tremendous harm. Externalnature has to be handled withcaution and awe.life mates or father and son. It is only aspilgrims on the Godward path that they canheartily agree and lovingly co-operate.You can be a pilgrim on the path ofspirituality even while attending to your dailyduties. Only, you have to feel that each momentis a step towards Him. Do everything asdedicated to Him, as directed by Him, as workfor His adoration or for serving His children.Test all your actions, words, thoughts on thistouchstone: “Will this be approved by God?Will this affect His renown”?In the epic Ramayana, you find EmperorDasaratha is infatuated with his dear wife andhe sends his son Rama to the forest in exilefor fourteen years; the son, however, is sucha true follower of righteousness that He exilesHis dear wife to the forest in obedience to thewhisperings of a section of His people. Thefather was the slave of his senses; the son wasthe master. God will approve the latter anddisapprove the former. So also, those whohave no conception of the Lord, who is aboveand beyond all human conventions, may cavilat some of the actions of Krishna, but thosewho are aware of His Divinity will understandtheir true significance.November 2010 363

Talk little; talk sweetly; talk only when there ispressing need; talk only to those to whom youmust; do not shout or raise your voice in anger orexcitement. Such control will improve your healthand mental peace. It will lead to better publicrelations and less involvement in contacts andconflicts with others. You may be laughed at as akilljoy but there are compensations enough for you.It will conserve your time and energy; you can putyour inner energy to better use. You may take thisa s My special Birthday Message for you: Controlyour taste. Control your talk.The Flute of Krishna is the Call of theLord to ManWhen you dedicate yourselves to theglorification of the Lord, you will revere thebody, the senses, the intelligence, and all theinstruments of knowledge, action and feelingas essential for His work. While others getintoxicated with pride, the Bhakta (devotee) willbe intoxicated with Prema (selfless love).You have heard that whenthe Divine Cowherd playedon the flute, men, women andchildren and even the cattle ofBrindavan hurried to Him, as ifdrawn by the irresistible magicof His music, Divine Melody,that stills all the turbid waveswhich we name as joy and grief.They left off the work they wereengaged in; they had no otherthought than the attainment ofthe Divine presence; the cattlestopped grazing, the calvesstopped guzzling milk. The storyof Krishna and the Gopikas has adeep inner meaning. Brindavanis not a specific place on themap; it is the universe itself.All men are cowherds; allanimals are cows. Every heart isfilled with the longing for the Lord;the flute is the call of the Lord;the sport called Rasakreeda(the sportive dance; the danceof Krishna in His boyhood withGopikas), where Lord Krishnais described as dancing withGopikas in moonlight – everymaid has a boy-Krishna holdingher hand in the dance – is thesymbol of the yearning and the travail borneby those who aim at reaching His Presence.The Lord manifests such grace that each oneof you has the Lord all for yourself; you neednot be sad that you won’t have Him, whenothers get Him; nor need you be proud thatyou have Him and no one else can have Himat the same time! The Lord is installed in thealtar of every heart.364 November 2010

Be Pure and Humble as Pilgrims Oughtto beOffer your entire self, your entire life, toHim; then your adoration will transform andtransmute you so fast and completely that youand He can be merged into one. He thinks,feels and acts as you do; you think, feel andact as He does. You will be transformed as arock is transformed by the sculptor, into an idol,deserving the worship of generations of sinceremen. In the process, you will have to bearmany a hammer stroke, many a chisel-wound,for He is the sculptor. He is but releasing youfrom petrification! Offer your heart to the Lord,let the rest of you undergo transformation atHis hands. Do not defile time or the physicalsheath or this life’s chance by using them forpaltry ends.Your pilgrimage to this place on thisoccasion is but a part of the long pilgrimageupon which you entered when you were born,which may not end even when you die. Donot forget that fact. Be pure, alert and humbleas pilgrims ought to be. Treasure the goodthings you see and the basic truths you hear.Use them as props and promptings for furtherstages of the journey.It serves no purpose if you merelyacknowledge that the Lord has come butdo not yearn to benefit by the Advent. In theprevious Yugas (eras), in what are called Krita,Treta and Dwapar Yugas, the incarnations ofthe Lord were not accepted as such by many.Even their parents, kinsmen and comradeshesitated to adore them. Only a few sages,who had cultivated the inner vision throughstudy and Sadhana, knew their reality.Keep Relationship with this IncarnationUnbrokenBut today in this Kali Yuga, while thecurrents of contradiction and controversyare undermining faith and adoration, the goodfortune that has brought you face to face withMe is the result of merits earned by you throughmany lives. This is no ordinary good fortune.This incarnation is moving with you in your joyand grief in order to console, encourage andcure. This relationship is something unique;it has to be kept unbroken until the goal isreached.Devotees who are attached to Me havea special responsibility. Vice Chancellor Dr.Gokak referred in his speech to My direction thatno one shall collect funds for any endeavourconnected with My name. I want that youmust replace desire for Dhana (wealth) withdesire for Dharma (righteousness). Yearn forDharma, not Dhana. Do not extend your handbefore man, but ask of the Lord, and He will fillit with priceless treasure. Have that faith andcarry on your pilgrimage.I may make mention now of a letter writtento Me by Dr. K.M. Munshi (founder of theBharatiya Vidya Bhavan). He has written thathe came, he saw and he was conquered. Ofcourse, what really happened was that his lovemerged in Mine; his Ananda (bliss) mergedin Mine, and he is happy beyond expression.He has suggested in that letter that just asthere are some days which are celebratedall over the world as holy days, My Birthdaymust be an all-world holy day. He has askedMe to bless this plan of making this day, aday of Sathyanarayana Puja the world over.I appreciate his veneration and devotion, butI do not encourage this adoration of just onename and one form, and that too, My presentname and My present form.Practise Silence, Cleanliness andForbearanceI have no wish to draw people towardsMe, away from the worship of My otherNovember 2010 365

names and forms. You may infer from whatyou call My miracles that I am causing themto attract and to attach you to Me, and Mealone. They are not intended to demonstrateor publicise; they are merely spontaneous andconcomitant proofs of Divine Majesty. I amyours, you are Mine for ever and ever. Whatneed is there for attracting and impressing, fordemonstrating your love or My compassion? Iam in you, you are in Me. There is no distanceor distinction.I am now hoisting the Prasanthi Flag onthis Prasanthi Nilayam. The flag is a signthat is significant for each one of you. It is areminder of your duty to yourself, and so, whenI hoist it on this building, you must unfurl it onyour own hearts. It reminds you to overcomethe urge of low desires, of anger and hatewhen your desires are thwarted; it exhortsyou to expand your heart so that you embraceall humanity and all life and all creation inits compass; it directs you to quieten your...Continued from page 350Bhagavan Himself created an aura of divinity inthe entire milieu and radiated spiritual vibrationsto all directions. At 11.25 a.m. Bhagavan wentto the western corner of the Yajnashala andsanctifi ed a garland for offering on the sacredKalasha, after which Arati was offered toBhagavan. Thereafter, Bhagavan came downthe stage and took a full round of the auditorium,fi lling the hearts of devotees with bliss by HisDarshan and blessings. The Yajna continuedin this manner from 11th to 17th October 2010,sanctifying the entire atmosphere. It was avery sublimating and ennobling experience formultitudes of devotees who were fortunate tobe present in Poornachandra Auditorium.On the sacred day of Vijaya Dasami,17th October 2010, Bhagavan came366 November 2010impulses and calmly meditate on your owninner reality. It assures you that, when youdo so, the lotus of your heart will bloom, andfrom its centre will arise the fl ame of divinevision, which guarantees Prasanthi (supremepeace).I must also tell you of certain preliminarydisciplines. Practise when you are here thethree disciplines of silence, cleanliness andforbearance. In silence can be heard the voiceof God, not in the revelry of noise. Throughcleanliness you earn purity. By forbearance,you cultivate love. You have come today toyour own home. This is your home, not Mine.My home is your heart. So, do not try to haveyour lunch elsewhere but in your home,where you get this day food consecrated byMe, the Prasadam.– From Bhagavan’s Discourse at PrasanthiNilayam on the occasion of His 43rd Birthday,23rd November 1968.to Poornachandra Auditorium at 6.05 p.m.and seated Himself near the Yajna Kundato perform Poornahuti of the Yajna. First, Hesanctifi ed the precious material for offering inthe Yajna fi re and then offered Akshatas intothe Yajna Kunda amidst sacred Vedic chantsand auspicious notes of Nadaswaram music,bringing the Yajna to a happy conclusion byoffering fi nal oblations into the sacred Yajnafi re by His Divine Hands. After the conclusionof the Yajna, Bhagavan blessed the priestsand sprinkled sacred water and Akshatas onthem. All the priests then sat down beforeBhagavan and chanted Vedic Mantras for quitesome time. At 6.15 p.m., Arati was offered toBhagavan which marked the completion ofVeda Purusha Saptaha Jnana Yajna.

MYJOURNEYSWITH BHAGAVAN TO KODAIKANALT.G. KrishnamurthyAN OPPORTUNITY TOaccompany the Lord on His visit tothe Kodaihills is a fond dreamthat any devotee wouldcherish.Since Bhagavan was not using thecarpet, I too was forced to walk barefootBhagavan in His on the ground alongside the carpet. Iinfi nite mercy has had a tough time walking barefoot onbestowed upon me onmany occasions thisgreat fortune. I wishthe hot ground and was seeking relieffrom the heat by occasionally puttingmy feet on the carpet! When I got intoto use the next few the car along with Swami after Darshan,pages to relive someI was in pain and found that I hadof the many wonderfulblisters under my feet. Swami noticedmoments that Hemy discomfiture and asked me what theblessed me with atmatter was. I told Him and expressedKodai and during thejourneys to and fro.my wonder at how Bhagavan seemedtotally unaffected by the heat. SwamiPerform your Dutythen revealed to me the secret behindMeticulouslythis. “You were selfish and worriedOn one suchabout your body and hence you werejourney to Kodai, Iaffected by the heat. I, on the otherwas seated in thehand, love everybody and did not showfront seat in Swami’scar while anotherany concern for this body. Hence, I wasdevotee drove the car. unaffected by the heat”, He said.Bhagavan was sittingin the rear seat alongwith another devotee. The students whomBhagavan had chosen to accompanyHim to Kodai were travelling in a bus whichwas trailing Bhagavan’s car. Now and then,Swami would ask us tocheck whether the busin which the studentswere travelling wasfollowing the car. Incase the bus was notvisible, He would ask usto stop the car and wewould wait till the busjoined us. The journeytook us through a Ghatsection between Hosurand Dharmapuri. Whilewe were passingthrough the Ghatsection, Swami wantedthe car to go slow sothat the bus would bevisible throughout. Thisis how Swami protectsHis children.We had lunchat Salem where westopped for an hour,and then proceededto Kodai via Dindigul.Swami had agreed to halt at Dindigul in answerto the prayers of the devotees there.November 2010 367

About a fortnight before Swami’s journey toKodai, the District President of Coimbatorehad gone to Brindavan and requested Swamito give him an opportunity to serve Swamiand His students at Dindigul during Swami’sjourney to Kodai. Swami gave His consent andasked him to make arrangements for snacksfor the children while they halted at Dindigul.The District President was happy with Swami’skind gesture. He later informed me that Swamihad agreed to visit Dindigul and had permittedhim to arrange for snacks to be served to Hisstudents at Dindigul. I was happy and askedhim to proceed with the arrangements.A little while before we reached Dindigul, theair conditioner in the car stopped functioning. Itwas summer time and the temperature outsidewas soaring. The devotee who was drivingthe car and I were sweating profusely in thesweltering heat. I was concerned about thediscomfort that might be caused to Bhagavanon account of the heat. But when I looked atHim through the car mirror, I found to my utteramazement that Bhagavan looked as fresh asa rose. He was glancing at the scenery throughthe car window with a beautiful smile playingon His face.We reached Dindigul where Bhagavan andthe students accompanying Him were givena rousing welcome by the eager group ofdevotees gathered there to have His Darshan.After a while, Swami called me near Him andasked me whether snacks had been arrangedfor the students who had accompaniedHim. I assumed that the District Presidentof Coimbatore would have arranged for thesame. I told Bhagavan, “Swami, I am sure thatthe District President would have arranged forthe snacks. I shall check with him, Swami”. Ithen approached the District President to seewhat arrangements he had made. Tomy shock, he told me that no snacks had beenarranged. They had only arranged for sometender coconut water!With my heart going pit a pat, I approachedSwami and apprised Him of the situation.Bhagavan was upset by this lapse on my partin serving the boys whom He had broughtalong. Atithi Devo Bhava – the Atithi or theguest has to be served as one would servethe Deva – the Lord Himself. However we, themembers of the organisation, had been foundwanting in our service to the Atithis (guests) ofthe Deva (Lord) Himself!Swami reminded me of this lapse manytimes while He was walking amongst thedevotees granting Darshan. I was followingBhagavan, holding the letters He was takingfrom the devotees. Each time He turnedtowards me to handover the letters, He wouldwhisper, “My children are hungry”. Each timeI heard this, I felt as though Lord Siva waspiercing my chest with His trident. I was prayingto Bhagavan in atonement of my lapse. Swamihowever was smiling all throughout and thusnobody else sensed the chiselling that I wasgoing through.I chided myself for not having supervisedthe arrangements closely enough. In anattempt to make amends for the lapse, Iimmediately mobilised a few organisationmembers and asked them to rush to the town,procure whatever refreshments they couldfi nd and place them in the bus, in which thestudents were travelling. Once this was done,I approached Bhagavan once again andsubmitted to Him that refreshments had beenplaced in the bus and would be served to thestudents during the rest of the journey. I hopedthat this would please Bhagavan to someextent. But Swami was unrelenting. He justgave a half nod and that was not enough368 November 2010

to convince me that I hadwon back His favour.After blessing thegathered devotees,Bhagavan got into His carand the journey continued.After a short while, toour pleasant surprise,the air conditioner in thecar, which had earlierstopped working, startedfunctioning again. Whenthis happened, thedevotee driving Swami’scar and I exchangedglances and Bhagavannoticed this. He asked uswhat the matter was. Inresponse, I expressed toHim my delight at how theair conditioner which hadfor no apparent reasonstopped working earlier had started functioningagain on its own. He said, “Don’t you know thatnot even a blade of grass will move without Myconsent? Even before we reached Dindigul, Iknew that you had not arranged any snacksfor the children”. He continued, “You hadentrusted the duty of making all arrangementsto the District President...but was it not yourduty as State President to have checkedwhether everything was in its place”?The meaning behind everything that hadhappened in the past few hours became evidentto me in a flash. Swami in His omniscienceknew in advance that I was going to err andprobably willed that the air conditioner stopworking. And now that I had made amendsby ensuring that His children were fed, the airconditioner had started working again! ItA little while before we reachedDindigul, the air conditioner in thecar stopped functioning. It wassummer time and the temperatureoutside was soaring. The devoteewho was driving the car and Iwere sweating profusely in thesweltering heat. I was concernedabout the discomfort that might becaused to Bhagavan on accountof the heat. But when I lookedat Him through the car mirror,I found to my utter amazementthat Bhagavan looked as freshas a rose. He was glancing at thescenery through the car windowwith a beautiful smile playing onHis face.is said that when we takeone step towards Swami,He takes a hundred stepstowards us. But in thiscase, the merciful Lordhad known the wrong stepI was going to take andhad redressed the sameeven before I had becomeaware of it!Body AttachmentCauses PainOnce on His wayback from Kodai, Swamidecided to halt at Salemand grant Darshan tothe devotees there. Itwas peak summer and acarpet had been laid alongthe path on which Swamiwould walk while He gaveDarshan. The afternoonsun was at its peak when Bhagavan arrived.Instead of walking on the carpeted path,Swami surprised us by walking barefoot on theground as He granted Darshan. He seemedto be totally unaffected by the heat. I was justbehind Bhagavan, following Him while He gaveDarshan. Since Bhagavan was not using thecarpet, I too was forced to walk barefoot on theground alongside the carpet. I had a tough timewalking barefoot on the hot ground and wasseeking relief from the heat by occasionallyputting my feet on the carpet!When I got into the car along with Swamiafter Darshan, I was in pain and found that Ihad blisters under my feet. Swami noticed mydiscomfi ture and asked me what the matterContinued on page 375...November 2010 369

My Journeyswith SaiDr. K. Bhaskar RaoTHE ALMIGHTY LORD OF THEuniverse has incarnated as manamong men to uplift them. It is ourgreat good fortune that He moves in our midst,showering love and compassion on all of us.This is an illustrationof God’s love formankind. Living asthe contemporariesof ParipoornaAvatar (incarnationof God in fullglory) BhagavanSri Sathya SaiBaba, to intertwineour lives with HisDivine Mission isthe greatest Tapas(penance) we canperform in this birth.Indeed, it is bythe merit of manyprevious birthsthat we, in this life,are chosen to bea part of the divine370 November 2010‘Bhagavan who was conversing with usseated in the car suddenly instructedthe driver to slow down and stop nearthe motorbike of one of the motorbikeriders, a young man named Sagar, whohad by then pulled out to roadside andcollapsed by the side of a tree. He wastoo exhausted by the heat to notice thatSwami was coming to Him. Swami askedfor a tender coconut kept in the car andmade him drink its water. The youthregained consciousness and reported thathe actually fell unconscious while ridingat a high speed and was not at all awareof pulling out of the road, applying brakesand stopping under the tree. It was Swamiwho remote controlled all these actionseven as He was talking to us in the car.movement that He charioteers. In this sojourn,He takes care of everything, assuming theroles of our mother, father, teacher and God. Inthis divine march, each footstep of His leavesbehind a spring, from which love gushes forthforever. With gratitude to Him, I will sharewith the readers my blissful experiences oftravelling with Sai, inthe literal sense, duringone of His visits toWest Godavari districtof Andhra Pradesh.These experienceswill echo the songthat every devotee’sheart sings, “TheNandabala (son ofNanda) has returnedas Anandabala(embodiment of bliss)to meet His own folksagain!”Visit to Eluru andAkiripalliIt was in’February1965t h a t

Bhagavan embarked upon a tour of AndhraPradesh, particularly Rajahmundry andlater Akiripalli, a village near Vijayawada,to inaugurate a Sanskrit school built by Dr.Suri Bhagavantam, an eminent scientist. Enroute, He travelled across West Godavaridistrict and stopped at Eluru, my home town,to bless the devotees there. As per the tourprogramme, the visit to Eluru was to be on the27th of February. Accordingly, I was presentat Rajahmundry to invite and bring Swami toEluru. There, as He walked in to grant Darshanof His ever beautiful form to the waiting crowds,He noticed me and asked, “When is Eluru visitscheduled for”? I replied that it was on 27thFebruary. “No, no. Let us go there on 25thitself,” He said commandingly. Immediately, Icontacted the devotees at Eluru and conveyedthe Divine command, so that they could makeall arrangements to welcome Him on the dayof His visit, now advanced by two days.Swami left for Eluru on the morning of 25thFebruary 1965 by road. Seated in His carwere Sri Cherukumilli Kamavadhani, a Vedicscholar, Dr. Suri Bhagavantam, a scientist andmyself. Throughout the journey, Swami kept usengaged in Namasmarana, singing Bhajans inHis own melodious voice and we followed inchorus. He would frequently ask the car to bestopped for the sake of crowds waiting on theroadside to have His Darshan. To their greatjoy, He would alight to bless them all, acceptgarlands and grant Padanamaskar. Once,driving through the countryside, we had to stopat a railway crossing. Soon, several villagers,men, women and children, who were workingin the fi elds came running and surrounded Hiscar. Touched by their curiosity, Swami loweredthe glass of the car window and blessed them.Those innocent folk were thrilled to see Babain person and began whispering to each‘As we were nearing the Mandir, wewitnessed a Divine Leela of Swami. Hestopped the car near a small house andenquired from an old lady and a smallboy sitting at the doorstep about thelocation of the Mandir. When they pointedin that direction, He smiled to Himselfand let the car move on. We were allpuzzled. But later when we discoveredthe reason of this act, all of us werewonderstruck at His omniscience. Themembers of that household went toMandir to see Bhagavan, leaving behindthe old lady with poor eyesight and alsothe small boy to keep her company. But,how could the merciful Lord go without’blessing her!other in excitement, “Ah! He looks just like Hisphotograph”! Swami was quite amused at thiscomment and as we drove on, He repeated itseveral times, mimicking the tone and accentof the villagers. We, of course, were laughinguncontrollably, but He was rather carried awayby the innocence of those pure hearts. It is Hisunique nature to feel one with those that comeface to face with Him, whoever it may be. Is Henot the indweller of all beings?After reaching Eluru, He rested a while at myhouse. I also had the blessing of serving lunchto Him and all the devotees who assembledthere. In fact, Swami took upon Himself toserve food to devotees, encouraging them tohave another helping, explaining the specialityof various delicacies, thus fi lling the devotees’hearts with joy. It was the love of a thousandmothers that we experienced on that occasion.Happily lost in extending hospitality to the Lordand His devotees, I forgot about myNovember 2010 371

own hunger. But it did not escape the lovingattention of Mother Sai. Saying, “you fed all,but not yourself”, Swami shared His ownmeal with me. It was nothing short of Amritam(ambrosia) for me and I relished every bit of it.It was our fi rst time to manage Swami’stour. Those were the early days of the SaiOrganisation and Seva Dal volunteers werein small number. So, we had met the district’sSuperintendent of Police a week earlier andrequested for security cover. He readily agreedbut put forth a personal request in turn. Hisdaughter was affl icted with polio and he wantedus to ask Swami to give Vibhuti to her. We triedto convince him that such recommendationswere not heeded to by Swami and prayersalone could elicit response from Him. But hewas not convinced and kept insisting.On the day of Swami’s visit, as I waswalking behind Swami while He was givingHis Divine Darshan to public at an auditorium,I found the S.P. seated in a front row, noddingto me expectantly. I looked away, prayingsilently, “Oh Swami, You know everything. Ihave nothing to say”. Having gone round therows of devotees, Swami was walking up thedais to be seated. He turned around all of asudden, walked straight to the S.P.’s daughter,materialised a handful of Vibhuti and gave it toher. We were all astonished at this Leela, andthe S.P.’s happiness knew no bounds. Howtrue it is that Bhagavan has come to make eachand everyone happy. “Your joy is My food,”says He. Later, He delivered a Discourse tothe gathering about the principle of the Atmaand said, “These days, man is travelling to themoon at great expense, but not making anyeffort to delve even an inch into his own heart.The purpose of life is to know thyself. All muststrive to attain this ultimate goal of life.”After Eluru, I accompanied Swami toVijayawada. Addressing a public meeting‘The eye camp was located in anundulated farmland and the mercifulLord did not hesitate to walk acrossthe fields to reach there. He went toeach patient and comforted all of themwith His tender touch and kind words.His love washed away their pain. Hethen called me near and chided me,“You have got the surgeries donein these open fields. What if thereis a septic problem”? I replied in allhumility, “We have Your protection foreverything. Isn’t it, Swami”? He smiledand patted me. Believe it or not, therewere absolutely no complicationsand all the patients got their visionimproved nicely.’there, He explained lucidly, “Unity brings aboutpurity and leads the way to divinity”. The nextstop was Akiripalli where He inauguratedthe school for Sanskrit learning. Thereafter,He returned to Prasanthi Nilayam, leavingus to ruminate and assimilate the nectarineexperiences of His boundless love.As I was returning to Eluru after seeing Himoff at the last stop, I saw hoards of agitatorsblocking the traffi c and disrupting all activities.It was then that I realised the omniscienceof the Lord who looked into the future andforesaw the impending trouble. Though He didnot reveal it to us, He guided us to prepone Hisvisit by two days so that we could manage itwithout any obstacle or embarrassment.Visit to West Godavari District, 1983In May 1983, Bhagavan blessed WestGodavari district with His visit. On 14th May,He arrived at the Gannavaram Airport372 November 2010

y a special fl ight. It landed at 12 noon. Wefound that His robe was all soaked in sweat asthere was a malfunction in the air conditioningsystem of the aircraft. But He looked as freshas a fl ower, untouched by the bodily discomfort.It was the peak of summer season. Moreover,it was noon time. The devotees rushed toHim with footwear and an umbrella. He gentlyturned them down, and made light of the hotweather, saying, “When devotees have beenwaiting in hot sun for My arrival, how can Iuse these? I am enjoying the coolness oftheir devotion and love. By the way, this bodyis born and brought up in hot Rayalaseemaregion”! This eased all our tension, and joyspread all around. He walked in the scorchingsun, showering blessings on thousands whohad lined up to receive Him.He accepted my prayer to visit my houseat Eluru and we started by road. The car wasescorted by six pilot riders who cleared theway. Swami was impressed with them andblessed them with a photo opportunity. Twosenior devotees, Colonel Joga Rao and SriRamana Rao, were part of Swami’s entourage.We reached Eluru at 2 o’clock in the afternoon.A huge crowd gathered there in the hot sunto welcome Him and He satisfi ed their thirstto see Him. Spotting two physically challengedbrothers in that crowd, He asked them to bebrought near Him, created Vibhuti and appliedit Himself on their foreheads and backs. By 4o’clock, He was out again to visit an eye camporganised by Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisationin Kovvali village, 8 km away from Eluru, where98 patients had been treated. The eye campwas located in an undulated farmland but themerciful Lord did not hesitate to walk across thefi elds to reach there. He went to each patientand comforted all of them with His tendertouch and kind words. His love washedaway their pain. He then called me near andchided me, “You have got the surgeries donein these open fi elds. What if there is a septicproblem”? I replied in all humility, “We haveYour protection for everything. Isn’t it, Swami”?He smiled and patted me. Believe it or not,there were absolutely no complications and allthe patients got their vision improved nicely. Itis but another illustration of the power of Hisblessings which gives complete protection tothe devotees who fully surrender to Him andplace their unshakeable faith in Him.From Kovvali eye camp, we proceeded to S.Muppavaram village, which was the fi rst villageto have been adopted by the Sai Organisationas part of their nationwide programme of ruraldevelopment. On the way, we came acrossmany ponds and reservoirs, some spreadingover several acres, which were all full of watereven in that mid summer. Pleased at the sight,Swami remarked, “Wonderful! There is watereverywhere. You people are born lucky”. Isaid reverentially, “Oh Lord! It is You whogave us this birth, and it is You who made uslucky”. He patted my shoulder with love. Withso much love around, there were no signs oftiredness and fatigue in any of us, in spite ofthe long drive in hot weather. We reachedthe village at 8.30 p.m. Though it was dark,Swami went round for an hour to inspect thetasks undertaken by Seva Dal volunteerswhich included a bus shelter, a Rama temple,a huge water tank with ramps, roads, drainsand so on. He appreciated the work. At 9.30at night, He addressed a public meetingchaired by Sri Alluri Bapineedu, a local leader.“Honesty, cooperation and unity exist naturallyin villages. There could be some personal orpolitical differences among you. But when itcomes to the welfare and development of thevillage, all must stand united”, He exhortedthe villagers. We left that village atNovember 2010 373

10 o’clock that night and proceeded towardsKovvuru town for the inauguration of SriSathya Sai Mandir built there. As we werenearing the Mandir, we witnessed a DivineLeela of Swami. He stopped the car near asmall house and enquired from an old lady anda small boy sitting at the doorstep about thelocation of the Mandir. When they pointed inthat direction, He smiled to Himself and let thecar move on. We were all puzzled. But laterwhen we discovered the reason of this act, allof us were wonderstruck at His omniscience.The members of that household went to theMandir to see Bhagavan, leaving behind theold lady with poor eyesight and also the smallboy to keep her company. But, how could themerciful Lord go without blessing her! Just asKrishna responded to the longings of blindSurdas, our Sai Krishna listened to the prayersof this old lady, and granted her the opportunityof exclusive Darshan and Sambhashan. In thelast days of her life, the only thing that the blindold lady could see clearly was the effulgentDivine Form of Lord Sai. What a blessed soulwas she!The Mandir was inaugurated by Swami.Though it was past ten at night, Swami spoketo the large gathering waiting for Him. “Youbuild Mandirs in brick and mortar. But thereal Mandir is your heart, where God residespermanently. The concrete Mandirs are meantto develop your concentration on God,” Heenlightened the audience. It was quite latein the night and the organisers persuadedSwami to take dinner at the Mandir. It was aMandir built for Him which He inaugurated andthen accepted the Naivedyam (food offering)personally. What a blessed coincidence! Wecongratulated each other happily. Thereafter,Bhagavan left for Rajahmundry in EastGodavari district, which was a short374 November 2010‘It was the peak of summer season.Moreover, it was noon time. Thedevotees rushed to Him withfootwear and an umbrella. He gentlyturned them down, and made lightof the hot weather, saying, “Whendevotees have been waiting in hotsun for My arrival, how can I usethese? I am enjoying the coolnessof their devotion and love. By theway, this body is born and broughtup in hot Rayalaseema region”!This eased all our tension, and joyspread all around. He walked in thescorching sun, showering blessingson thousands who had lined up toreceive Him.’drive on the bridge across Godavari river.Since His arrival at the Gannavaram Airport atnoon, it had been a hectic day for Him. Yet, Heconstantly radiated love and bliss so that thosearound Him could cherish each and everymoment spent with Him. One cannot forgetthat experience in many lives to come.Visit to West Godavari District, 1984Again in May 1984, Bhagavan’s convoypassed through West Godavari district.After inaugurating Sri Sathya Sai Mandir atVijayawada and another palatial Mandir calledSanthi Sudha at Guntur, He travelled straightto Rajahmundry on 18th May 1984 to establishSri Sathya Sai Gurukulam there. Eluru againfell en route. Travelling with Swami were SriH.J. Dora, I.P.S., Sri Sathya Murthy and myself.Four motorbike riders were piloting Swami’scar. It was the period of peak summer seasonby Indian calendar. Besides the scorchingsun, hot winds were blowing. Bhagavan

Santhi Sudha Mandir inaugurated byBhagavan at Guntur, 1984.who was conversing with us seated in the carsuddenly instructed the driver to slow down andstop near the motorbike of one of the motorbikeriders, a young man named Sagar, who had bythen pulled out to roadside and collapsed bythe side of a tree. He was too exhausted by theheat to notice that Swami was coming to Him.Swami asked for a tender coconut kept in thecar and made him drink its water. The youthregained consciousness and reported that heactually fell unconscious while riding at a highspeed and was not at all aware of pulling out ofthe road, applying brakes and stopping underthe tree. It was Swami who remote controlledall these actions even as He was talking tous in the car. Of course, for the One whocontrols the whole cosmos, such acts ofgrace are sportingly casual.At Rajahmundry, He was welcomedby a mammoth gathering. Sri ThanneeruBullayya who had been running theNavabharath Gurukulam handed it overto Swami. It was thereafter transformedinto a beautiful residential school, nowknown as Sri Sathya Sai Gurukulam. Onthat occasion, Swami’s feet were washedceremoniously with the holy watersfrom twelve sacred rives of India. Later,Swami personally blessed all the devotees bysprinkling that water on them. While returningfrom Rajahmundry, He graciously acceptedour hospitality at Eluru and then proceededto Gannavaram Airport to leave for PrasanthiNilayam. Even at that time, He did not ignoreto bless the riders of pilot vehicles with theopportunity of a photo with Him. He createdVibhuti for the driver of His car, spoke to himfor a while and granted him Padanamaskar.His tour left in our hearts the feeling that it ispossible for Him alone to be one with all, yetremain One among all!...Continued from page 369was. I told Him the cause of my trouble andexpressed my wonder at how Bhagavanseemed totally unaffected by the heat. Swamithen revealed to me the secret behind this.“You were selfi sh and worried about your bodyand hence you were affected by the heat. I,on the other hand, love everybody and did notshow any concern for this body. Hence, I wasunaffected by the heat”, He said.Do not limit Me to the boundaries of any one Name and Form. Your aim shouldbe to see the self-same God in all the Forms that are worshipped, to picture Him inall the Names, nay, to be conscious of His Presence as the inner motivator of everyliving being, in every particle of matter.BabaNovember 2010 375

Effulgence of Divine GloryA RESURRECTIONIN MADRAS (CHENNAI), SWAMIstayed at the house of an olddevotee, Sushilamma, while wewere accommodated in the guesthouse of a recent devotee, Sri Sethuraman. Theguest house was enchanting.Tame deer and peacocksroamed freely in the lush,tropical garden. A full staff ofservants were at our disposaland responded to our everyneed. An excellent cook madefor us delicious vegetarianmeals. I was happy to leaveChristina and the ayah inthis lovely surrounding whilewe went with Swami to visitvarious homes of His devoteesand attend the conference.Our host, Sri Sethuraman,was a great devotee of LordGanesh (the Indian god withthe elephant head and knownas the remover of obstacles).He presented each of us staying at his guesthouse with the gift of a statue of Ganesh. Inlater years, he donated a life-size statue ofGanesh to the Ashram and it is installed at thefront gate. To this day, the statue has beenan inspiration for thousands of visitors andresidents and is worshipped daily, accordingto tradition, by the Pandits.Swami invited us to dine with Him at thehome of the Indian actress, Anjali Devi. Nearhere was a vacant piece of land, on which inlater years was erected “Sundaram”, Swami’sresidence when He visits Chennai. After dinner,we all enjoyed a preview of her latest fi lm butdid not see the end as Swami was concernedwith giving Darshan to the hundreds of peoplegathered outside the house. Thus, the fi lm wasElsie and Robert Cowan with Bhagavan afterCowan’s resurrection.cut short as He responded to the longing in thehearts of His devotees.On 25th December 1971, while giving aDiscourse, Swami suddenly stopped speaking,walked over to Dr. John Hislop at the side ofthe stage and whispered something to him.John left immediately and Swami resumedthe Discourse. When we returned to the guesthouse, Dr. Hislop told us a fascinating story.Swami had told him that Walter Cowan hadjust died and that Elsie, his wife, was at thatmoment fervently praying and calling Swami.376 November 2010

He told John to go to Elsie and assure her thatHe had heard her prayer and would soon becoming to the hospital to see Walter.Elsie and Walter Cowan, founders of theSathya Sai Book Centre of America, hadarrived a few days earlier from the UnitedStates and were staying in a hotel in Chennai.That morning, Cowan had died in his wife’sarms. An ambulance was called, and his bodywas taken to a hospital and placed in a storageroom after being pronounced dead. Swamivisited the hospital later and restored life to thebody of Walter Cowan.A month later, in Brindavan, Walter Cowantold me of his experience with death. He saidthat shortly after he died, he remained nearhis physical body in the ambulance. Thenthe scene suddenly changed. Swami cameand took him to a large room, somewhere inthe heavens, where a panel of judges weregathered. He was shown scenes from manyof his past lives where he recognised himselfas having been, very often, a person of greathistoric importance. He saw that, throughoutthese lives, he had always worked for thewelfare of humanity. After the lives appearedbefore Walter, Swami told the panel of judgesthat He was taking him back to earth becausethere was still work to be done by Cowan.Walter told me he was not happy to comeback, as being without a body gave him anenormous sensation of expansive freedom.– Excerpted from the book “Divine Memories ofSathya Sai Baba” by Diana Baskin.November 2010 377

DUE TO SAI BHAGAVAN’S CALLin a dream to my mother, Smt.Radhamma, our whole family offour brothers and three sisters alongwith my father Sri Radhakrishnaiah reachedPuttaparthi during the second half of 1945.All troubles of our torturous journey – throughPenukonda, Karnatanagepalli, Kothacheruvu,etc., by rail, horse cart, rural bus and bullockcart – were wiped away with just one glance ofBhagavan Sai. His young face was effulgentwith divinity. His compassionate looks fi lled withunconditional love made us totally surrender toHim. Though my 14 year-old brother Murthyhad some doubts, he also surrendered at theDivine Feet of the incarnation of perfect lovewithin no time. In the very fi rst visit, Bhagavannamed us as ‘Kuppam Family’. Though Swamiwas 19 years old, He looked younger – like aBhagavan during Dasara festival at Old Mandir,Puttaparthi, 1946.Smt. VijayammaBHAGAVAN’S VISIT TO KARUR, 1947Krishna Kumar, Amarendra and other playmateswith Swami at Chitravathi, Puttaparthi.378 November 2010lad of our age, of about 13 years. At that time,Swami always wore white robes, but He kindlygranted my mother’s request to wear colouredrobes on certain occasions. Originally, ourfather had fi rmly decided to stay at Puttaparthionly for three days, but by Swami’s grace, westayed for three months and had the wonderfulopportunity to witness the fi rst Dasara festivalat the Old Mandir.A Sea of Humanity at KarurIn October 1947, Swami decided to go on atour of South India, and we were fortunate notto miss this golden opportunity. Swami reachedKarur on 25th October 1947.

Accommodation for Swami was arranged in mycousin Smt. Adhilaxmi’s house. Her husband,Sri Govinda Swami, and children Parvatham,Sunila and Ramalingam were present, withgood arrangements for Swami on the fi rstfl oor. My mother, Smt. Radhamma, brotherAmba and I stayed there till Swami left Karur.We never expected to see people in suchlarge numbers coming to see Swami. Peoplecame from places like Madurai, Tiruchirapalli,Udumalpet, and so on. The entire town lookedauspicious due to the greenery of mango-leafbuntings all over. Each and every house lookedfestive as if a marriage were being celebratedin it. The crowd standing before my sister’shouse was so large that there was no placefor even a grain of sand to fall on the ground.When Swami stepped onto the balcony, loudsalutations echoed all around. With foldedpalms, people in thousands offered theirobeisance with utmost devotion. We could notcome down at all because of the huge crowd.Our eyes were fi lled with tears, watching theprofound devotion of all those people. Themidday sun was blazing hot but people juststood there, unmindful of the heat.Swami was very much moved by thedevotees’ yearning and their eagerness tohave His Darshan. So, He decided to godown into the crowd. Hastily, a throne-likechair, decorated with fl owers, was placed onan improvised dais. When He stood on thedais, people started clapping so loudly thatreverberations verily shook the earth and sky.With a raised hand, He blessed everyone.Thousands of devotees, with folded handsabove their heads, gazed at Him in absolutesilence. Intoxicated and exhilarated by thesacred nectarine gleam of His lotus face, theyseemed to eagerly devour that beauty in totalreverence. Every action of His, everymove, every word, every deed, though lookingsimple, always had the essence of spiritualityrooted in it. He treated everyone alike anddisplayed oneness with motherly love, whichwas very delightful and touching to witness. Assoon as Swami sat in the chair, thousands ofvoices unanimously requested Him to speak.Swami yielded to their ardent request andstood up.Swami’s First Public SpeechHe said, “Dear Children! You have allgathered here willingly, putting up with somany diffi culties, to have My Darshan. Whenyou are all standing crammed together, withno place for even an ant to crawl, how can Icomfortably sit on this spacious dais with goodbreeze, above you all? I cannot bear to seemy children suffer. With your consent, I too willsit on the ground with you”. “No, Swami! No!We can all get a good glimpse of You, only ifYou sit on the dais,” they all prayed. Radiatinglove, Swami said, “You are all entreating Me totell you the story of My life. I may not be ableto narrate it well. But still, I shall try”. WhileSwami recounted His childhood incidents, Hisdaring acts at school and His miracles, peoplelistened to Him in utmost silence, as if in atrance. With hearts fi lled with surprise, wonderand bliss, they intently gazed at Swami’ssacred and auspicious fi gure to their hearts’content, utterly disregarding the tears tricklingdown their cheeks.It is hard to believe, but even infants didnot whimper. Swami said in conclusion, “MyChildren! God has come in human form onlyfor the sake of His devotees. Because youare all born in this world, you should carry outyour earthly duties, while staying in this world.You should dedicate your body to the serviceof humanity and surrender your heartNovember 2010 379

to God. By chanting God’s name and singingHis glory, make good use of this great chanceof being born as a human being. That way,you will be making your life blessed. Insteadof doing this, everyday you allow yourself tobe sunk lower to the nether world, so to say,contemplating harm to others, remainingbound to desires and keeping away from thepath of righteousness. You are thus makingwrong use of your time. At least, from now on,start meditating on God, and ensure that theobjective of your human birth is fully achieved”.When Swami concluded His speech, the soundof joyous ovation verily shook the earth andsky.Swami stood up, and looking at the peoplestanding at the back, He said, “If you haveany doubts, please ask Me”. No one wishedto ask anything. We guessed that Swami musthave had a strong reason for saying it. Later,we came to know that some people had comewith a long list of doubts. They were atheists,who wanted to challenge Him in argumentsabout the existence of God and disrupt Hismeeting by asking unnecessary questions.With Swami’s open invitation, they kept silent,like goats at the sight of a lion, humbly beatinga retreat. Of what avail is the candlelight beforethe splendid rays of the sun? This was the fi rsttime that Swami gave a public speech andenthralled everyone by His powerful oratory.The topic on everyone’s lips was this veryspeech.Shower of Gifts from Divine HandsMany devotees begged Swami to visittheir homes, but there was no way to moveout and around. When the jostling for HisDarshan began to intensify, Swami went to thebalcony, held a mike and began singing. Likecalves hearing the divine music of theThe entire town looked auspicious dueto the greenery of mango-leaf buntingsall over. Each and every house lookedfestive as if a marriage were beingcelebrated in it. The crowd standingbefore my sister’s house was so largethat there was no place for even a grainof sand to fall on the ground. WhenSwami stepped onto the balcony, loudsalutations echoed all around. Withfolded palms, people in thousandsoffered their obeisance with utmostdevotion. We could not come downat all because of the huge crowd. Oureyes were filled with tears, watching theprofound devotion of all those people.fl ute of Krishna, people soon seemed to forgetthemselves in rapture and began shakingtheir heads in joy. Amba and I sang Bhajansalong with Him, sitting near His feet. For onehour, the crowd stood as if transfi xed. Withevery passing day, the crowd became biggerand bigger. There were Bhajans, both in themorning and in the evening. Unmindful of theheat, without once lowering their upturnedfaces, people stood there patiently. It was anunending ocean of humanity, as far as ourvision could extend.Looking at a man struggling to take Hissnapshot, Swami said, “There is no fi lm inyour camera”. “I have fi lm,” the man assertedconfi dently; but the fi lm was in Swami’s hand!Swami laughed and threw back the roll of fi lmto him. This seemed to create a strange newexcitement in the onlookers, and they all beganclamouring, “Swami, please give us380 November 2010

something, also”. Swami waved His hand in theair, and showered peppermints, pendants andtalismans in large numbers. With wild shouts,people madly ran about to catch these gifts.Those who could not catch anything continuedto struggle, running hither and thither. Swami’sgrace will always be proportionate to the loveof His devotees. Till then, we had never seenor heard of such a happening as this. Onemore special feature about this incident wasthat people got a gift that they really cravedfor. People with cameras got rolls of fi lms.Sick people got a curative talisman. Like this,our bountiful God showered gifts according totheir requirements. Overcome with joy, peoplebegan dancing as if they had gone mad. This,in turn, attracted more people to come near,and the number of devotees became largerand larger.Swami decided to bless the houses of somedevotees by His visits. He visited Sri Laxman’shouse, the brother of Sri Govinda Swami, andalso Smt. Adhilaxmi’s in-laws’ house. He couldnot travel by road because every inch wasoccupied by people. Short walls divided housesin this old town. He just stepped across thesewalls, and going from one house to the other,He blessed the inmates, granted them theirwishes and returned. People were stunnedby His sudden appearance from the rooftop,here to there. Ecstatic devotees prostratedbefore Him and jumped with joy when Hematerialised some gift for them. By simplywaving His hand, Swami materialised a footlongmarble statue of Lord Vighneswara andpresented it to a devotee. The craftsmanshipand the colour combination of that statue werehighly laudable. Swami’s name, and news ofHis miraculous powers, spread like a mightygust of wind. Just to have a glimpse of Swami,people began to stay all night in theWhen He stood on the dais, peoplestarted clapping so loudly thatreverberations verily shook the earthand sky. With a raised hand, He blessedeveryone. Thousands of devotees, withfolded hands above their heads, gazedat Him in absolute silence. Intoxicatedand exhilarated by the sacred nectarinegleam of His lotus face, they seemedto eagerly devour that beauty in totalreverence. Every action of His, everymove, every word, every deed, thoughlooking simple, always had the essenceof spirituality rooted in it. He treatedeveryone alike and displayed onenesswith motherly love, which was verydelightful and touching to witness.open courtyard before the house. Not wishingto risk losing their place, some were foregoingeven food and sleep. They ate whatever wasavailable, and waited. Our hearts melted at thesight of such fi rm love and unfl inching faith.The focus of their minds was only “Swami.”They had no other concern. Swami showeredHis infi nite love in such a way that they wereglued to their places.Visit to Tiruchi and UdumalpetDevotees took Sai Bhagavan to Tiruchiand Udumalpet. The moment Swami reachedthe boundary of the town, a mass of devoteesheartily welcomed Him with Poornakumbhamand auspicious band music. Vessels fi lledwith the sacred water of the river Kaveri,were carried. An Ambari (seat with a canopyto cover the head) was arranged on anNovember 2010 381

elephant, in order to bring Swami into the townin a grand manner. The citizens garlandedHim, reverentially welcomed Him, washed HisLotus Feet with sacred river water, and makingSwami mount the big decorated elephant, theytook Him into the town in a huge procession.Resplendent like Lord Mahavishnu Himself,sending lovely smiles with a gentle face, Swamiimmersed them in the ocean of bliss. Aftertouring the region for two days, quenching thespiritual thirst of thousands of people, Swamicame back to Karur.Devotion UnboundedThe next day, Darshan was arranged in theopen courtyard of the local High School, and itwas jam-packed with thousands of devotees.Moreover, different groups of devotees wouldstand before the house every ten minutes,imploring Swami for His Darshan. Listening tothose pleas, “Bhaktavatsala Sai” (Sai, the loverof devotees) suddenly would give everyone aslip, and run to grant them Darshan. Oh! Whata sacred love and intimate relationship is this!Such a splendid sight was a feast for the eyes.Swami was proving true the sayings, “God isservant of His devotees”. and, “God is stealerof the hearts of devotees”. His large lotusheart is like a soothing cool breeze, comfortingdevotees.One night, at twelve o’clock, we heard thesound of melodious Bhajans coming fromdownstairs. Our brother-in-law approached thedevotees and said with folded hands, “Swamihas just retired to His room to rest. He is tired.Please come in the morning”. To this, theyearnestly replied, “We have come from a longdistance after going through a lot of hardshipsjust to have Swami’s Darshan. We cannotlive without seeing Him. Please have mercyon us”. Unable to decide what to answer, hewas perplexed. At that juncture, Swami’s voicewas heard from the balcony, a veryDedicate your body to the service ofhumanity and surrender your heartto God. By chanting God’s name andsinging His glory, make good use ofthis great chance of being born as ahuman being. That way, you will bemaking your life blessed. Instead ofdoing this, everyday you allow yourselfto be sunk lower to the nether world,so to say, contemplating harm toothers, remaining bound to desiresand keeping away from the path ofrighteousness. You are thus makingwrong use of your time. At least, fromnow on, start meditating on God, andensure that the objective of your humanbirth is fully achieved.sweet voice, vibrant like the music from a fl ute.It took everyone by surprise. Lifting up theirheads, the devotees saw Swami, fi lled withlove, the embodiment of pure love, the fulfi llerof the wishes of devotees, standing with Hisface wreathed in smiles. As soon as they sawHim, in a frenzy of devotion, they prostratedbefore Him, hailing Him as “Harahara MahaDeva! Sambho Sankara”!When they resumed singing Bhajans,with tears trickling down their cheeks in theecstasy of devotion, our hearts seemed tomelt. The cool breeze, the silent night and themoonlight made everyone get immersed inan oblivion wrought by joy. From downstairs,they appealed to Him, “Swami! How long willYou stand? Please be seated.” This seemedto make Swami even more affectionate, for Helovingly replied, “Oh! My Dear Children!382 November 2010

What is My discomfort before what you had tosuffer? You are all in a very tired state. The joyof dear children is the primary considerationfor a mother. When you yourself are standing,why should it matter if I stand? Continueyour Bhajan”. This uninterrupted fl ow of lovebetween Swami and devotees continued for anhour and a half. Our hearts were immersed indevotion and danced in the sea of joy, lookingdown at the jam-packed crowd below. Do notthey require any rest at all? Are these humanbeings or angels? Is this a dream or an actof illusion created by Lord Vishnu? Overcomewith joy, Swami heartily blessed them. Truly,this incident left an indelible imprint on thehearts of everyone. It was affection overfl owingall boundaries; Swami gave a gift of clothes toall of them. With joy swelling up in His heart,Swami came inside, though it was very diffi cultfor Him to leave them. Coming in, Swami said,“How nicely they sang”! True, their devotionalsinging was still ringing in our ears.Moving Scene of Swami’s Departure fromKarurIt was just beginning to be dawn. Like theriver water surging forward at the opening ofthe fl ood gates, the people in the big crowdwere advancing, pushing one another.Oblivious of their surroundings, irrespective ofall barriers of age or sex, all were sheddingtears of joy at their great good fortune ofhaving Swami’s Darshan. Swami was to leavefor Parthi that afternoon. At one o’clock, thecar arrived and was parked before the house.The jostling intensifi ed. They were pining forthe last Darshan before He left. People werepanting, sobbing and crying out “Baba!” and“Swami!” from the depths of their hearts. Justbefore leaving, Swami called each one of us byname and gave us Padanamaskar andVibhuti. We felt as if our hearts would breakbut He consoled us like a mother.We offered Arati to Swami. As soon asSwami went downstairs and got into the car,devotees touched the car and then pressedtheir hands to their eyes, reverentially. Someof them began running after the car as if theywere mad. Sai Gopala, the Ocean of Love,asked the driver to stop; lo and behold, Hestood on top of the car! How am I to describethe joy devotees felt at that moment? As if alost treasure was retrieved, people made a bighustle and bustle. Shouts of salutation spreadwide like a big hurricane. Lifting up both Hishands in a gesture of blessing, Swami said,“What you heard and saw these last tendays, put into practice and derive happinesstherefrom. What is important is implementation,not pompous display. Do not stand in the wayof the car. Be disciplined, and stand at theside of the road”. Hardly had He spoken thanhundreds of people moved back of their ownaccord like children obeying their mother. Aftercarrying out the Divine Command, they stoodstill. Really, that was an unforgettable sight.Swami’s love for His devotees was uniqueand unmatched. Swami’s car started. It movedaway, a-w-a-y… But the people did not leave.Looking at them, we too felt very pained. AsSwami left, everybody started discussing hisexperiences, Swami’s miraculous powers andHis soothing words. We accompanied Swamifor a short distance and then returned home.The streets which till then were shining with astrange brilliance looked lifeless and dull nowlike heaps of faded fl owers. The house whichtill then looked glorious now looked dreary.We absolutely fail to understand how to showour deep gratitude to such a compassionateLord Sai and ardently pray for showers of Hislove to fall on us all for ever and ever!November 2010 383

Krishnadas EradiHaridas EradiA DELIGHTFUL HALFCENTURY OF DIVINEGRACEOUR FIRST DARSHAN OFBhagavan in close proximity wasat Kollengode Palace, Palakkad,Kerala in March 1960. Swami came out of Hisroom to give Darshan to the devotees sitting inthe portico.Opportunity of Singing Bhajans beforeSwamiWe started singing the Bhajan ChittachoraYashoda Ke Bal for the fi rst time in His DivinePresence. To everyone’s surprise, Swamistood in front of us till our Bhajan ended. Heasked us to come to Kochi (Cochin), the placewhere He was heading next. We followedSwami’s vehicle and reached Kochi. In Kochi,Swami graciously visited the house of ourbrother, Justice Balakrishna Eradi where Hespent a few hours with all of us.Our next golden opportunity of singingBhajans before Swami was at Sri KesavaRao’s house when He visited KozhikodeBhagavan at the house of Sri Kesava Rao duringHis visit to Kochi in May 1964.384 November 2010(Calicut), Kerala State on 30th May 1964. SriRao was the principal of Regional EngineeringCollege, Calicut.In 1967, during Dasara, Swami informedSri Kasturi, “Three brothers will be comingfrom Kerala and they will have to sing Bhajansin the Mandir”. It has been over 40 long yearsand Swami in His unbounded kindness to ushas been giving us this privilege of singingbefore Him at Puttaparthi.Experiencing Bhagavan’s DivinityIn December 1967, Swami visited Kochiagain and stayed at our brother’s house forthree days. Our brother was a judge in the HighCourt of Kerala. We had the golden chance tobe with Swami for three days, the memories ofwhich will be cherished by us all our life. In fact,During His visit to Kochi in December 1967,Bhagavan gave Darshan at Durbar Hall Groundduring Bhajans.we had a lot of personal experiences duringthis period. During those three days, there weremany public functions that Swami attendedat Town Hall, Durbar Hall Ground, etc. Oneparticular incident is still fresh in our memory.Swami was about to leave Kochi after His stayfor three days. Swami called Sri V.N. Rajan,the then Inspector General of Police (whowas personally supervising Seva Dal activitiesduring Bhagavan’s visit to Kerala) and

asked him to call one constable who was onguard duty at the gate. Sri Rajan himself ran tocall that constable. He was shocked to fi nd thatthe constable was in shabby uniform and hadnot even shaved for the last couple of days.Sri Rajan was extremely annoyed with theconstable, but as Swami was waiting, he askedthe constable to report to Him immediately.Swami, with His ever merciful smile, asked SriRajan as to why this constable was not lookingsmart. Rajan was perplexed!Then Swami Himself gave the answer, “SeeRajan, this person was on guard duty for thepast 72 hours without change of dress, shave,bath, food and sleep. His deep devotion madehim forget his worldly needs and he has beenguarding Me for the past three days. I considerhim as a great yogi!” So saying, Swamimaterialised a gold necklace and presentedit to the constable who was standing nearby.This is one of the episodes we distinctlyremember because Swami showed to all of usthat He watches with all His mercy anythingand everything in this universe everywhere atall times.Ecstasy of Divine ProximityThe fi nal programme of Swami’s Kochi visitwas His Discourse at Town Hall. Immediatelyafter that function, Swami was to leave Kochi.Sri Muralidharan, the then Director of AllIndia Radio, Calicut was recording the entireDiscourse of Swami. After the Divine Discourseand Bhajan, Swami was to leave the venueand Kochi. We started singing Arati at the endof the Bhajan. The experience of being withSwami for three days and the reality that it wasall coming to an end suddenly was an emotionalblow for us. We were all in tears. We forgot thatthe programme was being recorded by AllIn 1967, during Dasara, Swamiinformed Sri Kasturi, “Three brotherswill be coming from Kerala and theywill have to sing Bhajans in theMandir”. It has been over 40 long yearsand Swami in His unbounded kindnessto us has been giving us this privilegeof singing before Him at Puttaparthi.India Radio and there was a gap in singing.Swami just stood in front of us and said, “Donot cry; Muralidharan is recording this and thiswill be broadcast tomorrow. I shall wait at yourbrother’s place, fi nish the Arati and come”. Toour great surprise, when Muralidharan playedthe recorded programme, these two items(Swami’s words and our crying) were erasedby the Divine Will of Swami, with no gap left inboth the cases.On 23rd May 1976, Swami came toKozhikode (Calicut) from Ooty to lay thefoundation stone of Sri Sathya Sai Vidyapeeth,Srisailam. After the function, Swami camestraight to our Tharavad (ancestral house)in Kozhikode along with 30 to 40 Brindavanstudents and spent a few hours there.During Swami’s visit to Delhi in 1999, wewere very fortunate that Swami visited ourbrother Justice Balakrishna Eradi’s house onthe fi rst day itself. Swami came along with Dr.Venkataraman, Sri Kulwant Rai and Sri AnilKumar and spent nearly two hours with us. Wewere in a state of ecstasy by His immediateproximity.Each and every member of our family iswell aware of our debt to Swami. We pray atHis Lotus Feet to help us lead exemplary livesand live up to His expectations.November 2010 385

God Loves His DevoteesChinna KathaTHERE LIVED A DEVOTEE OFthe Lord named Madhav Das inWest Bengal. After the death ofhis wife, he developed detachmenttowards worldly life. He, therefore, sold hisproperty, settled his household affairs, put onochre dress and went to stay at JagannathPuri. Dedicating himself to the service of LordJagannath, he contemplated on his nameday and night. Spending the entire day in thetemple of Lord Jagannath, he went to seashoreat night and slept happily on the bed of sandthere. His face shone with great lustre andhe was endowed with unique powers due toconstant contemplation on the Lord.One day, Lord Jagannath along with his sisterSubhadra came to the seashore, placed a goldplate before Madhav Das and disappeared.Lost as he was in the contemplation on thename of the Lord, Madhav Das was unaware ofthis. When he opened his eyes, he saw beforehim a gold plate full of delicious food items. Ashe had attained the state of thoughtlessness,he did not pay any attention to the gold plateand the food placed in it. Without enquiring asto how such delicious food came for him in agold plate, he ate the food and got absorbed inmeditation again.The priest in the temple did not fi nd the goldplate when he was to make food offering tothe idol of Lord Jagannath at night. The templeauthorities thereupon sent out soldiers to fi ndout the thief who had stolen the gold plate.Some soldiers came to the seashore and foundthe gold plate, before which Madhav Das wassitting in meditation. They arrested MadhavDas and put him in jail. During that night,386 November 2010Lord Jagannath appeared in the dream ofthe temple priest and said to him, “All of youoffered food to me with great devotion, butwhen I ate it, you people persecuted me”. Sosaying, the Lord disappeared. The priest wasfear-stricken and got up from the bed. Unableto decide whether it was a truth or a meredream, he was confounded after what he sawin the dream. Remembering the happenings ofthe day, he pondered over the entire matterand came to understand that Madhav Das wasa great devotee and Lord Jagannath himselfhad offered him food in the gold plate. God isindeed the guardian of the destitute. Isn’t it so?After coming to this conclusion, the priest madethe temple authorities aware of this fact andgot Madhav Das released from jail. However,Madhav Das did not exult over his release. Bythe grace of God, the name, fame and prestigeof Madhav Das as a great devotee of the Lordspread far and wide.When the temple priest came to understand thatMadhav Das was a great devotee of the Lord, hegot him released from jail.

There were many well-known learnedmen and devotees of the Lord in Puri. Seeingthat someone coming from West Bengal hadattained higher prestige and respect thanthem, they became jealous of Madhav Das.They therefore decided to prove that MadhavDas was not more highly learned than them.For this, they selected one of them as theirleader. Challenging Madhav Das for a debate,their leader went to him and said, “Sir, yourname and fame has spread everywhere thatyou are a highly learned man and a greatdevotee of the Lord. I want to have a debatewith you”. Hearing this, Madhav Das said,“Revered sir, I am not at all a learned man.All the education and knowledge of scripturesthat I have acquired is only meant to earn mylivelihood and to fi ll my belly. You are a muchmore scholarly person than me”. Then theleader of the learned men asked Madhav Das,“Sir, if you believe that you are not really agreat scholar, then you give it to me in writing.Can you do that”? At once, Madhav Das wroteblissfully on a letter “I am not a learned man”,put his signature below it and gave that letterto the group of the learned men.In all humility, Madhav Das accepted that he wasnot a learned man and gave it in writing also tothe group of so-called learned men.This was exactly what they wanted. Youknow, what happened after that? The learnedmen took that letter to Kasi (Varanasi). Showingthat letter of Madhav Das in an assemblyof scholars at Kasi, the leader said to them,“Respected learned men! From this momentonward, I am the greatest learned man of theland. Madhav Das has accepted that he is notat all a scholar. Look here, I read before youthe sentence written by Madhav Das himself”.The leader of the learned men was surprisedand shocked when he saw that the writing in theletter had mysteriously changed.Everyone was surprised when this sentencewas read out to them. Poor leader of thelearned men was at his wits’ end. “What is thismagic!” he thought. In the letter, it was writtenthat Madhav Das was the greatest and noblestamong all scholars. Below the letter was thesignature of the leader of the learned men.The leader who boasted of his own scholarshipunderstood everything. He became aware thatit was Lord Jagannath himself who had madethis change in the letter and none else.God is always in you, with you, below you,above you, around you. He gladly takes theresponsibility of protecting His devotees. Hecannot bear to see the defeat of His devotee.True to his name, Madhav Das became theservant of the Lord.November 2010 387

TTwo Memorable Trips toMumbai with BhagavanHE IMMORTALS a n s k r i tpoem “BhajaGovindam” ofAdi Sankara was adaptedto the stage for a collegedayprogramme in theerstwhile Sri Sathya SaiCollege, Brindavan in1974. Swami Himself tookup the task of directing thisdrama. We had rehearsaleveryday for two months inHis Divine Presence. Theresult was a superb drama“Bhaja Govindam” whichgave the eternal messageof Adi Sankara in a setting relevant to presenttimes. It had a message for all – eruditescholars, householders, renunciants, wealthypeople, youth and indeed every section ofsociety.Drama Troupe’s Journey to Mumbai,1975Responding to the prayers of the devoteesof Mumbai, Bhagavan permitted this drama tobe performed during His visit to Mumbai on theanniversary celebrations of Dharmakshetra in1975. The drama was staged in the famousShanmukhananda Hall on 13th May 1975 andreceived rave reviews.On that trip, we had many close interactionswith Swami which remain permanently388 November 2010Dr. T. RavikumarBhagavan with the drama team which enacted the drama “AdiSankara” in Shanmukhananda Hall, Mumbai in May 1975.etched in our memory. I shall just mention acouple of these. During the make-up session,we had to remove our watches and goldchains so that it would not look anachronistic,considering the roles we were to depict. We keptthese at a safe place. After the drama when welooked for our watches and gold chains, theywere missing. We were upset as Swami hadmaterialised these and so we spent 2-3 hourssearching every nook and corner. We had toreturn disappointed to Dharmakshetra. It was3.30 p.m. when we returned and Swami waswaiting for us. He asked us why we were lateand after hearing us, consoled us, saying, “Itsokay, does not matter. Have a wash and eatyour lunch”. It was only after we had almostfi nished our lunch that Swami started

to have His. We felt bad that we had madeSwami wait for us. After His lunch, Swami justcreated all the watches and chains we had lostand gave them to us much to our delight.It was during this trip of Mumbai that we hadthe golden opportunity to go for sightseeing withSwami. One evening, after Bhajan, we got intoan air-conditioned minibus with audio facilitiesfor the guide to describe the sights. We werethrilled to see Swami getting into the car andleading the minibus. Imagine our delight whensomewhere near Juhu, Swami got down fromHis car and got into our bus. None of us hadimagined that Swami would travel with us inthe bus itself! We went round Mumbai for fourlong hours, four hours of pure delight and bliss!It was 11 p.m. when we returned from this trip.Swami Himself described to us various sightsall around Mumbai.Second Journey to Mumbai withBhagavan, 1988Swami decided to take this drama troupewith Him to Mumbai again in March 1988.Having been part of the earlier trip in 1975, Iwas overjoyed and looked forward to avail ofthis opportunity with great excitement.In the second week of the month of March1988, we embarked on this wonderful trip.Swami was then at Brindavan and so thefi rst leg of our journey was from Puttaparthito Brindavan. We arrived there on the nightof 13th March 1988. Next morning, Swamicalled us and asked about the preparations forthe drama. He went into minute details as Healways does. In the evening, Swami saw therehearsal in the college auditorium. After thedrama, as we sat around Him, He suggestedsome changes. He asked the singers to singand corrected their pronunciation.We boarded the train at Bengaluru on 16thMarch and after a comfortable journeyHe then asked us to startand stood there waving Hishandkerchief till we were visible.Watching Swami do this, theentire gathering of 20,000 peopleassembled there started wavingto us. All of us were touched bySwami’s compassion and oureyes were filled with tears. Noneof us spoke a single word for therest of the journey. Our heartswere too filled with bliss to sayanything. Thus, ended anothermemorable trip with the Divine.reached Dadar on 17th March at 7.15 a.m.Around 9 a.m., we reached Dharmakshetrawhere accommodation had been arranged forus. Swami came by plane and was received withVeda chanting by Bal Vikas children and Aratiby elderly devotees. After Arati, Swami calledus in Satyadeep and enquired about the trainjourney. “Was it comfortable? What did you eatduring the journey? Did you eat properly?” Heasked. As we were describing the happeningsin the train, Swami intervened and told us allthat happened. He also described to us the funwe had during the journey in travelling by train.We were awestruck and realised that therewas no need to ‘inform’ the all-knowing!On the morning of the 18th May, “BhajaGovindam” drama was to be presented in theShanmukhananda Hall. Swami arrived quiteearly, came into the green room and personallychecked our costumes to see that everythingwas in order. Swami encouraged us by tellingthat everything would come out well and gaveus Padanamaskar. The 3,000 capacity hallwas already full and overfl owing.November 2010 389

As Swami said in the beginning, everythingfell in place and the drama ended smoothly.Immediately after the programme, Swamicame onto the stage and His fi rst words were:‘Chala Baaga Undi (very very nice)’. He alsoblessed us with group photos. In the evening,Swami came to the Satyadeep and told usagain that the drama had come out well. Swamisaid, “The questions posed by the disciplesand the answers given by Sankara in the thirdscene were both clear. The last scene touchedeveryone assembled there. You all did verywell”, said Swami with motherly pride.That evening, there was a public meetingin Dharmakshetra, in which Swami gave aDiscourse. In His Discourse, Swami tracedthe ills plaguing modern society to the fact thatpeople who had the responsibility of managingthe affairs of the country had all strayed fromthe disciplines enjoined on them.On the morning of 19th March, there was ascintillating Bal Vikas programme. The venuewas the lawns surrounding Satyadeep. Thewhole place was fi lled with children from thevarious suburbs of Mumbai. It was about thefi ve D’s Swami had spoken about recently atPrasanthi Nilayam. The practice of the fi ve D’s– Duty, Devotion, Discipline, Discriminationand Determination and the issues thrown upwere beautifully presented by the children.In the afternoon, Swami called us to Hisroom upstairs in Dharmakshetra. We all werevery excited and Swami was also happy tosee our happiness. As we sat around Him,tea and snacks were served to us. Swamiasked us about our visit to Elephanta cavesand discussed a number of other things. Heinsisted that we should eat properly and fi lledour plates (and our hearts) to the full. It movedus to tears to receive so much love from theSupreme Mother. As our train was toAfter the drama when we looked for ourwatches and gold chains, they weremissing. We were upset as Swami hadmaterialised these and so we spent2-3 hours searching every nook andcorner. We had to return disappointedto Dharmakshetra. It was 3.30 p.m. whenwe returned and Swami was waiting forus. He asked us why we were late andafter hearing us, consoled us, saying,“Its okay, does not matter. Have a washand eat your lunch”. It was only after wehad almost finished our lunch that Swamistarted to have His. We felt bad that wehad made Swami wait for us. After Hislunch, Swami just created all the watchesand chains we had lost and gave them tous much to our delight.leave shortly, Swami gave us Padanamaskarand asked us to leave for the railway station. “Ishall see you all in Brindavan. Take lots of restin the train,” Swami told us.Even as we went down and boarded thebuses, Swami came down the hill to giveDarshan to devotees. Indicating to us that weshould not get down from the buses we hadboarded, as it was getting late, Swami Himselfwent round the buses in which we were sitting,bade goodbye to all of us. He then asked us tostart and stood there waving His handkerchieftill we were visible. Watching Swami dothis, the entire gathering of 20,000 peopleassembled there started waving to us. All of uswere touched by Swami’s compassion and oureyes were fi lled with tears. None of us spokea single word for the rest of the journey. Ourhearts were too fi lled with bliss to say anything.Thus, ended another memorable trip with theDivine.390 November 2010

A WONDERFUL JOURNEY WITHBHAGAVAN SRI SATHYA SAI BABAPrema Kanakaraja GuptaWHEN I WAS JUST A SMALLgirl, little did I know what wasin store for us when our familybowed to Swami during 1945 at the Old Mandirin Puttaparthi. Though my family memberscomplained about the treacherous journey fromKuppam to Puttaparthi, I had no complaints,as I had a nice journey in the cozy laps of mymother, brothers and sisters. During our veryfi rst visit, Swami took us close to Him, callingus by short names. For instance, He called mybrothers Murthy, Amba, Babu and Murali, andmy sisters, Kumaramma, Prema and Sarala.When He lovingly addressed my parents asRadhakrishnaiah and Radhamma, we felt thatwe had known Him for years. When the eldermembers of the family reverently prostratedbefore Swami, accepting Him as God withoutany questions, I totally accepted Him as Godwithout any hesitation, without any doubts,only by His divine grace, thus saving manyyears of appraisal and assessment. For this, Ishall ever remain thankful to my parents.Childhood Games of SwamiDuring the long Bhajan singing sessions,I used to obediently sit behind my mother.The best part of the day for me would be afterlunch. As Puttaparthi was very hot, Swamiwould tell the elders to take rest, and then Hewould pretend to have rest in His room. But,really, Swami would silently come out and callall us kids, with the index fi nger in front of Hislips, warning us not to make anynoise. We would follow Swami like monkeys,and He would organise games for us. ThoughSwami was much older than us, due to Histender face and body, He looked like mybrother Murthy, who was then fourteen yearsold. Swami would involve everyone, equally, inall games, like hide and seek, building crow’snests on the sands, hopping and jumping,blindfolding, climbing trees, and so many othergames. Time would just fl y by, and we neverused to feel tired or thirsty. Sometimes, SwamiAll of us went to the same school,just in front of our house. In thosedays, it was not common for studentsto speak to the teachers, and weused to maintain safe distancefrom the senior faculty and theheadmaster. When many of themwere speaking to my brothers andsisters in a humble manner, I wasshocked. I asked my mother aboutthis strange happening, and sheproudly declared, “All these years,they were criticising Swami and ourfrequent visits to Puttaparthi, butnow they adore Him”.November 2010 391

would make us sit down and recite shorthumorous stories that would make us laugh tillour stomachs ached. Suddenly, He would stopthe show and disappear into His room. Whenthe elders woke up, they would presume thatSwami also had some rest in His room, andthey would never believe that He had beenplaying with us, even if we insisted on it.The next best time for me was runningbehind Swami on the way to the Chitravathiriver. Swami never walked slowly, and theyoung and the old would run behind Him likecalves behind the cow. With that speed, weshould have reached the river-bed within tenminutes, but it would never happen, for on theway, so many diverse and interesting thingswould happen, bringing joy and excitement toall. Often, Swami would suddenly disappear,and we would all anxiously search for Himbehind bushes, trees, hillocks, etc. Completelyexhausted, we would sit on the ground, unableto accomplish our task. To our utter surprise,suddenly, from the same bush where we hadsearched, Swami would emerge.Whenever we had to return from Puttaparthito our village, Kuppam, we used to be immersedin sorrow for days, before and after the journey.Swami used to pacify us like a divine mother.Before leaving Puttaparthi, a long interview,given only to our family members, was a mustfor many years. The best part of the interviewfor me was ‘Pada Puja’ (worship of Swami’sfeet), as every one of us got an opportunity towash His feet. Swami would place His feet ina big plate, and we would start washing themwith water and rose water, dry His feet, smearturmeric paste till His feet became brightyellow, and then we would make huge red dotsof Kumkum on His yellow feet. All the while,Swami would patiently watch us do this withsmiles. When the elders would beSwami came with Smt. Sakammaand Sri Subba Raju and stayed inour house for five days. He drenchedall of us in joy with His Darshan andBhajan which were arranged in ourhuge compound. Though Swamiarrived late in the night, we gaveHim a royal welcome with Arati andgarlands. Swami loved wearinggarlands of different types. Duringthe next two days, Swami spoke tomany groups of people and visitedseveral places in the village. Hugecrowds came in batches to haveHis Darshan, and Swami wouldfrequently grant Darshan from theopen terrace of our house.busy talking to Him about many issues, wekids would be busy storing all the rose waterin bottles to be used as Prasadam later. Formonths, we would consume small quantities ofthis holy water as Prasadam.Swami’s Kuppam VisitsOne fi ne day, during July 1947, atPuttaparthi, we had really good news. Swamigranted our family’s prayer and announcedthat He would visit our village, Kuppam. Ourjoy knew no bounds! This was the fi rst timewe went back to our village without beingdrenched in sorrow. We went happily to makearrangements for Swami’s visit. We cursedthe cart that moved like a snail; we cursedthe bus that moved like a cart; we cursed thepassenger train that stopped at392 November 2010

every remote station. At last, we reached ourhouse. Everyone jumped into various tasks,and I just had the pleasure of watching themand sharing in their bubbling, boundless zeal.Within two days, with a lot of helpers, our hugehouse started sparkling, and the huge openspace around it was spick and span. The nexttwo days were allotted for interior decor andmaking of garlands of various types. Swamicame with Smt. Sakamma and Sri SubbaRaju and stayed in our house for fi ve days.He drenched all of us in joy with His Darshanand Bhajan which were arranged in our hugecompound. Though Swami arrived late in thenight, we gave Him a royal welcome with Aratiand garlands. Swami loved wearing garlandsof different types. During the next two days,Swami spoke to many groups of people andvisited several places in the village. Hugecrowds came in batches to have His Darshan,and Swami would frequently grant Darshanfrom the open terrace of our house.All of us went to the same school, just in frontof our house. In those days, it was not commonfor students to speak to the teachers, and weused to maintain safe distance from the seniorfaculty and the headmaster. When many ofthem were speaking to my brothers and sistersin a humble manner, I was shocked. I askedmy mother about this strange happening, andshe proudly declared, “All these years, theywere criticising Swami and our frequent visitsto Puttaparthi, but now they adore Him”.I very well remember the hour-long journey,through a narrow road, to our ancestral houseat Vasanadu, giving way for bullock carts,herds of sheep and cattle. Our family of ninemembers occupied one portion of the house,and the family members of my father’s threebrothers, may be about sixty people, occupiedthe other portions. Though there was a hugegroup of cooks and helpers to cater to all ourneeds, the ladies fully participated to coordinateeverything. We wanted to make somethingspecial for Swami, and so we kept it a secret.We arranged a huge bed – in the form ofAdisesha with seven hoods – after much sweatand hard work. This was not known to anyoneexcept our family members but, of course,Swami knew what was happening. Suddenly,He came into the room and occupied the bedwith much appreciation. Many hours of toilwere sanctifi ed by Swami when He happily layon the serpent bed. We spoke to Swami for along time. Swami’s stay for seven days passedlike seven minutes.The next year, during 1948, my sisterVijaya got married, and Swami came all theway to Kuppam for two days. In this marriage,there is only one event that I can never forget.A grand reception was arranged for Swami,and a beautiful throne was readied for Him.Swami surprised everyone by forcing thenewly-married couple to occupy the throne,and He preferred to sit cross-legged on thecarpet. Swami enthralled the crowd by singingKirtans and classical pieces for over two hours.People, forgetting themselves, just swayed indelight, hearing the divine voice, oblivious oftime. Even after sixty-two years, I can neverforget those precious moments in my life.More than listening to a hundred lectures or delivering them to others, offering oneact of genuine service to God attracts the grace of God.BabaNovember 2010 393

PRE-WORLD CONFERENCES IN MIDDLE EAST,U.K., MALAYSIA AND AUSTRALIATHE INTERNATIONAL SRI SATHYASai Organisation convened Pre-World Conferences in countries allaround the world as a prelude to the November2010 Ninth World Conference at PrasanthiNilayam. Eight of these conferences that tookplace in Japan, Argentina, Mexico, U.S.A., Italy,Russia, Germany and Canada were reportedin the July 2010 issue of Sanathana Sarathi.Pre-World Conferences that took place in theMiddle East / Gulf countries, United Kingdom,Malaysia and Australia are described below.The Pre-World Conference for the MiddleEast and Gulf countries was held on 14thMay 2010 at Dhow Palace Hotel in Dubai,U.A.E. Delegates from the countries of U.A.E.,Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iranand Turkey attended the conference. SriG.B. Choithram Jethwani, Regional CentralCoordinator for the Middle East and Gulfinaugurated the conference by lighting thesacred lamp. Speaking on the occasion, SriJethwani highlighted the importance of turningone’s mind inward and realising the divinitywithin oneself. The delegates, who weredivided into study circle groups, discussedhow to practise Bhagavan’s teachings in dailylife. In his closing remarks, Sri Suresh Menonhighlighted the importance of ruminating onthe conference proceedings and putting theminto practice.The United Kingdom Pre-World Conferencewas held on 17th-18th July 2010 in one of themost charming and beautiful schools nestledin London, with peacocks strolling around theschool grounds. Over 650 delegates attendedthe conference. Dr. Michael Goldstein and Dr.Narendranath Reddy were the chief speakersThe Pre-World Conference for Middle East andGulf countries was held on 14th May 2010 inDubai, wherein delegates from U.A.E., Oman,Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkeyparticipated.Over 650 delegates who attended the UnitedKingdom Pre-World Conference in London weredivided into 25 workshop groups to discuss thetheme of the conference. The photo shows oneof the groups in discussion.394 November 2010

along with Air Chief Marshal Nirmal Suri. Aspecial surprise came in the form of PhyllisKrystal who fl ew in specially for the event fromSwitzerland. Delegates were divided into 25workshop groups to discuss the themes of theconference and their practical signifi cance.The evening cultural programme includedenthralling singing performances by theNational Youth Choir and a superb musicalconcert by Dana Gillespie.About 450 delegates from Malaysia,Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Indonesia andNepal attended the Zonal Sri Sathya Sai Pre-World Conference in Petaling Jaya, Malaysiafrom 31st July-1st August 2010. The conferenceproceedings began with Veda chanting, lightingof the lamp and prayers. Delegates werethen welcomed by Sri Billy Fong, Presidentof the Sathya Sai Baba Central Council ofMalaysia, and Dr. V.K. Ravindran, ZonalChairman. Thereafter, Dr. William Harvey, amember of the Prasanthi Council, addressedthe gathering. In his talk, he emphasised thatunity, harmony, tolerance and love were thecornerstones of the Sathya Sai Organisation.The Pre-World Conference held in Malaysiaon 31st July-1st August 2010 was attended byabout 450 delegates from Malaysia, Singapore,Thailand, Brunei, Indonesia and Nepal.The chief guest Dr. Narendranath Reddyspoke on the importance of absolute faith,individual transformation, purifi cation of theheart and the goal of self-realisation. Therewere 20 study circle groups which discussedin depth the teachings of Bhagavan.Australia, Papua New Guinea, NewZealand, Fiji and the Philippines conducteda Pre-World Conference during the weekendof 11th-12th September 2010. Over 530Over 530 devotees from Australia, Papua NewGuinea, New Zealand, Fiji and the Philippinesattended the Pre-World Conference held inAustralia on 11th-12th September 2010.devotees participated in this event held ina beautiful auditorium located in the sereneprecincts of Kings School, North Parramatta,New South Wales, Australia. The conferenceopened with lighting of the lamp by Dr. MichaelGoldstein and Dr. Narendranath Reddy. Theprogramme commenced with the welcomeaddress of the Central Coordinator, Sri NevilleFredericks, followed by the talk of Dr. Pal Dhall,the Zone Chairman. Both Dr. Goldstein andDr. Reddy shared their personal experienceswith Swami, emphasising the theme of theconference: “God Is”; “I am I”; “Love All, ServeAll”. This was followed by workshops, wherein25 study circle groups engaged in upliftingand spiritually rewarding discussionsNovember 2010 395

of Swami’s teachings. The conference alsofeatured a thought-provoking exhibition by SaiYoung Adults titled “Energy Unlimited” and anenthralling musical presentation of Swami’steachings.H A I T IFollowing the massive earthquake in Haition 12th January 2010, relief work has beencontinuing with dedication, enthusiasm andlove by the Sathya Sai Organisation, whichis serving the people of Haiti with medicalcare, Narayana Seva (feeding the needy),Lunch being served to the residents of the tentcity in Haiti which inhabits a large population ofhomeless people.help for the orphanage, shelter and socialservice. During the months of June and July,Dr. Michael Goldstein and Dr. NarendranathReddy visited Haiti to assess the ongoingneeds and plan future delivery of relief. Threealumni from Sathya Sai University wereamong the volunteers during that time. Up tothe end of August, about 44,000 patients hadbeen seen by teams of Sathya Sai volunteerdoctors, about 1,60,000 meals had beenprepared and distributed, four houses hadbeen built for people who lost homes during theearthquake and streets had been cleaned withthe help of local Haitians. Children in theorphanage are being provided with food, toysand books. Relief work of this magnitude hasonly been possible due to the divine blessingsof Bhagavan as volunteers from the Sathya SaiOrganisation continue their work undeterredby scorching summer heat and torrential rainsof the hurricane season.U. S. A.Sri Sathya Sai Baba Free Medical and Dental(SSSBFM&D) Clinic opened to the public on1st May 2010, serving low-income families inMar Vista Gardens (southwest Los Angeles),California. The clinic works in partnershipwith the Venice Family Clinic, the largest freemedical-dental facility in the U.S.A. It providesfree medical services under the auspices of SriSathya Sai Baba Organisation every Saturdayfrom 9.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. If hospitalisation isneeded for further care, patients are referredto the University of California, Los Angeles(U.C.L.A.) Medical Centre. Paramedicalpersonnel and nonmedical volunteers providesupport for the medical and dental services.Fifteen physicians and three dentists serveat the clinic, supported by 60 volunteersincluding registered nurses, pharmacists,Sri Sathya Sai Baba Free Medical and DentalClinic in Los Angeles, California provides freemedical services on every Saturday.396 November 2010

medical assistants, medical students andother nonmedical volunteers. Thirty-fi ve toforty patients are seen in the clinic during atypical day.– Sri Sathya Sai World FoundationB H A R A TAndhra Pradesh: Hyderabad districtconstructed a community drinking waterstorage tank of 10,000 litres capacity at HutsColony near A.P. Foods Factory, Nacharam,Hyderabad which was inaugurated on 14thAugust 2010 in the presence of the localM.L.A. and corporators. It would provide puredrinking water to 160 poor families residing inthe colony.Vizianagaram district conducted a free eyecheck-up camp at Azzadu and selected 70patients for cataract operation, which weresuccessfully conducted. The district gaveAmruta Kalasams to 360 families and servedcooked food to 45 people under Sri Sathya SaiNational Narayana Seva Programme.As part of 85th Birthday celebrations o,Guntur district arranged a Prema Ratham(chariot of love) with Swami’s cut-outs, serviceprojects and sayings displayed in a decorativeway. The chariot has been moving throughhundreds of villages from 12th August 2010,giving Swami’s Message in an impressiveway. The district gave 138 Amruta Kalasams(food provisions) to needy families and servedcooked food to 35 people under Sri Sathya SaiNational Narayana Seva Project.Assam: As a curtain raiser to Bhagavan’s 85thBirthday, the Guwahati Samithi organised aninspiring rally of Bal Vikas children on 12thSeptember 2010, the Bal Vikas Day. Moving ina disciplined way on the broad streets aroundthe picturesque Dighalipukhuri in theGuwahati Samithi of Sri Sathya SaiOrganisation, Assam conducted a Bal Vikas rallyin Guwahati on 12th September 2010 as part of85th Birthday celebrations of Bhagavan.heart of the city, the children displayed placardswith various messages of Bhagavan Babaand all faiths symbols which impressed theonlookers. Finally, the children were taken tothe Assam State Museum and guided throughan informative and enlightening round throughthe various historic exhibits. Children and theirguardians then assembled at Sri Sathya SaiSadhana Nilayam for a spiritual session, whereState Coordinator (spiritual) explained to themthe signifi cance of the day and the need forexpanding the Bal Vikas movement. Afterrecitations and Bhajans, the meet concludedwith distribution of Prasadam.Gujarat: As a part of 85th Birthdaycelebrations of Bhagavan, Sri Sathya Sai SevaOrganisation, Gujarat organised a symposiumon the topic, “The Role of Educationists inBuilding India through Values and Service” on26th September 2010 in Surat at Rang Bhavanauditorium. The State President of Sri SathyaSai Seva Organisation, Gujarat in his preamblenote for the symposium stressed the need ofvalues in today’s education scenario, and alsobriefed the delegates about Swami’s spiritual,educational and social service activities.Thereafter, many learned speakers explainedin their presentations how Swami’sNovember 2010 397

Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation, Gujaratorganised a symposium on “The Role ofEducationists in Building India through Valuesand Service” in Surat on 26th September 2010.educare, a priceless gift for today’s education,helped in imbibing values in students from thevery childhood, through various techniques.Sri Sathya Sai Seva Samithi, Vadodara,in association with Baroda Medical College,conducted a free medical check-up campfor the families of rickshaw drivers as partof Bhagavan’s 85th Birthday celebrations.The camp was held on Sunday, 26thSeptember 2010 at Sri Sathya Sai SevaSankul, Channi, Vadodara. A team of generalphysicians, gynaecologists, skin specialists,ophthalmologists, ENT specialists, dentists andpaediatricians offered their services. In all, 202patients were examined and free medicineswere distributed. About 130 packets of SaiProtein were also distributed to the childrenof rickshaw drivers. Posters of Swami with Histeachings were put on the rickshaws.Haryana and Chandigarh: As part of 85thBirthday celebrations of Bhagavan Sri SathyaSai Baba, Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation,Haryana and Chandigarh is undertakingvarious spiritual / Seva activities. In this seriesof celebrations, the organisation organised “SaiSandesh – Journey with Sai” exhibition at SriSathya Sai Old Age Home cum Seva Centre,Sector 30-B, Chandigarh. The exhibition wasinaugurated by Sri Pawan Kumar Bansal, UnionMinister for Water Resources and ParliamentaryAffairs on 8th October 2010 amidstchanting of Vedic Mantras by Chandigarhyouth followed by coconut breaking, ribboncutting and lighting of lamp.The exhibition was open for public forfour days, from 8th to 11th October 2010.Thousands of people including a large numberof dignitaries visited the exhibition and tookSri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation of Haryana and Chandigarh organised “Sai Sandesh – Journeywith Sai” exhibition at Chandigarh from 8th to 11th October 2010 as part of 85th Birthdaycelebrations of Bhagavan.398 November 2010

home the messages of Bhagavan, viz., LoveAll, Serve All; Help Ever, Hurt Never; There isonly one Religion, the Religion of Love, etc.A number of school children and Bal Vikaschildren also came to see the exhibition.Besides the tours of Bhagavan to variousplaces, the exhibits highlighted Bhagavan’sthree major projects, viz., healthcare,education and drinking water projects and theSeva activities being undertaken by the SaiOrganisation of Haryana and Chandigarh.On all the four days of the exhibition, a dailyBhajan session in the evening for one hourwas held at the venue. All the visitors werepresented calendars and photos of BhagavanBaba and Prasadam of Vibhuti and sweets/fruits. The exhibition concluded on 11th October2010 with Bhajans, Arati and distribution ofPrasadam. The exhibition was widely coveredby various newspapers like Dainik Bhaskar,Aaj Samaj, Amar Ujala, Punjab Kesri, DainikTribune and TV channels.As part of 85th Birthday celebrations ofBhagavan, a need-based blood donation campwas organised on 19th September 2010 in SriMore than 200 devotees donated blood ina camp organised by Sri Sathya Sai SevaOrganisation of Haryana and Chandigarh on19th September 2010.Sathya Sai Old Age Home cum Seva Centre,Chandigarh in collaboration with Blood Bankof P.G.I., Chandigarh. The camp was attendedby more than 200 devotees who donated 205units of blood for needy patients. Besides, 35devotees gave an undertaking to donate theireyes.Jammu and Kashmir: Samithis of Satwari,Digiana, Nanak Nagar and Gandhi Nagar areorganising National Narayana Seva by wayof arranging a common Langar (free kitchen)on every 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month,wherein food is served to about 230-250people. Besides, 300-350 people are providedcooked food in Udhampur and surroundingvillages by the Udhampur Samithi on everySunday of the month.Amruta Kalasams (food provisions)comprising dry ration are being providedto about 35 families during each month indifferent villages of Jammu and Kathuadistricts. Villages are identifi ed and surveyedbeforehand and accordingly the service isbeing performed in these villages to overcomethe diffi culties faced by poor people in respectof food and other materials such as clothes,blanket, utensils, etc.Karnataka: As part of 85th Birthdaycelebrations of Bhagavan Sri Sathya SaiBaba, a symposium on the theme “Well-beingthrough Integration of Values – The Sai Way”was organised on Friday, 8th October 2010 inBengaluru. The invitees numbering 450 weredistinguished persons from various walksof life. Sri V. Srinivasan, All India President,Sri Sathya Sai Organisations was the ChiefGuest. Sri Anil Gokak, former Vice Chancellor,Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learningpresided over the function. Dr. Devi Shetty,Chairman, Narayana Hrudayalaya and Prof.N. Jayasankaran, ProfessorNovember 2010 399

Emeritus, MIMS University were the guestspeakers. Sri V. Srinivasan in his keynoteaddress highlighted the concept as the themeof the very message of Swami to usher inthe well-being of the world. He said thatSwami’s benediction “Samasta Lokah SukhinoBhavantu” was a call in this direction.Punjab: As part of 85th Birthday celebrationsof our Beloved Bhagavan, Sri Sathya SaiSeva Organisation, Punjab organised anAkhanda Bhajan for 85 hours which startedon 22nd September 2010 and concluded on26th September 2010 with Arati. Over 15,000devotees participated in this Bhajan. A Langar(free kitchen) was organised throughout theduration of the Bhajan. In addition to this,a blood donation camp was held on 26thSeptember 2010 and 85 bottles of blood werecollected for needy patients.Rajasthan: To mark 85th year of Bhagavan’sAdvent on earth, devotees of Sri Sathya SaiOrganisation, Rajasthan conducted 85 AkhandaBhajan sessions at Kota, Bikaner and Udaipurin the month of September 2010. 85 saplingswere distributed to villagers in Hardia villageby Ajmer Samithi, whereas 85 tree plantationswere done by Udaipur Samithi. Kota Samithidistributed bed sheets to 85 people sufferingfrom leprosy and other needy people alongwith fruits and Bhagavan’s photos. DeedwanaSamithi ladies celebrated Hadtalika Teej (ladieskeep fast on this day in Rajasthan), whereinthey distributed Saris and gifts to 85 women.Barmer Samithi adopted one orphan house inChotan ( a place near Indo-Pak border) whereBhajans take place everyday. Sai devoteestake care of 18 destitute children by way ofregular visits there. 85 school-going childrenof village Nohra were provided with stationeryitems for their day-to-day use.Tamil Nadu: As part of our BelovedBhagavan’s 85th Birthday celebrations, SriSathya Sai Organisation, Tamil Nadu organiseda symposium on “Challenges in Education– Sri Sai Educare – A Holistic Approach” on3rd October 2010 at D.G. Vaishnava College,Chennai. The symposium commenced withVeda chanting followed by Bhajans. Manyeminent educationists attended the symposium.Prof. Dr. S.V. Chittibabu, former Vice Chancellorof Annamalai University, delivered the keynoteaddress, while Prof. Dr. S.P. ThyagarajanSri Sathya Sai Organisation, Tamil Naduorganised a symposium on “Challenges inEducation – Sri Sathya Sai Educare – A HolisticApproach” on 3rd October 2010, wherein a largenumber of eminent educationists participated.former Vice Chancellor of University ofMadras gave the opening address. Sri NimishPandya, resource person for Educare from SriSathya Sai Institute of Educare, Mumbai in hisinaugural address made presentation on SriSathya Sai System of Education and how itbrought about transformation in a person anddeveloped his character. There was intensiveand active participation from the delegates.The delegates included two Chancellors, 16Principals and 433 Professors/Lecturers from122 educational institutions in and aroundChennai. The symposium concluded with thesinging of National Anthem.400 November 2010

REGD. WITH REGISTRAR OF NEWSPAPERS R.NO.10774/1958REGN.NO. HDP/002/2009-2011Licenced to post without prepayment No. HDP/002/2009-11Sai ReligionWhen a religion wants to extend itsinfluence, it has to resort to vilificationof other religions and exaggeration ofits own excellence. Pomp and publicitybecome more important than practiceand faith. But Sai wants that the votariesof each religion must cultivate faith in itsown excellence and realise their validityby their own intense practice. That isthe Sai religion, the religion that feedsand fosters all religions and emphasisestheir common greatness. Take up thisreligion, boldly and joyfully.– BabaAnnual Subscription English (12 issues)India ` 75. Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka` 600. Other Countries ` 850 or US $19or UK £13 or ¤13, CAN $22,AUS $26. Acceptable for 1, 2 or 3 years.Printed by K.S. RAJAN Published by K.S. RAJAN On behalf of the owner Sri Sathya Sai Sadhana Trust,Publications Division, Prasanthi Nilayam 515134, Anantapur District (A.P.) And Printed at M/s Rajhans Enterprises,136, 4th Main Road, Industrial Town, Rajaji Nagar, Bangalore - 560 044, Karnataka And published at Sri SathyaSai Sadhana Trust, Publications Division, Prasanthi Nilayam 515134, Anantapur Dist., Andhra Pradesh.Editor: G.L. ANAND