Sai “Pitha” Aur “Matha” Sai

 

Kumar was a student in the Sathya Sai College in Puttaparthi.  Swami allotted his parents ground floor accommodation in the eastern block close to his own residence.  At the evening prayer one day, Kumar sang a bhajan, "Sai Pitha Aur Matha Sai" ("Sai is the father and Sai is the mother"), as Swami sat on his throne quite close by and nodded His head in tune with the song.  Swami's eyes were swimming with kindness and compassion.  No sooner had the first stanza of the song ended, than Swami abruptly got up and hurried out.  The boy felt that his singing was not probably to Swami's liking.  Swami walked into the residence of Kumar's parents.  Devotees who watched the scene were surprised.  In recent times, no one had seen Swami thus leave His residence and proceed beyond its precincts.

In the residence of Kumar's parents, his mother had a heart attack and was struggling for life.  Baba hastened into the house, gave her a glass of water and materialized vibhuthi for her.  After a few words of solace and encouragement to the lady, He returned to the bhajan hall and resumed His throne; just then, Kumar's bhajan song was coming to a close.  When it was over, Swami spoke to Kumar, "Do you know why I hurried out?  Your mother was on the verge of dying and I went to save her.  Here you were singing : 'You are the father; You are the mother'.  How could I sit here enjoying your song when your mother was in agony there?  I had to reach her urgently and save her."

The lady's husband was all the time present in the bhajan hall among the devotees.  His son too was there singing.  All the same, only God could rescue the suffering lady.  God, undoubtedly, is the closest and the most intimate of one's kith and kin - closer than even husband.

MAYA, THE TERRIBLE DOG

 

Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba once described the power of Maya in a metaphorical way. He said, “God is the Master of maya (delusion; illusion; ignorance). Maya is like a terrible dog standing guard at the entrance of the God’s home and does not allow outsiders to come near Him. If you are earnest about reaching God, there are only two ways. The first course is to put on the form of the Master. Then the dog does not harm you at all. This is known as saroopya, that is, assuming God’s form. But you should not make the slightest mistake; otherwise the dog will not spare you.

“The second course is to cry out for the Master in a loud voice. He will hear your cry. He comes  to you, receives you with open arms and, holding your hand, leads you inside with overflowing kindness. This is called sameepya, that is, being in closest company with God. The dog will not do any harm to you, as you are with his Master. Being God’s pet dog, maya obeys Him. If He Wills it not to give you trouble, you will not be touched; you will know no fear.”

What a simple and beautiful parable Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai has given us! He has revealed how He, of His own violation, surrenders to His devotee. How easy is the second course! The devotee has only to call God most earnestly, with all his heart, with agony in his voice, with yearning suffusing his whole being. This is nama smaran. Millions of Sai devotees have found through personal experience that God responds to nama smaran and presents Himself before His devotee with boundless mercy and compassion.

Baba’s exhortation is that incessant nama smaran of a deity so elevates the devotee that he attains the form of that deity. Bhagavan says that incessant smaran of Lord Sri Rama’s name by his brother Bharatha, resulted in Ramayana, in the latter looking like Sri Rama to all. A similar thing happened with Uddhava in Sri Maha Bhagavat who did uninterrupted smaran of Lord Sri Krishna’s name.

-- Book Tapovanam – Chapter 16

ONE OF THE FINEST EXPERIENCE !!!

It was 1 week before SWAMI's proposed visit to CHENNAI (Several years ago) & I found that I had to make an urgent business trip to CHICAGO just for 1 meeting. In those days, BHAGAVAN was staying in the old Brindavan building in BANGALORE & I had to go & take his permission for the trip.

So when I went to take his permission, BHAGAVAN graciously  said, "Yes, you can go & come back. Anyway I'm coming to Chennai only after a few days." I was to leave that night from Chennai. I waited there with my folded hands & SWAMI asked me to stop at a particular place during my return journey & meet a particular person. I said, "Yes SWAMI, I'll do that".

There were no further instructions!!! I was thunderstruck since I was going to travel 1000s of miles to meet a person without knowing why I was going there & what I was supposed to tell him. Anyway I thought BHAGAVAN would sort out everything & flew that night to CHICAGO.

After finishing my official meeting in Chicago, I called this person (Name withheld) whom SWAMI had asked me to meet & said, "I'm coming to your city to see you".

He sounded a bit curt on the phone & said, "Why are you coming?"

I said, "I'll tell you when I get there!" He sounded curt once again but I said, "SAIRAM" & told him that I was coming by such & such flight. It was a 14 hours flight with a stopover for re-fuelling & I simply had no idea why BHAGAVAN had asked me to meet him!!!

I was quite tired when I came out of the customs area & this particular gentleman was waiting for me. He appeared to be very wealthy & quite aristocratic. He said, "SAIRAM" & we went to the parking lot where he had his Rolls Royce parked. There was 'dead silence' during the car trip & we reached his palatial house at about 2.30AM in the morning.

He straight away took me to his drawing room, shut the doors, sat facing me & asked, "Now, why have you come?" I told him, "I came because SWAMI asked me to meet you & I've no other message!!!"

He said, "What man, you've come such a long distance without any message & without knowing why you're supposed to see me. Are you sure or are you hiding something?"

He repeatedly quizzed me & grilled me but I told him that I had absolutely no idea why I was asked to come & see him!!!

Then he relapsed into dead silence & was lost in thought for about 15 minutes!!! Suddenly he bent forward, reached towards his right shoe, withdrew something from his socks & I saw a glinting blue steel revolver!!!

To my shock, he said, "This is a fully loaded revolver & just tonight I was going to shoot myself!!!" Then he told me how he had got into enormous debts in his business & that he just wanted to end his life! He also said, "BHAGAVAN knew what I was going to do & that's probably why he sent you to meet me!!!" I told him that SWAMI was coming to Chennai in a few days & he said he would be there!

Later in Chennai, first SWAMI never looked at him & later when we thought he's not going to see this person at all, suddenly he called him into the interview room & asked me also to come in! Then BHAGAVAN started really to castigate this person & I was feeling very embarrassed to translate some of SWAMI's words!!!

SWAMI then got very angry with me & said, "YOU'RE JUST A LOUD SPEAKER. YOUR ROLE IS TO SAY EXACTLY WHAT I'M TELLING YOU TO SAY. NO EDITING WHATSOEVER." Then I exactly followed SWAMI's instructions & this man started weeping like a baby.

Finally SWAMI in all his mercy said, "Past is past, forget the past. Everything will be alright for you."

This man had a lot of properties that could not be sold due to the crash in the prices that took place at that time. But then buyers came mysteriously from somewhere & he was finally able to raise enough funds to meet all his obligations!!!

BHAGAVAN'S ways are mysterious. How, where & when he would come to protect you, you don't know!!! BHAGAVAN knows the PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE of every devotee under his care & even though this gentleman had not come to BHAGAVAN for quite some time, SWAMI remembered him & saved him!!! "I WILL NOT LET YOU GO" is what SWAMI SAYS.

PS: Excerpts from an interview with Sri V. SRINIVASAN, ALL INDIA PRESIDENT, SRI SATHYA SAI SEVA ORGANIZATIONS broadcast on 6th OCT '02 & on 10th APRIL '03 on RADIO SAI GLOBAL HARMONY.

Prayer of Surrender

Why get agitated? Let Me take care of all your business. I shall be the one who will think   about them. I am waiting for nothing else than your surrender to Me, and then you do not have to worry any more about anything. Say farewell to all fears and discouragement. You demonstrate that you do not trust Me. On the contrary, you must rely blindly on Me.

To surrender means: To turn your thoughts away from troubles, to turn them away from  difficulties you encounter and from all your problems. Leave everything into My hands saying "Lord, Thy will be done. Thou think of it." That is to say: "Lord I thank you for you have taken everything in your hands, and you will resolve this for my highest good."

Remember that thinking of the consequences of a thing is contrary to surrender. That is to say, when you worry that a situation has not had the desired outcome, you thus demonstrate that you do not believe in My love for you. You will prove that you do not consider your life to be under My control and that nothing escapes Me.

Never think: How is this to end?... What is going to happen? If you give into this temptation, you demonstrate that you do not trust Me. Do you want Me to deal with it...yes or no? Then you must stop being anxious about it! I shall guide you only if you completely surrender to Me and when I must lead you into a different path than the one that you expect, I carry you in My arms.

What seriously upsets you is your reasoning, your worrying, your obsession, your will to provide for yourselves at any price. I can do so many things when the being, as much in his material necessities as in his spritual ones, turns to Me saying: "You think of it." then he closes his eyes and rests quietly. You will receive a lot but only when your prayer will rely fully upon Me. You pray to Me when in pain so that I intervene, but in the way you desire it. You do not rely on Me, but you want Me to adjust your requests.

Don't behave like sick ones who ask a treatment to the doctor, all the time suggesting it to him. Do not do that; but rather, even in sad circumstances, say: "Lord I praise and thank You for this problem, for this necessity. I pray You to arrange things as You please for this terrestrial and temporal life. You know very well what is best for me."

Sometimes you feel that disasters increase instead of diminish. Do not get agitated. Close your eyes and tell me with faith: "Thy will be done. You think of it." And when you speak thus, I accomplish a miracle when necessary. I only think of it when you trust me totally. I always think of you, but I can only help you completely when you rely fully on Me.

—Sathya Sai Baba

Surrender to God Is Your Destiny

 

On another day, Bhagavan turned to me and asked, "How did you like My discourse?"

God wanting human comment on His discourse! Well, it is really a matter of fortune, a matter of good luck, to be privileged to comment on the Divine discourse to God Himself.

Well, then I said, "Swami, Your talk was fantastic! All our doubts are dispelled. All our doubts are clarified. It was a beautiful discourse."

Then Bhagavan said, "Hmmm, you want Me to believe that all your doubts are now dispelled? No! Your body is full of doubts, top to toe. They will never be clarified." (Laughter)

Then I said apologetically, "Swami, if my body is full of doubts that can never be clarified, what am I to do? What is my fate? What is my destiny?"

Destiny in Sanskrit is called gathi. I said, "Swami, what is my gathi, what is my destiny, what is my fate? If I'm full of doubts that cannot be clarified, what am I to do?"

Then Bhagavan said, "What? Repeat your question!" (Laughter)

I said, "Swami what is my gathi? What is my fate?"

He said, "Sharanagathi is the solution." (Laughter)

Sharanagathi means, surrender.

"You surrender to Me. Sharanagathi, that is your gathi. That is your destiny."

That's what Bhagavan has said. So my friends, the only gathi or destiny for all of us is Sharanagathi, surrender to God. This is a nice statement that I wanted to share with you.

-- Professor Anil Kumar

I am everywhere

It was a serene evening in the Mandir during the rainy season of 1990. Swami had completed His usual Darshan rounds and had called some devotees for interview. All the students were eagerly waiting for Swami to come out and spend some time with them. They were surprised by the sudden brush of a cool breeze that heralded soothing showers.

It was the time when the Sai Kulwant Hall had not yet been built. To those directly exposed to the scalding rays of the sun, the rain was a welcome relief. To the students it meant a blanket permit to rush forward and occupy the front portico of the Mandir. It was a vantage spot as it gave us the advantage to be very close to the interview room door so that when Swami came out, His gaze in our direction was guaranteed. I was then in my second year of the MBA programme. Along with another brother of mine I was blessed to secure a strategic spot in the front portico. From here we had a clear view of Swami’s throne in the Bhajan Hall.

As the rain persisted without any respite, I began reading a book on Swami’s miracles in Africa. I was particularly drawn to an incident where two of the devotees who were driving a car on an express way at speeds over 110 km/h suddenly met with an accident. Their car was thrown out of the express way and into the bushes. The car was totally smashed and there was no chance that its occupants would survive such a crash. The devotees in the car however had taken the Lord’s Name on their lips at the critical juncture and had escaped unscathed. They were nonplussed and thanked Swami for His Omnipresence. I was quite overwhelmed by this incident and happened to share it with the brother beside me. I couldn’t but help remark – ‘Look Swami is in Africa also’.

Some moments later the interview room door opened. Swami came out and stood on the upper portico of the verandahh in the Mandir. He paused and looked at me and my brother for a few seconds. I looked at Swami with reverence. Suddenly Swami asked the students sitting in front of me to make way. A path was made for Swami in the tightly packed verandahh. Before I could realise Swami walked straight up to me and then paused. Gazing into my eyes He remarked –“Dunnapotha! You are talking in the verandah.”

Then after a small pause He continued, “I am here. I am in Africa. I am everywhere.” Saying this, He walked away with a nonchalant gait. Do I have to say anymore?

By Sri K. Suresh
- A Former Student of Swami’s Institute.

Closer Than Our Mother

 

I would like to share with you a very prized possession from the museum of my recollections, one of the channels of Bhagavan’s Love, of which we students are recipients of. These are at the dear hostel where the entire atmosphere is permeated with brotherly love. Whenever there is a rainfall there is a brother coming up from the dispensary department with a homeopathy pill saying:

“Brother, it has rained. Tomorrow you may catch a cold, you may catch fever, please take this.”

So one day, in that hostel, due to some reason, there was a 2-hour delay in my lunch. In spite of being in that kind of an atmosphere, I was missing that love saturated motherly enquiry as to ‘why you didn’t have your food?’ (“Bhojan Cheyi leydemi? Bhojan cheshnava?”). I was missing that motherly element and with these thoughts, I had a very absent minded lunch session.

Then after a bath, I came to Mandir. Swami came, graced the cushionsimhasana (Throne), there was a nice Darshan, and as He was going back, He turned towards me and said: “Yemi ra, bhojan cheshnava? (Did you have your lunch?”) That is the Divine Mother! He whispered a thundering truth into my ears that He is the Nearest of the Near, the Dearest of the Dear.

By Bharat Kumar S S
- A Former Student of Swami's Institute.

An Electric Experience

 

During the olden days, the decoration in the Mandir would be done by the students during the festive occasions. And on one such occasion, the students were putting up serial bulbs as part of the decoration. And it so happened that they needed to use a live wire to complete this particular task. A part of this live wire was bare, exposed and un-insulated. Somebody had very thoughtfully placed a stool, where the exposed part of the wire lay, so that no harm would occur to any of the students accidentally through an electric shock. But in the hurry that ensued, during the decoration, somebody moved the stool away from its position.

Swami was watching. He saw the stool being moved away and He quietly moved to the area where the exposed bare wire lay and stood with His legs across on both the sides, so that, the exposed part of the wire was right under Him and so that no harm would befall on any of His students.

From there, He continued supervising the work and giving directions. Till the entire decoration was over, Swami stood right there, in that very same place and exact posture, and finally, when the decoration was over, and there was no necessity for this wire, only then did He move away. And it was at this moment that the students too realized what Bhagavan had taken upon Himself to prevent any suffering to His students. The Lord voluntarily takes up the suffering of His devotees.

If a friend or a colleague commits an error, we know how we react in such a situation. But here was the Lord, who did not utter a word, but volunteered to take away the sufferings and avoid the harm to His devotees, saving the mistake of His devotee.

-- Mr. Subhash Subramaniam, a research scholar in Bhagavan’s University

The Charismatic Charioteer

Devotion to God is fundamental to leading a virtuous life. Swami, through His Divine Love and in His own inimitable way, evokes in each of our hearts, this devotion and builds our faith. I would like to share with you, one such instance, when Swami through a simple and appealing example captured the heart of a young boy in an instant, making him a devotee for life!

During an interview, Swami asked our young son to ask Him a question.

The boy said, “Swami, which is your favourite car?”

My heart sank and I thought to myself, “Is this the question to ask Swami? Time with Swami is so precious!”

Swami gave a lovely smile and answered, “Morris Minor” and went on to tell stories of how He used to drive to Madras and how He obtained a license.

“You used to drive it yourself Swami?” Exclaimed the boy, stars in His eyes!

Swami had woven a bit of magic and our son looked at Swami transfixed.

Swami went on to say, “I will give you a big car. Will you take it? You mustn’t say no!”

And the boy, a bit overawed by now, said, “OK!”

Swami then asked, “Will you give me your car?”

Prompt came the answer, “Sure Swami!”

“Shall I drive it?”

And the boy again said, “Sure, Swami.”

Swami then smilingly placed His hand on our son’s heart and said, “Your heart is the car and I am the driver.”

One of the most profound lessons in devotion had been taught by Swami in the simplest possible manner! Swami says, “Have faith in Him” and “Be free from fear, anxiety and agitation. Surrender to God; His Grace can save you. His wisdom can enlighten you. His power can overcome all obstacles. Faith and surrender are the manifestations of devotion.”

-- Mrs. Mallika Srinivasan, CEO of TAFE [Tractors and Farm Equipment]

God Listens to Every Little Thought

 

Swami once happened to come in His car to the hill view stadium. After completing a round, we saw His car coming to a halt just near the rear entrance of the hostel. With anticipation, we waited to see if His car would turn and take the route into the hostel. Strangely Swami's car just waited there – none of us could guess why. After this brief halt, to our disappointment Swami's car turned away and the divine visit was not to be. The purpose of this short halt did not remain a mystery for long. In the afternoon Swami enquired about a particular boy in the hostel. The warden started summoning boys to where Swami sat, but none of them was the student Swami was looking for. He then mentioned that the boy was a student in the music college. There was a music college boy sitting right next to me and I prodded him to go on upto Swami. As soon as he got up, Swami's face lit up with recognition and He beckoned him to come up front. We were wonderstruck, after all - what was so special about this boy that Swami Himself had to search for him? What we heard from Swami that moment was something none of us could have anticipated. Swami asked the boy "Today morning weren't you sitting near the window of your room with a bad headache? You thought how nice it would be if Swami were to come right there. However you did not to lift yourself and look outside the window – I was right there outside the hostel looking at you!"  Swami had conveyed a profound truth in such a casual and simple way! God is there always waiting, man only needs to lift himself – if he puts that effort then he could experience God.

From Vidhyullekha - Alumini's news letter - Annual Edition 2008 - 2009

Swami's Divine Poornachandra Session with Alumni Students

 

Swami had decided to bestow a great boon upon the 700 Alumni Students them as He had sent word that He would interact with all of them in the Poornachandra Auditorium after the morning bhajans. By 8:30am, all the students sat ready in Poornachandra and it was at about 9:00 am that Swami arrived for darshan. The time scheduled for the alumni was 10:00am.
But though Swami took a complete round of the Kulwant hall, He seemed to be in a great hurry as His beloved children awaited Him in the auditorium and He seemed to be wanting to be there as soon as possible, ASAP as its called! It was just 9:20am when Swami received Aarthi and then moved into the Poornachandra auditorium.
A small stage had been arranged for Swami so that He could be seen by one and all assembled. Swami was welcomed by a small contingent of Veda chanting boys and soon He took His place - on the stage and in the thirsting eyes of every alumnus sitting there.
There were also the elders whom Swami brought with Him- Sri Chakravarthy, secretary of Central trust; Prof. Vishwanath Pandit, the Vice chancellor; Sri V Srinivasan, the All India Sai organisation President; Prof. G Venkatraman, the great scientist and director of the RadioSai studios and Sri S V Giri, the former vice chancellor.
Sri Chakravarthy introduced the speakers for the day. First Sri S V Giri spoke on the responsibilities that rest on the strong shoulders of the alumni. As he spoke, an interesting incident took place. One of the members of the alumni, a senior above 50 years of age maybe, was moving to and fro right at the back, to get a good view of the proceedings maybe. Swami noticed that and seemed a bit uncomfortable. And sure enough, in two minutes, the student next to Swami came walking all the way to the back asking, "Who was it that was walking over here?" At first everyone felt that Swami was disturbed. It got confirmed soon but why had He been disturbed? The student located the disturber and asked, "Sir would you like a chair to sit on? Swami sees that you are not able to sit on the floor." The answering was done with a nod saying, "No" and profuse tears down the cheeks. The alumnus then got up and moving towards the front, sat in the corner but in the first row! Swami saw that and seemed satisfied!
The second speaker was Sri V Srinivasan. He spoke very inspiringly on the growth and spread of the Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations in India. Many facts little known to most of the devotees and students were revealed and very deservingly, there were 4-5 rounds of applause for him. After he finished his speech, Swami told him with great pride to announce that he was the All India President. An overwhelmed Srinivasan said that more than anything else, he wished to be a humble devotee and concluded his speech.
The Alumni coordinator then went forward to request Swami for the divine discourse. Swami materialized vibhuti and gave him and then also agreed to address the students. Another poignant scene took place now. Swami noticed a student, Raghuram, who currently works for RadioSai global harmony. He has been physically challenged due to a tragic accident and has been on the wheelchair since. Swami asked him to come over to the dais.. As the boy reached there, Swami waved His hand and materialized a gold ring. Amidst the cheer that ran about the hall, Swami enquired into the well being of the boy's mother and sister. HE promised him that he would very soon speak to them as a family and then put the ring to the right hand. He asked Swami for paadanamaskar. Swami agreed and knowing that it was very difficult for the boy to bend down, Swami did something that none imagined. He slowly lifted His right leg and placed it near the knee of the boy. After he touched it, Swami now raised His left leg too and placed it there! The boy was thrilled at this special paadanamaskar. As he returned to His place, Swami began His divine discourse.

Important Points of the Wonderful Divine Discourse :

1. Swami emphasised on the message of Advaita, stressing the point that there is nothing in this world which is not divine, and that we should conduct ourselves bearing this in mind.
2. Swami also stressed on the need for one and all to realise the inherent divinity.
The most interesting part was when towards the end, Swami asked,"Does anyone have doubts? Ask and I shall answer them now in a perfect manner." What followed was a Divine Question and Answer Session
Question : Swami. We know that we are truth and the truth is everywhere. So we must be everywhere right…..
Swami could not follow the question hence the boy tried to explain! "Swami I'm everywhere but I don't realize it…!"
Swami----You are not everywhere, you are right now here!(everyone laughs )…If you are in path of Truth then you will know you are the Truth…..(Swami conveyed to boy that if he believes he is the Eternal Atma then he is everywhere and if he restricts himself to body then he is now here!)

Question : Swami. We don't have time available for spiritual activities and service as we are bogged by daily activities….what shall we do (there were tears in his eyes out of helplessness)…

Swami : Don't feel bad about it…do as much as you can in little time available …do little service but offer it to lord….if you can't do even that then do your job or activity as the service to lord…..That'll make Him happy
Question :(In kannada) ,Swami as we (boys) plan to do activities and projects in larger scale how do we go about doing the same….do we need to form organized groups and start off…

Swami—(In kannada) Yes….form proper groups and go about in a systematic way…..I've already told this(swami has mentioned the same in Man management)
Question :(one student who was Teacher)…Swami…we all have only one prayer in our hearts …you should walk …like you used to do earlier….
Swami…(with out a pause) …Yes …I will!...I used to walk earlier properly….only recently I had a fall and doctors told me not to walk and take rest…I'm just abiding by their words….I have organize a Yagnam in Parthi (ARMY) and one in Chenni(ARMY ---II)…I'm managing quite a lot like this too…but I'll surely walk…(Swami lifted both His legs and played them in the air as He spoke)
Question : Swami…what should we do to become closer to swami….
Swami---(without delay)…Swami should (will to) take you closer…! (Swami conveyed its His grace that matters not any amount of penance you do…., he added ),If you want to become closer keep Swami in your heart…Then you need not come to Swami and He will come closer to you….
Question : Swami…How do we get Atmanandam (perennial bliss)…

Swami---You should carry less luggage…less luggage is more comfort… Reduce your desires and put a ceiling on it
Question : Swami..how do we take care of our kids in countries where there are not even Indian families forget the Sai centers….
Swami---where are you right now….
Boy---…I've returned back to India….
Swami---I'm very happy…Congratulations…America is not good at the moment…all our people should return to native land…One lakh in USA is equal to 10,000 in India….
Question - Swami---How do we achieve total surrender…..
Swami---Bangaaru! ---Surrender is not so easy…so many after they surrender would still carry the burden of doubt in their minds….so just follow how much you can….and stop doubting.
It was already nearing 11:30am and Swami said that He would speak to all the next day too. Then Swami received Aarthi and blessed those who took a flower and the holy grains upto Him. As He moved back towards the residence, Swami collected letters from all the students who lined up the entire pathway. Swami retired leaving behind cherished memories and wonderful feelings.
Om Sai Ram