Bhagawan is closer than your Mother

 

Once Bhagawan was to give a discourse in the S.A.P. Kalyana Mandapam in Madras, now Chennai. Thousands of eager devotees gathered to have His darshan and to hear His inspiring words.  His divine form filled them with bliss.  After Darshan, Swami spoke in Telugu.  Chithoor Nagayya, the celebrated actor and devotee of Swami, was standing by Swami and translating His discourse into Tamil.  The audience was spellbound and enjoying every word of Bhagawan.

Suddenly, a small baby, barely a year old and lying in his mother's lap, began to wail loudly.  All eyes turned towards the crying baby who was the cause of the disturbance.  A few seconds passed.  Everyone saw Swami on the dais gently smiling.  He extended his open palm towards the crying child in the 'abhaya' mode , but suddenly closed it into a tight fist!  That very moment, the child fell silent.

None could gauge the reason why the baby suddenly started wailing and why he, equally suddenly, stopped crying.  Swami extended the closed fist now towards Nagayya, opened it and said, "A small 25-paise coin got stuck in that little baby's throat and I have removed it.  Here it is!"  Sri Nagayya was completely overcome by emotions or surprise and happiness and immediately announced it over the microphone.

The enraptured audience exploded into wild applause.  Even though the little baby was right in her own lap, the poor mother did not know what had gone wrong with her child.  It is obvious that, more than even one's own mother, God is much, very much, closer.

Sai Ram

Swami Karunyananda with Swami

The following anecdotes from Swami Karunyananda' s experiences with Bhagavan are collected from several interviews between 1994 and 1997.Karunyananda passed away in August 1997, under the auspicious celebrations of Dassara :

In 1959 I came with the Jeevakarunya Sangham [a spiritual organization] to Puttaparthi for Shivaratri celebrations. We had two jeeps, one van, and a car with a driver with us, and a lot of other paraphernalia. We had an office in Chittur also. We first went to our Chittur office and then departed for Puttaparthi to obtain Bhagavan's darshan. Facilities for travel were very unsatisfactory at that time. I traveled by bus. It was too cold to travel by bus. The bus came to Horsey Hills area, beyond Madanapalle, and then went out of order and broke down! It was evening and it was getting very cold. It soon turned into dark night. The women and children were shivering due to the cold. I then thought, "These so called Baba's - why do they put us up to this trouble? Why do they reside in the hills? Why can't they set up residence in a place accessible to common people? How many people are suffering!"

I was thinking this way but did not mention these inner thoughts to anyone.

The bus was repaired and after many trials it started again and reached Mudigubba at 2:00 a.m. I had to stop there until morning, took another old rattling bus to Bukkapatnam, and reached there with great difficulty. At Bukkapatnam I hired a bullock cart and reached Puttaparthi after even more difficulty. Puttaparthi had scarcity of water at that time. I kept my bedding and luggage in the residence of one Sathyamma, bathed somehow, and then went to the Nilayam. Mr. Kasturi then summoned Bhagavan, and Bhagavan sent word for me and I went up to His room. One Veerabhadra Sastry [a scholar] and several other people were present with us. I paid my obeisances to Bhagavan, when He asked me, "What Karunyananda! What is the news? How many cars do you have?"

I wondered why Bhagavan had interest in the number of cars! I bowed to Him and I replied, "Swami, why should you talk about cars now?" Bhagavan insisted, "No, no. How many cars do you have?" Veerabhadra Sastry then asked me, "When Swami asks you, why do you not reply?" I thought there was no escape and replied, "Swami, I have two jeeps, one car, and one van."

Then Bhagavan asked, "When you have four vehicles, why could you not come by one of them? Why come by that bus, and blame later 'All these Babas reside only in the Hills!'?" Then I realized that Bhagavan knew what I had thought miles away as if a telegram had been sent to Him.

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I have the good fortune of being the first person to greet Bhagavan in the morning. I go upstairs, and open the door of Bhagavan's room and have darshan and padnamaskar of Bhagavan. There is Divine Power in the feet of Swami. There is power in the glances of Swami. His body is not like ours, it is a Chinmaya Sareeram (divine energy form). Ours is a body made up of dust, which dissolves finally, into the primordial elements of Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Ether. 

He is not limited to one form. He is the form of all deities worshipped by religions. He is the very embodiment of Chaitanya (energy, force). He is the embodiment of all Gods. We cannot probe into Him. Have you not seen Him during the mornings? He has a special effulgence in Him; sometimes this effulgence is frightening. On the last day of Devi Navaratri (Dasara) when Poorna Ahuti is performed, His body temperature becomes hot. I have touched His feet at such times and found that they were very hot.

Deer released from its cage

In 1976, a small number of deer were brought from the Madhumalai forest to Brindavan, and the grounds were cordoned off for the deer cage. Everyday, Swami would feed the deer with apples. A small cage inside also had a few partridges and parrots. Some students were blessed with the opportunity of maintaining the cages.

One day, as Bhagavan was coming towards us after feeding the deer, looking at our faces pressed against the mesh, with a twinkle in His eye He indicated the students and told an elderly devotee, "These are two legged 'dear'. Those are My four legged deer. All are dear to me." We were thrilled by His statement.
Years later, it was a hot summer day in 1988. The time was around 2:30 p.m. In the place of the old bungalow, now stood the new Trayee Brindavan. A few boys observed a strange spectacle. A female deer was looking longingly up at the window of the rooms on the first floor, where Bhagavan lived. There is only one language - the language of the heart. What prayers the deer (which was among the first deer to come to Brindavan) addressed to the Lord, we shall never know. But the response was swift.

The doors of Trayee opened, and Bhagawan walked quickly down the marble steps, across the hot marble floor, instructing the students to get some apples. He entered the cage and patted the deer affectionately. As the fruits were brought on a tray,
Swami fed the deer with His own hands. The deer ate the apple pieces quickly.

Swami finished feeding it, and after patting it lovingly, He left. After a few minutes the deer collapsed. Its hour had come. The Lord had entered the cage to release the soul encaged as a deer. Had he not said, "All are dear to me."

Om Sai Ram