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- Sathyam Sivam Sundaram - Part I
The Life of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
Written by N. Kasturi M.A., B.L.
Words of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba taken from this Biography
The Author Writes
The Wonderment of Sai Baba
The Jasmine Bud
The Rhythm of His Feet
The Cattle Fair
The Serpent Hill
Sai Baba Again
Prasanthi Nilayam
From Cape to Kilanmarg
The Wave of the Hand
The Same Baba
The Rain Cloud
The Teacher
"I am Here"
The Charioteer
For You and Me
Words of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba taken from this Biography
He is the sub-stratum, the substance; the separate and the sum, the Sath; the SATHYAM
He is the awareness, the activity, the consciousness, feeling, the willing and the doing, the chith; the SIVAM
He is the light, the splendour, the harmony, the melody, the Ananda; the SUNDARAM"MY MISSION is to grant you Courage and Joy, to drive away Weakness and Fear. Do not condemn yourselves as sinners; sin is a misnomer for what are really errors, provided you repent sincerely and resolve not to follow Evil again. Pray to the Lord to give you the strength to overcome the habits which had enticed you when you were ignorant."
"Worry, greed and needless agitation and anxiety, these cause even bodily disease. Mental weakness is the biggest cause of disease. Dis-ease is a want of ease; the contented mind is the best drug."
"Be good, be joyful, be bold, be honest, be temperate, be patient. These are the rules of good health."
"I refuse to call anyone an athiest or an unbeliever, for all are the Creations of the Lord and repositories of the Grace. In everyone's heart there is a spring of Love, a rock of Truth. That Love is God, that Truth is God. Divinity is there in the depths of everyone's Inner Being."
"The Lord is above and beyond all limits of caste and color, of wealth and poverty; it is foolish to believe that the Lord asks for this gift or is angry when it is not offered."
"I have come to guide and bless those who undergo the discipline and practice leading to Divine union. I am neither man nor woman, old or young, I am all these."
"Do not praise Me. I like you to approach Me without fear, as a right. You do not extol your father. You ask for something from him, as a right, is that not so?"
"You may be seeing Me today for the first time, but you are all old acquaintances for Me. I know you through and through. My task is the spiritual regeneration of Humanity through Truth and Love. If you approach one step nearer to Me, I shall advance three steps towards you."
"I am happiest when a person carrying a heavy load of misery comes to Me, for he is most in need of what I have."
"It is not mentioned anywhere that the Grace of God is available only for certain classes or races or grades of people. From the smallest to the biggest all are entitled to it. The Lord is everywhere, everything."
"The world can achieve prosperity and peace only through such persons whose hearts are pure and whose minds are free of prejudice and passion, lust and greed, anger and envy."
"I have not started the work for which I have come for I am still in the stage of preliminary reconnaissance. When I start my campaign the whole world will know of it and benefit by it."
"Whensoever there is the fading of the Dharma and the uprising of unrighteousness, then I loose myself forth into birth. For the deliverance of the good, for the destruction of the evil-doers, for the enthroning of the Right, I am born from age to age." The Gita - Fourth Chapter. (verses 7&8)
These verses in the Bhagavad Gîtâ of Order, sanskrit, word for word and translation:
yadâ yadâ hi dharmasya
glânir bhavati bhârata
abhyutthânam adharmasya
tadâtmânam srjâmy ahamyadâ yadâ -- whenever and wherever; hi -- certainly; dharmasya -- of religion; glânih -- discrepancies; bhavati -- become manifested; bhârata -- O descendant of Bharata; abhyutthânam -- predominance; adharmasya -- of irreligion; tadâ -- at that time; âtmânam -- self; srjâmi -- manifest; aham -- I.
Whenever and wherever it is sure that one weakens in righteousness and a predominance of injustice does manifest, o descendant of Bharata, at that time I do manifest Myself.
paritrânâya sâdhûnâm
vinâsâya ca duskrtâm
dharma-samsthâpanârthâya
sambhavâmi yuge yugeparitrânâya -- for the deliverance; sâdhûnâm -- of the devotees; vinâsâya -- for the annihilation; ca -- and; duskrtâm -- of the miscreants; dharma -- principles of religion; samsthâpana-arthâya -- to reestablish; sambhavâmi -- I do appear; yuge -- millennium; yuge -- after millennium.
To liberate the seekers of truth, to take the power away from the wicked ones and to reestablish the way of the human principles I do appear age after age.
I was born in an obscure village in North Travancore when the nineteenth century had still three years and a few days to run. I had my schooling in the Cochin State under a great Headmaster who had met Swami Vivekananda and who lit in our little lamps the flame of prayer and contrition. I attended College at Trivandrum and, after finishing my M.A. and B.L., I secured a job as Lecturer in History at a college in Mysore.
The country boat in which I, my wife and my mother journeyed along the canals and backwaters of the West Coast on the first lap of the trip to catch the train at Ernakulam, was halted past midnight in the middle of a dark backwater by a Coast Guard, who shouted orders from the shore. He called out in the black night, "Where are you going?" and waited for an answer. My boatman had a fine sense of humor. He shouted back, "We are going to Mysore!" (We all knew Mysore was inland!) The Coast Guard did not reprimand him for his impertinence, for he, too, was in a humorous mood. He laughed and asked, "Why do you say Mysore? Don't you know a place beyond Mysore?"
Little did we know then, that there was a place beyond Mysore, a couple of hundred miles to the north of that City, a place called Puttaparthi which was to provide us harborage from the turbulent storms of the sea. There I was to get the Teacher I wanted, when my career as a university teacher and principal was about to come to a close.
Yogi Suddhananda Bharathi, the famous mystic poet of Tamilnad, said, in April 1959 when addressing a religious conference at Venkatagiri Town over which Sri Sathya Sai Baba presided, "I have practiced Yoga for over 50 years; I once observed the vow of silence continuously for over 20 years; I have come in contact with Sri Shirdi Baba, Sri Ramana Maharshi, Sri Aurobindo, Sri Meher Baba and others; now, as a result of all this discipline, I have met Sri Sathya Sai Baba."
I served as the Secretary of the Sri Ramakrishna Mission at Mysore for over seventeen years; I came in contact with Sri Siddharooda Swami, Sri Ramana Maharshi, Sri Meher Baba and Sri Narayana Guru; I was initiated into Japam, the recitation of the Name of the Lord, by Mahapurushji, the direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, and President of the Mission; and I am now convinced that, as a result of all this, I sat at the Feet of Sri Sathya Sai Baba in 1948.
After I retired from the service of the University of Mysore, I have since rejoiced in Baba's Presence, except for a short period when I worked with All India Radio as a producer. I have had the good fortune of mingling with many of His devotees who have had longer and closer associations with Him. I have availed myself of every opportunity of witnessing events illustrating His Divine Power and listening to His discourses. I trust this book will reveal to the reader some of the reasons for the extraordinarily intimate loyalty that binds me and others to Him. Baba is an open book, with no mystery or pomp or abstruseness about Him. Everyone can approach Him and secure His Grace.
I have great sympathy for those who are unaware of Baba's stature, for I, too, demurred, doubted, and disbelieved Baba's validity with all the sarcasm and satire found in the novels, dramas, and essays which I wrote and published on various subjects. For many years I, too, in my stupid pride, did not make any effort to meet Him. I invite everyone now, to come and share His Grace and Mercy and stand witness to the Divine Power that He personifies.
N. Kasturi
This is the story of the Lord, come in human form. He was born at sunrise on November 23, 1926, in a quiet little village called Puttaparthi in Southern India. Puttaparthi has carved a niche for itself in the hearts of the people of the area because of the inspiring legends that sanctify its memory and surround its name. Putta is the native word for "an anthill in which a snake has taken up its abode," and Parthi means "multiplier." These words are part of an exciting legend that explains the origin of this place-name.
Long, long ago the village was known as Gollapalli or "Home of the Cowherds," a designation reminiscent of the playful boyhood of Krishna, the Cowherd Lord. Gollapalli was a place redolent with the music of the flute and the laughter of the cowherdesses. It was the abode of prosperous cowherds, for, the cattle of this place where sleek and strong. The cows yielded copious quantities of milk, thick and sweet beyond compare; every home was rich in butter and ghee. However, one day a cowherd noticed that his favorite cow had no milk in her udder when she returned from the grazing grounds on the hills. He became determined to find the solution to this mystery by watching the cow's movements. Later, hiding himself from view, the cowherd observed the following astonishing behavior. The cow, leaving her calf to wander about with her sisters, walked out of the shed and proceeded in a beeline to an anthill on the outskirts of the village. The cowherd followed her to this rendezvous, only to witness an even more astounding spectacle. A cobra issued forth from the mound, raised itself on its tail, applied its lips gently to the cow's teats, and gleefully drank all the milk! The cowherd, enraged at the loss to which he was subjected by this wily trick, lifted a large stone over his head and, taking good aim, heaved it directly on the cobra. Writhing in pain, the serpent threw an angry curse on all the cowherds of the village; the cobra's last words foretold that the place would be full of anthills which would multiply endlessly and become the homes of snakes.
And so indeed it happened! The cattle declined in health and in numbers; they could no longer be raised successfully at Gollapalli. Anthills spread all over the place and the name was soon changed to Valmikipura, meaning "anthill city" in Sanskrit. This gave some satisfaction to the elders of the village since Valmiki is none other than the immortal poet and saint who wrote and sang the great epic poem of Sri Rama and showed mankind the Path to Perfection. The "anthill city" is called Puttaparthi in common parlance. The villagers still show, as proof of this tragic legend, the very stone, thick and round, with a slight jam on one side, which the enraged cowherd aimed at the wonder-snake. The stone has a long reddish streak which is pointed out as the mark of the cobra's blood. This stone became an object of worship, probably in an effort to avert the curse and help the cattle to prosper. It is looked upon as a symbol of the Lord of the Cowherds, Krishna. The village chieftains built a temple where this stone is installed, and generations of men and women have reverentially bowed before it.
Strangely enough, Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba revealed a feature of the stone some years ago. He directed some people to wash the stone and to smear sandal paste on the jammed side. When this was done, they could discern the clear outline of a sculptured picture of Krishna leaning on a cow, with the captivating flute at his lips. Local rustics swear that they can hear the melody of Krishna's Breath passing through the straight and hollow reed in the sculpture. From that day the curse lost its evil power and cattle began to thrive once more at Puttaparthi! The bastion of the old Fort, which still raises its hoary head in the eastern part of the village, is evidence of Puttaparthi's mastery over the surrounding area and the power and majesty of the chieftains of the place.
"With the Chitravathi River descending the gorges and flowing as a moat on one side, set like a green gem in a ring of hills, with temple bells pealing on all the eminences around, enriched by the reservoir built by King Chikkaraya, adjacent to the town that bears the name of Bukka (the far-famed Emperor of the City of Vijayanagara), Puttaparthi is the abode of the Goddess of Fortune and the Goddess of Eloquence." Such is the eulogy showered on this place by an anonymous poet of the past. Puttaparthi was the cradle of poets and scholars as well as heroes and philanthropists.
The Raju family to which Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba belongs was noted for its piety since the days of the renowned sage Venkavadhootha. Not only did the Rajus build and endow Gopalaswami Temple, but the devout Sri Ratnakaram Kondama Raju, grandfather of Sathya Sai Baba, dedicated a temple to Satyabhama, a consort of Lord Krishna. This homage is seldom offered in any part of India to such a deity. Kondama Raju used to say in explanation of this unusual tribute to Satyabhama, that he was inspired to erect the temple because of the events that occurred during a strange dream. Tears of joy would run down the wrinkled cheeks of this centenarian, Sri Kondama Raju, whenever he recollected that enthralling dream experience.
In his dream Kondama Raju saw "Satyabhama alone, expectant, and forlorn, waiting anxiously for her Lord who had gone on an errand to bring to her from Paradise the much coveted Parijatha flowers. The minutes increased to hours and the hours to days, but still there was no sign of Krishna! Satyabhama broke into tears. There ensued a raging storm bringing thunder, lightning, and a heavy downpour of rain. Fortunately her eyes fell on Kondama Raju who was passing near the place where she stood. She asked him to provide some shelter." This dream led to his determination to build a temple for the Consort of the Lord.
Kondama Raju lived out his hundred and ten years of earthly existence in the contemplation of the Lord. He was a master of music and the histrionic art. He knew by heart the Lepakshi version of the entire Ramayana, the Great Epic poem in Sanskrit about Rama. This version was a series of songs composed by a poet from the City of Lepakshi. They depicted the incidents in dramatic imagery and artistic luxuriance. Kondama Raju played the role of Lakshmana, the devoted brother of Rama, in all the Ramayana plays enacted at Puttaparthi and other villages. Requests for him to play this role were received even from far-off places. His depiction of the steadfast devotion and unquestioning dedication of Lakshmana touched the hearts of all who witnessed his performance. He appeared hundreds of times on many stages until age prevented him from further repetition of the role. He was a strict vegetarian, prone to observe the holy vows of the Hindu calendar. His cottage, a short distance from his sons and grandchildren, was a veritable abode of holy homage. He took delight in gathering around his cot the children of his sons and relating to them the tales of Gods and God-men. The children loved to be with him, for he made every character and adventure live before their eager eyes through the enchantment of song and drama.
We can be certain that among those children it was his grandson Satyanarayana (the birth name of Sathya Sai Baba) who was his favorite, for the little boy could sing in a charming musical voice and could give even the venerable old gentleman a lesson or two in the art of drama!
There was another reason why Kondama Raju exhibited special affection for Satyanarayana. The little boy disliked non-vegetarian food and would not stay even in the neighborhood when such dishes were being prepared. At the tender age of seven, he was also a remarkably good cook! He was so intelligent and resourceful that he was able to prepare the most tasty dishes from the meager larder of his grandfather's cottage. All this he did most willingly and very quickly! (Sai Baba says that He would go into the kitchen of the old man and complete the cooking - rice, curries, chutney and all - in much less time than was needed by the mother, even when she had her daughters helping her to finish her cooking assignment at her own place!)
In his later days Sri Kondama Raju was visited by all the devotees who came to seek the blessings of Sri Sathya Sai Baba, and when the revered old man struggled to stand erect to accept their homage, one could see a twinkle of joyful gratitude in his eyes that the Lord had taken birth in his family. He lived until 1950 and passed away peacefully singing to himself aloud stanzas from the Ramayana. Truly a life worthy to be recorded in the annals of saints.
Sri Kondama Raju's wife, Sri Lakshamma, had died about twenty years earlier. Her life was regulated by the religious calendar with its rotation of Holy Fasts, Vows, and Vigils. She observed these very punctiliously, despite the worry, expense, and inconvenience. Her aim was only to become worthy of the blessings of the Divine Forces which the scriptures promised in return for the regimen.
Sri Kondama Raju had two sons named after the sage Venkavadhootha. They were called Pedda Venkapa Raju and Chinna Venkapa Raju. They inherited their father's musical, literary, and dramatic capabilities, as well as his piety and simplicity. Of the two brothers, the younger was gifted with a greater variety of skills which covered the fields of literary composition and the preparation of drugs and talismans with the aid of traditional formulas.
Once Pedda Venkapa Raju was taken by his parents to a village named Kolimigundla, in the Kurnool District, where they had some lands which had been given on long lease. While enroute, and as they were entering the Parlepalli Forest, some good men warned them to take a strong protective escort, because two days prior a family of six had been murdered in the forest by robbers and assassins.
The visit was primarily intended to acquaint Pedda Venkapa with the area and the tenants, but his father had a second aim in mind. He desired to bring his distant relatives, Subba Raju and family, nearer to Puttaparthi where they would be safe from the danger they faced daily as they went to earn their living near the forest. In order to persuade Subba Raju to move to a village on the bank of the river Chitravathi, opposite Puttaparthi, it was necessary for Kondama Raju to offer him a substantial "bribe!" This was nothing less than the "acceptance" of Subba Raju's daughter, Easwaramma, as bride for Kondama Raju's elder son, Pedda Venkapa. Thus came about the auspicious marriage of Pedda Venkapa to Easwaramma.
This divinely inspired union was blessed with a son, Seshama Raju, and two daughters, Venkamma and Parvathamma. Some years passed and Easwaramma longed for another son. She prayed to the village gods and observed Satyanarayana Puja, a special vow to win the favor of the Lord, in the Name and Form of Satyanarayana, and she faithfully kept a number of other rigorous vows which required vigil and abstentions from food.
It came to pass that the material sheath which the Lord once again willed to wear was formed. Mysterious intimations of the impending great incarnation disturbed the even tenor of Pedda Venkapa's life! For example, there was the unusual twang of the stringed tambura in the night. Because the brothers and the father were all extremely interested in the village operas on the legendary histories of India, and since plays were very often rehearsed at home, there was a large tambura hanging on a nail on the wall and a maddala, or drum, on the floor beneath. These two were silent only when the family retired for the night. But as the birth of a son for whom Sri Easwaramma prayed announced itself as imminent, the household was awakened at midnight and sometimes early in the morning by the tambura twanging melodiously and rhythmically and the maddala softly beating, as though they were in expert hands! Various theories were advanced by the wise men of the village to explain this phenomenon, but they only added to the mystery.
Seeking an answer, Pedda Venkapa hurried to Bukkapatnam where there was a Sastri, an authority on signs of this nature and on whose interpretation he could place faith. He was told that it was an auspicious occurrence; the unbidden music meant the presence of a beneficent power, conferring harmony, melody, order, symmetry, spiritual elevation, and joy.
On the twenty-third day of November, in the year 1926, the son was born. The villagers were chanting the names of Siva, the cosmic rhythm personified, in remembrance that the day was a Monday of the Holy Month of Karthika devoted to the worship of Siva. That day was even more auspicious because the ascendant star was Ardra, and on such rare occasions when the month, the day, and the star coincide, special worship is performed in the temples of the Lord. The year was Akshaya, the "Never declining, the Ever-full!"
While the mother was going through the final rituals of her Satyanarayana adoration in accordance with her vows, the birth pangs forewarned her. When she revealed this, messengers were sent to inform the mother-in-law, Lakshamma, the pious old lady of the house. However, she had gone to the house of the priest to perform her own Satyanarayana Prayers. The messengers went there and urged her to return. She was so confident of the Grace of Satyanarayana, so steadfast in her devotion, so disciplined in her religious adherence, that she refused to be hurried! She sent word that she would bring with her to her daughter-in-law, Easwaramma, the sacred offerings after the worship, and that on no account would she interrupt her prayers. She finished the entire ritual with full concentration, came home, gave Easwaramma the flowers which had previously been placed on the idol and the sacred waters with which it was washed. Easwaramma partook of the blessings of the Lord, wore the flowers in her hair, and sipped the water. In the next moment the Lord was born. And the sun rose above the horizon!
Sai Baba has said that one special point to be noted about this manifestation is that the incarnation has not been transplanted away from the place where the body was born, for He had chosen that very place as the center of His alleviatory Mission. Puttaparthi was doubly blessed that November morn, for the Lord had chosen that happy village not only for His Birth but also for His Habitation.
Indeed the village, which bears the name "Ant Hill Prosperity", gave the child an appropriate welcome. A snake was found in the lying-in room! The women did not notice it for some time, but suddenly they saw that the baby, lying on a bed of clothes, was being moved gently up and down in a peculiar way be something underneath the bed. They watched with baited breath for a few moments, and when at last they searched, they found a cobra under the bed!
The baby was charming beyond description. Little wonder, for even in the cradle He had all the Yogic spiritual powers which Sage Patanjali, author of Sanskrit Yogic Scriptures, says come with rare souls and accompany the birth of an Avatara, a Divine Incarnation. Sai Baba has declared that He knew even prior to His Birth where He would be born. He has also said that He was born with all the miraculous powers which He is manifesting one by one out of His Divine Will, as and when He feels each can be so announced. As a baby, He must have had a halo of splendor around His head, a smile which reflected an other-world beauty, and a heavenly power to captivate the heart.
Some years ago Sai Baba told the author, "I do not sleep at night; I remember then the events of my past appearances, and I laugh within myself as memories pass across." It can therefore be surmised that the little lilies of laughter and red rosebuds of joy which lit up the cradle of the baby bloomed from the reminiscence of previous arrivals and adventures!
The baby was named Satyanarayana since the relationship between the worship of God in that Form and the realization of the mother's cherished desire for a son seemed very important to her. When the rite was performed and the name was whispered in the bud-like ear, it seems the baby smiled, for was it not He Himself who must have unobtrusively suggested that name be given? How else can we explain the fact that the first requisite for spiritual advancement, now propounded by Sathya Sai Baba, is Satya or Truth and Narayana or "God in man?" The embodiment and exponent of Truth could not have given Himself a more appropriate name.
The child became the pet of the entire village of Puttaparthi, and the farmers and cowherds vied with each other in fondling and feeding the infant and playing with his lovely silken curls. His charming smile attracted everyone. Pedda Venkapa's house was always filled with visitors who came on any pretext and lingered around the cradle singing lullabies, showering caresses, and forgetting their humdrum lives.
Soon the fragrance of "the Jasmine Bud" filled the air. As a lighted lamp, Sathya moved about the house, and laughter tinkled in the street when he lisped his vocabulary of sweet sounds. It was noticed by all with wonder that he delighted in having broad Vibhuti (Sacred Ash) markings worn by men on his forehead, and that he insisted on the marks being renewed as soon as they wore off. He also desired to have a circular Kumkum dot, the red saffron dot worn by women in the center of his forehead. The mother seldom satisfied this desire; so he had to seek out his sister's box of Kumkum and dab it on himself. He was Siva, he was Sakti, "God and the Power of God." He must have both the Sacred Ash and the saffron dot of the Consort.
He kept away from places where pigs, sheep, cattle, or fowl were killed or tortured, or where fish were trapped or caught. He avoided kitchens and vessels used for cooking flesh or fowl. When a bird was selected to be prepared for dinner, little Sathya would run to find the bird, clasp it to his bosom and fondle it, as if the extra love he poured on it would induce the elders to relent and spare the fowl. He was called by the neighbors Brahmajnani, a "Realized Soul," because of this type aversion to killing and this measure of love toward creation. At such times Sathya would run to the home of the village accountant nearby, for they were Brahmins and vegetarians; he would take the food offered by Subbamma, the aged lady residing there.
He rarely retaliated when he was handled roughly by playmates. Information of such ill-treatment came to the parents through other toddlers who witnessed the affair, never from Sathya, who seemed not in the least to suffer pain or discomfiture. He spoke the truth always and never resorted to the usual subterfuges by which ordinary children try to cover up their mistakes. So distinct was his behavior that a youngster once nick-named him "the Brahmin child!" It was a fitting description. Little did this youngster know that, while in the previous body, this child, at whom he now laughed, had declared at Shirdi, "This Brahmin can bring devoted men onto the White Path and take them to their destination!"
At the tender years of three and four, "this Brahmin" showed that he had a heart that melted at human suffering. Whenever a beggar appeared at the door and raised his cry, Sathya left his play and rushed inside to force his sisters to hand out grain or food. The adults were naturally irritated by the endless procession of outstretched hands. They easily lost their tempers and sometimes turned the beggar away before Sathya could bring relief. This made the child weep so long and loudly that only by bringing the dismissed beggar back could the elders stop the wailing. On occasion in order to put an end to what the elders thought was expensive and misplaced charity, the mother caught hold of Sathya, and with a finger raised in warning said, "Look here! You may give him food, but mind you, you will have to starve." That did not daunt the child. He would run inside and bring out food to the hungry man at the door and later stay away from lunch or dinner himself. Nothing and no one could persuade him to come for his food which was left untouched!
Sathya had a mysterious visitor who was feeding him. Whenever he refused food and persisted in the refusal for some days, he showed no sign of starvation in his appearance and activities. He would tell his mother that he had eaten and would say that an Old Man had fed him sumptuously, giving him milk-rice. The full stomach was proof of that. Besides the child volunteered to give another indisputable piece of evidence. He would hold out his right hand for his mother to smell, and lo, she inhaled from that tiny palm the fragrance of clarified butter, milk and curds of a type she had never before enjoyed! The wonder remained, however. Who was this unseen visitor, this strange nourisher of this little child?
When Sathya began running about in the streets, he sought out the maimed, the blind, the decrepit, and the diseased, and led them by the hand to the doorstep of his parents. The sisters had to secure from the store or the kitchen some grain or food and put it into the beggar's bowl while the little master looked on happily.
Satyanarayana was held up so often before the children as the ideal child by every mother and father that the children of the village started referring to him as Guru, meaning Teacher or Master. The parents and others came to know of this under strange circumstances. It was late in the night of Ramanavami, the Holy Day of Devotion to Rama, when a procession wended its way round the village. A huge picture of Sri Rama was placed on a flower-bedecked bullock cart upon which the priest sat in order that the flower garlands offered by the householders could be placed on the picture and the camphor they presented be duly burned and waved in front of the picture. The pipers and drummers awakened the sleeping villagers, and thus the cart proceeded along the uneven roads.
Suddenly the two sisters discovered that little Sathya was not at home. A search was ordered. Everyone in the house ran about frantically, for it was already past midnight. All at once their attention was diverted by the arrival outside the door of the bullock cart carrying the large picture of Sri Rama. When they went to the doorstep, they were surprised to see the five year old Sathya sitting nicely dressed, and with evident authority, underneath the picture! They asked his companions why he was seated on top and not walking with them on the road. Promptly came the answer, "He is our Guru!"
Indeed He is the Guru of children of all climes, of all ages!
There is a small primary school in Puttaparthi which Sathya attended with his contemporaries for something nobler than learning to spell and write. The school at that time had a very harsh scheme of punishment to ensure punctuality. The lucky child who came in first and saluted the teacher, as well as the student who arrived next and also saluted, were exempt from punishment. Every other boy, for whatever reason, legitimate or not, who arrived late, was given a taste of the cane. The number of cuts across the hand depended on his place in the list of late-comers. In order to escape from this torture, the children gathered under the eaves of the schoolhouse long before sunrise in rain or in fog. Sathya saw the plight of, and sympathized with, his shivering playmates. He visited them under the eaves. Bringing shirts and towels from his home, he covered the boys and made them warm and comfortable. The elders at home discovered this and locked up all the clothes they could not afford to lose!
Satyanarayana was a precocious child, learning by himself more than anyone else could teach him and much quicker than most other children. He could sing all the songs rehearsed at home for the village operas and mystery plays. He even composed at the tender age of seven some touching songs which were gladly accepted by the cast for public presentation.
When he was eight, Sathya was declared ready to proceed to the Higher Elementary School at Bukkapatnam, two and a half miles from Puttaparthi. He had to trudge the distance in hot sun or rain over stony mounds or slushy fields, wading through neck-deep water, as the season dictated. His bag of books would be securely held above his head. He had to start early in the morning after a meal of delicacies such as cold rice and curds or cooked rice and chutney. He trekked regularly to Bukkapatnam with companions, carrying his afternoon meal in a bag.
Sri B. Subbannachar writes in a book published in 1944, "He was my student in the eighth grade. He was a simple, unostentatious, honest, and well-behaved boy." Unostentatious! With what great self-control must Sai Baba have suppressed His manifold divine powers in order that the world might become ready for the Announcement!
Sri V.C. Kondappa, another teacher, who later revered the student as divine, writes in the same book, "He was very obedient and never spoke more than necessary. Coming early to school, he would gather the children and install an image or picture in the schoolroom. With the flowers he brought with him, he conducted worship, waved burning camphor, and distributed Grace in one form or another. The boys, gathered around him for the things he 'took' out of his empty bag! When asked about it, he said that a certain 'Angel' obeyed his will and gave him whatever he wanted!"
One of his teachers was personally to experience the force of that "Angel" on one occasion. Sai Baba was generally listless in class, engaged most of the time in what he later described as composing chants and copying them for distribution among his classmates. One day the teacher discovered that Sathya was not taking down the notes he dictated. "He is setting a bad example for the whole class," thought the teacher, and shouted, "All those who are not taking notes, stand up!" Sathya was the solitary culprit and was asked why he was not taking notes. He answered in an innocent and straightforward tone, "Sir why should I take notes? I have understood what you dictated. Ask me any question on it and I shall answer correctly." But the teacher's pride was injured, and the boy must suffer. He ordered Sathya to stand upon the bench and remain standing until the last bell of the day. Sathya obeyed. All the boys hung their heads in sorrow. None of them could feel happy that day sitting down while his Guru was poised uncomfortably upon a bench.
When the hour-bell rang, the teacher for the next class came in. It was Janab Mahbub Khan, who loved and respected little Sathya beyond words. He taught English, and his approach and method were so earnest and appealing that every boy learned every lesson thoroughly. He was an elderly bachelor, and he treated Sathya with a unique affection. (Sai Baba even today extols Mahbub Khan as a highly evolved soul.)
Mahbub Khan would offer sweets and savories to Sathya, enticing him to eat by means of a hundred different artifices. He told Sathya that his house was specially cleansed for the preparation of the food, because he knew Sathya would not eat food having the remotest contact with non-vegetarian dishes. He would say that he had not eaten, as he wanted Sathya to partake of the food first. He would sit quietly for long periods, stroking Sathya's hair and whispering, "Oh, you are a wonderful boy! You will help thousands; you are a great power."
When Mahbub Khan entered the classroom, he was shocked to find Satyanarayana standing on the bench and the teacher still sitting on the chair. He asked the teacher why he was not vacating the chair for the next class. The teacher whispered that he could not get up because when he tried to get up, the chair, too, rose up with him! The whisper was caught by the boys who quietly laughed at the teacher's plight and said it must be due to Sathya's "Angel." Mahbub Khan also suspected this was so, and suggested that the teacher ask Sathya to come down. The teacher acquiesced. Immediately the chair fell away, and with great relief he moved about unencumbered!
Years later, while relating this story, Baba said that He willed it to be so, not out of anger - for He had no anger in Him - but purely to demonstrate Himself and gradually prepare men's minds for the Announcement of His Mission and Identity.
True to the nickname Brahmajnani, or Knower of God, which he had earned by his true and pure nature, Sathya showed by precept and example that the little joys of this limited world were quite inferior to the Supreme Bliss attained through prayer, concentration, renunciation and contentment. He delighted only in stories of saints endowed with these qualities.
As Kondama Raju's sons and one of his daughters shared the same home, Sathya grew up in the midst of about twenty children. It was necessary that a child be clean and honest in order to win Sathya's approval and get the peppermints he "took" out of empty bags. Sathya was always the example they sought. Kondama Raju once said that, when the tailor called to make the children's shirts out of various types of dyed cloth which had been brought from a Bukkapatnam market, Sathya would say, "Let each one be given the cloth he selects; what remains is good enough for me."
In later years at the Prasanthi Nilayam, where Sai Baba lives when at Puttaparthi, He said, "I have no lands to call My own and on which to grow My food; every bit is registered already in the name of someone else. Just as landless people wait for the village tank to get dry so that they may scratch the bed with a plough and quickly grow something for themselves, I too grow My food, namely, joy in the dried tank-beds of afflicted hearts."
Kondama Raju did not realize at the time the significance of Sathya's attitude of renunciation; he just felt proud of the boy!
Even as a child, Sathya was against all sports and games which caused cruelty or pain. He would not allow his companions to witness the annual bullock cart race held on the sands of the river bed during one of the village festivals. He objected to the twisting of the tails of the bullocks and the flaying of their backs with sticks for the vicarious glory of the owner.
Years later Sai Baba summoned back to the Prasanthi Nilayam, a party of devotees who had left by bullock cart. They were proceeding across the river to their cars which were parked at a village on the other side of the bank. Sai Baba waved His Blessings when they got into the cart; it crept out of the main gate into the road beyond. Suddenly he sent someone running to bring the devotees back to Him. He commanded them, "Listen! When you reach the sands, you must all get down and walk across. The bullocks should not be forced to drag all your weight through the sands; do you understand?"
Bear-baiting, cock fighting, and other similar village entertainments Sathya condemned, and his group of boys did not attend such activities.
Whenever a touring "talkie picture show" pitched its tent in those days at Bukkapatnam or Kothacheruvu, it caused a stir for miles around. Village folks sacrificed their small earnings to meet the expense of seeing as many films as they could. Pedda Venkapa Raju often tried to take Sathya, together with the other children, but Sathya protested and refused. He spoke of the degraded standards of the films, how they vulgarized the Gods, and made a muddle of music. He said they only exhibited the seamy side of family life and praised cruelty, cunning, and crime.
Even to this day, Sai Baba is a relentless critic of the arts, especially of literature and films which willfully drag ideals down in order to make money.
When he was ten years of age, Sathya formed in Puttaparthi a Pandhari Bhajan Group, or a group of carollers, for the presentation of songs of love and devotion to God. The group was modeled after similar groups which existed in the neighbouring villages. It consisted of about eighteen boys, uniformly dressed in ochre robes. Each held a flag and wore jingle-bells as anklets. They danced to the tones of folk songs and ballads depicting the yearning of pilgrims for Darshan or the blessing by sight of the Panduranga Shrine. Sathya taught the children in poetry and song the ordeals of the long pilgrimage, the pilgrim's anxiety to reach the shrine quickly, and their joy at the sight of the pinnacle of the temple.
He composed some songs from the legendary Life of Krishna known in India as the Bhagavatha Purana. In these songs the milkmaids complain to Yasoda, Krishna's foster mother, of the unceasing pranks of Krishna. Yasoda chides the boy for his thievery and mischief, but Krishna pleads innocence. With actresses and actors of Sathya's group performing the parts of Yasoda and Krishna in the center of the circle, and with others playing the role of the milkmaids dancing on the circumference, the scene was a great attraction in the village. Sathya played the role of either the mother or the child. His dance, dialogue, and music added to the charm of the devotional songs.
He also included with the traditional themes, songs concerning a pilgrimage to a new Deity and new shrine of which no one had yet heard. No one had the faintest idea who the new Deity was. The shrine, Shirdi and the Deity, Sai Baba? Sai Baba of Shirdi? Who could it be? How did this little boy know of that Mohammedan ascetic of Shirdi? The elders wondered as the children danced in the streets.
The Bhajan Group collected a subscription of an anna per month from each house for oil, parched rice, joss-sticks, camphor, and other sundries needed for worship. The oil was used for the lamp which they carried with them when they walked around the village. The parched rice was given to everyone as Grace. On festival occasions they collected larger amounts, perhaps two annas, and proudly bought a petromax light which they brought all the way from Bukkapatnam. The children of the Raju family and others provided the musical accompaniments.
Sathya was the central figure of the group as organizer, treasurer, teacher, composer, and leading singer. He portrayed every role so wonderfully that the villagers could envision before their eyes Mathura and Brindavan where the Lord lived as Krishna, and boy Krishna as a cowherd with His flute enchanting the milkmaids, the cows, calves, the trees, and the river Yamuna.
Once, while a song describing the prowess and achievements of Narasimha, the "Man-Lion Avatara of Vishnu," was being enacted and the line, "From out the pillar of steel the giant Lion jumped," was sung, Sathya suddenly leaped like the Lion-Man manifestation of the Lord personified. His face was transformed into such ferocity, indignation, and benediction that the entire village was frightened. No one, not even experts in wrestling holds, could control the boy. At last, after a number of people had offered worship and waved camphor and broken coconuts before the manifested Lord, Sathya became normal and resumed the song. [ Bhajan: Sri Nrsimha Pranama]
This incident spread the fame of the Pandhari Bhajan Group. Word was spread that God actually manifested Himself when this group sang and danced - as the people of Puttaparthi witnessed! When cholera swept like a poisonous simoom over the area and killed entire families in the surrounding villages, Puttaparthi did not feel the blast of death. Wise men told one another that the divine atmosphere generated by the Bhajan Group was responsible. Thereafter the group was invited to many villages to sing in order to protect these places from the anger of the Gods. Very often carts were sent as transportation for the group, but sometimes the little saviors, carrying their food with them, had to walk ten or twelve miles, resting during the hottest part of the day in some grove along the way. The people in these villages also heard the strange names of Shirdi and Sai Baba and wondered what and who they were. Because they did not understand, they plunged into their routine tasks again.
There were dramas and open-air operas where Puranic (Indian legend) themes were represented by dialogue, dance, and costume, and where Rakshasas (demons), Asuras (ungodly ones) , and the powers of evil were defeated by the forces of Good. These dramas were written, rehearsed, and produced in various households in which Sathya visited.
Sathya's father also became a celebrity on the popular stage, mainly for his role of Banasura, a famous Titan of mythology, then even more for his inimitable depiction of Yudhishthira, the eldest of the five sons of Pandu, the holy follower of divine law and the never wavering adherent of the Lord.
A number of plays were produced at this period in order to collect funds for famine relief. "Banasuram," "Ushaparinayam," "Draupadi Manasamrakshanam," and "Kamsa Vadha" were the plays most preferred. These plays were concerning mythology, the protection of the honor of Draupadi, and about Kamsa, the tyrant king and persecutor whom Krishna finally killed. Young Sathya selected several roles, especially those of Krishna and Mohini. The audiences applauded his acting, singing, and above all, his dancing. There was a rhythm in his feet, a sense of time and tune, and a litheness and loveliness they had seldom seen. To them it seemed that he never touched the earth and that he belonged to an ethereal sphere.
Within a short period he was enacting more and more roles. In the popular story of Kanakatara, he played the role of the mythological Tara so effectively one night that his mother, who was present in the audience in the tent, rushed onto the stage to prevent what she believed to be the "execution" of Tara. She forgot that it was all make-believe!
Sathya sometimes assumed more than one role in the same play to satisfy the audience. In the drama Krishna Lila, the sport of Krishna, he was Devaki, the mother, the boy Krishna, and also the danseuse regaling King Kamsa with her dances in Durbar Hall! At other times he played the role of Draupadi, wife of the five Pandava Brothers.
Soon a professional dramatic troupe visited the area and presented a number of musical plays which attracted large audiences. They put up their stage at Bukkapatnam and later moved to Puttaparthi, Kothacheruvu, Elumalapalli, and other large villages. Their performances became the talk of the entire district. Their group included a girl dancer whose stage name was Rishyendramani, who performed a series of gymnastic dances with music. Her highlight was a dance in which she kept time to the music while balancing a bottle on her head. She would bend low, sit down, lay herself on the floor, raise her back up, and clasp with her teeth a kerchief placed on a match box on the floor. With the kerchief between her teeth, she would then sit up, rise, and stand-still balancing the bottle on her head! A challenging assignment! By a great deal of practice she had trained herself for this difficult feat. No wonder she won the acclaim of her audiences.
Sathya went with others to witness the plays of these professionals and saw this act. After he came home, he tried to do it himself. To the surprise of all, he could do it easily! When the elders asked to be shown this new item in Sathya's repertoire, he withdrew within himself and hesitated. But the news spread, and some enterprising young men persuaded him to agree to perform this feat at Kothacheruvu during the village carnival. They had the timerity to announce that the famous Rishyendramani herself would appear, for they felt very confident that Sathya could succeed in the impersonation and would not disappoint them. Sathya's sisters dressed him as Rishyendraman, complete with hair-do and personal decoration, and took him to Kothacheruvu. When Sathya's father heard about it, he feared the consequences of this foolhardy adventure into which Sathya had been inveigled.
The day of the performance arrived. The curtain rose, "Rishyendramani" tripped her way into the Durbar Hall of Kamsa. The audience was too wild with excitement to notice any difference. The famous dance number began. Sathya had improved upon it and substituted a needle for the kerchief. The needle had to be lifted by the eyelids! The "Rishyendramani" of that day accomplished it, but not without dire consequences!
The carnival president insisted on pinning a medal on the dancer's person. Sathya's mother and others who were at first thrilled with the tributes of praise, the invitations to repeat the feat at other places, and the silver cups and gold medals being pressed into Sathya's hands, became afraid of the "evil eyes" which the boy provoked. Their tears proved true. His eyes developed a dreadful affliction. They swelled, became red, and exuded tears profusely. His temperature rose.
One night his mother heard heavy footsteps, as of one wearing wooden sandals, entering the house and proceeding straight to Sathya. It was all very mysterious. She got up, went to her boy's room, and placed her hand on his brow to check his temperature. She found the fever gone! She brought a light and looked into his eyes. They had improved beyond all expectations! Sathya was quite well the next day.
Since Sathya had to go outside Bukkapatnam for his education, it was decided that he should go to be with his brother, Seshama Raju, who had married the daughter of Sri Pasupathi Subba Raju of Kamalapur. This arrangement seemed satisfactory to his parents, who planned to give Sathya a college education so that he might become an officer. Hence they were prepared to part with him and send him to far off Kamalapur where his studies could be continued. There he attended school regularly as he had at Bukkapatnam. He was a quiet well-behaved boy, a favorite with the teachers.
Whenever a drama was performed in town, Sathya sang the opening prayer before the curtain went up. Those who heard his sweet voice spread the news that a fine singer had come to town. Soon he was the only one called on to sing at all public functions.
Even now Sathya Sai Baba speaks of a drill instructor there who commanded the respect of the entire school by his instinctive love for children. He was also the scoutmaster and was eager to have Sathya in his troop. Through friends and directly, he began persuading the boy to join. There were two other boys, children of the head of the Revenue Office, who sat at the same desk with Sathya and who were very friendly to him. They pleaded with him and even thrust a nice new scout uniform into Sathya's desk to encourage him to join. They all knew that Sathya would be the life of the troop, and if he joined it, the elders of the town would sponsor the troop. Otherwise they might mistake it for a group of idlers and do-nothings intent only on hikes and picnics.
Sathya joined at last, just in time to attend the Fair and Cattle Show at Pushpagiri where the scoutmaster planned to take his troop. There was opportunity enough for the boys to earn merit because of the huge crowds that attended. Children could get lost, pilgrims had to be supplied with drinking water, sanitation had to be supervised, and first aid provided on the spot. The camp fee was fixed at ten rupees per boy.
Sathya had no money! He had to demonstrate that service is its own reward, that a loving heart conquers everything. He decided that the chance to teach and inspire his companions should not be lost. He determined to walk to Pushpagiri, thus saving bus fare. He told the scoutmaster that his people were coming for the Fair and that they would look after him. (The people who came for every pilgrimage were his people!) He calculated that five rupees would be enough for him at Pushpagiri. He sold to a needy boy the books of his previous year's class, which he had seldom read, and which therefore were as good as new. He accepted not the twelve rupees the boy offered but just the five rupees he required. Then he walked to Pushpagiri, reaching there about 9:00 o'clock of the night previous to the inauguration of the Fair.
He was very tired. With a small bag containing his clothes and money, he lay down and slept on the sand of the river, together with the multitude gathered there. When he awakened the next morning, both the purse and the bag had disappeared!
When relating these incidents, Sathya Sai Baba often tells those around him that he was not worried at all. He says he moved about the place quite unconcerned and found on a stone trough a coin and a packet of cheap handmade cigarettes. He took the coin and proceeded to the market place. There he found a man sitting in front of a contraption, promising profit to men with luck! On a circle drawn in white paint on a piece of black cloth were some hieroglyphics. He had attached some monetary value to a few figures and no value at all to the rest! He had an iron rod sticking up from the center and a movable pointer on the top. He asked his customers to place a coin beside him and give the pointer a quick turn. If it stopped on top of a section which had a figure such as 2, 3, or 4, he would give the customers two, three, or four times the amount of the stake. Otherwise he would keep the stake. Sathya had to try his luck. He turned the pointer a number of times. Each time he won, thus collecting twelve annas in all. He says that he could have won more, but he sympathized with the poor fellow whose earnings were slim!
Those twelve annas sufficed for one week. As previously mentioned, he had a miraculous power not only of providing food for himself but also of proving by the scent of his hand that he had eaten. (On occasions even now when people doubt he has eaten, he may be heard to say, "I have had lunch," and allows them to smell his palm, thus quelling their doubts.) Thus the scoutmaster was led to believe that Sathya was being well fed by some of his relatives at the Fair; therefore he made no distinction between Sathya and the other boys in assigning work. Sathya entered enthusiastically upon his task of inspiring his classmates to do selfless service. (Today this is still the theme of Sai Baba's teaching of service: Service to others is service to oneself, for the other is only oneself in another form with another name!)
When it was proposed that the scouts return to Kamalapur by bus, Sathya quietly slipped out of the camp because he had not paid his share of the bus fare. He walked back the entire distance as a matter of principle.
While Sathya was at Kamalapur, he was not only separated from his parents but also from his brother who had gone away to undergo training as a teacher. When Sathya needed clothing and other items, he wrote popular ditties for the use of a merchant, Kote Subbanna, who had a shop featuring medicines, tonics, glassware, articles of fashionable wear, umbrellas, etc. Their arrangement was that when Subbanna desired to promote a new article on the market or boost the sales of a patent drug, he would stop Sathya on his way to school and give him the necessary information. By evening Sathya had prepared an attractive song praising the merchandise in well written poetry. In return for the songs, which soon became popular, Subbanna gave Sathya cloth, books and other articles he needed. The songs were full of verve and lilt, capable of catching the ear when sung in chorus by a band of hired urchins who would march along the streets, with the name-boards in their hands, singing the slogan-filled songs and apparently enjoying their task! (Even now Sai Baba regales those around him with the recitation of these old time "commercials.")
There is a saying current among the older devotees of Sai Baba: "He manifested himself at Uravakonda, but spread the glory from Kamalapur." This statement is a tribute to the quickness with which the people of Kamalapur responded later to the Call without the cynicism of ignorant conceit. After Sathya returned to Puttaparthi, they organized public receptions and gatherings for worship of "Bala" Sai, the Child Sai.
Seshama Raju completed the training prescribed to qualify him as a teacher of the southern Indian language Telugu and was assigned a post at the High School at Uravakonda. He welcomed this as a good omen, for he could have Sathya with him and give personal and immediate attention to his progress in higher studies.
Uravakonda derives its name from the hill that dominates the place. At first the name was Uragakonda, uraga meaning serpent and konda meaning hill. The promontory on the hill, formed by a single huge boulder about 100 feet high, is in the shape of a many-hooded serpent.
The High School at Uravakonda will be ever famous because of Sathya's attendance there. The fame of the boy preceded him. The students told each other that Sathya was a fine writer, a good musician, a genius in dance, a student wiser than any teacher, and one able to peer into the past and peep into the future. Authentic stories of his achievements and divine powers were on everyone's lips. They were circulated by the people who had come into the town from places such as Bukkapatnam, Penukonda, Dharmavaram and Kamalapur. It was related and heard with wonder that, even as a toddler, he had the unique power of getting from nowhere and nothing, fruits, flowers, and sweets by a mere wave of his hand! "What a wonder!" they said.
People gathered around Sathya's brother, the new Telugu teacher, eager to hear stories of the boy's capabilities. Every teacher wanted to be assigned some work in the section in which Sathya was admitted - some out of curiosity, some out of veneration, and some out of a mischievous impulse to prove it all absurd.
Sathya soon became the pet of the entire school and the cynosure of all eyes in the town. He was the leader of the School Prayer Group and ascended the dais every day when the entire school gathered for prayer before classes commenced. It was his voice that sanctified the air and inspired both teachers and students to dedicate themselves to their allotted tasks. He was the life and soul of the school's dramatics and the backbone of the athletic team, for he was a fast runner and played gudugudu, an outdoor running game, exceedingly well. He excelled in the school scout movement.
The teacher in charge of the drama department, Sri Thammi Raju, once asked Sathya to write and produce a play, and Sathya plunged into the work enthusiastically. The drama was a great success, not only because the hero of the play was a little boy, a role enacted by Sathya himself, but also chiefly because it had as its theme the eternal sin of man, hypocrisy. The title of the drama was, "Do Deeds Follow Words?".
The scene opens revealing a lady reading and explaining to a number of women some verses from the Bhagavatha Purana, a legendary history. She is telling them that it is the duty of a housewife to give charity only to the deserving and to the defective who cannot earn a living, not to the stalwarts who lead idle parasitic lives. The women then disperse and the lady is left alone with her little son, Krishna, who has been an interested listener. Sathya plays the role of Krishna.
Presently a blind beggar enters and seeks to attract attention, but he is rebuked and sent away. Then there appears a hefty priest with a pompous paunch and a polished copper vessel filled with grain. On his arm is a richly ornamented musical instrument, the tambura. The mother respectfully welcomes him and offers him rice and coins. She falls at his feet, asking for his blessings. Krishna is non-plussed. He asks his mother why she did not follow what she herself had extolled a few minutes previously. The boy is dismissed with the curt answer, "Can we act as we say?" The mother is irritated by the impertinence of the son who dared question the ethics of adult behavior. She drags him to a room where his father, an accountant, is busy with files.
He gives Krishna a long lecture on the value of education and how people should study and be promoted from class to class, whatever the difficulties. Suddenly a schoolboy pops in and asks for just one rupee to pay his school-fees to avoid having his name dropped from the rolls and thereby failing to have the record of attendance required for promotion. The father says that he has no money with him and shows the boy his empty purse as proof. A few minutes later a group of young accountants belonging to his firm rushes in. They hold out a subscription list requesting contributions for a welcome dinner in honor of an officer who is to take charge of their office in a few days. The father is jubilant at the idea, says that it must be done aristocratically so that the new man may be p!eased. He offers to make a speech at the dinner and, pulling out the drawer of the table, gives them the large sum of twenty rupees!
Krishna is aghast at this behavior and asks the father why he went against his own words and why he uttered a lie to the schoolboy. The father turns angrily to him and asks, "Should deeds follow words?" He rages at the child and commands him to go to school without delay.
The scene now shifts to the school. Krishna enters. The teacher is in a mood of great excitement because the inspector of schools is to visit the next day. He coaches the children intensively for the occasion. He explains that the inspector may ask, "How many lessons have been done? They are all to say not twenty-three, the actual number, but thirty-two. He says that when the inspector comes he will teach lesson number thirty-three on Harischandra, the king who never uttered a lie. He drills them on that lesson so that the next day the answers may come quickly, and threatens them with severe punishment should anyone whisper that the lesson had already been reviewed in class. He says, "It must appear as if I'm doing it for the first time tomorrow." When the class is over, all the other boys leave. Krishna alone remains. He asks the teacher the question he has already asked twice that day. "Why do you not follow the advice you give? Why do you tell us of the nobility of the king and then yourself not follow his footsteps?" He gets the same rebuff as previously, "Do you mean to say that the adviser should follow the advice?"
"Hypocrisy, hypocrisy everywhere!" thought Krishna.
The scene is changed to Krishna's home. It is the next day, schooltime, but Krishna refuses to go. He throws away his books, says that going to school is a waste of time, and states his resolve not to study in school. The distracted parents send for the teacher who comes rushing in. Then Krishna says, "If all that you instruct as mother, father, and teacher is only to be spoken and written; if all that one learns is to be discarded when it comes to action, I do not understand why I should learn anything at all." This opens their eyes to their shortcomings. They praise Krishna as their Master and decide henceforth to speak and act only the truth.
This was the theme of the drama Sathya wrote at the age of twelve and presents a glimpse into his farsightedness, intelligence, and enthusiasm for true education.
Sathya was often sought after by people who had lost articles of value, because he was known for his intuitive perception which revealed to him their whereabouts. Sai Baba now says that in those days he used to give his friends only the first and last letters of the names of the persons possessing the lost articles. He would leave them to their own resources to recover the goods.
A typical incident was that of a teacher who had lost a valuable pen and persuaded Sathya to disclose the identity of the person who had taken it without permission. In this instance Sathya revealed the name of a servant, but the teacher dismissed the idea because of the servant's faithfulness and honesty. Furthermore a search in the servant's room did not disclose the lost pen. Sathya persisted in his statements. He said that the man had sent the pen to his son who was studying in Anantapur and offered to prove this fact. He had a letter written to the son as if from the father, who was illiterate and always needed the services of a letter writer. After the usual inquiries about the son's health and welfare were made, the son was asked how the pen the father had sent was writing. The father advised him to be careful when using it because it was costly and might easily be "stolen!" There was enclosed a self-addressed card for reply. Within four days the reply came into the teacher's hand! The card read that the pen was writing magnificently, would be carefully kept because of its value, and was considered as a precious gift from the father. Thus Sathya's miraculous power was vindicated. Everyone concerned complimented him.
Sathya also won the respect of the common man in Uravakonda by an incident similar to one in the life of Sai Baba of Shirdi. A Muslim was frantically searching for his horse which had either strayed or been stolen. The horse was used to pull a cart transporting men and goods and was the Muslim's sole source of livelihood. Now he was desperate, for he had searched the entire area and his friends had combed the countryside far and wide. There was no trace of the animal. At last someone told the Muslim about Sathya. He came to the boy and poured out his grief.
Sathya immediately told him to go to a certain grove a mile and a half away from the town. When he did so, the horse was found grazing all alone, quite unconcerned at the furor its disappearance had caused. This made Sathya famous as a wonder boy in the Muslim community. Many times thereafter drivers of carts stopped when seeing Sathya and insisted on giving him a lift to or from school, for they felt his presence would bring them good fortune.
Incidents such as these continued, with an occasional glimpse of wonders, a tiny indication of the might and majesty hidden in the slender body of the young lad now thirteen years old.
On March 8, 1940, the entire town was shocked to hear that a "big black scorpion" had stung Sathya. It was at dusk, about seven o'clock, when Sathya gave a shriek and leaped up grasping his right toe as if he had been bitten! Although no scorpion or snake was discovered, he fell as though unconscious and became stiff. He did not speak and his breathing became faint.
When such an occurrence happens to Sai Baba now, devotees do not feel shocked, for they are accustomed to His leaving His gross body and going out in the "subtle body" to other places.
As they were then as yet unaware of the reason for these divine instances, brother Seshama and others became alarmed.
There is a belief current in Uravakonda and the surrounding country that no one can survive a snake bite or scorpion sting received in that vicinity. It is primarily because of the many-hooded "serpent stone" that has given its name to the area that the dread superstition has spread, for the rock looks as if a serpent has raised its head to strike with its poisonous fangs.
Seshama brought in a doctor who gave Sathya an injection and left some medicine. Sathya was "unconscious" throughout the night. However, an incident occurred in the night which clearly showed that he was not unconscious at all. On the contrary, he was actually supraconscious! Thinking that the condition of the boy might be due to some evil spirit's possession of him, someone suggested that Muthyalamma, a spirit in a cave near the hill, should be propitiated. Volunteers hurried to the temple, climbed down a ladder into the sanctum sanctorum, and offered worship by placing flowers, burning incense, and breaking a coconut. Just when they were doing this in the cave, Sathya, who was to all intents unconscious, said, "The coconut has broken into three pieces," and when the volunteers came home with the offerings, they had with them three pieces of coconut instead of the customary two!
The doctor came again the next morning and declared that the boy was out of danger. Sathya revived in a day or two, then began to behave in an extraordinary manner. This was sometimes explained as "a complete transformation of the personality - the occupation of Sathya's physical frame by Sai Baba of Shirdi."
Nothing could be further from the truth. Sai Baba has said that He Himself initiated the process of manifestation, for he could not wait any longer playing about as a mere boy with "brother," "sister," "classmates," and other secular bonds. He wanted to demonstrate that he was unaffected by poison or the poisonous objective world.
Seshama had informed the family at Puttaparthi about the state of affairs at Uravakonda. He wrote his parents that Sathya was not answering anyone who spoke to him and that it was a Herculean task to make him accept food. He told them Sathya was spending his time mostly in silence, sometimes bursting into song and poetry, sometimes reciting long Sanskrit verses, sometimes expounding the philosophic wisdom of ancient India. Because of unforeseen and inexplicable difficulties which arose to delay them, the parents did not arrive for about a week. Seshama's anxiety increased. He found a man who agreed to travel to Anantapur on a bicycle and to proceed from there to Bukkapatnam and Puttaparthi. While he was describing to the man the route he was to take to reach his parents, Sathya interposed and said, "Why, you need not send for them now; they will be here in half an hour." True to his word, they arrived in exactly one half hour!
The parents caught the infection of fear upon seeing the condition of Sathya, for he sang, spoke, and behaved in a strange manner. Also his body would become stiff intermittently, and he appeared to leave the body and go elsewhere. It was all so mysterious!
One day while Sathya was reposing, seemingly without any awareness of his surroundings, he made reference to the Scripture Reader next door, saying to his parents, "He is reading the Sanskrit book all wrong; he is explaining it in the wrong way. Go and bring him here," he commanded.
The Reader would not come. "What does that boy know about this holy book and the right or wrong of the meaning which I give? How did he hear it, by the way? Tell him to mind his own business," he said, and continued his exposition. But Sathya persisted, and the Reader had to come at least to satisfy the parents, who pleaded, "Please come and teach the boy a lesson in humility. Lately he has become uncontrollable."
When the learned man arrived, Sathya asked him to repeat the exposition, pointed out to him wherein he erred, and poured out in rapid succession a series of questions on the epics which overwhelmed the scholar. Finally he fell at Sathya's feet and asked pardon for not immediately obeying his summons.
The District Medical Officer from Anantapur, who was at Uravakonda at the time, was asked for his opinion by the doctor who was treating Sathya. He judged that the illness was allied to fits, that it was a type of hysteria unconnected with the alleged scorpion sting, and in his wisdom advised a course of medication. This was strictly adhered to for three days, but the symptoms of laughing and weeping, eloquence and silence continued as before. Sathya sang and spoke about God; he described places of pilgrimage to which no one had gone before; he declared that life was all a drama! Astrologers said it was a ghost that possessed the boy, an old occupant of the house - in fact, its first tenant! They chided Seshama for not being more circumspect in his selection of a house. Magicians ascribed the condition to a sudden fright which must have set Sathya's nerves awry. The priest advised Seshama to arrange for a consecration rite in the temple. Wiser men shook their heads and whispered that the ways of God are inscrutable.
Seshama was besieged by a large throng of sympathizers each of whom had his own specific cure for the affliction of his brother. At last he brought an exorciser into the house. On seeing him, Sathya challenged him, "Come on! You have been worshipping me every day, and now that you have come here, your only business is to worship me and clear out." The "ghost doctor" heard the warning administered by the very deity he had chosen for his own personal worship. He left in a hurry, forgetting to collect his fees! He advised Seshama to treat the boy very reverentially, for he was "in touch with God" and certainly not afflicted by the devil.
The parents were disheartened. They took Sathya to Puttaparthi and watched his behavior with increasing fear. The boy himself was heightening the effect by bouts of quietness, song, or discourse. He would suddenly ask his sister, "Here, wave the sacred lamp; the gods are passing across the sky." He would say that his school studies had been disturbed and sing a song composed impromptu on the value of reading and writing and how villagers are duped by the wily moneylender if they are illiterate.
While travelling from Uravakonda, they had taken Sathya to a doctor at Bellary and to another at Dharmavaram. But what could the practitioners diagnose? Their stethoscopes could not decipher the beats of Godhead or reveal the pulse of a soul, much less a Divine Soul determined to transcend the bonds of human convention. Sathya asked his parents, "Why do you worry like this? There will be no doctor there when you go; even if he is there, he cannot cure me."
Since the first reaction to an illness in any village is usually to fear that it is the result of someone's black magic or some evil spirit's taking hold of the patient, two exorcists were called in at Puttaparthi. When one came and sat in the room and drew up a list of the articles necessary to invoke the spirit and transfer the dire symptoms to a lamb or fowl, Sathya laughingly reminded him of some items he had forgotten. He seemed determined to undergo all the travail resulting from their ignorance and superstition, taking it all as fun!
It is almost impossible to understand how the fourteen year old boy passed through the terrors of the treatment at the village of Brahmanapalli near Kadiri. This is a saga of fortitude.
Someone gave information to the worried parents about a powerful practitioner before whom no evil spirit dared wag its poisonous tail! They declared that he would cure Sathya completely and make him fit to go to school again. The bullocks and cart were readied in preparation for the journey, but the bullocks refused to move! There were all kinds of difficulties and sicknesses on the way. At last the place was reached and the "case" handed over to the famous expert in devil-craft.
He was a gigantic figure, terrible to behold, with bloodred eyes and untamed manners. He tried all his devil-craft sacrificing fowl, then a lamb, and making Sathya sit in the center of the circle of blood. He chanted all the incantations he knew. He did not allow the parents to take the boy away, for he assumed it was a case entrusted to him and that it was a trial of strength between his power and that of the young boy who was smiling at his failures! He even attempted desperate techniques with which he had not dared experiment even on his adult patients! For example, he shaved Sathya's head, and then with a sharp instrument scored "x" marks on his scalp from the top of his head all the way to his forehead. Sathya sat through the pain without flinching. The witchdoctor poured on the open wounds of the bleeding scalp the juice of limes, garlic and other acid fruits. The parents, who were watching the proceedings in utter despair, were surprised, for there was not even a tear or a gasp of pain from the young boy! The "torture-specialist" was furious! He arranged that every day for some days, early in the morning, one hundred and eight pots of cold water were to be poured on the scalp. That, too, was done. His armory was now almost empty, and the "evil spirit" that possessed the boy had not admitted defeat; it had not shouted that it would leave him and go elsewhere! He then beat Sathya on the joints with a heavy stick to drive out what he called "stag fever" when the boy moved about, and "rock fever". when the boy was quiet!
Finally he decided to use his strongest weapon which the toughest spirit cannot withstand, the "Kalikam." This is a magic collyrium, a mixture of all the fiery abracadabra in the repertory of torture. He applied it to Sathya's eyes. The parents were aghast at the consequences. Sathya's head and face swelled beyond recognition; they became red, and the burning sensation could be felt even by those who went near, according to the sister Venkamma. His eyes exuded tears and his entire body shook under the impact of pain.
The master of devils was happy that success was in sight, that the spirit would soon take formal leave. Sathya never spoke a word or moved a finger. Those around, especially the parents and sister, felt guilty to be merely helpless onlookers of all this torment. They wept in uncontrollable anguish and tried to console Sathya without the knowledge of the magician, who did not allow anyone to approach his patient. Meanwhile Sathya was making some signs to his parents, off and on, asking them to be quiet. By means of gestures he told them that he would get out of the room under some pretext, and he asked them to be ready for him outside. There he told them to bring a remedy he knew. It was brought and applied to his eyes; the two eyes which had been reduced to the size of thin slits opened wide and the swelling subsided!
He asked later, "Even after seeing all that fortitude and that miracle of a young boy passing unscathed through all that terror, you are not now convinced that I am Sai Baba. How then would you have reacted if I just made the Announcement one fine day? I wanted to make known that I am Divine, impervious to suffering, pain, or joy."
The "doctor" was angered by the interference with the normal course of his treatment; he fretted and fumed as a wild animal balked of its prey. "I was within an inch of victory," he raved. The parents wanted to save their boy from the jaws of that "God of Death" in human form; they had seen and suffered enough. They paid the practitioner full fees, gave him some unasked gifts, and thanked him for all the "learning" he had utilized; they cursed only their fate; they promised to build up the boy's stamina a little more so that he could stand up to this wonderful course of exorcism and then bring him again for the continuation of the "doctor's" attentions. Somehow, they won! The bullocks and cart moved away from the house of horror, and eventually they reached Puttaparthi.
Sathya was still far from normal. Frequently he seemed to be another personality. He recited verses of praise to God and poems far beyond the knowledge of any teen-age boy. Sometimes he evinced the strength of ten; sometimes he was as weak as a lotus-stalk. He argued with adults on the correctness of their conduct and behavior and put them to shame when he proved them wrong.
One friend of the family advised that the boy should be taken to a village a few miles away where a clever "doctor" cured exactly such types of cases by giving some green leaves as a drug.
The bullocks were brought and the cart made ready. Sathya was lifted onto it and the bells started jangling along the fair-weather track.
About half an hour later, Sathya seemed to realize that he was being taken somewhere. He said emphatically, "I do not want to go anywhere; let us go back." Upon saying this, the bullocks came to a halt and could not be persuaded to take a single step forward in spite of the most vigorous tail-twisting. The struggle went on for over an hour, but they refused to budge! Finally their faces were turned home-ward, and immediately the bells jingled merrily once again.
Sri Krishnamacharya, a lawyer and friend from Penukonda, heard of these occurrences in the Raju household and came to the village to study the situation and offer what help he could. He took a good look at Sathya and pondered long, alone on the river bank. Then he told Venkapa Raju, "It is really more serious than I thought. Take him immediately to the Narasimha Temple, the shrine of 'God as Lion-Man'; that is the last chance."
Sathya heard his words and, suddenly turning to him, said, "Funny, is it not? I am already there in that temple and you want to take me to me!" The lawyer had no inclination to cross-examine.
On the twenty-third of May, 1940, the fourteen year old Sathya rose from bed as usual, but soon afterwards called the members of the household round him and presented them with sugar-candy and flowers taken from "nowhere." At this the neighbors rushed in. He gave each a ball of rice cooked in milk, also flowers and sugar-candy, all manifested by a mere wave of the hand. Sathya seemed to be in such a very jovial state that Venkapa Raju was sent for to see him in this welcome happy mood. Venkapa Raju rushed in and had to squeeze his way through the crowd. The people asked him to wash his feet, hands, and face before approaching the Giver of Boons. This incensed Venkapa Raju. He was not impressed at all, thinking it was a trick and that Sathya was hiding things somewhere and producing them by sleight of hand. At least that was what he confessed to the author many years later. He wished that this confusing chapter in their lives be closed before it developed into a tragedy. So he laughed a bitter laugh and accosted the boy within everyone's hearing, "This is getting too much; it must be stopped." Arming himself with a stick, he moved a step nearer and threatened to beat it out of him. "Are you a God, or a ghost, or a mad- cap? Tell me!" he shouted. Promptly came the answer, the Announcement that had been held back so long, "I am Sai Baba."
Further argument became impossible; Venkapa Raju was stunned into silence; the stick fell from his hands. He stood staring at Sathya, trying to grasp the implication of that Announcement, "I am Sai Baba." But Sathya continued, "I belong to Apastamba Sutra, the school of Sage Apastamba and am of the Spiritual Lineage of Bharadwaja; I am Sai Baba; I have come to ward off all your troubles; keep your houses clean and pure." He repeated the two names again and again that afternoon. Brother Seshama went near him and asked, "What do you mean by 'Sai Baba'?" He did not reply, but only said, "Your Venkavadhootha prayed that I be born in your family; so I came."
Who was this Venkavadhootha? When Seshama was asked who he was, he told of a tradition in the family that a sage called Venkavadhootha, who was looked upon as a Guru by the people in hundreds of villages around, had been born in the family years ago.
The villagers heard the name "Sai Baba" with fear and amazement. When they made inquiries, they came to know that a certain officer who was an ardent worshipper of the Muslim recluse, Sai Baba of Shirdi, had come to Penukonda sometime ago. So they proposed that Sathya be taken to him, for he was reputed to be well-versed in the lore of Sai Baba of Shirdi. He must know what Sathya was suffering from and would suggest a way out. He condescended to see the boy but was in no mood to examine his history. He pronounced it as a clear case of mental derangement and advised them to remove Sathya to an institution. Sathya interposed and said, "Yes, it is mental derangement, but whose? You are but a blind servant. You cannot recognize the very Sai whom you are worshipping!" So saying, He took from "nowhere" hands full of Vibhuti, the Sacred Ash, and scattered it in all directions in the room where they were.
The father felt that Sai Baba was speaking through the boy, and asked, "What are we to do with you?" Sathya answered promptly, "Worship Me! When? Every Thursday! Keep your minds and houses pure."
Later, on one Thursday, someone challenged Sathya, asking Him, "if you are Sai Baba, show us some proof now!" They asked in the same spirit that the rustics question the priest of the village temple when he dances in ecstasy while apparently possessed. Baba replied, "Yes, I shall." Then everyone came nearer. "Place in My hands those jasmine flowers," He commanded. It was done. With a quick gesture He threw them on the floor and said, "Look." They saw that the flowers had formed while falling the Telugu letters, "S A I B A B A."
It can be seen that Sathya was preparing the people, step by step, for the new era of Sathya Sai. His unconcerned coolness during all that torture at the hands of the magician made everyone feel that He was no ordinary boy, that He was indeed some superior manifestation. Occasional glimpses of His Divinity had been revealed through an extraordinary precocity in song, dance, music, and poetry. He had demonstrated His Power of journeying outside His Body, His freedom from pain and suffering, and now He had resolved to announce to the world His Reality.
Seshama still had not given up his plans to push Sathya through the High School Course, regardless of everything. He took Him back to Uravakonda in June and had Him admitted to the school. Now Sathya attracted the attention of everyone, for they had all heard of His "madness" and of the frantic efforts of the parents to "cure" Him. The boy was acclaimed as a mysterious prodigy, a tiny "prophet," and was looked upon as a rare curiosity. On Thursdays the house was full of pilgrims from various villages who stayed until the small hours of the night sitting around Sai Baba, offering Him flowers and sweets. He used to point out Seshama to them and say, "Senseless man, he does not believe!" The headmaster of the school bowed before the young pupil; assistant masters, Tammiraju and Sesha Iyengar, saw through the veil and listened to His inspiring words.
Thursdays became big events in Uravakonda. Sathya surprised all when He materialized pictures of Sai Baba of Shirdi, pieces of orange cloth that He said were from the kafni that Sai wore, date fruits that were the offerings at the Shirdi Shrine, as well as flowers, sugar-candy and "Ash." The "Ash" was not the kind taken from a fireplace, but taken straight from "nowhere." One day the teachers of the High School came in a team intent on testing Him, bringing a number of questions which they cast at Him from all angles, helter-skelter. He gave them the answers in the same order as they were put to Him, calling upon each individual teacher to listen carefully to the answer to his particular question. Apart from the aptness and correctness of the answers, the performance was remarkable even as only an intellectual feat!
It was then that an invitation from some townsmen from Hospet gave an idea to Seshama. Hospet is a few miles away from the ruins of Hampi, the capital of the ancient Vijayanagara Empire. The deputy inspector of schools, the health officer, the engineer, some municipal councilors and merchants wanted Sathya to be brought to their town. The brother took the opportunity to go, thinking the long journey and a picnic enroute might improve the mental health of the boy. The Dasara holidays in October came in handy for the trip.
The group arrived at the Hampi ruins. They trudged along the roads once lined by men and women of all the nations of the East as well as travelers and traders from the Middle East and the Mediterranean shores. They saw the elephant stables, the Palace of the Queens, the Coronation Mound, and the Vittalanatha Temple. They proceeded to the huge stone chariot. Finally they came to the Temple of Lord Virupaksha, the patron deity of the Vijayanagara Emperors, who protected and cherished Hindu culture for almost three centuries from 1336 A.D. to 1635 A.D.
It was noticed that throughout the morning Sathya was moving among the ruins unaware, as one in a dream. A reverend sage sitting in front of one of the temples said of him, "This boy, believe me, is Divine." When the party went into the Temple of Lord Virupaksha, Sathya too went with them, but he was more interested in the height and majesty of the Temple gate than in the worship at the sanctum sanctorum. He stood outside and no one pressed him to enter with the others. After a while the priest waved the flame of camphor before the idol of the lingam. (The lingam is the representation of the Formless emerging into Form or the Form merging into the Formless. It is usually oval in shape.) He asked the pilgrims to see the illuminated shrine as the flame lit the interior. Inside the shrine they saw to their utter amazement none other than Sathya! He was standing in the place of the lingam, smiling and erect, accepting their reverent greetings. Everything about the vision of the boy was so thrilling and unexpected that Seshama wanted to verify whether He had not perhaps actually strayed into the shrine evading everybody's notice. So he hurried outside only to find Sathya leaning against a wall, staring at the distant horizon!
The amazement of the members of the party can be better imagined than described. They offered special worship for Him that day, though it was not a Thursday, for their faith in Him as a Manifestation was confirmed. The people of Hospet were alive with expectation and excitement. The story that He was seen in the shrine of Virupaksha while really outside it had spread to the town long before the party's arrival. The next day, Thursday, Sathya, as Sai Baba, cured a chronic tuberculosis patient by His touch and made him get up and walk a mile. He created from "nowhere" a variety of articles for the devotees, and the enthusiasm of the people knew no bounds. Bhajan and Namasamkirtan, chanting and singing together the praises of the Name of God, continued far into the night; no one was in a mood to stop.
One could sense that the young Sai Baba was getting more and more reluctant to be bound by routine. He was tugging at the bonds, for history was whispering in His ear to break away and reach out to the four quarters! The period of probation which Sai Baba had allotted to the people around Him was over. He saw that the moment had come to renounce the family name and declare Himself to be always Sai Baba.
On the twentieth day of October, 1940, the day after they all returned from Hampi by a special bus, Sathya started for school as usual. The Excise Inspector of the place, Sri Anjaneyulu, who was very much attached to the young Baba, accompanied Him as far as the school gate and reluctantly went home. He seemed to see a superb halo around the face of Baba that day, and he could not take his eyes away from that enchantment. Within a few minutes Baba also turned back to the house. Standing on the outer doorstep, He cast aside the books He was carrying and called out, "I am no longer your Sathya. I am Sai." The sister-in-law came from the kitchen and peeped out; she was almost blinded by the splendor of the halo which she saw around Sai Baba's Head! She closed her eyes and shrieked. Baba addressed her, "I am going. I don't belong to you; Maya (illusion) has gone; My devotees are calling Me; I have My Work. I cannot stay any longer." So saying, He turned and left in spite of her pleadings. The brother hurried home on hearing of this, but Sai Baba only told him, "Give up all your efforts to 'cure' Me. I am Sai. I do not consider Myself related to you." Neighbor Sri Narayana Sastri heard the noise; he listened and realized that it was something serious. He ran in. Seeing the splendor of the halo, he fell at Sai Baba's Feet. He too heard the historic declaration: "Maya has left; I am going; My Work is waiting."
Seshama Raju was non-plussed. He could hardly collect his wits to meet the new situation. A boy, just fourteen, talking of devotees, work, illusion, and the philosophy of "belonging!" He could think of only one plan. Sathya was entrusted to him by his parents, and it was therefore his task to inform them and keep Sathya in the house until they came to Uravakonda for Him.
But Sathya would not step into the house again. He moved out into the garden of Sri Anjaneyulu's bungalow and sat on a rock in the midst of the trees. People came into the garden from all directions bringing flowers and fruits. The grove resounded to the voices of hundreds, singing in chorus the lines that Sathya Sai taught them. The first prayer that He taught them that day was, as many still remember:
"Meditate in thy mind on the Feet of the Guru. This can take you across the difficult sea of existence in birth after birth."
His classmates wept when they heard that Sathya would no longer attend school, that He was much beyond their reach, that His company was hereafter only for those upon whom He showered His Grace. Many came to the garden with incense and camphor to worship Him. Some came to sympathize with the family, some to congratulate them. Some came to learn, and some, alas, even to laugh!
Three days passed thus in that garden, three days of worship. A photographer came who wanted Sai Baba to remove a crude stone that was right in front of Him, but Baba did not pay heed to that prayer. The photographer took the picture nevertheless, and lo, the stone had become an image of Sai Baba of Shirdi! But only in the photograph, not for all the people who had assembled there.
One evening while chanting, Baba suddenly said, "0 Maya has come!" ("The illusion is presenting itself.") He pointed out Easwaramma, the mother, who had just arrived in hot haste from Puttaparthi. When the parents pleaded with Him to come home, He retorted, "Who belongs to whom?" The mother wept and prayed but she could not shake the resolve of the boy. He was constantly repeating the statement, "It is all illusion-untrue."
At last He asked the mother to serve Him food. When she served some dishes, He mixed them all up and made the whole lot into a few balls. She handed Him three of these. Swallowing them, He said, "Yes, now False Appearance has failed. There is no need to worry," and He re-entered the garden.
A few days later Sai Baba left Uravakonda. The parents were able to persuade Him to make His way to Puttaparthi by assuring Him that they would henceforth abstain from ridiculing Him or disturbing His task of meeting devotees. Sri Anjaneyulu worshipped His Feet. The townsmen arranged a procession to the very boundary. Lamps were waved in reverence, and music was sung at many places enroute.
Sai Baba was first welcomed at Puttaparthi into the village accountant's house by Subbamma, the accountant's wife. Then Baba stayed for some time at the house of the aged Pedda Venkapa Raju and later moved to the residence of Subbaraju, the brother of Easwaramma. But soon He moved to the house of Subbamma, who tended Him with love and affection and welcomed all the devotees into her spacious home. She spared no effort to make their stay happy and comfortable.
Having declared Himself as Sai Baba of the Bharadwaja Gotram and the Apastamba Sutra, Sathyanarayana Raju was hereafter commonly known either as Bala Sai (Boy Sai) or Sathya Sai Baba, an appellation which He Himself accepted. Singing to God was done in His Presence not only on Thursday evenings, but gradually on every day and sometimes even twice a day, for the pilgrims who began to arrive could not wait until the ensuing Thursday to pay their homage to Him. At first a small room, eight feet by eight, facing the road that led to the house of Pedda Venkapa Raju was utilized as a Hall of Prayer. But it could accommodate only a dozen at the most. Even the road was overflowing with people. A Recruiting Officer from Hindupur came in a jeep for Baba's Darshan (Holy Vision), giving the villagers their first contact with a motor vehicle. Others too came in large numbers. The village accountant's family put up a shed which was enlarged as the months passed. A tent also was rigged up, and some devotees who came from Bangalore and Anantapur pitched their own tents. Finally even the spacious house of the accountant became insufficient, because Sai Baba insisted on feeding all who came to see Him; huge dining halls became necessary.
An old lady who was in the accountant's house during those months said that very often when the food cooked threatened to be insufficient. Baba was quietly informed and He asked that two coconuts be brought. When they were given to Him, He struck one against the other and both broke exactly into halves. He then sprinkled the coconut water on little heaps of rice and the vessels containing other items and gave the signal to proceed with the task of serving all who came that day!
Sai Baba has spoken about the untiring devotion of Subbamma, the accountant's wife. This aged lady looked after the comforts of the pilgrims and had Baba Himself in her house for some years until the building now called "Old Mandir" (or Old Temple) was built in 1944.
Sai Baba composed a number of songs and verses of praise to be used for the occasions of singing and chanting, for Sai Baba of Shirdi was unknown in those areas; these songs refer to Dwarakamayi, Puti Temple, Udi and the Margosa tree, and other details which were strange to the devotees who assembled at Puttaparthi. Many of them are sung even today at the Prasanthi Nilayam, "Place of Peace," the name of the Center of Prayer now in Puttaparthi directed by Sathya Sai Baba.
He used to complain off and on of the "family atmosphere" in the places where He stayed. Young boy that He was, He would disappear during day or night into the mountains that surround the village. Whenever He was found absent, Subbamma and others would search every hill and dale within walking distance. They generally found Him sitting quietly on a rock overlooking the valley, in a cave like hollow or crevice, or on the sands of the river. These disappearances and wanderings gave the people anxiety, for they were ignorant of the true significance of His absences. Some of them were afraid that He would go away to the Himalayas or waste Himself in asceticism, for they did not understand the Nature of the Incarnation or the Purpose for which It had come. Even today, these people continue talking of the spiritual practices of the young boy on the hills, not knowing that He has come to restore the inner path of the Spirit in Man!
One day when a party of devotees was accompanying Baba in a caravan of bullock carts to Uravakonda, He got down from His cart and went into the hills and disappeared. The entire area was searched but there was not a trace of Him. Everyone was in great distress until Baba appeared at about six o'clock in the evening, fresh and smiling, and restored everyone's drooping heart.
In connection with journeys Sai Baba made by bullock cart, an incident occurred which is even now described by Baba with a twinkle of merriment. In spite of occasional moods of solitude which took Him away from His devotees into the hills and dales, He was always a sprightly joyous boy full of practical jokes and fun. Once when about twenty devotees were proceeding along the road to Dharmavaram, Sai Baba and a group of young men were walking behind the bullock carts in the moonlight. Suddenly He moved a few yards away, unnoticed by the rest, and hastened to the cart leading the other carts. There He appeared as a girl of sixteen; she appealed to the persons inside the cart for a lift because her feet were sore. She was to go to Dharmavaram where her husband had been admitted to the hospital. Baba acted the part with so many sighs, rubbing of eyes, and even tears, that the ladies in the cart took pity on the unfortunate "girl" and took her in. After about a mile or so, news came from the end of the line that Sai Baba was missing, and all the carts were brought to a halt; each of the occupants got down and joined the search. They found Him at last, just a few yards ahead of the foremost cart itself. Some of the older men even dared chide Baba for playing hide and seek in strange places in the dead of night! The journey resumed, but another person was now found missing! Where was the girl whose husband was a patient at the Dharmavaram Hospital? Where could she have gone?
Perhaps in her anxiety to be by the bedside of her husband she ran on when the carts stopped to search for Bala Sai. So some fleet-footed young men ran forward, only to bring back the report that the road was deserted for at least two miles ahead! Finally they asked Baba, for they knew He would certainly know the where-abouts of every missing person. Of course He knew! The "girl" was there before them in the form of Baba Himself, the Great Actor.
Venkamma, the sister, pestered Baba for a picture of Sai Baba of Shirdi about whom so many hymns were composed by Baba. Baba told her He would give it to her by a certain Thursday, but He went to Uravakonda on the day previous to the Thursday indicated. She forgot all about it, for she was sure she would get it some day and was not very concerned as to the exact day. Night fell and all were asleep at Puttaparthi. Someone called out "Ammayi, Ammayi" outside the front door. The sister did not go and open the door since the call did not persist. She reasoned that it must be someone calling the neighbor. As she lay in bed, she heard a grating sound behind one of the bags of corn