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- Sathyam Sivam Sundaram - Part II
The Life of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
Written by N. Kasturi M.A., B.L.
Congratulations
Resume - (1926 - 1961)
The Sugar and the Ants
The Task
The Call
This Sivasakthi
The Constant Presence
With Wounded Wings
Incredible! - Still
Holy Joy
Gifts of Grace
Cities Aflame
Signs and Wonders
Facets of Truth
The Call - The Response
janma karma ca me divyam
evam yo vetti tattvatah
tyaktvâ deham punar janma
naiti mâm eti so 'rjunajanma -- birth; karma -- work; ca -- also; me -- of Mine; divyam -- transcendental; evam -- like this; yah -- anyone who; vetti -- knows; tattvatah -- in reality; tyaktva -- leaving aside; deham -- this body; punah -- again; janma -- birth; na -- never; eti -- does attain; mam -- unto Me; eti -- does attain; sah -- he; arjuna -- O Arjuna.
Anyone who knows as such of my Divine birth(s) and activities will never, after leaving his body, take birth again, but will attain Me, O Arjuna.
Source: Bhagavad Gîtâ of Order, Chapter 4, verse 9. *************
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
"He who understands the significance of My Divine Birth and My Divinity will overcome the cycle of Births and Deaths, and attain Me" -- Gîtâ iv-9 --
*************
Congratulations, dear reader! I am glad you have taken this book in your hand and decided to delve into its pages. In the first volume of this book, "Sathyam Sivam Sundaram", I communicated the story of the Advent of the Divine, as Baba, in human form; of the early years of superhuman intelligence; of the epoch-making announcement of the fact of Incarnation; of the marvelous works and signs by which He gives understanding to those whose hearts beat slow; and of the richness of His mercy, the universality of His comprehension, the might and munificence of His compassion.
I am now seventy six years old. He has let me live the last twenty-five years with Him, in Him, through Him, by Him, for Him. This i is but a reflection of the I which is He. I am full of thanks that He has preserved me and that He has permitted and prompted me to declare again, His doings among the peoples.
I am but an amateur sherpa, trudging along the panoramic path to the highest Himalayan Peak, thrilled to sublime silence by the glory and grandeur that grow with every onward step, gasping to tell others, in the anaemic prattle of the plains, the upsurge of empyrean joy. There are thousands, millions, on the mountain tracks, drawn by the strange fascination of the Supreme Power, the Sempiternal Wisdom and the Sovereign Love of the Gaurishankar that Baba is. Many of them have, I know, firmer grasp, finer perception and maturer wisdom. They are more acclimatized to altitudes, and better trained to overcome the hazards of the heights. I do hope you will soon be able to delve in the pages of a book that emerges through such a pilgrim.
Meanwhile, come! Give me your hand; we shall go along, page after page, sharing the wonder and the wisdom, the awe and the mystery, the truth and the testimony, the glory and the grandeur, and the abundance of the peace.
Prasanthi Nilayam
Dasara, 1973
N. Kasturi
A ring of pink-brown hills, a broad deep valley with a river cutting through and emptying into a tank built by an Emperor about six hundred years ago - that is the milieu, where the village of Puttaparthi nestles. It was the seat of a chieftain who ruled over the surrounding area in the past; later, it became desolate and isolated, but, the soil continued to be the nursery of saints and scholars. The family of the chieftain, the Rajus, continued to lead and guide, to teach and train the village youth. Kondamaraju was a saintly centenarian who built a temple for Sathyabhama, the temperamental Consort of Lord Krishna; he was proficient in the ancient texts and scriptures. His eldest son was named by him after a famous recluse who adorned the family tree, Venka Avadhootha (Venka, who had given up all attachments to earthly things); he called him Venkappa Raju. This son married a distant relation, a daughter who was born after the construction of a temple by her father to Siva, (under the appellation, Iswara) and so, named Iswara-amba. They were a pious couple, quiet and contented; the only recreation Venkappa allowed himself was 'playing' epic roles on the village stage just as his father, Kondamaraju did. They had a son and two daughters; then, on November 23, 1926 was born another son, Sathyanarayana, who proved quite soon that he was uniquely Divine in nature and attainments.
His playmates called him, 'Guru' (Preceptor). For he was always correcting them and consoling them; he comforted them in distress and never seemed to get cross or tired. He was a liberal giver, even at that age; for, he pulled out of empty bags, delectable sweets, pencils, pieces of rubber, toys, flowers and fruits for them. When asked how he got them, he answered, 'O, the village Goddess gives me what I want'. That was only to slake their thirst; that was the only answer which would quieten their doubts. But the wonder remained!
It increased when he was put to school; there he acquired a new nickname, "Brahmajnani". It meant "One who has acquired the wisdom that reveals the Inner Reality". What a name for a boy of six summers! At the age of eight Sathyanarayana decided to reveal his mystery by a dramatic miracle; when he was ordered by his teacher to 'stand upon the bench' for listlessness in the class-room, he 'willed' that the teacher stick to the chair, until he stepped down from the bench. It happened so and he became the talk of the region. He was simple and sweet, in spite of all this publicity; he formed a prayer-group of boys in his village and led them from place to place, caroling the hymns he wrote and taught!
He was an adept at dance and music, as well as the histrionic art. Nay, his talents were used even by theatrical companies that toured the country-side; he had the temerity to write songs for them and for himself and even stretches of dialogue, when he was barely 'twelve'. He accompanied his elder brother to Kamalapur and Uravakonda, where he served as a teacher of the Telugu language; at school, in those places, Sathyanarayana stood head and shoulders above even the teachers, for he shone as a poet, playwright, scout, sportsman and songster of extra-ordinary standards of excellence. He had also the mysterious power of tracing lost property, reading others' thoughts, seeing far into the future and deep into the past. He became the pet of the town and was much sought after, by the distressed and the down-trodden.
He sat through the First Year of the High School course and was but a few weeks in the Second Year Class, when the Call of the Task which had brought him among men could no longer be ignored by him. He had already found it hard to cloak his majesty in the petty rigmarole of home and school. When on a picnic with his brother and others among the ruins of the ancient capital of the Vijayanagar Empire (Hampi), he was seen by them as Iswara, where the Iswara idol was installed in the Virupaksha Temple. On the 8th day of March 1940, he could not but leave the body and go to the succor of a devotee in dire distress! This was misunderstood by his brother and others as a scorpion-sting or a snakebite, or a fainting fit, or an attack of hysteria. Doctors, of course, could not diagnose it right. Quacks and sorcerers were tried; they guessed wrong. They only tortured him and proved that the boy could suffer great pain and remain steady and unruffled.
At last, in the village of Puttaparthi, on the twenty-third day of May, 1940, while scattering gifts into the outstretched palms of all who came, Baba declared that He was Sai Baba come again to save humanity from downfall. He asked them to worship him, every Thursday, as the first installment of spiritual discipline. Back at Uravakonda, even while attending school, Sathyanarayana was worshipped as Sai Baba, the Saint of Shirdi come again, according to the promise he had made at Shirdi. Manchiraju Thammiraju the teacher, who loved Sathyanarayana more than any other member of the staff, has written about these Thursdays - how, as Sai Baba, his pupil gave to those who gathered for congregational prayer, sacred ash or other curative gifts of Grace like a piece of the guru gown that Sai Baba wore at Shirdi (the saint had entered the tomb in 1918) that He got by a mere wave of the hand! Hundreds used to flock around Him and interrogate Him on all kinds of subjects, but, He replied calmly and correctly.
He went, on Mahasivarathri (a holy day dedicated to the Worship of Siva) to a Siva temple outside Uravakonda with a few companions including Thammiraju's son, Sairam, and the youths were astounded to find a stream of effulgence flowing from Sathyanarayana towards the Idol of Siva and another flowing from Siva to Sathyanarayana! One Thursday, He informed the wife of Kasibhatla Ramamurthy, "I have placed a picture in your shrine; go and worship it." She hurried thither with some neighbors and opening the locked doors and the closed window shutters, jammed tight to prevent the entry of monkeys, she found a picture of Sai Baba of Shirdi, inside the shrine of her home! He introduced or created such pictures inside many a home during those years - pictures which gave the people their first acquaintance of the Shirdi Saint! Thammiraju's experiences are amazing; Sathyanarayana came into his house one evening and on the wall of his modest home, He called up, as in a movie, the sacred Forms of the Ten Incarnations of the Lord, besides life-like portraits of many sages and saints mentioned in the sacred scriptures. His wife was so moved by this uplifting experience that she wrote a poem on it in Telugu; it was published in the 'Sai Sudha' magazine of Madras. Another day, Sathyanarayana gave him a picture of Shirdi Baba in an astoundingly new way - a bumble bee entered his room through an open window, with something rolled held fast by its legs. It dropped it and flew off; the paper was unrolled; it was a picture of the Shirdi Lord! A few days later, a monkey perching on the window, outside his room, threw a small bundle of cloth into it; when the bundle was opened Thammiraju writes, it was found to contain a ball of sweets! and a letter! from Sathyanarayana who was away at Puttaparthi! And what did the letter say? "The other day, I sent you with the bumble-bee My! picture; today, I am sending herewith Prasadam for you." Others too had amazing experiences of the Divine powers of the teenage Baba; but, he was biding the moment for Full Manifestation and Final Declaration.
October 20, 1940; that was the Day He chose. That day, returning sooner than usual from school, He threw his books outside the door of his brother's house, and, when his sister-in-law came out to discover what the cause of the noise was, she was astonished to hear Him say, "I do not belong to you. I am leaving; I have work ahead." Then he stepped down and took the road. "Those devoted to Me are calling Me. The task for which I came is yet unfinished: I am starting now," He said, and walked vigorously off. He was accosted by the learned Pandit, Narayana Sastry, the neighbor, who ran up and tried to stop him; he was half afraid of the boy, for, he had called him out one day when he was expounding a difficult Sanskrit text and corrected his interpretation. This time, when he expostulated with the boy, he saw a halo around His head and was rendered mute. The brother too failed to make Him retrace His steps; Sathyanarayana told him, "The illusion has gone; I am no more yours; I am Sai Baba, remember."
Baba proceded to a garden around the house of the Inspector of Excise, for it was extensive and open; He sat under a tree with the whole town around Him. Immediately, He inaugurated the Bhajan that was to progress so quickly and dramatically in every nook and corner of this vast land, revolutionizing the habits and attitudes, the nature and character of hundreds of thousands. The very first song which He taught the astonished mass of humanity was an invitation to surrender to the Feet of the Guru who had so mercifully appeared. It also contained a lesson that Baba has always emphasized since then that Bhajan or reverential adoration must be a mental upsurge, not an oral exercise. It ran thus:
"Manasa Bhajare Guru Charanam,
Dustara Bhava Sagara Taranam
Guru Maharaj Guru Jai Jai
Sai Natha Sad Guru Jai Jai
Om Namah Shivaya Om Nama Shivaya
Om Namah Shivaya Shivaya Namah Om
Arunachala Shiva Arunachala Shiva
Arunachala Shiva Aruna Shiva Om
Omkaram Bhava Omkaram Bhava
Omkaram Bhava Om Namo Baba"Sai Baba returned to Puttaparthi or rather was brought there by the "parents"; they prayed to Him not to leave the village. Now, every day became a Thursday and large groups of people gathered to have His Darsan and Blessings. Baba spent most of the time at the village in the house of the Brahmin Karnam (hereditary village accountant) of the village where the aged Subbamma served the pilgrims with care and love. He granted many people their wishes, which ranged from a vision of Dwarakamayi (ruined mosque where Sai Baba spent His days) at Shirdi to the cure of an ulcer or an ache. He sat on most evenings among the devotees, on the sands of the Chithravathi River and created from the sand images, pictures, idols, sweets and fruits. He climbed the hills around and vouchsafed to the groups below, visions of the splendor and effulgence associated with Siva, Narayana, Kumaraswamy and other Forms of God. He plucked from the branches of the tamarind tree growing on the hill apples, mangoes, figs, bananas and grapes and distributed them to the devotees. He showed them Himself as Krishna or as any one of the Ten Incarnations of Vishnu, or as Siva.
He also gave guidance to many, who were struggling along the hard path of spiritual Sadhana. For example, there came to Puttaparthi a lame monk, whose attainments were two popular vows: he would not speak out, he would only write what he had to say; he refused to wear clothes. Baba saw through this exhibitionist asceticism; he requested him either to retire into the forest for Sadhana (He assured him that he would ensure him food and shelter even there) and save his devotees the ignominy and the burden; or, to resume talk and clothes, which are not handicaps to spiritual effort. This incident happened when Baba was scarce sixteen. People felt that this was the task for which He had come; correcting and guiding erring men.
One devotee had run deeply into debt and so he decided to escape into Burma or Malaya. He went to Madras Harbour to purchase a ticket for the journey, his pocket was picked; penniless he returned to his hotel; there was a letter from Baba on the table, advising him, commanding him, in fact, to return and brave it out. He did, and is today, quite happy, with the wife and child whom he had then decided to desert! How did Baba know his address at Madras?
Hearing that Sai Baba had come again, many who had been to Shirdi and many who had lost all hope of contacting the Saint hastened to Puttaparthi; they took Him to Hyderabad, Bangalore, Madras, Karur, Trichinopoly and Udumalpet. Rajas, and Zamindars, ryots and clerks, doctors and lawyers thronged the house of Subbamma and later, the tiny little Mandir that she and others built for Baba.
Baba was now twenty years of age; His elder brother, Seshamaraju, the teacher of Telugu, could not quite grasp the mystery of this phenomenon. He watched with increasing consternation and genuine fraternal love the procession of cars that came to the right bank of the river and took his 'simple village-grown brother' away into the cities that glittered beyond the horizon, full of temptations and pitfalls. A few press comments that rose from ignorance pained him. So, he wrote a letter to his brother warning him and imparting to him the lesson he had learnt in life about society and human foibles, about fame and its attendants.
The reply that Sai Baba wrote to him on the 25th May, 1947 is in my possession. It is a Document that reveals Baba in unmistakable terms. So I must allow you to have it: "To all who are devoted to me" (Though the letter was written by the brother, the reply is addressed to all, including you and me, for it is essential that you and I should know the real nature of the Phenomenon that has appeared for our sake.)
"My dear One! I received the communication that you wrote and sent; I found in it the surging floods of your devotion and affection, with the undercurrents of doubts and anxiety. Let Me tell you that it is impossible to plumb the hearts and discover the natures of Jnanis, Yogis, ascetics, saints, sages and the like. People are endowed with a variety of characteristics and mental attitudes; so, each one judges according to his own angle, talks and argues in the light of his own nature. But, we have to stick to our own right path, our own wisdom, our own resolution without getting affected by popular appraisal. As the proverb says, it is only the fruit laden tree that receives the shower of stones from passers-by. The good always provoke the bad into calumny; the bad always provoke the good into derision. This is the nature or this world. One must be surprised if such things do not happen.
The people too have to be pitied, rather than condemned. They do not know. They have no patience to judge aright. They are too full of lust, anger and conceit to see clearly and know fully. So, they write all manner of things. If they only know, they would not talk or write like that. We, too, should not attach any value to such comments and take them to heart, as you seem to do. Truth will certainly triumph some day. Untruth can never win. Untruth might appear to overpower Truth, but its victory will fade away and Truth will establish itself.
It is not the way of the great to swell when people offer worship, and shrink when people scoff. As a matter of fact, no sacred text lays down rules to regulate the lives of the great, prescribing the habits and attitudes that they must adopt. They themselves know the path they must tread; their wisdom regulates and makes their acts holy. Self-reliance, beneficial activity - these two are their special marks. They may also be engaged in the promotion of the welfare of devotees and in allotting them the fruits of their actions. Why should you be affected by tangle and worry, so long as I am adhering to these two? After all, the praise and blame of the populace do not touch the Atma, the reality; they can touch only the outer physical frame.
I have a 'Task': To foster all mankind and ensure for all of them lives full of Ananda. I have a 'Vow': To lead all who stray away from the straight path, again into goodness and save them. I am attached to a 'Work' that I love: To remove the sufferings of the poor and grant them what they lack. I have a 'reason to be proud', for, I rescue all who worship and adore Me, aright. I have My definition of the 'Devotion' I expect: Those devoted to Me have to treat joy and grief, gain and loss, with equal fortitude. This means that I will never give up those who attach themselves to Me. When I am thus engaged in My beneficial task, how can My Name be ever tarnished, as you apprehend? I would advise you not to heed such absurd talk. Mahatmas do not acquire greatness through some one calling them so; they do not become small, when some one calls them small. Only those low ones who revel in opium and ganja but claim to be unexcelled Yogis, only those who quote scriptural texts to justify their gourmandry and pride, only those who are dry-as-dust scholars exulting in their casuistry and argumentative skill, will be moved by praise or blame.
You must have read life-stories of saints and Divine personages; in those books, you must have read of even worse falsehoods and more heinous imputations cast against them. This is the lot of Mahatmas, everywhere, at all times. Why then do you take these things so much to heart? Have you not heard of dogs that howl at the stars? How long can they go on? Authenticity will soon win.
I will not give up My Mission, nor My determination. I know I will carry them out; I treat the honor and dishonor, the fame and blame that may be the consequence with equal equanimity. Internally, I am unconcerned. I act but in the outer world; I talk and move about, for the sake of the outer world and for announcing My coming to the people; else, I have no concern even with these.
I do not belong to any place; I am not attached to any name. I have no ' mine' or 'thine'. I answer whatever the name you use. I go, wherever I am taken. This is My very First Vow. I have not disclosed this to any one so far. For me the world is something afar, apart. I act and move only for the sake of mankind. No one can comprehend My Glory, whoever he is, whatever his method of enquiry, however long his attempt.
You can yourself see the full Glory in the coming years. Devotees must have patience and forbearance.
I am not concerned nor am I anxious that these facts should be made known; I have no need to write these words; I wrote them, because, I felt you will be pained, if I do not reply. Thus, your Baba."
What a letter this! It is an epic epistle; a parting of the curtain, to give us a quick glimpse of the God in this human frame!
No wonder hundreds flocked to the village of Puttaparthi to have the Darsan of Sai Baba and to derive the benefits that the Grace of God can bestow on the meek, the lowly and the distressed. The Mandir built in the village to supersede the tiny room next to Subbamma's house had also to be changed; the festivals of Navarathri and Sivarathri attracted tens of thousands, especially the latter, since symbols of the Siva that He is, formed themselves in Him and emerged at the sacred hour which the scriptures declare as auspicious and significant. Devotees took delight arranging processions through the streets of the village, every day, during the Navarathri or Festival of Nine Nights.
So, a site was chosen outside the village and a spacious Prayer Hall-cum-Residence was constructed. Baba named it 'Prasanthi Nilayam', the Abode of the Highest Peace, for, He, the source, the sustainer and the sustenance of that Peace, had that as His visible Abode. From this Nilayam, the Message that every man's heart must be transmuted into a Prasanthi Nilayam is radiating in all directions and the discipline necessary for this alchemy is being taught, with sympathy and understanding, to all mankind.
Baba refers to Himself as 'Sai Baba' and to the Sai Baba of Shirdi as 'My previous Body'. He speaks of His having come down, like Rama and Krishna, for the restoration of Truth and Morality, Peace and Love among mankind, for instilling faith in God among men who deny Him through pride and ignorance, and for saving the good from the talons of the bad. He had announced that till the age of sixteen He will be mostly engaged in sportive pursuits, and that from then on until the age of thirty two, He will be drawing people to Him by means of Mahimas or miracles; for, as He has so often said, without these 'visiting cards', no one can gauge even a fraction of His Glory. "I shall give you what you want, so that you may want what I have come to give", is what Baba has said, at Shirdi, while in His previous body. These miracles range from revealing to those who go to Him their past and future, to shaping their future as He wills it to be; by a wave of His hand, He changes empty air into sacred ash, sweets, images, idols, flowers, fruits, books, bowls, rosaries, crucifixes, drugs, dolls - in short, all things that man is accustomed to, as well as many that he has not known.
"If I had come amongst you as Narayana with four arms holding the Conch, the Wheel, the Mace and the Lotus, you would have kept Me in a museum and charged a fee for those who seek Darsan; if I had come as a mere man, you would not have respected My teaching and followed it for your own good. So, I have to be in this human form with supra-human wisdom and powers," Baba has said. Baba is every moment the spiritual guide, which is His prime role, though He had said that He would begin His Upadesh or Teaching only when He reached His thirty-second year. He was too full of kindness to wait until then, to remove the ignorance of men, ignorance, that is leading them on to war and ruin.
Since 1947, Baba has emerged as the Great Teacher of the People. That year, He presided over the All India Divine Life Conference, at Venkatagiri and all those who heard Him, monk or scholar or literateur, ryot or industrialist, young or old, man or woman, were moved by a strange exhilaration into the new world of the spirit. Thereafter, Swami Sadananda, the author of a commentary on Patanjali's Yoga Suthra and of other valuable books as well as Swami Satchidananda followed Him for months and persuaded Him to visit Rishikesh and Kashmir, Delhi Mathura and Brindavan. They had the good fortune to witness some astounding miracles and hear many satisfying interpretations of religious doctrine and spiritual discipline, which they spread enthusiastically among those who contacted them. Baba made them His instruments for announcing His advent.
In fact, every person who came to Him either for getting some physical illness cured or getting over some secular handicap or to be helped over a spiritual stile which he could not negotiate, became a loud herald of the tidings that a Divine Phenomenon has appeared in human Form inviting all with sweetness and love, to receive from Him joy and peace, security and liberation.
In February, 1958, on the sacred occasion of Sivarathri Baba inaugurated a monthly magazine to convey His Teachings into every home, a magazine which He named, "Sanathana Sarathi" (the Timeless Everpresent Charioteer) ever intent on taking us to the goal of Peace, Everlasting Prasanthi. This magazine is published in English and many languages other than the Telugu original; it has brought Baba into thousands of homes and hearts. It has also been the vehicle for a series of books from the Divine Pen, as well as for the inimitably wise and simple discourses that Baba gave in the cities and villages He deigned to visit, at the request of devotees.
The revival of Dharma (the regulated life of the spirit affecting every detail of the process of living, with liberation from the consequences of ignorance always in view) is the avowed purpose of all Incarnations of the Divine. Baba too, has come for the same task. The revival of scriptural studies, of classical mores, of prayer, of temple-ritual, of simple living and high thinking, of piety and virtue - these are all items in the programme of uplift that Baba has burdened Himself with.
His visits to the ancient temples of Ayodhya, Varanasi and Badrinath were for "charging the batteries that had gone weak", as He said. These are but stray examples of His overwhelming Love for Mankind. His ministration of the sick, the insane, the desperate and the downtrodden and His "extra-corporeal journeys" to save men from calamity or to bless them at the moment of departure from the physical cage, proclaim His Mission of Bhaktharakshana (Guarding the Good). His Touch, His Word, the very sight of Him has opened a new chapter in the lives of many a sinner, miser, and atheist, idler, agnostic and ascetic. The revised edition of the First part of this Book published in 1961 gives the Divine Life of Sri Sathya Sai Baba until the epoch-making visit to Badrinath. I am thankful for this chance to continue the purifying record in this Second Part of the same Book, for which the only fit title is "Sathyam Shivam Sundaram" for, His Nature and His Reality are Truth, Light and Beauty, Sath, Chith and Ananda, Existence, Awareness and Bliss.
Many a Sadhaka and Seeker has announced the deep desire that he should remain an ant, tasting the sugar, that is God, grain by grain; he does not like to become the sugar, which does not know how to taste itself. When someone prayed to Baba that He reduce the number of days when He is away from the Prasanthi Nilayam on tour, He replied, "Yes, you think it is more appropriate that the ants come to the sugar but, consider this; how can the poor, the sick, the aged, the infirm, for whom I have come, travel to Prasanthi Nilayam? I must go near them and speak to them, so that they may make their own homes and hearts the Nilayams of Prasanthi." This then is the reason why Baba moves, wherever Mercy takes Him and Agony draws Him. As described in the First Volume of this Book, Baba returned from Badrinath on the third day of July, 1961. Speaking about the journey to Badrinath to a gathering at Bukkapatnam near the Nilayam, Baba said, "We saw thousands of old and decrepit men and women, besides others stronger and younger, braving the cold and hunger, the storm and rain, the risky landslides on the road, trudging along regardless of the cost and distance, to get a glimpse of Narayana installed there. When in Ayodhya, I could see and sense the constant recitation of Rama-nam by almost all people there. I am often asked where Dharma has taken refuge in this Iron Age. Well Dharma is still flourishing in the hearts of these thousands, I reply."
Baba left for Mysore City during the month-end, for the devotees there wanted Him to be with them for Guru Poornima, the Full Moon dedicated to the worship of one's spiritual preceptor. That evening, He reminded a gathering of 20.000 that Mysore was famous for the fragrance of its sandalwood and the musical attainment of its people. "But, I want the fragrance of Prema to fill each act of yours; I want the harmony and melody of music to permeate every sprout of thought, every tendril of emotion, every bud of speech. The Guru is adored in India as the physician who corrects vision with the medicated unguent called Janan; he cures other diseases too, diseases which afflict the mind and warp the judgment, like the jaundice of malice, the anemia of envy, the fever of greed and the paralysis of hate. You must seek a Guru who can diagnose correctly and prescribe both the drug and the regimen; you should submit to both with care and faith. If a human preceptor is not available, prayer will induce the Lord within to awaken and guide."
Referring to the panic that was fanned by the astrologers of the East and West over the 'ominous' conjunction of eight planets between the 2nd and 5th days of February, 1962, He explained that they would only 'appear' as conjoined along a line and that there was no reason for fear. "Many are advising you to win the favour of the Gods so that they may spare you from calamity; many are collecting funds to perform rites which can ward off the fire and fury which are predicted. I do not object to prayer, or to the rites, for they are good in themselves, apart from the planetary phenomenon. But, do not be misled into inviting terror into your hearts. There will be no convulsion in Nature, no tornado or torrential flood, no damage to earth or sky! The only calamity that will take place is the forfeiture of deposit money by a number of defeated candidates, contesting the General Elections that month!"
During the fateful week, Baba was a tower of strength for millions in panic. He allayed the fear aroused by the soothsayers of many lands. Lavagnani, the Mexican Astrologer, quoted by the Illustrated Weekly of India, wrote, "It may be particularly unsafe on those first days of February to travel, either by air or sea, and even in some places, to sleep in a house." An Indian astrologer with a vast American clientele wrote, "A very severe type of earthquake and severe cold waves will happen as a result of the Febuary '62 combination." Civil strife, racial tensions, military crises, political upheavals, famines - these were predicted by popular prognosticators, both "scientific and unscientific" in almost all lands. Many people came over to Prasanthi Nilayam, to be in that Haven of Peace during the critical week.
Experiencing His Love and Grace that gave courage and strength, many devotees were tempted to believe another and smaller group of astrologers who drew other conclusions. Bellairs of Johannesburg said, "The planetary situation may refer to the coming of the New World Teacher, either His Birth, or His Entry into His Ministry." There was also the widely publicized statement of A.N. Chandra: "This unique configuration may even indicate the Advent of a Great Religious Leader, who will bring solace to the distressed and harassed people of the modern world." They knew that the New World Teacher had come and had entered upon His Ministry; they knew that Baba was granting solace to the distressed and harassed people of the modern world. He was announcing it, as the task for which He has come!
From Mysore, Baba went into the Wild Life Sanctuary, called Abhayaranyam, (the Forest where there is no Fear). Baba loves to meet the denizens of the Forest for they too are His children, creeping, crawling, trailing, walking, flying, from birth to birth, towards His Feet. Before a fortnight was over, He was at Hyderabad for a short visit and from there, He motored 600 long miles to Udumalpet to bless a Hospital and a College. Returning via Madurai, He reached Ootacamund, the Crest Jewel of the Nilgiris, Queen of Indian Hill Stations, where are preserved still, both simplicity and spiritual sanity. They had Baba with them on the Krishna Janmashtami, the Birthday of Krishna who is adored and loved in India by every mother and child in the land, by every scholar and saint, by every philosopher and pundit, by every seeker and saint. Baba told the gathering that Krishna was the very embodiment of Prema, that the word meant "He who attracts, draws the mind towards Him." He reminded them that whoever adores Krishna must cultivate this Love. Krishna also means, "to plough, to plant and grow;" so, every person who reveres Krishna must plough the field of his heart, remove the weeds of passion, sow the seeds of Love, and foster the plants with vigilant care, until the blossoms of Seva (Loving Service) yield the fruits of Ananda.
Dasara, 1961 which came soon after, was memorable for many reasons. On the very first day, Baba gave a glimpse of His Glory when He announced, "You have read that the Lord saved Draupadi from humiliation [see the Bhagavatha, Chapter 20], Gajendra from the quagmire, Arjuna from defeat [see: Bhagavat Gîtâ of Order and Links], Ahalya from petrification, [see Ramakatha Rasavahini, Chapter 7b]. Dhruva from ignominy [see Srîmad Bhâgavatam, Canto 4], Prahlâda from annihilation [see Srîmad Bhâgavatam Download]. You do not know of countless other acts of Grace. Similarly, for every act of Grace which you know this Form has done, there are thousands you do not know! Rama was the embodiment of Sathya and Dharma; Krishna, of Santhi and Prema. Now, when skill is skipping faster than self-control, when science laughs at Sadhana, when hate and fear have darkened the heart of man, I have come, embodying all the four. I have come, equipped with such limitations as will help you to contact Me and derive benefit from My coming. I manifest such powers, as will help Me to confer the benefits I have planned for you and which you deserve. In a short time, within years, the number of which can be counted on the fingers of one hand, you will see here the suffering, the aspiring and the inquiring, from every part of this world. The number will be so large that the sky alone can be the roof that can shelter them." Another day, 21st October, He announced that the Mission of the Revival of Dharma for which, He had come has begun. "Until now, it was in the preparatory stage; from now on, the work will proceed without slackening speed. It is now for you to share in this campaign for the liberation of man from ignorance. In no previous era have men got so many and so clear intimations of the Advent of the Avathar, as now."
On 23rd November, 1961, during the Birthday Celebrations, the book, "Sathyam Sivam Sundaram" written in English, of which this is the second part, the first full-length biography of Baba, was reverentially placed at His Feet by me, whom He graciously chose as the instrument for that task. Baba said, "You might wonder why I permitted the publication of a book on My Life. "Ramayathi ithi Rama" (He who gives joy is Rama). The joy in the devoted heart is the joy that pleases the Lord. The joy of the Lord is the reward that the devoted heart seeks. I responded to the prayer of devotees and allowed him to write it. The title, "Sathyam, Sivam, Sundaram" speaks of Me, as immanent in every one of you. For, Sathyam is Truth; you resent any imputation of untruth. The real 'you' is Sathyam. How then will it accept any other appellation? So too, you are Sivam; joy, happiness, contentment, auspiciousness. You are not Savam; dead, miserable, weak; you are Sivam. Then again, the real 'you' is Sundaram; beauty, harmony, melody, symmetry. You resent and very naturally, when you are described as 'ugly'. You are the Atma, which is entangled in the body, a wave of Sathyam Sivam and Sundaram, playing on the Ocean of Sathyam Sivam and Sundaram, which is the Lord." "Getting to know Me, through this Book, or, more clearly through the Book of your own experience, is part of the destiny of mankind today. Each one of you has to be saved, and will be saved. I shall not give you up, even if you keep afar. I shall not forsake even those who deny Me, for, I have come for all. Those who stay away and those who stray away will also be drawn near and saved; do not doubt this. I shall beckon them and bless them." Do we need any clearer intimation than this, about His Grace and His Divinity?
After the Birthday Celebrations, Baba left for the village of Repalle, in Guntur District, to install a marble idol of His previous Appearance in the temple there. Baba had installed such idols in a few places previously, at Madras and Coimbatore and at the Ayodhya Asram, near Madanapalle. At Madras, where he had sanctified the temple at Guindy, in His twenty-second year, the Bhaktha who had built the temple washed and worshipped His Feet and wanted an impression of the Feet on a piece of silk cloth in sandal paste. Baba said, "I shall give you the Feet of 'Sai Baba', My previous Body!" and lo, the Impression that the silk cloth received from those lovely tender Feet of His was that of a pair of Feet, nearly double the size of Baba's, and definitely that of a person above sixty years of age! The silk cloth with the sandal paste impression that He gave so miraculously to prove that He is "the same Baba come again" is there, inside the shrine at Guindy, for all to see!
No wonder the people of Repalle were elated when Baba agreed to install Himself in the temple they built; no wonder too, that hundreds of thousands converged on that place to get the Darsan of Baba. The idol had to be brought to the bungalow where He stayed, for, the roads that led to the temple were too thickly packed. While the initial rites were gone through Baba created a charming little golden idol of Sai Baba and placed it on the head of the idol. Late at night, when the roads become negotiable, the idol was taken into the temple. Baba placed the golden statuette in a cavity on the floor and, over it, He wanted a marble slab to be drawn. The idol was installed on the slab. Thus, the mysteriously created golden image became the unseen but potent source of Grace in that temple, just as the Linga which Sankara-charya placed was the source of the potency of Narayana at Badrinath! Baba reminded the thousands who had gathered to listen to His Words; "This idol is only a container; the thing contained is Sai Thathwa, which is the Divine Essence. Pour that Essence in this container, it is called Sai Baba. Pour it in another; it is Srinivasa, Siva, Krishna or Rama."
"You should now infuse this marble with your faith and devotion and make it live; having installed Sai in your village, install Him in your hearts, on the altar of Prema, for Sai is Premaswarupa. Sai is not a temple dweller; He dwells only in hearts." Baba by His Sweetness and universal love entered the hearts of all the thousands who milled around Him for Darsan. Many who then touched the hem of His silken gown will remember it for years!
From Repalle, Baba went to the town of Eluru, where at the Githa Bhavan, He had to install two life-size marble idols of Radha and Krishna. He was accorded a Reception, which Baba felt was too extravagant. He chided the organizers, "Whoever has heard of the master of a household being received into his home by his children, with fire works and flags, poetry and pomp?" Baba created for the rite of installation, the nine gems, as well as a mystic cryptogram on metal which can ward off evil forces from the eight directions. He said that Radha and Krishna formed the Prakrithi-Purusha Duet, Creation and the Creator, Patent and Latent. Radha is the adhar (basis) for the dhara (continuous stream) of aradh (worship). That is to say, Radha is the created universe which has to be used by man for discovering the Divinity immanent in it, the Divinity that is revealed as beauty, truth and goodness, as Sath Chith and Ananda, as Sathyam Sivam and Sundaram.
Back in Bangalore in December, Baba inaugurated a Society of Sanathana Social Workers, for as He said, "The word, sanathana, in the name of your Society has brought Me here today. You are all Sanathana, eternal, though you believe you are nuthana, new. In India, the science of recognizing the reality of man, his glory, his divinity, has been taught from ancient times. Only those who have learnt this science deserve to be children of this land; the others, though they are born here, are essentially aliens."
At Bangalore, as well as later, at the Prasanthi Nilayam, He assured people that the Ashtagrahakoota, or Conjunction of Eight Planetary Bodies which by its imminence was darkening weak minds with clouds of fear, boded no ill. He said, "No additional calamity will come about, consequent on the conjunction; in fact, the confusion existing now will become a little less! When the Avathar has come," He asked, "why shiver in dread, at imaginary dangers?" "Believe Me" He declared, "nothing will happen; no, there is no danger at all." And, as Baba willed, nothing happened.
On the holy day of Sivarathri, 1962, which fell on the 4th March, Baba advised the thousands who had witnessed the emergence of two golden Lingas from Him, "Why do you discuss and debate among yourselves about My nature, My Mystery, My miracle, My reality? Fish cannot gauge the sky; the gross can grasp only the gross. The eye cannot see the ear, though it is so near. When you cannot reach down to your own reality, why waste time trying to explore the essence of God? You are like a Telugu audience sitting through a Tamil picture or a Malayali sitting through a Japanese picture. The nuances, the subtler significances, the deeper meanings and inter-relationships, the inner patterns of the fabric, are beyond his understanding. Sit through the entire film; master the language and the technique; watch earnestly and vigilantly and try to imbibe the meaning of every gesture and act and word; then, you may know Me, a little."
Festivals at Prasanthi Nilayam afford the people the chance to hear the discourses of Pundits learned in the science of spiritual disciplines and of meeting brothers and sisters who have experienced Baba's might, majesty, or mystery. They return to their homes, full of the inspiration derived from the soul-strengthening discourses of Baba, wiser, sadder and often purer in habits and mental impulses. Many among them stay on for the chance of the precious interview with Baba. Therefore, Baba is engaged for hours on end, morning, noon and evening in calling in and conversing with the thousands who keep on at the Nilayam, until they are thus favoured and blessed. It is a clear sign of His Grace that He thus keeps Himself busy with our petty trivialities and pestering desires, though in the discourses He gives, He is advising man to give up the demeaning attachment to the physical and the secular. He knows that longer exposure to His Glace and Grace will wean us away into Sadhana and success.
Baba left for Thirupathi, after most of the people praying for interviews had been satisfied. It was the Thyagaraja Festival that drew Him there. Had not Thyagaraja, the singer-saint of the 1830's, appeared in a dream and directed Sri Nagarathnamma, his incomparable disciple, to proceed to Venkatagiri so that he can have Darsan of "the Lord whom he adored?" Nagarathnamma had gone wondering who the Lord was; he saw Baba there!
That explains Baba's statement in His Discourse, "I come often to this Festival, for I feel it is a part of the task for which I have come." "Thyagaraja had given up attachment to sensory pleasure; he had discovered the supreme joy of inner contemplation; he expressed that joy in moving musical notes, in simple sincere words, in songs that thrill the heart and illumine the intelligence. Thyagaraja knew the secret of surrender. Without surrender, man can have no liberation. Cross out the I, and you are free. How to kill the I? Place it at the Feet of the Lord, saying, 'You' not I; and, you are free from the burden that is crushing you."
Dasara, 1962! On the 29th September, the First Day of the Ten Days' Festival, while hoisting the Prasanthi Flag on the Nilayam, Baba declared, "At Prasanthi Nilayam, every day is a Festival Day: every moment is a holy moment. As the saying goes, "Nithya kalyanam. Paccha Thoranam" (Perpetual Festivity, perpetually Green.) During that Dasara, Baba inaugurated, in clear unmistakable ways, His task, which He defined as "Vedasamrakshana, Vidwathposhana and Dharmasthapana." All three are interdependent; the Vedas are the bases of Dharma; the Vidwans are the instruments; Dharma is the panacea for the illness of mankind." In the Githa, Lord Krishna has affirmed that He embodies Himself and incarnates among men in order to fulfill the task of Dharmasthapana. The assurance then; the fulfillment now! Let us keep our eyes open and bright, to bear witness to the wonders of the Advent.
Baba visited the foremost Saivite shrine of India, Varanasi and the foremost Vaishnava shrine, Badrinath in 1961 in order to infuse spiritual power in those dynamos of Grace. At Varanasi, He created a unique jewel to be placed on the idol of Visweswara declaring that it has the mystic might to charge that symbol of the Lord with Divine potency. At Badrinath, He drew from under the present Narayana image, a Nethra-linga which according to Him was brought from Mount Kailasa (!) and ceremonially installed there, by no less a person than Sankaracharya about twelve hundred years ago! This Nethralinga when it emerged at the call of Baba, created a chapter in history; a Linga as the basis of the celebrated Vaishnava shrine was a welcome reminder of the basic harmony of Saivites and Vaishnavites.
Tradition has it that the present Narayana idol at Badrinath was thrown by alien hands into the Alakananda river and that after long and strenuous asceticism, Sankaracharya was rewarded with the revelation that it was sunk in the Narada Kunda of that river. Sankaracharya recovered it and installed it at its present site.
Therefore, when Baba announced that the Nethralinga was the original nucleus which had to be "energized" by Him (with suitable rites and ceremonial ablutions with the sacred waters of the Gangothri, the golden Bilva leaves and the actual Thumme flowers which He miraculously procured on the spot) even the Trustees of the Badrinath temple were pleasantly surprised!
Baba spoke of the Linga as being one of the Five Lingas which Sankaracharya brought from Kailas and installed in India, and so, the wonder grew; earnestness to know more of this divine mission of Sankara was aroused in many. Those who knew Him accepted the accuracy of this exalted origin of the Linga which they were privileged to see for some precious minutes on that never-to-be forgotten day. Saligrama Srikantha Sastry was one of those who were afflicted by this earnestness to discover the authenticity. He had studied the Sankara-vijaya, the classical biography of Sankaracharya; he sought to know the origins of the Lingas that had been installed by Sankaracharya in the monasteries he had founded. In the reply he received from the Sringeri Math, the monastery established by Sankaracharya amidst the mountains of western Mysore, he was told that mention was made of these Lingas in the Sivarahasya Mahethihasa, a book which he was able to get after elaborate search from the library of a Vedic College at Varanasi. In the XVI chapter of the IX Section of this book, it is said that Lord Siva welcomed Sankara at Kailas and blessed him with the words, "You are marked out for the establishment in the world of the true teaching of the Vedas, viz., Adwaitha. Spend 32 years of your earthly existence spreading this faith and overwhelming those who decry or deny it. Accept these five Lingas that I am giving you now. Worship them with the Panchakshari and with Satharudrabhisheka. Offer the sacred Bilva leaf and Ash and recite the holy Pranava. Complete your three Tours of Victory dispelling the darkness of Dwaitha and then, install these Lingas from this thrice-holy Kailasa, marked by the effulgence of the Crescent, named Yoga Bhoga Vara Mukthi and Moksha, in sacred sites chosen by you, before you shed this mortal frame at Kanchipuram." So, the story of the Linga at Badrinath was authentic!
The Sankara-vijaya of Anandagiri mentions that one of the Lingas was installed at Nilakantha-kshetra, which reminds us of the snow-clad Nilakanthaparvatha, the Queen of the Himalayas, behind Badrinath, resplendent in its brilliant purity.
There is a temple at Badrinath, called "The Original Kedareswara." The legend says that Vishnu discovered that Badri was a fine place for Tapas, but finding that it was already under occupation by Siva, He resorted to a stratagem to take possession of it. He assumed the form of a child and started wailing aloud. So, Parvathi took up the forsaken baby and fostered it, in spite of the remonstrances of Siva. Some days later, when Siva and Parvathi had gone to the river, the child assumed its real form. Vishnu insisted on staying at the place, so that the Divine pair had to seek a place many miles off for their residence, viz., modern Kedarnath!
This legend indicates that the Badri shrine was originally Saivite and later became Vaishnavite. The Kailasa Linga must have been there from the very beginning, even when the Narayana image was installed on the holy spot. These surmises arise in our minds when we delve into the history of the Linga which Baba revealed as having been the initial "spiritual nucleus" of Badri. Whether as Nilakantha-kshetra or as Kedaram, the site where the Narayana temple is existing now, was blessed with a Linga, by Sankaracharya, this is certain. We can only offer our homage of reverential awe to the unpredictable depth of Baba's divine Awareness, when we recapitulate the story of the Badirinath Linga.
In pursuance of the same mission of heightening the spiritual potency of the great shrines of India, Baba visited the Kasi and Badri of Peninsular India too, to wit, Srisailam and Pandharpur. At Srisailam which He visited on the 5th of January 1963, He said. "This shrine has consoled and comforted thousands and thousands of pious persons year after year, for centuries. Sankaracharya was here and he sang of the holiness of this place and the calm he enjoyed here. He has installed a Chakra here, which I may tell you, is in a small cave by the side of Pathala Ganga". He added, "The atmosphere of Holy Places should improve. The nature of the monks who are the custodians of these places requires drastic correction. This will be done by Me, as part of Dharmasthapana, the task which I have come to fulfill".
Srisailam is a shrine saturated over the centuries with the deep devotion of mystics like Akka-mahadevi and nation-builders like Sivaji. Baba revealed the inner significance of the Names, by which the Lord and His Consort are worshipped at Srisailam: Mallikarjuna and Bhramaramba. This too was something new, a gift from Baba to generations of votaries. Arjuna means white, pure, without blemish; mallika means the spotlessly white jasmine flower. So, Mallikarjuna is Siva of the snowy peak Kailasa; pure, cool, resplendent with the sacred ash spread all over. He is the fragrant flower that draws the Amba or Consort, the Sakthi aspect, called Bhramara (the Bee which is attracted spontaneously by the Honey of Grace). She is the true representative of the tarden devotee and Mallikarjuna is the purest conception of the Grace-showering God, who yields to sincere entreaty.
While inside the innermost shrine, Baba showered on the Mallikarjuna, golden thumme (Leucas Linifolia) flowers which He created on the spot by a wave of His Hand. That was the ceremonial rite of multiplying the potency and improving the sanctity of the focus of worship.
Pandharpur and the shrines of Panduranga and Rukumayi have woven themselves into the history of the Marathas and Kannadigas and, of millions of others by the inspiration they imparted for centuries to a long line of saints, mystics and poets, famous for the songs that emerged from their ecstatic experience. Purandaradas, the great itinerant singer of Panduranga's Glory was a Kannada Saint; Tukaram and a host of other stalwart servants of God were from the Maharashtra country. Even while a boy, Baba had gathered a band of comrades at Puttaparthi village, who danced and sang of the joy derived from a pilgrimage to Pandharpur to witness the shrine of Panduranga Vittal. He had composed many captivating Telugu songs for His comrades to sing; some of them glorified the Lord who blessed devotees at Pandharpur; some detailed the route to be followed; some described the travails of the long journey; some expressed the thrill of the exhausted pilgrims when they had the first glimpse of the temple from afar. A Divine Destiny, an indescribable kinship, was drawing Baba towards Pandharpur since His childhood.
At last, Baba visited the shrine with a number of devotees from Maharashtra on 13th June, 1965. He stood silent for a few minutes before Panduranga, the Vittal whose Vision - He Himself had often vouchsafed to those who yearned to see that Form in Him; then, He moved on to the shrine of the consort, Rukumayi, Rukmani, the Sakthi of the Lord and, urged by a quick irrepressible memory, He created a Mangalasuthra and placed it round the neck of the Goddess. A page from the Bhagavatha came alive during that moment. Besides these temples, Baba has visited and intensified the sanctity of the temple of Giridhari at Brindavan and of Ramachandra at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh and Bhadrachalam and Mahanandi in Andhra Pradesh.
"My task comprises Dharmasthapana, Vidwath Poshana and Vedasamrakshana. All three are interdependent," declared Baba once at Prasanthi Nilayam. The resuscitation of the holy places where millions gather to draw solace and peace is only one of the many means of Dharmasthapana. The repositories of that Dharma, the interpreters of that Dharma had to be inspired to a greater awareness of their responsibility. The twin objects of Vidwathposhana (Fostering of Scholarship) and Vedasamrakshana (Preservation of the Vedas) can be gained only by drawing the Pundits of the Land into the circle of His Grace.
Like all acts of Baba, this shower of Grace came about in a quiet spontaneous manner, no one noticing the 'grand design' or the harvest of precious grain. The deltaic region of the Godavari Basin is even now the home of classical learning in Andhra Pradesh, though the scholars who are struggling to keep the flag of Vedic learning flying are finding it hard to brave the buffetings of economic distress and social neglect.
When the devotees of Baba suggested that a Yaga be included as one of the functions He might attend when He visited the East Godavari District, Baba replied that they could as well celebrate the Yaga at Prasanthi Nilayam itself during Dasara, when thousands from all over India could have the thrill of witnessing it! Lists of qualified ritualists and reciters, Pundits and Sastris were sent to Him, but when Baba saw that they were all selected from the Kona-sima (delta area) only, He set them aside with the remark that His Sima (area) is not Kona-Sima only; it was Veda-sima (all areas where the vedas are revered). So the lists were revised and Vedic scholars and Pundits were invited from Benares, Bangalore and Hyderabad, besides the contingent from the Godavari Basin.
When they started from their villages, these savants did not know how epoch-making the journey was, both for their own lives and for the life of the country and its culture, for, each one returned home vastly richer in faith, more firmly established in courage, more steadfast in loyalty to the Vedas which were the source of sustenance for himself as well as for the people.
The Yaga was called Vedapurusha Sapthaha Jnana Yagna and it consisted of two sections, the morning sessions for seven days of Athi-rudrahoma with all its complementary rites, and the evening sessions of a Jnanayajna, where distinguished exponents of the Vedas explained to the vast gathering, the meaning and significance of the scriptural rites. Since the Festival had to high-light the efficacy of Vedic injunctions, Baba said that scrupulous care should be taken to observe them all, down to the minutest detail. Therefore, the number, size and situation of the pillars of the Yaga-mantap, the number and shapes of the sacrificial pits, the location of the shrines of subsidiary deities like the Yoginis, the Vasthupurusha, the Kshetrapalas like Abhayamkara, and the Navagrahas, were all correctly fixed. The kusa grass seats for the participants were prepared in accordance with the do's and dont's that the Sastras prescribe. The materials for the sacrifice, like ghee prepared from cow's milk, earth from ant-hills and royal equestrian stables and royal elephant stables and royal palace enclosures, the banyan tree twigs, the spoons made of special wood, were all collected under His personal supervision. Altogether 2,26,270 spoonfuls of ghee were offered during the seven mornings into the sacrificial fire, with the concurrent invocation of the appropriate Name of the Lord, describing one among His manifold characteristics! The Yaga was certain to promote, according to the Vedas, the welfare and peace of the world. "Santhi kaamasthuhomayeth"; those who desire the establishment of peace have to do this sacrifice", say the Vedas. Baba, in one of His Discourses during the week, referred to the derision with which even many Hindus react, when they see so much ghee being poured in the Fire. He spoke of such critics as dwellers in the realm of cash books, persons who clamour for jars of ghee and bundles of fuel, rather than the more precious and the more lasting joy of having invoked and pleased the Gods. The very performance of an ancient honoured rite gives a satisfaction that cannot be expressed in cash. "These questioners have consumed hundreds of bags of rice since birth and they have drunk pots of ghee so far. Let me ask them, whether they have had a single day of happiness themselves or whether they have been able to give a single day of joy to their kith and kin. But, this Yaga gives great joy to many; it gives peace and joy to the world. I and My people are delighted; that is enough compensation. When ghee is poured into the Fire, those who do not know or believe in the Vedas say it is a waste. Those who do not know agriculture may cry that casting seeds in the furrow is a colossal waste; they do not know that the tiller will get the grain back, a hundred fold. This is also like that. Letters reach the addressee only when they are duly stamped with manthras and dropped into sacrificial Fire. This is a science as much as any other."
The foremost reciter of the Vedas in Andhra Pradesh, a person honoured by his colleagues as Veda-samraat (Undisputed Master of the Vedas) Brahmasri Cherkumalli Kamesvara Ghanapati was invested with the office of Sarvaadhyaksha (Overall Supervisor) of the Yaga and a Pundit in the Nyaya Vedantha and Jyothisha schools of thought was installed as the Officiator. Sri Uppaluri Ganapathi Sastri, a septuagenarian scholar, one of the very few in India today who can expound every syllable of the Vedas in conformity with authentic commentaries, on whom learned Societies have showered titles like Aamnaayarthavachaspathi, Vedabhashyavisarada and Vedabhaashyaalankaara, was chosen as the President of the Jnana Yajna section of the Yaga.
Sri Ganapathi Sastri has stated that in his fifty years of experience of Vedic Yagas and Yajnas, he has not had the privilege of witnessing such a scrupulously correct Yaga, which could pass the most rigorous tests of orthodoxy. As a matter of fact, the discourses he gave every evening on the significance of the rites were punctuated with sincere gratitude to Baba for His upholding the Vedic Injunctions. He quoted Vedic manthras in support of what looked like 'casual acts' of Baba: His reference to the rithwiks as 'gods', His distribution of white silk clothes to the reciters of the Vedas and red silk clothes to those engaged in other rites and even the order in which He presented awards to the participants at the end of the Yaga! Baba was the Vedapurusha, he acknowledged. Baba Himself declared: "Do not be misled; I am not the person performing this sacrifice. I am the Person receiving these sacrificial offerings and awarding the rewards". And He gave proof too. On the Penultimate day of the Yajna, He announced "Tomorrow, when the Valedictory Offering is poured into this sacrificial Fire I want each one of you to resolve with your will that you are pouring into the flames all the evil in you, all the egoism and degrading attachment, all the habits that drag you down". Many who had equipped themselves with gold and gems, silk and sandalwood(!) in order to be ready to put those precious things into the Fire (as is the wont in all Yajnas) were awakened by this call, into the knowledge of the significance of the Yajna. Baba made also another announcement; "Tomorrow at the moment of Valedictory Offering, you will be given the Darsan of the Yajnapurusha, the Person who accepts the Yajna".
True to the Promise, Baba ascended the Yajna Vedi at that very Moment; He granted Darsan to the tens of thousands, who ecstatically acclaimed Him as the Person who accepts the Yajna.
It must be mentioned that the Kamandalu or Watervessel of Shirdi Sai Baba which has miraculously found its way into Prasanthi Nilayam was placed on the Yagamantapa to hold the ceremonial water used for most of the mystic rites; the continuity of the two Sais was thus symbolized. When the Officiator required images of the Navagrahas for installation, Baba created them by a wave of His Hand; when he held out His hand for a plate of gold to be deposited with the relevant manthras in the water-vessel, Baba made it on the spot and gave it to him; so too, when the time for the Valedictory Offering approached, He created the Nine Gems and placed them in the plate held out before him. The pundits as well as the thousands who attended the Yaga had also another glimpse into His Divinity, when Baba one evening, down from His seat and moving out of the roofed area, looked up at the growling sky which was bent on a heavy downpour of rain; as at Shirdi, Baba must have rebuked the skies and said "Stop your fury and be calm", for the sky was stunned into sudden calm and clarity.
The Yaga achieved many results, chief among them being the transformation it brought about in the outlook of the Pundits of the land. Many of them came infected with the prejudice that Baba was only an adept in magic, a hardy prejudice that had unfortunately kept Sisupala, Duryodhana and millions of others away from Grace in previous eras. Ganapathi Sastri confesses that he too was thus affected, but, "as a result of the constant association with Him for many days during this Jnanayajna, and observation of the ever fresh and unique examples of His Glory, I realized that I was incapable of gauging His reality, for He was undoubtedly the incarnation of God". Darsanabhushana Chathusthanthri Kolluri Somasekhara Sastri, who had a similar experience began addressing Him soon as Bhagavalleelaavaathaara, Leelaa-maanusha-vigraha, meaning that He was indisputably Divine. Vidwathkavi Vemparala Suryanarayana Sastri revealed before a large gathering of devotees, that he had refused to place faith in the theory that Baba was an incarnation of the Lord; he was not convinced when many people told him that their lives were saved by the Vibhuthi that Baba had materialized and blessed them with; even when his friend, Sri Kamavadhani had shown him the gifts that Baba had created and given him at Rajahmundry, he had turned a blind eye. But, before the Yajna concluded he confessed that "the conviction that Baba was Krishna, come again, was rooted deep in me". Adwaithavedantha Siromani, Meemaamsavisarada Mallavajhala Venkatasubba Sastri of Warangal, who was also a doubter, turned into an ardent advocate of the Avatharhood of Baba.
He said that even the Viswarupa-darsanam vouchsafed by Krishna to Arjuna could be dismissed by cynics as a major magic performance; if the Lord presented Himself before them, they would attribute it to an optical defect or describe it as an apparition pictured by feverish imagination. He applied the various tests prescribed by the Sastras and concluded that Baba is Bhagavadavarthaara-murthi and so, he exhorted all to worship Him with steady devotion and sincere Love, to select Him as their Teacher and Guide and by these means to save themselves.
This revolution in the reactions of the Pundits was in conformity with the declaration by Baba Himself; for, He has said often that only those conversant with the Vedas and Sastras can delve into His Reality, to any appreciable extent. No wonder therefore that the hundred and odd scholars of the scriptures that basked for seven days in the sun of His Grace decided without any extraneous prompting to arrange a unique function on the Tenth Day which they named "Thribhuvana Vijayam" Triumph over the Three Worlds!" When asked whose triumph they were arranging to celebrate the answer was, Baba's! The Vedas and other scriptures, along with the ancient sciences and disciplines by which they could be understood and practiced (like Grammar, the Six systems of Philosophy, Philology, Phonetics, Theology) were to approach God on His Throne and beseech Him to glance at them lovingly so that they may grow strong again and afford shelter to mankind. They pleaded that Baba must be on the Throne and proposed that they would approach Him with pleas on behalf of the sciences of the Spirit. And, Baba agreed. When some objected, "Baba! They are asking you to act a role! They can be the roles but you are God". Baba intercepted: "But I am acting a role now in this human form. The Function-less and the Role-less has come, taking on a Function and assuming a Role".
A strange thing had happened, unawares, in preparation for the "Thribhuvana Vijayam"! A devotee had a dream in Bombay a few weeks previous; She saw Baba as Narayana on the Primeval Serpent (Sesha) Couch. So, she got ready a magnificent Serpent Couch in wood, complete with coils and hood and her kinsmen brought it to Prasanthi Nilayam, in a motor vehicle specially reshaped for the purpose. The Pundits were happy that the very thing they needed to make their function realistic, the throne, had come, through the will of Baba.
Let Ganapathi Sastri himself describe the scene; "When Baba reclined on that Seshathalpa, with the Yagamantapa as the background, each Pundit and Sastri who was a master of one chosen branch of a scriptural lore stood before Him and represented as previously arranged, the importance of his field of knowledge and the urgent need to foster it, everyone saw Mahavishnu in Vaikuntha reclining on the Sesh Serpent and of Brihaspathi and all the gods and sages displaying their scholarship and attainments for His Glorification and praying to Him to save the Sastras from decline. It was indeed the Devasabha the Divine Durbar and we forgot all about ourselves in the supreme joy in which we were submerged. It was an occasion to be personally gone through and experienced; the joy we felt cannot be communicated to others by even Brihaspathi, the all-knowing preceptor of the Gods, or by the Four-faced Brahma or the Six-faced Kumaraswamy or the Thousand-tongued Adi-sesha". To the Sarvadhyaksha of the Yaga, Sri Kameshwara Ganapati, it was a fruitful revelation. He came, he saw and he was conquered. He left his native home in the far-off Godavari Delta, he turned his face away from his village home set in the midst of the coconut gardens he cherished, and stayed on at the Prasanthi Nilayam, where he found the Vedapurusha whom he had been extolling with manthras for sixty years!
The Jnanayajna or Evening Discourses provided an opportunity for the Vedic scholars to fathom the extraordinary scholarship of Baba. Ganapathi Sastri expresses the sense of admiration of the learned Pundits thus: "Apart from the thrill that the listeners derived from the discourses of Baba, the reputed masters of the ancient disciplines who had gathered renown by lecturing to many vast gatherings throughout the land were themselves struck with wonder at the depth and width of His knowledge". Mallavajhala Venkatasubbarama Sastri analyzed the reactions of his colleagues thus: "In all His speeches there was not the slightest deviation from the Sastras nor the faintest whisper contrary to the trend of their teachings. And, the subjects He handled! They were indeed the most profound! The methodology of exposition was in strict conformity with the canons laid down in the scriptures. There was no repetition of argument, no irrelevant digression, no jeering criticism, no jarring adulation, no over-emphasis". Kalluri Venkatasubramanya Dikshith reacted similarly. "The nectar of His Love filled every word of His parables and explanations. It was overpowering Grace that made Him pity the poor understanding of the listeners and search for tiny tasty stories that could clarify the profundities He was unraveling, the Goals He desired to picture". In short, the scholars found in Baba the Master-Mind that was guiding and shaping their own.
But, it was not all wonder and admiration! The Pundits were made aware of the worth of the treasure that they were preserving; they were told the reason for their poverty and for the neglect which is their meed lies in themselves! They were induced to examine their own lives and beliefs, their own attitudes and prejudices, their own preferences and foibles. "You may ask why Pundits and Vedic Scholars are passing through such hard times. They are mostly hungry, ill-clad and homeless. No one comes forward to join Vedic schools. I shall tell you why they have come to this pass. They have themselves lost faith in the Vedas. Let them be fixed in that faith - then, the Veda will make them happy. If the Veda cannot make a man happy, what else can?" asked Baba. He filled the Brahmins with faith in what they carried in their heads. He also condemned the ignorant sneer which brands the Vedas as clever stratagems by which the Brahmin priests ensure their position as intermediaries between man and God and win superiority in the social hierarchy. "Look at the regimen of restrictions and regulations, the hundreds of do's and dont's limiting freedom of life and limb which these Brahmins have imposed on themselves in order to promote the good of society and of the world and for their own spiritual uplift. Do not dismiss them as superstitions; no one will bind themselves from dawn to dusk and dusk to dawn with such drastic rules and limits for mere fun. They are hard limitations on daily conduct, social contacts and economic effort. It requires great courage, hardihood and faith to hold these rules as vital and put them into practice. Honour those that have faith in that ideal. Their adherence to those ideals has been of tremendous value to India and the world, for it has preserved the only culture that can save mankind. I know the sincerity with which they have been leading the hard life, for, I have been with every one of them, in their rites and rituals since years", Baba said; this transformed the hostile attitude of many towards the Brahmin community, an attitude fostered by pseudo-political fears and prejudices caused by the ignorance of the sacrifice the community had been practicing for centuries.
This was no ordinary Yajna that Baba presided over; it was a revival; it was a revelation; it was a revolution, a resurgence. It was a symbol of cultural renascence, for Baba, explained that the Vedas are essentially for all time and all mankind, that Sacrifice or Yajna is the sign and secret of all life. He advised the participants to recapture the ancient ascetic simplicity; He explained that in the manthras, the Glory and Majesty of the One God is visualized in various contexts; He elaborated on the symbolism of the Sun and the Moon as guiding the inner and outer vision of man. He spoke of the tonic effect of the very sound of the Vedic manthras; they charm away the evil in man. "I want to prove to you and to those others that a Yajna, celebrated according to Vedic Formulae will certainly grant the fruits promised by the Vedas", He said. "The Vedas belong to those who value them, who are moved by thirst for spiritual uplift, who desire to practice them and who have faith that they will benefit by that practice. No one else has the right to talk patronizingly of the Vedas or disparage them. For, all such talk will be hollow and insincere", He warned.
Fourty five days later, on the auspicious occasion of His Birthday when thousands had gathered to celebrate it in His Presence Baba invited the incomparable Aamnaayaarthavaachaspathi Uppaluri Ganapathi Sastri to inaugurate the Sathya Sai Veda-Sastra Patasala, the Academy for Vedic and Sanskrit Study, at the Nilyam. He said, "The Vedas are in need of revival. We have to prevent the goats from nibbling at the sprouts. I have come for the sake of this Dharmasthapana". "Vedokhilo dharma mulam", "The Vedas are the root of Dharma". Vedic scholars have to grow in numbers for the sake of the promotion of Dharma. So long as Vedic Scholars are produced and honoured, so long the Vedas will remain green in the hearts of man. This is the real Dharmasthapana." "My Task is to open your eyes to the glory of the Vedas and to convince you that Vedic injunctions, when put into practice will yield the promised results." "My Prema towards the Vedas is matched only by My Prema towards Humanity." "My Mission is just four: Vedaposhana, Vidwath-poshana, Bhaktharakshana and Dharmarakshana".
"These boys" He said pointing to the first batch of boys that was enrolled, "These boys will grow into strong stalwart pillars of Sanathana Dharma; they will be the guides and leaders of this land in the days to come, to save it from vain follies and wild passions. You may say they are only twenty in number now; but, when a vast country is administered by a Cabinet of twenty Ministers, this band of students will be ample, for the work I have in view". "Parents who have sent them to this Patasala have reason to be happy, for these boys will become lucent gems, spreading Vedic splendour and Sastric light. I shall take care of them, more lovingly than any mother".
Then, the distinguished Vedic scholar taught the boys the correct pronunciation of the Inaugural rik, from the Yajur Veda, "Ishethwa" and wished the Patasala all success. Baba takes great delight in moving among the little boys, and watching their progress. He instills hope and courage into them. He pays special attention to health, discipline and character. He insists on outer and inner cleanliness. Baba encourages them to seek the meaning and purpose of the riks they recite, for, as He has often remarked, they should not get transformed into mere tape-records of the Vedas; they must charge themselves with the devotion, the rectitude, the detachment and the sense of kinship with Truth, which the Vedas teach.
He insists also on an all-round progress of the boys, so that they may grow into helpmates of the down-hearted and the distressed. In recent years, He has Himself written musical plays brimful of the noblest scriptural teachings on "Markandeya", "Sakkubai", and "Radha-bakthi"; the first depicts in easy sweet Telugu the story of Markandeya, who defied death and won Immortality as a Star in space. The second deals with the simple saint Sakku, whose devotion to Panduranga was so intense that the Lord Himself took her form and served her husband and mother-in-law in order to release her from her home, for the pilgrimage to the Panduranga Temple.
The third reveals the deep significance of the spiritual yearning which filled the entire being of Radha, for Krishna. Baba Himself selected the boys for the cast, assigned the parts, supervised the rehearsals, decided the stage, fittings and curtains and trained them to sing the many songs He composed and designed the costumes for every role in every scene, and on the days when the plays were presented, Baba spent hours in the green room directing the make-up and encouraging each little boy by a soft pat with His loving palm when they moved out towards the floodlit stage, where tens of thousands greeted them with loud applause. For about a month, the boys had the unique good fortune of being inspired by His vigilant Prema, during rehearsals. Since every participant imbibed the entire text, whatever be his individual role, all the words from Baba's Divine Pen have sunk into the hearts of all the boys. Baba is thus transmitting them into proper instruments for the fulfillment of the task for which He has come. The Patasala is bound to grow into a great Banyan tope, affording shade and shelter to countless peoples caught in the desert sands of greed, hate and despair.
Baba saw that the rampant decline in private and public morals is due to the neglect of the discipline prescribed in the Vedas. The Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaisya Varns are burdened with greater obligations than the rest of the community because they are initiated into spiritual life, too. This rite of initiation is called Upanayana, 'leading near', that is to say, taking the boy near the Guru or spiritual preceptor for Brahmopadesam (guidance to Brahmam). This has to be done according to the Sastras by the teaching of the Gayathri manthra before the boy evinces longings for sensory-pleasures and thereby gets lost in the wilderness of transitory adventures. The Brahmin boy has to be initiated into that sacred manthra before he is eight years old, the Kshatriya has to be initiated before he is eleven and the Vaisya, before he is twelve. Manthra is ("thrayathe" through manana) that which saves through constant reflection on the meaning. But, though these caste structures still persist in varying degrees of strength throughout India, this great rite has suffered drastic decline. In many regions and families, it is postponed until as late as the marriage rite, or completely overlooked. When thus the very spring of spiritual discipline is allowed to go dry, how can the call of the ancient ideals raise any response in the heart? Man should not be allowed to remain a beast, caring only for feeding and breeding.
Therefore, as a great step forward in the revival of Dharma, Baba announced that He will be granting members of the three varnas - dedicated to a second birth - the great chance of being initiated into the spiritual life, by Himself at Prasanthi Nilayam. The devotees of Baba were thus aroused into a recognition of their primary duty to their children; they hastened to benefit from the offer. On February 3, 1963, when 35 boys were "led near Him" and became Brahma-charis (pilgrims on the path of Brahma-realisation) through the sastraic process of receiving the sacred Gayathri manthra, Baba declared addressing the group, "You have come in this body, this receptacle, in order to realize the Glory that you really are. This body is the cocoon that you have spun round yourselves with the thread of your impulses and desires. Use it to grow wings so that you can escape from it. The Gayathri manthra is a prayer to the Universal Intelligence to awaken the Dhee-sakthi in you, your faculty of discrimination, of analysis and synthesis, so that you may realize who you are and why". Turning to the parents, He said "This is an important day in the history of Sanathana Dharma, for it is a great step in the restoration of Varanashrama Dharma. The study of the Vedas is the highest learning, for, it leads to the conquest of Death itself. Today, these, your children, are set on the road to explore their Inner Realm and Innermost Reality".
In 1964 when the Upanayanam rite was again arranged 300 boys were so blessed; in 1965, the number increased to 450. The festival is made unforgettable for participants as well as spectators by the shower of love with which Baba greets not only the boys who are initiated but even their parents and kinsmen. He makes up for all the ritual lapses of the parents, like disregard of the 'naming rites' or 'ear-boring rite', or 'tonsure rite'; He overwhelms the parents and gifts. He does not allow any display of wealth by the richer parents, least the poorer are cast into gloom during the auspicious occasion. To have the rite performed in the Divine Presence is itself a unique gift and many a devotee has felt sad that he aged too fast. Many are depressed that their children have undergone the rite already and have therefore rendered themselves ineligible for the great chance.
Baba's Grace flows spontaneously towards the assemblage of Brahma-charis. He gives each of them ceremonial clothes, ritual vessels, momentos and books, besides what is treasured as most auspicious, the inaugural Bhiksha (alms) when each boy starts the "mendicant" career that day, as prescribed in the Sastras for every seeker during the years of Vedic study. The boys walk up in a long line to Baba's Presence and after introducing themselves in traditional style; mentioning their Gothra, Suthra and patron Rishi, pray "Bhavathi, Bhikshaam dehi", "Ma, give me alms" and Baba as Vedamatha and Annapurna, fills their plates with grains of rice. Baba insists that the newly initiated prostrate themselves before their parents; He explains to each boy, at that particular moment, the Vedic commands "Mathru devo bhava" and "Pithru devo bhava" meaning "May your mother be your God", "May your father be your God". The boys as well as the parents are, visibly moved by this act, which Baba considers, as important as any other item in the ceremonial. Then He places in the hands of the boys, gifts, which they pass on reverentially to their parents.
More memorable than all these, especially to the Brahma-charis, is another spontaneous gift of Baba, a Blessing that He alone can grant. Baba calls each boy to Himself, even when the number is 450, and, in the sublime silence, He whispers into the ear of the child, fresh from his first lesson in Vedic recitation, a sacred manthra which He instructs him to keep strictly to himself. He has to repeat it with Sraddha and Bakthi, every day of his life. Many an ardent seeker has striven long to get Manthropadesa from this Avathar of the Lord, but they still await the gift, while these chosen boys, on the threshold of the kingdom of God within them, acquire the key which will help them to enter it, through the spontaneous Grace of Baba.
The Upanayana Festival is also marked by the discourses by eminent pundits on the Gayathri, as well as on the need to regulate and restrict the wild senses by the discipline prescribed in Dharmasastras for the twice-born and others. Baba too discourses on these and kindred topics; His advice is directed towards the elders who, by their neglect of this rite have brought about downfall of the magnificent edifice of Sanathana Dharma. A gentleman from Mysore had not initiated his seven sons into the Gayathri; without any resentment, Baba invited him to bring all of them to Him, for as He said, it is never too late to start on the Godward journey; his sons, ranging in age from 28 to 8 were all led into the sacred path. He wanted that parents too must perform the Sandhya rite and repeat the Gayathri for their own good; the boy should not be made to feel that this was a chore invented for tormenting him. "Do it cheerfully, with evident relish. Learn the procedure from these boys, from your children and grand-children. For your own sake and for the sake of the human community, start Sandhya today with Gayathri Japa and continue it, with increasing fervour." "I know how systematic you are in eating and drinking. You take pretty good care of the body. I do not condemn it; I only want that you should take equally good care of the needs of the spirit".
The Gayathri is a Vedic Prayer that has been addressed to the effulgence that is immanent in the Universe by millions during millennia throughout the length and breadth of this land. It prays, not for the health or wealth, happiness or victory but it prays for "awakening of intelligence". It is a prayer which all men in all lands can well adopt. Mr. J.B.S. Haldane has written that the Gayathri can be carved on the doors of every laboratory of the World. "May intelligence grow, prevail and ripen into wisdom", and save mankind from perdition!
Baba does not hide His displeasure when he finds that a Brahmin, Kshatriya or Vaisya is not performing the Sandhya rite, and repeating the Gayathri during the rite. Fear of that displeasure has persuaded many who come to Baba to resume the Sandhya, brushing their memory in haste from books or from their own children. When Baba surprises people with the question, "Are you doing Sandhya?" many have to accept the lapse, and correct themselves.
God is said to love the returned prodigal; Baba encourages by special marks of Grace, those who come back into the Sandhya discipline. For example, a person from Shimoga Town came to Him to get His Blessings, for a venture that he had set his mind upon. Baba surprised him with the question, "Are you doing Sandhya?" and he too hung his head. "No, Baba, though I have been enjoined to do it, years ago on the Upanayanam Day" he said. "Well, it is not too late; start as soon as you reach home" Baba ordered. The rite took about 20 minutes and had to be done three times a day; at dawn, when the sun was at the zenith, and at dusk. Rao kept the promise he had given Baba; he did the Sandhya, with growing devotion and pleasure. After some time, he felt that a Linga, which his grandfather and father were worshipping ritually every day for many years, should be retrieved from the limbo to which he had consigned it. He recovered it; he filled it with his devotion; he offered flowers and fruits and poured sanctified water on it, with the appropriate manthras! Baba 'willed' to grant him tangible proof of his appreciation of this laudable advance; the colour of the Linga changed from opaque dark into golden transparency. And, very soon, inside that round-topped little cylinder of hard translucence, Baba allowed Himself to be 'entangled'! For months now, thousands have seen, inside the Linga, a lovely captivating picture in brilliant colour of Baba with His sweet smile, in the centre of a halo of mellow golden light!
Apart from the day fixed by Baba, for the Upanayanam of the boys who are brought to Prasanthi Nilayam, Baba confers the boon on other days also, if devotees yearn for it and if He feels the boy deserves it. On Sankarajayanthi Day, the birthday of the great Sankaracharya who revived Hindu religion and built Hindu philosophy and culture on the unshakeable foundation of Basic Unity or Adwaitha, He seldom refuses this boon. Baba considers this ceremony of opening the inner eye of the rising generation to be so important that He even reminds parents of their obligation to initiate their children and calls upon them to celebrate the Upanayanam. This, He does both directly and indirectly. Take for example the telegram received by Sri C. Ramachandran of Kirkee, Poona. "On 26th April, 1965, when I went to my residence at lunch break", writes he, "both my sons came running forward excitedly and put into my hands a telegram which had been just received. The telegram ran as follows: "Sri Sathya Sai Baba arriving at your residence on fifth May to attend Upanayanam of your sons and give them Brahmopadesam". The words "Satya" "Upanayanam" and "Brahmopadesa" are underlined in the telegram!
"I had never discussed with anybody the question of having the Upanayanam of my sons performed during the summer, although I had a keen desire to perform it as early as possible, since this function was already overdue and had been put off, during the last two to three years. I had not made up my mind, whether to have it performed at Shirdi or Palani, our family shrine. I was, therefore, surprised to find that the place and the date had been fixed by the sender of the telegram. We were overjoyed at the prospect of having Baba with us for the function"
On enquiry, Sri Ramachandran discovered that the person who was responsible for sending the telegram from the Central Post Office, Poona, had described himself as "a person in transit, with no permanent or local address"! and that when the Postal authorities pressed him to give an address, he had written his name as Sri Maragathavelu, c/o All India Sai Samaj, Mylapore! Hesitant to neglect so mysterious a manifestation of Baba's Grace (of which he was well aware through other more concrete instances, like Vibhuthi emanating from the pictures of Baba, in his shrine-room), Ramachandran decided to have the Upanayanam of his two sons celebrated on the 5th of May as directed. And Baba gave proof that day He was present! "During the evening Bhajan, every one in the gathering of nearly a thousand people had a peculiar feeling that the sofa kept on the platform for Him was not vacant. When Arathi was over, we found that the new silk seat-spread had been creased in such a way that we could clearly make out that Baba had been sitting there. Besides, the ring of jasmine flowers which was placed on the right arm of the sofa, as is generally done at Prasanthi Nilayam, was crushed just as if His Hand was resting on it". A sign is enough for those who seek.
Writing about the Dharmasthapana for which Baba has come in human form, we have to devote special attention to the Academy of Vedic Scholars established under His Guidance, which is fast spreading its beneficent activity from one State of India to another, since 1964. It was on the sacred day of Ramanavami, when a million homes all over the country were celebrating the incarnation of Rama, described as the embodiment of Dharma, that Baba revealed His intention. He was that day at Rajahmundry on the Godavari river; at dusk, He entered a motor launch with a number of learned Pundits and scholars, and we reached a patch of dry sand, an island bathed in cool moonlight, set in the dark blue background of the river above the Dhowaliswaram anicut. There, seated in the center of the circle of adoration, Baba spoke on the state of the world and of India, which must guide it, with the lamp of Sanathana Dharma. We must reform the habits of man; re-construct his character; recondition his ideals and modes of living; help him regain the spiritual heritage which he is now encouraged to ignore by protagonists of material prosperity and monetary happiness", said He.
He created from the sand before Him, resplendent idols of Rama, Sitha, Lakshmana and Anjaneya; then, He created a charming idol of Nataraja, the Dancing Siva, symbolising the Energized Universe that expands and contracts (or breathes) in harmony with the Divine Will. Then, in the climax of that Sublime Silence, He announced that He had decided on the establishment of the Prasanthi Vidwanmahasabha, an All India Academy of Vedic Scholars who will strive to awaken humanity to the need to attain the Prasanthi (Inner Harmony and Equipoise) which has its Nilayam (Above) in the Sanathana Dharma, enshrined in the ancient scriptures of India. Surely, a great moment in the history of this Age.
Baba had given indications even in the forties that He will rebuild Vedic Dharma on a stronger foundation. In 1955, on the first day of October, at 9.30 a.m., as recorded in my Diary, Swami Amrithananda ran towards me, after an interview with Baba, gasping with joy. He said, "I had a big sum of money with me which Bhagawan Ramana Maharishi advised, I should use for Vedic revival. I had invested it in the Benares Bank and later with some Trusts. I had consulted Madan Mohan Malaviya, Bhagawan Das, and Bal Gangadhar Tilak about the scheme but somehow, my plan did not fructify. Just now, Baba told me, unasked, all about my unfulfilled yearning. He said, "Do not worry any more; the task of Vedic revival is no longer yours. It is Mine". The Swami died, peacefully, within two months of this transfer of burden!
In January, 1960, a great Sanskrit scholar from Sorbonne, France, Valestin by name, who was in India to translate the commentaries on the Vedas into French, arrived at Prasanthi Nilayam. One evening, during an interview with Baba, he suddenly caught Baba's hands and pleaded "Baba! Vedic scholarship is fast declining in this Holy Land. You must revive it, you must foster it". I was there, nearby. I felt that East and West were also there, awaiting with palpitating heart, the reply that Baba will vouchsafe. For the Vedas are for both East and West, for all mankind. And Baba did not disappoint mankind. He said, "I have come for that very purpose, for Vedic revival. It shall be done. I will do it. Wherever you are, you will know of it. The world will share that joy, that light".
The Sabha was formally inaugurated at the Swadhyaya Sapthaha Yajna during the Dasara Festival, 1965. About 200 Pundits had assembled at Prasanthi Nilayam for the Convocation on 20th October. "Bhavani" said Baba, "gave a sword into the hands of the Emperor Sivaji commissioning him to venture forth and uphold Hinduism; this "Siva-Sakthi" is today giving these Pundits the sword of Courage and commissioning them to go forth and revive Dharma in the world". "I am sure this Sabha will move forward from Victory to victory, for it is contributory to My Work. In all lands, the true sense of values has to be restored and faith in the Divinity of Mau has to be implanted. This is the work for which I have come. The world has to be saved from the consequences of limited knowledge and of the blinding pride that precedes a fall. The world is a parched desert, calling out for rain. This Sabha will give each thirsty mouth a cup of solace and strength, from the well of the Vedas and Sastras". He condemned the criticism of Vedic rites, rituals and teachings of superstitions. "The Vedas are the root of Dharma. If the roots are injured, the tree will die". "They gave Ananda and Santhi that are lasting and sustaining", He said. "They transmuted all activity into worship of the Supreme and saved man from unending desire and inexplicable sorrow", He said. "Know thyself, instead of the sun and moon - that way lies the road to Ananda and Santhi".
The purpose of the Akhila Bharatha Prasanthi Vidwanmahasabha was clarified by Baba during the discourses that He gave on the days following the inauguration, while presiding over the lectures that the Pundits gave on the subjects suggested by him from Vedic and Vedanthic texts. The watchword for the Sabha should be, He said, the prayer that is mentioned in the Vedas as arising however indistinct, from every human heart, "Thamaso maa Jyothir gamaya ... From darkness, lead me unto light". "Eradicate Ajnana, the ignorance of the Universal that is the basis, the Ocean of which the individual is but a wave; light the lamp in village after village. Instill faith in man's freedom from grief and pain, that is to say, instill faith in the Atma and the Atmathatwa; share your learning and experience, in love and sympathy, with the people who are hungry to know and be saved; remind them of their worth and work. You are not to condemn any one's faith or to develop any new sect; foster the positive attitude in spiritual effort; faith is a precious plant, a gust of harshness will make il wither. Be kind, be considerate, promote love, tolerance, service, sacrifice, wherever you find them in the heart of man. These Pundits have at last attained the fruition of their long study, for, they have secured this medium, this Sabha, for sharing their joy and their wisdom with their brothers and sisters. They have been allotted districts and the Central Committee will be supervising the programme and progress. They will sow in all cultivated hearts the seed of the Karmakanda, the Upasanakanda, and the Jnanakanda of the Vedas, of Dharma as expounded in the Manudharmasastra and other texts and of the Glory of God and Man as explained in the Bhagavatha, the Mahabharatha and the Ramayana", He announced.
Turning to the thousands of devotees who had come from all parts of India, Baba said, "They sow the seeds. But, you have to tend the young crop, feed it with the manure of Manana, rid it of pests, like greed and pride, harvest the happiness of Love and establish yourselves in the Prasanthi that the nourishing grain ensures". Baba recognised that the pundits must grow experienced in the art of explaining the essentials of the scriptural teachings to the masses in small easily assimilable doses that are relishing; He warned that, unless the Pundits took care to practise what they preached, their discourses would be exercises in sheer hypocrisy. The people too have to be trained in the art of listening to short, straight, spiritual discourses which arouse the desire to practise what is taught. For, as Baba said, the greatest sin is hypocrisy, spiritual weakness, self-condemnation and cowardice. These can be cured only by the awareness of one's inherent Divinity, that can never be harmed by such passing clouds of depression", Baba assured. Baba declared, "This prasanthi Vidwanmahasabha is not something new, it is Sanathanam. It is now once again set up on the age-old Mission. This work of Dharmasthapanam is being done over and over again. You have now the chance to share in it; So, join this great task and make your lives worth while".
That call was irresistible. Towns and villages vied with each other in asking for the chance to arrange meetings and seminars for the benefit of their citizens. The members of the Sabha were already famous over the length and breadth of the land. Dr. B. Ramakrishna Rao, a great scholar in Sanskrit, Telugu, a celebrated linguist, a great social worker and political leader who served the people as Chief Minister of Andhra and Governor of Kerala and Uttar Pradesh, is the President of the Sabha; he has a Central Committee of Pundits who have earned enduring fame by their scholarship, speeches and writings like Uppuluri Ganapathi Sastrigal, who is honoured as Amnayarthavachaspathi by his colleagues; Kolluri Somasekhara Sastry, honoured as a Kulapathi by his gratified students; Bulusu Appanna Sastry, known as Darsanalankara, the renowned translator and commentator on Sankara's Githa Bhashya; Remilla Suryaprakasa Sastry, honoured as Sanga Veda Vidya Bhaskara; Varanasi Subramanya Sastry, who by his unexcelled scholarship relating to the works of Vyasa is celebrated as Balavyasa; Ghandikota Subrahmanya Sastry, the doyen among Dharmasastra scholars and the master of Vedic lore; Pisipati Krishnamurthi Sastry, a great expert in astrological observations and calculations according to all the schools of that ancient science, and others. To bring such a galaxy of Pundits into the same orbit is itself an achievement, made possible only by the unique attraction which Baba's Divinity exerted on them all with equal force.
The Inaugural Meeting where the Pundits carried the Message to the people at large was held in the immediate Presence of Baba Himself at Venkatagiri Town, in the Palace Quadrangle, under the chairmanship of the Raja Saheb of Venkatagiri. Baba mentioned that the citizens of Rajahmundry on the Godavari were hoping that the meeting would be held in their town, since the Sabha was resolved upon 'on the sands of an island in the centre of the Godavari on Sri Ramanavami, last year'. But, "like all good things, this too is won not so much by present effort, but, by merit accumulated through, years numbering to centuries". Baba said "Venkatagiri has been for centuries the seat of a Royal Family dedicated to the support and protection and promotion of Dharma. Consider how many temples were built or renovated and maintained by its munificence! Take count of the Pundits it has patronised so far and the number of religious books its donations have helped to reach the masses. See the interest the Family takes even now, for the upkeep of temples and mutts although their State and Status have been overwhelmed by the storms of political change". No wonder that when the Madras State Prasanthi Vidwanmahasabha was inaugurated six months later, Baba selected the vast grounds of the Venkatagiri Palace at Madras City as the venue!
The Mysore State Prasanthi Vidwanmahasabha was inaugurated at Brindavan, Whitefield near Bangalore on 13th April, 1964, under the Chairmanship of Hon'ble Sri B.D. Jatti, the Finance Minister of Mysore State. Inaugurating the Sabha, Baba said, "The link between the Pundit and the politician, the religious leader and the ruler has snapped and each goes his own way, irrespective of what the other thinks or feels. Long years of foreign rule during which the Pundits were derided as symbols of an out-dated culture contributed to the widening of the gap. But, even after that rule ended, nothing has been done to re-establish the link. Sunk in the search of passing pleasure and cheap recreation, people have become deaf to the counsels of the past and the call of the sublime. Unless the people are trained to direct their newly won opportunities into channels of service and self-control, there will be large scale moral breakdown, when the Five Year Plans stud the land with dams, power-stations, furnaces and factories; we must have a Plan, a well-thought-out Plan, for the moral education and the spiritual uplift of the nation, in order to avoid disaster".
At the Inauguration of the Mahasabha in Madras State, Baba declared: "Man's ambition to conquer outer space, even before he has understood fully the nature of the earthly home he carries about with him and the discipline needed for harmony therein is leading him into great disaster. No knowledge, however impressive, which refused to acknowledge, the existence of God can be safe and sustaining", Baba declared. The Mahasabha has also been established with His Blessings at Hyderabad, the Capital of Andhra Pradesh at a Meeting presided over by the Governor, Sri Pattam Thanu Pillai. The Maharashtra Branch of Vidwanmahasabha was inaugurated by Baba at the Shanmukhananda Hall, Bombay, on 7th June, 1965. A Committee under the Chairmanship of Hon'ble Sri P.K. Savant, Minister of Agriculture, Government of Maharashtra, has been formed with the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, the Chairman of the Legislative Council and others as members.
Sri Savant is an ardent devotee of the shrine at Shirdi, where Baba lived the Life Divine and taught way to God, as Sai Baba; Sri Savant was a member of the "Shirdi Samsthan Trust Committee" and for some time he was its Chairman. The Trust manages the affairs of the unique shrine that has grown around the 'Tomb' or Samadhi of the Sai Avathar. When, therefore, Savant heard that the Master had taken human form again, he was naturally cautious about the claim. His curiosity however took him to the bungalow of a devotee with whom Baba had stayed for three days in May, 1960. There Savant joined in the Bhajan; he went through the Album of Photographs depicting Baba's activities; he saw a few hundred feet of film recording Baba's visit to Badrinath and the Yajna which was celebrated at Prasanthi Nilayam; then, he was taken into the very room where Baba had stayed during those three days. It is kept as if He has not left the place, in perfect readiness to receive Him, any moment. While in the room, Savant was offered the Vibhuthi brought from Prasanthi Nilayam, kept in a small receptacle there.
Naturally, he opened his mouth to receive it, but, his breast was suddenly afflicted with an understandable pang of doubt, whether as a staunch devotee of the Sai Baba of Shirdi, he could now take in the Udi consecrated by a stranger who claims to be the "same Baba" come again. There are Babas and Babas, he felt, spurious, pseudoauthentic, and dubious, pitching their claims to reverence on all manner of unprovable relationships.
We should not be surprised when a devotee with Savant's steady faith in Sai Baba was harassed by doubt; we must indeed be thankful for his hesitation, for just at that split second, in order to convince him that the Sathya Sai at Prasanthi Nilayam is Sathya (Truth), the same as the Sai Baba of Shirdi, a long bright flash of light emerged from the right palm of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba in the picture hanging on the wall of that room, above the heads of Dr. D.J. Gadhia, who was offering the Udi and of Sri P.K. Savant who was outwardly ready, though inwardly undecided, to receive it!
That flash scattered all argument against the identity of the two Babas; it shattered the dark clouds of doubt and hesitation. Savant received the Udi. Some months later, at Prasanthi Nilayam, Baba declared, "The depth of the devotion of Savant to that Body and this Body of the same Sai is known only to him and Me". Savant attended the inauguration of the Mysore State Branch of the Prasanthi Vidwanmahasabha and so, he was happy that a branch of the Organisation founded by Baba was soon started in Maharashtra. He and all who shared the thrill of that day were glad that the Grace of Baba had descended on Maharashtra again and that a new era had dawned for the Pundits of that State, who could share in the revival of Dharma under His auspices.
The Vidwanmahasabha has been actively promoting lectures by Pundits in several towns and villages. A seminar for about twenty of them was held for a week to suggest subjects (on which they should speak to the people) selected from the vast reservoirs of Scholarship that they have each stored in themselves and to suggest methods of presentation that would receive response from Baba invariably encouraged the people, the organisers, and the Pundits either by His physical presence and Discourses or by some 'sign' of His Presence. The District Committees would arrange the discourses in the headquarter towns of Taluks, for the devotees in the Taluk headquarters could carry the Message to the villages around. Thus, the disciplines and ideals of the Upanishads have been planted among agitated communities in areca-gardens and coffee plantations, ricefields, factory-chimney and bungaloid suburbs, University campuses, pensioners' colonies, pilgrim centres and professional clubs.
Where formerly the audience at the meetings that these Pundits addressed could be counted on the fingers of one hand, and where in every place the same few were the only ones attracted, the meetings of the Mahasabha now drew tens of thousands in towns and all the population in the villages. For, the discourses are in the language of the people and are simple and useful, directly affecting the daily life. Baba's Divine Presence gathers hundreds of thousands to His Discourses, for they are the authentic Upadesh of the Lord.
As Baba declared at Venkatagiri, "The establishment of the Vidwanmahasabha is an epoch-making event; for it is not less than the Dawn of the Golden Era of the Liberation of Humanity.
The Liberation of Humanity from the petty role to which man has condemned it, deciding wrongly that he is the sheath and not the sword, the body and not its occupant, this is the very purpose of Baba's advent in human form. Baba has revealed that the repositories of ancient Indian culture are His instruments for this purpose. During his Tamilnad Tour, in the village of Surandai, He encouraged Vedic Pundits to recite Vedic riks in the Ghana mode, and rewarded them with medallions of gold. Similar medallions were awarded by Him to Pundits on the conclusion of the recitation of riks, at Akiripalle and at Rajahmundry. In 1963, at a Vidwathparishath (Assembly of Scholars) held at Rajahmundry, He gave to each member, robes of honour encouraging them to apply themselves to the study and exposition of the Vedas and Sastras.
In 1960, He presided over the College Day Celebrations of the Markandeya Oriental College. While welcoming Him to that institution, Dr. S. Bhagavantham (whose father was the Founder of the College), the great Scientist, now Scientific Adviser to the Defence Ministry of the Government of India, said "Whenever I went to have Baba's Darsan, I was amazed to find around Him groups of people from all countries and professions, great and small, rich and poor, sick and healthy, young and aged and Pundits filled with academic conceit wondering how all their learning is found useless before the All-knowing one". They wondered and the wonder ripened into devotion.
Baba has blessed by His Presence the Niranjana Bhajan Mandali, at Maddur, the Sivanamajapasapthaha (week-long Continuous Recitation of the God) at Srisailam and the Githa Study Circle at Naini Tal and the Hindu Samaj, Rajahmundry. The Sanathana Bhagavatha Bhaktha Samajam (Association of the Dedicated and Devoted) of the Krishna-Guntur Districts has been taken by Him under His benign care. Baba has also graced the Yajna celebrated by devotees at Rajahmundry, Venkatagiri and Srinivaspur. He visited the Sanskrit Patasala and the Vyasasram at Erpedu.
When the Banaras Sanskrit University arranged the Akhila Bharatha Thanthrika Mahasabha, it sent Swami Dattareyaji to Prasanthi Nilayam to invite Baba to be present and bless the Sabha. Though Baba has often declared, "This is the age of Thanthra", He had to send the Swami back disappointed. The Organisers of the Vishwa (World) Hindu Parishad approached Baba for joining the group of Swamis who were guiding it. Baba told them that He had come for the very purpose of reviving the ideals of Hinduism and setting it on the road of victory; "I am every moment doing the very thing you have now in view". When the Telugu Vijnana Samithi, Malleswaram honoured some members of the Central Committee of the Prasanthi Vidwanmahasabha Baba agreed to preside over the Meeting.
Governor Pattom Thanu Pillai said, while inaugurating its Hyderadad Branch, "I am glad one of the main objects of the Sabha is the fostering of scholarship by honouring the Pundits and thereby encouraging the study of the Vedas and Sastras". Baba presided over a vast gathering of admirers and students when the Hindu Samaj at Rajahmundry honoured three old and revered Masters of the Ancient Learning, Bulusu Appanna Sastry, Varanasi Subrahmanya Sastry and Kolluri Somasekhara Sastry. During the Dasara Festival, 1965, Baba conferred upon these three and on Vidwan Dupati Thirumalacharlu of Venkatagiri, the