Sai
Baba Again
Having
declared Himself as Sai Baba of the Bharadwaja
Gotram
and the Apastamba Sutra, Sathyanarayana Raju was
hereafter commonly known either as Bala Sai (Boy
Sai) or Sathya Sai Baba, an appellation which He
Himself accepted. Singing to God was done in His
Presence not only on Thursday evenings, but
gradually on every day and sometimes even twice
a day, for the pilgrims who began to arrive
could not wait until the ensuing Thursday to pay
their homage to Him. At first a small room,
eight feet by eight, facing the road that led to
the house of Pedda Venkapa Raju was utilized as
a Hall of Prayer. But it could accommodate only
a dozen at the most. Even the road was
overflowing with people. A Recruiting Officer
from Hindupur came in a jeep for Baba's Darshan
(Holy Vision), giving the villagers their first
contact with a motor vehicle. Others too came in
large numbers. The village accountant's family
put up a shed which was enlarged as the months
passed. A tent also was rigged up, and some
devotees who came from Bangalore and Anantapur
pitched their own tents. Finally even the
spacious house of the accountant became
insufficient, because Sai Baba insisted on
feeding all who came to see Him; huge dining
halls became necessary.
An old lady
who was in the accountant's house during those
months said that very often when the food cooked
threatened to be insufficient. Baba was quietly
informed and He asked that two coconuts be
brought. When they were given to Him, He struck
one against the other and both broke exactly
into halves. He then sprinkled the coconut water
on little heaps of rice and the vessels
containing other items and gave the signal to
proceed with the task of serving all who came
that day!
Sai Baba has
spoken about the untiring devotion of Subbamma,
the accountant's wife. This aged lady looked
after the comforts of the pilgrims and had Baba
Himself in her house for some years until the
building now called "Old Mandir" (or Old Temple)
was built in 1944.
Sai Baba
composed a number of songs and verses of praise
to be used for the occasions of singing and
chanting, for Sai Baba of Shirdi was unknown in
those areas; these songs refer to Dwarakamayi,
Puti Temple, Udi and the Margosa tree, and other
details which were strange to the devotees who
assembled at Puttaparthi. Many of them are sung
even today at the Prasanthi
Nilayam,
"Place of Peace," the name of the Center of
Prayer now in Puttaparthi directed by Sathya Sai
Baba.
He used to
complain off and on of the "family atmosphere"
in the places where He stayed. Young boy that He
was, He would disappear during day or night into
the mountains that surround the village.
Whenever He was found absent, Subbamma and
others would search every hill and dale within
walking distance. They generally found Him
sitting quietly on a rock overlooking the
valley, in a cave like hollow or crevice, or on
the sands of the river. These disappearances and
wanderings gave the people anxiety, for they
were ignorant of the true significance of His
absences. Some of them were afraid that He would
go away to the Himalayas or waste Himself in
asceticism, for they did not understand the
Nature of the Incarnation or the Purpose for
which It had come. Even today, these people
continue talking of the spiritual practices of
the young boy on the hills, not knowing that He
has come to restore the inner path of the Spirit
in Man!
One day when a
party of devotees was accompanying Baba in a
caravan of bullock carts to Uravakonda, He got
down from His cart and went into the hills and
disappeared. The entire area was searched but
there was not a trace of Him. Everyone was in
great distress until Baba appeared at about six
o'clock in the evening, fresh and smiling, and
restored everyone's drooping heart.
In connection
with journeys Sai Baba made by bullock cart, an
incident occurred which is even now described by
Baba with a twinkle of merriment. In spite of
occasional moods of solitude which took Him away
from His devotees into the hills and dales, He
was always a sprightly joyous boy full of
practical jokes and fun. Once when about twenty
devotees were proceeding along the road to
Dharmavaram, Sai Baba and a group of young men
were walking behind the bullock carts in the
moonlight. Suddenly He moved a few yards away,
unnoticed by the rest, and hastened to the cart
leading the other carts. There He appeared as a
girl of sixteen; she appealed to the persons
inside the cart for a lift because her feet were
sore. She was to go to Dharmavaram where her
husband had been admitted to the hospital. Baba
acted the part with so many sighs, rubbing of
eyes, and even tears, that the ladies in the
cart took pity on the unfortunate "girl" and
took her in. After about a mile or so, news came
from the end of the line that Sai Baba was
missing, and all the carts were brought to a
halt; each of the occupants got down and joined
the search. They found Him at last, just a few
yards ahead of the foremost cart itself. Some of
the older men even dared chide Baba for playing
hide and seek in strange places in the dead of
night! The journey resumed, but another person
was now found missing! Where was the girl whose
husband was a patient at the Dharmavaram
Hospital? Where could she have gone?
Perhaps in her
anxiety to be by the bedside of her husband she
ran on when the carts stopped to search for Bala
Sai. So some fleet-footed young men ran forward,
only to bring back the report that the road was
deserted for at least two miles ahead! Finally
they asked Baba, for they knew He would
certainly know the where-abouts of every missing
person. Of course He knew! The "girl" was there
before them in the form of Baba Himself, the
Great Actor.
Venkamma, the
sister, pestered Baba for a picture of Sai Baba
of Shirdi about whom so many hymns were composed
by Baba. Baba told her He would give it to her
by a certain Thursday, but He went to Uravakonda
on the day previous to the Thursday indicated.
She forgot all about it, for she was sure she
would get it some day and was not very concerned
as to the exact day. Night fell and all were
asleep at Puttaparthi. Someone called out
"Ammayi, Ammayi" outside the front door. The
sister did not go and open the door since the
call did not persist. She reasoned that it must
be someone calling the neighbor. As she lay in
bed, she heard a grating sound behind one of the
bags of corn in the same room. She imagined it
to be a rat or a snake; it was distinct and
loud. She lit a lamp and searched, and lo,
something white, stiff, a piece of rolled paper,
a picture of Sai Baba of Shirdi was mysteriously
presented to her by Baba who was at Uravakonda
at the time! She still has the
picture.
At that time,
because there was no large building in which all
could be accommodated, Baba generally went every
evening to the sands of the river with the
devotees and the chanting was carried on
there.
Sai Baba has
said many times that in His life the first
sixteen years will be marked mainly by
Lila
( sport and play), the next sixteen by Miracles,
and the subsequent years by Teaching. He has
said that although Lila
would be
the main note of the first period, it would
continue to be a part of every stage of His
life; so also with Miracles and Teaching. True
to this statement, Sai Baba performed various
miracles before the devotees who attended those
evenings of chanting and worship on the sands by
the river. It was then that the Tamarind tree
that grows solitary at the crest of the hill on
the left bank of the Chitravathi near its
meeting place with the road, got the reputation
of being a "Wish-fulfilling Tree," for Baba used
to take the devotees to the tree and pluck from
it many different varieties of fruits - apple
from one branch, mango from another, orange from
a third, pears and figs from a fourth and fifth.
As Sai Baba says, He can make any tree at any
time a "Wish-fulfilling Tree," for He is Himself
"Wish-fulfilling."
He would climb
up the rocks very quickly, and sometimes to the
surprise of everyone He did not climb at all;
yet He would be talking to the devotees on the
sands one moment and hail them from near the
Tamarind tree the next. He usually assisted the
older and stouter devotees, and when they held
His Hand, He pulled them up as if they had no
weight at all.
A number of
very fortunate devotees of those days experience
joy even now when describing the miracles they
were privileged to witness. Baba would call to
them in a clear commanding voice from the top of
the hill while standing by the side of the
"Wish-fulfilling Tree" - "Look up and see"; and
they saw a wheel of circling light with Baba's
Head in the center, or a blinding jet of light
emanating from His Forehead. Instances are
related of a few devotees who fell down in a
swoon at the sight of these strange phenomena.
Some have seen, looking up from the sands, "a
huge Sai Baba of Shirdi," illuminated by a
mysterious effulgence. Some have seen Sathya Sai
Baba's Face appear inside the full-circled moon,
and have seen a pillar of fire appear
also.
A college
student, C. N. Padma, who was present one
evening when Sai Baba ascended the hill on which
the Tamarind tree can still be seen, writes,
"The next day Baba took us again to the sands.
In fact He went out every day, sometimes to a
cluster of trees near a tank on the other bank
of the river where He delighted in swimming and
diving, or sometimes to the sands. After some
little conversation He challenged a few young
men of His physical age, that is to say same
teenagers, to run a race with Him up the rocky
path from the sands to the Tamarind tree. Off
they went, but before one could close one's eyes
and open them, Baba was calling out in great
glee from the very top! He asked the others to
stop where they were and He called out to
everyone, 'Be watching Me; I am giving you the
Darshan of Flame, the Vision of Light.' Suddenly
there was a great ball of fire, like a sun,
piercing the new moon dusk. It was impossible to
open the eyes and keep looking. About three or
four of the devotees fainted and fell. The time
was a little past seven."
While
mentioning the cluster of trees near Saheb Tank,
another incident should be recorded. One day
Baba had tied a swing to the overhanging branch
of a tree there and was sitting on the
contraption, swinging fast up and down in great
joy to the delight of all. Suddenly He said,
"Look!" to the devotees sitting on the ground.
They looked up and saw the channing Cowherd Boy
of Brindavan, Krishna,
sitting on a magnificently decorated,
flower-bedecked swing. Some lost consciousness
and had to be revived by Sai Baba's scattering
on them the rice grains that He secured by a
Wave of the Hand. When they awakened, dazed and
weeping with joy, Baba told them, "Calm
yourselves! Do not get excited! This is why I do
not grant you many of these Visions."
Later when Sai
Baba was visiting a family in Mysore, He quite
unexpectedly granted their priest a Vision of
Narasimha,
the "Man-Lion" Avatara
of Vishnu, whom he adored all his life. The
Brahmin priest swooned and did not recover
consciousness for several hours. Similarly, once
while Baba was talking to a retired health
inspector about God and Godhead, He showed him
the Flame emanating from His Forehead. The
inspector was so overcome with the strange
magnificence of the experience that he could not
regain consciousness for fully seventy hours,
and his children began chiding Sai Baba for
taking him so near the door of death!
A devotee from
Kamalapuram was asking Baba to show him some
miracle. One day Baba called him and the members
of his family, including his mother, and offered
to show them the Vision of the ten incarnations
of God! The Visions of
Matsya
the Fish, Kurma
the Tortoise,
and Varaha
the Boar, passed off without any incident, but
when the terrible form of
Narasimha
the
"Man-Lion" appeared, they shrieked and yelled,
fearing that the house might collapse on their
heads. They clamored, "Enough, enough." Other
persons, although there, did not see the Forms,
because the miracle was not intended for them.
However, when they witnessed the distress of the
family, they performed a magical incantation for
bringing auspicious delight, and Baba calmed
down. The ten incarnations were revealed to
another gentleman, now deceased, a relative of
the accountant's family. The fact was that he
passed away because his physical frame was too
weak to contain the joy of the Vision. Baba took
him to the river and asked him to watch His
reflection in the water. The man announced later
that he saw at first Sathya Sai Baba Himself,
then only the halo of hair that surrounds His
Head, and then all the ten incarnations in the
order in which they are mentioned in the
legendary histories of India; the tenth and last
incarnation on a white horse, had the form of
Baba Himself!
Baba will
bless only those who have reached that stage in
which they deserve the Vision that He grants. He
is the judge of the time, the recipient, and the
nature of the Vision. If the person so blessed
is so overwhelmed with joy that he cannot
survive in this physical framework because it is
too weak a container for that type of Bliss, one
has only to be thankful for the glory and the
blessedness of such a death.
One can well
appreciate the hesitation of Sai Baba to present
these Visions when he learns of the experience
of Krishnamurthy, a Civil Service clerk at the
Mysore Secretariat.
Baba was then
at Bangalore, ostensibly a youth of seventeen.
He wore a white half-arm shirt and a dhoti cloth
around His waist. Krishnamurthy was a frequent
visitor and an enthusiastic member of the
chanting group that sang hymns of praise. He was
closely watching Baba and following Him for a
few days. One day at about eight in the morning
he confronted Baba and said rather excitedly, "I
know you are God; show me Your real Form!" Sai
Baba tried to avoid him but couldn't. He gave
him a picture of Sai Baba of Shirdi which He
materialized on the spot, and directed him to
meditate on that, keeping it against the wall.
"Be looking at that picture," He commanded, and
left the house to give the blessing of His
Presence to some devotees in their
homes.
Sai Baba
returned when the clock struck twelve. Just when
He crossed the threshold, Krishnamurthy sent
forth a huge cry of joy and fainted in the inner
room! When he revived he was shivering and
shaking and breathing heavily. He kept his eyes
tightly closed and was pursuing Baba from room
to room, asking sometimes plainly, sometimes
authoritatively, "Let me touch Your Feet!" He
seemed to know exactly where Baba was, by the
sense of smell, and he was sniffing his way
towards Him! But Baba pushed him gently off or
hid Himself or kept His Feet firmly under Him
when seated, and never acceded to
Krishnamurthy's wishes.
When
Krishnamurthy was asked to open his eyes, he
refused, saying that he did not desire to cast
his eyes on anything else; he wanted only to see
and touch Baba's Feet. His excitement and joy
continued unabated for days, and Sai Baba said
that if he touched His Feet while in that
ecstatic mood, he would pass away. So Sai Baba
quietly persuaded him to go home, saying that He
would give him the pleasure of His Presence
there.
Baba then
moved to a house in the Civil Station. But
Krishnamurthy could not contain himself. With
his eyes still closed, he somehow sniffed his
way. He got on a horse cart and directed the
driver to the house where Sai Baba was staying!
He slid down from the cart and ran into the
compound, roamed round the building, and began
to bang at the very window of the room where Sai
Baba was at the time! Baba still spoke of the
danger to Krishnamurthy's life because of the
overpowering joy of his experience. Relatives
who came for him forced his return home. He
still kept his eyes closed, praying for Baba's
Feet.
Some people
took him to the hospital because he had become
weak through fasting and would not even drink
water. Baba sent to him at the hospital a little
water in which His Feet had been bathed. When
Krishnamurthy drank it, he became fit enough to
be taken home. At home he asked everyone to sing
hymns in praise of Baba while he lay on a cot in
the same room. When the session was over, they
found he did not rise. He had touched the Feet
of the Lord; the river had found the Sea. What a
highly evolved soul to deserve that
indescribable Bliss!
In later years
too, Sai Baba has granted Visions of a devotee's
Ishta
Devata,
"the form of God chosen for worship," and to
many others He has revealed His own manifold
Forms. Each one so blessed cherishes the memory
of that moment of Bliss! Baba has often said
that the Lord, has to come in human form in
order to speak to people in their own language,
just as a person desirous of saving drowning man
has perforce to jump into the very same tank or
well. No one can benefit from a Divine
Incarnation, an Avatara,
if the Lord comes down as He is, with His
effulgence unimpaired, for then the gap between
man and Godman would be too great for man to
comprehend. Therefore God must take on a form
similar to that of an ordinary man.
On another
occasion Sai Baba asked some persons who had
come from Kamalapur whether they would like to
hear the flute of Sri
Krishna.
Who would say no? He asked them to lay their
heads on His Chest, and lo, they could hear the
enchanting melody of the flute of
Krishna
that brought even the Yamuna River to a
standstill. Easwaramma, His mother , speaks of
another thrilling experience when Baba said,
"Listen, Shirdi's Presence is here." She and
everyone in the room could hear steps advancing
as if made by feet in heavy wooden sandals. The
steps ceased when they reached where Baba was
sitting! When first the sound was heard, the
mother asked with a little anger, "Who comes in
with sandals on?" - so real was the sensation,
so true was the Vision!
While this was
the experience of the mother, the father Pedda
Venkapa Raju, had another incident to narrate.
One evening some people came from Penukonda to
Puttaparthi; among them was Krishnamachari, who,
though a native of Puttaparthi, had long ago
settled down at Penukonda as a lawyer. He and
some others came to the accountant's house and
Subbamma gave them coffee. The talk naturally
turned to the latest phenomenon of Baba, and
they asked Pedda Venkapa Raju, who was there,
what it was all about and how true it was. He
replied that it was all a mystery to him and
that he too was equally in the dark. Then it
seems, the lawyer called Venkapa a cheat, and
charged him with misleading innocent village
folk with tall stories. This upset him so much
that he went to Sai Baba and challenged Him to
convince the doubters about His Divinity so that
they might not accuse him as the lawyer had
done. Baba coolly asked him to bring everyone
who had any doubt directly to Him.
Subbamma and
the party from Penukonda were taken to Pedda
Venkapa Raju's house where Sai Baba was. Baba
asked Subbamma if she would like to see the
Shirdi
Samadhi,
the Holy Tomb of Sai Baba at Shirdi. On her
saying, "Yes," He took her to an inner room in
the house and said, "Look!" There Subbamma could
see the Samadhi
with all the flowers, the fragrant incense
sticks and smoke, and an attendant sitting in
one corner chanting to himself. Baba told her,
"On this side, see the Temple of
Hanuman,
the Monkey-Saint, and in the far distance see
that Margosa tree." It appeared to her as if she
were in some vast open space looking at the
scene in Shirdi, the entire landscape spreading
out before her for miles and miles to the
horizon in the distance.
When she was
brought out after this thrilling experience, she
persuaded Krishnamachari to follow Sai Baba to
the same inner room. Baba took them, one by one,
and revealed to each the same Vision, a
panoramic view of the Shrine at Shirdi and its
locale. Pedda Venkapa Raju says that he was
taken inside after all the rest, and when he
came out, he was a changed man. His doubts had
vanished. The friends from Penukonda apologized
for their slighting remarks and said that in
order to explain such a divine phenomenon, the
sanest explanation to give would be that it was
"a mystery beyond understanding." Easwaramma and
Pedda Venkapa Raju, the mother and father, were
convinced that day that the young lad of sixteen
was really an incarnation of Sai Baba of Shirdi.
Pedda Venkapa Raju says that he then instructed
his family to consider Baba as Divine and not
bother Him with any more pettiness, neglect,
impatience, temper, or meanness.
Sai Baba was
engaged even during those early days in
teaching. His life is one continuous
instruction. A clear example of this was when He
spoke to a naked sage when the latter came to
Puttaparthi in 1941. The town of Bukkapatnam was
agog with the visit of this ascetic who had lost
the use of both his legs, who had discarded
clothes, and therefore was looked upon by the
masses as a perfect example of a great sage. His
admirers were eager to watch the reactions of
Sai Baba when pitted against a veteran of many
hardships. The naked sage had also taken a vow
of silence; thus the curiosity of the people
became greater. The sweet young divine lad met
the "lofty hero" who was carried to the village
and deposited in front of Subbamma's house. Baba
gave the unclothed sage a big towel and some
advice, the like of which he would not have been
given anywhere else.
"If you have
cut off all relationship with society, as your
nakedness indicates you have, then why do you
not go to a cave in a forest away from human
society? Why are you afraid? On the other hand,
if you have a craving for disciples, for fame,
and for name, and the food available in cities
and towns, why do you allow yourself to be a
mistaken for a man with no attachment"? These
were the words that fell from the lips of the
young Baba. They struck everyone with wonder and
admiration.
The naked sage
looked crestfallen, for he was evidently not
sincere enough to live up to his nakedness and
his vow of silence. But Sai Baba was not
sarcastic - far from it. He was ready to help,
to assure, to guarantee! Patting the cripple on
the back, He said, "I know your difficulty. You
are afraid you may not get food and shelter if
you retire from the company of men, isn't it so?
Well, I assure you, anyone taking the Name of
the Lord, wherever he may be, will get his food;
I shall see to that. You may be in the deepest
Himalayas or the deepest forest and I shall give
you food regularly there! But, if you have not
that faith and that courage, you can meditate on
Him right here; but don't wander about naked and
give all this bother to these people to carry
you about from place to place." What a grand
teaching that was! If only people would grasp
its meaning! That was the Authentic Voice. Only
the Lord could give that assurance!
This assurance
is being given even today by Sai Baba to all
aspirants. In 1958 when Swami Satchidananda met
Him, Baba told him to cultivate his
Yogic
proficiency and not fritter away his time
organizing movements. He added, patting the
seventy year old monk on the back, "Your Yogic
attainments will themselves penetrate the rock
of the cave where you sit and bring
auspiciousness to the world. Go to some
Himalayan solitude. I shall provide you food and
shelter wherever you are!" The same Authentic
Voice, come to guide and guard all spiritual
aspirants practicing
Yoga
or
union with God, whatever the religion, the race,
the clime!
With the
arrival of devotees from all around at the news
of the manifestation of Sai Baba of Shirdi at
Puttaparthi, Baba was kept busy curing their
physical and mental ills. He says that even this
forms part of His Mission, for no one can have
the urge for spiritual discipline when pestered
by physical and mental ills. Many cases of
chronic illness, lunacy, hysteria, possession by
evil spirits and ghosts, and other maladies were
brought to the presence of the Great Healer.
People who had been worshipping Sai Baba of
Shirdi also came out of curiosity to examine the
new manifestation of their Lord. Many persuaded
Baba to visit their places. He went to
Bangalore, Mirzapur, Kolapuram, Pithapuram,
Sandur, Madras, and other towns. Also visiting
Him were devotees from families connected with
the Royal Line of Mysore. At Bangalore, Sai Baba
operated on a person with a duodenal ulcer and
the patient got complete relief ; the
instruments were all materialized
mysteriously.
The stream of
pilgrims increased considerably. This
highlighted the need for a bigger temple where
Sai Baba could reside and the devotees be
accommodated. This was how the first temple was
planned by Thirumala Rao of Bangalore and others
in 1945. The place selected was a short distance
from the village between the Satyamma and the
Gopalakrishna temples, the very site on which
sheds and large tents were put up for some years
during the Dasara and other
festivals.
When the
servant, Gooni Venkata (Venkata with the hump) ,
dug at the spot indicated by Sai Baba, so that
consecrated stones could be laid as foundation,
a large number of stone bases used as stands for
lingams (emblems of the Form merging in
the Formless, or emerging from the Formless)
were discovered! But strangely enough, no
lingams could be found, though a vigorous search
was made. Dozens of bases - but not a single
lingam. People gathered round Baba and sought
the answer. Sai Baba told them cryptically,
pointing a finger at his stomach, "The lingams
are all here." Those who have witnessed the
emanation of lingams from Baba's Mouth on the
night of the Festival of
Mahasivaratri
might be convinced of the correctness of the
answer; others will have to be satisfied with
the consolation that the ways of the Lord are
beyond the categories with which we measure and
weigh, infer and judge. (After the completion of
the building, Sai Baba came over from the
accountant's house and lived in the room to the
left of the front veranda, a small room about
eight feet long and six feet wide. )
Meanwhile Sai
Baba had gone to Madras and had given the
blessed pleasure of His Presence to thousands
there. He also went as far as Masulipatam.
Wherever He went He granted people peace of mind
and spiritual advice, and assured them that He
would guide and guard them. One day while on the
sands of the seashore near Masulipatam, Baba
walked straight into the sea! The devotees were
sometime realizing the situation.
Then they
heard a voice and turned toward the waves. They
saw a Vision of the Lord on the Serpent
Sesha,
reclining on the waves! Within a moment, Baba
was by their side. They were struck by the fact
that His clothes were not wet at all. Another
day He walked toward the sea, up to the very
edge and threw a silver cup far into the waves.
Everyone wondered why. In an instant the cup
came back and was deposited near them by a wave.
Sai Baba lifted it up along with the "salt
water" it contained; he poured the water onto
the palms of the devotees, a few drops for each
to be swallowed religiously. Each one found it
to be fragrant and sweet beyond compare! The sea
had offered Him the "nectar of immortality,"
just as years later it placed round His Feet a
garland of pearls.
People who
witnessed these miracles and partook of the
nectar are now at Prasanthi
Nilayam,
His place of "Tranquil Peace" at Puttaparthi,
and are ardent devotees of the Lord.
It would be a
mistake to infer trom these incidents that Baba
was attempting to impress the people around Him
by the manifestation of His Divinity. His very
nature is of the miraculous. His actions are
beyond our ken, our arithmetic and physics and
chemistry. Plato called the inquiry into the
nature of the relationship between the "here and
now" and the "hereafter and ever" as
meta-physics, or "after physics." Sai Baba's
actions are all meta! He presents the miracles
because He is He, not because of any desire or
purpose or want, for what can He ever want or
wish for?
Whenever
anyone came into the Presence, even in those
days, Sai Baba immediately took him in hand, and
by advice, suggestion, satire, sarcasm, or
even reprimand, He slowly shaped him into a
humble, silent, pious, and thereby efficient,
enthusiastic limb of society. That is the
alchemy of His Touch. Even when He addressed
groups of devotees He emphasized the need for an
inner transformation in every individual. He
told everyone to have courage and said that
courage can come only by faith in the Infinite
Power, the Infinite Mercy of the Lord. Anyone
inclined to doubt this need only watch Him and
taste His Infinite Power and His Infinite
Mercy.
An incident
regarding His Mercy happened at Bangalore when
He was still in His teens. A cobbler, plying his
trade on a corner of a road in the Civil
Station, saw Baba in a bungalow opposite the
place where he sat. Many cars were moving in and
out of the house grounds. Flowers and fruits
were being taken in and the faces of those who
came out on the road were bright with joy and
contentment. They were talking of an Incarnation
of Lord
Krishna,
of the Lord Sai Baba, and so forth. The cobbler
too ventured to enter the gate and peep
nervously into the hall where Sai Baba was
seated on a special chair with men on one side
and women on the other. His eyes fell on Baba
just when He too looked at him. Sai Baba
immediately arose and came forward to the door
where the cobbler stood. He approached him, took
the little dried up garland of flowers that he
held in his hand, even before the man offered
it, and asked him in Tamil, the only language
the cobbler knew, what he wanted from Him! The
temerity to formulate his wish and express it in
so many words must have been granted to that
aged "untouchable" outcaste by Baba Himself, for
how else can one explain the astounding request
that he dared to make? He said quite confidently
and without hesitation, to the surprise of
everyone who heard him, "Please come to my house
and accept something!" Baba patted his back
lovingly and said, "All right, I shall come,"
and resumed His seat at the other end of the
hall.
The cobbler
waited for a long time because he wanted to tell
Sai Baba where his house was and to know when
Baba would visit it so that he might clean it
and be ready to receive Him; but he finally had
to hurry back to his corner to keep watch over
his heap of leather pieces and old shoes. He was
pushed and jostled by the rush of visitors. No
one listened to him when he said that Baba had
promised to pay a visit to his hut. The cobbler
wanted them to find out from Sai Baba when He
would be coming. Some laughed at him and his
audacity; some said he was drunk or mad. Days
passed. Sai Baba spent His days with other
blessed hosts and did not visit the bungalow
opposite the cobbler's corner. So the cobbler
gave up all hopes of meeting Baba
again!
Suddenly one
day a fine car was driven right up in front of
the aged cobbler. He was taken aback; he was
afraid it might be the police van or some City
official intent on prosecuting him for plying
his trade on the pavement. But it was Sai Baba!
He invited the cobbler to get into the car; the
man was too confused even to open his mouth to
direct the driver to his hut, Sai Baba seemed to
know. Stopping the car on the side of the road,
Baba got down and hastened over the cobblestones
in the by-lane to the exact hut in the midst of
the slum! The cobbler ran forward to warn his
family. Sai Baba created some sweets and fruits
and gave them as consecrated gifts to the
members of the cobbler's family and sat on a
plank near the wall. He blessed the aged man who
was shedding tears of joy and took with Him a
few bananas the cobbler had brought from a shop
nearby. He then left the hut which was
thereafter made a place of pilgrimage for the
entire neighborhood! Such was Sai Baba's
love.
Some people in
their foolishness attempted to poison Baba. The
incident reveals more than one facet of Baba's
Divinity. Even today Sai Baba will not allow the
attempt to be called an attempt to kill. Since
His words are Truth, let it be remembered that
it was an attempt to test whether He could
survive the eating of poison; it was more the
result of scepticism than of
wickedness.
It was
festival day and Sai Baba with two devotees
visited a few houses in His native village. In
each house He partook of something, and when He
entered the house where the fatal food had been
prepared, He showed extra enthusiasm and
demanded more of the special dish; but He saw to
it that His companions did not consume the
deadly mixture. When He returned to the
accountant's house, He confided to several
people the secret of the invitation from that
particular house, talked about the utter
futility and foolishness of it all, and had a
hearty laugh over the incident. After sometime
He vomited the whole stuff. People near Him
secretly tested whether it was poisonous to
living beings. It was!
Sai Baba takes
delight in doing just what we mortals dread to
do. For example, the night of the snake bite.
This incident is described in the chapter on
"The Wave of the Hand." That night, after the
recovery of Baba from the snake bite with the
application of the Talisman produced
miraculously through His Grace, everyone in the
village pleaded with Him not to have any supper,
for food might aggravate the poison; but He
audaciously ate a little more than usual. He was
asked by the elders to avoid cold water, but He
purposely swam about in a well just to spite
human nervousness and human
precautions!
Subbamma was
the person most anxious about Baba's health and
most worried about feeding the hundreds of
pilgrims who gathered at Puttaparthi. Baba even
now says that the grinding stone in her home was
always busy preparing chutney out of the heaps
of coconuts for the hundreds who stayed at her
house. Subbamma was grinding and grinding,
besides boiling rice and preparing dishes almost
eight hours of the day! She had immense love and
devotion for the Lord, and Sai Baba had said
that He would satisfy her one great desire - to
have the Darshan,
that is, the blessing of seeing in person the
Vision of Sai Baba in her last moments. It is
indeed a thrilling story, the story of those
moments and that Darshan.
Subbamma fell
ill and was taken to Bukkapatnam, but in spite
of her illness, she came over one day in a
bullock cart to see the
Prasanthi
Nilayam,
which was then under construction. She was soon
bedridden and could not move; her condition
worsened; and Sai Baba was away at Bangalore!
Subbamma in her delirium talked about Baba and
the Vision of Sai Baba of Shirdi which she had
been privileged to see. She spoke of the many
"miracles of Lord Krishna
" which she had witnessed. When normal
consciousness returned, her talk concerned the
same incidents and the same Person. She was in
the midst of relations who had little sympathy
with these sentiments, for they felt that her
love for the strange miraculous young boy had
taken her away from attachment to her kith and
kin. They told her that her Baba was a hundred
miles away, and it would be better for her to
concentrate her final attention on her family
gathered around her. But her faith in Sai Baba
did not falter.
Meanwhile Baba
left Bangalore for Tirupathi. He knew that
Subbamma's soul was struggling to free itselt
from the mortal coil, and that she was rolling
in her deathbed at Bukkapatnam. The people
around her announced that she had breathed her
last. But a peculiar glow on her face made them
hesitate to take the body away for cremation. A
few wise people shook their heads when it was
suggested that she had died. They advised
patience, and admonished the relatives, "The
bird has not yet flown." How could that bird
fly, even though the doors of the cage were wide
open? She must have the Darshan, the promised
Vision, and she must wait until Baba
came.
Baba was
hurrying toward her bedside. He left Tirupathi
by car, and arriving at Puttaparthi, proceeded
to Bukkapatnam three full days after the
announcement of Subbamma's end! Her eyes had
lost the glint; she was placed on the floor; for
no Hindu should die while on the bed, and people
were evincing an uneasy impatience. Sai Baba sat
by her and in a low voice called out, "Subbamma,
Subbamma," just twice! To the evident wonderment
of everyone crowding around, Subbamma opened her
eyes; her hand extended toward Baba and grasped
His Palm firmly and began to stroke it lovingly.
Baba put His Fingers to her lips; her mouth
opened a little, as if she knew that Baba was
giving her something to slake the thirst of the
soul. From the Fingers of Baba there poured into
her mouth a small quantity of water which He
said was from River Ganges. Subbamma then joined
the ranks of the released!
About this
time Sai Baba was approached by the Muslims of a
neighboring village on a matter of importance to
them. Their ranks had been reduced by a fatal
disease.
The worship of
what are called Pirs
is traditional in these parts during the month
of Mohurram.
The installation, the worship, the ceremonial
procession and the immersion are all celebrated
by Hindu as well as Muslim communities.
Pirs
are hand-shaped objects made of brass and other
metals which are held sacred as mementos of the
sacrifice of Hassan and Hussein on the memorable
battlefield of Kerbela. Sai Baba told the
Muslims who came to Him that
Pirs
had been installed in their village for hundred
of years, but lately the practice had stopped.
He asked them to continue the worship and
revealed to them that if they dug at a certain
place which He pointed out, they would get the
very Pirs
which their forefathers consecrated. They dug at
the place and the Pirs
were exposed to view! Everyone was so surprised
and stunned at Sai Baba's Omniscience and the
sudden appearance of the sacred objects that
none had the ability to descend and pull the
Pirs
into the open. So Sai Baba Himself got down into
the pit and took out the
Pirs.
There were four of them at the place! For many
years thereafter these were kept at the temple,
rolled up in a mat and packed neatly away. They
were issued to those villagers for the
Mohurrum
celebrations
only, and they were duly returned after the
functions were over.
One curious
circumstance witnessed by the author was when
the Muslims were proceeding from the temple
after accepting the
Pirs
from Sai Baba's Hands. The person carrying them
began to act as if he were "possessed", and all
gathered around him to watch the holy man in
that elevated mood. He danced a few steps, ran
round in circles, muttered to himself a few
verses from the holy
Koran,
the Muslim Holy Book, and walked back to Sai
Baba. Baba said, "Go! Go and come back after the
festival," and quickly, quietly, the "possessed"
man sped forward with the
Pirs
in the same tense condition of prayerful joy.
Only those who have had the privilege of
witnessing such moments can grasp even in a
small way the mystery that is Sai
Baba.
Many devotees
came to Puttaparthi from far and near during
those days. Each one was drawn by some
inexplicable circumstance and kept steady by a
glimpse of Sai Baba's Omnipresence or
Omnipotence. A gentleman from Udumalpet who
first refused to join the party of pilgrims, but
who later was persuaded against his will to go
along, offered a flower garland to Baba as
others did as soon as Puttaparthi was reached.
Baba did not accept his offering. He said, "You
had no mind to come!" That remark brought Sai
Baba closer to the unbeliever.
A gentleman
who was from Madurai came because his sister at
Vellore agreed to have an operation performed on
her only if and when Sai Baba said it was
essential. He came to Puttaparthi, but Sai Baba
did not speak to him for some days. When at last
He spoke, He only asked him to go to Vellore by
the next available bus. The doctor at Vellore
was getting more furious all the time because
the silly patient was endangering her life by
waiting for permission to undergo the operation
from a mere boy, who, she said, was her
Guru
and God! The brother came at last. Another
examination was made. Wonders of wonders, there
was no need for an operation! "Is it the same
'she'?" the doctor asked in
amazement.
It would make
very inspiring reading if a book were composed
of the answers from devotees to the question:
"How did you first come to Puttaparthi, and
why?" If such a volume were ever produced, the
story of the coming of Sakamma, the well known
owner of coffee plantations, a philanthropist of
Coorg, and the lady who was honored with the
title of "Dharmaparayani"
(ever engaged in charity) by the Maharaja of
Mysore, would make an interesting chapter. Not
because she was rich or famous in the field of
business and industry. Sai Baba does not mind
whether a person is rich or poor. He cares for
the richness of character, the wealth of
spiritual discipline and the treasures of the
spirit, no matter what the bank balance may
be!
The late
Sakamma used to tell this strange experience.
One day at her bungalow in Somwarpet, Coorg,
when she was engaged in worship, a servant
disturbed her and announced that a car had come
into the compound, and that the person inside
insisted on seeing her immediately. She was
rather upset, but nevertheless went to find out
who would take such liberty with her time. She
found in the car a tall, fair, old man with a
very reverent looking beard, sitting on a
deerskin, his whole body bathed in ash. She was
struck by the age of the car also, for it
matched the age of the owner or occupant. It was
driven by a weak little boy in his teens, and
Sakamma wondered how he could have managed to
secure a license or whether he had one at all.
The car had a name plate in front reading, "The
Kailas Committee." She invited the old man
inside, did homage by touching his feet, placed
a newly plucked rose at his feet, and offered
him some fruits. He said he would not eat the
fruits there, because he did not cater to the
tongue at all times and all places.
"Jihvachapalya"
- that is, tongue cravings - was the word he
used. He wanted her to contribute to the Kailas
Committee and become a member by donating a
thousand rupees. She signed a paper on which the
sum and her name were written, and when she
proffered the amount, the old man said, "Keep
this also with you. I shall come and take it
later." With those words he put the signed sheet
on the table, got into the car and drove away.
The teen-age driver did his work remarkably
well, for the car was out of sight in a
moment.
Years later,
when she saw Baba in a house to which she had
gone, He appeared to her at one moment like the
young driver of that mysterious car, and in the
next moment like the hoary occupant who had
taken so much pains to make her contribute to
the Kailas Committee, and then had asked her to
hold the cash in her own keeping! Sai Baba
surprised her when they met by telling her,
"Come on, give the one thousand rupees you
promised that day!" and then described in her
presence the entire story, correct to the
minutest detail.
Sai Baba once
went to Mysore City during the
Deepavali,
the Festival of Lights, and stayed with a
devotee of the Maharaja. While there, He granted
the devotees who were at Puttaparthi the Vision
of a serpent, a phenomenon not unknown to the
devotees of Sai Baba of Shirdi and to the
citizens of Coimbatore and other places. The
interesting fact about this Vision is that at
the same time, or rather, for the entire period
that it lasted, Baba was "outside" His physical
frame which was at Mysore. The Prayer Sessions
at the old temple were performed during the
absence of Sai Baba on the steps leading up to
the front door, where a decorated photograph was
kept with a pair of lamps which burned both day
and night. Deepavali
Night passed, and in the early dawn a number of
devotees at Puttaparthi saw the lights of a car
coming up the curve of the hill beyond
Karnatanagapalli. That was later found to be
just the impression of a few. When the people
who had seen the car lights and had run forward
to the river bank returned to the temple, they
were surprised to hear that a cobra was coiled
around the portrait of Sai Baba in the temporary
shrine. It was seen by hundreds of villagers and
others until three o' clock that afternoon. They
offered worship to it, sang the usual Prayer
Songs at noon, and broke coconuts to propitiate
it. But it did not stir from its place.
Emboldened by this, some women threw saffron
powder on it, pronouncing the Name of the Lord
and calling upon Sathya Sai Baba. They placed
milk in bowls before it; it only swayed its
raised hood from side to side. One reverent
female of the village, who got the two halves of
the coconut given back to her after the
ceremonial offering, protested loudly, saying
that the nut she handed to it was definitely
larger in size and that she would be a loser if
she quietly accepted the halves of a smaller
specimen. At this the cobra, as if it were
keenly watching the proceedings, turned sharply
in her direction and hissed loudly! Everyone had
a hearty laugh at her fright! At three o'clock
that afternoon the cobra slid down and within a
yard or two became invisible, and Sai Baba at
distant Mysore brought joy to all by getting up
as He returned to His Body.
After Sai Baba
went to Mysore, He visited Hyderabad, and
because He recognized a number of places as
those which He had once seen, the Rani of
Chincholi became convinced that He was the
incarnation of Sai Baba of Shirdi Himself. Baba
also went to Kuppam and from there to Karur and
to Trichinopoly. Everywhere He was welcomed with
great enthusiasm by devotees and citizens. At
Trichinopoly the procession was led by a richly
caparisoned elephant, followed by parties
reciting ritualistic chants and carrying
consecrated water in silver pots as an offering
of homage. Everywhere He advised the people,
"From now onwards, purify your hearts and
make them fit tabernacles for the Lord. Do not
fall deeper and deeper into evil by yielding to
temptations. Take courage. Believe in the Lord
who is within you, who is your nearest kith and
kin."
While the cars
of Sai Baba's party were traversing the streets
of Trichinopoly, one of the vehicles
accidentally ran over a little boy; he was badly
injured. A crowd quickly gathered around him. He
was carried to a house nearby and lay bleeding
and hurt on the porch. The police came to
investigate, but meanwhile Sai Baba had come and
touched the boy. They had nothing to report, for
the boy who had been hurt was now running about
telling everyone how one touch from Sai Baba had
made him whole. Long after Baba left, that boy
was fondled and fed by an admiring crowd which
was amazed at his miraculous
experience.
There was
another boy who was similarly honored by an
admiring crowd and who perhaps even today is
thankful for the intervention of the Lord. At a
public meeting near Trichinopoly, held to honor
Sai Baba, someone doubted His Divinity. Sensing
this from the platform, Sai Baba immediately
called up a deaf and dumb lad who was standing
near the aforesaid person; making him stand in
front of the microphone, He asked him, "What is
your name?" Immediately the boy spoke into the
microphone for all the thousands to hear,
"Venkatanarayanan!" The doubter kept silent and
hung his head in shame. There was another
consequence. Baba often speaks of this incident
with laughter. When morning dawned, the entire
length of the street where He was residing was
packed with deaf and dumb! It had become a
silent lane of pain! No one knew until then that
Trichinopoly had such a large number of people
with that unfortunate malady. Sai Baba moved
out of the bungalow to avoid the clamor of
the relatives seeking more miraculous
healings.
The devotees
at Karur and Trichinopoly vied with each other
in decorating their houses and streets and in
the magnificence of reception arrangements. But
Sai Baba was unaffected by all the pageantry. He
moved freely among the people, both rich and
poor, sometimes more among the poor than among
His hosts. He cared more for the prayerful heart
and the heart filled with remorse than those
puffed with pride and contaminated by greed. The
mantapams,
the many pillared open halls built for festive
occasions, which were erected for seating Him
and offering worship to Him, were gems of
artistry, bedecked with flowers of variegated
hues. Sai Baba told the people countless times
that He attached value only to the unsullied
blossom of a pure heart and the fruit offerings
of good deeds.
Once at
Mysore, seated on one such floral bedecked
mantapam,
Sai Baba was receiving the adoration and homage
of a family of devotees when a cobra appeared
from nowhere and crept onto the heap of flowers
at His Feet. Shortly it was accompanied by
another cobra. Baba assured the family that
there was nothing to be afraid of, and after a
while, the cobras disappeared into the "nowhere"
from whence they had mysteriously
emerged.
Sai Baba is
not content merely to instill faith in His
devotees through these miracles. He is a hard
taskmaster who is satisfied with nothing less
than absolute integrity and a sincere striving
for spiritual discipline. This explains why, of
the very large number of men and women who are
drawn to Him by the stories of His miracles and
who even get their first impressions of His
Divinity confirmed by many subsequent miracles,
some fall away from Him, unable to cope with the
demands He makes in character reform,
renunciation, spiritual practice, repeating the
Name of God in prayer, and in meditation on the
Form. Baba reiterated even in those early days
that He wards off physical calamities, cures
bodily ills, heals, consoles, and gives solace,
only as a first step towards spiritual practice
which must automatically follow the experience
of His Presence. Many monks and ascetics have
fallen into the mire because of their anxiety to
keep themselves in the good books of rich and
influential patrons. But Baba, who has come to
illumine the paths of holy men and great seers,
has never minced words when He has had to
correct the faults of those around Him. His
Grace is so overpowering that it disregards the
obstacles of age, scholarship, or length of
association. He blesses everyone with His
correctness and evaluation. Complete resignation
to His Divine Will alone can make each one full
and free.
The
Dasara
Festival soon became an event par excellence at
Puttaparthi. Even if Baba had to journey to
Madras or Trichinopoly or Masulipatam for other
festivals, He was invariably at Puttaparthi for
Dasara.
Sakamma and other devotees were privileged for
many years to make arrangements for this
"Festival of the Mother." Baba is the Supreme
Mother, manifesting Herself as the Goddess of
Wisdom, Saraswati,
the Goddess of Wealth,
Lakshmi,
Goddess of Spring, Sarada,
Goddess of Growing Food,
Annapurna,
and even Goddess of Powerful Inner Purification,
Kali.
Baba has said that Sanatana
Dharma,
the Eternal Wisdom, is the Divine Mother of
Humanity. As the Divine Charioteer, He brings
His Message of Truth, Divine Law of
Righteousness, Peace, and Love, the four
cardinal principles of spiritual culture. His
devotees feel that He is their Mother more than
all others, and so there is a special
appropriateness in Dasara
being the outstanding festival at Puttaparthi.
Many among His devotees have been blessed with
Visions of Him as the Mother. In fact, one of
them insists on addressing Him as
Siva,
the Mother - a name reminiscent of the sublime
conception of God as Father-Mother,
masculine-feminine, and
Siva-Sakti.
He
enjoys the company of children, and even the
most recalcitrant is brought round by Him
through an inexhaustible repertoire of tricks
and games and ventriloquial achievements. He
makes shadow figures and gives them presents of
sweets, materialized by a Wave of the Hand. He
twists and turns His Fingers, and when the
shadow falls on the wall opposite, the children
are astonished to find snakes, eagles, horses,
stags, dogs, peacocks, crows, cats, and
buffaloes jumping about in great glee. He offers
the child a ball of sand; it reluctantly extends
its tiny hand to receive the
Laddu
- the delicacy children relish most. The
sand actually becomes sweet fragrant
Laddu
the moment it reaches the palm of the child. He
says that children are indeed lucky, since they
have the good fortune of Baba's
Darshan
(experiencing His Presence) much earlier
than the adults, and they are privileged to have
Baba as their Teacher, Protector, Guide and
Guardian for many decades to come. When Sai Baba
agrees to name the children of His devotees, the
names He gives them are redolent with His Grace
and His Mercy. He also initiates the little ones
in the alphabet. He holds their tiny fingers in
His Hand and scribbles the letters along with
them in honey or milk or rice.
Akshara
means also "the imperishable," and Baba,
when He inaugurates the Aksharabhyasa,
the study of the alphabet, also initiates the
children into the Imperishable. Each one must
pronounce Mahamantra
- (the
great formula of power - text);
Om
Namo Narayana
- "Honor to the God in Man!";
Om
Namasivaja
- "Honor to the God Siva"; or
Om
Srinivasaya
- "Honor to the abode of Sri, the Goddess of
Fortune," or any mantra that is suited to the
traditions of the child's family, thus giving
the child the key to ultimate spiritual victory.
There is a song sung in Tamil about Sai Baba
which refers to Him as the
Sayimata,
the Mother who suckles Her children on the milk
of Wisdom. The study of the alphabet is the
occasion on which the fortunate child gets the
chance of receiving Divine Wisdom. During
Dasara
Baba
shines forth as the patron of Music and Letters
and as the Giver of Food and Sustenance, so that
Dasara
has become a memorable festival since the very
beginning of His manifestation. The devotees
delight in discourses, musical performances,
dramas, and sumptuous feasts. Every evening
there are processions along the narrow roads of
the village with Baba being carried on a
flower-bedecked vehicle. Decorated differently
on each day, the palanquin is carried on the
shoulders by eager relays of devotees. During
the progress of the procession, the author has
seen Baba plucking from the garlands around Him
odd flowers and, with a palm full of petals,
scattering them among the crowd. They all fall
with a jingle, for each petal has become a small
medallion with Baba's portrait on one side and
Sai Baba of Shirdi's portrait on the other! Or
it has often happened that the petals were
turned into peppermints, which rained among the
crowds around the palanquin! While on the
palanquin, Sai Baba's Forehead has often been
covered with Vibhuti,
the Sacred Ash that emanates from within.
Devotees have seen on Sai Baba this as well as
Kumkum
dots that emerged.
Soon the
temple was found to be too small for the
gathering of devotees. Many worshippers of Sai
Baba of Shirdi, on hearing that He had
incarnated in human form in the village of
Puttaparthi, hurried there. Many who went on
pilgrimage to Shirdi as usual were "directed"
when they arrived there to go to Puttaparthi.
Others came to know the Baba of Shirdi through
Sathya Sai Baba Himself. The afflicted, the
inquiring, the seekers of comfortable life, and
the wise are four types who approach the Lord
with their varied motives, but the Lord welcomes
all and satisfies all. The afflicted He
relieves. His Ash acts as a charm to drive away
evil spirits from hundreds of unfortunates. The
critical, the inquisitive, the doubting, the
sceptical, the agnostic. He satisfies and
attracts and attaches to Himself. The persons
eager to get a comfortable life, He blesses,
provided they are educated enough to use the
peace of mind they get for cultivating the
Spirit and contemplating on the ultimate goal of
life itself. The wise one, purified and
clarified by steadfast discipline, is dearest to
Him, for He reveals Himself in all His Glory.
People belonging to all these groups come to
Puttaparthi, the first and the third groups
naturally in much larger numbers. He
revolutionizes the lives of all who come to
Him.
The
transformation of a gang of thieves into
God-fearing agriculturists is worth recording.
One night when Sai Baba was on the hill on the
other bank of the Chitravathi, He came upon a
group of thieves engaged in the rather ticklish
task of dividing their spoils. But when they saw
Him and accepted from His Hand the Divine Ash,
they knew they were face to face with the
Eternal Witness. Sai Baba spoke to the seventeen
black hearts, and by His Alchemy He brought them
over to the village of Puttaparthi. They all
took up various honest ways of
living.
Within a few
years in order to accommodate the huge
gatherings, a long shed with a roof was erected
along the entire front of the temple. But even
that addition proved too small. A separate block
with one living room and bathroom was put up for
Baba behind the temple. It was in this room that
Sai Baba operated on Dr. Padmanabhan's brother
for hernia! It was in that shed behind the
screen in front of the Shrine that Baba operated
on Appish of Puttaparthi for appendicitis. It
was while sleeping in the open space between the
temple and the block behind, that Baba one night
announced that one of His devotees had lost a
Talisman which He had given him, for it had come
back into His possession! The author remembers
Baba saying that He would have to go to Madras
immediately to tie it to the wrist of the
patient. But all the people around Him prayed
that He should not undertake the "journey", at
that hour, going out of His Body and coming back
into it. He agreed to send it with someone
proceeding to Madras. So He placed the Talisman
in the custody of Sri Seshagiri Rao, an old
devotee, with the warning, "Keep it tight; tie
it in a towel and wind it around your waist."
Seshagiri Rao obeyed the command implicitly and
slept with the Talisman wound around his middle.
About two hours later, all of us were awakened
by the loud laughter of Sai Baba who was sitting
up in the bed. We gathered round him and wanted
to join in the joke. Seshagiri Rao was unaware
of what was going on. Baba woke him up and asked
for the Talisman. He unwound the towel, unrolled
it, and lo, the Talisman had disappeared! Sai
Baba chided him in fun and said that He had
"gone" and tied it around the wrist of the
patient who had to be continuously guarded by
it! Yes, He had gone to Madras and
returned.
Devotees will
never forget the Old Temple, for Sai Baba was
always moving right in the midst of the people
there. He composed many songs and hymns
portraying the Love of God which He taught while
there. He trained the people with great love and
attention. Since the number of devotees
who were present was not large, Baba used to go
out more frequently to the sands on the river
bed, or to the hills nearby, or to the gardens
across the river. While some were engaged in
cooking the feast, He showed them miracles, or
signs of His Divinity .
In teaching
and admonishing the devotees in relation to
their troubles, He told them that they must
concentrate on the recitation of God's Name,
that it was the best means of earning Peace.
Once He suddenly turned to a devotee with the
question, "Don't you do recitation?' She started
to say something in reply, but Baba did not wait
to hear it. "Oh, you have lost your
Japamala
(rosary), haven't you?" He asked. Then,
thrusting His Hand into the sand, He took out a
rosary and said, "Here, come and take this." The
lady rose reverently and came forward with
folded hands to receive. Sai Baba signed her to
halt, and told her with a smile illuminating His
Face, "Wait! First, tell me whose rosary this
is." She looked at it and gasped. "Mine, Baba!
Or rather, my mother's". She was so happy to get
back her rosary, the one given her by her dying
mother. Baba told us all about her mother's
piety, her brother's rigorous
Tapas,
austerity, and her own
Sadhana,
spiritual practice. He asked her when she had
lost the precious rosary. We were all
dumb-founded when she declared she had misplaced
it four years previously at
Bangalore!
