Incredible!
- Still
The first
volume of this book has a chapter on
"The
Same Baba",
where many facts that convince us about the
identity and continuity of the
Sai Baba at
Shirdi
and the Sai Baba at
Puttaparthi
were mentioned. Baba refers to Himself always as
Sai
Baba;
the name Sathya Sai Baba is being used only to
avoid legal and administrative complications
with institutions and organizations that have
grown round 'the previous body' and its
admirers. When the Chairman of the Shirdi
Samsthan, charged with the duty of administering
the properties and the ceremonials of worship at
Shirdi, where the 'previous body' is laid to
rest, hesitated to swallow the 'Vibhuthi'
materialized by the 'present body' (Sri Sathya
Sai Baba) because he feared it might be a
sacrilege, Baba gave him a sign, to convince him
that the two are the same. His picture on the
wall of that room in Bombay gave forth a flash
of brilliant light, and the dark doubt in his
heart was gone!
When Tidemann
Johanessen of Norway was before the Shirdi
Shrine, an old man appeared before him and
giving him a small picture of Sathya Sai Baba
and also a small quantity of Udi,
directed him to see the present
Avatar
in Bombay, on the thirteenth day of March! No
one had any inkling of the visit to Bombay in
March of Sathya Sai Baba at that time. Later,
when on 13th March, he met Baba at Bombay, Baba
convinced him that he was informed at Shirdi by
Him alone.
Sathya Sai
Baba is the effulgence, the majesty, the
compassion that animates every shrine in which
Shirdi Sai Baba is now adored. A nephew of
Kakasaheb Dixit, one of the inner circle of Sai
devotees at Shirdi (if we can speak of inner and
outer, instead of stronger and weaker) had
written a song of prayer to Shirdi Sai Baba,
where he yearned to be at least, 'your
gate-keeper'! This was years ago. Now, he is the
gate-keeper at Brindavan, Whitefield, living in
a cottage near the gate and hurrying with the
keys when Baba drives in, from
Prasanthi
Nilayam
or Madras or Nilgiris.
Pray to Him,
either as Shirdi Baba or as 'Parthi' Baba; it is
Baba that hears. Mrs. Batheja and her daughter
heard of Baba while at Bangalore; they had to
proceed to Bombay, after a visit to Shirdi. They
decided to have the
Darsan
of Baba on their way. Since they could not get
the 'interview', within a few days, they had to
leave. They called out to Baba when He was
passing along the verandah on the first floor
for permission to leave. So, He called me into
His Presence and giving me some 'Udi' packets,
said, "Go and give these to the mother and
daughter from Bombay, waiting below. He added,
"They have brought a piece of cloth for Me. Tell
them they can take it back and use it, stitched
as items of dress, as My
Prasad".
When I told them this, they were amazed! The
piece of cloth they had brought and kept
carefully inside their box was for offering at
the Shrine of Shirdi; there, it would be spread
on the 'tomb'! But, since Baba had accepted it,
"We shall not go to Shirdi; this is Shirdi. That
offering has been accepted and returned as
Prasadam,"
they exulted.
The
Shirdi Baba Statue at Sundaram (Shirdi Sai
temple) in Madras
The Sai
Sathcharitham(*),
written while Sai was at Shirdi, with His
Blessings, by Govinda Raghunatha Dabholkar
refers to Shirdi Sai Baba Himself as "Sathya
Sai"! It speaks of the story of Shirdi Sai Baba
as "Sathya Sai Katha"; it also describes a
Sathya Sai Vratha, Sathya being as has happened
in the present incarnation the abridgement of
the name, Sathyanarayana!
Bhimaji Patel, after a miraculous recovery from
disease through the Grace of Shirdi Sai,
celebrated thanks-giving ceremonies. Full of
gratitude and reverence, instead of the usual
Sathyanarayana Vratha, he observed the Sathya
Sai Vratha! Instead of Sathyanarayana Katha
which had to be read after the Vratha, he
recited the Sathya Sai Katha! Sai Baba at Shirdi
must have, as the indweller of Bhimaji, prompted
him to name the Vratha and the Katha, in that
manner, urged by a Sankalpa to suggest coming
events. For, has not Sai Baba said at Shirdi,
over and over again, "Blessed and fortunate is
he who knows Me as seated in the hearts of all
beings." In fact, He knew the past, present and
future, as Dabholkar has declared, after many a
proof had been witnessed by him and
recorded.
Ten years ago,
a Maharashtrian composed a poem on Baba at
Shirdi in which he characterized Sai as Sathya
Sai! Last year, he came to know of Sathya Sai,
through the first volume of this book. He came
to Prasanthi Nilayam, drawn by the name which
had come to his pen unawares. He told me that
the continuity of the two Sais was confirmed by
the last incident in the life of the first, and
the first incident in the career of the second!
Sai Baba appeared before Das Ganu at dawn on the
16th day of October, 1918 and said, "The masjid
has collapsed; I am going from there now; I have
come to inform you; go there, quick. Fulfill
this wish of mine: place flowers on My Dabari".
Dabari indicated the 'tomb'. Das Ganu did as he
was told.
In 1940, when Baba announced Himself as having
come again to resume His work and foster His
Bhakthas,
Peddavenkappa Raju asked his son who was making
the announcement, "Show us a sign and convince
us that you are the same Baba." And, Baba asked
that 'flowers' be placed in His hands! Flowers
that He had asked Das Ganu to place on His
Dabari,
when He took leave of Shirdi! He threw the
flowers on the floor - and, the two words
SAI
and
BABA
were formed by those flowers, moving by
themselves into those shapes.
[See
for this story: The Serpent
Hill]
For those who can read the tracks and trails of
the Godhead, this is a meaningful
coincidence. [Picture:
Peddavenkappa Raju]
On
Vijayadasami, 1916, when someone told Sai Baba
at Shirdi, "Today is Seemollanghana Day", Baba
stunned every one by His announcement: "Yes; it
is the day of My Seemollanghanam too."
Seemollanghanam means the act of crossing the
boundary, from one kingdom into another. Kings,
in former days, gathered their forces, equipped
them with arms, worshipped and propitiated on
Ayudha Puja Day (the Day previous to
Vijayadasami Day) and, crossing their own state
boundaries, they invaded the neighbouring
states, eager to achieve Vijaya or Victory. That
was on the tenth Day of Dasara, the tenth or
Dasami day of the bright half of the Aswija
month.
What exactly
did Sai Baba mean, when He said, "Vijayadasami
is the day of My Seemollanghanam"? Which border
was He crossing and into which State was He
proceeding? He left the body, as He had
foretold, on Vijayadasami. He told Das Ganu next
morning, appearing before him, "I am going from
Shirdi now; oil mongers and grocers tease me a
lot". So, He left Shirdi and crossed from one
state to another, from Maharashtra to Andhra!
That was the Seemollanghanam!
He had told
Kaka Saheb Dixit that 'He would appear as a
child of 8'. Baba has said that in His previous
Body, He told Kakasaheb, that He would appear
after 8 years, and not as a child of 8. He
appeared again at Puttaparthi, in 1926, 8 years
after that Vijayadasami. He revealed Himself as
a Divine Child, with a miraculous career before
Him, in His 8th year, when He willed at school
that the teacher should be struck to his chair,
until He could go down from the bench on which
He was ordered by him to stand. [See for
this story: "The
Rhythm of His
Feet"]
That was the first 'dramatic' announcement of
the Advent of Sai again! - 'as a child of
8'.
There are some
who limit the Almighty Will of the Godhead and
say that Sai Baba cannot enter into a human
cage, once having flown out of it - as if they
are the lawgivers for that Eternal Absolute! One
such wrote a letter to me from Madras repeating
this argument; when he received my reply, he was
so firmly convinced that he supported the
identity and continuity and advent by a new
argument! "The Bhagavad Gîtâ tells
us, the Lord has announced that those who depart
from the body during the distressed smoky
condition of the mind, or during the night, or
the dark half of the month, or during the six
months when the Sun is in the southern
hemisphere, that is to say, during the six
months that mark the southern or the manes path,
reach the region of the Moon, if they are
Yogins. After some time, they have to return
thence to the earth and human birth. (Chapter 8,
Sloka 25) Sloka 28 says that if they depart
during the day and during the bright half of the
moon and during the six months of the Northward
sun, the
yogis
do not return at all. Sai Baba of Shirdi
departed during the Dakshinayana, the six months
of the southern sun, because, evidently, He
courted the chance of returning to earth." I can
only say that such buttresses are not needed to
prove the obvious; here beckoning us in love and
sweetness is the Avathar,
the re-appearance of Sai, whom we call all
experience and benefit from. [See also:
Bhagavad
Gîtâ, Chapter 8, verses 24 to
28]
As
a boy of 14, when Baba decided to stand forth as
Sai Baba, giving up the role of Sathyanarayana
Raju, He threw away His school books, and walked
away from His home, to a garden outside the town
of Uravakonda. He told His sister-in-law who
tried to persuade Him to stay: "I have got My
work; My Bhakthas are waiting for Me".
[See
for this story: The Serpent
Hill]
What was the Work? Who were the Bhakthas?
We can see that the work was "the continuation
of what was achieved at Shirdi"; the Bhakthas
were those who adored Him while at Shirdi and
subsequently. This was the reason why He chided
a far-famed worshipper of His Shirdi Form who
refused to recognize Him thus: "What is the use
of all your adoration and meditation when you
cannot recognize the very God whom you are
adoring and meditating upon?" Even in His teens,
He demonstrated to two of His masters at school,
Subbannachar and Kondappa that He was Sai come
again; He granted visions of Shirdi to His
mother and father and many others at
Puttaparthi. He gave pieces of the kafni He wore
at Shirdi to Thammiraju Manchiraju and others at
Uravakonda.
Thammiraju
Manchiraju was a teacher at the Uravakonda High
School. He has written many articles about those
days in the "Sanathana
Sarathi"
magazine. "Since the untimely death of my
daughter, my wife was very depressed and so my
'pupil' at school - Sathya shall I say or Baba -
came to my house frequently to console her. She
used to go every Thursday evening to Him, at the
Telugu teacher's
house
(the house of the elder brother of Baba,
Seshamaraju).
One day, while she was falling at His Feet, He
raised her up saying, "I shall carry all burdens
for you. Be happy, henceforth." Then, He waved
His hands and created rice grains (just as He
created for Megha at Viamgaon while at Shirdi)
and asked her to tie them up in the gerua piece
of the kafni He had given us
earlier.
"We had to go
some distance to the village well for the days
stock of potable water. My wife one day
collected the children of the neighbors and
asked them to play with our five year old son,
so that she could go to the well and return. She
gave them some sugar and said, "Do Sai Puja, all
of you; I shall come soon. Offer this sugar to
Him and then, take it as Prasadam."
The children went into the shrine room; they
repeated the hymns they knew. They saw Sai Baba
sitting before them. He ate a small quantity of
the sugar and gave each one of them a handful.
My son was so excited at the Old Man's visit
that he ran out to meet his mother and bring her
along. He knew she would be delighted to meet
Him. When she came in, the room was empty. Where
has He gone she asked the children. The little
innocents replied "We saw Him go into that
picture". Within a few days, we were at
Puttaparthi. Baba told me, "You were sad that I
had come away to Puttaparthi; but I can be here
and still be there. I knew you would believe
this only when the children spoke about what
they saw." Thammiraju writes, "The question may
arise: Why did He choose the Shirdi Form? I
asked myself this question. I got the answer too
from Sathya: "There
is no 'that form' or 'this form'. Both are
one".
"I
and the circumambient universe are
one"
Sai Baba,
while young, used to sing with enthusiasm, and
dance with tinkling anklets on His Feet. In this
appearance as Sathya, He used to delight in
dance and impart delight to others by the dance.
He sings with enthusiasm
Kirthans
and Namavalis which inspire hundreds of
thousands into ecstatic devotion ... Sai Baba
wore, when He came to Shirdi, only a dhothar
round His waist and a shirt on His body; for
many years, at Puttaparthi, also, He wore the
same style of clothes. He changed over to the
long gown, as Sai Baba did at Shirdi, only
later. He adopted the coloured gown and dhothi
for general wear, at the instance of devotees,
so that He could be more readily identified and
not get lost when hundreds milled round Him for
Darsan
and to touch His Feet.
"Your
joy is the food I subsist on", says Sathya Sai
Baba. To give joy to the people around Him, at
Shirdi, Sai Baba meekly submitted to pageant and
pomp! Every alternate day, Sai Baba was taken in
procession from Dwarakamayi to the Chavadi,
where He slept. Groups of men and women with
tal, chiplis, karatala's,
mrdanga's,
Khanjira veena and other musical instruments
formed the van of the procession. A long line of
beautiful Raths followed behind. Next came the
richly caparisoned horse, Syamakarna, which Sai
Baba fondled and loved. Behind the horse, was a
palanquin borne by men who sang hymns,
accompanied by many torchbearers on both sides.
There were others with canes, silver sticks,
poles with flags, bearers of poles with carved
figures of
Garuda
on their crests. They danced in joy, shouting
Jai, to the tune of drums and trumpets.
Fireworks announced the approach of the
procession through sound, and the brilliance of
sudden flashes of multicoloured light. Baba
appeared on the steps of the masjid with persons
holding yak-tail chowries on each side of him.
The Bhaldars announced His appearance by
shouting His Name. Devotees spread folds of
cloth on the road, as He moved along. An
umbrella was held over His head; flowers
besmeared with gulal were showered on Him as He
proceeded slowly."
The Sai
Sathcharitha says(*),
"What a beautiful procession! What an expression
of devotion! That scene and those days are gone
now. Nobody can see them now, nor in the
future."
No; Baba has
come again! He permitted devotees to arrange
such processions again at Puttaparthi during the
Dasara Birthday Festivals, until about 1954. At
Shirdi, Baba was bejeweled before He started for
the Chavadi. "They put on His head a Mukuta
(crown) and placed jewels round His neck as well
as garlands. (Sakamma from Bangalore brought
many jewels which she put on Baba.) During the
short time of the procession, they changed His
headdress off and on." Even now, Baba yields to
the prayers of people when He knows they are
sincere and allows them to arrange processions
in towns and villages (as at Sivajinagar,
Kalyanapuram, Ootacamund), though with
paraphernalia very much
reduced.
At Shirdi,
Baba referred to His Sircar, His Treasury, His
durbar; now too, He refers to Himself as
Sath-Chakra-varthi; He speaks to His store-room,
His treasury, His treasure (pennidhi). At
Shirdi, He said that "This Dwaraka-mayi is the
Dankapuri of Dakurnath, the Pandhari of Vital,
and the Dwaraka of Ranchod". Baba has announced
that the present Dwarakamayi (Prasanthi Nilayam)
is "another Mathura,
another Badrinath and another Thirupathi." The
name Dwaraka was applied to the city built by
Krishna on an island, because, the word means, a
place the doors of which are open for the four
castes and for the four types of men namely
Aartha, Artharthi, Jijnasu and Jnani,
so that they may attain the four
Purusharthas.
Certainly, the dwelling of the Lord at Dwaraka,
Shirdi and Puttaparthi deserves the name. Baba
has said, "This
Prasanthi Nilayam
has
no wall or fence round it, for the Lord is
accessible to all who come from directions and
all paths! All are welcome to the gift of
Grace."
[See
SB : C1-11:
Lord
Srî Krishna's entrance into
Dvârakâ]
Sai Baba
'expressed a wish' that a Muralidhar idol of
Krishna (with the flute or murali in His hand)
be installed in the quadrangle of the palatial
building that Buty built in Shirdi; but, He
'left' Shirdi before that wish could be
fulfilled. Perhaps for that reason, Baba has a
Muralidhar idol of Krishna on the porch of
Prasanthi Nilayam, as the centre of adoration
for all who raise their hands in prayer. He has
a Muralidhar in the shrine in the Prayer Hall.
There are two charming images of Muralidhar in
the lovely garden of Brindavan,
too.
A close study
of the Sai Sathcharitha (*)
is a
MUST for
any one seeking to unravel the mystery of Sathya
Sai Baba, for the Hand that gives and the Voice
that teaches are the same. When a
Brahmachari
of the Ramakrishna Mission came to Prasanthi
Nilayam to get his chronic colic cured, Baba
asked him to pray to Guru Maharaj Himself, and
instructed him how to do
Dhyan
with greater success. He assured him that
Ramakrishna, his Gurumaharaj, will cure the
ailment that hinders the spiritual progress of
his child. At Shirdi, Baba would have given the
same advice. "Do not lose hold of the bolster
you have secured" "Apula bap tho, apula bap."
(Our father alone is our father); you cannot
change one Master for another, to suit your whim
and fancy." Sai Baba gave
Darsan
to the disciples of Golapswami as Golapswami,
and to the disciples of Raghunath Maharaj as
Raghunath Maharaj. Sai Baba was all saints in
one.
Now also, it
is the same One. While at Prasanthi Nilayam,
Baba has given Darsan at Ramanasram to Swami
Abhedananda as Ramana Maharshi and at Shimoga to
Ramanandarao as Ramadas of Kanhangad! Sai Baba
has accepted gifts intended for other saints and
Gurus,
for He was all of them. Baba too has surprised
many people by telling them that He has been
with them for years, guiding and guarding, when
they protest that they are meeting Him for the
first time. Baba makes it clear that He is the
very guru that they have followed so
far.
The Secretary
of the Hindi Prachar Sabha, Bangalore had a
meaningful experience. He was in the home of a
friend when Baba arrived there, years ago. His
friend and many others fell at His Feet, but, he
had no mind to do likewise. He feared that he
may be singled out as a conceited youth,
refusing to revere a great person. So, he fell
at Baba's Feet, with a mental reservation that
the prostration was not for Baba but was for his
Guru, who was at Maddur in a Siva temple. When
he rose after the fall, Baba patted him gently
on the back and said, with a smile, "Your homage
has reached your guru at Maddur." Thus He came
to know, as many did at Shirdi, that Baba is the
Divine vien of gold that runs through all
Spiritual Masters and all Divine
Teachers.
The unbroken
continuity of the Sais is established by the
identical panacea: they grant 'Udi'.
Then, it was given from the dhuni or fire-place
at Dwarakamayi; now, it is created in the Divine
palm, for, a fire-place cannot now be carried
wherever He goes or feels like granting it. I
must mention here one interesting fact about the
Udi, and Shirdi Sai Baba. Sai Baba often sang a
song on the Udi, a song which has become
immortal, since He sang it "Ramathe Raam! Raam!
Aayoji, aayoji! Udiaonki gonia Laayoji,
laayoji!" (O, playful Rama, come, come! sacks of
Udi, bring, bring.) Who is the Rama that is
called upon by Sai Baba to bring sacks of Udi?
Rama
of the Ramayana did not distribute Udi as a mark
of His Grace. Udi was Baba's own special gift,
His unique means of alleviating man's physical
and mental ills. So, it is a call into the
future; for, Baba at Shirdi did not stack the
Udi and carry bags of it. It is a peep into the
present time, when we find Baba moving between
long lanes of men and women with a bag or basket
of Udi packets and placing a few in the
outstretched palms of hundreds and thousands, in
towns and villages all over the
land!
When Baba
"took on" the cerebral thrombosis or as the
Director of Medical Services in Mysore diagnosed
it, 'tubercular meningitis' of a devotee of the
Lord, we were reminded not only of similar acts
of compassion shown by Him in the past, but also
of such acts done by Him while at Shirdi as Sai
Baba. Sai Baba had taken on four fully developed
bubos from the son of Dadasaheb Khaparde of
Amraoti. Showing them to the boy's mother, Sai
Baba declared, 'See how I suffer for my
devotees; their suffering is
mine."
When we hear
Sathya Sai Baba announcing, "Vivekananda
has come again; he is growing up in Ceylon; he
will come to me and join in my task", as He did
one morning or "The man who wrote the first
English biography of Vivekananda was born last
night in a thatched hut on the sea shore on the
west coast at Kuttipuram. It is a charming baby,
with bright big eyes", we are reminded of Sai
Baba at Shirdi announcing to the people around
Him the past lives of snakes and cows and goats!
In His Discourses, Baba has often said, "I know
your past; I know your future; so, I know why
you suffer and how you can escape suffering."
The declarations that resound from Prasanthi
Nilayam are but echoes of those heard at
Dwarakamayi. Baba says, "Imagine how foolish you
are! Coming to this Kalpatharu and asking for a
little coffee powder! Your behaviour is like a
man coming to a huge departmental store and
asking for a towel." As Sai Baba, He said, "I am
sitting here, ready to give you the gold
embroidered shella cloth; then, why go and steal
rags?"
Sai Baba spoke
in such conundrums and parables. He told Kaka
Saheb that He will send him a Vimana when he
died. What happened was that he died in a moving
train. Sathya Sai Baba also speaks thus. He told
an aged film star, who spoke to Him of his
physical illnesses, "I know, your body is a
bundle of diseases; I shall overhaul you and
give you a new body ." What happened was, he
died soon and entered a new body. That film star
was blind; he pleaded that he might at least or
rather at most, get a picture of Baba in his
heart. What happened can best be described by
quoting a para from the book, 'Sai the
Superman', by Swami Sharananand. He is writing
about Sai Baba of Shirdi, but, exactly the same
thing happened at Prasanthi Nilayam, too! He
prayed to Baba, "I have lost my eyesight. I do
not feel its loss; for want of eyesight keeps me
away from many undesirable things; but, I am
eager to see the human form in which you, My
Lord have manifested yourself. Please therefore
grant me eyesight till I satiate myself by the
sight of your glory. You may withdraw this grant
as soon as this is done." Baba at once granted
this request; he saw Baba with his own eyes and
then, he lost vision and became blind
again.
Sai Baba
evinced enthusiasm to safeguard and foster
Sanathana
Dharma
and to promote scriptural studies, that can
alone clarify the intellect and purify the mind.
We read in the Sai Sathcharitha(*)
how He rebuked a Ramadasi for retaining his
short temper, in spite of his recital of Vishnu
Sahasranama for years. He rebuked Swami
Vijayanada, who had ostensibly given up kith and
kin, when he asked him permission to go to
Madras to see his sick mother. "Go and read the
Bhagavatham",
he told him! As Sathya Sai Baba, He is
continuing on a vaster scale this role of
correcting the craving and attachments of monks
and sadhaks.
He rebukes them for celebrating or even
remembering their birthdays; for decorating
themselves and others with titles indicative of
spiritual progress, and engaging themselves in
competitive publicity to attract and retain rich
followers. Sai Baba asked Haji Sidi Falke of
Kalyan, "Do you read the
Quoran
like this?" As Sathya Sai Baba, we have seen Him
regulating and modifying the speed and pitch of
renowned Vedic reciters. Sathya Sai Baba places
emphasis on the Gayathri,
on Omkar as well as on the Gîtâ
(**)
as the most efficacious of
manthras
and texts. As Sai Baba too, He did the same. He
asked people to read the Bhagavatha,
the
Patanjali
Yogasuthras,
the Vicharasagara, the Panchadasi etc. Dadasaheb
Khaparde, an expert in Vidyaranya's
Commentaries, 'uttered no word' in Sai Baba's
presence, because, as he confessed, 'learning
cannot shine before selfrealisation'. This is
the experience of many a scholar in the presence
of Sathya Sai Baba also. When a renowned poet
and pundit, and popular preacher who has toured
USA, USSR, Japan etc., and lectured there on
religion, fell at His Feet and offered to spend
the remaining years of his life in flying from
continent to continent, spreading the happy news
of His Advent, Sathya Sai Baba told him, "Do not
worry about My Advent; worry about your own
future. I wish someone would clip your wings and
keep you in one fixed place, so that you can do
some
Sadhana
and save yourself, before it is too late."
"Concentrate on your own uplift before
attempting to uplift others", was His advice to
another popular exponent of the Gîtâ
and Upanishads.
He has come to cure the blind, correct the
proud, console the ignorant and comfort the
distressed.
The
declarations made at Shirdi and by Sathya Sai
Baba everywhere about the Divinity and Mystery
of Sai are naturally identical. Sathya Sai Baba
says, "My Sakthi, My Power, My Mystery can never
be understood, whoever may try, for however long
a period, by whatever means". Sai Baba said, "I
pull the wires of this puppet show". At Shirdi,
He told Vijayananda, "You were able to reach
this place only as the result of the merit
acquired in previous births". At Puttaparthi, He
says the same thing to all those who come. The
reaction to praise and blame, then as now, is
the same. The Sai
Sathcharitha(*)
says, "Sai Baba was tolerant, emotionless,
unattached, internally free." Baba has written
to His brother when He was but twenty, "I shall
not slaken My activity; for Me, fame and name,
reputation and calumny, are equally trivial. I
am unconcerned with the whole
lot."
Sai Baba was
the embodiment of Prema;
Sathya Sai Baba names Himself as
Premaswarupa.
The Sathcharitha(*)
refers to Udivrishti and Kripavrishti, the
shower of Udi and the shower of Grace; any book
on Baba then as now must mention these two
showers, for they are the marks of the Sai
Godhead! Sai addressed people as "O, Bhau", "You
Anna" or "You Bapu", in love and endearment;
now, in the new Sai Form, He addressed them as
"Bangaru", "Nayana" or "Appa".
Then and now,
Sai has taken every opportunity to proclaim His
Glory, for, how else can man realize His good
fortune? At Shirdi, He said, "I am the indweller
of all beings." Recently, He wrote to a learned
Pandit, "Do not disparage the rich; do not
disparage any one, Sai dwells in every one and
so, when you disparage any one you are
disparaging Me. Professor G.G. Narke of the
Engineering College, Poona wrote of Sai, while
He was at Shirdi, "He spoke as One seated in my
heart, knowing all its thoughts and all its
wishes. I tested Him at times. Each test
produced the same conviction that He was
all-knowing, and able to mould things according
to His will." Now, in the present Sathya Sai
form, Baba told a Sarvodaya worker, a certain
Sri Mehta who asked Him quite frankly, how He
could read his mind so right, "This is no
Siddhi
or attainment; this is My Svabhava, My very
nature. I do not by means of a power that I have
learned and earned, enter into your mind,
collect all the information I require about its
contents, emerge from it, and then, recite it
all to you, to impress you. No. I am there
always and everywhere. I am your Hrudaya-vasi,
the Indweller."
Sai Baba told
Balaram Mankar, when He appeared before him at
Mathsyendragad while also at Shirdi, in person
and in answer to Mankar's question as to why He
had sent him away from Shirdi to that hill, "You
imagined that, with this body three cubits and a
half long, composed of the five elements, I was
at Shirdi! Isn't it? I wanted to make you know
My Reality; that is why I sent you here, so that
I may come before you and show you that I am not
that body only." Sathya Sai Baba too has
appeared as such to devotees in far off places
and even beyond the seven seas, making them
aware that He is not bound by the physical
frame, which many mistake to be He. He says,
"Learn to yearn, so that you can draw Me to you,
wherever you are. That is a more rewarding
Sadhana,
than the journeys you now undergo. Transform
your heart into a
Prasanthi
Nilayam;
then, I shall certainly come and stay
there."
The golden
streak of continuity is evident in the
miraculous cures they effect, in the mysterious
ways by which they save devotees from accidents,
by which they forewarn and rescue, in the
methods by which they teach and train, in the
emphasis they lay on the fundamentals of all
faiths. People who have lived long at Shirdi
have noticed at Prasanthi Nilayam, the same
turns and twists in conversation, the same love
and mercy, even the same mannerisms of gesture.
M.S. Dixit vouchsafes for one such: "Sathya Sai
Baba waves His right hand, just as the Shirdi
Lord used to do, one or two fingers in the air,
as if He is writing in the air." This waving of
the hand, with no evident purpose or meaning is
mentioned in the Sai
Sathcharitha(*)
of "Hemadpant" in Chapter 27.
Another trait
of Baba, at Shirdi and Puttaparthi is the
awarding of nicknames to people arounding and
using them, in general conversation. At Shirdi,
the Lord was Fakir,
Panduranga
was Vittal Patil; at Puttaparthi He is the
Potter, the Smith. Das Ganu was the
'bridegroom', another person was 'the gourmand'
or 'the fat one'. The nickname, Hemadpant, with
which He accosted Govindarao Raghunath Dabhokar
has become historic, since he accepted it as -
his nom de plume -, writing at the end of each
chapter, as its colophon, "Bhaktha Hemadapantha
Virachitha Sri Sai Samartha
Sathcharitha"!
Hemadpant was
a famous minister of the Yadava Dynasty who
ruled from Deogir (Daulatabad); he served two of
the rulers, Mahadeva and Ramadeva, in the XII
century A.D. He wrote many celebrated works in
Sanskrit, like Chathurvargachintamani and
Rajapurusasti, mainly concerned with sociology
and political science. When he was given this
nickname, Dabholkar took it as a "dart to
destroy my ego", as a means to teach me "nithya
nirabhimana" (permanent ego-lessness). He
contrasted his own insignificant attainments
with the gigantic achievements of the person
whose name was stuck on him; he prayed that Baba
may write His story Himself through the pen he
was privileged to hold. And, Baba blessed Him,
'so be it'!
Now too, there
is a repetition. When recently I scanned my
Diary for 1958, I discovered this entry on the
29th day of November: "Baba accosted me, when I
went to Him at 7.15 A.M. as Nannayya Bhatta!" I
had no idea then that it was a name that was
heavy with history. This was two years previous
to the publication of His Life,
"Sathyam
Sivam Sundaram",
a book He wrote while I held the pen, His
Sathcharitha.
He had blessed me with the task as early as
1948, and I was waiting for His command to
begin, even ten years later, for he was saying,
"Now, if you publish a book about Me, people
will not believe it: they will deem it as a
fairy tale; wait, till the world is made ready
to receive it."
That name He
accosted me with, is, as I learnt later, famous
in Andhra, as the name of the Adi Kavi, the
First Poet, one of the three who together
completed the immortal Andhra Mahabharatham;
Nannayya Bhatta is also said to have composed
another great poem, on Sri Rama,
"Raghavabhyudayam." He lived at
Rajamahendravaram on the banks of the Godavari
River, in the XI Century A.D., and he had as his
patron, the Chalukya Emperor, Rajaraja. While
naming illiterate me, with a twinkle in the eye,
as Nannayya Bhatta who extolled in excellent
poetry the glory of Sri
Rama
and Sri Krishna,
Baba was only revealing His Identity. The
nickname was a dart against my egoism, the
conceit of this infinitesimal ripple on the
ageless boundless Ocean that He is. May I too be
established in nithya nirabhimana, that is my
prayer.
Muralidhar
idol of Krishna
M.S. Dixit, to
whom reference has been made, is the nephew of
Kakasaheb, who was intimately attached to Sai
Baba at Shirdi. He had many opportunities of
receiving blessings from Baba, at Dwarakamayi.
Once, Baba took
Udi
(see
also SSS - Wave of the
hand)
and applying it to his forehead with a slap,
said, "Go to the Wada, don't sit here." He was a
boy in his teens then; so, he told his uncle, "I
will not go to Baba; He slapped me on the
forehead." But, Kakasaheb said, "You are a fool;
the slap means your horrible headache will not
recur." He is seventy now and the headache has
not dared to pay him a visit since that slap.
Dixit writes of another incident: "One day,
about 5.30 A.M.(!), Baba sent for the barber and
had a shave, after which He bathed. This was
very unusual. He generally had a shave and a
bath in the afternoon. That day, after the bath,
he sent a man to the grocer, and got a coconut,
some jaggery and a quantity of ground nuts. He
broke the coconut and cut the kerned into
pieces; then, he gave a piece along with jaggery
and groundnuts to all present. After this, He
said, "Bolo Gajanan Maharaj Ki Jai". We all
cheered Jai.
I wondered why; no one knew who this Gajanan
Maharaj was. Later, Baba said, "I have lost My
brother, this morning." Two days later, a letter
came to Kakasaheb from Shegaon written by Buty
Saheb that his Guru, Gajanan Maharaj had left
the body at 5.30 A.M. that day and that, during
his last moments, he had assured him "My brother
Sai Baba will take care of you hereafter; go to
him, at Shirdi"! (Sathya Sai Baba too is
immediately conscious of the birth or death or
whatever happens to all; He announces to those
around Him the passing away - or rather, the
mergence in His Feet - of persons yearning to
have that happy type of
release).
Some years
ago, Dixit who was at Mangalore, and reading the
'Guru Charithra' in the orthodox style,
determined to finish the book in 'seven days', a
Sapthaha as
it is called. On the seventh day, he had a
dream: "I entered an arched gate which led me
into a magnificent building at the end of a wide
road, with dark green trees on both sides. As I
was proceeding, I felt some one was following
me, calling me in a soft sweet voice, Dixit,
Dixit. When I turned round to find out who it
was, I saw a charming figure in silken robes,
and a thick halo of hair that was remarkably
curly. A few days later, I went to a friend, a
Doctor and I saw in his room, the picture of
that same figure. Who is this? Is He available I
asked? The reply took me by storm. "He is
Bhagavan
Sri Sathya Sai Baba! "Sai Baba? Sathya Sai Baba
I pondered? The doctor said, "Some of my friends
are going to see Him shortly, you can join them,
if you care too." Dixit was overwhelmed with
joy; he joined the party and arrived at
Prasanthi Nilayam. He passed through the arched
gate, he proceeded along the wide road with dark
green trees on either side. He saw the charming
figure. He heard the silver voice, when he was
called in for a personal talk, in the Private
Room.
Let Dixit
relate what happened. "Baba called me in. He saw
with me a small photograph of my uncle. "I know
him, he is Dixit, your father's brother, elder
brother. I told him I will be coming again,
eight years later. Have you any doubt?", He
enquired. That question was relevant, for until
then, "I was bogged in doubt". Dixit is
unshakably convinced now that this Sai Baba is
the same that he served at Shirdi, for he had
many an experience to deepen his
faith.
Baba also
grants many fortunate persons such experiences,
even the many who have not heard of either Baba.
His plan is, perhaps, to draw them to Him, so
that they may become messengers of the 'Sai Era'
of spiritual Joy. Else, how can we explain the
following remarkable experience of Srimathi
Shudha Mazumdar of Calcutta? She is a social
worker since many years and has contributed much
to the amelioration of a lot of women in the
prisons of India; she was for a long time the
Vice-President of the All India Women's
Conference. Her translation of the Ramayana into
English has kindled the flame of devotion in
thousands of hearts all over the world. Here is
her own account of the way in which, quite
spontaneously, Sathya Sai Baba established
Himself in her heart and instilled faith in Him,
as the same Sai who was at
Shirdi!
There was a
slight drizzle that morning, in October 1964. I
was in Darjeeling, high up in Jalapahar, on a
bench under a shelter, on the edge of the road,
looking down the deep valleys. Beyond were the
snowy ranges of the Kanchenjungha, covered with
clouds. The beauty of the Himalayas failed to
lift my spirits; I was weighed down by my
troubles. As I gazed at the splendour of nature
with unseeing eyes, I noticed a figure, clad in
white, climbing up to where I was. An old man,
with a battered umbrella under his arm reached
the shelter, and stood before me, breathing
heavily. He had on a small white cap; from his
long white robe, I knew him to be a faquir. He
hesitated, as if he was not sure whether I would
like him to share my bench. I welcomed him
warmly. He smiled and sat beside me, carefully
leaning his umbrella against the bench. It was
covered with some white material that had become
unstitched, in places from the frame; I wondered
how it served its purpose!
He sat in
silence; so did I. We both gazed at the snow
covered peaks before us, for, the clouds had
moved off, revealing the dazzling splendour.
When he had recovered his breath, I asked him
where he had come from. "Oh, very far", he
smiled and with outstretched hand, he pointed to
the distance. "From Nepal", he added. "But where
do you stay here?" "Oh, anywhere, when the sun
sets" "And, food?" "People are kind; I always
get something to eat and some kind of shelter at
nightfall." Then he laughed. "I enjoyed a fine
meal when the poor were fed after Nehru died".
He had crossed his long legs and rumbling in the
cotton bag slung over his shoulder, he brought
out a piece of rag, from which he took out a
pinch of tobacco. He did not partake of this,
however, he sat with his eyes on the distant
mountains, while he chanted melodious words in
Hindi. "What is this?", I asked. Turning his
eyes on me, he said they were from Kabir. He was
a Kabir Panthi. "Yes", he continued, "both my
father and mother died when I was very young. I
had no other kinsmen. Neighbours said I must
marry, for some one must cook my food. But, I
thought, since He has chosen to leave me without
any people of my own, it must be because He
wants me to leave the world. So, one night, I
left home and became a wanderer. When I was
sixteen years old, I became a faquir, of the
path of Kabir."
Here, he
hummed another verse. It had a haunting quality.
Taking out a note book and a pencil I had in my
bag, I begged him to give me the words. With
kindly eyes, he looked at me and nodded. One by
one, I jotted down the three verses. He
corrected the mistakes and explained the
meanings. Here they are, translated as best as I
can:
1.
Choosing bits of brick with care
Man erects a mansion here
Then, he says, 'This home is mine'!
But it's neither 'mine' nor 'thine';
So I heard
It is but a Nest for the Bird.
2.
Thy land shall go
Thy goods shall go
Thy linen fine shall go
With braided hair, the maid so fair ...
The blind too shall go
Oh, so beautifully ...
And for a while thy abode
The wilderness shall be!
3.
With what high hopes the boy was
raised
How fondly fed with milk, so pure ...
And he?
Blame not the mother, nor the father
It was all destined for thee.
The faquir
taught me the meaning very patiently, "Homes are
but nests for the spirit encased in the body;
the nest is abandoned when the allotted span is
spent. ... All that is in this world will have
to be left here, when death arrives. The body
returns to the elements of which it is composed"
With compassion in his eyes, he explained the
last verse. "When you do not get love or
gratitude in return for all the labour and pain
you have undergone, remember, that is the result
of one's own Karma. Blame
none."
"Very true", I
murmured with misty eyes. "But how to proceed on
the path?" I remember he gave good advice also
that I should wake at 4 o'clock in the morning
and repeat these verses and meditate on them. He
was so kind and understanding. I bent low before
him with folded hands in
namaskar
and placed a rupee beside him on the bench. He
gave me his blessings in many words that I do
not quite remember, picked up his umbrella, and
left me with a sense of peace.
Who was this
faquir? My son said, "I go down daily to office
from this side of Jalapahar; I have never seen
any faquir. Your habit of making friends with
strangers will land you in trouble some day, be
careful".
In the
Illustrated Weekly of November, 1965, there
appeared articles and pictures of Sathya Sai
Baba. The hair arrangement completely put me
off: I never even read the article! In March,
1966 came an anonymous post card with a Bombay
stamp - one of those chain letters requesting me
to send off to 20 people what was written on
that card about Sai Baba and good fortune would
be mine in 10 days! I was in great mental
distress at the time. I found myself getting 20
post cards and typing the letters in secret and
posting them off! If the family knew, they would
have teased me, for had I not refused to know
anything of Sai Baba, because of his
hair?
Date in
November, two friends came to me for discussions
over a Seminar to be held the next month at
Bangalore. "You are lucky to be able to go; try
and see Sai Baba if you can", said one friend.
"Oh", I said absent mindedly, "Why? Who is he?"
Then, we were told of the miraculous powers of
Baba and that miracles were happening in the
home of a Mrs. Rao. The details sounded so
incredible that I must have smiled. "You don't
believe me", she said in a hurt voice. I
hastened to assure her that since this came from
her, what she said must be true. She
shook her head. "No. You must see for yourself.
I can take you there now; it is not
far".
So, we left
our files and papers, called a taxi and came to
the modest home of Mrs. Rao. Welcoming us, she
laughed and said, "See what Baba is doing!" and
took us where amongst other holy pictures, the
small framed one of Baba had benediction in his
eyes. Over his forehead, there appeared a fine
gray dust. This was 'vibuthi' we were told and
we were given a little folded in pieces of
paper. Mrs. Rao had never seen Baba except once
in a dream; she secured this photograph of His
and sometime later, this fragrant ash began
appearing on it and it is stored for devotees.
"But, this is nothing", she laughed, "you should
see what is happening in the home of my
dasi".
She related how this woman servant became a
devotee of Baba, and securing three pictures,
kept them framed in her place of worship. She
finishes her prayers at 4 o'clock in the
morning, before she goes on her daily rounds to
wash and scrub and sweep in different homes for
her livelihood. Over her pictures, as an
indication of Baba's Grace, there appears
vibhuti in one, kumkum in another and on the
third photograph,
haldi
powder! Good fortune is hers now; she has left
for better wages offered elsewhere. "Is her home
very far off?" I asked. "Can we not go there
now?" Mrs. Rao said it was not a distant place,
but in the heart of a bustee where there were no
street lights even and the rain that day must
have made the lane leading to it very muddy
indeed. We assured her we would not mind
anything if she would kindly lead us there. We
walked with her in the darkness through narrow
lanes lit up now and then, by the flickering
flame of oil lamps from adjoining homes, till we
reached our destination.
The maid's
name was Madhuri. She was not at home but her
husband, a truck driver, was there with the four
children. Occupying half the small room was a
split bamboo structure fixed on the mud floor on
which they all slept together, keeping their
belongings under it. The other half of the room
was reserved for their place of
worship.
The place was
specklessly clean, the few brass vessels gleamed
in the lamplight. The wall of this portion of
the room was covered with coloured prints of
holy pictures including one of Shirdi Baba and,
at the bottom above a steel shelf covered with a
clean cloth, were the three pictures of Sathya
Sai Baba, and true enough, there could be seen
the Vibhuti, Kum Kum and Haldi Powder in
profusion over Baba's forehead. A light burnt on
a brass lamp and a beautiful fragrance pervaded
the humble home. The place had a definite
atmosphere and overcome, I prayed a prayer and
left a small offering. Two days later, the maid
had managed to trace me and sent a large basket
of
prasad
- mostly home-made sweets and Baba's Vibhuti. I
was moved to the depths and vowed to myself I
must see this Sai Baba.
How I
succeeded in my endeavours when I had given up
all hopes is another story; here I will conclude
with only the portion that is connected with my
Faquir. Leaving the car on the road, Usha and I
were walking by the foot-path to where Sai Baba
was giving darsan to devotees on his last day in
Madras in January 1967. Lost in thought over
what I had seen and heard of this most
extraordinary person, I heard Usha say, "Look
Aunty, isn't that a lovely house?" "Yes, it's
indeed beautiful" I agreed. Then, suddenly
remembering that first verse of Kabir, I sang it
softly to myself. "What is it Aunty?" asked
Usha. "Oh, only a bhajan
given by a faquir in Darjeeling, it's Kabir's.
He was a Kabir Panth". Usha stopped and faced me
with puzzled eyes. "Faquir? Kabir Panthi? Why
Aunty?", she gasped, "that must have been Shirdi
Sai Baba!" "What on earth are you saying Usha?"
Greatly excited Usha clutched my hand and
nodded, "Yes! Yes! It must be Shirdi Sai Baba. I
have just been reading Arthur Osborne's
"Incredible Sai Baba" and in this, there are
incidents when he appears to people, and he was
a Kabir Panthi...". I could do nothing but smile
at the extravagance of her thought. "Aunty",
persisted Usha as we continued to walk, "ask Sai
Baba when you meet him this morning, for he is
the reincarnation of Shirdi
Baba".
I could never
ask him anything so absurd, I told her, but she
continued to press the matter. Her parting words
were "You need not fear, he is never annoyed
over question"......
As I recall
the past, I was amazed at the strange sequence
of events that brought me before the closed door
upstairs. I had in my hands a small slip in
which I begged for an interview if he did not
think I was too unworthy. It was meant to be
made over to the person who opened the door ...
We had not knocked. The door opened and behold -
it was Baba! Playfully he said to me smiling
"Come, do namaskar!" He was giving me my heart's
desire. I bowed low to touch the beautiful feet
of the red clad figure with benediction in his
eyes.
I
had meant to ask him questions about my own
troubles, but it was he who told me what my
sorrows were and assured me all would be well.
Then, remembering my niece's words, I stammered,
"Baba, Usha was saying I should ask about the
faquir I met in Darjeeling ... he ...".
Interrupting me he said, "That was I in another
form. I gave you three Upadesh",
he added raising three fingers ... I remember
sobbing at his feet and all that came to my lips
was, "Baba, will you be with me?". I felt his
hand upon my head and as in a dream heard,
"Always! Always!". My face was wet with tears.
My heart was full. My spirit was at peace at
last ... Then, he materialized as if to comfort
me, Vibhuti
and a small photograph with his Abhay Hasta
[meaning: fear not!] raised that had his
address too, like a visiting card. "Put this in
your purse", he said and gave me a handful of
small packets of Vibhuti from a brass container.
"Come to Puttaparthi during Shiva Ratri ... all
facilities will be provided". He also told me he
would come to Calcutta ... He only knows when I
will be blessed enough to be at Puttaparthi and
favoured with another darsan.
June 1967. I
was at Bombay for a meeting, but my mind was
bent on a cherished wish. "I would like to go to
Shirdi!", I told my friends.
"Do please
make enquiries", I entreated my host, "and help
me to make this visit". He returned from office
smiling broadly one day saying, "Why Aunty, when
I mentioned your desire I was told since you
wish to go, Shirdi Baba will surely fulfill your
wish!" "That is all very well to say", I replied
glumly, "but how? With whom"? "And where do I
stay in Shirdi?" My health was not too good and
the more I thought about it the more despondent
I felt at the prospect of going to a strange
place all by myself. But the prediction was
true. In an extraordinary manner, I was guided
right from the train in which I was going in the
wrong direction, by a charming Maharashtrian
lady traveling in the same compartment. With my
two companions discovered at the last moment,
devotees of Baba, she gave us hospitality in her
home at Nasik and made all arrangements for our
Shirdi visit one morning.
"The
Arati
is commencing, come at once!" The bus drive has
been and dusty, so after a quick wash we
hastened to the Samadhi Sthan. Where the mortal
remains of Shirdi Baba had been laid to rest, a
gleaming silver sheet covered the spacious
place. There were colourful flowers in abundance
there, lights burnt, the air was heavy with the
fragrance of incense, bells were ringing, the
crowd surged, I pressed forward for a better
view. My heart stood still as my eyes fell on
the life size white marble image. Sitting with
his right leg crossed over His knee, this figure
of Shirdi Baba near His Samadhi Sthan strangely
resembled the faquir I had met in Darjeeling.
The same face, the same pose, only instead of
the small cap, there was a scarf wound round his
head. The same kind inscrutable eyes looked
penetratingly at me. I held my breath. Time
passed ... My mind gradually accepted an
indisputable fact and ceased to worry over the
whys and wherefores. With my surrender, the
tears rained down easing the tension. My
trembling lips murmured, "Baba! Baba!", and
wordlessly I prayed for his Kripa.
My hands held on to the tray filled with fruit
and flower given to me to make the formal
offering here with the others. My tears
continued to fall, I was blessed with a sense of
peace - the peace that passeth all understanding
filled my heart."
Sathya Sai
Baba spontaneously and suddenly choosing Sudha
Mazumdar at Darjeeling as His Instrument and
drawing her into the Sai Family, giving her
Darsan
and Upadesh,
in the form of His Previous Body! Faquir, Sathya
Sai Baba, Sai Baba - Sudha Mazumdar is indeed
fortunate beyond words! Her experience is an eye
opener to those who refuse to
see.
"Nature
is God"
There is an
old lady at Prasanthi Nilayam, whose experience
clinches the question of the avatharhood.
Her father, a Collector in the Nizam's
Dominions, took her to Shirdi in her third year
and again in her seventh year; she was married
at that age; torn by agony at the death of the
four children that she bore, she clasped the
Feet of Sai Baba at Shirdi in 1917, asking for
spiritual initiation or Upadesh
and permission to stay on with Him. In Lendi
Bagha, Baba told her, "Not now; I will come
again in Andhra; you will meet me then and be
with me." She returned to the Nizam's Dominions,
took to the propagation of
Bhakthi
by means of musical recitations on the
life-stories of saints and sages, established a
Refuge Home for Orphan Girls named Sai Sadan,
and, during her peregrinations to collect money
for her institutions, heard that a Raju Boy had
announced Himself as Sai Baba! She hurried to
Uravakonda, joined the throng that was
proceeding to the house of
Seshamaraju
that Thursday and sat near Him, on the right
side. She says, that Baba spoke to her in a low
voice in Hindi, as at Shirdi, "So, you have
come, My child." He asked her for a balance of
sixteen rupees that she owed him! This took her
by storm. She asked Him how that debt arose. He
replied, "Out of the money you had accumulated
to be sent to Shirdi for the Dasara
Celebrations, you lent Balaram forty rupees; he
returned only twenty four." And, He added, in a
whisper "I am asking you this, only to convince
you that I am Shirdi Sai Baba ... you have not
touched My Feet ... you sat as soon as you came
in." This lady had to wind up her institution
and visit Puttaparthi frequently thereafter. She
is now at Prasanthi Nilayam, happy that what
Baba told her at Shirdi has come
true.
Incredible, is
it? Well. Arthur Osborne could not get any other
adjective to summarize the glory of Sai Baba;
the incredibility of the wonder persists even
now.
(*)
The
whole book of "Sai Sathcharitham"
on-line
by Shirdi
Sai Website.
(**)
The
Geetha-Vahini
/ Bhagavad
Gîtâ
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