Attention
- World at Prayer
"Engage
in Karma, under the shade of Dharma;
practice Dharma with the awareness of
Brahma.
March along the path of Karma and
reach Dharmakshetra where Brahma-realization
awaits."
On 12th May,
1968, the 'Dharmakshetra,' an architectural
jewel built on an elevated spot commanding a
panoramic view of the environs of Bombay as the
International Center of the Sai Family, was
inaugurated by Him. This Palace of God is also
intended to serve as the residence of Bhagavan
while at Bombay.
'Dharmakshetra'
is the first word in the first Sloka of the
Bhagavad Gita [see:
Bhagavad Gîtâ of
Order
and Gîtâ
Vahini, Chapter
1];
it is used there as an adjective to describe the
battlefield where the Kaurava might was
pulverized by the Lord and His Grace showered on
the Pandava 'righteousness'. The field was known
as Kurukshetra,
but, the intervention of God to succor the cause
of Truth, Justice, Peace and Love transmuted it
into Dharmakshetra. The word summaries the
history of the two clans who were in mortal
combat on that field: it symbolizes the
beginningless conflict between good and bad in
the human heart, a conflict that ends in the
triumph of the good when, as the Pandava did, we
accept and install in our heart God as the
charioteer; and, now, it elaborates the role of
Baba in human history one step further, for, He
had already declared Himself as
Sanathana
Sarathi,
the Person at the Wheel of Life (since Time
began and Space rolled out) for every Being that
Became!
We
see before our mind's eye Sri Krishna holding
the reins, while Arjuna listens and learns. We
see the Lord, as Baba is seen by us today,
guiding and guarding, assuaging and asserting,
reminding and reprimanding, revealing and
reviving the wayward and the wavering!
Dharmakshetra evokes in our memories a surging
gratitude for all those who discovered and
delved into the pellucid streams of Dharma, for
all who adored Dharma by living it and
demonstrating how it can confer joy and peace,
and for all those who sacrificed their all for
it in all lands, in all ages.
Baba named
that building so, not just arbitrarily; He
declares that no word of His is devoid of
spiritual potency; it is a call, an intimate
invitation to you, to give ear to the Gita; He
whispers from your own heart to cure you of your
brand of delusion, to sublimate your inner
battlefield into a playground of spiritual
endeavor; it is a spell, a benediction, a
blessing; it is an Announcement that the Lord
has come, that His mission has begun. His
charioteering is available for all who seek, now
and here, on this sad stupid struggling earth
which He has adopted as His Dharmakshetra, for,
this is the place where
Dharma
can be learned, and practiced and harvested.
"Engage in
Karma
as regulated by Dharma. Practice Dharma with the
awareness that all is Brahman.
March along the path of Karma to Dharmakshetra,
where Brahman-realization awaits," Baba
says.
Thousands from
all parts of India and even overseas witnessed
the Inauguration. From far-flung lands they
came, wafted by winds of grace. More than fifty
thousand eager souls gathered that evening at
the Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan Campus at Versova,
Bombay, to express their joy at the momentous
occasion. The magnificent structure was
completed in 108 days after the first trowel of
concrete was laid, the number 9 being the theme
of the holy structure, of the 18 petals of the
lotus which encloses the apartments where
Bhagavan would stay, of the pillars, steps and
trellis squares, all in multiples of 9, the
Brahman Number.
'Dharmakshetra'
- Bombay
Sri P. K.
Sawant reminded the audience that Baba blessed
Maharashtra while in His previous body at Shirdi
and it is Maharashtra's good fortune again that
His Dharmakshetra is established here itself.
Baba said that everyone is living, moving,
acting and accumulating merit or demerit as a
consequence, in Kurukshetra,
for, 'Kuru' means 'to do'. In this process, if
the current of Dharma illumines every moment of
life, then the Kurukshetra becomes
Dharmakshetra. This, He said, is the lesson that
Dharmakshetra will radiate round the
world.
Baba took up
residence at Sathya Deep, the big rotunda with
the lotus and a moat filled with water all
around; the place immediately became a hive of
spiritual activity, a prolific purveyor of
sweetness and light. There, children brought
together in Sathya Sai Bala Vihars, boys and
girls of the Seva Dal, adult workers in the
Bhajan Mandalis and Seva Samithis, all receive
Love and learn reverence. Baba speaks to seekers
and social workers who gather in the Prayer
Hall; and they return with a deeper
understanding and a wider outlook.
Meanwhile,
scores of omnibuses spilling over with the Sai
devotees sped into Bombay from distant towns,
the occupants singing Bhajans at the top of
their voices, making the pedestrians believe
that Prasanthi Nilayam was passing by! Every
train that drew up at the Victoria Terminus,
Bombay Central or Dadar brought special coaches
from Madras, Trivandrum, Bangalore, Vijayawada,
Nagpur, Navasari, Delhi, Calcutta, Lucknow and
Dehra Dun and the villages around, coaches
packed with men, women and children happy beyond
measure, racing against time to have Darshan of
the Bhagavan
they adore. The journey was strenuous and
irksome, but the tedium vanished as the vitamin
'G' released by the Bhajans acted fast on both
body and mind. And not just by land! The sea and
air too helped in transporting the joyous lot
who came into Bombay by ship and plane from
Ceylon, Singapore, Djakarta, Manila, Kuwait,
Dubai, Casablanca, Mombasa, Nairobi, Kampala,
Arusha and Malta, from Hongkong, Fiji, Teheran
and Tokyo, the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of
America, the islands of the West Indies, Peru
and Brazil.
For, the First
World Conference of those who chose to accept
Baba as their Master and Preceptor was to be
inaugurated on 16th May, at Bombay, in the
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Campus. Baba declared
that this was the first time in the history of
the world that a World Conference of the
devotees of an
Avatar
was being held, in the immediate physical
presence and under the direct supervision and
observation of the Avatar Himself! No wonder
they flew India-wards in flocks, like birds on
the ocean's open roof, winging towards the
sheltering mast!
Lord
Caitanya in Sankirtana with His
Associates
S'rî S'rî S'ikshâshtaka
Text
As the
delegates streamed into the Hall that day at
sunrise, they found a friendly fragrance beyond
all memory, a warmth of welcome seldom known
before. Behind the dais, on the wall, were two
murals, one depicting
Chaitanya
lost in the ecstasy of Sankirtan,
and the other, Thyagaraja,
the saint who sang from the depth of his heart
of the Compassion, the Majesty and the Might of
the
Rama
Form of God he had ever before his eyes! Behind
the chair that Baba was to grace was a mural of
the Lamp: the Flame of Light and Love, straight
and bright, which no wind could shake or dim! At
9 a.m. Baba came in, showering the fresh petals
of His gracious smile on all present. The sight
of Him emitting Light and Love thrilled and
delighted every one of them. Soon, the heavenly
echoes of Vedic chants tingled in the ear; then,
after certain preliminaries, Baba called upon
the delegates from each State to speak on the
organizational aspect of
Sadhana
in their respective regions. In response,
judges, vice-chancellors, scientists, doctors,
poets, administrators and businessmen rose and
presented reports of the activities of the Seva
Samithis, Study Circles and Bhajan Groups
engaged in Sadhana prompted by devotion in their
States.
Howard Murphet
from Australia said, "Australia needs Your Love,
Your Light." Tideman Johanessan from Norway
confessed, "Your Teachings, Your guidance are
urgently needed in Scandinavia, where dogma has
very nearly suppressed genuine spiritual
yearning." Dr. Nallainathan from Ceylon pleaded,
"We are children groping in the dark. Make us
see!" Dr. C.G. Patel from Kampala prayed,
"Africa needs You most." Indira Devi from
Tecate, Mexico, said, "When I speak about
Bhagavan to the students of Santa Barbara,
Berkeley, Chicago, and other Colleges, they
refuse to disperse after the talk unless I
promise that I would bring Baba to America; they
are hungry for Him." Charles Penn from Los
Angeles asserted, "We look to India for
spiritual guidance; we pray that Baba will come
to us. When He is with us, He will be with
everyone else too!"
The Public
Meeting at the Campus held later in the evening
was attended by over a hundred thousand, and Sai
could be seen seated firmly in the hearts of
every one of them. The Deputy Prime Minister of
India, Sri Morarji Desai, the most puritan of
the lieutenants of Mahatma Gandhi, presided over
the meeting. He had earlier met Baba at
Dharmakshetra and sensed His Divine Compassion
for world struggling in the deepening bog of
hate and greed. He was visibly moved when he saw
before him, squares upon squares of thickly
packed aspirants, women on the right and men on
the left, silent, expectant, full of ardour and
adoration, from all over the world, from the
steps of the temple, the mosque and the church,
the Gurudwaras and other shrines, feasting their
eyes on the charming face of Baba. Sri Morarji
Desai said that the best teacher of man was the
Gita, since it exhorted him to work for the
betterment of the world to his utmost capacity,
and at the same time to be unconcerned with
success or failure, for God, to whom all work is
dedicated, knows best how it should be rewarded.
(See: Bhagavad
Gita)
Kasturi
translating...
Baba began His
address in Sanskrit! He had directed me to
translate His speech into English and I stood
behind a mike at the other end of the dais. But,
as 'the language of the Gods' flowed so
mellifluously from those Divine Lips, I was
almost struck dumb with admiration and
apprehension. How, I wondered, am I to canalize
this surging Ganga into the Thames? Soon, Baba
continued in Telugu:
"The body is the shrine in which the 'I' is
installed; the country is the temple of the
'We,' the collective will; the world is the
temple of the 'He,' the sum total of the 'I' and
'We'.
"This
is a gathering of people of all faiths and so it
is fitting that I assert here that every faith
is but an endeavor to cleanse the impulses and
emotions, as part of the process of discovering
the Truth, both seen and unseen. The search is
for the same Treasure; The Summit is one; only,
the tracks are many. The guides too are many,
clamoring and competing for pelf and
prestige,"
Baba said.
"Even
those who swear that they did not find any trace
of God in the depths of space, or who aver that
God is dead, or that even if alive, He has
outlived His use for man, that He has ever been
a handicap and a costly nuisance for man, these
too have to admit that there is something
inscrutable beyond the reach of reason,
something which pervades the world and reveals
itself in Love, Renunciation and Service. That
something is God,"
Baba declared, in the course of a rousing
discourse on the Divinity inherent in the
Universe.
Appreciating
the efforts of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan to
resuscitate the ideals and practices of
Sanathana Dharma, Baba said,
"This Conference is the Confluence of three holy
streams - the Atmavidya which the delegates and
visitors held primal for successful living, the
Satsang provided by the aspirants from all races
and religions, and the basic principles of
Bharathiya Culture which the Bhavan helped them
to remember."
Seven
Subcommittees, which were discussing the topics
allotted to them, presented their
recommendations and suggestions to the Open
Conference at noon on the 17th. They dealt
with:
1.
Bhajan, Namasmaran and Nagarasankirthana,
[see
also: Purify the world by
Sankirthana]
2. Vedic and Sanskrit Education,
3. Moral Instruction in Schools and
Colleges,
4. Enrollment and Training in Seva Dals,
5. Establishment and Working of Mahila
Vibhags,
6. Coordination of the Units of the
Organizations at all levels, and
7. Relations between the Indian and Overseas
units of the Sathya Sai Organization.
Dr. V. K.
Gokak [see
also: Cities Aflame, for a song by Dr.
Gokak
and Facets
of Truth]
then addressed the gathering on the Avatarhood
of Baba. "We have met here with the common
purpose of affirming the supremacy of
consciousness over matter, subject over object,
seer over the seen, charioteer over the chariot,
and the transcendental over the trivial; so, we
will not be baffled, as others are bound to be,
by the phenomenon of the Human Form which the
Formless Absolute has donned," he
explained.
As He Himself
announced the previous evening, Baba spoke on
the grandeur and glory of the Name of God, be it
any name, and the steady influence for good its
repetition generates in the
individual.
"In
this age of materialism," Baba said, "the
constant repetition of the name of God is the
one hope which man has, to rise up to him or
to bring Him near. Repeating the Name brings
down Grace; Meera quaffed the cup of poison
with the name on her tongue; it turned into
nectar. Sanctify every minute of your day and
night with the unbroken recollection of the
Name. I do not want you to think that I
desire this Name and this Form to be
publicized. I have not come to set afoot a
new cult. Know that this Sai Form is the Form
of all the various Names that man has used,
and uses now, to identify and adore the One
Divine. So, I teach that no distinction
should be made between the Name - Rama,
Krishna, Iswara, Sai - for, they are, all of
them, My Names. Of what avail is it if you
worship My Name and Form without attempting
to cultivate My Samathva (Equal love for
all), My Santhi (Unruffled equanimity), My
Prema (Love), My Sahana (Forbearance), and My
Ananda (Perpetual state of supreme bliss)?
Many of you plead for a Message from Me!
Well, My Life is My Message. You will be
adhering to My Message if you so live that
your lives become evidences of dispassion,
courage and confidence, revealing eagerness
to serve those who are in distress."
As Bhagavan
cast His Grace-filled eyes on the thirsty faces
before Him eager to drink in the Truth He was
vouchsafing to pour into their hearts, suddenly
His eyes softened in compassion. His voice rose,
the speed of His words doubled and trebled.
Everyone present sensed, almost, instinctively,
that a great moment in their life had come; in
ecstatic thrill they prepared themselves to
listen to a great Revelation, to a Benediction
that the world can hope to receive but rarely in
its history. He said,
"Gathered
here today are people who have devotion,
people from all sections of society; I must
tell you about My Reality because ninety nine
out of every hundred among you do not know.
You have come here drawn by diverse needs or
interests, by a taste for spiritual matters,
by eagerness to develop the institution to
which you are attached, by admiration or
affection, by love or reverence or loyalty,
or just in a spurt of enthusiasm to join
others in their exultation or to share with
them your own."
"In
truth, you cannot understand the nature of My
Reality, either today or even after thousands
of years of steady austerity or ardent
inquiry, even if all mankind were to join in
that effort. But, shortly, you will become
cognizant of the Bliss showered by the Divine
Principle which has taken upon itself this
sacred Body and this sacred Name. Your good
fortune in having this chance is greater than
what was available to the anchorites, monks,
sages, and saints and even to personalities,
that embodied facets of the Divine
Glory!"
"Since
I move with you, eat like you, and talk to
you, you are deluded into the belief that
this is but a human phenomenon. Be warned
against this mistake. I am also deluding you
by singing and playing with you and engaging
Myself in activities with you. But, any
moment My Divinity may be revealed to you;
you have to be ready, prepared for that
moment. Since Divinity is enveloped by
humanness, you must endeavor to overcome the
Maya (delusion) that hides it from your
eyes."
"This
Human Form is one in which every Divine
Entity, every Divine Principle, that is to
say, all the Names and Forms ascribed by man
to God, are manifest. (The statement in
Telugu was: Sarvadaivathwaswaroopalanu
Dharinchina Manavaakarame Ee Aakaramu. Do not
allow doubt to distract you. If you only
install in the altar of your heart steady
faith in My Divinity, you can win a vision of
My Reality. Instead, if you swing like the
pendulum of a clock, one moment of faith,
another of doubt, you can never succeed in
comprehending My Truth and win that Bliss.
Fortunate are you, that now, in this very
life, you have a chance to experience the
Bliss of the Sarvadaivathwa Swaroopam (the
Form of God in all Forms)."
"Let
me also draw your attention to another fact.
In the past, on the occasions when God
incarnated on earth, the Bliss of recognizing
Him in the Incarnation was vouchsafed only
after the physical embodiment had left the
world, despite plenteous evidences of His
Grace. Moreover, the loyalty and devotion
which those Incarnations commanded while in
the physical embodiment, arose through fear
or awe at their superhuman powers and skills
or at their imperial and penal authority. But
ponder for a moment on this Sathya Sai
Manifestation. In this age of rampant
materialism, aggressive disbelief and
irreverence, what is it that brings to It the
adoration of millions from all over the
world? You will be convinced that the basic
reason for this is the fact that this is
Divinity in Human Form."
"Again,
how fortunate you are that you can witness
all the countries of the world paying homage
to Bharat; that you can hear, even while this
body is existing, adoration to the Name of
Sathya Sai reverberating from even the nooks
and corners of the world, when this Form is
amidst you, with you, before you!"
Vishnu, the transcendental form of Lord
Krishna
with four arms holding the conch, cakra
(Sudars'ana), lotus and shell.
This thrilling
declaration stunned the delegates; and as they
left the hall and reached their rooms, each one
found inches added to his height, for each felt
blessed with a Unique Vision. Often had Baba
spoken of His being the Incarnation of God, of
being God Himself in human form, but this time,
He had emphatically identified Himself with all
Names and all Forms of God that man ever moulded
in his mind in the course of his history on
earth!
The next day,
in the morning hours, the reports of the
subcommittees were considered by a meeting of
all the delegates, and a few more delegates
addressed the gathering. Baba summarized the
conclusions, and spoke on the basic approach to
service through the Sai Organization. In these
days when the world is safe only for hypocrisy,
Baba's directives had to be straight and
sharp.
"It
is wrong," He clarified, "to believe that all
have equal rights and duties and obligations
and responsibilities. You cannot say that all
cows are equal and purchase them by the
dozen. Some may be dry, some may clamor for
more feed, some yield less milk, some are
young, some decrepit, some tame and some
wild. Nor are all men equal. The code of
conduct, for each and towards each, is
decided by changing factors, like age,
profession, status, authority, scholarship
and sex, and considerations as to whether the
person is a teacher or pupil, master or
servant, father or son, sick or healthy, etc.
As far as I am concerned, there is only one
rule that binds Me: Love. That Love will
quieten you, it will comfort you, it will
inspire you to merge with Me."
When the
Conference met for the evening session, speeches
in Sanskrit were delivered by four Pundits of
the All India Prasanthi Vidwanmahasabha founded
by Baba. Mrs. Osborne addressed the gathering in
English. She was introduced as the wife of the
author of the book 'Incredible Sai Baba' written
about the previous incarnation of the
Inexplicable Sai Baba now with us!
Baba offered
to sum up the suggestions for spiritual uplift
that emerged from the deliberations among the
delegates, as also the gist of His talks with
representatives from the various States. He
spoke about Bhajans, Dhyana Sittings, Study
Circles, and particularly about Nagarsankirtan
which received attention as a very important
activity of the Units. "This was how", Baba
said, "Jeyadeva, Gouranga, Tukaram, Kabir and
Purandara Das led God into every heart. Gather
together in the hours before dawn, and walk
slowly along the streets, singing Bhajans
glorifying God. Carry the Name to every
doorstep. Wake up the sleeping. Purify the air
polluted by day-long angry shouts of hate and
greed, faction and fear. What greater service
can you render than this - beginning the day
with the Name of God and helping others to
remember Him?"
The
Valedictory Meeting of the Conference was held
at 10 a.m. on the 19th. Baba wanted that all
those who had come from far and near be informed
of the major decisions of the Conference, which
were rare directives aimed at the spiritual
upliftment of the common man. Dr. Gokak in his
address found himself saying, "Sai is the
gateway to all the greatness, all the effulgence
of the spirit," for, he was too overwhelmed to
be silent. "Sai is no blinding word; Sai is no
binding word; Sai is no limiting word," he said.
"It is a word that contains the meaning of every
other word. In the beginning was the Word! That
word is He." Mr. Bharde, Speaker of the
Maharashtra Legislative Assembly said that Baba
was fast transforming Bombay from a Bhoganagari
into a Yoganagari (from the City Sensuous, to
the City Divine). It could well be said that
this process of transmutation is on, not just in
Bombay, but the world over! Baba too spoke of
the urgent need for man to be aware of his
immortality and to draw courage there from as
Arjuna (*)
did, when overcome by despondency.
Dharmakshetra,
where Baba stayed during the Conference, was the
venue every day, for a number of gatherings
where Baba was busy explaining, elaborating,
elucidating and emphasizing the fundamentals of
spiritual discipline and wisdom, regardless of
time and unmindful of the exhaustion His
physical body was likely to get. Besides this,
Baba was guiding there a Prasanthi Youth Camp of
over 65 University alumni. There was held a
special gathering of the Lions of Bombay City
who sought from Him guidance regarding the basic
attitudes that will help their activities and
the philosophy that can sustain them. It was
noticed that Baba granted audience to the
overseas delegates more often. It was because
they had fewer chances of personal contact with
Him, and they were eager to be as near Him for
as long as He permitted.
Among those
whom Baba drew to Himself during the Conference
was the veteran Gandhian, the scholarly
statesman, the patriotic writer, the practical
administrator, the devoted student of Bharathiya
Culture, Kulapathi Dr. K.M. Munshi. He had
realized, more than most of the doughty warriors
led by Gandhiji in the struggle for Swaraj, that
India had to be independent so that she can gain
self-respect and adore her own culture and
thereby make her invaluable contribution to the
progress of humanity through her adherence to
the ideals embedded in that culture. The
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan is the institution
through which Munshi sought to achieve the
revival of Indian culture, and so implant in the
hearts of the Indian Youth a genuine appetite
for living their lives as true sons of Bharatha
Mata, as legitimate inheritors of the peerless
wisdom gathered by the sages of this land. Baba
agreed to have the Conference in the Bhavan
Campus, a fertile field wherefrom a rich harvest
of Vedic and Upanishadic culture was to be
reaped in the near future. This fact Baba
mentioned with appreciation. So Dr. Munshi
visited Dharmakshetra as well as the Conference
Hall, and he said, "All my life I have taken a
keen interest in personalities to whom
supernatural powers are attributed; I have tried
to understand their ways how they project their
personality and release streams of faith and
transform their followers into dedicated
persons."
When Dr.
Munshi met Baba for the first time in
Dharmakshetra, hope met fulfilment; aspiration
met achievement and prayer met the boon desired;
for, Baba has come. Come, He has, to install
Bharathiya Vidya,
that is to say,
Atma
Vidya, on the throne of Science, to reinstate
India as the Guru of humanity, to help Indians
to win the fruits of India's independence,
teaching them the way to master the self, and
through Indians, the rest of the
world.
Baba observed
that Dr. Munshi's right hand was trembling
slightly on account of chronic Parkinson's
disease. Then, in Dr. Munshi's words, "Baba rose
from His seat, took my fingers and covered them
with His own, and rubbed them with sacred ashes
which came out of His hand. Then He waved with a
sweeping gesture and caught a ring He had
materialized; He slipped it on the little finger
of my right hand. I immediately perceived the
stiffness of my fingers almost gone; so had the
trembling in the right arm and leg." It needs to
be mentioned here that the cure was permanent
and not a passing phase, for as the science of
medicine says, Parkinson's disease (Paralysis
Agitans) is one of the least tractable of
maladies, even as regards the relief from its
symptoms!
More than this
miraculous relief from a physical handicap which
he was stoically tolerating, Baba removed the
handicaps which stood in the way of the
septuagenarian savant accepting Baba as the Guru
he was seeking. Baba visited Munshi's home, and
all the members of the family found themselves
confiding in Him. He assured them that He was
with them through all the turbid years of
torture and sacrifice, martyrdom and power,
disillusionment and determination, revival and
recuperation. He told Munshi's son that He was
with him, years ago, when he had to take refuge
with a wayside station master while traveling by
train! He took upon Himself the burden of
bringing health and happiness upon his kith and
kin, for, none is there beyond the pale of His
Love. Dr. Munshi writes, "He has the capacity to
plant seeds of faith in men - seeds, which, when
they sprout, will liberate them from greed, hate
and fear."
No wonder,
then, that all the mental reservations, with
which Munshi approached Baba, whom he had taken
to be just another in the array of Babas he had
encountered during his chequered career,
disappeared the moment he recognized the
Reality, and he did not hesitate to declare this
in the pages of the Bhavan's Journal, one of the
leading Indian Periodicals commanding a
circulation of 50.000 copies. Describing his
campaign in Britain, Julius Caesar said in a
historic phrase, "Veni Vedi Vici," "I came, I
saw, I conquered"; here, "I went, I saw, I was
conquered!" This is the experience not only of
Dr. Munshi. Every one who goes to Baba and sees
Him through eyes that are clear and keen, wins
the same experience.
On the 18th,
at the special request of Indra Devi who had
planned a "Crusade for Light in Darkness" aimed
at illumining the hate-ridden hell within the
human heart, Baba lit a Perpetual Lamp at
Dharmakshetra. That Lamp and other lamps lit
from that scared flame, will serve to shed the
Light of Love on all who meditate on
them.
The rising of
the Sai Sun made certain vested interests feel
ill at ease. Bewildered at the millions milling
towards wherever Baba was, calculating
practitioners who traded in religion feared that
the traditional tithes and offerings would soon
dry up, threatening their very sustenance.
Little did they know that Baba has come to water
every plant in the Garden of Faith, that He was
no sower of schism but the Great Harmonizer, the
Mountain Peak that appeared to some as Siva, to
some others as Vishnu, to some as Christ, to
some others as Allah, or as Buddha, according to
the angle from which they viewed. The yellow
section of the Press yielded to the temptation
of blasphemy and scandal mongering; the more
responsible periodicals tried to probe and
understand. They requested that their
representatives meet Baba and try to measure the
depth of the rare Phenomenon in their midst.
About 30 special correspondents representing
leading English and Indian Language Newspapers
came to Dharmakshetra on 21st May. The questions
they asked were naturally prompted by curiosity;
they wanted to know the purpose and modus
operandi of the "miracles" performed by Baba. In
reply Baba declared that these were evidences
rather than demonstrations of the Divine. "It is
Love that prompts Me to give and when I want to
give, the thing is ready," He said. "I can, by
My Sankalpa,
change the earth into sky and the sky into
earth, but that is not the only sign of Divine
Might. It is the Love, the Compassion, the
supreme Patience to deal with all this frailty
and fanaticism, it is the Resolve to cure them
all - that is the Unique Sign," Baba
explained.
Those who came
to probe were prompted to sit and learn. He
advised the newspapers to stress the unity of
Indian culture, to emphasize the values of the
Indian way of Life, instead of playing up the
differences and defects. He wanted them to
indulge neither in flattery nor in mudslinging;
He asked them not to inflame or burn incense,
but portray and highlight all examples of
service and sacrifice.
On the 24th,
Baba left by car towards Gujarat, where a large
number of Study Circles and Bhajan Mandalis, and
the miracles emanating from His will, had soaked
the people in Sai Devotion. He visited Navasari
and Surat on His way to Baroda where he spent a
day, meeting devotees from the area around, like
Nadiad, etc. Baba then returned to Bombay and
left for Poona. The Andhra Association of Poona
welcomed Baba at the premises of their
Association (but it was not owing to any
linguistic or regional label, for, which
geographic region can claim to contain Him more
than another? He belongs to all humanity). Baba
spoke of the problems that afflict mankind, and
of the valid and valuable solutions thereto,
discovered by sages millennia ago. The people of
Poona felt blessed at the chance to have the
Darshan and imbibe the nectar of His Discourse.
On His way to Hyderabad, Baba halted at
Sholapur, where He urged the people to
investigate into their own inner resources and
learn to develop them.
"Develop unshakeable faith in yourself, in your
capacity to live well and long, in your
capability to be of use to
others,"
He exhorted. At Hyderabad, too, His message was
a tonic to the wayward and the
vacillating:
"Be
cheerful and sprightly. Cultivate faith in
God, keep virtuous company, nourish
discipline and cherish lofty ideals of
service. Control the senses; avoid seeing
evil, hearing evil, relishing evil thoughts
and sights, words and news. Go straight, not
along a crooked path. Do not read trash, or
see foul films. Discipline the wavering mind
by means of Bhajan, Nagarasankirtana and
Namasmarana,"
Baba directed.
On the 10th of
June, Baba returned to Prasanthi
Nilayam.
This chapter
may well be closed with an extract from a letter
from Charles Penn, on his return to America,
after being exhilarated by his first physical
Darshan of Baba, having his faith and devotion
enriched by the experiences at Dharmakshetra and
the World Conference at Bombay - especially
Baba's Revelation of His being the One Divine
Principle come in Human Form.
Baba appeared
before him at his US residence and
said,
"You,
Charles, saw at Bombay the tens of thousands
of seekers of Liberation, striving to catch
at least a glimpse of Me. These numbers are
but a drop in the ocean, compared to the
countless unseen souls who try to reach Me
from beyond mortal bounds. To all I give My
Light and Love, and help each forward,
towards Liberation."
"All
who come to me in their concrete form have
fortunately reached the stage when they are
beginning to 'see' the reality. Those who cry
for the chance to see Me in the concrete form
have their prayers answered; to each I give
every opportunity for Darshan,
for they deserve and receive My Love."
"Then,
Charles, there are those who may never see Me
in the concrete form. They have, all the
same, reached Me through a friend, a book or
a photograph. To each of these, if they yearn
deeply, I give My Darshan inwardly. These too
I love as deeply for they have begun to see
themselves, as being beyond their body, as
Divine Souls. This is true advancement
towards self-realization. Liberation and
Peace can be theirs through loving the Lord
in meditation. All who meditate upon Me as
the One with many Names and Forms will have
Santhi."
(*)
See
for example the Gita, Chapter
2.
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