The
Sugar and the Ants
Many
a Sadhaka
and Seeker has announced the deep desire that he
should remain an ant, tasting the sugar, that is
God, grain by grain; he does not like to become
the sugar, which does not know how to taste
itself. When someone prayed to Baba that He
reduce the number of days when He is away from
the Prasanthi
Nilayam
on tour, He replied, "Yes, you think it is more
appropriate that the ants come to the sugar but,
consider this; how can the poor, the sick, the
aged, the infirm, for whom I have come, travel
to Prasanthi Nilayam? I must go near them and
speak to them, so that they may make their own
homes and hearts the Nilayams of Prasanthi."
This then is the reason why Baba moves, wherever
Mercy takes Him and Agony draws Him. As
described in the First Volume of this Book, Baba
returned from Badrinath on the third day of
July, 1961. Speaking about the journey to
Badrinath to a gathering at Bukkapatnam near the
Nilayam, Baba said, "We saw thousands of old and
decrepit men and women, besides others stronger
and younger, braving the cold and hunger, the
storm and rain, the risky landslides on the
road, trudging along regardless of the cost and
distance, to get a glimpse of Narayana
installed there. When in Ayodhya, I could see
and sense the constant recitation of Rama-nam by
almost all people there. I am often asked where
Dharma
has taken refuge in this Iron Age. Well Dharma
is still flourishing in the hearts of these
thousands, I reply."
Baba left for
Mysore City during the month-end, for the
devotees there wanted Him to be with them for
Guru Poornima, the Full Moon dedicated to the
worship of one's spiritual preceptor. That
evening, He reminded a gathering of 20.000 that
Mysore was famous for the fragrance of its
sandalwood and the musical attainment of its
people. "But, I want the fragrance of
Prema
to fill each act of yours; I want the harmony
and melody of music to permeate every sprout of
thought, every tendril of emotion, every bud of
speech. The Guru is adored in India as the
physician who corrects vision with the medicated
unguent called Janan; he cures other diseases
too, diseases which afflict the mind and warp
the judgment, like the jaundice of malice, the
anemia of envy, the fever of greed and the
paralysis of hate. You must seek a
Guru
who can diagnose correctly and prescribe both
the drug and the regimen; you should submit to
both with care and faith. If a human preceptor
is not available, prayer will induce the Lord
within to awaken and guide."
Referring to
the panic that was fanned by the astrologers of
the East and West over the 'ominous' conjunction
of eight planets between the 2nd and 5th days of
February, 1962, He explained that they would
only 'appear' as conjoined along a line and that
there was no reason for fear. "Many are advising
you to win the favour of the Gods so that they
may spare you from calamity; many are collecting
funds to perform rites which can ward off the
fire and fury which are predicted. I do not
object to prayer, or to the rites, for they are
good in themselves, apart from the planetary
phenomenon. But, do not be misled into inviting
terror into your hearts. There will be no
convulsion in Nature, no tornado or torrential
flood, no damage to earth or sky! The only
calamity that will take place is the forfeiture
of deposit money by a number of defeated
candidates, contesting the General Elections
that month!"
During the
fateful week, Baba was a tower of strength for
millions in panic. He allayed the fear aroused
by the soothsayers of many lands. Lavagnani, the
Mexican Astrologer, quoted by the Illustrated
Weekly of India, wrote, "It may be particularly
unsafe on those first days of February to
travel, either by air or sea, and even in some
places, to sleep in a house." An Indian
astrologer with a vast American clientele wrote,
"A very severe type of earthquake and severe
cold waves will happen as a result of the
Febuary '62 combination." Civil strife, racial
tensions, military crises, political upheavals,
famines - these were predicted by popular
prognosticators, both "scientific and
unscientific" in almost all lands. Many people
came over to Prasanthi
Nilayam,
to be in that Haven of Peace during the critical
week.
Experiencing
His Love and Grace that gave courage and
strength, many devotees were tempted to believe
another and smaller group of astrologers who
drew other conclusions. Bellairs of Johannesburg
said, "The planetary situation may refer to the
coming of the New World Teacher, either His
Birth, or His Entry into His Ministry." There
was also the widely publicized statement of A.N.
Chandra: "This unique configuration may even
indicate the Advent of a Great Religious Leader,
who will bring solace to the distressed and
harassed people of the modern world." They knew
that the New World Teacher had come and had
entered upon His Ministry; they knew that Baba
was granting solace to the distressed and
harassed people of the modern world. He was
announcing it, as the task for which He has
come!
From Mysore,
Baba went into the Wild Life Sanctuary, called
Abhayaranyam, (the Forest where there is no
Fear). Baba loves to meet the denizens of the
Forest for they too are His children, creeping,
crawling, trailing, walking, flying, from birth
to birth, towards His Feet. Before a fortnight
was over, He was at Hyderabad for a short visit
and from there, He motored 600 long miles to
Udumalpet to bless a Hospital and a College.
Returning via Madurai, He reached Ootacamund,
the Crest Jewel of the Nilgiris, Queen of Indian
Hill Stations, where are preserved still, both
simplicity and spiritual sanity. They had Baba
with them on the Krishna Janmashtami, the
Birthday of Krishna who is adored and loved in
India by every mother and child in the land, by
every scholar and saint, by every philosopher
and pundit, by every seeker and saint. Baba told
the gathering that Krishna was the very
embodiment of Prema,
that the word meant "He who attracts, draws the
mind towards Him." He reminded them that whoever
adores Krishna must cultivate this Love. Krishna
also means, "to plough, to plant and grow;" so,
every person who reveres Krishna must plough the
field of his heart, remove the weeds of passion,
sow the seeds of Love, and foster the plants
with vigilant care, until the blossoms of Seva
(Loving Service) yield the fruits of
Ananda.
Dasara, 1961
which came soon after, was memorable for many
reasons. On the very first day, Baba gave a
glimpse of His Glory when He announced, "You
have read that the Lord saved Draupadi from
humiliation [see the Bhagavatha,
Chapter 20],
Gajendra from the quagmire, Arjuna from
defeat
[see:
Bhagavat
Gîtâ],
Ahalya from
petrification,
[see Ramakatha
Rasavahini, Chapter
7b].
Dhruva from ignominy [see Srîmad
Bhâgavatam, Canto
4],
Prahlâda from annihilation [see
Srîmad
Bhâgavatam, Canto 5-5
etc.].
You do not know of countless other acts of
Grace. Similarly, for every act of Grace which
you know this Form has done, there are thousands
you do not know! Rama was the embodiment of
Sathya
and Dharma;
Krishna, of
Santhi
and Prema.
Now, when skill is skipping faster than
self-control, when science laughs at
Sadhana,
when hate and fear have darkened the heart of
man, I have come, embodying all the four. I have
come, equipped with such limitations as will
help you to contact Me and derive benefit from
My coming. I manifest such powers, as will help
Me to confer the benefits I have planned for you
and which you deserve. In a short time, within
years, the number of which can be counted on the
fingers of one hand, you will see here the
suffering, the aspiring and the inquiring, from
every part of this world. The number will be so
large that the sky alone can be the roof that
can shelter them." Another day, 21st October, He
announced that the Mission of the Revival of
Dharma
for which, He had come has begun. "Until now, it
was in the preparatory stage; from now on, the
work will proceed without slackening speed. It
is now for you to share in this campaign for the
liberation of man from ignorance. In no previous
era have men got so many and so clear
intimations of the Advent of the
Avathar,
as now."
On 23rd
November, 1961, during the Birthday
Celebrations, the book, "Sathyam Sivam Sundaram"
written in English, of which this is the second
part, the first full-length biography of Baba,
was reverentially placed at His Feet by me, whom
He graciously chose as the instrument for that
task. Baba said, "You might wonder why I
permitted the publication of a book on My Life.
"Ramayathi ithi Rama" (He who gives joy is
Rama). The joy in the devoted heart is the joy
that pleases the Lord. The joy of the Lord is
the reward that the devoted heart seeks. I
responded to the prayer of devotees and allowed
him to write it. The title, "Sathyam, Sivam,
Sundaram" speaks of Me, as immanent in every one
of you. For, Sathyam is Truth; you resent any
imputation of untruth. The real 'you' is
Sathyam. How then will it accept any other
appellation? So too, you are Sivam; joy,
happiness, contentment, auspiciousness. You are
not Savam; dead, miserable, weak; you are Sivam.
Then again, the real 'you' is Sundaram; beauty,
harmony, melody, symmetry. You resent and very
naturally, when you are described as 'ugly'. You
are the Atma,
which is entangled in the body, a wave of
Sathyam Sivam and Sundaram, playing on the Ocean
of Sathyam Sivam and Sundaram, which is the
Lord." "Getting to know Me, through this Book,
or, more clearly through the Book of your own
experience, is part of the destiny of mankind
today. Each one of you has to be saved, and will
be saved. I shall not give you up, even if you
keep afar. I shall not forsake even those who
deny Me, for, I have come for all. Those who
stay away and those who stray away will also be
drawn near and saved; do not doubt this. I shall
beckon them and bless them." Do we need any
clearer intimation than this, about His Grace
and His Divinity?
After the
Birthday Celebrations, Baba left for the village
of Repalle, in Guntur District, to install a
marble idol of His previous Appearance in the
temple there. Baba had installed such idols in a
few places previously, at Madras and Coimbatore
and at the Ayodhya Asram, near Madanapalle. At
Madras, where he had sanctified the temple at
Guindy, in His twenty-second year, the
Bhaktha
who had built the temple washed and worshipped
His Feet and wanted an impression of the Feet on
a piece of silk cloth in sandal paste. Baba
said, "I shall give you the Feet of 'Sai Baba',
My previous Body!" and lo, the Impression that
the silk cloth received from those lovely tender
Feet of His was that of a pair of Feet, nearly
double the size of Baba's, and definitely that
of a person above sixty years of age! The silk
cloth with the sandal paste impression that He
gave so miraculously to prove that He is "the
same Baba come again" is there, inside the
shrine at Guindy, for all to
see!
Thinking
of Me become My devotee, offering your
obeisances unto Me become My
worshipper;
for sure you will come to Me in truth - this I
promise you as You are dear to Me.
[Bhagavad
Gîtâ, Chapter 18,
v-65]
No wonder the
people of Repalle were elated when Baba agreed
to install Himself in the temple they built; no
wonder too, that hundreds of thousands converged
on that place to get the
Darsan
of Baba. The idol had to be brought to the
bungalow where He stayed, for, the roads that
led to the temple were too thickly packed. While
the initial rites were gone through Baba created
a charming little golden idol of Sai Baba and
placed it on the head of the idol. Late at
night, when the roads become negotiable, the
idol was taken into the temple. Baba placed the
golden statuette in a cavity on the floor and,
over it, He wanted a marble slab to be drawn.
The idol was installed on the slab. Thus, the
mysteriously created golden image became the
unseen but potent source of Grace in that
temple, just as the
Linga
which Sankara-charya placed was the source of
the potency of
Narayana
at Badrinath! Baba reminded the thousands who
had gathered to listen to His Words; "This idol
is only a container; the thing contained is Sai
Thathwa, which is the Divine Essence. Pour that
Essence in this container, it is called Sai
Baba. Pour it in another; it is Srinivasa, Siva,
Krishna or Rama."
"You should
now infuse this marble with your faith and
devotion and make it live; having installed Sai
in your village, install Him in your hearts, on
the altar of Prema,
for Sai is Premaswarupa. Sai is not a temple
dweller; He dwells only in hearts." Baba by His
Sweetness and universal love entered the hearts
of all the thousands who milled around Him for
Darsan.
Many who then touched the hem of His silken gown
will remember it for years!
From Repalle,
Baba went to the town of Eluru, where at the
Githa Bhavan, He had to install two life-size
marble idols of Radha and Krishna. He was
accorded a Reception, which Baba felt was too
extravagant. He chided the organizers, "Whoever
has heard of the master of a household being
received into his home by his children, with
fire works and flags, poetry and pomp?" Baba
created for the rite of installation, the nine
gems, as well as a mystic cryptogram on metal
which can ward off evil forces from the eight
directions. He said that Radha and Krishna
formed the Prakrithi-Purusha Duet, Creation and
the Creator, Patent and Latent. Radha is the
adhar (basis) for the dhara (continuous stream)
of aradh (worship). That is to say, Radha is the
created universe which has to be used by man for
discovering the Divinity immanent in it, the
Divinity that is revealed as beauty, truth and
goodness, as
Sath Chith and
Ananda,
as
Sathyam Sivam and Sundaram.
Back in
Bangalore in December, Baba inaugurated a
Society of Sanathana Social Workers, for as He
said, "The word, sanathana, in the name of your
Society has brought Me here today. You are all
Sanathana, eternal, though you believe you are
nuthana, new. In India, the science of
recognizing the reality of man, his glory, his
divinity, has been taught from ancient times.
Only those who have learnt this science deserve
to be children of this land; the others, though
they are born here, are essentially
aliens."
At
Bangalore, as well as later, at the
Prasanthi
Nilayam,
He assured people that the Ashtagrahakoota, or
Conjunction of Eight Planetary Bodies which by
its imminence was darkening weak minds with
clouds of fear, boded no ill. He said, "No
additional calamity will come about, consequent
on the conjunction; in fact, the confusion
existing now will become a little less! When the
Avathar
has come," He asked, "why shiver in dread, at
imaginary dangers?" "Believe Me" He declared,
"nothing will happen; no, there is no danger at
all." And, as Baba willed, nothing
happened.
On the holy
day of Sivarathri, 1962, which fell on the 4th
March, Baba advised the thousands who had
witnessed the emergence of two golden
Lingas
from Him, "Why do you discuss and debate among
yourselves about My nature, My Mystery, My
miracle, My reality? Fish cannot gauge the sky;
the gross can grasp only the gross. The eye
cannot see the ear, though it is so near. When
you cannot reach down to your own reality, why
waste time trying to explore the essence of God?
You are like a Telugu audience sitting through a
Tamil picture or a Malayali sitting through a
Japanese picture. The nuances, the subtler
significances, the deeper meanings and
inter-relationships, the inner patterns of the
fabric, are beyond his understanding. Sit
through the entire film; master the language and
the technique; watch earnestly and vigilantly
and try to imbibe the meaning of every gesture
and act and word; then, you may know Me, a
little." [See
Swami materialize the lingam, Shivarathri,
4 March 2000
(2.8MB).]
Festivals at
Prasanthi Nilayam afford the people the chance
to hear the discourses of Pundits learned in the
science of spiritual disciplines and of meeting
brothers and sisters who have experienced Baba's
might, majesty, or mystery. They return to their
homes, full of the inspiration derived from the
soul-strengthening discourses of Baba, wiser,
sadder and often purer in habits and mental
impulses. Many among them stay on for the chance
of the precious interview with Baba. Therefore,
Baba is engaged for hours on end, morning, noon
and evening in calling in and conversing with
the thousands who keep on at the Nilayam, until
they are thus favoured and blessed. It is a
clear sign of His Grace that He thus keeps
Himself busy with our petty trivialities and
pestering desires, though in the discourses He
gives, He is advising man to give up the
demeaning attachment to the physical and the
secular. He knows that longer exposure to His
Glace and Grace will wean us away into
Sadhana
and success.
Baba left for
Thirupathi, after most of the people praying for
interviews had been satisfied. It was the
Thyagaraja Festival that drew Him there. Had not
Thyagaraja, the singer-saint of the 1830's,
appeared in a dream and directed Sri
Nagarathnamma, his incomparable disciple, to
proceed to Venkatagiri so that he can have
Darsan
of "the Lord whom he adored?" Nagarathnamma had
gone wondering who the Lord was; he saw Baba
there!
That explains
Baba's statement in His Discourse, "I come often
to this Festival, for I feel it is a part of the
task for which I have come." "Thyagaraja had
given up attachment to sensory pleasure; he had
discovered the supreme joy of inner
contemplation; he expressed that joy in moving
musical notes, in simple sincere words, in songs
that thrill the heart and illumine the
intelligence. Thyagaraja knew the secret of
surrender. Without surrender, man can have no
liberation. Cross out the
I,
and you are free. How to kill the
I?
Place it at the Feet of the Lord, saying,
'You'
not I;
and, you are free from the burden that is
crushing you."
Dasara, 1962!
On the 29th September, the First Day of the Ten
Days' Festival, while hoisting the Prasanthi
Flag on the Nilayam, Baba declared, "At
Prasanthi
Nilayam,
every day is a Festival Day: every moment is a
holy moment. As the saying goes,
"Nithya kalyanam. Paccha
Thoranam"
(Perpetual Festivity, perpetually Green.) During
that Dasara, Baba inaugurated, in clear
unmistakable ways, His task, which He defined as
"Vedasamrakshana, Vidwathposhana and
Dharmasthapana."
All three are interdependent; the
Vedas
are the bases of Dharma;
the Vidwans are the instruments; Dharma is the
panacea for the illness of mankind." In the
Githa, Lord Krishna has affirmed that He
embodies Himself and incarnates among men in
order to fulfill the task of Dharmasthapana. The
assurance then; the fulfillment now! Let us keep
our eyes open and bright, to bear witness to the
wonders of the Advent.
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