I count myself among those fortunate few to have been born in a family devoted and dedicated to Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. I was born into the Venkatagiri family, who enjoyed tremendous proximity to the Divine in the early years of the Sai Avatar. Each year from 1950 to 1974 He had visited Venkatagiri. In many ways He was the head of our family. There isn’t a single individual in my family whose life hasn’t been touched by Him.
My grand parents have told me that Bhagawan visited Venkatgiri in August 1964 to perform their Sastipoorthi (60th marriage anniversary). I was with my mother at that time since I was barely six months old. Suddenly, Bhagawan asked for me and took me in His arms. Then He did something extremely wonderful. Looking back, I realise that only a few souls must have ever been blessed with this great gift. Bhagawan patted me on the back and said “Say Baba” and I responded to the Divine call by uttering the words, “Baba.” Did I have a choice? That was the first word I spoke in my life.
I used to have His Darshan whenever He came to Chennai in January of each year, but strangely never went to Prasanthi Nilayam or Brindavan. However in 1978 I had a close Darshan of Bhagawan. He gave me Padanamaskar and blessed me.
In 1980, I was blessed to become a Sai student. I was not a particularly bright student and my name was not on the admissions list. However, after Darshan the following day the warden summoned me only to inform that Swami had Blessed me with a seat in His School. This seat in His school enabled me to spend nine wonderful years at His Divine Lotus Feet. I joined Bhagawan’s school in Class XI and graduated from the hallowed institution with an MBA degree in 1990.
I was told Bhagawan had looked at my poor marks sheet and said, “He has done well in English. So we will give him a seat. But we will not put his name on the students list”. He had chosen to ignore the poor marks in other subjects and also save me from embarrassment. To this day that day remains as a very special day in my life. Looking back, I now realise, God looks for opportunities to shower His Grace on us. We only need to have pure intentions and make the effort. That is enough to please Him.
The First Miracle
After I joined the school, Bhagawan used to speak to me very often and would enquire about my family. One wonderful Sunday morning in August He gave me a robe He wore. It was Kumkum red – the type He usually wore during Dussehra. That was the most blessed gift He gave me.
A few months after I joined His school, I witnessed the power of Bhagawan. A middle-aged man was sitting on a wheel chair. His legs were bent and in pretty bad shape. After a couple of days he was wheeled into the interview room. The interview was quite long.
After an hour or so the interview room door opened and everyone started coming out. But, there was no sign of the man or his wheelchair. Finally, he came out… walking on his own! An empty wheelchair was dragged out. There was stunned silence.
“He has no need for the wheelchair. I have cured him,” Bhagawan said. It was only then that I realized of having witnessed a miracle.
The Fortnight of Dreams in 1985
In 1985 Bhagawan’s 60th birthday was celebrated with fervour and devotion. But a month before that He blessed me with a sequence of dreams. Dusshera celebrations were quite low-key that year as everyone were busy preparing for the Birthday festival. The dreams started before Dassera and continued much after that.
He would appear in the dream and gave me Vibhuthi. On and on the dreams went… it was something which is beyond words. I would rush to the hostel as soon as He ended Bhajans every day in the hope that He would come again in my dreams. The dreams continued till I was filled with great joy. Finally, after 15 days of overpowering happiness and joy, He ended the fortnight of dreams with a Padanamaskar in the last dream.
Objects from the Past
I was fortunate to see Bhagawan materialise and show us several objects from the past – across thousands of years both in Brindavan and Parthi. I had seen Him change a ring thrice in College and had heard several such miracles from older students and my family members.
I had also heard that He had the power to materialize and dematerialize objects from the past. I witnessed such a miracle in my first year MBA in 1988. It was the amulet of Chanakya in 1988. As Swami started the interview, He began to talk about the Goals of Life.
He named four books for the four goals of life:
- Dharma – Manu’s Dharmashastra
- Artha – Chanakya’s Arthashastra
- Kama – Vatsayayana’s Kamasutra
- Moksha – Lord Sri Krishna’s Bhagavad Geeta
Swami then narrated the following story:
During his travels Chanakya was open to learning from anyone. Once he visited a roadside inn to have food. The lady of the inn served him a thick Dosa. It was thin at the edges and thick at the centre. Chanakya attempted to eat the Dosa at the edges. Seeing this the woman laughed and said, “Look at this Brahmin. He is making the same mistake as the Magadha king”.
Chanakya was taken aback at the answer and with folded hands asked her to explain what she meant.
She said, “What is the use if the city of Magadha is strong and its boundaries weak. Magadha is like this Dosa, strong at the centre and weak at its edges. Only when strength of the empire is strong and uniform everywhere can the nation be strong. If the boundaries fall on all directions can the centre hold out for long?”
Her words left an everlasting impact on Chanakya. He resolved to make the empire strong on all sides instead of concentrating power at the centre. Bhagawan said, “That is wisdom. Wisdom is greater than knowledge”. He added, “Everyone these days wants just information. That information must bring about transformation”.
Chanakya thus used the wisdom of the lady to bring about a transformation in the fortunes of Magadha when he became minister. Once Chandragupta became king, he looked at ways to build a strong empire. He also looked at marriage alliances. One kingdom he had in mind for an alliance was Persia. Persia was strategically located and Chanakya felt an alliance with Persia could make Chandragupta strong.
Chanakya thus went to Persia to seek a matrimonial alliance for Chandragupta. The Persian king had a very competent minister. Chanakya befriended him and they had many discussions. The Persian minister was greatly impressed by Chanakya’s knowledge and wisdom. He was in possession of an amulet of great mystical properties that was with his family for several generations. He used to wear it around his neck. He gave the amulet to Chanakya as a gift. Bhagawan then materialised the amulet for us. He let us have a look at it and photograph it.
It had two borders of gold with a red stone in the middle. On one side of the amulet was an engraved symbol and on the other side was a name engraved in Persian. Swami said that once Chanakya started wearing the amulet, his fame spread far and wide.
The Embodiment of Love
The Sai phenomenon can never be understood. However anyone with an open heart can experience Bhagawan. Mankind has not experienced such a phenomenon before and will probably never experience again. Yet in His vastness and the ever-ending stream of miracles and acts of grace, I found a binding force – LOVE. As His student, I saw this Love in His eyes, in every physical deed He performed, I felt this infinite Love.
It touched the core of everyone who was called to spend those fortunate years with Him. It was selfless Love. It was pure. In every action of His he showed it. It was beyond thoughts, feelings and emotions. Verily it was the expression of God.
“Love” and “God” are two of the words many have been accustomed to using in an attempt to paint a picture of this essence. Yet they are the drop that exists within the ocean and the ocean that exists within the drop. They cannot be separated.
Scholars and scribes down through the ages have sought to find words for this concept. For every age, for every cultural spirituality there has been an attempt by the mind of man to put words around this essence. We students were lucky to find the essence in His presence. It had nothing to do with needs, wants, hopes and expectations. It had everything to do with yearning and prayer and He always answers prayers in His own wonderful way.
Bhagawan has often told us, “The Lord alone should be loved!… Love Him! Meditate on Him! Finally, resolve that you be merged in Him. That type of acute desire alone one should have!”
The most important treasure I carry with me is the strong conviction that Bhagawan always takes care of everything. Whatever He does, He does at the right time and for our good. If one has the same yearning and deep desire to experience Him…He is everywhere.
Jai Sai Ram!
