In the Divine Presence of Sri Sathya Sai

Mrs. Saguna Hejmadi [a volunteer at Sai Baba’s ashram and wife of an Indian diplomat] says, “Swami’s greatest miracle is transformation of the heart. The presence of Sri Sathya Sai Baba, the great Master, is like the radiant sun that makes the lotus of our heart bloom. His infinitely loving and compassionate presence has the power to melt the rock of ego.” In this edited article, she talks about how she came to believe in Swami’s omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence many years ago, and how it has helped her find Him within her now. She further says:

Living with Swami is education;
Living for Swami is service;
Living in Swami is spirituality.

We were very fortunate to have come into the fold of our beloved Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba in 1959. We had just returned to Delhi after a five-year stay in Japan. My dear friend Kamala Sarathy (one of Swami’s oldest devotees) rang me up saying that since we were going to South India, we should not miss having darshan [sight of a holy person] of her guru, Sri Sathya Sai Baba at Puttaparthi.

In those days, there was no bus service between Bangalore and Puttaparthi (120 Kms). We took a train part of the way and then a bus. As the bus did not go all the way, we were dropped en route and told to walk across the paddy fields to reach Puttaparthi.

We reached Puttaparthi very hungry and tired from the long walk in the hot sun. So, as soon as we reached the ashram, we went directly to the canteen, which was then a small thatched hut. It was neither breakfast time nor lunchtime, but they kindly said that they would try to give us something. We felt sure that Baba had arranged this in His infinite mercy: our group of six people each got two rice cakes and a cup of coffee.

From there we were taken to the mandir [temple]. In those days, there were hardly a 100 or so people in the ashram; and at that particular time of the day there were very few people around. As soon as we reached the temple, our beloved Lord came on to the balcony and looked at us. The moment I saw Him, a thrill went through me and I knew that we were looking at a Divine personality. He came down immediately and gave us an interview. He gave us so much love and made us feel that He had known us for a long time as a very good friend. Among the many things He said, He remarked that my health was very poor. We returned to Bangalore the same evening by bullock cart.

It was about two years later that Kamala called me one morning to say that Swami was going to Badrinath [holy city in the Himalayas] with a group of devotees and she asked if we would like to join them (the Delhi group). If so, I should write to Baba Himself. Although the Governor of Uttar Pradesh was making all the arrangements for the trip, Swami would decide who should join the party.

Kamala gave me Swami’s Puttaparthi address, and off went my letter of request to Swami saying that we would love to join Him in His Badrinath trip. A day later Kamala rang me up again, saying that Swami was in Hyderabad and I should write to Him at the address she gave me. So, off went my second letter. She used to call me every other day to find out if I had received a reply. Since there was no reply, we thought that the answer was negative.

The day Swami arrived in Delhi, we—the Delhi group—went to the airport to receive Him. On reaching Kamala’s house, we all lined up for padanamaskar [touching the feet of a holy person as an expression of love and reverence]. When my turn came, Swami said, “I got both your letters, ‘rombo santosham’ (very happy). You can come with us.” I wondered how Swami knew that I had written those two letters as we had His darshan only once before this. At that time, I was not aware of His omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence.

My youngest son, then 12, was standing by me and he asked Swami whether he, too, could come and Swami said, “Most certainly you, too, can come.” It happened that another boy and he were the only two children in the party.

The next day, Swami and party were to leave Delhi for Haridwar (city en route), stay for a day, and then proceed to Badrinath. We had to leave for Dehra Dun for our eldest son’s graduation parade from the Military Academy. Swami suggested that we could join them at Haridwar from Dehra Dun. After the parade we went to the bus station. You can imagine our disappointment when we were told that there was no bus service from there to Haridwar. I started praying to Swami asking how we could join their party. Believe it or not, a taxi drove up to us and said that he would take us to Haridwar for a very nominal charge.

On our way to Haridwar, we realized that in our excitement we had forgotten to ask Swami the address of where we were to join the party. So we told this to the driver. He suggested that he take us to a place that the devotees had to pass through. Sure enough, as we parked the taxi, Sai devotees got off their two buses just at the place we had parked. We heaved a sigh of relief.

The devotees told us that Swami had postponed the departure by a day and had sent them for sightseeing to this particular place (Laxman Jhoola). We happily joined them in their bus. As we got out at the camp, the first person I met was Kamala. She excitedly told me that Swami had just then asked her what had happened to her friends. (He always calls us her friends.) She said, “Go and take padanamaskar and join the rest for lunch; as Swami has been waiting for you all.”

During the day, all the men had gone shopping to get a walking stick, shoes, a raincoat and a water bottle each for the walk uphill from Joshi Math. In those days we had to walk or go on horseback, as there was no motorable road. That evening, we had a lovely satsang (spiritual gathering) on the lawn of the bungalow where we were staying, and Swami told us all about Badrinath and the history of the temple there.

Early next morning, our party of about 100 people left by cars and buses for Badrinath. Swami would stop now and then and wave to us at all the hairpin bends. The three days’ stay there is most memorable, as we had Swami’s company and we used to sit around Him wherever He went. He was the perfect host, as He always is, going around to see for Himself that everybody was eating well and was happy. The details of what we did there during those wonderful days at Badri are written by the late Mr. Kasturi in his book, “Satyam, Sivam, Sundaram” part I.

Swami always says that the devotee might forget Him, but He never forgets His devotees. In 1963 I accompanied my husband to a conference in Cuttack. The governor there had made arrangements for the delegates to visit the sun-temple at Konark and after a little rest at the guesthouse on the beach, to proceed to Puri to have darshan of Lord Jagannath. At Konark, the party broke up as everyone went in different directions while looking at the beautiful artwork of the old sun-temple. By the time we all got together it was late, and so we decided to go directly to Puri instead of going to the guesthouse as we wanted to be at the Jagannath Temple before its doors closed for the afternoon. We found the temple very crowded and so we had Lord Jagannath’s darshan from outside.

That evening at dinner, the governor asked us whether we had good darshan of Lord Jagannath. When we told him about the temple being too crowded he said that he had asked someone to wait for us at the guesthouse and take us right into the sanctum sanctorum. I felt very sorry that we had missed a golden opportunity and a rare chance of having such a close darshan of Lord Jagannath. That night beloved Swami came in my dream and said, “Don’t feel sad, for I am Lord Jagannath.” Naturally I woke up very happy, and ever since whenever I hear the devotional song ‘Sai Jagannatha,’ I remember my beautiful dream.

Many incidents and miracles of Him guiding and guarding us have proved beyond any vestige of doubt Baba’s omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence. This seemingly small incident is one of the many that we have experienced of His omniscience. When in New York, my husband had invited some officials for lunch. I had gone shopping, planning to be back home early. But I got caught in a traffic jam on Fifth Avenue. The traffic was crawling. I felt very tempted to get out of the car and walk home, which would have been faster. But the distance was too much, so I sat and prayed intensely to Swami to save me from the embarrassment of reaching home after the guests arrived and not being there to receive them.

On arriving home, I was extremely happy to see that beloved Swami had heard my prayer—the guests had yet to arrive. So I thanked Him profusely for saving my honor. I had barely removed my coat when the door bell rang and the guests walked in apologizing profusely for being late, saying that they had mistakenly gotten into the wrong bus, which had never happened to them before, and that they realized their mistake only at the next stop. I felt sorry for them but was very grateful to Swami for saving the situation in such an amusing way.

Swami always says, “I protect you bhaktas [devotees] as the eyelid protects the eye.” He again proved His omnipotence and omnipresence last year when I was cooking at my sister’s house. I had put lentils to cook in a pressure-pan on one gas stove, and on the other I was seasoning vegetables. Suddenly the pressure-pan burst with a loud bang, throwing the twisted lid quite a distance from me. All the lentils and water came out, showered over my head and face, covering them completely. It was so sudden that I had no time to call the Lord for help.

To my utter amazement, the lentils were just lukewarm and not boiling hot as this dish should have been for it to burst through the pressure-pan. My sister and daughter–in-law came running, one with a shock remedy and the other with some medicine to prevent blisters from burns. They were greatly relieved to see that the contents of the pressure-pan had not even turned my skin pink, let alone cause burns. I thanked the Lord and wrote to Him immediately in gratitude for saving me.

In one of our interviews before retirement, Swami had asked my husband, “What do you plan to do on retirement? You should work.” My husband promptly replied, “Please give me your seva [service] Swami.” He smiled and said, “Santosham” (very happy). After retirement from our worldly duties, Swami asked us to come and live in Prasanthi Nilayam in 1976, giving us a wonderful chance to do the little seva we can for Him.

The influence of His sannidhi (proximity), where one experiences His love and compassion surely benefits every one of us. Swami’s greatest miracle is transformation of hearts. The presence of Sri Sathya Sai Baba, the great Master, is like the radiant sun that makes the lotus of our hearts bloom. His infinitely loving and compassionate presence has the power to melt the rock of ego. We have seen people change completely during their stay here. I feel that it has helped me to go deeper within myself and realize that He is the sole doer of everything and that everything happens according to His Divine Will for the good of us all. This keeps one at peace and prevents one from judging others.

In every discourse Swami emphasizes that each one of us is God and we should realize Him within us. Let us pray to Him to help us follow His teachings and feel His presence within us always. Having lived with God and having lived for God, it is my aspiration to live in God, with His blessings.

May more and more people realize how extremely fortunate we all are to have the living and loving God who moves amidst us, talking to us, counseling us, consoling us, loving us and guiding us on the right path to our goal! May they take advantage of this golden opportunity when God has come down on earth for our sake! May He bless us all and help us reach His Divine lotus feet and merge with Him!

Source: Sri Sathya Sai Divine Path Mahila, pp. 112-116