Portal of Service
Dr. Savithri, M.B.B.S, an experienced gynecologist, has been serving the Sri Sathya Sai General Hospital in Whitefield, India, for almost three decades. She is currently Senior Resident Doctor at Sri Sathya Sai General Hospital, Whitefield.
Manava seva is Madhava seva [service to man is service to God]. This statement of Bhagavan holds great significance for me. From my childhood I was inclined toward rendering service of some kind or the other. I always thought that the best way to render service to the needy and sick would be by becoming a doctor. But under the circumstances I was born (I was the 13th child of my parents), I was unsure whether my dream would come true. Blessed was I that the Lord chose me to serve Him through serving His children.
I first had Swami’s darshan [sight of a holy person] when I was studying in Mysore, and I was fully determined to follow His footsteps. At that time Swami had not established hospitals or other institutions. After I became a doctor, I served in various hospitals, but there was still emptiness in me and I felt that I had not accomplished what I really wanted to. The service that I was rendering did not satisfy me even though I treated the poor and the sick free of cost at free medical camps. I felt that unless seva [service] was accompanied by tyaga [renunciation], it would not be a selfless seva. The time came when Swami called me to join the General Hospital at Whitefield, which was started in the year 1976 by Dr. Rajeswari, whom we lovingly called Amma [mother].
When I joined the hospital in 1983, it was a very small hospital with two or three doctors, two nurses, four ayahs [nurse maids], and 12 beds. I have never looked back or thought twice about joining the hospital. I felt that God-realization or attainment of the highest truth couldn’t be attained without tyaga or renunciation. As Swami says, “Seva is not just social service. If the Lord grants that you can help any of His children, blessed are you. Do not think too much of yourselves. Blessed are you that the privilege was given to you when others did not get it. Do it only as worship.”
This saying of Swami keeps ringing in my ears and I consider myself blessed to serve in this hospital, which is now a full-fledged hospital housing all departments—General OPD, ENT, Plastic surgery, Orthopedics, Ophthalmology, General Surgery, Physiotherapy, Pediatrics, Dental, Skin, Urology, Laboratory, Radiology, and four operation theatres with two separate labor wards.
The hospital has more than 120 staff members. It has about 100 beds, and nearly 1000 patients from in and around the villages of Whitefield and also outside Karnataka are treated every day. About eight to ten operations are performed daily, excluding labor cases, which are dealt with round the clock. There are several visiting specialist doctors and two in-house doctors including myself, who render voluntary service with the common goal of service to mankind. The guiding force for all the doctors and the staff in the hospital is Swami, who is the ‘Divine Medical Director.’
The patients also feel that they are blessed to receive treatment in the hospital. Many of them who are not devotees of Swami have gone home feeling fine and fully satisfied, while wondering how such service could be extended without expecting a cent in return. All kinds of complicated surgeries are performed, including expensive orthopedic ones like total hip replacement. The number of patients is increasing day by day. The sevadal [volunteers] are also rendering a yeoman service in the hospital.
Miracles are commonplace occurrences in the hospital, which come as surprises to the ‘scientific-minded’ doctors, especially the novices who are not yet aware of Bhagavan’s omniscience and omnipotence. Not just articles, but books have to be written to speak about the miracles that occur in Bhagavan’s hospital. A few of the many such miracles have been recounted here.
A student and his mother were admitted with fever of unknown origin. While the student recovered, his mother’s condition deteriorated and became critical. The nurse, leaving the patient alone in the ward, went to fetch some medicine. On her return, the nurse was amazed to find that the patient had completely recovered. She was free from fever and cheerful. The patient then narrated what happened in the few minutes when the nurse was away. Swami had emerged from one of the photos in the room with a trishul [trident]. He touched the patient with the trishul and she woke up to find that she was free from her ailment.
In the days when surgical facilities for cardiac problems were not available at Swami’s hospital, a senior member of the Whitefield hospital staff was suffering from a cardiac problem. She had to go to Chennai [formerly Madras in South India] for surgery. Swami had assured her that surgery would not be necessary. During her preoperative tests, it was found that the cardiac problem had vanished.
A foreign national was admitted to the hospital in a diabetic coma and did not respond to treatment. All hopes of her recovery were given up. She suddenly woke up saying that Swami had come to her as Shirdi Baba and had cured her.
Swami’s sister Venkammagaru was seriously ill and was on ventilator support at a major hospital in Bangalore. Swami ordered that she be brought to Whitefield hospital. The doctors warned that she would not survive if she were taken off the ventilator. However, she was brought to the hospital as per Swami’s command. Swami visited her on arrival and told her, “Venkamma, kannu teesi choodu, everu ochinaarani. Swami ochinaru. Yenduku bhaya padutunnavoo? (Venkamma, open your eyes and see who has come. Swami has come. Why are you afraid?)” On hearing this, she opened her eyes, acknowledged Him and both exchanged beautiful smiles. Miracles like these occur on a daily basis at Swami’s hospitals. The doctors serving here have learnt to do their duty and leave the result to Swami.
It was in the year 2000, in the month of December, that I was in Puttaparthi. I was returning to the room near the old block around 8:00 P.M. and had climbed a few steps. Suddenly, I heard a hissing sound and a huge black cobra stood in front of me with its hood raised. The sleeping cobra was disturbed by the sound of my footsteps. I could not take in the beauty of this wonderful creature, which was completely black in color, as fear gripped me and sent a chill down my spine. I was rooted to the spot and was dumbfounded. Instinctively, I took a step back little realizing that I was on the steps, and down I went with a thud. The cobra slithered past me as if I did not exist. I slowly got up and did not realize the damage caused to my back.
The next day I returned to the hospital. I could not turn or even get up from my bed and I was advised complete bed rest for 15 days. I was worried about the smooth functioning of the hospital. I prayed fervently to Swami and He sent prasadam [blessed food] with His blessings. The work in the hospital went on as usual, and I could even go for rounds in my wheel chair.
Such is the grace of Swami that no vacuum was created even when Dr. Rajeswari Amma and Dr. Hegde passed away. I was a little flustered, and in an interview with Swami, I asked Him how the hospital would be managed. Promptly came the reply: “Why fear when I am there.”
Swami is the master, leading and guiding all of us at the hospital. The visiting specialist doctors are dedicated to the hospital and serve free of charge. They get more satisfaction after having served in the hospital than in their private practice. They only yearn for the grace of Swami. The entry to this portal of service is, according to Swami, tyaga and seva. As Swami says, “what is required for service is not money or material. A loving heart is the first requisite. All service done without a heart filled with love is as dry as dust. Tyaga is essential for rendering dedicated service.”
Seva combined with tyaga has given me the meaning of service, which has taken a spiritual turn. It is not necessary to become a sanyasi [renunciate]—to renounce the world. Swami says, “Renunciation is not giving up the world and retiring to the Himalayas. Tyaga is not only for the monks, but it is also for the householders. By serving the society through tyaga one can bring the spiritual ideas and values to the doorstep of the common man.”
I am blessed and greatly indebted to Swami for having chosen me to serve in His institution and thereby tread the path of serving the Lord through His fellowmen. But for Swami’s grace and blessings, it would be impossible for me to work almost 24 hours a day as a resident doctor. He is always my guiding principle in all my duties, every day, every minute helping me to practice his concept of tyaga and seva.
I close with a sincere prayer from the bottom of my heart to my beloved mother Sai: “Swami continue to fulfill my aim of serving You by serving the people.”
~Dr. S. Savithri
Source: Hridaya Bindavan 2005
