Setting an Example in Service

Dr. R. S. Padmanabhan is regarded by some as Swami’s most sincere living devotee today. On his 80th birthday, Bhagavan called him and a few relatives for an interview. Swami hugged him and told him that he was His Hanuman [symbolizing devotion], while Baba Himself was Rama.
Then Baba asked him who his favorite deity was. When no answer came from Dr. Padmanabhan, Swami materialized a Hanuman and said [again], “You are My Hanuman.”

Dr. Padmanabhan came to Bhagavan in 1944 at the tender age of 17. From that day on, his life changed completely. When Dr. Padmanabhan set up his dental practice, his first patient was Bhagavan Himself. Baba sat in the dentist’s chair and asked Dr. Padmanabhan to check His teeth. He looked at the teeth and said, “Bhagavan, they are fine.” “I know that,” said Swami, “but I wanted you to check them, and I also wanted to see if you were a good dentist.” That day Bhagavan gave him Rupees 500 (approximately $10) and said, “Your practice will prosper.” And it did. The following transcript is of a talk Dr. Padmanabhan gave in London in September 2002. 

Being with Swami is a full-time job that allows no time for a vacation. When we are with Swami, we have to be very alert. He will speak two words and we are expected to understand Him and follow the instructions. I learnt this trick from my uncle who came to Bhagavan in 1944 at the age of 60 and lived with Swami till his death at age 80. He used to look after Swami, and I took his place when he passed on.

Swami is the only person I know who is interested in the welfare of the entire world without distinguishing among religions, castes, or creeds. He wants all of us to serve the community and see to its welfare. He assures us that there is going to be a better world, and devotees have to work hard to achieve it. So my sincere request is that we should dedicate ourselves to Swami’s mission.

What is His mission? It is to serve the poorest of the poorest and uplift them. All of us can become His instruments. We have to develop our skills and serve selflessly so that all can be happy. Swami is our best example for this. He has built a few thousand houses for poor people in Parthi. He provides free education to all. He gives a pension to elderly poor people. He has built Super Specialty hospitals both in Bangalore and Puttaparthi. The hospital in Bangalore opened recently and 1,500 patients have been operated upon since its opening with more than a 90% success rate. There are about 3,000 patients waiting for cardiac surgery [these are not the current figures]. A number of doctors work for free and dedicate their time with love and devotion. Others work for a nominal amount.

I am not much of a speaker; I am more focused on seva (service). I try to serve Swami to the best of my ability and try to keep Him happy and smiling. This, in itself, is a very difficult job because one has to be aware of the minutest changes in His mood. I also have to try to keep those devotees happy and content who come from far away with various desires—whether it is to sit in the front row and offer a letter, obtain guidance about a problem, or get an interview with Swami. When I speak about them with Swami, He always says, “Do not worry. I know whom to see and when to see them.”

I must tell you, dear friends, that when you have His darshan (being in the presence of a holy person), you do not have to give a letter or ask Him for anything. Your devotion, dedication, and discipline will be enough to bring Him closer to you. I would like to make a personal appeal to all of you. When you come to Bangalore, do not give all those letters to Bhagavan because it is a greater problem for me to carry them than for Bhagavan to read them! Jokes apart, you can imagine how much effort it takes for Him to read all those letters.

Once when I was giving Him the letters after we came back from darshan, I asked Him, “Swami, there are so many letters—how will you read them? It will take at least eight to 10 hours just for these.” Swami said, “No Padmanabh, I do not have to read them to know what is in those letters.” Just to prove that statement to me, He picked up a letter that said there were five 100-rupee bills in the envelope, and then He opened the letter. Sure enough, there was exactly that amount. There were five of us standing around Him and He gave us one bill each.

Then He said, “It is the karma [result of past actions] of each person to suffer what he has to suffer. There are no short cuts. Even if I cure him now, he will have to suffer in the next birth to settle the account. It is better that he faces his problems and finishes his karma now while I am here to give him the strength he needs. If someone can be cured he will be cured, but if he has to suffer, then that, too, is inevitable.”

About a month ago, Swami developed an acute swelling in His right cheek near the ear. A dentist friend of mine and I were very worried. We could see that He was in a lot of pain. For eight days we watched Him suffer, and then finally He explained that He had taken on the pain of a very young child who would not have been able to bear it. He said the swelling would slowly subside.

A few years ago, Swami took on the leg pain of a person, and He just could not walk. He would come down to darshan and we would say, “Why do you strain Yourself like this—give darshan from where You are.” But He would say, “No, so many devotees are waiting for me, I must go. I must go.” One day, He went for darshan and when He returned to His room, He just collapsed. My friend and I wanted to help Him, but He refused our assistance.

It took Him a full half-hour to climb the 15 steps to His room. He climbed alone, all by Himself, without any help. We wanted to bring a doctor to examine Him, but He would not allow that. He suffered like that for five days. On the sixth day, my friend and I went to talk to Him, and very smilingly He said, “Go and get a silver cup.” He materialized some water in that, drank it, and began walking again as though nothing had ever happened to Him!

Many years ago, my brother and I both developed hernias. Swami asked me what I was going to do about it. I said that I would bear what came to me and would see a doctor in due course. My younger brother told Swami that he was afraid of surgery and asked if Swami would cure him.

Swami took him to a room, created all the necessary surgical paraphernalia before my eyes and then closed the door. Half an hour later, Swami emerged from the room with my brother, who was completely cured. I later went to a regular surgeon who operated on me. I did not, and I do not now, bother Swami with my personal problems. I am telling you this because I want to stress the fact that you should not worry about personal problems. He is all knowing and will always take care of us.

In my youth, Swami asked me to go to work in London for a year.  I tried to say, “No Swami, I am happy and doing well,” Then He said, “You have to go. Your practice will improve.” So I came to London and worked in Eastman Dental Hospital. Ten years later Swami again asked me to visit London and educate myself in the latest developments in dental practice. When I wondered privately how I would afford to go, He said, “Do not worry. In two months the British Council will invite you to go to England.” And sure enough, two months later I received an invitation from the British Council. They sponsored my stay for six months in Manchester, Birmingham, and Liverpool.

These are the ways of our Lord—totally beyond our comprehension!