We Had the Vision: 23 Years Ago!
The following is an article written by Swami’s teacher and includes some charming experiences that he was fortunate to have had when the Lord of the Universe revealed His divine form.
As a boy of 14, when Baba was still at the Uravakonda High School, every Thursday evening between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. He became Shirdi Sai Baba and gave darshan [seeing and experiencing a holy person] to hundreds of devotees and answered their prayers. I was a teacher in the school at that time and I, too, took advantage of those Thursdays. “My student” Sathya used to produce even then, as He does now, vibhuti [sacred ash] by a mere wave of the hand!
My 22-year-old daughter had died sometime previously and my wife was in great distress. Sathya used to come to my residence and give her long discourses on the problems of life and death, and thanks to His wise ministration, she recovered from her grief. His words, full of prema [love] pacified the agitations of her mind and restored her devotion to the Lord. On the second Thursday that she offered worship He gave her “the vibhuti” and said, “Ammayi [mother]! I appreciate your bhakti [devotion]; I am pleased; come next week, I shall give you a gift.”
That day, He asked her to arise from her prostrations at His feet and said, “Ammayi! I am giving you a piece of the gerua [orange-colored clothes] I wore when I entered samadhi [attainment of ultimate peace] at Shirdi,” and closing His palm for an instant, He opened it to show us a piece of cloth four inches square. “Take this and do puja [worship] in My name; come next week, I shall give you something more.” He spoke thus and sent us away in great joy. When we took His leave, He added, “Be happy henceforth, for I shall carry all your burdens for you.”
The next Thursday, we both went to Him and did namaskar [prostrated]. He closed His palm and when He opened it, there had materialized a quantity of akshatha or rice grains. “Tie this in the cloth that I gave you last week and worship it. You will attain mental peace,” He blessed. “You will not have any cause for grief; I am conferring on you full bhakti.”
The fifth Thursday, another miracle took place. He told my wife, “Ammayi! Keep a peetha [stool] in your house in the puja [prayer] room, and I shall be giving you darshan right there,” He made us do this immediately.
We have all read how Krishna with His brother Balarama went to the house of Arjuna and granted darshan to him and his consort, showering them with blessings. This Sathya Sai too, who is the same Krishna and the same Shirdi Sai, came to the house of this poor bhakta and blessed us with a vision of His mahima [greatness]; we can never forget the exquisite thrill of that experience. He came on two consecutive days, the Krishna Janmashtami and the Rohini day [days related to Lord Krishna’s birthday]. The wonderful experiences of those days have been described by my wife in a poem published in her name, Kamesvaramma in the “Sai Sudha” of April 1944 printed by the All India Sai Samaj, Madras. I have also put them in verse and included it in the “Sainatha Sathakam,” which I published as a separate book in 1944.
Baba came and sat on the peetha in the puja room and asked us to come in and sit by His side; He then asked us whether we desired to see the various leelas [miracles] of His previous births. When we welcomed the idea enthusiastically, He agreed to show them to us. In eager anticipation, all the family gathered around. He ordered us to watch Him and, (would you believe it? You may not, until you yourself experience the same or similar miracles of Baba) we were thrilled by the form of Narayana on the ocean of milk, reclining on the vatapatra[leaf of a religious tree]. We heard His words, announcing the next form. The forms changed from one to another in quick succession. We were given enough time to imbibe the beauty and splendor of each form and to be struck by the instantaneous power of Baba’s sankalpa [resolution]!
And where was Baba, our Sathya, all the time? He became Gajendra [elephant] raising his trunk to greet Vishnu on the horizon, Krishna the cowherd boy leaning on a tree and playing the flute, Gopala on the awe-inspiring Kalinga Serpent, Radha-Krishna, Lakshmi-Narayana, Parvati-Parameshwara, and Saraswati-Brahma, too. Then, we saw Him as Sita-Rama and lo! We heard the name Sathyabhama and saw her. We were blessed by a vision, at Baba’s invisible call, of Mohini, the form that Vishnu once assumed: of Prahlada yearning for Narayana; and immediately thereafter, of Narasimha killing Hiranyakaipu; also of Vamana, Parasurama, and Buddha, too. Baba showed us the killing of Sisupala, Saindhava, and of the rakshasas [demons].
There was the scene of the Lord bringing the parijatha flowers; the picture then changed to one of Panduranga, and then Narada and his ecstatic praise of the Lord. The next one was of Navanitachora, the Balakrishna stealing butter; and after that, the killing of Abhimanyu by the wicked Kaurava chiefs. Finally, there was the magnificent form of Shirdi Baba Himself! How can we ever forget those shining forms, so full of vitality and life, that glowed before our eyes on those two sacred days?
You must have read in “Sathyam Sivam Sundaram,” the thrilling story of Baba’s visit to Hampi Hospet [towns] etc at the age of 14, and on His return the epoch-making announcement that He belonged to His devotees and that His work beckoned Him. You must have read of the first bhajan [devotional song] that took place in the garden of the Excise Inspector’s bungalow, which I was privileged to attend. I was excited and thrilled beyond words for I did not consider that Sathya was my ‘student.’ He was my guru, my guide. I shall now share with you more of the experiences that the members of my family and I had 23 years ago.
Baba was present at the Uravakonda bhajan sessions every Thursday evening, when hundreds use to gather to receive His blessings. Once when He went to Puttaparthi, He took my wife, my son, and me as far as Anantapur and we were with Him for two days. We used to worship Baba, installing Him in our minds on the peetha that He had asked us to place in the shrine room. One day, while my wife was immersed in bhajan with tears of joy streaming down her face, a big bumble bee flew in through the open window in circular sweeps and dropped on her head a roll of paper! We found that it was a picture of Shirdi Sai Baba! Surely, it was a gift from Sathya Sai for our shrine. We have it with us even now.
Another day during the bhajan, Baba called the wife of Kasibhatla Sriramamurthy to the dais and told her, “I have just kept a picture in your shrine room for puja; why is it that you have no picture there? Go and worship it.” She was surprised that this ‘little boy’ knew the details of the room so well and that Baba had shown them His grace. Immediately, she hurried home with three other women. They opened the lock and went in. All the doors and windows were closed for fear of monkeys; they threw them open one by one. Yes, there was a picture on the floor of the shrine, a picture of Shirdi Sai Baba! In March 1962, when I stayed a few days at Uravakonda, Sriramamurthy brought out that very picture and we talked once again of the joyous old times, when Baba had just announced Himself to be an Avatar.
Even more wonderful is another incident that I clearly recall. Baba was then at Puttaparthi, far away from Uravakonda. We were engaged in bhajan as usual in our little house; it was a rather hurried bhajan for it was a working day and we teachers could not afford to be late! A monkey leaped on to the window and held fast onto the iron bars and grinned. We tried to shoo him off when he threw a tiny bundle of cloth into the room, and waited to see our reactions. Baba, the Divine boy, had taught us to live in an age of miracles. So, I took the bundle and with shivering hands I untied the knot and examined the contents. There was a laddu [Indian sweet] in it. Have you ever heard of a monkey delivering a packet of ‘laddu’ unopened?
And lo! There was also a letter from Sathya Sai Baba in His own lovely handwriting!! “I sent you a picture with a bee. I am glad you are worshipping it sincerely. Well, I am now sending you some prasadam [blessed food]. Share it with all and be happy.”
May I add that I could not attend school that day? The joy was so over-powering. His grace was so overwhelming.
~Manchiraju Thammiraju
Source: Sanathana Sarathi, June 1963
