His Story

The penultimate day of the Yagnam (a worship ritual) was a morning of two wonderful little surprises that the Lord decided to spring upon two tiny tots from the primary school. The day began like the past few ones with Swami taking a complete darshan round and arriving on the stage. He sat listening to the Vedas [holy scriptures] for a while and then asked all to move to the auditorium. Then, out of the blue, He called one of the primary school children, and while speaking to him Swami materialized a gold chain for him. The child was delighted as Swami put it around his neck.

Moving further ahead, Swami called another boy and created a gold chain for him too! He put it around his neck before heading to the auditorium. Swami sat for a while at the Yagnam before receiving arti [waving of the flame] and retiring for the day. The sight of the whole stage with Vedic scholars and the Veda Purusha seated there was truly awe-inspiring and lovely.

The evening saw Swami take a complete darshan round and arrive on the stage. Everyone waited with bated breath to know whether Swami would finally speak or not. Prof. Anil Kumar spoke for a few minutes before introducing the speaker of the day, Prof. G. Venkataraman or Prof. GV, as he is popularly known. After that, Prof. Anil Kumar requested Swami to slake the parched hearts of all the devotees with a shower of His nectarine words. 

Prof. G. Venkataraman took the stage and spoke in a crisp and precise manner. He dilated on the three words, gnatum (to know), drashtum (to see), and praveshtum (to enter). He said that to know about God and see God are the easy steps. The tough part comes when we have to allow God to enter. Pure love and sacrifice are necessary if we want to throw open the doors of our heart and accord God a grand welcome. As always, his talk was sprinkled liberally with humor and spiced with thought-provoking anecdotes and facts.

As he concluded his speech, there was silence. There was almost no motion anywhere as Swami said, “What can I speak?” Prof. G. Venkataraman and a student, both told Swami that He knew what was best for everyone. They prayed that He should speak and fill everyone with joy. Swami nodded and agreed for the mikes to be placed in front of Him. Then began the Divine discourse, which has been detailed below. 

It is My splendor that you see in My creation. Thousands of years ago, it was completely dark. There was no man and the whole area was full of water. This was due to the torrential rains that lashed out for 300 years continuously, both in the mornings and nights. All the mountain ranges and the Himalayas, too, had melted and were reduced to the earth. Then appeared the first ray of light. That was from the Sun that had taken birth. Gradually the stars adorned the night sky. Thus, the world could be seen now. If there is no light, none can see anything. Till 1900 none knew about all this. The calendar years like 1961, 1962 were all based on light.

The whole world, born of stone, floated on water. From the Sun above came the fire, from which originated the wind. The whole sky came into being, and thus were the five elements responsible for creation. The sky is blue. Everything is God’s creation. God is the blue complexioned one and hence the oceans and skies are blue. But again, they only appear blue. That is because they are at a distance. If you see them from close, they are not of that color. It was then that the forests came. The process of reproduction set in. God created only initially and then from One became many.

The Anantapur governor gifted me with two deer. They were taken to Brindavan where they multiplied. Two from there were brought to Puttaparthi and they have multiplied into hundreds here. That is how God works—creating only the initial two. Humans arrived then but humaneness did not! Man arrived and multiplied. It is always like this. One seed is sown, and it gives rise to many. That is the process of evolution. A small creature develops into a whale! A cat grows into a tiger. Two humans—one man and woman gave rise to the whole human race. And today there are more than 300 crores as the population. This is the mystery of creation.

(At this point it began to rain and pour in torrents. Swami stopped speaking and asked all the women who were beyond the northern gates to come in as they would get drenched. It took five or ten minutes for all of them to come in and sit and Swami sat patiently. He also asked, “Why should it rain only now when it did not rain all these days?” The people outside were all seated inside, and the rains, too, abated a bit. Swami then continued to speak, only now the subject changed completely.)

When I was studying in the third standard, I was a very little boy. I am so short now itself, so you can imagine how I was then! There was a person by name Raghavan who was the drill master. A fair was held in Pushpagiri in the Cuddapah district [near Puttaparthi]. That place is full of sand and cattle, and the cattle fair needed volunteers to organize it. I used to be solitary, all by myself. I never spoke much, nor did I join any groups or gangs. I also never touched any books. But the drill master insisted that “Raju must be the leader for the group going to Pushpagiri.” All the children, too, wanted me to be their leader. So I agreed to do so. There was a boy called Ramesh and another one called Paresh who would sit on either side of me in the class. I was in the center.

Ramesh was the son of a rich father. He asked for two uniforms from his father. A whistle, a torch, and a stick were prerequisites for being a volunteer at the fair. Ramesh kept all these items in my desk drawer with a small note in which he had written just one word, “Raju”. I saw this and was moved by his gesture. But I told him that I could not accept it. He said, “Raju, you are like a brother to me. You are my dear friend.” Friendship is destroyed when you give and take material gifts. When I told him that, he agreed and took back his gifts. Now, to go there [Pushpagiri] one had to walk 11 miles. Five days had to be spent there and that required rupees five, one for each day. But I did not have a single naya paisa [penny]!

There was a boy in second standard who would need third standard books. I took all my books—arithmetic, science, history, etc. and sold them to him. The books totaled 18 rupees that the boy could not afford. I told him that it was sufficient if he gave me five rupees. He took a bundle of coins and with the various annas and dammidis, constituted five rupees. I took all the coins and bundled them. But the cloth was very worn out and soon it tore as I tightened the bundle. All the coins fell out and the lady of the house (wife of Swami’s elder brother) saw this. She scolded me and asked from where I got so much money. She did not believe me when I explained how I had got it. She beat me and took away all the coins. Thus, again I was back to the state where I did not have even a single naya paisa.

The next day everyone came to call and take me to the fair. I made an excuse. If I had said fever or cold, they could see it and know I was lying. So I said that I had a stomachache. No one can check that. All of them left for the fair. When it was dark, I started to move in the moonlight. I walked all the 11 miles, and at the crack of dawn I reached Pushpagiri. There was no water to freshen myself. I searched and came across a trough that was used for washing the cattle. I washed my face there and drank that water. I noticed on a rock nearby that there was an anna coin and a packet of beedis [cigarettes]. I detest beedis. I broke them, crushed them, and buried them in the ground. Then I made a mistake. It made me feel very bad that I did it. There was a person who was rolling dice out of a tumbler. There were all sorts of cards near him. I gambled on the coin that I had and all the three times I won and soon I had 12 annas. I then quit the game. People egged me on saying that my luck was good. But I did not want any more.

Those days one could get two dosas [savory dish] for one dammidi [old currency in India]. So, all the days at the fair I ate two dosas for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. At the end of the fair, I was left with one anna, and with that I bought some kumkum [vermillion powder] and flowers to take home. When I reached home, the lady [of the house] was very upset with me because in my absence there were no one to fetch water for the house. I used to get the water from the River Krishna that was far away. I would wake up at 3 in the morning and set off to get water. The people were very nice and they would join me. I would sing all the way and everyone was happy. Since the river was far often I would be delayed and that resulted in further scolding. I would also make coffee early in the morning and do a lot of the housework. The brother was also angry. I was beaten. There was a lady in the neighborhood who saw this and she felt very bad.

The father of this body was summoned when the brother’s son passed away. He came from Bukkapatnam. When he saw the injuries on My hand (that were due to beatings from a ruler), he asked Me how it happened. I told him that My hand had jammed in the door. Even though I hid the facts, the neighbor told everything to the father. The next day, early in the morning father had to go to attend to nature’s call. I helped him to the fields with a torch. Having completed the ablutions, he came to me and with tears in the eyes asked me, “Have I ever beaten You, my son? What is this that is being done to you? Come away with me to Puttaparthi.” I told him that it was not correct on my part to do so as brother was still suffering from the tragedy of losing his son. I told him to go and that I would soon follow.

The father went to Puttaparthi and told everything to mother. She was heartbroken. She said, “If need be, I’ll beg to maintain him. Please get him back.” Father knew that I would not leave My brother in that condition, so he sent a telegram saying that mother was ill and I must return immediately. I came back to Puttaparthi. There was a person by name Kote Subbanna who had come out with a new medicine named Bala Bhaskara. I wrote the poem to advertise it!

In Anantapur I declared that I was Sai Baba. No one can gauge Me or understand Me. They can only experience Me. Easwaramma noticed the swelling on My hand, and she was in tears. She bandaged it with a cool moist cloth. Ever since I have remained in Puttaparthi.

During vacation the brother came to Puttaparthi, and the mother and father scolded him. They said that they did not want to even feed him for what he had done to Raju. Later he was transferred to Uravakonda. I studied my 5th standard in Uravakonda. There were many good teachers there like Thammiraju. E. H. Rao was the English teacher. I would lead the assembly sessions by singing. All the teachers and students said that I had a very melodious voice. I composed poems, too. One of the poems was on the condition of Uravakonda. They all said that it was the most apt description of the place. In those days the National Anthem, Jana Gana Mana, was sung, and I composed the Telugu version—Aha Rava Tava. When I used to lead the assembly, all the teachers were in tears. I studied there for three years. In the fourth year, I said that I was leaving. Everyone was in tears. The headmaster then was Lakshman Rao. He declared holidays for two days! In those days there were no government rules, and the headmaster could take such decisions.

A Muslim boy took my place in the assembly. He, too, had a sweet voice. But as he stood on the stage to sing, he just started crying. From that day on, that song was never sung again. I studied only till the fifth class, but everyone used to say to Me that I was better than a graduate. After I left school, I became reclusive and spent the time all by Myself. There were hills around the Chitravathi. I would go there and be with Myself. It was then that people started coming to Me from Uravakonda and other places. Many people came and it was Karnam Subbamma who would look after the devotees. The growth of devotees was phenomenal. They manifested in larger numbers with each passing day.

The King of Mysore, Jayachamaraja Wodeyar came to Me. He could come in the car only till Penukonda. From Karnatapalli he had to walk down to Puttaparthi. There were no roads then. He invited me to Mysore saying, “Why do you want to be here? Come over to Mysore.” I told him that a sapling must sprout where it has been planted. It must grow there and give shade and shelter to everyone who comes there. That has been the message—to stay in the motherland. The King was a devoted man. He would worship Chamundeshwari [form of Shakti] regularly. A phone call was made to the Andhra Pradesh governor requesting him to construct the roads to Puttaparthi. It was Thiruvanna Iyengar who oversaw the construction of tar roads. It was not an easy task as Puttaparthi was surrounded by Chitravathi on the three sides.

So many kings arrived—the Baroda Raja, Bobbili Raja, Venkatagiri Raja, the brother of the Raja of Trivandrum. They stayed in tents all over the place. People began to ask, “Is Swami only for the kings?” I make no distinctions; all are Mine and all belong to Me. Gopal Reddy, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, also came to Me. He had defeated Neelam Sanjiva Reddy in the elections. He was a frequent visitor till he died. The kings are all far now.

I have not come to tell you stories of Gods. God is One, goal is one. God is in all. The mother and father are also God. Sweetest indeed is the feeling of motherhood. You must respect, love, and salute the mother. Even in the courtroom, it is the mother that will stand by the child and say, “This is my son.” The child also will say, “She is my mother.” The love of the mother and father is eternal. All the devotees address Me as Mother Sai, Sai Mata or Sai Maa. All are My children. Love the mother always.

Swami concluded the discourse. There was great satisfaction on His face. He was so happy. As the boys came forward with prasadam, Swami blessed it. He took one of the boxes and asked, “Is it Mysore pak [an Indian sweet]?” He opened and checked it. He called the lead singers one by one and personally handed the sweet to them. One of the students went up to Swami and said, “Swami you underwent so much in your childhood in such harsh conditions. Bless us that we, too, imbibe your qualities.” Swami gave a beautiful smile and blessed the boy. Aarti was then performed and blessing everyone Swami retired for the day.

Source: Prasanthi Diary—Chronicles of Heaven on Earth