Swami’s School Days
The following is the second of two articles, compiled from discourses Sathya Sai Baba gave in 1984. The Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organization of japan originally published this information in booklet form to commemorate the first World Youth Conference, held in Prasanthi Nilayam in 1997.
When I was away at the festival in Pushpagiri, it so happened that Seshan Raju also went away for training. During my absence for these eight days, there was no one in the house in Kamalapur to deliver water from the river, so the house had no water. When I returned, they were very angry with me.
When I came home, Seshan Raju was sitting and using a ruler to draw lines on his notebook. Because of the anger that had built up, he took the ruler and hit my fingers with it. The ruler broke into several pieces and fell.
A telegram arrived stating that Seshan Raju’s son had died. The father of this body was in Bukkapatnam to make some purchases. As soon as he learned about the telegram, he came straight away to Kamalapur. When he noticed that my hand was swollen, he asked me, “What is the matter with your hand? Why is a piece of cloth around it?” Then I lied. I told him, “No, there is nothing wrong with my hand.” I told him there was only a very minor boil.
He was accustomed to talking a great deal, and because there was a death in the house, nobody was prepared to talk to him. So, he went over to the neighbors’ home. They asked, “Why are you keeping your son here? He is struggling. He has been put to a lot of trouble day and night. Why do you keep him here?” He was very much hurt but he had to learn the truth, so he made a plan.
As soon as it was 8 o’clock and dark, he said, “I want to go outside the village.” In those days, there were no lanterns inside or outside. Seshan Raju said, “It is dark. He is old and you have to help him. Take a lamp in your hand and go with him and guide him.” So, I took a lamp, but I knew my father was only planning to learn the truth from me outside the house.
I went with him. When we were outside the village, I told father, “Now we are here outside the village. You can ease yourself here.” I was turning back. He said, “No, no. I want to talk to you. What is the matter with you? Let me see your hand. I was told that every day you are beaten. Why do you want to put yourself in this situation? You come back with me to the village.”
I spoke sweetly to father, “This is not right. If I go away at this stage, many people will talk in many different ways. And also, their eldest son has passed away, and when there is trouble, we should not do such a thing. Go now, and I will come later, after everything is forgotten.” I spoke sweetly.
When I went to [study in] Uravakonda, the headmaster of the school there was called Laxmipathi, a very good and honest person. Also, my teacher at the other school, Janab Mahbub Khan, was transferred there. When they saw me, they would put their hands together and say namaskar [respectful greetings. Immediately afterwards, they would feel, “Oh, he is a young student. Why should we say namaskar to him?” and would take away their hands. They were teachers in that school primarily because of the good they must have done in their previous lives.
They put me in the fourth grade of the middle school there. I would tell the boys, “If anybody commits a theft or takes away another boy’s pencil, it is not right. You should always do correct things.” In this way, I would preach good things to them.
Thereafter, it so happened that I led the prayer every day for two months. When I sang the national anthem or when I sang a religious song, I was followed by all the boys. On Wednesday, May 23, I sang a song, the message of which, for the students and teachers, was not to have any illusion nor to think that I have anything to do with you or with these books. I threw the books down and left the school. The two boys who had sat with me at the same desk came running behind me saying, “Raju! Raju!” and followed me around that day. My countenance changed, my appearance changed, my behavior changed, and I refused to recognize people. I would not talk to them in the same manner that I used to talk to them. Finding that I was no longer their old friend Raju, one of them said, “Why should I live in this world if I do not have my Raju as my friend?” He jumped into a well and committed suicide. The second boy went on calling out “Rajul Raju! Raju!” and he became mentally deranged in that ecstasy.
There were two thousand boys and several teachers. Neither the boys nor the teachers went to school. They simply came to the house that I was living in and surrounded it, wanting to look at me and see what change had come over me. Meanwhile, the brother Seshan sent a telegram to the parents that said, “Some change which I do not understand has come about in Raju, so please come and do what is needed.”
The school was closed for three days because Raju was not there. On the fourth day, the school assembled, with all the boys standing on one side and the teachers standing on the other side. The usual prayers had to be said, and some other boy was selected for it. He got on the stage and found that Raju was not there. He called out “Rajul” and simply collapsed. All the people started crying bitterly as they remembered Swami. From that time onwards, the teachers said, “Let us not have this prayer,” because they were afraid that once any prayer was said, they would remember Swami and they would weep. Right from those days, the love of Swami has been like that, showering indiscriminately on all people.
Such a long story has been told by Swami to show you that Swami has always led an exemplary life even during His student days. Earlier incarnations always conducted themselves in an exemplary fashion with their teachers. Krishna, for example, enjoyed the loving affection of his teacher. Rama’s life as a student was an exemplary one, and the same is true in every incarnation. In the same way, you the students of Sathya Sai Institute will have to conduct yourselves in such a way without wasting either money or time, always cultivating good thoughts, good habits, and good actions. You have to live a life of example throughout.
“Once you have secured a guru leave everything to Him, even the desire to achieve liberation He knows you more than you yourself ever can He will direct you as much as is good for you Your duty is only to obey and to smother the tendency to drift away from Him.”
~Baba
