Divine Revelations
It was the ‘Great night of Shiva’. The 8th of March 1940, when in a remote town a little lad swooned, fainted and fell—‘stung’ by a ‘scorpion.’ Nothing was ever the same!!!
Maha Shivaratri has always been an enigmatic and electric night. A time when the mysterious God chooses to move in more mysterious ways, His wonders to perform – when His manifestations baffle your perceptions and leave you gasping and gaping. Take a walk down the memory lane or leaf through the ‘pages of the past’. You will realize it.
Bandipur forest, 1974
They had driven down from Ooty. They camped in a clearing in the forest for the night. A student asked His permission to photograph Him with a new Polaroid camera. He said, “I will show you My true form. Proceed.” They all waited with bated breath for the photograph to come out.
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| Sathya Sai as Dattatreya – Materialized by Swami |
He spoke that night on the significance of the festival and its relation to the moon. He also said, “The scientists who have been up there think that there is no water on the moon. As always, they don’t know the truth.” He waved His palm casually and materialized a lucent disk, which just about happened to be… the moon. He smiled, while everybody gaped. Showing the thin streaks on the disk to the starry eyed audience the Master said, “This is the water on the moon, which tragically has been eluding the scientists.”
The effects of the miracles, His visiting cards as He calls them, are felt not only in the physical presence of the Lord, but all over the Cosmos. Every act He performs has a universal significance. In material science it is said, “You cannot move your fingers without moving the stars.” If this were for man, what then for God?
Paata Mandir—The early years
“Dig right here,” Bala Sai told one of His more able-bodied devotees. The task was carried out and from that spot was unearthed a number of Peethams (bases of the Lingams). The devotees asked, “The pedestals are here but where are the Lingams?”
“In my stomach,” said Sai. They laughed. Some scratched their heads perplexed. Time passed and then came Shivaratri.
The bhajans were on. Young Sai was seated on the chair, tinkling the cymbals. Suddenly He stopped, clutched His stomach in uneasiness. There was a frown on His serene face. He was in pain. It appeared as though spasms of pain had gripped Him. Subbamma immediately got some water. He sipped it. But the pain was still there. It appeared to increase with every passing moment, moving upward. The chest, the gullet, the muscles of His throat tensed and then heaved. His mouth opened and suddenly from within came a “brilliant ball of light.” Nay, it was a kind of smooth crystal. He smiled. The relief was obvious as the tense contours of the sweet countenance relaxed into the very familiar smile. He rose and held it up for all to see.
For years the holy night has witnessed the Lingodbhavam and a plethora of Lingams emerging from the Lord’s person. Sometimes only one Lingam is formed, the material being apparently ‘sphatika’, silver, jade, or even gold (last year). Often numerous—three, five, seven, or nine! Once the number of Lingams was a surprisingly high number of 11. They come in different sizes, but the same shape—ellipsoid. At times the benevolent Lord has created them even with the Peethams, and with Vibuthi smeared on the Lingam.
The night has witnessed even more.
Himachal Pradesh, April 1999
His Father had asked him to seek the blessings of their family guru, Bhagavan Maharaj. So he drove down to the ashram. The Bhagavan Maharaj saw him smiled and said, “So, you’ve come from Puttaparthi? How was the Shivaratri? Did Baba not perform the Lingodbhavam this year?”
“I was lucky Bhagavanji. This year it was the Hiranyagarbha.”
“The world is lucky, beta (son). Tell me, what happened after that?”
“Baba then gave a discourse where He spoke about the Lingam.”
“Hey!!! You are missing something.”
“What?”
“Did Baba not throw that Lingam on to the ground?”
“Oh! Yes! I remember. He said that this gold is like love—invincible and invulnerable. And He threw it…”
“Thrice…”
“Yes, But how do you know it?”
“Beta, Baba does not do anything without a reason. You know, when He threw the Lingam thrice on to the ground, He saved the world from three devastating earthquakes. The Lingam annulled their effects. He saved the world ages ago when He drank the Haalahala. He saved it once again on that day. For, is it not His nature to sustain His creation?”
Poorna Chandra Auditorium
We were seated that afternoon in the Poorna Chandra hall. The winter vacations were on and we children were in our ‘home’, watching a movie with our mother. It was a Telugu film on Lord Dattatreya—the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Ishwara in one. With our eyes riveted on the screen, we watched Kartaveerya, the Arjuna, enter the hermitage of his to-be Guru, Dattatreya.
After years of search, he finally found Him. The One, whom, his parents said, would be his guru, his God. And as he took the thorny track that lead to the guru’s ashram, he was tired, but thrilled. With every subsequent step, he felt the peace within swell. Aye, he had reached the end of his journey.
Actually, the journey had just begun…
“Good God!!! Is HE supposed to be my guru?”
He was sure that he had come to the wrong place, in search of the wrong person. The entire ashram reeked of liquor and putrid flesh. The guru himself emanated the very same aroma from his being. Surrounded by a horde of women, he spoke, not the holy Vedas but the lowly language of cobblers! Was he the great Dattatreya that his mother had spoken so highly about? Definitely not. But the drunken attendant serving his equally drunk Master said that he was Dattatreya. Kartaveerya approached Dattatreya with folded palms.
He got up with difficulty, more mental than physical, from the puddle of water where the attendants of Dattatreya had thrown him. Stunned, he squeezed his dhoti dry. The humiliation was too much to bear. The guru whom he approached for Brahmajnana [sacred knowledge] had thrown him out of the ashram! What kind of a guru was this fellow? A true guru, the scriptures say, rests not even for a 100 births until his disciple has attained the ultimate reality. But this Dattatreya had rejected him outright. Or was he Dattatreya at all?
It seemed to us that it was the same story both on and off the screen. How many times have we held out a letter only to see Him turn His head away? How many times have we knelt down to pray, only to see Him ignore our prayer? He pretends to be deaf when we speak to Him, rejects the kerchief we give Him, and does not even look when we are actually there all the while.
Still, Kartaveerya resolved to cling on firmly. He went back to the guru who continued to remain in the same insane stupor. With faith, he held on and prayed. He was abused, ridiculed, and even beaten, but he did not swerve. This went on and on.
Suddenly fragrance filled the air, the women and the drunken attendants changed to rishis [sages], and in place of that grotesque guru stood a form Divine and effulgent. Dattatreya smiled at Kartaveerya and placed His hand on the disciple’s head.
With a single touch He had given him Brahmajnana. The screen went blank, for the movie had finished. Bhagavan got up from His chair. The table was brought and the mike placed there upon. We waited with breath abated.
He did not thunder. He just said it without much ado. “I am Dattatreya.” With gaping mouths we gazed at our guru, our God. He added, “Test is my taste.”
~Sriram P.
Alumnus, SSSIHL (1996-2001)
Source: Sai Nandana 2000 (75th Birthday Issue)
