What Bhagavan Means to Them
As was reported in the August 1989, issue of Sanathana Sarathi, students from the Sathya Sai Secondary School at Vidyagiri, Prasanthi Nilayam, had been asked by Bhagavan Baba to speak at the Mandir during June on their experiences with Baba and the impact of Sai education on them. Extracts from some of these speeches appeared in our August issue. Passages from the speeches of some more students are reproduced in the following pages:
Rakhal Gaitonde, (XII Standard), in the course of his speech in the Prasanthi Mandir, recalled how he had got a second life after a serious brain injury in a car accident in Madras. The doctors had declared his condition as hopeless. That night his parents prayed to Baba “to do something to save the boy.” His parents told him: “Baba in His infinite mercy has given you a second life.” “For this great act of mercy I am ever in debt to Bhagavan,” declared Rakhal.
Rakhal said: “Swami has done and is doing so much for us, but what are we doing in return? Swami says gratitude is very important. Yes, simple and plain gratitude. But I personally feel it is not only gratitude that is necessary but also obedience. For it is only through obedience that one can show one’s gratitude to Swami. Obedience to Swami’s instructions is most important. We may feel that this is difficult, but Swami’s love will make the most difficult task easy. Obedience to Swami’s message should be taken as a challenge. We should come out victorious to show our gratitude to Swami who is devoting so much of His energy for us, His students.”
“Let us take it up as a duty to follow Swami’s message so that we may become the ideal men He wants us to be.”
“I end with a small prayer. Dearest Bhagavan! Please give us the power to recognize the infinite potential within us so that we may become worthy instruments in Thy Divine mission.”
Power of the Lord’s name
Speaking on “Namasmarana” at the Prasanthi Mandir on June 27th, Srikanth, (IX Standard), dwelt on the unique value of chanting the Lord’s name as a spiritual discipline in the Kali age, compared to the more rigorous and difficult spiritual practices prescribed in the Treta and Dwapara Yugas.
He said: “The chanting of the name of the Lord can be done at any time, anywhere. Even while walking or bathing, the Lord’s name can be chanted. The Lord’s name not only transforms one into a good person, but changes him to Divinity itself. Bharata is a very good example of this. When Rama went to the forest for 14 years, Bharata constantly kept repeating Rama’s name. When Rama came back from Lanka, he took Bharata with him to Ayodhya in the celestial chariot. The people of Ayodhya welcomed them, but they could not distinguish between Rama and Bharata because Namasmarana had turned Bharata into Rama himself in appearance.”
Srikanth next spoke about different types of Namasankirtan (group singing of the Divine names) and illustrated the different types by singing songs in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. The Telugu song was Thyagaraja’s well‑known kriti [composition]. “Bantureethi Koluviyyavayya Rama!” The songs were rendered melodiously and their meanings were explained.
He gave examples of devotees who remembered the Lord’s name even while they were engaged in their daily duties and thereby sanctified whatever work they were doing. He related the story of a lamp‑lighter in Benaras who chanted Rama’s name while cleaning the chimneys of the street lamps he was lighting. The lights in the streets he was serving burned brighter than elsewhere.
In conclusion, he said: “The Lord’s name may be very small, but it is very powerful. Just as a small lamp is enough to cross a dark forest, and a small boat is enough to cross an ocean, the Lord’s name is enough to enable one to cross the cycle of `birth and death’. What greater joy is there than chanting the Lord’s name in the presence of the living God? Bhagavan is the Sai Mother whose heart throbs for us, whose every drop of blood seeks our welfare.”
He ended his speech with the prayer, “Thvameva maathaacha pithaa thvameva…”
Nobody Walks Alone
B. Karthik, of the XII standard, who spoke on June 27th, said that Bhagavan’s injunctions should be carried out implicitly to benefit from His grace. He said:
Our sweet Lord has said: “If you take one step towards Me I’ll take ten steps towards you.” Swami has also said: “Why fear when I’m here?” We can surely take heart and be entirely dependent on our Lord’s utterances for they are becoming more and more justified by the change in the course and pace of life on mother earth.
I’d like to relate one enlightening experience that a devotee had with the Lord.
Devotee (praying fervently): O Lord! Please appear before me.
Lord: (pleased with the devotee appears): Ask for any boon and I shall grant it to you.
Devotee: O Lord! Do not forsake me throughout the rest of my life.
Lord: So be it.
The devotee was very happy and led a contented life. He turned back to see at the path of life he had trodden. He was pleased to see two pairs of feet, one of the Lord’s and the other, his own.
But, as time passed, he fell upon bad times and had to face grave problems in life. Now, when he turned back to take a look at the path of life, he was disappointed to find only one pair of feet.
Soon, the bad times passed and he began leading a happy life. He was surprised very much to find the Lord standing by his side. Then, he complained to the Lord:
Devotee: O Lord! Why did you forsake me during my hardships?
Lord: My dear devotee! Never did I forsake you. The pair of feet you saw were mine. That was the time when I was carrying you in my arms.
Thus, we see that the Lord never leaves anyone alone.
The Lord beside you
This is the same as what a poet has tried to express in one of his poems.
When the highway of life seems to be rough;
And all of your dreams have flown
Just remember, wherever your road may go,
Nobody walks alone.
When everyone else has let you down,
And under your sins you groan
Just keep reminding your burdened heart,
Nobody walks alone.
Then, you’ll suddenly feel His hands on yours;
And His eyes lifting up your own,
And you’ll hear His gentle, forgiving voice
Nobody walks alone.
After having come to Parthi, having heard and seen some of Swami’s leelas I have found that whatever this poet has said is entirely true.
The Divine Doctor
I would like to relate an experience of my father’s, which shows the Lord Sai as a divine doctor and also as a divine seer.
My father, in the late sixties, had been diagnosed for various diseases of the heart. He came to Parthi a worried man in 1969. He was waiting for Swami’s darshan. Next to him was a fellow devotee who had been visiting Parthi often and each time he had got an interview with the Lord. But, this time ten days passed and he had not got any interview. Swami came! He beckoned to someone in my father’s direction. My father thought the call was for his neighbor. But, Lo, and Behold! The Lord was calling my father and not his neighbor.
My father went in with his sisters. Inside the interview room, Swami took my father aside and told him that he needed to stop smoking and he was suffering from nothing more than simple gas trouble! Swami rejoined the group and looking at one of my aunts asked her to study well. But, she thought she could brush through the portions just before the examinations and pass. That was not to be. She was down with chicken‑pox and failed miserably in the exams.
This shows that if we do not follow the commands of the Lord implicitly, we will be a failure in life. Let us all follow His commands implicitly so as to get glowing success in life.
Source: Sanathana Sarathi, Aug. & Sept. 1989
Do not shape your conduct with an eye on the opinion of others. Instead, follow bravely, gladly and steadily, the sweet and pleasant promptings of your own Satwic Manas, your own Awakened Conscience, your own Inner Self. Associate yourself with those who are richly endowed with Truth. Spend every second of your life usefully and well. If you possibly can, render service to others. Engage yourself in nursing the sick, but when thus engaged in service, do not worry about either the result, or the act of service, or the person to whom it is rendered. The service is made holy and pure if you ignore both the good and the bad, and keep on silently repeating in your heart the Mantra that appeals to you.
~Baba
