What Bhagavan Means to Them
Bhagavan has often referred to the students of the Sai educational institutions as His only wealth. In a discourse in Prasanthi Mandir, Bhagavan told the students that He was devoting three-fourths of His time to them and sparing only a fourth for the devotees from all other parts of the world. This, He said, is a measure of His interest in their welfare and development.
How are the students responding to Swami’s boundless love and concern for them? Revealing testimony to Swamis’s profound influence on the students of the Sai schools was provided by a number of them (VIII to the XII grades) from the Secondary School at Vidyagiri. They spoke on their experiences with Bhagavan and what Sai education meant for them in inculcating human values and setting them on the spiritual path.
Bhagavan arranged for two students to deliver these speeches every day for 24 days in June and July 1989. The speeches showed not only the students’ excellence in public speaking, but also their deep knowledge of Swami’s teachings and their intense desire to prove themselves worthy of Swami’s love and grace.
The calm assurance with which they spoke evoked the warm appreciation of the listening devotees. They received a congratulatory pat on the back from Bhagavan, who was particularly impressed with the performance of the VIII and IX grade students, still in their teens. Random passages from the speeches are reproduced here.
Understand and Forgive
Amar Singh (XI grade), speaking on the evil practice of criticizing or speaking ill of others, said,
“Trailing clouds of glory do we come from God who is our home,” says the poet. I came to Puttaparthi in 1984. I was just 10 years old then. After the initial stages of homesickness, life with Swami has been a unique and indescribable experience.
Since then five years have gone by. Back at home, people ask me, “What is special about Parthi?” Indeed, what is so special? Is it the education alone, or the hostel, or the food? The answer comes in a flash. It is: “Swami, Swami,” whose one smile brightens the hearts of millions. If Swami can be defined, I think the closest definition would be, as someone said, “Love on two lotus feet.”
One can talk at length on Swami and His teachings. I confine myself to one of His teachings: “Do not criticize.” Criticism is futile because it puts a man on the defensive and usually makes him try to justify himself. Criticism is dangerous because it wounds a man’s pride, hurts his sense of importance and arouses resentment.
One of Abraham Lincoln’s favorite quotations was: “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” And this is precisely what Swami stresses, “perfect yourself first.” Adverse criticism is a dangerous spark, a spark that is likely to cause an explosion of the pride in us. Bitter criticism caused the sensitive Thomas Hardy, one of the finest novelists that ever enriched English literature, to give up writing fiction. Criticism drove Thomas Chatterton, the English poet, to commit suicide.
I am reminded of an incident in Shirdi Sai Baba’s life. Once, as Shirdi Sai Baba was returning from the Masjid [mosque], he found two men talking; and one of them was abusing a third person in his absence. Baba went up to him and said, “Do you know what you are doing?” Pointing to a dog eating filth, he said, “You are doing no better than that dog.”
Instead of condemning people let us try to understand them and let us try to figure out why they do what they do. That’s a lot more profitable than criticism. It was Benjamin Franklin who said, “Any fool can criticize, condemn, complain, and most fools do.” But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving. We can only pray to Swami for these.
Sai’s Love beyond Words
N. S. Chakravarthy (VIII grade) said that his experiences with Bhagavan “though very few in number, are high in value.” He said, “I first saw Bhagavan in Ooty when I joined first class [grade] there. After that I had many chances to talk to Him.
Though Swami does so many things for us, He expects only one thing from us and that is discipline. It is our duty, our dharma, to make Him happy by following the code of discipline. What is this dharma? Swami explains: “Dharma is that which sustains peace and harmony in the universe.”
Swami once said in His discourse, “God is the embodiment of dharma. God’s grace can be won by dharma. God is ever fostering dharma. God is ever spreading dharma. God is dharma itself.”
Swami’s love can never be described in words, even by the greatest persons. Swami many a time came to Ooty, and sometimes He would tell us stories.
Visits to Ooty
My most happy experience was when Swami visited us twice during one summer. I will tell you about the first visit in a poetic manner:
Swami visited our school at Ooty,
We were all very excited and happy.
He arrived on 8th at about eight in the night,
And it filled us all with great delight.
The next day at assembly,
He gave us milk as sweet as honey.
He praised us for dispersing from assembly,
In lines as we do during P.T. [physical training]
Like morning at evening, too,
He told us as to what we should do.
He conveyed His message through three college brothers
What the difference was between Sai schools and others.
The speech in main was about the five D’s
Which help all children to blossom into strong trees.
The five D’s are duty, discipline, devotion,
Determination, and dedication.
Swami’s second visit was on Adi Shankara Jayanti. On this day that our Sai Shankara created a lingam [oval shaped sacred symbol of creation] for us.
To conclude, I tell you again that Sai’s love can’t be expressed in words even by the greatest of poets like Tagore or great writers like Bernard Shaw.
Bhagavan placed us in Orbit
C. Sai Krishna (XII grade), employing an analogy from physics, spoke about love. He said that Bhagavan had placed all the students in the orbit of duty, devotion, and dedication.
He said, “In physics, while dealing with circular motion, we come across the concept of centripetal force. Technically it is defined as the force that continually deviates a body from its linear path, compelling it to move along the circumference of a circle. All the planets and all bodies describing circular paths are governed by this concept. We were all bodies moving aimlessly and endlessly in the vast expanse of this ever-expanding universe. We did not have a goal or a purpose. We were in darkness and it was then that a great force intervened. It carried us far from the brink of disaster. It took us to a remote corner and kept us in circular orbit, and this great force is Swami’s love. Swami provided us with the centripetal force of love, continuously deviating us from the path of bad thoughts, actions, and words; and compelling us to move along the circular path of discipline, duty, and devotion.
As we move around Swami day in and day out, we have the privilege of having glimpses of His multifaceted personality. We have all been provided with the centripetal force and are kept in orbit. In addition to this force, there is another concept of centripetal acceleration. For a body describing a circular path, its acceleration at all instants should be directed toward the center. This is known as centripetal acceleration. “Centripetal” means seeking the center.
How far have we succeeded in directing our acceleration toward the center? Are we seeking the center? We have failed in directing the acceleration of our thoughts, words, and deeds toward the center. If a body fails to direct its acceleration toward the center, it will be thrown off the orbit. Likewise, if we fail to react even at this stage, we will be thrown off the path of duty, discipline, and devotion back to the darkness from where there would be neither return nor recoverys.
Swami’s love encompasses everything. Life is a pilgrimage where every man drags his feet along the rough and thorny road of agony. With the name of God on his lips he will have no thirst, with the form of God in his heart he will feel no exhaustion, and the very assurance that God is near, that He is within call, gives strength to his limbs and courage to his heart. We have to make ourselves worthy of His love so that we can have glimpses of His infinite glory as we move round and round Him.
Source: Sanathana Sarathi, August 1989
