Puttaparthi : The early years..........

[Guest guest]

Mrs. Karanam Kamalamma was the second wife of Late Karanam

Lakshminarayana Rao, Village Karanam ( Revenue Officer )of

Puttaparthi, when Bhagawan was very young, a boy. Karanam

Lakshminarayana Rao married Kamalamma as his second wife for the

reason that his first wife Mrs. Karanam Subbamma had no children. It

so happened that Mrs. Kamalamma also had no children. The office of

the Village Karanam at that time was a hereditary one. As Karanam

Lakshminarayana Rao had had no children, his brother's son Karanam

Gopala Rao, about the same age of Bhagavan, became the Karanam of

Puttaparthi after Karanam Lakshminarayana Rao had passed away. Mrs.

Karanam Kamalamma passed away in 2004. She had the good fortune to

see Bhagawan, love Him and admire Him even when He was just five

years old.

 

(The following is an extract of the Foreword to the book " Love is

My Form " - Volume One - The Advent (1926-1950) by Dr. R.S.

Padmanabhan published by Sai Towers Publishing, Bangalore in 2000)

 

 

" Padmanabhan requested of me a foreword to his book (Love is My

Form - Volume One), even though I do not understand what is written

in it - because I never went to school. I am more than eighty years

old now (2000)! What can I do?

 

Yet, the photos in this book speak to me and take me back to the

good old days.

 

When I saw Swami for the first time, I was about twelve years old

and had just then been married - as the second wife to the Karanam

(the village chieftain) of Puttaparthi. I did not know that the

little boy in shorts and half-sleeved shirt was to be revealed as

Swami, an Avatar!

 

Tears run down my eyes when I think of the Swami of those days.

After returning from Uravakonda He came to our house and said to

me, "Kamalamma! You think I am a human being? No! I am God,

Kamalamma! I am Eswara Himself! You will see My glory in the coming

years. Believe Me!"

 

Several incidents appear fresh before my mind's eye:

 

After the bath, He stands as a very young boy, with a towel around

His waist. He keeps a Shirdi Baba photo and breaks open the coconuts

we carried there for the worship (offering). Then He says, "I am not

a ghost. I am Shirdi Baba. I want to join this boy. I trouble this

body in numerous ways, to settle down."

 

After that, He materializes flowers and fruits, takes arati and goes

to sleep. We wake Him up and offer a dhoti and a shirt for Him to

wear and invite Him for dinner. We serve Him dinner in a silver

plate…others, on a leaf. He mixes all the items and eats up

everything. No leftovers! Afterwards, He settles down in our house.

 

People would visit Him from early morning to midnight, in those

days, and He would go on granting them interviews. He would hear

their woes, materialize vibhuti, cure diseases, solve their problems

or console them. I once asked Him "why do you grant interviews to so

many people?" He said: "If I do not do it, not even a crow will come

to Me, now. But a day will come when you will see people arriving by

the thousands. Then, you will see Me in all My glory." How all that

has come true!

 

Devotees would come and many would stay for months - and some, even

for years! Every day, ten-bullock carts would come, filled with men

and women. Subbamma (Karanam's first wife) and I would cook for all

of them, until we were tired and fell asleep. Often, Swami would

wake us up late in the night and say, "Kamalamma, many are waiting!

Call them! I will grant them interview and send them away!

Otherwise, tomorrow you will have to cook for them again!" Nobody

left without an interview. Also, nobody left without food.

 

We used to sit with Swami for lunch and dinner. He would mix up all

the dishes - curries, rice, etc and make them into large morsels!

Each of us would get one. There was never a shortage! Everyone was

well fed.

 

And, His leelas! How wonderful they were! He would take Subbamma and

me to the Kalpa Vriksha (the wish-fulfilling tree) and ask us to

hold its leaves. Each day the tree would give different fruits

according to our requests. One day, Navaneetham Naidu's daughter

wanted to eat dosa. Immediately, Swami materialized a stock of hot

and crisp dosas. Sometimes, He would ask us to bring some small

vessel. He would give it a pat and it would be filled up with Amrit

(divine nectar)!

 

Yet, Swami was so simple, sweet and child-like. In no time at all,

He would make garlands out of jasmine flowers brought from our

garden. Sometimes He would make a bed out of them and sleep on it.

He would also play many games with us. He always won! At other

times, He would pull my hair and tease me! There was an old servant,

Bhimappa by name, who would bring drinking water from the

Chitravathi River. Bhimappa sang well and even cracked jokes. He

loved chillies - and took at least ten with his meals! Swami would

often ask him to sing songs for a reward of chillies.

 

But Swami was Swami - a hard taskmaster who never lost an

opportunity to teach, even in the midst of hilarity. One day, I was

serving Him lunch. He was very playful and asked for another helping

of curry. Absentmindedly, and erroneously, I served Him, using my

left hand. How He hit my left hand! It still pains, just to think of

it! Once, He told Subbamma and me, "both of you will not have

children. But I will be there as your child. You will have no

rebirth."

 

Now, in spite of so many people coming to him every day, He still

remembers me and inquires after my welfare now and then, and sends a

sari for me, during every festival time.

 

Swami once told me, "You, Subbamma and I should have a photo taken."

But nobody had a camera, then. Somehow, it did not materialize, even

later. Who knows the mind of Swami, the Sathchakravarthi - the real

Emperor of all the worlds?

 

Whatever He has done for Puttaparthi and whatever he has been doing

in the hearts of millions of people, out of His immense prema, is

proof enough of His Divinity. It has been my good fortune to witness

all this.

 

Take my advice: Love Him for all that He is; have Faith, and He will

save you.Get immersed in Sai Tatwa - the Principle of Sai ".

 

 

Mrs.Karanam Kamalamma.

 

---

 

 

Wishing you all a Happy and Holy Guru Poornima !.

 

Love and Light,

 

Ragu

[Guest guest]

That is so beautiful. I enjoyed reading this. I love Swami. He comes to me often

in my dreams I feel like he is my father when he does come. He is very playful

and lets me explore. He holds me and he deffinitly teaches me something with

every visit. I love him so much and hope to see him in Puttiparti agaiin

someday. My son dreams of him too, usually he is dancing in my son's dreams and

my son wakes up laughing. He has a good time with our beloved Swami. Thanks for

sharing your memories with me.

Love Didi Christine

 

 

 

cragunathan <cragunathan wrote:

Mrs. Karanam Kamalamma was the second wife of Late Karanam

Lakshminarayana Rao, Village Karanam ( Revenue Officer )of

Puttaparthi, when Bhagawan was very young, a boy........

[Guest guest]

Dear C Ragunathan,

 

Superb

 

Regards,

Himanshu Misra

 

 

 

cragunathan <cragunathan wrote:

Mrs. Karanam Kamalamma was the second wife of Late Karanam

Lakshminarayana Rao, Village Karanam ( Revenue Officer )of

Puttaparthi, when Bhagawan was very young, a boy. ..........

[Guest guest]

I have recently discovered the miracles of swami and this is really amazing.

Praise Satya Sai Baba

Swami is really great, i am really happy to have integrated the group. Really

very happy.

 

RGDS

V. GURUSAMY

TEL: 2021 - 504

BUSINESS BANKING

LEVEL 9

 

 

 

 

saibabanews

On Behalf Of Himmy Misra

Friday, July 22, 2005 7:38 AM

[saibabanews] Re: Puttaparthi : The early years..........