His Story - 12

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Uravakonda with such and such number and bring that boy ‘Sathyam’ here”. His

wife, Laxmidevi, too had a dream at the same time in which some one advised her

“Amma! you and your husband go together and ‘Sathyam’ here”. Accordingly, both

of them came to Uravakonda. I am five feet tall, even now. I was still shorter,

then. I was wearing a shirt and knicker then. When I came out form the house one

day, the husband and wife saw me. The moment they saw Me, the Chairman and his

wife recognized Me as “the boy in the dream”. They felt very happy and

prostrated before Me in full view of every body in that market place. I was

going to the school, with books in hand. The Municipal Chairman approached the

brother of this body and requested “Seshama Raju! You think your brother is an

ordinary school-going lad. No, No. My heart melted and moved at the sight of

the radiance in his face and his purity. There is some inexplicable divine

effulgence in this boy. Don’t be carried away by a

mis-apprehension that this boy is an ordinary boy like any other. We want to

take this boy alongwith us and keep him in our house for few days. You also

come alongwith him and stay in our house for a few days. You must bring Sathyam

to Bellary, even if it meant applying for leave for a few days.” Seshama Raju

could not refuse, especially when a person of the status of a Municipal

Chairman was requesting him. He went immediately to the Headmaster and

requested “Sir! The Chairman Sir is requesting Me to bring Sathyam to Bellary

for a few days. I request you to kindly grant me leave for that purpose.” The

Headmaster had great liking for Me. He told Seshama Raju “You may take Sathyam

not only to Bellary, but to any other place. You need not obtain my

permission.” So saying, he gave his own car and

sent us to Bellary. The Municipal Chairman of Bellary kept us for three days

in the house and treated us as honoured guests. Thereafter, he took us to the

Virupaksha temple in the world famous Hampi town. What I am now going to

related is not an exaggeration or an egoistic portrayal. All the members of our

group entered the Virupaksha Temple. If I say “I don’t come into the temple”,

the brother of this body may pressurise Me to go in or he may get angry for My

“impertinence”, due to the bodily relationship he had with Me. Hence, I

used a little tact and said “My stomach is upset. I don’t come into the temple.”

Our teacher Shri Tammiraju and a group of about fifty to sixty people were

accompanying us then. All of them entered into the Virupaksha temple. However,

the Municipal Chairman had no other thought except Swami, at that time. I was

very young then. Nevertheless, he held hands and prayed “Please, Raju! you must

come! I was firm in My opinion. Hence, he could not pressurise Me. Seshama Raju

then instructed Me “We will go into the temple, have the Darshan of Lord

Virupaksha and come back. Till then, you stand guard to our luggage here.”

They went inside the temple. At that time, harathi (the ritual of burning

camphor in front of the deity) to Lord

Virupaksha was going on. Surprisingly, they could not find Lord Virupaksha’s

idol there. Instead, they saw Raju there! Seshama Raju was furious. He thought

“Sathyam tole Me that he will not come into the Temple and stand outside.

Thereafter he must have stealthily sneaked into the sanctum-sanctorum and stood

behind the idol. What a great sacrilege!” The Municipal Chairman Ramaraju did

not, however, think so. He thought “Virupaksha is Raju and Raju is Virupaksha.”

Seshama Raju came out immediately and searched for Me. I was sitting under the

same tree where he kept the luggage. He was a doubting Thomas. He went inside

the temple and sent his wife to see whether I was sitting under the tree as

usual. She could find Me there. At the same time, Seshama Raju could see Me in

the sanctum-sanctorum in place of the idol of Lord Virupaksha. Now, he could

confirm to himself that Raju was there in the open as well as in the temple,

simultaneously. He felt very happy. But, he could not express his happiness

infront of Me, lest it may cause embarrassment to him. He tried to explain away

the incident by saying to himself “It must have appeared like that due to the

anxiety we are undergoing in our minds about Sathyam.” The Municipal Chairman

who brought us to the Virupaksha Temple had himself experienced this phenomenon

of Raju appearing at two places simultaneously. When the group came out of the

temple, he held the hands of Seshama Raju and said “Seshama Raju! you are

greatly mistaken thinking that Sathyam is your brother. In fact, Sathyam is not

your brother. He is not an ordinary individual. There is great ‘Divine Power’ in

him.” Then we were brought from there straight to Bellary. We stayed there for a

few days. Ramaraju brought all

the officers of the Municipality and introduced them to Swami. However, the name

‘Swami’ was not yet in use in those days. Every one used to call Me “Raju!” Some

people even wondered, “How come that this Municipal Chairman is giving so much

respect to this young boy?” Our trip to Bellary and Hampi came to a

conclusion and it was time for us to return to Uravakonda. The Municipal

Chairman of Bellary wanted to give Me a parting gift. But, I frankly told him

that I will not accept any gifts. He offered to get Me four pairs of knickers

and shirts. I told him I will not accept even one. There used to be a fashion

some fifty years ago for the youth to

wear a collar pin to their shirts. You don’t find this practice anymore. But, in

those days, whoever wears a collar pin was considered to be a great and wealthy

person. He was not sure what kind of gift was to be given to Me, before My

departure. His wife advised him that it would be better that a gold collar pin

may be presented to Me as a gift. He went to a goldsmith and got one gold

collar pin made for Me in an hour’s time and put it on the collar of My shirt.

He held My hands and prayed “Raju! whenever you see this collar pin, you must

remember me.” I refused to accept the collar pin. It is My habit not to touch

others’ articles under any circumstances at any time. Then, Seshama Raju

reasoned with Me.

“He presented the collar pin out of great love for you. If you refuse, it would

amount to insulting him.” At last, I accepted the collar pin at the insistence

of Seshama Raju and permitted the Municipal Chairman to put it on My collar.

--- From the book “His Story: As told by Himself” (A Compilation from the

divine discourses of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba)

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