He showed them his form...

[Guest guest]

He showed them his form...

 

Many years ago, Swami took a small group to the forest in Bandipur,

not far from the hill-station Ooty. The group consisted mostly of

students, but a few elders also were there in the party.

 

It was a lovely outing, one grand picnic with the Lord. The boys had

their full - games, sightseeing, looking out for wild-life, and lots

of goodies to eat. Only one thing remained - a photo with Bhagavan,

a treasure, and something to remember this memorable event by. One

of the members of the party had a Polaroid camera, and taking photos

was therefore no problem. One by one the boys went, stood next to

Swami, and had their picture taken. After everyone had been

photographed, the boy who was doing the clicking prayed to Swami

that He should pose for one picture all by Himself. Baba agreed, and

the picture was duly clicked. The picture got instantly developed

and was lovingly offered to Bhagavan who was sitting on a slab.

 

Swami looked at the photo for a while - it was a beautiful picture -

and then asked the boys, "Do you want to know who I am?" Everyone

was now seated around Him on the ground; they did not know what to

make of the question; so there was no response. After a while, Swami

again asked, "Do you want to know who I am?" There was an unusual

glow in His eyes, and there was also immense power in His voice.

Everyone sensed that something extra-ordinary was about to happen

and therefore did not dare to give any kind of a reply. Swami then

held up the photo He had in His hand so that everyone could see it.

It showed the lovely picture of Swami. He then placed the photo face

down and then started rubbing it against His thigh. At this

juncture, one of the elder members of the party noticed that the

lower edge of Baba's robe was a bit crumpled. Instinctively, the

person leaned forward to straighten the robe, but Swami in an

unusually harsh and commanding voice said, "Stay away; don't touch!"

The devotee who tried to adjust the robe was taken aback by the

severity of the tone and instantly withdrew. Swami continued rubbing

the photo a few times more. He then slowly lifted it and held it up

for all to see.

 

What the gathering saw was not the picture of Swami; that beautiful

picture had vanished. In its place was the majestic picture of Lord

Dattatreya, who embodies the Divine Trinity [i.e., Brahma, the

Creator, Vishnu, the Sustainer and Protector, and Maheshwara, the

Dissolver of the Universe], complete with four dogs, representing

the four Vedas. Baba then looked with compassion at the devotee to

whom He had spoken harshly a little earlier and said, "I was charged

with Divine Energy when I was revealing Myself as Dattatreya in the

picture. It at that time you had come into contact with even My

robe, you would instantly have been reduced to ashes. That is why I

spoke sternly; it was entirely for your safety!"

 

On another occasion, Baba explained that when Krishna as a young lad

lifted the Mandaragiri mountain [to protect the villagers from

downpour], He had advised all the villagers to remain indoors and

not come out. Swami added that this warning was necessary. Krishna

had to invoke enormous Divine Power for lifting the mountain, and if

anyone had accidentally touched Him then, that person would have

been reduced on the spot to ashes.

 

Avatars are packed with Infinite Power. However, they rarely use it.

If at all the Power is used, only a tiny portion of it is. And the

use is always for the benefit of others. In this case, the demo

helped to reinforce the devotion of those who had followed Baba to

the forest.

 

http://www.radiosai.org/Journals/01AUG31/Memories/HisForm.htm