WITH BABA, WHAT FIRE CAN DO.

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WITH BABA, WHAT FIRE CAN DO.

Baba said, "I shall draw out My devotees from the jaws of death" in Sri Sai Satcharitra Ch.III.

Dr. A.R. Govind Rao, MBBS, M.S. (Yale), was posted as Medical officer of

civil/military centre at Ananthapur, A.P., during World War II in 1942. His

search for a house for himself and his family led him to the house of one

Ramaswamy, an advocate and an ardent devotee of Baba. The time was 7 p.m. on

that eventful day, when Sri Ramaswamy’s wife and other members of the family

were crying loudly. On enquiry the doctor was informed that Ramaswamy’s

daughter Pramila, 6 year old had sustained severe burns all over the body up to

the neck. Her pavadae (clothes) had caught fire while she was doing pradakshina

to Tulsi Brindavan, where oil lamps were lit. It was Dwadashi festival

(festival of Sri Krishna at Brindavan). The girl’s body had received burns 10

days back. Her body was full of foul smelling pus, having lots of maggots

(young worms of flies). She was being treated at the local government hospital.

She was unconscious for the last six days with

high temperature and could not take a drop of water. As her condition

deteriorated, the doctors in the hospital advised her parents to take the

patient home as nothing more could be done from their side. The girl was

brought to her home and that was the condition that prevailed when the doctor

entered the house, accompanied by his brother-in-law. His brother-in-law, who

was also a lawyer, introduced the doctor as having come from Madras and that he

is in search of a house. Sri Ramaswamy who immediately came out of the pooja

room, exclaimed that Sai Baba has sent the medical aid at the critical time.

The doctor was requested to examine the patient and treat her suitably. The

doctor was dumbfounded as he had not heard of Sai Baba before and it appeared

to him that the condition of the patient was beyond human help. However being a

doctor, he had to face the emergency. He went back to the traveller’s bungalow

where he was camping with his family to bring his medical kit, and informed

his wife the predicament in which he was, and told her not to worry if he returns late in the night.

The patient had 104 degrees temperature; the pulse was rapid and feeble. She was

not responding to any kind of stimuli. The pus smelt badly. After protecting his

nose with a cloth, he cleaned the whole body, removed manually with forceps a

number of maggots (about 180) and applied gauze soaked in cod-liver oil over

the wound. The girl did not show any sign of life during the whole process

which took nearly three hours. As only Sulpha drugs were available then, the

doctor gave Mand B 693 tablets powdered them and asked the mother to give it

with honey in case the girl woke up in the night. Ramaswamy, the girl’s father,

applied Baba’s udhi on the girl’s forehead.

The doctor went home with no hope whatsoever. Next morning the doctor returned

to see the patient, with great trepidation in his heart whether the girl would

be alive. There he saw the miracle of Sai Baba for the first time in his life.

(The second miracle would be mentioned later). The girl was awake. She asked

for water in the night, and had asked for milk, which were given. Her condition

was very much improved. The temperature had touched normal and the pulse was

full. She answered the doctor’s question clearly and fluently.

Everyday the doctor would visit their house and dress the wounds. At the end of

six months the burnt area had fully healed up, covered with healthy skin, with

no trace of scar. Baba used the doctor as an instrument for saving the girl

from the jaws of death.

Soon after the doctor was transferred from Ananthapur to Madras. Sri Ramaswamy

while giving farewell dinner to the doctor gave him a photo of Sri Sai Baba and

a packet of udhi, and asked him to worship Baba. But the doctor’s mind was not

receptive to such things at that time. He forgot about Baba entirely for nearly

a decade, when Baba reminded him again.

Pramila had grown up, she was of marriageable age. When her marriage was fixed,

she personally came to invite the doctor for her marriage. The young wife and

husband are now settled at Hyderabad.

(Taken from the book "The Eternal Sai")

Arun Reddy Nukala

http://groups.msn.com/

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