Kodai : The Lord's Mountain Top

[Guest guest]

Students often say that Prasanthinilayam is Swami's Office, Brindavan is His

home, and Kodaikanal (Kodai) is His playground. In a manner of speaking this is

so, particularly where Kodaikanal is concerned, for it is here that one gets a

glimpse of the Sai of the forties, especially where Divine Leelas are

concerned. It all lasts only for a short time but what extra-ordinary weeks

they are for those blessed to enjoy Divine proximity then!

Kodaikanal is a hill station in South India. Located at an altitude of about

2500 metres, it is roughly three hundred and fifty kilometres to the south-west

of Madras[Chennai], and close to the ancient temple cities of Madurai and

Palani.

Typically, the Kodai trip starts soon after the Institute closes for the summer.

As soon as the party reaches Kodai, everyone is given a kit with all toilet

necessities -paste, brush, shaving cream, the whole works. Apart from this, a

warm sweater. Everything is taken care of: food and bed. Arrangements are also

made for laundry service. Every other day, there would be a distribution of

gifts - watches, cameras, films, T-shirts, after-shave lotions, pens, torches,

calculators, just about anything one can imagine! One sunny morning, Swami

would suddenly send all the boys [despite their protests] for a stroll along the

Lake Shore, to enjoy a boat ride, and to do some shopping; naturally, a generous

pocket allowance would also be most thoughtfully provided! Elders in Swami's

party are not exempt. And so on it goes, day after day, till the dream suddenly

ends! People may think that the Kodai trip is a picnic. But for God, it is a

training session, with every incident packed with lessons. Here are glimpses of

some of those lessons.

Rama Navami is the festival that marks the advent of the Lord as Rama. Many

years, the festival occurs when Swami is in Kodai. On such occasions, the

festival becomes a truly memorable day for the boys. On one such Rama Navami

day, Swami materialised the pearl necklace that Sita gifted to Hanuman at the

time of Rama's Coronation. Rama was distributing various gifts to members in

the assembly but somehow, He seemed to skip Hanuman. Sita was troubled by this

apparent indifference; how could such a loyal one like Hanuman be overlooked on

an occasion

like this? So, she whispered to Rama that Hanuman should not be forgotten. Rama

whispered back that Hanuman was way above material gifts. Sita was not quite

satisfied by this reply; so she took out a pearl necklace that she was wearing

and offered it to Hanuman. While receiving the necklace, Hanuman gave it a

suspicious look. He then placed the necklace near one of his ears as if to

check whether the individual pearls were emitting some sound. He appeared to

examine every pearl in the necklace, and once in a while, he would bite a

pearl. Sita was

shocked by this behaviour. Was Hanuman proving that, after all, he was a monkey?

She demanded an explanation from Hanuman for what he was doing. With great

humility Hanuman replied, "Mother, for me the Name of Rama is supreme. An

object is worthless if it does not resound with the Name of Rama. Some of these

pearls are not emitting the proper sound and so I am chewing them up." Sita was

neither convinced nor amused and tersely remarked, "Pearls do not emit sound."

Hanuman replied, "Everything that is saturated with the Rama Principle will

always chant the Name of Rama. Let me demonstrate." So saying, Hanuman plucked

a hair from his body and offered it to Rama. When Sita took it near her ear,

she could clearly hear the chant of Rama's Name! This was the way Hanuman

proved to the world how intense true devotion really is.

After narrating the story and materialising the necklace, Swami passed it around

and asked the boys to carefully examine it. Sure enough many pearls had teeth

marks! After everyone present there had had a look, Swami made the necklace

disappear!

Swami does not need security - after all, He is the One who protects the whole

world. Yet, as a matter of courtesy and protocol, He is provided security by

the Government of the State He is in. So it is in Kodai also. One year, the

Police Officers in charge of Swami's security in Kodai requested Bhagavan Baba

to visit a particular spot as it was very beautiful. They said that there was a

nice lookout there, and Swami and His boys could have a good picnic. To please

the police, Swami agreed to the outing. A bus was arranged and on a day when

the

weather was good, the party headed for the lookout. The road was bad and the bus

not exactly in the best of condition. So the ride to the picnic spot was quite

rough and bumpy. When after a long and tiring journey the spot was reached, it

was anything but spectacular. The boys were visibly disappointed but before

they could give _expression to their feelings, Swami began lavishly praising

the view. He complimented the Police officers for their idea of this outing,

expressed appreciation about the arrangements made etc. Promptly, the boys got

the cue and they pitched in with their own _expression of thanks and gratitude.

On return to the residence, Swami gave the finishing touch by distributing gifts

to the Officers. Later, He privately told the boys, "These people Love Swami

very much. May be they did not choose the right spot for the visit but Swami is

not concerned with such details. He only looks at the Love. If you take a

worldly view, you will see mistakes, but if you have a

sacred view, then you will see only the Love part - the rest would get eclipsed." One more lesson!

Narayana Seva is a regular feature of every Sai visit to Kodai. One such Seva

was organised on 6th May, 1999, to coincide with Easwaramma Day. On that day,

hundreds of poor people trekked to Sai Sruthi to receive the blessings of the

Lord in the shape of His Divine darshan, food, and blankets. At the end of the

service, everyone was very happy but somehow, Swami alone seemed lost and

pensive. Suddenly He called for His car, softly whispered some instruction to

aides, and took off, no one knew to where. A couple of hours later He

returned, His face now beaming with joy. Students gathered around Swami,

curiosity writ large on their faces. Swami noticed it, smiled, and said, "You

all want to know where Swami suddenly disappeared? I shall tell you. This

morning while people were receiving food and blankets, My mind was all the time

on people too old and sick to come here. They needed food, clothes, and

blankets, even more than those who came here. So I arranged for a jeep to be

loaded with all these things, and went out looking for such people. Sure enough

they were there in remote places, sick, shivering, and starving. I located many

such people, and distributed blankets, etc. They were so happy and seeing them

happy, I too am filled with joy". Yes, the Lord is truly our shepherd; why

should we want?

Once in Kodai, the boys and the guests had sat down for lunch. There was no

dining table, and in true South Indian style, everyone was seated on the floor.

Baba was moving around, making kind enquiries as usual, and supervising the

serving. Brahmaarpanam had not yet been chanted, and people had not started

eating. As Swami was gliding along, a small boy leaned across and wiped the

ground in front of him with his hands. Swami came to that boy and asked, "Boy,

what did you do just now?" The boy replied, "Swami, there was some dust on the

floor, and I wiped

it with my hands so that the place would be clean when you walked." Swami smiled

and said, "Good boy! While doing this service for Swami, your hands have become

dirty. Go and wash your hands before you eat."

Bhagavan did not stop there. Temporarily setting aside His "luncheon darshan",

[if one might call it that!], He personally took the boy with Him to a spot

where there was a bucket containing water, and assisted the boy in washing His

hands. That is how loving the Lord is!

Once, Swami was returning from Kodaikanal to Bangalore. Up there in the

mountains it is always cool but down in the plains the heat is scorching at

midday, especially in the month of May, when Swami was returning. In many

places along the route, devotees had gathered in groups to have a glimpse of

Swami's car as it whizzed by. Seeing a particularly large group in one spot,

Swami asked the driver to stop the car, and prepared to get down to give

darshan. It was so hot that the asphalt on the road was literally bubbling in

many spots. A

devotee in Baba's party hurriedly produced a pair of sandals. Bhagavan waved the

slippers aside and said, "If these people can wait for Me in the hot Sun for

hours, can I not walk for a few minutes without bothering about the heat?"

Swami softly glided to the place where the devotees were gathered, ignoring also

the carpet laid out for Him to walk on. Behind Him walked a couple of senior

devotees, barefoot of course. They were obviously finding the road unbearably

hot, for they were almost dancing as they went behind Baba. On reaching the

spot where the devotees were gathered, He went through the full routine - He

took letters, talked to a few, materialised Vibhuti for some, sat on the chair

provided for a couple of minutes, and then received Aarathi. After that, He

gently glided

back to His car, with the devotees escorting once more doing their dance! As

Swami was about to board the car, one of those who walked behind Him said,

"Swami, why did You not walk on the carpet? The road was so hot." Swami asked,

"Was the road very hot?Yes Swami, so hot that we could not walk; in fact I

have got blisters as result." So saying, the devotee showed the blisters. Swami

just smiled and replied, "Poor thing! You found the road hot because you were

immersed in body-consciousness. I did not feel the heat because I was in Bliss

seeing the devotion of these people. I did not get any blisters. See?" He

raised His foot for the devotee to see, and there were no blisters!

The stories are endless and so are lessons taught. All of them are only

expressions of His limitless Love for students in particular and humanity in

general. On the whole, Kodai will always be an 'elevating' experience for one

and all!

Sent by: "Ramchand Chugani" <rgcjp > Source: Heart to Heart, Volume

01: PDS Tired

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