Sai Saga 10

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<<Sainews HOME Old Mandir Karnam's House:Having declared Himself as Sai

Baba, of the Bharadwaja Gothram and the Apasthamba Suthram, Sathyanarayana Raju

was thereafter commonly known either as Bala Sai or Sathya Sai Baba, an

appellation which He Himself accepted. Bhajan was done in His presence not only

on Thursday evenings, but gradually on every day and sometimes even twice a day,

for the pilgrims who began to arrive could not wait until the ensuing Thursday,

to pay their homage to Him. At first, a small room eight feet by eight, facing

the road that led to the house of Pedda Venkapa Raju was utlised as the Bhajan

Mandir, but, it could accommodate only a dozen at most, whereas the road too

was being filled to overflow! People came in large numbers. So the family of

the Karnam put up a shed, which was lengthened as the months passed. Even a

tent was rigged up and some devotees who came up from Bangalore and Anantapur

brought and pitched their own tents. The spacious house of the Karnam was also

insufficient, because Baba insisted on feeding all those who came to see Him,

and huge dining halls became necessary. Baba would often say in the later years

that the grinding stone in Karnam Subbamma's house was always busy, preparing

chutney out of the heaps of coconuts that the pilgrims offered. Subbamma was

grinding, grinding, almost eight hours of the day!Very often, when the food

cooked threatened to be too small in quantity, Baba was quietly informed and,

in the words of an old lady who was in the Karnam's house during those months,

"He asked two coconuts to be brought; when they were given to Him, He struck

one against the other and bot broke exactly into halves; He then sprinkled the

coconut water on the little heaps of rice and the vessels containing the other

items and, gave us the signal to proceed with the task of serving all who have

come or may come, until dusk !"The Kalpa Vriksham:During the days of the Old

Mandir, Baba generally went every evening to the sands of the river with the

devotees and Bhajan was done mostly there, because there was no big shed or

hall where all could be accommodated. Baba vouchsafed to the devotees who

attended these evening Bhajans various miracles. It was then that the tamarind

tree that grows solitarily at the crest of the hill on the left bank of the

Chitravathi, near where the road meets it, got the reputation of being a

kalpatharu. Baba used to take the devotees to that height and pluck from that

tree many varieties of fruits, apple from one branch, mango from another,

orange from a third, pears and figs from a fourth and a fifth! Of course, as

Baba says, He can make any tree any time a kalpatharu, for He is Himself the

Kalpatharu!He got up the rocks quick and fast, to the surprise of everyone;

indeed sometimes He did not climb at all; still, He could be talking to the

devotees on the sands one moment, and hail them from near the tamarind tree,

the next. He usually helped up the older and fatter among the devotees and when

they held His Hand, He pulled them up as if they had no weight at all. He would

ask them, in clear commanding voice from the top of the hill, standing by the

side of the Kalpatharu aforesaid, "Look up and see"; and lo, they saw a wheel

of circling Light, with Baba. s head in the center or a blinding jet of Jyothi

emanating from His forehead. Some have seen, looking up from the sands, a huge

Shirdi Sai Baba, illuminated by a mysterious effulgence, some have seen Sathya

Sai Baba. s face inside a full-circled Moon and miracles like a pillar of fire

etc. The Moharram Pirs:About this time, Baba was approached by some Muslims of

a neighbouring village on a matter of some importance for them. Their ranks

were reduced by a fell disease. The worship of what are called Pirs is

traditional in these parts during the month of Moharram, the installation, the

worship, the ceremonial procession, the immersion, all being celebrated by the

Hindu as well as the Muslim communities. Pirs are the hand-shaped objects made

of brass etc. which are held sacred as mementos of the sacrifice of Hassan and

Hussein on the memorable battlefield of Kerbela. Baba told the Muslims who came

to Him that Pirs were being installed in their village since hundreds of years,

but latterly the ceremony had stopped. He asked them to continue the worship

and revealed to them that if they dig at a certain place which He pointed out,

they would get the very Pirs which their forefathers consecrated. They dug at

the place and the Pirs were exposed to view! Everyone was so surprised at the

objects that none had the courage to descend and pull the Pirs into the open.

So, Baba Himself got down the pit and took the Pirs out. There were four of

them at the place! For many years thereafter, these were kept at the Mandir

itself, rolled up in a mat and packed neatly. They were issued to those

villagers for the Moharram celebrations only, and they were being returned duly

after the functions were over. Baba moves to the Old Mandir:With the arrival of

devotees from all around at the news of the manifestation of Sai Baba at

Puttaparthi, Baba was busy with the cure of their physical and mental ills. He

says that even this forms a part of His Mission, for , no one can have the urge

for spiritual discipline when pestered by physical and mental ills. So, many

cases of chronic illness, lunacy, hysteria, possession by evil spirits and

ghosts, etc were brought to the presence of the Great Healer. Persons who where

worshipping Shirdi Baba also came, out of curiosity, to examine the new

Manifestation of their Lord. Many persuaded Baba to move to their places and

thus Baba went to Bangalore and visited a few houses which had contacts with

Mirzapur, Kolapuram, Pithapuram, Sandur, Madras and other places. Some devotees

came also from the Ursu families connected with the Royal Line of Mysore. At

Bangalore, Baba . operated. a long-standing case of duodenal ulcer and the

patient got complete relief; the "instruments" were all "materialised"

mysteriously and so, the stream of pilgrims increased considerably.All these

highlighted the need for a bigger Mandir where Baba could reside and where the

devotees could be accommodated. This was how the Old Mandir got planned by

Thirumala Rao of Bangalore and others in 1945. The place selected was a little

away from the village, between the Sathyamma and the Gopalakrishna temples, the

very site on which sheds and pandals were put up since some years, during Dasara

and other festivals, by the Karnam family and other devotees. The old mandir

consisted of a tin shed and a set of rooms across a quadrangle. The tin shed

served as a shelter for the devotees, and of the set of rooms, one was a

bedroom and the other a simple bathroom. The mandir was the scene of many a

miracle in those earlier days. After the completion of the building, Baba came

over from the Karnam's house and began residing in the room to the left of the

front veranda, a small room, about 8 feet long and 6 feet wide. Devotees will

never forget the Old Mandiram, for Baba was always moving right in the midst of

the people there. He composed a large number of Bhajan songs and Kirtans which

He taught them, while there. He trained them and corrected them on the spot,

and with great love and attention. Since the number of devotees who were

present was not very large, Baba used to go out more frequently, to the sands

on the riverbed, or the hills around or the gardens across the river and while

they were engaged in cooking the feast, they saw many miracles or signs of

divinity. The gathering of devotees increased in number from month to month.

The Old Mandiram was found inadequate; it was not possible to meet everyday on

the sands. The devotees felt that Baba's room was too cramped and low. He was

being forced to live in the very midst of noise and dust and confusion. On

festival occasions, the area around the Mandir was too small to accommodate the

persons who came; and so, some devotees prayed to Baba to agree to the

construction of the spacious building, which Baba has named, 'Prasanthi

Nilayam'.

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