Sathyam Sivam Sundaram - Part I (Serial# 30)

May 3, 2006

SaiRam

Sathyam Sivam Sundaram - Part I (Serial# 30)

Sai Baba Again (Continued..)

Sai Baba was engaged even during those early days in teaching. His life is one continuous instruction. A clear example of this was when He spoke to a naked sage when the latter came to Puttaparthi in 1941. The town of Bukkapatnam was agog with the visit of this ascetic who had lost the use of both his legs, who had discarded clothes, and therefore was looked upon by the masses as a perfect example of a great sage. His admirers were eager to watch the reactions of Sai Baba when pitted against a veteran of many hardships. The naked sage had also taken a vow of silence; thus the curiosity of the people became greater. The sweet young divine lad met the "lofty hero" who was carried to the village and deposited in front of Subbamma's house. Baba gave the unclothed sage a big towel and some advice, the like of which he would not have been given anywhere else.

"If you have cut off all relationship with society, as your nakedness indicates you have, then why do you not go to a cave in a forest away from human society? Why are you afraid? On the other hand, if you have a craving for disciples, for fame, and for name, and the food available in cities and towns, why do you allow yourself to be a mistaken for a man with no attachment"? These were the words that fell from the lips of the young Baba. They struck everyone with wonder and admiration.

The naked sage looked crestfallen, for he was evidently not sincere enough to live up to his nakedness and his vow of silence. But Sai Baba was not sarcastic - far from it. He was ready to help, to assure, to guarantee! Patting the cripple on the back, He said, "I know your difficulty. You are afraid you may not get food and shelter if you retire from the company of men, isn't it so? Well, I assure you, anyone taking the Name of the Lord, wherever he may be, will get his food; I shall see to that. You may be in the deepest Himalayas or the deepest forest and I shall give you food regularly there! But, if you have not that faith and that courage, you can meditate on Him right here; but don't wander about naked and give all this bother to these people to carry you about from place to place." What a grand teaching that was! If only people would grasp its meaning! That was the Authentic Voice. Only the Lord could give that assurance!

This assurance is being given even today by Sai Baba to all aspirants. In 1958 when Swami Satchidananda met Him, Baba told him to cultivate his Yogic proficiency and not fritter away his time organizing movements. He added, patting the seventy year old monk on the back, "Your Yogic attainments will themselves penetrate the rock of the cave where you sit and bring auspiciousness to the world. Go to some Himalayan solitude. I shall provide you food and shelter wherever you are!" The same Authentic Voice, come to guide and guard all spiritual aspirants practicing Yoga or union with God, whatever the religion, the race, the clime!

With the arrival of devotees from all around at the news of the manifestation of Sai Baba of Shirdi at Puttaparthi, Baba was kept busy curing their physical and mental ills. He says that even this forms part of His Mission, for no one can have the urge for spiritual discipline when pestered by physical and mental ills. Many cases of chronic illness, lunacy, hysteria, possession by evil spirits and ghosts, and other maladies were brought to the presence of the Great Healer. People who had been worshipping Sai Baba of Shirdi also came out of curiosity to examine the new manifestation of their Lord. Many persuaded Baba to visit their places. He went to Bangalore, Mirzapur, Kolapuram, Pithapuram, Sandur, Madras, and other towns. Also visiting Him were devotees from families connected with the Royal Line of Mysore. At Bangalore, Sai Baba operated on a person with a duodenal ulcer and the patient got complete relief ; the instruments were all materialized mysteriously.

The stream of pilgrims increased considerably. This highlighted the need for a bigger temple where Sai Baba could reside and the devotees be accommodated. This was how the first temple was planned by Thirumala Rao of Bangalore and others in 1945. The place selected was a short distance from the village between the Satyamma and the Gopalakrishna temples, the very site on which sheds and large tents were put up for some years during the Dasara and other festivals.

When the servant, Gooni Venkata (Venkata with the hump) , dug at the spot indicated by Sai Baba, so that consecrated stones could be laid as foundation, a large number of stone bases used as stands for lingams (emblems of the Form merging in the Formless, or emerging from the Formless) were discovered! But strangely enough, no lingams could be found, though a vigorous search was made. Dozens of bases - but not a single lingam. People gathered round Baba and sought the answer. Sai Baba told them cryptically, pointing a finger at his stomach, "The lingams are all here." Those who have witnessed the emanation of lingams from Baba's Mouth on the night of the Festival of Mahasivaratri might be convinced of the correctness of the answer; others will have to be satisfied with the consolation that the ways of the Lord are beyond the categories with which we measure and weigh, infer and judge. (After the completion of the building, Sai Baba came over from the

accountant's house and lived in the room to the left of the front veranda, a small room about eight feet long and six feet wide. )

Meanwhile Sai Baba had gone to Madras and had given the blessed pleasure of His Presence to thousands there. He also went as far as Masulipatam. Wherever He went He granted people peace of mind and spiritual advice, and assured them that He would guide and guard them. One day while on the sands of the seashore near Masulipatam, Baba walked straight into the sea! The devotees were sometime realizing the situation.

Then they heard a voice and turned toward the waves. They saw a Vision of the Lord on the Serpent Sesha, reclining on the waves! Within a moment, Baba was by their side. They were struck by the fact that His clothes were not wet at all. Another day He walked toward the sea, up to the very edge and threw a silver cup far into the waves. Everyone wondered why. In an instant the cup came back and was deposited near them by a wave. Sai Baba lifted it up along with the "salt water" it contained; he poured the water onto the palms of the devotees, a few drops for each to be swallowed religiously. Each one found it to be fragrant and sweet beyond compare! The sea had offered Him the "nectar of immortality," just as years later it placed round His Feet a garland of pearls.

People who witnessed these miracles and partook of the nectar are now at Prasanthi Nilayam, His place of "Tranquil Peace" at Puttaparthi, and are ardent devotees of the Lord.

It would be a mistake to infer from these incidents that Baba was attempting to impress the people around Him by the manifestation of His Divinity. His very nature is of the miraculous. His actions are beyond our ken, our arithmetic and physics and chemistry. Plato called the inquiry into the nature of the relationship between the "here and now" and the "hereafter and ever" as meta-physics, or "after physics." Sai Baba's actions are all meta! He presents the miracles because He is He, not because of any desire or purpose or want, for what can He ever want or wish for?

(Sai Baba Again To be continued..)

SaiRam