Fw: SAI SPIRITUAL SHOWERS – ISSUE 23

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--- On Thu, 31/1/08, Sai Spiritual Showers Team <noreply wrote:Sai Spiritual Showers Team <noreplySAI SPIRITUAL SHOWERS – ISSUE 23sssprinceksvDate: Thursday, 31 January, 2008, 1:30 AM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

....extracted from an article by Shri. Chandra

Chud Mukerji in the May/June 1982 issue of the Sanathana

Sarathi

The village

D… was right on the border of India and Bangladesh. The nearest

market place - four miles off. A mud track leads us to that place. Bhim

Sen's house is on the outskirts of the village. The international border is

only 200 feet way! So, residents are tempted to make easy money by

resorting to smuggling and even by flash raids across the border. Villagers

from Bangladesh too are similarly tempted. Guards and security men are not

always vigilant. They too can be tempted to keep their eyes shut. So,

everyone was on a money-making spree. Ill-gotten money was spent in

gambling dens and taverns of which D… was overfull.

Bhim Sen’s

maternal uncle gave him a small book in Bengali written by Smt. Sudha

Mozumdar on Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Also his Headmaster gave him a copy of

"Sathyam Sivam Sundaram" in Bengali, saying, "Possibly this

person who has taken birth in the South is even greater than my Guru. He is

really a great Divine Power." Bhim Sen read the books and every word

struck root in his heart.

Towards the end

of September, Bhim Sen's wife, who was expecting her second child,

developed labour pains. She suffered five long days of agony. Nothing could

be done to give her relief. Bhim Sen was certain all would be well. For,

has not Baba said, "Why fear, when I am here?" But, his elder

brother and a few elders of the village rebuked him for his stubborn

resignation. They took over command on the fifth day and took her in a

bullock cart to the District Hospital thirty miles away. Bhim Sen had to

join the party.

A team of six

doctors examined her. X-ray revealed that the child in the womb had died,

and was decomposed. It could be removed only through surgery but the woman

was too weak and had developed too many complications, besides septic

fever.

For three days

and nights, Bhim Sen waited, sitting on a bench in the passage outside the

ward where his wife lay. At last, he grew desperate. He said to himself,

"Bhagawan! I have not committed any sin; I do not speak lies; I do not

hurt others; I have never cheated any one. In spite of this, my child is

dead, my wife is dying. If she dies, then I shall know that honesty has no

value. God is a myth. Then, why should I remain honest? I shall become a

criminal like others. I will not return home." He set about planning

how to dispose of the corpse, before he took the plunge.

The next morning,

Bhim Sen was informed that during the night, his wife had given birth to a

healthy baby boy! The surgeon in attendance was totally baffled. He said,

"Bhim Sen! Our diagnosis was wrong, I must admit! But the X-ray, how

could it be wrong? It showed clearly the decomposed body. Also, the

position of the baby was such that normal delivery was impossible. The body

had to be taken out only through surgery."

When Bhim Sen and

his wife came into his village, the entire population received them with

adoration and acclamation. Everyone knew that it was a miraculous boon

conferred by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Bhim Sen decided to go to

Bhagawan. He sold a jewel which his wife had and got Rs. 380. A friend gave

him a hundred. In the second week of November 1977, he boarded at Howrah

the train to Madras, where he imagined Baba to be. The Ticket Collector

corrected his ticket and collected the extra charges. Bhim Sen knew only

the Cooch Behar dialect but some one came to his rescue always. He alighted

at the eastern gate of Prasanthi Nilayam, right in the midst of a surging

mass of fifty thousand devotees. It was the Birthday Festival and the 8th

All India Conference of Sathya Sai Seva Organisations was on.

Poor Bhim Sen was

tossed about from one group to another. No one could help him to meet

Bhagawan so that he could fall at His feet. 'Baba! I will never be able to

come again to your presence. I came here with the hope of talking to you.

Now, I find I cannot get the chance of even looking at you," he

lamented. Next day, when Bhim Sen was sitting disconsolate at the Eastern

Gate, a Seva Dal young man approached him and asked if his name was Bhim

Sen. Amazed, Bhim Sen said, "Yes". He was told that Baba had

called him. The first sentence Baba spoke to him in the room was, "My

son! Why are you afraid? Did I not save your son at the Hospital? What did

the doctors say?" Then, Baba told him the story of Sita and her

unshakable faith in Rama that finally saved her from Ravana. "Be

happy. Go home. Come back after 3 years", He said, when he prostrated

before the Lotus Feet.

Three years!

Three years of Sai's Grace! The villagers who could see Bhim Sen's son

growing plump and pretty, installed Baba in their hearts. Bhajan became a

regular feature of life. Smuggling, gambling, drinking, fighting and even

smoking were given up. A Sathya Sai Seva Samiti was established in 1978 at

D... and in 1979 at N.. a few miles away. Bhim Sen - serene and blissful -

walked from one Bhajan Mandali to another, covering about ten miles a day.

After a two hour Bhajan session in one house, the entire group moves on to

another house for another session and thence on to another, until the small

hours of the night. Men sing Baba Bhajans at the top of their voice while

ploughing the fields, children sing them while playing games. Sai Ram is

very much with them, in the paddy fields, in the clusters of green trees,

in dust and water, even in the empty stomachs. They sing Suprabhatam and

Namavalis in their own tunes and pronounce them with their own twist; but,

their voices are choked and their eyes shed tears when they speak of their

experiences with Baba.

We were in that

village on 23rd November. We felt that we were in a Prasanthi Nilayam. Baba

is residing there, full hundred percent. We met a young man of 22 who was

very much involved in dacoities on both sides of the border. He was a

terror in the area. One day, he heard about Baba and a kind-hearted man

gave him a small picture of Baba. Soon, he lost interest in robbery. Some

devotees have given him a bicycle and a little cash. He purchases

vegetables at D… and sells them at the market, 4 miles away.

We saw three old

ladies who had walked 32 miles to take part in the Bhajans. Such is the

depth of their devotion to their God, Sathya Sai. Bhim Sen is their guide

and ideal; he is their main inspiration - he and his son. The bonds of love

that Sai has forged between men and women of all faiths and all levels of

poverty are so strong that the Sai Family is an oasis of contentment and

joy. Bhim Sen fell in with a gang of dacoits one night when he was

returning from a Bhajan session but they recognised him and let him go.

Thieves have experienced, he said, that stealing things from that village

brings bad luck. People from beyond the border, irrespective of religion,

come over to the village to share the Bhajans and the boon of

brotherhood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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