Date: 28/10/95
Time: 11.00 a.m.
Venue: I MBA classroom,
Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning
Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning
It was a hot day and the discussion in the class was hotter. The professor was telling us that in every man there is God and this God will never permit one to do any wrong act. Even if we do something wrong, this God, who is inside us will correct us provided we have faith in Him. Some of our class students supported the view of the professor and some were arguing against it. Finally, by the time the bell rang all the students were convinced that there is a God in each and every one. But I was not convinced. My doubt was, if God is present in everyone, then why people commit sin. I prayed to Bhagavan to clear my doubt. At that time I did not know that Bhagavan, who is omnipresent, would clarify my doubt and that too so soon.
Date: 29/10/95
Time: 7.00 a.m.
Venue: Sai Kulwant Hall
The music started, indicating that Bhagavan was coming for Darshan. My heart was filled with joy. I don’t know why I feel so happy and joyful when I see Swami. He has the same face, same body; same red robe and same eyes which look like glittering stars that makes me feel happy. That smile, on one day is like the smile of a father to a son, loving; the other day like that of a friend to a friend, understanding; and some other day like that of a teacher to a student, meaningful. That day Swami looked at me and smiled meaningfully. I was confused but I felt very happy because Swami looked and smiled at me. Swami as usual selected some of the devotees and took them inside the interview room. The door of the interview room closed with the person who is my father, mother, friend and teacher, inside the room.
I now started thinking about what to write for the Sai Nandana homage volume. Suddenly, I heard a noise from the boys in the front rows. Some boys were distributing gifts which Swami had sent. At the first glance, I was unable to know what gifts they were. After a few minutes I came to know they were beautiful files which had zipper around it (so that we could close the file), a pen, and a nice diary with Swami’s quotations, Swami’s photograph and most importantly Vibhuti. My joy knew no bounds on seeing those files and I was praying that I would also get one. I then started thinking about what to write in the diary and how to make better use of the dairy. But to my bad luck, as I was sitting in the back rows, the files got exhausted before they reached us. The students started distributing a weekly planner and I received one with a little disappointment.
Then started the real magic of the Divine Magician. One of the boys sitting near me got both a file and a weekly planner. He was satisfied with the weekly planner and decided to give away the file to others who did not get the file. So he offered it to me. I took it with great joy. Now it became a tough task for me to decide to choose between the file and weekly planner. Both were equally good, both were equally important, not because of their beauty but because they had been blessed by Swami. Both contained Swami’s photographs which I was not willing to lose at any cost. There was a clash between the good and bad in mind. Initially, the bad won. So, I saw on both my sides and kept the weekly planner in the file and closed the file and remained quiet. Though I remained quiet I felt the uneasiness in me, a bit tense and the feeling of doing the wrong thing.
One of the lecturers came and sat by my side, and so my tension reached the peak. Adding to that, our lecturer looked at my file and took it into his hands asking me whether the file was good or not. My face became pale and my head was bent down with guilt. I started praying to Swami to help me in this embarrassing situation. Swami came to my rescue in the form of a student who came to the teacher to clarify a doubt. As the boy came, the teacher gave back my file and started listening to him. In the spurt of a moment, I took my file and sat in another place. Then my conscience started pricking me. I felt very guilty to speak to anybody.
Swami came out of the interview room. He came straight towards me, looked at me and asked “How is the file?” He took the file opened the zip and took out the book inside it. As if He did not know anything He asked me, “How did you get both the file and the book?” There was no answer from me. I remained silent. All the other boys were looking at me as if I was a thief.
Suddenly one of my friends called me, and I looked at him. Astonishingly Swami was not there and all others students were busy with their work. It was only an illusion. After this event, I decided to go to any of my lecturers and confess about my wrong deed and return the book. So I picked the book from the file and stood up to go to the teacher. Then the student by my side called and asked, “Brother, what are you going to do with the book?” I replied that I wished to give it to the teacher. Then he requested me to give it to him as he did not get one and I did the same.
Now my heart is very light and happy. I borrowed a book from the student sitting by my side. It was a compilation of Swami’s discourses in Telugu. I opened at random and started reading it. My attention fell on the following sentences, “God is in every body. He is also in you. He is not going to keep quite if you do anything wrong. He will correct you. Men will become demons like Hiranyakashipu and Kamsa if they do not realise the God in themselves and God in others.”
Now everything was clear to me. This was the Leela of the Divine Guru to teach me a lesson and clarify my doubt. Now I understood the meaning of Swami’s smile.
- J. Vamsi Krishna
Alumnus (1995-1997), Department of Management Studies
Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning
Prasanthi Nilayam Campus
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