Sathya Sai with Students: Experiencing the Divinity of Sri Sathya Sai

Akshay Kamath receiving a gold medal from Sri Sathya Sai at the Institute Convocation - November 2008

Life is not a bed of roses. We experience many ups and downs in our lives. However, when we experience the Lord Himself, an extra golden shade is added to our rainbow coloured life.

Let me narrate a family experience. We have been devotees of Bhagavan since my great-grandfather’s time. My great-grandfather was a great man, a freedom fighter and a social worker. But, he was blind. Once, when Swami had gone to Bangalore, He gave a discourse. My great-grandfather could not see Bhagavan, but hearing His sweet words he said, “I am listening to the words of God.” Later when Swami came to Mumbai, my great-grandfather wanted to go for the Darshan of Swami. Though he could not see Swami, he believed that being in His presence would be enough to wash away all his sins. Swami came for giving Darshan, moved around the devotees and came and stood in front of him. Swami did not say anything, but just kept His hand on my great- grandfather’s head and gently massaged it. After Swami went, a person told him how fortunate he was to be blessed by Bhagavan.

Swami is the Divine Doctor and can heal every ailment of a person who believes Him with true faith. There is a lady in our Sai Organisation who has been a dance-drama teacher. She had been a professional dancer herself for the last twenty-five years. About fifteen years ago, one day while sitting in her room, she realised she could not move her hands or legs. Her parents took her to specialists around the country, but however much they tried, they could not cure her. She was bed ridden for over a year. Her faith in God was shaken.

Then someone mentioned Swami’s name to her. Till then, the family did not even know about Bhagavan. With great difficulty and little faith they took her to Puttaparthi. Swami came out to give Darshan. He looked at her father signalled him to go inside the interview room. The lady, at that time was in a wheelchair. From the portico end, Swami Himself wheeled her into the interview room. Inside the interview room Swami began to talk in a normal manner with all the persons. He even talked on general matters with her parents. He gave Vibhuti to all but not to them. They started losing hope as Swami was just giving fleeting glances towards her without any effort to cure her. At the end of the interview, Swami asked everyone to take Padanamaskar. Swami came to that lady in the wheelchair and asked her to take Padanamaskar. She started weeping and said she could not. Swami said, “Who said you can’t?” Swami then held her by the shoulders and made her bend down in an instant. Then He made her stand up the next moment. She felt a surge of energy through her spine and her paralysed limbs came to life. The person, who went into the interview room on a wheelchair, came outside walking!

There has been many an instance when Swami was present in more than one place at a time. Even as a child, when his brother took Him to a temple at Hampi, Sathya said that He would stand outside. The others went inside the sanctum sanctorum. When the puja started, they saw that it was Swami receiving the Arati in the place of the deity. Running outside, they saw Him standing calmly leaning against a tree!

Swami watches so many dramas being enacted in the Sai Kulwant Hall and Poornachandra auditorium. But does He remember all of them? Yes. In 1999, we performed a musical drama known as the ‘Kar (Car) Rally’ in Bhagavan’s Divine presence. Swami was very happy and gave all of us Vibhuti, talked to us and took group photos with us. Six months later when Swami called some of the Balvikas Gurus who had made that drama a success, He suddenly closed his eyes. Then as if is in a state of bliss, He said, “Whenever I close My eyes, I see those boys performing the drama before My eyes and then I feel very happy.” This shows that whenever we offer our Love to Swami, He cherishes it forever and gives us the same Love thousand fold.

Swami can make staunch devotees out of non-believers. For that, He need not give them a physical experience. A mere dream is enough. Once there was a family in Mumbai. They lived in a locality in which a lady took Balvikas classes. The parents and children had only seen Swami in photos. Once, when they were going to Pune for some reason, the lady of the family got a dream. She saw that her house in Mumbai had been broken into but that suddenly Swami had appeared and drove away the thieves. The dream was very vivid and it gave her mother some kind of premonition as if something was going to happen. They thought that only Swami would save them from the tragedy.

The next evening they began to return to Mumbai in their car. It was dusk and there was darkness. The vehicle was travelling over a hundred and hundred kilometers per hour on the expressway. There was a ditch in the road, which their driver failed to notice. The car skidded, turned upside down and then landed on its top. The people in the other cars gathered around, thinking that everyone inside the car would be either dead or badly injured. But wonder of wonders, all the five persons in the car, the driver and the members of the family, crawled out of the car with only minor injuries! All the members of the family understood that it was swami alone who could have done this. From that day on, they have become staunch devotees of Bhagavan.

There is a lot more that can be written about our Loving Lord, who is an ideal for us. He is such a multifaceted personality and we can only pray to Him to give us the strength to live up to his expectation. Bhagavan says, “Your life is My Message”. And so we Sai students have to live ideal lives. This is the only way in which we can repay a small part of the love Bhagavan showers on us. The ever merciful Lord says that He will never forget His devotees even if they forget Him. So, with full faith in our lord, let us march on the right path so that we can reach our final goal.