As I sit alone in a rather pensive mood, making a vain attempt to frame a mental resume of my student life at His lotus feet, the thought overawes me that, in fact, seven precious summers have passed since I entered the portals of this Paradise. It is unbelievable…for, was it not only yesterday that I joined Bhagavan’s college? Verily one forgets to keep track of time when one is living with the Eternity itself.
The thought gives me joy with a tinge of sorrow, for when I try to peep into the inner recesses of my heart to find the glow of His love; I at once discover that He has been unfailing in His bountiful love for me. In spite of knowing that He is the way and the goal for all of us, without whom our lives would not be of any meaning or taste, we fail to understand His Love. Has He not said that His is the Love of a thousand mothers?
Yet on a number of occasions, He has reminded us to realise the Divinity in Him and not to be deluded by external appearances. Through parables and examples, jokes and stories, He has been constantly trying to drive home this truth in all of us.
One such golden moment came in my life on a bright morning. The day was the 7thof November, 1984. All of us were eagerly awaiting Swami’s Darshan. As He came out, He picked up four boys and I was among those fortunate four. Swami directed us to go to His room in the Mandir, to clean and tidy up the room.
After going round the devotees and granting them the much coveted Darshan, Swami came straight into the room, where we were cleaning. We all stood in front of Him with folded hands. Swami in His characteristic and Divine way proceeded to grant me one of the rarest moments of my life.
Swami pointed at a deer skin which was rolled and kept on a rack and addressed one of the boys, “Take this deer skin to the Himalayas and do Tapasya there.” For a moment the boy was nonplused and puzzled- “Did He really mean it? Is Swami telling seriously or is it meant to be a pleasant joke?” There was silence for a few seconds, while Swami waited for an answer from us. Swami looked at me and asked, “Is it good to do Tapasya in the Himalayas?” I replied, “Yes Swami”. But this answer did not satisfy Him. He Himself said, “Do you not realise that the result of all Tapasya is here?”, and pointed at Himself. He thus gave us a glimpse of His Divinity that there is no need to do Tapasya in the Himalayas when the result of all such endeavors was right in front of us. He continued, “Whenever I give Darshan to those who are engaged in penance in the Himalayas, even for a few seconds, they feel extremely blissful for having attained that vision of God and they regard it as a great experience. But you all are having My Darshan every morning and evening, yet you never realise the value of it.”
He further gave a beautiful illustration saying, “Whenever people desire to see an elephant, they go to the forest. And by chance if they see even the tail of an elephant whose body might have been hidden among the bushes and shrubs, they feel immense joy for having seen an elephant. In your case, there is an elephant (Sai Geeta) in front of your hostel. But you do not pine to see her, because she is a familiar sight.”
Thus, we must realise the value of His Divine Darshan from these beautiful examples. Since we are blessed with opportunity to be near Him, we should make the best use of each and every moment of our life here. Sometimes, we may be confused by delusion and despair. In such moments, we must pray to Swami for His benign grace so that we may always feel His presence within us.
- Rabin Kumar Diyali
Alumnus, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning
Prasanthi Nilayam
Source: Sai Nandana 1995 (70th Birthday Offering)
Om Sri sai ram
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