We open the pages of history to find in them kings, their people, their palaces, their courts, their treasures. The present day scenario is something of the same sort, but the king is not an ordinary one. He is the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. Yes, He is Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Prasanthi Nilayam is His palace, the world is His court, nature His treasure. He is for all. All are for Him. He is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent. He is Sarvadevata Swaroopa. He is Sat-Chit-Ananda.
He is Rama. He is Krishna. He is Satya, Dharma, Shanti, and Prema. He is king who loves His citizens, who knows only how to give. His power is matchless; His fame spreads in the Trilokas. He conquers hearts. His ways are Divine. Each and every action of His has a purpose of its own.
A devotee once asked Swami, “Swami, is it that when You raise both Your hands You pour out more grace than by raising only one hand?” Swami smiled. Perhaps the innocence of the question had made Him do so. He replied in a gentle manner, “When I raise only one hand, I point out that five values are required for good and spiritual life. These are Sathya, Dharma, Shanti, Prema and Ahimsa. On the other hand, when I raise both hands to bless you, I mean to say that you could never become one like Dashanana (Ravana) but try to become Dasharatha.”
Way back in the 1970’s, Swami, while giving Darshan stopped near a devotee and told him, “Stop watching movies, your salary will increase. Stop smoking, you will have a double promotion. Stop drinking and you will be happy and peaceful.” He was happy and said, “Swami, I will do so.” This devotee was a peon with a monthly salary of Rs.480/-, and lived in a small house with his wife and children. He followed the Divine command. Gradually, his condition improved. His salary was raised to Rs.11,000/- per month. He got a double promotion. He bought a spacious apartment and now leads a happy life. If it isn’t for his determination and obedience, he would never have done it. Man today has lost compassion, love, tolerance and sympathy. Swami often says, “Live in love.” But life is not only love. Love is a part of life. Compassion, tolerance, sympathy and non-violence are aspects of life. These are only aspects. They don’t have forms. Therefore, one should put his or her good feelings into action and all should receive joy. We all have a lot of love for Swami. We feel happy when we see Swami but we don’t understand that Swami loves us also. Only by putting effort can we understand it; only then will we be able to attain complete bliss. Swami knows about everything happening in and around quote an incident in this context.
Normally Swami gives His discourse after the other speakers express their views. On a certain occasion, a great scientist had been invited to deliver a speech on ‘Crystal Theory’. His lecture was on a particular day, just before Swami was to speak, but in course of time, the Lord got up and started His discourse scientist thought that this man (Swami) would speak only about Satya, Dharma, Shanti and Prema. Then suddenly, he heard Swami asking him to be quiet, and in the next hour, Swami poured out everything that the scientist had got after vigorous research of 15 years. The scientist realised his mistake.
It was the month of November. My parents were returning home one evening and it was becoming dark. As it was a hilly area and after dark, there was danger of robberies and animal attacks, my father was driving his scooter faster than usual. As he neared a bridge across a small stream, he saw a few people waving their hands for a lift. As he had heard of many such incidents of people asking passersby for a lift and thus robbing them, he further increased his speed. As soon as he neared the people, the people shouted out at him to stop. As he did not stop, they threw a big piece of a bamboo towards him. My mother shouted “Sai Ram!” She was seeing the bamboo zooming towards her forehead. She suddenly felt some sort of a force, which stopped the bamboo, and thus my parents escaped. Who else other than our Beloved Lord would have helped them!
A similar incident happened to them again, but this time, it wasn’t men who attacked, but beasts. My parents were returning home on a scooter from a temple where a famous Oriya festival called ‘Ashta Prahari’ was being conducted. As they neared the lake in our place, they saw a bear jumping on the footpath on the left end of the road. Down the hill came another four or five bigger bears. My father slowed down the scooter. He looked to his left searching for a way to escape from the bears. Suddenly, he lost balance due to a heavy jolt and fell off the scooter. My mother fell near the group of bears, but believe it or not happened! My father recovered quickly and helped my mother get up. They were safe except for a few scratches. The people who happened to see what actually happened gathered around them. There was a bear besides the bougainvillea bush. Seeing a car on the other side of the road, it had jumped, but by chance had hit my father’s scooter and thus caused the accident. If it were not for Swami’s action, would it have been possible for two people to escape from those ferocious bears?
Swami is always there with us, for us. We need not be frustrated due to the ways of the world. We need to just rely upon Him to pull our boats across the ocean of Maya. He is ready to help, but He is only waiting for us to take the first step towards Him. So, what are we waiting for?
- Nishad Mishra
Alumnus, Department of Physics
Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning
OM SAI RAM:)
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