There is only One God, He is Omnipresent - Prof. A. V. Lakshminarasimham

Prof. Lakshminarasimham, Registrar, with Sri Sathya Sai, Chancellor, at SSSIHL Convocation

Bhagavan Baba is a global phenomenon. Crowds that gather around this beautiful Lord speak silently of His omnipresence. They are drawn from all castes, creeds, religions, races and nations. Each one of them stands as a testimony of His omnipresence. Omnipresence does not imply merely being present everywhere. God’s omnipresence is His ever presence at all times — past, present and future, at all places — that is to say every inch of space in the universe and every level of consciousness — form the subconscious to the superconsious and even in every layer of creation — from the subtle to the gross, from the sub-atomic to the organismal. Bhagavan Baba fulfils all these facets of the omnipresence of God.  

Jack Hilton is a rich farmer in Boston where he owns a 100 hectares agro-farm. He has mechanized agriculture and fruit orchards, cereal crops and vines are grown in his land. Jack became a devotee of Bhagavan after reading Howard Murphet’s book on Bhagavan ‘Sai Baba: Man of Miracles’. He regularly attends bhajan sessions conducted by the local Sathya Sai Centers.  

It was 17th August, 1970 mid-day. Jack was returning home from his farmland in a car. As the car negotiated through narrow pathways, one could see and enjoy the sight of cultivated lands, long lines of beautiful shrubs and trees. Here and there, the pathways had hairpin bends and right angle turns. Jack was driving alone. He reached a particular hairpin bend when he realized that a heavy tractor was about to collide headlong on to him. There wasn’t any plan left to negotiate and move out of the way of the heavy tractor. There wasn’t any way to avoid the collision. All he could do was to utter in fright ‘Sai Baba’. That did the miraculous negotiation. In a split of a second, the tractor was found to be behind the car. Both the drivers could not believe their eyes as to how it happened. All the physical laws of time and space were broken. Bhagavan saved the machine and the man in a trice. This happened at 12 noon in USA. In India it was 12 midnight and Baba had long since retired for the night. Baba is everywhere. He is all pervading.

Jack’s love for Bhagavan grew more and more. He visited Prasanthi Nilayam to see His Lord in September, 1980.  He sat amidst the devotees in the morning waiting for the Lord’s Darshan. Bhagavan was walking gracefully on the sands of the Mandir-courtyard giving His Sweet Divine Darshan to all. Coming near to Jack. Baba said, ‘Jack you have taken 10 years to come here’. Jack was utterly bewildered. Bhagavan knew it all. Exactly l0 years ago, it was Bhagavan who saved him from what would have been a fatal road accident Jack-his life’s fulfilment in Bhagavan’s presence — His omnipresence.  

Way back in 1948 when Bhagavan was 22 years of age in this beautiful physical frame, a certain wealthy man visited Prasanthi Nilayam along with his two twin sons who were born blind. This wealthy man had toured the world over and had consulted great eye specialists but all of them said unanimously that it was impossible to provide eyesight to the blind twins. Hence the wealthy man had come to see the young Bhagavan. Bhagavan did not see them for seven long days. When the devotees, who had brought this family to Prasanthi Nilayam, prayed to Bhagavan for an interview, he called the wealthy man and his family along with the devotees. Bhagavan gave them all a profound discourse on the law of Karma and human Dharma. At the end, when the devotees prayed and almost persuaded Bhagavan to grant sight to the twins, He said ‘Look, what these twins have done in their past life” and asked the devotees to look towards the corner of the interview room. What he saw was like a movie. These two twins appeared as two cruel dacoits. They appeared to be tying two other persons to a tree in the forest and plucking out their eyes and robbing them of their wealth. The devotee was perplexed and disturbed seeing this incident take place before his eyes. Bhagavan asked the devotees. “Tell me shall I grant sight to these boys? If you are in My place what will you do?” The devotee had no answer. He felt at Bhagavan’s Lotus feet and cried, “Baba, pardon me for my audacity. You are God being ever present in the past, present and future. You are our destiny. Please save us all.” Bhagavan with all His love lifted the devotee and said that the twins had repented for their evil deeds and prayed to God for forgiveness. Their lifestyle had changed. They served the poor with the robbed money as a result of which they have been born in the house of the wealthy man. They cannot, however, escape from the evil act of blinding two innocent persons and hence had to be born blind. Bhagavan assured that now that they had come to His divine presence, their future would be good and that He would take care of them and would Bless them. 

A devotee living in a small village on the border of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh states, came to Prasanthi Nilayam for the first time in 1950. Bhagavan was then 24 years old in His divine physical frame. He very graciously granted this devotee an interview wherein He asked the devotee, ‘What do you want?’ The devotee told Bhagavan, ‘I want you, I must experience you in all levels of consciousness’ Then Bhagavan told him. ‘You have anyway experienced Me in your dreams i.e. in the subconscious state and also in the wakeful or conscious state. You have only to see me in the superconsious state. Let it be so, saying this, Bhagavan gently placed His thumb between the devotee’s eyebrows. The devotee’s consciousness was immediately raised and he saw and experienced intense light everywhere. His body seemed to have no existence and in the all-pervading light he could see everything. Later the light began to condense into an eye that had three colors in it. The outer part had a golden color, the middle had a blue halo with an inner light like a twinkling pulsating star. 

The devotee being struck by this awesome happening exclaimed. ‘Baba, what is this?’ Bhagavan told him gently, ‘This is your third eye. It is like the physical eye. The golden ring is the same as the white part of the human eye. The blue ring the black part and the palpitating star is like the iris diaphragm. Your third eye is open. You are in the super-consious state. Look through the palpitating Star”. The devotee was wonder struck by this Divine phenomenon. He exclaimed, ‘Baba, you are the same in my dream. My wakeful and in my super-consious state” This gift of Divine Grace revealed how Bhagavan is ever present in all states of consciousness. 

Prof. Lakshminarasimham leads the SSSIHL Convocation procession - November 22, 2003;
Sri Sathya Sai with the Chief Guest - Vice President of India Bhairon Singh Shekhawat

During Shivaratri of 1976, Bhagavan took a group of His college teachers and students to the beautiful hills of Ooty. For a few days, He had been casually telling the students’ I will show you who am I’. This He kept on repeating now and then thus raising the expectation and sense of anticipation of the students.  

One morning. He took the group to a scenic site for taking photographs. Quite unusually, He cautioned all the members of the group not to come near Him or touch Him. He then told them that He would show them then who He actually is. Bhagavan slightly lifted up the part of the robe that covered His right foot and pulling the foot slightly forward gently pressed the ground with the right toe. Standing in this position, He asked one of the students to take His photograph. The student using a Polaroid camera, took the photograph. When the photo film developed by itself in due time all were amazed to see an unique snapshot The figure from the neck to this toe was that of Bhagavan, but, instead of the lovely head with a crown of black hair, one could see the three heads of Lord Dattatreya. There were six hands instead of two and each carried a celestial object. In the photograph, a cow was standing behind  Bhagavan, and this cow was licking His feet from where the right toe appeared to be pressing the ground, there emanated an ethereal lilac hue and this seemed to spread all over the photograph. All were thrilled by the unique Dattatreya darshan.

Sri Sathya Sai with the materialised photo of Sri Dattatreya 

The three heads of Lord Dattatreya were those of Brahma. Vishnu and Maheshwara - the Holy Trinity responsible for creation, preservation and destruction respectively. Through the photograph Bhagavan had very graciously shown us that the supreme creative, operative and destructive aspects and power were in Him. The word God spelt as G-O-D as if it is an acronym of Generative, Operative, and Destructive so as to define the very nature of Divinity. As a reply to His own question ‘Who am I?’ Bhagavan had wonderfully shown through the photograph that He is the Grand unification of the Trinity, which is always creating, preserving, and destroying, that He is God. 

These creating, preserving and destroying activities are always going on from the subtlest to the grossest of things. One finds this series of activities going on continually in the smallest atom and the living cells as well as in the largest stars of the universe. The truth, which we find hard to grasp is that Bhagavan is present in each and every aspect of this universal change — in creation, in sustenance and in destruction. 

Sri Sathya Sai felicitates Prof. Lakshminarasimham on his retirement - Guru Poornima 2009

We have to ponder and realize the fact that then we say that Bhagavan is omnipresent, it does not mean that He chooses to be present at many places at the same time. As He is the one God, He pervades everywhere. Not an inch of the universe is there where He is not present. Just as the ocean is present in its all! — encompassing form, Bhagavan too in a much more grand and infinite way is present everywhere. Just like waves form and emerge in different places in the ocean and again disintegrate into it and are yet always part of the vast ocean, Bhagavan’s omnipresence is revealed in a similar manner at various places at different times to announce the fact that it is a part of His all- pervading Godly and Divine nature. We bow in reverence and love to HIM who has kept us near and dear to His Avataaric form so that we can get glimpses of that Divinity from time to time which reveals the truth that there is only one God and He is omnipresent. 

About the Author:

Author with Sri Sathya Sai

Prof. A. V. Lakshminarasimham, was working In New Science College, Hyderabad till 1973. He joined the erstwhile Sri Sathya Sai College, Brindavan and continued to be a faculty member of the Department of Biosciences of the Institute. First in the Brindavan Campus and then in the Prasanthi Nilayam Campus. Thereafter he served as the Head of the Department of Biosciences and Director of the Prasanthi Nilayam Campus of Institute. From 1995 to 2009, he was the Registrar of the Institute.  

Source: Sai Vandana 1990