I immediately rushed to the hospital for this. I took good care of him throughout the night and read out Swami’s miracles to him. The next day I was seated in the Mandir holding a letter in my hand asking Swami whether He was happy with the service that I had rendered the previous night. This was a question that I asked Him very often. That day, the 4th of June, 2010, Swami stopped right in front of me and gave the most beautiful smile ever. He stretched out His hand and accepted the letter.
This was the happiest moment in my life. The beauty of His smile defies all expression. He acknowledged such an insignificant act of mine with the tenderness of a mother. He became very happy and showered His love like a mother. Whenever I feel homesick in the Hostel or do not get sleep I visualize myself sleeping on the lap of Mother Sai. I always enjoyed a sound sleep on the lap of the Divine Mother Sai during those moments. Whenever we go on the wrong path, the Lord takes the role of a father and brings us back to the right path correcting us with love. It was the 26th of July, 2010 and fortunately, I won the mono-acting competition in the school. I was congratulated on this second victory, the first one being the elocution competition.
I became proud of my achievements and I spent the whole day thinking that my talent was instrumental in my success. It was only while going for Darshan I could realise my fault. One of my classmates casually remarked, “Sanjeev you are very lucky. You began the speech by praying that Swami should speak through you and you won it. You began the acting by praying that Swami should act through you and you won the first place”.
This knocked me back to my senses. I had forgotten to express my gratitude to Swami for His love. I wrote a letter asking for forgiveness for being so egoistic. When I handed over the letter to Swami, He threw me a Vibhuti packet and I understood that He had forgiven me. When I looked into the diary for the significance of Vibhuti, it ran thus, “Vibhuti constitutes a warning to the receiver to give up the desires, passions and temptations. It purifies thought, word and deed. It also carries medicinal purposes to cure”. In this way He corrected me as a father. Whenever we are confused, Bhagavan assumes the role of the all-knowing Guru to clear our confusion and doubt.
My parents were very happy about the fact that I desired to become a doctor. But after I obtained the golden gift of His physical proximity I could not deny myself His closeness and after my twelfth standard I decided to continue my education in Swami’s Institution. My parents were asking me to revert to my prior decision. This confusion continued for quite some time till I finally decided to ask Swami.
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| Sanjeev Padmanabhan with Sri Sathya Sai |
The red letter day arrived and it was my turn to offer Aarti to Bhagavan. I got the opportunity to ask Him. I asked “Swami, what should I do after twelfth?” He asked me, “Science?” I replied, “Yes Swami, science group. What should I do?” He echoed the same reply and I felt happy and interpreted it as taking B.Sc. After taking Padanamaskar I suddenly thought of my parents and I asked Him, “Swami, science meaning B.Sc. or MBBS?” Swami was happy when I uttered MBBS and sweetly replied, “First do B.Sc and then do MBBS”. In this manner Swami satisfied my parent’s wish and fulfilled my desire as well to bask in His physical proximity.
One summer, our family had been to Munnar, a cold hill station in Tamil Nadu, and there we could see the manifestation of ‘Prakruti’ (nature) in all her effulgence and beauty, vibrant with the love of the ‘Purusha’ (the Supreme Creator). From there, we proceeded to the temple town of Madurai. As it was the summer season, the town was reeling under high temperature. My body was unable to contain the drastic change in the temperature and I fell sick. As per the plan, we were supposed to go the Subramanyam temple but because of my condition, I decided to stay back that evening. I applied Swami’s Vibhuti and slept. I then had a wonderful dream wherein Swami appeared, touched my forehead and ran His fingers along my physical frame till my toes. While all this was happening, I could really feel Swami’s hand touching my forehead as I was in a semi-conscious sleep. In the dream, Swami took the form of the Divine Mother Amman, a form of Shakti. Then She became a statue and I saw myself lying on Her lap. When I woke up I was fit and fine but the story did not end here.
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| Madurai Meenakshi Amman |
One day I got a call from my mother informing me that my Tamil teacher in the school in which I had previously studied was diagnosed with cancer. When the teacher learnt that I was studying here, she had a request for me. She said, “Sanjeev, I am not a Sai devotee, but I have been an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. I request you to pray to Sai Baba on my behalf. Your mother tells me that He loves His students a lot”. On that day I wrote a letter to Swami praying for her and sent her a Vibhuti packet through my mother. When I returned home for vacations in April, I received a call from her informing me that when the tests were conducted on the previous day, they revealed no sign or symptom of cancer at all. Her cancer was cancelled! I was very happy that I had been chosen as an instrument of His Will and also learnt that their family was planning to visit Puttaparthi in May that year to have Bhagavan’s Darshan. During their stay, He accepted their letter and this brought immense joy to the whole family and they became Sai devotees.
On the 21st of July, 2010, the day of Ashadi Ekadashi, Swami threw at me a Vibhuti packet and I called home to express my joy to my parents. I learnt from my father that he had an accident and he was required to undergo an operation of the knee. It was then that I realised the purpose behind receiving that Vibhuti packet. A normal doctor can give you medicine only when he is informed about it, but the Divine Doctor provides us with the best medicine well in advance and that too, to a person miles away.
Whenever I am troubled or get angry for some reason, I express it to my True Friend Sai just as we do with a friend. If I am angry, I scold Him not out of hatred but out of love. He relieves me by solving the problem completely. In the case of a best friend, we get only sympathy and rarely the problem is solved. In the case of Swami it is both relief and solution, and thus, our love for Him multiplies. The following incident reveals the omnipresence of Sai and the power of a simple but heartfelt prayer.
One day when I was walking to the Mandir in the hot afternoon I noticed the watermelon vendor doing a brisk business. I was reminded about my father who used to get watermelons home every summer. Reminiscing thus, I prayed to Swami, “Bhagavan, it would be wonderful if You could send watermelons to all the students”. The prayer ended there and I completely forgot about it. The very next day, I was surprised to see a truck laden with delicious watermelons arriving at our Hostel! The lesson from this is we must pray for everybody’s joy as we do for our self. Regarding God as mother, father, Guru, friend, doctor is not complete in itself.
Swami is Prema Swaroopa (Embodiment of Divine Love) and that Prema is something which cannot be likened to that of mother or father. It is beyond explanation and enquiry and nothing in this world can fathom the depths of His infinite Divine Love. Let us follow the guidance given by Bhagavan Himself in this respect and reach Him.
R. Sanjeev Padmanabhan
Student (2011-2014), Department of Bioscience
Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning
Currently, Medical Student, DY Patil University, Mumbai
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