WISH-FULFILLING
TREE IN PUTTAPARTHI INTACT...
Those were the halcyon days when Bhagawan used to climb the hill by
the side of the river Chitravathi, with His devotees and spend some
wonderful moments with them under the tamarind tree. He would ask
them, “What do you want?” and each of them would express their
desire to have a particular item of their liking. Bhagawan used to
satisfy their wishes by doling out to them sugar candy, rosary,
peppermint, etc., of their choice from the tree. Thus the epithet
“Kalpavriksha” (wish-fulfilling tree) came to the tamarind tree
blessed by Bhagawan.
Anyatha Saranam Nasthi, the book that talks much about Avatar’s
youthful days has the given below episode about the Wish-Fulfilling
Tree.
As soon as Swami set out like the Moon surrounded by the stars, we
would follow Him and walk behind Him like His shadow. Some would
grasp His robe, some would hold His hand while others kept up a
conversation. As we walked, Swami would suddenly disappear! We would
then go in various directions in search of Him, looking in every
tree, behind every bush and shrub, and even in snake pits! Becoming
tired after prolonged searching, we would collapse and call out,
“Swami!” He would then suddenly jump out of the bush next to us,
crying, “Boo!”. What a wonder! How was this possible? Had we not
searched for Him thoroughly everywhere, looking under every stem and
leaf? While we stared at Him wonder-struck, He would hurry us
saying, “Come on, move, get going!” and run away. Sometimes, He
would be on the topmost branch of the tallest tree, calling out to
us! Even as we were wondering how on earth He managed to get up
there, we would find Him standing by our side, laughing loudly.
Randomly, He would pluck leaves from a tamarind tree or some other
tree, and place them in our hands. To our utter amazement, these
leaves would be transformed into guava or sugar candy! Or else, He
would pick a stone from the road and throw it into the air; it would
come down as sugar candy!! He could hardly keep quiet even for a
minute. We used to feel so zestful in His presence.
There was a huge boulder under the Kalpavriksha. About two hundred
people could comfortably sit on that rock. Watching Bhagawan, I
would recall the son of Yasoda [Yasoda Bala] Lord Madhava, who in
days gone by, balanced the huge Govardhana mountain on the tip of
His little finger to save the lives of cows and cowherds. Jumping up
to pluck a handful of leaves from that Tamarind tree, Sai would give
a leaf to each of us and ask us to keep our palms closed. When we
opened them at His command, we would find all kinds of things, sugar
candy in one hand, rosary in another and peppermint in the third. He
would then ask us to close the palm again and when we opened them as
commanded by Him, we would find only tamarind leaves! We would
think: “What a pity, I should have eaten that candy!” We would then
gaze at Him wonder-struck, thinking to ourselves: “How amazing! How
could such a variety of things materialise simultaneously?” He would
then clap His hands to rouse us from our stupefied state. Because
this tree gave devotees whatever they wished for, it came to be
known as Kalpavriksha.
Click to
enlarge
During their walk to the river, Swami and His party of devotees
often rested for a while on the rock adjacent to the Kalpavriksha,
especially as it provided scope for fun and games. Later, the group
would head towards the sands of the river. And it was on the sands
that the Leelas reached their crescendo, as we now hear.
Coming down from this rock, we would assemble on the Chitravathi
sands at a suitable spot selected by the devotees. After singing for
some time and listening to Swami’s Discourse on the pranks of
Krishna, we would shout that we were hungry and pester Him to give
us something to eat. Even as He moved His hands in the heap of
piled-up sands, we would be able to predict what he would be pulling
out. We could recognise the smell of Mysorepak [a type of sweet].
Ghee [clarified butter] would drip from it, and it would be hot. He
would then place the pieces on a tray and serve us all with His own
hands. How am I to describe that taste! ………… After eating the sweet,
we would say, “Swami, we are satiated with the sweet. Now give us
some savouries.” Our Beloved Swami, the embodiment of compassion
would then pull vadas [a savoury dish] out of the sand. Its taste
cannot be described even by Lord Brahma. ……… As He kept pulling
vadas out of the sand, they were hot and dripping with ghee but
surprisingly, not a speck of sand clung to them! How is that
possible? Only questions and no answers! He would also extract from
the sand pile, rosaries, idols, pendants, and books, and hand them
over to those destined to receive them.
The articles that Swami created from the sand were unprecedented
wonders, things that could not be procured anywhere. Nothing can
stand comparison with those! The idols were made of panchloha [a
combination of five alloys], or sandal wood, or ivory, or teak, or
silver. He would materialise out of the sands, idols of Narayana,
Radha, Krishna, Shirdi Sai, Rama, Lakshmana, Bharatha, Shatrugana,
Nataraja, etc. The rosaries materialised out of the sand would be
made of pearl, coral, or crystal beads. ……….. He gave mother a
statue of Vinayaka that He created out of the sand. We could not say
whether it was made of clay or stone. Not too black, it had a slight
reddish tinge. Wonder of wonders, the idol did not have a
full-length trunk. When we asked Him why He gave mother an idol like
that, He said, “Do Abhishekam [pouring an appropriate liquid] to the
idol with milk, every Sunday. The trunk will then grow to the normal
size.” Exactly as He had forecast, later the trunk did grow! We
simply cannot estimate the value of His gifts.
One day, when we were all walking towards the Chitravathi, Swami
suddenly disappeared. Even as we were searching for Him, we heard
the sound of a clap; looking up, we saw Swami alerting us, “I am on
top of the hill!” It was six in the evening. The Sun had softened
its beams and was sinking towards the west. The sky was filled with
black clouds, as if it was wrapped in a dark blanket. Swami said,
“Look at Me. I shall show you the Sun!” Even as we were wondering
how the Sun that had already set come back again, we saw new rays
rising behind Swami’s head. The whole sky was now filled with blue
clouds and the rays turned red! And redder and redder they became,
till they looked fiery; they exuded so much heat that it made us all
sweat profusely. These rays were as hot as those from the scorching
midday Sun. Unable to bear the heat, we loudly appealed, “Swami, it
is too hot!” The heat then subsided. “Oh gosh!” we exclaimed, and
were settling down, when Swami’s voice again came down to us from
the top of the hill, “I shall now show you the Moon.” We saw behind
Swami’s head, the half-unfolded honey-coloured rays of the Moon.
Soon they turned white, and became whiter and whiter still. We now
began to shiver in the cold; our bodies became stiff and our teeth
began to chatter. “Swami! It is very cold!” And as we were imploring
Him, the cold began to slowly subside.
On the night of 19th of May 2011, at around 8 o’clock, there were
fierce gusty winds accompanied by thunder and rain in Puttaparthi.
The impact of the whirlwind was so strong that many trees in
Puttaparthi were unable to withstand the gales. Even the
Kalpavriksha lost most of its branches, but contrary to the reports
that appeared in some sections of the media, its roots and main
trunk are intact. Here are a few photographs of the tree in its
present state.
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