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The
Constant Presence (multilocative miracle of Bhagavan
Sri Sathya Sai Baba)
"On Sunday, the 13th day of December, 1964, Baba was at Venkatagiri town.
He had reached the place a few days earlier in connection with a heavy
schedule of discourses in the Chittoor and Nellore Districts, in Andhra
Pradesh. But, Baba is not bound by the limitations of space and time. On
that very day, about 8 a.m., "Baba surprisingly appeared in front of my
house", says, U Ram Mohan Rao, Superintendent of the Junior Technical
School, Manjeri (28 miles south of Calicut on the West Coast, in the State
of Kerala). As the crow flies, the distance between Manjeri and
Venkatagiri will be more than 600 miles! But distance is only a game that
Baba plays to keep us, poor mortals, apart.
We shall listen to Ram Mohan Rao describing this visit, "I and my wife
were indoors with our daughter. The maid told us that a Sadhu had come. We
went out to see who it was and we were surprised to see Sri Sathya Sai
Baba! Baba said, Hari Om, Santhih Santhih Santhih; we prostrated ourselves
at His Feet. We led Baba into the officer room, but, on the way, He saw
our Pooja room where His Photo was hung, along with several holy pictures.
He said He would sit in the Pooja room itself. He told us that He had come
to us that day, being very pleased with the Bhakthi of Sailaja, my
daughter. He asked me to send word to devotees if any were available, for
Bhajan and Pravachan." "He sent word to his neighbours and people
collected immediately", says Ramesh Rao, his cousin. "He sang
"Nandamukunda Sayinatha", "O Bhagavan", "Jayaram Jayaram", along with the
Bhakthas. After Bhajan, He talked to me in Tamil, to my wife in Canarese
and to the others in mixed dialect of Tamil-Malayalam. He blessed us by
the gift of a Sankhamala and Himself placed it on His own photograph. He
told me that my father had decided on a rite to propitiate the Snake-God
(Sarpasamskaram) at Bangalore on 25th February, Thursday ('My day' He
added), but He told me that he need not perform it, since He had already
wiped off the calamity it was intended to avert and the sacrilege it was
designed to atone.
"He took some light refreshment. Then, He told the persons around Him that
all will be anxiously awaiting Him at Kalahasti. So, He took leave of us
and asking us not to follow Him, went through the gate. He disappeared in
a few seconds. We all felt happy at this unexpected Darsan and were struck
by the 'disappearing miracle', within the twinkling of an eye."
Nor was this all. There are a few more paragraphs in the letter, which I
am quoting: "24th December, Thursday, was a holiday; we felt lonely since
our Sailaja was away at Mangalore. So we went out in the afternoon to
visit some friends and returned home at 6-30 p.m. We were shocked to see
the lights burning within the house. My wife asked me whether I had
forgotten to switch off all the lights. I first examined the lock of the
main door and finding it intact, went round the house to see whether the
other doors were bolted from within. They were o.k. Then, both of us came
to the front door, opened the lock and walked in. We found everything
intact; all the lights were on. We saw Baba in our Prayer room! We
prostrated ourselves at His feet. He asked us (in Kannada) whether we were
afraid! We replied that we were very lucky and that we left very happy!
Baba said that He had come because we were lonely and said, 'Let us sing
Bhajans. If Sailaja were here, she would have liked to sing', He said. He
sang a few Bhajans. He took food later, we discussed some general topics
together. Then, Baba retired for the night.
Early next morning, Baba had His Bath; He had coffee with us and then,
discoursed on Bhakthi and the Basic Truth of Nature. All of a sudden, we
saw a rosary of Rudraksha beads in His hand; He put it on my neck with His
Blessings, with the direction that I should wear it during my Sandhya
rites. After those rites, I was to place it on Baba's photograph. We had
breakfast together. The Puja room was decorated specially with garlands
and flowers. Bhajan began. Meanwhile, devotees came to know that Baba had
come; so they too assembled for Bhajan. Baba discoursed on Bhakthi in the
Tamil-Malayam dialect. He granted every one the coveted interview.
At 12 noon, Baba himself waved the Sacred light of Mangalarathi and
distributed Prasadam, to every one present. The quarter kilogram of dates
that I had, sufficed for 100 persons! We had our lunch with Baba. He
rested for a couple of hours and we had 'tea' at 4-30 p.m. Then He told us
that several devotees were eagerly waiting for Him at Kalahasti. He
blessed us again, when we fell at His feet. At 5 p.m. He went out on the
road through the gate and suddenly disappeared. What a wonderful miracle!
We could not believe our own eyes!
Nor could I, without confirmation through independent sources! Baba had
given Darsan to persons in distress in distant places but nowhere, so far
as we knew, did He stay so long and so concretely. It was too
overpoweringly unscientific! I wrote a letter to two friends, P.K.
Panikkar and P.A. Menon in Kerala enclosing a list of 84 questions for
which I wanted them to find answers at Manjeri. They proceeded to Ram
Mohan Rao's house and sent me a fuller report, which dotted all the 'i's
and crossed all the 't's of his letter to me!
Ram Mohan Rao and his wife told them that Baba was wearing a yellow gown
on the 13th December; He walked in, barefooted and went into the shrine
room saying, "I shall go into My own place." My friends saw the picture on
which the rosary of Rudraksha beads were placed. It had a thick outgrowth
of sacred ash in a few days. Strangely enough, the face of Baba was clear
but from the outer area in the picture, 'there fell a continuous shower of
Vibhuthi dust which was being collected and distributed with the reverence
due to the divinely created gift of Grace!'
"Rao and his wife have been devoted to Shirdi Sai Baba for many years;
they have not visited Prasanthi Nilayam, but they had secured a picture of
Sathya Sai Baba seven years ago and placed it amidst the other pictures in
their shrine. When Baba sat in the shrine room and leaned against the
wall, right under His own picture, they saw that the picture was genuine!
That was the first time they saw Him; they had borrowed the book 'Sathyam
Sivam Sundaram' from a friend to read it. They thought that Baba has come,
accidentally to Calicut or some nearby town and had decided to bless them
by this visit.
When Mrs. Rao was listing her sorrows to Baba, encouraged by His
overflowing love, Baba said, "Sorrow and pain are the lot of all; don't
you know that both sisters of this body are widowed?" When Sailaja asked
Baba for a Bhajan Book, Baba said, "Palghat Menon has brought 400 Bhajan
books, printed in Malayalam, to Prasanthi Nilayam. I shall give you one".
So saying Baba held His palm upside down, waved it twice and caught with
His fingers the book that appeared! He gave it to the girl; we saw it! It
was the same book, with the blue paper cover! Sailaja had great faith in
Baba, since her eczema on the foot was cured by Baba a year ago, in answer
to her pleading before His picture.
When he was asked to bring some persons for Bhajan, Rao did not go far,
for he did not desire to miss Baba's company for long. He brought in the
owner of his house, an old gentlemen, by name Thalayur Moosad and his
5-year old daughter; he brought the widow of Madhavan Nair, the founder of
the renowned Malayalam newspaper, 'Mathrubhoomi', and his sister. Baba
asked Moosad, "What ails your leg?" He gave Him an account of his disease
and prayed for some drug. Baba told him, "The course of treatment you are
now undergoing is enough." Mrs. Rao is now sending him the Vibhuthi Baba
showers from His picture; he finds it very effective. The widow told Him
of her diabetes. "I am getting bags and bags of rice from my fields; but I
cannot eat a grain," she said, Baba replied in Malayalam. "It is the
result of your past Karma". He asked Rao to bring an empty glass. When
Baba held it in His Hand, it was full of a pink liquid. He gave it to her.
"Take this thrice daily for 3 days; you can then eat any quantity of rice
you like".
"One cynic was there, among the rest. Baba knew it and so He jocularly
asked Rammohan Rao to bring a pair of scissors and He asked the fellow to
cut for Himself a single hair from His Head! The man tried hard but
failed, whereupon a bigger pair was brought at His command. This time too
he failed. So, he put down his head and walked away without a word" writes
U.N. Ramesh Rao, Rao's cousin, who visited Manjeri soon after this
incident.
Baba sang four songs in all, during the Bhajan, asking the gathering too
to sing them after Him in chorus. They were: 'O! Bhagavan', 'Pahi Pahi
Gajanana', 'Siva Siva Siva' and 'Omkara Priya Sai Ram'.
"We saw the Sankhamala, the rosary of small conch-shells," says the
report. "It is of the type available at Kanyakumari, each shell being no
bigger than a seed of pepper. They are white in colour, with brown dots.
There are 108 of them in the rosary, created and given by Baba. When we
saw it, Vibhuthi had heaped itself over the beads. The rosary of Rudraksha
beads also was examined by us. Baba told them that, until he could string
them in gold, he should place it on the picture. Baba also created an
orange-size bell-metal drinking cup with a spout and gave it to Sailaja.
He also created a piece of scarlet silk cloth with borders of gold thread,
and, presenting it to the girl, asked Rao to have a jacket sewn for her.
He gave Rao additional Vibhuthi and Kumkum created on the spot to be given
to "Calicut" (meaning U.N. Ramesh Rao, his cousin living there). Baba left
at 11 a.m. on the 13th, saying, I have to keep to a programme at
Kalahasti." They did not then know that Kalahasti was about 20 miles from
Venkatagiri. They were too aggrieved at His resolve to leave, to ask where
it was. He said, "No one need come with me." He closed the gate behind Him
and disappeared!
The second visit was on a Thursday. Mrs. Rao was afraid to approach the
house, since the lights were on. Rao opened the lock and entered. He saw
Baba in the shrine, sitting leaning against the wall. Baba asked him in
Tamil, "Are you afraid, seeing me?" "I have come to join your Bhajan," He
assured him. Rao had brought some dried dates from the bazaar; he gave the
plate into the hands of Baba for distribution; he felt that He alone could
make it suffice for all those who were present. Baba entered the kitchen
and protested against the dish of 'Kheer' being prepared. He did not
"relish that sweet dish". "This is enough for six," He said! They had
cooked only for two but, after dinner, food for three more was available.
Next morning, Rao and Mrs. Rao partook of it as a sacramental. Before
retiring for the night, Baba removed one picture of His from the shrine
and hung it on a nail in the bed room. 'Let it be here,' He said. From
that picture too, Vibhuthi is showering in large quantities now.
Rao peeped through a slit in the door to find out whether Baba was
sleeping well but, he saw Him sitting up, most of the time, 'lost in
thought, as one in reverie.'
Next morning, Baba had his bath and breakfast. When the housewife started
preparing 'festive dishes,' He noticed her enthusiasm and warned that He
would leave without eating anything at all; He insisted that only their
daily menu should be given to Him. He talked to them of Sankaracharya
being caught while young by the crocodile (Maya) in the river Poorna
(Brahma) and saved by renunciation (Sanyas). He spoke of Sai Baba, and of
God as Subrahmanya or Murugan. While speaking of Subrahmanya, He created a
thin plate of gold, drew on it with His nail the picture of Subrahmanya on
a peacock and rolling it directed her to wear it around her neck, inside a
golden cylinder, to be made later. He said jocularly, "Sorry! I have no
gold!"
This is perhaps the most dramatic, detailed and authentic narrative of the
multilocative miracle of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba."
source: Sathyam
Sivam Sundaram |