Prasanthi
Nilayam
What
a fine name for the dwelling of the Lord! What
cool breezes and quiet solitude does that name
invoke! The mountains that stand in a ring
around the Nilayam
look like hoary sages lost in contemplation. The
broad sky inspires vast boundless musings; the
rocks on top of the hills invite meditation. Sai
Baba has planted a grove for religious
austerities on the side of the hill behind the
Nilayam;
in that grove there grows a Banyan tree which is
bound to become the holiest of such trees, at
least so far as the seekers of spiritual uplift
are concerned.
The Banyan
tree, known as Nyagrodha,
"down-grown," and Vatavriksha,
"enclosure tree," is famous in Indian sacred
literature and history. Lord Maha Vishnu, the
great God of Preservation, or
Siva,
God in the Form of the
Guru,
is described as sitting under a Banyan tree, and
expounding by His very silence all knowledge to
His disciple. This tree may be said to symbolize
Sanatana
Dharma,
the Eternal Wisdom, for its branches reach out
in all directions and draw sustenance from every
type of faith and spiritual striving. It is also
called Rahupada,
"many-footed" in Sanskrit, for the series of
roots that its branches send down toward the
earth strike the ground and seek food therein
and make the branches independent even of the
parent trunk. The tree is therefore immortal.
There are in India Banyan trees that have been
worshipped for thousands of years, such as the
one at Triveni at Prayag, Allahabad, or the one
called Akshaya-vat,
the "Indestructible," at Gaya.
The Banyan
that is growing in the grove has a peculiar
sanctity of its own. In April of 1959, while
talking one evening on the sands of the
Chitravathi River to a gathering of devotees,
Baba spoke of Buddha and the
Bodhi
tree, the "Tree of Wisdom," and of the
Sadhakas
(spiritual aspirants) seeking some specially
favorable spots for their austerities. Even as
He was speaking thus, He "took" out from the
sands a thick copper plate about fifteen inches
by ten inches in size which contained mystic
markings and letters of many known and unknown
alphabets! He said that such mystic plates,
cryptograms written on copper or stone, are
planted under trees where aspirants engage in
austerities so that they may be helped to
develop concentration of mind and control of the
senses. He announced that He would be placing
the copper plate under a Banyan tree that He
proposed to plant in the grove. This was
actually done on the twenty-ninth of June, 1959,
and Sai Baba declared that
Yogis
who have reached a certain stage of spiritual
progress will automatically come to know of this
tree and this mystic plate, and they will be
drawn by the mysterious force of these toward
the meditation grove which will then fully
justify its name!
Picture:
the mandir (temple) at Pransanthi
Nilayam.
The
Prasanthi
Nilayam
was inaugurated on the twenty-third of
November, 1950, the twenty-fourth birthday of
Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. It took about two
years to build. Baba can be said to be the
architect and engineer who directed the entire
work for construction. His suggestions had to be
accepted by the engineers, for they found them
much better than their own. They recognized Sai
Baba had a greater sense of perspective, a finer
aesthetic point of view than they had. Baba was
a hard taskmaster, but with immeasurable
compassion. His Grace overcame the most
insurmountable obstacles! For example, huge
heavy girders for the central prayer hall came
from near Trichinopoly by train to Penukonda,
but how on earth could they be brought over the
District Board Road, sixteen miles long with a
sandy stream at the seventh mile? How could any
truck with those things sticking out negotiate
the acutely angled corners of the village
on the ninth mile? After Bukkapatnam was
reached, there were three miles of a track that
can be referred to only by courtesy as a road;
and then the broad expanse of sand which the
Chitravathi River spreads across, a distance of
three furlongs. There were the dilapidated
culverts to be gone over, the slushes to be
dragged through; and if and when girders arrived
at the spot, the task of hoisting them on top of
the high walls. The engineers gave up all hope
of bringing the girders to the village and asked
Baba for some alternative proposals for roofing
the prayer hall.
One night in
the small hours the chief engineer was awakened
by a loud noise in front of his house at
Anantapur. He peered into the darkness and was
surprised to find a crane from Tungabhadra Dam
Works, put out of action and unable to move! He
ran to Puttaparthi and told Baba that if only it
could be made to operate, the owner could be
persuaded to travel up to Penukonda and bring
the girders along. Sai Baba materialized some
Sacred Ash and gave a small quantity to the
engineer who piously scattered it over the
engine of the crane and asked the driver to make
efforts to set it going. With a grunt or two,
the engine started, the wheels turned, and the
crane moved - toward the girders! Lifting them
with its giant arms, it somehow passed over all
culverts, turned acutely round the corners,
lurched over the Vankaperu slush, and puffed up
the Karnatanagapalli hill! There the engineer
said its strength was nearly exhausted. It could
not possibly draw all that weight through the
sands. So Sai Baba Himself sat near the driver
and handled the wheel, and the crane unloaded
the girders near the work spot.
The grumbling
of the engineers did not stop with this
achievement. In fact, they became even more
exasperated. They asked, "Of what use is
all this trouble when it is humanly impossible
to hoist them on the walls?" Humanly impossible,
yes, but where there is the Divine Will, there
is a Way! Laborers were brought from the
Tungabhadra Dam, ropes were fastened, pulleys
were rigged up, and in order to make the girders
lighter, each girder was pulled up amidst shouts
of "Jai
Sai Ram!"
(victory to Sai who is Rama!) from the throats
of hundreds of devotees in the Presence of Sai
Baba. The girders were set in place and all went
well!
The central
prayer hall with platform ensconced on either
side is the main part of the
Nilayam.
On the
westerly platform is the shrine where two
life-size oil portraits are placed leaning
against the wall, one of Sai Baba of Shirdi, and
the other of Sri Sathya Sai Baba. There is also
a silver figure of Sai Baba of Shirdi in the
center and a small portrait of Sathya Sai Baba
under it. These are kept as aids for meditation
and the repeating of God's Name. Except for
singing songs of God twice a day, once in the
morning and a second time in the early hours of
the evening, there is no regular worship as is
generally done in places where an idol is
installed and consecrated. There are no fixed
rites and rituals which have to be performed on
certain holy days, nor are there any schedules,
prayers or worship which have to be performed.
There is no rule that even the figure of Sai
Baba of Shirdi should be there. The hall is a
prayer hall, no more, no less, with the
portraits of all the various manifestations of
Godhead and of all the great spiritual and
religious leaders on the walls.
The rooms on
the ground floor are mainly used for storing
articles and vessels. There are two rooms set
apart for private interviews granted by Sai Baba
to devotees who come to Him. The rooms on the
first floor are the living quarters for Baba.
There is a large portico on the first floor from
which He gives Darshan
to the
devotees thronging below and where He speaks on
festival occasions. A charming marble image of
Sri
Krishna
playing the flute is placed right in the center
of the top floor of the portico. Everyone's
attention is drawn toward its beauty and
charm.
There is a
flight of steps which leads to the top terrace
at the center of which, facing the approaching
road, is a bust of Sai Baba, kept on a pedestal
in front of the flagpole. Sai Baba gives
Darshan
from near this bust on days on which the flag is
hoisted and He blesses the huge assembly with
His Hand gesture of "Do not fear." The flag
carries on it the representation of the symbol
which Baba has materialized in the circle right
in front of the building on the
ground.
In the very
center of a series of concentric circles, there
is a pillar which represents
Yoga
(union with God), with a number of rings to
indicate the stages of Yogic discipline. This
Yoga
leads to the unfolding of the "Lotus of the
Heart", whose petals are borne on top of the
pillar. The next stage of this consummation of
devotion and the blossoming of the heart is the
"Flame of Illumination" and "Spiritual Light"
symbolized at the top of the pillar. The first
of the concentric circles and its intervening
space is bare and sandy; the second one, planted
with a bushy type of plant that grows in thick
clusters which have to be occasionally clipped
short, represents the qualities of desire and
anger that have to be overcome in order to reach
the Yogic stage, according to Baba. The first
round, the sandy one, is the desert of desire,
the waste land, the purposeless striving after
evanescent things; the second, the one with the
cluster plant, is anger, which is difficult to
destroy, for as soon as it is clipped, it
sprouts again. Then there are two steps, red in
color, one low, the other a little higher,
symbolizing hatred, which man also has to
overcome. One type of hatred is caused when one
is thwarted in the effort to achieve the desired
object, and another type when pain is caused to
one by the action of another. After these three
are overcome, the circular space filled with
green grass, cool to the eye, reminiscent of
contentment and prosperity, represents Divine
Love. This is the stage when the mind of man is
filled with bliss, due to the absence of desire,
anger, and hate, and having achieved the
attitude of the state of "Being Equal Minded to
All," the very basis of Divine Love. Soon the
aspirant moves onto the open space of Peace,
where he can sit at will and enjoy the fruits of
the discipline he has gone through. The
Yoga
fructifies and takes him on from one height to
another until the "Lotus of the Heart" blooms
and the "Effulgence of Illumination" is assured
at last. Around the circumference of the circle
there are eight painted pots with flower plants,
which Sai Baba explains as symbolizing the Eight
Perfections or Divine Faculties which guard the
Yogi.
On the
occasion of the ceremonial hoisting of the
Prasanthi
Patka,
or the Flag of Peace, Baba generally expounds on
the inner significance of this Lotus Circle and
explains why He has it on the flag also. He
advises and commands devotees to hoist the flag
in their own minds and keep it flying aloft
there, ruminating all the time on the lessons
that it is intended to teach. Baba also speaks
of the deeper meaning of the three gates to the
prayer hall. The first, the outermost one that
leads one into the compound, the one with the
arch bearing the inscription of the name of the
Nilayam,
is the "Gate of Darkness." A person who crosses
it leaves darkness, ignorance and inertia
behind. He has nourished the holy thought of
coming to the Presence, and the spirit of
darkness and ignorance has fallen behind him.
Those who are immersed in darkness will not even
have the curiosity to enter! Then there is a
second gate, just where the garden around the
Lotus Circle begins. There one is attracted by
the magnificence of the building, the electric
tube lights, the coloured candelabras, the
hanging flower pots, that is to say, the active
and passionate aspects which appeal to
individuals who are active and passionate. Next
one comes to the very door of the prayer hall,
"Gate of Wisdom," leading to the "Abode of
Peace."
The garden in
front of the Nilayam
is itself a tribute to the devotion of the
devotees, for it is watered by long lines of
devotees who pass the pots from one hand to
another, thus bringing joy to the plants from
the well behind the building. Sai Baba has made
it a genuine botanical garden, for it contains
fruit and flower trees from many different parts
of the country and trees that do not ordinarily
thrive in that particular climatic belt, such as
the eucalyptus from Australia, the silver oak,
orange, and coffee trees!
The day begins
at the Prasanthi
Nilayam
with the ringing of the prayer hall bell at 4:30
a.m., announcing the Divine Moment or period
when devotees must prepare for meditation and
the repeating of God's Name. At 4:45 the singing
of Om
begins in the hall and continues for about half
an hour, followed by silent recollection of the
Name until 6 : 00 in the morning. The syllable
Om
is extolled in the Upanishads
as the
best and most effective symbol of God. It
contains three Sacred Holy Sounds.
A,
U, and
M,
as well as the soundless stage where the
sound of Om
rings into the silence and makes the disciple
feel the communion with God, as the consummation
of the contemplation of
Om
is the attainment of "Pure Consciousness."
The waking state in which the soul is dominated
by darkness and is engaged with the gross
physical body, is represented by the letter
A.
The dreaming state in which the soul is
dominated by the quality of activity and passion
and is engrossed with the subtle body, is
represented by the letter
U.
The state of deep sleep which finds the soul in
a state of inner wisdom dominated by goodness
and truth, represented by the letter
M.
The waking and dreaming states merge in sleep.
The fourth state of the soundless
Om
represents the state of the self per
se.
The
significance of Om
is often explained in public speeches and
private conversation by Sai Baba.
Om
is also repeated before and after each Adoration
Session, since it is the one great all-inclusive
representative of God, non-sectarian and
universally accepted.
Sai Baba also
constantly emphasizes the need for meditation
with the repeating of the Name of God as an
essential discipline for everyone. He gives
detailed instructions and guidance to everyone
who is eager to practice them. So there are at
the Prasanthi
Nilayam
many devotees who engage in this type of worship
for many hours a day. While Sai Baba is at the
Prasanthi
Nilayam,
He is engaged all the time in the task of
blessing devotees, giving them chances of seeing
His Grace, contacting Him, making obeisance, and
conversing with Him. He eats the simple food of
the poorest of the land, food cooked and brought
with devotion by the devotees at the
Nilayam.
He sleeps
on a bed spread on the floor. He sits on a chair
placed generally on a platform in the west
portion of the hall during the singing of songs
of love to God, and He gives
Darshan
to all in the hall. He allows them to touch His
Feet whenever He comes down to the
hall.
The morning
hours resound with the powerful chants of the
wisdom writings of ancient India. These are
repeated in the prayer hall during consecration
and worship with the Thousand Names of God. The
Sivalingam
(Siva
emblem), was "taken" for this purpose out of the
sands of the river Chitravathi, November 1958.
In the evening during most of the year, the
Bhagavatha,
Ramayana,
or other great religious texts are expounded for
about two hours by learned pundits.
Everyone who
comes to the Nilayam
has the supreme advantage of earning an
interview with Sai Baba before departure from
Puttaparthi. It is given individually if they
have come alone, in a group if they have come as
members of a family. Perhaps no other Divine
Manifestation has poured out so much Grace! Baba
is the Divine Physician, diagnosing the ills of
the supplicant and laying bare the innermost
blemishes of character or conduct with the
utmost kindness, applying the soothing balm of
His Grace for the prescription of appropriate
remedies. The Interview Room at Puttaparthi has
been the scene of countless transformations of
character, revolutions of belief, confirmation
of faith, curing of disease, calming of temper,
discarding of hatred, salvaging of souls, and
reunion of hearts. Seldom does a person leave
after the interview with a dry eye. Sai Baba
gives to everyone hope and courage, contentment
and faith, assurance and solace, because He
says, "Why fear when I am here? Put all your
faith in Me. I shall guide and guard
you."
The songs of
love to God sung in the prayer hall are highly
elevating experiences, for the atmosphere is one
of serene reverence. Baba Himself is generally
present in the hall at such times. On rare
occasions, when He feels so inclined, He sits
with the devotees and teaches in His entrancing
manner various ways of singing the Names of
God.
"The father
might be a Ph.D., but when he puts his son
through the alphabet, he has to take up the
slate and write on it the letters,
A,
B, C
and D;
but one does not infer that the father is
learning the alphabet," says Baba. The songs are
not all about Sri Sathya Sai Baba or His
previous appearance as Sai Baba of Shirdi. They
cover the widest possible range of the truths of
the various manifestations of God through the
ages. They are sung in the languages of Telugu,
Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, and Sanskrit. Emphasis is
on the meaning and the "emotion of surrender."
They are sung in unison and to the correct
marking of time. Sai Baba has often expounded on
the loud singing of the Lord's Name in unison as
an act of service to others. He has compared the
loud clapping of the hands in time during
singing to the clapping of hands under a
crow-infested tree in order to frighten the
birds away! "The noisy crows of desire and
hatred in your minds can be driven out by the
loud clapping of hands as an accompaniment to
the ecstatic repetition of the Lord's Name,"
says Sai Baba. Baba exhorts everyone to engage
himself in the repetition of the Name of the
Lord. Any Name that appeals to the individual
is, in His eyes, as good and effective as any
other.
Baba has
composed numerous songs for the edification of
His devotees. Many of these summarize in simple
Telugu, Kannada, or Tamil, the spiritual
disciplines that every mortal must adopt so that
the purpose of this human episode may be
realized. For example, there is one song which
asks all to plod through the pilgrimage of life
with Truth, Righteousness, Peace, and Love as
inseparable companions and guides: "Effort and
endeavour is the duty of man; success and
failure depend on the Lord's Grace. Engage
yourselves in your allotted task every day with
the consciousness of the living Presence of the
Lord always by your side. Do not yearn for the
eight attainments or you may be lost in mere
delusion. In this thick jungle of life hold fast
to His Name; that is enough. Cultivate well the
heart which is your farm; the mind is the
plough; the qualities of inertia, action, and
balance are the bullocks; take up the whip of
discrimination and start the ploughing of your
heart! Courage is the best of all fertilizers;
the seeds that you sow must be the seeds of
Divine Love; devotion is the rain; emotions are
the weeds; the harvest is the merging in the
Universal itself!" The prayer sessions at
Prasanthi Nilayam are gatherings of holy seekers
who become purified by instruction and
strengthened by inspiration from Baba directly
and through these songs.
Formerly Sai
Baba used to take the devotees out almost daily
to the sands of the Chitravathi River, and
prayers were held there under the stars with the
hills as venerable listeners and the river
murmuring response. He does so occasionally even
now. Sitting on the sands, Sai Baba teaches the
devotees new songs He has composed for their
elevation and edification, and He encourages
people to ask Him any questions regarding
spiritual matters, for which He gives satisfying
answers.
It was
November 1949 when the author reached
Puttaparthi one morning about half past nine and
found an atmosphere of exultation pervading the
temple (the Prasanthi
Nilayam
was then half completed). Everyone was
talking about Sai Baba's going to the river
sands that evening. Congratulations were
received for being on time for the visit to the
river sands with Baba. About half past five that
afternoon Baba came out of His room and walked
briskly at the head of a large throng of
visitors, scattering joy all around Him by His
very Presence and making many a quip and joke,
pleasantry or inquiry.
Stepping
across the tiny trickle to which the river had
been reduced, He trudged along the sands seeking
a place clean and dry for the party to sit.
After proceeding about two hundred yards, He
decided on a site, and all sat around Him, the
men on one side, the women on the other, as is
always the custom at the temple. Sai Baba waited
graciously until the oldest and the weakest of
the devotees reached the spot and were
comfortably seated.
Then the
discourse began. In reply to a question from a
devotee as to whether
Karma
(activity) has to be given up to attain
Liberation, Sai Baba gave a sweet simple
exposition on the sublimation of all
Karma
through the attitude of dedication to the Lord.
This attitude would take away the craving for
the fruits of action and loosen the bonds of
attachment which produce sorrow and rebirth.
Devotion, devoid of
Karma
- mere love without acts through which it is
expressed - is like a basement without a wall.
Karma
without devotion is like a wall without a
basement! Baba said during His discourse, "I am
the Servant of everyone. You can call Me by any
Name, I will respond, for all names are Mine. Or
rather, I have no particular Name at all. Even
if I am discarded by you, I shall be with you.
In My view, there are no atheists at all; all
are existing by and for the Lord; denying the
sun does not make it disappear."
After this
discourse Baba taught a few songs, and then a
question turned the proceedings to another
topic. This time it was about Sai Baba of
Shirdi, "the previous body," that He spoke. He
described the features of Sai Baba of Shirdi and
derided all types of pictures now being
circulated as incorrect caricatures. Even while
he was saying this, He dug His Fingers into the
sands, and instantly there in His Hand was a
fine picture which He showed to everyone present
as the authentic portrait representing Sai Baba
of Shirdi as He really was! He gave the picture
to one of the devotees present. Conversation
naturally moved on to Baba's being a
manifestation of Dattatreya,
"the Unity of the Trinity." Again Baba's Fingers
went into the sands, and lo, there came into His
Hand a charming metal image of
Dattatreya.
In their
excitement all had now gathered closer around
Sai Baba, and He felt that each of them must
receive something from Him and return happy. He
therefore "took" out from the sands a thick flat
block of sugar candy which He broke into pieces
and distributed personally to every man, woman,
and child (for as He said, if anyone else did
the distribution, there would not be enough for
each!). He then took a handful of sand and
poured it onto a plate. As He poured, it became
Vibhuti, the Sanctifying Ash! This He gave to
all present.
Sai Baba is so
fond of these open-air prayer sessions and
discourses, that He takes the devotees to the
river bed or seashore whenever one is within
reach. Baba has held prayer sessions and
discussion groups of this nature on the sands of
the Godavari, the Kaivalya, the Swarnamukhi, the
Vaigai, and other rivers, as well as on the
banks of the Ganges, the Jhelum, and the Yamuna.
He has also sat with devotees on the seashore of
Madras, Tranquebar, Masulipatam, Cape Comorin,
and Kovalam, and performed miracles of turning
the sand into pictures, images,
Vibhuti,
or whatever He wanted it to become!
Generally,
Sai Baba takes the devotees to the sands on
festival days. On the festival day in honor of
the birthday of Lord
Krishna
or perhaps on the preceding day, He very often
visits the sands and sometimes "takes" from the
sand an image of Krishna
which is displayed in the hall on the actual
birthday of Lord
Krishna.
Afterwards it is given to a devotee to be
worshipped in his shrine at home. Also on
Rama's
birthday, or perhaps on the previous day, Baba
"takes" from the seashore or river bed,
depending upon where He is at the time, images
of Rama.
Near Kalahasthi He "took" such images from the
Swarnamuki River of more than usual size, and
they are kept at Venkatagiri and offered worship
regularly in that city. During the evening of
the Heavenly Eleventh Day of the Moon, He has
for many years been regularly "taking" Divine
Nectar for distribution among the devotees while
in the midst of prayers or discourses on the
river bed or seashore. For example, on December
21, 1958, during Baba's Kerala Tour, He went to
the Kovalam Beach, seven miles away from the
town of Trivandrum, accompanied by many
devotees. At a quiet spot on the seashore, a
mile away from the bathing area, Baba sat with
the devotees around Him, and sang a few songs
which were followed by a prayer session. During
the session Baba "took" from the sands a
bewitching sandalwood image of
Lord
Krishna
playing the flute, and after a few minutes He
"took" a gold ring with the
Krishna
motif embossed on it! Everyone expected that
Baba would distribute amrita, "nectar of
immortality," "taken" by Him from nowhere. They
were not disappointed, for even as the devotees
sang, the fragrance of the nectar was wafted in
the still night air and no one knew from where!
Baba's Palms became sticky, as if saturated with
syrup, even while beating time for the songs.
All knew that the fragrance was then emanating
from those Palms. He held His Palms together and
pointed them at a silver vessel. Thick ambrosial
"honey" flowed into it from His Hand! He
distributed it Himself to all present, including
some fishermen who had joined the group. The
sweetness and scent of the nectar were
incomparably strange and outside the experience
of everyone.
On the Telugu
New Year's Day, Sai Baba generally distributes
the traditional mixture of "bitter-sweet." On
the Pongal Day the cattle of
Nilayam
are
decorated and taken in procession; the villagers
come up to the temple for worship when the
cane-crushing season starts and the extractors
are about to be operated. The devotees delight
when they are granted the chance of celebrating
initiations, marriages, and other scriptural
rites in the immediate presence of Sai Baba and
in the Nilayam
itself. The platform on the eastern end of the
prayer hall is generally used for such religious
functions.
On
Deepavali
Day,
the Day of Victory over the Forces of Evil, Baba
takes delight in firework displays and also
distributes strings of firecrackers and color
matches to the children of the devotees at
Nilayam
as well as to the children of the village.
He sends New Year messages of assurance and
admonition on January first to devotees who have
earned the blessing. On His birthday He often
sends birthday blessings to devotees.
Three
festivals are celebrated every year at
Puttaparthi, and they are attracting
increasingly larger and larger throngs from
wider and wider areas. They are, first, the
Dasara,
the holiday celebrating the triumph of right
over wrong; second,
Mahasivaratri,
the Night of worshipping God
Siva;
and third, the birthday of Sai Baba, which is
celebrated every year on the twenty-third of
November.
The
Dasara
has been
celebrated from the very announcement of the
manifestation. In the early days prayer and
worship were performed every day and Baba was
adorned with ornaments, rings, necklaces, and
crown, and taken in procession in a palanquin,
each day decorated in different styles. The
climax was reached on
Vijayadasami,
the "Tenth Day, the Day of Victory." Within a
few years, Baba emphasized the religious and
spiritual significance of the worship of God as
Mother; so the character of the celebrations
took on a new phase. Worship by all women
devotees twice a day, and the performing of
music, poetry, drama, and other arts gained a
place in the worship of the Mother as the
Goddess of Learning.
Some idea of
the festivities can be gained by going through
the program which was printed and sent to the
devotees. For example, the celebrations for the
1958 Dasara
began
with the Flag Raising Ceremony on the morning of
the first day. The devotees gathered in solemn
silence around the Lotus Circler, and to the
sound of bells, Sai Baba unfurled the flag. On
many occasions He has explained the inner
meaning of the symbol of the lotus that is in
front of the Nilayam, as well as on the flag.
Worship of God by all women devotees begins at
noon and is performed twice daily for the ten
days. The second day is set apart for social
work by the devotees - repair of the approach
road, cleaning of the place where the poor are
to be fed on a subsequent day. In the evening
the devotees listen to discourses by Sai Baba
and experienced social workers about the proper
attitude and the need for doing
Karma,
activity, suffused with and nourished by
devotion. The third day is the Children's Day
with sports and fancy dress, drama and
recitations by the children. Sai Baba makes all
the children happy and at ease, persuading them
to proceed when they forget their words,
caressing them into confidence. Baba gives
prizes to each child participating, and these
become the pride of the family. On the fourth
day, the Poets' Assembly is held in the
immediate presence of Baba. Poets from far and
near recite and expound in such languages as
Telugu, Tamil, Sanskrit, Kanada, and English.
They too are the proud recipients of presents
which are highly valued because they are given
with so much kindness and by a person who is
Himself the Kavi,
the "Divine
Seer."
Baba blesses the devotees with His discourse on
two or three days during
Dasara,
thus giving the thousands who come,
something to live by, some capital to carry home
and invest in daily life. The sixth and eighth
evenings are devoted to devotional singing. On
the seventh day, the poor are fed and clothes
are distributed to the maimed and destitute.
Someone asked Sai Baba why news of this mammoth
function, in which about four or five thousand
persons are given clothes or saris, did not
appear in any newspaper. Baba replied, "I wonder
why it should! When your kith and kin come to
you and you feed them, do you invite the press
and crave publicity?"
Sai Baba
appears happiest that day of all days, and it
can be said to be His busiest day. He examines
the kitchen and the preparing of the dishes and
supervises the seating arrangements. Bending
before the out-held leaves, He serves the sweets
to almost everyone. He walks along the lane of
the needy and selects those to whom clothes are
to be given. Tickets are issued and names are
later called out. Those in need walk up to Baba
and receive from His Hands the coveted present.
It is an inspiring sight and a very
heart-warming experience. He has a kind word for
everyone. He treats the blind, the maimed, the
very old, and the faltering with special
consideration, asking the young to aid and guide
them. He advises them to be careful and cautious
in the dark and fashions kind inquiries about
them. He makes the moment precious to
everyone.
Once the rains
melted away the brightness of the festoons in
front of the Nilayam during the first three or
four days of Dasara. Baba wanted the decorations
to be renewed in time for the Day of the Feeding
of the Poor. He said, "They are our most
distinguished guests, and the temple should
appear bright and cheerful when they come." That
is the attitude He teaches the devotees to
adopt.
The other days
of the festival are devoted to music recitals,
vocal, instrumental, or orchestral. Many
musicians compete for the privilege of appearing
on these festival days, because Baba Himself is
the Great Musician who sings in a captivatingly
charming style. They are eager to win His
blessings.
On
Vijayadasasmi
Day, ritual bath is performed to the image of
Sai Baba of Shirdi, and Baba generally
materializes a lingam and places it on the head
of the image prior to the rite.
Siva
has a Tamil appellation meaning, "He who
became also the Mother". As the story goes, He
once attended a woman during the delivery of her
child, since the midwife who was hastening to
attend her could not reach the place because of
the floods in the Cauvery River. Therefore Siva
assumed the form of the midwife, reached the
place in time, and nursed her as a midwife
would! Sai Baba has been the Mother many times.
He has often taken upon Himself the labor pains
and has also "gone out" of His Body to act as
midwife during delivery. Women in far off places
have felt His Presence and He has referred to it
at Puttaparthi, explaining that He had set right
the posture of the infant before the delivery so
that the event might be without pain.
There was a
lady in a hospital whose baby had died on the
sixth day due to her umbilical cord's being
improperly cut. The wound became septic and the
mother's life was endangered because the
placenta had not been removed and could not be,
due to the septic conditions. The worst was
expected. Aware of this, Baba at Puttaparthi
"went out" of His Body and was gone for an hour.
Two hundred fifty miles away at the hospital,
the placenta came away, the temperature dropped,
and the mother began to recover. Joy dawned
again on the faces at her bedside. Baba said
when He returned to His Body, that He had been
to the hospital and had presented the Vision of
His Hand to the patient. On the third day a
letter came from her describing the Vision and
the cure.
In 1950, on
the day for worshipping the renowned
Lakshmi, the Goddess of Love and Harmony,
Baba accepted worship and received the offerings
made by the women who had fulfilled those
particular vows. Those who had this unique good
fortune say that He actually appeared to them
dressed in sari and blouse and resplendent with
bangles, necklaces, nose stud, and ear
ornaments! No wonder the
Dasara,
Ten-nights Festival when
Devi,
the Goddess, is worshipped as the Goddesses
Durga,
Lakshmi,
Sarasvati, Annapurna, Tripurasundari,
Lalita,
and other forms, is attracting thousands to
Puttaparthi where
"Mother"
Sai
is so beneficent and bountiful.
Siva-ratri,
"the Night of the Siva,"
is also an equally important festival. The
devotees perform all night vigil with prayers
and songs of love to God with Baba's Presence
reminding them of Siva
Himself. A profusion of Ash emanates from Baba's
hands, forehead, toes, and face, and He
liberally blesses with Ash all types of erring
humanity. Since 1950,
Siva-ratri
has been celebrated at Puttaparthi, and each
year since the declaration of the manifestation,
Sivalingams
have materialized within His Body.
Baba
has said He often finds it very difficult to
postpone or prevent the formations of
lingams
within Him. In the evening Baba gives
Darshan
during prayers, and after an hour or so, He
begins His discourses. Very often He is
interrupted by spasmodic struggles in the
stomach. He continues with the speech until the
region of the struggle changes to the upper part
of the chest and the neck. He seems to be
undergoing some kind of physical tension, and
suddenly, to the joyous wonder of all, lingams
fall from His Mouth. [See Swami materialize
the lingam, Shivarathri,
04-03-2000
(2.8MB)]
They are then
generally placed on the image of Sai Baba of
Shirdi, and after the celebrations end, are
given by Baba to devotees to be worshipped
according to instruction. Such lingams have been
worshipped now for over sixteen years. The
lingams that emanate on successive
Siva-ratri
days differ in number, size and composition.
Sometimes only one is formed; the material is
apparently sphatika, gold, or silver. Often
times there are more in number - three, five,
seven, or nine! They are about an inch and a
half in height. All are complete with the base
and are marked with the three horizontal lines
symbolizing Vibhuti,
Sacred Ash. This producing of the lingams is
indeed a unique and mysterious manifestation of
the Divine Will.
When we
describe the manifestations of His Will, we
should not fail to pay homage to the
Personification of that Will, Baba Himself. He
is the "Abode of Peace" wherever He is and
whenever He is worshipped, remembered, or called
upon with devotion. When a devotee requested the
members of an assembly which Baba had just
addressed at the Gokhale Hall in Madras to go to
Puttaparthi and join the wonderful devotional
singing at Prasanthi Nilayam, Baba
immediately corrected him and said, "No, no. You
can be where you are. I shall come to you. Do
not put yourself to the expense which you may
not be able to afford. If you call upon Me, I
shall be at your side." A medieval Kannada poet
has sung that the distance between God and us is
just the distance that our call will reach.
Believe in Him and call on Him; He will answer,
"I am here." One can call on Him by any of His
Names.
In October
1957 a hospital was inaugurated on the hill
behind the Nilayam. It contained six beds for
female patients and six beds for male patients,
a full complement of equipment for surgical and
maternity cases, and a room complete with an
x-ray unit. It commands a magnificent panorama
of surrounding mountains which sweep to the very
banks of the Chitravathi River. Baba chose the
site in spite of murmurings of engineers,
because as He said, the patients would be
inspired by the Lord's handiwork before their
eyes. He got bulldozers, cut and leveled three
terraces where there was once a rocky side of a
hill, and planned the hospital on the topmost
terrace. Speaking on the occasion of the
Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony, He said that
everyone, rich or poor, educated or uneducated,
pious or not pious, was subject to disease.
Because there were no good hospitals for miles
around, and more importantly, as an example of
the service which the Lord Himself performs in
order to make man do likewise, and thus earn the
Grace the Lord, Baba said He planned the
hospital at Puttaparthi. He also said that those
who come to the hospital for their physical ills
will naturally turn to
Prasanthi
Nilayam
for the treatment and cure of their spiritual
ills also.
Baba
supervised the construction, acquiring of
equipment, and watched over the devotees who,
standing in long queues along the slope of the
hill, passed from hand to hand metal, stones,
bricks, water, mud, mortar, and everything
needed for the structure that dominates the
landscape today! On the first annual celebration
the Medical Officer in charge spoke of many
miraculous recoveries that had happened through
the blessings of Baba. Baba said that it was due
to the spirit of love and service with which
every stone and brick of the building was
saturated. Sai Baba, when visiting the hospital,
persuades the patients to take medicines or
undergo injection or surgery. The sweetness of
His words and healing influence of His looks
hasten recovery. Baba often has many things to
teach the doctors in charge. He is Himself the
Great Physician and Surgeon. He gives practical
advice on the maintenance of mental equanimity
and physical wholesomeness by the methods of
repeating the Divine Name of God and meditation
which keep the entire personality in
balance.
Case reports
published in the Nilayam magazine are invaluable
for medical practitioners, for they reveal how
desperate illnesses are cured by the healing
influence of the Divine Grace that presides over
this hospital. While ardent devotees of Sai Baba
are content to leave the welfare of their
physical frames to His will, there are some who,
on His advice, take as a curative the Sacred Ash
that He gives or the medical treatment He
recommends. As Baba says, He does not recommend
the same prescription for all. Just as a doctor
might prescribe four different types of
treatment for four different patients suffering
from stomach-ache, Baba also recommends
different remedies for different patients. He is
the Great Physician.
To the right
and left of the Nilayam, beyond the garden and
behind the building, are a number of dwellings
where devotees live. When the residents are
away, these living quarters can be made of use
by others who come to
Puttaparthi.
Baba directs
and guides every item of work at the Nilayam,
and devotees eagerly await His
instructions.
While
traveling by car, and when seeking a place for
breakfast or lunch, He selects locations which
are gems of beauty - among the eucalyptic slopes
of Nilgiri or Kodaikanal Hills, the pine
corridors of Kashmir, the arid plains of
Bellary, the green carpets of Seringapatnam, the
coastal coconut gardens of Kerala, the Palmyra
avenues of Tinnevelly, the canal bank near
Samalkot, or the igneous fields of Raichur. He
draws the attention of those around Him to a
beautiful sunset or sunrise, the captivating
panorama of a clouded sky, or a ring around the
moon. "Andame
Anandam,"
meaning "beauty is bliss," is often on His
Lips.
Baba is also a
great lover of cattle. The cowshed at
Prasanthi
Nilayam
is a model for farmers of the surrounding
villages. He spends many hours with the cows,
feeding and nursing them; He decorates them on
Pongal Day and has a scintillating variety of
ornamental pieces for this purpose. For some
time he had a horse, as well as stags, deer,
peacocks and rabbits which were blessed to
receive His loving touch and
tenderness.
Baba
also has had a number of dogs as His pets. The
story of these dogs is an interesting episode of
the Lord's care and mercy. Jack and Jill, two
Pomeranians from Cotacamund, were the first of
the canine pets. Baba says they used to fast
every Thursday as if by some holy compulsion!
And they could never be induced to consume
flesh! Jack used to sleep at the head of Baba's
bed and Jill at the foot. After three years of
being in His Presence, Jack breathed his last,
lying on Baba's lap. His end was worthy of his
life. The previous night Jack had followed a car
which had to be parked far away from the
Nilayam. He lay quietly under the car, unknown
to the occupants, for he had a way of
volunteering to keep watch over the cars. His
tiny bark used to keep off the village urchins.
Early in the morning when the car moved off,
Jack was nearly killed. He mustered sufficient
strength, said Baba, to drag himself along the
river bed back to the Nilayam. With a great
final effort he pulled himself onto the lap of
Baba. With his eyes glued on Baba's face and his
tail shaking feebly with joy, Jack concluded his
brief but blessed earthly career. Jill could not
live alone; she followed him in a few weeks.
Both are buried in the quadrangle and a
structure for growing a holy plant has been
built over their mortal remains. Chitty and
Bitty, Lilly and Billy were other Pomeranians
that followed. Then there Were the Cocker
Spaniels, Minnie and Mickie, as well as Honey
and Goldie. Baba had these for some years and
later gave them to devotees. He inquires even
now about their welfare. Baba has had some
Alsatians too, Rover and Rita, who were later
followed by Tommy and Henry. These animals have
received the tenderness and love of Baba in
great measure. We to whom the animal world is
different have to learn this lesson while
observing His affection for them - never harm
animals for the sake of sustenance or pleasure,
and always look upon all created things as
belonging to the one family.
Sai Baba
speaks of the element of destiny and says that
if some animal or man earns His Grace, it is due
to destiny. He always adds that His Grace can be
earned by spiritual practice or disciplined
life, self-control, selfless service to all,
because each man symbolizes Narayana, "God in
man." Just as an examiner judges the answers of
the papers of candidates, the Lord too values
our achievements. If the answers reveal earnest
study and an active interest in the subject as
well as a grasp of the methodology of the
science involved, the examiner will understand
even a poor performance so far as the actual
answer material is concerned.
It has been
the experience of some devotees that they are
unable to go to Puttaparthi in spite of their
tremendous efforts. But more often, as soon as
the devotees plan a visit, everything becomes
easy. Leave, money and companions become
available quickly and all obstacles are removed.
Baba says that without His will, no one can
start the journey to Puttaparthi; he cannot
reach the place where Baba is.
His
Omniscience and Omnipresence are revealed to
everyone who meets Him in the Interview Room. He
tells the visiting devotee what he has said, has
done, or has felt; to whom he has spoken, and on
what; what he has feared and plotted, suffered
and lost. If you want to consult Him on ten
points, He will have answered them and more even
before you ask! He might reveal what you
actually experienced in your dreams, repeating
the very words which in the dream you had heard
Him say. He may even lay bare your history down
to the minutest detail, and where there was
sorrow and weakness, He will replace it with joy
and strength.
"He is
tireless in His ministry of compassion," says
Principal H.S. Rao. "Baba's words do not merely
soothe, but open up new levels of consciousness
and reveal hidden strength and goodness of one's
nature. The seeker is enabled by His Grace to
know himself, to realize more keenly his duties,
responsibilities, and even shortcomings. All
this He does in the most natural way, patting
you affectionately on the back. His eyes alight
with a merry twinkle, and speaking so that you
can understand. There is such power in what He
utters, such depth of conviction, that you are
left speechless at the Omniscience of Baba and
His miraculous perception of your individual
problems and needs."
Thus the
teachings given at Prasanthi Nilayam rebuild
mankind; thus does the Presence of Sai Baba urge
mankind onward.
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