"Signs
and Wonders"
The
entrance of Prasanthi Nilayam
There was a
blind person once who came to the
Nilayam
for getting his eyesight restored; he was a
teacher in the State of Mysore, who had lost his
sight suddenly, without any apparent reason.
Baba did not pay any attention to him, at first.
Then one day He said to me pointing to the man
being led by his wife along the verandah, "See,
that man wants his eyes back; he does not know
that blindness, is his good fortune"! Two days
later, he received a letter from the Government
of India offering him a scholarship to go to
Delhi for training in an Institution for
Teaching the Blind! I know of one deaf
supplicant, to whom Baba said, "Your ears are
your Guru; they brought you to Me; now, be
thankful that at least one source of attachment
is providentially put out of action". About
another supplicant, He said, "If I give him back
his eyesight he is sure to ruin himself". He has
the knowledge of the past and the future; open
book for him. So, He says, "I do not feel the
meaningless sympathy that you pour so easily; I
have to calculate the potentialities, the
retribution they deserve, the use or misuse they
will make of additional faculties and
capabilities." When some one died in one of the
cottages around Prasanthi Nilayam, and the
kinsmen prayed that Baba might revive him, Baba
said, "Do you mean to say that this area alone
is mine? What of the thousands who have died
this moment allover the world? They are also as
much mine as this person. Again, tell me how
this man is indispensable for the world's
progress? He has finished his career; he was
born to work out
his
destiny, not to provide temporary trivial joy to
a few."
In the
Vivekachudamani, Sankaracharya refers to the
Master as "Ahethukadayasindhu - the Ocean of
Mercy that saves without any reason or context."
Baba is like that. He cures some chronic
illnesses by the exercise of His will; He allows
other supplicants to suffer. No one can say,
why. The instance of Seshagiri Rao who is
referred to in the First Volume too will throw
some light on this aspect of Baba's
ministration. Seshagiri Rao, who tended the
shrine at the Old Mandir and later at the
Nilayam for full 14 years had a fall and was in
the throes of death. He was declaring aloud with
his last breath the amazing Truth which no one
except sages recall at the moment of crisis:
"This body composed of the five elements is
disintegrating into its components; I am being
liberated"! I stood by, admiring and envying the
old man. "What great good fortune, to pass into
the beyond with these words on one's lips!", I
told myself. Suddenly, Baba appeared in the
room, as some one had informed Him of the
approaching demise of His trusted servitor. Baba
chided Seshagiri Rao in firm tones. He said,
"How dare you start on this journey, without
taking a ticket from Me? Come down, do the task
allotted to you. I order you to come to the
Prayer Hall this noon and carry on with
Arathi,
as usual. We stood aghast, at this 'unkindness',
but, who are we to pit our judgment against the
All-knowing One? Seshagiri Rao obeyed the order;
he attended
Bhajan
and went through his allotted schedule of
work.
The
Super Specialty
Hospital [see
* for some
details]
Six months
later, he fell ill, seriously ill. He was
admitted to the Sathya Sai Hospital; his
condition became worse, pathetically worse. His
brain became soft, he lost all disgust of dirt,
he made everyone sad that a faithful servant of
God should suffer so. His brother came from
Bangalore and prayed to Baba that he may be
allowed to take him to the Victoria Hospital,
where he could be given personal attention by
his sons and nephews, who were employed there.
But, Baba said, "Do not worry; seeing his
present plight. I am allowing him to work out
the suffering he has to undergo. After this, he
has the chance to die peacefully and quite
happily. Otherwise, I could have dispatched him
months ago, when he had a fall." And, it
happened so. A month passed. Seshagiri Rao
recovered quite mysteriously. The sun shone
around him in his apartment. He spent six weeks
of bliss, doing his chores. Then he started to
decline and was in bed. His son was by his side,
tending him lovingly. One evening, Baba went
into the room. I had the privilege of going with
him. He asked me to bring a cup of hot milk.
Spoon by spoon, He fed him the entire cup,
calling on him by name and telling him that it
was his Baba that was feeding him! Then, He rose
and moved; turning back while at the door, He
looked at him and said, "Now, you
can
go"! And, Seshagiri Rao obeyed, within an hour!
Baba knew when he had to come down and when he
had to "go". We can only watch and pray, only
stand aghast, at the wonder and meaningful
"waywardness" of the wind of
Grace.
Let Dr. T.
Nallainathan of Castle Lane, Colombo tell us of
one such wonder. "A boy of 12 called Anthonis
was suffering from Ependymoma (a cancerous
growth of the cauda equlova of the spinal cord
inside the lower vertebrae). His father's
brother is a famous surgeon, and the
neuro-surgeon performed an operation in his
presence which lasted for 3 hours and 15
minutes; but, no good came out of it. The boy
passed urine for 24 hours, without intermission,
while unconscious. This did not stop, nor could
it be checked or decreased. A member of the
Sathya Sai Seva Samithi, Colombo gave the child
a little
vibhuthi
brought from Baba, that very night. The parents
found a noticeable improvement. So, they went
post-haste to Baba at Madras; they had His
Darsan
on November, 10th.
Bhagavan
created an amulet by a wave of the hand and
asked that it be worn round the wrist. They had
Darsan twice and returned home happy. I saw the
boy on Christmas Day, playing delightfully and
talking of attending school, after the holidays!
I know he is attending school
now."
Among the
large number of cases that have come to my
notice, I shall quote here a specially wonderful
cure. One noon in '66, February, a young couple
arrived by car from Bangalore, after landing
there by plane from Delhi. The lady's brother
had been sent home from a New Delhi Hospital, as
a hopeless, casualty. Some one told them of Baba
and they came to seek His Grace, so that the
brothers life might be saved. Baba gave into my
hands two packets of Vibhuthi from the
receptacle kept in His Room for distribution by
Him and asked me to tell them, to take them to
the Patient 'immediately!' The case history of
the brother makes very sad reading; "Balija,
aged 30; chronic nephritis; anaemia. In July,
1960 had attack of pain in left lumber region
and haematuria. In Dec. 1960, was noticed to
have swelling of the whole body. Urine-Alb. was
+ + +. He had generalized anasarca, too. Blood
urea-normal; blood pressure-normal. X-ray Alb.
normal; X-ray chest, normal. In 1964, Dec.,
complained of diminution of vision. Blood
pressure 240/140. X-ray and intravenous
Pyelography: Dye not secreted by both kidneys.
Blood urea-70 mgm. Urine- Alb. + + +; Treatment
continued with hypertensive drugs. Then,
suffered from hypertensive encephalopapathy
(Oculogynic crisis) - involuntary movement of
the right side of the face. BP-240/140. Admitted
to Hospital: Treated with hypertensives and
sedatives. Blood urea-98-132. Come down to 80
mgm. Urine alb-heavy traces, no casts.
Occasional RBC. BP came down to normal, but,
rose for 10 days to 150/100-200/120. Urine
output ... 50-60 oz. Hemoglobin gradually
decreasing. On 18-12-1965, H-9 gms. RBC 3'5
million; Hg 8 gms; 7'5 gms; 29-1-66 HC-5'8 gms.
At present, patient gets restless; pallor and
slight puffiness of face - pain in both joints;
unbearable pain, treatment: Adelphin Esidrex 2
tablets, 3 times a day; Serpasil, 1-2 tablets,
three times a day; Injection Serpasil SOS,
Injection Largactil. Injection Jacttofer started
on 22-1-1966 on a alternate days. Pot. Chloride
gr 15, three times a day; diet, protein
restricted." The two packets of Vibhuthi were to
be given, internally in water and some of it was
to be smeared over the body. I was amazed when I
received a telegram from the sister that they
were bringing the patient to Prasanthi Nilayam
'the next day.' This was before the fortnight
was over, after their visit. The car from
Bangalore came into the compound and three
people came out, the couple and a stranger. They
walked briskly towards the Mandir and as soon as
I saw and recognized them, I inquired, "Where is
the patient?" They laughed and pointed him out
to me. It was the third Person, the man with no
sign of illness on him, except a woolen muffler
wound round his throat.
Or, let us
listen to another tale, from the Padubidris of
Bombay. "May, 4th, 1957. It was her first
birthday. The children's party was in full
swing. While her young guests helped themselves
with the snacks and sweets, the little hostess
rocked vigorously on her wooden horse. She
needed something to provide her distraction from
pain. Medical experts were investigating her
case. The birthday party was not quite over,
when the X-ray report came. It revealed with
sudden unbelievable finality that the poor
one-year-old was stricken with a bone-eating
disease of the worst type. Pott's Disease; the
disc between her 5th and 6th vertebrae was
completely destroyed. Nothing more grim could
have befallen us".
"The bone
specialist ordered that the child be strapped in
plaster to reduce her movements to the minimum
of almost nil, to help the decalcification.
Besides, a prick with streptomycin every day and
a long list of medicines and tonics were
prescribed. How long was she to be tortured
thus? We prayed to Sai Baba; dreamt that He was
holding the child protectively close to Him. In
June 1958, she was out of the plaster, but, the
doctor prescribed an iron jacket as support to
her decalcified vertebrae. On November 4th, we
reached Puttaparthi with her. Baba interviewed
us for 45 minutes. He blessed the child, stroked
her back, gave her Udi,
and told the anxious grandmother. "Leave
everything to Me; I shall always take care of
her; you are worrying too much about her." He
assured us that the child would start walking in
January ...and, she did!"
Instances
where He has willed off cases of cancer, saying
"Your cancer is cancelled", are plenty. The case
of D.R. Ghule is remarkable in many ways. In a
letter dated 15th June, '66, Rao Saheb V.R.
Ghule writes, "On 11th May, 1966, I had sent a
letter to Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba informing
Him of the sad plight of my brother, Dattatreya
Ramachandra Ghule, aged 76. I wrote, "The pain
is now concentrated on the right side of his
throat, like terrible pin thrust, even while
swallowing milk, tea, or coffee. He has become
very weak. He is unable to speak clearly. The
doctors at Jubbulpore declared it was cancer and
he is now taking X-ray treatment at the Tata
Hospital here at Bombay. Day by day, he is
getting weaker and weaker. We obtained the book,
"Sathyam
Shivam Sundaram"
and after reading it, we brought a photo of
yours and kept it in a prominent place for daily
darsan. I do not know whether this appeal will
reach you, for I do not know your present
address or your correct address. With folded
hands, I beseech you, to save my brother from
this terrible pain and
illness."
"On the 13th,
in the morning, my brother's condition became
serious and doctors called him for an immediate
operation. I placed a copy of my letter to Baba
at the feet of Baba in the picture and prayed
for His mercy. It was about 12.30 P.M. At 1
P.M., my brother asked for water, which he drank
freely! He, then, drank milk, which he had not
been able to take for the past! We took him to
the hospital, where he was found to be normal
and the doctors declared that there was no need
for an operation. He is now very much
better."
"Let
the children come to Me"
The amulets
packets of Vibhuthi, or other articles that He
gives are but assurances for the recipient, that
they have 'something' from his hands. They are
superfluous, when
we
know that His Will is
supreme.
It can cross frontiers of sea and land, language
and age, and it can be won by prayer, sincere
and deep. It cures, for reasons best known to
itself. He has come for the revival of morality
and the restoration of faith in God and in the
ultimate liberation of man from grief and pain.
These cures are visiting cards that He scatters,
in order to announce that the Divine has come
down among men. "Take up thy bed and walk" has
been said by Baba to many, at the Prasanthi
Nilayam, during the daily session of
Grace-gifts, called "interviews" and then, He
gives the advice, "Walk in fear, walk in hope,
walk in truth". There was a girl in her teens
who was being carried about by her brother. She
had come from Bhadravathi in Mysore State. For 5
long years, she had not set foot on the ground.
Baba called the brother to him and asked that
the sister be brought. He carried her in, as one
carries a child. Within minutes, the door of the
Room opened and 500 people sitting outside the
Nilayam saw the girl
walking
helped by the brother and mother; Baba had asked
that they go round the building three times!
And, the next day, she did it alone! And, Baba
exhorted the girl to go home and be happy! Each
cure is an eye-opener, the gift of a new vision,
the vision of the Divine Healer, who heals the
body so that it may be a fit instrument for the
conquest of the mind and for the realization of
the
Ananda
lying dormant within the region of the senses,
the emotions, the impulses and the
intellect!
"People
ask, "Where is God?" The answer is provided by
Nature.
Who is it that has created the five elements,
the five life-breaths, the five sheaths,
the five external sense organs and the five
internal sense organs,
which are alle ceaselessly carrying out their
functions according to their prescribed roles?
The seasons in their regular cycle are teaching
a lesson to man.
Therefore, Nature is the demonstrable proof for
the existence of God.
Nature is not under any obligation to any man,
it takes no orders
from any man, it operates according to the Will
of the Divine.
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