SATHYA SAI

                                                         Saibaba , came to Shirdi somewhere near 1872- and made an old   mosque as His residence, lived there till the year 1918 , the year in which He shed His body and attained samadhi.  Before leaving ,He promised His devotee Mr. H.L Dixit and several others , that He would come back after eight years in the Madras Presidency

                                  Eight years later Saibaba took birth on November 23, 1926 in the village Puttaparthi in Andhra Pradesh,south India.  Easwaramma, the chosen mother says that she saw a big blue fire ball emerging from the sky which entered her womb.  Swami started His miracles even before His birth.  The furniture in the house changed their position by itself.  The musical instruments played themselves during the time of His birth(Infact even before his birth).

At the same time Sri Aurobindo of Pondicherry declared on November 24th that a higher -Super power has descended down to the earth.He said he had been working intensively for the past few years for this descent of Supreme Lord in human form.

                                                   Swami was given the name Sathyanarayana, meaning the   “Lord of  Truth”.  His childhood was not as normal like others.  Although the family was not  vegetarian. Sathya rejected meat and had His food with His grand father who was a vegetarian.  He often brought a group of beggars,cripples,and blinds to the house.  When His mother complained of the cost, He would strictly go without meals.

                                                   Even in His early school days He used to produce sweets, fruits ,pencils and books which he gave to His classmates.  He told everyone that He had an invisible helper who produced him these items.On March 8, 1940 when He was 13, He was found unconscious.  People thought some scorpion would have bit him.  He was unconscious for 12 hours and when He came back to His senses He began to behave in an irrational manner.  He would burst into song, recite poetry which He had not known before.  He would exhibit a very great strength and then  relapse into weakness.  

                                                   His parents thought that He was possessed by an evil spirit and submitted him to several exorcists but all in vain.  Finally May 23rd, young Sathya made His Historic announcement: "I am Sai Baba. I belong to Bhardwaja Gotra. I have come to save you from dangers. Keep your houses clean and pure." To prove His claim He produces sweets, fruit,flowers and also some pieces of cloth from the holy dress of Shirdi baba , out of thin air. Then he took a handful fo flowers and threw them into the air. They fell to form, in perfect Telegu, the words 'SAI BABA'. Next He began to materialize vibhuti (ash) to reconfirm His identity. Oct 20th, Sathya or rather Sathya Sai Baba renounced family and home, saying "I am no longer your Sathya. I am Sai. I am going. I don't belong to you. My devotees are calling me. I have my work." ."(He said the present Sai avatar will be in the   world till His ripe age of 96(2022A.D) and then he will take re-birth a year later as Prema Sai in Karnataka.) Then he sat in the garden and sang His first famous bhajan: "Manasa Bhajare Guru Charanam. Dustara Bhavasagara Taranam." From that time hundreds if people began to gather to see the ‘Bala Sai’.

                                              Once a photographer took a picture of Swami along with a large rock, which He did not allow to remove.  The print showed not a rock but an image of the first Sai in front of the new one.

                                               First, bhajans were  held in His divine presence during Thursdays.  The Mandir, now called Old Mandir was built during 1944.  (This Pada Mandir has now been coverted into Marriage hall after the construction of Prashanthi Nilayam and this is named after Swami's ather as Venkappa Raju marriage Hall').When the foundation was laid for this Old Mandir, the ‘peetas’ of many holy Sivalingas were found.  Swami smiled and said ‘the Lingas are here’ pointing His stomach.

                                              During the Sivarathri celebration Swami started to render His divine discourse.  Suddenly He seemed to be disturbed.  He drank water, and suffered a lot.  During the Lingothbhava muhurtha in the holy hour, something emerged from His mouth glowing.  Swami held it high.  It was the holy Sivalinga.  Swami once manifested five such Lingas.  He manifests the Linga during the time Sivarathri till now
 

                                              Swami can materialize anything by just waving His hands in the air. Of these  materialization examples, the most common is of the vibhoothi, the holy ash.  This appears in His fingers and  even on His photographs though the master is hundreds of miles away.  Even today  we can witness this  growth of   vibhoothi in  the photographs either outside of the frame or underneath the glass.  

                                              Once Mr. Y.J Rao ,(  the head of geology department in the Osmania University) came to Prashanthi Nilayam, Swami, took a stone from the ground and asked His about the elements contained in it .  Mr Rao explained it geographically.  Swami insisted to explain in detail.  He was ready for that.  He explained about the atom, electron, proton, neutron etc…Swami took the stone and blowed a gentle breeze on it.  The stone transformed into a beautiful idol of Krishna playing flute. The color too, changed into dark blue.
  

                                             Each Leela of Swami is to bring out our spiritual discipline and to give spiritual knowledge.  These miracles brings out our hidden devotion.  Swami always says,
“COME TO ME  WITH EMPTY HANDS.
  I SHALL FILL IT WITH GIFTS  AND GRACE.”

                                           A devotee John Hislop narrates an experience he had :
                                           “ Swami put two twigs in His hands closed it and produced three rather slow breaths on it. Then He opened His hand and gave me a cross with a figure of Christ on it.”

                                            Swami said:
                                           “This  is an image of christ not as artists have imagined his and historians have told about him but as the actually, really and truly was, with stomach pulled away in and ribs all showing because he had not food for 8 days.”

                                          The cross was piece of wood from the original cross on which  Christ was crucified.  Later the lab tests confirmed that the age of the wood was two thousand years.

                                           During another occasion Swami materialized a ring to Hislop in which the face of the next Sai Avatar(Prema Sai) was seen.  Not only that, when Swami gave the ring, it showed only the rightside of the face.  Day by day, Prema Sai turned His face millimeter by millimeter and after few months He began to show the left side of the face.

                                         Once an Engineer Mr. Joka Rao, requested Swami to grant his divya darshan.   Swami agreed to his request by a grin.  When the group went to Mudumalai forest, everyone took photos along with   .  At last Swami stood for a special snap.  The poloroid camera gave the photo immediately.  Swami was not in the photograph.  Instead, Sri Datthathreya( the combined form of the holy trinity- Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva with three heads) gave his darshan.  The specialty was the three faces of Sri Datthathreya was of Swami.  Even the mole in Swami’s face was clear in the left(Brahma side) face of Dattha.

                                         Another amazing and unforgettable miracle performed by Bhagawan was the restoration of Mr.Walter Cowan from his death not once, but twice.  He lived for a period of 19 months after this restoration.  Later he died in America peacefully chanting the name of Swami.  Soon after his death, his wife received a telegram form Swami “Walter Cowan reached safely”.

                                         Although Swami performs miracles, performing miracles is only secondary to Swami.  His interest is always in installing spiritual qualities in us such as purity, unselfishness and devotion.

                                          Swami always insists on service to the mankind. “ Manava  Seva is Madhava  Seva”. Service to human is service to divine.  So He involved in developing gigantic projects such as building of schools, colleges, hospital, water scheme, everything given to  the public, at free of cost.

 Swami is above all religions.  Love – Prema is His religion.  His mission is to spread love and brotherhood everywhere. Swami said
“Love is my form.  My life is my message.  If you want to name me, call be Prema Swaroopa- Emdodiment of Love”

 “No one can understand me.  The best thing you can do is get immersed in it.  There is no use in arguing about pros and cons.  Dive and know the depth.  Eat and know the taste.”
 
"Come, see, hear, study, observe, experience and realize Baba. Then only they will understand Me and appreciate the Avatar."