Multifaceted Sai... As Student

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Multifaceted Sai... Bhagawan often says "I am God, You are also God". This bears ample testimony to His omnipresence. Yes, the whole universe is His body, and the life force therein is His breath and every human endeavour and accomplishment is but a facet of His grand personality. He is an exemplar in everything. When He says that His Life is His message it is for us to understand and emulate. Love, discipline and compassion are spontaneous with Him. His slow, elegant and majestic gait speaks for the peace and mental equilibrium He maintains even when, as we all know, He is ever alert to respond to a call from any of His devotees anywhere in the world. By His love-exuding compassionate looks He soothes every ailing heart and assures protection and support to every anxiety ridden and fear stricken mind. His soft modulated tone, enough to be heard only by the listener, teaches us how

to talk with minimum words, not misusing time and energy. He often reminds us 'if you cannot oblige, at least speak obligingly'. His love, sympathy, care and concern are equal for all, rich or poor, privileged or otherwise. Dr. V.K. Gokak once said that 'the best meditation is to watch Him moving'. As Student As a student he taught the world what a student ought to be. The transparency of his friendship attracted them so close to him that they found it difficult to live without him. He was intelligent, diligent, obedient, punctual and highly respectful to his teachers. At the age of six he earned the name of Brahmajnani for his erudition in the scriptural texts and at eight he became the 'Guru' of his classmates. Baba mentions with a little regret only one instance

in his student career wherein he had to give a glimpse of his divinity to his own teacher when the latter asked him to stand up on the bench for no fault of his which counteracted to keep the teacher glued to the chair till he was made to get down. Even as a child He was only a giver and never a taker. He fulfilled every wish of every friend, be it for pencil or sweets or peppermints. His Pandari Bhajan group which conducted regular bhajans and drama troupe whom He had himself trained to present skits and one - Act plays speaks for his histrionic talents and organising ability even at that tender age. He taught them how to live within their means by his own example. Ostentation was alien to him. He did all the household chores, without demur even when they were far beyond his health and age. He was easily the first to catch the eye of his teacher for any work of importance in

the school. At home, being the darling of grandfather Kondama Raju, he, at the age of eight and nine, volunteered to cook tasty meals for both. His father used to send for dishes prepared by Sathya as they excelled in taste and flavour. Even neighbours asked for his pepper rasam. Young Sai Ram was an ideal son too. Though he had broken the chain of attachment with which the parents had bound him, he never failed to look after their needs. Like any other mother, mother Easwaramma also had nurtured a desire for seeing the top Hindu shrines of India though she never ventured to express the same, for she had already begun to realise who her son was. But the all-knowing Lord decided to take her on a pilgrimage (for her) to Ayodhya, Kasi and Prayag in 1960. This was closely followed by another to Badrinath in June 1961 which was 'indeed the acme of her ambition.' Mother bore the strain of that arduous journey with pleasure, as Badrinath was a fairyland for her as was for the rest. Kasturiji says: "Mother spent hours in sitting inside the temple beside the idol, with a small group of her companions wondering at the inexhaustible grandeur into which she had come. Swami brought out the Linga He had willed to emerge from its receptacle under the stone idol of Narayana in the holy shrine of Badrinath.This was gifted by Shiva at Kailas to Sankaracharya who planted it here before he installed the Narayana", Swami told the mother. "Why have you brought it out now?" queried the mother innocently. "To charge it with the power to bless, to answer prayers, to grant boons" replied Swami. Needless to say that the father also enjoyed the whole episode. In much

later years Swami, like a dutiful son, enquired of His mother whether She had any desire to be fulfilled. She told: "Swami, our Puttaparthi is a small village. As there is no school in this village, the children are forced to walk long distances to attend schools in the neighbouring villages. I know that you are the ocean of compassion. Please construct a small school in this village". She gave a piece of land of her own behind her house for this purpose. Swami got a school constructed there, which was inaugurated with a grand function. The mother was very happy. When asked for the next desire mother Easwaramma hesitatingly said, " … if it gives you happiness, please construct a small hospital." As per her wish Swami got the hospital constructed and was inaugurated on a grand scale. When insisted the mother said She had yet another small desire: "You know that the river Chitravati is in spate during the rainy season. But, in summer it dries to a trickle and people do not

have drinking water. So please see that some wells are dug in this village". Swami told her "I would not stop with these small wells and that I would provide drinking water to the entire Rayalseema region…. She had never put me to trouble anytime. Whenever she asked Me for something, She would come back and enquire if she had given any trouble…… She used to be very much worried whenever any Minister came for My Darshan. The situation in those days was such that even a policeman with a red cap was enough to frighten the villagers…. This was only the result of her sacred love for Me. That is the greatness of mother's love." What a sacred relation! A dutiful son and a loving mother! http://www.sssbpt.org/Pages/Specially/As_Student.htm