Divine Drama - Journey to Sai by Class XI Students

[Guest guest]

As the academic year is coming to an end, the students from the XI class of the Sri Sathya Sai Higher Secondary School prayed to Swami for an opportunity to put up a programme in His Divine presence. Swami agreed and as a result by 3:00pm, a backdrop and sets were erected and the writing announced the name of the programme- Journey to Sai. The boys in costumes remained in the bhajan hall waiting for Swami to come.

 

Swami arrived for the darshan rounds and moved through both the ladies' and gents' sides. As He passed through the central marbled area, He enquired, "Drama?" He looked at the pillars that had been placed as stage boundaries and also at the backdrop. Completing the rounds, Swami moved into the bhajan hall where all the costumed students awaited Him. Sitting amidst them, He began to check through their costumes.

 

Thus it was that 'Annamaya", "Bhadrachala Ramdas", "Manjunatha" and "Lord Shiva" were introduced to Him. He saw a little boy with a very thick mop of hair and asked who he was. They said that it was Swami at childhood. Swami said that the thick hair was not good at all and asked for the wig to be removed. It was so perfect for at that 'age' Swami did not have the thick halo hair He has today. He then examined the dresses and make up of the other children. Satisfied that all was now fine, Swami moved into the interview room for some time.

 

Arriving on the stage, Swami asked for the programme to begin. The golden chariot was modelled in thermocole and presented to Swami as the programme card. Swami blessed it and the students who came along with it. Swami called the Principal and told him to announce the programme and he did as he was told. the announcement having been made, the programme began.

 

The drama depicted in short, the travails that the saints Annamacharya and Manjunatha underwent to secure thier Lord. The scenes were interspersed with powerful and devotional compositions of these saints and that lent an emotional flavour to the drama. The second half of the drama starts when these saints along with Bhadrachala Ramdas in heaven, are unable to find their Lord. Narada remedies their anguish by telling them that their Lord was now in Puttaparthi as Sathya Sai Baba. Then, in Swami's own voice, were portrayed His eternal messages for mankind and the declaration of His nature.

 

The drama also depicted a practical example of the transforming power of Swami's love through the portrayal of the life story of Kalpagiri. Kalpagiri murdered his wife and ran away to the Himalayas in the guise of a sanyasi. Baba had said to him, "Why postpone for another birth the suffering, which you must undergo in return for the dire dead?" He told him that the ochre robes ill became a debtor who has not paid his dues; He went up to His apartments and brought down white clothes for him to wear in place of the ochre ones which He directed him to take off. He commanded him to go to the police in his area and report forthwith. He gave him the rare and also the precious Vibhuthi Prasadam, four packets of it; He assured him, "Go, confess and undergo cheerfully whatever punishment they ultimately give you. You will not be hanged; I promise that. Your neck shall wear a Japamala, a rosary, which I shall myself put round it, when you come to

Me after the sentence is over." True to His word, a presidential pardon was awarded to Kalpagiri later on.

 

The transformation that Swami brought about in the prisoners is well brought out in this letter that one of them wrote to Swami. (From Satyam Shivam Sundaram II)

 

"We are sinners, certainly; but, our lives have become full of hope, through some stray acts of merit which we chanced to do, in some past birth; for, we have rendered ourselves fit to receive Your Grace! Really, if there are any who can be declared fortunate in the world, we are the ones. We are truly proud of this. That the stream of Your Mercy has started flowing towards these mean men who have injured society and who are suffering punishment, is no ordinary event. We prayed that You should grant us Your Darsan and Your Blessings. You have written to us, out of the vastness of Your Mercy that You will elevate us with Darsan, Sparsan and Sambhashana, at Puttaparthi! The Sage Nârada blessed Savithri, on whose head the blow of widowhood had descended, with the statement, "May you have Being-with-husband status long", and, she was able to win her husband back from the dominion of death. We too have learnt from Kalpagiri, whose death

sentence was cancelled, that Your Word has come true. It knows no defeat."

 

The drama concluded on a note of celebration at being with the Lord. Swami blessed the participants by moving down the stage and posing for pictures with them. The XI class students told Swami that the inspiration for them was their class teacher. He thus came to Swami and Swami blessed him with padanamaskar. Swami blessed all the school teachers too with a group photograph. He spoke to many of them and many of them spoke to Him! One of the elderly teachers, so fascinated by the smiling Krishna (actually a .gif file) on his cellphone, showed the same to Swami. Swami just gave him an amused smile and it was so sweet. It was around 6:30pm when Swami received Aarthi and left.

 

Om Sai Ram