Prof. Anil Kumar...He Was With Us in Bosnia

[Guest guest]

“He Was With Us in Bosnia”

And then, the student went on to mention another thing that had happened in Bosnia. Bosnia, as all of you know, was the starved country that went through a period of drought where many people fell sick. Well, it was in a horrible, terrible, pitiable condition. Most of you must have heard of Bosnia. And then Sai workers, Seva Dal went to that place, Bosnia. They started distributing bread and blankets to everybody and they also distributed Baba’s photos to the Bosnian people. One person came and said, “Photo?” “Yes.” “Who is this man?” And they said, “This man is Sathya Sai Baba.” “Sathya Sai Baba?” “Yes.” “Why are you giving us this photo? This man was with us until yesterday. He was with us, walking among us and today you give us His photo?” So, this shows Bhagavan is in you, with you, above you, below you, around you.

“What Quality of Food?”

And then the student in his talk also mentioned another experience. It was the time when Bhagavan visited Bombay and He gave an interview to all the ladies, the Mahila Seva Dal. While talking to a few ladies He said, “What seva are you doing?” “Swami, we are serving food.” “Oh! What type of quality? Is it the two-rupee or the four-rupee quality?” (Laughter) There are two varieties of rice. The little bit cheaper variety is two rupees. The better variety, a little more costly, is four rupees. The ladies said, “Swami, we are giving the two-rupees variety.” Swami said, “Look here! For you, for your children, for your husband, you get the four-rupee variety. For those poor people, you provide only the two-rupee quality. It is not service. If you distribute the cheap quality to those poor people, they’ll fall sick. They cannot afford medical treatment. That’s not right. What is best for you should also be given to the other people. Do not give that which you reject for yourselves, that which is useless or that which is condemned. That which is best should be given to others.” That’s what Swami said.

“The Receiver, the Giver and the Received Are One”

And the boy concluded his talk by making this beautiful statement: “The receiver, the giver, and the food received are one and the same. The one who receives the food, the one who gives the food and the food that is given -- all three are Divine. That is the climax; that is the hallmark; that is the inner spirit behind service.” And Swami appreciated his talk very much. And that boy made a mention of another statement. “Out of a population of six billion in the world, one billion are fortunate enough to know Sathya Sai Baba, to have been born as His contemporaries. And out of this, we the students are very lucky. And what should be our aim? To continue to deserve His benediction, to continue to live up to His expectations, to continue to practice His Divine teachings in our lives today and hereafter.” That ends the 28th news bulletin. (Sharing with Sai Love) Ram.Chugani (www.Saiwisdom.com)