PROF ANIL KUMAR...THE FEET OF GOD...SAI PEARLS PART-28-B(LAST)

[Guest guest]

The Feet of God

Then another scholar said, quoting a poem from the Bhagavatha, “Oh pundit, you say that God is everywhere.” This is a very famous poem, known to all Telugu-speaking people. “Oh scholar, you say that God is everywhere. Father, you are also rendering and quoting poems from the Bhagavatha, telling us that God is in the water, in the sky, and in the earth; that He is present in all elements and that He is present in the fathomless depths of the ocean. Why have you come here? When God is everywhere, why have you come here?” Then the scholar answered, “I have come here to worship God in human form. I have come here to touch the Feet of God in human form. Why? It is because the Feet of God bring us awareness. The Feet of God will help us cross this ocean of life. The Feet of God are the Divinity, which operates within me. The Feet of God are the only refuge for the entire humanity. The Feet of God dispel the darkness of night. The Feet of God grant me wisdom. Therefore, I have come here.” This was the answer given by the scholar. All this was rendered in poetic form. Swami Is The Very Personification of Truth

Then another man praised Baba: “Swami is the very personification of Truth. Swami is the very personification of the Divine melody, and the communicator of the Divine teachings to humanity. Bhagavan Baba’s Feet are to be worshipped by the entire humanity if humanity wants to be safe and secure.” That is the meaning of the poem composed by one of the boys.

Another boy, playing the role of the scholar said, “Ah, what a poem it is!” This was also composed by Him.

Praise God

And then another boy quoted another poem, composed by Swami in praise of Himself.

“I praise that God, I adore that God, I worship that God, who is wearing ochre robes; who is compassionate and is the very manifestation of beauty; whose Feet are like lotus flowers; who showers the rain of vibhuthi; who occupies the entire universe; whose hair is intertwined, whose hair is curly; who is totally detached; whose heart is full of kindness; who is the Divine sculptor, and who is the one of charity. I adore Thee, my Lord.”

That is the poem composed by Swami that was repeated by one of the boys. The poem received thunderous applause from the audience that day. There Are No Limits To Swami’s Love

Another boy, in the role of another pundit, said, “Yes, yes. There are no limits to Swami’s Love. Swami is present everywhere. Would anyone tell us a poem indicating this?” With great ardour, one boy got up and said, “You may be in the forest, you may in the sky, you may be in a city, you may in a village, you may be on the mountaintop or you may be in the deep sea, but Sai will never forget you.” That is the assurance that Swami has given. In Praise of Bharat

Then another boy asked, “Does anyone here remember a poem written by Baba in praise of Bharat, India?”

Another boy said, “Yes, yes. This poem is still ringing in my ears. ‘This is a land that is reputed in all the continents of the world. This is a land that has freedom, having driven out the foreigners and foreign rule. This is a land of fine arts and literature. This is a land of science, music, and technology. Having being born in this land, it is the duty of the boys to uphold the pristine glory and prestige of the country.’ ”

Rama and Krishna

Another boy said, “We hear that Swami may have taken the same oath, the same pledge, that Rama and Krishna did. Does anybody remember the poem Swami said with reference to Rama and Krishna?” One boy said, “Yes. The same Krishna, the manifestation of bliss, is here in our midst to recognise His friends. The cowherd boys with whom He played as Krishna are born again, and they have been in His midst and recognised as His classmates. The same Sri Rama of that Age is here to find His subjects and associates today, His monkeys. Where are they? We are all the monkeys (Laughter). And the same goes for Vishnu. Has He come down here to pick up all of His weapons? What are His weapons or insignia? What are the signs and marks of Vishnu?”

“Vishnu blows a conch. The conch is nothing but sound. Vishnu has a wheel, the wheel of time. Vishnu has a mace, which represents power. Vishnu has a flower, which represents the human heart. So, He has come to pick up these things.”

“Who is the perfect player? He stands in the midst of all the living beings. Enjoying the Divine play, we the scholars, let us be participants in the Divine play. Describe and extol and delight within ourselves, watching the Divine Cosmic play.” That is what he said. Devotion, Flute, And Love

And then another boy said, “There is some relation between devotion and the flute (the murali) and Love. There is some relationship between Love, devotion and the flute. Would anybody like to comment on this?” One student got up and said, “Yes. The murali (flute) is hollow. The flute has nine holes. When the flute is empty, the flute adorns the lips of the Lord. Every human being must be so hollow, without any pride or ego, so that he may become a flute on the lips of God, into which He will blow His breath, so that everybody can hear the Divine melody.”

“And lastly, Love is an expression of devotion. Love for God is devotion. This has got nothing to do with education, scholarship, position, or status. In the time of Krishna Avatar, they (gopis and gopalas, Krishna’s cowherd friends) were all illiterate, but they had intense Love for God.” Education Is An Obstacle To Realisation

Then immediately another boy got up, “Yes, yes. How true that is! Education is an obstacle to realisation. Educated people fight among themselves. Educated people argue among themselves. Educated people want to know God through their intellect and logic. Intellect and logic will never help you to know God. Arguments will land you nowhere. An educated man knows everything except his own Self. An educated man is not able to give up his ‘me’-ness. He has no total knowledge or awareness. Therefore, education has nothing to do with devotion and awareness.” Then another boy said, “So what shall we do now?” (This was an enactment by the boys, in which everyone played the role of a scholar, quoting from Swami’s literature.) Another boy said, “We don’t need to do anything now. We only need to do one thing.” (This was also said in the form of poem composed by Baba.) “What is it?” “Oh God, that heart which You have gifted me, I shall surrender to You. I shall offer it back to You. This heart is not my property. The Love in my heart is not my property. It is You who has gifted it to me. So I offer it to You once again. What else do I have in this world worthy enough to offer to You?” With that, the program ended. All the scholars clapped for the wonderful offering that one has to make to God. The best offering is one’s own human heart, filled with pure Love. That was the conclusion that day.

It Is A God-Given Opportunity

This is about a program that took place on the 6th of March 2004. I had just started writing articles for Sanathana Sarathi. This is all recorded in black and white. It is not my imagination or concoction. I take notes there, and then write the article. So this group (who is hearing this talk) is really fortunate, for they can know what is happening before the publication of these articles.

Let me tell you, we are really fortunate in the sense that we have all this information beforehand. The Telugu readers and others may get this information over the next four to six months, because Sanathana Sarathi will not print more than three pages at a time.

Those who are not here, or those who speak languages other than Telugu, will not know about this at all, because who will do this for them? I write in Telugu, as you know. So this group is really fortunate that they know what is happening beforehand. It is like a preview of films shown to the journalists ahead of time so that they can make their comments! So you are all the ‘journalists’ with whom these things are shared. It is my pleasure after all. It is a God-given opportunity, though nothing personal here.

The Colour Of Love

Now the program on that day was a competition among the colours, each colour saying, “I am superior to any other colour.” Four boys representing different colours started arguing among themselves. Swami laughed and laughed! The first fellow, representing the blue colour, said, “I am the blue colour. You fellows know that blue is the best colour.” All the others shouted, “Why!?” “Krishna is blue colour. Ramachandra has a blue complexion. The sky is blue. The sea is blue. Therefore, blue is the best!” And then another boy, representing the colour red, said, “Stop! Nonsense! Blue colour? No! Red is the best of all.” The other boys asked, “Why?” “Rama may be blue in complexion. Krishna may be blue in complexion. But the robe that Baba wears is red in colour, so therefore I am best. Not only that, fire is red in colour. A rose is red in colour. So red is topmost. Without red, there cannot be any creation at all. Understand? I am topmost!” The third fellow said, “I am the colour black. I command all of you to shut your mouth! (Laughter) You are all speaking nonsense. One of you says that Rama and Krishna are blue and that the sky is blue. And the next one says that the robe of Baba is red in colour and that fire is red. Stop this! Black is topmost. Black is the best. Do you know why? The hair of Baba is black in colour. The mole on his cheek is black in colour. Don’t you fellows have any common sense? The teacher who teaches you in the classroom writes on a blackboard. Without the blackboard, what is it you learn? The hair of Baba is black. So what more do you want? Therefore, black is the topmost!”

And then another boy said, “I’m just beginning to understand how foolish you are! How ignorant you are! But there must be some limit to your talking. Please stop it! I am the colour white. I am topmost. White is always bright. White stands for purity. That’s why Swami insisted that everyone should wear white clothes. Don’t you know that? Jasmine flowers are white. The sun is white. Sunlight is white. Moonlight is bright and white. White is the best colour, you understand?” And then all the four fellows came – blue, red, black and white -- the four representatives. One said, “All right, there is no use fighting among ourselves. Oh boys who are in front of us, one of you get up and give your judgement. We’ll follow your verdict because you’re neutral. We have identified ourselves with each of the colours. Since you are detached, you can give your verdict.” One boy got up slowly and he started speaking like this: “Swami may be wearing a red robe. He may be blue in complexion. He may have black hair and a black mole. He may even ask us to wear white clothes. But all the colours are the same to Him. Because there is black on the top, blue on the skin, black on the cheek, and there is a red robe, all colours are in Him. He is in all the colours. There is nothing like one colour being superior to another colour. There is only one colour that Baba stands for. What is that colour? The colour of Love! Love is the colour that is topmost and superior. There is no other colour higher than that!” Swami’s Childhood Days

The students of the Higher Secondary School presented a program on the 5th of March 2004. This was really a novel idea, and all of us like novel ideas -- most of all, Bhagavan! We could tell from His keenness and how He was watching. When you do any program, please keep Swami in mind. If He smiles, go ahead. If He is serious, be serious in your acting. Understand if you have not been able to make it impressive. You should watch Him constantly.

So this is a particular performance that Swami liked very much. Why? The concept itself is great. This is an episode relating to Swami’s childhood days. Bhagavan had a few teachers. Swami studied in three places for your information: Uravakonda, Kamalapuram and Bukkapatnam. The names of a few of His teachers are very well remembered and Swami repeatedly refers to them – Mehboob Khan, Kondappa, Subbannachari, Thammiraju, and Manchiraju. These are the teachers about whom Swami always speaks very highly.

The boys conceived this idea. In the play, all these teachers who are in heaven now came down to earth in order to search for Sathya Sai Baba. They had lived here about seventy years ago, when Swami was five or six years old. That Puttaparthi was quite different from the Puttaparthi of today. So all the four teachers descend from heaven but have lost their way. They don’t know where to go.

The first teacher to come was Mehboob Khan. Mehboob Khan had a very close, intimate relationship with Swami and used to call Him aside and give Him some pakoras, a south Indian dish. “Come on, eat it. It is specially prepared for you.”

And Swami said, “Please don’t serve me like that. There are other classmates also. They will feel badly if I eat like this. Sir, don’t do that.”

It seems one teacher asked Baba to stand up on a bench (for punishment.) “Get up! Stand up on the bench!” Swami was standing on the bench as per the command of the teacher. And when the teacher finished teaching and was about to get up, he could not get up because he got fixed to the chair.

And then Mehboob Khan came there and said, “Oh sir, I know your problem. You ask Sathya to sit down first and then you will be released from the chair.” So this is an episode connected with the teacher Mehboob Khan, who loved Baba and knew of His Divinity from the beginning.

So Mehboob Khan came down from heaven and shouted, “Sathya, Sathya! Where are You? Somebody said that You are here in this place.” And then he started asking the boys, “Oh little boys, have you seen Sathya here? Oh colleague Kondappa, you are also here! Very good! I find you searching for someone.” Kondappa, the other teacher of Sai Baba said, “Oh Mehboob, you are here. Good! I also came here searching for Sathya.”

“Oh, both of us are from heaven. Very good. Where is Sathya?”

Kondappa, the other teacher, said, “Mehboob Khan, do you know why I left heaven? It is boring, (Laughter) tiresome, disgusting. I’m not interested any longer. Therefore, I chose to come down here in search of Sathya. Let us both search for Him.”

And then at that moment, another teacher, Manchiraju, said, “What wonderful days we had in those times with Sathya! So I have excused myself and have taken permission from Indra to come back to earth to spend some time with Sathya. Where is He?” Then Kondappa said, “Look here, Manchiraju. Look here, Mehboob Khan. Don’t you remember in those days how Sathya used to do prayer every day in our school? He used to sing that song. Don’t you remember how nicely He used to do it? I recall those days. They were really great. Let us spend some time with Sathya. Where is He?” Now the boys started singing Aharathvapajripa - a song written by Baba, which He sang every day as part of the school prayers. Everybody joined in singing that song. Swami was literally touched. I saw His eyes get wet because He had gone back seventy years. And to hear the song He had composed being sung by the boys -- you can imagine how nice and sweet it must have been! And then, Subbannachari, another teacher came and said, “Oh Manchiraju, Kondappa, Mehboob Khan, I find all of you here. What are you doing here, my boys?” And then all the three replied, “We are searching for Sathya. We want to meet Him again, so we left heaven and are finding out where He is.”

“Oh, I see. Yes. Did I not tell you? Did I not tell you long back that Sathya is not an ordinary boy? That He is a Divine child? That He will be known as God on earth some day? Did I not tell you? You did not believe me. Today you are missing Him so you have come back. All right, it doesn’t matter -- better late than never. Let us be in search of Him. Let us find Him.” And then Thammiraju also happened to be there. “Alright, when all the fellows are here, why don’t I come down too? Therefore I, too, chose to come here. Let us all search for Sathya together.” Thammiraju started recollecting his good old days. “How Sathya influenced our lives! Do you remember, my friends? I tell you, I had an eye problem and Baba, as a child, cured it because I could not afford an operation in those days. He saved my sight. And not only that, He helped my watchman and my maidservant also with money. How helpful Sathya was! We remember those days.” And then all them started singing the song, Kaparu Sai Deva. ‘Kaparu’ means ‘protect.’ “Oh Sai, protect all of us!” Swami was very, very, very, very happy. And then in the next scene: “Assalaam Alaikum.” ‘Assalaam Alaikum’, is a greeting of the Muslims. “Salutations to all! Could you find where Sathya is?” Mehboob Khan started looking at the boys seated there. “Where is Sathya among you? Is there Sathya among you, because you all seem to be quite young?” And then Mehboob Khan said, “Yes, we will tell you where Sathya is.”

I tell you next time. (See Sai Pearls #29) Ram ChuganiKobe, Japan