First Episode to sixth Episode...WHY THE DIFFERENCE?

[Guest guest]

Professor Anil Kumar has presented this talk as an extra satsang. He has selected important messages Baba has imparted to the students gathered around Him during the afternoon sessions on the verandah at Prashanti Nilayam.

First Episode Why the Difference? It was a bright sunny day, and Bhagavan was on His way to give Darshan to devotees seated in Sai Ramesh Hall. He noticed everybody and instructed all the teachers, students and guests to move over to the college auditorium where the summer classes were held. Yes, the sessions were interesting, and in the evenings Bhagavan, as usual, came for the Divine discourse. As you know, every evening during summer classes, Bhagavan used to give a discourse to all the students, teachers and devotees. On that evening, He was proceeding towards the dais, then suddenly He stopped and stood in front of an elderly gentleman. Here the name is not important, but the event is important. He stood in front of this elderly gentleman who wore the Indian dress of this state of Andhra Pradesh. You know dhoti? The pundits wear dhoti and also a lalchi (upper cloth). Do you know that? He stood in front of that gentleman and said, “This morning I saw you with a vermilion dot on your forehead that was in plastic. (Laughter) Now you are here wearing the vermilion dot of kumkum powder. This morning you had plastic and this evening kumkum. Why the difference?†He asked. I was wonderstruck because I know this gentleman was sitting far back in the auditorium -- he must have been in the 50th or 60th row. This good God notices even the plastic dot on his forehead and then asks about it in the evening, “Why the difference?†Well, as usual I said, “Swami how is it that You noticed that small vermilion dot on his forehead? I know this gentleman was sitting far behind. What is all this? It is very mysterious!†Swami laughed and said, “Nobody needs to tell Me anything. Everything comes under the preview of My notice and observation. Everything will come to My notice. Nobody needs to tell Me.†This was really a revelation! Second Episode Surrender to God Is Your Destiny On another day, Bhagavan turned to me and asked, “How did you like My discourse?†God wanting human comment on His discourse! Well, it is really a matter of fortune, a matter of good luck, to be privileged to comment on the Divine discourse to God Himself. Well, then I said, “Swami, Your talk was fantastic! All our doubts are dispelled. All our doubts are clarified. It was a beautiful discourse.†Then Bhagavan said, “Hmmm, you want Me to believe that all your doubts are now dispelled? No! Your body is full of doubts, top to toe. They will never be clarified.†(Laughter) Then I said apologetically, “Swami, if my body is full of doubts that can never be clarified, what am I to do? What is my fate? What is my destiny?†Destiny in Sanskrit is called gathi. I said, “Swami, what is my gathi, what is my destiny, what is my fate? If I'm full of doubts that cannot be clarified, what am I to do?†Then Bhagavan said, “What? Repeat your question!†(Laughter) I said, “Swami what is my gathi? What is my fate?†He said, “Sharanagathi is the solution.†(Laughter) Sharanagathi means, surrender. “You surrender to Me. Sharanagathi, that is your gathi. That is your destiny.†That’s what Bhagavan has said. So my friends, the only gathi or destiny for all of us is Sharanagathi, surrender to God. This is a nice statement that I wanted to share with you. Third Episode Inquiry and Revelation On another day -- I'm talking to you about all the events that happened in the month of June 2002, this is the third episode: Bhagavan, while moving amongst His students, looked at one of the boys and said, “Where do you come from?†That boy said, “Swami, from Bangalore.†Then Bhagavan immediately said, “How is your father?†Bhagavan also wanted to know where the father was from. The next question was another one about his father. I didn’t know why all this curiosity? Why all this inquisitiveness? And then Bhagavan put another question to the boy, “What is your father, boy?†That boy said, “Swami, my father is a lecturer in Hindi working in Swami’s college in Bangalore.†All of you know that I served as the Principal of Whitefield campus for six years. I know all of them. I was immediately shocked. “Your father is in Whitefield? I must know him. What is his name?" Before that boy opened his mouth, God started speaking, “His father's name is Suresh Chand Jain.†“Oh, Swami!†Then Baba said, “You know what happened 20 years ago?†“What happened, Swami?†“His father was riding on a motorcycle with this little boy at a high speed, and met with an accident. The whole motorcycle smashed, but nothing happened to the boy and his father. He is the very same boy, you understand?†He said. This is an incident, which I wanted all of you to look at it from this angle: Just because Swami asks, “Where do you come from?†that does not mean that He doesn’t know where we are from. He knows. But He makes such inquiries in order to give us the satisfaction and joy of being spoken to by Him. Here is a typical example: “Where do you come from? Where is your father?†Then Baba explains what happened 20 years ago! See that! One is an inquiry; the other is a revelation. The inquiry is for your satisfaction. The revelation is an expression of His Divinity. Really, we were all wonderstruck that day when Swami explained all that had happened. Fourth Episode I Know Everybody The fourth episode: One day, one of the boy’s was waiting for examination results that had not yet been announced. Baba began talking to the boys and said to this one boy, “Look here, your other brother is studying at the Whitefield campus. You are studying at the Prashanti Nilayam campus. I know both of you. And your sister is at the Anantapur campus, I know her also. Your brother got ‘O’ (‘Outstanding’) grade, and you got only ‘A’ (‘Excellent’) grade. " Then I started saying, “Swami, You know his brother and sister?†“I know everybody. Not only the students here. I know everybody all over the world. I know the students, their brothers, their sisters, their parents, forefathers -- everybody I know.†And then this is an important statement that Baba made. Turning to the boys, He said, “Boys, you are so young, you don’t understand Me. You think that I am not talking to you. You think, ‘Swami is not looking at me.’ But I know everybody. I know the members of your family. I know your marks in every subject. Yes, that’s what I know!†That’s what Bhagavan said. And in fact He said, “Never feel that you are away from Bhagavan. Never feel that I am not talking to you. I may not talk to you; I may not look at you; but I know every detail of everyone here.†That’s what Bhagavan has said. Fifth Episode Do It Yourself Episode five: This is what happened: One morning Swami was talking to a student of the MBA class. This student had completed his engineering and was now doing his MBA, business management. Swami looked at him and said, “You, boy, you applied for a job. Hmm, I know. But you didn’t get it. I also know that.†Then I said, “Swami, since You knew, why did You not see to it that he got the job? (Laughter) Why do You say that he didn’t get the job?†Then Baba turned to that boy and said, “Shall I tell him what had happened?†That boy said, “Swami, please, I won’t tell.†(Laughter) Then Swami said, “You know, this boy did not fill out the application form. His mother filled out the form, so he didn’t get the job. Your mother can't fill out the application form on your behalf. You have to fill out the application form. So, never do that,†Baba said. “If you want to apply, you fill out the application form yourself. Don’t ask anybody else.†And then He said, “If you are hungry, is it enough if your mother eats on your behalf? If your leg is broken, your mother can't have bandages, no! You have to put on bandages for yourself. So, each one has to work for one’s own liberation, for one’s own salvation. For one’s own moksha, we cannot ask somebody else to do it on our behalf.†This is an important note that Swami said. Sixth Episode It Won't Rain Then the sixth: It was a cloudy day. The clouds were all over, and it also started to rain. Bhagavan looked at the clouds and said, “Stop.†And He told all the boys, “Don’t worry, they are only passing clouds. It won’t rain; everything will be perfect.†Believe me or not, the rain stopped immediately! When He said ‘stop,’ that ended the matter. Why? Who did He ask to stop? Maybe the rain god, maybe the clouds to stop their business -- that’s all! Immediately it stopped! It is a matter of knowledge and awareness for all of us to know that Baba is the Master of the five elements. He can control rain. He can control fire. He can control any of the five elements. Most of you know -- most of you must have heard this. Well, I'm a witness to that. Many times it so happens that it rains everywhere in Puttaparthi, but not in Prashanti Nilayam. Many times it has happened that rain starts at the end of a discourse, when all devotees have already returned home. When all the devotees have dispersed, when they have all returned to their homes, then the rain will start. It has happened many times, I am a witness. So, Bhagavan controls all the elements -- the five elements. Most of you must have also come to know of a miracle that Indra Devi wrote about in her book. There was a fire everywhere, all over in Los Angeles, California. Indra Devi was conducting yoga classes there and said to her students, “We’re helpless now -- the fire is all around us. Just sit down where you are and chant, ‘Sai Ram’.†They were all chanting, “Om Sri Sai Ram, Om Sri Sai Ram.†What happened? After ten minutes, the fire got extinguished on its own! Many things had happened all around the area, but the building where the class was held was safe and secure. This is proof that Baba is the Master of all the five elements. -----------------Ram ChuganiKobe, Japan