Golden Moments- His Story as heard from Him

 By Sowmya Roopa

It was a joyous trip to Puttaparthi in 1984 since it was my first trip as a student studying in first year B.A at the Sri Sathya Sai college for women at Ananthpur. It was Ramzan day. Bhagavan called us for an interview in the mandir hall. Bhagavan entered and asked “ Yemi Samacharam? Any questions”. The librarian Mrs Pushpa Ramana requested Bhagwan to tell us about his early life as Shirdi Sai baba, since nobody knew about Shirdi Baba’s parentage, childhood etc. Bhagawan graciously revealed the secrets of his parentage and life in His previous Avatar as Shirdi Baba .The following is the record of that interview in 1984 as written in my dairy at that time itself.

Every little thing is of some value, until and unless we know the value of a thing we cannot put it into proper use. If the husk is not removed from paddy, we do not get rice .We cannot wear cotton bales as such, only when it is made into thread and woven as cloth we can use it. A rock from a mountain cannot be worshipped until it is made into an idol. Diamond is precious only if it is extracted from the earth. Even gold mixed with copper, silver etc is of lesser value than purified gold free from other metals. With out the husk, paddy is not different from rice. Human life gains Divine value when the satwa ,rajas and tamoguna are taken away from it. Life with desires is man, life without desires is God.

 On the peaceful banks of the Godavari river was the village called Patri. A pious Brahmin couple, Gangabhava and Devagiriamma lived there. They had everything, wealth and happiness-but for a child ,Gangabhava’s work was to help people cross the river Godavari in ferry-boats. He had some men under him employed for this business. One night there was torrential rain accompanied by a storm. Gangabhava told his wife that he may not be coming home that night as many people might need to cross the river which was in spate. so Devagiriamma bolted the door and sat down to worship Gowri Devi of whom the couple were devoted.

It was around ‘ten o’ clock in the night, Devagiriamma heard a knock on the outer door, thinking that her husband had come back, she opened the door, there was an old man of eighty outside the door who said,”Amma, I am hungry”.Devagiriamma honored her guests ,she had not eaten her food, nor had her husband , so there was plenty of food in the house. She gave him food and made a bed for him outside, she then closed the door and sat down again. After sometime again there was a knock at the door ,she thought that he must be wanting to answer the call of the nature. She opened the door and the old man told her that he was not getting sleep, Devgiriamma was now perturbed ,she asked him what she could do for him. The man said that he wanted someone to press his legs. Now ,the servant was not in the house ,Devagiriamma did not know what to do ,when the man said that he wanted only a women to press his legs, She had no other go but covered her head with her saree and went to the village, asking every women to come to her house, offering a lot of money for the job. But all refused to come in the heavy downpour. Devagiriamma came back   and prayed to Gowri Devi.She felt hesitant to press the old man’s legs herself, nor could she fail to satisfy her guest, meanwhile , She heard another knock at the back door and went to open it. There was a woman outside who said that she she had come in answer to Devagiriamma’s search in the village and agreed to press the old man’s legs. Devagiriamma, now relieved, thanked Gowri Devi for getting her a woman. She heard a knock but when she got up from her seat she saw Parvathi and Ishwara standing before her, spreading their radiance, she fell at there feet. Then Parvathi asked ishwara to grant a boon. But Ishwara said that since He had come only to test her and Parvathi had come in answer to her prayers, she Herself should give her a boon .All this Devagiriamma did not hear because  God’s language man cannot understand ,so Parvathi blessed Devagiriamma with a son and a daughter. A son for carrying on the vamsha (family lineage) and a daughter for kanyadana(giving the daughter away as a gift in marriage). Ishwara, greatly pleased with Devagiriamma  told her that he Himself would come has her third son .And then , Parvathi and Ishwara disappeared .Devagiriamma was so overjoyed that she kept on roaming about in the house,Gangabhava came home and Devagiriamma told him all that had happened .he however thought that his wife being left to herself must have had illusions in the night  and said”Alright, alright”.

However, after nine months she had a son and after another year a daughter. She was carrying another child and she neared her ninth month, at this time by Vishnavi Maya or the will of God, Gangabhava developed an earnest desire for vairagya He wanted to renounce his family and go away to the forest. Devagiriamma pleaded with him telling him that when the boon had come true twice, even the third would come true and Ishwara himself would be born to them as a son. But gangabhava did not listen and he left the house .Devagiriamma was so devoted to her husband that she sent her son and daughter to her mother’s house with a servant and followed him. On the way as they passed through a forest , she walking behind him bresbly, she felt her pains. she pleaded with him to wait for sometime so that he could have the darshan of  Ishwara. But Gangabhava wished to see Ishwara himself and not in the worldly form. Devgiriamma sat down under a tree and immediately a beautiful baby was born. But she in her ardent desire to follow her husband , covered her new- born son with leaves and left him.

It was Ramzan, the 9^th month of the year, A fakir and his wife were traveling in a tonga , near the forest his wife wanted to answer the call of the nature and so, she got down and went into the forest. In the forest all of a sudden she heard a baby cry, she went a little a little distance and found the new –born baby near her feet, covered with leaves. Thinking that the mother may be somewhere nearby, she called the tonga- driver and her husband, all of them searched in the forest but did not find the mother. The fakir and his wife were childless so, the wife thought that Allah must have given her the child without any trouble or pains or even a nine- month waiting . They took the child and went back home , where all the people were happy at her having got a child.

The little boy grew up and was affectionately called Baba. When he was 8 years old, one day playing marbles with other boys of his age ,He gradually won all the marbles from all the boys. One of the boys named Rahul, was a rich man’s son , he got angry when he was defeated and ran home to get some more marbles. He found no marbles at home , but in the pooja room there was the Shaligrama(a round black stone which is a symbol of Vishnu) which looked almost like a marble. The boy took it when he saw that his mother wasn’t there and returned to play. Baba however knew that it was a Shaligrama , He won it and immediately swallowed it too. The boy then began to fight with Baba, the boy’s mother saw them from a window of the hours and came down to separate them. The boy then complained to his mother about Baba ,”He has won all my marbles, on top of that he has won my special precious marbles too and swallowed it”. His mother then asked him, ”I did not give you any money, how did you get a precious marbles”. The boy confesed that he had taken it from the pooja room. His mother was anxious to have the Shaligram but as it had to be worshipped everyday. She told him that she would give Him many marbles, if only He gave that marble back, Baba showed His open- Stretched palms and said “I don’t have the marbles”. The boy however said ,”He put it in his mouth , Amma  ,he put it in his mouth. ”His mother asked Baba to open His mouth and to her wonder she saw the worlds in it. After this she became very devoted to Baba and used to feed him when her husband wasn’t there because they were Hindus and Baba was a Muslim boy. Hindus and Muslims had great differences and disputes amongst themselves .

Around this time, the fakir died and his wife was left alone with Baba. Baba at this time used to chant mantras in mosques and Allah O Akbar  in the temples and even worshipped the shaligrama  in the mosque .The three things Allah O Akbar, La illaha el Allaha mean God is great none greater than God is there who protects you like Allah and the deservedness of Allah to be worshipped. Baba used to recite all this in the temples and mantras in the mosques. So everyone started complaining about him to the Fakirs wife. Tired of him, she put Baba in an ashram of a man called Venkusha. Venkusha was doubtful whether to take Baba or not as the Hindus in the ashram went to Shirdi.

In Shirdi, Baba sat outside a Vishnu temple where Mahalaspati was the priest .He came out of the temple after offering food (Naivaidya) to God and saw Baba .He gave Baba prasadam but Baba refused to take anything saying that he had already had it inside the temple. Mahalaspati was surprised for, he had been all alone in the temple it was a small temple too. He thought that Baba was mad and was about to go away when, being an ardent devotee of God, it struck him that there may be some deeper meaning in Baba’s words. He turned back and saw radiance on his face, from then on Mahalaspati made Baba stay in the room where the materials for pooja were kept and care of him and fed him. Baba too used to teach philosophical truths to Mahalaspathi.. At this time the people of Shirdi came to Mahalaspathi and asked him what Baba had studied and who was His guru. Baba had replied that He had not studied any texts but all texts and scriptures were in Him. He never had any guru but He Himself was the guru. He did not had any riches but all riches were in Him. And He had great compassion for the people the men however did not believe Him and thought Him to be mad. One of them, a wrestler called Janaki Das asked Baba that, as He knew everything did He know wrestling. Baba said He knew wrestling. Then Janaki Das asked Him to wrestle with him, then everyday he used to wrestle with Baba and every time Baba would win. Janaki Das would fall at every below of Baba, He got very angry as he was loosing his prestigious and respectable position. The people in the village started mocking at his defeat in the hands of a mere boy, so , one day a sacred Mahalaspathi requested Baba  to let Janaki Das to win once , or else he might harm Baba. Baba listned to the plea of His devotee, He entered into a contract with Janaki Das. If Janaki Das lost in wrestling he must take up sanyasa, if Baba lost he would forever tie a saffron cloth around His head all His life. He never tie a cloth because of any wound as wrong interpretations have been made. If He had got a wound He would not have tied a bandage lifelong, he would tie it only till his wound healed.

 When Baba was 75 years old, Abdul Baba was with Him,. At the time of His leaving the body Mahalashpati felt very sad, so Baba promised him that after 8 years he would again be born in Madras state. At that time Andhra was in Madras, He said that he would be born at Puttaparthi. Avatars are born at the confluence of rivers, those flowing from South to North. Thus Shirdi Baba was born at Patri by the banks of godavari flowing from South to North, a confluence of two rivers –and- This body (Sri Sathya Sai) was born at Parthi ,by the banks of Chitravati and Kushavati , Prema Sai would be also born in Gunaparthi in Mysore by the banks of Tungabhadra a confluence of Tunga and Bhadra.

 Just as  Yashoda saw the worlds in the mouth of Krishna ,just as the wealthy  lady saw in the mouth of Shridi Baba ,in this body too(Swami’s body) it happened once Karnam Subbamma, a devoted lady and  wife of Karnam Narayana Rao of Parthi was the first to recognize Swami as an extraordinary boy. The father of this body (Swami’s) had disputes with Karnam Narayan Rao due to the differences in the caste, so Subbamma used to feed Baba in private. In between their houses there was a low wall and a higher wall with a ventilator. On the days when Karnam would go for Jamma Bandh, Subbamma fed Baba with morsals of food ; She desired to offer Him water to drink. The tumbler of water could not pass through ventilator, so, Swami used to open the mouth and she used to pour the water down. Once when she was carefully feeding Him (she had to hide from Kamalamma, the second wife of Karnam, who would have told Karnam) she started screaming Rama, Krishna, Govinda etc. Kamalamma came running and asked her what was wrong, .She kept on saying “oh, I am seeing so many things “.After this she never cared for privacy and brought swami to her house for food. She used to say that even if her husband leaves her or the whole village drives her out, she would never leave Swami. She fed him with handfuls along with other children and while giving him, said softly ‘Swami, Swami’ inside and outside she said “This is my offering of love”.Karnam’s death took place and all the Brahmins in the village even beggars never visited her house. they refused to speak to her for five years. For Karnam’s obituary too they refused to come. So Subbamma in her deep devotion offered everything to Sathya and considered this act sufficient for his obituary.

  Around this time, Swami was asked to sing the prayer song in school. He recited, “Besides the bank of chitravathi surrounded by the mountains like a wall is a place founded by Bukkaraya and Harihararaya, there will be a grand palace in which Sai, full of compassion, will reside”. At this time one of his teachers got stuck to the chair (kondama Raju) Sai Satcharitha was written and printed in Pathri. The printing of Sanathana Sarathi, said Swami, would also be done in Pathri. Kasturi was surprised because the matter had already been sent to Ananthapur which was returned at that time a man came from Tadepatri, saying that orders had been given to him so he would print the Sanathana Sarathi.Swami’s words thus came true.  

   Das Ganu was the first enemy of Baba of Shirdi. He used to recite Harikaatha and before starting he used to abuse Baba for half an hour- why do people go to him, he does such and such things, people do not have any senses etc. He had a voice like a gun so he was named Das gannu, Mahalashpati felt bad at this abuse and he wanted to send a strong man Shyam to gannu to fight him,. But Baba told him” So many years you have stayed with me have you learnt only this”. You are getting angry because he calls me gajadonga (great thief) but, aren’t you happy when someone sungs “Bada chita chora……” In either way he is remembering me, that’s all I want.

Once Mahalaspati took Das Ganu for a picnic to a certain place. He was talking to him and walking, when Dasganu, being a fat man felt very thirsty and was unable to walk any further. He wanted water but there was no well nearby. Mahalaspati then prayed to Baba to show Das Ganu some miracle so that he believed in him. All of a sudden there sprouted a spring of water at Das Ganu’s feet. Mahalaspati then told him that this was a miracle of Baba, but Ganu said that he might not have noticed it before. However Mahalashpati told him to drink the water. Dasganu drank and kept his feet in the water and relaxed. After sometime his feet felt very hot and looking down, he saw no spring .He then realized the greatness of Swami, while in Shirdi from the feet of Baba, water started flowing. On being asked, He said he had sent water in answer to Mahalashpati’s prayer.

Baba left His mortal frame in 1918 on Vijayadashmi day at 3.30am, while He was being buried they found His grave was filled with flowers like that of Kabir, 3 days after His death kabir who was buried on the same day i.e. a Thursday .Thursday is guruvara as the three gurus (Nanak, Kabir and Baba) were buried on that day.

 (To be continued in the next article of Venugaanam in the Golden Moments Series)

(Sowmya Roopa completed her B.A in 1987 and B.Ed in 1988. She received her gold meda l for distinction in B.Ed from the Sri Sathya Sai University. She taught at the Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Vihar Ootacamund from 1989 till 1991. From 1991 till 2000, she taught at the Sai Sathya Sai Primary school, Puttaparthi. Sowmya Roopa was invited to the Sai Sathya Sai Schools, Rishikesh and Kathmandu in 2000 and 2001. There she shared her knowledge about value-oriented education with the teachers and students through talks, poems, songs, charts and demonstration. Currently, she writes value-based skits and paints quotation boards. In this series , she shares her experiences and learning as a student and staff in Swami’s educational institutions.)