Time-travel to the days of declaration of Avatarhood of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba - Part 3

The Karibasavaswamy District Board High School (KDBHS) where Sathya studied for
a few months. The top image shows the front of the school while the bottom image
is of the grounds to its side. The classroom in which Sathya sat has its window close
to the lone tree seen in the image.

Second stint at Uravakonda

My ‘space-travel’ vehicle, the Toyota Innova, is now parked at the Karibasavaswami District Board High School (KDBHS) at Uravakonda. My ‘time-travel’ vehicle is parked in the summer of 1943 having travelled through the happenings at Sathya’s home immediately after the famous ‘scorpion-bite’. The next few months in 1943 need me to travel back to Puttaparthi to witness some of the most painful incidents when my Swami was subjected to great physical torture in the name of exorcising ghosts and demons from Him. For the sake of geographical convenience and continuity in the theme of Uravakonda stories, I shall skip the Puttaparthi days here. Instead, I shall fast-forward a few months to the July of 1943 when Sathya returned to Uravakonda as a little ‘Sai Baba’ having publicly declared so in the presence of His ‘father’ on the 23rd of May at Puttaparthi.

(This is the third part of a very exciting series on Swami's Avatarhood Declaration. It would be best to read this after reading the first two parts. The research for these works has mostly been borrowed from the monumental work, Love is My Form.

PART 1:

Time-travel to the days of declaration of Avatarhood of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba - Part 1

PART 2:

Time-travel to the days of declaration of Avatarhood of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba - Part 2

Thank you)

His brother, Seshamma Raju, had witnessed several miracles. Yet, he was very worried about his brother. He felt that education in the KDBHS would get Him focused back on education and career. So, he got Him admitted there for the new academic year starting on the 1st of July, 1943. This was into what was then called ‘Form 3’ or Grade VIII. Little did he know that this would be the final ‘academic’ year for Swami. As in my previous journeys, I wish to adopt the fly-on-the-wall approach by literally becoming a fly! I hope to buzz around and convey the beautiful story of my Lord to all of you. Without further ado, let me board the time-machine please...

Whirrrrr...... Swooooooooshhhhhh...... Blip...

I am now buzzing in the grounds of the KDBHS. They are huge and measure almost 1.5 times an international football ground! The imposing Uravakonda hill seems to look over the grounds like an eternal witness in a serene manner. Today however, it seemed to be excitedly craning at the grounds. There was also a loud buzz which was definitely not exuding from my wings! The buzz was the excited whisper among the students of the school who had come to know that their new schoolmate was someone who was possibly possessed by God! I was happy with this buzz. I only wished that they would move from the half-truth to the Truth, the Sathya that Sathya was (is and will be) God!

Top: Sathya's classroom as it was in those days.
Bottom: The classroom as it is today. A devotee has lovingly got a shrine made
and the classroom today has been turned into a library-cum-staff room. 

I gathered from the whispers that my Swami had won the hearts of several teachers and schoolmates. He wore the unofficial crown as the school leader. Today, that unofficial crown would be getting the official stamp as Sathya would be leading the assembly in prayer. The prayer chosen to be sung during the assembly those days at the KDBHS was one composed by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. The song has a beautiful meaning and message:

Moment to moment, Thy clarion call resounds-

Hearing Thy magnanimous words,

Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Parsees, Muslims and Christians

Come from East and West to Thy throne,

Making the garland of Love.

Hail to Thee who unites all Humanity!

(The ‘prayer-song’ is actually the second stanza of a much longer song, the first stanza of which would get adopted by independent India as its National Anthem, Jana Gana Mana. The Bengali language, in which Gurudev has written this song, is peculiar in the sense that it replaces the ‘A’ sound with the ‘O’ sound and replaces the ‘V’ with the ‘B’ in relation to the parent Sanskrit language.)

My heart thrilled as I saw my Swami leading the headmaster of the school up the stage. This was just the beginning. I knew that Swami would lead millions of souls by the hand in their ascent in this stage called life. Coming on stage, Swami began to sing in the most melodious of voices. Ah! What a thrill to hear him sing. I was in tears as I stood in attention on the shoulder of one of the students in the first line of the assembly.

Aharaha Tava Aahvaana Prachaarita,

Sunisita Udaar Vaani

Hindu Bauddh Shikha Jain,

Parasik Musalman Christaani

Purav Pashchim Vasi,

Tava Simhaasana Paasi

Premavahini

A clip from Anjali Devi's tele-serial production, "Shirdi Sai Parthi Sai Divyakatha" 

which shows little Sathya leading the assembly in prayer. This teleserial was blessed

by Swami and He provided the details. The name of the school can be clearly seen. 

Thursday sessions

As in the schools before, Swami became the unofficial leader among all the students and was admired by many teachers too. He had declared in Puttaparthi a few months before that Thursday was dear to Him and He should be worshipped on that day. Apparently, many at KDBHS had taken that seriously as I found out on the first Thursday at school. All had assembled in the class after the morning assembly led by Sathya. The teacher had not yet arrived to the class and so, all were playing and talking. I buzzed towards Swami and espied a smile blossom on His lips. He seemed to be in a very benevolent mood and He looked lovingly at all His classmates. Without any warning, He raised His right hand and began to shower them with akshatha (turmeric-coated holy grains of rice). Suddenly there was a pin-drop silence of awe. The realization that it was Thursday floated across the class. The class leader, Abdul Khader walked up to Him and asked,

“From where did you get all that Rice Raju?”

Swami stretched out His right palm and pointed to it with the left index finger. An astonished look came on Abdul’s face.

Since I was behind my Lord, I wondered what was so amazing about Swami’s empty right palm. With a speed burst, I flew to the front and what I saw stunned my antennae. Very clearly outlined in the center of Swami’s right palm was the mark of a lotus in full bloom! Once again the whispered murmuring in the class was of the fact that it was a Thursday. Getting to know this, the teachers decided to let Sathya get away from classes on Thursdays after the morning hours. They gave Him the freedom to do as He pleases on His day.

That day, Swami walked out of the class and went across the grounds. I know this because I buzzed and sat on His shoulder. Was it right to do so? Is it not unholy for me, a fly to sit thus on the Avatar? My heart gave me my answer. This was the compassionate Lord who had come to uplift all. His shoulders bear the burden of the whole universe comfortably as if it was a fly. Then what to say of an actual fly? I smiled and enjoyed the ride. Swami crossed the little road and entered the residence of a gentleman who had already considered this little boy as his God. The person was the local (Salt) Excise Inspector, Anjaneyulu.

Anjaneyulu had been a staunch devotee of the Sai Baba of Shirdi and had experienced his Sai in this little Sai. Knowing that Swami had advised him to procure a statue of Shirdi Sai Baba. He had replied,

“Raju, it is impossible to get an idol of Shirdi Baba here. Nobody even knows about Baba...”

“Listen to me. Go to the Lakshminarasimha Swami temple at Pennohobilam and there you will get it.”

The Excise Inspector became an excited inspector at Pennohobilam as he was able to procure a baked clay idol of Shirdi Baba for half a rupee. 

The Shirdi Baba idol made of baked clay bought
by Anjaneyulu. It currently is in the shrine of his
youngest son, G.Sai Maruthi at Sridharagatta
near Kalyanadurg.

Swami walked into the garden of the house and sat near a boulder there. On the boulder was a tigerskin on which was placed this idol of Shirdi Baba. He began to sing bhajans and everyone from Anjaneyulu’s house joined in. I felt sad that I could not sing in a human voice but was happy to be closest to the source of the melodious music. I looked around and saw that people were gathering in the garden in dozens. Some had walked a great distance from the main town to reach here. Among the gathered dozens were several of Swami’s teachers as well! After the bhajans, there was a Puja (worship). Swami Himself was the chief priest! I just couldn’t distinguish between who was worshipping and who was receiving the worship. The worship culminated with Aarthi which was done by waving the lighted camphor by Swami Himself.

After that, Swami went around distributing sweets as prasadam. Even as He did so, He spoke to one elderly man,

“Don’t worry. Your daughter will give birth to a healthy child.”

It was as if a huge burden lifted off the man’s shoulders. To a lady who was seated at the back, He said,

“Eat this fruit Amma. You will be totally fine by tomorrow morning.”

Sitting on His shoulders, I was thrilled at this spontaneous and instantaneous shower of grace. Dozens were now waiting to have a word with Him because they were sure that any problem could be solved if He only said it. His name was Sathya and His word too was Sathya. My Swami patiently heard to all the different problems. Sitting on His shoulder, I started feeling a bit low hearing to all these problems, difficulties and burdens. But Swami seemed to go on and on, showering grace, consoling, wiping tears and granting joy.

Needless to say, Thursday bhajans became huge gatherings very soon.

Goddumarri S.Anjanaeyulu and his wife Smt.Bhagyalakshmi - Swami picked their house as His mandir. 

Every day is a Thursday

Blessed were the children of Anjaneyulu, Narasimha Dass and Subburathnamma, for they were Swami’s schoolmates. Very often, Raju walked to Anjaneyulu’s house from His house and the three children walked together to school. Of course, I had lost all intentions of returning to my time-zone and I too joined them daily. I was eagerly waiting for the next Thursday when the world would treat Swami the way He ought to be treated every moment, every day. I saw that I wasn’t the only one feeling this way. Several students loved Swami deeply and they cared for nothing else but Him. They would even neglect their studies and be with their Raju every evening, singing bhajans and listening to His words of wisdom. Wow! What a divine time it was! There was no need to wait for a holy Thursday now. Any day with Swami becomes the holy Guruvar (Thursday) or the ‘day of the Guru’.

However, not everyone understood this. Many elders scolded the boys and discouraged them from keeping company with Sathya. Even Raju’s sister-in-law was one such elder. One day,she caught hold of Raju’s arm very rudely. I was shaken off it. She told him with concern and anger,

“If you don’t study well, how will you live? Your Brahmin friends can at least beg to eke a living but being a Kshatriya you will not have that option too!”

I felt so angry that I buzzed straight into her ear. She let go of Swami and slapped herself on the ear. I escaped unhurt and was happy at what I had done!

The boys were helpless but they were simply unable to let go of their love for Swami. So, they devised a plan.

“Miran, please keep guard as we do bhajans”, they requested. Miran Moinuddin, a simple Muslim boy, became a watchman for the all the sessions the boys had with Swami. In reward, Swami gave him an extra helping of prasadam which he partook with great glee. Invariably, Swami would drop a little morsel of the prasadam on the floor. That was food enough for me for the whole day. I was grateful to Him for not forgetting His little fly.

{At this point, let me step out of my fly body, out of the time-machine to mention something very relevant that happened years later. Moinuddin visited Prasanthi Nilayam, Puttaparthi, to have Baba’s darshan. As he stood waiting near a statue, Baba walked up to him and said,

“Is this not the Prasadam Bhakta (devotee who clamoured for prasadam). When did you come?” Moinuddin had no answer - only tears of joy. Ah! Now, I shall return back to my fly body.}

Anjaneyulu's house today has given way to this magnificent mandir. The bottom image shows
the bhajan hall where weekly Thursday bhajans are held today. This has been the spot
for weekly Thursday bhajans from the 1940s though the house has been replaced
with the bhajan hall. 

Thus every day became a Thursday filled with miracles galore. On one day Swami helped a Muslim horse-cart driver locate his missing mare while on another day, he named the person responsible for several thefts. He cured many people of illnesses and narrated stories from Shirdi Baba’s life. The extraordinary became part of daily routine for me and if I have to keep buzzing these stories, I will lose all track of time and my time-machine will begin beeping again. Though I have decided to fast-forward to another watershed event before The Declaration, I cannot help but narrate an amazing prediction that Swami made.

One Thursday, in the long queue waiting for an audience with Swami was B.Hanumantha Reddy, Raju’s classmate. I saw him in the line trying to attract Swami attention. But for some reason, Swami totally ignored him. He felt very upset. This was the first time I was seeing someone upset with Swami for neglecting them.He had very little patience and an even shorter fuse. In anger, he walked straight up to Swami and threw a handful of sugar and dust and walked away. Everyone was shocked and I was burning with rage.

“What a crazy lunatic!”, I thought, “as if doing this will relieve whatever problem he has!”

The headmaster of the school was present too. He was upset at this unprovoked attack on a ‘student’ by a student. As a punishment, he ordered that Reddy should not be given food in hostel.

I would later in life realize that there would be quite a number of such misguided souls who, unable to bear neglect from Swami, would walk away from Him, criticizing and cursing him. That would only make the situation into a punishment for them but would hardly affect Swami. One can only sympathize with such lost souls.

G.S.Abdul Khader during a recorded interview
on the 16th of March 1999.

I also saw Abdul Khader, the student leader plead on Reddy’s behalf to the headmaster. The headmaster would not change his mind and so, Abdul decided to seek Raju’s intervention. At precisely this time, Swami called out,

“Abdul Khader, come here.”

“Yes Raju...”

“You have come to talk about Hanumanth Reddy right? It was I who made the boy act in that manner. It is not right to punish him thus. Tell the headmaster to feed him properly.”

Abdul Khader was dumbstruck and so was I. How could He love someone who hates and maligns Him? But then, God has His own ways with critics.

In that dumbstruck trance, Abdul asked something totally unrelated to my Swami,

“Raju, when will India be freed from the British?”

As if expecting that question, Swami’s reply was immediate and firm,

“We will celebrate India’s independence on the 15th of August in 1947 - four years from now. Go back home now.”

The next day, I overheard Abdul telling his friends,

“Nobody at home believes that we will be independent in 1947. They say that a World War is on and there is no way that Britain will let go of India.”

I only smiled. How I wished I could speak! It was just the case of one hyper-excited fly buzzing in the classroom that day. It was in such circumstances that the Hampi trip materialized.

to be continued in the next part at:

Time-travel to the days of declaration of Avatarhood of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba - Part 4

For all readers:

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Time-travel to the days of declaration of Avatarhood of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba - Part 2

The renovated Sun-temple and Shiva-temple complex at Budagavi as it stands in 2014. The Shiva lingam in the sanctum
is presented as the inset. One can reach this place within 5 minutes of travelling along the Uravakonda-Bellary
road. This is where Sathya was on Shivarathri in 1943. 

Sathya looked up to His sister but did not speak anything. He just was clenching His teeth and clutching His foot.

“Oh my God! A scorpion stung you?” she exclaimed, rushing to help Him.

Again, He spoke nothing and slowly limped out of the bathroom. If a scorpion had stung Him, it must be pretty painful I thought.

(What you are reading now is the second part of this memorable time-travel series. If you have not read part 1, please do that first. The first part is located at the link below.

Time-travel to the days of declaration of Avatarhood of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba - Part 1)

It was a known fact that the Uravakonda region abounded in poisonous creatures - mainly scorpions and snakes. The place had actually been called Uragakonda. Uraga means snake while Konda means hill. Apart from being a home to snakes and scorpions, Uravakonda also had a huge hill right in the middle of the town. The hill is shaped like the hood of a cobra ready to strike. No wonder that the town was called Uragakonda due to these two reasons. Later, the name was modified to Uravakonda. The picture of the snake-hood hill has come to represent Uravakonda today. I am a decently big and powerful fly and yet, I found it hard to go around this hill! You can only imagine the proportions of this hill.

The magnificent hill at Uravakonda as seen from the grounds of the Karibasavaswami District Board
High School 

Coming back to the story, right now, I was keen to locate the scorpion that had stung my Lord. Maybe I could knock some sense into him/her about foolishly harming his/her creator. But to my surprise, there was no scorpion there at all! Then what had happened? As I was buzzing out of the bathroom, I saw Venkamma rushing in with a lantern. She too wanted to find the scorpion.

“There is nothing in there”, I screamed but my buzz fell on deaf ears.

Sathya was seated on the floor mat. Even in the darkness, there was a kind of serenity exuding from His face. Soon, Venkamma came to Him and asked,

“Is it painful? Are you experiencing a burning sensation in your leg?”

“I am absolutely fine. You please go to sleep and don’t worry.”

With that, Sathya calmed down His sister and all went to sleep. Everything seemed to return to normal and the ‘scorpion bite’ seemed like a minor aberration in an otherwise peaceful and well-spent Shivarathri day.

The next morning however, was one that would change history forever. Venkamma was the first to observe that Sathya’s lips and hands were quivering oddly. Something was definitely wrong and it was not be long before Seshamma Raju observed it when he gave Him the list of vegetables to be bought. But, Swami, as was His routine, took the bags and left to fetch vegetables from the market nearby after fetching water for the house. The vegetable shopping was His weekly schedule unlike the water-fetching which He did on a daily basis visiting the Gilakala Bhavi to get usage-water and the Bungalow Bhavi (3 km away) to get drinking-water.

When Sathya returned, He had in his bag a lot of brinjals (aubergines) and sweet potatoes. Apparently, these two were vegetables He relished I thought. ( A time travel into the future would reveal that He often called the humble brinjal as one that will ‘bring joy to all’! )

The elder brother, Seshamma, had chosen to ignore anything that he had seen in the morning. He had some work. Before leaving, he advised his sister Venkamma,

“Let Sathyam (that was how Sathya was referred to) have only some rice and rasam (South Indian soup).”

I saw the sister nod in strict obedience. I also saw her secretly keep aside some of the brinjal dish for the little brother who loved that vegetable. However, Sathya told her that He would be going to the nearby Sunkulamma (village deity) shrine. I saw that there were a few drops of the brinjal dish that had fallen on the floor. I could not resist going there and tasting it myself. I wondered what it was that my Lord saw in this humble vegetable. I buzzed now, escaping the swatting hand of Venkamma, to the tasty drops.

Swami's house as it stands today (March 2014). Bike parked in front of it to give an estimate of size.

The first signs

Soon, I had my fill. I knew that Sathya had gone to the Sunkulamma shrine but I did not know where the shrine was located. It must have been very far I thought because my Swami did not return home till late in the evening. I could see that the sister was quite worried because Sathya had not eaten anything the whole day. So, when He returned, she rushed to Him to see if all was well. She arranged a wooden plank for Him to sit on and served the food in a plate. However, Swami seemed so lost and different. I ventured as close to Him as possible. Even though I buzzed near His ear, He did not make the slightest movement.

Seeing that He was not partaking food, Venkamma sat beside Him. She physically took His right hand, put it in the plate and asked Him to eat. There was still no response. Now, she caught His hand, raising it to His mouth and said,

“Eat Sathyam! Please eat something...”

And then, it happened! It was so sudden and quick.

Swami just fell to the floor with a dull thud! The scream that Venkamma let out almost tore my wings apart. Seshamma Raju came running to the outer room. He immediately sent for a doctor. In the meanwhile, the neighbors had started streaming into the house. Things were happening very fast and I was in a state of utter shock. Some people splashed cold water on His face while a few others burnt an old newspaper and held the smoke to His nose. All their efforts to revive Him were in vain! Presently, a doctor arrived on the scene. This man, Seshamma Raju, was quite influential I felt to have summoned a doctor so quick.

(Above) Seshamma Raju's house in Uravakonda in the 1980s. (Below) The same house as it
stands today. The roof is completely gone. The 3 rooms can be seen from the separating walls.
The house is literally like 3 small bogies of a train. 

The doctor checked and rechecked but could find nothing wrong with the boy. He gave several injections, four to be precise, in the hope of reviving Him but nothing happened. A revered elder whom everyone referred to as Murthy garu (From later conversations I gathered that his name was Kasibatla Sriram Murthy), rose and suggested that my Swami be taken to a hospital. Seshamma Raju said nothing doing and sent summons to the parents in Puttaparthi.

I suddenly noticed Swami’s eyelids were stirring. My heart leapt in joy and I buzzed hard around people’s ears with the hope that they would notice. They had already noticed and were shaking Him up! Within a few moments however, without saying a word, their Sathya relapsed into unconsciousness. After this, He seemed to wake up a few more times but he went back to unconsciousness soon after. It was almost night now and someone suggested a remedy based on faith.

“Let us make an offering to our goddess Sunkulamma to revive Sathya.”

“Good idea”, everyone agreed and a group of people left with a coconut.

By now, I had flown to a crevice in the floor close to my Swami. I wanted to be by His side in this apparent time of crisis. A few minutes later, He stirred, opened His eyes and said,

“The coconut has broken into three.”

I wondered what that was all about but understood it in a minute as the group that had gone to the Sunkulamma shrine returned. They reported that ‘surprisingly’, when they broke the coconut in offering to the goddess, it had broken into three pieces.

I looked up at the supine Swami with awe and amazement. So, this was another of His many leelas. He may appear ill, unconscious, comatose or even gone but He is ever-aware in all periods of time. It would be sheer ignorance to think otherwise.

The Sunkulamma shrine has also been modified and renovated today. However, the deity within remains
the same. Legend is that the deity is a Swayambhu (formed naturally). 

Stage 2 towards declaration

I don’t know when I dozed off. It was late in the night when I was awakened by another awe-inspiring episode. As Kasibatla Sriram Murthy garu sat beside the comatose Sathya and kept praying for His welfare, Sathya stirred. He turned and held Murthy’s wrist. He was startled as the little boy said,

“Don’t worry! Sai Baba will take care.”

So the ‘Sai Baba’ name had been unleashed already. Murthy did not understand anything but was convinced for sure that his neighbor boy was no ordinary one.

The next day morning would witness new developments. My Swami apparently had decided to cast away His ‘unconsciousness’ episodes. He ‘woke’ up and sat up. Without a warning, He began to recite Telugu poems of great literary excellence. Seshamma Raju, being a Telugu teacher himself, was probably the most qualified person there to judge the quality of Sathya’s poetry. I saw that he had an absolutely stupefied look on his face. Though some of the poems were from highly regarded, well-known texts, many of them were original creations and Seshamma seemed to wonder when and where did the little boy acquire such knowledge? Ah! Does the fountain of all wisdom and knowledge in the universe need to ‘learn’ any time?

He decided to summon a few of his students to personally rush to Puttaparthi and fetch the parents. He had already sent two telegrams but he felt that more action was necessary. I decided that come what may, I would stay with my Swami. I was sure that all this was just another leela and did not want to miss a moment of it. My Swami ‘summoned’ Seshamma Raju.This was surprising apparently because till that day, Sathya had been highly respectful of his elder brother. Now, He was treating him as an equal.

Ah! The beauty of the Divine actions! He always treats everyone as an ‘equal’ for that is the only ‘mission’ of His earthly sojourn - to teach each one that he/she is no different from God. I don’t think Seshamma Raju understood this that day. However, he could not ignore the ‘summons’. Swami said,

“There is no need to send anyone. Grihamammayi (the girl of the house) and Grihamabbayi (the boy of the house) are already here, at the bus station. They do not know the way to this house. Go there and fetch them.”

Was I thrilled to hear this!

Sister Venkamma's diary notes - "When in Uravakonda, he was bitten by a scorpion and he fell unconscious. My brother sent two telegrams to our parents. They had not come. So, my brother called two students. explained the route to them and decided to send them to Puttaparthi..."

Seshamma could not not help but obey his ‘little brother’. By now, many people began to gather again at the house. Suddenly, a loud beeping sound was heard. I was startled and flew out my crevice. Nobody else seemed to be hearing this and I wondered whether I, a fly, had an antenna better than the human ear. I realized that it was my time-machine beeping. I soon would have to return to my ‘time zone’. The beeper was an indicator that I had one hour left. Oh! How time flies even for flies when with God?

Final episode witnessed before take-off

I settled back into the crevice. Seshamma Raju arrived home with the parents. The mother, Easwaramma, rushed into the house and hugged her baby boy. Swami just smiled and greeted her with an outpouring of what I got to know later as Vedantic philosophy. He went on this way for a while and then just collapsed to the ground exhausted.

The mother’s heart could not bear this. Tears streamed down her cheeks and she began to cry without any inhibitions. This was a new emotion that had been introduced to the room which had been filled with surprise, shock, fear, awe and wonder. Soon, several others too began lamenting what had been happening. I too could not help crying. A fly has no tear glands but it sure has feelings. At least I had. I felt very sad suddenly. The foolish thought that ‘something has happened to Sathya’ filled me too.

Amidst these tears, Sathya suddenly got up. He said aloud,

“Call that Narayan Shastri. He is misinterpreting the Bhagawatham.”

The tears dried up and sorrow was once again replaced by shock. There were murmurs all around. I gathered that this ‘Narayan Shastri’ was some well-known figure here. Curiosity overcame me and for the first time, I flew out along with Pedda Venkamma Raju, the father who exited the house towards Narayan Shastri’s house. I buzzed by his side. The house lay between Seshamma’s house and the Subramanya temple.

The house of Sri Narayana Shastri still stands at Uravakonda. 

Narayan Shastri, possibly the first scholar
to recognize Sathya as Swami. 

Turns out that Narayan Shastri is indeed a scholar and he is actually discoursing on a part of the Bhagawatham, the 11th canto named Hamsa Gita (also called Uddhava Gita). The father was almost shivering in fear as he conveyed what his son had told him to. Narayan Shastri flwe in a rage at being rudely interrupted at the whim of a chit of a boy.

“What on earth does he know of the Hamsa Gita?” he roared.

“FYI, He is the one who narrated it and gifted it to mankind”, I screamed but nobody heard my buzz.

“Please sir. I am also confused”, the father said with folded hands, “and I would be grateful if you come along and knock some sense into his head.”

“Definitely! That arrogant urchin needs to be taught a lesson.”

I had to buzz back in double the speed to keep up with the Shastri. He entered the house and at the very sight of the ‘scholar’, Swami began to expound complex verses, dilating on them with simple and lucid explanations. Apparently, they were all from the Hamsa Gita because Narayan Shastri was down on his knees now. He then bent and prostrated to Sathya as everyone watched in bated breath. He said,

“You are not an ordinary soul. You are a Great One and it is my privilege to have been summoned to your presence.”

This was beyond the understanding of the people all around.

“Not only is Sathya out of his mind, he seems to be infecting those that come close to him as well!”

“The scorpion bit has caused not only physical damage but also mental and psychological damages.”

“We need a doctor... a healer to help Sathya.”

These were the voices going around the house and I felt so bad for Swami. Could the people not realize that Swami was in no need of a doctor? He was, in fact, the Divine Doctor who had descended to the level of man to heal man of worldly diseases and ensure that he ascended to the level of God! And this was because man, in his greed, selfishness and ego had totally lost his mind and was infecting anyone and everyone who comes into his ambit.

But what a mere fly could understand, man couldn’t. Is it any surprise that Swami exhorts that man is becoming worse than an animal?

The general consensus in the room was to ‘cure’ Sathya. I knew that this would be a very painful period. And that is why I did not mind when the beeper indicating my return to my time-zone became persistent.

Whirrrrr...... Swooooooooshhhhhh...... Blip...

I looked at the humble dwelling that had witnessed so much of His-story. I bowed and applied the holy dust to my forehead. I vowed that I would come here again and again to derive inspiration and become a part of His story. After all, the house is just a 3-hour drive from Puttaparthi! With that, I turned to the greatest wonder that Uravakonda had to offer - the Sai Baba Gundu or the Sai Baba Rock. This was the rock that my Swami chose as His first throne when He guided man back on to the eternal highway to God, singing the bhajan - Manasa Bhajare Guru Charanam.

For that, I shall use my time machine again.... very soon...


continued in a new article whose link is given below: Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba's life episodes at Uravakonda - a time travel Part 1

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