Sri Sathya Sai International Organization

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Editorial

SATHYA SAI
His Advent, His Glory, and His Leelas

Sai devotees around the world are now celebrating the 100th year of the advent of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, the Paripoorna Avatar (complete manifestation of God), the very incarnation of love itself.

Swami’s glory is truly unfathomable. Yet, as an expression of gratitude and love, devotees everywhere try to reminisce and recollect His life, message, mission, and legacy. His glory is unparalleled in human history. As the Taittriya Upanishad says, “Yatho Vacho Nivartanthe Aprapya Manasa Saha,” a phenomenon that words cannot describe and the mind cannot fathom. It can only be experienced.

Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba Himself, during the First World Conference on May 17, 1968, said that even if the whole of humanity were to come together and perform penance and austerity for thousands of years, it still would not be able to comprehend the glory of Sathya Sai Baba or understand Him. That is why He advised us never to try to understand Him, but only to experience His love.

The same truth is beautifully echoed in the Bible, Gospel of John (21:25), “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which, if they were written one by one, not even this world, I believe, could contain the books that would be written.”

Similarly, in the Shiva Mahima Stotram (Verse 32), it is described poetically:

“If the oceans were turned into ink, and Mother Saraswati herself took a pen made from a celestial tree to write the glories of the Lord, upon the earth as her paper, even then, the glories of the Lord would never end. They are infinite and eternal.”

God, as described in the scriptures, is beyond name, form, attributes, time, space, and causation. Yet, out of His infinite love and compassion, He descends from age to age as an Avatar, an incarnation of the divine, for the redemption and transformation of humanity.

In this age, we are truly blessed and fortunate that Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba has come as the embodiment of love–love walking on two legs. He has clearly proclaimed that the purpose of His advent is to make humanity realize its innate divinity–that each one is the embodiment of divine love, divine Atma, and divine bliss.

He says that the best way to experience Him is through love, just as one can see the moon only by the light of the moon itself.

His Advent

Just as with Lord Jesus and Lord Krishna, many auspicious signs heralded Swami’s birth. From the very day that Mother Easwaramma conceived, miraculous sounds of musical instruments like the tambura and drums kept in their home were heard. The instruments began playing on their own during the night, without being touched by anyone.

This was one of the earliest signs announcing the arrival of the divine. Later, as Mother Easwaramma revealed, she had witnessed a brilliant, blue ball of light enter her womb as she drew water from a well. Thus, the divine advent was a Pravesha (entry of the divine) and not a Prasava (ordinary conception). It was a divine, blessed conception.Divinity chose Mother Easwaramma for this sacred birth.

It is said that Mother Easwaramma had conceived after she performed the sacred Sathyanarayana Puja. Hence, the child was first named Sathyanarayana Raju, before He declared His Avatarhood at the age of 14.

According to His biographical accounts, sacred signs of Lord Vishnu were seen on the newborn child’s body. There was also a mysterious incident of a serpent that appeared under the infant’s bed, held its hood over the baby, only to vanish soon after, foretelling that the child was none other than Lord Vishnu Himself, reclining on Adisesha, the celestial serpent

His Glory

He is all names and all forms–and beyond them all. Swami often began His divine discourses by singing the following verse, revealing His true reality

Dhoopati Thirumalacharya with Swami

This profound revelation that Baba made about Himself is comparable to Lord Krishna’s own declaration in the Bhagavad Gita (BG 10.20) about His Avatar:

“I am the beginning, the middle, and the end of all beings. I am the Atma seated in the hearts of all creatures.”

That is why we say that Swami is One in All, All in One, All in All, and beyond All.

In the discourse given at the First World Conference on May 17, 1968, Swami declared:

“This is a human form in which every divine entity, every divine principle–that is to say, all the names and forms ascribed by man to God–are manifest. Do not allow doubt to distract you. If you only install in the altar of your heart a steady faith in My divinity, you can win the vision of My reality.”

Swami has shown through countless instances that He is all names and forms. Out of His infinite love and compassion, He has granted divine visions of their chosen deities to numerous devotees over the years.

In the early days, He blessed the Raja of Venkatagiri with the vision of Lord Sri Rama. The Raja, his entire family, and his royal household all became devoted followers of Bhagawan. Swami also gave a vision of Lord Rama to His own mother, Mother Easwaramma, who innocently thought that He was merely her son. Before her passing, Swami granted her the divine vision of Rama, which filled her with bliss and wonder, as narrated by her to Smt. Pedda Bottu, a renowned devotee who was a contemporary of Shirdi Sai Baba. Swami also granted the vision of Lord Rama during a visit to Ayodhya to a devotee named Sri Dhoopati Thirumalacharya, the author of the Sathya Sai Suprabhatam, who hailed from the Venkatagiri Samsthanam, a princely state. He was overwhelmed with divine ecstasy. Another beautiful incident concerns the Hanuman Temple in Puttaparthi. Once, young Sathya and His classmates were circumambulating the Hanuman idol. Suddenly, Swami stopped and couldn’t move further. When asked why, He smiled and revealed that Hanuman, himself, was holding His feet, saying, “Lord, you cannot go around me, for I am the devotee, and You are my beloved Rama.” It was a profound divine revelation that Swami is indeed Lord Rama Himself.

He gave the vision of Lord Krishna to Dr. John Hislop during a car journey–an incident recorded in his book. My father, Dr. Adivi Reddy, too, during his stay in Prasanthi Nilayam, once saw Swami as Lord Krishna, a vision that Swami Himself lovingly confirmed the following day on the verandah of the Prasanthi mandir. Another saintly soul, Swami Vidya Prakashananda Giri, who devoted his life to propagating the message of the Bhagavad Gita throughout Andhra Pradesh, once came for Swami’s darshan. Swami appreciated his service to Lord Krishna and, in response to his prayer, gave him the vision of Lord Krishna, which filled him with divine bliss.

Swami gave the vision of Lord Vishnu to Sri Dhoopati Thirumalacharya. One early morning, Swami appeared to him as Lord Vishnu, blessing him, after curing his daughter, who was seriously ill several hundred miles away. Swami had remotely performed a divine operation on her, removing a tumor–an event later medically confirmed.

Swami also granted the vision of Lord Vishnu to Sri Burgula Ramakrishna Rao, a great devotee and statesman who served as Governor of Kerala, Governor of Uttar Pradesh, and as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. He accompanied Swami to many pilgrimage centers like Badrinath and made all arrangements for these divine journeys.

During His school days at Uravakonda, Swami, as young Sathya, was invited for a vacation to Hampi, a historical heritage site located in the adjoining state of Karnataka, India. During this visit with his family to the Virupaksha Temple in Hampi, young Sathya remained outside while the rest entered for darshan. To his brother, Seshama Raju’s astonishment, He was seen simultaneously in the inner sanctum of the temple receiving arati as Lord Virupaksha (Shiva), and also sitting under a tree outside the temple! Raju’s elder brother was angered at first and bewildered later, but the Municipal Chairman in the entourage remarked, “Raju is Virupaksha and Virupaksha is Raju,” indicating Sathya and the deity are identical.

To Sri Seshagiri Rao, an orthodox Brahmin who served as the priest for many years in the Paata Mandiram in Puttaparthi, Swami appeared as Lord Shiva. After this vision, he remained in a state of bliss for three days and decided to stay permanently with Swami as His priest, never returning to his family.

When the renowned Vedic scholar Sri Gandikota Subramanya Shastry, through whom emerged the sacred Sai Gayatri mantra that devotees all over the world now chant, asked Swami who He really was, Swami materialized a picture showing Himself as Shiva, Sai Baba, and the Linga–all one, declaring that He is Lord Shiva verily.

Similarly, during a medical conference at Prasanthi Nilayam, Dr. Venkat Sadanand, a neurosurgeon from the USA, earnestly prayed, “Swami, please tell us who You are.” Swami materialized a gold chain with the pendant of a small crystal linga, saying, “This is who I am–Lord Shiva.”

Swami also revealed Himself as the Divine Mother. At one time, the great singer Smt. M. S. Subbulakshmi, who received national distinction with the title of Bharat Ratna,  the highest Indian civilian award of distinction, was going through a family crisis. When she sought advice from His Holiness Kanchi Paramacharya, the revered sage of Kanchi, he recommended her to visit Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, as He is the walking and talking Divine Mother, Herself. From then on, her faith in Swami grew, and she became an ardent devotee of Mother Sai.

Swami Himself revealed in 1963 that He is Shiva-Shakti Swarupa, the embodiment of both Lord Shiva and Goddess Shakti. Swami proclaimed this during Guru Poornima after He miraculously cured Himself of paralysis, sprinkling a few drops of water on His affected limbs, as described in Sathyam Sivam Sundaram, Sanathana Sarathi, and Sathya Sai–The Eternal Companion. There are many instances of devotees experiencing this profound truth. Among those blessed with such divine vision were Dr. Alreja, superintendent of the General Hospital in Prasanthi Nilayam, and Professor Anil Kumar, Swami’s translator and ardent devotee–both of whom had direct experience of Swami as the embodiment of Shiva-Shakti.

Swami also revealed that He is part of the Triune Avatar, a divine phenomenon never before seen in human history. He explained that the first in this series is Shirdi Sai Baba, the second is Sathya Sai Baba, and the third will be Prema Sai Baba. In fact, at the age of fourteen, He threw jasmine flowers on the ground, which formed the name “Sai Baba,” in Telugu letters, thus confirming His declaration.

Later, many devotees of Shirdi Sai Baba had profound experiences affirming that Sathya Sai was the same Baba, come again. One such devotee, Dixit, who had lived during Shirdi Baba’s time, later served as a gatekeeper at Swami’s Brindavan Ashram. Swami also materialized many idols and images of Shirdi Sai for devotees.

Swami has said that Shirdi Sai is the Avatar of Lord Shiva. Eight years after leaving His body in 1918, Sathya Sai, the embodiment of Shiva and Shakti, was born in 1926. Prema Sai, the third avatar, yet to descend, will embody the aspect of the Divine Mother–Shakti.

Thus, He is the embodiment of Shiva and Shakti, the union of the cosmic masculine and feminine principles.

Swami gave devotees visions according to their own spiritual inclinations and chosen deities. For example, Swami Amruthananda, who had performed a 40-day Ganapathi Homa as a seven-year-old child, was blessed by Swami with the vision of a golden Ganesha when he was 85. Swami said this was the fruit of performing the Ganapathi Homa for 40 days meticulously, faithfully, and with devotion, as per scriptural injunctions. The saint remained in bliss for three days without food or water.

When Swami visited Rishikesh, a sacred pilgrimage place, He met Swami Purushottamananda, a revered monk of the Ramakrishna Order in the nearby Vasishtha cave, where Sage Vashista had meditated in the days of yore. Since Swami Purushottamananda worshipped God as Anantha Padmanabhaswami, the form of Lord Vishnu reclining on the serpent, Adi Sesha, Bhagawan gave him that very vision, fulfilling his lifelong spiritual yearning.

Swami also blessed Colonel Jogarao, a great devotee and engineer who contributed immensely to Swami’s mission and projects–building hospitals, university buildings, and residences for devotees. When he once prayed, “Swami, please reveal Your real Self to me,” Swami allowed a Polaroid picture to be taken, which miraculously revealed Lord Dattatreya, the embodiment of Brahma, Vishnu, and Maheshwara. Through this miracle, Swami revealed Himself as the Trinity–the Creator, the Sustainer, and the Dissolver of the universe. Indeed, Sri Shirdi Sai Baba is regarded as one of the Avatars of Lord Dattatreya, representing the Trinity.

When Swami Abhedananda, a disciple of Bhagawan Ramana Maharshi and a sincere spiritual seeker, came for Swami’s darshan, Bhagawan granted him the ultimate experience of the supreme Parabrahman–the nameless, formless, attributeless Absolute. He later shared his joy with Professor Kasturi, declaring that “Swami is not merely an Avatar; He is the Supreme Brahman, the source of all Avatars.”

Swami is not only all names and forms; He is also Existence, Knowledge, and Bliss–Satchidananda. He is Advaita, the Non-dual Reality, the all-pervading Brahman. He is also truth, goodness, and beauty–sathyam, shivam, sundaram–for His message is sathyam (truth), His path is shivam (auspiciousness), and His form is sundaram (beauty beyond compare).

The great devotee, Smt. Pedda Bottu realized that Sathya Sai was the same as Shirdi Sai Baba. Living in Prasanthi Nilayam, she composed many poems extolling His glory. In one poem, she described Swami as Sarva Devata Swarupa–the embodiment of all divine forms and names. But the next day, she noticed that the word in the poem in her manuscript had mysteriously changed to “Sarva Devata Ateeta Swarupa” from “Sarva Devata Swarupa.” The added word “Ateeta” signifies that He is “beyond” all names and forms–the Supreme Parabrahman that transcends time, space, and causation.

Once, in Kodaikanal, in April 1998, Swami asked the students, “Who am I?” Each replied with their own understanding–Shiva-Shakti, Rama, Krishna, and so on. Finally, Swami said, “None of you is correct. I am I.”

That is the ultimate truth–He is everything, everywhere, forever.

This is why, for the celebration of the 100th year of the advent of the Avatar, a beautiful logo was developed by the Sri Sathya Sai International Organization, by His grace. This logo is unique in that it shows both the nirguna (formless) and saguna (with form) aspects of God–that God is both with name, form, and attributes, as well as beyond name, form, and attributes. God is both finite and infinite.

The logo shows a beautiful silhouette of Baba, which makes people think about His beautiful form, His sweet divine name, and His amazing leelas. While His form represents artistically the ‘1’ of the number ‘100,’ the ‘00’ is depicted by the infinity symbol. This indicates that He is also formless, symbolized by infinity, beyond comprehension. He remains the eternal companion: omniscient, omnipresent, and beyond, transcending all barriers of thought, word, and deed. This particular logo, inspired by Swami’s grace, not only marks the 100th Birthday of Bhagawan but will endure beyond, because it encompasses all the divine aspects of the Lord.

His Miracles and Divine Sports

The unparalleled miracles of Bhagawan Baba are mind-boggling, awesome, and inspiring. Miracles are spontaneous acts of love and compassion by Avatars. For ordinary spiritual seekers, miraculous powers (siddhis) acquired during penance become obstacles to spiritual progress. But for an Avatar, these miracle powers are innate to their nature and guide humanity toward the spiritual goal.

All the great Masters, Lord Krishna, Lord Jesus, Shirdi Sai, and Sathya Sai, performed countless miracles throughout their lives. Scriptures like the Srimad Bhagavatam, the Bible, and the Shirdi Satcharita are replete with such stories of how the Avatars uplifted devotees through divine acts of grace and mercy.

Swami performed innumerable miracles for the benefit of human beings–making the blind see, the lame walk, and the mute speak. He cured individuals from terminal cancers, saying, “Cancer is cancelled,” and He even raised the dead to life. Such resurrections have been recorded in the cases of Mr. Walter Cowan from the USA, Brigadier S.K. Bose and Sri Kuppam Radhakrishna, from India. Swami also revived Smt. Karnam Subamma, who was like a second mother to Him, like Mother Yashoda was to Lord Krishna. Smt. Subamma had passed away and was about to be cremated. As promised, Baba came and put holy water into her mouth, saying, “Wake up.” She opened her eyes and drank the holy tirtha before finally merging in peace. The descriptions of these episodes can be found in previous issues of our publication, Sathya Sai–The Eternal Companion.

Another unique aspect of Swami is that He appeared simultaneously in many places. There are recorded instances of such incidents. Mr. James Sinclair in Connecticut, USA, saw Swami appear in his bedroom; a doctor in Abu Dhabi saw Him in her room; and in Venezuela, a lady saw Swami appear in flesh and blood while she was meditating. The Sanathana Sarathi records how, in March 1983, in Manama, Bahrain, Mrs. Pankajam Sundaram opened her door at 9:30 PM to find Swami standing there, holding an apple and speaking in Tamil. He applied vibhuti on her forehead and vanished–just hours before her relatives returned and found her visibly shaken from the astounding experience.

Not only could He appear in His own form in multiple places, but He could also multiply Himself into different forms. One such instance occurred in the late 1950s with a military officer in Bhopal who was about to commit suicide. At that very moment, in distant Kodaikanal, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba left His body exclaiming, “Stop! Don’t shoot!” He appeared in multiple forms–as the officer’s friend, his friend’s wife, and even the railway porter–in Bhopal, to stop him from committing suicide. The gun disappeared instantly, and later the officer received a telegram, “The instrument is with Me–Baba.” This divine intervention saved his life and transformed his faith forever.

This reminds us of the incident in Shirdi Sai Satcharita, where Baba helped Nana Saheb Chandorkar’s daughter go through a difficult pregnancy and labor. Baba sent vibhuti and blessings through one devotee, Ramgir Bua, who was received at the train station and taken to Nanasaheb’s house by a horse carriage. Baba thus appeared as a coach driver, as the horses, and even as an accompanying friend, and after reaching the home of Nanasaheb, all forms vanished. This shows how the One can become many (Ekoham Bahusyam), revealing His omnipotence and omnipresence.

These are a few of the many ways Swami transformed people’s lives and healed their illnesses. In addition, He demonstrated control over the five elements–for example, Swami controlled rain many times. In one such instance, recorded in Sathyam Sivam Sundaram, during a large gathering attending Swami’s discourse, when it was about to pour, Swami looked up, and the rain immediately stopped. Once the program concluded, torrential rain ensued! This shows His mastery over the five elements. I have had the blessed privilege of personally witnessing such occurrences.

Once, my father, Dr. Adivi Reddy, asked Swami, “Swami, You eat so little. How do You sustain Yourself? Do You derive energy from the five elements, as yogis do?” Swami smiled and said, “The five elements derive their sustenance from Me,” showing His absolute command over them.

In His younger days, Swami would pluck a variety of fruits from a tamarind tree, fulfilling the devotees’ wish; the sacred tree was later known as the Kalpavriksha (wish-fulfilling tree). Whatever people desired–apples, strawberries, mangoes–He would pluck from it, showing His power to transmute and transform. Beyond that, any tree became wish-fulfilling by His will. Once, during a visit to Kodaikanal in 1994 (an event I witnessed), Swami plucked ripe plums from a bougainvillea vine! This is yet another display of His divine mahimas.

In another instance, Swami showed a geologist a stone and asked what it was made of. True to his training, the geologist replied, “Silica and other minerals.” Swami then asked him, “Look again.” To everyone’s amazement, the same stone was transformed into a beautiful, sweet idol of Lord Krishna–made of sugar candy! This illustrates that what we perceive as inert matter is imbued with divinity and sweetness, if only one has divine vision and love. Even in Swami’s physical absence, His miracles continue. In homes and Sai centers around the world, sacred vibhuti, turmeric, kumkum, saffron, and amrit (nectar) manifest on His pictures and altars–making devotees feel His eternal presence.

During special festivals, Swami would perform vibhuti abhishekam to the Shirdi Baba idol, especially on Maha Shivaratri. A large empty vessel would be held above the idol. Swami would put His hand in and swirl continuously, and copious amounts of vibhuti would flow out! The moment He pulled His hand out of the vessel, the flow ceased, showing that there was no secret source of the vibhuti, only divine will.

Another great phenomenon is the Lingodbhava, where Swami brings out the linga, the representation of the formless aspect of Lord Shiva. Sometimes, He would manifest and bring out many lingas that simultaneously emerged from His body during Maha Shivaratri. Later, He also materialized lingas and gifted them to devotees for daily worship.

Swami has explained the linga’s significance. Liyate gamyate iti linga: everything with name and form finally merges into the linga, the symbol of the formless Lord. He materialized various special lingas, such as the Hiranyagarbha Linga, and others made of different metals and celestial substances, each reminiscent of Lord Sai Mahadeva.

In the early days, Swami used to take devotees to the sandy shores of the Chitravati River. With small groups, He would materialize many objects from the sands, such as idols of Lord Krishna, Mother Durga, or even fresh hot sweets! Not a single grain of sand would stick to them as they were brought out. He would also bring forth vessels filled with nectar, ethereal and heavenly, for everyone to taste, which many observers have described in detail.

These amazing miracles are endless, beyond enumeration–because the Divine, who is all-powerful, can do anything, anywhere, and at any time. Swami beautifully summarizes the purpose of all these miracles and divine leelas in a fourfold formula for the stages of our spiritual evolution:

• Chamatkar–witnessing and experiencing miracles.
• Samskar–bringing transformation of the heart.
• Paropakar–leading to do selfless service to others.
• Sakshatkar–ultimately realizing one’s true divine nature.

He cautioned that one should not get stuck at the first stage of merely enjoying miracles and leelas. In spiritual life, one must always move forward, as it is said, “Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached.” The goal is Self-realization.

In the beginning, miracles inspire faith and devotion. But eventually, they should lead to the transformation of the heart, which Swami said is His greatest miracle. The book, Sathyam Sivam Sundaram, Swami’s biography, records how Kalpagiri, a murderer who disguised himself as a monk, wandered for years seeking peace. At Puttaparthi, Baba confronted his falsity, gave him white clothes, vibhuti, and ordered him to confess. Kalpagiri did so; his death sentence was commuted, and he began dedicating his life to service under Baba’s grace. There are countless such recorded instances of atheists, criminals, and addicts being transformed–prisoners becoming reformed citizens, drunkards and drug addicts giving up their vices, and the wealthy turning from selfishness to selflessness, using their wealth for providing free education, healthcare, and social services.

Many of Baba’s projects–educational institutions, hospitals, feeding programs, and water projects–have been made possible through the generosity of such souls with transformed hearts. Though Baba could accomplish anything by His divine will, He chose to uplift humanity through these means. Thus, they sacrificed their wealth for the welfare of humankind, and in turn, Baba gave them what they lacked, namely, peace and happiness.

The next editorial will dwell on the universal teachings and sacred, unparalleled divine mission of our Lord Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba.

Jai Sai Ram.