|
X.
The Same Baba: Shirdi Sai and Sathya Sai
The Assurance
and the Fulfillment
How Baba had prophesied His advent
to Smt. Sharada Devi.
Smt. Sharada Devi (affectionately called
as ‘Pedda Bottu’ by Baba) is one of those few
privileged souls who had the unique chance of being in the
proximity of both Shirdi Sai and Sathya Sai. Here she narrates
how Shirdi Baba had revealed to her about His future Advent
and how later Sathya Sai blessed her profusely:
One day I requested Baba (Shirdi Sai) to
give me Mantra Upadesh (spiritual initiation). Baba replied,
"You are young yet. I will give you Upadesh when you
grow older".
I waited till I was 29 years old and prayed
to Baba again. He shouted at me in anger: "You are always
obsessed with Upadesh" and kicked me on the chest with
his right foot.
With tears of dejection streaming down my
face, I went out and lay beneath a tree. I must have slept
after weeping for a long time. It must have been very late
in the night when Baba came to wake me up. He asked me to
follow him to Lendi Garden.
When we reached the Garden, He said "My
child, I could not sleep in Dwaraka Mayi (the dilapidated
Masjid, and Baba's dwelling) when you were lying out there
without food since morning. I have brought you here, for,
I want to tell you something, but first you must eat.”
He stretched out His right hand with palm
up and said "Allah Malik hai". (God is the master).
Two chapatis (wheat pancakes) and a lemon sized-kova (soft
solid sweet made of milk) materialised in His palm. He gave
them to me to eat. Again He stretched out His hand and this
time a very small mud pot full of water materialised. When
I ate and drank, he asked me: "Gori, Is your anger gone?"
(Baba used to affectionately call Sharada Devi, ‘Gori’)
I replied in all humility "There is
no anger or frustration now. I was a fool not to realise that
your kick was in fact a sign of your Grace.”
Baba then told me "I will tell you something,
but before that you should hold My feet and promise Me not
to tell this to anyone".
With pounding heart and anticipating the
much awaited Mantra-Upadesh I did as he told me, "Gori,
I will appear in Andhra with the same name of Sai Baba but
in another Avatar (divine manifestation). Then again you will
come to me. I will keep you with me and will give you joy".
I was ecstatic in joy and said "I am
blessed, my Lord. This is my greatest fortune.” This
conversation between us took place in 1917 AD. Later, I was
informed that my ailing elder aunt wanted to see me at Rajamundry.
It was when I was at Rajamundry in 1918 that I learnt that
Baba had left His physical body. I was filled with inexplicable
anguish.
One day, many years later, I was invited
to sing a ‘Hari Katha’ (a form of ballad popular
in rural areas of Andhra Pradesh) in a village called Uravakonda.
In the house where this event was arranged, I happened to
see on the wall a photograph of a handsome lad. He had a large
crown of hair. The face and eyes were most charming and magnetic.
I asked the housewife whose photo it was.
She told me "Don't you know? He is Puttaparthi Sai Baba.
If you want to see him, I can take you to him tomorrow".
The next day I was taken to the house of
one Mr. Seshama Raju, the elder brother of Baba. I then saw
the young 14-year-old Baba. It was in 1940; I was then fifty-two
years old. The first words that Bhagwan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
uttered were: “Gori, you owe me sixteen rupees
from my Shirdi Incarnation".
I replied that I had already paid up all
my debts to Shirdi Baba. He said, "I know. I said it
because you are not able to recognise Me. All right. After
completing all your tasks at the Poor Home you are running,
go over to Puttaparthi. I shall retain you with Me and shall
bestow all the joy you want".
For the next seventeen years, I used to visit
Puttaparthi frequently and spend a few months every time in
the divine presence of Baba. In 1958, when I was 70, I closed
down the Poor Home and went over to Puttaparthi to spend the
rest of my life there.
Reference: “Sathya
Sai – The Avatar of Love”, Page: 14 –16.
Published By Sri Prasanthi Society, Hyderabad, under the auspices
of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations, Andhra Pradesh on the
occasion of Baba’s 67th Birthday, 1992.
|
Previous
