Tuesday, August 31, 2010
BABA ASHRAM INFORMATION
Introduction Places of Interest Annual Events
Ashram Schedule
(Darshan, Bhajans, Spiritual Talks, etc.)
Accommodation
* For Indian Citizens
* For Non-Resident Indians
* For Foreign Citizens
Food:
* South Indian Canteen
* North Indian Canteen
* Western Canteen
* Snacks Joint
* Bakery
Medical Care:
* General Hospital
* Super Specialty Hospital
Banking Services
(Foreign currency conversion, ATM)
Travel:
* Airlines
* Railways
* Bus
* Taxis
Convenience Stores:
* Shopping Centre
* Fruits and Vegetables
Books, audio & video on Swami:
* Books / Audio / Video Stall
* Library
* Ashram Magazine
(Sanathana Sarathi)
* Telephone Booth
* Postal Counter
* Fax / Telegram / email
Maintenance Office
*
Cloak Room
*
Safe Deposit Locker
Wheel Chairs for the Handicapped
Emergency / Security Office Places of interest Advisory Information Public Relations Office
I. Ashram Schedule
Bhagawan has laid down the daily schedule to be followed in the Ashram. Every activity of the Ashram routine is suffused with deep spiritual significance. See the table below for the Ashram schedule:
Time Activity
5.20 a.m. Aumkar and Suprabhatham
5.40 a.m. Veda Chanting and Nagar Sankeertan
Around 7.00 a.m. Morning Darshan
9.00 a.m. Bhajans
9.30 a.m. Arati
10.00 to 11.00 a.m. Spiritual Talk
Around 3.00 p.m. Evening Darshan
5.00 p.m. Bhajans
5.30 p.m. Arati
After the evening Arati Meditation for Overseas Devotees
7.45 p.m. Video Show
Aumkars: Aumkar is the chanting of ‘Aum’, the primordial sound, also called the ‘Pranava’. The vibrations that emanate from chanting ‘Aum’ have the potency to purify the inner personality of an individual as well as the surrounding environment. That is why the day at Prasanthi Nilayam begins with the chanting of 21 Aumkars.
Suprabhatham: ‘Su’ signifies good, auspicious and ‘Prabhath’ means morning. ‘Suprabhatam’ refers to the morning prayers that are chanted in praise of the Lord to awaken the divinity present within each individual. It is the act of dedicating oneself to the Lord and praying for His blessings right at the start of a new day. For the text and MP3 audio of the prayer, click here.
Veda Chanting: Vedas are ancient spiritual scriptures revealed to great sages and seers while in communion with God. Chanting or listening to these hymns confers spiritual as well as physical benefits. That is why Bhagawan gives a lot of importance to Vedas and encourages everybody to chant these hymns and understand their meaning. The students of Bhagawan chant these hymns in the early hours of the morning while circumambulating the mandir complex, and also during Darshan hours in the morning and afternoon sessions in the mandir.
Nagar Sankeertan: ‘Nagar’ means city or locality and ‘Sankeertan’ means devotional singing. After Suprabhatam, devotees circumambulate the mandir complex while singing devotional songs and clapping their hands keeping beat. It charges the atmosphere with holy vibrations and one begins the day with the name of the Lord on one’s lips.
Darshan: ‘Darshan’ means the sight of a spiritual personage that confers immense spiritual benefits to the beholder. Every morning and afternoon, Bhagawan comes out of His residence to Sai Kulwant Hall where multitudes gather to have a glimpse of Him. Bhagawan moves amidst the devotees, accepting their letters, listening to their prayers, clarifying their doubts, solving their problems, healing their illnesses be it physical, mental or spiritual and uplifting them. Sometimes, He chooses an individual or a group for a personal audience in the ‘interview room’.
Baba on Darshan: This is what Baba Himself says about Darshan:
"Always find a quiet corner after my darshan, where you may enter the stillness and receive the completion of my blessings. My energy goes out from me as I pass by you. If you proceed to talk to others, immediately after darshan this precious energy is dissipated and returns to me unused by you. Rest assured that whatever my eye sees becomes vitalised and transmuted. You are changed day by day. Never underestimate what is being accomplished by this act of darshan. My walking among you is a gift yearned for by the gods of the highest heaven, and here you are, daily receiving this grace. Be grateful."
Darshan Timings:
Morning Around 7.00 a.m.
Afternoon Around 3.00 p.m.
Procedure for Darshan Seating: Devotees are allowed in to the Sai Kulwant Hall about an hour before Darshan. Ladies and Gents are seated separately for Darshan. There is no discrimination whatsoever based on religion, nationality, status or caste.
Procedure: Devotees queue up outside the Darshan Hall in rows. The order in which the rows are sent into the Hall is decided by drawing lots. This procedure is conducted separately for ladies and gents.
No money collected: No amount is collected from anybody for Darshan.
Articles prohibited during Darshan: Devotees are not permitted to carry along with them articles like pens, books, bags, mobile phones, cameras, radio or any other electronic gadgets in to the Darshan Hall. These articles can be kept in the cloakroom located within the Ashram, separately for ladies and gents.
Bhajans: Bhajans means “Singing aloud the glory of God”. Bhajans in the divine presence of Bhagawan Baba are unique as they are universal in their scope and appeal and emphasise the unity of faiths. For Bhajans MP3, click here.
Arati: Arati: ‘Arati’ is the ritual of waving lighted camphor to the deity to mark the culmination of worship. During arati, devotees sing a devotional song in praise of the Lord and end with a prayer for universal peace. Arati MP3, click here.
Spiritual Talk: Talks on various spiritual subjects are delivered almost every day between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. at the Double Decker Building (situated adjacent to the Books & Publications Trust building) by some eminent speakers and senior devotees of the Sai family.
Video Show: Video Shows are organized at the Double Decker Building (situated adjacent to the Books & Publications Trust building) at 7.45 p.m. for about an hour. The show is generally on the life and teachings of Bhagawan Baba and festival celebrations in the Divine Presence.
II.Accommodation
Important notice for the attention of visitors to Prasanthi Nilayam
Accommodation
For Indian Citizens
The Accommodation Office for Indian citizens is located in Room No. 7 in front of the South Indian canteen. Allotment of accommodation and extension of stay for Indian devotees is done here.
Timings: 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily
Type of accommodation: The Accommodation available is of two types - Rooms and Dormitories. Allotment of any type of accommodation is subject to availability. All rights of admission or allotment are reserved by the Ashram authorities.
During festivals usually there are large crowds. Hence at such times, room accommodation may be difficult to secure and only dormitories may be available. (Click here to view the ‘Events Calendar’)
Note: No separate room is allotted to an individual. However, rooms may be allotted if two or three persons of the same gender agree to share a room.
Advance reservations: No advance reservations are made for individuals and families. However, large groups may make arrangements in advance by contacting the Accommodation Office.
Arrival at non-office hours: For Indian devotees who arrive in Prasanthi Nilayam during non-office hours (between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.), accommodation will be provided for a day in the dormitories, as allotted by the Sevadal volunteers at the Ashram entrance. These devotees are required to report to the Accommodation Office later during office hours and collect their accommodation receipt in order to extend their stay in the Ashram.
Payment: All payments towards room or dormitory charges should be made in cash in Indian rupees only. Payment by credit card is not accepted. See the table below for charges:
Type of Accommodation Dormitory Rooms
Charges Rs. 5 / head / day Up to Rs. 130 / day
Note: The receipt must be carefully preserved during one’s stay in the Ashram and produced whenever asked for.
Service of Porters: Service of authorised porters at fixed tariffs is available for shifting of luggage at the time of arrival or departure.
Laundry service: There are authorised dhobis (laundry personnel) who collect the laundry outside the building every morning after 7 a.m. The clothes are usually returned within a day or two.
Note: Accommodation is not provided inside the Ashram when Bhagawan Baba is not at Prasanthi Nilayam, usually during the summer months (April and May). Devotees are therefore advised to confirm whether Bhagawan is at Prasanthi Nilayam by calling Public Relations Office: 0091-8555-287390, or visit www.srisathyasai.org.in before embarking on their journey.
Checking Out: The checkout time is 12 noon.
*
After locking the room, the room key must be deposited in the Accommodation Office before departure. If the departure is during non-office hours, the key may be dropped in the key box on the office door.
*
Please ensure that the room is left clean and tidy with all the lights and fans switched off, and taps, doors and windows closed before departure.
General Instructions:
*
Cooking is not permitted in rooms and dormitories.
*
If the room keys are misplaced, it must be immediately brought to the notice of the Accommodation Office for taking necessary action.
*
For any help or guidance, one may approach the Sevadal Volunteers (wearing blue/yellow scarves) posted in one’s accommodation block.
Contact Address: Indian Accommodation Office, Prasanthi Nilayam, Anantapur District, Andhra Pradesh, India – 515 134.
For Non-Resident Indians
Non-resident Indians need to carry their valid Indian passports while registering themselves at the Registration and Accommodation Office for Overseas Devotees located in North-8, A-1.
For Foreign Citizens
The Registration and Accommodation Office for Overseas Devotees is located in North–8, A-1. All overseas devotees seeking accommodation in the Ashram are required to report here on arrival for registration and allotment of accommodation.
Office Timings: From 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on all days.
Registration: For the registration process, every overseas devotee must produce his/her valid passport and visa. A recent passport-size photograph also has to be submitted. In case one does not possess one, there is provision to take a digital photo in the office.
The visitors are required to fill in a registration form to complete the registration process. This form is available at the registration office or it can be downloaded in advance. Large groups with more than 25 members are advised to keep the filled-in registration forms ready so as to save time. Click here to view / download this form
Note: An official of the State Police Department is available at North-7, A-1 on all Mondays from 10.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m. [ Phone: (08555) 288833 ] One can consult him for issues regarding visa extension, etc. If need be, one may also consult the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Puttaparthi [ Phone: (08555) 287333 ] or the Foreigner's Registration Office of the Superintendent of Police, Anantapur on all week-days between 10-00 a.m. to 5-00 p.m. [ Phone: (08554) 232105 ]
Types of Accommodation: There are three types of accommodation available for overseas devotees:
* Rooms
* Rooms are generally allotted to families and not to a single person. However, if two or three individuals of the same gender agree to share a room, they may be allotted a room. All rooms have two cots and mattresses. Additional mattresses will be provided on request. Dormitories
* Dormitories are allotted to ladies only, with up to eight ladies per dormitory. Common Halls
Common halls are allotted to gents only.
All Dormitories and Common halls are provided with cots and mattresses.
Advance reservations: No advance reservations can be made. However, large groups may be able to make arrangements in advance, preferably by contacting the Accommodation Office well before the planned time of arrival.
Single people under 25 years: Individuals below 25 years of age are not permitted to stay in the Ashram premises alone, unless they arrive in a group or with their family. They may however participate in all the Ashram activities like Darshan, Bhajans, etc. and can use the common services such as canteens, shopping complex, etc. while making their own arrangements for their accommodation.
Arrival at non-office hours: For Overseas devotees who arrive in Prasanthi Nilayam during non-office hours (between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m.), accommodation will be provided for a day in the dormitories, as allotted by the Sevadal volunteers at the Ashram entrance. These devotees are required to report at the Registration and Accommodation Office for Overseas Devotees located in North–8, A-1 later during office hours to extend their stay in the Ashram.
Payment: All payments towards accommodation charges must be made in cash (in Indian rupees) only. There is a bank counter inside the Ashram premises where devotees can exchange their foreign currency for Indian rupees.
Type of Accommodation Dormitory (only for ladies) Common Halls (only for gents) Rooms
Charges Rs. 25 / day / Person Up to Rs. 25 / day / Person Up to Rs. 140 / day / room
Service of Porters: Service of authorised porters at fixed tariffs is available for shifting of luggage at the time of arrival or departure.
Laundry service: There are authorised dhobis (laundry personnel) who collect the laundry outside the building every morning after 7 a.m. The clothes are usually returned within a day or two.
Note: Accommodation is not provided inside the Ashram when Bhagawan Baba is not at Prasanthi Nilayam, usually during the summer months (April and May). Devotees are therefore advised to confirm whether Bhagawan is at Prasanthi Nilayam by calling Public Relations Office: 0091-8555-287390, or visit www.srisathyasai.org.in before embarking on their journey.
Checking Out: The checkout time is 12 noon.
*
After locking the room, the room key must be deposited in the Accommodation Office before departure. If the departure is during non-office hours, the key may be dropped in the key box on the office door.
*
Please ensure that the room is left clean and tidy with all the lights and fans switched off, and taps, doors and windows closed before departure.
Orientation Talk: For the benefit of overseas devotees, an orientation talk is given on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 6.15 p.m. in the Double Decker Building (situated adjacent to the Books and Publications Trust building). All overseas devotees are expected to attend this lecture where important information regarding the principal guidelines and code of conduct in the Ashram is given.
General Instructions:
*
Cooking is not permitted in rooms or dormitories.
*
If the room keys are misplaced, it must be immediately brought to the notice of the Accommodation Office for taking necessary action.
*
For any help or guidance, one may approach the Sevadal Volunteers (wearing blue / yellow scarves) posted in one’s accommodation block.
Contact Address: Overseas Registration and Accommodation Office, Prasanthi Nilayam, Anantapur District, Andhra Pradesh, India – 515 134.
III. Food
There are three canteens in the Ashram that cater to the varying tastes of the thousands who visit Prasanthi Nilayam from all over the world. They provide hygienically prepared vegetarian food at nominal prices.
South Indian Canteen
The South Indian Canteen located in front of the Indian Accommodation Office offers South Indian cuisine meals, snacks and beverages. It has separate dining sections for gents and ladies. Overseas devotees may find the food served here spicy and may prefer to dine at the Western Canteen.
Payment in the canteen is in the form of canteen coupons only. Cash is not accepted. Coupons may be purchased at the Counter located near West-2, opposite the gents entrance of the canteen.
Timings:
Breakfast 6-30 a.m. to 8-30 a.m.
Lunch 11-00 a.m. to 1-00 p.m.
Afternoon tea & snacks 3-30 p.m. to 4-30 p.m.
Dinner 6-30 p.m. to 8-00 p.m.
A bakery counter is kept open in the South Indian Canteen premises between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. and 3.30 p.m. and 4.30 p.m.
North Indian Canteen
North Indian Canteen
The North Indian Canteen is located near the North Block buildings, serves north Indian cuisine lunch and dinner. There are separate sections for gents and ladies. Only cash payment (in Indian Rupees) is accepted.
Timings:
Lunch 11.30 a.m. to 1.00 p.m.
Dinner 6.30 p.m. to 8.15 p.m.
No breakfast and afternoon snacks are served here.
Western Canteen
Western Canteen
The Western Canteen is located between Round Building-2 and Round Building-3. It caters to the continental palate. All payments in this canteen are made directly in cash (Indian rupees).
Timings:
Breakfast Around 8 a.m. or 15 minutes after Darshan
Lunch 11.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.
Dinner 6.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.
No afternoon tea or snacks are served here.
Snacks Joint
Kiosks are located, one adjacent to the Shopping Centre and another near the North Indian Canteen, where snacks, beverages and ice-creams are served.
Timings:
Morning 9 a.m. to 11.30 a.m.
Evening 5 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.
Bakery
The Bakery is located behind South–6 block flanking the Shopping Centre on the left side, where items like bread, bun, pizzas etc. are available.
Timings:
Morning 8.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m.
Afternoon 5.00 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.
Another counter operates in the South Indian Canteen between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. and 3.30 p.m. and 4.30 p.m.
IV. Medical Care
General Hospital
General Hospital Puttaparthi
Sri Sathya Sai General Hospital is located adjacent to the Ashram precincts. The hospital has outpatient facilities and also provides casualty/emergency services. The hospital provides free diagnosis and treatment in General Medicine, Paediatrics, Orthopaedics, ENT, Ophthalmology, Dentistry, Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
Timings:
Department Timings
Casualty / emergency Open 24 hours
Out Patient Morning 8.00 a.m. – 11.00 a.m.
Afternoon 3.00 p.m. – 4.45 p.m.
However, patients with serious ailments relating to Cardiology, Urology or Ophthalmology are referred to the Sri Sathya Sai Super Speciality Hospital, which is located 7 Kilometres from the Ashram.
Super Speciality Hospital
SSSIHMS Puttaparthi
The Super Speciality Hospital, also called the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, Prasanthigram, is located 7 kilometres from the Ashram. The hospital offers tertiary care in the departments of Cardiology/Cardio-thoracic and Vascular Surgery, Urology and Ophthalmology completely free of charge. Click here to visit the Super Speciality Hospital pages
Timings: The hospital is open from 8.30 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. on all days except Sundays and public holidays.
Important Note: Do not patronize impostors or quacks operating outside the Ashram premises. Certain persons have been reportedly claiming to be practitioners of some 'holistic' therapy or as healers with special powers supposedly delegated by Bhagawan Baba. Bhagawan has repeatedly made it clear in His discourses that He has no agents or intermediaries whatsoever. His connection with devotees is direct and heart to heart.
V. Bank
State Bank of India, Prasanthi Nilayam Branch is located at Room No. 5 opposite the South Indian canteen, where foreign exchange conversions also can be transacted. A few major banks have their branches and ATM facilities on the main road outside the Ashram.
Timings of SBI :
Monday to Friday
Morning 9.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon
Afternoon 3.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m.
On Saturdays 9.00 a.m. to 11.30 p.m.
Closed on all Sundays and public holidays.
Note: Devotees are advised not to deal with any unauthorized persons for their foreign exchange transactions as it is prohibited under Indian laws.
VI. Travel
The Prasanthi Nilayam Township is adjacent to the village of Puttaparthi, in Anantapur District of Andhra Pradesh, South India (Latitude 14° North, Longitude 78°1 East). It is well-connected through road, rail and air. Bangalore is the nearest metro at about 120 kilometres from the Ashram.
Road
The Prasanthi Nilayam bus terminal is located just opposite the Ashram. It has a fully computerised reservation counter of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC). [ Phone: (08555) 287210 ]
The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) too runs bus services connecting Prasanthi Nilayam to Bangalore and Mangalore from this terminal. The KSRTC reservation counter is located in the building adjacent to the bus terminal towards the left. [ Phone: (08555) 288938 ]
The important cities from which there is direct connectivity through Road to Puttaparthi are given below. For further details, contact the authorities in the booking Counter at the Bus Station.
Bangalore Hyderabad Tirupati
Mysore Chennai Mangalore
Private Transport: There are a number of private bus and taxi operators who ply between Prasanthi Nilayam and cities like Bangalore, Chennai, etc. Please be advised that taxi fares between Bangalore and Prasanthi Nilayam are in the range of Rs. 1200/- to Rs. 1500/-.
Rail
The ‘Sri Sathya Sai Prasanthi Nilayam’ railway station is located 8 kilometres from the ashram. There is a computerised railway reservation counter in the bus terminal just outside the Ashram [ Phone: (08555) 287355 ].
Railway Station - Sri Sathya Sai Prasanthi Nilayam
The important cities from which there is direct connectivity through Rail to Puttaparthi are given below.
New Delhi Mumbai Vishakapatnam
Bangalore Hyderabad
For further details, contact the Station Master, Sri Sathya Sai Prasanthi Nilayam. [ Phone: (08555) 280125 ]
The nearest railhead is the Dharmavaram station, about 40 kilometres from the Ashram. Many trains connecting major cities pass through this station. One may disembark at Dharmavaram and travel to Prasanthi Nilayam by road. There are regular bus services between Dharmavaram railway station and Prasanthi Nilayam bus terminal.
For more information regarding railway services, go to www.indianrail.gov.in
Air
The nearest major airport is the Bangalore airport located at about 120 kilometres from Prasanthi Nilayam.
VII. Convenience Stores
Shopping Centre
Shopping Center
The Shopping Centre is adjacent to South-6 block, near the Sri Sathya Sai Sadhana Trust (Publications Division) building. Day-to-day needs of devotees ranging from stationery, grocery and home needs to clothing and travel goods are available at nominal prices.
Timings:
On Weekdays
Morning (Only for Ladies) 9 a.m. to 11.30 a.m.
Evening (Only for Gents) 5 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.
On Sundays
Morning (Only for Gents) 9 a.m. to 11.30 a.m.
Evening (Only for Ladies) 5 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.
Fruits and Vegetables
The Fruits and Vegetables Stall is located behind the Shopping Centre.
Timings:
Morning 9 a.m. to 11.30 a.m.
Evening 5 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.
VIII. Sri Sathya Sai Sadhana Trust (Publications Division)
Books, Audio & Video Stall
Books, Audio & Video Stall
The Sri Sathya Sai Sadhana Trust (Publications Division) is the central official body that undertakes the printing, publishing and sale of various books, audio & video cassettes, CDs & DVDs etc. relating to the life and teachings of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, Bhajans and festivals in the Divine Presence. The Trust also undertakes the sale of publications in other Indian and Foreign languages.
It is located behind South-6, near the Shopping Centre.
The Sri Sathya Sai Sadhana Trust (Publications Division) building is located behind South-6, near the Shopping Centre. It houses the sales floor where books, audio (cassettes & CDs) and video (cassettes, CDs & DVDs) are sold at nominal prices.
SSSBPT Building
Timings:
Morning 9 a.m. to 11.30 a.m.
Afternoon 4.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.
Library cum Reading Room
The Book Trust building also houses a reading room that is a storehouse of Sai Literature with a large and varied collection of books on the life and teachings of Bhagawan Baba and experiences of devotees, in many Indian and foreign languages.
Timings:
Morning 9 a.m. to 11.30 a.m.
Afternoon 3.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.
The Ashram Magazine - Sanathana Sarathi
The Sri Sathya Sai Sadhana Trust (Publications Division), Prasanthi Nilayam, publishes the spiritual monthly magazine in two languages – Telugu and English. It contains the Divine Discourses of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba besides covering the important events that take place in His Divine Presence. The magazine is also available in many Indian and foreign languages published by the respective state or national Sai Organisations.
Subscription: Subscriptions for the English and Telugu editions can be made by Inland subscribers in the ground floor and by overseas subscribers in the first floor. The maximum period of subscription is up to three years and the payments are accepted in cash only.
Subscriptions for all Indian language editions (except Oriya and Marathi) and English edition may be made at the counter in West-2, A-1 (adjacent to the Canteen coupon counter, opposite the gents entrance of the South Indian canteen).
For more information, please visit www.sssbpt.org
IX. Telephone Booth
Inland and overseas telephone calls can be made from the telephone booths in the ground floor of the Sevadal Accommodation building located opposite the Round Block-5.
Timings: It is open from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.
X. Postal Counter
A counter of the Post Office is located inside the Ashram premises in the ground floor of the Sevadal Accommodation building opposite to Round Building-5. All routine postal transactions except despatch of telegrams may be done here. The Prasanthi Nilayam Post Office is located a kilometre away from the Ashram beyond the Sri Sathya Sai Mirpuri Music College Campus.
Timings of Ashram Postal Counter:
Morning 8-00 a.m. to 11-00 a.m.
Evening 5-00 p.m. to 7-30 p.m.
Note: There is no courier service available inside the ashram. However, there are many courier service providers outside the ashram.
XI. Fax / Telegrams / Email
There is no facility inside the Ashram for sending fax, telegrams or email. However, there are a number of agencies outside the Ashram that offer these services. One may also avail the services of the Government Telegraph Office situated outside the ashram, near State Bank of India on the Gopuram road, for sending telegrams.
Timings:
Monday to Saturday 9-00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m.
Closed on Sundays and Government Holidays
Email: There is no internet facility in the ashram. However, there are a number of internet centres outside.
XII. Emergency / Security Office
This office is located adjacent to the South Indian Canteen, beside the Gopuram Gate of the Ashram. Any issues concerning the security of the Ashram and the devotees are dealt with here. Stretchers and First-Aid materials are also available here, in case of emergencies. One may also collect Vibhuthi prasadam from here when leaving the Ashram.
XIII. Wheel Chair facility
Devotees in need of wheelchairs may obtain them at North-8, A-10 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. The accommodation office also allots ground floor rooms to such people on request, subject to availability. The wheelchairs are not supposed to be taken outside the Ashram premises and must be returned on the specified date.
XIV. Maintenance Office
The Ashram Maintenance Office may be contacted for any civil, electrical, water supply problems or any other complaints concerning one’s room or hall. It is located adjacent to the West-3 block on the southern end.
Timings:
Morning 7.30 a.m. to 1.00 p.m.
Afternoon 2.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m.
XV. Public Relations Office
The Public Relations Office is located in Room No. 12, opposite the South Indian Canteen. This office is open from 7.30 a.m. to 2.00 p.m. and 4.00 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. on all days. The ‘Lost-and-Found Office’ is also located here, where devotees can enquire about their lost belongings, or deposit any unclaimed articles found inside the Ashram. Any clarifications can be had by contacting the Public Relations Office at the Ashram.
Address:
Public Relations Office
Prasanthi Nilayam
Anantapur District
Pin Code – 515 134
Andhra Pradesh
INDIA
Phone: (0091) 8555-287390.
XVI. Cloak Room
The men's cloakroom is located adjacent to the Security Office next to the Gopuram gate of the Ashram and the women's cloakroom is situated next to the Public Relations Office, facing the South Indian Canteen.
The Cloak Room accepts only small articles such as mobile phones, handbags, etc. However, high-value articles such as jewellery, etc. and bulky items like suitcases, rucksacks, etc. are not accepted for safekeeping.
Morning 4.00 a.m. to 10.00 a.m.
Afternoon 1.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m.
XVII. Safe Deposit Locker
A safe deposit locker is made available to devotees at North-8, A-10 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. for storing valuables during their stay in the ashram.
XVIII. Advisory Information
Dress Code
1.
Devotees are expected to dress modestly, in clean and sober clothing, as befits a place of worship. Generally, people in the Ashram dress in whites.
2.
Wearing of shorts or sleeveless shirts is strictly prohibited. Women are required to dress to their ankles. Tight-fitting or diaphanous dresses are not permitted.
3. Unorthodox hairstyles, over-matted hair, tall set hair etc. or large obtrusive hats are highly discouraged.
Ashram Discipline
1.
Men and women are not expected to socialize and visit each other's rooms to indulge in idle talk or gossip inside the ashram. Indian customs and social behaviour are commonly observed inside the Ashram premises. Men and women indulging in physical contact or publicly expressing their greetings or affection are not approved of.
2.
The consumption or possession of tobacco / tobacco products, alcoholic drinks and non-vegetarian food / food stuffs (including eggs) is strictly prohibited. Gambling inside the premises is strictly forbidden.
3.
Kindly observe silence, and when it is necessary to speak, please do so softly. Do not play music loudly.
4.
Lights-out time in the Ashram is 9.00 p.m., after which devotees are not encouraged to move about inside or outside the Ashram. The Ashram gates are also closed at 9.00 p.m.
Self-Professed Intermediaries
*
Devotees are requested to be on their guard against strangers or newfound friends who claim association with Bhagawan or claim to have inner or special messages from Bhagawan. They are all spurious people.
*
Devotees are also requested to exercise utmost caution in visiting quacks, ‘healers with special powers’ supposedly delegated by Bhagawan Baba or spurious people parading as agents of ‘holistic’ or Indian therapies.
Bhagawan has repeatedly made it clear in His discourses that He has no agents, no intermediaries, whatsoever. His connection with the devotees is direct and heart to heart.
Unauthorized Trusts / Bodies
No institution or individual other than the following are authorised to receive any donation inside the Ashram on any account:
* Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust
* Sri Sathya Sai Medical Trust
* Sri Sathya Sai University
* Sri Sathya Sai Sadhana Trust
* Easwaramma Women’s Welfare Trust
Devotees are requested to note that Bhagawan does not solicit any donation whatsoever and the above-mentioned Trusts have no intermediaries or agents. Individuals, trusts and other bodies soliciting donations on behalf of Bhagawan or the above-mentioned trusts are doing so illegally. Individuals or Institutions making donations to such unauthorised bodies are doing so at their own risk, and the above-mentioned trusts are not responsible for their acts.
The Government of India has amended the schedule to the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act 1950 to include the following as protected names and emblems under the said Act:
1. Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust
2. The following emblems
3. Sri Sathya Sai
In view of the above, no person shall use or continue to use for the purpose of any trade, business, calling or profession or any patent, trademark or design the aforementioned protected names / emblems or any colourable imitation thereof without the previous written permission of the Central Government. Any person who contravenes the above is liable to be proceeded against and punished under the provisions of the law.
Any person who is using the aforementioned names and emblem in contravention of the provisions of the Act is hereby notified and required to cease and desist from using the said names/emblems with effect from: 22nd July 2004.
Devotees are also required to beware of touts who collect money inside the ashram for any of the ashram services. Devotees are not required to pay to anyone inside the Ashram except for services like accommodation, food, etc. at the respective offices and canteens.
Ashram Schedule
(Darshan, Bhajans, Spiritual Talks, etc.)
Accommodation
* For Indian Citizens
* For Non-Resident Indians
* For Foreign Citizens
Food:
* South Indian Canteen
* North Indian Canteen
* Western Canteen
* Snacks Joint
* Bakery
Medical Care:
* General Hospital
* Super Specialty Hospital
Banking Services
(Foreign currency conversion, ATM)
Travel:
* Airlines
* Railways
* Bus
* Taxis
Convenience Stores:
* Shopping Centre
* Fruits and Vegetables
Books, audio & video on Swami:
* Books / Audio / Video Stall
* Library
* Ashram Magazine
(Sanathana Sarathi)
* Telephone Booth
* Postal Counter
* Fax / Telegram / email
Maintenance Office
*
Cloak Room
*
Safe Deposit Locker
Wheel Chairs for the Handicapped
Emergency / Security Office Places of interest Advisory Information Public Relations Office
I. Ashram Schedule
Bhagawan has laid down the daily schedule to be followed in the Ashram. Every activity of the Ashram routine is suffused with deep spiritual significance. See the table below for the Ashram schedule:
Time Activity
5.20 a.m. Aumkar and Suprabhatham
5.40 a.m. Veda Chanting and Nagar Sankeertan
Around 7.00 a.m. Morning Darshan
9.00 a.m. Bhajans
9.30 a.m. Arati
10.00 to 11.00 a.m. Spiritual Talk
Around 3.00 p.m. Evening Darshan
5.00 p.m. Bhajans
5.30 p.m. Arati
After the evening Arati Meditation for Overseas Devotees
7.45 p.m. Video Show
Aumkars: Aumkar is the chanting of ‘Aum’, the primordial sound, also called the ‘Pranava’. The vibrations that emanate from chanting ‘Aum’ have the potency to purify the inner personality of an individual as well as the surrounding environment. That is why the day at Prasanthi Nilayam begins with the chanting of 21 Aumkars.
Suprabhatham: ‘Su’ signifies good, auspicious and ‘Prabhath’ means morning. ‘Suprabhatam’ refers to the morning prayers that are chanted in praise of the Lord to awaken the divinity present within each individual. It is the act of dedicating oneself to the Lord and praying for His blessings right at the start of a new day. For the text and MP3 audio of the prayer, click here.
Veda Chanting: Vedas are ancient spiritual scriptures revealed to great sages and seers while in communion with God. Chanting or listening to these hymns confers spiritual as well as physical benefits. That is why Bhagawan gives a lot of importance to Vedas and encourages everybody to chant these hymns and understand their meaning. The students of Bhagawan chant these hymns in the early hours of the morning while circumambulating the mandir complex, and also during Darshan hours in the morning and afternoon sessions in the mandir.
Nagar Sankeertan: ‘Nagar’ means city or locality and ‘Sankeertan’ means devotional singing. After Suprabhatam, devotees circumambulate the mandir complex while singing devotional songs and clapping their hands keeping beat. It charges the atmosphere with holy vibrations and one begins the day with the name of the Lord on one’s lips.
Darshan: ‘Darshan’ means the sight of a spiritual personage that confers immense spiritual benefits to the beholder. Every morning and afternoon, Bhagawan comes out of His residence to Sai Kulwant Hall where multitudes gather to have a glimpse of Him. Bhagawan moves amidst the devotees, accepting their letters, listening to their prayers, clarifying their doubts, solving their problems, healing their illnesses be it physical, mental or spiritual and uplifting them. Sometimes, He chooses an individual or a group for a personal audience in the ‘interview room’.
Baba on Darshan: This is what Baba Himself says about Darshan:
"Always find a quiet corner after my darshan, where you may enter the stillness and receive the completion of my blessings. My energy goes out from me as I pass by you. If you proceed to talk to others, immediately after darshan this precious energy is dissipated and returns to me unused by you. Rest assured that whatever my eye sees becomes vitalised and transmuted. You are changed day by day. Never underestimate what is being accomplished by this act of darshan. My walking among you is a gift yearned for by the gods of the highest heaven, and here you are, daily receiving this grace. Be grateful."
Darshan Timings:
Morning Around 7.00 a.m.
Afternoon Around 3.00 p.m.
Procedure for Darshan Seating: Devotees are allowed in to the Sai Kulwant Hall about an hour before Darshan. Ladies and Gents are seated separately for Darshan. There is no discrimination whatsoever based on religion, nationality, status or caste.
Procedure: Devotees queue up outside the Darshan Hall in rows. The order in which the rows are sent into the Hall is decided by drawing lots. This procedure is conducted separately for ladies and gents.
No money collected: No amount is collected from anybody for Darshan.
Articles prohibited during Darshan: Devotees are not permitted to carry along with them articles like pens, books, bags, mobile phones, cameras, radio or any other electronic gadgets in to the Darshan Hall. These articles can be kept in the cloakroom located within the Ashram, separately for ladies and gents.
Bhajans: Bhajans means “Singing aloud the glory of God”. Bhajans in the divine presence of Bhagawan Baba are unique as they are universal in their scope and appeal and emphasise the unity of faiths. For Bhajans MP3, click here.
Arati: Arati: ‘Arati’ is the ritual of waving lighted camphor to the deity to mark the culmination of worship. During arati, devotees sing a devotional song in praise of the Lord and end with a prayer for universal peace. Arati MP3, click here.
Spiritual Talk: Talks on various spiritual subjects are delivered almost every day between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. at the Double Decker Building (situated adjacent to the Books & Publications Trust building) by some eminent speakers and senior devotees of the Sai family.
Video Show: Video Shows are organized at the Double Decker Building (situated adjacent to the Books & Publications Trust building) at 7.45 p.m. for about an hour. The show is generally on the life and teachings of Bhagawan Baba and festival celebrations in the Divine Presence.
II.Accommodation
Important notice for the attention of visitors to Prasanthi Nilayam
Accommodation
For Indian Citizens
The Accommodation Office for Indian citizens is located in Room No. 7 in front of the South Indian canteen. Allotment of accommodation and extension of stay for Indian devotees is done here.
Timings: 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily
Type of accommodation: The Accommodation available is of two types - Rooms and Dormitories. Allotment of any type of accommodation is subject to availability. All rights of admission or allotment are reserved by the Ashram authorities.
During festivals usually there are large crowds. Hence at such times, room accommodation may be difficult to secure and only dormitories may be available. (Click here to view the ‘Events Calendar’)
Note: No separate room is allotted to an individual. However, rooms may be allotted if two or three persons of the same gender agree to share a room.
Advance reservations: No advance reservations are made for individuals and families. However, large groups may make arrangements in advance by contacting the Accommodation Office.
Arrival at non-office hours: For Indian devotees who arrive in Prasanthi Nilayam during non-office hours (between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.), accommodation will be provided for a day in the dormitories, as allotted by the Sevadal volunteers at the Ashram entrance. These devotees are required to report to the Accommodation Office later during office hours and collect their accommodation receipt in order to extend their stay in the Ashram.
Payment: All payments towards room or dormitory charges should be made in cash in Indian rupees only. Payment by credit card is not accepted. See the table below for charges:
Type of Accommodation Dormitory Rooms
Charges Rs. 5 / head / day Up to Rs. 130 / day
Note: The receipt must be carefully preserved during one’s stay in the Ashram and produced whenever asked for.
Service of Porters: Service of authorised porters at fixed tariffs is available for shifting of luggage at the time of arrival or departure.
Laundry service: There are authorised dhobis (laundry personnel) who collect the laundry outside the building every morning after 7 a.m. The clothes are usually returned within a day or two.
Note: Accommodation is not provided inside the Ashram when Bhagawan Baba is not at Prasanthi Nilayam, usually during the summer months (April and May). Devotees are therefore advised to confirm whether Bhagawan is at Prasanthi Nilayam by calling Public Relations Office: 0091-8555-287390, or visit www.srisathyasai.org.in before embarking on their journey.
Checking Out: The checkout time is 12 noon.
*
After locking the room, the room key must be deposited in the Accommodation Office before departure. If the departure is during non-office hours, the key may be dropped in the key box on the office door.
*
Please ensure that the room is left clean and tidy with all the lights and fans switched off, and taps, doors and windows closed before departure.
General Instructions:
*
Cooking is not permitted in rooms and dormitories.
*
If the room keys are misplaced, it must be immediately brought to the notice of the Accommodation Office for taking necessary action.
*
For any help or guidance, one may approach the Sevadal Volunteers (wearing blue/yellow scarves) posted in one’s accommodation block.
Contact Address: Indian Accommodation Office, Prasanthi Nilayam, Anantapur District, Andhra Pradesh, India – 515 134.
For Non-Resident Indians
Non-resident Indians need to carry their valid Indian passports while registering themselves at the Registration and Accommodation Office for Overseas Devotees located in North-8, A-1.
For Foreign Citizens
The Registration and Accommodation Office for Overseas Devotees is located in North–8, A-1. All overseas devotees seeking accommodation in the Ashram are required to report here on arrival for registration and allotment of accommodation.
Office Timings: From 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on all days.
Registration: For the registration process, every overseas devotee must produce his/her valid passport and visa. A recent passport-size photograph also has to be submitted. In case one does not possess one, there is provision to take a digital photo in the office.
The visitors are required to fill in a registration form to complete the registration process. This form is available at the registration office or it can be downloaded in advance. Large groups with more than 25 members are advised to keep the filled-in registration forms ready so as to save time. Click here to view / download this form
Note: An official of the State Police Department is available at North-7, A-1 on all Mondays from 10.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m. [ Phone: (08555) 288833 ] One can consult him for issues regarding visa extension, etc. If need be, one may also consult the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Puttaparthi [ Phone: (08555) 287333 ] or the Foreigner's Registration Office of the Superintendent of Police, Anantapur on all week-days between 10-00 a.m. to 5-00 p.m. [ Phone: (08554) 232105 ]
Types of Accommodation: There are three types of accommodation available for overseas devotees:
* Rooms
* Rooms are generally allotted to families and not to a single person. However, if two or three individuals of the same gender agree to share a room, they may be allotted a room. All rooms have two cots and mattresses. Additional mattresses will be provided on request. Dormitories
* Dormitories are allotted to ladies only, with up to eight ladies per dormitory. Common Halls
Common halls are allotted to gents only.
All Dormitories and Common halls are provided with cots and mattresses.
Advance reservations: No advance reservations can be made. However, large groups may be able to make arrangements in advance, preferably by contacting the Accommodation Office well before the planned time of arrival.
Single people under 25 years: Individuals below 25 years of age are not permitted to stay in the Ashram premises alone, unless they arrive in a group or with their family. They may however participate in all the Ashram activities like Darshan, Bhajans, etc. and can use the common services such as canteens, shopping complex, etc. while making their own arrangements for their accommodation.
Arrival at non-office hours: For Overseas devotees who arrive in Prasanthi Nilayam during non-office hours (between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m.), accommodation will be provided for a day in the dormitories, as allotted by the Sevadal volunteers at the Ashram entrance. These devotees are required to report at the Registration and Accommodation Office for Overseas Devotees located in North–8, A-1 later during office hours to extend their stay in the Ashram.
Payment: All payments towards accommodation charges must be made in cash (in Indian rupees) only. There is a bank counter inside the Ashram premises where devotees can exchange their foreign currency for Indian rupees.
Type of Accommodation Dormitory (only for ladies) Common Halls (only for gents) Rooms
Charges Rs. 25 / day / Person Up to Rs. 25 / day / Person Up to Rs. 140 / day / room
Service of Porters: Service of authorised porters at fixed tariffs is available for shifting of luggage at the time of arrival or departure.
Laundry service: There are authorised dhobis (laundry personnel) who collect the laundry outside the building every morning after 7 a.m. The clothes are usually returned within a day or two.
Note: Accommodation is not provided inside the Ashram when Bhagawan Baba is not at Prasanthi Nilayam, usually during the summer months (April and May). Devotees are therefore advised to confirm whether Bhagawan is at Prasanthi Nilayam by calling Public Relations Office: 0091-8555-287390, or visit www.srisathyasai.org.in before embarking on their journey.
Checking Out: The checkout time is 12 noon.
*
After locking the room, the room key must be deposited in the Accommodation Office before departure. If the departure is during non-office hours, the key may be dropped in the key box on the office door.
*
Please ensure that the room is left clean and tidy with all the lights and fans switched off, and taps, doors and windows closed before departure.
Orientation Talk: For the benefit of overseas devotees, an orientation talk is given on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 6.15 p.m. in the Double Decker Building (situated adjacent to the Books and Publications Trust building). All overseas devotees are expected to attend this lecture where important information regarding the principal guidelines and code of conduct in the Ashram is given.
General Instructions:
*
Cooking is not permitted in rooms or dormitories.
*
If the room keys are misplaced, it must be immediately brought to the notice of the Accommodation Office for taking necessary action.
*
For any help or guidance, one may approach the Sevadal Volunteers (wearing blue / yellow scarves) posted in one’s accommodation block.
Contact Address: Overseas Registration and Accommodation Office, Prasanthi Nilayam, Anantapur District, Andhra Pradesh, India – 515 134.
III. Food
There are three canteens in the Ashram that cater to the varying tastes of the thousands who visit Prasanthi Nilayam from all over the world. They provide hygienically prepared vegetarian food at nominal prices.
South Indian Canteen
The South Indian Canteen located in front of the Indian Accommodation Office offers South Indian cuisine meals, snacks and beverages. It has separate dining sections for gents and ladies. Overseas devotees may find the food served here spicy and may prefer to dine at the Western Canteen.
Payment in the canteen is in the form of canteen coupons only. Cash is not accepted. Coupons may be purchased at the Counter located near West-2, opposite the gents entrance of the canteen.
Timings:
Breakfast 6-30 a.m. to 8-30 a.m.
Lunch 11-00 a.m. to 1-00 p.m.
Afternoon tea & snacks 3-30 p.m. to 4-30 p.m.
Dinner 6-30 p.m. to 8-00 p.m.
A bakery counter is kept open in the South Indian Canteen premises between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. and 3.30 p.m. and 4.30 p.m.
North Indian Canteen
North Indian Canteen
The North Indian Canteen is located near the North Block buildings, serves north Indian cuisine lunch and dinner. There are separate sections for gents and ladies. Only cash payment (in Indian Rupees) is accepted.
Timings:
Lunch 11.30 a.m. to 1.00 p.m.
Dinner 6.30 p.m. to 8.15 p.m.
No breakfast and afternoon snacks are served here.
Western Canteen
Western Canteen
The Western Canteen is located between Round Building-2 and Round Building-3. It caters to the continental palate. All payments in this canteen are made directly in cash (Indian rupees).
Timings:
Breakfast Around 8 a.m. or 15 minutes after Darshan
Lunch 11.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.
Dinner 6.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.
No afternoon tea or snacks are served here.
Snacks Joint
Kiosks are located, one adjacent to the Shopping Centre and another near the North Indian Canteen, where snacks, beverages and ice-creams are served.
Timings:
Morning 9 a.m. to 11.30 a.m.
Evening 5 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.
Bakery
The Bakery is located behind South–6 block flanking the Shopping Centre on the left side, where items like bread, bun, pizzas etc. are available.
Timings:
Morning 8.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m.
Afternoon 5.00 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.
Another counter operates in the South Indian Canteen between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. and 3.30 p.m. and 4.30 p.m.
IV. Medical Care
General Hospital
General Hospital Puttaparthi
Sri Sathya Sai General Hospital is located adjacent to the Ashram precincts. The hospital has outpatient facilities and also provides casualty/emergency services. The hospital provides free diagnosis and treatment in General Medicine, Paediatrics, Orthopaedics, ENT, Ophthalmology, Dentistry, Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
Timings:
Department Timings
Casualty / emergency Open 24 hours
Out Patient Morning 8.00 a.m. – 11.00 a.m.
Afternoon 3.00 p.m. – 4.45 p.m.
However, patients with serious ailments relating to Cardiology, Urology or Ophthalmology are referred to the Sri Sathya Sai Super Speciality Hospital, which is located 7 Kilometres from the Ashram.
Super Speciality Hospital
SSSIHMS Puttaparthi
The Super Speciality Hospital, also called the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, Prasanthigram, is located 7 kilometres from the Ashram. The hospital offers tertiary care in the departments of Cardiology/Cardio-thoracic and Vascular Surgery, Urology and Ophthalmology completely free of charge. Click here to visit the Super Speciality Hospital pages
Timings: The hospital is open from 8.30 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. on all days except Sundays and public holidays.
Important Note: Do not patronize impostors or quacks operating outside the Ashram premises. Certain persons have been reportedly claiming to be practitioners of some 'holistic' therapy or as healers with special powers supposedly delegated by Bhagawan Baba. Bhagawan has repeatedly made it clear in His discourses that He has no agents or intermediaries whatsoever. His connection with devotees is direct and heart to heart.
V. Bank
State Bank of India, Prasanthi Nilayam Branch is located at Room No. 5 opposite the South Indian canteen, where foreign exchange conversions also can be transacted. A few major banks have their branches and ATM facilities on the main road outside the Ashram.
Timings of SBI :
Monday to Friday
Morning 9.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon
Afternoon 3.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m.
On Saturdays 9.00 a.m. to 11.30 p.m.
Closed on all Sundays and public holidays.
Note: Devotees are advised not to deal with any unauthorized persons for their foreign exchange transactions as it is prohibited under Indian laws.
VI. Travel
The Prasanthi Nilayam Township is adjacent to the village of Puttaparthi, in Anantapur District of Andhra Pradesh, South India (Latitude 14° North, Longitude 78°1 East). It is well-connected through road, rail and air. Bangalore is the nearest metro at about 120 kilometres from the Ashram.
Road
The Prasanthi Nilayam bus terminal is located just opposite the Ashram. It has a fully computerised reservation counter of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC). [ Phone: (08555) 287210 ]
The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) too runs bus services connecting Prasanthi Nilayam to Bangalore and Mangalore from this terminal. The KSRTC reservation counter is located in the building adjacent to the bus terminal towards the left. [ Phone: (08555) 288938 ]
The important cities from which there is direct connectivity through Road to Puttaparthi are given below. For further details, contact the authorities in the booking Counter at the Bus Station.
Bangalore Hyderabad Tirupati
Mysore Chennai Mangalore
Private Transport: There are a number of private bus and taxi operators who ply between Prasanthi Nilayam and cities like Bangalore, Chennai, etc. Please be advised that taxi fares between Bangalore and Prasanthi Nilayam are in the range of Rs. 1200/- to Rs. 1500/-.
Rail
The ‘Sri Sathya Sai Prasanthi Nilayam’ railway station is located 8 kilometres from the ashram. There is a computerised railway reservation counter in the bus terminal just outside the Ashram [ Phone: (08555) 287355 ].
Railway Station - Sri Sathya Sai Prasanthi Nilayam
The important cities from which there is direct connectivity through Rail to Puttaparthi are given below.
New Delhi Mumbai Vishakapatnam
Bangalore Hyderabad
For further details, contact the Station Master, Sri Sathya Sai Prasanthi Nilayam. [ Phone: (08555) 280125 ]
The nearest railhead is the Dharmavaram station, about 40 kilometres from the Ashram. Many trains connecting major cities pass through this station. One may disembark at Dharmavaram and travel to Prasanthi Nilayam by road. There are regular bus services between Dharmavaram railway station and Prasanthi Nilayam bus terminal.
For more information regarding railway services, go to www.indianrail.gov.in
Air
The nearest major airport is the Bangalore airport located at about 120 kilometres from Prasanthi Nilayam.
VII. Convenience Stores
Shopping Centre
Shopping Center
The Shopping Centre is adjacent to South-6 block, near the Sri Sathya Sai Sadhana Trust (Publications Division) building. Day-to-day needs of devotees ranging from stationery, grocery and home needs to clothing and travel goods are available at nominal prices.
Timings:
On Weekdays
Morning (Only for Ladies) 9 a.m. to 11.30 a.m.
Evening (Only for Gents) 5 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.
On Sundays
Morning (Only for Gents) 9 a.m. to 11.30 a.m.
Evening (Only for Ladies) 5 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.
Fruits and Vegetables
The Fruits and Vegetables Stall is located behind the Shopping Centre.
Timings:
Morning 9 a.m. to 11.30 a.m.
Evening 5 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.
VIII. Sri Sathya Sai Sadhana Trust (Publications Division)
Books, Audio & Video Stall
Books, Audio & Video Stall
The Sri Sathya Sai Sadhana Trust (Publications Division) is the central official body that undertakes the printing, publishing and sale of various books, audio & video cassettes, CDs & DVDs etc. relating to the life and teachings of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, Bhajans and festivals in the Divine Presence. The Trust also undertakes the sale of publications in other Indian and Foreign languages.
It is located behind South-6, near the Shopping Centre.
The Sri Sathya Sai Sadhana Trust (Publications Division) building is located behind South-6, near the Shopping Centre. It houses the sales floor where books, audio (cassettes & CDs) and video (cassettes, CDs & DVDs) are sold at nominal prices.
SSSBPT Building
Timings:
Morning 9 a.m. to 11.30 a.m.
Afternoon 4.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.
Library cum Reading Room
The Book Trust building also houses a reading room that is a storehouse of Sai Literature with a large and varied collection of books on the life and teachings of Bhagawan Baba and experiences of devotees, in many Indian and foreign languages.
Timings:
Morning 9 a.m. to 11.30 a.m.
Afternoon 3.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.
The Ashram Magazine - Sanathana Sarathi
The Sri Sathya Sai Sadhana Trust (Publications Division), Prasanthi Nilayam, publishes the spiritual monthly magazine in two languages – Telugu and English. It contains the Divine Discourses of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba besides covering the important events that take place in His Divine Presence. The magazine is also available in many Indian and foreign languages published by the respective state or national Sai Organisations.
Subscription: Subscriptions for the English and Telugu editions can be made by Inland subscribers in the ground floor and by overseas subscribers in the first floor. The maximum period of subscription is up to three years and the payments are accepted in cash only.
Subscriptions for all Indian language editions (except Oriya and Marathi) and English edition may be made at the counter in West-2, A-1 (adjacent to the Canteen coupon counter, opposite the gents entrance of the South Indian canteen).
For more information, please visit www.sssbpt.org
IX. Telephone Booth
Inland and overseas telephone calls can be made from the telephone booths in the ground floor of the Sevadal Accommodation building located opposite the Round Block-5.
Timings: It is open from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.
X. Postal Counter
A counter of the Post Office is located inside the Ashram premises in the ground floor of the Sevadal Accommodation building opposite to Round Building-5. All routine postal transactions except despatch of telegrams may be done here. The Prasanthi Nilayam Post Office is located a kilometre away from the Ashram beyond the Sri Sathya Sai Mirpuri Music College Campus.
Timings of Ashram Postal Counter:
Morning 8-00 a.m. to 11-00 a.m.
Evening 5-00 p.m. to 7-30 p.m.
Note: There is no courier service available inside the ashram. However, there are many courier service providers outside the ashram.
XI. Fax / Telegrams / Email
There is no facility inside the Ashram for sending fax, telegrams or email. However, there are a number of agencies outside the Ashram that offer these services. One may also avail the services of the Government Telegraph Office situated outside the ashram, near State Bank of India on the Gopuram road, for sending telegrams.
Timings:
Monday to Saturday 9-00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m.
Closed on Sundays and Government Holidays
Email: There is no internet facility in the ashram. However, there are a number of internet centres outside.
XII. Emergency / Security Office
This office is located adjacent to the South Indian Canteen, beside the Gopuram Gate of the Ashram. Any issues concerning the security of the Ashram and the devotees are dealt with here. Stretchers and First-Aid materials are also available here, in case of emergencies. One may also collect Vibhuthi prasadam from here when leaving the Ashram.
XIII. Wheel Chair facility
Devotees in need of wheelchairs may obtain them at North-8, A-10 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. The accommodation office also allots ground floor rooms to such people on request, subject to availability. The wheelchairs are not supposed to be taken outside the Ashram premises and must be returned on the specified date.
XIV. Maintenance Office
The Ashram Maintenance Office may be contacted for any civil, electrical, water supply problems or any other complaints concerning one’s room or hall. It is located adjacent to the West-3 block on the southern end.
Timings:
Morning 7.30 a.m. to 1.00 p.m.
Afternoon 2.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m.
XV. Public Relations Office
The Public Relations Office is located in Room No. 12, opposite the South Indian Canteen. This office is open from 7.30 a.m. to 2.00 p.m. and 4.00 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. on all days. The ‘Lost-and-Found Office’ is also located here, where devotees can enquire about their lost belongings, or deposit any unclaimed articles found inside the Ashram. Any clarifications can be had by contacting the Public Relations Office at the Ashram.
Address:
Public Relations Office
Prasanthi Nilayam
Anantapur District
Pin Code – 515 134
Andhra Pradesh
INDIA
Phone: (0091) 8555-287390.
XVI. Cloak Room
The men's cloakroom is located adjacent to the Security Office next to the Gopuram gate of the Ashram and the women's cloakroom is situated next to the Public Relations Office, facing the South Indian Canteen.
The Cloak Room accepts only small articles such as mobile phones, handbags, etc. However, high-value articles such as jewellery, etc. and bulky items like suitcases, rucksacks, etc. are not accepted for safekeeping.
Morning 4.00 a.m. to 10.00 a.m.
Afternoon 1.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m.
XVII. Safe Deposit Locker
A safe deposit locker is made available to devotees at North-8, A-10 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. for storing valuables during their stay in the ashram.
XVIII. Advisory Information
Dress Code
1.
Devotees are expected to dress modestly, in clean and sober clothing, as befits a place of worship. Generally, people in the Ashram dress in whites.
2.
Wearing of shorts or sleeveless shirts is strictly prohibited. Women are required to dress to their ankles. Tight-fitting or diaphanous dresses are not permitted.
3. Unorthodox hairstyles, over-matted hair, tall set hair etc. or large obtrusive hats are highly discouraged.
Ashram Discipline
1.
Men and women are not expected to socialize and visit each other's rooms to indulge in idle talk or gossip inside the ashram. Indian customs and social behaviour are commonly observed inside the Ashram premises. Men and women indulging in physical contact or publicly expressing their greetings or affection are not approved of.
2.
The consumption or possession of tobacco / tobacco products, alcoholic drinks and non-vegetarian food / food stuffs (including eggs) is strictly prohibited. Gambling inside the premises is strictly forbidden.
3.
Kindly observe silence, and when it is necessary to speak, please do so softly. Do not play music loudly.
4.
Lights-out time in the Ashram is 9.00 p.m., after which devotees are not encouraged to move about inside or outside the Ashram. The Ashram gates are also closed at 9.00 p.m.
Self-Professed Intermediaries
*
Devotees are requested to be on their guard against strangers or newfound friends who claim association with Bhagawan or claim to have inner or special messages from Bhagawan. They are all spurious people.
*
Devotees are also requested to exercise utmost caution in visiting quacks, ‘healers with special powers’ supposedly delegated by Bhagawan Baba or spurious people parading as agents of ‘holistic’ or Indian therapies.
Bhagawan has repeatedly made it clear in His discourses that He has no agents, no intermediaries, whatsoever. His connection with the devotees is direct and heart to heart.
Unauthorized Trusts / Bodies
No institution or individual other than the following are authorised to receive any donation inside the Ashram on any account:
* Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust
* Sri Sathya Sai Medical Trust
* Sri Sathya Sai University
* Sri Sathya Sai Sadhana Trust
* Easwaramma Women’s Welfare Trust
Devotees are requested to note that Bhagawan does not solicit any donation whatsoever and the above-mentioned Trusts have no intermediaries or agents. Individuals, trusts and other bodies soliciting donations on behalf of Bhagawan or the above-mentioned trusts are doing so illegally. Individuals or Institutions making donations to such unauthorised bodies are doing so at their own risk, and the above-mentioned trusts are not responsible for their acts.
The Government of India has amended the schedule to the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act 1950 to include the following as protected names and emblems under the said Act:
1. Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust
2. The following emblems
3. Sri Sathya Sai
In view of the above, no person shall use or continue to use for the purpose of any trade, business, calling or profession or any patent, trademark or design the aforementioned protected names / emblems or any colourable imitation thereof without the previous written permission of the Central Government. Any person who contravenes the above is liable to be proceeded against and punished under the provisions of the law.
Any person who is using the aforementioned names and emblem in contravention of the provisions of the Act is hereby notified and required to cease and desist from using the said names/emblems with effect from: 22nd July 2004.
Devotees are also required to beware of touts who collect money inside the ashram for any of the ashram services. Devotees are not required to pay to anyone inside the Ashram except for services like accommodation, food, etc. at the respective offices and canteens.
BABA ON HIMSELF
Why I have come
I have come to light the lamp of love…
“I have come to light the lamp of love in your hearts, to see that it shines day by day with added lustre. I have not come to speak on behalf of any particular Dharma (religion), like Hinduism. I have not come on any mission of publicity for any sect or creed or cause; nor have I come to collect followers for any doctrine. I have no plan to attract disciples or devotees into My fold or any fold. I have come to tell you of this Universal unitary faith, this Atmic principle (principle of the Spirit), this path of love.”
- Bhagawan’s Discourse on 4th July 1968 in Nairobi (Kenya, East Africa).
Reference: “Sathya Sai Speaks”, Vol. – VIII, Chapter – 22. Page: 118
This Sai has come in order to achieve the…
“This Sai has come in order to achieve the supreme task of uniting the entire mankind as one family through the bond of brotherhood, of affirming and illumining the Atmic Reality (Reality of the Spirit) of each being in order to reveal the Divine which is the basis on which the entire Cosmos rests, and of instructing all to recognise the common Divine Heritage that binds man to man, so that man can rid himself of the animal in him, and rise into the Divine, which is his goal.”
- 19th June 1974 in ‘Brindavan’, Bangalore.
“Sathya Sai Speaks”, Vol. – XII. Chapter – 38. Page: 229
The Message I Bring
“All religions teach one basic discipline - the removal of the blemish of egoism from the mind, restraining it from running after trivial joys. Every religion teaches man to fill his being with the Glory of God, and evict the pettiness of conceit. It trains him in methods of detachment and discrimination so that he may aim high and attain liberation. Believe that all hearts are motivated by the one God; that all faiths glorify Him alone; that all names in all languages, and all the forms man can conceive denote the same divine principle; His adoration is best done by means of love.
Cultivate that Eka-bhava (attitude of Oneness) among men of all creeds, all countries and all continents. That is the message of love, I bring. That is the message I wish you to take to heart.”
- 4th July 1968 in Nairobi (Kenya, East Africa).
“Sathya Sai Speaks”, Vol. – VIII, Chapter – 22. Page: 118
I have come to help all to acquire serenity
“I have come to help all to acquire this Sathwic (serene) nature. You might have heard people talk about My miracles, of My creating this and giving that, of my fulfilling all your wants, of My curing your illnesses. But they are not as important as the Sathwa Guna (state of serenity and calmness) I appreciate, promote and instill. Of course, I confer on you these boons of health and prosperity, but only so that you might, with greater enthusiasm and with less interruption, proceed with spiritual sadhana (pursuit).”
- 25th July 1958 in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh.
“Sathya Sai Speaks”, Vol.- I, Chapter – 11. Page: 62-63
I have not come to start a new cult
“You must have noticed that I do not speak about Sai in My discourses, nor do I sing of Sai during the Bhajan with which I usually conclude My discourses. And you must have wondered why. Let me tell you the reason. I do not want the impression to gain ground that I desire this Name and this Form to be publicised. I have not come to start a new cult, I do not want people to be misled on this point. I affirm that this form of Sai contains within it the forms associated with all the names that man uses for the adoration of the Divine. So, I teach that no distinction should be made between the names Rama, Krishna, Ishwara, Sai - for they are all My names.”
- on 17th May 1968 in Mumbai
“Sathya Sai Speaks”, Vol.- VIII. Chapter – 19. Page: 95-96
On the occasion of the World Conference of
Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organizations.
Reference: “Sathya Sai Speaks”, Vol.- VIII. Chapter – 19. Page: 95-96
Do not propagate My Name
“I do not have the slightest intention to utilise the Seva Samithis (Service Organisations) for propagating My Name. No! I am content only when spiritual endeavours and disciplines to elevate and purify man progress everywhere. It is only through these practices that My universal reality will be revealed. So, do not limit Me to the boundaries of any one name and form.
Your aim should be to see the same God in all the Forms that are worshipped, to adore Him in all the Names, nay, to be conscious of His presence as the inner motivator of every living being, in every particle of matter. Do not fall into the error of considering some to be men worthy of reverence and some unworthy. Sai is in everyone; so, all deserve your reverence and service. Propagate this truth; that is the function I assign to the Seva Samithis (Service Organisations).”
- From Bhagawan’s Discourse on the occasion of
World Conference of Shri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations,
- on 17th May, 1968 in Mumbai
“Sathya Sai Speaks”, Vol.- VIII, Chapter-19. Page: 96
No annihilation now, only transformation
“Rama, Krishna and other Avatars had to kill one or more individuals who could be identified as enemies of the dharmic (righteous) way of life, and thus restore the practice of virtue. But, now, there is no one entirely good, and so who deserves the protection of God? All are tainted by wickedness, and so who will survive if the Avatar decides to destroy the wicked?
Therefore, I have to correct the buddhi (intellect), by various means; I have to counsel, help, command, condemn and stand by as a friend and well-wisher to all, so that they may give up evil propensities, and recognising the straight path, tread it and reach the goal. I have to reveal to the people the worth of the Vedas, the Shastras (India’s ancient scriptures) and the other scriptural texts, which lay down the norms of sacred living.”
- on 23rd Nov 1964, in Prashanthi Nilayam
“Sathya Sai Speaks”, Vol. – IV, Chapter – 38. Page: 224-225
I am determined to correct you
“Let me tell you, it is only those who know the scriptures, that can understand Me. I am determined to correct you only after informing you of my credentials. That is why I announce My Nature by means of miracles - that is, acts which are beyond human capacity and human understanding. Not that I am anxious to show off My powers. The object is to draw you closer to Me, to cement your hearts to Me. Getting to know Me is also a part of your destiny.”
- on 24th Nov 1961 in Prasanthi Nilayam
“Sathya Sai Speaks”, Vol. - II, Chapter-26. Page: 140-141
I only Echo
“If you accept Me and say yes, I too respond and say “yes, yes, yes!” If you deny Me and say “no”, I also echo “no”. Come, examine, experience and have faith; that is the method of utilizing Me.”
- Bhagawan’s Discourse on 23rd Nov 1964, 8 PM, in Prasanthi Nilayam.
Reference: “Sathya Sai Speaks”, Vol. – IV, Chapter – 38. Page: 226
Why should the Lord Himself incarnate?
When people forget the One and run after the world, there can be no love, no sacrifice and no spirit of detachment and hence there is a decline in Dharma. It is then that the Lord takes human form and comes among men to restore their sense of values. You may ask, why should the Lord Himself incarnate? Why can He not set about the task of restoring Dharma through the many minor gods He has at His command?
This question was placed before the courtiers by Akbar himself for, he laughed at the Hindu idea of the Formless adopting Form, and descending into the world as an Avatar to save Dharma. Tansen asked for a week's time to furnish the answer and got it granted by His Imperial Majesty. A few days later, when he was in the pleasure boat of the Emperor sailing across the lake with the royal family, Tansen cleverly threw overboard a doll made to look like the Emperor's little son, crying at the same time, "Oh, the Prince has fallen into the water!" Hearing this, the Emperor jumped into the lake to rescue his ‘son’!
Tansen then disclosed that it was only a doll and that the prince was safe. He allayed the anger of Akbar by explaining that he had perforce to enact this drama in order to demonstrate the truth of the Hindu belief that God takes human form to save Dharma, without commissioning some other entity to carry out that task. Dharma is the son that God loves so dearly. Akbar could have ordered the many personnel he had on board to jump in and rescue his son; but his affection was so great and the urgency so acute that the Emperor himself plunged into the lake to pull out the ‘son’.
The decline of Dharma is so acute...
The decline of Dharma is so acute a tragedy; the intensity of affection that the Lord has for good men is so great that He Himself comes. The Lord is Love itself. He comes in human form so that you can talk to Him, move with Him, serve Him, adore Him, and achieve oneness with Him, so that you can recognise your kinship with Him.”
- Bhagawan Baba’s Discourse on 13th Dec 1964 in Venkatagiri,
on the occasion of Prashaanthi Vidwan Mahaasabha.
Reference: “Sathya Sai Speaks”, Vol.- IV, Chapter – 45. Page: 262-263
The pious prayed, and I have come
“The Lord comes as the Avatar when He is anxiously awaited by saints and sages. Sadhus (the pious) prayed, and I have come. My tasks are primarily two: Veda Rakshana and Bhaktha Rakshana - fostering of the Vedas (ancient Indian spiritual scriptures) and fostering of Bhakthas (devotees).”
- Bhagawan Baba’s Discourse on 25th Jan 1963 in Prashanthi Nilayam
Reference: “Sathya Sai Speaks”, Vol.- III, Chapter – 1. Page: 9-10
Dive deep, get immersed
“You must dive deep into the sea to get at the pearls. What good is it to dabble among the waves near the shore and swear that the sea has no pearls in it? So also if you aspire to benefit from the Avatar, dive deep and get immersed in Him. Half-heartedness, hesitation, doubt, cynicism, listening to tales, etc. are all of no avail.
Unflinching faith - that alone can bring victory. This is true to any worldly activity, is it not? How much more true must it be, therefore in the spiritual field? But if you have already attached yourselves to a particular Name and Form, do not change it, do not choose another in its place.”
- Bhagawan Baba’s Discourse on 10th July 1959, Bangalore
on the occasion of Akhanda Bhajan
Reference: “Sathya Sai Speaks”, Vol. – I, Chapter – 21. Page: 130-131
I have not come for propaganda…
“I have not come for propaganda or publicity or gathering disciples or devotees. I am yours and you are Mine. Where then is the need for publicity? I do not give lectures but ‘mixtures’ for your mental health and moral re-invigoration. So take My words as medicine for your spiritual health.”
- Bhagawan Baba’s Discourse on 25th June 1960, Gokhale Hall, Chennai
Reference: “Sathya Sai Speaks”, Vol. – I, Chapter – 26. Page: 165
This human body has not come in vain
“Many hesitate to believe that things will improve, that everyone will be happy and joyful, that the Golden Age will ever dawn. Let me assure you that this Dharma Swarupa (personification of Righteousness) has not come in vain. It will succeed in averting the crisis that has come upon humanity.”
I have come to light the lamp of love…
“I have come to light the lamp of love in your hearts, to see that it shines day by day with added lustre. I have not come to speak on behalf of any particular Dharma (religion), like Hinduism. I have not come on any mission of publicity for any sect or creed or cause; nor have I come to collect followers for any doctrine. I have no plan to attract disciples or devotees into My fold or any fold. I have come to tell you of this Universal unitary faith, this Atmic principle (principle of the Spirit), this path of love.”
- Bhagawan’s Discourse on 4th July 1968 in Nairobi (Kenya, East Africa).
Reference: “Sathya Sai Speaks”, Vol. – VIII, Chapter – 22. Page: 118
This Sai has come in order to achieve the…
“This Sai has come in order to achieve the supreme task of uniting the entire mankind as one family through the bond of brotherhood, of affirming and illumining the Atmic Reality (Reality of the Spirit) of each being in order to reveal the Divine which is the basis on which the entire Cosmos rests, and of instructing all to recognise the common Divine Heritage that binds man to man, so that man can rid himself of the animal in him, and rise into the Divine, which is his goal.”
- 19th June 1974 in ‘Brindavan’, Bangalore.
“Sathya Sai Speaks”, Vol. – XII. Chapter – 38. Page: 229
The Message I Bring
“All religions teach one basic discipline - the removal of the blemish of egoism from the mind, restraining it from running after trivial joys. Every religion teaches man to fill his being with the Glory of God, and evict the pettiness of conceit. It trains him in methods of detachment and discrimination so that he may aim high and attain liberation. Believe that all hearts are motivated by the one God; that all faiths glorify Him alone; that all names in all languages, and all the forms man can conceive denote the same divine principle; His adoration is best done by means of love.
Cultivate that Eka-bhava (attitude of Oneness) among men of all creeds, all countries and all continents. That is the message of love, I bring. That is the message I wish you to take to heart.”
- 4th July 1968 in Nairobi (Kenya, East Africa).
“Sathya Sai Speaks”, Vol. – VIII, Chapter – 22. Page: 118
I have come to help all to acquire serenity
“I have come to help all to acquire this Sathwic (serene) nature. You might have heard people talk about My miracles, of My creating this and giving that, of my fulfilling all your wants, of My curing your illnesses. But they are not as important as the Sathwa Guna (state of serenity and calmness) I appreciate, promote and instill. Of course, I confer on you these boons of health and prosperity, but only so that you might, with greater enthusiasm and with less interruption, proceed with spiritual sadhana (pursuit).”
- 25th July 1958 in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh.
“Sathya Sai Speaks”, Vol.- I, Chapter – 11. Page: 62-63
I have not come to start a new cult
“You must have noticed that I do not speak about Sai in My discourses, nor do I sing of Sai during the Bhajan with which I usually conclude My discourses. And you must have wondered why. Let me tell you the reason. I do not want the impression to gain ground that I desire this Name and this Form to be publicised. I have not come to start a new cult, I do not want people to be misled on this point. I affirm that this form of Sai contains within it the forms associated with all the names that man uses for the adoration of the Divine. So, I teach that no distinction should be made between the names Rama, Krishna, Ishwara, Sai - for they are all My names.”
- on 17th May 1968 in Mumbai
“Sathya Sai Speaks”, Vol.- VIII. Chapter – 19. Page: 95-96
On the occasion of the World Conference of
Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organizations.
Reference: “Sathya Sai Speaks”, Vol.- VIII. Chapter – 19. Page: 95-96
Do not propagate My Name
“I do not have the slightest intention to utilise the Seva Samithis (Service Organisations) for propagating My Name. No! I am content only when spiritual endeavours and disciplines to elevate and purify man progress everywhere. It is only through these practices that My universal reality will be revealed. So, do not limit Me to the boundaries of any one name and form.
Your aim should be to see the same God in all the Forms that are worshipped, to adore Him in all the Names, nay, to be conscious of His presence as the inner motivator of every living being, in every particle of matter. Do not fall into the error of considering some to be men worthy of reverence and some unworthy. Sai is in everyone; so, all deserve your reverence and service. Propagate this truth; that is the function I assign to the Seva Samithis (Service Organisations).”
- From Bhagawan’s Discourse on the occasion of
World Conference of Shri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations,
- on 17th May, 1968 in Mumbai
“Sathya Sai Speaks”, Vol.- VIII, Chapter-19. Page: 96
No annihilation now, only transformation
“Rama, Krishna and other Avatars had to kill one or more individuals who could be identified as enemies of the dharmic (righteous) way of life, and thus restore the practice of virtue. But, now, there is no one entirely good, and so who deserves the protection of God? All are tainted by wickedness, and so who will survive if the Avatar decides to destroy the wicked?
Therefore, I have to correct the buddhi (intellect), by various means; I have to counsel, help, command, condemn and stand by as a friend and well-wisher to all, so that they may give up evil propensities, and recognising the straight path, tread it and reach the goal. I have to reveal to the people the worth of the Vedas, the Shastras (India’s ancient scriptures) and the other scriptural texts, which lay down the norms of sacred living.”
- on 23rd Nov 1964, in Prashanthi Nilayam
“Sathya Sai Speaks”, Vol. – IV, Chapter – 38. Page: 224-225
I am determined to correct you
“Let me tell you, it is only those who know the scriptures, that can understand Me. I am determined to correct you only after informing you of my credentials. That is why I announce My Nature by means of miracles - that is, acts which are beyond human capacity and human understanding. Not that I am anxious to show off My powers. The object is to draw you closer to Me, to cement your hearts to Me. Getting to know Me is also a part of your destiny.”
- on 24th Nov 1961 in Prasanthi Nilayam
“Sathya Sai Speaks”, Vol. - II, Chapter-26. Page: 140-141
I only Echo
“If you accept Me and say yes, I too respond and say “yes, yes, yes!” If you deny Me and say “no”, I also echo “no”. Come, examine, experience and have faith; that is the method of utilizing Me.”
- Bhagawan’s Discourse on 23rd Nov 1964, 8 PM, in Prasanthi Nilayam.
Reference: “Sathya Sai Speaks”, Vol. – IV, Chapter – 38. Page: 226
Why should the Lord Himself incarnate?
When people forget the One and run after the world, there can be no love, no sacrifice and no spirit of detachment and hence there is a decline in Dharma. It is then that the Lord takes human form and comes among men to restore their sense of values. You may ask, why should the Lord Himself incarnate? Why can He not set about the task of restoring Dharma through the many minor gods He has at His command?
This question was placed before the courtiers by Akbar himself for, he laughed at the Hindu idea of the Formless adopting Form, and descending into the world as an Avatar to save Dharma. Tansen asked for a week's time to furnish the answer and got it granted by His Imperial Majesty. A few days later, when he was in the pleasure boat of the Emperor sailing across the lake with the royal family, Tansen cleverly threw overboard a doll made to look like the Emperor's little son, crying at the same time, "Oh, the Prince has fallen into the water!" Hearing this, the Emperor jumped into the lake to rescue his ‘son’!
Tansen then disclosed that it was only a doll and that the prince was safe. He allayed the anger of Akbar by explaining that he had perforce to enact this drama in order to demonstrate the truth of the Hindu belief that God takes human form to save Dharma, without commissioning some other entity to carry out that task. Dharma is the son that God loves so dearly. Akbar could have ordered the many personnel he had on board to jump in and rescue his son; but his affection was so great and the urgency so acute that the Emperor himself plunged into the lake to pull out the ‘son’.
The decline of Dharma is so acute...
The decline of Dharma is so acute a tragedy; the intensity of affection that the Lord has for good men is so great that He Himself comes. The Lord is Love itself. He comes in human form so that you can talk to Him, move with Him, serve Him, adore Him, and achieve oneness with Him, so that you can recognise your kinship with Him.”
- Bhagawan Baba’s Discourse on 13th Dec 1964 in Venkatagiri,
on the occasion of Prashaanthi Vidwan Mahaasabha.
Reference: “Sathya Sai Speaks”, Vol.- IV, Chapter – 45. Page: 262-263
The pious prayed, and I have come
“The Lord comes as the Avatar when He is anxiously awaited by saints and sages. Sadhus (the pious) prayed, and I have come. My tasks are primarily two: Veda Rakshana and Bhaktha Rakshana - fostering of the Vedas (ancient Indian spiritual scriptures) and fostering of Bhakthas (devotees).”
- Bhagawan Baba’s Discourse on 25th Jan 1963 in Prashanthi Nilayam
Reference: “Sathya Sai Speaks”, Vol.- III, Chapter – 1. Page: 9-10
Dive deep, get immersed
“You must dive deep into the sea to get at the pearls. What good is it to dabble among the waves near the shore and swear that the sea has no pearls in it? So also if you aspire to benefit from the Avatar, dive deep and get immersed in Him. Half-heartedness, hesitation, doubt, cynicism, listening to tales, etc. are all of no avail.
Unflinching faith - that alone can bring victory. This is true to any worldly activity, is it not? How much more true must it be, therefore in the spiritual field? But if you have already attached yourselves to a particular Name and Form, do not change it, do not choose another in its place.”
- Bhagawan Baba’s Discourse on 10th July 1959, Bangalore
on the occasion of Akhanda Bhajan
Reference: “Sathya Sai Speaks”, Vol. – I, Chapter – 21. Page: 130-131
I have not come for propaganda…
“I have not come for propaganda or publicity or gathering disciples or devotees. I am yours and you are Mine. Where then is the need for publicity? I do not give lectures but ‘mixtures’ for your mental health and moral re-invigoration. So take My words as medicine for your spiritual health.”
- Bhagawan Baba’s Discourse on 25th June 1960, Gokhale Hall, Chennai
Reference: “Sathya Sai Speaks”, Vol. – I, Chapter – 26. Page: 165
This human body has not come in vain
“Many hesitate to believe that things will improve, that everyone will be happy and joyful, that the Golden Age will ever dawn. Let me assure you that this Dharma Swarupa (personification of Righteousness) has not come in vain. It will succeed in averting the crisis that has come upon humanity.”
HIS WRITINGS
Introduction - The Avatar's Pen
Baba speaks of Himself as the mother yearning to feed an unruly child who, in its ignorance, refuses to eat what will cure its hunger. The child has to be coddled and coaxed, wheeled and petted, even caught unawares sometimes by means of a story or a song, to induce it to accept the food it needs. Baba's immeasurable Love, persuades Him to pack a medicinal dose in a sweet smile, a panacea in a palatable parable or a profound thought in a syrupy joke. Let us dip into the books Baba has given Mankind in order to draw it to the feast that He has prepared for its hunger. His books are an invitation to His presence, fresh and fascinating as they are.
Baba writes in simple and elegant, colloquial Telugu or English prose. The message is always extempore, His ideas receiving expression as mellifluous poems and songs, showering exquisite delight. Poetry and melody shine through each sentence and behind each phrase and clause lays a form that is apparently human, but is suffused with Divine Wisdom.
All the immortal pieces flowed from Baba’s pen as articles for the Ashram magazine ‘Sanathana Sarathi’ (The Eternal Charioteer) during its early years. Prof. Kasturi, the first editor of Sanathana Sarathi, who used to collect material from Bhagawan every month for the magazine, narrates the following remarkable experience regarding Bhagawan’s Omniscience and the innate simplicity with which Bhagawan wrote the Vahinis.
Grandeur of the Omniscient Teacher
Prof. N.Kasturi, writes –
“Baba decided on a small book on the Upanishads, the Upanishad Vahini, in order to rivet the world to the efficacy of Vedanta. As editor of the magazine, which published serially the chapters of this book, I had an amazing experience, every month. After dispatching the magazine on the 16th of every month, I would go to him for the next part of the series. Announcing the name of the Upanishad Himself, He would ask me to wait for a while in His room and proceed along the verandah with a notebook and pen, towards the room where they stood a table with a chair by its side and nothing else besides.
Once, it was the turn of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, to be summarized and simplified. It is the biggest and the profoundest of the ten. I am certain that Baba had never read it or consulted others who could talk on it. And there was no copy available anywhere within miles. But forty minutes after he moved out with a pen and the notebook as His sole possessions, I could descend the eighteen steps from His room with a ten-page dissertation on the truths this Upanishad enshrined! I peeped into the script as I walked towards the Press and my eyes fell on the Telugu words, which said, ‘the grandeur of the intellect of Sage Yajnavalkya is impressively evident in this Upanishad’. I told myself, the grandeur of the Omniscient teacher that Baba is, is now impressively evident to me.”
The Vahinis
It was Prof. Kasturi who collated all the articles that Baba had written for the ‘Sanathana Sarathi’, the Ashram Periodical, and brought out in a book form as the “Vahini Series” as Baba used to title all His articles as Vahinis. Vahini meaning flow or stream.
There are 15 vahinis in all, written in Telugu by Baba and translated into English by Prof. Kasturi. The Vahinis like ‘Prema Vahini’ and ‘Dhyana Vahini’ are little gems, classics of the spiritual life from the moment that Baba wrote them. Their simplicity, which, at the same time, contains such a depth of meaning, is unique. They speak of Peace, Meditation, Love and Wisdom. They seek to acquaint the reader with the Upanishads and the Geeta. In a class by itself stands ‘Sandeha Nivarini’, the Doubt Dispeller. It raises various metaphysical problems and answers them.
Prema Vahini - The Stream of Divine Love
Dhyana Vahini - The Practice of Meditation
Dharma Vahini - The Path of Virtue and Morality
Jnana Vahini - The Stream of Eternal Wisdom
Geeta Vahini - The Divine Gospel
Prashanthi Vahini - The Supreme Bliss of the Divine
Sathya Sai Vahini - Spiritual Message of Sri Sathya Sai
Prasnothara Vahini - Answers to Spiritual Questions
Sandeha Nivarini - Clearance of Spiritual Doubts
Leela Kaivalya Vahini - The Cosmic Play of God
Sutra Vahini - Analytical Aphorism on Supreme Reality
Vidya Vahini - Flow of Spiritual Education
Upanishad Vahini - Essence of Vedic Knowledge
Bhagavatha Vahini - The story of the Glory of the Lord
Ramakatha Rasa Vahini, Part - I - The Sweet Story of Rama’s Glory
Ramakatha Rasa Vahini, Part - II - The Sweet Story of Rama’s Glory
For complete text of all the Vahinis online in pdf format, please click here
Prema Vahini
(The Stream of Divine Love)
Baba has said that if He were to be identified by one characteristic more than any other, He could most aptly be called ‘Prema Swaroopa’, the Embodiment of Love. The very first Vahini (stream) that flowed forth from his pen to fertilize the mind of man was the book, ‘Prema Vahini’. Narada, the great exponent of love as a spiritual discipline, defines the path of love as equivalent to supreme devotion. The love is described as Supreme, because it is full and free, with no conditions, no trace of bargaining, no taint of fear. Once such love is practiced and experienced all distinctions drop, duality ceases and only the truth remains.
Baba quotes the love of the simple milkmaids and cowherds of Brindavan towards Krishna as the best example of this parama prema (Supreme Love). Krishna Himself appreciated it thus: they long for Me so deeply, their thoughts, words and deeds are so imbued with Me, that they have no sense of time or space, no consciousness of their bodies and their needs. They are so absorbed in Me that they are like rivers that have merged in the ocean and lost their individual names and distinctions.
Baba says in Prema Vahini only through love can faith become steady; only through faith can knowledge be gained; only through knowledge can parabhakthi (complete devotion, self surrender) be ensured and only through parabhakthi can the Lord be realised.
To read ‘Prema Vahini’ online, Click here. (It’s a PDF file, You will need Acrobat Reader for this).
Dhyana Vahini
(The Practice of Meditation)
Today quacks with new-fangled ideas lay down rules for Dhyana (Meditation), says Baba. Each one has his own special prescription and claims that his system can confer more benefit than that of others. But none have themselves experienced its sweetness of sanctity. That is the real reason why Dhyana has drawn out upon itself the cynical laughter of many. My intention is to instruct such people and guide them on the right path.
Baba goes on to reveal in these words the origin of His book, ‘Dhyana Vahini’. Even the most potent drug will not cure when it is only extolled in elaborate phrases at the bedside of the patient. The drug must be taken in and allowed to walk its way into the blood stream. Your reading what I write on Dhyana will not make it easier. The mind is a mad pleasure seeker, running after mirages seen through the inefficient and therefore, deceptive senses of perception. The multifarious desires that infect the mind have to be quelled and the mind focused on Ananda (bliss) only. Of course, it will itself turn to God. When knowledge is accepted as the master, when the mind is denied the food that breeds depravity, when the senses are tamed by firmness and faith, Dhyana will surely lead you to that Goal.
Baba distinguishes between concentration, contemplation and meditation. Concentration is an unwavering determination in one's daily life, in the realm of the senses, the feelings and the intellect. Contemplation is achieved when the senses withdraw for some time and attachment to the objective world slackens, when you have completely broken away from all attachment, you enter a state of meditation, says Baba.
Baba gives the guidelines for meditation and mind control in Dhyana Vahini. He says that Dhyana is as life sustaining as dhanya (food). Baba explains the choice of place, posture, time-table and the curriculum, but lays greater stress on the compassion of the Lord who responds to the prayer embodied during Dhyana.
Since God assumes, for the sake of the sadhaka, the name and form that he meditates on, Baba assures us that Dhyana need never be a barter endeavour; the summit can be reached by perseverance, for He rises up to Himself the struggling and the exhausted.
Baba warns us against nine enemies that waylay the earnest sadhaka. Three of them are physical: adulterous urges, greed to possess things or gain exclusive love and the tendency to injure living beings; three are verbal: delight in causing panic by false alarm, speaking lies and spreading scandal; and three are mental: craving for what belongs to others, envy and cynicism.
Baba directs that the meditation on the form be accompanied by an unbroken absorption of the sweetness of the name by which that form is identified. When the form slips from attention, the name will soon bring it back; when the name drops from awareness, the form will restore it to the mind. Thus, the constant presence of God in the consciousness is ensured, says Baba.
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Dharma Vahini
(The Path of Virtue and Morality)
Baba says, Dharma (Right Conduct) is like the river Saraswati, flowing unseen beneath the deeper levels of human consciousness, feeding the roots of activity, filling the springs of thought, cleansing the slushy eddies of feeling. When the river runs dry or is clogged by greed and hate, the avatar comes to let in a torrent of grace and restore its fresh, free flow.
Baba in Dharma Vahini has installed dharma on an unshakable foundation as the unity of all life, indeed, of creation: Whoever conquers the ego and overcomes the natural tendency to regard the body and its furniture as his true self, is surely on the path of Dharma, for he would soon discover the truth behind all the scintillating multiplicity. He would realise that the objective world is like a gem-studded wheel, over Brahman, which is the one and only truth. Sarvam Khalvidam Brahman (All is verily Brahman, God).
When man is aware of this truth, there will be no other; all will be you. Since you love yourself most, your love will flow in full measure towards all and encompass the living and the non-living. Dharma has to be built on the deep understanding of the depths of Being. Build your life, says Baba, on the Atmic plinth, the faith that you are a wave upon the ocean of bliss, a spark of the cosmic intelligence.
Then He asks, When you worship an idol, what is it that you really do? First, a form of God is imprinted on your mind, after that, you meditate on His Power, Grace and Omnipresence and project these qualities upon the idol, thus enabling your consciousness to transcend it and become unaware of the lithic substance before you.
In the same manner, imprint on your consciousness that form of God which delights you most and fills you with illumination and project that form on every man, beast, bird and insect, on every tree and plant, on every rock and hill; this sadhana (spiritual practise) will make you true, good and beautiful. This is the fundamental norm: Atmic awareness - the unceasing remembrance of the One appearing to be many.
To read ‘Dharma Vahini’ online, Click here. (It’s a PDF file, You will need Acrobat Reader for this).
Jnana Vahini
(The Stream of Eternal Wisdom)
Whenever the gross and even the subtle are transcended, when the intelligence is clarified, when the self is free from feelings, impulses and instincts, what remains in the consciousness is the true self only. The person, then, is one with Eternal Truth, the One beyond everything. He becomes Brahman or Paramatman says Baba. This awareness is the acme of Ananda (or bliss).
In the Taittriya Upanishad it is declared that, from Ananda all this is born and through ananda all this lives, in Ananda all this is merged, and in Ananda all this rests. The greater the awareness of Paramatman (Supreme Divinity), the more the Ananda.
Baba summarises the Truth in one sentence. Awareness is Life and then goes on to reveal that all men are Divine like Myself: the only difference is that they are yet unaware of their divinity. They have come into this karmic prison through the karmas of many lives. I have taken to this mortal form out of My own free will. They are bound to the body, while I am free of this bondage.
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Geeta Vahini
(The Divine Gospel)
Baba's Geetha Vahini is the holy Bhagavad Geeta retold in order to save modern man from the myopia of egoistic materialism. It is not a resume or a commentary or an abridgement. It is the voice of Krishna Himself, ringing over the clash of hate and greed and calling us into more worthwhile victories. He has declared that He has come to unify and clarify, fructify and fortify the holy aspirations of man. The doubts and delusions, which torment us while we are engaged in the battle with our outer and inner kith and kin, are treated here with love and sympathy by Sai Krishna, who also provides us with the answers.
We are encouraged in Geetha Vahini to offer Baba the prayer he puts into the heart of Arjuna (in the great epic Mahabharata) – ‘as You are guiding this chariot, guide me also and show me the way’ - for, He is in fact the charioteer installed in everybody. The Geetha, as expounded by Baba, is a textbook of Yoga and a guide for spiritual practise. It is a yoga shastra and Brahma vidya (Knowledge of the Self) rolled into one. Through smile and story, sneer and laughter, banter and reprimand, question and counter-question, Baba pours into us the nectar of wisdom in this beautiful volume.
At Kurukshetra (the battleground in Mahabharata), Krishna said that the mind and its vagaries could be tamed by Abhyasa (discipline) and Vairagya (detachment). In Geetha Vahini, Sai Krishna adds Vichara (discriminative reasoning). Baba also analyses the concept of Kshetra (place), Yagna (sacrifice), Yoga and Maya (illusion) and sheds light on many corners, which the lamps of ancient masters did not illumine. The ideal of Nishkama Karma, (selfless action), gets a glow of heroism when He interprets it as a conscious refusal of the fruits of activity, a courageous turning away from both triumph and failure.
There are many passages on ‘Geetha Vahini’ of self-revelation by Baba, where it becomes difficult to determine who is speaking to us so intimately Krishna or Sai? How can I ever forget Him who never forgets Me? is the question, Baba asks. Forgetting is a human frailty. Let me tell you, there is no need for Yoga, Tapas (penance) or even Jnana (wisdom). I only ask you to fix your mind on me, dedicate it to me. That is all I demand and all that you need to do, says Baba.
This is the promise of Grace, which all devotees can hope to receive. Grace revives us when we are in great pain and restlessness. It revives us when we totter through the great alleys of our meaningless and empty lives. It revives us when our disgust for our own being, our own indifference, our weakness, our hostility and our total lack of direction and composure has become intolerable.
It revives us when year after year, the longed-for perfection does not appear, when the stale compulsions reign within us as they have done for decades, and when despair destroys all joy and courage. Sometimes, at that moment, a wave of light breaks into our darkness, saying, You are accepted.
Geetha Vahini also condemns fanatic, blinkered gurus and pompous exponents of the Geetha whose oratory sounds hollow because they do not themselves practice what the Geetha preaches.
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Prashanthi Vahini
(The Supreme Bliss of the Divine)
Baba's book Prasanthi Vahini, gives us the key to the treasure house of that peace which escapes understanding and defies logic, namely ‘Prasanthi’ (or supreme peace), which the Geeta calls the goal of human endeavour.
‘Santhi’ means peace unaffected by desire, greed, hatred or anger. It is not curtailed by adversity or multiplied by windfalls. Baba says that we must cultivate the three virtues of viveka (intelligence), vairagya (detachment) and vichakshana (discrimination) in order to equip ourselves with Prasanthi. He prescribes the Viveka Chudamani, composed by Adi Sankara, as the text, which can develop in us these three virtues.
Baba says, Like the children playing with dolls you, too, call some beings elephants and others horses, some friends and others enemies, and spend your entire life in such make-believe. Once you realise that without the spirit they are the same inert substance, the notion of many and the diversity of name and form, both disappear, and there can be no liking and disliking any more. You laugh and weep, love and hate, live in joy, sorrow, anger and fascination, but all these varied reactions do not make the objective world less unreal.
Vairagya (detachment) gets a new meaning in Prasanthi Vahini. ‘Raga’ means attachment and vairagya comes when you realise that the stone to which you were attached is really god. The stoneness is like a veil cast by your ignorance upon what is really of the same substance as you yourself. The vairagya that results from this illumination is lasting and most sublime, Baba explains.
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Sathya Sai Vahini
(Spiritual Message of Sri Sathya Sai)
Bhagawan has announced Himself as the Divine Teacher of Truth, Beauty and Goodness. By precept and example, through His writings and discourses, letters and conversations, He has been instilling the supreme wisdom and instructing all mankind to translate it into righteous living, inner peace and
universal love.
When the ‘Ramakatha Rasavahini’, the uniquely authentic nectarine stream of the Rama story, was serialised in full in the ‘Sanathana Sarathi’ (the ashram monthly), Bhagawan blessed readers with a new series, which He named ‘Bharathiya Paramartha Vahini’ (The Stream of Indian Spiritual Values). While these precious essays on the basic truths, that foster and feed Indian culture since ages before history began, were being published, Bhagawan decided to continue the flow of illumination and instruction under a more comprehensive and meaningful name, ‘Sathya Sai Vahini’ —the holy stream from the Lotus Feet of the Lord—“The Flow of Divine Sai Grace.” This book, therefore, contains the two Vahinis that have merged in one master stream.
Inaugurating these series, Bhagawan wrote, for publication in the Sanathana Sarathi, “Moved by the urge
to cool the heat of conflict and to quench the agonising thirst for ‘knowledge about yourself’ that you are afflicted with, see, here it comes, the Sathya Sai Vahini, wave behind wave, with the Sanathana Sarathi as the medium between you and me.”
With infinite compassion, this Sathya Sai incarnation of the Omniwill is giving millions of persons in all lands freedom from disease, distress and despair, narcotics, narcissism and nihilism. He is encouraging those who suffer gloom through wilful blindness to light the Lamp of Love in order to see the world and the Lamp of Wisdom to see themselves. “This is a tantalising true-false world. Its apparent diversity is an illusion. It is One, but is cognised by the maimed multiple vision of humans as Many,” says Bhagawan. This book is the twin Lamp He has devised for us.
‘Sathya Sai Vahini’ reveals to us in unmistakable terms that the self in man is “no other than the Overself or God.” We are told that this is true not only of mankind but of all beings, everywhere and anywhere. In fact, “Will causes this unreal multiplicity of Cosmos on the One that He is. He can by the same Will end the phenomenon.” “Being (God) is behind the Becoming and Becoming merges in Being. This is the eternal Play,” says Bhagawan.
To sum up, the ‘Sathya Sai Vahini’ is the holy gospel given to us by the Person who, as The Eternal Charioteer, is eager and ready to hold the reins of our senses, mind, consciousness, ego and intellect, and guide us safely to Prasanthi Nilayam, the Abode of Supreme peace, the goal of all mankind.
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Prasnothara Vahini
(Answers to Spiritual questions)
Prasna means “question.” Uttara means “answer,” and Vahini indicates “a stream.” This book is the stream of the questions that have evoked answers from Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Among the tasks that Bhagawan has assumed while incarnating, He has declared as basic, the one which He calls, “the clarification and purification of the religious scriptures of mankind.” Every Vahini emanating from Him
has done this service to some aspect or other of the spiritual upliftment of man.
This Vahini is one of the earliest in the series, since it seeks to elucidate the fundamental concepts and precepts of religion, especially the technical words and expressions that seek to concretise them. For some years, this was published as an Appendix to a single Vahini, the Geetha Vahini, but later it was placed in the hands of seekers as a key publication, helpful for readers of all the Vahinis.
The Ancient Wisdom (Sanathana Dharma), the Perennial Path, has been communicated to posterity in words that have suffered distortion, devaluation, dilution and denigration through the efflux of time and the controversies among commentators. Varna (social system based on profession), Asrama (stages of life according to ancient religion), Yoga, Sanyasa (renunciation), Yajna (sacrifice), Karma (action), - these are interpreted by dialecticians and practitioners of varied schools and sects, in confusing and contradictory
versions.
Bhagawan has resolved these tangles. His exemplary love and patience sweeten not only every answer but every question too, for, He has, by posturing as the interrogator, made the clarifications full and fruitful.
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Sandeha Nivarini
(Clearance of Spiritual Doubts)
A series of Baba's articles published to remove the weeds of doubt growing wild in the hearts was collectively entitled ‘Sandeha Nivarini’. Even in his teens and twenties, Baba took delight in prodding those who gathered at His feet to ask Him questions on spiritual matters. These became the cues for dissertations, short and long, with many an interspersed parable, poem or song, to lead the questioners from darkness to light.
In Sandeha Nivarini Baba says, I am happy when anyone asks Me about the things he has not understood. Of course, you have every right. Then he asks the pupil, but are you reflecting on the answers I give and practicing what has been told you, with the conviction born of faith? What am I here for? Is it not for explaining to you the things you do not know? Ask me without hesitation or fear. I am always ready to answer. Only, the enquiry must be earnest, emerging out of a genuine desire to know and to practice what is good.
It can be revealed now that the bhaktha (devotee) who visits Baba with questions- personal, philosophical and religious in every chapter of Sandeha Nivarini is a creation of the Divine pen. Baba reveals through this character, His infinite compassion towards the samsayatma, the person afflicted with doubts. He poses the problems and provides the answers.
He writes, Bhaktha! I converse with you about every point you place before Me, and allow many to take part in this conversation. The sun's light falls upon the mirror, the light from the mirror upon the walls of the bungalow and the light from the walls upon the eye. Similarly, this Sandeha Nivarini has been planned in order that the illumination of My teaching may fall upon you and thence on to the pages of the ‘Sanathana Sarathi’, so that the effulgence may illuminate the world and bring the light and harmony into the heart of mankind.
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Leela Kaivalya Vahini
(The Cosmic Play of God)
The ‘Vedas’ (ancient Indian scriptures) originated from the breath of God; each syllable is sacred. Each word is a manthra. It exhorts all men to pursue the same holy desire. All hearts must be charged with the same good urge. All thoughts must be directed by noble motives towards holy ends. All men must tread the one path of truth for all are manifestations of the One.
The world is enchanting, because it is tantalising in appearance, though it is fundamentally untrue. It is a
phenomenon which is fading out. When this truth is realised, one becomes aware of the Cosmic Sport of God and the Eternal Universal Being.
‘Leela Kaivalya Vahini’ is a cool crystal clear stream that flows from the Divine pen of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba to dissolve all obstacles like doubts and dogmas, purposeless arguments and flimsy fancies of the sadhaka (spiritual aspirant).
These articles, originally published in the ‘Sanathana Sarathi’ (the Ashram periodical), were given a book form and placed at His Lotus Feet on the auspicious occasion of His 65th Birthday, which eventually fell on the 50th year of proclamation of Avatarhood.
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Sutra Vahini
(Analytical Aphorism on Supreme Reality)
An aphorism (sutra) expresses the genus of its meaning in a few terse words. The Brahma Sutras systematically explain the basic principles of Vedanta, the science of Supreme Reality. When contemplated, they reveal the innermost metaphysical secrets. Today, harmony is the need of the hour. The ephemeral world needs spiritual awareness, and this is what the Vedantins (propagators of Vedanta) visualise. Vedic scriptures offer comforting counsel. They throw a kindly light.
In the words of Bhagavan Baba, “Acquisition of the higher knowledge alone can fulfill the main purpose of
human life. Such knowledge makes one aware that one is not the inert insentient body, etc., but that one is consciousness itself manifesting as the embodiment of being – awareness - bliss (satchidananda). When this truth dawns and is experienced, one becomes a person liberated while alive (jivan-muktha)”. This is the state of realization of the innate nature of a people —the divinity of humanity.
In this Stream of Aphorisms (Sutra Vahini) on Brahman, Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba has lighted the universal lamp of the wisdom (vidya) of Atma/Brahman (Divine Self). This stream of aphorisms first appeared in serialized form in ‘Sanathana Sarathi’, the Ashram periodical. Bhagavan, in His infinite love, elaborated on the “Essence of Brahma Sutras in twelve selected aphorisms”.
Bhagavan's sublime and profound words and spiritual wisdom are indeed highly elevating and illuminating. Bathing in this pellucid Stream of Aphorisms, a person develops correct or true vision of Reality, bestowing supreme delight.
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Vidya Vahini
(Flow of Spiritual Education)
Baba has clarified that the word ‘Vidya’ used for this Vahini (Stream of Thought), means (Ya) that which (Vid) “illumines.” It is this sense that is highlighted in expressions like Atma Vidya, Brahma Vidya, etc., or even the name Vidyagiri given to the college campus of Prasanthi Nilayam which comprises the Institute of Higher Learning.
Baba makes us aware of the comparatively less beneficial lower learning which deals with theories, inferences, concepts, conjectures and constructions. The Higher Learning hastens and expands the universal urge to know and become Truth, Goodness and Beauty, Sathyam Sivam Sundaram. Baba has come as Man among men on a self-imposed mission to correct the wrongs inflicted on mankind through the fanatically blind pursuit of lower learning. The human race has to voyage on an even keel; it is leaning too alarmingly towards the briny grave; the lower learning is lowering it into the bottomless pit. ‘Vidya’ alone is the remedy.
From His childhood days, Baba has stood forth as an educator, a Guru as the villagers loved to address Him. He warned, without hesitation, elders at Puttaparthi, teachers in the schools, and headmen of castes against cruelty to animals and exploitation of labour, usury and gambling, pedantry and illiteracy, hypocrisy and pomp. Through gulps and jests, parody and satire, songs and plays, the young teenager Teacher ridiculed and reformed the society which honoured or tolerated such evils. Through Bhajans sung in chorus by groups of men and women, He reminded them of the universal human values of Truth, Morality, Peace, Love and Non-violence as early as 1943, when he was barely seventeen. These were the basic acquisitions that ‘Vidya’, the Higher Learning, can confer on votaries.
As Lord Krishna, He said to Arjuna, “Adhyaatma Vidya, Vidyaanaam” meaning, “Among all the types of knowledge, I am Atma Vidya - the search for Atmic Truth.” The world can be saved from suicide only through this knowledge. The search for Truth and Totality, for Unity and Purity is the means; the Awareness of the One is the consummation of the process.
This Message is the sum and substance of every Discourse of His, from the time He first spoke in the early 1950s. This precious book provides us the chance to peruse nineteen essays He wrote in answer to appeals for the elucidation of the principles which must guide us while rehabilitating Education as an effective instrument for establishing peace and freedom in us and on Earth.
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Upanishad Vahini
(Essence of Vedic Knowledge)
Upanishad Vahini is a synoptic review of the ten principal Upanishads with a prologue and an epilogue on the rare text called the ‘Brahmanubhava Upanishad’. These Upanishads are esoteric and highly cryptic, but they elucidate the highest truths discernable to the intellect of Man.
Vedic literature is classified as ritualistic, consecrational and metaphysical (karma, upasana, jnana), and the Upanishads are grouped under the third category. But Baba says that each principal Upanishad deals with all the three and is, therefore, instructive for all types of spiritual aspirants. Besides special rites described in most of them, the adoration of preceptors or deities is also recommended.
Baba says, The Upanishads enshrine the whisperings of God to Man. About the ten on which Adi Sankara and other scholar saints have written detailed expositions, Baba says, Humanity stands to gain or fall by these ten. They are the synthesis of human thought, experience and aspiration at the highest. They confirm the possibility of human perfectibility, they declare and demonstrate that man can secure the awareness of God as his reality, if only he casts off the veil of ignorance that he now delights to wear.
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Bhagavatha Vahini
(The Story of the Glory of the Lord)
The Geetha is a central gem in the crest jewel of the great Indian epic, the Mahabharata. Sage Vyasa wove this intricate tapestry of sublime heroism physical, mental, moral and spiritual. He had also codified the Vedic hymns and rituals. He prepared a magnificent garland of aphorisms summarizing the basic philosophic truths. In spite of His encyclopedic scholarship and great creative skill in the realm of thought, Vyasa was afflicted by a deep inner sadness. He had no sweetness or peace left in him.
Narada, the sage who propagated the validity of devotion as a means of achieving bliss, had advised Vyasa to describe the glories of God, who had incarnated as Krishna. The exposition that did emerge from this advice is called the ‘Bhagavata Purana’. Baba has given it to us again in a sweeter and a more concise form as ‘Bhagavata Vahini’.
Baba's Bhagavata Vahini flows clear and cool, straight from the page to the heart. The book splendidly narrates the leelas (divine sport) of Krishna and of the dedicatory acts of those who received His Grace. It also includes the regions mapped by Vyasa under the compulsions of scholastic norms. As a result, Bhagavata Vahini is not just a book, it is a tonic, a balm, a pilgrimage, a hallelujah, a clarion call and a beacon light.
It is designed by Baba to loosen our bondage from the trivial and to tame the wildness of our minds. Vyasa's son Suka had recited the Bhagavata for the benefit of King Parikshit who had been cursed to die at the end of seven days. The recitation occupied those seven days. Since the king had filled his mind with this narrative of the glory of the Lord, he died with the name of the Lord on his lips and the form of God before his eyes.
Each one of us is under such a sentence of death, only we do not know when death will confront us. The Bhagavata Vahini can save all those who choose to be free from the fear of death and prepare them for passing beyond the realm of life, cheerfully and hopefully.
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Rama Katha Rasa Vahini
(The Sweet Story of Rama’s Glory)
Ramakatha Rasa Vahini is a lucid narrative of Rama's life. Baba has announced that He is the same Rama, come again to carry out His mission through his horde of followers. Drawn by His Love, we have the same good fortune now to share in his task of remoulding man after His image.
The Ramayana (or the Rama Story) is an intensely human drama where God impersonates as man and gathers around Him, on the vast world-stage, the perfect and the imperfect, the human and the subhuman, the beast and the demon, to confer on us, by precept and example, the boon of Supreme Wisdom. It is a story that plays its tender fingers on the heartstrings of man, evoking lithe, limpid responses of pathos, pity, exultation, adoration, ecstasy and surrender, rendering us transformed from the animal and the human, into the Divine, which is our core.
Sai has declared that He is the same Rama come again, and that He is searching for His erstwhile associates and workers in order to allot them roles in His present Mission of resuscitating Righteousness and leading man into the Haven of Peace. While recounting the incidents in His life as Rama, Baba has included in His narrative, certain details of dialogues and diversions not contemplated by Valmiki or any other subsequent author. He mentions many additional events and encounters, which fill the lacuna that, have long disturbed admirers of the Ramayana.
He has now deigned to tell us Himself the story of this one epic Act in that Drama, wherein He took on the Rama role. As Rama, Sai instructed, inspired and invigorated, corrected, consoled and comforted His contemporaries in the Tretha Age. As Sai Rama, He is now engaged in the same task. While reading these pages, readers will often be pleasantly struck by the identity of the Rama of this story and the Sai Rama they are witnessing.
The controversy over whether Rama is to be reckoned as a historic prince or as God Incarnate has been set to rest by Baba. The ‘Ramakatha Rasavahini’ is the very nectar of the great epic, Ramayana.
The whole volume of Rama’s story is divided into two parts. The first part deals with the story of Sri Rama from His birth till His banishment into the forest and the installation of Rama’s sandals on the throne of Ayodhya. The second part begins with the stay of Rama in the forest till the installation of Lava and Kusha on the throne of Ayodhya, the end of Ramayana.
Baba speaks of Himself as the mother yearning to feed an unruly child who, in its ignorance, refuses to eat what will cure its hunger. The child has to be coddled and coaxed, wheeled and petted, even caught unawares sometimes by means of a story or a song, to induce it to accept the food it needs. Baba's immeasurable Love, persuades Him to pack a medicinal dose in a sweet smile, a panacea in a palatable parable or a profound thought in a syrupy joke. Let us dip into the books Baba has given Mankind in order to draw it to the feast that He has prepared for its hunger. His books are an invitation to His presence, fresh and fascinating as they are.
Baba writes in simple and elegant, colloquial Telugu or English prose. The message is always extempore, His ideas receiving expression as mellifluous poems and songs, showering exquisite delight. Poetry and melody shine through each sentence and behind each phrase and clause lays a form that is apparently human, but is suffused with Divine Wisdom.
All the immortal pieces flowed from Baba’s pen as articles for the Ashram magazine ‘Sanathana Sarathi’ (The Eternal Charioteer) during its early years. Prof. Kasturi, the first editor of Sanathana Sarathi, who used to collect material from Bhagawan every month for the magazine, narrates the following remarkable experience regarding Bhagawan’s Omniscience and the innate simplicity with which Bhagawan wrote the Vahinis.
Grandeur of the Omniscient Teacher
Prof. N.Kasturi, writes –
“Baba decided on a small book on the Upanishads, the Upanishad Vahini, in order to rivet the world to the efficacy of Vedanta. As editor of the magazine, which published serially the chapters of this book, I had an amazing experience, every month. After dispatching the magazine on the 16th of every month, I would go to him for the next part of the series. Announcing the name of the Upanishad Himself, He would ask me to wait for a while in His room and proceed along the verandah with a notebook and pen, towards the room where they stood a table with a chair by its side and nothing else besides.
Once, it was the turn of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, to be summarized and simplified. It is the biggest and the profoundest of the ten. I am certain that Baba had never read it or consulted others who could talk on it. And there was no copy available anywhere within miles. But forty minutes after he moved out with a pen and the notebook as His sole possessions, I could descend the eighteen steps from His room with a ten-page dissertation on the truths this Upanishad enshrined! I peeped into the script as I walked towards the Press and my eyes fell on the Telugu words, which said, ‘the grandeur of the intellect of Sage Yajnavalkya is impressively evident in this Upanishad’. I told myself, the grandeur of the Omniscient teacher that Baba is, is now impressively evident to me.”
The Vahinis
It was Prof. Kasturi who collated all the articles that Baba had written for the ‘Sanathana Sarathi’, the Ashram Periodical, and brought out in a book form as the “Vahini Series” as Baba used to title all His articles as Vahinis. Vahini meaning flow or stream.
There are 15 vahinis in all, written in Telugu by Baba and translated into English by Prof. Kasturi. The Vahinis like ‘Prema Vahini’ and ‘Dhyana Vahini’ are little gems, classics of the spiritual life from the moment that Baba wrote them. Their simplicity, which, at the same time, contains such a depth of meaning, is unique. They speak of Peace, Meditation, Love and Wisdom. They seek to acquaint the reader with the Upanishads and the Geeta. In a class by itself stands ‘Sandeha Nivarini’, the Doubt Dispeller. It raises various metaphysical problems and answers them.
Prema Vahini - The Stream of Divine Love
Dhyana Vahini - The Practice of Meditation
Dharma Vahini - The Path of Virtue and Morality
Jnana Vahini - The Stream of Eternal Wisdom
Geeta Vahini - The Divine Gospel
Prashanthi Vahini - The Supreme Bliss of the Divine
Sathya Sai Vahini - Spiritual Message of Sri Sathya Sai
Prasnothara Vahini - Answers to Spiritual Questions
Sandeha Nivarini - Clearance of Spiritual Doubts
Leela Kaivalya Vahini - The Cosmic Play of God
Sutra Vahini - Analytical Aphorism on Supreme Reality
Vidya Vahini - Flow of Spiritual Education
Upanishad Vahini - Essence of Vedic Knowledge
Bhagavatha Vahini - The story of the Glory of the Lord
Ramakatha Rasa Vahini, Part - I - The Sweet Story of Rama’s Glory
Ramakatha Rasa Vahini, Part - II - The Sweet Story of Rama’s Glory
For complete text of all the Vahinis online in pdf format, please click here
Prema Vahini
(The Stream of Divine Love)
Baba has said that if He were to be identified by one characteristic more than any other, He could most aptly be called ‘Prema Swaroopa’, the Embodiment of Love. The very first Vahini (stream) that flowed forth from his pen to fertilize the mind of man was the book, ‘Prema Vahini’. Narada, the great exponent of love as a spiritual discipline, defines the path of love as equivalent to supreme devotion. The love is described as Supreme, because it is full and free, with no conditions, no trace of bargaining, no taint of fear. Once such love is practiced and experienced all distinctions drop, duality ceases and only the truth remains.
Baba quotes the love of the simple milkmaids and cowherds of Brindavan towards Krishna as the best example of this parama prema (Supreme Love). Krishna Himself appreciated it thus: they long for Me so deeply, their thoughts, words and deeds are so imbued with Me, that they have no sense of time or space, no consciousness of their bodies and their needs. They are so absorbed in Me that they are like rivers that have merged in the ocean and lost their individual names and distinctions.
Baba says in Prema Vahini only through love can faith become steady; only through faith can knowledge be gained; only through knowledge can parabhakthi (complete devotion, self surrender) be ensured and only through parabhakthi can the Lord be realised.
To read ‘Prema Vahini’ online, Click here. (It’s a PDF file, You will need Acrobat Reader for this).
Dhyana Vahini
(The Practice of Meditation)
Today quacks with new-fangled ideas lay down rules for Dhyana (Meditation), says Baba. Each one has his own special prescription and claims that his system can confer more benefit than that of others. But none have themselves experienced its sweetness of sanctity. That is the real reason why Dhyana has drawn out upon itself the cynical laughter of many. My intention is to instruct such people and guide them on the right path.
Baba goes on to reveal in these words the origin of His book, ‘Dhyana Vahini’. Even the most potent drug will not cure when it is only extolled in elaborate phrases at the bedside of the patient. The drug must be taken in and allowed to walk its way into the blood stream. Your reading what I write on Dhyana will not make it easier. The mind is a mad pleasure seeker, running after mirages seen through the inefficient and therefore, deceptive senses of perception. The multifarious desires that infect the mind have to be quelled and the mind focused on Ananda (bliss) only. Of course, it will itself turn to God. When knowledge is accepted as the master, when the mind is denied the food that breeds depravity, when the senses are tamed by firmness and faith, Dhyana will surely lead you to that Goal.
Baba distinguishes between concentration, contemplation and meditation. Concentration is an unwavering determination in one's daily life, in the realm of the senses, the feelings and the intellect. Contemplation is achieved when the senses withdraw for some time and attachment to the objective world slackens, when you have completely broken away from all attachment, you enter a state of meditation, says Baba.
Baba gives the guidelines for meditation and mind control in Dhyana Vahini. He says that Dhyana is as life sustaining as dhanya (food). Baba explains the choice of place, posture, time-table and the curriculum, but lays greater stress on the compassion of the Lord who responds to the prayer embodied during Dhyana.
Since God assumes, for the sake of the sadhaka, the name and form that he meditates on, Baba assures us that Dhyana need never be a barter endeavour; the summit can be reached by perseverance, for He rises up to Himself the struggling and the exhausted.
Baba warns us against nine enemies that waylay the earnest sadhaka. Three of them are physical: adulterous urges, greed to possess things or gain exclusive love and the tendency to injure living beings; three are verbal: delight in causing panic by false alarm, speaking lies and spreading scandal; and three are mental: craving for what belongs to others, envy and cynicism.
Baba directs that the meditation on the form be accompanied by an unbroken absorption of the sweetness of the name by which that form is identified. When the form slips from attention, the name will soon bring it back; when the name drops from awareness, the form will restore it to the mind. Thus, the constant presence of God in the consciousness is ensured, says Baba.
To read ‘Dhyana Vahini’ online, Click here. (It’s a PDF file, You will need Acrobat Reader for this).
Dharma Vahini
(The Path of Virtue and Morality)
Baba says, Dharma (Right Conduct) is like the river Saraswati, flowing unseen beneath the deeper levels of human consciousness, feeding the roots of activity, filling the springs of thought, cleansing the slushy eddies of feeling. When the river runs dry or is clogged by greed and hate, the avatar comes to let in a torrent of grace and restore its fresh, free flow.
Baba in Dharma Vahini has installed dharma on an unshakable foundation as the unity of all life, indeed, of creation: Whoever conquers the ego and overcomes the natural tendency to regard the body and its furniture as his true self, is surely on the path of Dharma, for he would soon discover the truth behind all the scintillating multiplicity. He would realise that the objective world is like a gem-studded wheel, over Brahman, which is the one and only truth. Sarvam Khalvidam Brahman (All is verily Brahman, God).
When man is aware of this truth, there will be no other; all will be you. Since you love yourself most, your love will flow in full measure towards all and encompass the living and the non-living. Dharma has to be built on the deep understanding of the depths of Being. Build your life, says Baba, on the Atmic plinth, the faith that you are a wave upon the ocean of bliss, a spark of the cosmic intelligence.
Then He asks, When you worship an idol, what is it that you really do? First, a form of God is imprinted on your mind, after that, you meditate on His Power, Grace and Omnipresence and project these qualities upon the idol, thus enabling your consciousness to transcend it and become unaware of the lithic substance before you.
In the same manner, imprint on your consciousness that form of God which delights you most and fills you with illumination and project that form on every man, beast, bird and insect, on every tree and plant, on every rock and hill; this sadhana (spiritual practise) will make you true, good and beautiful. This is the fundamental norm: Atmic awareness - the unceasing remembrance of the One appearing to be many.
To read ‘Dharma Vahini’ online, Click here. (It’s a PDF file, You will need Acrobat Reader for this).
Jnana Vahini
(The Stream of Eternal Wisdom)
Whenever the gross and even the subtle are transcended, when the intelligence is clarified, when the self is free from feelings, impulses and instincts, what remains in the consciousness is the true self only. The person, then, is one with Eternal Truth, the One beyond everything. He becomes Brahman or Paramatman says Baba. This awareness is the acme of Ananda (or bliss).
In the Taittriya Upanishad it is declared that, from Ananda all this is born and through ananda all this lives, in Ananda all this is merged, and in Ananda all this rests. The greater the awareness of Paramatman (Supreme Divinity), the more the Ananda.
Baba summarises the Truth in one sentence. Awareness is Life and then goes on to reveal that all men are Divine like Myself: the only difference is that they are yet unaware of their divinity. They have come into this karmic prison through the karmas of many lives. I have taken to this mortal form out of My own free will. They are bound to the body, while I am free of this bondage.
To read ‘Jnana Vahini’ online, Click here. (It’s a PDF file, You will need Acrobat Reader for this).
Geeta Vahini
(The Divine Gospel)
Baba's Geetha Vahini is the holy Bhagavad Geeta retold in order to save modern man from the myopia of egoistic materialism. It is not a resume or a commentary or an abridgement. It is the voice of Krishna Himself, ringing over the clash of hate and greed and calling us into more worthwhile victories. He has declared that He has come to unify and clarify, fructify and fortify the holy aspirations of man. The doubts and delusions, which torment us while we are engaged in the battle with our outer and inner kith and kin, are treated here with love and sympathy by Sai Krishna, who also provides us with the answers.
We are encouraged in Geetha Vahini to offer Baba the prayer he puts into the heart of Arjuna (in the great epic Mahabharata) – ‘as You are guiding this chariot, guide me also and show me the way’ - for, He is in fact the charioteer installed in everybody. The Geetha, as expounded by Baba, is a textbook of Yoga and a guide for spiritual practise. It is a yoga shastra and Brahma vidya (Knowledge of the Self) rolled into one. Through smile and story, sneer and laughter, banter and reprimand, question and counter-question, Baba pours into us the nectar of wisdom in this beautiful volume.
At Kurukshetra (the battleground in Mahabharata), Krishna said that the mind and its vagaries could be tamed by Abhyasa (discipline) and Vairagya (detachment). In Geetha Vahini, Sai Krishna adds Vichara (discriminative reasoning). Baba also analyses the concept of Kshetra (place), Yagna (sacrifice), Yoga and Maya (illusion) and sheds light on many corners, which the lamps of ancient masters did not illumine. The ideal of Nishkama Karma, (selfless action), gets a glow of heroism when He interprets it as a conscious refusal of the fruits of activity, a courageous turning away from both triumph and failure.
There are many passages on ‘Geetha Vahini’ of self-revelation by Baba, where it becomes difficult to determine who is speaking to us so intimately Krishna or Sai? How can I ever forget Him who never forgets Me? is the question, Baba asks. Forgetting is a human frailty. Let me tell you, there is no need for Yoga, Tapas (penance) or even Jnana (wisdom). I only ask you to fix your mind on me, dedicate it to me. That is all I demand and all that you need to do, says Baba.
This is the promise of Grace, which all devotees can hope to receive. Grace revives us when we are in great pain and restlessness. It revives us when we totter through the great alleys of our meaningless and empty lives. It revives us when our disgust for our own being, our own indifference, our weakness, our hostility and our total lack of direction and composure has become intolerable.
It revives us when year after year, the longed-for perfection does not appear, when the stale compulsions reign within us as they have done for decades, and when despair destroys all joy and courage. Sometimes, at that moment, a wave of light breaks into our darkness, saying, You are accepted.
Geetha Vahini also condemns fanatic, blinkered gurus and pompous exponents of the Geetha whose oratory sounds hollow because they do not themselves practice what the Geetha preaches.
To read ‘Geeta Vahini’ online, Click here. (It’s a PDF file, You will need Acrobat Reader for this).
Prashanthi Vahini
(The Supreme Bliss of the Divine)
Baba's book Prasanthi Vahini, gives us the key to the treasure house of that peace which escapes understanding and defies logic, namely ‘Prasanthi’ (or supreme peace), which the Geeta calls the goal of human endeavour.
‘Santhi’ means peace unaffected by desire, greed, hatred or anger. It is not curtailed by adversity or multiplied by windfalls. Baba says that we must cultivate the three virtues of viveka (intelligence), vairagya (detachment) and vichakshana (discrimination) in order to equip ourselves with Prasanthi. He prescribes the Viveka Chudamani, composed by Adi Sankara, as the text, which can develop in us these three virtues.
Baba says, Like the children playing with dolls you, too, call some beings elephants and others horses, some friends and others enemies, and spend your entire life in such make-believe. Once you realise that without the spirit they are the same inert substance, the notion of many and the diversity of name and form, both disappear, and there can be no liking and disliking any more. You laugh and weep, love and hate, live in joy, sorrow, anger and fascination, but all these varied reactions do not make the objective world less unreal.
Vairagya (detachment) gets a new meaning in Prasanthi Vahini. ‘Raga’ means attachment and vairagya comes when you realise that the stone to which you were attached is really god. The stoneness is like a veil cast by your ignorance upon what is really of the same substance as you yourself. The vairagya that results from this illumination is lasting and most sublime, Baba explains.
To read ‘Prashanthi Vahini’ online, Click here. (It’s a PDF file, You will need Acrobat Reader for this).
Sathya Sai Vahini
(Spiritual Message of Sri Sathya Sai)
Bhagawan has announced Himself as the Divine Teacher of Truth, Beauty and Goodness. By precept and example, through His writings and discourses, letters and conversations, He has been instilling the supreme wisdom and instructing all mankind to translate it into righteous living, inner peace and
universal love.
When the ‘Ramakatha Rasavahini’, the uniquely authentic nectarine stream of the Rama story, was serialised in full in the ‘Sanathana Sarathi’ (the ashram monthly), Bhagawan blessed readers with a new series, which He named ‘Bharathiya Paramartha Vahini’ (The Stream of Indian Spiritual Values). While these precious essays on the basic truths, that foster and feed Indian culture since ages before history began, were being published, Bhagawan decided to continue the flow of illumination and instruction under a more comprehensive and meaningful name, ‘Sathya Sai Vahini’ —the holy stream from the Lotus Feet of the Lord—“The Flow of Divine Sai Grace.” This book, therefore, contains the two Vahinis that have merged in one master stream.
Inaugurating these series, Bhagawan wrote, for publication in the Sanathana Sarathi, “Moved by the urge
to cool the heat of conflict and to quench the agonising thirst for ‘knowledge about yourself’ that you are afflicted with, see, here it comes, the Sathya Sai Vahini, wave behind wave, with the Sanathana Sarathi as the medium between you and me.”
With infinite compassion, this Sathya Sai incarnation of the Omniwill is giving millions of persons in all lands freedom from disease, distress and despair, narcotics, narcissism and nihilism. He is encouraging those who suffer gloom through wilful blindness to light the Lamp of Love in order to see the world and the Lamp of Wisdom to see themselves. “This is a tantalising true-false world. Its apparent diversity is an illusion. It is One, but is cognised by the maimed multiple vision of humans as Many,” says Bhagawan. This book is the twin Lamp He has devised for us.
‘Sathya Sai Vahini’ reveals to us in unmistakable terms that the self in man is “no other than the Overself or God.” We are told that this is true not only of mankind but of all beings, everywhere and anywhere. In fact, “Will causes this unreal multiplicity of Cosmos on the One that He is. He can by the same Will end the phenomenon.” “Being (God) is behind the Becoming and Becoming merges in Being. This is the eternal Play,” says Bhagawan.
To sum up, the ‘Sathya Sai Vahini’ is the holy gospel given to us by the Person who, as The Eternal Charioteer, is eager and ready to hold the reins of our senses, mind, consciousness, ego and intellect, and guide us safely to Prasanthi Nilayam, the Abode of Supreme peace, the goal of all mankind.
To read ‘Sathya Sai Vahini’ online, Click here. (It’s a PDF file, You will need Acrobat Reader for this).
Prasnothara Vahini
(Answers to Spiritual questions)
Prasna means “question.” Uttara means “answer,” and Vahini indicates “a stream.” This book is the stream of the questions that have evoked answers from Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Among the tasks that Bhagawan has assumed while incarnating, He has declared as basic, the one which He calls, “the clarification and purification of the religious scriptures of mankind.” Every Vahini emanating from Him
has done this service to some aspect or other of the spiritual upliftment of man.
This Vahini is one of the earliest in the series, since it seeks to elucidate the fundamental concepts and precepts of religion, especially the technical words and expressions that seek to concretise them. For some years, this was published as an Appendix to a single Vahini, the Geetha Vahini, but later it was placed in the hands of seekers as a key publication, helpful for readers of all the Vahinis.
The Ancient Wisdom (Sanathana Dharma), the Perennial Path, has been communicated to posterity in words that have suffered distortion, devaluation, dilution and denigration through the efflux of time and the controversies among commentators. Varna (social system based on profession), Asrama (stages of life according to ancient religion), Yoga, Sanyasa (renunciation), Yajna (sacrifice), Karma (action), - these are interpreted by dialecticians and practitioners of varied schools and sects, in confusing and contradictory
versions.
Bhagawan has resolved these tangles. His exemplary love and patience sweeten not only every answer but every question too, for, He has, by posturing as the interrogator, made the clarifications full and fruitful.
To read ‘Prasnothara Vahini’ online, Click here. (It’s a PDF file, You will need Acrobat Reader for this).
Sandeha Nivarini
(Clearance of Spiritual Doubts)
A series of Baba's articles published to remove the weeds of doubt growing wild in the hearts was collectively entitled ‘Sandeha Nivarini’. Even in his teens and twenties, Baba took delight in prodding those who gathered at His feet to ask Him questions on spiritual matters. These became the cues for dissertations, short and long, with many an interspersed parable, poem or song, to lead the questioners from darkness to light.
In Sandeha Nivarini Baba says, I am happy when anyone asks Me about the things he has not understood. Of course, you have every right. Then he asks the pupil, but are you reflecting on the answers I give and practicing what has been told you, with the conviction born of faith? What am I here for? Is it not for explaining to you the things you do not know? Ask me without hesitation or fear. I am always ready to answer. Only, the enquiry must be earnest, emerging out of a genuine desire to know and to practice what is good.
It can be revealed now that the bhaktha (devotee) who visits Baba with questions- personal, philosophical and religious in every chapter of Sandeha Nivarini is a creation of the Divine pen. Baba reveals through this character, His infinite compassion towards the samsayatma, the person afflicted with doubts. He poses the problems and provides the answers.
He writes, Bhaktha! I converse with you about every point you place before Me, and allow many to take part in this conversation. The sun's light falls upon the mirror, the light from the mirror upon the walls of the bungalow and the light from the walls upon the eye. Similarly, this Sandeha Nivarini has been planned in order that the illumination of My teaching may fall upon you and thence on to the pages of the ‘Sanathana Sarathi’, so that the effulgence may illuminate the world and bring the light and harmony into the heart of mankind.
To read ‘Sandeha Nivarini’ online, Click here. (It’s a PDF file, You will need Acrobat Reader for this).
Leela Kaivalya Vahini
(The Cosmic Play of God)
The ‘Vedas’ (ancient Indian scriptures) originated from the breath of God; each syllable is sacred. Each word is a manthra. It exhorts all men to pursue the same holy desire. All hearts must be charged with the same good urge. All thoughts must be directed by noble motives towards holy ends. All men must tread the one path of truth for all are manifestations of the One.
The world is enchanting, because it is tantalising in appearance, though it is fundamentally untrue. It is a
phenomenon which is fading out. When this truth is realised, one becomes aware of the Cosmic Sport of God and the Eternal Universal Being.
‘Leela Kaivalya Vahini’ is a cool crystal clear stream that flows from the Divine pen of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba to dissolve all obstacles like doubts and dogmas, purposeless arguments and flimsy fancies of the sadhaka (spiritual aspirant).
These articles, originally published in the ‘Sanathana Sarathi’ (the Ashram periodical), were given a book form and placed at His Lotus Feet on the auspicious occasion of His 65th Birthday, which eventually fell on the 50th year of proclamation of Avatarhood.
To read ‘Leela Kaivalya Vahini’ online, Click here. (It’s a PDF file, You will need Acrobat Reader for this).
Sutra Vahini
(Analytical Aphorism on Supreme Reality)
An aphorism (sutra) expresses the genus of its meaning in a few terse words. The Brahma Sutras systematically explain the basic principles of Vedanta, the science of Supreme Reality. When contemplated, they reveal the innermost metaphysical secrets. Today, harmony is the need of the hour. The ephemeral world needs spiritual awareness, and this is what the Vedantins (propagators of Vedanta) visualise. Vedic scriptures offer comforting counsel. They throw a kindly light.
In the words of Bhagavan Baba, “Acquisition of the higher knowledge alone can fulfill the main purpose of
human life. Such knowledge makes one aware that one is not the inert insentient body, etc., but that one is consciousness itself manifesting as the embodiment of being – awareness - bliss (satchidananda). When this truth dawns and is experienced, one becomes a person liberated while alive (jivan-muktha)”. This is the state of realization of the innate nature of a people —the divinity of humanity.
In this Stream of Aphorisms (Sutra Vahini) on Brahman, Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba has lighted the universal lamp of the wisdom (vidya) of Atma/Brahman (Divine Self). This stream of aphorisms first appeared in serialized form in ‘Sanathana Sarathi’, the Ashram periodical. Bhagavan, in His infinite love, elaborated on the “Essence of Brahma Sutras in twelve selected aphorisms”.
Bhagavan's sublime and profound words and spiritual wisdom are indeed highly elevating and illuminating. Bathing in this pellucid Stream of Aphorisms, a person develops correct or true vision of Reality, bestowing supreme delight.
To read ‘Sutra Vahini’ online, Click here. (It’s a PDF file, You will need Acrobat Reader for this).
Vidya Vahini
(Flow of Spiritual Education)
Baba has clarified that the word ‘Vidya’ used for this Vahini (Stream of Thought), means (Ya) that which (Vid) “illumines.” It is this sense that is highlighted in expressions like Atma Vidya, Brahma Vidya, etc., or even the name Vidyagiri given to the college campus of Prasanthi Nilayam which comprises the Institute of Higher Learning.
Baba makes us aware of the comparatively less beneficial lower learning which deals with theories, inferences, concepts, conjectures and constructions. The Higher Learning hastens and expands the universal urge to know and become Truth, Goodness and Beauty, Sathyam Sivam Sundaram. Baba has come as Man among men on a self-imposed mission to correct the wrongs inflicted on mankind through the fanatically blind pursuit of lower learning. The human race has to voyage on an even keel; it is leaning too alarmingly towards the briny grave; the lower learning is lowering it into the bottomless pit. ‘Vidya’ alone is the remedy.
From His childhood days, Baba has stood forth as an educator, a Guru as the villagers loved to address Him. He warned, without hesitation, elders at Puttaparthi, teachers in the schools, and headmen of castes against cruelty to animals and exploitation of labour, usury and gambling, pedantry and illiteracy, hypocrisy and pomp. Through gulps and jests, parody and satire, songs and plays, the young teenager Teacher ridiculed and reformed the society which honoured or tolerated such evils. Through Bhajans sung in chorus by groups of men and women, He reminded them of the universal human values of Truth, Morality, Peace, Love and Non-violence as early as 1943, when he was barely seventeen. These were the basic acquisitions that ‘Vidya’, the Higher Learning, can confer on votaries.
As Lord Krishna, He said to Arjuna, “Adhyaatma Vidya, Vidyaanaam” meaning, “Among all the types of knowledge, I am Atma Vidya - the search for Atmic Truth.” The world can be saved from suicide only through this knowledge. The search for Truth and Totality, for Unity and Purity is the means; the Awareness of the One is the consummation of the process.
This Message is the sum and substance of every Discourse of His, from the time He first spoke in the early 1950s. This precious book provides us the chance to peruse nineteen essays He wrote in answer to appeals for the elucidation of the principles which must guide us while rehabilitating Education as an effective instrument for establishing peace and freedom in us and on Earth.
To read ‘Vidya Vahini’ online, Click here. (It’s a PDF file, You will need Acrobat Reader for this).
Upanishad Vahini
(Essence of Vedic Knowledge)
Upanishad Vahini is a synoptic review of the ten principal Upanishads with a prologue and an epilogue on the rare text called the ‘Brahmanubhava Upanishad’. These Upanishads are esoteric and highly cryptic, but they elucidate the highest truths discernable to the intellect of Man.
Vedic literature is classified as ritualistic, consecrational and metaphysical (karma, upasana, jnana), and the Upanishads are grouped under the third category. But Baba says that each principal Upanishad deals with all the three and is, therefore, instructive for all types of spiritual aspirants. Besides special rites described in most of them, the adoration of preceptors or deities is also recommended.
Baba says, The Upanishads enshrine the whisperings of God to Man. About the ten on which Adi Sankara and other scholar saints have written detailed expositions, Baba says, Humanity stands to gain or fall by these ten. They are the synthesis of human thought, experience and aspiration at the highest. They confirm the possibility of human perfectibility, they declare and demonstrate that man can secure the awareness of God as his reality, if only he casts off the veil of ignorance that he now delights to wear.
To read ‘Upanishad Vahini’ online, Click here. (It’s a PDF file, You will need Acrobat Reader for this).
Bhagavatha Vahini
(The Story of the Glory of the Lord)
The Geetha is a central gem in the crest jewel of the great Indian epic, the Mahabharata. Sage Vyasa wove this intricate tapestry of sublime heroism physical, mental, moral and spiritual. He had also codified the Vedic hymns and rituals. He prepared a magnificent garland of aphorisms summarizing the basic philosophic truths. In spite of His encyclopedic scholarship and great creative skill in the realm of thought, Vyasa was afflicted by a deep inner sadness. He had no sweetness or peace left in him.
Narada, the sage who propagated the validity of devotion as a means of achieving bliss, had advised Vyasa to describe the glories of God, who had incarnated as Krishna. The exposition that did emerge from this advice is called the ‘Bhagavata Purana’. Baba has given it to us again in a sweeter and a more concise form as ‘Bhagavata Vahini’.
Baba's Bhagavata Vahini flows clear and cool, straight from the page to the heart. The book splendidly narrates the leelas (divine sport) of Krishna and of the dedicatory acts of those who received His Grace. It also includes the regions mapped by Vyasa under the compulsions of scholastic norms. As a result, Bhagavata Vahini is not just a book, it is a tonic, a balm, a pilgrimage, a hallelujah, a clarion call and a beacon light.
It is designed by Baba to loosen our bondage from the trivial and to tame the wildness of our minds. Vyasa's son Suka had recited the Bhagavata for the benefit of King Parikshit who had been cursed to die at the end of seven days. The recitation occupied those seven days. Since the king had filled his mind with this narrative of the glory of the Lord, he died with the name of the Lord on his lips and the form of God before his eyes.
Each one of us is under such a sentence of death, only we do not know when death will confront us. The Bhagavata Vahini can save all those who choose to be free from the fear of death and prepare them for passing beyond the realm of life, cheerfully and hopefully.
To read ‘Bhagavatha Vahini’ online, Click here. (It’s a PDF file, You will need Acrobat Reader for this).
Rama Katha Rasa Vahini
(The Sweet Story of Rama’s Glory)
Ramakatha Rasa Vahini is a lucid narrative of Rama's life. Baba has announced that He is the same Rama, come again to carry out His mission through his horde of followers. Drawn by His Love, we have the same good fortune now to share in his task of remoulding man after His image.
The Ramayana (or the Rama Story) is an intensely human drama where God impersonates as man and gathers around Him, on the vast world-stage, the perfect and the imperfect, the human and the subhuman, the beast and the demon, to confer on us, by precept and example, the boon of Supreme Wisdom. It is a story that plays its tender fingers on the heartstrings of man, evoking lithe, limpid responses of pathos, pity, exultation, adoration, ecstasy and surrender, rendering us transformed from the animal and the human, into the Divine, which is our core.
Sai has declared that He is the same Rama come again, and that He is searching for His erstwhile associates and workers in order to allot them roles in His present Mission of resuscitating Righteousness and leading man into the Haven of Peace. While recounting the incidents in His life as Rama, Baba has included in His narrative, certain details of dialogues and diversions not contemplated by Valmiki or any other subsequent author. He mentions many additional events and encounters, which fill the lacuna that, have long disturbed admirers of the Ramayana.
He has now deigned to tell us Himself the story of this one epic Act in that Drama, wherein He took on the Rama role. As Rama, Sai instructed, inspired and invigorated, corrected, consoled and comforted His contemporaries in the Tretha Age. As Sai Rama, He is now engaged in the same task. While reading these pages, readers will often be pleasantly struck by the identity of the Rama of this story and the Sai Rama they are witnessing.
The controversy over whether Rama is to be reckoned as a historic prince or as God Incarnate has been set to rest by Baba. The ‘Ramakatha Rasavahini’ is the very nectar of the great epic, Ramayana.
The whole volume of Rama’s story is divided into two parts. The first part deals with the story of Sri Rama from His birth till His banishment into the forest and the installation of Rama’s sandals on the throne of Ayodhya. The second part begins with the stay of Rama in the forest till the installation of Lava and Kusha on the throne of Ayodhya, the end of Ramayana.
BHAGAVAN SRI SATHYA SAI BABA-HISTORY
The Ratnakaram Raju Family
The Raju family of Puttaparthi was noted for its piety since the days of the renowned sage, Venkavadhootha, a saintly ancestor who was looked upon as a Guru in hundreds of villages around. Not only did the family build and endow the Gopalaswami Temple (dedicated to Lord Krishna), but Sri Ratnakaram Kondama Raju, the grandfather of Bhagawan's physical frame, dedicated a temple to Sathyabhama, consort of Lord Krishna, a deity to whom this type of homage is seldom offered in any part of India. Peasants by vocation, they were known for their musical and dramatic talent and were much involved in the propagation of the sacred scriptures through village plays and musicals. Consequently, the family was given the name ‘Bhat Raju’ (Bhat – priest).
Sri Kondama Raju was a pious soul who lived out his hundred and ten years of earthly existence in the unceasing contemplation of the Lord. His wife Srilakshmamma predeceased him by twenty years. They had two sons who were both named after Sage Venkavadhootha - Pedda Venkama Raju and Chinna Venkama Raju. Pedda Venkama Raju, the elder son, was married to Easwaramma, daughter of Sri Meesaraganda Subba Raju of Kolimigundla of Kurnool district. Pedda Venkama Raju and Easwaramma were blessed with a son and two daughters in that order, Seshama Raju, Venkamma, and Parvathamma.
Some years passed and Easwaramma longed for another son. She prayed to the village gods, performed Sathyanarayana Puja and observed a number of rigorous vows. One day, an extraordinary incident occurred that heralded the descent of the divine into her womb. Easwaramma had gone to the village well to draw water. There, she noticed a strange bluish glow that transformed itself into a luminous orb. The ball of light then glided towards her and entered her being. Shortly thereafter, to the joy of her family, Easwaramma found herself in the family way.
Divine Portents
After a while, mysterious indications of the impending incarnation occurred in Pedda Venkama's house. For example, there was the twang of the tambura! Since the brothers and the father were all interested in the village operas, there was a big tambura (a string instrument) and a maddala (drum). As the birth of the son for whom Mother Easwaramma prayed, announced itself as imminent, the house was awakened at midnight, and sometimes even later, by the tambura twanging automatically, and the maddala beating rhythmically as if an expert Hand was playing on it! One Shastri (Vedic scholar), whom Pedda Venkama Raju approached for an explanation, said that it was an auspicious occurrence: it meant the presence of a Shakthi, a beneficent Power, conferring harmony, spiritual elevation and joy.
The Advent
23rd of November, 1926, the Hindu year of Akshaya, meaning, the Never-declining, the Ever-full. It was the time of sunrise and the villagers were chanting the names of Lord Shiva, remembering that the day was still Karthika Somavara, a Monday of the Holy Month of Karthika, devoted to the puja (worship) of Shiva. That day was made even more auspicious for Shiva worship, because the ascendant star was Ardra (the star of Shiva). On this day, when these rare and propitious signs came together, the people thronged the temples of the Lord to offer special pujas and pray for His benediction.
The Mother had also just finished her Sathyanarayana Puja in accordance with her vows, for, even while she was going through the final rituals, the pangs forewarned her. When Easwaramma announced the pangs, word was sent to the mother-in-law, Lakshmamma, the pious lady of the house; but, it became known that she had gone to the house of the priest to perform the Puja of Sathya Narayana; the messenger discovered her there and urged her to return; but she was so confident of the Grace of Lord Sathyanarayana, so steadfast in her devotion, so disciplined in her religious adherence, that she refused to be hustled!
She sent word that she would bring with her the sacred offerings after the Puja and that on no account would she allow her prayers to be interrupted! She finished the entire ritual with full concentration, came home and gave her daughter-in-law the flowers and the sacred water. Easwaramma partook of the blessings of the Lord. Next moment, the Lord was born and the Sun rose above the horizon!
The Divine Child
A very significant event occurred soon after the birth of the child, which revealed the divinity of the baby. One day, it was noticed that the bed of clothes on which the baby was lying was being moved up and down in a peculiar way by something underneath. They watched with bated breath and when they looked under the bed they found a cobra underneath! The snake was playing the role of Sesha to the Seshasai! [Sesha, according to Hindu belief, is the serpent on whose bed of coil Lord Vishnu rests.]
The baby was named Sathyanarayana because there seemed to be a significant relationship between the worship to that God and the realisation of the mother's cherished desire. When the Namakaranam (Naming Ceremony) was performed and the name was whispered in the ear; it seems the baby smiled, for the suggestion to give that name must have emanated unobtrusively from Itself! The embodiment and exponent of Truth could not give Himself a more appropriate name.
The little “Brahmajnani”
Little Sathya soon became the pet of the entire village of Puttaparthi and the farmers and cowherds vied with each other in fondling it and feeding it and playing with its lovely silken curls. Its charming smile attracted every one. Like a lighted lamp, Sathya moved about the house and laughter tinkled in the street when He lisped His sweet vocabulary of sounds.
The villagers soon started referring to Him as “Brahmajnani”, the knower and proponent of Brahman or Godhood. Even at a young age, Sathya was known for His extraordinary love and compassion towards creation and aversion towards harming any creature. His heart melted at human suffering. Whenever a beggar appeared at the door and raised his cry, Sathya abandoned His play and rushed in, to force His sisters to dole out grain or food. The elders in the house tried to dissuade Him saying, "Look here! You may give him food; but, mind you, you will have to starve." That did not daunt the child; He used to run inside and bring food to the hungry man at the door; and stay away from dinner or lunch, himself. Nothing and nobody could persuade Him to come to His plate, which was left untouched!
While others in the family relished non-vegetarian food, little Sathya would advise them to desist from such cruel habits. Whenever such food was cooked in the household, the boy used to run to the Karnam's (village chief) house, and partake of the food offered by Subbamma, the aged lady residing there, for they were Brahmins and vegetarians.
So distinct was His behaviour that a wag once nicknamed Him "the Brahmin child"! Yes, it was a fitting description. Little did that wag know that, while in the previous body, this child, so laughed at now, had declared at Shirdi, "This Brahmin can bring lakhs of men on the White path and take them to their destination!"
The early school days
At the age of eight, Sathya was declared fit to proceed to the Higher Elementary School at Bukkapatnam, about two and a half miles from Puttaparthi. He had to start early, after a meal of cold rice and curds or cooked ragi (maize), rice and chutney, carry the afternoon meal in a bag, and with His companions make the arduous trek daily to Bukkapatnam.
Sathyanarayana was a precocious child, learning more things than anyone could teach Him and much quicker than most; He could sing all the songs and Stotras (prayers) that were recited at the village operas. He even composed at the tender age of seven or eight, some touching songs for the cast, which were gladly accepted by them for public presentation!
The Pandhari Bhajan group
When He was about ten years of age, Sathya formed a 'Pandhari Bhajan' group in the village of Puttaparthi. The group consisted of about sixteen to eighteen boys dressed uniformly in ochre clothes, holding each a flag in the hand and wearing jingling anklets. They all danced to the tune of folk-songs and ballads, describing the yearning of pilgrims for Lord Panduranga's Darshan. He also added some Bhagavatha songs of His own. It was noticed that He added to these traditional themes, songs on a pilgrimage to a new shrine of which no one had heard, and the majesty of a new Deity of whom they had not even the faintest idea, Shirdi and Sai!
Moreover, it was observed that when an infection of cholera swept like a poisonous miasma over the area and wiped out entire families in the surrounding villages, Puttaparthi did not feel the blast of death. Wise men told one another that the Divine Atmosphere generated by the Bhajan group was responsible for saving their lives.
At Kamalapuram
Sathya had to move to Kamalapuram, a small town about 200 kilometres from Puttaparthi, with His brother Seshama Raju. His parents planned to give Sathya a college education, so that He may become an officer! And hence, they were prepared to part with their beloved son and send Him to Kamalapuram to the Board Middle School there, so that His studies could be continued.
Sathya was a quiet, well-behaved boy and the favourite of His teachers. Once, He sang the prayer song before the curtains went up on a drama in the town and those who heard His sweet voice spread the news that a 'fine musician' had come to town. Prayer songs at functions like public meetings became His monopoly thereafter.
A merchant by name Kote Subbanna who sold medicines, tonics, glassware, umbrellas, etc. came to know of Sathya’s talents and approached Him for a ditty to market his new product. He gave Him the necessary information and by evening, Sathya was ready with an attractive Telugu song, which was sung in chorus by His friends and Him. They used to march along the streets, with placards in their hands, singing Sathya’s slogan-filled jingle and evidently enjoying their task!
A word may be said about Sathya and His involvement in the theatrical activities at school. Sri Thammi Raju, the teacher in-charge, once asked Sathya, who was only twelve years old then, to produce a play in Telugu. Sathya plunged into the work very enthusiastically. The drama was a great success, not only because the hero of the play was a little boy, a role enacted by Sathya himself, but, chiefly because it had as its theme the eternal sin of man – hypocrisy. The title of the play was "Cheppinattu Chesthara?" meaning "Do we practise what we preach?"
Meanwhile, Seshama Raju was transferred to Uravakonda. He decided to take Sathya along with him with the intention of admitting Him at the Sri Karibasavaswami District Board High School there. Accordingly, Sathya accompanied His elder brother to continue His studies at Uravakonda. The town of Uravakonda would be witness to the grand and mysterious events that would mark the momentous transformation of the young child into a great spiritual master who would change the very destiny of mankind.
Mysterious Turn of events at Uravakonda
Sathya was sought after by people who had lost articles of value, for He had brought with Him to Uravakonda the reputation for intuitive perception, which revealed to Him the place where anything was! Baba says that in those days, He used to give His friends only the first and last letters of the names of the persons with whom the lost articles could be found. He left them with their own resources to recover the goods.
On March 8, 1940, the whole town was shocked to hear that a big black scorpion had stung Sathya in the twilight hours of the evening. However, Sathya slept that night without any sign of pain! Every one felt relieved, only to become anxious once again when the next evening, Sathya fell unconscious and became stiff; He would not speak and breathing appeared faint. Seshama Raju brought in a doctor, who gave an injection and left behind a mixture. Sathya was apparently unconscious throughout the night. The doctor came again in the morning and declared that the boy was out of danger!
An incident happened in the night which showed that Sathya was not 'unconscious' but, that He was actually supraconscious! Some one suggested that the local deity be propitiated, because the condition of the boy may be due to some evil spirit that possessed Him. So, volunteers hurried to the temple and offered worship, placed flowers and incense, and broke a coconut at the altar. At that very moment, Sathya, who was to all intents 'unconscious', said, "The coconut has broken into three pieces," and when the volunteers came home with the offerings, they had with them three pieces and not the usual two!
Sathya got up in a day or two and began to behave in an extraordinary way. Baba has said that He Himself initiated the process of manifestation, for He could not wait any longer, playing about as a mere boy, with 'brother' and 'sister' and 'classmates' and other secular bonds. He wanted to demonstrate that He was beyond both ‘Visha’ and ‘Vishaya', that neither the poison of the scorpion nor worldly attractions could ever affect Him.
Meanwhile, Sri Seshama Raju had informed his parents at Puttaparthi about the state of affairs at Uravakonda. He had written that Sathya was not answering anyone who spoke to Him, that it was a herculean task to make Him accept food, that He was spending the time mostly in silence but, sometimes bursting into song and poetry or reciting long Sanskrit slokas (hymns) and at times, expounding the highest Vedantic philosophy. The parents took about a week to reach the place, because of unforeseen and inexplicable difficulties.
Seshama Raju got nervous as to why the parents had not arrived. He decided to send someone to Puttaparthi to find out the reason for the delay. But, Sathya interposed and said, "You need not send for them now, they will be here in half an hour," and true to His words, they came in exactly thirty minutes later.
Divine Fortitude
The parents were beside themselves with worry at the condition of Sathya; He sang and spoke and behaved in such a queer manner. It was all so mysterious. At that time, someone gave information to the worried parents that there was an expert exorcist before whom no evil spirit dare wag its poison tail! He will cure Sathya perfectly and make Him fit to go to school, they assured.
The exorcist was a gigantic figure, terrible to behold, with blood-red eyes and untamed manners. He tried all his craft which he dared not experiment even with strong adult patients! For example, he shaved the head of the boy and, with a sharp instrument scored three ‘X’ marks on the scalp, from the top towards the forehead. Sathya sat through the pain without wilting. With the scalp injured and bleeding with those markings, the witch doctor poured on the open wound the juice of lime, garlic, and other acidic fruits.
The parents who were watching the proceedings in utter despair were surprised, for there was not even a tear, or a gasp of pain from the boy! But the exorcist was unrelenting and put the boy through even more terrifying trials until the parents could bear to see it no more. They wanted to save the boy from the jaws of that Yama (God of Death) in human form; they had seen and suffered enough. They paid him full fees and also gave some unasked gifts, and thanked him for all the 'learning' he had utilised.
When asked later as to why He chose to go through this diabolical adventure, Bhagawan remarked, "Even after seeing all that fortitude and the miracle of a little boy passing unscathed through all that terror, even now, you are not convinced that I am Baba; how then would you have reacted if I just made the announcement one fine day? I wanted to make known that I am Divine Stuff, impervious to human suffering, pain or joy."
Meanwhile, Sri Krishnamachari, a lawyer-friend from Penukonda, heard of these occurrences in the Raju household and came to the village to study the situation and offer what help he could. He had a good look and told Venkama Raju, “It is really more serious than I thought; take Him immediately to the Narasimha Temple (Lord Narasimha – the Man-lion incarnation of Lord Vishnu) at Ghatikachalam; that is the last chance". On hearing these words, Sathya said, "Funny, is it not? I am already there at Ghatikachalam and you want to take Me to Myself!" The lawyer had no further inclination to cross-examine.
I am Sai Baba
On 23rd May 1940, Sathya rose from bed as usual, but after some time, He called the members of the household around Him, gave them sugar candy and flowers taken from nowhere. At this, the neighbours too rushed in. He gave them each a ball of rice cooked in milk, flowers and sugar candy concretised by a mere wave of the hand. Meanwhile, Sri Venkama Raju came and he was incensed by what he thought was a trick, hiding things somewhere and producing them by sleight of hand. He wanted the chapter to be closed before it lengthened into a tragedy.
So, arming himself with a stick, he accosted Sathya and asked, "Are you a God, a ghost or a madcap? Tell me!" Prompt came the answer, the Announcement, that had been held back so long, “I am Sai Baba."
At this, Venkama Raju was stunned into silence; the stick slid from his hands. He stood staring at Sathya trying to grasp the implications of that announcement - “I am Sai Baba." But, Sathya continued, “I belong to Apasthamba Sutra; I am of the Bharadwaja Gothra; I am Sai Baba; I have come to ward off all your troubles; keep your houses clean and pure."
The elder brother, Seshama Raju went near Him, and asked, "What do you mean by 'Sai Baba'?" He did not reply, but only said this much - "Your Venkavadhootha prayed that I be born in your family. So, I came." The father felt that Sai Baba was a Muslim spirit speaking through the boy and so, he asked, "What are we to do with you?” Prompt came the answer; "Worship Me!" "When?" "Every Thursday! Keep your minds and houses pure."
One Thursday, someone challenged Sathyanarayana and asked Him, “If you are Sai Baba show us some proof, now!" Baba replied, “Yes, I shall" and asked for some jasmine flowers. With a quick gesture, He threw them on the floor and said "Look." They saw that the flowers had formed, while falling, the Telugu letters, ‘Sai Baba’!
Divine Omnipresence
On an invitation from some townsmen in Hospet, Seshama Raju decided to take Sathya on a picnic to see if it might improve the mental health of the boy. Hospet is a few miles away from the ruins of Hampi, the capital city of the Emperors of ancient Vijayanagara Kingdom in what is now the state of Karnataka.
There, they visited the temple of Lord Virupaksha, the patron deity of the Vijayanagara royal family. While the others in the party went into the temple to offer worship at the sanctum sanctorum, Sathya stood outside admiring the height and majesty of the Gopuram (tall pyramid-shaped roof of a temple). When the priest waved the flame of camphor before the Lingam (ellipsoid structure worshipped as Lord Shiva), they saw to their utter amazement, Sathya there inside the shrine! He was standing in place of the Lingam, smiling and accepting their salutations.
Thinking that Sathya may have slipped into the shrine evading everybody's notice, Seshama Raju went outside to verify whether He was still there. Yes, indeed Sathya was there, leaning on a wall and staring at the horizon! He rushed inside the sanctum sanctorum and, yet again, he found Sathya standing there and blessing everybody.
This incident confirmed their faith in Sathya as a Divine Manifestation. They offered special Puja (worship) to Him that day. Hospet was on its toes with expectation and excitement. The story that He was seen as Virupaksha had spread to that town long before they reached it. The next day He cured a chronic tuberculosis patient by His touch and made him get up and walk a mile; He materialized a variety of articles for the devotees and the enthusiasm of the people knew no bounds. Bhajan and Namasankirtan (singing the name of God) continued far into the night.
The Mission Begins
On the 20th day of October, 1940, the day after they all returned from Hampi, Sathyanarayana started for school as usual. However, within a few minutes, He returned to the house. Standing on the outer doorstep, He cast aside the books He was carrying and called out, “I am no longer your Sathya. I am Sai". The sister-in-law came from the kitchen, only to be blinded by the splendour of the halo around Baba's head! He addressed her, “I am going; I don't belong to you; Maya (delusion) has gone; My Bhaktas (devotees) are calling Me; I have My Work; I can't stay here any longer."
When the brother hurried home on hearing all this, Baba only told him, "Give up all your efforts to 'cure' Me. I am Sai; I do not consider Myself related to you".
In spite of repeated pleas, Sathya would not step into that building again. He moved in into the garden of the Excise Inspector Sri Anjaneyulu's bungalow, and sat on a rock in the midst of the trees. People came into the garden from all directions bringing flowers, fruits, incense and camphor to worship Him. The garden resonated with the voices of hundreds singing bhajans (devotional singing) and following the lines of the first prayer that Sri Sathya Sai taught them.
“Manasa Bhajare Gurucharanam Dusthara Bhava Sagara Tharanam “
(O Mind! Meditate on the Feet of the Guru, which will take you across the wearisome sea of Samsara or worldly existence.)
A photographer came with a camera to capture a beautiful picture of the young Swami. He wanted to remove a crude stone that was right in front of Him, but Baba did not heed to the prayer. He clicked nevertheless and lo! When the photo was developed, the stone had become an image of Shirdi Sai Baba!
A few days later, Baba left Uravakonda for Puttaparthi. There, He shifted to the house of Karnam (the village headman) whose aged and devout wife Subbamma attended on Him with love and affection and welcomed all devotees into her spacious house; she spared no effort to make their stay happy and comfortable. Baba often speaks about her dedicated service, working incessantly from dawn to dusk, cooking and making other arrangements for the hordes of devotees who began to land in Puttaparthi every day. As the number of devotees swelled, a mandir (temple) was constructed in February 1947, where He began to reside and grant darshan. On 23rd November 1950, Prasanthi Nilayam (The Abode of Supreme Peace) was inaugurated, which remains till today the central venue for Bhagawan’s darshan and the festival celebrations that take place in His Divine Presence.
Sri Sathya Sai Avatar
This was the story of the Advent of the Avatar and the early years of His life and mission, a mission that would bring millions to His Lotus Feet to taste the bliss of Divine Love and thus transform their lives. In a letter He wrote to His brother Sri Seshama Raju way back in 1947, Bhagawan emphatically declared the grand purpose for which He has come.
He said:
I have a Task: To foster all mankind and ensure for all of them lives full of Ananda (Bliss).
I have a Vow: To lead all who stray away from the straight path, again into goodness and save them.
I am attached to a Work that I love: To remove the sufferings of the poor and grant them what they lack.
I have a reason to be proud, for I rescue all who worship and adore Me.
The decades that have rolled by since that epochal letter was written have been witness to the grand manner in which His vision has taken shape. The world class super-speciality hospitals that offer tertiary level medical care free of charge, schools and colleges that impart values-based education, the mammoth drinking water supply projects and the numerous other service projects undertaken by Him stand as a testimony to His selfless Love and His compassion for humanity. However, even more significant than these activities have been His tireless efforts towards spreading the message of spirituality and inculcating love and brotherhood throughout the world. Through the Sri Sathya Sai Centers and the Education in Human Values (EHV) programmes, thousands all over the world have sanctified their lives by putting into practice His precepts, and by participating in service programmes such as Narayana Seva (feeding of the poor) and free medical camps. Truly, the Sathya Sai Avatar has heralded a Golden era in the history of mankind.
The Raju family of Puttaparthi was noted for its piety since the days of the renowned sage, Venkavadhootha, a saintly ancestor who was looked upon as a Guru in hundreds of villages around. Not only did the family build and endow the Gopalaswami Temple (dedicated to Lord Krishna), but Sri Ratnakaram Kondama Raju, the grandfather of Bhagawan's physical frame, dedicated a temple to Sathyabhama, consort of Lord Krishna, a deity to whom this type of homage is seldom offered in any part of India. Peasants by vocation, they were known for their musical and dramatic talent and were much involved in the propagation of the sacred scriptures through village plays and musicals. Consequently, the family was given the name ‘Bhat Raju’ (Bhat – priest).
Sri Kondama Raju was a pious soul who lived out his hundred and ten years of earthly existence in the unceasing contemplation of the Lord. His wife Srilakshmamma predeceased him by twenty years. They had two sons who were both named after Sage Venkavadhootha - Pedda Venkama Raju and Chinna Venkama Raju. Pedda Venkama Raju, the elder son, was married to Easwaramma, daughter of Sri Meesaraganda Subba Raju of Kolimigundla of Kurnool district. Pedda Venkama Raju and Easwaramma were blessed with a son and two daughters in that order, Seshama Raju, Venkamma, and Parvathamma.
Some years passed and Easwaramma longed for another son. She prayed to the village gods, performed Sathyanarayana Puja and observed a number of rigorous vows. One day, an extraordinary incident occurred that heralded the descent of the divine into her womb. Easwaramma had gone to the village well to draw water. There, she noticed a strange bluish glow that transformed itself into a luminous orb. The ball of light then glided towards her and entered her being. Shortly thereafter, to the joy of her family, Easwaramma found herself in the family way.
Divine Portents
After a while, mysterious indications of the impending incarnation occurred in Pedda Venkama's house. For example, there was the twang of the tambura! Since the brothers and the father were all interested in the village operas, there was a big tambura (a string instrument) and a maddala (drum). As the birth of the son for whom Mother Easwaramma prayed, announced itself as imminent, the house was awakened at midnight, and sometimes even later, by the tambura twanging automatically, and the maddala beating rhythmically as if an expert Hand was playing on it! One Shastri (Vedic scholar), whom Pedda Venkama Raju approached for an explanation, said that it was an auspicious occurrence: it meant the presence of a Shakthi, a beneficent Power, conferring harmony, spiritual elevation and joy.
The Advent
23rd of November, 1926, the Hindu year of Akshaya, meaning, the Never-declining, the Ever-full. It was the time of sunrise and the villagers were chanting the names of Lord Shiva, remembering that the day was still Karthika Somavara, a Monday of the Holy Month of Karthika, devoted to the puja (worship) of Shiva. That day was made even more auspicious for Shiva worship, because the ascendant star was Ardra (the star of Shiva). On this day, when these rare and propitious signs came together, the people thronged the temples of the Lord to offer special pujas and pray for His benediction.
The Mother had also just finished her Sathyanarayana Puja in accordance with her vows, for, even while she was going through the final rituals, the pangs forewarned her. When Easwaramma announced the pangs, word was sent to the mother-in-law, Lakshmamma, the pious lady of the house; but, it became known that she had gone to the house of the priest to perform the Puja of Sathya Narayana; the messenger discovered her there and urged her to return; but she was so confident of the Grace of Lord Sathyanarayana, so steadfast in her devotion, so disciplined in her religious adherence, that she refused to be hustled!
She sent word that she would bring with her the sacred offerings after the Puja and that on no account would she allow her prayers to be interrupted! She finished the entire ritual with full concentration, came home and gave her daughter-in-law the flowers and the sacred water. Easwaramma partook of the blessings of the Lord. Next moment, the Lord was born and the Sun rose above the horizon!
The Divine Child
A very significant event occurred soon after the birth of the child, which revealed the divinity of the baby. One day, it was noticed that the bed of clothes on which the baby was lying was being moved up and down in a peculiar way by something underneath. They watched with bated breath and when they looked under the bed they found a cobra underneath! The snake was playing the role of Sesha to the Seshasai! [Sesha, according to Hindu belief, is the serpent on whose bed of coil Lord Vishnu rests.]
The baby was named Sathyanarayana because there seemed to be a significant relationship between the worship to that God and the realisation of the mother's cherished desire. When the Namakaranam (Naming Ceremony) was performed and the name was whispered in the ear; it seems the baby smiled, for the suggestion to give that name must have emanated unobtrusively from Itself! The embodiment and exponent of Truth could not give Himself a more appropriate name.
The little “Brahmajnani”
Little Sathya soon became the pet of the entire village of Puttaparthi and the farmers and cowherds vied with each other in fondling it and feeding it and playing with its lovely silken curls. Its charming smile attracted every one. Like a lighted lamp, Sathya moved about the house and laughter tinkled in the street when He lisped His sweet vocabulary of sounds.
The villagers soon started referring to Him as “Brahmajnani”, the knower and proponent of Brahman or Godhood. Even at a young age, Sathya was known for His extraordinary love and compassion towards creation and aversion towards harming any creature. His heart melted at human suffering. Whenever a beggar appeared at the door and raised his cry, Sathya abandoned His play and rushed in, to force His sisters to dole out grain or food. The elders in the house tried to dissuade Him saying, "Look here! You may give him food; but, mind you, you will have to starve." That did not daunt the child; He used to run inside and bring food to the hungry man at the door; and stay away from dinner or lunch, himself. Nothing and nobody could persuade Him to come to His plate, which was left untouched!
While others in the family relished non-vegetarian food, little Sathya would advise them to desist from such cruel habits. Whenever such food was cooked in the household, the boy used to run to the Karnam's (village chief) house, and partake of the food offered by Subbamma, the aged lady residing there, for they were Brahmins and vegetarians.
So distinct was His behaviour that a wag once nicknamed Him "the Brahmin child"! Yes, it was a fitting description. Little did that wag know that, while in the previous body, this child, so laughed at now, had declared at Shirdi, "This Brahmin can bring lakhs of men on the White path and take them to their destination!"
The early school days
At the age of eight, Sathya was declared fit to proceed to the Higher Elementary School at Bukkapatnam, about two and a half miles from Puttaparthi. He had to start early, after a meal of cold rice and curds or cooked ragi (maize), rice and chutney, carry the afternoon meal in a bag, and with His companions make the arduous trek daily to Bukkapatnam.
Sathyanarayana was a precocious child, learning more things than anyone could teach Him and much quicker than most; He could sing all the songs and Stotras (prayers) that were recited at the village operas. He even composed at the tender age of seven or eight, some touching songs for the cast, which were gladly accepted by them for public presentation!
The Pandhari Bhajan group
When He was about ten years of age, Sathya formed a 'Pandhari Bhajan' group in the village of Puttaparthi. The group consisted of about sixteen to eighteen boys dressed uniformly in ochre clothes, holding each a flag in the hand and wearing jingling anklets. They all danced to the tune of folk-songs and ballads, describing the yearning of pilgrims for Lord Panduranga's Darshan. He also added some Bhagavatha songs of His own. It was noticed that He added to these traditional themes, songs on a pilgrimage to a new shrine of which no one had heard, and the majesty of a new Deity of whom they had not even the faintest idea, Shirdi and Sai!
Moreover, it was observed that when an infection of cholera swept like a poisonous miasma over the area and wiped out entire families in the surrounding villages, Puttaparthi did not feel the blast of death. Wise men told one another that the Divine Atmosphere generated by the Bhajan group was responsible for saving their lives.
At Kamalapuram
Sathya had to move to Kamalapuram, a small town about 200 kilometres from Puttaparthi, with His brother Seshama Raju. His parents planned to give Sathya a college education, so that He may become an officer! And hence, they were prepared to part with their beloved son and send Him to Kamalapuram to the Board Middle School there, so that His studies could be continued.
Sathya was a quiet, well-behaved boy and the favourite of His teachers. Once, He sang the prayer song before the curtains went up on a drama in the town and those who heard His sweet voice spread the news that a 'fine musician' had come to town. Prayer songs at functions like public meetings became His monopoly thereafter.
A merchant by name Kote Subbanna who sold medicines, tonics, glassware, umbrellas, etc. came to know of Sathya’s talents and approached Him for a ditty to market his new product. He gave Him the necessary information and by evening, Sathya was ready with an attractive Telugu song, which was sung in chorus by His friends and Him. They used to march along the streets, with placards in their hands, singing Sathya’s slogan-filled jingle and evidently enjoying their task!
A word may be said about Sathya and His involvement in the theatrical activities at school. Sri Thammi Raju, the teacher in-charge, once asked Sathya, who was only twelve years old then, to produce a play in Telugu. Sathya plunged into the work very enthusiastically. The drama was a great success, not only because the hero of the play was a little boy, a role enacted by Sathya himself, but, chiefly because it had as its theme the eternal sin of man – hypocrisy. The title of the play was "Cheppinattu Chesthara?" meaning "Do we practise what we preach?"
Meanwhile, Seshama Raju was transferred to Uravakonda. He decided to take Sathya along with him with the intention of admitting Him at the Sri Karibasavaswami District Board High School there. Accordingly, Sathya accompanied His elder brother to continue His studies at Uravakonda. The town of Uravakonda would be witness to the grand and mysterious events that would mark the momentous transformation of the young child into a great spiritual master who would change the very destiny of mankind.
Mysterious Turn of events at Uravakonda
Sathya was sought after by people who had lost articles of value, for He had brought with Him to Uravakonda the reputation for intuitive perception, which revealed to Him the place where anything was! Baba says that in those days, He used to give His friends only the first and last letters of the names of the persons with whom the lost articles could be found. He left them with their own resources to recover the goods.
On March 8, 1940, the whole town was shocked to hear that a big black scorpion had stung Sathya in the twilight hours of the evening. However, Sathya slept that night without any sign of pain! Every one felt relieved, only to become anxious once again when the next evening, Sathya fell unconscious and became stiff; He would not speak and breathing appeared faint. Seshama Raju brought in a doctor, who gave an injection and left behind a mixture. Sathya was apparently unconscious throughout the night. The doctor came again in the morning and declared that the boy was out of danger!
An incident happened in the night which showed that Sathya was not 'unconscious' but, that He was actually supraconscious! Some one suggested that the local deity be propitiated, because the condition of the boy may be due to some evil spirit that possessed Him. So, volunteers hurried to the temple and offered worship, placed flowers and incense, and broke a coconut at the altar. At that very moment, Sathya, who was to all intents 'unconscious', said, "The coconut has broken into three pieces," and when the volunteers came home with the offerings, they had with them three pieces and not the usual two!
Sathya got up in a day or two and began to behave in an extraordinary way. Baba has said that He Himself initiated the process of manifestation, for He could not wait any longer, playing about as a mere boy, with 'brother' and 'sister' and 'classmates' and other secular bonds. He wanted to demonstrate that He was beyond both ‘Visha’ and ‘Vishaya', that neither the poison of the scorpion nor worldly attractions could ever affect Him.
Meanwhile, Sri Seshama Raju had informed his parents at Puttaparthi about the state of affairs at Uravakonda. He had written that Sathya was not answering anyone who spoke to Him, that it was a herculean task to make Him accept food, that He was spending the time mostly in silence but, sometimes bursting into song and poetry or reciting long Sanskrit slokas (hymns) and at times, expounding the highest Vedantic philosophy. The parents took about a week to reach the place, because of unforeseen and inexplicable difficulties.
Seshama Raju got nervous as to why the parents had not arrived. He decided to send someone to Puttaparthi to find out the reason for the delay. But, Sathya interposed and said, "You need not send for them now, they will be here in half an hour," and true to His words, they came in exactly thirty minutes later.
Divine Fortitude
The parents were beside themselves with worry at the condition of Sathya; He sang and spoke and behaved in such a queer manner. It was all so mysterious. At that time, someone gave information to the worried parents that there was an expert exorcist before whom no evil spirit dare wag its poison tail! He will cure Sathya perfectly and make Him fit to go to school, they assured.
The exorcist was a gigantic figure, terrible to behold, with blood-red eyes and untamed manners. He tried all his craft which he dared not experiment even with strong adult patients! For example, he shaved the head of the boy and, with a sharp instrument scored three ‘X’ marks on the scalp, from the top towards the forehead. Sathya sat through the pain without wilting. With the scalp injured and bleeding with those markings, the witch doctor poured on the open wound the juice of lime, garlic, and other acidic fruits.
The parents who were watching the proceedings in utter despair were surprised, for there was not even a tear, or a gasp of pain from the boy! But the exorcist was unrelenting and put the boy through even more terrifying trials until the parents could bear to see it no more. They wanted to save the boy from the jaws of that Yama (God of Death) in human form; they had seen and suffered enough. They paid him full fees and also gave some unasked gifts, and thanked him for all the 'learning' he had utilised.
When asked later as to why He chose to go through this diabolical adventure, Bhagawan remarked, "Even after seeing all that fortitude and the miracle of a little boy passing unscathed through all that terror, even now, you are not convinced that I am Baba; how then would you have reacted if I just made the announcement one fine day? I wanted to make known that I am Divine Stuff, impervious to human suffering, pain or joy."
Meanwhile, Sri Krishnamachari, a lawyer-friend from Penukonda, heard of these occurrences in the Raju household and came to the village to study the situation and offer what help he could. He had a good look and told Venkama Raju, “It is really more serious than I thought; take Him immediately to the Narasimha Temple (Lord Narasimha – the Man-lion incarnation of Lord Vishnu) at Ghatikachalam; that is the last chance". On hearing these words, Sathya said, "Funny, is it not? I am already there at Ghatikachalam and you want to take Me to Myself!" The lawyer had no further inclination to cross-examine.
I am Sai Baba
On 23rd May 1940, Sathya rose from bed as usual, but after some time, He called the members of the household around Him, gave them sugar candy and flowers taken from nowhere. At this, the neighbours too rushed in. He gave them each a ball of rice cooked in milk, flowers and sugar candy concretised by a mere wave of the hand. Meanwhile, Sri Venkama Raju came and he was incensed by what he thought was a trick, hiding things somewhere and producing them by sleight of hand. He wanted the chapter to be closed before it lengthened into a tragedy.
So, arming himself with a stick, he accosted Sathya and asked, "Are you a God, a ghost or a madcap? Tell me!" Prompt came the answer, the Announcement, that had been held back so long, “I am Sai Baba."
At this, Venkama Raju was stunned into silence; the stick slid from his hands. He stood staring at Sathya trying to grasp the implications of that announcement - “I am Sai Baba." But, Sathya continued, “I belong to Apasthamba Sutra; I am of the Bharadwaja Gothra; I am Sai Baba; I have come to ward off all your troubles; keep your houses clean and pure."
The elder brother, Seshama Raju went near Him, and asked, "What do you mean by 'Sai Baba'?" He did not reply, but only said this much - "Your Venkavadhootha prayed that I be born in your family. So, I came." The father felt that Sai Baba was a Muslim spirit speaking through the boy and so, he asked, "What are we to do with you?” Prompt came the answer; "Worship Me!" "When?" "Every Thursday! Keep your minds and houses pure."
One Thursday, someone challenged Sathyanarayana and asked Him, “If you are Sai Baba show us some proof, now!" Baba replied, “Yes, I shall" and asked for some jasmine flowers. With a quick gesture, He threw them on the floor and said "Look." They saw that the flowers had formed, while falling, the Telugu letters, ‘Sai Baba’!
Divine Omnipresence
On an invitation from some townsmen in Hospet, Seshama Raju decided to take Sathya on a picnic to see if it might improve the mental health of the boy. Hospet is a few miles away from the ruins of Hampi, the capital city of the Emperors of ancient Vijayanagara Kingdom in what is now the state of Karnataka.
There, they visited the temple of Lord Virupaksha, the patron deity of the Vijayanagara royal family. While the others in the party went into the temple to offer worship at the sanctum sanctorum, Sathya stood outside admiring the height and majesty of the Gopuram (tall pyramid-shaped roof of a temple). When the priest waved the flame of camphor before the Lingam (ellipsoid structure worshipped as Lord Shiva), they saw to their utter amazement, Sathya there inside the shrine! He was standing in place of the Lingam, smiling and accepting their salutations.
Thinking that Sathya may have slipped into the shrine evading everybody's notice, Seshama Raju went outside to verify whether He was still there. Yes, indeed Sathya was there, leaning on a wall and staring at the horizon! He rushed inside the sanctum sanctorum and, yet again, he found Sathya standing there and blessing everybody.
This incident confirmed their faith in Sathya as a Divine Manifestation. They offered special Puja (worship) to Him that day. Hospet was on its toes with expectation and excitement. The story that He was seen as Virupaksha had spread to that town long before they reached it. The next day He cured a chronic tuberculosis patient by His touch and made him get up and walk a mile; He materialized a variety of articles for the devotees and the enthusiasm of the people knew no bounds. Bhajan and Namasankirtan (singing the name of God) continued far into the night.
The Mission Begins
On the 20th day of October, 1940, the day after they all returned from Hampi, Sathyanarayana started for school as usual. However, within a few minutes, He returned to the house. Standing on the outer doorstep, He cast aside the books He was carrying and called out, “I am no longer your Sathya. I am Sai". The sister-in-law came from the kitchen, only to be blinded by the splendour of the halo around Baba's head! He addressed her, “I am going; I don't belong to you; Maya (delusion) has gone; My Bhaktas (devotees) are calling Me; I have My Work; I can't stay here any longer."
When the brother hurried home on hearing all this, Baba only told him, "Give up all your efforts to 'cure' Me. I am Sai; I do not consider Myself related to you".
In spite of repeated pleas, Sathya would not step into that building again. He moved in into the garden of the Excise Inspector Sri Anjaneyulu's bungalow, and sat on a rock in the midst of the trees. People came into the garden from all directions bringing flowers, fruits, incense and camphor to worship Him. The garden resonated with the voices of hundreds singing bhajans (devotional singing) and following the lines of the first prayer that Sri Sathya Sai taught them.
“Manasa Bhajare Gurucharanam Dusthara Bhava Sagara Tharanam “
(O Mind! Meditate on the Feet of the Guru, which will take you across the wearisome sea of Samsara or worldly existence.)
A photographer came with a camera to capture a beautiful picture of the young Swami. He wanted to remove a crude stone that was right in front of Him, but Baba did not heed to the prayer. He clicked nevertheless and lo! When the photo was developed, the stone had become an image of Shirdi Sai Baba!
A few days later, Baba left Uravakonda for Puttaparthi. There, He shifted to the house of Karnam (the village headman) whose aged and devout wife Subbamma attended on Him with love and affection and welcomed all devotees into her spacious house; she spared no effort to make their stay happy and comfortable. Baba often speaks about her dedicated service, working incessantly from dawn to dusk, cooking and making other arrangements for the hordes of devotees who began to land in Puttaparthi every day. As the number of devotees swelled, a mandir (temple) was constructed in February 1947, where He began to reside and grant darshan. On 23rd November 1950, Prasanthi Nilayam (The Abode of Supreme Peace) was inaugurated, which remains till today the central venue for Bhagawan’s darshan and the festival celebrations that take place in His Divine Presence.
Sri Sathya Sai Avatar
This was the story of the Advent of the Avatar and the early years of His life and mission, a mission that would bring millions to His Lotus Feet to taste the bliss of Divine Love and thus transform their lives. In a letter He wrote to His brother Sri Seshama Raju way back in 1947, Bhagawan emphatically declared the grand purpose for which He has come.
He said:
I have a Task: To foster all mankind and ensure for all of them lives full of Ananda (Bliss).
I have a Vow: To lead all who stray away from the straight path, again into goodness and save them.
I am attached to a Work that I love: To remove the sufferings of the poor and grant them what they lack.
I have a reason to be proud, for I rescue all who worship and adore Me.
The decades that have rolled by since that epochal letter was written have been witness to the grand manner in which His vision has taken shape. The world class super-speciality hospitals that offer tertiary level medical care free of charge, schools and colleges that impart values-based education, the mammoth drinking water supply projects and the numerous other service projects undertaken by Him stand as a testimony to His selfless Love and His compassion for humanity. However, even more significant than these activities have been His tireless efforts towards spreading the message of spirituality and inculcating love and brotherhood throughout the world. Through the Sri Sathya Sai Centers and the Education in Human Values (EHV) programmes, thousands all over the world have sanctified their lives by putting into practice His precepts, and by participating in service programmes such as Narayana Seva (feeding of the poor) and free medical camps. Truly, the Sathya Sai Avatar has heralded a Golden era in the history of mankind.
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