Rare Spiritual Treasure: "Divine Games of Bala Sai" by V.R. Krishna Kumar

Excerpts shared for educational and spiritual purposes with reverence to the author. This project is a non-profit initiative, offered as a labor of love and selfless service.

Pandifuta Raka

ARRIVAL OF THE PUNDITS

A few famous pundits arrived from Andhra Pradesh. They looked majestic, in their orange robes. As they were renowned, they expected a grand welcome at the Old Mandir. We already knew about Swami, and had realised that He would not differentiate between the big and small, but look at everyone with love. When they arrived, Swami had gone into the village, and His whereabouts were not known. There was no question of searching for Him to inform about the arrival of such great Pundits or to make recommendations. Swami returned to the Mandir only in the evening, and without talking to anyone, entered into His room. He casually appeared during the evening singing session.

The Pundits expected that He would come straight towards them and give them a warm welcome. But nothing like that happened. They preferred to remain in the veranda outside, and did not come into the prayer hall. One of them came to Swami as announced that they had come from Andhra, without even a simple salutation. Without showing any enthusiasm, Swami said "Good", and continued to talk to us. Slowly, one by one, they came into the hall and sat with us. Even here, Swami did not look at them, and after some time, He went off into the village.

The next morning, they sat in one group, in one corner of the hall. As soon as Swami came, one of the Pundits started talking about Saint Viswamitra and proceeded to reveal his vast knowledge. After a while, Swami seemed to impart some better knowledge and started speaking, “Viswamitra rose to such high levels of Brahma, with such great deeds, but in spite of all his ability, did not become Brahma Rishi, the greatest among Rishies! Poor Saint! How much ever he tried, something or the other blocked his way! In the whole world this country of Bharat is the most auspicious. It was like that and shall remain. like that”. Casually chewing pan, He talked about the various visits of foreigners, and interest they took to realise the values of Indian culture. How so many people were impressed by this small Old Mandir! He explained that this was not a Mutt or an Ashram, but a place where everyone could take shelter and obtain peace of mind. God was not somewhere else far away, but in all the forms, as love. Here, the ruling divinity was love, He expressed. In-between He was joking, and as usual, used me for this purpose. Suddenly, He tapped on my head, pretended to say something to me, and disappeared into the village. This was how He escaped, once again.

When Swami did not return in the afternoon, we had some lunch and sat in the hall. Having observed that Swami was close to me, one Pundit asked me why Swami had not talked to them? I expressed that what He had said was meant for all of us over there, and they were also part of it, and escaped from there. They had surely heard what Swami had said and had also discussed it among themselves. They were fully aware how the ego of Saint Viswamitra put him into lots of troubles. They must have realised how the same ego was hindering them from the divine. When Swami appeared as the embodiment of Brahma, they should have kept their ego under check and should have known how to appear before Him. When Swami returned for the evening session; they bowed to Him and begged for His pardon. Once they surrendered to Him, crushing their ego, He sweetly spoke some words of wisdom, in the interest of their benefit. He made them realise that their power was nothing before the power of this place.

DIVINE RAGA

Right from the Old Mandir days, many pundits, saints, sadhus, were humbled by Bala Sai, and put them in the right path, to serve humanity. Some Pundits came from Mysore, and they were renowned musicians. It would be needless to say how egoistic they had been about their ability and their fame. How would they have known that they were mere sheep, in front of the embodiment of Saraswathi, the Master of Music? They were soon to realise that they were nothing before our divine singer, Bala Sai. That evening, Swami surprised them by singing a difficult Sloka, in a beautiful tune. A layman would have considered this as something simple. Though there was not a single flaw in the Ragam, Talam, and Pallavi sung by Swami, the egoistic Pundits thought they could do it better.

Would our Swami spare anyone? He gave an opportunity to one of the Pundits to prove his ability. He sang with majesty, and it was melodious to our ears. He assumed that no one could find any fault with his singing. Suddenly, Swami stopped him to correct the wrong Talam he had put. He was very much aware of the mistake made by him; he got confused and was not able to rectify the mistake. But at the same time, his ego stopped from accepting his fault. Would Swami let him go scot-free easily? Swami sang one tune and asked him to name the Raga. In absolute bewilderment, he said, "Swami! In my 50 years of experience I had not heard such a Raga, before"! When he was taken aback with one Raga sung by Swami, how fortunate we must have been to have heard our master of Music sing for hours, daily? Swami explained, “This is Devatha Ragam, a divine tune that was sung by Ramdas, Narada, Anjaneya, and other ardent devotees. Only when immersed in great devotion, such tunes could be sung, by the devotees! Without devotion, such tunes shall never even surface. But today, you all were fortunate to hear this Raga. It would be difficult to understand such divine secrets, as the ego would not allow you. While this rules, no one could go forward!” This was how He set them right, humbled them in no time and put them onto the correct track.

Anyone in this life would love to be flattered. It seems, even Godheads loved to be flattered, as mentioned in the Vedas. Lord Vishnu, Alankarapriya, loved the praise of His attire! Lord Shiva, Abiskekapriya, loved to be washed with sacred waters, etc! Lord Brahma, Stotrapriya, loved the chanting of His various names! But just by praising, nothing fructifies! Depending on their status, we should win over the grace of divine beings. The Trinity may have granted boons for having been praised, but there was no need to praise Bala Sai, for He  shall yield only to love. You could catch Him only in the web of your love.

BIG LOTUS FLOWER

Once, Swami asked some pundits who had assumed themselves as very knowledgeable, “What is the greatest?” None of them could come out with a reply. Swami said with a smile, “Dear ones, could you not get an answer for such a simple question? Emptiness is the greatest, due to its purity. There is nothing in it but there is everything in it! Unless you contemplate deeply, you shall never realise. That is why great beings remain silent, in front of ignorant people.” No one could understand the deep-rooted meaning and remained dumb. He suddenly materialised a lotus flower, and it was big with beautiful colours and mind- boggling fragrance. Seeing this, they lost all their senses. "Such flowers are available at Manasarovar only, but not easily visible", Swami said. Still unable to understand the reason for materialising this flower, they continued to brood over it. "There is a definite reason for every deed", Swami explained, “My hand was empty; that is, there was nothing in it. But actually, the whole nature is here, within!” We knew that Swami could create anything, but with such revelations and examples, He taught us so many things that could never be forgotten in this life. After some time He surprised them with one more miracle, showing the vibhuthi marks smeared on their faces. “Is it not true, that cow dung is considered as sacred by many communities?”,Swami said. As they looked at Him with confused looks, He converted some cow dung into vibhuthi and blessed them with it! At least now, they should have realised that He could convert sky to earth and earth to sky. Though He had proved that He was verily the Almighty, the Lord of the Universe, many unfortunate people still did not believe Him. One spoon of curds would be sufficient to convert a huge quantity of milk to tasty curds. But, a pinch of salt could spoil the whole lot of milk. Thus, the end result of all great things would upon the impurities in one's mind.

One pundit summoned all his courage to ask Swami, "Everyone thinks of You as God, how is that possible"? Swami obliged him with a reply, “I alone am not God! All of you are Gods! Just because you do not believe in this, you search for Him elsewhere and make a big issue of this. If you fully believe that you are God, and tread the right path, everything shall fall into place.” This was the very essence that evaded almost everyone.

THE KNOT OF BRAHMA

Once, a small family landed at the Old Mandir. They had approached Swami when He was at Ananthapur with regard to their son's marriage, and Swami had asked them to come to Puttaparthi. Such an answer from Swami would be a boon, for anyone. But, if anyone derided such a call of His, it would be a grave mistake. The all-knowing Lord knew everything about everybody! They arrived at Puttaparthi, as advised by Swami, but did not have enough patience. They expected Swami would talk to them immediately. The days passed like years for them, and Swami would not do anything without reason. We were used to His ways of seasoning people, but the newcomers would take time or loose the opportunity. It was true that ladies had more determination than men. Whenever the boy's mother cornered Swami, He just said 'patience' and she waited, but her husband went back.

After some days, an elderly couple came there with their daughter. They had visited the Old Mandir many times before. They immediately fell and wept at His feet. Swami assured them that everything shall be set right. As they were not rich, due to dowry issue, their daughter's marriage was getting through. Incidentally, the Ananthapur family already staying had seen this girl, but the alliance had broken up, due to the dowry issue.

Swami smiled at them and asked if they could come to terms, at least now? They were surprised how Swami knew about this issue and became pale. Was it not true that without patience, nothing much could be achieved? The next day, Swami called both the families. The Ananthapur family had already repented for cancelling the alliance and informed Swami that they were ashamed at their greed for a big dowry. Swami just spoke two words, "Brahmamudi Thappadu", the knot of Brahma could never be broken! When they were ordained to get married, who could ever stop them! Many issues were solved in many ways. Besides efforts, time plays an important role.

BUKKAPATNAM PLAYMATES

Four playmates of Swami, of Bukkapatnam days, arrived, and one of them were blind. They had not seen Swami since those days, and the sea change that had taken place was not known to them. They went into Puttaparthi village, in search of their boyhood friend 'Sathyam'. The villagers told them that it was not proper on their part to call Him Sathyam, but to address Him as Sathya Sai Babagaru, now at the Old Mandir. They came to the Ashram, thinking that they would not be recognised, but it happened the other way round. They could not recognise their playmate Sathyam, but He enquired about each one of them, and the way He received them was an unforgettable sight. They were wonderstruck at such a reception and arrangements.

When they Swami majestically seated during the prayer session, with young and old people all around Him, ready to obey His command with reverence, they could not believe their eyes. That Sathyam, of a poor family, now a great Guru, was something beyond their imagination. Thinking that something was wrong here, they decided to leave. Was there anything not known to Swami? He called the blind boy, as He used to call him before. He recognised the call of his Sathyam and scrambled so fast towards Swami, it surprised everyone. Once he was satisfied, the others also fell in line. The way they surrounded Him, everyone watched with delight. The eyes that could see were deprived, and the sightless could perceive! We may wonder why He put them in spot, but it was a lesson to all of us. He discussed with them about those boyhood days with so much affection. It was like Krishna receiving His friend Kuchela. Swami was the ocean of love, and they just dived into it. Though Bhagawan's Leelas could never be assessed by us, we should always try to understand it! Swami gave them some covers and asked the blind boy to come with his parents. He did come back with them, but his impatient father went back to his place, when Swami did not talk to him. As already mentioned, ladies had more patience than men. Her patience was rewarded, when some devotees came from Bangalore. She could not understand what Swami had talked to them. The next day, they took her and the blind boy in their car. It seems the blind boy was gainfully employed by them, and his whole family settled in Bangalore, without any difficulties.

A DIVINE FEAST

In those days also, during festivals, Swami used to arrange for a grand feast. In spite of all this, there were always some jealous critics, especially the local people. During one such festival, a group of people arrived and volunteered to be of some help. Usually, all tasks were handled by the devotees and the inmates. Due to their persistence, we somehow got Swami's consent, and they started helping us. Many items were prepared, and especially the sweet porridge was making our noses dance in delight. Actually, that group had an ulterior motive and wanted to cause misery to the people. Not that Swami was not aware of it, yet He had allowed them to help, though they were determined to defame Him· and cause trouble. Little did they know that our Bala Sai was the most' powerful, among all powers! Without our knowledge, they mixed some powerful poison in the sweet porridge and disappeared from the scene. Swami arrived at the make-shift kitchen and started enquiring about the preparations. He wanted to taste the porridge, and one devotee poured some of it in a tumbler. When Swami instructed us that it should be mixed properly, we were taken aback, but obeyed His command. Soon we saw one big lizard appear from the bottom of the vessel. All our enthusiasm cooled off seeing this and got rebuked by angry Bala Sai for the reluctance of the people in charge of this. We dug a big hole, poured the porridge into it and covered it nicely, so that even the dogs would not get at it. Within no time, fresh porridge was prepared, and a grand feast was served to all the people.

That culprit group reached Penugonda and for some reason started fighting with each other. They were also feeling some burning sensation, all over their body. One of them, unable to hold back their mischief, reported to the police how they had poisoned the porridge. Immediately, they were taken into custody and were brought to Puttaparthi. Unable to bear the burning pain, they fell at Swami's feet and wriggled in pain. Looking at them with compassion, Swami informed the police that it was not their fault, but that a lizard had fallen into the porridge. Like this, He saved them from the police and told them to be good in future. On one side, He saved the devotees, and on the other side He taught a big lesson to everyone. He would never impose any punishment directly. This was due to His enormous love for all and very purpose of His incarnation.