 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Volume
6 - Issue 05
MAY - 2008 |
|
 |
Shivam – Sai Hrudayam …The Heart of Sai THE SPIRITUAL MAGIC OF SHIVAM Shivam, literally, means ‘auspiciousness’. The story of Shivam, the Abode of Sri Sathya Sai, at Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh (the state that is also home to Prasanthi Nilayam), therefore, can only be a tale of supreme sublimity and Divine efflorescence. “I have been coming to Shivam for more than 30 years,” says the bespectacled and beaming septuagenarian, Mr. Sitarama Rao. “Whenever I come here, I feel like Swami is in Hyderabad; the experience is similar to seeing Swami in Puttaparthi!” He is excited, energetic and so full of life standing in the Shivam corridor. “A glorious chapter in my life unfolded once I started visiting this Holy Temple,” he continues. “The photo in the shrine seems so alive! I feel Swami is looking at me all the time. Today, because of Shivam, I am blessed with God’s company. I am never worried about my health or any other problems; my life is so full of fulfillment and peace.” The simple and humble Mr. Sitarama Rao, is now past 75, but exudes the enthusiasm of someone half his age.
Mr. Ankama Rao, has been an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva since his childhood. Twenty years back, he had no clue what his favourite deity had in store for him. He says, “This happened more than two decades ago. I was traveling by the Shivam Road one day, and I saw this magnificent Lingam shaped building. It drew me towards it. I could not resist the temptation of stepping inside the premises, and then, a never-before-experienced feeling of sublime peace enveloped me. Within a few months, all my problems – health and otherwise – vanished. I then knew that this was Lord’s Shiva gift to me. Since then, whenever I am confronted with any problems or dilemmas in my life, I just sit in Shivam silently, all by myself, and then I feel as if Swami is whispering into my ears beautiful ideas and solutions to all my worries.” Now, cutting through the air with both his hands to emphasise his point, Mr. Ankama states, “From the time I started visiting Shivam, I do not know any failure in my life. Shivam, to me, means ‘energy’, ‘courage’, ‘peace’, nay, ‘supreme peace’,” he adds with an aura of great joy and satisfaction. “That is why I come to Shivam every single day, and in fact, every event in my life has manifested itself like a miracle since I knew Sai and Shivam. In spite of many ailments - some small and others serious - I have never seen a doctor in the last two decades. Shivam is suffused with Sai. Even now, I have the same feeling of awe and ecstasy that I had when I first entered these premises; in fact, it is only increasing and intensifying everyday like an upward curve.” His hand sketching the rising graph in the air, Mr. Ankama Rao, is as emphatic as he is ecstatic.
Prod any devotee, who has ever visited Shivam, just a tiny bit, and a soul-stirring narration flows, quite effortlessly, and more importantly, accompanied with jubilation. The mention of Shivam fills them with sweet memories and satisfied smiles, even if it is a place they visit every single day. “Since I have known Shivam, I go nowhere else,” says Mr. M. M. Mohan Rao. “In the early seventies, I was in Vishakapatnam…,” he starts his story. “I used to attend Sai bhajans and at the end of these sessions, there were announcements about the progress of the construction of the Shivam building in Hyderabad. I longed to be in Hyderabad, but there was no way I could move there. I was stuck with my job in Vishakapatnam and was beset with many problems in my personal and professional life. One day, in October 1972, I decided I would go to Puttaparthi. I wanted relief from my tribulations; but I did not know the way to reach there. Nevertheless, I started and with great difficulty reached Prasanthi Nilayam. Once there, I went and sat in the veranda. It was in the afternoon, and I remember, when Swami came out for Darshan, He came straight to me and said, ‘You, get up.’ I did not know what that meant; the concept of interview then was new to me. I imagined that interviews were probably governed by tokens, recommendations or some such procedure. The next moment, I was inside the interview room, and even before I could say anything, Swami, in one continuous flow, narrated every troubling twist of my life in great detail. I was in awe; I sat there perplexed. Then, casting His Loving Looks on me, He comforted me, and then said, ‘You do not have to worry. I am there. Your current job hardly fetches you any money; moreover, you get no promotion. Do not worry; apply for another job and you will get it.’
“It happened, just as He had said. I found a new job, yes, but the best part is that it transferred me to Hyderabad! My dream of living near Shivam came true! And this was followed by more such unexpected boons. I was awarded quick promotions, and soon I became the Assistant Director in the Directorate of School Education. I did not own a house, and amazingly, I won a property in a lottery! What has Swami not done for me?
"My youngest son suffered from epileptic fits. In spite of that I used to come to Shivam to serve. My son was a year old infant then. One day, Akhanda Bhajan was organized and Swami was on His visit to Shivam. We decided to attend the bhajans taking our sick son with us. To our horror, he developed fever while in Shivam. We got very panicky as we knew the next thing that would happen was seizures. My wife was desperate. "When Swami came out of the inner chambers of Shivam, and happened to pass by where she was sitting, she got up and loudly prayed, ‘Swami, please bless my son so that he does not have fits. Please protect him and shower Your Grace.’ Swami just turned and looked once, and believe me, from that day, my son has not had another instance of fits! I can go on and on. His Blessings are innumerable. In 1991, when Swami granted another interview to me, I prayed that this son, who was at that time holding a top position in United India Insurance, in the state of Maharashtra, be transferred to Hyderabad. Again, incredibly, the seemingly impossible happened. He was moved in a few days; this had never happened in the history of that organisation. “Truly, in Shivam, I see Sai, I feel Sai. I experience the same feeling of visiting Prasanthi Nilayam; in fact, to tell you the truth, the feeling is much stronger for me in Shivam! Before undertaking any task, I first prostrate in Shivam; so much so that even when I plan a trip to Prasanthi Nilayam, I first bow down at His Feet in Shivam. That is why my every endeavour is a success. No task has ever become a casualty when I had started with offering myself at the Shivam shrine. For me, Shivam is synonymous with Sai, success, and His Grace.”
What is it that makes Shivam so special? What is the ‘Shivam secret’? Why is it that anybody who steps inside Shivam feels serene within and without? The answer lies in every particle of its sand and brick, wall and pillar, step and stone. It lies in its name and its form. The secret is that it is the epitome of unsullied auspiciousness that it embodies in its every element. Simply put, Shivam is not a human creation; the Divine willed it and built it. From the very conception of the structure, the selection of the site, laying of the foundation stone, supervising the construction, to the inauguration of this architectural marvel – all aspects were directly ordained, orchestrated and executed by Sai in person. There were, of course, many who were chosen and chiseled by Him to be instruments in this Divine mission. EARLY DIVINE VISITS TO HYDERABAD Though Sai breathed life into Shivam on April 4, 1973, the inauguration day, He was working splendidly and silently for decades awakening the minds and energizing the souls of many in Hyderabad. He was preparing a critical group of inspired individuals who would embody the spirit of Shivam and ensure that this marvel of a Temple in the heart of Hyderabad becomes the epicenter of auspiciousness and peace for thousands. Swami’s first visit to Hyderabad dates back to as early as 1958. It was August 26, 1958 to be precise, when Swami blessed the house warming ceremony at Kausalya Bhavan, a devotee’s home, and also delivered a discourse at the same venue. This was followed by numerous Divine visits in the sixties. In 1964, Swami chose Hyderabad to host the conference of Prasanthi Vidwan Mahasabha – an organization that Bhagavan had founded in 1962, not only to revive the ancient scriptures of the sacred land of India, but also to restore the respect due to scholars of these sublime texts in the eyes of the modern man.
Speaking on the first day of this conference on December 7, 1964, which was attended by the Governor of Andhra Pradesh among other distinguished officials, Bhagavan said:
On the second day of this conference, Swami stressed on the process of purifying one’s mind and blessed everyone with the words:
DRAWING PEOPLE FOR THE SHIVAM MISSION The year 1964, was also the time Swami had decided in His Master Plan to bring to His fold a pious and precious devotee of the Lord, who in the years to come, would contribute to this namasmarana movement in the Sai Mission like few have done. Mr. Rama Brahma Sastry was as deeply spiritually inclined as he was religious, and at the same time gifted with great literary talent. In the fifties, he heard a discourse of Swami where He said, “To whichever God you may worship, all prayers reach Me.” “This cannot be true!” he said to himself. Being a devotee of Lord Krishna since his childhood, any other concept of God was difficult for him to digest. But destiny has its own ways, and in 1964, his job shifted him to Hyderabad. It was also the time when he was struck with a tragedy – his third son, Krishna Mohan, became a victim of polio. He lost his ability to walk completely; Rama Brahma Sastry’s family was devastated. For three months, treatment went on in Gandhi Hospital, but with little hope. It was at this time that a well-wisher alerted him, “It seems Swami would soon be coming to Hyderabad, why don’t you take your son to Him? With His Blessings, He will become fine.”
Rama Brahma Sastry also learnt that Swami would be staying in the house of Mr. Burugula Ramakrishna Rao, the first elected Chief Minister of the erstwhile Hyderabad State. He said to himself, “These Swamis bless only those who can fly them in planes and house them in palatial homes. Why would He bother about me?” Nevertheless, hoping for the best, he went for darshan to the house of Mr. Ramakrishna Rao and sat in the crowd carrying his son along with him. He saw Swami coming from the interview room, and he was reminded of a verse from Bhagavad Gita which described God. He thought to himself: “If Swami is really God, He should bless the common people in the same way He blesses the rich. For, God knows no difference between the two.”
Swami had by now passed by him, but then, He suddenly stopped, retraced His steps, looked into his eyes, glanced at his son on his lap, waved His Hand and materialized Vibhuti, the sacred ash. Next, He lovingly poured it into the mouth of the toddler. Now, He again looked at Rama Brahma Sastry, proffered a mischievous smile and moved on. From that day, Krishna Mohan’s health began to improve and in a few days he started walking again! Today, 44 years later, he is a Branch Manager at the State Bank of India, Hyderabad. Rama Brahma Sastry’s faith received a boost and in the days to come, though He would test the Lord more than once, finally he would be lost in his love for Him, writing many beautiful shlokas while his wife and son composed bhajans to be sung in Shivam. Some of these like Parthieswara Sathya Sai Saieswara, Sri Ram Jaya Rama Jaya Jaya Rama, Sai Ram Bolo and so on are sung in the Prasanthi Mandir even today. From their initial days, his family has been instrumental in not only enriching bhajans in Shivam, but also in a variety of activities concerning the spiritual wing of the Sai Organisation. If that was the fascinating story of a man whose son, Mr. Ravi Teja, even today, plays the flute during every single bhajan session in Prasanthi Mandir, the tale of how Swami drew to His Feet another diadem of a devotee who would contribute immensely to the service movement in the soon-to-be Shivam, is even more incredible. “It was during the 50s. I was ten years old then,” recalls Mr. S. V. L. N. Narasimha Rao gladly. “Swami used to often visit Rajahmundry those days and during one such visit, our neighbour, an 85 year old lady, Mrs. Lakshmi Kanthamma, asked us to accompany her to have Baba’s darshan. When Swami came near us, this octogenarian woman bowed down and touched the Feet of Baba who was only 25! This baffled me and I immediately expressed my reservations to my mother who was with me. Nevertheless, she took my head and gently shoved it onto His Feet as He stood in front of us. The moment I touched Him, I felt so tranquil and at peace. It made me motionless. I was fixed staring at Him even though He had moved away. I could not take my eyes off of Him.”
Well, this was only the beginning; in the subsequent years, Mr. Narasimha Rao was a witness to many amazing acts of the Divine. On another occasion in Rajahmundry, while addressing a gathering of about 600 people, Swami suddenly stopped and sent word for two youngsters sitting in an obscure corner of the crowd, giving complete details of their names, village, etc. When the two were discovered, they refused to come to the dais. “Why should He call us? We do not know Him…” they went on. Finally, with a lot of persuasion when they were brought to Swami’s Presence, Bhagavan lovingly asked them, “How are you?” and then gently ran His fingers through His hair pushing it behind His face, and said, “See, there is nothing wrong with My ears. They are where they are supposed to be.” Next, Swami looked at the devotees and revealed, “Since My hair falls on My Shoulders, these two had decided that I do not have ears, and that I am using My hair to conceal this fact.” The teenagers were too shocked to react; they fell at His Feet seeking pardon. Similarly, during one summer season, Swami had come to Rajahmundry to perform a yagnam. As the ritual reached its conclusion, on the request of the priests, Swami materialized navadanyas and navaratnas (nine types of grains and nine gems) and cast them into the ceremonial fire-pit. Next, Swami sprinkled sacred water on all present. After this, the priests prayed to Swami saying “A slight shower of rain would bring joy to all.” Swami then enquired if there was a temple nearby, and He was informed that a Krishna Temple stood a few meters away. Swami then said, “In ten minutes, it is going to rain. You can all disperse.” People from far off places stayed in the Temple and in the houses nearby. “I could see no cloud in the vicinity,” narrates Mr. Narasimha Rao. “Eight minutes had passed and nothing happened. Suddenly in the next two minutes, dark clouds enveloped the sky and it did begin to rain! It poured from 12.30 to 3.30 pm; I was soaked in the downpour. But by 4.30 it was sunny again, and there was nothing to hint that it had rained just a few minutes ago.” It is such supernormal feats that placed the faith of Mr. Narasimha Rao on a firm foundation. He, later, dedicated himself completely serving for His Mission in Shivam. In the years prior to Shivam’s existence, Swami used to often stay in the houses of devotees. If it was the mansion of Chincholi Rani Saheb during one visit, at another time, it was the house of Dr. Boorgula Ramakrishna Rao or Raja Umapathi Rao or Mr. V. D. Prasada Rao. The latter’s son, Dr. V. V. S. Sharma, who used to drive Swami around in Hyderabad, has many interesting anecdotes of His visits. “ Once when we were on our way to a place located at a distance of 40 kilometres, half way into our journey, our car suddenly stopped; we had run out of petrol. There were only three of us inside the vehicle – Swami, my father and I. Just then a villager appeared on a bicycle carrying country liquor in a pot. Swami asked me to fill the petrol tank with that liquid and the car started running! Swami used to visit our house frequently till 1969, and in those days we never realized what a great opportunity it was!” While such fascinating instances of His Power were commonplace in the sixties and seventies, equally prevalent were His powerful discourses. The Prasanthi Vidwan Mahasabha continued to be held in Hyderabad for many years, and speaking in one such assembly in March 5, 1968, Swami said:
Thus exhorted Sai to the hundreds gathered in Hyderabad. It was an emphatic call to the devotees to expand their love from narrow boundaries of their own families and friends to the community and the needy. This was for a very definite reason in the Divine Master Plan. It was in this year, 1968, that Swami unfolded the single most crucial facet of the Sai Organisation which has today made the worldwide Sai Movement vibrant and absolutely unique, and that is - the Sri Sathya Sai Sevadals or volunteers who epitomize selfless service. THE BIRTH OF SRI SATHYA SAI SEVADALS
One prophetic evening in Hyderabad, in March 1968, Swami had it announced that soon the ‘Sathya Sai Sevadal’ would be formed and interested participants could fill in the application forms. The next day, from all the forms submitted, Swami Himself selected the first batch of candidates. That was how the first group of Sai sevadal volunteers came into being on March 17, 1968. Swami personally coached this chosen group in the principles and practices of rendering selfless service, and even posed with them later for a group photograph, with Him sitting at the centre. Since then, His attention on this group was continuous and copious. Swami called upon this group whenever there was a crucial need in His Mission. It was this group that swung into action during the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Sri Sathya Sai College for Women in Anantapur, in June 1968. Out of the 50 who had traveled for this service, Swami selected 20 after the conclusion of the function there, and asked them to proceed to Puttaparthi. They were assigned various duties in the devotees’ canteen personally by Him. Similarly, during the construction of the college in Bangalore in 1969, Swami again called for this batch of fortunate sevadal volunteers. The group started at 5 pm from Hyderabad one evening, and after traveling a small distance, their journey came to a sad halt as the bus broke down. For five hours they were stuck, while the driver commuted to the nearby town to fetch spare parts. Finally, at 10 pm their journey resumed. In those days, the Telangana Movement (demand for a separate state within Andhra Pradesh) was fierce and there were riots at many places. When the bus passed through the town, Jagithyala, the sevadals noticed destroyed shops and raging bonfires on the road. Fortunately, no untoward incident happened with them, and they reached Brindavan the next morning without any further delay. That day, during darshan, Swami came to them and asked, “How is it that none of you are wearing any bandages on your heads and hands?” Everybody looked confused. Swami, then, revealed, “There were riots in Jagithyala last evening. Had I not delayed your journey in the form of that bus repair, you would all have been hurt.” Selfless service is closest to Swami’s heart and the Lord will go to any extent to rescue those who dedicate their time and energy for others. Like the eyelid takes care of the eye, Sai cares not only for the seva dals, but their entire families.
Once when Mr. B. V. Sathyamurthy, a member of the Hyderabad Sevadal group, had been to Puttaparthi, Swami asked him, “Didn’t your brother come?” To this, he replied, “Swami, a new director has been appointed in his office, which has made it difficult for him to get frequent leaves.” Swami immediately said, “Tell him, within a week, Raghavendra will come.” When Sathyamurthy delivered this message to his brother, he was confused as he knew nobody by that name. But as the week ended, it became clear. A gentleman by name Mr. Raghavandra took over as the new director of the company. And the best part was that he was a Sai devotee. On another occasion, Mr. Sathyamurthy was again in Puttaparthi in the early 1970s. This time he was accompanied by his brother, Mr. B. V. Chandrashekhar, who had come to inform Swami and take His Blessings before resigning from his current job and accepting a new offer. He waited and tried for three days, but with no success. On the third day, dejected, he walked towards the bus station to return to Hyderabad. Exactly the same time, Swami was returning to Mandir after inspecting the Canteen. He immediately called for Sathyamurthy and said, “Your brother is loading his luggage onto the bus, go and call him!” When he arrived, without hearing anything, Swami said, “Do not quit the current job. Soon there will be hike in your pay; it is going to be good for you. Go back and continue working there till I tell you.” At the same time, Swami looked at Sathyamurthy, who was anxious about his pregnant wife’s health, and said, “I know, you are concerned about your wife. Have no worries; she will be fine. I am giving you a boy, give this Vibhuti to her, and bring the child to Puttaparthi.” This is how the Lord took charge of the life of every seva dal who had willingly offered himself to His Work. Still, there were a few who harboured doubts about His Divinity. Mr. S. V. L. N. Narasimha Rao of Rajahmundry was one of them. Though Swami had blessed him with an ethereal experience when he touched His Feet in Rajahmundry, doubts still remained. In 1970, Narasimha Rao made his first visit to Puttaparthi and now wanted to test if Swami was truly God. Recalling that trip wherein he had an exhilarating experience, He says, “I had read in the scriptures that when God walks on Earth, owing to His Power, the Earth’s level goes down by 6 inches, and His Feet never really touches the ground. "For fifteen days, I observed the sand on which Swami walked during darshans. Anything that falls on sand creates an impression. But when Swami walked on those sands nearly ten times a day, I found impressions of not His Feet but only of His Robe! After a fortnight had passed, Swami came and stood in front of me, looked into my eyes, smiled, and then pressed the sand before me with His Right Foot. An impression was formed on the sand of His right foot, but again, there was no mark of His left foot there! I was stupefied, and convinced. I realized Swami, in fact, moves above the earth, not on earth! He is none other than God!” THE GENESIS OF SRI SATHYA SAI SEVA SAMITHIS It is these Divine manifestations of Love that pulled more and more into the Sai fold, and soon there were two seva dal groups, one in Hyderabad and the other in its twin city, Secunderabad. In January 27, 1971, Swami clubbed these two into one body – the Sri Sathya Sai Seva Samithi, and appointed Justice V. K. Parthsarathy as the Chairperson, and Mr. V. D. Prasad Rao as the Secretary.
In the next few years, Mr. Prasad Rao, a construction engineer, had a very significant role to play in the making of Shivam, and therefore, the story of his coming into the Sai ambit is a tale which cannot be missed. Recalling their family’s story, Dr. V. V. S. Sharma, the first son of Mr. Prasad Rao, says, “We migrated to Hyderabad from Vijaywada in 1960. My mother suffered from a serious cardiac ailment and my father, in those days, visited every hospital and holy man in search for a cure. In 1966, we heard about Baba, and soon, my father arrived in Puttaparthi along with the then Collector of Anantapur District, Mr. Narayana Rao, and two others. There was no accommodation available in the ashram then. Therefore, the four of them parked their luggage in the police station, and went for darshan. "Swami came out at four that evening, but did not look at them. Next day, at 7 in the morning, Swami sent word for my father. He was absolutely puzzled, as he had not sent any information to Swami, and nobody in Puttaparthi knew him either. Nevertheless, he went to His Presence, and as soon as Swami saw him, He said, “I will soon be going to Hyderabad. I will stay in Mr. Bhoorgula Ramakrishna Rao’s house or in Mr. Umapati Rao's house. You come there. I will see your wife too there.” Then Swami allowed him to have lunch with Him and blessed him profusely. The same night, my father returned to Hyderabad.
“In a few months, Swami came to Hyderabad as promised, and within a day or two of His arrival, He made a surprise visit to our house. He saw my mother, created medicine and gave it to her. And then, He said, ‘One cannot avoid karmic results. If you want, I can remove your ailment in a second, but you would have to suffer in the next birth. In this life, you are lucky to be born into a nice family. Therefore, it is better you go through it in this birth itself.’ My mother agreed to His advice. Then Swami added, ‘I will see to it that your pain and suffering is minimal.’ This happened in March 1967. Swami also promised in that visit that He would stay in our house next time He came to Hyderabad. What actually happened was that He visited/stayed in our house not only the next time, but nearly 20 times after that! I had the privilege of driving Swami around in Hyderabad and in each trip, He went to 20 to 30 devotees’ homes.” THE SAGA OF THE CONCRETE SHIVAM STARTS…. That is how much Swami had endeared Himself to Mr. Prasad Rao and his family. Quite unknown to them, they were handpicked instruments in His Divine Mission. In 1971, Mr. Prasad Rao had a dream in which Swami appeared to him inside a lingam. He liked the image in the dream very much.
Moreover, during Shivarathri that year, the seva dals from Mumbai had worn a badge which had an enamel showing Swami within a lingam, which devotees from Hyderabad found very appealing. So, Mr. Prasad Rao expressed his dream to Swami, and sought His permission to build a structure in the shape of a lingam in Hyderabad. Swami listened to his prayer and said, “Good, develop a model”. Soon, a prototype was ready, and Mr. Prasad Rao, along with a few other architects, showed it to Swami for His approval. Swami made many corrections, and finally gave the ‘go ahead’ to the plan. The next important activity was the selection of a suitable site. Swami, along with a few devotees, drove around Hyderabad looking for an appropriate site in a Hillman car and finally, selected the site in Baghamberpet in Vidyanagar. Apparently, Swami had Himself purchased this area a few years ago. It was adjacent to the house of an ardent devotee, Mr. E. J. Sathyamurthy. Once the site selection was done, Swami had another significant event in His Divine agenda. There were three devotees in Hyderabad whom Swami had specially blessed by giving them for worship the lingams that He had manifested from within His Body during lingodbhavam on the occasions of Maha Shivarathri in Puttaparthi. Swami directed the three of them – Mr. V. S. Desikichari, Mr. B. V. Ramana Rao and Mr. V. D. Prasad Rao – to bring those lingams to the site and perform Thrilingabhishekam. All the three Divine manifestations were worshipped elaborately with piety and grandeur, thus suffusing that area with sacred vibrations.
THE FOUNDATION STONE CEREMONY OF SHIVAM Next, was the grand ceremony of sankhusthapana – the foundation stone laying ceremony. Swami Himself supervised every section of this function. The day was most appropriate – it was a Monday, in the month of Karthika – the same day and month in which Swami was born! The date according to the English calendar was October 25, 1971. The most sublime aspect of this ceremony was that Lord Sai Shiva in His own Hands laid the first stone for this enigmatic edifice, and then with a wave of His Hand materialized a yantra (mystical plate) and placed it at the site.
Later in the day, Swami gave a profound discourse in which He said:
After this lofty spiritual objective, Swami also explained the down-the-earth reason for the creation of Shivam. He said:
|
