The Goal Of All Yagnas….

Trayee Brindavan had always been a home away from ‘Home’ for Beloved Bhagawan…and the Trayee sessions in Brindavan used to be one of the most heavenly experiences with Him… The combine of Bhagawan with His students would always remind one of the intimacy and closeness gopikas and gopalas enjoyed with Lord Krishna in the Dwapara and what the ‘vanaras’ enjoyed with Lord Rama in the Treta… Confined within the four walls of the Trayee, The Lord often assumed His many varied faces, throwing glimpses from God’s mysterious Divine Chamber… helping, raising, elevating many of His chosen devotees, all in His most inimitable style…Sathya Sai Style…Dr T Ravi Kumar, Associate Professor, Dept Of Chemistry, Brindavan Campus of SSSIHL writes about one such interesting, intimate session in Trayee…Dr Ravi Kumar is also the Warden of the Brindavan Hostel…

It was one of the Trayee sessions. Each Trayee session was unique. One never knew what wonderful thing would happen in each session. Each one of the sessions were filled with Ananda and Awesome revelations. One never knew whose life would be transformed forever in each session. A word here, a smile there, an acceptance of a letter, a revelation here, a consolation there and so on…

On this day, as we all assembled in the Divine Presence, Swami was in a mood to read letters. As Swami had come for darshan, He accepted letters from devotees. Devotees also felt relieved that they have placed their burdens, difficulties, insurmountable problems, health issues in His safe hands.

Swami would pick a letter from the bundle at random and open it and read. He would then keep it aside. This went on for some 10 minutes. Suddenly Swami picked up what looked like a packet and opened it. Inside was a yellow cloth with a knot. Swami opened the knot and… inside were a few coins which were black. Swami started distributing this to the boys in the front. There was one student Venkatraman whom Swami gave 3-4 coins. He was overjoyed at receiving this from Swami’s hands.

After this Swami called Maj Gen. Mahadevan – [Swami would affectionately call him 'Gen Mahadevan'] to address the students. He had a number of Sai experiences, having been in the theatre of war any number of time and having come face to face with life-threatening situations. In his soldier like fashion he would narrate experiences of how Swami intervened to save him from sure death.  He ended his speech, urging the students to surrender to the Lord totally and live a tension-free life.

Swami then looked around and looking at me said  Ai, junior Mahadevan get up. This brought the house down. I spoke about Swami’s love as reflected in the pool of my experiences….

It was 6 pm and Swami signalled for Arati. A student came forward with rose, which Swami accepted and kept in his pocket and blessed him with Namaskar. Another brought a glass of water which mischievously Swami dipped His index finger in and pretended to place on His tongue. The third student brought a small bowl of fried groundnuts. Swami took one and quickly threw to the warden who managed to take the ‘catch’. He then was about to eat it when Swami stopped him and asked him to examine it . It was a small idol of Lord Ganesha.

Then Swami lit the Arati and went into the round hall. All along the path students gave letters to Swami, talked to Swami or He talked to them. He then went up the balcony and gave Darshan and blessed us with Abhayahastam.

As we were returning, i noticed Venkatraman admiring the coins Swami had given him. He was brimming with joy and was sharing this with me as we walked to the hostel. Imagine his surprise  when he found his parents had arrived. They had not communicated any intention to visit him. They were at a place called Bilaspur in Madhya Pradesh. He quickly went up to them and excitedly showed the coins that Swami had so lovingly given him. There were tears in his mother’s eyes. For a few minutes she was silent. Then she narrated… Venkatraman’s father was going through a bad phase in his life. His health was not good. He was not satisfied with his job and there were many problems besetting them on all sides. On being consulted, a reputed astrologer had asked them to perform Ganapathi homam. This they had performed in her ancestral house in Trichy. Even as the Poorna huti was going on, she had prayed to Swami to show her in some way that He had accepted her offering. He was the Ganapathi she believed in! He had shown that He had received the offering {some coins are offered in the fire} and even ‘refunded’ a few!

On their return journey, they heard that Swami was in Brindavan and came there to see Him and Venkatraman too… and Swami gave them this Assurance!

II Samastha Lokah Sukhino Bhavantu II