Shri Sai Sat Charitra-Chapter 32-Part III

The vanjari again offered us food and asked us to be calm and patient. Again we did not like this good hospitality and discarded his offer and went away. Without doing any quest and without taking any food, the three began to move out. So obstinate were they. I was hungry and thirsty and I was moved with the Vanjari's extraordinary love; we thought ourselves very learned but were quite strangers to pity and kindness. The Vanjari was a quite illiterate and unqualified fellow and belonged to a low caste. Still he had love in his heart and asked us to eat the bread. In this way he who loves others disinterestedly is really enlightened and I thought acceptance of his hospitality was the best beginning of getting knowledge. So very respectfully I accepted the loaf of bread offered, ate it and drank water.

Sai Ram. Baba was already beyond the Three Gunas (the three who went away!) and was ready for the ultimate enlightenment. He was already a Pandita, a Samadarsi (the Vanjari was also Samadarsi, Yama who rides a bullock probably). Annam ParaBrahma Swaroopam goes the saying. So, Sai accepted the Para Brahma by accepting the food. Sai Ram.

Then lo! The Guru at once came and stood before us, "What was the dispute about?" He asked and I told him everything that had happened. Then he said, "Would you like to come with me? I will show you what you want; but he alone, who believes in what I say, will be successful." The others did not agree to what he said and left him; but I bowed to him reverently and accepted his dictum.

Sai Ram. The Guru discarded His disguise as Vanjari and came forth to lead, to guide. He was so kind that He was willing to give a last chance to the other three, but he also gave the caveat, that one has to leave the intellect behind to go further on the path. Sraddha, faith in Guru is absolutely needed. The journey cannot be completed without the total faith and surrender. Intellect can take us upto a point, but not further. Sai Ram.

Then he took me to a well, tied my feet with a rope and hung me - head downwards and feet up - from a tree near the well. I was suspended three feet above the water, which I could not reach with My hands, nor which could go into my mouth. Suspending me in this manner he went away, no one knew where. After 10 or 12 ghatikas (4 or 5 hours) he returned and taking me out quickly asked me how I fared. "In Bliss supreme, I was. How can a fool like me describe the joy I experienced?" I replied.

On hearing my answer the Guru was much pleased with me, drew me near him and stroking my body with his hand kept me with him. He took care of me as tenderly as a mother-bird does of her young ones. He put me into his school; how beautiful it was! There I forgot my parents, all my attachment was snapped and I was liberated easily. I thought that I should embrace his neck and remain staring at him always. If his image were not fixed in my pupils, I would like better to be blind. Such was the school! No one, who entered it once, could return empty-handed.

My Guru became my all-in-all, my home and property, mother and father, everything. All my senses left their places and concentrated themselves in my eyes, and my sight was centred on him. Thus was my Guru, the sole object of my meditation and I was conscious of none else. While meditating on him my mind and intellect were stunned and I had thus to keep quiet and bow to him in silence.

Sai Ram. What a wonderful leela the Guru showed? By suspending the pupil upside down, He at once inverted the vision and allowed the disciple to see the Inverted Banyan Tree (The Aswattha tree referred in the beginning of this chapter) upright. Also, outward vision was inverted to inward vision. The macrocosm was switched to the microcosm. By increasing the blood flow to the brain, the energy rising of kundalini was accelerated. By keeping him above the water, the Guru ensured that he was within sight of the mind but away from it, like a true jnani witnesses the world without getting affected. Thus a great yogic kriya was performed to produce great transformation in the disciple. How can anyone go empty handed from such a loving school? Sai Ram.

To Be Continued

About the author

S.V. Swamy

Swarna.Venkateswara Swamy, (also known as Venkateswara Swamy Swarna, S.V.Swamy or simply Swamy) is a physicist and a metallurgist by education. He considers Sai Baba of Shirdi as his Sadguru but respects all Gurus. He is an avid reader, a book reviewer and an editor. He has an abiding interest in holistic health systems..