July 26, 2009 – Radha Krishna Drama by Rangareddy District

The three-day Puttaparthi Yatra of the Rangareddy district of Andhra Pradesh started on July 25 and more than 3000 devotees from that region converged at Prasanthi Nilayam. The play they were about to present in the divine presence on that day, was really divine in the sense that it had been scripted and directed by Swami Himself for His 60th birthday!

Having laid their hands on the script, these devotees had planned to present the immortal devotion of Radha towards her Lord and dearest one, Krishna. Swami arrived for darshan at about 5:15 p.m. and having completed a full darshan round, arrived on the stage via the portico. He immediately asked for the Vedam to halt and the programme to begin.

The "programme before the programme", if we can call it so, of late is the offerings to Swami! Bhagavan arrives, very eager to watch the programme and sometimes the long lines of people offering Him roses and other items seem to go on for 5, 10 and sometimes 15 minutes!

The Lord very patiently accepts everybody’s prayer and blesses, but when it becomes an unreasonably long session, like it was on that day, He gently signals to start the programme without any further delay.

Soon, the actors came on stage and Swami blessed them. Bhagavan Baba called one of the organisers who had been a student of Sathya Sai University and told him to make the initial announcements. The boy began and Telugu seemed to flow out from him with the purity and torrential volume of the mighty Ganges. Swami was so moved with his introduction and that in itself drew handsome applause from the audience.

The drama began with tiny tots dancing to a song saluting the compassionate Divine Mother. The gopis and gopalas make elaborate and excited plans on hearing the news that their Krishna is coming to Repalle the next day.  Radha too is very happy about Krishna’s visit.

The two consorts of Lord Krishna, Rukmini and Sathyabhama converse with each other of Krishna’s visit to Repalle, as to whether Radha would be present then. Satyabhama feels that Krishna has a special corner for Radha alone and she cannot bear that.

When Krishna does not cajole and plead with her to accompany Him to Repalle and leaves it "to her choice", she is devastated! She sings out her heartbroken song asking Him why He does not shower His special attention on her. It became very evident as to who the composer of the song was as Swami sang along the lines of the song that He had written more than two decades ago!

At this point of time, Narada enters the scene. He talks high of the devotion of Radha for Krishna. There is no Krishna without Radha and no Radha without Krishna, he says, adding a liberal sprinkle of the divine testing salt over Satyabhama's jealous wounds!

Meanwhile, even in Repalle, people are jealous of Radha. Someone hits and breaks the earthen pot carried by Radha with a stick. Even as he does it, he suffers a paralytic stroke in his hand. Narada immediately asks the affected person to ask forgiveness from Radha.

When the person does so, he is relieved of the ailment. The D-day arrives and Krishna enters Repalle. He enquires about the whereabouts of Radha. The people accompanying Krishna lie to Him that she has left Repalle.

Krishna then tells Rukmini, "See dear! This is the effect of the Kali age. People lie effortlessly to the Lord and think that He is dumb to fall for lies. That is how they are blinded!"  Rukmini then eulogises the devotion of Radha for Krishna. When Radha enters the scene and entreats Krishna to have mercy on her, Krishna says, “I am giving Myself to you, what else could I give you?” The drama closes with her merger into Krishna.

Throughout, Swami was fully immersed in the drama. He even seemed to remember and deliver some of the dialogues too! The script was flawless, for that is how the Divine Director writes any drama - whether it’s the one done on a stage or the one that Life is!

Again, like all His dramas, the faults come only if the actors do not play their roles well. But the Loving Director, Swami, was always there prompting the dialogues and songs too, for that is His Duty to help anyone who whole-heartedly acts their part in His drama! The drama concluded with a prayer that all develop love and devotion for Him like Radha did.

Swami seemed very pleased and as the final formation came into place, He saw that it was indeed a very huge assemblage. He called the photographer and told him to take pictures of the group from different points on the stage! Then He asked the whole group to move ahead and come closer to Him. What a call it was! The eternal calling of the Lord to man depicted in that simple act of Swami! The group responded by surging closer to Him.
Swami, next moved to the interview room, and returned with safari pieces and sarees. Descending from the stage, Swami began to personally distribute the clothes. All the main actors were male, including the gopikas and Radha. Swami so sweetly asked whether they would accept sarees! They said that if Swami gave, they would gladly accept. Swami distributed sarees to them!

Later, He also gifted them with safari pieces! That was a wonderful sight to watch. Swami spent nearly 20-25 minutes distributing the clothes and interacting with the children. If we can be audacious enough to measure Swami's joy by the amount of time He spent with the children downstage, then we can confidently say that Swami was immensely pleased. After ensuring that all had received clothes, Swami blessed prasadam to be distributed to all.

Arriving back onstage, Swami asked for the person responsible for coordinating the whole effort. All heads turned in the same direction towards one elder. He got up and went to Swami. Swami materialised a gold bracelet for him and put it on his wrist.Then, receiving aarthi, Swami returned to His residence, the Yajur Mandir, as the devotees longed to have one last glance and preserve that image in the safest corners of their hearts.

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