ACT XVII - SCENE 1

SESHAMA: Suseela, can you please get me some water?

SUSEELA: Yes I will. But tell me did you write to your father and mother?

SESHAMA: Well, I have sent a messenger immediately. But I am still not able to decide whether Sathyam’s behaviour is due to immaturity or mental imbalance.

SUSEELA: Why should we think that way? Why can’t it be the Will of Providence? If there is no Divinity in Him, then how can we explain the Vibhuti and all those other articles that He materializes? And why will so many people offer Aarathi to Sathyam? Look at it this way - ants gather only where there is jaggery and similarly devotees flock only where there is Divinity!

SESHAMA: What Divinity and what devotees are you talking about?! I don’t see any. No matter how many times I call Him back home, He refuses to come. When father and mother arrive and we hand Him over to them, our responsibility would be over.

SUSEELA: When I take food to Him, He says, “Offer it as Naivedyam [sacred offering] to God.” To the devotees, He says, “Perform worship on Thursdays”. We just don’t know what Sathyam will do till mother-in-law and father-in-law come.

SESHAMA: Well, I guess we will have to wait and see.

SCENE 2

ANJANEYULU: Rama Rao, you must take very good photos of Sathyam. They must be terrific!

RAMA RAO: Anjaneyulu, it is your good fortune that Sathyam is in your garden; and it is my good fortune to be able to photograph Him. Just watch, I will take a great picture!

ANJANEYULU: OK, go ahead.

RAMA RAO: Anjaneyulu, remove that small stone in front of the boy.

SATHYA: No; leave the stone where it is; it must appear in the picture.

ANJANEYULU: OK.

RAMA RAO: Smile please!

SCENE 3

KONDAMA: What is it that you are reading with so much agitation? Is it a letter from Seshama?

VENKAMA RAJU: Yes, father.

EASWARAMMA: What’s the matter? Has something happened again to Sathyam?

VENKAMA: Easwari, don’t get agitated. You know about our Sathyam; His behaviour has once again turned peculiar.

EASWARAMMA: That is why I am asking you. What has happened now?

VENKAMA: Seshama says that the other day, Sathyam suddenly declared that He would not attend school anymore. And that He does not need any further studies and has no bonds. Sathyam said that He has a lot of work to do, and that He is SAI!

EASWARAMMA: What is Seshama doing about all this?

VENKAMA: What can Seshama do? Sathyam does not listen to either his word or threat. Instead of staying in His elder brother’s house, Sathyam has established Himself in Anjaneyulu’s garden, and is performing Bhajans there!

EASWARAMMA: Father-in-law, we must immediately go to Uravakonda and see what has happened to Sathyam.

VENKAMA: This Sathyam’s affair is very perplexing; I cannot make out anything from all this.

KONDAMA: Listen Venkama, our perception is very limited. Whatever happens is the Will of God. People study in order to earn wealth but my grandson is renouncing worldly education in favour of Higher Realms. While others are in quest of worldly happiness, my grandson is after the Wealth of Spiritual Wisdom. Sathyam, the lamp of our family, will illumine the whole world. OK, if you wish, go and bring Sathyam back to Puttaparthi.

VENKAMA: Sambamurthi!

SAMBA: Sir?

VENKAMA: Please inform Seshama that we are on our way.

SAMBA: Will do so at once, sir.

SCENE 4

ANJANEYULU: My dear boy, I have brought Prasaadam for You. Today is Thursday. Since morning You have had nothing, except a little milk. Kindly partake of this Prasaadam.

SATHYA: Is it Naivedyam [a sacred offering] or Prasaadam [remnant of a scared offering]?

ANJANEYULU: For You, it is Naivedyam, and for us it is Prasaadam! Pray accept.

SATHYA: The leaf is full of food but every morsel of it has the taste of the whole. The ocean is full of water but every drop of it has the same quality as the entire ocean. In the same way, every man has all the qualities of God. Everything we eat is the gift of God.

ANJANEYULU: It is so wonderful to listen to Your words! They bring fulfilment to our lives. It is due to the merit earned in earlier lives that we are able to have the proximity of a Noble One like You!

SATHYA: Here, I have touched this Naivedyam with My hand; take it now as Prasaadam.

ANJANEYULU: This was specially made for You. Please have at least a tiny bit.

SATHYA: People say, “This was harvested in my field,” “I have cooked it,” and so on. You are a spark of the Divine. Everything is God – the field, the crop, and every happening, including harvesting and cooking. God harvests, God cooks, and God is also the One Who tastes. The word “I” is the sure sign of ego. If you give it up, it is equal to giving up the whole world!

This tastes good. Do you know what is in it?

ANJANEYULU: I do not know.

SATHYA: Taste! The Divine is hidden in the devotee, in the same way taste is hidden in the pudding.

ANJANEYULU: Ah, blessed are we!

RAMA RAO: Anjananeyulu, did you see this great wonder! There is an idol of Shirdi Baba in the photo, in place of this stone!

ANJANEYULU: My God! How did Shirdi Baba appear?

RAMA RAO: Remember I wanted the stone removed and the young Swami did not permit it? Now do you see the miracle!

ANJANEYULU: What a wonder! We did not know that Shirdi Baba was in the stone! Devotees! Look here! In this photo taken yesterday by Rama Rao, this stone is seen as an idol of Shirdi Baba!

SATHYA: There, Maya is coming! Everything is an illusion. Who is what to whom? To Me, all are one.

EASWARAMMA: Sathyam, what kind of words are these? What are these ceremonies and Bhajans? My boy, I am unable to understand Your behaviour! What’s all this?

SATHYA: The path of devotion and love to the Highest Realm. If understood, it is the easiest!

EASWARAMMA: What’s all this philosophy?

SATHYA: This is not dry philosophy but the highest Truth!

EASWARAMMA: I don’t understand all this. I know only one thing and that is my love for my child. My boy, understand the heart of this mother and know the pain it is suffering.

SATHYA: Take a look at this idol.

EASWARAMMA: Do you see Shirdi Baba next to Sathyam?

VENKAMA: How did Babaji come here? It is most surprising.

SATHYA: God is everywhere! It is our duty to realise that.

EASWARAMMA: What are You saying? ….What is this boy saying?

VENKAMA: Sathyam, I am not able to understand Your feelings. You say that You are on Your way to becoming the beacon to those in quest of the nobler purpose of life. What is all this?

EASWARAMMA: Boy, this is not good at this age. And do not belie the dreams of Your parents.

VENKAMA: Are You trying to become a renunciate in Your childhood? Before You save the world, You must first help Your mother who gave birth to You, Your father who brought You up, and other elders who have strained for Your welfare. That is Your Dharma, and don’t forget that! Listen to me! Change Your decision!

EASWARAMMA: Sathyam my boy, we don’t know what’s in Your mind. Come at once to Your brother’s house, and explain to us in a manner we can understand about what is in Your mind. We must know what You want to do, right? Look my boy, listen to my words. Sathyam, don’t refuse this wish of Your mother.

SCENE 5

SESHAMA: Mother, father! I am the eldest son of the family. All of us thought that the younger son Sathyam would receive English education and secure a Government job. We have worked very hard towards that end but with no result. His path seems to be different. Instead of being in the world, He is aspiring to be spiritual. Instead of the body, He loves the Atma. Divinity and meditation are His very breath. He says He is God. He says that He has no earthly bondage and that He will go wherever He wants. That is why I sent for you both, and asked you to come immediately. Please put some sense into Him.

VENKAMA: Seshama, that stage has passed. I don’t think that Sathyam, who wants to reach out to the wide world, will listen to our words. Maybe she can try…..

EASWARAMMA: Whether He listens or not, it is our duty to try. Suseela dear, please get some food.

SUSEELA: Yes mother-in-law.

SUSEELA: Here, mother-in-law.

EASWARAMMA: Sathyam my boy, please accept three handfuls of food from Your mother’s hand.

SATHYA: Illusion, illusion!

SESHAMA: Mother, He is calling you illusion!

SATHYA: No more bondage; illusion is gone, illusion is gone!

EASWARAMMA: What bondage, what freedom? Is it for declaring that I gave You three handfuls of food? My boy Sathyam, what’s all this? Maybe we are in illusion and we are ourselves illusion, but You are beyond illusion. Therefore my boy, we will not come in Your way. We will not argue either. But don’t go away from us to some cave, or to the Himalayas. Sathyam my boy, promise Your mother that You will stay in Puttaparthi. Let Your devotees come there, and I will gladly receive them.

SATHYA: I have chosen Puttaparthi as My arena. I am granting this wish not only to you, but to the village of Puttaparthi and to whole world.

VENKAMA: Seshama, make arrangements for our return. We will go back tomorrow itself, before He changes His mind! We will take Him to Puttaparthi.

EASWARAMMA: My boy’s mind does not change. True to His name, He will always speak the Truth.

- END OF SCENE 5 -