LOVING LEGEND -- LIVING LEGACIES

October 20, 1940. It was on this day, seventy years ago, that Bhagavan Baba unveiled the mystery surrounding His birth, life and mission.  He declared to the people around, and through them to the entire mankind, that He indeed is the Supreme Consciousness embodied in a diminutive and delightful form. “I am no longer your Sathya, I am Sai…I have My work; My devotees are calling Me…” He announced candidly on that day.

Ever since, this eternal reservoir of energy and empathy, hope and happiness, solace and succor, light and love, has nursed and nurtured, and ensured that the tiny seed of goodness latent within every individual grows into a gigantic tree of love and serenity.  And like a perfect teacher, He has demonstrated this more by living that principle in every moment of His own life. The result is a luminescent legacy that will continue to illumine the dark alleys of humanity’s collective consciousness, elevating it to a state of absolute sublimity for generations to come.

“Loving Legend – Living Legacies” seeks to capture a few salient highlights of this glorious saga of Pure Love. This 30-episode radio documentary starts on October 20, 2010 on Radio Sai to continue daily till November 19, 2010.

Below is the textual adaptation of this audio series embellished with pictures, audio and video clips!

Let us immerse ourselves in the story of His glory and more important strive to make our little lives shine with the sacred glow of purity, nobility and genuine compassion.

 

 

Episode 7:  The Letter to the Brother

During the 1940s, Baba’s devotees continued arriving - young and old, rich and poor. Even maharajahs and rich landlords came for a glimpse of Him. The press had begun to take notice.

Elder brother Seshama Raju, not yet fully aware of Baba’s Divinity, began to worry about the impact of the attention his younger brother was receiving. Would this adoration go to the head of young Sathya? Would he fall a victim to various temptations?

Seshama Raju was also disturbed by the ridicule of the cynics and the skeptics to Baba’s claims of divinity. As a concerned older brother, he conveyed his anxiety to the 20-year old Sathya.

The Purpose of Sai Avatar

Baba sent His reply in a letter dated May 25, 1947. Although the letter was intended for Seshama Raju, it was in fact addressed to - as Baba says - “all who are devoted to Me”.

We are fortunate to have the contents of this epistle. It is a powerful declaration of the purpose of the Sai Avatar. Even more noteworthy is the equanimity and the maturity with which the young Baba addressed His older sibling’s concern about the critics. If the truth is determined by its ability to stand the test of time, then the words of the 20-year old Baba expressed in this letter are as valid today as they were several decades ago reflecting His unshakeable resolve to fulfill His mission. And to date, Baba continues to pour nothing but pure love even upon those who judge Him harshly.

A Landmark Letter to Entire Mankind

Following is a reproduction of the contents of that historic letter:

“I will never give up those who attach themselves to Me” – Baba

I have a Task: To foster all mankind, and fill peoples lives with Ananda (bliss).

I have a Vow: To lead all who stray away from the straight path into goodness again and save them.

I am attached to a 'Work' that I love: To remove the suffering of the poor and grant them what they lack.

I have a 'reason to be proud': for, I rescue all who worship and adore Me.

I have a definition of 'devotion': I expect that those devoted to Me treat joy and grief, gain and loss, with equal fortitude.

I will never give up those who attach themselves to Me. When I am thus engaged in My beneficial task, how can My Name be ever tarnished, as you apprehend? I would advise you not to heed to such absurd talk. Mahatmas do not acquire greatness through someone calling them so; they do not become small just because some call them small.

Only those low ones who revel in opium but claim to be unexcelled yogis, only those who quote scriptural texts to justify their gourmandry and pride, only those who are dry-as-dust scholars exulting in their argumentative skill, are moved by praise and blame.

You must have read the life-stories of saints and divine personages. In those books, you should have also read of horrible falsehood and heinous imputations cast against them.This is the lot of Mahatmas, everywhere, and at all times. Why then do you take these things so much to heart? Have you not heard of dogs that howl at the stars? How long can they go on? Authenticity will soon win.

I will not give up My Mission nor My determination. I SHALL carry them out. I treat with equanimity the honour or dishonour that may result. Internally, I am totally unconcerned. I act, but solely in the outer world. If I talk and move about, it is entirely for the sake of the external world and for making people realise the advent of Divinity. Other than this, I have no concern with anything.

I do not belong to any place. I am not attached to any name. I have no 'Mine' or 'Thine'. I respond to whatever name you might use. I go wherever I am needed or called.

For Me, the world is something afar and apart. I act and move only for the sake of Mankind.

No one can comprehend My Glory, whosoever it may be, whatever be the method of enquiry, and no matter how long the attempt.
You will yourself see the full Glory unfolding in the coming years. Devotees must have patience and forbearance.

I am not concerned, nor am I anxious that these facts should be made known. I have no need to write these words. I wrote them because I felt that you will be pained if I do not reply.

Thus, yours, Baba.

As mentioned earlier, Baba wrote this letter to his older brother in the 1940s, in response to his concerns.

“I will give Ananda to the entire mankind and save them through that Ananda” - Baba

In one his lectures, Baba’s biographer, late Prof. N. Kasturi, said: “In the spiritual museum that they have in the college, there is a letter - a photostat of a letter - that Baba wrote to His elder brother when He was 21 years old. The date mentioned is 1947, when there was no post office in Puttaparthi. The nearest post office was five miles away. As you can see from the note paper, it talks of the Bukkapatanam post office and not the one at Puttaparthi or Prashanti Nilayam. It also has a picture of Baba as He appeared at that time.

“His elder brother was rather disappointed with Him because he had great hopes that he would pass His university examinations and get into some cushy job whereas He had given up His studies and was collecting people around Him, and was being lionized by all sorts of people. He thought that He had strayed away from the usual path of educated people in our country.

“So he wrote to Him a letter protesting against His behaviour. And this letter was in reply to that. In that message, because His elder brother was a Telegu pundit, Baba wanted to go one step over His elder brother and replied in poetry - His elder brother also reveled in poetry. And there you find Baba stating the purpose of His coming.

“He tells him, ‘You don’t understand Me. You cannot understand Me.’ And He continues, ‘Not only you, but the whole world, however they may try, whatever they may do, it’s not only today, for however long they may try, they cannot understand Me.

‘I have no name and I have no place which I must claim as My own. I don’t belong to Puttaparthi, I don’t belong to this place. I was not a native of this place or that.’

“He also says, Ye Perutho Pilachenanu Palakutunu (Telugu)- ‘I have no special name; call Me by any name, I will answer.’ Ye Uru Teskonipoinanu Podhumu - ‘Which ever place I am taken to, that is My place.’”

Prof. N. Kasturi goes on to say: “Imagine a young man of 20 saying He has no name! That He will answer to everywhere. And that whichever place you belong to now, that is His place, that every place is His. If we see the present and what it is becoming - the whole world is His arena.

“I am not your Sathya Narayana Raju” - Baba

“There is a poem in the letter that He had written in Telugu where He says:

I have got a purpose for which I have come; I have undertaken a great mission. I have resolved upon one thing which I will carry out. And that is, I will give Ananda to the entire mankind and save them through that Ananda.

“Now imagine this for a boy who has lived in Puttaparthi – somebody has described it as a village which is five minutes from the Stone Age – born in that rural locale, and in a very poor family. Baba did not have money to even purchase buttons for His shirts. He used to collect thorns from thorny plants – long ones – and use them to hold his shirt together, in place of buttons.

"Think of a boy born in such circumstances; studying up to what we call the fourth form (grade) and leaving this classes after two months, during his fifth form. I went to that school and inspected the admissions register and the furniture. And sat on that same bench in which He sat as a student. Think of a boy like that, in fourth form, two months and into fifth form, talking of mankind? He said, “I have come on a mission to give Ananda to entire mankind?’

“The next line in that poem goes like this: Those who stray away from the righteous path, from the path of dharma, I will hold them by the hand and save them; that is My vow. I have come on a mission that you can’t understand. I am not your brother; I am not your Sathya Narayana Raju whom you can say: ‘Why are you throwing away your books? Pass your B.A. degree examination and become an officer in the government.’ No! I have no name. I have no native place; I have come to give Ananda (bliss) to entire mankind. I have come to correct people from straying away from the straight path - wherever they may be, whoever they may be.

“And in the third line, He says: I have come to spread Love, Prema,by removing the great grief of people who are poor, distressed and downtrodden. I will remove their sorrow and give them what they lack. It may be material means or spiritual strength; whatever they lack, I will give.

“You can say Sai Baba is famous for this. Or that He will do this Or His greatness is this. But what is His greatness? What is it for which He says, ‘I can say that I am even proud?’

“The answer lies in His words that:

Whoever worships Me with niyama and nishta (discipline and sincerity) – the proper conditions, I will save them, I won’t give them up.’”

(To be continued)

- Heart2Heart Team

What are your impressions about this article? Please share your feedback by writing to h2h@radiosai.org. Do not forget to mention your name and country.