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Posted on: Apr 04, 2015

THE THRILL OF LIVING WITH THE LOVING MASTER

Dr. K. Anil Kumar

An alumnus of Bhagawan's University, Dr. K. Anil Kumar came to Swami as early as 1971 when he was just six years old. He joined the Sri Sathya Sai College of Arts, Science and Commerce in 1979 for his 11th grade. Thereafter he did his Bachelors in Sciences in the Brindavan Campus of the Institute. He then moved to Prasanthi Nilayam to do his Masters in Sciences which he completed in 1986. After this, Bhagawan permitted Him to pursue Ph. D in His presence. Once he completed his doctorate in chemistry in 1991 Swami gave him the opportunity of serving as a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning. For nearly two decades he taught and mentored the students, and in 2011 he moved to the city of Pune in the State of Maharashtra, India where he currently heads the Tata Chemicals Innovation Centre.

In 1996 Dr. Anil Kumar was conferred the Young Scientist Award by the All India Council for Technical Education, Government of India, for excellence in academic teaching and praiseworthy research work. Throughout his stay at Swami's lotus feet he was a leading member of the Prasanthi Vedam Group, and had the opportunity of innumerable personal interactions with Bhagawan on matters mundane to divine.

Presented below is the edited transcript of a 'Fleeting Moments Lasting Memories' conversation with him in February 2015.

 

Part 01

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At the very outset I place my humble, loving and grateful pranams at Bhagawan's lotus feet for giving me this opportunity to recapitulate His glory. But for Him we are nothing. I also thank Radio Sai for giving me this wonderful chance.

Everything I am is because of His grace, and it's not just me. Every individual who has come to Him has been shaped by Him in various ways; He has given us confidence in forms we desire as well as not desire.

The Divine Sculptor Does Not Allow Even a Single Rough Edge

I am saying this because when I look back, during the seven years of my student life the only department in the hostel I did not enter was the kitchen. I used to be a part of every other self-reliance division, whether it was maintenance or gardening. More so when I was in Brindavan (Bangalore college) where I was deeply involved in all the activities of the hostel. When I joined as a lecturer in 1991 I was told “You're being appointed as a lecturer so that you can take care of the hostel kitchen.” Swami, The Divine Master that He is, ensured that I got into even that aspect of training.

The Lord has heard every prayer, said and unsaid, of Dr. K. Anil Kumar's heart

Same is the case with my specialisation in Chemistry. I was absolutely comfortable with Maths. Of all the three subjects, namely Physics, Chemistry and Maths I was very weak in Chemistry. I never expected to take Chemistry as my specialisation. We were then studying under Bangalore University and that year we were to move to Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning (as now Swami had His own university which started in 1981). I had to now write an entrance test to join for my Masters in Sciences in Bhagawan's university. I was eligible to apply for any of the three subjects.

I kept praying to Swami at Brindavan for guidance as to which subject I should choose, and that was the year (1984) when 'Trayee Brindavan' building was inaugurated. So we were actually busy with many related activities in this new abode of Swami like arranging flower pots, shifting furniture and so on. In between we had to send the application forms to Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning for entry into M. Sc. But before I could do this I needed to know about my subject selection. I tried asking Swami many times; He always made a light matter of my question and never gave a straight answer. Sometimes He would even say, “Why do you require M.Sc.?” and mischievously walk away.

However I continued to pray. Finally on the night before the deadline Swami came in my dream and said, “You take M.Sc. Chemistry”. Next morning I filled up the form. Still, I had doubts. Sometimes we wonder if our dreams are true. So I thought “If Swami comes and blesses this form, that's an indication that it was He who told me in my dream.”

So I went for darshan and stood there waiting for Him. When Swami emerged, He came straight to me and gently touched the application form. Not only this, He said, “Pampicchu (Send it across).” In fact I was the last one from Brindavan to send my papers to Puttaparthi.

Again there was a lesson here too. Swami made me take up the subject I was most dreadful at and amazingly made me excel in it. He has been that kind of a Loving Master, whether at a worldly level or in spiritual matters.

The Eloquently Silent and Silently Eloquent Universal Principle

The Dakshinamurti Tattwa of Lord Shiva (Universal Teacher aspect of Lord Shiva) is:

Vishwam Darpana Drishya Maana Nagari Tulyam Nijaantargatam

Pashyan Aatmani Maayayaa Bahiriva Udbhuutam Yathaa Nidrayaa,

Yas Saakshaat Kurute Prabodha-samaye Svaatmaanameva Advayam,

Tasmai Srigurumurtaye Nama Idam Sridakshinamurtaye.

Lord Dakshinamurthy on the facade of Sri Sathya Sai Higher Secondary School, Prasanthi Nilayam

He is the One who teaches through silence and because we did not understand silence the same Dakshinamurti became eloquent and articulative. He is the One who finally makes us understand that the Vishwam or cosmos is only a darpanam or a mirror of what we perceive. He makes us realise the final aspect of what we are born for and what our ultimate goal and path should be.

The experiences that Bhagawan has given are so manifold. His glory is so difficult to recapture in just a few lines. The Vedas, in the Maha Narayana Upanishad, say Ambhasya Paare Bhuvanasya Madhye Naakasya Prushthe Mahatomaheeyan.

Ambhasya Paare means, 'the end of the ocean', Bhuvanasya Madhye is the centre of the Universe and Naakasya Prusthe is 'the end of the sky'.

Can we really fathom the end of the sky? Or can we identify the centre of the universe? Can we decipher the mightiness of the vast ocean? That is how mysterious is the glory of the divine. When we come to Swami we realise this! These would have been only statements we had heard had we not experienced Him. Now we know that every bit of what is said is 100% true.

We really can't recapitulate the myriad experiences and the messages that Swami has given to each one of us. In fact I feel many times I have missed a lot of the lessons that He was giving me at a physical level because I wasn't ready for understanding them.

I know for sure Swami has been constantly trying to give these teachings to me just like He has been doing to each one of us. Few of them we capture as a message if He directly tells us because that is our level of growth. Our interaction with Bhagawan is like that of a devotee with God or a child with the mother, and this is indeed Bhagavatam.

In fact the reason the Srimad Bhagavatam is a wonderful text is that it not only talks about the love of God for man but also of the love of man for God. It talks about not only the relationship between man and God, but also about how it is only God and God alone who can interact with every being on earth, be it a being at the lowest level of consciousness to the being who is at the highest and most purest form of consciousness.

The story of Gajendra Moksham is an example. Gajendra is an elephant. Compare this with Lord Brahma who had come to test Krishna, again in the Bhagavatam. What does the Bhagavatam show you? That God understands the prayer and has a relationship with every being right from the elephant to Brahma, Indra, Gopis and Uddhava. This means He interacts with both literate and illiterate, men and women, and people of every kind of mental state or development of consciousness. Only such a one is God.

Hanuman was proficient in all the 64 types of knowledge. He was the direct disciple of the Sun God. Only Rama could interact with Hanuman, the vanaras (monkeys), the bird Jatayu, the squirrel and a tribal like Guha on the one hand, and sages like Vasishta on the other hand. That's the beauty.

- Radio Sai Team

 

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