THE MIRACLES ARE MY VISITING
CARDS
Baba proclaims that His Miracles are His Visiting
Cards, to attract His devotees at the initial stage to come to Him. Initially
He wants to give them whatever they want from Him, but ultimately He wants to give
them, what He has come to give them - that is the Bliss (Ananda). This He is
doing out of His love for His devotees.
We mortal beings also play the same trick with our
children. When they attain the age of joining the school, most of the children
are reluctant to go to school. Parents lure them by telling them that if they
go to school, they will get a chocolate from the teacher. The chocolates have
been already handed over by the parents, to the teacher, to be given to their
children. Hence the child is lured and agrees to go school. But finally the
child learns to study in the school, which is the sole purpose of the parents -
to give education to their children.
Hence I would liken Baba’s Miracles to an act of
Compassion towards His devotees, rather than an act of winning the adoration of
many people and bringing them into His fold, as the critics believe. Baba is least bothered about His glory or the criticism, as He
declares that His Miracles are His natural and normal phenomena and are
produced out of His divine Sankalpa (Will).
Here it is what Swami Himself says about His materialisations : “Many of you are under the mistaken notion that all My
materialisations have worldly significance; it is a gross mistake; don’t think
like this. These (Materialisations) are ladders that shall enable you to ascend
to a bright and ideal future. So long as you are in possession of such sacred
objects, only pious thoughts will be generated in you.
Miracles are an innate part of Me.
I was with them. They are not acquired after birth through Yogic practices.
That is why Swami not only uses these powers freely but extensively over a very
wide range for the propagation of the objective for which He has incarnated
Himself on Earth. The Avatar is Omnipresent and Omnipotent.
Baba’s Miracles show clearly that He in not bound by Time, qualities, and
Nature. He is beyond everything. He is everything and everywhere, as the
indweller of the Heart. He is the Eternal Witness.
(Taken from “Sanathana Sarathi”, February,1998 issue, page:48, Article by Mata Betty, New Zealand).
Here, only a few of the many Miracles performed by
Bhagavan Baba are selected - only the most unique and astounding ones, which
only an Avatar can perform, are reproduced.
Author’s own experience with Bhagavan Baba :
n On one occasion, I lost my
temper and became so wild with my wife that I was full of remorse and regret
for the rest of the day. After two days there were Bhajans at my residence. While
I was performing the Aarati, (the gentle waving of the burning camphor in front
of the Lord) to the accompaniment of collective singing of a melodious verse
(invoking Him) the fifth wick (flame) stopped burning. (When I perform the
Aarathi, I light five wicks). I did not like this and was in a fix as to what
to do and started praying to Baba. Right at that moment the fourth wick, which
was burning straight until then suddenly stretched
itself sideways to light up the fifth wick. I felt immensely happy that Baba
had responded to my prayer instantaneously.
This experience gave me a sudden urge to go to
Puttaparthi, and be at the Lotus Feet of Bhagavan Baba. There was perhaps no
logical reason for this intense feeling. It was only an intuition and I did
act. I succeeded in getting a first-class ticket released from the V.I.P quota
and reached Prasanthi Nilayam, Puttaparthi on
On
n On another occasion, my
brother who was in
I started praying to Baba to help my brother in
getting their passports and visas back. To get duplicate
of these documents for Gulf countries is rather difficult. There was the danger
of my brother even losing his job. About a fortnight after this incident, a
miracle happened. Baba listened to my prayers and one day, when I went to see
my mother who stayed at Mahim, I received a registered packet addressed to my
brother, who had at that time gone to Colaba to visit our sister. On opening
it, I found the passports, visas, and the air journey return tickets, all
intact. My joy knew no bounds and I immediately rang up my brother at Colaba,
and Oh: with what inexplainable joy he received the news. “Oh, Baba,” I
thought, “how can I thank you for all this favour received from you. I can only say that you are Sarvaantaryami. (the indwellor in all; one, who is in everything)”.
n The third most astounding thing happened, on
After finishing with my friend, He told me, “Remove
the watch which you are wearing and keep it in your shirt pocket. As you are getting
old, I am going to give you another watch so that you value time”. He also
further added, “Live in present which is Omnipresent”. And the last and the
most important thing He asserted to me was, “Your business is slack, do not
think about money, but think of your mind”.
Suddenly Baba started getting up; neither he gave me the promised watch, nor another ring to my
friend. We two arose quickly, took Pada Namaskar and made our exit from the
inner interview room along with Him. There in the presence of all others, He
took the ring from my friend’s finger, showed it to everybody and then blew on
it; ‘Lo and Behold’, it turned out to be a beautiful gold ring with a picture
of Lord Krishna, but this time in His childhood posture of Bala Gopala.
Baba was talking with some other people also in the
interview room when suddenly, He looked at me and
asked me, “What do you want?” I replied, “Swami I want you”, to which He shook
his head in the negative and asked me to move closer to Him. He waved His hand
in a circular manner and there appeared in His Divine Hand a beautiful quartz
watch ‘Pierre Nicol’ automatic with day and date operation. He put the watch on
my wrist and I kept my head on His Lotus Feet and He blessed me. At that moment
I felt I was the happiest person at any time in my whole life and my joy knew
no bounds. Even if I had been honored with a gold medal from the President of
India, I would not have felt so happy. I cannot express my happiness in proper
words and I can only say that this too has to be experienced and realised. Here
it would be pertinent to refer to my very first interview when I asked Baba,
“Can you please materialise something and give it to me? And Baba had replied,
“Dega, Dega” (will give, will give). This He told me in November, 1981 and He
materialised the watch for me in March, 1993, after nearly 12 years. This
precious gift of Baba is really cherished by me and it protects me and enables
me to communicate with Him.
Experiences of many other people, to prove that Baba
is Divine:
n In the yesr 1960, the
There was no nuclear war in 1960. The super powers
are now engaged in nuclear disarmament. From this incident we can observe the
qualities of Varaha Avatar in our Swami, i.e., protection of the earth and
mankind.
We have also seen our Swami manifesting the jewels
like CHOODAMANI worn by Sita in Treta Yuga and also the jewel KOUSTHUBA adorned
by Lord Krishna. After showing to all of us, He used to demanifest them. It is
the Will of the Supreme. (The above matter is taken from the book, “Sai Supreme
Personality of Godhead”, by T.G.Krishna Moorthy)
n In the year 1996, during
Christmas celebrations at Puttaparthi, after the morning Darshan, in the
presence of fifty thousand people, Swami announced and said, “
Today, I am going to reproduce the miniature of the original Bible,
which the Russians had drowned in the
n Mrs. Jones was a very
staunch devotee of Baba, but her husband never believed in Baba and used to
refer Baba as, “Oh, that character”. However, the wife was able to convince her
husband to come to
On reaching Prasanthi Nilayam, Swami did not call
them for the interview during the morning Darshan. Both husband and wife were
relaxing on a bench in a garden and there was a bright sunshine. Suddenly Mr.
Jones shouts and tells his wife, “Look Irene, I can see the Rainbow”. During
the evening Darshan, Swami called them for the interview and in the inner room,
tapped the shoulder of the husband and told him, “Hellow that character, how
did you like my rainbow”. Mr. Jones had no words to speak. He silently fell at
His Lotus Feet.
n In one of the interviews granted by Swami, to
a few chosen devotees, one devotee challenged Swami and told Him, “I can believe
that you are God, if you can produce a live monkey, right here, in this room?”. Swami replied to him, “I can produce the monkey, but then
it would be your responsibility to look after it?”. The devotee
thought that it was impossible for Swami to produce a live monkey, so he agreed
to the proposal. Swami waved His hand, and there came the monkey, from the
wall, moving and jumping : Swami held the monkey in
His lap and then passed it on to the devotee, to be taken care of. The devotee
was in a dilemma as he was a foreigner, and would not know what to do, in such circumstances. He profusely repented and
begged for Swami’s pardon, for doubting His Divinity, and Swami out of His compassion, waved His hand again and the monkey disappeared,
as if it was never there. (This was narrated to the author by a very close
devotee of Swami, whose information could be taken as authentic).
n One of the Swami’s student who had joined the school recently,
and was not very certain about Swami’s Divinity, used to smoke cigarettes
secretly, in the remote corner of the hostel. Once Swami called him and asked
him, “Do you smoke?” . He replied in the negative.
Swami showed him in the Palm of His
Hand, and he could see like in a movie the entire scene, how he is moving out
of the hostel room, going to secluded place, taking out a cigarette packet from
his pocket, lighting a cigarette with a match stick, and enjoying a smoke to
his heart’s content. Swami did not have to mention anything to him. The whole
scene became the reality. You can imagine the plight of the boy. But Swami, forgave him, with a reprimand, not to do it again.
n In the year 1973, Dr. John S. Hislop, along
with some other devotees, was moving with Swami, in Bandipur Game Sanctuary in
“Well, Swami it is cross”, Hislop answered. Baba
then closed His fingers over the twigs and directed three some what slow
breaths into His fist, between the thumb and forefinger. Then, He opened His
hand to reveal a Christ figure crucified on a Cross, and He gave it to Hislop.
He said, “This shows Christ as he really was at the time when He left His body,
not as artists have imagined Him or as historians have told about Him. His
stomach is pulled in and His ribs are all showing. He had no food for 8 days”.
Hislop looked at the Crucifix, but found no words.
Then Baba continued, “The wood in the cross is from the actual Cross on which
Christ was crucified. To find some of the wood after 2000 years took a little
time; the image is of Christ after He died. It is a dead face”. Hislop noticed
some thing odd and asked, “Swami what is that hole at top of the Cross?” Baba
replied that the Cross had been originally hung from a standard.
(Taken from the book “My Baba And
I” by John S. Hislop). In America, a video cassette entitled, ‘An Aura of
Divinity’, has been produced by Richard
Bock showing Hislop holding the Cross, materialised by Baba, in his hand, and
giving the above commentary.
n Professor Krishna Nandan Sinha has given a
vivid experience of his wife Malti at Prasanthi Nilayam, in his book, ‘Sri
Sathya Sai Baba, Absolute Sole Lord of Life and Death’.
Malti Sinha, wife of Krishna Nandan Sinha was at
Prasanthi Nilayam during the birthday celebrations of Bhagavan Baba. After the
Darshan, she along with her friend Prema, daughter of Sri Atri were walking in
a leisurely fashion on the streets of the Nilayam and were talking
intimately about their experiences about Swami and comparing notes, suddenly
there was commotion on the street and among the passerbys, the red sleek
imported car of Swami was seen coming out of the Ashram gate - the reason for
people lining up on both sides of the street. The car moved slowly amidst the
assembled devotees and moved in the direction of Gokulam. The activity in the
narrow and congested street continued as before and both the ladies proceeded
towards a photo shop, still animated by having a close view of Swami.
After purchasing Swami’s photographs, they were
returning to the Ashram, walking slowly, still in their conversation when Prema
said, “Look, Swami’s car is returning. Let us line up and stand on the
pavement”.
Driven by a strange inner impulse Malti whispered,
“I wish Swami’s car ran me down and trampled me so that every particle of my
flesh and bone and each drop of my blood flies to Him and scatters over the
Lotus Feet, a real consummation of my desire:” . Suddenly a strange thing
happened. The car came very fast and
there was grating noise of the clutch and the brake. The car stopped just a
yard from the place where Malti was standing. The passerbys were all surprised
and clustered around the car. Swami opened the door of the car and beckoned to
her. Malti drew near Him in a nervous and apprehensive frame of mind.
Swami smiled affably and asked her, “Shall I ask the
driver to run you over and trample you down so that every portion of your flesh
and bone and each drop of your blood flies to me and pour over my feet like a
sacred fountain?”. At that moment there was not a
single drachma of blood within Malti that did not tremble, as she recognised
the token of Divine love. But she hardly had courage enough to look at Him full
in the face or bend down to touch His Lotus Feet. It was Swami Himself who
directed her with a gesture of His hand to touch His Feet. He was looking at
her tenderly as the car moved slowly in the direction of the Ashram gate.
(Taken from the book ‘Sri Sathya Sai Baba, Absolute
Sole Lord of Life and Death’ by Krishna Nandan Sinha)
n In 1993 between Dassera and Diwali, a unique
Leela came to
light. A group of Sai devotees from
(A) Lord
Krishna says in the Gita, “I give you the Divine eye, Behold you
Arjuna, My Real Nature”. Similarly Sai Krishna, too, selected a few of
us for this most blessed and Divine Darshan. As soon as we reached the bank of
the Chitravathi, Swami told us to look steadily at the spot where the
tamarind tree stood. Within a split second, He disappeared from our midst, and
we saw a streak of yellow light moving fast like lighting in a wave: Then we
heard His voice from yonder, as though from a mike, “Kanapadu thunnana?”, meaning “Am I
visible?” Soon, we saw a powerful light - so powerful and large that I
can not compare it with any of the lights visible on earth. We named that sight
‘Jyothi Darshanam’. This Jyothi was seen
even by some devotees travelling on bullock cart, from Bukkapatnam to
Puttaparthi. Some time Swami used to refer to that single Jyothi Darshan as
that of His third eye (Nethra Darshan or Hrudaya Darshan)
(B) Ms. M.L.
Leela writes in her book ‘ Lokanatha Sai’ about her
own experience. “In June,1971, I was expecting my
promotion as professor. I learnt from the newspaper that my junior had been
promoted. I was shocked. How can such a irregularity
creep in, even in Government service? When I traced the source of this manoeuver,
I found to my great shock and surprise that the recommending authority had
omitted my name from the list. The reason was my inability to leave
I had none else other than my Swami, Sri Sathaya
Sai. I rushed to His abode. As soon as He saw me in tears while prostrating at His
Holy Feet even without listening to my petition, He said, “ Go back to
n One evening
, Swami Sadananda was seated with Bhagavan Baba at the bungalow in
Kodaikanal. Leaning on his bed, Baba was in conversation with Sadananda. All of
a sudden He stood up and shouted, “Don’t shoot” and
then He fell down unconscious. Baba’s body became chill and stiff. He left His
mortal body and wandered somewhere. After He woke up, Baba instructed a
telegram to be sent to
Subsequent to the partition of the states of the
country, the sub-ordinates of this officer were promoted to a higher rank
leaving him behind. Frustrated at this and humiliated, the officer had decided
to commit suicide. His wife and children were sent away to his in-law’s place.
He decided to shoot himself. It was exactly at this juncture, Baba at
Kodaikanal had shouted, “Don’t shoot”.
At
The officer then bolted the door from within and
tried to reach out for the revolver. To his dismay, it was not found at the
place were he had kept it. His search of the entire house proved to be in vain.
He could not locate the revolver. He ran up to the house of the common friend
to whose house his guest had gone. To his total surprise, he came to learn that
his guests had not come there. Utterly disgusted and dismayed, he returned to
the house.
He heard the knock again on the door. There was the
postman waiting to deliver the telegram from Baba, containing the message,
“Don’t worry, the instrument is with Me”. Only then
could he realise that it was Baba who had taken the form of his friend, wife
and servant to dissuade him from the suicidal attempt. Who else could have
enacted such a drama to save a devotee?
(Taken from the book ‘Satyam, Sivam and Sundaram’ by N.Kasturi).
WITH THIS INCIDENT BHAGAVAN PROVES HIS 16TH
KALA OF BEING OMNISCIENT, OMNIPOTENT AND OMNIPRESENT, BY MULTIPLYING HIMSELF
AND TAKING THREE DIFFERENT FORMS AT THE SAME TIME, AS LORD
n Sai Baba, who incarnated as Lord Krishna,
explained to an assembly of students some of the mystical significance of the
latter’s acts and insignia and recalls Sri Krishna’s three pledges to humanity:
to incarnate from age to age for Dharma’s sake; to bear the burden of peace and
prosperity to Bhaktas who surrender to Him; and to save and liberate them.
Swami calls the present generation fortunate to have
Swami manifested the Lingobhava Time-Space
Embodiment in the shape of an egg, before the assembled audience at the
Purnachandra Auditorium on Sivarathri in 1974. The audience had passed the
night in Namasmarana or repetition of the name. Baba tells them that, out of
the world’s millions, only they have come, remained through the night and
witnessed the holy manifestation. He tells them no greater fortune can befall
on man. Thereby they have earned the merit enormous enough to win liberation -
total freedom from the cycle of birth and death. He exhorts them to live thereafter
as befits the recipients of this rare Grace.
(Extracts taken from the
book ‘The Essential Sai’ by Sainet Editorial Committee Vancouver, Canada,
Nov.23, 1995).
n Mata Betty of
(Matter taken from the book ‘Sathya Sai Baba And The Universal Reality of Mankind’ by Mata Betty).
n Once when Sai Baba was on His way to
During one of His trips, Sai Baba was walking on the
Seashore at the southern most tip of
Sai Baba’s loving response to the distress call (in
the form of a heart-felt prayer) of a couple who were His devotees, from Paris,
made the wallet containing lost traveller’s cheques reappear by themselves in
the lady’s purse next morning.
(Abstracts taken from the book ‘Sai Baba, The Souce Of Light, Love And Bliss’ by Kailash Kumar and Jorgen
Hovgaard).
n A Catholic Priest, Don
Mario Mazzoleni, narrated an incident witnessed by him at Puttaparthi. He
writes, “In August of 1988, Sai Baba had an “accident” .
I happened to be at Prasanthi Nilayam at that time. The Avatar slipped on a
piece of soap in the bathroom and fell, breaking His thigh bone. For several
days He did not come out, and He was not giving Darshan, but one day, August
26, He came to the Purnachandra Hall, and gave a discourse for the Holy Day of
Onam. The faith of many people was shaken by the “accident” of Swami’s. They did not understand it
was a test and also a lesson through which Baba demonstrated how we should
behave when we are in pain. Here is an excerpt from the discourse, which He gave standing, for an hour and a quarter, with no signs of
being tired, without a single grimace of pain:
“Swami’s capacity of control and endurance can’t easily be
understood; only doctors and those who have suffered a similar fracture know
something of it. I was directed to rest for 4 weeks. But I do not know what
rest is, I do not feel the need for it. I have My duty
to fulfil. Many people have written to Me to say that
I should have cured Myself immediately of this tiresome fracture. But no, there
is no need. They are little things which can happen occasionally. I am not
sick. It is almost impossible for Me to stand, the
pain is so unbearable… but I smile about it, and this is the sign of My
Divinity. Some devotees pray and think that Swami could heal Himself in a
moment. Even though this is possible, Swami is not a person affected by egoism.
When someone is wounded or sick, I do not heal him immediately. Everything has its time…it is
necessary to suffer, until the proper moment arrives. Nonetheless it is
possible to develop the power to divert the mind in order to control the pain
and not to allow oneself to be overcome by problems
and difficulties….Why should I worry about this body? This body is not Mine, it belongs to you and I do not want to interfere. Your
bodies, on the other hand, are Mine and if they cause you troubles, I take care
of it.. Nothing can make Me
suffer, nothing can harm Me”. (Taken from the book ‘A Catholic Priest Meets Sai
Baba’ by Don Mario Muzzoleni ).
n Dr. S.Bhagwantham, a
renowned Nuclear Physicist, and Advisor to the Ministry of Defence, Government
of India, also narrates his unique experiences with
Sathya Sai Baba. He says :
“I have a background of science. How I reconcile
this with what Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba does is a question which has
troubled me much. I will relate a few things, which I hope will furnish some
kind of answer to it. It is only my personal experience…
I have seen miracles performed by Baba, perhaps in
thousands, and my long association with Him has brought me to a position where
I do not attach much importance to miracles. Let me return to the fact that I
am a scientist, and have a rational way of thinking. This incident which I will
narrate to you relate to several years ago, when I was very proud to be a
scientist. It was just by chance that I came in contact with Baba. Somebody
told me that He is a Divine person. I must caution here, scientists think that
science means learning a discipline such as Physics or Chemistry and that
anything else is not worth heeding. This showed a closed mind which is very
contrary to what science teaches. Science teaches that you should not have
prejudice, that you should not come to the judgment before you apply your own mind to decide
something. Unfortunately, many people who are half-learned,
come to a judgment either by using some logic or by using somebody else’s
experience. This is very unscientific. There were only a hundred people with
Baba one evening and He said, “Shall we go for a walk?” And we walked down to
Chitravati river adjoining His Ashram…
We sat down on the sand. He started provoking me
saying that all scientists are atheists, and all scientists want everything to
be demonstrated before they can believe it. They ask, “Is there God?” They want
to see God. They cannot see God, they say there is no
God. Unless they see something they do not believe it. And you are also like
that. Don’t you believe in God? Don’t you believe in Divinity? Don’t you
believe in our tradition and scriptures? I told Him, “Baba, one does not have
to learn anything to become an atheist. There are many people who are ignorant,
who are not learned and who do not believe in God. There are many who are
learned and the more learned you get, the more unbelieving you become. Many
people believe in God. So learning science, or learning anything has nothing to
do with believing in God. I come from a family of good tradition. My father and
grandfather were all Sanskritists; they believed in God. ; yet
on account of modern trend I have learnt science to earn a living. Although I
cannot say that I am very religious, you should not conclude that I do not
believe in God.
I narrated the story of a distinguished American
Scientist, Oppenheimer, known as the father of the Atomic Bomb. I told Him that
when the first nuclear explosion occurred, Oppenheimer was asked what he
thought of the nuclear explosion and it is on record that Oppenheimer quoted a
verse from the Bhagavad Gita. He said that the brilliance of such an act can
only be described in the language used by Arjuna when he had the manifestation
of the Lord. Arjuna described it by saying that the brightness is as if there
were one thousand Suns shining in the sky.
I said, “If an American can quote an Indian text at
the height of his scientific experiment, why do you think I, an Indian of a
traditional family, do not respect Indian tradition and texts?”
I narrate this to show that the conversation had
been led by me, that the Gita was brought into conversation by me. Then He
said, “Oh, I see, so you believe in the Bhagavad Gita? And you a scientist,
respect the Bhagavad Gita, read the Bhagavad Gita ?”
Again, the rational in me asserted itself, and I
said, “Of course I respect, of course I read it, but I will read only if I want
to”.
There were a hundred people sitting there and He
lifted a handful of sand with both hands and asked me to stretch out my hand
and put out the sand into my hands and under my very eyes it turned into a
small text of Bhagavad Gita. You can see the sequence of event that I chose the
place, I say that because it could have happened that some one planted the
Bhagavad Gita in the sands. I brought in the conversation of Bhagavad Gita.
The rational in me said if it is a printed text, it
must be printed in some press. Immediately I asked Baba, “You said that it is a
printed text of Bhagavad Gita, where has it been printed?” I said in the hope
that I would be creating a small problem for Him. The man who was greatly
disturbed was myself and the one who was completely
undisturbed and was enjoying the conversation was Baba. He smiled and said, “ Yes, it has been printed in the Sai Press” . Well
Bhagavatam, I would like to know what science has got to say about it. In fact,
it can’t say anything about what has happened… this went on year after year.
One day we were sitting
on the
The people present wanted to see how He was going to
get the diamonds from the ocean. “Oh, Yes” He said, in His Leela, in a childish
way and took a handful water from the ocean, and the water became a beautiful
little diamond necklace in His hand. He showed it to me and said, “What shall
we do with it?”
Even then I could see that the production of the
necklace itself was pretty difficult. When he asked what should be done with
it, I noticed that the necklace was a small one and as He had a big head. I
thought I should ask Him to wear it. Then He said, “Oh: I see, I should wear
it”. Then He held the necklace tight in His hand; it became a bigger necklace
and He put it around His head and looked at me and said, “Well I have worn it”.
I can relate several such incidents at the end of
which He was generous enough to recognise that I have this conflict in me of
trying to reconcile two opposing point of views. This went on for three years,
and at the end of three years, at a public meeting at
(All the above incidents are narrated by Shri. S.
Bhagavatham and taken from the book ‘Lord of Miracles! Sai
Baba and His Message’ by Satya Pal Rusida and Duane Robinson).
Bringing Dead
Persons to Life
n The resurrection of
Radhakrishna, a
factory owner of Kappam, Andhra Pradesh, resembles very closely to the
resurrection of Lazarus by Jesus Christ. Howard Murphet describes the incident
vividly, exactly as it happened. He had researched on it and found it fully
authentic. In the words of Howard Murphet: One evening Radhakrishna went into a
coma and his breathing was that of a dying man. Alarmed, the wife dashed off to
see Swami. The latter came to the room, looked at the patient, and said, “Don’t
worry, everything will be all right”, and left. On the next day, the patient
was still unconscious, Hemchand, his son-in-law, brought a male nurse of the
district to examine the patient. The nurse gave his opinion that Radhakrishna
was so near death that there was no possibility of saving him. An hour later
the patient became very cold. The three anxious relatives heard what they
thought was the death rattle in his throat and watched him turning blue and
stiff. Vijaya and her mother went to see Baba who was at that time upstairs in
his dining room. When they told Him that Radhakrishna seemed to be dead, He laughed and walked away to His
bedroom. Vijaya and
her mother returned to the room of the ‘dead’ man and waited. After a while,
Swami came in and looked at the body, but went away without saying or doing
anything.
That was the evening of the second day since Mr.
Radhakrishna had become unconscious. The whole of the next night passed, while
the three stayed awake and anxiously watched for any signs of returning life,
there were no signs. Yet they still had faith that Baba would somehow or
the other, in His own way, save Radhakrishna, for had He not said that everything
would be all right? On the morning of the third day the body was more than ever
like a corpse - dark, cold, quite stiff and beginning to smell. Other people
who came to see and sympathise told Mrs. Radhakrishna that she should have the
corpse removed from the Ashram. But she replied, “Not unless Swami orders it”.
Some even went to Baba and suggested that, as the man was dead and the body
smelling of decomposition, it should be either sent back to Cuppam or cremated
at Puttaparthi. Swami simply replied, “We’ll see”.
When Mrs. Radhakrishna went upstairs again to tell
Baba what people were saying and asked Him what she should do, He answered, “Do
not listen to them, and have no fear. I am here”. Then He said that He would
come down to see her husband soon.
She went down again and waited, with her daughter
and son-in-law by the body. The minutes dragged by - an hour passed - but Swami
did not come. Then, when they were beginning to despair entirely, the door opened,
and there stood Baba in His red robe, copious hair and shining smile. It was
then about half-past-two in the afternoon of the third day. Mrs. Radhakrishna
went towards Baba and burst into tears. Vijaya too began to cry. They were like
Martha and Marry, the sisters of Lazarus, weeping before the Lord who, they
thought, had come too late.
Baba gently asked the tearful women and sorrowful
Hemchand to leave the room. As they left, He closed the door behind them. They
do not know - no man knows - what happened in that room where there were only
Swami and the ‘dead’ man.
But after a few minutes Baba opened the door and
beckoned the waiting ones in. There, on the bed Radhakrishna was looking up at
them and smiling. Amazingly the stiffness of death had vanished and his natural
colour was returning. Baba went over, stroked the patient’s head and said to
him, “Talk to them, they’re worried”.
“Why worried?” asked Radhakrishna puzzled, “I’m all
right. You are here”.
Swami turned to the wife, “I have given your husband
to you”, He said. “Now get him a hot drink”.
When she brought it Swami Himself fed it to
Radhakrishna slowly with a spoon. For another half-an-hour He remained there,
strengthening the man He had raised. Then He blessed the whole family, placing
His hand on Mrs. Radhakrishna’s head, and left the room.
When I spoke to Radhakrishna himself about the experience, I asked him if
he had any memories at all of the time he was unconscious and to all appearing
dead. He replied, “No, when I became conscious again I thought at first that it
was the same day. Later they told me it had been three days I was unconscious,
that I was dead and actually starting to stink. But Swami can do anything He
wishes. He is God”.
(Taken from the book ‘Sai Baba: The Man Of Miracles’, by Howard Murphet).
n Resurrection of Walter
Cowan, an American, on the Christmas day of 1971 is perhaps the most dramatic,
unique and authentic event that reveals the Godlike power of Sai Baba. Elsie
Cowan, the wife of Walter Cowan, records :
We have come back from
Jack Hislop’s Account of this event
:
Dear Elsie Cowan; this is a letter in response to
your request that I say what I know about your husband’s experience in India,
while you were there in December of 1971 and January of 1972. My name is Jack
Hislop. I live in
As I recall, Walter and you arrived in
On the morning of the 25th December, news
quietly spread that an elderly American had a fatal attack of what was thought
to be a heart trouble and had passed away. Upon hearing the rumour my wife and
I at once went to your hotel. You confirmed the news, and told us how the
attack had felled Walter in the hotel room. You had prayed to Sathya Sai Baba
for help at this trying moment of your life, but with great self-control and
recollection of human mortality, you had ended your prayer with ‘Let God’s will
be done’, you at once remembered that Mr & Mrs. Ratanlal were staying in a
room almost next door to yours and you called her. Mrs. Ratanlal came
immediately. With her help, you summoned a room boy and Walter was lifted from
the floor to the bed. Mr. Ratanlal joined you in your prayer, for it was soon
evident to you that Walter had indeed passed away from the body. Someone called
for the ambulance to take Walter to the hospital, but it was your experience
that Walter had died in your arms, soon after having been lifted from the floor
to the bed, and you were so exhausted that you could not accompany the then lifeless
body into the ambulance. These events had taken place in the early morning
hours of 25 December. But at
At
To clarify this point, at my request, Judge Damodar
Rao of
The doctor said that there was no sign of life; that
he pronounced “Walter as dead; that Walter’s ear and nose were stuffed with
cotton, that Walter was covered with a sheet and sent into an empty room.
The doctor then left the hospital on some
professional duty, and had missed seeing Baba when He was at the hospital. The
doctor arrived back at the hospital after Baba had left. When the doctor
returned to the hospital, Walter was alive. The doctor found himself
unable to explain the situation. It seemed worthwhile to me to make an
investigation for medical verification on Walter’s death, because such
verification might be a factor of interest to people who had never seen Sathya
Sai Baba, and who might have a very limited knowledge of Him. But, medical
testimony is not a factor of any importance to devotees of Baba. To His
devotees, what he said about Mr. Cowan was the truth of the matter.
I saw Baba at His place of residence after He had
returned from hospital. He told me and others within hearing that Walter Cowan
had died and the hospital had stuffed his ears and nose with cotton, and
covered him with a sheet, and put the body in the closed room. Baba said that
He had brought Walter back to life. I did not enquire of Baba as to how He had
brought Walter back to life or reasons for doing so nor,
to the best of my knowledge, did anyone else. This is a mystery that Baba has
not as yet chosen to explain.
There was a later occurrence of great interest to
me. A day later, on 26th December, Appa and I accompanied Baba to
the home of a devotee. From there, He went to a meeting of the lady members of
Nagara Sai Samithi where Baba was to give award and speak. Appa and I were
sitting on the platform just a few feet away from Baba and were able to observe
Him closely. He made the award and gave a spiritual discourse, all without any
break or any moment of hesitation. From the meeting, we were to go to the home
of another devotee for lunch.
As soon as we got in the car, Baba turned to us and
said, “While I was talking in the meeting, Mrs. Cowan called Me.
I went to the hospital at once and did what was necessary. Mr. Cowan’s health
had taken a turn for the worse”. So even while busy on the speaker’s platform,
Baba had gone to the hospital and had done what was necessary. But, to the eyes
of Shri Appa and myself, Baba had continued in action
and speech on the platform for the whole time there, without any break or
hesitation whatsoever. How does one explain this mystery? When we arrived at
the devotees house for lunch, Baba turned to us and
said, “You will not be able to join me for lunch. Take this Vibhuti to the
hospital and give Mr. Cowan some in the mouth and rub the rest on the forehead
and the chest. If you walk to the corner over there you will find Mrs. Hislop
there in a taxi. She will take you to the hospital”.
Now the fact was that my wife had been following
Baba in a taxi. However, she had taken great pains to stay out of sight, but
her efforts were to no avail. As usual Baba knew everything. When we reached
the hospital with the Vibhuti, Mrs. Cowan said, “Walter took a very bad turn
just a little while ago. I thought he was dead, and I was terrified. I at once
called Baba in a loud tone of voice. Now, Walter seems a little improved. When
I called Baba I felt His presence at once, by saying this Elsie, you independently
corroborated Baba’s statement in the car, to Shri Appa and myself.
A week or so later, I was speaking with Baba at
Prasanthi Nilayam. Walter and you were still in
Baba did visit Mr. Cowan and visited him a second
time few days later. Then Baba told you that Mr. Cowan was strong enough to
make the fifteen-mile drive to Whitefield each morning, and that he was to
return to the hotel at
Dr. Gyaneshwaran had Walter’s medical history, with
its specific laboratory tests, showing severe diabetes of long standing and
various other diseased conditions. After assuming his
responsibility as your
The extraordinary fact seems to be that the total
organism that was Mr. Walter Cowan, died, the only entity that returned to life
was Walter himself. Walter’s various diseases died with him, but the diseases
were not reborn - only Walter was reborn. A most marvelous inscrutable event
was it not? All of the foregoing does not, of course, imply that Walter’s
physical body has become immortal. Of course, he has had some bad days. At
times, he has become over tired, and at another times,
has suffered perhaps because of an injudicious meal. After all, it is not a
teenaged body; it is an aged body, but nevertheless, a great miracle really
happened.
Walter is alive again, free of disease and filled
with enthusiasm to tell people of the Divine presence of Sri Sathya Sai Baba…
Thus, Walter had a most extraordinary experience in
December, 1971 and January, 1972. Both of you know directly the Divine Grace of
Sri Sathya Sai Baba.
Sd : John Hislop
Walter Cowan’s Account of his Resurrection
:
While in Connemara Hotel in
Baba took me to very large hall where there were
hundreds of people miling around. It was the hall where all the records of my
lives were kept. Baba and I stood before the court of justice. The one incharge
knew Baba very well and he asked for the records of all my lives. He was very
nice and kind, and I had the feeling that whatever was
decided would be the best for my soul.
The records were brought into the hall - armloads of
scrolls - and all of them seemed to be in different languages. As they were
read, Baba interpreted them. In the beginning they told me of countries that
have not existed for thousands of years and I could not recall them. When they
reached King David, the reading of my life became more exciting. I could hardly
believe how great I apparently was in each life that followed. As they
continued reading my lives, it seemed that what really counted was my motives
and character, as I stood for outstanding peace and spirituality. I did not
remember all the names, but I am included in almost all the history books of
the world from the beginning of time. As I incarnated in different countries, I
carried out my mission - which was peace and spirituality.
After about two hours, they finished reading the
scrolls, and the Lord, Sai Baba said that I had not completed the work that I
was born to do, and he asked the judge that I be turned over to Him to complete
my mission of spreading the truth and He requested that my soul be returned to
my body under
Baba’s grace. The judge said, “So be it”. The case was dismissed and I left
with Baba to return to my body. I hesitated to leave this wonderful bliss but I
knew it was best to complete my mission so that I could merge with the Lord,
Sai Baba.
I related the story to Elsie at once, and she
recorded it. I also talked it over with Baba and he said it was not my
imagination - it was a true experience. My life goes on now under the grace of
Sai Baba whom I adore and to whom I owe my life.
Sd : Walter R. Cowan
(Taken from the book ‘Sai Baba, the Rose Fire Of Heaven’ by Krishna Nandan Sinha)
n In the early days Swami used to go to
But before He had His present car, Swami had an old
Chevrolet Station Wagon.
He used to drive one of the cars Himself. When He
would go to
One time He went to
Swami came to the door and knocked. The hostess
answered, saw Swami standing there, and exclaimed, “Oh, Swami, Swami, I’m so
happy to see you. But Swami you did not tell me you were coming,
and I don’t have anything to welcome you with. I don’t have flowers or fruit. I
don’t have anything”. The poor lady was quite distraught. So Swami said, “Don’t
worry, don’t worry”. Then he turned around and
beckoned at the car.
Out of the car came two angels with wings, carrying
a big silver tray, loaded with fruit and flowers and everything the hostess
would need to welcome Swami. The angels brought this tray up to the house and
gave it to the hostess. Then Swami turned to the angels and waved them back to
the car. They floated back to the car folded their wings, got in the car, and
disappeared.
(Matter taken from the book ‘Seeking Divinity’, by
Dr. John S. Hislop, published by Sri Sathya Sai Publication Trust)
Well, that much for Baba’s Miracles. I would say
that this is only a tip of an iceberg. If the entire sky would turn into the
paper and all the water of all the oceans of the world became ink, and the
whole Earth appeared as a fountain pen, still I would not be able to write and
complete all the miracles, performed by Bhagavan Baba so far.
In the next chapter, the author will deal with
BABA’S CRITICS.