Bhagawan – The Master Planner…

Saturday, June 9th, 2012

One has to agree sans any argument, any reservation, that God is the Master Planner and He alone guides every individual, powered by His potent Will. Quite often, myopic human eyes fail to perceive the ways of The Lord. He invariably guides everyone with a Divine Fore Vision, clearing the road ahead for His devotee, getting him or her ready for the journey ahead, that in the long run proves to be the best path for the individual. Be it educational, career guidance or clearing the ladder ahead for one’s spiritual evolution, it is HIS, Whose Is The Last Word. Read on how Bhagawan helped such a soul, steering the wheel of His ‘Arjuna’s Chariot’, powered by His Mighty Will and Divine Fore Vision…Sri P. Krishna Kumar, the writer, served the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust as Accounts & Finance in-charge for many years before moving to Bangalore to serve as Finance Controller at the Temple Of Healing instituted by Bhagawan, Sri Sathya Sai Institute Of Higher Medical Sciences at Whitefield, a position he holds till date.

I had just returned from Delhi to Bangalore, in the summer of 1974, after completing B.Sc. Chemistry (Hons). I applied for a seat in M.Sc. Chemistry, in the Bangalore University and was fairly confident that I would get it, since I had obtained first class in B.Sc. Chemistry (Hons). God’s plans were different and little did I know anything of it at that time.

The first shock was that I could not get admission in any college. My grand uncle tried to bring political pressure for my admission, but to no avail. The reason that was given for not admitting me in M.Sc. Chemistry was, that I came from a different University.

Frustrated, I went to Parthi to be in Bhagawan’s presence and to find some consolation for the failure. At that time, in Parthi, there was only one shed near Ganesh Mandir and I stayed there day after day, hoping to catch the Lord’s eye for guidance. I attended darshan session morning and evening, as also wonderful bhajans. Swami used to come immediately after the bhajans started and stayed throughout, till the end. There were only a few hundred devotees & the nearness to Him was so blissful that I slowly forgot my failure in not getting a seat in M.Sc. I was hoping that Swami would call me for an interview & continued to stay till I ran out of funds. Still, there was no sign of Swami noticing me and one day, I sent an urgent telegram to my father to send some money. Father sent money immediately.

At that juncture, I was a bit frustrated that Swami had not called and spoken to me. I had completely forgotten the interaction with Swami, during the summer course, 1973, in which He had told me that M .Sc. is not good, but I should study C.A. At that time, I had no earthly idea about what C.A. was and did not pay much attention to Swami’s words. Little did I realise that Swami had already guided me about my future education a year before.

I stayed for 20 days in all, during the visit to Parthi, but not a single day did Swami speak to me. At that time, I had no wisdom that Swami answers all our prayers before we ask Him.  It was to come slowly, after undergoing a lot of trials and tribulations in life. For us, time is linear, but God is beyond space and time and His actions have to be interpreted, taking this into consideration. Otherwise, we may misunderstand Him and judge Him wrongly. I was to learn this lesson time and again in the future, till this was embedded in my innermost core. Swami had a plan for me in the future, which i was not aware of at that time. Years later,I was to serve in His institutions in the Finance Department, for which the M.Sc. degree may not have been useful. The Lord’s intentions are always best suited for our own evolution and if this is realised early in our lives, then it becomes happy and peaceful. If we doubt, then it implies that we do not trust Him. If each one of His actions is questioned, then we doubt His wisdom and omniscience.

Bhagawan chooses a career course for me

The nine days, beginning second May, 1979, was a nightmare, which had to be gone through necessarily to cross the career milestone for me. True to Bhagawan’s advice in 1973, I had joined the Chartered Accountancy course in 1975, as an articled clerk and by His Grace, passed the intermediate examinations by securing an all India rank.

Being a chemistry student, I had no earthly idea of what accountancy, cost accounting, or income tax was, but what is it that cannot be achieved by Bhagawan’s Grace? Jesus said that God can make a camel go inside a needle’s eye, if He so wills.Swami says man’s duty is to make right efforts, but victory or defeat is in God’s hands.

For the CA final examinations, I started preparing six months before and struggled throughout the period, since there were new subjects to be mastered – Economics, Auditing, Advanced Taxation, Data Processing and Operations Research. Many of my colleagues advised me to take the final exam group by group, but I was not inclined to do so for various reasons. I wished to finish the final exam in one go and join Swami’s institutions for serving there the rest of my life.

Really, I had no interest in exams and career from the beginning, since all life appeared to be very temporary and fleeting. But, tendencies accumulated from time immemorial were pushing me to do all these things, delaying the start of the Divine Service. I was to realize later in life that time spent in activities other than the Lord’s service, or contemplation of His Majesty was a waste. Having a good career, earning a lot of money, accumulating property, getting married, and leading a comfortable life was alright as long as it lasts, but does not give lasting peace and happiness, I thought.

At last, the dreaded second of May came and I found myself in the exam hall, nervously waiting for the appointed time. Just before the exam started, others were enquiring if it was my first attempt in the final exam. They advised me to relax, since I may not pass in the first attempt anyhow. I had prepared for the last six months in a do or die situation and was loathe taking the angle suggested by others. I had carefully preserved the writing pen gifted by Bhagawan, during the summer course in 1973.

As soon as I saw the question paper, I started sweating profusely. It was all Greek and Latin to me. All my careful preparations were to no avail, since the questions were in a different format that year compared to the previous ones. For a moment, I didn’t know how to proceed, but suddenly an idea came to my mind. I kept the paper aside, bent my head on the table, and started praying to Swami very intensely. I put my heart and soul into the prayer, since the thought of failure in the exam was dreadful. I do not recollect how long I prayed, but it looked like ages when I opened my eyes and found others writing seriously.

I was told every minute counts in the final exam and that I should not waste even a minute. But, here, I was in a situation, where I had lost considerable time praying to Bhagawan, or was it a loss after all? I started writing the answers to the questions one by one and was immediately surprised by the clarity of my mind, which I had lacked hitherto. The speed, with which I answered, surprised me more than anything else. I finished answering before time, did not even bother to revisit them before handing over to the examiner, and came out of the hall as if possessed. The same thing happened day after day, till all the nine exams got completed. I was in a daze afterwards and was not sure whether I would pass the exam successfully.

Summer course 1979 was to begin in a few days and I had already decided to serve as a seva dal volunteer all the thirty days in it. One day, when I was on duty in front of the college hostel, Swami’s car passed by and there He was, seated at the back majestically. Suddenly, His eyes caught mine and were locked in a Love feast for a few seconds. He wrote some mysterious thing in the air and showed the Abhayahasta. Instantly, I knew that I would pass in the final exam. What made me think that way?

Somehow, right from the beginning of our relationship, I was blessed with an understanding of His gestures and would interpret it in a way, which would be corroborated by subsequent events. Little did I realize at that time, that I had an important role in His mission later in my life, for which this Chartered Accountancy degree was useful. 27th July proved the power of that blessing. Not only did I pass in all the papers in the final exam, but I secured a much coveted all India rank also, due entirely to His Grace.My colleagues were surprised, since they considered me a dud.

Thus ended a period of studies, which started during the summer of 1973, when Swami advised me to do CA instead of M.Sc.

Is there anything that the Divine is not aware of in this Universe? Is there anyone beyond the ken of His Pure Love in this Universe? Is there anything that cannot be achieved by right efforts and Divine Grace operating together?  I realized that day, that, if only we have faith in Divinity, everything is possible in this life. On hindsight, Divine Guidance for my education began in June, 1967, when Swami gave Vibhuthi and asked me to study well. It continued during the Summer Course 1973, when He told me to do Chartered Accountancy course and gave two pens as gifts. Then, His Hand could be seen in the denial of a seat for M.Sc. Finally, from the above, it is clear that His Hand was there in my passing successfully the intermediate and final exams of the CA course.

I am sure that God’s hand can be similarly traced to every event of each soul’s life on Earth, if only we wish to do so.

II Samasta Lokah Sukhino Bhavantu II

 

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