SAI ‘SAVE’OR
Tuesday, August 12th, 2014
He manifests in different places ‘same time’ with His ‘Visiting Cards’ only to accomplish something for His devotees…and at times He ‘manifests’ in different places, in different forms, with His ‘Visiting Cards’ again, to accomplish something for the sake of His devotees…He did it once in Tirunelveli, for the sake of a ‘new’ devotee…whom He wanted draw unto ‘Him’… and for this devotee’s sake He manifested Himself in the guise of this devotee…saving and managing the situation… A beautiful incident excerpted from the book “God in our Midst” by Dr (Mrs.) Hiramalini Seshadri, republished in the July 2014 issue of Sanathana Sarathi.
One of my patients, a retired Deputy Superintendent of Police called Krishnan whom I treated for tuberculosis at the Apollo Hospital, had this true story to relate.
In the 1950s, he had been posted as the Traffic Sub-Inspector at Tirunelveli. Those days, there were no walkie-talkies and the Traffic Sub-Inspector had to be on the road all the time. He heard then that a Swami called Sathya Sai Baba was camping nearby. Being a man of spiritual nature, he decided to go with his friend, offer his respects and a garland to this new Swami and return in time for duty. They went in their jeep but found that Bhajans were on and they couldn’t get near Swami. They decided to leave, only to find that the jeep wouldn’t start. Another devotee asked them if they had sought Swami’s permission to leave. When they replied in the negative, he said, “Well, then the jeep won’t start!” They stayed on for the Discourse and lunch and, finally, in the evening they managed to present their by-then-faded garland to Swami, and get His blessings and Vibhuti! The jeep started right away when they were ready to leave now.
When he reached home, his elder brother and father were anxiously waiting. “Where on earth were you?” they angrily asked. “There were two accidents today; one involving a police jeep and another involving a State transport bus… Where were you?” Krishnan could not sleep all night. He wondered what punishment he would get for such dereliction of duty. Suspension? Show cause notice? Dismissal? Reversion? He prayed to Baba for help!
Next morning, he slowly made his way to the police station. “Oh sir, what would we have done if you had not been there!” a constable addressed him. He couldn’t understand what the fellow was saying; it was all very confusing. He slunk in and sat quietly on his chair and said nothing. Later, he slowly went to the D.S.P’s office. He was summoned in. The D.S.P. looked grave. Then he broke the silence. “What a shame that policemen should drink and drive…and that other bus driver… well that was the pedestrian’s fault… ah! Anyway, you did whatever you could. Good.” Krishnan couldn’t believe his ears! Later, putting together all that he heard from here and there, he reconstructed what had ‘happened.’ ‘He’ had been there at the site of both accidents, ‘he’ had booked the culprits, rushed the injured to hospital, notified the authorities… done the needful promptly and to the best of his abilities,” – as they would say in officialese!
Krishnan rushed back to Baba. He knew it was Baba who had saved him by appearing in his form and acting as the Traffic Sub-Inspector. Compassionate Swami comforted him and blessed him. Krishnan then told Swami that he wanted to resign and serve Swami. Baba said that he should not do such things; that he had a Karma to finish; that Baba would always be with him. Krishnan was struggling to keep back tears as he related this to me nearly forty years later. Needless to add, his tuberculosis responded well to the treatment.
II Samastha Lokah Sukhino Bhavantu II
Posted in Divine Foot Prints, Indelible Impressions |
