With silent messages and simple gazes when Beloved Bhagawan sets human
values ablaze in many a heart, of the Balvikas cadre, it turns out to
be an epochal happening where human hearts are lit with the effulgent
eternal flame of His all-conquering love, resulting in blossoming
human excellence…There are stories aplenty of such transformations…
Read on Balvikas alumnus Dr. Revathi Jaisingh from Kerala narrating
how Beloved Bhagawan touched her heart, bringing in the
transformation.
Swami says, “Prayer is man’s only strength and God’s only weakness.”
Swami’s infinite love – the nectarine bliss of His presence in my life
– has definitely made life worth living.
When I was a child, I used to ask God what it would feel like to be
loved more than I could ever imagine. Little did I know that a few
years later, I would be basking in Swami’s Ananda Sagara. Bal vikas
and bhajans paved the way, enabled me to see the Lord in my heart and
realise that He alone is the breath of my soul. I used to be a very
naughty child and often wondered if God really liked me. Soon enough,
Swami showed me I was wrong.
I used to go roller-skating on the road and at the end of one lap had
to cross the road. Fear used to grip me on seeing vehicles come from
the opposite side and I would fall down. On one such occasion, I
didn’t realise a truck coming from the opposite direction, and instead
of crossing I fell flat down, right in front of the truck. I closed my
eyes and thought this was the end. The next moment I saw the truck had
somehow come to a stop less than a meter away from me. The happiness I
felt that day was only because I realised how much God loves me …
enough to save my life!
Another experience I would like to share is how Swami helped me to use
music as a bridge unto Him. When I was young, I had a hoarse voice and
could never hit high notes. I had to face several embarrassing
situations on this count. And then came a time when I suffered from
severe bronchitis and could not sing for an entire year. During a
visit to Brindavan, my mother gave a letter to Bhagawan, praying to
Him to take care of my music. On our return, I got an opportunity to
sing a bhajan. I started the bhajan at a pitch way higher than my
normal and started to mentally prepare myself for the embarrassment
that would soon follow. Much to my surprise and to the others around
me, I could sing all the lines at the right notes; singing at a higher
pitch seemed effortless! Since then there has been no looking back.
Swami gifted me with a new voice, with music, a gateway to experience
Him and His involvement in my life as my basic life support.
Sometimes we don’t realise, but Swami listens to the minutest thought
process within us. Swami started to appear in my dreams whenever I got
terribly upset. He pacified me in times of sorrow, showered me with
the warm embraces of a mother, advised me like a father and even
helped me with my studies. Swami soon became everything in my life.
A State-wide selection for participating in bhajans was once scheduled
on the eve of my science board exams. Swami has many a time revealed
that when we submit our apparent problems totally at His Lotus Feet,
He decides to take over. I made up my mind to attend the selection and
prayed to Swami to take care of my exams. That night Swami appeared in
my dream and asked me to learn a particular chapter from the ninth
grade, which I did with all my heart. When I got the question paper, I
was dumbstruck to see a question from that very lesson! To my pleasant
surprise, I got 96% for Biology… which I could only dream of during
school days. From then on I would happily attend bhajan sessions even
if it was on the eve of an exam. The best part was, after chanting
Vedam in the morning, all the topics that I would randomly look
through just before entering the examination hall, started showing up
in my question papers, right until my final year BDS. Such is Swami’s
love. When I got the first rank in my final BDS exam, I was so shocked
that I asked the authorities to cross check! My professor even asked
me how I managed to get the rank! And all I can say is; Swami makes
the impossible, possible!
Swami’s love is limitless … even when it comes to animals. Our pet dog
fell sick due to a chronic abscess. She was like a sibling all through
my childhood. She was unable to walk and I had to carry her and turn
her over whenever she cried in pain. One fine day she got worse and I
feared that would be her last day. Hoping that she listens to
Bhagawan’s Name during her last breath, I started chanting the Lalitha
Sahasranamavali and applied vibhuti on her. As I was approaching the
last few hundred of the namavalis, she sat up for the first time in
weeks and started making strange noises. With tears rolling down my
cheeks I kept chanting thinking that her last moment was near. By the
time I reached 985th Namavali she stood up. I was shocked. As I
finished my chanting, she literally walked out of the room. She lived
for three more years till she developed an abscess again and succumbed
to it. Such is the power of Swami’s infinite love and vibhuti. Swami
let this experience make me realise the true value and power of
prayer.
So if Swami is there … fear is non-existent. Why fear when the
greatest power of the universe is by our side, ready to take care of
us at every step? I was putting off my trips to Prasanti Nilayam as I
could not come to terms with not being able to see Swami’s physical
form. I was afraid of having a nervous breakdown seeing the
Mahasamadhi. On November 19, Swami appeared in my dream … a most vivid
dream where Bhagawan appeared all pervasive and as real as could be!
It was my trip to Parthi after the Mahasamadhi … and as Swami came for
darshan, He came over to me and with the most enchanting smile and
eyes overflowing with love, said “Everything is just fine! I will give
darshan just as always…” He pointed at the Mahasamadhi, then at
Himself and said, “Look! … I’m still here …! Why do you worry so
much?” Who else but the Lord can assure us with such firm conviction?
That morning all my worries came to an end.
Every step we take in life can only be due to Swami’s will and
selfless love … we, as Bal vikas students should make it our mission
to be the beacon, to spread Swami’s love and the saga of SAI. I
dedicate this prayer to my dear Lord Sai, Oh Lord, take my love and
let it flow in fullness of devotion to Thee, Oh Lord, take my hands
and let them work incessantly for Thee, Oh Lord, take my soul and let
it be merged in one with Thee, Oh Lord, take my mind and thoughts and
let them be in tune with Thee, Oh Lord, take my everything and let me
be an instrument of Thee.
II Samasta Lokah Sukhino Bhavantu II
