“It is not ‘To Love’, it is ‘Two Love’." - By Amrit Thapa
It is said that the greatest sacrifice that God can do is to descend from the
level of Godhood to the level of manhood to teach man the lessons of life - the
essence of life. That is why we say that God descends for the ascent of man.
Our Lord Sai, theKali Yuga Avatar, too has come down to earth with instrument
like Satya (truth) and Prema (love) to transform human hearts and show them the
royal path to Divinity. He has come down to teach us lessons and instill in our
hearts Bhakti(devotion) and Jnana (wisdom).
Here are some of my golden moments during my five-year stay at the Lotus Feet
of my Lord. These experiences have left an indelible impact on my mind and have
taught me the most significant lessons of life, which I will surely imbibe to
lead a fruitful and blissful life.
This experience relates to the time when I was in my first year B.Sc course in
Swami’s Institute. It was August 2000 and the winter vacations were
approaching. A notice was put up in our hostel regarding details of train
schedule and ticket bookings. The very thought of going home excited me. All
the time I was thinking of home only and hence I was unable to read, eat or
sleep properly. I was suffering from a bout of homesickness. The next day, it
was the chance of our class to go first to Mandir. I was sitting in the front
row with a letter in my hand. That day Swami came towards the portico and sat
in front of me. He then started calling students for letters. He called me too.
I went towards Swami, handed over the letter and knelt down there. Swami opened
the letter and started reading it. At the end of the letter, I had written,
“From Love, With Love, To Love.” Swami gave a smile and looking towards one of
the senior faculty members, remarked, “It is not ‘To Love’, it is ‘Two Love’.
One love here. and one love there.” I was left speechless. Swami had read my
mind and feelings and He taught me a lesson that day. Swami is omnipresent and
knows all our feelings, thoughts and action. From that day, I never felt
homesick again, because I had realised that I was with the Divine parent.
Sathya Sai with Students during Janmashtami Celebrations at Sai Kulwant
Hall
Another occasion when Swami taught me about His omniscience was during my III
year B.Sc. Janmashtami was approaching. During Janmashtami, students take a
procession of cows and calves to the Mandir and Swami feed them with bananas
and other fruits. It was my long cherished desire to be in the cow procession
as a‘Gopala’ (cowherd boy) and take a photograph with my Sai Krishna along with
His loving cows. I had expected to be given the chance. But, I was not in the
list. I felt dejected. That night I cried and cried with full feelings in my
heart. My pillow was soaked with tears. I asked the Lord of my heart why He did
not grant me the good fortune of being one of the Gopalas? With these feelings
I slept that night. The next morning when I woke up, the warden gave me the
pleasant news that one more cow had been added for the procession and I was
chosen to take the cow to the Mandir! I was overwhelmed with joy. The Lord had
listened to my prayer. That day I learnt that the Lord never fails to answer
the sincere prayers of His devotees.
During the Sports Meet, we divide students into two houses in each section, UG
and PG. I was chosen as the vice-captain of one of the UG houses. Our house won
the championship that year. By Swami’s grace, I won the cultural championship
runners-up prize. So, on the prize distribution day, I would receive shields
from Swami twice: once, as house vice-captain and once more as cultural
champion runners up. I thought, “Anyway, I am receiving one shield from Swami.
Why not give the chance to one more boy?” Thinking so, I left the opportunity
of house vice-captainship to one more boy and retained only cultural
championship title. But things turned out to be quite different that day.
During the prize distribution, as my name was about to be announced, Swami
stopped the distribution for individual winners and gave shields only for
campus and school representatives. I felt very bad. Tears rolled down my cheeks
because I had put all my time and effort, I had spent sleepless nights and I
had foregone all comforts to gain the title so that I could receive the shield
from Swami’s hands. That was my dream and all my dreams were shattered to
pieces. Some of the students, including myself, who were yet to be given
prizes, mustered some courage and asked Swami for His grace after the bhajans.
How can Swami see His children crying? He gave medals and shields to all those
who were left out before.
Sathya Sai with Students: Revered Founder Chancellor awarding prizes to
students during the Annual Prize Distribution Ceremony
The story does not end here. After two years, by His grace, I was chosen as the
vice-captain of the Institute, which is a great honour and privilege. On the
Sports Meet day, the captain’s names were announced and I saluted Swami
representing the Institute. I felt very proud. On the prize distribution day,
all the representatives of the various campuses received cups from Swami
Himself and I was fortunate to collect it on behalf of the Prasanthi Nilayam
campus. Recollecting all these incidents, I can only say that the Lord never
fails to reward us for our good acts. He might delay, but He will never deny.
Talking about lessons, the greatest lesson I have learnt from Bhagavan is the
lesson of sacrifice. He teaches us through His life, the lesson:
“Tyagenaike Amritatwa Manashuhu”
i.e immortality can be achieved only through sacrifice. He sacrifices so much
of His time and energy and takes so much pain in teaching us. For that matter,
everyAvatar has done this for humanity - Lord Rama, Jesus Christ and now our
beloved Swami. But it is up to us to take these lessons to heart and follow
them in our everyday life. If we do not, then we are the losers. As Lord
Krishna declared in the Gita,
“Machitaha Sarva Durgani
Math Prasadat Tarishyasi
Atha Chetwam Ahamkara
Nasroshyashi Vinankyasi.”
Meaning, “O Arjuna! Having given your mind to Me, all your difficulties will
pass over, but if out of egoism you don’t listen to Me, you will be lost.”
This teaches us the lesson that the day we develop ego and neglect God, we are
doomed. The day we realise that we are what we are due to God and surrender
ourselves to Him, we become nearer and dearer to Him.
- Dr. Amrit Thapa
Alumnus, Dept. of Economics,
Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning
PhD, Columbia University, USA
Source: Sai Nandana 2005 (80th Birthday Issue)
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