His Caravan moves on…
Inspiring story of Sai’s Selfless Saga called Sri Sathya Sai Deena Janoddharana Pathakam…a selfless Mission with a peerless Vision…  

Supposedly a pair of eyes is on a constant watch of the universal drama called life, its turbulent inner currents with diversified feelings and passions in the backdrop of most unorthodox settings…and this constant watchful vigil does scan every single pixel on the universal image, thus, saving humanity from undoing its graded stature in this vast universal home…and, but for these pair of watchful eyes of this eternal being called God, there would not have been any ‘survivors’ at all on planet earth. These radiating sparkling eyes do have the real touch of concern, kindness, love…that speaks to every little heart in the most unaware fashion from the human point, but, the most natural course from the exalted Godly status.

It is this story of God’s greater concern, kindness and love that manifested in the form of Sri Sathya Sai Deena Janoddharana Pathakam, an institution for the rehabilitation of the destitute children initiated at the auspices of Bhagawan as an act of His greater benevolence.

Nascent ‘Mission’
Talking of an tragic incident reported by a newspaper wherein an uneducated, hapless, helpless mother resorted to the extreme step of committing suicide after poisoning her three children, Bhagawan during His Dasara Divine Discoure on 6th Oct 2000 posed a question to the devoted assembly: “Can we Bharatiyas be so stone-hearted and wicked to allow such a painful event to take place?” Condemning the incident as a shame on Bharatiyas, Bhagawan called for initiating Grama Seva activities by His students from Sathya Sai Institutions serving a role model for the rest of the world to emulate…He exhorted: “…So we should go to each and every village and provide food, clothing and education to the needy. In addition, make them understand that should the mothers themselves act in such a cruel manner then can anyone improve their lot?” It was a clarion call to go and conquer, to convince them to conviction of the utility of the precious earthly sojourn called Life…

“It is My wish to see that the poor children are provided with sufficient food, necessary clothing and an education with which they can lead their lives in the society with dignity. A thousand such needy families shall be provided with one lakh rupees each which will be invested in a fixed deposit. The interest accruing therefrom will be used for the food, clothing and education of the children. Our students will take up the task of educating them. They are indeed poor, but they too belong to the human race. Develop the feeling of brotherhood and love towards them.”

Action followed with lightning speed.  To begin with, construction began for two-room tenements to house the first come orphans and destitutes converting His own orchard into a housing colony.  Sixty children from such families were selected from Bukkapatnam, Kothacheruvu and Puttaparthi Mandals and were adopted under the Sri Sathya Sai Deenajanoddharana Pathakam Project.  They are receiving school education under the loving care of Sai.  Not only that; a sum of one lakh rupees has been deposited in the name of each child to meet its needs as and when it came of age.  Every week, on Thursdays, they are brought to the Presence for Divine Darshan of the Universal Mother.  It is a sight to see how the Lord looks Love at them, His charming smile drizzling compassion.  None can call them ‘anathas’ anymore as the One ‘A’natha has made them all ‘Sa’nathas. 

…and thus came into being the Sri Sathya Sai Deena Janoddharana Pathakam, inauguraged by Bhagawan on the 20th July 2002 during the holy auspicious occasion of Guru Purnima…

Every action, every project that originates from this Supreme Abode of Peace of God walking on two feet does have a metaphorical siginificance of being a role model to the world at large, to emulate…Taking a cue from this act originated from Prasanthi Nilayam, the Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations, Andhra Pradesh followed suit…in organising the state unit of Sri Sathya Sai Deena Janoddharana Pathakam, serving 93 selected children from 9 districts of the state. Following similar structural guidelines that of the Project in Prasanthi Nilayam for the modus operandi this project has been on, yet another signpost that stands as a testimony to the yeomen service done under the Divine Patronage of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba for the welfare of humanity. …And it was time for these tiny tots to have the glimpse of their life time…coveted darshan of The One who reversed their otherwise would have been fatal fate.  …and the children with their caretakers grouped in for a collective prayer…

Swami!  With Thy Divine Blessings, the Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations of Andhra Pradesh are spreading Thy Divine Message to one and all through the Spiritual, Service and Educational wings of the organisation.

Dear Sai Maa! On the lines of the Deena Janodhdharana Pathakam started by Thee in Prasanthi Nilayam, with the same spirit, a similar scheme has been initiated in different parts of Andhra Pradesh. Under the scheme, 93 children aged between 5 to13 have been picked up on the basis of a survey conducted in different villages throughout the state. After detailed medical examination, these students have been admitted in the Sathya Sai Schools and other educational institutions and are provided education, boarding, lodging, completely free. These children have also been provided appropriate training by the Bal Vikas Gurus and Teachers in Sai Schools.

All these students are showing excellent progress in edcuation and character befitting the students of Sri Sathya Sai Educational Institutions under the Divine watchful eye of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba.

Swami! We are indeed grateful and extremely happy to submit these few lines to you.

The all conquering motherly love and compassion of Bhagawan that knew no bounds responded to their prayers and their day was made! The afternoon of      3rd March 2007 witnessed these children offering themselves at His Lotus Feet in His immediate presence…

Their day was made!
It was indeed a long wait for the devotees as Bhagawan did not come out in the morning…and in the evening it was at 4:40 p.m. when Bhagawan ultimately came out…after having a full round Bhagawan was taken into the dais.

The proceedings started with veda chanting that prolonged for sometime and these tiny tots excelled to the expectation, chanting with clarity and clear intonations to receive ‘Divine Pat’ and rapturous applause from the capacity crowd. This was followed by an enthralling band display; melody in the bhajan synchronised to the beats of drums with induced discipline suffused with devotion was indeed a veritable feast to the hearts as these destitute turned ‘His Property’ yet again came up with a display with precision. Chekka Bhajana or Chiratala Bhajana is a folk art of Andhra Pradesh wherein a troupe consiting of 10 to 20 members, holding a chiratalu and handkerchief on either hand form into a circle while the leader in the centre begins the bhajan that will be joined by other members. These players hang garlands in their necks, tie jingling bells to their ankles, tie colourful waist bands and engage in various steps facilitating narration of episodes from Epics and Puranas. A boy who was made to speak in Telugu, spoke to the tune that, he, an orphan who had nothing, no education was able to stand up and speak with clarity was just because of Bhagawan’s Divine Grace and Benevolence.

The last items for the session, the musical dance drama, “Jagruti” meaning awakening, was a beautiful portrayal of the affective side of the Project, coming in with the essential message for the need to sharing selfess love with one and all seeing God in all beings…

Dance artiste, Chakri, son of a wealthy person by name Jagannadham was wooed by his greedy father to go to America in search of millions and an inspired Chakri got encouraging support from his friend Naresh who had all cosy words about the land beyond seven seas. At this juncture, the day-dreaming Chakri came across another friend Sathyam incidentally narrated his version about the best use of education, by living a life with contentment, serving the poor and needy with selfless love and compassion….and he had the mystical tales of the lives of Saint Poet Pothana, Saint Singer Mira Bhai and Dokka Seethamma. The greedy Jagannadham who resisted all such motives from Sathyam to make Chakri another Prahlada was caught offguard when his old parents who were sent to “destitute home” were brought to the scene… Realising his folly, a remorseful Jagannadham sought apology from his parents and assured Sathyam that his son would not be sent to America in search of pleasure and money but would be serving the hapless and helpless. The drama reached its climax when Sathyam revealed that he was a lucky receipient of the Divine Shower of Grace of Bhagawan through Sri Sathya Sai Deena Janoddharana Pathakam; He further explained how his life transformed into a better one enriched with values ever since he came under the Divine patronage of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Upon hearing the narration of young Sathya, Jagannadham and Chakri resolved to follow the path of Love and Service and make their lives worthy.  The drama ended with a group song describing how Bhagawan established the Kingdom of Love.

Impressed by this scintillating emotional display of His essential message, Bhagawan advised the organisers to start the project in all the districts in the state to take the movement on…forward… Further, Bhagawan also expressed His wish to conduct the show in all educational institutions/colleges in the state. Motherly compassion of Bhagawan was out to the fore yet again, when Bhagawan personally distributed clothes to each and every children of the 93 member strong group. A coveted group photo session was the last benediction which was followed by Arathi. Most memorable day in the life of these innocent little hearts…Indeed their day was made.

Invincible Will of God does run the show on this world stage…It is for the human to decipher all these wonderful actions, to fill our hearts with pure selfless love and transmute that love into acts of service to our brethren in a spirit of dedication and, above all, with the clear understanding that all that is being done is unto ourselves, for, as He points out, there is none to be called ‘another’.  Indeed, it was a sight to see how the Lord looked Love at them, His charming smile drizzling compassion.  None could call them ‘anathas’ anymore as the One ‘A’natha has made them all ‘Sa’nathas.  Quintessentially it is indeed a selfless Mission with a peerless Vision.

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