As Student
As a student he taught the world what a student
ought to be. The transparency of his friendship attracted
them so close to him that they found it difficult to live
without him. He was intelligent, diligent, obedient, punctual
and highly respectful to his teachers. At the age of six he
earned the name of Brahmajnani for his erudition in the scriptural
texts and at eight he became the 'Guru' of his classmates.
Baba mentions with a little regret only one instance in his
student career wherein he had to give a glimpse of his divinity
to his own teacher when the latter asked him to stand up on
the bench for no fault of his which counteracted to keep the
teacher glued to the chair till he was made to get down.
Even as a child He was only a giver and never
a taker. He fulfilled every wish of every friend, be it for
pencil or sweets or peppermints. His Pandari Bhajan group
which conducted regular bhajans and drama troupe whom He had
himself trained to present skits and one - Act plays speaks
for his histrionic talents and organising ability even at
that tender age. He taught them how to live within their means
by his own example. Ostentation was alien to him. He did all
the household chores, without demur even when they were far
beyond his health and age. He was easily the first to catch
the eye of his teacher for any work of importance in the school.
At home, being the darling of grandfather Kondama Raju, he,
at the age of eight and nine, volunteered to cook tasty meals
for both. His father used to send for dishes prepared by Sathya
as they excelled in taste and flavour. Even neighbours asked
for his pepper rasam.
Young Sai Ram was an ideal son too. Though
he had broken the chain of attachment with which the parents
had bound him, he never failed to look after their needs.
Like any other mother, mother Easwaramma also had nurtured
a desire for seeing the top Hindu shrines of India though
she never ventured to express the same, for she had already
begun to realise who her son was. But the all-knowing Lord
decided to take her on a pilgrimage (for her) to Ayodhya,
Kasi and Prayag in 1960. This was closely followed by another
to Badrinath in June 1961 which was 'indeed the acme of her
ambition.'
Mother bore the strain of that arduous journey
with pleasure, as Badrinath was a fairyland for her as was
for the rest. Kasturiji says: "Mother spent hours in
sitting inside the temple beside the idol, with a small group
of her companions wondering at the inexhaustible grandeur
into which she had come. Swami brought out the Linga He had
willed to emerge from its receptacle under the stone idol
of Narayana in the holy shrine of Badrinath." "This
was gifted by Shiva at Kailas to Sankaracharya who planted
it here before he installed the Narayana", Swami told
the mother. "Why have you brought it out now?" queried
the mother innocently. "To charge it with the power to
bless, to answer prayers, to grant boons" replied Swami.
Needless to say that the father also enjoyed the whole episode.
In much later years Swami, like a dutiful
son, enquired of His mother whether She had any desire to
be fulfilled. She told: "Swami, our Puttaparthi is a
small village. As there is no school in this village, the
children are forced to walk long distances to attend schools
in the neighbouring villages. I know that you are the ocean
of compassion. Please construct a small school in this village".
She gave a piece of land of her own behind her house for this
purpose. Swami got a school constructed there, which was inaugurated
with a grand function. The mother was very happy. When asked
for the next desire mother Easwaramma hesitatingly said, "
… if it gives you happiness, please construct a small
hospital." As per her wish Swami got the hospital constructed
and was inaugurated on a grand scale. When insisted the mother
said She had yet another small desire: "You know that
the river Chitravati is in spate during the rainy season.
But, in summer it dries to a trickle and people do not have
drinking water. So please see that some wells are dug in this
village". Swami told her "I would not stop with
these small wells and that I would provide drinking water
to the entire Rayalseema region…. She had never put
me to trouble anytime. Whenever she asked Me for something,
She would come back and enquire if she had given any trouble……
She used to be very much worried whenever any Minister came
for My Darshan. The situation in those days was such that
even a policeman with a red cap was enough to frighten the
villagers…. This was only the result of her sacred love
for Me. That is the greatness of mother's love." What
a sacred relation! A dutiful son and a loving mother!
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