Features | Experience of the Divinity of Bhagavan by Devotees | Group II | Mr. K.A.Lakshminarayana Raju

Mr. K.A.Lakshminarayana Raju,
A1, East Prasanthi,
Prasanthi Nilayam - 515134

Mr. K.A.Lakshminaraya Raju (51), a businessman presently staying at Prasanthi Nilayam, relates a few of his experiences of the Divinity of Bhagavan in his own words.

'I have been hearing about Swami since my childhood. It all began in 1958 when my grandmother (mother's mother) - Mrs. Subbamma had Darshan of Vishnu in her pooja room and then as Swami. Bhagavan then told her, 'come to Puttaparthi in Anantapur District'. At that time she was in Banaganapalli of Kurnool District. My grandfather, Mr. K.Venkatarama Raju was sceptical of my grandmother's story.

My grandfather was reluctant to take her to Puttaparthi. Anyway, the days went on. After a few weeks again, Swami gave her Darshan in the pooja room, and told her that the Government Doctor by name Mrs Sarojini's son was suffering from an unknown disease and was in coma. 'You take theertham and go to their house', Swami told her. After giving three spoons to the boy and applying it to the body, the boy got up, in the presence of all the people present there. Seeing this, my grandfather was utterly perplexed. Later, he took her to Puttaparthi in February 1959.

On their way to Puttaparthi, they came to Tadipatri. They were told that the bus for Puttaparthi had gone and that there was no bus till the next morning. My grandfather was crest-fallen at the prospect of spending the night on the streets. 'Let your God arrange conveyance for us now', he was remarking to my grandmother in exasperation. After sometime, a car came that way. 'Are there any persons who go to Puttaparthi?' the driver was shouting. My grandparents told him that they wanted to go to Puttaparthi. He brought them safely and dropped them at the place where the Gopuram stands now. In those days, there was no Gopuram and no proper gate even. There was a small thatched shed with unpaved floor. They spent the night there. At around 4 a.m. someone came and showed them the place where they could attend to nature's calls and have bath. Later, that person was not seen again.

Then Swami gave interview and told my grandfather that he could go to Puttaparthi, only after witnessing a miracle. Swami also told them, 'don't you know that when the bus had gone, for your sake I had to come all the way from Tadipatri'. From that moment, my grandfather became a great devotee.

Swami also told them to go back home and return next year. After this my father (Suryanarayana Raju) died of heart attack on December 31, 1959. At that time, I was 6 years old. After this, we went to Puttaparthi and Swami gave an interview in 1960. My grandmother asked Swami about my mother and me. Swami said, 'I am there to look after Lakshminarayana (me) and her (my mother). There is no need to worry about them'.

In 1961, on one fine day, Swami appeared to my grandmother in the pooja room and told her, 'I am giving a boon to you. From this very Thursday, I shall give you Darshan every Thursday, and will discuss all the philosophy of God and partake of the prasadam (curd-vada), which is very special to Me'. From then onwards, till her very last moment, she had the Darshan of Swami every Thursday.

In 1962, Swami gave an interview to us and told my grandmother 'join Lakshminarayana (me) in the Veda pathasala (at Puttaparthi). Start a samithi at Banaganapalli'. So, in June, my grandparents joined me in the Veda Pathasala at Puttaparthi.

In December 1961, my friends and I went to the Chitravathi to play. As they were busy, I jumped into a well nearby to swim. After that, I was not aware of what had happened. Sometime later, a farmer lifted me from the water in the well and quipped, 'how come you were floating on the water when you are alive?' By that time, my friends had left for the Mandir without noticing my absence. The farmer brought me to the Mandir and left me there. I did not mention of this incident to our teacher or my friends. I am sure that it was Swami that had saved me, in the guise of the farmer.

My grandfather had some lands in Banaganapalli. My mother used to stay in the village. It was harvesting time in 1963. As my grandparents went to Puttaparthi, there was no one to go to the fields and keep a watch on the grain being harvested. Some persons came to steal the grain when a stout and strong person of dark complexion came from somewhere and began to beat the thieves with a whip. He then tied them to the water-tank in the bungalow of our grandparents. They were none other than those who were working for my grandfather in the fields.

When my mother saw them in the morning, she was surprised. 'What happened', she enquired. 'It is all our fault', they replied, 'we went to steal the grain taking advantage of the absence of your parents. The stout person, who you employed to keep a watch, beat us and tied us here'. My mother said, 'I did not employ anyone to watch the harvest as you are all there'.

Swami was talking to my grandparents at that very moment in the interview room at Puttaparthi. 'You have left everything on your daughter', Swami said. 'Had I not gone to protect your produce, what would have happened?' My grandfather could not understand what Swami was telling them. He could realise the significance of Swami's words only after they returned to Banaganapalli, and learnt of what had happened.

In November 1964, one mendicant came to my grandparents' house at Banaganapalli. My grandmother asked, 'what do you want, Swami?' 'I am very hungry', he replied, 'could I have something to eat?' Earlier, on arrival he said, 'I have gone round your fields. So my feet are muddy. Please give me some water to wash my feet'. He took some water and washed his feet.

My grandmother served him meals with mango pickle. The guest liked the pickle very much. 'The pickle you served is very tasty', he told after he finished his meal, 'could I have some pickle to take home?' My grandmother gave him some. My grandfather saw him off for some distance. While returning, he looked back. The mendicant was not to be seen.

After a few days, my grandparents went to Puttaparthi. Swami called them for an interview and told them, 'you gave me a good meal'. They could not understand. 'When did Swami come to us for meals?' they wondered. After that, Mrs. Eswaramma, mother of Swami, told them, 'it seems you served mango pickle to Swami and also gave some to him. It is very good, Subbamma!' Then they realized that the mendicant who had come to their house was none other than Bhagavan.

In 1965, Swami came in the dream of my grandmother and said, 'all of you go to Madras on November 23. I will give Darshan there'. We all went to Madras. In the early hours of November 23 (Birthday of Swami), we went to the sea to take bath, as it was the day of solar eclipse. There was Sun-god Darshan from 6:15 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. Then the Sun-god slowly turned to be Swami. We all saw Swami in the sun clearly. First He appeared as standing in the sun. Then gradually He zoomed into a close-up showing only His face. I was among the fortunate few among our family members who could witness that miracle.

In 1967, I suffered from inflammation of the glands of the throat. My grandparents took me to Puttaparthi. Swami called them for an interview. I, too, accompanied them. 'Take Lakshminarayana with you to Kurnool and get him operated by Dr. Mallesappa', Swami told them. 'We don't know anybody in Kurnool, Swami!' my grand parents submitted to Swami. 'Don't worry', Swami assured, 'I will take care of everything'.

When we went to the hospital in Kurnool, we were told that Dr. Mallesappa was on leave. We went to his residence. He heard what we said, and agreed to do the surgery. On June 29, I underwent surgery. The Doctor performed surgery to seven others on that day besides me. I was the only patient that survived. All the seven died. Even I was unconscious for two days. Dr. Mallesappa did not know Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Even then, he not only conducted surgery even though he was on leave, but also arranged food, etc himself for all the members of our family!

In March 1968, my grandmother was, as usual, preparing aavadas (curd-vadas) every Thursday and offering them in a plate before the Photograph of Bhagavan along with a glass of water and a napkin, as instructed by Bhagavan in 1961. Bhagavan used to take two of the aavadas and drink the water. The napkin also used to be shuffled as used. No one believed this when the news leaked through some people to the outsiders. The local bigwigs began to find fault with my grandfather for such 'stories' and threatened to cancel the samithi.

The District President and others who came to our village for the anniversary of Sri Sathya Sai Samithi gathered by our grandmother at our house. She said, 'we will keep aavadas before Swami today and you can all see for yourselves what happens. Then if you feel it necessary you may cancel the samithi'. So she placed ten aavadas in the pooja room with water, and closed the door. All waited outside. There was no chance for anyone to go into the pooja room without being seen by the elders outside. All started to do bhajan keeping a person to watch the closed door. After bhajan, the elders like the District President went in and saw that only two out of ten aavadas were left in the plate. The water in the glass was reduced to less than half. The napkin was like a used one. Then all of them were convinced of the veracity of my grandmother's version. Later, the District President told Swami about this at Puttaparthi when Swami remarked, 'you could have eaten those two left over!'

In 1971, anniversary of our samithi was celebrated in May. Office-bearers and elders who came from various places went up to the terrace and were posing for a photograph. While going up, we left the Photograph of Swami in the ground floor. When the copies of the photograph came, we noticed that the Photograph of Swami, which we had left in the ground floor, was seen in between in the hands of our grandparents.

The same year, on September 16, a mendicant came to our house in the village. My mother was there. 'What do you want Swami!' she asked. 'I came to know that you are going to sell the land', he replied, 'I have come to see it'. Then he went round the field and returned. 'Give me some water', he asked, 'I have to wash my feet as they became muddy'. He took water and washed his feet. This happened three days before Dasara.

At that time, my grandparents were in Puttaparthi. Swami called them for interview. 'I am just coming from your house', Swami told them, 'I just washed my feet in your house. See! They are wet still'. They were amazed that Bhagavan was at two places at the same time. Swami told them, 'soon after you go back, some people will come to you to buy your land. Give it to them'. Accordingly, some people came from Koduru and our people sold the land to them.

On February 1, 1975, my grandmother was in meditation. Suddenly she fell flat on the floor. She was brought outside. She was unconscious. There was no movement at all. The local Government Doctor, Dr.Ramalakshmi was called. She examined her and said, 'no chance of her survival'. We all were at a loss to know what to do. My grandfather brought sacred water from the pooja room along with vibhuti and poured in her mouth. She could not swallow. After some time, some movement was seen in the toes of her right leg. She was then taken to Kurnool. She regained consciousness after two days. She told my grandfather, 'Swami gave Darshan to me in the pooja room. 'Your husband broke the back of a calf. So he had to suffer for it. You too have a share in it. Do you want to suffer it in this life or in the next?' Swami asked me. 'Let me suffer it in this life, Swami' I replied. 'But you will have to suffer till your last breath', He warned adding, 'however, you can walk on the last day, your husband also will suffer but he will not suffer as much'. I was present when she was telling this to my grandfather. Both of them suffered and died, as mentioned by Swami, afterwards, in due course.

In September 1984, I had been to Dharmakshetra and Brindavan (Bangalore) and returned to our house. In the return journey I went to Shirdi. At Shirdi, I bought Dattatreya jnanakanda in the Parayana Grandhamaala as only that was available at that time. I woke up in the early hours of Thursday, took both and wanted to begin parayana. This happened at Prasanthi Nilayam in our flat A1, East Prasanthi. I placed a garland around Swami's Photograph and was about to break a coconut when someone came in, opening the door at my back. I lifted up my hand, and saw behind. Swami was standing right in front of me! 'How dare you recite Gurucharitra without a Guru?' He asked, changing instantaneously into a three-headed person. 'Take padanamaskar', He told me. I was wide-awake. It was not a dream. It was what I saw and heard clearly.

I had Darshan of Dattatreya on that day, and realised that Swami is also Dattatreya. When I told this to my grandmother, she was very happy. 'What more luck and fortune can there be than this?' she remarked.'

-- Mr. K.A.Lakshminarayana Raju.

(As narrated to Mr. B. Parvatala Rao at Prasanthi Nilayam on 26.11.2004.)