Features | Experience of the Divinity of Bhagavan by Devotees | Group IV | Mr. P.V. Sai Prasad

Mr. P.V. Sai Prasad,
4th Lane, Prem Nagar,
Berhumpur - 760 002
Orissa.

Mr. P.V Sai Prasad (33), working in Sri Sathya Sai Vihar at Berhumpur, relates a few of his experiences of the Divinity of Bhagavan in his own words.

'My father Mr. P.V Rama Rao was passing through some difficulties during the later half of the sixties. He lost three children and was very sad. One day in 1970 an unknown person came to him. 'You will have a son' he told my father 'Sai Prasad'. He himself gave the name of the child to be born as Sai Prasad! He did not take any money.

On October 2 1971, I was born. He returned to our house on the 11th day after my birth and told my father, 'you have got a son. Call him Sai Prasad!' He did not accept any money and left. I was born on the day of Nagula Chavithi, Monday in the month of Kartik considered to be very auspicious. My father wanted to find out that saint again. Was He Swami Himself! My father said, ` We better go to Puttaparthi and search for him. We can also have darshan of Bhagavan.' So we all came to Prasanti Nilayam in 1986. That was my first visit to Puttaparthi. It was also the first time for me to have darshan of Swami. At that time Sai Kulwanth Hall was not there. We all sat in the sand. When Swami was coming along darshan lines, we had darshan from close quarters. As Swami was walking in front of us, I ran behind Him. Swami said, 'wait' and left.

Swami used to chew pan in those days. It is the same brand of pan that my father also chews. My father observed after our return to the room, 'I can tell that from the perfume of the pan Swami uses'. My father concluded that the unknown saint who had predicted my birth was Swami only and none else!

We wanted to return to our place that day. But a person working in the ashram came to us and said, 'Swami wants you to stay for three days; see all things here before you leave.' We stayed on for three days. During darshan time, my sister asked Bhagavan about her problems. 'Trust in God' Swami told her, 'all will be fine!' We were looking for matches for our sister Sailaja. She was named like that to include 'Sai' in her name by the same saint who predicted my birth.

Originally the saint came to my father in 1969 and said 'you will have a son'. A daughter was born in 1970. On the 11th day after the birth of the child, the saint came and said 'you will have a son next time. Name this child 'Sailaja' and not Sailaja!'

On return from Prasanthi Nilayam in 1990, a match came from Delhi for my sister Sailaja. They agreed for our alliance without dowry. We asked for one year time as we had to mobilize money. My father applied for a loan from the P.F. One day he had severe chest-pain and was bedridden later. All work came to a standstill. We all began to pray to Bhagavan. Then an old relative of ours, Mr. Raghava Rao came to our house. He asked us about our father. 'He is bed-ridden', we replied. He came in and saw my father. Then he went out and brought a leaf from somewhere and put it on the chest of my father. Next day my father's health was normal. No chest-pain! He began to attend to his work as if he had had no health problem at all. The relative left the same day. He came as if sent by Swami only to heal my father.

The marriage date was approaching but the P.F loan was still awaited. My father sought loan from all those known to him. But none came forward to help. We all began to pray to Bhagavan. Then of all the people, a money lender came to my father one day and gave a bundle of notes counting Rs.25,000 folded in an old newspaper. My father asked us to keep the packet before the feet of Bhagavan in Swami's photograph in the pooja. We were all happy and began to do bhajan. I continued to sing bhajans that day non-stop like a possessed man. Then my father noticed that honey was trickling down Swami's photograph at about 10 a.m. We all felt excited. The same day in the afternoon, a cheque was received by my father. It was the P.F. loan amount for which my father had applied long back. Fortunately, his account was in a Bank that functioned in the evenings. Therefore the cheque could be deposited the same day. He could perform the marriage without any outside help thanks to Swami's grace. He returned Rs.25,000 to the money lender adding Rs.500/- gratefully as gratis, for helping my father in time of need reposing trust in him.

In 1992, my sister Mrs. Padmaja was carrying. She had come to us as there was some estrangement with her husband. When she was having labour pains, I was not in the house. I was doing bhajan in the prayer hall of Sri Sathya Sai Samithi. As I was doing bhajan, I could see the scene of labour pains in my house and prayed to Bhagavan. She delivered a boy without any problem, but the child was born with his feet turned cross. Doctors put a bandage on the tender feet to set them right. The child was crying as he could not bear the pain. My sister removed the bandage as she could not bear the scene of her child writhing in pain. A devotee of Bhagavan who came from my house to the samithi prayer hall announced the birth of the child soon after the delivery, saying 'Sai Kiran is born!' That name stuck.

When the boy was four years old, one day bhajan was being held in our house. He was seated in the corner. Before the bhajan began, he asked all to clap our hands. He did so as if he was a magician who asked the children to clap before starting a new trick. We did so only to humour him. Then he stood on his legs surprising all of us. Till then he could not stand however much he tried because of the deformity of his feet. 'Clap again' he asked us. We did so, this time in wonder. He began to walk for the first time in his life. It was a miracle.

In his fifth year, we all went to Prasanthi Nilayam. Sai Kiran used to attend darshan daily with another boy who was a heart patient. Swami used to come to them and tickle Sai Kiran and make him laugh, but we were not aware of it. One day my sister took Sai Kiran alone with her to bhajan. The heart patient boy did not go. Sai Kiran was crying that day. 'Why are you crying?' my sister asked her son. 'Everyday Swami used to come to me, and make me laugh' he told his mother, 'but today, He has not come. So I am crying.'

'Swami is in the bhajan', his mother told him, 'He won't come now. Don't cry'. After a few minutes, Swami came out even when bhajan was going on. He straight came to Sai Kiran and tickled him and made him laugh. He took the letter from my sister, which she was bringing for several days to give to Swami in vain till then. Bhagavan presented her with a new sari, haldi and kumkum. When we looked at the feet of the boy after bhajan, we were amazed to find that his feet were normal without any trace of the congenital twist and bend. The deformity of his feet just disappeared! After our return to our place, we were happy to find that the husband of my sister came on his own to take her back to his house. They are happy now.'

-- Mr. P.V. Sai Prasad

(As narrated to Mr. B. Parvatala Rao at Prasanthi Nilayam on 26.08.2005)