Features | Experience of the Divinity of Bhagavan by Devotees | Group IV | MrsTurlapatiSaraswathi

Mrs. Turlapati Saraswathi,
D.No. 23-11-4, Kakaraparthi Bhavanarayana Street,
Satyanarayanapuram, Vijayawada - 520 011.

Mobile: 0866-253 2285

Mrs. T. Saraswathi (77), a housewife, relates a few of her experiences of the Divinity of Bhagavan in her own words.

'I do not remember the date but Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba came to Vijayawada long time ago. We went to Zymkhana Grounds, Gandhinagar for darshan. As villagers were stopping him en-route, He was delayed. The ground was jam-packed and we were in the periphery at the back. My husband, Mr. Hanumantha Rao waited for sometime and left. However, I stayed on. I did not know how I could have darshan in such a big crowd. 'Swami' I prayed 'if you want to give me darshan, you will arrange it. On my part, I am totally helpless'. Within a few minutes a car came and slowed down before me owing to the rush. It was the car of Dr. T.V.S. Chalapathi Rao, ex-MLA and Municipal Chairman. They knew us well. His wife saw me and asked me to get in. The car went near the dias from behind through VIP gate. I was taken with them as a VIP and was seated in the front row. Swami came very near us and I had darshan from close quarters. I got a picture of Bhagavan also.

My husband has been an ardent devotee of Shirdi Sai Baba. When he was returning from the River Krishna after taking a holy-dip on Sivarathri day in early forties, he found a small idol of Shirdi Sai in the sand. In those days, such idols were not available. He, later, enquired about Shirdi Sai Baba and began to worship it every Thursday skipping dinner on that day. Like many Shirdi Sai devotees, he found if hard to swallow the version at that time that Parthi Sai is a reincarnation of Shirdi Sai. But he did not throw away Sri Sathya Sai's photograph when I kept it in pooja.

Once we were rearranging things. Someone put Sri Sathya Sai's photograph along with some others on the attic. Since that day, I was feeling irritation without any reason. Later, I got it taken out of the attic. It was not framed. I got it framed and put it back in the pooja. Mysteriously, the irritation ceased from that day.

One day, a carpenter came to our house for some work. He put some nails in the pooja. The place left under one nail, not originally intended, was exactly enough to hang Sri Sathya Sai's photograph as if tailor-made. Thus, Swami made us frame His photograph, and arranged Himself a nail to hang it in the pooja.

After we had shifted to Gandhinagar from Governorpet, we got a laminated photograph of Bhagavan. When we put some flowers on it, one or two used to fall down to signify some auspicious omen. It used to happen that way quite often.

We have faced countless problems, mainly of health of both of us, and of our children and grandchildren. Swami has always helped us overcome them, and steered us back to cheer. My eldest son, Mr. Sambasiva Rao fell down and broke his ribs. But no harm occurred to heart, lungs or liver by broken pieces. He was advised only bed rest. He is quite normal now.

My husband had an attack of jaundice after crossing 75, but owing to Swami's grace recovered fully. I have had cardiac problems but have been able to pull on so far. One of my daughters went into depression but recovered soon. Our last son, Mr. Bhairraju had severe back pain. It seemed that doctors reached a dead end. I put vibhuti daily. He recovered completely. We could not build a house of our own for various reasons. Owing to Swami's grace, we now have a roof of our own on our heads.

I always keep Baba's vibhuti with me. Whenever any problem arises, I apply vibhuti, and I have always had positive results. Once my brother, Mr.Srinivasa Rao was going to Hyderabad to attend an interview for a job in the AIR. I put vibhuti on his forehead and gave a little of it to him again to apply on his forehead before going to the interview. He was selected owing to Swami's grace.

We went to Hyderabad on March 26, 2005 and attended the silver jubilee of the wedding of my daughter, Mrs. Adilakshmi. On March 27, 2005, Ms. Pranita, aged 12, second daughter of my last daughter, Mrs. Lakshmi, fell from the first floor accidentally and sustained injuries on her head. She was rushed to the hospital in a state of unconsciousness. The doctors attended on her but could not say anything about her condition unless that night passed; she was in such a critical condition. I sent a little vibhuti to her into the ICU with my husband and began to do namasmarana incessantly. After vibhuti was put on her forehead, Pranita moved her hand a little. Till then she was not showing any movement at all. By dawn, she improved. Doctors were afraid of brain injury. But scanning reports revealed that she had no brain injury. There was no fracture of any bone even though she had fallen down from the first floor on to the ground. There was, however, blood clot in the brain according to the scanning reports. But it did not affect her in any way. She regained her consciousness in the next two days, improved a lot and was discharged. She is now completely all right owing to Swami's grace. She has been attending school again.

During this very period, Pranitha's sister, Harshita had exams. She could not prepare properly or concentrate well on exams. She was doubtful of the outcome. She prayed to Bhagavan and I, too, prayed to Him. When the results came, she passed owing to Swami's grace.

In September 2005, my eldest son-in-law, Dr. P. Venkateswarlu of Narasaraopet met with an accident while he was returning from the hospital to his house for lunch. He was riding a scooter when a Tata Sumo came fast at right angle and hit him. He rose with his vehicle to about ten feet into the air due to the impact, and was thrown at a distance of ten feet making three somersaults after hitting ground. He was brought to the General Hospital, Guntur where he was in intensive care for over a week. His ribs were fractured. There was injury on his head. Owing to Swami's grace, he was advised rest. There was no need for surgery. It is a miracle of Bhagavan that none of his important parts such as brain, heart, lungs, lever or kidneys was injured. He is now recovering in his own house at Narasaraopet.

The last but not the least Swami has blessed us with is yet another miracle. That is the earlier disbelief of my husband about reincarnation of Shirdi Sai as Parthi Sai. He does not feel any difference between the Both now.'

-- Mrs. T. Saraswathi.

(As narrated to Mr. B. Parvatala Rao on telephone on October 29, 2005.)