In Swami’s Ashtothram, we worship Him as ‘Sarva roga nivarini’, meaning ‘One who cures all diseases’. For our Lord, who cancels cancer just by His mere words, curing wheezing and asthma is nothing.  

Our family was blessed to come into His fold, starting with my grandfather. He was a pious person, who used to read books of saints such as Ramana Maharishi, Swami Vivekananda and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. A relative of my grandfather introduced Swami to him, and he was immediately attracted to Swami’s teachings. He became a regular part of Samithi activities and was enjoying the Divine grace of Swami. He became an active member of Prasanthi service and was always involved in serving society.

I was born in the year 1995. We used to live in a rented house with my grandparents. The house was just above a grocery shop. Whenever they cleaned the stocks, they dried them on the terrace. The dust and the smell that arose from the terrace affected my breathing when I was still a baby. This led to severe wheezing and asthma. 

As a child, I struggled to breathe and cried every single day. I wouldn’t sleep at all.  I used to vomit whatever I ate and this worried my family members a lot. They took me to the best hospitals in our vicinity, but of no use. Doctors would conduct all kinds of tests and yet couldn’t identify what was happening to me. Weeks and months rolled on, and we went from hospital to hospital and from one medicine to another for a cure. My parents tried all sorts of treatment from Allopathy and Siddha to Ayurveda and Homeopathy.

After a year or so, my grandfather went to Parthi for Christmas and New Year celebrations. He always had a thought about my health at the back of his mind. During one of those days, he was waiting for Darshan in Sai Kulwant Hall. He was seated in one of the front rows and was continuously chanting the Gayatri Mantra during the entire Darshan. The ever merciful Lord glided and went past my grandfather. All of a sudden, Swami took a sharp turn and came to my grandfather and looked at him. My grandfather was awestruck, and then Swami said, “Chei… Chei…” (Meaning “Hands” in Telugu). My grandfather was stunned and didn’t know how to react. Swami told him “kai…Kai…” (repeating in Tamil what He said earlier in Telugu). My grandfather’s hands shivered all the way to reach Swami. Swami then gracefully materialized Vibhuthi and poured them into the open hands of my grandfather.

He took the Vibhuti and it smelt like medicine. He thought it should be for me, since I was the only person who was not keeping well at that point. So he folded it into a paper and left the hall after Darshan. He believed that, if Swami gives you Vibhuti, you should immediately leave to your native. So he packed his bags and left Parthi and reached home. He opened the folded Vibhuti packet. To his utter shock, the powdered vibhuti had crystallized, like sugar candies. My grandmother even tried to smash it with her hands, but it wouldn’t break. So she gave up her efforts to break them and started feeding them to me as it was. I ate them without any difficulty. Since I hadn’t started speaking, I was not able to express anything nor do I remember anything now.

After I ate that Vibhuti, my breathing troubles vanished. From then on till now, I have neither wheezing nor the slightest of breathing problems. The ever merciful Lord blessed me with a new life and cured my disease; if not for Swami I would have never seen the light of the day. Swami continues to take care of me and guides me in each and every aspect of my life. 

A mother will never give up on her children, no matter what. In a similar way, Swami will never give up on anyone who surrendered themselves to Him in complete faith.

Sai Swaroop B.Com, MBA, 2012 – 2017, Prasanthi Nilayam. Currently Assistant Manager at Lakshmi Vilas Bank, Chennai.