K M Ganesh
2002-2005, Brindavan

How important it is to use our God-given faculty of Discrimination and act according to the place, time and circumstances – Lessons learnt and shared at Bhagwan’s Divine Lotus Feet.

It was one of the beautiful Sunday mornings on the sacred lawns of Trayee Brindawan in the year 2004. As a part of the ‘Sai Chintan Satsang’ initiative, we had invited Ruchir Desai sir to share with us His experiences with our beloved Bhagwan. Among the several delicious servings shared by Ruchir sir in the perfect sylvan ambiance, one incident which left a mark in my young insatiable heart was the ‘Sambar’ episode!!

It was sometime during sir’s early career as a young teacher. Swami had invited His guests to the hostel. Sir was instructed by Bhagwan to oversee the arrangement for lunch preparation and serving. Meticulous in planning and execution, sir himself was shifting the food items from the kitchen to the serving counters where it had to be placed in the right order. Even as he was shifting the vessels from the kitchen, to his surprise, Swami suddenly entered the kitchen. He recollected vividly that at that moment, only he and Swami were present inside the kitchen.

Swami asked him, “What are you carrying?”
Ruchir sir, “Swami, Sambar.”
Swami, “I can see that it is Sambar, but which sambar?”
Surprised by this unexpected question from Swami, the Divine Perfectionist and the Master of minutest of details, Ruchir sir started shaking the vessel he was holding in his hand.
Swami, “What are you doing? I did not ask you to dance.”
Ruchir sir, “Swami, by shaking the vessel, I am trying to get the vegetable pieces settled at the bottom to the surface. That way, I can tell you which vegetable Sambar it is.”
Swami laughed and said, “You can simply smell and tell me which Sambar it is. Why do you have to shake the whole vessel?
Ruchir sir promptly smelt the Sambar and told Swami that it was radish and drumstick Sambar. Swami told him to rush as the guests were expected to arrive within the hour.

The guests arrived and Swami was walking around, ensuring that all the items were served properly to the complete satisfaction of the guests. Since they were Swami’s special guests, the hostel lunch menu was very elaborate that day. They had prepared several varieties of rice, curries and even Sambar! Just then Ruchir sir was moving a vessel of sambar from one counter to another when one of the guests asked him, “Which item is it?”
Ruchir sir, “Sambar.”
Guest, “Which Sambar?”
Without batting an eyelid, applying the lesson taught by the Lord just an hour ago, he bent forward, smelt the sambar, and responded in a trice that it was such-and-such Sambar. The guest said, “Okay, it’s fine, I don’t want it now.”

Ruchir sir then continued forward, keeping the sambar at an adjacent counter. At that instant he noticed the imperceptible eye-to-eye directive from Bhagwan asking him to follow Him into the kitchen. He quickly followed Swami into the kitchen. Swami bolted the kitchen door from within and turned with red glowing eyes to the surprise and terror of Ruchir sir! Swami then went on to scold him in pure Telugu language for more than 2 minutes without a stop. He was too dazzled by the harsh tone of Bhagwan which were striking him like thunderbolts. Even though his vernacular knowledge of Telugu was limited at that time, he knew Swami was extremely upset with him. The most intriguing and amusing part of the torrential Divine shower was that Ruchir sir had absolutely no clue why Swami was upset. When the Divine tirade paused briefly, he mustered the courage to ask Bhagwan, “Swami, what happened?!”
Swami, “How can you smell the Sambar and tell which sambar it is?!!!!”
Absolutely perplexed, Ruchir sir responded, “But Swami, you only taught me that….”
Swami, “That is Inside the kitchen, NOT Outside. You have to use your Buddhi (Discrimination)”

And thus a great lesson was taught by the Lord to Ruchir sir that day. Even if the Lord Himself has given you certain instructions, we have to understand the spirit behind the instruction. Every instruction (even if coming from the Lord) is to be applied in the proper context. It is relevant only when applied to a particular Desha (Place), Kala (Time) and Paristhiti (Situation). Blindly following commands of the Lord, without applying the God given faculty of Discrimination, will only invoke immense anger and dissatisfaction of the same Lord who had given the instruction in the first place.

So follow Bhagwan’s teachings, understanding the context and the underlying spirit of the message. Such practice alone will yield Trupti (satisfaction) to the Indweller, our Atma Rama, our Sai Rama.