Subramanya Balaji
1991 Brindavan
Even before I joined Swami’s institute, a ‘small’ incident happened that strengthened my faith and love for Swami. It would not be incorrect if I stated that till the day I applied to the institute, my parents and I were neither devotees of Swami nor had we seen Swami. Only my father had seen Swami during his younger days when Swami had visited the house of Sri Radhakrishna at Kuppam (Andhra Pradesh). I had completed my 12th standard and was waiting for my results when my father suddenly contracted severe stomach pain and was admitted to the hospital. An X- ray was taken and a battery of tests conducted to find out the cause of the pain. The doctors concluded that it was because of a large stone in his kidney and informed us that he had to be operated the next day as the stone was pretty large. That day, my father had a dream of Swami coming to him and applying Vibhuti on his stomach. Just as the dream ended my father woke up to find Seva Dal members distributing Swami’s Prasadam to all patients. The next day when the doctor came to check on my father, he told us something we couldn’t believe. The pain that was unbearable a day before was no more and my father told the doctor that he had a good night’s sleep. The doctor, on suspicion, asked my father to get an X-ray done. Results showed his kidneys to be clear – there was no trace of the stone! This was the first incident that happened in our family that strengthened my faith in Swami.
During my final year at Brindavan campus (1991) just as in the previous years, all of us went to Puttaparthi for Sankranthi and the Sports Day celebrations that happen every year in the divine presence of Bhagawan. This visit allowed us the opportunity to have His Darshan everyday during our stay. On the day we were supposed to return to Brindavan, just before we were to board our buses, Swami came to the balcony of the Mandir. All the students and some devotees started running into the Mandir to catch a glimpse of Him. Swami spoke to the warden Sri Narasimhamurthy Garu and started enquiring about our trip back to Bangalore. All of a sudden He dropped a bundle of ten-rupee notes that fell into my hands as I was standing right below him. In a fraction of a second just as a thought arose in my mind as to what I need to do with the money He had thrown into my hands, I heard Him say in Telugu (from above), “Athi me anthariki.” (It is for all of you.) I was dumb stuck and humbled by His omniscience. The time it took for Bhagawan to reply to the question that arose in my mind would have been less than half a second!
These memories of Omnipotence & Omniscience forever are etched in our hearts and continue to make us feel His enveloping Omnipresence.
Brother Subramanya S Balaji is based in Banglore & has a marketing business. He is involved in spiritual & service activities in his leisure time. During his college days, he was involved in dramatics.