When Swami appears in a
dream, it is no longer a
dream. It is the way He
awakes us to the Atman. It
was on one such occasion
that He appeared and told
me: “you know the story
how one gopika crossed the
turbulent river Yamuna with
namasmarana alone to serve
as her guru. Do you want to
know the condition of her
mind then?” Abruptly the
scene changed. There was a
splendid golden yellow
light, no form (not even
Baba). Time has no relevance
in such a state. It was
blissful and all pervading.
At one stage even these
feelings were not known.
After sometime I was aware
that I was part of that
light and so was Swami.
Suddenly there was a rapport
between us. "You know now
this state is really
indescribable. Even the
nearest descriptions like
‘Tatwamasi, Aham Brahmasmi
...... ' when once put into
words are far away from the
Truth.” This blissful
state continued for some
more time.
Swami told me two more words
which I could not recollect
later inspite of my best
efforts, partly because I
have no knowledge of
Sanskrit and mainly because
of my ignorance of the
Upanishads. The reader can
well imagine the depth of my
ignorance if I say it took
me nearly a year to recall
the missing words which were
communicated to me by Baba.
They are “Pragnanam
Brahma and Ayamaatma Brahma".
I also came to know that
these four constitute the "Maha
Vakyas” (great
pronouncements) taken one
from each Veda—'Pragnanam
Brahma' from the Rigveda,
'Aham Brahmasmi' from
Yajurveda, 'Tatwamasi'
from Sama-veda and 'Ayamaatma
Brahma' from
Adharvanaveda. Still more
recently I was amazed to see
these were the Maha
Vakyas with which Sri
Adi Sankara was initiated by
his guru, Sri Govindapada.
Acquisition of this book
knowledge itself makes an
interesting story. In 1972
my mother-in-law became sick
and both her lungs showed
extensive lesions. Experts
varied in their opinion—lung
cancer or massive
tuberculosis. In either
case, the count down had
begun in her life. I thought
that if it was cancer then
there was nothing that could
be done at that late stage.
If it was advanced
tuberculosis, I thought that
injection of streptomycin
and other drugs could be
tried, hoping against hope.
This was explained to the
old lady. She wanted to have
the darshan of the Lord
before her last breath.
Immediately my wife, Dr.
Sanyasamma, and her mother
took the next available
train. This they did simply
because we had heard that
Swami wanted to start some
Summer Course (the first
Summer Course) and that He
would be at Whitefield. On
April 30, 1972 both the
ladies were seated in the
Bhajan mandap. Swami asked
Dr. Sanyasamma abruptly, "why
are you still sitting here?
What has happened to that
Kasturi?" Later, Sri
Kasturi explained that Swami
had instructed him the day
before to hand over a badge
and ask her to stay for the
whole summer course. This
clearly showed that Baba's
will and will alone put the
two ladies in the train and
drew them to His feet.
Later her mother had a
reeling sensation—a reaction
to the streptomycin
injections she was
receiving. She thought it
could be remedied only by
placing her head on Swami's
Feet or if Swami placed His
hand on her head. The very
next day Swami, while
talking to the lady doctor
about the symptoms of her
mother, created vibhuti and
was about to hand it over to
her. He then said: "if I
give it personally, the
patient would be more happy."
He went among the crowd of
devotees and stood before
her. She made use of this
opportunity and immediately
bowed down at His feet.
While getting up Swami
placed His hand over her
head and blessed her, thus
fulfilling both her wishes.
Immediately all treatment
was discontinued. When she
returned after three weeks
to Vishakhapatnam, her X-ray
picture revealed that both
lungs were absolutely
normal.
Dr. Sanyasamma brought all
the notes of the summer
course in long hand and both
of us studied the originals
one by one and came across
the 'Maha Vakyas'. Then it
became apparent that
whatever Swami says either
from the stage or in a side
talk or even as an apparent
joke is pregnant with
meaning, always paving the
way to the final goal of
knowing our own self.
—Dr. M. S. Krishna Rao,
Chittoor.