The
Archakas of Tirupati have the habit of looking at the feet
of Balaji Bhagwan and taking Padanamaskar before
Suprabhatam (where God is woken up). They open their eyes
only after this procedure.
One of the senior
most archakas suddenly had a feeling one day that even after having
served the Lord for 40 years, he was not fortunate enough to have his
darshan. He prayed emotionally that if he had been sincere in his duty
towards the lord, then the Lord must some day grant him his physical
darshan.
The next day, as
usual when the archakas went into the sanctum sanctorum for
padanamaskar, the senior most archaka went in first. As he reached
for the feet of the idol, his hands could feel the moist feet of a
human body. Totally surprised, the archaka removed his hand and
wanted to remove the covering around his eyes. But the fear of
breaking the age-old tradition combined with his 40 year old practise,
he refrained from doing so.
As he reached for
the feet again and again, the same thing happened. He called out to
the other Archakas and told them his experience. The other archakas
too experienced the same warmth. For a moment the archakas got
agitated and felt that some miscreant would be standing there but who
could be so insolent to stand on the lord’s idol and that too when the
sanctorum was thoroughly checked before being locked. Who could it be?
Was it an illusion?.. Just that moment the archaka remembered the
prayer that came out of him the day before. A thought flashed through
his mind.....Was it the Lord himself ?
He hurriedly removed
the covering and opened his eyes. What he saw shoked him. He gave out
a shriek, hearing which the other archakas also removed their
coverings and opened their eyes. A sense of disbelief went through
them on what they saw. The idol was
gone and Sri Satya Sai Baba was standing in its place.
Baba was standing in
Chatur Bhuja form (with four arms). Baba was smiling. He looked at the
senior most archaka and said--
“You wanted to see
me. I am here. What do you want?”
The archaka was
stunned and asked --
“When did I ask to
see you? In fact, I asked for darshan of my Lord Sri Balaji.”
Baba replied --
“I am your Lord Sri
Balaji.”
Taken aback by this
reply the archakas asked again--
“How can you be Lord
Balaji? You have always said You are Shiva-Shakti Swarupa. How then
can you say you are Vaikunthathi-pathi Balaji?”
Baba softly
replied--
“All are one, my
dear children. God is one. He manifests in different forms and man
worships the form to which he is most attached. All faiths are paths
leading to the same goal. Why then do you see the difference?”
After a moments
silence, Baba spoke again--
“I have come not to
disturb any faith but to confirm everyone in his own faith. I respond
to everyone with whatever name you call me. You wanted to see the Lord
in form of Balaji and so here I am to fulfill your wish.”
So saying Bhagwan
Sri Satya Sai Baba dissappeared and the idol of Bhagwan Balaji
was back in its place. Silence prevailed for some time. Later the
archakas handed over the administration of the temple temporarily to
their juniors and rushed to Puttaparthy.
The next day the
Archakas of Tirupati were made to sit in front and as Bhagwan Baba
came out for darshan, they sat with eyes glued at Him. As Baba came
nearer, their hearts leapt in excitement. Baba maintained a little
distance from them, looked sharply in their eyes, and asked --
“Today how have you
broken the tradition of yester years. Every day morning, you look
first at my feet and then at my physical frame. Today you are looking
at my face first without even taking padnamaskar.”
As the archakas
heard this, they fell at Baba’s feet. Baba took them into the
interview room and spoke to them for a long time. Before leaving for
Tirupati, they disclosed everything to our professors, who in turn
told this to the students. Bhagia sir later personally asked Baba
about this who confirmed that he had gone physically to Trupathi and
given darshan of Balaji.
We call God by
different names:
Krishna ------ by the Hindus
Jesus
------ by the Christians
Waheguru
------ by the Sikhs
Allah
------ by the Moslems
Jhulelal
------ by the Sindhis
and many other names
in different religions.
We, students of
Baba, believe that Baba is that cosmic Divinity, which is responsible
of the creation, organisation and finally the dissolution of the
entire Universe.
For us, students of
Sri Satya Sai Institute of Higher Learning , Baba is all the above
forms. In fact He is that Primordial source from which all these forms
have emerged. We place ourselves,heart and
soul at His feet. We love you, Baba and pray that whatever happens in
our lives, You should always remain the center of our lives.
Source:
http://www.geocities.com/sai_ram108/mira9.htm