Order was given to the boys by Swami to cut down the old tree whihc has grace (providing shade and cool comfort to devotees and the Lord for years!) the darshan and bhajans for years.

Naturally the students were very very excited to execute Swami's order. They brought axe and saw. The moment the first strike of the axe of the tree trunk, red liquid resemblign blood, oozes out like a broken down water pipe.

Shock and frightend the boys ran to inform our Master what had happened.

The Master went to take a look and He Himself raised the axe and gave it a chop. Strangely there was no oozing of the red liquid, and the Lord asked the boys to continue with the order.

The tree had to be taken down for expansion and the reconstruction of the Sai Ramesh Hall, in order to accomodate the increasing number of devotees. After taking the tree down, the next day finding the Lord in a good mood, asked for the reason behind this strange tree. And the compassionate Lord told the story:

Long time ago, there was this Rishi who refused to perform a yagna unless the Lord was physically present to liberate him. By then the rishis had already merged with the Lord and this poor rishi was still mediating and waiting for the Lord to be personally present. He made a vow not to move until the the Lord arrived. And the place where he meditated sprouted a tree and he has been to date meditating inside this tree waiting for the Lord to liberate him.

Now come the chance as the Lord has taken a physical form. And He is Sathya Sai Baba. Thus when the boys gave a first chop, the oozing blood frightened the strongest of heart. And when the Lord gave it a chop, he was willing to die under it. He merges into Sai then. It took him thousand of years because of his stubborness and his strength of will.

Please correct me if I am wrong. I heard this story and jsut managed to recap it. Anybody with the better version please send me an email. Thanks and sairam.

Composed by Simon Sim 10th April 2001