This amazing episode is
narrated in the book
“Anyatha Sharanam Nasthi
– Other Than You Refuge
there is None” by
Smt. Vijayakumari.
The author recounts the
golden days devotees
spent with
Sathya Sai Baba.
Those times there were
only a handful of
devotees in Puttaparthi
and the Chitravathi
sands were His
playground.
One day, when we were
all walking towards the
Chitravati, Swami
suddenly disappeared.
While we were searching
for Him, we heard a
clapping sound and,
looking up, we found
Swami alerting us,
“I am on top of the
hill.” It was six
in the evening. The sun
had softened the streams
of its rays and was
sinking towards the
west. The sky was filled
with black clouds, as if
it were wrapping itself
in a thick blanket.
Swami said, “You all
look at me. I shall show
you the sun.”
Even as we were
thinking, “how can
the sun come back after
it has already set?”
we saw newly rising rays
behind Swami’s head. The
whole sky was filled
with blue clouds. The
rays began to turn red
till they looked fiery
and exuded so much heat
as to make us all sweat
profusely. The rays were
intensely hot as if
coming from the
scorching midday sun.
Unable to bear the heat
we all made loud
appeals, “Swami! It
is too hot”. The
heat subsided.
We were just settling
down, when Swami’s voice
came down to us from the
top of the hill, “I
shall show you the Moon”.
We saw behind Swami’s
head, the half-unfolded
honey-coloured rays of
the moon. They soon
turned white – whiter
and whiter still. That
was that. We began
shivering in the cold.
Our bodies became stiff.
Our teeth began to
chatter. “Swami!
Cold! It’s very cold,
Swami!” As we were
imploring Him thus, the
cold slowly subsided.
While we were wondering
what other miracle He
would perform, He
announced, “I shall show
you the Third Eye. Watch
it very carefully and
attentively”.
“Third eye! How does
it look?” we
wondered. Swami’s body
was not visible. But His
head appeared gigantic,
as if it were stretched
across the entire sky.
Stupefied, great
bewilderment filling our
minds, we stared at the
sky.
On Swami’s forehead,
between His two
eyebrows, an orifice
appeared. Fiery, fuming
sparks began to come out
of the opening. Our eyes
were dazzled by the
brilliance of those
sparks. We were scared.
More than fear for
ourselves, we were
worried about what might
be happening to Swami.
The sparks continued to
gush out. When we looked
back, we found that many
had fallen down,
unconscious. We did not
know what made them
faint. That scared us
further. We looked up,
but could not find Swami
anywhere. Feeling lost
and not knowing what to
do, we began weeping.
Suddenly, we found Swami
standing in our midst.
“What happened?”
He asked us, patting us
on our shoulders.
“Why are you weeping?
Why have these kids
fainted?” Not
knowing what answer to
give to these questions,
we just hugged Him and
continued weeping.
As one or two of those
who had fainted
recovered and got up, we
mustered a little
strength and, in one
voice, we all asked Him,
“Swami! Are you
alright? How come we did
not see You there?”
While asking these
questions, we patted His
face and body to
reassure ourselves that
He was really with us.
Swami laughed heartily
and, reassuring us that
He was all right, He
created Vibhuti with a
wave of His hand, and He
Himself put it on our
foreheads.
One by one, those who
had fallen unconscious
persons began to stir.
It was a strange
experience. We felt as
if our bodies were
moving unsteadily hither
and thither. We felt as
if we were floating on
air. Some inexpressible
joy seemed to pervade
our entire being. It was
some sweet surge of
affection. We did not
understand its nature.
Though we were keeping
pace with Swami, it
seemed to us that our
feet were not touching
the ground. Some were
walking unsteadily, as
if drunk. We all felt we
were in some other
strange world. It was a
peculiar state of mind.
We all reached the
Mandir and sat down for
bhajans.
We could not sing
properly. We felt dizzy.
That whole evening was
spent in that state.
When we found ourselves
in a similar state the
next day also, we asked
Swami about it.
He said with a smile,
“You have been
praying to have a
glimpse of this Third
Eye for many past lives.
In answer to your
prayers, today, I gave
you darshan of it. But I
did not show you even a
thousandth part of its
brilliance. You could
not withstand even that.
Your present state is
the result of that
spectacle.”
Overwhelmed by this
revelation, we all broke
down and wept. We washed
His lotus feet with our
tears and told Him,
“Swami, if only we had
known this before, maybe
we would have enjoyed
the Darshan more. We
could not fully utilize
the divine boon You so
kindly granted us.
Really, we could not
endure its profound
impact. We got scared
when we could not see
Your physical form. We
felt very anxious about
You when we saw the
orifice on Your
forehead”.
Sathya Sai Baba just
continued to look at us
with great compassion
and love and, feeling
overwhelmed by the
shower of His affection
soothing us like
moonlight, and with
tear-filled eyes, we
offered our lives at His
feet.
He again created Vibhuti
and placed it on each of
our foreheads. We gained
a semblance of normalcy
thereafter. We felt
ecstatic inwardly,
dwelling on this rare
golden opportunity, this
reward for some devotion
in past lives, for some
prayer we must have said
with golden flowers, or
some luck we got because
of the good deeds done
by our elders.
Beneath the golden
temples of our hearts we
etched, in golden
letters, what we saw was
a unique vision granted
to us by our good
fortune, to give us
liberation.
More than anything else,
just to be near this
Loving Father, and to
get a golden opportunity
like this, is a
significant event, a
culmination of the merit
of many previous lives.
Reference: “Anyatha
Sharanam Nasthi – Other
Than you Refuge There Is
None” by Smt.
Vijayakumari. Page:
58-61. Published by the
Author, 1999.