The
Author Writes.
I was born in
an obscure village in North Travancore when the
nineteenth century had still three years and a
few days to run. I had my schooling in the
Cochin State under a great Headmaster who had
met Swami Vivekananda and who lit in our little
lamps the flame of prayer and contrition. I
attended College at Trivandrum and, after
finishing my M.A. and B.L., I secured a job as
Lecturer in History at a college in
Mysore.
The country
boat in which I, my wife and my mother journeyed
along the canals and backwaters of the West
Coast on the first lap of the trip to catch the
train at Ernakulam, was halted past midnight in
the middle of a dark backwater by a Coast Guard,
who shouted orders from the shore. He called out
in the black night, "Where are you going?" and
waited for an answer. My boatman had a fine
sense of humor. He shouted back, "We are going
to Mysore!" (We all knew Mysore was inland!) The
Coast Guard did not reprimand him for his
impertinence, for he, too, was in a humorous
mood. He laughed and asked, "Why do you say
Mysore? Don't you know a place beyond
Mysore?"
Little did we
know then, that there
was
a place beyond Mysore, a couple of hundred miles
to the north of that City, a place called
Puttaparthi which was to provide us harborage
from the turbulent storms of the sea. There I
was to get the Teacher
I
wanted, when my career as a university teacher
and principal was about to come to a
close.
Yogi
Suddhananda Bharathi, the famous mystic poet of
Tamilnad, said, in April 1959 when addressing a
religious conference at Venkatagiri Town over
which Sri Sathya Sai Baba presided, "I have
practiced Yoga
for over 50 years; I once observed the vow of
silence continuously for over 20 years; I have
come in contact with Sri Shirdi Baba, Sri Ramana
Maharshi, Sri Aurobindo, Sri Meher Baba and
others; now, as a result of all this discipline,
I have met Sri Sathya Sai Baba."
I served as
the Secretary of the Sri Ramakrishna Mission at
Mysore for over seventeen years; I came in
contact with Sri Siddharooda Swami, Sri Ramana
Maharshi, Sri Meher Baba and Sri Narayana Guru;
I was initiated into Japam, the recitation of
the Name of the Lord, by Mahapurushji, the
direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa,
and President of the Mission; and I am now
convinced that, as a result of all this, I sat
at the Feet of Sri Sathya Sai Baba in
1948.
After I
retired from the service of the University of
Mysore, I have since rejoiced in Baba's
Presence, except for a short period when I
worked with All India Radio as a producer. I
have had the good fortune of mingling with many
of His devotees who have had longer and closer
associations with Him. I have availed myself of
every opportunity of witnessing events
illustrating His Divine Power and listening to
His discourses. I trust this book will reveal to
the reader some of the reasons for the
extraordinarily intimate loyalty that binds me
and others to Him. Baba is an open book, with no
mystery or pomp or abstruseness about Him.
Everyone can approach Him and secure His
Grace.
I have great
sympathy for those who are unaware of Baba's
stature, for I, too, demurred, doubted, and
disbelieved Baba's validity with all the sarcasm
and satire found in the novels, dramas, and
essays which I wrote and published on various
subjects. For many years I, too, in my stupid
pride, did not make any effort to meet Him. I
invite everyone now, to come and share His Grace
and Mercy and stand witness to the Divine Power
that He personifies.
N.
Kasturi
Sathya
Sai Baba with
Kasturi
Kasturi's
Poem for Swami
|
Previous
|
Next
|
Bhajans