“Loving Swami means practicing His Teachings…”

Tuesday, February 13, 2001 


Swami : (To Prof. Anil Kumar) Where did you go? 

Prof. A. K. : To drink a cup of water, Swami. 

Swami : (Smiling) No. You went for a round.  

Prof. A. K. : Yes, Swami. I did that also. 

Swami : You want everybody to see you - ‘Translation Man’. (Prof. Anil Kumar translates Swami’s Divine Discourses into English during all public functions in Prasanthi Nilayam.) 

Prof. A. K. : No, Swami. They must be criticising me for the translation I do. 

Swami : What is the news? 

Prof. A. K. : Jwallaiya Garu (Principal of the Anantapur Junior College) wrote a letter. Their College is going to get an award for an essay writing competition.It is an All-India medal. It is their second award (The first award was given to a Bioscience student for coming first at the All-India level). 

Swami : Our Institute people have not got anything. (Swami called a student and saw the photographs taken during Swami’s visit to the Hostel. Calling the Warden) Siva Sankara Sai is taking care of the Hostel very well (Swami materialised a gold-strapped watch with a diamond-studded dial for him). 

Warden : (Removing his old watch) Swami, You only gave this watch and these clothes. 

Swami : I gave that one to everyone. (Putting the watch on Dr. Siva Sankara Sai’s hand) It is showing ten to four. No. Eleven to four. Correct time. 
(To School Warden (S. Warden), Sri K. Janardhanan) How are the boys?

S. Warden : Fine, Swami. 

Swami : (To Institute Warden, Dr. Siva Sankara Sai) I gave you that watch two years back. 

Sri Sathya Sai with Dr. Siva Sankara Sai

Prof. A. K. : You have felicitated him. 

Swami : You seem to be jealous like Shurpanakha (sister of the demon king Ravana in the epic Ramayana). 

Prof. A. K. : No, Swami. (Pointing to his own watch) I have got this one from You only. 

Swami : It has leather strap. I don’t give leather-strapped watches.  

Prof. A. K. : Swami, You only gave me. 

Swami : In Kodaikanal? 

Prof. A. K. : In Bangalore, Swami, after the Kodaikanal trip. May be I am having another chance to get a watch from You! 

Swami : There is no mistake in asking Swami. (Swami called two students who were showing a card and asked them to read out the prayer. One of them read out.) Even Primary School boys can write like this!! (Then Swami called the Hostel kitchen in-charge, Sri K. Venkatachalam) What is the food (in the Hostel)? 

Sri K. V. : Swami, Parotha, Pongal and Tamarind Chutney

Swami : I asked about lunch and not about breakfast. 

Sri K. V. : Swami, beans curry and capsicum dal. 

Warden : Boys Baga Thintaru (Boys eat very well), Swami. 

Swami : Baga Thintaru. Baga Untara? (They eat well. But are they good?) (Pointing to G. Prashanth Sai, a student of the B.Sc. course) He does not eat well. 
He has diabetes. 

Warden : He arranges flowers in the Prayer Hall every day. 

Swami : His mother makes sweets and gives him. He takes them once in a while. 

Warden : He does lot of work, Swami. 

Swami : He should do lot of work. (To Sri Bhagia) Hostel doctor? Homeopathy? 

Sri Bhagia : Yes, Swami. 

Swami : Are the boys well? (Sri Bhagia nodded.) 

Warden : Swami, he serves with a lot of sincerity. 

Swami : Manchidi (Good). Today, people from Iran came. 

Prof. A. K. : Muslims, Swami? 

Swami : They came to have just one Darshan. So much of devotion. They are saying that boys are very fortunate. But boys don’t understand. Even if I speak once to them, they listen with full heart. But boys don’t listen with full heart because they don’t have a heart. Ask the boys, whether they have hearts? (Prof. Anil Kumar asked the same question to everyone. But nobody raised their hands.) See, they do not have hearts. Hrid + Daya = Hridaya
Only when there is Daya (compassion), it can be called HridayaOtherwise, it is artificial. Hence I say, ‘Yad Bhavam, Tad Bhavati’ (As is the feeling, so is the outcome). Do you have a heart? 

Prof. A. K. : Swami, they say that the mind goes about everywhere once in a while. Does the heart also roam about? 

Swami : The feelings of the heart go. But mind goes as it is. 

Prof. A. K. : Where does the mind go during sleep? 

Swami : Sthambinchi Pothundi (It freezes). Manomoolam Idam Jagat (The mind is the basis for the world). Mind is not the truth because it keeps on changing. Mind is different in Jagrat, Swapna and Sushupti (waking, dreaming and deep sleep states of existence). That which changes is not the truth.  

Prof. A. K. : Is it that the heart does not change? 

Swami : No, that is the Atma. The mind, which is pure, is the good mind. That mind which is contaminated is the bad mind. Bad and good are feelings. They keep changing. It is like the water and the bubbles. As long as water is there, there will be bubbles. When the mind becomes still, that state of the mind is known as Samadhi. Samadhi = Sama + Dhi.
(To School Warden, Sri K. Janardhanan) How are the boys? 

S. Warden : Fine, Swami.

Swami : Boys… what to do? I give Prema. But those who take the Prema are few. Giving is easy, but it is difficult to accept.  

Warden : If boys practise Swami’s teachings, it will be very good. 

Swami : Loving Swami means practising Swami’s teachings. Boys hear everything, but they don’t follow. 

Sri Bhagia : Swami, when Avatar has come, so many get an opportunity to evolve and get liberated. 

Swami : In a running race, there are so many people who participate. But only one or two come first. Those who come first are gems. 

Prof. A. K. : Have the lorries reached? Is the distribution going on well in Gujarat? 

Swami : Military people are helping. We have sent very good rice. Who sends such good rice! Military people are happy having the rice. They are also helping in the distribution of clothes. 

Prof. A. K. : Swami, it seems some people are stealing things. 


Swami : Military is helping in maintaining order. Tents too were put up. Who thinks about all this? 

Prof. A. K. : Yes, Swami. 

Swami : (Mentioning the name of Sri Sanjay Singh) He is doing good work. Puttaparthi people also went; they have come back today. 

Warden : Swami, Bangalore Hospital boys also came to the Hostel (during Swami’s visit). 

Swami : They have gone back. 

Prof. A. K. : Swami, I wanted to ask them about the Hospital, but by then they had gone back. 

Swami : The boy who fell from up (from terrace) the other year was there in the Hostel, when I came. 

Warden : Swami, his health is improving. He has come to finish his M.Tech. project. 

Swami : How many boys are there? 

Warden : 800 boys, Swami. 

Swami : Including teachers? 

Warden : 1,000, Swami.  

Swami : We wanted to build houses for the poor people. But the Government is taking time. Collector was telling that the houses should be built in their own hometowns. But I told ‘No’. If you build in their hometowns, other people will be jealous and thus they will not be able to live happily. I wanted to finish the work by summer. In Mylapalli, we have 20 acres of land. We have already built the compound wall. 

Prof. A. K. : Swami, it is close to the bus stand. 

Swami : There is a Rama temple; we have also built a shed there. Swami is always giving. But I want to see a completely confident boy. There is not even a single boy, who is completely confident. If someone is there, I can give him different types of works. One boy is enough. One person with total understanding is enough. Money and other things are ready. But I am not able to find a single boy. (Swami sent a student, Sriram of the II M.Sc. (Chemistry) class to get something from the interview room. But he did not come back for a long time.) See, he has not yet come back. (Then Sriram came out.) 

Prof. A. K. : May be, he thought that he is called for interview and stayed back.  

Swami : (Swami spoke something to Sriram. He went inside the interview room and came back after some time. Telling about Sriram) Good boy, it is not his mistake. That is why I sent him. (A student showed a card.) 

Warden : Swami, he is in B.Sc. (Bachelor of Science) final year, Economics. 

Student : Swami, what shall I do next? M.A. (Master of Arts) Economics is not there. 

Swami : That is not My business. Go and ask them (the University administration). (To another student) Which place? After one month, go to Bombay. 

Student : No, Swami. 

Swami : Then, where do you want to go? 

Student : Wherever You say. 

Swami : Is it My wish? 

Student : Yes, Swami. 

Swami : My wish is that you should go to Bombay. The final year boys can do good work. They can get together and decide what to do (after passing out of the College). 

Prof. A. K. : Swami, Sri Sathya Sai Seva Samitis are also present everywhere. 

Swami : There is no place, where they are not present. But teachers don’t guide properly. Teachers should guide properly. 

Warden : On the 17th and 18th, there is a medical camp (organised by the alumni). 

Swami : That is different. They go to villages and give some medicines. If they really want to do Seva, why should they come here and do? They want Swami to see (their work) and they write banners like ‘Sai Students’ (the name of the alumni organisation). 

Warden : Since they come here for Swami’s Darshan, they are doing some service along with it. 

Swami : When they come here, they should come free. They should not keep any work. (To Sri K. Sairamasubramaniam, Manager in the Office of the Controller of Examinations at the Institute) What are you doing? 

Teacher : M.Phil. 

Swami : What have you done? 

Teacher : Swami, M.A. Economics. (Asking for his age, Swami asked him to marry.) Swami, I am 46 years old. 

Swami : Do you want to marry? 

Teacher : I don’t want to marry. 

Swami : Good boy. Why don’t you marry? 

Teacher : It comes in the way of You and me. 

Swami : You have understood the truth. But even after marriage, you can come and do service. 

Teacher : Swami, even without marriage, I can do. 

Swami : (To Prof. Anil Kumar) His mother and father have been coming to Me for the past 40 years, even during the Paata (Old) Mandir time. They have complete confidence in Swami. (To him) Salem? 

Teacher : Swami, Erode. 

Swami : Many people say that if Swami tells, they will marry. I will never tell ‘No’. Instead, I will give clothes and bless them. But they have different feelings inside, and they talk something else outside. Daivadroham (cheating God). It is not wrong to marry. It is also Grihastha Dharma. Whatever you say, you should do. Manas Ekam, Vachas Ekam, Karman Ekam, Mahaatmanam. Manas Anyath, Vachas Anyath, Karman Anyath, Duraatmanam. (Noble people have unity of thought, word and deed. The one whose thought, word and deed are not in unity is ignoble.) We should have a steady mind and an unwavering sight. Is it not a mistake to be like that? 

Prof. A. K. : Yes, Swami. 

Swami : (Swami enquired about a teacher’s exams and then materialised a three-diamond ring for 
Sri K. Sairamasubramaniam. To Prof. Anil Kumar) 
Are you jealous? 

Prof. A. K. : (Showing his hand) You have already given me. Swami, I sit next to him every day and do Bhajans. I like to do Bhajans with him. 

Swami : So, you don’t like others. 

Prof. A. K. : No, Swami. I don’t hate anyone.  

Swami : (Swami asked the teacher about his brother, and his brother arrives) 
Tell him to reduce his stomach. After you finish your studies, join Central Trust. (Swami praised the old students working in Central Trust. He said that though their salaries were increased, they were sending back the increment to Swami.) I told them, “What Swami has given, you should not give back.” (Swami talked for some more time praising some teachers and their families for a long association with Swami. Then the music started.) 
There is the call!! I will go. 



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