My “Lie” is my message: Sai Baba’s First Lie.
The Story: According to Sai Baba , and all the
several books written about him, this is what happened one October morning , in
1940. Sai Baba returned early from school, threw away his books, and rushed out
saying that he is no longer Sathya, but Sai Baba.
This
“momentous day of human destiny” is being celebrated as “Avatar day” for the
last 60 years. October 20th 1940. In 1990, while speaking on the
golden jubilee of the “Avatar” having completed 50 years of his “mission”, Sai
Baba recaptures events of that “memorable” day meant to forever transform the
destinies of human beings. He describes the “events” of that day to the
minutest of details, even tracing back the events of the previous days that led
to the “announcement”.
Here
is the speech Sai Baba made on October 20th 1990:
Date:20
Oct 1990 |
Occasion:Golden Jubilee |
Place:Prashanti
Nilayam |
Golden Jubilee of the
Advent of The Avathar
[Swami sings]:
Know that
verily I am Sai-
Renounce all attachment, cease all attempts;
This external relationship with you is gone;
Even the mightiest of the mighty cannot catch me."
These are the words uttered by me on that day,
Monday the 20th October, 1940. Then the families of Tammiraju, Hanumantha Rao,
Bhojaraju and others requested me not to leave the house. This happened at
Urvakonda. Whatever it is, Divine power is always associated with human power
and vice-versa. When this physical body had to renounce certain physical
relationships and attachments, it was essential that a certain philosophy as an
ideal had to be manifested and established.
During my stay at Urvakonda, a certain Ramaraju,
then the Municipal Chairman of Bellary, used to come to see Swami. In those
days, people used to call me only "Raju". Ramaraju made a request to
Seshamaraju (Swami's elder brother), `Please allow us to have this boy with us
during the holidays. Seshamaraju, don't look upon him as a mere boy or your
brother. He is no ordinary mortal. I am very much moved and my heart has melted
by the purity and radiance of his face. There is some divine effulgence in him.
You also may come with the boy and stay with us for some days.'"
"Ramaraju took us all to Hampi. What I am going
to tell you is neither a hyperbole nor egotism nor mere description. At Hampi
all of them went into the Virupaksha Temple. I did not want to go in with them.
But I knew that if I did not accompany them, I would be subjected to pressure
from all sides. They might even be angry with me. So I pleaded an upset
stomach. They were about fifty or sixty. Thammiraju and others were also there.
But Ramaraju had no other thought than that of Swami. He took my hands in his,
and humbly pleaded with me many times. "Please, Raju, you must come with
us." He was very much upset and unhappy when I was firm in my refusal.
Then `harathi' (ceremonial waving of camphor flame) was being offered to
Virupaksha, the Lord inside the sanctum. But, to the amazement of all, only the
figure of this Raju was seen in the place of the idol. Seshamaraju was very
angry. He thought that I had played a trick on them. He thought that,
pretending to stay outside, I had somehow sneaked in and was standing behind
the idol. What a great mistake! What a great sin! Taking the place of the idol
at the time of harathi! But Ramaraju firmly believed that it was Raju there and
that Raju and Virupaksha were one and the same. Seshamaraju came out at once
and found me standing under a tree. But he would not believe his own eyes. He
sent some one inside to find out whether I was there, while he was here,
outside, watching me. But to the joy of all, Raju was found here and also
there. Still they hesitated to tell me about it; still they were not certain
that it was not, after all, a trick of the mind.
From Hampi, I was taken to Bellary. There, Ramaraju
introduced Swami to all municipal officers (In those days, I was only Raju, not
Swami). Some were openly derisive at the reverence accorded to this small boy.
Before he took me to Hampi, Ramaraju got me a pair of shorts and a shirt. At
that time, I was only twelve and also short. Even now I am short and I was even
shorter then. In those days, i.e fifty years ago, it was a fashion among the
youth to wear a pin on the shirt collar. Today that fashion has completely
disappeared. That collar pin was a status symbol then. Ramaraju could not think
of anything suitable to give me. So he rushed off to the goldsmith and had a
gold "collar pin" made for me. With his own hands he put it on my
collar and said, `Raju, whenever you see this collar pin, think of me.'"
A little later, all of us returned to Urvakonda by bus. The next day, as
I was going to school, the collar pin fell off some place. Then I sang this
song:
On Monday, the
twentieth of October,
Back from Hampi, going to school
Baba lost his collar pin;
And a change came over me that day;
The collar pin was lost only to bring about that change.
Just like that collar pin, worldly bonds left me
And `darshan' I had of Hampi;
'Maya' (delusion) left me and the time came for leaving the house.
This attachment for worldly things is maya. The day when we get rid of this
attachment, we free ourselves from maya.
The same day I left the house and went and sat on a
large boulder in the compound of Anjaniah's house. He was an excise inspector.
He used to experience an inexplicable and indescribable spiritual feeling for
Swami. His house was on the way to my school. He and his wife used to wait for
me at the door of their house with some eatable or coffee or some other thing.
Feeling that the children would be an embarrassment, they would tell them to go
inside. When I slowly approached the door, they would prostrate themselves
before me. I would remonstrate them by saying, `Sir, You are older than me. You
should not do such things.' Their reply was, `Raju, we are old in body. But in
wisdom we are only children. You are Lord Krishna incarnate.' At the same time,
they were afraid of being ridiculed. So they would call me to them and tell me
all this when we were alone.
That day, the twentieth of October, 1940, was a
Monday. On that day, I did not go anywhere, not even to school. In those days,
it was my duty to render the morning prayer in the school. There was a small
dais with steps. The prayer was,
Aharaha
thava aahwaana prachaaritha
Sunithava udaaravaani
Hindu Boudha Sikha Jaina Paarasika
Musalmaanan Kristhaani.
Even in those
days, this unity of religions was given importance. Sometimes even the teachers
were a little irritated that a mere boy should venture to teach unity of
religions. On that day, my absence caused a lot of consternation in the school.
Everyone was enquiring about Raju and asking why he was absent. No student
attended prayer that day. Everyone came running to Anjaniah's house. I just sat
there on the rock, without talking to anybody. Everyone was speculating on the
cause of this strange occurrence. Perhaps there had been some change in the
boy, perhaps he has suffered a mental aberration after his return from Hampi,
or something had happened at home. Thus went on the guess work.
I suggested
that they take my photograph if they wanted to know who I was. Somebody did. In
that photograph, just in front of me there was a picture of Shirdi Sai Baba. In
those days, no one had heard of Shirdi Sai. One among the gathering was
Uravakanda Anjaniah, who is today the District Chairman of Sri Sathya Sai
Organizations. He also had that photo. I told them to start school work after
the usual prayer.
Meanwhile, believing
that something had happened to me, Seshamaraju sent a telegram to Puttaparthi.
Everyone came posthaste to Urvakonda from Puttaparthi. They did want me to stay
there even for a day more. In those days there was no bus service to
Puttaparthi, not even to Bukkapatnam. Buses ran only up to Penukonda. From
Penukonda one had to travel by bullock cart. Such were the conditions in those
days. All the boys in the school wanted to come with me to Puttaparthi. In this
context I must mention a very tragic event. In the school, three boys used to
occupy one desk. Two boys always sat with me. One was the son of the
sheristadar. Another was the son of a revenue inspector. They were both from
fairly rich families. I used to sit in between them. Because of that daily
darshan, sparsan and sambhashan (sight, touch and talk) a great transformation
came over the boys. The bond between Raju and these boys became stronger day by
day. From the day of my leaving the school, the two boys, as though demented,
went on repeating my name, `Raju, Raju, Raju'. When they saw me stepping into
the bus, their anguish was so great that one of them, the sheristadar's son,
jumped into a well and drowned himself. The other boy gave up all food and
drink and went on repeating my name, "Raju! Raju! Raju!" Lack of food
and water weakened him so much that his body as if paralyzed. Such a state is
the spiritual state of the highest order. But people believe that it is a kind
of madness and is nothing but a total disregard of the external world of
delusion. After the tragic incident of those two boys, the class room was
locked up and later that desk was named `Sri Sathya Sai desk.'"
The
Headmaster of the school then was Lakshmipathi. Whenever I went to school, he
used to take me to his office, close the door, make me sit in his chair and
massage my feet with all reverence and devotion. Such devotion is nothing but
the culmination of good deeds and thoughts of one's previous births. I used to
plead with him innocently that he should not do such things. His only reply
was, "You do not understand these things. There is some great power in
you." Thus, many such events took place in Urvakonda in those days. That twentieth day of October was a day of total
transformation.
There was a
change in the hearts of the students of the school also. Their love and
affection for me went on increasing steadily. I shall mention another incident
as an illustration. The day after the twentieth a
new boy came to the dais for prayer. Instead of rendering the prayer, he suddenly
burst into tears. Seeing the boy weeping, the others also began weeping. Then
Lakshmipathi announced, `No prayer today. This weeping for him is itself a
prayer. Let us go to our classes.' The room was locked up so as not to cause
any more distress to students and teachers, and it has now become a great
attraction and a show piece.
Thus, men and
women were much more innocent in those days and those young students had pure
hearts. They never made irrelevant comments or asked silly or impertinent questions.
Nor did they say that they would start observations or experiments. The present
day students have more intelligence but fewer good qualities. Today, Andhra Pradesh is
celebrating the Golden Jubilee of that day, the 20th October, 1940. These
celebrations are a way of keeping the memory of that day fresh in the mind.
Embodiments
of Love! You should not look upon all this with pride. Rather you should
believe that this is a manifestation of the power of truth. During these fifty
years, Prasanthi Nilayam has witnessed many changes and achieved much. All this
is not possible even in five hundred years. There have been great avathars in
the past. But there were never such achievements in such a short span of fifty
years. All these things have been done single-handedly. A large University has
been started. There is a planetarium. Even an airport has been constructed in
this small and remote village. Today Prasanthi Nilayam has extended to every
nook and corner of the world. The whole world is in Prasanthi Nilayam. People
from all corners of the world are coming here and Prasanthi Nilayam is now a
mini-world. You will understand this more fully on November 23rd. People do not
come in such large numbers even on invitation. In fact no invitation has been
extended. On the other hand, I have been telling people not to come. But as you
know, bees come where there are flowers. They come because of honey. They do
not go to plastic flowers. Such an attraction as this is possible only in the
case of Divinity. The fragrance of divinity is spreading all through the world.
Argentina is a far off country. Today Bhajans are going on in every house in
Argentina. In Miami, the military officers are participating in Bhajans. You
might have read in the newspapers that six months ago those officers took a vow
to replace the present government with the Sathya Sai government. The
authorities thought that officers had gone mad and sent them to a mental
asylum. The officers converted the doctors and the nurses and even the patients
into devotees. Such transformations are not possible through mere words. They
come about through a change of heart alone.
Embodiments
of Love! You have conducted the Jyothi Celebrations. Such fervor and devotion
do not come from outside. They spring from inside. So, try to purify that
internal Jyothi rather than think of the external Jyothi. Let it shine more
brilliantly. All the Sathya Sai Organizations should transform themselves into
vehicles of love. Personal jealousies and rivalries should be driven out.
Morality alone is the true nationality. Love alone is the true religion. We
must firmly believe in this:
Morality
is the true foundation of a nation's honour.
Without morality, a nation disintegrates.
A real nation is that which is rooted in morality.
So, if you
are asked, 'What is your nation?', your reply should be, `Morality is my
nation.' If you are asked, `What is your religion?' your answer should be,
`Love is my religion.' We should cultivate only such noble thoughts and thereby
develop a deep devotion to God. Such devotion alone can save the world. Neither
governments, nor tanks nor bombs can protect this world. Therefore, always keep
in the mind the security and welfare of our nation; keep in mind the welfare of
the entire universe; Cultivate deep devotion to God and participate in Bhajan
and Nagara Sankirthan. My blessings to you all.
As
can be seen all through the speech, Sai Baba “relives” the memory of that
“eventful” day, Monday, October 20th 1940, and practically gives a
“flashback” to all those who were not “fortunate” enough to have been there.
Here
is where I would like to pause a bit and ponder a lot. If Sai Baba were really
divine, then everything he says should be true, and accurate enough. If Sai
Baba were really divine , then all these events must have happened exactly as
he says they did. On Monday, October 20th, 1940, Sai Baba must have
indeed left home for school, returned early , not having gone to school, and
made the announcement “I am no longer your Sathya, I am Sai Baba”. After all,
not only would divinity know every little thing about everyone, but most
significantly, about the day divinity chooses to announce itself. And why
should there be any reason for “divinity” to lie about such an important
eventful day ?.
Having
said that, we need to look at the other side also. IF….and it is indeed a very
big IF for the followers of Sai Baba…..it can be established that Sai Baba is
lying about the whole “avatarhood”, his announcement , that significant day
etc, then we can conclude that Sai Baba is NOT divinity in human form.
With
this in mind, I researched all the officially published biographies of Sai
Baba, speeches made by Sai Baba earlier referring to the “avatar day” , and
also many books written by famous devotees and what I found was that in ALL
these books exactly the same things were recorded. Even Sai Vandana, a tribute
to Sai Baba on the occasion of 50 years of avatar, in Oct 1990, says the same
thing. So there is no question about the fact that as far as Sai Baba and his
organization is concerned, those events ( as told by Sai Baba) did happen on
that day exactly the same way as Sai Baba says.
I
researched further on the internet, and traced out the calendar for October
1940. What I found was ASTONISHING !! , October 20th
1940 was NOT a Monday, it was a Sunday !!
Please
go to this link
http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar
and
scroll all the way down, and enter the year 1940 to see the calendar for this
year, and check out October. You will find that October
20th was a Sunday and NOT a Monday, as Sai Baba repeatedly says in
his speech above. In fact, Sai Baba says that he went to school on that
day, returned early and threw away his books and made the announcement .
That
date being a Sunday, there would have been no school !!
It
is very clear that something is seriously wrong with Sai Baba’s elaborate story
of the “announcement” . Could it perhaps be that Sai Baba said “October 20th”
by mistake , when he meant to say “October 21st “ . Possible, if that was the case, then it
raises the question, when was the slip made ?
If
we note Sai Baba’s speech, he says that he sang a song on that day, and he
again sings it in 1990. That song contains the date October 20th.
Not only that, for the last 60 years the Sai Baba organization has been
celebrating October 20th as the “avatar day”. Even in this speech on
Oct 20th 1990, Sai Baba refers to “Monday, October 20th”
several times ( highlighted in bold). How can it ALL be slips of the mouth, how
can “god” have slipped up badly in getting the date correct when he was
composing that song, before “announcing” his “avatar” in 1940 ?And how can
“god” be making slips of the mouth for several decades ?? And that too about
such an important event as the “announcement of divinity” day ?? Impossible.
So
what is the only explanation ? October
20th 1940 was a day that was “chosen” much later by Sai Baba to be
the “avatar day”.
Those
events NEVER took place as he says. They could NOT have taken place.
Sai
Baba “manufactured” that story of his “divine announcement”, randomly selected
a day and date , and simply forgot to check if the day and date tallied . Just
plain stupid of him, and possibly arrogant in the knowledge that no one will
ever check all these things minutely.
That is possibly true too, because, as followers , why should anyone
ever doubt Sai Baba’s words about factual accuracy.
This
“announcement” and all related stories was the FIRST Lie.
Interestingly,
Sai Baba says that he knows the “past , present and future of all people” .
In
October 1990, he forgot the past of himself ??
In
October 1940, he did not know the present date and “avatar day” of himself ??
And
all these years, he certainly has not known the future , and that he will be
exposed !!
Sai
Baba says he announced : “I am no longer your Sathya , I am leaving” . The
moment he decided to manufacture this lie, probably Sathya (Truth) really left
him!!
Sai
Baba always says that “my life is my message”.
That
first lie is what he has been living all these years, that is our message.
Perhaps
we should take it as “My LIE is my message”.
-Hari
Sampath