Deeply touching divine saga of elephant daughter Sai Geetha and Sathya Sai Baba
The deeply touching, utterly fascinating and Divine saga of an elephant daughter (Sai Geetha) of Sathya Sai Baba (Swami) and their love for each other shared by Sai Geetha's loving caretaker, http://media.radiosai.org/journals/vol_13/01JUN15/Commendable-Servitors-Of-The-Lord-3-Pedda-Reddy-caretaker-of-Sai-Geetha-part-01.htm.
Some points [in square brackets prefixed with Ravi:] & extracts (usually in quotes):
[Ravi: Pedda Reddy garu telling us about Swami coming to see the passed away body of Sai Geetha]
“I cannot forget that day ever. It was not even seven in the morning and Swami's car was already there. As He alighted eagerly, His eyes were only searching for the body of Sai Geetha that now lay silent and still. The moment He saw her, Swami clasped my hands and broke down. He started weeping like a baby. Seeing Him in that stage, the dam within me also burst. I just could not hold myself any longer and succumbed to a sea of tears.
“Swami held on to my palms just as a best friend would hold you and cry in a moment of intense grief, somehow to lessen the sense of loss and find some solace. At one point, His grip grew tighter and then He looked into my eyes and shaking with anguish said, ‘We have lost a great devotee... I have lost My great devotee’."
...
[Ravi: The daughter knew that the father's time to give up the body was close which she could not bear to see and so quit her body before (in May 2007), which knowledge her father (Swami) later confirmed to some physically close persons; How the daughter revealed her light body to her loving caretaker.]
"In fact even I was startled when this happened to me for the first time sometime in 2002-03. One night after I finished her work and was about to leave, I heard a voice calling out to me in Telugu. It was soft, serene, warm and welcoming. I wondered who was calling me and looked around but there was no one. When the call was repeated, I paid attention towards the direction of its source and can you imagine what I saw? It was not Sai Geetha anymore. Instead, where she stood, I saw a resplendent halo of bright light. It was this light that began to speak to me. Since that day, I have had many conversations with this Bright Light, generally during the nights.
“Actually when Swami had His first fracture in 2003, I asked her if Swami would walk again and she clearly said, ‘No, He is never going to walk normally. Swami has decided to slowly conclude His earthly sojourn’. And then, she stated something that completely shook me. She said, 'I too do not want to live long. I cannot stay here if He is not here.’
...
[Swami:]‘When I mention Sai Geetha, I am not deeply grief-stricken. In fact, I have no sorrow. I am never worried. I am not remorseful at all. It is only Vatsalyam – Supreme Maternal Love. When she arrived, I applied honey to my finger and put it in her mouth and she went on sipping. Later, I fed her milk through a feeding bottle, and from then on she forgot about her mother. I christened her Sai Geetha.’
[Pedda Reddy:] “So true. She is His daughter,”
...
[Ravi: Radio Sai author is describing Swami's words on the day Sai Geetha was buried, May 22nd 2007]
“That is exactly what Swami said to the boys that morning,” I added, “After revealing how she was waiting for Him, Swami became intensely emotional and physically tired too. So He took to His chair. His voice then grew feeble. But then He said something that rattled everyone within earshot. It was so disturbing that Prof. Anil Kumar too did not want to translate it. So only a few people actually understood what He said. Fortunately we have that video and now when we see the recording we can watch Swami clearly saying in Telugu - ‘Sai Geetha left because she did not want to live when I am not here.’”
“That is precisely what she told me,” Mr. Pedda Reddy continued, “She just could not imagine her life without Swami. Her connection with Swami was so solid and her love for Him so intense, so pure and so potent."
...
“I must tell you this,” Mr. Pedda Reddy went on, “At the time of the inauguration of the Indoor Stadium, Swami brought Dr. Narendranath Reddy in His car. Seeing the love that Swami had for Sai Geetha, he asked, ‘Swami, what will she be in her next life?’ Swami replied, ‘No rebirth for her. This is her last life. No more birth or death for her.’ I remember how Dr. Reddy rushed to me later to share these prophetic words.”
...
From the second part, http://media.radiosai.org/journals/vol_13/01JUN15/Commendable-Servitors-Of-The-Lord-3-Pedda-Reddy-caretaker-of-Sai-Geetha-part-02.htm:
[Ravi: The loving caretaker's tyaagajeevi saga who gave up a lecturer job (he has a Masters in Science degree) to provide Seva in Prasanthi Nilayam and lived as an ideal frugal tyaagajeevi servant of the Lord]
“Were you getting any salary?” I could not resist asking this question.
“No, I wanted to serve freely. When I came I had brought with me Rs. 3,000 [Ravi: In 1972]. I had planned to manage with this as long as I could, with basic self-cooking. But Swami told me to keep this amount in the bank and gave instructions to Mr. Kutumba Rao on the first day itself that I should always be given free food in the canteen. For what else do I need money? Bhagawan gave me clothes a couple of times or more in a year along with stitching charges. So I never had the need to buy my dresses. In fact I have not bought a single piece of cloth in the last 45 years that I have stayed in Puttaparthi. The only other expense is soap and razor, which cost less than Rs.50 per month. I cut my own hair with two mirrors and do my own laundry. My brother used to send me some money and that would last the whole year. So why do I need salary?
“However when the University came into being in 1980 Swami asked me to work in the library too. I was now given a honorarium of Rs. 400 per month. I accepted this for a few months but later when the college officials objected to me working anywhere else I declined this offer. So I continued to serve in the canteen and in the library in the early '80s.
[Ravi: I think this frugal Tyaagajeevi of Puttaparthi, Pedda Reddy garu, is really an inspiring role model for serious spiritual aspriants/sadhakas even if their path may not involve leading such a challenging work schedule along with such a spiritually heroic frugal lifestyle.]
[I have presumed that Radio Sai would not mind me sharing some extracts from their article as this post is free for interested readers, without any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
Some points [in square brackets prefixed with Ravi:] & extracts (usually in quotes):
[Ravi: Pedda Reddy garu telling us about Swami coming to see the passed away body of Sai Geetha]
“I cannot forget that day ever. It was not even seven in the morning and Swami's car was already there. As He alighted eagerly, His eyes were only searching for the body of Sai Geetha that now lay silent and still. The moment He saw her, Swami clasped my hands and broke down. He started weeping like a baby. Seeing Him in that stage, the dam within me also burst. I just could not hold myself any longer and succumbed to a sea of tears.
“Swami held on to my palms just as a best friend would hold you and cry in a moment of intense grief, somehow to lessen the sense of loss and find some solace. At one point, His grip grew tighter and then He looked into my eyes and shaking with anguish said, ‘We have lost a great devotee... I have lost My great devotee’."
...
[Ravi: The daughter knew that the father's time to give up the body was close which she could not bear to see and so quit her body before (in May 2007), which knowledge her father (Swami) later confirmed to some physically close persons; How the daughter revealed her light body to her loving caretaker.]
"In fact even I was startled when this happened to me for the first time sometime in 2002-03. One night after I finished her work and was about to leave, I heard a voice calling out to me in Telugu. It was soft, serene, warm and welcoming. I wondered who was calling me and looked around but there was no one. When the call was repeated, I paid attention towards the direction of its source and can you imagine what I saw? It was not Sai Geetha anymore. Instead, where she stood, I saw a resplendent halo of bright light. It was this light that began to speak to me. Since that day, I have had many conversations with this Bright Light, generally during the nights.
“Actually when Swami had His first fracture in 2003, I asked her if Swami would walk again and she clearly said, ‘No, He is never going to walk normally. Swami has decided to slowly conclude His earthly sojourn’. And then, she stated something that completely shook me. She said, 'I too do not want to live long. I cannot stay here if He is not here.’
...
[Swami:]‘When I mention Sai Geetha, I am not deeply grief-stricken. In fact, I have no sorrow. I am never worried. I am not remorseful at all. It is only Vatsalyam – Supreme Maternal Love. When she arrived, I applied honey to my finger and put it in her mouth and she went on sipping. Later, I fed her milk through a feeding bottle, and from then on she forgot about her mother. I christened her Sai Geetha.’
[Pedda Reddy:] “So true. She is His daughter,”
...
[Ravi: Radio Sai author is describing Swami's words on the day Sai Geetha was buried, May 22nd 2007]
“That is exactly what Swami said to the boys that morning,” I added, “After revealing how she was waiting for Him, Swami became intensely emotional and physically tired too. So He took to His chair. His voice then grew feeble. But then He said something that rattled everyone within earshot. It was so disturbing that Prof. Anil Kumar too did not want to translate it. So only a few people actually understood what He said. Fortunately we have that video and now when we see the recording we can watch Swami clearly saying in Telugu - ‘Sai Geetha left because she did not want to live when I am not here.’”
“That is precisely what she told me,” Mr. Pedda Reddy continued, “She just could not imagine her life without Swami. Her connection with Swami was so solid and her love for Him so intense, so pure and so potent."
...
“I must tell you this,” Mr. Pedda Reddy went on, “At the time of the inauguration of the Indoor Stadium, Swami brought Dr. Narendranath Reddy in His car. Seeing the love that Swami had for Sai Geetha, he asked, ‘Swami, what will she be in her next life?’ Swami replied, ‘No rebirth for her. This is her last life. No more birth or death for her.’ I remember how Dr. Reddy rushed to me later to share these prophetic words.”
...
From the second part, http://media.radiosai.org/journals/vol_13/01JUN15/Commendable-Servitors-Of-The-Lord-3-Pedda-Reddy-caretaker-of-Sai-Geetha-part-02.htm:
[Ravi: The loving caretaker's tyaagajeevi saga who gave up a lecturer job (he has a Masters in Science degree) to provide Seva in Prasanthi Nilayam and lived as an ideal frugal tyaagajeevi servant of the Lord]
“Were you getting any salary?” I could not resist asking this question.
“No, I wanted to serve freely. When I came I had brought with me Rs. 3,000 [Ravi: In 1972]. I had planned to manage with this as long as I could, with basic self-cooking. But Swami told me to keep this amount in the bank and gave instructions to Mr. Kutumba Rao on the first day itself that I should always be given free food in the canteen. For what else do I need money? Bhagawan gave me clothes a couple of times or more in a year along with stitching charges. So I never had the need to buy my dresses. In fact I have not bought a single piece of cloth in the last 45 years that I have stayed in Puttaparthi. The only other expense is soap and razor, which cost less than Rs.50 per month. I cut my own hair with two mirrors and do my own laundry. My brother used to send me some money and that would last the whole year. So why do I need salary?
“However when the University came into being in 1980 Swami asked me to work in the library too. I was now given a honorarium of Rs. 400 per month. I accepted this for a few months but later when the college officials objected to me working anywhere else I declined this offer. So I continued to serve in the canteen and in the library in the early '80s.
[Ravi: I think this frugal Tyaagajeevi of Puttaparthi, Pedda Reddy garu, is really an inspiring role model for serious spiritual aspriants/sadhakas even if their path may not involve leading such a challenging work schedule along with such a spiritually heroic frugal lifestyle.]
[I have presumed that Radio Sai would not mind me sharing some extracts from their article as this post is free for interested readers, without any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
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