Swami's lesson to Ravi Kumar about 'Sai bin Rahan na jaye' song; Lead singers can be conduits for thousands to connect to Swami

Last updated on July 5th 2015

One of the nicest Sai student-staff in Prasanthi Nilayam/Puttaparthi, is brother Ravi Kumar S., who has had immense physical proximity and 'chances' with Swami (Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba), but still is humble and a really nice guy. Of course, he is very, very well known in the Sai fraternity as he is the famous and much loved student-singer from Prasanthi Nilayam. He is also a senior manager in the Puttaparthi Super hospital. His association with Swami goes back four decades right from joining as a student in Swami's Ooty school at the age of six years, and being always in Swami's institutions over these four decades, first as student and then staff!

It was a great pleasure for me to see this recent interview of his in the following two videos:

a) Pranasakha II: Sri. Ravi Kumar: The Divine Melody, Part I, by Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtKRcsfj5ZI, 35 min. 5 secs., published Jul 2nd 2015

b) Pranasakha II: Sri. Ravi Kumar: The Divine Melody, Part II, by Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqYcfRtsGrg, 34 min. 29 secs., published Jul 2nd 2015

I have given below, slightly edited transcripts of two short snippets of the second video. [I have presumed that Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, the producer of this video, will not have any objections to me sharing these transcript snippets on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever. I have also put up these transcript snippets as a comment in the youtube video.]

Around 3:25 to 9:24 (slightly edited transcript)

[Ravi Iyer: About the famous qawwaali song, Sai bin Rahan na jaye, that Swami has asked Ravi Kumar to sing hundreds of times. To know more about qawwaali see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qawwali]

Ravi Kumar: It is not that He has allowed me to sing. It is that it was something which was special to Him for some reason. I would always wonder what is so special about this song because, to my little mind, there have been much better qawwaalis technically speaking, much better qawwaalis that we have sung in front of Swami. But there is this one qawwaali that Swami had latched on to and he has asked me to sing it so many times in front of Him. I can't be grateful enough to Him for that. Why? That lesson is so important. I will just tell you that because I think that it holds a very important place in my life. And in the life of everybody to whom this lesson reaches out. The first thing is, the words of the first couplet that this was picked from - it was picked from a book which was written by one Shri Mishra who was a Hindi and English professor here. So he had written saying:

Mohabbat ka kabhi dil mein agar ehsaas hota hai

which means that if ever you feel love in your heart

zara jhaanko to paoge ke Sai paas hota hai

you look within and you will find that Sai is the source of that love

that is what he had written (it as).

So the elder brother who had picked up this couplet and then changed some of the words for the entire qawwaali - he does not know till today, how it got changed to this:

Mohabbat ki kami instead of Mohabbat ka kabhi. It has become Mohabbat ki kami.

We know that that was the lesson that Swami has been trying to teach me and everybody who has been listening to this song. That if ever you feel the lack of love - all of us go through this phase in life where we feel the lack of love due to any reason, lack of love anywhere that we are working or staying.

zara jhaanko to paoge ke Sai paas hota hai

Don't worry. That is the assurance that Swami has been giving us all these years. Look within. You will find Sai is there. And you will get rid of all your unhappiness. This very, very strong message hit me so hard four years ago. When it had become so much imperative that we look within us to look and seek that Sai within us and seek our bliss which He is, you know, as close to - we all know that story that Swami tells about Draupadi praying to Krishna in the court of the Kauravas where she said, O Mathuraavaasi, O Vrindaavanvaasi and then Krishna was not coming. Then Draupadi was getting desperate and then Draupadi said, O Hridayavaasi [Ravi Iyer: Heart-dweller] and then Krishna appeared in an instant. He said - Krishna explained to Draupadi: Mathura, Vrindaavan I had to go all the way there and then travel to you. The moment you said Hridayavaasi, I am just so close to you so there I manifested. So this lesson (was) that zara jhaanko to paoge, just look within yourself, that is the closest distance between you and Swami.

So this lesson I hold dear to my heart, really hold dear to my heart, always. That is why, that is so special. Let me just sing the first few lines of that song that is so dear to me:

Mohabbat ki kami dil mein agar ehsaas hota hai
zara jhaanko to paoge ki Sai paas hota hai
Ooooo Karishma yeh useeka hai ki duniya khuubsuurat lagthi hai
varna aadmi ko aadmi kya raas hota hai
Sai bin raha na jayeeaa
Sai bin raha na jayeeaa
Chain na aayae mohe chain na aayae
Sai bin raha na jayeeaa

This song is constantly saying, Sai bin raha na jayee, I cannot live without Sai. But the beauty of this qawwaali, as with all of Swami's bhajans, is that he makes one person lead, then the entire lot of devotees and students are following this. So everybody is saying, I cannot live without Sai, I cannot live without Sai. And that is the bond between the Lord and His devotee. But why do we need to live without Sai? The first two lines of this qawwaali, the alaap, says, if you are unhappy, Mohabbat ki kami, if you feel the lack of love, that is, when you are unhappy - so if you feel you are living without Sai, what do you do? If you are unhappy because of that fact, what do you do? You look within. Sai paas hota hai. Look within and Swami is that close to us. So this is the wonderful message for all of us. That Swami has repeatedly tried to put into our (minds).

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Around 29:54 to 32:54 (slightly edited transcript)

Interviewer: Having been with Swami right from your childhood how have you connected, and how are you connecting with Him now?

Ravi Kumar: Like I said in the beginning, I think Swami decided on day 1 how I would connect with Him. Personally for me, it has been through singing. Very first day I joined in my third standard, he asked me to sing, and I am very grateful to Him that until today He has given me that opportunity to connect with Him. While saying that I connect with Him through singing, many of us actually discuss, that it is not singing per se, it is not that only a person who leads a bhajan can connect to Swami.

In fact, Swami has told us on many occasions that if we connect to Swami properly, we are helping a few thousand others to connect with Swami. In fact, the big responsibility is that we are conduits who help devotees connect with Swami. So it is not enough if we merely chant His name or sing His name or try to connect with Him maybe by saying His name. We have to connect with Him internally. He has told us multiple ways in which we can do that. The easiest way what He has told us, you know, Dhyana, what is it - He has such a lovely form. That if you just imagine His lovely form in our hearts that is enough to make a constant and instant connection with Swami. As a loving mother several times, as a stern father many times, He has taught me, whenever I was astray. He would tell me directly that I was not concentrating. The Loving Lord never says you are not concentrating on me. He would say, not concentrating, and I know I am not doing that. You know, you are distracted during Bhajan, that is not how you get connected to the Lord.

So it has been my experience that Swami, you know, in His beautiful form - all you have to do is imagine Him in your mind and pray out your heart to Him. And we are instantly in touch with Him. So, for me, that is how I have been blessed to maintain that connect with the Lord. And where do I look for Him. Andar jhaanko (to paoge) I will look within for the Lord. And I always find Him there to comfort me, to provide me solace, as He has always done throughout my life. Verily He is my Praanasakha.

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