It is with great sorrow and heavy heart that I share with you the most shocking news of the departure of Bhagawan Sri Satya Sai Baba at 7.40 pm today to his heavenly abode. He was 86 years old and was admitted to Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences at Puttaparthi of Anantapur district of Andhra Paradesh. He was admitted to hospital on March 28th suffering from respiratory problems.
Millions of devotees across the world were praying, conducting uninterrupted Bhajans, Yagyas, prayers ardently for His recovery. Our family was also praying for him. We all were convinced that He will be safe-nothing will happen to Him. Some where a small hope burned alive like a small lamp, even in the gloom of despair, that He will not leave us.
There is what is called Law Of Nature. Though this has been established by God Himself, He too follows it scrupulously. There is a Rhythm, there is a discipline in Nature. Every thing that takes birth has to die. So God also adheres to it. Even the Avtars (incarnations of God) Rama or Krishna left this world when they accomplished their missions.
When God wishes He appears on the earth as incarnation or what ever form He wants and withdraws at his will. The great souls like Shirdi Sai Baba, Vivekananda, Ramkrishna Parmahamsa etc visit this earth and take birth here to accomplish great missions as per the directions of God. Such great Souls or Masters are sent on to the earth to educate us, lead us and guide us spiritually as per God's wishes. They know about God's wishes. That is why some great souls have Ichha Marnam or death at their will-like Bhishma.
Baba waited till today. Why? Because today is the most auspicious day-Sunday, Sapthami(7th day of our calender), Poorva Aashadha star, Siddha Yoga- Planet Sun in Mesha(Aries) all these make it a favourable time for leaving His physical body on a divine journey. He knows it all, who are we to question Him?
But for us, we don't have any say in our births or deaths. We are all guided by our actions(Karma) and its affect. We can only come out of this Chakra or cycle by following the spiritual path as per Guru's guidance.
How can people like us who are spiritual illiterates know about great souls or their missions. We attach ourselves to what we see with our eyes and the physical body or presence.
Now Bhagawan meaning God as people believe Him to be, always used to say that He is beyond birth and death. His body is not His but for our sake which we worship and follow with great devotion.
The greatest spiritual Guru of modern times, he has crores and crores of disciples not only in India but from various countries of the world. He spread the message of Love, Peace and Service. He and his Trust do a lot of charity work, support educational institutions, hospitals and many more across the world.
As I am writing all this I am crying and all my family and friends are shocked. After all Baba was like our, mother, father, guru, friend and God all rolled into one. As long as His physical presence was there, we felt that he was there to safe guard us.
One thing we have to remind ourselves is He is not just an ordinary human. He is a great soul and He will always be there with us. In our thoughts, in our actions, in our words, in everything we do-He is always with us. If we call ourselves His followers, His devotees then we have to adhere to what he taught us through his messages. Love all-serve all;Help ever, Hurt never.
Baba always taught us about Prema or Love-The Universal Love. This is the time when there is so much strife, so much unrest, so many calamities-that we need to spread His message of Love and Peace. Even if we begin this at our homes, our relatives, our friends and with those whom we come into contact, it is more than enough. We should follow Baba and lend a helping hand to those around us who need it the most. It need not be big, it need be colossal-just a small something; a hug, a smile, a pat on the back, a shoulder to cry, a warm handshake...small things which mean a lot to someone.
So come let us all take a Pledge that from today we will follow His Messages, spread Love and Peace, what little we can do to serve others we will do. we will always chant the name of God and Baba.
He is definitely with us around us and in us.......we just need to call Him SAI RAM...
OM SAI RAM...............
