Sunday Cultural Programs by the Devotees of Adilabad
District, Andhra Pradesh
Music Program, a skit entitled "Sri Sathya Sai Vibavam" and Divine Discourse
February 09-10, 2008
This evening, Swami had permitted the devotees from Adilabad district of Andhra
Pradesh to put up a programme. Everyone sat in readiness for Swami to arrive.
Swami came at about 5:35 pm and in the car He went around slowly blessing
everyone assembled with the gift of His darshan. He alighted near the interview
room and came out on the stage and just seeing Him there, a thrill seemed to
course through the crowd and they expressed it by clapping out loud. Swami took
His seat towards the ladies side of the stage and then began the initial
formalities.
To a viewer who always sits and sees the programmes as they happen, the initial
rose offerings and card showing seem like "formalities" as even the writer here
put it. But these are opportunities of a lifetime for the people concerned. In
that short moment, every time, more than just a rose or card is exchanged! What
goes on there is best understood by a heart that has longed for God and received
His never failing Grace when that longing intensifies. The devotees came forward
and received His blessings. The main actors of the drama about to be put up also
came forward and made their offerings. A special silver lamp was brought forward
and Swami lit it to mark the auspicious beginning of the programme.
The drama began with the entry of King Krishnadevaraya into his court with his
nine gems - poets and musicians of great acclaim. They begin a discussion on how
their kingdom is blessed as God has chosen to be born there. The discussion that
prevailed in Telugu was so full of alluding alliterations, funny puns and rich
poetry that even those with a faint acquaintance of Telugu were able to enjoy
the musical flow and the sounds of the language. Many of Swami's rich Telugu
poetic compositions were presented as the King kept throwing one challenge after
another at the poets.
For instance, when the king asks a poet to compose a poem with four words that
are rhyming but have no apparent connection, the poet comes up with a thought
provoking poem about the human body which is a repository of diseases. Having
such a ephemeral body, foolish man, why do you not seek the permanent and ever
blissful lord? When the question as to what can be offered to the lord comes up,
the answer is that we are incapable of giving anything to the Lord who has in
fact given everything to us. The best we can do is to offer the Love that we
have been gifted by Him in our hearts back to Him. Some of the poems were a
sheer connoisseur's delight as they were entirely composed of single letters -
"ka" and "la"! While it was the sheer brilliance of poetry for the ones with
knowledge of pristine pure Telugu, it was musical for all the others! Everyone
enjoyed it all the same. There was also the famous, "Ye Aav Ra Ba Va" by Tenali
Ramakrishna which is a statement containing the same meaning word from five
languages and yet making complete sense as a sentence on its own too! As Swami
narrates it, it literally means, "Which cow brother in law?" But broken further,
Ye in Marathi, Aav in Hindi, Ra in Telugu, Ba in Kannada and Va in Tamil - all
mean "come"! The king himself, not be left behind conjured poetic magic with the
poems he recited.
The grand finale came as all the courtiers jointly sing the glories of Swami and
the king feels bad that he is unable to be with the Lord who is gracing his own
land. At that time, the shiva lingam in the royal darbar hall turns and in it is
Swami - come to grant darshan for the pining king! The entire drama had been
tastefully laced with songs apt for the topics being discussed and these in turn
had been well tuned for dances. The dances and songs took place as though in the
royal assembly hall itself. Throughout the drama, Swami seemed so involved that
every time a thumping statement was made, He would nod vehemently and each time
an emotion coursed through the king or the courtiers, it seemed to pass through
Him too. As the drama concluded, Swami called the king, Krishnadevaraya, to come
forward and created a chain with a beautiful Shirdi Sai Baba pendant for him. He
put it around his neck even as the final dance sequence was on.
As the first programme, an offering of Love by the devotees unto their Lord,
concluded, the second programme - the shower of Love by the Lord - began. Swami
sat tapping His hands rhythmically for the concluding song and as that got over,
He smilingly blessed all of them. They then brought a jhoola on which they
invited Swami to sit. Swami agreed and went down the stage. He posed for
pictures with all of them And then it happened - a dam seemed to burst somewhere
and there was a flood of tears all around. The children were crying profusely
calling out, "Swami ... Swami..." It was such a spontaneous outburst and it
built up in momentum and volume. Swami was looking all around and the Mother
amidst hundreds of her children was trying to tell everyone why they must not
cry. He wiped the tears of some of the children and He too shed tears along with
them. The scene was the most touching and it reminded one of what happens in
life. All of us cry for various things. But when we cry for Swami, He is there
to wipe our tears and share in our sorrows and joys alike.
Swami then got up from the chair and walking upto the jhoola (swing), sat on it.
He was beaming smiles drinking deep of the devotion of all His children from
Adilabad. Almost every member of the troupe took the opportunity of
Paadanamaskar. After about ten minutes with all of them, Swami went back on
stage. It was about 7:20 pm and all thought that surely He would now receive
aarthi. But the Lord asked for His mike to be brought. The next ten minutes were
a shower of pure grace and Love as Swami directly addressed the devotees without
any translation. He said that He was very happy with the programme that Adilabad
devotees had put up. The acting and dialogue delivery were all from the heart.
The king Krishnadevaraya, acted very well. Swami had never seen such a
performance in Prashanti Nilayam ever before. Such dramas must be encouraged and
be shown to people everywhere. Swami's heart had been won and the devotees have
given immense joy to Swami.
Any praise or appreciation anyone would have wanted to shower became totally
superfluous as Swami literally sang out the glory of their devotion and
happiness. He concluded by saying that one must never give up singing bhajans
for that alone is the thing that confers joy. He sang, "Hari bhajana bina" which
everyone followed enthusiastically. As this concluded, Swami asked them to
continue singing bhajans. Then were brought out sarees and white safari pieces!
And the white cloth pieces were in two sizes to cater to the elders and the
children! As the bhajans went on, Swami called everyone one at a time and gifted
the sarees and safari pieces along with the prized padanamaskar. Swami called
the director and the script writer - an alumnus of the Institute, Sri Ranganatha
Raju - and blessed them specially.
The combination of talent and humility is the most potent one to win the Lord's
heart. The drama had demonstrated both these virtues in abundant measure and
Swami visibly was extremely pleased with the effort. He stayed till 8:05 pm
blessing all of the participants! He then left leaving everone with joy and
devotion lingering in their beings.
