Sathyam Sivam Sundaram Volume 2: Biography of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba 1962-1968

I WAS born in an obscure village in North Travancore, when the nineteenth century had still

two years and a few days to run. I had my schooling in the Cochin State, under a great

Headmaster, who had met Swami Vivekananda and who lit in our little lamps the flame of

prayer and contrition. I attended College at Trivandrum and after finishing my M.A. and

B.L., I secured a job as Lecturer in History, in a College in Mysore.

The country boat, in which I and my wife and my mother journeyed along the canals and

backwaters of the West Coast, on the first hop of the journey to catch the train at Ernakulam,

was halted past midnight in the middle of a dark blue backwater by a Chowkidar, who

shouted his orders from the shore. He called out from the black night, “Where are you

going?” and waited for the answer! My boatman had a fine sense of humour. He shouted

back, “We are going to Mysore!” The Chowkidar was in no mood to reprimand him for

impertinence, for he, too, did not lack in humour. He laughed and said, “Why do you say

Mysore? Don’t you know of a place beyond Mysore?”

Little did we know then, that there was a place beyond even Mysore; a couple of hundred

miles to the north of that city, a place called Puttaparthi, which was to provide us harbourage

from the turbulent storms of the sea, where I was to get the Teacher I wanted, when my

career as a University Teacher and Principal was about to come to a close. Yogi Sudhananda

Bharathi, the famous mystic poet of Tamil Nadu, said in April, 1959, addressing an

Adhyatmic Conference at Venkatagiri Town, over which Sri Sathya Sai Baba presided, “I

have practised Yoga for over 50 years; I once observed the vow of silence continuously, for

over 20 years; I have come in contact with Sri Shirdi Baba, Sri Ramana Maharishi, Sri

Aurobindo, Sri Mehar Baba, and others; now, as a result of all this Sadhana, I have met Sri

Sathya Sai Baba.”... I served as the Secretary of the Sri Ramakrishna Mission at Mysore, for

over seventeen years; I came in contact with Sri Siddarooda Swami, Sri Ramana Maharishi,

Sri Mehar Baba, and Sri Narayana Guru; I was initiated into japam by mahapurushji, the

direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and President of the Mission; and I am now

convinced that as a result of all this, I sat at the Feet of Sri Sathya Sai Baba, in 1948.

After I retired from the service of the University of Mysore, I have rejoiced in Baba’s

Presence, except for a short period, when I worked with All India Radio as a Producer. I have

had the good fortune of mingling with many devotees of Baba, who have longer and closer

associations with Him; I have availed myself of every opportunity of witnessing His Mahima

(glory) and listening to His discourses.

This book has long been under preparation and I am happy that it is now placed in your

hands. Baba always speaks of personal experience, not books, as the best way of knowing

Him and this has been, in the main, responsible for the delay. But, however inadequate, this

book might be useful in revealing to the reader the reasons for the extraordinarily intimate

loyalty that binds me and others to Him. Baba is Himself an Open Book, with no mystery, or

pomp, or abstruseness about Him and everyone can approach Him and secure His Grace.

Devotees of Baba might brush aside this book as superfluous, because they know most of it

already and much more besides. Moreover, they might blame me for the rather cold tone of

narration, which is inevitable when Baba is described in print. They might also notice that I

have committed many understatements and omitted many mahimas, which, in their opinion,

are more significant than the ones I have selected. I most humbly crave their indulgence.

Those, who are unaware of Baba, might, on the other hand, condemn me as a crank or even

worse. I have very great sympathy for such, for I, too, demurred, doubted, and disbelieved,

with all the sarcasm and satire found in the Kannada novels, dramas, and essays, which I

wrote and published. For many years, I, too, in my stupid pride, did not make any effort to

meet Him. I invite everyone, now, to come and share with me His Grace and karuna and

stand witness, like me, to the Divine Power that He personifies. May this book be a signpost

for all humanity to the New Life, merged in SATHYAM-SIVAM-SUNDARAM!

N. Kasturi

Sri Sathya Sai Media Centre is a Unit of Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust, Prasanthi Nilayam. 

On 25th May 1947, Sri Sathya Sai Baba in a comprehensive letter to His brother Seshama Raju, outlined His Mission and Purpose of His Advent. A pertinent excerpt reads as follows (free translation from Telugu original).

I have a task: To foster all mankind and ensure for all of them lives full of bliss.

I have a vow: To lead all who stray away from the straight path again into goodness and save them.

I am attached to the work that I love: To remove the sufferings of the poor and grant them what they lack.

I have a reason to be proud, for I rescue all who worship and adore me.

I will not give up my mission, nor my determination.

I know I will carry them out.

The vision declared at a young age of 21 years, began materializing in the year 1956 when Sri Sathya Sai Baba started a general hospital for the villages around Puttaparthi, where poor villagers had no access to pure drinking water or basic medical amenities. It took another decade for a college for Women in the district capital of Anantapur to be built in the year 1968, in recognition of the importance of educating women who are the backbone of nation-building and a college for men in the outskirts of the city of Bangalore in the following year to answer the emergent call for an urgent shift in education paradigm. As Baba's work constantly grew in response to needs of the poor and distraught, the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust was founded by Him in the year 1972. Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust is a Public Charitable Trust registered under Section 12A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for carrying out activities in the areas of:

1. Relief to the Poor

2. Medical Relief

3. Education

4. Other objects of General Public Utility