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He took it upon Himself
The Annual Sports and Cultural
Festival of the Institute is celebrated with great fanfare on 11th
of January every year. Sports Day, 1999, was however, quite
different. No one knew about it at that time; the revelation came
only a few days later. That year, for quite some time prior to the
great day, Baba had been advising students to avoid hazardous
events. But in their enthusiasm to put up a grand show before
their beloved Swami and His guests, the students had planned a few
dare-devil items, as they do every year.
Came
the morning of 11th January, and everything seemed to go off well.
But on 14th January, at the gathering in the Sai Kulwant Hall for
the usual Prize Distribution, students and devotees were stunned
to hear from Mr. Narasimha Murthy, Warden, Brindavan Campus, that
Bhagavan had taken upon Himself a grievous injury in order to
protect the students. Later in His Discourse, Swami revealed some
of the details:
Till
this moment nobody is aware of what exactly happened on the
morning of 11th January.
. That morning as I entered the Stadium,
I spotted two lorries. Immediately I could visualise the danger
lurking in the corner. I saw the lorries with huge scaffoldings
placed over them. The boys planned to perform a few acrobatic
feats on them. I knew that one of the rods was not fitted properly
and was about to give in. If that were to happen, the boys would
suffer major head and spinal injury. I willed that the boys should
be saved and decided to take it upon Myself.
.
A
senior devotee was driving the chariot with all sincerity and
devotion [Swami had made a formal entry into the Stadium in a jeep
decorated as a chariot]. He stopped the vehicle in accordance with
My command. Just as I was about to speak to the Vice Chancellor,
he accidentally lifted his foot from the clutch. That resulted in
a violent jerk and I fell down in the chariot. As a result, I
suffered injuries on the head, hand and spinal column. What the
boys had to face, I took upon Myself.
A
mass of humanity was seated in the galleries but I took care that
no one noticed My injuries. Seeing Me fall down, the Vice
Chancellor was worried; he was wondering whether Swami would be
able to get up. I knew that any further delay would cause anxiety
in the minds of devotees. So, ignoring the pain, I immediately got
up and started blessing the devotees by raising My hands. The pain
was excruciating and the cut on My hands was deep, like a gash
produced by a knife. My fall should have resulted in the sleeve of
My robe getting torn but it did not; that ought to give you a
glimpse of Divine Power - the injury had to be kept a secret.
I
found Myself in an awkward situation. I had to walk up to the dais
without My injuries being noticed. So I willed that no one should
notice My injuries. I walked up to the dais and took My seat. But
in the meanwhile, the dhothi below My robe was getting drenched in
blood. Concerned that the devotees may get to know of this, I
quietly made My way to the bathroom. The towels available there
were hardly sufficient to absorb the blood that was coming out. I
did not want to leave blood-stained towels in the bathroom.
Therefore, though the pain was excruciating, I washed the towels
with soap, squeezed the water out of them, and put them up for
drying.
. Some of the boys there were curious to know why I went
to the bathroom repeatedly. I told them, "Why are you concerned?
It is none of your business." Usually, Swami visits the bathroom
only twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening but
since there was heavy bleeding, there was a need to go five or six
times to the bathroom during a short duration.
In the meantime, two students came
and made the usual prayer that Swami hoist the Institute flag.
When I got down from the chair, I felt as though I had received an
electric shock. I smiled at My own Leela. It seemed as if I could
not stand steadily. I immediately resolved that I should not give
thought to bodily feelings and walked forward with firm steps and
smilingly, to hoist the flag. After this, I lit the lamp and
returned to My seat. I found that I could not sit comfortably in
any posture. Once more I told Myself, "Feeling discomfort implies
body attachment. If I advise others to give up body consciousness,
then I too should do so!"
During the events, I had to walk up to the playground five or six
times to be with the students and pose for photographs with them.
I was able to do this because I detached Myself from the body.
.
Is it possible for a human being to conceal such a major injury
from the public for so long a time, all the time being directly
under their gaze? No! Yet, I sat there for five long hours,
through the entire programme. No one knew about this till I
reached the Mandir
I am
narrating all this so that students and devotees may comprehend
the nature of Divinity. Anyone in My predicament could not have
sat in a chair for five hours.
.
Likewise, I take upon Myself untold sufferings of students and
devotees at various points of time, in order to protect them.
.
Source:
Radio Sai E-Magazine, December 15, 2003
http://www.radiosai.org/Journals/08Dec15/06_MOMENTS_MEMORIES/memories.htm
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