The
Belgian Princess from childhood has always been a devout
Christian. She had always followed her individual duty and
duty towards the society i.e. what Baba termed later her
Dharma. She used to regularly have Baba’s dream where He
used to tell her repeatedly to visit him in Puttaparthi.
She was not very inclined to do so since she thought going
to Baba would be against the Christian faith, which she
had been following for so long. She was of the opinion
that her dreams may not have anything serious to think
about since she was nothing even remotely connected to
India and she had never heard of Sai Baba and hence no
question of going to India.
An old friend of
hers’ once met her during one of her outings. Meeting after a long
time they both talked for a long time. During this conversation, her
friend mentioned to her in passing that she had met a spiritual
teacher in India whom she had accepted as her Guru (preceptor). Having
heard her friend mention India, the princess asked her as to whether
she had heard of someone called Sai Baba in a village called
Puttaparthi. Looking a little surprised, she said
“Well, He is the one
I am talking about. Sai Baba is my master, my Guru.”
So saying she
showed the princess His photograph. She looked at it and was aghast.
The features of the man in the photograph were exactly the same as
that of the person, who in her dreams was asking her to visit him.
Were the dreams leading her to something? She didn’t know.
A week later the
Belgian princess was on her way to India, with her friend accompanying
her. All through their journey, the princess and her friend talked
about nothing but Sai Baba. The more she heard about him, his miracles
(which Baba often says are his visiting cards) and his work, the more
she curious she became. The princess alighted in India and as she
moved closer to Puttaparthi, her heart beat faster and she asked
herself --
“Who is Sai Baba?
And How on earth does He know about me?”
As she alighted in
Puttaparthi, she checked into an accommodation generally provided to
people coming to have accommodation. But being the princess of a
nation, she was entitled to government of India’s hospitality.
Moreover the princess herself never informed the accommodation
authorities of her royalty status. But the foreign affairs ministry
received a phone call from the Belgium High commission (who were told
of the visit by a royal palace communique) that Her Highness The
Princesss of Belgium was in India to visit Sai Baba. The foreign
ministry informed the concerned authorities at Puttaparthy and the
princess was moved to the VIP guest house, where she stayed until her
return back home.
Seated in front, the
next morning , along with her friend, the princess waited for Baba. As
the music started (generally every darshan at Puttaparthi and
Vrindavan begins with Indian Classical music being on the Audio system
and continues till the end of darshan), her heart fluttered in
anticipation. “Will He recognise her? Will He speak to her? --”
All sorts of questions came on to her mind.... Baba walked slowly
along the ladies side. As He came near her, He stopped and spoke....
to a lady next to the princess. As He was speaking to the lady, the
princess bowed to touch His feet. Baba turned, placed his hands over
her head and said “So, You have come.”
Baba called her into
the interview room along with her friend. They went in and took their
place. As Baba came in, He asked them to come nearer to Him and
materialised two medallions of Jesus and gave it to them. These
materialisations are normal for a regular visitor to Puttaparthi but
for the princess this was something she never expected, leave alone
expecting she never even thought it was possible ... a medallion out
of thin air!
The medallions were
similar with a slight difference. The one given to the princess’
friend showed the full picture of Jesus on the crucifix. The one the
princess had showed him only up to the waist. Both looked at Baba ,
who smiled and said ---
“Princess, you have
been a sincere devotee of Jesus right from childhood. You have
followed righteousness through out your life. That is why I called you
here.”
He stopped for a
while and said again ---
“Princess
, Do you remember, at the age of five, you saw a movie called
‘Jesus of Nazreth’ ? That was the movie, which attached you to
Jesus so much. The scene where Jesus was crucified made you cry.
Especially when His legs were nailed, You burst out and cried for two
days. It has since then left an indelible mark on your life.”
As Baba mentioned
these words, that phase of her life passed through the princess’ mind.
But that was the phase about which only she knew. How did Sai
Baba come to know of it?
He stopped for a
while and spoke again --
“I never give what
people don’t like. You love Jesus, so I gave you a medallion of Jesus
Himself. But your medallion doesn’t show the nailed legs of His. That
made you cry a lot. I don’t want you to cry now.”
After Baba spoke,
there was silence for a while. The princess now spoke-- “All along
I thought my dreams were imagination. Never did I think that they
would lead me to where I am today. How do you know about all these
things concerning me? I still have to understand you but from what I
have experience here so far, I can say that whatever you are, You
are remarkable.”. Baba spoke again --“Child, You have a
pure heart. That’s why you are here. You have never reneged on your
duty. I am pleased by your steadfast adherence to duty and dharma. Ask
me what you want, anything and I shall give.” The princess
remained silent for a while. Her thoughts flew to her sons at Harvard.
They were good children but she had one problem, they never believed
in God. They never accompanied her on her visits for Sunday mass or
regular sermons at church. She wanted to ask Baba about them but
something stopped her and she kept quite.
Nothing in any
corner of the world is hidden from Baba. Baba, as He does on so many
occassions, here too, read her mind. He asked -- “Ok, So you want
to ask me about your sons -- at Harvard, isn’t it? So why don’t You
just ask?”. Witholding nothing more from Baba and convinced of His
omniscience , the princess spoke with a mother’s concern--
“Baba , My children
..... My children don’t believe in Jesus. I am quite concerned about
them. Please change them, Baba.I know You can do it. I’ve faith in You.”.
“Alright , speak to them about me tonight and tell me about their
reaction.”-- replied Baba. The interview then drew to a close.
The next day, They
were called for interview again. As soon as Baba came in, He asked her
-- “Did You speak to them?”. The princess ntly replied
hesistantly “ Yes, I did. But .... But .... But they were
not interested. They said “You keep your Sai Baba
with You. Don’t involve us in it.” and hung the receiver”.
Baba said “Never mind , Speak to them again tonight...(Silence
for a while) and tell them I will give them an experience.”.
She did as was commanded. Her sons, however, refused to take any
serious view of Sai Baba, who for their mother was a phenomenon not
different from the kind Jesus was. The princess informed Baba about
her talk with the two princes. Baba said-- “Good. Now, Wait till
tomorrow”.
The next day at
Darshan, Baba enquired from the princess about her children again.
“Speak to them again today and then tell me what they spoke about.”--
Baba commanded. After darshan, the princess and her friend went
towards the telephone centre to call her sons , without the least
indication of what had happened in Harvard with her sons after she
made the last phone call to them two days before. What happened there
stunned not only the princes and their mother but the entire class in
which the princes studied.
As the Class of
Harvard sat for class that day, an orange light (Baba’s robe is orange
in colour!) appeared from nowhere and stuck to the shirt of the eldest
of the two princes. As the prince got up to find out what it meant,
the light chased him out of the room and followed him vigorously.
Seeing something very astonishing the whole class of Harvard ran out.
The scene--The
light behind the prince and the rest of the class behind the light.
How far could they run? They finally fell exhausted. The light too
stopped for a while. It encircled the entire lot of students and
disappeared.
The following
evening the princess waited for Baba to tell him all that happened.
Baba came and as he came towards her asked “Did you speak to the
princes? (Silence for a moment) Did they mention anything about an.. (halts
for a second).. an orange light?” The princess looked at Baba with
eyes wide open.. and.. smiled. Baba smiled back and went into the
interview room.
The princess spoke
to her children again that night and informed Baba that the entire
class of Harvard wanted to come for Baba’s darshan. Baba said “Good ..
But not now, later. I will call.” The princess was disappointed but
left it to Baba’s will. When the princes will come only Baba knows.
But they will come some day .. today or tomorrow. Baba’s will
shall prevail.
The princess left
India some time around the first week of February. She came a totally
confused woman, full of doubts. Baba was nobody for her but with the
kind of love and attention that Baba showered on her, she went with
Baba firmly embedded in her heart.
The Princess left a
highly contended woman. We students, still remember her as a very
benign personality, full of love and compassion. Her face radiated an
extraordinary brilliance, which to a great extent reflects the strict
spiritual discipline and endurance she had developed in her pursuit of
the TRUTH, which she did
find in form of our Lord SRI SATYA SAI.
Source:
http://www.geocities.com/sai_ram108/mira10.htm