Sai Baba Lord of the Universe

The essential truth of all religions is that God is one. The word ‘God’ is made up of three letters, ‘G’ for Generation, ‘O’ for Organisation and ‘D’ for Destruction. These three words represent the three aspects of Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara.  That is, God is the Creator, Protector and Destroyer.  

Everything that we see is God’s Creation, He is in the five elements. Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Ether are all aspects of God. He is in the food we eat, in the water we drink and in the air we breathe. The majestic mountains, the flowing rivers and the mighty oceans are all His Forms. In fact He is the essence of everything in the universe. Just as the sun shines for everyone in the universe, so too God’s grace is there for each and everyone of us. 

Our Lord Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba is God in human form. He is the all pervading God. Beloved Baba is our father, mother, relative, friend and our well-wisher. He is our Lord. In fact, He is the Lord of the whole universe, the Creator of all creation. Thus, in our Aarti we start with the words  “Om Jai Jagadeesha Hare”, praising Baba as the Lord of the Universe. 

Swami has declared this to be so. Many years ago on a Gurupoornima Day celebration Baba went on a visit to Bombay where He had a gathering of thousands of people who had come to listen to His discourse. Everyone was listening with great attention. At that time Kasturi was translating Baba’s Telugu discourse into English.

During His discourse Baba mentioned “I am found in all places, every place is mine, Prapancha is my house.” Kasturi translated this sentence as “The world is my mansion”.  At this Swami covered the microphone with His hands and told Kasturi “No, No!” Kasturi became nervous because his translation was wrong.

Baba corrected him and said “Universe”. Kasturi realised his mistake, bowed down before Swami and told the audience “Yes, the Lord incarnate alone can say ‘The Universe is my Mansion.’”

Baba has also said that “Every nation is a room in my mansion. I do not belong only to Puttaparthi or to India.” That is why in the Namawali we praise Swami as Lokanatha and we say “Om Sri Sai Loka Nathaya Namaha”. Lokanatha means the Lord of all worlds.

This world in which we live is a stage on which we are all actors and our director is Baba. This is His play and we are the fortunate players in His hand. Only He knows the role each of us has been assigned in this play. We act according to His script.  In this scene, He seeks to transform us for only He, the Lokanaatha, can.

Loka also means mankind. So Baba is the Resident and President of every human heart. He is the Inner Motivator, the Divine Energy in us. In fact, He is the breath in every human being. 

This whole Universe is one family and Swami is the head of this universal family. That is why at the end of every prayer we chant “Loka Samasta Sukhino Bavantu” We pray for the welfare of the entire mankind. Swami says that no one in this world is an orphan since everyone belongs to His family. He takes care of those who are alone in this world.

One day, a poor woman who was to have a baby was brought to a hospital in the hope that she would get help there. The hospital was a small one and there was only one doctor and one nurse on duty. The doctor and nurse thought there was still plenty of time before the baby would be born so they went to see a movie, leaving the woman alone in the hospital.

They came back around midnight and were surprised to hear the cry of a new born baby. They both rushed to find that the woman had already given birth to a son.  The baby had been washed, wrapped in a white towel and kept in a cradle.

They were surprised and asked the woman who had taken care of her.  She replied “I called out and prayed. Fortunately another nurse heard me and came to help me.”

“Which nurse” they asked?  “There aren’t any other nurses here.” The woman pointed to Baba’s picture on the wall and said “That one, she was here a few minutes ago.”

He is ever willing and ever ready to help at all times and at all places.  Hence, we worship him as “Om Sri Sai Anaatha Naathaaya Namah”, which means He is the Lord of Destitutes.

We also pray “Om Sri Sai Loka Bandhavaaya Namaha” which means that Baba is the well-wisher of the world. Baba has said that whereas our worldly fathers and mothers are attached to us through duty, He is attached to us through love.  

He has also declared that He has come to guide mankind away from the wrong path because every human heart is filled with negativity. He has come to cleanse our hearts through love.  

As long as one has position, power and status in society one will have many relatives and friends. When we lose everything everyone will vanish. But Swami will not. He says “I’ll never forsake you. However you are.” Many a times He also tells us “Come to Prashanti Nilayam, give me all your negative tendencies and take love from me. Fill your hearts with only Love.”  The gift that Swami wants from us is pure love, that is to rid ourselves of all our cruel feelings, to have joy in our hearts and share that joy with all people.

The prayer “Om Sri Sai LokaRaksha Parayanaya Namah” means One who is always engaged in fostering and guarding the universe.  Since the universe is His mansion, Baba is the protector of every living being in the universe. ‘Living being’ does not only mean mankind but also the animals and plants.

His love for all creation is illustrated in a story of a tigress and her cubs. One day, an officer was returning to his district after hunting. He had to pass through Puttaparthi and suddenly his jeep stopped near Puttaparthi village. The driver tried hard but the engine just would not start. The driver told the officer, “Sir, I have heard that there is a boy in this village who can materialise Viboothi. He is very powerful too. So I will go and ask him to help us and he walked towards the village.”

Swami knew of this and came walking towards the jeep. He saw a dead tigress which had been killed 2 hours before. He told the officer that He had made the jeep stop there and told him that this tigress was the mother of three young ones. “Will they not be sad at the loss of their mother. Now go back and take those cubs to a zoo so that they can be looked after well and never again hunt animals that do not harm you”, He instructed.  

He also suggested that thereafter the officer should shoot animals only with his camera.

The officer was ashamed and realised his mistake. He followed Baba’s instructions and advice, and suddenly the jeep engine started running again. The officer later discovered that hunting with a camera was more challenging and more peaceful.

Thus, one can see how Swami’s love, protection and grace flows to every being in the world.

There was once an incident where some visitors asked Baba a few questions, these were the replies He gave.

1. Q - What is your name ?
    A - Call Me by any name.

3. Q - Which is your place of residence ?
    A - I am not committed to any particular place, I live everywhere.

He says He is everywhere, but do we see Him everywhere at all times? We can. How are we to do this? By being conscious of Him at all times, in our every thought, word and deed.  He only wants our faith and steady mind.

We must realise that He is always with us and that if we surrender unto Him, by reducing our egos and accepting He is the doer, He will direct events in our lives.  So, it is a combination of faith, effort and surrender.  Baba says that everything is the result of His grace and our effort.

Everything in our lives is a gift from Him, be it joy or sorrow.  If we accept everything as  Prasad from Him, with understanding that these gifts strengthen us, it will bring us closer to Him. The secret is to appreciate Him and understand how fortunate we are to be His devotees. 

Hence, seek the unique opportunity to serve Him always. Consider every activity in your life as God’s work. Bhagawan says “Help as much as you can, as efficiently as you can, as silently as you can, as lovingly as you can, leave the rest to God, who gave you the chance to serve.”

Let us have His Name always on our tongues and His Form in front of our eyes. This kind of remembrance will promote love for all beings in our hearts, and we will only see good in others and do good to others.

Swami says “I have come for the cause of humanity. All are related to Me. There is no one who does not belong to Me. They may worship Me by any Name, all names are Mine.”

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