Manifestation of Sai Baba – Sai Devotee Nagarajan

It is practice of Sai Baba that if a devotee is meant to be welcomed by Him, then age, immaturity or low faith does not have any affect. Instead the devotees steps forward and Sai Baba is there to take fullest care in every such step. Here is one such experience of Sai brother S.Nagarajan ji.

S.Nagarajan ji says: Sairam! My father was deeply devoted to Shirdi Baba. He used to rely on Him for each problem that confronted him throughout his life. Born in that family, and by Sai’s grace, i too developed an intimacy with Baba even during my boyhood days. Due to some actions in previous janmas (births), i had some bad habits during my boyhood days. Still Baba took me into His fold and provided all the protection i needed and stood as my guardian angel.

When i was hardly six months old baby, it seems i had developed double pneumonia which was considered fatal for a baby during those days (1944-45). Since there was no improvement in my conditions, i was laying motionless with no symptoms of breathing. My father was frantically praying before the “Dwaraka Mai” photo of Saibaba (drawn by Jayakar and kept in the Dwaraka Mai at Shirdi). He had some intuition of sort to keep the photo below the pillow of the baby(me). I became alright and started moving my limbs after this. (These incidents were narrated by my parents when i was a boy). So this was my first encounter with Baba and this life is naturally His Gift and Grace. But as each and every soul has to undergo the karmic fruits, i had my own share of sufferings from my boyhood days.

Now coming to the second part of the story, i was already a boy of 16 studying in Pre-University during 1960-61 and my father was working as an Inspector of Police at that time in Thanjavur, a famous town in southern part of Tamilnadu. It had a huge Shiva temple which is considered as an architectural achievement. Reverting to the story, due to certain unfavourable circumstances in the family, i had to bear certain family responsibilities even during those days. I had to do the washing of cloths of my younger brothers besides helping my grandmother. My mother was bed-ridden for many years. Some 3 miles away from my house, there was a private temple of Shirdi Baba situated in a distant paddy field. Whenever i find time, i used to go there for solace. It was a very small temple with a beautiful marble idol of Baba.

Suddenly one day i had an inclination to go there and to go round the sanctum for 1008 times. It was around 11 AM. The weather was sultry. I went there and started going round the small temple. To keep count i used to recite one name from 108 names (Ashtotram). I knew by heart all the 108 names. I will go round with one name and after completion of one full ashtotram (108 names) i will put one seed which was lying under a tree. Each round will hardly take a fraction of a second. After around 600 rounds, i had developed severe thirst. I was just thinking that i am not a devotee like Nana Saheb to whom Baba provided a handful of water in a distant Harischandra Hill (i had read this in some books of Baba) i had to search for a source of water nearby. Fortunately just behind the temple there was a hand pump. I tried my hand but no water seemed coming out. It was rusted and beyond repair! I tried to enter the agricultural well with the help of protruding stone slabs. I went down safely and was climbing up. Lo! what an unusual sight. At the time, around 2.30 PM, there was a car and the owner of the temple himself was repairing the hand pump with a spanner at the unearthly hour!. Fortunately he had not noticed me sleeking out from his well. I resumed the round. Within one round, there was no trace of car, no owner, no spanner. I could not believe how everything has vanished without even a whimper. The field is about some two furlongs from the motorable road. Any vehicle moving out would have caught my attention very easily!. Now i had to test my sanity. I went near the hand pump and with a small push of the handle, copious water was coming out. It was bone dry few minutes ago. I was remorse that my faith was low in Baba. Even a small thought of a boy produced such an astounding result. It was nothing but a sort of mysterious manifestation of Baba in a remote place to provide water to a boy immature in devotion! Jai Sairam.

© Devotees Experiences with Shirdi Sai Baba